NGC 2683: Edge-On Spiral Galaxy CCAS Winter 2014 Events

Vol. 22, No. 2 Two-Time Winner of the Astronomical League’s Mabel Sterns Award ☼ 2006 & 2009 February 2014

In This Issue NGC 2683: Edge-On Spiral Galaxy CCAS Winter 2014 Events ...... 2 January 2014 Meeting Minutes ...... 2 Nicholas’s Humor Corner ...... 2 February 2014 Meeting Agenda ...... 3 The Sky Over Chester County: February 2014 ...... 4 February 2014 Observing Highlights ...... 5 Through the Eyepiece: M109, Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy ...... 6 Recent Additions to CCAS Lending Library ...... 8 NASA Space Place...... 10 CCAS Directions: Brandywine Valley Association...... 11 CCAS Winter Party ...... 12 Membership Renewals ...... 12 New Member Welcome ...... 12 CCAS Directions: WCU Map ...... 12

Treasurer’s Report...... 12 Image: Subaru Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope; Image Assembly, Processing, & Copyright: Robert Gendler. See p.3 for details. CCAS Information Directory ...... 13-14 Important February 2014 Dates CCAS Upcoming Nights Out 01/30th • New Moon, 4:39 p.m. CCAS has several “nights out” scheduled Membership Renewals Due over the next few months. Members are 6th • First Quarter Moon, 2:22 p.m. encouraged to help out during these events any way they can. See below for more in- 02/2014 DiGiovanni 10th • Jupiter is near the moon. formation. Kalinowski & Family La Para 14th • Full Moon, 6:53 p.m. ☼ Friday, February 28, 2013. CCAS 22nd • Last Quarter Moon, 12:16 p.m. monthly observing session at BVA. The 03/2014 Angelini observation session starts at dusk. End 22nd • Zodiacal light visible for next LaFrance two weeks. ☼ Friday, March 21, 2013. CCAS Sterrett monthly observing session at BVA. The observation session starts at dusk. 04/2014 Armored Bower ☼ Saturday, March 22, 2013. CCAS Caccamo special observing session at Bucktoe Imburgia Creek Preserve. The observation session Richter starts at dusk.

February 2014 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 1 Winter 2014 Minutes of the January 11, 2014 Meeting Society Events by Ann Miller, CCAS Secretary

February 2014  President Roger Taylor welcomed 14 members and visitors to our

1st • PA Outdoor Lighting Council monthly meet- January 14 meeting with the trivia question, "How many countries ing, 1438 Shaner Drive, Pottstown, PA 19465, starting at 7:30 p.m. For more information and have a launch space program?" directions, visit the PA Outdoor Lighting Council website.  Don Knabb, our observing chair, presented our monthly "What is 7th • West Chester University Planetarium Show: “Andromeda: Our Galaxy Neighbor,” in the in the sky" with the Stellarium program. Schmucker Science Building. For more information and reservations, visit the WCU Public Planetarium  Shows webpage. Dave Hockenberry, program chair, announced that the February meeting will be held in the West Chester University Planetari- 8th • CCAS Winter Party.. The gathering starts at 6:00 p.m. at Don & Barb Knabb’s home. See pg. 12 um. February is Members Night. Please bring any stories, equip- for details and coordinates. ment, pictures, or astro experiences that you would like to share 11th • CCAS Monthly Meeting, University Plane- with the group. Additionally, CCAS will be treated to a planetari- tarium (Schmucker Science Center), West Chester University. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Meeting um presentation with their new equipment by Dr. Karen Van Program: Members’ Night (Open Forum). Landingham. Dave also announced the rest of our spring lecture 13th-14th • The von Kármán Lecture Series: The History and Future of Space Communications— series. Celebrating 50 Years of the NASA Deep Space, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Live  Scott Engel, PhD candidate in Astronomy at Villanova University, stream of free lecture presented by NASA & Cal- tech. was our guest speaker. He presented "Little Ice Age"-the Sun-

14th • Reservations start for the March 7th planetar- Earth Connection about solar activity and the earth atmosphere/ ium show at the WCU Planetarium. weather interaction. We all wish Scott well as he defends his PHD 20th • Open call for articles and photographs for the this semester. March 2014 edition of Observations.

26th • Deadline for newsletter submissions for the March 2014 edition of Observations.

28th • CCAS monthly observing session at BVA. Nicholas’s Humor Corner The observation session starts at dusk. by Nicholas La Para March 2014

5th • PA Outdoor Lighting Council monthly meeting, 1438 Shaner Drive, Pottstown, PA 19465, starting at 7:30 p.m. For more information and directions, visit the PA Outdoor Lighting Council website.

11th • CCAS Monthly Meeting, Room 112, Merion Science Center (former Boucher Building), West Chester University. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Guest Speaker: Ruth Davis, Professor of Astronomy & Physics at Penn State;

16th-17th • The von Kármán Lecture Series: The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and ISS-RapidScat, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Live stream of free lecture presented by NASA & Caltech.

14th• Reservations start for the April 4th planetarium show at the WCU Planetarium.

20th • Open call for articles and photographs for the April 2014 edition of Observations.

21st • CCAS monthly observing session at BVA. The observation session starts at dusk.

22nd • CCAS special observing session at Bucktoe Creek Preserve. The observation session starts at dusk.

26th • Deadline for newsletter submissions for the April 2014 edition of Observations.

2 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • February 2014 February 2014 CCAS Meeting Agenda Cover Photo Details by Dave Hockenberry, CCAS Program Chair Submitted by APOD

Our next meeting will be held on dywine; and May 13th - John Does spiral galaxy NGC 2683 have a February 11, 2014, starting at Conrad, CCAS member and bar across its center? Being so nearly 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be like our own barred Milky Way Gal- NASA Solar System Ambassa- axy, one might guess it has. Being so held in West Chester Universi- dor. nearly edge-on, however, it is hard to ty Planetarium (Schmucker tell. Either way, this gorgeous island Science Center), West Chester Please note that inclement universe, cataloged as NGC 2683, lies University. The theme for our weather or changes in speakers’ a mere 20 million light-years distant in meeting on February 11th is a the northern constellation of the Cat schedules may affect the pro- (Lynx). members’ night, where members gram. In the event there is a can share their research or ask change, CCAS members will be NGC 2683 is seen nearly edge-on in for help from other members. notified via e-mail with as much this cosmic vista combining data and Dr. Karen Vanlandingham will advance notice as possible. images from the ground-based Subaru also demonstrate the new plane- telescope and the space-based Hubble We are looking for presenters for Space Telescope. More distant galax- tarium equipment. ies are seen scattered in the back- future meetings in 2014. If you ground. Blended light from a large Our upcoming meeting present- are interested in presenting, or population of old yellowish stars ers are: March 11th - Ruth Da- know someone who would like forms the remarkably bright galactic vis, Professor of Astronomy & to participate, please contact me core. Starlight silhouettes the dust at [email protected]. lanes along winding spiral arms, dot- Physics at Penn State; April 8th ted with the telltale blue glow of - Tim Larson, Astronomy Pro- young star clusters in this galaxy's star fessor at Penn State Bran- forming regions.

CCAS Astrophotography Display at West Goshen Township Building by Kathy Buczynski, CCAS Education Chair

During the months of Novem- ber and December, 2013, the West Goshen Township administration hosted a local photog- raphy/art exhibit. The Chester County Astronomical Society was invited to participate in the event. CCAS members Dave Hockenberry, Pete LaFrance, Don Knabb, and Kathy Buczyn- ski displayed their fine work as part of the show.

On November 18, 2013, the township administration held an open reception from 7:00 to 8:00 PM for the public to dis- cuss the photographs and the night sky.

CCAS member Dave Hockenberry poses with his photo display.

February 2014 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 3 The Sky This Month The Sky Over Chester County February 15, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. ET Note: This screen capture is taken from Stellarium, the free planetarium software available for download at www.stellarium.org.

E W

Civil Twilight Civil Twilight Date Sunrise Sunset Length of Day Begins Ends 02/01/2014 6:40 a.m. EST 7:09 a.m. EST 5:20 p.m. EDT 5:49 p.m. EST 10h 10m 52s 02/15/2014 6:26 a.m. EST 6:53 a.m. EST 5:37 p.m. EDT 6:04 p.m. EST 10h 43m 09s 02/28/2014 6:08 a.m. EST 6:35 a.m. EST 5:51 p.m. EDT 6:19 p.m. EST 11h 15m 57s

Moon Phases

New Moon 01/30/2014 4:39 p.m. EST Full Moon 02/14/2014 6:53 p.m. EST First Quarter 02/06/2014 2:22 p.m. EST Last Quarter 02/22/2014 12:16 p.m. EST

4 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • February 2014 February 2014 Observing Highlights by Don Knabb, CCAS Treasurer & Observing Chair

Mercury is below the thin crescent Saturn: Saturn rises around 1:30 a.m. at the begin- 1 Moon ning of the month and is highest in the sky just before dawn. 6 First-quarter Moon Uranus and Neptune: Although one might be able The Lunar X is visible around 11:50 6 to find Uranus at the end of evening twilight, both p.m. the outer gas giants are very low in the sky. Neptune rd 7 The Lunar Straight Wall is visible goes behind the Sun on February 23 , so we cannot see this distant planet during February. 10 Jupiter is near the Moon The Moon: Full moon is on February 14th. Accord- 14 Full Moon ing to Native Americans this is the Full Snow Moon 22 Last Quarter Moon since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the The zodiacal light is visible for the next 22 Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions two weeks in their areas made hunting very difficult. The best sights this month: Jupiter shines like a beacon in the southeast just after darkness falls. If it Constellations: During February, if it is warm is not too cold, it is definitely worth setting up a tel- enough, I enjoy staring for a long time toward the escope to zoom in and look for some details in the south to enjoy the constellations with bright stars. bands of clouds on the surface of Jupiter. And alt- This includes Taurus with Aldebaran, Orion with hough the nights are cold, sunset is early, so we can Betelgeuse and Rigel, Canis Major with Sirius and dress warmly and go outside with a pair of binocu- Canis Minor with Procyon. Betelgeuse, Sirius and lars to enjoy the many Messier objects in the winter Procyon make up the Winter Triangle. sky. Messier/deep sky: Studying deep sky objects dur- Mercury: The first few days of February are excel- ing the chill nights of February can be a challenge. lent for viewing the planet closest to the Sun. On But, there are many wonderful deep sky sights in February 1st you can find Mercury about 45 minutes these cold winter skies. Carry your summer lounge after sunset by finding the thin crescent Moon and chair outside, lay a blanket on it and wrap yourself looking directly below it. You will find Mercury a in a sleeping bag. Dress REAL warmly, grab your bit more than half way to the horizon. binoculars and just stare at the beautiful Pleiades. The star clusters in Auriga are almost directly over- Venus: Venus is now the “morning star”, rising head, well positioned for viewing through the mini- about 2 hours before the Sun in the eastern sky. mum amount of atmosphere. M41, an open cluster of stars, is just below Sirius. Then look to the east Mars: The red planet rises around 11:00 p.m. at the and find the Beehive in Cancer before you freeze! beginning of February and brightens considerably by the end of the month. The best viewing of Mars Comets: There are no bright comets in the sky dur- is an hour or two before dawn when it is highest in ing February. the sky. Meteor showers: There are no major meteor show- Jupiter: Jupiter was at opposition in early January ers during February. and it continues to be visible all night. The king of the planets is in excellent viewing position around 9 p.m.

February 2014 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 5 Through the Eyepiece: M109, the Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy by Don Knabb, CCAS Treasurer & Observing Chair

Sky map credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ursa_Major_IAU.svg

During the deep winter, I am April to see galaxies. One that is cleaner. The second is... well... I always encouraged by the sight easily found and observed during like vacuum cleaners... go fig- of Leo the Lion jumping out of February is M109, also called the ure).” the eastern horizon late in the Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy. Why is evening. But to see Leo clearly it called the Vacuum Cleaner M109, also known as NGC one must stay up quite late and it Galaxy? This name was pro- 3992, is found just below the is so cold during February. What posed by Devon J. Moore, who Big Dipper's bowl in the north- Leo means to me is that galaxy writes: “The name I've suggested ern constellation Ursa Major, time is approaching, and with it was the Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy the Great Bear. Although it is warmer weather. for a few reasons. The first being not shown on the sky map of a cyclonic looking galaxy, so I (Continued on page 7) But we don’t need to wait until named it after a cyclonic vacuum

6 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • February 2014 Eyepiece (Cont’d)

(Continued from page 6) aperture to begin seeing details. Messier 109 was discovered by Ursa Major, it is just to the left In telescopic views, its striking Pierre Méchain in 1781. In 1783 of the star named Phecda, the central bar gives the galaxy the Charles Messier catalogued it as bottom-rear star of the Big Dip- appearance of the Greek letter his 109th object. William Her- per. In the sky, M109 will be "theta", θ, a common mathemati- schel found this galaxy inde- just below Phecda because the cal symbol representing an an- pendently on April 12, 1789, Dipper is pointing straight up gle. M109 is the brightest galaxy and cataloged it as H IV.61. He during February. in the M109 Group, a large incorrectly misclassified it as a group of galaxies that may con- planetary nebula. He writes: But just because it is easy to find tain over 50 galaxies. In the im- “Considerably bright. Irregular- doesn’t mean it is easy to see! age, M109 is joined by three ly formed. Extended meridional- Although it is considered rather foreground stars. The three ly [along the Meridian, i.e. large, the outer spiral arms are small, fuzzy bluish galaxies also North-South]. Little brighter quite faint and only the bright on the scene, identified left to Nucleus. With faint brances 7 or central bar and nucleus region right as UGC 6969, UGC 6940 8′ long, and 5 or 6′ broad.” His show well to smaller telescopes. and UGC 6923, are satellite gal- son John would also go on to Messier 109 will require dark, axies of the larger M109. (Continued on page 11) clear skies and at least mid-sized

February 2014 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 7 Recent Additions to the CCAS Lending Library by Barb Knabb, CCAS Librarian

Thanks to the generosity of several members of the CCAS, we have two nice additions to the CCAS lending library.

Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth, by Andrew Smith. Liz Smith donated this set of 4 audio CDs to the CCAS many months ago. This audio book is read by the author. Writ- ten in 2005, Andrew Smith real- ized that of the astronauts who walked on the Moon, only nine were still alive. One day there will be none. So he set out to find and interview the remaining moonwalkers to find out how the experience changed them.

Don and I listened to quite a bit, but not this entire book during a long drive. We enjoyed it im- New Audio CD Addition to the CCAS Lending Library mensely and recommend it to The range of topics is amazing! The GALAXIES REVEALED anyone who would like to en- There is a base set of disks and 7 edition includes: hance their understanding of the subsets. Some of the titles sound  Milky Way Apollo project. like science fiction movies! But  Monster of the Milky Way then, reality is often stranger  Parallel Universes In addition to this audio book than fiction.  Einstein’s Dream the lending library DVD collec-  Runaway Universe tion has grown dramatically. The base set includes the follow-  Eclipse of the Century Ann Miller and Dave Hocken- ing titles:  Cosmic Holes berry have donated a series that  Welcome to the 11th Dimen- was collected and distributed by  When Space Changed sion Astronomy Magazine called The History  Time Travel Infinite Cosmos Series. This is  Mars the Red Planet  Strangest Things large collection (46 DVDs!) that  Saturn: Lord of the Rings was originally produced by The  Finding Life Beyond Earth The PLANETS AND MOON History Channel as their Uni-  The Search for Cosmic Clus- edition includes: verse series, or by the A&E net- ters  Mars: The New Evidence work or as PBS NOVA presen-  Biggest Blasts  Hunt for Ringed Planets tations. We have previewed sev-  Secrets of the Sun  The Day the Moon was eral and they are very well pro-  Life and Death of a Star Gone duced.  Liquid Universe  UFOs – the Real Deal  Microscopic Universe  Alien Moons (Continued on page 9)

8 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • February 2014 CCAS Library (cont’d)

New Video DVD Additions to the CCAS Lending Library

(Continued from page 8)  Extreme Energy The DISCOVER THE UNI-  Alien Planets  The Journey to Palomar VERSE edition includes:  Mysteries of the Moon  Asteroid Attack  How Big, How Far, How  Jupiter the Giant Planet Fast The SPACE MISSIONS edition The COSMIC DANGERS edi- includes: If you would like to borrow the tion includes:  Columbia: Space Shuttle Moondust audio book or any of  Nemesis: The Sun’s Evil Disaster the Infinite Cosmos DVDs, Twin  Phoenix Mars Mission: Ash- please send an e-mail to librari-  Magnetic Storm es to Ice [email protected] to make arrange-  Worst Days on Planet Earth  Exploring Space: The Quest ments to pick up any of the  Death Stars for Life items. I can also bring them to a  It Fell From Space club meeting or observing event.  Deadly Comets and Meteors The BEST OF THE COSMOS  Cosmic Collisions edition includes:  Dark Future of the Sun The SPECIAL EDITION set  Crash Landing on Mars includes:  Seven Wonders of the Solar  Ride the Comet System

February 2014 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 9 Surprising Young Stars in the Oldest Places in the Universe by Dr. Ethan Siegel

Littered among the stars in our old, or more than 90% the age night sky are the famed deep- of the universe! When you look sky objects. These range from inside one of these cosmic col- extended spiral and elliptical lections, you're looking at some galaxies millions or even bil- of the oldest stellar swarms in lions of light years away to the the known universe. star clusters, nebulae, and stellar remnants strewn throughout our Yet when you look at a high- own galaxy. But there's an inter- resolution image of these relics mediate class of objects, too: the helium), as little as 1% of what from the early universe, you'll globular star clusters, self- we find in our Sun. There's a find a sprinkling of hot, mas- contained clusters of stars found good reason for this: our Sun is sive, apparently young blue in spherically-distributed halos only 4.5 billion years old and has stars! Is there a stellar fountain around each galaxy. seen many generations of stars of youth inside? Kind of! These live-and-die, while globular clus- massive stellar swarms are so Back before there were any stars ters (and the stars inside of them) dense -- especially towards the or galaxies in the universe, it are often over 13 billion years (Continued on page 11) was an expanding, cooling sea of matter and radiation contain- ing regions where the matter was slightly more dense in some places than others. While gravity worked to pull more and more matter into these places, the pressure from radiation pushed back, preventing the gravitation- al collapse of gas clouds below a certain mass. In the young universe, this meant no clouds smaller than around a few hun- dred thousand times the mass of our Sun could collapse. This co- incides with a globular cluster's typical mass, and their stars are some of the oldest in the universe!

These compact, spherical collec- tions of stars are all less than 100 light-years in radius, but typically have around 100,000 stars inside them, making them nearly 100 times denser than our neighborhood of the Milky Way! The vast majority of globular clusters have extremely few heavy elements (heavier than Globular Cluster NGC 6397. Credit: ESA & Francesco Ferraro (Bologna Astronomical Observatory) / NASA, Hubble Space Telescope, WFPC2.

10 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • February 2014 Space Place (cont’d) Observing (Cont’d)

(Continued from page 10) (Continued from page 7) It is also by far the most distant center -- that mergers, mass si- add it to his catalog on February object in the Messier Catalog, phoning and collisions between 17, 1831 when he writes: followed by M91. stars are quite common. When “Bright; Large; very suddenly two long-lived, low-mass stars brighter to the Middle; round; 3′ So there is no need to wait for interact in these ways, they pro- diameter. Fine object.” “galaxy season” to seek out duce a hotter, bluer star that will these distant “island universes”. be much shorter lived, known as Between the 1920s through the With the Big Dipper as your a blue straggler star. First dis- 1950s, it was considered that guide M109 is an excellent tar- covered by Allan Sandage in Messier objects over 103 were get as a preview of the many 1953, these young-looking stars not official, but in later years the galaxies to see later in spring. arise thanks to stellar cannibal- additions became more widely Information credits: ism. So enjoy the brightest and accepted. David H. Levy men- bluest stars in these globular tions the modern 110 object cat- Pasachoff, Jay M. 2000. A Field Guide to clusters, found right alongside alog while Sir Patrick Moore the Stars and Planets. New York, NY. Houghton Mifflin. the oldest known stars in the gave the original to 104 but has Dickinson, Terence 2006. universe! M105-M109 listed as an adden- Nightwatch: a practical guide to viewing dum. By the late 1970s all 110 the universe. Buffalo, NY. Firefly Books Learn about a recent globular cluster discovery here: http:// www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/hubble-uncovers-largest- objects are commonly used http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130523.html known-group-of-star-clusters-clues-to-dark-matter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_109 among astronomers as they still Kids can learn more about how stars work by listening to The http://www.universetoday.com/50202/ Space Place’s own Dr. Marc: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ are today. messier-109/ podcasts/en/#stars. http://messier.seds.org/m/m109.html

CCAS Directions Brandywine Valley Association

The monthly observing sessions (held February through November) are held at the Myrick Conservation Center of the Brandywine Valley Association.

To get to the Myrick Conservation Cen- ter from West Chester, go south on High Street in West Chester past the Courthouse. At the next traffic light, turn right on Miner Street, which is also PA Rt. 842. Follow Rt. 842 for about 6 miles. To get to the observing site at the BVA property, turn left off Route 842 into the parking lot by the office: look for the signs to the office along Route 842. From that parking lot, go left through the gate and drive up the farm lane about 800 feet to the top of the hill. The observing area is on the right.

Brandywine Valley Association BVA was founded in 1945 and is com- If you arrive after dark, please turn off 1760 Unionville Wawaset Rd mitted to promoting and protecting the your headlights and just use parking West Chester, PA 19382 natural resources of the Brandywine lights as you come up the hill (so you (610) 793-1090 Valley through educational programs http://brandywinewatershed.org/ don’t ruin other observers’ night vi- and demonstrations for all ages. sion).

February 2014 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 11 CCAS Directions

West Chester University Campus The monthly meetings (September through May) are held in Room 112 in Merion Science Center (formerly the Boucher Build- ing), attached to the Schmucker Science Center. The Schmucker Science Center is located at the corner of S. Church St & W. Rosedale Ave. Parking is generally available across Rosedale in the Sykes Student Union parking lot (Lot K).

CCAS Membership Information and Society Financials CCAS Winter Party Treasurer’s Report Membership Renewals Barb and Don Knabb have gra- by Don Knabb ciously offered once again to host our end-of-year holiday party. Jan. 2014 Financial Summary You can renew your CCAS Members and their families are in- Beginning Balance $1,831 membership by writing a check vited to their home on February 8, Deposits $140 payable to “Chester County As- 2014, at 6 p.m. The address is 988 Disbursements $0 tronomical Society” and sending Meadowview Lane and their phone Ending Balance $1,971 it to our Treasurer: number is 610-436-5702. A Google Maps search will provide good di- Don Knabb New Member Welcome! rections to their house. Their home 988 Meadowview Lane is at the end of a cul-de-sac and 988 West Chester PA 19382 is on the mailbox. They have a long Welcome new CCAS members driveway and the house has the gar- Charles McElwee of West Ches- age facing the street. ter, PA. We’re glad you decided The current dues amounts are to join us under the stars! Clear listed in the CCAS Information Please RSVP to skies to you! Directory. Consult the table of [email protected] so they contents for the directory’s page know how much food to plan. They number in this month’s edition will have sandwiches and snacks of the newsletter. and beer and wine.

12 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • February 2014 CCAS Information Directory Join the Fight for Dark Skies! Good Outdoor Lighting Websites Local Astronomy-Related Stores

You can help fight light pollution, con- One of the biggest problems we face in Listing retail sites in this newsletter serve energy, and save the night sky for trying to reduce light pollution from does not imply endorsement of any everyone to use and enjoy. Join the poorly designed light fixtures is easy kind by our organization. This infor- nonprofit International Dark-Sky Asso- access to good ones. When you con- mation is provided as a service to our ciation (IDA) today. Individual mem- vince someone, a neighbor or even members and the public only. berships start at $30.00 for one year. yourself, to replace bad fixtures, where Send to: do you go for good lighting fixtures? Check out these sites and pass this in- International Dark-Sky Association formation on to others. Help reclaim 3225 North First Avenue the stars! And save energy at the same Tucson, AZ 85719 time! Phone: 520-293-3198 Fax: 520-293-3192 Skies Unlimited is a retailer of tele- E-mail: [email protected] scopes, binoculars, eyepieces and telescope accessories from Meade, Celes- tron, Televue, Orion, Stellarvue, For more information, including links Takahashi, Vixen, Losmandy and to helpful information sheets, visit the Light pollution from poor quality outdoor lighting wastes billions of dollars more. IDA web site at: and vast quantities of valuable natural http://www.darksky.org resources annually. It also robs us of Skies Unlimited our heritage of star-filled skies. Starry Suburbia Shopping Center Note that our CCAS Webmaster John Night Lights is committed to fighting Hepler has a link to the IDA home page light pollution. The company offers the 52 Glocker Way set up on our Society’s home page at widest selection of ordinance compli- Pottstown, PA 19465 http://www.ccas.us. ant, night sky friendly and neighbor Dark-Sky Website for PA friendly outdoor lighting for your home or business. Starry Night Lights is lo- Phone: 610-327-3500 or 888-947-2673 The Pennsylvania Outdoor Lighting cated in Park City, Utah. Fax: 610-327-3553 Council has lots of good information http://www.skiesunlimited.net on safe, efficient outdoor security Phone: 877-604-7377 lights at their web site: Fax: 877-313-2889 http://www.POLCouncil.org http://www.starrynightlights.com  Find out about Lyme Disease!

Anyone who spends much time out-  doors, whether you’re stargazing, or gardening, or whatever, needs to know Located in Manayunk, Spectrum Scien- about Lyme Disease and how to pre- tifics educates and entertains customers vent it. You can learn about it at: with an array of telescopes, micro- scopes, binoculars, science toys, mag- http://www.LymePA.org Green Earth Lighting is a dedicated nets, labware, scales, science instru- Take the time to learn about this health lifetime corporate member of the Inter- ments, chemistry sets, and much more. threat and how to protect yourself and national Dark-Sky Association. GEL's your family. It is truly “time well products are designed to reduce or 4403 Main Street spent”! eliminate the negative effects outdoor Philadelphia, PA 19127 lighting can have while still providing CCAS Event Information the light you need at night. Phone: 215-667-8309 Fax: 215-965-1524 Green Earth Lighting LLC We’ve set up a special phone number Hours: you can dial to find out if our monthly 620 Onion Creek Ranch Rd Driftwood, Texas 78619 Tuesday thru Saturday: 10AM to 6PM observing session and other scheduled Sunday and Monday: 11AM to 5PM events will be held or postponed. Call Phone: 512-944-7354 610-436-0829 after 5 PM ET to hear a http://www.spectrum-scientifics.com recording to find out the latest news. http://www.greenearthlighting.com

February 2014 • Chester County Astronomical Society www.ccas.us Observations • 13 CCAS Information Directory CCAS Lending Telescopes CCAS Purpose CCAS Membership Information Contact Don Knabb to make arrange- The Chester County Astronomical So- The present membership rates are as ments to borrow one of the Society's ciety was formed in September 1993, follows: with the cooperation of West Chester lending telescopes. CCAS members REGULAR MEMBER……$25/year University, as a non-profit organization can borrow a lending telescope for a SENIOR MEMBER……….$10/year dedicated to the education and enjoy- month at a time; longer if no one else STUDENT MEMBER……..$ 5/year ment of astronomy for the general pub- wants to borrow it after you. Don's JUNIOR MEMBER………..$ 5/year lic. The Society holds meetings (with phone number is 610-436-5702. FAMILY MEMBER……….$35/year speakers) and observing sessions once CCAS Lending Library a month. Anyone who is interested in Membership Renewals astronomy or would like to learn about Contact our Librarian, Barb Knabb, to astronomy is welcome to attend meet- Check the Membership Renewals on make arrangements to borrow one of ings and become a member of the Soci- the front of each issue of Observations the books in the CCAS lending library. ety. The Society also provides tele- to see if it is time to renew. If you need Copies of the catalog are available at scopes and expertise for “nights out” to renew, you can mail your check, CCAS meetings, and on the CCAS for school, scout, and other civic made out to “Chester County Astro- website. Barb's phone number is 610- groups. nomical Society,” to: 436-5702. CCAS Executive Committee Don Knabb Contributing to Observations 988 Meadowview Lane For further information on membership West Chester PA 19382-2178 Contributions of articles relating to or society activities you may call: Phone: 610-436-5702 astronomy and space exploration are e-mail: [email protected] always welcome. If you have a comput- President: Roger Taylor er, and an Internet connection, you can 610-430-7768 Sky & Telescope Magazine Group Rates attach the file to an e-mail message and Vice President: Liz Smith send it to: [email protected] 610-842-1719 Subscriptions to this excellent periodi- Or mail the contribution, typed or ALCor, Don Knabb cal are available through the CCAS at a handwritten, to: Observing, and 610-436-5702 reduced price of $32.95, much less than the newsstand price of $66.00, and also John Hepler Treasurer: cheaper than individual subscriptions 2115 Lazor St. ($42.95)! Buying a subscription this Apt. 227 Secretary: Ann Miller 610-558-4248 way also gets you a 10% discount on Indiana, PA 15701 other Sky Publishing merchandise. Librarian: Barb Knabb To start a new subscription, make sure CCAS Newsletters via E-mail 610-436-5702 you make out the check to the Chester You can receive the monthly newsletter Program: Dave Hockenberry County Astronomical Society, note (in full color!) via e-mail. All you need 610-558-4248 that it's for Sky & Telescope, and mail it is a PC or Mac with an Internet e-mail to Don Knabb. connection. To get more information Education: Kathy Buczynski about how this works, send an e-mail 610-436-0821 To renew your “club subscription” contact Sky Publishing directly. Their request to John Hepler, the newsletter Webmaster and John Hepler editor, at: [email protected]. phone number and address are in the Newsletter: 724-349-5981 magazine and on their renewal remind-

CCAS Website ers. If you have any questions call Don Public Relations: Deb Goldader first at 610-436-5702. John Hepler is the Society’s Webmas- 610-304-5303 ter. You can check out our Website at: Astronomy Magazine http://www.ccas.us Group Rates John welcomes any additions to the site Subscriptions to this excellent periodi- by Society members. The contributions cal are available through the CCAS at a can be of any astronomy subject or reduced price of $34.00 which is much object, or can be related to space explo- less than the individual subscription ration. The only requirement is that it is price of $42.95 (or $60.00 for two your own work; no copyrighted materi- years). If you want to participate in this al! Give your contributions to John special Society discount offer, contact Hepler at (724) 801-8789 or e-mail to our Treasurer Don Knabb. [email protected]

14 • Observations www.ccas.us Chester County Astronomical Society • February 2014