Serving science and society since 1937. The National
Capital Astronomers (NCA) is a non-profit, membership supported,
volunteer run, public service corporation dedicated to advancing
space technology, astronomy, and related sciences through
information, participation, and inspiration, via research,
lectures and presentations, publications, expeditions, tours,
public interpretation, and education. NCA is the astronomy
affiliate of the Washington
Academy of Sciences. We are also members of the Astronomical League, in
fact NCA members helped form the Astronomical League a long time
ago.
NCA has for many years published a monthly newsletter called Star
Dust that is available for members. Besides announcement of
coming NCA meetings and a calendar of monthly events Star Dust
contains reviews of past meeting and articles on current
astronomical events.
NCA is a very unusual astronomy organization. All are welcome to
join. Everyone who looks up to the sky with wonder is an
astronomer and welcomed by NCA. You do not have to own a
telescope, but if you do own one that is fine, too. You do not
have to be deeply knowledgeable in astronomy , but if you are
knowledgeable in astronomy that is fine, too. You do not have to
have a degree, but if you do that is fine, too. WE ARE THE MOST
DIVERSE local ASTRONOMY CLUB anywhere. Come to our meetings and
you will find this out. WE REALLY MEAN THIS!
Our Meetings
Monthly Meetings with Educational Presentations are Free and
Open to the Public
NCA has regular monthly meetings September through June on the
second Saturday of the month.
Public transportation:Directions/maps
to the UM Observatory Inclement weather: In case of severe weather
(tornado/snow/impassable roads), a notice will be placed on the Observatory Website
on the day of the meeting. (Be sure to refresh/reload the page to
make sure you are seeing an updated page.)
An All-Sky Discovery Machine: A Gamma Ray Telescope and
an Optical Survey Telescope
Speaker: Kent Wood
Abstract:Time-domain
astronomy
is increasingly important in all bands of the electromagnetic
spectrum. The Large Area Telescope (LAT)
onboard NASA’s Fermisatellite
is effectively an all-sky monitor in high energy gamma-rays. It is the first such
monitor in that band, but
is also a highly sensitive instrument that catalogs the faintest
sources yet
detected at those energies. Sources found by Fermi emit across the entire electromagnetic
spectrum.Multi-wavelength
observing campaigns can be
pursued a new way – on an all-sky basis – provided the LAT can
be correlated with other
all-sky
monitors with comparably powerful sky coverage and
sensitivity. The
Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1)
optical survey is currently the appropriate counterpart for
visible
wavelengths. It has completed coverage of three-fourths of the
sky (all
Declinations north of -30 degrees) and continues repeated
monitoring via five
filters over all that sky.PS1
observations are contemporaneous with the Fermi
satellite.The talk
will describe Fermi
and Pan-STARRS and then discuss
how their all-sky data are merged for purposes such as
cross-identifying
sources by correlated variability or establishing precise
positions for optical
counterparts to the Fermi
sources.
Bio:Kent
S.
Wood completed undergraduate work in physics at Stanford
University and obtained
his Ph.D. in physics at MIT, with Prof. Philip Morrison.He has been at the
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
since 1973, where he now heads the UV/X-ray Astrophysics and
Applications
Section.Most of
his work at NRL has
concerned celestial sources of X-ray and gamma-ray radiation,
including
development and operation of space-based sensor systems. He also
led scientific
analysis on NRL’s experiment on the HEAO-1
satellite, leading to an all-sky X-ray source catalog that
was the most
complete for its era.His
astrophysical
research has emphasized compact objects such as neutron stars
and black
holes.Starting in
the 1980s he led
development of the USA Experiment on the ARGOSsatellite, which
conducted observations
of highly variable X-ray sources and was the first systematic
study of X-ray
navigation, which is the use of celestial X-ray sources for
navigation of
satellites.He
worked on the Fermi Gamma-ray
Space Telescope since
its conceptual inception in the 1990s and since 2005 has also
been developing
methods for using Fermi
and the
optical telescope Pan-STARRS jointly as tools for all-sky
contemporaneous
multi-wavelength observation.
Weather-permitting, there will be observing through the
telescopes after the meeting for members and guests.
Join Us for Dinner Before the Meeting
Join our special guest and members for dinner at 5:30 p.m. at Mulligan's Grill and Pub at
the University of Maryland Golf Course.
Telescope-Making and Mirror-Grinding
Telescope-making and mirror-making classes with Guy Brandenburg
at the Chevy Chase Community Center, at the intersection of
McKinley Street and Connecticut Avenue, NW, a few blocks inside
the DC boundary, on the northeast corner of the
intersection, in the basement (wood shop), on Fridays, from
6:30 to 9:30 PM. For information visit Guy's
Website To contact Guy, use this phone #: 202-262-4274
or Email Guy.
Come See the Stars at Exploring the Sky 2013!
Exploring the Sky is an informal program that for
over sixty years has offered monthly opportunities for anyone in
the Washington area to see the stars and planets through
telescopes from a location within the District of Columbia.
Sessions are held in Rock Creek Park once each month on a Saturday
night from April through November, starting shortly after sunset.
We meet in the field just south of the intersection of Military
and Glover Roads NW, near the Nature Center. A parking lot is
located next to the field.
Beginners (including children) and experienced stargazers are all
welcome-and it's free!
Questions? Call the Nature center at (202) 895-6070 or check: Exploring
the Sky @ Rock Creek. Download
the flier!
Date
Time
Targets of Interest
06 Apr
8:30pm
Winter constellations; Lyrid meteor shower
04 May
9:00pm
Saturn rising in the east; the Beehive in Cancer
01 Jun
9:00pm
Solstice 6/21; Mercury at Castor's feet
13 Jul
9:00pm
Summer Triangle; 5-day-old Moon near Virgo
10 Aug
8:30pm
Andromeda rising; Perseid meteor shower
07 Sep
8:00pm
Andromeda Galaxy rising; equinox 9/22
05 Oct
7:30pm
Astronomy Day 10/12; Orionid meteor shower
02 Nov
7:00pm
Pleiades and winter constellations appear
Exploring the Sky is a presentation of the National Park Service
and National Capital Astronomers.
Star Parties
The Society of Amateur
Radio Astronomers (SARA) Annual Meeting and Technical
Conference: July 14-17, 2013 at the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia.
uaqa: understanding articulation
quality assurance, home of the National Capital Astronomers, Inc
web page. Check out uaqa's web
publishing services and the other people and organizations using uaqa.com. uaqa also hosts Astrolabes.org and Mcstaffunion.org.
Serving science and society since 1937. The National
Capital Astronomers (NCA) is a non-profit, membership supported,
volunteer run, public service corporation dedicated to advancing
space technology, astronomy, and related sciences through
information, participation, and inspiration, via research,
lectures and presentations, publications, expeditions, tours,
public interpretation, and education. NCA is the astronomy
affiliate of the Washington
Academy of Sciences. We are also members of the Astronomical League, in
fact NCA members helped form the Astronomical League a long time
ago.
