The Observer of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers
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THE OBSERVER OF THE TWIN CITY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Volume 43, Number 11 November 2018 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 1«Editor’s Choice: September Image – Altair Spectrum 2«President’s Note 3«Calendar of Celestial Events – October 2018 3«New & Renewing Members/Dues Blues/E-Mail List 4«This Month’s Phases of the Moon 4«This Month’s Solar Phenomena 4«AstroBits – News from Around the TCAA 5«Members Return Safely from Iceland Trip 7«TCAA Members to Attend NEAF 2018 8«ALCon 2019 – Second Reminder 9«Quarterly Membership Meeting Successful 9«Education/Public Outreach for October 2018 11«November 2018: Venus Sparkles in the Morning Sky 15«Comet 46P/Wirtanen Cometh 16«Public Viewing Schedule for 2019 16«TCAA Calendar of Events for 2018-2019 17«HowTimeFlies 17«TCAA on Facebook 17«Kudos to IDOT for New Lights at I-55/Shirley Exit 18«Renewing Your TCAA Membership 19«TCAA Treasurer’s Report as of October 30, 2018 EDITOR’S CHOICE: IMAGE OF THE MONTH – THE MOON This month’s Editor’s Choice is a collage of two lunar images taken by Tim Stone. Tim notes, “These two moon shots were taken with my 8-inch Schmidt/Newtonian telescope to test the system for The TCAA is an affiliate of the Astronomical League. For spectroscopy work. One shot is three days before full and the other more information about the TCAA, be certain to visit the is one day before full, both this month. The two images are the TCAA website. Visit Astroleague.org for additional exact same scale. The moon's apparent size is related to the lunar information about the League and its membership distance which changed over the interval between the images. The benefits. effect of libration is also clearly visible.” Copyright © 2018 TCAA 1 All rights reserved. Vol. 43, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2018 PRESIDENT’S NOTE The OBSERVER As we wind our way toward the end is the monthly electronic newsletter of Twin of the year, we approach the holiday City Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational season when we take stock of ourselves, organization of amateur astronomers our accomplishments, failures, and interested in studying astronomy and aspirations for next year. I’ll save that sharing their hobby with the public. retrospection for next month’s issue of The OBSERVER, but I’ve already begun. TCAA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS With the full onset of autumn, astronomical activities are slowing down, President, Director, & Property Manager Tim Stone 309-531-2401 and family activities are starting to press [email protected] their way into our lives. This is as it should be. Without the support of our Vice President & Director/Membership Coord. family, astronomy would be a difficult Tom Willmitch 309-846-2423 TCAA President Tim Stone [email protected] passion to pursue. We are out of the house on clear evenings, and even on cloudy nights, we spend time reading or Treasurer & Director/Registered Agent otherwise exploring our universe. Dave Osenga 309-287-0789 Personally, I’m very thankful not only for the support my family gives me in my [email protected] astronomical obsession, but the pride they take in my activities and the images I’m Secretary & Director/Historian/Editor able to capture and share with the world. Hardly a week goes by when Diann hasn’t Carl J. Wenning 309-830-4085 mentioned to someone that I’m “into” astronomy. She shows them some of my [email protected] images, and delights in their wide-eyed “he took THAT?” response. She regales me Director/Technology Coordinator with those stories, and it lets me know that she’s okay with the inconveniences she Justin Meyer 630-649-0611 experiences on those long clear nights. [email protected] I’m delighted to prioritize family time in this holiday season, though almost Astronomical League Correspondent certainly there will be a clear night or two when I cannot go out to image, and it will Robert Finnigan 309-846-9533 gnaw at me just a little bit. [email protected] Let’s all take the time this month to specially thank our loved ones and friends for their encouragement as we look forward to 2019. Perhaps they don’t even Webmaster Lee Green 309-454-7349 recognize how much it means to us. Let them know, and please accept my own [email protected] thanks to you, the amateur astronomy community and the TCAA, for whatever way you are involved. Without you, we wouldn’t have a club and we wouldn’t be in Lighting Educ. & AL Observing Club Coordinator touch with so many other amateur astronomy organizations and their membership. Lisa Wentzel unlisted number [email protected] It’s a truly remarkable thing we do. I’m glad to be part of it, and I’m thankful to all of you. Publicist Have a happy Thanksgiving season! Rick Lasher 309-530-2678 Tim Stone, President [email protected] The OBSERVER Carl J. Wenning, Editor in Chief Submission deadline two days before the end of each month. MEMBERSHIP DUES Individual Adult/Family $40 Full-time Student/Senior $25 (Senior status equals ages 60+) To join, send your name, contact info and dues payment to Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL 61761-1471. Copyright © 2018 TCAA 2 All rights reserved. Vol. 43, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2018 ALENDAR OF ELESTIAL VENTS OVEMBER EW ENEWING EMBERS C C E – N 2018 N & R M The following individuals have paid dues for new or MORNING PLANETS (11/15): Venus renewed memberships as of October 30, 2018. (Others EVENING PLANETS (11/15): Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, who paid after that date will appear in the December Uranus, and Neptune 2018 issue of The OBSERVER.) The following table gives the date and time (24-hour clock) of important astronomical events for this month. All times are Central Daylight Time. None Day Time Event DUES BLUES 01 22:16 Regulus 2.1°S of Moon If you have received a “your dues are due” 02 02:00 Daylight Saving Time Ends statement along with the email that brought you this 05 12 S Taurid Meteor Shower issue of The OBSERVER, please remit your dues to Mr. 06 09 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 23.3°E Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., 07 10:02 NEW MOON Normal, IL 61761-1471. Dues are currently $25 for 08 22:58 Mercury 1.8°N of Antares seniors (60 years of age and over) and $40 regular. 11 09:46 Saturn 1.4°S of Moon UBSCRIBING TO THE MAIL IST 12 11 N Taurid Meteor Shower S TCAA E L 13 08:04 Moon at Descending Node By subscribing to a group’s mailing list, you will 14 09:57 Moon at Apogee: 404341 km receive email messages from the group though you 14 17:14 Venus 0.2°S of Spica won’t have access to the group’s web features (like 15 08:54 FIRST QUARTER MOON photos, files, links, polls, calendar, etc.) unless members activate it later. The club has an open email listserv. It is 15 22:16 Mars 1.0°N of Moon: Occultation known as the TCAA YahooGroups listserv. It will be used 17 17 Leonid Meteor Shower to share announcements and reminders about 22 23:39 FULL MOON astronomical and club events. To join this main listserv, 23 15:11 Aldebaran 1.7°S of Moon you must do the following: 26 00 Jupiter in Conjunction with Sun 26 06:10 Moon at Perigee: 366623 km 1. To subscribe: Send a blank email to TCAA- [email protected] Note: You’ll be sent a 26 23:18 Moon at Ascending Node confirmation email from the group. Reply to the 27 03 Mercury at Inferior Conjunction confirmation email to activate your subscription. 27 14:57 Beehive 0.8°N of Moon 2. To post a message: [email protected] 29 03 Mercury at Perihelion 3. To unsubscribe: [email protected] 29 03:27 Regulus 2.3°S of Moon 29 18:19 LAST QUARTER MOON http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2018cst.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. Copyright © 2018 TCAA 3 All rights reserved. Vol. 43, No. 11 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers November 2018 THIS MONTH’S PHASES OF THE MOON New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter Wednesday, November 7 Thursday, November 15 Thursday, November 22 Thursday, November 29 All moon phase dates are Central Daylight Time. Additional moon phases for the 2018 calendar year (Central Time) 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, length of day including difference from previous day, start and end times of astronomical twilight, and the time of solar noon along with the elevation of the midday sun. These data come from https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/bloomington 2018 Sunrise/Sunset Day Length Astronomical Twilight Solar Noon Nov Sunrise Sunset Length Difference Start End Time 1 7:25 AM (108°) 5:22 PM (251°) 10:26:41 -2:21 5:53 AM 7:24 PM 12:39 PM (35.0°) 11 6:37 AM (112°) 4:41 PM (247°) 10:04:20 -2:07 5:03 AM 6:15 PM 11:40 PM (32.0°) 21 6:49 AM (116°) 4:34 PM (244°) 09:45:01 -1:45 5:13 AM 6:09 PM 11:41 PM (29.5°) ASTROBITS – NEWS FROM AROUND THE TCAA ó On October 2nd Tony Cellini remarked, “Coming home from Funk's Grove this evening, I noticed that new lights have been installed on all parts of the Shirley exit.