June 2019 OBSERVER

THE OBSERVER OF THE TWIN CITY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS

Volume 44, Number 6 June 2019

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

1«Editor’s Choice: Image of the Month – The WO 24” 2«President’s Note 3«Calendar of Celestial Events – June 2019 3«New & Renewing Members/Dues Blues/E-Mail List 4«This Month’s Phases of the Moon 4«This Month’s Solar Phenomena 4«Minutes of the May 14th BoD Meeting 6«AstroBits – News from Around the TCAA 6«E/PO Updates for May 2019 5«TCAA Image Gallery 7«A Brief Report from NCRAL 2019 9«Central Illinois Mini Conference September 21st 9«Intro. to Amateur Astronomy Course to Resume 10«Remaining Public Viewing Sessions for 2019 10«TCAA Calendar of Events for 2019 11«TCAA Image Gallery 12«June 2019 with Jeffrey L. Hunt 16«TCAA Treasurer’s Report as of May 29, 2019 17«Renewing Your TCAA Membership 17«TCAA Active on Facebook

IMAGE OF THE MONTH: EDITOR’S CHOICE – THE WO 24”

While this is not one of our more “traditional” astronomical images showing deep space objects, it’s still highly significant. This image was taken by TCAA president and property manager Tim Stone on Monday, May 13th, shortly after the 24” AG Optical telescope was placed on its Taurus yoke mount at Waynesville

Observatory (WO). The telescope’s optical tube assembly was a The TCAA is an affiliate of the Astronomical League. For heavy lift because it weighs about 300 pounds. Assisting Tim with more information about the TCAA, be certain to visit the the mounting of the telescope were Tony Cellini and Justin Meyer. TCAA website. Visit Astroleague.org for additional According to Tim, “Tony and Justin were a HUGE help… [T]hey were information about the League and its membership able to figure out how the mounting actually works. Great team benefits. effort.”

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

PRESIDENT’S NOTE The OBSERVER I feel like I spend a lot of time in is the monthly electronic newsletter of Twin this column complaining about the City Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational weather, but… this is getting organization of amateur astronomers inter- ridiculous! Ok, there’s my monthly ested in studying astronomy and sharing installment of weather commentary. their hobby with the public. Moving on…

I don’t know how many of you TCAA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS have seen news about the SpaceX

President, Director, & Property Manager launch of the first prototype StarLink Tim Stone 309-531-2401 satellites. The goal of the program, [email protected] funded by SpaceX, is to provide low-

Vice President & Director/Membership Coord. cost, high-bandwidth internet access Tom Willmitch 309-846-2423 around the globe. This is surely a [email protected] laudable goal, but it threatens TCAA President Tim Stone Treasurer & Director/Registered Agent disaster for the astronomy Dave Osenga 309-287-0789 community, both amateur and professional. The final planned constellation will [email protected] place thousands of satellites in low earth orbit, each one bright enough to be seen Secretary & Director/Historian/Editor with the naked eye, and occasionally flaring to considerable brightness like the Carl J. Wenning 309-830-4085 Iridium satellites we all are familiar with. As SpaceX moves these plans forward, [email protected] competitive companies might very well launch their own satellites, crowding the 5th Director/Assistant Property Manager skies with potentially tens of thousands of satellites. It is the fervent hope of this Scott Wade 309-310-2464 astronomer, as well as many others I’ve talked to, that these plans are modified to [email protected] include far fewer satellites and thwart the creation of a new kind of light pollution – Astronomical League Correspondent satellite reflection. Robert Finnigan 309-846-9533 I will personally stay versed on developments with this program. It will be [email protected] magnificently expensive, and as we all know, plans often get changed for economic Technology Coordinator reasons. Is SpaceX being entirely altruistic in this endeavor? Perhaps somewhat, Justin Meyer 630-649-0611 [email protected] but in the end, nothing is ever free, and SpaceX will need to recoup their considerable cost somehow. Perhaps reason will prevail, projected bandwidth Webmaster capacity will be reduced, occasional outages will be deemed acceptable (as they are Lee Green 309-454-7349 [email protected] today with the GPS constellation), and the cost and number of satellites will drop to more reasonable numbers. Lighting Educ. & AL Observing Club Coordinator Lisa Wentzel unlisted number I am personally in favor of increased access to information around the world, [email protected] but as we’ve seen, information can be made to do whatever someone wants, and can be as dangerous as it is beneficial. Simply giving access to those who don’t have

The OBSERVER it today solves a technology problem but threatens to further exacerbate the many Carl J. Wenning, Editor in Chief social ills that come with social media and high-speed access to information. How will governments respond to what they perceive as threats caused by access to Submission deadline two days before information? Can we as human beings disseminate and use information the end of each month. responsibly? These, and many others, are vital questions and we are rushing MEMBERSHIP DUES headlong into a world without answers, laws, norms, ethics, and a moral compass. Astronomers would do well to be very concerned about these satellites. So Individual Adult/Family $40 Full-time Student/Senior $25 would the rest of the world. Let us proceed with caution. (Senior status equals ages 60+) Meanwhile, let’s hope the skies clear this month. I’m itching to take some deep sky images and spectrograms! To join, send your name, contact info and dues payment to Dave Osenga, TCAA Tim Stone Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL TCAA President 61761-1471.

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

CALENDAR OF CELESTIAL EVENTS – JUNE 2019 NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS

MORNING PLANETS (6/15): Venus, Saturn, Uranus, & Neptune The following individuals have paid dues for new or renewed memberships as of May 29, 2019. (Others who EVENING PLANETS (6/15): Mercury, Mars, & Jupiter paid after that date will appear in the July 2019 issue of The following table gives the date and time (24-hour clock) of The OBSERVER.) important astronomical events for this month. All events are given in Central Daylight Time.

Day Time Event

01 13:15 Venus 3.2°N of Moon DUES BLUES 03 05:02 NEW MOON If you have received a “your dues are due” 04 10:42 Mercury 3.7°N of Moon statement along with the email that brought you this 05 10:05 Mars 1.6°N of Moon issue of The OBSERVER, please remit your dues to Mr. 05 17:46 Moon at Ascending Node Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., 06 04:41 Pollux 6.2°N of Moon Normal, IL 61761-1471. Dues are currently $25 for 07 02:19 Beehive 0.2°S of Moon seniors (60 years of age and over) and $40 regular. 07 18:21 Moon at Perigee: 368508 km 08 14:36 Regulus 3.2°S of Moon SUBSCRIBING TO THE TCAA EMAIL LIST

08 20:51 Venus 5.0°S of Pleiades By subscribing to a group’s mailing list, you will 10 00:59 FIRST QUARTER MOON receive email messages from the group though you 10 10 Jupiter at Opposition won’t have access to the group’s web features (like 16 13:50 Jupiter 2.0°S of Moon photos, files, links, polls, calendar, etc.) unless members activate it later. The club has an open email listserv. It is 16 18:09 Venus 4.6°N of Aldebaran known as the TCAA YahooGroups listserv. It will be used 17 03:31 FULL MOON to share announcements and reminders about 18 13 Mercury 0.2° of Mars astronomical and club events. To join this main listserv, 18 20:49 Moon at Descending Node you must do the following: 18 22:58 Saturn 0.4°N of Moon: Occn. 1. To subscribe: Send a blank email to TCAA- 19 08:04 Mercury 5.2°S of Pollux [email protected] Note: You’ll be sent a 21 03:00 Mars 5.4°S of Pollux confirmation email from the group. Reply to the 21 10:54 Summer Solstice confirmation email to activate your subscription. 23 02:50 Moon at Apogee: 404549 km 2. To post a message: [email protected] 23 18 Mercury Greatest Elong: 25.2°E 3. To unsubscribe: [email protected] 25 04:46 LAST QUARTER MOON 30 10:06 Aldebaran 2.3°S of Moon

http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2019cst.html

EVENING SKY MAP Click on the icon found here to access a current evening sky map along with a more detailed celestial events calendar.

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

THIS MONTH’S PHASES OF THE MOON

New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter Monday, June 3 Monday, June 10 Monday, June 17 Tuesday, June 25

All moon phase dates are Central Time. Additional moon phases for the 2019 calendar year can be found by clicking here. Images provided by J. K. Howell of the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society & used with permission.

THIS MONTH’S SOLAR PHENOMENA

In the table below, you will find times of sunrise and sunset along with rising and setting azimuths (Az), length of day including change from previous day, start and end times of astronomical twilight, and the time of solar noon along with the elevation (El) of the midday sun. These data come from https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/bloomington

2019 Sunrise/Sunset Day Length Astronomical Twilight Solar Noon Solar Dist.

June Sunrise (Az) Sunset (Az) Length Diff. Start End Time (El) MIL. MILES 1 5:27 AM (60°) 8:20 PM (300°) 14:52:12 +1:11 3:27 AM 10:21 PM 12:53 PM (71.6°) 94.265 11 5:25 AM (58°) 8:26 PM (302°) 15:01:05 +0:37 3:21 AM 10:30 PM 12:55 PM (72.6°) 94.385 21 5:25 AM (58°) 8:29 PM (302°) 15:04:04 +0:01 3:20 AM 10:35 PM 12:57 PM (73.0°) 94.466

MINUTES OF THE MAY 14TH BOD MEETING

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by President Carl, as secretary/editor/historian, noted that the Tim Stone. In attendance were Tom Willmitch, Dave Osenga, minutes have been approved and published, that The Carl Wenning, Scott Wade, Lisa Wentzel, and Bob & Cheryl OBSERVER continues to be published on time, and that he is Finnigan. The first order of business was reports of officers working on the 60th anniversary edition of A History of the and chairs. TCAA for 2020. Tim, as president and property manager, noted that the Dave, as treasurer/registered agent, gave the balances: QHY camera on the 14” has been sent back for replacement. checking $893.83 and savings $2,517.71 for a total of The 17” is fully operational. The 10” mirrors have been $3,411.54. He further noted that the $300 allocation to cleaned though the telescope’s camera still has a cover assistance with the Form 990 filing was inadequate to condensation problem that needs to be addressed. The 24” the expense. Another $25 was approved to cover the entire has been mounted on the Taurus yoke mount. Bob has $325 amount. He stated that so long as donations are under moved an unused desktop computer from SGO to WO for $50,000 per year, we can use the postcard form of reporting use with the 24”. which will not require such an expense. It was agreed that Tom, as vice president and membership coordinator, this likely would not happen again as our construction noted that the recent TCAA quarterly social was a success projects are now at an end. Dave asked about a contribution and that he is looking forward to hosting the next such to IDA and a motion was made, seconded, and carried to event, perhaps in July or August. He also noted that Tim send IDA $50 as a membership renewal. recently gave at talk at the ISU Planetarium during the Bob, as ALCor, had nothing to report. Lisa agreed to Illinois Section of the Great Lakes Planetarium Society accept appointment as AL Observing Clubs Coordinator. It meeting. was agreed by all that the Lighting Coordinator and Publicist

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

positions were not needed given our use of Facebook, and prove helpful in presenting NCRAL 2023 which the TCAA the ad hoc committees disbanded. It was noted, however, will be hosting. that we should be concerned about potential light pollution • A 3-talk summer presentation series was discussed for the emanating from a new truck stop to be built at Atlanta, IL, ISU Planetarium with talks about the collapse of Earth’s that could brighten the western horizon at WO. magnetic field (June), the 50th anniversary of the first lunar There was no report from the technology coordinator landing (July), and perhaps something about the TCAA Justin Meyer, but Tim reported on his behalf that he had (August). Carl suggested that we look into acquiring a loan helped with the installation of the 24” and will continue to of moon rocks for the July event. Tom as the official do so with “wiring” after an Eagle computer (perhaps other) representative of ISU would have to deal with this. is mounted on the side of the telescope. There was no report • Sidewalk Astronomy was again suggested with the from webmaster Lee Green, but Carl noted recently difficulty decision that we plan for lunar activities in early July in of transferring the completed newsletter PDF to Lee. The file commemoration of the July 20, 1969 Apollo XI lunar had been sent twice recently with the file being declared landing. No specific plans were made. “undeliverable” both times. It was agreed to talk about this • Remote planning was undertaken for NCRAL 2023. Carl further on during the meeting. suggest a solar eclipse them in regard to the events of 2023 (annual along southern USA) and 2024 (total across The following points were made under OLD BUSINESS: southern Illinois). He noted six sub-themes that might be included that are part of the NCRAL Convention Planning • Carl noted that the SGO dome needs to be lubricated. Bob Guidelines. It was suggested that local talent might include noted that he knows the problem and that all it requires is Tim, Tom, Jamey Jenkins, Carl, and Scott and/or Emily greasing. He indicated that the dome is dragging on the Wade who will be a senior in astronomy at the University west side and that it has little to do with the rollers. in Texas at about that time. Carl will investigate Previously, William Carney had stepped out on the roof convention centers in the near term. and lubricated the dome from the west side. This is no • Attention was again turned to the problem with longer possible with the drop-down lower slot cover. We dissemination of the newsletter. As part of the discussion, will need to use a ladder and Bob noted that he as a 36’ it was agreed that we need to determine if there is an unit. “off-site” backup of the website in the event that • Carl reviewed early preparations for the 2019 Central something should happen to Lee’s server such as a fire. Illinois Mini Conference to be held Saturday, September Dave will talk with Lee about backup and see if they can’t 21. He gave a tentative schedule starting with talks at the get to the root of the problem with file transfer that has ISU Planetarium at 3PM, a cookout at SGNC at 5:30 PM recently shown up. It was then noted that the followed by a keynote and open house, and a 7:30 PM Yahoogroups listserv doesn’t seem to be working properly dedication and open house at WO. Bob will speak with either. Additionally, the website probably needs to be Ernie and Pat Finnigan about holding the event at WO. reviewed and/or updated in terms of appearances. We’ve had the same look for a long time and it’s over due for a The following points were made under NEW BUSINESS: refreshing new look. • The date for the next Board of Directors meeting was set • NCRAL has given the TCAA a $250 membership as Tuesday, July 16th. recruitment mini grant for use in again implementing its Introduction to Amateur Astronomy course. Carl and Tom Closing announcements were made which included a talked about arrangements. (See article further on in this reminder about the Illinois Dark Skies Star Party hosted by issue.) It was agreed that current members may apply to SAS September 26-28 (see www.sas-sky.org), a reminder to attend the course at no cost. (However, such members will distribute PVS brochures (Tom took the lot for distribution at have to either use an electronic version or print their copy the ISU Planetarium), and that the TCAA received a of TCAA Guide #1 for use in the course as the NCRAL mini complementary Galileoscope from NCRAL 2019 which will be grant may be used for recruiting of new members only.) used for talks and presentations. Tim volunteered to • The AAS will be hosting a 2-day eclipse planning workshop assemble the scope and return it to Carl so he can use it in St. Louis June 8-9. Tom indicated an interest in during his June PVS talk at SGNC. The meeting adjourned at attending on behalf of both the ISU Planetarium and TCAA approximately 8:00 PM. and will investigate this option. This workshop might Respectfully submitted, Carl J. Wenning, Secretary

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

ASTROBITS – NEWS FROM AROUND THE TCAA

ó The TCAA was awarded NCRAL’s first Member Recruitment Mini Grant. The award was officially announced at NCRAL 2019. The grant, in the amount of $250, will be used to pay for printing of as many Introduction to Amateur Astronomy guidebooks as possible. Funds may only be expended on new member recruitment by the TCAA. Details about this course can be found further on in this issue of The OBSERVER. If you are not familiar with NCRAL’s Mini Grant program, be certain to read Northern Lights, the Region’s quarterly newsletter. See the Spring 2019 issue still available at https://ncral.wordpress.com/newsletter-archive/ ó The AAS will be hosting an Eclipse Planning Workshop, 8-9 June 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri. The registration fee for this two-day event is only $15. With the TCAA hosting NCRAL 2023, the Board of Directors is seeking one or two TCAA representatives to send to this event. The representative(s) would subsequently assist with planning NCRAL 2023. Please contact President Tim Stone immediately at [email protected] if you are interested in attending. Check out the following link: https://aas.org/outreach/solar- eclipse-planning-workshop ó Just a reminder that the TCAA will be hosting NCRAL 2023 four years from now. Our theme will be related to two solar eclipses, one annual and one solar. The total eclipse will be visible from southern Illinois similar to August 21, 2017. ó Registration is now open for the 18th annual Illinois Dark Skies Star Party. It will be held at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area, 25 miles northwest of Springfield, Illinois. The event dates are September 26-28. Detailed information and registration are available online at http://sas-sky.org/2019-idssp/ ó Lisa Wentzel has shared a link to an interesting YouTube video about the lunar missions of the 1960s and 1970s. Among other things, it debunks the myths about the USA not landing men on the moon. The 52-minute video is beautifully produced and can be found at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_4GG_ZyXvJw ó Sharon MacDonald recently has been urging members to view passages of the International Space Station. Several members reported successful observations via the TCAA YahooGroups listserv. ó Tim Stone has acquired a slit spectrograph from Jim Wehmer of CUAS. This will allow Tim to take his work to a new level.

E/PO UPDATES FOR MAY 2019

With the return of “warmer” weather, there has been a significant uptick in the number of education/public outreach events on behalf of the TCAA by various members. To bring us up to date, Lee Green provided the following recent summary:

“It has been an active spring season for the club’s public outreach activities. Starting off with a troop of 22 Girl Scouts on Feb 15 where Lee led to activities for the new merit badge, we had clear skies, but it was cool and windy. Don Cooper was there to help out. “Lee visited the 9th Prairieland Elementary School’s Sciencepalooza on April 16 and shared devices that demonstrated properties of light including lenses, binoculars, diffraction gratings. We were situated next to Libby from the Challenger Learning Center. “A group of scouts on April 27 cancelled their event when weather turned bad. On May 3, Cub Scout Pack 3904 had another cloudy night. Vivian Hoette helped out and we conducted tours of the SGO to show them the facilities. Vivian setup a dob so scouts could see themselves in the mirror and look at leaves and branches. Other scout leaders set up a mirror reflector game in the field. One of the scout leaders had been active in the effort to build the adaptive optics systems at Haleakela and Sandia.

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

“Our longest running event, the Metcalf 5th Grade Outdoor Education outing was held on May 2. Lee visited and presented his Introduction to Astronomy talk which relates how the movements we see in the sky inform our calendar. Paul Pouliot offered to join us, but since it had rained all day and clouds continued through the night, we couldn’t do any viewing. Cub Scout Pack 3975 held a campout at Weldon Springs State Park on May 4. Lee joined them under clear skies and moderate temperatures to present a sky tour and viewing with binoculars and a telescope. “Lee visited a Girl Scout outing at the Nature Center on May 17, where we had mostly clear skies and a full Moon for viewing, and we toured the SGO. “The Girl Scouts Sky Badge was the topic on May 18 at Camp Peairs. Cloudy skies prevented viewing anything, but Lee was able to show the scope and binoculars to let them see how they work. We spend nearly two hours covering the presentation materials and had many good questions along the way. “On May 24 at the Nature Center, we gave a talk to the 4-H'ers about astronomy as a hobby and some of the many opportunities that are available. Mark and Nataya Boulware hosted the event and, along with Vivian and Lee, provided a tour of the SGO, a laser-guided sky tour, and viewing of globular clusters and double stars under reasonably clear skies. “During these events, we interacted with over 230 people to share our love of astronomy.”

In other areas, TCAA President Tim Stone presented to the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society at Parkland Community College’s Staerkel Planetarium on Thursday, May 9th. He spoke for about 45 minutes about the technical aspects of his work obtaining stellar spectra. He also noted how inexpensive and simple it is to obtain stellar spectra in comparison to doing astrophotography. About 30 CUAS members were in attendance. Tim was invited by Staerkel Planetarium director and former CUAS president Dave Leake. The TCAA’s second PVS for 2019 took place on May 11th. Despite the fact that a Facebook post reached over 1,600 individuals, the low temperature and breezy conditions near the end of a rainy day kept the attendance to a minimum. Tim Stone delivered two talks – the first a 15-minute talk about stellar spectrography prepared for the general public and a second a 30-minute repeat of his CUAS talk about the technical aspects about how to obtain to stellar spectra given two nights before. In addition to Tim, eight additional TCAAers were in attendance at some point. Among them were Dave Peters, Carl Wenning, Scott Wade, Dave Osenga, Paul Pouliot, Mark and Bryce Heiniger. Bob Finnigan was present earlier to set up PSO for display but did not attend Tim’s talk. Five non-TCAA members were also in attendance.

A BRIEF REPORT FROM NCRAL 2019 ~ by Carl Wenning ~

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

Sharon MacDonald, Mark Boulware, and Carl Wenning attended the NCRAL 2019 convention in Moline, IL, May 3-5. The event was most capably hosted by Popular Astronomy Club. The group worked diligently for two years to produce an innovative event that would attract a larger than normal turn out – and that it did. There were 87 registrants making this one of the largest such Regional conventions in recent memory. There were many talks addressing topics ranging from history, to literature, to culture, to semiprofessional and profession research topics. Professional topics ranged from radio astronomy, to asteroids, to general relativity, to M-class stars and the search for habitable planets, to automated observatories, to supernovas, gravity waves, to meteorites… TCAA’s Carl Wenning gave an invited talk Voyages of Discovery: Literary, Literal, and Figurative in an attempt to get NCRAL armchair astronomers out to observe. On Saturday morning, Carl, who is Regional Chair of NCRAL, provided a brief summary of the many accomplishments the Region has had during the past 12 months. These included three motions approved by the Regional Council since last year’s convention:

• agreement to pay to remove advertising from NCRAL website, • agreement to partially fund Chair and Regional Representative to attend the Astronomical League’s national council meetings, and • formalized a limited-liability and profit-sharing agreement between convention hosts and the Region.

Carl also pointed out that during the past year the Region’s Chair, Officers, and/or Council had:

• completed two convention-related surveys, • wrote and formalized a Regional convention planning guide, • develop and implemented an NCRAL newsletter editor award, • implemented two $250 mini grants for membership and affiliate recruitment, • implemented a logo design process, and • published four seasonal issue of the Region’s Northern Lights newsletter for its 3rd straight year.

He also pointed out ALCon 2018 was hosted by an NCRAL affiliate – the Minnesota Astronomical Society – and at which there several award winners from the NCRAL region. He also pointed out that Reflector articles originated from within our Region. During Saturday morning and afternoon, convention attendees had an opportunity to visit PACMO, PAC’s immaculately maintained 16-year-old mobile observatory, which is shown here with observatory manager Rusty Case. The observatory houses a 12” Meade SCT which during this event was used to view the sun. Also worthy of note was the fact that Carl was re-elected Chair of the North Central Region for a second two-year term (2019-2021) and the TCAA was the recipient of NCRAL’s 2019 Membership Recruitment Grant in the amount of $250 (see below). The TCAA also received a Galileoscope for having members in attendance. More detailed information about NCRAL 2019 will follow in the Summer issue of the Region’s Northern Lights newsletter.

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

CENTRAL ILLINOIS ASTRONOMY MINI CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER 21ST

The Central Illinois Mini Conference for amateur astronomers will return to McLean County on Saturday, September 21st. This event, held at Sugar Grove Nature Center (SGNC) in 2016 and 2017, was hosted by the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society (CUAS) last year. At that time, we heard a number of invited talks at Staerkel Planetarium on the campus of Parkland Community College and celebrated the opening of the new CUAS observatory with a cookout at their rural site. This year, 2019, we hope to do something similar with contributed and invited talks starting midafternoon at the newly refurbished ISU Planetarium, with the event moving out to Sugar Grove Nature Center later in the afternoon for a complimentary evening cookout. We will have open houses at both SGO (11”) and PSO (Hα, 11”, 14”, and 17” telescopes) and an invited talk at that time. Later we will journey to Waynesville Observatory – our dark-sky site about 7 miles distant with its 6”, 10”, 16”, 20”, and 24” telescopes – for a tour of the facilities there. Members of Illinois astronomy groups are most welcome to join us. We especially encourage members of CUAS, Sangamon Astronomical Society (SAS), Peoria Astronomical Society (PAS), and Popular Astronomy Club (PAC) who have joined us in the past. This year we also encourage members of the U of I and ISU astronomy clubs to join us. Registration will be required for this event so we can prepare appropriately. Details to follow.

INTRODUCTION TO AMATEUR ASTRONOMY COURSE TO RESUME ~ by Carl Wenning ~

The TCAA’s Introduction to Amateur Astronomy course is making a comeback for the first time since 2017. Started in September of 2015 as Universe Sampler, the course (later named Introduction to Amateur Astronomy) was successively taught three times, twice by Carl Wenning and twice by Darren Erickson with a one course taught by both. Approximately 30 individuals passed through the first three courses. The 2019 course is being supported by an inaugural $250 mini grant provided by the North Central Region of the Astronomical League (NCRAL) and awarded at its Regional convention in Moline on May 3-5, 2019. The purpose of the grant is to help a club recruit new members and is the first of its type. In this instance, the money will be used to pay for as many copies of the course’s textbook, TCAA Guide #1, as possible. The grant will allow us to reduce the cost of the course in the hope of recruiting new members. The course will be promoted at all public viewing sessions this year. TCAA Guide #1 was written by Carl prior to the start of the course in 2015 and subsequently updated and expanded. The 52-page Guide constitutes a comprehensive introduction to amateur astronomy but is not to be mistaken for an introductory astronomy text. The Guide addresses the basics that everyone needs to know in order to become a successful amateur astronomer. It deals primarily with the use of eyes, binoculars, and telescopes to successfully view the objects of the night sky. Introduction to Amateur Astronomy will be offered for a reduced fee in comparison to the past (registration fee will be $15 per household this year rather than $25). Each of the course’s three 2-hour classes will be held at the ISU Planetarium courtesy of Director Tom Willmitch. Classes will be taught by Carl Wenning with Tom’s assistance. The dates for the three sessions are Saturdays, October 12, 19, and November 2. (There will be no class on Saturday, October 26 due to a schedule conflict.) Classes will run from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM each day. This will allow for evening viewing sessions should the sky be clear. The course Guide (not the course) will be provided free to non-TCAA-member participants (one per household), and a one-year introductory membership in the TCAA will be included. (TCAA members may attend the course without paying the $15 course fee but will have to either use an electronic version or print their own copy of the 52-page TCAA Guide #1 for use in the course. (N.B. The Guide is currently being updated. Do not print your copy for the course until (1) you have been admitted and (2) the revisions are complete.) Those who successfully complete the course (determined on the basis of course attendance and successfully passing an optional written test which will be new this year) will be eligible for training on the SGO’s 11-inch Celestron “goto” telescope. Keys to the observatory will be provided only after an acceptable introductory period, the length of which has yet to be determined by the TCAA Board of Directors. To apply for this course, go online to the following case-sensitive URL: http://bit.ly/2V8eGxL Be mindful of the fact that application does not guarantee enrollment. The number of seats in the course is limited, and priority will be given to non- members. Should you have any questions or concerns, contact Carl Wenning at [email protected]

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

REMAINING PUBLIC VIEWING SESSIONS FOR 2019

June 8: Telescopes – Why do Astronomers Need Them? (Carl Wenning) 8:45-10:45 PM

It seems like astronomers are forever building bigger and bigger telescopes. Even amateur astronomers like us want bigger telescopes. We will answer the questions of what telescopes do for astronomers, and how they work.

July 13: A History of Women in Astronomy (Lisa Wentzel) 9:00-11:00 PM Women have a centuries-long history of direct involvement in astronomy. For much of that, they were given little, if any, credit for their marvelous discoveries. We will explore some of important women in the history of astronomy and learn how historical attitudes are changing in the current world.

August 10: Meteor Showers – There’s More Than One (Mark Cabaj) 8:30-10:30 PM The famous Perseid Meteor Shower peaks in a few days, but the moon will be nearly full. Will you have to wait until next August to see a meteor shower? Learn about other great meteor showers, when they are visible, and what you can expect to see.

September 07: Your First Telescope – Binoculars? (Mark Cabaj) 8:00-10:00 PM Virtually every serious amateur astronomer owns a pair of binoculars. If you’re thinking about getting a telescope for yourself, or for a Christmas gift, we will tell you what to look for, how to use them for rewarding astronomy, and why you’ll use them longer than any other telescope you’ll ever own.

October 05: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto – Two Planets, or Three? (Mark & Nataya Boulware) 7:00-9:00 PM We spend a lot of time looking at the inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Few have ever seen Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. October presents a great opportunity to see all three in one night. We will learn about them, and hopefully have a look at them!

TCAA CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR 2019

Date Event Coordinator(s) Location Times

June 8 Public Viewing Session Carl Wenning SGNC 8:45 – 10:45 PM July 9 Public Viewing Session Lisa Wentzel SGNC 9:00 – 11:00 PM July 13 TCAA Membership Social Carl Wenning TBD TBD July 25-29 ALCon 2019 (tour & cruise) Astronomical League Kennedy Space Ctr/Cruise All day August 10 Public Viewing Session Mark Cabaj SGNC 8:30 – 10:30 PM Sept 7 Public Viewing Session Mark Cabaj SGNC 8:00 – 10:00 PM Sept 21 Central IL Mini Conference Carl Wenning ISU/SGNC/WO Afternoon/evening Sept 26-28 Illinois Dark Sky Star Party Sangamon Astro Society Jim Edgar/Panther Creek All day October 5 Public Viewing Session Mark & Nataya Boulware SGNC 7:00 – 9:00 PM Oct 12,19,26 Intro to Amateur Astronomy Carl Wenning ISU Planetarium TBD Dec 4 TCAA Presents to PAS Carl Wenning/Tim Stone Riverfront Museum 7:30 PM

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

TCAA IMAGE GALLERY

Supernova in M100 on May 5 by Tim Stone. Tim writes, “Just a few days ago a supernova was discovered in M100. With but one clear night in this dark moon, I figured I'd try to get an image that showed the supernova, and I was able to get a decent one. Here you go!” Look for the supernova in the right image, just to the lower right of the galaxy’s nucleus. Its location is indicated by two black tick marks in the image to the right.

Moon, May 11, by Tim Stone. Tim noted, “A single shot of the moon last night, just before the clouds rolled in. Seeing was pretty good and I sure wish I could have done a mosaic, but it was not to be. This is Mare Messier 51, May 5, by Bob Finnigan. Bob noted, “This is a Nectaris and the composite of 3 RGB images taken with the QHY 168 mono wonderful scarp camera using the 17-inch telescope with the new filters Rupes Altai. It's installed by Scott Wade.” amazing to me that I can now throw my telescope together, put the camera on, and capture an image like this. 10 years ago, I would labor for hours to create a terrible image!”

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

C7 Solar Flare May 6 by Jamey Jenkins. Jamey noted, “Captured a short series of images through thin clouds this morning of a class C7 solar flare in the newly re-appeared AR2740 with the 102mm William Optics refractor and Daystar Quark Combo chromosphere Hα filter, and DMK-41 camera. Later in the afternoon (right image) another new region appeared closer to the solar limb (AR2741) following AR2740 which is shown here in the light of Calcium (Ca II K). Same telescopic setup but with a Lunt Ca-K module.”

JUNE 2019: JUPITER AT OPPOSITION AND A MERCURY – MARS CONJUNCTION ~ by Jeffrey L. Hunt ~

At the beginning of the month when morning twilight • June 1: At the beginning of morning twilight, Jupiter (m = begins, about 3:15 a.m. CDT, bright Jupiter, nearing −2.6), nearing its opposition in Ophiuchus, is about 22° up opposition, is low in the south-southwest, to the upper left in the south-southwest. Golden-orange Antares (α Sco, m of Antares. The Teapot of Sagittarius is at the meridian with = 1.0) is over 11° to the lower right of the bright planet. Saturn slightly to the east. The Summer Triangle – Vega, Saturn (m = 0.3), a few degrees east of the meridian, is Deneb, and Altair – is high in the south, with Vega slightly retrograding in eastern Sagittarius. It is at opposition next west of the meridian. Pegasus is in the east. Alpheratz, the month, 29 days after Jupiter’s opposition. About 30 star Pegasus shares with Andromeda, is about 30° up. As minutes before sunrise, Venus, 4° up in the east-northeast, sunrise approaches, Venus continues its northern glide along is 6° to the upper left of the waning crescent moon (27.5 the eastern horizon. When the sun crosses the meridian at days past new, 5% illuminated). During the month, Venus local noon, it is 2° shy of its solstice noon altitude. After appears to move farther north in the east-northeast. It sunset, Mercury is beginning its evening apparition, rises about an hour before sunrise during the month. The appearing low in the west-northwest after sunset. It has two length of twilight increases about 10 minutes during the conjunctions with Mars during this apparition, one this month, so the planet appears in brighter twilight. The sun month and the second during July. While Mercury is in the is in the sky over 15 hours today. Summer’s long daylight west-northwest during this apparition, it moves farther hours are upon us. About 30 minutes after sunset, south during the appearance. Mars, heading toward its Mercury (m = −1.0), only 13° east of the sun, is 6° up in the conjunction, is at the feet of Gemini. While appearing in the west-northwest. Fifteen minutes later, look for Mars (m = morning sky, Jupiter and Saturn begin to appear in the 1.8), 15° up in the west-northwest, 16° above Mercury. southeast earlier in the evening. At the end of evening Mars is 1.1° to the left of Epsilon Geminorum (ε Gem, m = twilight, golden-orange Arcturus is at the meridian, a 3.0) Mercury is nearly 50% larger in apparent size and over sidereal sign of late spring and that the summer solstice is 10 times brighter than Mars. As Mercury moves higher near. into the sky, it fades about 0.1 magnitude every evening,

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

while Mars’ brightness remains relatively constant. Jupiter rises in the southeastern sky before 9 p.m. and Saturn follows about two hours later. • June 2: Antares rises in the southeast at sunset. Mercury is nearly 8° up in the west-northwest, 30 minutes after sunset. Fifteen minutes later, Mars is about 14° up in the west-northwest, over 14° to the upper left of Mercury. Mars continues to move through Gemini. This evening it is 1.6° to the upper left of Epsilon Geminorum. At the end of evening twilight, the globular cluster M53, 1° northeast of Alpha Comae Berenices (α Com, m = 4.3), is about 15° west of Arcturus, now at the meridian. Unlike the brighter globular clusters that have been described here recently, The chart above shows the motion of Mercury and Mars M53’s nucleus is 3’ across. Its photographic size is against the background stars of Gemini in the west- measured at 14’. In the Messier Album, John Mallas northwest from June 5 through June 30 at about 45 describes the cluster, “Here is a superb object. It is slightly minutes after sunset. First locate Castor and Pollux and oval in shape, with a large, bright center. At a look for the two planets with a binocular. The moon magnification of 120, a 4-inch refractor revealed many passes through the starfield on June 5 and June 6. Mercury stars” (p. 118). NGC 5053 is a peculiar globular cluster 1° is closest to Mars on June 18. Mercury dims each night as southeast of M53. Robert Burnham describes the cluster it appears higher in the sky. in his Celestial Handbook, “It is an unusual object that could be classified as either a very loose globular cluster or • June 5: At the beginning of morning twilight, before 3:15 a very rich galactic (open) cluster. The cluster may be a.m. CDT, Jupiter is about 20° up in the south-southwest. detected in an 8-inch glass as a faint hazy spot of about Nearly 30° to the east, Saturn (m = 0.2) approaches the magnitude 10.5. It contains no dense nucleus of stars, and meridian. Thirty minutes before sunrise, Venus is 4° up in the faint members are widely separated even at the the east-northeast. Thirty minutes after sunset, Mercury cluster center. Resolution can be achieved only with rather (m = −0.7) is nearly 9° up in the west-northwest. At 45 large telescopes” (p. 675). Studies of the stellar spectra minutes after sunset, Mars is over 13° up in the west- and the variability of several of the stars indicates it is part northwest, 3.6° to the upper left of Epsilon Geminorum, of the family that orbits around the galactic core outside and 11° to the upper left of Mercury (m = −0.6). The the plane of the Milky Way, a globular cluster. waxing crescent moon (2.7d, 9%) is 6.3° to the upper left • June 3: At the beginning of morning twilight, Jupiter, 21° of Mars, which sets at the end of evening twilight. up in the south-southwest, passes 1.6 ° north of Omicron • June 6: Jupiter rises about 15 minutes after sunset. Thirty Ophiuchi (ο Oph, m = 5.1). The moon is New at 5:03 a.m. minutes after sunset, Mercury is over 9° up in the west- CDT. Mercury (m = −0.9) continues its climb into bright northwest. Forty-five minutes after sunset, Mars is over evening twilight. At 30 minutes after sunset, it is over 7° 13° up in the west-northwest, 10° to the upper left of up in the west-northwest. As the sky darkens further, Mercury. The moon (3.7d, 16%) is nearly 12° to the upper Mars is 2.2° to the upper left of Epsilon Geminorum and left of Pollux (β Gem, m = 1.2). nearly 14° to the upper left of Mercury. • June 7: The moon is at perigee at 6:15 p.m. CDT. Thirty • June 4: Mercury (m = −0.8) moves into Gemini this evening. minutes after sunset, Mercury, nearly 10° up in the west- Thirty minutes after sunset, this speedy planet is over 8° northwest, is nearly the same altitude as Procyon (α CMi, up in the west-northwest. The waxing crescent moon m = 0.4), over 25° to the left of Mercury. Forty-five (1.7d, 3%) is nearly 6° to the left of Mercury. As the sky minutes after sunset, Mars is nearly 13° up in the west- darkens further, Mars is nearly 14° up in the west- northwest, 9° to the upper left of Mercury. An hour after northwest, 2.8° to the upper left of Epsilon Geminorum sunset, the moon (4.7d, 26%), 34° up in the west, is over and over 12° to the upper left of Mercury. 12° to the lower right of Regulus (m = 1.3). • June 8: Aldebaran (α Tau, m = 0.8) rises at sunrise. What is the first date that you can see it in morning twilight? In the

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

evening at mid-twilight, 65 minutes after sunset, Mercury 20° to the upper left of the moon. Saturn, 30° to the upper (m = −0.5), 4.5° up in the west-northwest, is 7.7° to the left of Jupiter and 26° up in the south, is 5° west of the lower right of Mars. The waxing crescent moon (5.7d, meridian. As the sky brightens, Venus, about 10° west of 37%), about 40° up in the west-southwest, is 3.4° above the sun, is 4° up in the east-northeast, 30 minutes before Regulus. Saturn rises in the southeast before 10:30 p.m. sunrise. One hour after sunset, the moon (12.7d, 99%), 20° CDT. up in the southeast, is over 7° to the upper left of Antares • June 9: An hour after sunset, the Mercury (m = −0.4) – and nearly 9° to the upper right of Jupiter. Mercury, nearly Mars gap is 6.9°. Mercury, about 6° up in the west- 7° up in the west-northwest, is 1.6° to the lower right of northwest, is to the lower right of Mars. The nearly half- Mars. full moon (6.7d, 48%), over 40° up in the southwest, is At mid-month when morning twilight begins, the nearly full nearly 10° to the lower right of Denebola (β Gem, m = 2.1). moon, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible from southwest to • June 10: The moon reaches its First Quarter phase at south. Jupiter, past its opposition, continues to retrograde in 12:59 a.m. CDT. At the beginning of morning twilight, a southern Ophiuchus. Saturn, nearing its opposition, few minutes after 3 a.m. CDT, Jupiter, retrograding in retrogrades in eastern Sagittarius. The moon passes them Ophiuchus, is 19° up in the southwest. The planet is nearly next week. Golden Arcturus is low in the west and the 11° to the upper left of Antares. Saturn, retrograding in Summer Triangle is high in the south. As for the circumpolar eastern Sagittarius, is 26° up in the south, over 30° from stars, the Big Dipper is low in the west and Cassiopeia is high Jupiter. This morning and each morning until June 19, the in the northeast, with Andromeda and Pegasus to its lower earliest sunrise occurs, about 5:25 a.m. CDT. Thirty right. This resembles September’s evening sky. Venus is low minutes before sunrise, Venus is 4° up in the east- in the east-northeast in bright morning twilight. The sun is northeast. Jupiter is at opposition at 10:28 a.m. CDT. It moving nearly at its solstice arc. Daylight and twilight are rises at about 8:15 p.m. CDT. One hour after sunset, the reaching their maximum intervals, allowing about 4.5 hours of complete darkness. Meanwhile in the evening sky, waxing gibbous moon (7.7d, 60%) is over 9° to the upper Mercury, approaching its greatest evening elongation, and right of Gamma Virginis (γ Vir, m = 3.4). The Mercury – Mars, heading toward its solar conjunction, are moving Mars gap is 5.9°. Mercury is about 6° up in the west- through Gemini, low in the west-northwest. The nearly full northwest; it is 0.6° to the upper left of Epsilon moon is in the southeast, near Jupiter. By the end of evening Geminorum. twilight, Saturn is in the southeast. Scorpius and Sagittarius • June 11: One hour after sunset, the moon (8.7d, 71%) is approach the meridian. Leo is now tipped toward the about 5° to the left of Gamma Virginis. Low in the west- western horizon followed by Spica and Arcturus. The northwest, the Mercury (m = −0.3) – Mars gap is 4.9°. Summer Triangle is well up in the eastern sky. • June 12: One hour after sunset, the waxing gibbous moon (9.7d, 80%), over 40° up in the south, is about 8° to the • June 16: At the beginning of morning twilight, the moon upper left of Spica (α Vir, m = 1.0). Low in the west- (12.9d, 99%), 15° up in the southwest, is nearly 7° to the northwest, the Mercury (m = −0.2) – Mars gap is 4.0°. lower right of Jupiter and 7° above Antares. Saturn is Mars is about 8° below Pollux (β Gem, m = 1.2). farther east, near the meridian. Altair (α Aql, m = 0.8) rises • June 13: One hour after sunset, the moon (10.7d, 88%), at sunset. The Summer Triangle – Vega, Deneb, and Altair 35° up in the south, is 4.3° above Zubenelgenubi (α Lib, m – is now in the early evening sky and in the sky all night, = 2.8). Mercury, over 6° up in the west-northwest, is 3.2° with the solstice only 5 days away. One hour after sunset, to the lower right of Mars. the moon (13.7d, 99%), 12° up in the southeast, is 4.6° to • June 14: At the beginning of morning twilight, the gibbous the left of Jupiter. In the west-northwest the Mercury (m = moon (10.9d, 90%) is 5° up in the west-southwest. One 0.0) – Mars gap is 1.0°. hour after sunset, the waxing gibbous moon (11.7d, 94%), • June 17: At the beginning of morning twilight, the moon nearly 30° up in the south-southeast, is 7° to the upper (13.9d, 99%), 19° up in the south-southwest, is nearly 7° to right of Graffias (β Sco, m = 2.5). Low in the west- the upper left of Jupiter. This morning and during the next northwest the Mercury (m = −0.1) – Mars gap is 2.5°. two mornings, twilight has its earliest start, a few minutes • June 15: At the beginning of morning twilight, the moon after 3 a.m. CDT. The moon is Full at 3:31 a.m. CDT. (11.9d, 95%), 10° up in the southwest, is nearly 14° to the Aldebaran rises at Civil Twilight, about 34 minutes before right of Antares. Jupiter, nearly 17° up in the southwest, is sunrise. This morning Venus passes 4.7° to the upper left

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

of Aldebaran (m = 0.8), but the star is only 2° up 15 The moon is at apogee at 2:50 p.m. CDT. The Mercury – minutes before sunrise. Venus is in a slow slide into the Mars gap is 2.5°, just after Mercury (m = 0.3) reaches its sun’s glare, rising, on average, about 1.7 minutes later evening greatest elongation (25.2°) at 6:16 p.m. CDT. This each day. It reaches its superior conjunction in mid-August. is a fairly large elongation of Mercury, but with lingering One hour after sunset, Mercury (m = 0.1) is 0.6° to the twilight, the pair sets in the west-northwest nearly 40 right of Mars in the west-northwest. Two hours after minutes before the end of twilight. During the next week, sunset, the moon (14.7d, 99%), 12° up in the southeast, is Mars and Mercury separate about 0.2° each evening. between Jupiter and Saturn. Mercury’s brightness fades about 0.2 magnitude each • June 18: At the beginning of morning twilight, the nearly evening until it reaches magnitude 1.0 at month’s end. An full moon (14.9d, 99%), 22° up in the south-southwest, is hour after sunset, Jupiter, 18° up in the southeast, is about 2.6° to the upper left of Kaus Borealis (λ Sgr, m = 2.8), the 10° to the left of Antares. star at the top of the lid of the Teapot of Sagittarius. One • June 24: One hour before sunrise, the gibbous moon hour after sunset, Mercury, 7° up in the west-northwest, (21.0d, 60%) is over 30° up in the southeast. Forty-five appears 0.3° to the upper left of Mars. This is the first minutes after sunset, Mercury (m = 0.5), over 8° up in the conjunction with Mars during Mercury’s evening west-northwest, is 2.8° to the upper left of Mars. Mercury apparition. The pair is nearly 7° up in the west-northwest. moves into Cancer this evening. • June 19: One hour before sunrise, Jupiter is about 5° up in • June 25: At the beginning of morning twilight, Jupiter is the southwest. The gibbous moon (16.0d, 96%), over 20° over 11° up in the southwest, over 30° to the lower right up in the south-southwest, is 2.7° to the left of Saturn. of Saturn. The Ringed Wonder is 25° up in the south- Thirty minutes before sunrise, Venus is about 4° up in the southwest. Both planets continue to retrograde. One hour east-northeast. One hour after sunset, Mercury (m = 0.2), before sunrise, the half-full moon (22.0d, 50%) is 31° up in nearly 7° up in the west-northwest, is 0.6° to the upper the southeast. The moon reaches its Last Quarter phase at left of Mars and 5.5° to the lower left of Pollux. 4:46 a.m. CDT. In the evening sky, 45 minutes after sunset, • June 20: One hour before sunrise, the moon (17.0d, 91%), the Mercury (m = 0.6) – Mars gap is 3.1°, with Mercury to nearly 26° up in the south, is about 15° to the upper left of the upper left of Mars. One hour after sunset, Jupiter is Saturn. Look for Venus, almost 4° up in the east-northeast, 19° up in the southeast. As midnight approaches, Saturn, 30 minutes before sunrise. One hour after sunset, Mercury 19° up in the southeast, is nearly 31° from Jupiter. is 1.3° to the upper left of Mars. • June 26: About an hour before sunrise, the thick waning • June 21: One hour before sunrise, the gibbous moon crescent moon (23.0d, 41%) is 28° up in the east-southeast. (18.0d, 85%) is about 30° up in the south. If you’re tracking The moon is in Cetus. It’ll be there again in two mornings. Venus, it is less than 4° up in the east-northeast, about 30 The seemingly irregular patchwork nature of the minutes before sunrise. Catch it before it disappears into constellations’ boundaries makes this possible. Forty-five very bright twilight. The summer solstice occurs at 10:54 minutes after sunset, Mercury (m = 0.7), over 7° up in the a.m. CDT. With twilight, the sky is naturally lighted for west-northwest, is 3.4° to the upper left of Mars. nearly 19.75 hours. Darkness lasts only about 4.25 hours. • June 27: At about 80 minutes before sunrise, Latitude 49° North and the lands farther north experience approximately 4 a.m. CDT, look for the Pleiades nearly 15° all night twilight or 24 hours of daylight. One hour after up in the east-northeast. Aldebaran rises at this time. sunset, Mercury (m = 0.3) is 1.7° to the upper left of Mars. About an hour before sunrise, the crescent moon (24.0d, Mars passes 5.5° to the lower left of Pollux and 1.8° to the 31%) is over 30° up in the east-southeast, over 30° to the lower left of Kappa Geminorum (κ Gem, m = 3.6). right of the Pleiades. Forty-five minutes after sunset, the • June 22: One hour before sunrise, the moon (19.0d, 77%) Mercury – Mars gap is 3.5° in the west-northwest sky. is over 30° up in the south. One hour after sunset, the Mercury is to the left of Mars. Mars moves into Cancer. Mercury (m = 0.4) – Mars gap is 2.2°. Saturn rises in the • June 28: An hour before sunrise, the moon (25.0d, 22%) is southeast before 9:30 p.m. CDT, when Jupiter is already 19° up in the east, over 20° to the right of the Pleiades. nearly 18° up in the southeast. Just before midnight, The moon is again in Cetus this morning. Forty-five Saturn is nearly 20° up in the southeast. minutes after sunset, Mercury (m = 0.8), 3.7° to the left of • June 23: One hour before sunrise, the waning gibbous Mars, is about 7° up in the west-northwest. An hour after moon (20.0d, 69%) is over 30° up in the south-southeast. sunset, Jupiter is 20° in altitude in the south-southeast.

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

• June 29: At about 80 minutes before sunrise, south-southeast, over 30° to the lower left of Jupiter, as approximately 4 a.m. CDT, the crescent moon (25.9d, 14%), midnight approaches. 13° up in the east, is about 11° to the lower right of the The month ends, with two bright planets – Jupiter and Pleiades. Forty-five minutes after sunset, Mercury (m = Saturn – in the morning sky at the beginning of twilight. The 0.9) – Mars gap is 3.8°. Mercury is to the left of Mars. Teapot of Sagittarius is tipped over in the southwest, Saturn rises before 9 p.m. CDT. seemingly pouring out the stars of the Milky Way. The • June 30: At the beginning of morning twilight, Jupiter is 8° Summer Triangle’s western corner, Vega, is high in the west. up in the southwest, with Saturn over 30° to the east. One Farther east, Pegasus is high in the southeast. Venus, hour before sunrise, the moon (27.0d, 7%) is about 11° immersed in bright twilight and 12° from the sun, is about 4° below the Pleiades and 2.9° to the upper right of up in the east-northeast, 30 minutes before sunrise. The sun Aldebaran, which rises at Nautical Twilight. Use a is in the sky for 15 hours, 10 minutes at June’s end. In the binocular to locate Aldebaran as the crescent moon and evening sky, Jupiter, now past its opposition, is in the south- the star rise higher into the sky as twilight progresses. The southeast, one hour after sunset. It retrograded nearly 3.5° moon is on the edge of the Hyades, only about 7° up. In along the ecliptic during the month. Saturn is farther east, the evening sky, about 45 minutes after sunset, Mercury near the southeast horizon. Saturn retrograded nearly 2° (m = 1.0) is 3.8° to the left of Mars. The pair is less than 6° along the ecliptic in eastern Sagittarius during June. Leo is up in the west-northwest. These planets are setting at tipped toward the western horizon, with the Big Dipper high Nautical Twilight, about 30 minutes later than the above the Lion in the northwest. The Summer Triangle is observation time. At an hour after sunset, Jupiter is 21° up now well-up in the eastern sky. in the south-southeast. Saturn is about 22° up in the

TCAA TREASURER’S REPORT AS OF MAY 29, 2019

Checking Account Information

Memo Category Amount BALANCE 4/29/2019 893.83 NCRAL Grant Education Class 250.00 Annual Report Filing Fee (15.00) Annual Tax Report Preparation Audit (325.00) IDA Annual Membership Dues Dues and Subscriptions (50.00) Electrical Service Waynesville Observatory (51.16) BALANCE 5/29/2019 702.67

Checking Account Balance – May 29, 2019 $702.67 Savings Account Balance – May 29, 2019 $2,517.71 - Includes $0.03 cents interest as of this date

Total TCAA Funds – May 29, 2019 $3,220.38

All transactions are reconciled with the bank statements as of this date.

Respectfully submitted, Dave Osenga, Treasurer

Vol. 44, No. 6 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers June 2019

RENEWING YOUR TCAA MEMBERSHIP

The TCAA works to promote in every way among its members and the public an interest in and knowledge of astronomy and its allied sciences, to advance amateur astronomy and observational techniques, to render assistance to other individuals or organizations working in the same or related fields, and to do everything necessary and proper to further such on a formal or informal basis. The TCAA is a Federally recognized non-profit entity organized exclusively for education and scientific purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code. The TCAA currently supports family friendly public observing sessions at SGNC, public outreach events such as the recent May 9, 2016 transit of Mercury and the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse field trip, hosting of NCRAL meetings (2010 and 2016), September mini conferences, and education courses for our membership and the public. The TCAA maintains three observatories including payment of insurance and publishes an award-winning club newsletter. We support Sugar Grove Nature Center through their membership program, maintain a loaner telescope program, and provide many other benefits as outlined in TCAA Guide #2 – Membership and Benefits. Your TCAA membership supports education and public outreach in Central Illinois and regions beyond. Membership dues and the generosity of its members are the club’s primary means of financial support. We receive no grants or public funds. We have unmet needs. By renewing your membership when it comes due, you can help to ensure our continuing efforts.

TCAA ACTIVE ON FACEBOOK

Did you know that the TCAA is on Facebook? We encourage users of social media to follow the TCAA to see what the club is doing and to learn about nightly events that only require the observer to step outdoors and view with the unaided eye. You can find us on Facebook by searching either TCAA or Twin City Amateur Astronomers. If you haven’t followed TCAA’s Face-book page, you have missed out on a lot during the past couple of months.