Orange County Astronomers

Online Beginner's Class
2022-06-03 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online
This is a free and open to the public online event, to attend please register with zoom by clicking here.
The 4th session of the Beginners Astronomy Class covers the science behind the telescope.
How do our eyes actually perceive objects we see in the telescope and what is the physics that allows that perception.
For details, please visit here and download the sample information PDF package.
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First Quarter Moon
2022-06-07, 2022-07-06, 2022-08-05 | CA
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Online General Meeting – June 2022
2022-06-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Online
This is a free and open to the public online event.
Join Zoom

Three Decades of

the Hubble Space Telescope

After decades of discussion and construction, the Hubble Space Telescope was finally launched on April 24, 1990. While HST was not the first space telescope, it represented a major expansion in capability that has helped upend humanity’s understanding of the universe. HST helped show that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, and has transformed our view of the universe with a remarkable set of Hubble Deep Field images, amongst other things. Along the way, the engineers, scientists and astronauts behind HST managed to overcome a debilitating optical problem and have kept HST making discoveries for more than three decades. Now HST is about to work in tandem with its successor, the James Webb Telescope.
Not Yet Imagined E-flyer

Christopher Gainor is a historian of technology specializing in space exploration and aeronautics. He has written four books on the history of space exploration and two on Cold War history. His most recent book is a history of Hubble Space Telescope operations published by NASA. Gainor is editor of Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly. From 2018 to 2020, he was President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and he is a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. Gainor holds a Ph.D. in the history of technology from the University of Alberta, and has worked as a history instructor at the University of Victoria and the Royal Military College of Canada.

https://chrisgainor.ca

https://www.facebook.com/Gainorbooks

https://twitter.com/chrisgainor
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Adopt-a-Scope Pickup
2022-06-11 09:00 - 12:00 | South Coast Self Sorage, 3480 W Warner Ave, Santa Ana, CA, 92704, United States

Open Spiral Bar
2022-06-11 22:00 - 23:30, 2022-07-09 22:00 - 23:30, 2022-08-13 22:00 - 23:30 | Online
This is a free and open to the public online event.
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Come and socialize with your fellow astronomy enthusiasts face-to-face virtually!
Bring your latest astrophotography, mini-presentation, questions or none and your own refreshments.

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Full Moon
2022-06-14, 2022-07-13, 2022-08-11 | CA

Astrophysics Special Interest Group
2022-06-17 19:30 - 22:00, 2022-07-15 19:30 - 22:00, 2022-08-19 19:30 - 22:00 | Heritage Museum of OC, 3101 W Harvard St, Santa Ana, CA, 92704, United States
The monthly meeting of the Astrophysics Special Interest Group at 7:30 at the Heritage Museum. Please contact the SIG chair for details and requirements. See the Contacts section of the website for details on contacting the group.
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Third Quarter Moon
2022-06-20, 2022-07-20, 2022-08-18 | CA

NEW MOON
2022-06-28, 2022-07-28, 2022-08-27 | CA

Beginner's Class
2022-07-01 19:30 - 21:30 | Orange Coast College, Building 40, Astronomy House, Merrimac Way, Costa Mesa, CA, 92626, United States
This is a free and open to the public event.
The 5th session of the Beginners Astronomy Class is the “How to Use Your Telescope”.
If you have a telescope and would like some help learning to set it up and use it, attend this Hands-on class.
For details, please visit here and download the sample information PDF package.
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Online General Meeting – July 2022
2022-07-08 19:30 - 21:30 | Online
This is a free and open to the public online event.
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Rovers on Mars: 21st Century

Natural History

Expeditions to Another Planet

Perseverance and Ingenuity are the current culmination of a long list of missions to Mars. During the first 400 days of operation on the surface of Mars Perseverance has traveled over 12 kilometers and Ingenuity has flown 28+ times. In addition to observations focused on understanding the geologic history and context of four+ samples collected for eventual return to Earth at this time, Perseverance has made a variety of observations of the atmosphere and the moons of Mars. At the time of this presentation we will be well into the exploration of the enormous delta deposited by an ancient river onto the floor of Jezero Crater where Perseverance landed.

Larry S. Crumpler, Ph.D. is Research Curator in Volcanology and Space Sciences at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. He received his doctorate from the University of Arizona in Planetary Sciences and MS from the University of New Mexico in Geology. Prior to the Museum, he worked at Brown University.
He is a member of the Perseverance Rover Mission science team where he is responsible for geologic context mapping of the terrain traversed by the rover. Previously, he was a team member on Ingenuity helicopter development, Mars Exploration Rover (Spirit & Opportunity) where he served as “Long-term Planning Lead,” Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (HiRISE).
He previously participated in NASA’s Viking and Pathfinder Mars, Magellan mission to Venus, Russian Mars 96 mission planning, Mars landing site selection and rover field tests. He has published numerous research papers, book chapters, and geologic maps; and a book about Mars that will be published by Harper-Collins in late 2021. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
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OCA Board Meeting
2022-07-17 10:30 - 13:30 | Online
The OCA Board meeting will be held online via zoom and is open to all members. Please contact Alan Smallbone if interested in attending. Meeting starts at 10:30am.
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Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower
2022-07-28 - 2022-07-29 | CA
This shower runs from July 12-Aug. 2 and produces about 20 meteors an hour at the peak. A new moon means dark skies, so viewing conditions should be excellent for this shower, which is produced by debris left behind by the comets Marsden and Kracht.
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Star-B-Que and Star Party
2022-07-30 17:00 - 19:00 | The best spot, 2900 Bristol St., E206, Costa Mesa, CA, 92626, United States
The first Star-B-que since the pandemic started is slated for July 30, 2022. This is a pot luck gathering at the Kuhn Observatory at Anza. Bring a dish to share with your fellow astronomers. The club will have some tables set up and a bbq available to use, so please bring something to share and mix with your fellow astronomers. Take precautions for your own safety. If you have any questions contact any board member.
This event has been postponed until the August Star Party due to weather concerns.
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Online Beginner's Class
2022-08-05 19:30 - 21:30 | Online
This is a free and open to the public online event, to attend please register with zoom by clicking here.
The 6th session of the Beginners Astronomy Class covers the basics of astrophotography, covering different types of imaging, how different types of cameras are used for this kind of photography, and other equipment and considerations for taking a good picture.
This session is taught by Kyle Coker, who is active in the club’s AstroImaging special interest group.
Free and open to the public as well as members of OCA.
For details, please visit here and download the sample information PDF package.
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Perseids Meteor Shower
2022-08-12 - 2022-08-13 | CA
Famous for producing a large number of fireballs, the Perseids meteor shower is regarded as one of the best of the year. The shower runs July 17-Aug. 24 and produces up to 60 shooting stars an hour at the peak. The shower, discovered in 1862, is produced by the comet 109/P Swift-Tuttle. A nearly full moon will cause viewing problems, but the Perseids are so bright that skywatchers should still get a good show.
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Online General Meeting – August 2022
2022-08-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Online
This is a free and open to the public online event.
Join Zoom

The Backstory of Contact Binary Stars

Contact binary star systems have the remarkable property that they orbit so closely they share a common atmosphere. They are the most common type of eclipsing binary star system. Despite extensive observations over more than a century, answers to the most fundamental questions have eluded scientists until now: How do they form? How do they survive tranquilly in contact so long? What becomes of them in the end? An outburst in 2008 showed directly that contact binary stars end their long lives by merging in an explosive event known as a red nova. This presentation will reveal the recently uncovered backstory that answers these questions, and it will conclude by considering how these answers might help identify which contact binary will be the next to explode.

Professor Larry Molnar earned a B.S. in astronomy from the University of Michigan along with an MA and a PhD in astronomy from Harvard University. (Hence, he has the three-degree background appropriate for one studying the Universe) He was a postdoc at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and taught at the University of Iowa. He has been a professor of Physics and Astronomy at Calvin University since 1998.
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Star-B-Que Revisted
2022-08-27 17:00 - 18:30 | The Spot, 2900 Bristol St., E206, Costa Mesa, CA, 92626, United States
The first Star-B-que since the pandemic started was slated for July 30, 2022, however due to some weather issues we postponed until this night. This is a pot luck gathering at the Kuhn Observatory at Anza. Bring a dish to share with your fellow astronomers. The club will have some tables set up and a bbq available to use, so please bring something to share and mix with your fellow astronomers. Take precautions for your own safety. If you have any questions contact any board member.

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