A heads up from Ed Ching For those who have been following the saga of the Optronic Techonologies, Inc., business, parent of both Orion Telescopes and Meade Instruments, the offices and storefront in Watsonville, California were shut down in July 2024. On July 31, the Orion website went offline. Apparently the assets of […]
Author: Michael Cooke
A New Year of Stargazing Adventures
Greetings to the Society, Here’s to a New Year and New Adventures! 2024 was an incredible year for astronomical events. Many members experienced the awe-inspiring total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, with some traveling to witness this rare celestial phenomenon firsthand. Closer to home, parts of the Bay Area were treated to a dazzling […]
SMCAS Annual Holiday Party!
Mark your calendars for an evening of fun, food, and fellowship at the San Mateo County Astronomical Society’s annual holiday party! 📅 Date: Thursday, January 18, 2018 ⏰ Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 📍 Location: Crystal Springs United Methodist Church 2145 Bunker Hill Dr, San Mateo, CA 94402 This year’s celebration is a potluck! […]
JWST shows that dark matter doesn’t exist!
OK now that I got you attention with that over the top headline like newspapers print, lets talk about the facts. The cosmos has always been a wellspring of surprises, and our understanding of its early days remains incomplete. For decades, we were constrained by our technological limits—telescopes couldn’t peer far enough to capture light […]
Venus in the Teapot, Jupiter’s Brilliance, and Shooting Stars
Greetings to the Society, Venus in the Teapot of Sagittarius As we approach the end of the year, there’s a celestial treat worth observing: Venus is shining brightly in the “Teapot” of Sagittarius. While the Teapot isn’t an official constellation, this distinctive asterism of bright stars within Sagittarius is hard to miss once pointed out. […]
The Europa Clipper Mission: Unveiling the Mysteries of Jupiter’s Moon
Back in September my family when to an exhibit and talk at the Academy of Science in San Francisco by NASA on their mission to Europa. This mission is set to launch no later than 12:06 p.m. EDT, Monday, Oct. 14th. Where might we find life beyond Earth within our solar system? While Mars and […]
Celestial Events on the Horizon: Fall 2024
Greetings to the Society, A rare astronomical phenomenon is on the verge of unfolding—the nova nova T Coronae Borealis, which erupts approximately every 80 years, appears to be running behind schedule. When it does, it is predicted to be the brightest nova seen from Earth since 1975, and we are expecting this awe-inspiring event to […]
The Dawn of a New Era in Astronomy: The Vera Rubin Observatory
The Vera Rubin Observatory, after 13 years of construction, is set to achieve “first light” in August 2024, marking a new era in astronomy. Originally known as the LSST, this observatory will capture the cosmos with an 8.4-meter-wide mirror and the most advanced camera ever built, revolutionizing our understanding of the universe.
Galaxy Zoo Reopens with New Data from ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope!
The Galaxy Zoo is back with an exciting new project. For the first time, the public can explore data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid space telescope. Every image in this dataset is likely one that no one has seen before, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to scientific discovery. Euclid scientists need your […]
Celestial Events and Society Updates: An Exciting End to Summer
Greetings to the Society, We are still eagerly awaiting the once-in-a-lifetime event of nova T Coronae Borealis, which erupts spectacularly every 80 years. Astronomers currently predict about a 70% chance that T Corona Borealis will go nova by September and a 95% chance that it will occur by the end of the year. This nova […]