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JULY 2016 VOLUME 35 | #7

ST AT THE JULY 1 MEETING HIGHLIGHTS PRESIDENT’S LETTER 5

EDITOR’S LETTER 6

NOVICE PRESENTATION 7

MEMBER PROJECTS 7

ARTICLE 9 SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES CAUSE n July, Vojta Ciml, the Founder of work on program that would improve the GALACTIC WARMING ISlideslive.com will present at the HAS clarity of the video of the presenter as General meeting. SlidesLive is one-click well as the ability to show whatever the ARTICLE 10 conference recording service, that is presenter was showing during his original changing the audiovisual industry forever. demonstration. HUBBLE’S BUBBLE LIGHTS Their network of professional teams is The vision grew. Now that he UP THE INTERSTELLAR always ready to record any event. had a web-based format, he had to figure RUBBLE Easy to embed on your out a way to get high quality content. website, share publicly or privately So, he uses a network of professional with your colleagues or even monetize videographers, much like Uber, who are ALL MEETINGS ARE AT THE access to the content.Slideslive.com ready to take video and organize the UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON captures presentations using a unique presentations. The final presentations AND RESEARCH format whereby a dual screen setup are easy to embed on a website and can BUILDING. SEE THE LAST synchronizes a video of the presenter(s) be shared publically or privately. As he PAGE FOR DIRECTIONS TO with a video of the presentation slides states, “I am on the mission to record THE LOCATION AND MORE that are being shown to the audience. every single conference and presentation And you are seeing them side by side – in the World.” He was introduced at a INFORMATION. both being clearly viewed. speaking conference as “changing the Vojta started the company world of on-line education”. In one of his NOVICE MEETING when he was attending Czech Technical presentations, he likened capturing every 7:00 P.M. University in Prague. He used to video presentation as being the modern version SEE PAGE 7 tape certain lectures so he could play of the Library at Alexandria. them back during his studies. However, And, indeed, he’s on to something. Go GENERAL MEETING he discovered that his video wasn’t to Slidelive.com and see for yourself the high quality and he couldn’t make out variety of interesting topics and how 8:00 P.M the professor’s slides or other lecture clearly they are presented. materials. So he came up with an idea to 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS CALENDAR PG 3 JULY 1 AUGUST 2 7:00 P.M. HAS NOVICE MEETING 3:45 P.M. NEW MOON ABOUT H.A.S. AUGUST 5 @ U OF H 7:00 P.M. HAS NOVICE MEETING PG 4 8:00 P.M. HAS GENERAL MEETING @ U OF H @ U OF H SOCIETY DIRECTORY 8:00 P.M. HAS GENERAL MEETING JULY 2 @ U OF H PRIME NIGHT, COLUMBUS AUGUST 10 PG 5 1:21 P.M. FIRST QUARTER MOON JULY 4 AUGUST 12 PRESIDENT’S LETTER 6:01 A.M. NEW MOON PERSEID METEORS JULY 7 AUGUST 16 PG 6 11:00 A.M. AT 4:00 P.M. MERCURY AT GREATEST ELONGATION EAST FROM THE EDITOR OPPOSITION AUGUST 18 JULY 12 4:27 A.M. FULL MOON PG 7 7:52 P.M. FIRST QUARTER MOON AUGUST 20 OBSERVATORY CORNER JULY 19 1:00 A.M. ASTEROID 2 PALLAS AT OPPOSITION 5:57 P.M. FULL MOON AUGUST 24 6:30 P.M. HAS BOARD MEETING, NOVICE PRESENTATION: 10:41 P.M. LAST QUARTER MOON TRINI MENDENHALL THE ART OF OBSERVING AUGUST 26 COMMUNITY CENTER 7:30 P.M. NOVICE LAB, COLUMBUS JULY 29 AUGUST 27 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 6:00 P.M. LAST QUARTER MOON PRIME NIGHT, COLUMBUS

PG 8 SHALLOW SKY OBJECT SEND CALENDAR EVENTS TO DOUG MCCORMICK OF THE MONTH [email protected] FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON CLUB EVENTS, GO TO ASTRONOMYHOUSTON.ORG PG 9 | ARTICLE: SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES CAUSE GALACTIC OTHER MEETINGS WARMING JOHNSON SPACE CENTER ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY | jscas.net Meets in the the Lunar and Planetary Institute on the 2nd Friday of each month. PG 10 | ARTICLE: HUBBLE’S BUBBLE FORT BEND ASTRONOMY CLUB | fbac.org/club_meetings.htm. LIGHTS UP THE Meets the third Friday of the month at 8:00 p.m. at the Houston Community INTERSTELLAR RUBBLE College Southwest Campus in Stafford, Texas.

PG 11 NORTH HOUSTON ASTRONOMY CLUB | astronomyclub.org A LETTER FROM THE GREAT Meets at 7:30 p.m. on the 4th Friday of each month in the Teaching Theatre TEXAS GIVEAWAY of the Student Center at Kingwood College. Call 281-312-1650 or E-mail [email protected]. PG 12 GENERAL GUIDESTAR BRAZOSPORT ASTRONOMY CLUB INFORMATION Meets the third Tuesday of each month at the Brazosport planetarium at 7:45 p.m. The Brazosport planetarium is located at 400 College Boulevard, Clute, TX, 77531. PG 13 For more information call 979-265-3376. PARKING AT UH 2 ABOUT THE HOUSTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

CHECK THE WEBSITE The Houston Astronomical Society is a non-profit corporation ASTRONOMYHOUSTON.ORG organized under section 501 (C) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code. The HAS website not only has news and The Society was formed for education and scientific purposes. information about our society, but also All contributions and gifts are deductible for federal income tax a variety of features to manage your purposes. General membership meetings are open to the public and membership and connect with other attendance is encouraged. club members. Current members can post photos, All members have the right to participate in Society functions trade gear, pay dues, manage discount and to use the Observatory Site. Regular and Student Members magazine subscriptions, swap stories in the forum, and more. receive a subscription to The Reflector. The GuideStar, the monthly Questions about the site? Need a hand publication of the Houston Astronomical Society is available on to get your account set up? Contact the web site. Associate Members, immediate family members of a [email protected]. Regular Member, have all membership rights, but do not receive The HAS web site is the winner of the publications. Sustaining members have the same rights as regular 2012 Astronomical League award for members with the additional dues treated as a donation to the excellence Society. Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines are available to Houston members at a discount. Astronomical Society MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION You can join (or renew at the organization web site, www. GuideStar_HAS astronomyhouston.org. Click the ‘Join HAS’ Tab. Send funds to address shown on last page of GuideStar. Attention - Treasurer, along with the following information: Name, Address, STARLINE Phone Number, Special Interests in Astronomy, Do you own a 832-go4-HAS0 Telescope? (If so, what kind?), and where you first heard of H.A.S.

EVENT NOTIFICATION OR CANCELLATION To receive text messages, send any or all of HAS uses RAINEDOUT.NET to communicate late breaking updates about our various the following (one at a time) to 84483 events. . Message delivery is via text messaging and e-mail. There are several ways to OUTREACH Public Outreach Events subscribe. If you would like to receive these notices via text messaging directly to your STARPARTY Members only star Parties phone, subscribe to any of the sub-groups which interest you. URBAN Urban Observing Events MEETINGS HAS Meetings RainedOut notices will also automatically be sent to our e-mail list. Note that regular e-mail list conversations are not part of RainedOut communications and will not be You will receive a confirmation message sent to your phone as part of this service. Instructions to sign up for the e-mail list (a back for each successful enrollment. great way to keep your finger on the pulse of the club) are found here: For more information, please visit www. http://www.astronomyhouston.org/about/email-list. RainedOut.net.

3 HOUSTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY DIRECTORY

DIRECTORS AT LARGE FIELD TR./OBSG TEXAS STAR PARTY JESSICA KINGSLEY STEPHEN JONES STEVE GOLDBERG [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] H: 713 385 4072 BILL KOWALCZYK MEMBERSHIP [email protected] JESSICA KINGSLEY & BILL KOWALCZYK OBSERVATORY & TRAILER [email protected] SPOT BOOKING JUSTIN MCCOLLUM STEVE GOLDBERG [email protected] NOVICE [email protected] DEBBIE MORAN DEBBIE MORAN [email protected] VIDEOGRAPHY [email protected] H:713‐774‐0924 C:713‐562‐7670 ROB MOREHEAD H:713.774.0924 C:713.562.7670 [email protected] OBSERVATORY BRAM WEISMAN MIKE EDSTROM observatory@ WEB TECHNOLOGY [email protected] astronomyhouston.org P: 832‐689‐4584 MARK FERRAZ [email protected] OFFICERS PROGRAM PRESIDENT JUSTIN MCCOLLUM URBAN OBSERVING RENE GEDALY [email protected] STEVE MUNSEY [email protected] [email protected] PUBLICITY VICE PRESIDENT BRAM WEISMAN ED FRANI [email protected] [email protected] ADVISORS TELESCOPE DR. REGINALD DUFOUR SECRETARY ALLEN WILKERSON Rice University MARK HOLDSWORTH [email protected] [email protected] P: 832‐ 265‐4773 DR. LAWRENCE PINSKY University of Houston TREASURER DON SELLE AD-HOC COMMITTEE DR. LAWRENCE ARMENDAREZ [email protected] CHAIRPERSONS University of St. Thomas AL COORDINATOR DOUG MCCORMICK COMMITTEE [email protected] HAS BOARD MEETING CHAIRPERSONS AUDIO/VISUAL HAS Board meetings are scheduled AUDIT MICHAEL RAPP regularly. All members are invited to SCOTT MITCHELL [email protected] attend these meetings, but only board [email protected] members can vote on issues brought GUIDESTAR EDUCATION & OUTREACH before the board. Meetings are held BOB WIESNER DEBBIE MORAN & JOE KHALAF at the Trini Mendenhall Community [email protected] [email protected] Center (1414 Wirt Road) at 6:30 p.m. [email protected] TEXAS 45 COORDINATOR on the date specified the calendar. RENE GEDALY [email protected] 4 PRESIDENT’S LETTER BY RENE GEDALY

Lots of activity this month. It’s getting hard to keep up. Speaking of which, a lot of mowing goes on at the dark site in summer. I think I’ve seen every member of the Observatory Committee on one mower or another. Including yours truly. Yes, Allen Wilkerson gave me training on the finishing mower. Thanks, Allen. I think.

UH OBSERVATORY OBSERVATORY LIGHT RULES About a year ago director Jessica New to the club but afraid of breaking the light rules? Fear no more. Kingsley asked the board whatever Ana Taylor, a weekend denizen of the dark site and Women’s SIG happened to the observatory atop member, has volunteered to get you started off right. During twilight the UH Science building. Now she she’ll be stopping by to help make sure you don’t inadvertently spill and Clayton Jeter are getting it light from your vehicle. back into commission. Dr. Pinsky, one of our advisers, has the GIRL SCOUTS AT THE OBSERVATORY primary and secondary mirrors out for recoating. The plan is to re-open in the fall.

WEBSITE Ever wonder about that article you saw on the website that’s gone missing? The WebTech Team now has a website archive of past HAS: Learning about the through the art and science of astronomy articles. See the Archive tab. The Women’s SIG hosted 30 scouts and 10 parents overnight at the HAS Observatory. What fun! Cherie Pepper, a former girl scout who’s gone OUTREACH through the ranks, was invaluable help as was Sherry Irby, who brought What do you do about these her Chi-Weenies Dewey and Libby, a big hit. Equipped with red lights, short summer nights? Hold solar the girls toured Mike Edstrom’s private imaging observatory, stopped and lunar events of course. at Amelia Goldberg’s blinged out pink telescope, and then made their Coming up in July we have the way to the Observatory where Chris Ober, Steve Goldberg, and I were Solar Series Art Exhibition at on hand to show them , Mars, Saturn, Albireo, the Stargate, etc., Silver Street Studios and an etc. We also located objects naked eye as the girls learned to use a star Astronomy 101 talk with lunar map, loads of fun. As promised, I also showed the ambitious—girls and observing at Second Baptist parents—how to operate a telescope. They were directed to choose a for 50 or so visiting students bright object, find it using the Telrad on the f/5, focus it in the eyepiece, from China. Contact outreach@ and then tell me what they saw. There are no words to describe their astronomyhouston.org and Joe faces as they discovered they had located Mars and Saturn by accident— Khalaf will hook you up. all by themselves.

5 FROM THE EDITOR BY BOB WIESNER

MANY INTERESTING THINGS GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ASTRONOMY The local deluge seems to be in the past, but we still have a regular occurrence of rain – enough to keep the humidity uncomfortably high and the sky covered in clouds. If getting to the dark site is challenging because of your schedule or the weather, or even your back yard, there’s plenty of Astronomical news to keep you occupied for the time being.

CONFIRMATION OF THE EARLY DISCOVERY We published an article in the May 2016 issue of Guidestar on the discovery of a galaxy (GN-z11) in Ursa Major by the Hubble Telescope. This galaxy goes back 13.4 billion years. The Keck Telescope in Hawaii has reconfirmed this find. Of additional interest is how Keck was able to detect the galaxy because of the gravity of a in front of their target, called gravitational lensing.

GN-z11 superimposed on an image from theGOODS-North survey I have to brush up on my Relativity.

DISCOVERY OF A SECOND BINARY SYSTEM We published an article in the April 2016 issue of the Guidestar on Astronomy and the discovery / detection of the first gravitational waves. The team at LIGO (Laser interferometer Gravitation-wave Observatory) has done it again – detecting the waves of another system. Gravitational Waves…. Again, I need to brush up on my Relativity

This artist’s illustration depicts the merging ANOTHER STUDY CONCLUDING THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING EVEN FASTER black hole binary systems for GW150914 (left image) and GW151226 (right image). Using the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, a team of astronomers led by Alex Filippenko, The black hole pairs are shown together in obtained “the most precise” measurement with regard to the expansion of the this illustration, but were actually detected universe. They concluded that it’s expanding as much as 10% faster than what was at different times, and on different parts calculated previously according to observations by the Plank space observatory of the sky. The images have been scaled to (ESA). This discovery brings into question the roles of dark matter and dark ; show the difference in black hole masses. In the ultimate reliability of Einstein’s general theory, perhaps a yet to be discovered the GW150914 event, the black holes were particle, and the size of the Hubble constant. 29 and 36 times that of our Sun, while in

GW151226, the two black holes weighed Those subjects among many others, along with the news on the development of in at 14 and 8 solar masses. Image credit: newer, larger, more sophisticated instruments for further research like the James LIGO/A. Simonnet. Webb Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope make for very interesting reading. They also provide inspiration to keep YOUR telescope at least ready to point at the sky when weather permits. 6 NOVICE OBSERVATORY CORNER PRESENTATION BY: MIKE EDSTROM BY DEBBIE MORAN The July presentation will be a reprise of a talk I gave in my first year as Novice Chair, “All About Telescopes.” While we have had a number of in depth talks about various types of telescopes and eyepieces, this is a general Telescopes 101 talk for our recent new members. You will learn about the most common telescope designs, the role of eyepieces, and the basic terminology used to describe telescope optics.

AND THE WORK CONTINUES!! Thanks to all that came out on Saturday June 18th we are making headway on the outside wall coverings and the roof trusses. We will meet again soon keep an eye on the netslyder for date and time.

We have had a lot of rain in May and early June at the site so the ground is saturated please be sure to stay on the MEMBER PROJECTS road or on the observing field as the other areas are very soft. The low water crossing has had water running in it We want to spotlight the from a few inches to all the way to the top so if you are astronomical projects and going out right after a rain please be very careful!!! observations that you are working on. Please watch the web site for future announcements of Send us an training sessions on the new MX and 12” RC scope in the email at GUIDESTAR@ observatory which everyone that has been trained on using ASTRONOMYHOUSTON.ORG the observatory must take. and tell us. Whether it be a specific research project in Summer constellations are up and waiting for you at the astronomy that you’re working Columbus Dark Site, hope to see you there soon. on, an astro league observing program, an astrophotography If you find any issues while at the site, please be sure to project, or something else, let e-mail me so we can take care of them. us know so we can let the rest of the society know. 7 SHALLOW SKY OBJECT OF THE MONTH A TRIO OF DOUBLE STARS IN LYRA BY BILL PELLERIN

OBJECT: Three double stars CLASS: Stars CONSTALLATION: Lyra, the Lyre (musical instrument) MAGNITUDE: See text R.A.: 18 h, 50 m, 24 s (constellation) DEC: 36° 49’ 12” SIZE/SPECTRAL: See text DISTANCE: 150 ly

Optics needed: Unaided eye, binoculars, and a small telescope It’s now officially summer, as of June 20. The Sun has traveled as far north as it’s going to go this year and is beginning its long trek back south toward the winter solstice (December 21). It seems so far away now. While the hours of daylight are getting fewer now, it’ll take some time before we see significantly earlier sunsets. Daylight saving time doesn’t help (don’t get me started on this topic). Finder chart to right. Star charts generated by TheSkyX © Amateur astronomers are obliged to wait later into the night Software Bisque, Inc. All rights reserved. www.bisque.com (clock time) to view their favorite objects and the buzzing of double (one of these pairs is 2.2 arc-seconds and the other is the mosquitoes does not facilitate a relaxing observing session. 2.8 arc-seconds). High magnification (about 200x), good seeing, Bug spray, anyone? good optics, and attention to the focus of the telescope are Fortunately, there are several bright objects that are needed to see the four stars. worthy of your time and effort, and in this article we’ll focus on Delta Lyr, at the northeastern corner of the some bright stars in Vega, a constellation that is up all night in parallelogram that defines Lyra is an optical double star. The July. You should be able to find these from the city on a moonlit stars are just over 10 arc minutes apart and easy to see. The night, so don’t wait for ideal conditions to get the telescope primary star (900 ly away) is a M class star, meaning that it’s out. much redder than Vega. Look to see if you can detect this color Let’s begin with the most recognizable star in the difference. Much of the radiation of this star is in the infrared, constellation, Vega. An A class (blue) star shining at magnitude not the visible, so the total energy from this star is quite high. zero means it is one of the brighter stars in the sky, fifth in Looking back in the direction of Vega, we happen order of brightness. Due to the precession of the earth’s axis it upon Zeta Lyr, I measure (in TheSky software) the separation of was the pole star 14,000 years ago, and if you can wait another the two stars that comprise this pair as 45 arc-seconds. You’ll 14,000 years or so, it will be the pole star again. need binoculars or, more likely, a telescope to split this pair. A Look slightly to the east and you’ll see a small triangle of stars magnification of 10 to 20 should be sufficient, and 10 power (no telescope needed for this). The one to the northeast is binoculars are easy to come by. You’ll need a mount to hold Epsilon Lyr, the famous double-double. While you may be able them steady to have a good look at the double with the binocs. to see the two stars without optical aid (they’re 3.5 arc-minutes (I’ve long been a fan of image stabilized binoculars. They’re apart), you can definitely see them with binoculars. You’ll need expensive, but a great investment if you intend to do a lot of a telescope to see that each of the stars in the pair is also a binocular observing.) 8 SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES CAUSE GALACTIC WARMING FROM THE MCDONALD OBSERVATORY - 25 MAY 2016

For most of their lives, are lush environments for turning gas into stars. Until they aren’t. Over the last few billion years, a mysterious kind of “galactic warming” has turned huge numbers of galaxies into deserts devoid of fresh young stars. The puzzle for astronomers has been identifying the unknown process that keeps the gas in these dormant galaxies too hot and energetic to form stars. Today, astronomers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), including Dr. Niv Drory of The University of Texas at Austin, are announcing the discovery of a new class of galaxies called “red geysers” An artist’s rendition of the galaxies: Akira (right) and Tetsuo (left) in action. Akira’s gravity pulls that harbor supermassive black holes Tetsuo’s gas into its central , fueling winds that have the power to heat with winds that have the power to keep Akira’s gas. The action of the black hole winds prevents a new cycle of star formation in Akira. dormant galaxies quiet. (Credit: Kavli IPMU) “We knew that there had to be quickly, so catching the wind red-handed and his home institution in Japan. Akira a way to prevent star formation in these is hard.” has a companion galaxy that Cheung galaxies, and now we have a good idea of The secret to capturing the called “Tetsuo” for another character what it is,” says Edmond Cheung, the lead whole story is the SDSS’s new component in the same manga. Akira is pulling gas author of the study published today in the survey, Mapping Nearby Galaxies at away from Tetsuo, which fuels Akira’s journal Nature. Cheung, an astronomer Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA). supermassive black hole winds. The winds at the University of Tokyo’s Kavli Institute Texas’ Drory built the MaNGA instrument driven by Tetsuo’s gas are the reason that for the Physics and Mathematics of that makes this survey possible. Drory is Akira is currently a red geyser galaxy. the Universe, was working with an currently the Instrument Scientist for the Bundy came up with the name “red international team of astronomers project. geyser” because these wind outbursts studying hundreds of galaxies when they “The MaNGA Project’s strength reminded him of the sporadic eruptions caught a supermassive black hole blasting and uniqueness lies in the fact that we of a geyser and because the failure to away at the cold gas in its host galaxy. decided to not pre-select the galaxies we form new stars leaves the galaxy with “Galaxies start out as star- observe other than by the fact that they only red stars. making machines with a simple recipe: would be bright enough for the telescope As with global warming on gas plus gravity equals stars,” says Kevin and instrument we’re using,” Drory said. Earth, galactic warming has long-term Bundy, co-author on the study and “We were hoping that by observing many consequences for red geyser galaxies: Principal Investigator of the new SDSS more galaxies than ever before, we’d Their gas can no longer form new stars. campaign that led to the discovery. “Here find both the normal guys and the really “You can think of these winds as super- we have a galaxy that has everything it unusual ones — the ones that teach us heating the atmospheres of galaxies,” needs to form new stars, but is dormant. something new about galaxies in general. Cheung says. “As soon as any gas starts Why is that?” The object we’ve discovered here is to cool, it gets blasted by this wind, like Astronomers had long suspected a perfect example of how well that is water droplets turning to steam.” The that the reason had something to do working. These are very exciting times to team theorizes that this phenomenon with the supermassive black hole found be working on galaxy formation with new is quite common in dormant galaxies. at the centers of many galaxies, but solid data like MaNGA that we’ve only been Therefore, our own Milky Way galaxy may evidence was lacking. One reason was able to dream about until now.” not be safe from this galactic warming. that it used to be difficult to map the Survey Scientist Renbin Yan of Distant future generations may see our internal structure and motions of gas and the University of Kentucky explained that supermassive black hole turning our stars throughout a galaxy. “If we looked ““Since MaNGA studies so many galaxies, galaxy into a red geyser. just at the center of the galaxy like we our snapshots can reveal even the used to, we could have learned about quickest changes happening in galaxies. the central black hole, but we would And that’s how we found Akira.” COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS have missed the story of how it affects Cheung nicknamed this premier example AT AUSTIN MCDONALD OBSERVATORY, the rest of the galaxy,” Cheung says. of a red geyser galaxy “Akira” after the PUBLISHER OF STARDATE MAGAZINE “Another reason is that the wind from famous Japanese manga comic character, STARDATE.ORG/MAGAZINE supermassive black holes comes and goes an homage to both the MaNGA survey 9 HUBBLE’S BUBBLE LIGHTS UP THE INTERSTELLAR RUBBLE BY ETHAN SIEGEL

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!

When isolated stars like our Sun reach the end of their lives, they’re expected to blow off their outer layers in a roughly spherical configuration: a planetary nebula. But the most spectacular bubbles don’t come from gas-and-plasma getting expelled into otherwise empty space, but from young, hot stars whose radiation pushes against the gaseous nebulae in which they were born. While most of our Sun’s energy is found in the visible part of the spectrum, more massive stars burn at hotter temperatures, producing more ionizing, ultraviolet light, and also at higher luminosities. A star some 40-45 times the mass of the Sun, for example, might emits energy at a rate hundreds of thousands of times as great as our own star. The Bubble Nebula, discovered in 1787 by William Herschel, is perhaps the classic example of this phenomenon. At a distance of 7,100 light years away Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), of the Bubble Nebula as imaged 229 years after its discovery by William Herschel. in the constellation of Cassiopeia, a molecular gas cloud is actively aperture as small as 8” (20 cm). on the “short” side than on the forming stars, including the massive As viewed by Hubble, the longer one. The blue color is due to O- class star BD+60 2522, which itself thickness of the bubble wall is the emission from partially ionized is a magnitude +8.7 star despite its both apparent and spectacular. A oxygen atoms, while the cooler yellow great distance and its presence in a star as massive as the one creating color highlights the dual presence of dusty region of space. Shining with this bubble emits stellar winds at hydrogen (red) and nitrogen (green). a temperature of 37,500 K and a approximately 1700 km/s, or 0.6% the The star itself at the core of luminosity nearly 400,000 times that . As those winds slam the nebula is currently fusing helium of our Sun, it ionizes and evaporates into the material in the interstellar at its center. It is expected to live off all the molecular material within a medium, they push it outwards. The only another 10 million years or so sphere 7 light years in diameter. The bubble itself appears off-center from before dying in a spectacular Type II bubble structure itself, when viewed the star due to the asymmetry of explosion. from a dark sky location, can be seen the surrounding through an amateur telescope with an with a greater density of cold gas 10 LETTER TO HAS FOR THE GREAT TEXAS GIVEAWAY STAFF JAYNE LAMBERT - THE GREAT TEXAS GIVEAWAY STAFF

BACKGROUND If you’ve ever been to the Texas Star Party, you know about the Great Texas Giveaway, the door prize event held following the main lectures on Friday and Saturday evening. Generous vendors, individuals, and astronomy clubs donate these prizes--including our club, the Houston Astronomical Society. Members, below is a thank you for our support. NOTE I wanted to thank HAS and it’s members for your generous donation to The Great Texas Giveaway. It is so nice to know that my home club supports TSP in such a great way. The recipients of your donations are: • FERNANDO RIVERA III OF MCALLEN, TX Planisphere • WARREN WUNDT OF SEGUIN, TX Planisphere • JIM GRAY OF FLEMINGTON, NJ “What’s Hot on the Moon Tonight” and Field Map of the Moon • KEVIN WALSH OF WEST ORANGE, NJ “Annals of the Deep Sky, Vol 1, 2 & 3” • JOHN LOVE OF WHITESBORO, TX AstroCards Lighter with 110 Messier Objects & The Finest Deep Sky Set A • STEVE BARRETT OF GEORGETOWN, TX “What’s Hot on the Moon Tonight” and Field Guide of the Moon

FOR SALE | RV-6 DYNASCOPE PORTABLE 6-INCH REFLECTOR - Fully corrected optical system includes F/8 6-inch Parabolic Pyrex mirror; - Dyn-0-Matic Electric Drive; - Two High Performance Eyepieces: 70X and 140X; - Solid Equatorial Mount to eliminate wobble; - Setting Circles for both right and ascension and declination; - 6 x 30 Finderscope with accurate crosshairs and fine focus; - Rotating Rings for Maximum Versatility and Viewing Comfort; - White 50” Bakelite Tube; - Brass Rack-And-Pinion Eyepiece Holder; - Strong Vibration-Free, All Metal Tripod. Excellent condition. Powerful enough to view into the moon, to see “Belts of Jupiter, Markings on Mars, Saturn’s rings, Fine surface details on the Moon, double stars, galactic nebulae, major star clusters and many other wonders.

PRICE: $350.00 LOCATION 4 miles south of the intersection Highway 290 west and Highway 36 south in Brenham. CONTACT Kay Palacios | [email protected] | 832-978-5201 11 HOUSTON THE HOUSTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY welcomes you to our organization. ASTRONOMICAL The HAS is a group of dedicated amateur astronomers, most of whom SOCIETY are observers, but some are armchair astronomers. P.O. Box 800564 The benefits of membership are: Houston, TX 77280‐0564 - Access to our 18 acre observing site west of Houston ‐‐ a great place to observe the universe! GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING - A telescope loaner program ‐‐ borrow a HAS telescope and The Houston Astronomical Society try observing for yourself! holds its regular monthly General Membership Meeting on the first Friday -A monthly novice meeting, site orientation meeting, and general meeting of each month, unless rescheduled due with speakers of interest. Access to meeting videos on the HAS web site. to a holiday or a conflict with other - Opportunities to participate in programs that promote astronomy to the events at the University of Houston. general public (such as Star Parties at schools) - A yearly all‐clubs meeting for Houston area organizations BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING - Meet other amateurs and share experiences, learn techniques, The Board of Directors Meeting is held and swap stories on dates and at locations scheduled You’re invited to attend our next meeting. You’ll have a great time! by the board. Information provided MEETING THE 1ST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH to GuideStar will be published. The 7:00 Novice Meeting, room 116 Science & Research 1 Bldg meetings are open to all members 8:00 General Meeting, room 117 Science & Research 1 Bldg of the Society in good standing. University of Houston Attendance is encouraged.

GUIDESTAR INFORMATION GUIDESTAR ADVERTISING POLICIES The H.A.S. GuideStar is published PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENTS monthly by the Houston Astronomical • Members in good standing of the Houston Astronomical Society (HAS) may request Society. All opinions expressed herein are those of the contributor and not that an ad be placed in the GuideStar for personal items (for sale or wanted). necessarily of Houston Astronomical • Items offered for sale must be of interest to amateur astronomers. Society. The monthly Meeting Notice is • No more than two telescopes may be advertised within any calendar year. included herein. GuideStar is available • Ads will not run for more than 3 consecutive months on the HAS web site to all members • Ads will be run on a space-available basis. of H.A.S., and to persons interested • Ads must be provided to the editor in electronic format (email, text file) by the 15th of in the organization’s activities. the month preceding the month-of-issue. Contributions to GuideStar by members COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS are encouraged. Electronic submission • Advertisement sizes: is helpful. Submit the article in text, o Full page = 6.875”w x 9”h unformatted MS‐Word format via email o Half page = 6.875”w x 4.25” h [email protected]. o Quarter page = 3.31” w x 4.25” h (allows for column gutter) Copy must be received by the 15th of • Commercial advertisements will be run in the GuideStar at the following fee schedule: the month for inclusion in the issue to Size One time One quarter (3 consecutive months) be available near the end of the same month. Or, bring copy to the General Full page $100.00 $250.00 Membership Meeting and give it to Half page $50.00 $125.00 the Editor, or phone to make special Quarter page $25.00 $62.50 arrangements. Contact the editor for • Artwork provided must be in electronic format (image file, PDF, etc.) and must be in writting guidelines. the correct proportions to fit the space provided. Contact editor with questions. • Artwork may be in color or in black and white. Editing & Production: • Items or services advertised must be of interest to amateur astronomers Bob Wiesner | 713‐240‐7059 • Payment for advertisements must be done in advance (pay to the ‘Houston [email protected] Astronomical Society’) 12 PARKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON MAIN CAMPUS

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING From I‐45 going south (from downtown) - exit at Cullen Boulevard - turn right on Cullen - turn right on Holman Street; the parking lot is past the Hoffeinz Pavilion - Science and Research is across the street (2nd building back) From I‐45 going north (from NASA/Galveston) - exit at Cullen Boulevard - turn left on Cullen - turn right on Holman Street; the parking lot is past the Hoffeinz Pavilion - Science and Research is across the street (2nd building back)

PARKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON MAIN CAMPUS For the monthly Houston Astronomical Society Meeting The map below shows the location of the 15C parking lot, west of Cullen Boulevard on Holman Street.

The map is from the University of Houston web site and identifies the lot that is available for parking while attending the Houston Astronomical Society monthly meeting. This parking is available from 6:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. on the Friday night of the HAS meeting (usually the first Friday of the month).

This parking is free. If you get a notice from the UH campus police on the night of the meeting, call the UH Security office and let them know that this area has been made available on HAS meeting night by the Parking Department.

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