Who Are We?
We are an amateur astronomy club serving the communities of the Verde Valley, Arizona. To learn more about us, click
here.
If you are as interested in Astronomy as we are, we hope you will join us at one of
our star parties, meetings or guest lectures.
If you would like to become a member of AVV please use the
contact information below. We will be happy to assist you.
Here is the Club Brochure.
Astronomers
of Verde Valley
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The
Digital Collection
A new wave in
astro photography is in process with the Astronomers of Verde Valley. Several of
the members have acquired digital photographic equipment and are now busy taking
and processing images. In
the Digital Collection,
more and more pictures will be updated on the site as time goes by.
Click here and
here for more digital galleries. |
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The Alamo Lake Night
Under the Stars event has just been designated as an Arizona
Centennial Event. (02/23/2012)
Click for
more info Astronomy
Clubs click here |
JD's Obsession
Iridium flare and
Comet Holmes
Iridium 52 is the bright
streak intersecting this shot. Comet Holmes 7P is above the satellite
at the top of the page. The photograph was
captured on December 12th, 2007, from Clarkdale, Arizona, by our
very own JD Maddy and published in the UK's Sky at Night
Magazine.
Iridium Gallery click here:
Iridium
Flares
Equipment used: Pentax IST digital camera, 50mm lens at f/2.0
for a 30-second exposure
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Message in a
Bottle
A
message broadcast from Earth to the globular cluster M13
during the dedication of the Arecibo Observatory in 1974.
Check out our Members Telescopes here:
Club Member
Telescopes
For those who are somewhat nostalgic, check out
our past star party page.
Past Star Parties
Our new Solar and Lunar picture page is under
progress.
See the
new page here.
Elsewhere
on Our Website:
Observing Tools - Star Charts,
Clear Sky Clocks and Topographic maps.
Astronomy Newsfeeds
- From NASA, Astrowire, Space.com
Articles
- by our very own members.
Astrophotography - see the Astrophoto Galleries.
Focus Sections on Observing
Mars, Saturn,
Asteroids, Comets and
Satellites
This coming Saturday, April 26th is the annual Tuzigoot National
Monument Star Party. Come out and see the night skies wonders thru the
telescopes set up. Jupiter, Mars and Saturn will be visible as the evening
progresses. Nebulae, clusters, galaxies and more will be seen also.
Comet Lovejoy R1 2013 joins ISON in the mornings sky on Nov 14th.
ISON will be nearing the Sun and will not be visible until after it comes
back around. In the meantime, Lovejoy will keep everyone busy with views.
Click the picture for a larger view. To see a video of the movement over a 4
hour period, click the link below.
http://youtu.be/gZ5eSB9rlH4
.
Below is Comet ISON as it nears the Sun on Nov 14th 2013.
After passing near the Sun, the comet broke apart and disappeared from our
amateur view. Click the photo for a larger view.
The planet Venus made a two day pass by the Pleiades on April 2nd
& 3rd, 2012. This pass was on the later of the dates. Click
here for a full size image. The next
near pass of Venus by the Pleiades will be on April 11th, 2015.
The Semi Annual Star Night at Kartchner Caverns
is now in the books. The cool day and evening skies were wonderful. Over 450
observed thru the solar telescopes and the evening telescopes. Click the picture for more
Kartchner pictures and other Outreach events. Click
here for an infra red
movie made from stills of the event.
Jupiter is high in the sky this spring. The cloud bands and
Galilean Moons are easily seen in small telescopes. Click to expand.
Photo Credit: Bob Barnes
The Blue Horse Head Nebula in Scorpius is captured by member
Mike Cadwell. IC 4592 as it is also known is 420 light years from Earth. To see
more of Mike's photos, click here.
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On the evening of April 14th and the morning of April 15th, the
Verde Valley (and most of the U.S.) was treated to the first of a Tetrad of
total Lunar eclipses. Click on the photo for a full size picture. For more
eclipse pictures, click here.
Lunar Eclipse Photo Credit: Barry Middleton
Astronomy Picture of the Day by NASA
Click picture to
super size. Three Galaxies in
Draco
Image Credit &
Copyright: Stephen
Leshin
Explanation:
This intriguing trio of galaxies is sometimes called the
Draco Group, located in the northern constellation of (you guessed it)
Draco.
From left to right are
edge-on spiral NGC 5981,
elliptical galaxy
NGC 5982, and face-on
spiral NGC 5985 -- all within this single telescopic field of view
spanning a little more than half the width of the full moon. While the
group is far too small to be a
galaxy cluster
and has not been
catalogued as a compact group, these galaxies all do lie roughly 100
million light-years from planet Earth. On close examination with
spectrographs, the bright core of the striking face-on spiral NGC
5985 shows prominent emission in specific wavelengths of light,
prompting astronomers to classify it as a
Seyfert, a type of active galaxy. Not as well known as other tight
groupings of galaxies,
the contrast in visual appearance makes this triplet an attractive
subject for astrophotographers. This
impressively deep exposure hints at faint, sharp-edged shells
surrounding elliptical NGC 5982, evidence of past galactic mergers. It
also reveals many even more distant
background galaxies.
To see more of Steve's APOD pictures
and others, click here.
Up coming events
04/26/2014: Tuzigoot Star Night
05/03/2014: Red Rock Ranger Station Star Party
& Solar Viewing
05/17/2014: Monthly Meeting @ VVMC 6:30 PM
05/24/2014: Sunset Crater Star Party
05/30/2014: Red Rock State Park Star Party
05/31/2014: Two Trees Dark Sky Weekend
06/06/2014: Sedona Community Campout @ Sunset
Park
06/13/2014: Moon Lite Hike @ Red Rock State
Park
06/14/2014: Monthly Meeting @ V VMC 6:30 PM
06/21/2014: Sunset Crater Star Party
See the
Club Calendar for the complete
2014 schedule.
Details of 2014 Special Events are
here.
Large solar storm groups move across the face of the Sun as it
rotates the week of January 5th 2014. The largest Sun spot is over 40,000 miles
across. This view is (from the left) visual, hydrogen alpha and ultra violet.
The animation is from the week of February 2nd, 2014.
Click the comparison picture for a full view. For more solar picture from the week of
January 5th and after, click here.
Photo by J D Maddy
____________________________________
Illustration Credit & Copyright:
J D Maddy
and Gerald Madero.
Explanation: The Great
Spiral Galaxy
in Andromeda (aka M31), a mere 2.5 million light-years
distant, is the
closest large spiral to our own Milky Way. Andromeda is visible to the
unaided eye as a small, faint, fuzzy patch, but because its surface
brightness is so low, casual
skygazers
can't appreciate the galaxy's impressive extent in planet Earth's sky.
This entertaining composite image compares the
angular size
of the nearby galaxy to a brighter, more familiar celestial sight. In
it, a deep exposure, tracing beautiful blue star clusters in
spiral arms far beyond the bright yellow core, is combined with a
typical view of a nearly full Moon. Shown at the same angular scale, the
Moon covers about 1/2 degree on the sky, while
the galaxy is
clearly several times that size. The deep Andromeda exposure also
includes two bright satellite galaxies,
M32 and
M110
(bottom). This composite image is made from a stack of M31 images taken
with a Celestron GPS11, Hyperstar 3 with a Canon 450D (XSI) and a single
image of the Moon taken with the same setup.
The Astronomers of Verde
Valley are members of the Night Sky Network
Check out the Club's Community Outreach page for their latest
activities by clicking here.
The Astronomers of Verde Valley were recognized at the recent
volunteer luncheon for the National Parks Service National Monuments. This year
(2013) marked the 5th year that the Astronomy Club has given programs at
Tuzigoot National Monument. Click the on picture for full view.
Large Solar Flare Erupts
Click picture to
super size.
Large flare erupts Nov. 18th,
2012.
Image Credit & Copyright:
J D Maddy
A large
solar flare decorates the Sun and it spews Hydrogen gas aloft. This
flare was short lived and lost its detail in a two hour period. I call
this a Serengeti Flare as it has the appearance of a tree on the
Serengeti Plains. To see more solar pictures click
here. To see the Annular Eclipse
and Venus transit pictures,
click here. For a look at a Serengeti Tree
compared to the flare, click here.
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