40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING The SkyscraperVol. 36 No. 7 July 2009 Amateur Astronomical Society Of Rhode Island · 47 Peeptoad Road North Scituate, RI 02857 · www.theSkyscrapers.org July Cookout Seagrave Memorial Observatory is open & Meeting with Kristine Larsen Saturday, July 11, 3:00pm at Seagrave Memorial Observatory to the public weather permitting Stephen Hawking: Black Holes, Baby Universes, and Life’s Battles Stephen Hawking is arguably the clearly explains Hawking’s complex most famous physicist since Albert scientific accomplishments, while Einstein. His decades-long struggle telling the story of his challenging with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), life. combined with his singular brilliance Topics include Hawking’s early lack as a cosmologist, has fascinated both of focus as a college student; the impact Saturdays 9pm - 11pm the public and his colleagues in science. of ALS on his career and personal life; See www.theSkyscrapers.org for updates. In this engagingly written biography, his groundbreaking work on radiating Kristine Larsen, a physicist and black holes; his later cutting-edge astronomer herself, presents a candid theories of black holes, cosmology, and and insightful portrait of Hawking’s the anthropic principle; the amazing Last Chance to Renew personal and professional life. Avoiding publishing success of A Brief History Membership dues were due in the hero-worship sometimes found in of Time; and his status as a pop icon April and are now past due. If popular works on Hawking, Larsen and spokesperson for the interplay you have not yet renewed, please emphasizes that Hawking is first and of science and society. Larsen situates complete the form on the back foremost a scientist whose work has Hawking’s sometimes-controversial page of this newsletter and submit made significant contributions to our work within the broader context of with your dues to the Treasurer at understanding of the nature and origins scientific peer review and public debate, the July meeting. of the universe. Writing in nontechnical and discusses his personal life with language for the lay reader, Larsen compassion, respect, and honesty. July 2009 President’s Message 3 Earth at aphelion Bob Horton 7 Full Moon Skyscrapers annual summer is greatly appreciated. If you have cookout will be held on Saturday July not already done so, please send us a 13 Jupiter 0.6° S of Neptune 11th beginning at 3pm. All members check before July 3rd. Our address is Mercury at superior and their guests are invited to attend. Skyscrapers, Inc., 47 Peeptoad Road, 13 conjunction The cost is only $7.50 per person ($3 for North Scituate, RI 02857. You may kids under 12) for all you can eat. We also pay at the door, but please let us 15 Last Quarter Moon will be serving hamburgers, hotdogs, know that you’re planning to attend veggie-burgers, clam chowder, corn so that we know how much food we New Moon; Total Solar on the cob, salads and deserts. Some need to purchase. We’re also looking 21 Eclipse in India & Asia members have asked if it is okay to for volunteers to help set up for the 28 First Quarter Moon bring some additional potluck items. cookout, starting at noon on July 11th. Well the answer is “yes”, the more If you are willing to help out, please the merrier! Just let me know what let me know. you’re planning to bring so that we can In addition to the cookout, a 90mm coordinate our efforts. Coronado solar telescope will be set Many of you have already sent in up to offer some spectacular views of your money for the cookout, which the sun, weather permitting. And for THE SKYSCRAPER • JULY 2009 just for fun, Al Hall has some outdoor up on his talk with an outdoor workshop games for us to play. Prizes will be later this summer, when Skyscrapers awarded to the winners! will have a hands-on opportunity to Our evening program will begin use a Sbig spectrograph, attached to at 7:30pm. Our speaker, Dr. Kristine our 16” telescope, to collect spectra of Larson, who gave a wonderful talk several different classes of stars. This about Women in Astronomy at our workshop will be held on the first clear December meeting, is returning this night we get on the following dates: month to provide us with a talk about August 8, 22 or 29th. famed physicist Steven Hawking. It is The Skyscraper is published monthly by Skyscrapers, Inc. Meetings are usually held our privilege to welcome her back to on the first Friday of the month. Public Skyscrapers. observing is usually held every Saturday Now that summer is here, I am sure night at Seagrave Memorial Observatory, we are all hoping for better observing weather permitting. conditions. It sure has been a wet President spring. Of the nine sessions planned for Bob Horton [email protected] our CCD imaging workshops, only one session allowed us to take any images 1st Vice President at all, and even then we had to deal Bob Napier [email protected] with clouds coming and going. I guess 2nd Vice President the good side to all of this wet weather Steve Hubbard [email protected] is that our lawn at Seagrave has never Here is the image of M3 that was taken during our 1st CCD imaging workshop. Not bad con- Secretary been greener, and the chorus of peep sidering how we had to battle the clouds. toads that live in the pond next door Jim Crawford [email protected] to us have never sung louder. In fact, Looking ahead, we plan to offer Treasurer the night sounds emanating from this CCD imaging workshops again this Lloyd Merrill [email protected] little pond are so loud and prehistoric fall, which hopefully will have a greater sounding that I half expect to see abundance of clear nights. We’re also Members at Large dragon flies with four foot wing spans considering having telescope making Tom Thibault [email protected] flying overhead! workshops. If you are interested in Roger Forsythe [email protected] It was raining again the night of learning how to grind, polish and Trustees Saturday, June 20th, but quite a few figure your own telescope mirror, Jim Brenek [email protected] members showed up at Seagrave to please let me know. If enough members Steve Siok [email protected] enjoy a wonderful program on The are interested, we probably could begin Tom Barbish [email protected] History and Science of Spectroscopy, late this summer or early fall. presented by Dr. Savvas Koushiaappas Star Party Coordinator Bob Forgiel [email protected] of Brown University. We plan to follow Librarian Bruce Merrill [email protected] Historian Dave Huestis [email protected] Editor Jim Hendrickson [email protected] Directions Directions to Seagrave Memorial Observa- tory are located on the back page of this newsletter. Submissions Submissions to The Skyscraper are always welcome. Please submit items for the newsletter by July 15 to Jim Hendrickson, 1 Sunflower Circle, North Providence, RI 02911 or email to [email protected]. Email subscriptions To receive The Skyscraper by email, send email with your name and address to [email protected]. Note that you will no longer receive the newsletter by postal mail. 2 Occultation/Graze of Antares by Moon: June 6, 2009 Dave Huestis I have watched the Moon occult stars mately between 11:00 pm to 11:30 pm. seemed to be a “pocket” on the limb, in the Pleiades star cluster on many At around 10:45 pm I carried my 4 _- a little indentation. Perhaps it was a occasions. And I have also observed the inch f/5 reflector across the street. And small valley or a crater wall. Antares Moon occult a planet or two during my what did I see? Those clouds had finally seemed to sit right in it. Just before it 37 years of amateur astronomy. But just reached further inland. Overhead was got to this location it seemed like I was seeing a single star either pass behind still clear, but the clouds (reminded watching some “vehicle” skim above the lunar limb or move tangentially to me of the marine layer in San Diego) the lunar surface. it never seemed to interest me. varying in thickness were constantly A thick mass of clouds obscured my Fortunately at the June monthly covering and uncovering the Moon. view for a couple of seconds, and when meeting of Skyscrapers, Bob Napier And these clouds were moving very the Moon was back to full brightness, reminded everyone of the June 6 fast. They looked more like smoke from Antares was gone. Though the scintil- (Saturday night) occultation or graze a big fire than clouds, especially when lation had gotten a bit worse, I do not of the bright star Antares (Scorpius) they passed in front of the Moon. think it was responsible for my losing by the Moon. Here in Rhode Island I started observing with a 12mm site of Antares. Antares was occulted we would be very close to the graze/ eyepiece then quickly chose an 8mm, by the Moon at approximately 11:10 occultation limit. I did not review any giving me a magnification of 64. Right pm. details about the event beforehand, but away I could see Antares a short distance Fortunately the cloud situation did it was my belief my location up here in from the lunar limb. As the time passed not worsen. In fact, they seemed to Pascoag would be north of the occulta- I could see the distance between these retreat south of the Moon’s location.