Dirty Verde Roller Derby Girls

Image:  Nancy Snyder

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Astronomers Hit the River Front Skate Rink

May 15, 2010: It could have been the matchup of the decade. The Astronomers of Verde Valley vs the Dirty Verde Roller Derby girls. But, it wasn't to happen. Instead, the astronomers lined up their scopes on the hockey rink and showed off some of the spring sky wonders. Venus was glowing brightly in the west after sunset near a wondrous looking 2 day old crescent Moon. Soon after, looks at Saturn and Mars wowed the crowd. Two special treats were in store for the sky watchers also. The International Space Station made a brilliant pass over the Rink and the Space Shuttle Atlantis came by later as it chased the ISS for docking. Then, after a bit, Iridium satellite #40 made a bright flash just below the constellation Hercules. Other stellar sites like M13, M92, NGC2403, Omega Centari, Sombrero Galaxy, the Leo Triplet of Galaxies, M100, The Ring Nebula and M106 captured the attention of the avid sky watchers.  A large screen in the background played a slide show of pictures taken by club members.

This young student takes a look at the Moon before sunset.

Image: Karen Maddy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Astronomers Invade Cottonwood School

April 19, 2010: St. Joseph's Grade School was the scene of whirring telescopes and oohs and aahs as the students and adults peered through the many optical instruments gathered on the play ground of the campus. Although the skies were covered with clouds during the day, the evening opened up for a clear cool night. Even before dark, the scopes were trained on the planets Venus, Saturn and Mars as well as our local neighbor, the Moon. Also, two of the moons of Saturn were visible and the shadow of the ring system circling Saturn could be seen cutting a dark line across the planet. As darkness fell, stars like Sirius, Arcturus and Betelgeuse lit up the sky. An Iridium satellite brightened slightly as it passed overhead, near Saturn. As the evening progressed, some 50 students, Moms, Dads, Teachers and even Grandparents gazed at clusters, nebula and even distant galaxies 60 million light years away. The Astronomers were kept so busy, they missed out on the Smores being made not far away!

This is an image of the Crab Nebula, Charles Messier's first cataloged object, M1. It is actually not a nebula, but a structure left over from a star that exploded as a supernova in the year 1054 AD.

Image: Dick Haugen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Posse Ground Park Star Party

April 08, 2010: Sedona residents and visitors from around the world gathered at the Park Thursday night for viewing the universe through telescopes belonging to the Astronomers of Verde Valley. A previous presentation and star party was cloudy out and this was the date for the make up star party. Everyone walked away with a smile after viewing Venus, Mercury, Mars and Saturn in the evening sky. Other objects like the Messier Catalog, clusters, globulars, super nova remnants and nebula were on the list of items seen by the crowd.

This is an image of the Orion Nebula, also known as M42. This was taken at Alamo Lake State Park as eager amateurs astro photographers looked on. This is a stack of 5 images from 2 seconds to 10 seconds. Canon 450D DSLR on a GPS11 Hyperstar 3.

Image: JD Maddy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

   3rd Annual Night Under The Stars: November 14, 2009       (International Year of Astronomy)

The 3rd Annual event celebrated the International Year of Astronomy (IYA); it's been 400 years since Galileo first used his homemade telescope to discover never before seen celestial objects (including the Galilean moons)! Since the closest town is nearly 40 miles away the star-gazing was spectacular! It was great to see so many familiar faces return for this event.

A 150 people viewed planets, moons, nebulas, and more under a perfectly clear, dark sky. There were 13 telescopes brought by dedicated groups and individuals from around Arizona. There was 1 solar telescope and 3 solar filters used to view the sun before sunset (getting to see solar flares). Some of the celestial objects viewed included: Jupiter and 4 of its moons, Venus, Mars, the Ring Nebula, M13, M22, Dumbbell Nebula, NGC 457, the Pleiades star cluster, the Double Star, the Andromeda galaxy, and the stars Polaris, Vega, and Altair.

Check out the photos from the evening below; no photographs are taken after sunset to protect everyone's night vision. We are excited about hosting another event in 2010.

http://azstateparks.com/parks/ALLA/events_2009_nightunderstars.html

This is an image of Jupiter and its four Galilean moons,  photographed
by Voyager 1. They are not to scale, but in their correct positions. 

Image: Courtesy of NASA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Clarkdale Haunted by Astronomers

AVV gets out the 'scopes for Clarkdale

April 11th, 2003 -- High thin clouds and wide-spreading vapor trails did not keep the Astronomers of Verde Valley from sharing the dark skies of downtown Clarkdale with the local residents. Ten member telescopes and three local resident-owned scopes were on hand to view the heavens from the Clarkdale Town Square. Nearly 60 people came by to look through the variety of telescopes on hand ranging in size from 4 inch to 28 inch. Four computer-guided scopes were also there. The planet Jupiter was the featured object with its Galilean moons flanking its sides. The clouds present barely dimmed Jupiter's bright reflection from our own sun. The cloud belts of the planet were easily seen from our earth-bound telescopes. A special treat for the public (and club members) was the transit of one of Jupiter's moons across the face of the planet. The tiny dot moved slowly across the face of Jupiter paralleling one of the cloud belts. Other objects that were seen included Jupiter's sister planet, Saturn, the always beautiful Orion Nebula and several Messier star clusters. 

-  J. D. Maddy

Members setting up for the star party at 6:30PM. JD poses in silhouette.
Other members are not so camera-conscious. 

Photo: Radha Venkat

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

   Saturn
   Star
   Party

AVV hosts public star party at Riverfront Park Skating Rink

March 8, 2003 -- The Astronomers of Verde Valley conducted a star party for the public on Saturday, March 8, commencing at 7:00 PM. The theme of the star party was "Observing Saturn". Indeed, Saturn was a spectacular sight high in the sky, its rings displayed in all their glory. Jupiter was a splendid sight, too, with its four Galilean moons arrayed in a line on one side of the planet. The crescent moon provided another compelling target for our visitors. The site was not dark enough for many of the fainter deep sky objects to be revealed in all their splendor, but some of the brighter ones attracted attention. 

According to the official count recorded by Karen Maddy, there were sixteen member telescopes and over 135 public attendees. 

-  P. C. Gadfly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Construction of Club Telescope

First Session of the Construction Crew

March 11, 2003 -- The scheduled date for the first session of the AVV telescope construction crew is Saturday, March 15, at 6:00PM. The location for this first session is the conference room at the Verde Valley Medical Center. For more details, members should contact chief of the telescope design bureau, Field Marshal William E. Kelley.

-  P. C. Gadfly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AstroVerde Is Voted into Existence

AVV members discover path of least resistance

February 15, 2003 -- In a striking example of going with the flow, the attendees at the February 15, 2003 meeting of the AVV authorized by a voice vote a proposal to set up a group message site on Yahoo! Groups under the name of Astroverde. The member who proposed this idea, the club Gadfly, was given license to "set everybody up" on this system. In the best traditions of groupthink, a time frame was not specified. This means anything (or nothing) can happen at any time. Amazingly enough, the group messaging site has been set up and is currently operational at the web address: http//www.astroverde.org. When members will actually use the group messaging site for communication purposes, is anybody's guess.

An indirect consequence of the group messaging effort is the present website, which is the club's public presence. It was accomplished by totally stealthy means by a committee of one.  

-  P. C. Gadfly

Webmaster update: Currently the yahoo group is no longer being used as the Club has set up its own email server communicating with the world. (2010)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Election of Officers

New Management Takes Charge

January 18, 2003 -- In the first ever contested elections, the Astronomers of Verde Valley elected a new Board. The following officers were elected:

            President:   J. D. Maddy
            Vice President:   William E. Kelley
            Secretary:   Milt Wilcox
            Treasurer:   Barbara Westhafer
            Member-at-Large:   Robert Schottland
            Professor-at-Large:   Rick Shaffer 

The proceedings went smoothly under the guidance of Robert's Rules guru Dr. Jay Fleischman until a (very small) splinter group of members led by Mr. William E. Kelley proposed an alternative candidate for the post of Vice President. This alternative candidate was most reluctant. Fortunately, most of the members present had no clue about the alternative candidate and refused to endorse this novel experiment. The original slate was carried by a wide margin. Mr. William E. Kelley accepted the majority decision with some dissatisfied vocalizations. He was heard to say something indistinct about "next year".

In keeping with AVV by-laws, the outgoing President of the club, Rick Shaffer, continues as member of the Board.

-  P. C. Gadfly