Up! What’s For December
The Local Group - Astronomy Club of the Santa Clarita Valley – December 2017
Visit our Web Site at www.lgscv.org Volume 34 Issue 5
To all Local Group Members:
Come Join the Local Group Year End Party Date: Sunday, December 10, 2017. Time: 4 pm to 9 pm Where: Northpark Clubhouse 28201 Northpark Dr, Santa Clarita, CA 91354 (near the intersection of McBean and Copper Hill)
Invitees: Local Group Members and their families or one guest
• Great food and refreshments! • Fun games! • Silent auction with great prizes! • Slide presentation of our terrific 2017 club year!
We’ve had some amazing events this year. Here are just a few:
• A total solar eclipse here in the USA, photographed by our club members. • The end of Cassini 20-year mission to the Saturn system. • The 40th anniversary of 2 Voyager missions and man kind’s arrival in interstellar space. • Fabulous photography of deep sky objects by our own members.
We will be enjoying the photos and new discoveries obtained from data provided by these events for many years to come.
Also, a big thanks to all the Club Officers, Board Members and Club Members who made this year special and this event possible.
Another thanks to the outreach core of members that share astronomy with the public and schools!
November Club Event Reviews
November Club Meeting Friday, November 10, 2017
By Don Cogan
Dave Flynn started the club meeting with announcements about upcoming events for November and December, including the November outreach programs and the Local Group End-of-Year Party taking place on Sunday afternoon, December 10 at the Northpark Clubhouse, beginning at 4 pm.
Christine Schmidt provided an update of the party planning, and a sign-up sheet was provided for food/party items.
Dave then provided an interesting and entertaining presentation about one of the most prominent winter constellations, Perseus, as well as other constellations in its vicinity in the night time winter sky – Andromeda, Cepheus, Cetus, Pegasus and Cassiopeia. He shared the captivating mythology surrounding the mythical Greek hero, famous for capturing Medusa’s severed head (without turning to stone!) Dave then pointed out some of the most significant night sky objects to be viewed the constellation of Perseus.
Cub Scout Program – KOA campground in Santa Paula November 17, 2017 By Dave Flynn
On Friday night, November 17th, the club supported a Cub Scout event at the KOA in Santa Paula. This was a bit outside our normal service area, but the Scout pack really wanted us to help, so we agreed.
I arrived around 6:45 pm and checked in with the KOA office. The office staff indicated that nobody else had arrived from the club, and showed me where the Scouts were located (it’s a big campground). I headed down to the site, and eventually found a bunch of people frantically trying to set up their tents in the dark. I identified myself and asked for the Scout leader. Someone showed up and escorted me down to one of the campgrounds. This campground was in in a valley with lots of oak trees, but I found a nice spot just off the road and set up my scope.
I waited and waited. Eventually a scoutmaster happened by. I asked her where everyone was, only to be told that Glenn was set up further down the road. Since I was already fully set up I asked her to just send me some scouts. Eventually, four Boy Scouts (not Cub Scouts) showed up and we had a great time telling constellation stories and checking out M57, M31, Albireo and a couple others.
Ultimately the family setting up their tent next door came over and I was able to show them a few things as well.
At 9pm I walked down to where Glenn was, and he indicated he had a steady stream of visitors. I’m glad that we were able to provide the scout troop with some outreach. Academy of Enriched Sciences Outreach November 30, 2017
By Van Webster
Members of the Local Group Astronomy Club ventured to Encino to provide telescopic views for the students at the Academy for Enriched Sciences, a STEM magnet elementary school. The school was hosting a science night and there was a range of programs presented in the classrooms for students and their parents.
I was a bit late in arriving as I misread my map when writing out the directions to the campus. The playground was well lit with numerous flood lights, and there was no one from the school who knew how to turn off the lighting.
The Moon was the primary target for the night. Paul Keen was able to view Saturn for a few minutes deep in the western horizon. Albireo, the double star in Cygnus was another target for the night. The skies were mostly clear, and the weather was cool, but not cold.
The event was lightly attended with students and parents dropping by during the 2 hours that the telescopes were available for viewing. The announcements on the PA system had the gates closing at 6:15 pm, then 6:30 pm, then 7:15 pm. We stayed until 7:00 pm, then packed up our gear and headed off into the night.
LGSCV members participating included Paul Keen, Johan Vandersande, Lavere Schmidt, Mark Gordon and Van Webster.
Chichita Elementary Outreach November 30, 2017 By Don Cogan
I stopped at the Chichita Elementary School in the mid-afternoon, to check in at the office and inquire about arrangements for setting up telescopes later in the afternoon for the outreach event. The school staff members, who were very cordial, explained that the gate to the asphalt schoolyard area would be unlocked around 4:30 pm so that the club members could drive onto the area to set up our equipment. I returned at that time, and Johan met me near the entrance to slide open the gate, so I could drive in, unload and set up my telescope.
There was plenty of room for set-up of our telescopes, and for formation of the lines of attendees. The one problem that arose is that a light on the side of the school building facing the schoolyard was illuminated, and due to an automatic timer system, the staff was unable to turn it off. I was able to cover the light with an empty cardboard box, and with a bit of jerry rigging the box stayed in place throughout the viewing time.
By around 5:15 pm, the sun had set, and skies were sufficiently dark to view the waxing gibbous Moon, although not much else was viewable due to moon-shine except for a few stars of interest such as the double-star Albireo. However, many of the kids had never viewed through a telescope before, and were excited about seeing the moonscape features such as craters, seas and mountainous areas. Overall, we had about 125 students and adults in attendance, and a steady line-up of participants for viewing through the scopes until about 7:45 pm when things started to wind down. By 8 pm, we were packed up and heading out.
Local Group participants were Van Webster, Johan Vandersande, Paul Keen and me.
Staff Meeting Monday, November 27, 2017
The meeting began at 7:40 pm
In attendance were
• Dave Flynn • Van Webster • Kathryn Kazmer • Danny Freibrun • Don Cogan • Simon Tang
Outreach Update
We had discussion about the coordination of the outreach programs and approaches to have adequate support by club members at the scheduled events. Van proposed having a reminder at the beginning of each week, of any outreach events scheduled for that week, including the date/time/location details and any additional pertinent information. Van introduced this during the past week in which we had two school events; both went smoothly with good coverage by the club.
New Meeting Venue
Beginning in January, the Local Group will have its monthly meetings on at the Valencia Library, on the 2nd Thursday of the month, starting at 7 pm.
As a celebration of our new meeting location, Dave Flynn proposed, and the staff agreed, on having a celebration of our club anniversary, that would include demonstrations/exhibits on some of the current exciting developments in the field of astronomy, such as the latest research telescopes and infrared camera technology.
Year End Party
• The Year End Party will be on Sunday December 10th, at the Northpark Clubhouse (located near the McBean/Copper Hill Road intersection) and will start at 4 pm. It will be a pot luck event, and we are asking the party goers to bring side dishes and desserts.
• We will have a sign-up sheet for donations and pot luck dishes that was provided at the November club meeting, this will be emailed out again to club members as there are still a few members who have not yet responded.
• We will be able to start setting up for the party beginning at 10 am. We’ll be bringing in sound equipment, a projector and screen for the slide show and decorations including table cloths which Christine has available.
• We have several prizes, and Christine has requested additional possible prizes from members
• Don will provide tickets for the silent auction of prizes to be displayed at the party.
Donation Opportunity
Dave mentioned that club members who purchase items through Amazon, can designate a donation to be made of a 1/2 % of the purchase amount to the Local Group. This can be done by selecting Amazon Smile as the portal through which to make the purchase. Dave is sending out a reminder to all club members of this gifting opportunity.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM.
Some very cool facts about the facts about the Universe Contributed by Bruce Lathrop Frank Gee Updated 12h ago
How far can the naked eye see?
Our eyes can see galaxy 2.6 million light-years away. The Earth's surface curves out of sight at 3.1 miles, or 5 kilometers. But our visual acuity extends far beyond the horizon.
The Andromeda Galaxy (/ænˈdrɒmɪdə/), also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, is a spiral galaxy approximately 780 kiloparsecs (2.5 million light-years) from Earth - it is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. Its name stems from the area of the sky in which it appears, in the constellation of Andromeda.
The observable universe is what we as humans can see with our own eyes through telescopes to have a definitive proof of how big we know the universe to be.
Many times, the question is asked “what lies beyond the observable universe?”
Many scientists have come to agree that it’s more of the same thing - more stars, more planets, more black holes, more comets. more space stuff! Many scientists say the universe in has no end – it’s infinite!
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the farthest-ever view into the universe, a photo that reveals thousands of galaxies billions of light-years away. The picture, called eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, combines 10 years of Hubble telescope views of one patch of sky.
This image was taken from Hubble, and this is the actual picture of the farthest view we have to date of the observable universe!
The farthest pulsar yet observed in the universe the knife edge galaxy.
Its light has been travelling 50 million light-years before being detected by XMM-Newton.
A new study suggests that there are around 700 quintillion planets in the universe.
A quintillion is a one followed by 30 zeros!
This article is contributed by NASA SPACE PLACE
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. All about exoplanets
All the planets in our solar system orbit around the sun. Planets that orbit around other stars are called exoplanets. Exoplanets are very hard to see directly with telescopes. They are hidden by the bright glare of the stars they orbit.
So, astronomers use other ways to detect and study these distant planets. They search for exoplanets by looking at the effects these planets have on the stars they orbit.
An artist's representation of Kepler-11, a small, cool star around which six planets orbit. Credit: NASA/Tim Pyle
How do we look for exoplanets?
One way to search for exoplanets is to look for "wobbly" stars. A star that has planets doesn’t orbit perfectly around its center. From far away, this off-center orbit makes the star look like it’s wobbling.
An orbiting planet (small blue ball) causes a star (large yellow ball) to orbit slightly off-center. From a distance, this makes it look like the star is wobbling.
Hundreds of planets have been discovered using this method. However, only big planets—like Jupiter, or even larger—can be seen this way. Smaller Earth-like planets are much harder to find because they create only small wobbles that are hard to detect.
How can we find Earth-like planets in other solar systems?
In 2009, NASA launched a spacecraft called Kepler to look for exoplanets. Kepler looked for planets in a wide range of sizes and orbits. And these planets orbited around stars that varied in size and temperature.
Some of the planets discovered by Kepler are rocky planets that are at a very special distance from their star. This sweet spot is called the habitable zone, where life might be possible.
Artist's rendition of the Kepler spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Kepler mission/Wendy Stenzel
Kepler detected exoplanets using something called the transit method. When a planet passes in front of its star, it’s called a transit. As the planet transits in front of the star, it blocks out a little bit of the star's light. That means a star will look a little less bright when the planet passes in front of it.
Astronomers can observe how the brightness of the star changes during a transit. This can help them figure out the size of the planet.
See that little black circle? That's Venus transiting our sun back in 2012. Credit: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory
By studying the time between transits, astronomers can also find out how far away the planet is from its star. This tells us something about the planet’s temperature. If a planet is just the right temperature, it could contain liquid water—an important ingredient for life.
So far, thousands of planets have been discovered by the Kepler mission.
We now know that exoplanets are very common in the universe. And future NASA missions have been planned to discover many more! article last updated July 27, 2017
The Local Group Astronomy Club Officers and Board Members
OFFICERS
President: Dave Flynn Vice President Simon Tang Treasurer: Johan Vandersande Secretary: Christine Schmidt Co-Secretary: Don Cogan
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Membership: Johan Vandersande Newsletter Editor: Don Cogan Astrophoto Meetings: Paul Keen Website Manager Simon Tang Website Monitors Dave Flynn, Stefan Webster Outreach Coordinator Van Webster Public Events Coordinator Don Cogan Public Events Co-Coordinator Danny Freibrun
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kathryn Kazmer LaVere Schmidt Dave Flynn Christine Schmidt Van Webster Will Wira Don Cogan Danny Freibrun Johan Vandersande
Directions to Observing Sites
Chuchupate: Take Interstate-5 North beyond Castaic about 35 miles to Frazier Mountain Road exit. Go west, passing Frazier Park, until you come to a 4 way stop with a flashing red light. Continue straight ahead for several more miles until you come to an intersection with a Market/Liquor store on the corner of Lockwood Valley Road, turn left. Continue for about 3 miles until you see a small sign "Chuchupate Ranger Station", turn left. The speed limit on this road is 20 mph. Drive through the Ranger Camp, for about 1/8 mile until you see a sign "Trail Head" and make a right turn into the parking lot. Bring your own food and water. Dress for the weather — it can get cold even in the summer months. Cell phones do not work here, some are able to send and receive text messages and sometimes, you can connect to the Wi-Fi connection, which bleeds over from the ranger station. There are restrooms but no running water.
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area: From the I-5 Freeway, take the 14 Freeway east about 16 miles and exit at the Agua Dulce Canyon Road off ramp. Turn left and go about 2 miles, following the signs to the park. (If you arrive after dark, the park entrance sign on your right is hard to see.) Enter, drive slowly, and follow the dirt road to the left for about 1/2 mile, over the little hill to the large open parking area. No alcoholic beverages. There are portable restrooms. if more info is needed, contact the park ranger at 661-268-0840.
Mt. Pinos Site: Take Interstate 5 North beyond Castaic about 35 miles to the Frazier Mountain Road off Ramp. Go west 21 miles on the good paved mountain road, passing Frazier Park, and follow the signs to Mt. Pinos Recreation Area. The observing site is a large paved parking area at the very end of the paved road. Bring your own food and water. Dress for the weather — it can get cold! Chains may be required during winter months. The elevation is 8300 ft. There are portable restrooms. No camping in the parking lot, but you can sleep in your vehicle. Walk ¼ mile to tent camping. For road and weather information call the Forest Service at Frazier Park, 805-245-3731 or on the Internet, you can go to www.frazmtn.com/pmcwebcam
Calendar of Events – December 2017
Sunday, December 3 Full Moon
Sunday, December 10 3rd Quarter Moon
Sunday, December 10 End of Year Party Northpark Clubhouse
Saturday, December 16 Club Observing Chuchupate Ranger Station
Monday, December 18 Full Moon
Tuesday, December 26 1st Quarter Moon
What’s Up! The Local Group - Astronomy Club of the Santa Clarita Valley P.O. Box 221296 Santa Clarita, CA 91322