Highlights of the November Sky. . .
- - - 2nd - - - PM: A waning gibbous Moon and Aldebaran are about 4° apart.
- - - 8th - - - Last Quarter Moon 8:46 am EST
- - - 12th - - - DAWN: A waning crescent Moon, Venus, and Spica form a curved line 13° long. KAS Mercury is nearly 9° to the lower le of Spica.
- - - 13th - - - General Meeting: Friday, November 6 @ 7:00 pm DAWN: A razor thin Moon, Held on Zoom • Click to Register • See Page 10 for Details Venus, Spica, and Mercury are arranged in a trapezoid. Online Viewing: Saturday, November 7 @ 8:30 pm - - - 15th - - - New Moon Held on Zoom • Click to Register • See Page 9 for Details 12:07 am EST
- - - 16th - - - Board Meeting: Sunday, November 8 @ 5:00 pm DAWN: Venus and Spica are less than 4° apart. Held on Zoom • All Members Welcome to Attend
- - 17th - - - AM: The Leonid meteor shower peaks.
- - - 18th - - - DUSK: A waxing crescent Inside the Newsletter. . . Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn form a shallow arc about 10° long. October Mee ng Minutes...... p. 2
th - - 19 - - - Board Mee ng Minutes...... p. 2 DUSK: The Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn form a triangle. KAS Member Observatories...... p. 3
- - - 21st - - - First Quarter Moon Observa ons...... p. 4 11:45 pm EST NASA Night Sky Notes...... p. 5 - - 25th - - - PM: A waxing gibbous Astrophotography Night Highlights... p. 6 Moon and Mars are less than 5° apart. November Night Sky...... p. 8
th - - 29 - - - KAS Board & Announcements...... p. 9 PM: The Moon is between the Pleiades and Hyades. General Mee ng Preview...... p. 10 - - - 30th - - - Full Moon 4:30 am EST beginning with the last members-only observing session on October 24th, to be billed as a Planet Palooza. The general meeting on November 6th will be presented online via Zoom and will feature Tom Field showing what we can learn about stars through spectroscopy. The following night (November 7th) is scheduled for the first of our new series of Online Viewing Sessions, using the Remote Telescope in Arizona and hosting registered guests logging in from their homes. The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society Richard mentioned that publicity for this event was tricky, was brought to order by President Richard Bell on Friday, since there was as yet no good way to predict how many October 2, 2020 at 7:08 pm EDT. About 30 members and would want to join in. Seventy clubs had been contacted, and guests attended from their homes via Zoom. emails had been received from several different states.
By KAS tradition, the theme of the October meeting was In follow-up items from the previous meeting, it was noted Astrophotography Night. This year nine KAS members that Owl Observatory needed stain applied where new wood shared their latest and greatest images of the universe. These components had been added. Mounting was also needed for members include (in alphabetical order) the father and son a KAS logo. This looked like a pretty short job. Richard duo Dave & Matt Garten, Kevin Jung, Cary Mannaberg, Pete reported that Owl Observatory was working very well with Mumbower, David Parks, Mike Patton, Lloyd Simons, and the new improvements. Roger Williams. Of these eight, four of them (Cary, David, Mike, and Lloyd) shared images for the first time. Pete In New Business, Richard had received an email about a recently returned to the KAS after a lengthy absence, so this documentary presentation titled Luminous. It deals with an was the first time he shared images in nearly 20 years. With attempt by Professor Larry Molnar of Calvin College to all the first timers we’ve had the past two years, the predict the appearance of a nova in the near future, caused by astrophotography community within the KAS is looking very the merger of a contact binary star. The subject was of bright indeed. Highlights of this year’s Astrophotography interest to the Board, but there were questions about the fee Night can be found starting on page 6. ($150) or other honoraria. The conclusion was to try for screening the video in November, 2021, but only if we are Richard started off his President’s Report by thanking Joe meeting in person by then. Richard was also making Comiskey, Dave Garten, Jack Price, and Don Stilwell for arrangements to allow people to register for Zoom meetings helping to move stuff into the new storage facility. The from our website. They will automatically receive the Remote Telescope is back online after the monsoon season meeting link and pass codes after filling out the information shutdown and a training session would be scheduled soon. required for registration. Those wishing to attend the Richard then previewed upcoming events such as the Introduction to Amateur Astronomy lecture series will still 2020/2021 season of Online Viewing Sessions and another need to register via the KAS website. In further New installment of his Introduction to Amateur Astronomy lecture Business, Richard showed rough drafts of the schedules for series. He also discussed the possibility of forming an general meetings and observing sessions for 2021. Reasons Astrophotography Special Interest Group (SIG). Richard for the choices made were discussed by the Board, and closed out his report by stating he would be soon contacting Richard requested that other comments and questions be those that needed to renew their membership. communicated as soon as possible.
The meeting concluded with the usual discussions of In Other Business, Richard reported that the Kalamazoo astronomical news and observing reports, but Richard forgot Nature Center had changed the lock on their exit gate from a to record the Zoom meeting! Someone remind him next time. keyed padlock to a combination lock. This could lead to The meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm. problems with lock-ins for those staying late. The promised lock box on the entrance gate could still provide egress, but Richard planned to check what measures would be used to insure that we do not get locked in on late-night observing sessions. Richard raised the question of whether his charging a fee for his 12-week Introduction to Astronomy course would cause conflict-of-interest concerns. His proposed fee is $150 for the full course. Since Richard had done all of the work to develop the course, the Board did not see serious problems in this regard. This would possibly need to be re- The KAS Board gathered virtually via Zoom on October 11, evaluated if the number of students grew higher than 2020. Members present by internet were Richard Bell, Joe anticipated. Don asked whether we need to charge more for Comiskey, Dave Garten, Scott Macfarlane, Jack Price, Aaron renewals of the Remote Telescope fee when it is done by Roman, Don Stilwell, and Roger Williams. Richard called PayPal, to make up for the amount charged by PayPal. The the meeting to order at 5:05 pm, and Don began with the consensus was that it is not necessary to hike our fee. Treasurer’s Report. He had made a few changes in the report format for clarity, and after a few questions about the With no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:05 meaning of terms, the report was accepted. pm. The next meeting was set for November 8th at 5pm.
Richard then summarized events for October and November, Respectfully submitted by Roger Williams
Prime Focus Page 2 November 2020 Fourth Observatory in 35 Years: Moving Toward the Ideal
Every time I have built an observatory, it was going to be the last time. Here I am again, for the fourth time, building an observatory and I will not say this is the last time. One thing is for sure, it was easier building them when I was younger!
I have learned over the years from my previous mistakes and have incorporated that learning into this observatory, again with modifications to account for the different weather conditions. All of the structures have had the same basic design, the walls’ height varied depending on local terrain, from 4 to 5 to now 7 feet, the roof angle has gone from 45° slop to a 30° slope. The same basic roll off design has served me very well.
In the first three observatories there was always some calamity that befell the structure. In South Carolina where I built my first observatory and used it for 3 years, the the years we had many of these and they resulted in a very observatory was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, only light dusting of ash within the observatory. The one from 6 months after we had moved to Indiana. Now you might which I never did completely recover from occurred in the think that I dodged a bullet but not so fast. On the Memorial big fires of late 2007. The dead space inside the observatory Day weekend of 1989, shortly after building my second basically acts like an ash trap and when it was over observatory in central Indiana, we were hit by a tornado. It everything, and I do mean everything, had a one eighth inch tore the roof off, lifting it up and over the building. When we covering of the ash. I never did fully recover from this mess came out of the basement, you can imagine my horror to see until I had to disassemble everything in 2009 to move to the scope actually completely intact standing in the Michigan. While I did my best to get things cleared off, I observatory but being drenched by rain! I rebuilt the roof of was interrupted by a job opportunity in the middle of 2008 (I course, but still had not taken into account snow blizzard had been laid off from my job of 15 years in early 2007). conditions and how snow can pile up inside a structure that During late 2009, I completely disassembled the observatory by its nature cannot be completely sealed. Fortunately, and got it moved to our new place in Marcellus, Michigan during our 3 years in Indiana we never had a blizzard that (lots of corn fields) and put it in storage. We finally got tested this, and once again we were off, this time to southern completely settled in during spring of 2010. It was time to California. build my fourth observatory.
Snow blizzards were not a concern in California so I gave no By now I knew several things that I would need to deal with thought to this issue. Because of the uneven terrain on which and technology was going to allow me to do other things I I was building, once I had a place carved out from the side of couldn’t do before. I knew this time I would have to deal the hill, I was forced to raise the walls to 5 feet in order to with the frequent snow storms. Also I knew because of a accommodate the roll off rails. No problem, one remains much windier area we lived in, I would need to have more flexible in this game. However, something even more protection. This led me to build the walls of the observatory hideous than snow storms was lurking about, wild fires. Over at 7 feet for added protection. This led to two issues, one when I opened and closed the roof, and when the telescope is actually pointing to certain parts of the sky, something I didn’t foresee, but more on this later. I also didn’t want to sit in the observatory at night and fight very humid or very cold weather and certainly didn’t want to deal with mosquitoes, so it was decided, to run everything from inside the house where I could access the observatory computers through a network line.
Figures 1 and 2 show essentially the completed observatory, both closed and opened. Notice in Figure 1 the arrows pointing to 2 boat winches. This was one of the issues alluded to above that created a problem with the 7 foot walls. I could no longer hand open the roof. I couldn’t reach the beams above by hand like I did for the 4 and 5 foot versions. So I used a pole to push the roof. The problem was that the angle was relatively steep so a good portion of the force I
Prime Focus Page 3 November 2020 the observatory AND it interfaces with the router in the observatory. This allows me to see the power outlet from inside the house and turn on and off any of eight different devices with the click of the mouse. I can assign certain functions to any of the eight outlets. So as an example, I can now, with a mouse click, turn on-off the thorium argon lamp, the slit illumination light etc., on my spectroscope. This solved a lot of issues for only $109! So now I still have all the conductors in the conduit I can use for other (unforeseen) devices/functions.
Of all my past experiences around the country with my observatories what I miss the most is the nearly constant clear skies of southern California. For years my scope ran unattended night after night collecting data from all over the skies using scripts. This as you all know is much tougher in our geographic location and its variable weather conditions.
was delivering was NOT going toward pushing the roof, but rather lifting it (think in terms of vector forces). It was very difficult to move the roof so I purchased two hand boat winches and this completely solved the problem. These have since been replaced by electric winches and can open and close the roof from inside the structure.
The second issue with the 7 foot walls is pointed to by the Astronomy is intimately connected to our most basic need; yellow arrow in Figure 2. Because I have a German the quest to know where we fit in the grand scheme of equatorial mount, I did not have good access to the southern things. We’re lucky to live in a time when we’ve come to sky (yellow arrow points to southern side). At the last minute understand the basic rules of planetary motion, stellar I had to modify this wall with a 2 foot hinged portion that evolution, and the origin of the universe. We still strive to hinges open allowing complete access to the south. Finally I reach further. Fortunately, we live in a new Golden Age of had to deal with snow which I knew was going to be an issue Astronomy, where the blend of technology and mathematics when blowing. It didn’t come to me until November of that has led us to a time when startling discoveries are made year when snow could start coming anytime. The red arrow almost daily. But the journey is far from over. We still have of Figure 2 points to the solution I used. It was an extension much to learn about the universe. To that end, I’m pleased to of the siding coming down from the mobile roof piece and offer an online 12-week Introduction to Astronomy course overlapping about 8 inches with the side of the observatory. th that begins on January 12 and meets twice a week until the
end of March. Figure 3 shows the completed set up inside with my
equipment. I have a vintage late 1990s Astrophysics 5-inch This will be a class of personal enrichment being offered by refractor and a Planewave CDK17 on a Paramount ME. Just an amateur astronomer, for amateur astronomers. It is not a couple months ago after 20 years of flawless performance, for those that need to fore fill a college science credit, but for the electronics in the ME failed so I had to take everything people that only care about enhancing their knowledge of the apart and ship mount back to Software Bisque for an upgrade cosmos. Perhaps you took an astronomy class in college and refurbishment. decades ago and need a refresher or you’re a new amateur astronomer that wants to learn everything you can; either way, this is the course for you. As with any course there will be assignments to complete and exams to be taken, but no grades or credits will be given. This is a great way for people to challenge and better themselves while self-quarantining this winter during the pandemic.
The class is broken into four sections. I call the first “Sky & Telescope,” since it covers the night sky, motions of the Sun and Moon, plus light and telescopes. The second section covers stellar evolution, while the third tackles galaxies and cosmology. The fourth part wraps the course up with an in- depth tour of the solar system. The fee is $150/person ― a Also in this same time frame of constructing the observatory, fraction of the cost to take the same course at KVCC I rented a trencher and dug the trenches to lay the conduit for (currently $570, which is also meeting online). Please check the power line and the network/wiring lines before the out the course syllabus to learn more and contact me to ground froze up. Then I discovered the web power switch register. Once I’m sure there’s enough interest for the class shown in Figure 4. This device plugs into a power outlet in to proceed, I’ll contact everyone that signed up.
Prime Focus Page 4 November 2020 NASA Night Sky Notes... The International Space Station 20 Continuously Crewed Years of Operation
by David Prosper
Did you know that humans have been living in the International Space Station, uninterrupted, for twenty years? Ever since the first crew members docked with the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2000, more than 240 people have visited this outpost, representing 19 countries working together. They have been busy building, upgrading, and maintaining the space station - while simultaneously engaging in cutting-edge scientific research.
The first modules that would later make up the ISS were launched into orbit in 1998: the Russian Zarya launched via a Proton-K rocket, and the US-built Unity module launched about a week and a half later by the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Subsequent missions added vital elements and modules to the Space Station before it was ready to be inhabited. And at last, on November 2, 2000, Expedition-1 brought the first three permanent crew members to the station in a Russian Soyuz capsule: NASA astronaut William M. Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenk. Since then, an entire generation has been born into a world where humans continually live and work in space! The pressurized space inside this modern engineering marvel is roughly equal to the volume of a Boeing 747, and is sometimes briefly shared by up to 13 individuals, though the average number of crew The ISS photobombs the Sun in this amazing image members is 6. The unique microgravity environment of the taken during the eclipse of August 21, 2017 from ISS means that long-term studies can be performed on the Banner, Wyoming. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky space station that can’t be performed anywhere on Earth in many fields including space medicine, fluid dynamics, the effects of microgravity on the human body itself, biology, meteorology and environmental monitoring, absolutely vital knowledge for future crewed exploration particle physics, and astrophysics. Of course, one of the into deep space. biggest and longest experiments on board is research into Stargazers have also enjoyed the presence of the ISS as it graces our skies with bright passes overhead. This space station is the largest object humans have yet put into orbit at 357 feet long, almost the length of an American football field (if end zones are included). The large solar arrays – 240 feet wide - reflect quite a bit of sunlight, at times making the ISS brighter than Venus to observers on the ground! Its morning and evening passes can be a treat for stargazers and can even be observed from brightly-lit cities. People all over the world can spot the ISS, and with an orbit only 90 minutes long, sometimes you can spot the station multiple times a night. You can find the next ISS pass near you and receive alerts at sites like NASA’s Spot the Station website (spotthestation.nasa.gov) and stargazing and satellite tracking apps.
Hundreds of astronauts from all over the world have crewed A complete view of the ISS as of October 4, 2018, taken the International Space Station over the last two decades, from the Soyuz capsule of the departing crew of and their work has inspired countless people to look up and Expedition 56 from their Soyuz capsule. This structure ponder humanity's presence and future in space. You can was built by materials launched into orbit by 37 United find out more about the International Space Station and how States Space Shuttle missions and 5 Russian Proton living and working on board this amazing outpost has and Soyuz rockets, and assembled and maintained by helped prepare us to return to the Moon - and beyond! - at 230 spacewalks, with more to come! nasa.gov.
Prime Focus Page 5 November 2020 Astrophotography Night Highlights
Elephant Trunk Nebula Dave & Ma Garten
The Elephant Trunk Nebula is a concentra on of dense gas and dust within the emission nebula IC 1396, located about 2,400 light-years away in the constella on Cepheus. The Elephant Trunk itself can be found in the lower right por on of this image and is designated as IC 1396A. The nebula contains newly born stars less than 100,000 years old. Details: Equipment includes a Takahashi FSQ 106 refractor and ZWO ASI6200MM Pro CMOS camera on a Losmandy G-11 German equatorial mount. This is an 4.5-hour total exposure through three ZWO 2-inch 7nm narrowband filters (H-alpha = 15 x 360-seconds, OIII = 15 x 360-seconds, and SII = 15 x 360-seconds). Acquired with Sequence Generator Pro. Processed with PixInsight. Taken from Walkerville, Michigan in the Huron-Manistee Na onal Forest.
Trifid Nebula Pete Mumbower
The Trifid Nebula (M20) is an emission, reflec on, and dark nebula all rolled into one located 5,200 light-years away in the constella on Sagi arius. Trifid means “divided into three lobes” and was named by John Herschel. The nebula is about 15 light-years across and contains a star cluster less than 400,000 years old. Details: Equipment includes a TPO 8-inch f/8 Ritchey-Chre en Astrograph and ATIK 383L+ CCD camera on a Celestron CGE Pro mount. This is a 5.6-hour total exposure through four Astronomik IIc filters (Luminance = 43 x 5-minutes, Red = 10 x 4-minutes, Green = 10 x 4- minutes, and Blue = 10 x 4-minutes). Captured with Sequence Generator Pro. Processed with PixInsight. Acquired from Vicksburg, Michigan on June 15 & 16, 2020.
Evening Lunar Earthshine Kevin Jung
The Crescent Moon (with Earthshine) hangs in the western sky over the "Big Red" Lighthouse at Holland State Park in Holland, Michigan. The lighthouse is being lit from the side by a barge on the north side of the channel, in the process of dredging the Holland Channel. Earthshine is a glow which lights up the unlit part of the Moon because the Sun's light actually reflects off Earth's surface and back on to the Moon. Details: Canon EOS 7D and EF 17-85mm zoom lens (set at 75mm and f/5.6) on a sta onary tripod. Exposure me is 1.6 seconds at ISO 800. Taken on September 19, 2020 at 8:39 pm EDT. Astrophotography Night Highlights
Rose e Nebula Mike Pa on
The Rose e Nebula is located 5,200 light-years away in the constella on Monoceros. The emission nebula itself is designated as NGC 2237, 2238, and 2246; while the cluster at the center is NGC 2244. Details: Equipment includes a Meade 14-inch SCT, equipped with a hyperstar, on a PlaneWave L-350 mount. This is a 30-minute total exposure made from six 5-minute subframes using a ZWO AS1071-MC CMOS camera. Processed with MaxIm DL and Adobe Photoshop.
North America Nebula Lloyd Simons
The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) is an emission nebula located about 2,590 light-years away in the constella on Cygnus the Swan. German astrophotographer Max Wolf was the first to no ce its resemblance to the con nent in 1890. Details: Equipment includes an Astro-Tech AT72EDII with 0.8x reducer (FL = 344mm) and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro CMOS camera on an Vixen Super Polaris mount. This is an 18.9-hour total exposure through three Astrodon 5nm narrowband filters (H-alpha = 84 x 240-seconds, OIII = 116 x 240-seconds, and SII = 87 x 240-seconds). Captured with Nigh me Imaging 'N' Astronomy (NINA) imaging suite. Processed with PixInsight. Acquired from Ma awan, MI on September 3, 6 and 18, 2020.
Double Cluster Cary Mannaberg
The Double Cluster is composed of open clusters NGC 869 and 884 (centered). Both are located in the constella on Perseus at a distance of 7,500 light-years. The Greek astronomer Hipparchus cataloged the object as a “cloudy spot” near Perseus as early as 130 BCE. William Herschel was first to recognize the object as two separate clusters. Both clusters are about 12.8 million years old. Details: Equipment includes a Unistellar eVscope, a 110mm aperture, 450mm focal length Newtonian reflector with an electronic sensor at the focus. It was taken from the Kalamazoo Nature Center. — November Night Sky —
This star map is property of the This map represents the sky at the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. NORTH following local standard mes: However, you may make as many • Early October 11 pm copies as you wish free-of- charge, so long as it is for non- • Late October 10 pm profit educa onal purposes and • Early November 8 pm full credit is given to the KAS. • Late November 7 pm www.kasonline.org EAST WEST
SOUTH
he Moon meets planets in both the Spica, and Mercury are now all arranged Saturn form an arc about 10° long at dusk T morning and evening sky throughout in a trapezoid. on November 18th. By the next evening, November. Look in the east-southeast the arc is transformed into a triangle. The before dawn on November 12th to see a The Leonid meteor shower peaks during Moon, now a waxing gibbous, moves to waning crescent Moon, Venus, and Spica the pre-dawn hours of November 17th. within 5° of Mars on November 25th. in a curved line about 12½° long. Look 9° Despite no moonlight interference, don’t to the lower left of Spica and you might expect more than 15 - 20 meteors/hour. The nearly full Moon will be between the spot elusive Mercury. By the next Hyades and Pleiades clusters on the morning, a thin sliver of a Moon, Venus, A waxing crescent Moon, Jupiter, and evening of November 29th. November 2020 Page 9 PRESIDENT Richard S. Bell
VICE PRESIDENT ONLINE VIEWING SESSION Jack Price Enjoy the wonders of the universe as seen through the “eyes” of the KAS Remote Telescope, TREASURER located under the dark skies of southeastern Arizona. A endees will view images of deep-sky Don S lwell objects captured with the system’s CCD cameras in Arizona, transmi ed to par cipant’s computer, SECRETARY/ALCOR tablet, and smart phone screens in southwest Roger Williams Michigan and around the world. Images acquired during each session will be made available for download. PUBLICITY MANAGER th Saturday, November 7 (14th) @ 8:30 pm Joe Comiskey Held on Zoom • Click here to Register MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Dave Garten
Sco Macfarlane Introduction to Amateur Astronomy
Aaron Roman The five-part lecture series that will turn you into a star-hopping sky master returns star ng rd E-MAIL a BOARD MEMBER January 23 . For the first me ever, the lecture series will be offered online via Zoom. Registrants will be provided with the mee ng ID and password, along with comprehensive notes for each installment of the series. Only those par cipants that a end ALL FIVE parts will receive a Cer ficate of Comple on.
CLICK to REGISTER
Opening nominations for 2021 KAS Officers and At-Large Board Members will take place during the November General Meeting.
Please send us your nominations if you are unable to attend the meeting. Ask not what the KAS can do for you, but what you can do for the KAS! General Meeting Preview
You Can Almost Touch the Stars
presented by Tom Field, S&T Contributing Editor
Even if you wanted to touch a star, they’re all impossibly distant. Despite these great distances, astronomers have learned an enormous amount about stars. How? The most common method to study the stars is called spectroscopy, which is the science of analyzing the colorful rainbow spectrum produced by a prism-like device.
Until recently, spectroscopy was too expensive and too complicated for all but a handful of amateurs. Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us. You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, enormous aperture...or a big budget! With your current telescope and FITS camera (or a simple web cam or even a DSLR without a telescope) you can now easily study the stars yourself. Wouldn’t you like to detect the atmosphere on Neptune or the red shift of a quasar right from your own backyard?!
This talk, with lots of interesting examples, will show you what it’s all about and help you understand how spectroscopy is used in research. Even if you are an armchair astronomer, understanding this field will enhance your understanding of the things you read and the night sky.
Friday, November 6 @ 7:00 pm Held on Zoom • Click here to Register
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society c/o KAMSC STAMP 600 West Vine, Suite 400 Kalamazoo, MI 49008
© November 2020, Stargazer Productions