Wonders of the Night Sky
Astronomy Programs
 conducted under the auspices of the
 Stow Parks & Recreation Department
 since September 15, 1995
Now in our fifteenth year of observing the universe!

  

Website last updated: Saturday February 6, 2010 11:06 AM (EST)


Next Event: ACA lecture at the Portage Lakes Kiwanis Civic Center on 2/26/2010 at 8:00pm.  Click this banner for details...

SEE YOU IN THE SPRING - Observing will begin sometime in April or May, depending on the weather - and whenever the field dries out enough to support our vehicles. Let's start planning for a fantastic time in 2010.  Get those telescopes dusted off, eyepieces cleaned and batteries charged!  This site will undergo constant updates with astronomy news and announcements of astronomy-related lectures, so visit often to see what's new.  Armchair astronomy can be a lot of fun, too!

Calendar of Events in 2010
 Click HERE for archived events from prior years
Dates with scheduled events are in YELLOW, dates in WHITE are not scheduled
Dates in RED are not available for astronomy programs at Fishcreek School
Click on ANY of the underlined Date, Status or Reports in the table below for details

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

 Jun Jul Aug Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

1/1/10
 Status

2/5/10
Status

3/5/10
Status

4/2/10
Status

5/7/10
Status

 6/4/10
 Status		 7/2/10
Status		 8/6/10
Status		 9/3/10
Status

10/1/10
 Status

11/5/10
 Status

12/3/10
Status

1/8/10
Status

2/12/10
 Status

3/12/10
Status

4/9/10
 Status

5/14/10
 Status

 6/11/10
 Status		 7/9/10
Status		 8/13/10
Status		 9/10/10
Status

10/8/10
 Status

11/12/10
 Status

12/10/10
Status

1/15/10
 Status

2/19/10
Status

3/19/10
Status

NEAF
 4/16/10

5/21/10
Status

 6/18/10
Status		 7/16/10
Status		 8/20/10
Status		 9/17/10
Status

10/15/10
 Status

Lecture
11/19/10

12/17/10
Status

Lecture
 1/22/10

Lecture
 2/26/10

Lecture
 3/26/10

Lecture
 4/23/10

Lecture
 5/28/10

 6/25/10
Status		 7/23/10
Status		 8/27/10
Status

Lecture
 9/24/10

Lecture
 10/22/10

11/26/10
Status

12/24/10
Status
1/29/10
 Status		     4/30/10
 Status

 

   7/30/10
Status		    

10/29/10
 Status

 

12/31/10
Status

'Status' - event color coding

Green:

  Successful event!
Red:  Canceled due to weather or other conditions
Blue:  Event occurred, but ended early due to clouds

CSC

 
General Information about our events
What you should know - location, time, what to bring, etc.
My Favorite Links
Some of my favorite astro-related websites
Astronomy News
Take a look at Astro-news from several sources.
Lost & Found
Did you leave (or find) something on the observing field?
Current & Predicted Weather
Latest information from AccuWeather for Stow, Ohio
Accurate World Time
Wonder what the official UTC is currently?
Common Names for Deep Sky Objects
Alphabetical listing of names commonly used for DSOs
Interactive Star Charts
Preset for our location in Stow, but modifiable by you
Downloads
Take a look - there might be something that interests you

Click HERE (or anywhere in the calendar below) for Moon Phases for all of 2010

   

Current Astronomy News

 Sky & Telescope Newsletter    Sky & Telescope Astro Alerts    Astronomy Newsletter

 U Scorpii - about to go Nova?    SpaceWeather    Clear Sky Chart

Tribute to Apollo 11    Map to ACA Observatory    How Are Lenses Made?


 PBS's Jack Horkheimer "Star Gazer" Video Download Page

Past Event News

The photos below were taken during our observing event on 6/22/07
behind Fishcreek Elementary School in Stow where the
Wonders of the Night Sky program takes place nearly every
clear Friday night during the spring, summer and fall.

All photos were taken by, and used with permission of Ray Hyer, fellow member of
 The Astronomy Club of Akron, Inc (ACA)

Ray took these shots with a DSLR in almost total darkness with an exposure time of 30 seconds giving the images a
surrealistic quality.  The long exposures are demonstrated by the motion of the people and the total lack of shadows.  Just magical.  Thank you, Ray!

Photo below, left to right:  Meade 102ED APO refractor on a Meade LXD650 German equatorial mount belonging to Jeff Kreidler (whose hand is visible on the focuser), 12" LX200GPS belonging to and operated by Dave Jessie and TMB 130SS on a Celestron CGE German equatorial mount operated by Rosaelena Villaseñor.  The 102ED was viewing Jupiter, the LX200 was on the Moon and the TMB on Venus.  There were many more scopes and mounted binoculars of all types and sizes in use on the observing field.

click on thumbnail for larger image
Photo © 2007 by Ray Hyer
 click to enlarge

Photo below:  A gentleman holding his young son up to the eyepiece of the 12" SCT that was still pointed at the Moon.  The phase was almost exactly first quarter which gave a wealth of visible detail at the terminator - the line between lunar night and day - where shadows show craters and maria to best advantage.
Perhaps this young fellow will be the next great astronomer or cosmologist!

click on thumbnail for larger image
Photo © 2007 by Ray Hyer
click to enlarge

More pictures will be posted soon, so come back.

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