CUSTER INSTITUTE'S HUGE ANNUAL EVENT!

Friday, October 19th through Sunday, October 21st

CUSTER'S 34th ANNUAL ASTRONOMY JAMBOREE!

This Year Our Astronomy Jamboree is not to be missed!

 

  - Presentations - Laser Shows - Exhibits - Planetarium Sessions - 

 - Solar observing - Vendors - Children’s Crafts - Stargazing - Raffle -

 

This year the Astronomy Jamboree has been organized by George Lomaga, an Astronomy Professor, and an all new Jamboree Committee! Our event will be held over a three day period in conjunction with the Eastern Campus of Suffolk County Community College! Many events and some great speakers are scheduled for this event as well as programs, music, vendors and Laser Shows! 

Information about the Astronomy Jamboree and registration details may be found at the Custer Observatory website. Since seating is limited, pre-registration is strongly recommended. If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to contact George Lomaga at 631-298-4857 with any other questions.

Information about the program and registration details may be found on Custer's Observatories website: www.CusterObservatory.org.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Program at Custer Institute

Friday Night, October 19th
      
6:00pm    Registration starts

7:30pm to the wee hours: An Evening of Friendship

The evening includes poetry reading led by our longtime supporters and members Bob and Steve Chapin. Bring your favorite astronomical poems.

We will also sing the Astronomer’s Drinking Song with musical accompaniment by Thomas Mangano.

The evening will be topped off by observations through Custer’s 25” Obsession Telescope, and the telescopes brought by participants! All night observing as long as skies are clear. 


Saturday Morning Program, October 20th
      
9:00am    Registration Desk Open at Suffolk County Community College

10:00am Laser Show - BEATLES (This laser show is included with admission fee)

10:45am  Planetarium Show: The Fall and Winter Sky: The Fall and Winter sky will be displayed in the Suffolk County Community College Planetarium.  All the wonders of the sky, visible by eye, binoculars, and backyard telescopes will be displayed and described, including tips on how to  find these objects and what is the best equipment to observe them with. Steve Bellavia

11:00am  Presentation: Stars That Go “POP” - Dr. Alan C. Calder,
            Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, SUNY Stony Brook
 
Concurrent Presentation: Introduction to Astrophotography - David Barnett

Ongoing:     Children’s Astronomy Crafts, Vendors, Exhibits. 

Saturday Afternoon

12:30pm - 1:30pm Lunch Break: College Cafeteria has food available for purchase
      
1:30pm  Welcome to the Custer Institute’s Astronomy Jamboree!  
            President of Custer Institutute - William Bogardus
            President of SCCC - Dr. Shaun L. McKay

2:00pm Presentation: Devastation From Above! - Professor Matthew Pappas, SUNY Suffolk County Community College
 
Concurrent Presentation: Getting The Most Out Of Your Astrophotography  - Kurt Massey

2:45pm Planetarium Show: The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) A full dome movie in the Suffolk County Community College Planetarium.  This is a documentary on the recently launched Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX spacecraft). Come explore the bounds of  our solar system and beyond. Steve Bellavia
 
3:30pm Presentation: Probing the Formation, Evolution, and Architectures of Exoplanetary  Systems with Hubble and Beyond - Dr. Glenn Schneider, U of Arizona

Concurrent Presentation: Recent Advances in Optics in Astronomical Equipment  - Jeff Norwood, Camera Concepts

5:00pm-7:00pm Dinner Break: College Cafeteria will have food available for purchase

7:30pm    Raffle

Saturday Evening

8:00pm  Annual Dr. Fred Hess Memorial Lecture, Predicting and Chasing Eclipses, presented by Professor Fred Espenak, Retired from NASA Goddard, Scientist and Astronomer Emeritus, Eclipse Guru.                   

10:00pm    Laser Show - PINK FLOYD

11:00pm     Laser Show - U2
 

Sunday Morning

Location: Orient Beach State Park - Route 25, Orient
 
Pre-Sunrise Observations (weather permitting-check website for updates) Join us at  Orient Beach State Park, Route 25, Orient, New York.

Green Flash Watch - Sunrise 7:14am - With some good fortune, we hope to observe this unique event. In the past, The Green Flash has been seen on a clear eastern horizon preceding the rising sun.
   
Post Green Flash Nature Walk - Join Annette DeGiovine Oliveira, NY Dragonfly and Damselfly Surveyor, Naturalist, Artist, Photographer and Custer Member on a bird watching and nature expedition  - bring your camera and binoculars.

1:00pm *Halloween Laser Show (*FREE PUMPKIN to all children 12 years
            of age and younger who attend the laser show)

2:00pm  Walk the Solar System - Self Guided


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT 
 
Call George Lomaga: 631-298-4857 or Barbara Lebkuecher: 631-722-3850 
Or email David VanPopering: dobsoniandave@gmail.com or Annette DeGiovine: graphicartist04@gmail.com

 Info and Discount Coupons for Local Restaurants will be available at the Registration Table.


ASTRONOMY EVENT LOCATIONS

    Custer Institute & Observatory
        1115 Main Bayview Road, Southold, NY 11971 631-765-2626          www.custerobservatory.org

    Suffolk  County Community College - eastern campus
        121 Speonk-Riverhead Road, Riverhead, NY 11901    631-765-2626           www.sunysuffolk.edu

If you are interested in being a sponsor, giving a lecture or would like to be a vendor please contact George Lomaga at 631-298-4857

"New" Friday Night Concerts at Custer Observatory

STARDUST - A Tribute to the Great Jazz Composers

 On Friday, July 13, Custer Observatory began a new Friday Night Concert Series with the Robert Boutcher Concert: "STARDUST" - A Tribute to the Great Jazz Composers. STARDUST was a musical exploration of the great American Songbook and hosted by pianist, guitarist and singer Bob Boutcher.

It was an informative and highly entertaining concert performance which featured the works of Hoagy Carmichael, Michelle Legrand, Bill Evans, and many others from the great periods of Jazz. There was a special guest appearance by Harmonica Man, Norm Shupack, that made this a special night to remember. The new Music program coordinator, Thomas Mangano, even came up for a few numbers on his Clarinet! 

Look for new Friday Night Concerts to be scheduled in the upcoming months at Custer! 

Robert Boutcher

Robert Boutcher and Norm Shupack

Robert Boutcher, Thomas Mangano and Norm Shupack

Fireflies and Constellations

Fireflies in Southold

Surrounding Custer Observatory is a large field owned by the Town of South. In the last few weeks there has been a noticeable burst of activity in the field at dusk! Thousands of Fire Flies are in flight across the field at dusk looking for a mate! I am new to observing Fire Flies although I remember them from childhood. I never gave them the closer look that they deserved after capturing them and putting them in a jar. My only goal at that time was to watch the blinking of their soft light in the dark. 

I recently became aware of a reported decline in our Fire Fly population and a Citizen Science project to keep track of Fire Fly populations across the United States. Seeing a friend, Steve Bellavia, post a photo of this night-time flurry of activity reminded me of the Citizen Science project and thought I should add the Custer location to the map of this project.

On subsequent nights I decided to try my hand at more night-time photography and photograph the soft light of the night-time flight of these fascinating childhood insects. At the same time I decided to catch some and put them in a large jar, something I have not done since I was young, only this time it was in the interest of science! I brought them indoors to photograph them and try to identify the species based on a photo ID page on on the Museum of Science's Firefly Watch website. According to their photos I had caught a Photorus firefly.

These fireflies produce a green light. In the sky is the constellation Scorpius and the straight blinking line in the sky is an airplane.

These fireflies produce a green light. In the sky is the constellation Scorpius and you can see part of the Milky Way on the left side of the image.

These fireflies produce a green light. In the sky is the constellation Scorpius, part of the Milky Way  and the straight blinking line in the sky is an airplane.

These fireflies produce a green light. In the sky is the constellation Scorpius and the straight blinking line in the sky is an airplane.

These fireflies produce a green light. In the sky is the constellation Scorpius and the straight blinking line in the sky is an airplane.

The Custer dome was rotating at the time of this timed exposure, a happy accident, so the dome opening appears larger then it is.

Custer Observatory Annual Membership Meeting & Elections

Yesterday, Saturday, June 23, 2012 Custer Observatory held its Annual Membership Meeting and Elections. Following the elections members enjoyed a barbecue and stargazing!

Congratulations to our new board members!

                             President:                  Bill Bogardus

                             Vice President:         Dave Van Popering

                             Secretary:                  Justine Haupt

                             Treasurer:                 Barbara Lebkeucher

                             Finance Chair:          Anne Spooner

                             Directors at Large:   Steve Bellavia & Bill Crispino 

Matt Cousins, Alan Cousins and David Van Popering

Matt Cousins, Alan Cousins and David Van Popering

Bill Bogardus, Bill Crispino and Maria Smith

Maria Smith, Justine Haupt, Ron Smith and Barbara Lebkeucher

 

Transit of Venus from California

At California's Griffith Observatory

to witness the Transit of Venus

On June 5, 2012, thousands of people were at the Griffith Observatory, which is located in Los Angeles, CA., to view a once-in-a-lifetime event! People were there to witness Venus as it passed between earth and our Sun! There were many amateur astronomers sharing their telescopes, equipped with solar filters, with the public. The solar filters allow you to view the sun safely in order to get a close-up view of the TOV without the sun damaging your eyes! (You should never look directly at the sun without the proper protection to avoid permanent eye damage!)

There were many news crews and helicopters documenting the event. The Observatory is on top of a mountain overlooking the Hollywood Sign and had monitors and screens throughout the Observatory showing the Transit in real time through video feeds. 

OBSERVATORY OFFERS PUBLIC VIEWING OF TRANSIT OF VENUS On Tuesday, June 5, Griffith Observatory welcomed thousands of people for a once-in-a-lifetime free viewing of the transit of Venus. Observatory staff, along with volunteers from the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers, and The Planetary Society, offered visitors the chance to look through filtered telescopes, the coelostat, and Observatory eclipse glasses. Tens of thousands of people from around the world watched the Observatory's live video feed of images from its Zeiss telescope and coelostat and commentary from curatorial staff. ~ Griffith Observatory

Waiting for the Transit to begin

Sundial in front of the Griffith Observatory

Important men in the history of Astronomy: Galileo, Herschel, Newton, Kepler, Copernicus.

Helicopter fly-over of the Griffith Observatory

Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight Transport Helicopter serves the US Marine Corps and the US Navy

In the Griffith Observatory

 

Albert Einstein

 

One of the Live Video Feeds of the TOV

 

The live video feed shows Venus in front of the sun's disk as well as some sun spots

 

 View from the Observatory over-looking Los Angeles

 

End of the Observable "Transit of Venus" from California