O R I Z O LA SOCIÉTÉ ROYALE D’ASTRONOMIE DU CANADA New Brunswick Centre H THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA N

Mar/Apr 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

Meeting Reports!

Focus on

Kouchibouguac Summer Stargaze EVENT HORIZON Astronomy in New Brunswick SRAC/RASC Centre du NB Centre RASC NB Local Unit Réunion / Meetings Réunion / Meetings Inside this issue : ------2. Event Horizon (Upcoming Events) March Astronomy Meeting William Brydone-Jack Unit Cover photo details (Fredericton) 3. Presidents Report When: March 19, 2011 1:00pm A local group of members meet in Freder- 4. September 2010 Meeting Report icton monthly for meetings and observing. 5. October 2010 Meeting Report Where: Saint John ,UNB SJ 6. “Focus On” Guy Arnold Ganong Hall When: March 8, 2011 at 7:00pm 7. Library Books Listing Room 115 April 12, 2011 at 7:00pm “As Heard” on the RASC Email List 8. Meteorites on Earth - Clue in the So- April Astronomy Meeting Where: Fredericton, UNB Campus lar System 2 Bailey Drive, Room 203 9. Editors Report When: April 16, 2011 1:00pm November 2010 Meeting Report www.frederictonastronomy.ca 11. Kouchibouguac Summer Stargaze Where: UNB Fredericton ------Details Forestry and Geology Building 12. Observer’s Score Card 2 Bailey Drive Saint John Astronomy Club Centre Contact Information Room 203 Meetings consist of talks on constella- Cover Photo Summer Events to Note! tions, the solar system and other astro- nomical topics, as well as Show & Tell, By Tim Doucette observing reports and Ask the Astronomer. Kouchibouguac Summer Stargaze NGC 2903 taken on March When: May 20-22 When: March 5, 2010 at 2:15pm 13,2010. Taken with a C9.25 and Where: See details on page 11. QHY8 camera. Total exposure April 2, 2010 at 2:15pm April 28, 2010 at 2:15pm 60min. NGC 2903 is well placed in More events to come! See the next issue the spring sky for observing and is Where: SJ Free Public Library at Market of Horizon as events are yet to be con- often overlooked. firmed. Square

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————-- SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 2 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer PRESIDENTS REPORT Badges or weekend outings. The badge Astronomy Day 2011 is May 7. by Curt Nason criteria for Cubs and Guides are listed on This is usually a time when we showcase the RASC Web sire ( www.rasc.ca ) under our hobby in city markets and malls, and Spring is a busy season for public Education -> Other Resources. The astron- take advantage of clear skies whenever outreach, a chance to share our knowledge omy curricula for schools in the various possible to provide solar observing by day and love of the night sky. Schools are par- provinces are also available at that and planetary after sunset. Astronomy Day ticularly interested in having guest speak- site. Covering some or all of the badge cri- is always scheduled near the First Quarter ers for topics in which the teachers have teria during a meeting, then supplementing Moon. Some amateur astronomers tend to little experience. Astronomy and space are it with an observing session at the end of ignore the Moon, but it always gets the relatively new additions to the curricula the meeting, is a great way to get them in- loudest Wows at public observing ses- for Grades 6 and 9. The teachers can fol- spired to complete their badge require- sions. Saturn will also be well placed for low what is provided in the books, ments. evening observing this year. Don't limit but most do not have the practical experi- yourself to Astronomy Day, set up your ence of "having been there" that we have Earth Hour has become another scope on any clear evening during Astron- as amateur astronomers. We can commu- venue for astronomy outreach and for edu- omy Week, which runs May 2 -8. nicate what Saturn and the Moon really cating people on light pollution issues. If look like through a telescope. Better yet, you do public observing in an area that In addition to the information on the after whetting their appetites in a class- will have the lights turned off from 20:30 RASC Website, other materials are avail- room, we can coax the teachers into ar- to 21:30, people will see for themselves able to enhance our public outreach ef- ranging an observing session, either day- how many more stars are visible with the forts. The Centre has a recently replen- time for solar or during an evening. Do lights out. Showing them the treasures of ished supply of Star Finders, in English or you know any teachers for Grades 6 and the night sky, either naked eye or through French, and we still have a supply of as- 9? Ask them if they would like to have a a telescope, will get them thinking about tronomy cards from IYA 2009. Some of us guest speaker on astronomy. If you aren't how they manage lighting in their own ar- have PowerPoint presentations for school comfortable in providing the service, con- eas. It won't hurt to do a little research and Scouting programs that we are willing tact a fellow RASCal in your area or one first, so check out the Light Pollution sec- to share. If you have a need for any of of the Centre Council members on the last tion of the RASC Web site. This year, these, please contact me. page of this newsletter. Earth Hour is on March 26, and events are If you do a public outreach event, planned in Fredericton, Moncton and St. The various Scouting troops are an- please take the time to record this on the Andrews. It is not too late to organize a other group who are often seek- RASC Web site, via the link on the lower presentation or observing session, or just ing assistance with the astronomy section set up a telescope in a public area as twi- left corner of the Home page. The form of their programs. Brownies, Guides, Bea- will ask for your name and Centre, the light fades. ver, Cubs and the rest have Space type of event, date and location, the num-

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————-- SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 3 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer ber of participants and volunteers, and part of a “Beyond IYA” project. Septem- “RASC butter tarts” (Emma, Mandy and how many Star Finders were used. If we ber 23 is the Harvest Moon and October 7 June) with a friend from Ontario at the run short of Star Finders, we can continue is the new moon. Two days after the first GA. Jackie showed 2 scopes for sale. Paul to receive them for the cost of shipping if quarter moon is the best time to see showed some of his photos of lightening, we show they are being used for outreach Clavius Crater on the moon – it is 225 km 22&1/2 ° halo around the Sun, with Kath- through this reporting method. If you do wide and 3.5 km deep. Venus is low in the ryn his daughter as the photographic assis- not feel comfortable making a report, send west and will be at its greatest brilliance tant - letting Paul use her head to block the information to Don Kelly, Education September 23 but be gone by October 29. the Sun’s light to get a better picture. He Committee Chair, or to me. And please Mars and Saturn will be gone in a few also showed a few pictures of Mt. Carle- send the details of your event to Don so months and September 30 respectively. ton observing weekend, including one that he can include it in the next issue of Jupiter will be at opposition September 21 with the premier Shawn Graham, who Horizon. and almost as big as it gets - nearly 50 arc happened to be up there and said he had a seconds –September 21, the best since telescope himself, although he didn’t get Public outreach is an important goal 1963. The Red Spot seems easier to see to use it much. Paul also had some pic- of the RASC. You will find the enthusiasm without the southern belt. You can do a tures of a trip to N.S. with his family. of others seeing the Moon or a planet for search for Comet 103P/Hartley, mag 11.6- Beautiful vistas and dark skies – he had a the first time through your telescope is in- 8.5 at it’s best. beautiful photo of the Milky Way. He fectious, and once you catch the bug it is showed a video of a rocket launch from For observing reports Ted said he difficult to stop. As you inspire them, they Petersville, where the biggest rocket to observed comet Hartley and used a comet will inspire you. This is where the future ever participate took flight and had great filter, which worked well with this comet. members of our Centre will be found. video footage from the rocket itself. It really darkened the sky around it so he After the break, Mike Powell gave a MEETING REPORT could pick it out more easily. Don saw an Iridium flare around mag 4 under Polaris. presentation of how he built his roll-off- September 2010 by June MacDonald Jackie showed a video of Perseid meteor roof observatory in his backyard in Mil- Curt did a “What’s Up” for Septem- shower in China & an animation of the ledgeville, with lots of pictures of the con- ber, the Solar equinox is Sept. 23. This eve- construction of the ISS – much speeded struction process. A few problems easily ning Jupiter is in the east and will be visible up, of course. Paul showed the website of fixed, approximately a year later and for the next few months. The best view of the “International Meteor Organization presto-chango, an observatory is born. Mercury is in the early morning. On Sep- and showed how the meteor sightings are Great job Mike. tember 16 there will be a good opportunity documented. to see the “straight wall” on the moon. He The meeting concluded and every- mentioned on September 18, there will be a Show and Tell had Emma showing one hightailed it to Romano’s for supper & world-wide effort to observe the moon, as the group the lovely photograph of the talk.

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————-- SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 4 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer MEETING REPORT Fall Astronomy Day together, as it is to- search for comet Hartley without a “go to” Ocotober 2010 by June MacDonald day. There are 3 Sun spots now to be seen scope. On “Observing the Moon Night”, and it will only get better. Check out Emma, Tim and Yvon were kept busy by Peter welcomed everyone to the www.spaceweather.com for updates. It is a the good crowd turnout. In Saint John Miramichi and did a general astronomy great time to see Jupiter for the ext few members were out at 2 locations – Peter news and reviews. An interesting discov- months, Venus can be seen before 7pm, and Chris Curwin were at Wal-Mart and ery that has hit the news lately was the Uranus is just above Jupiter. It is a Curt and Dave Couture worked the crowd new humungous star astronomers found in “Hunter’s Moon” for the full Moon on Oc- at the Millidgeville Superstore. Adrien the Tarantula Nebula, which is 265 times tober 22. The Moon will be near M35 Oc- finished his EU certificate and is doing 2 the size of our Sun – it is the most lumi- tober 27 around 8pm. On November 21, talks this month and in November at Sea- nous star ever. Astronomers have also dis- the full Moon is known as a “Beaver wood School in Saint John. covered there may be habitable environ- Moon”. He showed pictures of the straight For “Show and Tell”, Ted showed every- ments beneath the surface of Mars. Scien- wall on the Moon and Copernicus crater. one the new addition to our library – a tists found carbonate minerals with hy- He explained the formation and structure DVD “Journey to the Stars”, narrated by drated silicate minerals, likely of hydro- of the crater which is 93 km wide and 3.8 Whoopi Goldberg. This is suitable for thermal origin, which they feel points km deep. It has steep, terraced walls & the grades 3-12. There is a brochure with it strongly to the possibility of “life” on the photo was considered at the time to be that talks about various projects and ac- red planet. He also mentioned the close “one of the greatest pictures of the 20 th tivities that kids can do a s a group or indi- call Earth had again with an asteroid. As- century”. Mars in superior conjunction vidually. Chris mentioned that Transport teroid 2010 TD54 passed Earth with just October 17, Venus – good morning appari- Canada is being very proactive regarding 46,000 km to spare. It was 14 magnitude. tion as ecliptic is high. We will be looking education on appropriate and safe use of You can read more about it on the down on the northern part of Saturn’s green laser pointers. You just can’t have “Astronomy Now” website. NASA’s Deep rings for the next 15yrs. Jupiter’s Red people pointing and waving them around Impact satellite will make a fly-by of Spot is easier to see without the southern in airspace occupied by aircraft. It could comet 103P/Hartley 2. Astronomers belt and there’s lots of moon action to be be any of us up there! Paul showed some found a Supernova that was smothered by seen. Comet Hartley (103P/Hartley at mag of his latest photos – Veil Nebula, dark its own dust. A “Goldilocks World” was 4.6 has a large, diffuse, 1 degree coma and nebulae Cygnus B145, Aquila & Barnard’s discovered in Gliese 58 system. This is a will be at it’s closest October 20 at 15 mil- E cloud, as well as photos of the Cocoon planet that could sustain life, although lion miles. On the 31 st , it will be above Nebula & M31. Peter showed his DVD there is now some debate over it’s exis- and slightly to the left of Betelgeuse. tence. “Wonders of the Solar System” a package Observing Reports: There were a few of 3 DVDs. Curt got a “new” book Curt did a “What’s Up” for the month. people who managed to get out to check (surprise!) off E-Bay “Quest for Comets “ He mentioned that we were “celebrating” what was up. Tim found it difficult to and it was signed “for Jan with best

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————-- SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 5 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer wishes David Levy” in July 1994. June gave a talk on one of her favorite Focus On Guy Arnold nebula the “Heart (& Soul) Nebula. It is so Ted gave a talk about Perseus, whose By Curt Nason and Guy Arnold -named because it is shaped somewhat story read like a soap opera. “Tener Quod like a heart. The “Heart” is IC 1805 & the When and how did you develop an in- Turbatus” loosely translates to “Young & “Soul” is IC 1848 & is in the vicinity of terest in astronomy? Restless”. There’s more to the story than Cassiopeia, in the Perseus arm of the this but essentially Acrus was unable to The first time an uncle let me look through Milky Way galaxy, which is a busy star- produce a son, but had a daughter who he his binoculars, way back when. Over 50 forming region of the galaxy. In the center locked in a dungeon to keep her from be- years ago. of the ”Heart”, is a “newborn” star cluster coming pregnant, because a sear had told called Melotte 15, 15 Ly across. Two him his grandson would kill him. Zeus, What do you find is the best resource other star clusters connected with this neb- the wily devil, came down in the form of for learning about astronomy? ula are open clusters called h Persei NGC golden rain, had his way with the daughter 869 & Chi Persei NGC 884 – called the & she became pregnant. Acrus tossed Interactions with living amateur astrono- “sword handle clusters” due to their appar- them both out to sea on a raft. Poseidon mers (RASC, etc. ), but mainly The Great ent location in Perseus. There are 2 galax- sent the raft to shore, they were rescued by Courses’ 96 DVD 30-minute lectures UN- ies nearby – the Maffei galaxies – Maffei Dictus who took them in as his own & you DERSTANDING THE UNIVERSE: An In- 1 a giant elliptical & Maffei 2 a spiral - can imagine the rest. Perseus did kill his troduction to Astronomy, 2nd Edition, by each approximately 15,000 Ly across. As- grandfather in the end fulfilling the proph- Professor Alex Filippenko. tronomers used infrared light to peer into ecy. In Perseus there is a beautiful double the nebula & discover its structures. There cluster that canbe seen naked eye – 200 Ly What should we do to increase member- are approximately 17 photos of the Heart apart, 4.3 & 4.4 mag & 70 Ly in size.M34 ship in our Centre ? & Soul nebula in APOD archives, the last is open cluster which at 5.5 mag is a na- one being last month on Oct. 14, showing Three things: Advertise, advertise, adver- ked eye object & at 30 arc min. is the size the Heart, the Persei clusters & comet tise. of the full moon. NGC 1528 is not spec- Hartley. A beautiful photo. tacular but is nice to view in the eyepiece. What is your favourite observing target, A few other deep sky objects are NGC It was a great meeting, even though the and why? 1023, a galaxy at 9.5, M76 – the “little numbers were down. Tim mentioned about dumbell”, not as round, more rectangular doing a video stream to the Internet for The Moon. It is the closest astronomical & one of the toughest Messiers to find. It those who can’t get to meetings. He will object. I have weak eyesight. also has one of the hottest stars known at look into the cost & logistics of this & 3000 Kelvin. Algol, the Demon Star is a present at the next business meeting, binary at 2.3 mag & drops to 3.4 mag over (cont on page 6) which would be January. a 3 hr. period.

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–——————————————————— SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 6 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer (cont from page 6) Collective Nouns: As Heard On Discovering the Universe Neil F. Comins and William J. What would you like to see in a mentor the RASC Email List Kaufmann III, 480 Pages, with CD program within our Centre? What do you call a group of Astronomers? Explorons l'astronomie by Mary Lou Accessibility: phone and email ad- A Magnification of Astronomers? A Whitehorne ( Skyways, en français ) dress. Knowledge: general experience and Vaulted Sky of Astronomers? My sugges- Looking Up by R. Peter Broughton hands-on know-how. Caring: an evalua- tion is a cloud of astronomers. A History of the Royal Astronomy tion of the repercussions of one's advice. Neil Slater of Canada, Hard Cover , 288 pages

If you were given $1000 for astronomy Many Moons by Diana Brueton I always thought we were more of a focus equipment, what would you buy? The Myth and Magic, Fact and Fan group. tasy of our Nearest Heavenly Body Curt Nason A MallinCam. The model, out of three - 256 pages, soft cover current ones, most appropriate for my six- Seeing in the Dark inch Celestron GoTo. Many suggested Cluster and or Nebulae. by Timothy Ferris How Backyard Stargazers are Prob What would you suggest? Email the edi- ing Deep Space and Guarding tor! Earth from Interplanetary Peril Hardcover, 379 pages

RASC NB LIBRARY BOOKS Sky Atlas Companion Available to members in good standing. Softcover, 281 pages Descriptions and data for all 2700 A Walk Through the Heavens deep sky objects Atlas 2000. Milton D. Heifetz and Wil Tirion Second edition. Softcover A guide to stars and constellations and their legends Skyways by Mary Lou Whitehorne Astronomy Handbook for Teachers Agenda Celeste editor Damien Lemay Softcover, 114 pages Douze mois de decouverte du ciel The Meteorites of Alberta by Anthony J. au Quebec, mai 2004 - avril 2005 Whyte Softcover Softcover, 290 pages Atlas of the Moon by Antonin Rukl Descriptions and stories about Al Hardcover , 224 pages berta Meteorite Falls, First edition.

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————– SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 7 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer Meteorites on Earth Asteroid belt . Years passed, and the hy- Solar System Background Clue In The Solar System pothesis ceased to be making the astro- We knew about four Sun’s orbital zones - by Guy Arnold nomical news. I never found out why, nor the four rocky planets, the Asteroid Belt, what replaced it. the four gas giants and the Kuiper Belt. At the February 19, 2011 RASC-NB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt Meeting held at the Faculté d’Ingénirie de Putting together Danny’s and Astronomy Just like Alexandre Dumas’ fictional char- l’Université du Nouveau-Brunswick, professor Curt Nason’s information at the acters The Three Musketeers turned into Campus de Moncton, Daniel Leblanc’s following restaurant dinner, I get the ex- four with the arrival of young D’Artagnan, highly documented Presentation Looking planation. the number of Solar System orbital zones for Meteorites solved a 20 + years mys- Current theory holds that four to six increased to five with the 1950’s discovery tery for me. planetesimals ( smaller planets ) did orbit of the very real outer system’s Oort Cloud, within that zone, way back when. estimated to contain some six trillion ob- Danny projected photos of chondrites jects. http://www.solarviews.com/eng/ 1. Given several billions years, planetesi- showing appearances of magma process- oort.htm mals’ weaker gravity did eventually attract ing – usually associated with volcanism – most iron atoms to concentrate into form- and nearly pure iron nuggets – that con- Ill-defined in its outer border, the Oort ing iron cores. ventional wisdom would presume to have Cloud is thought to share / swap bodies come from planet cores. Not so! for both, with passing objects and with our closest he said at Question Period, and at Break 2. The breakups of these small planets probably resulted from collisions, explain- neighbour, Proxima Centauri. time. The hypothesis suggests both stars’ ex- ing away volcanism like searing heat These two discoveries reminded me of traces observed on some chondrites. tremely weak gravitational effects in that an old hypothesis, according to which a zone – midway between the 4.2 light years fifth Earthlike planet would have orbited Sleuthing / Speculating separation – would play tug-of-war on between Mars and Jupiter , way back One conjectures the iron meteorites do bodies whose elongated orbits occasion- when. Its demise would have created the mass less than the weight expected for ally bring them too close to the edge. current asteroid belt. similar sized iron lumps coming from Earth’s core. Bound to intrigue geologists, Beating The Odds Located between the four rocky plan- and prod them to suspect the past exis- This hypothesis fires up the imagination. ets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) and tence of several planetesimals, as opposed What if some previously Centauri held the four gas giants ( Jupiter, Saturn, Ura- to only one, more massive hypothetical small body careened all the way down the nus and Neptune), this intermediary Sun planet. Sun’s various orbital zones unscathed, and orbiting zone is populated by billions of eventually landed on Earth? small bodies, collectively making up the But I did not get to ask THAT question … What if it landed on New Brunswick soil,

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————– SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 8 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer in an area patrolled by Daniel Leblanc, MEETING REPORT Dec. 14 at 7am, the Ursids will peak Dec. during one of his productive Walks-For- November 2010 by June MacDonald 22 at 3pm & the Quadratids will be on Health? Jan. ¾ with the new Moon. He mentioned Peter welcomed everyone who What if said hypothetical visitor from the some asterisms: a “Golf Club” in Perseus, braved the inclement weather, to our cen- the “Cheshire Cat” in Auriga below M38, stars was shallowly buried, close enough ter’s Annual Meeting. This is our 11 th to the surface to be detected by Danny’s with the “Leaping Minnow” below the A.M. since RASC N.B. was first estab- “Cat” & the “Beach Umbrella & Beach hand-held sensor? lished in 2000. Peter gave a review of Chair” in Orion. Curt reviewed the RASC Impossible odds, you say? Indeed. Impos- RASC National’s strategic plan. & local club events for December & re- sible odds as well are that the Universe Curt did a “What’s Up” for Nov./ minded people of the Dec. meeting loca- came to exist, that life was created, and Dec. including some Christmas themed tion in Fredericton. that intelligence appeared and questioned observing objects. The sunspots are get- Nature. Mary Lou Whitehorne, who is Na- ting busier; it is a good time to take the tional President, was our guest speaker & Impossible odds - that were beaten. Given opportunity for observing the increase in gave a presentation titled “About Stars”. Time by the billions of years, the Universe the Sun’s activity. In Nov., you’ll see the She discussed the types of stars, the anat- has already produced wonders. Ring nebula in Lyra & the Dumbbell in omy of a star & their lifespan. A small In that context, calculating the odds Vegas Vulpecula; Pegasus is getting higher in the sampling of her talk: She began by com- style would be meaningless. Easier to just sky; Jupiter is slightly above & left of paring the luminous blue variable star – bet on Danny. Aquarius; you’ll see Saturn & Venus in the the “Pistol Star” near the heart of the Meteorite Hunting Does Lead Right Up morning sky; Venus will be at it’s greatest Milky Way with our Sun. It is 110 times There, To Astronomy Subjects In The Sky brilliance Dec. 4, Mars will be seen on the Sun’s mass, with 10 million times Dec. 6 below a 1 day old Moon & near more energy & brilliancy. A star consists Mercury Dec. 13; a whitish plume has of 6 layers – core (where fusion happens), EDITORS REPORT been seen in Jupiter’s southern belt area & radiative zone, convective zone, photo- by Paul Gray astronomers feel this heralds the beginning sphere (visible surface) chromosphere of the return of the southern belt. Uranus Well the feedback on the new layout (above the photosphere) & the atmosphere is visible just above Jupiter & Neptune is was positive so for now I will be sticking (corona). The vast majority of stars in the with it! just above “Mu” Capricornus; comet Hart- Milky Way (95%) are between ½ & 1/10 ley (103P/Hartley) mag. 5.7 (ranging now solar mass. The internal structure of a star I do not have much to report other 5.9-8.1) getting more difficult to see in the varies with its mass – changing the charac- then please send me your observations, late evening; comet C/2010 V1 Ikeya- teristics of the star. She discussed the dif- photos, stories or funnies for the newslet- Murakami at mag 8, can be seen naked ferences of M,G & O stars. Most stars are ter. It is only as good as you make it! eye. Geminids meteor shower will peak M class at 1/10 solar mass, G stars are 1

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————– SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 9 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer solar mass with medium core, big radia- President’s message, library, resources, lovely meal provided by Marc & conver- tive zone & small convection zone; O stars special project reports, executive contact sation provided by everyone. After the are 60 solar masses, with a small core & information (Dave Lane in Halifax at St. meeting, many of the group, including convective layer then radiative layer. Mary’s University is in charge of the func- Mary Lou, went to the Ale House down- These stars “shine themselves to death”. tionality of the e-mail contact info), links town for supper & more conversation. In- The Earth is embedded in the Sun’s atmos- to National, etc. & soon to be added will spite of the snow & rain it was a wonder- phere; heliopause is where the solar wind be an icon for Facebook RASC connection ful day, a great meeting with interesting peters out & can no longer push against as well as a join button. topics & conversation among our RASC cosmic rays. One of the biggest & bright- family. est known stars is LBV 1806 at 150 solar Tim gave a talk on his trip to David masses & 5 million times brighter than the Levy’s observatory “Desert Stars from Las Sun. Stars are spherical due to hydrostatic Vegas to Tucson”. He & Andrea visited equilibrium – outward pressure vs inward Las Vegas (wild, busy & bright – not gravity. If stars spin very fast, they flatten many stars to be seen from “the Strip”!) out at the top & bottom. The bigger a star Grand Canyon (grand & beautiful) Kitt is, the hotter it is & the faster it consumes Peak observatories (they had a grand tour its fuel. With upgrades to the HST, we can & had views of the countryside from the see the beginnings of star birth. You can top of one of the observatories) & David’s see on the surface of stars ECG’s – evapo- Jarnac observatory where they took a rating gaseous globules. The stellar winds photo of comet Hartley & enjoyed a lovely are very strong – dense opaque gas, inside visit with the Levy’s. It was a trip of a life- of which are new forming stars; proplyds time. are new stars with embryonic solar sys- We had the annual raffle draw for tems around them. Herbig-Haro objects an 8inch Orion telescope which was won are jets of material erupting from a new by Emma MacPhee, who was promptly star. There was much more information cajoled to sell it to Roger Pitre! There making it a very interesting & informative were many door prizes given out – almost presentation. everyone in the room received a treat. Marc Arsenault spoke about the During break time, people had an opportu- new website, saying the content was going nity to mix & mingle & talk about, what to consist of information driven by content else – things astronomical. Before the received from the membership. It would meeting itself, whoever had signed up for contain events/activities, meetings, news, lunch went to Curt’s close by & enjoyed a

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–——————————————————— SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 10 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer Celebrating 100 years of Parks Canada Kouchibouguac Summer Stargaze, Kouchibouquac National Park May 20-22/2011

Join us and discover the Universe!

Astronomers will have various telescopes and binoculars available to view night sky objects such as the planet Saturn, craters and ancient lava sea beds on the waning gibbous moon, distant galaxies, star clusters, nebulae, etc., as well as our own Sun with specially fitted telescopes. Our own Sun could offer views of sunspots, solar flares, etc. Also learn to identify and view many major constellations. All viewing sessions are weather dependant.

There will also there will be entertaining “What’s Up” PowerPoint presentations, as well as a “Looking for Meteorites” presen- tation in both official languages. The PowerPoint presentations are not weather dependant.

Schedule of activities Friday May 20 12 noon – 3:00 pm: Solar observing 8:00 pm – 8:45 pm: “Looking for Meteorites” 8:45 pm - 9:30 pm: “What’s Up” 9:45 pm. – 1:00 am: Telescope and binocular observing session.

Saturday May 21 10:00 am – 3:00 pm: Solar observing 12:00 noon – 02:00pm : Demonstration using meteorite search equipment 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm: “What’s Up” 9:45 pm - 1:00 am: Telescope and binocular observing session

Sunday May 22 10:00 am – 1:00pm: Solar Observing Hosted by members of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, New Brunswick Centre

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–——————————————————— SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 11 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer OBSERVERS’ SCORECARD President/Président Curt Nason [email protected]

1st Vice-President/-Président Adrien Bordage [email protected] Hickson Hickson Deep Sky Sky Deep Challenge Dark Nebulae Herschel Herschel 400 Levy Deep Deep Levy Gems Sky Finest Finest NGC I. William- I. son Lunar Explore the the Explore Universe Caldwell Galaxies Arp AbellGalaxy Clusters Messier Messier Gerry Allian 101 93 2nd Vice-President/-Président Marc Arsenault James Ayles 37 [email protected] Adrien Bordage 100 Secretary/Secrétaire Bob Crossman 110 28 June MacDonald [email protected] Charles Doucete 110 110 110 65 Treasurer/Trésorier Ted Dunphy 102 110 110 51 10 8 265 Mandy Bregg Colette Fortier 87 28 [email protected]

Paul Gray 97 110 110 46 31 20 238 Past Pres./Président sortant Peter Jensen 12 73 Peter Jensen [email protected] Don Kelly 110 110 Councillors /Conseillers Mark Laflamme 106 30 2 Guy Arnold Danny LeBlanc 110 110 127 8 21 21 9 Paul Gray Emma MacPhee Emma MacPhee 78 110 110 5 Chris Weadick

Curt Nason 110 110 Website Chair Mike Powell 70 Tim Doucette Light Pollution Chair Detlef Rudolph 62 Chris Weadick Chris Weadick 71 26 Equipment Chair Eldon Rogers This section is intended to inspire our members to get out observing by promoting a friendly competi- Library Chair tion. The left column includes our members who have reported their successes to the scorekeeper, Paul Ted Dunphy Education Chair Gray. To be included please contact Paul Gray at: [email protected] Don Kelly

——————————————————————————————————————–———————————————–———–———————————————————– SRAC New Brunswick RASC — Volume 12, Number 2— Page 12 Horizon: instruire, informer et inspirer