THE OBSERVER OF THE TWIN CITY AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Volume 45, Number 9 September 2020 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 1«Editor’s Choice: Image of the Month – Sh2-199 2«President’s Note 3«Calendar of Astronomical Events – September 2020 3«New & Renewing Members/Dues Blues/E-Mail List 4«This Month’s Phases of the Moon 4«This Month’s Solar Phenomena 4«AstroBits – News from Around the TCAA 5«Gear Up for Solar Cycle 25 8«Detecting Methane in Jupiter’s Atmosphere 8«TCAA Image Gallery 11«September 2020 with Jeffrey L. Hunt 11«Renewing Your TCAA Membership 21«Online Public Talks for 2020 21«Waynesville Observatory Use Policy Statement 22«Benefits of TCAA Membership 26«TCAA Treasurer’s Report as of August 27, 2020 26«Did You Know? The TCAA is an affiliate of the EDITOR’S CHOICE: IMAGE OF THE MONTH – SH2-199 Astronomical League as well as its This month’s editor’s choice is by Tim Stone. Tim writes, “In the North Central Region. For more stretch of great weather last week, I put the 10-inch on Sh2-199 and information about the TCAA, be hammered away for four nights. Here's the result. 16x900HOS (Hα, certain to visit the TCAA website at OIII, and SII). Enjoy.” Sh2-199 (the Soul Nebula) is an emission http://www.tcaa.us/ nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. The nebula is about 6,500 light years from Earth. Like the Heart Nebula (Sh2-190), the Soul Visit http://www.astroleague.org for Nebula along with the surrounding nebulae comprise the W5 additional information about the network. Sh2-199 is embedded in the CAS OB6 star association. Astronomical League and its Similar to other massive star-forming regions, such as Orion and numerous membership benefits, Carina, W5 contains large cavities that were carved out by radiation including observing programs. and winds from the region's most massive stars. According to the theory of triggered star-formation, the carving out of these cavities Also, visit the NCRAL website at pushes gas together, causing it to ignite into successive generations http://ncral.wordpress.com for in- of new stars. formation about our North Central This image contains evidence for the triggered star-formation Region. Find out about the many theory. Scientists analyzing the photo have been able to show that benefits of your membership from the ages of the stars become progressively and systematically this site. younger with distance from the center of the cavities. Copyright © 2020 TCAA 1 All rights reserved. Vol. 45, No. 9 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers September 2020 PRESIDENT’S NOTE The OBSERVER August has been quite a month for us is the monthly electronic newsletter of Twin astronomers, at least in terms of weather. City Amateur Astronomers, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organiz- This past month has had some of the best ation of amateur astronomers interested in nights I’ve ever experienced, at least in my studying astronomy and sharing their hobby recollection. There were nights with seeing I with the public. only imagine in the American Southwest, with breathtaking transparency. Those TCAA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS nights, coupled with the absence of the President, Director, & Property Manager moon, are some I will not soon forget. th st Tim Stone 309-531-2401 The nights of the 18 through the 21 , I [email protected] got to bed no earlier than 3:30 AM, and the st Vice President & Director/Membership Coord. night of the 21 , I was out until dawn. I President Tim Tom Willmitch 309-846-2423 wanted to get an early spectrum of Stone [email protected] Betelgeuse, which has just cleared the morning twilight when it’s high enough to Treasurer & Director/Registered Agent photograph. Ahhh, the wonders of not having to work in the morning. Yes, I was Dave Osenga 309-287-0789 quite tired after those four nights, but exhilaration can carry me a long way, and I [email protected] maxed this one out! Assistant Property Manager/ALCor Saturday, the 22nd, I had the privilege of being a panel presenter to an American Scott Wade 309-310-2464 Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) Spectroscopy Workshop webinar. [email protected] This was one of my motivations for obtaining the Betelgeuse spectrum. Of course, 5th Director the AAVSO was keenly interested in Alpha Orionis last year as it was going through Sunil Chebolu 678-896-5967 its historic dimming, and I wanted to be able to show the spectrum to the attendees. [email protected] The point of the webinar was to encourage people to take the step into spectroscopy. Secretary/Historian/Editor I hope I was able to help someone decide to take their first step in this direction. Carl J. Wenning 309-830-4085 I say all that to encourage us all, once again, to engage or re-engage in our [email protected] wonderful hobby. Perhaps it has gotten a little stale for you over the years. There is Technology Coordinator/Assistant Editor so much more you can do. There are amateur organizations you can get involved Sandullah Epsicokhan 309-828-0227 [email protected] with, such as the Astronomical League, the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, and the AAVSO. These organizations have experts and observing Webmaster programs that will provide valuable data for real research, a very fulfilling role for us Lee Green 309-454-7349 [email protected] amateur astronomers. We can do things the pros cannot. Specifically, point our telescopes anywhere we want, any time we can. AL Observing Club Coordinator Lisa Wentzel unlisted number Like I did with those webinar attendees, I appeal to you to join forces with [email protected] amateur astronomers all over the world and do something great with your passion for the universe, if you aren’t already, that is! The OBSERVER Look up. See that? It’s the edge of the universe. Carl J. Wenning, Editor Submission deadline two days before Tim Stone the end of each month. TCAA President MEMBERSHIP DUES Individual Adult/Family $40 Full-time Student/Senior $25 (Senior status equals ages 60+) To join, send your name, contact info, and dues payment to Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., Normal, IL 61761-1471. Copyright © 2020 TCAA 2 All rights reserved. Vol. 45, No. 9 The OBSERVER of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers September 2020 CALENDAR OF ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS – SEP 2020 NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS MORNING PLANETS (9/15): Venus (♀), Mars (♂), and The following individuals have paid dues for new or Uranus (⛢) renewed memberships as of August 27, 2020. (Others who paid after that date will appear in the October 2020 EVENING PLANETS (9/15): Mercury (☿), Jupiter (♃), Saturn (♄), issue of The OBSERVER.) and Neptune (♆) Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! The following table gives the date and time (24-hour clock) of important astronomical events for this month. All events are New: Marc & Tracy Tiritilli given in Central Daylight Time. Renewing: N/A Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Day Time Event 02 00:22 FULL MOON DUES BLUES 05 23:42 Mars 0.0°S of Moon: Occn. If you have received a dues statement email along 06 01:31 Moon at Apogee: 405606 km with this issue of The OBSERVER, please send your dues 09 13:12 Aldebaran 4.2°S of Moon to Mr. Dave Osenga, TCAA Treasurer, 1109 N. Linden St., 10 04:26 LAST QUARTER MOON Normal, IL 61761-1471. Dues are currently $25 for seniors 10 18:05 Moon at Ascending Node (60 years of age and over) and $40 regular. 11 14 Neptune at Opposition UBSCRIBING TO THE MAIL IST 12 19:10 Venus 2.5°S of Beehive S TCAA E L 12 23:50 Pollux 4.3°N of Moon Welcome to the [email protected] group at Groups.io. 13 22:19 Beehive 1.8°S of Moon This is a free, easy-to-use group email service set up for 13 23:43 Venus 4.5°S of Moon the TCAA’s communication purposes. You can subscribe, 15 10:51 Regulus 4.3°S of Moon visit your group, read and post messages here: https://groups.io/g/tcaa 17 06:00 NEW MOON The email address for this group is [email protected]. 18 08:44 Moon at Perigee: 359081 km After you successfully subscribe, please add this email 18 22 Mercury at Aphelion address to your safe sender list in your email client’s 22 01:06 Mercury 0.3°N of Spica contacts, so emails from this list are not classified as junk 22 05:27 Antares 6.0°S of Moon mail. 22 08:31 Autumnal Equinox Once subscribed, you can set your subscription 23 07:33 Moon at Descending Node settings here: https://groups.io/g/tcaa/editsub. You can opt to receive all messages in individual emails, collections 23 20:55 FIRST QUARTER MOON of messages in a digest, a daily summary, or only special 25 01:46 Jupiter 1.6°N of Moon notices. If you do not wish to belong to this group, you 25 15:46 Saturn 2.3°N of Moon may unsubscribe by sending an email to tcaa+[email protected] This Calendar of Astronomical Events courtesy of Fred Espenak. If you have general questions about the group, email http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2020cst.html tcaa+[email protected]. For questions not answered there, contact the moderators of this group (Deva C., Tim S., and EVENING SKY MAP Carl W.) by emailing tcaa+[email protected].