Vol. 23, No. 10 Two-Time Winner of the Astronomical League’s Mabel Sterns Award ☼ 2006 & 2009 October 2015

In This Issue Super Moon Lunar Eclipse! CCAS Autumn 2015 Events ...... 2 September 2015 Meeting Minutes ...... 2 October 2015 Meeting ...... 2 Dusty Mystery Around AU Microscopii ...... 3 The Sky Over Chester County: October 2015 ...... 4 October 2015 Observing Highlights ...... 5 Through the Eyepiece: The Spiral Cluster – Messier 34 ..... 6 NASA Space Place ...... 8 Eclipse at Farm Park ...... 9 CCAS Directions: Brandywine Valley Association ...... 9 Membership Renewals ...... 10 New Member Welcome ...... 10 CCAS Directions: WCU Map ...... 10 Treasurer’s Report ...... 10 CCAS Information Directory ...... 11-12 Photo by CCAS Member and Secretary Ann Miller. Taken with an iPad through a TeleVue telescope.

Membership Renewals Due Important October 2015 Dates CCAS Upcoming Nights Out

10/2015 Baran CCAS has several “nights out” scheduled 4th • Last Quarter Moon, 5:06 p.m. over the next few months. Members are Conrad Rosenblatt, Harriet 12th • New Moon, 8:05 p.m. encouraged to help out during these events Rosenblatt, Herb any way they can. See below for more in- 20th• First Quarter Moon, 4:31 p.m. formation. 11/2015 Buczynski Cavanaugh 21st • Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks. ☼ Saturday, October 10, 2015. CCAS Special Giles Observing Session, Anson Nixon Park, Ken- 27th • Full Moon, 8:05 a.m. nett Square, PA. For more information, con- Grinberg tact our Observing Chair, Don Knabb. Holenstein Luttrell-Pollard ☼ Friday, October 16, 2015. CCAS Monthly Smith Observing Session, Myrick Conservancy Taylor Center, BVA. The observing session starts at sunset. 12/2015 Bogard Bogusch O’Leary

October 2015 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 1 Autumn 2015 Minutes from the September 8, 2015, Society Meeting Society Events by Ann Miller, CCAS Secretary

October 2015  Roger Taylor welcomed 19 member and guests to the September

7th • PA Outdoor Lighting Council monthly 8, 2015 meeting of CCAS. meeting, 1438 Shaner Drive, Pottstown, PA 19465, starting at 7:30 p.m. For more infor-  Don Knabb, our observing chair, shared highlights of the night mation and directions, visit the PA Outdoor Lighting Council website. sky for the next month with Stellarium. He reminded us that a to-

8th-9th • The von Kármán Lecture Se- tal lunar eclipse will occur on Sunday, September 27, 2015. ries: Unveiling an Alien World: Dawn at Ceres at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jet  Don also reminded club members of the upcoming star parties. Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Live stream of free lecture presented by Nottingham Park Star Party is on Friday, September 11, 2015 at NASA & Caltech. 7:30pm. Hoopes Park Star Party is on Saturday, September19,

10th • CCAS Special Observing Session, 2015. Anson Nixon Park, Kennett Square, PA.

13th • CCAS Monthly Meeting, Room 113,  David Hockenberry, program chair, welcomed our speaker Dr. Merion Science Center (former Boucher Scott Engel from Villanova University. Building), West Chester University. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. CCAS Speaker: John Conrad, NASA Ambassador.  Dr. Engel invited our club to attend the lunar eclipse observing

16th • CCAS Monthly Observing Session, session at Villanova University Observatory on September 27, Myrick Conservancy Center, BVA. The ob- 2015. He also informed us that the Astrophilly.org website is reac- serving session starts at sunset. tivated. The website lists events for local astronomy clubs and 20th • Open call for articles and photographs for the November 2015 edition of Observa- universities on this site. Astrophilly also has a yearly meeting. Dr. tions. Engel then gave a talk on "What Do You Mean When You Ask If

21st-22nd • Orionids Meteor Shower Peaks. a Planet is Habitable?"

26th • Deadline for newsletter submissions for the November 2015 edition of Observa- tions. October 2015 CCAS Meeting Agenda by Dave Hockenberry, CCAS Program Chair November 2015

1st • Daylight Saving Time ends, 2:00 A.M. Our next meeting will be held on EST. Turn clocks back one hour. October 13, 2015, starting at 4th • PA Outdoor Lighting Council monthly 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be meeting, 1438 Shaner Drive, Pottstown, PA 19465, starting at 7:30 p.m. For more infor- held in Room 112, Merion Sci- mation and directions, visit the PA Outdoor ence Center (former Boucher Lighting Council website. Building), West Chester Univer- 5th-6th • The von Kármán Lecture Series: The Juno Mission to Jupiter, at the Jet Propul- sity. CCAS President Roger sion Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Taylor will welcome members Pasadena, California. Live stream of free lecture presented by NASA & Caltech. and the general public to the first meeting in our 2015-2016 sea- 10h • CCAS Monthly Meeting, Merion Sci- ence Center, Rm 112, West Chester Universi- son. Our speaker is John Conrad, ty. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Guest NASA Ambassador. His presen- Speaker: TBA. tation is entitled, "Climate 13th • CCAS Monthly Observing Session, Myrick Conservancy Center, BVA. The ob- Change: The View (and the lat- serving session starts at sunset. est news) from Space."

13th • West Chester University Planetarium Show: “ Andromeda: Our Neighbor.” Please note that inclement The show starts at 7 p.m. For more infor- John Conrad, NASA Ambassador mation and reservations, visit the WCU Pub- weather or changes in speakers’ lic Planetarium Shows webpage. schedules may affect the pro- for future meetings in our 2015- 17th-18th • Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks. gram. In the event there is a 2016 season. If you are interest- change, CCAS members will be 20th • Open call for articles and photographs ed in presenting, or know some- for the December 2015 edition of Observa- notified via e-mail with as much tions. one who would like to partici- advance notice as possible. pate, please contact me at pro- 26th • Deadline for newsletter submissions for the December 2015 edition of Observa- [email protected]. tions. We are looking for presenters

2 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • October 2015 A Dusty Mystery Around AU Microscopii submitted by Shannon Hall, Sky & Telescope Magazine

ripples over a 4- baseline, revealing their immense speed. The outer waves moved much faster than the inner ones, and at least three of the features are moving so fast that they could easily slip beyond the star’s gravitational pull.

Such high speeds rule out any classic scenarios caused by or- biting planets. A warp carved in the disk by a nearby planet, for example, would move at speeds too lethargic compared to the observed ripples. Boccaletti and The Ripples Seen by SHERE in 2014. VLT / SPHERE / IRDIS his colleagues searched high and Nearby debris disks — the what they found was something low for a planet with no luck. dusty, sometimes rocky planes utterly unexpected: wave-like “If there was a planet in there circling young — have on- arches on one side of the disk. and it was larger than 6 Jupiter ly recently become the hunting Were they real? The team turned , we'd be able to find it,” grounds of astronomers, who to data gathered by the Hubble says co-author Dean Hines search for the telltale signs of Space Telescope in 2010 and (Space Telescope Science Insti- forming planets: gaps, clumps or 2011, and sure enough, the fea- tute). “If there's something in warped features in these disks. tures were there too. there stirring up the pot, which But thus far, very few disks have there almost certainly is, it's go- revealed planets hidden inside. What’s more, the arching waves ing to be smaller than that.” The majority remain a mystery had moved at a breakneck pace waiting to be unfolded. through the disk, moving away So maybe, the authors propose, from the central star at 4 to 10 two smaller as-yet unseen plan- SPHERE, an instrument mount- kilometers per second (between ets collided within the disk. Af- ed on the 9,000 and 22,000 mph). ter all, most astronomers expect in Chile, is designed to directly that all forming planetary sys- image debris disks and reveal “This is a fascinating result,” tems are extremely violent. Our their secrets. Its says Richard Nelson (Queen solar system, for example, is blocks the of the host star, Mary University of London), still scarred by the collisions of while the instrument’s adaptive who was not involved in the its youth, which should have optics reveals details around the study. “But interpreting the ob- been readily visible to an extra- star to a resolution of 0.5 arcsec- servations is a real puzzle.” Not terrestrial observer. onds, rivaling the Hubble Space only have astronomers never Telescope’s imaging prowess. seen anything like it, they really “If you grind up chalk, put it in can’t find a viable explanation. a bag and pop it, the chalk dust In 2014, Anthony Boccaletti The five bright smears in AU goes everywhere,” Hines says. (Paris Observatory) and his col- Mic’s disk lie within 10 and 60 “It’s really hard if you're in the leagues pointed SPHERE at a times the Earth- distance of back of the room to see that test target known as AU Micro- the star, and are probably clumps piece of chalk, but once you ex- scopii, a young star 32 light- or clouds of dust shining in near- plode it, it has a huge surface away in the southern con- light. The Hubble pho- area and it's easy to see.” Alt- stellation . But tos allowed the team to track the hough a collision might explain (Continued on page 9)

October 2015 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 3 The Sky This Month The Sky Over Chester County October 15, 2015 at 9:00 p.m. ET Note: This screen capture is taken from Stellarium, the free planetarium software available for download at www.stellarium.org.

N

E W

S

Civil Twilight Civil Twilight Date Sunrise Sunset Length of Begins Ends 10/01/2015 6:30 a.m. EDT 6:57 a.m. EDT 6:43 p.m. EDT 7:10 p.m. EDT 11h 46m 43s 10/15/2015 6:44 a.m. EDT 7:11 a.m. EDT 6:22 p.m. EDT 6:49 p.m. EDT 11h 10m 41s 10/31/2015 7:00 a.m. EDT 7:28 a.m. EDT 6:00 p.m. EDT 6:28 p.m. EDT 10h 31m 33s

Moon Phases Last Quarter 10/04/2015 5:06 p.m. EDT New Moon 10/12/2015 8:05 p.m. EDT First Quarter 10/20/2015 4:31 p.m. EDT Full Moon 10/27/2015 8:05 a.m. EDT

4 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • October 2015 October 2015 Observing Highlights by Don Knabb, CCAS Treasurer & Observing Chair

4 Last Quarter Moon Saturn: Take a last look at Saturn as soon as the sky darkens. It will not be many weeks before we Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury are lose Saturn to the glow of the setting sun and say 11-17 visible in the pre-dawn sky goodbye until the ringed planet comes into the dawn sky later this year. 12 Uranus is at opposition Uranus and Neptune: Uranus reaches opposition 12 New Moon on October 12th so it will be high in the sky at mid- night. Neptune is also in good viewing position at 16 The Moon is near Saturn that time. Finder charts for both gas giants are at 19 The Lunar X is visible around 10 p.m. available skypub.com/urnep, provided by Sky and Telescope magazine. 20 First Quarter Moon The Moon: Full moon occurs on October 27th. The 20 The Lunar Straight Wall is visible October full Moon is the first full Moon after the Harvest Moon and it is called the Hunter’s Moon. The Hunter's Moon is so named because plenty of 21 The Orionid meteors peak tonight moonlight is ideal for hunters shooting migrating Venus is at greatest western birds in Northern Europe, and the name is also said 26 (morning) elongation to have been used by Native Americans as they tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, 27 Full Moon, the Hunter’s Moon stockpiling food for the winter ahead.

Constellations: During October, we begin to lose The best sights this month: The planetary high- the summer triangle and all the delights it holds, but light of October occurs in the pre-dawn sky during here come the fall and winter treasures! The dim but mid-month when Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter huge Great Square of Pegasus dominates the south- appear together. If I were to pick one day to rise ear- ern sky and by 9:00 we can find the jewels of the ly it would be October 11th when the 4 planets will night: the Pleiades, rising in the east. Stay up late also be joined by a thin crescent Moon. The evening and Taurus the Bull leads Orion the Hunter up from highlight will be on October 19th when the elusive the eastern horizon. Lunar X can be seen. Messier/deep sky: The deep sky highlight of this Mercury: Mercury can be seen in the pre-dawn sky time of year for me is the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. from mid-month through the 3rd week of October. You don’t need to be up late to catch the wonderful Double Cluster in Perseus and the compact star Venus: Venus reaches greatest elongation from the cluster M34 is just a bit to the south, also in Perseus. Sun on October 26th and is near Mars and Jupiter Stay up until 10:00 and you can see the star clusters all month in the hours before dawn. in Auriga rising: M36, M37 and M38.

Mars: Throughout October Mars and his pals Ve- Comets: There are no bright comets in the sky dur- nus and Jupiter fly through the sky together before ing October. the glow of the Sun fills the sky. Meteor showers: The Orionid meteor shower peaks Jupiter: Jupiter snuggles up next to Mars – less in the early morning hours of October 21st. You than ½ degree separation – on the morning of Octo- could see up to 15 “shooting stars” per hour. This is ber 17th. Jupiter is of course much brighter than a good opportunity to see meteors since the Moon dim Mars, but even Jupiter seems dim compared to will be setting by the time the shower gets into full brilliant Venus. swing.

October 2015 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 5 Through the Eyepiece: The Spiral Cluster – Messier 34 by Don Knabb, CCAS Treasurer & Observing Chair

Star map generated with Stellarium

While you are cruising around 34, often referred to as The Spi- ly apparent under low power the area of the sky that includes ral Cluster, an open cluster just that gave rise to the name the Andromeda Galaxy, the Dou- to the northwest of the famous “Spiral Cluster.” ble Cluster in Perseus and the Algol in Perseus. Pleiades in Taurus, look for M There are two stellar arcs visual- (Continued on page 7)

6 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • October 2015 Eyepiece (Cont’d)

Photo credit: CCAS Member Pete La France

(Continued from page 6) telescope of 3 feet one can dis- M34 can be found with the na- An open cluster is a group of up tinguish the stars." ked eye under very good condi- to a few thousand stars that tions as a faint nebulous patch. It were formed from the same gi- Open clusters are very important is probably beyond perception in ant molecular cloud and are still objects in the study of stellar Chester County skies without loosely gravitationally bound to evolution. Because the stars are binoculars. But it is resolved each other in contrast to globu- all of very similar age and chem- into stars even in 10x50 binocu- lar clusters which are very tight- ical composition, the effects of lars and is best at low magnifi- ly bound by gravity. other more subtle variables on cations in telescopes. About 20 the properties of stars are much brighter stars, filling a 10' area, Messier 34 (also known as M 34 more easily studied than they are are surrounded by a larger num- or NGC 1039) is in the constel- for isolated stars. A number of ber of fainter outlying members. lation Perseus. It was probably open clusters, such as the Pleia- Larger amateur instruments discovered by Giovanni Batista des, Hyades or the Alpha Persei show a total of about 80 stars. Hodierna before 1654 and was Cluster are readily visible with Many stars are arranged in pairs. included by Charles Messier in the naked eye. Some others, his catalog of comet-like objects such as the Double Cluster, are I have included a picture of M in 1764. Messier described it as, barely perceptible without in- 34 taken by CCAS member Pete "A cluster of small stars a little struments, while many more can LaFrance. below the parallel of γ be seen in binoculars or tele- (Andromendae). In an ordinary scopes. (Continued on page 10)

October 2015 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 7 Measure the Moon's Size and Distance During the Next Lunar Eclipse by Dr. Ethan Siegel

The moon represents perhaps physical size and measuring the the first great paradox of the ratios of the angular size of its night sky in all of human histo- shadow and the angular size of ry. While its angular size is easy the moon, we can determine the to measure with the unaided eye moon's physical size relative to from any location on Earth, Earth. During a lunar eclipse, ranging from 29.38 arc-minutes Earth's shadow is about 3.5 (0.4897°) to 33.53 arc-minutes times larger than the moon, with (0.5588°) as it orbits our world some slight variations dependent in an ellipse, that doesn't tell us on the moon's point in its orbit. its physical size. From its angu- Earth. Simply divide Earth's radius by lar size alone, the moon could your measurement to figure out just as easily be close and small Lunar eclipses provided the first the moon's radius! as it could be distant and enor- evidence that Earth was round; mous. the shape of the portion of the Even with this primitive meth- shadow that falls on the moon od, it's straightforward to get a But we know a few other things, during its partial phase is an arc measurement for the moon's ra- even relying only on naked-eye of a circle. In fact, once we dius that's accurate to within observations. We know its phas- measured the radius of Earth 15% of the actual value: 1,738 es are caused by its geometric (first accomplished in the 3rd km. Now that you've determined configuration with the sun and century B.C.E.), now known to its physical size and its angular Earth. We know that the sun be 6,371 km, all it takes is one size, geometry alone enables must be farther away (and assumption—that the physical you to determine how far away hence, larger) than the moon size of Earth's shadow as it falls it is from Earth. A lunar eclipse from the phenomenon of solar on the moon is approximately is coming up on September eclipses, where the moon passes the physical size of Earth—and 28th, and this super moon in front of the sun, blocking its we can use lunar eclipses to eclipse will last for hours. Use disk as seen from Earth. And we measure both the size of and the the partial phases to measure the know it undergoes lunar eclip- distance to the moon! size of and distance to the moon, ses, where the sun's light is and see how close you can get! blocked from the moon by Simply by knowing Earth's

Image credit: Daniel Munizaga (NOAO South/CTIO EPO), using the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, of an eight-image sequence of the partial phase of a total lunar eclipse.

8 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • October 2015 Ripples (Cont’d) Lunar Eclipse at Star Farm Park by Don Knabb (Continued from page 3) The team plans to continue to the asymmetries in brightness observe the system with from one side of the disk to the SPHERE and other facilities. other, it couldn’t cause material “It's not often that you see some- to move so fast. thing changing on human time- scales,” says Hines, who is ex- The most promising scenario cited to see further changes that requires an even more violent will allow them to narrow down interaction. Young stars, while the range of possibilities. promising abodes for life, are wildly active. They emit giant "We wish we knew what it was,” flares — huge eruptions of says co-author John Debes charged particles — that can (Space Telescope Science Insti- wreak havoc on a circling plane- tute). “But sometimes you just tary disk. If a flare hits a form- have to throw up you hands and ing planet, it could easily strip say 'We don't know what it is yet material away from the planet and we'll keep looking and keep and propagate it outward at rap- thinking to try to come up with id speeds. Nelson, however, the answer.'” For a long time we thought we would see doubts whether even these nothing except the glow of the Moon speeds would be fast enough to Reference: behind the clouds, but lo and behold, the skies parted for at least a while and we match those found within AU Anthony Boccaletti et al. “Fast-Moving had a great view from the beginning of Microscopii’s disk. Structures in the Around AU the eclipse to totality, then the clouds Microscopii.” Nature. October 8, 2015. moved in again.

CCAS Directions

Brandywine Valley Association

The monthly observing sessions (held February through November) are held at the Myrick Conservation Center of the Brandywine Valley Association.

To get to the Myrick Conservation Cen- ter from West Chester, go south on High Street in West Chester past the Courthouse. At the next traffic light, turn right on Miner Street, which is also PA Rt. 842. Follow Rt. 842 for about 6 miles. To get to the observing site at the BVA property, turn left off Route 842 into the parking lot by the office: look for the signs to the office along Route 842. From that parking lot, go left through the gate and drive up the farm lane about 800 feet to the top of the hill. The observing area is on the right.

If you arrive after dark, please turn off Brandywine Valley Association BVA was founded in 1945 and is com- your headlights and just use parking 1760 Unionville Wawaset Rd mitted to promoting and protecting the as you come up the hill (so you West Chester, PA 19382 natural resources of the Brandywine don’t ruin other observers’ night vi- (610) 793-1090 Valley through educational programs sion). http://brandywinewatershed.org/ and demonstrations for all ages.

October 2015 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 9 CCAS Directions

West Chester University Campus The monthly meetings (September through May) are held in Room 112 in Merion Science Center (formerly the Boucher Build- ing), attached to the Schmucker Science Center. The Schmucker Science Center is located at the corner of S. Church St & W. Rosedale Ave. Parking is generally available across Rosedale in the Sykes Student Union parking lot (Lot K).

CCAS Membership Information and Society Financials Eyepiece (Cont’d)

(Continued from page 7) Treasurer’s Report Membership Renewals by Don Knabb You can view more of Pete’s Sept. 2015 Financial Summary You can renew your CCAS astrophotography at http:// Beginning Balance $2,075 membership by writing a check www.plafrance.org/. Deposits $148 payable to “Chester County As- Disbursements $94 tronomical Society” and sending So add M 34 to your observing Ending Balance $2,129 it to our Treasurer: list for October. It is not one of the more famous star clusters but Don Knabb it is a beautiful cluster worthy of New Member Welcome! 988 Meadowview Lane your attention. West Chester PA 19382 Welcome new CCAS members Information credits: Marietta Neary from Unionville The current dues amounts are and Nova Kazmi from West http://www.seds.org/messier/m/ listed in the CCAS Information m034.html Chester. We’re glad you decided Directory. Consult the table of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ to join us under the stars! Clear contents for the directory’s page Messier_34 skies to you! number in this month’s edition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ of the newsletter. Open_clusters http://darkhorseobservatory.org/ product.php?ProductID=126

10 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • October 2015 CCAS Information Directory

Join the Fight for Dark Skies! Good Outdoor Lighting Websites Local Astronomy-Related Stores One of the biggest problems we face in Listing retail sites in this newsletter trying to reduce light pollution from does not imply endorsement of any poorly designed light fixtures is easy kind by our organization. This infor- access to good ones. When you con- mation is provided only as a service to vince someone, a neighbor or even our members and the general public. yourself, to replace bad fixtures, where do you go for good lighting fixtures? You can help fight light pollution, con- Check out these sites and pass this in- serve energy, and save the night sky for formation on to others. Help reclaim everyone to use and enjoy. Join the the stars! And save energy at the same nonprofit International Dark-Sky Asso- time! ciation (IDA) today. Individual mem- berships start at $30.00 for one year. Send to: Skies Unlimited is a retailer of tele- scopes, binoculars, eyepieces and tele- International Dark-Sky Association scope accessories from Meade, Celes- 3225 North First Avenue tron, Televue, Orion, Stellarvue, Tucson, AZ 85719 Light pollution from poor quality out- Takahashi, Vixen, Losmandy and Phone: 520-293-3198 door lighting wastes billions of dollars more. Fax: 520-293-3192 and vast quantities of valuable natural E-mail: [email protected] resources annually. It also robs us of Skies Unlimited our heritage of star-filled skies. Starry Suburbia Shopping Center For more information, including links Night Lights is committed to fighting 52 Glocker Way to helpful information sheets, visit the light pollution. The company offers the IDA web site at: widest selection of ordinance compli- Pottstown, PA 19465 ant, night sky friendly and neighbor http://www.darksky.org friendly outdoor lighting for your home Phone: 610-327-3500 or 888-947-2673 or business. Starry Night Lights is lo- Fax: 610-327-3553 cated in Park City, Utah. Dark-Sky Website for PA http://www.skiesunlimited.net Phone: 877-604-7377 Fax: 877-313-2889

http://www.starrynightlights.com 



Located in Manayunk, Spectrum Scien- The Pennsylvania Outdoor Lighting tifics educates and entertains customers Council has lots of good information with an array of telescopes, micro- on safe, efficient outdoor security scopes, binoculars, science toys, mag- lights at their web site: nets, labware, scales, science instru- ments, chemistry sets, and much more. http://www.POLCouncil.org Lighthouse Outdoor Lighting is a dedi- 4403 Main Street Find out about Lyme Disease! cated lifetime corporate member of the Philadelphia, PA 19127 International Dark-Sky Association. Anyone who spends much time out- Lighthouse’s products are designed to Phone: 215-667-8309 doors, whether you’re stargazing, or reduce or eliminate the negative effects Fax: 215-965-1524 gardening, or whatever, needs to know outdoor lighting can have while still about Lyme Disease and how to pre- providing the light you need at night. Hours: vent it. You can learn about it at: Tuesday thru Saturday: 10AM to 6PM Phone: 484-291-1084 Sunday and Monday: 11AM to 5PM http://www.LymePA.org Take the time to learn about this health https://www.lighthouse-lights.com/ http://www.spectrum-scientifics.com threat and how to protect yourself and landscape-lighting-design/pa-west- your family. It is truly “time well chester/ spent”!

October 2015 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 11 CCAS Information Directory

CCAS Lending Telescopes CCAS Purpose CCAS Membership Information Contact Don Knabb to make arrange- The Chester County Astronomical So- The present membership rates are as ments to borrow one of the Society's ciety was formed in September 1993, follows: lending telescopes. CCAS members with the cooperation of West Chester University, as a non-profit organization REGULAR MEMBER……$25/year can borrow a lending telescope for a SENIOR MEMBER……….$10/year month at a time; longer if no one else dedicated to the education and enjoy- ment of astronomy for the general pub- STUDENT MEMBER……..$ 5/year wants to borrow it after you. Don's JUNIOR MEMBER………..$ 5/year phone number is 610-436-5702. lic. The Society holds meetings (with speakers) and observing sessions once FAMILY MEMBER……….$35/year a month. Anyone who is interested in CCAS Lending Library astronomy or would like to learn about Membership Renewals astronomy is welcome to attend meet- Contact our Librarian, Barb Knabb, to ings and become a member of the Soci- Check the Membership Renewals on make arrangements to borrow one of ety. The Society also provides tele- the front of each issue of Observations the books in the CCAS lending library. scopes and expertise for “nights out” to see if it is time to renew. If you need Copies of the catalog are available at for school, scout, and other civic to renew, you can mail your check, CCAS meetings, and on the CCAS groups. made out to “Chester County Astro- website. Barb's phone number is 610- nomical Society,” to: 436-5702. Don Knabb CCAS Executive Committee 988 Meadowview Lane Contributing to Observations West Chester PA 19382-2178 For further information on membership Phone: 610-436-5702 Contributions of articles relating to or society activities you may call: e-mail: [email protected] astronomy and space exploration are always welcome. If you have a comput- President: Roger Taylor er, and an Internet connection, you can 610-430-7768 Sky & Telescope Magazine attach the file to an e-mail message and Vice President: Liz Smith Group Rates send it to: [email protected] 610-842-1719 Or mail the contribution, typed or Subscriptions to this excellent periodi- ALCor, Don Knabb handwritten, to: cal are available through the CCAS at a Observing, and 610-436-5702 reduced price of $32.95, much less than John Hepler Treasurer: the newsstand price of $66.00, and also 21103 Striper Run cheaper than individual subscriptions Rock Hall, MD 21661 Secretary: Ann Miller ($42.95)! Buying a subscription this 610-558-4248 way also gets you a 10% discount on Librarian: Barb Knabb other Sky Publishing merchandise. 610-436-5702 To start a new subscription, make sure CCAS Newsletters via E-mail you make out the check to the Chester Program: Dave Hockenberry County Astronomical Society, note You can receive the monthly newsletter 610-558-4248 that it's for Sky & Telescope, and mail it (in full color!) via e-mail. All you need to Don Knabb. is a PC or Mac with an Internet e-mail Education: Kathy Buczynski connection. To get more information 610-436-0821 To renew your “club subscription” contact Sky Publishing directly. Their about how this works, send an e-mail Webmaster and John Hepler phone number and address are in the request to John Hepler, the newsletter Newsletter: 410-639-4329 magazine and on their renewal remind- editor, at: [email protected]. ers. If you have any questions call Don Public Relations: Deb Goldader first at 610-436-5702. CCAS Website 610-304-5303

John Hepler is the Society’s Webmas- ter. You can check out our Website at: Astronomy Magazine http://www.ccas.us Group Rates

John welcomes any additions to the site Subscriptions to this excellent periodi- by Society members. The contributions cal are available through the CCAS at a can be of any astronomy subject or reduced price of $34.00 which is much object, or can be related to space explo- less than the individual subscription ration. The only requirement is that it is price of $42.95 (or $60.00 for two your own work; no copyrighted materi- years). If you want to participate in this al! Give your contributions to John special Society discount offer, contact Hepler at (410) 639-4329 or e-mail to our Treasurer Don Knabb. [email protected]

12 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • October 2015