ilntt . nt t Astron o m {fre (Focafeolni

Years of Vol. X No. 7 December, 1997

December12th Meeting of the Atlante a new,modern 5060 s€t planetariutrLThis spacewould be AstroDomyClub et the Fernbank usedfor clasroom teachingand OpenHouse wents. We Planeterium. also have proposedthe p:rcbase of two 16' Meade This month's meetingwill be held on Decenber telescopes,orE of which would be located at the l2th at the Fen$ankScierpe Center's Planetarium at 8:00. Observatory,ard theoth€r at a dark site, rcmotetyoperated. Dueto thBWinter Holidays,tlrc meting is scheduledftr This plan would allow us to haveone modemtelescolE at thes€cond not thethird weekin December.Fernbank will the Observatoryfor pedagogicalpurposes, ard anotbr be tEating us io a Christmaspla:rtarium so pleasecorre modemtelescope in dark skies for student and facdty outand enjoy youself. rEs€archFojects. olr proposalis pan of the College's MasterPla4 and ny bope is rhAt the addition can!e Bredley Notes . dedicatedat lbe 50th Amivenary of tb€ Brddlery by CbrisDe Pree Observatoryin Jure,2000. BradleyObservatory, Agnes Scott College Firully, we arcplanning to usethe Beck telescope in It's beena busy monthat the BradleyObsewatory. thedorp for OpenHouse events, student observing, ard an The semesteris wirding down,ard we only haveamther atrnosphericsensing project with GeorgiaTech Research fewdays of classat AgrresScon College. Helerc Diclcel d Institute.This type of res€archis caled LIDAR (a fte theUniversity of Illinois at UftartaChampagrc was our fir$ BradleyT-shirt to the fr$ en!.il I get conecdyexplaining guestOpen House lecuer at the Obsewatorylast month. wbat LIDAR standsfor!), ard can be used to Fobe IIer visit went extetrEly well; shcwas able to speakwith temperahrc,oensity, and compositionof the aunospherE. studentsin the rryperlevel GalacticAstommy couse as We will be movingalrcad with this plan in the spring. well as with sone seniorhigh schoolgds who carneto I wishyou all a HappyHoliday SeasonIf you have visit from SL PiusX school.Though the weatlrcr was poor, ary questions or comments, ple€se email rne at wehad good atrendance for hertalk on November?th [email protected] call meat (404)6386266. This monthwe will haveour Holidry OpenHouse on December5th, ad I will lecirG on the topic of "What Something to Consider was the of Betl etpm?' Phinp Saccowill be in by Philip Sacco dtendarEewith his Dobsonianto belp our gu€stslook d In firy readingsI lave comeacKrss many inreEsting thelovely anargement of plarFtsin the southwestemsky at itemsof considention Orc of theseis caled frojfadqtal sunsetSpecial thanks to Philip for providingnp with some lctsitg AlbenEinst€in purpofis that spaceis "curved"by geal softwarcto showthe plaEtaty positionsin ttp spring gEvity ad tlE neasurcof the qln/dur€ is the anount d of 7 B.C. TlErc t,as a triple conjurction of Jupiterard gravityan objecthas. This irrylies tbat light itsef conldb€ Sahrm thet occu[ed on W 29, Sepember29 ad bent arourdvery stlong gravitationalfrelds. Becaused December4 whichis perh4s tlF originof th€'staf story. that,some lheorized that €xg€mely dislant and fainr objects I pomisedto dcscribcsomc of thechanges that uG hopewill occurh tb E fifrrt€ at lhe Obs€watory.In theshort tem\ we havcordct€d two rEw lvtreadeLX50 8' telescopesfor theAstrcrDmy l2l course(secord setrEster inuoductoryastlonory) in the spring.The Astommy 120 cou$e in the spring will contirnr to use our C8 telescopes.We aI€also having the physical plant build an enclosureso 0|atthe Celestron Cl4 rhatwas in the dome will havea penrurEnthonrc on thc observationdeck Finally we have ordereda radio telescopesetup iom Jeft€y Lichtman'scompary, ald lope to have that operationalin thespring. We also havesome larger plans. The Depaffiiem of Physicsard Astronomyhas poposed the building d anaddition on the mrth sideof therObsewatory to hous6 might beconrc visible if" their liglt is b€nt ard acnrally The coune's home page is located at focusedarourd a large masssuch as a gala! . This wasfi$t http://hubcap.clernson.edu/-rickeym/asironom].. statedin 1937but was provedin 1979when t$o idemical html. Included on the home page arc descriptions d quasa$where spottedvery close togeth€r. lt was exuemety asfonomy laboratoryexercises, which Mr. McDaniel cals unlikely that there would be idemical twin quasa$, so it "Skylabs", examplesof past exams, and links to additioml mustbe the light from a single qusar being warpedamurd rcsouces, inctuding tlrc course's text book. The course an imisible . IrnagitE ttelt Vhat we have in efect corce nttes on Solar System asuoft)my, ard its exercis€s is a telescopemade o of an entire galary! and topics help understandthe planets, moons, and other Since thert' many otlrr lens objects have b€en solar systembodies. A couple of the labsconcenlrate on the discovercd. In some casestlr galary is bright enough!o be movenent of the eartl and otlFr planets, puning somc seen. In one casethe quasarimages arc slighrly differcft due perspectiveon our placein the solar systern to the frt that the path of the liglt from one side is a bit The Inrernet, and particularly the World Wide Web longer then ftom the other by se\-elal ligbt yean. Think have becometlrc home gouod for marry experim€ntsin aboutthis for a minute..... that meanswe have two images electonic delivery ard electrnic educatiol The LAP'TAG of the same object...... butat Virtual School (Los Angeles Plrysics Teachers AlliarEe dillercnt times! Group) is orc such experinent. The home page, locatedar htF ://coke.physics.ucla"eduflaptag/ The Web Astronomer Astro.dir/asto.html presentsa "Virtual School Astommy by cil shillcutt Course", which foeses on th€ scierce of astronomy - s!€ctr4 light curvesand data analysis. Asroweb l0l The labs are prEsentedas MS Word files for downloading, and explor€ Writing a colurnntends to foc s vadous topics zuch as the amount d yoqr thoughs. when I starteddoing the enersr releasedin a celestial impoct "Web Astmmmei' I wonderedlpw and tri+olor imagery. This site is marrytopics I'd be able to write about. text-intensive. and thercfoe loads To my chagdn,not only arcth€rc erDugh quickly. Therc arEeven pointe$ to a topics to write about, I ftd tbat ther€ arc too many! couple of neat shaEwarcapplicatioN; Narrowing your focus is tougl\ but listening to what others Skyglob€, a placurium prognm, and have questions about ard wherc their interess lie helps. GeoCloclqa program lhat superimposesimages of clock One of the club membersasked during the last neeting over arEisof tle globe, showing the time at each of ODse whether or not dErc werc any rcsourc€savailable on the locations. lnternet. What a geal topic - pef€ct for the "Web Taking a sornewhatditreFnt appmactr Jack Troeger Asuomrnef'. of lowa Stab Univeisiiyi'as creaicda 1r€'opage desigEd to As with marrydisciplircs, asEonomy encompasscs a tate the beginner though basic steps to understanding greilt vadety of sp€cializedfields, ard varying levels d astronomy better. Entitled "An Astronomy Course br commitmenttom its practitioners.Knowing that you'rE Middle'High School Students", this site is located at interestedin astonomywithout krowing whatspecific areas http://wlr.w.cnde.iastate.edu of endeavoryou're intercstedin is like krnwingyou wantO /stafr/jEoegEr/astronomy.htsnl. paint something, but not kmowing arything about In the cous€, studentsare taken tbrough a seriesd techniquesor subjects. You might achlallyget something anicles,each with a seriesof links to otlEr astFnomy w€b on thecarvas, but you probablywon't be pleasedwith the pagesand to olher articles. Mr. Tmeger prcsenls sxch Fsults,ard won't careto try agai!. topics as "Light Pollution'', "Obsewing the Night Sky", Somebasics can get you srarteddown tbe riglrt pao. "Binoculars and Telescopes"," ard Quasa$" and The AAC is a g€at resourcefor th€ basics,and nothing Cosmolog5r.Along the way, he prcsentsinfomration on tlE beatsoneon{ne instructionad guidance.But lef s fu it mooq planets, sta$ anl nebulae. An article of particular folk - if you wantto catchsotrF d interestto AACers is the section on light pollutioq which the nnrc experiencedclub menbe$ showsphotographs of the Big in a seningappmpriate for leamirg Dipper with and without liE}lt asllosrmy, you've got to travel to pollution The photographd Villa Rica or someother observing a sectionof th€ rural Midwest site, purchasebooks at whal€vercost, or go about it on your (with Chicago in one conrr) own Another option would be to tate im asttonomy cDrlse shows how Fevalenr ttE ftom a local community college, but that costs a lot, and problernis. There's sven a you've got to be able to stick to a r€gular schedule. light pollution map of the = Severalcolleg€s have recognizedthis fe! aflt hfle elfire US that's pointed to dweloped w${ased cours€s. Not or y does this allow viaa link. Atlanta is all too peopleto take cours€stlut OK,yotherwise would mt be able easy to pick out of this map. to attend, it allows the anateur a glimpse of the course But not to despak, links arc materials. Rick McDaniel of tbe &eeNille Technical provided to show the student College in Greerville, South Carolina has made available what can be done to combat 'AST suppl€mentarymaterials for the College's lof' light pollution and to become involved. I fourd that sonE @ulse. of the links were sersitive to lhe version of browser that I 2 wils using, ard sonp did not allow permissionsto e€ss Roxborobecomes Wieuca on the other side of petrhfte the page. These were most litely due to the secrurity Stay in right larrc when crossing Perhtee The toad fircwal tllat I must traverse to get !o the IntenEt. will fo* again at traffic light/stop sign. Stay to tlE Nonetheless,most articles ar€ well written and to the poilt, riglrt to tlr€ stop sign ard provide information imponant to urdertanding o Take Wieuca to Whittin8on asEonomy. B€st of a[, you cal leam about itstromrry on . Take a left on Whitti-ngton(past GA 400 overyass,lsr yol[ own tine, witbout baving lo sperd any morc tban cautionlight) your I emet Service kovider fee and a tittle bit of your trme. A Paradox by Philip Sacco HOLIDAY SOCIAL Ary Zombie in the club knows what is liable to MaJkyour c€lendars now! happenwhen afler midnight, someorrcask within earsbotd When:SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 me....."Haveyou wer considereddp infinite dimensionsd Wlere: TtF Crowleys the Cosmos....",or any suchthin9...... Fair Game, 3912Whi0ington Drive, NE ard a good numberof our new rnembersare hip to tlre gam (seedirectiors below) ad the fim that ensuesfiom ttr menal exercise.....Well, Time:7:00PM hets is one for you to chew o[ It is known as Olberst Dress:Festive Prradol you: Bring favoriteHor d'oewrc and beverage.The club Heinrich Olbes lived in the lE00's, and was wbd will provide 'celestial softdriJ*s, mixers,etc. he called a se|f admitted policeman', and avid anateur astronornerwlD was rcsponsible for discoverhg RSVP:Lynn & Tom Cmwley (,lt)4)233{886 or (Aq two of tlF frst four ascroids wer found along with a ChrissyMondell 2964332 numberof corFts. DIRECTIONS: Olben askeda rathr silly question: "Wlry is tb Whittington Drive is d Wieuca Road in Nortl sky dark at night?'. All righfi, stop laughing now... His Bucktpad Wieuca nrns b€tweenRoswell Road and queslion was poised to question tlE ftct that spoce PeachtreRoad. was uniformly filled with , ard infinite. Therefore, b From North of Atlrnt.: mused no matter what dircction a peEon would look the o TakeI-285 to the RoswellRoad Exit o would be looking at the slldaceofa star. Then why isn't TakeRoswell Road Soulh toward Atlanta to Wieuca the night sky as briglt as tlrc ? You will pass: What do you Think?!...... I'll The Pradoon the right just past (lst?) ffic light entettainyour answeEat the meetingon tbe 19th, and bope GlenridgeDrive on tbe l€fr at next f$c liglt Mt. sameonewill g€t i: corleci....Ccse on LenB)',shcw you: Pann Roadon tbe right at Dextffi light Foudain $fi just past OaksShopping Center on tbe h& next light Observing Schedule WindsorParloray on the left at rcxt ffic light West Wieucaat nextintersectiort-affic light WieucaRoad d Dec 6th BEGINNERIPLJBLICOBSERVING SESSION rExtinters€ction/trafrc light LOCATION: Villa Ric4 BarberObservatory Takea left on WieucaRoad DESCRIPTION: Joir the Atlanta Astronomy Club to gpt Take a right on Whittington (top of hill on Wieuca, hrnds on instnrction in beginning astonomy and obserue 2ndcaution light) the Mesier Objects. Please brilg your scopes ard tr'romSouth of Athntr: bimculars. This is a rain or shine event. Bring a stool or Take I-75, I-85, or I-20 to tlF DowntownConstor folding chair for your comfon This is a rain or shine event North075/185 North) Weath€rmay peclude tb viewing ponioh o1'dle evgning, Takethe Downtom Connectorto theI75lI85 split bc*€ver any nrmber wanting to get clEcked out on tb TakeI-85 Norrhat the split equipmenra:d wanting tlle combos to tbe facility Must TakeI-85 to NorthDruid Hills Road makeore of tbeseOrieruations. The Beginrers OriematioN Takea left on North DnridHils Road.closs over I-85 will inclde a slar grazeaffer tbe conclusionof the orientation CrcssBrtrod Higbay (lst inaersectioduafficligtt & which is scbeduledat this time to always b€gin at 7PM crossingover V85) sharp.Tlle timing of the sessionsmay changewith the fbw FollowNorth Dnrid HiIs Roadto tb rExt light. The of participation All Orientationswill be at Villa Rica. madwill fod<,Roxboro Road on the left, Druid Hills Decl3th on tlF righl MembersSocial ard Party. Welcome all our new nEmbels Takethe left fork on RoxboroRoad. of the ard enjoy a little Yule-time Chee/. Hosted by Follow Roxboroto Wieuca Lynn ard Tom Crowl€y at their home. Dircctions in this a You will pass: issue. GoodwinRoad iatersectionat lst ffic light Ilr8p Dec3fth Condo/Apanrnentcomplex on righ(2fli& 3rd(?)ffic LOCATION: Wyrodick's Fields, Dahloneg4 GA lights)Pass under wooden niLoad bridg€ DESCRIPTION: Join memben of the Atlanta Asuommy Passthru 2 moretrafftc lightc Club at memberJim Wyrodick's obsering site in north Roadwill fo* agair! stayto the kn but in the right Georgia.Located on a hilloch Jims site ofers 360 degre€s laneCircuit City sits in the middle of this fod

Finally, ils that time of yearthat I mostappreciate; cold andclear. Its really the best time of the yearfor.observing. as far asI'm concemed.However, let's not forgetihe seasoneither. PyS.ryloOyis busy with last minuteshopping and their concemsfoi the holiday season. With that in mind, this month'sstar-hop will 6e simple and topical; tlre " Christnias Tree Cluster", NGC 2264.

|lthoqgh rathersmall andnot visible o the nakedeye, the ChrisunasTree Cluster is easily located in the extreme north-westerncomer of the often overlooked constellatioir Monoceros. Although this constellationis easily overlooked and lacking in significant referencestars, NGC 2264can be easilylocated by way of the constellationGemini which is locatedimmediately !o the norrh.

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At this time of year, is still in the eastemsky and rcally not visible until later in the evening as it culminates,or passesthe meridiandirecdy overhead,at about 2 AM during Decemeber(i.e., you'll have to stay up late o really see this cluster well!). Using the consteUationOrion as a quick orientationpoint, theconstellation Gemini is locatedabout 30 degrees,perhaps 1 and a half timesthe distancespanned by your handheld at arm's length oeainstthe nigbt slry, to the northeastof the "belr' of Orion-

Once you've located the constellationGemini, find the star Xi (E) Geminorum, the southeastemmost foot of the Cemini trvin headedby the starPollux, Beta (0) Geminorum. From Xi Geminorum,NGC 2264 is lx,ated a litde more than 3 degreesto the southwest, or about the distancespanned by two fingers held at arm's length againstthe night sky. Hereyou'll note a brightstar, 15 Ceminorum,embedded within thecenter of a clusterof stars. Using the club's 20 inch (51 cm) t€lescopeat the BarberObservatory, I found the clusterto be very apparent.Additionally, at moderatelyhigh power, I found a suggestion of nebulosityaround 15 Geminorum.If you have a nebulafilter the nebulosity might be more apparenl Take a look This is a relativelybright clusterand you should be able o find it in even smallertelescopes. Does it look like a ChristnasTre€? What do you think?

HAPPY H@LTDAYS AATD A GRtrATAfltrVV

YtrARI!ootrr We'rehere to help! Here'show to reachus: Addres tor-New Memb€rshipq &.lgryab' Mqazirr slibscripton3,ard BookOdetr: Ad.ntr A.tsonomy Club 355 Cfr5oRod, &lbA$G fr.rL0r GA 3G3 Ailrntr A.botromy Club Infonn ltonLin : Z0€21.2661 Ini..nra Homa Pag.: htF://sftpb.gti.gabdr.edr/esatobdadastF.hbnl

Ofncers, Bo.rd, Art Russell 404-313-4t19 [email protected] Ricb Jakiel dccosky @ oiadsohorlcom Phil Sacco 404-296-6332 [email protected] Pat Sammons 770-949-9715 ir".-oor@-1."o- & Books Tushar Thrivilramal 770-270-O742 [email protected] Gi.orlYMsuldio.Kinrev 7 70 - 414-9383 [email protected] Daviil Hanon Board of Directqs 7 06-931-3593 [email protected] JamesMontoc Board of Dircctors 7 70-972-5605 [email protected] SchoolsOutr€rch Coordinalor Kemper SDiih Board of Dirlctors 770-97 4-5035 [email protected] Tom-Crcwlev Board of Dirccto6, Cbsimsn 770-233-6886 [email protected] Joe Sbepparil Boad of Directors 7 70-784-7 592 [email protected] ATM SDecialInleEst CrouD Don Hall Board of DirEctors 770-938-8139 [email protected]

Strndlns ComElttecs Ken Posb-cdlv PcachStalr Star Gazc Chaiman 770-979-9842 keo.poshedly@EiDdcprirg,com Tom Bucbaoio Licht Pollutio! ChairE.n 770-587-O774 Dour Chcsser Cl-ub CraDhicr 770-457-5743 [email protected] Rich-ardJakicl VIP Coordioator [email protected] Assistant hosr8E Cbailms! Aler l,alcouseis Publicitv 170-429-8384 [email protected] Mark Banlls Dark-si6 obs Cbairma! 404-251.2766 Sdwlk AstronoDv So€cial Inlercst Gm ChrissYMoodell HosDitalitv aod Reficsbmcos Lvnn Crowlev Becimeii Contactand Socials [email protected] sGDhenBldl6ck AAC Webmaster 7 70-924-6r t4 stephe!,[email protected] The FocalPoint N€wsletter df The Atlanta Astronomy Club, Inc. . .::1 FROM: Tushar Thrivikraman 3629 Winbrooke Lane Tucker, Georgia 3{X}84 [email protected] FIRST CLASS

Thp Ad&ta Astsooo.DyClub lrc., thc Scrthl lrrgart .rd old..n astroDomical!oci.ty, trE |l I 8:O p.n oo thc 6ird Ridey of cech Ebdth at Emory UDivc6ity'r Wlic Hdl d occ8ionrlly .r odrcr loc.riou (drcak thc hd U!? fo. drrailt). Mcmbcnhip it op.! to dl. A!!td drcs 'Ic J25 (310 for $doDt!). DisconllEd srhrcaiptions to Astonomy, .dd Sky & TcLlcopo nugazile: arc avail.blc, S.od duat lo: Thc Athatr Arrroomy c|u\ Inc.' 3595 Coroo Roc4 Sdtc A9.3o5, Mutcllr' Gr. 30066.

Hot Une Tirncly infotmation cn thc light sky .trd artorcrny i! th€ Adalr4 erar ir availaHa or e twcDty-four hour b.si! otr thc Atl.!!r AsEoaomyClub hot line 70{21-2661.

Check dra o|lt ASTRO discussiotr tbt o[ tb. lrtcmet: A.STRO@Mb&pdag.corD. Also vitit or[ lotcm.r homc-p.gc: h{p://dt!b.aari€.a.cL.do/rta!t6/.tL.tlolb

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