Category Archives: Sidereal Times

From The Program Chair

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ST Editors

by Victor Davis New Tools to Survey the Sky The February, 2026 monthly meeting of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton will take place in Peyton Hall on the campus of Princeton University on Tuesday, February 10th at 7:30 PM. … Continue reading →

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Minutes of the January 13, 2026 Meeting

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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 

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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 →

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From The Director

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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 →

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The Celestial Transients

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

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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The Unchecked Growth of Orbital Debris

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

by Abhinav Sukla I don’t think it would be wrong to label the current era as the early dawn of the space age. Hardly half a century has passed since the first rockets left our atmosphere. Even in the early … Continue reading →

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Impact of Relativity on the Hubble Equation

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

by William H. Davis The Hubble equation  v=Ho/dv= H_o/d is commonly used to estimate distances to distant objects emitting light. The observations by a number of astronomers, even before Hubble, recognized a relationship between velocity and distance of nearby objects. … Continue reading →

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