Inside the Newsletter. . .Inside the Newsletter. . . June Meeting Minutes............................ p. 2
Observations........................................... p. 4
Perseid Potluck Picnic........................... p. 4
NASA Space Place.................................. p. 5
August Night Sky.................................... p. 6
KAS Officers & Announcements........ p. 8
Page 2 August 2006
The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Soci-ety was brought to order by President Richard Bell on Fri-day, July 14th at 7:12 pm EDT. Only 18 members were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center (KAMSC). Attendance for the July meeting is typically low, since most folks are either taking their summer vaca-tions or just enjoying the warm weather. However, some suspect that most folks were staying inside and soaking up their air conditioning and avoiding coming out in the hot and humid weather that was plaguing most of the country! The theme of the July meeting was the long standing tradi-tion called “Gadget Night”. This year seven KAS members brought a variety of gadgets, gizmos, and whatchamacallits to dazzle the assembled throngs. Bob Havira started things off by showing us some inexpensive filters that can be used in place of the regular 1.25” or 2” colored planetary filters. Here’s more information about the filters from Bob: There is a poorly documented feature of Meade Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes (maybe others too). There is a ma-chined recess on the back of the optical tube where the di-agonal is attached. This recess fits series 6 size photo-graphic filters perfectly. Until the late ‘60's filters were available without threads and attached to cameras via an adapter ring that did have threads or some other way of attaching it to the front of the lens. The most common sizes were series 5, 6 and 7. Series 6 was 1 5/8" in diameter and about 3/16" thick (40.5mm x 5mm). These filters are no longer very much in demand and are available inexpen-sively at photo flea markets and the “junk boxes” in cam-era shops. I have never paid more than $2.00 for one used. They were available in at least two types. An optical glass/gelatin filter sandwich (most Kodak filters were sand-wiches) and dyed optical flats (Tiffen, Ednalite, Hoya and
some others were optical glass). The all glass are prefer-able because the gelatin filters may have wrinkled or be-come discolored with age though there were more colors available in the gel/glass variety. You can tell the difference between the two by the filter's thickness. The gelatin/glass filters are just about the full thickness of the filter rim while the glass filters are just a little more than half that thick-ness. They are available in all the standard colors that as-tronomers like to use and a lot cheaper than the screw-in-to-the-back-of-the-eyepiece type. Next up was Richard Bell, who brought three gadgets he’s built over the past few years. The first was a solar filter for his 8×50 finderscope on his LX200. This was put together at the solar filter workshop the KAS held in May 2004 in preparation for the Transit of Venus. Richard cut a hole in the center of a dust cap and then glued some Baader Plane-tarium Solar Filter material the KAS purchased from Ken-drick Astro Instruments. Richard also showed the dew cap he made out of “Reflectix” insulating material, black felt, and Velcro. Richard explained that this dew cap is very easy to assem-ble and far cheaper than buying a mass-produced model. It’s also much more portable, since it can be rolled up and stored in a small place - making it great for transporting to star parties. Richard said he still has plenty of Reflectix left over if anyone would like to build their own dew cap. The final gadget Richard shared was the battery box he built to power his LX200 and various accessories. He got the plans from an article in the January 1996 issue of As-tronomy magazine (pages 86 - 87). It uses a 12 volt, 33 amp-hour deep cycle marine battery he obtained used for only $20 at Battery Outlet (now called Batteries Plus) on South Westnedge Ave. It’s been used at many star parties
July Meeting MinutesJuly Meeting Minutes
Page 3 August 2006
and observing sessions with great results; although Bill Nigg and Rich Mather made fun of the soldering job (that Richard swears he didn’t do) at the 2005 Winter Star Party! Jack Price then showed a flashlight that clips on to his hat, so he can read star maps hands free. It wouldn’t be Gadget Night if someone didn’t show a flashlight! Jack then shared the barn-door tracker he originally built for the ap-parition of Halley’s Comet in 1986 (or was it 1910 - just kidding Jack!). At this point Jack Roach joined Jack since he to brought a slightly different version of a barn-door tracker to share. They then got into a lengthy discussion of how to build a better barn-door tracker. If you’re interested in learning more then please talk to Jack and Jack. Dave Woolf brought a set of JMI Wheeley Bars he got to easily transport his 10” LX200 from his garage to his drive-way; although he doesn’t use it much any more since his ‘scope is permanently stored in his observatory. Dave added a homemade platform for the Wheeley Bars to keep his accessories off the dewy grass. Next, Roger Williams showed the Sunspotter he built for his Coronado MaxScope 60; a dedicated hydrogen-alpha telescope. It’s really a small pinhole viewer made out of PVC. Roger also brought the equatorial platform he got for the trischiefspiegler (folded reflector) he built several years ago. Roger has been in the process of building a better mount for the trischiefspiegler and will use the platform to keep up with the daily motion of the sky. Last up was Mark Miller, who was recently contacted at the Nature Center by the daughter of former KAS member John Paska. John was a long-time member of the KAS from about the 1940’s through the late 1980’s (according to his daughter). John was a life-long optician and, after re-tirement, did repair work for Norman Camera. They often paid him with a lot of used equipment. John passed away some time ago and his wife is now in a nursing home, and their daughter is now cleaning out their home. So, Mark went to their home and was blown away with the amount of equipment that was in John’s basement. Mark packed 18 pair of binoculars, 3 oversized pair of bin-
oculars, and 8 small home-built refractors into his car. Most of this equipment went to the Nature Center. In addi-tion, John had big tubs of polish, smaller cans of silicon carbide, and literally hundreds of lenses, filters, and other components. Mark brought many of the lenses that John built and the photographic filters that Norman Camera gave him to the meeting and offered them to those in attendance for FREE. Much of John’s collection is still in Mark’s possession, so if you’re interested in seeing what’s left for the taking then please feel free to drop him a line. After the snack break (thanks to Susan Bond for brining homemade cookies and to Jean DeMott for providing the soft drinks), Richard gave his president’s report. First, up was a special presentation. Roger Williams successfully completed the Astronomical League’s Comet Observers Club (and is the first KAS member to do so), so Richard presented him with the official certificate and pin. Con-gratulations to Roger! Richard then announced that the KAS has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the Astronomy Day Award held by the A.L. and Sky & Telescope. This wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for all the KAS members that volun-teered their time on April 22nd and helped “bring astronomy to the people”. Thank you! Roger reported that he was unsuccessful in his attempt to view the close flyby of the asteroid 2004 XP14 on July 3rd. Jack Price reported observing the International Space Sta-tion and the Space Shuttle Discovery (which preceded the I.S.S. by 5 minutes). KAS member Bob Cox reported that he’s been working with Ross Township to pass a dark-sky friendly lighting ordinance. If you live in or adjacent to Ross Township then please call their Board at 731-4888 or 731-4414 and voice your support for dark-sky friendly lighting. The meeting concluded at 9:13 pm. Thanks again to all those that brought their gadgets to share.
Page 4 August 2006
The Dog Days of Summer are upon us once again. Al-though the days are getting shorter the temperature is typi-cally high through the month of August. Although this past July experienced some pretty extreme temperatures. In the minds of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the scorching heat of July and August was thought to be caused by the simultaneous appearance of the Sun and Sirius, which rise at nearly the same time in early August. The blinding white hot star surely added to the warmth of the Sun. After all, we now know that Sirius, the dog star, is a type A1V main sequence star with a surface temperature of 10,000 K (almost twice the Sun’s surface temperature). Let us not forget that Sirius also has a white dwarf compan-ion (Sirius B) with a surface temperature nearly equal to (or even greater than) Sirius A. However, Sirius A & B are located 8.7 light-years (5.1×1013 miles) away from us, so any environmental influence they exert on the Earth’s is infinitely small. Therefore, the true explanation for the high summer temperatures is mostly meteorological and not astronomical - although it is a fun idea. Perhaps in commemoration of the Dog Days, all KAS events are being held outdoors this month. Our general meeting is being replaced by our 12th annual Perseid Pot-luck Picnic on August 19th. More details on the picnic ap-pear in the column to your right. We had a fairly small crowd as far as our picnics go last year, so I’m hoping for a higher turn-out on the 19th. KAS events are always more fun with more people. We then have our two regularly scheduled Public Observ-ing Sessions on August 5th and 19th. Yes, that’s right, we have an observing session on the same day as the picnic. We figured that would be okay, since most members typi-cally don’t stick around for observing after dinner. Hope-fully you’ll change your mind and make an evening out of it. It’ll be like a star party. We also have the final Astro-photography Workshop on August 4th. This time we’ll be shooting to the Moon, which is perhaps the easiest target in the heavens. The July workshop was mostly clouded out, so we may try again in September. Lastly, we have a “field trip” of sorts to the Black Forest Star Party, which is being held from August 25th - 27th. BFSP is held at Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County, Pennsylvania. Jean DeMott and I “scouted out” this event last year and it was great. The skies are about as dark as it gets east of the Mississippi. This year, 11 KAS members will be attending. It’s the biggest group we’ve ever had go to a star party! Last years weather will be hard to beat though. We’ll have a full report when we get back!
ObservationsObservations By Richard S. Bell
Mark your calendar. Pray for good weather. It's time for the big social event of the year for the KAS. So get ready to party! Here are the details: The KAS will provide the hot dogs, hamburgers, and veg-gie burgers (by order). You will be required to bring your own beverages, table service, lawn chairs, bug spray, and a dish to pass. Condiments will be provided by the KAS. While dinner is cooking we will have solar observing available through KAS member telescopes and the 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain in Owl Observatory. Feel free to bring any type of outdoor games or toys to pass the time while we wait for dinner. After dinner, we’ll hold a very special birthday party. The Kalamazoo Astronomical Society turned 70 this year, so we’ll hold an official celebration with cake and ice cream. Members are encouraged to share some of their favorite KAS moments either by story, song, or slide show. We also encourage members to share their summer vacation slides. An LCD projector will be setup in the Amphithea-ter, so bring your laptop or a CD. Please let Richard Bell know if you’d like to give a short presentation. We’ll then hold a Public Observing Session once it gets dark; gates open at 8:00 pm. Stargazers should be prepared to observe the deep sky delights of the summer Milky Way and maybe even a few left over Perseid meteors. Members will be contacted by e-mail (or postcard if you don’t have an e-mail address) at least one week before the picnic to see if you’ll be attend-ing, the number of guests you’ll bring, how many hamburgers or hot dogs you’d like to order, and what dish you’d like to pass. This gathering will take place rain or shine, so be pre-pared for whatever Mother Na-ture throws our way!
The The TwelfthTwelfth Annual Annual Perseid Potluck PicnicPerseid Potluck Picnic
Kalamazoo Nature Center Saturday, August 19th
Arrive at 6:00 pm EDT Dinner begins at 7:00 pm EDT
In nature, adjacent animals on the food chain tend to evolve together. As coyotes get sneakier, rabbits get bigger ears. Hearing impaired rabbits die young. Clumsy coyotes starve. So each species pushes the other to “improve.” The technologies pushing robotic space exploration have been like that. Improvements in the supporting communi-cations and data processing infrastructure on the ground (the “ears” of the scientists) have allowed spacecraft to go farther, be smaller and smarter, and send increasingly faint signals back to Earth — and with a fire hose instead of a squirt gun. Since 1960, improvements in NASA’s Deep Space Net-work (DSN) of radio wave antennas have made possible the improvements and advances in the robotic spacecraft they support. “In 1964, when Mariner IV flew past Mars and took a few photographs, the limitation of the communication link meant that it took eight hours to return to Earth a single photograph from the Red Planet. By 1989, when Voyager observed Neptune, the DSN capability had increased so much that almost real-time video could be received from the much more distant Planet, Neptune,” writes William H. Pickering, Director of JPL from 1954 to 1976, in his Fore-word to the book, Uplink-Downlink: A History of the Deep Space Network, 1957-1997, by Douglas J. Mudgway. Mudgway, an engineer from Australia, was involved in the planning and construction of the first 64 meter DSN an-tenna, which began operating in the Mojave Desert in Gold-stone, California, in 1966. This antenna, dubbed “Mars,” was so successful from the start, that identical 64 meter antennas were constructed at the other two DSN complexes in Canberra, Australia, and Madrid, Spain. As Mudgway noted in remarks made during the recent ob-servance of the Mars antenna’s 40 years of service, “In no time at all, the flight projects were competing with radio astronomy, radio science, radar astronomy, SETI [Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence], geodynamics, and VLBI [Very Long Baseline Interferometry] for time on the an-tenna . . . It was like a scientific gold rush.” In 1986 began an ambitious upgrade program to improve the antenna’s performance even further. Engineering stud-ies had shown that if the antenna’s diameter were increased to 70 meters and other improvements were made, the an-tenna’s performance could be improved by a factor of 1.6.
Thus it was that all three 64 meter DSN antennas around the world became 70 meter antennas. Improvements have continued throughout the years. “This antenna has played a key role in almost every United States planetary mission since 1966 and quite a few interna-tional space missions as well. Together with its twins in Spain and Australia, it has been a key element in asserting America’s pre-eminence in the scientific exploration of the solar system,” remarks Mudgway. Find out more about the DSN and the history of the Mars antenna at:
http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/features/40years.html Kids (and grownups) can learn how pictures are sent through space at:
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/phonedrmarc/2003_august.shtml This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA Space PlacNASA Space Placee Celebrating 40 Years of Intent ListeningCelebrating 40 Years of Intent ListeningCelebrating 40 Years of Intent Listening
by Diane K. Fisher
For over 40 years, the “Mars” 70 meter Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, has vigilantly listened for tiny signals from spacecraft that are billions of miles away.
August Night Sky........................August Night Sky........................
NORTH
EAST W
EST
he Perseid Meteor Shower peaks during the early morning hours of Augus t 12 t h .
Unfortunately, the Waning Gibbous Moon rises at 10:13 pm EDT on August 11th, so only the bright Perseids will be visible. Perseid meteors are the
remnants of Comet Swift-Tuttle and collide head-on with the Earth. Therefore, Perseid meteors can move dramatically fast through the atmosphere and leave glowing trails in their wake. So, it might be worth staying up for the most famous of the meteor shows.
The central bulge of the Milky Way is due south during the evening hours of August. A treasure trove of deep sky objects await binoculars and telescopes. Start from the spout of the Teapot asterism and slowly work your way up the river light.
This map represents the sky at the following local standard times:
Late July 12 am Early Aug. 11 pm Late Aug. 10 pm
This star map is property of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. However you may make as many copies as you wish free-of-charge, so long as it is for non-profit educational purposes and full credit is given to the KAS.
Terri & Her Telescope Saturday 11:00 AM, Sunday 1:30 PM
Treasures of the Milky Way
Saturday, 2:00 PM The Wright Way to Fly
Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday 3:00 PM
Planetarium admission is $3.00 per person. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is located at 230 North Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo. For more information please call (269) 373-7990 or visit us on the web at www.kalamazoomuseum.org
Moving?Moving? If you have a change of home and/or e-mail address please contact one of the following KAS Officers by phone or e-mail:
Richard Bell 373-8942
Roger Williams 375-4867
If you are moving out of town before your membership expires please contact us anyway. You paid for a years worth of newsletters and that’s what you’ll get!
OBSERVE!OBSERVE!
with the Kalamazoo Astronomical SocietyKalamazoo Astronomical Society
AUGUST OBSERVING SCHEDULE Kalamazoo Nature Center 7000 N. Westnedge Ave.
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society c/o KAMSC 600 West Vine, Suite 400 Kalamazoo, MI 49008
STAMP
Makes a great gift!Makes a great gift!
For SalFor Salee
Having the right tools for observing is important and planispheres are essential. The Miller Planisphere is made with heavy duty plastic (cardboard versions will be ruined after a few dewy Michigan nights). Just dial the date and time and you'll see what's in the sky for that moment. All planispheres sold by the KAS are 10.5” in diameter and set at 40º latitude. Perfect for our area but still accurate enough for trips to the southwest! A durable plastic case is also included. All proceeds go toward the programs of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. To order yours please send an e-mail message to [email protected] or look for them at KAS general meetings or public observing sessions.
