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Prime Focus (11-08) Highlights of the November Sky. -- -- -- 1st -- -- -- Dusk: Thin crescent Moon appears 7º or 8º to the left PPrime Focuss of Venus. A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society -- -- -- 2nd -- -- -- AM: Saturn 0.1º from 4.0 magnitude star Sigma November 2008 Leonis (use telescope). -- -- -- 3rd -- -- -- PM: Crescent Moon less than 3º to Jupiter’s lower ThisThis MonthsMonths KAS EventsEvents left.left. -- -- -- 5th -- -- -- First Quarter Moon General Meeting: Friday, November 7 @ 7:00 pm -- -- -- 13th -- -- -- Kalamazoo Math & Science Center - See Page 12 for Details Full Moon Field Trip: Saturday, November 8 @ 5:00 pm -- -- -- 17th -- -- -- Dusk: Venus appears 5′′ toto Abrams Planetarium & MSU Observatory - See Page 3 for Details 8′′ belowbelow 2.82.8 magnitudemagnitude Lambda Sagittarii. Board Meeting: Sunday, November 9 @ 5:00 pm -- -- -- 19th -- -- -- Sunnyside Church - 2800 Gull Road - All Members Welcome Last Quarter Moon -- -- -- 21st -- -- -- AM: Crescent Moon about 5º to Saturn’s right. Inside the Newsletter. -- -- -- 24th -- -- -- Inside the Newsletter. PM: Venus 1º to the upper right of 2.1 magnitude October Meeting Minutes.................... p. 2 Sigma Sagittarii. Board Meeting Minutes......................... p. 3 -- -- -- 27th -- -- -- New Moon Field Trip Itinerary................................. p. 3 Starbooks................................................. p. 4 -- -- -- 29th -- -- -- Dusk: Thin crescent Moon Great Lakes Star Gaze Report............ p. 5 very low in southwest, about 20º lower right of The Almost Perfect Night.................... p. 7 Venus and Jupiter. Sneak Peak Inside Comet Holmes...... p. 9 -- -- -- 30th -- -- -- November Night Sky............................. p. 10 PM: Jupiter only 2º from Venus. KAS Officers & Announcements........ p. 11 Crescent Moon about 8º to General Meeting Preview..................... p. 12 the planet’s lower right. www.kasonline.org OctoberOctober MeetingMeeting MinuteMinutess The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society Photographing the Sun and Moon were then covered. Close- was brought to order by President Jack Price on Friday, Octo- up images of the solar and lunar disk can be obtained with ber 3, 2008 at 7:18 pm EDT. Approximately 22 members and longer focal length refracting or catadioptric (i.e. Schmidt- guests were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math & Cassegrain) telescopes. However, Richard recommended Science Center (KAMSC). webcams for extreme close-ups of the Sun, Moon, or planets. These gadgets are very easy to use and entry level versions KAS tradition says that the October meeting be devoted to the can be purchased for about $100. art of astrophotography and this year was no different. How- ever, it was decided to do away with the astrophotography For those aspiring to do prime focus deep sky imaging one contest for the time being, since the same people were enter- day, Richard recommended buying a good quality German ing and winning the contest every year. Perhaps the contest equatorial mount. Losmandy currently makes the lowest cost, will return once more members aim their cameras skyward. high-quality German mounts; the GM-8 and G-11. German mounts are easier to polar align than fork-mounted telescopes Richard Bell kicked things off with an informal presentation and different types of telescopes can be easily interchanged. called Basic Astrophotography. There are many books geared specifically toward astrophotography, but Richard said either Everyone then enjoyed donuts and apple cider, the traditional NightWatch or The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide would be October meeting snack, during the break. Jim Kurtz had a good choices for the beginner. Both books have excellent few fine astrophotos on display in the Commons Area (one of chapters on the subject. (These titles will soon be available for which is shown here). Roger Williams then shared many fine purchase on the new KAS web site.) images taken with his SBIG ST-8E CCD camera and 10-inch Newtonian reflector. Roger started with some images of Richard discussed the current lineup of Canon Digital SLR comets (including Holmes and Boattini) and then several deep cameras and then covered tripod astrophotography. Aside sky objects. These include the Wild Duck Cluster (M11), from a steady tripod, all that is needed is a 24-28mm and/or NGC 5676, the Fetus Nebula (NGC 7008), the Blue Snowball 50mm lens to capture portraits of the constellations, northern (NGC 7662), and the “Trifid of the North” (NGC 1579). lights, conjunctions of the Moon and planets, and much more. Roger then showed some great images of Saturn, the Moon, Longer exposures can be obtained by constructing a barn- and the hydrogen-alpha Sun taken with his new Lumenera door tracker or purchasing a low-cost German equatorial planetary camera. It was mentioned that many of the images mount. Guided exposures allow you to step up to telephoto taken by KAS Members will be posted on the new web site, lenses or short focal length refractors. so you’ll be able to check out their best images year-round. Jack Price and Richard Bell then gave a report of the sixth annual Great Lakes Star Gaze (see page 5 for a full report). Jean DeMott was vacationing on Drummond Island during the same weekend as the Great Lakes Star Gaze and reported very dark skies there. The Chinese space program had its first ever space-walk on September 27th. Two of the three astronauts on the Shenzhou 7 mission exited the spacecraft for about 20 minutes. The final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed again. A communication problem has shut the telescope down. However, engineers built a backup several years ago, so the astronauts need extra training to properly install the device. Bob Cox reported that Ross Township has successfully passed a dark sky ordinance. This could become a template Jim Kurtz obtained this image of the eastern portion of for other ordinances around the area. Richard asked for ideas the Veil Nebula (NGC 6992) between August 24-27, 2008. and volunteers to obtain funding for our special Astronomy A total of 5.5 hours of exposure were taken with an SBIG Day event in 2009. Volunteers are also needed at the WMU’s ST-2000XCM CCD camera and Tele Vue 85 apochromatic st refractor. The Veil Nebula is the remains of a star that Education Day at the Seelye Center on November 1 . Drop exploded as a Type II supernova approximately 15,000 the KAS President a note if you’d like to lend a hand. The years ago. It’s located in the constellation Cygnus. meeting concluded at 9:50 pm. Prime Focus Page 2 November 2008 Field Trip Board Meeting Minutes Field Trip ToTo East Lansing The officers and at-large members of the KAS assembled for The KAS returns to East Lansing for the first time in 3 years a board meeting on Sunday, October 5, 2008. President Jack on NOVEMBER 8th. We’ll enjoy another show in Abrams Price brought the meeting to order at about 5:15 pm. Other Planetarium and attend the last Open House of the year at the board members present include Richard Bell, Jean DeMott, MSU Observatory. Our itinerary will include: Dick Gillespie, Rich Mather, Dan Morgan, and Mike Sinclair. 1. Meet in State Systems Radio parking lot for carpooling KAS Treasurer Rich Mather reported that little has changed between 4:45 - 4:55 pm. since last months board meeting. The Account Balances re- (State Systems Radio is located at 5090 Sprinkle Road, port showed an overall total of $14,742.82, with $689.23 in located just south of Kilgore Road on the west side of the checking account. The difference is invested in CD’s. Sprinkle.) The November General Meeting attraction will be a program 2. Depart for East Lansing at 5:00 pm. on the Explorer 1 probe, which celebrated its 50th anniversary 3. Stop for dinner at Turkeyville at 6:00 pm. in January. Opening nominations for 2009 board members will also be held at the November meeting. Jean DeMott re- 4. Arrive at Abrams Planetarium at 7:30 pm. ported that she’ll soon begin preparations for the Holiday 5. Abrams Planetarium show at 8:00 pm. Admission paid by th Party to be held at the Annual Meeting on December 5 . The the KAS (members only). Board then voted to approve another field trip to Abrams Preview: The Cowboy Astronomer... Planetarium and MSU Observatory on November 8th. A skillfully woven tapestry of star tales and Native Ameri- General Meeting topics for 2009 were covered and Richard can legends, combined with constellation identification, reported much success in finding top notch speakers. Every star-hopping, and astronomy tidbits--all told from the month is now booked with the exception of November. Mike unique viewpoint of cowboy poet and storyteller Baxter Sinclair said he’d check if a former KAMSC student, now at Black, who has traveled the world plying his trade and Cal-Tech, might be willing to give a talk if she’s back in the learning the sky along the way. area visiting with family at the right time. 6. Attend MSU Observatory Open House from 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm (weather permitting). Viewing through the 24” Preparations for Astronomy Day 2009 were discussed. Neil Boller and Chivens Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope. deGrasse Tyson’s unwillingness to give presentations near the weekend ruled him out as the keynote speaker of the event. 7. Depart for Kalamazoo at ~11:00 pm. Timothy Ferris is available and tentatively booked to speak on th 8. Arrive in Kalamazoo at ~12:30 am. May 30 . Michael Francis, the actor who portrays Galileo and Miller Auditorium are also tentatively booked for May 30th. For last minute details please attend the General Meeting on However, we may miss out if another organization steps in th with immediate payment, so funding needs to be located November 7 (the day before the trip).
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