San Diego Astronomy Association Celebrating Over 40 of Astronomical Outreach

Office (619) 645-8940 July 2011 Observatory (619) 766-9118 http://www.sdaa.org A Non-Profit Educational Association P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215 RILKE: THE POET & ASTRONOMY By John Mood SDAA Business Meeting Next meeting will be held at: My favorite poet all-time is the German language poet Rainer Maria Rilke 3838 Camino del Rio North (1875-1926). I have had books on him published, in which I discuss, among other Suite 300 things, the fact that Rilke has more poetry on the night and the night sky than any San Diego, CA 92108 other. And he does it with great care to make certain his information is accurate. July 12th at 7pm Next Program Meeting Here is a short passage from one book of mine on Rilke to illustrate that and to July 20, 2011 at 7pm stimulate the thinking of others, including amateur astronomers, on this topic. Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor and Interpretive Center Rilke loved the night, and his astronomical images are as accurate as his botani- 1 Father Junipero Serra Trail cal ones [which I had discussed earlier]. He probably wrote more lines of poetry about the night, and the night sky in particular, than any poet in history. One of the very first letters in the original two-volume English edition of his correspondence CONTENTS was to a professional astronomer: Is it not strange that almost all great philosophers and psychologists have July 2011, Vol XLIX, Issue 7 always devoted their attention to the earth and to the earth only? Would it not Published Monthly by the be more sublime to turn ones eyes away from the little clod and to consider San Diego Astronomy Association not a tiny grain of dust in the universe but the universe itself? ---Think, dear

$2.50 an issue/$30.00 sir, how small and insignificant earthly hardships would appear the moment Incorporated in California in 1963 our earth had to shrivel up to the tiniest, whirling, will-less part of an endless Rilke: The Poet & Astronomy...... 1 world! July Program Meeting...... 2 Strange. Every bird that makes its dwelling under the shelter of the roof June Minutes...... 3 beams first investigates the place it has chosen and over which a part of its A Green Ring Nebula...... 4 diminutive life is now to trickle away. And man is quite content to know the Late Spring in the City...... 5 earth halfway and scantily, and lets the faraway worlds above wander and July Calendar ...... 8 roam. August Calendar...... 9 What a remarkable grasp, beautifully worded, of the reality of earth’s place in SDAA Contacts...... 10 the vast scope of the wheeling of the cosmos, at least 125 billion galaxies Julian Starfest 2011...... 11 according to the Hubble Deep Field North and South astrophotos. Even astrono- Finding Planets among the ..12 mers rarely think this mind-chilling fact. We use these numbers without thinking. AISIG Gallery...... 14 A million seconds equals a bit more than eleven days; a billion seconds is more The Back Page...... 16 than thirty-one years! No, such a grasp is usually achieved (if at all) by only the wisest of humans and then normally only in the twilight of their lives. At the time he wrote these words, Rilke himself was two days from his twentieth birthday!

{From A New Reading of Rilke’s “Elegies”: Affirming the Unity of “life-AND- death” (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009), pp. 78f. Also in Rilke on Death and Other Oddities (Philadelphia: Xlibris Coro., 2007), pp. 78f. N.B., I don’t get royalties so this is not a pitch!} San Diego Astronomy Association

July Program Meeting San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA) sponsors speak- Date: July 20 ers on a wide range of astronomy topics on the third Wednes- Speaker: Dr. William Welsh of every month at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitors Topic: The Kepler Mission Center. The Program meeting begins at 7:00 PM. Each attendee receives one free door prize ticket. After announcements and William (Bill) Welsh is an Associate Professor of Astronomy a small amount of business, the audience is treated to the fea- at San Diego State University. He grew up in Staten Island, tured presentation. At the close of the meeting the door prizes NY, and obtained his undergraduate BS degree in physics and are presented. The event is open to the public. The Mission astronomy from SUNY Stony Brook. He earned his PhD from Trails Regional Park Visitors Center is at One Fr. Junipero Serra the Ohio State University in 1993, doing his thesis research at Trail, San Diego CA 92119. Call the park at 619-668-3281 for the Space Telescope Science Institute. He did his postdoctoral more information or visit http://www.mtrp.org. work at Keele University in England, then at the University of Please contact Bill Carlson ([email protected]) if Texas, where he became a Research Scientist. His early research you have an questions, comments, or ideas for the Program was focused on cataclysmic variables and AGN reverberation Meetings. mapping, but since becoming a faculty member at San Diego State University in 2000 his work has been primarily on transit- ing extrasolar planets. His role in the Kepler Mission is to carry out detailed modeling of the short-period planets that Kepler discovers in order to very accurately measure the physical char- acteristics of the planets and stars, including variations in the times of transits that would indicate the presence of an unseen second planet or moon.

Page 2 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

SDAA Board of Directors Monthly Business Meeting Minutes 14 June 2011

Minutes taken by Scott Baker for an absent Brian McFarland.

In Attendance: Mike Vander Vorst, President; Bill Carlson, Vice President; Jeff Herman, Corresponding Secretary; Ed Rumsey, Treasurer; Kin Searcy, Director; Scott Baker, Director; and Paul Pountney, Guest.

Meeting called to order at 19:04.

Minutes from May meeting approved without changes.

Priority Business – Paul Pountney reported that a SDAA member had contacted Custom Logos and had a 4X T-shirt and a cap printed with the SDAA logo, without any permission to do so from the SDAA. This was discussed and it was decided that Bill Carlson will contact Custom Logos and inform them that the use of the SDAA logo, without our permission, will not hap- pen again. Paul also was asked to get quotes from Custom Logos and other sources for replenishing the stock of merchandise before StarFest in August.

Treasures Report – Approved without changes.

Membership Report - +1 Gain in members. Current membership stands at 533.

Private Pad Report – The annual warning letter about pad usage to private pad holders that didn’t use their pads the required number of times in the past year did not go out at the first of the year. Due to the lateness of the letter being sent, the Board decided that a “polite reminder” be sent out this year to delinquent pad users.

Outreach Report – Kin Searcy reports that there are only a few school parties left on the books. With the skies being so light in the evenings, in the late spring, most schools can’t have activities that late in the evening. Ken also reports that Bill Griffith will not continue next year as the host for the KQ Ranch star parties and is looking for a replacement volunteer.

Program Meetings – Bill Carlson reported that all of the meetings for the remainder of the year have a guest speaker arranged for. Dennis Mammana will be the speaker for June. Ken Searcy reported that he has been having difficulty in reaching the win- ner of the Science Fair so that their award could be presented at a Program Meeting. If all else fails, a check will be mailed to the winner.

Weather Station – The newly repaired weather station at TDS is back in operation and updating the SDAA website.

AISIG Report – Ken Searcy reports that there has been some difficulty about trying to balance the meeting of the AISIG group topics between beginner imagers and more advanced members.

Site Plan – Bill Carlson is still trying to recover the site plan files from his crashed computer. At worse case, backup files can be used but will require about eighty hours of work to bring up to date.

Budget Meeting – The annual BoD budget meeting will be held at Ken Searcy’s house on July 5th at 7:00 PM. An allocation of $40 was approved for the purchase of food and refreshments.

SDAA Credit Card – Ed Rumsey requested that the recently acquired SDAA credit card credit limit be lowered from $18,000 to $2,000. This was approved by the Board.

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 Page 3 San Diego Astronomy Association

Square – Scott Baker requested permission to set up a Square, Credit Card Transaction account on the SDAA Paypal checking account. This will enable the SDAA to take credit card transactions at StarFest and other SDAA events. All that is required is a smartphone and the free CC Reader and application. There is no charge for this service outside of the transaction fee of 2.75%. The Board gave permission for Scott Baker or Michael Finch to setup the account.

Annual Audit – Ed Rumsey requested that he be allowed to contact Rick Imbra, Jerry Hilburn and Chuck Sten to do the annual audit of the books. Mike Vander Vorst authorized that the audit committee be formed.

D&O Insurance. - The Board made a motion and approved by email that the SDAA proceed with the acquisition of Director and Officers insurance at the annual cost of $750.

Meeting adjourned at 20:25.

In the Blackest Night, a Green Ring Nebula from the NASA website

This glowing emerald nebula seen by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope is reminiscent of the glowing ring wielded by the superhero Green Lantern. In the comic books, the diminutive Guardians of the Planet “Oa” forged his power ring, but as- tronomers believe rings like this are actually sculpted by the powerful light of giant “O” stars. O stars are the most massive type of star known to exist.

Named RCW 120 by astronomers, this region of hot gas and glowing dust can be found in the murky clouds encircled by the tail of the Scorpius. The green ring of dust is actually glowing in colors that our eyes cannot see, but show up brightly when viewed by Spitzer’s infrared detectors. At the center of this ring are a couple of giant stars whose intense ultraviolet light carved out the bubble, though they blend in with the other stars when viewed in infrared.

Rings like this are so common in Spitzer’s observations that astronomers have even enlisted the help of the public to help find and catalog them all. Anyone interested in joining the search as a citizen scientist can visit “The Milky Way Project,” part of the “Zooniverse” of public astronomy projects, at http://www.milkywayproject.org/ .

The flat plane of our is located toward the bottom of the picture, and the ring is slightly above the plane. The green haze seen at the bottom of the image is the diffuse glow of dust from the galactic plane.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., man- ages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are con- ducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Spitzer, visit http//www.nasa.gov/spitzer and http://spitzer.caltech.edu/.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Page 4 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

LATE SPRING IN THE CITY

When I walked out the back door into the yard just around dark this last week of May, the eyes of the twins looked down at me as Winter set in the west and the Spring approached the meridian. Now, in late June, cold blue Castor and pale orange Pollux are nearly lost in the western horizon and the Spring constellations span the meridian overhead. Under city lights, the Spring sky looks pretty sparse, particularly after Winter’s abundance of bright constellations. Occasional estimates of the naked eye limiting magnitude of my near downtown sky vary from about mag 4.5 to 5.5. This time of year, if you live in a light polluted area, you can estimate the magnitude of your sky using the stars of (the “northern crown”), which should be just east of overhead in the last week of June. If you don’t know Corona Borealis, find Arcturus (α Bootis), the brightest star in the overhead sky, just west of the meridian (or “follow the arc” of the big dipper’s handle “to Arcturus”). Corona Borealis lies about 15 degrees east/northeast of Arcturus – look for mag 2.2 α Coronae Borealis (Alphekka), which is the brightest star in this region. Depending on how dark your sky is, you should be able to see at least some of the backward “C” asterism of Corona Borealis. Starting with Alphekka (mag 2.2), the next star east in the asterism is γ CRB (mag 3.81), the next is δ CRB (mag 4.59), the next, veer- ing north (i.e., toward Polaris, the north star), is ε CRB (mag 4.14), the next to the north is iota CRB (mag 4.98), and the next to the north is rho CRB (mag 5.4). When I checked recently one night about 9:00 pm, with Corona Borealis still about 15 degrees east of the meridian, I could see δ CRB (4.59), but not iota CRB (mag 4.98), thus giving a mag 4.6 to 5 sky. Later, around 11:00 pm, when Corona Borealis was almost directly overhead, I could definitely see iota CRB and maybe even rho CRB (mag 5.4). If your sky is darker than mine, you can try using some of the stars of Hercules to estimate the limiting magnitude. You can get star magnitudes from a source like Wikipedia. Google Sky was used for some information described in this article, including for estimating what the sky would look like on July 1, 2011, around the time you receive this Newsletter. Google Sky is a component of Google Earth, which you can download for free to your computer. After starting Google Earth (v. 6.0), you can get into Google Sky by clicking on “View”, then “Explore”, then “Sky”; it brings up the sky at the date, time, and location set on your computer. To see the sky on July 1, 2011, I changed the date on my computer, then restarted Google Earth. If you don’t have star charts handy, you can find the objects discussed in this article on Google Sky. Depending on what you’re looking at, you may want to “uncheck” the “Yale Bright Star Catalog” box under “Layers” (lower left of the screen) to unclutter the screen, and you may need to “check” the “Our ” box under “Layers” to show the planets. Google Sky, along with The Cambridge Double Star Atlas, The Star Guide, Sky Atlas 2000, Sky and Telescope magazine, and Wikipedia are acknowledged as sources for much of the information in this article. Despite the limiting magnitude of the city sky, Spring contains some nice targets for binoculars and small or larger telescopes, including the northern hemisphere’s brightest star, a number of globular clusters, some easy and challenging double stars, a couple of galaxies if you have enough aperture, and, this Spring, two planets. So we’ll begin with the planets…but before leaving Corona Borealis, a cool thing about it is that a couple of degrees southeast of β CRB, about a billion light years from here, lies the , (mag 14). Abell 2065 contains more than 400 galaxies, making it one of the densest galaxy clusters known. I used to think it was target of the Hubble deep field shot, but that’s a different Abell (in Ursa Major). Anyway, you’re not likely to see Abell 2065 from the city, but you can try for it if you get to a dark site. Shortly after dusk in late June/early July, Mercury should be about 5 degrees above the west/northwest of the horizon shining at about mag 0.3. Mercury stays close to the sun, so you’ll need a clear view to the horizon to see it, and you need to look within an hour or so of sunset before it sinks below the horizon. You’ll get a little better view with binoculars, and with a telescope you can follow its changing phases during the few weeks it remains visible, though the atmosphere makes the viewing mushy. Saturn (mag 0.8) is about halfway up the southwestern sky wandering in the constellation Virgo. Seems to me that planets, in contrast to stars, don’t twinkle, maybe because they’re closer than stars (though we’re still looking through the same amount of at- mosphere), or maybe because they’re illuminated by reflected light, or maybe it’s my imagination…don’t know. Nevertheless, Saturn will be the bright yellowish “star” in the south/southwest sky that isn’t twinkling (not the bright white one above it, Spica, which is twinkling). Even through my 10 x 50 binoculars (6.5 degree field of view) I can tell Saturn isn’t a star. Through binoculars, you can imagine why Galileo thought he saw “ears” on the planet. Through a telescope, it’s always a “wow!” object. Check out the rings,

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 Page 5 San Diego Astronomy Association which are opening from their edge-on view of last time around; can you see the Cassini division yet? You should be able to see the shadow of the planet on the rings where they head back around the planet. A bright storm has been swirling in Saturn’s north tropical zone for the past few months, but I haven’t been able to see it. These past couple of months Saturn has been dancing with the fairly bright star Porrima (γ Virginis). It’s been a remarkable sight, even naked eye, watching Saturn approach, then recede from Porrima. In early June, Saturn was within about 15 arcminutes of Porrima, close enough to view the pair in the same field at over 200x magnification; now they should be just about one-half degree apart, making Porrima an easy find. Porrima is interesting, in one respect, because it has a just a bit south of -1 degrees, making it is a good marker for the equator. But more fun, Porrima is a challenging double star that will test the resolving power of your telescope. Its 3.5 mag compo- nents currently are separated by a little more than 1.5 arcseconds, and opening in a 170 year period. So, if you can’t resolve it this year, try again next Spring. About 8 degrees north of Porrima is Vindemiatrix (ε VIR; mag 2.8), which is thought to part of the Hyades cluster (in Taurus!). Vin- demiatrix is good star to know because you can use it to find the Virgo cluster of galaxies. By scanning with my 12.5 inch reflector at about 100x magnification in an area almost exactly half way between Vindemiatrix and Denebola (β LEO), I can see some of the brighter Virgo galaxies, like M87 (the brightest at mag 9.6). But try soon or the Virgo cluster will be too low in the west by the time it gets dark enough to look. On the other side of the sky from Virgo, about 10 to 12 degrees south of the Big Dipper, lie the “hunting dogs”, , which includes α CVN ( – the “heart” of “”, i.e., the executed Charles I of England) and β CVN (Chara; mag 4.3) lying about 5 degrees west/northwest of α CVN. Through even a small telescope, Cor Caroli resolves into a nice double star containing a mag 2.9 pri- mary and mag 5.5 secondary separated by 19 arcseconds. An interesting star in Canes Venatici is the star Y CVN (aka “La Superba”), which also is a , ranging from mag 4.8 to 6.3 over a 160 day period. Carbon stars are late stage stars that, in contrast to “normal” stars, contain an excess of carbon relative to oxygen, leaving free carbon in the atmosphere after carbon and oxygen combine to form ; the free carbon contributes to the ruddy color of carbon stars. To find La Superba, one of the largest and brightest carbon stars, look on a line from Cor Caroli to Chara, then make a right angle to the northeast and go about the same distance. In my 10 x 50 binoculars, Cor Caroli and Chara fit in the same field; if I then shift the field to the northeast, keeping Chara in the field to the southwest, the deep red color of Y CVN pops out about three-quarters of the way across the field. If you have a telescope, compare Y CVN to Arcturus (see below) and consider how they differ, besides brightness. Canes Venatici also contains the globular cluster M3 (mag 5.9), a tough find in a star-sparse region of the sky a little more than halfway from Cor Caroli to Arcturus, and about 6 degrees west of β Comae Berenices. In my 10 x 50’s, M3 looks like a dim star that won’t come into focus; it takes a star chart to convince me that I’m on it, or a view through my reflector, where a few stars just begin to resolve at about 120x. Canes Venatici also contains the (M51) and its companion galaxy (NGC 5194), which lie about 4 degrees southwest of eta Ursae Majoris (Alkaid – the last star in the handle of the big dipper), just west of a line with Cor Caroli. On the best of nights, with M51 near the meridian and my reflector at about 100x, I can see the two galactic nuclei like two foggy eyes looking out from some 25-40 million light years away (seems there’s been some difficulty nailing down the distance). While you’re by the handle of the big dipper, check out the second star(s) from the end of the handle, Mizar (zeta UMA; mag 2.2) and Alcor (80 UMA; mag 3.99); Alcor provides what seems to be becoming an age-related eye test – can you see it there next to Mizar, without binoculars? In a telescope at about 120x, Mizar resolves into two components (mags 2.2 and 3.9), and another star appears in the field, making a nice system with Alcor. Talk about Castor and Pollux and Vindemiatrix, among other things, makes one think about star names. Stars are named according to several different systems, for example, using a number or one or two letters and the constellation name, and with numbers preceded by someone’s intial(s) or a symbol representing the someone (e.g., “Σ” - Struve), but “common names” and “Bayer designations” are most often used to refer to the brightest stars. Common names based on Latin, Greek, Arabic and Babylonian words, and some are based on the discoverer (e.g., Barnard’s star, or Herschel’s garnet star). Castor and Pollux, for example, have a Latin background (they were the twin sons of Zeus and Leda, a human…and there may have been a swan involved?), as does Spica (α Virginis; “the ear of wheat”); and Procyon (α Canis minoris; “before the dog”, i.e., rising before Sirius, the Dog Star) and Vindemiatrix (ε VIR; “grape gatherer”) are from Greek. But the majority of common names for stars are derived from Arabic, including, for example, Betelgeuse (α Orionis), most of the “Al’s”, like Alde- beran (α Tauri), Altair (α Aquilae) and Alpheratz (α Andromedae; aka Sirrah – some stars have more than one common name), and the

Page 6 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

alliterative favorites Zubenelgenubi (α Librae; “the southern claw” – and a nice binocular double) and Zubeneschamali (β LIB; “the northern claw”); α and β LIB, which are the bright stars northwest of Scorpius, were formerly part of Scorpius, thus the “claws” of the Scorpion (what “ Justice” in that?). The brightest stars also have a , which comprises a Greek letter and the name of the constellation in the geni- tive form (for you Latin buffs). In principal, the stars of a constellation are assigned Greek letters, alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), delta (δ) epsilon (ε), etc., alphabetically from greatest apparent brightness to dimmest. But the exceptions abound, including Pollux (β GEM; mag 1.1) being brighter than Castor (α GEM; multiple star, primarily mags 1.9 and 3), and Betelgeuse (α ORI; mag 0.4) being dimmer than Rigel (β ORI; mag 0.26). Such exceptions are not surprising when using such a subjective determination, not to mention the complication due to double stars and variable stars. Converting a constellation name to the genitive generally is done by modifying the ending. In some cases, the genitive form is familiar. For example, like “alumnus” (masculine) and “alumni”, the genitive of Aquarius is Aquarii, of Scorpius is Scorpii, and of Cygnus is Cygnii, and like “alumna” (feminine) and “alumnae”, the genitive of Andromeda is Andromedae, of Libra is Librae, and of Cassiopeia is Cassiopeiae. For many constellations, the genitive is derived by adding an “is”, or a form thereof, to the constel- lation name; for example, the genitive of Orion is Orionis, of Bootes is Bootis, of Virgo is Virginis, and of Leo Minor is Leonis Minoris. Others are more irregular (e.g., Aries and Arietes; Gemini and Geminorum). In constellations with two words, one or both may be modified (Corona Borealis becomes Coronae Borealis; Canes Venatici becomes Canum Venaticorum). So now back to the sky. I mentioned Arcturus, above, as a means to find Corona Borealis. Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes, the herdsman, and, at mag -0.4, the red supergiant is the brightest star in the northern hemisphere and fourth brightest star in the sky (after Sirius, Canopus, and α Centauri). No star looks like anything more than a small disc through a tele- scope, but Arcturus gives a nice view because of its rich color. Bootes, which kind of looks like a kite, with Arcturus at its southern bottom, also contains ε Bootis, one of the fine double stars in the sky. ε Bootis is about 8 degrees northeast of Arcturus, along the eastern side of the kite asterism, and comprises mag 2.6 and 4.8 components separated by 2.9 arcseconds - splitting it is good practice for Summer’s double double. Next, using Corona Borealis as a starting point, about 6 degrees south of Alphekka lies Serpens Caput (the “head of the snake” – low in the east, Serpens Cauda comprises the “tail of the snake”, which is separated from the head by Ophiuchus, “the serpent bearer”, making Serpens the only discontinuous constellation). The “head” of Serpens, consisting of β, γ, and kappa SER, as well as several other stars, is about one binocular field south and a bit east of Corona Borealis, and fits nicely within the field of my 10 x 50 binoculars. Serpens Cauda contains globular cluster M5 (mag. 5.7), one of the fine globular clusters in the northern sky. M5 lies about two thirds of the way from Alphekka to Zubeneschamali (β LIB; see above). To find M5 using binoculars, move south from the “head of the snake”, on a line toward Zubeneschamali, about one binocular field (6.5 degrees with my 10 x 50’s) to the relatively bright δ SER, then continue about another 8 degrees; M5 is brighter and larger than M3 and appears like a fuzzy snowball just east of a bright star. In my reflector, several stars resolve at about 120x, and more appear at 200x, but I don’t see much depth through the cluster. Finally, Corona Borealis is a good place to start to find M13 (mag 5.3), the globular cluster in Hercules. Starting at Alphekka, look about 10-15 degrees east to magnitude 2.8 β Herculis (Kornepheros), the brightest star in that region of my downtown sky. From Kornepheros, proceed about 10 degrees north to zeta HER (mag 2.8), then another 8 degrees north and a bit west to eta HER (mag 4); zeta HER and eta HER are the western stars of the “keystone” asterism. Through my 10 x 50 binoculars, M13 is a fuzzy snowball located a bit less than a third of the way on a line from eta HER to zeta HER. Through my tripod-mounted 20 x 60 binocular (2.2 degree fov), I see M13 at the apex of squat triangle with two stars, but can’t resolve individual stars in the cluster. Through my reflector at 200x, dozens of tiny “diamonds” sparkle in and out of view as I focus up and down through the cluster, and lines of stars stream out from the central region making M13 look like a dew-speckled spider. I wonder if I lived there, would the sky be busy with suns…would we do astronomy? Once you know the above-mentioned stars in the city, head out to a dark site and try to find them…and while you’re there, look for Abell 2065 – it may be the most distant thing you’ve ever seen © 2011 – San Diego Stargazer.

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 Page 7 San Diego Astronomy Association

July 2011

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Campo Indian Reservation Cuyamaca New Moon RanchoState Park

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Stars in the Park Stars at Mission Trails

10 11 12 13 14 1 5 16 SDAA Business Mission Trails Meeker Meeting Foundation Full Moon

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 SDAA Program TDS Public Night Meeting Camp with the Stars - Heise

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 AISIG Meeting Sycamore Canyon KQ Ranch

New Moon

31

Page 8 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011

San Diego Astronomy Association

August 2011

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wm Heise Camp with the Stars Stars in the Park

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Lakeside Middle SDAA Business Stars at Mission Meeting Trails Full Moon

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Kumeyaa TDS Public Night Elementary SDAA Program Meeting KQ Ranch

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

AISIG Meeting Julian StarFest Julian StarFest Julian StarFest SPIE Convention

28 29 30 31

Julian StarFest New Moon

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 Page 9

San Diego Astronomy Association

SDAA Contacts Club Officers and Directors President Michael Vander Vorst [email protected] (858) 755-5846 Vice-President Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485 Recording Secretary Brian McFarland [email protected] (619) 462-4483 Treasurer Ed Rumsey [email protected] (858) 722-3846 Corresponding Secretary Jeff Herman [email protected] (619) 846-4898 Director Alpha Bob Austin [email protected] (760) 787-1174 Director Beta Scott Baker [email protected] (858) 442-7513 Director Gamma Michael Finch [email protected] (760) 440-9650 Director Delta Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974

Committees Site Maintenance Bill Quackenbush [email protected] (858) 395-1007 Observatory Director Jim Traweek [email protected] (619) 207-7542 Private Pads Mark Smith [email protected] (858) 484-0540 Outreach Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 N. County Star Parties Doug McFarland [email protected] (760) 583-5436 S. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] E. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] Central County Star Parties Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 Camp with the Stars Doug McFarland [email protected] (760) 583-5436 K.Q. Ranch Coordinator Bill Griffith (760) 525-9954 Newsletter Andrea Kuhl [email protected] (858) 547-9887 Membership Ed Rumsey [email protected] (858) 722-3846 New Member Mentor Jerry Hilburn (858) 565-4059 Webmaster Bob Austin [email protected] (760) 787-1174 AISIG Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 Site Acquisition Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Field Trips Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485 Grants/Fund Raising Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Merchandising Paul “Moose” Pountney [email protected] (619) 465-7014 Publicity Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Roboscope Director Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059 Governing Documents Scott Baker [email protected] (858) 442-7513 TDS Network Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485 Amateur Telescope Making Peter De Baan [email protected] (760) 745-0925

Have a great new piece of gear? Read an astronomy-related book that you think SDAA Editorial Staff others should know about? How about a photograph of an SDAA Member in Editor - Andrea Kuhl action? Or are you simply tired of seeing these Boxes in the Newsletter rather [email protected] than something, well, interesting? Assistant Editor: Craig Ewing Contributing Writers Join the campaign to rid the Newsletter of little boxes by sharing them with the John Mood Dr. Tony Phillips membership. In return for your efforts, you will get your very own by line or pho- tograph credit in addition to the undying gratitude of the Newsletter Editor. Just send your article or picture to [email protected].

Page 10 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

Julian StarFest (JSF) 2011

Julian StarFest (JSF) 2011 will be held August 25th through the 28th on the grounds of Menghini Winery in Julian, CA. There are many activities planned, including a drawing for door prizes, and a public star party on Saturday the 27th. We are currently confirming our speakers and programs, so be sure to check the www. julianstarfest.com website often to get up to minute information.

If you are planning to camp, there are plenty of campsites available. All types of camping are welcome; motor home, fifth wheel, trailer, tent, back of car or truck. Your camping fee of $30.00 for an adult and $15.00 for teens 13 to 18, (kids 12 and under are free), is for the entire three nights, whether you stay one night or three. Included in your registration fee is entrance to the Vendor / Exhibit area. Just show your wrist band for admission.

We also have a “Premium” observing campsite for imagers and serious observers. This site, located on the hill to the north of the winery is in an abandoned reservoir. You will be above ALL light intrusion and down in a basin that has a 10’ tall embankment with low trees around the edges. The embankment and trees give a good deal of wind protection in addition to obliterating any stray light. See our “Participant Registration” Page for more information.

Day use does not require pre-registration. Admission to the Vendor / Exhibit area is $5.00 per adult, $2.50 for teens (13 to 18) payable at the gate. Children, 12 and under are free. You only have to pay once for admission. Your wrist band will allow you entrance for all days of activities.

SDAA members interested in volunteering for the Saturday night public star party, please contact Kin Searcy at [email protected].

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 Page 11 San Diego Astronomy Association

Finding Planets among the Stars by Dr. Tony Phillips

Strange but true: When it comes to finding new extra-solar planets, or , stars can be an incredible nuisance.

It’s a matter of . Stars are bright, but their planets are not. Indeed, when an astronomer peers across light years to find a distant Earth-like world, what he often finds instead is an annoying glare. The light of the star itself makes the star's dim planetary system nearly impossible to see.

Talk about frustration! How would you like to be an astronomer who's constantly vexed by stars? Fortunately, there may be a solution. It comes from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope orbiting Earth since 2003. In a new study, researchers say the Galaxy Evolution Explorer is able to pinpoint dim stars that might not badly outshine their own planets.

“We've discovered a new technique of using ultraviolet light to search for young, low- stars near the Earth,” said David Rodri- guez, a graduate student of astronomy at UCLA, and the study's lead author. “These M-class stars, also known as red dwarfs, make excellent targets for future direct imaging of exoplanets.”

Young red dwarfs produce a telltale glow in the ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum that Galaxy Evolution Explorer can sense. Because dwarf stars are so numerous—as a class, they account for more than two-thirds of the stars in the galaxy—astrono- mers could reap a rich bounty of targets.

In many ways, these stars represent a best-case scenario for planet hunting. They are close and in clear lines-of-sight, which generally makes viewing easier. Their low mass means they are dimmer than heavier stars, so their light is less likely to mask the feeble light of a planet. And because they are young, their planets are freshly formed, and thus warmer and brighter than older planetary bodies.

Astronomers know of more than five hundred distant planets, but very few have actually been seen. Many exoplanets are detected indirectly by means of their “wobbles”—the gravitational tugs they exert on their central stars. Some are found when they transit the parent star, momentarily dimming the glare, but not dimming it enough to reveal the planet itself. The new Galaxy Evolution Explorer technique might eventually lead to planets that can be seen directly. That would be good be- cause, as Rodriguez points out, “seeing is believing.”

And it just might make astronomers feel a little better about the stars.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer Web site at http://www.galex.caltech.edu describes many of the other discoveries and accomplish- ments of this mission. And for kids, how do astronomers know how far away a star or galaxy is? Play “How Old do I Look” on The Space Place at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/whats-older and find out!

This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Page 12 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

Exoplanets are easier to see directly when their star is a dim, red dwarf.

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 Page 13 San Diego Astronomy Association

AISIG Gallery

Jim Thommes captured barred spiral galaxy NGC 5921 in Serpens Caput from the Laguna Mountains using an SBIG ST8300M CCD camera on a C8 Schmidt Cass mounted on a Losmandy G11.

Page 14 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 San Diego Astronomy Association

Peter Morrison posted what he calls a “quick and dirty” image of globular cluster M13 in Hercules taken from his back yard in San Diego to test his new setup. He used a new QSI 583ws imager on a Meade 8-iinch ACF mounted on an Astro-Physics Mach1GTO. He combined approximately one hour of individual images.

Newsletter Deadline The deadline to submit articles for publication is the 15th of each month.

SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JULY 2011 Page 15 San Diego Astronomy Association P.O. Box 23215 NON-PROFIT ORG. San Diego, CA 92193-3215 U.S. POSTAGE (619) 645-8940 PAID VOL XLIX Issue 7, July 2011 PERMIT NO. 3489 Published Monthly by the San Diego Astronomy Association SAN DIEGO, CA. Subscription $30.00/year, Single Issue $2.50

THE BACK PAGE

For Sale: Discovery Channel Explorer 6070 Telescope 60mm Altazimuth Refracting Telescope by Meade Instruments Corp. Specs: 700mm obj. focal lens, 60mm (diameter),f/11.7 focal ratio. Call Neil, (858)663-1475

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Send dues and renewals to P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215. Include any renewal cards from Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, or Odyssey magazine in which you wish to continue your subscription. The expiration date shown on your newsletter’s mailing label is the only notice that your membership in SDAA will expire. Dues are $50 for Contributing Memberships; $30 for Basic Membership; $50.00 for Private Pads; $5 for each Family membership. In addition to the club dues the annual rates for magazines available at the club discount are: Sky & Telescope $32.95, Astronomy $34, Sky Watch $6.99, and Odyssey $25.46. Make checks payable to S.D. Astronomy Assn. PLEASE DO NOT send renewals directly to Sky Publishing. They return them to us for processing.