November 2019 OBSERVER(No.3-150Ppi)

THE OBSERVER OF THE TWIN CITY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS

Volume 44, Number 11 November 2019

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

1«Editor’s Choice: Image of the Month – 24” First Light! 2«President’s Note 3«Calendar of Celestial Events – November 2019 3«New & Renewing Members/Dues Blues/E-Mail List 4«This Month’s Phases of the Moon 4«This Month’s Solar Phenomena 4«TCAA Calendar of Events for 2019 4«Mercury to Transit Sun November 11, 2019 7«November 2019 with Jeffrey Hunt 14«AstroBits – News from Around the TCAA 16«Favorite Wintertime Reads 17«E/PO for October 2019 18«New TCAA Members via IAA 19«Public Viewing Sessions for 2020 19«Did You Know? 20«TCAA Image Gallery 21«TCAA Active on Facebook 22«TCAA Treasurer’s Report as of October 29, 2019 22«Renewing Your TCAA Membership

The TCAA is an affiliate of the IMAGE OF THE MONTH: EDITOR’S CHOICE – 24” FIRST LIGHT! Astronomical League as well as its North Central Region. For more The November Image of the information about the TCAA, be Month was taken by TCAA certain to visit the TCAA website at President and Property Manager tcaa.us/ Tim Stone. It was taken with the club’s new 24” telescope (shown Visit Astroleague.org for additional right with the moon in the information about the League and its background) at Waynesville numerous membership benefits Observatory. th including observing programs. On October 7 , Tim, Bob Finnigan and Scott Wade went out to WO where Tim got the 24” Also visit the NCRAL website at taking pictures; the first one was ncral.wordpress.com for information of the Moon. They also took five about our North Central Region. Find images for plate solving in an area out about our next Regional in the Milky Way. The polar convention during May 2020. alignment is so far off that even a The TCAA's 24" telescope. 10-sec. picture left tracking errors.

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

Tim later remarked, “This is certainly a milestone. There's a LOT of work left to The OBSERVER do before we can begin serious imaging, though. First up is polar alignment. As the scope and mount together weigh somewhere around 500 lbs, just making the is the monthly electronic newsletter of Twin City Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a needed adjustments in altitude and azimuth is going to take a great deal of effort.” registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational Congratulations to Tim, Bob, and Scott on this amazing accomplishment. Now organization of amateur astronomers inter- that the “winter doldrums” have set in (nearly always cold and overcast skies), it ested in studying astronomy and sharing might be more than a few months before this new telescope becomes fully their hobby with the public. operational.

TCAA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS PRESIDENT’S NOTE President, Director, & Property Manager Tim Stone 309-531-2401 It seems like Autumn came and went [email protected] faster than Summer this year. As I sit writing Vice President & Director/Membership Coord. this, there is two to four inches of snow in Tom Willmitch 309-846-2423 the forecast. I’m tempted to be [email protected] disheartened in numerous ways, but I Treasurer & Director/Registered Agent always remember that, while it seems like Dave Osenga 309-287-0789 [email protected] this time of year is stingy to us astronomers, when it does give us a night, it’s a generous Secretary & Director/Historian/Editor gift. We’re drifting toward the December Carl J. Wenning 309-830-4085 [email protected] solstice, where nights seem as endless as Winter itself. 5th Director/Assistant Property Manager Scott Wade 309-310-2464 Who can resist standing out in the cold President Tim Stone [email protected] on a crystal-clear winter night and marveling at the winter Milky Way arching overhead? Astronomical League Correspondent Robert Finnigan 309-846-9533 There are so many wonderful objects to observe with everything from the naked [email protected] eye, to binoculars, Dobsonian reflectors, and beyond, it’s hard to even know where

Technology Coordinator to start. Justin Meyer 630-649-0611 Of course, it’s not impossible to observe the Winter skies. We all know how to [email protected] dress warmly, use layers, and when to come in. I think, at least in my case, I just

Webmaster don’t like the Winter, and so I’m not so keen to accept its gifts! This year, though, I Lee Green 309-454-7349 have spectrography goals to achieve, which will require I do some cold night work. I [email protected] will brace myself and head outside under those velvet black Winter nights.

Lighting Educ. & AL Observing Club Coordinator Speaking of weather, we participated in the Sugar Grove Nature Center Lisa Wentzel unlisted number Autumn Festival on October 26th. The temperature was about 45 degrees, with [email protected] wind chills in the upper 30s. It rained non-stop for the entire time. We engaged

perhaps 40 people. As disappointing as it was for us, I’m sure it is profoundly The OBSERVER disappointing for the Nature Center. This is their primary fund-raising activity for Carl J. Wenning, Editor the year. My heart goes out to the organization that hosts two of our

Submission deadline two days before observatories. the end of each month. Tim Stone, President

MEMBERSHIP DUES

Individual Adult/Family $40 Full-time Student/Senior $25 (Senior status equals ages 60+)

To join, send your name, contact info and dues payment to Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL 61761-1471.

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

CALENDAR OF CELESTIAL EVENTS – NOVEMBER 2019 NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS

MORNING PLANETS (11/15): Mercury ( ☿ ) and Mars (♂) The following individuals have paid dues for new or renewed memberships as of October 29, 2019. (Others EVENING PLANETS (11/15): Venus (♀), Jupiter ( ♃ ), who paid after that date will appear in the December Saturn (♄), Uranus ( ♅ ), and Neptune ( ♆ ) 2019 issue of The OBSERVER.)

The following table gives the date and time (24-hour clock) of Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! important astronomical events for this month. Most events are given in Central Daylight Time. (CDT ends November 3, 2019.) New: See extensive list associated with IAA article

Renewing: Chris Franklin, Geoff Hughes, Tom & Day Time Event Carolyn Weiland

01 16:40 Moon at Descending Node Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! 02 02:31 Saturn 0.6°N of Moon: Occn. 03 02:00 Daylight Saving Time Ends DUES BLUES 04 04:23 FIRST QUARTER MOON 05 18 S Taurid Meteor Shower If you have received a “your dues are due” 07 02:37 Moon at Apogee: 405060 km statement along with the email that brought you this 09 13:18 Venus 3.8°N of Antares issue of The OBSERVER, please remit your dues to Mr. 09 17:07 Mars 2.6°N of Spica Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., 11 09 Transit of Mercury, Inf. Conj. Normal, IL 61761-1471. Dues are currently $25 for 12 07:34 FULL MOON seniors (60 years of age and over) and $40 regular. 12 17 N Taurid Meteor Shower 13 21:52 Aldebaran 3.0°S of Moon SUBSCRIBING TO THE TCAA EMAIL LIST 16 00 Mercury at Perihelion 16 02:48 Moon at Ascending Node By subscribing to a group’s mailing list, you will 17 05:41 Pollux 5.4°N of Moon receive email messages from the group though you 17 23 Leonid Meteor Shower won’t have access to the group’s web features (like 18 04:11 Beehive 0.9°S of Moon photos, files, links, polls, calendar, etc.) unless members 19 15:11 LAST QUARTER MOON activate it later. The club has an open email listserv. It is 19 17:24 Regulus 3.7°S of Moon known as the TCAA YahooGroups listserv. It will be used 23 01:54 Moon at Perigee: 366721 km to share announcements and reminders about 24 03:02 Mars 4.3°S of Moon astronomical and club events. To join this main listserv, 24 20:50 Mercury 1.9°S of Moon you must do the following:

26 09:06 NEW MOON 1. To subscribe: Send a blank email to TCAA- 28 04 Mercury at Great. Elong: 20.1°W [email protected] Note: You’ll be sent a 28 04:49 Jupiter 0.7°S of Moon: Occn. confirmation email from the group. Reply to the 28 12:50 Venus 1.9°S of Moon confirmation email to activate your subscription. 28 22:13 Moon at Descending Node 2. To post a message: [email protected] 29 15:12 Saturn 0.9°N of Moon: Occn. 3. To unsubscribe: [email protected]

http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2019cst.html

EVENING SKY MAP Click on the icon found here to access a current evening sky map along with a more detailed celestial events calendar.

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

THIS MONTH’S PHASES OF THE MOON

First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter New Moon Monday, November 4 Tuesday, November 12 Tuesday, November 19 Tuesday, November 26

All moon phase dates are Central Standard Time. Additional moon phases for the 2019 calendar year can be found by clicking here. Images provided by J. K. Howell of the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society & used with permission.

THIS MONTH’S SOLAR PHENOMENA

In the table below, you will find times of sunrise and sunset along with rising and setting azimuths (Az), length of day including change from previous day, start and end times of astronomical twilight, and the time of solar noon along with the elevation (El) of the midday sun. These data come from https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/bloomington

2019 Sunrise/Sunset Day Length Astronomical Twilight Solar Noon Solar Dist.

Nov. Sunrise (Az) Sunset (Az) Length Diff. Start End Time (El) MIL. MILES 1 7:25 AM (108°) 5:52 PM (251°) 10:27:15 -2:21 5:53 AM 7:25 PM 12:39 PM (35.0°) 92.262 11 6:37 AM (112°) 4:42 PM (247°) 10:04:51 -2:07 5:03 AM 6:15 PM 11:39 PM (32.1°) 92.027 21 6:48 AM (116°) 4:34 PM (244°) 9:45:27 -1:46 5:13 AM 6:09 PM 11:41 PM (29.6°) 91.829

TCAA CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR 2019

Date Event Coordinator(s) Location Times

Nov 2 Intro to Amateur Astronomy Wenning/Willmitch/Wentzel ISU Planetarium 3:30 – 5:30 PM Dec 4 TCAA Presents to PAS Carl Wenning/Tim Stone Riverfront Museum 7:30 PM Dec ??? Holiday Party TBD TBD TBD

MERCURY TO TRANSIT SUN NOVEMBER 11, 2019

This coming Veterans Day, Monday, November 11th, Mercury will move across the face of the sun as seen from Central Illinois and much of the continental USA. Transits of Mercury occur rarely but when they do occur, they take place in May or November due to the orbital mechanics of the Mercury and Earth. The last four transits occurred on November 15, 1999; May 7, 2003; November 8, 2006; and May 9, 2016. Like with the last two transits of Venus in 2004 and 2012 (much more rare events), this will be another great opportunity to share the excitement of amateur astronomy with the general public. Note that the path of Mercury across the solar disk in the drawing below (prepared specifically for McLean County), does not appear to be a straight line. This is due to the fact that the sun’s disk rotates clockwise as it moves across the sky from east to west.

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

The position of Mercury seen against the face of the sun from Central Illinois. Mercury’s position is shown at 30-minute intervals centered on the time of maximum transit – 9:20 AM CST approximately. The transit is already in progress at the time of sunrise.

As astronomer Fred Espenak notes, “The principal events occurring during a transit are conveniently characterized by contacts, analogous to the contacts of an annular solar eclipse. The transit begins with Contact I, which is the instant when the planet's disk is externally tangent to the Sun. Shortly after Contact I, the planet can be seen as a small notch along the solar limb. The entire disk of the planet is first seen at Contact II when the planet is internally tangent to the Sun. During the next several hours, the silhouetted planet slowly traverses the brilliant solar disk. At Contact III, the planet reaches the opposite limb and once again is internally tangent to the Sun. Finally, the transit ends at Contact IV when the planet's limb is externally tangent to the Sun. Contacts I and II define the phase called ingress while Contacts III and IV are known as egress. Position angles for Mercury at each contact are measured counterclockwise from the north point on the Sun's disk.” The table below gives the times of major geocentric events during the 2019 transit in Central Standard Time (CST) – Daylight Saving Time having ended on November 3rd.

(continued next page)

TCAAers: Will you be able to observe the transit of Mercury with properly filtered solar binoculars? To find out, print the image shown here (but obtained from as a JPG file from Carl Wenning at [email protected]), post it on a wall, and step back 50 feet to view it. This will give an image ½-degree wide which is about how wide the sun will appear in the sky to our unaided eye. Use binoculars to examine the image. If you can see the black dot that is Mercury, then you should be able to see it during transit using the appropriate solar filters and a mount for your binoculars. Do not view the sun with or without optical aid unless you know exactly what you are doing! Severe and permanent eye damage can result if you do not view the sun safely.

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

Fortunately, the event this year falls on Veterans Day, Monday, November 11th. As this is a national holiday, federal and some state workplaces will be closed providing additional opportunities for some to view it. Schools will likely be in session unfortunately, so most school children will miss this event. The next transit of Mercury won’t occur until November 13, 2032 – more than 13 years from now. Even more unfortunate is the fact that that transit will not be visible locally, having come to a conclusion just before sunrise. Based on calculations for Rockford, IL (the rough geographic center of the Region’s affiliates), the transit this year will start just before sunrise which occurs at 6:37 AM. Mercury will cross the local horizon (assumed flat and free from obstructions about 7 minutes before sunrise. Mercury will cross over the horizon at about 6:44 AM. Rise times within the region will vary slightly from these, being earlier for those Image of Mercury visible against the face of the sun during the transit of May 9, 2016. farther to the east and later for Image courtesy of Tim Stone, Twin City Amateur Astronomers, Sugar Grove those farther to the west. Observatory. Greatest transit is the instant when Mercury passes closest to the Sun's center (i.e., minimum separation) when observed from Earth’s center. At this time, approximately 9:20 AM, the geocentric angular distance between the centers of Mercury and the Sun will be 75.9 arc- seconds or just over one minute of arc. The duration of the event will be just under 5 hours and 29 minutes. Because Mercury appears so small in comparison in comparison with the sun’s visible surface, successful observations will require the use of magnification in addition to suitable solar filters. I tried to observe the transit of Mercury back on November 10, 1973, with the use of a solar filter alone and no magnification. Despite prolonged efforts, I was unable to view Mercury with the unaided eye, so tiny was it in comparison to the face of the sun. During the 2019 transit of Mercury, it will have an angular diameter of only 10.0 arc seconds. Compare this with the sun whose angular diameter will be 32.3 arc minutes! At the time of transit, the sun will appear 1,938 times larger than Mercury! No wonder that Mercury looks like a point of light even under high magnification when viewed with a telescope during the morning or evening twilight. It will look like a tiny speck even under magnification. Prepare now to view Mercury’s transit with a suitably filtered telescope or possibly a set of suitably filtered high-power binoculars. Personally, I plan on using my telescope to view this event so I can really “push” the magnification as needed. I advise you to do the same. Make plans now to share this interesting event with the general public.

TCAA: Watch your email for a message from the TCAA Board of Directors about a public observing session for this event. The event will likely be held in town from a city park and run from approximately 8AM to noon. Expect the note on November 6th. Plans will be made at the next Board of Directors meeting on November 5th.

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

NOVEMBER 2019: A MERCURY TRANSIT, A VENUS – JUPITER CONJUNCTION, AND A MORNING PLANET DANCE ~ by Jeffrey L. Hunt ~

This is a busy month for planetary activity. Mars appears 4-7. Mars is west of the sun in the morning sky while higher in the morning sky. While dimmer than we might Venus is east of the sun in the evening sky. About 45 expect, it is moving through Virgo. Watch it pass Spica early minutes before sunrise, begin looking for Spica (α Vir, m = in the month. Mercury has an inferior conjunction on the 1.0). It is near its heliacal rising. What is the first day you th 11 during a transit of the sun’s face. It moves into the can see it at this time interval without a binocular? During morning sky near Mars and passes its greatest morning the daylight hours, the sun is in the sky for a few minutes elongation late in November. Venus finally out races the less than 10.5 hours. There is more darkness, the time poor observing conditions caused by a shallowly inclined between the end of evening twilight and the start of ecliptic. It heads toward a conjunction with Jupiter later in the month. Jupiter, over 20° from Saturn, slowly begins to morning twilight, than daylight. Thirty minutes after close in on the Ringed Wonder for next year’s Great sunset, Venus (m = −3.8), 4° up in the west-southwest, is Conjunction. over 20° to the lower right of Jupiter (m = −1.9). Venus At the beginning of the month, when morning twilight moves into Scorpius today, and the planet sets about an begins (about 6 a.m. CDT), the Winter Triangle – Sirius, hour after sunset. Through a telescope, Venus is 11” Betelgeuse, and Procyon – stands at the meridian. Orion is across and 94% illuminated. While Scorpius is a large high in the south-southwest. The Pleiades are over halfway constellation, the section the ecliptic cuts through is short, up in the west with the Hyades and Aldebaran between the only about 6.5° in length. Venus traverses the blue star cluster and The Hunter. The three stars of Orion’s constellation in a week. Mercury (m = 0.7) is a challenge to belt can be used as a pointer to find the Pleiades when you locate. At this hour, it is near the horizon. It is the only follow them westward and Sirius when you follow them naked eye planet not easily visible. One hour after sunset, eastward. Farther east, Regulus is over one-third of the way Jupiter (m = −1.9) is 12° up in the southwest, 22° to the up in the east. The Big Dipper stands on its handle in the northeast, indicating that Arcturus and Spica are not far lower right of Saturn (m = 0.6), 22° up in the south- behind. In the west-northwest, Alpheratz, the star shared southwest. The crescent moon (4.8d, 26%), Saturn, and between Pegasus and Andromeda, is low in the sky with the Nunki (σ Sgr, m = 2.8) – the star in the handle of the line of Andromeda’s brighter stars pointing upward toward Teapot of Sagittarius – make a nice triangle. The Pegasus and Auriga with its bright star Capella. Cassiopeia is separations: Moon – Saturn, 4.1°, moon to the lower right to the right of Andromeda. In the evening sky when twilight of Saturn; Moon – Nunki, 3°, moon to the upper right of ends (nearly 7:30 p.m. CDT), the Summer Triangle – Vega, the star. Saturn – Nunki, 4.5°, planet to the upper left of Altair, and Deneb – is past the meridian at the end of the star. evening twilight. The body of Cygnus is now pointing • November 2: One hour before sunrise, Mars, 8° up in the southwest, flying southward along the Milky Way, arching east-southeast, is 1° to the lower right of Theta Virginis. In from the southwest, passing nearly overhead, and the evening sky, one hour after sunset, the crescent moon descending into the northeast horizon where Auriga is low in (5.8d, 36%) is over 8° to the left of Saturn. The moon is 23° the sky. Aldebaran is low in the east-northeast with the Pleiades above it. The brightening moon, approaching its up in the south-southwest. first quarter phase, overpowers the galaxy’s glow during the • November 3: Daylight Saving Time ends. Our clocks revert first two weeks of November. The Great Square of Pegasus is to standard time, but our time intervals in these daily still east of the meridian. Andromeda streams out of the notes remain the same when compared to sunrise or northeastern corner of the square. Alpheratz is over halfway sunset. One hour after sunset, the moon (6.8d, 46%) is 26° up in the east. up in the south. It is in western Capricornus, nearly 8° to the lower left of Beta Capricorni (β Cap, m = 3.0). Use a • November 1: In the morning, one hour before sunrise, binocular to see the star in the moon’s growing brightness Mars (m = 1.8), 7° up in the east-southeast, is 0.9° to the as the moon moves through dimmer star fields. lower right of Theta Virginis (θ Vir, m = 4.4). Use a • binocular to see this pair in the growing twilight. Today November 4: The moon reaches its First Quarter phase at and for the next six days, Mars and Venus have the same 4:23 a.m. CST. Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus, about 5° solar elongations, 21°, November 1-3; and 22° November up in the southwest, is 1.5° to the lower left of Graffias (β

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

Sco, m = 2.5). Use a binocular. Venus sets at Nautical lends much interest to it. It comes gently into view far Twilight, when the sun is 12° below the horizon. Tonight down in the southeast in August, but with so little of a that’s 62 minutes after sunset. One hour after sunset, the flourish that one scarcely notes its presence until along in moon (7.8d, 55%), 28° up in the south, is nearly 6° to the early September. Then, when the days are growing shorter, lower right of Delta Capricorni (δ Cap, m =2.8). While the some evening, just after dark, one sees it, a conspicuous, moon approaches Pisces and it is not full, watch for the impressive object serenely trailing along over the small arc Harvest Moon effect. This occurs when the moon of its circle in the south with no companion near it, and, approaches coordinates 0 hour, Right Ascension and 0° apparently, no need of one to add to its splendor” (p. 45). declination (Vernal Equinox) and that point is low in the In his Celestial Handbook, Burnham notes, “To the eastern sky. That point is to the lower left of a dozen 4th dwellers at the latitude of New York, it is the southern- magnitude stars that make the western fish of Pisces. most of the visible 1st magnitude stars” (p. 1485). More specifically, it is about 3.5° to the lower left of • November 7: The moon is at apogee at 2:36 a.m. CST, Lambda Piscium (λ Psc, m = 4.6). At this time, the Vernal 251,691 miles away. One hour before sunrise, Mars, Equinox is about 30° up in the southeast. (The Vernal nearly 9° up in the east-southeast, is 3.4° to the upper left Equinox is the name of this point as well as the event of Spica. As the sky darkens after sunset, look for Venus when the sun’s apparent position is on these coordinates, about 6° up in the southwest, 30 minutes after sunset. It is signaling the beginning of spring in the Northern over 17° to the lower right of Jupiter. Half an hour later, Hemisphere.) During the next several evenings the moon Jupiter, 11° up in the southwest, is over 21° to the lower is farther east, but its altitude does not diminish much at right of Saturn, over 21° up in the south-southwest. the same time each evening. You don’t need a full moon Farther east, the gibbous moon (10.8d, 81%), in eastern to observe the effect that the moon approximately Aquarius, is nearly 27° up in the southeast. appears at the same altitude for a few evenings when the • November 8: One hour before sunrise, Mars, nearly 9° up Vernal Equinox is low in the eastern sky and the moon is in the east-southeast, is 3.1° to the upper left of Spica. near that location. Venus moves into Ophiuchus, 16° to the lower right of • November 5: One hour before sunrise, Mars, over 8° up in Jupiter. Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus is 6° up in the the east-southeast, is 4.2° to the upper left of Spica (α Vir, southwest. Thirty minutes later the moon (11.8d, 88%) is m = 1.0). (Have you seen Spica without optical assistance nearly 24° up in the east-southeast. It is in Cetus. about 45 minutes before sunrise?) As the sky begins to • November 9: One hour before sunrise, Mars, nearly 10° up darken, 30 minutes after sunset, Venus is 5° up in the in the east-southeast, is 2.8° to the upper left of Spica. In southwest, over 19° to the lower right of Jupiter. Thirty the evening, thirty minutes after sunset, Venus, nearly 6° minutes later, Saturn is 22° up in the south-southwest, up in the southwest, is 3.9° to the upper right of Antares over 21° to the upper left of Jupiter, 11° up in the (m = 1.0). The Venus – Jupiter (m = −1.9) gap is 15°. One southwest. Jupiter and Saturn continue moving eastward hour after sunset, the moon (12.8d, 94%) is 20° up in the against the starry background. Jupiter is in southern east-southeast. It is in Cetus for a second evening. Ophiuchus, and Saturn is in eastern Sagittarius. Farther • November 10: One hour before sunrise, Mars, 10° up in east, the moon (8.8d, 65%), 29° up in the south-southeast, the east-southeast, passes 2.8° to the upper left of Spica. is nearly 7° to the lower left of Delta Capricorni. The moon Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus is 6° up in the is in western Aquarius this evening. southwest. Though it is low, through a telescope, the • November 6: One hour before sunrise, Mars, over 8° up in planet is nearly 11” across and 92% illuminated. One hour the east-southeast, is 3.8° to the upper left of Spica. One after sunset, the moon (13.8d, 97%) is about 16° up in the hour after sunset, the moon (9.8d, 73%) is in eastern east. It is in Pisces. You’ll need a binocular to see the dim Aquarius, about 30° up in the southeast. It is nearly 18° to stars in the bright, moonlit sky. the upper left of Fomalhaut (α PsA, m =1.2). This star is • November 11: One hour before sunrise, Mars, over 10° up not near the ecliptic, but with the moon in front of in the east-southeast, is 2.9° to the left of Spica. Mercury dimmer star fields, Fomalhaut serves as a distant marker transits (crosses) the sun’s disk today. This is a slow- for the passing of bright solar system objects. In The moving event, about 5.5 hours long as the sun rises higher Friendly Stars, Martin and Menzel describe Fomalhaut’s into the sky. Mercury is moving east to west when it is unique place. “There is a calm dignity to this star that between Earth and sun. So the planet appears to move

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

from the lower left to the upper right on the sun’s face. Through a binocular notice that Mars, 76 Virginis (76 Vir, Mercury is 10” across, only slightly smaller in apparent size m = 5.2), and Spica are nearly in a line. The dimmer star is than Venus current angular diameter and three times nearly midway between Mars and Spica. The moon (17.3d, larger than Mars. The transit begins a few minutes before 96%) is in the west again this morning, about 30° up. It is sunrise (6:37 a.m. CST). By 9:20 a.m. the planet is in the 4.6° to the upper right of Aldebaran. In the evening, about center of the sun’s disk when the sun is about 20° in 30 minutes after sunset, Venus is less than 10° to the altitude in the southeast. (At 9:22 a.m. Mercury is officially lower right of Jupiter. At this hour Venus is nearly 7° up in at inferior conjunction, moving toward the morning sky.) the southwest. Three hours after sunset (about 7:30 p.m. When the sun is in the south at 11:40 a.m. CST, Mercury is CST), the moon (17.9d, 93%), about 12° up in the east- nearing the upper right limb of the sun. Shortly after noon northeast, is 2.4° to the upper right of Zeta Tauri (ζ Tau, m (12:02 p.m. CST), the full disk of Mercury last appears in = 3.0), the Southern Horn of Taurus. Observe the star with front of the sun. The solar disk is over 30° up in the a binocular. Compare the moon’s position in the morning. southern sky. The planet completely leaves the sun’s face If you’re up late, the moon passes about 0.5° above the two minutes later. The next two transits of Mercury star at 12:30 a.m. CST tomorrow morning. (November 13, 2032, and November 7, 2039) are not • November 15: One hour before sunrise, the moon (18.3d, visible from Central Illinois. Both start after midnight and 91%), about 40° in altitude in the west, is 1.9° above Zeta end before sunrise. The next transit of Mercury that is Tauri. Mars, nearly 12° up in the east-southeast, is 4.3° to visible from the area occurs on May 7, 2049, when the the lower left of Spica. Mercury (m = 2.6) is rapidly moving transit begins at 6:03 a.m. CDT (if daylight saving time into the morning sky. For the next week it rises, on exists then) and ends at 12:44 p.m. CDT. One hour after average, about 7 minutes earlier each morning. This sunset, the moon (14.8d, 100%) is about 11° up in the east. morning it is 10° west of the sun. Rising about 45 minutes The Pleiades have about the same altitude as the bright before sunrise, Mercury is at the horizon about 30 minutes moon; they are about 20° to the left of the lunar orb. before sunrise. During the daytime, the sun is in the sky a • November 12: One hour before sunrise, Mars, over 10° in few minutes longer than 10 hours. Darkness, the time altitude in the east-southeast, is 3.1° to the left of Spica. between the end of evening twilight and the beginning of At the same time, the moon (15.3d, 100%) is 8° up in the morning twilight, is 10.75 hours long. Thirty minutes after west. If you can see dimmer stars, the Pleiades are nearly sunset, Venus (m = −3.9) is 7° up in the southwest, about 15° above the moon. The moon is at its Full phase at 7:34 9° to the lower right of Jupiter. As the sky darkens further, a.m. CST. One hour after sunset, the moon (15.8d, 100%) Jupiter, nearly 9° up in the southwest, is about 20° to the is 5° up in the east-northeast. lower right of Saturn. The Ringed Wonder is 20° up in the • November 13: One hour before sunrise, Mars is over 11° south-southwest. Four hours after sunset (about 8:30 p.m. up in the east-southeast, 3.4° to the lower left of Spica. CST), the moon (19.0d, 87%) is 0.7° to the lower left of Mu The moon (16.3d, 99%) is farther west at this time, about Geminorum (μ Gem, m = 2.8). As the moon leaves the 20° up in the west. It is about 10° to the lower right of early evening sky, this month’s deep sky focus is the Helix Aldebaran (α Tau, m = 0.8). Thirty minutes after sunset, Nebula (NGC 7293). With the gems of the autumn sky – in the Venus – Jupiter gap is over 10°. Venus is 6° up in the the names of M31, M15, h Persei, and χ Persei – nearing southwest. Two hours after sunset, the moon (16.9d, 98%) the meridian, it’s easy to overlook the Helix Nebula – a is nearly 9° up in the east-northeast. It is at the top of the planetary nebula. It is the remnants of an exploded star “V” of Taurus, which is on its side when it rises. The bright that pushed off its outer layers when the stellar core moon is between Aldebaran and Epsilon Tauri (ε Tau, m = generated too much heat. It is in the dimmer starfield of 3.5), and closer to the dimmer star, about 0.7° to its lower Aquarius, nearly in the middle of a triangle shaped by right. Use a binocular to see the dim star with the very Fomalhaut, Delta Capricorni, and Delta Aquarii. The target bright moon. The moon is 2.3° to the upper right of is 1.1° to the right of Upsilon Aquarii (υ Aqr, m = 5.2). The Aldebaran. Look for the moon in the west in the morning nebula is large, about half the size of the moon. At this and notice how far it moved in its orbital pathway hour it is nearly 30° up in the south, but 10° east of the compared to the starry background. meridian. If all the light from the nebula were collected • November 14: One hour before sunrise, Mars, 11° up in into a single stellar point, it would shine at 6th magnitude. the east-southeast, is 3.9° to the lower left of Spica. In his Celestial Handbook, Robert Burnham describes the

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nebula’s appearance. “The ‘Helix Nebula’ is usually evening twilight (about 6 p.m. CST), the Summer Triangle – regarded as the largest and nearest of the planetary Vega, Altair, and Deneb – stands high in the southwest. nebulae. Despite its large size the nebula is faint and has a Jupiter is low in the southwest with Saturn, in eastern low surface brightness. Binoculars will show the object as Sagittarius, to Jupiter’s upper left. The Great Square of a large circular hazy spot, and it is not a difficult object for Pegasus approaches the meridian, high in the south. The a small telescope if a low power ocular is used. A rich-field square’s pair of western stars point downward to Fomalhaut that is less than one-fourth of the way up in the southern instrument with a wide-angle eyepiece is the ideal sky. The great Winter Congregation is now making its way telescope for objects of this type” (pp. 192-194). The helix th into the evening sky, with the Pleiades leading the way from shape appears in short exposure photographs. A dim, 13 low in the east-northeast. Aldebaran is lower near the magnitude star is at the center of the nebula. From my horizon. Capella is in the northeast, at about the same limiting magnitude estimates, you’ll need at least a 5-inch altitude as the Pleiades. The “fishhook” of Perseus hangs telescope to see it and some averted vision. Of course, the above Capella with Cassiopeia higher and above Pegasus larger the light collector, the easier it is to locate the toward the meridian. The Big Dipper may be hiding behind a central star. In Deep Sky Wonders, Walter Scott Houston neighbor’s house or other nearby building as it is low in the reports on observing conditions and instruments that north-northwest. Venus continues to move toward Jupiter various sky watchers used to view the Helix. He with a conjunction occurring in over a week.

summarizes that small apertures and low powers are best • November 16: One hour before sunrise, Mars, 12° up in to see the nebula. When larger ‘scopes were used, the east-southeast, is 4.9° to the lower left of Spica. The observers needed filters to reduce the sky glow. moon (19.3d, 85%) is in western Gemini, over 50° up in the Additionally, many observers reported only seeing a west. It is nearly at the intersection of a large “+” symbol. uniformly round shape, not the helix shape with the dark The vertical leg is from Betelgeuse (α Ori, m = 0.4) to center seen in photographs. Can you see the dark center Castor (α Gem, m = 1.6); the horizontal leg is from Procyon of the nebula? What were the observing conditions and (α CMi, m = 0.4) to Capella (α Aur, m = 0.1). Venus is 25° the telescope/eyepiece used? east of the sun. Thirty minutes after sunset, it is 7° in At mid-month, when morning twilight begins (about 5 altitude in the southwest, nearly 8° to the lower right of a.m. CST), Sirius, Orion’s Belt, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades Jupiter. Five hours after sunset (about 9:30 p.m. CST), the are lined up in the western sky at nearly the same altitude. moon (20.0d, 78%) is nearly 7° to the lower right of Pollux. The bright gibbous moon is above them in Gemini. Procyon • November 17: One hour before sunrise, the bright moon and Capella stand at nearly the same altitude as the moon (20.3d, 76%), 60° up in the southwest, is nearly 6° to the on November 16th. Leo is farther east. Its great Sickle has not lower left of Pollux. Mars, over 12° up in the east- yet reached the meridian. The head of Hydra, the Snake, is at southeast, is over 5° to the lower left of Spica. About 30 rd th the meridian. Six 3 and 4 magnitude stars outline the minutes after sunset, Venus is over 7° to the lower right of snake’s head. They are nearly 60° up about halfway between Jupiter. Venus is about 7° up in the southwest. At about Procyon and Regulus. The snake wiggles eastward below 10:30 p.m. CST, (6 hours after sunset), the moon (21.0d, Crater and Corvus. The tail goes below the horizon ending 68%), about 13° up in the east-northeast, is 12° below near Libra. Alphard, the “Solitary One,” is Hydra’s brightest Pollux and 3.4° to the upper right of the Beehive Cluster star, over 20° to the lower right of Regulus and nearly 40° up in the south. It is a second magnitude star, the brightest in (M44, NGC 2632). If you’ve not seen the cluster, use the this part of the sky. Farther eastward along the ecliptic from bright moon as a guide to locate it. Return with low Leo, Spica is low in the southeast, with Mars nearby. With powers when the moon is out of this part of the sky. Look Spica in the southeast, Arcturus is nearly 20° up in the east. at the moon and the cluster in the morning when the The Big Dipper is high in the northeast with its curved handle moon is closer. guiding us to Arcturus. Cassiopeia is low in the north- • November 18: One hour before sunrise, the moon (21.3d, northwest. Mars continues as a not-so-bright star, moving 66%) is 1° above the Beehive Cluster. Farther east, Mars slowly in Virgo. Mercury pops into the morning sky as the marches eastward in Virgo to the lower left of Spica and second half of the month progresses, brightening as the the planet is nearly 13° up in the east-southeast. Thirty apparition proceeds. Watch it move toward Mars, but there minutes after sunset, the Venus – Jupiter gap is nearly 6° is no conjunction. Mercury has a nice appearance with with Venus to Jupiter’s lower right. Venus is about 8° up in Zubenelgenubi, but the star is low in the sky. Find a clear the southwest. horizon and use a binocular to find the star. At the end of

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• November 19: An hour before sunrise (about 5:45 a.m. • November 21: An hour before sunrise, the moon (24.3d, CST), the moon (22.3d, 55%), 65° up in the south, is about 32%), 50° up in the southeast, is nearly 8° to the lower 9° to the upper right of Regulus (α Leo, m = 1.3). At the right of Denebola (β Leo, m =2.1). Mars is below the moon, same time, Mars is nearly 13° up in the east-southeast. over 13° up in the east-southeast. Fifteen minutes later, Mercury is entering the morning sky. It is higher and Mercury (m = 0.1) is nearly 7° up in the east-southeast. brighter each morning. During the next few mornings, use Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus, over 8° up in the a binocular until you can see this speedy planet without southwest, is 2.8° to the lower right of Jupiter. optical assistance. Forty-five minutes before sunrise, • November 22: An hour before sunrise, the crescent moon Mercury (m = 0.7) is nearly 6° up in the east-southeast, (25.3d, 21%) is about 40° up in the southeast, 5.5° above about 12° to the lower left of Mars. The moon reaches its Gamma Virginis (γ Vir, m = 3.4). At the same time, Mars is Last Quarter phase at 3:11 p.m. CST. Thirty minutes after below the moon, about 13° up in the east-southeast. sunset, the Venus – Jupiter gap is about 5°. Venus is about Mercury (m = − 0.1) is over 5° up in the east-southeast, 8° up in the southwest. about 10° to the lower left of Mars. Thirty minutes after • November 20: An hour before sunrise, the moon (23.3d, sunset, the Venus – Jupiter gap is 2.1°. Venus is over 8° up 43%), 60° up in the south-southeast, is nearly 7° to the in the southwest. lower left of Regulus. Mars is farther east at this hour, about 13° up in the east-southeast. Fifteen minutes later, Mercury (m = 0.4) is nearly 11° to the lower left of Mars. Mercury is about 7° up in the east-southeast. Thirty minutes after sunset, the Venus – Jupiter gap is 3.9°. Venus is over 8° up in the southwest. Through a telescope, Venus is 11.2” across and 91% illuminated.

The moon is near Gamma Virginis this morning at about 1 hour before sunrise. Spica, Mars, and Mercury span about The moon, Spica, Mars, and Mercury span over 51° in the 18° this morning. southeastern sky this morning. • November 23: The moon is at perigee at 1:41 a.m. CST, 227,867 miles away. One hour before sunrise, the moon

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(26.3d, 12%) is nearly 8° to the upper left of Spica. Jupiter conjunction! Forty-five minutes after sunset, Mercury (m = −0.2) is over 6° up in the east, over 9° to the Venus, nearly 7° up in the southwest, is 1.4° to the lower lower left of Mars. Today Venus moves into Sagittarius. left of Jupiter (m = −1.8). The next Venus – Jupiter Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus, nearly 9° up in the conjunction is February 11, 2021 when the planets are less southwest, is 1.5° to the lower left of Jupiter. than 0.5° apart, but this Epoch (close) Conjunction occurs during bright morning twilight. On April 30, 2022, another morning Epoch Conjunction brings the planets within 29’ of each other. Tonight, Venus sets at its southern-most azimuth, 236°. It sets here until December 1. The planet is nearly 1.5° below the ecliptic. Jupiter sets at Astronomical Twilight (sun’s altitude, −18°), 98 minutes after sunset.

One hour before sunrise, the thin crescent moon is about 8° to the upper left of Spica. Mars is about midway between Spica and Mercury.

• November 24: One hour before sunrise, the crescent moon (27.3d, 6%) is 3.7° to the upper left of Mars, 15° up A 6% illuminated moon is about 4° from Mars this morning. in the east-southeast. Mars is about midway between • Spica and Mercury (m = −0.4); Mercury – Mars, 9.5°; Mars November 25: One hour before sunrise, Mars (m = 1.7) is – Spica, 9.7°. Tomorrow morning, at the closest approach, 15° up in the southeast, 9.5° to the upper right of bright Mercury and Mars have about the same separation, Mercury (m = −0.3), 7° in altitude. The thin crescent moon although the gap is neither a conjunction nor a quasi- (28.3d, 2%) is 5.5° to the lower left of Mercury. You’ll need conjunction. At a quasi-conjunction, the planets are within a clear horizon to see the moon. It’s only 3° in altitude. 5°. At a conjunction, they must pass each other in either Forty-five minutes after sunset, Venus, over 7° up in the Right Ascension or ecliptic longitude. Today is the Venus – southwest, is 2.0° to the left of Jupiter. Fifteen minutes

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later, Saturn is 17° up in the southwest, 19° to the upper southeast, is 2.1° to the upper left of Zubenelgenubi. This left of Jupiter. morning’s distance is slightly larger than yesterday’s • November 26: One hour before sunrise, Mars, nearly 15° separation, when fractions of a degree are considered. up in the east-southeast, is nearly 10° to the upper right of Mars is over 10° to the upper right of Mercury. In the Mercury (m = −0.5). The moon is at its New phase at 9:06 evening, at mid-twilight (about 45 minutes after sunset), a.m. CST. As evening twilight progresses, attempt to locate Venus (−3.9) and the moon (2.3d, 6.3%) have a classic Venus 0.6° to the lower left of the Lagoon Nebula (M8, appearance, with Venus 1.9° to the lower right of the NGC 6530). This is certainly a stretch with the nebula low moon. This is the smallest separation between the moon in the sky and during latter twilight. Venus is 5° up in the and Venus during this apparition of the planet. Next southwest, 1 hour after sunset. It is 2.8° to the upper left month, the Moon – Venus gap is 2.4° and widens each of Jupiter. This evening Venus sets at the end of twilight month thereafter during this appearance. Venus and the when the sun is 18° below the horizon. Venus sets after moon appear in the viewfinder of a camera with a 300 mm the end of evening twilight until May 19, 2020. focal length lens. A longer exposure reveals Earthshine on the moon. At this time, Venus is about 7° up in the southwest and 4.7° to the upper left of Jupiter. The moon is 5.8° to the upper left of Jupiter. • November 29: One hour before sunrise, Mercury, over 6° up in the east-southeast, is 2.6° to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi. Mars is over 10° to Mercury’s upper right. Venus is at its most southerly declination, −24.8°. One hour after sunset, this brilliant planet is over 6° up in the southwest and over 5° to the upper left of Jupiter. The moon (3.3d, 12%) is 14° up in the southwest, 1.7° to the lower left of Saturn. • November 30: One hour before sunrise, Mars, 15° in altitude in the southeast, is 0.2° to the lower left of Lambda Virginis (λ Vir, m = 2.8). Mercury is nearly 11° to Mars’ lower left. The speedy planet is 3.6° to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi. In the evening, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and the crescent moon span over 31°. Forty-five minutes after sunset, Venus is over 8° up in the southwest. Venus passes 0.8° to the upper right of Kaus Borealis (λ Sgr, m = 2.8), the star at the top of the lid of the Teapot of A Venus – Jupiter conjunction. Venus passes 1.4° to the lower left of Jupiter this evening. Sagittarius. Through a telescope, Venus is 11.6” in diameter and 89% illuminated. Jupiter is nearly 7° to the • November 27: One hour before sunrise, Mercury, over 7° lower right of Venus. Jupiter continues its eastward crawl up in the east-southeast, is 2.1° to the upper left of toward Saturn, over 18° to Jupiter’s upper left. The Zubenelgenubi (α Lib, m = 2.8). Use a binocular. Watch crescent moon (4.3d, 20%), 22° up in the southwest, is Mercury pass the star and move away from it during the over 13° to the upper left of Saturn. next few mornings. At the same time, Mars is nearly 10° to the upper right of Mercury. Thirty minutes after sunset At month’s end, when morning twilight begins (about look for the crescent moon (1.3d, 2%), about 5° up in the 5:15 a.m. CST), the bright Winter Stars are in the western sky. This resembles the sky during mid-April evenings. Sirius, southwest. It is nearly 11° to the lower right of Venus, with Orion’s Belt, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades are less than 20° in Jupiter between them, but Jupiter is closer to Venus. The altitude in the west. They are capped by an arc of four stars planets are 3.7° apart. – Procyon, Pollux, Castor, and Capella. With these stars in • November 28: Mercury reaches its greatest morning the west. Leo is reaching the meridian. At this time, Regulus elongation (20.1°) at 4:27 a.m. CST. One hour before is a few degrees east of the due south mark. Alphard, the sunrise, Mercury (m = −0.6), about 7° up in the east- second magnitude star in Hydra, is less than halfway up in

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the south, west of the meridian. The Big Dipper is high in the Deneb – is high in the west. With its stars above the celestial north, above Leo. Its curved handle points at Arcturus, about equator, the triangle seems to hang in the evening sky for a one-third of the way up in the east, and then on to Spica, prolonged period during this season. The trio is in the sky low in the southeast. At this time, Mars is the lone planet in together until mid-January when Altair departs the sky at the the morning sky. Mercury appears below Mars later during end of twilight. Deneb follows in early March, although, it is morning twilight. Just past its greatest morning elongation, well-up in the east-northeast at the beginning of morning this speedy planet disappears into bright sunlight next twilight during that month. The trio returns to the morning month. The sun is in the sky for less than 9.5 hours and sky at the beginning of twilight by late January. Back here at darkness prevails for nearly 11.5 hours. When evening the end of the evening twilight, Pegasus is near the twilight ends (6 p.m. CST), the crescent moon is in the meridian. The stars of Andromeda extend from Alpheratz southwest, to the upper left of Saturn, the lone naked eye toward Perseus. The Pleiades, Aldebaran, and Capella are planet that is visible at this time. Jupiter is heading toward higher in the east than they were at mid-month. In the its solar conjunction and Venus is entering the evening sky north, the Pointer Stars of the Big Dipper are near the due after outracing the low inclination of the ecliptic that north, pointing upward toward Polaris. The famous group is hampered its appearance earlier in its apparition. Both likely difficult to see without finding a clear view as it scrapes appear in the southwest during early twilight. At the end of across the northern horizon. evening twilight, the Summer Triangle – Vega, Altair, and

About the Author: Jeffrey Hunt has had a life-long interest in astronomy and astronomy education. He has taught astronomy at all levels from preschool students to university courses. Jeff is a former director of the Waubonsie Valley High School Planetarium in Aurora, Illinois. Dr. Hunt holds several degrees including a master’s degree in planetarium education from Michigan State University. He writes an astronomy blog (http://jeffreylhunt.wordpress.com) showing easily seen sky events. Currently he is retired with his wife and cat in Northern Illinois. Dr. Jeffrey L. Hunt Editor’s Note: The editor of The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers wishes to acknowledge the dedicated monthly contributions to this newsletter by author, Dr. Jeffrey L. Hunt of Naperville, Illinois. Not only does Dr. Hunt contribute monthly for the benefit of the TCAA membership, he also contributes quarterly to the NCRAL newsletter Northern Lights which all TCAA members are entitled to receive. To sign up for Northern Lights, subscribe through the following URL: https://goo.gl/gsS8SF

ASTROBITS – NEWS FROM AROUND THE TCAA

ó Sunil Chebolu and Carl Wenning spent the evening together on October 1st during which Carl introduced Sunil to the operations of his CPC 8” telescope. Despite the presence of a cloudy sky, they were able to simulate the two-star alignment process and to find other objects. Sunil is looking into acquiring a telescope somewhat larger than his current 5” Celestron Newtonian SLT which he has had and used mainly for visual work the past 3 years. ó On October 4th Tim Stone reported, “We sent the [focuser/rotator] to the manufacturer for warranty repair. It was repaired and returned to us. It has been installed on the 24", connected to the computer, and successfully operated. Next up, get the cam and mount connected to the computer, and find focus. ó The Ohio State Marching Band, the “Best band in the land,” gave an endearing performance in honor of the Apollo XI lunar landing during halftime at the Ohio State – Michigan State football game on Saturday, October 5th. To see a 50- second clip of this amazing performance of your editor’s Alma Mater, visit this case-sensitive link: http://bit.ly/35rasHH ó Unfortunately, the time capsule from Mark Evan Observatory reported in the last issue of this newsletter turned out to be a bust. Much of the material found inside turned out to be water damage and “unsalvageable” according to an article appearing in the Pantagraph. The time capsule, placed at the Mark Evans Observatory in 1969 by Apollo 8 astronaut Col. Frank Borman, contained papers, a medallion, a circuit board, and five electric relays that made the Apollo missions possible. You can read all about it in an online article published on October 6th at http://Pantagraph.com. ó NCRAL Chair and TCAA member Carl Wenning is delighted to announce that the first NCRAL Seasonal Messier Marathon award had been earned. On the evening of October 8th, Popular Astronomy Club president Alan Sheidler earned Autumn

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

certificate #1 along with his pin. The certificate is shown left. In addition to the certificate, award winners receive a colored star pin. TCAAers might want to complete this observing program, details of which can be found in the Autumn 2019 issue of Northern Lights. Congratulations to Alan who is a regular reader of The OBSERVER. ó On October 11th, Tim Stone provided the three lunar shots below as examples of his recent photographic work. Each image was a result of a video capture and consists of a stack of the best 500 frames of a 5,000-frame sequence. Seen in a high-resolution version not possible with this newsletter, the details are exquisite.

ó On the evening of October 12th Troy Berg wrote, “If you go out now, you can see Venus, just a little south of due west. Look near the top of the orange [glow] where the sunset starts to turn purple. It’s about 5 degrees up from the horizon.” This is the first TCAA-reported observation of Venus after it passed superior conjunction back on August 14th. The planet will continue to hug the western horizon after sunset until a few weeks from now when it will climb higher in the sky at a much faster rate. See the August issue of The OBSERVER for details. Thanks, Troy, for your report! ó While it’s not astronomy-related, we always like to celebrate the successes of our members. Nataya Boulware was recently featured in the Pantagraph for her role in leading the Bloomington High School dive team in earning a noteworthy recognition. Check out details at the following case-sensitive link: http://bit.ly/2VIWVqz. ó New member Devanand Chatrathi (Deva) is developing an online article about astrophotography using DLSR cameras. Check it out at: https://medium.com/@devanand.chatrathi/astro-photography-for-beginners-a6f0ef524b4c ó If you have a theistic bent (and even if you don’t), you might want to visit The John 1010 Project website for some interesting video clips about astronomy. While your editor is not a proponent of Intelligent Design, La Miranda Films certainly do make one think – but especially if the viewer has an open mind. Check out the 5.6-minute clip How Many Stars? From the film The Call of the Cosmos. The video clip can be found at https://thejohn1010project.com/how-many- stars.html ó Bob Finnigan reports that his brother Ernie has planted a number of pine trees to the north and east of Waynesville Observatory as shown in the image here. These trees will serve to hide the observatory complex from view from the road, serve as a light shield from his house, and provide a wind block. He did this at no cost to the TCAA. The image shown here is looking to the east-northeast. Thanks, Ernie, for your most generous contribution of time and treasure! ó Carl Wenning spent part of his afternoon on October 21st at SGO repairing the hand controller wiring on the CPC 11”. It now operates flawlessly. He was easily able to view the sun using the telescope’s solar filter and Venus (no filter necessary). He was able to release about 1,000 flies and clear way many of the cobwebs and mud dauber nests that were visible during the light of day. It appears as though PSO recently had been swept and tidied up a bit by Scott Wade. Thanks, Scott, for doing it. ó Tom & Carolyn Weiland, Scott Wade, and Dave Osenga met Thursday afternoon, October 24th, at Sugar Grove Nature Center for several hours to give both the Sugar Grove and Prairie Skies Observatories a thorough cleaning before SGNC’s Autumn Celebration. They continue the cleaning efforts begun by Scott and Carl. Thanks to all who helped clean! ó Board members, officers, and chairs take note! The next Board of Directors meeting is on Tuesday, November 12th, 6:30 pm at the home of Carl & Carolyn Wenning.

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ó Carl Wenning took advantage of the dark, clear, and steady sky on the evening of Sunday, October 27th, to complete the NCRAL Messier Marathon for Autumn. He observed the 27 required M-objects using the SGO 11” in about 90 minutes. He is the first TCAA member to complete this program and the fourth among the NCRAL membership. ó Tom Willmitch will receive his “graduation” certificate from the Bob Finnigan School of Astrophotography at the next meeting of the TCAA Board of Directors on November 5th. Congratulations to Tom who now qualifies to freely use the Prairie Sky Observatory.

FAVORITE WINTERTIME READS ~ by Jamey Jenkins ~

One of my favorite authors of biographical and historical Holden, E.E. Barnard, and so on. While Keeler died a young astronomy topics is the late Donald E. Osterbrock (1924- man, well before his time, he left a legacy that lives on 2007). Osterbrock was a professional astronomer working today. Find out more about James E. Keeler in Osterbrock’s for a time at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin well assembled biography of the man who became the first and until 1981 as director of Lick Observatory in California. American astronomer to use a large reflecting telescope for With a writing style I appreciate and a knack for topics that I his research. find interesting, I briefly present here four Osterbrock titles Pauper & Prince you might find incredibly enjoyable as we slip into the cold winter months. All can be found at Amazon.com should your The title of this book is a play on the Mark Twain classic library or favorite bookstore not carry them. The Prince and the Pauper, however the sub-title sets the two apart. Osterbrock followed the title with “Ritchey, Hale, Yerkes Observatory 1892-1950 and Big American Telescopes”, which actually tells us what

The sub-title to this book “The Birth, Near Death, and the book is about, the story of George W. Ritchey. Who was Resurrection of a Scientific Research Institution” is a bit Ritchey? He was the builder of the first large, successful ironic considering that Yerkes was shuttered up just last year American reflecting telescopes. A telescope designer who (2018) to the general public. However, the story of how and perfected the methods for making astronomical mirrors and why this observatory came to be lives on within these pages. a master celestial photographer who worked closely with Reminiscing on the work of George E. Hale and his George Hale, the phenomenal fund raiser and organizer of contemporaries near the end of the 19th century through observatories. mid-20th century Osterbrock paints a clear picture of the While Ritchey was a visionary, he was also difficult to people and their personalities that made Yerkes a center of work with, a perfectionist whose projects took far longer research for many years. than the projected time to complete. This led to many You will find 384-pages of exceptionally readable history clashes with superiors, notably Hale, yet Ritchey won out as sprinkled with numerous archival photos. This is a must read he put his craftsmanship on the 60- and 100-inch mirrors at for lovers of astronomical history and don’t forget the Mt. Wilson observatory. Of course, the story doesn’t stop Midwest connection, Yerkes is practically at our back door. there as Osterbrock traces his career from beginning to end.

Walter Baade, A Life in Astrophysics James E. Keeler: Pioneer American astrophysicist The previous three books tell about times near the Chances are you have never heard of James Keeler th unless you are a student of George Ellery Hale, late 19th beginning of the 20 century. This book picks up from that century astronomy, and astrophysics in particular. Keeler period and extends to the middle of the century. Walter was an outstanding scientist, and his fellow astronomers Baade was the great observational astronomer of that considered him the leading astronomical spectroscopist of period. Hubble was far better known to the general public, his generation. With Hale, Keeler was one of the founding but Baade – who was publicity shy – through his discoveries editors of the Astrophysical Journal, the first professional opened up the fields of stellar evolution, star formation, and journal of the new field he helped create. the evolution of galaxies. Baade certainly deserved a If those few sentences don’t have you hooked on biography of his own, and Osterbrock responded well. reading this book, consider that James Keeler’s story is The 272-page book is broken into eight chapters interwoven with facts about observational astronomy, bits chronicling Baade’s life and career from his early years in and pieces of tidbits surrounding the shakers and movers of Germany, his arrival at Mt. Wilson Observatory in 1931 and later work at Mt. Palomar. The story is interesting and as his world: Hale, W.W. Campbell, Henry Rowland, Edward Osterbrock does contains numerous vignettes of other

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

characters with photos interwoven throughout. You will find Pauper & Prince, Donald E. Osterbrock, 1993, University of this book a well written treatise of a man little known Arizona Press. outside his own field. Walter Baade, A Life in Astrophysics, Donald E. Osterbrock, 2001, Princeton University Press.

AN OBSERVING REPORT FROM SUNIL CHEBOLU

Did anyone go out to see the stars tonight? (Sunday, October 27th) What a beautiful clear night sky! No moon, clear sky, and not windy – probably one of the best nights for stargazing. I was in my backyard (facing east) where there was some light pollution, but I still got a terrific view. Maybe Sugar Grove tonight would have been in Bortle Class 1 or 2? I focused on observing and did not do any imagining. Let me share what I saw tonight.

• M 31 – the Andromeda Galaxy – was almost at the zenith. (I am glad I was able to look for it down through my eyepiece and not straight up in the sky, or else my neck would hurt.) • I could see Aldebaran as a red star with my naked eye! Capella was shining even brighter off to the left, but it appeared white. Both stars appeared like diamonds in my 25mm eyepiece! In fact, I used these two stars for 2-star alignment of my telescope. • The Pleiades star cluster was crystal clear to the naked eye. I could clearly count seven stars but through my 9mm eyepiece I could see a lot more stars and they appeared much brighter. • Orion was just starting to rise in the east.

I have to teach at 8:00 AM tomorrow, so I had to call it a night, but it was a lot of fun.

The books feature in this article can be obtained through If you are still awake, then step out and look up, you booksellers everywhere. will not regret. Good night!

References: Best wishes,

Yerkes Observatory, Donald E. Osterbrock, 1997, University of Chicago Press. Sunil James E. Keeler: Pioneer American Astrophysicist, Donald E. Osterbrock, 1984, Cambridge University Press.

E/PO UPDATES FOR OCTOBER 2019

Lower temperature, high humidity, overcast sky, and suppertime rain conspired to keep many members of both the public and TCAA from attending the TCAA’s last public viewing session at SGNC for 2019. Mark Boulware spoke about Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto during the October 5th event, but only about 25 individuals showed up. In attendance on behalf of the TCAA were the Mark and Nataya Boulware, Tim Stone, Brian Barling, and Scott Wade. Tim later noted, “We had a good turnout in spite of the weather, and the audience was very engaged with Mark. The Q&A lasted quite some time, with Mark handling it all very well.”

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

The TCAA’s effort to increase public awareness of amateur astronomy and to grow the club’s membership has been an outstanding success. On Saturday, October 12th, the first of three classes was held at the ISU Planetarium from 3:00 to 5:30 PM. Thirty-two were present to hear from Tom Willmitch introduce the night sky using the star projector, President Tim Stone who welcomed the new members to the TCAA, and Carl Wenning who followed up with additional details about observing the sky using a PowerPoint presentation. Each attendee or household was presented with newly revised TCAA Guide #1 – Introduction to Amateur Astronomy, TCAA Guide #3 – Astronomy as a Hobby, an October sky map, and a corresponding homework exercise relating to the sky map. Afterward, about 20 of the group gathered to SGNC at 7:00 PM to tour SGO and view through both Carl’s CPC 8” Schmidt-Cassegrain and Tim’s 8” Newtonian reflector telescopes. Showcase objects included the waxing gibbous moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, M13, M57, M11, M13, binary stars and more. Tim even demonstrated the spectrum of Vega using an eyepiece diffraction grating. Despite a moderate breeze and a temperature in the lower 50s, viewing continue until 8:30 PM. Carl Wenning gave a talk to the ISU Astronomy Club on the evening of Thursday, October 17th. He spoke to 6 members of the club presenting his hour-long talk Fire or Ice? The Pending Collapse of Terrestrial and Solar Magnetic Fields. The members were captivated with the topic dealing, ultimately, with a possible future demise of our modern technological society. The ISU club members are looking forward to spending time with the TCAA at SGNC viewing the night sky in the not too distant future. Carl is looking forward to arranging this event for both clubs, but it will take some doing as most ISU Astronomy Club members do not have cars. He hopes to return next spring to present a laboratory activity dealing with how telescopes work. The TCAA’s second Introduction to Amateur Astronomy class was held on Saturday, October 19th at the ISU Planetarium. The focus of this session was on what things to observe and how to find them in the night sky using binoculars and telescopes. Twenty-eight were in attendance, including leaders Carl Wenning, Tom Willmitch, and Lisa Wentzel. Due to a cloudy sky, there was no after-class observing session. Carl has encouraged attendees to let him and the other instructors know what they want to get out of the club so that we might continue to engage them. This is in addition, of course, to the pending mentorship activities in the use of the SGO 11” telescope. TCAAers participated in the October 26th Autumn Celebration at SGNC again this year. TCAA members present all or part of the day Saturday were Tom Weiland, Bob Finnegan, Paul Pouliot, Dave Osenga, Lee Green, Brian Barling, and Tim Stone. Because of the rainy conditions, neither the SGO dome nor the PSO roll off roof could be opened. Both observatories were available for tours, and videos showing Lisa Wentzel speaking about member's astrophotography were running on the monitors in both buildings. Color binoculars and telescopes copies of the 2020 TCAA Public Viewing Sessions brochure was made available to those who were interested. Attendance at the celebration was very low because of the blowing rain and cooler conditions, as such fewer than 20 people visited the observatories, a very small number compared to previous years. The unfavorable weather brought the event to an early end at 2:00 instead of 4:00. (Editor: Thanks to Tom for giving this SGNC report.)

NEW TCAA MEMBERS VIA IAA

The following is a list of new TCAA members, all of whom benefited from completing the TCAA’s Introduction to Amateur Astronomy course. This list represents 31 individuals and 20 households, the largest one-day increase in membership ever!

• Akhilasri Arla • Emma LaMotte • Raja and Laasya Ayyapusetty • Amrutha Veluvolu • Jeffrey Michels & Jill Blair • Srinivas Avatapalli, Vithal and Adhrut • Amy Hancock • Jerry & Jessica Hirschi Kulkarni, and Bindu Magal. • Amy Saladino • John R Gahm • Steve & Jill Mayes • Cynthia Moore & Steve Weber • Jonathan and Allison Huebner • Tushar Patil • Devanand & Vikhyath Chatrathi • Krishna & Mahesi Annapragada • Venkat Chander and Akhila Vedam • Elvira Ballinas • Mike Jurich

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

We cordially welcome all these new members to the TCAA! Over the coming months, the IAA leadership will work hard to provide Saturday afternoon activities for all club members in the hope of making our new members feel welcome and sustain their memberships. With the third and final class session of Introduction to Amateur Astronomy on November 2nd and the coming holiday seasons during November and December, we are setting our sights on January for the first follow-up experience (in addition to any SGO telescope training that might be arranged during the interim).

PUBLIC VIEWING SESSIONS FOR 2020

April 25: Mars and the Events of 2020 (Carl Wenning) 8:15-10:15 PM Mars makes its closest approach to Earth every 780 days (1.9 years). The next closest approach will occur on October 13th, 2020 when it appears opposite the sun in the sky. Prepare now to observe Mars as it moves rapidly eastward among the stars of the zodiac, brightening all the while, and then suddenly executing an impressive 13-degree-long retrograde zigzag!

May 23: Galaxies of the Spring Sky (Tim Stone) 8:45-10:45 PM In the spring, our line of sight on the sky looks straight out of our galaxy into the vast space beyond, showcasing thousands of bright galaxies and millions of dim ones. We will tour this neighborhood of the universe, highlighting some of the most beautiful galaxies in the heavens.

June 20: Navigating with Stars (Sunil Chebolu) 9:00-11:00 PM For centuries, navigators have relied on stars to identify directions, compute latitude, and even read local time. We will explore these ideas and also examine the problem of measuring one’s longitude at sea – a fascinating problem that defeated some of the best minds in the world for many years.

July 18: Jupiter & Saturn (Mark Boulware) 9:00-11:00 PM Jupiter and Saturn offer stark contrasts when compared to the inner planets. We will review how and why they formed in their current locations and their impact on the formation of the rest of the solar system. We will learn how the two greatest planets are similar yet different.

August 22: Touring the Milky Way (Mark Cabaj) 8:15-10:15 PM The Milky Way is one of countless stellar islands floating in a cosmic foam of dark matter, dark energy, and matter. Humanity is trying to find out what our galaxy looks like inside and out using ingenious observing methods and increasingly more sensitive equipment. Take a tour of our “cosmic home” to see what we know so far.

September 19: The ISS: Past, Present, and Future (Sandullah Epsicokhan) 7:30-9:30 PM The International Space Station (ISS) is humankind’s largest artificial satellite. Given the right time and conditions, it can be easily seen orbiting overhead. We will look at how it was constructed, how it is used, what it is like living in space, and where it is headed in the future.

October 17: Missions to Mars (Lee Green) 7:00-9:00 PM As we reach our closest approach to Mars for the year, the Red Planet shines brightly throughout the evening. Let’s review the many spacecraft missions we’ve sent there, what they are revealing, and how they are paving the way for a future manned mission to Mars.

DID YOU KNOW?

Are you looking for back issues of The Are you looking for information about Are you looking for the TCAA Guides to OBSERVER? Look no further than here: the history of the TCAA? Find out more amateur astronomy? Visit this page: http://tcaa.us/Observer.aspx here: http://tcaa.us/History.aspx http://tcaa.us/TCAAGuides.aspx

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

TCAA IMAGE GALLERY

FIRST LIGHT BY BOB FINNIGAN – On October 5th Bob wrote, “The first image with the new 368C Camera was taken on the 14-inch RC telescope. The image consists of four 0.1-second images of the Moon stacked in Maxim 6.20 and processed in Photoshop.”

Note to New TCAAers: Bob along with Scott Wade and several other skilled imagers are most happy to help new members learn astrophotography using the QHY cameras and 14” and 17” telescopes at Sugar Grove Nature Center. They offer not so much a formal course as a mentorship. When the current “course” concludes, they will be most happy to begin once again. Wintertime is mostly cloudy, so look for the next mentorship opportunity in the spring.

GIBBOUS MOON AND DETAIL BY SUNIL CHEBOLU - These are pictures I took of tonight’s 73% waxing gibbous moon. The most prominent crater you see in these pictures along the terminator is Copernicus, and right next to it, to the right side, is Eratosthenes. Both men are towering figures in astronomy. Copernicus was a polish astronomer who is well known for his revolutionary work on the heliocentric model, and Eratosthenes was an ancient Greek polymath who is well known for his ingenious experiment where he measured the circumference of the Earth to a remarkable degree of accuracy. � Celestron Nexstar 130mm SLT | 9 mm eyepiece | eyepiece projection using Pixel 3 camera | single shot night sight mode| October 7th at 9:30 pm. Enjoy!

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

MIRACH’S SPECTRUM by Tim Stone. Tim writes, “October 6 was one of those nights. It was great for a while, long enough to capture a couple of really good spectra. This one is of Mirach, a red giant in the constellation Andromeda. At its rather cool temperature of ~3,500K, metals absorb very efficiently, and molecules are starting to form and make their absorption bands visible in the red-dominated spectrum. Calcium monohydride (CaH) and magnesium monohydride (MgH) are both present in this star. Of course, titanium oxide (TiO) is also present, and in the later M-class stars it is overpowering.”

TCAA ACTIVE ON FACEBOOK

Did you know that the TCAA is on Facebook? We encourage users of social media to follow the TCAA to see what the club is doing and to learn about nightly events that only require the observer to step outdoors and view with the unaided eye. You can find us on Facebook by searching either TCAA or Twin City Amateur Astronomers. If you haven’t followed TCAA’s Face- book page, you have missed out on a lot during the past couple of months.

Vol. 44, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2019

TCAA TREASURER’S REPORT AS OF OCTOBER 29, 2019

Checking Account Information

Memo Category Amount BALANCE 9/25/2019 1,548.61 Chris Franklin Dues Received $40.00 Geoff Hughes Dues Received $40.00 Tom Weiland Dues Received $40.00 Electrical Service Waynesville Observatory ($56.85) Introduction to Astronomy NCRAL-supported Course $480.00 TCAA Guide #1 – Intro to AA Printing ($421.88) BALANCE 10/28/2019 1,669.88

Checking Account Balance – October 29, 2019 $1,669.88 Savings Account Balance – October 29, 2019 $2,017.85 - Includes $0.02 cents interest as of this date

Total TCAA Funds – October 29, 2019 $3,687.73

All transactions are reconciled with the bank statements as of this date.

Respectfully submitted, Dave Osenga

RENEWING YOUR TCAA MEMBERSHIP

The TCAA works to promote in every way among its members and the public an interest in and knowledge of astronomy and its allied sciences, to advance amateur astronomy and observational techniques, to render assistance to other individuals or organizations working in the same or related fields, and to do everything necessary and proper to further such on a formal or informal basis. The TCAA is a Federally recognized non-profit entity organized exclusively for education and scientific purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code. The TCAA currently supports family friendly public observing sessions at SGNC, public outreach events such as the recent May 9, 2016 transit of Mercury and the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse field trip, hosting of NCRAL meetings (2010 and 2016), September mini conferences, and education courses for our membership and the public. The TCAA maintains three observatories including payment of insurance and publishes an award-winning club newsletter. We support Sugar Grove Nature Center through their membership program, maintain a loaner telescope program, and provide many other benefits as outlined in TCAA Guide #2 – Membership and Benefits. Your TCAA membership supports education and public outreach in Central Illinois and regions beyond. Membership dues and the generosity of its members are the club’s primary means of financial support. We receive no grants or public funds. We have unmet needs. By renewing your membership when it comes due, you can help to ensure our continuing efforts.