Category Archives: Star Parties

Star Parties

December 18, 2023 Chiricahua Astronomy Complex Telescope Observing

If you have family in town for the Holidays, whether you are a TAAA member or not, and want to participate in a telescope observing session at our Chiricahua Astronomy Complex (CAC), we are offering a two-hour observing session for a nominal fee per person. This is a perfect way to show family & visitors our dark skies and great astronomy conditions. The fee for the session is $50/adult and $25/youth under age 16.

We will be observing several planets to include Saturn and Jupiter, Galaxies millions of light years away, multiple star systems with stars orbiting around each other, star clusters, nebulae, and much more.

Observing will be Monday December 18, 2023 from 6 – 8 pm. To reserve, please make a reservation using the form at: https://tucsonastronomy.org/tsa-at-our-dark-site/ and input the December 18th date in the “Requested Date” field. We will send you an invoice to pay the required fee (fully refundable if you cancel at least 48 hours in advance or if we have weather issues the evening of the event).

Chiricahua Astronomy Complex Address: 9315 E Perseus Way, Pearce, AZ (about 1.5 to 2 hours SE of Tucson near the Chiricahua Mountains). More information on CAC is available at: https://tucsonastronomy.org/taaa-member-resources/observing-sites/chiricahua-astronomy-complex/

For any questions, email the CAC Director at: cac-director[at]tucsonastronomy.org.

General Astronomy, Star Parties

Celebrate the Night Sky

by Jim Knoll
Since we don’t have any star parties to talk about and many are at home doing projects, this might be a good time to evaluate your home outdoor lighting to help preserve the dark skies. As many of you know, the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) is located right here in Tucson. Their website is: https://www.darksky.org and they have lots of resources to help you out. Here are some tips to evaluate your own lighting.
– Install lighting only when and where it’s needed.
– Use energy saving features such as timers, dimmers, and motion sensors on outdoor lights. Timers work great to get your attention when they come on.
– Make sure your lighting is shielded so light shines down, not up and does not trespass on your neighbor.
– Educate your friends and neighbors about the importance of good lighting for our health, economy, and environment.
— Artificial light at night can interfere with ecological interactions like predator-prey relationships, interrupts habitat connectivity, influences species’ ability to detect seasonality, and interferes with the human circadian rhythm.
International Dark Sky week is April 19-26, 2020. Join IDA for daily virtual celebrations at: idsw.darksky.org.
Please share with your family and friends.

Spiral galaxies, M77 (face-on) and NGC 1055. Nasa image
Spiral galaxies, M77 (face-on) and NGC 1055.
Nasa image

32 inch Cassegrain Project, General Astronomy, Star Parties

December 2019 Events

planets-of-the-month-right-column

We have two Tucson public observing events this month.

– Agua Caliente Park (NE Tucson) on December 21st:  CANCELLED
– Tucson Mountain Park Ironwood Picnic Area (SW Tucson) on December 28 from 6 – 8 pm. Follow the Facebook event for real-time updates.

Meteor Shower. The Geminids peak early morning on December 14th or late evening on the 14th. There will be a bright Moon in the sky very close to Gemini which will limit what you can see. If possible put the Moon to your back and look for meteors in the opposite direction.

General Astronomy, Solar System, Star Parties

Mercury Transit Across the Sun (November 11, 2019)

by Jim Knoll

Monday November 11, 2019 (Veterans Day). This is a school holiday and a work holiday for many. Don’t pass up this “seldom-in-a-lifetime event”. A Mercury Transit (passing in front of) will NOT be visible again in the U.S. until May 7, 2049. Transits occur only 13-14 times per century. A Mercury Transit is too small to see without a properly filtered solar telescope. When you observe a transit, you see a small black circle (the planet Mercury) moving across the Sun. This event is visible throughout the U.S. TAAA will have several solar telescopes to safely view the Transit at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park (3482 E River Rd, River & Alvernon) on November 11 from 7:30 – 11 am (Mercury mid-transit when it is crossing the middle of the Sun is at 8:20 am Tucson time).  Sunrise November 11 is 6:49 am and the Transit will already be underway. You can follow the Mercury Transit event on our Facebook page (facebook.com/tucsonastronomy) for real-time weather updates. This event requires a clear view of the Sun (no cloud cover). CAUTION: Never look at the Sun without a proper solar filter or you can damage your eyes.

For more information, email: astronomy-events@tucsonastronomy.org.

Visible light image of sun, with Venus transiting. The sun is a type yellow type G star approximately 4.5 billions years old with a life cycle of 10 billion years. NASA Image
Visible light image of sun, with Venus transiting. The sun is a type yellow type G star approximately 4.5 billions years old with a life cycle of 10 billion years.
NASA Image

Star Parties

Evening Under the Stars – at the Chiricahua Astronomy Complex (CAC) April 13

The telescope fields at the Dark Site

The next Evening Under the Stars at the TAAA Chiricahua Astronomy Complex (CAC) is scheduled for Saturday April 13, 2024

The gate will be open at 6:30 pm with the program starting at 7 and we will be observing until around 9:30. If you are still thinking whether to attend, this is a fantastic opportunity to view celestial objects under some incredibly dark skies using several large telescopes.  We have a 40″ mirror Dobsonian, a 9″ lens Refractor, and a 14″ mirror Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope that will be open for observing. We will also have several other telescopes open to observe through.

You will see galaxies millions of light years away, star clusters, multiple star systems, nebulae, and lots more. Many of these are visible to the naked eye under our dark skies.

Definitely a family event that is a great opportunity for kids. Although it is a bit of a drive from Tucson, you can spend the day at the Chiricahua National Monument, grab something to eat, then come over to our Chiricahua Astronomy Complex (CAC) for an evening of telescope observing. CAC is only about 15 miles from the Chiricahua National Monument.   

There is no cost to attend but reservations are required so we can notify you by email how to get to CAC and let you know if there are any weather issues.  Please email John Kalas to make reservations: euts[at]tucsonastronomy.org not later than Wednesday April 10th (PROVIDE number of attendees, vehicles, and contact email for notification of any event changes). We will also post any updates on our Evening Under the Stars Facebook Event page, so follow the event for any real-time updates. Hopefully we will see you at CAC!

Preparing for evening viewing through the 9 inch refractor
The 40 inch
Gathering to hear the observing plans for the evening
Star Parties

January & February Astronomy Events

(By Jim Knoll)

We have quite a few public events in the next two months and are all free unless otherwise noted below. All are weather dependent and could be cancelled if we have extensive cloud cover. They are also posted on the TAAA Calendar so you can get directions and additional information.  The All our public events are also posted on then TAAA Facebook Page as an Event and you can follow one and get weather and other updates in real-time.

January 12. Catalina State Park. 6:30 – 9:30 pm. State Park entrance fee required.

January 19. Tucson Mountain Park Ironwood Picnic area. 6 – 8 pm.

January 20. Total Lunar Eclipse. University of Arizona Mall just south of Flandrau Science Center. We will have several telescopes set ups to view the total eclipse. Partial begins 8:33 pm. Total from 9:41 – 10:43 pm, and partial again after that. We will have telescopes operating from 8 – 11 pm. Flandrau Science Center will also be open late.

February 2. Tucson Mountain Park Ironwood Picnic area. 6:30 – 8:30.

February 9. Two events scheduled

— Tucson Star Party, co-hosted with Astronomy Magazine. Pima Community College East
Campus. Solar observing 10 am to 5:30 pm. Evening observing from 6:30 – 9 pm.  Astronomy Magazine Blog Post:  http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2019/01/02/the-tucson-star-party-will-be-a-day-of-sun-and-stars.aspx.

— Agua Caliente Park. 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Come join us for any of these events. They are a lot of fun and really good for a family activity.

32 inch Cassegrain Project, General Astronomy, Star Parties

Comet 46P Wirtanen from CAC

We have a naked eye (from a dark site) comet visible (arrow). It is Comet 46P Wirtanen. Ed Foley, one of our TAAA members, took this picture from our Chiricahua Astronomy Complex dark-sky site during last weekend’s events (Saturday December 8, 2018). You can see one of our observatories as well. Those present observed it through several telescopes. It was also observed at last Saturday’s Ironwood Picnic Star Party and will be observed at this coming weekend (December 15) Agua Caliente Park star party.

46 P Wirtanen over Wally Rogers Observatory 2 (compressed)

Star Parties, You're Invited!

Astronomy Festival for National Astronomy Day

Join the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA) on May 14th, from Noon to 9 pm at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park to celebrate National Astronomy Day.  This will be a fun-filled day and evening for the entire family.  We will have solar telescopes for safe viewing of the Sun and interactive exhibits for everyone during the afternoon.  There will be telescopes for viewing deep sky objects in the evening such as Jupiter, star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, and Mars (late evening).  We will have a door prize drawing at 7 pm for a 50mm telescope (must be present to win) and a Walk Around the Night Sky presentation around 7:30 pm.  The complete schedule is below.

Schedule

Safe Solar Viewing of the Sun                                            Noon – 6:30 pm
Interactive Astronomy Exhibits                                       Noon – 6 pm
Make Pocket Solar Systems & Sun Dials
Make an impact crater
Door Prize Drawing (must be present to win)              7 pm
50 mm Refractor Telescope
Night Sky Viewing                                                                     7:30 – 9 pm
Walk Around the Night Sky Presentation                  7:30 pm
Help with personal Telescope                                           All Day/Evening
Bring your personal telescope to receive
assistance in setup & operation

Jim Knoll