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The March Meeting with Dr. Timothy Barker the vol. 39 no. 3 March Skyscraper 2012 Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island 47 Peeptoad Road North Scituate, Rhode Island 02857 www.theSkyscrapers.org March Meeting with Dr. Timothy Barker Friday, March 2, 7:30pm North Scituate Community Center Samples from the Moon The Apollo lunar missions were a "giant leap for mankind" in many ways. The scien- tific dividends were huge, and we now realize that the Moon has had a unique role in the evolution of life on Earth. Wheaton College has on-loan from NASA actual lunar samples brought back by the astronauts, which we will view in a plexiglass disk and through a polar- izing microscope. Tim Barker received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1974 and has been at Wheaton ever since. He has taught a variety of courses, includ- ing "The Universe," "The Solar System," "Extraterrestrial Life," "Observational Astronomy," "Ancient Astronomies, and "Frontiers of Astronomy." He have published articles on plan- etary nebulae, supernova searches, and active galaxies and is currently doing asteroid research and searching for Transient Lunar Phenomena. Phases Crescent Moon by Bob Horton of the Moon In this issue… 8 14 22 30 2 President’s Message Other notable events: Mars is at opposition on the 3rd. Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation on the 5th. The Moon is near mars on the 7th. The Moon is near Saturn and 3 Marvelous Mars Spica on the 10th. Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on the 13, with the 2 planets close to each other in the evening sky several days before and after. Mars passes through the Leo Trio 4 Mars History Highlights (M95, M96 & M105) on the 15th - 18th. Equinox is on the 20th. Mercury is at inferior 5 Help Protect the Dark conjunction on the 21st. Uranus is in conjunction with the Sun on the 24th. The Moon is Skies of Charlestown and near Jupiter on the 25 and near Venus on the 26th. Venus is at greatest eastern elongation Frosty Drew Observatory on the 27th. Watch Venus is it approaches the Pleiades at the end of the month. 6 R Leonis 6 The Full Moon in March 7 A Planet Pair Viewed Seagrave Memorial Observatory in a Scope Atop a Trash Container is open to the public weather permitting 9 The Hidden Power of March 3 & 10: 7:00-9:00 pm Sea Salt, Revealed Beginning March 17: 8:00-10:00 pm 2 The Skyscraper March 2012 President’s presented at our March Meeting as well. Skyscrapers is a great organization that continues to evolve with time. As Message we continue to grow, so does the way our Tom Thibault society operates. The foundation of our or- ganization is our Constitution and Bylaws. The Skyscraper is published monthly by Skyscrapers, Inc. Meetings are usually held Dear Skyscrapers Members, Serving as your President under the direc- on the first Friday of the month. Public ob- Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his tion of our society’s documents has brought serving is usually held every Saturday night burrow and gazed upon his shadow, thus to light some areas of inconsistent content. at Seagrave Memorial Observatory, weather signaling we have 6 more weeks of winter. The lack of the Family Membership category permitting. Well, if it continues being as mild as the in our Constitution, while existing on our President season has been so far, I’m sure we will not membership form is an example. Tom Thibault [email protected] mind. We have yet to close Seagrave for For this reason, I appointed a commit- Public Viewing due to snow, and chances are tee to review all our founding documents. It 1st Vice President we may not need to. is my intention to present the committee’s John Briggs [email protected] To my disappointment, I was unable to findings and recommendations during the 2nd Vice President attend our February Meeting. Numerous business portion of the March Meeting. Kathy Siok [email protected] individuals have told me that Gerry Dyck’s This is a busy time of the year for presentation of “Astronomical Poetry” Skyscrapers. As the world prepares for the Secretary through the ages was excellent and enter- arrival of Spring, we prepare for another Ed Haskel [email protected] taining. Gerry, I’m sorry I missed it, espe- year in our history. Our upcoming elec- Treasurer cially with all the rave reviews I’ve heard. tions will fill five vacancies on our Executive Jim Crawford [email protected] Professor Tim Barker is returning in Committee and one on our Board of March as our featured speaker. Professor Trustees. Our 2012/13 operating budget Members at Large Barker’s last engaging presentation was a will be presented for consideration. Future Gene Kusmierz [email protected] crowd pleaser and I suspect March’s will be approval will allow our organization to Jim Hendrickson [email protected] also. Professor Barker will discuss the Apollo continue our mission. I encourage all our Trustees Missions and display some of NASA’s lunar members to participate in the process, so John Leonelli [email protected] samples. The lunar samples are on loan to come join us at our upcoming meetings. Pat Landers [email protected] Wheaton College and will be available for Our Observing Committee will continue Steve Siok [email protected] our viewing pleasure. to share the night sky with the public and Star Party Coordinators Skyscrapers elections are upon us and welcome all interested in participating. Conrad Cardano [email protected] our Nomination Committee’s selections will Feel free to approach any member of our Bob Forgiel [email protected] be announced during our March Meeting. Executive Committee, Trustees, Observatory Nomination Committee Chairman Dave Committee, and Outreach Coordinators Librarian Huestis will also being accepting nomina- if you have an interest in becoming more Amber Lesperance [email protected] tions from the floor at that time. It’s also involved in the organizations activities. I Historian time for begin the process of determining look forward to seeing all of you at our Dave Huestis [email protected] our society's operating budget. The work March Meeting. has begun and our 2012/13 Budget and will Clear Skies Editor Jim Hendrickson [email protected] Directions Directions to Seagrave Memorial Observatory are located on the back page of this newsletter. Submissions Submissions to The Skyscraper are always welcome. Please submit items for the newsletter no later than March 23 to Jim Hendrickson, 1 Sunflower Circle, North Providence, RI 02911 or e-mail to jim@ distantgalaxy.com. E-mail subscriptions To receive The Skyscraper by e-mail, send e-mail with your name and address to jim@ distantgalaxy.com. Note that you will no Jupiter image by Steve Hubbard. longer receive the newsletter by postal mail. February 19, seeing was fair, 15 sec avi, processed thru registax. twitter.com/SkyscrapersInc www.theSkyscrapers.org The Skyscraper March 2012 3 Marvelous Mars Dave Huestis What immediately pops into your head will be at their closest distance from each will be just over half a million miles apart. A when I mention Mars? If you had asked other: 62,652,214 miles. Unfortunately week later it will be an additional 1.5 million me back in the sixth grade (1964-65), I not all Mars close encounters are favorable miles. So don’t procrastinate. You’ll observe would have answered H.G. Wells’ War of the ones. That fact is due to the eccentricity of more detail if you start your Mars observing Worlds, for it was then that I first read that Mars’ elliptical orbit and its distance from program right away. great science fiction novel about Martians the Sun. And just to put that distance into First you will need to locate Mars in the invading our world. From then until the some perspective, back on August 27, 2003, sky. Just after sunset on March 1, Mars will early 70’s I was aware the United States had Earth and Mars were a mere 34,646,418 be the red object about ten degrees (a fist sent several unmanned spacecraft (Mariner miles apart. held at arm’s length gives this measurement) series) to explore our desert neighbor. Then For some Mars observers it might be a above the eastern horizon. You should wait came the Viking landers in 1976. And now challenge to observe much detail considering for it to climb higher into the sky and out I think about the surviving Mars rover how small the disk of the planet will appear of any horizon haze and turbulence. By 9:00 Opportunity who, like the Energizer Bunny, even at its closest approach. However, don’t pm Mars will be almost 40 degrees above the keeps “going and going.” I’m also looking let Mars’ small image size deter you from horizon and awaiting your scrutiny. It would forward to the landing of a small car-sized gazing at this planet that has stimulated our be hard not to notice Mars, for its pumpkin rover in August called Curiosity. collective imagination for over a century. orange color is very distinct. When I’m able to show a young child This brief Mars observing guide will help By that time the sky will also be com- a great view of Mars through Seagrave you to discern and appreciate the planetary pletely dark, and you’ll be able to see it in Observatory’s 8-inch Alvan Clark refractor detail a telescope may show you of this relation to the background stars.
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