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The Denver Observer October 2017

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The Denver OCTOBER 2017 OBSERVER Composite photograph of the August 21st solar eclipse, as seen from Weiser, Idaho, with a 10” Newtonian. Image © Joe Gafford OCTOBER SKIES by Zachary Singer The Solar System will be less than ¼° degree apart. Look for Sky Calendar 5 Full Moon Keeping things simple to start, Mercury them due east, about 10° up, around 6 AM 12 Last-Quarter Moon is lost in solar glare this month. (an hour before dawn). The pair will also be th th 19 New Moon Venus is on the way to superior conjunc- quite close to each other on the 4 and 6 , 27 First-Quarter Moon tion in early January—that is, it will swing too. around to line up on the far side of the Sun, Jupiter now lies very low in the west; by from our point of view. Already, the planet midmonth, it will sink below the horizon just In the Observer is 87% illuminated and only 12° up an hour a half-hour after sunset. Superior conjunc- tion is October 26th; when the planet eventu- before dawn. It’s still very noticeable, at President’s Message . .2 magnitude -3.9, which will come in handy ally reappears from the solar glare, it will be Society Directory. 2 when you look for its tight pairing with Mars as a pre-dawn object. (see Mars, next). By Halloween, Venus is only Saturn is sinking towards the west too, Schedule of Events . 2 5° above the horizon an hour before sunrise, but at the beginning of October, it’s still 20° About Denver Astronomical Society . 3 and even lower next month. above the horizon an hour after sunset, and DAS News . 4 Mars is still a lousy target overall (mag. you might still catch a (blurry) look at the +1.8, and only 3.7” across), but it has an rings. By Halloween, Saturn will set an hour impressive conjunction with Venus on the after the sun does, so if you get to observe the morning of the 5th, when the two planets planet at all, it will be low and in twilight. The Observer is available in color PDF format from the DAS Continued on Page 3 website: http://www.denverastro.org/das/denver-observer/ THE DENVER OBSERVER OCTOBER 2017 Society Directory PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Ron Hranac DAS Executive Board Looking Back on a Great Eclipse President: Ron Hranac wow (wou) interject. an exclamation of asked if they were excited that the centerline [email protected] surprise, pleasure, etc. —vt. [Slang] to arouse of the path of totality would be a few blocks Vice President: enthusiasm in from their house. At the time they didn’t know Lindsey Shaw [email protected] anything about the eclipse, so I provided The above is from my tattered copy of some background. I also offered to bring solar Secretary: Ed Ladner Webster’s New World Dictionary, and it aptly telescopes, eclipse glasses, and related activi- [email protected] describes the reaction of millions across the ties for kids and grandkids in exchange for Treasurer: United States to the August 21, 2017 total an overnight stay at their place. They eagerly Michael Nowak [email protected] solar eclipse. I’ve written about “wow factor” agreed. Executive Board Members: in these pages on at least two previous occa- Fast forward to August of this year. My Brent Blake Zach Gilbert sions (see my President’s Message columns youngest daughter—who hadn’t yet been born Julie Candia Ed Scholes in the August 2016 Observer at http://www. the last time a total solar eclipse was visible in Jack Eastman Sorin Joe Gafford Dan Wray denverastro.org/newsletters/august2016_den- the continental U.S.—flew in from southern Past President, Ron Pearson verobserver.pdf and in the October 2013 issue California and joined my wife and me for the President Emeritus, Larry Brooks at https://www.denverastro.org/newsletters/OC- day-before-the-eclipse drive to Casper. Once Committees TOBER2013forweb.pdf). It’s difficult to express past the usual traffic between Denver and Fort Van Nattan-Hansen Scholarship Fund: in words just how much wow factor there is Collins, it was mostly smooth sailing the rest Jeff Tropeano (Chair) in a total solar eclipse, but once someone sees of the way. A Sunday night thunderstorm was PO Box 100621 Denver, CO. 80250-0621 one—especially for the first time—there is no unsettling (we managed to do a little night- EGK Dark Site Committee: question why it’s at the top of the astronomical time observing of Saturn in between clouds), Darrell Dodge, Interim Chair bucket list for many people. but we woke up to a clear sky Monday morn- [email protected] I started making plans for this year’s ing. IDA Representative: Dr. Robert Stencel eclipse a little over four years ago. During a After breakfast, I set up four solar tele- [email protected] class reunion, my wife and I were enjoying a scopes in our hosts’ southeast-facing front Volunteers or Appointed visit with a classmate and her husband (who yard. About 20 of us gathered to observe the Representatives happen to live in Casper, Wyoming), and pre-eclipse Sun and some dandy sunspots. ALCor: Darrell Dodge 303 932-1309 Continued on Page 3 Newsletter Editor: DAS SCHEDULE Zachary Singer 303 718-4188 [email protected] Newsletter Proofreaders: October 2017 Darrell Dodge, Ron Hranac Website: Darrell Dodge 7 DAS Auction—DU’s Historic Chamberlin Observatory—Starts at 11:00 AM (**See p. 8**) [email protected] 7 **E-Board Meeting—At DU’s Historic Chamberlin Observatory, around 3:30 PM—right after IT Coordinator: the auction . All members welcome. Ken Sturrock [email protected] 21 Dark Sky Weekend—EGK Dark Site & Brooks Observatory External Outreach Coordinator: 28 Open House—DU’s Historic Chamberlin Observatory—Starts at 6:00 PM Julie Candia (November 2017) [email protected] 3 DAS General Meeting—DU’s Olin Hall, Rm. 105—Starts at 7:30 PM Public Night Coordinator: Hugh Davidson 303 679-0629 Librarian: Eileen Barela Telescope Loan Program: During Open House, volunteer members of the DAS Public Nights feature a presentation on astronomical Ed Scholes bring their telescopes to the Chamberlin Observa- subjects and a small-group observing session on the [email protected] tory’s front (south) lawn, so the public can enjoy historic 20-inch telescope (weather permitting), at Cham- views of the stars and planets, try out different berlin Observatory on Tuesday and Thursday evenings DAS Information Line: telescope designs, and get advice from DAS mem- (except holidays), beginning at the following times: (303) 871-5172 bers. The Observatory is open, too (costs listed DAS Correspondence: below), and its historic 20-inch telescope is open March 10 - September 30 at 8:30 PM Denver Astronomical Society for observing with no reservations necessary. October 1 - March 9 at 7:30 PM P.O. Box 102738 Denver, Colorado 80250 Open House costs (non-members): If the skies are clear, Public Night costs (non-members): $4/adult, [email protected] $2/person ($5/family), $1/person in inclement weather. $3/child and students with ID. DAS mem- DU students with ID, and DAS members free. New-Member Ambassador: bers and DU students with ID: free. Digby Kirby Members of the public (non-DAS/DU, as above), please [email protected] make reservations via our website (970) 301-2287 (www .denverastro .org) or call (303) 871-5172. http://www.denverastro.org The Denver Astronomical Society One Mile Nearer the Stars - 2 - ∞ THE DENVER OBSERVER OCTOBER 2017 President’s Message Continued from Page 2 After first contact, kids and grownups alike had fun projecting -im clouds appearing in parts of the sky (the Sun was in-between them). ages of the partially eclipsed Sun with homemade pinhole projec- Indeed, the clouds more or less stayed out of the way until just tors and crossed fingers, looking at crescent shadows under trees before fourth contact, when they finally covered the almost-back- and shrubs, and enjoying views through eclipse glasses and the to-normal Sun. filtered ’scopes. We stayed one more night in Casper, avoiding the nasty traffic During the partial phases between first and second contact, I back to Colorado. It took many people 11 to 12 hours on Monday to urged folks to watch each other’s reactions in addition to enjoying make the southbound journey on I-25. Tuesday’s trip was speed- the eclipse (and shared details about eclipse-related phenomena to limit-plus, until the usual traffic slowdowns from Fort Collins back watch for), explaining that I have seen people shed tears, scream, to Denver. and experience various other emotional reactions to totality. No surprise: Nearly everyone in our group agreed that the As second contact approached, the temperature dropped; roughly two-and-a-half minutes of totality went by much too Denver TV station CBS4’s mobile weather lab—in town for the quickly. eclipse—reported seven degrees, and the Casper airport nine de- It might be nearly seven years away, but people are already mak- grees. Shadows got sharper, and streetlights came on. Totality and ing plans for the next total solar eclipse visible in the U.S., which the beautiful corona (and some visible prominences) brought gasps takes place on Monday, April 8, 2024. The path of totality sweeps of amazement and lots of oohs and aahs. There were more gasps northeasterly from Texas to Maine. NASA has an interactive eclipse and wows when the diamond ring appeared at third contact. Neigh- map on their web site at https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SE- bors set off fireworks.
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