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Another year is rapidly heading to a close...but it's not over yet!

This coming Saturday morning, December 10th, there will be a total lunar eclipse very early in the morning. The moon will enter totality at 6:06 AM and exit totality at 6:57 AM. At that point, the moon will only be 2 degrees above the horizon (invisible to much of Reno unless you are lucky enough to be on a mountaintop). Furthermore, sunrise will be only a few minutes away, at 7:09 AM. This should be a very interesting and unusual eclipse, and one very much worth getting up to watch.

The ASN will be working with the Planetarium to interpret this event to the general public. If you can, come out and join us from 5 to 7 AM at the planetarium. Hot drinks will be provided.

If you come out, one thing you will not see is me. Or, planetarium director Dan Ruby. If you look over at KNPB TV's studio building, you might see either or both of us, freezing on the roof. Why is this? It seems that WPBT TV in Miami, the folks that produce 'Star Gazer', will be covering this eclipse from KNPB and webcasting the event. (I think most readers of this column know I an the Assistant Chief Engineer of KNPB TV). Dean Regas and Marlene Hildago will be live in the studio providing commentary and answering viewer questions. You can learn more about it at http://www.stargazersonline.org/webcast/ . While they are talking, Dan Ruby and I will be operating a broadcast grade TV camera on a tracking mount on KNPB's roof, tracking the moon. This should be an interesting engineering exercise and a lot of fun! In preparation, I have figured out the celetial mechanics of this eclipse to the point I can say 'the moon will set over that telephone pole'. It will be interesting to see how close my predictions are.

In any case, the last time that WPBT did this webcast, they got 260,000+ hits. Not bad for an early morning event! We are expecting the same this time. This event is a big test to see how well things will work for the May 20th annular solar eclipse. Hopefully by then, the weather should be a bit warmer!

September and October were fun months for the ASN!

September saw us do a rather fun activity we have never really tried before-- a picnic. The date was September 24th, and the place was Wilson Commons. The weather did not cooperate, at least, not at first. There were unforecast thunderstorms all over the place that day. One of them 'brushed by' the picnic just as I got there (late, from too many errands that needed doing!). But it was fairly warm, and didn't last long. In fact, by evenings' end, there was some pretty decent stargazing to be had. Everyone who participated, despite being wet from the 'natural sprinkler' had a good time!

We took some of what we learned from the September picnic and applied it to our Fall Overnight Star Party and Messier Marathon (October 29th). We were once again at a private home in Palimino Valley where we had a warm place to go warm up (it was quite chilly that night) as well as prepare food. We had good (not great) conditions, and a number of people (myself included) 'toughed it out' all night.  I did my first complete Messier Marathon in a couple of years, and did quite well. Personally for me, I found a new way to observe Virgo Cluster galazies, and saw every one but M104 (which no one saw). I doubt that this will be the last time at this location!

Late 2010 and 2011 are looking to be spectacular for Astronomy. On the morning of December 10th, there is a total lunar eclipse. This eclipse ends just as the moon sets here, and the ASN will be observing from the Planetarium. I will be next door at KNPB TV, assisting with a live streaming video feed to WPBT TV in Miami (the folks who produce 'Stargazer').

ASN member Jim Fahey is leading up publicity for the lunar eclipse, as well as for the annular solar eclipse on May 20th. This event occurs in the late afternoon, and Reno will be one of the best places anywhere to see it. This is a big deal for our club, and for the Planetarium. We will be working with the Planetarium, as well as KNPB TV, to make this event extra special. We will most likely be doing our eclipse viewing from the new observatory on the Redfield Campus. This will be perhaps the biggest deal for us for many, many years, and I hope it will be one we will all have fond memories of.

Finally, help support your club by participating in the many observing activities coming up. Even though our members-only parties are over for the year, there are a number of school and public star parties coming up. Even though I really enjoy 'digging for faint fuzzies', I also really enjoy introducing members of the public to astronomy with tried-and-true-- but still dazzling objects. Some of the best observing of the year is coming up. So even if there are no organized club star parties, some of us may orgainze informal star parties if the weather cooperates. So stay tuned to the forums for these sorts of activities. Sometimes the most informal activities are also the most fun.

Hope to see you at the meeting-- or better yet, just hear you under dark skies!

Tim Stoffel

Wow, how quickly a year goes by....we are already heading into September!

And what a summer it has been! For me, there was the Feline Conservsation Federation convention in June (where I got the chain mail short many of you have seen me wearing). Then the Golden State Star Party, the first large scale, multi night star party I have ever attended (and what a great time I  had there!). Three days later, i was off to Seattle for the first annual Na'vi speakers meetup.  (Na'vi  is the language created for the movie 'Avatar'. Did you know that 'tanhì' is Na'vi for 'star'?) One thing I learned there is that Na'vi creator Paul Frommer was well on his way to being an astrophysicist before switching to linguistcs. Two weeks later, I was off to the Colorado Renaissance Fair (where I got that beautiful little astrolabe I have brought to a few club functions). Unfortunately, all this craziness made me miss the Great Basin Astronomy Festival. In August was the Worldcon Science Fiction convention. Besides all the usual sci-fi stuff, there was some excellent panels given on astronomy, physics and other topics near and dear to our hearts. (And I started to learn the Klingon language! 'Hov' is 'star' in Klingon.) That pretty much brings us up to this week.

There was plenty of astronomy activity over the summer. Although the weather has again been touch-and-go with star parties, there have been several public star parties at Sparks Marina. One of these was almost unplanned, and had 100 people show up! There was also a public star party at Martis Creek on Saturday, August 20th. I heard that went quite well. There was a nice members-only gathering out at Trapshoot last Saturday (August 27th). Not many people showed up (there were about 6 of us), but we had gorgeous conditions.

There is a lot of astronomy activity coming. This Friday, September 2nd, we will (hopefully!) have our first public star oarty at McClean observatory down on the Redfield Campus of UNR. I have heard lots of good things about this observatory, and am looking forward to it.

The monthly meeting of the ASN will be at the Fleischman Planetarium on Tuesday evening September 13th, at 7 PM. This is the meeting where nominations for club officers is done, with elections in October. I'll speak more about this later. The meeting topic is 'Debunking 2012 castrophe theories'. It should be quite interesting!

Friday, September 16th is the monthly Sparks marina public star party. Lousy dark sky site, but really popular with the public! This is now a regular, 3rd Friday of each month public event for us.

For those in the Carson City area, the Western Nevada Astronomical Society has their monthly meeting at the Jack C. Davis observatory on Tuesday, September 20th at 7 PM.

On Thursday September 22nd through Sunday September 25th, the Tonopah Astronomical Society is sponsoring a star party down near Tonopah, at Monte Cristo's Castle. This is a spectacular dark sky site, and I am giving some thought to going (but it is the same weekend as our BBQ).

Saturday, September 24th is a BBQ and star Party at Wilson Commons. The fun begins at 4 PM. ASN will be providing drinks (soda and water). Bring something to grill, and a side dish. Aftewards, will be our monthly members-only star party.

The month closes out with a school star party for Alice Taylor Elementary School.

Notable events for October

On October 11th, we will be electing officers at our members' meeting, and beginning planning for the 2011 annular eclipse and Venus transit.

Keep Saturday, October 22nd open on your calendars. that will be the night of our fall overnight star party and Messier marathon. Location TBA.

In closing, I would like to talk for a moment about participation in your club. Every year, our Constitution and bylaws require that we have an election to renew or replace our officers. This year, we lost two officers. Teelynn Gregory, our Secretary had to take a leave from her position. In March, Chris Johnson stepped down as President, making me the acting President. So, we have Secretary and Vice President to fill. We are also electing a President, aTreasurer and a Historian, all offices with incumbents. We also plan to appoint two Program Chairman. One will take care of public and school bookings. the other will handle ASN's internal events. Although a number of incumbents (myself included) plan to run again, it is always good to have 'new blood' in the organization. It is not as hard as you might think to be an officer!

Also feel free to come to the board/program meeting after the general meeting. It is always open to members. You can learn how your club works. And unlike most clubs, members can participate in the board meeting. Member participation is importantr because the club has no standing directors on the board.

That's all for this month. See you at the meeting...or under the stars!

Tim Stoffel

Greeting, fellow ASN members!

Sorry I have been rather quiet around here. There are some periods of the year when my job seems to dominate, and April and May have certainly been in that category. But now, we are moving into summer. And just like it is the case for many animals (especially those with young), summer is a more carefree season for both work and astronomy.

The big story so far this year seems to be the weather. Cloudy (water vapor nebulae!), cold, windy, even snow as recently as May 29^th. As I write this, the outdoor temperature (on June 3 at 12:30 AM) is hovering just above freezing. This kind of weather does not for good astronomy make. Lets us hope that as we get into June, that our 'carefree' weather will finally come!

'Weather or not', there is plenty of astronomy-related things to do in June. On Friday, June 3, we will get a chance to check out our new observing digs on the University of Nevada-Reno's Redfield Campus. There is some nice facilities there for telescope users, including some permanent piers. These have power and internet connectivity available for the many of you who use computers with their 'scopes. If you have not come out to any of our first Friday star parties, you ought to consider doing so. Getting to the Redfield Campus is easy. Just take the Mount Rose Highway to Wedge Parkway, and turn south (left for most of you) and drive into the campus.