Stockton Astronomical Society

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The Stockton Astronomical Society (SAS) meets on the second Thursday of the month at the Clever Planetarium at Delta College at 7:30 pm. Visitors are welcome.
A monthly star party is usually held on a Saturday near a new moon.

Due to the remodeling of the Clever Planetarium, SAS meetings have been moved to UOP, Olson Hall, Room 120 for the next two months.

See map on page 2 of the newsletter.

Coming Up [view SAS Sky Calendar (37.7 KB PDF file) August 2008]

Saturday, July 26 at sunset -- Highway 4 Star Party

Friday, August 1 -- New Moon
Saturday, August 2 at 7:00 pm -- Midsummer Family Potluck Picnic and Star Party
Friday, August 8 at 8:30 pm -- Sky Tours (Shima 2 parking lot)
Thursday, August 14 at 7:30 pm -- Regular Meeting of SAS at UOP, Olson Hall, Room 120
Saturday, August 16 -- Full Moon
Saturday, August 30 -- New Moon
Saturday, August 30 at sunset -- High Altitude Star Party

SAS News

SAS August 14^th Meeting (at UOP, Olson Hall, Room 120 -- see map on page 2 of the newsletter)

Stockton Astronomical Society presents:

Astrophotography

Earlier this summer, Chris Patel attended the Golden State Star Party (GSSP) at its new more isolated (darker and clearer) location near Adin, California. On August 2nd, Chris will be at Peddler Hill for our summer potluck, again a new location. At both events, he hopes to do lots of imaging-celestial and terrestrial.

You've seen Chris' articles on astrophotography in Valley Skies recently. He has shown that though astrophotography can be a very expensive hobby, it is fairly easy to begin and can be enjoyed without turning into a financial black hole.

For our August meeting, Chris Patel will share many of the stellar and earthly images from the two recent star parties, giving us the experience of attending the GSSP vicariously. There's a link to the GSSP web site in the Wikipedia article on star parties. Hmm...I didn't see the SAS Midsummer Picnic mentioned.

Chris will also have much of his astrophotography equipment set out as well. He will demonstrate how the various pieces work together and he will show how you can get started in this awe-inspiring hobby. He's hoping for lots of questions.

Chris will bring the photos and the equipment. It'll be up to you to bring your curiosity, and perhaps a few ooh's and ahh's.

...Jerry Hyatt, Program Director

What's to See Tonight

This Week's Sky at a Glance
(Sky and Telescope Magazine)
Abrams Planetarium
Heavens-Above

Astronomy in the News

Thinking of Buying a Star?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

California's First Astronomical Observatory

George Madeira and His Observatory

Picture of the Day

From Goddard Space Flight Center

Weather Information

From The Weather Underground:

From the US Naval Observatory

NASA Released Photo and Info Sheet

News Items

The following individual articles are maintained on other sites that have various archival or retention dates and therefore, the link to these articles cannot be guaranteed.

Settling Old Debates, Making New Discoveries at Mercury (Spaceflight Now - 7/3/08)
Asteroid-hunting Satellite Will be a World First (Spaceflight Now - 6/26/08)
Strange Asteroid Shapes Explained (Space.com - 7/3/08)
Smallest Planet Shrinks in Size (BBC News - 7/4/08)
Gamma-Ray Hunter Powers Up (Space.com - 7/2/08)

The Stockton Astronomical Society (SAS) was founded as a non-profit California corporation to foster interest in and promote the general knowledge of astronomy and related sciences.

Member: International Dark-Sky Association
Member: Astronomical Association of Northern California

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