ar the ne\Nsletter"of the edmonton centre, r.a.s.c. & the queen elizabeth planetarium

august / september 1 983 vol. 28 no. 5 25¢

1983: 25th Anniversary of Kitt Peak PLANETARIUM Bookstore -- Buy from the people who know telescopes --

ARRIVING SOON ! Celestron SUPER C-8's, includes: 7" diameter precision Byers worm gear Drive System for error-free photos 8x50 dual straighHhru and right angle finderscope 26mm Piossl eyepiece 10mm Piossl eyepiece 7mm Orthoscopic eyepiece Deluxe barlow lens new adjustable tripod wedge plus Celestron sky maps .. . . INTRODUCTORY PRICE ...... $1995.00

New Accessories: 7x80mm straighHhru finder scope for 8" Schmidt-Casso (One only) $299.95

Double polarizing filters ...... L .. .. . $18.95

1 1/ 4" Kon ig wide-angle eyepieces (various focal length~) ...... $54.95

Coming Soon: 2" Visual backs and 2" Star Diagonals for your Meade 8" or Celestron C8 Schmidt-Casso telescopes 2" visual back ...... $25.95 2" star diagonal ...... $125.00

Bookstore hours till Sept. 5 -- 1 :OOpm - 4:00p m; 7:00pm - 9:00pm Da ily

PHONE 455-0119 for more information or to make an appointment for a personal demonstration . EDITOR'S MESSAGE Done any observing lately? If you are li ke the rest of us , the answer is NO. Back in the spring it seemed that every dark-of-the­ moon weekend was cloudy. Then perpetual twilight hit, not to mention the torrential rains that persisted through June and July. With all that going against us there has been little opportunity to do the any "serious" observing. We hope the situation will change over the next 2 months as we head into the prime observing season. Several observing sessions are planned for dark sky sites: on August 6 and September 10 (both ',ont Saturdays) avid observers from the Centre will gather at our dark site page

at Buck Mountain, weather permitting of course. On Saturday. August 13, the Planetarium will be conducting a public observing session for campers at the Whistler Campground in Jasper. This is just after the peak of the Perseids, but a few meteors should still be flying around the sky. RASC members are invited to help out with this session; if you are looking for an excuse to get away to the mountains, this may be your chance. If you can help out, give Stew a call at 455- 0119 during office hours. So get those scopes dusted off, and with a li ttle luck and a few clear nights we'll be able to explore the sky. Hopefully, the Centre's 45cm Dobsoo reflector will be present at each of these sessions for truly spectacular views of deep-sky wonders. - Alan Dyer

1 Hear~ Any Good Satellites Lately?

by operated continuously us ing two different transponders - devices which relay signals sent Ken Nelson up to the satellite back to earth on a different frequency. On ground command. either one or VANCOUVER CENTRf., RASC other of the transponders was switched on . This satellite was active until 1981 . Would you like to hear telemetry and/ or voice communications be ing relayed through So vi et Am sats satellites? Read on, and you will find out how! The mechanism which makes th is possible is OSCAR 8, launched in 1978. is still in the orbiting Amateur Rad io satellites , called operation. Telemetry and Morse and/ or voice OSCARs (for Orbiting Satellites Carrying signals of those operating through the satellite Amateur Radio). can be heard on the ten-meter amateur band The Amateur Rad io satell ite story began in between 29.400 and 29.500 MHz, depending on 1961 , when the world's first non-governmental the time of day and operating mode of the satellite , OSCAR 1, was launched. This "bird" satellite. More about receiving equipment later. sent the Morse letters HI , the speed of The Soviet Union entered the Amateur transmission depending on the internal Satellite game with the launch of RS 1 and RS 2 temperature of the satellite. OSCAR 2 was in 1978. However, these amateur satelli tes are almost identical. These satellites , although no longer operating. primitive by modern standards, served as useful Although all the amateur satellites pioneers. mentioned so far (except for OSCAR 8) are now The first active amateur communications silent, some useful commun i cations satellite (and the world's first free-access ex periments were carried out with them. Tests satellite) was OSCAR 3. Launched in 1965, it were conducted in the location of EL Ts was joined later the same year by OSCAR 4. (transmitters in downed aircraft), rel aying Both these satellites re ceived signals sent to medical information via satellite, and even them on the amateur two-meter band, and connecting computers via a space rad io link. retransmitted them on the amateur 1D-metre band. This is still the most common mode of Now in Orbit satellite communications. In 1970, the non-profit Amateur Satell ite We now turn to the presently operating Corporation, AMSAT, was formed. The first amateur satellites. The most numerous of these satellite to be launched by this group was are a spectacular series of Soviet RS satellites , OSCAR 5. Th is was simil ar to OSCARs 3 and 4. deSignated as RS 3through RS 8. These were all and lasted six weeks: OSCAR 6 was launched launched on December 17, 1981 into orbits with later a two-hour period. The average orbital apogee OSCAR 7 had the' sam e pu{pose as the is 1,600 km, with an inclination of 82.9 degrees. pre VI OUS OSCARs - to stimulate Interest- in The average orbital increment is 30 degree s per satellite communications among hams an.d the orbit. One of the unusual features of the RS general public - but was the first international satellites is that three of the satellites (RS 3, 5 ama teur satellite in the se nse that it was built by and 7) have automatic equipment aboard which ha ms in the U.S., Canada . West Germany and simulates a human send ing Morse Code, in a Australi a. Th is satellite. lau nched in 1974, structured sort of way. Called ROBOTS, these 2 orbiting operators can have a limited exchange with operators on the ground. The telemetry of Close-up on Oscar 9 the RS satellites, along with Morse and voice communications through them, can be heard Since the British satellite is designed to between 29.300 and 29.500 MHz. promote interest in space science, let's take a Britain, on October 6, 1981 staged a real closer look at it. Physically, the satellite is coup with the launch of its first OSCAR satellite. rectangular, with solar cells on all four sides. Dubbed UoSA T -OSCAR 9, this satellite is These charge two NiCad batteries in the bottom different from some of the other satellites. half of the satellite; the top half contains twelve Instead of carrying transponders for electronics modules. Protruding from the communications, it has a number of beacons bottom of the satellite, some horizontally, some for propagation studies on the short-wave vertically, are the variouS antennas ICtr--W=l-t~---­ bands, as well as beacons in the two-meter. 70 different beacons. In the centre of the cm, 13 cm, and highe a nas. The underside is a TV camera lens. shortwave beacons can be programmed by The various experiments being done with ground controllers using the onboard the satellite are: computer to send telemetry in Morse Code. Th e -The HF (shortwave) beacon propagation general beacon, operating on the two-meter studies. band, can send data in Morse Code, Baudot (a -A charge-coupled-device Earth-pointing TV standard radioteletype code), ASCII (a camera, the images from which are "dumped" standard computer communications code) - or to the General data beacon, and take 3.5 in a synthesized "male" voice. The engineering minutes for one complete video frame - the beacon at 70 cm can do these th ings as well , but images are of higher resolution than standard usua lly has different data than the genera l home TV. beacon. The 13 cm beacon can send data in -The synthesized-speech telemetry ex­ these modes as well, wh il e the highest beacon periment. is a steady carrier for propagati on studies. The -A gravity-gradient stabilization experiment. exact frequency for each beacon is: -A particle radiat ion counter. Sh ortwave - 7.050, 14.002, 21 .002, and 29.510 -A three-axis , mUlti-range , f lux-gate MH z magnetometer. The magnetometer is deployed 2- meter (FM) - 145.825 MHz after launch at the end of a fifty-foot boom 70-em (FM) - 435.025 MHz which also acts as an antenna for 'le HF 13-em (FM) - 1401 .0 MHz beacons. And finally, the 10.470 GHz steady carrier. The orbit of OSCAR 9 is such that I passes All I have heard from th is satel lite so far IS over the same pOint on the ea rth twice da y For the 2-m be acon; the SW beaco 5 have not been Vancouver, this occurs around 2 pm ar,Q 3 am act ivated yet, and the higher freq uency ones PST. These times are not absolute. I have heard are difficult to receive without specialized the satellite as early as 1:40 pm (PST) Wh at eq ui pment. see ms to work is to "questimate ' a perioc ::l' 23h Th e data sent by the 2-m beacon can be 40m for one pass; th is seems to work for the decoded by computer, if the satellite is se nding afternoon passes. The orbital parameters are ASCII and one has the appropriate interface. the following : Period= 95.45m , altitude= 540 The usual practice ~eems to be to record the km , Inclination= 97.46 degre es, an d orbita l aud io from the beacon on a tape recorder, and in crement= 23.89 degrees per orbit. Be cause of feed the taped signals Into the computer. I the satellite's low altitude, long-range can not say if it works, as I do' riot have ~ the pred ictions are not possible. ap propriate interface, but It would be Receiving signals from all these dl ferent interesting to see the res ults of this if· it does. satellites is not difficult, provided ' one has The synthesized voice is easy to hilar, and access to the proper equipment. To receive the rattles off three digits representing the data signals from the Soviet RS satellites, and from values of sixty data channels. the U.S. OSCAR 8, requires a good-guality 3 shortwave recei er capable of tuning the 29.300 brieftly passing 0 er the Southern Hemisphere - 29.500 MHz range. With such receivers, for 8 hours (30% of orbit time). This orbit was coverage up to 30 MHz is the usual case. In chosen to perm it extended communications addition to this, the receiver should be work and experimentatIOn by amateurs in the equipped with a device called a BFO (beat­ Northern Hemisphere. frequency oscillator). wh ich will make Morse To aid tracking . the ubiquitous on board signals and speech intelligible. Without th is. the computer will send the satellite's current Morse signals will sc..md like intermittent position. in Morse and radioteletype, every few hissing . and the speech will be garbled. minutes. The satellite will also be equipped with Antennas for the receiver can be of any type, an apogee motor to raise the orbit once in but half-wave-Iength dipoles seem to work best. space. In addition to the usual transponders, Th is type f1~ ant . simply a piece of wire cut the satellite will have both general and IU ti,t:' sUitable length. WI ine to the engineering beacons in the 2-metre band. The receiver in the middle. The antenna ca ns onder band plan calls for the inclusion of strung between two trees. and tied to them with four specla S6 c~ I to be used for nylon fish line . Morse, rad ioteletype. voice. and computer For receiving the signals from UoSAT­ communications, bulletin, educational and OSCAR 9. the same type of equipment can be scientific communications experiments, and used to receive he various shortwave beacons, computer networking among hams. once they are act i ated. For receiving the two­ Future plans call for the orbiting of a meter VHF beacon, any of the "scanning PAC SAT. a satellite devoted to computer digital monitors" which receive police and fire calls communication s, message storage and will work, If they also receive the 2-m amateur retrieval, and the like. The Japanese are band (144-148 MHz). Simply program one of planning to build an OSCAR of their own, and the memories (channels) with the beacon three small, short-lived satellites have been req uency, and listen at the appropriate time. "launched" (by being passed through an The small "whip" antennas sold with these units airlock) by cosmonauts of Salyut 6. Overall . the seem to wor adeq uately - the signal fades out future of the amateur satellite program is bright, from time to time. but is definitely there. More the only dark spot being the launch fa ilure of elaborate antennas can be tried (such as Yagi the origina l Phase III A Satell ite which . due to a beams) If the rad io is fitted with an external jack malfunction in the ESA Arianne launch veh icl e, or con nector Given a su itable location, it may ended up somewhere in the Atlantic. Let's hope be pO SSible to rece ive the 70-cm En gineering the upcoming launch is more successful. beacon as well. Information for thiS article came from OST. Given this background information. it an amateur rad io publi cation . March 1981 should be possible for some of you to listen to through May 1983 issues. The 1980 R2dlo the present satellites . Amateur's Handoook was also utilized Both are published by the American Radio Relay Future Launches League. Inc .. Newington. Connecticut. For further information contact me. or send a letter But more ex citement is in store. In June of to them at AR RL HO, 225 Ma in SI.. Newington, th is yea r tentative plans call for the launch of Connecticut 06111 . Altho ugh the Leag ue is Phase III B. a more advanced OSCAR satellite primarily for radio amateurs . they ma y be of to be called OSCAR 0 once safely In orbit. ass istance to non-hams Yea rly membe rship Unli ke the present. Clrcular-Iow-earth-orblt dues are 53000 U S For Ca nada. there IS a OSC ARS. Phase III B Will be put Into a highly CRRL office at Box 7009. S a ion E. Lon don el lptlca l. 'Molniya' -t : pe grblt wlt.h an apogee of Ontario. N5Y 4J9. 35 .000 km (22,300 miles) and a perigee of 1.600 km (915 miles ) Since he apogee will be over the Northern Hemisphere. the sateJirte Will appear to very nearly "hang" In the sky'ior up to Reprinted from Nova. the newsletter of the Vancouver 16 hours at a time (70% of orbit time) . only Centre. RASC 4 r at the lanelalium

On June 21 (an appropri ate date) we began July 16 and 17 was clouded out on the Satu rday. our feature show for the summer season , However, about 1S0 people showed up Su nday Northern Lights, Northern Nights, This is a night and were treated to excellent views of the back-to-the-basics introduction to the night moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. About half a . sky and is narrated live. One of the princi ple dozen RASC members set up their scopes at the topics is the nature of the aurora and our re ­ Queen Elizabeth Planetariu m. Once again. we creation of a rippli ng display of northern lights are indebted to those RASC members for their with some new special e ect proj ectors goes loyal ass istance, in particu lar, to Bob Carson over very well with the tourists from "down and Craig Makarowski for their excellent phone south", The program plays at 3 pm and 8 pm campaign . daily until Sept. S. In August, we will be conducting public Pa rtly as a cost-sa ving measure, the observing sessions at the Queen Elizabeth Planetarium is now closed in the mornings, Planetarium each night from Aug. 11 to 14. If opening up at 1:00 pm, 30 minutes before the you could help out by supplying a telescope, first scheduled show of the day. Even ing hours please phone Stew Krysko at 4SS-0119 during are now reduced, with the Queen El izabeth office hours. On Saturday, Aug. 13, Stew will be Planetarium open from 7 pm to 9 pm each night. conducting a special public Star Night at the A second Star Night this year, planned for Whistler Campground In Jasper National Park . Ipaee leiencel cent,e

massive speaker systems. In addition, a system of sub-woofer speakers in each theatre Wi ll ensure you "feel" the music and sound effects Over he last few months, some major gains making for rea li st ic Shuttle launches and have been made in the area of fund-raising, with thunderstorms! about SO% of the required fun ds for equipment Prod uction for the first public and school and furnishings now raised, with several other shows for the Edmonton Space Sciences significant donations pending. Centre IS also well un derway: the script for the The perforated alumin um planetarium first Chil dren 's s ow is now finalized dome is scheduled to arrive later in August for storyboard sketc es are in progress, and asse mbly this fa ll. In June, we selected the prinCiple photography has beg un . The firs supplier and equ ipment for the sound systems outline or "treat ment" for what Will be the for the two thea res and for our recording premiere feature s ow has been written, and studio. A combinati6n of 4-track and 8-track Initial production begun. Outlines and SC riP s tape recorders will be utilized , each using.:l 2- for a se of 3 school shows are also In the wor s inch wi de audio tape. An "Omnlphonic" so und Detailed budgets or these productions have system in the Star Theatre will enable usto pan been drawn up. In preparation for see mg sound sources to any number of " the 24 sponsorship fo r the programs (I e. "thiS speakers behind the dome The IMAX theatre program was made possible by a grant from he Will use a 6-channel sound system feeding 6 Widget Corporation ") 5 r laIC newl

EDMONTON'S ALIVE IN '8S! Indonesia. A short tou r of the Centre will follow 1962, 1970, 1978, and now - 1985! Years the for those who were not at the March meeting, or RASC General Assembly is hosted in wish to inspect the changes that ha ve taken Edmonton, Yes , the G,A. is coming to town place since that time. once ag in, At the General Assembly held this year in OBSERVING SESSIONS PLANNED Quebec C ity , the Edmonton Ce ntre August and September are the best successfully bid for the 1985 GA, beating out a observing months in Edmonton; two dark-of­ competing bid from the Toronto Centre, The '85 the-moon nights at our dark site at Buck G.A. will be held either on the Victoria Da y or Mountain are planned: Saturday, Aug. 6 and Canada Day weekend (the dates are be ing Saturday, Sept. 10. The Centre 's 45 cm (17.5") pinned down now) when about 200 RASC Dobson reflector should be present at Buck on members are expected to descend upon both those nights, for some spectacular deep­ Edmonton for 3 days of social events, tours, sky observi ng. In the afternoon of Aug. 6, a work paper sessions and seminars, lectures, party will be organized to clear some of the banquets, and a tour of the nearly year-old Space Sciences Centre. Organizing committees to look after areas A view of the radio mast at the summit of Buck such as accommodation, reg istration, tours, Mountain. There are no lights on this antenna, and It paper sessions, etc, are being formed now, does not obstruct the view of the sky from our Vo lunteers w ill be sought to assist in all areas of observing site further down the hilI. planning, In the next year, everyone in th e Ce ntre w ill be Invited to contribute some volunteer time - Just when you th ought It was safe to join the RA SC once again! NEW LOCATION FOR THE GENERAL MEETINGS Beg inning '1 September, th e Edmo"" In Centre's meet lr uS will be held In th e classr _ 'Tl of the Space SCien ces Centre. The classrooI'T IS on the lowest le vel of the Ce ntre, Wit th e entrance on tr :lrth-west side of the b LJ '~ g Until the landscaping and front laza construction are complete later this year, en ry to he Space SCie nces Centre will be somewhat awkward, but th e b~st entrance door wi ll be marked on t h~ rrl ght of the meeting. Pa rking IS in the lot on f"t. c orrie ~ of 111 Avenue and 142 Street. Do n ~ park at the Queen Elizab.e h Planetarium unless you want the extra ex erC'se of walking aCloss Coronation Park. At the September 12 meetin g, PreSident Tony Whyte will recount his journey th is past sum mer to view the total solar eclipse In GENERAL MEETING undergrowth that will no doubt have infested the site with al l the ra in we have had. The trailer NOTICE will also require cleaning and some interior repa irs . A map for directions to Buck is on the last Monday, September 12 page; Buck is about a 90 minute drive south­ 8:00 pm west of the city. Space Sciences Centre classroom THE JOY OF GAZING As reported in an earli er ed ition of SPEAKER: Tony Whyte, President. "Stardust" a new Observing Manual for the Edmonton Centre, RASC newcomer to amateur astronomy has been TOPIC: The 1983 Indonesian Total Eclipse published by the Montreal Centre. Th is manual, of the Sun - - A Travelogue written by Davi d Levy, a well-known amateur ast ronomer, is sub-titled "A Personal Guide for a New Observer". It covers a wide- ran ging list of A short tou r of the Space Sciences Centre will topics including " The Moon" , " Planets", take place after the main presentation for "Astero ids" , " Messier Hunti ng ," " Occult­ those who wish to see the other areas of the at ions", and the "Aurora Borealis". The manual Cenrre. explains the basics of each topic well and even gives some simple projects in each observi ng fi eld that the beginning observer, or even an ex pe ri enced one, would have no problem attempting. Our Centre has purchased a number of copies of this excellent manual to make available to our members . They may be Dates for future meedngs: obtained at forthcoming meetings for the low Monday, October 17, 1983 pri ce of $3.00. Don't wa it as the supply is quite limited! Monday, November, 14, 1983 -Bob Carson Monday, December 12, 1983 Monday, January 9, 1984 RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP Monday, Feb ruary 13, 1984 Beginning in September, Centre Treasurer Monday, March 12, 1984 Mel Ra nkin will be ac cept i ng RASC memberships for the 1983-84 season. Fees Monday , April 9, 1984 remain unchanged from last year: M onday, May 14, 1984 Adults - $24.00 M onday, June 11. 1984 Youths 17 and under - $15.00 Life Membership - $3pO.00 Associate Membership - S8.00 Al l at the Space Sciences Centre Associate membership is open to the spouse and ch ildren of members paying the $24.00 adult membership fee. Guests and members of the public Members may pay their annual dues' at the are w elcome at RASe meetings General Meetings coming up this fall , or by mail using the form on the back cover. 7 U K MOUnTft len TYE EDMONTON CENTRE DARK SITE How to get to Buck Mountain ------

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T o ;:. :~ :;.:- I I C,l Lr:,;r J , rtoon by Dave Sine, reprinred from ,~ ~ I: C: . ~ , E tC . .'in ieenni es", newslerter of the Winnipeg Cenrre SRETO

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At ~ reton , t u r n ~c~ t W-- -+--E M_\j 1 2 onte 616 . Cr'iv e 11 ~ ':les. Turn sout h ( left) . c r': ve 3 . 70'" 1e s . The ent r ance r oad \ ~ to the r'll"'! h t.

What not to do when you get there I

8 DISCOVER Royal Astronomical THE Society UNIVERSE of Canada with the EDMONTON CENTRE

monthly general meetings regular group observing sessions use of th.e Ellerslie Observatory use of Buck Mountain Dark Site the annual RASe Observer's Handbook STARDUST the RASe Journal and Newsletter free admission to all Planetarium shows

resident ...... Tony Whyte (439-9367) reasurer ...... Mel Rankin (469-3066)

RASC, EDMONTON CENTRE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM Please accept my application for membership in the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, EDMONTON , CENTRE for 1984. Enclosed is a cheque or money order for the appropriate fee : $24.00 for Adults; $15.00 for Youths 17 and under; $300.00 for Life membership; $8.00 for Associate membership (open to spouse and ch ildren of Adult members). I understand that upon receipt of my application and fee remittance, a membership card and a copy of the 1984 Observer's Handbook will be mailed to my address when it is published (or can be picked up at the next monthly general meeting), and that I will be placed on the mailing lists for RASC publications. Name ______

Address

Postal Code __---, ______Phone ______o New Member o Renewal MAil TO: Edmonton Centre, RASC, c/o.Edmonton Space Sciences Centre, CN Tower, 10th Floor, 10004-104 Avenue', Edmonton, Alberta, T5K OK1 . Please make all cheques payable to: Edmonton Centre, RASC ...... Thanks! ~@------~ cl o Space Sciences Centre CN Tower, 10th Floor 10004 - 104 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5J OK1

AUGUST SMTWTFS RASe Observing session Public Observing Buck Mountain -----+....;;iL-...... ,.j~4__/Jasper National Park 7 H 9 10 OJ Q . Publi c Observing nights Gl 15 16 17 18 19 20 a.E. Planetarium Aug. 11 - 14 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

~ SEPTEMBER SMTWTFS Th e Ice Age Come h ? opens at QEP. _ 1 2 3 RAse Observing Sess ion . I 4 v-.- -/ Buck Mountain RAse Genera! Meeting 0 -. Publi Observin g nights Space Sciences Centre classroom....f3l-ll 13 14 j 5 J 6 17 a.E. Planetarium I 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 S ••' . 9 - 11 25 26 27 28 29 30

S MTWTFS 1 2 3 4 567 8 Public Observing nights a.E. Planetarlu',;, - , Ase General Meeting 9 10 1112 01 @l [2J pace Sc iences Centre classroom ...... i8 19 20 21 22 Oct. 13 - 16 - 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ·30 31 L : HOW ARD GIBB ONS To No.901 - 9915 115 Str eet Edmonto n ~ Al ber ta T5R 1B9