The Inwood Astronomy Project

well, now it is getting decidedly neighborhood-y.  We had about 45 people and many returning fellows.  It was actually a much clearer night than I had anticipated.  We stared mostly at Jupiter and the waning gibbous moon.  But then very late, the Andromeda Galaxy popped up over the trees.   Undaunted by the street lights, we shot for it, and amazingly, there it was.  Quite clear and with M32 in the same field easily seen.  Just amazing.

As I prepare for the IYA events, it is becoming evident that the NYC skies are far better than people think.  Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say they rival what I saw back in New Mexico and Wyoming, but given the fact that it’s the Bright Lights Big City city, and there above us in the steady summer skies were some fine nightsky objects.

Now, if someone has an idea about how to get power into the park for the slide shows….

APOD had a great photo, I am sure more are coming, of the meteor shower….

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080814.html

Well who would have thought it possible? On the late night of August 11 into the wee hours of August 12, 20 intrepid explorers took to the top of Inwood Hill Park to see the Perseids. Now, it wasn’t going to be a good night. The day before there was a massive thunderstorm all over New York. Donna and I were returning from London where I was on work, and Donna was on holiday with me. As we flew into JFK, the weather was so bad on the 10th, that we circled many times over Boston and Long Island. I was discouraged.

And during the day on the 11th, it oscillated between an overcast downpour and sunny skies. Well, the sunny skies won the night. I nearly wanted to bag the night. But out we went at 11PM, fully anticipating having to send everyone home. It was not to be!

The skies cleared and stayed clear until 3:00 AM. Most people had read over the website or just knew what to bring. After a brief meeting at the park entrance to wait for a few people, up we went into the park. Our group was chatty and nice. We took our places on the ground. I had brought up tho 6″ to the top. And then the skies kept getting better and better.

We could easily see a few hundred stars naked eye. You could almost see M31 without a ’scope. We saw many meteors, as well as a lot of deep-sky. We saw M51, H & χ Persei, Albireo, Jupiter (with Ganymede at first contact with the planet, as it would passing in front). But the telescope was not the centerpiece. You just could not believe how excellent the skies were. Almost every night in NYC, you can only get 10-50 stars at best. But we were seeing all the stars of Ursa Minor, and many minor stars in Cygnus. The Milky Way density of stars (if not the Milky Way itself) was clearly evident on the sky. I just was astounded at what were able to see.

The meteors flashed, and we could see numerous meteor “hairs” just on the edge of visibility. we saw quite a few bright ones, and even three that left discernible lingering trails. We had a good, clear view of Perseus, with all the streetlights being blocked by the tall, leafy trees.

I gave away goodies to all, and even helped one young astronomer to learn quite a bit more. Hopefully, he’ll be back.

There was even a sweet couple who BIKED all the way from Brooklyn just to come to the event. As soon as they arrived at 2:00 AM, the brightest fireball of the night occurred. They had the luck of the Irish on their side. We pretty much packed up by 3, and said our good-nights. It had been a wonderful evening with new friends, and hopefully some new astro-buffs!

We need to do this weekly, if at all possible. Now I have to try to see Algol wink. And I really want to do a Messier Hunt from NYC. That’ll be a trick.

Well, this past Saturday was really great.  We had about 50-60 people walk by and about 10 people who heard about it from other sources or online and came by deliberately.  We mostly looked at Jupiter, but also took a peek and Albireo.  I am giving out a loot of stuff these days.  Maybe, to make it go longer, I’ll have to bring less stuff…..

Still no news on the NEO I saw during the day.  BUT, it could have been a coommnications satellite.  Or one of the Sirius comsats….

Oh well…. 

Well today’s Solar Saturdays was excellent.  I gave away all my stuff I had, which was 45 items.  So roughly 45 people looked at the Sun through my little Meade ETX 90.  I finally started to break a bit of the culture barrier, with a numbr of Spanish-only speakers who showed up and hung around.  I let everyone know about tonight, and even though the clouds might roll in, they are only cumulus, and the temperature is dropping, so tonight might be another Big Night.

The biggest thing that happened was at 1:02 PM.  I saw a circular disk race across the face of the Sun in about 0.5 seconds.  It was some Near Earth Object.  I noted the time, and the speed and my Lat. and Long. and sent an email off to various places to try to identify what I saw.  It must have been big, since it certainly was round and not a tumbling, oblong shape.  So, i went to NASA’s NEO website, the Planetary Society’s website, and the Australian Space Defense website.

I am not certain if I gave enough data, and actually, I know I did not.  But hopefully, someone can point me in the direction of which one it might have been. 

 And there are HUGE numbers of possibilities.  Look here to see CFA Harvard’s simulations of what is out there.  That we do not get whacked all the time is amazing.  But that was the early Solar System.  Now it is much quieter….

I hope I learn what it was…..

Well, last night started off as one that would stop nearly every amateur and professional astronomer.  More than 75% of the sky was lightly clouded from the day’s 100+ degree heatwave.  The clouds and heat refused to break.  For the longest time, Donna and I stood out in the baseball diamond right off Seaman and Isham Streets, looking up.  While Donna rehearsed her lines for her upcoming shows of King Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, I scoured the skies looking for anything other than Vega and Alcor and Mizar.  But to no avail.  We were out long enough that the Moon rose above the buildings, and we took our spot under the streetlamps at the Park entrance.  Then the fun began.  With only Jupiter low in the sky and the Moon just rising, we got 45 people to stop by our little setup.  I gave out posters and postcards and bookmarks to all comers.  We had people looking again and again to see the Moons of Jupiter and look at the atmospheric bands.  I better get a larger aperture telescope for next year, so I can see the Great Red Spot.

Anyway, again, we had gangs of kids, and they were great.  Most would be intimidated by them, but I was able to give short lectures on the size of space.  One young man was decidedly interested, and seems that will certainly be back for the Perseid Meteor Showeron August 12 (dark sky night will be the 13th).  In all it was an excellent evening, of chatting with neighbors and seeing people see Jupiter for the first time. 

We had a great impromptu night in Inwood Hill Park.  Donna and I had four intrepid explorers, Luke, David, Tim and Jim who accompanied us up into the unlit Top Of The Hill.  Well, there is a great clearing up there where the street lights do not penetrate, and after some odd looks by the local drunks in the park, asking us if we were a film crew we ascended to the dark upper reaches.  Not too bad up there.  In fact quite good.  Within minutes, I was able to point out M57, Alberio, Delta Boo, Mu Boo, Beta Lyrae, and Alcor and Mizar.  Hercules was very high in the sky just near the zenith, and with a dob mount, it gets tricky.  But we waited a bit and M13 came into easy view.  We could see many constellations, and if it had not been hidden by the trees, we should have been able to see M81/M82.  It is fun to see people pick stuff up. 

We also saw one of the Iridium satellites pass overhead.  They do get quite bright very quickly.  But most fun of all, as I was pointing out the constellation Bootes to the crew, we had a little meteorite zip past Arcturus.  It seemed to be coming from the direction of Ursa Major, but hey, at 11:00 EST, not really sure which shower, if any it would have been associated.  It went about 3 degrees before petering out.  It got about as bright as Arcturus.

When we finished up there with a good look at M13 and a double in Bootes (lotsa nice ones), we headed down the hill.  It was like leaving behind a new friend.  We had found something quite exciting and peaceful, even having one of those “let’s be quiet under the big dark sky” moments.  

When we got down to the street, we picked up 5 more people as we saw Jupiter rising in the East.  So we set up fast to catch the passersby, and were feasting on a great sight.  Even low in the sky, even with car lights coming practically down the scope, we saw the bands quite clearly, and if it were a 10″ scope and not just a 6″, we would clearly have seen the Big Red Spot.  We just kept looking and looking at our big neighbor in the sky.  Even a young couple who clearly were out of their element had to come back to see.  Even with tattoos and a cultural difference, the night sky proved me right.  It crosses all cultures and boundaries.  All people see the wonders the same, and are filled with awe.  It opens minds and eyes, and the sight of Jupiter invariably gives a smile to people’s faces. 

In these tough economic times, what with the near collapse of Mae and Mac, the stars give us hope, peace and wonder.  A good thing today.  Besides, everyone who showed up got a cool postcard, especially the 5 walkybys under the streetlights.  Free stuff is cool.

IYA has put us on their website. If there was any more incentive to get outside, now here it is….

http://astronomy2009.us/telescopes/inwood-astronomy-project-nyc/

Four years ago, Cassini successfully and flawlessly slipped into orbit around Saturn and began a major scientific exploratory mission that by anyone’s measure has been astounding. On June 30, its primary 4-year mission draws to a close, its 2-year extended mission begins.

Visit …

http://ciclops.org

… for an updated Captain’s Log and a couple of image releases to celebrate the occasion.

You can also come to the American Museum of Natural History and view the images as part of special exhibit. They are HUGE prints, and show all the discoveries in great detail. Look here:

http://ciclops.org/view_event/81/The_Images?js=1

or here….

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/photo/saturn/

At around 7:17 on the morning of June 30, 1908, a man based at the trading post at Vanavara in Siberia is sitting on his front porch. In a moment, 40 miles from the center of an immense blast of unknown origin, he will be hurled from his chair and the heat will be so intense he will feel as though his shirt is on fire. The man at the trading post, and others in a largely uninhabited region of Siberia, near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, are to be accidental eyewitnesses to cosmological history.

Read more here….

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0806/29tunguska/