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The Observer of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers THE OBSERVER OF THE TWIN CITY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Volume 43, Number 2 February 2018 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 1«Editor’s Choice: Image of the Month – Cone Nebula 2«President’s Note 3«Calendar of Celestial Events – February 2018 3«New & Renewing Members/Dues Blues/E-Mail List 4«This Month’s Phases of the Moon 4«Ocular Astronomy for February 5«This Month’s Solar Phenomena 5«January 9, 2018 TCAA Board Meeting Minutes 6«Annual Meeting Saturday, February 3rd 7«Dr. Jeffrey L. Hunt to Keynote Annual Meeting 7«White Elephant & Silent Auction Tables at Meeting 8«AstroBits – News from Around the TCAA 9«TCAA Photo Gallery 11«Attend NCRAL 2018 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin 11«Nomination for TCAA Board of Directors Requested 11«Duties of TCAA Board Members, Officers, and Chairs 14«TCAA on Facebook and Twitter 14«Public Viewing Sessions for 2018 15«Sidewalk Astronomy for 2018 15«Education & Public Outreach for January 2018 15«HowTimeFlies 16«TCAA Treasurer’s Report as of January 29, 2018 EDITOR’S CHOICE: IMAGE OF THE MONTH - CONE NEBULA 16«Renewing Your TCAA Membership This month’s image is by Tim Stone. Tim writes, “There’s a lot going on in this narrowband image of the famous Cone Nebula region. The forces of star formation have created a rich and complex tapestry of textures that seem almost fluid in the way they flow and swirl. The Cone Nebula itself was an object I recall seeing in images from Palomar Observatory when I was young. I wondered what that could possibly be, with it’s almost uncannily straight sides and deep, dark nebulosity that seemed to defy understanding. Little did I know back then that I’d take an image of my own of this object one day, and it would show what is by now the well understood dynamics of star formation. While it’s much less mysterious now, it’s no less beautiful to me. Just below it, in this south-is-up image, lies the open cluster NGC 2264, anchored by brilliant S Monocerotis. The energy from this cluster powers the entire region, which glows brightly in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and (surprisingly) Sulfur. Hydrogen is coded as The TCAA is an affiliate of the Astronomical League. For yellow, oxygen as cyan, and sulfur as red, in this image. As you can more information about the TCAA, be certain to visit our see, orange is the dominant color, showing us where both hydrogen club website. and sulfur are plentiful. Copyright © 2018 TCAA 1 All rights reserved. Vol. 43, No. 2 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers February 2018 The central cavity is rich in oxygen, typical for areas where newborn stars have The OBSERVER carved out the center of the cloud of dust and hydrogen where they were formed. Next to S Mon is the Fox Fur Nebula, so called because of it’s strong resemblance is the monthly electronic newsletter of Twin to the ruffed muss of fur found on foxes. The Fox Fur Nebula gives way to a complex City Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a region of hydrogen, sculpted by the powerful erosion forces of radiation from NGC registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational 2264. Finally, to the lower left, Barnard 39 looms in the foreground, flanked by an organization of amateur astronomers unnamed bright nebula and a barely visible open cluster NGC 2259. Trumpler 5 is interested in studying astronomy and sharing their hobby with the public. another barely discernible open cluster, just above center at the left edge. These clusters are much brighter than they show in this image. Narrowband images de- TCAA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS emphasize stellar brightness, as stars typically shine weakly at these particular President & Director/Property Manager wavelengths. Tim Stone 309-531-2401 Last, but not least, is NGC 2261, Hubble’s Variable Nebula, near the top of the [email protected] image. Powered by R Monocerotis, it was studied by Edwin Hubble when he was on Vice President & Director/Publicist staff at Yerkes Observatory. It changes on relatively rapid time scales, often with Darren Erickson 309-336-0103 discernible change occurring over the course of a month. Hubble was fascinated by this [email protected] but didn’t arrive at any conclusion about its nature before moving on to the new Mt. Wilson Observatory in Southern California. Nonetheless, he maintained a fondness for Treasurer & Director/Registered Agent Dave Osenga 309-287-0789 this object throughout his career, returning to it every now and then as if to relive those [email protected] earlier days back in Illinois and Wisconsin. Lisa Wentzel reported to me that she was able to visually observe the bright edge Secretary & Director/Historian/Editor Carl J. Wenning 309-830-4085 of the Cone Nebula, the edge to the right in this image. On the same night, I looked with [email protected] my 12.5” from the Waynesville Observatory, but could not discern it. I will say, Lisa’s experience with visual observing is far deeper than mine, and I chalk my failure up to Director & Observing Programs Coordinator Jim Gibbs 847-809-2232 that. I’d love to hear from readers. Have you seen the Cone? Drop us a line if you have, [email protected] with any observation details you have. Astronomical League Correspondent Robert Finnigan 309-846-9533 PRESIDENT’S NOTE [email protected] I hope to see everyone reading this at our annual banquet and business meeting Webmaster on, Saturday, February 3rd. It’s always great to see people, have dinner, share stories, Lee Green 309-454-7349 [email protected] and hear from a speaker. This year will be no different. We have a great program lined up for you. Lighting Education Coordinator Lisa Wentzel unlisted Editor’s Note: The deadline for making meal reservations has now passed. Members number may, nonetheless, attend the annual business meeting to hear reports, vote for the [email protected] 2018-19 Board of Directors, and listen to our guest speaker. No reservations are Membership Coordinator necessary to attend the business meeting which starts at approximately 7:00 PM. Tom Willmitch 309-846-2423 [email protected] January has been kind to us with some clear, though really cold, nights. Personally, Technology Coordinator I’ve gotten out for observing and photography several nights. I have hope that February Justin Meyer 630-649-0611 will be equally generous to our cause. The Waynesville Observatory has already been [email protected] used by some of our visual observers. It’s a great location, with much darker skies than at Sugar Grove Nature Center. I hope to see more of us at Waynesville when the The OBSERVER weather warms up. Outfitting equipment at Waynesville Observatory has been much Carl J. Wenning, Editor in Chief slowed by the frigid weather. As Spring approaches, this activity will pick up again. Submission deadline end of each month. Our Public Viewing Sessions are only six weeks away from commencing. Do you believe it? If you’re a speaker and would like to use images we have in our library, MEMBERSHIP DUES please contact me. If you’re not speaking this year, we want you to come out with your equipment, and help us engage our public visitors, as well as engage each other. So, get Individual Adult/Family $40 Full-time Student/Senior $25 those telescopes out. Clean and collimate those optics. Grease those gear-trains. Let’s (Senior status equals ages 60+) get ready for the 2018 sessions! These sessions at Sugar Grove Nature Center are our monthly membership To join, send your name, contact info and engagement program as well as one of our public outreach programs. Being on a dues payment to Dave Osenga, TCAA Saturday night, several of us stay afterward to make more observations, and just to Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL shoot the breeze. I hope to see you this year! 61761-1471. Clear Skies! Tim Stone, President Copyright © 2018 TCAA 2 All rights reserved. Vol. 43, No. 2 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers February 2018 ALENDAR OF ELESTIAL VENTS EBRUARY EW ENEWING EMBERS C C E – F 2018 N & R M The following individuals have paid dues for new or MORNING PLANETS (2/14): Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, & Saturn renewed memberships as of January 29, 2018. (Others EVENING PLANETS (2/14): Venus, Uranus, & Neptune who paid after that date will appear in the March 2018 issue of The OBSERVER.) The following table gives the date and time (24-hour clock) of important astronomical events for the month of February. All times are Central Standard Time unless Daylight Saving Time is Darren Erickson, Jen Lavazza Photography in effect. Day Time Event DUES BLUES 01 12:24 Regulus 0.9°S of Moon If you have received a “your dues are due” 07 09:54 LAST QUARTER MOON statement along with the email that brought you this issue of The OBSERVER, please remit your dues to Mr. 07 13:47 Jupiter 4.3°S of Moon Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL 61761-1471. Dues are currently $25 for 08 23:12 Mars 4.4°S of Moon seniors (60 years of age and over) and $40 regular. 11 08:16 Moon at Apogee: 405701 km SUBSCRIBING TO OUR E-MAIL LIST 11 08:46 Saturn 2.5°S of Moon By subscribing to a group’s mailing list, you will 11 10:40 Mars 5.0°N of Antares receive email messages from the group though you won’t have access to the group’s web features (like 14 15:11 Moon at Descending Node photos, files, links, polls, calendar, etc.) unless members activate it later.
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