NorthWest Florida Astronomy Association

We made our annual trek way up north to support Walton Middle School’s Astronomy Day early on Friday, the 13th of May. Hmm, Friday the 13th. So, it was comforting to know that we had no fewer than 4 people tell us “Don’t worry, all the sprinklers had been turned off.”.

This year we had 186 students with additional teachers and administration observers take advantage of safe views of the Sun. Tom started off each group of 8th graders with a presentation on the Sun which was then followed by a question-and-answer session. Afterwards each group headed outside to view white light, H-alpha and spectroscopic views. We spent most of the day under clear skies. However, late in the afternoon, some clouds started to appear and unfortunately, only a few of the last group got to see the Sun before the clouds and the school bell ended the viewing.

Dennis provided the H-alpha view.	Tom set up his spectroscope for a more colorful view of the Sun.
Faculty and staff must take a look as well.	And the clouds start rolling in.

Cub members supporting the event were:

• Tom Haugh
• Dennis & Marietta Hausch

We need to thank Marietta for her photos of the event.

We also want to thank the faculty of Walton Middle School for the invite and the excellent lunch they provided. We will be sure to make the north bound trip again next year.

Turnout was relatively low for our first public star gaze of 2022 with only 15 guest observers. As usual for Henderson Beach, we started early with solar telescopes. With the Sun finally coming out of minimal activity, there were actual solar phenomena to view. The next object was a 2-day old Moon. It was, of course, visible while the Sun was up but was much easier to view once the sky started to darken.

John taking a look at the 6% sliver of Moon.	Dennis & Frank trying to see the Trapezium as the sky darkens.
Dennis selecting the next target.	Tom admiring the clouds (NOT).

Luckily, there were some deep sky objects to see since the only planets visible in the nighttime sky were Uranus and Neptune. Both were very low in the western sky with Neptune setting less than a half an hour after the Sun. The Pleiades (M 45) and the Orion Nebula (M 42) were visible however, humidity induced haze dulled any extended object.

The club mustered a sizable cadre for the first star gaze of the season:

• Frank Atchison
• Clyde Bennett
• Bill Coffeen
• Dave Halupowski & Kennedy Odom
• Tom Haugh
• Marietta and Dennis Hausch
• John Walker

We would like to thank new member Bill Coffeen for the star gaze photos.

The dark skies of Camp Paquette were not as dark as usual as the Girl Scout campout was on the same day as International Observe the Moon Night. So, although the Moon made a bright and easy target, it did hamper viewing any dim objects in the night sky.

Even so, there were an estimated 50 very enthusiastic girl scouts with an additional unknown number of parents and siblings who got to view, not only the Moon, but Venus, Jupiter and Saturn as well. Luckily, there were a few deep sky objects the scouts got to look at that weren’t overpowered by the Moon.

In addition to the telescopes set up by club members, we set up an example of the type of telescope that has been donated to local libraries. The scouts used that scope by themselves. There was a line of interested future astronomers.

We had lots of club support for the Camp Paquette event:

• Walter Dunn
• Dave Halupowski
• Tom Haugh
• Dennis & Marietta Hausch
• John Walker

Our first state park public star gaze of 2021 was a success. We can honestly say that the new guidelines we have to work under did not hamper the event one bit. Attendance was down a little for Eden Gardens at 35-40 guest observers but it was nice to see quite a few families getting a chance to view the heavens under fairly dark skies.

The early birds got to see a daytime Venus. Unfortunately, it quickly dropped below Eden Garden’s high tree line. Luckily, a near 4 day old moon showed a nice daytime crescent and was visible long enough for the sky to darken bringing Jupiter in to view. After that Saturn quickly followed. Along with some constellation identification and mythology stories, deep sky objects such as M 11, M 13 and M 47 were viewed. Lyra’s double double star system as well as Ursa Major’s Alcor/Mizar system were also observed and discussed. Toward the end of the evening some high thin clouds started to brighten the sky but by then most of the guests had headed towards the parking lot.

Yes, you can see the sky between Eden Garden’s grand old trees.

Guests observe the Moon using Dennis’ scope.

We had three members support the event: Walter Dunn, Tom Haugh and Dennis Hausch. In addition to each of their scopes we had also set up a library scope for the guests to use on their own and one guest bring her own scope to add to the fun. So, all in all, we had 5 scopes pointed at the sky.

Dennis (foreground) adjusts his scope while Tom (background) fields questions from our earliest guest observers.

A young observer views the crescent Moon using Walter’s binoculars.

We would like to thank the Florida State Park system for creating a set of guidelines that worked for everyone allowing us to resume our passion for sharing the night sky. We also want to thank Eden Gardens State Park for their invitation and support. We also thank Marietta Hausch for her event photographs.

Our annual trek north to the Spanish Trail Scout Reservation to support their Cub Scout Tiger Growl was a success. We always have great support from the camp and the dark skies generate good support from the club. The members that were able to support the event this year where:

• James Dubben
• Walter Dunn
• Chris Foley
• Dave Halupowski
• Tom Haugh
• John Walker

So, whether or not we have a good event, boils down to the weather, and the weather this year started out very good with cool clear skies. Clear enough that we kicked off observations with Venus and a 4 day old crescent Moon in broad daylight and Orion’s Trapezium before the Sun was fully set.

As we continued observing, and unnoticed by most, some clouds started to move in. They built up but then quickly dissipated. The only thing they really did was obscure a Hubble Space Telescope pass. We picked right back up with some of the evenings other targets:

• Uranus
• M 42
• M 41
• Sirius
• Alcor & Mizar

In addition to the telescopic sights there were extensive sessions on constellation recognition and lore.

The event saw 70+ scouts and associated family members. The Tigers eventually all headed back to their camp sites and we packed up after a fun evening. Once again, we thank the scout leaders for the invitation for us to share our love of Astronomy and to use their dark skies.