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Western Nevada Astronomical Society Home Page


WNC Foundation (WNAS)
2201 West College Parkway
Carson City, NV 89703
Latest Carson City, Nevada, weather
CURRENT MOON
The Western Nevada Astronomical Society (WNAS) was created in 2002 by amature astronomers. The WNAS is an observing group affiliated with Western Nevada College and the Jack C. Davis Observatory (JCDO). The WNAS is dedicated to supporting the astronomical community through education, social functions, and service

The Jack C. Davis Observatory is open to the public and provides a research-level facility for WNC students and the community. The observatory is located at 2699 Van Patten Avenue on the northern end of the Carson City Campus.

Observatory Location:
39° 11' 8.6" N | 119° 47' 26.4" W | 1,534.4 m (elevation)

You will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf) to view some of the links
Observatory Map (.pdf) WNAS Newsletters (.pdf) Membership Application (.pdf) GEONS: Carson High School

WNAS Officers

President
Mike Thomas
mnethomas@sbcglobal.net
Vice President
Robert Collier
collier.wncc.edu
Treasurer/Secretary/News Letter Editor
Brian Guerin
zapkgbg@msn.com

Calender of Events, May 2008

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
04/27
04/28
04/29
04/30
05/01
05/02
05/03
Dark Sky Weekend
Star Party JCDO (DUSK)
05/04
05/05
New Moon
05/06
05/07
05/08
05/09
05/10
Astronomy Day
Star Party JCDO (DUSK)
05/11
1st Quarter Moon
05/12
05/13
05/14
05/15
05/16
05/17
Star Party
JCDO (DUSK)
05/18
05/19
05/20
WNAS Meeting at 7pm JCDO
05/21
05/22
05/23
05/24
Star Party JCDO (DUSK)
05/25
05/16
05/27
05/28
05/29
05/30
05/31
Star Party JCDO (DUSK)


Multimedia Links

Video JCDO Pictures Educational Links PowerPoints
Feather vs. The Hammer   Time Dilation The Drake Equation Terry Parent
Carson Middle School
Earth's Magnetic Field
Lunar Eclipse 2007   Kepler's 1st Law Kepler's 2nd Law Gravity Probe B
    Kepler's 3rd Law Elemental Emission/Absorption Spectra The Science Behind Magnetometer Signatures
    Powers of Ten Kepler Motion  
    Stellar Parallax Lunar Phases Jim Bean, Carson High
Magnetometer Research
Summer 2007
    Galilean Moons Hubble Expansion Law  
    Sloan Digital Sky Survey (DDSS) Canadian Space Agency
High School Astronomy
 
    Stellar Spectra Electromagnetic Spectrum  

Courtesy of NASA and the University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory

Geomagnetic Event Observation Network by Students (GEONS)



The THEMIS Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) team has established ten ground-based magnetometer stations each located across the United States and Canada, including WNC's Jack C. Davis Observatory. High school students and teachers are helping collect data for NASA's THEMIS mission to study space storms. The network of these teachers, students, and magnetometers together with other students who participate using the web is called the Geomagnetic Event Observation Network by Students (GEONS). Current Carson City Schools involved are Carson High School and Carson Middle School
Solar X-rays:

Geomagnetic Field:
SOHO Observatory
 
From n3kl.org

Carson City, NV: 24 Hour Magnetic Field Plots
click on the images below for real-time displays


Spectrograph

XYZ-Plot
HDB-Plot

*Waves in the Earth's magnetic field have a frequency that is given on the y-axis.

*The color represents the amount of power in the waves:

*Red indicates a lot of power and interesting space weather. However, it can also indicate cars passing by the school or other moving metal nearby the magnetometer.

*Blue very little power.

*Green-yellow is solid background noise in the magnetometer.

Time is on the x-axis in Universal Time. The y-axis measures the magnetic field (nanotesla). There are three panels representing the Earth's magnetic field:

1) 1st pannel X-direction: Centered on the North-South Magnetic Line
2) 2nd pannel Y-direction: is centered perpendicular to X which is East-West
3) 3rd pannel Z-direction: is centered on perpendicular to earths surface, Up-Down

Earth's magnetic field strength is largest in the Z panel, this means that Earth's magnetic field in the U.S. is mostly downward. The next largest magnetic field strength is in the X panel, indicating that Earth's magnetic field in the U.S. points strongly northward towards Earth's magnetic pole.

Time is on the x-axis in Universal Time. These are three panels representing Earth's magnetic field:

1) 1st panel shows the magnetic field strength in units of nanotesla in the H-direction: the direction horizontal to Earth's surface like the way in which a typical compass points
2) 2nd panel shows the angle (D) from the X-direction (close to magnetic north) where the magnetic field is pointing
3) 3rd panel shows the total magnetic field strength at this location.

Each HDB plot represents magnetic field data observed at the Jack C. Davis observatory. Because the angle is so small in the D panel, this means that the horizontal directional changes in Earth's magnetic field due to space weather or electrical currents nearby are very small compared with Earth's total magnetic field.

GEONS Archive Data
Carson City: 30-Minute Plots
Earth's Magnetic Field Calculator
Magnetometer ASCII Data
Courtesy of NASA and the University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory

NOAA: Space Weather Now K-index Info Space Weather.com Wrath of RA Space Weather Center IMF

NOAA Space weather Scales, disturbances in the geomagnetic field caused by gusts in the solar wind that blows by Earth.

Δx (nT) K-index NOAA Geomagnetic Storm Level
> 500 K = 9 G5: Extreme
330-500 K = 8 G4: Severe
200-330 K = 7 G3: Strong
120-200 Kp = 6 G2: Moderate
70-120 K = 5 G1: Minor
40-70
20-40
10-20
5-10
0-5
K = 4
K = 3
K = 2
K = 1
K = 0
G0: Below storm alert

Geomagnetic Events Observation by Carson High School Students


Average Daily Magnetic Field Strength
Daily K-indices


Kp (Planetary), Courtesy of NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center

January 2008

Date
Magnetic Field Strength, B (nT)
ASCII Data Calculations
K-Indices
Click on the links to see spectrographs for k ≥ 5
Sunspots
Carson City, NV
39.19 N
119.75 W
Loysburg, PA
40.17 N
78.38 W
Pineridge, SD
43.11 N
102.60 W
Petersburg, AK
56.83 N
133.16 W
McGrath, AK
62.97 N
155.62 W
Kiana, AK
66.98 N
160.43 W
Carson City, NV
KIndices
Loysburg, PA
KIndices
Pineridge, SD
KIndices
Petersburg, AK
KIndices
McGrath, AK
KIndices
Kiana, AK
KIndices
Estimated
Planetary
Kp
1/31/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/30/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/29/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/28/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/27/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/26/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/25/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/24/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1/23/08
50,047
 
 
 
 
 
11122223
 
 
 
 
 
00100112
 
1/22/08
50,047
 
 
 
 
 
01101223
 
 
 
 
 
01000101
 
1/21/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11111111
 
Carson City, NV
39.19 N
119.75 W
Loysburg, PA
40.17 N
78.38 W
Pineridge, SD
43.11 N
102.60 W
Petersburg, AK
56.83 N
133.16 W
McGrath, AK
62.97 N
155.62 W
Kiana, AK
66.98 N
160.43 W
Carson City, NV
KIndices
Loysburg, PA
KIndices
Pineridge, SD
KIndices
Petersburg, AK
KIndices
McGrath, AK
KIndices
Kiana, AK
KIndices
Estimated
Planetary
Kp
1/20/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13212122
 
1/19/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11333312
 
1/18/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
33312322
 
1/17/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31122223
 
1/16/08
50,055
 
 
 
 
 
23323233
 
 
 
 
 
33332223
 
1/15/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
32223202
 
1/14/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
33343333
 
1/13/08
56,375
 
 
 
 
9
 
 
 
 
 
63359876
32213332
 
1/12/08
 
 
 
 
 
56,412
 
 
 
 
 
32231132
00112432
 
1/11/08
 
 
 
 
 
56,428
 
 
 
 
 
66531132
10110011
 
Carson City, NV
39.19 N
119.75 W
Loysburg, PA
40.17 N
78.38 W
Pineridge, SD
43.11 N
102.60 W
Petersburg, AK
56.83 N
133.16 W
McGrath, AK
62.97 N
155.62 W
Kiana, AK
66.98 N
160.43 W
Carson City, NV
KIndices
Loysburg, PA
KIndices
Pineridge, SD
KIndices
Petersburg, AK
KIndices
McGrath, AK
KIndices
Kiana, AK
KIndices
Estimated
Planetary
Kp
1/10/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20011101
 
1/09/08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
32211011
 
1/08/08
50,068
 
 
 
 
56,380
01010233
 
 
 
 
33587775
23221442
 
1/07/08
 
 
 
 
 
N/A
 
 
 
 
 
N/A
44233012
 
1/06/08
 
 
 
 
 
56,391.32
 
 
 
 
 
56599866
24223333
 
1/05/08
 
 
 
 
 
56,378
 
 
 
 
 
33779867
22444434
12
1/04/08
50,062
 
 
 
 
56,399
01011213
 
 
 
 
21431113
00000102
 
1/03/08
50,064
 
 
 
 
 
10110022
 
 
 
 
 
00000000
 
1/02/08
N/A
52,334
 
 
 
56,406
N/A
00012331
 
 
 
12142221
00000000
13
1/01/08
50,067
 
 
 
 
56,407
01010233
 
 
 
 
33232222
11001101
11
GEONS Archive Data 2007

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