Highlights of the September Sky. . .

- - - 1st - - - Last Quarter Moon Prime Focus

Dusk: Venus, Spica, and Mars nearly form a straight A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society line less than 5º long.

- - - 4th — 5th - - - September 2010 Dusk: Mars is just 2º upper right of Spica, which is about 4º right of Venus.

- - - 8th - - - ThisThis MonthsMonths KAS EventsEvents New Moon

- - - 10th - - - Dusk: Mars is above the Observing Session: Saturday, September 4 @ 8:00 pm thin crescent Moon. Jupiter & Open Clusters - Kalamazoo Nature Center - - - 11th - - - Dusk: Venus is 6º right of General Meeting: Friday, September 10 @ 7:00 pm the Moon. Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center - See Page 8 for Details - - - 13th - - - PM: Antares is 4º left of the Waxing Gibbous Moon. Kiwanis Star Party: Saturday, September 11 @ 8:00 pm

- - - 15th - - - Kiwanis Youth Conservation Area - See Page 7 for Details First Quarter Moon

thth th Observing Session: Saturday, September 18 @ 8:00 pm - - - 17 — 19 - - - PM: Jupiter and Uranus Moon, Jupiter, Uranus & Neptune- Kalamazoo Nature Center are just 0.8º apart.

- - - 19thth - - - AM: Mercury at greatest western elongation (18º). InsideInside thethe Newsletter.Newsletter. .. .. - - - 21st - - - PM: Jupiter and Uranus are both at opposition Perseid Potluck Picnic Report...... p. 2

- - - 22nd - - - Board Meeting Minutes...... p. 2 PM: Jupiter (and Uranus) are about 6º below the Night Sky Volunteer Program...... p. 3 Moon.

Autumnal Equinox Jack Horkheimer...... p. 4 (11:09 pm EDT) NASA Space Place...... p. 5 - - - 23rd - - - Full Moon September Night Sky...... p. 6

- - - 27th - - - PM: Pleiades are about 2º KAS Officers & Announcements...... p. 7 left of the Moon. General Meeting Preview...... p. 8 - - - 30th - - - Last Quarter Moon www.kasonline.org Perseid Potluck Picnic Board Meeting Minutes

The sixteenth annual Perseid Potluck Picnic was again held at The KAS Board met on August 8, 2010 at Sunnyside Church. the Kalamazoo Nature Center on Saturday, August 14th with a President Jack Price called the meeting to order at 5:10 pm. start time of 6:00 pm. Attendance for this year’s picnic was Board members in attendance were Richard Bell, Dick 34 members and guests. Gillespie, Jason Hanflik, Don Stilwell, and Roger Williams. In the absence of the Treasurer, the first order of business was Picnic day started out cloudy with scattered showers the report from the Robotic Telescope Committee. After throughout the area. KAS President Jack Price came prepared several attempts, Richard had not found an Arizona lawyer with his large canopy, but it wasn’t needed. Skies were willing to look over our proposed agreement with Mike Patton mostly cloudy at 6:00 pm. This ruled out solar observing, but for a reasonable cost, so the committee decided to submit the the Sun had no spots on display anyway. Temperatures were draft currently in hand. The Board spent considerable time in the mid-80’s. It wasn’t as humid as it has been this summer discussing the draft and possible additions or revisions. Dick (and no where near as hot and humid as the first Perseid suggested the addition of some standard language stating that Potluck Picnic in 1995). There were plenty of mosquitos, but the agreement had been signed in Michigan and was subject to several members came prepared to protect all in attendance. Michigan law. Carol Van Dien had also suggested consistency in referring to “The Pattons,” where currently the document Dinner was served shortly after 7:00 pm. This year special sometimes named only “Mr. Patton.” Most of the discussion thanks go to Don Stilwell for bringing his grill and doing all dealt with language to insure the protection of KAS assets in the cooking. The hamburgers were juicy and the hot dogs the event that circumstances should change in the future. A were pleasantly plump, so kudos to the chef! As usual, thanks number of changes in language were proposed before the to all the members document is approved by the Board. that brought the fantastic side dishes In a review of Old Business, the status of the purchase of Sky and deserts. & Telescope on DVD’s could not be answered in the absence of Rich Mather. It was presumed that he either had it in hand There was plenty of or would soon. Testing of the effectiveness of the search pre- and post-dinner function will be a first priority. Regarding a proposed KAS entertainment this calendar for a fund-raising project, Don had not done anything year. Daniel Flanagan as yet, but will now start gathering information on options and brought his radio costs. A proposal which had come to Jack over the internet controlled airplane and flew it around the Nature Center for organizational fund raising was generally regarded by the grounds. Mark Miller brought his croquet set. Those that Board as questionable. Jack will gather more information played along with Mark included Richard Bell, Joe Comiskey, cautiously, without creating any obligations until we Scotty Macfarlane, Ninah Miller, Don Stilwell, and Roger understand more about the scheme. Williams. They played two games and Joe won both of them. Luckily we didn’t gamble otherwise Joe would have been In the category of New Business, Richard had arranged for the accused of hustling members! Members that shall not be speaker at the September 10th meeting to be Dr. Heather named then played catch with Jean DeMott’s moon and Jacobson of MSU, speaking on “Our Dusty Universe.” For squishy balls. It started out harmlessly enough, but turned into November, Richard has planned a video titled “Eyes on the a game of who could hit the squishy ball in the air with the Skies” (details are on the website, as usual). moon ball. Many innocent bystanders were moon [ball] beamed! It gave a whole to new meaning to the expression In further business, Richard was still gathering information “when the moon hits your eye...!” about possible headline speakers for the KAS 75th anniversary. Neil deGrasse Tyson still reigns as the top choice, but the fee The skies cleared with time to spare for the Public Observing is about $25,000. Richard was waiting to hear from Steve Session, which kicked off at 8:30 pm. Unfortunately, most Squires of Mars rover fame for Astronomy Day 2011, but his members weren’t optimistic about the weather prospects. The fee is also reported to be in the low five figures. Some really only person to bring a telescope was Roger Williams. significant grants will be necessary to make this possible. Naturally, the 12” Schmidt-Cassegrain was up-and-running in Owl Observatory. Conditions were pretty good considering The next meeting was set for 5:00 pm on September 12th at how poorly things looked earlier in the day. Many deep sky Sunnyside. The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 pm. objects were tracked down and everyone bagged a few Perseid meteors. It was another great picnic for the history books! Respectfully submitted by Roger Williams

Prime Focus Page 2 September 2010 NightNight SkySky VolunteerVolunteer ProgramProgram Beginner AstroVIP Observations from Badlands National Park

by Bill Nigg The western region of the Dakotas is in one of my “nine blue circles” of dark sky areas drawn on my Rand McNally road atlas. So, how can I observe there? The Badlands National Park in South Dakota participates in the Night Sky Program and accepted my application as a “Volunteer In Parks” (VIP) for a July stint. I corresponded with Ranger Larry Smith and learned about the public telescope sessions planned (solar observing with a Coronado MaxScope 40 during the day and an amphitheater program at 9pm followed by telescope observing. They have 12” & 16” Dobsonians and an 11” Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope. The official National Park Service Night Sky Program is aimed at light pollution awareness. See the supporting website.

My summer observing conditions in Michigan only have 1-2 clear nights per week and 3 or more mosquitoes per square inch. I always have some light domes and it rarely gets Great vistas await you at Badlands National Park. darker than 5th magnitude. Should I escape? Now that I have a big motorhome and have recently retired from KVCC teaching: It looks like my destiny! Watching the weather skinny ruffles of multi-striped pinnacles with muddy washes during June in the Badlands region I saw several storm that exposes more 30+ million year old fossils often. The warning boxes parade through and Ranger Larry described local trees were only a few small cottonwoods that never the wind and 90+ degree conditions. But he said it was clear obstructed the horizon – not like the massive trees at more than 4 nights a week and very few mosquitoes. Michigan dark sites. The land is “bad” for farming with horse and wagon travel and was bypassed by the The actual results were great with wall to wall Milky Way Homesteaders but good for local Indian hunting, cattle, down to 6th magnitude. The geological pinnacles that are the fossils, bison, and astronomy. Badlands are called “walls”. The landscape is a combination of ancient ocean bottom and years of volcano ash. This has We were clouded out 3 of 18 program nights and the been greatly eroded by several evolving rivers out of the mosquitoes were wimps. I actually healed up from my many higher Black Hills region nearby. The remaining material Michigan bug bites. Popular objects were Saturn, Moon that is currently left are spread out in hundreds of huge craters, double stars, a few and many Milky Way objects. The hotter daytime sessions on the Sun allowed a few hundred viewers a direct hydrogen alpha look at prominences and sunspots each day. Night programs usually had 200+ attendees each. Larry had 2 - 3 helpers on telescopes and the night sessions were going well past 11pm. Light pollution examples were shown with corrective ideas identified. The participants were given an excellent view of the real dark sky and know they have a resource to pass on to their children.

I thought the people visiting the Badlands were like others I have met in national parks and adds to the evidence that a lot of the intelligent life I have found on this planet is IN national parks!

I observed all the rangers and staff working in the wide “Ranger” Bill Nigg explains the solar features these range of geology, wildlife, native culture and history and are patrons are about to view through the Coronado all dedicated to its protection and public education. We had MaxScope 40 setup in the Badlands National Park.

Prime Focus Page 3 September 2010 JackJack HorkheimerHorkheimer 1938 - 2010

Amateur astronomy lost one its most iconic figures on August 20th. Jack Horkheimer, known to millions as public television's ebullient "Star Gazer," died at age 72. The exact cause of death was not disclosed, though he had battled chronic respiratory problems for decades.

Horkheimer had been a fixture at the Miami Planetarium for more than 45 years, where he began as a volunteer and served as its executive director since 1973. But he'll be remembered most for his exuberant and often zany television persona, who helped us all appreciate the breadth and depth of eyeball-only astronomy.

The show started airing locally on WPBT in Miami, then went national in 1985. Along the way his nom de television morphed from "Star Hustler" to "Star Gazer," to sidestep Bill with his trusty Astro-Physics refractor. aggressive web-browsing filters.

The shows are distributed free, via satellite to more than 200 all the functions of a small town and a college of resources to stations across the U.S. and to other outlets like the Armed deliver. I helped answer routine tourists questions, children Forces Network. You can download any of the past year's questions, and questions from foreign travelers and lots of episodes as well. Since Horkheimer and longtime planetarium touring bikers as part of my desk duty. colleague Bill Dishong produced several episodes in advance, the last one to feature Horkheimer — his 1,708th — will air We took a few side trips on off time to the Lakota College, the first week of September Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower, Wounded Knee, and a 4WD and feature the Summer escapade into the remote parts of the nearby reservation for Triangle. As always, he begins some fossil viewing. with a chortling "Greetings, greetings, fellow stargazers My wife, Mary, enjoyed sending journal updates and photos and ends with his signature back home. She conquered a helicopter ride, toured a real phrase "Keep looking up!" homestead house and farm, toured the Minuteman missile site, and watched a Native American dance exhibition. The It's not yet clear how or if his usual shopping at Wall Drug and the Native American crafts show will continue. Tony Lima was for the grandkids, of course. of the Miami Science Museum, home to the planetarium, says I am now looking at my other “blue circles” of dark sky the staff is still trying to make areas on my map to see which national parks are within. The sense of Horkheimer's passing, ones with the Night Sky Program, RV sites with reasonable adding, "We at the Museum all feel this loss quite a bit." At bugs and weather (better than Michigan!) are a possibility. least one month of shows will be hosted by Chris Trigg, Yes, there is a stipend to reduce the normal RV vacation another staffer at the Miami facility. expenses to near half. Yes, most of our staff are experienced amateurs that are now retired and traveling by RV. We Horkheimer's inspiration will live on. In 2007 Cricket Books could use some younger VIPs, maybe interns. But I am very published a collection of comic strips (first seen in Odyssey pleased that this program has essential leadership and will magazine) featuring his madcap take on viewing the sky. deliver our important message of dark sky preservation and Colorful to the end, "Horky" offers this amusing, self-penned reduce expensive light pollution. We can DO something for epitaph in his online bio: dark sky education. “Keep Looking Up was my life's admonition, I have always been interested in observing in dark sky parks I can do little else in my present position." and now I can officially contribute. Perhaps other KAS members may join in? Article by Kelly Beatty. Courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

Prime Focus Page 4 September 2010 TheThe TurbulentTurbulent TaleTale ofof aa TinyTiny GalaxyGalaxy by Trudy Bell & Dr. Tony Phillips

Next time you hike in the woods, pause at a babbling “The lack of older stars was one tip-off that IC 3418’s tail stream. Watch carefully how the water flows around rocks. isn’t tidal,” says Hester. “Something else must be responsi- After piling up in curved waves on the upstream side, like ble for these stars” the bow wave in front of a motorboat, the water speeds around the rock, spilling into a riotous, turbulent wake Hester and eight coauthors published their findings in the downstream. Lightweight leaves or grass blades can get June 10, 2010, issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. trapped in the wake, swirling round and round in little eddy The team described the following scenario: IC 3418 is currents that collect debris. speeding toward the center of the cluster at 1,000 kilometers per second. The space between cluster galaxies Astronomers have found something similar happening in is not empty; it is filled with a gaseous atmosphere of dif- the turbulent wake of a tiny that is plunging into a fuse, hot hydrogen. Thus, like a bicyclist coasting downhill cluster of 1,500 galaxies in the Virgo. In this feels wind even on a calm day, IC 3418 experiences “a stiff case, however, instead of collecting grass and leaves, eddy wind” that sweeps interstellar gas right out of the little gal- currents in the little galaxy’s tail seem to be gathering gase- axy, said Hester — gas that trails far behind its galaxy in a ous material to make choppy, twisting new stars. wake akin to the wake downstream of “It’s a fascinating the rock in the bab- case of turbulence bling brook. Eddy [rather than gravity] currents swirling in trapping the gas, al- the turbulent wake lowing it to become trap the gas, allowing dense enough to form it to become dense stars,” says Janice A. enough to form stars. Hester of the Califor- nia Institute of Tech- “Astronomers have nology in Pasadena. long debated the im- portance of gravity The tell-tale galaxy, In the ultraviolet image on the left, from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, vs. turbulence in star designated IC 3418, galaxy IC 3418 leaves a turbulent star forming region in its wake. In the formation,” Hester is only a hundredth visible light image on the right (from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey), the wake with its new stars is not apparent. noted. “In IC 3418’s the size of the Milky tail, it’s ALL turbu- Way and hardly lence.” stands out in visible light images of the busy . Astronomers realized it was interesting, however, when To many astronomers, that’s a surprising tale indeed. they looked at it using NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite. “Ultraviolet images from the Galaxy Evolution See other surprising UV images from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer at: Explorer revealed a long tail filled with clusters of massive, young stars,” explains Hester. http://www.galex.caltech.edu.

Galaxies with spectacular tails have been seen before. Usu- Kids (and grownups) can play the challenging new Photon ally they are behemoths — large spiral galaxies colliding Pileup game at:

with one another in the crowded environment of a busy http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/galex/photon/ cluster. Tidal forces during the collision pull gas and stars of all ages out of these massive galaxies to form long tails. This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, But in IC 3418, the tail has just young stars. No old stars. California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Prime Focus Page 5 September 2010 SeptemberSeptember NightNight Sky...... Sky......

This star map is property of the This map represents the sky at the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. NORTH following local standard times: However you may make as many y Late August 10 pm copies as you wish free-of-charge, so long as it is for non-profit y Early September 9 pm educational purposes and full y Late September Dusk credit is given to the KAS.

www.kasonline.org EAST WEST

SOUTH

enus and Mars hang out with large triangle with a thin Waxing telescope to spot Uranus. Both planets VV Spica during the first half of Crescent Moon on Sept. 10th. Venus will will be closest to Earth on Sept 20th. In September. They form an almost straight be 6º to the Moon’s right on Sept. 11th. fact, Jupiter will be at its closest for its line about 5º long on Sept. 1st. Look low entire 12 year orbit! A great excuse to in the WSW about 30 minutes after Jupiter and Uranus will be just 0.8º apart observe the giant planet and its four sunset. Venus and Mars then form a between Sept. 17th & 19th. You’ll need a Galilean moons. KAS BOARD September 2010 Page 7 PRESIDENT

Jack Price 343-3193

VICE PRESIDENT

Richard Bell 373-8942 The KAS and Battle Creek Kiwanis Club of will co-host a public star party on TREASURER Saturday, September 11th. Gates

Rich Mather open at 8 pm. It’ll be held at the Kiwanis 629-5312 Youth Conservation Area on 15th

SECRETARY/ALCOR Avenue, 3.6 miles north of Turkeyville

Roger Williams in Calhoun County. Admission is FREE. 375-4867 For more information or to volunteer your time and telescope, contact Dick MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Gillespie (269-966-9653).

Jean DeMott 381-1406

Dick Gillespie 966-9653

Jason Hanflik 810-444-4145 The Little Star That Could Don Stilwell Weekdays, 11am; Saturdays, 1pm; Sundays, 2pm 963-5856 Saturday Summer Nights (Live) E-MAIL a BOARD MEMBER Saturdays at 2:00 pm

Ice Worlds Everyday at 3:00 pm

Planetarium admission is $3.00 per person. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is located at 230 North Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo. For more information please call (269) 373-7990 or visit us on the web at www.kalamazoomuseum.org GirlGirl ScoutScout StarStar PartyParty

The KAS has been invited to setup telescopes at the Girl Scout Camporee on Saturday, September 25th.

The star party will be held at Camp Shawadasee, located at 81830 23rd Street in Lawton (49065).

We’ll arrive at approximately 7:00 pm for setup and begin observing shortly after 8:00 pm.

Volunteers with telescopes are needed. Please contact us if you’d like to lend a hand. General Meeting Preview

OurOur DustyDusty UniverseUniverse

Presented by Dr. Heather Jacobson Michigan State University

stronomy is the study of tremendously large objects and of processes that AA happen over vast scales of space and time. Yet, these astronomical objects and phenomena are affected by tiny particles of dust in crucial ways. Dust is everywhere, and it both frustrates and enlightens astronomers in their quest to understand the universe. Come learn how these lowly particles shape our vision of the cosmos.

Friday, September 10 @ 7:00 pm

Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center 600 West Vine, Suite 400 • Use Dutton St. Entrance - Dutton Entrance Locked by 7:15 pm -

Kalamazoo Astronomical Society c/o KAMSC STAMP 600 West Vine, Suite 400 Kalamazoo, MI 49008

© September 2010, Stargazer Productions