Las Cruces Clear Sky Clock

Speaker: tba
Presenter and Topic: tba

Location:Dona Ana Community College
(Main Branch)
Room 77 (map)

Imaging group meets at 7 pm

Contact the Club President for additional information

Upcoming Observing Opportunities:

ASLC MoonGaze
(Int'l Delights Cafe)
Sat, Jan. 23 (dusk)

Monthly Dark Sky Viewing
(Upham Site)
Sat, Jan. 16 (dusk)

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Welcome!

Greetings from the professional and amateur astronomers who comprise the Astronomical Society of Las Cruces (ASLC). The club was formed in 1951 by a group of dedicated astronomers including Clyde Tombaugh, who had discovered Pluto just 21 years earlier. For nearly 60 years, we've been sharing a little bit of the universe with our community under our beautiful Southern New Mexico skies.

The club has a variety of ongoing observing, education and public outreach programs. We host a public Moongaze each month, offer beginning astronomy courses and support countless star parties for schools, scouts and various organizations. We also hold a meeting each month which includes a featured presentation.

To learn more about our society, please click here or select from the tabs above or the 'Quick Links' on the left.

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ASLC Photo of the Week - The Orion and Running Man Nebulae by Rich Richins

One of the highlights of the winter observing season is the Orion Nebula (also known as M42 and NGC 1976). It is located at a distance of 1,350 light years, and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks, brown dwarfs, intense and turbulent motions of the gas, and the photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula.

The Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977) is dimmer and consists of primarily reflection nebulosity (hence the blue color). The Orion Nebula is a naked eye object that shows much nebulosity through a modest telescope from a dark sky site. The running man is much more difficult to see visually.

Rich combined Ha and OIII narrow band images as well as color images. He used a C11-Hyperstar and Canon 350D Camera. Click on the image for a higher resolution pic.

  
The Astronomical Society of Las Cruces is a proud member of the Astronomical League