Download october 2008 - Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society

IN THIS ISSUE:

Event Calendar, News Notes

Minutes: September meeting

MVAS Reminder: RAFFLE!

Observer’s Notes: LHIRES III SPECTROGRAPH

Almanac Alert: Oct - Nov 2008

MVAS Homework: The Andromeda Galaxy
Homework Charts: variable Mira, asteroid (4) Vesta

Constellation of the Month: Andromeda

November 2008 Sky Almanac

Gallery:
Meteorite Editor: Phil Plante
1982 Mathews Rd. #2
Youngstown OH 44514
OCTOBER 2008
OCTOBER 2008
NEWS NOTES
Newsletter of the Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society, Inc.
MVAS CALENDAR
OCT 18
MVAS meeting at MVCO. 8:00 PM.
OCT 25
Halloween Party at MVCO. 7:00 PM
NOV
New Moon weekend. Star party at MVCO
1
NOV 15
MVAS meeting at YSU. 8:00 PM.
DEC
Christmas Party, officer elections, raffle.
6
NATIONAL & REGIONAL EVENTS
OCT 16 - 19
97th Annual AAVSO Meeting, Nantucket, MA
http://www.aavso.org/
OCT 24-NOV 2
Chiefland Star Party, Chiefland Astr. Village,
Chiefland, FL
http://www.chiefland.org/
OCT 24 - 26
New Jersey StarQuest, Hope, NJ
http://www.princetonastronomy.org/
OCT 24 - 26
Stella Della Valley Star Party, Ottsville, PA
http://www.bma2.org/
YSU WARD BEECHER PLANETARIUM
OCT
17/18
OCT 24/25, 31
8 PM. Geology on a Roll
8 PM. Nightlights (Halloween show)
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
NOV. 13
8 PM. Jets From Black Holes in Quasars
By Dr. Alan Marscher, Boston University
MVAS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Trustee (Appointed)
Trustee (Appointed)
Trustee (Membership)
Sam DiRocco
Harry Harker
Steve Bartos
Phil Plante
Greg Higgins
Mike Boyer
Fred Boyer
OBSERVATORY STAFF
Observatory Director
Librarian
Greg Higgins
Rosemary Chomos
PUBLICATIONS STAFF
Meteorite Editor
Assistant Editor
MVAS Webmaster
Phil Plante
Steve Bartos
Harry Harker
MVAS REPRESENTATIVES
OTAA Representative
Harry Harker
MVCO, 1076 SR 534 NW, NEWTON FALLS, OH 44444
MVAS Homepage- http://mvobservatory.com
OCTOBER 2008
Tiny Dancers. NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has photographed
several dust devils dancing across the arctic plain the week of
Sep 8. It had also sensed a dip in air pressure as one passed
near the lander. These dusty whirlwinds had been expected but
none had been seen until now. A total of 29 images were taken
at the time and at least six dust devils were recorded. They
ranged in size from 7 foot in diameter to 16 foot. The swirling
winds pose no threat to the lander as it is very rigid and the
solar panels, once deployed, became a tension structure. These
artic dust devils are much smaller than those spotted by MER
Spirit which is closer to the Martian equator.
Spotting a cycle? This past September 22, a new sunspot was
seen breaking out on the sun. It was a fast-growing active
region with two dark cores, each larger than Earth. The
magnetic polarity of the sunspot identifies it as a member of the
new Sunspot Cycle 24. Because 2008 had so many blank suns,
some observers wondered if the Sun would ever climb out of the
deep solar minimum that seemed to continue well beyond
expected time frames. The new sunspot was a good sign that
the 11-year solar cycle is indeed progressing, albeit slowly.
Earlier, on January 4, 2008, the first reverse polarity sunspot
(AR10981) was seen- indicating the start of Cycle 24. But things
have been quiet since then. Cycle 24 is expected to reach Solar
Max sometime in 2011 or 2012.
Rays from the hey-days. Gamma-ray bursts are the most
luminous explosions in the universe. Most occur when a
massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and their core collapses
into a black hole or neutron star. Gas jets, punch through the
star and blast into space where they strike gas previously shed
by the star. It heats up generating a bright afterglow. At 1:47
a.m. EDT on Sept. 13, 2008, NASA’s Swift satellite found the
most distant gamma-ray burst ever detected. The blast,
designated GRB 080913, arose from an exploding star 12.8
billion light-years away in the constellation Eridanis. Within 2
minutes, Swift sent an alert to ground based observers using
the 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory
in La Silla, Chile. A group led by Jochen Greiner at the Max
Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching,
Germany, captured the bursts fading afterglow as a fading,
previously unknown X-ray source. “This is the most amazing
burst Swift has seen," said the mission's lead scientist Neil
Gehrels at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md. "It's coming to us from near the edge of the visible
universe." GRB 080913's "look-back time" reveals that the
burst occurred less than 825 million years after the universe
began.
PBS TV Reminder: THE JOURNEY TO PALOMAR.
This is the story of American astronomer George Ellery
Hale’s dramatic public and private struggle to build the four
largest telescopes in the world. These scopes set the stage for
astronomy and space exploration throughout the 20th century.
More than five years in the making, the documentary traces
Hale’s lifelong struggle to build these great instruments,
culminating with the million-pound telescope on Palomar
Mountain— the most famous telescope in the world.
Show time: Mon. November 10, 2008, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET
THE METEORITE
pg. 1
MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER MEETING
SEPTEMBER 20, 2008 at the MVCO
President Sam DiRocco called the meeting to order at 8:00 PM
with members assembled in the 16” building. Roll Call was
taken with 21 members giving the password. Two guests were
on hand; Bill Pearce of Canfield and Bill Neff who saw our
meeting posted on the website. The Bartos family and Dominic
Mattuissi also joined in the activities. A call for the reading of the
previous minutes (July and August) were suspended on a
motion from Bill White and a second by Allen Heasley. These
minutes were then accepted by a unanimous voice vote.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer's Report was given by
Steve Bartos. The report was accepted on a motion from Bill
White and second from Allen Heasley. R. J Pandian noted that
the amount of the out house pumping expense in the July report
seemed to be in error. This was a typographic error with a
misplaced decimal point. The actual cost was $170.00 and not
$1700.00 as was published. Thanks to Pandian for spotting this.
The MVAS ledger will/already reflect this correction.
General Fund
OPENING BALANCE:
CLOSING BALANCE:
AVAILABLE FUNDS:
7/1 thru 7/31 2008
$ 4,993.05
$ 5,415.28
$ 5,185.28
INCOME:
OTAA REGISTRATION
OTAA RAFFLE
DONATION (G. HIGGINS)
INTEREST
TOTAL INCOME
$
$
275.00
1,082.00
3.06
1.18
1,361.24
EXPENSES:
CK# 2660 OBERWERK 20X80 BINOCULAR
$
2670 MVCO RENT 2008-2009 (SPRAGUE)
CASH RED LIGHTS
CASH WEED AND GRASS (LAWN CARE)
CASH PROPANE
(*G. Higgins took $120 in raffle tickets for reimbursement)
TOTAL EXPENSES
$
315.95
500.00
74.07*
36.99*
12.00*
939.01
Reserved Funds
KEY DEPOSITS
$ 230.00
CORRESPONDENCE: There was no outstanding mail
received. Harry Harker noted a spike in interest in the MVAS via
website contacts. About nine individuals expressed interest but
most seemed that they would wait until we meet at YSU to
attend a meeting. Greg reminded the membership that there is
a forum on the MVAS website and hoped that members would
start using it. This could provide more interaction and discussion
amongst members. This led to a discussion on possibly using
the forum to announce the PDF Meteorite. No changes are
planned at this time.
COMMITTEE/OFFICER REPORTS: OAD FUND: A report from
Tony Mehle was given. The Wells Fargo Money Market Fund
closed September 19 with a balance of $3,882.38. This is up
$6.18 since the last report. Current 7 day yield was also up at
2.47%. There was a brief discussion on the security of this
investment, due to the current economic failures and
government bail-outs. It is presumed the investments are
insured up to $100,000.
OBSERVATORY DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Greg said there was
nothing new to report other than the 50” mirror blank is on the
OCTOBER 2008
“porch” next to the entrance to the 16” building. Persons should
be aware of this as it is easy to trip over in the dark.
OLD BUSINESS: Bill White asked if the MVAS would still
consider a public event at Sam’s Club. He was given the ok to
set up a date, sometime after the October meeting. This would
be a daytime session. Bill will let us know when he has a
confirmed date. Sam next thanked all those that helped get the
50” to the MVCO. These included Jodi, Roy, Allen, Mike, Fred,
Harry and a special thanks to Bill for letting us use his trailer to
haul it. The grinding machine it was on was disassembled (by a
few non-members) and sold as scrap steel as it was just too big
for storage at the MVCO. MVAS received $115 from this
activity. There were also two vacuum chambers at Walter’s, one
containing mercury. Bill took these assuming for his own
purposes, assuming they were home-built and that the MVAS
didn’t want them. Bill would’ve dealt with the mercury. However
it turned out they were high grade commercial units, 12” to 16”
chambers and they have been posted for sale.
Sam sent a word of thanks to Walter Mackey for letting the
team tear out part of a wall to load the mirror onto the trailer.
This was rebuilt the next day. Mike Boyer moved, Bill White
seconded, that Sam be reimbursed $73.95 for materials used in
the rebuild. All were in favor, Sam will be paid. Greg reminded
everyone that AstroBlast in Oil City, PA would start next week
and that he would be leaving for there on Tuesday. He
encouraged everyone to come up for a few days. Vendors and
prizes would be part of the event. A 13mm Ethos ($660)
eyepiece would be the grand prize. It was noted that we have
our last Scenic Vista public night the next weekend. The long
range weather outlook for the coming week looked promising for
both AstroBlast and Scenic Vista.
Sam reminded members to start getting serious about selling
your Christmas raffle tickets as there are only a few months left.
It was decided that we should try to sell tickets at the YSU
planetarium on Friday night Oct. 17, the night before the next
meeting. If we have permission, of course.
NEW BUSINESS: Steve Bartos had order forms for the
Astronomy Magazine 2009 calendar. As was planned, we will
only order the amount needed to cover those expressing
interest in buying one. Twenty members present requested one,
therefore 20 will be ordered. Price to be set (~$7). No word yet
on the RASC Handbooks. Steve will contact them. Again, MVAS
will only purchase the number needed to fill demand. Please
decide now, before the October meeting if you want one and be
sure to relay this information to an officer or to better yet,
directly to Steve. No price available as of this printing.
Two new members have joined the ranks. Bob Danko
nominated his daughter, Stacey. She is a college student in
Florida and needed to join an astronomy club as part of her
course work. She chose MVAS. Dues have been paid for the
remainder of this year and 2009. Our guest Bill Pearce was
nominated by Bill White and Greg Higgins for membership. Bill
hails from Canfield and has been active in astro-imaging. Dues
have been paid for 2008-09. Both candidates were accepted as
members. Welcome to the MVAS, Stacey and Bill.
Speaking of candidates, Dan Schneider reminded us that
this is an election year for the four officers and we will need two
trustee positions filled. Please consider one of these spots, toss
your name in the ring, and let an officer know. (A nominating
committee should be formed at the next meeting -sec). The
Trustees decided to have the 2008 Christmas Party/meeting at
Wrangler’s Restaurant as we have had since the mid 1990’s.
THE METEORITE
pg. 2
Same menu. There were no objections to this. Phil will contact
them and make the reservations soon (lemon squares).
GOOD OF THE SOCIETY: Don Durbin has donated a 2”
Crayford focuser for use on the 12.5” scope or for what ever use
the MVAS see fit. Thanks Don! Looks like a fine focuser.
Rosemary spoke about the Kovac Planetarium she visited on a
trip to Monico, Wisconsin. The planetarium was hand painted
over five years providing a very realistic view of the night sky.
She recommend that anyone going to that area be sure to stop.
Well worth it. Rosemary noted the refrigerators will cleaned out
and shut down after the Halloween Party. Take your stuff home.
VISUAL REPORTS: Phil Plante had 8 vso’s so far. Chris
Stephan in Florida had 162 vso’s. Rich Mattuissi and family had
been looking at Sagittarius. Don Durbin used a new Baader 2”
UHCs filter for imaging. Supposedly blocking all but the OIII and
H-alpha band passes. Jodi and Roy made it to the Black River
OTAA. It was a clear night but the legendary fog rolled in from
the cemetery. Good food there; about 60 people showed up.
ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 8:59 PM. Thanks is
given to Dan Schneider the great sandwich tray and soda.
Thanks to Pandian for the very tasty lemon rice, and to
Rosemary for the cookies we had for dessert. With clearing
skies it was unusual that no observing was done. Members
talked shop and enjoyed the food. Next meeting is at the MVCO
on October 18, at 8:00 PM. Harry Harker is host. PASSWORD:
A fall constellation and its brightest star. -minutes by P. Plante
REMINDERS: MVAS
Well gang, we have had raffle tickets out there since April.
NOW….there is only a few months left until the drawing. In the
past, we’ve always said that if you can’t participate at work
sessions or at public events, this is one way you can contribute.
Please sell your tickets. MVAS is counting on you!
Observer‘s Notes..…
LHIRES III SPECTROGRAPH
Lhires III is a spectrograph optimized for high-resolution
spectroscopy with amateur-sized telescopes. LHIRES is an
acronym for Littrow High Resolution Spectrograph. A
spectroscope is used to observe spectra. A spectrograph is
used to image spectra.
This spectrograph can be connected to popular SCT of
200mm to 300mm diameter. It can also be connected to most
other standard types of telescopes, including refractors and
Newtonians, provided that these instruments are slower than
f/8, in order to collect enough light. It has grating with 2400
grooves per mm. A neon calibration lamp is also integrated in
the spectrograph for reference emission line comparison. You
can attach any type of imaging camera and a second guide
camera.
This sophisticated product is easy to use visually, when
observing the spectra of the Sun. On a sunny day, I observed
the thick dark Frauenhofer absorption lines of H-alpha in the
red, sodium in the yellow and magnesium in the green portion of
the solar spectrum. There were also hundreds of thin lines of
different solar elements and additional elements in the
atmosphere of the Earth. This summer, I shared my Lhires III
spectrograph at several local northeast amateur astronomy star
parties. There was an extremely positive response from the
OCTOBER 2008
amateur astronomers, who observed the solar spectra through
this product.
Spectroscopy is like archeology or a criminal case study.
With clues included in spectra, an astrophysicist tries to go back
to the root of the phenomena. Before the discovery of
spectroscopy, stars were just points of light. Almost all
professional observations are done today in spectroscopy.
Large telescopes are equipped with powerful spectrographs to
analyze celestial objects. Now spectroscopy is evolving within
the amateur astronomy community. High resolution
spectroscopy, the message from the stars, is now accessible to
you through a Lhires III Spectrograph.
The Lhires III Spectrograph is used to take images of the
spectra of stars and other celestial objects, with a camera. You
can determine the chemical composition and metallicity of stars.
Population I stars like the Sun are rich in metal (i.e. non
hydrogen or helium atoms). Population II stars are poor in metal
and very old. You can show evidence of the Doppler effect of
red shift expansion movement, temperature, stellar density /
pressure, spectral double stars, carbon stars and Wolf-rayet
stars. When you take an image of a planet or star that rotates
quickly, you will notice that the Frauenhofer lines are slanted
instead of perpendicular. Several amateur astronomers held
their digital cameras over the eyepiece and took images of the
solar spectra. This is not your father’s spectrograph!
I have owned several grating and prism spectroscopes since
1990. I started with a Fred Flintsone product and advanced to a
Pebbles Flintsone, George Jetson and Elroy Jetson. The Lhires
III is a Great Grandson of Elroy Jetson!!!
Ralph Marantino and Chuck Higgins told me about a French
astronomy club, who was selling a spectrograph kit several
years ago. However, these kits were sold out, when Chuck
decided to buy the kit. Last year, they told me that this Lhires III
product was now being manufactured by Shelyak Instruments in
France. I picked up my Lhires III Spectrograph at the NEAF
Northeast Astronomy Forum 2008. NEAF is co sponsored by
Sky and Telescope and the Rockland Astronomy Club
(rocklandastronomy.com). NEAF is the world’s largest trade
show of amateur astronomy products. At NEAF 2008, I talked to
Olivier
Thizy
([email protected]),
of
Shelyak
Instruments (http:www.shelyak.com). Shelyak instruments also
manufacturers the Lhires Lite spectroscope. This is a less
expensive, sturdy educational spectrograph, for safely
observing the solar absorption spectra. Educators can also use
this product to observe the emission spectra of street lights and
Geisler tubes filled with various gas elements. You could attach
a video camera or other imaging camera to the Lhires Lite.
You can purchase the Lhires III for $3,295.00, or the Lhires
Lite
for
$1,395.00,
from
Adirondack
Astronomy
www.astrovid.com Toll Free: 1 877 348 8433
Info Line: 1 518 747 4141 FAX Line: 1 518 747 4422.
The Lhires III Spectrograph was designed to image spectra
of stars. I observed the bright emission spectra of street lights.
Unfortunately, I have not yet observed the spectra of a star at
night through this product. I was unable to find any amateur
astronomer, who would allow me to attach this product to their
SCT. A photon-deprived amateur astronomer, who travels long
distances to attend a star party at a dark site, usually has an
observing plan. If I visit Hawaii, I will bring my Lhires III to the
Keck Telescopes and ask the professional astronomers if I can
attach this ultimate spectrograph to their ultimate telescope.
- Barlow Bob, NY (From Barlow Bob’s Corner)
THE METEORITE
pg. 3
ALMANAC ALERT
The Orionid meteor shower peaks on Oct. 21 but a last
quarter moon will hinder observations. Still you could give it a try
around midnight with Orion low in the east. Look for a nice
grouping of the crescent moon, Venus and Antares in the SW
sky after sunset on Halloween Night, Oct. 31. The night before,
Vesta reaches opposition which means you can start following it
and Mira a few hours after sunset. On the evening of November
2nd, look for Jupiter 2.5° north of a fat crescent moon. Around
this date you should also find chi Cyg near maximum light of 5.2
magnitude. These are the last good weeks of comfortable
weather to hunt down Neptune and Uranus, low in the south in
Capricornus and Aquarius, respectively.
try for the brightest-- go for G1. Also known as Mayall II or
Andromeda's Globular, it was discovered in 1953 by the
astronomers Nicholas Mayall and Olin J. Eggen. G1 consists of
300,000 to 1 million old stars. It lies about 130,000 light years
away from its home galaxy M31. From our perspective this
globular cluster appears to lie outside M31. Its angular distance
is 2.5 degrees away from the central core. It has an apparent
magnitude of 13.7 making it is the brightest known globular
cluster outside of the Milky Way. It has an absolute magnitude
of -10.9 magnitude which is approximately twice as bright as
Omega Centauri (NGC 5139). G1 looks like a very faint, small
fuzz ball forming a triangle with two nearby star. A note for those
wishing to plot their own star chart: G1 is listed in the Hubble
Guide Star Catalogue as a non-stellar object with the
designation GSC 2788:2139.
MVAS Homework: The Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy is a naked eye object under dark
skies, appearing as a smudge of misty light. In Ohio, it will pass
overhead (exactly for the MVCO area) as it crosses the
meridian. Binoculars help render its oval shape much better.
Switch to a telescope and the oval shape becomes apparent.
With bigger (8” and over) scopes, you should be able to see the
two dark dust lanes cutting across the length of the galaxy. They
are on the opposite side of the core from M32 (see below). The
soft glow seems to make an abrupt drop in brightness along the
dust lane edge. This is your clue that it is there. The inner lane
is the easier to detect but can be seen in scopes as small as 6”.
These lanes are probably the easiest visual feature to make out
in M31, outside of the bright core.
Two satellite galaxies attend Andromeda- M32 and M110. A
3” scope can easily spot M32 but M110 may need bigger glass
and darker skies. What do you find with your scope? Check the
constellation chart in this issue or use your own favorite atlas to
find their locations relative to the core of M31. Deep images
show M31 extending just over 3 degrees in length but visually
you may only see half that. On some charts M32 seems
imbedded in the galaxy- but at the eyepiece it seems very well
separated from the main body of M31. This just illustrates how
dim and feathered-out the stars get near the edge of M31. Just
be warned (especially newbie’s) that the chart outline of the
galaxy will be bigger than what you see in the sky. Can you
follow the dim glow of these edge stars out to where your atlas
plots the edge of M31? Can you spot a few very faint specklelike stars embedded in the galaxy’s glow? There is a madness
to this method. It’s time to explore another galaxy!
M31 has its own collection of clusters, nebula and dust lanes.
Trouble is they are 2.36 million light years away with the rest of
the galaxy. Therefore they appear tiny in the eyepiece and very
dim. But a couple can be seen in moderately sized telescopessay a 10 incher or bigger. Let’s try for a few, shall we?
Observers with medium-sized scopes can try locating NGC
206. This is the brightest star cluster within M31. It is located
about 40’ southwest of the core of the galaxy. NGC 206
contains very hot OB stars of about 20 million years of age. This
star cluster appears as a faint glow within the body of M31. Try
using averted vision while placing the nucleus of M31 outside
the field of the eyepiece. This may help make NGC206 more
visible against the galaxy glow. Use as high a magnification as
you can. With large telescopes, you may even be able to pick
out the faint dust lanes in its vicinity.
For those that have access to scopes 12” and up, here is a
good challenge. M31 has many globular clusters around it. Let’s
OCTOBER 2008
THE METEORITE
The top chart
shows the core
of M31 related to
M32 and the
variable star EG.
The bright star
above M32 is at
7th mag. Look
for NGC 206,
then 32 And. It
will
be
your
reference to get
to G1. Stars are
shown to 13.4
mag. on the G1
map. It forms a
triangle with 2
13th mag stars.
G1 shines at
13.7 magnitude.
Several
stars
are labeled with
their magnitude.
The 8.6 mag
star is about
1.5° west of 32
Andromedae.
pg. 4
HOMEWORK CHARTS
HOMEWORK - DUE NOVEMBER 2008
Variable star of the month: omicron Ceti (Mira). While you are
looking for Vesta in the head of Cetus, scan down to find Mira.
In early September it was around 9th magnitude. It is headed for
a maximum light in January. It should come into binocular range
by mid October. Watch it get brighter these next months as you
follow Vesta. Imagers have a nice project by documenting this
change with an image every week or so.
OBSERVER_________________________________
Use the circle below to represent the eyepiece field of view.
Please sketch (a pencil smudge) the approximate shape of M31
that you see in the eyepiece. Draw any stars you see as dots,
placing them as accurately as you can. You may photocopy
any homework sheet for use at the telescope. Be sure to
turn these in to the OD as they apply as credit towards the
Observer of the Year Award. Also, try to use some MVCO
scopes for your homework.
Andromeda Galaxy Observation:
Date:___________
Time(EDT)________ Scope (x) ______ _____x
Mira magnitude estimates:
Date:
Asteroid of the month: (4) Vesta. Once again we spy on 330
mile wide Vesta as it hovers near 7th magnitude. This is as
bright as any asteroid gets this year. An easy spot in binoculars
or finder scope as it moves out of the head of Cetus. Check it as
often as you can. We will follow it until January 2009. NASA’s
Dawn spacecraft is headed there right now. It will go into orbit
around Vesta in August 2011.
Time:
estimate:
Instrument:
_________
________
________
________
_________
________
________
________
(4) Vesta Observations:
Date:
Time:
Instrument:
magnification:
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
Other Objects Andromeda observe
Object Date
Scope
Object
Date
M-32
_______
______
π AND
_______
______
Y/N
N-891 _______
______
γ
_______
______
Y/N
N- 7662 _______ ______
AND
Σ 3048
Scope
Split?
_______ ______ Y / N
Lunar Occultations (see Sky Almanac):
Date (UT):
OCTOBER 2008
Time(UT):
Scope/magx Phenom (circle)
_________
________
_________ _____x
R D
_________
________
_________ _____x
R D
_________
________
_________
THE METEORITE
_____x R D
pg. 5
OCTOBER 2008
THE METEORITE
pg. 6
NOVEMBER SKY ALMANAC
2008
PLANET WATCH
Solar and Lunar (EST).
Date
1
5
9
13
17
21
25
29
Sunset
6
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
20
15
11
07
03
00
58
56
Uranus
Transits
Saturn
Rises
26p
8:10 PM
27p EST 7:12 PM
45a
7:17 PM
49a
7:22PM
57a
7:27 PM
47p
7:34 PM
23p
7:41 PM
15p
7:49 PM
9:58 PM
8:42 PM
8:26 PM
8:10 PM
7:54 PM
7:38 PM
7:23 PM
7:07 PM
3:37 AM
2:23 AM
2:09 AM
1:55 AM
1:40 AM
1:26 AM
1:12 AM
12:57 AM
Moonrise
Moonset
11
1
2
5
9
1
5
9
8
11
2
7
11
1
3
6
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
43a
18p
53p
07p
43p
16a
34a
27a
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
November
Venus
Sets
S
M
T
2008
W
T
F
S
1
2
EST
9
3
4
5
10
11
12
16
17
18
23
24
25
19
e
26
6
d
13
{
20
27
z
7
8
14
15
21
22
28
29
30
Asteroid for November 2008
Date
Rises
1
5
9
13
17
21
25
29
6
6
5
4
4
4
3
3
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
52
33
14
55
37
18
59
41
pm
pm
pm
pm
pm
pm
pm
pm
RA
hr. min
2 : 30.7
2 : 26.7
2 : 22.8
2 : 19.1
2 : 15.6
2 : 12.4
2 : 09.5
2 : 07.1
(at 11 pm)
Dec.
deg.
+ 03.5
+ 03.3 EST
+ 03.1
+ 03.0
+ 02.9
+ 02.9
+ 02.9
+ 02.9
Variable Star of the Month: omi CET
LUNAR OCCULTATIONS FOR
UT
Civil (24hr)
date
17
17
20
22
5
6
9
12
12
14
14
hr
6
7
4
6
22
22
24
1
21
5
22
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
min
57
04
40
11
08
51
37
26
00
55
23
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
sec
51
14
57
28
38
29
54
20
15
16
39
date hr
10
17
11
17
08
20
10
22
02
6
02
7
04
10
06
12
01
13
10
14
02
15
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
min
57
04
40
11
08
51
37
26
00
55
23
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
(4) VESTA
Date UT hr
Alt.
Azm
Magnitude
42º
133º
6.5
45º
139º
6.5
51
167º
6.6
52º
175º
6.6
52º
183º
6.7
51º
190º
6.8
50º
198º
6.9
49º
204º
7.0
(all above for 11 pm)
3.4 - 9.3 mag.
OCT-NOV
sec
Ph
51 Oct D
14
R
57
R
28
R
38 Nov D
29
D
54
D
20
D
15
D
16
R
39
R
Moon
% illum.
9191623949+
59+
87+
98+
100+
9895-
332 day period
00
00
04
04
09
04
07
10
22
12
00
3
3
4
6
8
12
13
18
19
27
30
Celestial Highlights
Jupiter 2.5º N. of Moon
chi Cyg near 5.2 max. mag.
Metis at opposition
FIRST QUARTER MOON
Saturn 0.5 S. of Amphitrite
N.Taurid meteors peak
FULL MOON
Moon 1.5º S. of Beehive
LAST QUARTER MOON
NEW MOON
Venus 2º N. of Jupiter
2008
Moon
alt
43º
42
64
54
20
24
43
52
37
30
32
Moon
azimuth
266º
268
119
123
222
225
230
243
93
279
82
Star
name
Maia
Celaeno
37 Gem
X Cnc
ZC 3071
ZC 3196
ZC 29
ZC 311
epsilon Ari
chi Tau
ZC 780
Star event
Mag. PA
3.9
131º
5.5
196º
5.7
283º
6.0v
232º
6.1
048º
6.3
105º
7.0
026º
6.6
048º
4.7
113º
5.4
239º
7.6
252º
db l./
sep.
.003"
.100"
NA
NA
0.43"
NA
NA
.030"
1.40"
19.6"
.050"
D= disappearance. Good occultation event.
d= disappearance, the star’s magnitude approaches the observing limits of 200mm objective
R= reappearance. Good occultation event
r= reappearance, the star’s magnitude approaches the observing limits of 200mm objective
All disappearances (D) occur on the eastern limb (left side in the sky).
Reappearances (R) alw ays occur on the w estern limb.
Position Angle (PA): tells w ere along the w est limb to w atch for a reappearance.
PA is referenced to celestial north: North=0º East=90º South=180º West=270º
Occultations computed using Occult v3.6 (I.O.T.A.)
OCTOBER 2008
THE METEORITE
pg. 7
GALLERY…..
A string of clear nights this past September provided the MVAS
Imaging Group with ample opportunity to take a few pictures.
They wasted no time as witnessed below. Most of these were
sent to the e-mail list but it is nice to compare them side by side
in the Gallery. ENJOY!
Using his new camera, Don captured the Dumbbell Nebula above. He
also tried the Ring Nebula. The image below is cropped from the
original for better placement on the page.
Don Durbin captured NGC7000 (above) while trying a new Baader Light
Pollution filter. He got a nice shot of Jupiter (below) - notice the Great
Red Spot.
Phil Plante caught the “Lunar Nebula” while experimenting with a
135mm telephoto and a 3x teleconverter.
OCTOBER 2008
THE METEORITE
pg. 8
Lou DiNardo aimed his photo gear at the great Hercules Cluste M-13 as
shown at top left. Lou shot a wide field image of the Dumbbell Nebula,
M27. This image was rotated 90 degees clockwise for a better fit to the
page.
Greg Higgins’ Andromeda Galaxy taken at AstroBlast 2008 using an
80mm refratctor. Greg’s Veil Nebula NGC 6992-95 is below.
OCTOBER 2008
Greg also imaged the western Veil Nebula component, NGC 6960.
Both Veil images taken at Astroblast.
THE METEORITE
pg. 9