Iowa City Astronomy Club

New Club Scope! (Members can use!)

Denise — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:58:46 +0000

Thanks to a generous donation, our club has a new telescope for use by club members: a Meade LX10 8″ Schmidt-Cassegrain on a fork equatorial mounting (non-computerized. Seems hard to believe that they actually used to make them that way!) If anyone would like to see this telescope, come to an observing session. If a club member would like to use this telescope, call club president Dan Bastemeyer.

June 11, 2012 - Meeting at the Iowa City Public Library, 7PM

Denise — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:39:58 +0000

Meetings are held on the second Monday of every month, at the Iowa City Public Library, starting at 7PM. Check the meetings list near the library entrance to see which room the meeting is in (It varies from month to month).

The program for the June meeting is to be announced.

If you have an idea for a future program, just use the Contact Us tab to let us know — we’re always open to suggestions!

June 5th, Transit of Venus

Denise — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:05:11 +0000

If you missed the 2004 Venus transit (when Venus appears to pass in front of the sun), you will definitely not want to miss this one, since it will not happen again until 2117!

The big day comes on Tuesday, June 5th. ICAC will have one or more telescopes (with solar filters, of course) in Coralville’s S.T. Morrison Park. Come find us as we set up around 4:15-4:30. (If you’d like to bring a telescope and own a solar filter, be sure to have your solar filter attached — otherwise aiming a telescope towards the sun is very dangerous!)

First contact, when Venus first touches the sun’s northeastern limb, will occur at 5:05 p.m. Here in Iowa, the entry point will be very near the top of the sun’s disk. The transit will still be in progress as the sun sets, thus we wil not be able to see third and fourth contact, when Venus leaves the sun’s disk.

Nevertheless, the situation will be better than it was in 2004, when north americans only got to see the tail end of the transit after sunrise. (Our club president, Dan Bastemeyer, got to see five minutes of the transit, due to a lucky break in the clouds!)

May 20th, Solar Eclipse

Denise — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 01:23:23 +0000

On the afternoon of Sunday, May 20th, observers in the western two thirds of North America can see a partial solar ecplise. Those living along the centerline in the southwest United States will see the moon pass entierly within the sun’s disk, producing an annular eclipse.

Here in Iowa we will only see the tail end of the event. It won’t begin until 8:23 p.m., and when the sun sets it will be about half covered by the moon. To observe this event you will need to be somewhere with a clear view of the western horizon.