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sjastronomy.bsky.social
San Jose Astronomical Association
@sjastronomy.bsky.social
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We are the San Jose Astronomical Association, bringing astronomy and science to the people of San Jose, the SF Bay Area, and beyond. Come explore the cosmos with us at a star party! 🚀🌙✨🌞🛰🌌🔭 sjaa.net
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...but the really interesting photo is the second, taken on Friday, 31 October. A strange disturbance can be seen in the comet’s tail! Mike did take a follow-up on 1 November, but the disturbance was already gone. Any thoughts on what happened?
Photo of a comet set against the backdrop of the starry night sky. The comet’s coma and nucleus are near the center of the bottom, and the tail points straight up the middle of the image. About a third of the way up the photo, the thin portion of the tail suddenly swirls and cuts over to the right before continuing upward to about halfway.
November 12, 2025 at 10:51 PM
sjastronomy.bsky.social
Our members are enjoying this comet season we have been given! Check out these two images of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) taken by member Mike Madden using his Seestar. The first is from Monday, 27 October... 🔭 🧪
Photo of a comet set against the backdrop of the starry night sky. The comet’s coma and nucleus are at the bottom left, and the tail is angling up to the upper right. The very thin, faint portion of the tail continues nearly to the top of the image.
November 12, 2025 at 10:51 PM
sjastronomy.bsky.social
Weather permitting, the next Starry Nights public star party will be held on Saturday, November 15. The viewing site, Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve, is just 30 minutes south of downtown San Jose. #bayarea 🧪 🔭
Pink and orange mottled background. Inset: A spiral galaxy in the night sky. Text: Starry Nights Star Party, Nov. 15, 6:00 pm, by SJ Astronomy, 4289 Casa Loma Rd. Graphic: Attend on Meetup with logo.
October 30, 2025 at 9:54 PM
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PUBLIC TALK: November 1, 2025, 7:30 pm

Dr. Bruce Macintosh will discuss the first-ever images of other solar systems – and the technology that has allowed us to discover them, such as the Gemini Planet Imager – as well as the future planet-hunting space telescopes. #bayarea 🔭 🧪
SJAA 70th anniversary logo. Text: Public Talk, Emerging Picture of Other Worlds with Dr. Bruce Macintosh, November 1, 2025, 7:30 pm, Houge Park, San Jose, California. Inset photos: (top left) Dr. Bruce Macintosh at the Gemini Observatory. (top right) The Gemini Observatory dome and building. (bottom) Direct image of four exoplanets (b, c, d, and e) orbiting a star.
October 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
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Member Sudhir Bud managed to capture C/2025 A6 Lemmon about a week ago in the eastern skies from Palo Alto, California, around 5 am during a brief dark hour between moonset and sunrise. 🔭 🧪
Photograph of a pale green comet with a bright, fuzzy coma and long tail that reaches up and to the left. The background is full of stars.
October 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM
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The shadow of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, transited Saturn from Earth's vantage point on October 5, 2025. Luckily, member Christos Gougoussis captured the transit using his Celestron C11 telescope and ZWO ASI462MC camera. 🔭 🧪
Black background. Somewhat grainy image of Saturn, with the rings almost edge on to our view from Earth. At the ten o’clock position, a dark spot is seen. That is the shadow of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
October 8, 2025 at 9:39 PM
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Join SJ Astronomy for our next Starry Nights Star Party - Saturday, October 11, 2025, 7:30 pm. 🔭 🧪

You must be a member of the SJ Astronomy Meetup group to register to attend (it's free): www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy/

Link for October 11 Starry Nights registration: www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy...
Black background, white text. Text: by SJ Astronomy - Starry Nights Star Party - Saturday, October 11, 2025, 7:30 pm. RSVP on Meetup. Inset image: Banner of stars and star clusters across the middle of the graphic.
September 29, 2025 at 7:58 PM
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Member Brad Haakenson captured this lovely image of the entire Veil Nebula on Monday night, September 22, 2025. It was a beautiful night at Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve – warm with no dew and very clear. The seeing even improved through the night. 🧪 🔭
Alt Text Astrophotograph of the entire Veil Nebula, seen as wisps of gas and dust forming a variety of shapes, from the hooded Eastern Nebula on the left to Pickering’s Triangle in the middle and the Witch’s Broomstick on the right.
September 24, 2025 at 6:09 PM
sjastronomy.bsky.social
Member Michael Madden captured interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using his Seestar S50 on September 13, 2025, at Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve during a Starry Nights event. The Seestar was able to capture about 40 minutes of light until 3I/ATLAS disappeared below the ridge to the southwest. 🔭
Astrophotograph showing numerous stars. In the center are two red lines, one vertical and one horizontal, indicating the location of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, seen as a faint fuzzy dot trailing a fuzzy tail to the lower right.
September 17, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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Timelapse of the sunspots from the last Solar Sunday at Houge Park, September 7, 2025. This timelapse was captured over 2 hours, with over 8,000 pictures taken. It was taken on a Seestar S30 by member Creighton Voon.

#space #science #astronomy #astrophotography
September 16, 2025 at 3:38 AM
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PUBLIC TALK: October 4, 2025, 7:30 pm

Our October meeting is for you to share your unique telescope builds, tell the story behind your favorite astro-photos, pass on image processing tips, or share brief astro-travelogues. 🔭 🧪 #BayArea

Sign up at our Meetup: www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy...
SJAA 70th anniversary logo. Text: Public talk. The Talk: Member show and tell. Share your unique telescope builds, tell the story of your favorite astro-photos, pass on image processing tips, or brief astro-travelogues. October 4, 2025, Houge Park, San Jose, 7:30 pm. Inset images: (top left) A telescope in front of a blue sky. (top right) Photo of the night sky over trees with light pollution at the horizon. (bottom) Composite image of a telescope in front of the night sky, featuring the detailed band of the Milky Way over trees.
September 11, 2025 at 11:09 PM
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Another great image from last week’s event at the Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve! This picture of the Western Veil Nebula (Caldwell 34) and Pickering’s Triangle comes from member Kal Krishnan, using two hours of data with a dual-band (L-Enhance) filter on his Astro DSLR. 🔭 🧪
The Western Veil Nebula is in the upper right, curving from top to the right, shown in purples and pinks. Pickering’s Triangle is on the left and “pointing” toward the center. Background stars fill the image.
August 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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Member Doug Loyer captured this fantastic image of the Elephant Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A) earlier this week from the Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve.

Collection and processing detail: Askar 120 APO, 63 x 60s images, ASI533MC, ZWO Duo Filter

Processed using Nebula Magic 🔭

#astrophotography
A red nebula reaches up through the night sky, vaguely shaped like the trunk of an elephant. Several bright stars dot the foreground of the image while many smaller stars are scattered throughout.
August 22, 2025 at 5:39 PM
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PUBLIC TALK: July 12, 2025, 7:30 pm

Dr. Katya Arquilla will discuss how long-duration exploration missions present challenges more intense than those encountered in low-Earth orbit.

Sign up: www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy...

#astronomy #bayarea 🔭 🧪
Text: THE TALK: The Challenges of Crewed Long-duration Exploration Missions to the Moon and Mars With Dr. Katya Arquilla, September 6, 2025, 7:30 pm, Houge Park, San Jose, CA. Inset photos: (top left) Photo of Dr. Katya Arquilla sitting in a NASA chair in front of two monitors and looking back at the camera. (top right) A group of four scientists in numbered space suits, working together with a robot dog in a Mars analog site on Earth. (bottom) A panoramic view of the Mars analog site, with red sedimentary rock in the foreground and thicker layered rock cliffs in the background, plus four scientists in orange jumpsuits on top of a mound.
August 19, 2025 at 5:27 PM
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Many thanks to the amazing rangers and staff at Yosemite National Park for helping to make this year's SJAA-led Glacier Point star party a huge success! The crescent moon rising over Half Dome, as seen in this all-sky timelapse taken on July 19th, perfectly punctuated this phenomenal experience. 🔭
August 13, 2025 at 8:07 PM
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Nova announcement!

A star in the constellation Lupus, the Wolf, typically shines at a faint magnitude 22 but has brightened to naked-eye visibility.

Look at this image captured by Joe Fragola during the Starry Nights star party at Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve. 🔭🧪
Starry sky with a brighter star in the center labeled as V462 Nova Lupi.
June 25, 2025 at 7:55 PM
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PUBLIC TALK: July 12, 2025, 7:30 pm

Phil Hinz will discuss the technology development being carried out at the UC Observatories to integrate adaptive optics (AO) and the development of large segmented mirror telescopes (LSMT).

Sign up: www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy...

#astronomy 🔭🧪
Text: Public Talk. The Talk: New Technology for Exploring Other Worlds with Phil Hinze. July 12, 2025, 7:30 pm, Houge Park, San Jose, CA. SJAA anniversary logo. Inset pictures: Phil Hinz, an adaptive secondary mirror from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, and the twin domes of Keck Observatory in Hawai'i.
June 24, 2025 at 1:04 AM
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SJAA offers free monthly star parties. Weather permitting, members set up telescopes to share views with the public. Our "In Town Star Party" events are held on the Friday night closest to the 3rd Quarter Moon in the parking lot outside our headquarters at Houge Park in San Jose. 🔭
Top: Astrophoto of a star cluster. Bottom: Fuschia banner. Text: by SJ Astronomy, Starry Nights Star Party, Saturday, June 21, 2025, 9:30 pm, RSVP on Meetup.
June 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
sjastronomy.bsky.social
A new week! Member Brad Haakenson took this picture of Messier 104, the Sombrero Galaxy, during the recent new moon using fifty minutes of data from his Vaonis Stellina telescope. Seen edge-on, astronomers are unsure if M104 is a spiral or an elliptical galaxy. #astrophotography 🔭
This is a photograph of M104, the Sombrero Galaxy, seen edge-on from Earth. With its thick bulge and resemblance to a hat, it resembles a hat. Numerous stars of various colors and brightness litter the scene.
June 9, 2025 at 7:05 PM
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Member Richard Seely processed 18 minutes of data captured from his new William Optics Pleiades 181 telescope (congrats on first light!) of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, while at Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve last month. 🔭
Cropped image of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, with the object filling nearly all of the photo. The galaxy is a spiral with a counterclockwise rotation and is seen face-on.
June 6, 2025 at 8:12 PM
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Happy Friday! Member Kal Krishnan took this image of the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177) in March at Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve. Because it is such a large object, he only used his 200mm Canon Prime lens (no scope) and processed it recently. #Astrophotography 🔭🧪
A star-filled view of a portion of the night sky featuring a red-pink nebula shaped like a gull with its wings almost spread.
May 30, 2025 at 3:59 PM
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During the last week of April, member Francesco Meschia collected a grand total of 24 hours of light (10 hours in L, 10 hours in RGB, and 4 hours in H-alpha) from the pair of peculiar galaxies NGC 4631 and NGC 4656, known as the Whale and the Hockey Stick galaxies. 🔭
Photograph of two fuzzy galaxies. The one near the middle left resembles a hockey stick, and the one in the upper right resembles a stretched-out whale. The background is full of numerous stars and distant galaxies. Detailed view of the Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631) showing dust lanes, an orange center, bright blue stars, and reddish clusters. Just above the galaxy is the fuzzy shape of an elliptical galaxy. Foreground stars and background galaxies fill the image.
May 7, 2025 at 7:19 PM
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PUBLIC TALK: May 10, 2025, 7:30 pm

Professor Bryan Gaensler will explain how fast radio bursts were discovered, why they’re so enigmatic, and how they could be key to understanding some of the fundamental properties of the Universe. 🔭🧪

Sign up: www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy...
SJAA logo. Public talk. The Talk: Fast Radio Bursts: An Enduring Cosmic Mystery with Professor Bryan Gaensler, May 10, 2025, 7:30 pm, Houge Park, San Jose, CA. Collage of the CHIME radio telescope, an artist's impression of a fast radio burst, and professpr Bryan Gaensler.
April 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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Our first club member picture of #CometF2SWAN comes from Nicola Nikolov and was taken with a Seestar S50 over two minutes. More photos to come! #astrophotography 🔭🧪
Portrait astrophoto of a faint, blue comet, nearly hidden amongst the night sky stars.
April 15, 2025 at 12:46 AM
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On Monday, March 24, a break in the cloudy weather allowed a group of 11 SJAA Members to set up equipment for visual observing and imaging at Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve. Starry Nights program manager Joe Fragola captured this gorgeous image of Markarian’s Chain. 🔭🧪
A portrait image of Markarian's Chain, a string of galaxies arcing around in a hook from the upper left to the bottom right and back across to the middle.
April 2, 2025 at 10:14 PM