Regulus Occultation news from AAAA member Ron Barnell: There is are several interested people from Dudley and several club members proposing to observe the Regulus occultation by the Erigone asteroid this coming Thursday morning-(March 20 ), from Oneonta -where the center line of the occultation will pass- as I outlined at last months club meeting. (A great event to celebrate the Vernal Equinox ! ) We have made arrangements to join with the staff and students of the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy at Oneonta State to observe this extremely rare event- from the departments Camp Observatory, which is located in the hills north of the campus.The observatory features the 1m JIMI telescope -which currently holds the title of the largest telescope in N.Y. state. If conditions are favorable, it may be possible to observe with this instrument and 14 and 16 inch telescopes. The plan is to meet with the Astronomy department people earlier on the evening of Wednesday, the 19th - and participate in a social event with them and people from the IOTA, the International Occultation Timing Association, who will be in attendance and will be bringing sophisticated instrumentation to observe the Erigone asteroids 15 seconds of fame. There is also the possibility of seeing a new planetarium presentation. The current schedule calls for everyone involved to meet in the lobby of the Physical Sciences building on the Oneonta State campus (about a 1.5 hour drive on I-88 from Albany) by 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday evening, the 19th. Visitors parking is available near the building. Any club members , who have not already signed up, are most welcome to join us in Oneonta for this Total Stellar Eclipse (much rarer than even a total solar eclipse) and bring along a small telescope and timing devices. Please-email me at rbarcosmos@aol if you can plan to be there, so I can get visitors passes cleared, etc. I can also send you a campus map. Check the clear-sky clock and hope for favorable conditions; Ron Barnell
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:03:26 +0000
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