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April 2019 OBSERVER

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THE OBSERVER OF THE TWIN CITY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Volume 44, Number 4 April 2019 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: A WORD FROM NCRAL CHAIR CARL WENNING « 1 A Word from NCRAL Chair Carl Wenning For the first time since I have served as editor of this newsletter « 2 President’s Note (beginning in 2013), I do not have an Image of the Month to share. « 3 Calendar of Celestial Events – April 2019 This is not for a want of trying by our astrophotographers. The sky « 3 New & Renewing Members/Dues Blues/E-Mail List this winter and spring has been almost entirely overcast. Yes, there « 4 This Month’s Phases of the Moon have been a few pictures, but not of the sort we have become « 4 This Month’s Solar Phenomena accustomed to seeing on the cover of this publication. So, I’m « 5 AstroBits – News from Around the TCAA taking this opportunity as Chair of the North Central Region of the « 7 TCAA Image Gallery Astronomical League (NCRAL) to say a few words about this « 8 April 2019 with Jeffrey L. Hunt organization with which the TCAA is affiliated. « 13 Public Viewing Sessions Schedule for 2019 First and foremost, I want to point out the NCRAL annual « 13 TCAA Active on Facebook convention will soon be hosted by our friends in Moline, IL – the « 14 TCAA Calendar of Events for 2019 Popular Astronomy Club. This group has done a fantastic job « 14 TCAA Treasurer’s Report as of March 29, 2019 preparing NCRAL 2019 and I hope you will attend. The theme this « th 15 TCAA Social, Saturday, April 27 , 3:30 PM year is Astronomical Voyages of Discovery: Past, Present & Future. 15«Renewing Your TCAA Membership At this point in time, Sharon MacDonald and Mark Boulware will be joining me in attending this event May 3-5. I hope that you will consider doing so as well. Check out convention information and registration at http://ncral2019.org. Second, I hope that you are keeping up with events that are occurring within our Region. This information is made available through the Region’s Northern Lights newsletter. As you might know, TCAA member Jim Gibbs serves as editor-in-chief of this publication and I provide much of the content from a perspective external to our club. If you haven’t read it recently, you have missed out on many fine articles (especially by Jeff Hunt who spoke with us at last year’s Annual Meeting) as well as the many events taking place in the region. You have also missed learning about new and existing awards. For instance, did you know that NCRAL has a Regional Award, a Newsletter Editor Award, and two types of mini grants? If not, you need to check out back issues of Northern Lights by accessing copies through http://ncral.wordpress.com. Be certain to subscribe to the NCRAL email list as well. In closing, I firmly hope that the TCAA membership will become more active than ever during the upcoming observing season. We The TCAA is an affiliate of the Astronomical League. For have exceptional facilities in WO, PSO, and SGO, and Tim Stone, more information about the TCAA, be certain to visit the Bob Finnigan, and I (respectively) are looking forward to working TCAA website. Visit Astroleague.org for additional with our membership to assist in the effort. information about the League and its membership Keep looking up! benefits. Carl J. Wenning Copyright © 2019 TCAA 1 All rights reserved. Vol. 44, No. 4 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers April 2019 PRESIDENT’S NOTE The OBSERVER As Spring is dawning on our is the monthly electronic newsletter of Twin cloudy and cold-weary land, it’s City Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational time to look forward to TCAA organization of amateur astronomers inter- activities as they swing into high ested in studying astronomy and sharing gear. Of course, our Public their hobby with the public. Viewing Session season is upon us with the first coming in just a TCAA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS couple of weeks. I’m personally President, Director, & Property Manager hoping for most, if not all, of Tim Stone 309-531-2401 these evenings to be clear and [email protected] crowded with wonder-filled Vice President & Director/Membership Coord. public. Let’s hope for a very Tom Willmitch 309-846-2423 successful season! [email protected] In addition to our PVS Treasurer & Director/Registered Agent schedule, though, I’d like to Dave Osenga 309-287-0789 take this space to personally TCAA President Tim Stone [email protected] invite you to get involved with Secretary & Director/Historian/Editor our newly renovated Prairie Sky Observatory. Bob Finnigan and Scott Wade have Carl J. Wenning 309-830-4085 worked very hard over the winter months to install new equipment there, designed [email protected] to open up astrophotography to those who would like to try it out and find out 5th Director/Assistant Property Manager what it’s all about, without spending endless all-nighters capturing images with our Scott Wade 309-310-2464 high-end equipment at Waynesville Observatory. [email protected] Using both personal and material resources, you can spend an evening at PSO Astronomical League Correspondent and go home with a satisfying image of a nebula, star cluster, or galaxy, and still get Robert Finnigan 309-846-9533 a good night’s sleep for the following day. Our original 17” and a new 14” scopes [email protected] are operational there, and they are capable of making excellent images! Won’t you Technology Coordinator give it a try? It won’t cost you but some time, and who knows… the Justin Meyer 630-649-0611 [email protected] astrophotography bug just might get ahold of you! You can stay tuned for other summertime activities as well. We’ll have social Webmaster nights, conferences, at least one picnic, and our own late summer conference for Lee Green 309-454-7349 [email protected] area clubs. While you’re at it, pick an Astronomical League observing program and work on completing it by our next annual meeting. We’ll be so happy to award you Lighting Educ. & AL Observing Club Coordinator Lisa Wentzel unlisted number your own pin and certificate at our banquet. If you’ve never done all the Messier [email protected] objects, just know that these are easy to find and can be completed in a handful of nights during the warmer months. I’d love to award some of these pins next The OBSERVER February. Let’s go! Carl J. Wenning, Editor in Chief Tim Stone TCAA President 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 © 2019 TCAA 2 All rights reserved. Vol. 44, No. 4 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers April 2019 CALENDAR OF CELESTIAL EVENTS – APRIL 2019 NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS MORNING PLANETS (4/15): Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, The following individuals have paid dues for new or Uranus, and Neptune renewed memberships as of March 28, 2019. (Others who paid after that date will appear in the May 2019 EVENING PLANETS (4/15): Mars 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 Saving Time. William Carney, John Werner, Duane Yockey Day Time Event DUES BLUES 01 23:18 Venus 2.7°N of Moon If you have received a “your dues are due” 02 18:01 Mercury 3.6°N of Moon statement along with the email that brought you this 05 03:50 NEW MOON issue of The OBSERVER, please remit your dues to Mr. 09 01:40 Mars 4.7°N of Moon Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL 61761-1471. Dues are currently $25 for 09 10:43 Aldebaran 2.1°S of Moon seniors (60 years of age and over) and $40 regular. 11 14 Mercury Greatest Elong: 27.7°W 12 13:08 Moon at Ascending Node SUBSCRIBING TO THE TCAA EMAIL LIST 12 14:06 FIRST QUARTER MOON By subscribing to a group’s mailing list, you will 13 15:12 Beehive 0.2°N of Moon receive email messages from the group though you 14 19:24 Mars 6.4°N of Aldebaran won’t have access to the group’s web features (like 15 03:22 Regulus 2.7°S of Moon photos, files, links, polls, calendar, etc.) unless members activate it later. The club has an open email listserv. It is 16 15 Mercury 4.3° of Venus known as the TCAA YahooGroups listserv. It will be used 16 17:02 Moon at Perigee: 364209 km to share announcements and reminders about 17 22 Venus at Aphelion astronomical and club events. To join this main listserv, 19 06:12 FULL MOON you must do the following: 22 19 Lyrid Meteor Shower 1. To subscribe: Send a blank email to TCAA- 22 19 Uranus in Conjunction with Sun [email protected] Note: You’ll be sent a 23 06:36 Jupiter 1.6°S of Moon confirmation email from the group. Reply to the 25 09:38 Saturn 0.4°N of Moon: Occn. confirmation email to activate your subscription.
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