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September 2006 The Luz Observatory High Desert Astronomical Society Newsletter Uranus Solar Ecilpse CLUB EVENTS From an Astronomical news website, Universe Today, September 5th, 2006. Uranus, in the image to the right is a “never-before-seen” astronomical alignment of a moon traversing the face of Uranus, and its accompanying shadow. The white dot near the center of Uranus’ blue-green disk is the icy moon Ariel. The 700 mile diameter satellite is casting a shadow onto the cloud tops of Uranus. To an observer on Uranus, this would appear as a solar eclipse, where the moon briefly blocks out the Sun as its shadow races across Uranus’ cloud tops. Though such “transits” by moons across the disks of their parents are commonplace for some other gas giant planets, such as Jupiter, the satellites of Uranus orbit the planet in such a way that they rarely cast shadows on the planet’s surface. Uranus is tilted so that its spin Barnard’s Star 01 Sep--Public Observing at Lewis Center, 7:30pm 08 Sep--Planetarium Show at VVC, 7:00pm 15 Sep--Planetarium Show at VVC, 7:00pm 16 Sep--HiDAS Meeting at Lewis Center, 7:00pm 22 Sep--Public Observing at Lewis Center, 7:30pm 23 Sep-- axis lies nearly in its orbital plane. The planet is essentially tipped over on its side. During the course of its orbit around the Sun, first one pole and then the other is alternately illuminated. As a result, Uranus has extreme seasons during its 84-year orbit around the Sun. The moons of (continued on page 3) PARTY at The Deuels, dusk 06 Oct--Planetarium Show at VVC, 7:00pm 13 Oct--Public Observing at Lewis Center, 7:00pm This dim, magnitude 9.57, star is the next closest to our Sun after the Alpha Centauri system. It is located about 5.96 light-years away in the northernmost part of the constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder; just west of Cebalrai (Beta Ophiuchi) near coordinates (17:57:48.5 +04:41:36.2, ICRS 2000.0). The star was named after its discoverer, noted astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923), who found in 1916 that the star has the largest known proper motion of all known stars (10.3 arcseconds per year). This high apparent speed is the result of its proximity to the Sun as well as actual speed of travel through interstellar space. In fact, Barnard's Star is approaching Sol rapidly at 87 miles/second (313,000 mph) and will get as close as 3.8 light-years around 11,800 AD. A very cool and dim, main sequence red dwarf, Barnard's Star has less than 17 percent of the Sun’s mass, 15-20 percent of its diameter, about 4/10,000th of its visual luminosity, and between 10 and 32 percent of its abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen, known as "metallicity". (continued on page 3) High Desert Astronomical Society From the President September 2006 Who said summer was nearly over! It was 103 degrees today, September 3rd. Ok, so Fall officially begins on the 23rd. We will say goodbye to the globular clusters of summer and welcome in the constellation Orion and his dogs. Winter open clusters, the Great Orion Nebula and numerous other objects will begin to make their appearance, as will the chilly temperatures of Fall. Jupiter is on its last gasps as it is settling in the west. I guess we will have to be happy with Uranus and Neptune as viewable planets for the rest of the year. But that still leaves quite a lot of other catego- 2 www.hidasonline.com ries still to view. There are an abundance of double stars, open clusters, nebulae, along with a few asteroids and comets. There is always the Moon, if all else fails<g>. The Astronomical League has some projects to start which encompasses the above mentioned objects. Don’t let the cool temperatures of Fall and Winter sap you viewing pleasure. A few hours will get you hooked to the “off season” wonders. Keep looking up!! —GFW http://www.astroleague.org/index.html is their website. Drop by for a look. More to come in the future. Friday, September 8th is the JPL tour. For those that have signed up, we are going to meet at the McDonalds at the junction of Highway 138 and Interstate 15 below the Cajon Pass between 10am and 10:30am. We can get a jumpstart on the morning with some breakfast or coffee and leave as a group to JPL. In addition, our September 22nd trip to Mt. Wilson has had some sign ups to attend. If you would enjoy going, contact Gloria Johnson for information. I am not sure if any of our members have been there, but this is the clubs first trip since I have been a member. I am excited, because I would like to get a group together to “buy” time on a large scope. Just to see those faint objects that our scopes can’t reach. Elsewhere in the universe… —Gary Witt At the last HiDAS monthly meeting I forgot to let everyone know that Cliff Saucier donated several sheets of "Ruby-lith". This is a red plastic sheeting measuring 18" x 12" that can be cut to the size of your notebook computer screen and attached with a couple pieces of tape. Thanks to Cliff, we can save our night vision while accessing our computers. I will be leaving the pieces at the Observatory, so if you need one just ask. Again, thank you Cliff! —Sue Alley HiDAS Notes Reminder…...HiDAS Meeting….September 16th…...7:00pm September Astronomical Updates Mercury is not easily observable from the northern hemisphere this month. With each passing day, Venus sinks farther into the morning twilight. It disappears from view by the end of the September. Mars sets about 45 minutes after sunset. Soon after the middle of the month, the Red Planet is lost to northern observers until December. Jupiter is low in the southwest at twilight. The gas giant is 0.5 degree north of Alpha Librae on Sept 11 and 12. Click on http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/ planets/article_107_1.asp to determine transits of the central meridian by the Great Red Spot. The best chances for northern observers to have a final look at the GRS until Jupiter reappears in the morning sky at the end of the year are on the evenings of September 2, 5, 7, 10, and 12. Data on the Galilean satellites is available at http://skytonight.com/observing/ objects/javascript/3307071.html During September, Saturn climbs through the eastern morning sky. The Ringed Planet travels eastwards towards Regulus and is a bit fainter than in recent years, since its rings are now tilted less than 15 degrees from being edge- on. Uranus reaches opposition on Sept 5 and is visible to the unaided eye from dark sites. It is about 1.4 degree east of Lambda Aquarii (3.7mag) at the start of the month and ends the month only 0.5 degree away from this star. Neptune is positioned slightly more than one degree north-northwest of Iota Capricornii (4.3 mag) this month. “Dwarf Planet” Pluto is still fairly well placed in the southern sky in the early part of September. It lies approximately 0.75 degree to the southwest of Xi Serpentis (3.5 magnitude). Another “dwarf planet”, 1 Ceres (8.4 mag) will cross the border of the constellation Pisces Austrinus into Microscopium. During September, the periodic comet 4P/ Faye may brighten to ninth magnitude as it leaves Pisces and glides through the southern part of Aries. Comet 177P/ Barnard 2 is passing through Draco toward Cepheus. Although around 9 mag, the comet is very diffuse and will become increasingly harder to see next month. Asteroid 6 Hebe (8.5mag) moves southward through southwestern Capricornus this month. On the night of September 15, it passes between two seventh magnitude stars. High Desert Astronomical Society 3 www.hidasonline.com Uranus orbit the planet above the equator, so their paths align edge-on to the Sun only every 42 years. This transit has never been observed before, because Uranus is just now approaching its 2007 equinox when the Sun will shine directly over the giant planet’s equator. The last time a Uranian equinox occurred, when transits could have been observed, was in 1965. However, telescopes of that era did not have the image sharpness required to view satellite transits on Uranus. When Hubble was launched in 1990, the Sun was shining over Uranus’s far northern latitudes. Over the past decade Hubble astronomers have seen the Sun’s direct illumination creep toward equatorial latitudes and the moons’ orbits approach an edge-on configuration. Ariel, named for a mischievous airy spirit in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” is only one-third the size of Earth’s moon. Ariel is the nearest large satellite to Uranus. As Uranus approaches equinox, there will be additional eclipses by the large moons Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon, and by many smaller moons. Uranus Solar Eclipse continued Image credit: Lawrence A. Sromovsky of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Heidi B. Hammel of the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado, and Kathy A. Rages of the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California, created the color composite image from images at three wavelengths in near infrared light obtained with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys on July 26, 2006. Original Source: Hubble News Release Unlike our Sun, Barnard's Star appears to be an old star that formed before the galaxy became much enriched with heavy elements. Its high space motion and sub-Solar metallicity suggests that the star is an "intermediate Population II star", somewhere between a Halo and a disk star. Moreover, its low x-ray luminosity and presumed rotation period of 130.4 days also indicate that it is an old, inactive red dwarf. While the star may be as much as 11 to 12 billion years old, it may last another 40 billion years or more before cooling into a black dwarf. Although Barnard's Star was long thought to be a quiescent, old star, astronomers recently reported a flare that was observed in 1998, making it a surprising flare star. It has the variable star designation V2500 Ophiuchi. —Dave Meyer Barnard’s Star continued Reminder….Star Party...September 23th at The Deuels...dusk Launch preparations resumed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B on Thursday, August 31, as mission managers set September 6th as the new date for the launch of Atlantis on Mission STS-115 to the International Space Station. Liftoff time is 09:29 am PDT. However, the latest weather forecast have called for a 60% chance of thunderstorm activity with rain in the area that is critical for a “go for launch” scenario. With this mission, NASA is ready to get back to building the International Space Station, marking the first time in almost four years that a space station component has been added to the orbiting outpost. That also means the shuttle program is coming up on the most challenging space missions ever. During their three spacewalks, crew members of Atlantis will install the P3/P4 integrated truss and a second set of solar arrays on the space station, doubling the station’s current ability to generate power from sunlight and adding 17.5 tons to its mass. Atlantis Our September Star Party will be held at Larry and Patty Deuel's home in Hesperia. This from Patty— Hi -- we're easy to find. 18615 Lemon St., Hesperia----phone 949-6644 Lemon St. is halfway between Bear Valley Rd and Main St. We are about eight houses east of Peach Ave. on the south side of the street. From Bear Valley Rd head south on Peach Ave. and turn left at Lemon St. From Main St. head north on Peach Ave. and turn right on Lemon St. Just drive through the gates and we'll all be in the backyard. Lots of room for many vehicles and telescopes. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/ I hope everyone can make it, the is the sight where more information may be gleaned. —Sue Alley It has a downloadable PDF Press Kit about the Deuel's are fine hosts! mission, along with other items of interest and a NASA web-tv schedule. High Desert Astronomical Society 4 www.hidasonline.com Some of you may remember the June issue article about this amazing variable star. Well, I am here to tell you that it has surpassed expectations this year!! If you haven’t seen it, yet… don't miss it. Chi Cygni has been unusually bright! This famous variable was just starting to become visible in binoculars in mid-June. After the first week in July it was fairly easy to see without optical aid at its customary 5th magnitude. Then Chi, distinctly red, seemed to burst into action as it became brighter! The star typically ranges between fifth and thirteenth magnitude, but Chi Cygni brightened to a consistent 3.7 by the end of July. It has been 148 years since it was this bright, according to the well known amateur astronomer John Bortle. I did not miss that event. It was easy to quickly check every night by just looking to Cygnus. However, by mid-August it was noticeably dimmer than eta Cygnii (4.0mag), as expected. Chi Cygnii is now approaching 5th magnitude, but should be visible in binoculars at least to the end of the month. Follow it and let us know when you can no longer easily catch it in binoculars. http://skytonight.com/observing/highlights/3512306.html —G Witt Chi Cygni, Variable Star Revisited During September the Zodiacal Light, or false dawn, can be seen about two hours before the sun rises. What is Zodiacal Light? It is a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow seen in the night sky which appears to extend up from the vicinity of the sun along the ecliptic or zodiac. In mid-northern latitudes, the zodiacal light is best observed in the western sky in the spring after the evening twilight has completely disappeared, or in the eastern sky in the autumn just before the morning twilight appears. It is so faint that it is completely masked by either moonlight or light pollution. The zodiacal light decreases in intensity with distance from the Sun, but on very dark nights it has been observed in a band completely around the ecliptic. In fact, the zodiacal light covers the entire sky, being responsible for 60% of the total skylight on a moonless night. There is also a very faint, but still slightly increased, oval glow directly opposite the Sun which is known as the gegenschein. Ok, would someone like to look that one up and let us all Image credit: Tony and Daphne Hallas know what it is at the meeting. Did you know ? On August 26th we finally got a very good night for a star party! Twenty eight people (plus Mike and Tony’s 2 dogs, whose names escape me) came out to the Landfill South observing site to enjoy the night sky. While Harold and Gloria Johnson were working on their Constellations about 8:45, Harold noticed in the north, a big beautiful bolide. He shouted and pointed in the direction in time for most to see it. It most likely hit the ground somewhere north of Barstow! There were so many objects to look at, one hardly knew where to start. Neptune through Dave Meyer's Celestron 14” scope was a beautiful turquoise dot, very pretty. There were four 10” dobs, Dave Flowers, Cliff’s, Sue’s and Gary’s. Tony had his 12.5” Aldebaran dob and Gary his 16” truss dob. We had two guests bring their 4.5” telescope for assistance in learning to operate them. Tony was instrumental in that assistance to both guys. I know they appreciated the help. Thanks, Tony. Other guests included two friends of Cliff’s from San Bernardino who enjoyed our skies as well. One of them, Chris, was fascinated to see the Andromeda Galaxy with binoculars, and kept practicing in hopes of being able to learn the path to finding it on his own. The evening was great, the sky was dark, the Milky Way was stretched across the stars and just a gentle breeze made it comfortable. Many objects were chased through the heavens, M13 was absolutely gorgeous as were the Lagoon (M8), the Wild Duck cluster (M11), to name a few. Dave Meyer was chasing Barnard’s Star to get a photo of it with his digital Canon 20Da camera. Some new objects were sighted, one being the Helix Nebula in Aquarius. Cliff and Gary viewed that with an OIII filter and it was a sight to behold. Similar to M57, the Ring Nebula, but at least 10 times larger. I heard that Gary was the last to give in, along with Grant Gemel, packing up around 2:30am, as I had left around 11:00pm. —Dusty Star Party Report High Desert Astronomical Society www.hidasonline.com 5 HIGH DESERT ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY at THE LEWIS CENTER HiDAS Star Party Site N HiDAS Star Party Site Alternate Yucca Loma entrance is a little rough, but shorter. HiDAS 2005 Board Members Contact List OFFICERS CHAIRPERSONS Gary Witt President 240-4422 Harold Johnson Vice President 868-2001 Judy Pollner Secretary 247-4785 Larry Deuel Treasurer 949-6644 Dave Meyer Lewis Center Liaison/Publicity 245-8020 Gloria Johnson Gary Witt Sue Alley Patty Deuel Sue Alley Steve Carey Bob Schuette Tim Baggerly Anthony Rogers Brian Hotchkiss Speaker Programs/Events Coordinator Newsletter Star Party Coordinator Historian Astronomical League Coordinator Member at Large Member at Large Member at Large Member at Large Member at Large 868-2001 240-4422 221-2939 949-6644 221-2939 741-9312 949-2199 242-2321 885-2807 553-6395 JUST A REMINDER . . . . . . The month and year (ex: 04/06) your HiDAS membership expires is shown in the upper right corner of your address label. -------------------------------------------HIGH DESERT ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP/RENEWAL APPLICATION DATE:____________________ NAME: _________________________________________________________ PHONE:____________________________ ADDRESS:______________________________________________________ EMAIL:____________________________ CITY:_____________________________ STATE:______ ZIP:____________ NEW MEMBER RENEWAL MEMBERSHIP TYPE: STUDENT $10 INDIVIDUAL $15 FAMILY $20 (Does NOT include magazine subscriptions) MAGAZINE REQUEST: SKY & TELESCOPE $32.95 ASTRONOMY $34.00 NIGHT SKY (Bi-monthly) $17.99 (Magazine requests are optional) DONATION TO HiDAS ENDOWMENT: _________________ Note: If you wish to claim your contribution to the endowment on your income taxes, please write a separate check to: High Desert Partnership in Academic Excellence MAY HiDAS USE YOUR APPLICATION INFORMATION FOR THE HiDAS ROSTER? YES Please clip and mail this form, along with your payment (make checks payable to HiDAS), to: High Desert Astronomical Society, 17500 Mana Road, Apple Valley, California 92307 NO www.hidasonline.com October 2006 17500 MANA RD. HIGH DESERT ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY September 2006 6 APPLE VALLEY, CA 92307 High Desert Astronomical Society