The Observer of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers

THE OBSERVER OF THE TWIN CITY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS

Volume 45, Number 12 December 2020

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

1 Editor’s Choice: Image of the Month – Heart Nebula 2 President’s Note 3 Calendar of Astronomical Events – December 2020 3 New & Renewing Members/Dues Blues/E-Mail List 4 This Month’s Phases of the Moon 4 This Month’s Solar Phenomena 4 Minutes of the November 10th TCAA BoD Meeting 6 AstroBits – News from Around the TCAA 7 TCAA Monthly Club Meetings to Resume in March 8 Unwanted TCAA Assets 10 TCAA Image Gallery 12 Codicil to An Earlier Story 13 December 2020 with Jeffrey L. Hunt 24 Renewing Your TCAA Membership 25 Thanksgiving Moon 26 How the Pandemic Has Affected the TCAA 26 Did You Know? 28 TCAA Treasurer’s Report as of November 28, 2020

The TCAA is an affiliate of the Astronomical League as well as its North Central Region. For more information about the TCAA, be certain to visit the TCAA website at http://www.tcaa.us/

Visit http://www.astroleague.org for additional information about the Astronomical League and its numerous membership benefits, including observing programs.

Also, visit the NCRAL website at http://ncral.wordpress.com for information about our North Central

Region. Find out about the many EDITOR’S CHOICE: IMAGE OF THE MONTH – HEART NEB. benefits of your membership from this site. This month’s image was taken by Tim Stone. See Tim’s article about the Heart Nebula on page 13.

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

PRESIDENT’S NOTE The OBSERVER When December arrives, I like to reflect on is the monthly electronic newsletter of Twin the year behind and plan for the year ahead. City Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a registered There’s certainly plenty to reflect on, but right 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organiz- now reflection seems more like rehashing. This ation of amateur astronomers interested in year, I’m concentrating on looking ahead. I’ll set studying astronomy and sharing their hobby with the public. some goals for next year (I don’t really believe in “New Year’s” resolutions), and some of those goals will be relative to my astronomical TCAA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS aspirations. I’ve found that having goals President, Director, & Property Manager improves my chances of making progress. Tim Stone 309-531-2401 Last year I had the goal of beginning my [email protected] journey in radio astronomy, a goal I achieved Vice President & Director/Membership Coord. and am very much enjoying. I’ve recorded President Tim Stone Tom Willmitch 309-846-2423 radiation from cold atomic hydrogen in our own galaxy, a signal that is still being used to [email protected] refine our understanding of the structure of the Milky Way and our position in it. It’s Treasurer & Director/Registered Agent fascinating to see the signal rise and fall as the earth’s rotation sweeps my antenna across Dave Osenga 309-287-0789 the plane of the Milky Way and see how the signal from different spiral arms is blue or [email protected] red shifted by their velocity relative to ours. It feels great to have set this goal and Assistant Property Manager/ALCor achieved it. Scott Wade 309-310-2464 Next year my goals include some more radio astronomy results, including creating [email protected] my own map of this hydrogen signal for the entire sky visible from here. I also have 5th Director spectroscopic, deep sky astrophotographic, and visual observing goals. If you know me, Sunil Chebolu 678-896-5967 you know I’m somewhat easily distracted, so I’ve written these goals out, and I’ll review [email protected] them every now and then to keep myself on track. Secretary/Historian/Editor What are your goals for 2021? Perhaps you’ve thought about completing your first Carl J. Wenning 309-830-4085 Astronomical League observing program, or there’s another program you’d like to [email protected] undertake. Perhaps it’s to get that telescope out and look at the moon through all its

Technology Coordinator/Assistant Editor phases. Perhaps you want to learn more about stars, observe satellites, count sunspots, Sandullah Epsicokhan 309-828-0227 or any one of a plethora of accomplishments you want to feel good about in December [email protected] of 2021. Take some time to think about your astronomy goals this month. Write them

Webmaster down. Plan how to achieve those goals and get to it! It’s not hard, won’t take a lot of time, Lee Green 309-454-7349 and you’ll find holding yourself to those goals will increase your love and appreciation for [email protected] this fantastic hobby of ours.

AL Observing Club Coordinator If you decide to set astronomy goals for 2021, why don’t you share them with us. Lisa Wentzel unlisted number Send us a “In 2021 I plan to…” email, and we’ll put them in The OBSERVER. You might [email protected] just find someone else with similar goals, and you can “team up” for an even better experience in meeting those goals in 2021. I’ll start. Here are mine: The OBSERVER Carl J. Wenning, Editor Spectrographic: Measure red/blue shift in stellar winds; observe stellar spectral features to magnitude 10; measure Jupiter rotational red/blue shift; explore cross- Submission deadline two days before the end of each month. correlation signal processing Radio: Observe HI radio emission; create an all-sky HI emission map MEMBERSHIP DUES Astrophotography: High resolution photography with the 0.6m – Heart Nebula, Soul Individual Adult/Family $40 Full-time Student/Senior $25 Nebula, Double Cluster mosaic (Senior status equals ages 60+) Visual: Complete all four NCRAL mini-Messier marathons; complete the Stellar Evolution observing program from the Astronomical League. To join, send your name, contact info, and dues payment to Dave Osenga, TCAA Finally, I wish you and yours a warm, safe, and healthy holiday season. See you next year, Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL if not before! 61761-1471. Tim Stone TCAA President

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

CALENDAR OF ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS – DEC 2020 NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS

MORNING PLANETS (12/15): Mercury (☿) and Venus (♀︎) The following individuals have paid dues for new or EVENING PLANETS (12/15): Mars (♂︎), Jupiter (♃), Saturn (♄), renewed memberships as of November 28, 2020. (Others who paid after that date will appear in the December 2020 Uranus (⛢), and Neptune (♆) issue of The OBSERVER.)

The following table gives the date and time (24-hour clock) of Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! important astronomical events for this month. All events are given in Central Standard Time.

New: N/A Day Time Event Renewing: Darren Erickson

01 01:46 Moon at Ascending Node 03 19:24 Pollux 3.8°N of Moon Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! 04 19:10 Beehive 2.4°S of Moon 06 10:28 Regulus 4.8°S of Moon DUES BLUES

07 18:37 LAST QUARTER MOON If you have received a dues statement email along 12 14:40 Venus 0.8°S of Moon: Occn. with this issue of The OBSERVER, please send your dues 12 14:42 Moon at Perigee: 361777 km to Mr. Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., 13 19 Geminid Meteor Shower Normal, IL 61761-1471. Dues are currently $25 for seniors 14 05:03 Moon at Descending Node (60 years of age and over) and $40 regular.

14 10:13 Total Solar Eclipse; mag=1.025 14 10:17 SUBSCRIBING TO THE TCAA EMAIL LIST NEW MOON 16 22:28 Jupiter 2.9°N of Moon Welcome to the [email protected] group at Groups.io. 16 23:25 Saturn 3.1°N of Moon This is a free, easy-to-use group email service set up for 19 21 Mercury at Superior Conjunction the TCAA’s communication purposes. You can subscribe, visit your group, read and post messages here: 21 04:03 Winter Solstice https://groups.io/g/tcaa 21 12 Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction: 6’ The email address for this group is [email protected]. 21 17:41 FIRST QUARTER MOON After you successfully subscribe, please add this email 22 03 Ursid Meteor Shower address to your safe sender list in your email client’s 23 08:48 Venus 5.5°N of Antares contacts, so emails from this list are not classified as junk 23 12:30 Mars 5.6°N of Moon mail. Once subscribed, you can set your subscription 24 10:32 Moon at Apogee: 405010 km settings here: https://groups.io/g/tcaa/editsub. You can 27 14:20 Aldebaran 4.6°S of Moon opt to receive all messages in individual emails, collections 28 09:03 Moon at Ascending Node of messages in a digest, a daily summary, or only special 29 21:28 FULL MOON notices. If you do not wish to belong to this group, you 31 01:41 Pollux 3.8°N of Moon may unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] This Calendar of Astronomical Events courtesy of Fred Espenak. If you have general questions about the group, email http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2020cst.html [email protected]. For questions not answered there,

contact the moderators of this group (Deva C., Tim S., and EVENING SKY MAP Carl W.) by emailing [email protected].

Get the current evening sky map along with a more detailed celestial events calendar at the following URL: http://www.skymaps.com/

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

THIS MONTH’S PHASES OF THE MOON

Last Quarter New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Monday, December 7 Monday, December 14 Monday, December 21 Tuesday, December 29

All moon phase dates are Central Time. Moon phases for the 2020 calendar year can be found by clicking here: http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2020cst.html Images provided by J. K. Howell of the Champaign- Urbana Astronomical Society & used with permission.

THIS MONTH’S SOLAR PHENOMENA

In the table below, you will find times of sunrise and sunset along with rising and setting azimuths (Az), length of the day including the change from the previous day, start and end times of astronomical twilight, the time of solar noon along with the elevation (El) of the midday sun, and solar distance. Data come from https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/bloomington

2020 Sunrise/Sunset Day Length Astronomical Twilight Solar Noon Solar Dist.

Dec Sunrise (Az) Sunset (Az) Length Diff. Start End Time (Elevation) MIL. MILES

1 7:00 AM (119°) 4:29 PM (241°) 9:29:16 –1:15 5:23 AM 6:06 PM 11:45 AM (27.6°) 91.646

11 7:09 AM (120°) 4:29 PM (240°) 9:15:50 –0:40 5:31 AM 6:07 PM 11:49 AM (26.5°) 91.525

21 7:16 AM (121°) 4:32 PM (239°) 9:16:43 <1s 5:37 AM 6:11 PM 11:54 AM (26.1°) 91.440

Minutes of the November 10th TCAA BoD Meeting

The online Zoom meeting was called to order at 6:31 PM that while the planetarium remains closed, he has been by Tim Stone. Also in attendance were Bob Finnigan, Scott posting lots of resources such as Big Astronomy on the Wade, Carl Wenning, Tom Willmitch, Dave Osenga, Sunil planetarium’s Facebook page. He also noted the Chebolu, Lee Green, and Lisa Wentzel. Not in attendance was presence of two activities for kids dealing with the moon Sandullah Epsicokhan. The meeting started with officer and and weather on the planetarium’s YouTube channel. Carl chair reports with the following points made: urged Tom to post information about these resources on the TCAA Facebook page as we have over 1,000 followers. Tim reported as president and property manager that Tom thanked Carl for the suggestion. tremendous progress has been made with the Carl had nothing to report dealing with his role as “cleanliness and sanitation campaign.” The storage secretary/newsletter editor/historian. locker at SGNC has been emptied of a vast amount of Dave reported as treasurer a total balance of $4,318.90. useless material. Bob and Scott reported that the failed This includes $2,350.84 in checking and $1,968.06 in QHY 367 camera on the 14” has been replaced with a new savings. QHY 600C, though the mount seems to have developed some bugs recently; AstroPhysics has been contacted. Scott had nothing to report as ALCor; Lisa had nothing to Carl has ordered a new hand controller for use on the report as AL Observing Club’s Coordinator, and SGO 11” telescope; Tim has assembled a new eyepiece Sandullah was not present to make a Technology Coordinator report. Lee as webmaster noted that little set for use with the telescope. had changed with the existing club website due to the Tom had nothing new to report in relation to his role as development of the new website. Carl pointed out and vice president and membership chair but for the fact

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

thanked Lee for recent work posting the past 10 years of purchasing a second. Lisa noted that she has and will The OBSERVER on the website. donate a nearly identical bench to the TCAA. Her offer was gratefully accepted. Carl will see to the transfer. The following points of OLD BUSINESS were made: Scott has provided four bins for storing the club’s Carl reported that Deva Chatrathi and his two friends in historical materials and these materials will be placed in India continue to work on the club’s new website, but the the storage locker along with desiccants to keep them dry. recent death of his father and his day job have kept him Carl thanked Scott for both the bins as well as his concern from getting much done. about the valuables of the club. Bob and Lisa reported that there were no new Carl urged the Board to reestablish monthly meetings for nominations for the Board and that all current Board the membership as a way of building camaraderie and members are willing to stand for re-election. increasing the number of new members. Following a brief Carl noted that following his current terms as secretary, discussion of why these meetings were canceled years newsletter editor, and historian, he is willing to continue ago, it was agreed to hold meetings online using Zoom on as historian and is willing to serve as ALCor and co-chair a trial basis for the coming year to see if they are the Observing Clubs position with Lisa if the Board attended and have the desired effect. The meetings will approves. Tim mentioned that the NCRAL Mini Messier begin in March and are not to be confused with our public Marathon programs were very appealing and suggested viewing programs. Carl will arrange these events. It was that NCRAL consider other such programs that are “more further agreed, following a suggestion by Tim, that the accessible” to those who do not want to deal with the TCAA acquire its own Zoom account to avoid any requirements of the AL programs. He set up an ad hoc potential conflict of interest and avoid “poor optics” of committee consisting of Lisa, Carl, and himself to produce using an ISU Zoom account to host a club meeting. The suggestions for NCRAL. Board tentatively agreed to do so. David will investigate Dave reported that the recently donated NexStar 11” the costs and will purchase a year-long contract pending telescope works properly with the hand controller from final Board approval. his personal NexStar 11” telescope, but not with the one A brief discussion was held following the loss of a new that came with the donated telescope. He will work with member. Despite repeated efforts to contact this Carl to find a replacement (likely the to-be-repaired unit member through email, evidently our messages and from the SGO 11” which works flawlessly but for a poor newsletters were not getting through for who knows electrical connection which can be fixed). what reason. The dues will be refunded. The group Tim offered to give a short talk about radio astronomy at further agreed that this is the first time such a thing has the Annual Meeting during February. Carl mentioned happened, and that changes in our approach to that he could provide a talk about TCAA Guides. Tom contacting new members need not be made. Carl noted suggested that he might be able to find an additional that in the online application we should consider adding speaker if necessary. Details will be worked out in the a note that they will be contacted via email and to add future. [email protected] to their list of contacts so emails from The 2021 Public Viewing Session brochure was approved the club don’t get caught in any junk mail filter. by the Board and Jill and Angela at SGNC have approved The next online Board meeting will be January 5th at 6:30 the dates. Carl will submit the brochure to bopi’s PM. rd Print4Good campaign before the November 23 deadline Under announcements, David noted that “today’s following one last review by club officers and chairs. th APOD” (November 10 ) featured a starless Heart and Soul The following items of NEW BUSINESS were addressed: nebula image and compared it to Tim’s Editor’s Choice – Image of the Month in the November issue of The OBSERVER. Tim gave a rundown on the list of equipment donated to Tim thanked David and noted that a second image was the TCAA by “Delores” whose husband recently died. The supposed to be in included with that issue but was not. Carl Board agreed to declare these materials and one was surprised to learn of the oversight and will include the binocular found in the SGNC storage locker “unwanted missing image with apologies in the December issue. The equipment.” These materials will be disposed of meeting was adjourned at 7:45 PM. following official club policy. Tim has prepared an article for the newsletter and Carl will run the policy statement Respectfully submitted, about acquisition along with that article. Carl mentioned the presence of the “nice bench” found Carl J. Wenning, Secretary in SGO two years ago and suggested the club consider

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

ASTROBITS – NEWS FROM AROUND THE TCAA

Just as the last issue of this newsletter Nature Center. I tried to observe a handful of went to press, it was noted by the editor galaxies in the Caldwell group, but sky that TCAA webmaster Lee Green has transparency wasn't high enough to allow it. updated the archive of The OBSERVER. I spent the remainder of the evening Now all but the most recent issue from observing over two dozen show case nebulas, 2010 through 2020 are now available for star clusters, double stars, and a few brighter viewing at: http://tcaa.us/Observer.aspx galaxies. The planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Thanks, Lee, for keeping us up to date! and Neptune were nice. Never did look at On November 3rd and 5th, Carl Wenning Uranus. The viewing was especially spent time working at SGO, cleaning up rewarding. I used the Tour function on the spider webs, releasing flies, and working telescope and augmented my observations with the CPC 11” telescope. After some with audio descriptions from my SkySafari trial and error, he was able to determine telephone app. It was nice to learn more that the newer version of the Celestron about the various sky objects while peering hand controller works with the 2006 CPC at them through the telescope. The model. Using a hand controller from his Celestron CPC 11" telescope donated to the What the new hand controller Twin City Amateur Astronomers some time late model CPC 8”, he was able to view the will look like. M, NGC, IC, C, and sun, Venus, and Mercury. He has ordered other objects can now be found ago. It performs superbly under the dome of a new hand controller to replace the one under key 3, Deep Sky. Sugar Grove Observatory.” that originally came with the 11” Tim Stone, Scott Wade, and Carl telescope and is having connectivity problems. The layout Wenning gathered at SGNC on November 7th to do a bit of of the new hand controller is slightly different from the observing. Carl viewed Messier objects and was joined original, but the functionality is the same. Anyone who has later by Tim at SGO where Tim took spectra of Vega and worked with the previous CPC hand controller should have Jupiter while Carl watched. Scott busied himself at PSO no trouble transitioning to the new unit. He spent the imaging M33, the Triangulum Galaxy. All three gathered evening of November 6th, enjoying observations of later in the parking lot to discuss why more of our Caldwell objects using the members weren’t out viwing under such ideal conditions. hand controller from his CPC An interesting note… The American physicist and inventor 8” telescope. Amos Emerson Dolbear was born in Norwich, Connecticut On November 4th, on November 10, 1837. “A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan Scott Wade delivered four University, he is not particularly associated with new totes to SGO for astronomy, other than the fact that in 1897 he published storage of TCAA historical an article The Cricket as a materials. That same day, Thermometer that noted the Tim Stone found a correlation between the member’s long lost Nagler ambient temperature and eyepieces and returned the rate at which crickets them to their rightful owner chirp. The formula expressed much to his delight. The in that article became known eyepieces have a total value as Dolbear's Law and was in of over $600. fact mentioned in the May The four totes generously Treasurer Dave 1946 issue of Sky & donated by Scott Wade to Osenga will be adding Telescope in the monthly protect the club’s historical Astronomical Anecdotes materials, some stretching relevant “historic” docs back to the very founding of from the TCAA to the history (fascinating pieces of the TCAA. totes. This will consist astronomical trivia which mostly of Federal 990 forms were compiled and written stretching back some 15 years to preserve the history of by Roy Kenneth Marshall and the “explosive” financial growth of the club during this featured in the magazine time. between 1941 and 1946). On November 7th Carl Wenning wrote on the TCAA listserv, Apparently, if an observer inside an observatory dome “Last night I had an evening observing run at Sugar Grove wanted to know the ambient temperature (and in the

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

fortunate event that a cricket happened to be inside the steep inclination of the ecliptic to the horizon and shining dome at the same time) the astronomer in question would at around magnitude -0.7, the speedy little planet was as be able to count the number of times the cricket 'chirped' brilliant as any time in recent memory. Views around 5:45 over a period of 15 seconds and then add that value to 40 AM have been exceptional given the extremely to give the temperature in Fahrenheit! This method is transparent skies. certainly more elaborate, and perhaps a lot more fun, than Four TCAAers got out separately with binoculars in order simply using a thermometer.” (Society for the History of to view an extremely thin moon on the evening of Sunday, Astronomy Facebook Posting) Your editor can vouch for November 15th. Alas, the moon – only 17.5 hours past new the accuracy of this method. He has used it since the time – was not visible. Negative observations were reported by he was a senior at The Ohio State University (and an Lee Green, Sharon MacDonald, Dave Osenga, and Carl undergraduate user of Perkins Observatory at Ohio Wenning. The record for seeing the youngest moon is 15.5 Wesleyan University). He was first told about this method hours. by his teacher and famous classical astronomer Dr. Philip Dave Osenga and Lisa Wentzel recently completed C. Keenan. additional AL observing programs. Dave completed the The TCAA now has its own Zoom account for the coming Urban Observing and Lisa completed the Binocular 12 months. It allows for unlimited group meetings with up Variables observing program. Congratulations to our to 100 participants, online storage, and social media dedicated and quite capable amateur astronomers! streaming. Dave Osenga set up the account for us on Carl Wenning’s latest book, Galileo Observer’s Guide to the November 11th with the Board’s approval. The cost was Heavens, is nearly ready for the publisher. Carl is now $149.95 per annum, but Deva Chatrathi found us a coupon making a third and final review manuscript and hopes to saving 20% on the subscription price. No policies have have the nearly 300-page word ready for a publisher by been set for its use but access the hosting of meetings is the end of the month. Carl had three textbooks dealing currently limited to the TCAA leadership. Thanks to both with the teaching of high school physics published earlier Dave and Deva for helping to arrange this. this year by the American Association of Physics Teachers. The Astronomical League’s past president Terry Mann has The TCAA’s public viewing session schedule for 2021 was arranged a live Zoom presentation for the national sent to Bloomington Offset Process, Inc. for printing on membership. This event will take place on Saturday, November 22nd. BOPI’s Print4Good Campaign will provide December 5th and will run from 1-3PM CST. Various us with 2,000 color copies free of charge. The TCAA is most speakers will talk about the League. NCRAL Chair Carl appreciative. Wenning will give a 10-minute presentation about our Lee Green and Carl Wenning reported observing a naked- Region which is among the most active. Carl’s eye sunspot on Friday, November 27th, after being alerted presentation will run from about 2:00-2:10 PM. Scott by PAC’s Alan Sheidler. Later, Sharon MacDonald and Tony Roberts from Explore Scientific will serve as host. The Cellini reported viewing the sun using properly shielded program will be recorded and put on various social media binoculars. The next day, Jamey Jenkins did some nice sites that that people can watch at their convenience. solar photography. Thanks for the heads up, Alan!

Watch the TCAA listserv for details. Several TCAAers have been lucky enough to view Mercury repeatedly in the predawn mid-November sky. Due to the

TCAA MONTHLY CLUB MEETINGS TO RESUME ONLINE IN MARCH

The TCAA Board of Directors has agreed to return The meetings were held on the third Thursday of each temporarily to monthly club meetings during 2021 if there is month beginning at 7:00 PM for nearly 40 years. We will sufficient interest in doing so shown by the membership. The resume that practice next March assuming there is adequate goal of such meetings is to increase benefits of membership interest expressed by the membership. A trial run will last (see TCAA’s Guide #2 – TCAA Membership and Benefits at until December if the meetings are held as anticipated. http://tcaa.us/Download/Membership_and_Benefits.pdf for Rather than meeting at the planetarium, the TCAA details of current benefits), renew friendships, and to build membership will meet online using Zoom, a service that the camaraderie within the club considering the current COVID- Board has been employing for many months now to conduct 19 pandemic. The club’s leadership decided to stop holding its meetings electronically. Monthly club meetings will consist such meetings in the late 1990s due to lack of interest and of a speaker (mostly club members) to be followed with time participation by the membership. for Q&A. Time for socializing will be provided, including the

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

use of breakout rooms where small group discussions with [email protected] with topics of interest for certain themes will take place. presentation, as well as topics for discussion following formal There will be no business meetings presentations along with their Q&A as before as nowadays the Board of periods. Please get your responses to Directors, officers, and chairs manage Carl by December 15th. To ensure that the affairs of this group. At the end of the proposed meetings resume, be nine months the Board will assess the certain to write Carl by December 15th situation and meetings will continue if with topic suggestions. A lack of the wider membership is actively interested now will prevent the participating. meetings from resuming. Carl Wenning has agreed to arrange To see how Zoom works, visit the topics and speakers, and manage the meetings using the following link to watch a 2-minute video including an club’s new Zoom account. In order to provide programs of the invitation by Carl to send in a list of possible topics: highest interest and worth to the membership, each member https://youtu.be/u4_w41PGMrw is being asked to send Carl an email at

UNWANTED TCAA ASSETS

The following TCAA-owned equipment has been declared 2. Celestron 5” SCT with eyepieces. This Schmidt-Cassegrain unwanted by the TCAA Board and is available to members. scope comes in a hard case (very nice) and a complete set Per TCAA Board policy, we ask members who wish to have any of Celestron Plössl eyepieces and a Barlow. There is no of this equipment to consider making an appropriate mount. With an appropriate mount, this would be a great donation to the club. Anyone who wants to inquire about or grab-and-go system. acquire any of this equipment can contact Tim Stone at the email given in The Observer’s masthead on page two.

1. Celestron 6” Newtonian, mount, sundry eyepieces. The mount is not motorized, and at one time had a polar alignment scope that is missing. The tripod is wood; it seems very solid. This is a complete telescope system which would be an excellent starter set for someone.

3. Meade 5” achromatic refractor. This is the OTA and some eyepieces. No spotting scope, mount, or tripod are included. Eyepieces include 2” 40/28/20 mm Meade Super-Wide

Angle 5 Element Plössl, a 1.25” 12.4 mm Meade Super

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

Plössl, a 1.25” 18 mm Meade Super-Wide Angle Plössl, a 1.25” 20mm Meade Super Plössl, and a diagonal. At 27.5 lbs., this is a very heavy piece of equipment. A solid mount with at least 40 lbs. capacity will be required to use this telescope.

5. Oberwerks 10x70 binoculars. In a canvas case. No tripod or mounting bracket. A good, solid tripod will be required to use these high-power binoculars.

4. Swift 11x80 binoculars. A beautiful binocular with spectacular views of the heavens. Case and L-bracket tripod mount included. No tripod is included. A good, solid tripod will be required to use these very heavy binoculars.

TCAA’s Unwanted Assets Policy

On January 6, 2015, the TCAA Board of Directors established a policy governing the disposal of unwanted club materials. The policy is as follows: Any unwanted assets, so deemed by the TCAA Board of Directors, may be offered to the membership in return for a donation to the club of an amount not less than a reserve amount determined by the Board.

The Board will from time to time determine which items, if any, are to be deemed “unwanted assets.” A reserve price is then set for each such item. Arrangements are then made through The OBSERVER to obtain bids for individual items from club members in good standing (i.e., dues current). Items will be given to the highest bidder in exchange for the indicated donation. It should be noted that donations in consideration of such exchanges are not tax-deductible contributions even though the TCAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Bidding by TCAA members in good standing begins December 1 and concludes on December 8, 2020. Bidding for remaining items by non-TCAA members begins January 1 and concludes January 8, 2021. NB. The Board has agreed to avoid setting reserve prices for this lot of materials. However, the TCAA Board reserves the right to reject bids that are deemed not in keeping with the worth of the items bid upon.

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

TCAA IMAGE GALLERY

SUN BY JAMEY JENKINS – Jamey writes, “Imaged the new active region M33 TRIANGULUM GALAXY BY SCOTT WADE – Scott

(AR2781) on the Sun on November 4 despite the low altitude from my location. Sol seems to be a bit more active lately. Cycle 25 is underway for sure.”

SUN II BY JAMEY JENKINS – Jamey writes, “Found a little time today (November 8) while doing yard work to snap a couple images of AR2781 as it nears the central meridian of the Sun during its trek across Sol's face. Left image is in the light of Calcium and the right as the feature appears in Hydrogen alpha. Both were taken through a William Optics 102mm aperture f/7 refracting telescope (stopped to 100mm for the Hα), a TeleVue 2x Powermate to achieve f/14, Lunt and Daystar filters and an Imaging Source DMK-41 mono video camera.” (TCAA IMAGE GALLERY continues on the next page.)

WAYNESVILLE OBSERVATORY USE POLICY STATEMENT

It is the policy of the TCAA Board of Directors that notification of planned use of the Waynesville Observatory site be communicated to the Property Manager no more than 24 hours before and no later than sunset on the evening of the planned usage. If this notification has not been given, then the member is asked to refrain from using the site that evening. Notification also may be made by email, either to the TCAA groups.io mailing list, or to the Property Manager at [email protected]. This notification may also be made using text messaging to the Property Manager’s phone at (309) 531-2401. If texting, please include your name in the text to let the Property Manager know the identity of the sender. Members should not make voice calls to the Property Manager’s number. (Approved May 22, 2020)

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

BL ORIONIS BY TIM STONE – On the evening of November 14th Tim wrote, “Sometimes I get caught up in the technical nature of what we do and lose sight of Nature itself. I must stop and remind myself that this isn't only data and processing pipelines and workflows, line identification and all that. It's beautiful and amazing and ultimately still filled with mysteries and unexplored territory. To regain perspective, I sometimes take a calibrated color synthesized profile and mix it back into the original mono image, for a fresh look at what we're photographing and just how incredibly beautiful it really is. Here is BL Orionis, a nice carbon star currently around 7th magnitude, acquired last night under as close to perfect skies as we ever get here in the Midwest US. With wind chill figured in, the temperature was 17F (-8C). It was uncomfortable, but to stand under that sky and see the winter Milky Way almost as bright as the summer Milky Way? To see this spectrum, pop onto my computer screen? Yes, it was totally worth it.

DETAIL OF WEBO-1. This image showing the detail of WEBO-1 (see inset image) was supposed to have run last month but was somehow overlooked by your editor. With an apology from the editor, it is shown here this month. Tim Stone who produced this image noted, “I started this image in early September, and finally finished it last night (October 12th). This is 12 hours of imaging the region between the Heart and the Soul nebula. Neither of those nebulae were my target, though they do make an interesting if not unconventional composition for this image. The diminutive and recently discovered planetary nebula WEBO-1 was my target for this image. This image was taken with the 10". Its 2.3-degree field of view doesn't give a close-up view of the ring-like planetary, but it clearly shows in the image. It surprises me how many

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

images I see that include this location but shows no trace of the planetary. Even in narrowband, most astrophotographers manage to fail to reveal it. I hope to image WEBO-1 again but with the 24" to get a much better look at its neat little ring. It's just above and to the right of center in my image.” See details revealed in the inset image.

CORE OF M31 BY SCOTT WADE – Scott writes, “Attached is one of the first images with the new QHY600 color camera on the RC14. Ten 600-sec subs were captured at -20°C, along with darks, flats, and bias frames. Image was processed using PixInsight and Photoshop.”

Editor’s Note: TCAA IMAGE GALLERY continues on page 27.

CODICIL TO AN EARLIER STORY ~ by Tim Stone ~

I've replaced my original 1.4m radio astronomy dish with a 3.1m dish. The original dish had a beam width of about 10 degrees, and the new one has a 4-degree beam. Together with its increased area, this antenna is much more capable. Since it has such a large surface area, it has a mesh reflecting surface rather than a solid one like the 1.4m dish. This is to reduce wind loading on the dish, which becomes a much larger problem with smaller beam widths. The dish was given to me by a member of the Central Illinois Radio Club, a group of HAM radio operators here in Bloomington. The member heard of my interest and offered the dish free if I came and got it. That sounded good to me! It was in four sections, and the mesh had separated from the supports in places. My granddaughters helped me bolt it together and repair the mesh on a beautiful Saturday earlier this month. It was one of the activities we did that day, a memory- making day with my beautiful granddaughters for sure. But that's another story. My radio friend Jeff came over and helped me bolt it to the dish mount and put it all on the pier. I took the feed and electronics from the 1.4m dish, put them on the center support pedestal, and I was up and running. I'm already gathering data with the new dish and so far, it seems to be working well!

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

IMAGE OF THE MONTH – HEART NEBULA (CONTINUED) ~ Image and Text by Tim Stone ~

This iconic nebula is appropriately The Heart Nebula is so often named the Heart Nebula. If the reason photographed it’s almost cliché at this for this isn’t obvious to you, then turn point. But even when we think we’ve the image upside down. If you still seen everything in these images we can’t see it, you’re just not the see so often, sometimes there’s a romantic type. It’s another example of surprise staring us right in the face, if an evolved starbirth region, with a we’ll only take the time to step back young cluster of stars in its center, and have a fresh look at an old friend. stars that have blown a huge cavity in The Heart Nebula gives us another the cloud of gasses and dust they view of some of these pillars. The formed in. But… there’s a twist. intensely interesting mess in the This type of nebula is center of the cavity, the “center of the characterized by huge columns or heart,” would be easily recognizable as pillars of gasses, glowing in the one of these pillars, but instead of characteristic colors of the elements in looking at its side, we’re looking them as they are relentlessly driven straight down at it from above. Like away from the blazing hot stars in the looking at a mountain from an middle of the cavity. We often see airplane, we can easily see the streams these pillars as if we were looking at of gasses flowing away from the them from the side; they’re certainly ridgelines, and we can see that the more recognizable in this orientation. pillar has a complicated shape invisible Streamers and concentrations of dust to us in other from-the-side pillars. can be seen in silhouette against the This isn’t something we can see in glowing backdrops. It all gives most starbirth regions. beautiful witness to the complex, dynamic environment in these nebulae. DECEMBER 2020: GREAT CONJUNCTION, VENUS WITH THE SCORPION ~ by Jeffrey L. Hunt ~

Mars: Watch the Red Planet move eastward through Pisces. Venus: In the morning sky during December, Venus steps Early in the month, it passes through a triangle made by Zeta through Libra and Scorpius, and into Ophiuchus. Piscium (ζ Psc), Epsilon Piscium (ε Psc), and 80 Piscium (80 Psc).

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

At the beginning of morning twilight (5:20 a.m. CST) At this hour, the bright moon is low in the east-northeast, when December begins, a bright moon outshines the subtle to the left of the horns of Taurus. Bright Capella stands to the features of the Orion region of the Milky Way. The lunar orb lunar orb’s upper left while Aldebaran is to the upper right. shines from the horns of Taurus. Sirius, Orion, and Taurus are Even though the moon is bright, you might spot the Pleiades, lined up along the western horizon as they appear on a spring higher than Aldebaran, about a third of the way up in the east. evening. The arc of stars – Procyon, Pollux, Castor, and Capella At the meridian, working upward, Fomalhaut – Mouth of the – appear as an umbrella that is higher in the sky. Farther Fish – is slightly to the east and about a quarter of the way up eastward, Regulus and the Sickle of Leo is at the meridian. The in the sky. Aquarius is above the Southern Fish. A circular Big Dipper is high in the north, nearly the same distance as pattern of pairs of 3rd and 4th magnitude, to the upper left Leo from the zenith. The dipper’s Pointer Stars reliably aim at Fomalhaut – are unique to Aquarius. The Great Square of the Pole Star. The handle curves toward the east, where topaz Pegasus, over two-thirds of the way up in the sky, is east of Arcturus – over a third of the way up in the sky – is now well- the meridian. Andromeda’s stars, beginning at Alpheratz, placed for easy reference. Spica is low in the southeast to the point toward the northeast horizon and Capella. Perseus is lower right of Arcturus. between Andromeda and Auriga. Bright Mars, dimmer than Brilliant Venus is nearby, the lone bright planet in the when it was at closest approach during early October, morning sky. Watch the planet move through Libra and then marches eastward in Pisces. During the next several days, close to brighter stars in Scorpius during the month. Moving watch the planet step through a miniature triangle made by northward along the horizon, you might spot the backwards “C” Epsilon Piscium, Zeta Piscium, and 80 Piscium. Back at the of Corona Borealis, to the lower left of Arcturus. Vega is low in meridian, Cassiopeia is over two-thirds of the way up in the the northeast. Cassiopeia is low in the north, west of the northern sky, east of the celestial divider. The Big Dipper meridian. Daylight is about 9.5 hours long. From now until the scrapes along the horizon at this time. Even though the winter solstice, daylight loses about 20 minutes, as the sun loses seasons have changed, the Summer Triangle – Vega, Altair, 1° of noon altitude. Darkness – the span of time after the end of and Deneb – dominate the western sky. The impending Great evening twilight until the beginning of morning twilight – is 11 Conjunction is playing out in the southwest. Bright Jupiter is hours, 20 minutes. to the lower right of Saturn. Throughout the month, the end of evening twilight occurs slightly after 6 p.m. CST. While the weather is not yet bone- numbing, the early onset of darkness allows for early observing. So, bundle up, get outside, to look at the evening sky with a binocular, telescope, or just a quick tour of the sky without optical help.

December 1: One hour after sunset, Jupiter is 19° up in the southwest, 2.1° to the lower right of Saturn.

• December 1: One hour before sunrise, brilliant Venus (m = −3.9) – low in the east-southeast – is the lone bright

December 1 – 5: Brilliant Venus passes Zubenelgenubi on morning planet. It is among the stars of Libra, 3.8° to the December 3. This chart shows the motion of Venus compared upper right of Zubenelgenubi (α Lib, m = 2.8). Use a to the star for a few days around the conjunction date. binocular to spot the brilliant planet 2.1° to the upper right of Mu Librae (μ Lib, m = 5.3). Through a telescope, Venus is

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a morning gibbous, 89% illuminated and 11.6” across. The gibbous moon (16.3 days after the New Moon phase, 99% illuminated) – nearly 21° up in the west-northwest – is between the Horns of Taurus. Block the moon’s glare to see the stars that mark the horn’s tips. Zeta Tauri (ζ Tau, m = 3.0) is 4.2° to the upper left of the moon. Beta Tauri (β Tau, m = 1.6) is 5.8° to the upper right of the lunar orb. Mercury (− 0.8) rises about 50 minutes before sunrise. By 30 minutes before sunrise, the planet is less than 3° in altitude in the east-southeast, clearly a challenge to see. Daylight is a minute less than 9.5 hours long. Until the solstice, daylight loses less than 25 minutes. The shortest daylight of the year is with us. Antares is in conjunction with the sun today. It makes its first morning appearance later in the month. One hour after sunset, Jupiter (m = −2.0) and Saturn (0.6) are about 19° up in the southwest. The gap between the planets is 2.1°. Saturn is to Jupiter’s upper left. Great Conjunction Countdown: 20 days. In the starfield, Jupiter is 2.1° to the lower left of 56 Sagittarii (56 Sgr, m = 4.8), while Saturn is 3.7° to the upper left of that star. Additionally, December 1: One hour before sunrise, the bright moon is in the west-northwest, between the Horns of Taurus, Zeta Tauri Saturn is 4.5° to the lower right of Sigma Capricorni (σ Cap, (ζ Tau) and Beta Tau (β Tau). m = 5.2). Use a binocular to track the progress of the planets compared to these stars. Jupiter sets about 7:40 p.m. • December 2: One hour before sunrise, the bright gibbous Saturn follows several minutes later. Mars (m = −1.1) is moon (17.3d, 96%) is over 30° in altitude in the west. It is 80.9° of ecliptic longitude east of Jupiter. The gap between 2.5° to the lower right of Mu Geminorum (μ Gem, m = 2.8) them opens during December as Mars picks up eastward and nearly 20° to the lower right of Castor (α Gem, m = 1.6). speed after the conclusion of its recent retrograde. Through Block the moon’s glare to see the dimmer stars of Gemini. a telescope, the Red Planet is 14.4” across. At this hour, the Farther east, Venus is 2.2° to the upper right of planet is over 38° in altitude above the east-southeast Zubenelgenubi and 0.9° to the upper right of μ Lib. One horizon. While its brightness is diminished since its October hour after sunset, Mars is 39.0° up in the east-southeast, 13 opposition, the rusty tint and brightness makes it the moving eastward compared to Pisces’ starry background. brightest “star” in the eastern sky at this hour. It seems to Use a binocular to spot the Red Planet 1.1° to the lower move across the sky during the night, setting in the west right of ε Psc and 1.6° to the upper right of 80 Psc. Farther about 2:30 a.m. CST, long before Venus rises. Among the westward, Jupiter is 19.0° up in the south-southwest. stars, Mars is 1.2° to the lower right of Epsilon Piscium (ε Dimmer Saturn is 2.0° to the upper left of the Jovian Giant. Psc, m = 4.2) and 1.7° to the upper right of 80 Piscium (80 Great Conjunction Countdown: 19 days. In the starfield, Psc, m = 5.5). With a binocular, watch the planet move Jupiter is 2.3° to the lower left of 56 Sgr, and Saturn is 3.8° between the two stars during the next few evenings. About to the upper left of the star. Additionally, Saturn is 4.4° to 3 hours after sunset (7:20 p.m. CST), the bright gibbous the lower right of σ Cap. Four hours after sunset (8:20 p.m. moon (16.8d, 97%) is nearly 20° up in the east-northeast. CST), the moon (17.9d, 93%) – nearly 20° up in the east- Now outside the Horns of Taurus, the lunar orb is 5.1° to northeast – is over 12° to the upper right of Pollux (β Gem, the lower left of ζ Tau and 8.4° below β Tau. m = 1.2). • December 3: One hour before sunrise, brilliant Venus – over 12° up in the east-southeast – is 1.3° to the upper left of Zubenelgenubi and 0.5° to the lower right of μ Lib. Farther west, the moon (18.3d, 91%) is 8.6° to the lower right of Pollux. In the evening, Mars (m = −1.0) – moving eastward in Pisces – is 1.0° to the lower right of ε Psc and 1.6° to the upper right of 80 Psc. Use a binocular to spot the

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

planet among the dimmer stars. Farther west, Saturn is objects follow this dramatic and extensive galaxy into the 20.0° up in the south-southwest, 1.9° to the upper left of sky. Start at Alpheratz and star hop toward Perseus. Go to Jupiter. Great Conjunction Countdown: 18 days. In the Pi Andromedae (π And), then to Mu Andromedae (μ And). starfield, the Ringed Wonder is 3.9° to the upper left of 56 Here, turn your attention upward to go to M31. Otherwise, Sgr and 4.3° to the lower right of σ Cap, while Jupiter is 2.4° continue toward Perseus, by making a big hop from μ And to the lower left of 56 Sgr. Five hours after sunset (9:20 p.m. to 51 Andromedae (51 And). By doing so you hop over CST), the moon (18.9d, 86%) is over 20° in altitude above several 4th and 5th magnitude stars. The next star is Phi the east-northeast horizon. It is 4.6° to the lower right of Persei (φ Per). The “Little Dumbbell Nebula” (M76, NGC 650, Pollux. NGC 651) is 0.9° to the upper right of the star. Like its more famous namesake, M76 is a planetary nebula, but it is one of the dimmest objects in the famous catalog. The nebula has two lobes and initially thought to be two separate objects, and the reason for two entries in the New General Catalogue. Use some moderate magnifications to view the star in its terminal stages as it spreads its stellar ingredients across space. The famous “Double Cluster,” h (NGC 869) and χ Persei (NGC 884), is about 10° to the lower left of 51 Per, between the brighter stars of Perseus and Cassiopeia. Like M31, shift your finder or binocular in that direction and both clusters are spotted easily. The cluster is high in the sky around 9:30 p.m. CST. In his Deep Sky Wonders, Walter Scott Houston explains that Messier did not include the pair in his catalog (too well-known) as well as the origin of the name. He thinks it may have originated in in publication in 1867 where it was described as “the magnificent double cluster in the sword-handle of Perseus” (p. 18). The clusters are separate entities that are over 7,000 light years away, but with a gap between them that is approximately 200 December 4: One hour before sunrise, the bright gibbous light years. Whether you prefer a low-power view to moon is to the upper left of the Gemini Twins. capture the pair or a high-power observation to darken the sky and focus in on parts of the cluster, the view is one to • December 4: One hour before sunrise, the moon (19.3d, enjoy. During the early evening, another open cluster, 85%) is 49.0° above the west-southwest horizon. It is 6.7° M103 (NGC 581) is about 8° to the upper left of h and χ to the upper left of Pollux. Farther east, brilliant Venus is Persei, and 1.0° below Delta Cassiopeiae (δ Cas). Farther 12.0° up in the east-southeast, 1.4° to the left of away than the famous cluster pair, M103 is described by Zubenelgenubi and 1.6° to the lower left of μ Lib. One hour Mallas in The Messier Catalog as, “A grand view! The stars after sunset, Mars is over 41° up in the east-southeast, form an arrowhead” (p. 183). The cluster has a combined between ε Psc and 80 Psc. The Red Planet is 1.0° to the magnitude of a 6th magnitude star. It has about 40 stars lower right of ε Psc and 1.6° to the upper right of 80 Psc. within the capabilities of a moderate-size telescope and a Farther west, Jupiter is over 18° above the southwest dark sky. horizon. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 1.8°. Dimmer Saturn is • December 5: One hour before sunrise, brilliant Venus is to bright Jupiter’s upper left. Great Conjunction nearly 12° in altitude above the east-southeast horizon and Countdown: 17 days. Among the stars, Jupiter is 2.5° to the 2.3° to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi. Use a binocular to left of 56 Sgr, while Saturn is 3.9° to the star’s upper left. see dim Nu Librae (ν Lib, m = 5.2) 1.7° to the lower left of Additionally, Saturn is 4.2° to the lower right of σ Cap. Six Venus. Watch Venus pass and move away from ν Lib during hours after sunset (10:20 p.m. CST), the moon (20.0d, 79%) the next few mornings. Through a telescope, Venus is 11.5” is over 19° in altitude in the east. It is in front of the dim across and 90% illuminated, a morning gibbous. Meanwhile, stars of Cancer. With the Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC in the west, the bright gibbous moon (20.3d, 76%) is nearly 224) high in the sky, near the meridian, other deep sky two-thirds of the way up in the sky in the west-southwest.

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

It is between Gemini and Leo, in the dim constellation Nu Librae (ν Lib, m = 5.2). Use a binocular to see Venus with Cancer. It is nearly midway from Regulus (α Leo, m = 1.3) the dimmer stars. One hour after sunset, Mars (m = −0.9) is and Pollux. Antares rises at sunrise. Jean Meeuss calls this over 40° up in the southeast, moving eastward in Pisces. the star’s “Cosmic Rising.” Aldebaran rises at sunset. One With a binocular note that it is inside a triangle formed by ε hour after sunset, Jupiter is over 18° up in the southwest, Psc, ζ Psc, and 80 Psc. The Red Planet is 1.1° to the lower 1.7° to the lower right of Saturn. Great Conjunction left of ε Psc and to the right of a line from ε Psc to ζ Psc. Countdown: 16 days. Among the stars, Jupiter and Saturn Farther west, Saturn is nearly 19° in altitude above the are near 56 Sgr. Jupiter is 2.7° to the left of the star, while southwest horizon, 1.6° to the upper left of Jupiter. The Saturn is 4.0° to the upper left of 56 Sgr. Additionally, Saturn Jovian Giant continues to close the gap on the Ring Wonder is 4.1° to the lower right of σ Cap. Mars – over 40° up in the as the Great Conjunction of December 21 is approaching. east-southeast - is 81.0° of ecliptic longitude east of Jupiter. Great Conjunction Countdown: 15 days. In the starfield, The gap between the two planets grows slowly as Mars Saturn is 4.1° to the upper left of 56 Sgr, while Jupiter is 2.8° picks up speed as it marches eastward in Pisces. With a to the lower left of the star. Saturn is approaching σ Cap. binocular spot the Red Planet inside a triangle made by ε This evening’s gap is 4.0°. As midnight approaches, the Psc, ζ Psc, and 80 Psc. The planet is 1.2° to the lower left of moon (22.0d, 58%) is about 12° up in the east, 7.6° to the ε Psc and 1.5° to the upper right of ζ Psc. Mars is to the right lower left of Regulus. of a line from ε Psc to ζ Psc. Make nightly observations of the morning and evening planets to see them move compared to their starfields. Through a telescope, Mars is 13.7” across.

December 6: In the evening sky, Mars is inside a triangle formed by Epsilon Piscium (ε Psc), Zeta Piscium (ζ Psc), and 80 Piscium (80 Psc).

December 7: One hour before sunrise, the moon (22.3d, 56%) December 6: In the morning sky, the bright gibbous moon is – over 60° in altitude in the south-southwest – is over 10° to 5.9° to the upper right of Regulus and 2.6° to the lower right the upper left of Regulus and nearly 15° to the lower right of of Eta Leonis (η Leo). Denebola (β Leo, m = 2.1). The lunar orb is below a line that • December 6: One hour before sunrise, the bright gibbous connects the two stars. At this time, brilliant Venus shines moon (21.3d, 66%) – 60° up in the southwest – is 5.9° to the from low in the southeast. It is 4.5° to the lower left of upper right of Regulus and 2.6° to the lower right of Eta Zubenelgenubi and 0.8° to the lower left of ν Lib. Look at the Leonis (η Leo, m = 3.5). Farther eastward, Venus is about starfield with a binocular. The trio is nearly in a line. One hour 12° in altitude above the east-southeast horizon, 3.4° to the after sunset, Jupiter is over 17° up in the southwest, 1.5° to lower left of Zubenelgenubi and 0.6° to the upper right of

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the lower right of Saturn. Jupiter continues to close the gap to 3.4). Venus is lower in the southeast, about 11° in altitude. Saturn. It is 3.4° to the upper left of ι Psc. One hour after sunset, Saturn is nearly 18° up in the southwest, 1.0° to the upper left of brighter Jupiter. The Jovian Giant continues to close the gap with the Ringed Wonder. Great Conjunction Countdown: 12 days. Mars is farther east, less than halfway up in the sky above the southeast horizon on a line that connects ε Psc and ζ Psc. The Red Planet is 1.6° to the lower left of ε Psc, 1.0° to the upper right of ζ Psc, and 2.0° to the upper left of 80 Psc. Use a binocular to spot the planet with the stars. • December 10: One hour before sunrise, Venus is over 10° up in the southeast, between ι Lib and Gamma Librae (γ Lib, m = 3.9). Venus is about 3° from each star. The crescent moon (25.3d, 23%) is higher in the sky, over 36° up. The lunar slice is 6.3° to the upper left of Spica (α Vir, m = 1.0). In the evening, one hour after sunset, Mars (m = −0.8) is nearly halfway up in the southeastern sky. The Red Planet is now east of the small triangle formed by ε Psc, ζ Psc, and 80 Psc. It is 1.9° to the lower left of ε Psc, 0.8° to the upper right of ζ Psc, and 2.2° to the upper left of 80 Psc. Jupiter is December 7: Jupiter is 1.5° to the lower right of Saturn. over 16° up in the southwest, 81.4° of ecliptic longitude west of Mars. In the southwest, Saturn is 1.0° to the upper Great Conjunction Countdown: 14 days. Continue to watch left of the brighter planet. Great Conjunction Countdown: the nightly change with a binocular. Jupiter is 3.0° to the left 11 days. of 56 Sgr. Saturn is 4.2° to the upper left of that star and • December 11: One hour before sunrise, the crescent moon 3.9° to the lower right of σ Cap. Mars shines from the (26.3d, 14%) is about 25° up in the southeast, 8.8° to the southeast, nearly halfway up in the sky. The Red Planet is upper right of Zubenelgenubi. Venus – 10° above the inside a triangle formed by dim stars ε Psc, ζ Psc, and 80 Psc. horizon – is nearly 18° to the lower left of the lunar arc and It is 1.2° to the lower left of ε Psc and 1.5° to the upper right 3.0° to the lower right of γ Lib. In the evening, Saturn is of ζ Psc. It is to the right of a line from ε Psc to ζ Psc. The nearly 17° up in the southwest, 1.0° to the upper left of moon is at its Last Quarter phase at 6:37 p.m. CST. bright Jupiter. The Jovian Giant continues to close the gap to Saturn. Great Conjunction Countdown: 10 days. The • December 8: One hour before sunrise, brilliant Venus is Jupiter- Saturn gaps until the conjunction: Dec. 12, 0.9°, Dec. nearly 11° in altitude above the southeast horizon. It is 5.6° 13, 0.8°; Dec. 14, 0.7°; Dec. 15, 0.6°, Saturn moves into to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi, 1.9° to the lower left of Capricornus; Dec. 16, 0.5°; Dec. 17, 0.4°; Dec. 18, 0.3°, ν Lib, and 3.2° to the upper left of Iota Librae (ι Lib, m = 4.5). Jupiter moves into Capricornus; Dec. 19, 0.2°; Dec. 20, 0.1°, Jupiter below Saturn. Farther eastward, Mars – nearly Farther west, the thick crescent moon (23.3d, 44%) is over halfway up in the southeast – is 0.6° to the upper right of ζ 55° up in the south, 7.5° to the lower right of Denebola – Psc and 2.1° to the lower left of ε Psc. Use a binocular to the Lion’s tail. One hour after sunset, bright Jupiter is 17° observe Mars in front of the starry background. up in the southwest, 1.1° to the lower right of Saturn. Great • December 12: One hour before sunrise, the crescent moon Conjunction Countdown: 13 days. Farther east, Mars is (27.3d, 6%) is over 13° up in the southeast, 4.2° to the upper nearly halfway up in the sky in the southeast. Mars is 1.4° right of Venus. In the starfield, the planet is 3.0° to the to the lower left of ε Psc, 1.2° to the upper right of ζ Psc, lower right of γ Lib. The moon is at perigee at 2:42 p.m. CST and 1.9° to the upper left of 80 Psc. Use a binocular to spot – 224,826 miles away. One hour after sunset, Jupiter is the planet with the stars that make a small triangle. nearly 16° in altitude above the southwest horizon. Saturn • December 9: One hour before sunrise, the moon (24.3d, is 0.9° to the upper left of Jupiter. Great Conjunction 33%) is over halfway up in the sky in the south-southeast. It Countdown: 9 days. Farther eastward, Mars is nearly is 3.3° to the upper right of Gamma Librae (γ Lib, m = halfway up in the sky in the southeast. The Red Planet

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passes 0.6° to the upper left of ζ Psc. The planet is 2.4° to the lower left of ε Psc.

December 14: The Jupiter- Saturn gap is 0.7°.

At the beginning of morning twilight, the bright stars of December 12: One hour before sunrise, the crescent moon is the Orion region are in the western sky. Sirius and Aldebaran 4.2° to the upper right of Venus. are likely difficult to see. The arc made by Procyon, Pollux, Castor, and Capella is lower than earlier in the month. The • December 13: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus is Sickle of Leo is west of the meridian, followed by the Lion’s about 12° up in the southeast. The razor-thin, crescent haunches, now at the celestial divider. Venus is slowly sliding moon (28.3d, 2%) – only about 4° up in the east-southeast back into sunlight. At this hour it is low in the east-southeast, – is 9.5° to the lower left of Venus. One hour after sunset below Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali. Arcturus and Saturn is over 16° in altitude in the southwest, 0.8° to the Spica mark the eastern sky. The Big Dipper is at the meridian upper left of Jupiter. Great Conjunction Countdown: 8 days. with its Pointers aiming downward toward the Pole Star. At Farther east Mars is over 45° up in the southeast, 0.7° to the end of evening twilight, the Jupiter-Saturn Great the upper left of ζ Psc and 2.7° to the lower left of ε Psc. Conjunction continues its seemingly slow-motion play in the • December 15: Venus rises two hours before sunrise. One southwest. Farther east Fomalhaut, low in the south, is now hour later, it is nearly 9° up in the southeast. With a west of the meridian. Higher along the meridian, the Great Square of Pegasus, is nearly cut into equal parts by the binocular observe that it is 2.2° to the lower right of Theta celestial divider. The Great Andromeda Spiral is near the Librae (θ Lib, m = 4.1). At this time, the brilliant planet is zenith, but slightly east of the meridian. With early sunsets 3.7° to the upper right of Beta Scorpii. (β Sco, m = 2.6). and before the coldest nights set in, this could be one of the Watch Venus close the gap during the next two mornings: best seasons to observe the galaxy near its highest point in Dec 16, 2.4°; Dec 17, 1.2°. In a telescope, Venus is 91% the sky. At this hour, Mars is over halfway up in the southeast. illuminated – a morning gibbous – and 11.1” across. Thirty It is among the dim stars of Pisces. In a dark location, the Milky minutes after sunset, the moon (1.3d, 2%) is about 6° up in Way, climbs into the sky from the west-southwest, cutting the southwest – over 18° to the right of Jupiter. Half an hour through the Summer Triangle and seemingly trapping Deneb later, Saturn is 15° up in the southwest 0.6° to the upper on an island. In the eastern sky, the river of celestial light left of bright Jupiter. Today, Saturn moved into Capricornus backlights Cassiopeia and Perseus. If you can trace it to the from Sagittarius. Great Conjunction Countdown: 6 days. horizon, the glow passes Capella and near the Southern Horn Mars is 81.9° of ecliptic longitude east of Jupiter, over 46° of Taurus. At this hour, the great congregation of the Orion region is appearing in the east, seemingly overwhelming the in altitude above the southeast horizon. In the starfield, the majesty of the summer Milky Way region with the Summer planet is 1.2° to the upper left of ζ Psc and 3.4° to the lower Triangle. Capella, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades are well-placed left of ε Psc. for viewing. The pack seems to be pulled into the sky by the

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

star cluster. Betelgeuse and Castor are just above the horizon. This section of the sky does not seem to be complete until Sirius is well-up in the southeast, twinkling wildly in a binocular or telescopic eyepiece. This does not occur for another three hours.

December 16 – 20: Venus passes Beta Scorpii in a close conjunction. This chart shows the motion of Venus relative to the starfield during five days.

• December 18: Venus moves into Scorpius. It crosses the

December 16. The moon joins Jupiter and Saturn five days constellation in four days. Forty-five minutes before sunrise, before the Great Conjunction of 2020. Venus – over 10° up in the southeast – is 0.1° to the upper left of β Sco. Use a binocular to observe that the brilliant • December 16: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus is planet is 1.4° to the upper right of Nu Scorpii (ν Sco, m = 4.0) nearly 11° up in the southeast. It is 2.4° to the upper right and 1.0° to the upper left of Omega1 Scorpii (ω1 Sco, m = of β Sco. Use a binocular to see the planet in the starfield of 3.9). In the evening, look for Jupiter and Saturn in the Scorpius. One hour after sunset. Jupiter is 16° up in the southwest as the sky darkens after sunset. Jupiter moved southwest, 0.5° to the lower right of Saturn. Great into Capricornus from Sagittarius today. The planet pair is Conjunction Countdown: 5 days. The crescent moon (2.3d, about 15° up in the southwest. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 7%) is 5.4° below Jupiter. Farther east, Mars (m = −0.6) is 0.3°, with Jupiter to Saturn’s lower right. Great Conjunction over 45° up in the southeast. In the starfield, the Red Plant Countdown: 3 days. The moon (4.3d, 21%) is over 20° to is 1.5° to the upper left of ζ Psc and 3.7° to the lower left of the upper left of Jupiter. Farther east, Mars is over 48° up ε Psc. in the southeast. It is moving eastward among the stars of • December 17: Before sunrise, find brilliant Venus about 10° Pisces. The Red Planet is 2.1° to the upper left of ζ Psc and up in the southeast, 1.1° to the upper right of β Sco. Forty- 4.6° to the lower left of ε Psc. five minutes after sunset, Jupiter is nearly 16° up in the • December 19: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus is southwest, 0.4° to the lower right of Saturn. Great less than 10° in altitude in the southeast, 1.3° to the lower Conjunction Countdown: 4 days. The lunar crescent (3.3d, left of β Sco, 0.5° to the lower right of ν Sco, and 1.2° to the 13%) is over 10° to the upper left of Jupiter. As the sky left of ω1 Sco. Venus is below a line from ν Sco to ω1 Sco. darkens further, Mars is over 47° up in the southeast, 1.8° As the sky darkens after sunset this evening, the Jupiter – to the upper left of ζ Psc and 4.0° to the lower left of ε Psc. Saturn pair is about 15° up in the southwest. The gap between the planets is 0.2° with Jupiter to the lower right of Saturn. Great Conjunction Countdown: 2 days. The moon (5.3d, 30%), over one-third of the way up in the south-southwest, is 4.5° to the right of Delta Aquarii (δ Aqr, m = 3.2). Look for Fomalhaut (α PsA, m = 1.2) about 15° to

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

the lower left of the moon. Mars is nearly 49° in altitude in the southeast. In the starfield, the planet is 2.5° to the upper left of ζ Psc and 4.8° to the right of Pi Piscium (π Psc, m = 5.5). Find π Psc nearly midway from Eta Piscium (η Psc, m = 3.6) to Omicron Piscium (ο Psc, m = 4.2), although it is to the right of a line that connects the two stars. Mercury is at its superior conjunction at 9:26 p.m. CST. • December 20: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus – less than 10° in altitude in the southeast – is 2.5° to the lower left of β Sco. About mid-twilight (45 minutes after sunset), Jupiter is less than 15° up in the southwest. It is 0.1° (471 arcseconds) below Saturn. Great Conjunction Countdown: 1 day. As the sky darkens further, the thick crescent moon (6.3d, 40%) – about 38° up in the south – is 8.9° to the upper left of δ Aqr. Because of the moon’s brightness, it might be necessary to shield your eyes from the glare to see the starfield. Mars is 35° east of the lunar slice and 82.4° of ecliptic longitude east of Jupiter. The Red

Planet is 49° up in the southeast among the dim stars of Pisces. It is moving eastward toward π Psc and away from ζ December 21: The Great Conjunction of 2020. Jupiter appears 0.1° to the lower left of Saturn. Psc. This evening it is 2.8° to the upper left of ζ Psc and 4.4° to the upper right of π Psc. Mars passes π Psc early in the After the conjunction, Jupiter moves eastward along the new calendar year. ecliptic, separating from Saturn. Each evening the planetary • December 21: The winter solstice occurs at 4:02 a.m. CST. pair appears lower in the sky. The gap stays within 0.5° for Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus is less than 10° up five more evenings. Tomorrow they are still close, 0.1° (602 in the southeast, 3.8° to the lower left of β Sco and 0.7° to arcseconds), but slightly farther apart than this evening. the right of Psi Scorpii (ψ Sco, m = 4.5). Use a binocular to The Jupiter – Saturn gaps after the conjunction: Dec. 22, see the star. This morning’s test is whether Antares is visible. 0.1°, Jupiter left of Saturn; Dec. 23, 0.2°, Jupiter is to the Venus is 6.2° to the upper left of Antares (α Sco, m =1.0). upper left of Saturn; Dec. 24, 0.3°; Dec. 25, 0.4°, Dec. 26, The star is less than 4° in altitude. You’ll need exceptional 0.6°, Dec. 27, 0.7°, Dec. 28, 0.8°, Dec. 29, 0.9°; Dec. 30, 1.0°. observing conditions and a binocular to see it. Forty-five minutes after sunset, Mars (m = −0.5) is nearly 48° up in the • December 22: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus – in southeast. The half-full moon (7.3d, 50%), over 40° up in Ophiuchus – is 9.0° up in the southeast, 5.0° to the lower the south-southeast, is about 24° to the lower right of Mars. left of β Sco. The planet is 4.8° to the upper left of Antares The moon reaches its First Quarter phase at 5:41 p.m. CST. that is over 4° above the horizon. Forty-five minutes after This is the evening of the once-every-generation Great sunset, Jupiter and Saturn are less than 14° in altitude Conjunction of Jupiter (m = −2.0) and Saturn (m = 0.6). above the southwest horizon. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is They are 30° east of the sun. The conjunction is about 14° 0.1° (602 arcseconds.) Jupiter is to the left of Saturn. As the in altitude above the southwest horizon. The separation of sky darkens further, the bright gibbous moon (8.3d, 60%) – the two planets is 377 arcseconds. Both planets fit into the about halfway up in the sky in the southeast is nearly 13° to eyepieces of modest telescopic powers. Jupiter’s Galilean the lower right of Mars. Use a binocular to spot the starfield Satellites are nicely lined up along the equatorial plane of behind Mars. The planet is nearly midway from ζ Psc to π the planet. Ganymede, Io, and Calisto are east of Jupiter, Psc, but slightly below a line that connects them. Mars is and Europa is west of the planet. Titan is nicely placed to 3.6° to the left of ζ Psc and 3.7° to the lower right of π Psc. the northwest of Saturn.

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

December 23: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus is Telescope View: Jupiter and Saturn are close enough to 4.8° to the upper left of Antares that is over 4° above the appear together through a telescope’s low power eyepiece. horizon. Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s four brightest and largest moons are visible as well. The view shows no inversions. (N.B. The • December 23: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, brilliant author’s original image has been replaced with this more Venus is low in the southeast, only about 9° in altitude. The realistic representation produced by the editor using SkySafari. Image shows the view during late twilight on planet is 5.5° to the upper left of Antares. A binocular and a December 21, 6:00 PM.) very clear horizon may be needed to see the star. With the binocular look at the starry region of Ophiuchus and Scorpius to the upper right of Venus. In that starfield, Venus is 2.0° to the lower left of ψ Oph and 0.5° to the upper left of Omega Ophiuchi (ω Oph, m = 4.4). One hour after sunset, Jupiter and Saturn are still close together in the southwest. The Jovian Giant is 0.2° to the upper left of the Ringed Wonder. In the starfield, Jupiter is 2.2° to the lower right of σ Cap and 6.0° to the upper left of 56 Sgr. Read the notes for earlier dates this month to observe how much the planets have moved compared to those stars during December. At the end of evening twilight, Mars is 55° up in the south-southeast. The moon (9.3d, 69%) is 5.6° to the lower left of Mars. • December 24: Venus is about 8° in altitude in the southeast the upper left of Antares and 1.2° to the lower left of ω Oph. The moon is farthest from Earth (apogee) at 10:31 a.m. CST, 251,640 miles away. In the evening sky, the Jupiter – Saturn gap has grown to 0.3°. Jupiter is to Saturn’s upper left. In the starfield, Jupiter is 2.0° to the lower left of σ Cap and 6.2° to the upper left of 56 Sgr. One hour after sunset, December 23: The gibbous moon is 5.6° below Mars. Jupiter is nearly 11° in altitude in the southwest. The moon (10.3d, 77%) is nearly halfway up in the east-southeast, nearly 13° to the lower left of Mars.

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

• December 25: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, brilliant Venus is 8° up in the southeast. It is 5.9° to the upper left of Antares, and 2.4° to the lower left of ω Oph. One hour after sunset, Jupiter is over 10° above the southwest horizon, 0.4° to the upper left of Saturn. In the starfield, Jupiter is 1.8° to the lower right of σ Cap. Mars is 83.4° of ecliptic longitude east of Jupiter among the dim stars of Pisces. The Red Planet is marching eastward. It is 4.7° to the upper left of ζ Psc and 2.6° to the lower right of π Psc. The bright gibbous moon (11.3d, 85%) is over 24° to the lower left of Mars and about 14° to the lower right of Pleiades. Block the moon’s glare to see the star cluster. • December 26: Venus rises at the beginning of morning twilight, 100 minutes before sunrise. By 45 minutes before sunrise, the brilliant planet is less than 8° in altitude above the southeast horizon and 6.4° to the upper left of Antares. With a binocular spot ω Oph, 3.6° to the upper right of the planet. Notice that Antares, Venus, and Eta Ophiuchi (η Oph, m = 2.4) are nearly in a line that is over 14° from star to star. December 28: One hour after sunset, find Jupiter about 9° up One hour after sunset, bright Jupiter is less than 10° in in the southwest. It is 0.7° to the upper left of Saturn. altitude in the southwest. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 0.6°, as Jupiter moves father away from Saturn. Jupiter is 1.5° to • December 28: During mid-twilight (45 minutes before the lower right of σ Cap. Farther east Mars is over 50° sunrise), Venus is nearly 7° up in the southeast, 8.0° to the altitude in the southeast. It is 5.1° to the left of ζ Psc and left of Antares. In the evening sky, Jupiter continues to 2.2° to the lower right of π Psc. The moon (12.3d, 91%) is dance away from Saturn. One hour after sunset, find the over one-third of the way up in the sky in the east. It is 10.1° bright planet about 9° up in the southwest. It is 0.7° to the to the upper right of Aldebaran (α Tau, m = 0.8). upper left of Saturn and 1.3° below σ Cap. Bright Mars is • December 27: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, brilliant over 50° in altitude in the southeast, among the dim stars Venus is less than 8° up in the southeast. It is 7.2° to the left of Pisces. It is 1.5° to the lower right of dim π Psc and 3.1° of Antares. Venus is the lone morning bright planet. In the to the upper right of ο Psc. Use a binocular because the evening, the bright gibbous moon (13.3d, 96%) is in the east bright moon (14.3d, 99%) is over 20° up in the east- – 4.8° to the upper left of Aldebaran. Block the moon’s northeast, seemingly caught between the horns of Taurus. brightness to see the Pleiades and Hyades. During the Block the moon’s glare to see Aldebaran nearly 16° to the summer I used tree leaves to block the moon to photograph upper right of the moon. The Southern Horn (ζ Tau, m = 3.0) Aldebaran and the Hyades. Farther west, Mars (m = −0.7) is is 2.0° to the lower right of the moon and the Northern over 50° up in the southeast. It is marching eastward in Horn (β Tau, m = 1.6) is 5.9° to the upper left of the lunar Pisces. This evening it is 1.9° to the lower right of π Psc and orb. 3.4° to the upper right of Omicron Piscium (ο Psc, m =4.2). • December 29: Two hours before sunrise, the bright moon Jupiter and Saturn are farther west, less than 10° up in the (14.8d, 100%) – nearly 16° up in the east – is 5.3° to the southwest. Jupiter continues to dance away from Saturn. upper left of ζ Tau. Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus This evening’s gap is 0.7°. Jupiter is to the upper left of is less than 7° in altitude above the southeast horizon. It is Saturn. This evening Jupiter sets a few minutes before 6:30 9.0° to the lower left of Antares. In the evening sky, the p.m. CST, about 2 hours after sunset. Jupiter – Saturn gap continues to grow. This evening it is 0.9°. Jupiter is over 8° up in the southwest about one hour after sunset. The planet is 1.1° to the lower left of σ Cap. Farther east, Mars is less than 55° in altitude above the southeast horizon. It continues its eastward march in front of the stars of Pisces. Use a binocular to see it 1.2° to the

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

lower right of dim π Psc and 2.8° to the upper right of ο Psc. were lined-up across the sky before sunrise. Now we’ve At this hour, the moon is low in the east-northeast, about dwindled to none at this hour. Venus rises later and it is low 16° to the upper right of Castor (α Gem, m = 1.6). in the east-southeast during bright twilight. The bright moon • December 30: One hour before sunrise, the moon (15.8d, is in the west near Pollux. With the Celestial Twin, Procyon, 100%) is over 24° in altitude in the west-northwest. The Castor, and Capella are less than one-third of the way up in the sky. Farther east, all of Leo is west of the meridian. In the lunar orb is over 11° to the lower left of Castor. Thirty eastern sky, the trapezoid shape of Corvus is nearing the minutes – about the time of Civil Twilight – Venus shines imaginary line, while Spica is to the upper left of the Crow. from about 9° up in the southeast. Castor rises at sunset. Arcturus is higher in the southeast. The Celestial Scorpion is One hour after sunset, Jupiter – nearly 8° up in the crawling across the southeast horizon. The claws (Libra) are southwest – is 1.0° to the upper left of Saturn. Jupiter is 1.0° to the lower left of Spica. They are followed by the critter’s to the lower left of σ Cap. Farther east, Mars is nearly 55° head. Its heart (Antares) and tail are below the horizon. up in the southeast. Its eastward march places it 1.0° to the Moving northward along the horizon, Vega and Deneb are low lower right of π Psc and 2.7° to the upper left of ο Psc. Two in the northeast, while Cassiopeia is east of the north cardinal hours after sunset, the moon (16.3d, 99%) is about 13° up point. The Big Dipper is high in the north, turned upside down. in the east-northeast. It is 5.2° to the right of Pollux (β Gem, Daylight is slowly starting to lengthen, although it is nearly 9 m = 1.2). hours, 15 minutes long. • December 31: One hour before sunrise, the moon (16.8d, At the end of evening twilight, as most of the Orion region is now above the eastern horizon, only Sirius and Procyon are 98%) – nearly 24° above the west-northwest horizon – is below the horizon at this hour. The Pleiades are leading the 4.6° to the lower left of Pollux. A half hour later, Venus is way, over halfway up in the southeast. At the meridian, the over 8° up in the southeast. One hour after sunset, Jupiter Great Square of Pegasus is west of the celestial divider. Mars, is over 7° in altitude, 1.1° to the upper left of Saturn. Jupiter now the lone bright evening planet at the end of evening is 0.9° to the lower left of σ Cap. Jupiter passes the star twilight, is nearly two-thirds of the way up in the south- tomorrow. Mars is 84.6° of ecliptic longitude east of Jupiter. southeast. Fomalhaut is below the horse, low in the south- Tonight, the Red Planet passes 1.0° to the lower left of π southwest. The Great Andromeda Spiral is slightly west of the Psc. Additionally, the planet is 2.6° to the upper right of ο meridian, near the zenith. The Summer Triangle dominates Psc. Three hours after sunset, the moon (17.4d, 96%) – the western sky, although with Orion in the east, Vega, Altair, nearly 13° up in the east. and Deneb seem muted in comparison. Along the northern horizon, the end of the Big Dipper’s handle, scratches the At the end of morning twilight at month’s end, the horizon as the celestial wheel turns and the famous shape morning sky is without a bright planet. Mars started the year begins to climb into the north-northeastern sky. in the morning sky. During the summer five naked-eye worlds

RENEWING YOUR TCAA MEMBERSHIP

The TCAA works to promote in every way among its members and the public an interest in and knowledge of astronomy and its allied sciences, to advance amateur astronomy and observational techniques, to render assistance to other individuals or organizations working in the same or related fields, and to do everything necessary and proper to further such on a formal or informal basis. The TCAA is a Federally recognized non-profit entity organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code. The TCAA currently supports family-friendly public observing sessions at SGNC, public outreach events such as the recent May 9, 2016 transit of Mercury and the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse field trip, hosting of NCRAL meetings (2010 and 2016), and education courses for our membership and the public. The TCAA maintains three observatories, including payment of insurance, and publishes an award-winning club newsletter. We support Sugar Grove Nature Center through its membership program, maintain a loaner telescope program, and provide many other benefits as outlined in our recently revised TCAA Guide #2 – TCAA Membership and Benefits. Your TCAA membership supports education and public outreach in Central Illinois and regions beyond. Membership dues and the generosity of its members are the club’s primary means of financial support. We receive no grants or public funds. We have unmet needs. By renewing your membership when it comes due, you can help to ensure our continuing efforts.

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

THANKSGIVING MOON ~ BY Tim Stone ~

Thanksgiving Day afforded a somewhat rare opportunity Kepler (lower left), T. Mayer (lower right), and Euler (right to see a clear sky at this time of year. This added one more center). item to my list of things to be thankful for on that day. I took For the mathematicians among us, Euler is named after advantage of the relatively clear evening to capture some the brilliant and enigmatic mathematician who formulated images of the moon in its late waxing gibbous phase, one I the “most beautiful equation of them all:" don’t often get the chance to photograph. Features near the 푒푖휋 + 1 = 0. western limb were coming into view, and I grabbed some images with my C8 before the humid cold drove me back inside.

Mare Humorum (above) is an almost perfectly circular basin near the western limb of the moon. With the gigantic flooded crater Gassendi on its northern shore, it’s a treat to Young crater Aristarchus (above) marks the eastern observe at this phase. Humorum’s relatively smooth floor is a boundary of a rugged plateau marked by rilles, cones, and ringed subsidence landform, where the lava plain has broken other volcanic features. Situated on the north edge of the vast as the subsurface cooled and settled after the impact that Oceanus Procellarum, Aristarchus is one of the brightest created the mare some 3.9 billion years ago. features on the nearside lunar surface. In this image, its steep, Heavily shadowed Mersenius lies on Humorum’s smoothly streaked western wall is typical of young craters, northwest shore, and just south of it is a huge ruined crater, where there hasn’t been sufficient time for those walls to clearly visible in this low angle light. slump into the terraced form of older craters. Deeper than Mare Cognitum and eastern Procellarum are featured in the Grand Canyon, its brilliance gives it high enough contrast this image (shown next page). For reference, Kepler is at top that it can be seen with the naked eye, even in the earthshine center and Gassendi is at the lower left. These craters are of crescent phase. Other prominent craters in the image are featured in the previous images.

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

Cognitum is bounded on the west by Montes Riphaeus, the mostly ruined mountain range in the lower center. The Fra Mauro region at the extreme lower right marks Cognitum’s eastern boundary. Incidentally, Fra Mauro was my target for the evening. (I missed). Ocanus Procellarum is a stupendously huge feature of the western nearside. There are competing theories about how this gigantic flood plain formed. Its eastern edge protrudes into this image at left-center.

HOW THE PANDEMIC HAS AFFECTED THE TCAA

Lee Green ran a report of the TCAA’s outreach activities for 2020 recently and, as you would expect, we fell off a cliff this year. The COVID-19 pandemic began to shot things down locally during March, and all public viewing sessions for the year were cancelled. There were no club socials, no Introduction to Amateur Astronomy observing sessions, no Board meetings, and no public events for Comet NEOWISE which is a terrible shame given the high degree of public interest. Neither were we able to attend NCRAL 2020 because it was rescheduled for 2022. Hopefully, 2021 will see the end of the pandemic and we can rebuild amateur astronomy based on pent-up interest.

Year Events Members Scopes Engagement 2008 42 211 85 1463 2009 48 225 56 1348 2010 60 194 87 1177 2011 40 208 103 1904 2012 31 200 85 2045 2013 37 235 91 2030 2014 26 170 63 1827 2015 37 190 105 2532 2016 27 192 65 1472 2017 49 244 84 2962 2018 23 134 29 845 2019 32 160 35 1137 2020 3 27 2 36

DID YOU KNOW?

Are you looking for back issues of The Are you looking for information about Are you looking for the TCAA Guides to OBSERVER? Look no further than here: the history of the TCAA? Find out more amateur astronomy? Visit this page: http://tcaa.us/Observer.aspx here: http://tcaa.us/History.aspx http://tcaa.us/TCAAGuides.aspx

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

TCAA IMAGE GALLERY (CONTINUED)

AR2786 by Jamey Jenkins – Jamey notes, “Here are some of the pics I obtained today of the Sun. Descriptions below the photos include Active Region number, date and time obtained, the telescope aperture and focal ratio, filter wavelength used, and the recording camera used. I normally don't image the Sun this time of year, but this was too good to miss the opportunity. Seeing is always terrible as is evident in the Ca-K pic (blue is harder to capture sharp) and when near the meridian, the Sun just skirts above our roof a few degrees!”

Mons Rumker by Jamey Jenkins – Jamey writes, “Here are a couple of annotated moon pic from last evening (November 27). I thought the domes of Mons Rumker were interesting.”

Vol. 45, No. 12 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers December 2020

TCAA TREASURER’S REPORT AS OF NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Checking Account Information

Memo Category Amount BALANCE 10/27/2020 2,309.84 Darren Erickson Dues Received 41.00 Annual Report - AG990-IL Filing Fee (115.00) James Wolf - Dues Refund Dues Refund (40.00) Electrical Service Waynesville Observatory (47.87) Maxim Software Upgrade Credit Card (176.75) BALANCE 11/28/2020 1,971.22

Checking Account Balance – November 28, 2020 $1,971.22 Savings Account Balance – November 28, 2020 $1,968.07 - Includes $0.01 cents interest as of this date

Total TCAA Funds – November 28, 2020 $3,939.29

All transactions are reconciled with the bank statements as of this date. Respectfully submitted,

Dave Osenga, Treasurer