Michiana  Astronomical  Society

Michiana Star Party  (2024)

Dates: 2024 Dates where:  May 3rd - 5th 2024

For details, click here:

MSP-14

Notice: Standard Covid-19 precautions will be observed per current CDC and local government requirements.

Welcome,

The Michiana Astronomical Society is an Astronomy club based in the South Bend/Mishawaka Indiana area. We meet in the third Thursday of the month @ 7:00PM. Meetings take place at the Centre branch of the South Bend library located at 1150 E Kern Road South Bend, IN 46614.

2024 MAS Due's are due in January. 

If you are going to join or renew, please email me and I will send you my address. I would prefer you send your checks direct to me.  treasurer@michiana-astro.org

Thursday July 18th, 2024

The meeting will be held in person. 7:00pm Eastern (+Zoom)

Speaker: Sherwood Waggy

Subject: Astrology is the mother of Astronomy

 2020 MAS Calendars are now available. $Free just $2.00 shipping or $2.80 shipping for two.

To order: Contact Linda Marks and Steve Accuosti sunandmoonobs@juno.com

LaPorte County Library Astronomy outreach event:

April 24th 6-8PM

Union Mills branch
3727 W 800 S
Union Mills, IN 46382

Current participants: Matt Bielski - Jim Hopkins - Mark Listello -  Dan Utroske -  Eileen Surowiec - Paul Surowiec

If you wish to participate you need to let me know, so a background check can be performed. information@michiana-astro.org

Target audience is grammar school kids.

https://www.laportelibrary.org/locations/union-mills

Saturday Stargazing @ Indiana Dunes National Park (Lakeshore) - Cost: Free

Next Indiana Dunes event: July 13th 9-11 PM.

Indiana Dunes National Park (Lakeshore) is having a stargazing restarting on Saturday September 9th, 2023. The program will take place at the Kemil Parking Lot, near Beverly Shores, one of the Dark Sky Communities. That location is one of the darkest spots between Chicago and Michigan City. The address to plug into gps is "Kemil Beach, Beverly Shores, IN 46304, or GPS Coordinates - 041.40.39N 087.00.35W.   "Kemil Beach and Dune Ridge Trail Parking Lot"

Stargazing outreach at the Indiana Dunes National Park (Lakeshore) Kemil Beach parking lot. Next event Saturday July 13th 9:00-11:00p.m. CDT.

The program is weather dependent, so check back the Saturday of the event.  Here is wishing you Clear Skies!

Contact  Julie Larsen for additional details (219) 395-1821.

Click on the image below to enlarge it.

2024 Science Alive @ Saint Joseph County Main Library  - Saturday February 10th - 10am-4pm Eastern

Notre Dame Science

We've got the moon on our minds This Saturday, October 14, a "ring of fire" annular eclipse will cross our sky, with partial viewing. An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon, at or near its farthest point from the earth, passes between the earth and the sun. Saturday's annular eclipse will cover about 90% of the sun in the southwest United States, and about 40% in South Bend. We are excited to host multiple events featuring eclipse education! Explore Eclipses in the Digital Visualization Theater on Tuesday, October 10, and Wednesday, October 11, at 6:30 pm and 8 pm on both days. DVT director Keith Davis, Ph.D., will take you on a flight around the Earth-Moon system to learn how eclipses happen in our 50-foot domed planetarium. Free and open to the public! Learn more: https://bit.ly/3Q6XCb5 Solar Eclipse Watch Party (with telescopes!) on Saturday, Oct. 14: Weather permitting, the Physics and Astronomy Department will have telescopes and eclipse glasses available when the eclipse starts at 11:39 a.m. The watch party will conclude once the moon has completely moved out of the sun’s path at 2:24 p.m. https://bit.ly/3tpAtaZCheck out our Facebook events to RSVP to either (or both!) of these events.

Astronomy at River St. Joe - Outreach Event

Saturday 10/28/2023 - 6:00 - 8:00PM EDT

15475 Walton Road Buchanan, MI, 49107 United States

https://www.riversaintjoe.com/event-list/astronomy-night-at-river-st-joe

 On the Shores of Lake Michigan - Outreach Event - with The Well Spiritual Center

Wednesday 9/27/2023

Indiana Dunes National Park - Kemil Beach - parking lot

Wednesday 9/27/2023 - 7:30 Central time

 Potato Creek Astronomy Program  (Potato Creek State Park)

This event no longer takes place.

TBD - New Carlisle Library Astronomy Program  - Cost: The event is free

This is from Roanna Hootten, of the New Carlisle Library:   "Because of the ever changing nature of Covid, we are postponing in person August/September programs."   So we are looking forward to trying to do this event next spring. Stay tuned! Keep enjoying the views through your own telescopes.

All of our planned public talks for this semester will now be streamed live online and held in person. These can be accessed on Youtube as well as on Zoom using the connection details below:
Our Universe Revealed Youtube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/OurUniverseRevealed
Connect using Zoom (instructions for how to install the Zoom client and connect to the talk can be found at https://bit.ly/2xbGZVs) – https://notredame.zoom.us/j/97890956656 (Meeting ID is 978-9095-6656, Password: NDUniverse).

We will aim to follow our usual event format with a 30-40 minute presentation followed by time for audience questions. Questions can be asked through both Youtube and Zoom platforms at any time during the talk and we will collate and respond to them at the end of the talk.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support with the series in these challenging times. Through the power of technology we will do all we can to keep educating our students, our neighbors and the Notre Dame community whether close by or further afield.

If you think this and our other events would be of interest to any of your friends, family or colleagues, please feel free to forward this email on to them so they are able to join us.

Jonathan Crass
Series Coordinator

Our Universe Revealed - Next talk: There are currently no future talks scheduled. Please check again at a later dat

View more talks & full details

Note: Due to limited space, Tickets are required for some events but are typically free of charge.

 Recent News / Activities:
May 16 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid - Matt Bielski - OzSky Australia
May 21 - Michiana Science Cafe - Dr. Ryan Sensenig - Restoring Tall Grass Prairies to Capture Carbon,  Chicory Cafe
May 30 - Conjunction of Mercury and Uranus 21:24 EDT (1°21')
June 4 - Conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury 06:04 EDT (7'04")
June 8 - Kemil Beach Stargazing  - Canceled for Weather
June 18 - Michiana Science Cafe - Dr. Lee Haines - The Secret World of Cicadas, Chicory Cafe
June 20 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid - Open Forum
June 20 - June Solstice


Mercury Observation 2024
JJuly 22 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation - View in evening
September 5 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation - View in morning
November 16 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation - View in evening
December 25 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation - View in morning

Planetary Oppositions (Closest Approach for 2024)
September 8 - Saturn at Opposition
September 20 - Neptune at Opposition
November 17 - Uranus at Opposition
December 7 - Jupiter at Opposition

Planetary Conjunctions 2024
July 15 - Conjunction of Mars and Uranus 05:22 EDT (33')
August 6 - Conjunction of Venus and Mercury 11:21 EDT (5°55')
August 14 - Conjunction of Jupiter and Mars 12:52 EDT (18')

Meteor Showers
July 28 - Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower with Last Quarter Moon (poor)
August 12 - Perseid Meteor Shower with First Quarter Moon (poor)
October 7 - Draconids Meteor Shower with Waning Crescent Moon (good)
October 21 - Orionids Meteor Shower with Waning Gibbous Moon (poor)
November 4 - Taurids Meteor Shower with Waxing Crescent Moon (great)
November 17 - Leonids Meteor Shower with Waning Gibbous Moon (poor)
December 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower with Full Moon Moon (poor)
December 21 - Ursids Meteor Shower with Last Quarter Moon (good)

Note on Meteor Showers: These dates are the times of peak occurrence, you can actually see some a few days before and after these dates.

Eclipses
March 13, 2025 - Total Lunar Eclipse, South Bend (23:57-06:00)

2024 All Upcoming Events
July 7 - Astro Camp 7/7-12, YMCA Camp Eberhart, Three Rivers, MI - Darren Drake
July 15 - Conjunction of Mars and Uranus 05:22 EDT (33')
July 16 - Michiana Science Cafe - TBD 18:00-19:30 Chicory Cafe, 105 E Jefferson Blvd #103, South Bend, IN 46601
July 18 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid
July 22 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation - View in evening
July 28 - Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower with Last Quarter Moon (poor)
July 28 - Nebraska Star Party NE 7/28-8/2, Valentine, NE
August 6 - Conjunction of Venus and Mercury 11:21 EDT (5°55')
August 12 - Perseid Meteor Shower with First Quarter Moon (poor)
August 14 - Conjunction of Jupiter and Mars 12:52 EDT (18')
August 15 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid
September 5 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation - View in morning
September 8 - Saturn at Opposition
September 17 - Partial Lunar Eclipse, South Bend (20:41-00:47)
September 19 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid
September 20 - Neptune at Opposition
September 22 - September Equinox
September 27 - Okie-Tex Star Party 9/27-10/5, Kenton, OK
October 7 - Draconids Meteor Shower with Waning Crescent Moon (good)
October 17 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid
October 21 - Orionids Meteor Shower with Waning Gibbous Moon (poor)
November 4 - Taurids Meteor Shower with Waxing Crescent Moon (great)
November 16 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation - View in evening
November 17 - Leonids Meteor Shower with Waning Gibbous Moon (poor)
November 17 - Uranus at Opposition
November 21 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid
December 7 - Jupiter at Opposition
December 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower with Full Moon Moon (poor)
December 19 - MAS Meeting - Hybrid
December 21 - Ursids Meteor Shower with Last Quarter Moon (good)
December 21 - December Solstice
December 25 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation - View in morning


Launches
See https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

A recent article in the South Bend Tribune about local Stargazing. Click here to read it: (July 26, 2018 SBT article)

Previous Event - Febuary 4th, 2017 - Science Alive

MAS again participated in Science Alive at the St Joseph county library.

2023/2024 MAS officers are:

Bruce Miller - President

Matt Bielski - Vice President

Mike Hensley - Secretary (Chuck Buter - backup Secretary)

Paul Surowiec - Treasurer, Webmaster,  & Alcor

Marc Listello - Member at Large

Many thanks to our previous officers and their service to the Michiana Astronomical Society, it members and the community.

 *****************************************************************************************************************************************

Next solar eclipse - It will not be visible in North America