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February 2021 The Newsletter of Westchester Amateur Astronomers February 2021 The Pleiades by Leandro Bento (see page 15) SERVING THE ASTRONOMY COMMUNITY SINCE 1986 1 Westchester Amateur Astronomers SkyWAAtch February 2021 WAA February Meeting WAA March Meeting Friday, February 12 at 7:30 pm Friday, March 12 at 7:30 pm On-line via Zoom On-line via Zoom Update on Mars Research High Performance Infrared Focal Plane Br. Robert Novak, Ph.D. Arrays for Astronomy, Earth Science, and Iona College & Goddard Spaceflight Flight Planetary Missions Center James W. Beletic, Ph.D. President, Teledyne Imaging Sensors Three searches for methane in Mars’ atmosphere are currently ongoing. The Mars Curiosity Rover Call: 1-877-456-5778 (toll free) for announcements, (launched Nov. 26, 2011, landed August 6, 2012) has weather cancellations, or questions. Also, don’t for- detected methane repeatedly throughout its time on get to visit the WAA website. Mars. The Trace Gas Orbiter, launched by the European Space Agency in 2016, makes solar occulta- Starway to Heaven tion measurements at sunrise and sunset. This in- strument measures gases in the atmosphere above Ward Pound Ridge Reservation an altitude of 10 km; no detectable methane meas- Cross River, NY urements have been reported up to now. NASA’s Saturday, March 13 (rain/cloud March 20). Weather Astrobiology Group, headed by Dr. Michael Mumma, permitting. Meadow Parking Lot. has been using infrared spectrometers attached to NASA’s 120-inch Infrared Telescope on Mauna Kea. Members (only) can observe at Ward Pound Ridge on They regularly detect methane on Mars and have re- any suitable night with prior notification to the park ported upper limits for other organic molecules (such by calling (914) 864-7317. Bring your WAA ID card. as ethane, methanol, etc.). The methodology used to New Members make these measurements will be described, along with the criteria used to determine if these organics Eli Goldfine and Family Larchmont originate from living or non-living sources. Sophia Gonzales Mamaroneck Melissa Sims Ossining The link is on www.westchesterastronomers.org. Jude Stenson New Rochelle Pre-lecture socializing with fellow WAA members and guests begins at 7:00 pm! Renewing Members Harry S. Butcher, Jr. Mahopac Also In This Issue MaryPat Hughes Ossining 3 Almanac (Bob Kelly) Mayan Moudgill Chappaqua 4 Member Profile: Charlie Gibson Bob Quigley Eastchester 5 December’s Solar Eclipse 6 DSO of the Month: NGC 2403 WAA Members: Contribute to the Newsletter! 7 1950s Space Artifacts Send articles, photos, or observations to 8 Teledyne Sensors (James Beletic) [email protected] 10 Apollo 11’s Moon (Robin Stuart) 12 Owen Dugan Named Regeneron Scholar SkyWAAtch © Westchester Amateur Astronomers, 13 Telescope Projects (Zane Landers) Inc. 15 The Pleiades (Larry Faltz) Editor: Larry Faltz 23 Images by Members Assistant Editor: Scott Levine 28 Research Finding of the Month Almanac Editor: Bob Kelly 29 Equipment Classifieds Editor Emeritus: Tom Boustead SERVING THE ASTRONOMY COMMUNITY SINCE 1986 2 Westchester Amateur Astronomers SkyWAAtch February 2021 ALMANAC For February 2021 Bob Kelly, WAA VP for Field Events 3Q New 1Q Full 2/4 2/11 2/19 2/27 If you want to see planets, you’ll have to peek around with the same telephoto lens or through a telescope the Sun a lot this month (but never look directly at with the same settings might show the difference the Sun, especially with binoculars or a telescope!) nicely. Sunrise occurs over the outer rings of Mare Mercury has been the closest planet to the Earth Orientale, tilted a bit toward us, on the 25th/26th. since late January and will be so through early July. A Mars and Uranus are still out in the evening sky. lot of that time it’s between us and the Sun. This Neptune is lost in the Sun’s glare. month, Mercury can be seen in the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)’s LASCO C3 camera from the 4th through the 12th (https://is.gd/lascoC3). Mercury slides into the morn- ing sky late in the month, but it’s best seen from the Southern Hemisphere. Like a student in extended detention, Venus will start the next two months in conjunction with the Sun. It won’t be until late May that Venus is easily visible again, taking until late October to get farthest away from the Sun in the evening sky. Jupiter edges out into the morning sky in late The International Space Station is an evening sight February. On the 11th, the giant planet pairs up with through the 8th. It soars across the morning sky start- Venus as the Morning Star also ducks out of the ing on the 18th. Have you seen a rocket launch? I morning sky. They are only 11 degrees to the right of hope someday to bring my grandkids to NASA’s the Sun. This will be a difficult, even dangerous ob- Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva peninsula. On servation because of their proximity. On the 10th, the or after February 20th, an Antares rocket will launch sliver Moon, one day before New, comes close to the Cygnus spacecraft from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Venus. Spaceport’s Pad-0A. It will bring supplies to the ISS. Venus passes Saturn on the 6th. Saturn is 2½ magni- Seeing a rocket that has a destination in space that tudes fainter than Jupiter and 4½ magnitudes fainter we can see with our own eyes is intriguing than Venus, making it almost impossible to find even Here’s a finder chart for minor planet 4 Vesta, in the in a telescope. Later in the month, Jupiter, Saturn and hind legs of Leo the Lion in February, not far from the Mercury cluster low in the east-southeast. Even as Leo Triplet of galaxies. It’s heading toward opposition late as 30 minutes before sunrise, they are less than in early March, brightening to magnitude +6.0. 10 degrees above the horizon. The brightest comet of February, C/2020 R4 (ATLAS), might reach magnitude +10 (faint!) late this month, just above the Jupiter-Saturn-Mercury planetary traf- fic jam in the dawn twilight. We can hope for better visibility after perihelion when it makes its closest approach to Earth in late April. Are you a fan of the last quarter Moon? Luna is clos- est to Earth for the month on the 3rd, the day before last quarter. It’s about 8% closer than its apogee at first quarter on the 19th. Comparison photos taken SERVING THE ASTRONOMY COMMUNITY SINCE 1986 3 Westchester Amateur Astronomers SkyWAAtch February 2021 Member Profile: Charlie Gibson Home town: Scarsdale, NY meter Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope. On that trip, one member of our group Family: Wife Caroline, daughters had a panic attack going up the ladder up Michelle and Sherry, grandchildren to the mirror box. If he reads this, he’ll Shakirra, Alexis and Elijah, great remember! On a trip to Puerto Rico, I grandchildren Cameron and Leeah. stopped by the Arecibo Radio Telescope. How did you get interested in as- Are there areas of current astronomical tronomy? While vacationing at my research that particularly interest you? aunt’s house in Nassau, Bahamas in Planetary exploration. 1961, I saw a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral disappear into the Do you have any favorite personal as- night sky. I was hooked! I started tronomical experiences you’d like to re- looking up each night and noticed late? When I was in Hawaii at Mauna “shooting stars.” Nassau was pretty dark back then. Kea, I was part of a group that visited the top of the mountain. Afterwards, the guide set up an 8-inch Do you recall the first time you looked through a Celestron SCT. A few people asked him questions telescope? What did you see? It was in Yonkers in about what we were going to observe. On a few ob- 1982. I had a 60 mm Tasco on a flimsy mount. My jects he got twisted around and I volunteered to help terrace overlooked the Hudson River, a due west him out. After a few more questions, the guide point- view. I first saw Saturn and its rings. ed to me and said, “Ask him, he seems to know his What’s your favorite object(s) to view? Planets, gal- way around the sky better than me.” Another time, axies, Messier objects and bright nebulas. when vacationing in Key West, I won a raffle to view What kind of equipment do you have? I have an 8” the night skies from a schooner. As Carol and I board- f/4.5 Dobsonian by Handmade Telescopes of PA (now ed the ship, the host displayed a star map of the cur- sadly defunct), a Meade 90 mm ETX Maksutov that’s rent night sky, local time. I immediately noticed that motor-driven, a Stellarvue 80 mm f/6 APO triplet re- the chart was incorrect and look more like a mid-30 fractor on an iOptron ZE25GT mount that has a degree latitude than the 26-degree north latitude of 50,000-object database, a Lunt 50 mm H-alpha tele- Key West. I said to the host that the map he put up scope and a 40 mm Orion refractor also set up for was for a more northerly location, to which he barked H-alpha solar viewing with Lunt heat rejection and back, “There’s always a wise ass in the group.” The blocking filters. crowd, some 50 people, laughed, but he later admit- ted that I was right. Another highlight was observing What kind of equipment would you like to get that the Southern Cross from Cabo San Lucas, in 2000.
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