Door Peninsula Astronomical Society

February General Meeting

The Door Peninsula Astronomical Society will meet on Tuesday, February 7 at 7:00 PM at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center at Crossroads at Big Creek. Ray Stonecipher will present the program on Variable Stars and the American Association of Variable Star Observers, AAVSO. Also, Dave Udell will discuss our Monthly Topic, Space Mission of the Month. Guests are always welcome. Use the Utah Street at Cove Road entrance to the Astronomy Center.

Have a look at Sirius

Widely known as the �Dog Star� as the leading light of Canis Major, the big dog, Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is from the Greek for �searing� or �scorching�. It shines high in the southeast after dark on January and February evenings from its distance of 8.6 light �years. Intrinsically 26 times brighter than the Sun, Sirius is about twice the Sun�s size.

Though its companion is invisible to the unaided eye, Sirius is actually a binary star. January marks the 150th anniversary of the discovery of Sirius B by Alvin Graham Clark. The two stars in this binary pair orbit extremely close to each other � both fit inside our solar system.

Smaller and just 1/10,000th as bright as its partner , Sirius B is a white dwarf, the burnt-out remnant of a Sun-like star. This cinder has about the same mass as the Sun packed into a volume the size of the Earth. Sirius B is one of the heaviest known white dwarfs. A piece of it the size of sugar cube would weigh more than a ton.

From Star Date (January-February 2012)

January Meeting and Annual Dinner Party

Members and Guests of DPAS are invited to Attend the DPAS Annual Dinner Party at the Lodge at Leathem Smith on Tuesday Jan 3rd 2012 We will gather at 5:30 with dinner ordered from the menu at 6:30 PM

The Lodge is located at 1640 Memorial Drive in Sturgeon Bay.

Please RSVP to Treasurer@doorastronomy.org

December General Meeting

The next monthly meeting will be on Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00 PM at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center of Crossroads at Big Creek. Dr. John Beck will present the program, Mars Update and Tom Minahan will discuss the Cultural Astronomy subject of the month. Refreshments will be provided for you and your guests. Use the Utah Street at Cove Road entrance to the Astronomy Center.

November Public Viewing Night

The Door Peninsula Astronomical Society will have a public viewing night on Saturday, November 19 at the Astronomy Center providing the sky is clear. Members will be on hand to help with equipment and to help locate objects.

November General Meeting

The Door Peninsula Astronomical Society will meet on Tuesday, November 1 at 7:00 PM at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center of Crossroads at Big Creek. Gary Henkelmann will present the Cultural Astronomy topic of the month and Ray Stonecipher will present the main program on Infinity. Refreshments will be served and guests are always welcome. Use the Utah Street at Cove Road entrance to the Astronomy Campus.

September Meeting

The DPAS meetnig on September 6th at 7:00 PM will feature a program on Super Nova by Tom Minahan and the montly Cultural Astronomy topic will be on Great Britain presented by Coggin Herringa. Visitors are welcome, refreshments will be served. Enter the Astronomy Center from Utah Street.

July General Meeting

The monthly meeting of the Door Peninsula Astronomical Society will be this coming Tuesday, July 5 at 7:00 PM at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center of Crossroads at Big Creek. Ray Stonecipher will have a presentation on the Cultural Astronomy of Native Americans, then Greg Cupal and Dave Udell will debate Manned vs. Unmanned Space Missions. Please invite your guests to come to the program and use the Utah Street entrance.

May General Meeting

The Door Peninsula Astronomical Society has changed the day and location for the May meeting. We are bringing astronomy to the people in northern Door County on Wednesday, May 4 at 7:00 PM at the Fish Creek Fire Station on County Road F. Ray Stonecipher will present a short program on the history of DPAS, Tom Minahan will have a presentation on Vela X Supernova, then Dave Udell will present Introduction to the Night Sky. At dusk, we will look at the sky through a variety of binoculars and telescopes. Star charts will be provided and members will guide us through the Spring constellations with green laser pointers. Members, guests and the public are invited to this event.

April General Meeting

The monthly meeting of Door Peninsula Astronomical Society will be on Tuesday, April 5 at 7:00 at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center. The subject is Binocular Instruction and Viewing. Also, Tom Minahan will present the Cultural Astronomy topic Vela X Supernova, and Burke Minahan and Zach Meredith will report on their recent astronomy project and the 217th AAS meeting. Use the Utah Street entrance to the Astronomy Campus.