★ July ★The SiderealSidereal TimesTimes 1999

★THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE ALBUQUERQUE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY P.O. BOX 50581, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 87181-0581

”…Logo or No Go!” by George Pellegrino

In the month of April, 1987, a little over twelve nomical Society” and a logo with an eclipsed Zia sym- years ago, a proposal was made to change the name of bol with three stars. (See insert – as published in the the Albuquerque Astronomers. Since its inception on April ’87 Sidereal Times). The proposal was a package August 12th, 1959, this was the name of our society. The deal. The new name and the proposed logo had to be change was part of a five-year plan that began the year voted on as a whole . . . “The name and logo or no go!” before. It was a plan to build an organization that would I remember when the logo was created. A long time be on the cutting edge of amateur astronomy. member and good friend of mine named Cal Currier The plan included, among other things, reorgani- zation as a nonprofit corporation; institutionalizing our Continued on page 14 educational outreach to schools and the to public; so- liciting for major donations including land, building materials, money, etc.; building our library and add- ing to our loaner ‘scope program and the building of What about “THE” an observatory. At the meeting held on May 15th, 1987, the hotly As for the name with the word “The”: debated issue of changing the name of our organiza- On April 9th, 1988, one hundred ten mem- tion and the adoption of a logo was decided. Although bers of the “Albuquerque Astronomical So- there were four submissions for a vote, only one con- ciety” (a record at that time) attended a tained the hand-lettered words “Albuquerque Astro- meeting held at the Career Enrichment Cen- ter and voted on and unanimously ap- proved adoption of the articles of incorpo- ration under the name of “The Albuquer- que Astronomical Society” as it appears in Article 1. The document was filed with the corporation commission on April 21st. For a short time there was a little con- fusion (on my part) as to weather the “The” was part of our name or not. It was cor- rectly pointed out that the members voted on and approved the name with the word “The” and it indeed became part of our name legally and without reservation.

The logo adopted at the May 15th meeting

Departments Features ○○○○○○○○○ ○ ○ ○ President’s Update page 2 Docent News page 10 July Meeting Preview page 3 Board Meeting page 2 Campus Observatory page 11 Astrophoto Lecture page 4 Calendars page 4 The Kids’ Corner page 11 What’s Up for August page 5 Observer’s Page page 6 Chaco Canyon page 13 Bluewater, Video Course page 8 Ask the Experts page 9 Trivia Contest page 15 June Meeting Recap page 12 Constellation TAAS page 10 Board Member Info page 15 Sevilleta Open House page 12 Star Myths ------Classified Ads ------TSP and TAAS Assets page 13 The Sidereal Times July 1999

to the inventory, and suggested that PRESIDENT’S UPDATE the list was still growing. Sam mo- PRESIDENT’S UPDATE tioned and the board approved, that a by David Nelson Blair new deadline of 8/26 should be set for late additions to the inventory, which The rocket stood in the cold winter morn- recently retired from the original Mis- would then be re-presented to the ing, making summer with every breath of sion Impossible series, played the lead- board on that date, and any new ad- its mighty exhausts. The rocket made cli- ers of a lunar colony happily going dition would be handled according to mates, and summer lay for a brief moment about their business, which seemed to TAAS bylaws on donations. There was upon the land. have had something to do with dispos- discussions on the importance of a ing of nuclear wastes, which had been “bottom line” dollar value to the in- The words are from “January 1999: going on up there on the moon for de- ventory, that Sam will add to the in- Rocket Summer,” the first chapter of cades. ventory. The inventory can be in- the Ray Bradbury’s The Martian But one day the waste dump ex- spected at http://members.aol.com/ Chronicles. Written in 1958, it had us on ploded, blasting the moon out of orbit abqsammy/99inv.html. Mars in 1999. and across the galaxy—facilitating Lodestar—David met with David Ooops. How the future changes, as numerous adventures for our heroes. Beining of Lodestar on 6/15. Lodestar they say. The date of that great explosion, if is discussing adding a lighting dem- And oh! Don’t forget the Eugen- I recall correctly, was September 13, onstration to the Natural History Mu- ics Wars of the mid 1990s, which we 1999. I wonder if TAAS should sched- seum, and a radio telescope to the learned about from the history banks ule a vigil that day. Wouldn’t it be fun project. There is also discussion of aboard the Starship Enterprise. (I could to thumb our noses at the mother of adding a TAAS member (Dee Friesen) never figure out why Star Trek was so all light polluters as she’s blasted to as an observer to the Lodestar board. often called an optimistic vision of the kingdom come? GNTO—Robert O announced a future.) But, alas, Martin Landau and Bar- work party for 6/25 to improve the From the nonfiction side, I vaguely bara Bain never made it to the moon, parking lot and add T&G flooring to remember reading, circa 1970, that a and we’re way behind our nuclear- the observation deck. Plans are com- manned fly-by of Mars might well take waste dumping schedule. ing together for the TAAS picnic at place as early 1986. Still, we can always hope that the GNTO on 7/10. There will be a hike My favorite future from the past WIPP site will reach critical mass, fling- to the Rio Puerco at 8am and a star came from a quirky TV series called ing New Mexico into the firmament. party that night. Carl passed a sign- Space 1999. I haven’t seen it in decades, Imagine the images we’d get as we up sheet around for picnic essentials. but I’ve always remembered the shot through the Trapezium! Now A new observing platform for the as- premise. that’s an optimistic view of the future. trophysics scope will be built east of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, the main dome. The new $120 motor for the Astrophysics scope seems to be working well, but the controller may BOARD MEETING be bad. Bill Tondreau has replaced the PRESIDENT’S UPDATE Isengard motor. The next meeting for by Sammy Lockwood the GNTO Committee has been changed to 7/20, and will discuss the priorities list and the future of the The June 24, 1999 Executive Board board. Education Funds on deposit “Sleeping Giant” (future guesthouse). Meeting was called to order at 7pm by were $1581.96. Observatory Funds on The meetings will probably be moved President David Blair. Attending were deposit were $4126.47. General Funds from the 66 Dinner, call Robert O for George Pellegrino, Robert Williams, on deposit were $53.45. Total Funds details. George Pellegrino presented Gordon Pegue, Robert Ortega, Kevin on deposit were $5761.88. Robert also the Cave Catalog that came with the McKeown, Carl Frisch, Bruce Levin, explained that he had mistakenly Isengard to the board to be kept at Nancy Dodge, Beth Fernandez, and spend $335 from the GNTO fund that GNTO. Carl said that he is working Sam Lockwood. Observers included should have been spent from the Gen- with NM State Parks on their purchase Mike Pendley, Barry Gordon, Lisa eral Fund for the purchase of a video of a telescope, and explained that any Wood, and Rose Fernandez. teaching set. The correction will be member who holds public viewing at Sam read the minutes from the made in the next treasurers report. a State Park will likely have camping fees waved. May 27th board meeting which were Committees accepted. EPPC—George presented the Asset Committee— Carl and Rob- Robert Williams distributed and board with the following proposal to ert O. displayed a list of new additions read the Treasurer’s Report to the change the TAAS bylaws: Page 2 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— July 1999 The Sidereal Times

good viewing for the public, there were Hyde State Park—The Girl Scouts *** DRAFT REVISION *** clouds when the Boy Scouts arrived. have asked TAAS to consider a star ARTICLE XXIII Oak Flat 6/19 – 60-70 people at- party at Hyde State Park near Santa Fe Events Policies and Procedures tended, despite bad weather early. The on either 6/25, 7/16, or 7/30. Section 1. Implementation: field was muddy so viewing was done Newsletter assignments were The Albuquerque Astronomical Society’s Board from the parking lot. Despite the of Directors shall, in general, be guided by the handed out, and the meeting ad- weather, mud and moon, the event Events Policy and Procedures currently in ef- journed at 9:09pm fect, ensuring that they are observed by all rel- was considered a success. evant committees, and making exceptions only after due consideration justifies same. Future Events July Meeting to Section 2. Revisions: General Meetings—The June At such times as the Events Policies and Proce- meeting is reserved for presentations dures currently in effect are found to be inad- by TAAS members. Jim Wren from Los Feature Jim Wren equate in some respect, The Albuquerque As- Alamos will speak in July on Gamma by George Pellegrino tronomical Society’s Board of Directors shall es- tablish an Events Policy and Procedures Com- Ray Bursters. There will be a presen- mittee charged with proposing an appropriate tation on the TAAS 200 at the August If you have copy of the May, 1999 revision. The committee will consist of at least meeting. issue of Sky & Telescope, turn to page three Board Members. ATM SIG – First meeting is 55. Our next guest speaker is the fel- The Events Policies and Procedures Committee Wednesday, June 30, at Valley High low on the left. That’s Jim Wren. shall develop the appropriate revision and School. Some of you may remember Jim present it to the Board of Directors for amend- TAAS Picnic—7/10 at GNTO. as the president of the New Mexico ment and approval. Approval shall be by simple majority vote of the Directors. The approved Special Board Meeting—7/18, 1- Tech Astronomy Club. You might have Events Policies and Procedures shall remain in 4pm, George Pellegrino’s house. been out to the Etscorn Observatory effect until the Board of Directors approves a and observed with him. Jim is an avid new set by simple majority vote. Bluewater Lake—8/7, Robert W. amateur astronomer. is finalizing plans for a star party there. Section 3. Publication: You may have even heard about The Events Policies and Procedures shall be his involvement with ROTSE. If you published in the first Society newsletter after the Old Business haven’t, (or if you just want the inside Board of Directors meeting at which they were TAAS Logo—George presented a story) come to the next meeting on Sat- approved. letter to the board the explained his urday July 24 at 7 PM at Regener Hall The board will discuss the pro- strong feelings on using the correct (see last page for map). posal at the next meeting. TAAS logo. Jim, who is currently working at Membership Roster—Robert Wil- Los Alamos National Laboratory, is Calendar liams received 30 lashes for violating part of the Robotic Optical Transient Carl presented the board with a TAAS bylaws Article 13, sec 5, spells Search Experiment team. proposed calendar that would add sev- out the “for official use only” wording The ROTSE project (as it is known) eral more GNTO nights on Fridays and to be used on our rosters. was designed to work with an elabo- Saturdays. Carl explained that the Insurance—Robert W. explained rate system including the Internet, a GNTO committee wanted to spark that our Starlab is now covered, and satellite and observatories to capture more club interest in GNTO, and our premiums actually went down. a Gamma-ray Burst in the act. On wanted to use the calendar to show Video Course—Gordon explained January 23rd, 1999 the team succeeded members that nights at GNTO need that the new video course has arrived, by capturing GRB 990123, “the largest not be limited to just once or twice a and copies made, but needed an addi- explosion ever recorded by astrono- month. There was a lengthy discus- tional $9.27 to cover ordering a new set mers.” sion as to the impact of these new of literature for the copied tapes. The Jim Wren is a graduate of New GNTO dates on other TAAS events, board approved the amount. Mexico Tech with a bachelor’s degree especially UNM observing nights, and in physics. He recently received the EPPC concerns. Finally, the board New Business Langmuir Award from New Mexico voted 6-5 to table the discussion until New Archivist—Longtime TAAS Tech for the publication of his article next month. Archivist, Jaclyn Fuller Lane, has re- on GRB 990123 in the journal Nature. After the meeting, as usual, we Past Events signed. Nancy Dodge has volunteered to fill the post, and was welcomed by will have a social hour. The Society will Chaco Canyon 6/12 – Bruce said the board. provide the coffee, tea and hot choco- everyone had a good time at Chaco Astronomy 101—Robert is plan- late (as well as the appetites). Bring Elephant Butte 6/12 – Carl ex- ning a 101 geared toward Educational some goodies to share. See you there. plained that only a couple TAAS mem- Docents for sometime in August or bers attended, and although there was September. Page 3 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— The Sidereal Times July 1999 August 1999 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

12 34567 • GNTO • Lammas, a cross • Mercury • UNM • Bluewater quarter day. Half • Moon ~4° SSE • Last quarter stationary in Star Party way between 11:27 am (call to confirm) of Saturn RA 10 am. End ° • Uranus @ opp. Summer and Fall • ATM Workshop retrograde • Moon ~0.8 N 7pm, Valley HS of Aldebaran • Moon at perigee. motion 57.5 Earth-radii 89 10 11 12 13 14 • Venus at • Moon ~1.1° N • UNM? • Oak Flat • Saturn at west aphelion, of Regulus (call to confirm) • Mercury at quadrature 0.7282 au from • New Moon 5:09 greatest Sun at 10 am. am elongation west • Sun enters Leo (18.8°)

15 16 17 18 19 20 • UNM? 21 (call to confirm) • GNTO Mtg. • Venus @ inferior • First • Moon at apogee. quarter 7:47 pm conjunction with 63.4 Earth-radii Sun @ 6 am • ATM Workshop at 6 pm 7pm, Valley HS • Pluto stationary in RA at 9 pm 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 • Jupiter • UNM? •General • Mercury at • Moon ~0.75° N • Full Moon perihelion. stationary in RA (call to confirm) Meeting, 7 pm, of Neptune 5:49 pm. ° 0.3075 au from 6 am. Begin • Board Mtg. • Mercury ~9.8 Regener Hall Sun at 2 pm retrograde (7pm @ PandA NNE of Venus motion building) (morning sky) 29 30 31 Sunrise/Sunset Planet Rise / Set (8/15/1999) • Saturn stationary Mercury 05:00/18:45 Uranus 19:30/06:00 in RA. Begin 08/01 6:16/20:10 retrograde 08/15 6:26/19:55 Venus 07:15/19:45 Neptune 18:45/05:00 motion 08/31 6:38/19:35 Mars 13:30/23:45 Pluto 14:15/01:30 Jupiter 23:15/12:15 (MDT) Saturn 23:45/13:15 (Approximate MDT times)

author of five books and numerous the Royal Melbourne Institute of Astrophotographer papers and articles, and recipient of Technology. A native of England, David Malin awards from around the world, will Malin moved to Australia to turn to illustrate his talk with many of his pho- astronomy and make images of very to Lecture in Socorro tographs. large objects. (NARO Press Release) “Like most aspects of the natural In addition to his books, Malin world, the distant universe is both has published more than 120 scien- The world’s most famous astro- mysterious and beautiful,” Malin said. tific papers and an equal number of nomical photographer will present a “Astronomers spend much time un- popular articles on astronomy and free public lecture on “A Universe of raveling the mysteries, but the beauty photography since moving to Aus- Color,” on Monday, July 26, at 7:00 is harder to behold. In my profusely tralia. He has received awards from pm in Macey Center on the New illustrated, non-technical talk I will the Royal Photographic Society, the Mexico Tech campus in Socorro. The show how modern photographic tech- American Astronomical Society, the lecture is sponsored by the National niques, designed to reveal the faintest Royal Astronomical Society, the Pho- Radio Astronomy Observatory and objects, also uncover a world of spec- tographic Society of America, and the New Mexico Tech Astronomy tacular color and eye-catching form the International Academy of Astro- Club. among the stars and galaxies.” nautics, among others. David Malin, of the Anglo-Aus- A photographic scientist-astrono- tralian Observatory, recognized as mer at the Anglo-Australian Observa- Contact Dave Finley for more the world’s leading expert on astro- tory since 1975, Malin also is an adjunct information at [email protected] nomical photography, author or co- professor of scientific photography at

Page 4 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— July 1999 The Sidereal Times September 1999 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

Planet Rise / Set (9/15/1999) 1234 • Moon ~3° SSE Mercury 07:15/19:30 Uranus 17:30/03:30 of Saturn • UNM • Chaco Venus 04:15/17:15 Neptune 16:45/02:30 • Moon at perigee • Last quarter • Astronomy 101 Mars 13:15/22:30 Pluto 12:30/23:15 at 12:00 at 16:18 (call to confirm) Jupiter 21:00/10:15 • ATM Workshop • Moon ~0.8° N of Saturn 21:30/11:15 (Approximate MDT times) 7pm, Valley HS Aldebaran 56 7891011 •GNTO • Mercury at • Sevilleta NWR • Moon ~2.1° S • Venus ~8° from superior •UNM • Rosh Hashanah. of Beehive Moon conjunction • New Moon 16:02 (call to confirm) Begin Jewish Cluster • Sun’s north pole • Venus stationary year 5760 most inclined in RA. End • Vesta ~0.9° from toward Earth retrograde motion Moon 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 • GNTO Mtg. • Central • ATM • Moon at apogee. • First Elementary Workshop 63.4 Earth-radii quarter at 14:06 School — 7pm, Valley HS at 13:00 • UNM Belen • Sun enters • Mercury ~1.7° S Vergo at 23:00 of Beehive 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 • Moon ~0.7° N • Moon ~0.25° W • Autumn (Fall) • UNM of Neptune of asteroid equinox 5:30 (call to confirm) • Full Moon 4:52 Psyche • Board Mtg. • General Meeting • Moon ~0.6° N (7pm @ PandA • Venus brightest of Uranus building) (mag. -4.6)

26 27 28 29 30 Sunrise/Sunset • Moon at perigee. • Aldebaran ~1° 09/01 6:39/19:34 • Jupiter ~4° 57.4 earth-radii at from Moon from Moon 09/15 6:49/19:14 11:00 09/30 7:00/18:52 • Saturn ~3° from Moon (MDT)

What’s Up For August NOTES: by Kevin McKeown TAAS=The Albuquerque With the moon at new on August 11th, rates get better by midnight. Best rates Astronomical Society ideal conditions exist for extended are in the two hours before dawn. Per- GNTO=General Nathan observations of the Perseid meteor seids are very swift, yellow to orange, Twining Observatory. Call shower. The best rates will likely oc- typically trained meteors. They trace Gordon Pegue @ 332-2591 to cur on the mornings of August 9th to back to near the Double Cluster. confirm. th th 14 . The morning of August 12 is UNM=University of New the maximum, and the observer who Another meteor shower in August, to Mexico Observatory. Call the makes an individual hourly count mid September, that many observers TAAS hotline @296-0549, or the should see around 40 to 50. By Au- detect is the kappa Cygnids which UNM hotline @ 277-1446 to gust 16, it’s all over! The usual ca- peak on August 19th, or so. While confirm. veat: make your own count/hour! If sparse, kappa Cygs can be very bright! Also, the planet Mercury has a fair ATM=Amateur Telescope you combine counts with fellow ob- Making. Call Michael Pendley morning apparition from about Au- servers, or attempt all sky counts, for information @ 296-0549. you’ve gathered data that is of no use gust 7th to August 24th. Lastly, a partial to anyone. On the peak night, a few solar eclipse can be seen in the north- PandA=UNM Physics and Perseids can be seen at nightfall, and east USA at sunrise August 11th. Astronomy. Corner of Lomas and Yale.

Page 5 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— The Sidereal Times July 1999

briefly visible at nightfall, the night THE OBSERVERS PAGE was mostly spent admiring distant By Kevin McKeown lightening displays, eating, and remi- niscing about clear skies. August Musings forms. His Aquila has beta, alpha (Al- A Trip For Two One of the constellations we asso- tair), and gamma for its head. Beta This past June 11th, I traveled to ciate with August is Aquila, the Eagle. marks the tip of the beak. Lambda west Texas with the primary intent to Aquila is a distinct, intriguing star pat- marks the Eagle’s tail. Theta marks one observe two far southerly objects: open tern, and under black skies, its stars wing tip, and zeta another. Rey’s cluster NGC 6067 in Norma, and curiously seem to offer a geometry les- Aquila always seems contrived to me. globular cluster NGC 6397, in Ara. son: the eye naturally forms angles, Was he just trying to be different? That Since both lie at a declination of about lines, and triangles. While it seems that he could not, or chose not see neither minus 54, from Big Bend National Park every civilization has identified these the conventional Eagle of antiquity, nor they would stand some 6 degrees high stars as a bird, just how one figures the the unbiased Eagle formed though the above the horizon, at culmination. Eagle isn’t so clear. From antiquity, eyes of a child, comments on his curi- Here they are much less affected by and old star maps, the Eagle is always ous work. horizon murk. While I’ve seen a di- pictured facing, or flying to the east. Lastly, here’s a few notes for star- minished version NGC 6397 from The star theta Aquilae always marks gazing in Aquila. Aquila is best known GNTO many times, I had never ob- his beak. Altair lies on the Eagle’s for its many planetary nebulae, the best served NGC 6067. back, about where a wing attaches, and of which is the suberb NGC 6781. the stars zeta and epsilon Aquilae Some call it the “Ghost of the Moon” mark the end of his tail. They both nebula. It’s a lot like the Owl (Messier share the name “Deneb”, for tail, or 97) in Ursa Major. Also, the star pi “end”. However, other points on the Aquilae is a suberb double that con- Eagle are uncertain. According to Ara- sists of two white stars of magnitudes bic astronomers, beta Aquilae marks 6.0 and 6.8, seperated by a close 1.4 the neck (of the raven). But just how arcseconds. Lastly, keep an eye on the the neck ties in with other points on Cepheid variable eta Aquilae, one of the star picture isn’t clear to me, espe- the first identified variable stars. It will cially if theta is the tip of the beak. And surprise you with its brightness then the stars alpha and beta Sagittae, changes. Anyway, share with us your (the Arrow) are sometimes borrowed version of the starry Eagle. to mark the northern wing tip. Lambda Aquilae, on the edge of the GNTO, June 7th, and 12th Scutum starcloud, seems to mark the southern wing tip. But keep in mind Pete Eschman, Carl Frisch, and I that when you form a constellation observed from GNTO on an off night- from a group of stars, it is not neces- Monday, June 7th— and it was one of sary to rigidly fit the picture to specific the best—if not the best—nights for I actually had my first look at NGC stars: don’t create stick figures. summer stargazing at GNTO I’ve ever 6067 from the rest stop near Valentine, However, as a high school star- seen! Comet Lee was a fine RFT ob- Texas. While skies were very clean, gazer, I pictured Aquila much differ- ject. The Milky Way was etched in and cloud free through Van Horn, ently (having then not biased myself such high contrast it was fantastic! We Texas, I stopped short of Big Bend be- with research!). Here’s perhaps a bet- had fantastic views of bright and dark cause it was apparent the atmosphere ter Eagle. Lambda marks his beak, and nebulae, and globulars. The Omega was becoming more and more ob- Altair, along with beta and gamma, nebula was splendid! Alpha Ara, un- scured near the horizon as I drove form his tail. Zeta marks one wing tip, der the Scorpion’s tail, was bright and south. From Valentine, skies were ex- and theta Aquilae, the other. This obvious! This night passed the NGC cellent down to about 4 degrees of al- Eagle is analogous to Cygnus, the 6397 test: it was easy, and partly re- titude. Then nothing, so thick was the Swan. He flies southwest along the solved in my 10 inch Newtonian. low level obscuration. Never the less, Milky Way, ala Cygnus. Like Cygnus, On June 12th, Dave Blair reports I had a good look at NGC 6067. Since his tail is marked by a bright star (Al- that a good group showed for this Sat- this open cluster is described by some tair). Check it out. urday GNTO night, but the weather as the finest open of the night sky, it Strangely, author H. A. Rey in did not cooperate. While the evening was quite a find. The next night, skies “The Stars” sees neither of these two planets (Mercury-Venus-Mars) were of good to excellent horizon transpar- Page 6 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— July 1999 The Sidereal Times

a bright star, and 1999 will be remem- should look more focused than bluish ency graced Sotol Vista, in Big Bend bered for the remarkable pairing of Spica for persons with myopia! How NP. Then the full grandeur of NGC Mars and Spica. Offhand, I can’t even did you see it? Let us know! But then, 6067 shone forth. This cluster is large, recall such an event prior to Mars- perhaps Spica was blurry because of very rich, and slightly oval. It consists Spica: testimony to the rarity of such a its lesser brilliance. of about a dozen bright stars set in a phenomenon! Indeed, on June 5th, Because this Mars-Spica pair-up very rich background of star dust. It’s Mars became stationary right along- was so remarkable, I decided to re- splendid. Perhaps NGC 6067 is most side Spica, and they were spaced some search previous pair-ups of the two. similar to Messier 35, but it is bigger, 1.6 degrees apart. From late May, to First, for every opposition, Mars drifts and brighter than M 35. Overall, NGC mid June, we were treated to a curi- retrograde (westwards) in the Zodiac, 6067 is much larger than Messier 11. ous bright, “double star” formed of and it is roughly in the middle of this Centrally located in the heart of the Mars and Spica. Closest approach retrograde period that opposition oc- great Norma star cloud, it is the high- probably came on June 11th. Unlike a curs. Defining this retrograde period light object of this star cloud. BTW, the planet simply sweeping past a star, are two points where Mars becomes Norma cloud was an easy naked eye Mars anchored alongside Spica for stationary. The first point could be object from Sotol! Certainly, NGC 6067 many days, and this forged a lasting called “eastern stationary”. Some is one of the best 5 or so opens of the impression. The many comments from three months of retrograde drift later, Heavens, but how can you pick be- the public suggest the event was “western stationary” occurs. So how tween Messier 11, Messier 35, Messier widely noticed. do these stationary points tie in with 7, the Jewel box of Crux, NGC 3324 Spica to form a pair-up? Well, it turns (Carina), NGC 3532 (Carina), NGC Initially, I took the Mars-Spica out (because of orbital geometry, and 2477 (Puppis), the Double Cluster, and pairing for granted. But by June 3rd viewing angles) that an eastern station- perhaps the Pleiades? or so, important aspects of the event ary pair-up is never very impressive, A couple of hours later, NGC 6397 became apparent. In RFT’s, both Mars because Mars lies well north of the culminated. Wow!!! This cluster is and Spica easily fit in the same field. ecliptic, and the minimum gap from truly large, and brilliant. It is at least Certainly, the striking color contrast Spica is a full 5 degrees. Note: Spica as good as Messier 4 in Scorpius. NGC between orangish Mars, and richly lies 2 degrees south of the ecliptic 6397 is a beautiful round star ball with bluish Spica was obvious, if not so to plane. Eastern stationary Mars-Spica a large out outlier haze. It seems more the unaided eye. Is there another pair-ups can only occur in late Febru- condensed than M 4, a bit richer, and planet-star pairing with such rich col- ary, in association with an opposition brighter. NGC 6397 is resolved to the ors? And at nightfall, on June 7th, from on or about April 8th. The best? Febru- core in the 10 inch Newtonian. It is GNTO, Pete Eschman and I admired ary 19, 1935, when Mars lay . . . 5 de- also a conspicuous binocular object- the close “double” formed by Mars- grees above Spica. perhaps even more so than Messier 13, Spica. However, hours later, as they However, a western stationary and sits just off the Milky Way of Ara, nudged the western horizon, the two Mars-Spica pair-up is much more im- the Altar. looked wide and less impressive! Just pressive! Because Mars lies just south as the full moon appears larger when of the ecliptic for an early June west- Updates near the horizon, the Mars-Spica “gap” ern stationary point, it can approach seemed bigger! to within 1.5 degrees of Spica. These Bruce Levin reports greatly in- Another curious aspect of the pair- occur around June 4th of the year, and creased sunspot activity, along with a ing- as I saw it with the unaided eye- are associated with a late April oppo- few flares in late June. He estimated was that Mars always looked sharp, sition. Prior to 1999, a pretty good there were some 150 sunspots visible whereas Spica looked like a bluish blur, western stationary pair-up occurred in th th around the 20 of June! On June 12 , or disc. Spica was out of focus! The June, 1873, and a better one occurred Carl Frisch and I CCD imaged the fa- only explanation I can offer is this. in late May, 1841, when Mars “parked” mous variable SS Cygni a few days af- Since my night vision is slightly myo- two degrees from Spica. However, as ter an outburst. Be watching this star pic, this means that the image plane a consolation, in late June, 1841, Mars’ for an outburst around mid July. formed from my eye’s lens lies slightly resumed eastward drift brought it to Lastly, I did not see any June Bootid/ above, or in front of the retina. How- within 1.5 degrees of Spica- for one Draconid activity on the night of June ever, recall that the eye is not achro- night only. But these were not as good 27. However, a full moon may have matic: blue to violet rays, with their as 1999. So ya’ missed Mars-Spica in overwhelmed these faint meteors. shorter focal lengths, focus closer to the ’99? Missed Halley’s Comet in 1986? lens than the red rays. For persons Well, 2078 offers the next best station- Mars and Spica, 1999 with myopia, the red rays actually fo- ary Mars-Spica pair-up, and you have cus closer to the retina than the blue to wait until 2283 for a nearly exact It is not often that a conspicuous rays, and red stars should look sharper replay of 1999. planet becomes stationary so close to than blue stars. Thus, reddish Mars Page 7 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— The Sidereal Times July 1999

cessful star party for TAAS and The of the most outstanding teachers in the Bluewater New Mexico State Parks and could country? This would be possible if we lead to many more around the state in expand our library with a high qual- State Park the years to come. The park is going ity, college level astronomy video by Robert Williams to waive any camping fees for TAAS course like “Understanding The Uni- members as long as you stay in the verse: An Introduction To Astronomy” It has been a busy summer for group area, and since this is the way by Alex Filipenko, Ph.D. Dr. Filipenko many TAAS members, well maybe a that the parks can pay us for doing is professor of astronomy at the Uni- busy year all around. With Chaco Can- these events we can expect the same versity of California at Berkeley. yon, Elephant Butte, Oak Flat and all at other parks that TAAS decides to This visually rich course is de- the GNTO nights I know I am getting work with in the future. This is one of signed to provide a non-technical de- worn out, but I am just as enthusiastic the perks for being a TAAS member scription of modern astronomy, includ- as ever when I do attend any of the and helping with star parties. ing the structure and evolution of plan- TAAS events. I love to share the night To get to Bluewater State Park take ets, stars and galaxies, and the universe sky and I love to be stingy at times and I-40 west to the Prewitt exit about 20 as a whole. Astronomical objects are just take it all in for myself. Now that miles west of Grants, head south for 7 explored with beautiful images ob- TAAS is growing and being ap- miles and you will be there, look for tained by the Hubble Space Telescope, proached by more people to host star group shelter #1, behind the ranger planetary probes, and other modern parties we are doing more out of town station. instruments. Exotic objects like explod- events than ever before. I am going to plan a cookout for ing stars, neutron stars, black holes, The nice thing about all the out of that Saturday of the star party so if you and quasars are considered as well as town events is that it gets us away from are interested in going and would like recent newsworthy topics like the ten- the city lights and out to some really to bring some food for the cookout tative evidence for life on Mars, and great skies. I was contacted by the please call me or e-mail me and we can the existence of planets in orbit around New Mexico State Parks and asked if discuss the details. My phone num- other stars. TAAS could host 4 or 5 State Park star ber is 505-839-2840 and my e-mail is The course series consists of 10 parties this year. Since the TAAS cal- [email protected]. I hope VHS videotapes; each tape contains 4 endar was fairly full I suggested we to see many TAAS members out at - 45 minute lectures. Along with the start with one this year and begin to Bluewater. tapes, there are written course guides, book some early next year. It was de- which provide additional narrative material. That’s 30 hours of educa- cided to do a star party at Bluewater New Astronomy Video State Park near Grants first since it was tional materials presented in a way the closest of the three parks given. We Course Available that makes it easy for those who have busy schedules to enrich their under- have scheduled it for Saturday, August by Gordon Pegue 7, 1999. standing of the cosmos! After all, it was Albert Einstein who once ob- I am very excited for this event, I The mission of The Albuquerque served that “the most incomprehen- met with the officials at Bluewater on Astronomical Society is public educa- sible thing about the universe is that it Friday, June 25th and they are just as tion through astronomy. Our public is comprehensible.” excited to have us there. We drove education mission also includes the Including this astronomy course in around the campsite and checked out unwritten mandate to provide our our library will allow us to meet our both group shelters. I was allowed to own Society members with the means educational mission by giving all of stay the night at the group shelter we to increase their understanding of as- our members the opportunity to chose to use, and see what the sky was tronomy. To this end, the Society has deepen their knowledge of astronomy like, despite a large moon there were and maintains an extensive library of in a way that is convenient and time- some great skies. We have a shelter both written and video materials avail- saving. The course will also provide that will accommodate around 100 able to members for checkout. Our li- the graduates of our highly successful people and lots of room for camping brarian is Lisa Wood and she can pro- Astronomy 101 events with follow up and parking. There is power available vide more details on what is available. educational materials. at the shelter and there are showers in Please refer to the back of this news- It is with great pleasure that I, on the bathrooms only a few hundred feet letter for her phone number. behalf of the Board of Directors of The away. We also have water available in Recently, Alejandra and I discov- Albuquerque Astronomical Society, the campsite. I am planing on head- ered something that we thought would am able to announce that we have pur- ing out the Thursday before and stay- be of great value to The Albuquerque chased the course and are adding it to ing until Sunday. If anyone would like Astronomical Society and its mission. to come and spend a few days there How would you like to have a pri- you are more than welcome to. vate astronomy class in the comfort of Continued on page 15 This should prove to be a very suc- your own living room delivered by one Page 8 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— July 1999 The Sidereal Times

Ask the Experts with the earth and the sun, then there occur semiannually for several months will be the respective solar or lunar centered near the beginning and eclipse. The alignment is infrequent middle of each year. because the plane about which the There is a region near the nodal earth and moon go around each other points where eclipses can occur where is not on the same plane about which the shadow of the moon will fall on or the earth travels around the sun. be in alignment with the earth’s sur- The earth-moon plane is inclined face, or where the earth will block sun about 5.2∞ from the earth-sun, eclip- light from reaching the moon’s surface. by Bruce Levin tic, or orbital plane (figure 1). The Of course, partial eclipses occur where moon actually passes through the only part of the sun’s rays are blocked from the moon’s or earth’s surface. Why do solar eclipses not oc- earth’s orbital plane twice each month. These two points or moon crossing— Also, in order to be able to observe a cur on each new moon and lu- where the earth-moon plane intersects total or annular solar eclipse, one needs nar eclipses not occur on each with the ecliptic plane—are called the to be somewhere within and along the full moon? nodes of the orbit (figure 2). The plane path of totality or annularity during of the earth-moon orbit stays fixed in the time of the eclipse. If the earth- Solar eclipses do not occur on each space and the line through the nodes moon plane were on the same plane new moon because the moon does not also keeps the fixed direction. It is only as the ecliptic plane, then there would line up between the earth and sun with when the earth, moon, and sun are in be eclipses on each full and new moon! each new moon. Likewise, lunar line and near the nodal line (line of eclipses do not occur on each full moon nodes) that an eclipse occurs. Because Reference: Robert Jastrow and because the earth does not line up be- of the earth-moon orbital position Malcolm H. Thompson, Astronomy: tween the sun and earth with each full around the sun, there are a few months Fundamentals and Frontiers, Third Edi- moon. Of course, when the new moon out of the year when it is impossible tion, John Wiley & Sons, New York, or full moon alignment does occur, for an eclipse to occur. Eclipse seasons NY, 1977.

Figure 1. Non-eclipse positions of the sun, earth, and moon

Drawings not to scale Figure 2. Intersection of earth and moon orbital planes along the Line of Nodes. A & B are the two nodes where the orbits intersect. The line joining points A & B is the Line of Nodes. Eclipses will occur when the full or new moon is within the eclipse regions (when the sun, moon, and earth are in align- ment).

Page 99 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— The Sidereal Times July 1999

Docent News 4 cots Constellation 4 sleeping bags by Lisa Wood 4 pillows TAAS by David Blair We’re still all vacationing, so 1 good pair of lightweight bin- there’s not a lot of activity on this front. oculars. (7x50s are wonderful To keep TAAS members up to date on The star party booking process has but too heavy for most kids) what is happening with OUR Stars. begun for the 1999-2000 school year 1 package of Oreos to pass around I spent a very pleasant evening a and should be completed by the time few weeks ago, enjoying coffee and school starts up again. Please call me That’s it! No star atlases necessary. dessert with Jaclyn Fuller Lane and her (see newsletter back) if you are inter- Maybe a nice tape player with some husband Lyle. We talked about every- ested in learning how to get a local Pachelbel drifting softly about in the thing from TAAS to Latin American school on the roster for upcoming year. background if you want to go hi-tech. airports. (Trivia question: Why do pi- Oscar Night for the Predictably, the resident family lots approaching El Alto Airport in “Gear Head’s” heart has gone crash- TAAS Stars! Bolivia lower their landing gear as they ing to the floor at this point, so here’s descend to 13,000 feet? Answer: That’s The June meeting was Awards my next recommendation: where they find the runway.) Night for the Docents. The following An 8 or 10 inch Dobsonian reflec- The occasion was the transfer of were honored for attending one or tor Telrad (essential in my book) TAAS’s archives. After serving as ar- more of our twelve School Star Parties: Coupla eyepieces chivist for many years, Jaclyn is retir- Katherine Blankenburg, Charlie and Again, pretty simple, although a ing. Our new archivist is Nancy Nancy Dodge, Carl Frisch, Barry Gor- bit more pricey. It seems, oddly, that Dodge, a first year member of TAAS’s don, Jay Harden, Linda Hixon, Bruce people resist purchasing a telescope Board of Directors. Levin, Sam and Shayna Lockwood, that looks like a cannon, but I wince to I want to thank both Jaclyn for her Kevin McKeown, think of a family buying anything that years of service to TAAS and Nancy Robert Ortega, Jon, Mike, Stevie, needs to be polar aligned or that sits for taking on new responsibilities. Debbie and Ruth Pendley, Dan Richey, upon a rickety tripod. Personally, I Their participation has made TAAS a Barry Spletzer, Robert Williams, Chris think automatic tracking and slewing stronger organization. Wilson, Elyse Wood, David Blair, Rick are highly overrated for the casual ob- Zamorran, Jim Brockaway, GB Cornu- server, and may be responsible for Random Acts copia, Hunter Mortley, Brock Parker thousands of unloved and unwanted of Kindness and Bill Tondreau. scopes that are currently gathering Thanks to Bill Tondreau for con- The following docents were dust in people’s closets as we speak. tributing a motor for the Isengard tele- awarded TAAS T-shirts in addition, for Another piece of unpopular ad- scope, a 100 MhZ computer, and an ink extra devotion to the cause: Carl Frisch, vice I offer is this: Resist the impulse jet printer for use at the observatory. Sam and Shayna Lockwood, Robert to buy a telescope until you can point Thanks to EMS Printworks for Ortega, Jon, Ruth and Mike Pendley, to and name 20 stars. If you don’t have giving TAAS a generous rate on the Dan Richey, Robert Williams, Barry enough enthusiasm for this amount of printing of our Membership applica- Spletzer and Elyse Wood. effort, you may be the next proud tions / information brochures. The following docents got the owner of a dusty, high-tech Tie Rack. Thanks to Peter Eschman for the Short End of the Stick, because I’m not Without some familiarity with the sky, enormous amount of time and effort very good at taking attendance in the your only targets will be planets, the he’s put into preparing Observatory dark: Gordon Pegue, Larry Cash, moon, and other naked eye objects; Committee priorities and backing up Nancy Davis, Anna Whitlow (Robert possibly enthusiasm will soon flag and GNTO images to CDs. and I REMEMBER making yours up), founder. I mean, Deep Sky is really Thanks to Robert Williams for and Kevin McKeown, who should where all the excitement’s at, and 20 spending so much time designing the have publicly received his T-shirt as stars will give you the reference points recognition certificates for the TAAS well as certificate. My apologies! necessary to navigate the realm of the night. Star Party Docents (see Docent News). Astronomy for Families Well, that’s it. Somehow, I think the Thanks to Allen Green for contrib- (or advice no one likes) most unpopular advice is usually the uting a dot matrix printer for use at the best, so I can only vindicate myself by Observatory. Like many astronomy enthusiasts, Thanks to Brad Hamlin for con- I am sometimes asked by newcomers saying I don’t make the news, I only report it! Hoping that you all have a tributing a 200 Mb hard disk drive for to the hobby what equipment I would use in the Observatory computers recommend, especially for family en- wonderful experience with whatever equipment you choose to go with. Thanks to the University of New joyment. Here is my recommendation Mexico for its long-standing and con- for a family of 4: Happy Observing! Page 10 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— July 1999 The Sidereal Times

tinuing contribution of web space for TAAS and for granting the use of Regener Hall for our general meetings. The New Members TAAS membership now stands at Kids’ 428 and after a slight dip is moving back toward the all-time high of 435. Corner Please join me in extending a warm TAAS welcome to new members: by Barry Wood Roger Babcock Lisa Bearly Start Your Engines! Dylan Boynton Sheryl Ives Boynton Just for fun, guess how long it would take to do the following. See the Lewis O. Campbell answers below—they are approximations! Paulette Christopher Nathan Cole Shawn K. Deasy A—Drive a car to Mercury in only Michael Desjarlai Q—How long would it take to drive 65 years! Terry Dunbar a car (100 mph) from Earth to Mer- Francette Fey cury when they are closest together? Jeffrey S. Goldmeer Q—How long would it take for an A—Take an Apollo spacecraft to James R. Hensley Apollo Spacecraft to fly from Earth Venus in a mere 45 days. Kathryn M. Hensley to Venus? (24,000 mph) Randall S. Hensley Q—How long would it take a chee- A—An unstoppable cheetah John F. Milhollan tah, non-stop, to run to Mars? (65 could get to Mars in 86 years. Judy Olsen Milhollan mph) Deborah Mart O’Laughlin Tara Ransom Q—How long would it take a pen- A—Why would a penguin even Franklin D. Robinson guin to swim to Jupiter? (22 mph) WANT to swim to Jupiter—it Jacob Searcy would take 1940 years! Ursula Searcy Q—How long would it take a very A—An Olympic swimmer would Theodore J. Sharp good swimmer to swim to Saturn? have even less fun, taking 18,000 Ryan Sleeter (5 mph) years to get to Saturn. Jim Tolle A—A super fast race car would Guillermo P. Turhe-Bear Q—How long would it take a rocket- take 280 years to get to Uranus Jan Villescas powered race car to race to Uranus? without any pit stops. Ross Wimborne and family (600 mph) Wyllis London Woods Q—How long would it take a heli- A—A helicopter would take al- copter to get to Pluto? (150 mph) most 7000 years to make its way to Pluto. UNM Campus

Observatory home well after 11. there with telescopes we were quiet by Jay Harden, busy. Dave Crockett and guest came July 2 Campus Observatory Coordinator by. It was cloudy on and off all after- June 25 noon and early evening. I finally de- We had 3 nights wit activity since cided to go but by the time I got there, Clouds again, though we did have the last report. the entire sky was cloudy. One lone- a quite a few docents—Mike Pendley, some guest stopped by. We had a nice Brock Parker, Kevin McKeown, Tom June 18 talk but no viewing. Fairly good viewing night. Some Saunders, Bill Tondreau, and Jay high, thin clouds with an estimated 50 Harden Not many viewers but we had July 9 - 60 guests. Since just Mike and I were a nice chat with the last of us going Rained out Page 11 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— The Sidereal Times July 1999

dome or just want to hitch a ride to experience areas of the refuge not And now, around the galaxy on someone else’s accessible the rest of the year. for the star of our scope. In addition to refuge tours depart- Last but by no means least, our ing from La Joya, many exciting events show . . . president David Blair put on a dra- and exhibits will be offered free of matic presentation, complete with charge. Scheduled day-time events TAAS Members props. In a performance worthy of an include a presentation outlining the Academy Award, David told the story Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Pro- by George Pellegrino of a great big dob and its owner. I gram, a presentation about Hanta Vi- mean where talking big here. Accord- rus Research, and geology tours. Ex- Every year around this time, The ing to Dave, this thing was 69 inches hibitors will include The Nature Con- Albuquerque Astronomical Society in- in diameter! Did you know that Pyrex servancy, the Rio Grande Nature Cen- vites members to be the star of the could crack at 40 degrees below zero? ter, and Friends of Bosque del Apache show. At our June meeting, six mem- Well, don’t feel bad if you didn’t … National Wildlife Refuge. Refuge bers enjoyed their very own spotlight neither did the owner of the scope in tours and events, though free of (with a red filter, of course). the story. charge, will require registration, as One of this year’s Broline Award After the “show”, the legendary space is limited. Contact the Socorro winners, Sengdhuan Saint John, pre- chocolate chip cookies and bite size Chamber of Commerce at 505-835-0424 sented her award winning Southwest cherry cheesecakes were devoured in after August 1, 1999 to receive your Regional Science Fair project entitled record time. What more could you ask Open House brochure. These bro- “The Solar Apex”. Using the known for? chures will also be available at the velocities of stars, she reduced the data August TAAS General Meeting. The that unveiled the direction in which Sevilleta Open brochure contains tour descriptions stars seem to be moving toward us (the and schedule, events and exhibitor list- solar apex) and away from us (the House And Star ings, and a registration form. The bro- anitpex). chure also has driving directions and Barry Gordon, author and astro- Party, September 11 information on tour and event loca- photographer, presented his usual wit tions. If you are interested in geology, by David Siegel and humor. Oh yes, he did it with plant life, birding, New Mexico’s natu- some superb examples of his work in- To commemorate the 25th anniver- ral history, (and, naturally, astronomy), cluding beautiful star fields, with and sary of the Sevilleta National Wildlife this event is for you. without the targeted meteor shower. Refuge, the Sevilleta Refuge and the The Sevilleta Refuge Administra- He also shared a series of photographs Community of La Joya will host an tive Center and the UNM/LTER (Long of an occultation. Open House Celebration on Septem- Term Ecological Research) complex Brock Parker showed us his “lat- ber 11, 1999. TAAS members are in- will be the venue for evening and est and greatest”, a solar filter on a vited to attend and to participate in this night-time events including (hope- “dob stopper” along with an aiming event. There will be day-time activi- fully) some astronomical talks, fol- device for a solar equipped telescope. ties and exhibits based at La Joya, with lowed by a star party. The UNM/ I hope you enjoyed those Pop Tarts the evening and night-time devoted to LTER complex will be the site for as- Brock. a star party and (hopefully) astronomi- tronomical talks (these are currently Kevin McKeown, with overhead cal speakers at the UNM/LTER/ tentative) and the star party. Depend- projector and a slide, delivered a fas- Sevilleta Refuge complex. La Joya and ing on the turn out for the star party, cinating presentation on Eta Carina. the LTER/Refuge complex are several an overflow area immediately adjacent This long duration variable star in the miles apart, roughly 20 miles north of to the LTER complex will be ready for southern sky is on the rise, so to speak. Socorro on I-25. more telescopes and visitors. Both ar- It’s getting brighter. Kevin gave us the Encompassing four major biomes eas are close (about 1/4 mile) to the history of this variable and a tour of and extending from the Sierra Highway I-25, yet they are completely its neighborhood. Ladrones in the west to the Los Pinos out of sight of passing vehicles. TAAS Robert Ortega, our Observatory Mountains in the east, the Sevilleta members who wish to participate are Director spoke about, what else—our National Wildlife Refuge is one of the urged to arrive early in order to insure observatory. Have you been down more diverse refuges in the United an optimum arrangement of their tele- there lately? If you haven’t, you won’t States, as well as one of the largest, scopes near the LTER. Maps to the believe what Robert and his crew have ranking seventh among the lower 48 LTER/Refuge complex will be avail- done! Now, there’s a parking area on states. Closed to the public, the ref- able at the August TAAS General the north side of the observatory. It’s uge will be open for organized tours Meeting. For further information, con- for members and guests who go out to only during this special event. This is tact TAAS member David Siegel at 505- GNTO to use the scope under the a great opportunity for nature lovers 248-7396. Page 12 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— July 1999 The Sidereal Times

Lou Mendenhall, Nancy and Charlie Astronomy presentations were Enchanting Skies Dodge, Mark Rumsey and his friend given during the afternoon and ven- David Smith, park ranger G. B. Cornu- dors had astronomy products for sale at copia, and volunteer park ranger John during the day. A group picture was Sefick. Mike Robinson also came out taken Friday after lunch and a swap Chaco Canyon to volunteer from Santa Fe. meet was held in the afternoon. Great by Bruce Levin The next Chaco event is scheduled Texas Giveaways (door prizes) were for the weekend of September 4th. held Friday and Saturday evenings TAAS helped sponsor a fine week- Members can volunteer to help with after keynote speaker talks and award end of public observing with the Na- Chaco astronomy programs any time presentations. tional Park Service at Chaco Cultural by contacting G. B. Cornucopia. (Con- The TSP is a great time to see old Center on the weekend of June 10th, tact Bruce Levin for more information. friends and make new friends as well just before the new moon. The trip as seeing old objects and finding new from Albuquerque to Chaco is a two celestial wonders. and a half-hour drive of scenic views Good Observing on NM Hwy 44. The last dozen miles or so after the turn off and before the At The 1999 TAAS Assets national park is on graded dirt road with some washboard sections. Annual Texas On-line A few of us went up to the center by Sammy Lockwood on Friday afternoon to help with Star Party evening viewing while the rest of the Over the past few months, TAAS participants came up on Saturday. by Bruce Levin has been compiling its first assessment Cumulus clouds that scattered across of club assets, and although it’s not the sky during the day on Friday gave This year’s Texas Star Party was complete, the list is looking quite im- way to clear skies in the evening. G. held during the middle of May. This pressive. However, we need some B. Cornucopia hosted the park visitors turned out to be one of the better ob- help to ensure that we have included with an evening presentation on the serving star parties as each night was everything accurately. Newly found Anasazi ruins, petroglyphs, and ar- clear. The farmers in Mexico had not or remembered items have been “trick- chaeoastronomy while the rest of us yet started burning their old crops. ling in” for weeks, and our final dead- set up our telescopes. Then it was Perhaps they learned from the previ- line to finish the job is fast approach- show time with a look at Mercury, Ve- ous year’s fires that impacted their ing. nus, Mars, galaxies, nebulae, country and at least the southern half Please review the TAAS inventory globulars, and open clusters. John of the United States. at http://members.aol.com/ Sefick presented CCD images and Since holding the star party at Rio abqsammy/99inv.html, and report any great views were observed in the do- Frio two years ago, the last two events missing or inaccurate items listed there nated 25" Dobsonian mounted on the have been held back at the Prude to Sammy Lockwood. Our goal is to equatorial platform in the park obser- Ranch between MacDonald Observa- have a complete list to present to the vatory. tory and the town of Fort Davis in the board of directors by their August Saturday morning started off Davis Mountains of west Texas. This meeting. clear. By the afternoon, clouds had is great for those of us from New Just a few years ago, TAAS had a built up covering the sky with threat- Mexico. The ranch is approximately handful of members, one loaner scope, ening thundershowers. We even got 500 miles from Albuquerque. and a few books. Today, the Society some light rain. The wind picked up The locals always looked forward possesses: A top notch observatory on late in the afternoon and played havoc to the TSP, because it usually meant 4 remote acres valued at over $60,000; on our evening barbecue at the former that there would be a goodly amount An impressive collection of 7 superintendent’s residence where we of afternoon and evening thunder- loaner telescopes and over 20 eye- stayed. The winds also blew away showers mixed with wind for that pieces valued at over $6000; most the clouds, except for some scat- week. Hot sunny days and a dust devil One of the most comprehensive tered pesky high clouds, for another or two were usually part of the weekly collection of astronomical education evening of fine viewing. The skies routine. This area has been especially materials in the state, valued at over cleared perfectly with excellent con- dry the last couple of years. Usually $10,000; And a complete Astronomical trast and seeing after 3 a.m. One could the chance of rain is directly propor- Library with almost 100 books and vid- easily see galaxies M 81, M 82, and M tional to the area of aperture at the ob- eos. These items are not only available 51 in an 8 x 50 finder scope. serving site. However, this year was to TAAS members, but we are highly Society volunteers for this event the exception. There also was less wind encouraged to use them. were Bruce Levin and his friend Mary and no dust devils this time. Page 13 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— The Sidereal Times July 1999 Logo Continued from page 1

offered to help design an entry. I went to his office one afternoon to discuss The other plans for observing at Gran Quivera logos being con- that coming weekend. As I walked into sidered on May his office he was crumpling a piece of 15, 1987 paper. He tossed it into the waste pa- per basket to join a growing number of wadded up rejects. They were at-

scurity? Members who were involved tempts to create a logo. clusive right? To an outsider, it might in that piece of history expressed their I reached into the trash and pulled seem that we don’t have “a” logo. concern about the misrepresentations out the newly added discard and be- After all, with so many variations, isn’t of that logo. For some, that logo rep- gan to uncompress it. As I began to our logo becoming … arbitrary? resents the continuation of our societ- undo his expression of frustration he From a legal perspective, if our ies history. It is a symbol of efforts remarked, “It’s just not right. It needs society’s logo is inconvenient or not to made over the past twelve years to something.” As I gazed at the wrinkled someone’s liking, perhaps a proposal build this organization up to what it page, I saw an elongated Zia symbol should be submitted at a meeting of the is today. extending across the top of the page directors. From a sentimental perspec- Many well-intentioned people and down the left side. There was an tive, our logo represents the change have represented our logo in different eclipsing moon to the lower left of the over the past 12 years from an organi- ways over the past few years. I’ve sun symbol at a 45-degree angle. He zation that had around 60 or 70 mem- seen the three stars applied back- was right, there was something miss- bers, one broken loaner scope, an ob- wards, upside down and left out all ing. solete library and less than $500 in as- together! I’ve also seen 32 stars. On I picked up a pen from his desk sets. one occasion the explanation was, “It and drew three stars. Two were to the Today, The Albuquerque Astro- looks better that way” and on another upper left of the eclipsed sun and one nomical Society is approaching 500 occasion I was told “They didn’t fit”. below to the right. We both stood there members. We have numerous loaner Being consistent with our in silence for a moment. He looked up scopes for our members worth thou- society’s logo is more than just an is- from the page and said, “That’s it!” At sands of dollars including a two-story sue of style or design. What is our that moment, our logo was born. observatory on four acres of land. We logo anyway? Is it the one voted on During the debate at the meeting, have a fantastic library and assets to- and adopted after much debate twelve the details of the logos’ origin were not taling around $100,000. years ago? It appears correctly on the revealed. In fact, the story was only Under the banner of that logo, front of this newsletter. Is it the one known by a handful of members until much has changed. It may seem trivial made up for the convenience of a now. Could you imagine soliciting to some. The concept may even be baf- printer? Is it the one redesigned to votes for something that was retrieved fling to others, but the phrase spoken meet one individual’s personal taste? th from a waste paper basket? That night on May 15 , 1987 still seems appropri- If another organization were to start was challenging enough. ate to me . . . “The name and logo or no using our “official” logo, how would So why tell the story now? Why go!” I’m very proud of what it repre- we argue for infringement of our ex- not let this piece of history fall into ob- sents. I know you are too. Page 14 —The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society— July 1999 The Sidereal Times

June Video tape will check out for one month. Please be prompt about returning the Continued from page 8 tape. You can email me to request I Trivia Contest our library. Here are the details Lisa bring a particular tape to a general meeting, or arrange to meet me at my by David Blair Wood provided me on checking out the videotapes: home to pick up or return tapes. The June 26 General Meeting of “It is recommended that you check Please let me know if you wish to TAAS tackled this trivia challenge: out the tapes in sequence as each tape check out the course guide with the Ah, the summer stars! One of these builds on the material presented in pre- tape. Upon completion of the entire constellations does not border on Lyra. vious tapes. The TAAS library will re- series, a certificate will be awarded the Which one? quest a $25 deposit be made when you TAAS member at a general meeting. Guest Marylou Mendenhall was check out a tape (the cost of duplicat- TAAS Docents are especially encour- our winner. ing if lost). The deposit will be returned aged to complete this course so that to the borrower when the tape and the they may bring deeper insights to our A—Cygnus B—Draco course guide are returned to me. Each school children and their parents.” C—Hercules D—Sagitta E—Vulpecula NEW MEXICO ASTRONOMICAL Trivia Answer CELESTRON • MEADE • TELEVUE D. Sagitta. Thirty-five percent of PARKS OPTICAL • UNITRON • HOME DOME members and guests answered cor- Telescopes • Eyepieces • Mounts • Accessories Observatory Fabrication rectly, but with a startling gender dif- On-Site Observatory • Regular Star Parties ferential. Of the 10 ladies attempting Come to the Country Telescope Store and Test the challenge, 6 (60 percent) answered Equipment Under Dark Skies! correctly, but of the 13 gents who tried, 834 N. Gabaldon Rd. only 2 (15 percent) chose Sagitta. Hours: by appointment and ... Belen, NM 87002 Wednesday : 7-930 pm The gents were quick to point out (505) 864-2953 Ask about the TAAS Friday : 7-930 pm member discount that the sample was too small to jus- Mark A. Nagrodsky Saturday: 12-430 pm tify any general conclusion. Owner

—SOCIETY STAFF— Board of Directors Phone E-mail Address President David Nelson Blair 296-9632 (H) [email protected] Vice President George S. Pellegrino 821-8516 (H) [email protected] Secretary Sammy Lockwood 275-0258 (H) [email protected] Treasurer, Database Manager, and Starlab Chair Robert Williams 839-2840 (H) [email protected] Director Katherine Blankenburg 224-3384 (W) [email protected] Director Nancy Dodge 275-0007 (H) [email protected] Director, Event Coordinator Carl Frisch 239-6002 (H) Director Allan Green 281-6651 (H) [email protected] Director Bruce Levin 299-0891 (H) Director Kevin McKeown 254-9117 (H) [email protected] Director, Observatory Director Robert Ortega 891-7847 (H) [email protected] Director Gordon Pegue 332-2591 (H) [email protected]

Non-Board Members

Archivist Nancy Dodge 275-0007 (H) [email protected] Telescope Curator Dee Friesen 856-1593 (H) [email protected] Telescope Curator Jason Vargas 452-9098 (H) [email protected] Education Liaison, Librarian Lisa Wood 344-8308 (H) [email protected] Web Master, Newsletter Editor Michael Pendley 296-0549 (H) [email protected] UNM Campus Observatory Coordinator Jay Harden 296-0537 (H) [email protected]

Page 15 —TheTAAS Official Hot Newsletter Line Phone of The AlbuquerqueNumber is Astronomical 296-0549 Society— MEMBERSHIP: You may request a member- for 12 consecutive issues. The newsletter edi- TAAS LIBRARY: Please contact the Librarian ship application by calling the Hotline or by tor reserves the right to include and/or edit any (Lisa Wood) to check out a book or make a con- sending e-mail to the Database Manager (see article or advertisement. E-mail attachments tribution. previous page). Applications may also be in Microsoft Word, 10 point Palatino, justified, downloaded from the Web site. Annual dues .25 inch indent at paragraph beginning, no TAAS on the World Wide Web: to The Albuquerque Astronomical Society are spaces between paragraphs is preferred. ASCII $30/year for a full membership and $15/year and RTF are acceptable. One column is approxi- http://www.taas.org for an educator or full time student member- mately 350 words. Contact the Newsletter Edi- http://www.taas.org/download ship. Additional family members may join for tor (see previous page ) for more information. $3/each (educator, student, and family mem- ftp://astro.phys.unm.edu/pub/taas berships are not eligible to vote on society mat- CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Note that The Si- [email protected] ters). New member information packets are dereal Times is mailed at a nonprofit organiza- available for $3.50 (free copies are available from tion bulk mail rate. As a result, the newsletter TAAS Hotline: (505) 296-0549 the Web site). You may send your dues by mail will NOT be forwarded to your new address to our newsletter return address with your should you move!! Please provide the Database check written out to The Albuquerque Astro- Manager with your new mailing address to en- Map to UNM Campus Observatory nomical Society or give your check to the Trea- sure that you receive your newsletter. (not to scale) surer (see previous page ) at the next meeting. To Santa Fe MAGAZINES: Discount magazine subscrip- tions to Sky and Telescope ($29.95/12 issues) and Map to Regener Hall Astronomy ($29/12 issues) as well as discounts on books from Sky Publishing Corporation are (not to scale) available when purchased by TAAS members I-40 through our society. Include any of the above magazine renewal mailers and subscription payments as part of your renewal check (We rec- MLK Dr. ommend you renew 1-2 months early to ensure Regener Observatory uninterrupted magazine subscriptions.). I-25 Hall Popejoy Parking NEWSLETTER ARTICLES/ADVERTISE- Hall Parking MENTS: Articles, personal astronomical clas- sified advertisements and business card size ad- vertisements for businesses related to as- Parking tronomy must be submitted by the deadline University shown on the Society calendar (generally the Yale

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