The Stockton Astronomical Society (SAS) meets on the second Thursday of the month in the Olson Hall, Room 120 at the University of the Pacific at 7:30 pm. Visitors are welcome.

    A monthly star party is usually held on a Saturday near a new moon.

Coming Up     [view SAS Sky Calendar  (117.9KB PDF file) May 2012]

Saturday, May 5 -- Full Moon
Thursday, May 10 at 7:30 pm -- Regular Meeting of SAS in Olson Hall, Room 120, at UOP
Saturday, May 12 at sunset -- Highway 4 Star Party
Saturday, May 19 at sunset -- High Altitude Star Party
Sunday, May 20 -- New Moon
Sunday, May 20 at 5:20 pm -- Annular Solar Eclipse (partial in Stockton)
Friday, May 25 at 9:00 pm -- Sky Tours at Delta College -- (Shima (S2) parking lot)
Saturday, May 26 at 10:00 am -- ATM Workshop
Saturday, May 26 at sunset -- Public Star Party at Oak Grove Regional Park

See the SAS Eclipse Page for information regarding the May 20, 2012 annular eclipse.

SAS News

SAS May 10th Meeting

Stockton Astronomical Society presents:

Gordon Myers:

"The Fascinating Universe of Variable Stars"

Historians debate whether the first confirmed variable star was Mira (a.k.a. Omicron Ceti, with observations recorded in 1596), or Algol (a.k.a. the Demon star, with observations recorded in 1667 - but which may have been known in antiquity). Since then, thousands of variable stars have been identified. Over the past century astrophysicists have begun to understand why these "stars" rapidly change brightness. Yesterday’s "variable stars" are now realized to be a menagerie of strange celestial objects – including stars in birth throes, eclipsing binaries, stars in death agonies, and the bizarre world of cataclysmic variables.

After briefly reviewing the intriguing history of mankind's discovery of variable stars, different causes of variability will be discussed with special focus on cataclysmic variables. The stars in these binary systems are so close their orbit would fit inside our Sun! They revolve around each other in a matter of hours; matter flowing between the stars creates a disk which can change in brightness by a factor of over a hundred in just a few minutes. Cataclysmic variables are one of the most studied areas in astronomy today. Amateurs are playing a key role in the measurement and analysis of these systems working through the AAVSO and the Center for Backyard Astrophysics. Opportunities to get personally involved will be discussed.

...Dennis LeClert, Program Director

 

What's to See Tonight

Astronomy in the News

Thinking of Buying a Star?

California's First Astronomical Observatory

Picture of the Day

Weather Information

From the US Naval Observatory

 NASA Released Photo and Info Sheet

News Items

The following individual articles are maintained on other sites that have various archival or retention dates and therefore, the link to these articles cannot be guaranteed.

The Stockton Astronomical Society (SAS) was founded as a non-profit California corporation to foster interest in and promote the general knowledge of astronomy and related sciences.

Member: International Dark-Sky Association
Member: Astronomical Association of Northern California
Member: Night Sky Network


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