Serving science and society since 1937. The National Capital Astronomers (NCA) is a non-profit, membership supported, volunteer run, public service corporation dedicated to advancing space technology, astronomy, and related sciences through information, participation, and inspiration, via research, lectures and presentations, publications, expeditions, tours, public interpretation, and education. NCA is the astronomy affiliate of the Washington Academy of Sciences. We are also members of the Astronomical League, in fact NCA members helped form the Astronomical League a long time ago.
NCA has for many years published a monthly newsletter called Star Dust that is available for members. Besides announcement of coming NCA meetings and a calendar of monthly events Star Dust contains reviews of past meeting and articles on current astronomical events.
NCA is a very unusual astronomy organization. All are welcome to join. Everyone who looks up to the sky with wonder is an astronomer and welcomed by NCA. You do not have to own a telescope, but if you do own one that is fine, too. You do not have to be deeply knowledgeable in astronomy, but if you are knowledgeable in astronomy that is fine, too. You do not have to have a degree, but if you do that is fine, too. WE ARE THE MOST DIVERSE local ASTRONOMY CLUB anywhere. Come to our meetings and you will find this out. WE REALLY MEAN THIS!
NCA has regular monthly meetings September through June on the second Saturday of the month. For 2022-2023, the meetings will be held online via Zoom.
The meetings for this year will be VIRTUAL and not in-person.
With permission of the speakers, most meetings will be recorded. Once available the audio and video will be linked.
National Capital Astronomers will be holding its 2022-2023 meetings online via Zoom. This year, the Zoom meetings have been set up so that there is no registration required. This is the direct Zoom link, it is the same for everybody for every meeting this year (2022-23). If we have problems with Zoom bombing at a meeting, then the link will be canceled and a new one created that will require registration for subsequent meetings.
As usual, the Zoom room "doors" open at 7pm ET with the actual meeting starting on time at 7:30pm! While you do not need to sign in right at 7pm, please do not wait until 7:35pm!! And since we are not registering folks, it will be important that you have a recognizable name showing so that I can let you in from the virtual waiting room.
Finally, as last year, with the permission of the guestspeakers, we will be recording the meetings.
Join Zoom Meeting: NCA Monthly Zoom
These guidelines will be updated as needed.
Dr. Dana R. Louie, GSFC
7:30 pm ONLINE.
Abstract: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on 25 December 2021, and released its first science images—including an exoplanet transmission spectrum—in July 2022. Webb was conceived in 1989, a year before Hubble’s launch, and before humanity had even confirmed a single exoplanet discovery. The telescope’s infrared light collecting capabilities were originally designed to capture light from the earliest galaxies at high redshift. Now, more than 30 years later, we know of over 5,000 confirmed exoplanets! Serendipitously, these same infrared wavelengths of light allow scientists to probe some exoplanet atmospheres in search of signatures from molecules such as water vapor, methane, and carbon dioxide. Thanks to the growth of the exoplanet field, approximately one quarter of JWST’s first year of science observations are devoted to exoplanet science. In this talk, I will compare Webb’s capabilities to those of past space telescopes, and showcase the exoplanet science highlights from Webb’s first year of observations.
Bio: Dr. Dana R. Louie is a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow in the Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She earned her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Maryland in 2021, and a Master’s degree in Physics from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2014. She also holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Previously, Dana served as an officer in the US Air Force, working as both a flight test engineer and a foreign area officer in Japan. Dr. Louie’s research focuses on exoplanet transit observations, both to characterize exoplanet atmospheres through transmission spectroscopy, and to discover new exoplanet candidates.
The telescope making, maintenance, and modification workshop with Guy Brandenburg is held in the basement (wood shop) of the Chevy Chase Community Center which is located at the intersection of McKinley Street and Connecticut Avenue, NW, a few blocks inside the DC boundary, on the northeast corner of the intersection. The workshop is open on Tuesdays & Fridays, from 5:00 to 7:30 PM. For information visit Guy's Website. To contact Guy, call 202-635-1860 or Email Guy.
Exploring the Sky is a joint program between the National Capital Astronomers and the National Park Service Rock Creek Park Nature Center and has been run since 1948 at this location, the field at the corner of Glover and Military Roads in the District. There is an adjacent parking lot. It is free and all are welcome who have an interest in observing the heavens. It's not an ideal dark sky location but we can still see solar system objects (even the occasional comet), open and globular clusters and maybe a fuzzy galaxy or two.
This year, as an added feature, you can come one hour early and see a planetarium program in the Nature Center and then come to the field to observe. Also, if the sky is cloudy or it's raining there will be a planetarium program at that one hour earlier time so Exploring the Sky will no longer be canceled! Planetarium programs can be found at: www.nps.gov/rocr/planyourvisit/calendar.htm. You can also search "astronomy", "dark skies" or call the Nature Center at: (202)-8985-6070.
Questions? Call NCA at 202-635-1860 and leave a message.
| Date | Time | Things of interest |
| 15 Apr | 9:00pm | Venus, Orion |
| 20 May | 9:00pm | Venus, Mars, M13 |
| 17 Jun | 9:00pm | Venus, Mars, M13 |
| 15 Jul | 9:00pm | Venus, Mars, M13, Summer Triangle |
| 19 Aug | 8:30pm | Moon, Venus, Mars, M13, summer triangle |
| 23 Sep | 8:00pm | Moon, M31, Venus, Mars |
| 21 Oct | 7:30pm | Moon, Jupiter |
| 18 Nov | 7:00pm | Jupiter, M45, outer planets |