Search this site

Under Construction

This site is currently under construction.
Please forgive our appreance during this period.

60days since
World Space Week

News

Click on any news title to access the new item on a single page.
 
Note: if text appears faded simply click on the news title which will take you to a page with improved readability.
Subscribe to posts

Mars Hoax!

posted ‎‎7 May 2009 15:55‎‎ by Marc Cornwall   [ updated ‎‎7 May 2009 16:30‎‎ ]

originally by Errol Rickmann
 
Beware of an email circulating about MARS  as big as the Moon in August. This is totally untrue and sensation mongers continue to perpetrate this on unsuspecting people, who pass this on to their friends.
 
The truth is that mars will be nowhere near to 35 million miles from Earth, and in fact this year around October it will be closest at 60+ million miles from the Earth. This will make for best viewing for the year, but it will certainly not be anywhere near the size or brightness of the Moon or even Venus.
 
Better advice at this time would be for amateur astronomers to focus on Jupiter  and Venus in the mornings as we expect Jupiter to lose its moons in August and we expect it will be joined in the telescope with Neptune. Check back regularly as these events will be posted on our Calendar.

| 1 comment

AAJ Shines in the Sun Project

posted ‎‎7 May 2009 05:01‎‎ by Marc Cornwall   [ updated ‎‎7 May 2009 16:26‎‎ ]

The AAJ was introduced to the Sun Project by Prof. Dr. Udo Backhaus of University of Duisburg-Essen. It aims to promote astronomy experiments where the position of the Sun is measured so as to inform particpants about several aspects of it influence on our daily lives from the shadows to seasons, and also inform participants about the relationship between the Earth's position and orientation relative to that of the Sun. Following is an account of an experiment carried out by an AAJ entourage the aim of which was to obtain a measurement of the position of the Sun above the horizon, in conjuction with several other participants across the globe, to determine the shape of the Earth.
 
A simple visualisation is to imagine the Earth as a huge ball and the Sun is at a fixed position relative to this ball. Different people on different parts of the ball will see the Sun at different angles above the surface of the ball (their horizon). Getting the angle of the Sun at each known position in one go will provide the data necessary to determine the shape of the Earth (the more data the better!).
 
An AAJ team featuring Bobby Rodriques, Cleveland Gustard, and Errol Rickman met at Bobby's House where he has the Patio Floor marked for his telescope legs (position to be in perfect alignment with the North Star and the floor in level). This can be seen in the image below:



Because Jamaica is so near to the mid-day sun at the zenith (approximately 5.5 degrees), the team could not use the pencil point or the the pinhole vertically, so what they did, was to set the pinhole horizontally using a needle and thread to plumb it through the pin hole.

With the only 2 days of good sunlight occuring on the 23rd and the 24th of April the team is pleased with the results they got when the midday sun hit the lines at exactly  8 minutes after 12:00 noon local time. Bobby accounted for this by calculation of the Equation of Time.

The AAJ team hope to use the set up again for the students of Campion College to mark the charts with the the shadow as it reaches the 18.00 deg Declination mark. The team enjoyed doing this project and look forward to working out the radius from different measurements. A larger image of the setup follows.



For more details of the AAJ's activities in the Sun Project visit our Contact page.

| Attachments: MOON 016.jpg MOON 020.jpg

IYA2009 - 100 Hrs of Astronomy in Jamaica

posted ‎‎25 Apr 2009 11:37‎‎ by Marc Cornwall   [ updated ‎‎7 May 2009 16:27‎‎ ]

Jamaica joined over 100 countries and over 1 million people in participating in the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) 100 hrs of Astronomy global project. This was, of course, facilitated by the AAJ who used the occasion to visit a high school in Jamaica where they commenced their own sub project of starting Jamaican school astronomy clubs. To view a full report on the activities see the attached pdf report.

| Attachments: Jamaica's Report on IYA2009 100 Hours of Astronomy.pdf

Access Pre-website News and Events

posted ‎‎12 Apr 2009 14:02‎‎ by Marc Cornwall   [ updated ‎‎7 May 2009 16:28‎‎ ]

You can access news and events posted on the web before this website was up right here at the Space Generation website.

The AAJ's New Web Home!

posted ‎‎21 Feb 2009 18:28‎‎ by Marc Cornwall   [ updated ‎‎7 May 2009 16:28‎‎ ]

Welcome to the new website of the Astronomical Association of Jamaice. We hope you enjoy your visit and learn much about astronomy and Jamaica in general.

‹ Prev    1-5 of 5    Next ›