A STAR IS BORN, AND THEN….

Do you know the ” Curse of Iron” with respect to a star? 

Club member Patrick Hayes delivered a fascinating presentation on the life cycle of a star. His was the first presentation of the night at the SAG Star Party held at the Stratford Museum Friday, March 21. This was followed by Paul Bartlett’s presentation on the 15 Guide Stars of the Night Sky throughout the Seasons. Dr. Michael Burn’s wrapped up with a talk where he answered questions about the Universe.

(15 GUIDE STARS OF THE NIGHT SKY THROUGH THE SEASONS AND THE WINTER HEXEGON AND SUMMER TRIANGLE)

Fusing atoms is what generates energy for a star. With each fusion process beginning with hydrogen fusing into helium, energy is released.

This process continues in a star with each new fusion producing a new atom reflected in the periodic table. This fusion continues until  two silicon atoms fuse together into an iron atom.

As Patrick explains, “Iron doesn’t produce energy when it fuses, it absorbs energy”.

Do you know what comes next? Click HERE to view the presentation (A Star is Born and Then…), one of three  delivered at the Stratford Museum as part of the Star Party.

Following the talks, attendees went outside the museum where two SeeStar S50 telescopes were operated to view the night sky. 

Many thanks to Patrick and to presenters Paul Bartlett and Michael Burns as well. And to Patrick and to Ken Roberts for operating the telescopes.

Megan Patterson of the Stratford Museum was very pleased with the night. The museum donated $150 to the Stratford Astronomy Group.

Tom Kimber – News

 

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE

 

Sun

The night sky in the Stratford area was crystal clear last night and early Friday morning and all eyes were turned toward the eclipsing Moon.

Ken Roberts took this photo as the Moon was exiting its total phase in the early hours Friday, March 14.  He used the Seestar Z50 astrophotography Smart scope (for background on this scope and another ZWO smart telescope, click HERE).

As Ken points out, locating the Moon is not always as easy to”zero in on” as one might think. He says, “Upon starting, the S50 could not “goto” the Moon.
I asked it to goto another object (M100).
Then it knew its orientation and could goto moon”.

We will have some Z50 smart telescopes on display at the Friday, March 21 Star Viewing Party. Come. out and see for yourself.

Tom Kimber – News

CANADIAN COMPANIES INVOLVED IN FIREFLY MOON LANDING MISSION

 Two Canadian companies play important roles in the recent Firefly Aerospace moon lander mission. One, Integrity Testing Laboratory Inc.,  a manufacturer of moon dust repellent and the other, NGC  Aerospace based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, involved in the lander’s moon making system. Click on the above links to read their stories.

Tom Kimber – News

 

 

BIG BANG TALKS SUMMARY

 

Universe expanding over time

Over the past two years, at Club Meetings, when time permitted, Dr. Michael Burns has delivered on-going talks of the Big Bang based on the physical theory of the universe expanding from an initial high density and temperature state.  Members in attendance at any of these talks have been mesmerized by the presentations.

He plans to continue. For those needing a refresher (me for sure), here is a link to the Big Bang Talks Summary to-date.

Updated December 7, 2024

And for those curious about Space-time and how best to understand it and relativity, see this article by Sean Caroll appearing in Quanta Magazine. To read. the story, click HERE

Tom Kimber – News

 

Another Budget Friendly Entry into Astrophotography from ZWO

 

Following in the path of the SeeStar S50 Smart Telescope is an even smaller ZWO product, the SeeStar S30 Smart Telescope.

This “little brother” telescope comes equipment with similar high quality optics, GoTo functionality and internal technology within a highly affordable, miniature build.

 

For a comparison of the two smart telescopes, you can view this video by clicking HERE

You can view the discussion published in March about the SeeStar S50 by clicking HERE.

Tom Kimber – News

SEESTAR S50 IMAGES

 

M45 Stacked and processed 21 Frames

Hello, fellow SAG members. I have many of the club’s astro equipment stored in my garage. I wanted to try out the SeeStar S50 so I arranged to borrow it from Patrick Hayes for two nights.  Patrick is the custodian of the SeeStar and its equipment. He has agreed to checkout and receive back this telescope for club members.

 To reserve you chance to try it out in your own yard, email Patrick at hayesp42@rogers.com. Your name will be placed on a loaner wait list.

With the  SeeStar S50, I took pictures of  M1 (the Crab Nebula), M15 Globular cluster in Pegasus, M33 Triangulum Galaxy and M45 Pleiades.

M33 processed short method final
M1 Stacked and processed 200 frames
M15 Stacked and processed 11 frames

I then processed them using the free software as described in the YouTube video by Cuiv the Lazy Geek. For the video I refer to, click HERE. I made a cheatsheet of the software mentioned in the video

And for members interested in the other equipment that you might checkout for borrowing, see this list HERE. If you area member and interested in an loan of any equipment in the above list, reach me at this email address: 1948paul.bartlett@gmail.com

Paul Bartlett

Keep looking up!

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 1925

I have an update to this story. Jim Goetz came to our November 5 meeting and made a request. He is a man on a mission. He showed this Eclipse photo that he obtained from the St. Marys Museum. It was taken in the greater Stratford area.

Where was this Eclipse photo taken?

Jim wants help identifying exactly where it was taken. See Jim’s notes attached here for guidance. The photographer was H.R. Robinson.

Tom Kimber – News

 

From the skies of Stratford, Tavistock and St. Marys we were treated to a partial solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.  We were not in the path of totality, so the Moon did not cover the complete face of the Sun.

But, on January 24, 1925, under different circumstances, a total solar eclipse was visible.

(See this review from the Tavistock Gazette of the 1925 astronomical event).

Jim Goetz, of the KW-RASC, will join us at our November 5th SAG meeting and present us with a unique view of this 1925 solar eclipse.

Please join us  Tuesday to hear what Jim has to say about this eclipse. The meeting takes place at St. Michael’s Secondary School on Oakdale St. in Stratford. Enter from the parking lot at the north of building. The meeting is held in Room #104.

Tom Kimber – News

GO TO HOME

VIEWING A 21ST CENTURY COMET

For the past two weeks we in the Stratford area have been treated to views in our post sunset skies of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, (AKA C2023-A3).

This comet from the Oort cloud was first discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory in chine on January 9, 2023 and independently found by ATLAS South Africa on February 22, 2023.

Now on its way back having passed around the Sun, it continues on a 80,000 year journey before its return. Back in 1996-1997, you might have seen Comet Hale-Bopp, another long-period comet and the most widely observed comet of the 20th century.

But, like all long-period comets, Hale-Bopp is not expected to return to the inner solar system until 4385.

Using the SeeStar S50, I was able to get images of the comet Sunday evening after 8:00 pm from the dark skies of South Perth. See these two images.

Keep looking up!

Tom Kimber – News

OBSERVING A COMET OR A NOVA WITH SEESTAR S50

SAG member Ken Roberts has difficulty observing the night sky through telescopes that use eyepieces.  After using the club’s SEESTAR S50 for astrophotography, he fell in love with viewing the night sky again.

He was so enamored with the SeeStar, that he ordered and puchased his own SeeStar S50. 

He uses a free website (listed below) to discover brief information on recent astronomical discoveries such as comets, minor planets and novas.

http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/Headlines.html

From this source,  he determines celestial objects for observation consideration using his  SeeStar S50. Comet C2023-A3, soon to be visible in the October night sky, was his prime target until he released the risks involved. This comet is trackable but still very close to the sun. The S50 likes to track around a bit when orienting. Therefore  too much risk exits that it
might end up pointing at the sun, and burn out its sensor.

(Keep in mind that October 12 just after sunset in Stratford is the best time to observe comet C2023-A3 with binoculars or other telescopic equipment. Click HERE to read Ethan Siegel’s article publishing in BIG THINK for more details).

Then, using the SeeStar, why not observe a nova? 

Ken describes “an  interesting exercise” he conducted, figuring out how to match up the nova image with the AAVSO finder chart, for instance, to photograph a recent nova, V615-Vul. 

To read Ken’s article, click HERE

As Ken points out, there is another nova on on the way, T Corona Borealis, getting attention in astronomical news for some months now.  Latest prediction is that the nova may occur by the end of Oct-2024.  When it happens, it could be a mag 3 or even mag 2 object.

( Click HERE for a post by Ezzy Pearson and Chris Lintott published in BBC Sky at Night Magazine on where in the night sky to see this nova).

Keep looking up.

Tom Kimber – News