ReflectionsReflections Newsletter of the Popular Astronomy Club JULY 2018 President’s Corner July 2018 This hobby is definitely not solitary, nor boring. Well summer is officially here I really would like to encourage everyone to at- and the mercury in the ther- tend one of these club observing sessions. If mometer is rising right along you don’t have a scope, no problem, we will with our enthusiasm to get out provide you with one or you can just look and do some observing. Is it through the ones that have been brought by just me or have we had more others. It’s contagious, so be careful, you 90-degree days this year than might catch the astronomy bug! normal? Thank goodness we astronomers do most of our ob- Anyway, I have been on a campaign to visit serving when it’s cooler at night neighboring clubs and do some promotion for Alan Sheidler (unless you are viewing the sun next year’s NCRAL 2019 conference which, as of course). In any event, as you can see here in you know, PAC will be hosting. Last month, the newsletter, the weather has not damped our several of us visited Cedar Amateur Astrono- enthusiasm for astronomy in the slightest. In the mers and Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club. last month, we have had a number of public and I am always impressed by how welcoming and private observing sessions which can be very fun enthusiastic these clubs are. Sara and I also and informative. I really enjoy the club member made a trip to Springdale, Arkansas to attend observing sessions we have at the Paul Castle the Mid States Region of the Astronomical Memorial Observatory. Members bring their own League conference. We wanted to see how scopes, use the observatory’s refractor or borrow our neighbors to the southwest do their confer- one of the club scopes to set up and observe. It ences and of course to promote our own. We is actually kind of humorous to “observe” the be- were really impressed by the MSRAL confer- havior of the folks who participate in these ses- ence and with the warm welcome we received sions. Typically, there may be 4 or 5 scopes in there. It was really fun and well worth the trip use at the same time. Some of them (like Rusty to Arkansas. The host club, Sugar Creek As- Case, Terry Dufek and Mike Mack) will have as- tronomical Society, did a great job producing a tronomical video cameras attached to them. One very interesting and uplifting conference. Their person will successfully target an object which in- success gives me confidence that we too can variably induces a statement like “Wow, you gotta put on a great NCRAL 2019. come over here and see the Hamburger Galaxy” or “Cool! You have to come look at the Fox Head Be sure to attend our July 9th PAC meeting at Cluster” or “Oh wow, I can actually see Jupiter’s the Butterworth Center. Carl Wenning, NCRAL Red Spot, here take a look!” It is fun to hear the Chair, will be in attendance and will do a short excited exclamations and urgings to come look at talk about the benefits of the Astronomical whatever object might be in view at the various League. Also, Adam Beals will provide a pro- scopes. Sometimes, it seems like I am spending gram on the Fermi Paradox. Alex Holt is more time going over to a neighboring scope to scheduled to do the constellation report. We see what they have in the eyepiece or on the view have a great program in store. Don’t miss it! screen than I am looking through my own scope. Keep looking up! (Continued in next column) Alan Sheidler (Continued on next page) 1 (Continued from previous page)

CONTENTS

Page Topic 1 Presidents Corner 2 Index /Officers List 3-6 Announcements/ Info 7 The Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club 8-9 Contributions 10 M5 The Rose Cluster 2018 PAC OFFICERS 11 Mars Approaches 12-15 PAC Outreach Events PRESIDENT - Alan Sheidler 3528 56th 16-17 Astronomy in Print Street Court, Moline, IL, 61265 Phone: 18 Upcoming Events (309) 797-3120 19 Astronomical Calendar of Events/ The Planets VICE PRESIDENT – Dino Milani 2317 20 Astronomy Software 29 1/2 Street, Rock Island, IA, 61201 21-22 NASA Space Place Phone: (309) 269-4735 23-24 News Links 25 Member Observations SECRETARY - Terry Dufek 2812 W. 26-29 Paul Castle Observing Sessions 65th Street, Davenport, IA, 52806 30-31 PAC Monthly Meeting Notes Phone: (563) 386-3509 32 Treasurers Report TREASURER – Dale Hachtel 1617 Elm Shore Drive, Port Byron Illinois, 61275 Phone: (614) 935-5748

ALCOR – Roy E. Gustafson 11 Deer Run Road, Orion, IL, 61273 Phone: (309)526-3592

DIRECTOR OF OBSERVATORIES - Rusty Case 2123 W. 16th Street, Dav- enport, IA, 52804 Phone: (563) 349- 2444

PAST PRESIDENT - Wayland Bauer 3256 Pleasant Drive, Bettendorf, IA., 52722 Phone: (563) 332-4032

NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Terry Dufek 2812 W. 65th Street, Davenport, IA, 52806 Phone: (563) 386-3509

Contact for Information or questions here: [email protected]

2 ANNOUNCEMENTS / INFO EIS 2019 Event date: ALCON 2018 Fri Sept 7, 2019 thru Sun Sept 9, 2019 Event date: Location of event: Wed Jul 11, 2018 thru Sat Jul 14, 2018 St Ambrose University Menke Observatory LocationMEMBERS of event: Dixon, IA HILTON MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL AIRPORT MALL OFRENEWING AMERICA Eastern Iowa Star Part presented by the 3800 American Bldd. E Quad Cities Astronomical Society (QCAS) BloomingtonFOR , MN 55425 2018 Davenport, Iowa CONTACT: Jeff Struve (for information Annual Convention of the Astronomical and registration) League (more information on page 5)

LINK: https://alcon2018.astroleague.org/ THANK YOU! 2018 PAC Picnic Indiana Family Star Party The Annual PAC Picnic will be held Saturday, and Greatcon 2018 August 11th at the Paul Castle Observatory. Event date:YES! We have It will start at 6:00 p.m. and will feature obser- Tues July 10, 2018 thru Sun July 15, 2018 openings for….. vations of the Perseid meteor shower and ob- Location of event: jects viewed through telescopes. Bring a dish Camp Cullom, 50 miles northwest of Indian- to pass. A grill and charcoal will be provided apolis, NEWSPAPERIndiana ARTICLES for those that wish to grill. It is rumored that June, August, infamous “musical spatula” will be reappear- LINK: http://www.indianastars.us/starparty/September, October, ing after a year’s absence. index.htmlNovember, December 2018 Registration(If you have form need on lastsome page ideas, of May we canissue This night will have a one-day old Moon so help– It isn‘t as hard as it looks) Perseid viewing should be great. Plan now to

NCRAL 2019 be in attendance! Please contact Dino Milani Event date: if Interested Wayland & Anne Bauer Fri May 3, 2019 thru Sat May 4, 2019 Location of event: Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center 101 18th St, SUBMISSIONS Facebook Fact Moline,If ILyou 61265 have an article or photos to We got 150+ likes & numerous shares from submit or items of interest, their post last week (Jun. 25th) Northwe Central encourage Region you of tothe send Astronomical them in Sara Sheidler Leaguesby theannual 25th convention of the month. being Links presented to by the Popularstories Astronomy are welcome Club, also. Moline Illinois NEW LINK: TBD Thank you! BirdiesMEMBERS for Charities Forms are available from Al Sheidler and at monthly PAC meeting. Deadline is July 13th. The Birdies office has requested Member List groups WELCOME!mail their forms in all together so Al If you are a member and want a current Sheidler will collect the forms and submit member list , please contact Terry Dufek them in one envelope.

3 ANNOUNCEMENTS / INFO

NCRAL LOGO CONTEST GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA

The North Central Region of the Astronomical League (NCRAL) seeks to develop a Regional logo. The member- ship at the NCRAL 2018 conference in Sturgeon Bay, WI, heard and approved a motion for the NCRAL Regional Council to create a “one-time allocation of a suitable amount of money for the creation of several draft NCRAL logos, one of which will be amended as necessary and approved in concept by the general membership at the NCRAL 2019 regional meeting. The approved draft will be finalized shortly thereafter.” To this end, the leadership is now soliciting suggestions for logos. A set of guidelines and criteria have been ap- proved by the Regional Committee consisting of NCRAL-affiliated society presidents and ALCors as well as the Ex- ecutive Officers (chair, vice chair, secretary/treasurer, and regional representative to the National Council). The guidelines and criteria for preparing and selecting a draft logo are as follows:

Guidelines:

1. We are not currently seeking finished products, merely draft logos. 2. The draft logos need not be design by a member of a NCRAL-affiliated society; anyone is eligible to enter the competition. 3. More than one submission by the same person is permissible. 4. Drawings must be the original work of the competitor; no use of preexisting logos will be permitted; no copycatting of existing logos will be permitted. 5. Both astronomically accurate and stylized logos are acceptable. 6. Draft logos may be submitted at any stage of development as long as they adhere to these guidelines. 7. Drafts may be submitted in either color and/or black & white. 8. Drawings must be submitted as high-resolution files (e.g., 250 kB). 9. All logo drafts must be electronically submitted via email to the Regional Chair at [email protected]. Submissions must include name of author, contact information, club affiliation (if any), statement indicating that the draft logo the original work of the submitter. 10. All submissions will be published in the Fall 2018 issue of Northern Lights; the submission deadline is August 30, 2018. 11. Comments for improvements then will be solicited from the entire NCRAL membership. These comments will be forwarded to the various artists for use in revising the initial draft(s). The Regional officers reserve the right to reject any submissions that could be construed as offensive. 12. Revised drafts will appear in the Winter 2019 issue of Northern Lights. Readers will then be asked to vote for the best three logos and offered the opportunity to make further suggestions for revisions. Deadline for sub- mitting revised logo drafts to the Regional Chair is November 30, 2018. 13. The three revised drafts receiving the most votes will be published in the Spring 2019 issue of Northern Lights. No re-submission is necessary. 14. At the NCRAL 2019 conference in Moline, IL, the assembled members of NCRAL will vote on the top final draft. The 3rd place award winner will receive a prize of $25, 2nd place $50, and 1st place $75 plus the bene fit of knowing that their draft logo in finished form will be the one to represent NCRAL. 15. Up to $350 will be allocated to render the formal artwork and produce scalable image files. Any trademark becomes the property of NCRAL. NCRAL will use the finished logo in any fashion deemed reasonable by the Executive Officers.

Criteria:

The final draft artwork that is chosen on the basis of the actual NCRAL logo will have the general characteristics:

1. Simple – The simplest logos are those that people will recognize immediately and remember the best. 2. Scalable – The logo should be simple enough to be able to be scaled down or up and still look good. 3. Impactful – The logo should capture the viewer’s attention and leave a positive impression; the logo should look good in both color and black & white renditions. 4. Relevant – The logo should be relevant to who we are as NCRAL; it has to have a meaning that obviously relates to astronomy. 5. Accurate – The logo should be astronomical accurate to the extent possible.

4 ANNOUNCEMENTS / INFO

5 ANNOUNCEMENTS / INFO

ADD YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO Field Trip to the John H. Witte, Jr. NCRAL MEMBER DATABASE Add your email address to the NCRAL mem- Observatory Complex (Report) ber database now so that you can get direct Rusty Case, Bryan Raser, Terry Dufek and Al mailings of NORTHERN LIGHTS and impor- Sheidler made a field trip to the JOHN H. tant and timely announcements about Re- WITTE, JR. OBSERVATORY COMPLEX on gional conferences, star parties, and so forth. June 15th, 2018. The Southeastern Iowa As- Your email address will never be shared with tronomy Club had their meeting there and Al or sold to outside entities. Sign-up takes only made a presentation to the group about about a minute. You’ll need to provide your NCRAL 2019 and then PAC participated in name, email address, astronomy club affilia- one of their monthly outreach events. They tion (including at-large), and indicate if you had about sixty people attend. We wrapped hold particular positions within your club. Go to up about 12:30 am with Mars rising in the east. the following case-sensitive URL to add your information to our database: https://goo.gl/ The complex has an amazing array of equip- gsS8SF ment. The club maintains the equipment and complex for the Des Moines County Conserva- Please check out changes that Dino tion, Burlington Community School District and has made to PAC web site John H. Witte Jr. foundation. The complex is 31 years old.

Witte Observatory Building houses a 12-inch aperture refractor manufactured in 1937 by Al- van Clark and Sons. It is doublet achromatic design with a brass tube approximately 15 feet long resting on a German Equatorial mount. It is an amazing piece of equipment.

Prugh-Carver Observatory Building (The Roll-Off) with a unique motorized roll roof LOOKING FOR OLDER houses John H. Witte’s personal 8-inch refrac- ISSUES OF REFLECTIONS tor manufactured in 1931.

NEWSLETTER? Stone-Kelly Observatory Building houses a Try this Link: 16-inch Ealing Cassegrian telescope relocated http://www.popularastronomyclub.org/ from the current Burlington High School in news-letters/ 2004. HISTORY OF PAC? (pictures from visit on the following page) Try this Link:

http://www.pacastronomy.50megs.com/ history.htm On facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ Popular Astronomy Club WitteObservatory/about/?ref=page_internal

on Facebook website: http://www.dmcounty.com/516/Witte- LINK: https://www.facebook.com/QCPAC/ Observatory-Complex

6 The Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club*

The 12 in Alvin Clark Refractor

Members of the Southeastern Iowa Saturn and moons through Astronomy Club and PAC the Alvin Clark

* Write up on previous page

7 Contributions (got something to share?)

(Above and Right) This telescope really goes big in every sense of the word. It is the SLAS 70 inch telescope. The mirror weighs 900 lbs. The whole telescope weighs 3300 lbs. I believe they roll it out of the storage shed behind him. It is operated and maintained by the Salt Lake Astro- nomical Society From Facebook by Terry Dufek

(Right) There was a lot of discussion on FB whether this was a real scope and how he lifts it into place. He said it was a 16 inch. I did a little research and found it was original mounted on a pier. It really is a workout to a good view but worth it. From Facebook by Terry Dufek

8 Contributions (got something to share?)

(Above) Moon and Venus w/ light- ning – very spectacular (go to authors page to see full video) From Facebook by Terry Dufek

9 M5 The Rose Cluster

 A bright globular cluster located in the northern constellation Serpens.  A distance of 24,500 light years from Earth, in the galactic halo of the Milky Way  An apparent magnitude of 6.65  Binoculars will reveal the object to not be a star, but a fuzzy patch of light, and small telescopes will show a bright glowing core.  Messier 5 is one of the larger globular clus- ters known, spanning about 165 light years in diameter.  Messier 5 was discovered by the German astronomer Gottfried Kirch on May 5, 1702 while observing a comet.  Charles Messier found the object on May 23, 1764, and described it as a nebula without stars.  The cluster was not resolved into individual stars until 1791, when William Herschel ob- served it in a larger telescope,  Messier 5 is home to more than 100,000 stars, as many as 500,000 according to some sources.  The estimated age of M5 is 13 billion years.

M5

10 Mars Approaches

 Mars will exceed 24'' in diameter between July 23rd and August 9th, 2018  The Red Planet will be only 1.2 million miles further away in 2018 than in 2003  Mars will be less than one second of arc smaller than it was in 2003  Opposition occurs on July 27th  Closest approach to Earth is on July 31st at 24.3” in diameter  The Red Planet won't be this close again until 2035  At opposition, it will shine with a visual magnitude of -2.8  On July 31st, Earth will be within 0.385 as- tronomical units (1 AU is the mean sun- Earth distance), or 35,785,537 miles

(Continued in next column)

 On July 31st, Owners of tele- scopes with apertures of 8 inches (200 millimeters) and larger should try to discern additional surface details on Mars and look for its two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Use Astronomy apps to determine moons location and then position Mars just outside the eyepieces field of view to reduce glare.

June 27th View from 11:00 PM stellarium

11 Cordova Outreach June 1st, 2018

The Popular Astronomy Club attended an out- reach at the Cordova Civic Center. Attached are some of the pictures I took last night for the Cor- dova Library's astronomy program at the Cordova Civic Center. In the group photo is Rusty Case, Zack (Wayland's grandson), Wayland Bauer, Eric Sheidler, Dino Milani, Mitch Milani (in the Pacmo), Sara Sheidler and Al Sheidler. Dale & Joanne Hachtel, and Bryan Raser attended also, but came after the photo was taken. Terry Dufek con- ducted a power point slide program on some of the objects we were able to observe after it got dark enough to do so. Some of the objects we observed were the Sun, Venus, Jupiter, globular cluster M3, double star Cor Caroli, the red super- giant carbon star La Superba, the Sombrero Ga- laxay M104, and numerous other objects. Ap- proximately 51 visitors came out for the program and observing session, which was judged to be "highly successful". We wrapped up around 10:30 pm. Al Sheidler

12 Camp Liberty Outreach June 8th, 2018

On the evening of June 8, we did an outreach at Camp Liberty for youths attending a week-long Epi- lepsy camp. Camp Liberty (former Camp Conestoga) now has a mod- ern climate controlled lodge and cabins. Al started off the program with the comet making demonstra- tion using dry ice and household in- gredients. C.H.N.O.P.S. was ex- plained: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitro- gen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sul- fur. There were many excellent questions from the campers about comets and the building blocks of the universe. (Continued in next column) Terry then did a talk about the objects visi- ble that night. We then reconvened outside and viewed Venus and Jupiter through our telescopes. We could see the red spot and the moons of Jupiter. As the clouds rolled in, we packed up for the evening. 47 campers and volunteers were in attendance. Terry Du- fek, Alan & Sara Sheidler did the pro- gram.

Sara Sheidler

13 Niabi Outreach June 16th, 2018

Our string of clouded out outreach events broke on this date with a clearing evening sky taking place. It was a good thing for the clouds before the event as it reduce the extremely hot temperature on the asphalt in the zoo parking lot. We were also grateful for a nice breeze also. It was too hot in the PACMO to set the telescope in so we set it up outside. We had about 8 member and one guest tele- scopes besides the PACMO scope. Members at- tending were Anne and Wayland Bauer, Adam, Liz and Rowan Beals, Rusty Case, Terry Dufek, Dale Hachtel, Dino and Mitchell Milani, Bryan Raser, Gail Sederquist, and Al, Sara and Eric Sheidler. We had about 60 guests. Though clouds were not completely during twilight, we and our visitors got some early views of a very nice crescent moon with some earth- shine which became more prominent as it got darker. From there, we moved on to Venus, shining very brightly to the right of the moon and even got a Finally it got dark enough and Jupiter made glimpse of Mer- an appearance with its 4 moons. Later, Saturn cury about 5º off began to peek out of the clouded southeast- the northwest ho- ern horizon. Several double stars were viewed rizon. Mercury including Mizar/Alcor and Albireo. looked very red Deep sky objects viewed included the Ring partially because Nebula, the Dumbbell, and the Sombrero Gal- it was viewed axy. Most guests left around 11 p.m. and we through some stayed about 45 minutes more. As we were reddish clouds on packing up, we could see a very red Mars ris- the horizon. ing on the southeast horizon. Its grand show coming next month. All in all, it was nice to have a successful Niabi event. (Continued in next column) 14 Illiniwek June 23rd, 2018

With the hopeful promise of eventual clearing, PAC set out for the Illiniwek campgrounds which had given us great observing events the last couple of years. The clouds did not part however and we had a tantalizing clearing far off to the west that never reached us. We were able to give brief views of the Moon and nearby Jupiter throughout the evening. We had about 40 guests that evening out of a packed campground. PAC members attending the event were Wayland and Anne Bauer, Rusty Case, Terry Dufek, Dale and Joannne Hachtel, Dino and Mitchell Milani, Mark Pershing and Eric Sheidler. We had about six telescopes with Mitchell and Eric man- ning the PACMO. We packed up about 10:30 p.m. Terry Dufek

15 ASTRONOMY IN PRINT

Astronomy without a telescope? longest noontime shadow. No problem By looking down, using a stick and show- ing great patience, we have been able to By Wayland Bauer learn some basic Earth–Sun relationship: car- dinal directions, and the four days of the year Neil deGrasse Tyson, popular astrophysicist, that mark the change of the astronomical sea- author and head of the world– renowned Hay- son (meteorologists use three–month group- den Planetarium in New York City, reminds us to ings to determine seasons). keep looking up at the end of his “StarTalk” pro- Now we will change gears and look up gram on the National Geographic Channel. without a telescope or binoculars. In his book “Death by Black Hole”, he de- If you know the right day and time you can scribes how to learn some astronomy with no easily see the third brightest object in the technology, using a stick stuck in the ground in night sky– the International Space Station– your own backyard. Here he is, suggesting we pass over. The ISS flies at an average alti- look down. tude of 250 miles and an average speed of He tells us to get a straight stick and find an 17,500 mph. The result is that the ISS circles area where the Sun can shine on the ground for the globe every 90 minutes. most of the day. Pound the stick into the ground, The ISS has been continuously occupied keeping it as straight up and down as possible. since Nov. 2nd, 2000. As of January, 230 On a clear day, record the length of the people from 18 countries have visited it. Cur- stick’s shadow every hour or two. As the day rent plans call for it to be operated through at progresses, the shadow will change its length least 2024, with an extension to 2028. Then it and the direction it points. could be deorbited, probably into the Pacific Notice when it is longest, when it is shortest; Ocean, or recycled for future space stations. notice the shadows direction when it is longest The space station, about the size of a foot- and shortest. Hypothesize what the length and ball field including the end zones, is the larg- direction mean. Notice the direction that the est manmade object placed in orbit. At $120 shadow follows around the stick. billion, it is also one of the most expensive ob- If you are extremely patient and can leave jects built. your stick in place for a year, you can make The complex now has more livable room other observations. than a conventional house. It has two bath- Two days of the year, when the sun rises and rooms, gym facilities and 360º bay window. It sets, the shadows point in exactly opposite di- was transported to space piecemeal and rections– due east and west. Those days are gradually built in orbit by space walking astro- the fall and spring equinoxes. nauts and robots. In June, we experience the summer solstice The first module, the Russian Zarya, was when the sun rises and sets at its northernmost launched Nov. 20th, 1998. Two weeks later point along the horizon. The stick's noontime space shuttle flight STS-88 launched the shadow will be its shortest length of the entire NASA Unity/Node 1 module. Astronauts then year. connected the two parts together. In December, we experience the opposite When you view the space station, you are situation when the Sun rises and sets at its really seeing sunlight reflecting off the station. southernmost point along the horizon. This That is why it will slowly disappear from sight marks the winter solstice and the result is the (Continued in next column) (Continued on next page) 16 ASTRONOMY IN PRINT

(Continued from previous page) when it moves into the Earth’s shadow. Viewing times will vary from less than two minutes to six minutes depending on how high overhead the pass is relative to your location. The easiest way to find the ISS is to go to spotthestation.nasa. gov/sightings/ and enter your loca- tion. This will provide you with a list of all possible viewing oppor- tunities for the next week or two. There will be periods of time when it will not be visible in your region. You will even be able to set up either email or messages to your computer of smart phone to no- tify you when the ISS will pass over you location. Remember: Look down and well as keep looking up!

The Popular Astron- omy Club invites you to join for free observations of the night sky through our telescopes on the third Saturday night of the month (March–November) in the parking lot of Niabi Zoo.

(originally published in the Rock Island Argus/Dispatch)

17 UPCOMING EVENTS PAC Meeting July 9th, 7:00PM Location is at the Butterworth Center Monthly Meeting

Constellation Report: Alex Holt Presentations: Carl Wenning (presentation of Benefits of the AL and NCRAL) and Adam Beals (presentation of The Fermi Paradox)

 July 5th, 2018 Silvis Library Outreach- 6:00 Party (QCAS at Menke Observatory) Con- pm - Cosmic Chefs Comet Demonstration tact Jeff Struve for Information (Roy & Jan) followed by Observing  September 10th, 2018 PAC (business)  July 9th, 2018 PAC regular meeting at Butter- meeting at Butterworth center at 7:00 p.m. worth center at 7:00 p.m. Carl Wenning, the  September 15th, ,2018 NiabiZoo Out- current chair of the NCRAL region will be join- reach. Featuring Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, ing us at our meeting. Mars, Neptune and 1st quarter Moon. Sag-  July 21st, 2018 Niabi Zoo Outreach, Featur- ittarius and Scorpio high in the south. ing: Moon just after 1st quarter. Venus in the  October 6th, 2018 Rock Island 30/31 western sky at sunset. Jupiter, Moon, and Sat- Branch Library - 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm urn high in southern sky at 9 p.m. Mars low in  October 20th, 2018 Niabi Observing Night the southeast at 10 p.m. Opposition), Gamma  October 27th, 2018 Annual Club Ban- Delphi (double star), M57 (The Ring Nebula) quet - Butterworth Center - This is the  August 3rd, 2018 Silver Bells Hollow Alpaca meeting for October! Speaker is Roy Farm, Illinois City, Illinois ; Inside program fol- Wolfe, lowed by observing at sunset  November 12th, 2018 PAC regular meet-  August 11th, 2018 Annual Club Picnic & Per- ing at Butterworth center at 7:00 p.m. seid Viewing - Paul Castle Observatory - NO  November 17th, 2018 Niabi Observing meeting at the Butterworth in August! Night.  August 18th, 2018 Niabi Zoo Outreach, Fea-  December 10th, 2018 PAC (businees) turing: Venus, Jupiter, Moon, Saturn, Mars, meeting at the Butterworth center at 7:00 Neptune, M11 (The Wild Duck Cluster), Albi- p.m. reo (gold & blue double star), M17 (The Swan  May 3rd-4th, 2019 NCRAL conference – Nebula) Moline Illinois  September 7– 9th, 2018 Eastern Iowa Star Mark your calendars and watch upcoming e-mails for more information! (Continued in next column)

18 ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR THE PLANETS OF EVENTS July 2018

adjusted for Daylight Savings Time

Date Time Event

Jul 04 00:39 Mercury 0.6°S of Beehive Jul 06 02:51 LAST QUARTER MOON Jul 06 12:00 Earth at Aphelion: 1.01670 AU Jul 09 18:34 Venus 0.9°N of Regulus Jul 10 04:30 Aldebaran 1.1°S of Moon Jul 12 00:00 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 26.4°E Jul 12 21:48 NEW MOON Jul 12 22:01 Partial Solar Eclipse; mag=0.337 Jul 13 03:28 Moon at Perigee: 357432 km Jul 13 21:50 Moon at Ascending Node Jul 14 17:04 Mercury 2.2°S of Moon Jul 15 11:14 Regulus 1.7°S of Moon Jul 15 22:31 Venus 1.6°S of Moon Sun is in Gemini on Jul 1st Jul 19 14:52 FIRST QUARTER MOON Mercury (in Cancer) starts off Jul Jul 20 05:00 Mercury at Aphelion 1st ,in the evening sky, about 10º Jul 20 18:57 Jupiter 4.4°S of Moon off the west-northwest horizon at Jul 24 11:49 Mercury 1.2°S of Regulus 9:00 pm. It is lost in the twilight. It moves closer to the sun Jul 25 01:10 Saturn 2.0°S of Moon and at the end of the month it is about 5º off the horizon at Jul 26 23:44 Moon at Apogee: 406223 km sunset. Mag, :-0.7 Size: 6.7” approaching inferior con- Jul 27 01:00 Mars at Opposition junction on Aug. 8th. Jul 27 15:20 FULL MOON Venus (in Leo) on Jul 1st, is about 20° off the western Jul 27 15:22 Total Lunar Eclipse; mag=1.609 horizon at about 9:00 pm. On Jul 1st, it is mag. –4.08. Jul 27 16:40 Moon at Descending Node Disk size of 15.9“. By the end of the month it is about 12º Jul 28 04 00 Delta-Aquarid Meteor Shower lower in the sky at the same time. It’s mag. Brightens to – Jul 31 02:50 Mars reaches closest approach 4.30 and size grows to 20.4”. Venus phase changes from gibbous to slightly over 1/2 full. Aug 04 01:18 LAST QUARTER MOON Mars (in Capricorn) on Jul 1st rises at 10:40 pm. It is Aug 06 01:35 Aldebaran 1.1°S of Moon mag. –2.19 with a size of 21.1” It crosses the meridian at Aug 08 21:00 Mercury at Inferior Conjunction 3:12 am. It reaches opposition at Jul. 27th and reaches Aug 10 08:40 Moon at Ascending Node closest approach on Jul 31st at mag. –2.77 and size of Aug 10 01:05 Moon at Perigee: 358083 km 24.3”. Aug 11 04:46 Partial Solar Eclipse; mag=0.737 Jupiter (in Libra) on Jul 1st. It is on the meridian at 9:00 Aug 11 04:58 NEW MOON pm. It is mag. –2.30 and has a diameter of 41.3”. It Aug 12 20:00 Perseid Meteor Shower shrinks to 37.9” by the end of the month. Aug 14 08:35 Venus 6.3°S of Moon Saturn (in Sagittarius) on Jul 1st, is low on the southeast Aug 17 05:38 Jupiter 4.5°S of Moon horizon at 9:00 pm. It is mag. .04 and has a disk of Aug 17 11:00 Venus at Greatest Elong: 45.9°E 18.4” (with rings, 42.8”) By the 31st, it is high in the south- Aug 18 02:49 FIRST QUARTER MOON east at 9:00 pm. Aug 20 21:09 Mercury 4.8°S of Beehive Uranus (in Aries) on Jul 1st , is 14 ° off the eastern hori- Aug 21 04:55 Saturn 2.1°S of Moon zon at 3:00 am. It is magnitude 5.84 and a 3.5” disk. Aug 23 06:23 Moon at Apogee: 405744 km Neptune (in Aquarius) on Jul 1st. It is 31º off the south- Aug 23 23:51 Moon at Descending Node eastern at 3:00 a.m. It is mag. 7.86 and has a 2.3“ disk. Aug 26 06:56 FULL MOON Pluto (in Sagittarius) on Jul 1st. It is 25º off the south- Aug 26 15:00 Mercury at Greatest Elong: southeast horizon at 3:00 am. It is mag. 14.19. 18.3°W 19 ASTRONOMY SOFTWARE Javascript Jupiter

A quick and easy little app to determine the position of Jupiter’s Moons and shadows Link: http://www.shallowsky.com/jupiter/ Here is one for Saturn's Moons: Link: http://wwwcdn.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/ plugins/observing-tools/saturn_moons/saturn.html

20 NASA Space Place Partner Article JULY 2018

This article is provided by NASA Space Place. With articles, activities, crafts, games, and lesson plans, NASA Space Place encourages everyone to get excited about science and technology. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and Earth science!

A Close-Up View of Mars By Jane Houston Jones and Jessica Stoller-Conrad

In July 2018, skywatchers can get an up close tary detail is visible. view of Mars—even without a telescope! In fact, on July 31, Mars will be closer to Earth than it has There is another important Mars date in July: been in 15 years. Mars opposition. Mars opposition is when Mars, Earth and the Sun all line up, with Earth Why is that? directly in the middle. This event is happening on July 27 this year. Like all the planets in our solar system, Earth and Mars orbit the Sun. Earth is closer to the Sun, and Although you may see news focusing on one therefore it races along its orbit more quickly. of these two dates, Mars will be visible for Earth makes two trips around the Sun in about the many months. For about three weeks before same amount of time that Mars takes to make one and three weeks after opposition and closest trip. approach, the planet will appear the same size to a skywatcher. Sometimes the two planets are on opposite sides of the Sun and are very far apart. Other times, From July 7 through September 7 Mars will be Earth catches up with its neighbor and passes the third brightest object in the sky (after the relatively close to it. This is called Mars’s closest Moon and Venus), shining even brighter than approach to Earth, and it’s happening this year on Jupiter. The best time to view Mars during this July 31. The Moon will be near Mars on that night, time is several hours after sunset, when Mars too! will appear higher in the sky.

Keep in mind that even during its closest ap- Mars will still be visible after July and August, proach, Mars is still more than 35 million miles but each month it will shrink in size as it travels away from Earth. That’s really far. So, Mars won’t farther from Earth in its orbit around the Sun. appear as big as the Moon in the sky, but it will appear bigger than it usually does. In other sky news, there will be a partial solar eclipse on July 13, but it will only be visible July and August will be a great time to check out from Northern Antarctica and southern Austra- Mars. Through a telescope, you should normally lia. On July 27 (beginning at 20:21 UTC), a to- be able to make out some of the light and dark tal lunar eclipse will be visible in Australia, features of the Red Planet—and sometimes even Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. For polar ice. However, a huge Martian dust storm is those viewers, Mars will be right next to the obscuring these features right now, so less plane- eclipsing Moon!

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(Continued from previous page) If you’re wanting to look ahead to next month, pre- pare for August’s summer Perseid meteor shower. It’s not too early to plan a dark sky getaway for the most popular meteor shower of the year!

You can catch up on NASA’s missions to Mars and all of NASA's missions at www.nasa.gov

Caption: In 2018, Mars will appear brightest from July 27 to July 30. Its closest approach to Earth is July 31. That is the point in Mars' orbit when it comes closest to Earth. Mars will be at a distance of 35.8 million miles (57.6 million kilometers). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

22 NEWS LINKS Surprise! Pluto Has Dunes Made of Methane 'Sand'

May 31st, 2018

LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/science/surprise- pluto-has-dunes-made-of-methane-sand/ar-AAy4kKG? li=BBnbcA1&ocid=iehp

Scientists introduce cosmochemical model for Pluto formation

May 25th, 2018

LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2018/05/180525095412.htm

Hubble Space Telescope Sees Messy Result of Galactic Collision: NGC 3256

June 1st, 2018

LINK: http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-ngc- 3256-06057.html

Meteoric Diamonds Are Evidence of Long Lost Planets

April 17th, 2018

LINK: http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/04/ meteoric-diamonds-are-evidence-of-long-lost-planets

(Continued on next page) 23 NEWS LINKS The Surprising Secrets of the Fastest Stars in the Milky Way Galaxy

May 17th, 2018

LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/science/the- surprising-secrets-of-the-fastest-stars-in-the-milky-way- galaxy/ar-AAxpHwc?ocid=spartanntp&ffid=gz

Astronomers Reveal Globular Clusters 4 Billion Years Younger Than Previously Thought

June 8th, 2018

LINK: https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-reveal- globular-clusters-4-billion-years-younger-than- previously-thought/

Exoplanets could easily survive in double- and triple-star systems

June 14th, 2018

LINK: http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/06/exoplanets-could- easily-survive-in-double-and-triple-star-systems

Evidence found for ‘giant comet’ theory of Pluto’s origin

May 26th, 2018

LINK: https://astronomynow.com/2018/05/26/evidence- found-for-giant-comet-theory-of-plutos-origin/

(Continued on next page) 24 MEMBER OBSERVATIONS (written, visual or photographic welcome)

Jupiter From Camp Liberty on June 8th at 10 pm By Al Sheidler

Saturn 2 days past opposition June 29th, 2018 10:29 p.m. By Terry Dufek

25 Paul Castle Report June 4th, 2018

Last night some of us met at the Castle Memo- rial Observatory to take advantage of the clear skies. In the group photo are Mike Mack, Al Sheidler, Terry Dufek, and Rusty Case. We spent most of the evening observing galaxies which were good targets for the moonless con- ditions. These photos were all taken using a Nikon D90 camera. The group photo was taken with a Tamron 10-24 mm camera lens. The astronomical objects were all taken with the D90 attached to a 10" Meade LX200 tele- scope with a .63 focal reducer, yielding a focal length of 1575 mm.

Camera Settings: M13, 30 seconds at ISO 6400 the others were taken with 70-80 second expo- sure times at ISO 5000.

It is interesting to note the trail of an object in the field of view of one of the M51 photos. This could be a meteor or a satellite, but because we don't know for sure, I am following Mike Mack's assertion that it is a UFO! Thanks. Messier 13 Al Sheidler

Messier 51– Whirlpool Messier 63– Sunflower

(Continued on next page) 26 Messier 94 – Catseye Galaxy Messier 106

Photos By Al Sheidler

NGC 4244 NGC 4490 Cacoon Galaxy

M51 w/ trail

(Continued on next page) 27 Photos By Terry Dufek

(Continued on next page) 28 NGC 4618 NGC 4490 Cacoon Galaxy

NGC 4631 Whale Galaxy

Photos By Rusty Case NGC 4274 NGC 4244

NGC 4038/4039 Antennae Galaxies M 100 29 President Al Sheidler called the June 2018 Busi- Treasurer Report: ness meeting to order of the Popular Astronomy  Dale Hachtel gave the treasurers report for Club at the Butterworth Center at 7:00 p.m., local the date of 3/1/2018 to 5/31/2018 time on Monday June 11th, 2018.  We have 2 new members (totaling $30)  There were 27 members and 1 guest.  Program donations of $125  Al welcomed members and guests  Interest of $.04  Terry reviewed the notes from the last busi-  Total receipts of $155.04 ness meeting . It was noted that a change  PACMO storage rental of $240 should be made to the location from Deere-  Astronomical League dues of $185 Wyman to the Butterworth center. Mike Mack  Donation to Lillian H Nelson Memorial of made a motion to approve. It seconded by $100 Mark Pershing and all approved.  Stoneycreek reservations (NCRAL 2019) of $1200 Secretaries Report:  Total expenditures of $1725  Terry Dufek reported no issues  Ending balance of $4506.49 (net decrease of $1569.96) (report attached at end) Vice President Report:  A motion made to approve the treasurers  Dino Milani noted that he had made improve- report by Wayland Bauer and was sec- ments and changes to the web site. onded by Cindy Pippert with approval by  A NCRAL page is going to be added for infor- all. mation and later on, registration information.  An Items for sale page by members section New Business: will be added.  A card was passed around for Lillian Nel- son at the meeting with a collection to be Director of Observatories: donated to the memorial.  Rusty Case reviewed about the upgrades to  Birdees for Charity forms were made avail- the PACMO. TV and mount (modified) and able after the meeting. camera (ordered) to installed in near future.  Wayland Bauer (picnic chairman) stated  Paul Castle still needs caulking (weather per- the the picnic is scheduled for August 11th. mitting) and deck restraining.  Terry Dufek will bring charcoal and lighter fluid. ALCOR Report:  The banquet is October 27th and a speaker  Roy Gustafson reviewed the candidates for has been secured, Roy Wolfe Astronomical League officers, which will be due June 30th. It was decided that PAC would NCRAL: summit and vote for the following officer nomi-  Mike Gacioch, NCRAL Convention Chair, nees: reviewed the planning to date.  For president: William Bogardus  We need volunteers for the following areas:  For vice president: Dr. W. Maynard (sign up sheets passed around) Pittendreigh 1 Contact person between conference and  For treasurer: Michael Concke Stoneycreek

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30 (Continued from previous page) Next Meeting: 2 2 people to staff the registration table ( rotate  July 9th at the Butterworth Center out)  Special guest: Carl Wenning, NCRAL 3 Timekeeper– keep schedule on tract chairman 4 Ambassadors for Information  Constellation Program: Alex Holt 5 Manning the PACMO  Program: Adam Beals 6 Setup and takedown (tables)  Question was asked how many we are expect- Outreach Events: ing Answer: (75-100)  June 16th: Niabi Zoo  June 23rd: Illiniwek Campground (need vol- The Business meeting was concluded and a mo- unteers) tion was made by Wayland Bauer to approve and  July 5th: Sylvis Library was seconded by (?). All approved. Field Trip: Constellation Report:  June 22nd: Gamble observatory (w/ Dr Lee The constellation report for the evening was pre- Carkner). 10 pm through the tower doors. sented by Anne Bauer . She covered the ancient  Al Sheidler is going to the meeting of the pole star in Camelopardalis. She also cover the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club on summer triangle: Vega, Deneb, and Altair. June 15th to present information about NCRAL 2019. Memebers are welcome to Program (Potpouri: come along.  Ken Boquist stated that anyone who wishes  Roberta Wright presented information about Stephen Hawking and books he wrote for chil- to visit the Yerkes observatory needs to do dren. it with in the next two months because the University of Chicago is withdrawing its  Jeff Struve presented information about David Levy and books he had written support. Beyond that, the observatories status is unknown.  Roy Gustafson presented Galaxy Zoo and a

creative writing lesson. The meeting was adjourned.  Dino Milani gave historical information about

John Brashear , early 20th century telescope

maker and one of his telescopes on display in Bishop Hill.  Dale Hachtel presented historical information about the Great Melbourne Telescope (GMT), its destruction by fire and its reconstruction (Continued in next column)

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