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12/31 - The January Eclipse is out! This issue includes winning entries
in our monthly photo contest by BSAS members Phillip Bracikowski, Dennis Williams and
Lonnie Puterbaugh. This issue also includes reports from the December board meeting and
the BSAS Holiday Party, astronomy-related articles by BSAS members, a calendar of BSAS and
astronomical events for January and February, and more!
The Eclipse has been emailed to all BSAS members who subscribe to the
newsletter electronically, and postal subscribers' copies are on their way. Members who
join the BSAS Forum have access to the electronic
version as soon as it is published, through links in the Members Only sections.
While current issues are available only to members, the last three years of
newsletters can be found in the Eclipse Archive.
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 | 12/25 - Merry Christmas from the BSAS!
Thanks to everyone who participated in our great 2004 Christmas Holiday party at
the Adventure Science Center, and to all those who
through your volunteer efforts, membership dues and other ways have supported the work
of the BSAS this year.
The image here is NGC2264,
the Christmas Tree Cluster, fully decorated for the holidays with stars, nebulae and Herbig Haro
objects.
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11/30 - The December Eclipse is out! This issue includes the announcement of
our upcoming BSAS Christmas/Holiday Party at the Adventure
Science Center on Thursday December 16th, with details about the silent auction to be held
at the party. Also included are details about our next private star party, the BSAS
astronomical event calendar for December and January, and much more!
The Eclipse has been emailed to all BSAS members who subscribe to the
newsletter electronically, and postal subscribers' copies are on their way. Members who
join the BSAS Forum have access to the electronic
version as soon as it is published, through links in the Members Only sections.
While current issues are available only to members, the last three years of
newsletters can be found in the Eclipse Archive.
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11/04 [updated 11/07] - The BSAS Star Party at Long Hunter State Park was a big
success! Many visitors made the trek to Group Camp 1 to view the wonders of deep space
with our telescopes, binoculars, and astrophotography equipment. The star of the show was
Lonnie Puterbaugh's
video astronomy setup, which displays even very faint objects in startling detail on a 32-inch
high-resolution monitor. Objects such as M31
and the Horsehead Nebula appeared as
textbook-sharp images, and even elusive objects such as the
Cone Nebula were captured
with amazing clarity.
Thanks to everyone who visited our star party, and don't miss the next one this Saturday,
November 13th at Bledsoe's Fort in Castalian Springs
with the Cumberland Astronomical Society!
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10/24 - A lunar
eclipse, the last eclipse of 2004, is coming this Wednesday, October 27th!
The Moon will begin moving into Earth's shadow at 7:06pm, but the dimming will not be noticeable
until nearly 8:00pm. The Moon will be in full shadow from 9:23pm until 10:45pm, dimly lit by
all Earth's sunrises and sunsets.
[Updated 10/27] The BSAS hosted a Lunar Eclipse Party at the Adventure
Science Center in Nashville from 8:00pm until the sky turned overcast around 11:00pm. Thanks to
everyone who attended, to WSMV's
Lisa Spencer
for her advice and support, and to all the BSAS members who brought their scopes and sharing spirit.
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10/22 - The BSAS Event Calendar has events for everyone!
A Lunar Eclipse Party will be held on Wednesday, October 27th at the Adventure Science Center, followed by star parties on November
6th at Long
Hunter State Park, November 13th with the CAS
at Bledsoe's Fort,
and December 11th at Percy Warner Park.
Don't miss these opportunities to stargaze with your fellow BSAS members!
Also, former NASA astronaut Dr.
Rhea Seddon will speak to local Boy Scouts at ASC
on November 1st at 7:00pm. Society members who missed Dr. Seddon's wonderful presentation at the
September BSAS meeting are also invited to attend.
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9/28 - The October Eclipse is out! This issue includes the results of last
month's election, a letter from the new BSAS President, Pam Thomas' report on the Tennessee
Star Party, the BSAS & astronomical event calendar for October and November, and much more!
The Eclipse has emailed to all BSAS members who subscribe to the
newsletter electronically, and postal subscribers' copies are on their way. Members who
join the BSAS Forum have access to the electronic
version as soon as it is published, through links in the Members Only sections.
While current issues are available only to members, the last three years of
newsletters can be found in the Eclipse Archive.
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9/28 - Nova's
Origins special begins Tuesday! Hosted
by astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium director
Neil deGrasse Tyson, the four-hour, four-part
special begins with "Earth Is Born," a dramatic computer-enhanced presentation of current theories
about our planet's cataclysmic origins. Nashville Public Television
(WNPT) will broadcast the first two Origins
segments as a two-hour block on Tuesday night, beginning at 7:00pm, midnight, and 3:00am CDT. The
last two segments will air on the same schedule on Wednesday. You have three chances to catch each
block, so be sure to set your VCR!
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9/19 [updated 9/22] - The 2004 Tennessee Star Party is
over—and what a party it was! Though the threat of hurricane-related weather caused some
no-shows, those who attended were treated to spectacular seeing that many said was the best
they'd ever experienced in Tennessee. Members of the Barnard-Seyfert,
Cumberland and
Smoky Mountain Astronomical Societies were present in
force, and other clubs such as ORION and the
Knoxville Observers were also represented. The
wonderful presentations included speakers from MTSU,
Roane State, Austin Peay
and NASA. Large telescopes and high-tech equipment were present
in abundance, and participants enjoyed demonstrations of solar, deep-sky, video and radio astronomy.
Thanks again to everyone who worked so hard to put TNSP'04 together, all those who supported the
programs, and of course all our 110+ brave attendees. See you next year at TNSP'05!
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9/17 - Former Shuttle astronaut Dr.
Rhea Seddon was our guest speaker at tonight's September membership meeting, and many commented that
she was one of the best speakers we've had in a long time. Thanks to Dr. Seddon for making the time to
meet with the BSAS, and kudos to our Program Committee for continuing to put together such excellent
programs for the Society!
A slate of BSAS officers were elected tonight by the
membership: John Harrington, President; Pam Thomas, Vice President; Bob Rice, Secretary; and Treasurer,
Randy Smith. Gary Wilkerson was elected to the Board of Directors position vacated by Pam Thomas.
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8/9 - Nashville astronomer Greg Henry,
a Research Specialist at Tennessee State University, made
the front page of today's
Tennessean as the subject of an 808-word article about his
group's research into the short-term variability of the Sun prior about 600 million years ago.
According to their research, the Sun lost 99% of its youthful variability just before the
event known to paleontologists as the Cambrian Explosion.
Greg Henry will be a major
speaker at this year's Tennessee Star Party—one more reason that
TNSP'04 will be an event not to be missed!
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7/30 - The Perseids meteor shower
is just two weeks away! Forecasters are predicting 40 to 60 meteors per hour when the shower peaks over North
America. The best viewing will be in the hours after midnight on Thursday, August 11th, though you may see some
great "Earthgrazers" starting around 9:00pm on Wednesday night when Perseus is still low in the sky.
The BSAS will host a Star Party and Perseid Meteor Watch on Friday,
August 13 from 8:00 to 11:00 PM at the model airplane field in Edwin Warner Park. Though the meteor shower will
be waning, the celestial wonders to be seen through our club members' telescopes will never be brighter. The
public is invited, so don't miss this great opportunity to share stars both fixed and falling!
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7/20 [Updated 7/21] - As announced at the July membership meeting, a special meeting of the Board of
Directors was held on Tuesday, July 20th to consider several changes to the
bylaws which had been proposed by members. The Board has approved four changes which it now recommends to the
membership for passage. If passed, these changes will:
- allow a committee to conduct business even if a majority of the volunteers is not present;
- allow the board to permit the treasurer to accept gifts and donations on behalf of the BSAS;
- standardize membership terminations due to delinquency and allow granting extensions to active military;
and
- remove the requirement that the vice president chair the Program Committee.
As always, all BSAS members are welcome and encouraged to share their views with any member
of the Board.
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7/5 [updated 7/16] - The July Membership Meeting was held Thursday evening at the
Adventure Science Center. Scott
Davis, Chief Operating Officer and Technical Manager of the International
Dark Sky Association (IDA), spoke about the goals of the IDA and the importance of responsible outdoor
lighting. Afterward, BSAS vice president John Harrington provided a training session with one of our
equatorial platforms, available
for loan to BSAS members.
BSAS member Stephen Balay, one of our most accomplished amateur telescope makers, gave us an update
on his nearly-complete 25-inch Dobsonian. With ten times the light-gathering power
of an 8" telescope, this instrument will likely be the centerpiece of many star parties to come.
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7/9 [updated 7/11] - The BSAS Equipment
Party and Family Picnic was held Sunday afternoon at the picnic shelter at Crockett Park in
Brentwood. About a dozen BSAS members braved the uncertain weather to share food, fellowship and
knowledge. The free bluegrass concert after the event
was lightly attended and the weather didn't permit a star party, but everyone had a good time
anyway. Watch this site for news about the next BSAS Equipment Party, and hope for clear skies!
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6/26 - The July Eclipse is out! This issue includes the announcement of the July 15
BSAS membership meeting featuring Scott Davis of the IDA.
The issue also includes BSAS member JanaRuth Ford's "Lawnchair Astronomy" feature, the
BSAS & astronomical event calendar for July and August, and much more!
The Eclipse has already been emailed to all BSAS members who subscribe to the
newsletter electronically, and will go out to postal subscribers shortly. Members who join
the BSAS Forum have access to the electronic version
as soon as it is published, through links in the Members Only sections.
While current issues are available only to members, the last three years of
newsletters can be found in the Eclipse Archive.
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6/18 - Metro Parks and Recreation last month concluded a series of
public meetings to discuss their Master Plan and
the changes in store for Warner Parks. One major change involves
creating more basefall fields, but removing artificial lighting from the fields. This, along with other changes,
will dramatically improve our ability to host public astronomy events at Warner Parks. Our own Heinrich Tischler has
reported on the changes, as has
The Tennessean.
Warner Parks Superintendent Bob Parrish and his staff are
making great strides in defending and protecting the natural beauty, as well as the usefulness, of the Warner Parks.
Please email Mr. Parrish and let him know that you support their
efforts to protect our night sky!
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6/17 - The June Membership Meeting of the BSAS was held TONIGHT, June 17th, at 7:30pm at the
Adventure Science Center in Nashville. Our speaker was geologist Marvin
Berwind of the Tennessee Division of Geology. Mr. Berwind, a member of the Tennessee
Academy of Science, is a recognized authority on the geology of the ancient impact craters that are found here
in Tennessee, several measuring several miles across! Mr. Berwind gave a wonderful presentation of the
Flynn Creek and
Wells Creek craters in Middle Tennessee, as well
as other geological features of interest. Thanks, Mr. Berwind, for a great evening!
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6/8 - The
2004 Transit of Venus, the first in over 117 years, was a big success for amateur astronomers around the world.
Several BSAS members traveled north and east (and even to other states) to get a better, longer look, while others set
up in their backyards or joined Dyer Observatory staff in Brentwood to take part in
NASA's transit program.
Expect plenty of pictures here on the site as our members submit their best!
The second Venus transit of this pair will occur on June 6, 2012 and will be much more easily seen from North America.
Start making your vacation plans now--but you might want to wait a while to upgrade your camera!
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5/30 [UPDATED 6/7] - The BSAS Equipment Party was held
on Saturday, June 5th at 5:30pm at Edwin Warner Park's lower model airplane field. Experienced BSAS members
were on hand to help out newer astronomers by showing them the ins and outs of telescope setup, operation
and maintenance. This was an event for BSAS members only, but at least five new folk came and brought their
membership application and dues with them. We welcome these new
members, and encourage everyone to attend the next BSAS Equipment Party on July 11 at Crockett Park. Watch the site for details!
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5/05 - Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)
has finally entered Middle Tennessee skies! Several BSAS members observed it this evening as it hung over Canis
Major in the southwestern sky just after twilight. Lonnie
Puterbaugh captured about 50 megabytes of video of the long-awaited comet (including
the image here) and ran the video "live" for those who attended the Equipment Committee meeting tonight.
NEAT is an easy target for binoculars but is still a bit faint for naked-eye viewing, so take your time and be
sure to share your observations!
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4/23 [updated 4/24] - Saturday was Astronomy Day 2004 and the BSAS partnered with the Adventure
Science Center and Sudekum Planetarium to provide an unforgettable weekend of events.
The BSAS hosted a star party at ASC on Friday night, then on Saturday ran astronomy exhibits at ASC from 11:00am until 5:00pm.
Special presentations were also given by Dr. Spencer L. Buckner of
Austin Peay University's Department of Physics
& Astronomy; and Loren Ball, an internationally-known asteroid
hunter who at last count had discovered 144 minor planets from his Decatur, Alabama observatory.
Saturday night, BSAS "guerrilla astronomers" fanned out to parking lots and other public places in Middle Tennessee, offering
views of the Moon and planets wherever the rapidly-advancing clouds allowed.
Thanks to everyone who celebrated Astronomy Day 2004 with the Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society!
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4/16 [updated through 4/23] - Comet Bradfield, recently
discovered by an Australian amateur, reached perihelion (the point in its orbit closest to the Sun) on April 17th when it passed within
16 million miles of the sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
provided near-live coverage of Bradfield's passage
through the imaging area of its LASCO C3 instrument.
Having finished its SOHO engagement, comet Bradfield has now moved northward to participate in Astronomy
Day weekend. Look for it low in the east-northeastern sky after 5:00 in the morning (make sure you have a good horizon in that
direction!). It will be between 4th and 5th magnitude, dimming
to 6th magnitude by the 27th, so use binoculars to look for the comet and its faint tail. Good luck and clear skies!
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4/7 - BSAS member Danika Wellington, an eighth grader at
Martin Luther King Magnet High School,
WON FIRST PLACE in the "Reach for the Stars" astronomy event at the
Tennessee Science Olympiad in Knoxville this past weekend. The whole 15-member
MLKMHS team also did very well, placing third out of twelve teams at the state competition. The MLKMHS team is looking for coaches
for next year (and there are 23 different science-related events in the Olympiad), so email BSAS member and proud mom
Theo Wellington if you're interested in helping out!Congratulations, Danika!
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4/6 - John Bradford, our good friend and fellow amateur, passed
away on April 6, 2003 at the age of 42. John contributed so much to the BSAS and the experience of amateur
astronomy for all of us, and he will always be greatly missed.
John always had a good word for anyone, and was never too busy to share his knowledge, help a fellow amateur,
or learn something new. As we move forward, let's always remember his example. Clear skies, John.
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3/31 - The April Eclipse has been sent out to all BSAS members. Those who subscribe to the newsletter electronically
have already gotten their copies, and members who have joined the BSAS Forum also have access
to the electronic version.
This issue includes JanaRuth Ford's excellent "Lawnchair Astronomy" guide for Spring, Kris McCall's coverage of ASC and BSAS
plans for Astronomy Day, the BSAS & astronomical event calendar
for April and May, and much more! Remember that while only current BSAS members have access to the latest three issues, all the
other issues from the last three years are available in the Eclipse
Archive.
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3/28 - BSAS Members can now keep up with Society events, committee activities, team projects, and
all things astronomical through the BSAS Forum. There are forums for all kinds of BSAS- and
astronomy-related topics (with more coming as they're requested), so you can easily find the topics that interest you, browse
or search all the topics, just see the ones that have changed since you last visited.
It's operated by the BSAS so there are no advertisements and no spam, and it's free to all active BSAS members!
Register now to get access to the complete forum as well as to members-only
sections of the website as they are added.
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3/27 - Clouds didn't stop BSAS members from putting together a huge star party for the public at
Edwin Warner Park in Nashville. Early estimates put the number of visitors
at around 500, [UPDATE: The official tally
from Warner Park personnel was 570 visitors!] all eager to learn more about the night sky.
This was the first BSAS event employing two telescope fields—one for eyepiece viewing and another for video
and CCD observation. The results were fantastic, considering the less-than-perfect viewing tonight, and we received many
positive comments from visitors and members alike.
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3/25 - Clyde Tombaugh's homebuilt telescope is now for sale on AstroMart.
Yes, you can own a piece of history—the telescope built and used by the discoverer of Pluto. Clyde passed away in 1997 at the age
of 90, and the sale of this instrument will benefit his widow, Patsy Tombaugh. If you know of an organization or individual who
would be interested in this historic piece, please pass the link along to them.
Note that the 16" f/10 instrument weighs well over a ton, and must be dismantled and transported from Las Cruces, New Mexico to its
new home.
Thanks to Kris McCall, director of the Sudekum Planetarium of
Adventure Science Center and member of the BSAS, for submitting the link!
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3/24 - Venus and the Moon made a stunning show in Middle Tennessee skies this evening when they passed within 3° of each other.
This photo was taken from Tony Campbell's front yard in Smyrna, Tennessee—even sodium streetlights can't beat Venus and the Moon!
While such conjunctions have little astronomical significance, they offer an easy way to share your love of the night sky with neighbors,
coworkers, acquaintances or even total strangers. If you're out during an event like this (and why wouldn't you be?) and notice someone
looking up, don't let the opportunity pass! Tell them a little about what they're seeing; they'll enjoy the view all the more, and you
might even make a new stargazing friend.
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3/23 - NASA announced today that the Mars Exploration Rover
Opportunity has found strong
evidence of a salty sea that once had a shoreline at Opportunity's landing site. Recent discoveries, which included
detection of chlorine and bromine, indicated that a salty sea had gradually evaporated there. Opportunity has also found
crossbedding and festooning in the rock layers it has imaged, indicating some of the rock had formed in moving, circulating water.
The evidence argues strongly for an ancient Martian environment more Earthlike than any other known extraterrestrial environment.
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3/20 - BSAS's Messier Marathon 2004 last night was a big success. About a dozen BSAS members met
at the Water Valley Overlook on Natchez Trace and
had a great time exploring the Messier list. MM2004 coordinator Lonnie Puterbaugh, who wrote an excellent
guide to the event, demonstrated video astronomy without a telescope
using a StellaCam, a telephoto lens and a tripod.
Though the clouds set in later, a few hardy souls stuck around to observe some objects through
sucker holes before
finally heading back to civilization. Nobody got the whole Messier list,
but a good time was had by all!
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3/19 - Today is Sun-Earth Connection Day! The
focus this year is the Venus transit on
June 8, when Venus will traverse the face of the Sun (as seen from Earth) for the first time since 1882. Our plans to
observe the event are still being developed, so watch this site for news!
Lonnie & Karen Puterbaugh, JanaRuth Ford, Joe Boyd and Billy Vaughn of the BSAS gave an
astronomical presentation to a capacity crowd this morning at Warner
Park Nature Center in Nashville. We thank them for their outstanding efforts to reach the public
with opportunities to study, experience and appreciate the sky.
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3/18 - The March Meeting of the BSAS was held tonight at 7:30pm at Dyer
Observatory. We were honored to have as our speaker Professor David J. Ernst
of Vanderbilt University, who gave an introductory presentation on his work in the
emerging science of neutrino astronomy. Dr. Ernst, one of the leading
investigators in this rapidly developing field, has authored or co-authored
several papers on the subject, most recently an
analysis of oscillation data from neutrino detection projects worldwide.
Members were also treated to excellent views of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons through the 24" Seyfert Telescope.
Don't forget, next month's meeting will be on April 15th at the Adventure Science Center.
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3/9 - What would you do if you had a month of discretionary time on a 2.4 meter telescope with cutting-edge digital imaging equipment and
a prime dark-sky location? If you were Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Director Steve Beckwith, you'd use it to create the
longest, deepest visible-light image yet taken. Today STScI released the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF),
and astronomers are already finding new and compelling mysteries among the approximately 10,000 galaxies in the image. Hubble detected the dimmest
objects by collecting as little as one photon per minute; that's about as bright as a firefly seen from the Moon.
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3/1 - On February 28, BSAS member Lonnie Puterbaugh had just wrapped up an H-Alpha solar observing session when
he decided to attempt some daylight astrophotography of Venus. (Lonnie is famous for imaging the Lagoon Nebula near the full Moon
during his ALCON 2003 video astronomy demonstration.) The result is the image here, taken with a 4.2"-aperture telescope at 4240mm
focal length using a Logitech QC4000 webcam, at 4:00 in the afternoon! Kudos to Lonnie!
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2/19 - The February BSAS Meeting was tonight at Adventure Science Center. The speaker was Loren Ball,
a fellow amateur who has discovered 138 asteroids since August 2000 from his home observatory in Decatur, Alabama. His presentation
was very impressive and very warmly received. Mr. Ball's exploits have inspired many of us to delve even deeper into the scientific aspects
of our hobby. Thank you again, Mr. Ball!
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2/17 - On January 23, amateur astronomer Jay McNeil
of Paducah, Kentucky discovered a new star emerging from
a gas cloud near M78 in Orion. Astronomers have been asked to monitor McNeil's Nebula (seen in the image here as a smudge in the upper-right corner above an uneven double) before it is
lost in the Sun's glare a few weeks from now. Congratulations to our fellow amateur!
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1/28 - THE PLANET SATURN is now supremely situated for evening observation, passing within 14° of zenith at transit (about
9:45pm CST). Don't pass up the opportunity to observe and photograph this beautiful planet!
Aussie astronomer Martin Lewicki's
Saturn Seeing Tutorial provides excellent guidance
to get the most out of your observations of the (most visibly) Ringed Planet, as well as sneak peeks of how Saturn would appear
through a variety of telescopes. It's well worth the virtual trip to Australia!
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