Meet the volunteers that assist The Star Guide:

       

     Dr. Bob Johnston, retired physicist and optical engineer 
     using his 9 1/4" Celestron Schmidt-cassegrain. 
     He is an complished astrophotographer. 

       

       Leonard Higgins, astronomer and retired teacher, with
       his homemade newtonian telescope.  He is an accomplish-
       ed machinist and makes telescope parts at his home
       machine shop.  He has received a significant achievement
       award for his homemade spectohelioscope at the Riverside
      Telescope Making Conference in 1998.

      

      Meet Dale Rosemeyer, an accomplished astrophotographer.
      He is shown with his 20" Obsession reflector which shows
      gorgeous images of nebula, galaxies, and star clusters. 
      Dale usually brings this gigantic telescope to the observing
      sessions. 

        

        Dan Parker and his daughter Sarah.  Dan is an astronomer
        who is very active in astronomy.  He is shown with his
        Meade LX75 6" refractor.  His daughter uses a Televue
        refractor.  Both instruments show crisp images of the
        planets and Moon.  Dan also has a 20" Obsession
        telescope which he may bring to observing sites.

      I appreciate their services as volunteers to assist in
      observing sessions for the public at Skyline Park and
      other observing areas.  They are all experts in selecting
      equipment for observing.  Their  knowledge of the night
      sky will take you to the edge of our galaxy and to
      distances millions of light years away anytime of the
      year.  You will get a chance to meet them at upcoming
      star gazing events.

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     Napa High School, Napa, California.  Classes were requested by Janett Mendelsohn,
     biology teacher, to present information on "The Origin of the Solar System and the
     Age of the Earth."  Students were 9th graders to 11th graders; 15 students in the
     Early flight class:  7:00 to750am; 29 students from 8:00 to 8:56am; 29 students from
    10:20 to 11:10am.  Information on Relative Dating of the Earth was covered.   
    Geological events of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic deposits using
    horizontal, superposition, cross cutting, inclusion, and faunal succession which
    included the evolution of life fossils corelation to age was presented.  The most
    important information on the Earth's age was discussed using Radiometric Dating
    (Radioactive Dating) using the half life of Uranium 238 (4.5 billion years.)  Also
    discussed was Uranium 235 decay (2.2 billion years), radioactive Nitrogen decay, 
    and Carbon 14 decay which is only used to determine the age in fossils due to its
    shorter half life.  This class was given at no charge to the school since it was part of
    the Solar System Ambassadors Program for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which is
    a field center for NASA. 
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                                 Event held at Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa

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                                  Pending:  June through September, 2009
  

  Solar Gazing at Copia, the Mondavi Food, Wine, and Art Center, Napa, California

     

       Sun Spots on the Sun's photosphere                     Pominences and Solar Flares

    The JPL/NASA and Meade Instruments 4M Community Outreach Programs on
    "Observing The Sun."  This event is free to the public and is held on Saturdays
    from 8:00am to Noon at the Farmers Market in the Copia Parking Lot.  A Meade
    LX200 8" Schmidt-cassegrain telescope will be equiped with an energy reduc-
    tion filter to observe Sun Spots.  A Solar Telescope will also be used to
    observe Solar Flares, Solar Prominences, and Solar Mass Ejecta into the
    Corona.  The Sun is beginning to go into its maximum Sun Spot cycle which
    occurs approximately every 11 years.  This is your chance to learn how the
    Sun causes Global Cooling and Global Warming.  Dates to be announced. 
    Cancellations may occur depending on weather conditions.

   _____________________________________________

                            Solar Effects on Climate Change

   Date to be announced for Valley Oak Second Chance School.  11am
   until 1:45pm

   Requested by Mrs. Julie Lovie, science teacher.  The event and
   program is part of the JPL/NASA Outreach Program.  It is being
   held at no cost to the school.  A Meade LX200 8" Schmidt-
   cassegrain telescope will be used to show students and teachers
   the Sun's photosphere to observe visible Sun Spots.  The telescope
   will be equiped with a solar filter that rejects harmful light that could
   damage the eye.  A lecture with transparencies and a Power Point
   Presentation will be given to discuss global climate change causing
   Global Cooling and Global Warming resulting from Cosmic Rays
   and particles resulting from the Sun, formation of clouds,
   atmospheric changes, and ocean currents.

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                                     The October Sky

            Star Party, October 4th at Skyline Wilderness Park.
      Notice:  Weather conditons may cancel the event.  If there is 
      no cloud cover or rain forcast by 5PM, the event will go on as
      scheduled.

   Neptune, magnitude 8, is 9' southeast or south of 5th magnitude 42
   Capricorni and event closer to the double star John Herschel 5291 
   with magnitudes 9.5 and10.6, separation 25".  The view is good in 
   binoculars but best through a telescope.  Uranus reaches opposi-
   tion to the Sun on the 12th of September.

   The three-day old Moon will be visible on the 4th of October during
   our next outting at Skyline Wilderness Park.

 

   The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks on October 21st under the watch
   of a Last Quarter Moon.  Expect to see roughly 10 meteors from this
   shower per hour after midnight.  This annual shower will be worth 
   a look.  First, the Orionids tend to produce bright, swift meteors.  
   Second, the shower may produce more meteors than usual.  It exhi-
   bited strong activity in 2006, with rates 3 times higher than normal, 
   and some astronomers suspected enhanced activity this year as
   well. The Orionids peak before dawn October 21.  Observers with
   excellent sky conditions can expect to see perhaps 10 meteors per
   hour.  The Orionid shower remains a popular event with backyard
   observers because the nights at this time of year aren't too cold
   and, even without meteors, the winter sky looks spectacular on dis-
   play in the autumn morning.

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        CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs. Nancy Large of Napa the winner
        of the auction for a Star Gazing Donation to support the Napa
        Valley Nursery School to help raise money for the organization.
        On her behalf, she was treated to a private star gazing event. 
        Although it was a little on the chilly side that evening, she was
        able to see Jupiter, the Moon, and several deep space objects. 
        Her comments were, "I've never seen so many things in a tele-
        scope."
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    THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HELD BY CONGRESSMAN THOMPSON
    was a success - well over 500 VIPs and local business representa-
    tives were present.  A  donation for a private star gazing event was 
    awarded to the winner of the silent auction, a value of $300.00. 
    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the importance of the up-
    comming election.  The event took place at the Trinchero Family
    Estates/Winery in Saint Helena, California. I was asked to partici-
    pate in the event and  setup a telescope to observe the Sun and
    gave out materials donated by my supervisor, Ms. Kay Ferrari,
    JPL/NASA.  Although the event was not part of my Volunteer Solar
   System Ambassador Program, I was allowed to give out free material
   supplied by JPL.  A special package of material was also given to
   Congressman Thompson at JPL's request.  

   Steele Hill, SOHO/STEREO Media Specialist, NASA Goddard Space
   Center,  provided free materials on the Sun.  I used my Meade LX200
   8" Schmidt-cassegrain with a Thousand Oaks Energy Rejection Filter
   and piggy-backed a Coronado 60mm SolarMax telescope with a
   Hydrogen-alpha filter that would show prominences, flares, Solar
   Particle Ejections, and Coronal Mass Ejection.  Although no solar
   activity was observed due to solar minimum, I did discuss Global
   Climate Changes caused by the Sun that creates Global Cooling and
   Global Warming.  The Meade Instrument Corporation  provided the
   Coronado Solar Telescope that will show the Sun in spectacular
   detail.  My daughter Laura Ann Banta assisted me at the event.  The
   following are pictures taken during the event.

           
          The Meade LX200 8" with the Coronado 60mm Solar Max.

          
        My daughter Laura Ann attending my booth and giving out
        free material from JPL/NASA.

        
        Congressman Mike Thompson introducing House Speaker
        Nancy Pelosi
        
        House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promoting the democratic
        event and Senator Barak Obama for the next President of
        The United States of America.

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        September 2nd, Solar Gazing for Napa High School

        This was a JPL/NASA Outreach Program for science students.
        The event included an LX200 8" Schmidt-cassegrain fitted
        with an Energy Rejection Filter and a Coronado SolarMax
        60mm Hydrogen- alpha filter that allowed students to
        observe solar prominences and flares that occurred near the
        edge of the Sun's photosphere.  Solar activity is currently at
        minimum and sun spots were not observable.  Free material
        on SOHO/STEREO missions was given out to teachers.

                           
                         
         A Meade LX200 8" Schmidt-cassegrain fitted with a Thousand
         Oaks Solar Filter and a Meade Coronado 60mm SolarMax piggy-
         backed on top.

          
       Students from Mr. Rob Kohl's Earth Science class to observe
       the Sun.
            

          Mr. Rob Kohl, science chair at Napa High School, assisting
          students looking at the Sun.  A total of 524 students, teachers,
          and administrative personnel got a chance to see several solar
          prominences.





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      September 27th, Napa Valley Museum, Yountville.

      The event was requested by Mrs. Pat Alexander, event coordi
      nator. The event was for members of the museum.  A laptop com-
      puter was used to show the night sky.  Attendees were shown
      how to use the planetarium program.  Attendees were given
      planispheres and learn how to find objects in the night sky. 
      A telescope was setup to view deep sky objects.
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     Pending: Star Gazing party for winner of silent auction at
     Democratic Event.  Date to be announced.

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      Private Star Party for Mrs. Silvia Johnson of Napa, California
      in November:  Date to be announced

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      November 8th:  Star Gazing at Skyline Wilderness Park, Napa

      The event will be near the horse arena just west of the Social
      Hall.  Attendees are advised to park in the designated spaces
      by the Social Hall.  Dress warm, bring a folding chair, and cover
      flashlights with red plastic or red cellophane to avoid interfer-
      ance with observing.  We will be observing the Moon, Jupiter,
      and the planet Venus.  Telescopes will be provided.  Attendees
      may bring their own telescopes but should arrive at least one
      hour early for setup time.

      We will be using laser lights to point out constellations.  I will
      bring a laptop computer to show the night sky in a planetarium 
      program provided by Imaginova "Starry Night Pro."  I do not sell
      astronomy equipment or programs.  If you are interested in pur-
      chasing equipment or programs, go to the link at the top of this
      page for "Marketing/Promotions."  There are several business that 
      I support where you can buy programs.  Scroll down to "Starry
      Night" and click on one of the planetarium programs.  These pro-
      grams are a wonderful way for anyone to learn the night sky at 
      any time of the year.

      We hope to see you there.  We will start at 6:30PM and observe up
      to 10:00PM, depending on the weather.  No rain date has been set.
      The weather condition may cancel the event if is cloudy or rain is
      anticipated.