1 Volume MMXVIII No. 1 January 2018 President: Mark Folkerts folkerts at seanet.com The Stargazer VP and Programs: Ron Mosher ron.mosher69 at gmail.net P.O. Box 13272 Treasurer: Roger Meisner Mill Creek, WA 98082 Web assistance: Mark Folkerts Newsletter co-editors Mark Simonson, Mark Folkerts marknilse at yahoo.com Intro Astro Classes Jack Barnes jackdanielb at comcast.net See EAS website at: Star party organizer Ron Tam tam1951 at frontier.net http://everettastro.org so needs to contact him in advance and confirm available dates, and let EAS BUSINESS… him know if plans change. “Our place is open for star parties any Saturday except weekends of the Full Moon. People can call to get weather conditions or to confirm that there is a star party. Our TH FEB EAS MEETING – SATURDAY FEBRUARY 10 , 3:00 PM, phone number is (360) 568-5152. They can e-mail me too AT EVERGREEN BRANCH LIBRARY, MEETING ROOM ([email protected]) but I don't check my email daily. They can email me for directions if they never have been out here.” The next EAS monthly meeting will be 3:00 pm Call Ron about unscheduled spur-of-the-moment observing. We try Saturday Feb 10th. There will be a video presentation. to hold informal close-in star parties each month during the spring, summer, and fall months on a weekend near the New moon at a member’s property or a local park. EAS meetings have speakers or presentations, and updates on calendar events and upcoming activities, and are open to the Western US Star Parties in 2018 public at no charge. Meeting is at the Evergreen branch of the Everett Public Library located at 9512 Evergreen Way. - Website 2018 Regional Star Parties · Directions Feb 12-18 2018 - SCAS Winter Star Party - Florida Keys, Marathon, FL PREVIOUS EAS MEETING RECAP http://www.scas.org/Home/winterStarParty Apr 14-21 OzSky Star Safari - Warrumbungles Mountain Motel - Asterosiesmology – Red Giants in Binary Systems – Dr. Merideth Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia - http://www.ozsky.org/ Rawls of UW Astronomy. Dr. Rawls covered how start ring with Apr 11-15 - Spring Camp Delany Star Party - many frequencies at the same time, and this pressure wave ringing can https://olympicastronomicalsociety.org/ be measured by measuring the brightness of the star accurately over an April 21, - Astronomy Day - World Wide extended continuous period of time. The brightness variations can https://www.astroleague.org/al/astroday/astrodayform.html then be used to extract what frequencies are present in the star, and May 6-13 - TSP Texas Star Party- near Fort Davis, TX https://texasstarparty.org/ these can be used to infer the mass of the star. May 24-28 -RTMC Astronomy Expo - Camp Oakes, Big Bear City, CA - Stars in binary systems can also be checked by traditional Doppler-shift http://rtmcastronomyexpo.org/ measurements and light-curves as the stars go through their orbits. May 10-13 - South Pacific Star Party (Australia) Wiruna - ASNSW's Premier Dark Then the two sets of results can be compared and contrasted, and used Sky Site - Ilford, New South Wales, Australia - http://www.asnsw.com/node/712 to refine the models of the system, and confirm calculations. Jun 9-16 - Grand Canyon Star Party - Grand Canyon National Park North and South Rims, Tusayan, AZ - http://tucsonastronomy.org/upcoming-events/grand- STAR PARTY INFO canyon-star-party/ Jun 13-16 - Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival - Bryce Canyon National Park - Scheduled EAS Star Parties at Ron Tam’s: Cedar City, Utah - https://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/astrofest.htm Currently planned beginning in March at Ron Tam’s place. JUN 13–17 - Rocky Mountain Star Stare - Starry Meadows, Gardner, CO - http://rmss.org/ EAS member Ron Tam has offered a flexible opportunity to EAS Jul 11-15 - Golden State Star Party - Frosty Acres Ranch, Adin, CA - members to come to his home north of Snohomish for observing on http://goldenstatestarparty.org/ clear weekend evenings and for EAS star parties. Anyone wishing to do 2 June - Craters of the Moon Star Party - Craters of the Moon National Monument, March 2018 Astro Calendar Arco, ID - http://www.ifastro.org/ Mar 10 - EAS Meeting – Evergreen Branch Library – 3:00 pm Jul 14, Aug 11 - Julian Starfest - Menghini Winery, Julian, CA - Mar 11 - Saturn 2.2°S of Moon http://www.julianstarfest.com/ Mar 17 - New Moon Jul 14-15 - CWAS AstroFest - CSIRO Parkes Observatory's Visitors Centre, Parkes, Mar 20 - Mar Equinox Central West of NSW, Australia - http://www.cwas.org.au/astrofest/ Mar 22 - Aldebaran 0.9°S of Moon Jul - RASCals Star Party - Metchosin Cricket Field, Victoria, BC Aug 4-12 - Mt. Kobau Star Party - Mt. Kobau, Osoyoos, BC - April 2018 Astro Calendar http://www.mksp.ca/ Apr 16 - New Moon Aug 3-12 - The Queensland Astrofest - Lions Camp Duckadang, Linville, Apr 22, 23 - Lyrids Meteor Shower Queensland, Australia http://www.qldastrofest.org.au/ Apr 29 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation Aug 7-11 - Table Mountain Star Party - Eden Valley Ranch, Oroville, WA - http://www.tmspa.com/ May 2018 Astro Calendar Aug 7-12 - Oregon Star Party –Ochocco NF, OR - http://oregonstarparty.org/ May 6, 7 - Eta Aquarids Brothers Star Party - May 9 - Jupiter at Opposition http://oregonobservatory.org/visit-the-observatory/our-program/bsp.html May 13 - Mercury 2.4°N of Moon May 15 - New Moon September - Cathedral Gorge Star Party & Campout, Cathedral Gorge State Park, Panaca, NV – http://www.lvastronomy.com/index.php/events/upcoming-events Jun 2018 Astro Calendar Sep 8-15 - Merritt Star Quest - Loon Lake Road, Merritt, BC, Canada - http://www.merrittastronomical.com/ Jun 01 – Haybusa-2 reaches asteroid Ryugu https://tockify.com/fvascalendar/detail/59/1536390000000 Jun 13 - New Moon Jun 21 - Jun Solstice Sep 7-9 - SW Astronomy Festival - Cedar Breaks NP, Southern UT/Northern AZ, Jun 27 - Saturn at Opposition Cedar City, Utah - https://www.nps.gov/cebr/planyourvisit/southwest- Jun 28 - Saturn 1.8°S of Moon astronomy-festival.htm Sep 7-9 - Alberta Star Party - Starland Recreation Area Campground. Drumheller, July 2018 Astro Calendar Alberta - http://calgary.rasc.ca/asp2018.htm Jul 06 - Earth at Aphelion: 1.01670 AU September - Idaho Star Party - Bruneau Dunes State Park Eagle Cove Jul 10 - Aldebaran 1.1°S of Moon Campground, Mountain Home ID - http://isp.boiseastro.org/ Jul 12 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation Sep 30, 2017 - Astronomy Day - World Wide - Jul 13 - New Moon https://www.astroleague.org/al/astroday/astrodayform.html Jul 27 - Mars at Opposition Oct 6-14 - Okie-Tex Star Party - Camp Billy Joe, Kenton, Oklahoma - Jul 28, 29 - Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower http://www.okie-tex.com/ Oct 6-13 - OzSky 'Southern Spring' Star Safari - OzSky Southern Spring dark sky August 2018 Astro Calendar observing site, Binda, NSW, Australia - http://www.ozsky.org/spring.asp Aug 11 - New Moon Oct 12-21 - Jasper Dark Sky Festival - Jasper National Park, Jasper, AB; Edmonton Aug 12, 13 - Perseids Meteor Shower AB, Alberta, Canada - https://jasperdarksky.travel/ Aug 17 - Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation Oct - Enchanted Skies Star Party (ESSP) - Cibola National Forest, Magdalena, NM Aug 17 – Osiris-rex spacecraft reaches asteroid Bennu Aug 26 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation Nov 1-4 – Nightfall - Palm Canyon Resort, Borrego Springs, CA - http://nightfallstarparty.com/ September 2018 Astro Calendar Nov 5-10 - Eldorado Star Party - X-Bar Ranch, Sonora, TX - http://eldoradostarparty.org/ Sep 7 - Neptune at Opposition Sep 9 - New Moon Sep 23 - Sep Equinox Other Star Party Info http://www.amsky.com/calendar/events/ October 2018 Astro Calendar Oct 8 - Draconids Meteor Shower 2018 ASTRO CALENDAR Oct 9 - New Moon Oct 21, 22 - Orionids Meteor Shower Oct 23 - Uranus at Opposition Jan 2018 Astro Calendar Jan 13 - EAS Meeting –– 3:00 pm - Asterosiesmology – Red Giants in Binary November 2014 Astro Calendar Systems – Dr. M.Rawls of UW Astronomy. Nov 5, 6 - Taurids Meteor Shower Jan 27 - Aldebaran 0.7°S of Moon Nov 6 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation Jan 31 - Total Lunar Eclipse - will be visible throughout most of western North Nov 7 - New Moon America, eastern Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean. 13:30 UTC Nov 17, 18 - Leonids Meteor Shower February 2018 Astro Calendar December 2014 Astro Calendar Feb 10 - EAS Meeting – Evergreen Branch Library – 3:00 pm Dec 7 - New Moon Feb 11 - Saturn 2.5°S of Moon Dec 13, 14 - Geminids Meteor Shower Feb 15 - New Moon Dec 15 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation Feb 23 - Aldebaran 0.7°S of Moon Dec 21 - Dec Solstice 3 OBSERVER’S INFORMATION… ISS – VISIBLE EVERETT PASSES ISS Visibility – Heavens Above: LUNAR PHASES http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.asp?lat=47.979&lng=- 122.201&alt=0&loc=Everett&TZ=PST&satid=25544 ASTRONOMICAL NEWS -- ‘TESS’ Mission to Discover New Planets Moves Toward Launch NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), shown here in a conceptual illustration, will identify exoplanets orbiting the brightest stars just outside our solar system. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center A NASA mission designed to explore the stars in search of planets outside of our solar system is a step closer to launch, now that its four cameras have been completed by researchers at MIT. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), due to launch in 2018, will travel through space, identifying more than 20,000 extrasolar planets. These will range from Earth-sized planets to much larger gas giants. TESS is expected to catalog a sample of around 500 Earth-sized and "super Earth" planets, or those with radii less than twice that of Earth. It will detect small rock-and- ice planets orbiting a diverse range of stars, including rocky worlds in the habitable zones of their host stars.