NorthWest Florida Astronomy Association

The last Henderson Beach Sky View of 2013 started, as usual, with setting up telescopes 3 hours prior to sunset.  Dean Covey, Dennis Hausch and Tom Haugh provided safe views of the sun to the sparse guest observers.  Solar activity was on the low side with only a couple of small sunspot groups visible.  H-alpha scopes showed only a few limb prominences.

Once the sun set and the sky darkened, the solar scopes and filters were replaced for night time viewing.  As the crowd of guests assembled, Tom handed out sky charts and briefed their usage as well as sky view etiquette and some safety rules.  Ultimately, Dean, Dennis and Tom were joined by Frank Atchison, Ken Leone  and Dave Halupowski as each added their scope to the group.

Since October 12th was 2013’s International Observe the Moon Night (IOMN), and the crescent Moon was high overhead, it was the first target of opportunity.  It was quickly joined by a similarly crescent Venus in the western sky.

Guest observers lined up to view Epsilon Lyrae, the Great Andromeda Galaxy, the Ring Nebula and M-13 in Hercules as well as many other celestial objects.  Dave had a video camera attached to his scope and hosted a crowd of guests watching the objects that he was viewing.

The park rangers reported an attendance exceeding 100 people.

We would like to thank the Henderson Beach State Park rangers and volunteers that make our events here so successful.  We also look forward to next year and continuing our series of public sky views.

The WEBELOS of Cub Scout Pack 799 visited the NWFSC observatory on the 5th of October to accomplish requirements for the award of Scientist activity badges, and Science or Astronomy belt loops.

As the guest observers arrived, the sky was very cloudy. Tom Haugh conducted a quick safety briefing and then handed out sky charts and after explaining how to use the charts, held a quick question and answer session. The group then adjourned inside to the observatory’s classroom for a presentation on general Astronomy.

After the presentation was complete the group went up to the dome room where Professor Russo conducted a tour of the telescope and dome equipment. By then the sky had started to clear and the scouts and leaders finished up outside at Frank Atchison’s 8″ Meade for a tour of the evenings objects visible through the thinning clouds.

We would like to thank the leaders and scouts of Pack 799 for the opportunity to share our knowledge of the night sky. We would also like to thank Professor Russo for his time and North West Florida State College for its permission to use the observatory and school facilities.