Highlights of the April Sky. . .

------2nd ------The Moon below Neptune at dawn. PPrime Focuss

------4th ------A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society Venus near a very thin Moon, look east about 20 minutes before sunrise. April 2008

------5th ------New Moon 11:55 pm EDT ThisThis MonthsMonths KAS EventsEvents ------8th ------The Moon occults the Pleiades, 10 pm. General Meeting: Friday, April 4 @ 7:00 pm

------12thth ------Kalamazoo Math & Science Center - See Page 10 for Details The Moon less than 2º ofof Mars after midnight. Observing Session: Saturday, April 5 @ 8:00 pm

First Quarter Moon Saturn & Orion Nebula - Kalamazoo Nature Center 2:32 pm EDT

thth Astronomy Day: Saturday, April 19 @ 10:00 am ------14 ------Moon is right of Saturn Kalamazoo Nature Center - See Page 3 for Details and Regulus after dusk.

------19th ------Observing Session: Saturday, April 19 @ 8:00 pm

The Moon is 4º oror 55º belowbelow Saturn & Full Moon - Kalamazoo Nature Center Spica at dusk.

------20th ------Full Moon 6:25 am EDT Inside the Newsletter. . . Inside the Newsletter. . . ------22nd ------Lyrid meteor shower peaks March Meeting Minutes...... p. 2 (10--20 meteors per hour). Board Meeting Minutes...... p. 3 ------23rd ------Astronomy Day 2008...... p. 3 The Moon south of Antares before dawn. KAS Online Redesign Underway...... p. 4

Turtles and the Speed of Light...... p. 4 ------27th ------The Moon passes 4º southsouth Rhea Also May Have Rings...... p. 5 of Jupiter, 4 am. NASA Space Place...... p. 6 ------28thth ------Membership of the KAS...... p. 7 Last Quarter Moon 10:12 am EDT April Night Sky...... p. 8

Mars passes 5º southsouth ofof KAS Officers & Announcements...... p. 9 Pollux, 11 pm. General Meeting Preview...... p. 10

www.kasonline.org March Meeting Minutes

The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society buted in 1878. Mark showed a historical photo of this im- was brought to order by President Jack Price on Friday, March pressive looking scope, which had an aperture of 1.22 meters 7th at 7:15 pm EST. Approximately 40 members and guests (the Leviathan had since fallen under disrepair). This was were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math & Science the last major telescope to use a mirror (an Center (KAMSC). alloy of tin and copper) and never performed well. It was regulated to observing only the Moon. The last refracting Mark Miller, former President of the KAS, gave the feature telescope to hold the record was the 1- presentation of evening, which he called BIG: The History of meter (40-inch) instrument that debuted in 1897. It’s still the the World’s Largest Telescopes. Mark mentioned that much world’s largest refractor today. of the material for his talk came from the book The History of the Telescope by Henry C. King. The first telescope was the The next two record holders were located on Mt. Wilson. human eye and the one used through most of human history The first was a 60-inch reflector in 1908. The second was (still used today by amateur astronomers). Hans Lippershey is the 100-inch Hooker telescope that debuted in 1917. Edwin credited by many as the inventor of the first telescope - likely Hubble used this telescope to discover the expansion of the sometime in 1608 (400 years ago). Mark said this invention universe. This telescope was finally toppled in 1947 when was inevitable no matter who built the first one. the 200-inch Hale Telescope on Mt. Palomar came along. Mark mentioned this telescope made too many discoveries to Thomas Harriot (not Galileo Galilei) is thought to be the first mention with the time remaining in his presentation. person to use a telescope to observe the night sky. He made a sketch of the Moon in July 1609. However, Harriot never The Russians attempted to capture the record holder with published any of his findings. Galileo was the first person to their 6-meter, f/4 Bolshoi Teleskop Azimutalnyi (BTA). observe the night sky in a systematic way and publish his Built in 1976, this telescope never performed as hoped. work. Galileo went on to build a series of the world’s largest telescopes - all refractors. John Hevelius was the first person The twin 9.8-meter Keck Telescopes made their debut on to create an accurate atlas of the Moon (published in 1647) Mauna Kea in Hawaii in 1992 and 1996. This was followed using long focal length refractors (60 and 140 feet). by the Very Large Telescope (VLT); which consists of four 8.2-meter telescopes in Cerro Paranal, Chile. Mark stated Christiaan Huygens built a large “air telescope” in 1686. It that judging the world’s largest telescope today can be very had a focal length of 125 feet and an aperture of only 0.19 confusing since modern instruments like Keck and the VLT meter, which made its focal ratio a whopping f/197! Mark are interferometers; where smaller telescopes are combined said the refractors of this era had long focal lengths so that to mimic the resolution of a larger one. Do you measure they could reduce the effects of chromatic aberration; caused their combined aperture or the individual telescope? by the poor lenses of the time. James Gregory invented the first in 1663 (the Gregorian reflector), but Mark gave the current title of “World’s Largest Telescope” never actually built one. Sir Isaac Newton built a reflector in to the Large Binocular Telescope on Mt. Graham in Arizona. 1672, which had a mirror 0.1 meter in diameter. James Short This telescope uses two 8.4-meter mirrors side-by-side and constructed a 0.5-meter aperture Gregorian reflector in 1758. has the light gathering capacity of an 11.8-meter telescope. Depending on how you look at it, this will be replaced by the William Herschel built two record breaking telescopes. The 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias in the Canary Islands. first had an aperture of 0.47-meter and a focal length of 20 This monster is due to come online in May 2008. Many feet. This instrument was in use between 1783 and 1838. The Godzilla-like telescopes are on the horizon. These include second had an aperture of 1.22 meters and a focal length of 40 the Giant Magellan Telescope (seven 8.4-meter telescopes), feet. This telescope was in use between 1789 ad 1815. It was the Thirty Meter Telescope, and the European Extremely destroyed during a storm and never rebuilt - likely because it Large Telescope (or E-ELT - an 42-meter goliath). never performed very well in the first place. In all, Herschel built over 400 telescopes in his day! After the snack break, Jack gave a brief president’s report. Several members reported observing the Total Lunar Eclipse The next large telescope came along in 1845. This was the on February 20th despite the bitter cold temperature. News “Leviathan of Parsonstown” - a 1.22-meter reflector built by events mentioned included an avalanche caught-in-the-act on William Parsons, the Third Earl of Rosse on his estate, Birr Mars and possible rings around Rhea. It was also mentioned Castle, in Ireland. This was the first telescope to show struc- that KAS member Paul Asmus first joined the KAS exactly ture in “spiral nebulae” (). The next world’s largest 28 years ago to the day. Happy anniversary Paul and thanks telescope was “The Great Melbourne Telescope,” which de- for the support! The meeting concluded at 9:18 pm.

Prime Focus Page 2 April 2008 Astronomy Day 2008 Board Meeting Minutes nomy Day 2008 Saturday, April 19

th The KAS Board met on March 9 at Sunnyside Church. Presi- The Kalamazoo Astronomical Society will once again bring dent Jack Price brought the meeting to order at 5:10 pm. Also astronomy to the people by hosting a day of exciting and present were Richard Bell, Jean DeMott, Dick Gillespie, Rich informative activities in conjunction with Open House Day Mather, Mike Sinclair, and Roger Williams. at the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

Jack summarized briefly the events planned for March/April. th th Below is the tentative schedule of activities on April 19 . If The Messier Marathon of March 8 had only three intrepid you would like to volunteer your services and/or have any attendees (Richard, Jack Roach, and Dave Woolf), and the ideas, questions, or comments please contact Richard Bell wind chill index was brutal. The Harlow Shapley lecture on (373-8942) or Jean DeMott (381-1406). March 25th and Full Moon Theater on March 29th were also discussed. Plans were also in order for set-up of tables at the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra’s production of Holst’s “The MAIN PROGRAMMING 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Planets” on April 18th. Finally, Astronomy Day was con- firmed for Earth Day (April 19th) at the Kalamazoo Nature Our main activities will take place in the Glen Vista Room, Center. The focus will be Mercury and the Sun, and planned which is located in the main building at the Nature Center. activities (besides solar viewing) included the usual coloring Elevator access is available through the lower level entrance. pages for small children, sun dial construction, and a demon- stration of crater formation. Hands-on Make a crater, an actual working sundial, or color a Rich gave a treasurer’s report showing current total assets of picture to display at home. $14,684.76. He had purchased two certificates of deposit as instructed at the last board meeting, one of $5,000 for general Displays revenues and one of $5,810.97 for the land acquisition fund. The latest check for $1,100 from Jean was obtained too late to Check out our members best astrophotography, take a add to the CD, so it was placed in a savings account for the close look at the features of the Sun and check out the latest images from the innermost planet, Mercury. present.

In Old Business, Richard and Jean reported that a KAS table Solar Observing (weather permitting) drape had been ordered. Details about how the drape will be Telescopes with safe solar filters will be setup on the attached to a table will be worked out once it is in hand. deck outside the Glen Vista Room and/or in the Richard also reported an inquiry from a possible speaker for Nature Center’s main parking lot. one of the remaining two general meeting slots, a Canadian with a briefcase telescope. Given that we already have two Ask the Astronomer 10:00 am - 4:00 pm talks about telescopes on this year’s schedule and that the open dates of September and November might not be the best The most knowledgeable members of the KAS will be time for a Canadian to be driving long distances, it was agreed on hand throughout the day to answer any and all that we might better check this possibility for the following questions about telescopes, constellations, planets, year. On the topic of the KAS web site revision, Richard ex- stars, black holes, galaxies, and much more.

hibited a map of the planned site structure and solicited com- ments about anything that should be included. Jack requested Astronomy Day Theater 10:00 am - 4:00 pm a “printer-friendly” option that would allow printing of infor- From our closest neighbor (the Moon) to distant mation like schedules without using up all of the printer ink galaxies, explore bizarre facts about the universe, for background colors. Richard planned to request comments intriguing what ifs, and fascinating answers that will from the general membership as well. inspire more questions. Visit our web site for show times and to see what’s playing! There was little new business to discuss. Plans for equipment upgrades in Owl Observatory are on hold for the present, Observing Session 8:00 pm since we have seen little promise in obtaining grant money. Observe the Full Moon, Saturn and the deep sky The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 pm. The next meeting delights of spring through our 12” telescope in Owl was set for April 6th, same time and place. Observatory as well as member telescopes.

Respectfully submitted by Roger Williams >> For the latest info visit: www.kasonline.org <<

Prime Focus Page 3 April 2008 OnlineOnline Turtles Redesign Underway and the Speed of Light by Jack Roach by Richard Bell KAS Online, our official web site, has looked more-or-less As a child, when I first heard about the speed of light (and the same since it debuted in 1997. Sure, there have been the fact that it travels the fantastic distance of 186,000 miles several cosmetic changes over the years, but the general style in one second) I am certain that I responded in a negative, has remained the same. Plus, the time seems right to redo almost authoritative voice, “No way, it’s impossible for the web site since next year has been declared the anything to travel that fast”! International Year of Astronomy. Obviously, I was wrong, and to this day I (and I’m sure Several members gave me input at the March General countless others) have grappled with trying to comprehend Meeting and thankfully I have all ready made plans for their this incredible maximum speed of the Universe. suggestions. However, in case I’m missing something, I’d like to ask for input (and help) from the entire KAS One day, I read an article in Astronomy Magazine about the membership. So, please indulge me as I outline my plan to first object cataloged by Charles Messier (M1) in the constellation of Taurus. The object is a remnant of a star that overhaul KAS Online and then contact me if you have any th more suggestions or comments. First, make sure you look exploded on July 4 in the year 1054. The author spoke of through the current web site in case you haven’t visited it a the star’s collapse and subsequent explosion which is now while: www.kasonline.org spewing matter outward in all directions at the incomprehensible speed of 3.3 million miles per hour! Much of the content on the current site will remain the same. These include the General Meeting, Observing Session, and “Surely”, (I said quietly to myself) “this must be something the Schedule of Events pages. My guess is that these are the close to the speed of light”! So off I went to find my pages members and other visitors check out most often. I do calculator to crunch some numbers. To my amazement, and plan to add content to most of those pages, but please tell me only after triple checking my calculations, I came to the how I can make them more readable, informative, etc. startling conclusion that M1 while moving extremely fast in its own right is expanding outward in space at only 0.05% of One area of the site that needs a major overhaul is the the speed of light. That’s one half of one percent of the Member Profile page. Most of the profiles online now speed of light! contain very little information about who our members are and their individual interests in astronomy. So, I really need This was a huge disappointment to me, for I thought I had help from each and every one of you to upgrade this section finally found a way to “wrap my brain” around this of the site. I’d like to add more biographical information and astronomically fast speed. So I thought to myself, “well all even pictures of every member. I’m hoping to add an online right, so if M1 is expanding at only one half percent of the form to make this easier for everyone. Help me put the “S” speed of light, then what is the speed of the space shuttle in back in KAS! orbit around the earth compared with the speed of the expanding cloud of matter of M1?” The KAS is the oldest group of its kind in Michigan, so we Crunch…crunch….crunch… 0.05%! really need a history section. I’d like to add an article on the history of our group along with many photos from the past. WOW! So this means that the space shuttle is traveling thru I’ll need help from our long-time members, so you’ll be space at only one half percent of the rate of expansion of M1. hearing from me fairly soon. Now I was starting to get somewhere!

A full gallery of images from more recent KAS events will “What can I compare the speed of the space shuttle with?” I also be added. This includes a section on astrophotography asked myself. “Let’s see, half a percent of roughly 17,000 by our members. Please consider burning your best images miles per hour is 85 miles per hour”. Not that I will admit to on a CD and give it to me. We can then also make prints to having driven this fast but I can certainly comprehend the display at our outreach events. Other new features in the speed that this entails”. If I were driving down the freeway works include a section on telescopes the KAS has available at 85 miles per hour the shuttle is flying by me overhead 200 for loan, along with a complete listing of our library. Lastly, times faster!” This is pretty darn neat! we’ll also have an online store and a place where anyone can donate money to the KAS. Now, the final step…a turtle traveling along at the breakneck speed of 0.42 miles per hour is what percent of a car KAS Online has become an invaluable resource. Please help traveling along at 85 miles per hour? I don’t need to tell you me keep it that way for many years to come. do I? 0.05%! So does anyone have a snail I can borrow?

Prime Focus Page 4 April 2008 RheaRhea AlsoAlso MayMay HaveHave RingsRings

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found evidence of material Since the discovery, Cassini scientists have carried out nu- orbiting Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon. This is the first merical simulations to determine if Rhea can maintain rings. time rings may have been found around a moon. The models show that Rhea's gravity field, in combination with its orbit around Saturn, could allow rings that form to A broad debris disk and at least one ring appear to have been remain in place for a very long time. detected by a suite of six instruments on Cassini specifically designed to study the atmospheres and particles around Saturn The discovery was a result of a Cassini close flyby of Rhea in and its moons. November 2005, when instruments on the spacecraft observed the environment around the moon. Three instruments sampled "Until now, only planets were known to have rings, but now dust directly. The existence of some debris was expected be- Rhea seems to have some family ties to its ringed parent Sat- cause a rain of dust constantly hits Saturn's moons, including urn," said Geraint Jones, a Cassini scientist and lead author on Rhea, knocking particles into space around them. Other instru- a paper that appeared in the March 7th issue of the journal Sci- ments' observations showed how the moon was interacting ence. Jones began this work while at the Max Planck Institute with Saturn's magnetosphere, and ruled out the possibility of for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, and an atmosphere. is now at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College, London. Evidence for a debris disk in addition to this tenuous dust cloud came from a gradual drop on either side of Rhea in the Rhea is roughly 1,500 kilometers (950 miles) in diameter. The number of electrons detected by two of Cassini's instruments. apparent debris disk measures several thousand miles from Material near Rhea appeared to be shielding Cassini from the end to end. The particles that make up the disk and any em- usual rain of electrons. Cassini's Magnetospheric Imaging bedded rings probably range from the size of small pebbles to Instrument detected sharp, brief drops in electrons on both boulders. An additional dust cloud may extend up to 5,900 sides of the moon, suggesting the presence of rings within the kilometers (3,000 miles) from the moon's center, almost eight disk of debris. The rings of Uranus were found in a similar times the radius of Rhea. fashion, by NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory in 1977, when light from a star blinked on and off as it passed behind "Like finding planets around other stars, and moons around Uranus' rings. asteroids, these findings are opening a new field of rings around moons," said Norbert Krupp, a scientist with Cassini's "Seeing almost the same signatures on either side of Rhea was Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument from the Max Planck the clincher," added Jones. "After ruling out many other possi- Institute for Solar System Research. bilities, we said these are most likely rings. No one was ex- pecting rings around a moon."

One possible explanation for these rings is that they are rem- nants from an asteroid or comet collision in Rhea's distant past. Such a collision may have pitched large quantities of gas and solid particles around Rhea. Once the gas dissipated, all that remained were the ring particles. Other moons of Saturn, such as Mimas, show evidence of a catastrophic collision that almost tore the moon apart.

"The diversity in our solar system never fails to amaze us," said Candy Hansen, co-author and Cassini scientist on the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Many years ago we thought Saturn was the only planet with rings. Now we may have a moon of Saturn that is a miniature version of its even more elaborately decorated parent."

These ring findings make Rhea a prime candidate for further study. Initial observations by the imaging team when Rhea was near the sun in the sky did not detect dust near the moon remotely. Additional observations are planned to look for the larger particles.

Prime Focus Page 5 April 2008 NASA Space Place Tracking Wildlife from Space by Patrick Barry It's 10 o'clock, and do you know where your Oriental Honey surface, 850 kilometers below. NOAA began the project — Buzzard is? called Argos — in cooperation with NASA and the French space agency (CNES) in 1974. At that time, scientists placed Tracking the whereabouts of birds and other migrating wild- these transmitters primarily on buoys and balloons to study life across thousands of miles of land, air, and sea is no easy the oceans and atmosphere. As electronics shrank and new feat. Yet to protect the habitats of endangered species, scien- satellites' sensors became more sensitive, the transmitters be- tists need to know where these roving animals go during their came small and light enough by the 1990s that scientists seasonal travels. could mount them safely on animals. Yes, even on birds like the Oriental Honey Buzzard. Rather than chasing these animals around the globe, a grow- ing number of scientists are leveraging the bird's-eye view of “Scientists just never had the capability of doing this before,” orbiting satellites to easily monitor animals' movements any- says Christopher O'Connors, Program Manager for Argos at where in the world. NOAA.

The system piggybacks on weather satellites called Polar Op- Today, transmitters weigh as little as 1/20th of a pound and erational Environmental Satellites, which are operated by the require a fraction of a watt of power. The satellites can detect National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- these feeble signals in part because the transmitters broad- ministration (NOAA), as well as a Euro- cast at frequencies between 401 and 403 MHz, a part of the pean satellite called MetOp. Sensors aboard these spectrum reserved for environmental uses. That way there's satellites pick up signals beamed from portable trans- very little interference from other sources of radio mitters on the Earth's noise.

“Argos is being used more and more for animal tracking,” O’Connors says. More than 17,000 transmitters are currently being tracked by Argos, and almost 4,000 of them are on wildlife. “The animal research has been the most interesting area in terms of innovative science.”

For example, researchers in Japan used Argos to track endangered Grey-faced Buzzards and Ori- ental Honey Buzzards for thousands of kilome- ters along the birds' migrations through Japan and Southeast Asia. Scientists have also mapped the movements of loggerhead sea turtles off the west coast of Africa. Other studies have docu- mented migrations of wood storks, Malaysian elephants, porcupine caribou, right whales, and walruses, to name a few.

Argos data is available online at...

http://www.argos-system.org/,

so every evening, scientists can check the whereabouts of all their herds, schools, and flocks. Kids can learn about some of these endangered species and play a memory game with them at:

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/poes_tracking/

The ARGOS program tracks the whereabouts of This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, endangered migrating animals via miniature transmitters California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the on the animals and the POES satellites in orbit. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Prime Focus Page 6 April 2008 MembershipMembership ofof thethe KASKAS as of March 20, 2008

1. Paula Allred & Richard Mehl Family 2008 51. Kim & Pat Morgan Family 2008 2. Paul Asmus Regular 2009 52. Elizabeth Morison Regular 2008 3. Richard Bell Regular 2008 53. Bill Nigg Regular 2008 4. Karen & Peter Berzins Family 2008 54. Amy Ohrstrom Regular 2009 5. Susan Bond Regular 2008 55. John & Teri Olbrot Family 2008 6. Jacqueline Bonn Regular 2008 56. Rick Olsen Regular 2008 7. Joseph & Patti Borrello Family 2009 57. Mike Patton Regular 2008 8. Donald Brezinski Regular 2008 58. Chris A. Paynich Family 2008 9. Angela Brooks Regular 2008 59. Donald A. Peterson Senior 2008 10. Rick Brumbaugh Family 2009 60. Daniall Poulsen Regular 2008 11. Allen & Phyllis Buskirk Lifetime n/a 61. Jack & Ruth Price Family 2008 12. Beverly Byle Senior 2008 62. Sam Qualls Family 2008 13. Mike Chaffee Family 2008 63. Adrian Quint Regular 2009 14. Harry Cotterill Regular 2008 64. Albert A. Ramudo Family 2008 15. Robert & Grace Cox Family 2008 65. Carla & Michael Raphelson Family 2008 16. Kalman & Becky Csia Family 2008 66. Jack Roach Family 2008 17. Jean DeMott Family 2008 67. Kerry Robbert Regular 2008 18. Gerald & Cynthia Dennany Family 2008 68. Andrew C. Robins Regular 2008 19. Mike Durren Regular 2008 69. Miguel Rodriguez Family 2007 20. Fred E. Dutton Senior 2009 70. Thomas Roland Regular 2008 21. Diana & Brian Evans Family 2008 71. Eric Schreur Regular 2009 22. Niels W. Garlick Family 2008 72. Frank Severance Regular 2008 23. Dave & Bonnie Garten Family 2008 73. Norma J. Simmons Regular 2008 24. Tom & Sandra George Family 2008 74. Michael & Karen Sinclair Family 2008 25. Jackie & Dick Gillespie Senior Family 2008 75. Greg Sirna Family 2008 26. Royce Goodchild Regular 2008 76. Robert & Jane Steimle Family 2008 27. Mark Hansen Regular 2008 77. Don Stilwell Family 2009 28. Amie Harpe Regular 2008 78. David & Kathi Stoll Family 2008 29. Bill Haug Regular 2008 79. Stephanie Stratton Regular 2009 30. Robert & Barbara Havira Family 2008 80. Timothy Strunk Regular 2008 31. Michael James Higgins Regular 2008 81. Dennis Stuart Regular 2008 32. Keith Hoekwater Senior 2008 82. Eric R. Sullivan Regular 2008 33. Geoff Howe Family 2008 83. Craig Swanson Regular 2007 34. Arya Jayatilaka Family 2008 84. Norm & Cara Terry Senior Family 2008 35. A. Clark Kahn III Family 2008 85. Gary Theisen Family 2008 36. Kirk & Angela Korista Family 2008 86. Keegan Thompson Student 2008 37. Gene & Ginny Kowall Senior Family 2008 87. W. R. Thomas Tyler Student 2008 38. Jim Kurtz Regular 2008 88. Henry L. Upjohn II Family 2008 39. Tim Kurtz Regular 2008 89. Michael Vandeveer Regular 2009 40. David & Sandra Latimer Family 2008 90. Carol & Bill Van Dien Family 2008 41. James & Mary Lilley Family 2008 91. John A. Walker Senior 2007 42. Gary & Phyllis Lubbert Family 2008 92. Philip B. Wareham Regular 2008 43. Cary & Sarita Mannaberg Family 2008 93. Bob White Regular 2008 44. Christopher Marttila Regular 2008 94. Roger & Molly Williams Family 2008 45. Richard Mather Regular 2008 95. David Woolf Family 2009 46. Dayton Maynard Senior 2008 96. Sharon Zordan Regular 2008 47. Michael J. Melwiki Regular 2008 48. John Miller Regular 2008 Members in RED have promised to renew, but have not yet 49. Mark & Ninah Miller Family 2008 done so. Membership forms are available for download from 50. Dan Morgan Student 2008 KAS Online HERE.

Prime Focus Page 7 April 2008 AprilApril NightNight Sky...... Sky......

This star map is property of the This map represents the sky at the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. NORTH following local standard times: However you may make as many copies as you wish free-of-charge, y Late March 11 pm so long as it is for non-profit y Early April 10 pm educational purposes and full y Late April 9 pm credit is given to the KAS. y Early May 8 pm www.kasonline.org EAST WEST

SOUTH

he Waxing Crescent Moon Taygeta by the dark portion of the the early morning hours of April 22nd. occults the northern corner of Moon. Other Pleiads to disappear Only 10 meteors per hour are expected, the Pleiades cluster on April 8th. include Sterope (10:11 pm) and Maia but outbursts have been known to occur. Only 9% of the three day old Moon is (10:21 pm). Taygeta just reappears as illuminated, so its light won’t overpower the Moon sets in the WNW. The Waning Gibbous Moon and Jupiter nearby stars. The event begins at about will be 4º apart before dawn on April 9:57 pm EDT with the occultation of The Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks during 27th. Look to the southeast at 4:00 am. KAS OFFICERS April 2008 Page 9 PRESIDENT Jack Price 343-3193 GETGET OUTOUT & OBSERVE!OBSERVE! [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT APRIL STARGAZING DATES Mike Sinclair 373-7003 Kalamazoo Nature Center ● 7000 N. Westnedge Ave. [email protected] Saturday, April 5 @ 7:00 pm TREASURER Rich Mather Saturn & Orion Nebula 629-5312 [email protected] Saturday, April 19 @ 7:00 pm

SECRETARY/ALCOR Saturn & Full Moon Roger Williams 375-4867 [email protected] with the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Richard S. Bell 373-8942 [email protected] VolunteersVolunteers NeededNeeded

Jean DeMott 381-1406 ScienceScience NightNight [email protected] The KAS has been asked to participate in Science Night at Kellogg Elementary Dick Gillespie again this year. Members are needed to help setup and take down displays, 966-9653 hand out KAS literature, and answer questions from students and parents. [email protected] Members are also needed to setup telescopes for display and maybe even observing. Sunset isn’t until 8:32 pm, but students may stay after for peaks at Dan Morgan Saturn and the Moon. Contact Richard Bell if you’d like to lend a helping hand. 964-3156 [email protected] Kellogg Elementary Tuesday, April 22, 6:30 pm - 8 pm

Bear Tales Saturdays, 11:00 am; Sundays, 1:30 pm

ASI: Cosmos Wednesdays & Saturdays, 2:00 pm

Polar Astronomers Saturdays & Sundays, 3:00 pm

Planetarium admission is $3.00 per person. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is located at 230 North Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo. For more information please call (269) 373-7990 or visit us on the web at www.kalamazoomuseum.org General Meeting Preview

WhatWhat itit TakesTakes toto BuildBuild aa TelescopeTelescope

Presented by Daniel Morgan

Nowadays, backyard telescopes are normally constructed by experienced companies. However, amateur telescope making (ATM) breaks away from the normality of the design and shows what it means to personalize a view of the Universe. The custom telescope can reflect the specific needs and wants of the individual more than the commercial everyday backyard telescope.

Daniel Morgan will discuss the types of telescopes, and the most common telescope built by amateur telescope makers. He will also discuss how he created his very own 18” Dobsonian telescope at the age of 18. Additionally, he will cover the problems he had and show you what it takes to build a telescope.

Friday, April 4 @ 7:00 pm Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center 600 West Vine, Suite 400 • Use Dutton St. Entrance

Kalamazoo Astronomical Society c/o KAMSC STAMP 600 West Vine, Suite 400 Kalamazoo, MI 49008

© April 2008, Stargazer Productions