Who Are We?
We are an amateur astronomy club serving the communities of the Verde Valley, Arizona. To learn more about us, click
here.
If you are as interested in Astronomy as we are, we hope you will join us at one of
our star parties, meetings or guest lectures.
If you would like to become a member of AVV please use the
contact information below. We will be happy to assist you.
Here is the Club Brochure.
Astronomers
of Verde Valley
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The
Digital Collection
A new wave in
astro photography is in process with the Astronomers of Verde Valley. Several of
the members have acquired digital photographic equipment and are now busy taking
and processing images. In
the Digital Collection,
more and more pictures will be updated on the site as time goes by.
Check out Jerry Madero's recent astro photos
here. Jerry's Pics |
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JD's Obsession
Iridium flare and
Comet Holmes
Iridium 52 is the bright
streak intersecting this shot. Comet Holmes 7P is above the satellite
at the top of the page. The photograph was
captured on December 12th, 2007, from Clarkdale, Arizona, by our
very own JD Maddy and published in the UK's Sky at Night
Magazine.
Iridium Gallery click here:
Iridium
Flares
Equipment used: Pentax IST digital camera, 50mm lens at f/2.0
for a 30-second exposure
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Message in a
Bottle
A
message broadcast from Earth to the globular cluster M13
during the dedication of the Arecibo Observatory in 1974.
Check out our Members Telescopes here:
Club Member
Telescopes
For those who are somewhat nostalgic, check out
our past star party page.
Past Star Parties
Our new Solar and Lunar picture page is under
progress.
See the
new page here.
Elsewhere
on Our Website:
Observing Tools - Star Charts,
Clear Sky Clocks and Topographic maps.
Astronomy Newsfeeds
- From NASA, Astrowire, Space.com
Articles
- by our very own members.
Astrophotography - see the Astrophoto Galleries.
Focus Sections on Observing
Mars, Saturn,
Asteroids, Comets and
Satellites
Comet Garradd 2009 P1 is still moving through the constellation
of Hercules and is now visible in the early morning sky beginning at about 2AM.
It's tail has split and spread out to nearly 180 degrees separation. A globular
cluster M92 is above to the right of the comet. To see a larger version click
here.
Photo Credits: J D Maddy
The Astronomers of Verde Valley were recognized at the November
Arizona State Parks Board meeting in Apache Junction for their continued support
and participation at Night Under the Stars at Alamo Lake State Park and Star
Night at Kartchner Caverns State Park. Also, individually recognized were the
AVV members participating at these events. Click on picture for full view.
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Click picture to
watch.
For more Astronomy Photos of the Day,
Click Here.
Lunation
Image Credit & Copyright:
António Cidadão
Explanation:
Our Moon's appearance changes nightly.
This
time-lapse sequence shows what our Moon looks like during a
lunation, a complete
lunar cycle. As the Moon
orbits the Earth,
the half illuminated by the
Sun first becomes increasingly visible, then decreasingly visible.
The Moon always keeps
the same face toward the Earth. The
Moon's
apparent size changes slightly, though, and a slight wobble called a
libration is
discernible as it progresses along its
elliptical orbit. During the cycle, sunlight reflects from the
Moon at different
angles, and so illuminates different features differently. A full
lunation takes
about 29.5 days, just under a month (moon-th).
Lunar Eclipse December 10th
2011
Image Credit &
Copyright: J D Maddy
Explanation: As the Moon enters a total lunar
eclipse, the colors of the surface turn red and orange as the light
refracts around the Earth's atmosphere. This was a unique eclipse as it
occurred just before sunrise. Click on the photo for a large version. For more eclipse photos
present and past click
here.
Up coming events
02/18/2012: Two Trees Dark Sky Weekend
02/25/2012: Two Trees Dark Sky Weekend
03/03/2012: Monthly Meeting @ V VMC
03/10/2012: Tonto National Monument Star Night
at Roosevelt Lake
03/17/2012: Kartchner Caverns Star Night
03/23-24/2012: Messier Marathon Weekend at Two
Trees
04/14/2012: Monthly Meeting @ V VMC
See the
Club Calendar for the complete
2012 schedule.
Details of 2011 Special Events are
here.
This is Comet
Garradd 2009 P1 as it
passes near the Coat Hanger Cluster (Cr399) on Sept 3rd, 2011. The
Coat Hanger is an asterism located in the constellation of Vulpecula. Garradd may be naked eye visible later in
September. To see more
of Comet Garradd and others, click here.
Illustration Credit & Copyright:
J D Maddy
and Gerald Madero.
Explanation: The Great
Spiral Galaxy
in Andromeda (aka M31), a mere 2.5 million light-years
distant, is the
closest large spiral to our own Milky Way. Andromeda is visible to the
unaided eye as a small, faint, fuzzy patch, but because its surface
brightness is so low, casual
skygazers
can't appreciate the galaxy's impressive extent in planet Earth's sky.
This entertaining composite image compares the
angular size
of the nearby galaxy to a brighter, more familiar celestial sight. In
it, a deep exposure, tracing beautiful blue star clusters in
spiral arms far beyond the bright yellow core, is combined with a
typical view of a nearly full Moon. Shown at the same angular scale, the
Moon covers about 1/2 degree on the sky, while
the galaxy is
clearly several times that size. The deep Andromeda exposure also
includes two bright satellite galaxies,
M32 and
M110
(bottom). This composite image is made from a stack of M31 images taken
with a Celestron GPS11, Hyperstar 3 with a Canon 450D (XSI) and a single
image of the Moon taken with the same setup.
The Astronomers of Verde
Valley are members of the Night Sky Network
Check out the Club's Community Outreach page for their latest
activities by clicking here.
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