JANUARY 2019 UPCOMING EVENTS Wednesday, January 9 - Regular PAC meeting @ 6:30 PM at Touchmark Grand Lodge, 3180 Touchmark Blvd., Prescott, across from the Gateway Mall. John Carter will present “The Birds and the Bees, and other bedtime astronomy stories.” We will discover the wildlife of astronomy as John walks us through the heavenly garden to reveal the nocturnal mysteries that lie hidden in plain sight. A short astronomy video, “Desert Moon," will also be shown prior to the break. 2019 OFFICER AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS The election of officers and at-large directors for 2018 was held at the regular meeting of members on November 7, 2018. The following members were elected: President: John Carter At-large Director: Adam England Vice President: Open At-large Director: Sal Jordano Secretary: Dennis Eaton At-large Director: Greg Lutes Treasurer: Jeff Stillman At-large Director: John Baesemann There is a candidate for the open Vice President position; this will be discussed and voted on at the January 9th regular meeting. ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE AWARDEES By Dennis Eaton Congratulatons to the Prescott Astronomy Club members for achieving their Astronomical League Outreach Awards. The awards were announced at the December general meeting: Basic Level (Five Events, 10 hours) – Jim McDowell, Dwight Willman, Sal Jordano, Corrine 1 Shaw, Greg Lutes. Stellar Level (Basic Level plus 50 Hours) – Joel Cohen, Jerry Shaw, Patrick Birck. This achievement for four of the awardees was acknowledged in the December 2018 Reflector magazine (see appendix). 2018 ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY By Dennis Eaton On December 12th our club celebrated its annual Christmas at the Bonn-Fire Restaurant in Chino Valley with about 39 members in attendance. Prior to the dinner, the members had a chance to socialize and share various astronomical stories. After dinner the Club presented its second annual awards. Director-At-Large Dennis Eaton and President Jeff Stillman presented the awards. Award recipients were: Super Nova Award: Jeff Stillman Nova Award: John Baesemann Exceptional Service Award: Corrine Shaw Certificates of Appreciation: Doug Tilley, Joel Cohen, David Viscio President’s Award: Starizona of Tucson. Special Thank You Gifts: Liz Dano, Kia Hurtley 2 3 JANUARY’S EVENING ECLIPSE AND MORNING CONJUNCTIONS By David Prosper Observers in the Americas are treated to an evening total lunar eclipse this month. Early risers can spot some striking morning conjunctions between Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon late in January. A total lunar eclipse will occur on January 20th and be visible from start to finish for observers located in North and South America. This eclipse might be a treat for folks with early bedtimes; western observers can even watch the whole event before midnight. Lunar eclipses takes several hours to complete and are at their most impressive during total eclipse, or totality, when the Moon is completely enveloped by the umbra, the darkest part of Earth’s shadow. During totality the color of the Moon can change to a bright orange or red thanks to the sunlight bending through the Earth’s atmosphere - the same reason we see pink sunsets. The eclipse begins at 10:34 pm Eastern Standard Time, with totality beginning at 11:41 pm. The total eclipse lasts for slightly over an hour, ending at 12:43 am. The eclipse finishes when the Moon fully emerges from Earth’s shadow by 1:51 am. Convert these times to your own time zone to plan your own eclipse watching; for example, observers under Pacific Standard Time will see the eclipse start at 7:34 pm and end by 10:51 pm. Lunar eclipses offer observers a unique opportunity to judge how much the Moon’s glare can interfere with stargazing. On eclipse night the Moon will be in Cancer, a constellation made up of dim stars. How many stars you can see near the full Moon before or after the eclipse? How many stars can you see during the total eclipse? The difference may surprise you. During these 4 observations, you may spot a fuzzy cloud of stars relatively close to the Moon; this is known as the “Beehive Cluster,” M44, or Praesepe. It’s an open cluster of stars thought to be about 600 million year old and a little under 600 light years distant. Praesepe looks fantastic through binoculars. Mars is visible in the evening and sets before midnight. It is still bright but has faded considerably since its closest approach to Earth last summer. Watch the red planet travel through the constellation Pisces throughout January. Venus makes notable early morning appearances beside both Jupiter and the Moon later this month; make sure to get up about an hour before sunrise for the best views of these events. First, Venus and Jupiter approach each other during the third full week of January. Watch their conjunction on the 22nd, when the planets appear to pass just under 2 ½ degrees of each other. The next week, observe Venus in a close conjunction with a crescent Moon the morning of the 31st. For many observers their closest pass - just over half a degree apart, or less than a thumb’s width held at arm’s length - will occur after sunrise. Since Venus and the Moon are so bright you may st1ill be able to spot them, even after sunrise. Have you ever seen Venus in the daytime? If you have missed Saturn this winter, watch for the ringed planet’s return by the end of the month, when it rises right before sunrise in Sagittarius. See if you can spot it after observing Venus’ conjunctions! Have you ever wondered how eclipses occur? You can model the Earth-Moon system using just a couple of small balls and a measuring stick to find out! The “yardstick eclipse” model shown here is set up to demonstrate a lunar eclipse. The “Earth” ball (front, right) casts its shadow on the smaller “Moon” ball (rear, left). You can also simulate a solar eclipse just by flipping this 5 model around. You can even use the Sun as your light source! Find more details on this simple eclipse model at bit.ly/yardstickeclipse The Night Sky Network program supports astronomy clubs across the USA dedicated to astronomy outreach. Visit nightsky.jpl.nasa.org to find local clubs, events, and more! NEWLY DISCOVERED DWARF PLANET IS THE MOST DISTANT KNOWN OBJECT IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM Dr. Michael West, Lowell Observatory's Deputy Director for Science Some exciting news: A trio of astronomers has announced discovery of the most distant object ever seen in the solar system. There's a Flagstaff connection too, as Northern Arizona University astronomer Chad Trujillo was part of the discovery team. 2018 VG18, nicknamed "Farout," is a dwarf planet that's nearly four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, and 120 times farther than Earth. At this enormous distance, it takes more than 1,000 years for Farout to complete one trip around the Sun. Farout was first spotted in images taken last month with the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, which you can see below. The dwarf planet's existence was confirmed by follow-up observations obtained in early December using the Magellan Telescope in Chile. Discovery image of 2018 VG18 taken by the Subaru Telescope on November 10, 2018 "All that we currently know about 2018 VG18 is its extreme distance from the Sun, its approximate diameter, and its color," says Dave Tholen, one of the co-discoverers. Evidence 6 suggests that the planet is about 300 miles in diameter and has a pinkish color indicative of an icy surface. It will take years to learn more about this distant icy world as it slowly meanders across the sky. Farout is unlikely to hold the distance record forever, however, as other undiscovered icy worlds might exist even further out. And another known dwarf planet, Sedna, follows a highly elongated path around the Sun that will eventually take it 30 (!) times farther away than Pluto. The scale of our system. The newly discovered dwarf planet 2018 VG18 is four times further from the Sun than Pluto. LET'S PARTY FOR JANUARY Astronomical objects for public (and private) star parties. by Fulton Wright, Jr. Flashy, deep-sky objects, visible in the middle of the month, at the end of astronomical twilight, 7:10 PM in January, (when it really gets dark). This list customized for Prescott, Arizona, should work well anywhere in the state, and be usable anywhere in the old 48 states. 7 Double Stars (2 or 3 stars, close together) Gamma Andromedae (Almach), Mag: 2.1 & 5.0, Sep: 10 arc-seconds R.A.: 2hr 5min, Dec.: +42deg 45' Gamma Arietis (Mesarthim), Mag: 3.9 & 4.6, Sep: 7 arc-seconds R.A.: 1hr 55min, Dec.: +19deg 23' Open Clusters (about 50 bright stars) M37 (NGC2099), Mag: 5.6, Size: 14arc-minutes R.A.: 5hr 53min, Dec.: +32deg 33' Double Cluster (NGC869 and 884), Mag: 5.3 and 6.1, Size: 18 and 18 arc-minutes, centers 28 arc-minutes apart R.A.: 2hr 22min, Dec.: +57deg 12' M 45 (Pleiades), Mag: 1.5, Size: 120 arc-minutes R.A.: 3hr 48min, Dec.: +24deg 10' Globular Clusters (about 200,000 dim stars) M2 (NGC7089), Mag: 6.5, Size: 16 arc-minutes R.A.: 21hrs 34min, Dec.: -0deg 45' M15 (NGC7078), Mag: 6.2, Size: 18 arc-minutes R.A.: 21hrs 31min, Dec.: +12deg 15' M79 (NGC1904), Mag: 7.7, Size: 10 arc-minutes R.A.: 5hrs 25min, Dec.: +24deg 31' Galaxies (about 200,000,000 very dim and distant stars) M31 (Andromeda galaxy with M32 & M110), Mag: 3.4 (7.9 & 8.0), Size: 180 x 70 arc- minutes (8 x 5 & 16 x 10) R.A.: 0hr 44min, Dec.: +41deg 22' M77 (Cetus A), Mag: 9.0, Size: 6 x 6 arc-minutes R.A.: 2hr 44min, Dec.: +0deg 4' Diffuse Nebulae (gas and dust lit by a nearby star) M42 (Orion Nebula), Mag: 3.7, Size: 85 x 60 arc-minutes R.A.: 5hrs 36min, Dec.: -5deg 26' 8 Planetary Nebulae (gas shell from exploding star, looks like Uranus in telescope) NGC1535 (Cleopatra's Eye), Mag: 9.4, Size: 0.8 arc-minutes R.A.: 4hr 15m, Dec.: -12deg 42' For additional information, see: www.dso-browser.com FOR SALE - MEADE 12 ½” STARFINDER DOBSONIAN The Prescott Astronomy Club is offering for sale a Meade 12 ½-inch Starfinder Dobsonian telescope and accessories.