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About UsThe Grand Traverse Astronomical Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to to education and enjoyment of the night sky. Established in 1982, the GTAS has about 30 members from the Traverse City and the Grand Traverse area of northern Michigan. Meetings are held on the first Friday of every month beginning at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College's Joseph H. Rogers Observatory, though the August meeting is preempted by the annual picnic at another location. Guests are always welcome to our meetings. Over 750 attended the society sponsored Comet Hyakutake Watches March 23, and 24th, 1996. The farthest traveler came from Detroit to enjoy the dark skies and the spectacular comet through many telescopes. Comet Hale-Bopp attracted approximately 1,400 during the three scheduled viewing nights that were clear. We've
hit the road, so to speak, with outreach beyond the NMC
Observatory since 2007. Since 2011 we've held monthly star
parties at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore from April to
October with additional eclipse and meteor shower watches. We
bring our telescopes and exhibits to several festivals around the
area along with Friday Night Live in Traverse City. Since 2010
the society has been hosting monthly star parties at the Sleeping
Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Two of our members are also NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors. |
Upcoming Society Events Friday, January 3 – 8 pm, Monthly meeting and star party at NMC Rogers Observatory. Also available via Zoom. 8 pm – General Meeting: Our annual Telescope Clinic: Receive a telescope for Christmas? Have an unused one in the closet? Learn how it works and how to use it. Bring it in. The society’s experts may be able to help. 9 pm – Star party if clear. Friday, February 7 – 8 pm, Monthly meeting and star party at NMC Rogers Observatory. Also available via Zoom. 8 pm – General Meeting – Jerry Dobek: Earth Impact Craters 9 pm – Star party if clear. Zoom Meeting Instructions: Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8388913229?omn=86271806338
Meeting
ID: 838 891 3229 Friday, March 7 – 8 pm, Monthly meeting and star party at NMC Rogers Observatory. Also available via Zoom. 8 pm – General Meeting – Preview of this month’s total lunar eclipse on March 13th. 9 pm – Star party if clear.
Check here often for other events that may pop up during the month. Star parties at the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore are expected to resume in late spring 2025. This article is distributed by NASA Night Sky Network T January’s Night Sky Notes: The Red Planet By Kat Troche Have you looked up at the night sky this season and noticed a bright object sporting a reddish hue to the left of Orion? This is none other than the planet Mars! January will be an excellent opportunity to spot this planet and some of its details with a medium-sized telescope. Be sure to catch these three events this month. Martian RetrogradeMars entered retrograde (or backward movement relative to its usual direction) on December 7, 2024, and will continue throughout January into February 23, 2025. You can track the planet’s progress by sketching or photographing Mars’ position relative to nearby stars. Be consistent with your observations, taking them every few nights or so as the weather permits. You can use free software like Stellarium or Stellarium Web (the browser version) to help you navigate the night as Mars treks around the sky. You can find Mars above the eastern horizon after 8:00 PM local time.
Hide and Seek On the night of January 13th, you can watch Mars ‘disappear’ behind the Moon during an occultation. An occultation is when one celestial object passes directly in front of another, hiding the background object from view. This can happen with planets and stars in our night sky, depending on the orbit of an object and where you are on Earth, similar to eclipses.
Depending on where you are within the contiguous United States, you can watch this event with the naked eye, binoculars, or a small telescope. The occultation will happen for over an hour in some parts of the US. You can use websites like Stellarium Web or the Astronomical League’s ‘Moon Occults Mars’ chart to calculate the best time to see this event. Note: For Traverse City the occultation will last from about 9:13 PM to 10:20 PM. Start looking early because Mars will be difficult to find in the Moon’s glare. Times around the state of Michigan could vary by a minute or more. Bob Moler. Closer and CloserAs you observe Mars this month to track its retrograde movement, you will notice that it will increase in brightness. This is because Mars will reach opposition by the evening of January 18th. Opposition happens when a planet is directly opposite the Sun, as seen from Earth. You don’t need to be in any specific city to observe this event; you only need clear skies to observe that it gets brighter. It’s also when Mars is closest to Earth, so you’ll see more details in a telescope. Want a quick and easy way to illustrate what opposition is for Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, or other outer worlds? Follow the instructions on our Toolkit Hack: Illustrating Opposition with Exploring the Solar System page using our Exploring Our Solar System activity!
Mars has fascinated humanity for centuries, with its earliest recorded observations dating back to the Bronze Age. By the 17th century, astronomers were able to identify features of the Martian surface, such as its ice caps and darker regions. Since the 1960s, exploration of the Red Planet has intensified with robotic missions from various space organizations. Currently, NASA has five active missions, including rovers and orbiters, with the future focused on human exploration and habitation. Mars will always fill us with a sense of wonder and adventure as we reach for its soil through initiatives such as the Moon to Mars Architecture and the Mars Sample Return campaign |
LinksFor Kids: NASA’s Space Place website The Space Place is a NASA website for elementary school-aged kids, their teachers, and their parents.
It has over 150 separate modules for kids, including hands-on projects, interactive games, animated cartoons, and amazing facts about space and Earth science and technology. See this month's NASA Night Sky Network article at the bottom of the center panel on this page. Also check out these two sites for kids: NASA's Climate Kids and NOAA's SciJinks Bob Moler's Ephemeris contains audio mp3s of current Ephemeris programs; calendars of sunrise, sunset,moonrise and moonset for the Grand Traverse area of Michigan, and other locations in northern Michigan; plus a monthly star chart. Also Bob's Ephemeris Blog with daily transcripts of and illustrations for his Ephemeris programs on Interlochen Public Radio. Wednesday’s program looks at where the bright planets are along with finder charts. Northwestern Michigan College's Joseph H. Rogers Observatory If you'd like to donateFrom Article II, B of the Articles of Incorporation of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society: The Society shall operate a scientific and educational organization with the goal of increasing interest in, the knowledge and enjoyment of astronomy; cooperate with similar organizations; and cooperate with Northwestern Michigan College to increase the benefit of the college observatory to the community. As you can see by the statement above the society is inexorably linked to the Joseph H. Rogers observatory. However in the past number of years members have been also taking telescopes out into the community, on sidewalks and street corners, and in the street on Friday Night Live, and to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We find that many folks in the area have never been out to the observatory. This way we are going to to the public. And having a huge telescope is really a great attraction, not to mention the superb views of the heavens it will provide. We have purchased a 25 inch Dobsonian telescope with trailer to use and to take around for our outreach program. We have also purchased two solar telescopes to view the Sun's prominences and chromosphere. We have recently purchased small telescopes to give to libraries for them to lend out. The first two recipients are Traverse Area District Library and Betsie Valley District Library. Enerdyne of Suttons Bay donated the second telescope.. You may contribute to the fund to help us upgrade and add accessories to the society's telescopes by mailing a check to the GTAS, c/o the society treasurer Gary Carlisle, 1473 Birmley Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686. We are a 501(c)(3) non profit organization. Donations are tax deductible. Thank You! |
Updated:
This
mid-January chart shows the path of Mars from September 2024 to
June 2025 as it enters and then exits in retrograde motion. Mars
appears to change its direction of motion in the sky because
Earth is passing the slower-moving Mars in its orbit. Credit:
Stellarium
A simulated view of the Moon as Mars begins its occultation on
January 13, 2025. Credit: Stellarium
A
mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into
point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see
from a spacecraft. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter
images of Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech