|
Last meeting
by Terry Barker
|
|
Share table:
- Ken Wilson brought in monthly star charts and Iridium
flare schedules.
- Chris McCann distributed his monthly Astronomy Highlights.
Reports:
- Malvern Hill -- Joe Hetmanski has an approved schedule for
2003, and it will be posted on the website soon.
- SMV Skywatch - cancelled, due to weather.
- Keith Johnson had about 9 people at Sayler's Creek, which
isn't bad, considering it was completely cloudy. Keith treated them to a
slide show.
- Ken Wilson told us that UVA is going to transition McCormack
Observatory into a science and education center. If you have any ideas
about this or would like to help in the process, see Ken.
- Jim Petty says a new casino is possibly planned for Las Vegas,
with a moon theme. It would be called Moon, and would feature a Lunar
Buggy Ride and a Moon River Jazz Bar.
Observatory:
- Gary Cowardin reports that the 2003 sky almanac has been
purchased.
Skywatches and other events::
- Terry Barker has a Chesterfield County skywatch at Clover Hill
on March 7.
- Roger Rigby is heading up a skywatch for Walton Park.
Not scheduled as yet--see article in newsletter.
- Keith Johnson will be at the Pocahontas State Park skywatch on
March 8. Call Keith for info: 561-2275
- The SMV skywatch will be March 21.
- The Metro Richmond Science Fair is on Saturday, March 22. If you're
interested in helping choose a project for the T. Wilbur Stone
Scholarship Award, contact Terry Barker or John Raymond.
RAS will award one or more $50 checks to the projects that we think show
a good achievement in the areas of astronomy and space science.
Visitors:
- Charlotte Tally greeted our visitors—Beth Barlow, Jennifer
Barlow, and Robert Carden.
Jennifer Barlow, a local high school student, gave a presentation
on National Dark Sky Week. She is the founder of this annual event, and is
asking the public to participate by turning off all their outdoor lights
from 10 pm to midnight the week of April 1-8. RAS is participating by
advertising the event as part of the April 4 skywatch at Clover Hill. You
can find further information at the web site, http://www.nationaldarkskyweek.htmlplanet.com.
Terry Barker gave the main presentation, "Exotic Binoculars." Terry
was assisted by other people in the club, who brought in the following
equipment to demo:
1) John Raymond's observing chair
2) John Barnette's German army mounted "flak" binocs
3) John Barnette's navigational binocs - with internal compass
4) Grace Suttle's binocular mirror accessory
5) Grace's "image-stabilized" binocs
6) Terry's parallelogram binocular mount
|
|
Powhatan report
by Jim Langley
|
|
After work this evening, I headed out to Powhatan to take
advantage of the clear sky. My primary goal was to see how Comet
NEAT (2002v1) was coming along. I was using 7x50 binocs and the
80mm Stellarvue refractor. I was pleasantly surprised to see
the comet was now sporting a distinct and fairly bright tail. I
am horrible at determining sizes - so since the tail was greater
than the field of view of the 13mm Nagler, at 480fl - I estimate
it to be a little over 2 degrees in length. The head remains
fairly small and compact, and although brightening towards the
center, there didn't seem to be much "fuzziness" about it. The
tail was very narrow which I think contributed to the overall
brightness. I suspect this was the ion tail. I could not detect
any fan shaped or corresponding dust tail. I am estimating the
brightness to be around 5.5 magnitude. It was very hard to judge
due to the proximity of the moon. If I blocked the moon, I was
just able to see it with the naked eye; I could not discern any
tail. Some of you all may know this trick - but I like to play a
little "hide and seek" when viewing faint nebulas and comets.
This is how it goes. When you have found the object - move the
telescope so that the object is no longer in view. Then VERY
slowly move the scope back in the direction of the object. Using
the star field, mark the spot at which you first detect some sign
of nebulosity. As you continue in the same direction, you will
usually notice that you've picked up on the nebulosity (or comet
tail) further away from the object than expected. Using this
technique, you will 'see' a much greater extent of the object and
get a bettter feel for the actual size. This technique works best
for objects that are larger than the usual field of view, such as
comets, m31 and the Orion Nebula.
Continuing a tradition of mine (that of leaving some critical
piece of observing equipment behind) I left my red light and star
charts at home AND the batteries in my red dot finder were dead -
so I ended the night with aimless (yet pleasurable) scanning of
star fields and old favorites.
|
|
Powhatan report #2
by John Raymond
|
|
I can't resist clear skies.
I took my 12.5 dobsonian out at 5:30pm to cool. I started around 7:30.
The sky was completely clear, much more transparent than Sunday night.
Humidity was low and seeing was fair.
M45- The Pleiades. This is a lovely object. My favorite part of it is
the double Burnham 536 in the center of the
"bowl" of the Pleiades. At 25x all of the major stars were in
the field.
Delta Cassiopeiae - bright blue white star, starting point to find M103
M103 - At 25x looks like an asterism of 4 stars shaped like the letter '
y '. Immediately to the east is a smaller ' y' shaped asterism. In
Burnham's Celestial Handbook is a photo of M103 on page 524, with the
cluster in the center and the second ' y ' shaped asterism to the upper
left. The central star of each ' y' is orange. At 50x and 80x the
fainter stars of M103 appear. The cluster is shaped like a Christmas
tree with the brightest star at the top.
To the NE is a rectangle of three orange stars (including V770) and a
yellow star. Another orange star is in the field. This group is near 1h
40m RA +61 Dec
44 Cas - blue star with wide orange and blue companions
Open Clusters in Cassiopeia:
NGC 659 - Faint open cluster
NGC 663 Bright and large oc
Berkeley 6 - faint and small oc
NGC 654 - bright oc with prominent yellow star
IC 166 - faint oc not seen
Berkely 7 - not seen
Czernik 5 - not seen (These faint open clusters require darker
skies, or a bigger scope)
Trumpler 1 - small oc, pretty. 4 faint stars in a row, wih a few
fainter ones close by
Czernik 4 - not seen
Eridanus
Omicron 2 Eridani, "Keid"
lovely triple, main star is orange with one companion at low power. At
medium power the second star is a double. The fainter two stars
are a white and red dwarf. These stars are only about 16 light years
away.
39 Eridani - unequal double
Auriga
M36, M37, M38 three great open clusters. M38 looks like an
airplane. Fainter NGC 1907 near M38.
Mellotte 31 - bright naked eye cluster, includes 14, 16, 17, 18, 19
Aurigae
I packed up at 1030.
|
|
First Annual AstroSwap Meet
by Gary Hand, Hands On Optics
|
|
March 30, 2003 12pm - 6pm
Damascus, MD (W77'12`, N38'17`)
We invite you to join us in the area's largest Telescope Swap Meet.
Bring anything telescope related and other cool stuff to sell or
trade.
Please bring your own tables. We are limited to about 20 tables so
it
is first come first serve. We will provide pricing labels, pens,
etc,
soft drinks and advice. We invite all to attend.
H-Alpha observing
will be available. Please feel free to bring your solar scope for
observing.
Hands on Optics is holding the first event at our new store. We are
expanding and in the move we have uncovered about 2000 lenses,
mirrors,
antique parts, microscopes, mount and tube assembly parts, new
obsolete and new out of box items. We have way too much to take to a
star party.
For more information please call us toll free at 1-866-726-7371 or email
us at astroguy@handsonoptics.com. For directions, go to
http://handsonoptics.com/store/store.html
Gary Hand
Hands on Optics
26437 Ridge Road
Damascus, MD 20872
|
|
Walton Lake skywatch
by Roger Rigby
|
|
This has been postponed twice, but Roger's still
trying--contact him if
you're interested in helping.
I would like to appeal to anyone who was not planning on
helping
with Clover Hill to stop by the Walton Lake Clubhouse in Midlothian
from 6:30 - 8:00 on Friday, February 28th and help show a group of
energized Girl Scouts and potential future astronomers and RAS
Members the Night Sky. We not only need telescopes and binoculars,
but we could also use people familiar with the night sky to point out
constellations and areas of interest.
The Girl Scouts will be providing Hot Chocolate and Snacks,
and afterwards
everyone helping is invited to come over to my place for Pizza and continued
Star Gazing, either with a telescope or while soaking in the Hot-Tub.
If you are able to help, please contact me and let me know so that I
can stop collecting paper towel tubes to make into zero power telescopes. :)
Thanks in Advance & Clear Skies,
-Roger Rigby
804-897-4353
mobilecad@comcast.net
|
|
Top Ten Least Popular Astro Products for 2003
As Chosen by the Editors of "Light Pollution" magazine
|
|
10) Ronco Telescope Humidifier.
Ed. comments- This might help astronomers with sinus problems, but the
drawbacks seem obvious. Hilarious infomercial, though.
9) Maglite "Police Buddy" Billion Candlepower Flashlight.
Ed. comments- Our tests show that when shone down the tube of an 18"
Dobsonian, retinal combustion is achieved in 0.6 seconds. Product lacks
"flaming eyeball" warning label. Manufacturer claims this is
being
remedied.
8) Meade Series 5000 GPS "Super-Huygenian" oculars.
Ed. comments- Meade takes the optical magic of this classic lens design
and adds GPS.
Sheesh...
7) Eddie Bauer Astronomer's Raincoat.
Ed. comments- Nice styling. Excellent quality. Wrong target market. Not
enough pockets.
6) Depend Astro-Briefs.
Ed. comments- Our field tests reveal this product meets and exceeds it's
claims. Will absorb a two-four, rather than the stated 12-pack. A very
practical product for die-hards (especially astrophotographers), but
just too gross for 99% of stargazers.
5) Celestron Vibration Amplifier Pads.
Ed. comments- Further evidence that Celestron is losing it.
4) The George Foreman Eyepiece Warmer.
Ed. comments- Kept our test eyepieces toasty warm, but we weren't
impressed with the "grill marks".
Claims that it "cuts the fat" seemed dubious.
3) Sky and Telescope bathroom tissue.
Ed. comments- Rates a zero on the softness and absorbency scales. Very
uncomfortable. However, good reading on cloudy nights. We enjoyed the
enclosed subscription cards for the toughest clean-ups.
2) Bushnell "Diffracto-Max".
Ed. comments- Confusing instructions, flimsy packaging, overpriced.
Tasco used to make a better one.
And the Number One least popular astro product for 2003...
The Questar Solar Spectroscope Polaroid SX-70 Camera Adapter.
Ed comments- We love the venerable SX-70 instant camera, but who needs a
Questar Solar Spectroscope to adapt it to?? The ultimate dust gatherer.
|
|
Luck Stone visit
by John Barnett
|
|
Taking advantage of a rare clearing yesterday evening,
Feb.4, frome 6 to 7:30pm, Randy Tatum, Mike Holland and I met at Luck
Stone Quarry, off Rte 6 in Goochland, to observe Comet NEAT. The comet was
readily spotted in large binocs and gradually, barely attained naked eye
visibility as the sky darkened. We found it by dropping down on a line
defined by Alpheratz and Markab ( Pegasus ) and about two such lengths
below Markab. It showed a narrow tail about 2 degrees long in my 8"
f4.5 dob at 30x. At 90x the comet's nucleus was small and bright,
with a misty coma about it. Glad we took the opportunity since the waxing
moon will wash it out soon.
A word about Luck's Quarry: I easily got
permission some years ago to observe from along the office complex
driveway or south of the office parking lot. The lawn south of the parking
lot has a remarkably long, low southeastern horizon over the fairly dark
James River valley - great for observing Shuttle launches as they move up
the east coast. Also, the west is fair from the driveway, which is where
we were to observe the comet. Our limiting mag in the low west was 5+ . Of
course the east and north are terrible at Luck's, but it is a nice 20
minute alternative to a 1.5 hour round trip to Powhatan for westenders, if
what you want is low in the south or west. - John Barnett
|
