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Prime Focus Mercury to the Upper Left of Venus Highlights of the June Sky. - - - 1st → 13th - - - DUSK: Look in the WNW 45 minutes after sunset for Prime Focus Mercury to the upper left of Venus. A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society - - - 8th - - - June 2013 New Moon 11:56 am EDT - - - 9thth - - - DUSK: A very thin crescent ThisThis MonthsMonths KAS EventsEvents Moon is 7° below Venus. - - - 10thth - - - Observing Session: Saturday, June 1 @ 9:00 pm DUSK: A Waxing Crescent Moon is 8° to the left of Saturn & Globular Clusters - Kalamazoo Nature Center Venus. thth General Meeting: Friday, June 7 @ 7:00 pm - - - 12 - - - DUSK: Mercury at greatest Kalamazoo Nature Center - See Page 10 for Details eastern elongation (24°), highest in the sky for 2013. Field Trip: Friday, June 14 @ 6:00 pm thth Abrams Planetarium & MSU Observatory - See Page 4 for Details - - - 16 - - - First Quarter Moon 1:24 pm EDT Observing Session: Saturday, June 15 @ 9:00 pm The Moon & Saturn - Kalamazoo Nature Center - - - 18th - - - DUSK: Mercury is about 2° to the left of Venus. Kiwanis Star Party: Saturday, June 29 @ 9:00 pm PM: The Moon is left of Kiwanis Youth Conservation Area - See Page 9 for Details Spica and well to Saturn’s lower right. - - - 19th - - - Inside the Newsletter. DUSK: Mercury is 1.9° to Inside the Newsletter. the lower left of Venus. May Meeting Minutes............................. p. 2 PM: The Moon is off to Board Meeting Minutes......................... p. 3 Saturn’s lower left and near Alpha Librae Observations........................................... p. 3 (Zubenelgenubi). Field Trip Itinerary................................. p. 4 - - - 21st - - - Summer solstice is at 1:04 Get Out & Observe the Sky................ p. 4 am EDT. My Winter Vacation.............................. p. 5 - - - 23rd - - - The Transit of Venus............................. p. 6 Full Moon Largest of 2013 (34′′) June Night Sky......................................... p. 8 7:32 am EDT KAS Board & Announcements............ p. 9 - - - 30thth - - - General Meeting Preview..................... p. 10 Last Quarter Moon 12:54 am EDT 12:54 am EDT www.kasonline.org MayMay MeetingMeeting MinutesMinutes The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society iron core. They have a rich hydrogen spectra resulting from was brought to order by President Richard Bell on Friday, the ensuing supernova explosion. There are two basic types May 3, 2013 at 7:11 pm. Approximately 50 members and of type I supernovae, which have no hydrogen spectra. The guests were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math & most famous is a type Ia, which is thought by most Science Center (KAMSC). astronomers to occur when a white dwarf exceeds its mass limit (called the Chandrasekhar limit, 1.4 solar masses) by Our special guest speaker for the evening was Dr. John accreting matter from a nearby companion star. Type Ia Marriner, a division scientist at the Fermi National supernovae are 6 times more luminous than a type II Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) near Batavia, Illinois. Dr. supernova. All type Ia supernovae should reach the same Marriner’s presentation was entitled Measuring the maximum brightness, making them excellent “standard Expansion of the Universe with Type Ia Supernovae. The candles” to measure great distances across space. source of a star’s power was a great mystery until we developed an understanding of nuclear physics. This helped Dr. Marriner mentioned that supernova discoveries is one us understand the two fundamental forces in every star; the area that amateur astronomers can contribute to scientific crushing force of gravity is exactly counteracted by the research. Two amateur astronomers of note are Tim Puckett outward flow of energy. This is referred to at hydrostatic and Tom Boles. Tim Puckett uses two telescopes that he equilibrium. Dr. Marriner then reviewed the spectral constructed himself (a 60cm and 35cm) and has made classification of stars: O B A F G K M (which can be numerous supernovae discoveries from his observatory in remembered by the classic pneumonic: Oh Be A Fine Girl Georgia. Tom Boles also searches for supernovae from his Kiss Me). This also sorts stars by their temperatures. observatory in Suffolk, England. Dr. Marriner then discussed how a star’s lifetime is The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), located in New determined solely by its mass. The smallest stars burn their Mexico, has been used by professional astronomers to hydrogen fuel very slowly, because gravity isn’t trying to discover supernovae. Dr. Marriner currently participates in crush the star as severely as more massive stars. The cores of the SDSS Dark Energy Survey, so he described how data is medium-mass stars, like the Sun, collapse into white dwarfs. gathered, processed, and analyzed. Dr. Marriner went into The most massive stars in the universe end their existence as the specifics of analyzing the spectra of supernovae, which supernovae, with the cores of these stars collapsing into can be a very long and complex process. either neutron stars or black holes. The final part of Dr. Marriner’s presentation was on how The composition of white dwarfs was then covered and then astronomers use supernovae to answer questions in Dr. Marriner described the different types of supernova. cosmology. He began with the historical background on our Type II supernovae are from the collapse of a massive star’s discovery of an expanding universe. Astronomers expected the expansion of the universe would slowdown over time due to the influence of galaxies exerting a gravitational influence on one another. However, using type Ia supernovae to measure the recession velocity of distant galaxies, astronomers discovered that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating. The force responsible for the accelerating universe is thought to be dark energy, which acts as a sort-of antigravity. The exact nature of dark energy is one of the biggest mysteries in all of science. Richard gave his President’s Report after the snack break. He described his satisfaction with this year’s Astronomy Day (full report coming next month). Richard then finally presented Bill Nigg with a Lifetime Membership Card (sorry it took so long). Jack Price reported on a successful outing at the Portage Green-A-Thon on April 27th. Jack thanked Rich Jean De Mott presented KAS President Richard Bell with Mather and Bill Van Dien for volunteering as well. Some of a check for $1,000 at the June meeting. The money was the current events discussed included two videos. One was raised through Jean’s Perpetual Plant Sale in 2012. All on what happens if you wring out a wet washcloth on the proceeds go toward the Robotic Telescope Project. space station and the other was called A Boy and His Atom. The meeting concluded at 9:33 pm. Prime Focus Page 2 June 2013 also reminded us of the Parchment Kindleberger Park Festival on July 13th. This conflicts with a planned Portage BOARDBOARD Library talk by Mike Cook, so we may need to divide forces on that date. Don reported that the PST solar telescope has MEETING MINUTES received some hard use, and he felt that it did not focus as well as in the past. Richard took it home to compare with his own solar scope. The monthly meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society Board was held on May 19, 2013 at Sunnyside Richard suggested holding no board meeting for the months Church. President Richard Bell called the meeting to order June, July, and August. The Board agreed to take a break at 5:05 pm. Present were board members Joe Borrello, Rich unless something anticipated makes a meeting necessary Mather, Jack Price, Don Stilwell, and Roger Williams. during this period. Board members also noted that the scheduled September General Meeting conflicts with the Rich gave the Treasurer’s report showing continued growth Great Lakes Star Gaze. Richard agreed to look at the of the Robotic Telescope Fund. A small discrepancy between possibility of moving the general meeting. There being no the official amount and the sum in Richard’s records is further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 pm. apparently related to categories used in the report generation, and it remains to be explained. Richard gave a summary of Respectfully submitted by Roger Williams June events, noting that his presentation for the general meeting program was about finished. Richard reminded us that the June meeting will be at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Public viewing sessions are scheduled for June 1st and June 15th. Don mentioned that he cannot be present for the Kiwanis Star Party on June 29th. Dick Gillespie needs help managing the crowds outdoors, and Rich said that he ObservationsObservations could help. Mike Cook has also volunteered to help if his job by allows it. Richard S. Bell On the subject of follow-up items from the previous meeting, There’s no Transit of Venus again this month, but it should Richard reported no recent developments beyond fundraising be another fun month of activities for the Kalamazoo in the Robotic Telescope Project. Richard plans to make one Astronomical Society. Of course, the success of this month’s more solicitation to the membership for donations and then events largely depends on the weather. to get seriously to work on a grant application. Richard also reported that he regarded Astronomy Day 2013 as the best First, we have several opportunities for stargazing. Public yet, with record attendance starting very early in the day and Observing Sessions will be held at the Kalamazoo Nature overflow audiences for the talks on Mars. With a couple of Center on June 1st and June 15th. We’ll enjoy Moon-free exceptions (like the requirement for volunteer background conditions on the 1st, so we’ll observe some of the deep sky checks), the museum worked with KAS pretty smoothly. delights of late spring and early summer.
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