Star Party 2009 » Telescope

Cheapest Telescope : IYA FirstScope

admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 09:42:00 +0000

IYA 2009 & IYA 2009 Global Sponsor: Celestron proudly present the latest featured official product of IYA 2009, FirstScope Telescope. This standard Dobsonian style telescope is ideal for an amateur and it’s so lovely that anyone is attracted to its awesome look. The FirstScope comes with a reflector optical tube with 76 mm aperture.

This handy astronomical telescope is easy to carry outdoors and use. The user-friendly navigation allows you to direct the tube into whatever direction you like and observe the heavens. What is more exciting is FirstScope is only priced at $ 24.50 (US Currency) plus shipping payments. The FirstScope is available within the IYA 2009 Network. Unfortunately the individual orders are not accepted and the orders should be made via the Single Points of Contacts as bulk orders. IYA 2009 Single Points of Contacts, who are willing to order the telescope should contact Celestron, before 30 June 2009, which is the deadline.

Celestron FirstScope – Order Form

Name:
Country:
Organisation:
Shipping Address:
E-mail:
Telephone:
Number of FirstScopes:

Please send the order form as soon as possible (before 30 June 2009) to: mmeskill@celestron.com

For more information please contact:

Michelle Meskill
Celestron
Marketing Manager
Tel.: +1-310-328-9560 ext. 205
E-mail: mmeskill@celestron.com
or visit: http://www.celestron.com/

Galileoscope Impresses All, Tried it?

admin — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Being strangers to their own skies, our ancestors were able to observe the heavens, 4 centuries ago, as the telescope came into being. He was none other than Galileo Galilei, an Italian who changes the way of the flow of the world. He was so selfless that he illustrated his observations and published them and left behind all of the legacies with his demise. However with gratitude to this influential man, his offspring is advancing towards distant goals and thus 2009 remarks the 400th anniversary of the primordial telescopic observations, ever done by an Earthling -Galileo-

Although Galileo’s telescope was so primitive relative to present telescopes, it was smart enough to let Galileo observe the purified cosmos. Among his observations, were Jupiter’s satellites, Saturn’s rings, phases of Venus and Moon’s craters.

Now Guess What?

Since it’s IYA 2009 already, you still have the rights to recall what Galileo might have seen. Not a Déjà vu for you, but for him, in case he still existed. It’s the Galileoscope.

It’s great to see that Galileoscope ranks among other equivalents Cornerstand projects and the idea is to create a replica of what Galileo used 4 centuries ago. Follwing would be what is required to assemble this phenominal legacy.

A glass of 2-inch lens
Plastic casing
Eyepiece
Barlow lens

Actually Barlow lens are used to double the magnification and the construction of Galileoscope is expremely simple. Even a child could do it with a little support of a mature. For anyone interested in buying a Galileoscope, we got good nows. It’s only $15!. Unbelieavable ha?

However the ambition of the promoters is to make telescopes as cheaply as possible worldwide ans physically enabling anyone to observe the skies, while spreading the news of the IYA 2009 in every nook and corner.

Furthermore, the organizers have made it such that you can have the privilege of donating a telescope to the needy, anywhere in the world. A telescope can be donated anonymously for only $12.50. If you have time, feel free to pay a visit to the Galileoscope page. There are many resources available to be obtained and benefited. Even if you feel so generous, don’t throw away the idea of donating a telescope to a fellow earthling on your very mother planet.

University of Texas at San Antanio (UTSA) Celebrates IYA 2009

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:45:00 +0000

BRIEFING:

An interesting IYA 2009 promoting session has been arranged by the UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy and these sessions are to be held at the end of the every month starting from February 2009. The first session “Friday Nights, Celestial Lights!” was a grand successful event, which was held from 6:30 p.m. onwards on Friday, Feb. 27 with a free screening of “Cosmic Voyage” in the Science Building Theater (2.01.12) on the 1604 Campus.

In these sessions UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy invites public to UTSA Science Building to view a multimedia presentation, to observe through the telesccopes of the department and to learn about astronomy and IYA 2009. Admission will totally be free, of course.

FEATURES:

“An interesting overview of the universe”, the film narrated by actor Morgan Freeman was first shown in IMAX theaters. It is planned, if the night sky is clear, to enable telescope viewing following the movie at 7:30 p.m. on the Science Building fourth-floor patio. Additionally for sky observation, there will be a 15-inch Newtonian telescope and several 8-inch Cassegrain telescopes. The theater and the roof patio are wheelchair accessible. Therefore anyone could just visit and experience the benefits of IYA 2009 and astronomy with modern facilities and professionals, who will be readily available during the sessions.

OBSERVATION

With a clear sky, there will be great views of Venus; the crescent moon; the constellations Orion, Gemini, Taurus and others; the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda galaxy. Saturn will be seen at the end of the session at 9:30 p.m.

Apart from this monthly session there would be more opportunities where anyone could get access to the information and activities, especially conducted in affiliation with IYA 2009. Paying tribute to Galileo Galilei’s efforts after 400 years, UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy have arranged a variety of scenarios and projects to improve the understanding of Astronomy and IYA 2009 in general. According to the agenda, there are more educational activities for children and families, telescopic observation and star-gazing, multimedia, screening of films, professional lectures in the long run to happen.

The ultimate target of the series is to communicate the impact of astronomy on society and culture over the last 400 years, while sparking interest in astronomy by a new generation of space explorers. The sky is always ready for those who want to learn more about the universe.

The Universe, Yours to Discover

Stay tuned with updates:

e-mail Daniel Boice, Eric Schlegel, or Mark Jurena

MiraCosta College is on its way to unveil spectacular mural-sized images

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:48:00 +0000

MiraCosta College now reserves the privilege of hosting the unveiling of 2 new mural-sized images of the famous spiral galaxy M 101 (Messier 101). The unveiling will be from NASA’s Three Great Observatories: namely The Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Updates/ Reports

There was a public talk by Dr. Michelle Thaller of the California Institute of Technology on Friday, February 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the gym at MiraCosta, 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside and this was followed by a star-gazing party where the attendees got an opportunity to enjoy the starry night skies with MiraCosta’s telescopes and other facilities. The admission was free for anyone and that was aimed at popularizing the IYA 2009 activities and having a general impression on public.

It was also highlighted that the free distribution of a limited number of 8”x10” lithographs of M101 drew much attention to the event. Lithographs were issued on first-come first-served basis. However the images are on display at MiraCosta throughout the year 2009.

Additional detail is available from MiraCosta astronomy professor Rica Sirbaugh French at (760) 757-2121, ext. 6506.

Comet Lulin Updated

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:15:00 +0000

The Path of the comet Lulin

Click the image to get a clear view!

Through this image you can determine the path of the Green Comet and have clear observation without hassle.
The constellations beside the trajectory will help you to identify Lulin, when it comes to practical observation.
Of course the image is courtesy of Sky & Telescope

Happy B’day Galileo Galilei : It’s 445 already & last year it was 444

admin — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:26:00 +0000

Galileo’s birthday:

Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564. Neither his parents nor their neighbors in Pisa expected at the time that 436 years later a spacecraft named after him would be on its way to Jupiter, or that a crater on the moon would bear his name, or that more than two hundred thousand Galileo Internet sites could be accessed by a few computer keystrokes. But Galileo’s road to fame was not without its pitfalls, and he ended up nearly blind (from looking directly at the sun through his telescope) and a prisoner in his own house, courtesy of the Inquisition.

How did Galileo get into such trouble with the Catholic Church? The Church had already accepted the heliocentric theory of Copernicus as a working hypothesis, and Galileo himself had enough fame and prestige to be granted audiences by two successive Popes. But Galileo’s own daughter (a nun who was no mean thinker and astronomer herself, as their preserved correspondence proves) as well as many of Galileo’s influential friends warned him not to force the debate over Copernican theory into the religious arena: the Church was in the midst of the Counter-Reformation and wasn’t in the mood to be lectured on religion by a scientist.

In 1611 Galileo had made a well-publicized visit to Rome where Cardinals feted him and Pope Paul V praised his work. Cardinal Maffeo Barberini was particularly intrigued and met often with Galileo. But for the next twenty years, his relations with the Church deteriorated. Galileo became a politico-religious pamphleteer belligerently confronting both the Church and other scientists.

Galileo’s pamphlets were not bland scientific arguments, and he finally infuriated even Cardinal Barberini, who in 1623 had been elected Pope Urban VIII. In his famous Dialogue, published in 1632, Galileo cast the defenders of Aristotelian cosmology as fools, and he gave Simplicio, the most foolish of the fools, lines that clearly reflected Urban VII’s own publicized arguments in the ongoing cosmological debate. Almost simultaneously he alienated the Jesuits, who had previously defended him, by publicly and violently attacking their theory on the nature of comets (and Galileo was dead wrong on this one — he thought comets were “exhalations of the atmosphere.”) The Pope and the Jesuits did not participate in the attacks on Galileo, but they didn’t defend him either when the many enemies he had made brought his case to the attention of the Inquisition.

For information about the famous scientist, visit the following Internet sites:

For a biography and useful Galileo links:

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.html

For NASA’s Thursday’s Classroom information for Student’s, teachers and parents:

http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/

For the Catholic Church’s historically accurate if slanted defense of its dealings with Galileo:

http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Issues/GalileoAffair.html

For information of the Galileo space mission to Jupiter and its moons (which Galileo discovered):

http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/

NASA plans a party for Galileo

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) — The U.S. space agency is planning a special exhibit to celebrate Galileo’s 445th birthday and 2009′s designation as the International Year of Astronomy.

In conjunction with Galileo’s birthday next Sunday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is releasing images from its Great Observatories — the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and the Chandra X-ray Observatory — to more than 100 U.S. planetariums, museums, nature centers and schools.

“The selected sites will unveil a large 9-square-foot print of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 that combines the optical view of Hubble, the infrared view of Spitzer and the X-ray view of Chandra into one multi-wavelength picture,” NASA said. Each image presents a different wavelength view of that galaxy, illustrating how far astronomy has come since Galileo first turned his telescope to the sky in 1609.

“It’s like using your eyes, night vision goggles and X-ray vision all at the same time,” said Hashima Hasan, NASA’s lead scientist for the International Year of Astronomy.

Messier 101 is a spiral galaxy about 22 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.

The Feb. 14-28 unveilings will occur at 76 museums and 40 U.S. schools and universities. A list of the exhibits is available at http://hubblesource.stsci.edu/events/iya/participants.php

“You shall cost more for candles rather than the cake, and that indicates you’re getting old…” – Bob Hope

IYA 2009 LK affiliated Observation Camp at Piliyandala

admin — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:24:00 +0000

Yesterday, 13th of Feb. 2009 I got a chance of contributing to the 4th annual Observation Camp organized by the Leo Club, Piliyandala for the students of Kahapola Junior College. I was glad to see nearly 100 students from Grade 7 to 11 flocking together for such a scientific gathering. Camp took place at the college premises, starting at 6.30 pm and lasted till the the dawn of the next day.

The participants got a fair knowledge on Observational Astronomy and had a team work session, where they made impressive modes of the Colombia Space Shuttle in memory of the 6th anniversary of the honourable astronauts of the very Shuttle.

Apart from the indoor activity, they had the outdoor observation session and everybody got a clear impression on star charts and got familiar with celestial bodies, thus adding a variety for their normal routine. The Lunar phrases, and rings of the Saturn were clearly observed with a Newtonian Telescope with an Alti-Azimuth mounting system.

At the end everybody, including teachers and parents were capable of having a promising impression on Observational Astronomy. Accredited personnel from AALK ( Astronomical Association of Sri Lanka ), Skylk and ASSC ( Astronomy & Space Study Center ) contributed their voluntary service to this endeavour. Also a special thank goes out to the members and BoO of Piliyandala Leo Club for making the necessary arrangements under their Educational Projects.

This Observation Camp was held in affiliation with the IYA 2009 events of Sri Lanka.