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President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: |
Roger Cowley Bernie Kosher Dave Neunheuser Wade Evans |
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West Jersey Astronomical Society www.wasociety.us
Welcome to the Official Home Page of the West Jersey Astronomical Society (formerly known as the Willingboro Astronomical Society). Our club is in its 49th year of serving both the public and the amateur astronomers of the Delaware Valley. We have a long history of public education, star parties, interesting meetings, in-depth training and experienced leadership. We are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Click here for membership information (dues can now be paid through PayPal).
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President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: |
Roger Cowley Bernie Kosher Dave Neunheuser Wade Evans |
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Announcements Last Update: Friday, April 22, 2016
| Apr 21 | WAS President Roger Cowley will be giving a talk, Looking at the Night Sky, at the Greenwich Township Branch of the Gloucester County Library. 7:00 to 8:15 pm in Meeting Room 2. |
| Apr 22 | Full Moon at 1:24 am EDT |
| May 6 | New Moon at 3:30 pm EDT |
| May 6 | Informal Meeting, 7:30 pm at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center in Moorestown, NJ. As always, guests are welcome and no astronomical experience is necessary. Use the Main Entrance and check with the security guard. |
| May 9 | The planet Mercury will transit the sun between 7:13:35 am and 2:41:25 pm EDT for observers in the Philadelphia area (topocentric times from USNO MICA). Appropriate solar filtration will be needed to see this event safely. |
| May 14 | Public Star Watch at Batsto Village. The full schedule of Public Star Watches for 2016 is available here. |
| May 20 | Formal Meeting, 7:30 pm at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center in Moorestown, NJ. |
Photo Spotlight Image posted 04.12.2016
Late last week, a large sunspot, AR 2529 (in full, Active Region 12529), emerged at the eastern limb of the sun. By Sunday, April 10, 2016, it could be seen with the optically unaided eye, but with proper solar filtration (unfiltered sunlight can quickly damage the eye!). On Sunday afternoon, club member Jim Mack captured images of this large sunspot in both reddish Hydrogen Alpha light, the base image here, using a DayStar QUARK* Chromosphere Hα filter, and also with a white light filter for the sunspot area (mouseover for the white light overlay). For both images, Jim used an Astro-Tech AT111 f/7 apo refractor and a Canon EOS T2i digital SLR camera. The Hα image was exposed 1/200 second, ISO 400, at 3:05 pm EDT. The white light image was exposed 1/400 second, ISO 100, at 2:04 pm.
Click the Sun icon near the top of this page to follow the daily status of sunspots in white light from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).
Click here for the previous home page image.
Click to contact the . Members are encouraged to submit their astronomical images to the webmaster for inclusion on the WAS Home Page. Be sure to include a description, date and time, as well as equipment and photo data.