Astral Projections Online September 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 September ASTRA Meeting
Friday, September 12, 2025, at 7:00 PM EST at Novins Planetarium
Upcoming Public Star Parties
September 13, 2025 - IBSP Area 2 - 8 PM - Seaside Park Environmental
September 27, 2025 - Jake’s Branch - 8 PM
October 11, 2025 - Jake’s Branch - 7 PM
November 15, 2025 - Patriots Park - 6 PM
November 29, 2025 - Jake’s Branch - 6 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.
“We are made of starstuff, and we deserve the chance to discover it."
- Eleanor Margaret Burbidge
ASTRA Meeting - Sept 12 at 7 PM
For our September meeting, returning to the planetarium after the summer, we will meet in the meeting room at 7 PM. We will have Sam Granovsky presenting to the membership.
Please support Novins Planetarium, patranizing their shows, who has supported us since the begining of ASTRA.
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
I am happy to report that we finally had our first star party this past August 16 at Jake’s Branch. We had a good turnout from the membership, which is greatly appreciated. The public turnout was well-received, as we were a bit rusty from all the bad weather that kept us away for the prior months, starting from the beginning of the year.
August ASTRA Meeting Summary
Summertime means we are not at the Planetarium for July and August. The observing meeting for August, just like July, was not in the cards for us due to the continued weather issues we’ve been having.
Public Events and Presentations
None for September
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.
Nothing shared for this month.
AstroMag August 2025
A free online publication for Amateur Astrophotographers.
www.amateurastrophotography.com
Note: For our members with Dwarf 3, there is an article on testing the Dwarf 3, part 1.
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.
Sun Funnels in action! Starting clockwise from the bottom left, a standalone Sun Funnel; attached to a small refractor to observe the transit of Mercury in 2019; attached to a large telescope in preparation for evening lunar observing; projection of the Moon on a funnel from a medium-size scope (5 inches).
Weird Ways to Observe the Moon
International Observe the Moon Night is on October 4th this year– but you can observe the Moon whenever it's up, day or night! While binoculars and telescopes certainly reveal incredible details of our neighbor’s surface, bringing out dark seas, bright craters, and numerous odd fissures and cracks, these tools are not the only way to observe details about our Moon. There are more ways to observe the Moon than you might expect, just using common household materials.
Put on a pair of sunglasses, especially polarized sunglasses! You may think this is a joke, but the point of polarized sunglasses is to dramatically reduce glare, and so they allow your eyes to pick out some lunar details! Surprisingly, wearing sunglasses even helps during daytime observations of the Moon.
One unlikely tool is the humble plastic bottle cap! John Goss from the Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society shared these directions on how to make your own bottle cap lunar viewer, which was suggested to him by Fred Schaaf many years ago as a way to also view the thin crescent of Venus when close to the Sun:
“The full Moon is very bright, so much that details are overwhelmed by the glare. Here is an easy way to see more! Start by drilling a 1/16-inch (1.5 mm) diameter hole in a plastic soft drink bottle cap. Make sure it is an unobstructed, round hole. Now look through the hole at the bright Moon. The image brightness will be much dimmer than normal – over 90% dimmer – reducing or eliminating any lunar glare. The image should also be much sharper because the bottle cap blocks light from entering the outer portion of your pupil, where imperfections of the eye’s curving optical path likely lie." Many report seeing a startling amount of lunar detail!
You can project the Moon! Have you heard of a “Sun Funnel”? It’s a way to safely view the Sun by projecting the image from an eyepiece to fabric stretched across a funnel mounted on top. It’s easy to make at home, too – directions are here: bit.ly/sunfunnel. Depending on your equipment, a Sun Funnel can view the Moon as well as the Sun– a full Moon gives off more than enough light to project from even relatively small telescopes. Large telescopes will project the full Moon and its phases, with varying levels of detail; while not as crisp as direct eyepiece viewing, it’s still an impressive sight! You can also mount your smartphone or tablet to your eyepiece for a similar Moon-viewing experience, but the funnel doesn’t need batteries.
Of course, you can join folks in person or online for a celebration of our Moon on October 4, with International Observe the Moon Night – find details at moon.nasa.gov/observe. NASA has big plans for a return to the Moon with the Artemis program, and you can find the latest news on their upcoming lunar explorations at nasa.gov.
While ASTRA does not have anything scheduled for this night, nothing says you can’t set up outside your home to share the moon with your neighbors.
Follow NSN on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram for the latest NSN news and outreach photos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for recordings of monthly astronomy webinars and archives of our outreach toolkit demonstration videos. #NightSkyNetwork #AstronomyOutreach
This article was posted on the Night Sky Network on July 15, 2025.
Myths about the Moon
Moon Stories: A Human Tradition - There are as many stories about the patterns on the face of the Moon as there are cultures that have observed them. Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? Discover a variety of characters seen by cultures around the world, and create your own.
This article was posted on the Night Sky Network on March 28, 2019.
Outreach material below is distributed free for public outreach.
Astronomy for ASTRA Kids
NASA Science - Space Place - Science & Technology
For our young ASTRA members, NASA has online webpages for kids. An educational resource for fun learning and arts & crafts.
Science and Technology
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.
Latest News: DarkSky New Jersey draft of a New Jersey Sample Ordnance for New Jersey towns has been approved. We are waiting on when it can be released.
On the lighter side of astronomy …
Note: The use of Laser Pointers should only be used by someone who fully understands the impact of using it incorrectly and the problems it may cause.
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!
September Night Sky Notes:
None for this month
Sidewalk Astronomy
APO Posting Note: The article below is Google AI-generated. Since NSN did not have one for this month, this was a good time to test it out.
Sidewalk astronomy is the practice of setting up a telescope in a public place, such as a street corner or park, to share views of celestial objects like the Moon, planets, and nebulae with passersby. This volunteer-operated, free outreach activity aims to bring the wonder of the universe to the public, offering people their first direct view of these objects and fostering a sense of awe and curiosity.
APO Posting Note: It’s not much different than our public star parties. But they are often unscheduled events that can cause some concern. It is best to get agreement from the owner of where you intend to set up.
The most common targets for Sidewalk astronomy, but not limited to, are the sun and the moon. The moon tends to have a bigger public impact.
There is a dedicated group for sidewalk astronomy that can be found online.
Additional information: Wikipedia
Award-winning: To Scale: A New View of the Moon
Shop Local: Sidewalk Astronomy on YouTube
Image: NASA/SDO/LRO/GSFC
Key aspects of sidewalk astronomy:
Public Accessibility:
Telescopes are set up in highly visible urban areas, making them accessible to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to observe the sky.
Public Education and Outreach:
It serves as an educational tool, allowing astronomers to share their passion and knowledge with the general public, promoting awareness of the cosmos.
"First-Time" Experiences:
A core part of its appeal is the "shock and awe" people feel seeing celestial bodies like Saturn's rings or Jupiter's moons for the first time through a telescope.
Volunteer-Driven:
Sidewalk astronomy is typically a volunteer effort, with amateur astronomers or outreach programs providing their own equipment and time to share the experience.
Historical Roots:
The modern practice is closely associated with John Dobson, an amateur astronomer who championed the idea of bringing the cosmos to the public through this hands-on approach. APO Posting Note: The John Dobson video is an hour and fifteen minutes on Zane Landers’ YouTube channel.
Learn The Sky - Aquila
How to Find Aquila The Eagle Constellation
I recommend visiting Learn The Sky. A great astronomy learning website with a catalog of YouTube videos.
APO Posting Note: Google AI-generated.
Aquila is the constellation of the eagle, prominent in the summer sky of the Northern Hemisphere, and is home to the bright star Altair, a key part of the Summer Triangle. Its name is Latin for "eagle," and it represents Zeus's eagle in Greek mythology that carried his thunderbolts and, in other myths, was responsible for finding Ganymede. Aquila is one of the oldest known constellations, with depictions dating back to Babylonian times.
Let’s Explore Space - What’s in the Sky September 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.