Comet Lemmon, imaged by LAS member Jim Pollock

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1 Comet Lemmon, imaged by LAS member Jim Pollock Longmont Astronomy Society Newsletter August 2013

2 Monthly meeting: See you at 7 on Thursday 8/15/13, Front Range Community College; door C1 and down the hall to room From the President: In lieu of a speaker, I thought we'd have movie night. I will bring the video "Hubble: 15 years of discovery". I haven't seen this but it looks good. If anyone has a video they think is especially good, bring it and we can vote on which to watch. In the sky this month: Meteor Showers: Perseids winding up with varied results. Rose early at 4 on Saturday 8/10 to have my tea in the back yard. 3 meteors, one not a Perseid (wrong direction). Rose again on Monday to give it another go and struck out. Hazy high up on Monday, couldn't even see Orion's Belt. Perseids continue for another week or two, diminishing. Planets Mercury: rises 45 minutes before sunrise, decent in the East Venus: sets 1.5 hours after sunset, still bright in the West and fading Mars: rising 2.5 hours before sunrise, now decently high in the East in the morning and improving Jupiter: beating Mars by an hour, still higher in the East at sunrise Saturn: look quick sets and hour after the Sun and fading Current Extra-solar Planet count: Confirmed: 884 Candidates: 3548 Total: 4432 The Kepler satellites is still broken, and not likely to work again. Interesting Stars/Galaxies A comet that could put on a dazzling show when it zooms through the inner solar system later this year is already blasting out huge amounts of gas and dust, new observations by a NASA spacecraft show. Images taken on June 13 by NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope reveal that dust and carbon dioxide gas are streaming off Comet ISON, forming a tail about 186,400 miles (300,000 kilometers) long, researchers said. Stay tuned for the Dud? Of the century... Club Calendar: no upcoming events, but a lot of informal trips to RMNP, Fox Park... Fiske Planetarium:Admission costs $3.50 for kids and seniors and $6 for adults, but closed for renovations Internet Resources: Greetings Galaxy Zoo Fans,

3 We're excited to announce the launch of a new 'mini' project called Galaxy Zoo Quench, involving new images of 6,004 galaxies drawn from the original Galaxy Zoo. You're welcome to just classify as always, but this project is special. We hope to take citizen science to the next level by providing the opportunity to take part in the entire scientific process everything from classifying galaxies to analyzing results to collaborating with astronomers to writing a scientific article! Galaxy Zoo Quench will examine a sample of galaxies that have recently and abruptly quenched their star formation. These galaxies are aptly named Post-Quenched Galaxies. They provide an ideal laboratory for studying galaxy evolution. The entire process of classifying, analyzing, discussing, and writing the article will take place over an ~8-12 week period, beginning today! After classifying the galaxies, Quench volunteers can use tools.zooniverse.org to plot the data and look for trends. We'll also have a special Quench Talk ( forum to discuss and identify key results to include in the paper. (The regular Galaxy Zoo will continue as normal.) We hope you'll join us as we try out a new kind of citizen science project. To learn more visit Have questions about the project? Ask us on Twitter (@galaxyzoo) or Facebook (facebook.com/thegalaxyzoo). Thanks, Laura and the Galaxy Zoo Team PS We're holding a poll on our favourite Galaxy Zoo objects for the Autumn cover of 'Astronomy and Geophysics' - cast your vote on the blog at Facebook? Go to Telescopes n More, like them, and they have a free Ebook for download not a bad guide to the night sky... They put about 4 notices a day into my home reading, and if a couple weren't interesting, I'd ban them in a minute. Download Your Free ebook From Sky & Telescope Magazine About Watching Meteors! What they want is your address make one up if you want to... It's 9 pages of decent info. This month s field trip: The Weakest Solar Cycle in 100 Years Scientists are struggling to explain the Sun s bizarre recent behavior. Is it a fluke, or a sign of a deeper trend?

4 The Sun is currently at the peak of Cycle 24, the weakest cycle in 100 years. D. Hathaway / NASA / MSFC The Sun is acting weird. It typically puts on a pageant of magnetic activity every 11 years for aurora watchers and sungazers alike, but this time it overslept. When it finally woke up (a year late), it gave the weakest performance in 100 years. The Sun's magnetic pole is about to flip in the next couple of months, indicating Solar Max and the beginning of the decline. Details at Upcoming Space Missions: September 6: Tentative launch date of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust. A thorough understanding of these characteristics will address long-standing unknowns, and help scientists understand other planetary bodies as well. The MAVEN mission is scheduled to depart for Mars in November. Current Space Missions: From the Magazines: From American Profile magazine for July 28: The Five Super places to view the night sky 1. Big Pine Key, Florida and you get Key deer in the daytime about half way down the Keys 2. Socorro County, New Mexico Night Sky Protection Act in effect 3. Cherry Springs State Park, Penn in the middle of a state forest in a valley

5 4. Western Texas dark sky ordinances. I've stopped in the middle of Texas at night to stargaze, and there were actually NO lights in sight. McDonald Observatory country. 5. Natural Bridges Natl Mon, Utah International Dark Sky Park. Twice weekly educational programs with advanced stargazing equipment. Member Imaging: Milky Way during informal star party by Gary Garzone

6 Lefty H captures the 34 hour crescent Moon Jim Pollock with his first shot of the Eagle Nebula