Richmond, VA Night Sky

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VAAS 2009

I arrived at noon at the University of Virginia. I missed the first lectures in the morning but was awed by the afternoon lectures. My favorite lecture was Dr. Whittle's on the sound of the Big Bang. Back in the late 70s I watched a NOVA segment called "A Whisper from Space" on PBS. This program launched my interest in astronomy and I began reading everything I could find on cosmology which introduced me to cephid variables, black holes, brown dwarfs and the Big Bang. So when Dr Whittle began his lecture I was immediately captivated. I have included the link to his web site here and if you haven't heard of his work I encourage you to visit his web site.

Dr. Mark Whittle, Big Bang Acoustics:

http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~dmw8f/BBA_web/index_frames.html

Huntsville Alabama NASA Art Exhibit

2007 Greenbank Star Party

2007 Greenbank Star Party

John Raymond Star Party 02/16/2008

John Raymond Star Party 02/16/2008

Celestron 8 Repair

Celestron 8 Repair

Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico

Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico

Astronomy Links

Richmond Astronomical Society: http://www.richastro.org/default.asp
Astronomy Picture of the Day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
Heavens Above: http://www.heavens-above.com/
The Ultimate Messier Object Log: http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/tumol.html

2007 Richmond Astronomical Society (RAS) Picnic at Three Lakes Park

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Alien seen tracking RAS president.

Alien identified as Tablehead visitor from raymond asterism.

Pictures taken at the Three Lakes Park May 19, 2007

May 19, 2007 RAS Picnic Gathering

Chef Terry prepares the hamburgers and hotdogs.

Bon Appetites are growing

By jove, I do believe that Terry's Cumulus Dehydrator is working.

Let the eating begin!

RAS members and families enjoy food and conversation.

Some Venus and Moon Pictures

Venus and Moon at dusk
Venus and moon
Venus and Moon about 9:00 PM

Pollux and Castor above the Venus and Moon (click on picture to enlarge)

Venus slides to less than 1' from the moon

May 19, 2007 10:09 PM Venus and Moon taken at RAS Picnic. Camera used was a Nikon D-50, 300 mm telephoto lens with 2X doubler. Aperture Priority F5.6 at 1/20 sec.