Las Vegas Astronomical Society

LVAS is a proud member of the NASA/JPL Night Sky Network. LVAS events will be posted on the Night Sky Network website at

Night Sky Network:Las Vegas Astronomical Society:Event Calendar.

LVAS in the News

The LVAS made the news again in the Centennial and North Las Vegas View. The article was also highlighted on oddtodd.com under the Daily Good News. Click on the image below to read the article.

Julie Rivera looks through Fred Rayworth's 16-inch Lightbridge at a LVAS Star Party at the Red Rock Visitors Center.

Photo by K.M. Cannon/View

A Successful Death Valley Star Party!

Despite a shaky start with a cloudy Friday night, the skies parted Saturday morning to allow about 100 visitors to view the Sun during the day and another 100 or so came to the evening stargazing. Thanks to the LVAS members that came, despite the foreboding weather, and supported this event. They were rewarded with a good night of observing Saturday night.

Get ready for the Cathedral Gorge Spring Fling and the Annular Eclipse 18-20 May.

"Astronomy in the Park" Public Star Parties

Our next public star party will be February 25th, 2012

at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.

Join us for "Astronomy in the Park"

Click here for maps and more info.

LVAS Members assist Red Rock Guests

LVAS Secretary Bunny Nua assists visitors

in viewing Saturn

Planets above Red Rock

The Moon, Saturn, Mars, and Venus over Red Rock

"Astronomy in the Park" Star Parties are free and open to the public; however, some of the Parks charge an entrance fee of $7.00 per vehicle until the Park closes. If an attendant is in the Fee Station, LVAS members should tell the Attendant that you are there for the Star Party. Click here or see the Events Calendar for future Public Star Party dates in 2011.

Note: Because we use special video cameras in some of our telescopes, viewing the night sky at our public star parties is accessible by those that may have difficulty viewing through the eyepiece of a telescope (ADA friendly). We invite you to join us in viewing the wonders of the night sky.

Other Notable Events

International Space Station in the Las Vegas Skies

The ISS remains in the morning skies for early February with some bright, long passes and then moves to the evening skies near mid-month. Check the table below for the exact times and starting direction of the passes. Also check Heavens-Above.com for other passes over the Vegas and surrounding areas.

Date		Magnitude	Duration	Begin	End	Direction
Feb 1 * **	**	-2.6	6:20	5:58:09	6:04:29	NW (320°) to ESE (116°)
Feb 3 * **		-3.4	5:23	5:41:27	5:46:50	NW (306 °) to SE (138 °)
Feb 12 * **		-3.5	4:16	18:29:37	18:33:53	SW (231°) to NE (43°)
Feb 13 * **		-2.7	5:47	17:32:41	17:38:28	SSW (203 °) to ENE (60 °)
Feb 14 * **		-2.2	5:41	18:11:30	18:17:11	WSW (253 °) to NNE (33 °)

* = Magnitude greater than 2.0 Yellow Highlight = brighter than -2.5 magnitude and > 5 min duration

** = Durations greater than 4 minutes

Be sure to check for the most current prediction information. The information above is updated at least weekly, but predictions may change slightly as the date for the pass approaches, so checking the Heavens Above website will ensure you have the most accurate and up to date information about upcoming passes. A magnitude of -2.8 is between the brightness of the planets Jupiter (-2.1) and Venus (-3.9), with Venus being the brighter planet.

Iridium Flares - an interesting phenomenon where sunlight is reflected from the large aluminum antennae on Iridium communication satellites to your observing location on the ground. Heavens-Above.com can predict Iridium Flares for almost any location. Below are links to Heavens-Above.com predictions for selected sites of interest to LVAS members:

Boulder City		Henderson		Las Vegas		North Las Vegas		Overton
Cathedral Gorge		Furnace Creek		RedStone		Red Rock Visitor Center		Sawmill Trailhead

SW (224°) to NE (52°)

Note from the President - February

Well here we are in February. I hope the relatively mild winter weather that we have enjoyed has equated to more evenings at the eyepiece. We’ve suffered through some unstable skies and haven’t had the greatest luck in the timing. Why does it seem that clear, windless nights seem to coincide with a full moon? While great for full moon hikes (See the event

calendar for Lake Mead’s Ranger hosted full moon hike) not so great for observing, just another mystery of the universe.

The Societies’ trek to Death Valley in January actually turned out much better than the weather forecaster’s predictions would have made anyone believe. This did hurt the turnout, but those who “rolled the dice” and made the trip were rewarded with an excellent solar session on Saturday with prominences, sunspots, filaments all visible on our nearest star. On Saturday the winds abated in the afternoon and by sunset the sky had cleared for a wonderful evening of public outreach and camaraderie under the beautiful skies that Death Valley has to offer. A special thanks to members David Blanchette, Rob Lambert, Fred Rayworth and Glen Ryan who supported the public observing session. Thanks goes out to Geary Kielman , Rob Lambert and David Blanchette for supporting the solar observing session as well. We look forward to the Fall edition of the Death Valley experience.

We continue to support multiple Educational Outreach programs for various schools and organization. We can always use your support at these very worthwhile community events. Please take a look at the event calendar for potential opportunities to lend a hand. It is most appreciated.

I look forward to meeting each of you. Please come up and introduce yourself. I also urge you to make suggestions that you believe would enhance our time together. We’re all in this together.

We’ll see you in February,

Jim Gianoulakis

Need Some Help With Your Scope?

Do you have a new telescope or one that hasn't been dusted off in quite a while and need some help using it? If you can't make it to our next "Astronomy in the Park", give me a call and let's arrange a time to get you a little help. I'm typically available before and after our monthly meetings on the 1st Thursday of each month and before each of our "Astronomy in the Park" outings, but I'm willing to come to you to get you up and operating. I just need some prior notice to arrange a time to meet you. Give me a call at 702-461-1390or send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 February 2012 21:57

Society Meetings

Monthly LVAS meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Planetarium at the College of Southern Nevada, Cheyenne Campus - 3200 East Cheyenne (See Map). Following a short welcome and business session, a presentation on an Astronomy topic of interest is normally presented by an LVAS member or special guest. Occasionally, the program is the Planetarium presentation of the month.

Next Meeting

Thursday, 1 March, 7:30p.m.

Executive Board Meeting at 6:45 in Student Lounge

CSN Planetarium

Provides Family Acitivity

Needing an alternative weekend family activity? The CSN Planetarium provides three shows suitable for families. From 2 January through 25 February the Planetarium will be showing "Two Small Pieces of Glass" at 6:00 PM and "Bad Astronomy" at 7:30 PM Friday and Saturday evenings. The 3:30PM Saturday afternoon matinee will be "Molecularium". A short "Winter Stargazing" feature, hightlighting the seasonal wonders of the night sky, follows each presentation. Check out the new DigiStar 4 Projectors with 4 times the brightness and resolution of the previous projector system. Come see the interesting shows and the life-like presentation of the night sky. Immediately following the 7:30 shows, guests are invited to view the planets and other celestial objects through the Planetarium's telescopes in the Observatory compound. Right now, the giant planet Jupiter highlights the evening viewing. All tickets are $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for Seniors, Students, and children. Discounts are also available for multiple shows and groups. For more information about the CSN Planetarium, click on the Planetarium banner below.

Green Laser Safety Reminder!

This is a reminder to LVAS members that own and use green lasers to be extremely safety conscious when the lasers are being used. In the light of recent incidents of pranksters painting aircraft and other moving vehicles with green lasers, it is imperative for members of the Astronomical Community to exercise extreme caution and good judgement when using green lasers to point out celestial objects. Users should always be conscious of aircraft activity and when possible, use a spotter (another watching person) so that an aircraft is not accidently painted by a green laser. Anytime an aircraft, regardless of the distance from the observing location, is spotted moving toward an area of the sky where a laser is being used, the laser must be turned off or moved away from the aircraft until the aircraft departs that area of the sky. Astronomers using green lasers to guide their scopes to celestial objects should be especially careful to not leave the laser turned on while obsserving. At no time should an Astronomer surrender control of a green laser to anyone other than another Astronomer, especially not to children who may not understand the consequences of improperly using a laser. Remember - it is a Federal Offense to paint an aircraft, any moving vehicle, or a person with a laser of any type - punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment.

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