January Meeting, et al.

Greetings Reader – I hope message this finds you well.

Next meeting: Our next meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society will be on January 13 at 7:30 PM at the Science Museum of Virginia. We will be meeting in the East Terrace. If you are not familiar with this meeting space, the Museum’s security guard can direct you.

Leslie Bochenski, with the Science Museum, will be presenting on the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), 2009. This will be very topical since the IYA is now 11 days old and a number of activities to celebrate the year are gearing up. Please join us at the meeting if you can. A number of us will be gathering at the Arby’s across the street from the Science Museum for dinner before the meeting. Everyone is welcome.

More about IYA 2009: Lots of information about the International Year of Astronomy is appearing on various web sites. The main US site is at: http://astronomy2009.us/

365 Days of Astronomy: An audio podcast for each day of the year. A number of dedicated individuals are producing some very interesting podcasts for each day of the IYA. Definitely worth a listen. The fine people who produce AstronomyCast are doing a lot to support the 365 Days of Astronomy project and other IYA efforts. Both podcasts are great and those of us that regularly listen to the podcasts very much appreciate the time and effort that goes into their production. http://365daysofastronomy.org/

Comet Lulin: Some of our amateur astronomer friends have been attempting to view Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin). Comet Lulin was discovered in 2007 at a Chinese observatory and has been predicted to reach a brightness of 5th magnitude in late February, which should make it an interesting sight through binoculars. It may even become visible with the naked eye in a dark sky. An article about Comet Lulin is on the Sky and Telescope web site. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html

Science of Museum Skywatch: Don’t forget about the Science Museum of Virginia’s skywatch held on the third Friday of each month. On this day, members of our society set up telescopes on the front lawn of the Science Museum to show the night sky to members of the public. Before the skywatch at 6:00 PM, the Museum also presents LiveSky in the Ethyl Planetarium. During the LiveSKy show, which is free by the way, a museum astronomer presents a view of the night sky using the planetarium’s digital projector and answers questions from the audience.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society
www.richastro.org

IYA 2009 Video: