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December 2019 AMATEUR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY of RHODE ISLAND  47 PEEPTOAD ROAD  NORTH SCITUATE, RHODE ISLAND 02857 

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December 2019 AMATEUR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY of RHODE ISLAND  47 PEEPTOAD ROAD  NORTH SCITUATE, RHODE ISLAND 02857  the vol. 46 no. 12 Skyscraper December 2019 AMATEUR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF RHODE ISLAND 47 PEEPTOAD ROAD NORTH SCITUATE, RHODE ISLAND 02857 WWW.THESKYSCRAPERS.ORG In This Issue: 2 President’s Message Saturday, December 14, 5:00pm 2 Jim Hendrickson Wins at North Scituate Community House AstroLeague Webmaster Award The Apollo Lunar Module in Detail by John Kocur 3 Decoding the Star of Bethlehem 5:00 PM Pot Luck Dinner** 4 Geminid Meteor Shower **Participants are asked to RSVP ([email protected]) with the type of food Mooned Out and Other they plan to bring. Categories include: ap- Celestial Offerings petizers, main dishes, side dishes, desserts. 5 Vesta: The Brightest Asteroid Cold drinks, coffee, plates, etc, will be 6 NASA Night Sky Notes: The provided. Please bring an extension if you need to Orion Nebula: plug in an appliance. Window Into a Stellar Nursery All are welcome! 7 IC 1805: Emission 6:15 PM Speaker John Kocur Nebula in Cassiopeia In celebration of the 50th anniversary of 8 The Sun, Moon & Planets the Apollo 11 mission, on Saturday, Decem- in December ber 14 at the Scituate Community Center, 10 Transit of Mercury Skyscraper member John Kocur will give a Photo Gallery PowerPoint presentation about the Apollo Lunar Module. He will cover many interest- 12 November Reports ing and little known facts about the Apollo 13 Quest for the Northern 11 lunar lander, it's development, systems, Lights: 2020 Iceland Trip hardware, equipment, mission, and the fu- ture of new missions. Many rare photos and researched details will be displayed. Skyscrapers John, an avid amateur astronomer, is a long time member of Skyscrapers and Board Meeting has a passion for the manned exploration Monday, December 9, 7pm at of space since the beginning of the NASA Ladd Observatory Mercury program. His interest and knowl- All Members Welcome edge will touch on topics and facts that will give everyone a new view of what it took to Phases of the Moon get to the Moon. First Quarter Moon December 4 06:58 Full Cold Moon December 12 05:12 Seagrave Memorial Observatory Last Quarter Moon Open Nights December 19 04:57 Saturdays at 7:00 pm New Moon weather & conditions permitting December 26 05:13 President’s Message see and above so much of the murk along by Steve Hubbard the horizon. Let’s hope that this time there won’t be a planet straddling all obscuring As I look back on 2019, it’s been the We are going into the winter now and dust storm to block out the details! usual mixed bag for us New England as- the cold, snow and ice will limit our op- Another observing opportunity for us tronomers. Overall, the weather improved portunities for a while. That’s hard, but in will be on December 21 when Jupiter and over that in 2018 such that we didn’t have to looking towards 2020, I see some other Saturn join together in a so called “Great cancel any meetings due to rain storms or opportunities ahead that are something to Conjunction.” This hasn’t happened since snow. Astroassembly this year had some of look forward to. the year 2000. Both planets will be only 7 the best weather I can remember. One of the things I’m most enthused arcminutes apart and will look like a very Then, just as we were going into a pro- about is the upcoming opposition of Mars bright object in the west after sunset. longed stretch of decent weather this Fall, in October. Mars will be much higher in the There are some other things to look for- the EEE virus threat hit. We had to close sky for us here in the northern hemisphere ward to in 2020, but for me these so far are the observatory as a precaution for many and will be well placed in Pisces when at it’s the highlights. Hopefully 2020 will bring us weeks. I guess that’s what happens when closest. It will shine brightly at magnitude many other opportunities and wonderful you have an observatory next to a pond -2.6 and will be 22.4 arcseconds across. celestial highlights to share. and down the street from a horse stable or That is almost as good as it was a couple of See you at our annual Holiday Gala on 2, sigh… years ago. It will just be a lot easier for us to Saturday, December 14! Jim Hendrickson Wins AstroLeague Webmaster Award by Francine Jackson Congratulations are in order to Jim Hen- drickson who was awarded the Astronom- ical League's First Place Webmaster Award for 2019. With over 300 astronomical soci- eties and 18,000 members to choose from, Jim's work on the Skyscrapers website was deemed outstanding. Jim is also Skyscrapers, Inc.'s, newsletter editor. Thanks for your great work for the organization! The Skyscraper is published President Outreach Chairperson monthly by Skyscrapers, Inc. Steve Hubbard [email protected] Linda Bergemann [email protected] Meetings are held monthly, usually on the first or second 1st Vice President Observatory Committee Chairperson Friday or Saturday of the month. Jim Hendrickson [email protected] Jeff Padell [email protected] Seagrave Memorial Observatory is open every Saturday night, 2nd Vice President New Member Steward weather permitting. Bob Horton [email protected] Tracy Prell [email protected] Directions Secretary Librarian Directions to Seagrave Memorial Observatory are Kathy Siok [email protected] Dave Huestis [email protected] located on the back page of this newsletter. Treasurer Assistant Librarian Submissions Submissions to The Skyscraper are always welcome. Matt Ouellette [email protected] Weston Ambrose Please submit items for the newsletter no later than December 15 to Jim Hendrickson, 1 Sunflower Cir- Members at Large Historian cle, North Providence, RI 02911 or e-mail to jim@ Bob Janus [email protected] Dave Huestis [email protected] distantgalaxy.com. Lloyd Merrill [email protected] Editor E-mail subscriptions Trustees Jim Hendrickson [email protected] To receive The Skyscraper by e-mail, send e-mail Jeff Padell [email protected] with your name and address to jim@distantgalaxy. Astronomical League Correspondent (ALCor) com. Note that you will no longer receive the news- Jim Crawford [email protected] Jeff Padell [email protected] letter by postal mail. 2 The Skyscraper December 2019 Decoding the Star of Bethlehem by Francine Jackson A lot of planetariums still spend sever- served the sky, and the conclusion, even to with respect to the planet Venus?” She nev- al weeks before the holiday season putting this day, that the general population really er called again. together their annual Star of Bethlehem doesn’t notice typical celestial phenomena, All of us at Skyscrapers hope you are en- (SOB) or Star of Wonder (SOW) show, as noted by a former astronomy professor, joying the beauty of the sky, and that your trying their best to determine a natural who received a call one morning, stating holiday season is the best ever. rationale for what the Magi were said led she had seen a UFO the night before, and them to the creche. Of course, many astro- wanted him to identify it for her. As it was Francine Jackson is a NASA Solar nomical phenomena have been canceled in the western sky, and Venus was very System Ambassador, writes the out, either as too rapid, such as a meteor, prominent, he informed her as such. Th e weekly newsletter for Ladd something that could have been seen and next morning, she called again, swearing Observatory and teaches astronomy at the reported more than just by these travelers, the object was still there. Again, he told her Community College of Rhode Island. See a comet for instance, but that, had it been it was Venus. Th e next morning, she called more at http://theskyscrapers.org/fran- visible, would have not moved as a “guid- again. Th is time, he asked her, “Where is it cine-jackson ing light,” plus it would most likely have been documented by others, or a superno- va, which likewise would not have moved around the sky to be used as a pointer. Th e most ideal situation, according to modern lore, is a conjunction of planets, a couple of which have been documented to occur around the time of the Birth. Th e two major candidates are a triple conjunction of Jupi- ter and Saturn, with Mars joining the pair at the last, around 8-6 B.C., or one involving Jupiter and the star Regulus, the heart of Leo, the Lion, which, at the last, included the addition of Venus, making for a striking arrangement, about 2-1 B.C. Planets have been oft en considered the natural occurrence of choice, if indeed it did happen, for several reasons, includ- ing the fact that the Magi were, according This simulated view from Stellarium shows a very close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on the to legend, astrologers, who carefully ob- evening of June 17, 2 BC. A conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred in early December, 7 BC. A similar conjunction will occur on December 21, 2020. The Skyscraper December 2019 3 Geminid Meteor Shower Mooned Out and Other Celestial Off erings by Dave Huestis As quickly as it started, 2019 will soon be sion of my latest treatise on this topic can on December 28, look towards the south- in the history books. I for one am happy to be found on the Skyscrapers website http:// west sky. A waxing crescent Moon will be a see it go.
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