EMDSO Bi-Monthly Newsletter for May-June, 1997:
THE DARK-SKY OBSERVER Volume 11 No.3 May/June 1997
ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE. IF YER DUES ARE DUE, WE"RE AFTER YOU. We still haven’t received membership renewals from many of you, and the club’s treasury is not in real good shape. PLEASE, if you plan on renewing, do so soon. - Les Kemp- ----- *** -----
MINUTES of MARCH & APRIL MARCH- had us meeting almost solely to plan the dedication ceremony of the following month. - * - APRIL- Of course, the April meeting was actually the Dedication of the Schmidt-Scott Memorial Observatory. We had between 2-300 guest and consider it a very successful evening, even though it was cloudy. If it hadn’t been, we very possibly could have had several hundred more and it could’ve gotten pretty crowded. ----- *** -----
UP-COMING EVENTS MAY - I’ve taken the liberty of inviting the members of S.L.A.S. & M.D.A.C., out to the Schmidt-Scott for a ‘Star Party’ on our regular meeting night. I feel that we should try to develope as good a relationship with these two clubs as possible, and should interact frequently. - * - We will be talking about the work we’re doing on the Astronomical League’s "Astronomy Day" competition that we’ve entered this year with our observatory opening. Also, we’re planning on having a ‘workshop’ for the volunteers for the observatory staff, to familiarize them with the operation of the facility and the procedures of preparation and shut-down for a successful evening’s observing session. - * - JUNE - The EMDSO Annual ‘STAR-B-Q & STAR PARTY’ will be held this year at the Menke farm, west of New Haven, at the 30" Observatory. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Richard SCHWARTZ, of the Astronomy Dept. At UMSL. Dick is a research astronomer, whose specialty is the Early Evolution of Stars. He has logged over 100 hours observing time on the HUBBLE Space Telescope, in addition to having used many of the ‘Great Telescopes’ around the world over the past 20-25 years. His talk, however, is on CCD IMAGING, and the processes and equipment used at UMSL’s observatory with their 14" Celestron SCT. - * -
MIDSTATES REGIONAL CONVENTION (MSRAL) The MID-STATES REGIONAL ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE CONVENTION, will be hosted this year by the STL Astronomical Society at Washington University. It will be held the weekend of JUNE 13 - 15 (see enclosed information sheet & Registration Form). We (EMDSO) have offered to help in any way we can to help them to make this convention a success, including offering to host a ‘star party’ at the 30" observatory, during the weekend. The ‘Schmidt-Scott’ will also be open EACH NIGHT during the convention, weather permitting, however, there may not be anyone particularly interested in driving out from STL for observing, so, we’ll probably just be entertaining local folks. - * - We’re having a RAFFLE of ASTRONOMY STUFFPH, to raise money to upgrade Schmidt-Scott Observatory (see insert for Raffle Tickets and listing of companies contacted). We would like very much to have the raffle at the Mid-States convention, where there will be a higher per capita number of astronomy people than we would find elsewhere, or at a different time. However, if SLAS doesn’t allow us to do that, we’ll hold it at our JUNE ‘STAR-B-Q’. The ’Stuffph’ has started arriving & one of the items is a signed & numbered, limited edition print valued at $500.00, donated by a picture framing shop, "Moments Framed", in Ladue. ----- *** -----
OBSERVATORY NEWS SCHMIDT-SCOTT
IF YOU WANT TO VOLUNTEER - for the "Schmidt-Scott Observatory" Staff - PLEASE CALL 459-6633 - * - The Schmidt-Scott Memorial Observatory dedication was held on APRIL 12, 1997 beginning at 6:00p.m. The Dedication Ceremony along with scheduled speakers lasted about 45 minutes. About 20 people from the STL Astronomical Society and the McDonnel-Douglas Astronomy Club made an appearance and we chatted cordially. There were PLENTY of compliments on the job we did. They all seemed pretty impressed. Following, is the Program for the event, in case you missed it.
SCHMIDT-SCOTT MEMORIAL OBSERVATORY DEDICATION
6:00 p.m. WELCOME and Purpose for the Event "Astronomy Day Proclamation" Introductions: ECC Officials, Special Guests, Politicians, EMDSO Officers. 6:15 p.m. Song by Choral Group (Probably some sort of Tongue-in-Cheek thing) 6:20 p.m. Dr. Gibson: "ECC and It’s Relation to the Observatory" 6:25 p.m. Tonna Bruce: "How the Foundation Supports ECC Projects" 6:30 p.m. Jerry Kelley/ Thane Bopp: "History of the Observatory and the Scope" 6:35 p.m. Rick Schwentker: "The Project, Award, Contributors and Purpose of the EMDSO" 6:40 p.m. Dr. Schwartz: "Astronomy Education and the Community" 6:50 p.m. Song by Choral Group (more fun) 6:55 p.m. READING of the DEDICATION PLAQUE, with the names of those members that worked on the project. 7:00 p.m. Announcement of Evening Events Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Refreshments Dr. Schwartz’ Lecture and Slides in Cafeteria. Telescopes on display in field (or inside, in inclement weather) Student Displays 7:05 p.m. Closing Song by Choral Group. 7:10 p.m. "THANK YOU FOR COMING" -- OBSERVING BEGINS at DUSK
(Of course, it was cloudy, so there wasn’t any observing and the show shut down about 9:30 p.m.) - * - We plan on starting Public Observing sessions within the next couple of months, so if you have volunteered to staff these sessions and are still interested in doing so, please come to the next few Club Meetings, so we can see how many people we actually have and can start working on scheduling. - * - Rick brought his Physics students down for an observing session on Wednesday April 16th. It was mostly cloudy, but there were enough holes in the clouds to make the evening worthwhile. Present, besides Rick & his students, were; Kevin Dixon, Kim Colter and myself. Kim had just purchased an 8" Celestron SCT from some fellow up in Iowa, and brought it along so we could do a ‘Star Test’ of the optics - it’s a good one, and he only paid $600 - a real good deal. We also are doing a private observing session for a Woman’s group from Washington, on Tuesday evening, May 6th. - * - EMDSAF Construction of the observatory for the 30" scope is virtually COMPLETE. We finished in FOUR months more than we got done in FIVE YEARS at ECC. The 30" Observatory, we’re hoping, will be completely finished, at least to the point that it can be used for manual observing, by the "STAR-B-Q". The electricity has been hooked-up, the ‘warm-up room’ is nearly complete and the steel for the roof is virtually complete. We still need to install the telescope, the computer, insulate the ‘warm-up room’, put up the doors and get the locks installed. Also, we will need to install three more piers for mounting the other instruments; 4" f/15 UNITRON refractor, 10" f/15 ASTROLA Classical Cassagrain and perhaps a 5" Apochromatic refractor, that Jim Debnam is having built. As it stands right now, (April 25th), all the re-tracing that needed to be done concerning the sagging floor has been taken care of,(the floor is now supported with two 8"x32' I-beams, set on concrete piers and each of the 6x6 posts was excavated and back-filled with concrete - that floor would support a diesel locomotive now), the ‘Roll-off’ roof is in place and operates smoothly. About the only things left to do are, finishing the ‘warm-up room’, installing the computer (but that will be later) and finishing the electrical wiring for power & lighting, and finally, the installation of two or three additional piers. The 30" should have its’ own set of eyepieces, as should the Cassagrain, but for now, we can simply use our own individual e.p.’s. - YEAH, IT’S REALLY THAT CLOSE TO BEING DONE !! We’ve also acquired a 486 computer from Family Health Care, through Thom Davis to use in the observatory. With the sheet metal on, the whole building looks a lot smaller than it did before, but man, DOES IT LOOK GOOD !! ----- *** -----
KICK IT AND WEEP THERE were some complaints that need to be addressed concerning the Program at the ‘SCHMIDT-SCOTT dedication. 1st, that there was VERY LITTLE recognition oof the people that put in many, many hours away from their families to help do the site preparation, restoration of the structure and all the other miscellaneous jobs that were required to make the ‘whole’ a success. 2nd, The posters that were up-dated & prepared Saturday afternoon showing the ‘Contributors’ and the Design of the Dedication Plaque were stuck behind the 30" scope, against the wall with something else on top of them, and so consequently, were not seen again ‘til Sunday morning when we moved everything out. 3rd, (and related to the 1st), I want to extend a very personnal THANK YOU to the wives and families of those people who had to spend so much time away to work on this project over the last FIVE+ years. Without YOU and your understanding and acceptance, it may well have been impossible to complete this project at all. - J. KELLEY, VP FOLLOWING, is a note to you,
FROM: JUDY KEMP - Secretary - EMDSO April 15th 1997 "A very big THANK YOU is in order to so many people who were involved in the ‘Schmidt-Scott Memorial Observatory’ project. First and foremost, to those who gave so much of their time over the 5+ year period. This includes spouses who spent many hours without their mates, and have made extreme sacrifices to enable the observatory to come to completion. It is important to extend our sincere appreciation of their contribution. Another ‘Thank You’ is extended to those who volunteered for the April 12th Dedication Ceremony. Kevin Dixon coordinated telescopes, Cynthia Newman and family coordinated refreshments, Nancy Neurnberger and family coordinated Directional signs, John Bochert was Safety Coordinator, Christie Wiltz and Deb Burke made the pathway luminaires. Thank You, to all who baked cakes to hgelp supplement the chocolate cake made by ECC Food Service. Thank You, to all who brought their telescopes. We had a fine display. Everyone’s efforts paid-off for a smooth running event. THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!" - * - OOOPS !! I forgot to insert the drawings of HALE-BOPP in the last issue. DUH. Anyway, the first two were done in the last few weeks of February, while the last one was done at the end of April. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced them since - SORRY. - * - There hasn’t been sufficient enrollment in my "OBSERVATIONAL ASTRONOMY" class to warrant keeping it, so if there’s not enough registrations for the Summer session, it will be discontinued. The school requires an enrollment of 12 students to keep from cancelling a class, and I’ve been averaging 7-8. Those of you who have signed-up in the past and had the class cancelled may want to give it one more try. If you don’t, it’ll be gone and may not be offered again in the foreseeable future. This class is a real good way for the Observatory Volunteers to get plenty of ‘Hands-On’ experience that will help greatly in making the ‘Open Telescope Nights’ a success. Also, with the summer Milky Way and summer constellations, there’s LOTS of material I haven’t yet covered. The classes begin JUNE __, at East Central. Registration is through Continuing Ed, at 583-5193, ext. 2410. ----- *** -----
KEEP IT IN THE DARK MOON PHASES for MAY & JUNE NEW MOON ---- May 6th, 20:46 C.U.T.; 03:46 p.m CDT. 1st Quarter ------ May 14th, 10:55 C.U.T.; 05:55 a.m.CDT FULL MOON --- May 22nd, 09:13 C.U.T.; 04:13 a.m. CDT Last Quarter ---- May 29th, 07:51 C.U.T.; 02:51 a.m. CDT
GREATEST and LEAST DISTANCES APSIS DISTANCE DIAMETER May- PERIGEE -- May 3rd, 11h 366,626 km 32'35" APOGEE --- May 15th, 10h 404,211 km 29'34" PERIGEE - May 29th, 07h 369,788 km 32'19" - * - PLANETARY DATA ZODIACAL LIGHT Now is the best time of the year to try to see the Zodiacal Light, around the end of dusk, for observers in the Mid-Northern Latitudes. As the last of twilight fades out in the west, look for a huge, narrow pyramid of dim, pearly bluish-white light extending upward from the western horizon through the constellations of the ZODIAC. What you’re seeing is interplanetary dust lit by sunlight.
SATURN --- rises in the East at the beginning of morning twilight during May, so, it’ll not be easy to view til next month. MERCURY -.is even worse, because it comes up later in bright morning twilight in late May far to Saturn’s lower left. URANUS and NEPTUNE - are not far west of Jupiter, where you can find them with binoculars and the finder chart on p. 84 of S&T, May. PLUTO - at the border of Ophiuchus and northernmost Scorpius comes to Opposition May 25th. This tiniest of the major planets is 29 times farther away than Mars and 35,000 times dimmer, at magnitude 13.7. You’ll need at least an 8" or larger instrument to find this tiny speck. Since we have a 30", is anyone interested in trying?? JUPITER - rises around 2:30 a.m. at the beginning of May, and at about 12:30 a.m. by month’s end. Jupiter will shine at magnitude -2.3 near the eastern tip of Capricornus. It reaches Eastern Quadrature on May 11th. VENUS -.is far to lower right of Hale-Bopp, in the brightest part of evening twilght in early May, but by month’s end it will set more than an hour later. MARS - doesn’t have to be hunted for, since it’s visible most of the night because of being just to the South of the constellation LEO MAJOR. The bad news is, that during the month of May, the disk of Mars dwindles from 11.4" to about 9.1"(seconds of arc), fading by half a magnitude from -0.4 to +0.1, just a trace dimmer than ARCTURUS. HALE-BOPP - By MAY 20th , this showpiece will probably be lost to all but experienced observers. Between the 1st & 10th, it’s height will decrease from 13 degrees to about 6 degrees above the horizon. ----- *** -----
TRIVIA
1. "WHAT WAS THE GLARING TYPO THAT CAN BE FOUND IN THE LAST ISSUE (Vol 11, No2) "? (Hint: It’s Not On Page 23).
Answers to last Issue’s Questions: Q-1. "WHEN IS(was) THE VERNAL EQUINOX"? a)- 7:00 a.m. CST, March 20th, 1997
Q-2. "HOW MANY CLUB MEMBERS WERE PRESENT AT THE SCHMIDT-SCOTT OBSERVATORY OPENING"? a)- Well, let’s see, I saw Jim & Fran Debnam (2), Walter Breville (3), Frank Ricca (4), Jennifer & Terrry Blaylock (6), Marlene & Thane Bopp (8), Mark Birkman (9), Kim Colter (10), Mary Scott (11), John Bochert (12), Cynthia & Pat Newman (14), Judy & Rick Schwentker (16), Nancy Neurnberger (17), Kevin Dixon (18), Judy & Les Kemp (20), Deborah Burke (21), and of course, my wife & I. (23). If I missed anyone, I offer my apologies. So, the answer is: at least 23 of 36. Not as good a showing as I would have liked, but to those of you who DID come I offer my THANX !! (By the way, when there is a club event, there is always a sign - in book, for members & guests. PLEASE sign it when you arrive .) Q-3. "HOW MANY TELESCOPES WERE ON THE FIELD"? a)- This is probably the easiest question to answer all year. Since it was cloudy, there weren’t ANY, with the sole exception of the one about which this whole ‘Dog & Pony Show’ was about. So, the answer is: ONE ----- *** -----
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS LINDA & BOB MAHON - UNION,MO DEB BURKE - PACIFIC,MO CHRISTIE WILTZ - LONEDELL,MO MIKE TILLER - ST. LOUIS DOROTHY BRINKER - WASHINGTON,MO ----- *** -----
FOR SALE: ROLL-OFF ROOF OBSERVATORY, 8 x 12'. Owner lives near New Melle. It’s on some one else’s property and they just sold, consequently, he needs to sell the structure. There was no price listed. CONTACT Marc Arnold at (314) 939-4670, eves. E-mail: marc-arnold@worldnet.att.net ----- *** -----
The EASTERN MISSOURI DARK-SKY OBSERVERS, is the Astronomy club for East Central Missouri region. Membership is open to anyone interested in the science of Astronomy or related Space Sciences, regardless of age or experience level. DUES for the E.M.D.S.O., are $24.00 per year, pro-rated at two Dollars per month, through the Calendar Year. In addition, subscriptions are available for "Sky & Telescope" magazine, at the reduced rate of $27.00 per year (non-members pay $36.00). To join the club, send S.A.S.E., to:
EMDSO
8247 HWY ‘YY’
NEW HAVEN,MO 63068
An application will be sent to you. Return with dues payment to the same address.
- Eastern Missouri Dark-Sky Observers - 8247 HWY ‘YY’ Postage NEW HAVEN, MO 63068 -