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April 2021 Volume 47 Number 2 in the Pages of the Gemini Minnesota Astronomical Society April 2021 a publication of the Minnesota Astronomical Society Volume 47 Number 2 In the pages of Ode to a Restless Few By Dave Tosteson the Gemini In his book Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan, in timeless prose, framed an idea about human nature traceable to our origins. Indeed, in regard to understanding Using the Revolution ImagerTM 2 in our current place at the beginning of the solar system’s physical exploration, the Electronically-Assisted Astronomy concept may be its raison d’etre. The author posits that scarcity of resources By Nelson R. Capes…Page 3 coupled with an inherent wanderlust have fostered a need to explore beyond any present boundary. He ventured that in so doing the survival of our ancestors and MAS Patron Members…Page 6 our collective future were enhanced. The strengths of these traits vary among MAS Board Minutes for January/February individuals. Melville’s hero possessed a higher amount of “an everlasting itch By Trena Johnson, Secretary…Page 6 for things remote,” forging a love “to sail forbidden seas.” Roddenberry’s lure of “new life and new civilizations” led his charges to “explore strange new worlds” A Once-in-Three-Lifetimes Chance: and to “go where no one has gone before.” Certain readers may possess and Viewing Supernova SN 1987A develop such impulses to a greater degree. By Daniel Burbank…Page 7 What, exactly, are we seeking? Is it answers about exoplanets, astrobiology and possible intelligent life on other worlds? Does it go beyond marveling at Creamy versus Crunchy the universe’s beginning or how myriad circumstances formed Earth into the Planetary Nebulae exquisitely habitable world we are so fortunate to occupy? Is satisfaction in By Charles Blilie…Page 8 understanding the origins of the elements, intricacies of continental synthesis Variable Star of the Month and subtleties of Darwinian evolution enough to assuage our impulses? Will the By Jim Fox…Page 10 eventually hoped for Theory of Everything regarding fundamental forces satisfy an intellectual craving that complements this need for physical exploration? If MAS 2021 Star Party Schedule…Page 11 history is a teacher, it may not. We are a curious people. AL Con Announcement…Page 12 Why do we move from childhood homes? Is it innate or circumstantial? When I visited relatives in Norway just before the turn of the millennium, their society was steering toward a model of personal independence after adolescence and away from a centuries-old tradition of building a nearby separate home on family land. Times change and cycles renew, exemplified when our neighbor recently split his large lake lot and built a separate home so his son and growing family could all share the beautiful setting together. The pandemic, social unrest and the Stories Wanted: Gemini is written entirely by our members, for our members. Gemini needs financial crisis of 2020 caused our daughter to (temporarily?) return home. We your stories: how you first became interested in are enjoying that closeness for however long it lasts. There seem as many reasons astronomy, how your interest has evolved over the to move as there are movers. years, equipment you use, projects or activities you have worked on, star parties or events you’ve attended in this state and elsewhere, how you’ve encouraged others—especially young people—to get involved in this fascinating hobby. Submit your stories to [email protected] E-mail Update: If your e-mail address has recently changed, chances are your address used for MAS e-mail distribution lists is not current. Please inform the e-mail list administrator of your new e-mail address at [email protected] to update your address for the e-mail distribution lists. Also if your e-mail, phone number or street address has recently changed, please fill out the “Update Member Information” Web form at mnastro.org/ update-member-information to update your contact information in the MAS member records. The moons Eros, Vesta and Ceres in the asteroid belt. There is a difference between traveling for enjoyment or education and GEMINI INFO for exploration. My wife and I brought Editors our children on many domestic and Brian Litecky and Eugene Brown international trips when they were young, Webmaster and we tried to instill in them a love for MAS Web Committee, learning different places and cultures. chair Merle Hiltner, When resources and time are right, [email protected] they may continue that tradition. Some Forums Administrator of those journeys involved physical Russ Durkee exertion, as in hiking mountains, river rafting and viewing wonders in the Great E-mail List Administrator Barrier Reef, but the most lasting benefit Bob Brose seems an opening of the mind. But it is Monthly Meeting Presenter hard to find a place on this planet that has Coordinator not been visited by many people. Witness Ahmed Reda An astronaut on the surface of the moon the image of climbers waiting their turn Astronomical League Coordinator to ascend Everest, crowded like sardines (ALCOR) on the Hillary Step; or the years-long wait to raft the Colorado River within the Grand Jerry Jones Canyon. In the distant past being first could have been sparked by something as simple as, “I wonder what’s on the other side of that river?” or “That valley looks as though Outreach Coordinator it could offer protection and food.” It’s almost impossible to be first anymore, at least Lilah Blinkman in regard to finding places on this orb. At some point our planet’s resources will not Gemini is published 6 times annually support its population. We will run out of Planet Earth, so we may need to run off it. by the Minnesota Astronomical Society. We will need space to live and so may need Space to live. Electronic submissions for Exploration that is culturally applicable is different from traveling. Though it can Gemini may be sent to: also be personal, it must involve enlarging a boundary affecting many people. As an [email protected] intentional act, its resultant diaspora of ideas encouraging societal change may be necessary for the continuation of our species. This was Sagan’s eloquence. Though he Hardcopy items should be sent to: Minnesota Astronomical Society was not the first to think of it, he may have said it best: “The appeal, I suspect, has been Attn: Gemini meticulously crafted by natural selection as an essential element in our survival.” He P.O. Box 14931 then states that, because all resources are limited, the future of our species “might be Minneapolis, MN 55414 owed to a restless few, drawn by a craving they can hardly articulate or understand, to undiscovered lands and new worlds.” There is a broader impact to exploration. The effect on the collective imagination MAS Board Members may awaken latent interest in those needing a spark to ignite a fire they only suspected could be lit. Not all can lead, but many can be inspired. A sown seed must be tended, President: Mark Job and followers in any movement of change are tasked with making work what has been E-Mail: [email protected] shown possible. The framework of the future is made of many parts, the importance of Vice President: Valts Treibergs which can rarely be predicted. E-Mail: [email protected] Consider all the advancements of the last one- Treasurer: Matt Dunham hundred years. Relativity, E-Mail: [email protected] quantum mechanics, the Secretary: Trena Johnson expanding universe, dark E-Mail: [email protected] matter, black holes, pulsars, gravitational lensing, planetary Board Member at Large: exploration and dark energy Gunnar Isberg are just the top of the iceberg E-Mail: [email protected]. of knowledge added through Board Member at Large: the creativity and hard work of Conrad Sanders thousands of celestial pioneers. E-Mail: [email protected] I consider my visual observing as a kind of exploration: expanding the limits of what can be seen and constantly incorporating new finds into that fold. I am inspired by what astronomers have done, and I The Planet Mars. Photo by NASA GEMINI • www.mnastro.org 2 have found that viewing them greatly increases their meaning How will this age be remembered? I hope it is for our joy of and realness. In this pursuit I have learned of many remarkable exploration and the revelation of beauty uncovered that formed things discovered by professionals and amateurs and have and surrounds us. Will unborn generations be inspired by what enjoyed sharing them with others through the eyepiece, writing we have done? The next Magellans, Armstrongs and Sagans and speaking. Brown dwarfs, gravitational lenses, extragalactic may find, in the footsteps of our wanderings, reasons to dedicate supernova remnants, jets from supermassive black holes, high- themselves to what we will all soon need. redshift quasars and even galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field are Curiosity inspires. Imagination sustains. all visible in our telescopes and thrilling to see. They are marker buoys on an ocean of hard-won understanding, anchor points from which future voyages may embark. Astronaut on an untethered space walk Using the Revolution ImagerTM 2 in As everyone who lives in the Twin Cities metro area knows, Electronically-Assisted Astronomy finding a spot with a dark sky is essentially impossible. Also, By Nelson R. Capes our weather is frequently cloudy. In my opinion, any setup has to be completed within 10 to 15 minutes. There has been many a Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA) has been my prime time when the sky is clear, but by the time I am ready to observe, focus for the last couple of years.
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