January 2015 The Sidereal Times
Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club A Member Society of the Astronomical League
Club Officers: Minutes December 18, 2014
Executive Committee President Jim Hilkin resident Jim Hilkin and approve the Treasurer's the project. Jim also re- Vice President Libby Snipes Treasurer Vicki Philabaum Judy Smithson hosted the report, seconded by aul, ported that a grant of Secretary David Philabaum Chief Observer David Philabaum December mee ng in their and the mo on passed. $8,000 has been given to Members-at-Large Claus Benninghoven Duane Gerling home. The following mem- Jim Hilkin said that he had artners for onserva on Blake Stumpf bers were in a endance received a thank-you note for pain ng the i e b- Board of Directors Chair Judy Hilkin Jim ilt, Libby & arl from a girl in olorado servatory and classroom. Vice Chair Ray Reineke Secretary David Philabaum Snipes, John Toney, JT & who had recently been to The bids have come in Members-at-Large Frank Libe Blake Stumpf Blake Stumpf , aul Sly, the observatory. Vicki said around $5,000 so there Jim Wilt huck Block, laus & Elea- that the club had received may be enough to also Audit Committee Dean Moberg (2012) nore Benninghoven, a thank-you note from paint the rugh- arver b- JT Stumpf (2013) John Toney (2014) Duane & obin Gerling, a e owers for hos ng servatory. Jim reported Newsletter Karen Johnson Fritz Goeckner, and Dave her Awana group at the that the and founda on & Vicki hilabaum. John observatory. Jim Hilkin re- would like to host Dr. moved to approve the Sep- ported that the evergreens Stone for a lecture with tember minutes as pub- on the north side of the the help of the astronomy Inside this issue: lished, laus seconded, classroom have been tak- club. Jim said that the an- and the mo on passed. en down. They have been nual bservatory Board Minutes (cont.) 3 Vicki gave the Treasurer's trimmed back numerous mee ng with representa- report. The current bal- mes previously and were ves of the Des oines Space Place 2,3 ance in the checking ac- just ge ng too big. Dave ounty onserva on Looking Back 4 count is $1816.86 which got one coat of paint on Board will be held in Janu- includes $225.48 in grant the doors of the rugh- ary and that he will be Treasurer’s Report 4 funds. Vicki said that there arver observatory, and checking with observatory Observer’s Report 5-6 was a $10 discrepancy be- Jim Hilkin has new panels key holders to check if the tween what she had paid on the south side and is key number on file match- Calendar 7 ay for the Argo Navis Dig- about halfway done with es the key that they have. Sky Maps 8-9 ital Telescope omputer resident Hilkin said that and what was reimbursed Dr. Steve Spangler of the by artners for onserva- University of Iowa would on. Jim ilt moved to like to come to the obser- (continued on page 3) Page 2 The Sidereal Times
Minor mergers have massive consequences for black holes By Dr. Ethan Siegel
When you think of our Way, houses a supermas- must have undergone only sun, the nearest star to our sive black hole that weighs minor mergers no less than world, you think of an iso- in at about four million a billion years ago, where lated entity, with more solar masses, while our big the black hole pair is sepa- than four light years sepa- sister, Andromeda, has one rated by only 490 light rating it from its next near- nearly twenty times as years! It's only in the cores est neighbor. But it wasn't massive. But even relative- of active, X-ray emitting always so: billions of years ly isolated galaxies didn't galaxies that we can detect ago, when our sun was simply form from the mon- binary black holes like first created, it very likely olithic collapse of an iso- this. Examples like NGC formed in concert with lated clump of matter, but 3393 and IC 4970 are not thousands of other stars, by hierarchical mergers of only confirming our pic- when a giant molecular smaller galaxies over tre- ture of galaxy growth and cloud containing perhaps a mendous timescales. If formation, but are teaching million times the mass of galaxies with large us that supermassive relics our solar system collapsed. amounts of stars all have from ancient, minor mer- “...many black While the vast majority of black holes at their centers, gers might persist as holes—form, stars that the universe then we should be able to standalone entities for forms—some ninety-five see some fraction of Milky longer than we ever with the majority percent—are the mass of Way-sized galaxies with thought! eventually our sun or smaller, a rare not just one, but multiple but significant fraction are supermassive black holes Check out some cool imag- mi ra n ultra-massive, containing at their center! es and artist reconstruc- towards the tens or even hundreds of tions of black holes from times the mass our star It was only in the early Chandra: http:// centers of their contains. When these stars 2000s that NASA's Chan- chandra.harvard.edu/ host alaxies…” run out of fuel in their dra X-ray Observatory was photo/category/ cores, they explode in a able to find the first binary blackholes.html fantastic Type II superno- supermassive black hole in va, where the star's core a galaxy, and that was in collapses. In the most mas- an ultra-luminous galaxy Kids can learn all about sive cases, this forms a with a double core. Many Black Holes from this cool black hole. other examples were dis- animation at NASA’s covered since, but for a Space Place: http:// Over time, many genera- decade they were all in spaceplace.nasa.gov/black tions of stars—and hence, ultra-massive, active gal- -holes . many black holes—form, axies. That all changed in with the majority eventual- 2011, with the discovery ly migrating towards the of two active, massive centers of their host galax- black holes at the center of ies and merging together. the regular spiral galaxy Our own galaxy, the Milky NGC 3393, a galaxy that JanuaryNovember 2015 2013 Page 3
Minutes (continued from page 1) vatory to see the Clark e t ee g w ll be Thurs- so e e r l r day February 19 th fro S a gler had la ed to 6:30 to 7:30 at the Bur- co e th s ast year but l gto Publ c L brary, was ot able to fit t to Roo B ave re orted h s schedule He s or g al- that a grou of G rl Scouts ly fro the Houghto area s scheduled to co e to J also re orted about a the observatory February oss ble Eagle Scout ro- 3rd ave the gave the ject to create a scale od- Observer’s re ort followed Did You Know? el of the solar syste by J H lk 's talk about the observatory ark g the co stella o Ce heus I ythology, Ce- lot U co g dates were th o add o al te s heus, the k g of d scussed There w ll be o to d scuss, Joh oved to Eth o a, was ar- ubl c v ew g dur g Ja u- adjour , Claus seco ded, r ed to Cass o e a ary a d February but the a d the ee g was ad- They were the ar- observatory ca be used jour ed e ts of dro e- by e bers, a d grou s Res ec ully sub ed, da are s ll be g scheduled
There w ll be o club ave Ph labau , secretary ee g Ja uary The
Minor mergers … (continued from page 2)
Images credit: NGC 3393 in the optical (L) by M. Malkan (UCLA), HST, NASA (L); NGC 3393 in the X-ray and optical (R), composite by NASA / CXC / SAO / G. Fabbiano et al. (X- ray) and NASA/STScI (optical). Page 4 The Sidereal Times
Looking Back in the Sidereal Times 25 Years Ago—January 1990
To el break u t e mo- t eir favorite c ili reci e notony of winter, February's an um s it into a ot wit lub Nite will also inclu e a everyone else's servings. c ili um . T is means t at T e results can be inter- everyone w o ar ci ates es ng. T e lub Nite ate is brings along a serving from set for February 24 t .
Looking Back in the Sidereal Times 10 Years Ago—January 2005
NASA lit a birt ay can le rovers to reac a i onal h M w to ay for its twin Mars Ex- es na ons an to kee A l 2010. v l d lora on overs S irit an making iscoveries. S irit . l . y ll O ortunity. T e S irit rov- lan e on Jan. 3 an O or- d v M . A f er begins its secon year on tunity Jan. 24. 2004 res ec- D 201 h Mars inves ga ng u ling vely Source w f E d v rocks unlike any foun earli- marsrovers.j l.nasa.gov C h d w d er. T e rovers successfully newsroom ress releases 'M h V ll y'. Did You Know? com lete t eir t ree- 50050103a. tml) y h v l d 25.73 mont rimary missions in l .) You can roam Mars A ril. T ey astoun even l ll d t eir esigners wit ow T y h w d f virtually at well t ey con nue o er- H Pl M y 2009 www.nasa.gov a ng. T e unan ci ate d d d w externalflas m2k4 longevity is allowing bot h d frameset. tml
Treasurer’s Report SIAC Treasurer's Report December 2014
11/30/2014 Beginning Balance $1,879.13
Deposits
Total Deposits $0.00 Expenses
Check Payee
12/9/2015 458 MTC Technologies $30.89 12/19/2015 459 MTC Technologies $31.38
Total Expenses $62.27
12/31/2014 Ending Balance $1,816.86
General Fund $1,655.97 Grants $225.48 - $64.59 $160.89 Total in Checking Account $1,816.86 January 2015 Page 5
Observer’s Report for January/February
Venus is rising higher in moving rapidly east begins to transit at 00:19 the western sky and is 9 ° among the stars and and Europa's shadow at above the southwestern moves into Pisces near 00:28. The three shadows horizon 45 minutes after the circlet on February remain on Jupiter's disk sunset in mid-January. 11 th . Neptune is sinking until 00:52 when Io's Venus is moving east lower in the west and on shadow moves off. At among the stars toward January 19 th passes only 01:08 Europa begins to Mars and enters Aquarius 0.25 ° north of Mars. It is transit, leaving Ganymede on January 25 th and less than one degree from the only moon visible. My moves into Pisces on Feb- Mars the previous day and Guide 9.0 software shows ruary 16 th . On February the next day. On February Io's shadow passing 20 th Venus, Mars, and the 1st Neptune is less than through Callisto's shadow 2.3-day-old Moon fit in a one degree to the right of around 23:50 near the 2° circle with Venus and Venus, but will be hard to center of Jupiter's disk. Mars 0.75 ° apart. The see in the twilight. It will And to cap the night off next day they are less than be about 10 ° above the the Great Red Spot is cen- Note: 0.5 ° apart. Mercury, after horizon one hour after tered on Jupiter around a close approach to Venus sunset. Uranus is in Pi- 03:50. More convenient e e in the second week of sces about halfway be- times to look for the GRS January, begins to fade tween the circlet and 3.8 include: 1-22 22:00; 1 -27 th report are and sink towards the hori- magnitude Alpha Pisci- 21:07; 2 -3 21:52; 2 -8 zon before going through um. On February 1 st it is 20:59 and 2-15 21:44. Ju- CST u a inferior conjunction with 3° south of 4.4 magnitude piter reaches opposition the Sun on January 30 th . Delta Piscium. It sets on February 6 th and will 24-hour c ock Mercury moves into the about 22:30 at the end of be in the sky all night. Its morning sky during the January. Jupiter remains disk measures 45" across first part of February but in Leo moving west away and it shines at magnitude never gets very high from Regulus. On Febru- -2.6. There are numerous above the horizon. On ary 3 rd it is on the Leo mutual events between February 16 th it is about Cancer border with the the Galilean satellites this 5° above the horizon 45 full Moon 5 ° south of it. next month when the minutes before sunrise The night of January 23- moons eclipse or occult with the Moon 8 ° to its 24 will be a busy night for each other. A table of upper right. The next day Jupiter observers. On that some of the more promi- the Moon is 5 ° to the left night there will be triple nent ones are located else- of Mercury. Binoculars shadow transit. The shad- where in the newsletter. may be needed to spot ows of Callisto, Io, and Saturn, rises about 03:30 Mercury. Pluto was in Europa will be visible on in mid-January and is lo- conjunction with the Sun Jupiter's cloud tops at the cated on the Libra Scorpi- in January and is not visi- same time. The action be- us border moving east ble. Mars is in Aquarius gins at 21:11 when Callis- into Scorpius. On the low in the southwest and to's shadow begins transit- night of January 28 th it is sets at about 20:00 for the ing, followed by Io's one degree due north of next month. Mars shines shadow at 22:35, then Io 2.5 magnitude Beta Scor- at magnitude +1.2 and is itself at 22:55. Callisto pii and by mid- co ue o pa e Page 6 The Sidereal Times
Observer’s Report (continued from page 5)
February it is less than a naked-eye object when from Gamma Cancri. As- 0.75 ° above Nu Scorpii. viewed under good condi- teroid 3 Juno is close to The rings are now tilted tions. I viewed it on Janu- the path of 2004 BL 86 25 ° ary 8 th from south of Bur- near the head of Hydra. ° lington and may have Between January 23 rd and seen it naked eye. It was a 29 th it is less than 1 ° from the Cassini bright fuzz ball through 4.5 magnitude Sigma Hy- division. Look for 10x50 binoculars with no drae. Juno will be be- Saturn's moon Titan on evidence of a tail. The tween 8 th and 9 th magni- the east side of the planet next two weeks will be tude. Look for the zodia- on 1-16 and 2-1. It will be the best time to view it. It cal light in the west 80 on the west side on 1-24 will be at its highest as minutes after sunset be- and 2-9. On February 16 th the sky becomes fully tween February 6 th and look for the moons Te- dark. On January 16 th it 20 th . Groundhog Day is thys, Dione, and Rhea moves into Aires, and February 2 nd when we are bunched together in a line January 21 st it is about halfway between the De- on the west side close to one degree from 3.6 mag- cember solstice and the Saturn. Try looking for nitude 41 Arietis. On Jan- March Equinox. And last Saturn's moon Iapetus uary 24th it moves into but not least, Valentine's around February 20 th Triangulum, and January Day is February 14 th so when it will be on the 29 th it moves into An- don't forget your signifi- west side of the planet dromeda where on Febru- cant other. where it appears brightest. ary 4 th it is less than 0.75 ° . Did You Know? The Moon phases are: from Gamma Androme- New 1-20 at 7:14; FQ 1 - dae. Comet Lovejoy You’ll find an 26 at 22:48; Full 2 -3 at reaches perihelion on Jan- 17:09; LQ 2 -11 at 21:50 uary 30 th at a distance of an a on o a o d and New again on 2-18 at 1.3 AU from the Sun. On 17:47. On January 21 st a February 20 th it will be 2004 BL86, a very thin crescent Moon less than 0.5 ° west of www.j l.na a.gov lies 5 ° to the right of Ve- M76. Near Earth aster- nus, and the next day the oid 2004 BL 86 will pass n w n w . ? Moon is less than 4 ° to by us on the night of Jan- the right of Mars. On Jan- uary 26th coming within a u =4441 uary 29th the 10-day-old 750,000 miles at the clos- Moon is 4 ° to the east of est when it should be Aldebaran and two days about magnitude 9.2. Be- later it is just over 1 ° from tween 23:00 and midnight Gamma Geminorum. it will pass along the east Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 side of the Beehive Clus- Q2) is currently at its ter, M44, moving north. brightest around 4 th mag- At 22:45 it is 0.75 ° west nitude, brighter than pre- of Delta Cancri and at dicted. This could make it 00:30 it is less than 0.5 ° January 2015 Page 7
Calendar for January/February
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
11 (January) 12 13 14 15 16 17
Last Quarter Mercury at great- No SIAC meeting Moon est elongation or public viewing in January
Saturn 1.9° south of Moon
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Mars 0.2° south of New Moon Mercury 3° south Venus 6° south Mars 4° south of Neptune of Moon of Moon Moon Mercury appears Martin Luther stationary Moon at perigee Neptune 4° south King, Jr. Day of Moon
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Uranus 0.6° south First Quarter Mercury in inferi- of Moon Moon or conjunction
1 (February) 2 3 4 5 6 7
Venus 0.8° south Groundhog Day ~ Full Moon Jupiter 5° north Moon at apogee of Neptune a cross-quarter of Moon Jupiter at opposi- day, the midpoint tion of winter
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Last Quarter Saturn 2° south Valentine’s Day Moon of Moon
Mercury appears stationary
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Presidents’ Day Mercury 3° south New Moon SIAC meeting at Mars 1.5° south of Venus 0.5° south of Moon Burlington Li- Moon of Mars brary, Room B, Venus 2° south of Uranus 0.3° south 6:30—7:30 pm Moon of Moon Moon at perigee Page 8 The Sidereal Times January 2015 Page 9 A Brief History
The idea for the observatory was conceived by the members of the Southeastern Io- wa Astronomy Club. Through a cooperative agreement between the Des Moines County Conservation Board, The Burlington Community School System, and the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club, the idea became a reality. A substantial grant from the John H. Witte, Jr. Foundation provided the funding for materials, with nearly all the construction being done by members of the club. Work began in the Southeastern Iowa spring of 1985 and the observatory was dedicated in May 1987. In the years since Astronomy Club the dedication, thousands of people have climbed the ladder to peer through the Astronomy Club eyepiece of the beautiful 1937 Alvan-Clark brass refractor.
P.O. Box 14 In 1996 a second observatory, the Prugh-Carver Observatory, was added through a West Burlington, IA 52655 grant from the Carver Foundation. Dedicated to Burton Prugh, a Burlington busi- nessman, it stands as a reminder of his devotion and support to the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club. It houses Mr. Witte’s personal telescope—an 8” Fecker re- fractor, as well as several smaller scopes. W E ’ R E O N T H E W E B Dedicated on September 17, 2004, the new Stone-Kelly Observatory houses the 16” H TTP :// Cassegrain that was formerly on Burlington High School off Roosevelt Avenue. WWW . DMCOUNTY . CO M Volunteer club members, after passing a training and apprenticeship program, op- / INDE X . ASP X ? N ID =516 erate the observatory for public and private groups. The observatory complex is open to the public on the first and third Fridays of every Dues month, weather permitting. $20 Individual $30 Family
About Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club
The Southeastern Iowa As- come to share in the meet- tronomy Club meets on the ings, and they are followed third Friday of each month by a public viewing session at the Witte Observatory at 7 (weather permitting). pm. Additional benefits to mem- The purpose of the club is to bers include our monthly provide astronomy opportu- newsletter, The Sidereal nities to the local area, Times, voting rights for club mainly through the use of activities, and membership the facilities at the John H. in the national Astronomical Witte, Jr. Observatory. Dur- League. The Astronomical ing monthly meetings, infor- League membership pro- mation is provided about vides a quarterly newsletter, upcoming events and items discounts on certain astron- of interest locally, nationally, omy-related products, spe- and worldwide. The meet- cial training/skill building Travel directions to the Witte Observatory Complex. ings allow members to share programs, and other great The observatory complex is located at 18832 152nd Ave- their experiences and exper- benefits. nue, Sperry, Iowa in Big Hollow Creek Recreation Area tise with each other, as well approximately 12 miles north of Burlington, Iowa. as providing a forum for questions. The public is wel-