August 2009 PRIMEFOCUS Astronomical League Member Society : 2 – Club Calendar 3 – Opportunities & Reports 4 – The Sky this Month 5 – Newton’s & Galileo’s Scopes 6 – Rocks & Ice in the Solar System 7 – Your Most Important Optics M81 “Bode’s Galaxy” by Steve Tuttle 9 – Stargazers’ Diary 1 August 2009 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 YeeHaw! Museum Star Party It’s SWAP MEET Time! 3RF Lunar Party Hey Buckaroos! Bring yourself and your gently used surplus Astro Stuff to the August meeting for buyin’, sellin’, tradin’, barterin’ & otherwise ropin’ in some new to you tack & tackle! 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Moon at Apogee Full Moon (252,294 miles) 7:55 pm 8:00 pm Mariner 7. flew by Mars 40 years ago, and passed within Zond 7 – USSR’s 2206.5 miles of the planet's south pole Lunar Flyby launched region. It is now in a for a Lunar fly-around solar orbit. and Earth return. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Third Qtr Moon Algol at Minima 1:55 pm 2:21 am Jupiter Perseid Opposition Meteor Shower Disc is significantly peak larger this time around @ 48.95” 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Make use of the New Moon at Perigee New Moon 3RF Star Party Moon Weekend for (223,469 miles) 5:02 am better viewing at the 12:01 am Dark Sky Site FWAS Meeting Algol at Minima And Neptune New Moon New Moon Swap Meet Opposition Weekend Weekend 11:09 pm 7pm Normal Room 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 20 Years Ago First Qtr Moon 3RF Lunar Party Voyager 2 went past 6:42 am Neptune for the last New Moon flyby on its amazing Weekend mission. 30 31 Moon at Apogee Saturn’s rings (251,822 miles) Double shadow inclined 0.37O but 6:00 am transit on Jupiter nearly impossible to 9:42 pm see 2 Observing and Outreach Opportunities Weather permitting (FWAS contacts in parentheses) August 2009 — Caddo Lake State Park & Wildlife Management Area — Stargazing — Every Thursday. Make your own star wheel and learn how to use it. Then take a walk through our solar system and view the night sky through our telescope. Weather permitting; we will meet on the fishing pier. 9-10:30 p.m. (903) 679-3351. August 1 — Fort Worth Museum of Science and History – Star Parties give you and your family a chance to explore the craters of the moon, the polar ice caps of Mars, and more! The Fort Worth Astronomical Society will set up our telescopes on the parking lot south of the Museum construction site off of Montgomery Street. (Linda Krouse & Michele Martinez) August 1 — Guadalupe River State Park — Stories in the Stars — We'll begin the evening with a presentation and fun-filled story and skit and then head out under the starlit sky to check out galaxies, nebulas, planets and more through telescopes. Call for times (830) 438-2656. August 1, 22, 29 — Three Rivers Foundation (3RF) Star & Lunar Parties — 3RF invites you out to Comanche Springs near Crowell, Texas for a night under the stars. The dark skies of Big Ranch Country provide a spectacular view of the universe. The party starts with solar observing followed by a break. Evening activities begin with a short educational introduction to astronomy. The observatories and Star Field are then opened to the public to enjoy the use of many different kinds of astronomy instruments. For more information the day of a scheduled star party, please call 940-655-3384. (Russ Boatright and Doug Brown) (Panhandle Plains, where Oklahoma tucks into the Texas Panhandle) August 5 — World Birding Center - Estero Llano Grande State Park — Full Moon Party — Come celebrate the full moon and see all the park has to offer after hours. We will take a night hike; hear frogs, coyotes and pauraques; see stars and constellations and much more! Accessible for the mobility, visually and hearing impaired. 6-9 p.m.; reservations required (956) 565-3919. August 22 — Palo Duro Canyon State Park — Palo Duro Night Sky — Join an area astronomer to view the beautiful skies over Palo Duro Canyon in the Juniper Picnic Area. Bring lawn chairs and telescopes. Park in the parking area on Alternate Road 5 and walk down into picnic area. Weather permitting. Accessible for the mobility impaired. 9-10 p.m. (806) 488-2227 August 22 — Goose Island State Park — Goose Island Under the Stars — Join us this evening when volunteers from the Corpus Christi Astronomical Society lead a fascinating tour of the night skies. Learn about the constellations and see the moon, planets, stars and galaxies through the telescope. Bring your lawn chairs and your binoculars and meets us at the Recreation Hall for an informative and fun night. Accessible for the mobility impaired. 8:30 p.m. (361) 729-2858. August 28–29, 2009 — Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway — Star Party — Gaze through telescopes provided by Amarillo Astronomy Club and learn about the night sky in one of the darkest places in Texas. Accessible for the mobility impaired. 8 - 10:30 p.m., weather permitting, call to confirm program (806) 455-1492. August 29 — Purtis Creek State Park — Stargazing — Make a star wheel and learn how to use it to find constellations in the night sky. Take a walk through the solar system and have a chance to view the night sky through a telescope. Bring flashlights with red lenses or red tape will be provided. Meet at the over flow camping parking lot, weather permitting. 8 - 10 p.m. (903) 425-2332. Eustace, Texas (NE of DFW) Thank You, Fort Worth Astronomical Society! Observing in the Sultry July heat – Ben Hudgens Thanks again to FWAS President Steve Tuttle and the members of the Fort Worth Astronomical Society. In spite From here at our home a few miles out from Stephenville, I am of drifting clouds and a slight threat of rain, the FWAS lucky to have a pretty dark sky and take advantage of that members brought out their telescopes to the Bob Jones whenever I can. I've been out five of the last six nights with my Nature Center in Southlake to share their views of Saturn recently purchased 16" dob. I gladly gave up Thursday night's and double stars. observing for the cloudy weather and the much needed rain. Yes, the heat in the day is bad, but here at the house we have a good wind blowing almost all the time and it makes for nice observing. It also keeps the bugs away. I started out the week with looking at the many dim fuzzies in the Lupus and Libra areas. The last few nights found me galaxy hopping in the Serpens area. I thought Virgo had a lot of galaxies but it seems that Serpens is just a continuation of that large area of thousands of galaxies. While observing these galaxies, I spotted THREE satellites moving close together and later determined that these are military spy satellites, named NOSS 2-1 C,D and E. They appeared about 5-6th magnitude. I also spotted a couple of the Iridium satellite flare events and one of my favorite satellites, EGP. It is a 'disco mirror' type sat and puts on a pretty good flashing light show. Binoculars are best to follow this special satellite. I will have to say that Wednesday night on July 15th was one of the best dark sky nights in a long time. The summer Milky Way was fantastic as it stretched all across the sky from Scorpius to Cassiopeia. Objects like M17 and the Veil Nebula were great without any filters; and with the O-III filter they appeared like the photos you see in the magazines. 3 The Sky This Month – “Bob’s Place” in Wise County (NE pad) -- 9 pm local time, August 15 (from Heavens-Above.com) The Sky This Month Magnetic Declination Bob’s Place 4° 48' E Thomsen Foundation 4° 39' E (Both are changing by 0° 7' W/year) Star Charts: Sky & Telescope Sky Maps http://tinyrul.com/5np8n http://www.skymaps.com Heavens Above International Space Station Transits http://www.heavens-above.com http://tinyrul.com/y8zk5c Planets, Meteors, and Comets, Oh My! Planets, Meteors, and Comets, Oh My! Be sure to catch Saturn EARLY in the month, and then EARLY at Jupiter is at opposition on 14th at 1pm our time (local solar noon is dusk. His progress towards superior conjunction next month is 1:34), so morning set or evening rise will give you the same disc moving swiftly. You will need low western horizons; from my tree- which is particularly “large” this cycle. Neptune follows suit and is at lined backyard, he is already lost. He has an evening conjunction opposition the evening of the 17th. Mercury is at greatest eastern with Mercury on our swap meet night of the 18th (FW sunset @ 8:11). elongation on the 24th, passing very close to Regulus at the heart of Only well aligned go-to’s should try to find him late in August or the Leo on the 2nd, and he is then south of Saturn on the 18th. ring plane passage on Sept 4th and he will be so low that high Morning star Mars slides from Taurus into Gemini on the 26th and is resolution images are all but impossible. He has put on a great show 0.8O south of open cluster M35 near the foot stars of Gemini on the for us this year, and begins his stint as a morning star in October, 29th and he is 1.1O north of the orange Eta Gemini on the last morning where he’ll have conjunctions with the inner planets.