NorthWest Florida Astronomy Association

In October, we held a daytime viewing of the sun at Seaside, Florida’s  “Back To Nature” Family Fun Day event.  One of the guest observers who stopped by was a staff member from the E.O.Wilson Biophilia Center.    She asked if we could do something similar at the center.  We, of course, said yes.  However, our schedule was full to the end of the year, so we had to wait until 2013 to honor that request.

Tom Haugh gave two presentations of “Our Star: An Owner’s Manual” in the center’s auditorium.

The presentation is an introduction to our star, the Sun.   It starts with the Sun’s physical properties, shows how it fits into our solar system, it’s place in our galaxy, and ends with the effects of living so close to it (both good and bad).

The sessions were sparsely attended but we think the weather had something to do with that.  Frank Atchison, Ken Leone, and Tom each had solar telescopes  setup outside but did not have an example of a star to look at.  The clouds were constant all day until just as we were packing up the scopes. Then the sun made an appearance just brief enough for one family to take a quick peek and then the clouds closed up again.

This was our first event at the Biophilia Center.  The facilities are first rate and the staff very helpful and enthusiastic.  We had a great time and look forward to future events there.

We would like to thank the center and staff for the opportunity to share our passion for astronomy.

One of the stories read during Holley-Navarre’s reading night was about stars.  That was all the excuse we needed to support the event with a short star gaze for the participating students and parents.  Reading night started early enough that we were able to briefly view the current crop of sunspots before the Sun dipped below the school building.  While we waited for the sky to darken we answered questions and viewed terrestrial targets with Tom’s library scope.  We made sure that all the guest observers were aware of the impending ISS pass later that evening.

EAAA members Tom Sajwaj and Lyen McAbee along with NWFAA members Frank Atchison and Tom Haugh each brought instruments for the students to view the sky.  We set up the scopes on the asphalt pad behind the school.  It is the best school ‘back yard’ for star gazes that we have seen this year.  The area was fairly dark with few direct lights.

Once the skies started to darken the costumed participants started to line up.  The Ring Nebula, Wild Duck Cluster, and Albireo were among the objects presented.  Tom’s crippled 6″ Newtonian sat on Epsilon Lyrae for the whole presentation.  All the while anticipation built for the ISS pass. 

The ISS showed up right on schedule and passed almost directly overhead.  Tom explained that there were 6 crew members currently on board and that the current space station commander, Sunita Williams, had received her Masters degree from a Florida college.  The pass of the station proved to be the highlight of the evening.  The event broke up about 7:30 P.M.

We would like to thank the staff and students of Holley-Navarre Intermediate School for their warm welcome and enthusiastic participation.  We look forward to future events at their school. 

The 2011 Back to Nature Sky View was a great success.  Unfortunately, the NWFAA schedule would not allow us to support a night time star gaze this year.  However, we were able to support the daytime Back To Nature Family Fun Day event.

Dave Haluposki, Frank Atchison and Tom Haugh all brought telescopes capable of providing safe views of the sun, and the weather accommodated with perfectly clear skies. 

An ancient and honored Unitron provides a solar projection view of the Sun.

Dennis’ new Hα telescope shows a large solar prominence on the edge of the Sun.

 
 
The large crowd kept up a steady flow of observers; many stating that this was the first time they ever directly viewed the sun. Frank and Tom provided white light filtering with Dave providing a projected view through his vintage Unitron.  Although Dennis Hausch could not make the event, he loaned Dave his newly acquired Coronado Hα telescope.  The Sun provided several prominences with one particularly large loop just on the solar limb. 

Tom answers some stellar questions.

The white light and projected views showed several sun spot groups which changed noticeably throughout the day.  As usual, monthly sky maps and club fliers were handed out to each interested viewer.

Thanks go to Dave for the event photography.

This was our first visit to the Seaside community.  The people were friendly, the food was good and the event was a lot of fun.  We look forward to next year’s Back To Nature event whether it is day or night.

New members Natasha and Sarah thought it would be a good idea to hold a star view for the single airmen of Eglin AFB.  Unable  to find a suitable location on base, they arranged to hold the event at Lewis Middle School just outside of the east gate of the base.  The Lady Falcon’s softball stadium proved to be the darkest site on school grounds and the event was held there.

Tony Russo, Dennis Hausch, Dave Halupowski, Frank Atchison, Tom Haugh, Matt Spidell and Stephen Forbes all brought gear.  The list of viewed objects were pretty much the same as those viewed at the Henderson Beach Star View the night before.  Star maps were, once again, handed out to each guest observer.  The evening started clear but soon clouds started to encroach from the southwest and eventually called a halt in the observing.

The crowd was small but enthusiastic and this event has plenty of potential for future gazes.

We would like to thank the 96th Force Support Squadron for their support and to the staff of Addie R. Lewis Middle School for their support of the men and women of Eglin AFB.

Tom Haugh was invited to present a basic astronomy class at the September edition of “Evening Library Time” at the Crestview Public Library.  Since the audience was younger than the normal Astronomy Workshop crowd, he covered basic use of a telescope, how to read a star map and described the different classes of objects that are visible in the telescope. 

A future planetary specialist gets a head start.

Tom answers a Pluto question.

Star maps and coloring pages were handed out to the guest astronomers.  Tom had to answer several interesting questions. There was also a discussion on the current status of Pluto.  Thanks goes out to the Friends of the Library and the scouts for their support and the great astronomy snacks.