News and Updates
NOVAC is joining GMU's Arlington campus with a campus stargazing event, Saturday, April 9th from 7:30pm to 9pm. We still need additional volunteers so if you're interested in helping with this event, please send a note to:  outreach@novac.com.  [Read More] George Mason University, Arlington Campus Night Sky Viewing Date(s): Saturday, April 9; 8pm to 9:30pm Location:  Arlington, VA- Outdoor [...]
NOVAC Messier Marathon Challenge, by Dan Ward ....A wonderful 3-D view hit my eye with swirling streams of sparkling stars and dust lanes. Even the tether to the companion offered a great view.  This was truly the most spectacular live galaxy view I have experienced in 55 years of observing... [Read More} On Friday evening, April 1, [...]
Kevin took the NOVAC Messier Challenge!  Read about his results - nice job Kevin and thanks for the lessons learned! Kevin's Journal: The goal of this challenge was to try to identify 5 Messier objects in a single night. I decided to try this challenge from my house in Vienna, Virginia on the outskirts of Tysons Corner [...]
I joined NOVAC almost a year ago now. As the first anniversary of my membership comes up, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on what I’ve done in this first year. If you’re thinking of joining NOVAC, I hope this will give you a glimpse into just some of the things you can [...]
How to Measure Velocities of Distant Galaxy Clusters, and Why  Arthur Kosowsky, Ph.D. Sunday, April 12, 2022 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST Online event meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti Monthly Meeting - Public Invited  Abstract: Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound objects in the universe. Their hot ionized gas scatters photons of the cosmic microwave background, creating a microwave spectrum distortion (called the Thermal [...]
Recently several NOVAC members have been reading and discussing this great post on lens design from https://www.pencilofrays.com/ https://www.pencilofrays.com/lens-design-forms/
Improving the Performance of Your Imaging Mount  In this presentation, Eric will share his experience on improving the performance of equatorial mounts, a critical and expensive component of astrophotography systems.  He will start with the basics of operation and cover the common sources of tracking errors found in lower- to moderately-priced systems. Eric will then present a [...]
Wild and Wonderful Space Volcanoes!  How are there many different types of volcanoes in our Solar System? How do these volcanoes form and evolve? We’ll explore the marvelous volcanic wonders of the Solar System by deep diving into how they behave and form from different planetary materials, including the mysteries of cryovolcanism!   Caitlin Ahrens, Ph.D. Sunday, February 20, [...]
We are pleased to announce that NOVAC now offers a digital library that allows members to borrow and read astronomy-related books using a browser, tablet or smartphone. Please see instructions below, if you have any problems, feel free to contact Chris Spain at librarian@novac.com. Short Instructions Go to: https://libbyapp.com/library/novac Login to the site with your [...]
Hello fellow Astro-3D-printers! Â In our next meeting Stefano Antonini will discuss techniques and plans for a 3D printed barn door astro-tracker that he and fellow NOVAC member, Chris Papageorgakis have been designing, taking inspiration from two similar designs posted. If you're part of NOVAC's 3D print group please join use for the discussion on 11 Jan [...]
