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Astronomy Club of Tulsa Observer September 2008 Picture of the Month – Rod Gallagher M22 ( NGC 6656 ) Globular Cluster in Sagittarius Taken by ACT’s own Rod Gallagher at the Texas Star Party and printed here with his permission. M22 is one of the nearer (10,400 light years) globular clusters to our solar system and is outshone in brightness only by 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) and Omega Centauri (NGC 5139). This was probably the first globular cluster discovered, by Abraham Ihle in 1665. M22 is placed for early evening viewing just northeast of the teapot of Sagittarius due south at dusk in September. Optics: Takahashi TOA-150 / Camera: SBIG ST-10XME / Exposure Data: RGB 90:60:120 mins @ -10C / Date - 6/4/2008 Inside This Issue: Important ACT Upcoming Dates: President’s Message………p 2 Book Review….……….…p 7 ACT Meeting @ TCC - Fri. September 12, 2008 Okie-Tex………………….p 2 Sept Observing List………p 9 Member Only Star Party - Fri. September 19, 2008 ACT Crossword..…….…....p 3 Garnet Star………………p 10 Public Star Party - Fri. September 26, 2008 (p 8) Moonwatch………..……...p 5 Land’s Tidbits……………p 11 ACT Observer Page 2 of 12 President’s Message by Tamara Green September is here, and that means our membership meetings will be up and going again. The first meeting after the summer hiatus will be on Friday, Sep 12, at 7:00 PM. It will be held at Tulsa Community College, Metro Campus, in the Phillips Building Auditorium. The program for the evening will be announced soon. Don’t forget our September star parties! The members-only party will be on Friday, Sep 19, with Saturday, Sep 20 as the back-up night, in the event of uncooperative weather. For those of you who are not going to Okie-Tex, the public party will be on Friday, Sep 26, with Saturday, Sep 27 as the back-up night. Okie-Tex time is almost here! The deadline for pre-registration is September 13, so get your registrations in! Okie-Tex 2008 runs from Sep 27 – Oct 5. This is a wonderful chance to see the darkest sky in all of Oklahoma, and some of the most breathtaking and magnificent scenery you will ever see! Plus, it is a whole week of observing with friends from near and far, and some really fine home cooking, courtesy of the Cimarron Heritage Society! And don’t forget the Okie-Tex Giveaway, in which there are fabulous prizes to be won! This is a fun week for the whole family, and an unforgettable experience! I personally highly recommend that those of you who have not yet experienced Okie-Tex, to do so if you can, because you will be in for some kind of fun!! For more information, see the Okie-Tex website: http://www.okie-tex.com On another note, 2009 will be the International Year of Astronomy. Our club plans to do many things, including public events, to make this a really memorable year! Plans will be announced later, and volunteers to help out will be appreciated, as always. We still will need volunteers to help out with maintaining our observatory grounds. Craig is still, as far as I know, under doctor’s orders to not do any kind of overly strenuous activity due his heart attack. Those of you who are interested in mowing, weeding, other “yard work” and/or maintaining the building are welcome to contact me at [email protected] or any other officer, or Craig at [email protected] . We hope to see you at the meeting this month, and at our star parties. I hope to see y’all at Okie-Tex! Clear Skies, Tamara http://www.okie-tex.com/ Sat Sept 27 - Sunday Oct 5th Time is running out to register for the Okie-Tex Star Party. Registration deadline is Saturday September 13th. http://www.okie-tex.com/registration.php Each year nearly 300 astronomers from all over the Midwest and beyond gather in the tip of the Oklahoma panhandle to enjoy some of the darkest skies on the planet. This year’s event features TWO weekends under the deep dark skies of the Oklahoma Panhandle. Registration is only $ 40 per person. Meals can be purchased as a package plus there is a late night grill. Limited space is available in bunkhouses plus there is plenty of room for Tents and RV’s. Several of our club members make the trip faithfully every year, so ask around about tips for enjoying Okie-Tex. Registration and lots of information are at their website. Time to sign up for 2009 Astronomy Calendars and Observer’s handbooks. Each year we give our club members and guest an opportunity to sign up for 2009 calendars for a substantial discount over the retail cost. If you are interested in either of these items please send an email to John Land [email protected] with the Subject TITLE 2009 Calendars or call at 695-3195 DO NOT SEND MONEY AT THIS TIME. We are just making a list to see how many to order. Cost of the 2009 Astronomy Wall calendars will be $ 8.00 ( retail cost is $ 12.95 plus tax ) Cost of the 2009 Canadian Observer’s handbook is $ 21 ( Single copy cost is $ 32.95 ) Now 101 editions young! Published continuously since 1907 the RASC Observer's Handbook is a unique annual compendium of astronomical information and highlights for the coming year. Rigorously researched and developed for advanced amateurs and professionals, the Handbook is a must-have resource. http://www.rasc.ca/publications/index.shtml 2009 Deep Space Mysteries Wall Calendars from Astronomy magazine are here. Twelve stunning Astronomy photos plus all the major astronomy events for the year. As club members you can get yours for $ 8.00 each a 38% discount over the cover price. Note: Price is based on you picking up your copy at a club meeting. Additional cost required if mailing them to you. Contact John Land to reserve yours - Do not send money yet. September 2008 ACT Observer Page 3 of 12 ACT Crossword Puzzle #1 by Peggy & Rick Walker ACROSS: DOWN: 1 Has an equatorial diameter of 30,777 miles and a rotational period of 19.2 hours 1 Outer remanents of solar system, part of Oort Cloud 2 The totality, infinite and finite 2 Daughters of Atlas and Pleione 3 Ocular 3 A moon of our 6th planet 4 Radiation, radio source, emitting radio waves 4 The inner, darkest part of a shadow 5 The language of the stars 5 A shape of galaxies 6 most common seeing measurement, full width at half maximum 6 Permitting the free passage of electromagnetic radiation 7 Celestial coordinates used to measure longitude of a celestial sphere 7 A unit of angular measure 8 Itemized lists 8 Our galaxy is about 80,000 of these in diameter 9 The 6th brightest star in a constellation 9 Wavelength that is visible light that is 660 nanometers 10 N35 degrees 12.114, W11 degrees 39.70872 10 Remnants left over from the formation of the solar system 11 Increase of a celestial body 11 Largest inactive volcano in our solar system 12 Was proposed by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Planicus in 1613. 12 The crossing of the sun over the celestial equator 13 A star couple’s dance 13 Patterns in the sky 14 A term originally applied to any extended object in the sky 14 Protrusion of ionized gas from the surface of our closest star 15 From the Greek meaning, “I cease to exist” 15 The apperant backward movement of planets 16 A listing 16 Dirty snowballs 17 Unaided visual sighting 17 Moon soil 18 “Goodness, Gracious. Great Balls of Fire!” 18 6,585.32 days 19 Where one observes astronomical phenomenon 19 Cyclical repeated infusion of hydrogen gas resulting in an explosion 20 A simple, economical mount 20 Wavelengths that can be seen by the naked eye 21 Discovered in 2005 by Mike Brown 21 Companion satellite to “Across #21” 22 Location of a visual perception along a continuum from black to white 22 Saturn is the most ____________ of our solar system 23 Edge of the apparent disc of a celestial body 23 Enters the Earth’s atmosphere 24 The Big Dipper, The Little Dipper, The Coat Hanger are described as 24 Angle between a celestial object and the sun as seen from earth 25 Nearly spherical 25 Map 26 The study of the universe 26 Occurring among or between stars 27 A star with a magnetic personality 27 Aura 28 Beer, Piazzi, Bessel, Henderson, Draper, Lassell, and Huggins 28 The only star besides our sun, for which we have surface images September 2008 ACT Observer Page 4 of 12 First Quarter – 9/7/08 – 14:04UT Saturn Conjunction w/ Sun – 9/4/08 Full Moon – 9/15/08 – 09:13UT Mercury Greatest East Elongation (27°) – 9/11/08 Last Quarter – 9/22/08 – 05:04UT Uranus at Opposition – 9/13/08 New Moon – 9/29/08 – 08:12UT September 2008 ACT Observer Page 5 of 12 Moonwatch & the Tulsa Connection pebbles tossed in the air, registering the flight of moths, and participating in national alerts organized by the Civil Air Patrol. John Land recently showed us an old satellite spotting scope at an ACT meeting at TCC which led me to do some digging up of history. Once professional scientists had accepted the idea that ordinary Much of the following is from Wikipedia and old SAO bulletins from citizens could spot satellites and contribute to legitimate scientific Sky & Telescope.
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