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President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: |
Al Meloni Wade Evans Suzanne Leap Jim Brennan |
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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 54th 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: |
Al Meloni Wade Evans Suzanne Leap Jim Brennan |
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Announcements Last Update: Saturday, January 09, 2021
| Jan 9 | Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury will form a compact right triangle low in the southwest after sunset. All three should fit in the same field with most binoculars. On January 10, they will form an even more compact equilateral triangle. |
| Jan 13 | New Moon at 12:00 am EST in eastern Sagittarius. Chance to sight a very young moon (≈17 hr old) after sunset. |
| Jan 22 |
Informal Meeting, online via
Zoom, opening at 7:30 pm
(log-on information will be posted to the WAS e-group). Physical meetings at
the
Virtua Health and Wellness Center
in Moorestown, NJ, remain suspended
indefinitely (at least through the end of April 2021)
due to COVID-19 restrictions at the venue. Normally, the informal meeting would have been held on the third Friday of the month, but because the first Friday fell on January 1, the New Year's holiday, it's meeting was moved to January 8. Correspondingly, the informal meeting was also moved a week later to January 22. The usual first and third Friday schedule returns in February. |
| Feb 5 | Formal Meeting, online via Zoom, opening at 7:30 pm (log-on information will be posted to the WAS e-group). |
| Note: | The status of Public Star Watches at Batsto and Member Star Watches at Atsion for 2021 is still indeterminate due to COVID-19 restrictions in the New Jersey State Forests. |
Photo Spotlight Image posted 12.26.2020
Club member Joe Stieber captured this image of the setting Sun on December 21, 2020, the day of the Winter Solstice. It was taken at 4:35 pm EST from East Point, NJ, overlooking the Delaware Bay, with a handheld Canon EOS RP mirrorless digital camera and a Canon 100 mm f/2.8L macro lens. Exposed 1/1000 second at f/9, ISO 1600. It's uncropped for a field about 20° wide x 14° high. Broken clouds after sunset at East Point on Dec 21 (in contrast to sustained cloudiness in the Philadelphia area) allowed a view of Jupiter and Saturn's closest approach (about 0.1° or 6 arc minutes) on the day of the "Great Conjunction."
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.
USNO
Solar System Object Apparent Disc
Star & Constellation
Pronunciation Guides
Old SOHO Link
Alternate SOHO Link
(this link may be inoperative as the USNO website is undergoing
modernization;
estimated completion is now Fall 2020)