Next Meeting October 20, 2009 at 8:00 PM ~ The Beginnings of Modern Astronomy ~ Speaker: Jack Fisher at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory

Transcription

1 Vol. 54, No. 6, June, 2009 The International Year of Astronomy! Next Meeting October 20, 2009 at 8:00 PM ~ The Beginnings of Modern Astronomy ~ Speaker: Jack Fisher at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory FROM THE PRESIDENT Hank Bouchelle I hope that new season is treating you wel! Many groups within the DAS are keeping busy, making sure that things are running smoothly, including the Sawin Telescope group. Be sure to check with Tom Sidowski or one of the other members to see what has been happening! As it always does, winter and Christmas are creeping closer. Give some thought to our annual Christmas gala, and the activities and treats that might be appropriate. It looks like Bill McKibben has already taken a firm reign on the office of Treasurer. Among other things it is time to think about Sky Calendar and other publications (including discounts on Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines that provide a wealth of information. Finally, it is more than worth noting that our own Al Webber celebrated his 102nd (yes, that s right, 102nd!!) birthday on October 10. Be sure to offer your congratulations. Al--you have our heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS! I hope to see you at the meeting! Each issue of FOCUS is full of useful hyperlinks. Just click on any graphic or web address and your browser should take you to additional linked web resources. DAS BOARD MEETING AGENDA 7:00 p.m., October 20, 2009 In the Library at the Mt. Cuba Observatory Review of September Board meeting minutes Standing Committee Reports Treasurer (Bill McKibben( Focus/Publications (Joe Neuberger) Library (Glenn Bentley) Education (Bob Karcha) Sawin Observatory (Tom Sidowski) Observing (Greg Lee) Program Review/Adjustments/Changes 400 th Anniversary of Galileo s Observations Lemonick, etc. Dinner Meeting Location? Speaker? Awards Committee Review, August 2009 Sky and Telescope article, p. 30 Expanding role & outreach of DAS and MCAO Stargazer Course? Other?

2 Credit: DAS Member Bill Hanagan, Moon Eclips, Observing with the Delaware Astronomical Society... STAR PARTIES AT MT. CUBA Tom Sidowski Star parties are usually held on the grounds of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory. You can bring your own scope or just come to observe through others. Telescopes in use may include the club s 12.5" Newtonian reflector, 17" Coulter Odyssey 2, or 6" Orion SkyQuest XT6 Dobsonian (when not on loan). Star parties are always weather permitting. Here is the Star Party Fall schedule: Saturday October 24, 2009 at 7:30pm Friday November 20, 2009 at 7:30pm Saturday December 19, 2009 at 7:30pm Please join us for a Star Party at Mt. Cuba, or one of our frequent public nights held at different locations. Coming up are nights at Bellvue State Park on Oct. 21 and Nov. 19 at dusk. They are great ways to spend an evening. And don t forget to bring along the kids or grandkids. COMING EVENTS at the Mt. CUBA OBSERVATORY... MCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS Hank Bouchelle The Mt. Cuba Observatory Public Nights continue year round! In addition to learning about many aspects of the heavens, you ll have a chance to visit and view our all-digital full-dome planetarium. You can pick up a schedule when you next come to a meeting or get the latest updated version off the website at: Programs are presented on Monday nights at 8pm. Some upcoming events are: Oct 26 Weaver - Light Pollution Nov 9 Scott Jackson - Preparation for the Winter Solstice Nov 23 Sheila Vincent - Tales of the Night Sky Dec 7 Scott Jackson - Christmas Wonders -2- FEATURED IYA NIGHT SKY ACTIVITY for October October s Discovery Guide: What is the Fate of the Universe? October s theme is Telescopes as Time Machines. Find out about how it all started, where we are going, and how long before the Andromeda Galaxy collides with the Milky Way. See Andromeda in the night sky, and find out how long it takes its light to get here with the Telescopes as Time Machines activity. Emil Volcheck Memorial Planetarium Series Extended into Fall Presented as part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, this new series was met with excitement at its inception last Spring and has been continued into Fall with the following Sunday evening events: Sunday Oct 25, 7:00 pm - Latest rising and earliest setting of the sun: -the Equation of Time Sunday Nov 22, 7:00 pm - Eclipses and Occultations for Jupiter Please join us and enjoy this series at our newly installed digital planetarium one of the first of its kind in the United States. Series seating is limited to 15 people, so reserve early by calling the Observatory at

3 DAS Special Interest Groups for Photography and Telescope Construction... DAS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan The DAS astrophotography special interest group (DAS AP SIG) meets on Friday nights at 7:30pm every other month at Mt. Cuba regardless of weather. The SIG also meets for photo shoots scheduled on 1-2 day notice to synchronize with the weather The next AP SIG meeting will be at 7:30 P.M. on either October 23 or 24, depending on the weather. The location of the meeting has yet to be determined, but Ron Worden s home is a likely venue since he has invited us to return in better weather for a demonstration at his observatory. The date selected and the location will appear in the meeting announcement that I send out a couple of days ahead of the meeting and is dependent on the weather forecast. November is still available for hosting an on-site meeting. If you would like to host the AP SIG meeting at your own imaging site, please let me know ASAP to allow time for scheduling. Any presentation you d like to make is fine, but you should include a brief run-down on your imaging equipment before the Q&A session begins. Please note that you DO NOT need to have a fully developed high-end state of the art imaging rig to host the AP SIG meeting, just the equipment you actually use for astrophotography. Demonstrations of how to take astrophotos with a variety of equipment are beneficial to other SIG members, who have a broad range of interests and equipment. The monthly meetings are informal and typically include the presentation of astrophotos taken by the members along with an extended question and answer period. Objects commonly photographed include constellations, auroras, lunar eclipses, and planetary photos, as well as a wide variety of deep-sky objects such as nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, etc. The topics discussed cover the entire gamut of astrophotography, from how to get started with a minimum of equipment, to polar aligning your telescope, all of the way to thefine points of using auto-guiders and post-processing digital images. You can get started in astrophotography with just your current camera mounted on a tripod or a motorized telescope by taking wide field photographs of meteor showers, conjunctions, constellations, and star trails. As you move to progressively fainter and smaller subjects, you ll need better equipment. Joining the AP SIG is a great way to learn what equipment you need and what works well before you spend your money. If you are interested in joining the AP SIG, just your name, address, and phone number to me at hanaganw?comcast?net and. in place of? and?). Finally, PLEASE consider submitting one or more of your favorite astrophotos for publication in the FOCUS. There is no reason this needs to be a recent photo, since many deep-sky objects appear the same from year to year. You can your photo(s) to our FOCUS editor, Joe Neuberger at JRNeuberger@gmail.com. Please include a brief descrip-tion of how you made each photo along with a by-line so each photo can be properly credited. You might even put it all together in a Microsoft Word document so Joe can see how you would like it to appear. Joe has done a great job improving the look of the FOCUS, but like all newsletter editors, he needs as much material as he can get. DAS AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan The DAS Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) Special Interest Group (SIG ) meets on evenings and weekends according to the availability of the members and the particular projects that are underway. Currently he ATM SIG has a medium Dob building program under way. The general range of activities of the ATM SIG includes all manner of telescope making, mirror making, and the -3- making of accessories for telescopes and observing. Anyone interested in joining the ATM SIG should their name, address, and phone number to me at hanaganw?comcast?net and. in place of? and?). Meeting dates are announced primarily by , so if you are interested in telescope making, be sure to let me know! LOANER TELESCOPES and SAWIN OBSERVATORY REMINDER Tom Sidowski One of the best advantages of being a member of the Delaware Astronomical Society is that all members have the privilege of being trained to use and then borrow equipment owned by the club for personal use. Currently, we have two scopes available for loan: a Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain, and a 6" Orion Sky- Quest XT6 Dobsonian reflector. The loan is for at least a month. If you re interested in checking out either of these scopes, contact Tom Sidowski at The DAS also maintains a club observatory on the grounds of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory. The Sawin Observatory houses the club s permanently mounted 12.5" reflecting telescope and a 17.5" Coulter Odyssey 2 Dobsonian telescope. They are for the use of club members once they are trained and checked-out in a simple operating procedure. Members who are interested in becoming key holders of the Sawin Observatory should contact me at to arrange for training in the use of the facility.

4 Credit: DAS Member Rob Lancaster M42 - Orion Nebula DAS FORUM / SITE ON YAHOO Don Shedrick This is a restricted service for use by DAS members for DAS purposes. To use this site, go to search for Delaware Astronomical Society; and click on the link that comes up. To join, you must have a Yahoo ID and password; if you don t, you can register at this time by following Yahoo s instructions. You will then be allowed to Join the group upon clicking in that box. You must then register for the DAS group and add your profile by clicking on add new profile and completing the form. When adding or editing your profile, you will need to enter your actual name in the Real Name box so you can be identified as a DAS member so Don Shedrick can approve your application to join the DAS group, and everyone will know to whom they are communicating. Finally, specify your desired address for delivery of messages. Note: you may choose to not have your name and address displayed to anyone other than DAS members who are members of the Yahoo DAS group. For more detailed instructions, go to the DAS website under DAS Resource Links. Two Regional Star-Parties Remain for This Year Two other nearby regional star parties remain for this year. They are the Fall Mason-Dixon Star Party in southern York County, PA on October 16-18, and the nearby Stella Della in Bucks County, PA on October Both require about a 2.5 hour drive from New Castle County, DE. INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY FOCUS uses plenty of photos in banners & elsewhere each issue, and we want to use YOURS...not Hubble s!! Photos need NOT be current. So PLEASE send yours today!! MEMBERSHIP EXPIRATION NOTICES Bill McKibben If you receive the FOCUS by , you will be notified by . If you receive it in the mail and the mailing label on the envelope containing your FOCUS is marked with red marker, your membership is expiring or has expired. To continue to receive Astronomy magazine send the renewal form on the last page of this newsletter with your check to:das, c/o Bill McKibben, Treasurer, 27 Mary Jane Lane, Elkton, MD MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS Bill McKibbon The club will no longer take renewals for S&T; members can send in their renewals directly at the club rate of $ They will begin to send you renewal notices about 6 months before with the word soon and no definite date. The mailing label that is printed on the cover of S&T has the renewal date. Astronomy magazine is still discussing whether to go this route. But for now any renewals (and new subscriptions) must come through the Club. LIBRARY NEWS Glenn Bentley I invite the membership to drop by the DAS library after the October meeting to check out what s on our shelves or return reading materials previously checked out. FROM THE MT. CUBA LENDING LIBRARY The Mount Cuba Lending Library also has many volumes available to the members of the Delaware Astronomical Society. Please stop by and peruse the offerings. IYA2009 is Drawing to a Close-- Let s make EVERY Year the YEAR of ASTRONOMY! So how about you?? HAVE ANY OLD or NEW ASTROPHOTOS?? PLEASE to FOCUS editor (or tell us where they can be found on the web if your photos reside there) -4-

5 ASTRO-PHOTO of the MONTH The Red Planet - MARS Photo by Ron Worden DAS member Ron Worden captured this picture of the Red Planet. You can see Ron s set-up if you join in the next meeting of the AP SIG. It is flex-scheduled for October 23 at Ron s home observatory, weather permitting. Contact Bill Hanagan for details as the date gets nearer. The Galileo Experience WEBSITE of the MONTH an IYA2009 Cornerstone Project Following the unprecedented success of IYA2009 s 100 Hours of Astronomy ( which featured hugely popular projects such as a Global Star Party, the live 24-hour webcast Around the World in 80 Telescopes, a Science Centre webcast, Sun Day and 100 Hours of Remote Astronomy, another series of astronomy events has been highlighted for October This new IYA2009 Cornerstone Project is called Galilean Nights and will see amateur and professional astronomers around the globe taking to the streets and pointing their telescopes to the wonders that Galileo observed 400 years ago. The focus of the project is sidewalk observations of gas giant Jupiter and its moons, as well as allowing members of the public to observe the Sun, our own Moon and many more celestial marvels. Be part of Galilean Nights: attend an event or arrange your own to bring astronomy to others. You could organise an observing session for your school, give a talk about Galileo at a local library or simply go stargazing with friends and family. To keep informed about Galilean Nights activities and progress surf over to -5-

6 This Fall s Meteor Showers Present Uncommon Opportunities by Bill Hanagan Light from our moon often greatly diminishes the visibility of meteors. This fall, though, we re in luck. November s Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak one day after the new moon and December s Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak two days ahead of the new moon. Visible meteor frequency is gauged according to the Zenith Hourly Rate (ZHR). The ZHR is the number of meteors a careful observer would see per hour under a moonless sky with a limiting magnitude of 6.5 if the radiant of the shower were at the zenith. Of course, the radiant of the shower is rarely at the zenith and most of us in Delaware don t observe under magni-tude 6.5 skies. So, the actual frequency of meteors that we observe could easily be a third of the ZHR associated with our location. That still translates to roughly 1 meteor every 2 minutes which is more than enough to lure enthusiasts out under the stars when the weather is good. Most meteors are simply streaks of light. Some are so bright you can see your shadow when you re looking the other way. I often see my shadow when everyone else at a star party is going WOW, WHAT A METEOR! Some showers, like the Leonids, tend to produce a few meteors with trails. Other showers, like the Geminids, have a tendency to produce bright fireballs. The strength of the Leonid shower can be difficult to predict from year to year because its parent object, comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, passes unusually close to Earth s orbit. As a result, recent debris streams can be intercepted when they are still tightly concentrated along their orbital path, producing high ZHRs and possibly even a meteor storm, which is defined by a ZHR> 1000/hour. But, being more concentrated makes the various debris streams easier to miss entirely. In many years, the Leonids produce a peak ZHR of only 10/hour, which is barely above the background of 7/hour for randomly occurring meteors. The debris streams associated with more consistent meteor showers, like the Geminids, are not as close to Earth s orbit and must disperse before the debris can be intercepted by the Earth. That pre-dispersal discourages meteor storms but leads to more consistent performance from year to year. During the much anticipated 2001 Leonid meteor storm, I shot several rolls of slide film in the hopes of capturing a few Leonid meteors on film. My favorite shot can be seen in Photo 1. This particular meteor passed a short distance -6- below the Beehive (M44, upper right) and faded just before passing through M67. The meteor traversed the scene from left to right and produced a range of colors over its lifetime ranging from violet to red. The initial 3 minute exposure was made on Kodachrome 100 slide film using a 35mm camera equipped with a 50mm f/1.4 lens set at f/2 with the camera mounted piggy-back on an equatorial mount. The basic strategy for photographing meteors then and now is to make exposures continuously over several hours in order to compensate for the infrequency of meteors and the minimal sky coverage afforded by one camera. To keep the cost of film and processing within reason, I specifically chose Kodachrome slide film because its high reciprocity failure makes it inefficient at accumulating faint illumination during long exposures. That allowed me to make longer exposures before the sky background became objectionable. A digital copy of the original was later made using a DSLR equipped with a macro lens Photo 1. Dr. Wm. D. Hanagan, Jr. capable of 1:1 magnification. While digital processing has accentuated the visibility and color of the principal meteor, it has also caused a fainter meteor near the center of the field to disappear. The 2001 Leonid meteor storm had two separate periods of peak activity with ZHRs of 2000/hour and 3500/hour. In spite of the amazingly high frequency of visible meteors, getting a good looking photo of a meteor on film still proved to be a challenge because the camera s field of view covered only a small portion of the sky and many meteors were too faint for the slow, fine-grained film I used. The next time I go out to shoot meteors I ll be looking to put as many digital cameras to work as I can muster and I ll set some of them to the highest reasonable ISO setting in order to capture more of the faint meteors. If you decide to try your hand at meteor photography, start taking photos early and check the focus as well as the exposure very critically, especially if you re using a digital camera. A camera capable of completely manual operation that is able to make exposures of at least 30 seconds is essential. Cameras that are restricted to using automatic exposure and automatic focus can t get the exposure right and won t find enough to focus on when aiming at a dark sky. (Continued on next page)

7 Meteor Showers Present Opportunities (Continued from preceeding page) Use a wide angle lens if at all possible and aim your camera at a dark region of the sky away from any light pollution domes. Consider stopping the lens down 1 stop from wide open. The performance of most camera lenses drops off sharply with the aperture stop wide open. If you have a very wide angle lens, try to get an interesting object like a distinctive tree, a rocky peak, or an old stone building into the foreground. Be sure you have enough digital memory or film on hand to take a lot of photos. Use A.C power if possible. If you must use batteries, keep extra batteries on hand because battery charge can be reduced by more than half in cold weather. If you plan to use an exposure time longer than 30 seconds, consider mounting your camera on an equatorial mount instead of a tripod in order to avoid producing long star trails. Star trails can make nice photographs in their own right, but they detract from the visual impact of the meteors you hope to photograph. Digital cameras have a decided sensitivity advantage over film cameras, but more importantly they make it possible to subtract dark frames and combine multiple exposures of the same scene in order to reduce noise in your photo. If you use a digital camera, don t forget to shoot several dark frames after it s reached ambient temperature and keep some of the photos that don t show meteors to combine with the ones that do. Many digital cameras allow you to use a comparatively high ISO setting which will allow your camera to pick up fainter meteors. The ISO setting is roughly equivalent to the old ASA film speed. You should find out ahead of time which ISO setting will provide the highest level of sensitivity without producing an intolerable level of noise. Comet Tempel-Tuttle orbits the sun once every 33 years and the Leonid shower often has greatly elevated activity for about 5 years before and after the comet reaches perihelion. For the remaining 23 years of the cycle, the Leonids typically show an unspectacular ZHR of around 10/hour or less, which is only slightly higher than the 7/hour produced by sporadic meteors with no particular origin. Most experts believed we were already headed into this lackluster period of Leonid activity by 2007, and the Leonid activity that year seemed to confirm it: the peak ZHR for the Leonids in 2007 was only 35/hour. However, the 2008 Leonid meteor shower surprised us with ZHRs in excess of 100 even though the moon was 2/3 illuminated and high in the sky at the time. One expert, Mikhail Maslov, predicted the 2008 outburst, which he attributed to Earth s passage near a debris stream laid down by Tempel-Tuttle in In 2009, Earth is expected to pass more nearly through the center of the 1466 debris stream. Current predictions call for the 2009 Leonid shower to produce ZHRs between 100 and 500/hour. Unfortunately for those of us in Delaware, the predictions place the peak ZHR for the 2009 Leonids on November 17 at 21:43 UTC ± 1 hour and the debris stream is apparently so narrow that this high level of activity will be all but over within an hour or two. That places the peak activity at 5:43 PM EST in Delaware, about an hour after sunset. At that time, Delaware s zenith will be pointing almost directly away from Earth s path through the solar system, so the wind shield effect will be working against us. More importantly, the radiant of the shower as seen from Delaware will be about 6 hours below the horizon during the predicted peak, so the path that the debris takes as it approaches the Earth will bring it streaming into our atmosphere on the opposite side of the planet from Delaware. The highest ZHRs for the 2009 Leonids are thus expected to appear in the skies over Asia. By the time the radiant of the Leonid shower rises over Delaware at 12:05 A.M. on the morning of November 18, the Earth will have already passed through the 1466 debris stream. All predictions indicate that here in Delaware we re going to miss the predicted Leonid outburst for 2009 by several hours. However, in some years Leonid activity is high over several hours and we might still see a ZHR well above the dismal 10/hour that we can expect from the Leonids in the coming years. Further, predicting Leonid showers has proven to be a very tricky business. Who knows what ancient debris stream the experts might have underestimated this time around? If the weather is good and it s convenient for you to do some observing early on the morning of November 17 or 18, have a look. You might witness yet another unexpected Leonid outburst. In contrast to our low expectations for the Leonid shower, Delaware is well positioned for the upcoming Geminid meteor shower. The Geminids are remarkably predictable for a meteor shower, reaching a ZHR of /hour, year after year. What s more, the Geminids are famous for producing slow-moving fireballs. The peak activity for the 2009 Geminids is expected on December 14 (Continued on page 8) Figure 1. The movement of the Earth through the solar system causes Earth s leading edge to pick up more meteors just like raindrops on the windshield of a speeding car. However, the debris streams of many meteor showers are moving faster than the Earth and the direction from which meteors are striking the Earth (the radiant) greatly affects the geographic area over which meteor activity will be visible. -7-

8 Meteor Showers (Continued from page 7) at 5h10m UTC ± 2.3 hours (December 14, 1:10 A.M. EST ± 2.3 hours). This means that the peak activity could actually occur as early as 11 P.M. EST on December 13. More importantly, the radiant of the Geminid shower rises in our local sky at 6:46 P.M. on December 13 th and it will be approaching our meridian at the time of the predicted Geminid maximum. It doesn t get much better than that. It s interesting to note that the Geminid meteors stream toward us from a position more or less opposite the sun and hence approach Earth from the side relative to Earth s direction of travel, while the Leonid meteors approach from a direction almost exactly opposite Earth s direction of travel. The situation for both meteor showers is illustrated in Figure 1. Because the radiant of the Geminid meteors climbs into the Delaware sky early in the evening on December 13th, we have a very good chance to see a significant number of Geminid meteors in the hours leading up to midnight, even though the maximum activity may not take place until 1:10 A.M. or later on the morning of the 14 th. In short, you don t have to stay up past midnight to have a reasonable chance of seeing a few Geminid meteors in 2009! An analogy is sometimes drawn between Earth s movement through the debris streams that produce meteor showers and driving a car through the rain. In a gentle rain, most of the rain drops end up on the front windshield rather than the rear window because rain drops fall at a terminal velocity of only 4.7 mph, a very small fraction of your car s cruising speed. Something similar happens during a meteor shower. At 6 A.M. your local meridian is lined up with the direction of Earth s movement along its orbit and you are effectively looking straight out Earth s front windshield, the side of the Earth that would strike any stationary debris in its path. This windshield effect is often given as an explanation why the highest meteor activity is generally seen in the early morning hours before dawn. That s true enough as far as it goes, but it s important to remember that the debris streams that produce meteor showers aren t just sitting around waiting for Earth to tear through them at Km/s. In some cases the debris streams that produce meteor showers are moving quite a bit faster than the Earth. A more apt analogy would be driving your car at 30 mph through a thunderstorm. Which side of your car will catch more rain depends on the direction the wind is coming from and how hard the wind is blowing relative to the speed of your car. Geminid meteors can often be seen a night or two before and on the night after the predicted maximum, so don t hesitate to look for meteors on those days if the weather favors them. Be prepared to stay out for quite awhile despite the cold. Dig out your down parka and other winter gear and spend a couple of bucks on some disposable hand warmers so you can keep yourself nice and toasty. A reclining lawn chair is another great tool for observing meteors any time of year. Nothing beats time under the sky for improving your chances of seeing a Geminid fireball and you won t stay out if you can t keep warm. I keep some extra hand warmers in my pockets and fasten two around my camera lens with a rubber band to prevent dew buildup on the lens. Disposable hand warmers gradually cool off and stop producing heat when exposed to the cold, so trade the ones on your camera lens with a couple in your pocket once in awhile. Of course, if you can buy an electric dew heater for your camera, that s even better. For more information on how to observe meteor showers, check out the North American Meteor Network (NAMN), especially their observing guide. Also check out the International Meteor Organization website, especially their shower calendar detailing meteor showers occurring throughout the year. Harcourt C. Ace Vernon Memorial Lecture Series Sponsored by Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory in conjunction with the Delaware Asteroseismic Research Center,and the University of Delaware Lecture 2 of 3 -- Free and Open to the Public Mr. Michael D. Lemonick on How William and Caroline Herschel Invented Modern Astronomy October 17, pm - Rodney Room, U of D Perkins Student Center Michael Lemonick has been a journalist and author for more than 25 years 20 of them at TIME Magazine, where he wrote more than 50 coverstories on topics ranging from climate change to particle physics before stepping down as a senior science writer in Today, he teaches writing at Princeton and is the senior staff writer for Climate Central. Called one of astronomy s great popularizers by the New York Times Sunday Book Review, Lemonick has written four books on astronomy: The Light at the Edge of the Universe (1993); Other Worlds (1996; winner of the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award), Echo of the Big Bang (2003), and The Georgian Star (2008). For full details see: Lecture 3 - November 7, PM Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe

9 Telescope Workshop Scheduled for Oct. 24 th Instruction on how to operate complicated equipment to be provided! have Many Astronomy enthusiasts start out by buying a telescope based only on advertising and the advice of a store clerk. Once they get their new telescope home they often difficulty setting it up and using it. On Saturday, October 24th at 4:00 P.M. on the grounds of the Mount Cuba Astro nomical Observatory, experienced amateur astronomers from the DAS will provide technical assistance in setting up, collimating, and using any telescope you bring to the event. After sunset, beginning at about 6:15 P.M., DAS members will also help you observe the moon, Jupiter, and other astronomical objects through your telescope and through the club s 12.5" and 17.5" telescopes. Individual assistance will also be provided to help you learn your way around the night sky using your red-filtered flashlight and a planisphere or star chart. An inexpensive planisphere can be purchased at the event for $3, but you can use any sort of star chart that you already have. Each attendee should bring a flashlight for getting around after dark and should wear extra layers to stay warm despite colder night-time temperatures. Flashlights must have red filters, but red cellophane and rubber bands will be provided for filtering the CLICK light from ON: a regular white flashlight. Only red filtered flashlights will be allowed after dark. If you need to sit from time to time, be sure to bring a lawn chair or blanket. A.C. power is available for your telescope. Refreshments will not be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own non-alcoholic beverages, sandwiches, and snacks. Admission upon entry is $5 per vehicle including the driver and $1 per additional passenger. The event is free to DAS members and their immediate family. DAS dues are $20 per year and you may join the DAS upon entry instead of paying the entrance fee. You must register your party by prior to the event. Space is limited, so be sure to register early. Send an to delastro@comcast.net giving 1) the date and time of the event, 2) your name, 3) the number of vehicles, 4) the total number of people, and 5) the number of telescopes that you plan to bring. You will receive a return indicating whether your reservation could be accommodated or not based on the availability of space. The event will be canceled if a predominantly clear sky is not predicted for the evening of October 24. An will be sent to all registered attendees stating whether the event is a go or a no-go shortly before noon on October Astro-Calendars Now Available--Come and Get em! The Club announces that two great 2010 calendars are available for members. The first is issued by Astronomy magazine and can be had by contacting DAS board member Lynn King at KLynnKing@earthlink.net. They are $7 each. Then the Astronomical League is pleased to announce a special offer for DAS members from the Universal Workshop, the producers of Guy Ottewell s popular Astronomical Calendar. They are making the 2010 edition of the Calendar available at a discounted price. There are plenty of good reasons why it has been published for over thirty years. The 2010 edition will not disappoint! Packed throughout the Astronomical Calendar s 84 pages are monthly sky charts; daily celestial highlights; charts, tables, and explanations of planetary movements; eclipse times and paths; and lunar occultation specifics. There are extensive descriptions of the year s meteor showers and periodic comets, as well. This calendar tells, in clear language, what events occur and when they happen. Members can order this incredible compilation of the year s celestial events for $19.95, shipping included. (It is normally priced at $24.95 with another $7 added for shipping.) But, to take advantage of the free shipping offer, you must order by Friday, October 31, and either use the special website at or call The League s special low price of $19.95 expires on December 31, 2009, but after October 31st you will have to add shipping charges to that amount. UniversalWorkshop.com accepts Mastercard, Visa, Discover, American Express and PayPal. -9-

10 LCROSS Impact: It s a Hit - But Was Anything Seen? At a press conference 2½ hours after the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite s (LCROSS) impacts of the moon on Friday, Oct. 9th, NASA s LCROSS team members were upbeat. They reported that the spacecraft and its instruments all performed beautifully, but warned It takes a while to comb through the data. Anthony Colaprete, the LCROSS principal investigator, said we saw the crater from the Centaur rocket-body impact and recorded other high-quality data, but he declined to say anything about water yet. (LCROSS was designed to detect an amount of frost in the soil as small as 1 part in 200.) Colaprete displayed an infrared image of the tiny impact flash a few pixels across, and showed photometry of the flash in visible and near-infrared light: a tiny bump in a light curve. An IR camera also recorded the warm craterlet left by the Centaur, hardly more than a pixel (a few dozen meters) across. No ejecta plume was clearly detected at least, Colaprete stressed, by A computer visualization of LCROSS hitting the the time of the press conference. He held out hope that the probe s spectro Moon on Oct. 9th. Credit: NASA/Ames scopic data might yet show ejecta and its composition. Jennifer Heldmann, coordinator of the observation campaign, displayed images from ground-based observatories. Nothing dramatic was apparent, but analysis of the images and spectroscopy continues. Infrared spectra from the MMT Observatory in Arizona, taken just before and after impact, seemed to look different, but no one at the press conference would comment about them any more definitely. At Kitt Peak in Arizona, observers recorded a flare of light at the orange sodium-emission wavelength. The ground-based videos that were presented showed a lot of changeless black shadow behind Cabeus s bright foreground ridge but that doesn t mean that nothing may yet come of them. Reporters quizzed the team members about the non-event the smashup certainly looked like. Answered Colaprete, Life is full of surprises and later added, I certainly hope we can dig something out of there that will be telling. But the hype that preceeded the event, with talk of amateurs around the globe being able to see the event, seemed overblown when all was said and done. Stargazing with the Obamas President Obama views the Double-Double in Lyra as young stargazers Lucas Bolyard and Caroline Moore look on. NASA s Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous infrared ring around Saturn. October 7, 2009: This is one supersized ring, says Anne Verbiscer, an astronomer at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. If you could see the ring in the night sky, it would span the width of two full Moons. The obvious question: Why did it take scientists so long to discover something so massive? The ring is made up of ice and dust particles that are so far apart that if you were to stand in the ring, you wouldn t even know it, Verbiscer said in a statement. Also, Saturn doesn t receive a lot of sunlight, and the rings don t reflect much visible light. But the cool dust - about minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit - glows with thermal radiation. NASA s Spitzer Space Telescope, picked up on the heat Downtown Washington may be awash with light pollution, but the stars came out last night for an evening of stargazing on the White House South Lawn. President Obama and his wife, Michelle, greeted a crowd of about 150 middle-school students who d come to take part in the first-ever White House Star Party. Helping them out were current and former astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride, John Grunsfeld, and Mae Jamieson; presidential science adviser John Holdren; and NASA administrator Charles Bolden. That s some guest list! The president is pressing for dramatic improvement in the quality of U.S. science and math education, and he s now twice urged the nation s youth directly to study hard and reach for the stars. In his opening remarks, the president challenged the assembled students to strive for greatness. What will your great discovery be? he asked. Galileo changed the world when he pointed his telescope to the sky. Now it s your turn.

11 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES September 15, 2009 PRESENT: Hank Bouchelle, Bob Mentzer, Lynn King, Bill Hanagan, Dan Chester, Bob Karcha, Tom Sidowski; Joe Neuberger, Greg Lee, Dave Grosky, Glen Bentley, Bill McKibben, Greg Lee, Rene VanCaneghem (John Case is on sabbatical until summer, 2010) TREASURER S REPORT: Bob M. reviewed finances. Hard copy of report not available. Bob officially retired and turned over position to Bill McKibben. MINUTES: Minutes were sent out early in summer. Bill Hanagan wrote response to minutes re: October 24 How to Use Your Telescope. Have people come out 4 p.m. for instruction and then observe. Same day as Tom Sidowski s DAS observing night. HOW TO USE YOUR TELESCOPE NIGHT: Date/time set for Sat. 10/24/09, start 4 p.m. with how to use and observe after. Members free, $2 non-members. Suggestion to try to contact James Morgan if we get a lot of young children. Hank reminded Bill to ask about special needs. Dave Grosky cautioned us about asking these questions. We don t want to open ourselves up for future problems. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: No report OBSERVING: Greg Lee has had star parties at Bellevue St. Park for general public through summer. Future parties scheduled for Sept. 21, Oct 21 and Nov. 19. Hank asked how these were publicized. They are listed on the Bellevue s web site, brochure, electronic mail. ASTRONOMY COURSE: Per Greg L. late for fall session. Bill H. suggested to hold off until spring or fall next year. Difficult to get publicity out. Hank B. suggested advertised at MCAO s public nights. Tom S. suggested MetroKids publication. OUTREACH AT WOODSIDE CREAMERY: Per Tom S. wrapped up. Tom advised he is stepping down as DAS Monthly Star Party Coordinator. Star parties are scheduled through December. No parties in January, February. Need someone for next spring. Bill asked Lynn K. about her outreach. She has had contact with Brandywine Creek St. Park. FOCUS: Per Joe N., no report. Bill H. requested that articles not be broken up on next page. Per Joe, articles that take up more than one page continue to the next page. LIBRARY: - No report. SAWIN OBSERVATORY: Tom S. handed report. Page 1, list of work that has been done to date. Page 2, still to be done, needs, continued maintenance. Page 3, expenses. They are minus $80.71 in budget. He projects needing $450 for future expenses. Included in budget is row of Leland Cyprus (quick growers) between observatory and neighborhood. Bill H. has asked permission of MCAO to plant trees. Not yet approved by MCAO. Will coordinate with MCAO. Checking into getting trees at wholesale. Bob K. suggested we ask supplier to donate and use donation as write-off and put up sign donated by. Motion to allow $450 for future expenses including cost of trees. Seconded and approved by those present. BROCHURES: Greg L. brought up subject of brochures that were printed a few years ago Contact information outdated. It was suggested that we print up labels with changes. Future printings can be done in black/white. PROGRAMS: Looking for speakers for April, May, June. October, Jack Fisher; Nov. Bill H.; Dec., Christmas party; January, Rob Lancaster, February and March, Bill H. Night of Nov. meeting (17) is Leonid Meteor showers. If weather is good, go out and observe. Mention at Oct. meeting. Bill will have article for Focus. MAY DINNER SPEAKER/MEETING SPEAKERS: Seth Shostack mentioned as a speaker - on west coast. Per Bill H. Harry Shipman knows. Mr. Shostack might happen to be in area. If we inquire far enough in advance, he might be on the east coast and be available. Stan Owacki (sp?) mention as possible speaker past speaker. VERNON LECTURES: Year of Astronomy. Lynn K. reported that Michael Lemonick is scheduled to give a talk, How William and Caroline Herschel Invented Modern Astronomy Sat. Oct. 17, Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center, 7 p.m. MAY DINNER: All agreed on same place for this year. Bob has negotiated in past. SEPTEMBER MINI TALK SPEAKERS: Dave Sewell has replica of Galileo and how it was made. Rich LeMay, how to camp out at regional star parties. Didn t get listed in Focus. $15.00 telescope. AWARDS COMMITTEE: Attempts to contact Gus Swartout have not been successful. Hank will try to contact. OBSERVATORY IN CINCINNATI: Article in Sky and Tel. Same situation as MCAO. Put on future agenda. Hank looking to expand education/outreach. Bill H. asked if this would be a MCAO or DAS project. MCAO and DAS work together/supportive. Respectfully submitted, K. Lynn King, Secretary For Sale: Meade 10" telescope f/10 LX200GPS-SMT SCT with UHTC with accessories. In very great condition, used twice. The specs of the telescope can be found at: We also have the Wireless AutoStar II, which you can review at: productdetail/part_number=7582/ The telescope is in a JMI custom case: 3NQ6R1TANAHP9H7JKURQ64G777/product_id/260J. Last but not least we also have the Meade Deep Sky Imager - Color CCD Imager with Autostar Suite. Specs at: All together we paid $ , FOR SALE for $ Please contact Theresa if you are interested or have any or theresa@doubledutch-nyc.com. -11-

12 DAS CONTACTS Please call any of us with your concerns! Board members: Officers President: Hank Bouchelle or also, By-Laws issues, programs Vice-President: John Case or Secretary: Lynn King also, Messier Club Treasurer: William McKibben -- Sky & Telescope & Astronomy magazine issues Standing Chairs Publications: Joe Neuberger also, FOCUS contributions/submissions Education: Bob Karcha Observing: Observatory: Greg Lee or also, What s Up? Tom Sidowski or Sidowski@udel.edu also, Star Parties Library Glenn Bentley Board Members at Large Bill Hanagan also, ATM and Astronomical Photography Special Interest Group David Swartout or DaveSwartout@gmail.com also, Awards Committee Chair Dave Groski -- david.m.groski@usa.dupont.com Other Chairs: Sarah Baird or SBaird@udel.edu Youth Coordinator, Elections Chair Rene Van Caneghem Archivist Sheila Vincent Ad-hoc star parties MCAO Web Page: DAS Web Page: FOR NEW MEMBERSHIPS or RENEWALS If you have questions, call any of the member representatives listed. Otherwise, just check the appropriate boxes and complete the form below. Print it or cut it off and send it with your check to Bill McKibben at his address on the form. The magazine prices are group rates to DAS members. If you re just joining us for the first time, THANKS, and welcome to the DAS! MEMBERSHIP or RENEWAL FORM Please make checks payable to DAS and forward to: Bill McKibben, Treasurer, 27 Mary Jane Lane, Elkton, MD New Member Senior/Family Membership $20.00 Renewal Junior membership (16/under) $10.00 Astronomy Magazine $34.00 NAME STREET ADDRESS Total Submitted $ CITY STATE ZIP TELEPHONE ADDRESS THE LEONID METEOR SHOWER Bob Mentzer In November the meteor shower known as the Leonids usually occurs. It appears to originate from the constellation Leo, hence its name. The most famous shower happened on the night of November 12, At that time a party of Americans headed by Captain Bonneville and guided by the famous mountain man, Joe Walker, was camped outside of Sacramento, California. A man named Zenas Leonard kept a journal and this is how he described the event. Our men were again thrown into great consternation by the singular appearance of the heavens. Soon after dark the air appeared to be completely thickened with meteors falling towards earth, some of which would explode in the air and others would be dashed to pieces on the ground, frightening our horses so that it required the most active vigilance of the whole company to keep them together. The display was altogether a mystery to some of the men and at least one was terrified by it. Dragging Joe Walker from his blanket, the mountaineer demanded the leader protect them against the damndest shooting-match that ever was seen. We don t know what he said, but Joe Walker was able to calm their fears. -12-