NorthWest Florida Astronomy Association

Dennis Hausch was the first NWFAA member to make it through the summer tourist traffic on US 98 and start setting up for solar viewing at Topsail Hill State Park. As each member made it through the gauntlet additional equipment was added to the collection. Dennis and Dean Covey setup white light filtered scopes and Tom Haugh set up a Hydrogen-Alpha telescope. It was fortunate we had three solar scopes. We had 50+ guest observers view the Sun before sunset. That is a record for Topsail Hill.

Guest observers look for sunspots.

Dennis and his filtered IOptron.

Well before sunset Dave Halupowski unloaded his dobsonian and waited for the Sun to set. As usual Jupiter started the nighttime viewing before the Sun set. As the sky continued darkening Mars and Saturn came into view high in the southern sky. By then club member Robert Sutphen joined us as he made his first trip to a Topsail Hill event. Additional celestial targets viewed were Alberio, the Ring Nebula, the globular cluster M 4 as well as the Milky Way; the skies were that clear and that dark. In addition, the ISS was also visible as it made a low pass across the northern horizon.

Dave checks out the Sun with Dean’s Celestron.

Tom and Dennis share the Sun with the guest observers.

The estimated attendance was in excess of 80 people, but some of those were returning solar observers. Still this was our best attended Topsail Hill public star gaze. All-in-all a great event.

Once again the weather threatened but did no harm. Following our normal Henderson Beach schedule, we setup solar equipment about 3 hours prior to sunset. We had a few more early observers than usual. Ken Leone started off the solar viewing through his filtered 70mm binoculars. Dean Covey set up his white light filtered Celestron and Dennis Hausch set up his Coronado H-alpha scopes. Even though the sunspot count was very low and there was only one prominence, the observers were all pleased with their first telescopic view of the Sun. Tom Haugh set up his spectroscope which provided the observers with one additional view of the Sun.

	Ken re-centers the Sun in his binoculars.	The line for Dennis’ H-alpha scope.
	Dean and Scott discuss the coming evening’s activities.	A young guest observer takes a look at the solar spectrum.

As our star started to set and the skies started to darken, we were joined by Frank Atchison, Chuck Lynch and Scott Morgan. Frank and Chuck each added a scope to the collection. Tom handed out star charts to the additional observers starting to assemble. Even though the sky was not yet dark, Jupiter was easily found and the lines started to form. In turn, Mars and Saturn were added to the list of targets as well as Arctutus, Alcor and Mizar, and the great Hercules cluster (M13) as well as several other celestial sights.

Checking out a terrestrial target in Chuck’s telescope.

Club members waiting for the sky to darken.

As the crowd started to thin, new club member Katie Milner showed up. This was her first star gaze with us. Unbeknownst to us, she had set up her scope at the westernmost parking lot of Henderson Beach and held her own star gaze. Luckily, word got to her and she made her way east and we were able to join forces and finish the star gaze. Park rangers reported attendance to be 80 to 90. This is a little low for a Henderson Beach event, but we’re pretty sure the threatening weather had something to do with it.

UPDATE:
 
This proved to be Chuck Lynch’s last sky view. On the 5th of July Chuck suddenly and unexpectedly passed away.
 

Chuck was one of our most steadfast supporters. Even before he had a telescope he was at our events helping out wherever he could. In addition to our public star gazes, Chuck adopted the Fort Walton Beach library as our library telescope program representative and he supported the Emerald Coast Science Center’s planetarium nights.

Chuck will be missed.

The last Mercurial transit visible on the gulf coast was in 2006. The next will be visible on November 11, 2019 and then not again for 30 years. Since we don’t know what the weather will be like in 2019 several members of the NWFAA braved a gloomy forecast, early morning clouds and set up their telescopes by 6:00 AM to make sure, if we had the chance, we didn’t miss this one. Frank Atchison, Dean Covey, Tom Haugh, Dennis Hausch, Chuck Lynch and Ken Sharpe assembled at Florida Park in Valparaiso and waited for the Sun to rise and the clouds to part.

Beautiful sunrise as the transit begins.

Club members indicating their displeasure with the beautiful sunrise as the transit begins.

Except for breaks in the clouds that lasted mere seconds, we waited for awhile.

But our patience paid off and the later it got the bigger the holes were and towards mid-transit we had more clear sky than clouds. By mid-day club member Robert Sutphen made the drive from Crestview and joined the group. Overall, we had 13 additional guest observers view the transit. I think the questionable weather prevented others from viewing the event.

The silhouette of Mercury shared the Sun with a small sunspot group. In the images below, Mercury is the perfectly round dot on the lower half of the Sun. The sunspot is the irregular shaped blemish. Additionally, the H-Alpha image shows dark streaks (filaments) and bright areas (plages).

Dennis’ white light image.

Tom’s H-Alpha image.

But the weather being what it is, as the event headed towards third contact, the clouds moved back in and the end of the transit was only marginally visible through the cloud gaps.

We need to, once again, thank our unofficial ‘official’ event photographer, Marietta Hausch, for the terrestrial photos.

Dave Halupowski and Dennis Hausch braved the mostly cloudy skies and setup solar telescopes at the Heritage Museum’s 40th annual “Saturday in the Park” celebration in Valparaiso. Dave set up his ancient and honored Unitron refractor and provided a projection view of the Sun. Dennis set up his white light filtered Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope and his Coronado Hydrogen-Alpha scope. Later in the afternoon club member Professor Tony Russo from NWFSC joined the pair and added his expertise to the group.

A local Constable examines Dennis’ equipment.

Dave waiting for the clouds to clear.

When the clouds intervened they answered lots of Astronomy questions and handed out the club’s schedule of public star gazes. Photos courtesy of Dave Halupowski and Marietta Hausch

Our first High School star gaze was a qualified success. Throughout the day, 10 different classes totaling 268 students, attended a brief introduction to telescopes in the school auditorium before adjourning outside to view the Sun through Dennis Hausch’s 80mm H-alpha telescope and his white light filtered Maksutov-Cassegrain.

Tom Haugh added his white light filtered 4.5″ Newtonian reflector. There were a couple of very small sunspot groups visible in the white light view as well as a small looping prominence in H-alpha light. While most of the students were able to take advantage of the scopes, the intermittent clouds did hamper some of the visibility.

Thanks to Marietta Hausch for the photography.