Highlights of the October Sky. -- -- -- 1st -- -- -- Dusk: Thin crescent Moon visible low in WSW. Look PPrime Focuss 5º or 6º below Venus. A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society -- -- -- 6th -- -- -- PM: Moon lower right of Jupiter. October 2008 -- -- -- 7th -- -- -- PM: Moon lower left of Jupiter. ThisThis MonthsMonths KAS EventsEvents -- -- -- 7th -- -- -- First Quarter Moon -- -- -- 14th -- -- -- General Meeting: Friday, October 3 @ 7:00 pm Full Moon Kalamazoo Math & Science Center - See Page 12 for Details -- -- -- 17th -- -- -- Dawn: Mercury visible 5º Observing Session: Saturday, October 4 @ 7:00 pm above the eastern horizon until the 30th. Overwhelming Open Clusters - Kalamazoo Nature Center st -- -- -- 21st -- -- -- Board Meeting: Sunday, October 5 @ 5:00 pm Last Quarter Moon Sunnyside Church - 2800 Gull Road - All Members Welcome AM: Orionid Meteor AM: Orionid Meteor Shower (10 -- 2020 meteorsmeteors per hour). Observing Session: Saturday, October 25 @ 7:00 pm The Great Square - Kalamazoo Nature Center -- -- -- 23rd -- -- -- Dawn: Waning Crescent Moon upper right of Alpha Leonis (Regulus). -- -- -- 24th -- -- -- Dawn: Waning Crescent InsideInside thethe Newsletter.Newsletter. .. .. Moon between Saturn and Regulus. September Meeting Minutes................ p. 2 -- -- -- 25th -- -- -- Board Meeting Minutes......................... p. 3 Dawn: Moon below Saturn Intelligent Imaging................................... p. 4 -- -- -- 25th -- -- -- Dusk: Venus is passing Astronomy Software............................. p. 8 3½º north of Antares low inin southwest.southwest. NASA Space Place.................................. p. 9 -- -- -- 28th -- -- -- October Night Sky................................ p. 10 New Moon KAS Officers & Announcements........ p. 11 -- -- -- 31st -- -- -- PM: Thin crescent Moon is General Meeting Preview..................... p. 12 visible 5º below Venus and leftleft ofof Antares.Antares. www.kasonline.org SeptemberSeptember MeetingMeeting MinutesMinutes The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society the Kuiper Belt (beyond the orbit of Neptune) or in the Oort was brought to order by President Jack Price on Friday, Sept. Cloud (which may extend half-way to the nearest star). Some 12, 2008 at 7:20 pm EDT. Approximately 40 members and comets in these regions may bump into other comets or guests were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math & nudged by a passing star and work their way into the inner Science Center (KAMSC). solar system. These have elliptical orbits and develop long tails when near the Sun. They are partially vaporized during Our featured speaker for the evening was Dr. Arunav Kundu, each close passage Research Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Michigan State University. Dr. Kundu called his presentation Tales from the Many amateur astronomers are comet hunters. One reason is Many Tails of Comets. He began by talking about the dra- that comets are they only astronomical objects you can name matic increase in size and brightness of Comet Holmes. The after yourself if you discover one. Some famous comets hunt- previously obscure comet suddenly increased in magnitude by ers named include E. E. Barnard, Thomas Bopp, Alan Hale, a factor of a few hundred thousand in only a few days in late Yuji Hyakutake, Kaoru Ikeya, David Levy, Charles Messier, October 2008. Dr. Kundu showed many images of the comet Tsutomu Seki, and Gene & Carolyn Shoemaker. by a variety of amateur astronomers. At one point, the atmos- phere surrounding the tiny comet nucleus was larger in di- Dr. Kundu then dived into the main part of his talk: comet ameter than the Sun! tails. They form when radiation pressure and the solar wind push gas and ions away from the Sun. Thus, the tail of a Dr. Kundu explained that the term comet is derived from the comet always puts away from the Sun. In fact, the ion tail is Greek word “kometes;” meaning long haired. To the ancients, so light it always points directly opposite the Sun. The dust they appeared in the sky suddenly (at least in astronomical tail is heavier and less affected by the solar wind, so its shape terms) and sometimes covered a large part of the sky. This can be curved. The sodium tail is the third tail of a comet, had the effect of scaring the heck out of folks. first discovered coming from Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. Sir Edmond Halley applied Newton’s theory of gravity to Dr. Kundu then showed many amazing images of the tail of comets observed between 1300 - 1700 and found one that Halley’s Comet as it appeared in 1910. Other incredible returns to the inner solar system every 76 years. This comet comet images shown and discussed include: Ikeya-Seki now bears his name; 1P/Halley or simply Halley’s Comet. (1966), West (1976), Hyakutake (1996), & Hale-Bopp (1997). Comets are simply dirty snowballs; icy objects that have some Dr. Kundu then talked about NASA’s Deep Impact mission to dust, rock, and a variety of volatile compounds. This theory Comet Tempel and showed some of the videos of the probe was first proposed by Fred Whipple in the 1950’s. These striking the surface (which apparently nearly missed). He dirty snowballs are left over from the formation of the solar also mentioned the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into system 4.5 billion years ago. Most comets are found in either Jupiter in 1994. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has been the greatest discover of comets in history (the current count is over 1500). However, many of these comets are pulled in by the Sun’s gravity and destroyed. Many cool videos of this were shown. Jack gave his president’s report after the snack break. He thanked Dick Gillespie for organizing the Kiwanis Star Party in August and for members setting up scopes at the annual Scout Camporee at the Air Zoo. A handful of members are thinking about attending the Great Lakes Star Gaze at the end of September. Several members reported a light showing of the Perseid Meteor Shower. There were also comments on the complete lack of sunspots in August. Mike Sinclair made it very clear that the new Large Hadron Collider WILL NOT create black holes and destroy the Earth. ‘Nuff said. Jack then had the pleasure of presenting an Honorary Award and KAS President Jack Price (right) presents the pin and pin to Don Stilwell for completing the Astronomical League’s certificate to Don Stilwell for successfully completing the Messier Club. Congratulations to Don and keep’em coming. Astronomical League’s Messier Club (award #2417). Who’s next? The meeting concluded at 9:35 pm. Prime Focus Page 2 October 2008 BoardBoard MeetingMeeting MinutesMinutes The KAS Board met on September 14th at the slightly-damp Jack suggested that we are handling 1 - 2 public education Sunnyside Church (thank you, Ike). President Jack Price events per year at present, and that more might leave us over- brought the meeting to order at 5:10 pm. Members present extended. were Richard Bell, Jean DeMott, Dick Gillespie, Rich Mather, Dan Morgan, and Roger Williams. On the topic of Astronomy Day 2009, Richard reported on his efforts so far to plan a very ambitious program, featuring Neil Rich presented a treasurer’s report showing a current balance deGrasse Tyson as a speaker and Michael Francis (an actor of $14,655.82. He noted that three CD’s are coming due in who does an impersonation of Galileo). Richard has lined up November and December, two of them holding Land Acquisi- potential grants of $10,000 - $15,000 from WMU Graduate tion Fund monies. The plan is to renew the latter two on the College and $1,000 from the Physics Department. The costs same date, to make the bookkeeping simpler. would be heavy ($25,000 for Tyson, $475/performance for Francis, and $5000 for Miller Auditorium rental. The first big Regarding September/October events, Jack reiterated that unanswered question is whether Tyson will be available at Alan Otterson had invited club members to a viewing session any mutually acceptable time (Update: Dr. Tyson is willing to at his observatory on September 19th at 8 pm. Three members speak, but a date has yet to be agreed upon). Other grants were planning to attend, and Jack had notified Alan. It was would also be required to swing the deal. For Astronomy also noted that this was the date of a lunar occultation of the Day activities, Richard mentioned that someone is working on Pleiades. Other events include a KAS observing session on development of a Galileo-modeled telescope kit that kids September 27th, the next general meeting October 3rd, and could assemble for a reasonable price ($3?). On the related another observing session October 4th. The general meeting is topic of the International Year of Astronomy, Richard re- again planned as Astrophotography Night, but Richard sug- ported on an international project to conduct 100 continuous gested that it be done only as a show and not a contest, since a hours of astronomical viewing around the world in early survey at the last meeting showed only the usual 3 - 4 entrants April. Eric Schreur is trying to set up a site for participation for a contest. It was agreed that a show would be fine. in the project. Other school events were also proposed, and Richard suggested calling KRESA and offering speakers or In the category of Old Business, Richard noted that no fall astronomy programs. field trip had been planned, and time was short to plan any- thing new. Jack requested that the Abrams Planetarium Richard reported on extensive work on the new web site. He schedule be checked, to see if there was a program the group asked for suggestions regarding questions for the Member might like to see. Profile page, and some were offered. A listing of the avail- able KAS Library is also planned, which it is hoped will in- New business included beginning planning for the 2009 pro- crease their use.