Highlights of the February Sky. - - - 1st - - - DAWN: Use binoculars to Prime Focus find Mercury 3° below a thin crescent Moon 15 A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society minutes before sunrise. - - - 2nd - - - February 2011 New Moon 9:31 pm EST - - - 4th - - - AM: Venus is between open clusters M21 & M23. ThisThis MonthsMonths KAS EventsEvents - - - 6th - - - PM: Jupiter is 6.5° to left General Meeting: Friday, February 4 @ 7:00 pm of the Waxing Crescent Moon. Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center - See Page 14 for Details PM: Uranus is 6° to lower left of the Moon Observing Session: Saturday, February 5 @ 7:00 pm - - - 9th - - - February Freeze Out - Kalamazoo Nature Center AM: The asteroid Vesta (7.8 magnitude) is 0.4° above Venus. Full Moon Theater: Saturday, February 19 @ 7:00 pm WMU Main Campus, Rood Hall, Room 1110 - See Page 3 for Details - - - 11th - - - First Quarter Moon 2:18 am EST AM: Venus is between star clusters M22 & M25. InsideInside thethe Newsletter.Newsletter. .. .. PM: The Moon is about 2° south of the Pleiades. January Meeting Minutes....................... p. 2 - - - 18th - - - Full Moon Board Meeting Minutes......................... p. 2 3:36 am EST Full Moon Theater Preview................. p. 3 - - - 20th - - - Possible Field Trips in 2011................. p. 3 AM: Spica, Saturn, and the gibbous Moon form a KAS Retrospective................................. p. 4 nearly equilateral triangle. Seventy-Five Years of Looking Up......p. 6 - - - 24th - - - A.L. Observing Clubs............................. p. 9 Last Quarter Moon 6:26 pm EST Star Parties in 2011................................ p. 10 - - - 25th - - - NASA Space Place.................................. p. 11 AM: The Moon is about 3° February Night Sky.................................p. 12 to the left of Antares. KAS Officers & Announcements........ p. 13 - - - 28th - - - DAWN: Venus is 7° to General Meeting Preview..................... p. 14 lower left of the Waning Crescent Moon. www.kasonline.org JANUARY BOARD Meeting Minutes Meeting Minutes The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society The KAS Board met on January 9, 2011 at Sunnyside was brought to order by President Jack Price on Friday, Church. President Jack Price called the meeting to order at January 7, 2011 at 7:15 pm EST. Approximately 26 members 5:10 pm. Board members present were Richard Bell, Joe and guests were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math & Borrello, Dick Gillespie, Scott Macfarlane, Don Stilwell, and Science Center (KAMSC). Attendance was no doubt Roger Williams. In the absence of Rich Mather, there was no hampered by heavy lake effect snow showers throughout the treasurer’s report, but Roger reported that Rich was being evening. kept informed about the details of deposits and checks written via e-mail. (Note: Rich did e-mail a treasurer’s report during KAS Vice President Richard Bell was the speaker for the the week following the meeting). meeting. His topic was entitled Seventy-Five Years of Looking Up: A Brief History of the Kalamazoo Astronomical The schedule for 2011 was discussed. Since Astronomy Day Society. Much of the material covered in Richard’s talk can is set for May 7th (probable theme: Pluto), Richard suggested be found in the special article beginning on page 6. that the general meeting that month be moved to May 13th. Speakers are set for the February, March, and April meetings However, as promised, Richard showed three video clips. (see website for details), and preparations were in place for The first was News 3 coverage of the general meeting on Full Moon Theater on January 22nd and February 19th. Wednesday, April 9, 1997. That meeting was held at the Richard also mentioned that more brochures were needed for Kalamazoo Valley Museum. Gadget Night was one of the distribution at KAS public appearances. feature attractions. The other was photographs and slides of Comet Hale-Bopp The second video was from the Owl On the topic of the KAS 75th anniversary celebration, Richard Observatory dedication on Saturday, August 22, 1998. reported that with Steve Squyres beyond our financial means, Highlights of the ceremony included speeches by Mike possible headliners being considered were Carolyn Porco Sinclair (who was KAS President at the time) and Dave (Cassini Imaging Team Leader) and Mike Brown (Cal Tech, Garten (responsible for most of the construction of Owl author of How I Killed Pluto, and Why It Had It Coming). Observatory). The last video was another News 3 clip and Nothing had been done so far about arranging for a city covered our Transit of Venus watch on Tuesday, June 8, declaration, and it was agreed that we should ask Mark Miller 2004. Members gathered at the top of the Borgess Hospital or Jean DeMott to check on this. The history of KAS and its parking ramp to witness the rare spectacle. precursor organizations was well researched by Richard for his general meeting talk, but more information about the early Jack gave a brief President’s Report after the snack break. He days would be desirable if more can be found. The suggestion mentioned the recent donation by Jason Hanflik of a book on was made that we consider offering a patch with a 75th Mars to the KAS Library. A near-complete listing of the anniversary logo modeled on the one created by Richard for library is available on KAS Online. Items are available for the title page of his talk. Joe volunteered to look at costs to check-out at most general meetings. get such a patch made. A short discussion was also held about planning a special field trip to celebrate this year. A Observing reports were few and far between thanks to visit to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. perpetual cloud cover. Some members did report ever-so- would probably require a 3-day bus trip and 50 participants. brief glimpses of the Total Lunar Eclipse on December 21, Richard will survey for member interest. 2010. [Editor’s Note: Bill Nigg reported a successful observation of the entire eclipse from Florida. Please send A final topic briefly discussed was the equipment available hate mail directly to Bill.] for loan by club members (e.g., the Short Tube 80 refractor, the newly donated Celestron SCT, and the Coronado PST The first bit of astronomical news reported was the latest solar scope. It was agreed that we should try to keep these delay in the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. The launch items circulating, so that the maximum number of members will now happen no later than February 24th. As a result, the would have a chance to use them. The equipment manager final space shuttle launch is scheduled to occur on April 19th. (Dave Woolf) will be asked to design a scheme to keep the Mike Sinclair talked about some cool applications for his new instruments in use. Droid smartphone. Those include Google Sky Map and Satellite AR. Richard reported that newly discovered Comet The next meeting was set for February 13, 2011, same time Elenin might become an impressive site in September. and place. Finally, Jean DeMott mentioned another successful launch by SpaceX. The meeting concluded at 9:17 pm EST. Respectfully submitted by Roger Williams Prime Focus Page 2 February 2011 Possible Field Trips Join us for our next Full Moon Theater in 2011 th Saturday, February 19 @ 7:00 pm The Board is doing all it can to make the 75 anniversary of the KAS a memorable one. We’re in the process of tracking WMU Main Campus - Rood Hall - Room 1110 down special guest speakers for the general meetings and planning another big Astronomy Day on May 7th. We’d also like to take a couple of memorable field trips in 2011. Here’s what we had in mind: Looking for a little free astronomical entertainment? Then join us for the next installment of Full Moon Theater. The Cherry Springs State Park (July 1st – July 4th) KAS will provide the popcorn and the soft drinks. You just need to show up and have a great time! A New Moon coincides with the Fourth of July holiday weekend this year. Wouldn’t it be fun to travel to a location with inky black skies and do a little observing/imaging? Our feature presentation... Cherry Springs State Park is located in Potter County, Pennsylvania – about an 8 hour drive from Kalamazoo. Both the Black Forest and Cherry Springs Star Party are held at this location. Observers are welcome to setup nearly year-round for a nominal fee. They even provide electricity. Be sure to check out the Cherry Springs website for more information. We could depart Kalamazoo on Friday, July 1st and be ready to observe by nightfall. If you wanted you could depart early in the day on Monday, July 4th and be home in time for fireworks. The skies are dark NOVA celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space as seen in the photo to your right. The scenery around Cherry Telescope with a comprehensive look at how a simple Springs is also quite stunning. instrument, the telescope, has fundamentally changed our understanding of our place in the universe. Hunting the Edge National Air and Space Museum (Sept. 2nd – 5th) of Space takes viewers on a global adventure of discovery, dramatizing the innovations in technology and the Another possible field trip could be to the Smithsonian achievements in science that have marked the rich history of National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. One possible time to take the trip is over the Labor Day holiday the telescope. Then NOVA turns its attention to a new nd generation of ever-larger telescopes, poised to reveal answers weekend. We could hit the road on Friday, September 2 .