All joking aside about the end of the world in December, 2012 promises to be a great year for amateur astronomy. It features numerous celestial scenes worthy of viewing: lunar occultations, planetary encounters, comets, asteroids, planetary satellites, planetary visits to deep sky objects, and the last Venus transit of the twenty-first century. Get your clean, crisp new calendars ready for marking! 

1. Comet Levy P(2006 T1) and Garrad P(2009 P1) 

We haven’t had a grand comet in a number of years and it doesn’t look like 2012 will be different. However, binoculars users may be able to catch two seventh — perhaps sixth — magnitude cometary visitors in the first part of 2012. 

Early evenings in January bring us Comet Levy, a seventh magnitude fuzzy ball scooting from Aries into Eridanus. On the 15th, it lies 6º west of Jupiter. The best times to view it will be from January 15 through 25 when there is no moonlight washing out the sky. Does your telescope view reveal a wispy tail?

From late February through March, Comet Garrad graces our skies. The big question is how bright it will become. Some accounts indicate 7th magnitude, other claim almost naked eye visibility. Garrad will be located in Hercules in January, then swing near the Little Dipper in mid February, and pass west of the Big Dipper in March and April.

2. Venus and Uranus.

On February 9 at 7 p.m., Uranus lies 19 minutes east of brilliant Venus. Can you spot the 5.9 magnitude planet amid the glare of Venus? Use moderate magnification (around 100x) or greater to see the round disk of Uranus and the gibbous disk of Venus.

3. Can you spot Phobos and Deimos?

From February 12 through March 25, when Mars is at its closest and brightest, its two small, dim moons, Phobos and Deimos, are also at their brightest. To increase your chance of seeing them, Mars should be at least 25º above the horizon and there should be no moonlight interfering. In February, this corresponds to observing at 10 p.m. EST from the 12th to the 25th. In March this corresponds to observing at 11 p.m. EDT from the 10th through the 25th. Mars will span about 14 arc seconds and the magnitudes of Deimos and Phobos are 13.2 and 12.2, respectively. Phobos is situated to either side of the planet by less than the planet’s diameter. Deimos, although a magnitude dimmer, is situated from the planet by 2.5 times Mars’ diameter, possibly putting it far enough outside the planet’s glare to spot the little satellite. 

Place Mars near the edge of the field and focus on it. Then, move the planet just outside of the field. If luck is with you, you’ll be able to spot the moons just inside the field of view and just outside of the planet’s glare.

 Deimos:

 Date Separation from Mars Side away from Mars

 2/13 30 seconds west

2/15 32 east

2/16 30 east

2/18 38 west

2/20 37 east

2/23 38 west

2/25 40 east

…

3/13 40 west

3/15 33 east

3/18 39 west

3/20 36 east

3/23 36 west

3/25 38 east

 Phobos

 2/13 11 west

2/14 11 west

2/17 11 west

2/20 11 west

2/21 11 west

2/24 11 east

…

3/10 11 east

3/14 11 west

3/17 11 east

3/21 11 west

3/25 10 east

 The dates when both moons should be most easily visible are February 20 and March 25.

 4. Lunar occultation of Zeta Tauri

 For very early morning observers on March 2, the 2.96 magnitude star Zeta Tauri can be seen being occulted by the waxing gibbous moon. Begin watching at 1:40 a.m. before the star suddenly disappears behind the moon’s dark southern edge about 1:49. It reappears next to the brightly lit lunar surface around 1:55 a.m. making it more difficult to see than the disappearance.

5. The bright and the dim

 Mars slides into the same field of view as the galaxies M95 and M96 on March 16 and 17. How difficult will it be to spot both the bright planet and the two very dim galaxies at the same time? M95 and M96 will be giants compared to tiny Mars, but their low surface brightness may make their identification difficult.

 6. Venus Transit

 The transit begins on June 5 just after 6 p.m. and continues well after sunset. Let’s hope for clear skies with no late afternoon or early evening storms!

7. Vesta passes Aldebaran

 Asteroids are interesting to observe because they creep across the sky, showing discernible movement in just two or three hours time. Vesta passes Aldebaran on the morning of August 6. Look at Aldebaran at 4:00 a.m. when it rises above the atmospheric goop, for the 7.5 magnitude Vesta sitting thirteen arc minutes to the left of the star. The next morning, the asteroid will have moved eastward by a few minutes.

8. The moon points to Venus in the daytime.

 At 4 p.m. on August 13, the pale crescent moon lies next to Venus low in the west. Binoculars should help in finding this pair. Venus is about two-thirds of the moon’s apparent diameter to its upper left. The planet shouldn’t appear nearly as washed out as the moon because its surface brightness is much greater. The moon occults Venus at 4:43 when they are less than 7º above the horizon.

9. Ceres grazes southern lunar rim.

 The largest asteroid, Ceres, can be easily found on September 9 around 3:30 a.m. For observer’s north of a line extending from just north of Winston-Salem, NC to just north of Richmond, VA, and continuing to the northeast, the moon’s southern edge barely occults it. Begin observing at 3:40. Sometime in the next ten minutes, the moon blocks the 7.7 magnitude Ceres. Does Ceres wink out suddenly as the dark lunar rim covers it, or does it disappear gradually, taking many seconds to do so?

 Project: If simultaneous observations are coordinated by two observers who are located near the same longitude and who are separated by a north-south distance of a couple of hundred miles, then the distance to the moon can be calculated using simple trigonometry.

10. Ceres passes Eta Gemini

 Ceres can be found again, this time when it moves past the 3.3 magnitude star Eta Geminorum. On November 4 at 10 p.m., aim your scope at Eta. Ceres twinkles a minimum of three arc minutes to the star’s east. As the hours pass, the little worldlet creeps to the northwest. If a medium magnification eyepiece is used, after two or three hours a slight change in position with respect to the star should be noticed.

]]> http://richastro.org/index.php/blog/2012-a-great-year-for-amateur-astronomy/feed/ 0 http://richastro.org/index.php/events/2684/ http://richastro.org/index.php/events/2684/#comments Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:24:50 +0000 president http://richastro.org/?p=2684

Potluck Dinner Delectables

Thanks to all who attended our annual potluck dinner.  Everything was absolutely delicious, the images of the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party were great and the Astro-Jeopardy was a lot of fun.  It was really great to see everyone. Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe holiday season.
.
Regards,.
Jim Browder 

December - The Eating Meeting!

Next meeting:  The next meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society will be on Tuesday, December 13, 7:30 PM at the Science Museum of Virginia in the Forum. At this meeting we will transform into the Richmond Gastronomical Society and have a potluck dinner as is our custom for the December meeting.  Please send me an e-mail to let me know what you plan to bring (so we don’t all bring the same thing). We will need a variety of main dishes, side dishes, desserts, drink, plates, cups, utensils and ice. Leslie Bochenski will be hosting a game of Astro-Jeopardy with prizes!  Please join us if you can – it should be a lot of fun.

This is the time of year to say thanks and we have plenty to thank our members for.  We are very fortunate to have a lot of folks who are willing to attend our meetings, help with skywatches, serve on our board, take care of our club business, organize observing events and represent our group at other events. We don’t say thanks often enough, but let’s not allow this opportunity to say thank you pass us by. Thanks to everyone many, many times over. We could not have the organization we have without you all.

Jupiter by Bryan Hartley

Thanks to everyone who attended and helped out with the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party. It was a great weekend. At the star party Bryan Hartley tested his imaging technique on Jupiter, the Moon and the Orion Nebula. He kindly shared the image to the left with us. Note the shadow of Europa passing across the face of Jupiter. Thanks Bryan!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Asteroid YU55 blew past us on November 8. RAS member Tim Streagle appeared on WTVR Channel 6 in a story about the asteroid pass at this link.
…..
So did anyone observe or image the asteroid? Please let us know or pass along an image or video and we will be happy to post it.
…..
An article in Sky and Telescope about the asteroid is here.

Frank Green passed along this report on his recent expedition to Florida for some excellent stargazing:

Drove down to the Chiefland Astronomy Villgae near Chiefland, Fl. last week (Oct. 23) for one of the two annual star parties there. The sky is darker at Chiefland than at many Virginia sites, though not as dark as some of the W.V. ones. However, Chiefland is best known for great seeing. I was lucky enough to experience some on Monday (Oct. 24). Took the Mallicam out of the focuser and out in a high-power eyepciece — Jupiter was nothing but bands, swirls and eddiies from pole to pole, Europa was a beautiful, sharp white orb with a sharp black shadow as it moved across the planet that night. Had no idea my scope was capable of such performance. Some folks had their scopes up to 1,100 power with razor sharp views. Have never experienced seeing like that in Virginia (or anywhere else).

The CAV is roughly 730 miles from Richmond, most of it on I-95 (1-95 to 295 in Fl. to I-10 and then about 90 miles on fast back roads). It is an easy day trip (though I split it into two days on the way back because of sleep deprivation). The drive is well worth it.

There were two Fall star parties in progress. One, more formal, much larger and with vendors, charges a fee. It was in the “new” field. The other, much smaller, no fee, and no vendors was in in the “old” field. I went to the old field because that is where my friends were and it was primarily dob/Mallincam users such as myself.

* You can join the old field for free by going to the Chieflandobservers Yahoo users group

* For the new field go to: http://chieflandstarpartygroup.com/index.html They have annual dues of $45 for first time membership and $30 renewals.

I belong to both and have been to both. Each field has excellent facilities: electrical outlets, hot showers, microwave and NO PORTA POTTIES! Tents, RVs, campers all accomodated.

Frank Green

Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party

November 18 – 20

The Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland County is once again hosting a Fall Star Party! All area astronomers are invited to attend. The Richmond Astronomical Society will be there and will be supplying refreshments for the event. We hope that lots of our fellow astronomers from the region will join us.

The reservation has a dark sky, convenient access from I-64, wide open space, excellent amenities including a nearby dining hall where RAS will be providing refreshments for the entire event (and where cold astronomers can warm up), along with plenty of room to camp near your telescope, full restroom facilities w/showers and heated lodging.

It’s hard to find a better site that is as convenient and has a dark sky. We hope that a lot of astronomy enthusiasts will attend and show their support so that the Scout Reservation can continue hosting this event. The fun begins Friday afternoon November 18 at 4:00 PM with an astronomy club social and runs through noon on Sunday, November 20.

Cost of the event is only $15 which includes camping and refreshments. Heated bunkroom lodging is available for an additional $6 per person.

Details are at the link below. Don’t miss it – this should be a great event!

http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

Back Bay Amateur Astronomers

The annual meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies was hosted this year by our friends, the Back Bay Amateur Astronomers, on Saturday, October 1, in Virginia Beach at Tidewater Community College. From the Richmond area we had Jim Blowers, Daryl Douglas, Bill Jeffries, Dave Medici, Dave Walton, Betty Wilson, Ken Wilson me.

.

.

.

.

Kevin Mitchell discussing exo-planet research

We met in the planetarium at Tidewater Community College which is an extremely convenient and comfortable facility for this sort of meeting. A nearby classroom served as a break room with donuts and coffee. The Back Bay Astronomers had lined up two planetarium presentations along with several speakers including Donner Grigsby (NASA Langley) regarding recent NASA projects, Carlos Salgado (Norfolk State University) regarding the Rapid Response Robotic Telescope on Fan Mountain and its applications, Kevin Mitchell (Norfolk State University) regarding exo-planet hunting using the transit method, and Mark Ost regarding lunar geology and associated outreach..

VAAS 2012 "Save the Date" card

Presidents and officers of the VAAS member clubs had a short meeting to discuss some Astronomical League updates and to plan for next year’s VAAS meeting which will be hosted by the Richmond Astronomical Society. All of the club representatives offered very helpful suggestions for future meetings. The scheduled date and location for the 2012 gathering is September 15, 2012 at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.

Tidewater Community College Observatory

We were also treated to a tour of the Tidewater Community College observatory which is a well-constructed, well-equipped and spacious roll-back roof design. Housed in the observatory are:

20″ (0.51m) Planewave Corrected Dall – Kirkham Cassegrain Reflector
150 mm (6″) Takahashi TOA Refractor
Meade LX-200
Celestron Ultima
Celestron Powerstar
H-alpha filter for solar observing
Pictor 1616 CCD Imaging system.

Observing at York River State Park

After the presentations, the Back Bay Astronomers hosted us at York River State Park for some night time viewing. The York River State Park is a great dark sky location and the park administrators have been very helpful in terms of allowing astronomers to use the site at night.  Thanks to Daryl Douglas for helping with making the site available for us. Early in the evening, the sky was highly variable, with some periods of cloudiness, some periods of heavy rain and other periods of clear sky from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately, as the evening progressed, a relatively clear sky changed to broken clouds and then to mostly cloudy conditions. It was a comfortable, slightly cool, evening, but clear enough for only limited viewing. While we were at the site, we were treated to nice views of the Veil Nebula, North American Nebula and Caroline’s Rose. We also deployed a night vision device, which was the closest thing we had to a cloud filter. Surprisingly, it allowed us to have interesting views of M13 and M57 through light haze.

Many thanks once again to the Back Bay Astronomers and to all of the guest speakers. We know it takes a lot of effort and coordination to put together these meetings and we appreciate all that goes into it. For me one of the best parts of the annual VAAS meeting is the opportunity to connect and observe with fellow astronomers from around the state. We look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s meeting and at other events this fall and into next year.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

Many thanks to all who helped out with the event, including Tim Streagle and Daryl Douglas for sharing their grilling skills with us, Prashant Reddy for coordinating the event, the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation for hosting us, all who attended and shared their great food and provided great company. And thanks as well to the North Carolina contingent for being our guests and traveling so far to enjoy our local skies.

.

..

The Charlottesville Astronomical Society Fan Mountain Retreat: The Charlottesville Astronomical Society has very kindly  invited members of the Richmond Astronomical Society and the Back Bay Amateur Astronomers to attend their retreat at the UVA Fan Mountain observatory on September 23 and 24. If you are interested in attending, please contact Richard Drumm with the Charlottesville Society directly at richard@drummdigital.com.

.

Lots of Astro-Events This Autumn: Every Autumn there are lots of observing events, but this year a bumper crop of events seems to have developed.  Below is the current list we have, but it continues to grow. Updates will be posted as new information comes in. Please review the list carefully for two reasons: (1) To check me to see if I made a mistake (which has been know to happen from time to time) and (2) to see if any of the events is of interest to you.  As always, we very much appreciate any support astronomers can provide to our outreach / skywatch events.

• Skywatch at City Point, Petersburg National Battlefield, September 23: Please contact John Raymond at raymond 7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.
• Fan Mountain Retreat, September 23 – 24: RAS is invited. If you are interested in attending, please contact Richard Drumm with the Charlottesville Society directly at richard@drummdigital.com.
• Observing session for RAS members and friends, September 24: Observing at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland. Directions to the site are here and here in Google Maps. Once you enter the reservation from Maidens Road/Rt. 522, take an immediate right turn into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and look for a brown sign on the right with a picture of a telescope on it, directing you to the top of a hill which is the observing site. Please note that anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian in order to comply with camp rules.
• East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous, September 26 – October 2:  Star Party at Luray, Virginia focused on video astronomy.  More information at http://www.ecvarstarparty.com.
• Delmarva No-Frills Star Party, Sep 29 – Oct 2:  http://delmarvastargazers.org/.
  
• Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, October 1:  Hosted by the Back Bay Astronomers at Tidewater Community College; http://www.backbayastro.org/vaas/vaas.shtml.
• Astronomy Badge Event for Girl Scouts at the Science Museum of Virginia, October 15, 9-12 AM: The Science Museum is hosting a special event for girl scouts from 9 to 12 AM. If you can help with this event, please contact Jim Browder at president@richastro.org.
• Skywatch at Scotchtown, October 15: Please contact John Raymond at raymond 7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.
• Observing session for RAS members and friends, October 29: See above for directions to the scout reservation.
• Mid-Atlantic Star Party, October 24 – 30:  Star Party near Robbins, NC; http://masp.us.
• East Coast Star Party, Coinjock, NC, Oct 21-23:  Contact Kent Blackwell for more information at kent@exis.net. Note that this is a revised date from previous announcements.
• Skywatch at Byrd Elementary in Goochland, November 4:  A special skywatch for fellow astronomer and elementary school teacher, Karren Streagle, for students of Byrd Elementary School. Please let Jim Browder (president@richastro.org) know if you can bring a scope to this event.
• Central Virginia Family Stargaze, November 18 – 19:  Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public, convenient location, nice facilities and a dark sky; http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html.
  .

News from our friends with the Back Amateur Astronomers who are hosting this years meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies:  The VAAS Annual Convention for 2011 is scheduled for Saturday, October 1, at Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach Campus. Times are approximately 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM with an observing session planned for that evening at York River Park. More information is at this link.

Fall picnic:

Directions to the camp are here and here in Google Maps. The picnic will be held at the picnic shelter in the Cub Adventure Camp. Once you enter the reservation from Maidens Road/Rt. 522, take an immediate right turn into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and the shelter will be on your right. Park in the nearby lot or in the adjacent field if you have telescope or other equipment to deploy. Please note that anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian in order to comply with camp rules.

.

Upcoming events: Wow! Lots of stargazing and astronomy events to participate in this fall.  A list is below – I know that I have forgotten something – please let me know what is missing.  Note that we may adjust the dates of some of the RAS observing sessions where there is a conflict with one of these events and a larger star party.

• Aug 19: Science Museum of Virginia skywatch and LiveSky planetarium show; please contact Jim Browder at president@richastro.org if you can help with this event.
• Aug 19: Dark Skies, Bright Kids event in Charlottesville; skywatch at 8:00 PM at Red Hill Elementary School; contact Jim Browder at president@richastro.org if you want to help with this event.
• Aug 27:  Observing session for RAS members and friends; Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland; directions to the camp are here and here in Google Maps.
• Sep 16: Skywatch at Scotchtown; please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.
• Sep 16: Girl Scout stargazing at Burgess in the Northern Neck; check back for updates on this event.
• Sep 17: RAS Fall Picnic at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland; directions to the camp are here and here in Google Maps.
• Sep 23: Skywatch at City Point, Petersburg National Battlefield; please contact John Raymond at raymond 7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.
• Sep 24: Observing session for RAS members and friends; Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland; directions to the camp are here and here in Google Maps.
• Sep 26 – Oct 2: East Coast Astronomy Rendezvous: Luray, VA; focused on video astronomy.
• Sep 29 – Oct 2: Delmarva No-Frills Star Party.
• Oct 1: Meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, Tidewater Community College, hosted by the Back Bay Amateur Astronomers. The meeting will be at the Virginia Beach campus in the new Science and Technology building (the one with the planetarium).
• Oct 24 – 30: Mid-Atlantic Star Party, Robbins, NC
• Oct 27-30: East Coast Star Party, Coinjock, NC; contact Kent Blackwell for more information at kent@exis.net.
• Oct 29: Observing session for RAS members and friends; Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland; directions to the camp are here and here in Google Maps.
• Nov. 18-19: (Central Va Family Stargaze, star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public).
• Dec. 17: Observing session for RAS members and friends; Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland; directions to the camp are here and here in Google Maps.

.

Getting into Vesta’s orbit: The NASA Dawn mission spacecraft has entered orbit around the asteroid Vesta and is sending back some really col images and information.  Here is a video about how the spacecraft was placed in orbit using its ion drive engines:

.

Perseid meteors:  The Perseid meteor shower has been somewhat of a bust this year due to the unfavorable weather (meaning clouds and rain) and the bight moon.  NASA hosted an interesting chat and several fireballs were captured on all-sky cameras.  One fireball prior to the Perseid peak was reported as being seen from this area and from the Virginia Beach area on the night of August 11. If you saw it you might want to report your sighting the American Meteor Society here.

.

.

Atlantis, SOFIA, an asteroid and the RAS Cafe Press Shop: This was the hodge-podge of topics we covered at the last RAS meeting.  Many thanks to Chris McCann for his recounting of the latest and last Space Shuttle launch as well as updates on the SOFIA telescope project and the recent discovery of a Trojan asteroid that shares the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

For those interested in viewing or purchasing any products from the RAS Cafe Press online shop, you can find the products listed at the link below. We hope to have additional options in the near future.

RAS Cafe Press Shop:  http://www.cafepress.com/richastroshop

.

.

.

.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society