OBSERVATORY NEWS October 2015 Published by the Friends of the Observatory (FOTO) Volume 26 No. 10 513-321-5186 www.cincinnatiobservatory.org Bill Cartwright, editor raffle prizes of a helicopter flight around the city. COMING UP AT New this year was the Nissan Leaf electric car THE OBSERVATORY.... courtesy of Busam Nissan of Tri-County. Astronomy Thursday Oct 1 8p FOTOKids Youth Program Oct 2 7p Astronomy Friday Oct 2 8p Space Day @ iSpace Oct 3 10-2p *Binocular Astronomy Oct 5 7p Astronomy Thursday Oct 8 8p Astronomy Friday Oct 9 8p Stonelick Stargaze Oct 10 dusk History Tours Oct 11 1p FOTO Member’s Meeting Oct 12 7:30p ScopeOut 2015 Thanks go out to John Busam Pluto w/ Dean Regas Oct 13 7p and Chad Shay for making this Astronomy Thursday Oct 15 8p environmentally friendly and By Dale Zoller Astronomy Friday Oct 16 8p affordable all-electric car available for ScopeOut 2015. Stonelick Stargaze Oct 17 dusk On September 12, the Another new exhibit was the A2Z Class Oct 18 7-9p Observatory held its annual restored vernier thruster engine Jules Verne @ Joseph Beth Oct 19 7p open house and science fair, from a sixties-era Thor ICBM *Behind the Scenes Oct 20 7p ScopeOut 2015. This year's rocket. FOTO Planning Meeting Oct 22 7p event provided a mix of Astronomy Thursday Oct 22 8p familiar and new exhibits and Astronomy Friday Oct 23 8p demonstrations. Jules Verne Night Oct 24 7-9p For the second year, the day Jules Verne Late Night Oct 24 10:30p started off with the landing of History Tours Oct 25 1p the R-44 helicopter from *The First Three Minutes Oct 27 7P Stratus Helicopters (based at Astronomy Thursday Oct 29 8p Lunken Airport). After landing Astronomy Friday Oct 30 8p on the parking circle, the Save-The-Dates! helicopter was on display *Constellations of the Season Nov 4 7p providing many of our guests FOTO Member’s Meeting Nov 9 7:30p with their first opportunity to Astro w/ Dean Regas Nov 10 7p sit in a helicopter and learn Stargaze @ Chilo park Nov 13 6p about how they operate. Meet a Meteorite Nov 14 7p Thanks to Steve Paquette and Stratus for once again Rick Wills and team were able Luminaria Night Dec 13 tbc providing one of our major to "fire" the engine using * UC Communiversity Class 1 compressed gas which made an Eiben who helped coordinate viewing with our ground-based attention-grabbing whoosh. the Science Tent activities. telescopes. My dream of having model We were honored to have rockets as part of ScopeOut special guests from the finally came true thanks to University of Denver. Dr. Randy Boadway and the gang Robert Stencel is the William from Team Ohio Rocketry Club Herschel Womble professor of and eRockets. Astronomy and Director of DU Observatories - including DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory built in 1894. He and his wife Sue spent several days meeting with Craig Niemi, Dean Regas, John Ventre and Anna Hehman to learn how the Cincinnati Observatory’s success could be They were even able to set up a translated to their situation launch pad and fire numerous which has many parallels to rockets on the newly our own story. They left designated Mt. Lookout test energized and ready to apply range. what they learned to their I would like to thank the The "Science Adventures" wonderful site. members of the ScopeOut 2015 tent was back with science- We had to put up with planning committee, plus all related activities including cloudy skies and several the volunteers, exhibitors and "Galileo" experiments interruptions from rain vendors who helped make (acceleration ramp, pendulum, showers during the afternoon. ScopeOut 2015 a success! tennis ball drop, etc.); cloud Fortunately, the rains stopped chamber; UC Physics Dept. just before dinner began in the demos; and an "inertial big tent. This year's dinner was Greater Cincinnati STEM guidance" exhibit. New this catered by Venice on Vine. A year was a working wind special thank you to Denise Collaborative tunnel that demonstrated the Mustain and Pam Smith who principles of aerodynamics that coordinated the dinner make flight possible. arrangements. And thanks to Lookout Joe’s for providing the The Greater Cincinnati STEM “Observatory Blend” coffee. Collaborative (GCSC) impacts This year's keynote talk "25 STEM (Science, Technology, Years of the Hubble Space Engineering, and Mathematics) Telescope" was presented by learning and career readiness Dr. Bob O'Dell from the through active, engaged, data- Hubble Heritage Project. Dr. driven partnerships between O'Dell was the lead project business, educational We also had activities for the scientist for Hubble and was (Cincinnati Observatory), and younger kids including making involved with the design of the community partners. and launching rockets made iconic space telescope from its from paper towel tubes, space inception. Unfortunately, the Check out the new website! clouds left over from the earlier art and face painting. Thanks http://greatercincystem.org/ to Katie Burdette and Aaron rain showers remained and prevented any serious evening 2 swapping and purchasing, Army’s Signal Service, a move THE WORD COC history, and fun stuff (like that incorporated the Army’s the rockets! and the ever- extensive telegraph network By Michelle Lierl Gainey popular liquid nitrogen!). into an organization of weather At the October FOTO observers. Hello Friends, meeting on October 12, I hope you are all enjoying the elections will be held for the crisp fall weather, and that you FOTO officers and trustees. The got a chance to see the offices of President, Vice SuperMoon lunar eclipse on President, Secretary, Treasurer September 27! Fall is a great and two of the four trustees are time to get out to Stonelick up for election. Please consider Lake Park for the Saturday whether you would like to run stargazes (on October 10 and for election to one of these 17), or to another dark sky site positions; FOTO will benefit of your choice. There are so from your ideas and energy! many wonderful deep-sky Nominations are open until just objects in good viewing before the voting occurs. He thus began the lineage that position: THANK YOU for all you do was the predecessor of the to keep the Cincinnati National Weather Service. Observatory Center thriving The Cincinnati Observatory and serving our community. is proud of its contributions to the formation of the National Weather Service. Owing to this FOTO's October Meeting history, please join us on Monday, October 12th at By Dave McBride 7:30 pm, as the program committee will welcome FOTO In December of 2004, Glen member Mr. Lee Hite who will The Andromeda Galaxy and its Conner of Scottsville, bring us his program satellite galaxies, M13 (the great Kentucky, being the Kentucky topic “The Science of globular cluster in Hercules) State Climatologist Emeritus, Lightning – Understanding and many other globular prepared a report about the Your Risk.” Lee is a nationally clusters, the Double Cluster in history of weather observations recognized expert on Lightning Perseus and many other in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the Safety and in 2011 he testified beautiful open star clusters, and report, Mr. Conner wrote that as an expert witness for a large the weather observations made numerous planetary nebulae lightning injury case occurring at the Cincinnati Astronomical including the Blue Snowball, on the congressional golf Observatory had gained Dumbbell Nebula, Blinking course in Washington, DC. national attention. Nebula, Cats-Eye Nebula and Our November program topic Cleveland Abbe – considered Ring Nebula, among many will be about “Citizen the Father of the U.S. Weather Science” projects. Research others. Bureau – was the Director of often involves teams of ScopeOut 2015 was a great the Observatory at that time scientists collaborating across success! Thanks to Dale Zoller and he published temperature continents. Now, using the and the ScopeOut Committee readings in the local power of the Internet, non- for their countless hours of newspapers. specialists are participating, work planning for and Cleveland Abbe’s work was too. A citizen science project organizing this event. It was a so admired that he was called can involve one person or great blend of STEM hands-on to Washington D.C. in 1870. millions of people collaborating educational activities, lectures, There he eventually created the towards a common goal. astronomy equipment Weather Bureau within the U.S. 3 Anthony and Jeannine NASA Confident Mars Has Welcome Kreinbrink Flowing Water! New & Renewing Linda Lee Magee Marcia Brady Tucker Members! Foundation William and Kathleen Moorman Ryan Muldoon Amy Murdoch James Myers and Linda Badovick Priscilla O'Donnell and Peter Strasser Sean Owens and Chris Welch Jason Robb and Amanda New findings from NASA's Eric and Josephine Africa Palmer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Ryan Anderson Gloria Redmond (MRO) provide the strongest Olivia and Brent Ballard Steve Rumberg evidence yet that liquid water John Barnes Zachary Sang flows intermittently on present- Diana and Louis Batsch Nancy Lu Walters day Mars. Larry Brown and Cristina Dwight Werren Using an imaging Nicole Williams spectrometer on MRO, Gutierrez researchers detected signatures David E. Burcham Richard Williams of hydrated minerals on slopes Christian Clement Caton Jerry and Mary Wortham where mysterious streaks are Michael and Alicia Clements Dale & Kathleen Zoller seen on the Red Planet. These Michael and Minnie darkish streaks appear to ebb Clements and flow over time. They Betsey Dirr Meet a Meteorite! darken and appear to flow Allan and Heather Duncan Saturday, November 14th down steep slopes during Michael Fisher 7-10 pm warm seasons, and then fade in Ethan Fuqua cooler seasons. They appear in Debbie Gampfer several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus Jonathan Garrison 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus Naomi and Bob Gerwin 23 Celsius), and disappear at Jerome and Mary Gonnella colder times.