SNAKE RIVER SKIES January 2010 Message from the President Well, the cold weather has and will once again show voted to suspend the Monthly Events hit us and clear nights are its rings to us. January meeting (see note probably going to be rare to the left) and the for the time being. So when Viewing of the winter November meeting and Membership meeting for you see clear skies, take constellations will continue hold elections in October. the Magic Valley Astro- advantage of them with the most prominent October falls within the final nomical Society will not because you won't know being of course Orion and quarter of the year and be held this month. In lieu how long the skies will last. Taurus. Taurus proceeds within the purview of the of the meeting, the mem- Bundle up, grab your dew Orion in the evening sky society by-laws. bers are asked to help at shield or heater, and enjoy and easily recognizable by the CSI Centennial Ob- the glimpses of our bright its giant V, the Pleiades These changes were done servatory. The Observa- winter sky. star cluster and the orange as a means to hopefully tory will open for public star Aldebaran. Be sure to alleviate some crowding on stargazing at 6:15 pm. The events schedule will look for the Hyades Cluster your year end calendars. Our regular meetings re- soon be posted to the that actually makes up the sume in February. website (thanks Rick) and V shape of Taurus. The Finally, I would like to hopefully there will Hyades are the nearest remind everyone to renew Family Nights will be on something everyone will open cluster to the Solar their dues from when you the 5th at 6:15pm and the take advantage of and System (151 light years) first joined. Usually most 19th at 6:30pm. Admis- come out and join fellow and consists of 300-400 members renew from Nov- sion is $1.50 and free for club members for a night of stars. Jan. Dues are: children 6 and under. stargazing during 2010. $20 per individual Directly overhead at the $20 per family Bimonthly Astronomy Jupiter will begin setting Zenith you will find Auriga. $10 per student Talk— “Apocalypse just after sunset and in the The brightest star is 2012: Fact and Fiction” east you will find Mars. Capella which is easiest to Please contact treasurer will be on the 15th at 7:15 Small telescopes and pick out as Capella is the Jim Tubbs for renewal. with telescope viewing binoculars will show Mars sixth brightest star in the from 8:15-Midnight. quite well. night sky. Clear skies until next month—Terry Wofford, Observing Calendar is Saturn begins to open up This past year the board President MVAS. on page 5. Welcome to the Astronomical Society Welcome to the club and There will always be a very your own telescope. Tele- hello. We hope you have a interesting program, class scopes are also set up out- good time, enjoy the hobby, or presentation at these side on the stargazer’s and bring good skies with meetings, as well as good deck. Star Parties are year you. We hold indoor meet- fellowship. There is always round, so please dress ac- ings each month in the Rick something new to learn. cordingly as the Observa- Allen Room , Herrett Center Following our meetings we tory is not heated, nor air at the College of Southern have a star party at the conditioned. Wishing you The full Moon on January 1 Idaho Campus in Twin Falls , Centennial Observatory dark skies and clear nights! ID , USA . Our meetings 2010. This combination made also at the Herrett Center . for very poor viewing. image start at 7:00pm on the sec- Our star parties are free credit: Wikimedia Commons ond Saturday of the month. The MVAS Board. and you don’t have to bring PAGE 2 NEWSLETTER TITLE MONTHLY British Columbia Astronomer’s are trying to curb nighttime glare Written by Douglas Quan municipal officials in North America are A representative for Lali said Lali does- listening. n't yet have a stance on a dark-sky preserve in B.C.'s southern Interior. The City of Toronto recently passed Susan Roline, the mayor of Merritt, mandatory building standards to re- said the idea is feasible, but all stake- duce nighttime glare. And a city super- holders will need to be consulted. She visor in San Francisco is set to begin said the area is currently used for min- hearings on a proposal to force down- ing exploration, logging operations and town buildings to shut off their interior ranching. Roline agreed though that lights at night. shining lights up at the sky is "not a Some B.C. municipalities have light necessity." restrictions in place, but it's been more of a piecemeal approach, said Mark Light pollution's other effects Eburne, chair of light pollution abate- Bird enthusiasts have also become (Image: courtesy of Steven Whitehouse) ment for the Vancouver branch of the major light pollution-reduction advo- Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. cates. Editor’s note: This article is one of the most re- "Most cities have a noise bylaw, not cent that has been sent via a relative who lives in Canada and shares an equal passion about many have a light pollution bylaw," he Turns out, migratory birds are often Astronomy as the Editor does. said. drawn to the bright lights emanating from downtown office buildings, monu- Light pollution is a worldwide problem and not This year, Eburne -- armed with a ments and broadcast towers, and con- just a problem in the U.S. power-point presentation -- started fuse the lights with the moon and stars Amateur astronomers are trying to per- traveling to municipal council meetings they use to navigate. suade municipal officials in B.C.'s to educate officials on the topic. southern Interior to cut out nighttime His key message: "Being green is also Birds will flutter in the light and drop glare from city lights and turn 1,700 being dark at night." from exhaustion, or crash into the hectares of mostly rural land into a structures, experts say. Some birds dark-sky preserve. Dark-sky preserve might survive the night but then get Advocates of a dark-sky preserve in trapped in the urban centre during the If approved, the area -- nestled in the the Nicola Valley say astronomers day and get disoriented by reflections Nicola Valley between Merritt, Kam- from as far as Australia and Africa in glass structures. Hundreds can be loops, Kelowna and Princeton -- would have visited the region's high plateaus. killed in one night at one building, ac- draw astronomy buffs from around the "This area that I speak of is pristine cording to the Fatal Light Awareness world and offer nighttime skies not and it is our wish to keep it that way," Program, a Toronto-based charity unlike what Galileo would've seen in Greenhalgh wrote in a recent letter to whose volunteers help rescue birds the 1600s, proponents say. "You're Harry Lali, the MLA who represents the that have fallen to the ground. "At a separating yourself from the doldrums region. flick of the switch, the problem disap- of life, going out there and reconnect- pears," said Michael Mesure, FLAP's ing with the universe from which we Advocates stress that they are not anti- executive director. came," said Paul Greenhalgh, presi- development. They just want munici- dent of the Fraser Valley Astronomers palities to make sure that all new de- Society. "For me, it's a purging." velopments and street lights be Continued on the next page equipped with full cut-off light fixtures that direct light downward. The Royal Amateur astronomers camp out under the stars An unfettered view of the stars and during the eight-day Merritt Star Quest in B.C. planets is just one of many benefits of Astronomical Society of Canada has (courtesy of Randy Giesbrecht) curbing light pollution, advocates told laid out criteria for what constitutes a ctvbc.ca. It also reduces the number of dark-sky preserve, but essentially migratory birds that get disoriented there should be no artificial lighting and from city lights and crash into build- little or no sky glow visible from within ings; cuts back on energy use; and the area. results in a more restful sleep for hu- mans. The society has recognized nine dark- sky preserves across the country: four Though reducing light pollution doesn't in Ontario; two in Alberta; two in New have the same urgency as reducing Brunswick; and one in Saskatchewan. carbon emissions, there is evidence MONTHLY NEWSLETTER TITLE PAGE 3 A shot of the moon taken Beginning next year, new building with an 8-inch Dobsonian construction will have to adhere to telescope. new regulations as part of the city's (courtesy of "Green Standard." There's a ban on Paul Green- up-lighting exterior light fixtures and a halgh) requirement that all exterior light fix- tures be shielded to prevent glare or There is also an emerging body of "light trespass" onto neighboring research that suggests strong corre- properties. lations between light pollution and people's health. The rules apply to low-rise non- residential buildings, as well as mid- to high-rise residential and commer- The Northern Lights as seen from Abbotsford, Earlier this year, the American Medi- B.C. (courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh) cal Association adopted a resolution cial buildings. to support light pollution reduction Greenhalgh and others said while efforts.