Minnesota Astronomical Society June 2020 a publication of the Minnesota Astronomical Society Volume 46 Number 3 In the pages of A Fine Spring Day in London By Steve Emert the Gemini First of all I have to say, “I love London!” Despite all the traveling I did for work throughout most of my career, all of it was inside North America. When Please Show Your Permit: the chance arose to go to London and Paris, accompanying the school-sponsored Another Challenge In Making spring-break trip with my daughter Lindsay (who teaches science at Willow Photographs of the Night Sky River, a small school district about halfway between the Twin Cities and Duluth), By Thor Olson…Page 5 I quickly signed up. The trip was in March 2017 (O.K., so I am a bit slow at getting around to writing an article about it). Pro Camera Hawaii While in London we stayed in a hotel in Sunbury-on-Thames in the By Michael Kauper…Page 6 southwestern part of the London area and took the train to Waterloo Station near Chasing the Shadow: Chapter 19 Central London. Our first couple of days in London consisted of tours of the most By Bill Glass…Page 7 popular attractions: the area around Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Windsor Castle (including St. George’s Chapel, where you may have watched the wedding Socially Distanced, Cooperative, of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle), Buckingham Palace and Westminster Messier Marathon Abbey—all the regular tourist attractions. By Kristopher Setnes.…Page 9 On the third day we were given the option of exploring on our own. Both of us being “science nerds,” Lindsay and I planned to spend the day at the MAS Patron Members…Page 10 Royal Observatory at Greenwich, the London Natural History Museum, and the MAS Board Minutes for March/April Science Museum. Our tour guide helped us with planning travel from our hop-off By Trena Johnson, secretary…Page 10 point at Waterloo Station, suggesting that rather than taking the Underground we instead take a boat ride from the pier across the river from the London Eye down MAS 2020 Star Party Schedule…Page 11 the Thames to Greenwich. This gave us a great opportunity to get pictures from right under the London Eye and going across Westminster Bridge to the dock as well as shots of Waterloo Bridge, London Bridge, Tower Bridge and many other historical points along the river until we reached Greenwich Pier and the Cutty Sark. We were already running later than expected, so in the interest of time we eschewed touring the Cutty Sark (to the disappointment of the father and son pair tagging along with us) and headed up the hill to the Royal Observatory. This is actually quite a hike, as you can see in the view of the National Maritime Stories Wanted: Gemini is written entirely by our members, for our members. Gemini needs Museum from just outside the plaza entrance near the Shepherd Gate Clock. your stories: how you first became interested in astronomy, how your interest has evolved over the years, equipment you use, projects or activities you have worked on, star parties or events you’ve attended in this state and elsewhere, how you’ve encouraged others—especially young people—to get involved in this fascinating hobby. Submit your stories to [email protected]

E-mail Update: If your e-mail address has recently changed, chances are your address used for MAS e-mail distribution lists is not current. Please inform the e-mail list administrator of your new e-mail address at [email protected] to update your address for the e-mail distribution lists. Also if your e-mail, phone number or street address has recently changed, please fill out the “Update Member Information” Web form at mnastro.org/ Apollo 10 Command Module at Science Museum update-member-information to update your contact information in the MAS member records. I always knew that the Royal Observatory was mostly about the quest GEMINI INFO for accurate timekeeping and navigation Editors instruments as opposed to observing deep- Brian Litecky and Eugene Brown sky objects, but I just didn’t realize exactly Webmaster how much that was the focus until visiting MAS Web Committee, there. The Observatory exhibits several chair Merle Hiltner, unique sundials, analemmas, transits, and [email protected] of course all sorts of clocks, including Forums Administrator regulator clocks, chronometers and time- Russ Durkee service clocks. E-mail List Administrator When entering the plaza of the Bob Brose Observatory you go past the Shepherd Gate Clock, which is slaved to a master clock Monthly Meeting Presenter inside. Of course one of the first things Coordinator you have to do when entering the plaza is Ahmed Reda to get a picture of yourself straddling the Astronomical League Coordinator Prime Meridian line. An interesting thing I (ALCOR) found out afterwards is that while standing Jerry Jones on the Prime Meridian line, the GPS on your phone will not display the 0o, 0’ 0’’ Outreach Coordinator longitude you expect. As GPS is a U.S. Lilah Blinkman system, our model of the globe is based on Gemini is published 6 times annually a reference at Johns Hopkins University in by the Minnesota Astronomical Society. Steve straddling the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory Electronic submissions for Gemini may be sent to: , Maryland, not the British Prime Meridian. As a result, GPS indicates the [email protected] Prime Meridian about 100 yards to the east. If you’re interested, search “Tom Scott Prime Meridian” on YouTube. Hardcopy items should be sent to: Minnesota Astronomical Society We wandered around the Attn: Gemini garden on the south side of the P.O. Box 14931 Observatory, where we found Minneapolis, MN 55414 Flamsteed’s Well Telescope, a zenith telescope whose purpose was to establish if the star Gamma MAS Board Members Draconis exhibited any parallax. Next we came to the bottom President: Dave Falkner section of Herschel’s 40-foot E-Mail: [email protected] telescope, the only remaining Vice President: Valts Treibergs intact portion of the telescope. We E-Mail: [email protected] were able to get selfies up against it and even touch it. Surprisingly, Treasurer: Matt Dunham when you press against it, it feels a E-Mail: [email protected] bit “squishy.” I was surprised such Secretary: Trena Johnson an important artifact is outside, E-Mail: [email protected] where it is subject to the weather. On the south side of the building Board Member at Large: we saw the Greenwich Noon Dial, Gunnar Isberg an analemma mounted on the side E-Mail: [email protected]. of the building. Also in the garden Board Member at Large: is the Dolphin sundial. This is a Conrad Sanders unique and very accurate sundial, with the pointer consisting of the Yuri Gagarin's Statue at Royal Observatory E-Mail: [email protected] spot where two dolphin tails meet; the face of the sundial is a sort of scroll held in the dolphins’ mouths. Because it is curved and has both horizontal and vertical axes, it can accurately represent the solar time throughout the year. Going around and inside the main Observatory building, we saw Airy’s Meridian Line and the Greenwich Meridian Telescope, designed by George Airy, who was the seventh Astronomer Royal. The Airy Prime Meridian was agreed upon by international convention in 1884 as the true Prime Meridian of the world. We also saw Halley’s GEMINI • www.mnastro.org 2 Meridian Line, which was established earlier, in 1725. Edmond Halley was the second Astronomer Royal; his transit determined that earlier Meridian line. Next was Bradley’s Meridian Line. James Bradley was the third Astronomer Royal. He increased the accuracy by using a telescope purchased in 1749 and defined this line in 1750.

32 Original mirror from Herschel's 40-foor telescope We then entered the Flamsteed House, which includes the Octagon Room, a beautiful example of 17th century architecture. Originally called the “Star Room” or the “Great Room,” it is octagonal in shape, has 13-foot-tall windows, and houses a number of long telescopes used in the 17th century for observing eclipses, comets and other events. In the Octagon Room we found a wooden-tube telescope, a large 32’’ astronomical quadrant and a number of beautiful clocks from the period. Harrison's First Chromometer H-1 Front View From there we went downstairs to the hall of time. We found Once we left the Royal Observatory Greenwich, we wanted among the displays the original Harrison Chronometers built by to head back to London and go to the Natural History Museum John Harrison to win the £20,000 prize for the Longitude Act. and the Science Museum. Before we left the hotel, our tour The first one, H1, was completed in 1735 and was tested at sea guide had told us there was a London Underground station at in 1736 aboard the HMS Centurion. It fared well enough for him Greenwich which could easily get us there. However, we found to be paid £500 of the prize; with it he continued developing that the nearest Underground station was a two-mile walk a more accurate chronometer. He created H2 and H3, which away! After investigating a bit, Lindsay discovered something were both improvements but not sufficient to win the prize. He we didn’t previously know. There was a station called “DLR,” continued working on H3 for the next 19 years. Finally, with H4 which stands for Dockyard Light Rail. We learned that the DLR he created a radically different design that no longer relied upon is another part of the London mass transit system and links up pendulums but instead used a spring mechanism similar to that to the Underground at a number of stations. Better yet, Lindsay found in modern pocket watches. This timekeeper turned out to found out that our passes worked on the DLR as well as the be accurate enough for payment of £10,000 of the total £20,000 Underground. So after a little planning we ventured onto the prize, with the remainder to be awarded once it was determined DLR train, which tunneled under the Thames from Greenwich that other clockmakers could reproduce his results. Because to Canary Wharf and finally to the Underground station, where of the long development time and because other methods had we could transfer to the train that would take us to the Natural subsequently been developed to determine transit time at sea, History Museum. Lindsay is a huge Doctor Who fan, and she there was a bit of controversy regarding the full award. However, got excited when the train stopped at the Canary Wharf station. the recommendations by the Board of Longitude to use the H4 She had to get a picture of the station sign. She reminded me chronometer design became law in a new Longitude Act of May that Canary Wharf was the location of a huge battle between the 10, 1765. Looking at and photographing these four timepieces Tenth Doctor (played by David Tennant) and the Daleks and the under glass, I was awed that we were viewing the actual Cybermen in an episode titled “Doomsday” in the second season timepieces that were such an important piece of history. They of the series reboot. were discussed in depth in the book, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of Because Lindsay is an Earth Science teacher with a focus on His Time by Dava Sobel. geology, the Natural History Museum was a must-see for her. We spent quite a bit of time there, and she took a lot of pictures she The Peter Harrison Planetarium at the Royal Observatory could use in her classes. Leaving the Natural History Museum, Greenwich was unfortunately closed, so we were unable to we split up with the father and son pair who had been tagging look inside or see a show. We were, however, able to go into the along with us. We wanted to continue on to the Science Museum Astronomy Center and have lunch in the cafeteria there. In the while they wanted to go on the London Eye, which has some plaza just outside the lower level of the Astronomy Center is a pretty long lines for a 30-minute ride. statue of Yuri Gagarin.

3 June 2020 on the role of chaperones for the evening and headed off to those destinations to do our stuff before going back to Waterloo Station and our train back to our hotel in Sunbury. We’d been warned throughout the trip not to lose our Underground passes, and we are proud to report that only one person lost a pass. Unfortunately that one person was me, so I had to pay for another pass to finish out this excursion.

Bottom Section of Herschel's 40-foot telescope We were running late and only reached the Science Museum about 30 to 45 minutes before they were to close. First things first, we went to the information desk and asked, “If I were an Apollo capsule, where would I be?” The attendant directed us in the right direction, where we found the Apollo 10 Command Module. Although interesting, I had to admit that since I’ve seen many other Apollo CMs, I wasn’t as excited as I should have been. But then we saw our first Soyuz capsule. This is the one in which British astronaut Tim Peake traveled to the ISS for Expedition 46/47 from December 2015 to June 2016. That thing Lindsay's incredulity at the size of the Soyuz capsule is amazingly tiny to hold three people. I know astronauts have The day after our epic science exploration, we headed east a lot of courage, but it takes a special person to get crammed by bus to Leeds Castle, then to Canterbury, where we toured along with two others into that tiny capsule! In addition to the the town and Canterbury Cathedral, even attending a church Apollo 10 CM, we saw an exact replica of the Apollo 11 LM service there in the evening. The next morning we crossed the on display in the museum. It was built by Westbury Design and English Channel by ferry from Dover to Calais and continued Optical specifically for display at the London Science Museum; by bus to Paris for the last two days of our trip. We visited all the original plans were supplied by NASA and Grummann to the major sites, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Versailles, model makers to ensure accuracy. and Notre Dame (before the tragic fire) before heading home, Elsewhere in our short visit to the Science Museum, we saw exhausted from all our travels. the original speculum mirror from Herschel’s forty-foot telescope (matching up with the base section of the telescope tube we saw earlier at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich); Ramsden’s three-foot Theodolite (used for measuring angles in the Primary Triangulation of Great Britain, the first accurate survey of Britain around 1791; an original 1976 vintage Cray-1 supercomputer (manufactured in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin—it came a long way to get here!); meteorology and chemical experiment artifacts from John Dalton (1766-1844), one of the most important names in the history of modern chemistry; the first prototype of the Clock of the Long Now (designed to keep time accurately for 10,000 years); and much more before we had to abandon our investigations because the Museum was about to close. The school group was to meet up around dinner time after those who went on the London Eye ride had finished. Those who wanted to go back to the hotel could do so and others could continue sightseeing in London into the early evening. Lindsay and a number of the students wanted to go to the Harry Potter store at Platform 9-3/4 at Kings Cross Station to get souvenir pictures of themselves “disappearing” into the wall of this invisible (and Harrison's 4th Chronometer H-4 Won the Prize fictional) platform and to buy souvenirs at the store. This trip was not long after the Sherlock series starring Benedict Cumberbatch As I said at the beginning of this article, I love London. had aired, so many of us also wanted to go to the Baker Street Although it is a huge city, the public transit of the London station and get a picture at Baker Street. The tile walls of the Underground and Dockyards Light Rail and other trains make station are really cool, with silhouettes of Sherlock Holmes it easy and inexpensive to get around. Coupled with the huge made of spots consisting of very small identical silhouettes of amount of history and all the free museums, London is a great Sherlock Holmes. With many students in tow, Lindsay and I took place to visit. Both of us want to go back.

GEMINI • www.mnastro.org 4 Please Show Your Permit: Another Challenge In night that would stay comfortably above freezing. The shutters Making Photographs of the Night Sky opened and I prepared for a long and mild night. I considered Adapted from Nightscape Odyssey by Thor Olson taking some time and writing some notes about this place while the exposures were building up. On a summer camping trip with my family some years ago, I attempted to make a star-trail picture showing Mt Hood in Oregon I went back to my car to find my notebook. Although my as reflected in one of the nearby alpine lakes. Unfortunately, that back was to the lake, I could tell from the suddenly illuminated remote locations was not quite remote enough, and I found that trees around me that a car had selected this moment to drive to other campers were intruding on my composition. the very end of this dead-end road. It always amazes me that there are so many people who have reason to do this. I knew Thwarted by the after-hours popularity of Trillium Lake, that the film exposures that were I studied the map, looking for in progress would now contain a another lake with even more white streak along the shoreline, stringent constraints. It must be and probably lens flares that would on a southern line from Mt Hood obscure the subtle lighting of in order to capture the circular the sky. I also knew that this was motion of stars centered above its probably not another photographer summit, and it must not be so far or astronomer, and I would have away as to diminish its size in the to explain myself to someone. composition. There must be road This gets annoying, especially access to the south end of the lake, when one thinks that since this is and it would be nice if it weren’t in remote there aren’t supposed to be the midst of a busy campground all the interruptions of more urban or other population center. population centers. Remarkably, there was such It was a giant pickup truck a place: Frog Lake. It was a bit with blazing lights, lots of them. I farther away than Trillium, but a grabbed a tripod to help me explain picnic area at the south end would to whoever this was that I was be unused at night. The lake was harmless. It drove around, inspected small enough that it could calm the plates on my car and pulled up easily if the wind died. I inspected next to it. The occupants turned a it during the day to figure out my searchlight on me. I fiddled with a camera positions and to learn tripod leg and said “Hi.” my way around, anticipating a nighttime setup. Then I waited for They didn’t look very dark. interested in my equipment. I was told that the picnic area closed at The efforts of keeping up sunset. Sure enough, it was an with my teenage son during our official, well not really, it was a Frog Lake, Mt Hood Recreation Area. The lights of the year-round ski daytime hikes did not wear down civilian, the campground host and my eagerness, though there is a area are seen on the side of the ancient volcano. It took several nights and multiple aborted exposures before the picnic area security force his adult son from the north end of strong tendency to slow down would let me take this picture. the lake. They had seen me drive during the evening campfire and into the picnic area, whose posted even more as people all around hours limited its use to daylight. I couldn’t imagine that anyone are finding warm refuge in their sleeping bags for the night. would object to my being there. After all, this was a national This is a difficult moment, to fight the comfort and overcome recreation area, and it just happened that my particular recreation the natural inertia, to break away and commit to an evening of could only be done after sunset. I tried to explain what I was tending cameras in a cold and unfamiliar place. doing, but there was no negotiating with these guys. Rules were But the weather had held and the sky was clear, so I drove the rules. 30-minute distance to Frog Lake and found my way to the vacant I learned from the campground host that this end of the lake picnic area. It looked different in the dark, but I had some sense had been “pretty rough” a few years ago before they took on their of what to do from my earlier survey. There was a campground positions at the campground, the site of wild parties and unsavory at the north end of the lake, but the dim lanterns and campfires characters, alcohol and other illegal substances accompanied by were mostly hidden behind trees, and one by one they were being fights and harassment. They painted a picture of picnic ground extinguished by sleepy campers. depravity. Mount Hood was more distant than the previous night at “You don’t wanna hang around here,” the host-sergeant Trillium Lake, but the lights on the mountain ski resort were not explained. “It took a bit of work and it’s pretty much cleaned up visible from this angle, making the ancient volcano seem dark now, but they’re still around, and you don’t wanna be here if they and silent against the Oregon night sky. I carried my cameras and show up.” He obviously wanted some credit for the excellent tripods to the beach, going through my setup routine. This wasn’t enforcement work he had done. so bad, the view was great, the picnic area provided a convenient setting, the weather was calm, and predictions called for another I wondered how offensive a party could be back here in

5 June 2020 the deep woods. Thinking back to last night, I could guess his I proceeded as if I did, hoping I could bluster my way past the tolerance for kids skinny dipping. But then what did I know campground guards. My strategy was to visit them preemptively about this region of the country? Just because I’d not encountered and tell them that I had procured the special-use permit from the outdoors-lovers that were dangerous partiers didn’t mean that head manager. I could drop some names, and knowing we had a such wild bands didn’t exist. In fact, running into hostile rednecks discussion about this the prior night, hope they would believe me in the dark is on my list of nighttime worries. It seemed to me, and not make me produce that actual paperwork. however, that this campground vigilante was more effective at The host’s son was at the campground. Not the top dog harassment than any of the partiers I’d met the night before. here, but maybe I would have an easier time getting past him. I made one final plea, explaining that since I wasn’t one of He would tell his old man and I would be in. I pitched my story those guys who caused him so much trouble, maybe I could stay and he nodded, waving me on. I drove past and made my way for a while to take some pictures. No, if I wanted to be here to the picnic area. I had made it. I was there. The campground I would need to get permission from the park management, a hosts knew I was legally there and would be nonplussed by special-use permit, and even then he couldn’t assure me that unauthorized intruders. I wasn’t one. trouble wouldn’t happen during the night. I set up my cameras again; this time the beach was familiar. I gave up and I said I would pack up and head out. Maybe I The sky was clear. I composed my pictures, opened the shutters could get the permit the next day and try again. He had won his and started the exposures. Isn’t life great when things work out? skirmish with me, and with a look of satisfaction he drove the I got out my notebook, interrupted the night before, and settled big loud truck back around the lake, lights scanning the woods, into a camp chair on the beach next to my tripods to continue looking for other outlaws. writing. Not a word was entered before the truck lights fired up The next day I contacted the Mt. Hood National Forest Hood and blazed their way around the edge of the lake. My preemptive River Ranger District and was referred finally to someone with visit had failed. The royal guard of the campground had come to authority to deal with my request, Kim Titus. I explained to Kim cross-examine me. My shots were once again ruined. what I was trying to do and how I had been evicted the prior I’m not exactly sure why he had driven to my end of the lake. night. When I told her exactly where I had been, she responded He didn’t make me produce the permit. My story was accepted. with a reassuring chuckle, hiding her apparently recurring Evidently it wasn’t enough for the Pooh-Bah to approve my annoyance. “Well, yes, we are aware of that campground host. presence. The Grand Pooh-Bah had to check up on me himself There have been some similar issues with him. I’ll get the ranger and confirm I was doing what I was authorized to do and no in that district to issue a permit for you. That should get you by.” more. She gave me some instructions on how to pick up this permit and I waited for the searchlights to return behind the trees at the finished her business with a request: “Send me a picture of what other end of the lake. I restarted the exposures and hoped there you get, ok?” was still time to make nice star trails before the moon came up. I I was relieved. I could now photograph with impunity. I wondered why some people are untrusting, why some groups of had protection. I spent the rest of the day planning how I would people are suspicious and others are suspects. Why do neighbors compose my shot, hoping that the clear weather would hold. and countries have border disputes? As my queries moved up Unfortunately, I was unable to follow the instructions to pick up to the causes of world geopolitical conflicts, I decided that not the permit, and by day’s end I did not possess the piece of paper enough people look at the sky at night. that would be my ticket to shoot pictures at the picnic area. The sky at night. Yes, that was why I was there, and so I claimed my chance to look at it. I owe Kim a photograph.

Pro Camera Hawaii BTW, I did not find that magical beach with dark Bortle 1 skies, but I checked out many beautiful places. I met many By Michael Kauper friendly Hawaiians and hugely enjoyed taking photos in not-so- Great service, great product, fair price. Saved my butt! dark places. Really came through! I am an amateur astronomer from Minnesota, here on the Big Island to take astro star-scapes. I left my Canon 60Da battery charger back in Minnesota. No charger, no photos. Brilliant. Big Island photography gallery Extreme Exposures told me to call Pro Camera and ask for Tony, and then they gave me the phone number. I called them. Pro Camera Hawaii was excellent. They listened carefully, took my order for a battery charger, and asked me questions to be sure they sent the correct charger. They sent me the nicest camera charger I have ever used, for half the price of a not-as- good Canon-brand charger. Then they gave me rush shipping, to Big Island in two business days for only $7.00. I was desperate to get the star photos I came for. Pro Camera could have over-charged me. Instead they sent me a great product with super-fast-service for an honest price. Please support them. Single-shot NightScapes taken from my sister’s small farm in Hakalau, HI, on the flank of Mount Mauna Kea, Big Island, HI. Canon 60Da, Rokinon 16mm, f/2.0, about 30 seconds GEMINI • www.mnastro.org 6 Chasing the Shadow: Chapter 19 altitude, such as La Silla Observatory. For the lucky few who could gain access to a mountaintop, there was a good possibility By Bill Glass of clear weather and an unobstructed view. A third popular area For over 40 years I’ve enjoyed observing total eclipses of the was the valley of the Elqui River and the small towns nearby. The Sun. It’s been a great excuse to travel the world and meet lots of valley provided a break in the mountains that was well aligned interesting people. Last July I journeyed to in pursuit of my with the viewing direction, and the small towns provided some th 19 total eclipse. limited tourist facilities.

Map of the path of totality (the gray shaded area) for the solar eclipse of July 2, 2019. Image courtesy of Jay Anderson. Eclipse Background The eclipse of July 2, 2019, suffered from a severe case of Some of the members of my tour group setting up their equipment terra-phobia—a fear of land. The path of totality started over on the roof-top patio of the observatory. the western Pacific Ocean, just east of New Zealand, and for Vicuña, Chile almost two-and-one-half hours, as the shadow swept across the The tour company that I used (Spears Travel) had selected ocean, the only land that it crossed was two uninhabited islets the small town of Vicuña (population 13,000) for our overnight near Pitcairn Island. Finally, during the last few minutes of the accommodations. Vicuña is about 60 km from the coast and is best eclipse, the shadow came ashore near La Serena, Chile, before known for raising grapes for producing pisco (a grape brandy), terminating near , . but there’s also a reasonable amount of tourist activity. The hotel where I stayed provided simple rooms in an unheated building. Nighttime temperatures were rather chilly, but fortunately there were plenty of blankets, and there was hot water for showers in the morning. A simple breakfast was provided in a dining room that had a small wood stove. One pleasant surprise was that the hotel had free WiFi; apparently Internet access is more important than heat. The town was well prepared for the influx of tourists; the central square (Plaza de Armas) was filled with street vendors and a stage for entertainers. For an observing site, Spears Travel had selected the Mamalluca Observatory, a tourist attraction located a few miles north of town. The site was chosen over a year in advance of the eclipse, and arrangements had been made to give our group exclusive use of the observatory’s grounds. Then, a few months The main building at the Mamalluca Observatory. before the eclipse, there was bad news. A new director had taken This path created difficulties for observers like me who charge of the observatory and had decided that he would not want to be on dry land in order to have a stable place to set up honor the previous agreement unless a rather large amount of equipment. Adding to the problem was that because the eclipse money was paid to the observatory. Our tour company did get would occur late in the day in Chile and Argentina, the Sun him to lower his price, but each tour member had to pay several would be low in the sky (13° on the west coast of Chile and hundred dollars extra for the rights to use the observing site. lower for sites farther east). A further complication was that the date of the eclipse was in the southern hemisphere winter, when weather patterns don’t normally yield a lot of clear skies. One possible viewing area was near Chile’s coast, where we’d be looking out over the ocean. However, late in the day there was a risk of increasing cloudiness. Clouds were less of a concern in the interior region, but since much of this area is mountainous, observing sites would have to be carefully chosen. In order to see objects low in the sky, we had to select either a viewing site at high elevation or a site that was aligned with a break in the mountains at the appropriate viewing angle. In Chile there were a few prime viewing areas. Some of these were the coastal city of La Serena and the small towns in the area. The eclipse tour group that I was with. They provided easy access and lots of tourist facilities but at a Photo courtesy of Gary Spears and Spears Travel. risk of cloudy weather. Another popular site was anything at high

7 June 2020 no visible Sun spots, the corona was quite symmetrical. There were also numerous prominences visible. An extra touch was having the mountains in the background, just a short distance below the eclipsed Sun. Sunset occurred at 5:29 p.m., when the still partially eclipsed Sun dropped behind the mountains. The eclipse didn’t actually end until 5:46 p.m., but of course the Sun was completely hidden by the mountains at that time.

The diamond ring at second contact. Eclipse Day: July 2, 2019 On the day of the eclipse we had a leisurely breakfast and departed from the hotel in mid-morning. Even though our observing site was only a few miles away, we wanted to get an early start because of fears of gridlock on the area’s narrow roads. The local police had announced that many roads in the Elqui Valley would be single direction on the morning of the eclipse and would operate in the opposite direction after the eclipse. We got to our observing site before noon, which gave us Mid eclipse. several hours to prepare. We got our equipment set up and then After the eclipse we got to see that the predictions of traffic had a leisurely lunch. gridlock had come true. From our hilltop vantage point we could This was the first time that I used my SkyGuider Pro tracking see the long lines of automobile headlights slowly moving along mount for a solar eclipse. It was also the first time that I’ve the roads back to Vicuña and the Elqui valley. We elected to stay used the mount in the southern hemisphere, so I was a bit at the observatory for a few hours, but even then we had an hour- nervous about getting it aligned correctly. The process went very long journey to cover just a few miles to get back to our hotel. smoothly. I left the mount run during our lunch break so I could see how well it was doing. After lunch I was happy to see that it was still very close to being on target; however, the person next to me had added a second tripod to his equipment setup, and I became nervous that it might interfere with my line of sight later in the day. I decided to move my tripod a few feet. Big mistake. My second alignment attempt wasn’t nearly as good, and I had to manually tweak the positioning throughout the eclipse. First contact occurred at 3:23 p.m., with the Sun 25° above the horizon in nearly cloudless skies. I couldn’t believe our luck. With all the mountains in the area I expected some cloudiness, and with the Sun at such a low position I knew that it wouldn’t take much to obstruct the view of the eclipse. Totality began at 4:38 p.m., with the Sun 13° above the horizon; it lasted for two minutes, twenty- three seconds. Since this eclipse occurred at solar minimum, with The partially eclipsed Sun setting behind the mountains.

Panorama at mid eclipse. The roof-top patio of the main building GEMINI • www.mnastro.org 8 is at the lower left; the secondary building is at the far right. planning on being in Villarrica, Chile. I hope the weather will cooperate again.

Prominences at mid eclipse. When’s the Next One? After a solar eclipse, dedicated eclipse chasers are always looking forward to the next one. The next total solar eclipse is on December 14, 2020. Like the 2019 eclipse, its path will be mostly over water, although this time it’s a combination of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Again, the primary places to observe the eclipse from land will be in Chile and Argentina. But unlike the 2019 eclipse, the 2020 eclipse will occur during A closer view of Bailey’s beads and prominences. the summer, with the Sun high in the sky (72° at totality). I’m Photo courtesy of Fred Espenak. Socially Distanced, Cooperative, Messier Marathon of collectively observing as many objects as possible. This By Kristopher Setnes was a group goal, not an individual one. These are unprecedented times. We would normally be • Messier Marathon: Obviously, we were looking for only frustrated with only the weather getting in the way of our spring Messier objects. Comets would need to wait. We only observing events. This year is different. This year it is important wanted to look at what was on Messier’s list, none of which to keep our distance from one another. The weather has become are comets. a secondary issue. When we canceled the spring Messier Marathon normally held at Cherry Grove Observatory, there was much discussion about what we should do, or what we even could do, as a replacement. My first thought was to have everybody observe from home and submit their observations to me. But I completely missed the crux of what the Messier Marathon event means to everybody: Socialization. For many people, the event is a social star party that just happens to have common observing targets. For these people, the competition isn’t important. Thinking back to past Messier M48 Marathons, this makes sense. The “competitors” are anything but. We are all eager to help one another see the same object To make this happen, we used an online chat service named or share a view through our own scopes before moving on to Slack. This service has features that work well for large groups. the next object. Sure, we all scribble down our observations in It was free for evaluation, supported multiple platforms, and the dark, but the reason we attend has little to do with the soggy included a dark theme. It was something I was wanting to try sheets of paper and frozen pens. as it is the type of service I think our organization could benefit from. This event was a great opportunity for an experiment like Enter the “Socially Distanced, Cooperative, Messier this, but more importantly, Slack gave us the social platform I Marathon.” Let’s break that mouthful of an event-name down. was missing in my first ideas for the event. • Socially Distanced: To be socially distanced, we all needed To track observations, we used a web-based form that fed to be in our own observing space. For many of us, that observations into a spreadsheet. Complicated spreadsheet meant being in our own yards, gardens or driveways. functions were used to aggregate the observations in different • Cooperative: Any sort of competition with completely ways. Not only did I want to show how many objects we had different observing locations would not be fair. We took observed, but I also wanted to show how many observations a clue from the board game world and called our event were made for each object. Entering data using the form was “cooperative.” We were all working toward the same goal not popular, but the spreadsheet view seemed to work well. One Continued on page 11 9 June 2020 MAS Patron Members Patron memberships are available to those who wish to contribute a little extra to support MAS activities. Patron memberships are established by constitution at 2-1/2 times the Regular membership rate—currently $65 annually for a patron membership. The $39 additional contribution is tax deductible. Patron memberships help fund equipment acquisitions, facility improvements, outreach activities and more. We would like to thank the following patron members as of May 3: Femi Abodunrin Steven Emert Merle Hiltner Javier Medrano Bernie Simmons Tom and Arlene Alm Dennis Faith Gary Hoaglund Rebecca Messer David Siskind Scott Anderson David Falkner Michael Hobbs Matt & Jessica Meyer David Sjogren Jack Atkins Robert Farrell Lauren Hoen Beverly Miller Dennis Sjogren Steve Baranski Patricia Flugaur Greg Hokanson Gerald Miller Eric Smestad Greg Baril Robert Foucault Michael Hopfenspirger Robert Miller Andrew Smith Bradley Beisel Jeff Frankson Carole Isakson Scott Morgan Leonard Solarz Scott Billeadeau Andrew Fraser Anton Jachim Pat Nassef Katherine Sproll Katie Bloome Robert Friedlein Dick Jacobson Douglas Nelson Bernie Stinger Wayne Boline Alan Fuller Gale Jallen Jacquelyn Nelson Jack Storms Natalie Broshar Paul Gade Len Jannusch Doug Neverman Kent Swenson Rev. Eugene Brown Jim Gerrity Stephen Jensen Kenneth Nicholls David Swymeler Jay Bruesch GregoryGibbons Mark Job Tracy Niebeling David Tosteson Stephanie Bue William Glass Julie A. Y. Johnson Alan Noot Valts Treibergs Jonathan Burkhardt Martin Godfrey Kurt Johnson Douglas Oines David Truchot Jeff Burrows Bradley Gordon Trena Johnson Thor Olson Steve Ulrich Earl Bye Martin Gormanson Jerry Jones Christopher Paola Bob Vangen William Bynum Steven Grabarkiewicz Michael Kauper Gary Pederson Paul VanNorman Ken Carlson Zdenko Grajcar Kenneth Kerrick Mark Petchenik David Venne Kurt Casby Antone Gregory Michael Kibat Ahmed Reda Lawrence Waite Stuart Chastain Jere Gwin-Lenth Michael Knowlen Michael Regouski Paul Walker Cara Clark Dale Hagert Jim Knudsen Kirby Richter Fred Wall Deane Clark, Jr. Jake Hairrell Bill Kocken Stephen Riendl Leilani Wayt-Mueller Bruce Coleman Eric Hall David Kocken Eric & Rebecca Sarah Weaver Mark Connolly Brandon Hamil Parke Kunkle Robinson Craig Weinert Michael Daniels James Hannon Greg Larson Luigi Romolo Mark Wicklund Gary Davis Ryan Hanson Christine Laughlin Daniel Ruh Mary Williams Mary Beth Smith & Ted Andrew Harwood Louis Leichter Jack Sandberg Neil Worthingham DeMatties Dustin Haskins Paul Lieder Roy Cameron Sarver Robin Wright David Dennis Greg Haubrich Clayton Lindsey James Schenz Gene Yates Thomas Dillon Michael Haydock Shawn Lovett Ronald Schmit John Zimitsch Tony DuBois Jonathan Hayman Walid Maalouli Anna Schoeneberger Mark Zimitsch Molly Duffin Jennifer Hays Edward Malinka Loren Schoenzeit Neal Zimmerman Matt Dunham Victor Heiner John Marchetti David Schultz Dave Eckblad Angela Heins Family Vanessa McCahon Kristopher Setnes William Eggers Brian Hendricks Bruce McDonald Mike Shaw David Eisenlord John Hill Duane McDonnell Jeff Shlosberg

MAS Board Minutes for March/April April By Trena Johnson, secretary In attendance: Dave F, Valts T., Matt D., Trena J., Gunnar I., Conrad S. Our current membership is at 515. Please consider Mid-March emergency board meeting 3/11: All public star nominating MAS when buying through Amazon Smile program. parties and B-SIG gatherings are canceled through April. Stay Your donation is appreciated. Site Reports: JJC-Metcalf: Site tuned to the forums and website for updates. is in good shape. Jon is working with Ash Dome and Belwin for March making repairs. Both sites are still on lockdown. LLCC: Also in In attendance: Dave F, Valts T., Matt D., Trena J., Gunnar I., good condition. Site is closed. ELO: Engineering firm is creating Conrad S. Our current membership is at 525. Site Reports: JJC- the drawing and other documentations for repairs. We are hoping Metcalf: The committee is awaiting a good day to tour Belwin to start taking bids soon. Site is in good condition with facilities grounds, scouting for a new B-SIG location. Ash Dome said they closed. CGO: Facilities are closed and site is in good shape with will manufacture five new panels and ribs and get back to us in two the grounds drying out. Outhouse upgrade is developing with or three months about visiting our site to replace damaged panels. long lead times for the parts. MAS banner has been finalized with I’m guessing we’ll hear from them in May. Security cameras will Mark Job getting it printed. Loaner Scope program is on hold until be added to the outside. Belwin’s tenth anniversary event is June restrictions ease. Constitution Committee is completing the final 27. ELO: Contract was signed with engineering firm for roof review of changes made. Delivery to the board is delayed due work. All April public activities are canceled. CGO: Messier to the stay at home order. Our April online general meeting was Marathon is being reviewed. LLCC: Trees are still standing. We deemed a success with many compliments. Spring Astronomy are waiting for better weather and for coordination with the park Day has been canceled. for removal after cutting. LLCC members are looking for new members as others are wanting to rotate out or retire. A free ad has been placed in Amateur Astronomy for NNSF. GEMINI • www.mnastro.org 10 Minnesota Astronomical Society 2020 Star Party Schedule Twilight Completely dark Moon % ELO Public Cherry LLCC Friday Date Sunset ends: from: to: Illuminated Night (Saturday) Grove Weekend Notes June 12 8:59 PM 11:21 PM 11:21 PM 1:54 AM 56% x (13th) June 19 9:01 PM 11:25 PM 11:25 PM 3:01 AM 2% x x June 26 9:02 PM 11:25 PM 1:25 AM 3:04 AM 2% x x x Saturday 7/11 8:58 PM 11:12 PM 11:12 PM 12:40 AM 63% x July 17 8:53 PM 11:04 PM 11:04 PM 3:31 AM 9% x x July 24 8:47 PM 10:52 PM 11:49 PM 3:45 AM 20% x x x CWTS: 7/24-7/26 Saturday 8/8 8:28 PM 10:22 PM 10:22 PM 11:04 PM 78% x August 14 8:19 PM 10:09 PM 10:09 PM 2:09 AM 20% x x August 21 8:08 PM 9:54 PM 9:57 PM 4:35 AM 9% x (22nd) x x NNSF weekend: 18-23 Saturday 9/5 7:42 PM 9:21 PM 9:21 PM 9:28 PM 89% x September 11 7:31 PM 9:08 PM 9:08 PM 12:49 AM 36% x x September 18 7:18 PM 8:53 PM 8:53 PM 5:18 AM 2% x(19th) x x x Saturday 9/26 7:03 PM 8:37 PM 2:30 AM 5:28 AM 75% x Fall A-Day October 09 6:39 PM 8:13 PM 8:13 PM 11:33 PM 50% x(10th) x Opposition of Mars – Fri/Sat at ELO October 16 6:27 PM 8:01 PM 8:01 PM 5:53 AM 0% x x 4M October 23 6:14 PM 7:49 PM 1:26 AM 6:03 AM 61% x(24th) x November 06 4:57 PM 6:33 PM 6:33 PM 9:24 PM 68% x(7th) x November 13 4:49 PM 6:26 PM 6:26 PM 5:26 AM 3% x x November 20 4:43 PM 6:21 PM 10:13 PM 5:34 AM 34% x Saturday12/19 4:38 PM 6:20 PM 10:10 PM 5:58 AM 27% x Jupiter-Saturn conj. 13' CGO (Latitude: 44.1971 Longitude: -92.8623): star party dates are for Friday nights with the alternate (if cloudy) for Saturday night. LLCC star party dates for the entire weekend w/ housing provided by LLCC REMINDER: Go/No Go decision is posted on the MAS website ONLY for the Messier Marathon, Virgo Venture & Mini-Messier Marathon. B-SIG star party dates are for Saturday night, with the alternate being on Friday if the Saturday date is forecast cloudy. B-SIG, Go / No-Go decision will be posted on the MAS Discussion Forums. http://forums.mnastro.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=5 *** need to check the B-SIG policy with Suresh *** ELO Public Star Parties (Latitude: 44.8103 Longitude: -93.9397): are All-Weather events for Saturday nights unless otherwise noted. All times are from Skytools 3 and specifically for CGO; approximated for all else. This schedule is subject to change. Please check the MAS online calendar at www.mnastro.org for a complete schedule of all MAS events. Cherry Grove Star Parties are held on Friday nights, with Saturday reserved as the backup night if Friday is cloudy. LLCC (Latitude: 46.6470 Longitude: -93.4650): Star parties are held on both Friday and Saturday night. Eagle Lake Public nights are held on Saturday nights only. J.J. Casby: Latitude: 44.9245 Longitude: -92.7924) Metcalf: Latitude: 44.93734 Longitude: -92.82157 Continued from page 9 huge downside was the lack of a native dark mode in Google made the online chat thread fun, even for the spectators who just spreadsheets. stayed inside and watched the chat messages.

M61 One other thing we did with this event was to lengthen it to cover an entire weekend; we didn’t have it on a single night. MAS members participated in an online chat using a tool named “Slack” This format might be useful even when we no longer need to during the Messier Marathon. be socially distanced. Allowing some flexibility in scheduling Since there were no fairness issues among members, allowed more participation to occur. we opened this event up to allow GoTo computers and even So what were the results? Based on the data that was observations made with cameras. This allowed people like Mark submitted, we made 277 observations of 97 Messier objects. Connolly and Mark Job to share images with us over chat. It also There are 110 Messier objects, so observing 97 of them is a 11 Continued on page 12 June 2020 MN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY P.O. Box 14931 Minneapolis, MN 55414 a publication of the Minnesota Astronomical Society

How to pay your dues June 2020 Volume 46 Number 3

Your MAS membership expires at the beginning of the month shown on your membership card. You will be notified of your renewal by e-mail two months prior to expiration and by USPS mail the month of your expiration. You may renew by mail or online using PayPal. By mail: Send your payment to the MAS membership coordinator at: Minnesota Astronomical Society, Attn. Membership coordinator, P.O. Box 14931, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Make checks payable to MAS. Current annual membership rates when paying by check are: $26 regular, $13 student, and $65 for patron memberships. You may renew for one year or for two years at a time. Online using PayPal: PayPal charges a fee, so MAS includes a voluntary contribution in the PayPal membership rates to offset that fee. Membership rates us- ing PayPal are $27.50 regular, $13.75 student and $67.25 patron. The membership form and the procedure for joining or renewing using PayPal may be found at www.mnastro.org/members/join/. Sky and Telescope and Astronomy Magazine Subscriptions

MAS members are offered subscriptions to these magazines at an astronomy club discount. The Sky & Telescope discount subscription is $32.95 for one year or $62.95 for two years. You may call Sky & Telescope at 1-800- 253-0245 to subscribe at the astronomy club discount rate, paying using your credit card. You must identify yourself as a member of the Minnesota Astronomical Society and provide the discount code of 4CLB13. If you do not wish to pay using a credit card, preferring to pay with a check, you may go to skyandtelescope.com/clubrenew for subscription renewals or www.skyandtelescope.com/clubspecial for new subscriptions. You will be presented with a form you can print, fill out and mail in with your payment check. The Astronomy magazine discount subscription is $34 for one year, $60 for two years, or $83 for three years. You may call Astron- omy magazine at 1-877-246-4835 to subscribe at the astronomy club discount rate, paying using your credit card. You must identify yourself as a member of the Minnesota Astronomical Society and provide the society’s Club ID number of 37-2921-23389. If you do not wish to pay using a credit card, preferring to pay with a check, you may call Astronomy magazine at 1-877-246-4835 and request a re- newal notice to be mailed to you. The renewal notice will be preprinted with the MAS Club ID number and the astronomy club discount subscription rates. You may then return it to Astronomy magazine Customer Service through the mail with the accompanying payment check.

How To Subscribe to MAS E-Mail Distribution Lists and Join MAS Discussion Forums:

The MAS uses Web discussion forums and e-mail distribution lists for timely communications. We highly recommend that you sub- scribe to both the Web forums and the MAS general distribution e-mail list. To join the MAS Web discussion forums, visit mnastro.org/ Explore/Discussion Forum and click Register and complete the online registration form. To subscribe to the MAS e-mail list, visit lists. mnastro.org and click on the MAS list link and follow the subscription instructions. There is a general list (MAS), an outreach list and lists for other special purposes. Continued from page 11 huge accomplishment. I have also heard about others who were This event wasn’t supposed to be about individual object observing Messier objects that night but did not submit their counts, but it is worth pointing out that Don Gazdik observed all observations, so it is possible our total observation count could 97 of the objects we observed together. He very much carried us be higher. in the early morning hours as well as for the very dim objects. Observers and Object Counts Clayton Lindsey – 3 Conrad Sanders – 22 Dave Falkner – 17 Dick Jacobson – 5 Don Gazdik – 97 Don Windseth – 20 Kristopher Setnes – 28 Mark Connolly – 13 Mark Job – 49 Mark Petersen – 9 Valts Treibergs – 14 Thanks to all who took the time to participate. It felt good to connect with you during the “new abnormal.” Markarian’s Chain Light Photographs by Mark Job. Screenshot by Kris Setnes.