Binocular Outing. On-going Fire Hazards. Star Parties. March & April Meetings - Topics. Coordination of FWAS Events.

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Binocular Outing Ron DiIulio is putting together an outing oriented toward binocular observing... how to pick binoculars, how to view with binoculars, and what to view with binoculars.

1 Binocular Outing Ron DiIulio is putting together an outing oriented toward binocular observing... how to pick binoculars, how to view with binoculars, and what to view with binoculars. This outing will be discussed in the March meeting with the objective of arriving at a consensus as to where and when the outing will be held. Ron can be contacted at starman@unt.edu. March & April Meetings - Topics The topics for the March and April meetings have tentatively been set... March 21, 2006: Meteors and Meteor Observing April 18, 2006: a swap meet Coordination of FWAS Events Members are reminded that events using the FWAS name and resources are to be coordinated through either: Dave Titus, FWAS Public Outreach Coordinator, or Louise Greve, FWAS Star Party Coordinator 2006 Publication 2006 Guy Otwell Astronomical Calendar: price is $20.00 (retail is $25.00 plus shipping). Please see Tres Ross if interested in this publication. On-going Fire Hazards Members are reminded that, despite recent cool and wet weather, burn bans and restrictions against open flame continue across North Texas. Please see for the latest information applicable to Wise Co. Star Parties Mar 25: Lake Whitney State Park for info: fwasoutreach@yahoo.com Mar 31 (Fr): Nola Dunn Elementary (Burleson) FWAS Outreach event 7:30-10:00 in the teacher s parking lot contact fwasoutreach@yahoo.com to confirm participation Apr 1: Sun Fun & Starwalk at Copper Breaks SP dar/?calpage=s0038 Apr 8: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History Apr 23-Apr 30: Texas Star Party Prude Ranch, near Ft. Davis, Texas for info: May 6: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History (Astronomy Day) May 27: Sun Fun & Starwalk at Copper Breaks SP dar/?calpage=s0038 Jun 3: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History (cont d on P.4) Page #1 of 6

2 February Presentation Stars of Winter FWAS VP John Dowell presented Stars of Winter, an overview of the winter sky. The presentation included a discussion of the 6- constellation asterism called the Winter Hexagon, as shown below. Also noted was that λ-orionis (a.k.a. Meissa, or Orion s Head) can be used to gauge the sky. Life Imitates Art A planet with three suns in its sky has been identified 149 light-years from Earth in Cygnus. Its type is named Tatooine, after the dual-sunned planet in the film Star Wars. At mag 7.43, the Tatooine class system (officially HD ) is easily visible in small instruments. For additional information, please see 16.html. Page #2 of 6

3 In the Sky (mid-march thru end-april) Messier Marathon Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Sun Moon Meteor Showers March 25/26 (weekend of mid- to late-march closest to the New Moon); the alternative is April 1/2 (the first weekend in April) Apr 8: greatest westerly elongation (a morning star ) Mar 25: greatest western elongation (a morning star; ) continues to fade and shrink... by end-april, will be ~ mag +1.5 and 5 arc sec diameter well-positioned for late-evening viewing... will brighten to about mag 2.5 by end-april Recent observations have shown a secondary (smaller) Red Spot has appeared... for more details, please see well-positioned for evening viewing (close proximity to M44, the Beehive Cluster). The rings are ~ 20 from edge-on and closing; this spring is the last opportunity to see the rings this far from edge-on until Please see Sky & Telescope, February, 2006, P. 62 for a discussion of the tilt of the rings. a difficult catch at end-april... a 6 th magnitude object at an altitude of 12 at sunrise less 1½ hours a difficult catch at end-april... an 8 th magnitude object at an altitude ~ 24 at sunrise less 1½ hours a 14 th magnitude object a little less than 2 east of Xi-Serpentis (altitude ~ 41 at transit... at end-april, this is sunrise less ~ 2h:05m) Mar 29: Solar eclipse (unfortunately, not visible in North America) Mar 29: New Moon at 4:15am CST; an ultra-thin crescent may be visible at sunset as lunar elongation will be ~ 7½ (please see Sky & Telescope, Feb 2006, P for details). Apr 1: crescent moon (~ 16%) occults some of the Pleiades; please see Sky & Telescope, Apr 2006, P for details. Apr 27: New Moon at 2:44pm CDT. Apr 22: peak of Lyrid Meteor Shower prior to dawn; radiant is in Lyra (E sky); an hourly rate of is typical Various dates: 9 minor meteors showers ( minor meaning less than 10 meteors per hour at maximum rate). Please see for a complete listing. Astronomical League 2006 Convention The 2006 Astronomical League Convention and Exhibits (ALCON/EXPO) will be held August 4-5, 2006 at the E.H. Hereford Center on the UTA Campus (Arlington, TX). The Convention will have speakers, trade shows, and exhibitions. For additional details, please see for details. Page #3 of 6

4 Outreach Corner Star Parties (cont d from P. 1) By Dave Titus On Friday, March 10th, FWAS had a very successful star party thanks to the efforts of Pat Noell, Loren Larson, Matt Reed, Doug & Sherry Brown, and Dave Titus. The star party was held in North Richland Hills at the Dan Echols Senior Center for 65 guests. The age range for our guests was years. There were a few younger family members as well. When asked how many people had ever seen Saturn before through a telescope, less than 5 hands were raised. The seniors were very appreciative of our time, and were amazed at the views of the Moon on low, medium, and high power. We also observed Saturn, Mars, and selected stars. The highlight of the evening for me was when I had worked with one guest for quite a long time trying to help her see Saturn. Finally after several tries, she was able to see it. All she could do was just look at it and whisper, "There it is... There it is... There it is!" Jun 24: Starwalk at Copper Breaks State Park Jul 8: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History emphasis on lunar viewing (~ 95%) special shows on the moon tonight in the Noble Planetarium Jul 22: Starwalk at Copper Breaks State Park Aug 5: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History Aug 19: Starwalk at Copper Breaks State Park Sep 2: Starwalk at Copper Breaks State Park Sep 30: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History Oct 14: Starwalk at Copper Breaks State Park Oct 28: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History Our next event is Friday, March 31 at Nola Dunn Elementary in Burleson. The street address is Nola Dunn Elementary, 201 South Dobson, Burleson, TX The star party will start at 7:30 and run until 10:00. The guests will be students in grades 1-5, siblings, and parents. We will be setting up in the teacher parking lot, which is on the East side of the school on South Lawson Street. A map to the school is posted on the March 12 message to the e-group. Recognizing that getting to Burleson can be a challenge for some of us on a Friday evening, the school has graciously offered to make it easier for all volunteers by providing pizza. If you would like to participate in this public outreach opportunity, please reply directly back to me at fwasoutreach@yahoo.com, so I can let the school know how many volunteers to expect. Near Miss in 2102 The probability of a hit by asteroid 2004 VD17 has been revised to a bit less than 1 in Previously, the chance of a hit was estimated as 1 in about 1300 on May 4, For more information, please see Mar 23: Mar 29: Mar 31: Apr 1: Apr 3: Apr 8: On This Day 1912: born: Wernher von Braun, German rocket engineer 1749: born: Pierre-Simon Laplace 1974: the first close-up pictures of Mercury taken by Mariner : died: Sir Isaac Newton 1960: launch of TIROS-1, the first weather observation satellite. 1867: discovery of Comet Tempel-1 by Ernst Tempel of Marseille, France. Subsequent calculation would show the comet to have an orbital period of about 5.5 years. 1732: born: David Rittenhouse; initially an instrument maker by profession, Rittenhouse observed and recorded the transit of Venus of 1769 using a modified surveyor s transit; he would later become a professor of astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania as well as the first Director of the US Mint. (cont d on P.5) Page #4 of 6

5 FWAS MEMBERSHIP INFO FWAS Officers: Trista Oppermann President John Dowell Vice President Tres Ross Secretary / Treasurer president@fortworthastro.com vicepresident@fortworthastro.com secretary@fortworthastro.com FWAS Meetings FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at the UNT Health Science Center Research & Education Building, Room 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always welcome. FWAS Web Site FWAS E-Group (members only) send a blank to fwas-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe. Post messages to the group by sending to fwas@yahoogroups.com. Any message sent to fwas@yahoogroups.com will be automatically sent to all members on the list. Outreach items concerning FWAS Outreach activities should be addressed to FWAS Public Outreach Coordinator at fwasoutreach@yahoo.com Prime Focus The FWAS newsletter is published monthly. Letters to the editor, articles for publication, photos, or just about anything you would like to have included should be sent to: primefocus@fortworthastro.com. FWAS Annual Dues - $40 for adults / families, $20.00 for students (half-price Jan 1 thru June 30); checks payable to Ft. Worth Astronomical Society; payments can be mailed to P.O. Box , Ft. Worth, TX or in-person at the next indoor meeting. Membership runs July 1 through June 30. Discount Subscriptions Available Sky & Telescope ($32.95), and Astronomy (1 year for $34.00; 2 years for $60.00). A Sky & Telescope subscription through FWAS entitles you to 10% off purchases at Sky & Telescope s on-line store Astronomical League Membership Your FWAS membership also enrolls you in the Astronomical League. This makes you eligible for various observing certificates and you get their quarterly magazine, The Reflector. Apr 9: Apr 11: Apr 12: On This Day (cont d from P.4) 1959: NASA announces the selection of the US first seven astronauts for the Project Mercury missions. 1970: launch of Apollo 13; 2 days later, the explosion of an oxygen tank would terminate the mission and force a hazardous return to earth. 1981: first launch of the Space Transportation System (a.k.a. Shuttle ), with the 2-man crew of Crippen and Young. The first four launches of the STS were considered test flights. 1961: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to orbit the earth aboard the Vostok 1. At the time, it was not reported that Gagarin s controls were locked, to prevent him from taking control, and he parachuted from the capsule after reentry, as a human Apr 13: Apr 14: could not survive impact of the hard landing. 1941: died: Annie Jump Cannon, US Astronomer. Cannon is best known for compiling a bibliography of about 200,000 references to variable stars and for completing a catalog of more than 350,000 stellar spectra. Cannon devised and applied the arbitrary classification scheme O, B, A, F, G, K, M while examining spectra of bright southern hemisphere stars. 1971: died: Armand Spitz, developer of the Spitz Planetarium, a small educational planetarium. 1629: born: Christian Huygens, Dutch astronomer; although Huygens is normally associated with early study of Saturn (discovery of Saturn s rings and the satellite Titan), he also improved methods of grinding and polishing (cont d on P.6) Page #5 of 6

Observing Site Reminders All members Be careful with fire Sign the logbook in the clubhouse Put equipment back neatly when finished Leave a log note if there is a club equipment problem; in addition,

6 Observing Site Reminders All members Be careful with fire Sign the logbook in the clubhouse Put equipment back neatly when finished Leave a log note if there is a club equipment problem; in addition, please contact an FWAS Trustee to let them know. Turn out the bathroom light and close the door tightly do NOT lock; leave the thermostat alone. Maintain Dark-Sky etiquette Turn out your headlights at the gate!! Last person out, please Turn off lights Check all doors closed, but not locked Make sure nothing is left out Chain the gate when departing site. Distribution of Newsletter Ron McDaniel announced in the February meeting that effective immediately, Prime Focus will no longer be mailed to members. Members are expected to retrieve the Newsletter from the e-group website; those who have not joined the e-group are expected to join it. On This Day (cont d from P.5) lenses, as well as patented the first pendulum clock. Apr 18: 1955: died: Albert Einstein, who initially earned fame with three publications in 1905: application of quantum mechanics to light special theory of relativity equivalence of mass and energy Apr 19: Apr 24: Apr 25: 1982: Sally Ride becomes the first woman selected for NASA s space program. 1967: Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov becomes the first person to die during a space mission when his Soyuz-1 crashed to earth. 1990: launch of Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ); though initially plagued by mis-figured optics, the HST would eventually return thousands of high-resolution images. Page #6 of 6

Fire Hazard. January Meeting New Venue. John Dobson Possible Visit in May

Fire Hazard. January Meeting New Venue. John Dobson Possible Visit in May January Meeting New Venue Starting with the January 17, 2006 meeting, FWAS will have a new meeting location. The meeting will be in the UNT Health Science Center (3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Fort Worth), Research