Classical Music Link List – Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas

Here is a list of all things classical-music-related in Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas. If you have additional links to add or see an existing link that needs to be changed or removed, please post a comment!

The two abiding interests in my life have been astronomy and classical music. I guess you could call me a professional listener, although I do have a pretty decent tenor voice and would love to sing in a secular mixed choir again. I have aspirations of hosting my own classical music program at a public radio station, or at least providing recordings and commentary. I served several years on the board of the Ames International Orchestra Festival Association (AIOFA), including two terms as board president. It was a great experience bringing fine orchestras from all over the world to C.Y. Stephens Auditorium in Ames, Iowa and hosting them during their stay. I love symphony orchestras (chamber music, too!), and would be very happy to serve in a similar capacity during my active retirement years. Or volunteering at a university music department that has a symphony orchestra. While living in Ames, I had the opportunity to attend many wonderful faculty and student recitals.

I have family in West Texas, so am looking to relocate to be closer to them. Would love to connect with the classical music scene somewhere in this tri-state area, so if you know of any good volunteer opportunities, please let me know!

Video Meteors 2020 – II

During the second half of 2020, I serendipitously captured six meteors on my telescope’s 17 x 11 arcminute video field of view while observing potential asteroid occultation events. I used the method described in There’s a Meteor in My Image to determine the radiant for each meteor. Here they are.

Sporadic meteor 8 Jul 2020 UT; Field location TYC 7379-00569-1 in Scorpius
Each frame is an exposure of 0.13s (meteor is at left side of field)

A sporadic meteor is any meteor that does not come from a known radiant.

Probable sporadic meteor 22 Aug 2020 UT; Field location UCAC4 394-071682 in Serpens
Each frame is an exposure of 0.13s ; possibly a Perseid (meteor from upper right to lower left)
Probable sporadic meteor 29 Aug 2020 UT; Field location UCAC4 601-019523 in Auriga
Each frame is an exposure of 0.27s ; possibly a Perseid (meteor from upper right to lower left)
Orionid 11 Oct 2020 UT; Field location TYC 1337-01489-1 in Gemini; very fast!
Each frame is an exposure of 0.13s ; (meteor at upper right)
Sporadic meteor 14 Nov 2020 UT; Field location UCAC4 559-043312 in Gemini
Each frame is an exposure of 0.27s (meteor at upper right)
Probable Leonid 5 Dec 2020 UT; Field location UCAC4 410-001419 in Cetus
Each frame is an exposure of 0.13s ; (meteor along upper part of field)

None of these meteors were particularly bright, unfortunately, so you may want to use the full-screen button at the lower-right-hand corner of each video to see them well.

References

International Meteor Organization, 2o2o Meteor Shower Calendar, Jürgen Rendtel, ed. https://www.imo.net/files/meteor-shower/cal2020.pdf.