The Night Sky

The Newsletter of The Astronomy Club of Akron www.acaoh.org

Volume 36 Number 5 May 2014 Next Meeting: Friday - May 23, 2014 - 8:00 PM - Kiwanis

The President’s Column By Gary Smith

This is May 2014 and the planets are on parade! Spring is here and the most spectacular planets of our solar system are on display. Jupiter is now the third brightest object in our sky and is visible near the observers meridian at sunset. The mysterious red planet Mars is also visible in the southeast at sunset shining at its near maximum brightness of –3.0 magnitude. Not to be outdone is the ringed planet Saturn which is at the observers meridian at midnight shining at –0.24 magnitude.

The mysterious ‘moving lights in the sky’ have fascinated the human mind since the very beginning. The name “planet” is derived from a Planetary Trio by ACA Member Jason Shinn. Meade 6” LXD55 Refractor Greek term meaning ‘wandering ’. and Canon Digital Rebel. This was an important milestone in ancient astronomy when it was recognized the planets moved with The King of Planets, Jupiter, is Jupiter’s mass is about 2.5 times the respect to a background of fixed and now west of our observers meridian at masses of all the other planets immobile . sunset but is still very much high in combined. The surface features of our sky in the of . Jupiter consist of colorful gaseous The attraction of the planets in our It is just north of the fourth magnitude bands arranged in dark belts and light solar system to our human curiosity is cepheid Zeta Geminorum zones created by strong winds in the nearly irresistible. All three of these (Mekbuda). But in this instance the planet’s upper atmosphere with planets have been visited by location of Jupiter will aide in finding speeds of more than 400mph. spacecraft and one has been landed the star and not vice versa. Mekbuda upon successfully several times. The is on the outstretched left leg of one A dominant feature of Jupiter is human talent and the money invested of the Gemini twins . the Great Red Spot which is a giant have yielded close up images of all The dimensions of Jupiter will hurricane-like storm seen for more three planets that were unattainable by boggle the imagination of even the than 300 by observers on Earth. earth-bound telescopes and even by advanced star gazer. Its diameter is It is about three earth diameters Hubble. approximately eleven times that of (24,000 miles) at its widest. Earth at 86,881 miles (at its equator). (cont. page 4)

OFFICERS 2014 – 2016

President John Shulan Phone: 330-836-0800 E-mail: [email protected] Checking Beginning Balance $2,267.04 Vice President Ann Ferrell Income Phone: 330-697-7279 E-mail: [email protected] Dues 60.18 Total Income $60.18 Treasurer Glenn Cameron Phone: 330-737-1472 E-mail: [email protected] Expenses Transfer To Savings -100.00 Secretary Metisentry Web Hosting -57.81 Lew Snodgrass Phone: 330-867-4800 E-mail: [email protected] Total Expenses -$157.81

Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Income Less Expenses -$97.63 Cathy Loboda Phone: 330-655-2933 E-mail: [email protected] Checking Ending Balance $2,169.41

Observatory Director Ron Kalinoski Savings Beginning Balance $2,241.20 Phone: 330-837-5848 Earned Interest 0.09 ACA Webmaster Dues 150.00 Dave Jessie E-mail: [email protected] 50/50 Raffle 14.00

Publications Secretary - Editor, Night Sky Newsletter Magazine Subscriptions 34.00 Jason Shinn Transfer From Checking 100.00 Phone: 330-685-5382 E-mail: [email protected] Bank Fee -9.99 Trustee Refund Bank Fee 9.99 Fred Huffman E-mail: [email protected] Savings Ending Balance $2,539.29

Trustee Petty Cash Beginning Balance $59.55

Trustee 0.00

Petty Cash Ending Balance $59.55 Statutory Agent Mark Kochheiser Phone: 330-882-3713 E-mail: [email protected] Petty Cash 59.55

OTAA Representative Savings 2,539.29 Lou Poda Checking 2,169.41 Grand Total $4,768.25

Article by Glenn Cameron ACA Treasurer.

2 Astronomy Club of Akron FY 2013 Annual Treasurer's Report - Income

Income Dues 50/50 Raffle Donations Subscriptions Rcvd April May $1,068.43 $1,780.00 $133.90 June $70.00 $2,500.00 July $220.00 $60.00 $34.00 August September October $150.00 $28.00 $278.00 November December $120.75 $32.95 January February March $110.25 $20.00 $20.00 Monthly Totals: $1,739.43 $48.00 $4,638.00 $200.85

Income Interest Earned Hot Dog Roast Refunds Petty Cash April $0.26 May $0.29 June $0.20 July $0.11 $78.00 $10.60 August $0.11 September $0.10 October $0.11 $180.00 November $0.10 December $0.11 January $0.11 February $0.10 March $0.10 Monthly Totals: $1.70 $78.00 $180.00 $10.60

Total FY 2013 Income: $6,896.58

Treasury Balance 4/1/2013: $12,192.85 Treasury Balance 3/31/2014: $4,567.79

Treasury Balance Projection for 3/31/2015: $5,252.96

Prepared by Glenn R. Cameron

3 Astronomy Club of Akron FY 2013 Annual Treasurer's Report - Expenses Subscriptions Observatory Expenses Payed Expenses Web Hosting Postage Insurance April May $133.90 $45.00 June $12,364.00 $6.06 July $34.00 $45.00 August $739.95 $0.46 September October $429.24 $45.00 November December $32.95 January $45.00 February March $425.00 Monthly Totals: $200.85 $13,533.19 $180.00 $6.52 $425.00

Ohio Secretary of Speakers' Newsletter Expenses State Dinners Expenses Bank Fees Petty Cash April $25.00 May $50.02 $24.29 June July August September October $19.22 $31.76 November December $15.80 January February March $9.99 Monthly Totals: $25.00 $69.24 $47.56 $9.99 $24.29

Total FY 2013 Expenses: $14,521.64

Treasury Balance 4/1/2013: $12,192.85 Treasury Balance 3/31/2014: $4,567.79

Treasury Balance Projection for 3/31/2015: $5,252.96

Prepared by Glenn R. Cameron

4 SWAP & SHOP

FOR SALE: FOR SALE:

22mm Orion Epic ED-2 ED Eyepiece Pentax XW 20mm Eyepiece 25mm Orion Epic ED-2 ED Eyepiece  Excellent condition. Asking: $35 each or $65 for both  Small mark on 1.25” barrel. Contact: Glenn Cameron  Always used in a compression clamp. Phone: 330-737-1472 Email: [email protected] Asking: $220 (cash) Contact: Fred Fry Email: [email protected]

FOR SALE:

Teleview Radian 12 mm Eyepiece  Excellent condition.

Asking: $180 (cash) Contact: Fred Fry Email: [email protected] FOR SALE:

15mm Ultra-Wide Angle Eyepiece

Asking: $40 Contact: Lew Snodgrass Phone: 330-819-4886 Phone: 330-867-4800 Ask for Lew. FOR SALE: Email: [email protected] Teleview Radian 18 mm Eyepiece  Excellent condition.

Asking: $180 (cash) Contact: Fred Fry Advertise in the Email: [email protected] Swap n Shop!

ACA MEMBERS! Advertise your astronomy related item in the ACA’s Night Sky Newsletter! YOUR OHIO TURNPIKE ASTRONOMERS ASSOCIATION (OTAA) member clubs are also welcome to post their astronomy related QUALIFYING items for sale in the ACA newsletter!

NOT ASSOCIATED with a club but live in NE FREE AD Ohio? That’s cool too!

Send a picture of your ASTRONOMY COULD BE RELATED item and relevant information to the newsletter editor:

[email protected] HERE!

35 President’s Column (cont.) planets of Mars and Jupiter exhibited have been designed to be scouts for a retrograde motion on a predictable such an expedition. The preliminary The color of the Great Red Spot, basis. These planets would seemingly plans and strategies all take full which varies from brick red to slightly stop their forward motion in the night advantage of existing technology. brown, may come from small sky and then temporarily reverse their Nothing new needs to be invented. amounts of sulfur and phosphorus in direction. Then stop again and resume These proposed plans for a manned the ammonia crystals in Jupiter’s their forward motion in relation to the Martian expedition are at the very clouds. Every now and then the Great background field of motionless stars. boundary between science fact and Red Spot seems to fade almost The geocentric (Ptolemaic) system science fantasy. entirely from view. could not offer an explanation. The third member of the May The newest discoveries about the Mars is a terrestrial planet with a planets on parade is the ringed planet Jupiter system (Jupiter and its 63 thin atmosphere having surface Saturn, named after the Roman god of moons) have come with the Voyager features reminiscent of the impact agriculture. Saturn is diminutive when and Galileo Spacecraft. It was soon craters of the Moon and the compared to Jupiter, but the second realized that each of Jupiter’s moons volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar largest planet of the solar system does was a world of its own with ice caps of the Earth. The numerous boast some impressive statistics. It characteristics that defy the spacecraft that have orbited and has a diameter (at equator) of 74,897 imagination. landed on Mars over the years have miles or approximately nine earth yielded an enormous amount of diameters. This gas giant has only 1/8 The innermost moon of Jupiter is information about our neighbor. Mars the density of Earth but is so large, it Io with a diameter a little larger than is the site of the second largest is 95 times more massive. Saturn’s our moon. Io is the most geologically mountain in the solar system. core is theorized to be rocky and active object in the solar system with Olympus Mons is a very large shield metallic surrounded by a deep layer of over 400 active volcanoes. The volcano that is nearly 14 miles in metallic hydrogen and an intermediate intensity of this volcanism is greater height (Mt. Everest is nearly 5.5 layer of liquid hydrogen and helium. than that of the Earth today and what miles). The volcano’s shape and The subsurface and surface layers are is theorized in Earth’s past. The result profile have been likened to a circus gaseous. Saturn exhibits a pale yellow of Io’s volcanism is that it has a tent held up by a single pole that is hue due to ammonia crystals in the constantly changing surface with shifted off-center. upper atmosphere. large and frequent lava flows. Mars hosts a system of canyons The Wind Speeds on Saturn can Europa is the sixth closest moon that run along the Martian surface reach 1100 mph which is much faster and the smallest of the four Galilean called Valles Marineris. It is more than that of Jupiter but slower than satellites. Its surface is composed of than 2500 miles long, 120 miles wide, wind speeds found on Neptune. The water-ice and is one of the smoothest and 23,000 feet deep. Valles rings of Saturn were discovered when surfaces in the solar system. The Marineris is located at the Martian a telescope of sufficient quality was planetary scientist’s ceaseless search Equator and stretches nearly a quarter made. Christian Huygens was the first for water has placed Europa at the top of the planet’s circumference. A person to describe them as a disk of the list for future investigation. popular explanation is Valles surrounding the planet. There are few There is data to support the theory Marineris is a very large tectonic celestial objects that have received as that there is a liquid ocean that lies crack in the Martian crust. much attention and theorization as the beneath Europa’s frozen surface. structure and origin of Saturn’s rings. Ganymede, Callisto, Almathea, and The Martian feature named The rings consists of countless small Thebe are moons that the Galileo Borealis Basin (north polar basin) is a particles ranging in size from spacecraft flew by or took large basin that covers 40% of the micrometers to a meter, that are in significantly more detailed images. planet. The explanation of its orbit around the planet. The rings are formation requires a leap of the made up of almost entirely water-ice Mars is known as the red planet imagination. The theory is an object with a trace amount of rocky material. and also the Roman god of war. The some 990 to 1680 miles in diameter explanation for the red color is due to with a speed of 3.7 to 6.2 miles/ Saturn has 62 moons. The most the prevalence of old fashioned iron second hit Mars at an oblique angle. If recent spectacular discoveries about oxide (rust) on its surface. The this theory is correct, then Borealis the Saturnian system is when each of apparent motion of the planets Mars Basin is the largest impact crater in its Moons is viewed as a world of its and Jupiter through the sky drove the solar system. own. The giant Saturnian moon Titan ancient astronomers crazy. All the is 3200 miles in diameter (76% that of astronomers of that era believed the Without a doubt Mars is at the top Mars) and is the second largest moon Earth was at the orbital center of all of the list for the next planned in the solar system (after Ganymede). celestial bodies, literally at the center manned expedition. Some of the Titan has a dense atmosphere of of the universe. The easily observable Martian bound spacecraft and landers mostly nitrogen with a smaller

6 percentage of methane. Titan’s pole shooting water vapor into space. impact created fractures seen on the atmosphere is 45% more dense than While some of this material falls back opposite side. It is the smallest Earth’s density. This dense opaque to the surface as snow, much of it astronomical body that is known to be atmosphere visually hides the surface escapes into space. rounded in shape due to self- from view. The mystery of Titan’s gravitation. surface was solved when the Huygens Iapetus is Saturn’s third largest probe separated from the Cassini moon and displays some very unusual Rhea is the second largest moon of spacecraft in Dec. 2004 and features. One side of Iapetus is as Saturn with a diameter of 949 miles. successfully landed on Titan January dark as coal while the opposite side is It is a small, cold, airless moon with 14,2005. Titan is very cold with a bright and quite reflective. Iapetus has temperatures ranging from –174°C to measured temperature of –179°C. a walnut-like shape with its center –220°C. bulging out and a ridge of 6 mile high All the moons of Saturn are very mountains running around its equator. The planets of the May sky and cold and Saturn’s sixth largest moon The twentieth largest moon of Saturn their Moons are different worlds and Enceladus is no exception. Enceladus is Mimas with a diameter of 246 part of the solar system that we is highly reflective of the little amount miles. Mimas has a gaping crater 81 inhabit. Why not explore these planets of sunlight that it receives from the miles in diameter that gives this rocky and moons during the May 2014 . The commonly held belief was moon a resemblance to the fictional Parade of Planets? that Enceladus was frozen solid from ‘Death Star’ in the Star Wars movie. its core to the surface. This may not The impact that made this crater must Article by Gary Smith, be the case as approximately 70 have nearly shattered this moon; ACA President. geysers have been found at its south shock waves generated from the

MINUTES FROM THE general public turned out for Congratulations! Newly elected beautiful, clear skies. Ron turned on officers will take office at the May GENERAL MEETING, the observatory heater to keep us 23rd meeting. APRIL 25, 2014 comfortable in the cold April air. No coffee on Wednesday nights. We Gary Smith, our President, greeted observed M82 ,M81, M87 Jupiter and CAMP CHOPS May 30th 2014 members and visitors and Mars looking through various filters. AND CAMP CHEERFUL mid- immediately got the meeting We viewed much more including the June 2014 EVENTS information underway as we had quite an agenda International Space Station. Several are listed in this newsletter and our planned. people stayed until 11:00 p.m. ACA website.

Glenn Cameron presented: Renting WEB MASTER REPORT- Dave OLD BUSINESS – Mark the Stars talk-web sites. Six web sites Jessie Kochheiser were reviewed at various costs and levels of operation. The Bradford An old library site, ACORN, used The Ohio Grant Application will be Robotic Telescopes are geared 15 years ago has been deleted from submitted by May 1, 2014 requesting toward school/entry level programs. the internet. A gentleman called Dave an estimated $13,000 for the Light Buckets has an hourly rate of to let him know that he had issues following: $200. itelescope.net charges $62 an with this particular web site. Dave 1. Solar Telescope hour for 62 points. Sierra Stars assured him that this ancient email 2. Repair of the Observatory Observatory Network has a beginners address OR reference to our current Roof rate of $50 for 83 credits, 40% off the ACA website would be eliminated. 3. Shrubbery needed for a light beginning one time cost. San Pedro barrier. Valley Observatory and Cherry ELECTION OF OFFICERS May Mountain Observatory are additional 2014-May 2016 We need to submit a budget for the sites. Email locations are on our Our newly elected officers are: project, Website information, and a ACA website for these Rent –A-Star President - John Shulan sample newsletter in order to telescopes which are especially useful Vice President - Ann Ferrell complete the Grant Request. during those cold winter nights when Secretary - Lew Snodgrass winter is daunting. Treasurer - Glenn Cameron Observatory Director - Ron Kalinoski 50/50 RAFFLE WINNER: JOHN OBSERVATORY DIRECTORS Publication Secretary - Jason Shinn JENKINS REPORT- Ron Kalinoski Assistant Secretary/Assistant Treasurer - Cathy Loboda Article by Ann Ferrell, Our last impromptu star party was Assistant Secretary/Treasurer. a huge success. Several members and

7 Observatory Report By Ron Kalinoski

We held four star parties in April. Mars and Jupiter were showcase objects bringing observers back to the eyepiece again and again. We enhanced Jupiter's equatorial belts and other subtle cloud features by using a medium blue Orion No. 80A filter. Mars reached opposition on April 8th and appeared as an orange disk about 14 arcseconds in size. Large dark areas sweeping across the Martian surface were easily seen. The northern polar cap was very prominent. At our April 26th star party, a non-member from our impromptu group identified what we believed to be the southern polar cap. Cub Scout from Pack 3161 takes a close-up look at Jupiter and its four Galilean We returned to the eyepiece several Moons. The Cub Scouts from Cuyahoga Falls visited our observatory for an times to confirm the observation. evening of stargazing on April 26th. Afterwards, I did some research and found what we were actually Nagler eyepiece. To our advantage, reached 16% across the observable observing was the Hellas impact the observation was made late during Universe to view quasar 3C273. basin. Hellas formed 4 billion years the observing session when Mars was Special thanks to Tom Alexander, ago when an asteroid impacted into at high elevation. The excitement Freddy Huffman, Jason Shinn, Gary Mars creating a crater 1400 miles from this observation has not waned Smith, John Shulan, and Glenn across and 26,000 feet deep. It's yet! Planets were not the only objects Cameron for setting up telescopes on winter in the southern hemisphere and on the observing list. Globular cluster the observatory grounds to share the Hellas is coated with dry ice frost and M3, open cluster M37, Cigar night sky with our guests at our April the basin is filled with wintertime M82, and galaxy M94 delighted star parties. clouds making it an easy target for the observers. The Ghost of Jupiter bore 16" observatory telescope. We were an eerie resemblance to Jupiter and Article by Ron Kalinoski, working at 131X using a 31mm finally, the observatory telescope ACA Observatory Director.

"Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away, if your car could go straight upwards." — Sir Fred Hoyle, Astronomer

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