NorthWest Florida Astronomy Association

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.

Once again, the skies did not cooperate with Kenwood Elementary School’s science night. We had plenty of volunteers with scopes at the ready, but they were told to stand down early in the afternoon since the skies were totally overcast.

But, all was not lost. Tom Haugh set up a telescope inside the cafeteria along with all the other science exhibits. He had it focused on a picture of Saturn hung on the opposite wall. This was a hands-on exhibit with the students and parents getting a view of the inverted image provided by most telescopes of today. He reported a total of 74 students and additional parents and siblings getting a look through the scope.

He also set up a NASA Solar System Ambassador display featuring SOFIA, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. There was a video describing the aircraft, its modifications and descriptions of its recent missions. He also had a model of the modified 747.

He said there were a lot of great questions and discussions about the scope and the aircraft as well as current activity aboard the International Space Station.

We look forward to next year and our next attempt to show Kenwood Elementary School students the night sky.

Veteran’s Day dawned with mostly clear skies with only some high wispy clouds to interfere with observing Mercury cross the face of the Sun. Dawn was the operative word since the transit started at 0636(L). We, of course, had to be setup and ready to go well before that. The club had a good turnout with most getting to Valparaiso’s Florida park before sunrise. However, a couple slept in and showed up later during the transit.

• Dean Covey
• James Dubben
• Walter Dunn
• Rob Guillaum
• Dave Halupowski
• Tom Haugh
• Dennis & Marietta Hausch
• Scott Morgan

Here are some of the usual suspects:

Dean

Walter

Dennis

Scott

In contrast to the 9 May 2016 transit of Mercury, we had a much larger group of guest observers. In total, we had 47 guests, the majority were members of the Shalimar chapter of the Classical Conversations home school group. They were able to view the Sun/Mercury pair through white light and Hydrogen-Alpha scopes. The Sun continues to be in a very low activity period but there was one very small prominence visible in the H-alpha scopes.

Viewing through Scott’s white light filtered 10″ Orion.	Dennis’ H-alpha scope with a secondary DSLR.
One of our guest observers using Dennis’ H-alpha scope.	Tom discussing the transit with the home school leader.

The high wispy clouds came and went throughout the event and did provide an alternate object to view. For a short time portions of a 22 deg halo were visible along with a sun dog (a parhelion) to the east of the Sun. Fourth contact occurred at 1204(L) and concluded the transit.

Transit at 1013(L). Mercury above right of center.

Transit at 1158(L). Mercury just on right edge above center.

We would like to thank Marietta Hausch for the event photos, Rob Guillaum for the mug shots and Dennis Hausch for the transit photos.

The next Mercury transit visible here on the panhandle will be in 2032. Hope to see you there.