2010 Astro Events

Jan 7 Thur morn 12:40am - Occultation of 12.4(combined) star by Fringilla. Drop = 1.2, from Santa Cruz. Results: Odds here were 70%, but a north shift gave me a miss. Chris Kitting got it from Hayward. Here's the profile result.

Jan 27 Wed eve 7:15pm - Occultation of 11.6 star by Badenia. Only 6 deg from near full moon. Results: Made it ot the observatory, but clouds refused to clear until minutes after the event. Derek got a 2 sec occn from about the same track as me. Chris clouded out.

Feb 10 Wed eve 11pm - Occultation of 11.2 star by Tauntonia from Monterey Bay. Results: Nasoned! (that means, a cloud formed over the event shortly before, and cleared right after, in honor of an unlucky IOTA member).

Mar 19-21 Fri-Sun Astro 28M weekend field class. Built around graze of 7.0 10n 25+ moon in Chimney Peak Wilderness and Owens Valley desert. Very nice graze high in the sky. Results: Clear skies, incredible geology, archeo-astronomy sites, good batch of students - and the post-trip pix are here.

Apr 9-11 - Astro 28N: Field Astronomy at Sequoia National Park. Astro highlight is occultation of 6.0 star by Sternburga Saturday eve at 7:52pm, sun -6.5, Moon 11-. map. Predictions. 30% odds maximum. Results: A beautiful spring adventure of geology, dark skies, Native American rock art, snow, huge trees, and French crepes. Post trip photos from Kirk.

Apr 17 weekend - Astro27/Geo 27 Pinnacles Field Astro course. 14+ moon in Taurus. Results: Two clear nights and days. Check out Kirk's post trip photos.

May 26 Wed eve 10pm - Occultation of 11.6 star by Nina. Across Santa Cruz, decent rank. Full moon 90 deg away. Results: Clouded out. I was at the observatory, found target, but 80% cloud cover and no luck.

Jun 7-19 - Hayabusa Re-entry in Australia. I was honored to be selected as part of the Ground Team. Here's a special site I've made for this event.

June 29 Tue morn at 1:36am - occultation of 9.4 star by asteroid Dudu, from Santa Cruz and Hayward. Decent rank, bright star, but altitude 16 degrees in southwest. Results: A successful occultation from Bonny Doon, the story's here.

Aug 6 Fri eve - Starparty for Marsha Marani's daughter and friends from Pacific Collegiate Charter School, in Bonny Doon

Aug 12/13 Thur eve - Perseids party and Occultation of 10.1 star by Tretyakov from SF Area. Rank=32. Results: I successfully video'd a miss for the occultation, and casually watched a few hours of Perseids w/ Karl and Garth & friends from their home. Here's the story.

Aug 29 Sun morn 4:00am - Occultation of 11.3 (combined) star by Winchester, from Monterey south, a "sure thing" from Big Sur. drop=0.8. Results: Challenging; I came home data-less. Here's the story.

Sep 6 Mon eve 9:40pm - Occultation of 11.3 star by Klio, from northern Bay Area. Odds at downtown Santa Cruz=28%, 26% at Cabrillo Observatory. Half Moon Bay odds=64%, odds=44% at Locatelli Meadow. Results: Observed from the Presbyterian Church in Bonny Doon, possible very short occn. Story here.

Oct 1-3 Fri-Sun eve 10pm - Geo27/Astro 27 Pinnacles Class. Friday night midnight Comet Hartley/Pacman Nebula =IC11

Oct 8-10 Fri-Sun - Astro 28J at Big Sur, for Comet Hartley 2 in Perseus. Fri morn can be photo'd in same FOV as Double Cluster w/ ST4000. Results: Last minute change from Mono Hot Springs to Ponderosa Big Sur due to storm closing of Kaiser Pass. Clear skies, good group, and great trip. Post trip photos are here.

Oct 21-24 Thur-Sun - Eastern Sierra and Bodie Photo Workshop Results: An outstanding trip, with dramatic clouds, perfect Fall colors timing, and many great photos from numerous locations. See the photo page sometime soon.

Nov 16 Tue eve 8pm - Astro 8A and Graze of 9.0 star on 81% moon, from Corralitos and Larkin Valley road area. See planning page here. Results: We did conduct class there, but bad seeing and the faintness of the star was just too tough. No data. But all had an educational adventure.

Dec 1 Wed eve 9pm - Occultation of 11.9 (combined, 12.2 star) by Kapteynia, just offshore. Cabrillo within 1-sigma limit. Results: Got the north shift I needed, and a 1 second occultation. Here's the story page.