JANUARY
THE January meeting was a 'Workshop' session at Washington High School
, the purpose of which was to start work on the 'Loaner' scopes, getting
the Dobsonian mounts built so, that the instruments can be used.
Present were Rick Schwentker, Chris Kincaid, John Bochert, Judy & Les
Kemp.
The Friday Night Observing at the Schmidt-Scott was attended by about 20 people, including some new members, Kevin ECKELKAMP and David P MILLER. Also present were: Nancy NUERNBERGER, Rick SCHWENTKER, Judy & Les KEMP, Bob KIRSCHENMANN, Donna PAUL, Chris KINCAID, Pat McDONALD, John BOCHERT, Frank RICCA, Nathan ALFERMANN.
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FEBRUARY
The meeting on Feb. 13th, was attended by Kevin ECKELKAMP, Chris CARR,
Bob KIRSCHENMANN, Rick SCHWENTKER, Nancy NUERNBERGER, Judy & Les KEMP
& my wife & daughter Karen and Nancy and myself. I had DAVE
LEE's 8" Schmidt-Cass there to demonstrate it for a couple of people with
the hope of perhaps selling it. For as little interest as has been
shown for this instrument, I MAY have to talk to the family (Dave's) to
see if they'd accept less money for its' sale. I've given club members
First Refusal, but now I'm going to have to post it on the Internet and
try selling it on the Open Market. I HAD thoughts about perhaps trying
to purchase it myself from them, but I really can't afford it.
After we had the Observatory open for half an hour or so, we had a sudden influx from a Brownie Troop. There were 20 kids along with 12 adults that showed up and they stayed a couple of hours, til about 9:00 p.m. They seemed to enjoy themselves immensely and had LOTS of questions that we fortunately were able to answer.
We never actually opened the dome to use the refractor, but relied on the instruments that we had outside on the ground. Beside the 8" SCT, there was also the WHS 8" SCT, Nancy Nuernberger's 6" f/8 DOB, Chris CARR's 4-1/2" f/8 Newtonian EQ, and Bob KIRSCHENMANN's 10" f/6 DOB, so there were plenty of instruments to handle the group that was there. It was a bit chilly and we closed up shop soon after the girl scouts left. I stayed a little later to give Chris Carr some pointers and to help him find some Messiers, letting him use the 8' SCT. We stayed perhaps an hour after everyone else had gone, but even still, after taking Chris home, I still made it home before 11:00 p.m..
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MARCH
THE MARCH MEETING will be, as usual, at ECC's Schmidt-Scott
Observatory, on the 13th
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On FRIDAY the 26th, we'll have the regular Open Telescope Night,
but we'll also make final plans for the April meeting & Birthday Party,
if we have one, for the observatory.
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APRIL
In APRIL, the SECOND ANNIVERSARY of the SCHMIDT-SCOTT MEMORIAL
OBSERVATORY occurs on the 12th. However, the meeting will still be
on Saturday evening, the 10th.
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On Friday, the 23rd, we will probably be looking at the Moon and MARS, since the Moon will be up 'til around 12:00 - 1:00a.m., & galaxy hunting would be another exercise in futility. MARS will probably be one of the Main Attractions at the Star Parties over the next several months.
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MAY
TOWARD the end of May, we'll have our Annual Star-B-Q & Mayhem
at ONANDAGA STATE PARK, Leasburg, MO.
-- More Later in this issue and in the Next Issue --
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WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
CARR, Chris WASHINGTON, MO
MEMBERSHIP in the THE EASTERN MISSOURI DARK-SKY OBSERVERS is open to any one with an interest in the science of astronomy, regardless of age or experience level. Dues are $24.00 per year, running from Jan 1 thru Dec 31, and are pro-rated the first year. Print and Fill out the Membership Application and return it with dues payment to:
EMDSO
8247 HWY 'YY'
NEW HAVEN, MO 63068
You will receive a Membership Card at the next club meeting, or by mail,
if you prefer.
OBSERVATORY NEWS
EMDSAF
The observatory at the Menke's farm is still there, although
I haven't had a chance to go out there since NOVEMBER, and only three or
four times since last summer. Mark says they're still waiting for
the fellow who's building the Dob Driver for the scope to get in touch
& at least let them know when to expect delivery. They apparently
haven't heard from him in over a year.
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SCHMIDT-SCOTT SCHEDULE of "OPEN TELESCOPE NIGHTS"
for MARCH & APRIL, 1999
SATURDAY - MARCH 14th
FRIDAY - MARCH 27th
SATURDAY - APRIL 11th
FRIDAY - APRIL 24th
In addition to the regularly scheduled Observing Nights, there will occasionally be Special Events where we may have an observing session for a Scout or School group, where we'll need people to man telescopes and answer questions and/or just help out.
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KEEP IT IN THE DARK
I took Dave Lee's 8" SCT out of it's box the other night (Feb. 16), because the weather was spectacular AND because I REALLY NEED to learn HOW to program the on-board computer to set-up the instrument, so that when the next person buys one, I can teach them how to operate it. Anyway, I set it on the tripod, did an approximate Polar Alignment, turned 'on' the computer and lined up on Polaris, then lined-up on a second star, changed modes to Messier, in the Data Base, punched in 42, ENTER, GO-TO. Guess what ? IT WENT THERE !! I thought "it's just a freak accident." So, I punched in '45' Enter, Go-to --It went to the Pleaides. WOW, I Thought, Well, let's see how many I can find before the clouds start coming (it was supposed to rain that night after midnight).
I used movement back & forth between M-42 and M-45 to 'tweak' the Polar alignment and when I was reasonably satisfied I started going farther afield. What I ended up with after about an hour and a half was quite an impressive list of objects that I was able to see. In Orion, M42, 43, 78, NGC 2169; In LEPUS, M-79; In Canis Major & Puppis, M-41, 50, 46, 47; in Canis Minor, M-48; in Cancer M-44 & 67; in Gemini, M-35 & NGC 2158; in Taurus, M-1; in Auriga, M-36, 37, 38; in Perseus, M-34 & NGC 891 & M-76, in Andromeda, along with M-31, 32, 110, M-33 in Triangulum, M-74 in Pisces. I then swung over to the eastern sky and tried M-81, 82, 51, 101, 106, 109, 97, 108, 94, 64, 63, 3, 53, NGC 5053, 4565, 2403; in Leo, M-65, 66, 95 & 96, NGC 2403. By this time, the clouds were starting to roll in and I was looking through 'holes' between them. BUT, I did manage to find NGC 2419 in LYNX. This is a Globular Cluster that is a Mag. +11.4 object, 2.1' in dia. It's also 210,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way and 180,000 light-years from the Sun. When you're looking right at it, it's real hard to see because it's right next to three stars that are about Mags 7, 8-& 9 with the mag 7 star closest to the cluster and the glare from them overpowers the cluster making it nearly invisible.
I probably could have seen MORE objects during this session, but
I wasn't really trying to do a marathon and I wasn't in any particular
hurry, AND SOME of the objects required some real looking to make sure
that I was actually seeing them: 2419 was one of these. If the clouds
had stayed away a little longer I would have gone down into Coma a little
further and probably would have done the Leo-Virgo galaxy cluster as well,
and adding another 50 or so to the final list.
After all the "GO-TO's", the tally came out to 48 objects in
about an hour and a half, NOT BAD !!
I also tried out the tracking ability of the instrument.
I used a 2X barlow in conjunction with a 20mm eyepiece, which yielded 200X,
set it into the GUIDE mode and it kept the TRAPEZIUM in Orion centered
for over an hour - plenty long enough for astrophotography ! SO,
I GUESS I'LL HAFTA DO SUM !!
IF anybody has an OFF-AXIS GUIDER, I'D LIKE TO BORROW IT FOR
A WHILE. I'll put the results in an up-coming issue of the DSO.
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PLANETARY DATA
On MARCH 1st, VENUS will be the first thing you'll probably see
after sunset. Look about 6 degrees to the lower left to find JUPITER,
then go another 6 degrees to the lower left and there you'll find MERCURY.
MERCURY - reaches Greatest EASTERN ELONGATION (Greatest distance
EAST of the Sun) on March 2nd. It will then be 18 degrees East of
the Sun and favorably placed for observing. When it's at this point
in its' orbit in relation to the Earth, it will appear as a tiny 3rd quarter
Moon in the telescope. On the 5th Mercury will be 4 degrees NW of
Jupiter, which, from our latitude means that they will be side-by-side
with respect to the western horizon. Since Mercury is overtaking
the Earth in their respective orbits, Mercury will show a more and more
(or should I say, 'less and less') defined 'CRESCENT Phase', until it passes
BETWEEN us and the Sun (Inferior Conjunction) on March 19th.
In APRIL, Mercury becomes a 'Morning Object' rising before the
Sun. It reaches Greatest WESTERN Elongation, 28 degrees WEST of the
Sun on APRIL 16th, which will place it very well for observation..
JUPITER - & MERCURY will sink to the horizon more or less together from the 6th-10th (conjunction) and by the time Mercury has its Inferior Conjunction with the Sun, Jupiter will probably also be lost to view.
VENUS - rapidly pulls up & away from Jupiter and is 15 degrees east of it by the 10th. Still on the far side of the Sun from Earth, Venus still shows a 'Football shaped' image in the telescope (Gibbous Phase). As it gets farther from the Sun, this phase will gets narrower until Venus reaches Greatest Eastern Elongation, also known as QUADRATURE, around JUNE 10th, when IT will look like a quarter Moon, then the CRESCENT phase begins as it rapidly approaches Inferior Conjunction around August 15th. On FEB. 23rd, Venus and Jupiter were only 20' apart. On the evening of MARCH 19th, Venus passes within 2' to the NORTH of a 6th magnitude star (about 3 Venus diameters), which might make for an interesting observation.
SATURN - is 2-1/2 degrees SSE of Venus on the 19th. By March 31st, they are 13 degrees apart, as Saturn sinks into the sunset. It reaches CONJUNCTION with the Sun on APRIL 27th.
PLUTO is near the Meridian as morning twilight begins. It can be found with the aid of a finder chart like the one on page 103, S&T, March '99. Even at the best of times this 13.7 magnitude planet is ["TOUGH"! ], and VERY FEW amateurs have ever seen it. BUT, it can be found NORTH of Antares, in Ophiuchus. OPPOSITION night is MAY 30-31.
MARS - rises around 11p.m. as March opens and by month's end is coming up before 9p.m., shining at MAG minus1. The best times to view Mars will be after midnight, when its had a chance to climb up and away from the horizon. Although it's a pretty small disk, it grows rapidly as the month proceeds and by midmonth has increased to 12" diameter, and continues to grow until its OPPOSITION in late APRIL. MARS will be visible in the night sky for at least nine months, due to its position near the Earth, and the fact that we are overtaking it in its path around the Sun. TRY making some HIGH-POWER observations of Mars and DRAW WHAT YOU SEE. You'll better notice the changes over time of the ice caps at the planets poles and other surface features as the martian seasons change. Mars is really a very interesting planet to watch over an extended period.
NEPTUNE & URANUS are poorly placed currently, in the SSE before morning twilight and not easily observed. They BOTH reach Opposition in late Summer.
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THE MOON
In MARCH, the MOON starts out the month FULL on the 2nd @ 1:58
a.m., on the 8th, it reaches APOGEE (its farthest point from the Earth
for the month) at 1:00a.m. and 404,751 km, 3rd Quarter on the 10th, at
2:40 a.m., and NEW MOON on the 17th, at 12:48 p.m., on the 19th reaches
PERIGEE (closest point to the Earth for the month) at 6:00 p.m. and 363,267
km, First Quarter on the 23rd at 4:18 a.m., AND FULL AGAIN ("Blue Moon")
on the 31st, at 4:49 p.m., which, if I'm not mistaken, is BEFORE it rises.
Not until the year 2018, will we see another January & March with TWO full Moons EACH, with NONE in February. It's part of a nineteen year cycle that repeats itself almost EXACTLY. The cycle was discovered in about 433 BC, by Greek astronomer Meton. The last time it happened was in 1980. The SECOND Full Moon of Jan & Mar, is called a "Blue Moon" - WHY ?, You might ask. I'll leave that discussion for the next issue of the 'DSO'
The Moon occults ALDEBARAN for North American observers on March
22nd.
In APRIL, 3rd Quarter is the 8th, New Moon is the 15th, 1st Quarter
is the 22 and Full on the 29th.
The Moon occults REGULUS on APRIL 24th, for Eastern U.S., maybe
we'll see, maybe not.
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The SUN reaches VERNAL EQUINOX on MARCH 20th, at 7:46 p.m. Central Standard Time. THUS, begins SPRING !!! in the Northern Hemisphere.
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METEOR SHOWERS
FOR
MARCH & APRIL
Meteoroids are small solid particles moving in orbits around the Sun.
On entering Earth's atmosphere at velocities of between 15 and 75 kilometers
per second they are heated by the friction of passage through the atmosphere
and are vaporized. These luminous trails we call "Falling Stars"
or meteors and Fireballs. At certain times of the year, the Earth
encounters a "Stream" of meteoroids traveling together in the same orbit
about the Sun. These 'streams' are thought to be the remnants of
usually, long dead comets. The effect of this encounter is what we
call a METEOR SHOWER. The MAJOR Meteor Showers of the next two months
are the LYRIDS, in APRIL.
MARCH -
On the 16th, the CORONA AUSTRALIDS occur. This isn't
a very well known shower. In fact, I've NEVER seen anything about
it in Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazines. One can expect
5 meteors per hour at maximum for this shower, which has its Radiant at
245D, -48D dec, and the duration of about 10 days centered on the 16th.
NOTE that CORONA AUSTRALIS is SOUTH of Sagittarius in the Summer Milky
Way.
During a 15 day period centered on the 26th, the Earth encounters the VIRGINID Meteor Stream. There's no estimate available to me as yet, for hourly rates, but if you're interested in watching for this one, watch toward (190,00) Virgo during the nearly two week period.
APRIL -
During a period of 20 days +/- centered on the 9th, is the ALPHA
VIRGINIDS Meteor Stream. There's no available estimates for hourly
rates, but the RADIANT is as the name implies near the star SPICA(210,-10).
The 21st & 22nd offers us the LYRIDS with its' RADIANT at 18H 16M R.A., +34 degr. Declination. Single observer hourly rate (SOHR) will be around 15 meteors. Duration 2 days. Not a particularly cataclysmic event but it's still considered one of the MAJOR meteor showers of the year. This Annual shower is associated with the comet of 1861.
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P/Comet 1998M5 - LINEAR
On APRIL 15-16, from about 11:00 p.m. to about 3:a.m. Comet Linear
passes to within 10 arc minutes of the Celestial Pole, which is 4X closer
to the ACTUAL POLE than Polaris. This, combined with the comet's
velocity and distance from the Earth, create a situation where the comet
WILL STAND STILL in the sky for about 3 HOURS. That means a STATIONARY
telescope with a camera attached will be able to make perhaps a ONE HOUR
exposure of the comet, without getting a smeared image. I spoke to
Mark and Kim about shortening the struts on the 30", so that we could make
several images to put onto the WEBPAGE, both Photographic AND CCD, because
we'll probably have plenty of time for BOTH.
APRIL 15 is a THURSDAY night, and even though it's not a weekend, you SHOULD make every effort to come out to New Haven that night. Besides having time for the CCD and Photos, we'll undoubtedly be 'GAWKING', also with eyepieces. Even though the comet is only about Magnitude 10, with time exposures, we SHOULD be able, with the 30" and CLEAR SKIES, to get some really great images.
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DEEP SKY
The 'MILKY WAY'in the direction of Gemini & Orion is not
as heavily populated with stars as it is in the neighborhood of Scorpius
& Sagittarius, because when looking in this direction we are actually
looking AWAY from the Center of the Galaxy, toward its' outer regions,
its' edge, which is around 20-25,000 Lt-Yrs away. In that direction,
the milky Way is only about 2,000 Lt-Yrs thick, rather than the 15,000
at the galaxy core; hence, it appears to be rather sparse and ill-defined.
When we look at Right Angles to the PLANE of the Milky Way we're only looking
through a few HUNDRED Lt-Yrs of stars before coming to intergalactic space,
since at the distance the Sun is from the galactic center, the Milky Way
is less than 3,000 Lt-Yrs thick, and the Sun is a couple hundred Lt-Yrs
BELOW (or ABOVE, depending on your point of view )the equatorial plane
of the Galaxy.
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Near the 'Northern Feet' of GEMINI, is a well known Open Star Cluster, M-35. . Just on the NW side of M-35, is NGC 2158, another Open Star Cluster, although this one is 10X further away. In most backyard telescopes, NGC 2158 appears as a 'little faint fuzzy' that is sometimes noticed sitting beside the larger, brighter M-35. NGC 2158 lies at a distance of about 16,000 light-years, but if it were only as far away as M-35, it would be one of the showpieces of our night sky, covering fully a degree and a half with over 1000 stars - a real binocular treat. 2158 sort of resembles a loose Globular Cluster in the 30", completely resolvable, it fills the field of view with diamond dust. It's really pretty !
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In ORION's up-raised Right Arm, lies another Open star cluster, NGC 2169. This is the cluster that is known as "The '37' Cluster", due to the arrangement of its 11 constituent stars. Other than its distinctive stellar arrangement, there's not a whole lot to say about it except that it's got about 20 stars ( but 10-11 make-up its distinctive feature) and is a Mag. 8 object. By the way, it only LOOKS like a 37 in a Newtonian, because of the number of reflections in the optical system. In a Cass. system, it appears right-side-up but 'backward'. Use from 50-200 power to see this marvel.
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M-78 is a DIFFUSE EMISSION NEBULA (DNe), like the Orion Nebula and is actually part of the same complex which covers much of the constellations of Orion, Monoceros & some of Canis Major. M-78 is found just Above and to the EAST of 'the Belt' stars, on a line 1/4 of the way from ZETA (easternmost Belt star) to ALPHA (Betelgeuse) Orionis, virtually ON the Celestial Equator. The nebulosity is about 2-3-light-years in diameter at a distance about equal to Zeta Orionis, about 1,600 Lt.-Yrs (Burnham), but is easy in a small telescope. The nebula seems to be isolated from nearby stars by a thick molecular cloud that obscures background stars over about a 3 degree area surrounding the nebula itself.
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TRIVIA -
1. (A)- How many times in the last century have we seen a month
with
two Full Moons followed by a month with NO Full Moons, followed
by
another month with two ? (B)- WHEN WILL THE NEXT TIME
BE?
2. When's the Vernal Equinox, this year ?
3. (A)- WHERE WILL THE ANNUAL "STAR-B-Q" BE THIS YEAR,
AND (B)- WHAT IS IT THAT YOU NEED TO BRING?
4. WHAT'S SO STRANGE ABOUT 'BECKLIN'S STAR' ?
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KISS IT & WEEP (w/ joy)
JOSHUA MARK BIRKMANN
BORN Thurs., FEB 11th, 9:10 pm at 9 lbs., 2 oz 20-1/4"long.
CONGRATULATIONS TO JODI & MARK (SENIOR)!!!
Well, Mark, As I guess you're now FULLY aware, there's no more
intense feeling of pleasure & fulfillment in life than becoming a father
for the first time, with the sole exception perhaps of becoming a mother.
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The ANNUAL EMDSO STAR-B-Q
The SIXTH Annual 'STAR-B-Q' of the EMDSO is fast approaching.
This year, we've decided to do something a little different than in previous
years. Patterned somewhat after S.L.A.S.'s star party & campout
at Lake Carlyle, we decided to try a similar event ourselves at ONANDAGA
CAVE STATE PARK, the weekend of MAY(15), 1999. What we'll do is have
a weekend-long campout with observing sessions each evening; Friday, Saturday
& Sunday. During the day there's Float trips, Cave excursions,
and swimming in the upper Meramec river , Courtois & Huzzah creeks
where the water is clear , clean and relatively safe for children.
If you have your own canoe, bring it, if you wish, or there are rentals
available along with 6 & 8 man rubber rafts, or, if you like using
an inner tube it makes a great option. Among the caves in the area,
there's Onandaga of course, but there are also several 'Wild Caves' along
the Huzzah & both upstream & down from the campground, from Meramec
Caverns and Green's Cave to Meramac Springs and Indian Springs, upstream
Onandaga was chosen in part, because John HUDLER, of Rolla, has
been doing astronomy programs there for several years and one of the Rangers
is into astronomy, so he's more familiar with what our needs might be &
will undoubtedly be much more helpful than they might be elsewhere.
Also, since John is going to be leaving the Missouri area in the next 5
years to live in Colorado, perhaps we will be able to fill the gap there
that will be created when he does leave. Also, it's approximately
half-way between our group and the Rolla folks and as a joint event between
the two clubs, I think it'd be really great.
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The SECOND ANNIVERSARY of the SCHMIDT-SCOTT
MEMORIAL OBSERVATORY
APRIL 12th marks the Second Anniversary of the dedication of
the SCHMIDT-SCOTT MEMORIAL OBSERVATORY, at East Central College.
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Max MIROT of the Osage Beach club
called me last night, and says that he has a 20" f/4 mirror that
he wants about $850.00 for. It’s got a chip, where the secondary
struck it, but otherwise, it’s in good shape. Contact Jerry Kelley
for particulars. AT: kelleyjak @ hotmail.com
Or CALL 314-433-5608, EVENINGS
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EMDSO
8247 HWY YY
NEW HAVEN, MO 63068
http://www.mo-biz.com/emdso