Desert Skies Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association
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Desert Skies Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association Volume LIII, Number 10 October, 2007 Spitzer Space Telescope Studies Binary Stars ♦ Learn about the ♦ Constellation of the month ♦ School star parties ♦ All-Arizona Star Party ♦ Opportunities to Volunteer Cover Photo: Artist concept of the circumbinary disk. Credit: P. Marenfeld and NOAO/AURA/NSF, http://www.noao.edu/ outreach/press/pr06/pr0604.html TAAA Web Page: http://www.tucsonastronomy.org TAAA Phone Number: (520) 792-6414 Office/Position Name Phone E-mail Address President Bill Lofquist 297-6653 [email protected] Vice President Ken Shaver 762-5094 [email protected] Secretary Steve Marten 307-5237 [email protected] Treasurer Terri Lappin 977-1290 [email protected] Member-at-Large George Barber 822-2392 [email protected] Member-at-Large Keith Schlottman 290-5883 [email protected] Member-at-Large Teresa Plymate 883-9113 [email protected] Chief Observer Wayne Johnson 586-2244 [email protected] AL Correspondent (ALCor) Nick de Mesa 797-6614 [email protected] Astro-Imaging SIG Steve Peterson 762-8211 [email protected] Computers in Astronomy SIG Roger Tanner 574-3876 [email protected] Beginners SIG JD Metzger 760-8248 [email protected] Newsletter Editor George Barber 822-2392 [email protected] School Star Party Scheduling Coordinator Paul Moss 240-2084 [email protected] School Star Party Volunteer Coordinator Claude Plymate 883-9113 [email protected] Webmaster Loretta McKibben 245-3942 [email protected] Club Sales Ann Scott 749-4867 [email protected] TIMPA Gate Card controller Ray Toscano 529-3074 [email protected] Equipment Loan Coordinator Richard Dougall 245-5441 [email protected] Claude Plymate Librarians 883-9113 [email protected] Teresa Plymate Grand Canyon Star Party Coordinator Dean Ketelsen 293-2855 [email protected] General Information Terri Lappin 977-1290 [email protected] TAAA Board Of Directors All Board Members [email protected] Membership in the TAAA subscription amount to the TAAA treasurer. Include your magazine renewal notice. Annual Fees Individual membership ...............................................$25.00 • Please include a note explaining what you are paying for. Family (includes two adults plus minor children).........$30.00 Credit cards are not accepted. Write one check or money order for fees plus any options or donations. Make it pay- Youth under 18 years must join as a family upon parental or able to TAAA and send to: guardian acknowledgement of participation in TAAA events. Ask the Treasurer for the required form. Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association Discounts (one discount allowed, subtract from above rates) PO BOX 41254 Tucson, AZ 85717 Seniors (over 60 years) ................................................$2.00 College Students, Teachers (K – 12)..............................$8.00 Mailing Address or Email Changes - Send to address above or Youth under 18 yrs (form required, contact the treasurer) email the treasurer. ..................................................................................$13.00 TAAA Mission Statement - The mission of the Tucson Amateur Options (add to above membership rates) Astronomy Association is to provide opportunities for members Tucson society of the Astronomical League (TAL) fees$ 5.00 and the public to share the joy and excitement of astronomy Sky & Telescope Magazine 1 year (12 issues)..............$32.95 through observing, education and fun. Astronomy Magazine 1 year (12 issues)......................$34.00 2 years (24 issues) ........................$60.00 Desert Skies Publishing Guidelines - All articles, announce- Postage for New Member Pack ...................................$ 4.05 ments, news, etc. must be submitted by the newsletter deadline. Donations are accepted for the following funds: SA-IDA/Light Materials received after that date will appear in the next issue. Pollution, TIMPA, Education, 30” Telescope & Land, and Gen- The editor retains all submissions unless prior arrangements are eral/Undesignated. made. Submissions should be submitted in Word compatible Renewal Information files via e-mail or on a recordable media.. All material copyright Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association or specific author. No • Your membership expires as indicated on your mailing label. reproduction without permission, all rights reserved. We will not • TAAA members may join the Tucson society of the Astro- publish slanderous or libelous material! Send submissions to: nomical League (TAL) at the time they join or renew. George Barber • Discounted Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazine sub- TAAA/Desert Skies Editor scriptions are available to members and can be started or 15940 W Ridgemoor Ave renewed at anytime. Rates are given above. Allow 3 months Tucson AZ 85736 for processing. Subscriptions must be sent through the TAAA. Do not send money directly to the magazines. To change an individual subscription to the group rate, pay the Desert Skies is published monthly by the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Post Office Box 41254, Tucson AZ 85717. President’s Message Hello, fellow TAAA members: the application to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The hearing for that is scheduled for November 14. An Let's hope we can get back to our usual non-monsoon article giving an update on where we are with that appears routines of using our telescopes on a regular basis. A elsewhere in this issue. break in the hot weather is always welcome, but clear skies are even more so. Ken Shaver did an excellent job of organizing the back- yard observatory tour after the September meeting on that While things continue to move on the two fronts of com- subject. The next day about 30 members took the tour, pleting the building of the observatory at TIMPA and se- and we saw some very nice observatories. Needless to curing the permanent dark site near the Chiricahua Moun- say, we have some very cleaver members who have cre- tains in Cochise County, the pace can seem agonizingly ated great facilities for themselves. slow at times. The details have not been completed yet, but look for an We are still waiting for the contractor to put in the road to announcement about our annual Holiday Party coming up the pads at TIMPA and do the necessary concrete work on in early December. the pad so we can move the observatory to the site and complete its construction. The TIMPA folks have a big Our fall schedule of star parties is getting under way. We event coming up in early October, and we hope the work always need more members to make themselves and their will begin shortly after that. We will keep you informed. scopes available for this important and enjoyable contri- George Barber continues to provide leadership for that bution to the community. We hope you will take advan- project. tage of the opportunity and sign up at the October meet- ing. On the acquisition of the permanent site in Cochise County, the wheels are turning on getting the land, and Clear skies, we are making good progress on the application to the Bill Lofquist, President County for a Special Use Permit. By the time you are read- ing this issue of Desert Skies we hope to have submitted Meeting Information and Calendar of Events TAAA MEETING DATE: Friday, October 5, at the Steward STAR PARTIES AND EVENTS: Observatory Auditorium – Room N210 06 Oct - TAAA Star Party at Las Cienegas 06 Oct - Tucson Audubon Society Star Party ASTRONOMY ESSENTIALS: 6:30 pm 07 Oct - UofA Astronomy Students Star Party 09 Oct - Doolen Middle School Star Party To be announced. 13 Oct - Cub Scout Pack 219 Star Party 13 Oct - TAAA and BSIG Star Party at TIMPA 12, 13 Oct - 2007 All-Arizona Star Party GENERAL MEETING: 7:30 pm 19 Oct - Robins Elementary Star Party Speaker: Dr. Steve B. Howell (WIYN Observatory & NOAO) 26 Oct - Desert Willow Elementary Star Party Title: Small Stars - Big Dust 27 Oct - Midvale Neighborhood Picnic The Spitzer space telescope has wowed us all with its im- ages and discoveries. One of the lesser known discover- NEWSLETTER SCHEDULE: Deadline for articles: Sat, 20 ies is that of circumbinary dust disks encircling interact- Oct. Printing: Mon, 22 Oct. Folding Party: Tues, 23 Oct. ing binary stars. Dr Steve Howell will review such binaries Mailing: Wed, 24 Oct. The newsletter is mailed at least and summarize the latest findings using Spitzer observa- one week prior to the following month’s General Meeting. tions. Dr Howell received his Ph.D. in astrophysics in 1995 from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING: Wednesday, 10 Octo- ber, 6:30 pm. The meeting is held at Steward Observatory Conference Room N305. Club News Member News Basha’s Thanks a Million Program We welcome these members who have recently joined the Basha’s has an excellent program to support local non- TAAA: Patricia Ackor, Richard Connet, and Alan Delman. profit groups like the TAAA. It’s called the Basha’s Glad to have all of you join! New members can pick up a Thanks a Million for Friends and Neighbors program. This members pack at a meeting if they didn’t request it by is a no-brainer fundraiser. If you shop at Basha’s and mail. Hope you’ll make it to our star parties or meetings have a “Thank you” card, the next time you go through so we can all get to know you. (Updated membership lists the checkout, give the cashier this number: ID #23178. are available online at either Yahoo Groups email list They can look up the number using our name, too. It’s website under Files, or at most meetings.) that easy! Just do it once. At the end of the program next spring, Basha’s will make a donation to the TAAA based on the total sales of every Thank You card linked to our Astro-Imaging SIG Meeting number. Anyone can participate, so give our number to Monday, October 8, 7pm family and friends.