Letter from the President

BVAC - Summer 2020 - Letter from the President

Letter from the President

Hello Everybody. What a messed up year this has been. I hope that even though we have all had to practice social distancing due to Covid-19 and resort to Zoom meetings, some of you have been able to go outside and enjoy the stars. The short nights of summer means that we are not getting as much eyepiece time since it doesn't get dark till almost 10:00PM.

This being galaxy season, I was able to go and check out a few. My home location isn't the best for galaxies. There has, however, been some interesting things happen in the last few months. Comet Atlas in April, although being a bust, was still fun to look at. Right now everybody's attention is focused on Comet NEOWISE. I took a picture when it was out in the morning, but can't seem to have any camera luck in the evening. I have seen it several times through binoculars, but it must be camera shy for me.

Then we have the supernovas. One is SN 2020nlb in galaxy M85 and the other is SN 2020nvb in galaxy NGC 4457. I haven't had a chance to check them out yet due to the cloud conditions and light pollution, but I hope to before they dim out.

Other objects not to be ignored this summer are the planets. For the early risers, Venus and Mars are out in the eastern skies in the morning. Jupiter and Saturn are at opposition during the month of July and that gives us the closest look at each of them in the evening. I love to set up and show these to the neighbors. I love hearing the Oohs and Aahs of somebody seeing the moons of Jupiter, the red spot or the rings of Saturn for the first time. It makes astronomy real for them.

All new members and visitors need to check us out at Brazosvalleyastronomyclub.org and the Brazos Valley Astronomy Club Facebook page.

That's all for now. I hope to see you at the next meeting.

Clear Skies,

Warren Bracewell
President, Brazos Valley Astronomy Club

Warren Bracewell serves as president of the Brazos Valley Astronomy Club. Warren is an active participant in astronomy related community outreach activities. In the photo above, he set up his telescope on a rainy night under a covered area at Lick Creek Park and demonstrated to enthusiastic participants how a telescope works.