Newsletter Archive the Skyscraper January 2018
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the vol. 45 no. 01 Skyscraper January 2018 AMATEUR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF RHODE ISLAND 47 PEEPTOAD ROAD NORTH SCITUATE, RHODE ISLAND 02857 WWW.THESKYSCRAPERS.ORG In This Issue: January Meeting Postponed 2 Enjoy A Starry Tale at Due to winter weather the University of Rhode Island Planetarium 3 The Sun, Moon & Planets in January 4 Astronomical Highlights for 2018 5 Magnitude: The Scale of the Universe 6 NGC 1624 : Cluster & Nebula in Perseus 7 Snowy Worlds Beyond Earth 8 Astrophoto Gallery Skyscrapers Board Meetings Third Monday of the Month All Members Welcome Phases of the Moon Full Wolf Moon January 2 02:24 Last Quarter Moon January 8 22:25 New Moon Seagrave Memorial Observatory January 17 02:17 Open Nights First Quarter Moon January 24 22:20 Saturdays at 7:00 pm weather & conditions permitting Full Blue Moon January 31 13:27 Enjoy A Starry Tale at the University of Rhode Island Planetarium University of Rhode Island Planetarium $5.00, to benefit the University of Rhode Upper College Road Island Planetarium fund. The program will Kingston, RI include a short presentation of Losing the Friday, January 12th, 2018, 6:00 P.M. Dark, why we all should do our best to keep Contact: Francine Jackson: 401-527-5558 the skies as dark as possible, then, after the On Friday, December 9th, the Universi- main program, you will witness a live plan- ty of Rhode Island Planetarium will present etarium introduction to The Skies above the program A Starry Tale. This planetari- the URI campus. um program, a presentation of the Japanese The University of Rhode Island Plane- optical company GOTO, is a beautiful in- tarium is located on Upper College Road, troduction to sky mythology. Join us as we on the Kingston campus, across from the venture back in time to the gods and their Visitors’ Center. interactions with the inhabitants of Earth, The University of Rhode Island Plan- and their hope in our ability to live here in etarium is available for programming for compassion and justice. schools and other organizations. For more A Starry Tale, suitable for all ages, will information, please contact Francine Jack- be offered at 6:00 P.M. Admission is only son at 401-527-5558. Waxing gibbous Moon by Tracy Prell The Skyscraper is published President Public Outreach Coordinator monthly by Skyscrapers, Inc. Steve Siok [email protected] Francine Jackson [email protected] Meetings are held monthly, usually on the first or second 1st Vice President Public Relations Spokesperson Friday or Saturday of the month. Ian Dell’Antonio [email protected] Francine Jackson [email protected] Seagrave Memorial Observatory is open every Saturday night, 2nd Vice President Observatory Committee Chairperson weather permitting. Kathy Siok [email protected] Jim Crawford [email protected] Directions Secretary Membership Activities Coordinator Directions to Seagrave Memorial Observatory are Steve Hubbard [email protected] Pat Landers [email protected] located on the back page of this newsletter. Treasurer Librarian Submissions Submissions to The Skyscraper are always welcome. Lloyd Merrill [email protected] Alex Bergemann [email protected] Please submit items for the newsletter no later than December 15 to Jim Hendrickson, 1 Sunflower Cir- Members at Large Historian cle, North Providence, RI 02911 or e-mail to jim@ Linda Bergemann [email protected] Dave Huestis [email protected] distantgalaxy.com. Tracy Prell [email protected] Archivist E-mail subscriptions Trustees Jim Crawford [email protected] To receive The Skyscraper by e-mail, send e-mail Matt Ouellette [email protected] with your name and address to jim@distantgalaxy. Editor com. Note that you will no longer receive the news- Jeff Padell [email protected] Jim Hendrickson [email protected] letter by postal mail. Tom Thibault [email protected] 2 The Skyscraper January 2018 The Sun, Moon & Planets in January This table contains the ephemeris of the objects in the Solar System for each Saturday night in January 2018. All times are in Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5). Ephemeris times are for Seagrave Observatory (41.845N, 71.590W). Object Date RA Dec Const Mag Size Elong Phase(%) Dist(S) Dist(E) Rise Transit Set Sun 6 19 07.7 -22 31.4 Sgr -26.8 1951.8 - - - 0.98 07:13 11:52 16:31 13 19 38.2 -21 31.2 Sgr -26.8 1951.3 - - - 0.98 07:11 11:55 16:38 20 20 08.2 -20 10.6 Cap -26.8 1950.4 - - - 0.98 07:08 11:57 16:46 27 20 37.5 -18 31.4 Cap -26.8 1949.1 - - - 0.98 07:03 11:59 16:55 Moon 6 10 49.3 9 20.1 Leo -12.5 1922.2 126° W 80 - - 21:00 03:49 10:28 13 16 28.7 -17 20.3 Oph -10.4 1750.7 45° W 14 - - 04:10 09:13 14:12 20 22 14.8 -12 54.1 Aqr -9.8 1800.7 32° E 8 - - 09:09 14:42 20:22 27 4 11.5 15 32.4 Tau -12.4 1981.0 117° E 73 - - 13:07 20:31 04:02 Mercury 6 17 31.5 -21 59.5 Oph -0.2 6.2 22° W 72 0.42 1.10 05:38 10:16 14:54 13 18 10.5 -23 07.9 Sgr -0.2 5.6 20° W 82 0.45 1.21 05:54 10:28 15:01 20 18 53.8 -23 28.0 Sgr -0.2 5.2 18° W 88 0.46 1.29 06:11 10:44 15:17 27 19 39.6 -22 48.5 Sgr -0.3 5.0 14° W 93 0.47 1.35 06:27 11:02 15:39 Venus 6 19 04.6 -23 15.8 Sgr -3.8 9.9 1° W 100 0.73 1.71 07:16 11:49 16:23 13 19 42.6 -22 14.8 Sgr -3.8 9.9 1° E 100 0.73 1.71 07:22 12:00 16:38 20 20 19.8 -20 40.8 Cap -3.8 9.9 3° E 100 0.73 1.71 07:24 12:09 16:55 27 20 56.2 -18 36.9 Cap -3.8 9.9 4° E 100 0.73 1.71 07:24 12:18 17:13 Mars 6 15 00.3 -16 09.6 Lib 1.4 4.9 58° W 93 1.63 1.91 02:41 07:43 12:46 13 15 17.7 -17 23.0 Lib 1.4 5.1 61° W 92 1.62 1.85 02:36 07:33 12:30 20 15 35.3 -18 30.5 Lib 1.3 5.2 64° W 92 1.61 1.78 02:30 07:23 12:16 27 15 53.1 -19 31.7 Lib 1.2 5.4 67° W 91 1.61 1.72 02:25 07:13 12:02 1 Ceres 6 9 33.3 26 36.7 Leo 7.3 0.7 147° W 99 2.58 1.70 18:22 02:11 10:01 13 9 29.5 27 34.7 Leo 7.1 0.8 154° W 99 2.58 1.65 17:45 01:40 09:35 20 9 24.5 28 33.1 Leo 7.0 0.8 161° W 100 2.57 1.62 17:07 01:07 09:07 27 9 18.6 29 28.8 Cnc 6.9 0.8 166° W 100 2.57 1.61 16:29 00:34 08:39 Jupiter 6 15 02.4 -16 06.5 Lib -1.7 33.4 58° W 99 5.43 5.89 02:42 07:44 12:47 13 15 06.8 -16 23.6 Lib -1.7 34.0 64° W 99 5.43 5.79 02:20 07:21 12:23 20 15 10.7 -16 38.7 Lib -1.8 34.6 70° W 99 5.43 5.69 01:57 06:58 11:58 27 15 14.3 -16 51.8 Lib -1.8 35.3 76° W 99 5.43 5.58 01:34 06:34 11:33 Saturn 6 18 08.5 -22 31.7 Sgr 0.5 15.0 14° W 100 10.06 11.02 06:14 10:50 15:26 13 18 12.0 -22 31.1 Sgr 0.5 15.1 20° W 100 10.06 10.98 05:50 10:26 15:02 20 18 15.4 -22 30.2 Sgr 0.5 15.1 26° W 100 10.07 10.94 05:26 10:02 14:38 27 18 18.7 -22 29.1 Sgr 0.6 15.2 33° W 100 10.07 10.88 05:02 09:38 14:13 Uranus 6 1 31.9 8 59.6 Psc 5.8 3.6 99° E 100 19.90 19.73 11:37 18:12 00:46 13 1 32.0 9 00.7 Psc 5.8 3.6 92° E 100 19.90 19.84 11:10 17:45 00:19 20 1 32.4 9 02.8 Psc 5.8 3.5 85° E 100 19.90 19.97 10:42 17:17 23:52 27 1 32.8 9 05.8 Psc 5.8 3.5 78° E 100 19.90 20.08 10:15 16:50 23:25 Neptune 6 22 55.1 -7 53.7 Aqr 7.9 2.2 56° E 100 29.94 30.48 10:02 15:36 21:09 13 22 55.7 -7 49.5 Aqr 7.9 2.2 49° E 100 29.94 30.57 09:35 15:09 20:43 20 22 56.5 -7 44.8 Aqr 7.9 2.2 43° E 100 29.94 30.66 09:08 14:42 20:16 27 22 57.3 -7 39.7 Aqr 8.0 2.2 36° E 100 29.94 30.74 08:41 14:15 19:50 Pluto 6 19 21.8 -21 39.3 Sgr 14.3 0.2 3° E 100 33.48 34.46 07:23 12:03 16:42 13 19 22.8 -21 38.0 Sgr 14.3 0.2 4° W 100 33.48 34.47 06:57 11:36 16:16 20 19 23.8 -21 36.6 Sgr 14.3 0.2 10° W 100 33.49 34.46 06:30 11:10 15:49 27 19 24.8 -21 35.2 Sgr 14.3 0.2 17° W 100 33.49 34.43 06:04 10:43 15:23 The Skyscraper January 2018 3 Astronomical Highlights for 2018 by Dave Huestis Last year on January 1 we were anx- may still catch a bright meteor or two.