Transcript
Refl ec t i o n s Newsletter of the Popular Astronomy Club
April 2012
THE PRESIDENTS CORNER Wayland Bauer
My mind has been in other places than astronomy for the last few weeks. Our daughter Christy who lives in Omaha, has endured 16 weeks of chemo treatments, 5 days in the hospital when she experienced a high, unexplained temperature, and on March 8 had surgery to remove cancer from her breast and lymph nodes. The night after the surgery produced an experience that brought me back to astronomy. While some friends stayed with Christy (who came through the surgery in a stellar manner “words from her doctor”) Anne and I got away for a couple hours. The first thing we noticed in the restaurant parking lot was how close together in the western sky were the planets of Jupiter and Venus. Because of the bright lights they were the only things visible in the west. When I turned around Mars was rising in the east. I found myself thinking about all the other people out that night not being aware of what was in the sky above them. When we returned to Christy’s house I remarked to her and her friends how beautiful the sky was and that they should step outside and take a look. They were amazed to learn that what they were looking at were not stars but planets. Two of the women mentioned that they had never looked through a telescope. Christy describe how the telescopic view differed from what can be seen by the naked eye, that when and if the got to the Quad-Cities they should look me up spent some looking through my telescope.
The result of this experience was further development on an idea that had been in the back my mind. The object is to make the public’s experience at the Niabi Zoo Star Parties more educational and hopefully to encourage them to return for another “adventure” the following month. I would organize a sort of “Astronomy Scavenger Hunt” and the visitors would get the list when they arrived at the event. The hunt would be for different types of telescopes, different types of mounts, constellations, significant stars, objects in Solar System, and deep space objects. The list would be developed around what would be visible that particular month. I would see members of the club with telescopes operating their scopes and trying to make sure they moved among the targets to give the people coming at different time opportunities to see all targets. Members without scopes would function as guides, answering questions, posing questions, and checking to see what things they needed to complete their “hunt.” It would help greatly if the guides would have red flashlights so the list could be read without bright lights. I hope this would provide an enjoyable and educational experience for all involved.
2012 PAC COMMITTEES
The following PAC members are serving on the designated committees for the current year. ASTRONOMY DAY COMMITTEE
– Alan Sheidler, Sara
Sheidler, and Roberta Wright PAC PICNIC COMMITTEE (SAT AUG 11, 2012)
– Donna
Jones, Cindy Pippert, and Liz Robinson I was ready to start pointing the wonders of Orion, when Anne gently reminded me that Christy had been standing long enough and to let them go back inside to finish their visit.
– Frank Stonestreet, Liz Robinson, and Roberta Wright PAC BANQUET COMMITTEE
ADVERTISING COMMITTEE
Sheidler
– Rusty Case and Sara
ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR OF EVENTS (PAC Activities in Bold print) (Possible photo Op dates shown in red)
Apr 2 -3, 2012 – Venus appears within the star field of M-45, The Pleiades. Apr 6, 2012 – Full Moon, called the Pink Moon. Apr 9, 2012 – PAC Monthly Meeting - Augustana Planetarium, 7:00 p.m. Program: “Smorgasbord”. Apr 15, 2012 – Sundials read correct today. Apr 15, 2012 – Saturn is at opposition tonight near the bright star Spica. Apr 18, 2012 – Mercury is at greatest western elongation, 27° west of the sun. Apr 21, 2012 –Public observing night at Niabi Zoo Apr 21-22, 2012 – The Lyrids Meteor Shower, radiating from the constellation Lyra. Apr 28, 2012 – Astronomy Day, Moline Public Library. See a related article elsewhere in this newsletter. May 6, 2012 – Full Moon, called the Flower Moon. May 12, 2012 – Jupiter is in conjunction with the sun. May 14, 2012 – PAC Monthly Meeting - Augustana Planetarium, 7:00 p.m. Program: “North East Astronomical Forum, Paris” by Roy Gustafson. May 19, 2012 –Public observing night at Niabi Zoo May 20, 2012 – An evening Partial eclipse of the sun for viewers in the QCA. Elsewhere, this eclipse will be an Annular Total eclipse of the sun, crossing California, Arizona, New Mexico, and ending in West Texas. Albuquerque, New Mexico is on the center line. See a related article elsewhere in this newsletter. May 26, 2012 – Mercury is in superior conjunction with the sun. Jun 4, 2012 – Full Moon, called the Strawberry Moon. Jun 5, 2012 – Venus arrives at inferior conjunction and transits the sun for the final time during our lifetime. See a related article elsewhere in this newsletter. Jun 11, 2012 – PAC Second Quarter Business Meeting - Augustana Planetarium, 7:00 p.m. Program: “Photoshop Techniques for Astro Photography” by Dino Milani. Jun 13, 2012 – Sundials read correct today. Jun 13, 2012 – Earliest Sunrise of the year in the QCA. Jun 16, 2012 –Public observing night at Niabi Zoo Jun 20, 2012 – Summer solstice at 6:09 pm CDT, the longest day of the year in the QCA. Jun 27, 2012 – Latest Sunset of the year in the QCA. Jun 27, 2012 – Pluto is at opposition tonight. Jul 1, 2012 – Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation, 25.7° east of the sun. Jul 4-7, 2012 – Alcon 2012 to be held in Chicago. See a related article elsewhere in this newsletter. Jul 9, 2012 – PAC Monthly Meeting - Augustana Planetarium, 7:00 p.m. Program: “Transit of Venus from Australia” by Roy Gustafson.
PLANETARY PATHS DURING 2nd QUARTER 2012 Castor
M-44
Cancer
Taurus M-45
Gemini Pollux
Aires
Aldebaran
6hr
9hr
Hamal
3hr Jul 1 Apr 1
Regulus Leo
Pisces
Apr 1 Denebola Apr 1
12hr Virgo
Jul 1
Jul 1
Apr 1 Spica
0hr
Apr 1
Fomalhaut
Jul 1
Jul 1
Arcturus
Antares Libra
21hr
18hr
15hr
Aquarius
P Scorpio
Capricorn Sagittarius
Altair
Mercury makes its complete 88 day orbit around the Sun, and moves the three additional earth days covered by this quarterly newsletter, hence the slightly overlapping circles on the chart shown above. Refer to the calendar at the left to view the major orbital events for Mercury during the period. Venus reached its greatest eastern elongation last March 27th. During this quarter Venus moves westward in the evening sky to transit the Sun for QCA observers around sunset on June 5th, 2012 for the final time during our lifetime. Earth travels ¼ of its yearly twelve month orbital period around the Sun during this three month period, and arrives at our summer solstice at 6:09 pm CDT on June 20th. Mars reached opposition on March 3rd, and spends most of this period moving eastward across southern Leo, east of Regulus. Mars continues to be a nice object for early evening and nighttime viewing this quarter. Jupiter: After a fine evening apparition last quarter, Jupiter now appears low in the west before sunset at the beginning of this quarter, heading for its conjunction with the sun on May 12th. Saturn appears within Virgo near the bright star Spica, and reaches opposition on April 15th. Saturn is a nice night time viewing object for the entire period. Uranus left our evening sky late last quarter and arrived in conjunction with the sun on March 24th. By the end of this newsletter period at the end of June, Uranus rises ahead of the sun in the very early morning sky, but is probably too dim and not far enough west of the sun to be visible before the onset of morning twilight. Neptune: Toward the end of this quarter, Neptune rises very low in the early morning sky before sunrise. But for all practical purposes, Neptune is not an observable planet during this period. Pluto remains within the star field of the constellation Sagittarius for the next several years.
ASTRONOMY DAY April 28, 2012 Sara Sheidler
Our Astronomy Day activities at the Moline Public Library, 3210 41st. St., will begin at 2:00 pm with inside and outside activities. We are planning on astronomy themed craft tables and the "Cooked Up" comet nucleus forming demonstration inside. We will also have a Weight Station with modified bathroom scales for visitors to see what they would weigh on the Sun and various planets.
ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE NEWS - ALCON 2012 “Celebrating 150 years of Organized Astronomy: 1862 – 2012” is the theme
of ALCon 2012 to be held at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort near Chicago, Illinois from July 4th – 7th , 2012. The Lincolnshire Marriott Resort is the official hotel for ALCon 2012. For reservations, call toll free at 1-800-228-9290 or call Lincolnshire Direct at 1-847-634-0100. Mention the ALCON 2012 to receive a promotional price of $69 per night. For complete information about Alcon 2012, please visit http://alcon2012.astroleague.org/ .
NCRAL CONVENTION COMBINED WITH ALCON 2012
From Wednesday, July 4 through Saturday, July 7, the Chicago Astronomical Society is hosting ALCON 2012 in Lincolnshire, IL. This will also serve as the North Central Region Astronomical League convention, with the NCRAL business meeting taking place on Saturday, July 7. SCALE CALIBRATED TO SHOW YOUR WEIGHT ON THE SUN
In the back parking lot of the Library, we will have the PACMO and telescopes available for solar observing.
Dr. Robert Mutel
At 3:00 pm, Dr. Robert Mutel, from the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy is scheduled to speak. His talk “Alien Worlds: The search for life on extra - solar planets” should be very interesting and informative.
The inside activities will end when the Library closes at 5:00 pm and then there will be a break until dusk when we hope to do some night-sky observing back at the Library. The Moon, Mars, and Saturn should be visible. The Beehive Cluster (an open cluster), Cor Caroli (a double star), and La Superba (a carbon star) should all make an appearance that evening. If Weather permits, we'll have observing until 9:30 pm when the activities will wrap up for the day. All PAC Club members are encouraged to help with, or attend this important outreach event. Please contact the Sheidler’s if you would like to help PAC with Astronomy Day on April 28.
A NEW AL CONSTELLATION OBSERVING PROGRAM Alan Sheidler
I would like to invite members of the Popular Astronomy Club to participate in carrying out one of the new Astronomical League's observing programs, called the “Constellation Hunter Northern Skies”. It consists of the naked eye observing of 39 of the northern constellations and sketching of each of the constellations. Below are links to the Astronomical League website with the information needed to prepare you to begin for this new observing program. Astronomical League website listing of basic requirements for their observing programs: View at: http://www.astroleague.org/observing.html Constellation Hunter program specifics: View at: http://astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/consthunt/const.html Complete list of the northern constellations to be observed: View at: http://astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/consthunt/const3.html Blank form for sketching: View at: http://astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/consthunt/Constellation Form.pdf “What’s up doc” gives a listing of objects currently visible: View at: http://www.astronomyclub.org/wud.htm
ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE MAY 20, 2012
TRANSIT OF VENUS ON JUNE 5, 2012
An annular solar eclipse that starts in Southern China at their sunrise, crosses part of Japan, will end around sunset in the western United States on Sunday, May 20, 2012. The maximum annular eclipse centerline will cross Albuquerque, New Mexico.
About two weeks after the Annular Solar Eclipse visible in the southwestern United States, Venus arrives at inferior conjunction and transits the sun during our evening of June 5, 2012 for the final time during our lifetime.
Redding CA, Reno NV, and Roswell NM will be south of the centerline, but within zone of “totality”. Santa Fe NM and Lubbock TX will be north of the centerline, but will still be within the zone of “totality”.
Entire Transit Visible
Sacramento CA, Las Vegas NV, and Flagstaff AZ will be just south of the southern limit of “totality”. Amarillo TX will be just north of the northern limit of “totality”. The annular eclipse phase will end before it reaches Abilene, Ft. Worth, and Dallas TX. Elsewhere along I-40 in Arizona and New Mexico, the moon will appear within the sun’s disk from around Holbrook, Arizona to around Tucumcari, New Mexico. For the remainder of the United States, the eclipse will be partial.
Entire Transit Visible
Transit In Progress at Sunset
Transit Not Visible
Transit In Progress at Sunrise
WORLD MAP OF THE JUNE 2012 VENUS TRANSIT
For viewers in the QCA the transit will begin around 5:20 pm CDT with the sun about 33° above the western horizon. Unfortunately for us, the sun sets at 8:32 pm with the transit still in progress, but at least we’ll be able to view most of it in the Quad City area. Transit Begins
Mont rea l
Portland
Venus at Sunset
Quad Cities
Flagstaff
Tucumcari Holb rook
Amarillo
Albuquerque Atl ant a
ANNULAR ECLIPSE LIMITS (Blue Line); CENTRAL (Red Line)
In the QCA the sun will be only 8° above the western horizon at the start of the eclipse, and will set before mid-eclipse. Remember to never look at the sun without adequate eye protection. This is NOT a Total Eclipse. Along the Red line, the Sun will still appear as a “ring” and even at the horizon, viewing the sun without protection can severely damage your eyes.
JUNE VENUS TRANSIT PATH ACROSS THE SUN IN THE QCA
Remember to never look at the sun without adequate eye protection. Even at the horizon, viewing the sun without protection can severely damage your eyes.
WELCOME NEW PAC MEMBERS
The following new members have recently joined the Popular Astronomy Club. Welcome to PAC. Bill Coley, Moline, IL Christine E. Bird, Rock Island, IL Peter M. Soble, Rock Island, IL Michael and Michele Phelps, Davenport, IA
PUBLIC OUTREACH
PAC Public Outreach observing is held from dusk to 11:45 pm in the Niabi Zoo parking lot, 13010 Niabi Zoo Rd., Coal Valley Illinois on the third Saturday of the month, during March through November.
If it is cloudy, telescopes will be available for examination plus there will be other activities. Bring your own telescope if you have one, or want help to set it up or instruction in its use (telescope clinic). The event is cancelled only if it is raining. Scheduled dates for 2012 are: March 17th
June 16th
September 15th
April 21st
July 21st
October 20th
May 19th
August 18th
November 17th
GREEK LETTERS USED IN THIS NEWSLETTER
The following list contains the names and letters of the Greek alphabet that are used in this newsletter.
Alpha Beta Gamma Delta Epsilon Zeta Eta Theta Iota Kappa Lambda Mu
Nu Xi Omicron Pi Rho Sigma Tau Upsilon Phi Chi Psi Omega
PUBLIC OBSERVING AT NIABI ZOO ON MARCH 17 Rusty Case
On March 17th we had our first public observing session at Niabi Zoo. We had 15 club members present, Al & Eric Scheidler, Wayland & Anne Bauer, Ken Boquist, Gerry Pearson, Liz Robinson, Brad Smith, Rusty Case, John Douglas, Cindy Pippert, Jane Williamson, & 3 new members Christine Bird, Peter Soble, & Michael Phelps. Also attending were 19 guests.
PAC TELESCOPES/BINOCULAR FOR RENT
The Popular Astronomy Club has two telescopes and one pair of binoculars for rent to members. The equipment in our rental inventory is: Meade 90 mm ETX Astro Telescope This telescope comes with a homemade mount and tripod, and a solar filter. It has a 26 mm eyepiece and a 2x Barlow. The focal length of the telescope itself is 1250 mm, so the effective magnification is 48x with the eyepiece, and 96x with the addition of the Barlow. 8" Orion Dobsonian. This telescope has three eyepieces: a 25 mm Ploessl, a 12 mm RKE, and a 9 mm Ploessl.
NIABI ZOO EVENING OBSERVING MARCH 17, 2012
A large number of member scopes were there since the PACMO is not out of storage yet. The objects observed that night were Venus, Jupiter, & Mars, a number of stars including Betelgeuse, Capella, Castor, Polaris, Pollux, Regulus, & Sirius. Some of the deep space objects were the Beehive Cluster (M44), the Orion Nebula (M42) & the Pleiades (M45). We had a fairly nice evening. The weather was warm starting in the 80's and was in the 60's by the time we left. The clouds gave us a little bit of a problem, but all in all we had a good evening and a great turn out both with members & visitors.
A moon filter is also provided with this scope. Zhumell 20 X 80 Binoculars These binoculars come with an integrated tripod mount for a standard photographic tripod.
The rental rate is $5.00 per month. Contact Al Sheidler at (309)-797-3120 or email at
[email protected]
PAC MEMBERS OBSERVING FORUM
This feature column is devoted to the contributed articles from our members regarding recent observations, thoughts, and other comments about astronomical phenomena and events.
VACATION IN HAWAII AND VISIT TO MAUNA KEA The Al Sheidler Family
During the week of 26 December 2011, the Sheidler family enjoyed a family vacation trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. In addition to visiting Volcanoes National Park, going whale watching, diving in a submarine, savoring exotic tropical fruits and delectable Kona coffee, we also managed to find time to trek to the summit of Mauna Kea.
At nearly 14,000 feet elevation, the summit of this dormant volcano hosts one the world's premier astronomical observatories. Currently there are thirteen observatories on the mountain including Keck 1 & 2, the westernmost 25 meter dish in the Very Long Baseline Array radio observatory, and a host of other optical, infrared and sub-millimeter observatories. Many of the observatories are collaborative efforts of Canada, the UK, Japan, Europe and the US. Because Mauna Kea is only 20 degrees north of the equator, it has access to the entire northern sky and approximately 80% of the southern sky as well. In addition, the location offers uniquely dry and steady atmospheric conditions. It is clear nearly every night--when it is cloudy it tends to snow (as it did on Christmas Day before we arrived). Because of the high elevation and extremely dry air, Mauna Kea is one of the few sites on earth where observing in infrared and submillimeter wavelengths is possible (at sea level, virtually all light in this part of the spectrum is attenuated). During our visit, it was actually colder at Mauna Kea than in Moline. We had to don heavy winter parkas to keep warm.
We arrived in time to view the sunset from Mauna Kea which was absolutely glorious. These pictures cannot do justice to the range of colors visible.
After sunset, the temperature plummeted precipitously forcing the tour group to seek warmer temperatures at lower elevation, which we found at a Girl Scout camp at the base of the mountain.
It was there that I managed to snap a few pictures of the night sky, which was absolutely beautiful. Because there is no light pollution, the Milk Way is easily visible in its entire splendor. There are so many stars visible, it is disorienting.
VENUS APPARITIONS DURING 2012 Lee M. Farrar
Six nights later during the evening of February 9th, Venus and Uranus appeared about ¼° apart.
As previewed in the January 2012 PAC newsletter, Venus makes five apparitions during the first half of 2012 in January, February, March, April and June.
The yellow glow visible on the building is from a nearby security light which was turned on as darkness approached.
Unfortunately the first event, a close approach of Venus and Neptune on January 13th occurred in evening twilight and both planets went below the horizon before it became dark enough to be able to see Neptune. The second apparition, a February 9th close approach of Venus with Uranus, occurred in more favorable evening sky conditions.
IMG-3210, FL 33 mm, F/7.1, 25 Sec, 2/9/12, 7:35 p.m., West
+1 Hr le Ce or at qu lE
tic E cl ip
a sti
Prior to February 9th, on Friday night, February 3rd both Venus and Uranus were still fairly far apart in the western sky. When the following photo was taken, Venus was about 20° above the horizon, Uranus about 27° above. I had to use my patio garden shed to block unwanted sky glow from metropolitan Phoenix, about 10 miles to the west of my location in Scottsdale. Also a bright waxing gibbous, 11 day old moon was behind me in the sky to the east. Fortunately, in spite of all of this unwanted ambient light, the sky was still clear enough that I was able to capture a good image of Uranus and the surrounding stars.
Venus
Uranus
19 Psc
+0 Hr 29 Psc
33 Psc
27 Psc
59 Peg
30 Psc
Pisces
7 Psc
57 Peg
IMG-3210, URANUS AND VENUS ON FEBRUARY 9, 2012
Two nights later, on Saturday evening, February 11th, Venus has moved about 2½° further eastward along the ecliptic beyond Uranus, heading for a 3° close encounter with Jupiter at dusk on March 12th and 13th.
88 Psc
+1 Hr Ce
20 Ceti
le s
29 Ceti
Ecliptic
89 Psc
at qu lE
87 Peg
44 Piscium
or
Algenib
+1 Hr
BU Ceti 51 Psc
Pegasus
HR67
Venus
20 Ceti 41 Psc
Pegasus
41 Psc
tia
26 Ceti
25 Ceti
And
IMG-3170, FL 18 mm, F/7.1, 20 Sec, 2/3/12, 7:10 p.m., West
le s Ce
Uranus HR2
l tia
44 Psc
u Eq
tic Eclip
32 Psc
Iota Ceti
at or
Pisces
Uranus
Markab
27
HR 8833
16
24
Pisces
24 Psc
Peg
7 Psc
58 Peg
59 Peg
20
Venus
29
33
27 Psc
66 Peg
19
+0 Hr
30 Psc
19 Psc
+0 Hr 29 Psc
20 Psc
70 Peg
22
HR2
HR29
33 Psc HR51
7
GZ Peg
55 Peg
IMG-3253, FL 27 mm, F/7.1, 35 Sec, 2/11/12, 7:22 p.m., West
You will need to enlarge all pages in this newsletter that include star photographs to view the image detail. IMG-3170, URANUS AND VENUS ON FEBRUARY 3, 2012
A FEBRUARY MOON JOINS VENUS AND JUPITER
Additional photo opportunities occurred during the evenings of February 23rd to February 26th when the 2 – 5 day old moon joined Venus and Jupiter in the western sky at dusk. In the following February 23rd photo, the 2day old moon, Venus, and Jupiter appear about equidistant apart along the ecliptic.
At dusk the next evening, February 26, the 5-day old moon appeared almost alongside Jupiter. I walked about twenty feet to the west beyond a large tree, rotated the camera to the north, reset the lens focal length to 18mm, and took a longer time exposure to capture the faint stars. This overexposed the moon, but also got the Andromeda Galaxy and Cassiopeia in the image.
Jupiter
February 26, 2012
February 23, 2012
Aries Jupiter
Cassiopeia
Moon
Trianglium
Venus
tic Ec lip
Pisces
Andromeda Galaxy
Venus
Ecliptic
Andromeda
Moon
Pegasus
IMG-3274, FL 18 mm, F/7.1, 6 Sec, 2/23/12, 7:11 p.m., West
The next evening, February 24th, the 3-day old moon is still below Venus but is moving closer to Venus along the ecliptic in Pisces. February 24, 2012 Jupiter
IMG-3319, FL 18 mm, F/7.1, 30 Sec, 2/26/12, 7:18 p.m., West
FINAL 2012 VENUS APPARITION WITH JUPITER
The final close approach this quarter between Venus and a planet occurred on March 12th and 13th, 2012 when Venus and Jupiter appeared about 3° apart from each other.
March 12, 2012 Pisces
M-45
Venus
Ecliptic
le
Ce a st i
lE qu at
Moon
Ecliptic
or
IMG-3303, FL 25 mm, F/7.1, 15 Sec, 2/24/12, 7:24 p.m., West
The following evening, February 25th, the 4-day old moon finally appeared between Venus and Jupiter. February 25, 2012 Jupiter
E clip tic Moon
Venus
IMG-3308, FL 25 mm, F/7.1, 4 Sec, 2/25/12, 7:29 p.m., West
Jupiter
Venus
IMG-3338, FL 25 mm, F/7.1, 16 Sec, 3/12/12, 7:38 p.m., West
HINDS CRIMSON STAR, M 42, AND JUPITER Al Sheidler
JUPITER AND FOUR OF ITS SATELLITES
Friday evening, February 17th, I decided to take Ken Boquist up on his challenge to find the Hinds Crimson Star. I also took a picture of M 42 the Orion Nebula, and Jupiter, which turned out fairly well. The Hinds Crimson Star, R Leporis, is a very red carbon star similar to La Superba which many of us observed last year as a summertime 2011 challenge of the month. It is a long period variable star of the Myra class located just below the constellation Orion. It varies between magnitude 6.8 and 9.6 with a period of 432 days. R Leporis is very dim so you will need a telescope to see it, though low power is sufficient to find it. I used 47X to find it easily. Using a low power eyepiece will provide a wider field of view and make it easier to spot. While you are in the vicinity you might also want to look at M 42, the Orion Nebula which is not far away and also a very splendid object for low power observing. I captured a couple of images with my camera from my back yard. Orion Nebula
Orion
Callisto
Ganymede
Io Europa
Meade LX200, Nikon D90 at Prime Focus, FL 2670 mm, F/15, ISO 800, Jupiter 1/60 second, Galilean Moons 1/2 sec, 7:15 pm
A Calcium K IMAGE OF THE SUN Al Sheidler
I used Rusty Cases’ CaK scope and got some good views of the sun. Today, March 3, 2012, I went out with a dark sweatshirt draped over my head and managed to get the scope to focus on a very nice view of the sun.
Hinds Crimson Star
Lepus
The scope actually works pretty well, but you need good eyesight and you have to get it lined up just right so your eye can even see anything. Due to the short wavelength of the Calcium K emission line, not everyone, especially middle aged and older observers, could have difficulty seeing anything through a CaK scope.
Nikon D90, FL 35 mm, F/1.8, ISO 800, 10 seconds, 6:55 pm
THE ORION NEBULA – M 42
Meade LX200, Nikon D90 at Prime Focus, FL 2670 mm, F/15, ISO 6400, 15 seconds, 7:24 pm
Following is a slightly out of focus image I snapped. At first I tried it with the camera at prime focus (no eyepiece) and this didn't work since there isn't enough focuser range of travel to get it to form an image in the camera. Then I tried the eyepiece extension together with the camera T-ring adapter. This worked well with a 26 mm super Ploessl eyepiece. Camera settings: 1/20 second, ISO 800, Nikon D90 SLR camera.
The Sun imaged through a Calcium K filter in the UV range
LA SUPERBA REVISITED Lee M. Farrar
Last summer, one of our club observing challenges was to observe the red carbon star La Superba. In Rock Island, I photographed it in the western sky as the star was about to go behind the neighbors’ trees, but I was not able to observe it with my 5" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. I vowed to try again on a night in Scottsdale during the late winter or early spring months when La Superba would appear in a part of the sky devoid of obstructing trees, and when the star would be a much easier target. During the evening of March 12, 2012, facing northeast, I was able to photograph La Superba in an open part of the sky from my Arizona patio.
Leo
Ursa Major
La Superba
Denebola
Chara
M51
HR5067
Cor Caroli
24
AO
Canes Venatici
So during the evening of March 20th after alignment, I entered the RA/Dec coordinates for La Superba into the telescope and it found the red carbon star. Coordinates for La Superba are RA=12 hr 45 min 42.88 sec; Dec +45° 22 min 19.0 sec. As noted and confirmed by others, La Superba (Magnitude 5.26) appears as a fairly bright red star in a telescope field at low magnification. At the telescope I sketch what I see on paper. I then redraw the paper sketch into a computer file with CorelDraw 7.0, adding star identification and other information for future reference.
March 12, 2012
La Superba is not a star contained in the telescope database. But an additional feature of this telescope is to allow the user to enter RA/Dec coordinates for any objects that are not contained its database catalog. This feature is extremely useful to me since unlike Paul Castle, who loved to study his star charts and star hop over to objects with his telescope, I’ve never been very good using this technique to find an object, especially with the reverse image produced by reflector telescopes.
Coma Berenices
IMG-3357, FL 18 mm, F/7.1, 40 Sec, 3/12/12, 8:33 p.m., NE
The following reverse-image reflector telescope diagram shows the star field as viewed with my 17 mm Sirius Plossl eyepiece. This calculates to be 38x (650 mm ÷ 17 mm). The Apparent Field of this 17 mm eyepiece is 52°. True Field is calculated as Apparent Field divided by Magnification (52° ÷ 38) or 1.37°. The four stars and magnitudes in the telescope field with the Red star La Superba are listed outside the image field.
A little over half way on a line between 24 Canum Venaticorum and HR 5067 is the “Whirlpool” Spiral Galaxy, M-51, with its smaller companion NGC 5195. I have marked its location for future reference, but tonight with city lights, M-51 was not visible. M-51 might be a nice future target for the Castle Observatory telescope. Additionally, last December 2011, I purchased a Celestron Sky Prodigy F/5 fully automatic 130 mm (5.1") reflector telescope. This telescope system uses a forkarm mounted camera to automatically take three images of the sky for alignment and provide 4,000 viewable objects to the user.
March 20, 2012
SAO44329 9.92
HD111130 9..27 HD110870 9.11
La Superba
HD110500 7.01
Field Diameter 1.37 Degrees
A TELESCOPIC VIEW OF LA SUPERBA AND NEARBY STARS
Another nice feature of this Celestron telescope is that, although the telescope mount is Alt/Az, after alignment it tracks objects in RA/Dec as though it were on a polar aligned equatorial mount. That’s good for me because from my Arizona patio, a neighbor’s tall pine tree about 150 feet away blocks my view of Polaris. Lights, buildings, and trees; for us astronomers I guess some things never change. MY SKY PRODIGY 130 MM REFLECTOR TELESCOPE
MARS, SATURN, AND M-3 RISE IN THE EAST Lee M. Farrar
M-3 is estimated to be 8 billion years old and is located at a distance of about 33,900 light-years away from Earth.
While observing La Superba, Mars, and Saturn with the telescope from my Arizona patio in mid-March, I decided to also take pictures of Mars and Saturn as they rose in the eastern sky.
I observed with both the 17 mm eyepiece (38x) and the 10 mm eyepiece (65x). M-3, although dim, is fairly easy to see in the city sky after my eyes became dark adapted.
The following photo shows Mars as it appeared in the constellation Leo on March 12th 2012.
The following graphic diagram was prepared using the 17 mm eyepiece in the telescope. March 27, 2012
March 12, 2012
HD119391 8.39
HD119748 8.30
Regulus
M-3 Leo
HD119081 6.21
Ecl iptic
Mars
HD119025 8.60
IMG-3347, FL 25 mm, F/7.1, 20 Sec, 3/12/12, 8:10 p.m., East
Three nights later on March 15th, I photographed Saturn as it rose later in the evening above the eastern horizon in the constellation Virgo. Notice from the photo time stamps that, in mid-March 2012, Saturn rises about 2½ hours later than Mars.
Cor Caroli
March 15, 2012
AO
Canes Venatici
Field Diameter 1.37 Degrees
CELL PHONE PHOTO OF VENUS AND JUPITER Submitted by Bev Keefer from Tempe, Arizona Description by Lee Farrar
This photo of Venus and Jupiter in the western sky at dusk was taken about 7:15 pm MST on March 22, 2012. Venus appears above Jupiter. The jet contrails of two high flying aircraft appear below the planet images.
Coma Berenices
M-3
Bootes
Ecliptic
Virgo
Arcturus
Spica
Saturn 109
IMG-3365, FL 18 mm, F/7.1, 20 Sec, 3/15/12, 10:45 p.m., East
GLOBULAR CLUSTER M-3 IN THE TELESCOPE Lee M. Farrar
After a previous weekend of clouds in the Phoenix area, I was able to get out on Tuesday evening, March 27, 2012 and observe various objects through the telescope, including the Messier Globular Cluster M-3. This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars.
VENUS AND JUPITER IN THE MARCH 2012 ARIZONA SKY
VENUS, THE MOON, AND JUPITER - MARCH 25, 2012 Ken Boquist
Lee Farrar, April 2, 2012
Venus, the Moon, and Jupiter presented a really nice sight tonight when I came home from my bike ride about 8:03 pm. CDT. There are at least three stars visible in the picture. Just above and to the left of Venus is the star Arietis. To the lower left of Venus, maybe about four or five times as distant as the first, is the star Arietis, or Botein. Just to the right of the jet contrail is Arietis, or Hamal.
I took this photograph from Scottsdale Arizona on April 2, 2012 at 8:12 pm MST. My Canon EOS Rebel XT camera focal length was set to 29 mm, F/7.1, exposure time 8 seconds, ISO 800. The constellation Taurus is visible to the left and slightly above Venus and the Pleiades.
Al Sheidler, April 2, 2012
VENUS AMONG THE STARS OF THE PLEIADES, M-45
On April 2 and 3, 2012 Venus passed through the star field of the Pleiades, M-45. The following photos and comments of this event were submitted by PAC members. Enlarge the images to see details. Ken Boquist, April 2, 2012
Here is a picture in RAW format I took last night (April 2nd) of Venus and M-45. We are out of town and with the computer I have I was not able to get a decent jpg conversion. If you can use this one, the settings were the following: FL=300 mm, F/5.6, ISO 1600, shutter speed 3 seconds. The picture was taken at 7:53 pm EDT (from the Holiday Inn Express in Tiffin, Ohio).
I took this photograph about 8:25 pm CDT on April 2, 2012 in the Quad City Area using a 250 mm camera lens and a 2 second unguided exposure. Venus is quite overexposed due to the need to have a long enough exposure time to show the stars of the Pleiades.
PAUL R. CASTLE MEMORIAL OBSERVATORY NEWS
Wayland Bauer, April 2, 2012
st
OBSERVING MEETING MARCH 31 , 2012
Al Sheidler
Here is my attempt to get Venus in the Pleiades. I attached my Canon DSLR camera through my NexStar 5 telescope (focal length 1250). Unfortunately my camera does not have "Live View" so it is difficult to focus. The photo was taken at 9:36 pm CDT, April 2, 2012, ISO 800 for 3 seconds.
Last evening, March 31st, Ken Boquist, Wayland Bauer, Al Sheidler, Sara Sheidler, Eric Sheidler and Gary Nordick convened at the Paul R. Castle Memorial Observatory to engage in an observing session. Our original goal for the evening was to do some naked observing and sketching of constellations for the Astronomical League's "Constellation Hunter Program". However, the weather did not cooperate as it clouded over before it got dark enough to do that.
Lee Farrar, April 3, 2012
I took this photograph from Scottsdale Arizona on April 3, 2012 at 7:52 pm MST. My Canon EOS Rebel XT camera focal length was set to 29 mm, F/7.1, exposure time 10 seconds, ISO 800. By the evening of April 4th, Venus will have left the star field of the Pleiades.
April 3, 2012
PACMO NEWS
Taurus
Instead, we opened up the observatory and fired up the telescope. We observed the moon and the planet Venus, both of which were easily visible. The waxing-gibbous moon presented an excellent view of several large craters near the day-night terminator. The largest of these was Copernicus. The rough edge of the sun-ward rim, because of the low sun angle, cast huge shadows exaggerating the jagged nature of the crater rim. It was remarkable how high in the sky Venus appeared. The telescope easily discerned the 48% illuminated disk of the planet. We continued observing the moon and Venus until the sky clouded over around 8:30 when we packed up and went home.
Venus
M-45
IMG-3439, FL 29 mm, F/7.1, 10 Sec, 4/3/12, 7:52 p.m., West
Roy Gustafson, Gerry Pearson and Rusty Case are going to be checking out the PACMO on April 7th to get it ready for its season opener on Saturday April 21st, and Astronomy Day at the Moline public Library on the 28th. We will also be checking the solar charging system since it will be kept at our seasonal storage space. The PACMO is also scheduled to be at Ben Butterworth Parkway on July 16th so we can do a segment with Fran Riley & the Channel 6 news.
FIRST QUARTER 2012 PAC BUSINESS MEETING
New Business
President Wayland Bauer called the First Quarter PAC business meeting to order in the John Deere Planetarium at 7:00 p.m. local time, on Monday, March 12, 2011.
Alcon 2012 will be held in Chicago July 4-7, 2012.
The Fourth Quarter 2011 business meeting minutes from December 12th were read by Secretary Cindy Pippert. The minutes as read were approved.
Treasurer’s Report Treasurer Roy Gustafson reported on the financial status of the club. Vice Presidents Report Vice president Al Sheidler mentioned a new observing program through the Astronomical League. It is called the Constellation Hunter. Al will lead and encourage club members to participate. Club shirts have been ordered and received. We have forty blue, and ten yellow shirts. Each member that attends a meeting or observing session will get one free shirt. If a member wants more shirts they can be purchased for $15.00 each. Club patches are available for $8.00 each
Fran Riley of KWQC has contacted PAC about doing a feature story on PACMO. We will meet him at the Ben Butterworth Parkway on July 16th at 10:00 a.m. President Wayland Bauer asked members to bring telescopes to Niabi Zoo Saturday night. PACMO is still in its winter storage. Wayland also announced changes concerning the member of the year points. This falls under the policies and procedures section of the constitution so board members voted on the changes. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Pippert, Secretary
Business Meeting Program The program tonight was on Mauna Kea observatories by Al Sheidler. A constellation report on Leo was given by Cindy Pippert.
2012-2013 PAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ALCor Report
PRESIDENT - Wayland Bauer 3256 Pleasant Drive, Bettendorf, IA., 52722 Phone: (563) 332-4032; Email:
[email protected]
Alcor Lee Farrar has sent the current roster to the Astronomical League.
VICE PRESIDENT - Alan Sheidler 3528 56th Street Court, Moline, IL, 61265 Phone: (309) 797-3120; Email:
[email protected]
Correspondence
SECRETARY - Cindy Pippert 3532 12th Street, Rock Island, IL, 61201 Phone: (309) 787-3559; Email:
[email protected]
Tom Ervin has emailed Amateur Astronomers and asked that they take a phone survey. Old Business The PACMO will be at Niabi Zoo in April. Rusty Case will be checking it out for maintenance before the new observing season. Club members will hold club star parties on the first Saturday of the month at the Paul Castle Memorial Observatory. Since Easter is on April 8th this year, we will observe on March 31st. Astronomy Day is April 28, 2012. Events will be held at the Moline Public Library starting at 2:00 p.m. Solar observing, prizes, comet making and a speaker are a few of the things planned. A dinner break will be held at the Sheidler’s and then night observing at the Moline Library that evening. We need volunteers to help.
TREASURER – Roy Gustafson 11 Deer Run Road, Orion, IL, 61273 Phone: (309) 526-3592; Email:
[email protected] ALCOR / NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Lee M. Farrar Illinois - 2232 24th Street, Rock Island, IL, 61201 Phone: (309) 786-6844; Email:
[email protected] Arizona - 808 N. 82nd Street, Townhouse F-2, Scottsdale, AZ, 85257 Phone (480) 429-3548 PACMO DIRECTOR - Rusty Case 2123 W. 16th Street, Davenport, IA, 52804 Phone: (563) 323-7168; Email:
[email protected] PAUL R. CASTLE MEMORIAL OBSERVATORY DIRECTORS: Wayland Bauer 3256 Pleasant Drive, Bettendorf, IA., 52722 Phone: (563) 332-4032; Email:
[email protected] Roy Gustafson 11 Deer Run Road, Orion, IL, 61273 Phone: (309) 526-3592; Email:
[email protected]
Popular Astronomy Club 2232 24th Street Rock Island, IL 61201
