Newsletter of the Popular Astronomy Club MAY 2018 President’s Corner May 2018 maraderie and discussions we had during the visit is what I will remember most. We also got Spring has finally sprung (more a chance to problem solve how to attach an or less). April’s weather was SLR camera to the scope and managed to get very changeable and not always a picture of Mizar and Alcor. This was a very favorable for observing ses- successful and memorable observing session. sions; either cloudy or very cold Hopefully we can do it again sometime. I am at night. I’m afraid this is typical also looking forward to having Monmouth Col- of early spring. But we amateur lege’s involvement at NCRAL 2019. astronomers are optimistic and flexible sorts, finding ways to A number of PAC members will be attending Alan Sheidler enjoy ourselves despite inclem- NCRAL 2018 conference in Door County, Wis- ent weather. A number of PAC consin this month. I expect this to be a very members joined QCAS for their Astronomy Day interesting convention with members from all event at Bettendorf High School. We had hoped over our region in attendance. There will be a to do some solar observing and invite visitors to report on that in the June Reflections. There glimpse sunspots, but it turned out to be very are also a number of other astronomical con- cloudy. You can read about it here in this edition ferences occurring at locations not too far from of Reflections. Despite the poor weather, we had us this summer. The Astronomical League a great time telling stories, enjoying fellowship, Convention, ALCON 2018 is in Bloomington, looking at pictures and engaging curious visitors. MN. The Mid States Region’s MSRAL 2018 We also had the opportunity to visit the BHS convention is June 22-24th in Springdale, AR. planetarium and view some of their programs in a You can find out more at this link: http://www. state of the art planetarium. msral.org/ . The Astronomical League Great Lakes Region, Greatcon 2018 convention will Over the past few months, I have been in contact be July 10-15 at Camp Cullom, Mulberry, Indi- with a number of people concerning their partici- ana. You can find out more at http://www. pation in our NCRAL 2019 convention. One of indianastars.com/starparty/. These confer- these is Dr. Ashwani Kumar at Monmouth Col- ences are not very far from the Quad Cities, lege. On the evening of April 28th, Ashwani and and I would highly encourage some of you to students studying astronomy at the college invited make plans to attend one or more these and to PAC to visit their Adolphson Observatory for an spread the word about our own NCRAL 2019. evening of observing using their 20” Planewave Please let me know if you will be attending reflector. This was really a great observing ses- these great events. I have some fliers you can sion and the weather was excellent. Again, we take along to generate enthusiasm for atten- had some great fellowship and discussions about dance from outside our region. Keep looking student projects and the future of astronomy at up! Monmouth College. Of course, it isn’t often one Al Sheidler gets a chance to view objects through a first-class telescope like they have there. But for me the ca- (Continued in next column) (Continued on next page) 1 (Continued from previous page)

CONTENTS

Page 1 Presidents Corner 2 Index /Officers List 3 Announcements/ Info 4 NGC 3628 The Hamburger 5 Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower/ Ceres 6-7 PAC Outreach Events 8 Upcoming Events 9 Astronomical Calendar of 2018 PAC OFFICERS Events/ The Planets 10-11 Crossword Puzzle PRESIDENT - Alan Sheidler 3528 56th Street 12-13 NASA Space Place Court, Moline, IL, 61265 Phone: (309) 797- 14-16 News Links 3120; Email: [email protected] 17 Astronomy Software 18-19 Visit To An Observatory VICE PRESIDENT – Dino Milani 2317 29 1/2 20-22 Member Observations Street, Rock Island, IA, 61201 Phone: (309) 23-27 Paul Castle Observing 269-4735 ; Email: [email protected] Sessions 28 PAC Monthly Meeting Notes SECRETARY - Terry Dufek 2812 W. 65th 29 Indian Family Party Registration Street, Davenport, IA, 52806 Phone: (563) Form 386-3509; Email: [email protected] 30 Crossword Puzzle Answers TREASURER – Dale Hachtel 1617 Elm Shore Drive, Port Byron Illinois, 61275 Phone: (614) 935-5748; Email: [email protected]

ALCOR – Roy E. Gustafson 11 Deer Run Road, Orion, IL, 61273 Phone: (309)526-3592; Email: [email protected]

DIRECTOR OF OBSERVATORIES - Rusty Case 2123 W. 16th Street, Davenport, IA, 52804 Phone: (563) 349-2444 Email: rusty- [email protected]

PAST PRESIDENT - Wayland Bauer 3256 Pleasant Drive, Bettendorf, IA., 52722 Phone: (563) 332-4032 Email: [email protected]

NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Terry Dufek 2812 W. 65th Street, Davenport, IA, 52806 Phone: (563) 386-3509; Email: [email protected]

2 ANNOUNCEMENTS MEMBERS NCRALNEW 2018 Indiana Family Star Party Event dateRENEWINGMEMBERS: and Greatcon 2018 Fri May 4, 2018 & Sat May 5, 2018 Event date: Location FORof event: 2018 Tues July 10, 2018 thru July 15, 2018 Lodge at Leathem Smith Location of event: 1640 Memorial Drive Camp Cullom, 50 miles northwest of Indian- Sturgeon Bay , WI 54235 apolis, Indiana WELCOME!

North CentralTHANK Region of the YOU Astronomical! LINK: http://www.indianastars.us/starparty/ League annual convention presented by the index.html Door Peninsula Astronomical Society in Door Registration form on page 28 of this issue County, Wisconsin. LINK: https://www.doorastronomy.org/ NCRAL 2019 ncral-2018 Event date: Fri May 3, 2019 & Sat May 4, 2019 MSRAL 2018 Location of event: Event date:YES! We have Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center Fri June 22, openings2018 thru Sun for….. June 24, 2018 101 18th St, Location of event: Moline, IL 61265 ExploreNEWSPAPER Scientific facility ARTICLES 1010 S. 48th StreetJune, August, North Central Region of the Astronomical Springdale ArkansasSeptember, 72762 October, League annual convention presented by the November, December 2018 Popular Astronomy Club , Moline Illinois Mid(If States you have Region need of somethe Astronomical ideas, we can League LINK: TBD annualhelp– convention It isn‘t presentedas hard as by it looks)the Sugar

Creek Astronomical Society of Northwest Ar- kansas Please contact Dino Milani LINK: http://www.msral.org/if Interested LOOKING FOR OLDER ISSUES OF REFLECTIONS ALCON 2018 NEWSLETTER? Event date:SUBMISSIONS Try this Link: Wed JulIf you 11, have2018 an- Satarticle Jul or14, photos 2018 to http://www.popularastronomyclub.org/ Locationsubmit of event: or items of interest, news-letters/ we encourage you to send them in HILTON MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL AIRPORT by the 25th of the month. Links to MALL OF AMERICA HISTORY OF PAC? stories are welcome also. 3800 American Bldd. E Try this Link: Bloomington , MNThank 55425 you! http://www.pacastronomy.50megs.com/ history.htm Annual Convention of the Astronomical League LINK: https://alcon2018.astroleague.org/

3

 NGC 3628, also known as the Ham- burger Galaxy or Sarah's Galaxy  An unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 mil- lion light- away in Leo  Discovered by William Herschel in 1784 but overlooked by Charles Mess- ier  Approximately 100,000 light years across  Has an approximately 300,000 light- years long tidal tail  Along with M65 and M66, NGC 3628 forms the Leo Triplet, a small group of  A little fainter than its companion galax- ies  Most conspicuous feature is the broad and obscuring band of dust located along the outer edge of its spiral arms  Occupies an area of 15 by 3.6 arc min- utes of apparent sky.  Found only 0.5 degrees to the north of the galaxy pair Messier 65 and Messier 66  The interaction with M65 and M66 is also believed to be re- sponsible for the warped disk of NGC 253 NGC 3628  The Hamburger Galaxy shares its name with Centaurus A, the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky, located in the Centaurus.  This boxy or “peanut-shaped” bulge, seen as a faint X-shape, is formed mainly of young and gas and dust, which create the bulge away from the plane of the rest of the galaxy  A number of globular clusters can be seen as fuzzy reddish spots in the halo of the galaxy.  Visual magnitude 9.5 View through eyepiece  Size: 13.1' x 3.1' 4 Eta Aquariids Meteor Shower 2018  an above average shower, capa- ble of producing up to 60 mete- ors per hour at its peak but lower in the northern hemisphere  visible from about April 21 to about May 20 each with peak activity on or around May 6  members of the Eta Aquariid shower separated from Halley’s Comet hundreds of years ago.  radiant appears to lie in the con- stellation , near one of the constellation's brightest stars, Eta Aquarii.  best viewed in the pre-dawn hours away from the glow of city lights  Full moon will interfere with it this year but since the shower runs from April 19th to May 26 and it has more of a plateau instead of peak, it may be possible to view it.

Have a look at Ceres

Even though the dwarf planet Ceres is past oppo- sition, a fairly easy way to observe it is coming up June 3rd. At 11:30 pm, it will be less than 30” away from Algenubi (ε) or Epsi- lon Leo. This is a 2.95 magnitude star at the head of Leo. If you start looking at it a couple of hours be- fore, you can watch it slide past the star. Even though Ceres is 8.6 magnitude now, this should make it easy to spot and then you could say you have seen View from the inner most dwarf stellarium planet. 5 Astronomy Day Q.C.A.S. April 21st, ,2018

Thanx to Rusty Case for bringing his 11" Ce- lestron SCT, Terry Dufek for bringing his 8" Ce- lestron Evolution, George Bailey for bringing his 127mm Manksutov, Robert Mitchell for bringing his posters, and globe collection, and Alan Sheiler and Paul Levesque for bringing their cameras to take a few pics of the event.

I had brought my 60mm Lunt and my laptop show- ing some pics and the presentations I put together on The Moon and Binary Star Systems.... Chris Like, of Bettendorf High School ran the hourly planetarium shows...

Also in attendance and helping out were, Steve VanHyfte, Mike Dannenfeldt, Tom Bullock, and Craig Cox. Thank you to you as well!

As you all know, we were basically clouded out for the full Astronomy Day event, canceling the Dixon event.

We didn't have much of the captive audience at- tend... the girls dance competition in our area and a taekwondo event just adjacent... but I did count about a dozen folks that stopped by to talk and look at what we had going on... and we did draw a bit of attention to quite a few folks scurrying along to get registered for the school activity that they were there for.

So... last year we were rained out... this year we graduated to clouds... so that means next year we will have sunshine!

...again, thanx to all! Clear Skies! Jeff (Continued on next page) 6 Niabi April 21st, ,2018

Al Sheidler, Rusty Case , and Terry Dufek showed up at the Niabi Zoo on a very unco- operative evening (weather wise). They stayed a couple of hours and had 3 visitors. The moon could just be seen through the clouds. Hopefully the weather will be more accommodating next month.

7 UPCOMING EVENTS PAC Meeting May 14th, 7:00PM Location is at the Butterworth Center Monthly Meeting

Constellation Report: Liz Robinson Presentation: "Stars On My Ceiling" by Roy E. Gustafson

 May 4th-5th, 2018 NCRAL 2018 (see page 3) the southeast at 10 p.m. Opposition),  May 14th, 2018 PAC regular meeting at the Gamma Delphi (double star), M57 (The Butterworth center at 7:00 p.m. Ring )  May 19th, 2018 Niabi Zoo Outreach, Featur-  August 11, 2018 Annual Club Picnic & ing: Moon, just before 1st quarter. Venus in Perseid Viewing - Paul Castle Observa- the west after sunset. Jupiter low in the S.E. tory - NO meeting at the Butterworth in at 9 p.m. August!  June 1st, 2018 Cordova Library Outreach .  August 18th, 2018 Niabi Zoo Outreach, Meet at the Cordova Civic Center. Presenta- Featuring: Venus, Jupiter, Moon, Saturn, tion (at 7:30 p.m) and observing at dusk. Mars, Neptune, M11 (The Wild Duck Clus-  June 8th, 2018 Epilepsy Camp -Camp Liberty ter), Albireo (gold & blue double star), M17 (former Camp Conestoga) Outreach. - inside & (The Swan Nebula) outside program. more details coming.  September 7– 9th, 2018 Eastern Iowa  June 11th, 2018 PAC (business) meeting at Star Party (QCAS at Menke Observatory) the Butterworth center at 7:00 p.m. Contact Jeff Struve for Information  June 16th, 2018 Niabi Zoo Outreach, Featur-  September 10th, 2018 PAC (business) ing: Moon, crescent close to Venus. Jupiter meeting at Butterworth center at 7:00 p.m. high in the southeast with Saturn rising at 9 p.  September 15th, ,2018 NiabiZoo Out- m. , M13 (globular ), NGC6543 reach. Featuring Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, (Cat’s Eye Nebula), Epsilon Lyrae (The Dou- Mars, Neptune and 1st quarter Moon. Sag- ble-Double, multiple star system) ittarius and Scorpio high in the south.  June 23rd, 2018 Illiniwek Camp Grounds Out-  October 6th, 2018 Rock Island 30/31 reach featuring Venus in the evening sky, Jupi- Branch Library - 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm ter and 3/4 Moon high in the southern sky and  October 20th, 2018 Niabi Observing Night Saturn rising in the southeast.  October 27th, 2018 Annual Club Ban-  July 5th, 2018 Silvis Library Outreach- 6:00 quet - Butterworth Center - This is the pm - Cosmic Chefs Comet Demonstration meeting for October! (Roy & Jan) followed by Observing  November 12th, 2018 PAC regular meet-  July 9th, 2018 PAC regular meeting at Butter- ing at Butterworth center at 7:00 p.m. worth center at 7:00 p.m.  November 17th, 2018 Niabi Observing  July 21st, 2018 Niabi Zoo Outreach, Featur- Night. ing: Moon just after 1st quarter. Venus in the  December 10th, 2018 PAC (businees) western sky at sunset. Jupiter, Moon, and Sat- meeting at the Butterworth center at 7:00 urn high in southern sky at 9 p.m. Mars low in p.m. Mark your calendars and watch upcoming (Continued in next column) e-mails for more information! 8 ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR THE PLANETS OF EVENTS May 2018

adjusted for Daylight Savings Time

Date Time Event

May 02 08:29 Venus 6.3°N of Aldebaran May 04 15:31 Saturn 1.7°S of Moon May 05 02:00 Eta-Aquarid Meteor Shower May 05 19:35 Moon at Apogee: 404458 km May 06 02:24 Mars 2.7°S of Moon May 07 05:23 Moon at Descending Node May 07 21:09 LAST QUARTER MOON May 08 19:00 Jupiter at Opposition May 13 12:21 Mercury 2.4°N of Moon May 15 06:48 NEW MOON May 15 20:00 Venus at Perihelion May 17 13:11 Venus 4.8°N of Moon May 17 16:06 Moon at Perigee: 363777 km May 20 06:57 Beehive 1.7°N of Moon Note: (figure after magnitude in May 20 08:13 Moon at Ascending Node parenthesis, is with extinction) May 21 19:53 Regulus 1.4°S of Moon May 21 22:49 FIRST QUARTER MOON Sun is in Aries on May 1st May 27 12:39 Jupiter 4.0°S of Moon Mercury (in Pisces) starts off May 29 09:20 FULL MOON May 1st ,5° off the eastern horizon at 5:30 am. It is lost in May 31 20:20 Saturn 1.6°S of Moon the twilight. It stays there most of the month. It is magni- tude .27 (1.94) and has a disk of 7.6”. Jun 02 12:34 Moon at Apogee: 405316 km Venus (in Taurus) on May 1st, is about 18° off the west- Jun 03 07:58 Mars 3.2°S of Moon northwest horizon at about 8:30 p.m. It climbs a little Jun 03 08:39 Moon at Descending Node higher through the month to about 26 degrees in altitude. Jun 05 22:00 Mercury at Superior Conjunction On May 1st, it is mag. -3.87 (-3.47) with a disk of 11.6“. Jun 06 05:00 Mercury at Perihelion Mars (in Sagitarius) on May 1st, is about 24° above the Jun 06 14:32 LAST QUARTER MOON south-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m. It is about 17° Jun 07 23:37 Venus 4.6°S of Pollux east of Saturn. It is now in retrograde. Mars brightens to Jun 13 15:43 NEW MOON mag. –.38 (-.06) and disk has grown to 11.1”. Jun 14 19:55 Moon at Perigee: 359507 km Jupiter (in Libra) on May 1st. It rises in the east-south Jun 16 09:13 Venus 2.3°N of Moon eastern sky ay 8:30 p.m. By 11:30 p.m., it is high in the Jun 16 13:50 Moon at Ascending Node southeast sky by 26°. It is mag. –2.50 (-2.21) and has a Jun 16 15:38 Beehive 1.5°N of Moon diameter of 44.7”. Jupiter reaches opposition May 8th. Jun 18 03:25 Regulus 1.7°S of Moon Saturn (in Sagitarius) on May 1st, is about 26° above the Jun 19 22:21 Venus 0.4°N of Beehive southern horizon at 5:00 a.m. It is about 17° west of Jun 20 06:51 FIRST QUARTER MOON Mars. It is mag. 35 (.64) and has a disk of 17.5” (with Jun 21 06:07 Summer Solstice rings, 40.8”) Jun 23 14:47 Jupiter 4.2°S of Moon Uranus (in Aries) on May 1st , is 10 ° from the Sun in the Jun 24 17:37 Mercury 4.7°S of Pollux morning sky and is too close for viewing. Jun 27 08:00 Saturn at Opposition Neptune (in Aquarius) on May1st. It is very low on eastern Jun 27 23:59 Saturn 1.8°S of Moon horizon at 4:30 a.m. at about 8 ° It is mag. 7.93 and has a Jun 28 00:53 FULL MOON 2.2“ disk. Jun 29 22:43 Moon at Apogee: 406061 km Pluto (in Sagittarius) on May 1st is mag. 14.22. It is 3 ° Jun 30 12:44 Moon at Descending Node northwest of Mars. Jun 30 21:43 Mars 4.8°S of Moon Ceres (in Cancer) on May 1st is mag. 8.39. It is northwest of the Praesape (M44). 9 Know Your Astronomy?

Note: If would like a black and white copy (PDF) with NO graphics copy, please just email me and I will be glad to send you one. Terry

Across 12. An unusually bright object found in the re- 1. A ______galaxy is a galaxy that does not be- mote areas of the universe, releasing incredi- long to a larger cluster of galaxies, but is gravita- ble amounts of energy and are among the old- tionally alone. est and farthest objects in the known universe. 3. A measure of the atmosphere’s clarity — how 14. The interval between points of opposition dark the sky is at night and how blue it is during of a superior planet is called the ______pe- the day. riod. 5. A narrow stream of gas or particles ejected 17. The movement of an object either towards from an accretion disk surrounding a star or black or away from a stationary observer is called hole. 8. the property of two objects orbiting the ______velocity same body whose periods are in a rational propor- 20. he area around a planet most affected by tion. For example, the orbital period of Saturn its magnetic field. The boundary of this field is around the Sun is very nearly 5/2 the orbital set by the solar wind. period of Jupiter. 21. A planet that exists outside the orbit of the Earth is called ______. Continued in next column Continued on next page 10 Continued from previous page parently stable. Such bodies are sometimes Across (continued) referred to as Trojans. The leading apex of the 23. The interval of a complete lunar cycle, be- triangle is known as the leading ______tween one new Moon and the next. It is equal to point or L4; the trailing apex is the trailing 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes. ______point or L5. 24. An entry in a catalog of 103 star clusters, 18. A glow in a planet's ionosphere caused by , and galaxies compiled by Charles the interaction between the planet's magnetic ______field and charged particles from the Sun. 26. An orbit in which a satellite's orbital velocity is 19. The point in the sky that’s directly over- matched to the rotational velocity of the planet is head. called ______. 22. A large distance often used in astronomy 28. A system consisting of a spiral galaxy sur- that is equal to 3.26 light-years rounded by several dwarf white galaxies, often el- 25. The smallest distance from a planet or lipticals other body at which purely gravitational forces 29. The ______medium is gas and dust can hold together a satellite or secondary body that exists in open space between the stars. is called the ______limit. 27. A timetable with celestial coordinates that indicates where a planet, comet, or other body Down moving in relation to background stars will be 1. The distance (usually expressed in millimeters) in the sky. from a mirror or lens to the image that it forms is called ______length. Answers on last page of this issue 2. When an object moves in the reverse sense of “normal” motion. 4. Grass-like patterns of gas seen in the atmos- phere of the Sun 6. The edge of a celestial object’s visible disk. 7. ______Gaps are regions in the main belt of asteroids where few or no asteroids are found 9. Frictional heating of a satellite's interior due to flexure caused by the gravitational pull of its par- ent planet and/or other neighboring satellites is called ______heating. 10. The study of celestial systems, including the Solar System, stars, galaxies, and galactic clus- ters 11. The average distance from Earth to the Sun, slightly less than 93 million miles is called a ______unit. 13. The center of a black hole, where the curva- ture of space time is maximal. 15. A ring-shaped circumstellar disk of dust and detris in orbit around a star early in its formation is called a ______disk. 16. A mathematician and astronomer showed that three bodies could lie at the apexes of an equilat- eral triangle which rotates in its plane. If one of the bodies is sufficiently massive compared with the other two, then the triangular configuration is ap-

Continued in next column 11 NASA Space Place Partner Article APRIL 2018

This article is provided by NASA Space Place. With articles, activities, crafts, games, and lesson plans, NASA Space Place encourages everyone to get excited about science and technology. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and Earth science!

What’s It Like Inside Mars? By Jessica Stoller-Conrad

Mars is Earth’s neighbor in the solar system. We know that on Earth, different materials vi- NASA’s robotic explorers have visited our neigh- brate in different ways. By studying the vibra- bor quite a few times. By orbiting, landing and rov- tions from marsquakes, scientists hope to fig- ing on the Red Planet, we’ve learned so much ure out what materials are found inside Mars. about Martian canyons, volcanoes, rocks and soil. However, we still don’t know exactly what Mars is InSight will also carry a heat probe that will like on the inside. This information could give sci- take the temperature on Mars. The heat probe entists some really important clues about how will dig almost 16 feet below Mars’ surface. Af- Mars and the rest of our solar system formed. ter it burrows into the ground, the heat probe will measure the heat coming from the interior This spring, NASA is launching a new mission to of Mars. These measurements can also help study the inside of Mars. It’s called Mars InSight. us understand where Mars’ heat comes from InSight—short for Interior Exploration using Seis- in the first place. This information will help sci- mic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Trans- entists figure out how Mars formed and if it’s port—is a lander. When InSight lands on Mars made from the same stuff as Earth and the later this year, it won’t drive around on the surface Moon. of Mars like a rover does. Instead, InSight will land, place instruments on the ground nearby and Scientists know that the very center of Mars, begin collecting information. called the core, is made of iron. But what else is in there? InSight has an instrument called Just like a doctor uses instruments to understand the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment, what’s going on inside your body, InSight will use or RISE, that will hopefully help us to find out. three science instruments to figure out what’s go- ing on inside Mars. Although the InSight lander stays in one spot on Mars, Mars wobbles around as it orbits the One of these instruments is called a seismometer. Sun. RISE will keep track of InSight’s location On Earth, scientists use seismometers to study so that scientists will have a way to measure the vibrations that happen during earthquakes. In- these wobbles. This information will help deter- Sight’s seismometer will measure the vibrations of mine what materials are in Mars’ core and earthquakes on Mars—known as marsquakes. whether the core is liquid or solid.

(Continued in next column) (Continued on next page)

12 NASA Space Place Partner Article APRIL 2018

(Continued from previous page)

InSight will collect tons of information about what Mars is like under the surface. One day, these new details from InSight will help us un- derstand more about how planets like Mars—and our home, Earth— came to be.

For more information about earthquakes and marsquakes, visit: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/earthquakes

Caption: An artist's illustration showing a possible inner structure of Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 13 NEWS LINKS

Astronomers Find Super-Earth with Mercury- Like Composition: K2-229b

March 28th, 2018

LINK: http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/super- earth-mercury-like-composition-k2-229-05859.html

Meet TESS, the satellite that will find thousands of planets

March 29th, 2018

LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ meet-tess-the-satellite-that-will-find-thousands-of- planets/ar-BBKPtQT?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

We’ve spotted a weird galaxy that’s missing all its dark matter

March 28th, 2018

LINK: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2165111- weve-spotted-a-weird-galaxy-thats-missing-all-its-dark- matter/

Hubble’s Messier Catalog

April 3rd, 2018

LINK: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble- s-messier-catalog-catalog

(Continued on next page) 14 NEWS LINKS

Thousands of Black Holes May Lurk at the Galaxy's Center

April 4th, 2018

LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ thousands-of-black-holes-may-lurk-at-the-galaxys- center/ar-AAvtf8t?ocid=sf&ffid=gz “Fast Supernovae” Begin to Reveal Their Secrets

April 5th, 2018

LINK: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/ fast-supernovae-reveal-secrets/? utm_content=buffer896f7&utm_medium=social&utm_source =facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

All disk galaxies rotate once every billion years

March 13th, 2018

LINK: http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/03/all- galaxies-rotate-once-every-billion-years

Abandoned Observatories around the World

April 13th, 2018

LINK: https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2017/03/ abandoned-observatories/?utm_source=untapped

(Continued on next page) 15 NEWS LINKS

Stellar 'DNA' Survey Could Reveal Sun's Lost Siblings

April 18th, 2018

LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ stellar-dna-survey-could-reveal--lost-siblings/ar- AAw0PX9?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz To save their town, Torrey Utah is turning to the Stars (video)

April 19th, 2018

LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/ to-save-their-town-the-people-of-torrey-ut-are-turning-to-the- stars/vi-AAw1prH?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

The darkest planet ever found

April 23rd, 2018

LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ this-could-be-darkest-planet-ever-discovered/ar- AAwgNe4?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

A Star That Survived Its Companion’s Supernova Explosion

April 27th, 2018

LINK: hthttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/a-star- that-survived-its-companion’s-supernova-explosion/ar- AAwoP82?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

16 ASTRONOMY SOFTWARE

Stellarium Software Update version 18.0 If you haven’t updated your desktop version for Stellarium lately, there have been a nice update to the software. They have added under the view tab, a surveys category. It list numerous surveys done by satellites and telescopes and they can be added to the background of Stellarium. In the scenes shown, I added the Akari sky survey. It gives quite a different look to the scene. There is a certain amount of lag time between the time the survey is picked and loaded from the internet ( yes, an internet connection is needed). I am not sure if this available to the portable versions.

17 VISIT TO AN OBSERVATORY

The Popular Astronomy Club was invited as guests to visit the Adolphson Astronomical Obser- vatory on the evening of April 28, 2018 by Dr. Ashwani Kumar . The observatory is located 40 ft above the Center for Science and Business at Monmouth College in Monmouth Illinois. The ob- servatory houses the 20-inch reflecting Trubeck Telescope, which was donated by William Tru- beck in 2013. The telescope is a 20-inch (0.51 m) f/6.8 corrected Dall-Kirkham Astrograph reflector telescope manufactured by Planewave Instru- ments. The telescope is controlled by SkyX soft- ware and is very quiet in operation. The telescope has spectroscopic capabilities also. The observa- Dr Kumar explaining information about the 20 in scope tory itself is inset in the roof itself by about five feet so it has a nice wind barrier. There is also The one great advantage about a roof is an al- metal grating underneath the observatory and most totally clear horizon with the exception of decking so the base of the roof is about twelve a couple of towers on an adjacent building. feet down which I am sure allows for rapid cooling We then went and viewed an almost full moon of the observatory when the dome is opened. as we waited for the skies to darken more and Jupiter to rise. As the skies darkened, we viewed Messier 5, various double stars and then finally Jupiter. Al and Dr. Kumar figured out how to connect a DSLR camera to their telescope.

PAC members attending (Al Sheidler present but not pictured) Attending the evenings event from PAC were Ken Boquist, Rusty Case, Terry Dufek, Dale Hachtel, Mike Mack, Bryan Raser, and Al Sheidler. Student assistant with telescope Dr. Kumar started off by explaining the telescope and its capabilities and also how it was acquired. We finally wrapped up around 11 p.m., all He also explained several student experiments agreeing it was worth the trip. Dr Kumar invited that were in place on the roof. He had a student PAC back in the future. assistant control the telescope and we started of by viewing a very brilliant Venus in the western sky. (Continued in next column) (Continued on next page) 18 VISIT TO AN OBSERVATORY

(Continued from previous page)

the 20-inch reflecting Trubeck Telescope Alcor and Mizar through the 20 inch (photo Al Sheidler)

Ken Boquist and Terry Dufek with Dr. Kumar Terry Dufek and Bryan Raser waiting to view

Dale Hachtel viewing through the telescope Dale Hachtel and Bryan Raser 19 MEMBER OBSERVATIONS

These were taken with an ZWO ASI120 camera on March 30th. The air was very turbulent and clouds moving in. Tried to take a picture of Venus but it was clouded up during the exposure. Terry Dufek

Photos by Terry Dufek

20 MEMBER OBSERVATIONS

Venus and 2 day old Crescent Moon

Al Sheidler caught and early crescent Moon and Venus in the evening sky on March 17th.

“The moon and the planet Venus made a very nice pairing last evening. Here are a couple of pic- tures from my front yard. Enjoy! Thanks. Al “

21 MEMBER OBSERVATIONS

M35 and M44

Wayland got a suc- cessful alignment from his backyard and took these two shots: M35, ISO 1600, 13" at 11:25 pm and M44, ISO 1600, 10" at 11:30 pm.

Photos by Wayland Bauer

22 Paul Castle Observatory April 7th, 2018

Rusty Case, Bryan Raser and Terry ‘Dufek arrived at P.C. with very cold temperatures (37º F) at about sunset. The skies were very clear with great transparency. Rusty had a new right angle finder for his tele- scope he was trying out. Terry tried to do imaging on Venus but could not get good tracking since a one planet alignment As it got colder, there was some difficulty doesn‘t work very good and by the time it got handling parts of the telescope, which were really dark, Venus was too low. After observ- quite cold by now and you could not adjust ing a very bright Venus in the evening sky for a them with gloves on. Rusty provided his kero- while, the group turned toward looking at sene heater with which they warmed their M42 and the beehive. It got darker and then hands (frequently). they started looking at galaxies. Terry imaged They left at about 10:45 p.m. and by then several of them and then they compared them the temperature was 27º. They didn’t leave visually in Rustys telescope. Many were quite the site alone however, as a possum was easy to see. Bryan viewed the Ghost of Jupi- noted in their headlights crossing the fields to ter in his telescope. find shelter in the tall weeds.

(Continued in next column)

Photos by Terry Dufek

(Continued on next page) 23 M65 04/07/2018

Photos by Terry Dufek

M66 04/07/2018

24 Paul Castle Obsevatory April 20th, 2018

Rusty Case, Al Sheidler, and Terry Dufek arrived at Paul Castle for an observing session though it became overcast by sunset. A survey was done of the observatory for possible maintenance issues to be addressed in the future. The crescent Moon was still visible for a while through the increasing cloudiness and they observed it through Al’s scope, which was imaged on an LCD TV. They left by about 9:00 p.m. Photos By Al Sheidler

25 Paul Castle Obsevatory April 25th, 2018

Rusty Case, Al Sheidler, Wayland Bauer and Terry Dufek arrived at Paul Castle for an observing session at dusk. It was very clear and – yes– finally warm. The nearly full Moon was high overhead with Venus brightly shinning in the west. Al , Rusty and Terry did live views of the Moon, Ve- nus and Jupiter (when it rose around 9 p. m.). Even with the bright lit skies, several galaxies were observed including the Blackeye and Sombrerro galaxies. Al did imaging of several double stars, including Mizar/Alcor. Terry was photographing Jupiter and Venus with some success. In Al’s photo of Jupiter and its moons, you can just see Ganymede as it disappears behind Jupiter. They left around 11:30 p.m.

Jupiter and its 4 moons

Photos By Al Sheidler

M 13 (Continued on next page) 26 Photos By Terry Dufek

27 President Alan Sheidler called the April meeting of NCRAL 2019 the Popular Astronomy Club to order in the Deere-  After NCRAL 2018 , we will start the plan- Wiman Butterworth Center at 7:00 p.m. local ing of NCRAL 2019 time, on Monday April 9th, 2018.  NASA will only pay for a speaker up to 50  There were 28 members and 6 guests present. miles otherwise we have to support. Still  Welcoming of guest (Dave Smith) may have more contact on this matter  Review of observations: Terry and Al photos  Tiffany Fields is willing to be a speaker to from Paul Castle NCRAL 2019 . College is willing to sponsor  Review of WIU Outreach Imagination Station Slides Eastern Iowa Star Party 2018

 Jeff reports that David Levy, Dr. Paul  Possible Observing Session : Jeff Struve Sipiera, Dr. Jennifer Anderson are the stated that the QCAS on April 21st will be at scheduled guest speakers Bettendorf High School from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.  Still has openings for 50 participants outside on Astronomy Day. Welcomes PAC  Let him know as soon as possible members to assist.  Dino Milani said that Genesco Library is re- questing PAC to come back for another out- Constellation Report: reach. Nothing is set yet. Corvus and Crater by Terry Dufek

Events: Presentation: "An Artistic & Literary View of the Heavens"  April 14th possible for rescheduling Mon- mouth field trip. TBD Anne Bauer, Jan Gustafson, and Joanne Hachtel and Roberta Wright  April 21st Niabi  May 4th-5th NCRAL 2018  May 14th PAC Meeting with presentation by Meeting Adjourned Roy Gustafson “Stars on My Ceil- ing”  May 19th Niabi  June 1st Cordova Library Out- reach (more information to come)  June 11th Business Meeting and Smorgasbord of Short Presenta- tions  June 16th Niabi  June 23rd Illiniwek Campground

(Continued in next column)

(right) The presenters Roberta, Anne, Jan and their fans!! Joanne had already gone home. (photo by Roy Gustafson)

28 29 Answers from Crossword puzzle 2. RETROGRADE — When an object moves in the Across reverse sense of “normal” motion. 1. FIELD — A ______galaxy is a galaxy that does 4. SPICULES — Grass-like patterns of gas seen in the atmosphere of the Sun not belong to a larger cluster of galaxies, but is 6. LIMB — The edge of a celestial object’s visible gravitationally alone. disk. 3. TRANSPARENCY — A measure of the atmos- 7. KIRKWOOD — ______Gaps are regions in phere’s clarity — how dark the sky is at night and the main belt of asteroids where few or no aster- how blue it is during the day. oids are found 5. JET — A narrow stream of gas or particles 9. TIDAL — Frictional heating of a satellite's inte- ejected from an accretion disk surrounding a star rior due to flexure caused by the gravitational pull or black hole. of its parent planet and/or other neighboring satel- 8. COMMENSURABILITY — the property of two lites is called ______heating. objects orbiting the same body whose periods are 10. COSMOGONY — The study of celestial sys- in a rational proportion. For example, the orbital tems, including the Solar System, stars, galaxies, period of Saturn around the Sun is very nearly 5/2 and galactic clusters 11. ASTRONOMICAL — The average distance the orbital period of Jupiter. from Earth to the Sun, slightly less than 93 million 12. QUASAR — An unusually bright object found miles is called a ______unit. in the remote areas of the universe, releasing in- 13. SINGULARITY — The center of a black credible amounts of energy and are among the hole, where the curvature of space time is oldest and farthest objects in the known universe. maximal. 14. SYNODIC — The interval between points of 15. DEBRIS — A ring-shaped circumstellar opposition of a superior planet is called the disk of dust and _____ in orbit around a star ______period. early in its formation . 17. RADIAL — The movement of an object either 16. LAGRANGE — A mathematician and as- towards or away from a stationary observer is tronomer showed that three bodies could lie at called ______velocity the apexes of an equilateral triangle which ro- 20. MAGNETOSPHERE — he area around a tates in its plane. If one of the bodies is suffi- planet most affected by its magnetic field. The ciently massive compared with the other two, boundary of this field is set by the solar wind. then the triangular configuration is apparently 21. SUPERIOR — A planet that exists outside the stable. Such bodies are sometimes referred to orbit of the Earth is called ______. as Trojans. The leading apex of the triangle is 23. LUNATION — The interval of a complete lunar known as the leading ______point or L4; cycle, between one the trailing apex is the trailing ______point new Moon and the next. It is equal to 29 days, 12 or L5. hours, and 44 minutes. 18. AURORA — A glow in a planet's iono- 24. MESSIER — An entry in a catalog of 103 star sphere caused by the interaction between the clusters, nebulas, and galaxies compiled by Char- planet's magnetic field and charged particles les ______from the Sun. 26. GEOSYNCHRONOUS — An orbit in which a satel- 19. ZENITH — The point in the sky that’s di- lite's orbital velocity is matched to the rotational veloc- rectly overhead. ity of the planet is called ______. 28. HYPERGALAXY — A system consisting of a spiral 22. — A large distance often used in galaxy surrounded by several dwarf white galaxies, of- astronomy that is equal to 3.26 light-years ten ellipticals 25. ROCHE — The smallest distance from a 29. INTERSTELLAR — The ______medium is planet or other body at which purely gravita- gas and dust that exists in open space between the tional forces can hold together a satellite or stars. secondary body is called the ______limit. Down 27. EPHEMERIS — A timetable with celestial 1. FOCAL — The distance (usually expressed in milli- coordinates that indicates where a planet, meters) from a mirror or lens to the image that it forms comet, or other body moving in relation to is called ______length. background stars will be in the sky Continued in next column 30