October Beginner Group Observing Session -- Sat. Oct. 21st -- 5:30pm -- Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy is a GO!!

[Sureshks]

Hi everyone,

The final outdoor B-SIG observing session of 2023 is scheduled for Saturday October 21st at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy, near Afton (weather permitting). It will start at 5:30pm (sunset is at 6:16pm that night). If it's cloudy that night, the backup night will the previous Friday night Oct. 20th.

If you are planning to attend please respond here (with your e-mail address) or drop me an e-mail at sureshks1@msn.com so I can keep you updated.

There is no charge to attend a Beginner group event, and you do not need to be an MAS member to attend -- everyone is welcome!! The purpose is to help beginners learn the night sky, and how to set up and use a telescope. Volunteers from the MAS will be on hand to answer your questions and show objects thru their telescopes.

You do not need to bring any equipment to attend. But if you have a telescope, bring it!! If you need help with learning how to set up and use it, we are happy to help. There is AC power available on the east side of Metcalf Field, so if you need power to run your telescope or other equipment, just bring an extension cord so you can connect!!

The Moon will be at 1st Quarter that night, and will set a little after 11pm, giving us a few hours after under a Moonless sky! The glorious Ringed Planet Saturn will be visible in the southeastern sky as darkness falls. After we finish with Saturn, we will move over to Neptune and its moon Triton, which are now roughly 20° to the east of Saturn. Gleaming Jupiter, with its 4 large Galilean moons, rises during dusk and will clear the treetops by around 8pm, giving us two bright planets to gaze at with our telescopes.

Once the Moon gets out of the way, we will focus our attention on the many deep-sky objects that are visible this time of year. The Summer Milky Way will still be visible in the western sky after dark. We will seek out emission nebulae, open clusters, supernova remnants, planetary nebulae and globular clusters. Once we have our fill of these objects, we will turn to the Fall sky and the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies as they are climb higher in the northeastern sky.

We'll have the goodie table once again!! Feel free to bring something to share, such as cookies or other treats. This is totally optional, and no one should feel obligated to do so.

If you're coming out this night, please also bring a lawn chair or blanket. Also, bring a few extra clothing layers as temps will likely dip after dark.

Metcalf Field GPS Coordinates: 44.93734 N / 92.82157 W

Google Maps directions to Metcalf Field: https://goo.gl/maps/UNkt67YPWg4qAjuP6

Driving Directions:
Head east past Woodbury on I-94 to the Manning exit (exit 253). Turn south and then take the first left onto Hudson Road S. Continue east about 1.5 miles and turn right onto Indian Trail. Check your odometer here, and then travel 1.1 miles. You'll see an unmarked chain-link gate on the right side. This is the entrance to Metcalf field. Enter the dirt path and park on the left side. There will be a small reflector on a pole and a white MAS sign marking the entrance. If you have a telescope with you, you can also park on the right (north side) of the field.

If you haven't been to Metcalf Field, it can be a little difficult to locate the entrance. So please arrive in daylight.

For more information on Metcalf Field, see here: http://www.mnastro.org/facilities/metcalf/

I will plan on making the Go/No Go call weather call Thursday Oct. 19th. Please check this thread for updates or e-mail me at sureshks1@msn.com to stay informed.

Also, if you'd like to volunteer to help out at this or any future MAS Beginner group events, please let me know.

We hope to see you there!!

Suresh

[Sureshks]

Hello everyone,

Based on the current weather forecasts, it looks it will be clearing during the evening on Saturday for the final MAS Beginner Astronomy Observing session at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy.

Different forecast models are saying different things. Astrospheric and Clear Sky Chart both show decreasing cloudy after sunset, with clearing happening by between 8-9pm. Based on this, this event is a GO!!

We will review the forecasts again on Friday evening just to be sure, and I will send another email out then.

As it clears, temperatures will start to drop overnight, so please dress for temps in the upper 40s/lower 50s.

We'll set up the goodie table once again!! Feel free to bring something to share, such as cookies or other treats (totally optional).

Metcalf Field GPS Coordinates: 44.93734 N / 92.82157 W

Google Maps directions to Metcalf Field: https://goo.gl/maps/UNkt67YPWg4qAjuP6

Driving Directions:
Head east past Woodbury on I-94 to the Manning exit (exit 253). Turn south and then take the first left onto Hudson Road S. Continue east about 1.5 miles and turn right onto Indian Trail. Check your odometer here, and then travel 1.1 miles. You'll see an unmarked chain-link gate on the right side.
This is the entrance to Metcalf field. Enter the dirt path and park on the left side. There will be a small reflector on a pole and a white MAS sign marking the entrance. If you have a telescope with you, you can also park on the right (north side) of the field.

If you haven't been to Metcalf Field, it can be a little difficult to locate the entrance. So please arrive in daylight.

We'll see you there!

Suresh

[Sureshks]

We had around 35 attendees at last night's BSIG event. We weren't really sure how it would go, as clouds dominated early, and forecasts were mixed. During dusk, we only had passing sucker holes to give us hope. Fortunately, around 8:15pm, the clearing line finally came thru from the north, and we had generally very clear skies the rest of the night.

Despite the uncertainty of clear skies early on, people still brought their telescopes. There were at least 20 set up across Metcalf Field of various types and sizes (see the attached pics). Some people came to get help with learning how to set up and use their scopes. Steve Emert helped set up a new Celestron Nexstar 130. Ian Behar and Alan Touchberry helped a new MAS member set up and use his dad's old Meade 8" LX 90 SCT. Another new member got help learning how to use an Orion 8" Dobsonian he had just gotten from the MAS Loaner fleet.

There were several people showing people objects thru their telescopes throughout the night. With my Orion 12" Dobsonian, I showed people the Moon, Saturn, Dumbbell Nebula, the Eastern/Western Veil Nebula, Caroline's Rose, the Andromeda Galaxy, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, M37 and the Double Cluster. To my amazement, under these not-too-dark Bortle 5 skies, everyone who looked at Neptune and Uranus thru my Dob was able to see not only Triton (mag. +13.7) around Neptune, but also fainter Titania (+13.8 mag.) and Oberon (+14.0 mag.) around Uranus! That was remarkable for the skies we were under! It seems that people that are attending these events are picking up some real observing skills... which was cool to see! They were amazed when I told them that Titania and Oberon were around 1,000 mile wide, and 1.7 billion miles away, and that little dot Triton they were seeing is just slightly smaller than our Moon, and was 3.1 billion miles away. As I said this I saw some people look at our Moon, which was still in the sky, and then they thought of Triton.

There were also some new imagers on the field that got some help getting their rigs going. The goodie table was a hit, once again. People are getting more innovative with the snacks they are bringing to share!

I finally left around 2am, but with the crisp, transparent air last night, a few imagers hung around almost till dawn. It was a nice way to end the outdoor BSIG season!

Thanks to Alan Touchberry, Jason Asper, Ian Behar, Gunnar Isberg, Don Gazdik, Phil Ramsay, Steve Emert and Ed Lo for helping out last night!

Below is our upcoming Winter BSIG Presentation calendar. More info on these events will be posted as we get closer, but please add these dates/times to your calendars.

- Sat. Dec. 16th 1:00pm -- Bob King
- Sat. Jan. 20th 1:00pm -- Mike Shaw
- Sat. Feb. 24th 1:00pm -- Dave Falkner
- Sat. March 24th 1:00pm -- Ahmed Reda

Attached are a few pics from last night's BSIG session.

Suresh

[DahnGee]

Great event

Thanks for organizing these Suresh!