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A Legend Passes

We are saddened to report that ALPO member Jeff Beish passed away February 4th, 2025. Jeff was a veteran Mars observer from way back in the 1960's and the ALPO Mars Section reporter/coordinator from 1970 to 2020. He also authored the Mars Café found here on the website which contains a wealth of information that is still sought by today’s observers. Jeff was a highly skilled observer and made many detailed sketches of Mars over the years. He was a treasure trove of knowledge about the Red Planet.

You can read about his life and career in his own words in this article.

Chairside Processing with Gary Walker

You’ve captured a set of videos of your favorite target – great! But now comes the hard part, turning that video file into a clear, natural-looking image of the planet. While the quality of the equipment and the level of seeing certainly have a lot of impact on the result, the skill of the processor also is a factor. Like an artist who has practiced their craft, we see observers who are pretty consistent in delivering amazing images for the ALPO galleries.

Recent Mars and Jupiter images from Gary Walker

ALPO is conducting a series of informal Zoom webinars where a talented member will share the tools and techniques they employ to create their image captures. We are happy to announce that ALPO member Dr. Gary Walker will be the presenter at our next webinar to share with us some of his methods, including:

Assessing the quality of your capture
Using Registax wavelets for sharpening
Performing unsharp masking in Photoshop

ALPO members can now register for this Zoom meeting that will be held on Saturday, February 15^th at 3pm EST (Noon PST/20:00 UT). Attendees will have the opportunity to ask Gary about his approach and hopefully be able to take away some tips to use in their own image processing routine. The meeting will be recorded for replay on the ALPO YouTube channel should you be unable to attend.

JALPO Vol 67 No. 1 Available

In this issue...

In our Point of View opinion column, Journal Editor Shawn Dilles offers his thoughts on the “Awe-Inspiring Beauty and Scientific Impact of Amateur Observing.” What you’ll also find inthis issue includes:

A roundup of general interest news, including a request to our membership about possible ALPO items to offer that can subtly promote our organization.
A report from our Membership Secretary as to our current membership categories.
Minutes of the July 26 ALPO Board of Directors meeting.
A look back at selected goings-on inThe Strolling Astronomer75, 50 and 25 years ago as presented by Carl Hergenrother.
A great reminder to all about our fascinating Lunar & Planetary Training Program. Do we need it? You betcha!!! And probably more than most of us realize.
Solar Section Coordinator Rik Hill provides the latest Carrington Rotation Report, this time, rotations 2284 thru 2286. Says Rik: “The activity in these three rotations saw the highest in two solar cycles. While close to the solar max, I would quote Winston Churchill: ‘It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.’ ”

Continue reading...

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Read News Headlines

Is the Moon Geologically Dead?
2/2/2025

In recent years, our understanding of the Moon has undergone a significant transformation. For centuries it was thought to be a geologically dead world, but recent discoveries are challenging this notion. Researchers from the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution have found evidence of recent geological activity on the moon's far side. They identified 266 lunar ridges, suggesting that the moon has been active within the past 200 million years and might still be active today.

Imagine stepping out for a walk, only to return and find your walkway transformed by a cosmic event. This is exactly what happened to a couple in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Their doorbell camera captured the first-ever video and audio of a meteorite crash-landing right outside their home. The footage shows a fast-moving space rock hurtling towards the ground, creating a loud crash and an explosive burst of gray dust.

Check the Events Calendar

All Times are in Universal Time (UT)

2025-02-12 13:53
Full Moon

2025-02-16
Venus at greatest brightness

2025-02-17 13:00
"Spica 0.3° north of Moon, occultation Pacific Ocean"

2025-02-20 17:32
Last Quarter Moon

2025-02-21 09:00
"Antares 0.4° north of Moon, occultation Easter Island to South Africa"

2025-02-28 00:45
New Moon lunation 1264

2025-03-02
Jupiter at eastern quadrature

2025-03-07
Mercury at dichotomy & greatest elongation east

2025-03-08
Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky

2025-03-12
Saturn at solar conjunction

Explore our Galleries

Credit: Jäger, Rhemann, & Möller
Equipment: Canon 6Dmod DSLR and QHY600 cameras
This spectacular image of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was taken by Michael Jäger, Gerald Rhemann, and Dennis Möller on 2024 September 30, at 3.25 UT. It is a composite of 20 minutes of exposure taken with two imaging setups: a Leica Telyt 180/4.0 lens and QHY600 camera, and Canon 200/4.0 lens and Canon 6Dmod DSLR.

Credit: Theo Ramakers
Equipment: 40mm f/10 refractor with ASI174MM camera
On October 23rd veteran solar observer Theo Ramakers captured a striking prominence off the Sun's SW limb. Further in on the globe is a darker 'filament', which in reality is also a prominence viewed face-on

Credit: Gary Walker
Equipment: 254mm Mak-Cass with QHY5III-200M camera
Although not even 9" in size, Gary Walker captured a wealth of detail in his Mars image from Oct. 23rd. The north pole is shrouded in the brilliant Polar Hood, while Olympus Mons is midway near the terminator. Farther south (up) we also see some evening clouds near Tharsis

Credit: Gary Walker
Equipment: 254mm Mak-Cass with QHY5III-200M camera
As usual, Jupiter is a dynamic target in this late October image. Most obvious is the shrinking GRS, but several STB storms appear as ovals below it (with A3 most prominent). Above the GRS in the NEB we see WS-E following its merger with another white spot.

Credit: Luigi Morrone
Equipment: C14 Edge HD using Player One Uranus-C camera
Luigi Morrone captured this beautiful family portrait of Saturn. As the planet approaches equinox the moons start to cross in front and behind the globe. In this image he has capture the tiny shadow of Enceladus cast on the cloud tops just under the rings.