2012 Transit of Venus

Well, between the Texas heat and summer thunder storms, seeing Venus transit the sun was challenging but it was still an exciting event. A nice sized crowd turned out at the Russell Planetarium (West Mesquite High School) where we set up our 8" Dobsonian and shared our Canon image-stabilized binoculars for public viewing (both outfitted with Baader film filters).

I also set up our Parks 60mm refractor but instead of having people line up to view directly through it, I used a barlow to attach my Nikon D7000, tethered it to a laptop and displayed the transit full-screen on the laptop while capturing live high-def video. So, rather than a long line like the other telescopes, with this setup a small crowd could watch at once. When the clouds obscured the view, I could play back the video and still allow people to watch - handy for the few people who arrived during a cloudy period and had not yet been able to see the transit.

Did I mention it was hot? It was ironic that we were all out there anxious to see the sun but also wishing for shade. And with the sun so low and the heat in the 90s, the turbulence was pretty bad so pictures and video weren't as sharp as they could have been but, wow, it was still an amazing sight.

Thanks to Paul Ballou for hosting this event at the planetarium. Besides having Texas Astronomical Society on hand with telescopes and the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science present to help, he was showing the live NASA feed of the transit from Mauna Kea in the theater so during periods where it was cloudy, people who attended could go inside and cool off while continuing to watch the transit.

Only another 105 years till we get to do this again...

Here's the video:

A Special 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast

Please join me in enjoying this 365 Days of Astronomy podcast for January 26th, 2010, dedicated to my wife Linda and her peers at the DMNS Planetarium.

Share the wonder!

Earth Hour: Dallas

A bit late posting this (been a bit of an absentee amateur astronomer lately thanks to a busy schedule at work), but thought I would share what it looked like to see the lights of downtown Dallas go out in celebration of Earth Hour, an event organized by the World Wildlife Fund to bring attention to the need for solutions for global climate change.

On March 28th, 2009, the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas hosted an Earth Hour star party on the roof of West Village in uptown Dallas. TAS members brought out with their telescopes and the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science Planetarium staff presented shows in their portable planetarium. The real excitement started at 8:30 pm as downtown lights went out. What a spectacular site!

Also, check out this article for great shots of other major cities around the world celebrating Earth Hour.

Lights Out for Earth

This Saturday, March 28th, at 8:30pm local time all across the United States and the rest of the world, people and businesses will heed the World Wildlife Fund call to turn off their lights for an hour to express their concern for global climate change and commitment to finding a solution. Called Earth Hour, it is a great way to cast your vote for Planet Earth. 

The list of supporters who've pledged to participate is growing and includes some historic sites including the Pyramids in Egypt, the Acropolis in Athens, the Broadway Theater District, the Space Needle in Seattle and the Chrysler Building in New York. You can hear actor and Earth Hour USA Ambassador Edward Norton discuss Earth Hour with Larry King on Wednesday, March 25th at 9 pm ET on CNN. 

We're also celebrating here in Dallas. In anticipation of much of downtown Dallas going dark, the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas is conducting a star party. Everyone is invited to join attend at West Village in uptown Dallas this Saturday night starting at 7:00 pm. TAS members will be out with their telescopes and the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science Planetarium staff will have their portable planetarium set up. The real excitement should start at 8:30 pm as downtown lights go out. Come on out and join us! For more information including directions, go to the TAS homepage.

Earth Hour USA site

Earth Hour global site

New Texas Astronomical Society Member

One of the first goals I set for this year and for participation in the International Year of Astronomy 2009 was increased networking with other amateur astronomers, in part through membership in the Texas Astronomical Society. Well, meet the newest member of TAS!

I attended my first TAS meeting tonight (well, first one as a member) and had the pleasure of listening to guest speaker David Dooling, Director of Education and Outreach for the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, talk about the next big NSO project, development of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST). When built, it will be the world's largest optical solar telescope with a 4 meter primary mirror. David also talked about his plans for the Sunspot Solar System Model, a 1:250-million-scale model of the solar system with the sun located at the NSO site in Sunspot and other planets and solar system bodies leading back along the highway towards Cloudcroft and spread across much of New Mexico. Both talks were engaging, informative and entertaining.

Speaking of entertainment, after the break one of the members, Tom Noe, provided music in the spirit of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, singing Did Galileo Pray? (by Paul Ellis) and Do You Really Wanna Know (by Peter Mayer). I didn't expect to hear music tonight but it was great fun. Listening to Tom sing brought to mind a favorite song of mine that also has an astronomy theme... more on that in a future post. Meanwhile, in addition to his involvement in house concerts I understand that Tom is a telescope maker - see his Teleport Telescopes web site for more information on what he calls the LTFWT (largest telescope factory in Wylie, Texas).

As for networking, I didn't get very far tonight - though I did run into someone I know, Chaz Hafey. Chaz was director of the Science Place Planetarium (now the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science Planetarium) back when Linda first started working there. It was good to see Chaz again, but at the next meeting I look forward to meeting other members who I haven't met before.

Family Affair

Something I should have mentioned from the beginning is that I'm not alone in my interest in astronomy. My wife, Linda, presents planetarium shows (both formal presentations and ad hoc sky shows) at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. As much as I enjoy getting out under the sky at night, I don't know nearly as much about the sky as she does. So, we welcome you to our little corner of the blogosphere where we'll be joining the rest of the world in celebrating 400 years since Galileo first turned a telescope on the sky.