The Sidereal Times
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since 1959 Observe—Educate—Have Fun May 2019 The Sidereal Times The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society P.O. Box 50581, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87181-0581 www.TAAS.org Ou r 60 t h An n iversary Si nce 1959 General Meeting News TA A S Astronomy101 MAY 25TH - 6:00 P.M. Speaker: Vance Ley “Bare Bones Basic Sky Photography” Science and Math Learning Center, UNM Campus Free and Open to the Public Prior to the TAAS General Meeting on May 25, TAAS astro- Photo by Vance Ley TAAS GENERAL MEETING photographer Vance Ley will present As- Th MAY 25 - 7:00 P.M. tronomy 101: “Bare Bones Basic Sky CHACO SCIENCE ANd MATh LEARNING CENTER Photography.” UNM CAMPUS CANYON FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC This evening will be a presentation on DSLR + tripod night sky pho- STAR tography, suitable for brand-new, PARTY beginner astronomers who’d like to Our featured speaker for the TAAS General Meeting on May take pictures of the night sky. The May 31st 25 will be Ron Kramer, president of the Astronomical League talk will also assume that the aspir- ing photographer’s experience is and (AL). His topic: “All About the Astronomical League.” ST limited to taking snapshots on auto- June 1 matic and autofocus. Kramer says the AL has about 18,000 members worldwide See Page 6 with hopes of growing to about 20,000 members by next year. AL’s primary goals are the fostering of astronomical educa- Vance is one of the most accom- tion, providing incentives for astronomical observation and plished astrophotographers we research, and assisting communications among amateur astro- have, and has taught numerous oth- nomical societies. continued on page 2 . ers how to capture images —Lynne of New Olson Mexico’s beautiful night skies. Public Star Party Public Star Party La Vida Llena Event Bachechi Open Space Oak Flat Picnic Area for La Vida Llena residents. Sat., May 18 Sat., June 8 Tue., May 14 6:00–11:00 p.m. INSIDE 2....... President’s Message, Bachechi Open Space 7....... TAAS Baseball Outing June 12 11........ Astrophoto: Mars and Constellations 3....... Nightscape: Corona Arch 8....... Astrophoto: Lagoon Nebula (M8) 12........ Opinion: Astronomy Terms 4....... Under the Dome, Telescope Loan Update 9....... Spring Placitas Star Party 13........ TAAS Reports & Notices 6....... Chaco Canyon Observing Event 10....... Texas Star Party 14........ TAAS Directors & Staff continued on page 3 . The Sidereal Times May 2019 President’s Message Jim Fordice Large Star Parties are Great! sider it. By observing for several nights in a row you will hone your observing I recently returned from my first skills and get to know your fellow ob- Texas Star Party. (See article elsewhere servers much better. Okie-Tex this year in this issue.) I thoroughly enjoyed it. will run Sept. 21-29. Check it out at I have also attended six Okie-Tex star http://www.okie-tex.com. parties. Help us Plan the 2020 ALCON These large star parties are photo by lynne olson a great experience. They TAAS is the hosting astrono- offer dark skies and sup- my club for the 2020 Astro- TAAS Public Star Party ply you with lots of fellow nomical League Convention observers to share your (ALCON), to be held July Bachechi Open Space views with in addition to 16-18. We formed a planning Visitors Center presentations, food, and ac- committee last year and are 9521 Rio Grande Blvd., NW commodations. making very good progress. We (corner of Rio Grande and Alameda) need your help. Please consider join- Saturday, May 18Th If you have not attended a large star ing us. Here are two important positions party yet I highly encourage you to con- we need to fill: 6:00–11:00 p.m. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 2020 ALCON Co-Registrar: The 2020 . .. g eneral Meeting n e w s ALCON Committee needs someone to serve as the Co-Registrar. The Co-Reg- continued from p a g e 1 Our spring star party at the Bachechi istrar will assist the Registrar (David Open Space Visitors Center will be held on Downs) in setting up and running the Saturday, May 18 from 6 to 11 p.m. (sunset effort to register conference partici- This presentation will discuss the benefits at 7:59 p.m.). It is co-hosted with TAAS by pants. of being a member of the League and the the County of Bernalillo. The public can plans for its future, including “diversifica- observe the wonders of New Mexico skies 2020 ALCON Publicist: The committee tion of the League and its member clubs, through TAAS member telescopes. needs someone to help us publicize the global expansion, and the obtaining of conference. The Astronomical League grants from commercial, personal and gov- Phil Fleming will present the TAAS Fabu- provides a lot of support for this effort. ernmental agencies, which will enable the lous Fifty Spring Session inside the Educa- We need you to work with them to pro- League to further reach its goals.” tion Building at 7:00 p.m. to acquaint the vide the inputs they need. group with the stars, constellations and Kramer will also discuss some of AL’s im- planets of the season, which visitors will be Please contact me if you are interested mediate needs, including a new Webmas- seeing as it darkens and observing begins. in filling one of these important posi- ter and candidates for upcoming elections. Our astronomers are eager to show off the tions. targets of the season and answer any ques- The 2020 Astronomical League Conference tions guests may have. (ALCON) will be held July 16-18 in Albu- querque, and TAAS is the host club. The A large parking lot is available to all visi- hardworking TAAS Astronomical League tors, with entry leading to the access path. coordinator is Becky Ramotowski. (ALCON There is limited parking from the Rio 2019 will be at the Kennedy Space Center Grande entrance side. Please arrive before in Florida.) dusk and bring a jacket for any evening chill, as well as only red flashlights or Ron Kramer was raised in Brooklyn NY and Observe – Educate – Have Fun headlamps to preserve night vision. served in the Air Force during Vietnam as an F-4 fighter pilot. He holdsReflector a BS degreeMag - *TAAS members with telescopes: see ar- azinein Physics from Columbia University. He is ticle on www.TAAS.org for maps to and managing editor of the AL’s of the site, where to enter and how to ac- and CEO/COO of Las Cruces-based—Lynne Olson cess the observing area. Rick —Lynne Vergas is Olson the RJI Publishing Inc. Owner of this event. Page 2 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times May 2019 Corona Arch, west of Moab, Utah, near the Colo- nometer app on my phone and the direction using my phone’s rado River. I attended the Nightscaper Conference in Moab compass since Polaris was behind the rocks to my north. The May 1-3 and stayed a few extra nights for photography. On two images were blended in Photoshop. It was also a bit chal- the day after the conference I hiked to Corona Arch with two lenging to set up on the 20-degree slope of the rocks in front friends and 40 pounds of camera equipment on my back over of the arch. The light dome at the horizon seen through the a pretty strenuous 3-mile round trip trail (uphill both ways, it arch is light pollution from Moab, 15 miles away. seemed). This arch was famous for people swinging under it on ropes or I shot two time lapses and also managed to get this image, bungee cords – until a Darwin Award winner killed himself by made from two exposures – the foreground and the sky. jumping off the top of the arch with a rope that was too long. Equipment: Nikon D850 and Nikon 14-24 lens at 14 mm and Such activity is now banned on this and several other arches in wide open at F2.8, tripod, and Sky Watcher Star Adventurer the area. equatorial mount. The arch was lit by 3 strategically placed, very low light-level LEDs with tungsten filters (given to us Such arches formed after seas covering the area evaporated, at a previous night’s workshop). The light was so dim on the leaving salt beds between sandstone formations deposited arch that it could not be seen with the dark adapted eye. 150 million years ago. The salt beds eroded, the sandstone domes collapsed and weathered into vertical slab-like “fins.” I exposed the foreground for 120 seconds with the sky track- Sections of the thin walls eventually eroded through, forming er turned off. The sky was also a 120 second exposure, but arches – some 50–100 million years old. with the tracker turned on. I had to do a polar alignment by setting the elevation angle of the tracking axis using an incli- —Bob Fugate Page 3 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times May 2019 Under the Dome The Clanons used a 90mm CST and a Ce- lestron 11” for views of Messiers. David and Notes from and about GNTO Jim Fordice Dan stayed all night and bagged 101 Messier Johnobjects. Purnell commented April 6 - New Moon Observing: : I wanted to drop and Elaine Clanon, and Dan and Tara Clanon. a reply thanking the members that made Alan Scott and Mark Goodman opened the my first experience at GNTO such a fun and site.