CVAS Executive Committee Pres – Dell Vance - (435) 938-8328 Loaner Scope Coordinator/NSN Coordinator – [email protected] Garrett Smith – [email protected] Vice Pres- Layne Pedersen – (801) 463-1701 Past President, Webmaster, Librarian – [email protected] Tom Westre – (435) 787-6380 [email protected] Treasurer- Brad Kropp - (435) 755-0877 Public Relations – Lyle Johnson - [email protected] [email protected] Secretary – Dale Hooper - (435) 563-0608 [email protected] Vol. 5 Number 5 January 2018 www.cvas-utahskies.org Meeting Announcement Our December meeting will be held on the fourth Wednesday in January, January 24, 2017 at 7pm in room 840 of the main BATC campus. We didn’t really hear any strong sentiment concerning changing the meeting night or time, so the meetings will remain on the fourth Wednesday going forward. We have room 840 for the rest of this year. Enter on the east side of the building located at 1301 North 600 West. This is our annual “Show and Tell” meeting. Bring one to several of your favorite recent astronomy related acquisitions. 30 pictures and most of them worked out well. Here The President’s Corner is one of them. By Dell Vance, CVAS President Another New Year is upon us. It is great to be in this beautiful valley, cold, but great. It is also getting a bit too cold to spend much time outside with my telescope. Last night I decided to set up my telescope in our “star room” (my wife calls it a sun room and I call it a star room), to take some photos of the Super Moon as it comes up in the East. I have found if you can get something in the East that is basically straight through the glass of the window you can get some pretty good pictures with only a minor amount of distortion. In any case, I got about Super Moon – 2 Jan 2018 – Newton, UT – Courtesy Dell Vance My grandson asked what I knew about the Super would like to show to the group, let a member of the Moon back in December and I told him that there Executive Committee know by January 17th, and we would be three in a row. At that time, I took a quick will put you on the list. Once we know how many picture of the one back in December with just my people have things to present we will set up the time camera and a standard lens. It was great to get the allotment for each presenter. Don’t be bashful, we background into the picture, but the moon was will make time for everyone that is interested to difficult to get a good picture. show what they have. The meeting will be on January 24th at 7:00 PM at the BATC Room 840. We hope to see you there with your friends and family. Thanks again for your support. Clear Skies! Total Lunar Eclipse By Dale Hooper For the first time in two years, (if the skies are clear enough) we will be treated to a total lunar eclipse on the morning of January 31st. Super Moon - 4 Dec 2017 - Newton, UT - Courtesy Dell Vance That is why I used the telescope for the January Here are the relevant events and times (all times in Super Moon. Just think the next Super Moon is at MST) for our area: the end of this month on the morning of January 31st. That will be a “Blue Moon” because there are two in Time Event the same month and it will be a “Blood Moon” 3:51 am Penumbral eclipse begins. You won’t be because it will be a total lunar eclipse. What a great able to notice any change at this point. month we are having already. 4:48 am Partial Eclipse Begins. The Earth’s umbral shadow begins to take a “bite” Last month we had a great presentation on the Star out of the moon. The color of the moon of Bethlehem. Dale Hooper provided us with a will begin to change. video of what the star event could have been. It was 5:51 am Totality begins. Try to notice the color interesting to look back in time to see what the of the moon, it is different at each total conditions were that could explain what they saw. lunar eclipse. With modern technology we can use computer 6:29 am Maximum Eclipse. The Moon is closest programs like Stellarium to see what the heavens to the center of the shadow and will be looked like in the past or the future. It is a great it’s darkest. program and it is free for computer use at 7:07 am Total Eclipse Ends. Since the Moon will stellarium.org. be close to the horizon, if you are close to the western mountains, you will get a This month our meeting will be our annual Show and better view if you locate further east. Tell. It is where each of us can bring a tool or device 7:41 am Moonset. The Moon sets during the that we have tried out over the last year and tell how partial phase for our location. well it worked for us. It can be something big or small. It may even be a book or gadget that you have found. It is always inspirational to see what some of us are doing and to get ideas of things we may want to try. If you have something that you Stargazing Events for January 2018 America and across the Pacific Ocean. By Tom Westre Most of the eclipse will be seen in North America before the moon sets. A Date(s) Event blue moon is the second full moon in Jan 1 Mercury visible in eastern morning sky. one month. The full Wolf Moon in Gemini Jan 3-4 Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peaks. Run CVAS Loaner Telescope Dec 30th to Jan 12th. Named for a now defunct constellation near the north CVAS provides a 10 inch Dobsonian telescope to celestial pole called the Quadrant club members. Contact Garrett Smith to make Jan 5 Waning Gibbous moon near Regulus, arrangements to use this telescope. Garrett can be seen in a telescope at low power contacted by email at [email protected]. Jan 6 Mars's eastward motion takes it comes to distant Jupiter in the early Saturday pre-dawn sky. Jupiter, its moons and Mars should be visible in a low power telescope. Jan 8 Last Quarter moon Jan 11 Moon meets Mars and Jupiter in the Thursday predawn sky. The waning crescent moon is about 4 degrees to the upper left of Mars and Jupiter. The two planets are about 2 degrees apart. All three objects are seen in a pair of binoculars. Jan 13 Mercury passes Saturn in the Saturday predawn sky. Mercury is about 3/4 degrees below and right of Saturn Jan 15 Mercury and Saturn meet the thin crescent waning moon on Monday morning pre dawn sky while Saturn is about three degrees to the upper right of Mercury. All three objects can be seen in binoculars. Jan 16 New Moon Binocular Supports Jan 19 Transit shadow of Jupiter by Europa at 3am Friday morning as it rises in the The club now has available a number of mostly east. completed binocular supports. These supports are Jan 24 First Quarter Moon being sold to club members at cost. These supports Jan 26-27 The Moon crosses Taurus the Bull's just need the binocular attachment – which is face. tailored to the type of binocular being mounted. Jan 31 Ceres at opposition at its brightest magnitude 6.85 and closest to the Earth Please contact Ned Miller or Dell Vance if you are for the year. Located in the interested in purchasing a binocular support. The Northern boundary of Cancer images below show what they look like with Jan 31 Full Supermoon also a Blue Moon and binoculars attached as well as an image showing Total Lunar Eclipse. The entire event them folded for storage. will be seen in northwestern North Cornell, James. The First Stargazers: An introduction to the Origins of Astronomy. Eagle. Dave. From casual stargazer to amateur astronomer: how to advance to the next level. Lots of information to help develop your skills. Completed Binocular Support (with binos attached) - Courtesy Ned Miller Enright, Leo. The beginner’s observing guide: an introduction to the night sky for the novice stargazer. For those with no or limited background with the stars and constellations. Fix, John. Astronomy: journey to the Cosmic Frontier. McGraw Hill, 2008 5th Ed. Greene, Brian. The Elegant universe: superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate theory . Vintage, 1999 Binocular support (folded for storage) - Courtesy Ned Miller Finlay, W.H. Concise catalog of deep sky objects: concise information for 500 galaxies, clusters, and CVAS Astronomy Library List Nebulae. By Tom Westre Frazier, Kendrick. Our Turbulent Sun The following books are available to dues paying Greene, Brian. The fabric of the cosmos: Space, time, members of CVAS. To borrow a book from the list and the texture of reality contact Tom Westre at 435-787-6380 or email him at: [email protected] If you contact Tom before Hadingham, Evan. Early man and the Cosmos. (ancient the monthly meeting Tom will bring the book to the astronomy, Stonehenge, death and the sun in ancient meeting for you to pick up for one month. It should Britian, the Moon and the megaliths, Riddle of the Fairy be returned the following month.