The Spectrum

The News Letter of the Buffalo Astronomical Association

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Presidents Corner Happy Happy…

I hope the holidays were peaceful and joy filled and your stockings filled with all sorts of cool astronomy stuff to play with in the new year. I’m writing this in the closing days of the International Year of Astronomy, reflecting back on a very busy year of programs. I missed In this Issue... Mike’s year in review summary at this year’s Holiday Party… I In this Issue... hope he’ll find time to make it for a future meeting. One day I Page 1: Presidents Corner am going to sit down and watch the hour long video my Page 2: brother­in­law captured of Cliff Stoll bounding up and down NASA News Hamlin Hall at our dinner banquet… will be sure to take some Page 4: soothing medication first. New Book Ken Kimble Up and coming… Page 5: BAA Dinner Our January meeting (January 8th) will follow recent tradition Page 6: as we gather at Williamsville North Planetarium. BAA member SIGs and Planetarium Director Mark Percy will present two new Page 7: programs for the us: Bad Astronomy will debunk common January Meeting misconceptions about the Universe and help make "good" Holiday Nebula Filter astronomers of us all. IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar Demo System details the IBEX spacecraft's mission to explore the Page 8: outer realm of the solar system using energetic neutral atom What's up (ENA) imaging to create the first global mapping of the region Page 11: where solar wind ends and interstellar space begins. Arrive at BAA Annals 7:00pm for hot cider and a good seat – the shows begin Page 12: promptly at 7:30. Universal Thanks Evening Star On February 12th we return to our new meeting room at Buffalo State (Classroom building C122). Our speaker will be Peggy Slonicki rare book librarian at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library who will present Milestones of Astronomy, a talk Continued on page 3 NASA News clouds and the time of day. A nightime Bob Hughes launch can probably be seen longer than a daytime launch. I was able to observe the I have accepted the invitation made by nightime launch of STS­126 into clear skies our Spectrum editor Mike Benz at the for almost 7 minutes from a vantage point November BAA meeting to write an in Titusville which is 12 miles west of pad article about space exploration. I hope 39A. I saw the shuttle light up nightime sky to make this a regular series of articles like a rapid sunrise. about manned and unmanned space missions with an emphasis on After 1 minute I could hear the loud rumble astronomical space missions. of the shuttle rocket engines. The solid rocket booster separation could easily be The year 2010 will mark the end of the observed at the 2 minute mark after which space shuttle era with a series of 5 shuttle the shuttle, like a moving Venus, moving launches to the International Space Station Northward and upward for the next 5 (ISS). The 2010 NASA launch schedule, minutes till it finally disappeared out of which can be accessed at sight. http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/sc hedule.html, lists the 5 Space shuttle After the STS­126 launch there were heavy launches, STS­130, STS­131, STS­132, traffic jams in the Titusville area especially STS­134 and the final Space Shuttle on the routes back to Orlando so be mission STS­133. prepared for this. Be aware all remaining shuttle launches are missions to the The best areas see a shuttle launch from International Space Station (ISS). For each the ground, up into space are along the Shuttle ISS rendezvous mission there is Indian River at Titusville or the Route only a 10 minute launch "window" with the 508/A1A Causeway to Port Canaveral south exact time of the shuttle launch at the of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Please midpoint of that window on the scheduled note that tickets to view the shuttle launch day. launches from the NASA Visitors Complex or from the NASA Causeway are currently not If there is technical problem or a bad available. weather at the time of the window the launch will be scrubbed till the next To determine if the Shuttle launchpad available launch window which usually (Complex 39A) can be seen from your occurs 24 hours plus 20 minutes later the vantage point look for the Vehicle Assembly next day. There is no point waiting around if Building (VAB). If you can see this large the scheduled launch time has passed. white cube looking building you should be able to see the shuttle Complex 39A which I highly recommend you bring along a is 2 miles North of the VAB. A shuttle launch police scanner and program the frequency unfolds very quickly like a total solar 146.94 mhz which can be heard in the Cape eclipse. You will only be able to see the Canaveral/ Titusville area. Shuttle to shuttle for only a couple of minutes. Capcom communications and NASA public announcements on the shuttle launch The amount of time the shuttle is visible status can be heard on this frequency so depends on whether there are intervening Continued on page 3

Page 2 Prez Corner continued... Nasa continued... you can be informed if the shuttle launch is centered on the incredible collection of rare scrubbed. There is a lot more I could talk books and historic writing that can be found about in relation to the space shuttle in the collection of our own downtown launches but I would like to move on to library. Starting with a work by Aristarchus write about 2 upcoming astronomical space of Samos republished in 1572, the missions which will be put into orbit soon. presentation will touch on major discoveries in astronomy through the 19th and early The first of these missions is the Wide­field 20th century as described in first edition Infrared Survey Explorer(WISE) mission publications by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, which should already be launched 12/14/09 William Herschel and LaPlace. by the time you read this article. The WISE And while your 2010 calendar is out, be mission will have a sensitive infrared sure to reserve Saturday evening, March telescope cooled to 30 degrees Kelvin 13th for our annual dinner banquet. WIVB which will launched into a polar orbit. This weatherman Don Paul will be our special telescope will be 500,000 times more guest speaker… the details on reservations sensitive than the Cosmic Background will follow soon. Explorer (COBE) and 1000 time more sensitive than IRAS. What’s New… This mission will last 7 months and will generate 1.5 million infrared images over Why… members and more members! Thirty­ that time period. The other astronomical five have joined the BAA during the mission I will discuss is The Solar Dynamics International Year of Astronomy and though Observatory (SDO). This mission is a high I’ve welcomed a few in an earlier column, I resolution solar observing satellite that is am way remiss for many others… hence, scheduled to be launched 2/3/2010 from apologies and a hearty ahoy to: Cape Canaveral into a geosynchronous orbit. It will relay what is being described Matt & Phyllis Andrews, Dave & Melissa as an avalanche of data to an antenna Bogert, Randy Boswell, Carl Byers, located in Los Crucis New Mexico. This Stephanie Carmichael, Robert Cox, Bryan satellite has state of the art Czerwinski, Katherine Daly, Ron & Delphine instrumentation and computer power and Dekanski, Kevin Duggan, Jack Ewing, will be able to study new found solar Steven Hapeman, Patricia Harris, Luai & phenomenon like subsurface solar jet Daser Ibrahim, Brendan Kilcoyne, Jonathan streams. Kranock, Darand Land, John Marino I covered a lot of space in this article so I (welcome back, John), Jerad Marx, James will wrap it up. In upcoming articles I will Minter, Malcolm & Renee Oubre, Zachery discuss the improvements to the Hubble Pace, Paul Robinson, Douglas Rollain, Space Telescope (HST) and other space Christopher Smith, Hugo Tavarez, Robert missions such as the Spirit and Opportunity Wengewicz, James Wilson and Irene Mars Rovers. Ziarnowski… we are happy you are here. See you in the To all my BAA friends, good health, clear next Spectrum. skies and very best wishes!

Alan

Page 3 New Book Publication By BAA impacts a main sequence star its kinetic Member energy is transferred to the star, because a low pressure wake is formed on the Hubble Space Telescope Identifies downstream side of the star. Dark Energy Using Hubble, and other observatory Cenkner, August A. Jr., B.A., B.S., M.S., images, it is shown that the three Ph.D., dimensional pushing behavior of this ISBN: 978­1­4490­1134­5 (sc) spherical shock wave results in the LOC Control Number: 2009907731 acceleration of galaxies (i.e. dark energy) B&W and much more – for example the eventual 90 pgs evolution of: revolving astronomical bodies, 8.5x11 galaxies, Galaxy Streams, Voids, Walls, 8/3/2009 Clusters, colliding galaxies, and galaxies www.authorhouse.com with relative motions away from and $10.70 toward earth.

INTRODUCTION Ken Kimble Rowland A. Rupp Astronomical data that was obtained by the Former BAA member Ken Kimble was very Hubble space telescope, and other active in club affairs in the late 1970s observatories, were reviewed for any though the 1980s. He served as Secretary information that would shed light on the from 1980 to 1986, was elected to the identification of dark energy – the BAA's college of Fellows in 1985, wrote the mysterious repulsive force that accelerated BAA Annals in the early 1980s and at the far away galaxies. same time led the Study Section.

It is shown that Hubble images actually During this period he also co­taught the reveal, what amounts to, a full scale space BAA’s astronomy course at the Buffalo simulation of dark energy. Museum of Science specializing in his favorite topic, the Sun. He had a long­ The author introduces technology transfer, term project of building a solar from known gas dynamic behavior on earth, observatory at his home and his last to the astronomical area ­­ in order to point contribution to the BAA was sketching the the direction for the proper interpretation of planned addition to BMO in 1992. this observatory data. Earlier experimentation in a plasma wind tunnel Ken had an artistic flare and it was his and in a supersonic wind tunnel, by the sketch that was used to convince the author, as well as computer modeling of Buffalo Audubon Society to fund our hypersonic flows, indicates that dark energy construction project. It is with sadness is actually the kinetic energy contained in a that we report Ken Kimble has died at age traveling gas­cloud­shock­wave. 65 in November.

This spherical shock wave would originate He will be from violent processes like star explosions, missed... star collisions, etc. When this shock wave

Page 4 BAA Dinner

It’s hard to believe with the holidays and News Years just around the corner that 2009 is about to end! So get out your 2010 date books and mark down Saturday March 13th 2010. This is the date for our annual BAA dinner meeting. There has been a change of venue since it was last announced.

“Banchetti’s” Banquet and Grove Facility.

Cash bar from 6:00pm – 7:00pm Buffet Dinner 7:15pm – 8:30pm

General meeting, awards, and guest speaker 8:45pm – 10:00pm

The buffet will consist of:

Carved roast pork loin with Balsamic Glazed Pears on the side Bourbon Glazed Chicken Herb Roasted Haddock Pasta in Red Sauce A wide variety of salads Fruit & Vegetable trays Roasted Red Smashed Potatoes Green Beans Almondine Fruit Cobbler with Ice Cream Coffee, Tea , Decaf

$23.00 per person (adult and/or child) Directions

•Take the 90 to the 290 to the 990. •Get off at the second exit (Sweethome). •Turn right on Sweethome. •Go up to North French and turn left.

550 North French Amherst, NY 14228

Page 5 Special Interest Groups This relatively long list was offered without Frank Pirrone benefit of discussion or brainstorming, so it can be assumed that many more good A few postings to the BAA "e­group" topics would be identified by any concerted (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffalo_as effort. tro_assoc/) were made following conversations that took place during the Should club members be interested in recent Holiday Party regarding Special participating in additional monthly Interest Groups (SIGs). meetings devoted to any identified topic, those meetings would be scheduled on the These are meeting sessions separate from a best non­conflicting days possible, and club's general meeting, usually dedicated to would most likely be held at the home of a single aspect of the particular hobby the SIG's leader, or in rotation at the supported by that club. Sometimes, a few homes of its members. related aspects or topics will fit naturally and comfortably within a single SIG. Meetings would probably last two hours or less, but could be any practical length upon What was kicked around. largely by Dan which the SIG's members agreed. Any Marcus, Frank Pirrone, and Anthony Davoli, given SIG could meet throughout the BAA's were these areas of special interest to meeting year, or for any frequency and amateur astronomers: duration desired, and some SIGs might 1) Robo­Scope technology choose to meet only a few times to address 2) Digital imaging with CCD devices and either a small topic or a normal topic at a digital cameras more modest level of depth and detail. 3) Digital image processing 4) Specialized These SIGs would serve to provide sharing, equipment/computer/programming social, learning, teaching experiences to 5) An Instrument Section devoted to all tap the great wealth of knowledge and observing tools experience, and I might add thinking of our 6) A Study Section devoted to an academic most dynamic club membership ­ approach to the hobby personality, for those long and cold and 7) NASA events and space­based cloudy nights when "astronomy" would still astronomy be a delight, but observing...a daunting 8) Cosmology and astrophysics challenge 9) Visual astronomy and/or hand­sketched observations 10) Telescope accessories design and manufacture 11) Lathe and milling machine operation 12) Various hobby areas of specialty activities such as: solar astronomy lunar astronomy planetary astronomy deep­sky object astronomy variable star astronomy

Page 6 January BAA Meeting medium. Using these data, researchers will examine the structures and dynamics of the The January meeting of the BAA will be held outer heliosphere and address a serious at the Williamsville Planetarium located on challenge facing human exploration by the corner of Hopkins Rd and Dodge Rd in studying the region that shields Earth from Amherst NY. the majority of galactic cosmic ray radiation. 1595 Hopkins Road Swormville, NY 14051 HOLIDAY NEBULA FILTER DEMONSTRATION PROJECT http://www.williamsvillek12.org/planetarium/ Barlow Bob

The doors will open at 7pm with a pre­ Even though the Holidays are over you can game show for you early birds and the still try this at your next outing or for a official show starts at 7:30pm so don't be school/public demonstration. This is a re­ late cuz after 7:30 the price doubles! print from Alan s friend Barlow Bob

The 2 shows that will be shown are: Please share this holiday project with your club. Bad Astronomy What do you observe on a snowy holiday Learn about season? Observe colored holiday lights the Cosmos through any nebula filter. You will notice while that certain color lights disappear, when debunking they are observed through nebula filters. common These types of filters only allow certain misconcepti wavelengths of color light to pass through, ons about the Universe! Interesting for blocking others. astronomers of every age, and this show will make "good" astronomers of us all! You can also observe the orange Hanukkah Menorah lights Please share this IBEX demonstration project at your astronomy club meeting or club holiday party, using a "Search for the string of colored holiday lights. Edge of the Solar System" Hold a holographic diffraction grating in details the IBEX back of the nebula filter, and you will see spacecraft's the spectrum of the incandescent colored exploration of lights. You can also observe a sodium / the outer solar mercury street light or fluorescent light. system using energetic neutral atom (ENA) imaging to You will notice that certain spectrum create the first global maps of interactions emission lines disappear. between the million mile­per­hour solar wind and the low­density material between the stars, known as the interstellar

Page 7 What's up? January 15 ­ Annular Solar Eclipse. The Mike Benz path of annularity will begin in central Africa and move east through the Indian This is a new column in the Spectrum. In Ocean, southern India, Sri Lanka, Malymar, this column I will try to focus in on one and China. A partial eclipse will be visible constellation that should be visible for that throughout most eastern Africa and Asia. month. All information is researched on the (NASA Map and Eclipse Information | NASA Internet using various sources. I will try to Eclipse Animation) cover january and Febuary 2010. January 29 ­ Mars at Opposition. The red January 3, 4 ­ Quadrantids Meteor Shower. planet will be at its closest approach to The Quadrantids are an above average Earth and its face will be fully illuminated shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at by the Sun. This is the best time to view their peak. The shower usually peaks on and photograph Mars. January 3 & 4, but some meteors can be visible from January 1 ­ 5. Best viewing will January 30 ­ Full Moon be from a dark location after midnight. Look for meteors radiating from the February 14 ­ New Moon constellation Bootes. February 28 ­ Full Moon January 15 ­ New Moon

Taurus ­ January http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_(constellation) The brightest member of this constellation is Aldebaran, an orange­hued, spectral class K5 III giant star named after the Arabic phrase for "the Follower". Forming the profile of a Bull's face is a V or A­shaped asterism of stars. This outline is created by prominent members of the Hyades, the nearest distinct open star cluster after the Ursa Major Moving Group. In this profile, Aldebaran forms the bull's bloodshot eye, which has been described as "glaring menacingly at the hunter Orion", a constellation that lies just to the southwest. In the northeastern quadrant of the Taurus constellation lie the Pleiades, one of the best known open clusters, easily visible to the naked eye. The seven most prominent stars in this cluster are at least visual magnitude six, and so the cluster is also named the "Seven Sisters". However, many more stars are visible with even a modest telescope. The name of the star Aldebaran most likely comes from the fact that it follows the Pleiades during the nightly motion of the celestial sphere across the sky. To the west, the two horns of the bull are formed by Beta (β) Tauri and Zeta (ζ) Tauri; two star systems that are separated by 8°. Beta is a white, spectral class B7 III giant star known as El Nath, which comes from the Arabic phrase "the butting", as in butting by the horns of the bull. It is the second brightest star in the constellation, and shares the border with the neighboring constellation of Auriga. Zeta Tauri is an eclipsing binary star that completes an orbit every 133 days. Continued on page 9

Page 8 What's up continued... is T Tauri, the prototype of a class of variable stars called T Tauri stars. This star A degree to the northwest of ζ Tau is the undergoes erratic changes in luminosity, Crab Nebula (M1), a supernova remnant. varying between magnitude 9 to 13 over a This expanding nebula was created by a period of weeks or months. This is a newly Type II supernova explosion, which was formed stellar object that is just emerging seen on Earth, July 4, 1054. It was bright from its envelope of gas and dust, but has enough to be observed during the day, and not yet become a main sequence star. The is mentioned in Chinese historical texts. At surrounding reflection nebula NGC 1555 is its peak the supernova reached magnitude illuminated by T Tauri, and thus is also −4, but the nebula is currently magnitude variable in luminosity. 8.4 and requires a telescope to observe. This constellation includes part of the The star Lambda (λ) Tauri is an eclipsing Taurus­Auriga complex, a star forming binary star. This system consists of a region of sparse, filamentary clouds. This spectral class B3 star being orbited by a spans a diameter of 30 parsecs and less massive class A4 star. The plane of contains 3.5 × 104 solar masses of their orbit lies almost along the line of sight material, which is both larger and less to the Earth. Every 3.953 days the system massive than the Orion Nebula. At a decreases in brightness by 1.1 magnitudes distance of 150 parsecs, this is one of the as the brighter star is partially eclipsed by nearest active star forming regions. the dimmer star. The two stars are separated by only 0.1 astronomical units, Taurus is best seen in the evening sky from so their shapes are modified by tidal November to March. The Hyades spans interaction. This results in a variation of about 5° of the sky, so that it can only be their net magnitude throughout each orbit. viewed in its entirety with binoculars or the unaided eye. Located about 1.8° west of Epsilon (ε) Tauri

Orion ­ Febuary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)

Stars Betelgeuse, known alternatively by its Bayer designation "Alpha Orionis," is a massive M­ type red supergiant star nearing the end of its life. When it explodes it will even be visible during the day. It is the second brightest star in the Orion constellation, but was mistakenly classified as the brightest because it is a semiregular variable star and was experiencing a tremendous increase in brightness at the time. It serves as the "right shoulder" of the hunter it represents (assuming that he is facing the observer), and is the twelfth brightest star in the night sky.

Rigel, which is also known as "Beta Orionis," is a B­type blue supergiant that is the sixth brightest star in the night sky. Similar to Betelguese, Rigel is fusing heavy elements in its core and will pass its supergiant stage soon (on an astronomical timescale), either collapsing in the case of a supernova or shedding its outer layers and turning into a white dwarf. It serves as the left foot of Orion, the hunter. Bellatrix was designated "Gamma Orionis" by Johann Bayer, but is known colloquially as the "Amazon Star;" it is the twenty­second brightest star in the night sky. Bellatrix is

Page 9 considered a B­type blue giant, though it is whilst Meissa (or "Lambda Orionis") forms too small to explode in a supernova. Orion's head. In common with many other Bellatrix's luminosity is derived from its bright stars, the names Betelgeuse, Rigel, high temperature rather than its radius, a Saiph, Alnitak, Mintaka, Alnilam, Hatsya factor that defines Betelguese. Bellatrix and Meissa originate from the Arabic serves as Orion's "left shoulder." language.

Mintaka garnered the name "Delta Orionis" Meteor showers from Bayer, even though it is the faintest of Around October 21 each year the famous the three stars in Orion's Belt. It is a Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak. multiple star system, composed of a large Coming from the border to the constellation B­type blue giant and a more massive O­ Gemini as much as 20 meteors per hour type white star. The Mintaka system can be seen. constitutes an eclipsing binary variable star, where the eclipse of one star over the other Deep sky objects creates a dip in brightness. Mintaka is the Hanging from Orion's belt is his sword, westernmost of the three stars that consisting of the multiple stars θ1 and θ2 constitute Orion's Belt. Orionis, called Trapezium and the Orion Alnilam was named "Epsilon Orionis," a Nebula (M42). This is a spectacular object consequence of Bayer's wish to name the which can be clearly identified with the three stars in Orion's Belt (from north to naked eye as something other than a star; south) in alphabetical order. Alnilam is a B­ using binoculars, its swirling clouds of type blue supergiant, despite being nearly nascent stars, luminous gas, and dust can twice as far from the Sun as Mintaka and be observed. Alnitak, the other two belt stars, its luminosity makes it nearly equal in Another famous nebula is IC 434, the magnitude. Alnilam is losing mass quickly, a Horsehead Nebula, near ζ Orionis. It consequence of its size; approximately four contains a dark dust cloud whose shape million years old. gives the nebula its name. Alnitak was designated "Zeta Orionis" by Bayer, and is the easternmost star in Besides these nebulae, surveying Orion Orion's Belt. It is a triple star some 800 with a small telescope will reveal a wealth light years distant, with the primary star of interesting deep sky objects, including being a hot blue supergiant and the M43, M78, as well as multiple stars brightest class O star in the night sky. including Iota Orionis and Sigma Orionis. A larger telescope may reveal objects such as Saiph was designated "Kappa Orionis" by Barnard's Loop, the Flame Nebula (NGC Bayer, and serves as Orion's right foot. It is 2024), as well as fainter and tighter of a similar distance and size to Rigel, but multiple stars and nebulae. appears much fainter, as its hot surface temperature (46,000°F or 26,000°C) All of these nebulae are part of the larger causes it to emit most of its light in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex which is ultraviolet region of the spectrum. located approximately 1,500 light­years away and is hundreds of light­years across. Of the lesser stars, Hatsya (or "Iota It is one of the most intense regions of Orionis") forms the tip of Orion's sword, stellar formation visible in our galaxy.

Page 10 BAA ANNALS Manning, an expert on CCD imaging and Rowland A. Rupp software development, spoke in January 1995. He had worked on software for the 5 YEARS AGO ­ “Voyager Encounters and space shuttle, the Hubble telescope and the Star Show” was the presentation made by space station. In February, Reon Mark Percy at Williamsville North High Wadsworth reported on a solar eclipse he School Planetarium in January 2005. In observed in Peru. Bob Hughes commented February, Tom Bakowski and Carl Milazzo on the recent annular eclipse seen in the told us about the “Care and Use of the Buffalo area. Bill Smith planned to hold Telescope.” A Spectrum article on another Messier marathon in March. atmospheric optics by Cynta de Narvaez Darwin Christy wrote an article on covered many of the terms relating to these “Observing Meteorites Through a phenomena and their causes. Bob Microscope.” Darwin is a recognized expert Kirchgessners’s obituary appeared. Bob in this discipline. He also wrote a short was particularly interested in piece on seventeenth century astronomer extraterrestrial intelligence, and he Jean Picard. There was a plea for more contributed articles and talks on the articles and observation reports for The subject. Spectrum from BAA members. I’m told the same request applies today, as I’m sure it 10 YEARS AGO ­ Marilou Bebak was our has for the fifteen years in between and for speaker for January 2000 when she talked long before that. about the space station. Next month a panel consisting of Larry Carlino, Bob 25 YEARS AGO ­ The January 1985 Hughes, Carl Milazzo and Jack Mack meeting was held at the Buffalo Museum of discussed solar activity and auroras. Science where Dr. Carl Seyfert from Buffalo President Gene Witkowski suggested seven State College spoke on “Impact of observing projects just for the fun of it. Meteorites at Cretaceous­Tertiary Observatory Director Neil Dennis Boundary, ....” (I’ve always wondered why summarized the work being done at the academicians often have such lengthy titles observatory, and commented on the plans for their topics.) We heard from three BAA for the expansion of the Fred T. Hall members in February: Dr. Fred Price on building. The BAA was accepting donations “Lunar Mysteries”, Larry Carlino on to be turned over to the Audubon Society to “Purchasing of a Telescope”, Rowland Rupp support their building program. Carl Milazzo on the “Hertzsprung­Russell Chart”. Ed wrote an article that gave “Advice to a Lindberg announced that the Niagara Beginner Amateur Astronomer”, and Frontier Council of Amateur Astronomical someone (unidentified) listed twelve Associations would hold its semiannual reasons for attending outdoor astronomy meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario. These conventions. That may also have been meetings featured several speakers from Carl. Dave Halbert, living in Germany followed by a banquet. BAA dues for 1985 where he was an operatic performer, wrote were $10.00. Leslie Martin wrote an article an extensive report of his observations on “Planetary Brightness”, and Carl Milazzo there. Rowland Rupp reported on a sundog provided guidance about how to he observed while driving. photograph comets. Carl also wrote about apparent and absolute magnitudes. 15 YEARS AGO ­ Local resident Jayme Continued on page 12

Page 11 BAA Annals continued... UNIVERSAL THANKS Rowland A. Rupp He provided an observation report too, as did Michael Idem. Irene and I have two grandsons living in New Hampshire. This Thanksgiving our 35 YEARS AGO ­ Dr. Antoinette Mann daughter, Patty, asked her family to tell Paterson presented “Socio­political Aspects what each was thankful for before engaging of Cosmological Models” at our February in the Thanksgiving Day feast. Patty and 1975 meeting. She was a professor of her husband gave their lists, and then they philosophy at Buffalo State College. The came to the older of the boys, Andrew. BAA was raising funds for the observatory to be built at Beaver Meadow. We had He announced that he was thankful for “the $1420 by that time, but had given up on Big Bang.” Andrew has always had a knack purchasing a dome for the observatory for novel comments, probably because of the high price. Ernst Both wrote unconsciously, so this isn’t entirely an article entitled “Of Moon Cities and surprising. I suppose if you’re thankful for Selenites” in which he discussed the Big Bang you don’t need to enumerate observations made by eighteenth and further. nineteenth century astronomers who interpreted some lunar features as habitats for moon dwellers. There was a meeting of the Instrument Section, reported by Warren Steinberg, at which Bob Mayer suggested methods of mounting a 4 1/4 inch guide scope to the existing 12 ½ inch main scope destined for the new observatory.

EVENING STAR And dearer thy beam shall be; Edgar Allan Poe, 1827 For joy to my heart Is the proud part 'Twas noontide of summer, Thou bearest in Heaven at night, And mid­time of night; And more I admire And stars, in their orbits, Thy distant fire, Shone pale, thro' the light Than that colder, lowly light. Of the brighter, cold moon, ­THE END­ 'Mid planets her slaves, Herself in the Heavens, Her beam on the waves. I gazed awhile On her cold smile; Too cold­ too cold for me­ There pass'd, as a shroud, A fleecy cloud, And I turned away to thee, Proud Evening Star, In thy glory afar,

Page 12 BAA Officers and General Information President: Alan Friedman Spectrum Editor: Mike Benz [email protected] [email protected]

Vice Pres: Janice Gardner BAA Yahoo E Group: Mike O’Connor Dennis Hohman Secretary: Mike O’Connor BAA Website: Mike O’Connor Treasure: Mike Israel www.buffaloastronomy.com

At Large Directors: Jack Mack BAA Voice Mail Box: (716) 629­3098 Mike Anzalone Location/Time of Meetings: Membership: Alan Friedman BAA meetings are held on the 2nd Friday of the (716) 881­4310 month from September to June starting at 7:30 P.M. Due to construction, our normal meeting Observatory Directors: Pat Lannon room in the Science Building at Buffalo State Derek Bill College will not be available during the fall semester. Beginning September 2009, our Star Parties: Dan Marcus meetings will be held in Classroom Building (716) 773­5015 C122 located just to the north of the Science Building. Follow directions (#35) on the Buffalo College of Fellows: Rowland Rupp State College map. (716) 839­1842

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