SJAA EPHEMERIS SJAA Activities Calendar May General Meeting Jim Van Nuland Dr. Jeffrey Cuzzi May 26 at 8 p.m. @ Houge Park late April David Smith 20 Houge Park Astro Day. Sunset 7:47 p.m., 20% moon sets 0:20 a.m. Star party hours: 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. At our May 26 General Meeting the title of the talk will be: 21 Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. What Have We Learned from the Cassini/Huygens Mission to 28 General meeting at Houge Park. Karrie Gilbert will Saturn? – a presentation by Dr. Jeffrey Cuzzi of NASA Ames speak on Studies of Andromeda Galaxy Halo Stars. 8 Research Center. p.m. May Cassini is now well into its third year at Saturn. The Huygens 5 Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. entry probe landed on Titan in January 2005, but since then, 11 Astronomy Class at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. many new discoveries have been made on Titan’s surface, and 11 Houge Park star party. Sunset 8:06 p.m., 27% moon elsewhere in the system, by the orbiter as it continues its four- rise 3:23 a.m. Star party hours: 9:00 to midnight. year tour. In addition, new understanding is emerging from 12 Dark sky weekend. Sunset 8:07 p.m., 17% moon rise analysis of the earliest obtained data. 3:50 a.m. In this talk, Dr. Jeffrey Cuzzi will review the key science highlights 17 Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. so far on the giant planet, its spectacular rings, its small but very 19 Dark sky weekend. Sunset 8:13 p.m., 16% moon sets diverse icy moons, and its planet-sized moon Titan. 11:57 p.m. 25 Houge Park star party. Sunset 8:17 p.m., 72% moon Jeff Cuzzi’s main interests are in planetary system origin and sets 2:52 a.m. Star party hours: 9:00 to midnight. evolution. Jeff was invited to join the Voyager Imaging Team 26 General meeting at Houge Park. 8 p.m. Dr. Jeffrey in 1978 as its “rings expert”, and led the planning of all Saturn, Cuzzi of NASA/Ames will tell us of the rings of Saturn. Uranus, and Neptune encounter ring imaging observations. June He received several awards from NASA and the AIAA for his 2 Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. research on planetary rings, and in 1989 he was selected as 7 Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. Interdisciplinary Scientist for Rings on the NASA-ESA Cassini- 8 Astronomy Class at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. Huygens mission. Together with Ellis Miner and Randii Wessen, 8 Houge Park star party. Sunset 8:27 p.m., 40% moon he authored the book, “Planetary Ring Systems”. Jeff is also rise 1:51 a.m. Star party hours: 9:30 to midnight. actively studying how fluid dynamics and turbulence might have 9 Coyote Lake Park star party. Sunset 8:27 p.m., 29% played a role in accumulating the very earliest primitive objects moon rise 2:17 a.m. Star party starts at 9:30. (comets and asteroids) such as reflected in the meteorite record. 16 Dark sky weekend. Sunset 8:30 p.m., 6% moon sets 10:32 p.m. 22 Houge Park star party. Sunset 8:32 p.m., 57% moon A Visit to Goldstone sets 1:17 a.m. Star party hours: 9:30 to midnight. Jane Houston Jones 23 Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 p.m. 30 General meeting at Houge Park. 8 p.m. John Dillon, The DSN comprises three Deep Space Network (DSN) science historian, will tell us of the search for the first Communication Complexes. To compensate for Earth’s rotation telescope. and allow 24-hour communication with distant spacecraft, the The Board of Directors meets at 6:00 p.m. complexes are located about 120 degrees apart in longitude. The preceding each general meeting. All are welcome. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the DSN for NASA. 24 hour news and information hotline: (408) 559-1221 Continued on page Copyright © 2007 San Jose Astronomical Association, Inc. Volume 18 Number 5 Official publication of the San Jose Astronomical Association, May 2007 DEEP SKY OBSERVING by Mark Wagner May 2007 third quarter to new moon observing list The list begins in the north and moves southward. Objects are within roughly a two hour section of right ascension that is at a comfortable elevation to the east at astronomical dark. This list is just a sampling of the full list which is at http://www.resource-intl.com/Deep.Sky.May.07.html. target type size mag. ra dec Arp 185 Galaxy 3.0’x2.4’ 11.8 16h 32m 38s 78° 11’ 58” NGC 6217 N5585 Galaxy 6.1’ x 3.8’ 11.2 14h 19d 47s 56° 43’ 45” Nice sight with NGC 5982 and NGC 5981! M 102 Galaxy 6.4’x2.8’ 10.7 15h 06m 29s 55° 45’ 48” NGC 5866 N5687 Galaxy 2.4’x1.6’ 12.6 14h 24m 52s 54° 28’ 35” Faint, irregular, mottled with dim galaxy off west end. NGC 5676 Galaxy 4.0’x1.9’ 11.9 14h 32m 46s 49° 27’ 29” N5660 and two other galaxies in field. NGC 5689 Galaxy 4.0’x1.1’ 12.8 14h 35m 29s 48° 44’ 35” Three galaxies. Arp 90 Galaxy 2.2’x0.8’ 13.0 15h 26m 07s 41° 40’ 39” NGC 5930 and NGC 5929 Abell 39 Planetary Nebula 2.9’ 13.7 16h 27m 38s 27° 54’ 33” Large and dim, use an OIII filter Arp 42 Galaxy 1.5’ x 1.0’ 13.9 15h 02m 42s 23° 20’ 01” NGC 5829 and IC 4526, nice field! Arp 72 Galaxy 3.2’x2.6’ 13.2 15h 46m 58s 17° 53’ 05” Interesting hints of detail in larger scopes. Arp 91 Galaxy 1.6’x1.3’ 12.9 15h 34m 32s 15° 11’ 41” NGC 5993 and NGC 5994 Arp 49 Galaxy 2.5’x1.6’ 12.7 14h 32m 25s 08° 04’ 45” NGC 5665 – triangular shape, bright companion. Arp 274 Galaxy 1.1’x0.7’ 13.8 14h 35m 08s 05° 21’ 32” NGC 5679A and NGC 5679B – actually a very tight triple system. NGC 5566 Galaxy 6.7’x2.1’ 11.5 14h 20m 20s 03° 56’ 01” Three galaxies, two edge-on, nice trio! N5775 Galaxy 4.2’x1.0’ 12.2 14h 53m 57s 03° 32’ 42” Five galaxies in field. NGC 5576 Galaxy 3.9’x2.6’ 11.0 14h 21m 03s 03° 16’ 16” Close to NGC 5577 group, NGC 5566 close by field. M 5 Globular Cluster 23.0’ 5.7 15h 18m 33s 02° 04’ 58” Outstanding globular with double star 5 Serpens in field. Note: Source catalogs are Messier, Arp, Abell Planetary, Abell Galaxy Cluster (AGC), Hickson Compact Galaxy (HCG), Herschel 400-I, Herschel 400-II. Herschel 400-I are identified as NGCXXXX, Herschel 400-II as NXXXX. SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 2 May 2007 The Shallow Sky Hexagons on Saturn, Spots on Mercury Akkana Peck You’ll find plenty to look at in the May be ready to observe the subtle details quite fuzzy, mostly bright and dark spots shallow sky. of the bands by opposition when the which presumably correlate to craters viewing really gets good. Unfortunately on Mercury’s surface. Just goes to show The jewel is Saturn, well up by nightfall Jupiter is quite far south this year, and how little we know about our own solar and remaining visible through most of only climbs to about 30 degrees by the system! the evening. time it transits. We’ll Since it’s at have to get used to a Mars, Uranus and Neptune don’t rise quadrature (the “Since Saturn is at low Jupiter, though; until the wee hours of the morning, and point when a it won’t get much you’re best off waiting a few months planet is exactly quadrature, the shadow of better this year. unless you find yourself up just before 90 degrees the planet on its rings will dawn itching to look at a planet. Pluto from the sun Venus continues its rises earlier, just after dark, and transits a as viewed be especially prominent.” amazing run in the few hours after midnight. It’ll get a little from Earth), evening sky. Its phase brighter in a few months, but if you just the shadow of is just barely gibbous. can’t wait, it’s certainly a viable target in the planet on its rings will be especially May. prominent. That makes this month an Mercury is invisible early in the month, excellent time to show Saturn to your but by May’s end it emerges into the Finally, there’s a comet in the sky. And friends and relatives. But then, when early evening sky. It crosses perihelion not just any comet, but one discovered isn’t a good time to show Saturn to anyone? Alas, you probably won’t be able to see the Weird and Wonderful hexagonal storm around Saturn’s north pole, shown in the Cassini pictures from last month. The storm has actually been there for quite a few years: it was first seen by Voyager I in 1980. But it’s tough to see from here. You really need a polar view to show the hexagonal structure of the storm.