Download June - Fort Worth Astronomical Society

Contact information:
Info Officer (General Info) – [email protected]
Website Administrator – [email protected]
Postal Address:
Fort Worth Astronomical Society
c/o Matt McCullar
5801 Trail Lake Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76133
Web Site: http://www.fortworthastro.org (or .com)
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3eutb22
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ftwastro
Yahoo! eGroup (members only): http://tinyurl.com/7qu5vkn
Officers (2015-2016):
President – Bruce Cowles, [email protected]
Vice President – Si Simonson, [email protected]
Sec/Tres – Michelle Theisen, [email protected]
Board Members:
2014-2016
 Mike Langohr
 Tree Oppermann
2015-2017
 Matt Reed
 Phil Stage
Cover Photo:
The Milky way as seen from the
backyard of FWAS member
Manny Lois in Ft Worth, Tx
on 5-13-2016.
Observing Site Reminders:
Be careful with fire, mind all local burn bans!
Dark Site Usage Requirements (ALL MEMBERS):
 Maintain Dark-Sky Etiquette (http://tinyurl.com/75hjajy)
 Turn out your headlights at the gate!
 Sign the logbook (in camo-painted storage shed. Inside the door on the lefthand side)
 Log club equipment problems (please contact a FWAS board member to
inform them of any problems)
 Put equipment back neatly when finished
 Last person out:
 Check all doors – secured, but NOT locked
 Make sure nothing is left out
The Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) was founded in 1949 and is a non-profit 501(c)3
scientific educational organization, and incorporated in the state of Texas. This publication may
be copied and distributed for free only. This publication cannot be uploaded or distributed into
any media unless it is in its original, full, unaltered, published form. All rights reserved by FWAS.
PAGE 2
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
In s id e th is is s u e:
Page
June Club Calendar
3
FWAS Elections Reminder
4
Young Astronomer News
5
Celestial Events
6
Interesting Objects
7
Abbreviations/Classifications
7
Cloudy Night Library
8
Constellation of the Month
10
Constellation Mythology
11
Monthly AL Observing Club
12
ISS Visible Passes for DFW
13
Monthly Planet Visibility
13
Monthly Sky Chart
14
Moon Phase Calendar
15
1st/Last Crescent/Ephem
16
Conjunctions:Lunar/Planet
7
Mercury/Venus Data
18
Visible Minor Planets
19-21
Jupiter Data
22
Saturn Data
23
Visible Comets
24/25
June Meeting Minutes
26/27
Fundraising/Donation Info
28
That’s A Fact
29
Full Moon Name
29
FW
AS
30
FWAS Fotos
Editor:
Shawn Kirchdorfer
Issue Contributors:
Matt McCullar
Kelly Beebe
Mike Jones
Manny Lois
JUNE 2016
J U N E 2 01 6
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
1
Thu
2
50th Anniversary (1966),
Surveyor 1,
Moon Landing
Fri
3
50th Anniversary
(1966), Gemini 9
Launch (Thomas
Stafford & Eugene
Cernan)
Sat
4
NM
70th Anniversary
(1946), Great
Eruptive Prominence of 1946
SATURN @ OPPOSITION
Moon Perigee: 361125.8 km
5
6
7
8
9
FWAS
APSIG
Meeting
Contact Jerry
Gardner for times
Antonin Becvar's 115th
Birthday (1901)
Joe Veverka's 75th
Birthday (1941)
12
FQ 13
14
15
Oliver Lodge's 165th
Birthday (1851)
Moon — Golden
Handle visible
Hermann Ganswindt's James Maxwell's 185th
160th Birthday (1856)
Birthday (1831)
19
20
Yanga Fernandez's
45th Birthday (1971)
16
17
FM 21
22
Robert Burnham, Jr.'s
23
40th Anniversary
(1976), Salyut 5
Launch (USSR
Space Station)
LQ 28
10th Anniversary
(2006), Scott Sheppard et al's Discovery of Saturn Moons
Surtur, Jarnsaxa,
Greip & Loge
15th Anniversary
5th Anniversary
(2011), Mark
(2001), DiscovShowalter's et al's
ery of SAU 060
Discovery of Pluto
Meteorite (Mars
Moon Kerberos
Meteorite)
29
Elon Musk's 45th
Birthday (1971)
18
Young
Astronomers
Meeting
Starts @ 7pm-9pm
Allan Sandage's 90th
Birthday (1926)
24
25
Robert Sharp's 105th
Birthday (1911)
Herbert Friedman's
Birthday (1916)
27
15th Anniversary (2001),
Google Earth
Released
135th Anniversary
(1881), William Huggins Makes 1st Photographic Spectrum
of a Comet (1881 III)
Strawberry Moon 100th
26
11
Denison Olmstead's
225th Birthday (1791)
Moon Apogee: 405056.6 km 85th Birthday (1931)
FWAS
Monthly
Meeting
Starts @ 7pm
40th Anniversary (1976),
Viking 1, Mars
Orbit Insertion
10
John Dollond's 310th
Birthday (1706)
30
45th Anniversary
(1971), Death of
3 Cosmonauts in
Soyuz 11
Ludmila Pajdusakova's
100th Birthday (1916)
Click calendar icons above to see details of bright ISS passes this month.
See our full FWAS Event Calendar at:
http://www.fortworthastro.com/meetings.html
for the latest updates on what our club has scheduled
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 3
PAGE 4
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Our moon has Young Crescents, Libration effects, and many other surface features than
just craters.
Young Astronomers
J
une we will be focusing on the Moon!
Join our YA group this month to learn about
these and many other aspects of observing this
fascinating object.
e
This is one of the easiest yet often
forgotten celestial object to observe.
Our moon has much more to offer in observing
than just phases and eclipses.
With an elliptical, inclined orbit, and a synchronized rotation, there are many other phenomena
to observe.
Check out the Young Astronomers Web Page at: http://
www.fortworthastro.com/young_astronomers.html
Meet Your New Acting FWAS Secretary: Kelly Beebe
Y
ou can now direct all of your questions about joining, renewing, or general FWAS club information, to Kelly Beebe, instead
of current Treasurer Michelle Theisen. Michelle will still be performing the duties of Treasurer for FWAS, however the Board has decided that the duties of both Secretary and Treasurer have become
great enough to require two people for those duties. So, as in the past,
the two duties will be split among two individuals. This will require a
change to the wording of the club’s official By-Laws, which are currently in the process of being rewritten to reflect this new change. As per
the By-Law requirements, the wording changes will be submitted to the general membership
soon at an upcoming meeting to be discussed, then voted on for acceptance. Once accepted,
the position changes will officially take place in the next election cycle next year. Until then
Kelly will be Acting-Secretary under the elected Treasurer, as appointed by the Board. Notices
will also be given via email to the egroup. We appreciate and thank Kelly for stepping up and
volunteering for this club duty!
e
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 5
CELESTIAL EVENTS THIS MONTH
Jun
01
We
--:--
Venus:
1.5°
W
Jun
03
Fr
00:43
Saturn
Opposition
Jun
03
Fr
04:47
Moon/Mercury:
0.7°
Jun
03
Fr
05:55
Moon
361100
Jun
04
Sa
22:00
New
Jun
05
Su
03:59
Mercury
Jun
06
Mo
04:13
Moon
Jun
06
Mo
16:34
Venus
Jun
10
Fr
09:47
Moon/Regulus:
2.2°
N
Jun
11
Sa
14:35
Moon/Jupiter:
1.6°
N
Jun
11
Sa
17:20
Moon
Jun
12
Su
03:10
First
Jun
13
Mo
05:06
Mercury/Pleiades:
Jun
15
We
07:00
Moon
Jun
18
Sa
19:40
Moon/Saturn:
Jun
18
Sa
22:39
Mercury/Aldebaran:
Jun
20
Mo
06:02
Full
Moon
Jun
20
Mo
13:52
Moon
South
Jun
20
Mo
17:35
Summer
Jun
26
Su
00:28
Moon
Descending
Jun
27
Mo
13:19
Last
Quarter
Perigee:
km
Moon
Elongation:
North
Dec.:
Superior
24.2°
18.6°
W
N
Conj.
Ascending
Node
Quarter
Apogee:
6.8°
405000
3.6°
Dec.:
S
km
S
3.8°
18.6°
N
S
Solstice
Data Source: NASA SKYCAL - SKY EVENTS CALENDAR
PAGE 6
N
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Node
(* Times are Local)
JUNE 2016
INTERESTING OBJECTS
Deep Sky* - (C77) Centaurus A-S0p, (C80) Omega Centauri-GC, (M3) Globular Cluster, (M5)
Globular Cluster, (M13) Great GC in Hercules, (M44) Beehive Cluster-OC, (M51) Whirlpool
Galaxy-Sc, (M57) Ring Nebula-PN, (M81) Bodes Galaxy-Sb
Double/Multiple Stars** - Pi Bootis, Gamma Leonis, Zeta Ursa Majoris, Herschel 2682
(UMi)
Constellations* - Boötes, Centaurus, Leo, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Virgo
Asterisms*** - Kangaroo (Boo), Sickle (Leo), Eiffel Tower (UMa), Engagement Ring (UMi),
Summer Triangle
Lunar Features**** - Schröter's Valley (R18), Mare Serenitatis dark edges (R24), Alpine Valley (R4)
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 7
Media Reviews
but talks across to the reader instead of
down. There is just enough humor involved
Don't Know Much About the Universe: to keep the reader's interest. (Example:
“Aristotle himself was a great philosopher
Everything You Need to Know About
but a pretty lousy astronomer.”) And there
Outer Space But Never Learned
is plenty of astronomical trivia scattered
by Kenneth C. Davis
throughout. This is
on't
Know
not a book to plow
Much About
through in a day;
the Universe is
there is too much ina very good introducformation for that.
tion to astronomy for
As Davis himself puts
someone
who
is
it, “Learning works
getting started in the
best when we toss
hobby. But this is not
out the old way of
a stellar atlas, and it
teaching – one subwon't help you find
ject at a time, all displanets or constellaconnected from each
tions in your backyard
other – and bring
tonight. It won't exdifferent ideas and
plain how to use a teldisciplines together...
escope or how to build
And you can't truly
one. But it does exunderstand or appreplain a great deal
ciate astronomy and
about how astronomy
the physics of space
works and how we
without understandhave learned what we
ing mythology, reliknow so far. I would
gion, ancient history,
call it a breezier verand the history of idesion of Carl Sagan's Don't Know Much About the Universe:
as.” And if you're a fan
Everything You Need to Know About Outer Space But Never
Cosmos.
Learned
of the works of James
By: Matt McCullar, FWAS
D
by Kenneth C. Davis
The author, Kenneth Published by Perennial -- 2002
0-06-093256-2
C. Davis, writes very ISBN
352 pages
well. Most of the information within this book is in a Q & A format. Each topic is short and to the point,
Burke
(Connections
and The Day the Universe Changed), you'll
definitely enjoy Don't Know Much About
(Continued on page 9)
PAGE 8
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
(Book Review—Continued from page 8)
the Universe. Davis adds, “Seeing how real
people make a difference in history and
understanding the connections between
everyday life and historical events ultimately makes these subjects compelling
and interesting.”
Davis describes how the science of astronomy came to be – the history of “the First
Science.” Every culture in the history of
the world has looked up at the stars and
wondered what they were, creating their
own folk tales to explain what they saw.
Each scientific discovery has rewritten the
books and given stargazers pause. It's
been a long, fascinating road. The invention of the telescope literally changed the
world.
It's an awesome task to explain everything
in the sky, but this book does a good job of
trying. It explains how the Sun works, why
stars twinkle, what radio telescopes do,
what meteorites are, the properties of
each planet in the solar system, what comets are made of, how planets move in the
sky, the sizes of craters (both up there and
down here), why sunspots are important,
how we discovered that the universe is expanding, how stars are identified and cataloged, what causes lunar and solar eclipses, what asteroids are, the different types
of galaxies, what triggers a supernova,
what may have caused mass extinctions in
our planet's distant past, the pros and cons
for the possibility of extraterrestrial life,
etc. We get a good history of rockets,
space flight and the Hubble Space Telescope. There's plenty of information about
astronomers and scientists of the past, including Galileo, Newton, Brahe, Copernicus, Kepler and Einstein, making them all
come alive in the reader's mind.
What surprises me most about this book is
the total lack of photographs. There is not
one picture of anything in the sky here, not
even Saturn. There are a few cartoons. I
like the author's descriptions and histories
of each constellation, but there are no
maps or charts to show what they look
like. Having so little visual material in a beginning astronomy book is a curious omission.
There are a few typos, too. One glaring error: the author mistakenly states that Iapetus is a satellite of Jupiter; it isn't. (For five
points: Which planet is it really a satellite
of?)
On the whole, however, Don't Know Much
About the Universe is an interesting read
that definitely causes one to think. My
rating: Three out of five universes. Recommended for high-schoolers on up.
If you have an idea for an article, have astronomical related photos or an astronomy project you’ve done, and you’d like to share or want to contribute to the newsletter in any other way, please contact the editor at [email protected] or through the club’s
Yahoo! eGroup forum.
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 9
Constellation of The Month
L
LUPUS
upus constellation lies in the southern hemisphere, between Centaurus and Scorpius.
Its name means “the wolf” in Latin. It is one
of the 88 modern constellations, although it
was previously an asterism associated with the
neighboring constellation Centaurus.
Lupus was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Even though
it is an old constellation, Lupus is not associated
with any myths.
The constellation is home to several interesting
stars and deep sky objects, including the historic supernova remnant SN 1006, the globular
clusters NGC 5824 and NGC 5986, and the Retina Nebula (IC 4406).
FACTS & LOCATION
Lupus is the 46th constellation in size, occupying an area of 334 square degrees.
It is located in the third quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ3) and can be seen at latitudes between +35° and -90°. The whole constellation is visible only to observers south of
latitude 34°N. So observers in North Texas will
only see the upper parts of the constellation.
The neighboring constellations are Centaurus,
Circinus, Hydra, Libra, Norma and Scorpius.
Lupus contains two stars with known planets
and no Messier objects. The brightest star in
the constellation is Men, Alpha Lupi, with an
apparent visual magnitude of 2.30. There are no meteor showers associated with the constellation.
Lupus belongs to the Hercules family of constellations, along with Aquila, Ara, Centaurus, Corona Australis, Corvus, Crater, Crux, Cygnus, Hercules, Hydra, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Sagitta, Scutum, Sextans, Serpens, Triangulum Australe and Vulpecula.
STAR(S) OF NOTE
Alpha Lupi is an ageing blue giant star of spectral type B1.5 III that is 460 ± 10 light-years distant from Earth. It is
a Beta Cephei variable, pulsating in brightness by 0.03 of a magnitude every 7 hours and 6 minutes.
DEEP SKY OBJECTS
Towards the north of the constellation are globular clusters NGC 5824 and NGC 5986, and close by the dark nebula B 228. To the south are two open clusters, NGC 5822 and NGC 5749, as well as globular cluster NGC 5927 on
the eastern border with Norma. On the western border are two spiral galaxies and the Wolf-Rayet planetary
nebula IC 4406, containing some of the hottest stars in existence. IC 4406, also called the Retina Nebula, is a cylindrical nebula at a distance of 5,000 light-years. It has dust lanes throughout its center. Another planetary nebula, NGC 5882, is towards the center of the constellation. The transiting exoplanet Lupus-TR-3b lies in this constellation. The historic supernova SN 1006 is described by various sources as appearing on April 30 to May 1,
1006, in the constellation of Lupus.
ESO 274-1 is a spiral galaxy seen from edge-on that requires an amateur telescope with at least 12 inches of aperture to view. It can be found by using Lambda Lupi and Mu Lupi as markers, and can only be seen under very
dark skies. It is 9 arcminutes by 0.7 arcminutes with a small, elliptical nucleus.
Sources: http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/lupus-constellation/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupus_(constellation)
PAGE 10
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
e
JUNE 2016

Lupus as depicted by Johannes Hevelius in his Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia (1687).
Source image provided by www.RareMaps.com — Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.
T
he stars that now form the constellation Lupus used to be part of Centaurus constellation. They represented a sacrificed animal impaled by the centaur, which was holding it
toward the constellation Ara, the altar.
The constellation was not associated with any animal in particular until the Renaissance times,
when the Latin translation of Ptolemy’s work identified it with the wolf.
The Greeks knew the constellation as Therium, a wild animal, and the Romans called it Bestia,
the beast. In Greek times, the constellation was probably taken to represent a creature based
on the Babylonian figure of the Mad Dog. The creature was a hybrid, with a human head and
torso and legs and tail of a lion. The creature frequently associated with the sun god and Bisonman, which is another creature from myth, was called UR.IDIM, with UR referring to a large
carnivore, which could have been a lion, wolf, or a dog.
e
Text Source: http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/
JUNE 2016
Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urania%27s_Mirror
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 11
Al Observing Club
Highlight Of The Month
The Constellation Hunter Program
Observing Experience LEVEL
Beginner
The Constellation Hunter Program has two certifications and pins: The Northern Skies
and the Southern Skies. The purpose of these programs is to provide an orientation
to the sky for novice astronomers. They require no special equipment (other than a
planisphere and a reference for the brighter star names), and no
prior knowledge. The objective is to provide a forum for the novice observer to become more familiar with the constellations and brighter stars, to begin to learn to
navigate among the stars, and to provide a solid foundation for moving on to other
observation programs such as the Messier Program.
To qualify for the AL's Constellation Hunter Certificates and pins, you need only be a
member of the Astronomical League, either through an affiliated club or as a Member-at-Large, and observe and sketch all of the constellations on the included on the
checklist that you are pursuing. No equipment is required other than a planisphere
and reference information of the names of major stars and constellation boundaries.
Binoculars, while not required, will give you a deeper look into the star fields that you
sketch. You should not include these additional stars and objects on your sketches,
but the view will give you an appreciation for all of the things that await you in the
other Astronomical League Certification Programs. You should proceed constellation
by constellation. For each constellation, you need to provide this data:






e
Local date and time.
Latitude and Longitude of observation.
Constellation name.
Sky conditions: transparency, and seeing.
A sketch of all stars that were visible to the unaided eye, out to the limits of the constellation's boundary.
Named stars should be identified on the sketch.
The sketch should include other objects that are visible within the boundaries of the constellation, including
but not limited to: galaxies, open clusters, globular clusters, and nebulas.
There are 39 constellations in the Northern Program and 57 constellations in the Southern Program.
This is a perfect introduction to the AL Observing programs, and a nice one to do on the warm summer, and cold
winter nights.
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PAGE 12
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Times and Data are for Fort Worth, Texas Locations Only
Data Source: Heavens Above
Date
Brigh
tness
08 Jun
(mag)
-0.3
Time
23:32:42
Alt.
10°
N
Time
23:33:39
Alt.
14°
N
Time
23:33:39
Alt.
14°
N
visible
10 Jun
-0.8
23:22:45
10°
NNW
23:24:12
21°
NNW
23:24:12
21°
NNW
visible
11 Jun
-1.3
22:30:23
10°
NNW
22:32:49
19°
NE
22:33:13
19°
NE
visible
12 Jun
-0.6
21:38:37
10°
N
21:39:43
11°
NNE
21:40:51
10°
NE
visible
12 Jun
-1.2
23:13:16
10°
NW
23:14:54
27°
NW
23:14:54
27°
NW
visible
13 Jun
-2.7
22:20:31
10°
NNW
22:23:40
44°
NE
22:24:01
42°
ENE
visible
14 Jun
-1.5
21:28:03
10°
NNW
21:30:42
22°
NE
21:33:12
11°
E
visible
14 Jun
-1.0
23:04:20
10°
WNW
23:05:48
20°
W
23:05:48
20°
W
visible
15 Jun
-3.1
22:11:07
10°
NW
22:14:21
61°
SW
22:15:02
46°
S
visible
16 Jun
-3.0
21:18:16
10°
NW
21:21:29
55°
NE
21:24:19
12°
ESE
visible
17 Jun
-1.3
22:02:19
10°
WNW
22:04:50
21°
SW
22:06:18
15°
SSW
visible
18 Jun
-2.6
21:08:56
10°
WNW
21:12:04
47°
SW
21:15:12
10°
SSE
visible
Start
Highest point
Az.
End
Az.
Pass
type
Az.
NOTE: NO bright ISS passes visible in the DFW area, for dates not listed.
Chart created using: Cartes du Ciel
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
The planets appear in their correct relative size as seen from Earth on the 15th of the month.
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 13
June Sky Chart
Fort Worth, TX (32.7555°N, 97.3308°W)
Chart displayed is for June 15, 2016 @ 21:00 Local Time
PAGE 14
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Wednesday 15 June 2016 @ 4.3pm—Golden Handle visible on the Moon from 4.3pm - 6.4pm (sun rises on the Jura mountains, while Sinus Iridum is still in shadow).
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 15
First and Last Lunar Crescent Visibility
Friday 3 June 2016
5.9am
Lunar Crescent visible, 39.6 hours before new moon
Elongation: 23.2°, 4.3% illuminated, Position angle of crescent (from Zenith to East): 120.7° - crescent points to the lower left, Width of the crescent: 1.35', Length of the crescent: 144°, Moon rises
at 5:19am, 62 minutes before the Sun (Azimuth: 74°/ENE)
The Yallop (1998) criteria additionally states for this event with q=+0.902
Sunday 5 June 2016
8.9pm
Lunar Crescent visible, only 22.9 hours after new moon
Elongation: 13.4°, 1.5% illuminated, Position angle of crescent (from Zenith to East): 235.9° - crescent points to the lower right, Width of the crescent: 0.45', Length of the crescent: 69°, Moon lower
limb relative to sunset point at sunset: dalt=6.8° daz=-10.8° (i.e. eastward), Altitude of moon center at listed time: 3.6°, Azimuth: 289.3°/WNW, Altitude of Sun: -4.1°, Moon sets at 9:15pm, 40
minutes after the Sun (Azimuth: 292°/WNW)
The Yallop (1998) criteria additionally states for this event with q=-0.042: Telescope required to
find crescent.
Monday 6 June 2016
9.3pm
Lunar Crescent visible, 47.3 hours after new moon
Elongation: 26.4°, 5.5% illuminated, Position angle of crescent (from Zenith to East): 226.8° - crescent points to the lower right, Width of the crescent: 1.69', Length of the crescent: 159°, Moon sets
at 10:13pm, 97 minutes after the Sun (Azimuth: 292°/WNW)
The Yallop (1998) criteria additionally states for this event with q=+1.710
Data source: http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moon2015.html
PAGE 16
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Lunar Occultations &
Conjunctions of Planets
Wednesday 1 June 2016
5.9am
Close to Uranus, 5.9mag, Separation=3.73°, Limb separation=3.45° =6.27 lunar
dia., Position angle=18.5° N, Azimuth az=96.4°, Altitude h=25.4°, RA= 1h26.7m Dec= +8°
27.4', Moon phase=18.7%, Sun altitude hsun=-6.0°
11.7am
Close to Uranus, 5.9mag, Separation=2.67°, Limb separation=2.39° =4.30 lunar
dia., Position angle=335.24° NW, Azimuth az=223.9°, Altitude h=58.68°, RA= 1h26.8m Dec=
+8°27.6', Moon phase=16.5%, Sun altitude hsun=63.9°, in daylight, elongation from sun:
47.9°
Friday 3 June 2016
5.7am
Close to Mercury, 0.7mag, Separation=1.82°, Limb separation=1.54° =2.79 lunar dia., Position angle=309.4° NW, Azimuth az=77.1°, Altitude h=6.1°, RA= 3h12.3m
Dec=+14°02.3', Moon phase=4.3%, Sun altitude hsun=-7.5°
Saturday 11 June 2016
8.6pm
Close to Jupiter, -2.0mag, Separation=3.89°, Limb separation=3.63° =7.16 lunar
dia., Position angle=317.1° NW, Azimuth az=222.3°, Altitude h=57.6°, RA=11h06.3m Dec=
+7°06.4', Moon phase=47.5%, Sun altitude hsun=-0.2°
Saturday 18 June 2016
7.4pm
Close to Saturn, 0.1mag, Separation=2.82°, Limb separation=2.57° =5.16 lunar
dia., Position angle=196.29° S, Azimuth az=115.3°, Altitude h=1.39°, RA=16h42.9m Dec= -20°
27.5', Moon phase=97.8%, Sun altitude hsun=14.1°, in daylight, elongation from sun: 162.7°
8.7pm
Close to Saturn, 0.1mag, Separation=2.88°, Limb separation=2.63° =5.26 lunar
dia., Position angle=207.8° SW, Azimuth az=127.1°, Altitude h=15.1°, RA=16h42.9m Dec= 20°27.5', Moon phase=97.9%, Sun altitude hsun=-0.2°
Sunday 26 June 2016
12.9am
Close to Neptune, 7.9mag, Separation=4.02°, Limb separation=3.77° =7.11 lunar dia., Position angle=247.3° SW, Azimuth az=103.3°, Altitude h=6.1°, RA=22h54.9m Dec=
-7°50.6', Moon phase=66.9%, Sun altitude hsun=-33.2°
Data Source: http://www.calsky.com/
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 17
M
e
r
c
u
r
y
JUN 01
JUN 15
LOCAL SUNRISE
V
E
JUL 1
LOCAL SUNSET
N
U
S
JUN 01
JUN 15
Data and Image Sources: www.calsky.com
PAGE 18
LOCAL SUNSET
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUL 1
JUNE 2016
Minor Planets This Month
(3) Juno
(6) Hebe
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 19
Minor Planets This Month
(7) Iris
(8) Flora
PAGE 20
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Minor Planets This Month
(10) Hygiea
(23) Thalia
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 21
J U P I T E R
1 3:57.5am
1:53.3pm
11:49.0pm
2 9:44.8am
7:40.5pm
3 5:36.3am
3:32.0pm
4 1:27.8am
11:23.5am 9:19.3pm
5 7:15.0am
5:10.8pm
6 3:06.5am
1:02.3pm
7 8:53.8am
6:49.6pm
8 4:45.3am
2:41.1pm
10:58.0pm
9 12:36.8am 10:32.6am 8:28.4pm
10 6:24.1am
4:19.9pm
11 2:15.7am
12:11.4pm 10:07.2pm
12 8:03.0am
5:58.7pm
13 3:54.5am
1:50.3pm
14 9:41.8am
7:37.6pm
15 5:33.4am
3:29.2pm
16 1:24.9am
11:20.7am 9:16.5pm
17 7:12.3am
5:08.1pm
18 3:03.8am
12:59.6pm 10:55.4pm
19 8:51.2am
6:47.0pm
20 4:42.8am
2:38.6pm
11:46.1pm
21 12:34.3am 10:30.1am 8:25.9pm
Chart source: JupSat Pro Software
PAGE 22
Great Red Spot Transits
Jovian Moon
Position Chart
22 6:21.7am
4:17.5pm
23 2:13.3am
12:09.1pm 10:04.9pm
24 8:00.7am
5:56.5pm
25 3:52.3am
1:48.1pm
26 9:39.7am
7:35.5pm
27 5:31.3am
3:27.1pm
28 1:22.9am
11:18.7am 9:14.5pm
29 7:10.3am
5:06.1pm
30 3:01.9am
12:57.7pm 10:53.6pm
31 8:49.4am
6:45.2pm
11:43.9pm
Data Source: http://www.calsky.com/
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Saturn Tilt as it will appear on
the 15th of the month.
S A T U R N
Chart Source: http://www.calsky.com/
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 23
Visible Comets This Month
C/252P (LINEAR)
PAGE 24
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Visible Comets This Month
C/2013 X1 (Pan-STARRS)
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 25
Club Meeting Minutes— May 17, 2016
Kelly Beebe, Acting-Secretary
Note: Prior to opening dues were collected, telescope donations received, and personal
Information forms collected.
May 19 an outreach table was requested to be setup at the Wilkerson-Grimes Center 6:00 to 6:45
FWAS President will be attending.
Meeting Attendance: 58 FWAS members
Recognitions:
For attendance at 5 or more Star Parties club T-Shirt
President Opening Remarks: Bruce Cowles welcomed everyone and introduced himself and the
attending current board members.
Recognized….Si Simonson, Larry Barker, Patrick
McMahon, Shawn Kirchdorfer, and Brian Wortham
(not present)
Visitors were recognized and asked to stand and
introduce themselves and tell a little about themselves and how they found FWAS.
Large Donation Recognitions: (help, land, money)
Mike Jones who donated Fort Davis property and
has helped extensively with the 19 inch telescope
refurbishment, was given a 5 year complementary
membership to FWAS free of charge in recognition
Bruce gave a short speech about the upcoming June of his contributions.
club elections. Positions that have will have to be
Bob Wilbers (not present at meeting) was recogfilled due to mandatory term limits are President
nized once again for his prior $10,000 cash donation
and 2 Board Members. To be a board member the
only prerequisite is that you have been a club mem- to FWAS.
ber for 1 year at the time of election. Term limits for Young Astronomers Club report:
all Executive positions are 2 years max consecutive. Brian Wortham will run next YA presentation on
Each is a one year term. Board members are two
Mars at the May meeting
year terms. Treasurer is a max of 5 years term limit,
and comes up for election each year. Also noted, is
that the combined positions of Treasurer/Secretary Main Program Report:
is being split into two separate positions. The bySpeaker Dennis Webb gave an overview presentalaws will have to be rewritten to make this official.
tion about his new collaborative book series Annals
of the Deep Sky Volumes 1-3. This book series is a
sort-of modern equivalent to the Burnham’s CelesOutreach Update: -Patrick McMahon
tial Handbook series, with lots of information and
Star Party May 18 which will probably be canceled
details in a readable format, divided by constelladue to weather
tion name, in alphabetical order. The first three volEnd of month at Bob Jones Nature Center (details to umes cover the constellations Andromeda through
be sent out)
Canis Major with many more volumes to come.
PAGE 26
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Club Meeting Minutes— April 19, 2016
Michelle Theisen, Secretary-Treasurer
A 15 minute break was taken before raffle and busi- Concern that Yahoo Inc. will eventually no longer be
ness meeting:
viable to host our egroup as a club resource is growing. There have been discussions with Scott Sumner,
5 books were raffled off…the winners were Elizabeth Copeland, Michelle Theisen, Keith Frost, James one of our member-liaisons with the Nobel Planetarium, and our current social media and website
Roe, and an unknown individual (apologies).
administrator, Shawn Kirchdorfer, about creating a
new online discussion forum that would allow
FWAS to host our own website and (egroup-type)
Business Meeting:
forum autonomously.
19” Telescope / Starr Ranch / Fort Davis - Report:
Concrete pad has been poured at Star Ranch for the
19’ telescope. Next project is to move the 19” telescope from Thompson to Starr, mount it, and check
it out. Will need help moving the telescope and
build deck around it. Also, move two each of the
10” and 12” Dobbs in the FWAS inventory
to Starr Ranch. Soon there will be 16” telescope available for Starr ranch. Also,
Composting toilet must be hooked up
and an overflow pipe installed. Will need
help with that. Please contact a board
member to volunteer. Camping at tree/
brush fringe of Starr Ranch must be cleared especially rocks. Should be ideal for tent camping and
privacy. There will eventually be general purpose
mounting plates made for the existing telescope
piers at Starr, for astrophotography use.
Next Month’s Program
Brandon Hamill will discuss his Star party Travels
July meeting will discuss next year’s Total Solar
Eclipse directly over the central US. Bruce
Cowles will be discussing its path, planning observing events, and the best cities
from which to observe it.
Suggestion was brought up: An annual
club directory with pictures of members
made available on our web site or printed. One suggestion was to use Facebook. Club leadership said
this had been discussed before but that there were
privacy issues but would be discussed further again.
Total Donations for the recently purchased teleFort Davis property communicated to the Dallas and scope came to $1310.00.
Austin clubs with no response. So, it has been listed
with Davis Mountain Real Estate. It is 7.82 acres
with 1 ½ acre flat. There is a Davis Mountain HOA. It
has been listed offering of $27,500.00. The access
road is gravel but should not require 4 wheel drive
and would be fine for pickup or SUV.
General Club Business
JUNE 2016
e
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 27
FWAS Club
Fundraiser
FWAS is still asking for donations to raise
the $3000 to cover the costs of purchasing
our new Lunt LS60THa solar telescope and
an iOptron ZEQ25 GT mount. We have already used this at some outreach and educational events, and
it was a hit!
Donations are tax
deductible. We are a
501(c)3
non-profit
organization dedicated to educating and
sparking the interest
in Astronomy and
Space in the public.
If you would like to
help us recoup this
expense, it’s still not
too late. You can still
donate. Please click
the button below or
go to the URL shown
at the bottom. Any
amount is welcome
and greatly appreciated.
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide
selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com. The difference is that when customers shop on AmazonSmile at
smile.amazon.com, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations
selected by customers.
To participate, visit AmazonSmile and select
Fort Worth Astronomical Society as your
charity upon log-in. For more information visit org.amazon.com. The site will remember
your charity automatically when you visit
AmazonSmile to shop. If you are already an
Amazon.com user, you can use the same account to log-in to AmazonSmile to shop. You
must sign-in to AmazonSmile each time you
shop in order for your purchases to count towards a donation to your charitable organization. If you do not have an Amazon account,
signing up is free!
http://www.fortworthastro.com/donate.html
PAGE 28
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016
Newsletter:
The FWAS newsletter, Prime Focus, is published monthly.
Letters to the editor, articles for publication, photos you’ve taken, personal equipment reviews, or just about anything you
would like to have included in the newsletter that is astronomy
related should be sent to: [email protected]
Meetings:
FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at
the UNT Health Science Center – Research & Education Building,
Room 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always welcome.
Outreach:
Items regarding FWAS Outreach activities, or requests for FWAS
to attend an event, should be sent to: [email protected]
Young Astronomers:
FWAS’ youth activities (known as YA!) meet on the 3rd Saturday
of every month between 7pm and 9pm (check our calendar for
time changes throughout the year - determined by seasonal
sunset times). This group meets for one hour at the Parkwood
Hill HOA Club House - 5573 Eastwedge Dr., Fort Worth, TX
76137. YA! Coordinators: [email protected]
FWAS Annual Dues:
$40 for adults / families & households
$20.00 for students (half-price Dec 1 thru May 31); Membership
runs June 1st through May 31st. Please make checks payable to:
Fort Worth Astronomical Society
See our Secretary/Treasurer for more info:
[email protected]
That’s a Fact!
The exposed land area on
Earth (i.e. not the part covered in water), is roughly
equal to the entire surface
area of Mars.
Source
Seen a Fireball Lately?
Report it to the
American Meteor Society (AMS)
Just go to their website at http://www.amsmeteors.org/
and hover your cursor on the Fireball menu item at the
top of the page and you will see the link to report a fireball. They will ask you several questions in a web questionnaire and your observations will be added to the
other witnesses for the same event. These will be compiled and analyzed to determine the location and direction from which the object entered the atmosphere.
FULL MOON NAME
Cash and checks should be paid in-person at the next indoor
meeting, or checks can be mailed in the traditional way. Members should check the eGroup for the latest postal mailing address listed by the Secretary/Treasurer.
Ju ne
Credit card payments (for existing membership renewals only)
can be made through our PayPal link (private link is on the
club’s Yahoo eGroup – no PayPal account required).
“Strawberry Moon”
Strawberrypicking season
reaches
its
peak during this time. This is
one of the few names that was
universal to all Algonquin
e
tribes.
Discount Magazine Subscriptions:
Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and StarDate (McDonald Observatory) magazines are available for discounted subscription rates Source: OId Farmer’s Almanac
through our association with the NASA Night Sky Network and
the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The link can be found on
the club’s Yahoo eGroup. (Members Only)
Astronomical League Membership:
Your FWAS membership gives you associate membership in the
Astronomical League. This gives you access to earn various observing certificates through the AL observing clubs. You also
receive their quarterly magazine, Reflector. AL Observing clubs:
http://tinyurl.com/7pyr8qg
JUNE 2016
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
PAGE 29
Lightning over
Corgi Trails
Observatory taken 5-26-2016
by FWAS
member Mike
Jones
Lightning over
houses—taken by
FWAS member
Manny Lois on
5-26-2016
Have an interesting photo you’ve taken of the sky? Discovered a technique and want to show the results to fellow FWAS members? Submit your photos to [email protected] or send them in the Yahoo! eGroup to the attention of the newsletter editor. Your participation in showing off your personal astrophotography is greatly appreciated by all FWAS members.
PAGE 30
FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
JUNE 2016