The azimuth for today’s Moonrise is 75 degrees: that is, 15 degrees North of Due East. You will be able to see it from Hamilton and Burlington out over lake Ontario. Bring your compass and you will catch it as it first peeks up. At 98.9 percent full, it’s already pretty super.
General Meeting for November 11th 2016
Almost every day someone enters the store asking how to pick out a telescope and then how to use one. Experienced observers seem to struggle as well. Here are some tips on how to make your observing session fun and productive.
The November issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!
In this issue you’ll find…
Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.
Photo credit: HAA Telescope Clinic, by John Gauvreau
The Hamilton Amateur Astronomers 2017 Celestial Calendar is now available!
This cosmic collection of club member photos is out of this world and set to blast off at the next General Meeting (Nov 11) for $15 each or two for $25. Each month includes upcoming celestial events, historical dates in astronomy, Moon phases and more to keep you informed this 2017. Packed full of beautiful astro-photos each month will inspire your own astrophotography and visual observing sessions.
All revenue generated from calendar sales goes back into the club to help support future club activities! Be sure to beam-up your calendar and don’t forget they also make excellent gifts!
Dec 19, 2016 Update: Hamilton Community News Article
Come join the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers this November 19th between 1 and 4pm for our Telescope Clinic and open house! At this event you’ll find knowledgable amateur astronomers with their telescopes and gear on display and available to answer questions. This is a great opportunity if you’re thinking about getting into astronomy! Learn where to get started, the type of gear you should buy and more importantly avoid. Already an amateur astronomer? This is a great way to take your hobby to the next level and learn about more advanced topics such as CCD imaging, auto guiding and more!
Annual General Meeting, October 14th 2016
“Exploring the ghostly side of galaxies with Dragonfly” with Dr. Roberto Abraham, University of Toronto professor, Dept of Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bigger telescopes are usually better telescopes…. but not always. In this talk I will explore the ghostly world of large low surface brightness structures, such as galactic stellar halos, low-surface brightness dwarf galaxies, and other exotica such as supernova light echoes. These objects are nearly undetectable with conventional telescopes, but their properties may hold the key to understanding how galaxies assemble. I will describe why finding these objects is important, and why it is so devilishly difficult.
I will also describe a bizarre new telescope (the Toronto/Yale/Harvard Dragonfly Telephoto Array, a.k.a. Dragonfly) which is now being used to explore the low surface brightness universe and is testing some of the most fundamental predictions of galaxy formation models. Dragonfly is comprised of 48 commercial 400 mm f/2.8 telephoto lenses which utilize novel nanostructure-based optical coatings that minimize scattered light and ghosting. I’ll showcase some our early results, mainly focusing on the properties of ultra-faint stellar halos. I’ll also report the discovery of gigantic stellar disks underlying nearby galaxies, and will describe the discovery of a new class of ghostlike galaxies that are as big as the Milky Way but have about 1/1000 of its mass.
The October issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!
In this issue you’ll find…
Download your copy from the newsletters section.
Photo credit: The California Nebula (NGC 1499), by Bob Christmas
Public Stargazing Night at Bayfront Park, September 10th
Join the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers at Bayfront park for a evening under the cosmos. Starting at 8:00pm Saturn and Mars will be low on the horizon, a half Moon will be visible along with many visible constellations. Fun and educational for the whole family, club members will be unhand to answer cosmic questions.
Continue Reading
The Hamilton Amateur Astronomer’s 2017 Celestial Events Calendar is in production and it’s time to submit your images!
The HAA calendar showcases photos, illustrations and other visuals exclusively from you, HAA club members. Everyone is encouraged to participate from very experienced astrophotographers to absolute beginners — all images are welcome.
When sending your photo, please submit the highest resolution you have in JPG format. In order to fit the format of the calendar please ensure your photos are in landscape orientation. You can submit as many images as you want and they can be astrophotos, related subjects (like sunsets or atmospheric phenomena), club events and activities. Please include a few details about your photo, the equipment used, where it was taken or anything else relevant.
Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2016.
Please submit your photos to webmaster@amateurastronomy.org.
Please note that by submitting a photo you are granting The Hamilton Amateur Astonomers right to publish your photo in the 2017 Celestial Events Calendar.
Photo credit: Aurora – Everett Cairns
The September issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!
In this issue you’ll find…
Download your copy from the newsletters section.
Photo credit: M20 – the Trifid Nebula, by Matthew Mannering
