Astronomers of Humboldt
Upcoming Events
The Astronomers of Humboldt are now scheduling observation meetings for Club members and guests on the weekend nearest the new moon. And, in addition, we are holding Zoom meetings for members on most weekends nearest the full moon.
Next events:
- Saturday February 22. Annual AOH Potluck Dinner. We will have our annual get-together at the Eureka Woman's Club, 1531 J Street, Eureka, 5:00 to 9:00. For details, see the poster here. RSVP instructions have been sent to all dues-paying members.
- Tuesday February 25. Night Sky Network Webinar. "JWST: Revealing the Invisible Universe" with Joseph Depasquale at 6 pm. AOH members can get more information here.
- Saturday March 1. Observing at Kneeland. Weather permitting, we will meet at Kneeland Airport. Before you go, check the weather forecast, the Kneeland Clear Sky Chart, the GOES West satellite imagery (single frame or timelapse), the air quality index, and the Kneeland Airport Sky Cam. And check back here for any last-minute changes. Dress appropriately and arrive in time to set up before dark. Sunset will be at 6:08 pm.
- Friday March 7. Greatest Eastern Elongation of Mercury. Mercury appears in the evening sky, at magnitude 0, about 7 degrees below and to the left of brilliant Venus. Over the next week Venus drops down to be alongside Mercury.
- Thursday March 13. Total Eclipse of the Moon. Beginning at 8:57 pm, until 3:00 am Friday morning, the Moon slides through the Earth's shadow. The partial phase, when the Earth's shadow becomes visible on the Moon, begins at 10:10 pm; the total eclipse begins at 11:26 pm and ends at 12:31 am; and the partial phase then ends at 1:48 am.
- Saturday March 15. AOH meeting on Zoom. We will hold a Zoom meeting from 7 to 9 pm. Login information will be sent to all dues-paying members.
- Thursday March 20. Spring Equinox. At 2:01 am the Earth's North Pole once again begins to tilt toward the Sun, marking the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Friday March 21 or Saturday March 22. Messier Marathon.
We will hold the marathon on either
Friday night or Saturday night, depending on the weather forecast.
We will post an update here a few days before the scheduled event.
The location is Kneeland Airport.
Before you go, check the
weather forecast, the
Kneeland Clear Sky Chart,
the GOES West satellite imagery
(single frame or
timelapse), the
air quality index,
and the Kneeland Airport
Sky Cam.
Dress warmly and arrive in time to set up before dark.
Sunset will be at 7:30 pm.
Some useful resources for the marathon are: The Messier Marathon, [at http://messier.seds.org/xtra/marathon/marathon.html] which contains a history of Messier Marathons as well as some tables, tips, and links to other resources; David Paul Green's The Ultimate Messier Object Log (TUMOL) (archived by AOH) [at https://www.astrohum.org/tumol.pdf]; and John Small's Sky Maps (archived by Custer Observatory) [at http://www.custerobservatory.org/docs/messier2.pdf]. The latter two links contain Telrad charts for all the Messier Objects.
- Friday March 28 or Saturday March 29. Messier Marathon, Secondary Weekend. If the marathon was not held last weekend we will schedule it for this weekend.
Dues-paying members can get a downloadable and printable calendar of current astronomical events, historical events, and AOH activities here.
Here are links to some west coast star parties: California Dark Sky Festival [at https://www.easternsierraobservatory.com/california-dark-sky-festival], Golden State Star Party [at http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org/], Joshua Tree Night Sky Festival [at https://www.skysthelimit29.org/night-sky-festival.html], Nightfall Star Party [at http://nightfallstarparty.com/], Oregon Star Party [at http://www.oregonstarparty.org/], Yosemite Glacier Point Starry Night Skies [at https://www.travelyosemite.com/things-to-do/naturalist-walks-programs/#collapse-26967.
