November 2012 November 2012 Vol. 43, No. 11 The Warren Astronomical Society Paper President: Jon Blum [email protected] First Vice President: Diane Hall [email protected] P.O. BOX 1505 Second Vice President: Riyad Matti [email protected] WARREN, MICHIGAN 48090-1505 Treasurer: Dale Partin [email protected] Secretary: Dale Thieme [email protected] Publications: Debra Chaffins [email protected] http://www.warrenastro.org Outreach: Bob Berta [email protected] Entire Board [email protected] The President’s Field of View Blinky Lights It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. But if you are an astronomer, you’d better have a red filter on that candle. I’ve given a couple presentations at club meetings in past years about astronomy gadgets, but my favorite of those gadgets are my red Blinky lights. They may not keep me from cursing the darkness, but they do keep me from cursing when I trip on the legs of my telescope tripod in the dark. Blinky lights are a set of three battery-operated LED lights, each about 1”x2”x ½”. One attaches by keychain to the bottom of each of my three tripod legs. Each contains two AA batteries. Running them for several hours each time I am out observing, the first set of original batteries lasted me five years. I bought my Blinky lights from scopestuff.com, a great source for all sorts of astronomy gadgets. http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_blnk.htm Besides bumping into my tripod legs, when I am under very dark skies I sometimes bump into the legs or sides of my tables and chairs. To solve this problem, I have put 1”x1” squares of glow tape onto each leg and each table corner. When exposed to just an hour of sunlight while I am setting up my gear around sunset, these tapes glow dimly for the whole rest of the night. The tape I use is “Long Life Photoluminescent Tape” from identi-tape.com. But if you just want a small quantity instead of a whole roll, WAS members can buy it at $2 per foot from our club supplies from Jonathan Kade at a WAS meeting. So quit cursing and start blinking or glowing. --Jon 2 Celestron CGE-PRO ultra heavy duty tripod with 3” legs. Unused in new condition. It came with the new The SWAP SHOP CGE Pro German mount and 14” SCT telescope that This column is for those is at the Boy Scout Observatory at DbarA scout camp. interested in buying, trading or The telescope is on a pier so the tripod is not needed. selling. Ads run for six months. It can be easily modified to handle many different types The month and year the ad will be of scope mounts...not just the CGE PRO. If you have a wobbly 2” leg tripod this is your answer! Help support removed is shown. Submit ads to the Boy Scouts and consider getting this great tripod. [email protected]. Only askingSOLD $150 which is a steal! (3-2012) Contact Bob Berta at [email protected] to get more ETX 90, not used, like brand new. (3-2012) information. $350 or Best Offier Contact Jim Hurley at [email protected] When Karen and I were in Chicago recently at the conclusion of our Great Lakes Cruise, we visited the newly renovated Adler Planetarium. In the gift shop I was smitten by a telescope (no, it didn’t fall on me, but its brass fittings and hardwood tripod found the way to my heart). Then I learned it was on a closeout special and the deed was done. 8” Zhummel Dobsonian Telescope for sale I have owned it for a little over 2.5 yrs now and it is in excellent Now it is looking for a new condition, The Optics on it are very clean and the views home. Sale price was $200 are beautiful!! Includes: plus tax and shipping. I • Right angle finder scope 8x50mm am asking for $150. This • Dual speed crayford that holds both 1.25” EP’s and is NOT an astronomical 2” EP’s telescope – it is called • A cooling fan on the primary end of the scope + Harbormaster and is intended, I believe, for scanning battery pack for the fan the horizon for arriving sailboats. Further details are on • A laser collimator (which has been collimated) BrassBinnacle.com. • 3 1.25” EP’s: 4mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm • A moon filter (also for 1.25”) Fred Gluckson, 248-788-8066 or [email protected] I will also throw in an off axis Solar Filter (home made) It does look nice in one’s living room. In fact I have had and a (home made) solar filter for the finder scope. more fun looking AT it than THROUGH it. (3-2012) Both were made with Baader solar film (white light) I’m asking $300 Meade #775 Hard Carrying if you have any questions regarding this scope please contact Dale M. at [email protected] (3-2012) Case for ETX-125. Brand new, never been used. Received as a gift but not for the right telescope. Cost $200 new asking $75. Would like it to find a good home where it would be useful. (2-2013) Dick Gala (248) 549-5238). e-mail: [email protected] 3 Object of the Month - NGC404: NGC 404 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Andromeda and is sometimes referred to as Mirach’s Ghost. This unusual moniker results from the galaxy’s remarkable proximity to the 2nd magnitude star Mirach (beta Andromedae), which is less than 7’ away. As such, it offers a faint ghostly visage reminiscent of its nearby namesake. It is about 4’ in size, has an integrated magnitude of 10.3, and a Hubble Sequence Class of E0, although some sources identify it as an S0 lenticular galaxy. Locating NGC 404 is a trivial matter, as it is incredibly close to a star that is readily visible to the naked eye even under the most light polluted conditions. Making matters even easier is the fact that this star is already familiar to most amateur astronomers as the brighter of the two “pointer stars” used for visually determining the position of the famous Andromeda Galaxy, M31. Despite the ease of locating Mirach’s Ghost, actually viewing it can be a fair amount trickier. The relatively faint glow of this object is often overwhelmed by its much brighter neighbor, and the typical tactics employed by galaxy viewers, such as tapping of the telescope tube and averted vision are less effective than normal. Other approaches may prove more fruitful, however, including the use of higher power to increase the apparent separation between the two objects, use of a narrow field eyepiece to better enable one to place Mirach out of the field of view, or the use of an occulting eyepiece to blot out the portion of the field that contains the star. In larger apertures special methods are rarely necessary, as often NGC 404 is visible with direct vision regardless of the glare imparted by its adjacent partner. At low magnifications, the galaxy appears as a meager smudge of light trailing Mirach. Higher power reveals that the Ghost is more than a mere optical effect (a bit of stray stellar light dancing across the eyepiece?) but it is instead an object with an appearance more obviously that of an elliptical galaxy. - Chuck Dezelah This column is a recently added feature written with the intention of introducing a new object each month that is visible from Stargate Observatory using a moderate-sized telescope typical of beginner and intermediate level amateur astronomers. In particular, special focus will be given to objects that are not among the common objects with which most observers are already familiar, but instead articles will mainly give attention to “hidden gems” or underappreciated attributes of the night sky. Members are encouraged to join the Warren Astronomical Society Yahoo Group for messages, photo posting and more. Special Notice: Annual WAS Banquet The Warren Astronomical Society Annual Banquet will be on Saturday, Dec. 8th this year, at DeCarlos Banquet and Conference Center in Warren, MI. It is at the NE corner of 10 Mile Road and Mound Road in Warren, MI. Note that it is not on the third Thursday of the month, and there will be no WAS meeting on the third Thursday of December. We are having the banquet on a Saturday in the hope that more people and their spouses will be able to attend. The dinner will be buffet style, and there will be a bar, but alcoholic drinks will be paid for individually. The open bar was eliminated to help keep the cost of the banquet down. The event begins at 6:30 pm and dinner will be served at 7:30 pm. The cost is $35.00 per person. However, there is a discount of $5.00 (or a total of $30.00 per person) if paid by December 3rd at the Cranbrook meeting. The treasurer will accept your payment and reservation at any meeting, beginning immediately. You may pay in cash or by check. If you are bringing a spouse or other guest, please submit their name with your name when you pay. 4 FREE Telescope Meade 230 60mm f/11 with 25mm eyepiece, finder, and fairly good tripod. Presumably rarely used. Contact both [email protected] and [email protected] Detroit area delivery would be at a Warren Astronomical Society meeting. Our annual election for officers of the2013 Warren Officer Astronomical ElectionsSociety will be at our Cranbrook meeting on Monday, November 5.