May
7
Tue
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase
May 7 @ 11:30 pm – May 8 @ 1:30 am
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase

1st talk at 7:30PM, same talk at 8:15PM, observing starts at 8PM until 9:30PM.

Observatory Website

Campus Map – The George Mason University Observatory at the Fairfax Campus building Research Hall formerly known as Research I.

Mar
10
Mon
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase
Mar 10 @ 11:30 pm – Mar 11 @ 1:30 am
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase

Talk at 7PM. Observing session from 7:30PM to 9:30PM. Please verify the event is still on at the website below before going!

Observatory Website

Campus Map – The George Mason University Observatory at the Fairfax Campus building Research Hall formerly known as Research I.

Mar
24
Mon
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase
Mar 24 @ 11:30 pm – Mar 25 @ 2:00 am
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase

Talk at 7:30PM. Observing session from 8:00PM to 10:00PM. Please verify the event is still on at the website below before going!

Observatory Website

Campus Map – The George Mason University Observatory at the Fairfax Campus building Research Hall formerly known as Research I.

Apr
14
Mon
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase
Apr 14 @ 11:30 pm – Apr 15 @ 2:00 am
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase

Talk at 7:30PM. Observing session from 8:00PM to 10:00PM. Please verify the event is still on at the website below before going!

Observatory Website

Campus Map – The George Mason University Observatory at the Fairfax Campus building Research Hall formerly known as Research I.

Apr
22
Tue
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase
Apr 22 @ 12:00 am – 2:30 am
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase

Talk at 8:00PM. Observing session from 8:30PM to 10:30PM. Please verify the event is still on at the website below before going!

Observatory Website

Campus Map – The George Mason University Observatory at the Fairfax Campus building Research Hall formerly known as Research I.

May
6
Tue
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase
May 6 @ 12:00 am – 2:30 am
GMU Astronomy Observing Session @ Research Hall Science Showcase

Talk at 8:00PM. Observing session from 8:30PM to 10:30PM. Please verify the event is still on at the website below before going!

Observatory Website

Campus Map – The George Mason University Observatory at the Fairfax Campus building Research Hall formerly known as Research I.

Sep
6
Sat
Byron Bergert Imaging Group @ Thomas Jefferson Library, Falls Church, VA
Sep 6 @ 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

NOVAC’s Byron Bergert Image Processing Group will hold its (Almost) Autumnal Equinox Processing Party on Saturday September 6 from 1-5pm at the Thomas Jefferson Library in Falls Church, on Route 50 just inside the beltway. Same agenda as last time: none. Just bring yourself, your data, a laptop for processing, and/or your questions about imaging. Come when you like, leave when you like. We’ll hang out as long as we have patience for, process images, and talk about imaging.

A suggestion from some folks who were there last time: if anyone would like to bring a projector for a laptop, that could stimulate spontaneous demonstrations! (PixInsight, anyone?) Hope to see you all then.

Kevin
The Hole in the Trees Skybox: http://www.pbase.com/skybox

Nov
22
Sat
Byron Bergert Imaging Group @ Patrick Henry Library
Nov 22 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

NOVAC’s Byron Bergert Imaging Group continues to defy expectations by, well, continuing! Our Pre-Thanksgiving Processing Party will be held Saturday November 22 from 10am to 2pm at the Patrick Henry Library in Vienna. We’ll be talking about imaging and processing images, so bring your laptop, your data, or just your questions. And in a radical departure from precedent (meaning the first two meetings), we’ll have an actual presentation: our very own Robert Whisler will give a presentation on guiding for astrophotography. So participate in the making of history and join us. Don’t be intimidated – none of us know what we’re doing either!

Please note the change in time and location. The Patrick Henry Library is on Maple Avenue in Vienna, about a mile east of Nutley Street and two miles west of Tysons Corner. The meeting room is on the right as you come in the door. Recommendation: bring an extension cord and a power strip, if you can. There are only so many outlets, and we don’t want to all huddle against the walls! I hope to see you there.

Jan
31
Sat
Byron Bergert Imaging Group @ Patrick Henry Library
Jan 31 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

NOVAC’s Byron Bergert Imaging Group will hold its Pre-Groundhog Day Image Processing Party on Saturday January 31 from 10am to 2pm at the Patrick Henry Library in Vienna. We’ll be in the meeting room, first door on the right as you come in the main door.

This time around we’ll have an addition to our normal routine of talking about imaging and processing our data. I’ll demonstrate how I processed a recent deep sky image, showing how I use Deep Sky Stacker and Photoshop to stack the data and process it. To make the most of this, I’ll post the data online (hopefully tonight), so that other imagers can try their hand at processing the data as well. At the get-together on Jan 31, we can look at different ways of processing the same data, and compare results. I’m hoping that one of the PixInsight users in the club will take a crack at this so that we can compare the different workflows. This walkthrough will require a projector! If you can bring one, please let me know.

I hope to see you there.

Kevin Quin

May
23
Sat
Byron Bergert Imaging Group @ Loudoun Public County Library
May 23 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
After some hunting, we’ve found a time, date, and location for the next meeting of NOVAC’s astro-imaging group, named in honor of late NOVACian Byron Bergert.

Tentatively, we’re hoping to hold this on 23 May from 10:00-1:00, in a meeting room at the Loudoun County Public Library on Hay Road in Ashburn, VA.  This is of course the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, but given availability of meeting space, it was the first option we’ve been able to find for a while that doesn’t conflict with Astronomy Day on the 16th, so we’re going to go ahead and scheduling it.

There’s not typically a really structured agenda; an important part of this is informal discussion.  As a starting point for this session, however, Beth will be talking about solar imaging and processing techniques that she’s used for images she has sent out over the past few weeks to this list.  Kevin Quin also may do an imaging processing walkthrough with PixInsight, unless another member has some imaging data they’d like to try and do a processing walkthrough with.

We’ve had a few of our past attendees indicate that they can make it, but newcomers are always welcome as well.  This is really a low-intensity group; our aim is to make it really painless to join or contribute. If you have some astrophotography data you want some help processing, or something you’d like to show, or an imaging question you’d like to discuss, feel free to bring it up at the meeting–that’s what this is all about.