Year End Odds and Ends

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Kellie Pierce
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December 2014 There were 51 planned outreach events this year Holey Smoke! I counted the scheduled outreach events the society had planned for this year and it comes out to 51.

1 December 2014 There were 51 planned outreach events this year Holey Smoke! I counted the scheduled outreach events the society had planned for this year and it comes out to 51. That's almost one a week. Not all of them came to pass because of clouds or bad weather. But still, that's a lot. Our busiest period was May There was a star party at Betsie Valley District Library. The next night we had a star party for the Interlochen Arts Academy on their soccer field. The next day were long hours at the NMC Barbecue. Then the next weekend we had an all night meteor watch at Sleeping Bear Dunes for a meteor storm we hoped to show up, but didn't. But still the meteor watch was a wonderfully clear night. I personally saw 5 May Camelopardalids, as they were called. We could have said 54 outreach events. The three eclipse watches were split with locations at the NMC Observatory and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Platte River Point. The three eclipse watches brought up our Sleeping Bear Dunes events from our usual 7 to 10. All the eclipses were clouded out partially or fully. Also at the Dunes this year for the first time the June, July and August star parties had an additional two hour afternoon solar viewing period I like to call a Sun party. I think all in all, we had a cloudy summer and of course rest of the year. Next Year's Events Next year we will not be hosting the second star party of the month at the observatory during the warm months, April through October due to the circumstances beyond our control. Therefore we need to find alternate locations to host star Year End Odds and Ends By Bob Moler parties. This could be an opportunity for more outreach to the surrounding towns. There are two lunar eclipses next year, however the first on April 4 th starts in morning twilight but the Moon sets before totality. We may skip that one. But the next one, on the evening of September 27 th will be well timed for us. We may again split out forces between Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes. By early next year we should have determined a schedule for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We will also have, I'm sure, we'll have our usual round of festivals in Kingsley, Leland and Acme. Gary Carlisle has been point man on these. Got any suggestions for others? I'll have contact information at the bottom of this article. We need more volunteers for our outreach events. Got a telescope? No? Then do you know the constellations? Do you know any constellation stories? Want to have fun? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you can help out on star parties. Currently we have only a small group of members that help with these, and I see a lot of gray hair among them. Do you feel unprepared? The Internet has lots of resources. Put your question to a search engine. For instance the question What is the answer to life the universe and everything? will return the same answer in Bing, Yahoo and Google. The answer, of course, is 42. What? Have you Continued on page 2

2 Year End Odds and Ends (Continued from page 1) never read Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the title I paraphrased for my talk last month? The book and its sequels are funny on any level, but the more you know about math and science the funnier they will be still, almost making sense in a weird sort of way. We need more members Our membership has been hanging around 30 members. Of that eight or so are active enough to help out on outreach events, some only being to help out occasionally. But we do need more members. Of those we will get our share of active participants. The Board has been discussing having some sort of a membership drive. But apparently we don't have much of a clue on how to start one. But we do have some initiatives in the works. See the next topic. Library telescopes The Board is investigating purchasing and modifying a small telescope to be loaned to libraries, who in turn will check the telescopes out to library patrons for a period of time like library books. The telescope will probably be a 90 mm Maksutov telescope with a table top mount in a single arm Dobsonian telescope mount. It will have a reflex finder and a zoom eyepiece that can't be removed. Dick Cookman of Enerdyne is helping us with that. It will be suitable for viewing the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn plus the brighter deep sky objects. We have approached three libraries about hosting these library telescopes. The telescopes will cost about $400 a piece. We might get some new members out of it. Attendance at Board meetings & Regular meetings Before each regular meeting we have a Board Meeting starting around 7 p.m. We invite all interested members to attend and give us your input, or just see what we do. We are always interested in your input and opinions. Also in many instances the attendance of the regular meetings themselves has been quite low. We'd also like your input on that. What topics would you like to hear about? What about the quality of the presentations? Anything you'd like to add? Society's new Facebook page Richard Kuschell got his daughter to build us a Facebook page. It's located at Society/ or log into Facebook and search for Astronomical-Society. Contact Information If you have any questions of inputs concerning the above article, here's how to contact the us. The society: info@gtastro.org Bob Moler: bob@bjmoler.org, Phone: Address: 6003 Secor Rd Traverse City, MI Gary Carlisle: creative1473@charter.net Address: 1473 Birmley Rd Traverse City, MI The Stellar Sentinel is Available by If you receive the Stellar Sentinel via you will receive an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) copy of the newsletter. It can be printed, or viewed on the computer screen. Hyperlinks like the ones above can be clicked on to directly link to the page. If you your address to info@gtastro you will receive the pdf copy of this issue to start you off plus be enrolled to receive better quality issues with even more content that can be squeezed into 8 pages. Grand Traverse Astronomical Society - Est. June years of service -----Officers----- Directors S.S Staff Patrons President Ron Uthe Jerry Dobek Bill Renis Mick Glasser Vice President Dave Kane Bill Renis Lee Renis HG & Autumn Smith Bill Hathaway Secretary Don Flegel Joe Brooks Bernadette Farrell Ronald & Jan Uthe Treasurer Gary Carlisle Richard Kuschell Nancy Hammond Editor Bob Moler Charles Bell Judy Moler Grand Traverse Astronomical Society - Est. June years of service

3 December Society Events Check for late breaking events. 5 Friday Board of Directors 7 p.m. - NMC Rogers Observatory General Meeting 8 p.m. - NMC Rogers Observatory. Program: Bob Moler In Search of the Star of Bethlehem Star Party 9 p.m p.m. - NMC Rogers Observatory. January Friday Board of Directors 7 p.m. - NMC Rogers Observatory General Meeting 8 p.m. - NMC Rogers Observatory. Program: Annual Telescope Clinic Star Party: 9 p.m p.m. - NMC Rogers Observatory Star Parties Rogers Observatory star parties for the rest of 2014: 12/ : 1/2, 2/6, 3/6, 4/3, 5/1, 6/5, 7/3, 8/7, 9/4, 10/2, 11/6, 12/4 Sleeping Bear Dunes star parties for 2015 To be announced Some of the best objects for public viewing in December Planetary Object(s): Mars, Jupiter late Deep Sky Object, description, constellation, distance Rt. Asc. Declin. hr. min. O ' M 31: Great Andromeda Galaxy, And, 2.3m l.y M52: Rich open cluster, Cas,5.5k l.y Almach (g Andromedae): Yellow and greenish-blue double star, And, 260 l.y χ & h Persei: Double Cluster, Per, 7k l.y.; c Per, 8.1k l.y M 2: Globular cluster, Aqr, 50k l.y M 15: Compact globular cluster, Peg, 34-39k l.y NGC 7009: Saturn Nebula (planetary), Aqr, 3.9k l.y.? M 45: Pleiades open cluster - use finder or binoculars, Tau, 410 l.y M 1: Crab Nebula (supernova remnant), Tau, 6.3k l.y., July 5, 1054 AD M 42: Great Orion Nebula, Ori, 1.5k l.y M 35: Open cluster, Gem, 2.8k l.y b Monocerotis: Triple star, Mon, l.y., angular separation = 7.4" & 2.8" M 41: Open Cluster, CMa, 2.3k l.y M 44: Beehive or Praesepe open cluster, best seen in finder, Cnc, 525 l.y

4 The Stars and Planets for December 2014 By Bob Moler Planets are plotted for mid month. The star positions are correct for: Big Dipper HERCULES 1 st 10:00 p.m. 8 th 9:30 p.m. 15 th 9:00 p.m. 22 nd 8:30 p.m. 29 th 8:00 p.m. URSA MAJOR Little Dipper DRACO AURIGA Capella Pointers to Polaris Vega LYRA CANCER Procyon CANIS MINOR Jupiter Pollux Betelgeuse GEMINI Castor LYNX Geminid Radiant Aldebaran PERSEUS Pleiades URSA MINOR ANDROMEDA TRIANGULUM CEPHEUS CASSIOPEIA M31 Great Square Deneb LACERTA PEGASUS CYGNUS Summer Triangle SAGITTA DELPHINUS Altair TAURUS ARIES PISCES Circlet Water Jar Sirius CANIS MAJOR ORION LEPUS Rigel ERIDANUS CETUS AQUARIUS Fomalhaut CAPRICORNUS Legend: CONSELLATIONS Asterisms Star & Planet names FORNAX SCULPTOR The central constellation of the winter skies, Orion the hunter, is moving to take its place in our evening sky now. There are no planets visible at chart time. Venus and Mars are seen low in the southwest after sunset and Jupter will rise shortly after the time of the chart. The Little Dog Star Procyon is living up to its name. Procyon means Before the dog, because even though it is east of Sirius, the Dog Star, Procyon rises before it. As can be seen by the chart, Procyon is up in the east as Sirius is just rising.

5 For more information on planets and stars each month: The Naked Eye Planets December 1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 26th, 31st Saturn Mars Venus Earth Mercury Planets orbit the sun in a counterclockwise direction This chart is a perspective view of the orbits of the planets out to Saturn. The true shape of the orbits are nearly circular. Jupiter The Planets as Seen From Northern Michigan Sunrise Sunset Geminid Radiant Gemini Cancer Taurus Leo Aries Sun Saturn Scorpius Libra Virgo Jupiter Pisces Aquarius Mars Capricornus Mercuty Venus Sagittarius Sun December 16, 2014

6 Dec 02 3:32 a.m. Moon at Descending Node 05 8 p.m. GTAS Meeting NMC Rogers Observatory Program: In Search for the Star of Bethlehem 05 9 p.m. Star Party NMC Rogers Observatory 05 11:35 p.m. Aldebaran 1.5 S of Moon 06 7:27 a.m. FULL MOON 08 5 a.m. Mercury at Superior Conjunction 08 2:29 p.m. Jupiter 2.7 N of Regulus 11 10:36 p.m. Jupiter 5.1 N of Moon 12 7 a.m. Mars at Perihelion 12 1:06 p.m. Regulus 4.4 N of Moon 12 6:02 p.m. Moon at Apogee: km 14 7 a.m. Geminid Meteor Shower 14 7:51 p.m. LAST QUARTER MOON 16 8:27 p.m. Moon at Ascending Node 16 8:05 p.m. Spica 2.8 S of Moon 19 3:55 p.m. Saturn 1.6 S of Moon 21 6:03 p.m. Winter Solstice 21 8:36 p.m. NEW MOON 22 3 p.m. Ursid Meteor Shower 24 11:43 a.m. Moon at Perigee: km 25 2:32 a.m. Mars 5.7 S of Moon 28 1:31 p.m. FIRST QUARTER MOON 29 4:27 a.m. Moon at Descending Node Calendar of Astronomical Events Courtesy of Fred Espenak,

7 Ephemeris of Sky Events for NMC Observatory December, Local time zone: EST Date Sun Twilight* Moon Illum Rise Set Hours End Start Phase R/S** Time Fractn Mon 1 07:59a 05:03p 09:04 06:48p 06:14a Set 03:32a 78% Tue 2 08:00a 05:03p 09:03 06:47p 06:15a Set 04:41a 86% Wed 3 08:01a 05:03p 09:01 06:47p 06:16a Set 05:48a 93% Thu 4 08:02a 05:02p 09:00 06:47p 06:17a Set 06:52a 97% Fri 5 08:03a 05:02p 08:59 06:47p 06:18a Set 07:51a 100% Sat 6 08:04a 05:02p 08:57 06:47p 06:19a Full Rise 05:40p 100% Sun 7 08:05a 05:02p 08:56 06:47p 06:20a Rise 06:32p 97% Mon 8 08:06a 05:02p 08:55 06:47p 06:21a Rise 07:28p 93% Tue 9 08:07a 05:02p 08:54 06:47p 06:22a Rise 08:25p 88% Wed 10 08:08a 05:02p 08:53 06:47p 06:22a Rise 09:23p 81% Thu 11 08:09a 05:02p 08:53 06:47p 06:23a Rise 10:21p 73% Fri 12 08:10a 05:02p 08:52 06:48p 06:24a Rise 11:19p 64% Sat 13 08:10a 05:02p 08:51 06:48p 06:25a Rise 12:17a 55% Sun 14 08:11a 05:02p 08:50 06:48p 06:25a L Qtr Rise 01:16a 46% Mon 15 08:12a 05:02p 08:50 06:48p 06:26a Rise 02:15a 36% Tue 16 08:13a 05:03p 08:49 06:49p 06:27a Rise 03:17a 27% Wed 17 08:13a 05:03p 08:49 06:49p 06:27a Rise 04:19a 19% Thu 18 08:14a 05:03p 08:49 06:49p 06:28a Rise 05:23a 11% Fri 19 08:15a 05:04p 08:49 06:50p 06:29a Rise 06:27a 5% Sat 20 08:15a 05:04p 08:48 06:50p 06:29a Rise 07:28a 2% Sun 21 08:16a 05:05p 08:48 06:51p 06:30a New Set 05:14p 0% Mon 22 08:16a 05:05p 08:48 06:51p 06:30a Set 06:17p 1% Tue 23 08:17a 05:06p 08:49 06:52p 06:31a Set 07:25p 5% Wed 24 08:17a 05:06p 08:49 06:52p 06:31a Set 08:37p 12% Thu 25 08:17a 05:07p 08:49 06:53p 06:31a Set 09:50p 20% Fri 26 08:18a 05:08p 08:49 06:54p 06:32a Set 11:02p 30% Sat 27 08:18a 05:08p 08:50 06:54p 06:32a Set 12:13a 41% Sun 28 08:18a 05:09p 08:50 06:55p 06:32a F Qtr Set 01:23a 53% Mon 29 08:19a 05:10p 08:51 06:56p 06:33a Set 02:32a 63% Tue 30 08:19a 05:11p 08:51 06:56p 06:33a Set 03:38a 74% Wed 31 08:19a 05:11p 08:52 06:57p 06:33a Set 04:42a 82% * Astronomical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise Grand Traverse Astronomical Society Membership Application 2014 I am interested, please send me more information about the next GTAS meeting. I'll join, payment enclosed Address: Membership renewal Newsletter Delivery: Mail Interests: Name: Telephone: Address: Street City State ZIP Dues: Single Membership...$25.00/yr Family...$30.00/yr Student (up to 18 years age)...$15.00/yr Mail check to: G.T.A.S. Gary Carlisle, Treasurer 1473 Birmley Road Traverse City, MI 49686

8 The Stellar Sentinel Bob Moler, Editor 6003 Secor Rd. Traverse City, MI 49685

Contents: Extras December 2014 Speaking of 42.

9 Contents: Extras December 2014 Speaking of E-2 NASA Space Place Article of the month... E-3 Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Page E-1

Speaking of 42 With the launch of the Expedition 42-43 crew on Sunday the 23 rd to the International Space Station Expedition 42 has its full crew of astronauts and cosmonauts.

10 Speaking of 42 With the launch of the Expedition crew on Sunday the 23 rd to the International Space Station Expedition 42 has its full crew of astronauts and cosmonauts. Before leaving the ground the 6 had their official portraits taken. I expect it's one of many. And being the 42 nd expedition Douglas Adam's widow gave permission for the crew to dress up as characters from the book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Featuring (from left to right): Terry Virts and Anton Shkaplerov as Zaphod Beeblebrox Aleksandr Samokutyayev as Humma Kavula Page E-2

Barry Butch Wilmore as Arthur Dent Elena Serova as Ford Prefect Samantha Cristoforetti as Trillian Guest star: Robonaut, as Marvin the Paranoid Android A tip of the old button laden cap to Universe

11 Barry Butch Wilmore as Arthur Dent Elena Serova as Ford Prefect Samantha Cristoforetti as Trillian Guest star: Robonaut, as Marvin the Paranoid Android A tip of the old button laden cap to Universe Today. Credits: NASA, Universe Today NASA Space Place Article Where the Heavenliest of Showers Come From By Dr. Ethan Siege You might think that, so long as Earth can successfully dodge the paths of rogue asteroids and comets that hurtle our way, it's going to be smooth, unimpeded sailing in our annual orbit around the sun. But the meteor showers that illuminate the night sky periodically throughout the year not only put on spectacular shows for us, they're direct evidence that interplanetary space isn't so empty after all! When comets (or even asteroids) enter the inner solar system, they heat up, develop tails, and experience much larger tidal forces than they usually experience. Small pieces of the original object often multiple kilometers in diameter break off with each pass near the sun, continuing in an almost identical orbit, either slightly ahead-or-behind the object's main nucleus. While both the dust and ion tails are blown well off of the main orbit, the small pieces that break off are stretched, over time, into a diffuse ellipse following the same orbit as the comet or asteroid it arose from. And each time the Earth crosses the path of that orbit, the potential for a meteor shower is there, even after the parent comet or asteroid is completely gone! This relationship was first uncovered by the British astronomer John Couch Adams, who found that the Leonid dust trail must have an orbital period of years, and that the contemporaneously discovered comet Tempel-Tuttle shared its orbit. The most famous meteor showers in the night sky all Page E-3

have parent bodies identified with them, including the Lyrids (comet Thatcher), the Perseids (comet Swift-Tuttle), and what promises to be the best meteor shower of 2014: the Geminids (asteroid 3200

12 have parent bodies identified with them, including the Lyrids (comet Thatcher), the Perseids (comet Swift-Tuttle), and what promises to be the best meteor shower of 2014: the Geminids (asteroid 3200 Phaethon). With an orbit of only 1.4 years, the Geminids have increased in strength since they first appeared in the mid-1800s, from only 10-to-20 meteors per hour up to more than 100 per hour at their peak today! Your best bet to catch the most is the night of December 13th, when they ought to be at maximum, before the Moon rises at about midnight. (12:37 a.m. in Traverse City) The cometary (or asteroidal) dust density is always greatest around the parent body itself, so whenever it enters the inner solar system and the Earth passes near to it, there's a chance for a meteor storm, where observers at dark sky sites might see thousands of meteors an hour! The Leonids are well known for this, having presented spectacular shows in 1833, 1866, 1966 and a longer-period storm in the years No meteor storms are anticipated for the immediate future, but the heavenliest of showers will continue to delight skywatchers for all the foreseeable years to come! What s the best way to see a meteor shower? Check out this article to find out: Kids can learn all about meteor showers at NASA s Space Place: Page E-4

13 Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / W. Reach (SSC/Caltech), of Comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3, via NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, Page E-5

The Newsletter of The Kern Astronomical Society. KAS Holiday Potluck

31 19 49.17 W The Syzygy The Newsletter of The Kern Astronomical Society No. 491 December 2014 KAS Holiday Potluck FIRST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH December 5th, 2014 @ Northminister Presbyterian Church, 3700