Thanksgiving, November,
2008
Welcome to the Astronomyshop.org
website! This is the internet store
for Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory (SRNC&O).
In this blog, I hope to keep you
up-to-date on events in the daytime
and night sky as well as what is going on at the SRNC&O.
This is the first edition of the
www.astronomyshop.org catalog.
Within these pages you will find many products we either stock or
recommend as holiday purchases for gifts to your favorite astronomer or
yourself. As always, we urge you to call or write for the very
best prices on the internet. The majority of prices listed in our
catalog are "manufacturer advertised prices" meaning they are the
lowest which can be published according to our agreements with our
manufacturers.
The Observatory will be open for
night time programs on November 29,
December 20 and 27 from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The winter sky is loaded
with goodies totally unavailable during our regular Spring, Summer, and
Fall hours. Views of the Great Orion Nebula (M42) are nothing
less than jaw-dropping in the 20" RC. The Christmas Tree cluster
(NGC 2264) in Monoceros is a harbinger of the season and definitely
resembles its namesake. M35, in Gemini and one of the finest open
clusters in the night sky, is available as well. With some luck, we may
be able to point the 18" NGT at the Eskimo or Clown Face Nebula (NGC
2392), also in Gemini. This is a favorite subject of one of the
NASA handouts Bob Grossfeld, SRNC&O Observatory Director, gives to
the youngsters who attend night time programs.
Unfortunately, the planets aren't
very well-positioned for night
viewing (Jupiter is available but low in the sky). Saturn,
however, is rising earlier and earlier and we should be seeing it late
in the evening during our January and February programs.
Last week, on November 14, the
SRNC&O, in conjunction with the
Nancy R Chandler Visiting Scholar Program, hosted a talk at Central
Oregon Community College by Tony Leavitt, a NASA educator. Tony
is a popular figure here in Central Oregon at the Prineville Reservoir
Star Party and also at the Mt Bachelor Star Party. The turn-out
for Tony's program, MARS
EXPLORATION, Past, Present and Future: Will We Find Life?, was
very good with over 200 attendees. Tony works directly for NASA
and Ames Research Center. Bob is planning a program next spring
focused on Cassini and Saturn with another guest speaker from
NASA. At last Friday's talk, volunteers from SRNC&O had two
telescopes focused on Jupiter and gave many people their first view of
another planet! Those who got to see Jupiter were very enthusiastic.
There will be a variety of new
programs next year for the International
Year of Astronomy. Stay tuned to these pages for information as
they occur. We also have several "sidewalk astronomy" outreach programs
in the planning.
Finally, I want to feature some of
the fine astrophotography taken by
members and supporters of SRNC&O in this and forthcoming
blogs. This beautiful photograph of M27 (the Dumbell Nebula)
above was taken by David Haworth, Camus, WA at last summer's
Oregon Star Party. David has given seminars both at SRNC&O and Mt
Bachelor Star Party for several years running. David is very
talented and knowledgeable. He's an asset to our
organization.
Enjoy our new website. Feel
free to write with any questions or
to make any comments. This website is a work in progress.
Keep Looking UP!
Larry Cerullo
