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Meeting Date
Novice Meeting Topic
Astrophotography
Novice Meeting Speaker
Doug Holland
General Meeting Topic
Near Infrared Brightness of the Brighter Planets
General Meeting Speaker
Richard W. Schmude, Jr.

Richard has carried out brightness measurements of the brighter planets in visible light since 1991. On April 25, 2014, he made his first brightness measurement using the J and H filters. The J and H filters are sensitive to light with wavelengths of 1.25 and 1.65 micrometers, respectively. Visible light has wavelengths of between 0.4 and 0.7 micrometers. The brightness of Venus is consistent with the light being reflected off of the cooler layers of its atmosphere. This is not the case for Mercury. It is very bright in the H filter. The albedo of Mars levels off in the J and H filter which is different from what it does in visible light. Jupiter is dimmer in the J and H filters than in visible light. Saturn’s rings have a big impact on that planet’s brightness. These results and others will be presented in this talk.