Amateur Astronomers Association

https://aaa.org//astrophysical-lessons-from-gravitational/ 2021-2022 Lecture Series Astrophysical Lessons from Gravitational-Wave Detections October 12 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EDT; Venue: Zoom... Sharan Banagiri, Northwestern University The last decade has seen the rapid rise of gravitational-wave astronomy, made possible by the astonishingly sensitive LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. The number of gravitational wave detections has skyrocketed and each year seems to promise something new. Sharan will give a brief introduction to gravitational-wave astronomy and then will describe the latest discoveries and what they tell us about the universe; including the first intermediate-mass black holes ever detected and the first potential neutron star black-hole binaries. Sharan will then give an outlook for the future and what new things we can expect over the next decade.

We will have our final observing session for the year at Carl Schurz Park this Friday evening, October 15. We can start as early as 7:00 p.m. at the usual spot, 86th Street overlooking the East River. The focus this time is on the International Observe the Moon event.

Join the Amateur Astronomers Association for NASA’s International Observe The Moon Night! Learn more about International Observe the Moon Night here: https://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night/

https://www.freep.com//dont-look-up-msu-astron/6024574001/

For all solar observers: Note this nice, big sunspot group, with its surrounding active zone, nearing the center of the disk. H-alpha observers: Watch this spot; you may catch a flare. https://spaceweather.com/images2021/09oct21/hmi1898.gif

AAA member Steve Bellavia captured several superb images of the Elephant's Trunk Nebula (IC 1396). Steve says this: [For the monochromatic images] "I only spent 36 minutes (9 x 4-minute exposures) on this object with a Hydrogen-Alpha filter. It was very nice on my laptop screen, and many got to enjoy it under a very bright, but clear moonlit sky."... [For the color images] "The colors are somewhat arbitrary, but I kept the Ha-data in the red family and the OIII in the blue-green, since that is the colors these regions emit. But my main motive for the color and contrast I chose was to emphasize the various emission, reflection and dark nebulae, specifically the numerous Bok globules in this region. (Bok globules are isolated and relatively small dark nebulae, containing nearly totally opaque, dense interstellar dust and gas from which star formation may take place.)" The images may also be seen here, with information about the object and the equipment and processes used to produce the images. https://www.astrobin.com/bmkroo/0/ https://www.astrobin.com/bmkroo/B/ https://www.astrobin.com/ealz6b/D/ https://www.astrobin.com/ealz6b/E/

STARGAZING to follow reading, at 8:45 p.m.-9:45 p.m. PIONEER WORKS, 159 Pioneer St., Brooklyn Join us on October 25 for a staged reading of the pilot episode of "The Harvard Computers"an original television series written by Graham Sack, recipient of the 2021 Sundance Institute / Sloan Foundation Episodic Fellowship. Hosted by astrophysicist Janna Levin. ... "The Harvard Computers" tells the true story of a group of extraordinary women who braved gender and class discrimination to become America’s first female astronomers, shattering the glass ceiling in science and higher education. https://pioneerworks.org//the-harvard-computers-staged-rea

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We're starting to observe again at Lincoln Center. See dates and times below. October 8, 7:30-11pm October 16, 7:30-11pm- International Observe the Moon Night... October 29, 7:30-11pm November 12, 7:30-11pm See more

The AAA's Peter Deller took this image of Saturn a couple of weeks ago. Peter says, "I captured Saturn with a Meade 6 ACF, asi462mc and Celestron 2X barlow mounted on a CEM40ec. This is the best image I’ve gotten of this planet, or at least the best process I’ve done if it. "Planet season is just about over now. I’ll miss seeing and imaging these gas giants in the sky."

Here are some recent images by the AAA's Steve Bellavia, showing the Soap Bubble and the Crescent nebulae. https://www.flickr.com//125134422/albums/72157719798773821

https://www.nytimes.com///william-shatner-blue-origin.html "He’s boldly going where Jeff Bezos has gone before."

NASA’s Lucy Mission Prepares for Launch to Trojan Asteroids https://www.nasa.gov//nasa-s-lucy-mission-prepares-for-lau Lucy’s first launch attempt is scheduled for 5:34 a.m. EDT on Oct. 16.

Solar observing, Saturday, October 30, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Amsterdam Avenue at 83rd St. This event had been canceled on its originally scheduled Aug. 22 date, but has since been rescheduled as above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y60j3nC-Od4 Tuesday, January 26, at 11 am ET

https://www.voicesofascension.org/astronautica Tickets to the world premiere on January 27th at 7 pm are just $15. "Astronautica - Voices of Women in Space, a newly commissioned work of music, voice, and video by women composers, has a libretto drawn from the words of the women who have traveled in outer space and seen our world from a dramatic new perspective. Astronautica is an artistic evocation of the transformation that happens when one sees our small planet set against the endless blackness of space. Without borders. Without the artificial boundaries that divide and could well destroy humankind. Astronautica launches Voices of The New, Voices of Ascension’s new commissioning program."

'Oumuamua is in the news again with the publication of Loeb's book. He proposes that 'Oumuamua's unexplained acceleration could be accounted for if it were an artificially produced solar sail. https://www.newyorker.com//have-we-already-been-visited-by

A message from AAA member Jason Cousins inviting all to an AOS virtual lecture on Sunday: I would like to take a moment of your time and extend an invite from another club that I am a Board Member of, AOSNY (Amateur Observers Society of New York) Located on Long Island, with coverage of both Nassau & Suffolk Counties, AOSNY has been providing Virtual Lectures on two Sundays a month since the Pandemic first started.... Along with a neighboring sister club ASLI, which provides for a weekly meeting on Wednesday's, the two clubs have been pushing the boundaries on Lectures in an attempt to bring more to the table and keep us all connected. That being said, I would like to share this Sunday's invitation to the members of this club, and would hope that some of you come join us for an exciting lecture by Chuck Allen - Vice President of the Astronomical League. The AL is an association of ALL clubs across the United States and some countries around the world. Some facts: Over 18000 Members Provides a Quarterly Periodical - The Relector (which some of yo may already get!) Observing Programs - Begginer to Advanced - Tailored to help ALL learn the skies, learn how to star hop, learn how to recognize what's up there in the heavens above. Provides Insurance programs for clubs Advocates for Astronomy related events and causes The list is quite extensive... SO ... if you are not doing anything this Sunday from 115 to 245, please feel free to stop in and help us show appreciation for the Astronomical League and its endeavors.! Hope to "see you " there!! https://amateurobserverssocietyofnewyork.my.webex.com//j.p Join by meeting number Meeting number (access code): 126 505 8598 Meeting password: CWpQdCVK495 (29773285 from phones and video systems) Join by phone +1-415-655-0001 US Toll

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210117.html Centaurus A is not only an unusual galaxy, but it's also one of the closest outside of our Local Group. "Centaurus A is a giant elliptical active galaxy 12 million light years away. Radio and X-ray images reveal features associated with jets emanating from near the galaxy's central supermassive black hole, which has a mass of 55 million suns. Now, the TANAMI project has provided the best-ever view of these jets. In the radio image of t...he galaxy's core, the black hole is invisible but the jets show in great detail. Features as small as 15 light-days across can be resolved. The powerful jets feed vast lobes of radio-emitting gas that reach far beyond the visible galaxy." NASA Goddard See more

https://www.nytimes.com/20//19/science/nebra-sky-disk.html