Observe—Educate—Have Fun The August 2017 Sidereal Times

The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society P.O. Box 50581, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87181-0581 www.TAAS.org

taas — 2011 winner of astronomy magazine’s out-of-this-world award for outstanding public programming since 1959

General Meeting News Lynne Olson

Dale Murray: Telescopes and Mounts Basics TAAS Astronomy 101

Saturday, August 5, 6:00 p.m. Our continuingScience and series Math Learningfor beginners Center, on the basicsUNM of Campusastronomy Auriga and Tubus Herschel

Free and open to the public : Milky Way and green laser pointer beam over Utility, Insensibility, Oak Flat. photo by dale murray (detail) and Controversy Oak Flat Public Party IV Featured Speaker: Phil Fleming

TAAS General Meeting Saturday, August 12 Oak Flat Picnic Grounds, South of Tijeras Saturday, August 5, 7:00 p.m. This is an overview of basic telescope Science and Math Learning Center, equipment. Have you ever wondered The fourth event in our annual summer UNM Campus what the differences are in the types of series of Oak Flat Public Star Parties will be held on Saturday, August 12, at Our present-day constellational sky telescopes and some of their strengths and weaknesses? Ever wondered about the Yucca and Juniper areas of the Oak is a practical, but stagnant, human the differences in the various types of Flat Picnic Grounds. creation parsed into jigsaw-like pieces mounts? fixed nearly a century ago in 1922 by Numerous TAAS telescopes of all types and sizes will ring the observing field in this the International Astronomical Union. Dale’s discussion will cover refractor, re- dark-sky location, generously assigned by flector and catadioptric telescope basics the Tijeras Ranger Station to our Society Fleming has felt an ever-growing curiosity and the differences between Dobson, fork for many years, to show the wonders of our about the peculiar mix of those 88 constel- and German equatorial mounts. It will New Mexico skies to the visiting public. lations and wonderedcontinued how the on IAU page made 2 . . . also encompass somecontinued basic advice on page on 2what . . . continued on page 2 . . . their determination of the final number— might be the best combination of scope Public Star Party Astrocon Total Solar Eclipse Oak Flat Picnic Area Wed.–Sat., August 16–19 in U.S. Sat., August 12 Casper, Wyoming Mon., August 21

INSIDE 2...... Telescope Loan Program Update 4...... Astrophoto: The Dumbbell 7...... Astrophoto: NGC 2403 Revisited 3...... Under the Dome 5...... Oak Flat Report 8...... TAAS Reports & Notices 3...... September Meeting to Feature Eclipse Viewing 6...... Astrophoto: Barnard 72, The Snake Nebula 9...... TAAS Directors & Staff

The Sidereal Times August 2017

Telescope Loan Program Update ...Oak Flat Star Party continued from page 1 by Jim Fordice The 2017 Loan Program Surplus We are looking forward to conditions being Equipment Auction kicked off on July 17. back to normal and returning to the ob- serving field, which was closed due to fire You have until 9:00 p.m. on August 10 to restrictions for the July 15 event. Thanks submit your bids for the 19 auction items. to all who adapted to the changes and gave Auction details are on the TAAS website the public a fine experience. under the “Surplus Equipment Auction” link. The proceeds from the auction will be used to The gates to the parking areas (restrooms support the Telescope Loan Program. are at Yucca only) will open at 6:00 p.m., so that guests can have time to picnic and en- joy the area and get to know the astrono- Loan Program Statistics mers and their telescopes as they set up, # of Scopes # on Loan # Available % on Loan before darkness slowly moves in and ob- 41 39 2 95% serving begins. Sunset is at approximately

7:57 p.m. Please arrive before dark. Type: Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics 22 7 12 This event is free and open to the public— families welcome! Bring jackets for any Size: Large (>8") Medium (5"-8") Small (<5") evening chill and water as needed, along 12 16 13 with red light headlamps or flashlights to preserve night vision Tracking: Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 4 7 11 Dates for series events remaining are Au- gust 12 and September 9. As of: 7/18/17 See www.taas.org for map.

...General Meeting News continued from page 1 Observe – Educate – Have Fun

the answer to that question lies at the core of his talk.

This lecture, designed to appeal to novice stargazers and professional as- tronomers alike, will highlight the trail measured in millennia of storytelling, folklore, art, cartography, religion, poli- tics, and astronomical science resulting Milky Way above Oak Flat. in the origination, winnowing, and ulti- photo by martin hilario (detail) mate establishment of our rich heritage embodied in the final 88 pictures of the ...Astronomy 101 sky. continued from page 1

Devout deep-sky telescopic observers and imagers who embark on this con- and mount for your intended astronomi- stellational boogie should once again cal interests and how each will enhance find their wide-angle vision of the cos- your observing and imaging success. mos restored and enhanced in an ever- Go to www.taas.org for full article and lasting way. map. Page 2 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times August 2017 Under the Dome Notes from and about GNTO Jim Fordice

July 15, 3rd Quarter Moon Observing:

lation works and what improvements are • Sepember 23: New Moon Observ- Marshall Gatten was the opener on July 15. Newneeded. Isengard Telescope Orientation ing As expected, observing conditions contin- and Operations Guide: ued to deteriorate as sunset approached. • Sepember 16: 3rd Quarter Moon The biggest sucker holes were all to the Observing north and would soon be covered by Albu- The Isengard Orientation and Operations querque’s light pollution dome. No observ- Guide has been updated and reformatted. Don’t forget that the GNTO Observing ers arrived by sunset so Marshall locked up If you are planning to learn how to use Field is available for use by TAAS members anytime. Check the TAAS website for the Ladiesand went Restroom home. Better in Ortega luck next Building: time! the Isengard Telescope reading this guide should be where you start. To obtain a procedure to follow. Contact me if you have copy click on the TAAS website under the any questions. We tested the newly installed Ladies Re- “Our Observatory” and then on the “GNTO As always, check TAAS_Talk and the TAAS stroom during the 25th Anniversary and UpcomingFiles” link. Events received a lot of positive feedback. The website for last-minute changes and up- restroom is in the southeast corner of the : rd dates. GNTO events are open to all TAAS Ortega Building and uses a Porta Potty. • August 12: 3 Quarter Moon Ob- members and their guests. There are instructions posted on how to serving use the Porta Potty (it is very easy). Please GNTO Director: [email protected] or 505- send me feedback on how this new instal- • August 19: New Moon Observing 803-3640.

TAAS General Meeting

Saturday, August 5, 7:00 p.m. Science and Math Learning Center, UNM Campus September General Meeting to Report on Solar Eclipse Viewing

Many TAAS members plan to view the August total solar eclipse. Therefore, TAAS will dedicate the September General Meeting to hear a number of members’ short reports about the viewing from various locations. If you would be willing to share your experience and/or audio- visuals at the meeting, please contact TAAS VP John Miller Constellations: Utility, Insensibility, via the club’s mailbox – http://[email protected] . and Controversy Phil Fleming, 6:00 p.m. Astronomy 101: Telescopes and Mounts Basics photo: Totality by Eric Edwards featured speaker with Dale Murray

Page 3 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society

von, martin, and edgar The Sidereal Times August 2017

The Dumbbell Nebula, also known as M27 or NGC 6853, in Vulpecula the Fox.

It is about 1,300 light-years distant and extends a little over 1 light-year at its longest side. Astronomers think it became a planetary nebula between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago. It has a size of about 7’x 6’ in a telescope and has an of 7.4. The Dumbbell has a very large white dwarf that ionizes the gas around it, which shows up as bright knots.

Equipment: ES ED127CF f/7.5, iOptron CEM60 mount, SBIG ST8300M and CFW5, Autoguider SBIG SG-4 on an AT72ED f/6.

Software: CCDSoft V5.210, ImagePlus V5.25a, Photoshop Elements V 9, Astronomy Tools (false color).

Exposure: 24 x 5 minutes for total of 2 hours, Hydrogen Alpha Filter 656 nm with a passband of 7 nm.

Location: 3 miles north of Oak Flat on my backyard patio, June 30, 2017 around 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. MDT. —John Laning

Page 4 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times August 2017

Report from Oak Flat III July 15 by Lynne Olson Kevin McKeown, Melissa Kirk, Trish Logan, Buddy Buzzard, Lynne Olson, Oak Flat Public Star Party Report Marla and Jonathan Brown, Jim and Ann Saturday, July 15, 2017 Seargeant, Shane and Becky Ramo- towski, Dale Murray, Barry Spletzer, Matt What was missing with the was Spletzer, John Laning, Martin Ambieda, more than made up for by the size Martin Hilario, Mike Salazar, Fernando of the crowd of visitors, estimated at Torres, Anthony Maestas, David Thor- about 150 with lots of families, many man, Ralph Thorman, Bill Constantine, who had never been to the Oak Flat Bob Hufnagel, Steve Snider, and several Fernando Torres, with Steve Snider behind, making the visitors happy area before, and the huge turnout of newer members whose names I missed. TAAS members and telescopes, re- sulting in one of our more spectacular star parties.

In spite of the challenging conditions... Jonathan Brown and Marla Spencer-Brown the usual observing field was off limits star-seeking due to fire restrictions and, ironically, was also too muddy to use...we adapted and used the Yucca parking lot for the almost 30 telescopes (with a few out in the ad- joining fields) and asked visitors to park along the road.

Jupiter and Saturn both did their parts to keep all glued to the eyepieces, and later Scorpius showed off and gave up a few Messiers. The telescopes themselves Barry Spletzer showing off Saturn and Jupiter to our many visitors were part of the show and our members were heard talking with the visitors about all things astronomical and demonstrat- ing why TAAS is considered such a friendly and welcoming group...and Kevin McKeown even managed to get in a few informal star tours.

Many thanks to all who came and took the time and effort, and mostly to Martin Hilario who opened and closed, was ev- erything from traffic coordinator to teach- er to greeter and kept the whole event Lynne Olson feeding hungry astronomers Kevin together from beginning to end! And, McKeown and Andy House as always, our gratitude to the Tijeras Ranger Station for their usual generous assistance.

TAAS members who participated in the evening, both with and without tele- scopes: Jim Kaminski, Bruce Meyer, Photos by Martin Hilario

Page 5 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times August 2017

Barnard 72, the Snake Nebula

One of E.E. Barnard’s dark nebulae, comprising clouds of dust in front of the myriad stars of the Milky Way. The center one is sometimes called the Snake Nebula.

John Briggs, also a TAAS member, and I took this photo using my RH-200 astrograph located at his FOAH observatory in Magdalena. Actually, I was operating the mount and camera remotely from Placitas using TeamViewer to control TheSkyX. I did very simple processing in PixInsight.

Upper left is Saturn and some nebula I have not identified. —Rick Thurmond

Page 6 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times August 2017

NGC 2403, a spiral located in the direction of the . The galaxy is approximately 8 million light-years distant and approximately 50,000 light-years across—about half the diameter of the Milky Way. It contains many H II regions as well as a large star-forming region, NGC 2404. NGC 2403 was discovered by William Herschel in 1788.

Captured on February 8, 2016, at GNTO using a Celestron 11” HD with focal reducer (f/7, 1960 mm focal length). Twenty-eight 10-minute subframes were combined in DSS. Further processing was done in Photoshop CS2 and Lightroom 5. This process yielded a rather unsatisfactory image. I recently re-processed this data using PixInsight, resulting in—to my eye—a much more satisfactory image. This improvement was due to the background extractor, deconvolution algorithm, and perhaps most important, the color correction process. —Vance Ley

Page 7 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times August 2017 TAAS Reports & Notices

Welcome to New Location, Location, Location Donations to TAAS or Returning • Chaco Canyon• TAAS Members 6185’ elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01’ 50”N 107˚ 54’ 36”W 36.03˚ -107.91˚ Brandon Drummond 36˚ 1.83’ -107˚ 54.60’ Peter Lipscomb Joe Hannigan Tera Hannigan • Oak Flat• 7680’ elevation Hunt Turner Latitude Longitude Turner Hunt Carl Larson 34˚ 59’ 48”N 106˚ 19’ 17”W Kimiko Larson 34.99˚ -106.32˚ Elizabeth (Lisa) Glass Lillie Rose Larson 34˚ 59.80’ -106˚ 19.28’ Linnea Larson • UNM Campus Observatory• Jasper Lipscomb 5180’ elevation Ed Juddo Peter Lipscomb Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5’ 29”N 106˚ 37’ 17”W Ylva Pihlstrom Elin 35.09˚ -106.62˚ Anzio 35˚ 5.48’ -106˚ 37.29’ Courtesy Pete Eschman

For security reasons, GNTO location is available by request only, so please contact Explanation of Dues and Jim Fordice, GNTO Director, for GNTO The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c) Membership information, e-mail [email protected]. (3) organization. Donations are deductible as Renewal Date charitable contributions on the donor’s federal income tax return. Membership Services Monthly Membership Report New memberships are registered for: immediately if you pay online. If you July 2017 •Membership Inquiries pay by check, your membership is reg- Membership Current Past Change •Events Information istered when your check is received by Month Month •Volunteer Opportunities the treasurer. Regular 272 272 0 Contact Bob Anderson at Family 168 166 2 Renewal notices will be sent out via [email protected] Educator 14 13 1 e-mail beginning 60 days before your Student 26 26 0 membership expires. If your member- for: Military 3 2 1 ship is renewed before it expires or with •Membership Dues Honorary 5 5 0 in 90 days after it expires, your new ex- •Address/e-mail changes Total Members 488 484 4 piration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and Contact Doug LeGrand at your membership will be continuous. [email protected] Editor’s Note If dues payment is received more The deadline for the next issue of The TAAS than 90 days after the expiration date, Sidereal Times is Friday, August 25. The P.O. Box 50581 newsletter editor’s e-mail address is you will be reinstated as a member with Albuquerque, NM 87181 [email protected] . an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment. Page 8 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Sidereal Times August 2017 2017 TAAS Board of Directors/Staff

Dale Murray, President John Miller, Vice President [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 505-821-0234

BoB Shipley, Secretary Doug legranD, Treasurer [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 505-559-0252 505-872-8366

roBert anDerSon, Director JiM ForDice, Director Membership Coordinator Observatory Director, [email protected] [email protected] Telescope Loan Coordinator, 505-275-1916 [email protected] 505-803-3640

toM grzyBowSki, Director BoB havlen, Director Education Outreach Director 505-856-3306 [email protected] 505-363-9427

Martin hilario, Director gorDon pegue, Director [email protected] gpegue at comcast dot net 213-999-2582 505-332-2523

BoriS venet, Director [email protected] 505-507-7838

ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 (H) [email protected] Dark Sky Coordinator David Penasa 505-269-8717(W) [email protected] Education Outreach Trish Logan [email protected] Events Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 [email protected] Grants Coordinator Barry Spletzer 505-228-4384 (C) [email protected] Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 [email protected] Newsletter Editor Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 (C) [email protected] Observatory Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 [email protected] Public Relations Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 [email protected] Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 [email protected] Solar Outreach Coordinator Roger Kennedy 505-314-6273 [email protected] Telescope Loan Coordinator Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 [email protected] UNM Observatory Coordinator Fernando Torres [email protected] Volunteer Coordinator Webmaster Barry Spletzer 505-228-4384 (C) [email protected]

Page 9 The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society The Albuquerque Astronomical Society

P.O. Box 50581 Albuquerque, NM 87181-0581

“OUT-OF-ThIS-wORLD” AwARD 2011 TAAS is honoredAlbuquerque to receive Magazine an TAAS isAstronomy honored to receive an “Editor’sBEST PickPLACE 2013 TO Best STARGAZE of the City” award from . from Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming. CELESTIAL EDITION

MEMBERSHIP ARTICLES/ADVERTISEMENTS TAAS ONLINE You can join TAAS or renew your Articles, personal astronomical classified TAAS website: http://www.TAAS.org membership online. Just go to www.taas. advertisements and advertisements for org and select “Join Us!” or “Renew Your businesses related to astronomy must be The TAAS website includes: Membership” from the main menu on the submitted by the deadline shown on the left side. Annual dues are $30 for a regular Society calendar (generally the Friday • Programs . . . membership, $15 for educators and active near the new Moon). Rates for commer- • TAAS 200 military, and $5 for students. Only regular cial ads (per issue) are $120 per page, $60 • TAAS Fabulous Fifty members are eligible to vote in society per half page, $30 per quarter page, $7 for • Educational Outreach: School Star matters. Our new member information business card size. The newsletter editor packet can be viewed or downloaded from reserves the right to include and/or edit Parties, Solar Astronomy Outreach the same location on the website. You can any article or advertisement. E-mail at- • Equipment Trader pay your dues on line through PayPal, by tachments in Microsoft Word or compat- • Telescope Loaner Program Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. ible word processor format; ASCII and • Telescope Making and Maintenance Sidereal Times To pay by check, mail your check to TAAS, RTF are acceptable. One space between . . . And more P.O. Box 50581, Albuquerque, NM 87181- paragraphs is preferred. One column is 0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of approximately 350 words. Contact the • Online our meetings. Newsletter Editor at [email protected] for • Calendar of TAAS Events more information.Sidereal Times • Members’ Guide MAGAZINES Note that the is no longer • Links to Astronomy Resources and mailed. It is posted on the TAAS website, Members’ Blogs TAAS no longer offers magazine www.TAAS.org. subscriptions. Send submissions or correspondence to E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]. Members’ Google Group: [email protected]