Vol. 59, No. 3, MARCH, 2014

Next Meeting – Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 at 8pm

~ “The Most Massive Stars and a Pair of X-ray Goggles,” ~ with Speaker Veronique Petit, University of Delaware Postdoctoral Associate at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory

FROM THE PRESIDENT Bill Hanagan IN THIS ISSUE: NEW News of Importance to ALL Members Pages 2 & 3 First off, I’d like to thank everyone who contrib- uted to our February meeting, including Greg Lee DAS 2014 Elections by Elections Chair Fred DeLucia Page 4 DAS Short Course on Astronomy Returns Page 4 who let us know “What’s Up” and Julia Dooley for her Ground Fog Day (errrr...Night) Page 5 talk on Exo-planet Discovery. Thanks also go out to On the New Equipment Front Page 6 Rob Lancaster for the Video Tribute to the late John Outreach at the Delaware Astronomical Society Page 7 Dobson and to Mike Cimorosi and Diana Metzger for NEW HORZONS Reaches the Final Four (AU) Page 7 Spring Observing Season is About to Begin by Fred DeLucia Page 8 the refreshments. Jeff Lawrence and Greg Lee also New Images by Member Rob Lancaster Page 9 deserve a nod for opening up the Sawin after the More Images by Member Frank Colosimo Page 10 meeting despite all the snow on the ground. Those More Images by Member Rob Worden Page 11 who braved the snowpack were treated to an unusu- DAS Events and Member Star Party Dates Pages 12-13 ally steady and detailed view of Jupiter. Notes on Member Star Parties Pages 12-14 Coming up at our March 18 meeting, Greg Other Astronomy Events for DAS Members Page 14 Lee will give us another installment of What’s Up in the Sky. Our main speaker for the March meeting Rain and Snow Satellite Launched February 27th Page 15 Borrow Before-U-Buy: Sawin & DAS Loaner Scopes & Equip. Page 16 will be University of Delaware Postdoctoral Associate Veronique Petit, who will present a talk titled “The Astro Photo of the Month & Website of the Month Page 17 Most Massive Stars and a pair of X-ray Goggles”. Veronique’s talk will examine X-ray astronomy and From Around the Web: Spiral Galaxy Spills Blood and Guts Page 18 the unique information it can give us about the exciting lives of the most massive stars. NASA Science News” Once again, I’d like to remind you to keep California Drought Page 19 thinking about how you can contribute to the DAS 10 More Years for Space Station Page 20 Mars Rover Solves Donut Riddle Page 21 and how you can make the DAS a better astronomy Looking Back to the Cradle of the Universe Page 22 club. We’ve had some volunteers step forward, and NASA Hosts Launch of Book Series Page 22 we’ve received a variety of equipment donations, but Video Shows Movement of Major Storm Page 23 more volunteers and donations Chandra sees Pulsar Firing Extraordinary Jet Page 24 Hubble Watches Stars’ Clockwork Motion Page 25 are needed. Supernovas Slosh Before Exploding Page 26 A club works best when all of its able-bodied NuStar Untangles Mystery of How Stars Explode Page 27 members pitch-in and help out at club functions in The Shocking Behavior of a Speedy Star Page 28 whatever way they can. If you want to make the A Breakthrough in Planet Discoveries Page 29 Largest Solar System Moon Detailed in Geologic Map Page 30 DAS a better astronomy club, give me a call at 302- Newtonian Mirror Making Seminar Planned Page 30 239-0949. I’m sure we can come up with something Spitzer Stares into the Heart of New Supernova M82 Page 31 that you can do to help the DAS that also suits your A Telescope Bigger Than a Galaxy Page 32 particular interests. GREAT Deals on Equipment & More from DAS Page 33 Info on Mt. Cuba & Club Special Interest Groups Page 34 Each issue of FOCUS is full of useful hyperlinks. Just click on any Info on Memberships & Magazine Subscriptions Page 35 graphic or telltale blue web address and your browser should take you Contact Information for the DAS Board Page 36 to additional linked web resources. “The Last Word” - FOCUS Editor Joe Neuberger Page 36 MORE Details on Page 4 in this Issue of the FOCUS!

Learn About -- Constellations, -- Meteor Showers, -- Asterisms, -- Comets, -- The Celestial Sphere, -- Eclipses, -- Time, -- Visual Observing, -- Coordinate Systems, -- Astro-Photography, -- Our Solar System, -- Stellar Magnitude, -- The Various Types of Nebula, -- And How to Choose, Use and -- Star Clusters Maintain a Telescope, Among -- Galaxies Other Topics

Plus Spend Time Taking a Telescopic Tour of the Wonders of the Night Sky Using the Society’s 12.5” Newtonian and other Telescopes.

FREE for DAS Members, $30 for Non-Members. Fee Includes a 6 Month DASMembership.

Contact Mike Cimorosi, DAS Education Chair at [email protected] www.DelAstro.org -2- “PUBLIC NIGHTS” at the Mt. CUBA OBSERVATORY...

MCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS Greg Weaver updates on programs planned. Interested individuals or groups can apply by letter or call 654-6407 (preferably The Mt. Cuba between the hours of 9 and 11 am, Monday through Friday) Observatory Public to the Observatory to obtain reservations for these “Public Nights”. Nights continue year The Public Nights schedule for 2014 follows: round! In addition to Date Speaker Topic learning about many 24 March Greg Lee Viewing Upcoming Solar & Lunar Eclipese aspects of the heavens, 7 April TBD TBD you’ll have a chance to 21 April TBD TBD 5 May TBD TBD 19 May TBD TBD the latest updated version off the website at: http:// 9 June TBD TBD 23 June TBD TBD MountCuba.org. Programs are presented on Monday nights at 8pm. Please check the website for full details and An Introduction to the Night Sky with DAS Observing Chair Greg Lee at Bellvue State Park Fred DeLucia The Delaware Astronomical Society provides an evening of stargazing to learn constellations through an Introduc- tion to Observing the Night Sky. This program is appropriate for beginners through advanced stargazers of all ages. Equipment will be available, or you may bring your own. Red-filtered lights only please. Pre-registration is not required . There is no fee for this program. If the weather is questionable on the night of the event you can call the park office after 12 noon for a Go/NoGo decision Meet in the field behind the Arts Center at Bellvue State Park. More info can be found at www.destateparks.com/ park/bellevue/programs/. The dates for these events are as follows: June 1, 9:00 (after the concert) July 2, 8:00 July 30, 8:00 Aug 27, 7:30 NOTE TO ALL MEMBERS: Please feel free to share your astronomy passions for all of us to enjoy by writing to FOCUS Editor Joe Neuberger at [email protected]. Members are interested in what you’ve been doing with Astronomy and the editor would like to include your experiences in future issues of the DAS newsletter. Impromptu Observing Sessions From time to time, outside of the normal MSP dates, which can be found on pages 10 and 11, the Yahoo Group will have announcements and invitations from members as opportunities arise for Impromptu Observing Sessions. If you’re interested in participating in these unscheduled “observing sessions” please, reply to the Yahoo Group posts so we know who is coming. If no one responds, the observing session could be canceled.

REMINDER: To get these notices as promptly as possible, be sure your Yahoo Group email account is set for Individual Emails. Go to YahooGroups.com, log in to your account and under Manage My Groups have your Mail Sub- scription for the DAS Yahoo Group set for “Individual Emails.” DAS Main Meeting Topics and Speakers thru June, 2014 March 18: “The Most Massive Stars and a pair of X-ray Goggles,” by Veronique Petit, University of Delaware Postdoctoral Associate. This talk will examine X-ray astronomy and the unique information it can give us about the exciting lives of the most massive stars. April 15: “Basic Optics in Astronomy,” by Mike Cimorosi May 20: Open; June 17: Open

-3- Total Solar Eclipse, Partial Phase - Photo taken in Yiwu, China on August 1, 2008 by DAS Member Don Shedrick. Photo captured using an Olympus E-500 camera at 1/500 second, f/8.0 at 200 mm, film iso200.

Observing with the Delaware Astronomical Society...

DAS 2014 Elections are in May Fred DeLucia, Elections Chair for 2014 This year, as with all “even-numbered” years, the DAS will hold the 2014 elections in May for the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Bill Hanagan, who has devoted time as President since 2008, will complete his current term but declines to run again. He will remain active with the DAS Special Interest Groups for astrophotography and telescope making, as well as continue his work helping to upgrade the Sawin Observatory’s equipment and be an active DAS member at meetings. Also, due to John Case’s pending move of his residence to the west coast, he will not seek another term as Vice-President, and possibly might have to vacate the position before his present term expires. We are, of course, sorry to see Bill and John preparing to leave the Board. Their imaginative direction and vigorous support contributes greatly to our status. The added value that they brought to the club over the years is immeasurable. Bill and John had assumed their larger roles in the DAS for the purpose of making us a better club. And in doing so, all of us were rewarded. We are enormously grateful for their efforts. Now, it’s time for other willing hands to help continue to shape the DAS’ future. All members in good standing who are at least 16 years of age, whose dues were paid as of the January 28, 2014 meeting, are eligible for nomination for President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. At the April meeting of the present Board I will submit the slate of nominated candidates and then during the general meeting I will open up the floor for any nominations not yet submitted. Between now and the April 15, 2014 meeting, you can nominate yourself, or nominate a fellow member who is in good standing whose dues were paid as of January 28, 2014. The ballots will be emailed to all active (dues paid) members on May 1st and must be completed and submitted by May 31st. Those elected will effectively assume their roles on July 1, 2014. After the summer break, they will preside at the meetings beginning in September. One need not be a rocket scientist to hold any of these positions. If you have a desire to contribute some of your energy and time to the DAS for the benefit of all members for a term of 2 years, then send me your name and state your intentions for office. Nominee’s names should be emailed to me, Fred De Lucia at [email protected]. If there are any questions, feel free to call me at 609-410-8943. SPECIAL NOTE FOR ALL MEMBERS: You can verify that your email address, mailing address and phone number that the club has on file for you are correct prior to May 1st. Email your current contact information to Jeff Lawrence, Treasurer, at [email protected]. In this way he can keep the club’s records updated so the DAS doesn’t miss your vote. DAS Short Course on Amateur Astronomy Returns Bill Hanagan The DAS is set to run an introductory short course on Amateur Astronomy this spring at the Mount Cuba Astro- nomical Observatory on April 2, 9, 16, 30, and May 7 beginning at 8:00 PM. The main intent of the course is to introduce beginners to basic aspects of amateur astronomy. DAS members Mike Cimorosi, Fred DeLucia, Bill Hanagan, Rob Lancaster, and Greg Lee will be instructors, but we’re looking for other DAS members to participate as well. If you would like to help out, let me know and I’ll work you into the program. In particular, we need volunteers to bring telescopes for observing. The course consists of 4 two-hour sessions. During the first hour of each session, we’ll be in the classroom or planetarium discussing the constellations and asterisms, the celestial sphere, time, coordinate systems, the planets and moons of our solar system, deep sky objects (including the various types of nebula, star clusters, and galaxies), meteor showers, comets, eclipses, visual observing techniques, astro-photography, stellar magnitude, and how to choose a telescope, among other topics. If the sky is clear during the second hour of each session, we will spend time taking a telescopic tour of the won- ders of the night sky using the DAS’s 12.5” reflector and other telescopes. On cloudy nights, we’ll explore the wonders of astronomy through the planetarium, and we’ll have demonstrations of telescope collimation and how to clean telescope mirrors and lenses. The course is free to current DAS members. The cost to non-member adults is $30 and includes a 6 month introductory membership in the DAS. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, but can attend for free. Reservations are required since seating is limited. To obtain reservations, email Mike Cimorosi (DAS Education Chair) at [email protected] and provide the names, email addresses, postal addresses, and telephone numbers of the adults in your group, as well as the number of any minors you plan to bring. Be sure to indicate if any of the adults listed are current DAS members. Mike will send an email confirming your reservation along with instructions for paying by check, credit card, or PayPal. -4- Ground Fog Day (errrr… Night) Fred DeLucia Ask any observational-recreational-astronomy- We made the right call to go out for a few hours of enthusiast: What has been the worst winter in years for observing and then we made the wrong call. Gradually we observing? You can hear the cries from light years away… got fogged in. The initial mildly inviting views of several it’s this one. Although this winter has had a number of clear DSOs were in a sky that had just a hint of haze. The night nights during the dark window (essentially the week before progressed as usual sharing views and animated chatter and after New Moon) those nights have been largely beset but it gave way to disappointment. The sky became hazier. with poor seeing and/or transparency, misforecast cloud The distant trees were disappearing from a growing fog that cover (including thick ground fog) and bitter cold tempera- surrounded us. The area was snow covered, except for the tures. But none of that stopped me or some observing parking lot where we were set up. Fog was forming over the buddies from the ChesMont and BucksMont clubs from snow as the ambient temperature dropped. As that was meeting up at the ChesLen Preserve on the night of Febru- happening clouds began coming in from the west in ear- ary 21. Nor did it keep Greg Lee, Bill Hanagan, Rob nest. It would clear a bit and then more clouds just seemed Lancaster, Jeff Lawrence, Keith Givens and new member to form where none were before. Chasing the proverbial James Tyrell from visiting the Sawin Observatory on the “sucker holes” or in this case sucker gaps, as some holes grounds of Mt. Cuba for the DAS MSP on the same night. were pretty large, got frustrating, but we decided to give it some time to see if things would clear up as the mid-day forecasts predicted.

Fred DeLucia Igor from the in the Fog BucksMont readying his Astro Society 18” Obsession with his Astro- for a problem- Tech 6” Ritchey- atic viewing Chretien on his session at Celestron AVX ChesLen mount was Preserve on imaging February 21st. SN2014j once again, but this time he was plagued with some moisture The supernova in M82 was still burning albeit at least a full issues that he later resolved. magnitude less than when last observed in January. At ChesLen it was still an easy catch in my 18”. Robert During the time-out I took the opportunity to call Werkman from ChesMont had his 22” and the extra 4 Greg Lee to see how my DAS friends were doing at the inches showed the expected slightly brighter image. Igor Sawin. Among highlights observed through the 12.5” from BucksMont with his Astro-Tech 6” Ritchey-Chretien on reflector at the Sawin were an Io shadow transit of Jupiter in his Celestron AVX mount was imaging SN2014j once again, early evening, NGC 457 (the Owl Cluster), the Orion Nebula but this time he was plagued with some moisture issues with nearby M43, M35, the Double Cluster and of course, that he later resolved. Lou Behrman, also from ChesMont, SN2014J the supernova in M82. left work late so he was short on time. His 17.5” stayed After an hour or so the clouds and fog had gotten home but he brought his new camera (sorry, I forgot the worse at ChesLen. So we decided to call it quits and model) and tripod to try his hand at some wide-field AP thanked the observing gods for gracing us with the brief work. His frustrations were evident as he remarked, “Next blessing of an opportunity to see SN2014J again. THEN, as time, it’s a telescope.” we were about half way through packing up our large scopes the sky began to get clearer and clearer. We figured it was just a tease and while contin- Rob Werkman uing to pack, the tree line that was from Ches invisible became visible, more of the Mont Astro Society had his horizon began opening up and by the 22” telescope time we were all packed the sky looked out, and the like a normal clear night!!! We proba- extra 4 inches bly could have coaxed another two evidenced the expected hours of observing out of the night if brighter images we remained patient. We flirted with on an overall the idea of setting up again as it was difficult only 11PM but, frustrated, decided to make it a short night. evening. We all drove home under clear skies.

-5- On the New Equipment Front Fred DeLucia I took advan As of this writing a special sale price for the mount contin- tage of the Explore ues until the current production run is sold out. The mount Scientific (ES) weighs only 3 pounds and can carry my 80mm f/6 (and eyepiece sale at accessories) with ease. Motions are buttery smooth and the end of last surprisingly stable for such a small lightweight mount year, before they carrying nearly 9.9 pounds of payload. The instructions hiked prices by as suggest not to “nudge” the scope along to track, rather just much as 40%, and gently guiding with your finger or with the supplied guide purchased their handle should suffice quite well. I’m anxious to test it with new 5.5mm 100° my C-8 SCT. It’s designed for use on camera tripods via its ocular. Those of 3/8-16 mounting hole but I’m using an Oberwerk wood you who have tripod. Ergonomics are quite reminiscent of a buddy’s much observed with me more expensive Nova Hitch mount from the same maker know that I’m a big that can handle a much larger payload. I set it up indoors to fan of the uber- familiarize myself with it but actually spent more time wide-field eye studying the Sky Commander manual. Again, hopefully, pieces such as the more to come on this in a future issue of the FOCUS. Tele Vue Ethos and the ES lines. Unfortunately, observing conditions have not favored using such a short focal length eyepiece in my 18” (it gives 411x) and I haven’t had my refractors out for serious observing in quite a while, so I can’t comment, yet, on its performance. I’ll have, further discussion on this, hopefully, next month. A big incentive to get that discussion into print is my acquisition of the new Free Turn Q (FTQ) mount from http:// www.halfhitchtelescope.com/ in Austin, TX. Billed as a “Grab ’n Go Specialist” the FTQ mount was offered at an insane introductory price late last year with encoders and the Sky Commander digital setting circles, so I jumped on it.

-6- Outreach at the Delaware Astronomical Society Fred DeLucia Clouds caused cancellation of the Friend’s School events scheduled for March 3 & 4 but the March 5 Bellevue State Park event was a huge success with 60 attendees (according to the ranger’s headcount) of scouts and eager Friend’s School students who missed out the previous two nights. Rob Lancaster and I were setting up while Greg Lee kicked it off with a fascinating tour of the night’s constellations via green laser pointer and then the lines formed at the optics to begin the observing. The cres- cent Moon, Jupiter with its Galilean satellites and the Orion Nebula were the star attractions at Greg’s 10” Dob, Rob Lancaster’s 100mm binoculars and my 102mm refractor. At some time during the questions from guests, instructions on how to look through a telescope and warnings not to kick the tripod legs, Diana Metzger arrived to help. Her clever epaulette positioned dual flashlights were an eyecatcher.Temperatures dropped pretty quickly into the 20’s, so by 8:30PM the crowd was gone. It was too late before we realized that we were so busy we forgot to take pictures. New Horizons Reaches the Final 4 (AU) February 27, 2014: New Horizons sailed past another milepost today when the NASA spacecraft moved to within four astronomical units (AU) of Pluto – which is less than four times the distance between the Earth and the sun, or about 371 million miles (598 million kilometers). "We're as close to the Pluto system now as Earth ever gets to Jupiter, a first for any spacecraft,” says New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo. “And hold on to your hat, it just gets more and more exciting from here." Since launch on January 19, 2006, New Horizons has covered nearly 2.89 billion miles (4.62 billion kilome- ters). It makes a temporal connection with one NASA’s legendary deep-space explorers this summer when it crosses the orbit of Neptune on Aug. 25 — exactly 25 years after Voyager 2 made its historic flight past that giant planet. When New Horizons arrives at Pluto on July 14, 2015, it will have traveled farther than any spacecraft ever has to reconnoi- ter its prime target. Follow New Horizons on its journey to Pluto and beyond.

Thermal infrared images of Saturn from the Very Large Telescope Imager and Spectrometer for the mid-Infrared (VISIR) instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, on Cerro Paranal, Chile, appear at center and on the right. An amateur visible- light image from Trevor Barry, of Broken Hill, Australia, appears on the left. The images were obtained on Jan. 19, 2011. -7- The Spring Observing Season is About to Begin Fred DeLucia For astronomy enthusiasts more akin to fairer weather outings the anticipated warmer weather should be upon us soon. Jupiter continues to ride high for prime time observing but Spring Galaxies are among my favorite observing targets. They abound in the upcoming months. As Orion moves closer to the horizon before disappearing from view the Virgo and Coma galaxy clusters bring a special connection between this observer and the universe. Seeing a half- dozen or more galaxies in the same field of view through an eyepiece is a humbling sight. Seeing more than a dozen for the first time nearly made me fall off a ladder as my mind was shocked into realizing what was possible to see through a telescope. Although truly dark skies are required to see these clusters in their glory, more than a reasonable hint of that glory can be seen at sites like Tuckahoe and Cherry Springs State Parks. ChesLen Preserve, also, gives up some eye-opening surprises, and although our 12.5” reflector in the Sawin is no slouch by any means, once our 17.5” Coulter is up and running, the Sawin Observatory at Mount Cuba will be a mouth gaper for photon hungry eyes. A quick browse of the DAS and Other As- tronomy Events page tells us that this upcoming season is aglow with enthusiast attractions: from an Opposition and Closest Approach of Mars that can be enjoyed in anyone’s backyard to as far north as The Spring Constellations: www.astromax.org -- The First Light Springfield, Vermont for the Stellafane Convention Astronomy Kit from David Chandler Company Buy it Now or Find Out More with much more in between. All of the events listed are accessible by car, although some considerably further than others. One of my most anticipated trips is NEAF, for which my hotel reservations are already made. My wife and I make this trip every year. I spend the weekend drooling over equipment I will never own, at- tending lectures by various astronomy notables and meeting up with friends for good eating and conversa- tion (seems the Saturday night dinner crowd at the Airmont Diner grows bigger every year. I think last year we hit 22). Notable talks by notable astronomy dignitaries this year include Alan Stern of the New Horizon’s Mission to Pluto and Neil de Grasse Tyson talking about the new COSMOS TV series. There’s also a talk on the Pro/Am conference about amateurs collaborating with professional astronomers on how amateurs can contribute to real science. Of course, it’s always a thrill winning an unexpected door prize. Each year I’ve been rewarded with something. Our first year attending NEAF my wife won a Stellarvue BV3 Binoviewer with a pair of 23mm eyepieces. Other years I won a set of Willmann-Bell books, a laser colli- mator, hats, shirts, filters, gift certificates and telescope cases (it’s not unheard of for a certain person to bring home a new telescope at show discount prices). Given clear enough skies, the Solar Party is not to be missed with countless solar scopes showcasing the most detailed views of our progenitor star. For those who have the astrophotography itch there’s NEIAC, the astrophotography portion of the Forum held on the two days prior to NEAF. You can have access to sessions from an introduction to astro- imaging to building, maintaining and operating a remote observatory plus everything in between, such as high resolution imaging, tone mapping, new CCD chips for UV, Optical, and Near-IR Astronomy and much more. See the links under “Other Astronomy Events” for The 23rd Northeast Astronomy Forum. Following NEAF I hope to make the DelMarva Spring Star Gaze later in April, and a few days camp- ing on the astronomy field at Cherry Springs State Park in May. Throughout the Summer I’ll look forward to our Woodside Creamery outreach events with some delicious ice cream, more trips to the ChesLen Preserve(especially, their Friday Night Lights on July 11) and, of course, the DAS Member Star Parties at the Sawin and elsewhere. As the winter moves off, I’m hoping to observe under more affable conditions for many extended sessions under clear, dark and steady skies. I hope many of you can join me.

-8- New Images by Member Rob Lancaster Rob just finished a major overhaul on his self-made 10” Newtonian telescope, having modified the mirror cell, moving and remounting the guide scope, adding a motorized focuser, changing the collimation screws/process, upgrading and redesigning the fan apparatus, upgrading the camera to an SBIG, building a new lightbox/cover for the front, reconfiguring the wiring, upgrading the counterweights, and having Bill Hanagan clean and test the primary mirror (Thanks Bill!). These images were shot from Rob’s driveway in North Wilmington, not exactly a “dark sky” site. The results, though, are outstanding!

The Horsehead Nebula - This image is a stack of 10 two minute Hydrogen Alpha images com- bined with five 1 minute R, G, and B images for a grand total of 30 images or about 35 minutes integra- tion time. PixInsight was utilized for the processing.

The Cigar Galaxy - This Messier 82 image is a stack of 6 clear images of 2 minutes each combined with five 1 minute R, G, and B images for a total of 20 images or about 27 minutes of integration time. PixInsight was again utilized for the processing. The supernova which caused so much excitement “...is definately fading,” states our DAS What’s Up in the Sky mentor Greg Lee.

-9- More Images by Member Frank Colosimo from His New Mountain Vista Observatory at New Ringgold, PA

Messier 35 (M35, NGC 2168) is a magnitude 5.3 open cluster in Gemini. It is an interesting object for visual observers since it has a smaller, fainter, more distant star cluster identified as NGC 2158 close by in the upper right in my image. This open cluster lies in our own Milky Way about 2800 light years away (as compared to the galaxies I like to image, which are usually 20 million light years away or farther). This is a “young” open star cluster and is only about 150 million years old. Most of the stars you see here are more massive than the sun and burning at very hot temperatures, which makes them blue-white in color. The red stars in the cluster are nearing the ends of their lives and have swelled into red giant stars.

Photo Date: Feb 26, 2014 Location: New Ringgold PA Optics: Hyperion 12.5 inch f/9 2532mm focal length; Mount: Paramount ME; Camera: SBIG STL 11000; Guiding: self guided; Exposure: RGB - R:10x8 min, G:9x4 min, B:9x10 min for a total of 3.5 hrs; Processing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing with Photoshop.

Messier 100 (also known as NGC 4321) is a mag 10.1 face-on spiral galaxy located in the southern part of the constellation of Coma Berenices. It is one of the brightest and largest galaxies in the Virgo cluster and is located approximately 55 million light-years from Earth. The nice edge-on galaxy to the right in my image is NGC 4312. Another small spiral galaxy can be seen to the left of M100 - NGC 4323, and there is an elliptical galaxy, NGC 4328 below M100. IC 783 is at the top, and there are other assorted PGC galaxies spread around this rich area.

Imaging data: Photo Date: Jan 5 - Feb 8 2014; Location: New Ringgold PA; Optics: Hyperion 12.5 inch f/9 2532mm focal length (Dicks); Mount: Paramount ME; Camera/Filters: SBIG STL1000 Camera with Baader RGBHa Filters; Guiding: Interal; Exposure: L:24x10 min R:27x8 min G:16x8 min B:26x10 min for a total of 14 hours ; Pro- cessing: Image acquisition using CCD Autopilot. Initial processing was done using Maxim DL with subsequent processing using Photoshop.

-10- More Images by Member Ron Worden from His Snobie Observatory at Bear, DE

Sun with a group of sun- spots - Color Shot taken using a full spectrum solar filter and a lunar filter . Photo captured with an STV Camera.

Solar Promi- nences of the Sun - Photo taken using a Hydrogen Alpha filter while utilizing an STV Camera.

Moon -Taken with a 10" Meade LX200, f/6.5, Focal Length 1625mm utilizing an STV camera.

-11- Saturn - Photo taken in November 2011 by DAS member Bill Hanagan. The image was obtained through a Celestron CG- 11 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope. Working jointly with Rob Lancaster, he used an EOS 50D DSLR and 2x Televue “Big Barlow” lens to capture several video sequences containing about 1800 frames each. The best frames were selected using the program Virtual Dub and the selected frames were stacked using Registax V4.

DAS Events and 2014 Member Star Party (MSP) Dates

In 2014, the locations and specific dates of upcoming MSPs will once again be scheduled using DAS Yahoo Group email. The mechanics of the MSP program are described in detail under “Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs)” below and continued on Page 11.

Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs) Bill Hanagan MSP cycles are timed for a minimum of intrusion by moonlight during the hours before midnight to maximize opportunities for deep sky observing and imaging. For each MSP cycle there are usually four potential dates designated in advance: the Friday and Saturday nights which immediately precede a new moon, and the Friday and Saturday nights that follow or include the new moon date. Which of the four potential dates is used for an MSP is “flex-scheduled” according to the weather using the DAS Yahoo Group email system. Please be sure to mark your calendars with the potential MSP dates that appear in the table! Obviously, you need to keep as many of these dates open as possible so that when a GO announcement is made you’re in a position to attend the DAS Member Star Party regardless of which date the weather favors! The DAS has a core group of dedicated visual observers and astro-imagers who (Continued on Page 14) -12- DAS Events and 2014 Member Star Party (MSP) Dates

OTHER ASTRONOMY EVENTS are listed on the following page.

-13- Other Astronomy Events: · The Delmarva Stargazers 14th Mid-Atlantic Mirror Making Seminar - March 20 through 23, 2014; at The Mallard Lodge, Smyrna, DE. http://www.delmarvastargazers.org/

· Staunton River Star Party -March 27 -20, 2014 – at the Staunton River State Park in Halifax County, VA http://www.chaosastro.com/starparty/

· The 23rd Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) and Solar Party - April 12 and 13 - Suffern, NY http://www.rocklandastronomy.com/NEAF/index.html, arguably the most anxiously awaited astronomy event of every year, plus Northeast Astrophotography and Imaging Conference (NEAIC) - April 10 & 11, the astrophotography event of the year http://www.rocklandastronomy.com/NEAIC/index.html on the two days preceding NEAF.

· DelMarva Spring Star Gaze - April 24 until Sunday April 27 - at the Tuckahoe Equestrian Center http://www.delmarvastargazers.org/

· Cherry Springs Star Party: June 26 to 29 - at Cherry Springs State Park, PA http:// www.cherrysprings.org/

· Mason-Dixon Star Party - July 23 -27, 2014 –at the Footlight Ranch in Wellsville, PA http:// masondixonstarparty.org/

· The 2014 Stellafane Convention - July 24 to 27 - at Breezy Hill, Springfield, VT http:// stellafane.org/

· StarFest –August 16 – Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site- Elverson, PA www.chesmontastro.org

· Black Forest Star Party - August 22-24, at Cherry Springs State Park, PA http://bfsp.org/

· DelMarva Fall No Frills Star Party - September 18 to 21 - at the Tuckahoe Equestrian Center http://www.delmarvastargazers.org/

Notes on the Member Star Parties (Continued from Page 10) travel to Tuckahoe, Cherry Springs, West Virginia, and other dark sky sites as opportunities and the weather allow. If you’re interested in going along or meeting up on any of the road trips mentioned in the MSP schedule, let me know and I’ll fill you in on the details and keep you apprised as plans develop. Road trips to distant observing sites like Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania require that several DAS members commit to going in advance should the weather prove favorable for both nights. When the weather forecast only looks good for one night, the MSP will often be redirected to a closer site such as the Elk River site, the ChesLen Preserve, or the Sawin observatory. While DAS members who go on road trips are often involved in both observing and imaging, these road trips are particularly valuable for visual observers because they offer the best opportunity to see deep sky objects through large aperture telescopes under dark skies. Most of today’s big Dobs produce vastly superior visual images compared to older, large aperture observatory telescopes with which you might be familiar, thanks in part to better optics, the use of a “thin” primary mirror which cools faster, and the use of fans to cool the primary mirror and to remove warm air from the optical path. If you are truly inter- ested in visual observing, you owe it to yourself to see first-hand what dark skies and a modern large aperture telescope will allow you to see. Finally, I’d like to remind you that you need to be signed up for the DAS Yahoo Group to receive the scheduling announcements for the MSPs. A full description of the MSP program appears on the DAS website at http://delastro.org/ and in the December 2009 issue of the FOCUS.

-14- RAIN AND SNOW SATELLITE LAUNCHED FEB. 27TH Feb. 26, 2014: As "The kind of Arthur C. Clarke once data we'll get from the remarked, "How inappro- GPM network is unprec- priate to call this planet edented," says Gail Earth when it is quite Skofronick-Jackson, clearly Ocean." GPM project scientist at Goddard. "We'll be able Indeed, Earth is to observe detailed a water world. The dry characteristics of rain land most of us call and snow systems that home covers less than a are extremely important third of the planet’s for improving weather surface. Water moves and climate forecasts." around Earth with a circulation as complex as A new ScienceCast video, "Follow the Water," previews the mission of the Global Normal opera- that of the human body. Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory. Click toPlay it tions will begin about 60 Evaporation, condensa days after launch. Data tion, and precipitation transport warmth and moisture from will be downlinked through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay place to place, sustaining life and setting the stage for Satellite System to NASA's Precipitation Processing Center weather and climate. in Greenbelt, Md., where it will be processed and distributed over the Internet. "The water-cycle, so familiar to all school-age young scientists, is one of the most dynamic and important GPM carries two instruments to measure rain and elements in our studies of Earth," says John Grunsfeld, snowfall: a Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar and the associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission GPM Microwave Imager. Compared to instruments flown on Directorate in Washington DC. "We're about to launch a previous Earth science satellites, GPM’s precipitation radar new satellite that gives us critical information about how the and microwave imager can see deeper into clouds and water-cycle works." detect smaller particles of rain, ice and snow. The radar will be able to form 3D profiles of precipitation, revealing the It's called the Global Precipitation Measurement inner workings of cloudy storm systems. The microwave Core Observatory--or "GPM" for short. Built by NASA and imager will measure not only heavy and moderate rain, as JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the other satellites do, but also light rain and snow—two forms satellite is scheduled to launch on Feb. 27th at 1 pm EST of precipitation important over mountain ranges and high- from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. latitude sites in North America, Europe and Asia.

GPM will fly 253 miles above Earth in an orbit What we learn from GPM network, concludes inclined 65-degrees to the equator. This orbit allows the Grunsfeld, "will help us cope with future extreme weather satellite to monitor precipitation all the way from the Arctic to events and manage fresh water resources" in a the Antarctic circles. Working with a network of other changing world. satellites--some already in orbit and some planned for the future--GPM can measure rain and snow every three hours Make that water world. anywhere on the globe.

Credits: Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA For More information: Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory -- home page

JAXA -- home page

-15- Borrow Before You Buy!... SAWIN OBSERVATORY REMINDER & DAS LOANER TELESCOPES & EQUIPMENT Bill Hanagan The DAS owns and maintains The Sawin Observa- outreach star parties at the Woodside Farm Creamery, so if tory on the grounds of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observa- you have it on loan from April through October you may be tory. The Sawin Observatory houses the club’s equatorially asked to bring it out to one or more of these events. mounted 12.5" reflecting telescope. The Sawin is also Meade 8” LX-10 Telescope currently home base for our 17.5" Coulter Odyssey 2 We also have an 8” Meade LX-10 Schmidt Dobsonian telescope, which is currently being upgraded to Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) available for loan. If you better quality optics. have any thoughts about buying a telescope, especially an DAS members can obtain a key for access to the SCT, you are strongly advised to take this one out on loan Sawin Observatory by being checked out on these tele- so you can learn the advantages and disadvantages of this scopes and the use of the observatory. Naturally, all DAS design. members are invited to look through these telescopes Barlowed Laser Collimator Toolset during our Member Star Parties (MSPs) at the Sawin. DAS Also available for loan to DAS members is Howie members who are interested in becoming key holders of the Glatter’s version of the Barlowed Laser Colimator. This is Sawin Observatory should contact Greg Lee to receive actually made up of a set of three very nice tools: 1) a 1.25” training in the use of the facility and the telescopes. Glatter laser collimator (which is useful on its own for We are currently working to improve the 17.5” Dob. The collimating the secondary mirror); 2) a 1.25” “TuBlug”, plan for this work has two key phases. In the first phase, which converts the straight beam laser collimator into a the optics and all factors affecting the quality of the optics, “Barlowed” laser collimator, complete with a target screen including ventilation, are being upgraded to allow the that’s visible from the back end of your Newtonian tele- telescope to reach a high standard of optical performance. scope; and 3) an Orion 2” to 1.25” centering adapter for use Funding for phase 1 has been approved and the with 2” focusers. work is far along. Although Phase 1 is intended to bring the Along with the center donut or triangle on your telescope to its full potential optically, it will leave the optics Newtonian primary mirror, a Barlowed laser collimator is a mounted in the archaic monolithic cardboard tube form, very accurate and incredibly easy way to collimate your which, because of its bulk and weight, is not as portable as Newtonian or Dobsonian telescope. It may sound compli- some would like. cated, but using the Barlowed laser collimator is incredibly In Phase 2 of the plan, which is optional and quick and easy compared to earlier generations of collima- currently not funded, the physical form of the telescope tion tools. As one person noted “It’s one of the handiest would be converted to the lighter and more portable truss and most useful tools the club has ever offered for loan to tube form, allowing the telescope to be more readily trans- the membership!” ported to a DAS dark sky site like the ChesLen Preserve, Obviously, no one DAS member can keep these Tuckahoe State Park, etc. collimation tools out on loan forever, but borrowing this set LOANER TELESCOPES and EQUIPMENT of tools is a great way to become familiar with the new 6” Orion Dobsonian Telescope “Barlowed Laser Collimator” approach to collimation without We have a 6" Orion Sky-Quest XT6 Dobsonian having to buy the tool set sight unseen. reflector, complete with eyepiece set, available for loan to If you’re interested in borrowing one of these members. You can keep the telescope out on loan for a telescopes or other items, please contact Bill Hanagan, Jeff month or more. However, we use this telescope heavily for Lawrence, or Greg Lee at one of our monthly meetings.

DAS FORUM / E-MAIL SITE ON YAHOO When adding or editing your profile, you will need to enter your Don Shedrick actual name in the “Real Name” box so you can be identified This is a restricted e-mail service for use by DAS as a DAS member so Don Shedrick can approve your applica- members for DAS purposes. To use this site, go to http:// tion to join the DAS group, and everyone will know to whom groups.yahoo.com; search for Delaware Astronomical they are communicating. Society; and click on the link that comes up. To join, you Finally, specify your desired email address for delivery of must have a Yahoo ID and password; if you don’t, you can messages. Note: You may choose to not have your name and register at this time by following Yahoo’s instructions. You will email address displayed to any-one other than DAS members then be allowed to “Join the group” upon clicking in that box. who are members of the Yahoo DAS email group. You must then register for the DAS group and add your profile For more detailed instructions, go to the DAS by clicking on “add new profile” and completing the form. website under DAS Resource Links.

-16- ASTRO-PHOTO THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY of the MONTH Photo by DAS Member Rick Davis Attached is an image of the Andromeda galaxy. acquired using a SBIG ST-4000XCM one shot color camera attached to a Takahashi FSQ-106N refractor (4" aperture, 530 mm focal length). It consists of twelve 10 minute images stacked and processed with calibrated color converted and combined color balanced DDP 2 gradient removal curves to remove background color.

WEBSITE of the MONTH https://www.zooniverse.org/ Space, Climate, Nature and Biology Research being done by Ordinary Interested People like YOU via the Web! The Zooniverse is home to the internet's largest, most popular and most successful citi- zen science projects. Our current projects are here but plenty more are on the way. If you're new to the Zooniverse, we suggest picking a project and diving in - the same account will get you into all of our projects, and you can keep track of what you've contributed by watching 'My Zooniverse'.

Origin: those using classifications that depend on the input of The Zooniverse began with a single project, Galaxy everyone who's visited the site. This commitment to produc- Zoo , which was launched in July 2007. The Galaxy Zoo ing real research - so that you know that we're not wasting team had expected a fairly quiet life, but were overwhelmed Real Science Online: and overawed by the response to the project. Once they'd The Zooniverse and the suite of projects it contains recovered from their server buckling under the strain, they is produced, maintained and developed by the Citizen set about planning the future! Science Alliance. The member institutions of the CSA work Galaxy Zoo was important because not only was it with many academic and other partners around the world to incredibly popular, but it produced many unique scientific produce projects that use the efforts and ability of volun- results, ranging from individual, serendipitous discoveries to teers to help scientists and researchers deal with the flood your time - is at the heart of everything we do. of data that confronts them. -17- Spiral Galaxy Spills Blood and Guts

This new Hubble image shows spiral galaxy ESO 137-001, framed against a bright background as it moves through the heart of galaxy cluster Abell 3627. This cluster is violently ripping the spiral’s entrails out into space, leaving bright blue streaks as telltale clues to this cosmic crime. Click for video.

March 4, 2014: This new Hubble image shows ESO 137-001, a Earth, the cluster lies close to the plane of the Milky Way and is galaxy located in the southern constellation of Triangulum Australe obscured by a thick smog of cosmic dust. But Hubble is up to the (The Southern Triangle) — a delicate and beautiful spiral galaxy, but challenge — using new data from Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). with a secret. As with most images from Hubble, this is not just a pretty This image not only captures the galaxy and its backdrop in picture; it tells us a great deal about the harsh environment at the heart stunning detail, but also something more dra-matic — intense blue of a galaxy cluster, and the fate of galaxies like ESO 137-001 that find streaks streaming outwards from the galaxy, seen shining brightly in passage through it. ultraviolet light. A version of this image was submitted to the Hubble's Hidden These streaks are actually hot young stars, encased in wispy Treasures image processing competition by contestant Serge Meunier. streams of gas that are being torn away from the galaxy by its surroundings as it moves through space. This violent galactic disrobing Hubble Finds Life is Too Fast, Too Furious is due to a process known as ram pressure stripping — a drag force felt for This Runaway Galaxy by an object moving through a fluid. The fluid in question here is The spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 looks like a dandelion caught superheated gas, which lurks at the centres of galaxy clusters. in a breeze in this new Hubble Space Telescope image. This image also shows other telltale signs of this process, The galaxy is zooming toward the upper right of this image, in between such as the curved appearance of the disc of gas and dust — a result other galaxies in the Norma cluster located over 200 million light-years of the forces exerted by the heated gas. The cluster's drag may be away. The road is harsh: intergalactic gas in the Norma cluster is sparse, strong enough to bend ESO 137-001, but in this cosmic tug-of-war the but so hot at 180 million degrees Fahrenheit that it glows in X-rays. galaxy's gravitational pull is strong enough to hold on to the majority of The spiral plows through the seething intra-cluster gas so its dust — although some brown streaks of dust displaced by the rapidly – at nearly 4.5 million miles per hour — that much of its own gas stripping are visible. is caught and torn away. Astronomers call this "ram pressure stripping." Studying ram pressure stripping helps astronomers to better The galaxy’s stars remain intact due to the binding force of their gravity. understand the mechanisms that drive the evolution of galaxies. For Tattered threads of gas, the blue jellyfish-tendrils trailing ESO example, it will leave this galaxy with very little of the cold gas that is 137-001 in the image, illustrate the process. Ram pressure has strung essential for star formation, rendering the galaxy effectively incapable this gas away from its home in the spiral galaxy and out over intergalac- of forming new stars. tic space. Once there, these strips of gas have erupted with young, ESO 137-001 is part of the Norma Cluster, a cluster of massive stars, which are pumping out light in vivid blues and ultraviolet. galaxies near the centre of the Great Attractor, a region of space that The brown, smoky region near the center of the spiral is being earned its name by being so massive, and having a gravitational pull so pushed in a similar manner, although in this case it is small dust particles, strong, that it is pulling entire galaxy clusters towards it. This region is and not gas, that are being dragged backwards by the intra-cluster medium. located around 200 million light-years from our galaxy, the Milky Way. From a star-forming perspective, ESO 137-001 really is Both our galaxy and its home group, the Local Group, are slowly being spreading its seeds into space like a dandelion in the wind. The stripped hauled towards this mysterious region. Hubble also imaged ESO 137- gas is now forming stars. However, the galaxy, drained of its own star- 001's neighbour, ESO 137-002, which is also known to have a hot tail forming fuel, will have trouble making stars in the future. Through studying of gas extending outwards into space. this runaway spiral, and other galaxies like it, astronomers hope to gain a Despite being relatively close by cosmic standards, catching better understanding of how galaxies form stars and evolve over time. even a glimpse of the Norma Cluster is no mean feat. Observed from -18- California Drought Feb. 7, 2014: Cali- Bill Patzert fornia is supposed to blames the drought, in be the Golden State. part, on the Pacific Make that golden brown. Decadal Oscillation, or The entire west “PDO,” a slowly oscillat- coast of the United ing pattern of sea States is changing color surface temperatures in as the deepest drought the Pacific Ocean. At the in more than a century moment, the PDO is in unfolds. According to its negative phase—a the US Dept. of Agricul- condition historically ture and NOAA, dry linked to extreme high- conditions have be- pressure ridges that come extreme across A new ScienceCast video asks, is this climate change? The answer is HERE block West Coast more than 62% of Cali- storms and give the fornia’s land area—and there is little relief in sight. Midwest and East Coast punishing winters. “Up and down California, from Oregon to Mexico, “I’m often asked if this is part of global warming,” it’s dry as a bone,” comments JPL climatologst Bill Patzert. says Patzert. “My answer is ‘not yet.’ What we’re experienc- “To make matters worse, the snowpack in the water- ing now is a natural variability that we’ve seen many times in storing Sierras is less than 20% of normal for this time of the past. Ultimately, though, climate change could make the year.” The drought is so bad, NASA western droughts much worse.” satellites can see it from space. On Jan. 18th, 2014—just For more information about climate change and one day after California governor Jerry Brown declared a other Earth science topics, stay tuned to Science.nasa.gov. state of emergency—NASA’s Terra satellite snapped a Credits: sobering picture of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips Where thousands of square miles of white snowpack | Credit: Science@NASA should have been, there was just bare dirt and rock. At the Jet Propulsion Lab, a group of researchers Web Links: led by Tom Painter are preparing to fly a Twin Otter aircraft All Dry on the Western over the Sierras to investigate the situation. Their “Airborne Front — Earth Observa- Snow Observatory” is equipped with a laser radar and a tory spectrometer to measure the snow’s depth and reflectivity. From these data, it is possible to calculate the water NASA’s Airborne Snow content of the Sierras within 5% and future snowmelt rates Observatory — JPL with similar precision. “The Airborne Snow Observatory was designed for Earth to Sky Calculus times like this when we really need to know the state of the — a citizen science club For updates, check the US Drought Monitor snow pack,” says Painter. “Our next flight will be over the that has been photo Tuolumne River Basin.” The Tuolumne watershed and its Hetch Hetchy Reservoir are the primary water supply for 2.6 million San Francisco Bay Area residents. The change in scenery is so striking, a group of high school science students in central California have been flying high altitude balloons to photograph it. From the stratosphere, their home town of Bishop looks like a settle-ment on the planet Mars: Click for image, Click for movie. “The lack of snow is really striking,” says 17-year- old Amelia Koske-Phillips, president of the Earth to Sky Calculus science club. “I’ve never seen a winter as brown as this,” adds 16-year old Carson Reid, a member of the launch team.

-19- 10 More Years for the International Space Station Feb. 14, 2014: A lot Although can happen in 10 Robinson has a years. Over the past degree in biology, decade an interna- some of her favorite tional laboratory, experiments are in widely known but the area of funda- often under-appreci- mental physics. For ated, has been instance, she says, producing results at “the station’s Alpha an extraordinary rate. Magnetic Spec- Using its unique trometer program, capabilities, led by Nobel laureate Samuel · engineers Ting, is poised for have devel- breakthroughs on oped a the nature of dark precision A new ScienceCast video previews the next decade of research onboard the International matter.” Another robotic arm Space Station. Click to Play it exciting project is that helps surgeons remove tumors from the human brain; the Cold Atom Lab, slated for flight in 2016. “We are going · experimenters have learned to start fires without to create the coldest spot in the known universe inside the flames—an anti-intuitive technology that could lead ISS,” she says. “This will allow researchers to study exotic to super-efficient auto engines; forms of quantum matter such as Bose-Einstein condensates.” · physicists have counted hundreds of thousands of With the “big blue marble” looming large in its anti-matter particles among normal cosmic rays, a window, the space station is a powerful platform for Earth telltale sign of mysterious dark matter.; science. Sensors under construction and slated for launch · researchers have gathered atoms into exotic forms, in the next few years include instruments for hurricane creating the building blocks of futuristic smart materials; forecasting, studies of the global climate, and lightning …and much more. hazards. “The extension of the space station allows Earth That lab is the International Space Station. science instruments to collect longer term datasets,” notes “The accomplishments of the past 10 years are Robinson. “Some of our existing sensors will collect 90% remarkable—especially considering that the space station more data during the extra decade.” was still under construction.” notes Julie Robinson, program The station’s 10-year extension also boosts the scientist for the ISS. “Now that the station is finished, we’ve development of America’s homegrown commercial space been granted at least 10 more.” program. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp., which have In January, the Obama Administration announced contracts to supply cargo to the station, can now look an extension of the International Space Station until at least forward to competing for future contracts. SpaceX, Boeing 2024. The extra time allows NASA and other space agen- and Sierra Nevada are also interested in launching crews to cies around the world to pursue a number of important goals. the station by 2017. As commercial providers provide For one thing, the ISS is crucial for long-duration access to Earth orbit at lower cost, we move toward the day travel through deep space. “That may sound ironic given when scientists will travel to space to do their own experi- that the space station never leaves Earth orbit,” says ments, first-hand. Robinson, “but we have determined that research on station Ten more years, indeed. For more information is necessary to mitigate 21 of 32 known human-health risks about research on the International Space Station, visit associated with long duration space missions. The road to nasa.gov/station. Mars leads through the ISS.” Credits: Author: Dr. Tony Phillips, She adds that medical research for astronauts | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA helps people on Earth, too. Treatments for bone loss and muscle decay, and advances in telemedicine are just a few of the spin-offs that have made their way into hospital rooms since the ISS program began. As the next ten years unfolds, a menagerie of “model organisms” will join astronauts on the ISS for advanced life science studies. New “crewmembers” include weeds, fruit flies and rodents—all of which share surprising amounts of DNA with humans. “By studying these organ- isms in microgravity, we will learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.

-20- Mars Rover Solves Doughnut Riddle Feb. 14, 2014: What if a Opportunity’s rock that looked like a jelly work on the north-facing doughnut suddenly slope below the escarp- appeared on Mars? That’s ment will give the vehicle just what happened in an energy advantage by front of Mars rover tilting its solar panels Opportunity last month. toward the winter sun. Researchers have since Feb. 14 is the winter determined that the solstice in Mars’ southern “doughnut” is a piece of a hemisphere, where larger rock broken and Opportunity has been moved by the rover’s working since it landed in wheels in early January. January 2004. Only about 1.5 “We are now past inches wide (4 centime- the minimum solar-energy ters), the white-rimmed, point of this Martian These two images from Mars rover Opportunity show a rock resembling a jelly red-centered rock—now donut appearing in January 2014. Click for More winter,” said Opportunity called “Pinnacle Island”— Project Manager John caused a stir last month when it appeared in an image the Callas of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in rover took Jan. 8 at a location where it was not present four Pasadena, Calif. “We now can expect to have more days earlier. More recent images show the original piece of energy available each rock struck by the rover’s wheel, slightly uphill from where week. What’s more, re- Pinnacle Island came to rest. cent winds removed some “Once we moved Opportunity a short distance, after dust from the rover’s solar inspecting Pinnacle Island, we could see directly uphill an array. So we have higher overturned rock that has the same unusual appearance,” performance from the said Opportunity Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson array than the previous of Washington University in St. Louis. “We drove over it. We two winters.” can see the track. That’s where Pinnacle Island came from.” For more infor- Examination of Pinnacle Island revealed high levels mation about NASA’s of elements such as manganese and sulfur, suggesting Mars rovers, visit these water-soluble ingredients were concentrated in the nasa.gov/rovers rock by the action of water. “This may have happened just Credits: This image from Opportunity’s panoramic beneath the surface relatively recently,” Arvidson said, “or it camera (Pancam) shows where a rock may have happened deeper below ground longer ago and | Production Editor: called “Pinnacle Island” had been before it appeared in front of the rover in early then, by serendipity, erosion stripped away material above it Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA January 2014. and made it accessible to our wheels.” Click for More Now that the rover is finished inspecting this rock, For More Information: the team plans to drive Opportunity south and uphill to investigate exposed rock layers on the slope. New Mars Rover Successfully Launches Opportunity is approaching a boulder-studded ridge informally named the McClure-Beverlin Escarpment, in Mars-Bound Rover Carries Coin for Camera Checkup honor of engineers Jack Beverlin and Bill McClure. Beverlin and McClure were the first recipients of the NASA Medal of Opportunity’s Improbable Anniversary Exceptional Bravery for their actions on Feb. 14, 1969 to save NASA’s second successful Mars mission, Mariner 6, The PRESIDENT’S DAS BOARD MEETING when the launch vehicle began to crumple on the launch AGENDA for MARCH pad from loss of pressure. “Our team working on Opportunity’s continuing 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 mission of exploration and discovery realizes how indebted In addition to routine items of business, such as the we are to the work of people who made the early missions Treasurer’s report, we’ll also discuss: to Mars possible, and in particular to the heroics of Bill 1) The DAS Survey Results (Rob Lancaster) McClure and Jack Beverlin,” said rover team member 2) The DAS Short Course on Amateur Astronomy James Rice of the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Ariz. 3) Other topics to be determined “We felt this was really a fitting tribute to these brave men, As always, DAS board meetings are open to all DAS especially with the 45th anniversary of their actions members. coming today.”

-21- Looking Back to the Cradle of Our Universe February 7, 2014: "Just a NASA's Spitzer and handful of galaxies at Hubble Space Tele- these great distances scopes have spotted are known," said what might be one of Jason Surace, of the most distant NASA's Spitzer galaxies known, Science Center at the harkening back to a California Institute of time when our uni- Technology, Pasa- verse was only about dena. "The Frontier 650 million years old Fields program is (our universe is 13.8 already working to billion years old). The find more of these This image of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 was obtained with NASA's Hubble Space distant, faint galaxies. galaxy, known as Abell Telescope. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/IAC Click for Full image and caption. 2744 Y1, is about 30 This is a preview of times smaller than our Milky Way galaxy and is producing what's to come." about 10 times more stars, as is typical for galaxies in our The findings, led by astronomers from the Instituto young universe. de Astrofísica de Canarias and La Laguna University, are The discovery comes from the Frontier Fields accepted for publication in the scientific journal Astronomy program, which is pushing the limits of how far back we can and Astrophysics Letters. see into the distant universe using NASA's multi-wavelength Read the full European news release online at: suite of Great Observatories. Spitzer sees infrared light, http://www.iac.es/divulgacion.php?op1=16&id=836&lang=en . Hubble sees visible and shorter-wavelength infrared light, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory sees X-rays. The Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for telescopes are getting a boost from natural lenses: they NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science peer through clusters of galaxies, where gravity magnifies operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the light of more distant galaxies. the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Space- The Frontier Fields program will image six galaxy craft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space clus-ters in total. Hubble images of the region are used to spot Systems Company, Littleton, Colo. Data are archived at the candidate distant galaxies, and then Spitzer is needed to deter- Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing mine if the galaxies are, in fact, as far as they seem. Spitzer and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for data also help determine how many stars are in the galaxy. NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit http:// These early results from the program come from spitzer.caltech.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer . images of the Abell 2744 galaxy cluster. The distance to this The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of interna- galaxy, if confirmed, would make it one of the farthest tional cooperation between NASA and the European Space known. Astronomers say it has a redshift of 8, which is a Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the measure of the degree to which its light has been shifted to telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) redder wavelengths due to the expansion of our universe. conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for The farther a galaxy, the higher the redshift. The farthest NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in confirmed galaxy has a redshift of more than 7. Other Astronomy, Inc., in Washington, D.C. For more information, candidates have been identified with redshifts as high as 11. visit: http://hubblesite.org and http://www.nasa.gov/hubble. Whitney Clavin, 818-354-4673; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; [email protected] NASA Hosts Launch of NASA-Inspired Book Series February 14, 2014 The Innovative Technology Partnerships Office at In "Pillar to the Sky" Forstchen explores the concept of trying NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will host an event as part to solve very real problems of the 21st century -- dwindling oil supplies, of the "NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction" series. The event will be held on Wednes- increasingly dangerous pollution levels -- through construction of a day, Feb. 19, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Goddard's Visitor Center. The space elevator that could enable unprecedented access to space. event is free and open to the public. The goal of the series is to raise awareness and inspire the Author William Forstchen will discuss his new book "Pillar to the study of the STEM subjects, science, technology, engineering and math, Sky." NASA engineer Dr. John Panek, who consulted on the book, will while educating the general public on the significant role NASA plays in discuss how advancements in engineering and technology fit into the story. everyday lives through the popularity of science fiction. NASA has partnered with Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Forstchen is a professor of history at Montreat College, Doherty Associates, LLC, a New York-based publisher, to inspire young Asheville, N.C. Panek is an aerospace engineer in the Mission Systems adults to examine the rewarding careers that science and technology Engineering Branch at Goddard. have to offer. "Pillar to the Sky" is the first book in this series. Enidia Santiago-Arce, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, 301-286-8497; [email protected] -22- Satellite Video Shows Movement of Major U.S. Winter Storm February 12, 2014: A new webpage. NASA video of NOAA's NOAA's Weather GOES satellite imagery Prediction Center or shows three days of WPC noted the storm is movement of the massive expected to bring "freez- winter storm that ing rain spreading into stretches from the south- the Carolinas, significant ern U.S. to the northeast. snow accumulations are Visible and expected in the interior infrared imagery from Mid-Atlantic states tonight NOAA's GOES-East or into Thursday and ice GOES-13 satellite from storm warnings and Feb. 10 at 1815 UTC/1:15 freezing rain advisories p.m. EST to Feb. 12 to are in effect across much 1845 UTC/1:45 p.m. EST of central Georgia. were compiled into a GOES satellites video made by NASA/ provide the kind of NOAA's GOES Project at continuous monitoring NASA's Goddard Space This animation of NOAA's GOES satellite data shows the progression of the major necessary for intensive Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. winter storm in the U.S. south from Feb. 10 at 1815 UTC/1:15 p.m. EST to Feb. data analysis. Geosta- In the video, 12 to 1845 UTC/1:45 p.m. EST. Image Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project, tionary describes an orbit Dennis Chesters Click for Video of Storm viewers can see the devel- in which a satellite is opment and movement of the clouds associated with the always in the same position with respect to the rotating progression of the frontal system and related low pressure Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one areas that make up the massive storm. The video also position on Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a shows the snow covered ground over the Great Lakes region result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric and Ohio Valley that stretches to northern New England. The "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, clouds and fallen snow data from NOAA's GOES-East flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. satellite were overlaid on a true-color image of land and For updated information about the storm system, ocean created by data visit NOAA's WPC from the Moderate website: http:// Resolution Imaging www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/. Spectroradiometer or For more MODIS instrument that information about GOES flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellites, visit: http:// and Terra satellites. www.goes.noaa.gov/ or On February 12 at http:// 10 a.m. EST, NOAA's goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/. National Weather Service or NWS continued to issue watches and warnings Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard from Texas to New Space Flight Center England. Specifically, NWS cited Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories were in effect from eastern Texas eastward across the interior section of south- eastern U.S. states and This visible image of the winter storm over the U.S. south and East Coast was across much of the taken by NOAA's GOES-13 satellite on Feb. 12 at 1855 UTC/1:55 p.m. EST. eastern seaboard including Snow covered ground can be seen over the Great Lakes region and Ohio Valley. the Appalachians. Winter mage Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project Click for Larger Image storm watches are in effect for portions of northern New Goddard Features and News Releases can be found at England as well as along the western slopes of northern http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/ and central Appalachians. For updates on local forecasts, index.html#.UwDzdGJdVYX. watches and warnings, visit NOAA's www.weather.gov

-23- NASA’s Chandra Sees Runaway Pulsar Firing an Extraordinary Jet February 18, 2014 NASA's another, this gives us Chandra X-ray Observa- clues that exotic physics tory has seen a fast- can occur when some moving pulsar escaping stars collapse," said co- from a supernova author Gerd Puehlhofer remnant while spewing also of the University of out a record-breaking jet Tuebingen.. – the longest of any object One possibility in the Milky Way galaxy -- requires an extremely of high-energy particles. fast rotation speed for The pulsar, a the iron core of the star type of neutron star, is that exploded. A prob- known as IGR J11014- lem with this scenario is 6103. IGR J11014- that such fast speeds 6103's peculiar behavior are not commonly ex- can likely be traced back pected to be achievable. to its birth in the collapse The supernova and subsequent explo- remnant that gave birth sion of a massive star. to IGR J11014-6013 is Originally elongated from top-right discovered with the to bottom-left in the European Space Agency image roughly in line satellite INTEGRAL, the An extraordinary jet trailing behind a runaway pulsar is seen in this composite image with the jet's direction. pulsar is located about that contains data from Chandra (purple), radio data from the ACTA (green), and These features and the 60 light-years away from optical data from the 2MASS survey (red, green, and blue). The pulsar and its tail are high speed of the pulsar the center of the super- found in the lower right of this image. Image Credit: NASA/CXC/ISDC Click for are hints that jets could Larger Image nova remnant SNR MSH have been an important 11-61A in the constellation of Carina. Its implied speed is feature of the supernova explosion that formed it. between 2.5 million and 5 million mph, making it one of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, fastest pulsars ever observed. Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science "We've never seen an object that moves this fast Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astro- and also produces a jet," said Lucia Pavan of the University of Geneva in Switzerland and lead author of a paper published February 18th in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. "By comparison, this jet is almost 10 times longer than the distance between the sun and our nearest star." The X-ray jet in IGR J11014-6103 is the longest known in the Milky Way galaxy. In addition to its impressive span, it has a distinct corkscrew pattern that suggests the pulsar is wobbling like a spinning top. IGR J11014-6103 also is producing a cocoon of high-energy particles that enshrouds and trails behind it in a comet-like tail. This structure, called a pulsar wind nebula, has been observed before, but the Chandra data show the long jet and the pulsar wind nebula are almost perpendicu- lar to one another. "We can see this pulsar is moving directly away from the center of the supernova remnant based on the shape and direction of the pulsar wind nebula," said co- This artist’s rendering of a Chandra Feature where you can see the author Pol Bordas, from the University of Tuebingen in elements that make up this incredible spacecraft! Germany. "The question is, why is the jet pointing off in this other direction?" physical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., controls Usually, the spin axis and jets of a pulsar point in Chandra's science and flight operations. the same direction as they are moving, but IGR J11014-6103's For an additional interactive image, podcast, and spin axis and direction of motion are almost at right angles. video on the finding, visit: http://chandra.si.edu "With the pulsar moving one way and the jet going For Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

-24- Hubble Watches Stars' Clockwork Motion In Nearby Galaxy February 18, 2014 Using motions measured the sharp-eyed NASA previously provide comple- Hubble Space Telescope, mentary information about astronomers have for the the LMC's rotation rate. By first time precisely combining the results, the measured the rotation Hubble team obtained a rate of a galaxy based on fully three-dimensional the clock-like movement view of stellar motions in of its stars. another galaxy. According to their "By using Hubble analysis, the central part to study the stars' mo- of the neighboring galaxy, tions over several years, called the Large Magel- we can actually, for the lanic Cloud (LMC), first time, see a galaxy completes a rotation rotate in the plane of the every 250 million years. It sky," said van der Marel. takes our sun the same Hubble is the only telescope that can make amount of time to com- This artist’s illustration shows Hubble measurements of the rotation of the Large plete a rotation around Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the nearest normal-sized galaxy to our Milky Way. The this kind of observation the center of our Milky LMC appears in the southern-hemisphere night sky, as seen in this ground-based because of its sharp reso- Way galaxy. image. Image Credit: NASA/ESA Click for larger Image lution, its image stability, The Hubble team -- Roeland van der Marel of the and its 24 years in space. Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., and "If we imagine a human on the moon, Hubble's Nitya Kallivayalil of the University of Virginia in precision would allow us to determine the speed at which Charlottesville, Va. -- used Hubble to measure the average the person's hair grows," van der Marel explained. "This motion of hundreds of individual stars in the LMC, located precision is crucial, because the apparent stellar motions 170,000 light-years away. Hubble recorded the stars' slight are so small because of the galaxy's distance. You can think movements during a seven-year period. of the LMC as a clock in the sky, on which the hands take "Studying this nearby galaxy by tracking the stars' 250 million years to make one revolution. We know the movements gives us a better understanding of the internal clock's hands move, but even with Hubble we need to stare structure of disk galaxies," said Kallivayalil, "Knowing a at them for several years to see any movement." galaxy's rotation rate offers insight into how a galaxy The research team used Hubble's Wide Field formed, and it can be used to calculate its mass." Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys to observe Disk-shaped galaxies such as the Milky Way and stars in 22 fields spread across the vast disk of the LMC, the LMC generally rotate like a carousel. Hubble's precision which appears in the southern night sky as an object about tracking offers a new way to determine a galaxy's rotation 20 times the diameter of the moon. Arrows on the accompa- by the "sideways" proper motion of its stars, as seen in the nying image show the predicted motion over the next 7 plane of the sky. Astronomers have long measured the million years, based on the Hubble measurements. sideways motions of nearby celestial objects, but this is the Each observed field contains not only dozens of first time the precision has become sufficient to see another LMC stars, but also a background quasar, a brilliant beacon distant galaxy rotate. of light powered by a black hole in the core of the distant active "The LMC is a very important galaxy because it is galaxy. The astronomers used the quasars as fixed reference very near to our Milky Way," said van der Marel, who is the points to measure the subtle motion of the LMC stars. lead author on a paper in the Feb. 1 issue of the Astrophysi- This measurement is the culmination of ongoing cal Journal. "Studying the Milky Way is difficult because you're work with Hubble to refine the calculation of the LMC's studying from the inside, so everything you see is spread all rotation rate. Van der Marel began analyzing the galaxy's over the sky. It's all at different distances, and you're sitting in rotation in 2002 by creating detailed predictions, now the middle of it. Studying structure and rotation is much easier confirmed by Hubble, of what the rotation should look like. if you view a nearby galaxy from the outside." "Because the LMC is nearby, it is a benchmark for For the past century, astronomers have calculated studies of stellar evolution and populations," Kallivayalil galaxy rotation rates by observing a slight shift in the said. "For this, it's important to understand the galaxy's spectrum of its starlight. This shift is known as the Doppler structure. Our technique for measuring the galaxy's rotation Effect. On one side of a galaxy's spinning stellar disk, the rate using fully three-dimensional motions is a new way to stars swinging in the direction of Earth will show a spectral shed light on that structure. It opens a new window to our blueshift -- the compression of light waves due to motion understanding of how stars in galaxies move." toward the observer. Stars swinging away from Earth on the The team next plans to use Hubble to measure the opposite side of a galaxy will show a spectral redshift -- stellar motions in the LMC's diminutive cousin, the Small thestretching of light to redder wavelengths due to motion Magellanic Cloud, using the same technique. The galaxies away from the observer. are interacting, and that study should also yield improved The newly measured Hubble motions and the Doppler insight into how the galaxies are (continued on next page) -25- SUPERNOVAS SLOSH BEFORE EXPLODING Feb. 19, 2014: A drive the stellar blast. longstanding mystery of Though imprints of jets astronomy, how superno- have been seen before vas explode, might finally around Cas A, it was not have been solved with the known if they were trigger- help of NASA's Nuclear ing the explosion. NuSTAR Spectroscopic Telescope did not see the titanium, Array (NuSTAR). The essentially the radioactive high-energy X-ray observa- ash from the explosion, in tory has mapped radioac- narrow regions matching tive material in the super- the jets, so the jets were nova remnant Cassiopeia not the explosive trigger. A (Cas A). The map "This is why we built reveals how shock waves NuSTAR," said Paul Hertz, likely rip massive dying director of NASA's astro- In this false-color X-ray image of CAS A, blue traces the distribution of radioactive physics division in Wash- stars apart--by sloshing. titanium-44, which is produced in the heart of the supernova. Click for More "Stars are spherical ington. "To discover things balls of gas, and so you might think that when they end their we never knew -- and did not expect -- about the high-energy lives and explode, that explosion would look like a uniform universe." ball expanding out with great power," said Fiona Harrison, the principal investigator of NuSTAR at Caltech. "Our new Credits: results show how the explosion's heart, or engine, is | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA distorted, possibly because the inner regions literally slosh around before detonating." For More information: Harrison is a co-author of a paper about the results Why Won't the Super- appearing in the Feb. 20 issue of Nature. nova Explode? -- this How supernovas explode has been a mystery for a ScienceCast video long time: video. When researchers simulate supernova explores the blasts using computers, as a massive star dies and col- longstanding mystery of lapses, the main shock wave often stalls out and the star supernova explosions. fails to shatter. The latest findings strongly suggest the exploding star literally sloshed around, re-energizing the Supernovas stalled shock wave and allowing the star to finally blast off seed the universe with NuSTAR has helped decide between two its outer layers. competing models of supernova explo- many elements, includ- sions: Jets vs. Sloshing. Click for More NuSTAR's target, Cas A, was created when a ing the gold in jewelry, massive star blew up as a supernova leaving a dense the calcium in bones and the iron in blood. While small stellar corpse and its ejected remains. The light from the stars like our sun die less violent deaths, stars at least eight explosion reached Earth a few hundred years ago, so we times as massive as our sun blow up in supernova explo- are seeing the stellar remnant when it was fresh and young. sions. The high temperatures and particles created in the "With NuSTAR we have a new forensic tool to blast fuse light elements together to create heavier ele- investigate the explosion," said the paper's lead author, ments. Click to Learn more Brian Grefenstette of Caltech. "Previously, it was hard to interpret what was going on in Cas A because the material Click for NuSTAR home page -- The NuSTAR mission has that we could see only glows in X-rays when it's heated up. deployed the first orbiting telescopes to focus light in the high Now that we can see the radioactive material, which glows energy X-ray (6 - 79 keV) region of the electromagnetic spec- in X-rays no matter what, we are getting a more complete trum. Our view of the universe in this spectral window has been picture of what was going on at core of the explosion. limited because previous orbiting telescopes have not employed "NuSTAR is the first telescope capable of producing true focusing optics, but rather have used coded apertures that maps of radioactive elements in supernova remnants. In have intrinsically high backgrounds and limited sensitivity. this case, the element is titanium-44, which has an unstable nucleus produced at the heart of the exploding star. The Hubble Watches Stars' Clockwork Motion NuSTAR map of Cas A shows titanium concentrated in clumps (continued from preceeding page) moving around each other and around the Milky Way. at the remnant's center, which suggests a sloshing action. For a graphic and video illustration of these results, The NuSTAR map also casts doubt on other models visit: http://hubblesite.org/news/2014/11. of supernova explosions, in which the star is rapidly rotating For more information about NASA's Hubble Space just before it dies and launches narrow streams of gas that Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble.

-26- NASA’s NuSTAR Untangles Mystery of How Stars Explode February 19, 2014 One of “With NuSTAR the biggest mysteries in we have a new forensic astronomy, how stars tool to investigate the blow up in supernova explosion,” said the explosions, finally is paper’s lead author, Brian being unraveled with the Grefenstette of Caltech. help of NASA’s Nuclear “Previously, it was hard to Spectroscopic Telescope interpret what was going Array (NuSTAR). on in Cas A because the The high-energy material that we could X-ray observatory has see only glows in X-rays created the first map of when it’s heated up. Now radioactive material in a that we can see the supernova remnant. The This is the first map of radioactivity in a supernova remnant, the blown-out bits radioactive material, results, from a remnant and pieces of a massive star that exploded. The blue color shows radioactive which glows in X-rays no named Cassiopeia A material mapped in high-energy X-rays using NuSTAR. Image Credit: NASA/JPL- matter what, we are (Cas A), reveal how Caltech/CXC/SAO Click for More Info getting a more complete shock waves likely rip massive dying stars apart. picture of what was going on at core of the explosion.” “Stars are spherical balls of gas, and so you might The NuSTAR map also casts doubt on other think that when they end their lives and explode, that models of supernova explosions, in which the star is rapidly explosion would look like a uniform ball expanding out with rotating just before it dies and launches narrow streams of great power,” said Fiona Harrison, the principal investigator gas that drive the stellar blast. Though imprints of jets have of NuSTAR at the California Institute of Technology been seen before around Cas A, it was not known if they (Caltech) in Pasadena. “Our new results show how the were triggering the explosion. NuSTAR did not see the explosion’s heart, or engine, is distorted, possibly because titanium, essentially the radioactive ash from the explosion, the inner regions literally slosh around before detonating.” in narrow regions matching the jets, so the jets were not the Harrison is a co-author of a paper about the results explosive trigger. appearing in the Feb. 20 issue of Nature. “This is why we built NuSTAR,” said Paul Hertz, Cas A was created when a massive star blew up as director of NASA’s astrophysics division in Washington. “To a supernova leaving a dense stellar corpse and its ejected discover things we never knew – and did not expect – about remains. The light from the explosion reached Earth a few the high-energy universe.” hundred years ago, so we are seeing the stellar remnant The researchers will continue to investigate the when it was fresh and young. case of Cas A’s dramatic explosion. Centuries after its Supernovas seed the universe with many elements, death marked our skies, this supernova remnant continues including the gold in jewelry, the calcium in bones and the to perplex. iron in blood. While small stars like our sun die less violent For more information about NuSTAR and images, deaths, stars at least eight times as massive as our sun visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nustar. blow up in supernova explosions. The high temperatures and particles created in the blast fuse light elements together to create heavier elements. NuSTAR is the first telescope capable of producing maps of radioactive elements in supernova remnants. In this case, the element is titanium-44, which has an unstable nucleus produced at the heart of the exploding star. The NuSTAR map of Cas A shows the titanium concentrated in clumps at the remnant’s center and points to a possible solution to the mystery of how the star met its demise. When researchers simulate supernova blasts with computers, as a massive star dies and collapses, the main shock wave often stalls out and the star fails to shatter. The latest findings strongly suggest the exploding star literally sloshed around, re-energizing the stalled shock wave and allowing the star to finally blast off its outer layers. These illustrations show the progression of a supernova blast. A massive Adding a New “Color” to star (left), which has created elements as heavy as iron in its interior, Palate of Cassiopeia A blows up in a tremendous explosion (middle), scattering its outer layers in Images. a structure called a supernova remnant (right). Image Credit: NASA/CXC/ Click for More Info SAO/JPL-Caltech. Click for More Info

-27- The Shocking Behavior of a Speedy Star

The red arc in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is a giant shock wave, created by a speeding star known as Kappa Cassiopeiae. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Click for Larger Image

February 20, 2014: Roguish runaway stars can have a The Kappa Cassiopeiae bow shock shows up as a big impact on their surroundings as they plunge through the vividly red color. The faint green features in this image result Milky Way galaxy. Their high-speed encounters shock the from carbon molecules, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- galaxy, creating arcs, as seen in this newly released image bons, in dust clouds along the line of sight that are illumi- from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. nated by starlight. In this case, the speedster star is known as Kappa Delicate red filaments run through this infrared Cassiopeiae, or HD 2905 to astronomers. It is a massive, nebula, crossing the bow shock. Some astronomers have hot supergiant moving at around 2.5 million mph relative to suggested these filaments may be tracing out features of its neighbors (1,100 kilometers per second). But what really the magnetic field that runs throughout our galaxy. Since makes the star stand out in this image is the surrounding, magnetic fields are completely invisible themselves, we rely streaky red glow of material in its path. Such structures are on chance encounters like this to reveal a little of their called bow shocks, and they can often be seen in front of structure as they interact with the surrounding dust and gas. the fastest, most massive stars in the galaxy. Kappa Cassiopeiae is visible to the naked eye in Bow shocks form where the magnetic fields and wind the Cassiopeia constellation (but its bow shock only shows of particles flowing off a star collide with the diffuse, and up in infrared light.) usually invisible, gas and dust that fill the space between stars. For this Spitzer image, infrared light at wavelengths How these shocks light up tells astronomers about the condi- of 3.6 and 4.5 microns is rendered in blue, 8.0 microns in tions around the star and in space. Slow-moving stars like our green, and 24 microns in red. sun have bow shocks that are nearly invisible at all wave- lengths of light, but fast stars like Kappa Cassiopeiae create For More Information: shocks that can be seen by Spitzer’s infrared detectors. Incredibly, this shock is created about 4 light-years For info about Spitzer, visit http:// ahead of Kappa Cassiopeiae, showing what a sizable impact this spitzer.caltech.edu . star has on its surroundings. (This is about the same distance that we are from Proxima Centauri, the nearest star beyond the sun.)

-28- A Breakthrough in Planet Discoveries Feb. 26, 2014: could be two lions. But Years ago, before if more than two cats the launch of NASA’s are gathered, then it is Kepler spacecraft, very likely a lion and his astronomers were pride. Thus, through thrilled when they multiplicity, the lion- discovered a single esses—or planets—can planet. be reliably identified. All of the Today, the newly-discovered Kepler team an- worlds are located in nounced 715. multi-planet systems. Nearly 95 percent of Kepler has the planets are always been good at smaller than Nep- finding planets. Even A new ScienceCast video explores the 715 new worlds just confirmed by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Click to Play it! tune—that is, less before the announce than four times the ment, the observatory had confirmed 246 new size of Earth. This is a marked increase in the worlds outside the solar system. known number of relatively small planets. The latest discoveries almost quadruple that number. “This study shows us that planets Kepler works by looking for the slight dimming in multi-systems tend of starlight caused when a distant planet transits its to be small and their parent star. Any dip in stellar brightness attracts the orbits areflat and cir- attention of the Kepler team, and can prompt them to cular, much like the declare a planet candidate. Verification of candidates inner parts of our own can be a laborious process, proceeding slowly, planet- solar system,” says by-planet. Jason Rowe a co-lead- Click to visit the Kepler home page. er of the research at the Now, however, a research team co-led by Jack SETI Institute. Lissauer of the Ames Research Center has figured out a way to speed the process up. Four of the new planets are less than two- and-a-half times the size of Earth. Moreover, they "We've developed a procedure to verify multiple orbit in their sun's habitable zone, where the sur- planet candidates in bulk to deliver planets wholesale, face temperature of the planets may be suitable for and have used it to unveil a veritable bonanza of new liquid water, a key ingredient for life as we know it. worlds," says Lissauer. "The more we explore," concludes Rowe, The technique is called "verification by multiplic- "the more we find familiar traces of ourselves ity," which relies in part on the logic of probability. Out amongst the stars that remind us of home." of the 160,000 stars Kepler has observed, a few thou- sand have planet candidates. But not all candidate For more information about the discovery of systems are equal. A subset of the total, numbering in these and other new worlds, visit PlanetQuest. the hundreds, have not just one but multiple candi- dates. By concentrating on those busy systems, the team found 715 planets orbiting 305 stars.

The method of multiplicity can be likened to the behavior of lions and lionesses. Suppose that Kepler’s stars are like lions, and the planets are lionesses. If you Credits: see two big cats it could be a lion and a lioness or it Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

-29- Largest Solar System Moon Detailed in Geologic Map

Click for an Animation of a rotating globe of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, with a geologic map superimposed over a global color mosaic. The 37-second animation begins as a global color mosaic image of the moon then quickly fades in the geologic map.

To present the best information in a single view of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, a global image mosaic was assembled, incorporating the best available imagery from NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 space- craft and NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Image Credit: USGS Astrogeology Science Center/Wheaton/ASU/ NASA/JPL-Caltech Click for Full image and Caption.

Newtonian Mirror Making Seminar Planned at DAS Bill Hanagan

DAS President Bill Hanagan plans to hold a series of 2-3 ATM-SIG meetings to introduce beginners to Newtonian Mirror Making. If you’re interested, email him off-list at [email protected].

Whether you are planning to make a mirror in the immediate future or you just want to learn more, you’re welcome to attend.

-30- SpitzerHubble StaresWitnesses into theAsteroid's Heart of Mysterious New Supernova Disintegration in M82 February 26, 2014: The away it must be. Accord- closestMarch 6, supernova2014: NASA's of its ingly,reliably Type Iaobserved. supernovas kindHubble to be Space observed in the are referred Forto as this "stan- lastTelescope few decades has has dardscenario candles," to whichoccur, P/ sparkedrecorded a the global never- observing allow2013 astronomers R3 must haveto pin a campaignbefore-seen involving break-up legions downweak, the distancesfractured to of instrumentsan asteroid oninto the as nearbyinterior galaxies. -- probably Studying as groundmany as and 10 in smaller space, SN 2014Jthe result will ofhelp numer- with includingpieces. Fragile NASA's Spitzer understandingous non-destructive the Spacecomets, Telescope. comprised With of its processescollisions behind with otherType dust-piercingice and dust, infrared have vision, Ia detonationsasteroids. Most to further small Spitzerbeen seen brings falling an important refineasteroids theoretical are models.thought perspectiveapart as they to ap-this effort by to haveFortuitously, been severely peeringproach thedirectly sun, into but the The closest supernova of its kind to be observed in the last few decades has Spitzerdamaged had already in this beenway. heartnothing of thelike aftermath this has of the sparked a global observing campaign involving legions of instruments on the scheduledP/2013 to R3 observe is likely stellarever before explosion. been ground and in space, including NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. M82the on byproduct January 28, of ajust obser-vedDust in thein the Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Carnegie Institution for Science Click for Full week after students and Image & Caption. such a collision supernova'sasteroid belt. host galaxy staffsometime from University in the last M82, also"This called is athe "Cigar galaxy," partially obscures College London first spotted SN 2014Jbillion on Jan. years. 21. Subse- rock, and seeing it fall observations in optical andThis high-energy series of Hubble forms Space of Telescope light. images revealsquent observations,the breakup of an also asteroid part over of Kasliwal'sa SPIRITSWith the(SPitzer Spitzerapart before can, therefore,our eyes complementperiod of several all monthsthe other starting observato- in late 2013. TheInfraRed largest fragments Intensive are Transients up to 180 meters Survey) previousprogram, discovery took place of riesis pretty taking amazing," part in painting(200 a completeyards) in radius. portrait Click of for a once-in-More on Feb. 7, 12, 19 and 24 and are slatedan for active March asteroid 3. a-generationsaid David Jewitt supernova, of the University which was of first California spotted at in Los M82 on spoutingThe six supernova tails, named is glowingP/2013 P5,very astronomers brightly in the are Jan.Angeles, 21, 2014. who ledA supernova the astronomical is a tremendous forensics explosioninvestigation. that infraredfinding more light thatevidence Spitzer the sees. pressure The telescope of sunlight was may able be theto marks theThe end crumbling of life for asteroid, some stars. designated P/2013 R3, was observeprimary forcethe supernova causing the before disintegration and after itof reached small asteroids its peak -- first noticed"At this as anpoint unusual, in the supernova'sfuzzy-looking evolution, object by observa- the brightness.less than a Suchmile across-- early observations in our solar with system. an infrared tele- tionsCatalina in infrared and Pan let STARRS us look the sky deepest surveys into on Sept.the event," 15, 2013. said scope haveThe only asteroid's been obtainedremnant fordebris, a few weighing Type Ia superno-about MansiA follow-up Kasliwal, observation Hubble Fellow on October and Carnegie-Princeton 1 with the W. M. Fellow Keck vas200,000 in the tons, past. will Researchers in the future are provide currently a rich using source the dataof to atObservatory the Observatories on the ofsummit the Carnegie of Mauna Institution Kea, a for dormant Science and learnmeteoroids. more about Most howwill eventually these explosions plunge occur.into the sun, but a thevolcano principal on theinvestigator island of for Hawaii, the Spitzer revealed observations. three bodies "Spitzer is small fractionAmong of the the other debris major may space-basedone day blaze observatories across our reallymoving good together for bypassing in an envelope the dust andof dust nailing nearly down the what's diameter going usedskies inas the meteors. M82 viewing campaign are NASA's Hubble onof Earth.in and around the star system that spawned this supernova." Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Nuclear Supernovas"The Keck Observatory are among showedthe most us powerful this thing events was in SpectroscopicCredits: Telescope Array (NuSTAR), Fermi Gamma- theworth universe, looking releasingat with Hubble," so much Jewitt energy said. that "With a single its superior ray Space Telescope, and Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer. outburstresolution, can space outshine telescope an entire observations galaxy. The soon new showed supernova, In addition | Production to Spitzer, editor: keyDr. Tony infrared Phillips observations | Credit: Science@NASA are being dubbedthere were SN really2014J, 10 is embedded of a particular objects, kind eachknown with as comet-a Type collected by the airplane-borne Stratospheric Observatory Ia.like This dust type tails. of The supernova four largest results rocky in the fragments complete are destruc- up to forFor Infrared More information: Astronomy (SOFIA). tion400 ofyards a white in diameter, dwarf star—the about four small, times dense, the length aged remnantof a To view a recent image of M82 and its supernova offootball a typical field." star like our sun. Two scenarios are theorized to from NASA'sThe Hubble Hubble Space Space Telescope Telescope, is visit: a project http:// of interna- give riseHubble to Type data Ia supernovas. showed the First, fragments in a binary drifting star away hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/13tional cooperation between NASA and the European Space. system,from each a white other dwarfat a leisurely gravitationally one mph. pulls The in matter asteroid from began its Agency.NASA's NASA's Jet Goddard Propulsion Space Laboratory, Flight Center Pasadena, in Greenbelt, companioncoming apart star, early accruing last year, mass but until new the pieces white continue dwarf to Calif.,Md., manages manages the the telescope. Spitzer Space The SpaceTelescope Telescope mission Science for crossesreveal themselves, a critical threshold as proved and in blows the most up. Inrecent the second, images. NASA'sInstitute Science(STScI) Missionin Baltimore Directorate, conducts Washington. Hubble science Science two whiteIt dwarfsis unlikely in a the binary asteroid system is disintegrating spiral inward towardbecause operationsoperations. are STScI conducted is operated at the for Spitzer NASA Scienceby the Association Center at eachof a collision other and with eventually another asteroid,collide explosively. which would have been theof Universities California Institutefor Research of Technology in Astronomy, in Pasadena. Inc., in Washington. Space- instantaneousType Ia and supernovas violent by serve comparison a critically to what important has been role craft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space inobserved. gauging Debristhe expansion from such of thea high-velocity universe because smashup they would SystemsFor Company, images Littleton,and more Colo. information Data are about archived Hubble, at the explodealso be expectedwith almost to travelexactly much the same faster amount than observed. of energy, Nor Infraredvisit: http://www Science Archive.nasa.gov/hubble housed at the Infrared Processing shiningis the asteroid with a near-uniformcoming unglued peak due brightness. to the pressure The fainter of a and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL Typeinterior Ia icessupernova warming looks and from vaporizing. our vantage point, the farther for NASA. This leaves a scenario in which the asteroid is disintegrating due to a subtle effect of sunlight, which causes the rotation rate of the asteroid to gradually in- crease. Eventually, its component pieces -- like grapes on a stem -- succumb to centrifugal force and gently pull apart. The possibility of disruption in this manner has been discussed by scientists for several years, but never

-40--31- A TELESCOPE BIGGER THAN A GALAXY

A new ScienceCast video peers through the biggest telescope in the history of astronomy. Click to Play It!

March 7, 2014: More than 400 years ago, Galileo turned a primitive spyglass toward the sky, and in just a few nights learned more about the unseen heavens than all of the scientists and philosophers before him, combined. Since then astronomers have been guided by a simple imperative: Make Bigger Telescopes. As the 21st century unfolds, the power of optics has grown a million-fold. Telescopes cap the highest mountains, sprawl across deserts, fill valleys and even fly through space. These modern giants provide crystal-clear views of stars and galaxies billions of light years farther away than anything Galileo ever saw, each breakthrough in size bringing a new and deeper understanding of the cosmos. It makes you wonder, how big can a telescope get? Would you believe, bigger than an entire galaxy? At the January 2014 meeting of the American Astronomical Society, researchers revealed a patch of sky seen through a lens more than 500,000 light years wide. The “lens” is actually a massive cluster of galaxies known as Abell 2744. As predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, the mass of the cluster warps the fabric of space around it. Starlight passing by is bent and magnified, much like an ordinary lens except on a vastly larger scale. Lately, the Hubble Space Telescope, along with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, has been looking through this gravitational lens as part of a program called “Frontier Fields.”“ Frontier Fields is an experiment to explore the first billion years of the Universe’s history,” says Matt Mountain from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The question is, “Can we use Hubble’s exquisite image quality and Einstein’s theory of general relativity to search for the first galaxies?” The answer seems to be “yes.” At the AAS meeting, an international team led by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and La Laguna University discussed Hubble and Spitzer observations of the Abell 2744 cluster. Among the results was the discovery of one of the most distant galaxies ever seen—a star system 30 times smaller yet 10 times more active than our own Milky Way. Bursting with newborn stars, the fire - brand is giving astronomers a rare glimpse of a galaxy born not long after the Big Bang itself. Overall, the Hubble exposure of Abell2744 revealed almost 3,000 distant galaxies magnified as much as 10 to 20 times larger than they would normally appear. Without the boost of gravitational lensing, almost all of those background galaxies would be invisible. Abell 2744 is just the beginning. Frontier Fields is targeting six galaxy clusters as gravitational lenses. Together, they form an array of mighty telescopes capable of probing the heavens as never before. For more news from Frontier Fields visit www.frontierfields.org.

Credits: Authors: Dr. Tony Phillips, | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

-32- DELAWARE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY HAS GREAT DEALS Contact Fred DeLucia at [email protected] or call 609-410-8943 with any questions. Brandon 32mm Eyepiece for Sale $100 CONUS Shipping Included. DAS is selling this eyepiece that was donated by the estate of a deceased member. Not threaded for filters. No boxes, no caps, but soft yellow top and bottom caps as pictured are provided. Specific age is unknown, but possibly 40 to 50 years old. From what we uncovered, it appears that some time in 1967 Brandon switched from chrome to black barrels and in 1968 the Brandon name and focal length were inscribed around the top of the ocular as opposed to down the barrel as this is. There are scratches and wear marks on the barrel. The glass looks good but some might have concerns with what the camera flash reveals or when seen under the flashlight test. The glass is not pristine but the apparent flaws have no effect on the views. We compared this eyepiece with a club member's newer 32mm Brandon/Vernonscope in Mt. Cuba's 4" refractor. The newer Brandon has tighter eye relief and a clean, well-defined edge at the field stop. This 32mm has what looked like slight vignetting or some roughness at the edge of the field stop, although the TFOV was the same. Otherwise, the views were identical on Jupiter and M42. Stars were focused throughout the field of view. The main differences between the two eyepieces were the field stops, eye relief and apparent condition of the glass. Will ship USPS Priority Mail to CONUS only. PayPal price is $103. Shipping included. DAS will also accept Money Order or Certified Bank Check or a Personal Check but will not ship until the check clears the bank of the buyer. The following books are for sale from the DAS Library. Eventually, if a DAS member does not buy them they will be posted on Astromart and/or Cloudy Nights. They can be delivered at any DAS meeting or other arrangements can be made. Burnham’s Celestial Handbooks, below, 3 Volume Set (Hard and Soft cover editions available!). Comprehensive three-part guide to the thousands of celestial objects outside our solar system, ranges from Andromeda through Cetus. Objects are grouped according to constellation, and their definitions feature names, coordinates, classifications, and physical descriptions. Contains much fascinating historical information. Hundreds of visual aids. 1978 edition. The hardback set is in good condition but has no dust jackets and is $25 ($26 for PayPal). Shipping not included. The softcover set is in fair shape. See photos. $15 ($15.75 for PayPal). Shipping not included. DAS will also accept Money Order or Certified Bank Check. DAS will also accept a Personal Check but will not ship until the check clears the bank of the buyer. CASH in person is acceptable.

Hard Cover Edition is Pictured to the right.

Soft Cover Edition is Pictured Below & to the right.

-33- Comet Hale Bopp - Taken by DAS member Don Shedrick on the evening of 4/2/97. Camera used was an Olympus OM-1 with a Vivitar 70 - 150mm, f 3.8 zoom lens @ 150mm. Film was Kodak E1600 slide film, exposed at f 3.8 for 120 sec., piggy backed on an equatorial mount.

DAS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan The DAS astro-photography special interest group (DAS AP- lunar eclipses, meteors, and the planets. SIG) meets monthly at Mt. Cuba and at our members’ homes. The AP Even if you aren’t an AP-SIG member, you’re welcome to SIG sometimes meets regardless of the weather, but some meetings are attend the AP-SIG meetings to learn more. planned around specific imaging demonstrations and are “Flex- Our next AP-SIG meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 14, 15, or Scheduled” using email on 1-2 day notice to synchronize with the 16 in the Sawin observatory. Please mark your calendars! We’ll have our usual weather. AP-SIG meetings are regularly announced via the DAS Yahoo Question and Answer session and review of members’ astrophotos. And, if the Group as well as by email to AP-SIG members. See the sidebar for a weather is favorable, we’ll head out to the Sawin Observatory to do some planetary brief rundown on how to get started taking astro-photos. To join the AP- imaging of Jupiter. March 14 and March 16 are particularly desirable for imaging SIG, send me an email at [email protected] with your name, Jupiter because of shadow transits on these dates. address, and phone number and tell me that you want to join the AP-SIG. On Friday, March 14, shortly before midnight, Io will be just past the AP-SIG meetings are informal and typically include the presenta- meridian on Jupiter and its shadow will appear on the edge of the planet moving tion of astrophotos taken by the members along with an extended question toward the center. Jupiter will be a little more than 40 and answer period. The topics discussed during our Q&A sessions have degrees above our horizon at the time and headed down in the west. As darkness covered the entire gamut of astrophotography, from how to get started with a falls On Sunday, March 16 (between 7:30 and 8:30 PM), the minimum of equipment, to polar aligning your telescope, to the fine points of shadows of both Gannymede and Io (Jupiter’s two largest moons) will fall very close using auto-guiders and post-processing digital images. together on the face of Jupiter, just past the meridian This will be a rare opportunity In addition, we often have special presentations on topics of to image a double shadow transit on the face of Jupiter at a very reasonable time of particular interest at the time. For example, we’ve had special presentation night! Sunday night is an unusual choice for an AP-SIG meeting, but the early time on the ways a telescope can be polar aligned, the nature of various noise of the double shadow transit should allow those on normal work schedules to make sources in CCD cameras, how to make high dynamic range photos, and it home in time for work the next morning. Keep an eye on your DAS Yahoo Group how to photograph many different particular subjects, including: aurora, email for the weather related scheduling of this AP-SIG meeting.

On How to Get Started in Astro-Photography Bill Hanagan You can get started in astrophotography with your current camera mounted on a tripod by taking wide field photo- graphs of meteor showers, conjunctions, constellations, and star trails. Mounting your camera “piggyback” on a motorized telescope that tracks the movement of the stars allows you to photograph a few more subjects, mostly large and bright nebulas and comets. At this level, some smaller subjects may benefit from the use of a telephoto lens. As you move to progressively fainter and smaller subjects, the demands on your equipment will grow considerably. However, as you improve your equipment, the number of subjects that you can photograph will also increase exponentially. Joining the AP SIG is a great way to learn what equipment you’ll need to photograph the subjects that interest you and to find out what specific equipment works well (or doesn’t work) before you spend your money.

DAS AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan The DAS Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) Special February 6, 2014. He is famous for his book titled How to Interest Group (SIG) meets on evenings and weekends Make a Telescope, the first English edition of which came according to the availability of the members and the particu- out in 1957. A second English edition came out in 1984 and lar projects that are underway. The general range of has been in print ever since. activities of the ATM SIG includes all manner of telescope It has been 30 years since the release of the making, mirror making, and the making of accessories for second edition of Texereau’s book, yet it remains by telescopes and observing. Anyone interested in joining the far the best introduction to optical work for the beginner ATM SIG should email their name, address, and phone as well as a useful reference for the experienced number to me at [email protected]. worker. Other books have supplemented what you One recent event of significance to Amateur might learn from this one, but none contain such a Telescope Makers is the passing of a true Master Optician, masterful discussion of how you can make your own Jean Texereau. Texereau passed away in France on Newtonian or Cassegrain telescope optics. -34- INFORMATION ON DAS MEMBERSHIPS AND MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS DAS MEMBERSHIP · DAS membership dues are $30.00 per year and due on November 1 for all members. - There is no need to renew membership until the treasurer contacts you during the membership renewal drive starting in mid-October. · New members joining at various times of the year may be eligible for a prorated dues amount. - $20 when joining March-May - $10 when joining June-August - $30 for joining September-October through November 1 of the following year. ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP · The DAS offers an optional membership in the Astronomical League (AL) at a discounted rate. · AL membership dues are $7.50 per year and are due on June 1 for all members. · The AL does not offer any prorated discounts for new memberships starting mid-year. SKY & TELESCOPE MAGAZINE · The DAS offers subscriptions to Sky & Telescope at a discounted rate of $32.95 per year. · Subscriptions to S&T will be processed by the club for the first subscription year only. · The publisher should then send renewal notices directly to the subscriber at the club rate of $32.95. · You may receive renewal offers for amounts other than $32.95. If so, check to see if they are special offers and how close you are to your renewal date. · Your subscription expiration date should be displayed on the mailing label on your magazine. · If you are within 3 months of your renewal date and still have not received the correct renewal notice, please contact the publisher and tell them you should receive the member rate. ASTRONOMY MAGAZINE · The DAS offers subscriptions to Astronomy magazine at a discounted rate of $34.00 per year. · Subscriptions to Astronomy will be processed by the club for the first subscription year only. · Your subscription expiration date should be displayed on the mailing label on your magazine. · Renewals can be handled by all club members on the Astronomy.com website using the following steps: a. go to astronomy.com b. select the ‘customer service’ link in the upper right corner c. select the ‘renew your subscriptions’ link d. enter your customer number (found on the mailing label), postal code, and the renewal code of ‘RCLUB40’ and click ‘continue’ e. follow the remaining steps from there.

NEW MEMBERSHIP FORM · Please review the membership and magazine information above carefully. · PLEASE fill out the membership form below completely. ------NEW MEMBERSHIP FORM

Please be sure to review the Membership and Magazine information above carefully. Please make checks payable to DAS and forward to: Jeff Lawrence, Treasurer, 815 Leeds Lane, Newark, DE 19711

Senior / Family Membership $30.00 Junior Membership (16 or under) $10.00 Astronomical League $ 7.50 Sky & Telescope Magazine $32.95 Astronomy Magazine $34.00 Total:

Name______Email Adress______

Street Address______Phone Number______City______State______Zip______

Notes______For questions or concerns, contact Jeff Lawrence, DAS Treasurer at (302) 668-8277 or [email protected] -35- DAS CONTACTS Please call any of us with your concerns! Board members: Officers: President: Bill Hanagan -- 302-239-0949 or [email protected], also, Amateur Telescope Making and Astronomi- cal Photography Special Interest Group, By-Laws, Programs, Star Parties & Observatory and Equipment Improvements

Vice-President: John Case -- 302-838-1568 or [email protected]

Secretary: Bill McKibben, Secretary [email protected]

Treasurer: Jeff Lawrence [email protected]; (302) 668-8277also Sky & Telescope & Astronomy magazine issues

Board Members at Large: Terry Lisansky [email protected]

Rob Lancaster -- also, Program Chair & Future Web Site Development -- [email protected]

Glenn Bentley -- 610-869-0706 or [email protected]

Standing Chairs: Publications: Joe Neuberger -- 302-723-2734 or [email protected], also, FOCUS Newsletter article/photo contributions Awards: Gus Swartout - [email protected]

Education: Mike Cimorosi - [email protected]

Observing: Greg Lee -- 302-762-5358 or [email protected], also, What’s Up in the Night Sky? segment at each monthly meeting.

Observatory: Open Position (contact Bill Hanagan with questions) MCAO Web Page: www.MountCuba.org Library Maria Lavalle and Sue Bebon DAS Web Page: www.DelAstro.org Other Chairs: Program Chair & Future Web Site Development: Rob Lancaster -- [email protected] Elections Chair: Fred DeLucia -- 609-410-8943 or [email protected]

Web Site Maintenance and Operation: Daniel Chester-- [email protected]

SEE PRECEEDING PAGE FOR NEW MEMBERSHIP FORM If you have questions, call any of the member representatives listed. Otherwise, just check the appropriate boxes and complete the form on the preceeding page. Print it or cut it off and send it with your check to Jeff Lawrencet his address on the form. The magazine prices are group rates to DAS members. If you’re just joining us for the first time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, and WELCOME to the DAS! It’s GREAT to have you with us!

The Coming of Spring and The Last All That It Offers the Astro Enthusiast Word. . . I love this time of year--and really,who doesn’t? But with my bad back I miss the clear skies of winter due to my inability to withstand the cold for any appreciable length of time while observing. But when the warm weather hits, and before the bugs decend in full force, is “my time” for observing the heavens and getting the spiritual recharging of my batteries run down from winter’s doldrums. And from conversations I’ve had with a good number of DAS members who share limitations like I, for whatever reasons, spring likewise is “their time” to enjoy the wonders of FOCUS editor the universe. Let’s hope for good weather and clear skies so “we” can get the most out of Joe Neuberger “our time” this spring!