Pocatello Archives

Annual Pot Luck December 10th 2022

December 17, 2022December 17, 2022 pocatelloastro

The Pocatello Astronomical Society yearly pot luck was great this year. Everyone brought some great food and no one left with an empty belly. We mainly discussed this years observation highlights and plans for next years activities. The Moon occulting Mars was the main topic of conversation at the pot luck.

Next meeting will take place 2nd Thursday of the month in January 2023 at Marshall Public Library. Looking forward to some observing; if these clouds ever burn off…. The site will be updated if we make any plans to have a star party. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone this year!

Clear skies and keep looking up!

Leo Triplet photo by Jeff Reitzel

November 11, 2022November 11, 2022 pocatelloastro

Photos

This photo of the Leo Triplet is brought to us by club member Jeff Reitzel. The Leo triplet is a small group of Galaxies seen in the Constellation Leo. It consists of three spiral galaxies identified as Messier 65, Messier 66, and NGC 3628 located about 35 million light years from Earth. This group is very unique in that you see each galaxy from a very different angle ranging from face-on to edge-on. This was imaged using a Stellarvue SVX127D scope and QHY410C ca.

NGC 281 core (Pac-man nebula) from Jeff Reitzel

November 11, 2022November 11, 2022 pocatelloastro

Photos

This outstanding photo is brought to us by club member Jeff Reitzel. NGC 281 aslo known as the Pac-man Nebula, it is a popular target for amateur astronomers due to its resemblance to the popular arcade character when seen in larger images. It is found in the Constellation Cassiopeia and actually located about 10,000 light years away in the Perseus Arm of our galaxy. Jeff’s goal for this photo was to capture detail of the intricate structure within the core area. It is full of dark dust lanes and Bok Globules all in the process of condensing to eventually ignite into new stars. A lot of this was done at our clubs observing site near Massacre Rocks. Imaged with a Stellarvue SVX127D scope, QHY268M camera, and narrow band filters (Ha, Oiii, Sii).

Comet Leonard photo taken by Jeff Reitzel last December

November 11, 2022November 11, 2022 pocatelloastro

Photos

This photo is brought to us by club member Jeff Reitzel taken of comet Leonard 3 December 2021, during its closest approach to Earth. As it looped around the Sun in early January this comet fractured and developed an amazing tail, far longer and brighter than anyone expected. Unfortunately this display was only visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere as the Comet was traveling back towards deep space. This comet originated from the extreme edge of our solar system and will not return for at least 80,000 years, if it ever does. This was using a Stellarvue SVX102T scope and QHY268M camera with LRGB filters.

Meeting Minutes 10 November 2022

November 11, 2022November 11, 2022 pocatelloastro

Meeting Minutes

Meeting tonight was mainly focused on the new website. Club member Kasey Davis showed off the past few weeks of work on this site as well as some of the challenges faced during web design. Club members wanted to see a roster of club members added in the futures so stand by for that.

After discussing the website, club member Mike Beer shared some photos from last star party. Mikes photos of the southern milky way with his cell phone camera, with a very cool app for his apple phone called Night Cap produced some impressive results. Mike even added constellation and deep sky locations in a GIF.

After Showing off pictures the Club discussed this months star party, if the weather cooperates we are going to try for Massacre Rocks about 30 minutes west of Pocatello. This site is very dark and offers excellent views of deep sky objects and it being so close to town is major plus. More details to follow as the date gets closer we are very much looking forward to getting in some quality observing.

The last 30 minutes of the meeting were spent watching another excellent Smithsonian Institute lecture. This lecture was about how nebula are formed and illustrated the stunning work of the Spitzer Space Telescope infrared instruments. Infrared helped scientists see past non visible light so they could unravel the mystery of star formation in the Swan Nebula

Clear skies and keep looking up!