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Kern Astronomical Society ASTRONOMY DAY NEWSLETTER Star Parties February 22nd Lockwood General Membership Meeting March 1st & 29th Lockwood March 7th Meeting Speaker: Randy Morrow Subject: Celestial Navigation February 7th Meeting Speaker: Darren Bly Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is a technique that has evolved over several thousand years to help sailors accurately find their position on the sea without having to rely on the estimates of speed and distance traveled. Celestial navigation uses angular measurements taken between celestial body (the Sun, Moon, a planet, or a star) and the visible horizon Subject: “How’d You Know That” Explanation of focal length, magnification and field of view William M. Thomas Planetarium February 13th Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Doors Close at 7:00 p.m. The Kern Astronomical Society was formed in 1956 to promote the science of astronomy, between members and the community. It provides a forum to share knowledge and experiences between profession, &amateur astronomers • Fosters a strong interest in astronomy education • Provides incentive and opportunities for astronomical observing and research in astronomy • Assists in communicating with other professional and astronomical societies, along with NASA and JPL. Benefits: • Basic Astronomy Data • Monthly Newsletter • Member Astronomical League • As members of AL, we have the opportunity to participate in A network of other astronomical and observing clubs • Encouragement with certificate and pin programs demonstrating observing skills with a variety of instruments and objects • Reflector quarterly newsletter from the Astronomical League Kern Astronomical Society KAS logo “T” shirts, sweat shirts, beanies, ball caps, bucket hats and calendars Contents: Page 1 Meetings and benefits Page 2 Yard Sign Page 3 Contest & door prizes Page 4 New Sponsors & TDRS-L launch Kern Astronomical Society Night Professor Strobel will host “Cosmic Castaways” a night of fun & information. He will also the night sky above Bakersfield Bakersfield College, William M. Thomas Planetarium 1801 Panorama Drive GREAT for those new to astronomy. Astronomy Work Day Saturday, Feb. 8th 11:30 am - 2:30 pm Solar Viewing Jim & Karen Wood 10002 Brookline Woods Drive Bakersfield, CA93312 Bring your lunch (sandwich, drink,etc.) Eat lunch, solar viewing, covering the cardboard for display, wrapping the toilet paper rolls, dividing up the door prizes, placing handout in OPT bags,etc. A fun day to visit, work, look at the sun and get ready for Astronomy Day. Please email me if you can help at [email protected] so we have enough chairs and tables Page 5 Rosetta Wakeup Call Page 6 Mike’s Food Truck & Mt. Wilson Page 7 Kids Corner Page 8 KAS Calendar Page 9 Key Stars Page 10 Sky Events & School Star Parties Page 11 Astroid P/2013 P% Page 12 Volunteer Signup Page 13 What’s Coming Up Events Astronomy Day April 12, 2014 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. DOORS OPEN at 10:30 Free to the Public Presentations Kids Activities Information: KERNASTRO.ORG Speaker: Professor Alex Filippenko 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Dark Matter & The Runaway Universe Sponsored By: Dr. Joshua R. Modlin, DPM Location: Houchin Community Blood Bank 11515 Bolthouse Drive PLEASE HELP ADVERTISE ASTRONOMY DAY Contest The above poster has been setup as a yard sign Just print and staple to a wooden dowel or stake (if you print 2 it will be double sided) Or A Wire Hanger (straighten the hanger hook and push into the ground, pull the body of the hanger up and tape poster to hanger) Contest #1 Send me a picture of the sign in your yard A winner will be drawn at the March 7th Meeting & photo in the Astronomy Day Newsletter Contest #2 Best original Yard Sign Display Send me a picture of your own Original Yard Display promoting Astronomy Day Winner will be announced at the March 7th Meeting Rules: Send me a photo by March 1st Contest is for all ages Prizes: For adults or children: Astronomy Books for both contests Celestron Pocket Binoculars, 2014 Sky-Watcher Calendar Either a Lunar Chart or Caldwell Card and Astronomy CD’S Thank You for the scope Thien Ngo Thank You for the beautiful base Dr. Steve Collett Astronomy Day Door Prizes April 12, 2014 Orion Resolux 10.5x70 Waterproof Astronomy Binoculars Orion Resolux 10.5x70 Waterproof Astronomy Binoculars (Doug Stewart) Wonder Globe (Walter Albrecht) 2 IQ Lamps ( Prashant Vaidya) 10 Planispheres (Jose’ Rodriguez) 2 Free 2014 Calendars Astronomy Bracelets (kids) 10 Free Celestron Pocket Bino’s Lunar Chart or Caldwell Card And more The Resolux 10.5x70 Waterproof Astronomy Binoculars have highresolution, flat-field optics in a rugged fully waterproof casing. Advanced multicoatings on all optical surfaces give you bright, sharp, high contrast images. New Sponsors Thank You Larry Sharette Jr. "Joey" CAD Drafter // Owner (661) 431-4917 Cell & KAS Member A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lights up the night sky over Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida as it carries NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, to Earth orbit. Launch was at 9:33 p.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 23 during a 40-minute launch window. The TDRS-L spacecraft is the second of three new satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for NASA by expanding the lifespan of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) fleet, which consists of eight satellites in geosynchronous orbit. The spacecraft provide tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human exploration missions orbiting Earth. These include NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. TDRS-L has a high-performance solar panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet the growing S-band communications requirements. TDRSS is one of three NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) networks providing space communications to NASA’s missions. > More about TDRS-L Image Credit: NASA/Dan Casper Rosetta Wake-up signal 20 January 2014 It was a fairy-tale ending to a tense chapter in the story of the Rosetta space mission this evening as ESA heard from its distant spacecraft for the first time in 31 months. Rosetta is chasing down Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, where it will become the first space mission to rendezvous with a comet, the first to attempt a landing on a comet’s surface, and the first to follow a comet as it swings around the Sun. Since its launch in 2004, Rosetta has made three flybys of Earth and one of Mars to help it on course to its rendezvous with 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko, encountering asteroids Steins and Lutetia along the way. Operating on solar energy alone, Rosetta was placed into a deep space slumber in June 2011 as it cruised out to a distance of nearly 800 million km from the warmth of the Sun, beyond the orbit of Jupiter. Now, as Rosetta’s orbit has brought it back to within ‘only’ 673 million km from the Sun, there is enough solar energy to power the spacecraft fully again. Rosetta calls home Thus today, still about 9 million km from the comet, Rosetta’s pre-programmed internal ‘alarm clock’ woke up the spacecraft. After warming up its key navigation instruments, coming out of a stabilizing spin, and aiming its main radio antenna at Earth, Rosetta sent a signal to let mission operators know it had survived the most distant part of its journey. The signal was received by both NASA’s Goldstone and Canberra ground stations at 18:18 GMT/ 19:18 CET, during the first window of opportunity the spacecraft had to communicate with Earth. It was immediately confirmed in ESA’s space operations centre in Darmstadt and the successful wake-up announced via the @ESA_Rosetta twitter account, which tweeted: “Hello, World!” “We have our comet-chaser back,” says Alvaro Giménez, ESA’s Director of Science and Robotic Exploration. “With Rosetta, we will take comet exploration to a new level. This incredible mission continues our history of ‘firsts’ at comets, building on the technological and scientific achievements of our first deep space mission Giotto, which returned the first close-up images of a comet nucleus as it flew past Halley in 1986 How Rosetta wakes up from deep space hibernation “This was one alarm clock not to hit snooze on, and after a tense day we are absolutely delighted to have our spacecraft awake and back online,” adds Fred Jansen, ESA’s Rosetta mission manager. Comets are considered the primitive building blocks of the Solar System and likely helped to ‘seed’ Earth with water, perhaps even the ingredients for life. Many fundamental questions about these enigmatic objects remain, and through its comprehensive, in situ study of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Rosetta aims to unlock the secrets contained within. “All other comet missions have been flybys, capturing fleeting moments in the life of these icy treasure chests,” says Matt Taylor, ESA’s Rosetta project scientist. “With Rosetta, we will track the evolution of a comet on a daily basis and for over a year, giving us a unique insight into a comet’s behavior and ultimately helping us to decipher their role in the formation of the Solar System.” First, essential health checks on the spacecraft must be completed. Then the eleven instruments on the orbiter and ten on the lander will be turned on and prepared for studying Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. “We have a busy few months ahead preparing the spacecraft and its instruments for the operational challenges demanded by a lengthy, close-up study of a comet that, until we get there, we know very little about,” says Andrea Accomazzo, ESA’s Rosetta operations manager. Rosetta’s first images of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko are expected in May, when the spacecraft is still 2 million km from its target. Towards the end of May, the spacecraft will execute a major maneuver to line up for its critical rendezvous with the comet in August. After rendezvous, Rosetta will start with two months of extensive mapping of the comet’s surface, and will also make important measurements of the comet’s gravity, mass and shape, and assess its gaseous, dust-laden atmosphere, or coma. The orbiter will also probe the plasma environment and analyze how it interacts with the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the solar wind. Using these data, scientists will choose a landing site for the mission’s 100 kg Philae probe. The landing is currently scheduled for 11 November and will be the first time that a landing on a comet has ever been attempted. In fact, given the almost negligible gravity of the comet’s 4 km-wide nucleus, Philae will have to use ice screws and harpoons to stop it from rebounding back into space after touchdown. Rosetta: cont. Among its wide range of scientific measurements, Philae will send back a panorama of its surroundings, as well as very highresolution pictures of the surface. It will also perform an on-the-spot analysis of the composition of the ices and organic material, including drilling down to 23 cm below the surface and feeding samples to Philae’s on-board laboratory for analysis. The focus of the mission will then move to the ‘escort’ phase, during which Rosetta will stay alongside the comet as it moves closer to the Sun, monitoring the ever-changing conditions on the surface as the comet warms up and its ices sublimate. The comet will reach its closest distance to the Sun on 13 August 2015 at about 185 million km, roughly between the orbits of Earth and Mars. Rosetta will follow the comet throughout the remainder of 2015, as it heads away from the Sun and activity begins to subside. Mike E’s Food Truck 11:00 am - 6:00pm Mike E’s Food Truck Mike will have his food truck available for lunch, dinner and snacks. Selections include vegetarian, Salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, hotdogs, juices and sodas. His prices are very good. Chairs and tables will be available. Mike will be setup by the Solar Viewing & A Walk Through the Universe Mount Wilson's 60-inch telescope provides incredible views of some of the most beautiful objects in the night sky and is among the largest in the world accessible to public viewing. Mount Wilson Trip April 26th - 27th 2014. Cost is $120.00 Each We will meet at Valley Plaza by Sears Auto Repair shop on Saturday afternoon. The bus will promptly leave at 3:00 p.m. We will return on the 27th . To reserve your place on the bus, contact one of the officers below V. President Cathy Jones [email protected] or (661) 319-4424 President Diane Franco [email protected] or (661) 487-2519 Kid’s Corner Whats New Space Racers Maryland Public Television will launch Space Racers, an animated series for young children, on Space Day, May 2, 2014. Meet Eagle and his friends Hawk, Robyn, Starling and Raven - a superelite space-bound task force known as the Space Racers that teach science lessons during their space adventures. Join the team in their colorful home at Stardust Bay - a fantastic world populated by talking spaceships and vehicles. In collaboration with NASA, Space Racers will take young children on thrilling adventures with a science curriculum that teaches exploration, investigation, observation and collaborating as a team. Experts from NASA evaluate every episode to ensure the accuracy of science and technology lessons. Maryland Public Television will discuss opportunities for you to play short pieces in your facility, hold a screening, and download educational materials connected to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The Space Place Fall into a Black Hole! Print and play with your kids or students Go to The Space Place for information, games, and information all things space related for parents, teachers, and kids. You can take an imaginary trip to a black hole right now! Play our intergalactic adventures board game and be the first to explore a black hole and live to tell about it! You will also visit such interesting places as a giant array of radio telescopes in the New Mexico desert and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Then you will blast into space and visit the Earth-orbiting Japanese VSOP Radio Telescope and Russia's RadioAstron telescope. Searching the Sky For years, a group of scientists had been looking through the night sky for a special kind of murky, dim star. These stars don’t emit much light, so they are pretty hard to find. What they did find was even more unlikely. They came across a planet. There are planets zipping around many stars in our galaxy. This one was different. It was hanging out all by its lonesome—drifting aimlessly in space without a star to warm it or keep it company. READ more about Searching the Sky at The Space Place February 2014 Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 1 KAS Star Party Lockwood 2 3 4 5 6 Moon First Quarter 7 KAS Meeting What’s Up: Darren 8 Astro Work Day Meeting 11:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. 9 10 11 12 13 BC - Planetarium 14 Full Snow Moon 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Moon Last tQuarter KAS Star Party Lockwood 23 24 25 26 27 KAS Board 6:30 Science Camp-Solar 28 Science CampSolar March 2014 Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 1 KAS Star Party Lockwood New Moon 2 3 4 5 Ash Wed. Olive Dr Elem. School 6:30 6 Del Vista Math & Science School--Delano 7:00 7 KAS Meeting Randy: Celestial Navigation Science Camp 8 Moon First Quarter 9 10 11 Redwood Elementary 6:30 12 13 Science Camp Solar 14 Science Camp Solar 15 16 Full Worm Moon 17 18 19 20 Spring March Equinox 21 22 23 Moon Last Quarter 24 25 26 27 KAS Board 6:30 28 29 KAS Star Party Lockwood 30 New Moon 31 April Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 KAS Meeting 6:00 5 Public Star Party Marketplace 6 LAST Astro Meeting 7 First Quarter 8 Virginia Elem. 7:30 9 10 11 ASTRO Day Setup 12 Astro Day 13 14 15 Full Pink Moon 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Last Quarter Moon Earth Day 23 Astro Day 2015 6:30pm 24 KAS Board 6:30 25 26 Mt. Wilson 27 28 29 New Moon 30 Key Stars The Winter Triangle formed by the stars Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse remains prominent in the evening sky, throughout February. Other stars well placed for observing are Rigel and Aldebaran, both in the southwest. Castor and Pollux, the twin stars of Gemini, are high in the south, and at the same time orange Arcturus is rising on the eastern horizon. The Planets Mercury As February opens, innermost Mercury is visible about 30 minutes after sundown, relatively near to the western horizon. The planet fades quickly during the next week, dimming by 0.2 magnitudes with each passing day. It disappears in the evening twilight soon before mid-month, reaching inferior conjunction with the Sun on the 15th. February, Mercury switches to the morning sky; on the 28th, the innermost world shines at magnitude +1 in the southeast, far to the lower left of Venus. Venus At magnitude -4.6 Venus is the brightest morning "star", but it is not high above the horizon. Look for it blazing low in the southeast right around the first light of dawn. To get a steady view of the planet in a telescope, try following it until sunrise or even later. Mars Mars rises around 11 P.M. local time in early February and nearly two hours earlier by month's end. The best time to look, however, comes around 5 A.M. local time early in the month and shortly after 3 A.M.in late February. The planet is then much higher in the south, nearly halfway from the horizon to the zenith. Jupiter Jupiter reached opposition and peak visibility in early January, but shows little decline this month. It still climbs in the east shortly after sunset, remains visible well after midnight and looks stunning through a telescope. The planet's disk measures 45 arc-seconds at the start of the month, but by late February, as Jupiter gets farther from us, the disk's angular size shrinks to 42 arc-seconds. Saturn Throughout February, Saturn pokes above the horizon roughly two hours after Mars, and lies a good 30 degrees high in the south as dawn begins. The ringed planet resides among the background stars of the constellation Libra and shines at magnitude +0.5, two full magnitudes brighter than any of Libra's stars. Through a telescope, Saturn sports an angular size of 17 arc-seconds, while the rings span 39 arc-seconds and tilt 23 degrees to our line of sight. Uranus Uranus stands about 20 degrees above the western horizon as evening twilight fades to darkness. Look for it in the southern part of the constellation Pisces the Fish, some 5 degrees southwest of 4th-magnitude Delta Piscium. At magnitude +5.9 the planet is bright enough to spot with binoculars, but only a telescope will reveal its pale bluish or greenish disk, 3.3 arc-seconds wide. Neptune February finds Neptune very low in the evening twilight, just a few degrees above the western horizon. The distant planet reaches conjunction with the Sun on the 23rd, when it begins its slow crawl towards dawn visibility. Neptune will again be visible in backyard telescopes starting around mid-April. Pluto The dwarf planet lies in northern Sagittarius and stands 15 degrees high in the southeast shortly before dawn. It glows dimly at magnitude+14, which means you will need at least an 8-inch telescope to have a decent chance of spotting this glimmer of light. Asteroids 4 Vesta The best time to observe Vesta is in the wee morning hours, when Virgo - the constellation through which the asteroid tracks - is highest above the southern horizon. Zeta Virginia serves as a good guidepost for following the slow nightly motion of 7th-magnitude Vesta, but it may take a few nights of telescopic observing before you notice the asteroid's movement. C/2012 X1 LINEAR Throughout all of February, C/2012 X1 should remain around 8th or 9th magnitude, making it an easy target for 6-inch telescopes. The comet cuts through the constellations Ophiuchus, Serpens, and Aquila, which stand highest above the horizon in the predawn sky. Meteor Showers February and March are quiet months for meteor observers, particularly those in the Northern Hemisphere. No major showers occur, and the only minor one lies deep in the southern sky. The Alpha Centauri shower produces about six meteors per hour under optimal conditions at its February 8 peak, but its radiant never rises for skywatchers north of latitude 30 degrees north. However, sporadic meteors can occasionally flash to brilliance, so it pays to brave the cold. Their rates typically run about two meteors per hour during the dark evening and six just before the first light of dawn. Perigee Apogee --------------------------------- Jan 30 9:59 357079 km Feb 27 19:53 360438 km Mar 27 18:31 365705 km Apr 23 0:28 369764 km N- 11h Feb 12 5:11 406231 km + F-2d18h N-1d12h Mar 11 19:47 405365 km F-4d21h N-3d 0h Apr 8 14:53 404501 km F-6d16h N-6d 5h May 6 10:23 404318 km N+7d 4h New and Full Moons New 2014 Jan 30 21:41 2014 Mar 1 8:03 2014 Mar 30 18:48 2014 Apr 29 6:18 Full 2014 Feb 14 23:55 2014 Mar 16 17:11 2014 Apr 15 7:45 2014 May 14 19:19 Sky Events February 11 - The Moon is 5 degrees south of Jupiter (1 A.M. EST). February 12 - The Moon is at apogee, the point in its orbit when it is farthest from Earth (12:10 A.M. EST). February 14 - Full Moon (6:53 P.M. EST). February 15 - Mercury is in inferior conjunction with the Sun (3 P.M.EST). February 19 - The Moon is 3 degrees south of Mars (7 P.M. EST). February 21 - The Moon is 0.3 degree south of Saturn (5 P.M. EST). February 22 - Asteroid 2 Pallas is at opposition (4 A.M. EST). Last Quarter Moon (12:15 P.M. EST). February 23 - Neptune is in conjunction with the Sun (1 P.M. EST). February 25 - The Moon is 0.4 degree north of Venus (1 A.M. EST). February 27 - The Moon is at perigee, the point in its orbit when it is nearest to Earth (2:51 P.M. EST). The Moon is 3 degrees north of Mercury (4 P.M. EST). Mercury is stationary (6 P.M. EST). Learn more! Visit NightSkyInfo.com (http://www.nightskyinfo.com). KAS School Star Parties 2/27 - Science Camps @ Panorama Vista Preserve (Solar) 2/28 - Science Camps @ Panorama Vista Preserve (Solar) 3/5 - Olive Drive Elementary - 6:30 3/6 - Del Vista Math and Science Academy (Delano) - 7:00 3/7 - Science Camps @ Panorama Vista Preserve (Solar) 3/11 - Redwood Elementary School - 6:30 3/13 - Science Camps @ Panorama Vista Preserve (Solar) 3/14 - Science Camps @ Panorama Vista Preserve (Solar) Join us for these great Star Parties The kids are great! Contact Darren Bly to volunteer <[email protected]> DEC. 2013 Asteroid with Six Comet-like Tails Surprises Astronomers Asteroid on Sept. 10, 2013: Many tails are visible The Hubble Space Telescope has found an odd-looking asteroid with six comet-like tails of dust streaming from its body like spokes on a wheel. Astronomers spotted the asteroid in our solar system's asteroid belt, a reservoir of space rocks between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids are some of the leftover debris from the construction of our solar system 5 billion years ago. Comet anatomy changes as it approaches the Sun The object's unusual appearance has puzzled astronomers. Almost all other known asteroids look like tiny points of light and do not have tails of dust trailing behind them. Tails are normally seen trailing from comets, when they orbit near the Sun. Comets are made up of ice, dust, and some rock. They hail from the outer solar system and visit the inner solar system during their journey around the Sun. As comets get closer to the Sun, they develop tails when some of their ice vaporizes and gets pushed away from them. Astronomers also noticed that the tail structure of this oddball asteroid changes dramatically over just two weeks as it releases dust. Hubble images have shown that the ancient asteroid, known as P/2013 P5, has been ejecting dust periodically for at least five months. Why is the asteroid losing material? Astronomers hypothesize that over billions of years the asteroid began rotating faster and faster, eventually causing it to start losing material from its surface. The researchers do not think the tails formed from a collision with another asteroid. A collision would cause a large cloud of dust to blast into space all at once. A series of Hubble telescope images, taken over five months, has not shown that type of catastrophic event. Instead, calculations show that the tails could have formed by a series of dust ejection events, from April 15 to Sept. 4. A rather curious feature is that between the Hubble observations on Sept. 10 and Sept. 23, the entire structure appeared to have swung around. So far, the asteroid has lost a small amount of its mass. Its nucleus, which measures 1,400 feet wide, is thousands of times more massive than the observed amount of ejected dust. Astronomers will continue observing the unusual object. Asteroids that fall apart by spinning too fast may be common in the asteroid belt. As one researcher said, "In astronomy, where you find one, you eventually find a whole bunch more." Asteroid P/2013 P5 may be a fragment of a larger asteroid that broke apart in a collision roughly 200 million years ago. Many collision fragments are in orbits similar to that of P/2013 P5. Meteorites from these bodies show evidence of having been heated to as much as 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This evidence means the asteroid is probably made up of rocks and does not hold any ice as a comet does. The asteroid was discovered as an unusually fuzzy-looking object with the Pan-STARRS survey telescope in Hawaii. The multiple tails were discovered in Hubble images taken on Sept. 10, 2013. Volunteers We are in need of volunteers for Astronomy Day Someone to give directions at the front door and pass out free goodie bags Kids programs: Help the kids color, cut and glitter Runner for presenters; food, drink, etc. Someone to give directions in the back to point the way to Solar Viewing, A Walk through the Universe, the food truck and Professor Filippenko’s talk. Just email me at [email protected] with a message about the time and place you would like to help. Thank You Carol April 12 April 11 Set up Table and Chairs Delivered Arrival Time 10-2 Starting about 2:00 pm Setup will start 2:00 -? Table & Chairs set up 10:30 Doors Open Solar Scopes Registration April 7th Inside Decorations For the week 11:00 -12:00 All Programs Start 12:00 - 12:45 All Programs 12:45-2:00 Break Alex Filippenko 2:15-3:15 Programs Start 3:15-4:15 Programs Start 4:15-5:00 Some Programs End Children’s Programs End 5:00 - 6:00 All Programs Inside End 6:00 - 7:00 6:30 - 7:00 Telescope Workshop Night Viewing Setup Door Prizes We Go Home Jim, Karen, Carol, Ken, Az, Mike, Jose’ 9:00 Thank You for your help and support Whats Coming! The RTMC Astronomy Expo and the Big Bear Starlight Festival The Big Bear Lake region is hosting two major astronomy events during the long Memorial Day weekend in 2014. The RTMC Astronomy Expo, held in the area since 1975, welcomes the first Starlight Festival to Big Bear Lake’s Village area. These two events serve different audiences. Beginning to advanced amateur astronomers attend the Astronomy Expo from Thursday to Monday to · · · · · · observe from the dark sky of YMCA Camp Oakes, see new developments in amateur telescope making, check out commercial telescopes and equipment brought by vendors for observers, listen to presentations covering observing, telescopes, and getting started in astronomy, check out the Saturday swap meet, and socialize and observe with friends On Saturday and Sunday, weekend visitors to Big Bear, of all ages, will learn more about astronomy and outdoor sciences at the Astronomy Outreach Network’s Starlight Festival at Big Bear Lake’s Village as they visit· sidewalk astronomers exhibits by the Big Bear Solar Observatory, US National Forest Service, and others, commercial exhibits of science instruments, games, and activities, and attend presentations on the current state of astronomy and space science Come join the fun and learn about the universe your way. RTMC Astronomy Expo May 22-26, 2014 Camp Oakes Big Bear City, California Welcome to Panamint Springs Due to flash flood damage, Trona-Wildrose and Panamint Valley Road will be closed until spring of 2014. Visit our Location page for more information on how to reach us. May 2-4, 2014 Panamint Springs Resort is a small, rustic, western-style, resort located in beautiful Panamint Valley in Death Valley National Park that provides lodging, camping and RV services, a restaurant and bar, and a gas station with a well stocked general store. Marvelous views of distant sand dunes and the soaring 11,000 foot high Panamint Mountains complete the setting for leisure dining and relaxation. The resort is located at the western end of Death Valley National Park. 1 2 3 4 5 lodging, restaurant and bar, camping and RV services, gas station with general store services and gift shop a public wireless network that is available at no charge