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11/06 - On Wednesday, November 8th, the planet Mercury will pass
directly
between the Earth and the Sun. This is the first time since 2003 and the last time until
2016 for such a transit to occur—and the event will be visible from Tennessee!
Mercury will begin to cross the sun's disc at 1:12pm CDT on Wednesday, and its five-hour
transit will be 70% complete at 4:44pm when the sun sets in Nashville.
The current forecast calls for partial cloud cover on Wednesday, but be sure to get your
solar-filtered telescope out if you have the opportunity!
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10/20 - Congratulations to BSAS member Kayla LaFrance on winning NASA's
"NASA's Greatest Fan"
video contest! Her video was chosen from 1,500 entries from contestants aged 13 to 24.
Her prize includes a five-day trip for her and her best friend to the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida, where they will get VIP tours of the facilities and watch a shuttle launch.
Congratulations Kayla, we're all VERY proud of you!
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10/19 - The October Membership Meeting was held tonight at the
Adventure Science Center. After a brief business meeting,
we moved to the ASC's Sudekum Planetarium. There
we were treated to a showing of "Nine
Eight Planets and Counting," an entertaining and educational planetarium show produced
by the Sudekum and directed by our own Kris McCall. After the show, Kris gave us
all an awe-inspiring demonstration of
full-dome digital projection.
Thanks for a great evening, Kris, and thanks to everyone who attended!
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10/17 - Our beloved Sudekum Planetarium is being
torn down—to make way for something even BETTER!
This morning the Adventure Science Center
unveiled plans for a 20-million-dollar Sky and Space Wing, including an all-new
160-seat planetarium with an impressive 60-foot dome and the
latest digital technology.
The new wing will include 12,000 square feet of exhibition space, 30 original displays
and 63 interactive stations to encourage hands-on learning visitors of all ages.
The existing planetarium will be demolished early next year, with the new one opening
in spring 2008. The rest of the Sky and Space Wing should be completed a year later.
Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to make this plan a reality!
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10/2 - The October Eclipse is out! This issue includes a report from the
September board meeting, reports and photos from the
Tennessee Star Party, BSAS astronomical
event calendars for October and November, announcements
of upcoming events and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing
to the print version should be receiving their copies in the mail next week. Links to the three
most recent issues are also conveniently posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse over five years of
newsletters online in the Eclipse Archive.
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8/28 - The September Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the August membership and board
meetings, astrophotography from BSAS members, BSAS astronomical event calendars for September and October, special
program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail next week. Links to the three most recent issues are also conveniently
posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse over five years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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8/22 [Updated 8/24] - The Sudekum Planetarium of the
Adventure Science Center hosted a
special event tonight in advance of the
the International Astronomical Union's planned August 24 selection of an official
definition of a "planet." After a presentation of the original planetarium show "Nine Planets and Counting," an
expert panel presented and discussed the issue as well as the history of and latest developments in solar system
science. The planetarium show was excellent and the panel discussion and following Q&A was lively, entertaining
and very informative. Thanks to everyone who attended and participated, and many thanks to the Sudekum Planetarium
for hosting such an enjoyable event!
Update: As of 8/24, Pluto is now a "dwarf planet." Those who
haven't already observed all nine planets through a telescope have missed their chance.
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8/18 - The August Membership Meeting was held on Thursday, August 17th at the
Adventure Science Center. Our main presenter was
accomplished astrophotographer and BSAS member
Steve Wheeler, who gave a stunning presentation
covering his experiences in digital astro-imaging, including representative images and video
from his work with both digital cameras and videocameras, as well as Meade Instruments'
LPI and new
Deep Sky Pro II. Everyone was amazed with the
results that Steve had gotten using affordable equipment, and we're all eager to see what
appears next on his SGT Observatory website.
Thanks to everyone who attended, and we hope to see you at the next BSAS Membership Meeting
in November! (There will be NO SEPTEMBER MEETING due to the Tennessee Star Party!)
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7/31 - The August Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the July membership and board
meetings, astrophotography from BSAS members, BSAS astronomical event calendars for
August and September, special program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail next week. Links to the three most recent issues are also conveniently
posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse over five years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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7/6 - The International Space Station and the
Space Shuttle Discovery soared over Middle Tennessee
at about 9:25pm CDT tonight, brightly visible at about magnitude -0.6. The pair will make a similar appearance this
Saturday night between 8:30 and 8:37pm as they cross the sky from the Northwest horizon to the Southeast, passing
within 5° of Jupiter at about 8:35pm.
The photo to the left was taken from Smyrna while the ISS was about 500 kilometers away. You can clearly make out
the--well, not much actually. Others have done MUCH better.
Go to Heavens Above for upcoming visible passes of the ISS and many other satellites, and remember to submit your pictures!
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6/30 - The July Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the June membership and board
meetings, a message and astrophotography from BSAS President Mark Manner, BSAS astronomical event calendars for
July and August, special program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail next week. Links to the three most recent issues are also conveniently
posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse over five years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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6/28 - Last night, BSAS President Mark Manner took a grand tour of the Solar System from the comfort
of his own chair at Spot Observatory, photographing the Sun, the Moon and
all nine planets in one night. (The shot of Jupiter shown on the left is one of the images from that night.)
The resulting Solar System Marathon collage
is a testament to Mark's talent and dedication. Great job, Mark!
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6/1 - The June Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the May membership and board
meetings, a message from BSAS President Mark Manner, BSAS astronomical event calendars for June and July,
special program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail shortly if they have not already. Links to the three most recent issues
are also conveniently posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse five years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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5/1 - The May Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the April membership and board
meetings, a message from BSAS President Mark Manner, BSAS astronomical event calendars for May and June,
special program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail shortly if they have not already. Links to the three most recent issues
are also conveniently posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse five years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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4/24 - Kudos to BSAS President and accomplished astrophotographer Mark Manner, whose excellent Mars imaging work is included in the
Spring 2006 issue of
Dark Sky Insight. Now in its second
edition, Dark Sky Insight is the print publication of the Our Dark Skies, an international online community of amateur astronomers.
Those unfamiliar with Mark's outstanding work should visit the Spot Observatory website and see some of his stunning images.
Congratulations Mark, and keep up the good work!
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4/1 - The April Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the March membership and board
meetings, a message from BSAS President Mark Manner, BSAS astronomical event calendars for April and May,
special program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail shortly if they have not already. Links to the three most recent issues
are also conveniently posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse five years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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2/28 - The March Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the February membership and board
meetings, a message from BSAS President Mark Manner, BSAS astronomical event calendars for March and April,
special program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail shortly if they have not already. Links to the three most recent issues
are also conveniently posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse over four years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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1/30 - The February Eclipse is out! This issue includes reports from the January membership and board
meetings, a message from BSAS President Mark Manner, BSAS astronomical event calendars for February and March,
special program announcements and much more!
Email subscribers have already been sent the link to the latest issues, and members subscribing to the print version
should be receiving their copies in the mail shortly if they have not already. Links to the three most recent issues
are also conveniently posted in the BSAS Member Forum.
While current issues are available only to members, anyone can peruse over four years of newsletters online in
the Eclipse Archive.
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1/26 [Updated 1/28] - The Public Star Party planned by Warner Parks
for Saturday, January 28th from 7:30 to 9:30PM at the Special Events Field at Edwin
Warner Park was cancelled due to inclement weather. Although 175 people had signed up with Warner Park to
participate and attendance of 350 or more had been expected, the weather decided not to cooperate.
We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to see you at our next star party!
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1/19 - The BSAS website is about to undergo a dramatic transformation! To
provide a more dynamic and up-to-date resource for our members and the public, we are revamping
the site to make it faster and easier to add current news and content, as well as keep club documents
and other resources available and easy to access.
Please be patient while we put these changes
into place, but be sure to let us know how we're doing!
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