This has been the rainiest June I can remember.  While I've really been too busy to have much time to get out under the stars (such as they are here in Brooklyn), even when I did have time it has rarely been possible.

We will be trying (attempt number 6!) to hold a stargazing session in Shore Road Park. The moon will be in the first quarter phase, and Saturn will be high in the south after sunset. Because sunset comes so late this time of year, we won't be able to start until about 8:45, although the moon will, of course be visible pretty much all day.

The announcement should have been made earlier today, and was if you were in class, that we'll be meeting Saturday evening due to weather.  Tonight is supposed to be cloudy and hazy, but tomorrow promises at least clear spots to do stargazing.  Or at least moongazing.  So, same time and location, just one day later.

We will be trying (attempt number 6!) to hold a stargazing session in Shore Road Park.  The moon will be in the first quarter phase, and Saturn will be high in the south after sunset.  Because sunset comes so late this time of year, we won't be able to start until about 8:45, although the moon will, of course be visible pretty much all day.

We will be trying, once again, to have a stargazing time in Shore Road Park (see map below). This is the rain date for yesterday's outing, but the weather is not looking very good at this point. Since the sun sets later now, we can't start until 8:30. TV Turnoff week occurs this year duing the 3rd quarter phase, so the moon will not be visible during our outing, but Saturn should be visible and we can take a brief tour of the constellations and stars bright enough to be seen above the city lights.

We returned last night, tired but happy from this year's NEAF conference.  The vendor turn out was good and overall attendance appeared good, too, although it was  little hard to tell from our perspective.  We spent most of the two days in the children's area helping with the various activities including a comet demonstration (followed by a craft activity), making 3D constellation models (Orion and the Big Dipper), some informal demonstrations to understand the moon's phases, constructing spacecraft models, and more.

Alas, I did not get to attend the showing of Mars 3D, a new movie which made its debut at the show, so I guess I will have to wait for it to be officially released.

Apr 21, 5:15pm -- I'm going to plan on going to the park at around 8:30 unless it is completely overcast.  But I do not expect the weather to be suitable for viewing at all.  Please use your common sense and have a look at the sky.  If you can only see clouds, or if you can't see any stars, it won't be any better a few blocks away at the park, so you may as well stay home.

We will be trying, once again, to have a stargazing time in Shore Road Park (see map below).  Unfortunately, this time is scheduled for a weeknight due to scheduling conflicts.  And, since the sun sets later now, we can't start until 8:30.  TV Turnoff week occurs this year duing the 3rd quarter phase, so the moon will not be visible during our outing, but Saturn should be visible and we can take a brief tour of the constellations and stars bright enough to be seen above the city lights.

J-P Metsainio is giving a talk on his techniques for using narrow-band imaging to produce very sharp high contrast color images.  The technique appears to be a very clever application of the idea of using lower resolution in the color channels and blurring the noise (to reduce grain).