STARGATE OBSERVATORY. Observatory Chairman: Riyad Matti / LECTURER S LIST

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2 WARREN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY The Warren Astronomical Society is a local, non-profit organization of amateur astronomers. The Society holds meetings on the first and third Thursdays of each month, starting at 7:30 P.M., as follows: 1st. Thursday Cranbrook Institute of Science 500 Lone Pine Rd. Bloomfield Hills, MI 3rd. Thursday Macomb County Community College South Campus Building B, Room Twelve Mile Rd. Warren, MI Membership is open to those interested in astronomy and its related fields. Dues are as follows: Student...$8 College...$12 Senior Citizen...$12 Individual...$17 Family...$22 Sky and Telescope Magazine is available for $14.50 per year, and Astronomy Magazine for $14.00 per year. Send membership applications and dues to Russ Patten, John R. Apt. D, Madison Hgts., MI Make checks payable to the Warren Astronomical Society. OFFICERS President : Alan Rothenberg lst. V.P. : Ken Strom nd. V.P. : Riyad Matti Secretary : Alice Strom Treasurer : Russ Patten Librarian : Marty Kunz Deep Sky Group: Doug Bock Lunar Group : Frank McCullough MAILING ADDRESS Warren Astronomical Society P.O. Box 474 East Detroit, MI Meets at Northern Cross Observatory, Fenton, MI - Meets at Stargate Observatory, Ray Center, MI WARREN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAPER Editor: Ken Kelly / Send all articles to THE WASP, Mapleview, Detroit, MI The W.A.S.P. is the official publication of the Warren Astronomical Society and is available free to all club members. NEWSLETTER EXCHANGES: Send your Newsletters to: THE WASP, P.O. Box 474, East Detroit, MI NOTE: Newsletters or change of address notices sent to other addresses may not reach the Editor. All Articles should be submitted at least one week prior to the Macomb meeting. STARGATE OBSERVATORY Observatory Chairman: Riyad Matti / Stargate Observatory is owned and operated by the Warren Astronomical Society in conjunction with Rotary International. Located on the grounds of Camp Rotary, Stargate features a 12.5 inch club-built Cassegrain telescope under an aluminum dome. The Observatory is open to all members of the club in accordance with 'THE STARGATE OBSERVATORY CODE OF CONDUCT'. THOSE WISHING TO USE THE OBSERVATORY MUST CALL BY 7:00 P.M. (IN THE EVENING OF THE OBSERVING SESSION. Lectures are given at Stargate Observatory each weekend. The lecture will be either Friday or Saturday night, depending on the weather and the lecturer's personal schedule. LECTURER S LIST Lecturers should check with Camp Rotary to determine whether the Scouts are staying at the camp and to inform the Ranger the day and time of the lecture. If you cannot lecture on your scheduled weekend, please make arrangements to switch weekends with another lecturer or call the Chairman as early as possible. The lecturers for the coming weekends are: Sep. 18/19 Clyde Burdette Oct. 16/17 Ken Strom /26 James Yax /24 Jon Root Oct. 2/3 Steve Aggas /31 Riyad Matti /10 Alan Rothenberg Nov. 6/7 Russ Patten

3 Sep The 1987 STARBOWL will be held at the Colony Park Apt. Clubhouse, near 12 Mile Rd. and Southfield Rd. in Southfield, Michigan. ALL Astronomy Clubs are invited to send a team of experts in Astronomy to compete with other clubs in answering interesting questions. It will start about 11:00 A.M. For further details, Call Alan Rothenberg at (313) Oct. 1 - Meeting at Cranbrook Institute of Science, 7:30 P.M. Ken Kelly will talk on 'Introduction to Variable Stars - Classification'. Oct. 3 - Public Viewing Session at Brandenburg Park, Just outside of New Baltimore, 6:00 P.M. to 12:00. It will be an Astronomy Workshop to enlighten those persons showing an interest in Astronomy. Oct Lunar and Planetary Group will have an Observing Session. Bring telescopes and Cameras. oct. 15 General Meeting at Macomb Community College, 7:30 P.M. A full program of activities is planned. Oct Public Viewing Session and Campout at Stoney Creek Boy Scouts and Parents are expected. Several talks on Astronomy will be given, Focused primarily on Native American Astronomy.

4 MINUTES OF THE MACOMB BUSINESS MEETING BY ALICE STROM Eight new members joined this month. The treasury now stands at $ Books were donated to the library by the following people; Bob Shindorf, Ken Kelly, and Mrs. Elizabeth Brown. Anyone interested in an adult Space Camp Program in Huntsville. Alabama can see Alan for an application. Viewing sessions for scouts will be held Oct. 3 at Brandenburg Park and Oct. 16. i7 at Stoney Creek. Details will follow. The Stargate cookout and Star Party will be held Sat. Aug. 29 from 11 am on. Rocket launching will be followed by a cookout at about 5:30. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided; bring a dish to share. A deep sky observing contest will be held if the weather cooperates. The dome will be painted and riveted if possible. There will also be a meeting of the Cosmology subgroup from 2 to 4. The programs this month were "Observing the Planets" (sketching and photography), Riyad Matti, "Results from the Halley Fly-Bys" Paul Strong. and a videotape on Voyager for the 10th anniversary of its launch. MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE MEETING Present were Alan Rothenberg, Colleen Nicolai, Clyde Burdette, Riyad Matti. Russ Patten. Ken Kelly, Ken Strom and Alice Strom. The upcoming viewing sessions were discussed in detail. On Sat. Oct. 3 at 6pm at Brandenburg Park (off 23 Mile at Lake St. Clair) a viewing session will be held for scouts. Six club members with telescopes are needed to help. In case of rain, this event will be rescheduled. The contact person i~ Clyde Burdette. ( ) At Stoney Creek Oct. 16 and 17, there will be another scout sessions and about 20 scopes will be needed Friday and Saturday evenings. Individual talks by club members on topics of their choice are being solicited for Sat. afternoon between 2 and 5. Equipment such as extension cords should also be brought, and a set of walkie talkies could be used. There will be a talk by Clyde Burdette from 7 to 8 on Native American Astronomy. Viewing through scopes from our club will follow. It has been suggested that each scope focus on one object and the demonstrator have facts available on that object as individuals view it. Anyone wishing to camp at Stoney Creek Oct 16 and 17 will have to leave the area by noon Oct.18. First round nominations from the executive committee were made for next year's officers, they stand as follows: President Riyad Matti 1st VP Ken Strom 2nd VP Clyde Burdette Secretary Bob Keller, Beverley Bakanowicz Treasurer Russ Patten Librarian Tom MacLaney Field Trips Alan Rothenberg Editor WASP Ken Kelly The Star Bowl has been set for Sep. 20th at Colony Park Apt. Clubhouse. 12 Mile and Lasher, Southfield. Several area clubs have been contacted. A team from our club will be selected from volunteers. Contact Tom MacLaney. Ideas were solicited from the officers concerning the type of programs they want to see in the future. The following talks were volunteered; Sep. 17 "Choosing a Telescope" Riyad Matti; Oct. 1 "Variable Stars" or "Dwarf Novae" Ken Kelly; Nov. 19 "New Gadgets in Astronomy" Alan Rothenberg and "Winter Observing" Colleen Nicolai. A possible date for the Christmas Banquet this year will be Frit Dec.4. Marinelli's will be contacted. There may be a field trip to Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff. Arizona in Sep for viewing the opposition of Mars.

5 PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS IN OCTOBER During the month of October, the Warren Astronomical Society will host two public viewing sessions that will require significant participation from among our members. Details on each event are provided below, and map showing locations are on back page. Astronomy at Brandenburg When: Oct. 3, PM Sat. Where: Brandenburg park, just outside city limits of New Baltimore. Who: General public, parents, science teachers, beginner astronomers How many: unknown, but possibly several hundred Focus of program: An astronomy workshop to enlighten those persons showing an interest in astronomy. There will be a slide show followed by observing of the moon and planets. Telescopes required: Camp-O-Ree When: Oct PM Fri. Oct PM Sat. Where: Stony Creek Campground Who: 2,000 Boy Scouts and parents Focus of program: ***Indian Star-gazing*** Telescopes required~ This will be our largest public program of 1987 that will require a large turnout from among our members. No charge for camping, but you must vacate the site by 12 Noon, Sunday the 18th. Speakers are needed to conduct miniworkshops with the scouts on, any facet of astronomy you feel confident in discussing with them. each telescope owner will be provided a "fact-sheet" that will assist you in discussing native american astronomy with the scouts and parents. The object of primary concern, due to its relevance, will be M-l, the Crab Nebula in Taurus, so brush up on some of its details to pass along to the viewing public. For more information about these demonstrations, call Clyde Burdette at weekdays, weekends.

6 1987 Camp-O-Ree Stoney Creek Campground Oct , 1987 Brandenburg Park Oct (map)

7 CONSTELLATION OF THE MONTH By Ken Kelly This month's constellation features PEGASUS, the flying horse. In Greek mythology, Pegasus was born from the blood of the Medusa, when that monster was slain by Perseus. The figure of the flying horse is actually upside-down in our skies. It culminates at Midnight on Sept. 1 and at 9 P.M. on Oct. 16. The following chart and tables are from The Guinness Book of Astronomy Facts and Feats, page 233.

8 Some Thoughts on Cosmology by Al Vandermarliere Sept 1987

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11 INTERESTING MINOR PLANETS By Ken Kelly PART III (3200) PHAETHON This Minor Planet was named after the son of Helios, the Sun god, who operated the solar chariot for a day, lost control of it, and almost set fire to the earth. It was in the news a few years ago because its orbit nearly coincides with the orbit of the Geminid meteor shower. It was at first thought that it was the parent body of the shower, which implies that it was the nucleus of a burned out comet. However, much doubt has been expressed about this hypothesis. Its composition type is "F", which means it has a bluish spectra, totally unlike comets. Also an article in Minor Planet Bulletin, Volume 14, page 29 gives orbital statistics of Apollo-Amors. The "P" criteria for (3200) is given as 1.275; anything less than 2.5 is an asteroid, not a comet, so this seems to be conclusive evidence that it is not a comet. Phaethon has the smallest known perihelion distance of any minor planet, about 13 million miles. The aphelion is out in Main Belt I, to be described later in this series. (433) EROS This was the first minor planet discovered whose perihelion distance is Just outside earth's. It was named after the Greek god of love who is also called Cupid. He protected the beautiful Psyche from the vengeance of his mother Venus, and when Eros later married Psyche, she became immortal. When it was discovered in 1898, its extraordinary proximity to the earth (minimum distance 13 million miles) was noted. It was hoped that observations of this planet would provide the most accurate data for determining the solar parallax, which is a fundamental constant used for calculating the mean distance from Earth to the Sun. International observing campaigns were organized during favorable oppositions. Unfortunately, a mistake was made in the calculations, and many astronomers doubted the result. The error was finally found" decades later, but by then radio astronomers had better methods of calculating the astronomical unit (A.U.) such as reflecting radar signals off of Venus and Mercury. Eros was also the first minor planet to have its rotation measured by timing the variations in its light curve. It is quite elongated, and is shaped like a brick. It has a rotation period of 5.27 hours, and rotates about its short axis. It is still intensely studied during close approaches. The last flyby of Earth took place in late 1974 and early 1975, and a workshop took place in Tucson to discuss the results of the observations. Eros is devoid of regolith, such as occurs on the Moon. The dominant mineral is iron-rich pyroxene. It is typical of the "B" composition asteroids, which tend to populate the inner part of the asteroid belt. Although it was the first "Amor" to be numbered, it was not realized at the time that others like it would be discovered, so the zone was named after Amor, not Eros. The Amor zone is now considered to end at 1.30 A.U. (1951) Lick, e.g. is now considered to be a Mars crosser. (Next Month: The Mars Crossers)

12 MINOR PLANETS FOR SEP. - OCT. (Calculated by Ken Kelly) Positions for the four brightest Minor Planets are listed for this time period. The opposition dates are as follows: (6) Hebe, July 15; (8) Flora, Aug. 14; (3) Juno, Aug. 21; (39) Laetitia, Sept. 21. The diameters are as follows: Hebe 206 km., Flora 160 km., Juno 267 km., and Laetitia, 158 km. EPHEMERIS FOR (6) HEBE EPHEMERIS FOR (8) FLORA EPHEMERIS FOR (3) JUNO EPHEMERIS FOR (39) LAETITIA SOURCE OF ELEMENTS: 1987 Ephemerides of Minor Planets

13 EPHEMERIS FOR COMET 1987S Bradfield

14 EPHEMERIS FOR COMET 1987u - Rudenko

15 LUNAR OCCULTATIONS (STANDARD COVERAGE) COMPUTED FOR NEW HAVEN (LAT LONG ) FOR 1987 OBETZ(COLUMBUS), OHIO IS THE STANDARD STATION AT LAT LONG , CODE= SA634 This table was supplied by Clyde Burdette