Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club www.charlotteastronomers.org

CAAC September 2019 Meeting

Place: Next Meeting: Friday July 19th, 2019 Myers Park Baptist Church Education Building – Shalom Hall (Basement) Time: 7:00 PM Address: 1900 Queens Road Charlotte, NC 28207

Cold War Spy in the Sky now Provides an Eye on the Cosmos

This evening’s presentation will highlight the refurbishing of the 12 meter communications dish into an astronomical teaching and research instrument after being dormant for 20 years. Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), originally known as Rosman Station, was sited in 1963 as a NASA ground tracking station for the USA manned space program. In 1981 it was reconfigured as a top secret satellite intercept intelligence gathering facility. Decommissioned in 1995 it reverted to the US Forest Service and finally became known as PARI due to the efforts of Don and Jo Cline. The presentation will provide a brief overview of comparison of optical and radio astronomy, the refurbishing of the 12 meter dish and finally its role in the Learning Center at PARI involving secondary and college students.An online article in Sky and Telescope magazine can be viewed at: https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/old-radio-telescope-restored-for-new-uses/

Speaker: Ken Steiner, President of Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club, also served as CAAC Observatory Director for 7 years during the major expansion of the Gayle H Riggsbee Observatory (GHRO). He has served as Interim Executive Director of Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI). He presently is Consultant for Special Projects at PARI with the main focus on acquiring Dark Sky Park Designation for PARI from the International Dark Sky Association. He arrived in the Charlotte area in 2001 as a Sales Engineer for Enprotech Technologies (Forging and Stamping Press rebuilding) covering the Southeast USA and Mexico. He has served on numerous national and international non-profit boards. Ken and his wife Deb have been active in the CAAC since their arrival in the Charlotte area.

From the President

Also this Friday evening, Tim DeLisle, from the Learning Center at PARI (Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute), will be sharing information with us about PARI’s 2020 Summer Camping Astronomy and Science programs. This should be of special interest to parents and grandparents of school-age young people who are interested in Astronomy.

Ken Steiner President [email protected]

CAAC Treasurer's Report as of 08/31/2019

Part 1 of 2 Operating Fund Purpose: Enable the CAAC to pursue our non-profit goals, maintain our facilities, and run our programs:  Funds are acquired through ongoing receipts of dues, fees, and annual net Southern Star income (or expense).  Funds are expended to meet operating obligations of the club. 1 Operating Fund Balance: 07/31//2019 9418.89 Income 2 Dues & Fees 45.00

Expenses GHRO Utilities 298.08 Fees for Credit Card Service 1.48 Meeting Expense 332.46 Administrative 0.00 GHRO Insurance Southern Star Miscellaneous 0.00 Sproles Equipment 10in Repair 0.00

0.00 4 Operating Fund Balance: 08/31/2019 8860.87

Part 2 of 2 Non-Operating Funds Purpose: Administer gifts and donations for designated use. 1 Balance 07/31/2019: Non-Operating Funds Scholarship Fund 3989.36 Contingency Fund 28,038.32 Long-Term Fund 7247.86 2 Income Donation: Microsoft, BofA, Other 3000.00 Interest 1.02 Expenses or Transfers

3 Balance 8/31/2019: Non-Operating Funds Scholarship Fund 3989.36 Contingency Fund 28,039.34 Long-Term Fund 10,247.86

Endowment Fund Balance $1240.06

Note; Correction to the opening balance of the Operating Funds last month to this. The amount of $1526.40 for GHRO Insurance was reported last month, but not subtracted from the total. The beginning balance of $9418.89 reflects this correction. Sorry.

Benton Kesler CAAC Treasurer

From the CAAC Scholarship Committee

Greetings all CAAC Members. The time has come once again for applying for the CAAC scholarship award. Please see the attached guidelines for applying (email or at the end of this newsletter). Completed applications are due by Oct. 31, 2019.

CAAC Scholarship Guidelines

Available to:  College undergraduates (second semester freshman through first semester seniors) in a 4-year college or university in the USA.

 High school graduates who are CAAC members or children of CAAC members and are currently accepted for a subsequent term in a 4 year college or university in the USA.

Guidelines:

 Students majoring in physics or astronomy  Extra-curricular activities/campus involvement/ community considered  Applicant to provide a short paragraph describing her/his current and future plans of study in physics or astronomy  Winners of scholarship to make a short presentation related to their field of study at a CAAC meeting  Preference to applicants who are residents of the geographic or service area of the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club (Mecklenburg and adjacent counties).  Amount of award to be determined based on available funds  Funding source to be auction of donated astronomy equipment or means to be determined by the CAAC Board of Directors  Scholarship committee to make recommendation of candidates to the CAAC Board of Directors for final decision on successful applicants and amount of award.

Applications can be e-mailed to Tom Blevins @ [email protected], turned in at the October meeting or mailed to:

Tom Blevins 6631 Rollingridge Dr. Charlotte, NC 28211

Award will be announced in November. News from GHRO

1. The October Star Party at GHRO will be October 26st, COSMIC CAMPOREE!! There’s a new moon. The next telescope training is October 5 beginning at 5 PM. 2. Cosmic Camporee is upon us and we’re looking forward to a great turnout and fun times for all. This year we will have burgers, hot dogs and drinks provided by the club, all side dishes and desserts will be pot luck for Saturday evening dinner. I’ll have a sign up sheet with suggestions at the meeting on September 20. Model rockets, an unguided hike at 40 Acre Rock and great comradery will be the itinerary for the weekend. I encourage all to come down for the entire weekend, Sunday breakfast will be provided to all that care to stay. Remember that the RV sites are first come-first served. 3. Finally, there are an increasing number of request for private observing pads and private observatories at GHRO and the space available is inadequate without modification to the grounds. The proposal below hopes to address these needs. The CAAC executive committee met at GHRO on July 27 and walked the property and discussed the proposed changes in the land use at GHRO, this proposal is a result of that meeting and subsequent discussion. The proposal is being brought to the membership for review and comment.

GHRO Expansion Proposal 1) Install a gate between the parking lot and the driveway through the middle if the property. Access to the road will still be available, but it is proposed that the gate would be closed by default. 2) The trees (show surrounded by the RED line) would be removed to allow better access to the western sky when viewing from the south end of the property. 4) Installation of a second all members pad, site TBD. 5) New parking be installed across the road, approximately where shown. 6) Tent camping sites be finished in the woods in the NE corner of the property. 7) Possible fencing along the road as a light barrier. 8) A second storage container is already in the works and will be installed near the Outreach Center.

GHRO Information (see http://1drv.ms/1m2wPUn) GHRO is located at 1427 Bloomwood Drive, Lancaster, SC. (some GPS show city as Pageland). Gravel road leading to the observatory is located 5.22 miles east of the "522 Grill" on Taxahaw, Rd.

Facebook FAQ https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteAstronomers/ scroll down to NOTES, then Frequently Asked Questions page for more information about GHRO. Be sure to share your astronomy photos and observing tips.

Night Sky Network -- "Heading to GHRO" For updates on GHRO, be sure to join the https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm "Heading to GHRO" message group.

Jim Gaiser, Director GHRO.

As always, we care about the safety and security of all visitors to our observing facility, the GHRO. To keep us all mindful for the need to keep alert while visiting the observatory, we provide the following reminder. Please share this with your family and any visitors who may join you at the observatory.

*** WARNING ***

This facility and adjoining area may contain uneven terrain, dangerous wildlife, low light conditions, and dangerous man-made obstacles.

By using this facility, users assume the risk of personal injury, and loss or damage to personal property. All persons should use extreme caution at all times.

Users of this facility agree to hold harmless the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club, its Directors, and its members for any and all injuries sustained while participating in club activities or using this facility. Are you looking for something to discover in the night sky? Try these with a modest size telescope, with some patience and persistence! Or come down to the GHRO and get a really fine look! This month, a summer flower, a bubble, and something magical – and all discovered by the extraordinary astronomer team, William and Caroline Herschel.

Cassiopeia

Cepheus

NGC 7789 is an open cluster in Cassiopeia that was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783. Her brother William Herschel included it in his catalog as H VI.30. This cluster is also known as "The White Rose" Cluster or "Caroline's Rose" Cluster because when seen visually, the loops of stars and dark lanes look like the swirling pattern of rose petals as seen from above. All the stars in the cluster were likely born at the same time but the brighter and more massive ones have more rapidly exhausted the hydrogen fuel in their cores. These have evolved from main sequence stars like the sun into the gaggle of red giant stars. NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula, Sharpless 162, or Caldwell 11, is an H II region emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, SAO 20575. The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow. It was discovered in 1787 by William Herschel. The Bubble Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 10 and is about 10 light years in diameter. The central star has a magnitude of 8.71 and a mass about 44 times that of the Sun. The Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380 whose catalog number actually refers to the open cluster of stars within the nebula. The nebula is a complex of emission, reflection, and dark nebulas referred to as SH2-142. It is about 7,200 light years away in the constellation of Cepheus and was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. The nebula’s apparaent magnitude is 7.2. Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun.

Acknowledgements: Wikipedia and Astronomy Magazine for excerpts. Mag Star 7 Star Atlas Project © 2005 Andrew L. Johnson for star maps (clipped) Edited by Mark Hoecker

What’s Up in the Sky?

Highly Recommended Download and print a good FREE star map (including interesting objects to look for) monthly from:

Skymap http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

You’ll also find a good monthly sky map in each issue of Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazines.

New to the Night Sky?

Are you puzzled by folks in the club who point up in the sky and say “There’s Gemini... and you can see Leo rising over there...and doesn’t Regulus look clear tonight”? Are you trying to figure out where those darn constellations are? Those large star atlases are pretty intimidating… confusing… and expensive.

A good starting point could be called, My First Star Atlas…. but in reality it is 4 simple but very helpful FREE star chart pages from the Stephen F. Austin State University – called SFA Star Charts. Pages 2 & 3 show you about 90% of everything you need to get started. There are even a couple pages that explain how to use a start chart. Clear and straight-forward.

Go to this link and print out the pdf file on the largest paper you have available, though standard letter paper is fine:

http://observe.phy.sfasu.edu/SFAStarCharts/SFAStarChartsAll.pdf

While these charts do not show the myriad of deep sky objects, they DO show the constellations and brightest stars – a good introduction to the night sky! Happy Observing!

An ENHANCED Star Atlas – FREE!

Our CAAC member, Mark Hoecker, has used the Mag 7 Star Atlas – Color Milky Way version (available on the internet) and added some enhancements including:  A star map index to quickly identify the individual star chart you are looking for.  Blue directional arrows at the edge of each chart guiding you to the adjacent chart. Also large page numerals were added in the lower right corner, helpful when thumbing through the charts.  Finally, he manually added common star names and a selection of deep sky object names to the star charts, helpful in finding your way around the sky.

Such enhancements are allowed under the Creative Commons License by Andrew L. Johnson, author of the original charts.

SUGGESTION: While printing at the largest paper size you have available is helpful, a great alternative if you have a “letter size” color printer with a manual auxiliary feed slot, is to print on “legal size” (8½ x 14-inch) heavy paper or even “card stock”. You could also punch holes and place in a legal-size report cover available at office supply stores. You would then have a wonderful star atlas to help you through the night skies!

If you have access to a color printer that can print on 11 x 17-inch paper (or card stock), you can print a magnificent copy whose readability will rival that of very nice, commercially available atlases.

To download your Mag-7 Star Atlas Milky Way version – ENHANCED, go to the CAAC website and scroll down the left column to “Mag 7 Star Atlas” and follow the link. Happy Observing!

CAAC CONTACTS

President Ken Steiner [email protected] Vice President Tommy Megremis [email protected] Treasurer Benton Kesler [email protected] Secretary Nazim Mohamed [email protected] Observatory Director Jim Gaiser [email protected] Public Outreach Coordinator Neil Easden [email protected]

APPLICATION CHARLOTTE AMATUER ASTRONOMERS CLUB PHYSICS SCHOLARSHIP

Name: ______

Local Address: ______

Telephone Number: ______

E-mail address: ______

Current Status:

High School Senior ___ Freshman ____ Sophomore ____ Junior ____ Senior _____

When do you expect to graduate: ______

Do you currently receive any financial aid? ______

Please detail your area of interest or specialization in Physics. ______

Please list any honors or awards you have received related to your major.

______

List any extracurricular activities or organizations you participate in:

______

______

Current Grade Point Average: ______

Attached a typed statement up to two pages long outlining your expected career and how this scholarship will enhance your reaching that goal, and why you have chosen to major in Physics.

______Signed Date

*Please note the winner of this scholarship will be required to attend a meeting of the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club to be presented with the check for scholarship funds.