RAS News

Newsletter of RAS (Richmond Astronomical Society)
February, 2002

Visit our web site at www.richastro.org

Next meeting--Monday, Feb.  11

Meeting relocation

For this month and next month, we will NOT be meeting in the planetarium but in the Orientation Room (where we met last month). It's off the rotunda, just to the right when you come in. It's next to the room we used to meet in, before we moved to the planetarium.

Last meeting
by Terry Barker

Ken Wilson provided printouts of this month's star maps, and satellite timings, and information on two proposed bills, sb100 and hb271, on light pollution that would allow localities to pass their own ordinances. The Senate bill has passed. The House bill was tabled until 2002. Ken also had flyers on his next astronomy class, to be held Apr. 20.

Bill Dickinson offered a 9 mm Nagler for sale during the meeting, for $150.

Michelle Jones showed of an LED flashlight she bought for $6, available at Kmart, Target, etc.

Gary Cowardin, in addition to recommending that we all go see the movie Kapex, had about 50 people at last month's SMV skywatch. Joe Hetmanski was clouded out at Malvern Hill. Joe also showed the new digital clock purchased for the observatory.

John Raymond brought in the new eyepieces he's purchased for the observatory. He has set the first training session for the year for noon on Sat., Feb. 2. There will be three sessions altogether, about two weeks apart.

Terry Barker has three skywatches coming up, on 1/26 for Boy Scouts, on Feb 22. for a Brandermill Family Night, and on Feb. 28 for Henry Clay Elementary in Ashland.

Grace Suttle greeted our visitors, Bill Beck, Dale Smith, and Jerry and Ann Williams. 43 people attended this meeting.

Jim Petty gave the main presentation, on Jupiter's moon, Io. Io is notable for its high number of volcanoes. Galileo and Marius discovered the first four moons of Jupiter, which included Io. It is named after a Greek god. It is about the same size as earth, but it's three times more dense. There are about 200 volcanic craters larger than 12 miles. The largest is Pele, 870 miles across. Io is highly active because it is close to Jupiter, about the same distance as the earth to the moon, but Jupiter is 300 times more massive than the earth, so the huge tidal forces generate tremendous internal heat.

Binoculars and sky watching
by Keith Johnson

The recent skywatch in December at Sayler's Creek proved to be an excellent trial run for the binocular mount I recently talked about. Upon arriving at 6:30 that evening the sky was not that promising, with high winds. However, as the evening moved on the clouds moved out and the sky opened up, but the wind remained slightly high. I decided to take the binocular mount that evening since the weather did not look that promising at the start of the evening. The crowd surprised me with about 26 people showing up. One middle school teacher came with 4 students from Lunenburg County, and was facing a 100 mile round trip after delivering his students home! I found the crowd loved the binocular mount since it was easy to learn how to use and you could easily see the constellations in the first surface mirror. Pretty soon I found myself teaching the night time sky from just the mirror to a crowd that had gathered around me. The 8x24x50 binoculars proved to be the best for that evening since I could zoom in to fainter objects in the night time sky. Ken Kenny, my partner in crime who actually started the Sayler's Creek Star Watches, brought his 90mm ORION wide-field telescope and gave the crowd a great glimpse of star clusters and fainter objects. Overall, the publicity and the diligence of the public has made the Sayler's Creek Skywatch a monthly success. I have included below a supply list for making the mount and if you have any questions you can reach me at 804-561-2275 most evenings after 5:00 p.m. Keep in mind this is for a 7x50, 10x50, and up to 80mm binoculars. Exotic woods and salt treated wood will cost more. Suggested woods are popular or ash. Until next time the very best of skies...

Binocular Mount Supply List:

1) 1 inch thick by 4 inches wide by 2 foot- 1 piece
2) 2 inches by 2 inches by 4 foot-1 piece
3) 1 inch wide by 2 inches by 8 foot-2 pieces (body of frame is made out of these).
4) 1/4 inch by 6 inches by 2 foot- 1 piece to reinfome mirror (hardwood recommended)

Dimensions of mount:

18 inches tall
14.25 wide
14 inches long (will change if you increase past a 9x12 mirror)
Mirror 9 inches long by 12 inches wide

Hardware:

1. 1 Brass Knob for turning mount.

2. 2 inches by 1/4 inch stainless bolts for holding mirror with proper wing nuts and washers (4), you will need two of these.

3. 4.5 inch by 1/4 inch stainless bolts with wing nuts, you will need 2 of these. Plastic knobs can be purchased from various woodworking supply houses if you choose to use knobs.

4. 2.5 inch by 1/4 inch bolts with wing nuts, you need two of these also.

5. Brass handle for transporting mount and movement of mount so that mirror is not damaged.

This list does not include the mirror protector since it would depend on your mirror size and your budget, I do recommend felt or better foam from your local Wal-Mart to be what makes contact with the mirror. I will be building these mounts for around $85.00 but you must supply the tripod mount. Mounts will be made for up to 70 mm binoculars. Thank you and best of luck on your next building project.

Return to top

Powhatan report
by Tom Kunsitis

I arrived on-site at about 2100.  There was a veritable crowd of
astronomers there last night which is a good sign.  I counted 5 telescopes
including my 13" Dobsonian.  The group from Stony Point Reformed
Presbyterian Church was there again also.

Conditions were good.  I did not do an official limiting magnitude check,
but it was probably somewhere in the 5.5 range.  M81 was easily visible in
my 8 x 50 finder.  There was a light frost and a little of the fog which
plagues the area because of the nearby lake.  I set up with the help of the
6 year old Shannon who provided some much appreciated red flashlight
assistance.

I spent most of the night looking at two galaxy clusters.  The first one is
a group around the 6th magnitude star 1 Arietis.  This group was mentioned
in the December 2001 Sky and Telescope.  The group consists of NGC 678,
680, 691, 695, 697, and IC 167.  These galaxies are all in the 11 to 13
magnitude range and can be seen in two telescope eyepiece fields.  Several
have almost stellar nuclei and a couple are edge-on.  I was able to see all
except the faintest which is IC 167.

I also saw a trio of galaxies in Canis Major.  These galaxies, NGC 2292,
2293, and 2295 are in the southern part of the constellation.  They also
range in magnitude from 11 to 13.  What was surprising was that the edge-on
NGC 2295 was the smallest and faintest of the three but it was also the
easiest to see.  This is because of its relatively high surface
brightness.  The other two galaxies, NGC 2292 and 2293, are almost on top
of each other making them hard to identify especially when using averted
vision.

The big prize of the night came when I was able to find the planetary
nebula Minkowski 1-7.  This nebula is in Gemini and at 13.5 magnitude is
within the range of my 13" scope.  However, I found size estimates that ran
all the way from 8 arc seconds in diameter to 29 arc seconds.  From what I
saw, it is somewhere in between but much closer to the smaller end of the
scale.  Last night it was so close to Jupiter that it interfered with star
hopping to its location.  At 60x it appeared stellar and I found it by
"blinking" it with a Lumicon UHC filter.  At 250x using the filter it
showed a small oval disk.

I stayed until about 0040 and then packed up and headed for home.

Messier Marathon
from Susan Bender, C'ville Club

The Charlottesville Astronomical Society (http://www.cvilleastro.org/)
would like to invite you to the first annual Messier Marathon.   This
event will start as soon as it gets dark (around 6:30) on March 15 (rain
date is March 16).   The site (Susan Bender's house) is located south of
Charlottesville off of Rt 29.  Tents can be set up on the site.  

Direction to Susan Benders house (3129 Old Lynchburg  Road, North
Garden):

At the intersection of Rt 29 and I-64 continue on 29 south toward
Lynchburg.
About 5 miles beyond the I-64/Rt29 intersection is a blinking yellow
curve sign.  Turn left here, onto Rt. 708.  Go about 2.9 miles (carefully,
it's a twisty road.)  Take the first right, onto Rt. 631, Old Lynchburg Road.  There's a small brick church on the right where you turn.  Go 1.9 miles.
Susan's house is on the left.
There's a gray mailbox with the number (3129).  Park along the driveway or
on the grass. 

Return to top

Star light, star bright
from David M. Born, Chief Ranger Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park

On Friday, February 8th, Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park will offer Star Light Star Bright, a gathering of the Sailor’s Creek Sky Watch featuring local amateur astronomers Kim and Margaret Kenny of Crewe, and Keith Johnson of the Richmond Astronomical Society. Kim and Keith will provide tips on getting started, give some history of astronomy and of course give opportunities to view stars, star clusters and nebulae. Margaret will have a special area set up for young astronomers in training, geared toward introducing the up and coming generation to the use of telescopes and just what is up there, and how to find it. The evening events will begin at 6:30 pm near the Hillsman House site. Please come prepared for cold weather. For further information, contact Chief Ranger David M. Born at Twin Lakes State Park (434) 392-3435. In the event of cloudy weather, the program will be moved into the Hillsman House.

Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park is located 5 miles east of Farmville on route 617.

From Richmond Take US 360 west to route 307. Turn right onto route 617 and proceed north to the Hillsman House.

From Farmville Take US 460 east to route 307. Turn left off 307 onto route 617 and proceed north to the Hillsman House.

From Powhatan Take Route 609 south to route 616. Take a right onto route 616 and travel approximately 7 miles to route 617. Proceed south to the Hillsman House.

Return to top

Dob for sale
by John Goss, Roanoke Valley Club