TAAS Web Page

School Star Party

Our first TAAS school star party for 2012 is Tuesday, Jan 31 at 6:00 PM at the Montezuma Elementary School located at 3100 Indian School Rd NE, Albuquerque. This will be a full type 1 star party including indoor & planetarium demonstrations as well as our traditional field of telescopes for the students and their families. We can certainly use as many telescopes as we can muster so please add this to your busy calendars. If you do not have a scope to bring, this is the perfect time to request one of the many TAAS loaner scopes by contacting our Telescope Loan Coordinator.
If you can help, please let us know by responding to Education_Coord@taas.org. Thanks for your continued support for these valued programs and we hope to see you there.
MAP

SPECIAL THANKS from the TAAS Education Team

GNTO New Moon January 28, 2012

The next GNTO event isSaturday, January 28st.
This is a Training and Observing event which gives members an opportunity to use the Isengard telescope in the main dome at the observatory. Also available is an introduction to astrophotography in the small dome.
There are members available on the field with their scopes. These members are ready to instruct newcomers about the richness and beauty of the night sky.

Join Us on the 28th!

Astronomy 101

This year we will have our attention focused on the sun like never before! Not only are we in the middle of the most active part of the current solar cycle, but we have an annular eclipse in May and the Venus transit in June. The sun possesses a wealth of detail visible to the amateur but one must use extreme caution when attempting to view the sun.
TAAS member Steve Riegel has been an active solar observer, photographer, videographer and sketcher for a number of years. Those of you who subscribe to the club’s listserve have seen examples of his work. Join us for the February edition of Astronomy 101 as Steve presents the fundamentals of Observing the Sun at Regener Hall at 6 PM, Feb 4 right before the general meeting.
See you there. Dave Pitonzo

TAAS General Meeting

The next TAAS general meeting is February 4, 2012 at 7 pm at Regener Hall on the campus of UNM.

Mission Update: Dawn at Vesta

The Dawn mission to asteroid Vesta had revealed unexpected features like a huge polar mountain and an equatorial rill. Last fall at TAAS’s Cosmic Carnival, Thomas H. Prettyman, a co-investigator of the Dawn mission told a group: “We should know much more in a few months.”
He will deliver that update to TAAS’s general meeting at 7 pm, February 3, 2012, at UNM’s Regener Hall. Dr. Prettyman will cover the latest findings from Vesta and also describe Dawn’s low-thrust, long- duration ion propulsion system.
He is Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, and leader of the Gamma-ray Neutron Spectrometer team on the Dawn mission.
Dawn was launched in September 2007. Following a February 2009 gravity assist from Mars, it arrived at Vesta last July. It will remain in orbit around the asteroid for a year, then move on to Ceres, which it will investigate from February to July 2015.
A map to Regener Hall is provided here.

Perihelion Banquet

The banquet was held on Saturday, January 14th at the Elegante Hotel.
A classic night for TAAS!
Take a look at some of the photos taken by Bill Firth.

Perihelion Banquet

Monthly Observing Challenge

Each month various objects are presented for observing by TAAS members.
At the beginning of each monthly general membership meeting, TAAS members will be asked to report their observing experiences.
TAAS members are encouraged to report their observing progress prior to the meeting on the TAAS-L.
TAAS members are encouraged to suggest objects for observing to TAAS@taas.org.
Monthly Challenge

What is TAAS?

Observe, Educate, Have Fun

School Star Party

GNTO New Moon January 28, 2012

Astronomy 101

TAAS General Meeting

Mission Update: Dawn at Vesta

Perihelion Banquet

Monthly Observing Challenge