San Diego Astronomy Association Celebrating Over 40 Years of Astronomical Outreach

Office (619) 645-8940 November 2011 Observatory (619) 766-9118 http://www.sdaa.org A Non-Profit Educational Association November Program Meeting P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215 Date: November 16th SDAA Business Meeting Speaker: Brian Keating Next meeting will be held at: Topic: New 3.5 meter Telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert 3838 Camino del Rio North Suite 300 University of California, San Diego cosmolo- San Diego, CA 92108 gist Brian Keating and his colleagues will have November 8th at 7pm the inside track in the race to become the first to discover what happened in the first billionth Next Program Meeting of a billionth of a billionth of a second after the November 16, 2011 at 7pm universe was formed. Mission Trails Regional Park With the telescope, dubbed POLARBEAR Visitor and Interpretive Center (short for Polarization of Background Radiation), the scientists are trying to detect 1 Father Junipero Serra Trail primordial gravitational waves. The existence of these waves would support the theory of inflation, which holds that right after the Big Bang, there was an incredibly rapid and violent expansion of the universe. CONTENTS November 2011, Vol XLIX, Issue 11 San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA) sponsors speakers on a wide range of Published Monthly by the astronomy topics on the third Wednesday of every month at the Mission Trails Regional San Diego Astronomy Association Park Visitors Center. The Program meeting begins at 7:00 PM. Each attendee receives $2.50 an issue/$30.00 year one free door prize ticket. After announcements and a small amount of business, the au- Incorporated in California in 1963 dience is treated to the featured presentation. At the close of the meeting the door prizes November Program Meeting...... 1 are presented. The event is open to the public. The Mission Trails Regional Park Visitors Stars at Sycamore Canyon...... 1 Center is at One Fr. Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego CA 92119. Call the park at 619-668- TDS North 40 Expansion Status...... 2 3281 for more information or visit http://www.mtrp.org. Bino-Views...... 2 Please contact Bill Carlson ([email protected]) if you have an questions, com- Banquet...... 5 ments, or ideas for the Program Meetings. October Minutes...... 6 November Calendar...... 8 Stars at Sycamore Canyon SDAA Contacts...... 9 By Bob Austin ASIG Gallery...... 10 SDAA Annual Barbeque...... 12 In the tradition of other SDAA outreach events like “Stars at the Park” and “Stars at Web Only ______Mission Trails,” another great monthly outreach event will be starting in November 2011 SDAA Annual Barbeque (cont)...... 13 on the 3rd Friday of every month, “Stars at Sycamore Canyon!” For the last several years The Gray Cubicle You Want to Work In.. I’ve been working with the Rangers at Sycamore Canyon/ Goodan Ranch Open Space ...... 16 Preserve (http://goodanranch.org/). With the help of many SDAA volunteers, we’ve had several outstanding public outreach star parties at this venue and it seems to be a favorite Newsletter Deadline location for many of the SDAA volunteers as well as the public for telescope viewing in The deadline to submit articles town. for publication is the 15th of each month. San Diego Astronomy Association

Located at the east end of Poway, this venue offers a pretty dark sky for being only 19 miles, as the crow flies, from downtown San Diego. There are no homes or business directly around the viewing area and the panoramic view of the city below is amazing. In the past, the rangers have had the public park along the road and a small hill between the viewing area and the road protects the telescopes from the cars’ headlights. The rangers will continue to provide this service for this new event.

So mark your calendars for the 3rd Friday of the month for “Stars at Sycamore Canyon.” To access this venue, use the park entrance on Hwy 67, ½ mile south of Scripps Poway Parkway. Continue through the gate and up the dirt road about 1½ miles to the parking area, this is where we setup. If you need more info, contact me at 760-787-1174 or [email protected] . Thanks for your support and to all that volunteer.

TDS North 40 Expansion Status Update By Bill Carlson, Vice President SDAA

This month the SDAA was hoping to begin the process of amending our Major Use Permit with a Minor Deviation; which is a fairly simple and inexpensive way to make minor changes to our site plan in order to expand into the North 40. We were expecting the changes to proceed smoothly, unfortunately we hit a road block. A Minor Deviation is limited to changing 10% of the site plan, and our plans were to change only that amount; however, we were unaware that a previous Minor Deviation was applied to the site in 1994, and it had already maxed out that 10% change. This effec- tively removes the possibility for us to do another Minor Deviation, and only leaves us with a significantly more expensive option to expand. The next possible expansion option is called a Modification to the Major Use Permit. Unlike the Minor Deviation, which costs about $750 and is limited to changing 10%, the Modification does not have a set limit, but requires $10,000 in deposits just to start the process, and according to the San Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU), the average cost for a Modification is nearly $42,000. In addition to the significantly higher cost, we would also be required to do an Environmental Impact Review Update and hold a public hearing to discuss the plan. Due to the significantly higher costs of getting the project approved by the county, we would be required to increase the lease costs of the new private pads by nearly double. At this time, we don’t feel that it would be in the best interest of the club to move forward, and that interest in the pads would be greatly reduced if they were to cost between $3500 and $4000 each. The board has decided to put the expansion on hold at this time, but to continue to explore our options.

BINO-VIEWS

You may have noticed from previous articles that I like using binoculars. I keep a pair at the back door that I can grab at a moment's notice, day or night, whether to check out birds in the bath or an early phase moon. But I also like to head into the back yard in the early evening or late at night, ease into a comfortable chair with my 10 x 50's, and peruse the sky for a few minutes or more. You can't beat the quick "set-up", and the wide field of view makes it easy to find some of the dimmer constellations, like Saggita (the "Arrow"), and provides a perspective on wide field objects that you can't usually get with a telescope. Magnification, aperture, and field of view (fov) are the key parameters for describing binoculars, and usually are inscribed on the binos – e.g., 10 x 50; 6.5°, where "10" is the magnification (10x), "50" is the aperture (mm), and "6.5°" is the fov. As magnification increases, the field of view generally decreases. Above about 10x it becomes increasingly difficult to hold binoculars steadily on an object. You can mini- mize the jitter with practice, and by bracing yourself of the binos against a stationery object, but, unless you have a very steady hand, you'll be best served using a mount for binos with a magnification greater than 10x. Or you can try image-stabilized binoculars, which markedly reduce jittering. If you're looking to buy a pair of binoculars, you'll find they vary greatly in price, from a few dollars to thousands. But you can get a quality pair of smaller hand held binos for around $100-$200, or larger mountable binos for around $200-$300. When in doubt, stick to a "good" name in optics (e.g., Nikon or Pentax) to increase the likelihood you'll get a well built, collimated pair, and, before buying, try a few different pair, either on a mount or by holding them, as appropriate. For hand held binos, make sure they're comfortable to hold, and spend a little time on an object to make sure the jitter is acceptable to you. I have three pairs of binos – 8 x 35, 8.3°; 10 x 50, 6.5°; and 20 x

Page 2 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, NOVEMBER 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association x 60, 2.2°. I always use the 20 x 60's on a parallelogram mount, and often use the 10 x 50's on the mount. This month we'll start the Alpha Persei Cluster, which we looked at last month, then move on to some rising winter objects, as well as the moon and a few planets. As discussed last month, α Persei (Mirfak; mag 1.8) lies within the Alpha Persei Cluster (Melotte 20). Mirfak is the brightest star northeast of Andromeda and southeast of Cassiopeia. In my 8 x 35's, the Cluster extends from a few stars northwest of Mirfak, southeast through a grouping that looks like a cup into which Mirfak is falling, and continues on to a grouping farther to the southeast. My 10 x 50's neatly frame the cluster of stars around Mirfak, and reveal a deep red star, possibly a carbon star, to the southeast in the cluster. Using my 8 x 35's, I can easily follow the line of stars arcing to the southeast from Mirfak and leading to the Pleiades (M45; the "Seven Sisters"), an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus (the "Bull"). The rising Pleiades herald the coming Winter. The Pleiades lie about 425 light years away and, at mag 1.5, comprise the brightest Messier object. The cluster contains hundreds of stars, though not all are visible to amateur astronomers. The brightest blue stars of the cluster were formed together about 100 million years ago. The "Seven Sisters" include Alcyone (mag 2.9), Electra (mag 3.7), Maia (mag 3.9), Merope (mag 4.2), Taygeta (mag 4.3), Celaeno (mag 5.6) and Asterope, a double star (mags 5.8 and 6.4). However, M45 also includes the girls' mother, Pleione (mag 5.1), and father, Atlas (mag 3.6), the Titan most famous for holding up the heavenly dome of stars on his shoulders (often mistakenly shown holding the earth). In mythology, the Seven Sisters have storied lives. Electra, for example, was seduced by Zeus and gave birth to Dardanus, the found of Troy. Maia also was seduced by Zeus and gave birth to Hermes (aka "Mercury"). Merope was married to Sisyphus, who was condemned by Zeus to forever roll a stone up a hill in Hades. The Seven Sisters were half-sisters to the Hyades (see below). To the naked eye, the Pleiades look like a "little dipper", and it is often confused as such by the general public. By naked eye, I can usually see six stars. In my 10 x 50's, the brighter stars of the cluster stand out, with a grouping of 5 (6) stars to the west, including the double star, Asterope, to the north and Electra to the south. Merope lies to the east of Electra, and Alcyone, the brightest star in the cluster, lies northeast of Merope, near the center of the cluster. The parents, Pleione and Atlas, are the easternmost of the brightest stars of the cluster. A couple of other fairly bright stars also are visible, including one to the northeast of the cluster and another to the southwest, and a large number of dimmer stars sparkle in and out of view. In my 20 x 60's, which perfectly frame the cluster, the dimmer stars form various groupings, including a dim triangle just west of Alcyone, a string of stars streaming southeast from Alcyone, and another string of stars streaming northeast from Alcyone, then southeast toward and past Pleione and Atlas, and ending in a grouping to the east. In astroimages, the stars of the Pleiades are surrounded by nebulosity, particularly in the region around Merope (for an image, see http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/). But despite occasional claims to the contrary, the nebulosity does not seem to be visible by eye, aided or otherwise. The Hyades (Melotte 25) lie east of the Pleiades and can be found around Aldeberan (α Tauri; mag 0.87), the brightest star in Taurus. In mythology, the Hyades are nymphs associated with rain, and were daughters of Atlas and Aethera, the sister of Pleione. The Hyades star cluster lies about 153 light years away and is among the closest open clusters to earth. Although Aldeberan is in the same field with the Hyades, it is much closer to earth (65 ly) and not part of the cluster. The Hyades cluster, which form the charac- teristic “V” shaped head of Taurus, the Bull, with Aldeberan its bright orange eye, extends beyond the 8.8° field of view of my 8 x 35’s. In addition to the “V” asterism, the cluster contains a few stars to the south/southeast and a group of stars to the northwest of the “V”. A grouping of stars between Aldeberan and the tip of the “V” resembles the “house” asterism of Cepheus. Binoculars also can be used to view most any phase of the moon, including early phases, when you can appreciate the effect of earthshine in the shadowed region, and fuller phases, when you can see crater rays extending across the surface (though you may want to wear sunglasses). In my 10 x 50’s, the nearly circular dark “sea”, Mare Crisium (“Sea of Crisis”), is striking in the southwest- ern quadrant. To the east of Mare Crisium, three dark splotches, from north to south, mark the Seas of Serenity, Tranquility, and Fertility; and in the far northeast lies the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum). In my 20 x 60’s, I can see the point of “land” jut- ting into the northeastern Sea of Tranquility; it was off this “point” where the Eagle landed for about 21.5 hours in July 1969. In a more fully illuminated moon, the large crater, Tycho, with its extensive ray system, is prominent in the southeast; Copernicus, with its rays, lies just northwest of center; and the smaller Kepler, with its rays, is to the north of Copernicus. Often, you can see the moon in proximity to a planet (see below) or bright star, and during the less illuminated phases, you can see dimmer background stars of the constellation through which the moon is moving on a particular night.

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, NOVEMBER 2011 Page 3 San Diego Astronomy Association

Binoculars also can provide interesting views of the planets. Hand holding my 10 x 50’s, I can see (at most) 3 of the Galilean moons of Jupiter and a few background stars. Presently, Jupiter (mag -2.8) is in a relatively star-poor region of the sky, passing through Aries, near the head of Cetus. Aries (the “Ram”) comprises an arc of 3 stars about 7-8 degrees northwest of Jupiter, including α Arietis (Hamal; mag 2.1) to the northwest, β ARI (mag 2.6), and much dimmer γ ARI, a telescopic double star (mags 4.5 and 4.6; 8 arcsec), to the southeast. If you plan on doing the Messier Marathon in March, Aries is a good constellation to identify now and follow to the west because it’s a good marker for some of the first objects you’ll need to identify in the Marathon. The head of Cetus (the “Whale”) lies just southeast of Jupiter. In my 20 x 60’s (and in my mounted 10 x 50’s), I can see all 4 Galilean moons, though, on this particular night, I had to wait for Io, the closest to Jupiter, to come out from behind the planet. I can also make out some surface features on the planet, including the dark central equatorial bands. Venus (mag -3.8) will be rising in the western sky in November, and should provide a nice view on November 26, when it will be near an early phase moon (see Sky and Telescope magazine, November 2011, page 48). In early November, Mercury will be about 2 degrees west of Venus and visible in the same field through binos. But you’ll have to look soon after sunset to see Mercury because it sets shortly thereafter. Over the next several months, you can use your binos to follow the changing phase of the Venus. Finally, for a challenge, use your binos to find Uranus (mag 5.8), which presently is in Pisces, about 6 degrees east of the circlet asterism. The circlet lies about 10 degrees south of the southern side of the Great Square of Pegasus and is visible naked eye from the city on darker nights. With your binoculars on the northernmost star of the circlet, look about 3 degrees southeast for a deep red carbon star (TX Piscium; see chart in Sky and Telescope magazine, September, 2011, page 53), then continue on that line another 7 degrees until you come to a pair of bright “stars” separated by about 2 degrees – the northernmost of these two is Uranus. Using the chart in S & T, I found it fairly easily with my 10 x 50’s, though I needed to check it out through a telescope to confirm the blue-gray disk of Uranus. So keep your binos handy and check out the night sky next time you have a few minutes. Even if you don’t look for anything in particular, you’ll likely find something interesting. © 2011 – San Diego Stargazer.

This composite image shows a supernova within the galaxy M100 that may contain the youngest known black hole in our cosmic neighborhood. In this image, Chandra’s X-rays are colored gold, while optical data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope are shown in red, green, and blue, and infrared data from Spitzer are red. The location of the supernova, known as SN 1979C, is labeled.

Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/D.Patnaude et al, Optical: ESO/ VLT, Infrared: NASA/JPL/Caltech

Page 4 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, NOVEMBER 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

You are cordially invited to The San Diego Astronomy Association’s Annual Banquet On Saturday, February 4, 2012, 5:30 – 11:00 pm Handlery Hotel & Resort- 950 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108 ______

Speaker: Luisa M. Rebull, Research Scientist, Spitzer Science Center/JPL/Caltech Topic: Baby Stars in the Infrared: Recent Star Formation Results from Spitzer, Herschel, and WISE

Cocktail hour is from 5:30 to 6:45 and dinner 7:00.

Choice of Entrees:

Steak Chicken Vegetarian SDAA Banquet Order Form Use this form or order online at http://sdaa.org/banquet.htm Name______Address______City, State, Zip______Telephone______Email______Dinner Selections (Enter number of each) Steak____ Chicken ____ Vegetarian ____ Check here if requiring sugar free dessert____ Number Attending ____ @ $45 each Total Payment included $ ______Mail to: San Diego Astronomy Association *Make checks payable to SDAA P.O. Box 23215 Orders must be received no later than 01/25/2012 San Diego, CA 92193-3215 NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, NOVEMBER 2011 Page 5 San Diego Astronomy Association

SDAA Board of Directors Monthly Business Meeting Minutes 11 October 2011- Unapproved and Subject to Revision

1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm with the following board members in attendance: Michael Vander Vorst, President; Bill Carlson, Vice President; Ed Rumsey, Treasurer; Jeff Herman, Corresponding Secretary; Brian McFarland, Record- ing Secretary; Mike Finch, Director; Kin Searcy, Director; Bob Austin, Director. Members in attendance included Daphne Zay, Manuel & Jose Cravo, Mike Chasin, Paul “Moose” Pountney and Todd Rogelstad.

2. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes. Approved

3. Priority / Member Business. • Banquet (Daphne Zay): Dinner menus have not been finalized yet, but expect a menu similar to 2011: beef, chicken, and vegetarian. They will need to know in advance of any special requests for diabetes/sugar concerns. Pricing is expected to be the same as 2011 at $45/person. Daphne will review last year’s flier and update for 2012. Cocktail hour is expected to be from 5:30 to 6:30 downstairs, and dinner from 6:30 to 7:30. SDSU will donate 22 small children’s telescopes for centerpieces on condition that the SDAA donate them to elementary schools, which Richard Zay will do. The Board approved the plan to proceed. • Pad 12 Improvements (Manuel & Jose Cravo): They will use the spot on their pad parallel to the south road for parking – they’ll also do some re-planting of the area and will work with Bill Quackenbush to finish the electrical. • Pad 68 Improvements (Mike Chasin): Mike’s plan was approved by the adjacent pad owners, and he plans to use solar power as his supply – no connection to the grid. His plan was approved and the club will attempt to coordinate with his concrete pour for the club’s small observatory pad.

4. Standard Reports.

Treasurer’s Report. Approved.

Membership Report. Up two new members for a total of 544.

Site Maintenance Report. No report.

Observatory Report. Jim T. filled the small CO2 bottle, but the gun isn’t working. Bob will have a look at it. The Board decided that the gun and bottles should be kept locked up, and the new storage container seems the best place as that’s where loaner scopes will be kept and maintained.

Private Pad Report (from Mark Smith). • There are currently 2 people in the process of selecting pads and 6 people on the legacy waiting list who declined to participate in this round of offerings. There are currently 9 pads free and Ed and I are working to establish the status of 3 others (all are delinquent on their rent). Finally, Ed and I are working together to clean up a lot of the records. • I’ve had enquiries from several pad holders about what, if anything, can be done about the light trespass on the south side of TDS. The pads that seem to be the most affected are 31, 32, 33, 34, 20, 21, and 22. The Board will look into bamboo and/or slat fenc- ing to help alleviate this light problem. The owners of pads 31, 32, 33, 34, 20, 21, and 22 will be contacted to help with any labor.

Outreach Committee Report. • Mike Vander Vorst will take over the KQ star parties • Todd Rogelstad may take over East County. • Kin will try and line up some volunteers to host a star party at the creation museum in Santee. Although the SDAA has never hosted a star party for this group, the volunteers should be prepared for possible confrontational behavior (based on past experiences with like-minded attendees).

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Program Report. Luisa Rebull will be the guest speaker for the 2012 banquet.

NASA Robotic Observatory. • We need a new antenna for the wireless internet; two were purchased, one is a spare. • Kin will gauge interest within ASIG for using the roboscope.

AISIG Report. • One more meeting for 2011 (there are no Nov or Dec meetings). • Jan 2012 will be a planning meeting, as we need to accommodate a mix of beginners and very experienced imagers alike.

Governing Documents Report. Scott Baker reports that he began the process of organizing and reviewing the documents.

Newsletter Report. Since the newsletter is placed in an envelope for mailing, recommend that the back page be changed. We can delete the mailing info and use the page as a normal last page. Additionally, Andrea would like to offer an online version of the newsletter with better graphics and additional content – the Board approved. Website Report. Some non-functional links were fixed, but there’s still a PayPal issue.

Site Master Plan Committee Report. We need to consider a back-up plan.

Merchandise Report. Moose is out of L & XL t-shirts, black hats, etc., and would like to purchase some watch caps. The Board approved $500 for merchandise.

5. Old Business. None

6. New Business. • Pad 20 payment is late, so the Board granted a six month extension. • Mission Trails Star Party will continue despite the closing of the campground. Will add Sycamore Canyon to the star party schedule. The plan will be for Mission Trails on the 2nd Friday and Sycamore Canyon on the 3rd Friday. • The Board agreed to increase the allowable observatory size for the private pad area to 81 sq ft, but no change to the height restriction.

7. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 9:11 pm.

Note From the Editor:

Printing costs are high and electronic media is no longer the dream of the future, it is the present. Therefore, the printed newsletters will contain 12 or less pages. The web versions of the newsletters will be able to be longer and contain more articles, images and photos that would be cost prohibitive in the printed versions. All members are encouraged to view the web versions. Also, the black and white printed newsletter certainly cannot do justice to the wonderful astro-images produced by our own club members. I am looking forward to receiving more input from members to share in this medium.

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November 2011

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 Stars in the Park Old Town BSA Troop 4 Academy Bay Park Heise

6 7 8 9 1 0 11 12 SDAA Business San Elijo Hearst Stars at Mission Meeting Elementary Elementary Trails

Full Moon

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Dingeman SDAA Program Rowan City of La Mesa Elementary Meeting Elementary Star Event TDS Public Night Judo America San Diego Stars At Sycamore Canyon

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

New Moon

Thanksgiving

27 28 29 30

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SDAA Contacts Club Officers and Directors President Michael Vander Vorst [email protected] (858) 755-5846 Vice-President Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485 Recording Secretary Brian McFarland [email protected] (619) 462-4483 Treasurer Ed Rumsey [email protected] (858) 722-3846 Corresponding Secretary Jeff Herman [email protected] (619) 846-4898 Director Alpha Bob Austin [email protected] (760) 787-1174 Director Beta Scott Baker [email protected] (858) 442-7513 Director Gamma Michael Finch [email protected] (760) 440-9650 Director Delta Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974

Committees Site Maintenance Bill Quackenbush [email protected] (858) 395-1007 Observatory Director Jim Traweek [email protected] (619) 207-7542 Private Pads Mark Smith [email protected] (858) 484-0540 Outreach Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 N. County Star Parties Doug McFarland [email protected] (760) 583-5436 S. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] E. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] Central County Star Parties Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 Camp with the Stars Doug McFarland [email protected] (760) 583-5436 K.Q. Ranch Coordinator Bill Griffith (760) 525-9954 Newsletter Andrea Kuhl [email protected] (858) 547-9887 Membership Ed Rumsey [email protected] (858) 722-3846 New Member Mentor Jerry Hilburn (858) 565-4059 Webmaster Bob Austin [email protected] (760) 787-1174 AISIG Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 Site Acquisition Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Field Trips Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485 Grants/Fund Raising Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Merchandising Paul “Moose” Pountney [email protected] (619) 465-7014 Publicity Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Roboscope Director Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Governing Documents Scott Baker [email protected] (858) 442-7513 TDS Network Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485 Amateur Telescope Making Peter De Baan [email protected] (760) 745-0925

Have a great new piece of gear? Read an astronomy-related book that you think SDAA Editorial Staff others should know about? How about a photograph of an SDAA Member in Editor - Andrea Kuhl action? Or are you simply tired of seeing these Boxes in the Newsletter rather [email protected] than something, well, interesting? Assistant Editor: Rick Imbra Contributing Writers Join the campaign to rid the Newsletter of little boxes by sharing them with the

membership. In return for your efforts, you will get your very own by line or pho- Bob Austin Bill Carlson tograph credit in addition to the undying gratitude of the Newsletter Editor. Just Dr. Tony Phillips send your article or picture to [email protected].

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, NOVEMBER 2011 Page 9 San Diego Astronomy Association

AISIG Gallery

Peter Morrison captured Jupiter and Europa from his back yard with a Philips ToUcam Pro II webcam attached to a Meade 8 inch ACF mounted on an Astrophysics Mach1GTO. The great red spot is on the upper band at left. Peter combined 60 out of a total of 1200 video frames at 1/33 second. Check out his short Jupiter animation at the AISIG gallery: http://aisig.sdaa.org .

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Send dues and renewals to P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215. Include any renewal cards from Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, or Odyssey magazine in which you wish to continue your subscription. The expiration date shown on your newsletter’s mailing label is the only notice that your membership in SDAA will expire. Dues are $50 for Contributing Memberships; $30 for Basic Membership; $50.00 for Private Pads; $5 for each Family membership. In addition to the club dues the annual rates for magazines available at the club discount are: Sky & Telescope $32.95, Astronomy $34, Sky Watch $6.99, and Odyssey $25.46. Make checks payable to S.D. Astronomy Assn. PLEASE DO NOT send renewals directly to Sky Publishing. They return them to us for processing.

Page 10 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, NOVEMBER 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

How about a last look at a summer favorite, the Trifid Nebula, M-10. Ken Walker posted a nice image of the Trifid using a Canon XS DSLR mounted on an Orion Newtonian telescope on a GCEM mount. There are five 10 second color images in the final image.

Michael Johnson posted a crisp DSLR image of the moon taken from Mission Valley. He used a Canon 300D on a Celestron C-6 mounted on a CG-5 mount. He combined twenty five 1/2000th second exposures of the bright gibbous moon.

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2011 Annual SDAA Barbeque

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The Gray Cubicle You Want to Work In By Dr. Tony Phillips

It's another day at the office. You're sitting in a gray cubicle, tap-tap-taping away on your keyboard, when suddenly your neighbor lets out a whoop of delight. Over the top of the carpeted divider you see a star exploding on the computer screen. An unauthorized video game? No, this explo- sion is real. A massive star just went supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy, and the first images from Hubble are popping up on your office-mate’s screen. It's another day at the office ... at NASA. Just down the hall, another office-mate is analyzing global temperature trends. On the floor below, a team of engineers gath- ers to decode signals from a spaceship that entered “safe mode” when it was hit by a solar flare. And three floors above, a financial analyst snaps her pencil-tip as she tries to figure out how to afford just one more sensor for a new robotic spacecraft. These are just a few of the things going on every day at NASA headquarters in Washington DC and more than a dozen other NASA centers scattered around the country. The variety of NASA research and, moreover, the variety of NASA people required to carry it out often comes as a surprise. Consider the following: NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) supports research in four main areas: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Astrophysics, and Planetary Science. Read that list one more time. It includes everything in the cosmos from the ground beneath our feet to the Sun in the sky to the most distant galaxies at the edge of the Universe. Walking among the cubicles in NASA’s science offices, you are likely to meet people working on climate change, extraterrestrial life, Earth-threatening asteroids, black holes or a hundred other things guaranteed to give a curious-minded person goose bumps. Truly, no other government agency has a bigger job description. And it’s not just scientists doing the work. NASA needs engineers to design its observatories and build its spacecraft, mathemati- cians to analyze orbits and decipher signals, and financial wizards to manage the accounts and figure out how to pay for everything NASA dreamers want to do. Even writers and artists have a place in the NASA scheme of things. Someone has to explain it all to the general public. Clearly, some cubicles are more interesting than others. For more information about the Science Mission Directorate, visit science.nasa.gov. And for another way to reach the Space Place, go to http://science.nasa.gov/kids.

Some of the employees of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate may work in gray cubicles, but their jobs are anything but dull. They get to study Earth, the Sun, the Solar System, and the Universe!

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