 |
President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: |
Roger Cowley Jim Fusco Bernie Kosher Wade Evans |
 |
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 50th 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).
|
|
President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: |
Roger Cowley Jim Fusco Bernie Kosher Wade Evans |
|
Announcements Last Update: Thursday, January 19, 2017
| Jan 17 | The asteroid (4) Vesta reaches opposition at 7:38 pm EST. At magnitude 6.5 or brighter through the end of January, it's an easy binocular object. |
| Jan 20 | 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 who will direct you to the conference room. Here are the minutes from the January 6, 2017, meeting. |
| Jan 27 | New Moon at 7:07 pm EST in Capricornus. |
| Feb 3 | Formal Meeting, 7:30 pm at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center in Moorestown, NJ. Note: To better correspond with the current moon phases, Formal Meetings (closer to full moon) will now be held on the first Friday of the month and Informal Meetings (closer to new moon) will be on the third Friday. |
| Feb 10 | Full Moon at 7:33 pm EST in western Leo. There will be a deep penumbral eclipse visible in our area, with first contact at 5:34 pm EST (two minutes after sunset for 40°N-75°W) and greatest eclipse at 7:44 pm. |
| Feb 20 | The 2017 Winter Star Party, at Scout Key, Florida, begins. Runs through February 26. |
Photo Spotlight Image posted 1.09.2017
The great constellation Orion is well placed for observation on these January evenings. Several prominent objects are shown here in this recent detailed image captured by club member Dan McCauley. The brightest star here is Alnitak (Zeta Orionis), which marks the eastern end of Orion's three-star belt. Below-left of Alnitak is the intricate Flame Nebula (NGC 2024). To the right is the famous dark Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) silhouetted against the bright nebula, IC 434. Mouseover for labels. Remarkably, this two-image monochrome mosaic was captured from light-polluted Palmyra, NJ, by limiting the wavelength with an Astrodon 5 nm Hydrogen-alpha filter. Exposed a total of 3 hours (12 x 900 seconds) with a Takahashi TOA-130 apo refractor and a QSI 683 CCD camera.
Click here for the previous home page image.
Note: Club President, Roger Cowley, has published a new book, Gauging the Solar System: Measuring Astronomical Values for Yourself. Have fun and do more than just snap pictures of the sky! Available at Amazon too.
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.