TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS

Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas

SPECTRUM TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS

First Female Space Tourist visits TAS

In this Issue ... The President’s Universe 2 TAS Elections 2 About the Cover ... TAS Officer Candidates Bios 4 This month’s banner features the our solar systems TAS Director Candidates Bios 7 largest planet, Jupiter. The photograph of Jupiter Observing the King of Planets 10 was taken by TAS Member, Jeff Barton on a night of excellent seeing using the 3RF 6-in apochromat tele- Constellation of the Month 13 scope and a webcam. The Spectra was taken by 3RF Announces 2008 Digital Imaging Workshop 17 Dave Hutchison. The spectra shows several absorp- The Atoka Corner 18 tion lines. Many of these are indicative of the chemical Board Meeting Minutes 19 makeup of Jupiter’s cloud belts. General Meeting Minutes 20 Anousheh Ansari, the first female space tourist and lo- Club Announcements 21 cal resident was our featured speaker for a very popu- TAS Night Gems 22 lar August General Meeting. (photo by Andy Cheng) Spectrum Contributing Writers 23 Calendar of Events 24

1 The President’s Universe Thank You By Fred Lusen, TAS President

As the saying goes, I want to personally thank you the membership for your sup- “All good things must port for the officers, the board members, and me. I also want come to an end”. to thank those of you who continuously give of you time and For me, it has been expertise in the many endeavors that TAS engaged in, and a good thing, being those who accepted appointments to positions required for president of the Texas TAS to function. You are all to be lauded for your efforts. Astronomical Soci- Lastly, I want to thank the previous two casts of officers and ety. When I took of- board members at large. I could not have asked for two more fice two years ago, I amicable groups of individuals to work with if I had chosen had a vision for the them myself. You are all to be commended. society, a direction And so I say adieu. I will remain active in TAS and look for- that I wanted to see ward to seeing each of you at the meetings, public outreach

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS it pursue, and a list of events, Atoka, and regional star parties. It has been a good things that I wanted to accomplish. As always, the list of run and I have enjoyed it. accomplishments grew and not everything was done or ad- dressed. There is always more that one would like to do. May you experience many clear and dark skies. But, my time is over and the baton is being passed on. It is my sincere hope that I have conducted myself, and my administrations for the benefit of TAS, and that I have left it that much better for those that will follow.

TAS Elections Unofficial Ballot and Candidate Bios

TAS will be holding its annual election at the September b) or you may have your proxy bring the form to the 26th General Meeting. All TAS Members are encouraged to meeting and give it to the Secretary prior to the meet- participate in the upcoming election. In the event the Prima- ing being called to order. ry Member is unable to make it to the meeting, they can as- 4. During the election, your proxy will be given an addi- sign their vote by proxy to another primary member in good tional ballot to vote. This ballot will be listed as a “poxy standing. This can be accomplished as follows: ballot”. Proxy ballots will be printed on a different color 1. Print out a copy of the proxy form. of paper from the regular ballots. This will be done to ensure that the number of proxies collected is equal to 2. Fill out the proxy form as indicated and sign the number of poxy ballots given to vote. 3. Either: 5. Do note that it is up to you to make sure your proxy a) mail the proxy form to: votes in accordances to your wishes. Joe Lalumia 123 Highview Lane Rockwall, Texas 75087

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3 TAS Officer Candidates Bios

President: Jordan Kaiser • 2005-2006 - Audit committee with Jeff Barton. • 2006-2007 - Vice President of TAS. Arranged for excit- Jordan Kaiser, not his ing new speakers and created “ASTRO DAY with John real name, is currently Dobson” at UTA where we entertained 1500 members in the witness protection of the general public. program, courtesy of the Federal Government. His • 2006-2007 - Chairman of the Brisket and official Grill- official biography states master that he is a native of St. • 2006-2007 - Created “New Members Orientation Pro- Louis, graduated from gram” Rochester Institute of Technology, and has worked in fea- ture films and television commercial production since his • 2007-2008 - Board of Directors - At Large Member graduation. He is currently in the process of a 30-year reno- • 2007-2008 - Created Membership Survey vation of a prairie style house in the Swiss Ave Historic • If I am elected President in 2008-2009 I would like to District. Jordan is allowed 3 days a month for astronomical see the following: pursuits while not finishing honey-do’s from his significant

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS other. His first telescope was a 60mm Tasco which actually • A new membership program where each current mem- gave decent images of the moon when he was 11. Unfortu- ber “recruits” new members. nately none of his three children have any interest at all in • A short, intermediate and long-range plan for Atoka astronomy. His wife is allergic to Atoka - literally - bad Ju- niper pollen reactions. Jordan is deaf as a rock, even more • Increase publicity for our meetings and programs so than Fred, and if he doesn’t have his hearing aids on, • Increase funding for public observing to purchase signs don’t even try to communicate with him unless you are and supplies familiar with American Sign Language. • Take advantage of national publicity for IYA09 to in- Vision crease TAS awareness - sponsor/staff local IYA09 pro- Jordan joined TAS in 2003 after a trip to MacDonald Ob- grams servatory where he was shown M13 in a 20” Newtonian • Explore grants and outside funding for TAS. scope set up for visitors. Wanting to re-create this experience in Dallas, he purchased a used Celestron C-8 to view • Atoka upgrade - electrical, Raasch roll-off repair for the cosmos from his front yard. When this endeavor wasn’t club use, internet service. as thrilling as his trip to the observatory, he decided to de- • Integrate member responses/suggestions from August termine why and quickly found TAS on the internet. After 2008 survey. suffering through a few interminably long meetings dealing with lawn mowers and insurance policies, he determined to As your president, I pledge to be accessible to members at get involved in creating a more open, user-friendly society. reasonable times of the day excepting weekends around the Since then he has been involved in the following Society new moon. activities: Thanks for your vote! • 2005-2006 - In charge of the “Free Roll-off” commit- Jordan Kaiser tee and eventually determined the Free Roll-off offered to TAS would cost us about $11,000 to move and install in Atoka. Recommended we pass.

4 and installed a simple computer controlled telescope in- Vice President: Max Corneau terface. We now have a new 12” Meade LightBridge dob My name is Max Cor- to complement the club scopes after I sold off a closet full neau and I am a TAS of “Junk” and actually made money for TAS. To provide Life Member running assured access to the 16” telescope, I created a web-based for Vice President. My scheduling calendar for all TAS members. Most recently, belief is that through I constructed a shelf to hold Dr. Wallace Frasier’s amaz- action, I have demon- ing donated book collection in the Rivard Learning Center. strated a lifelong com- None of these actions were done alone, as other members mitment to TAS. In contributed countless hours with me, but I organized and my current position of made them happen. vice president, our general meeting programs have reached Although our Society is one of the finest in the nation, we a new level of excellence. In addition to my constitutional can do more and I hope to do a better job this year as your responsibilities I have conducted several outreach events vice president as I continue the journey through life. I’m through TAS and greatly improved our Club’s Dark Site in working on interpersonal skills and look forward to be- the following ways: Organized a Boy Scout work party that ing in a state of continuous improvement for a long, long resulted in restoration of electricity to the bunkhouse and time. removal of nearly 1,000# of accumulated electronic junk. I took over stewardship of the observatory and restored the Max Corneau

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS TAS 16” LX200 to better than its original glory by install- ing a Crayford focuser, lubricated and serviced the dome,

Treasurer: Joe Lalumia I am Joe Lalumia, and have been a member of TAS for about 18 months. During that time I have served as Public Observing Coordinator, and the Chairman of the Nominat- ing Committee. I also developed an on-line TAS Calendar that shows all club events in one on-line location, and a group email system for the TAS public observing “mad dog” volunteers. I live in Rockwall, Texas with my wife of 38 years -- Nanette. This year I am running for election as Treasurer and ask for your vote in the upcoming election. I currently serve as VP- Secretary Treasurer for our three family owned restaurants here in the Dallas area- Wings Restaurants—and NO it’s not just chicken wings! The build- ings are actually airplane hangers (Quonset huts) and have an aviation theme. Prior to going COMPLETELY crazy and getting into the restaurant business, I served for over 30 years as an executive of McLane Company, and McLane International, owned by Drayton McLane, the current owner of the Houston Astros. Drayton also owned the largest wholesale distribution company in the USA serving the Convenience Store Industry. We delivered to over 35,000 stores on a weekly basis, located in every zip code in the USA and Hawaii. In those companies I served as Senior VP of Sales and Purchasing, and President of one of the off-shore divisions, and had the opportunity to travel around the world buying and selling food and beverage products, working on mergers and acquisitions, and teaching sales and purchasing departments in foreign countries how to buy and sell effectively. I enjoy visual observing and public observing/outreach where we can introduce Astronomy to folks that have never looked through a telescope!!--- and hear the word WOW! During the next year, if elected as your Treasurer, my goals and objectives are: 1. Accumulate and consolidate all financial club records—into a file that can be passed on to future club Treasurers. I seek the assistance of the membership to secure all financial records and documents wherever they may be located. 2. Determine if the current Chart of Accounts complies with recently published IRS non-profit categories, and is suf- ficient to meet future club requirements. For future needs we should plan on complying with all IRSreporting requirements for non profits including the long form #990. This involves setting up a Chart of Accounts with the recommended IRS reporting classes for each item on the Accounts Chart, and probably setting up a few more account

5 names within the Chart of Accounts. 3. Interview and secure a bookkeeper for the club—and set up a monthly system of reports to be posted on the web site. My initial recommendation would be an Income Statement showing as a minimum, the checking account bank balance, savings account /investment account balances, expenses versus budget month & YTD, and the current number of TAS members. 4. Backup all club data – off site—I would suggest two flash drives one of which the President and-or Secretary would keep. These drives would be rotated monthly at each Board meeting. The Treasurer would keep the other backup copy. 5. Determine if we have a good conservative listing of club ASSETS, and report this number twice per year. The bookkeeper would be instructed to depreciate these assets using a straight line formula, and based on IRS regulations for that particular Asset Class. 6. As an added responsibility and with the assistance of the membership, I will also undertake the investigation and possible elimination of our Property Tax in Atoka, as a non profit entity. Although the amount is NOT very large – I just HATE paying tax collectors anything! 7. Prepare a short monthly financial report, and have it posted on the TAS web site Members Only section with the data— since our financial records are required to be PUBLIC, I really do not have a problem with posting a link on the main page of the web site. I will leave this decision up to the Board members. TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS 8. Require TWO (2) signatures on all checks written by the club. I would suggest the Treasurer and one of the following—President and Vice President. 9. Assist the Board in other club matters as required, and file all Government tax reports that are under my control as Treasurer. My additional responsibilities include: reimbursing legitimate member and vendor expenses in a timely fashion, insuring the proper invoicing and documentation of all club expenditures, and the prompt deposit of all club monies into our club’s bank accounts. I would be pleased and proud to serve as TAS Treasurer during the upcoming 2008-2009 physical year, and ask for your vote in the upcoming election. Joe Lalumia

Secretary: Mark Nieberding Mark’s interest in Astronomy began when a relative showed him several galaxies and Saturn while on a camping trip to Huntsville State park. Mark first started attending the Frisco Star- fest events in 2003. Mark got his first telescope and has been a TAS Member since November 2006. Mark and his daughter, Megan participated in the 2007 Messier Marathon at the Atoka Dark Site. Mark and his family have enjoyed several trips to Three River’s Comanche Springs dark site. Mark has participated TAS star parties in Garland, Rockwall and Frisco. Mark has volunteered with the TAS Outreach program since beginning his TAS membership because he believes, by sharing his knowledge to the public, he will perhaps inspire more people to take an interest in astronomy and the world beyond our planet. Mark is employed as a Vice Presi- dent and Senior Petroleum Engineer with DeGolyer and MacNaughton in Dallas. Mark would like to serve TAS as Secretary so that the members can be more informed of the many TAS activities that they may have interest inand perhaps would like to take an active participation in. Mark would also like make the historical records of TAS available to the membership by scanning the various documents and possibly making them accessible through the Members Only section of the TAS website. Let me know if you have any questions or need more information. Mark Nieberding

6 TAS Director Candidates Bios

Kelley Miller I am running for a TAS Director position for 2008-2009. I have been a member of TAS since June 2006. I currently serve as a TAS Director for 2007-2008, and I was appointed the Librarian earlier this year. I also serve on the board of two other non-profit organiza- tions, Dallas ASTD (professional) and Epsilon Sigma Alpha (philanthropic/service). I could probably list several ideas and goals that I have if I am elected to this position. However, if I only accomplish one thing as Director, I would like for it to be the estab- lishment of programs and activities targeted to new and prospective members. One of the most impressive assets that our organization has is the wealth of astronomy knowledge and friendliness of our members. As a new person to this hobby, I have certainly learned and benefited from so many of you. I will also continue as Librarian in order to provide additional astronomy and science educational opportunities and benefits to our members. Here is a little bit about me. I am a certified professional in learning and performance, and I currently work for Raytheon Professional Services in Garland. I have a bachelor’s degree in music from SMU and a master’s degree in instructional TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS technology from Boise State University. I am a proud 7th generation Texan. I enjoy visual observing through my 8-inch Meade telescope and two pairs of binoculars under my (relatively) dark skies in Quinlan, Atoka and at TSP.

Crystal Chadwick Crystal Chadwick began studying astronomy when she was about 10 years old, picking her fa- vorite groupings of stars and making up her own constellations. Since there was no one around who was knowledgeable or actively interested in pursuing astronomy, she had to wait until she was accepted to the Texas Academy of Math and Science to take an astronomy class where she quickly became the teacher. For 4 years she taught astronomy labs at the UNT Observatory as a UA, teaching about telescopes, constellations, and distance measuring techniques to students who thought it would be the “easy” science class. After moving to Chicago for a change of scenery she quickly became involved with the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum working in the planetariums and Doane Observatory as an operator. During that time, many people from all over the world were able to stop at the control booth after shows and ask questions about the stars, and an adult even stopped once to ask, “You mean to tell me that every star is a SUN?” There was also a couple from Australia who had her flip the sky upside down to give her a tour of the southern hemisphere. After enough -17 wind chills, Crystal returned to Texas to be under friendlier skies. Enjoying a full-blown IT career at this time, she filled the astronomical void by joining TAS and attending star parties in her free time. She has chosen to run for a Director’s position to give back to the club that she has thoroughly enjoyed for over 3 years.

7 James Green My name is James Green, a full time student, loving husband and 13 year veteran of the information technology industry. I am currently studying astrophysics with the ultimate goal of teaching at the collegiate level. I am only in my second year of college but have excelled at my studies which allow me to serve as the current Vice President of Scholarship for my chapter of the honor society. Having joined TAS less than one year ago, I have become absorbed by all the activities this wonderful organization has to offer. Because I recognize the great value of our society I have decided to run for a position on the Board of Directors. My background within amateur astronomy goes back to 1986 when I obtained my first telescope for the sole purpose of observing Halley’s Comet. After spend- ing three nights just trying to locate it in the sky I finally spotted it and have been hooked on astronomy ever since. While my observational skills have become rusty, my theoretical knowledge of the physics behind astronomy has grown consider- ably. I enjoy sharing the science behind our hobby with anyone who is willing to listen which propels me to participate regularly in our outreach activities. For the future of our organization I would like to establish a more solid working relationship with the local schools, col-

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS leges and educators within the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I feel that our extraordinary ability to do outreach can be extended to the younger members of the community by way of education and interfacing with the schools from an administrative perspective. As a director, I will make it my goal to establish the relationships we need to further expand our ability to offer our programs and activities to the local academic community. Thank you for your consideration, James W. Green

Michael Grimes My name is Michael Grimes. I have just recently joined TAS. I joined TAS to learn more about astronomy and to help my son, Daniel, be more involved with this field. After joining, I was impressed with public outreach of the Society. Ever since elementary school, I have always wondered about the stars. I was lucky to have a 1st grade teacher that brought a TV in the classroom to let the class watch the first shuttle launch, from this point I was hooked on space. Now many years later, my wife, Carroll and I have 2 children, Daniel 7 and Mackenzie 5. I am a graduate of the UNT in Denton. My first scope was a spotting scope my grandfather gave me. I was only able to view the moon, but what a view. My first telescope was a Meade refractor bought at a dept store. After joining TAS, I found out what views I was missing with this scope. I gave this scope to my son and I upgraded to an 8-inch Dob. My goal for being on the Board of Directors is to act in the best interest of the membership. I am proud to be able to represent the membership of TAS. Michael Grimes

8 Dan Doyle I have been an amateur astronomer for nearly 30 years. My first recollection of the night sky was during a family camping trip in west Texas when I was about 8, where I became awestruck by the countless stars and Milky Way arching across the sky. I ventured to learn as much as I could comprehend about the universe and quickly found the “kids” books on the subject unsatisfactory. My parents got me subscriptions to both Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines and by the time I was 14, college level texts were the reading material of choice for me on the subject. In high school, I started an informal astronomy club and my interest in the subject continued through college. Once out of school, astronomy took a back seat as family and work became a priority. However, in 1997 I discovered TAS and I’ve been an active member ever since. In 2002, I joined the TAS Board, first serving as Public Observing Coordinator (2002-03), where I originally championed the idea of having regional star parties throughout the Dallas area, then as Site Manager (2003-05), where I made a proposal to upgrade the electrical infrastructure at the Dark Site, which, I believe, is still a work in progress. As a candidate for the Board of Directors I feel it is my responsibility to provide the Board with an outsiders’ perspective as well as ensure that the Board is operating this organization in the fashion that is acceptable to the overall membership. Of course, this will not be possible without your support. If you have questions or concerns that you feel need to be brought to the Board, please seek me out at one of the general meetings or call/email me, my contact information in the membership directory is current.

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS Dan Doyle

Phil Sanders NO INFORMATION ON FILE. Phil Sanders

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9 Observing the King of Planets Story by Jeff Barton, TAS Member

crisp and clean. Local seeing effects (such as those you encounter when viewing over rooftops, treetops, parking lots, etc.) rob the image of its fine detail. Get to a dark-sky site on a good night if you expect to see finer detail. Good sites for a weekend trip for Jupiter observing include: Ato- ka, 3RF’s CSAC site near Crowell, Ft. Griffin State Park, Lake Whitney, and the X-Bar Ranch (ESP’s location). See- ing varies from moment to moment, but there are nights of sub-arc-second seeing that will show you detail in Jupiter’s atmosphere in apertures as small as 90mm. A good 4-inch or larger refractor, or 5-inch or larger reflector that’s well collimated will show you what are called ‘barges’ - dark, lenticular spots in the cloud belts - and even whorls (storms) in the belts and zones. Humidity: Observe Jupiter when the humidity is low, par- TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS ticularly if you must observe from an urban site. Skyglow is Jupiter on a morning of just about perfect seeing. Image much worse when the humidity is high, so don’t expect the was taken the morning of 27 April, 2006. A front blew finest detail on those nights. For this reason, traveling west through Dallas that morning about 15 minutes before Jeff from D/FW is your best bet, since the conditions to the west Barton shot the 200 second AVI file. Jeff used a 6-in apo- are more arid and the land is desert-like. chromat using a Philips ToUCam III webcam through a Tele- vue 2.5X Powermate coupled to a Scopetronix MaxPower Magnification: Use moderate to high magnification to see 2 lens resulting in an effective focal length of over 6000mm. best detail. I find that my most productive observing often (Approximately 600X to 700X visual magnification). Scope comes at moderate powers, between about 150X and 240X. and mount supplied by 3RF (http://www.3rf.org) Your mileage may vary, according to the eyepieces and scope you use. If you can get to a dark-sky site on a night of excel- Now is the best time in 2008 to observe Jupiter, and the same lent seeing, don’t be afraid to push the power really high. I goes for imaging. I have observed Jupiter at apertures rang- have used as much as 600X with a 6-inch apochromat and a ing from 60mm to 82 inches, over a period of 50 years. Dur- good SCT of 10-inch or larger aperture can do better. If your ing that time I’ve picked up a number of tips and tricks from scope has a long focal length, you can get more power with other observers and Dave has asked me to pass them along. a longer focal-length eyepiece, and this usually results in Some of the tips are for those who haven’t observed Jupiter more comfortable observing. Observing at high powers can at all, and some may be of interest to experienced observers be tedious and tiring, especially with a ‘planetary’ eyepiece. as well. I also find that shadow transits are visible at around 100X, but satellite transits generally require at least double that ñ Altitude: Observe Jupiter when it is highest in the sky on again, depending on the seeing and your optics. a given date. This goes for the other planets, as well, but is particularly important for Jupiter because it offers detail at Filters: Filters can help, but here we get into an area that just about every scope’s resolution limit. The technical term is almost as prone to personal preference as the question of for the moment when a celestial object is highest in the sky which eyepieces are best. When you are looking for fine de- on a given date is culmination. This occurs when the object tail, avoid dark filters (as they will obscure it as much as en- passes the celestial meridian, which is an imaginary arc from hance it). I prefer an FL-D (magenta) filter. These filters are one celestial pole through the zenith to the opposite pole. available online and at camera stores. They are used to cor- The local time for Jupiter varies seasonally. When you ob- rect the color balance of daylight films when you photograph serve an object at the meridian you are seeing it through the indoors under fluorescent lighting. They are generally light, least air possible for that date. and diminish greens while enhancing the reddish-browns of Jupiter’s cloud tops. When you use camera filters with Seeing: Observe Jupiter anytime, but especially when the telescopes, you will need what are called ‘step’ adapters, seeing is excellent. This is a great time of year for planetary since camera lenses and eyepieces have different diameters. observing because the seeing is better as the nights become Use a 48mm step-up ring to adapt a 49mm filter to a 2-inch 10 eyepiece’s filter threads. Note that some camera filters have knurled perimeters that may be a tight fit in some focuser tubes, so judicious filing may be required. Standard- tele scope filters I find useful with Jupiter are light green, light red, and light blue. I know some observers who use a light yellow filter as well. I do not find that polarizers help show detail, but they will dampen the planet’s brightness and are nice when you have a large aperture. Another form of optical filtering is the wedge prism, which can be used to offset at- mospheric prismatic dispersion when Jupiter (or other bright planets) are at low elevations. These prisms are trapezoidal in cross section and sometimes are mounted as two pieces, one of which rotates relative to the other to ‘tune’ the degree of refraction to offset prismatic dispersion. These prisms Jupiter with Io (right) in shadow transit and Ganymede (left) don’t exactly enhance detail so much as restore it from ob- emerging from Jupiter’s shadow. Taken in October 2005 scuration by overlapping wavefronts of the overly-dispersed with ToUCam Pro 840K, processed from 900-frame AVI ‘colors’. They do visibly restore the colors you normally see file with Registrax 3. Telescope is Stellarvue 152mm apo- when Jupiter is higher in the sky (at low elevations, the alter- chromat with 4x Televue Powermate. Scope and mount nating colors of the belts and zones look ‘muddy’). supplied by 3RF. (http://www.3rf.org) Contrast: Much of the cloud detail on Jupiter is low-con- TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS trast. This means that anything in your optical train that re- due to high contrast and magnification. They have smaller duces contrast will reduce the detail you see, and vice-versa. exit lenses and field lenses than other eyepiece designs, so For this reason, refractors give a more pleasing view than you may find them difficult to use. This is especially true reflectors of similar aperture and focal length. However, a when you compare them to the more popular Plossl design. well-collimated reflector above 8-in aperture and F10 will I normally use Televue Radians for their generous eye relief provide excellent planetary views, rivaling or even surpass- and wide exit lenses. They are convenient, as well, because ing those from smaller apochromats. These instruments are the entire set is parfocal. When you can switch among eye- hard to find commercially, but relatively easy to build. pieces without having to refocus it is very nice! I have also found the TMB Monocentrics to be extremely good planetary Transits: Observing transits requires timing. Sky & Tele- eyepieces. And the Siebert UltraPlus eyepieces are contrasty scope magazine’s Web site has a calculator that will help you and easy to use. My 9mm Siebert was my most frequently determine the timing of Great Red Spot transits, as well as used eyepiece for planetary viewing until I acquired a Tele- show the positions of the Galilean satellites and their tran- vue 3-6mm Nagler zoom (therein lies a tale!). It is now my sits (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/ workhorse Jupiter eyepiece when I’m at a dark-sky site on a javascript/jupiter#). CalSky (www.calsky.com) also has good night. I also have found the Burgess planetary eyepiec- a great Jupiter simulator and more data on the planet itself es nice and the APM Monocentric series excellent. Remem- than you’re likely to need while observing or planning a ses- ber that short-focal-length eyepieces will provide a narrower sion. At CalSky, click Planets, then Jupiter, then Apparent field of view in a given scope, so if observing satellites is in View/Data to see the simulator. Enter your date and time and your mind, you may want to back off to lower-power observ- then in the dialog boxes you can select the view and aperture ing for that. I find that observing satellite transits is best done appropriate for your scope. Click Go to generate a simulated at moderate, instead of high, powers. view that is very accurate, including the positions of satellites. Hovering your cursor over a satellite reveals its name. Daytime observing: Did you know that Jupiter is visible Hovering your cursor over the image of the planet will reveal in the daytime? It astonishes newbies when they do this for the name of a satellite or its shadow in transit. The RASC the first time. GoTo scopes make this easy. I find the view is Observerís Handbook lists transits, but I’ve found it doesn’t best within about two hours of sunset or sunrise, but you can list all of the ones that are visible from our latitude. actually track Jupiter throughout the daylight hours when it’s near opposition or quadrature. When it’s at opposition, it is Eyepieces: Okay, here we go - what is a planetary eyepiece? most directly opposite the Sun in our sky, and hence is at its Actually, while there are some eyepieces which for a given brightest. When it is at quadrature, you could almost form a scope are better than others at showing fine planetary detail, right angle between your line of sight to the Sun, and your there really is no such thing as a ‘planetary eyepiece.’ That line of sight to Jupiter. This puts Jupiter in the darkest part is, there is no particular design that is better for observing of the daytime sky and makes it more easily visible. You’ll planets than any other type of object. However, some simpler find, however, that even at these more opportune times the designs such as Abbe orthoscopics perform extremely well planet lacks the detail you’d see at night. A Skylight 1A (or 11 ultraviolet) filter will help. relevant in most details. There certainly are others but these are helpful if you want to know what to observe on Jupiter Books: If you want to read more about Jupiter, I can recom- and its satellites, and how to go about it. mend three books I’ve found useful and interesting. John McAnally has a new book entitled Jupiter: and How to Ob- Real Science: So, other than observing and imaging Jupiter serve It. Its ~200 pages are packed with information and for our own enjoyment, can we do real science at the same roughly half of the book is devoted to observing tips and time? Yes, we can. Some of you may remember Richard techniques. The book is edited by Mike Inglis and is part Schmude’s presentation on Jupiter at ALCon/Expo 2006. I of Springer’s series of Astronomers’ Observing Guides. Ju- contacted him last month to find out if he’s still interested in piter Odyssey, by David M. Harland, is the story of NASA’s submissions of amateurs’ images of Jupiter for his seasonal Galileo Mission and is about 400 pages. It provides a great cloud belt variations study. He said he still wants such im- deal more information on Jupiter’s satellites than any other ages of Jupiter or Saturn and to send them to schmude@ book on Jupiter I’ve seen, and is also published by Springer. gdn.edu along with the exact date/time for each image, or to Finally, The Giant Planet Jupiter by John H. Rogers is the submit them to the Jupiter section of ALPO (the Association 6th book in Cambridge University Press’s series of Practi- of Lunar and Planetary Observers). cal Astronomy Handbooks. It is a large-format book and is Another way you can observe Jupiter we’ve not touched on lavishly illustrated and very well laid out. It is perhaps the here is via decametric radio wavelengths, but that’s another most accessible of the three. Like Jupiter Odyssey, it’s about story altogether. I’ve also glossed over imaging, which de- 400 pages but it’s also the oldest of the three (1995) but still serves its own article. TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS

Chris Go developed a technique for showing Jupiter in Stereo 3-D. It works if you get your head tilted properly left/right. It seems to work better if the images are slightly offset vertically from one another. This pair was made about 10 minutes apart. Jupiter rotates enough in that time to make a slight difference between the two views, but not so much as to completely blur the features when your brain overlays (fuses) them. Scope and mount supplied by 3RF. (http://www.3rf.org) 12 Constellation of the Month

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS Aquila The Eagle By David Hutchison

Come September, the summer triangle is high above our Altair is also the brightest star of this month’s constella- heads in early evening. As was mentioned in the past month, tion, Aquila, the Eagle. This is a pretty easy constellation to Vega leads and is just now past the zenith. Further south and make out. Altair forms part of a diamond structure that one to the east is the bright star, Altair. Of the three stars in the could argue are the wings of the eagle. South east of Altair triangle, Altair is second in brightness. Altair is a unique is Gamma Aquilae which could be the tail of this large bird. star in that it is one of the few stars outside of our own Sol I always think of it as a sting-ray however. that had been directly imaged. This star is believed to rotate At first glance, you might argue that this is not much of a at a very high rate of about one revolution in 6 hours. This constellation. For one, there are no Messier objects to find in compares to close to 25 days for our own sun. As a result of this constellation. But with the Milky Way running straight this high revolution, the star is crushed at the poles and wide through the middle, there is surely some nice things to ob- at it’s equator. serve. And after a little research, I found many objects that make for good targets both visually and photographically. There is a small globular cluster to be found in this constellation. NGC 6760 is actually a pretty easy cluster to locate and observe. I found numerous reports of people locating this cluster using binoculars. I used my 13-in Newtonian. It is a very nice cluster that is very symmetrical with a pretty dense core. I don’t think I resolved it completely. Now what really surprised me about this constellation is the number of planetary nebulae that can be found. For me, planetary nebulae are the ultimate in observing. I think that many of these nebulae are more difficult to locate than galaxies. Countless times I initially missed the object since my initial visual scan showed a faint star. You really have to Aquila leads Cygnus down the Milky Way toward the go slowly through the star field in order to locate these ob- south. jects. And once found, increase the magnification and spend 13 TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS

NGC 6760 as documented by the Digital Sky Survey (DSS) NGC 6751 is sometimes referred to as the ‘Glowing Eye Nebula’. In this picture, the blue gases are the hotter gas- ses while the red and yellow gases are comparatively cool- a good amount of time observing photons. Each planetary er. (credit The Hubble Heritage Team) nebula is unique. Each is a signature of the end of a star. As a star reaches the end of it’s lifespan, it releases the outer shell of it’s atmosphere. These gases are then ionized by the Just like NGC 6778, NGC 6804 is in a crowded star field. old star and become visible as round nebulae. I do my searching on the 13-in Newtonian at about 100x power. While scanning the field, I completely missed this Lets start with NGC 6781. This is a nice planetary nebula object. Eventually, I was able to recognize the star field. that is about 2 arc minutes in size. In many ways, it’s sort Still, all I could see was a fuzzy star. I increased the magni- of a cross between the M57 Ring Nebula and M97, the Owl fication to about 200x and I was able to make out some of the Nebula. Like the Ring Nebula, this object has a well defined nebulosity. It’s not uniform. And after a while looking at it, ring. But unlike the Ring Nebula (and more like the Owl I thought the outer edge looked brighter than the interior. Nebula), this objects interior is well illuminated. This is a nice object for 8-in scopes and above. To really challenge NGC 6741 is the ultimate example of how some of the Plan- yourself, see if you can locate the central star in this nebula. etary nebulae may look just like stars. In my 13-in scope, It shines at magnitude 16. It will be very difficult in a 8-in at about 100x magnification, this looks just like a star. Even scope but doable with more aperture. In color photos, that looking at it for a long time doesn’t really help. You could star is bright blue and really adds to the beauty of the photo. argue that it’s a little fuzzy, but it’s just hard to tell. Bring up the magnification to about 400x and add a OIII filter and you NGC 6751 was a real difficult nebula to see in my 13-in will note a small disc where a star once was. I was unable to scope. The main reason is that it is very faint and small. note any detail other than it was a small disc. And it’s situated in a very crowded Milky Way star field. But once you find this guy, enjoy it. I wasn’t able to make NGC 6772 is a wonderful planetary nebula and is this out much structure in it on my scope. For that, I would rec- month’s challenge object. Unlike several of the previous ommend a little more aperture. I have seen reports from examples, this one has some nice structure. At magnitude observers using 18-in and larger aperture who claim that you 12.7 you can see this in a 13-in scope. But beware. Unlike can see a knot like structure close to the central star. the other nebulae we’ve discussed, this one is a bit larger and has some irregular edges. Once you find it, look at it through NGC 6778 was even more difficult than 6751 in my 13-in an OIII filter and see how much detail you can observe. scope. For this nebula, start out in medium power. You will notice it easily as an irregular yet round fuzzy star. Once Next month, we will be visiting Aquarius. Until then re- you find it, crank up the magnification and take a note of the member, observe 10 a month and 10 thumbs up for Chaz. irregular shape. I have been unable to see the central star. 14 Object ID Type R.A. Dec. Epoch Mag. Altair Star 19h 50.789m 08d 52.155m 2000 0.75 Bright Star NGC 6760 Gl. Cl. 19h 11.202m 01d 01.833m 2000 8.90 AL Globular Cluster Club NGC 6781 Pn. Nb. 19h 18.472m 06d 32.383m 2000 11.80 AL Herschel 400, AL Planetary Nebula Club #76 NGC 6751 Pn. Nb. 19h 05.925m -05d 59.533m 2000 12.50 AL Planetary Nebula Club #71 NGC 6778 Pn. Nb. 19h 18.415m -01d 35.783m 2000 13.30 AL Planetary Nebula Club #75 NGC 6804 Pn. Nb. 19h 31.590m 09d 13.517m 2000 12.20 AL Planetary Nebula Club #80 NGC 6741 Pn. Nb. 19h 02.617m 00d 26.967m 2000 10.80 AL Planetary Nebula Club #70 NGC 6772 Pn. Nb. 19h 14.607m -02d 42.400m 2000 14.20 DMIO #002 (Ask Dave Moody)

The Astronomical League Observing Clubs The Astronomy League has several observing clubs that are open to all TAS Member. Just observe the objects in the list, submit your observations to our observing coordinator and once all checked out, you get a certificate and pin. This month, we featured objects from: The Globular Cluster Club (http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/globular/globular1.html) TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS The Herschel 400 Club. (http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/herschel/hers400.html) The Planetary Nebula Club (http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/planetarynebula/planetneb1.html)

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15 TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS

16 3RF Announces 2008 Digital Imaging Workshop

By Jeff Barton, 3RF Director of Astronomy TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS

August 31, 2008, Crowell, Texas – The Three Rivers Foun- • Russell Horn—Planetary Imaging with webcams & dation for the Arts & Sciences (3RF) invites you to its 2008 Widefield DSLR imaging with AstroTrac Digital Imaging Workshop, led by Alan J. Dyer and the 3RF • Dave Hutchison—Amateur Spectroscopy & Spectrog- Imaging Team. The workshop will be held October 23 to 27 raphy at Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus (CSAC) and the Crowell Activities Center. • Phil Jones—Image Capture & Processing with MaxIM DL v5; Solar Imaging in H-alpha Alan Dyer, coauthor of The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide, is program pro- Each session will end with a panel discussion featuring all ducer at the Calgary Science Centre the speakers, so that different experiences and points of view Planetarium. Alan is an Associate Edi- can be explored. Presentations are designed to be useful at tor and regular contributor to SkyNews various skill levels, but do assume familiarity with tele- Magazine. He is widely regarded as an scopes, cameras, and the basics of imaging. authority on commercial telescopes and Each participant will receive a collection of software, plug- his evaluations of astronomical equipment appear regularly ins, session notes, and tips/tricks (courtesy of vendors, 3RF, in major North American astronomy magazines. Alan cur- and the instructors). Sample files of each image type dis- rently is pursuing widefield imaging projects with a variety cussed will accompany the packets so that participants can of equipment and a DSLR. He will lead several hours of practice image processing on different types of images and discussion during the workshop. targets. The 3RF Imaging Team is led by Jay Ballauer (https://www. Daytime presentations and meals will be at the Crowell Ac- allaboutastro.com). Several members of this team also will tivities Center. Imaging sessions will be at CSAC. During be workshop instructors: imaging sessions the instructors will offer advice on hard- • Vance Bagwell—Digital Image Capture & Processing ware, software, instruments, and techniques for image cap- with CCD Imagers from SBIG; Using CCDOps soft- ture, as requested. ware, Capturing Flats Registration for the session includes accommodations and • Jay Ballauer—Remote Digital Image Capture with CCD two meals daily, plus beverage and snack service in the imagers from SBIG & MaxIM DL software; Image Pro- meeting rooms and at CSAC. If you have special dietary re- cessing tips & tricks quirements, please indicate these when you register. Regis- tration will open at noon Central time on September 17, and • Jeff Barton—Lunar imaging with DSLR/webcam; Im- is limited to 25 participants. Accommodations are double- age processing with Registax occupancy. The fee is $300, payable by check only (sorry, 17 no credit cards or online payments). For registration, contact Cady Mahan ([email protected], or 940.684.1670) after noon on September 17. Registrations will be accepted until we have 25 places confirmed, or October 15, whichever comes first. Registrations An agenda and additional information will be posted at 3RF’s which are canceled by 5 p.m. Central time October 14 will Website at https://www.3rf.org on or before September 17. be refunded in full; cancellations thereafter will be subject to a $50 fee. For information about the workshop, contact Jeff Barton ([email protected], or 214.732.6831). The Atoka Corner News from our Dark Sky Site Story by Charlie Foyt, Observing Site Manager, photos by Andy Cheng

ing Site Manager with notice of continued interest in the position and give your current contact information so that the records can TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS be updated. There will be a signup sheet at the next general meeting for members interested or you can contact the site manager by email. Thanks go out to active members working to make the site a great place to observe. James Carroll was observing at the dark site during the first weekend of August. The morning after a good night of observing James and I were looking for functioning equipment to perform weed eating. We found that we did not have working equipment and supplies at the site needed to do the work so James went into Durant and came back with a new weed The TAS Atoka Dark site needs your help. Currently the site eater. James donned a cardboard sombrero has opportunities for YOU (TAS membership) to participate and after doing a considerable amount of work during the in continuing to make the 40 acre dark site usable and to heat of the day he left the weed eater and supplies in the tool keep the site and observatory a wonderful resource for TAS shed for future use by any member wishing to clean up the membership. We need 11 lead and 33 support personnel to pads and other common areas. Jim Kelley at the North Atoka operate the site in accordance with TEXAS ASTRONOMI- Dark site accepted delivery of the recently purchased Meade CAL SOCIETY ATOKA OBSERVATION SITE MAINTE- Lightbridge telescope which was purchased from proceeds NANCE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES. The positions of the recent closet sale at the site. The scope is now assem- include Site Team Lead Primary who is Incumbent to and bled, collimated and ready for use. There are a limited num- backup for the site manager, Site Team Lead Secondary, Site ber of eyepieces for use with these scopes and you should Grounds Maintenance Team Lead, Tool/Tractor Shed Team bring your own if possible. Max has started a signup calen- Lead, Site Utilities Water/Electric/Phone/Internet Team dar on the member’s forum that is used to reserve the scopes. Lead, Site Maintenance Heavy and Light Equipment Team You will need a Yahoo ID to use the calendar. Max can add Lead, Environmental Management Team Lead, Site Quarter- your ID to the calendar and you will be ready to reserve and master Team Lead, Site Planning, Development, and Imple- observe. Max has also been busy fixing the 7 inch f/12 Uni- mentation Team Lead, and support personnel. The desire to tron? Optical tube assembly after he found the objective in participate in your society through contributions of involve- its cell at the observatory. This promises to make a “killer” ment in the dark site is the most important requirement for planetary scope when it is reassembled. these positions. Any members who have served on the dark site teams in the past are encouraged to provide the Observ- 18 Board Meeting Minutes August 17, 2008 By Mark Johnston, TAS Secretary

Board Members: • Fred and Luis are working on a Constant Contact tem- plate to help keep communications standardized. Present: Fred Lusen, Mark Johnston, Gabe Cardona, Luis Santana, Jordan Kaiser • Luis offered to present membership policies at the next new member orientation. Absent: James Carroll, Tim Bogan, Max Corneau, Dave Moody, Kelley Miller, Crystal Chadwick Max submitted his VP and Observatory reports via email Quorum present? No • Program expenses this budget cycle appear to have under-run by approx. $1,500. Current estimate of expenses Others Present: Joe Lalumia, Andy Cheng, Phil Sanders, is $3364 spent total on program costs. The upcoming Michael Grimes Ansari program is not included in this tally. This bodes Proceedings: well for the upcoming year in which I requested a $1,000

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS Meeting convened at Fred’s home on Sunday, August 17, budget decrease ($4,000 instead of $5,000). Continued 1:16pm. diligence and creativity in getting speakers will enable at least the same, perhaps increased program quality. My Discussions goal is to have Drs. Hoffman and Izen address the club • We have only sold one ticket for the Awards Banquet. If regarding their work on the Phoenix TEGA and CERN, we cancel the event, we need to do so before the October respectively. These will be no-cost, extremely high in- General Meeting to prevent losing our deposit. terest events. • Luis reported that we have 315 renewals so far. Current • Confirmed upcoming programs: September: Sethanne membership is 427 so there are 112 members that will Howard PhD, former director of USNO Catalog ser- soon lapse.Kelly Zehr of the UTD Physics Club sent vices will speak on “4,000 Years of Women in Astrono- Jordan some ideas for recruiting student members for my” October: Robert Jedicke PhD Pan-STARRS mov- TAS. ing Target director will speak about their efforts on ID potentially hazardous near Earth objects. Pan-STARRS • Max is having discussions with the Dallas Museum of will pay for this trip from Hawaii. Nature & Science regarding reciprocal membership and a possible new venue for our monthly General meet- • Prospective November meeting speaker is Dan Long, ings. Senior Ops Engineer at the Apache Point telescope Con- sortia. Dan is a great guy who provided a memorable • Joe reported that the officer and board election in Sep- experience (5 hrs worth) for myself and a colleague at tember will be by acclamation if there are no write-in the facility in March. candidates and that the Baylor Heart Association star party has been moved to August 24 and will be joined • Located 6-inch mirror lens cell for the club’s classic with the regular Stars-on-the-Rock party. Unitron refractor. Mounted the lens and ops checked the equipment. Checks out 100%. Polished the brass cell • The financial audit is in progress. and purchased some mounting screws. Will collimate • Fred reported that he is very happy with the mowing that at next opportunity, estimated late Aug. Will weigh and Danny Cochran has been doing for the club. measure scope and develop a project plan for possible mounting in the refurbished Rausch rolloff. Scope is • Jordan is researching internet providers for dark site ac- probably not practical unless permanently mounted. cess. • 16-inch LX200 is working 100% however, ABO com- • Charlie is working on a plan for repairing the D6 pad with puter running the 16-inch has on/off issues and is inop- the intent that it will be used to house a club scope. erative.? CPU will not power up, makes 4 beeps then • The idea of building a web interface for the library is cycles.? Will examine and have repaired if necessary. losing traction. The amount of effort appears to out- Lonnie purchased it. Is it under any warranty weigh the benefit. • 12-inch Meade LightBridge Dob is at the site in boxes. 19 Will assemble in late August at my next site visit. Scope • Fred will ask Warren Waid about getting the mirror will be located in closet next to the 10-inch LX200. grinder to Charlie Foyt. • 10-inch LX200 is on a tripod roller in the closet in full • Survey - Gabe will look into using SurveyMonkey for working order. a survey that Jordan has been working on. Fred will check to see if using the same functionality from Con- • Thanks to Joe L. for selling off the Newtonian. That’s stant Contact on a trial period. $200 more into TAS from old equipment sales. • Mark will contact Chris Bullock to let him know that the Action Items forums in the website are open to anyone who requests • Fred will announce the possibility that we will have to an ID. It is not for club use only. cancel the Awards Banquet if more people do not buy • Mark will contact Eric to let him know that if his mem- tickets. bership lapses we will need to find another forum mod- • Phil Sanders and Max will simplify the Lease Site Agree- erator. ment and Lease Site Coordinator document and present • Mark will collect recent insurance documentation to see it at the next board meeting. if a certificate of insurance has been sent to UTD. He • Fred will talk to Dave Moody to get P&L Statements for will forward the information to Fred. May, June and July 2008 for the website. Decisions • Fred will contact Jim Kelly to get Bob Winn access to We did not have a quorum at the August BOD meeting. the dark site to research the electrical upgrade. He will TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS also keep trying to contact Larry Mayo for another es- The September meeting will be held at Jordan’s home. timate.

General Meeting Minutes August 22, 2008 By Mark Johnston, TAS Secretary

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by club president New Business: Fred Lusen. The candidates for the officer and board positions were in- There were two new members and many visitors present. troduced. None of the positions are currently contested. Announcements: President: Jordan Kaiser Three events were posted on the whiteboard: Vice President: Max Corneau • Stars-on-the-Rock will be on August 24 in Rockwall Secretary: Mark Nieberding • The Farmers Branch star party will be on September Treasurer: Joe Lalumia 9th Directors: Kelley Miller, Dan Doyle, Crystal Chadwick, • Astronomy Day is September 6 at Russell Planetarium James Green, Michael Grimes, Phil Sanders in Mesquite. The 2008-2009 budget was presented for approval. The For more details on any of these events, please see the TAS budget should have been presented during the July General website. Meeting according to the bylaws but was distributed to the membership via a Constant Contact email 2 weeks late. Our speaker was Anousheh Ansari who gave a slide presentation and video of her 2006 trip to the Internation Space Decisions: Station. The minutes for the July General Meeting were approved. Next month’s speaker will be Dr. Sethanne Howard who will The one-month review period for the budget required by the present “4,000 Years of Women in Astronomy.’’ bylaws was suspended one time only in order to allow a vote on the budget. 20 The 2008-2009 budget was approved. Chaz Hafey and Dennis Harwell presented the constellation of the month Lyra. There was no raffle and no Observing Awards were an- nounced.

(above left) Anousheh Ansari, the first female space tourist, presented a program on how the first space ambassador used spaceflight to promote peace and understanding amongst nations. (above, right) The introduction of the officer candidates TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS for the 2008/2009 fiscal year. From left to right, Joe Lalumia, Treasurer, Mark Nieberding, Secretary, Max Corneau, Vice President, Jordan Kaiser, President. (photos by Andy Cheng).

Club Announcements

September Guest Speaker Named TAS cracks the myth that astronomy is the domain of men. For over 4000 years of written history, women have participated in this great human adventure. Sethanne Howard, PhD, documents the history and stories of the women of astronomy who not only provide role models for future scientists, but also they strengthen our ability to deal with the present. TAS Forums Make sure you stay up to date regarding TAS news and what other members are working on. You can access the TAS forums at http://www.texasastro.org/tasbb. 1st Annual Awards Banquet Do not forget the first annual Texas Astronomical Society Awards Banquet, December 12th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Select, 1655 N. Central Expressway, Richardson, TX 75080. This will be a sit-down catered affair among friends and fellow astronomy enthusiasts. Advanced ticket sales commenced at the May general membership meeting and will continue up to the month of the affair. We are required to have a final count to the hotel 5 business days prior to the event so not tickets will be sold at the door. Ticket prices are $30.00 per person and can be purchased at the general meeting or directly from Fred Lusen. We are planning on a great event with awards presented to our own, a slideshow reminiscing events and astro- photography that TAS has done throughout the year, a raffle, and speakers from within the club. There will be several awards presented including The President’s Award and one that is chosen by the membership.

21 TAS Night Gems AstroPhotos by TAS Members TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS

(above left) The Big Dipper from Atoka. (above right) Jupiter and the Sagittarius region of the Milky Way. (right) Stars raining down on the Al Bowen Observatory. Images were taken by TAS member Ryan Cheung at the club’s dark sky site in Oklahoma. The wide field shots were taken using a Sony DSLR-A300 camera using a Tamron 17-50mm lens at f/2.8 and ISO 400. Total exposure was 30 seconds. The star trail photo was taken using the same camera with a 50mm lens at ISO 200. Total exposure for that image was 4.6 minutes.

22 Spectrum Contributing Writers

Jeff Barton has been a TAS member since 2002. Jeff is well known in the astronomy community as the Stargeezer. Jeff serves as host for the 1st Sat- urday Star Parties which are held at Spring Park in Garland. Currently, Jeff serves as Director of Astronomy for the Three Rivers Foundation (http:// www.3rf.org)

Dave Hutchison has been a TAS member since 2002. Dave and his family TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS are TAS Life Members. Dave was TAS President from 2005-2006. Dave is currently the Spectrum Editor. You can see Dave’s astro work at http://web.mac.com/davidhutch

Charlie Foyt has been a TAS member since 2007. Recently, Charlie has volunteered to become the Observing site manager.

23 Calendar of Events (Reference calendar on http://www.texasastro.org for updates.)

September 2008

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Astronomy Day @ 1Q Moon Russell Planetarium

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Farmers Branch Frisco StarFest Historical Park Commons Park Star Party Frisco

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Full Moon 3RF Open Night Cedar Hill Star Party TAS BOD Meeting 3RF Lunar Star Party 3RF Open Night

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS 3Q Moon Farmers Branch 3RF Open Night 3RF Open Night General Meeting Copper Breaks Stars on the Rock 3RF Open Night Star Party Mount View College Elections Star Walk Star Party 3RF Open Night Star Party Founders North Okie Tex Harry Myers Park UT-Dallas 3RF Deep-Sky Party Okie Tex 7-9:30pm

29 30 October 1 2 3 4 5 New Moon Okie Tex Okie Tex Okie Tex Okie Tex Okie Tex Okie Tex Okie Tex

October 2008

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

September 29 30 October 1 2 3 4 5 Okie-Tex Star Party Okie-Tex Star Party 3Q Moon Okie-Tex Star Party Okie-Tex Star Party 1st Saturday Okie-Tex Star Party Okie-Tex Star Party Star Party Spring Park Garland Okie-Tex Star Party

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1Q Moon Frisco StarFest Farmers Branch Commons Park Historial Park Star Frisco Party

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Full Moon 3RF Open Night Cedar Hill BOD Meeting Star Party Presidents House 3RF Lunar Star Party 1-4 pm 3RF Open Night

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 3RF Open Night 3RF Open Night 3Q Moon 3RF Digital General Meeting Copper Breaks Stars on the Rock 3RF Open Night Imaging Workshop Founders North Star Walk Star Party UT-Dallas 3RF Digital Imaging Harry Myers Park 7:30-10:00pm Workshop 3RF Digital Imaging 3RF Workshop Workshop

27 28 29 Novembe3030 31 November 1 2 Eldorado Star Party Eldorado Star Party New Moon Eldorado Star Party Eldorado Star Party Eldorado Star Party Eldorado Star Party Eldorado Star Party

24 The TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF DALLAS is a non-profit corporation organized under Section 501(C)3 of the Internal Rev- enue Code. The Society exists to promote education and science. All contributions and gifts are deductible for federal income tax pur- poses. Please note the Texas Astronomical Society “Spectrum” contains copyrighted material. Excepting NASA and other public domain material, no portion may be reproduced without written permission of the Texas Astronomical Society. TAS SPECTRUM is published monthly by the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas. All information and articles for publication should be sent to the Editor, David Hutchison. Files should be in ASCII or Word format, although handwritten or typewritten copy will be accepted. Submission deadline: first Friday of each month. Email: [email protected]. The opinions expressed by the contributors to the SPECTRUM do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the T.A.S. TAS Members also receive an electronic version of the Spectrum NOTICE TO TAS MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBERS Please send new magazine subscriptions for Astronomy and Sky and Telescope to David Moody. For membership you can continue to combine magazine subscriptions with membership dues and send to Luis Santana, the Membership Chairman. Please send only As- tronomy magazine renewals to TAS. For Sky and Telescope, send the renewal information directly to Sky and Telescope. Your magazine discount should continue to be applied. Please be aware that late renewals can cause a temporary cancellation and missed copies. The publishers advised us that they mail your last issue the first of the month prior to the month of expiration (for example: the July issue is mailed by the first of June), but they prepare mailing labels three to four weeks prior to that time. Therefore, they must have our renewals about three months prior to the end of the expiration month (the first of May – in the example). To be sure your renewal is processed on time, please respond to the publisher’s first Renewal Notice, and send to TAS at least three months prior to the end of the subscription period (the renewal should be received by mid April for a July 31st expiration date – in the example.) If you have your Renewal Notice, please include with your subscription payment, noting any address change. It helps us to have your customer number and expiration month that is printed on the Notice. Make your check out to TAS as the TAS Treasurer sends funds from the treasury. If you have questions, please contact the Treasurer: David Moody (acting) [email protected]. TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF DALLAS - MEMBERSHIP RATES & INFORMATION Regular: $35.00 With 1 family member: $39.00 With 2 family members : $43.00 With 3 or more family members: $47.00 All members have the right to participate in T.A.S. functions and to use the Atoka Observing Site. Regular Members receive a subscription to the Astronomical League Reflector and the SPECTRUM. Immediate family members of a Regular Member have all membership rights, but do not receive publications. Membership is from August 1 through July 31. New member dues are prorated quarterly in the first year. Membership Application: Send a check to the address on the back cover of the SPECTRUM, attention: Membership. You may also directly contact Luis Santana. Include your name, address, phone number, special interest in astronomy, and where you first heard of the T.A.S. TAS MEMBER’S MAGAZINE RENEWALS AT GROUP RATES Astronomy Magazine...... $34.00 SKY and TELESCOPE...... $32.95 Renewal checks for Astronomy Magazine should be made out to T.A.S. and mailed with the renewal notice to TAS Treasurer, Lonnie Wege , when your renewal notice is received. Renewals for SKY and TELESCOPE should be sent to the magazine publisher directly. TAS Special Projects AL Observing Coordinator Richard Brown [email protected] Magazine Subscriptions David Moody [email protected] Raffle Gabe Cardona [email protected] TAS Officers and Board of Directors President Fred Lusen [email protected] Vice President Max Corneau [email protected] Secretary Mark Johnston [email protected] Treasurer (acting) David Moody [email protected] Membership/ALCOR Luis Santana [email protected] Site Manager: Tim Bogan [email protected] Librarian Kelley Miller [email protected] Publicity Crystal Chadwick [email protected]

Gabriel Cardona [email protected] James Carroll [email protected] Jordan Kaiser [email protected] David Moody [email protected] Eric Vines [email protected]

25 About TAS The Texas Astronomical Society was The Al Bowen chartered in 1955 to promote the study O b s e r v a t o r y of astronomy and related fields and to and Darrell Ri- pursue observation and construction vard Learning of instruments as a hobby. member- Center located ship is open to anyone having an inter- at the TAS Dark est in astronomy and related subjects Site in South- and includes benefits such as our ern Oklahoma monthly newsletter, discounts to the top astronomy magazines, access to our dark sky observing site in southern Oklahoma and many more. Please visit the Club Information section on our website (http://www.texasastro.org) for more information on TAS and to apply

TAS SPECTRUM -- September 2008 TAS for membership in our organization.

TAS SPECTRUM Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas P.O. Box 25162 Dallas, TX 75225

Addressee Name 4321 First Street Anytown, State 54321