San Diego Astronomy Association Celebrating Over 50 Years of Astronomical Outreach
January 2018 http://www.sdaa.org A Non-Profit Educational Association P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215 Annual Banquet Date: January 27, 2018 Speaker: David Reitze Topic: LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Next SDAA Business Meeting Gravitational-Wave Observatory January 14th at 7:00pm 7270 Trade Street San Diego, CA 92121
Next Program Meeting January 27, 2018 at 7:00pm Handlery Hotel & Resort 950 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108 David Reitze, Professor of physics at the University of Florida, will be our guest speaker. Professor Reitze is currently at Caltech as the Executive Director of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The 2017 CONTENTS Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists working on the LIGO January 2018, Vol LVI, Issue 1 project. Published Monthly by the San Diego Astronomy Association Einstein predicted that massive accelerating objects such as colliding black holes or Incorporated in California in 1963 neutron stars would cause the very fabric of space-time to ripple, sending waves across Annual Banquet...... 1 space. However, he thought they would be so tiny as to be undetectable. December Minutes...... 3 2018 TDS Schedule...... 5 But in February last year, Professor Reitze announced that LIGO had detected the January Calendar...... 6 undetectable, and a new branch of astronomy was born. SDAA Contacts...... 7 According to Professor Reitze - "It was a technological tour de force and proved Meet the Members...... 8 Einstein right, but that's not why it was important," he said. For Sale...... 9 Space Place Partners Article.10 "It's important because it opens a whole new window on the universe. We are now Astronomy Cartoons...... 13 going to be able to look at the universe in gravitational-wave emissions, a completely different kind of information carrier."
Most astronomy up to now – from X-rays through visual light to radio waves – has been in the electromagnetic spectrum. Gravitational waves are a new kind of source and its great promise is to unlock some of the deepest secrets of the universe.
"One of the holy grails of this field would be to see the gravitational-wave residue of the Big Bang," Professor Reitze said. Newsletter Deadline The deadline to submit articles After Professor Reitze’s presentation, we will hold an auction of astronomy for publication is the related gear donated by our members. We will also raffle off the many great items that have been donated by our corporate sponsors - watch www.sdaa.org for an 15th of each month. up-to-date list. Our Master of Ceremonies will be SDAA’s very own Jerry Hilburn. San Diego Astronomy Association
You are cordially invited to The San Diego Astronomy Association’s Annual Banquet
Saturday, January 27, 2018, 6:00 – 11:00pm Handlery Hotel & Resort - 950 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108 ______
Speaker: David Reitze, Professor of physics at the University of Florida. Professor Reitze is currently at Caltech as the Executive Director of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.
Topic: LIGO Cocktail hour is from 6:00 to 7:00 and dinner from 7:00 to 8:00.
SDAA Banquet Order Form Use this form or order online at http://sdaa.org/banquet.htm Name______Address______City, State, Zip______Telephone______Email______Dinner Selections (Enter number of each) Beef____ Fowl ____ Vegetarian ____ Check here if requiring sugar-free dessert____ Number Attending ____ @ $50 each Total Payment included $ ______Mail to: San Diego Astronomy Association *Make checks payable to SDAA P.O. Box 23215 Orders must be received no later than 01/22/2018 San Diego, CA 92193-3215 NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR
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San Diego Astronomy Association Board of Directors Meeting December 12, 2017- Unapproved and subject to revision
1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7pm with the following board members in attendance: Mike Chasin, President; Kin Searcy, Vice President; Gene Burch, Treasurer; Scott Dixon, Corresponding Secretary; Brian McFarland, Recording Secretary; Pat Boyce, Director; Dave Wood, Director; Jeff Herman, Director. Members in attendance: Jim Traweek, John and Mary Todd, Tom Webb, and Laird Stiegler.
2. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes The November meeting minutes were approved.
3. Priority / Member Business Laird Stiegler’s new design plan was approved by the Board and a motion was passed to allow him to proceed. When complete, the Board will approve the final construction to ensure it is in accordance with the approved plan.
4. Treasurer’s & Membership Report a. The treasurer’s report was approved. b. A $1,000 donation was received by a generous member. c. One of the bank CDs rolled over. d. We still owe the electrician for the balance due for the electrical panel upgrade.
5. Standard Reports a. Site Maintenance 1. Bill Q is planning a trip to TDS for Dec 16th to catch up. b. Observatory Report – we received the new focuser from OPT. Brian will do the retrofit. c. Private Pad Report 1. We have 2 unleased pads and 3 people on the waiting list. a. One of the people on the waiting list is the current holder of Pad 1. The light trespass is so bad that he wants to swap pads. b. We are in the process of reclaiming another pad for non-payment. We should be through the 90-day contact effort in late January. 2. We are having questions about maintenance on recently leased pads again. As per the last time, we are telling them that routine maintenance such as painting, sanding, sealing, replacement of a rotted board on a bench or cabinet, etc. do not require BOD approval. The exception is any electrical work where the BOD needs to be notified. We’ve also told them that replacement of existing improvements with substantially similar ones DOES require BOD approval but will most likely be approved with minimal effort. The exception to this is piers. If they are simply unbolting an existing pier and replacing it with a new one, they don't need approval. Likewise, no approval is needed to simply add appropriate adapters to an existing pier to mount their telescope. 3. It is becoming harder and harder to lease certain pads. Pad 1 suffers badly from light trespass and there are several pads along the south fence that suffer from significant light trespass. Suspect that some of these pads will become unleasable in the future. We may want to consider club funded improvements to mitigate some of the light trespass issues in those areas, a discount to the lease of some pads, or repurposing some of the pads. Other than Pad 1, this isn't a critical issue yet. d. Program Report 1. February meeting: Citizen Scientist. 2. Kin is accumulating raffle money from the program meetings, as well as some Televue eyepieces which will be raffled at the banquet. e. AISIG Report – Off until Feb. f. Newsletter Report – Andrea continues to do stellar work. 3 San Diego Astronomy Association
g. Website Report – Banquet information is on the website with a link to the reservation page on Wild Apricot. I will be maintaining A list of door prizes and sponsors will be maintained on the website. h. Outreach Report – For the last 3 months outreach activity, both attendance and support, has been split with about 30% of our activity at the public events, and 70% at school events. This trend is a reversal from the first 6 months of this year.
What is not reflected in these numbers is that the member support for school events involves a smaller number of more active members than the public events. I hope to complete a more thorough trend analysis once our 2017 schedule is completed.
We did suffer a serious breakdown of communication for a full week from November 17 through November 24, due to our Yahoo Group going “off line”. No explanation or reason has been offered or discovered at this point. During that time frame our outreach staff were not able to effectively communicate “real time” updates regarding our events. We are in the process of developing an email list of outreach participants to mitigate this issue in the future.
November activity
Totals for Month: Events Completed 10.0 Events Cancelled 2.0 Attendance: 760.0 Mem Support: 45.0 Averages: Mem/Event: 4.5 Attendees/Scope 16.9
Year to Date since January 1
Completed Events since January 1: 121 Attendees since January 1: 15245
i. Merchandise Report – Working on the T-shirt order; we have $500 in the budget for shirts and hats. j. TARO 1. It will be back on its own breaker on Thursday. 2. Installed a new laptop to run things and it works great. k. Cruzen Observatory – The roof is now operating correctly, although we still have to purchase some minor piece parts to complete the building. l. Social Media – Nothing major to report for social media. We are slowly adding members to the Facebook group (we are at 61 people) and our engagement and interactions are steady and consistent. I imagine that they will taper off as we close in on the holidays. m. JSF 1. Will take place the weekend of August 11, 2018. 2. Doug Sollosy spoke with Hillary G and Jim T and volunteered to take over management if Hillary wants to back out. 3. OPT would like to grow the event, but there is limited space at the venue. 4. Wavelength is interested in setting up a beer garden, but that may be complicated since the event is hosted by a private winery. 5. Jim will coordinate with the media person. 4 San Diego Astronomy Association
6. Old Business a. Electrical Panel – the update will be finished Thursday. b. Banquet – Jerry Hilburn will emcee, and we need to reach out to OPT to make sure they are attending. The speaker will be comped two nights hotel. c. Nominating Committee – the Recording Secretary cast the vote to install the new Board. The members are the same as 2017. 7. New Business a. Lucas Scholarship 1. The SDSU endowment is doing great; it grew from $150K to more than $400K. They requested that we remove some of the qualification restrictions in order to make it more available to incoming students. The Board agreed. Mike C met with them and solicited more collaboration between them and us. 2. SDSU would like to know if the SDAA would be interested in trying to catch a recurring nova in M31. They will give us a presentation of their ideas. This is in the very near future.
8. Adjournment – Adjourned at 9:00pm.
2018 TDS Star Party Schedule Date Type Sunset Twilight Moon Rise/Set Illumination 1/13/2018 Private 5:03 PM 6:30 PM 4:51 AM 10.00% 1/20/2018 Public 5:10 PM 6:36 PM 8:40 PM 13.30% 2/10/2018 Public 5:29 PM 6:53 PM 3:36 AM 22.90% 2/17/2018 Private 5:36 PM 6:58 PM 7:31 PM 4.10% 3/10/2018 Public 5:52 PM 7:14 PM 3:18 AM 39.40% 3/17/2018 Private 6:58 PM 8:20 PM 7:21 PM 0.20% 4/7/2018 Public 7:13 PM 8:37 PM 1:59 AM 57.10% 4/14/2018 Private 7:18 PM 8:44 PM 6:08 PM 2.10% 5/5/2018 Public 7:33 PM 9:05 PM 12:38 AM 73.60% 5/12/2018 Private 7:38 PM 9:12 PM 4:52 PM 9.70% 6/2/2018 Public 7:52 PM 9:32 PM 11:18 PM 86.90% 6/9/2018 Private 7:55 PM 9:36 PM 3:26 AM 21.90% 7/7/2018 Public 7:59 PM 9:39 PM 1:59 AM 36.70% 7/14/2018 Private 7:57 PM 9:36 PM 9:36 PM 4.80% 8/4/2018 Public 7:44 PM 9:16 PM 12:35 AM 52.30% 8/11/2018 Private 7:37 PM 9:07 PM 8:11 PM 0.30% 9/1/2018 Public 7:13 PM 8:38 PM 11:14 PM 67.20% 9/8/2018 Private 7:03 PM 8:27 PM 6:44 PM 1.40% 10/6/2018 Private 6:26 PM 7:48 PM 5:19 PM 7.80% 10/13/2018 Public 6:17 PM 7:39 PM 9:51 PM 24.70% 11/3/2018 Public 5:55 PM 7:19 PM 2:56 AM 18.60% 11/10/2018 Private 4:50 PM 6:15 PM 7:29 PM 11.00% 12/1/2018 Public 4:42 PM 6:09 PM 1:51 AM 32.30% 12/8/2018 Private 4:42 PM 6:10 PM 6:09 PM 2.50% 5 San Diego Astronomy Association
January 2018
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6
San Marcos Sherman Stars in the Park Library Elementary
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Challenger SDAA Business Thomas Jefferson Tierra Santa Stars at Mission TDS Member Middle School Meeting Elementary Elementary Trails Night
Oak Oasis Star Party
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Sweetwater Stars at New Moon Springs Sycamore TDS Public Night Community Canyon School
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Rancho Northmont Elementary West Sycamore SDAA Banquet Elementary
1 2 3
28 29 30 31
Tierra Del Sol Middle School Lakeside Full Moon
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San Diego Astronomy Association
SDAA Contacts Club Officers and Directors President Mike Chasin [email protected] (858) 210-1454 Vice President Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 Recording Secretary Brian McFarland [email protected] (619) 462-4483 Treasurer Gene Burch [email protected] (858) 926-9610 Corresponding Secretary Scott Dixon [email protected] Director Alpha Dave Decker [email protected] (619) 972-1003 Director Beta Jeff Herman [email protected] Director Gamma Pat Boyce [email protected] (619) 227-9614 Director Delta Dave Wood [email protected] (858) 735-8808
Committees Site Maintenance Bill Quackenbush [email protected] (858) 395-1007 Observatory Director Ed Rumsey [email protected] (858) 722-3846 Private Pads Mark Smith [email protected] (858) 484-0540 Outreach Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 N. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] S. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] E. County Star Parties Dave Decker [email protected] (619) 972-1003 Central County Star Parties Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974 Camp with the Stars -Vacant- [email protected] K.Q. Ranch Coordinator Dennis Ammann [email protected] (619) 247-2457 Newsletter Andrea Kuhl [email protected] (858) 547-9887 New Member Mentor Dan Kiser [email protected] (858) 922-0592 Webmaster Jeff Stevens [email protected] (858) 566-2261 AISIG Dave Wood [email protected] (858) 735-8808 Site Acquisition -Vacant- [email protected] Field Trips -Vacant- [email protected] Grants/Fund Raising -Vacant- [email protected] Julian StarFest -Vacant- [email protected] Merchandising -Vacant- [email protected] Publicity Jeff Flynn [email protected] Loaner Scopes Ed Rumsey [email protected] (858) 722-3846 Governing Documents TBD TDS Network Dave Wood [email protected] (858) 735-8808 Amateur Telescope Making -Vacant-
Have a great new piece of gear? Read an astronomy-related book that you think others should know about? How about a photograph of an SDAA Member in SDAA Editorial Staff action? Or are you simply tired of seeing these Boxes in the Newsletter rather Editor - Andrea Kuhl than something, well, interesting? [email protected] Assistant Editor: Craig Ewing Join the campaign to rid the Newsletter of little boxes by sharing them with the membership. In return for your efforts, you will get your very own byline or pho- tograph credit in addition to the undying gratitude of the Newsletter Editor. Just send your article or picture to [email protected].
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Meet the Members
Dave and Cindy Decker, who are usually doing a lot of public outreach for the SDAA, found time to enjoy using their beautiful newly acquired custom 16” Dob at NightFall.
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For Sale: Celestron NexStar 127 SLT for sale. Purchased Aug. 31, 2016. It’s been out of the box once. It’s a beautiful scope, but I can’t use it myself. Paid $504, will sell for $275. Contact Stephanie Mood, [email protected], or call 619-225-9639.
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NASA Space Place Partner Article December 2017 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!
Snowy Worlds Beyond Earth By Linda Hermans-Killiam
There are many places on Earth where it snows, but did you know it snows on other worlds, too? Here are just a few of the places where you might find snow beyond Earth:
Mars The north pole and south pole of Mars have ice caps that grow and shrink with the seasons. These ice caps are made mainly of water ice—the same kind of ice you’d find on Earth. However, the snow that falls there is made of carbon dioxide—the same ingredient used to make dry ice here on Earth. Carbon dioxide is in the Martian atmosphere and it freezes and falls to the surface of the planet as snow. In 2017, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took photos of the sand dunes around Mars' north pole. The slopes of these dunes were covered with carbon dioxide snow and ice.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of carbon dioxide snow covering dunes on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
A Moon of Jupiter: Io There are dozens of moons that orbit Jupiter and one of them, called Io, has snowflakes made out of sulfur. In 2001, NASA's Galileo spacecraft detected these sulfur snowflakes just above Io's south pole. The sulfur shoots into space from a volcano on Io's surface. In space, the sulfur quickly freezes to form snowflakes that fall back down to the surface. 10
San Diego Astronomy Association
NASA Space Place Partner Article December 2017
A volcano shooting molten sulfur out from the surface of Io. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A Moon of Saturn: Enceladus Saturn's moon, Enceladus, has geysers that shoot water vapor out into space. There it freezes and falls back to the surface as snow. Some of the ice also escapes Enceladus to become part of Saturn's rings. The water vapor comes from a heated ocean which lies beneath the moon’s icy surface. (Jupiter’s moon Europa is also an icy world with a liquid ocean below the frozen surface.) All of this ice and snow make Enceladus one of the brightest objects in our solar system.
Enceladus as viewed from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA
A Moon of Neptune: Triton Neptune's largest moon is Triton. It has the coldest surface known in our solar system. Triton's atmosphere is made up mainly of nitrogen. This nitrogen freezes onto its surface covering Triton with ice made of frozen nitrogen. Triton also has geysers like Enceladus, though they are smaller and made of nitrogen rather than water.
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NASA Space Place Partner Article December 2017
The Voyager 2 mission captured this image of Triton. The black streaks are created by nitrogen geysers. Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS
Pluto Farther out in our solar system lies the dwarf planet Pluto. In 2016, scientists on the New Horizons mission discovered a mountain chain on Pluto where the mountains were capped with methane snow and ice.
The snowy Cthulhu (pronounced kuh-THU-lu) mountain range on Pluto. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Beyond Our Solar System There might even be snow far outside our solar system! Kepler-13Ab is a hot, giant planet 1,730 light years from Earth. It's nine times more massive than Jupiter and it orbits very close to its star. The Hubble Space Telescope detected evidence of titanium oxide— the mineral used in sunscreen—in this planet’s upper atmosphere. On the cooler side of Kepler-13Ab that faces away from its host star, the planet’s strong gravity might cause the titanium oxide to fall down as “snow.” 12
San Diego Astronomy Association
NASA Space Place Partner Article December 2017
This is an artist’s illustration of what Kepler-13Ab might look like. Credit: NASA/ESA/G. Bacon (STScI)
Want to learn more about weather on other planets? Check out NASA Space Place: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/planet-weather
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Send dues and renewals to P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215. Include any renewal cards from Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazine in which you wish to continue your subscription. The expiration date shown on your newsletter’s mailing label is the only notice that your membership in SDAA will expire. Dues are $60 for Contributing Memberships; $35 for Basic Membership; $60.00 for Private Pads; $5 for each Family membership. In addition to the club dues the annual rates for magazines available at the club discount are: Sky & Telescope $32.95 and Astronomy $34. Make checks payable to S.D. Astronomy Assn. PLEASE DO 13 NOT send renewals directly to Sky Publishing. They return them to us for processing.