July - saguaroastro.org

Saguaro Astronomy
Club, Phoenix, AZ
Volume 38, Issue 7
July 2014
Saguaro
Skies
The President’s Corner
With the heat of early summer
come typically clear skies in central
Arizona, and this year has been no
exception. I hope you've been able
to enjoy the opportunities to
observe under the consistently
good, if rather warm, conditions of
late. Jupiter, Mars and Saturn have
been added attractions to evening
observing sessions for the past few
months, though the former has just
about wrapped up its current
apparition. While Mars is now far
from Earth and unimpressive in the
eyepiece, it's still prominently bright
and rapidly closing the gap between
itself and Saturn. The two planets
will appear nearest to each other
around the time of new moon in
August, low in the southwest at the
end of twilight.
Closer
to
home,
per our
constitution, club officers are limited
to two consecutive terms. The
offices of president, vice president
and treasurer are thus required to
be filled by different people in 2015.
If you haven't served as an officer,
Inside this issue:
* Click Links to jump
or even if you have but it's been a
while, please consider running for a
position. Although three positions
must be filled, all five elected offices
(secretary and properties director
being the other two) will be on the
ballot. I would especially encourage
members who have joined within
the past couple of years and
regularly attended our meetings to
think about taking a place at the
front of the room. The floor won't be
open for nominations until October,
but it's not too early to entertain the
concept and decide which office
might be a good fit.
A final note. I will be out of state
for a couple of weeks in July, and
will not be at the meeting on the
11th. Tom Polakis will take my place,
as he did in January, so the meeting
is sure to run at least as smoothly
as ever.
Editor Notes/Events 2
& Spaceflight Trivia
(Rick Rotramel)
Call for Observations 3
(AJ Crayon)
SUCH-A-DEAL
4-5
(Four ads)
Bits and Pisces:
Mtg. Minutes/June Spkr.
6
(Tom Polakis/Jennifer Polakis)
30 & 25 Years Ago in SAC 7
SAC Observing:
The Spring Triangle
8
(Rick Rotramel)
SAC Officers/Chairs
9
(Meeting Location & Occultation Info)
SAC Membership Form 10
-- Mike -mail to:[email protected]
Website: saguaroastro.org
SAC is on Facebook
Quick Calendar
Friday, July 11: SAC General Meeting, 7:30 PM; Speaker, David A. Williams, Ph. D.
Associate Research Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, ASU; Topic:
“100 Worlds and Counting: Exploring the Moons of the Outer Solar System: ... from
Pioneer to Voyager to Galileo to Cassini. We will review the major discoveries about
the outer planet satellites, and preview next year’s New Horizon’s flyby of Pluto.”
Friday, August 8: SAC General Meeting, 7:30 PM; Speaker, TBA; Topic: TBA
Saturday, September 13: Mt. Graham Field Trip #3 from Discovery Park, Safford,
Arizona; RSVP: Contact Jennifer Polakis, mail to:[email protected]; For more information:
click on the link: http://www.freelists.org/post/az-observing/MtGrahamIntlObservatoriesAnother-tour-SatSept132014,1
Header image © Steve Coe
The Milky Way over the pine trees
of Happy Jack in northern Arizona.
© Saguaro Astronomy Club, 2014
Saguaro Skies
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Editor Notes
Schedule of Events 2014
Hi Folks,
SAC MEETINGS
The summer brings, for some people, time
to take a vacation. With that, this issue is out
to you earlier than usual to allow for my short
vacation in July.
Last Call takes a deserved break during
July, it will be back in the August issue.
Bits & Pisces brings the June meeting
minutes and some bits of the club history from
the WABAC machine. I hope you enjoy this
feature.
In this month's SAC Observing feature,
read and check out my description of the
Spring Triangle. I have included a star display
from an open source planetarium program on
my Linux computer. It was fun playing with the
settings to get the local time, date and
location dialed-in along with the view I wanted
to capture.
Next month, I hope to have a full report on
the recently completed Grand Canyon North
Rim Star Party with some photos of the event.
July 11, 2014
August 8, 2014
September 5, 2014
October 10, 2014
November 7, 2014
December 6, 2014 (Holiday Party)
ATM/IMAGING
* No July or August Meetings
Next Meeting: Tuesday, September 2, 2014
@ Paul Lind’s workshop, mail to:[email protected]
SAC FIELD TRIP #3
Mt. Graham Observatory
September 13, 2014
Details: See Page 1 Calendar
Rick Rotramel, Editor
Spaceflight Trivia
Can you name the mission involved in this
picture below? (See answer on page 3)
SAC Announcements
2014 SAC DUES
SAC Treasurer Dwight Bogan, reminds that your dues
for 2014 is due now. You may use the order form in
this newsletter or bring your dues to the next SAC
meeting.
2014 All Arizona Messier Marathon T-Shirts
for Sale
© NASA
Jack Jones reports that there are 15 left for sale. Get
yours at the July 11th SAC Meeting. Jack said he has
sold 65 shirts and 5 were for raffles and such, so he
said that we have come out a little above even as far
as making money goes, to cover the cost. The
remaining sales is all profit for the club.
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Call for Observations
By AJ Crayon
For August we will meander around the upper
reaches of the summer skies starting with two showpieces. First is M27, the Dumbbell, a well known
planetary nebula. It easily fulfills its description of very
bright and very large. Next is the, relatively, nearby
M57, another magnificent planetary nebula. Yes, it too
is bright and pretty large for a planetary. What other
descriptions can you add for both of these planetaries?
What about the central star in the Ring? Now we’ll
move on the Cepheus and spend some time here on a
variety of objects as we work our way northward. The
first is NGC6946, a late type spiral galaxy, one of the
nearest spirals that has a good bit of detail. How many
stars can you count down to, say, 14 th mag? No wonder
it is on the 110 Best of the NGC and Herschel 400 lists.
While there take a look at the, very, nearby galactic
cluster NGC6939, which contains about 80 stars in an
8’ area. Count what you can see in your telescope and
give a magnitude range. Going a little more northward
is another galactic cluster, NGC7142 that is also
considered rich and compressed with 100 stars. It is
also on the Herschel 400 list. Nearby is another
galactic cluster NGC7129 that is faint, larger and
involved in faint nebulosity. Inching more northward is
the popular NGC7023, that includes a 7th mag star in a
faint complex of nebulosity. NGC188 requires a big
jump to the north. It is rich, larger and faint containing
20 stars with brightest at 12th mag. This is the nearest
galactic cluster to the north celestial pole. Speaking of
the NCP take a look at NGC3172, the nearest NGC to
NCP. It is named Polarissima Borealis, yet it is faint and
round.
*******************************************************
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Spaceflight Trivia Answer
Viking 1
Mission Type: Lander, Orbiter
Launch Vehicle: Titan IIIE-Centaur (TC-4 / Titan no. E-4 / Centaur D-1T)
20 Aug 1975: Launch (21:22 UT)
19 Jun 1976: Mars Orbit Insertion
20 Jul 1976: Mars Landing (11:53:56)
Status: Successful
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
NASA Center: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Langley Research Center
Spacecraft Mass: 3,527 kg
Spacecraft Instruments:
Orbiter:
1) imaging system 2) atmospheric water detector 3) infrared thermal mapper
Lander:
1) imaging system 2) gas chromatograph mass spectrometer 3) seismometer
4) x-ray fluorescence 5) biological laboratory 6) weather instrument package
(temperature, pressure, wind velocity) 7) remote sampler arm
Aeroshell:
1) retarding potential analyzer 2) upper-atmosphere mass spectrometer
Viking 1 was the first of a pair of complex deep space probes that were designed
to reach Mars and collect evidence on the possibility (or lack thereof) for life on
Mars. ¶ Each spacecraft was composed of two primary elements, an orbiter (2,339
kilograms) and a lander (978 kilograms). The orbiter design heavily borrowed from
the Mariner buses, while the lander looked superficially like a much larger version
of the Surveyor lunar lander. ¶ Prior to launch, the batteries of the first spacecraft
were discharged, prompting NASA to replace the original first spacecraft with the
second, which was launched as Viking 1. ¶ After three midcourse corrections (on
27 August 1975 and 10 and 15 June 1976), the spacecraft entered orbit around
Mars on 19 June 1976. Initial orbital parameters were 1,500 x 50,300 kilometers.
The following day, when the orbiter began transmitting back photos of the
primary landing site in the Chryse region, scientists discovered that the area was
rougher than expected. ¶ Using the new photos, scientists targeted the lander to a
different site on the western slopes of Chryse Planitia. The lander separated from
the orbiter, and after a complex atmospheric entry sequence, during which the
probe took air samples, Viking 1 lander set down safely at 22.483° north latitude
and 47.94° west longitude at 11:53:06 UT on 20 July 1976. ¶ Once down, the
spacecraft began taking high quality photographs (in three colors) of its
surroundings. Instruments recorded temperatures ranging from -86°C (before
dawn) to -33°C (in the afternoon). The seismometer on the lander was inoperable.
On 28 July, the lander's robot arm scooped up the first soil samples and deposited
them into a special biological laboratory that included a gas chromatograph mass
spectrometer. While some data could be construed as indicating the presence of
life, a major test for organic compounds gave negative Results. ¶ The lander
continued to return daily (and then eventually weekly) weather reports until loss
of contact on 1 February 1983. Further attempts to regain contact proved
unsuccessful. The orbiter was shut down on 7 August 1980, after it ran out of
attitude-control propellant.
The Viking 1 Lander sampling arm created a number of deep trenches as part of
the surface composition and biology experiments on Mars. The digging tool on the
sampling arm (at lower center) could scoop up samples of material and deposit
them into the appropriate experiment. Some holes were dug deeper to study soil
which was not affected by solar radiation and weathering. The trenches in this ESE
looking image are in the "Sandy Flats" area of the landing site at Chryse Planitia.
The boom holding the meteorology sensors is at left. More information can be
found at Viking Lander Image 11D128.BLU, Viking Lander Image 11D128.GRN and
Viking Lander Image 11D128.RED. Modified NASA Image: © Roel van der Hoorn
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SUCH-A-DEAL
ITEMS FOR SALE
ITEMS FOR SALE
MEADE ETX-90EC 90mm Maksutov Telescope
Orion SkyQuest XT8i IntelliScope Dobsonian Telescope
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8" f/6 Dobsonian with Intelliscope Object Locator
Includes :
25mm & 10mm Eyepieces
Telrad
Eyepiece holder
All Cables & manuals
Telescope Cover
Sells for $640.00 new, Asking $450.00 (the price of
the 6" version)
Will Deliver in the PHX area.
Contact Rick Tejera: 623-203-4121 or
Email [email protected]
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Includes the following:
#07426 8 x 21mm Erect Image Viewfinder
#07427/#825 8 x 25mm Right Angle Viewfinder
Deluxe Tripod
Eyepieces:
Meade Ultra Wide Angle 6.7mm multi-coated
Meade Super Plossl 26mm LP multi-coated
Meade 2X telenegative multi-coated
Meade remote controller
#880 Table Tripod for Polar Alignment of the ETX90EC Astro Telescope
Manual
Compass
Carrying Case
Allen wrenches
Selling on behalf of a friend, Asking $350.00
For all.
Contact Rick Tejera: 623-203-4121
Email: [email protected]
SUCH-A-DEAL
Ads placed here are free to SAC members. SAC is not responsible for the quality of
the advertised items.
If you wish to place an ad here to sell your telescope or astronomy related items,
contact Rick Rotramel at: [email protected]
Page 5
Saguaro Skies
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SUCH-A-DEAL
ITEMS FOR SALE
●
5mm Orion Stratus 68° Eyepiece
●
8mm Orion Stratus 68° Eyepiece
$75 each or $130.00 for the pair
●
Celestron UHC/LPR 2” Filter
$45
Call Michael Poppre at 602-319-7029
Email: [email protected]
Orion Stratus Link:
http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Telescope-Eyepieces/Orion-StratusWide-Field-1252-Eyepieces/pc/-1/c/3/sc/47/e/59.uts
Celestron UHC/LPR 2” Filter Link:
http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/celestron-uhc-lpr-filter-2-in.html
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For Sale – GSO 8” (200mm) F/4 Mirror Refigured by
Swayze Optical
http://www.lowell.edu/visit.php
Originally this was for a special project but I decided to move
on due to financial issues. This mirror has not been recoated.
The mirror was tested by Paul Lind in SAC and found to be
smooth and is about 1/21 wave RMS. The mirror was signed
and dated by Swayze.
GSO Mirror New Cost – $230
Swayze Optical Refigure Cost – $200
Asking $360 or best offer. Reduced price: $330 or best offer.
Mirror Specs, click on the link below:
http://agenaastro.com/gso-parabolic-primary-telescope-mirror-8-f-4-ad048.html
Contact Jim Waters – SAC
Home – (480) 893-0198
Cell – (602) 291.3508
Email - mailto:[email protected]
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SUCH-A-DEAL
http://www.photoninstrument.com
Ads placed here are free to SAC members. SAC is not responsible for the quality of
the advertised items.
If you wish to place an ad here to sell your telescope or astronomy related items,
contact Rick Rotramel at: [email protected]
Welcome to Starizona! In addition to a complete selection
of astronomical products, we offer free online resources
such as our award-winning Guide to CCD Imaging and
more. We also manufacture unique products such as the
HyperStar imaging system. Our staff consists of
experienced observers and astrophotographers who love
to share their knowledge. Please feel free to contact us
for advice or answers to any of your questions.
Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu 10AM-5PM Fri, Sat 10AM-10PM
Closed Sun. Free Viewing Fri and Sat nights!
5757 N. Oracle Rd., Suite 103 · Tucson, Arizona 85704 ·
The HyperStar-equipped ISERV telescope is now
installed on the ISS!
The HyperStar-equipped Celestron 9.25" telescope (and
its backup) that is now installed on the ISS. The scope
also features a Starizona MicroTouch Autofocuser. With
the Starizona gang: Steve, Scott, Dean, and Donna.
(Steve has since had to move to NY because he was
dressing too much like Scott.)
Call Us: (520) 292-5010
http://starizona.com/acb/index.aspx
[email protected]
Saguaro Skies
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Bits & Pisces
Minutes of the June 13, 2014 SAC General Meeting
By Tom Polakis, Secretary
President Mike Collins opened the meeting by
welcoming guests. Novice Group Chairman Steve
Dodder announced the North Rim Grand Canyon
Star Party slated to begin the following weekend,
in which SAC participates heavily. Rick Tejera
presented awards for participation in the 2014
Messier Marathon. Rosie Dodder finished in first
place on that cloudy night, bagging 80 Messier
objects.
Member presentations began with ATM Group
leader Paul Lind, who showed highlights of the
ATM meeting at his house the previous Tuesday.
Paul Lind described a new site south of Ash Fork
that he visited with Ken Naiff and Lynn Blackburn.
Mike Poppre's talk was next. He showed his
modifications to improve a mass-produced
Dobsonian base. Then he showed some
starscapes taken at Picketpost Mountain trailhead
that he shot with an IOptron Skytracker. Tom
Polakis showed his first image of Saturn with his
new 15" Teeter Dobsonian on a tracking platform.
The main speaker was Rolf Jansen, who is a
research scientist at ASU. His presentation was
named "Why Hot Stellar Populations are Cool."
Much of Rolf's talk dealt with making
observations at various wavelengths to look into
the most distant reaches of the universe.
The meeting adjourned at 9:40, and some of the
group headed up to JB's.
The June SAC
Meeting Speaker
The June 13, 2014 speaker was:
Dr. Rolf A. Jansen, Research Scientist
Extra-galactic Astronomy & Cosmology
School of Earth & Space Exploration
Arizona State University
http://www.public.asu.edu/~rjansen
Topic:
"Why Hot Stellar Populations are Cool"
Jennifer Polakis, Vice President
Rolf Jansen
Photo: Rolf Jansen ASU Website
Saguaro Skies
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Where we
going today
Mr. Peabody?
© Peabody and Sherman, 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' Pictures
The WABAC Machine!
30 Years Ago in SAC
25 Years Ago in SAC
Saguaro Skies
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SAC Observing:
“The Spring Triangle”
* A new triangle in the sky to rival the “Summer Triangle”
I look up at the sky every night from my backyard before I go to bed to gaze at the night's condition
and to check out the constellations visible. It has been a nightly vigil for me for a long time. This past
year I noticed a new triangle forming in the sky with a couple of planets teaming up with the star
Arcturus. The size of this triangle was roughly the same size as the Summer Triangle, but was inverted in
the sky as compared to the Summer Triangle. Also, since it first appeared in the Spring, and led the
Summer Triangle, I named it the Spring Triangle.
The Summer Triangle is a triangle created by drawing lines between the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair.
The new Spring Triangle draws lines from Arcturus, Saturn and Mars. Go out tonight and check it out for
yourselves. Tell me what you think of this new triangle in the sky. I know that it will not last, as the
planets will move apart or together or something and the Spring Triangle will go away. But for now, in the
year 2014, enjoy the Summer Triangle and the Spring Triangle as they march across the sky this summer.
Clear Skies, Rick Rotramel
* Star display from: Stellarium 0.12.4 © 2000-2013 Stellarium Developers
Saguaro Skies
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2014 SAC Officers and Contacts
Occultation Info
Board Members
President
Mike Collins (mail to:[email protected])
Vice-President Jennifer Polakis (mail to:[email protected])
Treasurer
Dwight Bogan (mail to:[email protected])
Secretary
Tom Polakis (mail to:[email protected])
Properties
Kevin Kozel (mail to:[email protected])
Wayne Thomas has
asteroid occultation info
for the greater Phoenix
Area:
Non-board Positions
Novice Leader Steve Dodder (mail to:[email protected])
Editor
Rick Rotramel (mail to:[email protected])
Webmaster
Peter Argenziano (mail to:[email protected])
Public Events
Jack Jones (mail to:[email protected])
ATM Group
Paul Lind (mail to:[email protected])
Imaging
Al Stiewing (mail to:[email protected])
Deep Sky
AJ Crayon (mail to:[email protected])
Sketchbook
Rick Rotramel (mail to:[email protected])
Gene Lucas has Lunar
Total and Graze
Occultation info:
Meeting Location: Grand Canyon University is
located at 3300 W. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ We meet
in Fleming Hall, Room 105, 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Mail to:[email protected]
[email protected]
SUCH-A-DEAL
Ads placed here are free to SAC
members. SAC is not responsible
for the quality of the advertised
items.
If you wish to place an ad here to
sell your telescope or astronomy
related
items,
contact
Rick
Rotramel at: [email protected]
Your Ad Here
Contacting This Issue’s Authors
If you wish to write to an author in this month’s issue, complaining
that they don’t know what they are talking about or that they utterly
dazzled you with their wordsmith skills, contact them by sending
your message to the editor of Saguaro Skies, Rick Rotramel, at:
[email protected]
I will then forward your questions, comments or carping to the
author who may (or may not) reply.
Saguaro Skies Staff
Editor: Rick Rotramel
Photographer: Susan Trask
2013-2014 Contributors: Bob Christ, Mike
Collins, AJ Crayon, Steve Dodder, Richard
Harshaw, Kevin Kozel, Jimmy Ray, Rick
Rotramel, SAC Astro-Imagers & Observers,
Darrell Spencer and Rick Tejera.
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Saguaro Skies