Transcript
IAS News and Views
The IAS News & Views Volume 81, Issue 10
www.iasindy.org
REMINDER: The October general meeting will be at HOLCOMB OBSERVATORY!
Indiana Astronomical Society/Butler University Public Meeting Saturday, October 11, 7:00 PM Holcomb Observatory
MAVEN Update John Kramer On November 18, 2014, an Atlas V rocket carried the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft off Earth and towards Mars. After 10 months and 442 million miles (711 km), on September 21, 2014, the MAVEN spacecraft successfully fired its rockets for Mars orbit insertion. We will discuss the MAVEN mission and its goals of studying the Mars upper atmosphere. John Kramer is the Vice President and Program Chair for the Indiana Astronomical Society and has an interest in science, including planetary and astronomical sciences. During the day, John works in computer network communications for St. Vincent Hospital (Ascension Information Services).
New Astronomer’s Group “Using Setting Circles” Setting circles are occasionally found on equatorial mounts to assist you in finding celestial targets. This month we’ll provide tips on using these devices — including how to read a vernier scale — and also discuss their limitations. Time permitting, we may also briefly touch on how alt-azimuth and computerized versions work.
From the President’s Desk We had a great turnout for our annual hog roast, and I wish to thank everyone who helped make it a success. Especially those that arrived early and stayed late to help with the set-up and take-down to the individuals that provided the side dishes and desserts. Even the weather cooperated and we had a few hours of clear skies for observing. Page 1 October 2014
IAS News and Views We owe a special thanks to Mike, Sandy and Regan Kirsch for the excellent barbeque and service. We also owe Stephen McSpadden a big thanks for coordinating the efforts of the Hill Water Company and IU Maintenance to restore water service to the Link Observatory so we could have the hog roast there. Well done on very short notice! This is the time of year that we need member input and participation to establish nominees for officer and board member positions that will be vacated. Please contact me, John Kramer or John Molt with your recommendations for new officers and board members. At this time we know that John Kramer will be stepping down from the VP position after serving for two years. Also John Shepherd will be stepping down from the Treasurer’s position after serving for 10 years. You are eligible for Treasurer if you can balance a checkbook. Our VP, as program coordinator, is a very important position. The VP helps us find speakers for our meeting. Please consider stepping up to VP. Fringe Benefits of Participation Since belonging to an organization costs money, it would seem logical to ask: “What can the organization do for me?” However, it might be better to consider what the organization can do with you (with your support, expertise, energy and passion) and what can we achieve together. The degree of success of any organization depends on the talents, time and energy expended, even more than the amount of money invested. There are certain functions and services which the organization, acting in concert with its membership, can provide; but to be truly successful in its efforts, the organization requires the support and involvement of all its members. It needs the collective thinking of all concerned to create its vision and purpose, and it requires the physical effort of its membership to put plans into operation. It would appear that the people who argue most against [or avoid] paying membership dues are often the first to criticize, saying that the organization does them no good. However, they are often first in line to enjoy the benefits that come their way as a result of the organization and the dues paid by the members. These benefits are the result of a lot of hard work and effort by active individuals who devote time and energy to get the tasks done. Your participation can give the group wherewithal and direction to be successful and you can find personal satisfaction and reward. But there are more benefits than these. One, which is a pure bonus, is the benefit of social connections that occur at our meetings, outreach events, star parties and, of course, our Hog Roast. Other benefits include help with your own projects and furthering your own knowledge on subjects of interest to you. Let me hear from you! — The Pres
IAS NEWS Upcoming Public Events for October The following events will occur rain or shine.
IAS/Holcomb Observatory Program Planning Meeting Tuesday, October 7 at 7 PM, Holcomb Observatory. Members may attend and provide input.
IAS General Meeting Saturday, October 11 at 7 PM, Holcomb Observatory. Note change of location! The public is welcome. New Astronomer’s Group will follow the meeting and guest speaker.
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Link Observatory and Space Science Center Saturday, October 18 at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM, Link Observatory. Executive Director Greg McCauley will again provide a public lecture on space-related current events. This month’s topic is “The International Space Station: Benefit to Humanity.” An extra session has been scheduled to mitigate the parking/auditorium capacity issues that have arisen with this very popular event. Weather permitting, there will be observing with the 36" telescope after the second session. Please visit http://www.linkobservatory.org for more information on LOSSC.
Observing Activities for October The following events are weather-dependent and subject to last-minute cancellation. Please monitor the IAS Yahoo group for updates and do not drive out until you receive confirmation that it’s a “go.”
McCloud Activities (Public Event) — There are no scheduled events at McCloud Nature Park this month. Observing/outreach sessions at McCloud will resume in April of 2015.
Link Activities (Members and Guests) — The IAS has a Deep-Sky observing session scheduled to occur on the Link Observatory grounds during the nights of October 24-25. There will be no camping this weekend. As always be sure to monitor the IAS Yahoo group for updates.
Upcoming IAS Outreach Events Please contact IAS Events Coordinator Steve Haines at
[email protected] if you are available to assist with either of these events.
October 2 — Carmel High School is having a public planetarium show and would like the IAS to set up some scopes outside the planetarium. The show starts at 7:00 PM and it should begin to get dark at around 8:00. Extra scopes will be appreciated. If the weather does not cooperate, Steve will send a cancellation notice to the Yahoo group.
October 4 — Celebrate Science Indiana will be held at the state fairgrounds from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM. This free event provides an informal setting for parents, students, families, and friends to meet local scientists from colleges, universities, and businesses as well as college students and to ask them how they got involved in science and how they use STEM in the workplace. Steve will be setting up our booth at this event and could use a hand in manning it.
Hog Roast Digest The annual IAS hog roast at Link Observatory was again a resounding success. RSVPs from the membership suggested that we would have a total of 74 attendees and it certainly appeared that most were able to make it. The weather was a little nippy for mid-September but otherwise sunny and pleasant. President Bill Conner made a few announcements and then we all queued up in the chow line. Who says gluttony is a deadly sin? There was no shortage of food, and somebody had to eat it! [In flagrant violation of hog roast protocol, I contributed a dessert when I was supposed to bring a side dish. As restitution, I will provide my persimmon pudding recipe to any interested parties.] Page 3 October 2014
IAS News and Views In the aftermath, several members set up their scopes on the observing field. The Link 36" scope was also aligned and received some use. Observing reports can be found later in this newsletter. Special thanks go to Mike Kirsch and his family for once again providing superlative pork and chicken entrées. All hail the grillmeisters! A tip of the hat to Steve McSpadden for troubleshooting a low water pressure issue at the Link facility that had threatened to “put a damper” on the event. And as always, we are much obliged to those who helped set up and/or stow the tables and chairs.
— Photos courtesy Bill Conner, Frank Hunter and Mike Newberg
IAS Observing and Outreach Reports [All IAS members are encouraged to submit their observing reports, whether at IAS events or not!] 28 August impromptu session — Observing at Link was another failed attempt Thursday evening, but Fred and Laura may have made some progress in their perilous mission to master astrophotography. I did meet a new member? I think he said his father is a long-time member named George. He has a serious lisp. Found him in the pier room trying to get to the eyepiece on the [6" refractor] telescope sitting there. Said he wanted to see Draco. He gave up on the attempt and retired to the basement. — Steve McSpadden
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IAS News and Views 30 August (McCloud public outreach) — Skies were overcast this evening. About 20 people arrived in time for the indoor presentation. Bill Conner presided with a general “what’s up in the sky” show. Bruce Bowman and John Molt were present as backups. Fred and Laura Keller, John Younes, David Williams and Steve McSpadden were kind enough to offer scopes and observing help if needed. Unfortunately, skies remained cloudy, and everyone left shortly after the presentation. — Bill Conner 03 September impromptu session — We opened the Link gates at 8 PM this evening due to clear skies. Attending were Mike Birch, Melanie and Justin Fox-King, Fred and Laura Keller, Wayne McSpadden, and me. Laura, Melanie and I stayed outside and had no luck as the moon washed out all DSOs, but Fred, Wayne and Mike fired up the 36" and got thru the list, I think. You’ll have to check with one of them. [see below] Melanie and Justin have that equatorial mount mastered and they did view a bunch of the brighter Messiers after getting through their polar alignment. — Steve McSpadden Wayne, Fred and I got the September list done...couldn’t get the Crescent nebula NGC6888 due to Moon glow (we had the correct star field). We forgot to try the UltraBlock filter (our stupidity); going to try again later in the month with no Moon. — Mike Birch 13 September (Hog Roast) — After the hog roast we started up the 36" and showed several visitors some of the brighter Messiers but then it started clouding up. After being completely clouded over for about an hour, our visitors all left and we were about ready to shut down when the sky started clearing out. We broke out our September list and went hunting…by midnight we had viewed all ten items and the challenge object. — Steve McSpadden My viewing did not go too well. I was able to see M13, M6 and one a couple other open clusters before the clouds rolled in. I had just replaced the eyepiece with the Mallincam in time to see appear and disappear several times as the clouds covered it. I looked around the sky and decided it wasn’t going to improve. I decided I didn’t want to spend the night trying to find sucker holes so I started tearing down my equipment. Just as I pulled my mount off the tripod someone said “look the sky is clearing!” I didn’t want to try to reassemble everything in the dark so I went up and worked through the September list with Mike Birch, Steve McSpadden and Wayne McSpadden. This was my second time through the list but I was at least able to see the challenge object after Wayne suggested we use an UltraBlock filter to see if we would reveal the nebulosity. That worked! All things said, it was a fun night. I just wish I had been a bit more patient. Laura being more patient than me, continued to observe in the back field using her new Orion table-top dob (bought for the grandkids). Since it is not a go-to, she was using it to start working on her AL Messier list. I think she had a good evening but she will have to give you the details. [see below] — Fred Keller I had a chance to use a new toy, the Orion StarBlast 114mm tabletop reflector (f/4.4). This is a similar telescope to the one that clubs are purchasing to donate to libraries to be loaned out. My version has a battery operated auto-tracking feature, which appears to work reasonably well (but not well enough for astrophotography, of course!). I started by picking out the pretty M7 just after dark, but then the clouds moved in. The little scope was easy to put away, and just as easy to get back out an hour or so later when the sky cleared back up! I manually located a few more easy Messiers, and the telescope did a respectable job even on the Ring Nebula. We finished the evening with the Double Cluster, which was especially impressive in the 10mm eyepiece, as the two clusters filled the field of view. Page 5 October 2014
IAS News and Views The StarBlast was stable on the wooden box I used as a table. It slewed smoothly and gave some pretty nice views. Looks like it might make a nice entry level scope for the grandkids, and it was part of a fun evening for me as well. It is also available with a go-to, which might make it an even nicer telescope for the kids. Also, I want to thank Mike Newberg and Wayne McSpadden for jump-starting my car battery so I could get home! — Laura Keller 19-20 September (New Moon Group) — High cirrus at the Link observing site adversely affected viewing conditions Friday and kept this scheduled event from being held. On Saturday, it rained. Unfortunately, no cancellation notice was posted to the Yahoo group. Oops! Members are reminded to send an inquiry before making the trip, just to be sure. We’ll try to be more proactive in October. 20 September (LOSSC event) — Although our observing plans were rained out, the LOSSC program was once again a success. A full report is provided later in this newsletter. Also, here’s a quick shout out to the Kellers for the pizza. 26 September impromptu session — Our impromptu session last night at the Link was ANOTHER bust. Once again, the weatherman lied. I would say it was partly to mostly cloudy all evening. In attendance were Steve, Wayne, Frank Hunter, Dan Westfall, and George Petzen. Steve and I were able to view a few globular clusters and planetary nebulae from a list I generated from the “Sky Tonight” website. Frank was trying to get a few images through the clouds with his C9 and DSLR. George was getting more acquainted with his Advanced VX and Dan was working his C8. I think Frank was the happiest of all. He said he was able to get several images that he was pleased with and that’s really all that matters. I'm actually looking forward to the coming cooler months, hoping that maybe the cooler temps will help clear out the skies a little. — Wayne McSpadden
LOSSC Update The LOSSC program at the Link Observatory on Saturday, Sept 20 was another well-attended program and presented a variety of notable events. Young Will Sears provided a special presentation on Black Holes. Will is a nine-year-old fourth grader at White Lick Elementary School in Brownsburg. In just his first year in 4-H he won Reserve Champion for his Black Hole display at the Hendricks County Fair. Will and his mother Amber are regulars at LOSSC functions at the Link Observatory and Will has always impressed the staff with his understanding of astronomy. He received an enthusiastic round of applause for his presentation Saturday night and Mike Newberg did a great job helping Will develop his talk and assisted Will in his on-stage presentation. Mike is the Director of the LOSSC Young Astronomers Clubs.
Will Sears of White Lick Elementary School delivers his Black Hole presentation to the attendees of the 7 PM session while Mike Newberg lends a hand.
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IAS News and Views A videographer from WTIU in Bloomington was present at the Link and filmed Will’s presentation for an upcoming episode of The Friday Zone, a PBS television program for young adults. Will is visiting the WTIU studio in the spring of 2015 for on-stage filming and will be presenting his award winning display on Black Holes for the television crowd! We will inform everyone when his program will air. Greg McCauley then provided the main lecture titled “The Search for Alien Life and the Science Behind the Search.” The lecture explored the fascinating possibilities of alien life, from microbial life that may exist right here in our own solar system to intelligent civilizations scattered throughout the Milky Way. Greg discussed the technologies we are currently using to detect extraterrestrial life and the science behind that search. The LOSSC then presented a raffle for a new Orion StarBlast 4.5 tabletop dobsonian telescope. Raffle tickets sold for $10 each or three for $25. All proceeds go to the LOSSC Young Astronomers Club development in libraries throughout central Indiana. The raffle will be ongoing and tickets will be available for purchase at the Oct 18 and Nov 15 LOSSC programs at the Link. The drawing will be held on Dec 6 and the winner will be contacted for delivery. There’s still time to buy a ticket! It’s a great telescope for you, your kids or grandkids. It’s a high quality telescope, is very easy to use and will provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Watch for young Jodh Pulella on The Friday Zone. His show will air on Friday, September 26 on PBS. Jodh is a Young Astronomers Club member at our Carmel Public Library Club, and his Link Observatory presentation on Exoplanets will be the focus of his Friday Zone appearance. NASA Books! The LOSSC has an extensive inventory of excellent books and other publications from NASA and will be offering those for free to all who attend the LOSSC functions at the Link Observatory. This is a great way to develop your home library with books on space travel, space exploration and science. All books are free and our inventory is growing with more than 3500 books in over 35 titles. The LOSSC is now offering two start times for their monthly programs at the Link Observatory. Program times are at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM with observing at 10:00. We have enjoyed an evergrowing attendance at our functions and have developed a two-program format to help ease the overcrowding in the auditorium and parking lot. The LOSSC will be proceeding with improvements to the parking lot in the spring of 2015 to make it better for all. Thank you for your continued support of the LOSSC and our outreach and informal education programs. — Greg McCauley
Prairie Skies Star Party 2014 The Prairie Skies Star Party is sponsored by Chicago area astronomical clubs, much like our Indiana Family Star Party. The weather was forecast to be good for Thursday and Friday so I took my 18" Dob to work on the Astronomical League’s Carbon Stars list. The 4H camp is located just west of Kankakee, IL some four hours’ drive away. It is not a dark site by any means with the glow of Chicago to the north and Kankakee to the east. Thursday night was cold, clear with no wind and dew. A significant humidity haze made seeing faint fuzzies very difficult. I was able to work through the carbon star list due to their general brightness. Friday night was much better and slightly warmer with a bit of a breeze and little dew. We enjoyed good observing all night and I observed the Crescent Nebula with the help of a UHC Nebula filter. Saturday we were forewarned of an incoming storm, so most participants packed up their scopes and hunkered down as the storm swept through in the afternoon. Page 7 October 2014
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There were no vendors at this event, which was a disappointment for me, as I usually pick up replacements for items that have failed or broken. A few participants brought their “junque” boxes with them and set up tailgate horse trading for odds and ends. I didn’t see anything that I couldn’t do without. The party included competition for scope builders and astro-imagers. I saw several nicely constructed dobs and one very complex coronagraph that allowed photography of the Sun as if an eclipse had occurred. Very interesting to see. Lectures in the chow hall included Animals in Space, How to determine latitude and longitude using a pole and its shadow and Light Pollution Awareness. No meals were available, but a guy served hot dogs during the day and chili at midnight at a little stand on the observing field.
This star party is noted for its generous door prizes and some $4,000 dollars of items were drawn for. The grand prize was a beautiful Stellarview 80mm APO with Feather Touch focuser which costs around $1,600 dollars. Drooled over that, but was very satisfied to win a $99 discount certificate from Software Bisque which will help me upgrade to their new TheSkyX planetarium software. — Bill Conner P.S.: I won first place for deep sky astrophotography with my image of the Pinwheel Galaxy – M33 and second place in public choice. I’m very happy to be able to hold my own here in the Midwest. It is difficult to compete with the imagers out west who have 250+ clear nights a year to create great, deep images.
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2015 Winter Star Party Come to the warm, sunny Florida Keys for your complete latitude adjustment. Spend a winter vacation under dark, steady skies rubbing elbows with fellow astronomers and astro-imagers looking out over the ocean. The Winter Star Party “WSP” is a serious event designed for amateur astronomers. WSP is held annually, usually during the new moon in February. The event is unique in that it occurs mid-winter during the height of the Florida Keys tourist season. The warm weather, coupled with dark skies, and possibly the steadiest skies in North America attracts attendees from all over the frozen United States, Canada, and Europe giving the event an international flavor. The amateur astronomical “get-to-together” allows participants to meet and share observing ideas, astro-imaging techniques, as well as find out what’s new in the hobby. WSP offers a stellar daily line-up of speakers who are experts in their particular field. WSP is held under the auspices of the Southern Cross Astronomical Society of Miami. This not-forprofit organization funnels proceeds from this event toward public education projects, scholarship programs, humanitarian needs and Girl Scout Camp improvements. The 2015 event will occur from February 16-22. For more information, or to register online, visit http://scas.org/?services=services-3
Celestial Events for October 2014 04 - Minor planet 1 Ceres passes just 30' north of Saturn. 06 - Possible Draconid meteor shower, highly variable in terms of rates and timing, but unfavorable in 2014, with the Moon just two days from Full. 07 - Uranus is at opposition in Pisces. Uranus rises at sunset and is up all night. 08 - A Total Lunar Eclipse visible from the Pacific Rim region occurs, centered on 10:56 UT. The planet Uranus will also lie less than a degree away from the eclipsed Moon! 14 - Comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS may reach 5th magnitude for southern hemisphere viewers 13 - The Moon reaches it shallowest northern declination for 2014 at +18.5º. 19 - Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring passes just 7' from the planet Mars. Globular cluster NGC6401 also lies nearby. 22 - The Orionid meteor shower peaks at ~05:00 UT, with a predicted ZHR=25 favoring the Americas. Optimal in 2014, with the Moon a very thin, waning crescent. 22 - The Moon occults Mercury for Australia just 24 hours prior to New as seen from Australia. 23 - A Partial Solar Eclipse visible from western North America occurs centered on 21:46 UT. 25 - The Moon occults Saturn for the northern Atlantic at ~15:43 UT. 25 - The Moon reaches its shallowest southern point for 2014, at a declination of -18.6 º.
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Total Lunar Eclipse – Pre-dawn of October 8 The second total lunar eclipse of 2014 is best seen from the Pacific Ocean and bordering regions. The eclipse occurs at the Moon’s descending node in southern Pisces, two days after perigee (October 06 at 09:41 UT). This means that the Moon will appear 5.3% larger than it did during the April 15 eclipse (32.7 vs. 31.3 arc-minutes). This time the orbital path of the Moon takes it through the northern half of Earth’s umbral shadow. The total phase lasts 59 minutes primarily because the diameter of the umbral shadow is larger (1.49° vs. 1.39°). The times of the major eclipse phases are listed below. Penumbral Eclipse Begins: Partial Eclipse Begins: Total Eclipse Begins: Greatest Eclipse: Total Eclipse Ends: Moonset (Indianapolis): Partial Eclipse Ends: Penumbral Eclipse Ends:
04:15 EDT 05:15 EDT 06:25 EDT 06:55 EDT 07:24 EDT 07:52 EDT 08:34 EDT 09:34 EDT
At the instant of greatest eclipse (10:54:36 UT) the Moon lies near the zenith from a location in the Pacific Ocean about 2000 km southwest of Hawaii. At this time, the umbral magnitude peaks at 1.1659 as the Moon’s southern limb passes 6.6 arc-minutes north of the shadow’s central axis. In contrast, the Moon’s northern limb lies 5.4 arc-minutes from the northern edge of the umbra and 39.3 arc-minutes from the shadow centre. As a result, the southern half of the Moon will appear much darker than the northern half because it lies deeper in the umbra. The Moon samples a large range of umbral depths during totality so its appearance will change considerably with time. Although relatively faint, the planet Uranus (m = +5.7) lies just 2/3° southeast of the Moon during totality. The entire October 08 eclipse is visible from the Pacific Ocean and regions immediately bordering it. The northwestern 1/3 of North America also witnesses all stages. Farther east, various phases occur after moonset. For instance, the Moon sets during totality from eastern Canada and the USA. The October 08 eclipse is the 42nd eclipse of Saros 127. This series is composed of 72 lunar eclipses in the following sequence: 11 penumbral, 18 partial, 16 total, 20 partial, and 7 penumbral eclipses (Espenak and Meeus, 2009). The family began with the penumbral eclipse of 1275 July 09, and ends with another penumbral eclipse on 2555 September 02. — Fred Espenak, NASA [Get up before dawn and find a location with a good western horizon to see this eclipse. Also, cross your fingers that we will have better weather than we did back in April. The last two eclipse events occur after moonset and will not be visible from central Indiana; you may also find that morning twilight interferes with observing the end of totality. However, getting an eclipsed Moon and the horizon in the same frame could make for some interesting photo opportunities. — beb]
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October Meteor Showers The South Taurids is a long-lasting shower that reaches a barely noticeable maximum on October 9 or 10. It is active for more than two months but rarely produces more than five shower members per hour, even at maximum. The Taurids (both branches) are rich in fireballs and are often responsible for increased number of fireball reports from September through November. South Taurid meteors originate from periodic comet Encke. The Orionids is a medium-strength shower that sometimes reaches high activity. In a normal year it produces a maximum of 20-25 members per hour. This year is quite favorable for viewing the shower as the Moon will be a thin, waning crescent during the predawn hours of October 22. The radiant is located above Orion’s bright reddish star Betelgeuse. The source object for the Orionids is periodic comet Halley. — Source: American Meteor Society
Partial Solar Eclipse – October 23 The final eclipse event of 2014 occurs at the Moon’s ascending node in southern Virgo. Although it is only a partial solar eclipse, it is of particular interest because the event is widely visible from Canada and the USA. The penumbral shadow first touches Earth’s surface near the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Siberia at 19:37:33 UT. As the shadow travels east, much of North America will be treated to a partial eclipse. The eclipse magnitude from cities like Vancouver (0.658), San Francisco (0.504), Denver (0.556), and Toronto (0.443) will surely attract the media’s attention. Greatest eclipse occurs at 21:45 UT in Canada’s Nunavut Territory near Prince of Wales Island where the eclipse in the horizon will have a magnitude of 0.811. At that time, the axis of the Moon’s shadow will pass about 675 km above Earth’s surface. A sunset eclipse will be visible from the eastern half of the USA and Canada (except for the far northeast). The partial eclipse ends when the penumbra leaves Earth at 23:52 UT. Information for Indianapolis: Partial Eclipse Begins: Greatest Eclipse: Sunset:
17:43 EDT 18:47 EDT 18:52 EDT
This is the 9th eclipse of Saros 153 (Espenak and Meeus, 2006). The series began on 1870 Jul 28 with a string of 13 partial eclipses. The first of 49 annular eclipses begins on 2104 Dec 17. The series ends with a set of 8 partial eclipses the last of which occurs on 3114 Aug 22. In all, Saros 153 produces 70 solar eclipses in the sequence of 13 partial, 49 annular, and 8 partial eclipses. — Fred Espenak, NASA [Once again, you’ll need a location with an uncluttered southwestern horizon. Maximum eclipse magnitude will be 0.511 from Indianapolis, at which time the Sun will be only 1º above the horizon. Sunset occurs a mere 5 minutes later. As with the lunar eclipse earlier in the month, this event should provide excellent photo opportunities if the weather cooperates. — beb] Page 11 October 2014
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Dark Sky Observing Site Information We are able to observe at the Link Observatory, Prairie Grass Observatories, and McCloud Nature Park during non-scheduled times if they do not conflict with reserved activities. The Link Observatory is open for observing during IAS functions at that location. For scheduled events, see the IAS calendar under the “Events Schedule” tab on the website www.iasindy.org (a monthly calendar is at the end of this newsletter). Impromptu observing opportunities are also occasionally announced on the IAS-Indy Yahoo group by our telescope operators. All observing depends on weather conditions, so please join the Yahoo group to receive the latest information. For those interested in observing at McCloud Nature Park, call the park office 765-676-5437 before 4 PM on the day you want to go. The administrators will give you permission to be there at night and make arrangements to turn off the lights. For those interested in observing at Prairie Grass Observatory, call Hoppe at 765-296-2753.
IU Kirkwood Observatory Bloomington In 2014, the Kirkwood Observatory on the IU campus will again be conducting “open house” events from late March through mid-November. The Solar Telescope will be open on the first Saturday of each month from 1-3 PM; viewers may even be able to see a solar prominence or two! For nighttime viewing, the 12" refractor will be in use each Wednesday evening. Please visit our web site at www.astro.indiana.edu/kirkwood.shtml for dates and times. No reservations are required. Events may be cancelled if weather conditions are unfavorable. Call the Kirkwood Observatory Hotline at (812) 855-7736 for updates and closings.
The Origin of Star Names The earliest Western star catalogue (as we understand the term) originated with Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek scientist working at the great library of Alexandria in the second century. Ptolemy was one of the most influential Greek astronomers and geographers of his time; however, very little is actually known of his life. The culmination of Greek establishment of constellation/star names was contained in Books VII and VIII of his Almagest, written circa 140 AD. In it, Ptolemy catalogued 1025 nakedeye stars, most named in descriptive terms based on their location within a constellation (“eye of the bull,” “tail of the lion,” etc.). The associated constellation figures were recognized by the Sumerians and Babylonians, but are thought to predate even those early civilizations. They are a part of our collective cultural heritage, but their origins are unknown. Classical science declined after the fall of Rome, and the religious fervor that swept Western Europe during what is now known as the Dark Ages resulted in the destruction of many scientific texts, the Bible being viewed as the source of all knowledge. However, the Arab-Islamic world kept classical knowledge alive by translating Hellenistic works into Arabic. Much of the Alexandrian library collections survived only in Arabic translations. In the 12th century, Spain became the conduit for the transmission of astronomical knowledge back into medieval Europe. This included the reintroduction of Ptolemy’s writings and additional ArabIslamic astronomical texts. Effectively, knowledge of Ptolemy’s Almagest passed from Greece into the Islamic world then into Western Europe. When translated back into European languages, Renaissance scholars mostly kept the Arabic star names. The majority of the brighter stars today are still known by those names, often beginning with “al-,” the Arabic word for “the.” [Note: Any service offering to “sell” a star for you to name is a scam. If you’re so inclined, select your own star, design and print your own novelty certificate, and save yourself the fifty bucks.] Page 12 October 2014
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AL/Cor Observations Asteroid Program Introduction The Asteroid Program is one of the Astronomical League’s observing award programs. Its purpose is to encourage amateurs to learn to identify and observe asteroids. While the deep sky objects observable by amateurs remain the same, year after year, the asteroids (like the other planets) are constantly moving against the background of the constellations. By learning to identify asteroids you will greatly enhance your observing skills. Since asteroids appear as points of light, rather than extended objects, they do not suffer from light pollution as much as deep sky objects. Hence an asteroid observing program can be carried out quite successfully from urban or suburban locations. Some amateurs who have mastered the asteroid observing techniques have gone on to make serious scientific contributions. These include: - astrometry, the precise measurement of an asteroid’s position at a given time - the discovery of new asteroids - photometry, the measurement of an asteroid’s brightness and its variation - the timing of asteroid occultations. The Program The Asteroid Program offers two levels of awards as shown below. Membership Regular Gold
Asteroids Required 25 100
Award certificate certificate & pin
Minimum Telescope Size 4-inch 6-inch
Your observations should be recorded in a notebook or on a computer and should include: the location, date and time of the observation, the number and name of the asteroid, and the instrument used. If working visually, each observation should include a sketch showing the position of the asteroid in relation to the nearby stars. Each asteroid must be observed at least twice in different positions, and at the time of the second observation you must verify that the object is no longer in the position where it was observed the first time. If using CCD imaging, it is sufficient to either print the two positions or measure them and simply report the positions of the asteroid according to standard astrometric procedures. To receive your certificate and/or award pin, send a copy of your observations to the program coordinator. For the regular certificate (25 asteroids), copies of your sketches should also be submitted. Please retain the originals. The Awards Only Astronomical League members are eligible. Upon verification, your certificate and pin may either be forwarded directly to you, or you may instead choose to have it sent to the IAS for presentation at a club meeting. For further details, browse to www.astroleague.org, click on the “Observe” tab at the top of the home page, and select “Clubs by Experience Level.” The Asteroid Program is listed in the Intermediate section. Contact the IAS Astronomical League Coordinator at
[email protected] for more information. — Adapted from the Astronomical League web site Page 13 October 2014
IAS News and Views
Twinkle, Twinkle, Variable Star As bright and steady as they appear, the stars in our sky won’t shine forever. The steady brilliance of these sources of light is powered by a tumultuous interior, where nuclear processes fuse light elements and isotopes into heavier ones. Because the heavier nuclei up to iron (Fe), have a greater binding energies-per-nucleon, each reaction results in a slight reduction of the star’s mass, converting it into energy via Einstein’s famous equation relating changes in mass and energy output, E = mc2. Over timescales of tens of thousands of years, that energy migrates to the star’s photosphere, where it’s emitted out into the universe as starlight. There’s only a finite amount of fuel in there, and when stars run out, the interior contracts and heats up, often enabling heavier elements to burn at even higher temperatures, and causing sun-like stars to grow into red giants. Even though the cores of both hydrogen-burning and heliumburning stars have consistent, steady energy outputs, our sun’s overall brightness varies by just ~0.1%, while red giants can have their brightness’s vary by factors of thousands or more over the course of a single year! In fact, the first periodic or pulsating variable star ever discovered — Mira (omicron Ceti) — behaves exactly in this way.
Images credit: NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spacecraft, of Mira and its tail in UV light (top); Margarita Karovska (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA) / NASA's Hubble Space Telescope image of Mira, with the distortions revealing the presence of a binary companion (lower left); public domain image of Orion, the Pleiades and Mira (near maximum brightness) by Brocken Inaglory of Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0 (lower right).
There are many types of variable stars, including Cepheids, RR Lyrae, cataclysmic variables and more, but it’s the Mira-type variables that give us a glimpse into our Sun’s likely future. In general, the cores of stars burn through their fuel in a very consistent fashion, but in the case of pulsating variable stars the outer layers of stellar atmospheres vary. Initially heating up and expanding, they overshoot equilibrium, reach a maximum size, cool, then often forming neutral molecules that behave as light-blocking dust, with the dust then falling back to the star, ionizing and starting the whole process over again. This temporarily neutral dust absorbs the visible light from the star and re-emits it, but as infrared radiation, which is invisible to our eyes. In the case of Mira (and many red giants), it’s Titanium Monoxide (TiO) that causes it to dim so severely, from a maximum magnitude of +2 or +3 (clearly visible to the naked eye) to a minimum of +9 or +10, requiring a telescope (and an experienced observer) to find! Visible in the constellation of Cetus during the fall and winter from the Northern Hemisphere, Mira is presently at magnitude +7 and headed towards its minimum, but will reach its maximum brightness again in May of next year and every 332 days thereafter. Shockingly, Mira contains a huge, 13 lightyear-long tail — visible only in the UV — that it leaves as it rockets through the interstellar medium at 130 km/sec! Look for it in your skies all winter long, and contribute your results to the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) International Database to help study its long-term behavior! Check out some cool images and simulated animations of Mira here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/galex/20070815/v.html — Dr. Ethan Siegel, spaceplace.nasa.gov
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IAS News and Views
Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012 July 23, 2014: If an asteroid big enough to knock modern civilization back to the 18th century appeared out of deep space and buzzed the Earth-Moon system, the near-miss would be instant worldwide headline news. Two years ago, Earth experienced a close shave just as perilous, but most newspapers didn’t mention it. The “impactor” was an extreme solar storm, the most powerful in as much as 150+ years. “If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,” says Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado. Baker, along with colleagues from NASA and other universities, published a seminal study of the storm in the December 2013 issue of the journal Space Weather. Their paper, entitled “A major solar eruptive event in July 2012,” describes how a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) tore through Earth orbit A CME and flare from the later August 31, 2012 event. Courtesy NASA. on July 23, 2012. Fortunately Earth wasn’t there. Instead, the storm cloud hit the STEREO-A spacecraft. “I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did,” says Baker. “If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire. Extreme solar storms pose a threat to all forms of high-technology. They begin with an explosion--a “solar flare”—in the magnetic canopy of a sunspot. X-rays and extreme UV radiation reach Earth at light speed, ionizing the upper layers of our atmosphere; side-effects of this “solar EMP” include radio blackouts and GPS navigation errors. Minutes to hours later, the energetic particles arrive. Moving only slightly slower than light itself, electrons and protons accelerated by the blast can electrify satellites and damage their electronics. Then come the CMEs, billion-ton clouds of magnetized plasma that take a day or more to cross the Sun-Earth divide. Analysts believe that a direct hit by an extreme CME such as the one that missed Earth in July 2012 could cause widespread power blackouts, disabling everything that plugs into a wall socket. Most people wouldn’t even be able to flush their toilet because urban water supplies largely rely on electric pumps. Before July 2012, when researchers talked about extreme solar storms their touchstone was the iconic Carrington Event of Sept. 1859, named after English astronomer Richard Carrington who actually saw the instigating flare with his own eyes. In the days that followed his observation, a series of powerful CMEs hit Earth head-on with a potency not felt before or since. Intense geomagnetic storms ignited Northern Lights as far south as Cuba and caused global telegraph lines to spark, setting fire to some telegraph offices and thus disabling the “Victorian Internet.” A similar storm today could have a catastrophic effect. According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences, the total economic impact could exceed $2 trillion or 20 times greater than the costs of a Hurricane Katrina. Multi-ton transformers damaged by such a storm might take years to repair. “In my view the July 2012 storm was in all respects at least as strong as the 1859 Carrington event,” says Baker. “The only difference is, it missed.” In February 2014, physicist Pete Riley of Predictive Science Inc. published a paper in Space Weather entitled “On the probability of occurrence of extreme space weather events.” In it, he analyzed records of solar storms going back 50+ years. By extrapolating the frequency of ordinary storms to the Page 15 October 2014
IAS News and Views extreme, he calculated the odds that a Carrington-class storm would hit Earth in the next ten years. The answer: 12%. “Initially, I was quite surprised that the odds were so high, but the statistics appear to be correct,” says Riley. “It is a sobering figure.” In his study, Riley looked carefully at a parameter called Dst, short for “disturbance – storm time.” This is a number calculated from magnetometer readings around the equator. Essentially, it measures how hard Earth’s magnetic field shakes when a CME hits. The more negative Dst becomes, the worse the storm. Ordinary geomagnetic storms, which produce Northern Lights around the Arctic Circle, but otherwise do no harm, register Dst=-50 nT (nanoTesla). The worst geomagnetic storm of the Space Age, which knocked out power across Quebec in March 1989, registered Dst=-600 nT. Modern estimates of Dst for the Carrington Event itself range from -800 nT to a staggering -1750 nT. In their Dec. 2013 paper, Baker et al. estimated Dst for the July 2012 storm. “If that CME had hit Earth, the resulting geomagnetic storm would have registered a Dst of -1200, comparable to the Carrington Event and twice as bad as the March 1989 Quebec blackout.” The reason researchers know so much about the July 2012 storm is because, out of all the spacecraft in the solar system it could have hit, it did hit a solar observatory. STEREO-A is almost ideally equipped to measure the parameters of such an event. “The rich data set obtained by STEREO far exceeded the relatively meager observations that Carrington was able to make in the 19th century,” notes Riley. “Thanks to STEREO-A we know a lot of about the magnetic structure of the CME, the kind of shock waves and energetic particles it produced, and perhaps most importantly of all, the number of CMEs that preceded it.” It turns out that the active region responsible for producing the July 2012 storm didn’t launch just one CME into space, but many. Some of those CMEs “plowed the road” for the superstorm. A paper in the March 2014 edition of Nature Communications by UC Berkeley space physicist Janet G. Luhmann and former postdoc Ying D. Liu describes the process: The July 23rd CME was actually two CMEs separated by only 10 to 15 minutes. This double-CME traveled through a region of space that had been cleared out by yet another CME four days earlier. As a result, the storm clouds were not decelerated as much as usual by their transit through the interplanetary medium. “It’s likely that the Carrington event was also associated with multiple eruptions, and this may turn out to be a key requirement for extreme events,” notes Riley. “In fact, it seems that extreme events may require an ideal combination of a number of key features to produce the ‘perfect solar storm.’” “Pre-conditioning by multiple CMEs appears to be very important,” agrees Baker. A common question about this event is, how did the STEREO-A probe survive? After all, Carringtonclass storms are supposed to be mortally dangerous to spacecraft and satellites. Yet STEREO-A not only rode out the storm, but also continued taking high-quality data throughout. “Spacecraft such as the STEREO twins and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (a joint ESA/NASA mission) were designed to operate in the environment outside the Earth’s magnetosphere, and that includes even quite intense, CME-related shocks,” says Joe Gurman, the STEREO project scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center. “To my knowledge, nothing serious happened to the spacecraft.” The story might have been different, he says, if STEREO-A were orbiting Earth instead of traveling through interplanetary space. “Inside Earth’s magnetosphere, strong electric currents can be generated by a CME strike,” he explains. “Out in interplanetary space, however, the ambient magnetic field is much weaker and so those dangerous currents are missing.” In short, STEREO-A was in a good place to ride out the storm. “Without the kind of coverage afforded by the STEREO mission, we as a society might have been blissfully ignorant of this remarkable solar storm,” notes Baker. “How many others of this scale have Page 16 October 2014
IAS News and Views just happened to miss Earth and our space detection systems? This is a pressing question that needs answers.” If Riley’s work holds true, there is a 12% chance we will learn a lot more about extreme solar storms in the next 10 years — when one actually strikes Earth. Says Baker, “We need to be prepared.” — Dr. Tony Philips, Science@NASA
October Deep-Sky Challenge Bruce Bowman Below please find a list of ten (10) objects to view this month. Those who complete the primary objects will receive a certificate via email and be recognized in the News and Views. We’re also providing a challenge object to help push the limits of your observing skills. It’s not necessary to successfully view the challenge object to receive the certificate; we only ask that you try. Please complete the following list to receive the October certificate: NGC7180 NGC7184 NGC7185 NGC7252 NGC7576 NGC7585 NGC7600 NGC7606 NGC7723 NGC7727
Elliptical galaxy in Aquarius Spiral galaxy in Aquarius Lenticular galaxy in Aquarius Barred lenticular galaxy in Aquarius Lenticular galaxy in Aquarius Lenticular galaxy in Aquarius Elliptical galaxy in Aquarius Spiral galaxy in Aquarius Spiral galaxy in Aquarius Barred spiral galaxy in Aquarius
Challenge object for October 2014: NGC7492 in Aquarius The above objects are all located between 22 and 0 hours of right ascension and are well-placed for evening viewing this month. Aquarius the water-bearer is one of the oldest constellations of the zodiac, dating back to Babylonian times and likely even earlier. It is found in a region often called The Sea due to the profusion of constellations with watery associations such as Cetus the whale, Pisces the fish, and Eridanus the river. The “Age of Aquarius,” heralded by both astrologers and The 5th Dimension, will not occur for another 600 years, at which time precession will bring the vernal equinox into the constellation. In Greek mythology, Aquarius is sometimes associated with Deucalion, the son of Prometheus who built a ship with his wife Pyrrha to survive an imminent flood. They sailed for nine days before washing ashore on Mount Parnassus; an ancient legend that likely has a common origin with the Biblical account of Noah’s Ark. More frequently, the water-bearer is identified as Ganymede, scion of the Trojan king Tros, who was said to be more beautiful than any other mortal, male or female. Zeus took quite an interest in the pretty young prince and — taking the form of an eagle — abducted him to Mount Olympus to serve as cup-carrier to the gods. Tros was adequately compensated with a pair of fast horses and the understanding that his son was now immortal and held a place of honor. To put it mildly, Zeus was very fond of Ganymede. Aquarius contains a handful of galactic objects, but we’ve already viewed the best of those in previous editions of the deep-sky challenge. Yes, we’re back to galaxies again…sorry! So put on an observer’s eyepatch, turn down the lights, practice averted vision, and generally prepare yourself for another evening of “faint fuzzies.”
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IAS News and Views Our first three objects lie within 30' of each other and might make for a nice low-power view. NGC7184 is the largest of the three and may be the only one marked on your star chart. This 11thmagnitude spiral is very elongated in position angle 60º and is about 5' in length. Look for it about 1º east of the 6th-magnitude variable SAO 190786, also known as BW Capricorni. About 16' to the NNW lies the elliptical galaxy NGC7180. My astro-notes from 2010 suggest a much smaller object that is gradually much brighter in the center and elongated in the same position angle as its predecessor. At magnitude 12.6, this one shouldn’t be too terribly difficult. You’ll find NGC7185 another 10' to the ENE. Although listed at magnitude 12.2, this one appeared slightly fainter than that to my eye; yet the brighter central region should be readily detectable along with its prominent, nearstellar nucleus. If you feel this one is easy to see, try the much fainter NGC7188 another 10' NNE as an “extra credit” object.
NGC7252, a barred lenticular galaxy (what does that even mean?), is in the southernmost regions of Aquarius, almost in Piscis Austrinus. Look for it about 40' due west of the 6th-magnitude star 49 Aquarii. At magnitude 11, this one should be pretty easy, but it’s southern declination forces us Indiana folks to look through a lot of atmosphere. My astro-notes suggest a pretty faint, small, and weakly concentrated spot of light only an arc-minute across.
You’ll find NGC7585 about 30' NE of the 6th-magnitude double 96 Aquarii. My notes say this one is pretty small but considerably bright with a prominent stellar nucleus. It seemed pretty much round to me but larger apertures may show some of the elongation visible in the POSS image above. NGC7576, just 11' to the SW, is considerably fainter. My notes show it to be pretty faint, somewhat elongated in the north-south direction, which a much brighter nuclear region. Return to NGC7585 and slew 15' to the NW to land on NGC7592. This “extra credit” object is a magnitude fainter than the previous two
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IAS News and Views and is therefore not among our targets this month. However, it might still be detectable using the 36" scope at Link. We’re already pointed here anyway, so give it a shot! Start at the slightly variable red giant star χ(“ chi” ) Aquarii and slew 40' ENE to land on NGC7600. My notes suggest a hazy patch of light about 2' long with a bright core and a much fainter halo. Like many lenticular galaxies it is not too difficult to spot. NGC7606 can be found a little less than 1º due south of NGC7600. This object has a similar total brightness spread out over an area 5 by 1'. Nonetheless, it is a fairly obvious and relatively impressive spiral that vaguely reminds me of NGC2903 in Leo. NGC7723 is readily found 20' ENE of the magnitude 5.6 triple SAO 165804. Brighter than 12th magnitude, my astro-notes from way back in 1990 state that it is more or less round, considerably large and bright, and gradually much brighter in the middle, as viewed using a 13" Dobsonian from a semi-rural backyard observatory. This galaxy should be readily visible to anyone with a scope of 8" or larger aperture. NGC7727, 40' NNE, is also quite bright. Look for a round, fairly faint halo and a core that brightens to a stellar nucleus. Also look for our third “extra credit” object, NGC7724, just 12' to the WNW. Well, I guess I lied. Our challenge object this month is not a galaxy, but a difficult globular cluster. NGC7492 is located a little over 2º east of delta Aquarii, but is not at all easy to see. Member stars are very faint and you’re unlikely to see any resolution in this cluster. All I could detect with my 12" SCT was a round, hazy spot about 4' across with very little central condensation. Try panning your scope across the object, or turn off your clock drive. The rod cells in a human eye are not very densely packed and are often more sensitive to faint, extended objects in motion. If you complete this list prior to the end of October, contact Bruce Bowman to ensure you receive recognition. At this time only IAS members are eligible. Congratulations to the following six (6) IAS members for completing the August challenge: Mike Birch, Bill Conner, Laura Keller, John Kramer, Steve McSpadden, and Wayne McSpadden. No one was able to detect the challenge globular cluster NGC6541 visually, although Bill managed to image it after cutting down some trees!
Novice/Urban Observing List – October 2014 Phil Dimpelfeld The objects in this month’s observing list lie between the celestial coordinates of Right Ascension = 22h and RA = 0h. This section of the sky includes parts of the zodiac constellations Aquarius and Pisces. The Milky Way runs through the constellations Lacerta, Cepheus, and Cassiopeia. Neptune is also featured this month – see if you can identify it! This month’s list is divided into three levels. The brighter objects, which are relatively easy to find, are in Level 1. The fainter, and more challenging objects, are in Levels 2 and 3. You need only observe 6 objects from any of the levels to qualify for a Certificate of Achievement. Even if you do not have a telescope, being able to identify a double star counts as an observation. LEVEL 1 Xi Cephei, Double Star in Cepheus, 22h 03.8m, +64° 38', mag = 4.4, 6.5, sep = 7.7" Zeta Aquarii, Double Star in Aquarius, 22h 28.8m, -00° 01', mag = 4.3, 4.5, sep = 1.8" Page 19 October 2014
IAS News and Views Delta Cephei, Variable/Double Star in Cepheus, 22h 29.2m, +58° 25', mag = (v3.5 – 4.4), 6.3, sep = 41". The primary is the prototype of the famed Cepheid variables used as “standard candles” for determining distances; period = 5.4 days. 8 Lacertae, Double (Quadruple) Star in Lacerta, 22h 35.9m, +39° 38', mag = 5.7, 6.5/10.5, 9.1, sep = 22.4"/49”, 82”. Nice blue-white pair. The two fainter companions form a delicate quadruple system with the bright pair. 94 Aquarii, Double Star in Aquarius, 23h 19.1m, -13° 28', mag = 5.3, 7.3, sep = 12.7" Sigma Cassiopeiae, Double Star in Cassiopeia, 23h 59.0m, +55° 45', mag = 5.0, 7.1, sep = 3" LEVEL 2 NGC 7243 (Caldwell 16), Open Cluster in Lacerta, 22h 15.3m, +49° 53', mag = 6.4, size = 21.0' NGC 7789, “The White Rose” Cluster, Open Cluster in Cassiopeia, 23h 57.0m, +56° 44', mag = 6.7, size = 15.0' LEVEL 3 Neptune, planet currently in Aquarius, 22h 28m, -10° 21’, mag = 7.7, size = 2.3” (very small!) NGC 7331 (Caldwell 30), Galaxy in Pegasus, 22h 37m, +34° 24', mag = 10.4, size = 10’x4’ NGC 7662, “The Blue Snowball”, Planetary Nebula in Andromeda, 23h 25.9m, +42° 33', mag = 8.3, size = 32" x 28" NOTES: To qualify for the Novice/Urban Observing List, you must observe at least six of the objects. Members are encouraged to find at least one of these objects without the use of GoTo so that they become more familiar with the night sky. If you successfully observe at least six of the objects, please contact Phil Dimpelfeld (
[email protected]). Let Phil know how many of the objects you were able to observe. You will be e-mailed a certificate recognizing your accomplishment.
Astro Ads Do you have or are you looking for astronomy-related materials and equipment? The IAS, as a service to its members, will publish non-commercial ads at no charge. For sale, exchange, or want ads are all accepted. Each ad runs in the newsletter for four months and may be renewed at the owner’s request. To place an ad, send an email to
[email protected]. Be sure to notify us when the item sells.
For Sale: Perfect condition Meade AR5: 127 mm (5”) Achro Refractor – OTA only with the following accessories and enhancements: – – – – – – –
Beautiful moonlight zeroshift Crayford focuser with factory motorized option and controller for precise “no jiggle” hands-free focusing Brand new, never used, Burgess Optical 2" 99% dielectric diagonal with compression rings and 1.25" adaptor Objective cell adjustable for perfect collimation Focus cell adjustable for perfect alignment Objective cell screws modified so that they do not interfere with light path Internal tube blackened with Ultra Flat Black; no protruding screws in light path Double length baffled dew shield Page 20 October 2014
IAS News and Views – – – – –
Meade standard 8×50 finder Standard AR5 dovetail/saddle plate AR5 rings with top mounted threads to accept accessories, guide scope, dovetail, etc. Full aperture perfect condition Identiview Class A white light glass in aluminum cell solar filter Mounted stock AR5 finder scope shoe for mounting of additional scope (he used it to mount a Coronado PST for simultaneous white light and h-alpha viewing)
$600 for all; if you bought the accessories with this scope, it would be like getting the scope for under $50! Whatta deal! Contact: Max Henschen, 926-6430, maxviewer123 at yahoo.com * * * * * Orion SkyQuest XX14i IntelliScope truss dobsonian telescope for sale. This is a very nice 14" f/4.6 telescope with a computer “push to” system that makes finding objects in the sky very easy. Beautiful piece of equipment under two years old and used only a handful of times. Motivated seller would like to see it go to a good home soon. (Please note: the camera date on the picture is incorrect, the telescope was bought in November of 2012). $1,500 or best reasonable offer. Thank you! Contact: Leah-Kate Hession, 317-413-2010 * * * * *
For Auction: Telescope and mount for auction. Telescope is a 10-inch Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain. The mount is a Meade Quartz LX Drive (looks like an early LX90). The primary mirror of the telescope is in very good shape, but the corrector plate is partially covered with a hazy film. The mount is missing its power supply and hand control unit. Sale includes an eyepiece, star diagonal, dew heater, polar wedge and tripod, and storage case. This unit was donated to Rose-Hulman’s Oakley Observatory, but never used. To see some photos and place a bid go to http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=1207303. This auction is scheduled to end on October 15. Winner must drive to Terre Haute and pick up the scope.
Public Outreach Programs To schedule a program at the Link Observatory or at your site, please contact the following people: Public Outreach Programs: To schedule a public event, contact the IAS Events Coordinator by sending an email to
[email protected]. Goethe Link Observatory tour: To schedule a tour of the Link Observatory, contact the Link Observatory Manager by sending an email to
[email protected].
Equipment Loan Program Did you know you could borrow a scope or piece of astronomy equipment from the Society and take it for a test drive? Members trying to determine what kind of equipment to buy are welcome to borrow one of the Society’s scopes for a month or two and see how they like it. Steve McSpadden is the
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IAS News and Views program coordinator and can arrange for pickup and training. We have several scopes, eyepieces and binoculars to loan. We will also consider donations of equipment appropriate for this program. The IAS is a public charity under section 509(a)(2) of the internal revenue code. We would be happy to provide acknowledgement suitable for documentation as a tax deduction. Please contact the Equipment Loan Coordinator at
[email protected].
IAS Membership Report for August 2014 On 8/31/14 the IAS had a total of 160 members. During August there were 7 renewals and 5 new memberships. The IAS welcomes the following new members: Zach Rossman — Indianapolis, IN Mel Cohn — Greenwood, IN Marcus Spike — Bedford, IN Roger Hahn — Bloomington, IN David Warnick — Martinsville, IN Submitted by Jeff O’Dair, IAS Membership Coordinator
2014 Meetings and Events Schedule Month October November December January '15
Board 7 4 — 6
General 11 8 13* 10
NAG 11 8 — 10
LOSSC 18 15 — —
Deep-Sky 24, 25 21, 22 19, 20 16, 17
McCloud — — — —
*
Holiday party and elections
Miscellanea Goethe Link Observatory Observatory Address: Goethe Link Observatory 8403 N. Observatory Lane Martinsville, IN 46151 Latitude: 39 degrees, 33 minutes north Longitude: 86 degrees, 24 minutes west Phone: (317) 831-0668 Training programs are scheduled by the Observatory Manager as instructors are available and time permits, although other requests can override these sessions. To schedule the use of the 36-inch telescope, two criteria must be met: There must be a trained telescope operator and at least one assistant present. Send an email to the Observatory Manager (
[email protected]) to confirm availability. Please plan ahead! Last-minute scheduling requests may not get access. Page 22 October 2014
IAS News and Views
IAS News & Views — The monthly newsletter can be found on our web site www.iasindy.org. The News and Views welcomes articles of local astronomical interest, follow-up on IAS events, and want/for sale ads. Please submit articles to the editor in an email to
[email protected].
Membership information — Please send an email to
[email protected]; our membership coordinator will respond promptly. Information is also available under the “Join the Society” tab on our web site.
Pay Your Dues by PayPal — The IAS web site has a cart system where you can pay your dues, order magazines, join the Astronomical League, or make a donation. The cart is found in the “Join the Society” section; you will need to establish a PayPal account for yourself to make these transactions.
Requests for Information — You may contact our officers, Board members, and Coordinators via our website at www.iasindy.org. Place your cursor on the “Home” tab and then select “Contact us .” Page down to the person you desire to contact and send an email message requesting information or a return telephone call. We will be happy to respond within a reasonable time frame.
Logo Clothing — The IAS has a supply of logo ware using Mid-Central Trophy in Kokomo, IN. Typically T-shirts, sweatshirts, polo shirts, and caps are available. Call Linda (765-453-5494), tell her this is an order for the IAS logo ware, discuss what you want and give her the size. She can determine the cost and shipping and mail the order directly to your home. All major credit cards are accepted.
In Memoriam – Dave Timmerman Dave Timmerman, a long-time IAS member, died on August 24 at the age of 83 in New Castle, where he had been living in a retirement community the last couple of years. He joined the IAS in 1997 and was a lifetime member. In addition to attending our General Meetings, he enjoyed participating at IAS outreach events, including NAG at McCloud (now McCloud’s StarGaze). For several years, he served as Treasurer of the IAS. In 2002, he took a mirrormaking class along with a few other IAS members. I was one of those other mirror-making students and thought I had produced a pretty good mirror until I saw the test results of Dave’s mirror. His mirror was perfect. After the class ended, I helped Dave build a telescope for the mirror. Dave took great pride in that mirror and enjoyed his telescope for a number of years. In addition to astronomy, Dave was a radio “ham.” He served in the Navy during the Korean War and, with an IU degree in string bass, he played in the Navy Band and subsequently in dance bands. He was an early computer programmer and spent much of his career doing computer programming for Blue Cross and Peerless Pump. — Doug Brown
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IAS News and Views
October Calendar, 2014 Sunday 28
Monday 29
Tuesday 30
Wednesday 1
Thursday 2
Friday 3
Saturday 4
9
10
11
1st Quarter
5
12
6
13
7
Program Planning Meeting, 7PM Uranus at opposition
8
14
15
Full Moon
IAS General Meeting at Holcomb, 7PM
South Taurid Meteors
Total Lunar Eclipse ~6AM
16
17
Last Quarter
19
20
21
22 Orionid Meteors
26
27
28
29
18 LOSSC 7PM and 9PM “International Space Station”
23
24
25
New Moon
Deep-Sky Observing at Link
Deep-Sky Observing at Link
31
1
Partial solar eclipse ~6PM
30 1st Quarter
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko using Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on 03 August from a distance of 285 km. The image resolution is 5.3 meters/pixel. Courtesy ESA. The IAS News and Views ©2014 by the Indiana Astronomical Society. Unsigned articles may be attributed to the editor.
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