EH A L A C H U A ASTRONOMY U B —AUGUST 1990— THE ALACHUA ASTRONOMY CLUB MEETS THE SECOND TUESDAY OP EACH MONTH AT THE DOYLE 'CONNER BUILDING, S.W. 34th STREET & 20th AVENUE AT 7:30 PM. EVERYONE INTERESTED IN ASTRONOMY IS INVITED TO ATTEND. CALL ANDI' VANN-JENSEN AT 475-1014, FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MEETINGS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES. AUGUST S PROGRAM.. .TUESDAY THE 14TH don 't miss it! DOUG RICHARDS will d.LSCUS S TIDES, More Than the SUN and MOON CLUB ACQUIRES NEW PROGRAM CHAIRMAN Jim Adams takes over the difficult task of Program Chairperson from Andi Vann-Jensen at the September meeting. Andi says, "I hope you will be as supportive of Jim as you were for me! Give him any ideas you may have for future programs." CLUB COOKOUT AND STARPARTY ON SATURDAY. AUGUST 25... Plan on arriving at Chuck and Andi's about six PM to cookout, and then convoy later to a new dark sky spot in east Alachua County. Organization and maps at the meeting on the 14th, or call Chuck or Andi at 392-1051/475-1014 for info COMET LEVY A GOOD ONE??? Some predict naked eye viewing by Mid-August...will YOU see it?!? ^GlVtfS N ALtflJSo %*f vGp\l^ •27 -SATUfcjy >Z? Notes for August August, the m o n t h of M e t e o r s and hot, sticky nights! The Moon will be in Last Quarter for the Perseids, a t their maximuiri p r e d a w n Sun. August 12. ]±,6 d a y s in duration to % s t r e n g t h , these are depend- ably rewarding, w i t h up to 5>0 p e r hour in dark skies. The mornings of August 12 and 13 will also show Venus and Jupiter within one half degree of one a n o t h e r . Note that the Moon w i l l occult Jupiter, visible in central N. America, i n m o r n i n g daylight, about 9:00 am Sat. August 1 8. We may not be able to see it occult, b u t it w i l l b e close, and an opportunity to try seeing a p l a n e t in daylight. Our Star-Party Fri. July 27th, w a s fairly successful, w i t h eight regulars, and three guests. One guest w a s , of course, a p h o t o g r a p h e r for the Gainesville Sun, Devon Ravine. A writer in the features depart- ment okayed the photo session w i t h m e , and I apologize to anyone incon- venienced by his m a m m o t h strobe lights on ten foot stands. I didn't know the flashes would b e quite so b r i g h t . I do think the paper did a nice photo spread about us in the "Rotogravure" for Mon. July 30th. Four phone calls came from the w r i t e - u p . One person donated a small refractor, (not quite a toy, but not an achromat) to b e given to a school - m y suggestion - or as the club w i s h e s. Another membership will be taken "oj another c a l l e r. Friday night's sky w a s clear, and after viewing the M o o n and Saturn through the U of F 's 8 " Clark and 12-|" Gassegrain, w e m e t at H a i l e . The expected meteors did not show. I saw only four, staying out until 2:00 am, b u t it was a satisfying experience for me to recognize the radiants - Aquarius and Pegasus. The air w a s still and cloudless, b u t heavy with humidity. The new SkyAtlas 2000.0 recovers well from the dew which was on all exposed charts. The Orion Astronomer's flashlight arrived, and I have a card table for us to spread the charts on, so make plans to come out and share some learning and good company at our August Star-Party , Sat. August 2!?th. Mark Cowan CLU9 NQTBSrr, Doug Richards is acquiring a 17.5 inch mirror! Your Club now owns, via "Club Dollars" from Orion, a Will Tirion star chart set and a astro-flashlight. Gilbert Bernardo is off to New York, to the Roberson-Kopernik Obser- vatory, to enhance his skills as a teacher/astronomer in grades 3 thru 10. Jan, Dale, Charlie, Jim, Mark, Chuck, Andi, Adam, and Vick and several other guests spent July 27ths STARPARTY alternately smiling and cursing as the Gainesville Sun's strobes lit up the night, and wiped out any night vision! But, it was fun and the pictures are good! Heavenly pursuits Jim Adams, in fore- ground at left, and Charlie Tarjan look through Tarjan's tele- scope Friday night at >% jMg the Alachua Astronomy Club's Star-Viewing Party in southwest Gainesville. The 24- #% m * mi m Above: Andrea Vann-Jensen, left, Jim Adams and Jan Sugalski observe the Milky Way. Right: Chuck Broward consults a star chart while his son, Adam, gazes up from a comfortable vantage point. CO CJ * member club, in its third year, has a "star CO party" each month at which telescopes and to binoculars are shared t v l and children are wel- &*& **• come, says president Mark Cowan. Fer more / , information, call \ > C Cowan at 375-2564. so ^ On w. -^WrjRT.'-^, f.^ y M * <• THE SIXTEENTH ANNUAL UPSILON PEGASID METEOR SHOWER WATCH 1990 This year the conditions will be excellent for the beginning and end of the Upsilon Pegasid meteor shower. The current focus of the research is on photographic patrol of the shower radiant. The 1982 Upsilon Pegasid Fireball On August 19, 1982, the European Meteor Network photographed a -14.0 Upsilon Pegasid Fireball with five Czech Cameras of the network The reduction of this data confirmed the orbital elements of the shower and answered many of the questions concerning this new shower. However, many questions still exist concerning rates, size of the radiant, and duration. A good spectra is also needed. Photographic Techniques The ideal camera for photographing this meteor shower is a 35 mm with a fast F/ratio 50 mm lens. Do not use either a telephoto or wide angle lens. Point the camera directly at the radiant, which is in the Square of Pegasus. The recommended films are Kodak T-Max 400 and P3200. Keep the exposures short - four minutes or less. If a bright meteor occurs, close the shutter within 15 seconds. Be sure to bring along extra cable releases and check the lens for dew between exposures. Process the film according to directions for desired ISO. If you choose not to develop the films yourself, send them to a professional photo lab requesting, "Develop only." Do not trust your films to the local drug store. Color films are not re- commended, but if you wish to try them, use the new Konica SRV 3200. Take along your mosquito repellent. Dates of the Shower The maximum of the Upsilon Pegasids is thought to be August 8th. Full- moon occurs on August 6 so the maximum of the Upsilon Pegasids and Perseids occurs in bright skies. The weekends of July 28 and August 13 will be in dark skies and therefore ideal. Please make a maximum effort on these dates. Characteristics of the Upsilon Pegasids The velocity of these meteors is slightly slower than the Perseids and slightly faster than the Delta Aquarids. The average magnitude is slightly fainter than that of the Perseids. The most commonlv reported color is yellow-white. Most shower members have not left any significant trains. Information and Reports For further information and reporting of observations of the shower, "~ write to the following address: Hal Povenmire 215 Osage Drive Indian Harb.o.ur Beach, FL 32937 Phone (407) 777-1303 (not collect) Space Station George Russell Since it was first conceived, I think I have tried to keep up with the pop- ular press on anything that has been written about the space station. Just re- cently, w e have read that astronauts can be expected to spend more than 3000 hours in space walking activities for maintenance work. Recently, NASA has released a report suggesting 100 ideas that would cut t h e need for extra vehicular activities (EVA) to 485 hours a year. Some of the ideas listed were to modify some of the parts to last longer so as to need less repair; redesign certain components so that components can be repaired within the space station with the help of robots; removing nonessential systems, and to figure out ways to reduce the time required to prepare for a spacewalk. NASA says that the space station is still in the design phase and the fab- rication of parts is still several years away. 1995 appears to be the target date for assembling the stations components in space. Repairs required during assembly pose a major concern since the astronauts must use the space shuttle for both living and as a work base. One of the major problems of the EVA is the need for astronauts to breath extra oxygen for several hours before entering space. Space suits are pressur- ized to 8 pounds per square inch whereas t h e s p a c e station operates at 14.7 p s i .