Prime Focus P S Last Quarter Moon a Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society

Highlights of the December Sky. . .

------1st ------AM: Saturn upper left of Moon. Prime Focus P s Last Quarter Moon A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society

------5th ------Dawn: Spica above, Venus upper left of Moon. December 2007

------9th ------New Moon ThisThis MonthsMonths KAS EventsEvents ------12th ------PM: Vesta upper right of Moon. Annual Meeting: Friday, December 7 @ 6:30 pm

------14th ------Kalamazoo Math & Science Center - See Page 4 for Details AM: Geminid meteor shower peaks (75/hour). Board Meeting: Sunday, December 9 @ 5:00 pm

------15th ------Sunnyside Church - 2800 Gull Road - All Members Welcome PM: Pallas south of Moon.

------16th ------Observing Session: Thursday, December 13 @ 8:00 pm

PM: Uranus 2º southsouth ofof Kalamazoo Nature Center - See Page 20 for Details Moon.

------17th ------First Quarter Moon

------18thth ------InsideInside thethe Newsletter.Newsletter. .. .. Mars closest approach to Earth. November Meeting Minutes...... p. 2

------21st ------Board Meeting Minutes...... p. 3 PM: Pleiades right of Holiday Party...... p. 4 Moon. A Supernova & Christmas...... p. 4 ------23rd ------PM: Mars near Moon. Observations...... p. 5

Full Moon A Day at Alder Planetarium...... p. 6 Building A Vision...... p. 9 ------24th ------Mars at opposition. The Odd Comet Holmes...... p. 12

PM: Pollux lower left of NASA Space Place...... p. 15 Moon. The Star-Splitter...... p. 16

------27thth ------Mars Map...... p. 17 PM: Regulus near Moon. December Night Sky...... p. 18 ------28thth ------KAS Officers & Announcements...... p. 19 PM: Saturn above Moon. Geminid Meteor Shower Watch...... p. 20 ------31st------Last Quarter Moon www.kasonline.org NovemberNovember MeetingMeeting MinutesMinutes

The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society (then located in Washington D.C.), Asaph Hall discovered the was brought to order by President Richard Bell on Friday, two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, in 1877. This was November 2, 2007 at 7:13 pm. Approximately 40 members also the year that one of the greatest Mars observers emerged and guests were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math & on the scene, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. Science Center (KAMSC). Schiaparelli was director of Brera Observatory when he ob- After being in the awkward position of introducing himself, served Mars on August 23, 1877. He wasn’t impressed at Richard began the feature presentation of the evening. He first, but soon decided to launch an all-out observing cam- called his latest talk A New World, This World of Mars. The paign. The “most delicate explorations” were carried out in Red Planet was likely first noticed at least 40,000 years ago. October 1877. It was during this time he first observed and It was at this time humans first developed complex language. sketched the soon-to-be infamous canali. This term can mean Artistic expression wasn’t far behind and Richard speculated either natural channels or artificial canals. It wasn’t long be- that humans finally had time to look up into the sky and found fore the later term was used, but Schiaparelli always believed that a handful of the lights above wandered around. that these thin lines were natural features.

Eventually, cultures around the world developed mythological By the early 1890’s, interest in Mars had become worldwide, beliefs about the red wanderer. The Australian Aborigines and approached hysteric proportions during the opposition of called Mars Waijungari, after a hunter covered in red ocher, 1892. It was at this time that Percival Lowell, one of the who climbed into the sky. Ancient Egyptians called Mars Har wealthiest members of the Boston Brahmin society, launched dacher, the Red One, and sekhad-et-em-khet-ket, he who his own campaign on the Red Planet. Lowell’s imagination moves backward. To Babylonians, Mars was called Nergal, was fired when he read the book La Planéte Mars, written by the star of death. In India, Mars was known as Angakara, the the famous French astronomer Camille Flammarion. After burning coal. In the Far East, it was known as the “fire star” - only ONE MONTH of observations, Lowell developed his Huoxing in China and Kasei in Japan. The ancient Greeks grand “theory” about Mars. Mars, being a smaller world than called it Ares, after their blood-drenched god of war. Today, Earth, evolved more rapidly and had already lost much of its we use the name of the Roman god of war for the fourth planet water supply. To survive, the inhabitants had to build a vast from the Sun. system of irrigation canals to transport water from the polar caps. Needless to say, this idea sparked much controversy and The elliptical nature of Mars’ orbit was then discussed and was not completely silenced until the Space Age. how this explains why Mars appears different from one opposition to the next. After Mercury, Mars’ orbit is the most el- This fascination about Mars created many popular works of liptical amongst the eight planets of the solar system. During fiction. The first was The War of the Worlds, written by H.G. a perihelic opposition, Mars can be as close as 35 million Wells in 1898. Orson Welles adapted the story for his radio miles from Earth. These currently occur at intervals of 15 or broadcast in October 1938. Listeners across the country be- 17 years. The last such opposition was in 2003 and the next lieved an actual Martian invasion was underway! Two major will be on July 27, 2018. An aphelic opposition takes place movies have also been based on Wells’ book. The first was when Mars is at its most distant from the Sun. At these times, released in 1953 and the latest in 2005. Edgar Rice Burroughs Earth and Mars can be separated by as much as 65 million started a series of Mars novels starting in 1911. It follows the miles. During the most favorable oppositions, Mars’ angular adventures of John Carter, who journeyed from Virginia to diameter reaches a maximum of 25.1". During the next Mars Barsoom, as Mars was known to the inhabitants. opposition on December 24, 2007, Mars will appear only 15.88" in width. However, it’ll be well placed above the Richard then moved into the history and future of exploring southern horizon (75º in altitude at maximum). Mars with robotic spacecraft. Readers are encouraged to visit NASA’s “Mars Exploration: Home” web site to learn about Richard moved into the heart of his talk, the colorful observa- the discoveries of past and current missions and enjoy the tional history of the Red Planet. Galileo was the first to ob- many thousands of images they’ve taken from orbit and the serve Mars through a telescope in 1610. He attempted to ob- surface. Please point your browsers to: serve Mars in its Gibbous phase, but it was at its most distant from Earth at the time. Christiaan Huygens was the first to http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/ observe Syrtis Major, a prominent V-shaped feature on Mars, and the first to estimate Mars’ rotation at ~24 hours in 1659. How to best observe Mars was then discussed. A refracting telescope with a lens 4 to 6 inches in diameter, or a reflecting Two German amateur astronomers, Johann Mädler and telescope with a mirror at least 6 to 8 inches in width were Wilhelm Beer, created the first map of Mars in the 1830’s. recommended. Eyepieces are the next important piece of Using the 25-inch refractor at the U.S. Naval Observatory equipment and Richard encouraged everyone to purchase the

Prime Focus Page 2 December 2007 best quality possible. A Barlow lens is a cheaper alternative if you already own a high-quality, medium power eyepiece for deep sky viewing. Board Meeting Minutes Filters are critical for serious Martian study. A #23A or #25 red filter is ideal for revealing surface detail. A #56 green or #80A blue filter helps with white clouds and the polar caps. A The KAS Board met on November 11th at Sunnyside Church. #8 yellow or #11 yellow-green filters will show any dust President Richard Bell brought the meeting to order at 5:00 storms that may be present. Buying colored filters in sets is pm. Present were Jean DeMott, Dick Gillespie, Rich Mather, much more economical. A minus-violet filter is recommended Dan Morgan, Jack Price, Dave Woolf, and Roger Williams. if you own an achromatic refractor. This will reduce the ef- fects of chromatic aberration and even sharpen the view. Both The treasurer’s report from Rich Mather featured a new mile- Orion and Tele Vue sell a special Mars filter. Richard has no stone for KAS, with a 5-figure balance ($10,000.50). Major experience with these filters, but figured they’re worth a try. additions during the past month included $2,602 from Jean’s plant sales (which should also be matched by Pfizer) and a Maps are also highly recommended (it’s nice to know what $1,000 Pfizer grant also obtained by Jean. Expenses were features you’re looking at). Mars Previewer II is a handy bit minor during this month. The land acquisition fund (a subset of freeware that can be downloaded from Sky & Telescope’s of the balance above) currently contains $3,203.89. web site. During the 2003 opposition, Richard found a nice map of Mars online and made a special “KAS Mars Map”, Richard summarized planned coming events, specifically the which can be found on page 17. annual holiday party on December 7th and a Geminid Meteor Shower viewing scheduled on December 13th. Lastly, Richard gave some quick tips on how to image Mars. The best webcam today is the Philips SPC900NC 1.3 MP In follow-up items from last month, Jean and Dick confirmed camera. Higher end cameras include the DFK series from that they had distributed the KAS brochures taken last month. Imaging Source and the SKYnyx series from Lumenera. Jack had not yet put together a first aid kit for Owl Observa- Popular camera control programs for webcams include tory, but had it on the to-do list. Richard had prepared letters K3CCD Tools and IRIS. Popular image processing programs for members who had not yet renewed for the coming year. include RegiStax and Astrostack. In relation to membership, Dan asked about the advantages we can list for becoming a member and raised the question of During the break everyone enjoyed the special “Mars cookies” whether we could offer more. In ensuing discussion, the idea courtesy of Jean DeMott (who was not able to attend the meet- was advanced of a cling window sticker with the KAS logo, ing). Richard then gave a very brief president’s report by and this will be examined further. thanking all those that volunteered their time at a Public Ob- serving Session this year. Several members reported observ- Meeting topics for 2008 are being developed, with Mike Sin- ing Comet Holmes, which suddenly brightened on October th clair scheduled for January (topic to be announced) and Kirk 24 (see page 12 for details and images). Under astronomical Korista in February, speaking about Pluto. news, the successful launch of the China's Chang'e 1 space- th craft was discussed. It reached lunar orbit on November 5 The category of other business featured a lively discussion of and joins Japan’s Kaguya spacecraft (which returned some a question raised by Dick, regarding our preparations (or lack amazing HD images and video of the Earth and Moon). thereof) for keeping the club going after loss of a critical member. Specifically, our president currently acts in addition After discussing upcoming activities, we held opening nomi- as program chairman, newsletter editor, and web site main- nations for 2008 Board Members: tainer. This is very convenient for everyone else, but it also

President Vice President means that no one is being trained in these other areas, and we none Jack Price, Mike Sinclair would probably have difficulty in getting anyone to step up if needed. The Board did not come to a solution of the problem, Treasurer Secretary/ALCOR but it remains under discussion. Roger mentioned that the Rich Mather Roger Williams Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra is performing Holst’s “The Planets” on April 18, 2008, and that this might be a good Members-At-Large (no more than 4) venue for handing out KAS information. Roger and Molly Jean DeMott, Dick Gillespie, Dan Morgan, & Dave Woolf will check with the Symphony office about this possibility. Live viewing will also be raised as a possibility. Final nominations and elections will be held at the December meeting (see page 19 for more information). The meeting The meeting was concluded at about 6:30 pm. The Board then concluded at 9:36 pm. stuffed envelopes with the membership renewal letters. The next meeting was set for December 9th, same time and place.

Respectfully submitted by Roger Williams

Prime Focus Page 3 December 2007 You are cordially invited to the KAS A Supernova & Christmas HolidayHoliday PartyParty by Bob Havira

thth December 7 @@ 6:306:30 ppmm The following is excerpted from Barbara and my 2005 Christmas letter. It seemed appropriate to look at it again Well, all to quickly the earth has made that lap around the with all the talk of supernovae the last several months. Sun and it is time for the annual KAS Holiday Party. It’s

time to pull out the best family heirloom recipes for appe- Still an avid backyard astronomer, Bob is active in the tizers and desserts and bring your submissions to this ever Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. A high point of the year popular get together of the KAS family. The KAS will be was to observe a supernova that had been discovered in a providing beverages and Jean DeMott will once again be neighboring galaxy in June. The galaxy is called the making a bowl of steaming wassail. All you will need to “Whirlpool” because of its shape (also known as Messier 51 bring is either an appetizer or dessert to share. or just M51) and is located in the direction of the handle of

the Big Dipper. A star exploding, a supernova is the most For those of you new to this annual tradition, we will be violent event in the universe. For a few weeks the star is celebrating another successful year of club activities and brighter than all of the other billions of stars in its galaxy also holding our annual meeting on December 1st. This is combined! It took about 15 million years for the light of that an evening open to members and their guests and it is al- star to reach the earth. What we saw was not very ways well attended, affording an excellent opportunity to spectacular however, and it took a pretty big telescope to see spend an enjoyable evening with fellow Society members it at all. I stood on a step ladder to look into the eyepiece of and their families. a six foot long telescope that had a mirror 20 inches in

diameter. I could barely see the whirlpool shape of the We will start out at 6:30 pm (rather than our usual 7:00 galaxy. The billions of pm) with food and socializing and then conclude that por- stars making it up were tion of the evening’s activities with a round of our always just a faint fuzz. The highly competitive BINGO game run by our ever popular image on the left is very caller and President, Richard Bell. We have rounded up close to what I saw. The some very choice prizes this year. few bright stars shown

are between us and M51. The annual meeting, after the BINGO games, will feature The supernova is the reports and images from the recent field trip to Adler bright spot to the right of Planetarium, followed by the final nominations and elec- the center (at the arrow). tion of officers and at-large board members for 2008. To It had not been there June 27 and now (December) is no close out the evening we will be awarding door prizes at longer visible. I had never seen a supernova before; nor had the conclusion of the annual meeting. So, mark you calen- my colleague, the owner of the large telescope who has been dar and we will see you at KAMSC for an astronomically observing for 28 years. The significance of a supernova is good time! that the explosion of a certain type of star is the ONLY way that the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are &<' created. We are made up of some of these heavier elements like nitrogen, oxygen and carbon. What this means is that we are all made up of the stuff that some supernova created in the distant past! How ‘bout them apples? The universe is functioning and new elements are being created; maybe to be incorporated into new life somewhere. Did I see God creating the stuff for new life in M51? That is, 15 million years ago? Who knows, but what I did see was about as awe inspiring and just plain cool as anything can get, ever. Is this a Christmas message? Beats me. By the way that star collapsed into either a neutron star or a black hole. I won’t even start on that!

As most members know the colleague was Robert Wade and the telescope was his nifty 20-inch Obsession. I got more comments on this piece than any other Christmas letter I’ve written.

Prime Focus Page 4 December 2007 ObservationsObservations by Richard S. Bell

As you’ve likely noticed by now, this is an extra-large issue of for providing additional images that accompany the article. Prime Focus. There are a couple of reasons for this. For one, the KAS has been pretty busy as of late. Hopefully everyone We hold our Annual Meeting and Holiday Party on December that attended the November General Meeting enjoyed my 7th. Please make note that we start at 6:30 pm, one half-hour special presentation on Mars. Many of you know that I’m my earlier than usual. I’m looking forward to sampling all the own worst critic, but I was pretty happy with how it went. dishes and deserts, so please prepare your best stuff. Last Yeah, it was a bit long, but it seemed to flow pretty well. The year, attendance was so large we ran out of seats. Let’s hope summary of my talk appears on page 2, but if you still have we have the same problem again this year. Those are the any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. types of problems we WANT to have!

The KAS had a very successful field trip to Alder Planetarium We’ll also hold final nominations and elections for 2008 KAS on November 10th. My detailed report appears on page 6. Officers & At-Large Board Members. Please consider nomi- Our next Fall Field Trip is a ways off, but it’s never too early nating someone or even yourself for a position on the Board to toss around ideas for our next destination. If there’s any or at least a spot on one of our understaffed committees. place you’ve been dying to see then please mention it to a There’s always a place for YOU in the KAS. Board Member. The next Geminid Meteor Shower Watch is scheduled for th Comet Holmes burst (literally!) onto the astronomical scene Thursday, December 13 . It is an inconvenient time of the just after I finished last month’s issue of Prime Focus and five week, but you can get in several hours of observing before days after our last Public Observing Session. No one stepped midnight. Heck, just take Friday off of work if it looks like forward to write an article about this extraordinary event, so I it’ll be clear! Along with the Geminids, we’ll check out Mars wrote one myself. That begins on page 12. Special thanks go and Comet Holmes. to KAS members Mark Hansen, Jim Kurtz, and Eric Schreur The other reason why this issue of Prime Focus is super-sized is that I passed a milestone last month. I thought this issue marked the 100th issue I’ve edited, but I miscalculated. So, since this is the last issue of the year and the 101st issue I’ve edited I decided to do something special.

My first run as Editor was from 1996 - 2001 (January 1996 - January 2002 issues). The cover of my very first issue appears to your left. Pat yourself on the back if you were around when that issue was published. I then filled in for two months in 2004 (July & August) when Mike Sinclair was Editor and finished out Robert Wade’s term in November and December of 2005. We then decided to make Newsletter Editor a volun- teer position in 2006 and I finish out 2007 with this issue.

Doing the newsletter has been a rewarding and educational experience. It’s forced me to work on my grammar, writing, and computer skills. There are many KAS members I would like to thank for supporting and contributing to Prime Focus, but there just isn’t enough room. The newsletter has been such a great experience that I would be willing to hand it off to someone else. In many ways it’s the most important job in the KAS, since it keeps most members informed about their club and keeps a historical record of our activities.

If you’re not interested in becoming Editor then at least con- tribute to Prime Focus. Take an astronomical trip? Write a report. Buy a new piece of equipment? Write a review. Please do your part to make Prime Focus the best astronomy club newsletter on the planet.

Prime Focus Page 5 December 2007 AA DayDay atat AdlerAdler PlanetariumPlanetarium

by Jean DeMott & Richard Bell This year’s destination for the KAS Annual Fall Field Trip was to the world renowned Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago. Adler Planetarium was the first facility of its kind built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest still in existence today. Adler was founded and constructed in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox. Adler was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

The planetarium is located on the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago’s Museum Campus along with the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History (home of Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil skeleton known today).

The last KAS field trip to Adler was in November 1999. This The Sky Theater is the more traditional planetarium at was the same year that Adler reopened after a major renova- Adler. It features the massive, yet beautiful Zeiss tion. Over 35,000 square feet of exhibit space was added in projector. addition to the StarRider Theater. This makes Adler the only museum in the world with two full-sized planetarium theaters. members from the surrounding astronomy clubs. Those that It makes it all the more fortunate that this wonderful facility is took us up on our offer include Christian Carmody from the located only 3 hours from Kalamazoo. Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association, Beth & Gary Spencer from the Muskegon Astronomical Society, and Attendance for this year’s field trip was again overwhelming; Rajendra, Jayashree, and Aabharan Hemanth from the Shore- especially considering the all-day nature of the trip. A total of line Amateur Astronomical Association in Holland. It was 27 members and guests participated in this year’s adventure. great having them along even though we didn't get to chat The KAS members include: Richard Bell, Susan Bond, Joe with them as much as we wanted. It also again fulfills our Borrello, Beverly Byle, Bob & Grace Cox, Jean DeMott, Dick organization's stated purpose to “cooperate with other ama- & Jackie Gillespie, Jim Kurtz, Gary Lubbert, Dan Morgan, teur and professional astronomical organizations.” Jack Price, Frank Severance, Don & Danielle Stilwell (with her guest Shawn Grandstaff), Dennis Stuart, Norm Terry, and Most KAS members and invited guests started their day at the Dave & Sonnet Woolf. Oakland Drive Park-and-Ride at ~6:30 am, while others met us in Michigan City or at Adler. Thanks again to every KAS Like last year’s field trip to Notre Dame, we decided to invite member and guest for arriving at the carpool site on time. We hit the road promptly at 6:40 am once everyone found a car- pooler. Special thanks go out to Dick & Jackie Gillespie, Jack Price, Don Stilwell, and Norm Terry for doing the driving to Michigan City.

Weather conditions for the morning of November 10th were cold, but tolerable. A fairly thick fog had also settled into the area over night. It reduced visibility on the road, but didn’t slow us down and thinned out the further south we got. Skies were mostly cloudy the entire day, but not a drop of rain or flakes of snow were to be seen.

We arrived in Michigan City slightly before 8:00 am EST and made a quick rest stop and breakfast break at a McDonalds. We then headed down the road to Carroll Street Station and waited for the 8:20 am EST train to arrive, which it did with a The StarRider Theater features a Digistar 3 projector (the few minutes to spare. We knew we had a problem as soon as rectangular box in the center) and an all-sky video the train rolled in to the station. Just about every window on projection system. the train had a head in it. In other words, the train was full!

Prime Focus Page 6 December 2007 Jean suggested we take the train and I also thought it would be Arizona. The other large fragment we saw was at the Meteor a fun thing to do. For one, we wouldn’t have to worry about Crater museum. Other exhibits covered Earth’s weather and a heavy weekend traffic and the ever-present road construction life-sized model of the Mars Exploration Rovers. in the Windy City. Parking at the Chicago Museum Campus was $15 per vehicle, plus reimbursing the carpoolers for gas Many of our stomachs were on empty at this point, so every- made the $13 round trip train ticket a bargain. Plus, everyone one gathered in the Galileo Café for lunch. The line wasn’t would be able to converse on the train instead of being sepa- too bad, but does seem longer when you’re hungry. Many fine rated in different cars. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. selections included soups, salads, and sandwiches were to be had. Many of us ate together and enjoyed the great view of Many members (and other train passengers) were forced to the Chicago skyline. stand much of the way to Chicago. Relief finally came in Gary, Indiana where four more cars were added (some folks After lunch, it was time to attend our first planetarium show. that got on at later stops still had to stand). Richard overheard We watched the 11:30 am CST showing of TimeSpace in the one lady who said that she rides the train all the time and StarRider Theater. As the title suggests, the program trans- never saw it so crowded on a Saturday. Reasons may include ported the audience to many different points in time and space. folks getting an early start on holiday shopping (we saw many Naturally, we started with the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years shopping bags on the way home) and $3.29/gallon gas prices. ago. We also witnessed the impact that doomed the dinosaurs Either way, we still thought the train ride was a good idea, but 65 million years ago and saw the appearance of Halley’s we’d like to hear your opinion. Comet in the Yucatán Sky during the height of the Aztecs. The show ended with a glimpse of the year 3001. The entire The train rolled into the Roosevelt Road Station 30 minutes program utilized the all-sky video system in the StarRider late due to the delay in Gary. We then walked to Adler and Theater. It was just as impressive as the system we saw last checked in at the group reservation desk. Once everyone year at Notre Dame. They never once used the Digistar 3, so packed their extra items away in a locker Richard passed out we can’t compare it to the earlier versions. tickets to all KAS members for the 2:30 pm Night Sky Live show, which were courtesy of the KAS. After instructions on when and where to meet for the first planetarium show, everyone went their separate ways and checked out the many great exhibits at Adler.

The upper level contains the hands-on, educational exhibits. One is called The Milky Way Galaxy and features a large panorama of our entire galaxy, along with an interactive program showing you the location of many popular deep sky objects. Other exhibits include Extrasolar Planets and the Sun. During clear days a live video image of the Sun is fed onto a monitor from the Doane Observatory, located next to Adler. A SOHO image was in its place, since it was cloudy.

The next exhibit is called Our Solar System. It features a scale model of the planets hanging over your head (yes, Pluto is still The Atwood Sphere, Chicago's oldest planetarium, was included). One exhibit let you shoot ice pellets into a wet, constructed in 1913 and restored on the 1990’s. The sandy surface and make impact craters. Nearby was one of sphere is 15 feet in diameter with 692 holes drilled through its metal surface, allowing light to enter and the many meteorite fragments that created Meteor Crater in show the positions of the brightest stars in the night sky.

Prime Focus Page 7 December 2007 We then continued to check out the many other exhibits at atlas on display. The other temporary exhibit tied in very Adler. One of the newest permanent exhibitions is called nicely with the talk Richard just gave at the November meet- Shoot for the Moon. It features many artifacts from the per- ing. It was named Mapping Mars and featured many works sonal collection of Jim Lovell and the National Air & Space from famous Mars observers Camille Flammarion and Gio- Museum. The main attraction is the fully-restored Gemini 12 vanni Schiaparelli. Other books by William Herschel and spacecraft, which was used by Jim Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Christiaan Huygens were also on display. Aldrin in 1966. The actual Apollo 8 Flight Manual is also on display. It’s turned to the page that shows the lines from An original copy of the milestone book De Revolutionibus Genesis that Lovell read from on Christmas Eve 1968. As you Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies) might also expect, many artifacts from Apollo 13 are also on by Nicolaus Copernicus was also on display. It was turned to display. These include Lovell’s EVA helmet and gloves he the page that showed his heliocentric view of the solar system. never got to use on the lunar surface. The Apollo 13 plaque This book may not mean much to most folks, but this was the meant to be left on the Moon is on display as well. book that gave birth to modern astronomy. It was well worth the trip to Chicago just to see that book. We then attended the 2:30 pm Night Sky Live show in the historic Sky Theater. This was a basic tour of the constellations Our last stop was to see the Atwood Sphere, which really is that Richard has given many times at the local planetarium the third planetarium at Adler. It’s nothing more than a large, and the Nature Center. However, it was fantastic seeing the hallow metal ball with 692 holes drilled through it, but it is an

Zeiss projector in action. The rendition of the Milky Way is important part of planetarium history. To view the constella- much more realistic than the Zeiss Mark IX projector we saw tions, you ride into the sphere on a small hydraulic lift. It’s at the St. Louis planetarium. The stars were very sharp and was pretty neat and definitely worth checking out. Oh, we shown in vivid color. However, some of the colors didn’t also made the mandatory trip to the gift shop, but didn’t get seem right. For example, the Pleiades looked very yellow. It anything! was nice to hear the “ohhs and ahhs” once the lights were low- ered. You don’t hear that with the green fuzzy stars of the Everyone that was still around then gathered on the front steps Digistar 2 projector at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and for the group photo. We then made the somewhat long walk Abrams Planetarium in East Lansing. to Grace O’Malley’s Restaurant & Pup. There was a short cut we could have taken, but live and learn. We then had plenty After the show we finally made it to the lower level. Let us of time to relax, chat, and eat. The food was great and well make something clear, when you visit Alder Planetarium for worth the walk. The walk back to the train station was a snap the first time START ON THE LOWER LEVEL! This is and then we made our way back to Michigan City. Finding where they display temporary exhibits from Adler’s vast col- seats was much easier, but it was still crowded. The last car lection of historic artifacts. The main temporary exhibit was arrived back at the Park-and-Ride at about 12:30 am. It was a called Mapping the Universe. It featured many beautifully great day at Adler and in Chicago. Our only complaint (aside crafted celestial globes, armillary spheres, and star maps from the crowed train ride) was that there wasn’t enough time drawn by giants like Hevelius and Johann Bayer. How we in the day to check out the exhibits in more detail and the would have loved to be able to flip through each page of every other planetarium shows at Alder.

Prime Focus Page 8 December 2007 BuildingBuilding aa Vision:Vision: GoingGoing BigBig toto GoGo DeepDeep

by Dan Morgan

Since my pre-teen years I have wanted to view the sky and the width of the rocker box was slightly larger than the mirror explore the universe. It wasn’t until my 10th birthday that I box to accommodate the mirror box and for it to be the most received my second telescope (the first was a 50mm Tasco for compact telescope I could design. It wasn’t as compact as an Christmas). It was given to me by a friend of mine who at- Obsession Telescope, but I was proud of it none the less. It tended the same church. When I would go to his house I had taken me about six weeks to get eight pieces cut with cut- would run to the back room where it was located and ask to outs to reduce weight. All of this was done by a skill-saw use it; essentially my passion for telescopes started there. rather than by using a router. I do wish I would have known about the router beforehand! It took me weeks, using the Years later, while I attended Gull Lake Middle School; Dave skill-saw, to get the pieces cut out and to get them all the same Woolf, who was my science and astronomy teacher, displayed size and shape. Most of the shaping came from using hand Orion Telescope catalogs in the back of his classroom. Daily I files -- weeks of hand filing. Perhaps the part that took the lingered at the magazine display rack and skimmed through longest was the sanding. More than two-thirds of the ‘scope while I checked out the gigantic telescopes. I discussed my project involved sanding and making sure that it looked eye- thoughts with Mr. Woolf about buying a new telescope and he catching. Winter break was closing-in fast, and I had to make suggested that I get the largest telescope that I would be able sure that I got as much done as possible before then. to afford. Apparently, my parents had talked with Mr. Woolf; and to my surprise, I received a 6" Orion SkyQuest telescope for Christmas that year. Later, I sold the Orion SkyQuest to purchase a 12" DSH (Deep Space Hunter). This model I later sold to Don Stilwell to fund my 18" Dobsonian project.

During the end of my junior year at Gull Lake, I decided to schedule wood-tech as a fun class. I had wanted to design and build my own telescope but had no idea how to accomplish this. I turned to the internet to help me learn, as I often do, and gathered data on how to build telescopes. I found people who built their own ‘scopes, and I learned from the mistakes that they had made, not to say that I didn’t make some of my own mistakes along the way. Nevertheless, I made up my mind about the design, somewhat, and drew some scaled- down templates of what I wanted each piece to look like.

By the time I started the class I had designed and sketched the pieces, and then I proceeded to acquire the wood for the project. From what I had read the best wood was Baltic Birch plywood, which my ‘scope is built from, along with a few pieces of walnut and oak for visual appeal. My teacher, Mr. Blackburn, became interested in my project as well as the whole class; they wondered how someone could build a telescope out of wood? I explained to everyone how I had planned to build it and showed them the basic concept of the ‘scope.

A few weeks had passed in the class before I could start using the tools to create my dream ‘scope -- due to planning, safety tests, and the acquisition of the Baltic Birch which was very hard to find. The first step towards building the ‘scope was to figure out where to cut the wood and with what tool. Most of the time I used the feared table saw as this allowed the most Dan poses with his hand-built 18" Dobsonian telescope accuracy of any table saw in the shop. The first pieces I cut at the KAS Public Observing Session on September 22, were for the mirror box. It measured 24×24 inches square and 2007. It was the first public session Dan’s telescope was about 16 inches high. The next pieces were the sides of my fully operational. Both members and the public were amazed with the views. rocker box with dimensions I can’t remember. I do remember

Prime Focus Page 9 December 2007 For about a week or so, I received some guidance from Dick Gillespie, who helped me put the ebony star (laminate) on the bottom of the rocker box. Also, he helped with the mirror cell design and to get the metal that I needed for the mirror cell. One crucial aspect he helped with was the altitude bearings, which were not flat around the edges. He fixed this with a sanded bit that would sand the edges flat. The altitude bearings then received the ebony star laminate for friction against the Teflon pads.

During the months of April through about June, little time came my way to work on the telescope and it was put in the closet, hence my Mom’s space. Soon, I graduated and found loads of time to do just about whatever I wanted to do, and I revived the work on my ‘scope once again. I turned to my Grandpa Morgan, who had a workshop in his basement. I loaded the telescope into my truck, which made my Mom The mirror box is glued together with walnut as the happy to get the telescope out of her living room, and took it edges. Also templates were cut out to reduce weight. to my Grandpa’s. There my telescope really progressed in its assembly stage. I was able to get all of the pieces of wood cut During break I noticed an ad on Astromart about an 18" fiber- out, sanded, and lacquered (very timely process). Overall at glass homemade telescope. The price was relatively low for that point the telescope began to look like what I had planned. the whole ‘scope, but I was only interested in the optics. I Then a few problems came my way, the mirror cell had to be talked with the seller about buying just the optics. However, I modified to fit inside my mirror box. I called a welding com- wasn’t sure if I really wanted to spend that much for them, so I pany in Battle Creek to help with that process, since I didn’t backed out. A month later, I saw that the ‘scope still hadn’t know anyone who could weld aluminum. I gave them the sold, and talked with the guy again, but didn’t complete the design layout and the piece that had to be constructed as the transaction. Finally, I couldn’t stand waiting for other nego- modification. Several weeks later, it was finished and worked tiations on another mirror and finally made my final offer for quite well, with some force to get the two pieces of the cell the fiberglass telescope optics. Negotiations over a Swayze together. primary mirror broke down due to false descriptions of the mirror. Nevertheless, I was able to come out with an 18" f/4 Mid-summer had come and gone, August approached fast and Pegasus primary mirror with 1/11.5 wave front and a 3.5" As- th I had tons of things to get done before the Perseid Potluck trosystems secondary mirror with 1/13 wave front. The Picnic. Over a week’s period I spent about 10 hours a day at crazy thing is, after some discussion with fellow members of my Grandpa’s to get it finished. The mirror cell was mounted the KAS (Richard, Jean, and Jack) I found out that I purchased inside the mirror box; the upper tube assembly was glued to- the optics from a former KAS member, Tom Taylor, who was gether and lacquered. The Teflon pads were added, along very patient with negotiations. However, I don’t think he with the swivel mount. The truss-tube blocks were added to knew that I was only 18 years old at the time.

One week remained to accomplish what had to be done and the rest was to be completed on my own at home. In this small time frame, I completed the upper tube assembly rings and the pieces used to hold the rings together. I managed to glue the mirror box together, using the walnut as the edge joints for the mirror box and the rocker box. I completed the piece for the swivel, which was difficult to make. Also I managed to get three coats of semi-gloss stain on it to give it a shine and protect it from water, and other harmful elements. With only limited time left, I proceeded to clean up the pieces cosmetically. They appeared only half-done, so I varnished the wood.

The class had ended and completion of the ‘scope was still in the distant future. In January, Richard, along with some others began to think the project was a conspiracy. I reassured them that it would be completed soon, i.e. seven more months. The February Freeze Out came and went, but it still wasn’t done; The altitude bearings measure 23.75" in diameter. Tem- plates were cut out to reduce weight. then the Messier Marathon, but still no ‘scope.

Prime Focus Page 10 December 2007 The rocker box is shown with the ebony star laminate The mirror cell shows both parts of the cell. The black is which causes friction against the Teflon tabs. made of steel, while the aluminum was designed by me, but constructed at a local welding shop. the mirror box; although that process took about 10 hours in itself, with several logical errors which were made on my part. Finally, it all came down to cutting the truss-tubes to length. I figured out how long the poles needed to be using the Py- thagorean Theorem, again, a more complicated process than it should have been. Then August 12th arrived and it was time to debut my 18” telescope to the public. Around 8:00 pm I set it up for the observation that evening; however, I soon discovered the truss tubes were too long by two inches. I was dis- heartened, but thrilled nonetheless to finally show everyone.

The following day I went back to my Grandpa’s and cut the tubes two inches shorter. This gave me the result I had sought the night before. That evening Dave Woolf and I gathered at his observatory in Hickory Corners to be lavished with the exquisite views of M57 (Ring Nebula), M13, M27 (Dumbbell Nebula) and my favorite the Veil Nebula which blew my socks off, figuratively. I was overjoyed to know that it My Grandpa Morgan looks at the almost finished mirror worked so well. That was the first time in my life I had ever box with the black kydex and the mirror cell set inside. looked through anything larger than a 12" telescope. The best part was that I had actually built it, with help from friends and family.

Special thanks to: • Kalamazoo Astronomical Society • Mr. Blackburn • Dave Woolf • Dick Gillespie • Tom Taylor • Olin Family • My Parents and • Grandpa Morgan

Dan Morgan joined the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society in 2005 and is currently serving his first term as a Member-At- The upper tube assembly with the black kydex glued on Large. He also attending his first semester at Michigan State with contact cement. The hole has not been cut to ac- University and studying business administration. commodate the focuser.

Prime Focus Page 11 December 2007 TheThe OddOdd CometComet HolmesHolmes by Richard Bell

Earlier this year we missed out on the brightest comet in over 40 years thanks to Michigan winter weather and the curvature of the Earth. By all accounts and images, Comet McNaught was a grand sight to observers in the southern hemisphere. I freely admit to being envious and then fairly depressed. After all, a bright comet is one of the “holy grails” of astronomy. Eventually, I accepted the fact that it would probably be ten years (on average) before we saw another bright comet grace the skies of Earth.

That all changed when I saw the news flash on SpaceWeather for October 24th:

Astronomers in Japan, Persia and Europe report that Comet 17P/Holmes is undergoing a spectacular eruption. The 17th magnitude comet has brightened by a factor of The author took this image of Comet Holmes on October five hundred thousand or more during the past 24 hours th 30 with the Meade 12” Schmidt-Cassegrain in Owl becoming a naked-eye object in the evening sky. Look for a Observatory at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. The total yellow 2.5th magnitude fuzzball in the constellation exposure time was 6 minutes 45 seconds using a Canon Perseus after sunset. 300D DSLR camera. Notice the off-set nucleus and the concentric rings of dust and gas. Most astronomers around the world probably started with the same question: Comet who? This comet, called Holmes, outburst when it was first discovered by the English amateur came from near obscurity to international prominence quite astronomer Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892. Conditions literally overnight. It’s a feat an alleged Hollywood “star” or that evening were described as unfavorable, but Holmes still political candidate would envy! made observations of Jupiter and some double stars with his 32 cm (12.6-inch) reflector. He was about to finish up for the Outbursts are nothing new for comets, but one of this degree is night with an observation of Mu Andromedae, located about - as far as I know - unprecedented. Well, that’s not exactly 4º south of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Holmes observed true. This exact same comet was already undergoing a similar M31 on a regular basis, so he knew the area very well.

When Holmes pointed his telescope toward the region of Mu Andromedae and looked through the eyepiece he at first thought he was looking at M31. Holmes quickly realized he was looking at something quite different and said out loud to himself: “What is the matter? There is something strange here.” His wife thought there was a problem with his telescope and rushed over to investigate. Holmes had stumbled across a comet with a bright nucleus and coma about 5 arcminutes in diameter. The discovery was quickly confirmed by both the telescope and the naked eye.

Astronomers around the world reported observing Comet Holmes during the first half of November. Unfortunately it seems no one bothered to make magnitude measurements, so it’s difficult to compare with the outburst of 2007. It does Roger Williams obtained this image of Comet Holmes on October 28/29 with his 10” Newtonian and SBIG ST-8E seem this most recent outburst was brighter than the one that CCD camera. Luminosity images of 0.5 - 30 seconds occurred 115 years ago. were combined, along with RGB images for color. Background stars visible through the coma were The comet gradually faded in brightness during the second mistaken for nuclei fragments by many observers. Roger half of November, but experienced another outburst in January says this image looks pretty close to his impression of 1893. Comet Holmes was observed again in 1899 and 1906, the visual appearance through a telescope but was then lost until 1964. It has been observed at every

Prime Focus Page 12 December 2007 collisions separated by 115 years is highly unlikely. Another similar idea was proposed by “Mr. Comet” himself, Fred Whipple, in 1984. He wondered if Comet Holmes might have a satellite that “reentered” the nucleus and released vast amounts of gas and dust. Moonlets have been discovered around some asteroids, but never a comet. There’s really no data either way at this point, so only time will tell. Another idea that can be ruled out, thanks to recent images from the Hubble Space Telescope, is that Holmes has not broken apart like Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 did in April 2006.

The leading hypothesis suggests that repeated warmings by the Sun caused a dusty, ice-free “crust” to form on the 3.5 km (2 mile) diameter nucleus, sealing the interior and acting as a blanket. Over time the pressure beneath this blanket steadily Comet Holmes was captured with this image by Jim grows as once-frozen ice becomes gas, eventually breaking Kurtz on November 2nd. Jim combined eight 30 second through and sending large chunks of crust flying into space exposures with his Tele Vue 85 apochromatic refractor that quickly disintegrates into microscopic dust. This may and SBIG ST-2000 CCD camera. Notice how much the explain the nearly symmetrical coma observed and photo- nearly symmetrical coma, imaged by Richard and Roger, graphed shortly after the outburst. has changed in just a matter of days. The night of October 25th was our first opportunity to observe apparition since that time, but another outburst wouldn’t occur Comet Holmes in west Michigan and skies were actually until October 2007. clear! It was easily spotted with the naked eye from my light

The orbit of Comet Holmes was calculated soon after its 1892 discovery. Many refinements have been made since that time, so we’re very familiar with its motion around the Sun. Comet Holmes currently orbits the Sun every 6.88 years at an average distance of 3.62 Astronomical Units (1 AU = 150 million kilometers or 93 million miles). However, its orbit is fairly elliptical with an eccentricity of 0.432564 (e = 0 for a circular orbit and e = 1 for a highly elliptical orbit). Therefore, Holmes presently reaches a perihelion distance of 2.05 AU (between Mars and Jupiter) and an aphelion distance of 5.18 AU (just beyond the orbit of Jupiter). In fact, Holmes is part of the Jupiter family of comets and close encounters with the gas giant has altered its perihelion distance and orbital period through the ages (most recently in 2004).

Comet Holmes last reached perihelion on May 4, 2007 and was actually closest to the Earth on November 6th. At this time the comet and Earth were separated by a distance of 1.62 AU (242 million kilometers or 151 million miles). Comet Holmes was performing its retrograde loop as perceived from Earth during the outburst and will continue to do so until mid- February 2008. Retrograde motion only occurs when a body is opposite the Earth in the sky. It’s very fortunate the recent outburst of Holmes occurred when it was near the Earth, just as it did in 1892. Coincidence? No one knows for sure.

It may never be known why Comet Holmes undergoes these apparent periodic outbursts. One popular idea is that the comet was struck by a small meteoroid or asteroid. After all Eric Schreur took this picture of Comet Holmes near the the comet spends most of its time at the distance of the main Perseus OB Association on November 3 from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This scenario is Kalamazoo Nature Center. It’s a 30 second exposure highly unlikely because Holmes’ orbital inclination (19º) with a Nikon D40 camera and a 55-200 mm zoom lens set keeps it pretty isolated from the other members of the main at 135mm. It demonstrates how little effort is required to belt. Plus, collisions within the belt are fairly rare and two capture this bright visitor.

Prime Focus Page 13 December 2007 polluted front yard. It looked like a yellow star of at least 3rd magnitude in the constellation Perseus. It formed a nice trian- gle with Alpha (Mirfak) and Delta Persei. The comet was also easily visible on the next night (October 26th), which was during the closest, brightest Full Moon of the year.

Binoculars could turn the bright yellow “star” into a small fuzzy disk. A telescope could reveal a bright, star-like nucleus and the incredibly symmetrical coma. The nucleus was offset from the center of the coma and a V-shaped feature (possibly a jet) appeared to emanate from the nucleus. Many observers believed they observed at least two pieces of the nucleus break off on October 28th, but these were merely background stars.

My first successful attempt at imaging Comet Holmes was on October 25th. The comet was small enough to fit onto the tiny Mark Hansen acquired this image of Comet Holmes on CCD chip of my Philips ToUcam Pro when attached to a November 13th. Twenty exposures of 1 minute each were Meade 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain. (See the image on my web taken with a modified Canon 350XT (set at ISO 800) and site.) By October 30th, the coma had expanded to nearly a an 8” f/4 Newtonian. Now the coma displays it typical third of the angular diameter of the Moon and took up a con- looking “comet head” shape as compared to earlier images. Several stars are visible through the coma, siderable portion of the chip on my Canon 300D DSLR cam- since the comet is passing through the rich star fields of era (see image at the top of page 12). By this point, the comet Perseus. was now visible as a small, circular fuzzball with eyes alone. look like a jellyfish. The tail was short and difficult to spot Constant cloud cover had moved into the area after November because it was pointed almost directly away from the Earth. nd 2 , so those of us in west Michigan had to monitor the evolu- The nearly symmetrical coma started to give way to the more tion of Comet Holmes on the Internet. The first images of a traditional looking “comet head” shape around November 5th th tail came on October 28 . Long exposures (at least 45 min- and 6th as the solar wind began pushing the dust away. The utes) revealed a short, blue ion tail, which made the comet ion tail became much more prominent in images taken in early November and actually became detached as seen in images on November 8th and 9th. The coma of Comet Holmes passed in front of the bright star Mirfak in Perseus beginning on No- vember 19th.

Skies finally became clear enough in west Michigan to view the comet on November 22nd and 23rd. By this time the Full Moon had returned and the comet’s surface brightness had decreased considerably as it expanded. Thus, Holmes was no longer visible with the naked eye. Moonlight made it fairly challenging to spot the comet with my Tele Vue Pronto (70 mm refractor). It appeared as nothing more than a nebulous patch of light near Mirfak. The size of the comet, over ½º (just bigger than a Full Moon), made it tough to spot with the 12" SCT and 41 mm Panoptic eyepiece.

The comet will continue to expand and fade from view. Will a secondary outburst occur like it did in January 1893? No one knows, but if it does the increasing distance from Earth will likely keep it from becoming a naked eye object again. Holmes could remain an interesting telescopic object for the next several months though. On January 21, 2008 the comet will pass in front of another bright star. This time it’s Algol, the “Demon Star” of Perseus. A moderate focal length New- tonian or refractor would be an ideal telescope to view this Diagram shows comet's predicted orbital path (yellow event, due to the comet’s huge coma (which, at its peak, was dots) from Nov. 2, 2007 to Dec. 21, 2007 as it crosses the physically bigger than the Sun). Comet Holmes may not have constellation Perseus. The comet will become dimmer as been as spectacular as Comet McNaught, but it’s easily one of time passes, so only some of the comet's path is shown. the most interesting objects I’ve ever had the privilege to view For a broader view, see the all-sky star map on page 18. through a telescope.

Prime Focus Page 14 December 2007 NASA Space Place - Going My Way?

by Diane K. Fisher

Not many endeavors require that you plan the mode of trans- portation before you even know what it is you are transport- ing. But weighing the physics and economics of getting any sort of cargo to space is a major part of designing a space mission.

It’s one of the first issues that NASA’s New Millennium Pro- gram (NMP) considers when planning a new mission. NMP has the forward-looking job to identify promising new technologies for space exploration. It then helps to mature the technology so it will be available to space missions of the future. If the technology cannot be tested adequately on Earth, The Dawn mission uses an ion engine. This technology was validated on the NMP mission Deep Space 1. the last part of this process is to actually send the technology into space. With carefully documented test results, future mission planners can confidently incorporate the new technology transported to and operated in space within the constraints of a into their designs. low-cost technology validation project?”

But where to begin? On call from the start, Linda Herrell is Along with the list of possible mission payloads (the technolo- the New Millennium Program Architect. Given a list of pro- gies), Linda also has a list of spacecraft to put them on, as well posed technologies, she has the job of figuring out the feasibil- as a list of launch vehicle parameters. All she has to do is try ity of wrapping a mission around them. them out in every possible combination (of which there are thousands) and see what might work. “We might be considering six or more technologies, anything from solar panels to imagers to masts for solar sails to more “Fortunately, we have a software tool to help with this analy- intelligent software. Of those, we may choose four. My job is sis,” says Linda. When it comes down to it, her job is primar- to answer the question — can the selected technology be ily to figure out how to get the technologies into space.

“Sometimes, it’s like figuring out how to get across town when you don’t have your own car. You have to get creative.”

She keeps a database of all possible options, including riding piggyback on another spacecraft, hitching a ride on a launch vehicle as a secondary payload, or sharing a launch vehicle with other NASA, Department of Defense, or even commer- cial payloads.

Her assessment is but one of a gazillion factors to be consid- ered in planning a mission, but it is indeed one of the very first “details” that forms the foundation for the rest of the mission.

Find out some of the technologies that NMP has already validated or is considering at:

http://nmp.nasa.gov/TECHNOLOGY/innovative-tech.html

Kids will enjoy watching Linda’s cartoon alter-ego talk about her job at:

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/live/

This article was written by Diane K. Fisher and provided by NASA’s New Millennium Program selects breakthrough the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technol- technologies that will be of the greatest use to future space and ogy, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Earth science missions and that are perceived to be risky to the first user. Space Administration.

Prime Focus Page 15 December 2007 TheThe StarStar--SplitterSplitter “You know Orion always comes up sideways. He promptly gives itit back, that isis ifif still Throwing a legleg up over our fence of mountains, Uneaten, unworn out, or undisposed of. And rising on his hands, he lookslooks inin on me It wouldn't do to be too hard on Brad Busy outdoors by lanternlantern‐lightlight with something About his telescope. Beyond the age I should have done by daylight, and indeed,indeed, Of being given one's gift for Christmas,* After the ground isis frozen, II should have done He had to take the best way he knew how Before itit froze, and a gust flings a handful To find himself inin one. Well, all we said was Of waste leavesleaves at my smoky lanternlantern chimney He took a strange thing to be roguish over. To make fun of my way of doing things, Some sympathy was wasted on the house, Or else fun of Orion's having caught me. A good old‐timer dating back along; Has a man, I should likelike to ask, no rights But a house isn'tisn't sentient; the house These forces are obliged to pay respect to?" Didn't feel anything. And ifif itit did, So Brad McLaughlin mingled reckless talk Why not regard itit as a sacrifice, Of heavenly stars with hugger‐mugger farming, And an old‐fashioned sacrifice by fire, Till having failed at hugger‐mugger farming, Instead of a new‐fashioned one at auction? He burned his house down for the fire insuranceinsurance And spent the proceeds on a telescope Out of a house and so out of a farm To satisfy a lifelife‐longlong curiosity At one stroke (of a match), Brad had to turn About our place among the infinities.infinities. To earn a livingliving on the Concord railroad, As under‐ticket‐agent at a station "What do you want with one of those blame things?" Where his job,job, when he wasn't selling tickets, II asked him well beforehand. "Don't you get one!" Was setting out up track and down, not plants As on a farm, but planets, evening stars "Don't call itit blamed; there isn'tisn't anything That varied inin their hue from red to green. More blameless inin the sense of being lessless A weapon inin our human fight," he said. He got a good glass for six hundred dollars. "I'll have one ifif I sell my farm to buy it."it." His new jobjob gave him leisureleisure for stargazing. There where he moved the rocks to plow the ground Often he bid me come and have a looklook And plowed between the rocks he couldn't move, Up the brass barrel, velvet black inside,inside, Few farms changed hands; so rather than spend years At a star quaking inin the other end. Trying to sell his farm and then not selling, II recollect a night of broken clouds He burned his house down for the fire insuranceinsurance And underfoot snow melted down to ice,ice, And bought the telescope with what itit came to. And melting further inin the wind to mud. He had been heard to say by several: Bradford and II had out the telescope. "The best thing that we're put here for's to see; We spread our two legslegs as itit spread itsits three, The strongest thing that's given us to see with's Pointed our thoughts the way we pointed it,it, A telescope. Someone inin every town And standing at our leisureleisure till the day broke, Seems to me owes itit to the town to keep one. Said some of the best things we ever said. In Littleton itit may as well be me." That telescope was christened the Star‐Splitter, After such looseloose talk itit was no surprise Because itit didn't do a thing but split When he did what he did and burned his house down. A star inin two or three the way you split A globule of quicksilver inin your hand Mean laughterlaughter went about the town that day With one stroke of your finger inin the middle. To letlet him know we weren't the leastleast imposedimposed on, It'sIt's a star‐splitter ifif there ever was one And he could wait — we'd see to him tomorrow. And ought to do some good ifif splitting stars But the first thing next morning we reflected 'Sa'Sa thing to be compared with splitting wood. If one by one we counted people out For the leastleast sin, itit wouldn't take us longlong We've lookedlooked and looked,looked, but after all where are we? To get so we had no one leftleft to livelive with. Do we know any better where we are, For to be social isis to be forgiving. And how itit stands between the night tonight Our thief, the one who does our stealing from us, And a man with a smoky lanternlantern chimney? We don't cut off from coming to church suppers, How different from the way itit ever stood? But what we miss we go to him and ask for.

by Robert Frost Kalamazoo Astronomical Society http://www.kasonline.org/ DecemberDecember NightNight Sky...... Sky......

This star map is property of the This map represents the sky at the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. NORTH following local standard times: However you may make as many copies as you wish free-of-charge, y Early November 11 pm so long as it is for non-profit y Late November 10 pm educational purposes and full y Early December 9 pm credit is given to the KAS. y Late December 8 pm

www.kasonline.org EAST WEST

SOUTH

ed Planet Mars and Blue Planet 15.88" in angular width. Best viewing The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks on Earth will be separated by 54.8 will be just after 1:00 am when Mars the night of December 13th. An average million miles on December 18th. transits the meridian at an altitude of of 75 meteors/hour will appear to radiate From the skies of Earth, Mars will nearly 75º. Mars will be at opposition about 2º to the southwest of Castor. The appear as a brilliant red-orange star in on December 24th. A closer encounter 15% illuminated Waxing Crescent the constellation Gemini. Moderate won’t occur until 2016, so get out and Moon sets at 8:55 pm, so only clouds or sized telescopes will reveal a disk view Mars while you can. cold weather will stand in your way! KAS OFFICERS December 2007 Page 19 PRESIDENT Richard S. Bell 373-8942 [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT Jack Price PatchPatch ForFor SaleSale 343-3193 [email protected] Only $4.00! TREASURER Rich Mather 629-5312 [email protected] Pick up some of our brand new patches at an upcoming general meeting and show your KAS pride! Put one on to your hat, T-shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, and more. The SECRETARY/ALCOR patches appear exactly as seen in the image above. The dimensions are 4.0” x 2.5”. Roger Williams They can be sown or ironed on. If you’d like to reserve some before they sell out 375-4867 contact Norm Terry (327-0365). [email protected]

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Jean DeMott 381-1406 [email protected]

Dick Gillespie 966-9653 Sky Legends of the Three Fires [email protected] Saturdays, 11:00 am; Sundays, 1:30 pm

Dan Morgan Blown Away: The Wide World of Weather 964-3156 Saturdays & Sundays, 3:00 pm [email protected] Season of Light Dave Woolf Wednesdays, 3:00 pm; Saturdays, 2:00 pm 762-8268 [email protected] Planetarium admission is $3.00 per person. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is located at 230 North Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo. For more information please call (269) 373-7990 or visit us on the web at www.kalamazoomuseum.org

Final nominations and elections for 2008 KAS Officers and At-Large Board Members will take place at the Annual Meeting on December 7th. If you are interested in running or nominating someone for a position then please contact Bob Havira (344-7707). Ask not what the KAS can do for you, but what you can do for the KAS! Geminid Meteor Shower Watch

Most meteor showers occur when Earth passes through a stream of particles left behind by a rouge comet, but the Geminids are different. This is the only major shower known to be associated with an asteroid (3200 Phaethon). An observer may see 75 meteors/ hour under moonless, rural skies.

The Geminids always put on a great show. The shower is predicted to peak at 4:00 UT on December 14 (11:00 pm EST on December 13). The 15% illuminated Waxing Crescent Moon sets at 8:55 pm, so we’ll enjoy excellent conditions for this year’s shower.

BONUS: As an added attraction to this year’s Geminid Watch we'll also observe Mars, which we’ll be five days away from its closest approach to Earth. Comet Holmes may also be observable, but only time will tell!

Kalamazoo Nature Center Thursday, December 13 @ 8:00 pm

Kalamazoo Astronomical Society c/o KAMSC STAMP 600 West Vine, Suite 400 Kalamazoo, MI 49008