The Astronews www.hawastsoc.org June 2020
A word from your editor by Inside this issue: Sapavith ‘Ort’ Vanapruks
Covid-19 Notice Club Information 2 HAS have decided to cancel public HAS events for the time being, beginning with the March 14 public star party at Dillingham. Includes the up- President’s Message 2 coming in town star parties at Kahala and Geiger, as well as the monthly meeting. These cancella- tions will continue while we remain on lock down. Observer’s Notebook 3 We don't know yet what will happen with the club star party in June. We will try to update as soon as possible. Meeting Minutes 4
.There were several times in May that ISS came Event Calendar 5 over Oahu with magnitude -3.9 (May 14 20:18) & -3.6 (May 16 05:16). I tried to do a video record- ing from my camera. On May 14, there was just too much movement that I cannot keep the ISS in NASA’s Night Sky Notes 7 Focus. On May 16, I attached the camera to my refractor 80mm triplet. I have hard time keeping ISS in the scope. I also forgot to press record Meteor Log 8 button on my camera. One of this day, I will capture ISS in my camera. I went out to Kalaeloa Boat Harbor on Sunday, Treasurer’s Report 9 May 24, 2020 to take photos of crescent Moon, Mercury, and Venus. The photo did not come as good as I hope for. Enjoy. Upcoming Events:
• The next Board meeting is Sun., May 31st 3:30 PM. (Location TBD)
• The next meeting is on Tuesday, June 2nd at the Bishop Museum at 7:30 PM.— CANCELLED
• Bishop Museum’s planetarium shows are every 1st Saturday of the month at 8:00 PM www.bishopmuseum.org/calendar
(Continued on page 6) Hawaiian Astronomical Society P.O. Box 17671 President ’s Message June 2020 Honolulu, Hawaii 96817 Venus has been the sole representative of President Chris Peterson the bright planets in the evening sky for most of 956-3131 this year, but the rest of the gang is about to [email protected] show up. Jupiter and Saturn are rising before Vice President midnight already, so it won’t be long before we Polly Miao can conveniently watch their celestial tango as [email protected] they approach their spectacularly close conjunc- tion in December. Don’t forget about Venus, though, as it is quickly dropping at sunset, its Secretary apparent size in the eyepiece growing as its Tamara Weese phase diminishes. Mars has already raced past [email protected] its more distant neighbors, but we will overtake it in October for its last really good opposition Treasurer for many years. Peter Besenbruch Where can we view these sights? It re- [email protected] mains to be seen how quickly (and safely) the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions will be Board Members-at-Large lifted. It seems to me that face masks will pro- vide pretty good protection at star parties if we j Andy Stroble can keep guests from touching the telescopes, although the lines at the telescopes might be Astronews Editor Sapavith ‘ORT’ Vanapruks quite long with six-foot separations between [email protected] viewers! Club star parties at Dillingham Airfield HAS Webmasters already observe social distancing if people stay Peter Besenbruch at their own telescopes. The pandemic has [email protected] provided a one-year reprieve from our possible loss of observing privileges there, but how soon School Star Party Coordinators we will be allowed to exercise them is uncer- Mark Watanabe tain. Charles Rykken The extension of the Dillingham lease gives us some breathing room, but we must face The the possibility that we will lose the use of that Astronews is the monthly news- letter of the Hawaiian Astronomical Soci- location in little more than a year. This is sure ety. Some of the contents may be copy- to be the focus of much energy within the club. righted. We request that authors and artists If anyone has an idea for an alternate observing be given credit for their work. Contribu- location, please let me or another board member tions are welcome. Send them to the Edi- tor via e-mail. The deadline is the 15th of (Continued on page 4) each month. We are not responsible for unsolicited artwork.
Page 2 The Astronews Observer’s Notebook—June 2020 by Jay Wrathall
Planets Close To the Moon Other Events of Interest Times are Hawaii Standard Time Times are Hawaii Standard Time
June 8, 09h, Moon 2.66⁰ S of Jupiter June 3, 08h, Venus at inferior conj. with sun (142⁰ from sun in morning sky) (Passes into morning sky) June 8, 18h, Moon 2.66⁰ SE of Saturn June 4, 03h, Mercury at greatest elongation 137⁰ from sun in morning sky) (23.6⁰ E of the sun in evening sky.) June 12, 17h, Moon 2.24⁰ SE of Mars June 5, 09:12h, Full Moon (92⁰ from sun in morning sky) June 8, 12h, Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn within a June 12, 18h, Moon 4.2⁰ SE of Neptune Circle of diameter 5.06⁰ (92⁰ from sun in morning sky) ( 140⁰ from sun in morning sky) June 16, 09h, Moon 3.6⁰ SE of Uranus June 20, 21:45h,June or summer solstice. (47⁰ from sun in morning sky) June 20, 20:41h, New Moon June 18, 23h, Moon 0.75⁰ N of Venus June 27, 12h, Asteroid 7 Iris at opposition (23⁰ from sun in evening sky) June 29, 10h, Asteroid 3 Juno at opposition
Mercury is closer than 15⁰ from the sun when near the moon in June.
Planets in June Mercury Venus Mars Will be visible low in the evening sky the Reaches inferior conjunction on June Rises about 2:00 AM in first half of June. 4 and becomes visi- Aquarius and brightens ble in the early from mag. 0.0 to -0.5 morning sky about during June. the middle of the month.
Jupiter Saturn Uranus is in the eastern sky can be viewed near is in the dawn sky before dawn rising close to the sun and will about midnight. It is a Jupiter in the eastern sky in June. On June 8 it be easier to observed spectacular view with a later in the year. magnitude of -2,6. is joined by the moon and Jupiter in a circle of 5.06⁰.
Neptune 7 Iris Pluto (Dwarf (Asteroid) is near Mars in Aquar- Planet)
ius. reaches opposition on close to Jupiter in the June 7 at magnitude +8.9. pre-dawn sky. This is the 4th brightest asteroid.
Page 3 Meeting Minutes H.A.S. Secretary May 5 th,2020 (No Meeting) Tamara
Launch America NASA, SpaceX to Launch First Astronauts to Space Station from U.S. Since 2011. A new era of human spaceflight is set to begin as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifting off on a Falcon 9 rocket at 3:22 p.m. EDT May 30, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, for an extend- ed stay at the space station for the Demo-2 mission. The specific duration of the mission is to be determined. As the final flight test for SpaceX, this mission will validate the company’s crew transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and operational capabilities. This also will be the first time NASA astronauts will test the spacecraft systems in orbit. Behnken and Hurley were among the first astronauts to begin working and training on SpaceX’s next-generation human space vehicle and were selected for their extensive test pilot and flight experience, including several missions on the space shuttle.
Behnken will be the joint operations commander for the mis- sion, responsible for activities such as rendezvous, docking and undocking, as well as Demo-2 activities while the space- craft is docked to the space station. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space shuttle flights. Behnken flew STS-123 in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, and he performed three spacewalks during each mission. Born in St. Anne, Missouri, he has bachelor’s degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Washing- ton University and earned a master’s and doctorate in mechani- cal engineering from California Institute of Technology. Be- fore joining NASA, Behnken was a flight test engineer with the U.S. Air Force.
Hurley will be the spacecraft commander for Demo-2, responsi- ble for activities such as launch, landing and recovery. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space- flights. Hurley served as pilot and lead robotics operator for both STS‐127 in July 2009 and STS‐135, the final space shuttle mis- sion, in July 2011. The New York native was born in Endicott but considers Apalachin his hometown. He holds a Bachelor of Sci- ence degree in Civil Engineering from Tulane University in Loui- siana and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland. Before joining NASA, he was a fighter pilot and test pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.
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(Continued from page 2) President’s Message know. Fortunately, we now have enough time to scout and consider possible alternative locations. Our first task, though, is to investigate whether an agreement can be made to continue our activities at Dillingham after the lease ends. If anyone has insight into how that might be accomplished, please let us know.
Page 4 The Astronews Hawaiian Astronomical Society Event Calendar
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Public Party Geiger/Kahala June 27—CANCELLED Public Party Dillingham June 13—CANCELLED Club Party-Dillingham June 20—TBD
Upcoming School Star Parties
Page 5 (Continued from page 4) Meeting Minutes
Lifting off from Launch Pad 39A atop a special- ly instrumented Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon will accelerate its two passengers to approxi- mately 17,000 mph and put it on an intercept course with the International Space Station. Once in orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission control will verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system and the maneuvering thrusters, among other things. In about 24 hours, Crew Dragon will be in position to rendezvous and dock with the space station. The spacecraft is designed to do this autono- mously but astronauts aboard the spacecraft and the station will be diligently monitoring ap- proach and docking and can take control of the spacecraft if necessary.
After successfully docking, Behnken and Hurley will be welcomed aboard station and will become members of the Expedition 63 crew. They will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew. Although the Crew Dragon being used for this flight test can stay in orbit about 110 days, the specific mission duration will be determined once on station based on the readiness of the next commercial crew launch. The operational Crew Dragon spacecraft will be capable of staying in orbit for at least 210 days as a NASA require- ment. Upon conclusion of the mission, Crew Dragon will autonomously undock with the two astronauts on board, depart the space station and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Upon splashdown just off Florida’s Atlantic Coast, the crew will be picked up at sea by SpaceX’s Go Navigator recovery vessel and return to Cape Canaveral. The Demo-2 mission will be the final major step before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station. This certification and regular operation of Crew Dragon will enable NASA to continue the important research and technology investigations taking place onboard the station, which benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future exploration of the Moon and Mars starting with the agency’s Artemis program, which will land the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface in 2024.
*** Note *** Launch scheduled on Wednesday, 5/27/2020, was scrubbed due to bad weather. Next launch window is Saturday, 5/30/2020 at 3:22 PM EST (9:22AM HST)
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Crescent Venus Gibbous Mercury Page 6 The Astronews NASA's Night Sky Notes Summer Triangle Corner: Vega By David Prosper and Vivian White
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and look up during June evenings, you’ll see the brilliant star Vega shining overhead. Did you know that Vega is one of the most studied stars in our skies? As one of the brightest summer stars, Vega has fascinated astrono- mers for thousands of years.
Vega is the brightest star in the small Greek constellation of Lyra, the harp. It’s also one of the three points of the large “Summer Triangle” asterism, making Vega one of the easiest stars to find for novice stargazers. Ancient humans from 14,000 years ago likely knew Vega for another reason: it was the Earth’s northern pole star! Compare Vega’s current position with that of the current north star, Polaris, and you can see how much the direction of Earth’s axis changes over thousands of years. This slow movement of axial rotation is called precession, and in 12,000 years Vega will return to the northern pole star position.Bright Vega has been observed closely since the beginning of modern astronomy and even helped to set the standard for the current magnitude scale used to categorize the brightness of stars. Polaris and Vega have something else in common, besides being once and future pole stars: their brightness varies over time, making them variable stars. Variable stars’ light can change for many different reasons. Dust, smaller stars, or even planets may block the light we see from the star. Or the star itself might be unstable with active sunspots, expansions, or eruptions changing its bright- ness. Most stars are so far away that we only record the change in light, and can’t see their surface.
NASA’s TESS satellite has ultra-sensitive light sensors primed to look for the tiny dimming of starlight caused by transits of extrasolar planets.Their sensitivity also allowed TESS to observe much smaller pulsations in a certain type of variable star’s light than previously observed. These observations of Delta Scuti variable stars will help astronomers model their complex interiors and make sense of their distinct, seem- ingly chaotic, pulsations. This is a major contribution towards the field of astroseismol- ogy: the study of stellar interiors via observations of how sound waves “sing” as they travel through stars. The findings may help settle the debate over what kind of variable star Vega is. Find more details on this research, including a sonification demo that lets you “hear” the heartbeat of one of these stars, at: bit.ly/DeltaScutiTESS
Interested in learning more about variable stars? Want to observe their changing bright- ness? Check out the website for the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) at aavso.org. You can also find the latest news about Vega and other fascnat- ing stars at nasa.gov.
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Page 7 Meteor Log—June 2020 by Tom Giguere
The month of June is a quiet time for meteor watching. There are no high hourly rate showers like some of our favorites such as the Perseids (110/hr) in August or the Geminids (140/hr) in December. As you would expect, there are many more minor showers than there are major showers throughout the year. In fact, there are five minor meteor showers identified in June by the American Meteor Society (AMS) and the International Meteor Organization (IMO). Each month this article lists the showers published by the IMO, which include the major and some minor showers. The AMS designates four classes: major, minor, variable, and weak showers. All five showers this month are in the variable or weak category.
The tau Herculids (TAH) shower peaks on June 2, radiant RA 15:14, DEC +39.8° with a variable hourly rate. The tau Herculids (TAH) are an irregular shower not active every year. The shower is associated with comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 and had a strong display in 1930. Due to recent activity from the comet, this shower could produce more activity in the upcoming decade. The Earth should pass closest to the particles from Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 around June 3rd. The mu Cassio- peiids (JMC) may be viewed from May 18 to June 15 with the highest ZHR on June 08. The radiant is at RA 01:03, DEC +55.4° and a ZHR <2. The last of the weak showers is the beta Equulids (BEQ) with a peak of <2 per hour on June 14. The shower radiant is located in Aquila at RA 20:04, DEC +00.1°.
This fireball was captured by Hermann K. from Austria on 10 May 2019, at 20:46 Universal Time © Hermann K.
Phases of the Moon (courtesy timeanddate.com )
New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter
June 20 June 27 June 05 June 12
Activity Maximum Radiant V r ZHR Shower ∞
Date λ⊙ α δ km/s
Dayt. Arietids May 14 - +24 Jun 07 76.6° 44° 38 2.8 30 (171 ARI) Jun 24 ° June Bootids Jun 22 - +48 Jun 27 95.7° 224° 18 2.2 Var (170 JBO) Jul 02 °
June – one of the quieter meteor months… Tom Giguere, 808-782-1408, [email protected]; Mike Morrow, PO Box 6692, Ocean View, HI 96737.
Page 8 The Astronews Treasurer’s Report by Peter Besenbruch
Cash Flow - 3/10/2020 to 4/09/2020
Beginning Balance $2,662.50
Money into selected accounts comes from Calendar $20.00 Membership – Electronic $80.00 Membership – Family $4.00 Membership – Paper $52.00 Subscription – Astronomy $34.00 Total Money In $190.00
Money out of selected accounts goes to - $0.00
Total Money Out $0.00
Difference $190.00 Ending Balance $2,852.50
There hasn't been any financial activity in the last bank statement period, so there isn't any financial report as such. June will bring more activity, as bills to the Astronomical League come due.
I thought I would mention Mercury for a change. Last weekend was the last time I saw Venus. As it plummeted sunward, I was surprised at how high Mercury was. As of this writing (May 27) Mercury sets 1:40 after the sun, and is an easy binocular object a half hour after sunset. As of June 3, you get an extra 4 minutes of viewing.
My father went his whole life (he's 96) without seeing Mercury. He got to see it finally on Memorial Day weekend.
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Vega possesses two debris fields, similar to our own solar system’s asteroid and Kuiper belts. Astronomers continue to hunt for planets orbiting Vega, but as of May 2020 none have been confirmed. More info: bit.ly/ VegaSystem Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Can you spot Vega? You may need to look straight up to find it, especially if observing after midnight.
Page 10 The Astronews
SpaceX Demo-2 Rollout SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Sunrise from Launch Complex 39A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Station Crew Sees Typhoon from Space A typhoon is pictured in the South Pacific Ocean Image Credit: NASA
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