Newsletter of RAS (Richmond Astronomical Society)
July, 2002

Visit our web site at www.richastro.org

Next meeting--Monday, July 8

Last meeting
by Terry Barker

Share Table – 

• Ken Wilson brought in a full text of the Va. Light Pollution Bill that was passed by the legislature this year. He also had his copy of Starware that he bought at the Mason-Dixon Star Party. Ken also announced that the SMV store is having a sale on Celestron telescopes and accessories--20% off. He also told us about the recent sale of the Celestron department by Tasco, to a group that includes the original Celestron founder and owner.

Observing – 

• SMV Skywatch – Gary Cowardin had a good group, about 75 people, with light clouds. Wayne Syclabin (sp?) even had his 18 inch scope there, which really wowed the crowd.

• Malvern Hill – Joe Hetmanski, Susan Brubaker, and  Dave Credicott were there.

• Powhatan – Dale Smith had a good sky, with Sagittarius being an especially good target..

• Ashland – Charlotte Talley found a dark spot, and had good views of M13 and Jupiter.

• Eric Shelton found a great new spot, although it's a pretty good drive from Richmond. Spruce Knob Park, in WV, is 4500 feet high, with virtually no surrounding light, and he described it as "glorious." He stayed at the Gatewood Campground, so it's not totally primitive. It's about a 200 mile drive, and is sponsored by the NOVAC (Northern Va.) club.

Education/skywatches --

• Terry Barker, Dale Smith, Jim Petty, and John Raymond held a skywatch for Chesterfield County at Dutch Gap, and noted a first for our skywatches--we had more telescopes than viewers, as only two people showed up. A result of several people canceling at the last minute.

• We have a couple of skywatches planned for July--July 19 and 20 at Malvern Hill, the 11th at Clover Hill, and the SMV skywatch on the 19th.

• The next big star party won't be until Aug. this year--Stellafane, at Breezy Hill in Springfield, VT, is coming up Aug. 9. You can get more information at http://www.stellafane.com.

Observatory --

• John Raymond has done a little bit of cleanup on the grounds.

Ken Wilson announced that JPL is starting an educational program to highlight the upcoming Cassini mission. They are looking to advertise skywatches featuring Saturn. The board has voted to support that program. You can get more information at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/soc/index.html. This website will act as the hub of the observation campaign. A wealth of information on activities, resources, and contacts will be posted to this site on a regular basis. The site will also provide astro-photographers of all ages and levels of expertise a venue to showcase their images. Ken invites ideas you have about joint Science Museum/RAS participation in this program and wants you to let him know what you are willing to contribute (kwilson@smv.org).

Grace Suttle welcomed our visitors, David Hultstrom, Amy Adams, Maryannn Horch, and David Bell. Welcome, and we hope you'll soon become members!

John Raymond showed us his TNT binocular mount for his short presentation. It was very heavy duty, with a wooden tripod, aluminum frame, and a concrete counterweight. He has gotten excellent support from the vendor, as he broke it once, and TNT sent him a new replacement. John recommends it to everyone.

Terry Barker gave the main presentation, on the pioneering work being done at the VLT (Very Large Telescope) array in Chile. Using AO (Adaptive Optics), they have been able to take pictures that have a higher resolution than the Hubble Telescope. This is achieved by using a flexible surface for the mirror, and then having computers control movement of the surface to correct for fluctuations created by the earth's atmosphere.

Bigger arrays are planned, so watch this topic closely, as more exciting developments are close at hand.

Terry also previewed the latest exhibit at the Air & Space Museum in DC. They have added "Explore the Universe," and some of the highlights are: an actual backup of the Hubble Space Telescope mirror, and the actual 20 foot telescope that William Herschel built in England to do his observing. Terry also recommended that you not miss the superb 3D Imax movie titled Space Station 3D. It's the best 3D experience you've ever seen, where you can actually believe you're inside the space station. And yes, it's suitable for children--they'll love it.

RAS members missing in action
by Terry Barker

A great event took place at UVA last Friday night. The Charlottesville club hosted a talk by one of the leaders in extra solar planetary discovery--Geoff Marcy, of the University of California, Berkeley. Sadly, only a couple of people from our club made the short trip. Where was the rest of RAS? Reminds me of the trip some of us made to Green Bank, WV a couple of months ago. The Roanoke club put together a package where we got an overview of the radio telescope, and a guided tour of the complex. 25-30 Roanoke members went, and guess how many RAS members made it? Three. What's going on here? I know we have many active members doing observing, as reported right here in the newsletter. None of this was a problem with notification, as advance notice was given in the newsletter, as well as being posted on the list server. Are we getting sedate in activities that involve broader things, and especially things that involve other clubs? Say it ain't so! 

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VAAS update
by Terry Barker

While still a few months away, it's time to start talking up the 2002 VAAS convention. Like the 97 convention, we're hosting it, and it will be Sat., Oct. 5, at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland. Here's the format:

Then we'll do door prizes, and have a picnic, probably at Poor Farm Park in Ashland, and a skywatch at the same site. The workshops so far, will be:

ATM (Amateur Telescope Making)--Joe Hetmanski
CCD class--Unknown
Renaissance Navigator--R.Hicks
IDA--Dr. Ianna
Dobsonian video--Joe Hetmanski
Moon/Mars geography--Eric Douglass
Reenactment (Charles Messier)--Norm Guenther

If anyone else would like to put on a workshop, or assist with one of these, then please let me know. We'll also have a swap table, with the proceeds to go to RAS. If you have anything to donate, let Joe Hetmanski or Gary Cowardin know. The swap table is not limited to astronomy items, so be creative. We'll also take items on consignment, for a 10% commission.

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Powhatan report
by Roger Rigby

Shannon & I arrived right around sunset, Dale was already set-up. The sky even at that point looked very promising. As the evening progressed we were not dissapointed, actually it was probably the best ever. It was kind of strange that visually there did not seem to be much contrast but the milky way was clearly visible. So much so that myself and the others that joined later were starting to see "branches" of it angling away from the major sections. It was quite beautiful.

Over the course of the night we were joined by a number of other amateur astronomers. In total there were 8 scopes, (the ones I remember were 3 - 8" Schmidt-Cassegrains, 1 - 10" Reflector, 1 - 4.5" Reflector, 1 - 4" Refractor). There were a number of club members there and a few others that had visited either the sky watches or a meeting or two.

Conditions as I mentioned before were very good. It was cool, 52 when I left for home. Dew was moderate. Limiting magnitude was 5.6 with averted vision on a star near the little dipper, (Skymap Catalog # 19040067). The last of us left at 2:30 am.

Thanks to Dale and Russ who were kind enough to share a couple of their 2" eyepieces to see some spectacular views noted with an * below.

Objects Observed:
Tried to see Omega Centari (but it was just below the tree-tops)
Venus
Jupiter
M99 Pinwheel Galaxy showed some faint structure
M65 & M66 together
M4 Buttefly Cluster *
M44 Beehive Cluster *
M8 Lagoon Nebula
NGC 3377 (Eliptical Galaxy, FFT)
M68
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy, First time I was able to see spiral stucture through my 8" scope!
M4
M13
M92
M7
M11 Wild Duck Cluster
M57 Ring Nebula *
M27 Dumbell Nebula *
M15
M2

Big gobs
by Bill Dickinson

While observing globular clusters on Saturday night with a throng of amateur astronomers (10 scopes and 20 folks) at Powhatan. I was surprised by the apparent size of M 22 in Sagittarius. It seemed larger than the renowned M13 in Hercules which I had always
considered to be the largest in our skies. The next day I did a little research and found that M 13 was not only smaller and dimmer than M 22 but M 4 and M 5 were also larger and brighter!  Of the globular clusters easily observed from Richmond M 13 ranked 4th in
size and brightness, 8th when you throw in the southern skies globs.

Top 15 Globular Clusters in Order of Size

Name 
NGC 5139 = Omega Cen 
NGC 104  = 47 Tuc
NGC 6656 = M22
NGC 6121 = M4
NGC 6397
NGC 6752
NGC 5904 = M5 
NGC 6205 = M13
NGC 6809 = M55 
NGC 6254 = M10 
NGC 3201 
NGC 7078 = M15
NGC 5272 = M3
NGC 6218 = M12
NGC 7089 = M2

Just barely visible from Virginia is NGC 5139 (Omega Centaurus). I remember seeing this giant cluster just above the horizon many years ago from Hickory Va.

I would be interested in hearing your observations and comparisons of
these big globs.  

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