Photo of the Month for July, 2019

Rho Ophiuchi
June 7,2019
@ 2019 Anthony Quintile

My goal with this photo was to capture Jupiter while it was near the Rho Ophiuchi Nebula and neighbors. I was excited to also capture Callisto at 2:00 next to Jupiter, I think M4 is pretty good, considering the focal length, and, given the short exposure, I was glad to get some of the Blue Horsehead. I was also glad that M80 turned out to be a star cluster and not something I screwed up in processing.

This was my first real effort with a guided SLR lens shot, (as opposed to a telescope). I was hopeful that the “vintage” Pentax lens I bought for $30 would deliver, and I really feel it did! This image is uncropped, and although it has some distortion in the corners, I think it is pretty acceptable.

This image was shot at Doney Mountain Picnic Area near Wupatki National Monument. The bottom right corner was showing light pollution from Flagstaff. It took a lot of work in processing to get that part of the sky relatively neutral, but I learned a few new tricks. It’s still not perfect. I did learn that widefield AP is far more susceptible to light pollution gradients, which is obvious I guess, but I hadn’t dealt with this yet.

Anthony Quintile

This is not a true "Photo of the Month". There is no voting. Anyone wishing to have their astronomical photo posted here please send the request to: info@coconinoastro.org.

Activities for October 2019

Monthly Meeting for September

Saturday, October 12, 2019
Rick Edmonds

Title: “DOD Satellites - Up Close & Personal”

Richard Edmonds is a retired Air Force satellite Operations and Flight Director. He served over 20 years in satellite procurement, launch and orbital operations. The recent declassification of several 'Black Programs' allow that he may now talk about Photo Reconnaissance, Missile Warning, Communications and Technology Demonstrator satellites. He will discuss their launch, orbital operations and the various mission roles of Gambit, Hexagon, DSP, MILSTAR, Teal Ruby and STSS satellites. The focus will be missions and how satellites are maintained in orbit.

CAS Monthly Meetings and Astronomical Programs are held the Saturday closest to the Full Moon at the Mars Hill Campus of Lowell Observatory, Hendricks Center for Planetary Studies Auditorium (6:45 pm - 8:00 pm., unless otherwise noted) followed by refreshments, and informal discussion. Meetings are open and free to the public.

What's New

Asteroid (25226)Brasch is named after our member Klaus Brasch

"I was totally flabbergasted and delighted today, at a special luncheon that an asteroid (25226) Brasch was named for me by Lowell Observatory to commemorate my 10 years there as a volunteer in the public program, and for writing numerous magazines articles about astronomy and the Observatory's contributions therein. Several of the other long standing volunteers were similarly honored."

Klaus Brasch