Category Archives: Sidereal Times

Minutes of the January 13, 2026 Meeting

by Gene Allen, Secretary Director Rex Parker opened the meeting remotely on Zoom at 1930 while Assistant Director Bob Vanderbie presided in Peyton. There were 33 attending in the auditorium and 20-some online. Rex noted that Jupiter was in opposition … Continue reading

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Book Reviews

Book Review:  by Rich Sherman The Shortest History of the Universe by David Baker, Ph.D. Published 2023 Grade:  B+ $16.95, paperback, at Barnes & Noble 240 pages A few months back I had some time to kill after an early dinner and … Continue reading

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The Legacy of Gaia 

By Prasad Ganti Thanks to Surabhi for pointing me to this topic from the Astronomy magazine. I collected some more information and summarized the same here. Summarizing and packaging information helps me learn. The Gaia spacecraft was launched in 2013 … Continue reading

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Snippets

compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan Now we can track space junk as it falls to Earth Seismometers — equipment designed to pinpoint earthquakes — are now being used to track the thousands of pieces of human-made objects abandoned in … Continue reading

Posted in February 2026, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

From The Director

by Rex Parker, PhD director@princetonastronomy.org January 13, 2026 Meeting at Peyton Hall.  Despite the unknowns of January weather in central Jersey, let’s aim for a strong turnout in person if possible for the first monthly meeting of the new year. … Continue reading

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From The Program Chair

by Victor Davis, Program Chair A Musician Investigates Space WeatherThe AAAP’s first meeting of the new year 2026 will take place in Peyton Hall on the campus of Princeton University on Tuesday, January 13th at 7:30 PM. As usual, the … Continue reading

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Minutes of the December 9, 2025 Meeting

by Gene Allen, Secretary Director Rex Parker opened the meeting remotely on Zoom at 1934 while Assistant Director Bob Vanderbie presided in Peyton. There were 29 attending in the auditorium, in spite of a cold 30 degree walk from the … Continue reading

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Book Review

by Rich Sherman Book Review:  Hidden in the Heavens: How the Kepler Mission’s Quest for New Planets Changed How We View Our Own By Jason Steffen Publisher: Princeton University Press Date: 2024 Price on Amazon: $14.89 (hardcover) Grade A- This is … Continue reading

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From The Astrophotography Group

C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) taken by Daniel Opdyke Telescope:   Atrotech AT 72ED II 72mm aperture 430mm focal length f/6Mount:         Iopteron CEM 25 hypertunedExposures:   60 subframes @ 60 sec each over 1 nights for 1 hour of integration; ASI533MC-P; … Continue reading

Posted in January 2026, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Celestial Transients

by S. Prasad Ganti A recent article in Scientific American about the Celestial transients piqued my mind. To quote “Transients are astronomically sized objects that change on human timescales—in seconds, hours, days. Transients, which are astronomical objects that appear suddenly … Continue reading

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