Vol. 43, No. 02 February 2012 Why Has it Been Cloudy? Blame it on Ron Waldron. He bought a big new scope last Fall and we have had nothing but clouds this winter. Last November Ron posted on the Saskatoon RASC site, “After four months of waiting, I just took delivery last week of my new 12.5" Discovery Truss Tube Dobsonian Telescope. It is an F5 Dob. Now if I could only get a few more clear nights to truly enjoy it.” Photo by Ron Waldron In This Issue: Membership Information / Bottle Drive / Officers of the Centre 2 U of S Observatory Hours / Light Pollution Abatement Website 2 Calendar of Events / Meeting Announcement 3 President’ Message – Jeff Swick 4 Kathryn 2011 Story!!!! – Kathryn Gray 4 Dark Sky Lighting Monthly, Part II – by Rick Huziak 5 Meet Dick Kirk, Our New Member and Astrophotographer 5 RASC Observing Lists Compared – by Tenho Tuomi 7 Saskatoon Centre The Planets this Month – Murray Paulson 9 The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Observing Clubs and Certificates 10 P.O. Box 317, RPO University Observers Group Notes – Larry Scott 10 Saskatoon, SK S7N 4J8 WEBSITE: To view Saskatoon Skies in colour, see our Website: http://www.rasc.ca/saskatoon http://homepage.usask.ca/~ges125/rasc/newsletters.html E •MAIL: [email protected] TELEPHONE: (306) 373-3902 MEMBERSHIP? JOIN TODAY! Regular: $80.00 /year Youth: $41.00 /year Associate: $33 /year The Saskatoon Centre operates on a one-year revolving membership. You will be a member for the next 12 months no matter when in the year you join. If you do not want to join at this time, ask to get onto our FREE 3-month Temporary Membership list. You will receive regular mailings of our Saskatoon Skies newsletter and will be invited to participate in Centre activities. Members are encouraged to renew early to avoid disruption in publications. Renew through the National Office at <[email protected]>! Benefits of Membership in the Saskatoon Centre · knowledgeable & friendly amateur astronomers · rent the Centre's Telescopes · use of the Sleaford Observatory http://homepage.usask.ca/ges125/rasc/telescopes.html · use of the U of S Observatory (after training) · discounts to Sky &Telescope Magazine* · Saskatoon Skies Newsletter · free, no-cost, no-obligation, 3-month temporary membership · Observer’s Handbook if you don ’t want to join right now! · Journal of the RASC (electronic format) · SkyNews Magazine (bimonthly) *New subscription or renewal of Sky &Telescope? Send new info or · use of the Centre library renewal notice, plus credit card # to Norma Jensen, 128 – 4th Street East, Saskatoon, SK S7H 1H8, or email her at [email protected]. SASKATOON CENTRE’S MAIN OFFICERS: President – Jeff Swick, 373-3902 Secretary – Ron Waldron, 382-9428 Vice-President – James Gorkoff, 644-1343 Treasurer – Norma Jensen, 244-7360 Bottle Drive & Canadian Tire $ By Colin Chatfield If you cannot make it to a meeting but would like to contribute your Canadian Tire money please call me at 934-7046. Newsletter Editors – Kathleen Houston & Tenho Tuomi Copy & Collate – Les & Ellen Dickson Labels & Temps – Mark de Jong Web Posting – Gord Sarty Saskatoon Skies is published monthly by the Saskatoon Centre of the RASC. Distribution is approximately 100 copies per issue. Saskatoon Skies welcomes unsolicited articles, sketches, photographs, cartoons, and other astronomy or space science material. Articles can be sent by mail in any format to the Centre’s mailbox. Submitted materials can be returned upon request. Submissions may also be sent by e-mail to the editor at [email protected] as a .doc, no indents, no tabs, one line between paragraphs. Images: .jpg please, no larger than 1 – 1.5 MB, sent by e-mail as attached files. A separate by-mail subscription to Saskatoon Skies is available for $15.00 per year. Saskatoon Skies is also posted on our Saskatoon Centre homepage as a .pdf file and can be downloaded free-of-charge. Members may choose to receive the newsletter by regular mail or via the Internet. Articles may be reprinted from Saskatoon Skies without expressed permission (unless otherwise indicated), provided that proper source credit is given. DEADLINE for submissions for each month’s issue is the 1st of the month. Saskatoon Skies accepts commercial advertising. Please call the editor 306-665-3392 for rates. Members can advertise non-commercial items free of charge. SASKATOON SKIES FEBRUARY 2012 2 RASC CALENDAR OF EVENTS Feb 11 Observers Group – Dusk, Sleaford Observatory Larry Scott 934-5801 Feb 13 RASC Executive Meeting – 6:30 pm, 175 Physics, U of Jeff Swick 373-3902 S. Please note, one week early to avoid Family Day. Feb 13 RASC General Meeting – 7:30 pm, 175 Physics, U of S Jeff Swick 373-3902 Mar 17 Observers Group – Dusk, Sleaford Observatory Larry Scott 934-5801 Mar 19 RASC Executive Meeting –6:30 pm, 175 Physics, U of S Jeff Swick 373-3902 Mar 19 RASC General Meeting – 7:30 pm, 175 Physics, U of S Jeff Swick 373-3902 Mar 24 MESSIER MARATHON! Sleaford Observatory. Larry Scott 934-5801 Mar 31 Earth Hour Public Star Night – Details to be announced Barb Wright 249-1990 Apr 14 Observers Group – Dusk, Sleaford Observatory Larry Scott 934-5801 Apr 16 RASC Executive Meeting –6:30 pm, 175 Physics, U of S Jeff Swick 373-3902 Apr 16 RASC General Meeting – 7:30 pm, 175 Physics, U of S Jeff Swick 373-3902 May 12 Astronomy Day. Farmer’s Market, 8-14h Barb Wright 249-1990 May 12 Alan Dyer, “The Transit of Venus”, 20-21h Kathleen Houston 665-3392 Venus gazing 19h-20h, Star Gazing 21h-23h - Bethlehem Catholic High School theatre and grounds For a complete list of club events, please check out: http://homepage.usask.ca/~ges125/rasc/activities.html RASC SASKATOON CENTRE GENERAL MEETING MONDAY, February 13, 19h30 Please note, one week early to avoid Family Day Room 175, Physics Bldg., U of S Speaker: To be announced NOTE: There will be an executive meeting at 18h30. SKY BUYS & MIRROR CELLS The Saskatoon Centre’s Swap and Sale Page FOR SALE: Two 7x50 Newtonian-view straight-through spotters c/w dovetail mounts. (No scope-side dovetails, though). $40 each obo. Contact Rick Huziak 665-3392. Proceeds to the RASC. SPECTACULAR SOLAR SYSTEM IMAGES ON NEW NASA WEBSITE [News Release from NASA Ames Research Center] NASA has made available for the public a new online The collection is being released to celebrate NASA’s collection of images of our solar system and locations Year of the Solar System -- a time of unprecedented on Earth where astrobiology researchers travel to planetary science mission activity. The celebration conduct field research. Called From Earth to the Solar runs until August 2012. The online collection will System (FETTSS), the images showcase the allow interested individuals, groups and organizations excitement of planetary exploration and the journey to to plan their own solar system exhibits. understand the origin and evolution of the solar system, and the search for life elsewhere. Images may For more information, see: http://fettss.arc.nasa.gov be downloaded and displayed with the proper photo http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss credit. SASKATOON SKIES FEBRUARY 2012 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE email and we’ll set you up with the appropriate By Jeff Swick committee chair. For our February meeting, our Vice President Jim Well it’s sure been a couple of rough Gorkoff will be conducting our meetings, as at this months for sitting at the scope but I’ll moment I’m not sure that I’ll be back in town in time. take the warm winter weather that As well as being our current Vice President, Jim is our comes with it. incoming President and will be taking over in October when my term is up. Most of my astronomy lately has been online and of course for solar observers, the sun has been very busy. There are many rewarding things that come with being I find it very rewarding to watch actual events on the President but the one thing that I don’t care for is that sun and follow the activity as it heads to Earth and at the meetings I don’t often get a chance to visit with interacts with our magnetic field. Not only watching our new members and people attending their first visually but using the data available from the fleet of RASC meetings and am glad that our membership has solar telescopes and sensors as well as terrestrial based taken it upon themselves to introduce themselves and instruments such as Tenho’s magnetometer at the answer questions about the club. Lucky Lake station. That said, I’m always happy to be able to have the Behind the scenes club wise we’ve been busy planning time to visit with our new members out at Sleaford and preparing for SSSP and the site committee has and of course Rick and Graham’s “after meeting been active in planning the new addition and the fund meetings” at Alexanders. For new members that have raising that must accompany it. not yet made it out I have to say that the dark sky facility affords a great mentoring opportunity for you Our events coordinator has been busy as well putting and a chance to visit and view through the different together our calendar. We have our annual Messier scopes. Marathon coming in March and Earth Day at The Circle Center Mall with Bob Johnson. We also have a few scopes out there that are available to those who do not own their own or just don’t have If you would like to become more involved with any the time or space to load up their own gear.