The President’s Message
To the Members of AOS,
While October leaves us with full buckets and pockets of Candy Corn and witches’ potions, this year’s celebration of Halloween, short for All Hallows’ Eve, is an astronomical holiday otherwise known as Cross-Quarter Day (CQD). CQD is the midway point between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice. DO YOU KNOW THE OTHER 3 CQD’s? (SEE ANSWER KEY AT END)
October also leaves us with a special Partial Lunar Eclipse, eerily tied to the Halloween cycle. For us here in the Nassau County area, it will only be about 25% covered, but enough to cast the eerie red tinge to the All Hallows Eve Full Moon. Following All Hallows Eve is All Saints Day November 1, 2023 and the beginning of the Holiday Season.
Moving through both time and space, with November upon us, we are approaching the Winter Solstice. For the people that reside South of the Equator, the warm air brings in their Summer but for us that lie North of the Equator, the nights grow longer, and with celestial luck, the skies will be clear and dark. Clear enough to see this month’s Astronomical Events:
- November 3: Jupiter at opposition 🌟
- November 9: Lunar occultation of Venus
- November 13: New Moon
- November 14: Uranus at opposition
- November 18: Leonid meteor shower peak
- November 27: Full Moon
UPCOMING GUEST SPEAKERS
November 5, 2023: TOM MADIGAN – AOS Club Member – Discussion: HOW OLD IS THE UNIVERSE
December 3, 2023: Dr. CHRISTOPHER MASON – Weil Cornell Medical Center – Professor of Genomics, Physiology and Biophysics – DISCUSSION: THE NEXT 500 YEARS ENGINEERING LIFE TO REACH NEW WORLDS
January 7, 2024: Dr. Mark J. McCaughrean of the European Space Agency – Discussion M42 Orion the Trapezium and Discovery of Rogue Jupiter Mass Binary Objects (JuMBO’s)
POTENTIAL CLUB TOUR DATES
November 9, 2023: Goddard Space Flight Center – Maryland Bus Day Trip
December 2, 2023: Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory – Special Guided Private Tour Palisades NJ
HOLIDAY PARTY
December 9, 2023: Location TBA
Cant wait to see you all at an upcoming function!
Jason Cousins, President
ANSWER KEY OF OTHER CQDs: FEB 2 – Groundhog Day, May 1 – May Day, August 1 – Lammas
