Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club www.charlotteastronomers.org

CAAC November 2019 Meeting

Place: Next Meeting: Friday November 15th, 2019 Myers Park Baptist Church Education Building – Shalom Hall (Basement) Time: 7:00 PM Address: 1900 Queens Road Charlotte, NC 28207

Topic:

Celestial Navigation on the High Seas in the Age of GPS: Is it still relevant?

Speaker:

Don Olive is an Associate Professor of physics and astronomy and Director of the Williams Observatory at Gardner-Webb University (GWU). He has served the university for 13 years. In addition to his teaching duties within the Department of Natural Sciences, he offers a variety of seminar courses in the GWU Honors Program including a Templeton Award winning course on Issues in Science and Religion, as well as a popular course examining American Culture and the History of Rock & Roll. Dr. Olive attended Carson-Newman College for undergraduate studies with further studies at Vanderbilt University, where he earned both an M.S. and Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics having performed experiments at Oak Ridge National Lab, Indiana University, Texas A&M University, and at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds in Caen, France. Outside the classroom, he plays percussion in a rock band and hosts a weekly open mic at GWU for aspiring musicians. He is also an avid sailor and sailboat racer. Most recently, he completed his fourth transatlantic sailboat voyage on a 40-ft boat traveling from Lewisporte in Newfoundland, Canada, to Cork, Ireland, by way of the Azores archipelago.

From the President

A tip of the hat to Jim Gaiser and his helpers for another great Cosmic Camporee. Approximately 50 people or more enjoyed a beautiful day at the GHRO along with a stellar evening of observing. The GHRO is your observatory for you and your family’s enjoyment. The GHRO is a premier facility of which we are all proud.

Another tip of the hat to Charlie and Gwen Clayton. Again we will be observing our annual Holiday Tradition with our Holiday party at the home of Charlie and Gwen Clayton on December 7. Charlie will be at the meeting on Friday with details for this year’s celebration. Please note that due to the party there will not be a regular meeting of the CAAC during the month of December.

A final tip of the hat to Charlie Starks. Night Sky Network has become the means of communication with our members about events at the GHRO, outreach and special events. Before we had Night Sky Network Charlie took it upon himself in 2001 to set up a Yahoo Group for club communications. That platform served us well until the Night Sky Network became available. The Yahoo Groups are disbanding, I want to give Charlie a big THANK YOU for his early efforts for efficient club comminutions.

Ken Steiner President [email protected]

CAAC Treasurer's Report as of 10/31/2109

Part 1 of 2 Operating Fund Purpose: Enable the CAAC to pursue our non-profit goals, maintain our facilities, and run our programs:  Funds are acquired through ongoing receipts of dues, fees, and annual net Southern income (or expense).  Funds are expended to meet operating obligations of the club. 1 Operating Fund Balance: 9-30-2019 $9166.48 2 Income Dues & Fees 3000.00 Pad Fees 175.00 Donation 85.00

Expenses

Transfer to savings 60.00 3 GHRO facility 400.00 GHRO Utilities 604.93 Fees for Credit Card Service 78.60 Meeting Expense 262.24 Insurance 516.22 Sproles Equipment 800.00

4 Operating Fund Balance: 10-31-2019 $9704.49

Part 2 of 2 Non-Operating Funds Purpose: Administer gifts and donations for designated use. 1 Balance 9-30/2019: Non-Operating Funds Scholarship Fund 3989.36 Contingency Fund 27,942.79 Long-Term Fund 10,247.86 2 Income Donation: 0.00 Interest 1.041.08

Expenses or Transfer 3 Transfer from Checking 60.00 4 Balance 10-31/2019: Non-Operating Funds Scholarship Fund 3989.36 Contingency Fund 28,003.87 Long-Term Fund 10,247.86

Endowment Fund balance $1240.06

DUES and FEES ARE DUE NOW Club Dues and GHRO fees totaling $60 are now due for our fiscal year October 2019 through September 2020. You can pay them using your credit card at the CAAC website www.charlotteastronomers.org or by cash or check at the meeting. For those of you who have private pads, don’t forget to include your pad fee for the year. Thanks Benton Kesler CAAC Treasurer News from GHRO

1. A lot of fun was had at the Mercury transit on November 11. 7 or 8 of us gathered at GHRO and observed using the 8” Clark refrator and the Lundt 100 mm H-alpha scope, as well as personal scopes.

2. Cosmic Camporee was a blast, about 50 of you braved the chilly temperatures for some great food, games and nice viewing. It was ONLY 31 degrees F on Sunday morning, but those hearty souls enjoyed bacon, eggs and pancakes. Looking forward to a great November start party on the 23rd. 3. The final telescope training for 2019 is November 30 beginning at 5 PM. I know it’s the Thanksgiving weekend, but there are really no other available dates. If you plan to attend, I must know by Wednesday the 27th. Send me an e-mail at [email protected] 4. We’re having a chain saw party on Saturday, November 23. The trees in the south area at GHRO need to come down, but we need your help. Please sign up by sending me a note indicating that you can help us. We’ll need all the help we can get, whether you have a chain saw or not. We plan to start at 8:30 AM and work until we’re done…I suspect early afternoon. This is also the star party that same Saturday, so if you want to come down for the day, I’ll provide dinner for those who can stay through. Please let me know your plans via e- mail at [email protected]. 5. Finally, remember that beginning with the November star party (November 23), motorized vehicles will not be allowed beyond the parking lot after dusk at CAAC star parties. A hand truck and cart will be available to assist in transporting equipment from the observing pads to the parking lots.

Here’s the schedule for 2020 star parties, training and Southern Star. Of course, this is subject to change but it should allow you to plan your year for the most part.

2020 Star Parties and Training schedule - CAAC

GHRO Star Telescope

Party Training January 25 18

February 22 15 March 21 14

April 23-26 (SS) 18 May 23 16 June 20 13 July 18 11 August 22 15 September 19 12 October 17 10 November 14 7 December None 5 Information (see http://1drv.ms/1m2wPUn)

GHRO is located at 1427 Bloomwood Drive, Lancaster, SC. (some GPS show city as Pageland). Gravel road leading to the observatory is located 5.22 miles east of the "522 Grill" on Taxahaw, Rd.

Facebook FAQ https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteAstronomers/ scroll down to NOTES, then Frequently Asked Questions page for more information about GHRO. Be sure to share your astronomy photos and observing tips.

Night Sky Network -- "Heading to GHRO" For updates on GHRO, be sure to join the https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm "Heading to GHRO" message group.

Jim Gaiser, Director GHRO.

As always, we care about the safety and security of all visitors to our observing facility, the GHRO. To keep us all mindful for the need to keep alert while visiting the observatory, we provide the following reminder. Please share this with your family and any visitors who may join you at the observatory.

*** WARNING ***

This facility and adjoining area may contain uneven terrain, dangerous wildlife, low light conditions, and dangerous man-made obstacles.

By using this facility, users assume the risk of personal injury, and loss or damage to personal property. All persons should use extreme caution at all times.

Users of this facility agree to hold harmless the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers Club, its Directors, and its members for any and all injuries sustained while participating in club activities or using this facility. Are you looking for something to discover in the night sky? Try these with a modest size telescope, with some patience and persistence! Or come down to the GHRO and get a really fine look! This month, a , a nebula with a cluster, and another cluster!

NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright Cassiopeia emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern of

Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way's Spiral Arm. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character. E. E. Barnard discovered this nebula in August 1883, who described it as "a large faint nebula, very diffuse." The Heart & Soul Nebula Complex, IC 1805, lies some 7,500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by on November 3, 1787. The nebula's intense red output and its configuration are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of near the nebula's center. This of stars known as Melotte 15 contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun,

Mel 20 (Melotte 20) or the Cluster, is an open cluster in the constellation of Perseus. To the naked eye, the cluster consists of several blue spectral type B type stars. The most luminous member is the ~2nd magnitude white-yellow supergiant Mirfak, also known as Alpha Persei. The Hipparcos satellite and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting have been used to establish a distance to the cluster of ~172 pc. The distance established via the independent analyses agree, thereby making the cluster an important rung on the . The age of this cluster is about 50-70 million years. EXTRA… Take a look at nearby NGC 1245. This open cluster, Perseus discovered by William Herschel in 1745 is nearly one billion years old and about 200 stars.

Acknowledgements: Wikipedia for excerpts. Mag Star 7 Star Atlas Project © 2005 Andrew L. Johnson for star maps (clipped) Edited by Mark Hoecker

What’s Up in the Sky?

Highly Recommended Download and print a good FREE star map (including interesting objects to look for) monthly from:

Skymap http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

You’ll also find a good monthly sky map in each issue of Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazines.

New to the Night Sky?

Are you puzzled by folks in the club who point up in the sky and say “There’s Gemini... and you can see Leo rising over there...and doesn’t Regulus look clear tonight”? Are you trying to figure out where those darn are? Those large star atlases are pretty intimidating… confusing… and expensive.

A good starting point could be called, My First Star Atlas…. but in reality it is 4 simple but very helpful FREE star chart pages from the Stephen F. Austin State University – called SFA Star Charts. Pages 2 & 3 show you about 90% of everything you need to get started. There are even a couple pages that explain how to use a start chart. Clear and straight-forward.

Go to this link and print out the pdf file on the largest paper you have available, though standard letter paper is fine:

http://observe.phy.sfasu.edu/SFAStarCharts/SFAStarChartsAll.pdf

While these charts do not show the myriad of deep sky objects, they DO show the constellations and brightest stars – a good introduction to the night sky! Happy Observing!

An ENHANCED Star Atlas – FREE!

Our CAAC member, Mark Hoecker, has used the Mag 7 Star Atlas – Color Milky Way version (available on the internet) and added some enhancements including:  A star map index to quickly identify the individual star chart you are looking for.  Blue directional arrows at the edge of each chart guiding you to the adjacent chart. Also large page numerals were added in the lower right corner, helpful when thumbing through the charts.  Finally, he manually added common star names and a selection of deep sky object names to the star charts, helpful in finding your way around the sky.

Such enhancements are allowed under the Creative Commons License by Andrew L. Johnson, author of the original charts.

SUGGESTION: While printing at the largest paper size you have available is helpful, a great alternative if you have a “letter size” color printer with a manual auxiliary feed slot, is to print on “legal size” (8½ x 14-inch) heavy paper or even “card stock”. You could also punch holes and place in a legal-size report cover available at office supply stores. You would then have a wonderful star atlas to help you through the night skies!

If you have access to a color printer that can print on 11 x 17-inch paper (or card stock), you can print a magnificent copy whose readability will rival that of very nice, commercially available atlases.

To download your Mag-7 Star Atlas Milky Way version – ENHANCED, go to the CAAC website and scroll down the left column to “Mag 7 Star Atlas” and follow the link. Happy Observing!

CAAC CONTACTS

President Ken Steiner [email protected] Vice President Tommy Megremis [email protected] Treasurer Benton Kesler [email protected] Secretary Nazim Mohamed [email protected] Observatory Director Jim Gaiser [email protected] Public Outreach Coordinator Neil Easden [email protected]