Yampa Valley Astronomy Club

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Earthquake near Chengdu, China [Click here to view full size picture]

Welcome to the Yampa Valley Astronomy Club home page.

YVAC was founded in Jan. 2005 by avid amateur astronomers in Steamboat Springs and the greater Yampa valley. The club has been created to serve astronomers of all ages and experience levels. With dark skies, clear nights, and stable seeing, the Yampa valley is an incredible place to stare up into space for hours on end.

Left photo: Some of the first satellite images have been released of areas in China hit by the 7.9 magnitude earthquake on May 12, 2008. click here for the Universe Today link. Right photo: And now, with the state-of-the-art instruments delivered by Servicing Mission 4 (SM4), the Hubble Space Telescope will look onto the universe with new eyes, surpassing even its previous vision. See the “Servicing Mission 4” in the Breaking News link below.

The club is planning year round events including

Meetings every alternate month

Special events on the other months including

equipment training sessions

star parties

classes

Our next meeting will be on May 20th, 6:30 p.m. at the United Methodist Church at Eighth and Oak streets. There will be an indoor telescope workshop for the public. Bring your telescopes, instructions & tools. Members, and, perhaps, the other meeting attendees will offer assistance in the set-up and operation of your scope. I will be bringing the club’s 3” Meade and 6” Celestron scopes to learn how to set them up properly. Contact me, Scott Price, at 276-2162 or sprice@amigo.net .

Our latest event was April 9 at Alpine Campus. There was a presentation by Professor Jimmy Westlake entitled “Shooting the Stars." It was very interesting! Jimmy did a great presentation - as always - but the snow storm didn't allow any hands-on telephotography outside.

All right, the coolest thing ever "Sky" in Google Earth!

We are part of the Western Colorado Astronomy Net (WCAN) See the link below. All are welcome to browse their sites & attend events of interest. See WCAN's combined 2007 Astronomy Club Schedule under Club Documents below.

Feel free to send suggestions, comments and questions to:
Communications director: Scott Price, mail to Scottp58@msn.com , call me @ 276-2162, or just come join us.

Dark skies and clear nights to all!

Meeting Schedule Meetings are held every other Month, on the third Tuesday at 6:30pm in the United Methodist Church on 8th & Oak. Dues can be brought to the meeting if you are an ongoing member or mailed. Mailing address: YVAC, PO Box 774906, SS, CO 80477-4906 January 15th (meeting) Presentation by Dr. Thaller: Redox flow battery development, the finer points of GPS technology, and Galactic positioning within the universe. January 29th (meeting) Business meeting at Bill Rotmann’s house to plan for possible future events, discus meeting location, time & frequency options and to appoint club officers. February 20th (event) Outing to watch the full “Snow Moon” total eclipse @ Rotary Park. March 18th (meeting) Club member’s telescope set-up workshop. April 9th (event) Jimmy Westlake’s “Shooting the Stars". Photography event @ CMC. May 20th (meeting) Public telescope set-up workshop. June (event) Trip to Denver for a planetarium &/or IMAX show with a high altitude sky viewing on the return trip. July 15th (meeting) Public telescope viewing workshop. Watch for a Zuckermann star party @ Steamboat Lake. August (event) Storm Peak Technician presentation. Perseid meteor shower viewing after 2am on 8/12. September 16th (meeting) Guest speaker to be announced. October (event) Watch for a Jimmy Westlake event to be announced. November 18th (meeting) Ball’s show on their Siberian solar eclipse experience. Dec (off)	Astronomy Links of Interest These links have been suggested by members as web places of interest. The American Association of Amateur Astronomers Sun or Moon Rise/Set Table for One Year Interactive night sky map Colorado Mountain College Nasa Headlines My Page: Irwin Horowitz Western Colorado Astronomy Net Astronomy Picture of the Day Hubble Telescope home page JPL Cassini home page Space.com Spaceweather.com
Club Documents Club Constitution as of Feb. 2005 (Word.doc) Sky Club's trip to Hawaii (.doc) Sky Club's trip to Hawaii (.text) Dr. Horowitz blog (.doc) Dr. Horowitz blog (.text) Some facts about our solar system (.doc w/pictures) Comet 17 P/Holmes (.doc) Jimmy's Cosmic Calendar for 2008 (doc)	Photo Album This page will be a collection of photos from our members. Members, if you have a photo you would like to see displayed here, please send it to Scott Price.
Membership In 2007 we had around 20 active members with e-mail addresses to over 40 past & present members. Meet the Club Officers for 2008: President: Hank Schafer Program Director: Tom Swissler Secretary/Treasurer: Carol Richards Communications: Scott Price Club originator: Bill Rottmann	Breaking News These articles will try to be updated frequently from the many web sites and news outlets visited on a regular basis. Let Scott know if you have a story that you think should be presented here. Extremophile Hunt Begins in Antarctica, Implications for Exobiologists First Experiment Starts in ISS Columbus Module Testing Plant Growth Glimpse of Time Before Big Bang Possible Hubble Discovers 67 New Gravitationally Lensed Galaxies in the Distant Universe Inflatable Lunar Habitat to Be Tested in Antarctica Intrepid Mars Rovers Just Won't Give Up Mars Gullies Produced by Dry Granular Debris and Not by Recent Water Flow NASA Baffled by Unexplained Force Acting on Space Probes New supernovae theory New way to observe faint objects Rethinking black holes Seeing Inside the Earth with Neutrinos Servicing Mission 4 Testing a Europa Probe Prototype Venus Mysteries Blamed on Colossal Collision What gives Hubble such remarkable eyesight?

This page last updated on 5/17/2008.