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Webfooted Astronomer News from the Seattle Astronomical Society March 2008

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Webfooted Astronomer News from the Seattle Astronomical Society March 2008 Webfooted Astronomer News from the Seattle Astronomical Society March 2008 Big crowd takes in lunar NEXT MEETING eclipse at SAS party March 19, 2008 — 7:30 p.m. University of Washington by Greg Scheiderer Physics/Astronomy Build- ing, Room A-102 Ma Nature was smiling on Northwest astronomers Feb. 20 when the winter evening clouds parted to allow spectacular viewing of a total eclipse of the Moon. Galaxy formation Chris Brook, a postdoctoral The Seattle Astronomical Society had an official viewing fellow with the UW De- party at the Green Lake Small Craft Center, where hundreds partment of Astronomy, of people gathered and passed by for a glimpse of the will discuss his cosmologi- eclipse, the last total lunar eclipse that will be visible from cal simulations of galaxy Seattle until December of 2010. formation. There was some delayed gratification for the Green Lake www.astro.washington.edu/ throng, as there was one cloud bank in the sky that evening – cbrook/ right on the eastern horizon, where the eclipse began shortly after Moonrise. Thus, the event was already well under way by the time the Moon popped out above the clouds some time after 6 p.m. Observers enjoyed the up-close views afforded by SAS members’ telescopes and binoculars. The event generated excellent visibility for SAS, as there was ample pre-eclipse coverage, including an article in the Seattle PI and a story on KOMO radio, that helped pump up the turnout, and several TV stations turned up at Green Lake for the fun. Loren Busch reported he and Karl and Judy Schroeder were set up at Paramount Park and probably had 50-plus eclipse viewers there as well. It turned out to be good outreach; at least three people who found us SAS VP/Programs Jingchun Chen waits at Green Lake at Green Lake attended the general meeting with his homemade Dob Feb. 20, while in the that Friday, and several others are planning background SAS member David Dorais explains the to drop in on the next star party March 15. eclipse people will see when that pesky cloud bank in the east goes away. Photo by Denis Janky. www.seattleastro.org SAS Calendar New member orientations return March 7 — New Moon March 14 — First quarter Moon The popular SAS orientation meetings for new members and beginners are returning. Hosted March 15 — 1 p.m. by Karl and Judy Schroeder at their home, the New member orientation meeting. Contact orientations are a great way to meet new Karl Schroeder, 206-362-7605 or people and learn the basics of astronomy. [email protected] The first orientation meeting of 2008 will be March 15 — 7 p.m. Seattle Astronomical Society Star Parties on March 15 at 1 p.m., and will run until about ♦ Green Lake, Seattle 5 p.m. The sessions cover telescopes, charts, ♦ Paramount Park, Shoreline viewing, planning, star parties, and even what to wear. Then there is dinner, provided by March 18-19 Karl and Judy, followed by an evening of Moon and Saturn form close pair around observing, if the weather cooperates. dusk Interested? Contact the Schroeders in advance March 19 — 7 p.m. so they know how much food to prepare. Call UW Observatory — Public viewing night (206) 362-7605 or e-mail [email protected]. March 19 — 7:30 p.m. Seattle Astronomical Society Meeting Guest speaker: Chris Brook, simulations of What to bring: a chair, something to drink galaxy formation. Details on page 1. with dinner, and lots of questions. March 16 — 2 p.m. Two other new member orientation meetings Astrophotography/imaging SIG are planned for this year: June 7 and Sept. 6 Contact: [email protected] March 21 — Full Moon March 22 — 6:30 p.m. The Webfooted Astronomer is the monthly publication of the Seattle Astronomical Society (SAS). All opinions expressed Amateur telescope makers SIG meeting herein are those of the contributors and not necessarily those Contact: [email protected] of SAS. Advertising display rates: full page (7” x 9.5”) $50; half page (7” x 4.75”) $30; less than half page: $5 per page April 2 — 9 p.m. inch (1” x 5”). Personal ads are published free to current paid members of the SAS. For all others, 10 cents per word, 50 UW Observatory — Public viewing night word minimum charge. Submit article ideas to Editor, The Webfooted Astronomer, PO Box 31746, Seattle, WA 98103, or April 5 — New Moon e-mail to [email protected]. April 5 — 7 p.m. Editor: Greg Scheiderer Tiger Mountain Star Party (members only) Contents copyright ©2008 for the contributors by the Seattle Astronomical Society. 2 • The Webfooted Astronomer An overlooked astronomical resource? Next up are celestial events, planet-specific information such as which planet will be the brightest in the night sky throughout the year. From the president’s desk Eclipse data follows including when the By Jon Bearscove seasons begin. It literally covers everything. A three year calendar on the back, metric con- versions, table of weights and measures…the The other day I was at a local bookstore list goes on. browsing through my favorite astronomy Then it’s on to a few astronomy articles such publications, and came across a most unlikely, as the stellar life cycle written by John or rather overlooked publication that sur- Tillman, including a table of the 21 brightest prised me in terms of information on our stars. The article itself contains an excellent hobby. I hadn’t considered purchasing this description of many of our favorite stars, and before, and was amazed at the wealth of identifies these in terms of their classification. information it contained. See if you can guess Perfect for the beginner wanting to learn more what I’m referring to. about the stars without getting overloaded in First up is a nice glossary of astronomy terms details or confusing diagrams and charts. ranging from aphelion all the way to zodiac. This is all followed by a well-written article on Terms such as conjunction and descending Clyde Tombaugh and Pluto, by Rob Simbeck, node, retrograde and synodic month are and how Clyde was a “dedicated amateur included among the list. I’m assuming this is capable of something spectacular given hard right up front because you might encounter work, opportunity, and a little luck.” these words throughout the publication, so the authors may have thought you’d like to get By now you may have figured out that I’m cozy with these terms right from the start. referring to a simple Farmer’s Almanac (Harris’s #30) found in any grocery store or Then it’s on to the monthly calendars which bookstore. For $5.00, I didn’t realize that there contain so much astronomical information was this much no-nonsense information on that one wouldn’t really need any other re- my favorite past-time. source. Everything from conjunctions, to when stars are at meridian, to which constellation Of course I like color star charts, and checking the Moon appears in throughout the month, out the latest astro-gadgets in my favorite to sunrise and sunset data. magazines each month, but who would have thought that this little almanac first published Lunar phases are included; you could plan an in 1692 would be so packed with astronomy entire year of star parties just by using this information? section alone. Then it’s on to the “sky watch- ing” section which includes a month-by- It’s got to be one of the most overlooked month breakdown of upcoming meteor show- publications in our hobby… after all, I’ve yet ers, planetary positions – a summary of practi- to see an astronomer pull one out to check cally everything we might like to see in terms what time sunset is, or where Mars might be of a snapshot of what’s up throughout the hiding. Oh, and by the way, there are a few year. killer ice cream sundae recipes on page 68. Seattle Astronomical Society • 3 Plan and log observing Without your shopping list, you might remember your staples like bread and milk, sessions with ease but forget you needed cinnamon. Similarly, without an observing plan you might take a by Greg Scheiderer look at old favorites and obvious choices such as Mars, Saturn, and the Orion Nebula, but Astronomical observing without a plan is like miss other wonders that are also up in the sky going grocery shopping without your list, that night. according to Paul Rodman. In the night sky, as in the supermarket, there’s an enormous Rodman, SAS member and Webmaster, is the selection. creator of AstroPlanner, software that is an excellent tool for planning and logging your “There are hundreds of thousands of things in observing sessions. AstroPlanner can help stock at the supermarket, and there are improve the quantity and quality of your hundreds of thousands of things in the sky,” observations by creating a custom list of what Rodman said in a presentation at the February you want to view and which items on your list meeting of the Seattle Astronomical Society. are observable on a particular night. “There’s huge variety and too much choice.” The trick to this, according to Rodman, is that there are so many variables to consider. To make a plan, one must figure out which objects are visible on any given night, where and how bright they are, what they are, and what you should expect them to look like. You also need to know where you are, the sky conditions, date and time, and the limitations of the instruments you’ll be using for viewing, including your own eyes.
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