Author Archives: ST Editors

Moon Occults Venus in the Daytime

Posted on January 18, 2016 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright On December 7, 2015, a daytime occultation of Venus by the Moon was visible from most of North and Central America. I observed from my office parking lot at lunchtime using IS binoculars, but member Robert Vanderbei created … Continue reading →

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Snippets

Posted on January 14, 2016 by ST Editors

compiled by Michael Wright and David Kaplan NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Breaks Solar Power Distance Record NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter has broken the record to become humanity’s most distant solar-powered emissary. The milestone occurred at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST, 19:00 UTC) … Continue reading →

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Minutes of the December 2015 meeting of the AAAP

Posted on January 7, 2016 by ST Editors

by James Poinsett, Secretary Rex called the meeting to order. Bob Vanderbei showed the club the gif he made using his photographs of the Moon occulting Venus. Rex then showed pictures from the field trip to the US Naval Observatory. … Continue reading →

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Navigating to the Moon: a View from the Apollo Guidance Computer – Jan. 12

Posted on December 30, 2015 by ST Editors

by Ira Polans, Program Chair The January AAAP meeting will be held on the 12th at 7:30 PM in Peyton Hall on the Princeton University campus. The talk will be by Frank O’Brien, an expert in spaceflight history, and is … Continue reading →

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From the Director

Posted on December 7, 2015 by ST Editors

by Rex Parker, PhD  director@princetonastronomy.org Solar Eclipse Triptych by Howard Russell Butler.  Last month before the AAAP speaker dinner, six of us were escorted to an upper floor of the Princeton Firestone Library to see the famed Howard Russell Butler … Continue reading →

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America’s Human Path Back to Space – Dec. 8 Meeting

Posted on November 20, 2015 by ST Editors

by Ira Polans, Program Chair The December meeting will be held on the 8th at 7:30 PM in Peyton Hall. The talk will be by Dr. Ken Kremer of Universe Toady and AAAP. The talk is entitled “America’s Human Path … Continue reading →

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Neutrinos and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics

Posted on November 17, 2015 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti Last year I wrote about neutrinos, the mystery particles, based on the book I read entitled “The Neutrino Hunters” by Ray Jayawardhana. This year, the Nobel Prize in Physics went to Takaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald who … Continue reading →

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From the Director

Posted on November 8, 2015 by ST Editors

by Rex Parker, PhD, Director  director@princetonastronomy.org   Astro Auction – success!  Members browsing the equipment on display at the Washington Crossing Park pavilion on Oct 18 could hardly believe the great prices and values offered! From 3”, 4”, and 6” … Continue reading →

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Boeing ‘Starliner’ Astronaut Taxi Spaceship Takes Shap

Posted on November 6, 2015 by ST Editors

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – ‘Starliner’ is the new name of America’s next spaceship. The new commercial craft from Boeing will restore America’s capability to launch American astronauts from American soil to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2017. The … Continue reading →

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Minutes of the October 13th, 2015 AAAP Meeting

Posted on November 5, 2015 by ST Editors

by James Poinsett, Secretary Rex called the meeting to order and listed a few items for discussion after the lecture. Ira introduced the speaker, Scott Nammacher and his talk “Observatory Design, One Person’s Approach”. After a short break Rex re-convened … Continue reading →

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Simpson Observatory Roof Repairs

Posted on November 2, 2015 by ST Editors

by Michael Mitrano The roof repair team had a productive day and a half this weekend (10/31 and 11/115) at the observatory.  Many layers of old roofing, the plywood roof deck, a rotted rafter, and all of the exterior trim … Continue reading →

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Einstein’s Dice and Schrödinger’s Cat – Nov. 10

Posted on October 25, 2015 by ST Editors

Our November 10th public lecture and AAAP meeting will be held at 7:30 PM in Peyton Hall. The talk will be presented by well-known physicist and science author, Paul Halpern. Dr. Halpern will discuss his latest book – “Einstein’s Dice … Continue reading →

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Snippets

Posted on October 20, 2015 by ST Editors

Compiled by David Kaplan and Michael Wright Hubble Maps Show Jupiter Changes and Prepare for Juno: New maps of Jupiter, produced using images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, provide a detailed window on the giant planet’s dynamic features. The views come … Continue reading →

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