Astral Projections Online July 2025
Check our Website for updated content at www.astra-nj.com
Club Presentations Wanted:
Does anyone have any astronomy items of interest to share with the membership?
Please let us know at Club Contacts.
Club dues and membership. If you renew after March 31 you will be renewed as a new member.
ASTRAL PROJECTIONS ONLINE (APO for short) is an email-linked publication for members only. If you exit APO to the club website or other resources you will need to use the emailed link again to get back to it. If you wish to retain a copy please bookmark or refer back to the email. We will make all efforts to post by the first week of the month.
Submissions Welcome: Members are invited to submit articles, photos, news, or stories for inclusion with Astral Projections Online. Please contact the ASTRA Webmaster.
Event Calendar
Event Cancellations: Members will receive email notifications of event cancellations.
Upcoming July ASTRA Meeting
ASTRA's next meeting will be Friday, July 11, 2025, at 8:00 PM EST.
Heads Up for July and August Meetings.
July and August meetings will be Observing Meetings at Island Beach State Park.
Unlike the public Star Parties at IBSP, Observing Meetings are at Area 15.
All members are invited with or without a telescope, but must be registered members.
Upcoming Public Star Parties
July 12, 2025 - Island Beach State Park - Beach House #2 - 9 PM
July 19, 2025 - Jake’s Branch - 9 PM
August 16, 2025 - Jake’s Branch - 9 PM
Upcoming Public, County & State Park Presentations 2025
Public Outreach Presentations, if any member wishes to support ASTRA outreach efforts with the public, please let Vinny, Ro, or Jim know of any interest. Additional help for these events is always appreciated.
County and State Park presentations require a registration fee; call the hosting park to reserve.
None scheduled at this time.
Website Updates …
Please visit our club website. We continue to have additional updates, if some content would be useful to members please let us know.
“To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit."
- Stephen Hawking - Astrophysicit
ASTRA Meeting at IBSP
July 11 from 8 PM to 11 PM.
This will be an observing meeting at Area A15 at Island Beach State Park. Come enjoy a members-only observing event. You can come with or without a telescope. You must be a registered member, as the park attendants will have your name on the ASTRA member list. All park rules will apply, and you are welcome to stay as late as you want.
Reminder, we are not at the Planetarium for July, and summer time means family visits to the Shore. On those days when it is raining or at any time, Novins Planetarium has a lineup of shows for the month.
We are asking members to support our ASTRA meetings on Astronomy items of interest for presentations. Please let Jim, Ro, or Vinny know.
Event Reports
Adding June to the “was not good for Star Parties”.
The weather has just been awful. Hopefully, the second half of 2025 will be better.
June ASTRA Meeting Summary
June was a double header for presentations, with an additional on-the-spot third presentation.
Robert Scerbo was up first with an overview of Stellar Evolution, followed by John Endreson on the inner workings of the CST telescope and setup for observing. Wrapping up the discussions was Vic Palmieri with a brief review of the book American Eclipse, by David Baron, which is available on Amazon in all formats.
Public Events and Presentations
None for June.
Members Submitted Articles & Items
Whatever it is, how you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Contact: Jim Webster, ASTRA President and Webmaster, regarding submissions.
AstroMag June 2025
A free online publication for Amateur Astrophotographers.
Article information from Phil Zollner mentioned at our June Meeting.
Jim
Here’s the information on this year’s Titan Transits. It’s from the May Sky & Tel issue, which you probably already have. That observation I made at the meeting about the transits occurring at dawn was from a British monthly skywatch. According to ALPO, the transits at our location beginning in July occur between 1 and 3 AM our time. Alpo can give the exact times.
Phil
This image is light boxed for an expanded view when you click on it.
Light Pollution
ASTRA Member Bobby Dee shared a CNN video article on light pollution to share with the members.
Popular ASTRONOMY
Back in May and lost in my email until now, ASTRA Member Vic Palmieri shared this link to a 1906 archived publication: Popular Astronomy.
The Moon: Our Nearest Neighbor
Let’s explore some interesting features, facts, or myths about our nearest neighbor, the Moon. Without it, life on Earth would be totally different, if not at all.
The Astronomical League had a good recent posting on the moon. So we will go with this for the June APO.
Note: Leaving this up for July as July 16 is still possible to observe.
Outreach material below is distributed free for public outreach.
Astronomy for ASTRA Kids
NASA Science - Space Place - Saturn
For our young ASTRA members, NASA has online webpages for kids. Great education resource for fun learning and arts & crafts.
Saturn
Around The Web
Dark Sky News
Dark Sky New Jersey is now in discussion with Middlesex Borough and the environmental commission for another DarkSky exhibit board.
This will make three locations: Great Swamp, which is active, and two locations in the works: Middlesex and Jake’s Branch.
Island Beach State Park and the Nature Center of Cape May also have some early board designs on display.
State Bill A2196
The New Jersey State Lighting Bill is back with the New Jersey State Assembly, and some modifications have been made to the bill. For more information, the link to the bill is available: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/A2196
Latest News: We have a big push going within DarkSky New Jersey on completing a Sample Ordnance for New Jersey towns. It continues to be asked for, so we are working on getting it completed and reviewed by DarkSky International as soon as possible. It’s good to see an increasing interest. We know of four towns that are actively working on this now.
On the lighter side of astronomy …
What’s Up:
Sky Watching Tips from NASA
Provided by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Is usually updated anywhere from the first day of the month to the fifth day of the month. Check back to this linked image if it hasn’t been updated yet.
For more go to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory webpage: What’s Up: Skywatching Tips From NASA
This article and images are distributed by NASA Night Sky Network
The Night Sky Network program supports astronomy clubs across the USA dedicated to astronomy outreach.
Visit nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov to find local clubs, events, and more!
July’s Night Sky Notes:
Spy the Scorion
By: Kat Troche
As summer deepens in the Northern Hemisphere, a familiar constellation rises with the galactic core of the Milky Way each evening: Scorpius the Scorpion. One of the twelve zodiacal constellations, Scorpius contains many notable objects, making it an observer's delight during the warmer months. Here are some items to spy in July:
The star map of the Scorpius constellation highlights the star Antares and several notable deep-sky objects like the Rho Ophiuchi Complex, Messier 4, the Cat’s Paw Nebula, and Caldwell 76, the Baby Scorpion Cluster. Credit: Stellarium Web
· Antares: referred to as “the heart of the scorpion,” this supergiant has a distinct reddish hue and is visible to the naked eye. If you have good skies, try to split this binary star with a medium-sized telescope. Antares is a double star with a white main-sequence companion that comes in at a 5.4 magnitude.
· Messier 4: one of the easiest globular clusters to find, M4 is the closest of these star clusters to Earth at 5,500 light years. With a magnitude of about 5.6, you can spot this with a small or medium-sized telescope in average skies. Darker skies will reveal the bright core. Use Antares as a guide star for this short trip across the sky.
· Caldwell 76: If you prefer open star clusters, locate C76, also known as the Baby Scorpion Cluster, right where the ‘stinger’ of Scorpius starts to curve. At a magnitude of 2.6, it is slightly brighter than M4, albeit smaller, and can be spotted with binoculars and the naked eye under good sky conditions.
The above left image is Rhio Ophiuchi from the James Web Space Telescope, to the right is from Stellarium.
Lastly, if you have an astrophotography set up, capture the Cat’s Paw Nebula near the stinger of Scorpius. You can also capture the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex in the nearby constellation Ophiuchus. Brilliant Antares can be found at the center of this wondrous structure.
Manaiakalani
While many cultures tell tales of a ‘scorpion’ in the sky, several Polynesian cultures see the same stars as the demigod Māui's fishhook, Manaiakalani. It is said that Māui didn’t just use his hook for giant fish in the sea, but to pull new islands from the bottom of the ocean. There are many references to the Milky Way representing a fish. As Manaiakalani rises from the southeast, it appears to pull the great celestial fish across a glittering sea of stars.
Measure Your Darkness
While you can use smartphone apps or dedicated devices like a Sky Quality Meter, Scorpius is a great constellation to measure your sky darkness with! On a clear night, can you trail the curve of the tail? Can you see the scorpion’s heart? Use our free printable Dark Sky Wheel, featuring the stars of Scorpius on one side and Orion on the other, for measurements during cooler months. You can find this resource and more in the Big Astronomy Toolkit.
Let’s Explore Space - What’s in the Sky July 2025
By StarWalk Astronomy App - Sky Tonight
Please let me know if this is preferred instead of posting on individual constellations and deep sky objects. This will cover what was being posted in the past.
Tonight’s Sky: No longer posting
October 2024 was the last updated posting of Tonight’s Sky. It is still available via YouTube.
Linked is the twelve-month playlist on YouTube.
Any suggested replacements, let me know.
Visit the STScI which produces Hubblesite.org video overviews for Tonight’s Sky.
They can be found both on Facebook and stsci.edu.
Submissions Welcome
Members are invited to submit articles, photos, news, or stories for inclusion with Astral Projections Online. Please contact the ASTRA Webmaster.