Geminids
The final major meteor shower of every year (unless one surprises us!) is always the December Geminid shower, often producing 50 or more meteors per hour. It is a beloved shower, because, as a general rule, it’s either the August Perseids or the December Geminids that give us the most prolific display of the year. Best of all, the new moon guarantees a dark sky on the peak night of the Geminid shower (mid-evening December 13 until dawn December 14). But the nights on either side of the peak date should be good as well. Unlike many meteor showers, you can start watching the Geminids by 9 or 10 p.m. local time. The peak might be around 2 a.m. local time on these nights, because that’s when the shower’s radiant point is highest in the sky as seen around the world. With no moon to ruin the show, 2012 presents a most favorable year for watching the grand finale of the meteor showers. Best viewing of the Geminids will probably be from about 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. on December 14.
This meeting is cancelled due to weather – Elections will be held in January and “Show and Tell” will be booked for another time in the future.
NOVAC Members,
Our next meeting will be Sunday Evening, December 8, 7:00 pm with an equipment “show and tell” event with NOVAC members bringing their astronomy equipment for others to see.  You will be able to talk with the equipment owners about how and why they use what they have for observing.  We will meet in Room 163,  Research Hall, George Mason University. Check the web page, http://www.novac.com/meetings/, if you need directions and details.
We are looking for members to bring their equipment like last year. Â Email webmaster@novac.com (and the list for that matter) to let us know what you are planning on bringing.
Also, bring along whatever you use to power your equipment (unless it is your automobile!) so that attendees can see the creative ways folks get power to their scopes and mounts and accessories.
If you are setting up equipment to show, please try to arrive between 6:15 and 6:45 to setup your things.
We will also have light refreshments in the spirit of making this a social event to honor all of our volunteers that served NOVAC so well during the past year.
We will elect officers for 2014 at our December NOVAC Meeting. Â Candidate nominations have been received for each position. Â If you wish to run for one of the officer or trustee positions, please self-nominate by emailing your desire to do so at this email address: Â elections@novac.com
We look forward to you coming to attend this fun NOVAC meeting!
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Great viewing for 2014 as this is right next to the dark (new) moon. Look for meteors radiating from the constellation Bootes. The Quadrantid meteor shower will reach its maximum rate of activity. Some meteors will be visible each night from 1 Jan to 6 Jan, but the best show will be on this evening. The maximum number of meteors expected to be visible from a dark location is around 80 per hour (ZHR). The Moon will be 22 days old at the time of peak activity, and so will present minimal interference.
Details about NOVAC meetings can be found at http://www.novac.com/meetings/ – including information about the club’s informal pre-meeting dinners.
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Details about NOVAC meetings can be found at http://www.novac.com/meetings/ – including information about the club’s informal pre-meeting dinners.
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Details about NOVAC meetings can be found at http://www.novac.com/meetings/ – including information about the club’s informal pre-meeting dinners.
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This shower is made up of remnants from the famed Halley’s Comet and spans from October 2 through November 7. It will peak overnight on the 22nd with up to 20 sightings per hour. Because it is the night before the New Moon, 2014 is an excellent year to view this shower. The meteors will appear to be originating from the Orion constellation.
Details about NOVAC meetings can be found at http://www.novac.com/meetings/ – including information about the club’s informal pre-meeting dinners.
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We will also have light refreshments before the meeting (around 6:30 or so) to recognize all of the volunteers that served NOVAC so well during the past year.
Since we are having our volunteer reception prior to the business meeting, we will NOT meet for the informal pre-meeting dinner at Brion’s this month. Plan to come out and celebrate our volunteers instead!
We will also have light refreshments before the meeting (around 6:30 or so) to recognize all of the volunteers that served NOVAC so well during the past year.
We will elect officers for 2015 at the December meeting. Candidate nominations have been received for each position (president, VP, secretary, treasurer, three two-year trustee terms, one one-year trustee term). It’s not too late to get into the race, though; if you want to run for one of the officer or trustee positions, please self-nominate by emailing a statement of your desire to run to elections@novac.com. It’s also possible to nominate another willing volunteer; we do ask, however, that you obtain advance permission from the person(s) you want to nominate before doing so.
We look forward to seeing you Sunday evening!
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