LVAS is a proud member of the NASA/JPL Night Sky Network. LVAS events will be posted on the Night Sky Network website at

Night Sky Network:Las Vegas Astronomical Society:Event Calendar.

Don't miss "Astronomy in the Park" at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park

Saturday, May 18th

Join us at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park for viewing the Wonders of the Night Sky in the Group Use Area beginning at 8:00PM. We'll take you on a laser-guided tour of the night sky at 9:00PM and then do some more observing. Our events are ADA-friendly with parking and access. We also have some special telescopes with videocameras that provide real-time detailed views of galaxies and nebulae for those that may have difficulty viewing through a telescope. So come join us for an evening under the Stars of the Desert.

Click here for map and additional info.

LVAS Members assist Red Rock Guests

LVAS Secretary Bunny Nua assists visitors

in viewing Saturn

Planets above Red Rock

The Moon, Saturn, Mars, and Venus over Red Rock

"Astronomy in the Park" Star Parties are free and open to the public; however, some of the Parks charge an entrance fee of $7.00 per vehicle until the Park closes. If an attendant is in the Fee Station, LVAS members should tell the Attendant that you are there for the Star Party. Click here or see the Events Calendar for future Public Star Party dates in 2013.

Note: Because we use special video cameras in some of our telescopes, viewing the night sky at our public star parties is accessible by those that may have difficulty viewing through the eyepiece of a telescope (ADA friendly). We invite you to join us in viewing the wonders of the night sky.

Mt. Potosi Observatory Status - Click Here

The Next LVAS Monthly Meeting is:

Thursday, 2 May

Presentation: To Be Announced Shortly

We now have a Las Vegas Astronomical Society Meetup Group on MEETUP.COM!

You can go directly to our Meetup page by clicking on the preceeding link or just go to www.meetup.com and click on 'Find' a meetup group, then click on the 'All Meetup Groups' button and enter 'Astronomy' in the search field. There is also a new Menu item in the menu list on the left.

Online LVAS and AL Membership Dues Payment is now available!

Other Notable Events

International Space Station in the Las Vegas Skies

Well, there aren't any bright passes of the ISS unitl mid-May. At that time, the ISS will pass over the Las Vegas area in the early morning, before sunrise. The passes will range in brightness from -1.7 on the 15th to -3.3 on the 17th. Durations of the bright passes range from 3 minutes and 43 seconds to almost 6 minutes. We normally try to post the brighter and longer duration passes of the ISS over the Las Vegas Valley in the table below. For additional passes over your specific area, see the link to Heavens-Above.com below.

Date

Magnitude

Duration

Begin

End

Altitude

Start

Direction

May 15 * **

-1.7

5m 51s

04:44:36

04:50:27

10°

SSW (197°) to ENE (70°)

May 17 * **

-3.3

5m 55s

04:38:53

04:44:48

16°

SW (228°) to NE (49°)

May 18 * **

-2.6

3m 43s

03:39:42

03:53:25

37°

SSE (163°) to ENE (62°)

May 19 * **

-2.1

5m 26s

04:33:08

04:38:34

14°

W (264°) to NNE (32°)

May 20 * **

-3.2

3m 41s

03:43:45

03:47:26

58°

W (280°) to NE (43°)

Yellow Highlight = brighter than -2.4 magnitude and greater than 5 min duration

* = Magnitude greater than 2.0

** = Durations greater than 4 minutes

Be sure to check for the most current prediction information. The information above is updated at least weekly, but predictions may change slightly as the date for the pass approaches, so checking the Heavens Above website will ensure you have the most accurate and up to date information about upcoming passes. A magnitude of -2.8 is between the brightness of the planets Jupiter (-2.1) and Venus (-3.9), with Venus being the brighter planet. Both planets are in our evening sky right now, so you can use them to determine how bright the ISS will be.

Iridium Flares - an interesting phenomenon where sunlight is reflected from the large aluminum antennae on Iridium communication satellites to your observing location on the ground. Heavens-Above.com can predict Iridium Flares for almost any location. Below are links to Heavens-Above.com predictions for selected sites of interest to LVAS members:

Boulder City		Henderson		Las Vegas		North Las Vegas		Overton
Cathedral Gorge		Furnace Creek		RedStone		Red Rock Visitor Center		Sawmill Trailhead

Telecopes For Sale - Click here to see!

SW (224°) to NE (52°)

Note from the President - April

Jim Gianoulakis

Well, spring is right around the corner. It is always bittersweet for me as we say good-bye to my favorite constellation, Orion, but say hello to a myriad of spring time galaxies. It is indeed approaching galaxy hunting time. The milder spring nights are also conducive to an enjoyable evening under the stars.

Our next public outing is an Astronomy Day/Night in the Park on April 20th. We will combine solar observing, and a presentation at the Red Rock Visitors Center commencing at 10 am. Due to budget constraints within the National Park Service we will move our evening viewing on the 20^th to Group Use Area at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. The evening of star gazing at Spring Mountain Park begins at approximately 7pm for set up. More information is available in the “Upcoming Events” section of the website.

An update on the progress of the Society's efforts to build an observing site - we have reached agreed language with the Boy Scouts of America concerning the initial term of the agreement. The agreement guarantees us five years initially with a two year out clause after that period. There is no reason to think the site won’t be in existence for many more years but these terms have to be set up and agreed to.

Dr. Dale Etheridge and the CSN Planetarium Staff have asked the LVAS to apply our annual Planetary donation of $500 toward the LVAS Observatory Building Fund. We greatly appreciate this generous offer that brings us a little closer to seeing our observatory dream come to fruition. With this generous offer, we have been able to raise approximately $8,500 for the construction costs of the electrical and network infrastructure, the control room building, two observatory domes and 7 to 10 observing pads. As previously reported, we have in our possession a high end scope and mount, two observatory domes from ExploraDome, and a site on Mount Potosi. We are very close to breaking ground and anticipate this to occur within 30 days. We still have a goal to get the infrastructure complete by June 1. Fund raising has progressed but we still have a ways to go. A golf tournament will be hosted by the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) on May 9 at the Calloway Golf Center. The AITP generously offered to donate the net proceeds of this tournament to the LVAS Observatory Building fund. Please consider supporting this golf tournament. It is an easy way to help our cause.

April’s meeting will have a special guest speaker available to us, Dan Duriscoe, who will discuss what all of us can do to aid in the preservation of our night skies. Dan was instrumental in designating Death Valley as the world’s largest dark sky park. It should be a fascinating topic.

Clear Skies to all,

Jim

Need Some Help With Your Scope?

Do you have a new telescope or one that hasn't been dusted off in quite a while and need some help using it? If you can't make it to our next "Astronomy in the Park", give me a call and let's arrange a time to get you a little help. I'm typically available before and after our monthly meetings on the 1st Thursday of each month and before each of our "Astronomy in the Park" outings, but I'm willing to come to you to get you up and operating. I just need some prior notice to arrange a time to meet you. Give me a call at 702-461-1390 or send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Last Updated on Sunday, 28 April 2013 06:42

Society Meetings

Monthly LVAS meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Planetarium at the College of Southern Nevada, Cheyenne Campus - 3200 East Cheyenne (See Map). Following a short welcome and business session, a presentation on an Astronomy topic of interest is normally presented by an LVAS member or special guest. Occasionally, the program is the Planetarium presentation of the month.

CSN Planetarium

Provides Family Acitivity

Needing an alternative weekend family activity? The CSN Planetarium provides three shows suitable for families. From March 1 through April 27, the Planetarium will be showing "Natural Selection" at 8:00 PM and "Bad Astronomy" at 7:00 PM, Friday and Saturday evenings. The 6:00PM show Friday and the Saturday afternoon matinee at 3:30PM is "In My Backyard". A short "Stargazing" feature, hightlighting the seasonal wonders of the night sky, follows each presentation. Check out the new DigiStar 5 Projectors with 4 times the brightness and resolution of the previous projector system. Come see the interesting shows and the life-like presentation of the night sky. Immediately following the 8:00PM shows, guests are invited to view the planets and other celestial objects through the Planetarium's telescopes in the Observatory compound. Jupiter is still visible in the evening sky. All tickets are $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for Seniors, Students, and children. Discounts are also available for multiple shows and groups. For more information about the CSN Planetarium, click on the Planetarium banner below.

Green Laser Safety Reminder!

This is a reminder to LVAS members that own and use green lasers to be extremely safety conscious when the lasers are being used. In the light of recent incidents of pranksters painting aircraft and other moving vehicles with green lasers, it is imperative for members of the Astronomical Community to exercise extreme caution and good judgement when using green lasers to point out celestial objects. Users should always be conscious of aircraft activity and when possible, use a spotter (another watching person) so that an aircraft is not accidently painted by a green laser. Anytime an aircraft, regardless of the distance from the observing location, is spotted moving toward an area of the sky where a laser is being used, the laser must be turned off or moved away from the aircraft until the aircraft departs that area of the sky. Astronomers using green lasers to guide their scopes to celestial objects should be especially careful to not leave the laser turned on while obsserving. At no time should an Astronomer surrender control of a green laser to anyone other than another Astronomer, especially not to children who may not understand the consequences of improperly using a laser. Remember - it is now a Federal Offense to paint an aircraft, any moving vehicle, or a person with a laser of any type - punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.