JANUARY 2018 APRIL 2019 April Meeting Details April Presentation DATE: Tuesday, April 9 th MEETING TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: La Posada Recreation Center MEETING SCHEDULE: 7:00 Meeting Intro and Welcome 7:10 Organizational Announcements 7:30 Featured Presentation ~8:15 Club Activities/Business ~8:30 Door Prizes Drawing? ~8:45 Outside Activities/Snack at Denny’s Join us after the meeting at the local Denny ’ s restaurant for a snack, dessert, or whatever so we can get to know each other better and talk more astronomy . WHO: Joe Frannea, Southern Arizona Chapter, IDA TITLE: Unintended Consequences of Artificial Light at Night. ABSTRACT: Artificial Light At Night is severely altering our planet on many fronts. Astronomy for both the professional and amateur astronomer is an obvious concern, but what about the 80 percent of Americans who have never seen the Milky Way. Some think only the astronomers are unhappy with Light Pollution so it is not that big a deal. They do not realize that astronomy and associated fields are over a half a billion dollar industry for Southern Arizona. Most have little knowledge about the impacts from Artificial Light at Night, officially called ALAN”, it is such an important and hot topic. Areas to be addressed will be how ALAN impacts astronomy, wildlife, plant life, human health, energy use, safety and security. There are many fairly simple solutions that can make a big difference. everyone. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Bryan Joe Frannea, Chapter Leader, Southern Arizona Chapter, International Dark Sky Association. Next Member Star Parties DATE: Thursday, Apr 4 th TIME: 6:00 PM PLACE: Canoa Preserve Park DATE: Thursday, May 2 nd TIME: 6:30 PM PLACE: Canoa Preserve Park Please join our Yahoo Group site: ( http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sas_club/ ) To get directions and up-to-date infor- mation on the status of a star party in case a weather issue develops. If you have a telescope that you don ’ t know how to use, or are looking to buy a telescope and want to compare differ- ent telescopes, join us at a star party and we can give you some help.
Transcript
JANUARY 2018
APRIL 2019
April Meeting Details April Presentation
DATE: Tuesday, April 9th
MEETING TIME: 7:00 P.M.
PLACE: La Posada Recreation Center
MEETING SCHEDULE:
7:00 Meeting Intro and Welcome
7:10 Organizational Announcements
7:30 Featured Presentation
~8:15 Club Activities/Business
~8:30 Door Prizes Drawing?
~8:45 Outside Activities/Snack at
Denny’s
Join us after the meeting at the local Denny’s restaurant for a snack, dessert, or whatever so we can get to know each other better and talk more astronomy .
WHO: Joe Frannea, Southern Arizona
Chapter, IDA
TITLE: Unintended Consequences of
Artificial Light at Night.
ABSTRACT: Artificial Light At Night is severely altering our planet on many fronts. Astronomy for both the professional and amateur astronomer is an obvious concern, but what about the 80 percent of Americans who have never seen the Milky Way. Some think only the astronomers are unhappy with Light Pollution so it is not that big a deal. They do not realize that astronomy and associated fields are over a half a billion dollar industry for Southern Arizona.
Most have little knowledge about the impacts from Artificial Light at Night, officially called ALAN”, it is such an important and hot topic. Areas to be addressed will be how ALAN impacts astronomy, wildlife, plant life, human health, energy use, safety and security. There are many fairly simple solutions that can make a big difference. everyone.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Bryan Joe Frannea, Chapter Leader, Southern Arizona Chapter, International Dark Sky Association.
Next Member Star Parties
DATE: Thursday, Apr 4th
TIME: 6:00 PM
PLACE: Canoa Preserve Park
DATE: Thursday, May 2nd
TIME: 6:30 PM
PLACE: Canoa Preserve Park
Please join our Yahoo Group site:
(http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sas_club/)
To get directions and up-to-date infor-mation on the status of a star party in case a weather issue develops.
Are luck with star parties continues to be bad. We had three publics scheduled for last month as well as our club star party, only one was held. We were able to hold the public star party at Desert Shadows Middle School. The evening started with some high clouds but it cleared later on and we were able to show the eager students and family members a number of objects. This has been a bad winter weather-wise. We have a public scheduled for Arivaca on April 6th. Please help if you can.
Our club star parties will continue to take place at Canoa Preserve Park if we can ever get a good night. I have submitted requests for use of the park through May. Hopefully the weather will cooperate in the future.
John Dwyer
President SAS
PUBLIC STAR PARTIES
DATE: April 6th, 2019
TIME: 5:30 PM Setup
PLACE: Arivaca Library, Arivaca
DATE: April 26th, 2019
TIME: 6:00 PM Presentation/Setup
PLACE: Historic Canoa Ranch
CLUB EQUIPMENT FOR LOAN OUT
TELESCOPES:
2 - 8” Celestron Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes
1 – 4” Refractor telescope
1 – 1” Refractor telescope Note: Instruction may be required for some telescopes. Contact one of the club officers for information and availability.
CLUB BOOK/CD/DVD LOAN LIBRARY
BOOKS:
The following books are available for check out:
1. Guide to the Stars (16”) by David H. Levy
2. The Next Step: Finding and Viewing Messier’s Objects by Ken Graun
3. Touring the Universe: A Practical Guide to Exploring the Cosmos through 2017 by Ken Graun (2 copies)
4. What’s Out Tonight? Celestial Almanac & Astronomy Field Guide 2000 to 2050 by Ken Graun (2 copies)
5. Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion by Robert A. Strong (donated by Paul Anderson)
Please see the club treasurer or secretary for availability. Our thanks to Ken Graun for his generous donations. CDs/DVDs:
We have “Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy”. This is a 16 DVD set of 96 lectures (30 min per lecture) by Dr Alex Filippenko of UC Berkeley and CalTech. This is a nontechnical introductory college-level course on astronomy. More information about this course can be found at http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=1810. Please see the club treasurer at the next meeting for availability.
Mars, settling into Taurus, is still hanging in there as it continues to move eastward in the night sky. It is about 40° up in the western evening sky at sunset. Its magnitude continues to decrease slightly as does its size. Venus, low in the eastern morning sky, is still brilliant at mag -4. Jupiter rises about midnight by mid-month as it begins to transition into the evening sky. Saturn, lagging behind Jupiter by a couple of hours, will rise about 2:00am by mid-month. Mercury now in the morning sky will reach greatest western elongation (28°) on the 11
th.
Uranus is too close to the Sun for viewing. Neptune is now appearing in the morning sky although very low in the east. Mercury, Venus, and Neptune are relatively close to one another in the second week of the month.
There are no longer any bright visible
comets available. There is one predicted for
early next year, so unless one appears suddenly
out of the blue, we are out of luck.
APRIL MOON/SUN TIMES
WANT TO VIEW SATELLITES? WANT CURRENT COMET INFORMATION?
To find out information on when you can view satellites, such as the International Space Station (ISS), or satellite related events, such as Iridium Flares, go to www.heavens-above.com. Under “Configuration”, use “select from map” to enter your specific location (precision can make a difference for Iridium Flares), and choose what satellite’s infor-mation you want to view. Also, information on comets, planets, and other objects are available.
If you want information on current observable comets, go to “The Weekly Information about Bright Comets” site at http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html. Comets are listed in brightest to least bright order. Remember, to see a comet without any optical aid, it must be approximately 4th magnitude or brighter. With binoculars, the comet would most likely need to be at least 8th magnitude. Comets below 11th magnitude might be difficult to pick up with other than a large aperture telescope. Visibility can also depend on how diffuse the comet is.
DATE M-Rise M-Set M-Phase Sun-set Star Party
Mon 04/01 4:30 15:38 18:43
Tue 04/02 5:04 16:31 18:44
Wed 04/03 5:36 17:26 18:45
Thu 04/04 6:06 18:20 18:45 S.A.S.
Fri 04/05 6:37 19:16 New 18:46
Sat 04/06 7:09 20:13 18:47 Arivaca
Sun 04/07 7:43 21:12 18:47
Mon 04/08 8:20 22:11 18:48
Tue 04/09 9:02 23:12 18:49
Wed 04/10 9:49 ----- 18:49
Thu 04/11 10:42 0:12 18:50
Fri 04/12 11:41 1:11 1st Qtr 18:51
Sat 04/13 12:45 2:05 18:51
Sun 04/14 13:52 2:55 18:52
Mon 04/15 14:59 3:41 18:53
Tue 04/16 16:07 4:22 18:54
Wed 04/17 17:15 5:01 18:54
Thu 04/18 18:21 5:39 18:55
Fri 04/19 19:27 6:16 Full 18:56
Sat 04/20 20:32 6:55 18:56
Sun 04/21 21:35 7:36 18:57
Mon 04/22 22:35 8:19 18:58
Tue 04/23 23:32 9:06 18:58
Wed 04/24 ----- 9:56 18:59
Thu 04/25 0:23 10:47 19:00
Fri 04/26 1:10 11:41 3rd Qtr 19:01 Canoa Ranch
Sat 04/27 1:52 12:35 19:01
Sun 04/28 2:30 13:29 19:02
Mon 04/29 3:04 14:23 19:03
Tue 04/30 3:37 15:17 19:03
(S)=Solar
SONORAN STARRY NIGHTS
April 2019 4 Volume XI Issue 8
THE STARGAZER’S CORNER: Mars the Wanderer
April’s skies find Mars traveling between star clusters after sunset, and a great gathering of planets just before sunrise.
Mars shows stargazers exactly what the term “planet” originally meant with its rapid movement across the evening sky this month. The ancient Greeks used the term planete, meaning wanderer, to label the bright star-like objects that travelled between the constellations of the zodiac year after year.
You can watch Mars as it wanders through the sky throughout April, visible in the west for several hours after sunset. Mars travels past two of the most famous star clusters in our night sky: the Pleiades and Hyades. Look for the red planet next to the tiny but bright Pleiades on April 1st. By the second week in April, it has moved eastward in Taurus towards the larger V-shaped Hyades. Red Mars appears to the right of the slightly brighter red-orange star Aldebaran on April 11th. We see only the brightest stars in these clusters with our unaided eyes; how many additional stars can you observe through binoculars?
Open clusters are made up of young stars born from the same “star nursery” of gas and dust. These two open clusters are roughly similar in size. The Pleiades appears much smaller as they are 444 light years away, roughly 3 times the distance of the Hyades, at 151 light years distant. Aldebaran is in the same line of sight as the Hyades, but is actually not a member of the cluster; it actually shines just 65 light years away! By comparison, Mars is practically next door to us, this month just a mere 18 light minutes from Earth - that’s about almost 200 million miles. Think of the difference between how long it takes the light to travel from these bodies: 18 minutes vs. 65 years!
The rest of the bright planets rise before dawn, in a loose lineup starting from just above the eastern horizon to high above the south: Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. Watch this month as the apparent gap widens considerably between the gas giants and terrestrial planets. Mercury hugs the horizon all month, with Venus racing down morning after morning to join its dimmer inner solar system companion right before sunrise. In contrast, the giants Jupiter and Saturn move away from the horizon and rise earlier all month long, with Jupiter rising before midnight by the end of April.
The Lyrids meteor shower peaks on April 22nd, but sadly all but the brightest meteors will be washed out by the light of a bright gibbous Moon.
jpd
compliments David Prosper of NASA Night Sky Network
SONORAN STARRY NIGHTS
April 2019 5 Volume XI Issue 8
OFFICE/POSITION NAME PHONE NO.
Chairman of the Board Open
President John Dwyer (520) 393-3680
Secretary Michael Moraghan (520) 399-3352
Treasurer John McGee (520) 207-6188
Star party Coordinator Duane Johnson (520) 303-6920
Newsletter Editor John Christensen (520) 869-8983
Webmaster Joe Castor (620) 584-4454
ALCOR* Burley Packwood (520) 396-3576
NSN** Representative Duane Johnson (520) 303-6920
Past President Emeritus Dan F. Case (520) 207-6833
Past President Emeritus Ben Coppock (520) 625-5360
YAHOO! Group Owner John Dwyer (520) 393-3680
*Astronomical League Coordinator
**Night Sky Network
S.A.S CLUB OFFICERS
SAS STATISTICS & FINANCES
Lifetime Members: 0 Bank Balance as of End of Feb: $2683.23
Individual & Family Members: 163 Deposits / (W/Ds): $147.00/($462.00)
Total Membership: 163 Bank Balance as of End of Mar: $2368.23
WHY JOIN SAS CLUB DUES
OUR YAHOO! GROUP & WEB SITES
1. SAS Family Membership Fee is only $15.00 per year.
2. SAS monthly newsletter “The Sonoran Starry Nights.”
3. Top-quality astronomy lectures by local astronomers!
4. SAS Yahoo! Group Website member forum.
(sas_club.)
5. SAS Discount for Astronomy Magazine $34.00 for 1yr
or $60.00 for 2 yr renewed through our treasurer.
6. SAS Discount subscription rate for Sky & Telescope
Magazine $32.95 for 1-year self-renewed.
7. RASC Observer’s Handbook at a discount, $30.00.
8. SAS T-Shirts for sale for $10.00—M, L, XL.
9. Member of International Dark-sky Association (IDA)
and The Astronomical League.
10. SAS Discount for Astronomy 2018 Calendar $10.00
11. SAS monthly Member Star Parties.
12. SAS Telescope and astronomy book loan programs.
13. SAS outreach to astronomy education in schools.
14. SAS fellowship with other amateur astronomers!
Dues (family or individual) are $15 annually, payable each
year in the month you initially joined the club. You will
receive a reminder in the monthly newsletter e-mail of your
due date. You can either pay at the club meeting or mail it
to the club’s address (S.A.S., P.O. Box 1081, Green
Valley, AZ, 85622).
If you want to keep up-to-date with club activities, such as star parties, tours, etc., want information on current astronomical events, or have questions about astronomy, please join our Yahoo group at:
SAS IS A MEMBER OF THE ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE SAS IS A MEMBER OF IDA
OUR SPONSORS
S T A R I Z O N A
ADVENTURES IN ASTRONOMY AND NATURE
5757 N. Oracle Rd www.starizona.com
Tucson, AZ 85704 (520) 292-5010
Stellar-Vision Astronomy & Science
Since 1986
New Address:
3721 E 37TH ST
TUCSON AZ 85713
(520) 571-0877
http://www.stellarvisiontucson.com
Since SAS is a member of the Astronomical League, any SAS member may join the Astronomical League for a nominal fee of $7.50. What are the advantages to you of joining the AL?
1. You can receive various observing awards by joining an “observing club” and observing the required number of objects. There are all levels of clubs from beginner to advanced, viewing constellations to deep-sky objects and using either your naked eyes, binoculars, or a telescope. Contact our ALCOR rep Burley Packwood for details.
2. You can get a 10% discount on books purchased through the AL Book Service.
3. You will receive the AL’s quarterly “Reflector” magazine which keeps you up to date on all the AL activities.
More info at www.astroleague.org
SAS is proud to be a member of the International Dark-Sky Association, supporting the reduction in light pollution around the U.S. and the world. More info at www.darksky.org
SAS NON-PROFIT STATUS
The Sonora Astronomical Society is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit charitable organization! SAS has a CERTIFICATE OF GOOD STANDING from the State of Arizona Corporation Commission for 2009-2011!
MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS
To order or renew your Sky and Telescope Magazine at the Club Rate, you can go directly to www.skyandtelescope.com/clubspecial To order or renew Astronomy Magazine, see the
Bryan P. Shumaker, MD, spoke about Stellar Nucleosynthesis: How the Elements are Made. Now retired from medical practice, Dr. Shumaker continues his passion for astronomy. He is the President of the Northern Michigan Astronomy Club (NOMAC) and an adjunct professor of astronomy at Oakland University in Rochester.
Early Chinese astronomers thought the sun was a burning lump of coal, to the Greeks it was incandescent iron. The source of solar energy remained a mystery for centuries. It was only in 1920 when the British astronomer Arthur Eddington theorized that stars were fueled by the fusion of hydrogen into helium.
The primordial elements were hydrogen and helium, produced by the Big Bang. From these, all other elements were formed: within stars, by the explosion of stars and from the collision of stars. Astronomers refer to elements other than Hydrogen and helium as “metals”. The sun is roughly 75% hydrogen and 25% helium, with less than .1 % of metals.
The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a plot of stars based on their absolute magnitude and color or spectrum. The plot of most stars forms a diagonal line referred to as the main sequence. These stars are fusing hydrogen and are in hydrostatic balance with inward gravitational pressure containing the outward energy released by the fusion. Huge, hot stars burn their fuel quickly and will last only a few million years. Smaller stars burn more slowly, have lower surface temperatures and lifetimes of billions of years. Color is determined by the temperature of the star, with blue being the hottest, red the coolest. Stars are classified into 7 broad spectral categories from hottest to coolest: O, B, A, F, G, K M. The Sun is a G type star with a designated luminosity of 1, to serve as a standard.
The sun’s mass creates enough pressure in its interior to fuse hydrogen and helium, releasing energy. For stars with up to 8 solar masses helium builds up in the core surrounded by a shell of burning hydrogen. The star expands becoming a red giant. Pressure increases in the core fusing helium into carbon, the outer shell is blown away forming a planetary nebula with a white dwarf star at the center.
Larger stars with more mass can fuse elements up to iron 56. At that point core fusion stops but fusion continues in gaseous layers like onion skins surrounding: silicone, magnesium, oxygen, carbon, helium, and hydrogen. As the core cools it catastrophically collapses, the layers fall inward and rebound as a Type II supernova. It outshines the rest
of its galaxy and releases enough energy to sterilize any planets up to 50 light years away. Fortunately, Earth is not within the range of a potential supernova. There are many supernova candidate stars such as Spica, Rigel, and Betelgeuse, but no way to predict when they will explode. Depending on the mass of the original star, the core will become a neutron star or collapse even further becoming a black hole.
While a supernova explosion produces many elements, astronomers theorized it is the collision of neutron stars rather than supernova that produce the heaviest elements. It was only in 2017 that astronomers saw evidence of this. On August 17 of that year, the LIGO gravitational wave observatory alerted astronomers to just such a collision allowing them to train their instruments toward the source, a galaxy 130 light years away. According to spectrographic analysis, the collision produced 10 Earth masses of platinum and 17 Earth masses of gold.
In answer to a question about how rare such events might be, Dr. Shumaker said that 60% of stars are in multi-star systems providing opportunities for the formation of neutron stars pairs. The Sun is a single star but because the solar system contains so many elements the Sun must be second or third generation.
