CIAS Next Meeting 6th January 6:30 PM

The next meeting will be at Pedro’s Castle starting at 6:30 PM on-wards 

on Monday January 6 ^th 2014 – although I’m back – its only just - so Richard will be in charge. Meetings are cancelled if there is more than 50 percent cloud cover. It will be Richard making the executive decision that night, his cell is 9254917

As its Christmas I have decided to upload a modified form of the Astronomy Society Newsletter - now sent to members only. As it only costs 25 CI a year to support the Society its a bargain.The December meeting was not advertised on this Website but we did have a meeting offered by email  to our more keener members and non-members. This our last meeting this year was a particularly pleasant one and involved Clive Bodden’s catamaran “Yahoo Yahoo!” which proved an excellent stable platform to see the night sky somewhere in the North Sound near Booby Cay. It was particularly wonderful to see the WHOLE sky in one go, though when the boat tacked it took a while for everyone’s Apps to synchronize! Myriam produced a wonderful cake to celebrate the occasion including a picture of comet ISON, though of course ISON itself had long gone by then. Myriam also became the trips photographer.

I was going to spend some time reviewing the past year but it’s all there on the Facebook page, Astronomically we had two damp squib-like comets, a very partial eclipse at dawn when it was cloudy and probably the faintest penumbrial lunar eclipse seen for years! (Still, we had a good turnout for the UCCI STEM Conference Astronomy evening) 

For us as a Society it started  as a sad year with Nicks  Funeral but we also built on last year’s achievements’ too and finished up with a great evening boat trip into the North Sound 

Next Year

The Society is actually growing with the prospect of a new telescope and a number of events planned already for next year. These include the Cayman Arts Festival “Red Sky At Night” in February – a joint meeting (sometime and somewhere) with The National Trust for viewing and to discuss the ever growing problem of light pollution  If anyone wants to help with raising the profile of the International Campaign for Dark Skies here in Cayman  please contact me. (cpcooke@aol.com)

Ill also be advertising the “Beginners Evening Class in Astronomy” again in early January – to be held at the UCCI Observatory again. This will be the third time its run if we get the numbers. . Both Bill and Richard played a key part in the previous courses and that gives me the opportunity to say thanks for their help. Course is open to all and there’s no math!! More on this early in Jan 

Christmas and telescopes : This question is raised every year : What sort of telescope should I buy my  son/daughter/husband/wife/lover/friend for Christmas? It can be a minefield as there's a lot of rubbish around in such bargain shops  such as Cost-U-More and Bad-Buy. Here is a good article to read 

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/howtoequipment/3304526.html?page=1

Its a bit technical but one section sums it all up 

If you're set on buying new, be prepared to spend at least $200 to $400, and even then you have to be careful to avoid junk. If this is beyond your means, your astronomical aspirations will probably be best served by buying a decent pair of binoculars and a lawn chair. Remember that whatever investment you make should be of good enough quality to serve you well for decades. 

Night Sky For December Over Christmas The chart below is produced by the excellent site http://heavens-above.com/  Much thanks to Chris Pete for allowing us to use the chart for our latitudes It shows the sky for Grand Cayman for the 15^th of December at around 8:30 PM but is fine for the rest of the month at slightly earlier times . Note that that “Summer Triangle” has now gone and the Great Square of Pegasus (which was overhead on our boat trip) is now distinctly in the West. Jupiter is now high in the sky and in the constellation of the Twins (Gemini).  Its worth mentioning that Venus of course is still blazing in the West just after sunset at the beginning of the month but as December progresses the planet  gets closer and closer into the evening  twilight . Its now showing a real crescent phase through a telescope and worth catching a glimpse if you can 

All the best and hope to see you all at our meetings after Christmas. 

Chris Cooke

cpcooke@aol.com 

CIAS Next Meeting 8 November 7 PM Pedro's Castle

The next meeting  is on Friday Nov 8th  starting at 7 PM. Usual finish time is by 9 PM The meeting is a few days later than usual so we will be focusing more on the Moon than usual. All are welcome, please remember to dip lights on arrival.

November can be a very mixed month for the weather so if the evening looks more than 50 percent cloudy the meeting will be canceled, You can phone me (no texts or emails please) at 7:00 PM if in doubt 925 7657

This Sunday 3rd of November  a (very) partial solar eclipse is theoretically visible at Sun rise 06:26 AM from the Cayman Islands. It will probably be in the news but for our location the eclipse will be for the die hard enthusiasts. If you want to join me please feel free to email and depending on numbers a suitable location will be found,

If you are intending on viewing it alone please take adequate precautions - especially if you will be pointing cameras with  telescopic lenses at the sun. Remember the eclipse is here briefly for a few minutes  whereas you want to use your eyes for life.

Clear Skies Everyone

Chris 

CIAS News Busy Month for October 2013

The next Public meeting of the Astronomical Society to be held at Pedros Castle will be on Tuesday the 8th of October starting at 7:00 PM. All are Welcome Remember the meetings will be canceled if sky cover is more than 50 percent or if it is raining. If in doubt phone me on 925 7657 If you come to the site please dip headlights on arrival.

We are also involved in two other major events this month.

On Saturday October the 12th we will be at the "Night Under the Stars" at the National Gallery. This is a major fundraising event for the Estella Scott-Roberts Foundation

At the UCCI college the Society is involved with the STEM Conference  which runs from Wednesday 16th to Saturday the 19th. In particular there are two free events for the General Public.

 

On the evening of Friday 18^th  there is a lunar eclipse and the UCCI Observatory and the CIAS plan to observe from the UCCI Quadrangle. The Society will be there from 6 PM onwards, with the Moon rising above the buildings in eclipse at perhaps around 7:00 PM. By 8:50 the Eclipse is over.

 

On Saturday afternoon the 19th October  there is a family fun afternoon, which again includes the UCCI Observatory and the CIAS to observe the Sun. This will run from 2:30 till 4:30 PM. Other events that afternoon invove a display of robotics, music by a theramin, a Van De Graff Generator (with a teacher attached to it), an alchemist and a rubins tube.  

 

Towards the end of this month Comet ISON may become visible in the morning sky. More information on this and other events this month is in the Society newsletter which is availble free to all members. To join please come to our next meeting or email me with your interest.

 

Clear Skies (fingers crossed)

Chris Cooke tel 925 7657

 

cpcooke@aol.com

 

Also Face Book https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cayman-Islands-Astronomical-Society/176383499041399

 

Or just plain old “Internet” http://caymanastronews.blogspot.com/‎

Next Meeting is on August 11th Pedros Castle

Hi All The next Society meeting is on Sunday 11th August 7:30 PM at Pedro's Castle.

 Ive been told there is a big wedding the day before so hopefully the “lights” will have been broken down (!)  by the time we get there.  If its still flood lit then we will move to the cemetery across the road.

Where ever we are remember to dip your car headlights on approach.

Members of the public are welcome free of charge but its only a modest 25 CI to join us.

If the weather looks bad - and by that we mean more than 50 percent cloud cover  - the meeting will be cancelled. If in doubt ring me at 7:30 PM on 925 7657

Clear Skies !!

Chris Cooke
cpcooke@aol.com

Next Meeting For Everyone on Wed July 10th 2013

There will be a meeting of the Society next Wednesday evening 10th July starting at 7:30 PM, at Pedro's Castle in Savannah.

All are welcome.This time of the year the weather may be an issue so if cloud cover is greater than 50 percent then the meeting will be canceled. Any doubts then phone or text 925 7657 at 7:30 PM for a final verdict. REMEMBER TO DIM HEADLIGHTS ON APPROACH


Members Only this Saturday 6 July : UCCI Observatory
There is also a solar viewing session planned THIS Saturday 6 July to CIAS members or past attendees of the recent evening courses held at the UCCI college called "Introduction To Astronomy". This is a morning of Solar viewing where interested parties will be able to see various techniques to observe the Sun - assuming there is no cloud cover of course. Time planned are 10:00 AM until 12:00 - Again ring or text me if you plan to come but the weather is not good.

Members will also receive their Monthly newsletter in the next few hours. If you have not received it by Thursday please let me know



Other meetings planned for non-members
For non members we will be hopefully following the Solar Observing session  up with a free meeting for the general public - in collaboration with the UCCI . More on this later . We also of course still have the monthly meetings whihc are open to vistors and occasional vistors free of charge


How Do I become a Member?
To become a member please either

Contact Myriam Madigan myriam@candw.ky
Or send a cheque to

The Cayman Islands Astronomical Society
c/o PO Box 1601 KY1 1110

together with your name and email address 

Membership is 25 CI per perso and lasts one year from June 1st onwards

Regards Chris

Finally I've been asked to let you know the following from a member who is a keen sky watcher and dog lover

Used CAYMAN STAMPS are treasured collectors’ items throughout the world. they are being collected by heather haines to support a dog rescue fund in the UK. equally appreciated are ALL caribbean stamps- and also any and all other world stamps. in other words, ALL stamps help the cause!! THANK YOU to the many people who have already donated cancelled postage stamps to the Irish Wolfhound Rescue Fund.BUT REMEMBER this is an ongoing project, so keep those stamps coming!!!! THANKS!!!!

please send to:
dr. heather haines
box 31654 SMB
grand cayman KY1-1207

OR drop them off at ISLAND VETERINARY SERVICES addressed to heather haines.

Next Meeting Wednesday 12th June

The next meeting of the Astronomical Society will be at Pedro’s Castle starting at 7:30 PM onward on Wednesday  12th June 2013. All are welcome and there is no charge for occasional visitors. Ring or email if the weather looks bad and you are still intending on coming. Meetings are canceled if there is more than 50 percent cloud cover.

I would like to remind all who have been previous members to join us again this year. Please send cheques for 25 dollars to PO Box 1601 GT , or of course  you can pay on the night!

12 MAY 2013 NEXT MEETING PEDROS CASTLE 7:30 PM

The next meeting of the Astronomical Society will be at Pedro’s Castle starting at 7:30 PM onwards on Sunday 12th May 2013. All are welcome and there is no charge for occasional visitors. Ring or email if the weather looks bad and you are still intending on coming. Meetings are canceled if there is more than 50 percent cloud cover.




There is also a repeat of the evening course 'An Introduction To Astronomy" which was run for 7 weeks earlier this year. The course starts on May 14th and costs 125 CI. There is a mixture of informal lectures and outside star viewing's including use of telescopes, a fun packed 2 hour evening in fact. A "critical mass" is required for the course to start . Enrollment has now started and people are signing up....
If Interested please enroll at the UCCI College as the course is held at the Observatory. The College requires cash and sight of your passport.


The Society Newsletter will be posted on-line in a few days time. Members and people who have expressed interest in the Scoeity within the last 6 months have recieved their newsletter today



Hopefully Clear skies everyone - though the rain does seem to have arrived



Chris 925 7657

News Letter April 2013

The next meeting of the Astronomical Society will be at Pedro’s Castle starting at 7:00 PM onwards on Saturday 13th April 2013. All are welcome and there is no charge for occasional visitors. Ring or email me if the weather looks bad and you are still intending on coming. Meetings are cancelled if there is more than 50 percent cloud cover.


Comet PanSTARRs (C/2011 L4) came and passed us by. Mike Whiteman took a great photo between the clouds after Sunset to capture the comet but its brightness was very disappointing. I know no one who saw it with the naked eye. Observers further north can take advantage of the fact that the comet – currently in the constellation of Andromeda will set a lot later after sunset than here. The comet has now a much more pronounced fan shape to the tail rather than that seen when it was closer to the Sun as in Mikes photo.

Don’t forget we can still look forward to Comet ISON in November

The Star Chart below is taken from Chris Peats excellent website Heaven’s Above –. http://www.heavens-above.com. The site enables the user to produce a chart for the exact latitude of the observer. Many of the charts in Astronomical magazines and books – although of high quality and very readable aim for the latitudes where most of their readers live, certainly not for the Tropics. Here in Cayman we are privileged to be able to see many of the Southern Hemisphere stars which cannot be seen at higher latitudes.

The chart is for 8:00 PM on Saturday 13th April as seen from George Town

On this evening the Moon is seen not far from Jupiter, and also the bright red star Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus will be nearby too. This sort of alignment doesn’t really have a special significance but it’s interesting to look at!

There are two bright planets visible in the evening this month, we have the brilliant Jupiter now very much in the Western Sky and also in the East we now have the planet Saturn. Between the two planets – you should also be able to make out the two bright stars of the constellation of Gemini whose names I always enjoy – Castor and Pollux and moving further to the East the red star Regulus, which is in the constellation of Leo.

As the month progresses and if we watch at the same time each night Jupiter will set earlier into the West and Saturn will rise earlier in the East. To the ancients the planets appeared as bright “wandering stars”, the word planet comes from the ancient Greek meaning literally as wanderer. However the “wandering” of the planets is more about the planets moving against the background of the stars over several months rather than the measured changes we are seeing here this month. That background of stars was divided up by early mankind into constellations, and not necessarily the ones we call them today.

Jupiter and Saturn are called outer planets because they orbit the Sun in their respective orbits at greater distances than the Earths path around the Sun. Because of this, we see their movements against the constellations on average as a rather slow change in position in an eastward direction. So Jupiter is in fact moving slowly towards the constellation of Gemini – and will be seen in this constellation next year (2014). Saturn is even more distant than Jupiter so its movement is correspondingly slower but nonetheless it still moves. It is currently in the constellation of Scorpius

There is another small change to the planet position in their slow moves to the east – which I think probably went even further to their name of “wanderers” and that is an effect called retrograde motion. Here an outer planet for example Jupiter will be seen to start moving “backwards” for a short while and then change direction again back to the east. This effect, easily explained in text books (and avoided here for brevity) is due to the Earths own motion around the Sun. Jupiter will be heading “backwards” later this year in November and December before resuming again in an easterly direction in January.

Finally for the early risers the elusive planet Mercury can be found close to a waning crescent moon on April 8th. Venus and Mars are too close to the Sun at the moment to be seen

Society News can happen quickly so also check http://caymanastronews.blogspot.com/

We are planning a second “Introduction to Astronomy” course, which will start in the summer term in early May. If you are interested in attending watch out for news in the press or of course contact us if you haven’t heard anything. Cost is around 125 CI and the advertisements will be coming out in the next few weeks

Finally a number of people have suggested different ideas on meetings in the future and Im more than happy to take them on board, but not single handed! Also with Nick out of action, the 10 inch Dobsonian has an interesting position in the Cookes’ sitting room at the moment. So Ill be organizing an “extraordinary” meeting (late April?). Meantime any ideas and how many hours you can offer the Society please let me know .Clear Skies Everyone

Chris Cooke
cpcooke@aol.com 925 7657

News Letter March 2013

The next meeting will be at Pedro’s Castle starting at 7:15 PM onwards on Thursday 14^th March. All are welcome and there is no charge for occasional visitors. Ring or email me if the weather looks bad and you are still intending on coming. Meetings are cancelled if there is more than 50 percent cloud cover.

“Red Sky at Night” on Saturday 23 February was a huge success, we estimated over 500 people visited “Astronomical Avenue” and it looks like we are back for next year too,

At the UCCI Observatory the telescope making course run by Bill finished with some good publicity.  Two of the scopes attended “Red Sky at Night” and performed really well

The “Introduction to Astronomy” course on Tuesday Evenings has one more week to go I write this newsletter .A follow up course at Easter has been promised, but again dependant on numbers. Last night (5^th March) whilst outside observing we were all surprised to see a bright meteor-like object cross the sky at around 8:45 PM. The object was very bright and lasted 3-4 seconds. Was this a man-made flare? It was difficult to say – If anyone else saw this object - other than the 15 people attending the course (!) let me know

So let’s move on to what’s going on this month –. Comet Pan-STARRS has been putting on a show south of the Equator but now its orbit takes it into the Northern Hemisphere.  The first easy chance to see the comet will be on March 12^th when the comet will be close by a near-new moon or why not come to the Society meeting on the 14^th?

Look to the West after sunset- it will not a bright object but with luck will be visible as a smudge in the evening twilight. Binoculars will help but please ensure the sun has safely set.

Those with Internet access go to http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance for a very simplified chart showing its visibility after sunset. The comet should be visible next month too but will be very much fainter.

The name of the comet is interesting. Only a few years ago, comets were discovered by keen amateur astronomers with no more than a pair of good binoculars. More recently – unless the discovery has been a lone non-professional astronomer, the discovery has been named after the telescope, or even more recently by networks of robotic telescopes. Pann-STARRS is such an array based in Hawaii designed to detect near-Earth objects, its funding is mainly from the US Air Force but also includes academic institutions world-wide including the UK and Germany.

 Interestingly we have another bright comet later this year – Comet ISON is named after another International network of telescopes – this one is predominantly Russian Federation (is there such a thing?) in funding but with input from other countries such as Switzerland and Spain (ok ,ESA) . Comet ISON will either be spectacle or a damp squib, who remembers Kohoutek?!!

Meanwhile there’s now a third comet which may reach naked eye visibly in April – although much less bright compared to the two already mentioned, it is photographically a very pretty (green) comet. Needless to say comet Lemmon is named after a telescope rather than a person.  However as traditionally comets were the bringers’ of doom and bad news, we should expect some media fall-out soon. For me I’ll quote the old bard Shakespeare himself

“When beggars die there are no comets seen;
  the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes."

Fingers crossed everybody.

Meanwhile let’s have a quick look at the night sky for around 15^th February 8 PM EST as seen from Spotts Beach, Grand Cayman. The chart below comes with the permission of Chris Peat who runs the excellent Heavens’ Above website (http://www.heavens-above.com) it’s also very good for predicting satellite crossings.

The chart shows Jupiter still high in the sky close to Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. Orion is still easily visible too.  Look out for Leo (The Lion) rising in the East. Some three hours later at around 11 PM Leo will now be nearly overhead, and at this time it will be majestic Saturn rising in the East.

Society News can happen quickly so also check http://caymanastronews.blogspot.com/ and our Facebook page – although I’ve been so busy writing up the course notes for the Astronomy Class I’ve been neglecting things of late

Clear Skies Everyone Chris (925 7657) or cpcooke@aol.com

News Letter February 2013

The next meeting of the Astronomical Society will be at Pedro’s Castle starting at 7:00 PM onwards on Friday 15th February. All are welcome and there is no charge for occasional visitors. Ring or email me if the weather looks bad and you are still intending on coming. Meetings are cancelled if there is more than 50 percent cloud cover.




The Society has also been invited to a special event at this years’ Cay Fest called “Red Sky at Night” on Saturday 23 February. This is a paid event but there is free entry for anyone who wants to help the Society out. First come first served. We have a good dark spot and will be there from 8 PM till 10 PM, Let’s hope for clear skies!!



At The UCCI Observatory the Telescope making course run by Bill Hrudey on Monday Evenings is progressing well – in a month or so there could be seven 6 inch Dobsonian Telescopes ready for action. After much arm twisting (mine) the Introduction to Astronomy course on Tuesday Evening is proving to be a huge hit and was heavily oversubscribed. A follow up course at Easter has been promised.



The big news that will be in the press this month is of the close approach of an asteroid called 2012 DA14, at 2 PM EST on Feb 15th. This lump of rock is about 150 ft wide and about 130,000 metric tons in weight. At its closest approach will only be 17,000 miles from the Earth’s surface. If that seems along way “up” to you then consider that geostationary satellites that provide our satellite TV orbit at a height of 22,200 miles – so this takes the record for the closest known approach, for an object this size, though we are told by NASA we are quite safe (!) and that the chances of an object like this hitting the Earth are on average a mere once every 1,200 years.



The Star Chart below is taken from Chris Peats excellent website Heaven’s Above –. http://www.heavens-above.com. The site enables the user to produce a chart for the exact latitude of the observer. Many of the charts in Astronomical magazines and books – although of high quality and very readable aim for the latitudes where most of their readers live, certainly not for the Tropics. Here in Cayman we are privileged to be able to see many of the Southern Hemisphere stars which cannot be seen at higher latitudes.



The chart is for 8:30 PM on Friday 15th February as seen from George Town

Overhead along with a 5 day old moon there will also be seen a very bright “star” which is in fact the planet Jupiter. The imaginary line shown on the chart is called the ecliptic and the Sun, Moon and all the planets with the exception of Pluto follow this path. As is now well known Pluto was demoted few years ago to a “dwarf planet”. One of the several reasons for this is simply because it does not orbit the Sun in the same plane as the other planets.



When observing the sky at our latitude of 19 degrees North there are occasions when the ecliptic – and hence the planets are almost overhead. In other countries – for example those in Northern Europe the ecliptic can be so low in the sky the planets can only be glimpsed between buildings and trees.



The planets Mars and Mercury are hard to find in our evening sky just after sun set- although on February 12th the Moon will not be too far away. Look at the horizon below the Moon and in the darkening sky between you should if lucky just see two star-like objects. The higher of the two will be Mercury.

Wishing You Clear Skies

January News

I’m sure some of you have been thinking what happened to our January meeting at Pedro’s Castle and Nick’s monthly newsletter


Unfortunately 2013 brings changes to the Astronomical Society as Nick has taken a back seat in the Society for the time being due to Ill health

So apart from calling for volunteers’ and a current respite from collecting membership fees we will hopefully have our next meeting at Pedro’s Castle in mid February, I’ll try to avoid the 14!
Remember are meetings at Pedros are free of charge






Other Events
==========
We have been planing for sometime to offer to the General Public an Introductory course on Astronomy. This will be held at the UCCI Observatory and will cover both classroom and practical sessions. The course is non technical and open to all . The course will be taught by myself, Bill Hrudey and Richard McCloud and is an offical course  offrred by the UCCI. Because of this The cost of the course is CI $125 (plus an addition registration fee – either $10 or $25)


The course is for 7 weeks and will be held on Tuesday Evenings at 7:30 PM, starting 29th Jan
Registration for the course should be made by Friday 18th at the Admin Office on campus. However as this is a bit short notice and how to register at the college is somewhat of a grey area if you are unfamiliar with the procedure we have organized a free evening to sign up .
This will be held at the UCCI Observatory on Tuesday 22nd at 7:30 PM.

If enough people have registered then the course will commence the following Wednesday 27th January at 7:30 PM

For those wishing to register directly with the UCCI Admin Office by Friday – it is best located by asking the security guard on entering the campus.



Best Wishes to All in 2013 , and Clear Skies