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Fort Worth Astronomical Society November 2010 Established 1949 Astronomical League Member

Club – 2

Skyportunities – 3

Welcome to – 5

Avoid Disasters! – 6 Pisces is a fine kettle of fish – 7

Stargazers’ Diary – 8

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November 2010

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 at Perigee

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for November:

M31, M33, M103, NGC 225, NGC 288, NGC 253,

S. Taurids in the Park NGC 457, NGC 654, NGC 663, NGC 752 meteors

Top ten deep-sky objects for November: River Legacy Park peak in Arlington M31, M32, M33, M76, M103, M110, NGC 40,

NGC 253, NGC 457, NGC 752 3RF Party 11:52 pm

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Algol at Minima First Qtr Moon

8:32 pm - NW 10:39 am

N. Taurids

meteors peak 3RF Lunar Party Veteran’s

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Moon at Apogee

FWAS Leonid Meeting meteors

peak

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Full Moon

11:27 am

France becomes rd 3 nation to launch

a satellite 1st photo of a Thanksgiving 45 ago a-Monocerotids meteor shower Where did the meteors peak 125 years ago cornucopia come from? Black Friday (it’s in last ’s PF)

28 29 30 Dec. 4

Last Qtr Moon North West ISD 2:36 pm Challenge deep-sky object for November: > VERY LARGE <

: IC 59 (Cassiopeia) Star Party Challenge for November: 36 Andromedae Notable carbon star for November: Z Piscium

Watch the e-group

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The Sky This Month – Thomsen Foundation -- 9 pm local time, November 15th (from Heavens-Above.com)

Star Charts: Sky & Telescope Sky Maps http://tinyrul.com/5np8n http://www.skymaps.com Heavens Above International Transits http://www.heavens-above.com http://tinyrul.com/y8zk5c

Observing and Outreach Opportunities Weather permitting (FWAS contacts in parentheses)

November 6 (DSO) & November 13 (Lunar) - Three Rivers Foundation (3RF) Star Party - 3RF invites you out to Comanche Springs near Crowell, Texas for a night under the stars. The dark skies of Big Ranch Country provide a spectacular view of the universe. The party starts with solar observing followed by a break. Evening activities begin with a short educational introduction to astronomy. The observatories and Star Field are then opened to the public to enjoy the use of many different kinds of astronomy instruments. For more information the day of a scheduled star party, please call 940-655-3384. (Russ Boatright and Doug Brown) (Panhandle Plains, where Oklahoma tucks into the Texas Panhandle) November 13 — Buescher State Park — Spend the evening under the stars at Buescher State Park in the Hill Country. We’ll have guides discussing and the lore behind them, and maybe even a telescope trained on one of the many wonders of the night sky. Or, just bring a blanket and see if you can spot the Meteor Shower. At the lake. 512-237-2241

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Out & About

It was great to see so many members and their family and friends at the club picnic. A BIG THANK YOU to Shawn for putting it all together. It was also a great night to be out with some telescopes, clear/dark skies and cool temperatures (a little too much wind though). We must have had about 15 or more scopes set up, it was great. – Steve Tuttle

I also want to say thank you to all of the members who were able to attend the club picnic. At the last headcount, we had about 54 members and/or their family members there, so it was a great turn out. As Steve said, the skies were great (wind picked up more at the end of the evening), and we had so many telescopes set up I didn't get a chance to look through them all. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and the food. And for those who this was their first time out to the dark site, I hope you'll take further advantage of this great membership asset as often as you can. Those members who still haven't made it out there are missing out on a great dark sky. :) – Shaun Kirchdorfer

Dear Fort Worth Astronomical Society, My family of four (2 sons ages 9 and 11) enjoyed very much the Stars over Euless event this past Friday. The telescopes made the event exciting! Thanks for taking the time to come to Euless, set up your fine telescopes, and share your expertise. A very special thanks goes to Mr. Ben Hutchins, one of your members. My husband Tim chatted with Mr. Hutchins at length. We learned so much about Jupiter and the moon thanks to his interesting presentation. He is a wonderful astronomer and went out of his way to get my sons eager to learn about space!!! Have a wonderful day! Beth C

Tom Koonce writes: I’d like to draw your attention to the Astronomy Outreach Foundation which is trying to combat the “Graying” of our hobby by attracting Generations X and Y into the fun of amateur astronomy. This is a non-profit foundation started by a combination of amateur astronomical industry leaders “to stimulate greater public interest in astronomy and to assist everyone in becoming more engaged in activities that allow them to learn more about the universe.” For more information, please visit http://www.astronomyoutreachfoundation.org

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Cloudy Night Library Media reviews by Matt J. McCullar, FWAS

Welcome to Moonbase by Ben Bova Published in 1987 by Ballantine Books 255 pages USBN 0-345-32859-0 “No one is allowed to walk on the surface alone.”

While technically this is a science-fiction book, I feel Welcome to Moonbase contains enough science fact to make it qualify for inclusion in Cloudy Night Library. Ben Bova, a well-known science-fiction writer, wrote this book with a very clever concept: It’s sort of a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file for brand-new employees of a working lunar base in the future. There are no main characters and it does not tell a story, per se. While it does cover a great many technical matters, it is written in a simple, entertaining style that really makes the reader think about all the work that will go into building and populating a future lunar colony. It is clear that Bova put a great deal of thought and research into this book. The goal of a lunar base is to actually live there, do productive work, and sustain itself. Moonbase employees must know what is expected of them, and what everything does. Residents may stay there for at a time, or even longer. People tend to get very protective and proud about their home towns, and develop their own slang terms for certain things. A newcomer to Moonbase may be instantly identified simply by the way he or she talks, compared to the veterans. Make no mistake: astronomy remains at the heart of Welcome to Moonbase. Bova discusses points – stable points in lunar . On this future moon, there are no lunar-orbiting communications satellites because they would interfere with the ultra-sensitive radio telescopes on the far side. “All communications with far-side bases are carried by fiber-optic cables along the ground.” Bova goes on about communications in : “It is interesting to note that the Moon cannot have communications satellites in synchronous orbit, as the does, because the synchronous orbit for the Moon is at the distance of the Earth! The of lunar- synchronous commsats would be so perturbed by Earth’s gravity that they would inevitably crash into the Earth.” How does one navigate on the lunar surface? “…Nor can you navigate by the stars, unless you know that the does not point to Polaris, the pole star of Earth. Instead, it points in the direction of Draco, a comparatively dim of stars that sprawls between the Big and Little Dippers (Ursa Major and Minor). Because the Moon wobbles on its axis much more than the Earth does, its north pole wavers considerably and does not point toward a specific star for more than a dozen years or so at a time.” “While the soil surface is dark, you notice that the footprints you leave behind you are much brighter. This lighter color is the true tone of the soil; the surface has been darkened by eons of hard radiation from the … The First Footprints Club has become an international organization, loosely organized in a manner similar to that of the Neptune’s Courts that once initiated shipboard passengers who crossed the equator for the first time.” Bova must have enjoyed theorizing on what will eventually become of the individual landing sites of the . “By far the most popular tourist attraction is , where the lower half of the Apollo 11 landing craft still stands surrounded by the flag, equipment, and footprints Armstrong and Aldrin left there. The regolith [] has been covered with a clear plastic so that the astronauts’ historic footprints cannot be disturbed.” Also, an employee of Moonbase found Alan Shepard’s golf ball from Apollo 14! It is curious to note that since this book was written, many things on Earth have changed and have made certain ideas herein already obsolete. You will find an occasional anachronism as a result. But it shouldn’t deter you from enjoying the book as a whole. Even a lunar colony is a group of people – people who are born, age, learn, die, worship, live, have fun, and work. Welcome to Moonbase covers all of this, and more. “Moonbase is more than a growing community on the Moon. It is an example of a new experiment in government. Men and women from dozens of different nations live and work together at Moonbase, under laws that they themselves enact and administer.” Bova even includes a detailed legal contract in the appendix. This contract between the new employee and Moonbase clearly spells out the responsibilities included in working on the Moon. It indemnifies the Moonbase Corporation from any liability if the employee does something stupid and/or against the rules that results in damage or injury. “All surface excursions are subject to the control of the Department of Health and Safety. Radio orders to return to Moonbase or to seek immediate shelter [from solar storms] must be obeyed. Failure to do so can result in injury, harmful radiation exposure, even death.”

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Avoiding Amateur Astronomy Disasters By Tom Koonce

The weather is turning cold and all of us want to maximize our observing time and minimize how long we’re exposed to the bitter cold. In circumstances like this, we amateur astronomers tend to get in a hurry, or perhaps not think things through before doing something… and disaster can strike. Disasters come in many forms, among them, dropping an eyepiece to the ground because it wasn’t held securely. Hearing the thud/crunch/tinkle sound is sickening, even for those observers around you. Having your secondary mirror come loose and drop onto your primary mirror is pretty bad, but what about dropping an expensive precision filter into the dirt? And then there are the truly dangerous mistakes such as not making sure a stepstool or ladder is on firm ground or loading your dobsonian telescope lengthwise into the car with the secondary at the front and the primary at the back of the car. I’ll explain each of these and how to reduce the risk of these happening to you. The cold affects each of us to a differing extent. I’m assuming you already know to dress for weather 20 degrees cooler than weather reports predict. After all, you’re going to be standing still in freezing weather, not chopping a cord of wood. I also assume that you know to remain hydrated since this can affect your thought processes and reaction times. Some people get cold just thinking about going out at night, some must have a furnace built inside of them because they seem to remain warm with little notice of the thermometer. Most of us are in between these extremes. Fingers and toes get cold first, and then grasping objects becomes difficult, thought processes slow down, and our logic becomes blurry. The trick is to recognize how you respond and take steps to counteract it before you damage equipment. Disaster: Dropping eyepieces. Think ahead about which eyepieces you will need for the next hour. Keep a fanny pack on over your jacket that makes storing and switching eyepieces convenient and minimizes how long your fingers have to grasp them. Stick your hands inside of your jacket and under your armpits for a couple of before you do the eyepiece switch. Another trick is to place a packing quilt or old rug under your entire telescope setup so that if something is dropped even after taking precautions it might survive the plunge. Disaster: Secondary Mirror Drop. Always check your equipment. Before you start your evening’s observing, do a “walk-around” of your telescope. Are there any frayed wires? Are there any loose bolts? If you have a Newtonian, is the secondary secured to its mount? Have you placed a small safety wire between the spider and the secondary… just in case? This is a disaster that can be avoided. I have seen/heard this happen to my buddies 6 -old 14” dob at a public outreach event. It destroyed his primary mirror. During your walk-around, be conscious of any tools that you need to setup your telescope. Wrenches and screwdrivers can be devastating when applied to any optical surface. Tools tend to slip when brains and fingers are cold. Consider drilling a hole through the handle and affixing a cord loop to each tool to wrap around your wrist to eliminate the possibility of despair. Disaster: Filter Drop. Think ahead about the dexterity you’re going to need to take the small filter out of its case and screw it onto the eyepiece. It’s possible that filters can be only partially screwed onto the eyepiece and may drop off onto the primary mirror during observing. In my dobsonian, I can vouch for the fact that a two inch O-III makes a heart-stopping sound when it bounces off of the primary mirror. Not good. To remedy this situation, take the time to make sure that your fingers are warmed up and the filters are fully screwed on. Alternatively, consider installing a filter slide on newtonian or dobsonian telescopes. I have made this modification on my dob and it makes using filters simple, convenient and safe. If you have this type of telescope, check out http://www.astrocrumb.com/ for the best filter slides I’ve found. Disaster: Stepstool and Ladder Tilt. Anyone who is showing the night sky to the general public or ho has a larger dobsonian knows the pitfalls of using stepstools or ladders. They need to be sturdy and lightweight, but rarely are they made to be placed upon bare earth. Sometimes ground can be frozen hard on the surface, but mushy just an inch or two below. Take the time to be sure of the placement of their feet to avoid a fall in the darkness. Test the stepstool with your full weight with someone standing in the safety position to catch you before trusting it to anyone else. Disaster: Mirror Missile. Avoid this disaster by loading your newtonian / dobsonian telescope correctly into the back of your SUV. Think of what might happen during an emergency stop or front crash. If the tube is loaded so that the primary mirror and mirror cell are forward and the secondary mirror closest to the rear of the vehicle, an emergency stop will just press the primary mirror more securely into the mirror cell. A filter slide provides safe and easy However, if the secondary mirror is forward and the primary mirror is closest to the back of the vehicle, such a stop will likely rip the mirror from the three small access to your filters. Photo used with protrusions that keep it centered on the mirror cell, sending it crashing forward, permission. www.Astrocrumb.com through the secondary mirror and likely into the back of the head of a person sitting in the front seat. Having your life saved in a crash by an airbag only to have your telescope’s mirror kill you in a shower of glass shards milliseconds later is a serious disaster easily avoided. OK… Take a deep breath… there is only a miniscule chance that any of these disasters will happen to you, and they are even less likelyto happen if you take a few simple precautions involving just a bit of forethought and cost. Stay warm and keep safe out there.

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Dare’s Sumpin’ Fishy Bout Dem Pisces The horrible earthborn giant Typhoeus suddenly appeared one day, startling all the gods into taking on different forms to flee. Jupiter, for instance, transformed himself into a ram; Mercury became an ibis; Apollo took on the shape of a crow; Diana hid herself as a cat; and Bacchus disguised himself as a goat. Venus and her son Cupid were bathing on the banks of the Euphrates River that day, and took on the shapes of a pair of fish to escape danger. Minerva later immortalized the event by placing the figures of two fish amongst the stars. The zodiacal constellation Pisces represents two fish, tied together with a cord. The constellation is neither particularly bright nor is it easy to locate, but it lies near Pegasus and Aquarius. Pisces is the twelfth of the zodiacal constellations, and can be easily seen during early for observers. Riding directly along the , this constellation is now the location of the First Point of Aries, the point which the sun crosses the equator on its way north, thus marking the Vernal or the first day of in the Northern Hemisphere. Due to precession, the First Point of Aries has moved west into Pisces since it was first established in Ancient Times. Pisces contains very few bright stars, and only one important object, the face on spiral M74. However, even though somewhat indistinct, this constellation can be easily made out with a bit of practice, as it is located to the south west of Andromeda and directly below the Great Square of Pegasus. First locate the "Circlet" on the western end of the constellation. From there, follow the line of stars marking the Western Fish to Alpha Piscium. Then move up and to the right along the line of stars marking the Eastern Fish. M74 is a classic face on . This galaxy (NGC 628) is one of the most difficult to find of the Messier objects, due to its rather large angular size and low surface brightness. Nevertheless, with a little diligence, this galaxy is easily found just 1.5 degrees east of the star Eta Piscium. M74 will show up in most small amateur telescopes as just a fuzzy patch, revealing little of its spiral structure. It will take a large aperture telescope of 12-inches or more before much detail becomes apparent; but you will just begin to see some of the spiral structures with a 5-inch scope. Compare this galaxy to M101 in Ursa Major, which is also a face on spiral galaxy. M74 was discovered from Paris by Mechain, an associate of Charles Messier, in 1780, and later incorporated into Messier's catalog of non-stellar objects. The variable star TX Psc (19 Psc) shows a deep red color (spectral type C5III). The brightness of this red giant varies irregularly between 5th and 6th mag. The binary alpha Psc (a 1615), called Al Rischa (meaning: the cord) is a close double of two A stars (of 5.23 mag and 4.33 mag). To split this pair in a telescope it should have at least 100 mm aperture. An easier pair to split is zeta Psc. The A7 of 5.24 mag and its F7 main sequence companion of 6.3 mag are readily resolved in small scopes. The F2 main sequence star rho Psc forms with 94 Psc a quite attractive binocular white-orange pair. The double psi1 Psc consists of two blue-white stars of 5 mag brightness. It is a wide pair which can be observed with small scopes. The binary 7 Psc (a 16665) requires scopes with an aperture of at least 125mm to be resolved. The two stars of 9th and 10th magnitude revolve each other every 85.7 years.

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Stargazers’ Diary – Russ Boatright and Doug Brown

Thomsen Foundation – October 2, 2010 – good sky CSAC – October 8 & 9, 2010 – good sky Once again, we managed to find ourselves in the dark a couple of times this month. First at the FWAS picnic, then later at 3RF’s Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus. The weather mainly cooperated, and we enjoyed many hours of good viewing. We arrived at the picnic too late for the eats, so we went right to work assembling Mr. T before darkness closed in. Running late to this event has become our custom, so we made sure to grab a bite to go on the road. There was a strong line of telescopes along the pads and a festive atmosphere among the members, their families and friends. After viewing Jupiter and a number of bright Messier objects, we left the beaten path in search of NGC 5981, 5982, and 5985, the Draco Trio of , near the star Edasich. Since we were seeing them low and through a lot of air mass, they all appeared to be swimming; but fortunately, the atmosphere didn’t seem to affect nearby NGC 5907, a splendid spindle galaxy. Just as the galaxy viewing got our blood pumping, autumn arrived in a windy dry front and began to toss Mr. T around like a wind vane. The crowd began to break up about then, but we decided to hang around, along with Mike Ahner and Steve Coren with binoculars until 1 am or so, swapping astronomy fish stories. The wind behaved during the next weekend, and we enjoyed a couple of great nights out at Crowell, Texas along with a couple of hundred of our closest new friends. Included among them were camping Boy Scouts from the Dallas area and college students from Midwestern State U. in Wichita Falls. Together, we worked the 30” and 18” Obsession telescopes in and around the roll off observatory to good effect, and discovered lots of new DSOs. We viewed a number of new interesting Planetary Nebulae, with the most notable being IC 289 in Cassiopeia. This is a terrific ring system with a bright central star. Several Collinder-class Galactic Clusters were spotted against difficult starry backgrounds as well. But we spent most of our big DOB time surfing galaxies, and we managed to bag some beauties. contains other interesting galaxies besides M33, as we discovered. NGC 672 and IC 1727 are two nice spirals probably interacting, and face on NGC 925 shows lots of structure and shape. NGC 784 deserves mention as well. We collected similar little galaxy jewels in other parts of the sky as well during both nights. All of these are rather small and faint, but with darkness, large aperture telescopes can coax detail from many of them. Sweet, if you’re into the visual deep sky corner of astronomy as a hobby. It’s been called ‘challenge visual astronomy’ by some, referring to big telescopes under dark skies looking for faint fuzzies. Just how far and faint can you see in real time? You’ll often be surprised. Even after years of chasing them.

Reprinted with permission of John L. Hart FLP. ©1958-2010. All rights reserved."

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The Fine Print

FWAS Contact information website for schedules: http://tinyurl.com/3jkn5j (Linda Krouse) http://www.fortworthastro.com

Officers: Steve Tuttle – President Shawn Kirchdorfer – Vice President John Dowell – Treasurer Dean Crabtree - – Secretary Meetings – FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at the UNT Health Science Center – Research & Education Building, Room 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always welcome. (Steve Tuttle) Web Site – http://www.fortworthastro.com E-Group (members only) – You may post messages to the group by sending e-mail to [email protected]. Any message sent to [email protected] will be automatically sent to all members on the list. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to [email protected] Include your real name. Outreach – items concerning FWAS Outreach activities should be addressed to [email protected] (John Dowell) Prime Focus – The FWAS newsletter is published monthly. Letters to the editor, articles for publication, photos, or just about anything you would like to have included in the newsletter should be sent to: [email protected]. Mable Sterns Award Finalist, Steve Observing Site Reminders Gray (2002) & Dean Crabtree (2008, 2009) Batting .273 Be careful with fire, ban in effect FWAS Annual Dues - $40 for adults / families, $20.00 for students (half-price Jan 1 thru June 30); checks payable to the Fort Worth All members … Astronomical Society; payments can be mailed to 6045 Worrell Email John Dowell that you are going. Dr. Fort Worth, TX 76133, or in-person at the next indoor Sign the logbook in the clubhouse meeting. Membership runs July 1 through June 30. (Floyd May) Put equipment back neatly when finished Discount Subscriptions Available – Sky & Telescope ($32.95), and Leave a log note if there is a club equipment problem; also, Astronomy (1 for $34.00; 2 years for $60.00). A Sky & please contact a FWAS Trustee to let them know Telescope subscription through FWAS entitles you to 10% off Maintain Dark-Sky etiquette purchases at Sky and Telescope’s on-line store. (Floyd May) Turn out your headlights at the gate! Astronomical League Membership – Your FWAS membership also Last person out, please … enrolls you in the Astronomical League. This makes you eligible Make sure nothing is left out for various observing certificates and you get their quarterly Lock the gate. magazine, Reflector. League Observing clubs: http://tinyurl.com/3vjh4fl (Tres Ross) Fort Worth Museum of Science & History See the Museum’s

Credits On the Cover: Ben Pate Observing Data RCAS 2009 Observers’ Handbook Historical Data The Year in Space: 2010 Planetary Society Top Ten & Challenge Targets Dave Mitsky (Chesmont Astronomical Society) Navigate the Newsletter Pic A Nic Pix When reading the electronic newsletter while on-line, if your cursor Shaun Kirchdorfer “changes” as you roll over an image or blue text, you can click on that Sky Chart web link to be taken to further information of the subject at hand. www.heavens-above.com Pisces Seds.com comfychair.com astromax.com wikicommons (images) BC Comic John L. Hart FLP Special thanks to Matt McCullar for securing the proper permissions

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