Deerfield Astronomy.Net

Recently released and truly spectacular, this photographic collection of astronomical objects is a must have for anyone with an interest in space,  astronomy, science, or art. Amateur astronomer Pat Freeman has combined a lifetime of astronomical experience into a two year imaging project that has culminated with this amazing poster.

The Messier Objects are a set of astronomical objects cataloged by French astronomer Charles Messier in his catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters first published in 1774. The original motivation behind the catalog was that Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets. He therefore compiled a list of these objects. Pat’s poster is a present-day photographic record of Messier’s original catalog showing details and colors that alluded mankind until recent years.

Green Bank Star Quest is one of the nation’s premier star parties for the amateur astronomy community.  Marking its sixth anniversary, the GBSQ is the largest optical and radio astronomy star party in the nation.  In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, this years Star Quest theme is Solar and Lunar astronomy.  Captain Alan Bean, commander of Apollo 12 lunar module, will be the keynote speaker.  Other presenters will include Tom Crowley, Sue Ann Heatherly, Mark “Indy” Kochte, Dr. Jack Littleton, Dr. Michelle Shinn, Dr. Duncan Lorimer, Dr. Andrew Clegg, and many more.

The Central Appalachian Astronomy Club and the Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society of West Virginia have teamed up with the Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) to bring you the only combined OPTICAL and RADIO star party. 

June 24th through the 27th, 2009 at Green Bank, there will be lectures, imaging clinics, NRAO tours, daytime and nighttime observing, camp sites, raffle tickets, a Star Lab observatory, movies, kids’ activities, cafeteria service, shower facilities, limited bunk house accommodations, astronomy vendors, instruction on and use of a 40’ radio dish for a limited number of pre-registrants, and this year with the International Year of Astronomy each paid registrant will receive a Galileo scope kit to assemble in a classroom session.


GBSQ is held where the NRAO operates the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the world’s largest fully steerable single aperture antenna. In addition to the GBT, several other telescopes exist at the Green Bank site.  Green Bank is a peaceful area with a unique mix of striking natural beauty and state-of -the-art technology.

I’ve attended this star party several times in the past 6 years and it’s one of my favorite events of the year.  Lots of very friendly people, state of the art technology, very dark skies, and beautiful surroundings.  See you there June 24th – 27th.

Making the World’s Knowledge Computable…

Today’s Wolfram|Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone.  You enter your question or calculation, and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and growing collection of data to compute the answer.  Based on a new kind of knowledge-based computing…

Wolfram|Alpha’s long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. They aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. Wolfram’s goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries.

Living in southwestern Ohio between Cincinnati and Dayton provides one many opportunities to join area amateur astronomers for public stargazes.  What is a public stargaze?  The local amateur astronomer community gathers their telescopes and other astronomical instruments, set them up in a public location, and then for FREE let you, the public, look at a variety of planets, moons, stars, galaxies, and many more astronomical objects in the night sky.  Fun, Free, Family Oriented, Not a bad deal in these days of rapid inflation and rising oil prices.

Both the Cincinnati (CAS) and Miami Valley (MVAS) Astronomical Societies provide many of their own club public stargazes, but there are 6 special stargazes each year where the Cincinnati and Dayton clubs conduct Combined Club Stargazes.  These combined club events are well attended and usually have many telescopes to look through.  These stargazes are held at two locations, Caesar Creek State Park and Keehner Park. If you can only atttend one of the above 6 dates, the August 8th Meteor Shower Beach Camp-Out is usually our highlight public event of the year.

• April 4th Keehner Park (rain date May 11th)
• May 30th Keehner Park (No Rain Date)
• September 26th Keehner Park (Rain Date Oct. 3rd )

• June 27th Caesar Creek Campground
• July 25th Caesar Creek Campground
• August 8th Caesar Creek Beach (meteor shower camp-out)

Fellow amateur astronomer and friend Steve Tilford recently launched his new WebLog, Steve’s Astro Corner.  He’s very involved in astronomy public outreach in southwest Ohio.  As a member of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society as well as the Cincinnati Observatory Center, Steve also finds time to teach astronomy merit badges to area Boy Scouts.  He loves sharing his love of the night sky with people who might have never gotten a glimpse of wonders like Jupiter or the rings of Saturn.  Check in on Steve’s Blog and see what’s new when it comes to amateur astronomy around southwestern Ohio.