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President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: |
Ken Weber Al Meloni Suzanne Leap 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 (additionally known as the Willingboro Astronomical Society). Our club is in its 56th 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, including a PayPal link to pay dues (click here to make a separate donation). Members in good standing have access to the gated Barnegat Road Observing Site in the dark New Jersey Pines.
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President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: |
Ken Weber Al Meloni Suzanne Leap Wade Evans |
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Announcements Last Update: Friday, August 04, 2023
| Aug 12 | Public Star Watch at Batsto, beginning at 7:30 pm EDT. This will be the peak night of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Check back here on the the day of the event for the go/no-go weather call. |
| Aug 13 | Venus reaches Inferior Conjunction with the Sun, 7.7° south, at 7:15 am EDT. |
| Aug 16 | New Moon at 5:38 am EDT in western Leo. |
| Aug 18 | Informal Meeting at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center, Conference Ctr, Room 155A, in Moorestown, NJ, 7:30 pm. Guests are welcome. |
| Aug 27 | Saturn reaches opposition from the Sun at 4:28 am EDT. |
| Aug 30 | Full Moon at 9:36 pm EDT in western Aquarius. This will be the second Full Moon in August 2023 (the first was on August 1). Some would consider this a "Blue Moon." The Full Moon (when it's at opposition) will be about 5° from Saturn, which was at opposition just a few days earlier. The Moon will also reach perigee at 11:54 am EDT. |
| Sept 1 | Formal Meeting, at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center, Conference Ctr, Room 155A, in Moorestown, NJ, 7:30 pm. Guests are welcome. |
Photo Spotlight Image posted 7.14.2023
Club member Howard Schneck captured this image of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) on July 11, 2023, from the WAS's Barnegat Road Observing Site in the dark New Jersey Pines. This nominal 9th magnitude comet was located near the handle of the Little Dipper in Ursa Minor, but as of July 14, ATLAS had moved into Draco. It was at perihelion on July 1 and will make it closest approach to earth on August 18, about 0.37 au away. Mouseover for label.
Howard took this image using a ZWO ASI2600MC digital camera and a Celestron Edge HD8 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a 0.7x focal reducer for an effective focal length of 1,488 mm (44 x 31 arc minute field of view). The system was riding a Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro equatorial mount. Guiding was accomplished with an Orion 240 mm (60 mm aperture, f/4) scope and a ZWO ASI120-MM camera. Integration time was 60 minutes (20 x 3-minute subs). ASIAIR was used to obtain the subs and PixInsight was used for post-processing. Click here for a larger version.
During the session when the image was acquired, WAS members were able to observe the comet visually with a 115 mm (4.5 inch) spotting scope, and glimpse it with 15x56 binoculars.
Click here for the
previous home page image.
Sky & Telescope's This Week's Sky at a Glance, August 4 to 13, 2023.
USNO's The Sky This Week, August 1, 2023, Stories in the Summer Sky.
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.
Astrospheric Forecast for the Barnegat Road Observing Site
Star & Constellation
Pronunciation Guides
United States Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications
Lunar X Predictions (UT)
