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BVAC Newsletter
observing the stars

What's Inside






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page 2   Winter Observing Targets
Visit Auriga in the winter skies and start your star hopping adventure. Tom Campbell is your guide through these rich visual gems of double stars and open clusters.

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page 4   Observing Algol
Did Algol wink at you? Travel 93 light-years away and learn how to plan an observing session to see the Algol eclipse. Mark Spearman gives you the key to tracking Algol and other binary stars.

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page 6   Spotlight-Joel Carmona
Joel Carmona describes a night of viewing and tells about a mystery object he observed. The Sagittarius constellation and Orion nebula are his favorite parts of the sky.

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page 8   Stitches and Stars
It was quite a surprise to receive a quilt that depicted the constellations and Milky Way. Warren Bracewell's wife and daughter created this exceptional gift for his music room.

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page 10   2019 Moon Calendar
Plan your observing and astrophotography sessions with this 2019 lunar phase calendar. Randy Light shares a lunar calendar which shows the phase of the moon for each day of the month.

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page 12   Photo Storage and Sharing
Ginger Wentrcek gives directions for obtaining free photo storage as well as signature and printing opportunities. Now you are ready to share your astrophotography with others.

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page 14   Contact BVAC
Find the Brazos Valley Astronomy Club on the web, join the Yahoo discussion group, find the BVAC on Facebook, or contact an officer. We want to hear your thoughts.

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page 3  Astrophotography Lesson
Even when astrophotography conditions are not optimal, acceptable images can be produced. Randy Light tells you how to capture the beauty of the night sky.

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page 5   Observing Applications
Don Carona presents a brief summary of 18 public astronomy related web applications located on his server. He even lets you in on two hidden treasures.

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page 7   Hawaiian Skies
Tim Cowden traveled to Hawaii to participate in a Hawaiian star party. The skies did not cooperate, but, before he left, the weather cleared up for some great observation time.

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page 9   Supermoon
Why does the supermoon look larger than normal? Ginger Wentrcek and her grandchildren performed some simple experiments to discover the answer.

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page 11   Did You Know
Ginger Wentrcek writes about a few of the surprises that have been discovered about our solar system neighbors. State-size volcanoes, USA-size canyons, and earth-size storms are just a few of these interesting facts.

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page 13   Monthly Meetings
Astronomy lovers are invited to join the BVAC and hear interesting speakers each month. Come and enjoy observing after the meeting. A map to the observatory is provided.

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Cover   

Gorgon Medusa, Caravaggio,
oil on canvas mounted on wood between 1595 and 1598 [Public domain]
Medusa head extracted, animated, and placed on mash-up of sky images taken by Ginger Wentrcek.