NorthWest Florida Astronomy Association

Thunder, lightning and power outages were not enough to stop Cub Scout Pack 25 from enjoying an astronomy based evening at the Spanish Trails Scout Reservation. Granted, the overcast and precipitation prevented telescopic views, but the NWFAA was prepared for just that situation and was able to provide an alternative. Club members Tom Haugh and Frank Atchison gave a general astronomy based presentation to the 35 scouts and scout leaders, as well as the few family members who braved the weather. Luckily, the power stayed on throughout the presentation as well as the following question and answer session. Hopefully, our next trip to the Spanish Trails Scout Reservation will have clear skies.

The 2015 edition of International SUN Day was the first that the club actively participated in. Luckily, the day started off clear (and warm) and stayed fairly clear for most of the event. It did not stay warm.

By the time Bass Pro-Shops opened their doors for business, Dean Covey and Tom Haugh had solar telescopes up and running. They were joined a short time later by member Chuck Lynch and then Tony Russo joined the group rounding out the club participation.

The suggested location for our setup provided a clear view of the sky, absent any shadows from nearby buildings and trees. A prominent sun spot group was easily visible on Dean’s 8″ filtered Meade. The H-alpha view of the Sun started off the day rather unimpressive but later a large prominence rose up, seemingly, just for the occasion.

The location also provided a steady stream of public, most of whom took advantage of the club equipment and took a look at the guest of honor, the Sun. Several of our guest observers told us they saw the event advertised in the paper and made the trip just to take their first look at the Sun through a telescope. We handed out quite a few of our star gaze schedules and a couple of guests said that they would be attending the coming June meeting at the observatory.

In addition to the day being the summer solstice, it was also Father’s day. It is amazing how many apparent Fathers left Bass Pro-Shops with new fishing rods.

Throughout the day, clouds and thunderstorms on the eastern horizon threatened the event but stayed away until about 4:00 PM. Although it didn’t rain on us, the clouds moved in quite quickly bringing an end to the observing. Since this was our 3rd event of the week that involved Solar viewing and the necessary exposure to the daytime heat, we took this opportunity to call it a day and wrap up.

We would like to thank club member and Bass Pro-Shop employee, Gary Feduccia, for arranging the location for the event and for checking in with us throughout the day to make sure no one succumbed to the heat. He also provided the photography. We would also like to thank the Bass Pro-Shops staff for their warm welcome and for their permission to use the location.

In an effort to get his afternoon Astronomy class some telescope time, Professor Russo arranged an afternoon solar star gaze on the Niceville campus of Northwest Florida State College. Club members Frank Atchison, Bob Burkart, Dean Covey, and Tom Haugh were able to support the Wednesday event. Dean and Bob set up white light filtered telescopes while Tom provided a Hydrogen-Alpha view.

Once all the scopes were set up, Professor Russo and class adjourned to the observing field at the campus observatory. After a quick explanation of what they were about to see, the students proceeded from telescope to telescope asking questions and taking notes, as this was a class assignment.

The last student views the Sun through Bob’s Meade, while Frank, Dean and Tom debrief the event.

There were a couple of large sunspots visible in the white light views and several very large prominences in the H-alpha. Luckily, the class was not a large one; the weather was very hot and uncomfortable as the daytime star light was very intense. The observing portion of the event ended about 5:15 PM as the class quickly returned to the air-conditioned classroom.

Cloudy skies started to clear just as we were making a go/no go decision on Saturday. Satellite imagery showed the clouds over the gulf were dissipating so we headed on over to Topsail Hill State Park early enough to set up our solar scopes. Dennis Hausch set up his IOptron Maksutov with a white light filter and Tom Haugh set up his H-alpha scope. Several early birds got to see the few sunspots and a fairly large prominence that the Sun was sporting.

There were a few clouds still drifting in from the south, but they were not a serious problem and ultimately the skies cleared. By then, the skies were darkening and the solar equipment was stowed. Dave Halupowski arrived with his binocular chair as a novel alternative to the tripod mounted scopes. As the nighttime alignments were underway we were joined by several of the staff of Emerald Coast Middle School. They brought one of the schools telescopes and were looking for a little assistance with a recalcitrant mount.

Venus was the first object to draw our attention. Jupiter quickly followed, but it quickly became apparent that although there were no clouds, there was still some high altitude haze; both Venus and Jupiter had halos. The haze did little to effect the views of the planets but definitely put a damper on any deep sky objects. Dave pointed out a couple of bright satellites that graced the skies. Our group of guest observers were sparse but enthusiastic and we look forward toward the dark skies that we usually enjoy at Topsail Hill.

We were honored to be invited to support the E.O.Wilson Biophilia Center’s Astronomy for Kids Day. The weather was perfect, the kids were great and we had a wonderful time. NWFAA members Dean Covey, Ken Leone, Gaetan Godin, and Tom Haugh each brought solar observing equipment. Club member Virginia Schreitmueller provided adult supervision and manned our information shelter. She spent the day handing out club flyers, sky charts and answering questions about the club.

Virginia manning the booth.

EAAA member David Cochran

David’s H-Alpha shot of the Sun and its prominences.

Dean answering solar questions.

Gaetan and some of the crowd.

A future spectroscopist getting a better view.