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For Larry, with Love THE DENVER OBSERVER MARCH 2010 OBSERVER Inside the For Larr y, With Love Observer President’s Corner.............................. 2 Society Directory............................... 2 Annual Spring Banquet....................... 4 Banquet Speaker, John Ba#y............... 5 Goodbye, Beloved Friend................. 6-10 NASA’s Space Place........................... 11 Schedule of Events................. back page Calendar 7......................................... Last quarter moon BUBBLES IN THE WIND 14...................... Daylight Saving Time begins Not far from open cluster M52 lies the violent stellar region that spawns the Bubble Nebula 15..................................................... New moon (NGC 7635.) A massively hot 8th magnitude central star blows the celestial winds that cre- 20.............................. Spring equinox (finally!) ated and continue to fuel the Bubble's HII emission nebula colors. Located in the constella- 23....................................... First quarter moon tion Cassiopeia, the Bubble was discovered in 1787 by Friedrich Herschel. Image comprised 29..................................................... Full moon of h-alpha, red, green and blue data totaling nine hours. 30........................................................ Passover Image copyright 2010 Steve Solon MARCH SKIES by Dennis Cochran maze your neighbors and confound the kids! Make a moon- article is actually about measuring the 10% perigee-apogee difference in A measuring device and show ‘em our satellite at moonrise and again at the moon’s size. the zenith. Its size will be the same, even though it looks twice as big From a little farther out in space, Saturn rises at 8 P.M. on March 1st with near the horizon. This is one of those psychological phenomena, like seeing the full moon, and by the 21st reaches opposition, showing a 20” disk. The straight lines (canals) on Mars, which I myself have done back in the days rings are not tilted much yet. Mars is already in the sky just east of the of Lowell, Heinlein and Cave, but not since spacecraft proved they weren’t Gemini twins when Saturn comes up and will dim down by half during the there. Recently, there was a letter to one of the astro mags from a group of month. Its mid-solar system neighbor, Jupiter, is essentially out of sight amateurs who had done this Moon measurement, and now there’s an en- until late summer. tire article about it in the March Astronomy on page 58. One fellow wears a Another solar system denizen will be visible in the head of Leo between Renaissance costume while doing it. In our club one of our members Algieba, the reddish gamma star and the epsilon star at the end of his mane could make the device while another wears the costume to make the ob- Continued on Page 3 servation. I can think of two candidates right off the cuff. Incidentally, that The Denver Astronomical Society One Mile Nearer the Stars Page 1 THE DENVER OBSERVER MARCH 2010 Society Directory PRESIDENT’S CORNER President: Ron Mickle (303) 229-6868 [email protected] his will be my last contribution to the (elections post-date Vice President: T President’s Corner. This issue of the this article), but to Keith Pool (303) 718-7273 Observer is dedicated to President also remark on [email protected] Emeritus, Larry Brooks. He passed away on several achievements Secretary: Ron Pearson (303) 670-1299 January 10. Photos and remembrances begin on by Denver Page 6. I met Larry in 1999 at what is now the A s t r o n o m i c a l Treasurer: Denver Museum of Nature and Science. He Society members, Brad Gilman (720) 488-1028 was staffing a table for the Denver astronomy and space Astronomical Society (DAS) and demonstrating science. what happened to objects such as flowers and I am very thankful for the support I have Executive Board Members Jack Eastman David Shouldice bananas when socked in liquid nitrogen. The received and would like to cite a few specifics Joe Gafford discussion that followed centered around here. A special thanks goes to Frank Mancini. Tim Pimentel Frank Mancini Steve Solon astronomy. Larry invited me to the next E- Frank has been a personal friend for years and I Norm Rosling Dan Wray Board meeting which I described in the thank him for always providing good, solid Wayne Green, Past President President Emeritus, Larry Brooks February edition. For those who have not read counsel in both financial matters and the it, I briefly described hearing a debate regarding business of administration of the DAS. How he Committees future plans for Chamberlin Observatory, lead tolerated me, I’ll never know. In addition, a Van Nattan-Hansen Scholarship Fund: by Ed Kline after which the Edmund G. Kline huge thanks to Keith Pool, who tirelessly, and Ron Pearson (Chair) Dark Site (EGKDS) is named. Larry was without complaint, carried out the duties of P.O. Box 150743 President of DAS. While the discussion was Vice-President. I can’t say enough about Brad Lakewood, Colorado 80215-0743 lively and conflicting views expressed Gilman, our Treasurer, except that the EGK Dark Site Committee: Email: [email protected] passionately, the best part was adjourning to the Executive Board seriously needs to consider IDA Representative: local restaurant for breakfast and camaraderie. amending the Bylaws (again) to make Brad a Dr. Robert Stencel Larry made this new member feel fully a part of permanent fixture on the Board, so he can’t Email: [email protected] the society from the start. Larry loved outreach leave. Ron Pearson, aka #1 and Secretary, has Public Outreach Committee: Ron Mickle (Chair) and teaching those who wanted to know and he been part of the historical foundation that the Student Astronomy Chair: always did the right thing. I’ll always remember E-Board has used in making its decisions. To E- Naomi Pequette (Chair) him. Board members Galileo (Jack), Joe, Tim, Norm, Finance Committee As I said in my previous column, the decision David, Steve, Dan and Wayne, you have been Frank Mancini (303) 663-5263 not to seek a second term was difficult for me. I incredibly supportive to me and I appreciate it. hope no one thinks of me as being disinterested I hope that by keeping the E-Board meetings Volunteers or Appointed by not running for a second term. The Denver on track and within a two-hour window, ± two Representatives Astronomical Society will always be important hours, served all of us well. ALCor: to me. So with my tenure drawing to a close, I Some of the achievements the DAS enjoyed Darrell Dodge (303) 932-1309 would like to take this opportunity to not only this past year include the installation of a new Newsletter: Editor: Patti Kurtz (720) 217-5707 pass the guidon to the incoming President focuser on the Clark-Saegmuller 20-inch scope Email: [email protected] immediately following last E-Board on February Proofreader: Steve Solon 5, 2010. The DAS continued to see solid The Observer is available in color PDF numbers of guests to our Open House and format from the DAS website. Website: Public Night events, due to Public Night staff’s Darrell Dodge willingness to commit to nine nights monthly. Email: [email protected] This is a testament to the dedication of our Librarian: volunteers. The revision of the DAS Bylaws was Phil Klos undertaken by Steve Solon, with the final DAS Information Line:(303) 871-5172 DAS Correspondence: document approved and signed during the Denver Astronomical Society January 8 E-Board. Steve put a lot of effort into Chamberlin Observatory c/o Ron Mickle the rewrite AND kept it on track during 2930 East Warren Avenue Denver, Colorado 80210 subsequent meetings to amend proposals. Steve, your effort and work are appreciated. Also The Executive Board conducts the business of during the past year, we’ve reduced the mailings the DAS at 7:30 p.m. at Chamberlin Observatory. Please see the Schedule of Events of The Observer from around 300 to for meeting dates. A) members are welcome. approximately 170. I appreciate the membership who elected to receive the DAS www.denverastro.org DAS PRESIDENT, newsletter electronically. This decreased the RON MICKLE Photo courtesy Ron Mickle Continued on Page 3 The Denver Astronomical Society One Mile Nearer the Stars Page 2 THE DENVER OBSERVER MARCH 2010 MARCH SKIES (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) (aka “the sickle”.) That’s Vesta, the fourth asteroid to be discovered. Its path takes it towards Epsilon during March. It’s a binocular object with a magnitude in the 6.x range; it may take more than one observation to notice its motion. If you’re looking at Leo rising in the east, you can see the M65-66 pair of spiral galaxies, with neighbors NGC 3593 & 3628, all bunched up below the theta star at the 90-degree corner of Leo’s aft triangle. You might spot these deep sky objects while participating in the planned Messier Mara- thon on the weekend of the 13th. The huge Virgo galaxy cluster is just east of this region. During the marathon, you’ll have to go there to find M84, 86 & 87, elliptical galaxies at the center of the cluster. In past months we’ve spoken of the brilliant star, Sirius, southeast of Orion. Several star clusters are in its purview: M41, just south of it in the body of the Big Dog, and M46-47, east of it in the middle of nowhere. Mentally draw lines east from Sirius and south from Procyon in Canis Minor and where they cross, go up a hair to find this Messier duo. Smaller clusters abound in the Dog, but are hard to discern from the starry background. North of the zenith, the galaxy pair M81 & 82 are well placed west of the Big Dipper.
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