March 2013

March 4, 2013

Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room

6:45 p.m. Setup and Discussion

7:00 p.m. Club Business

7:15 p.m. Current Astronomy News

Object of the Month

7:00 p.m.

Khan Academy and Astronomy Education

by Daryl Doughty

You can find a lot of information online these days. One of the best places dealing with organized topics for students and interested others is Khan Academy online, a series of tutorials on a wide range of topics on math, science, economics, computer science, humanities, and test preparation. This presentation will review 4 of the tutorials from the astronomy and cosmology section: (1)The Scale of the Universe, (2)Birth of Stars, (3)Becoming a Red Giant, and (4)Black Holes. The format is relaxed and non-pedantic.

Reminder: Member renewal dues are still due for about 25% of our members. Members no longer interested in belonging to BAS please let the treasurer know at miltvend@sbcglobal.net. Check your email in-box and spam box, you may have a dues request with amount due. Thank you for your attention.

Curiosity's Views of Gale Crater — February 25, 2013

Since its arrival in August, NASA's newest robotic rover has been taking snapshots of the flat Martian plain on which it landed and the tantalizing topography that looms in the distance.

Info on Russian Meteor Pours In — February 21, 2013

The fireball that exploded over Russia on February 15th left more than a million square feet of damaged windows, bringing home how fragile life on Earth can be. Here's what S&T's staff has managed to piece together about what happened.

Baby Black Hole Discovered — February 18, 2013

Astronomers investigating a supernova remnant see nothing but swirls of gas. The lack of stellar remains means the explosion must have birthed a black hole only 1,000 years ago.

Lessons from Today’s Russia Meteor Blast — February 15, 2013

This morning's meteorite explosion over Russia offers the strongest motivation yet for investigation of near-Earth objects.

Thurs night 9:20 PM our time a 10,000 ton meteorite 55 feet across ripped into the Earth’s atmosphere over Russia moving at 44,000 mph. To put that in perspective moving at that speed one could fly from New York to LA in 4 minutes or cover the distance from the Moon to Earth in about 5.3 hours – our astronauts took 3.5 days to do the same. It exploded 12 to 15 miles above the surface creating an air burst of 500 kilotons of TNT ( 30 times larger than the Hiroshima A bomb ) Over 100 people were injured from shattered glass and other debris over a 30 mile radius http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=18&month=02&year=2013

Culprit Pegged for Cosmic Rays — February 14, 2013

Astronomers working with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope say they might finally have the “smoking gun” they’ve needed to convict supernova remnants as the origin of energetic particles called cosmic rays.

Skyweek from Sky and Telescope Magazine also presents a variety of astronomical events for the naked eye as well as telescope viewing.http://www.skyandtelescope.com/videos/skyweek

• • February 25 - Full Moon. The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 20:26 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Snow Moon because the heaviest snows usually fell during this time of the year. Since hunting is difficult, this moon has also been known by some tribes as the Full Hunger Moon.

  • March 10 - Comet Pan-STARRS Closest Approach to the Sun. Newly discovered comet Pan-STARRS will make its closest approach to the Sun on March 10. The comet will start to be visible in the morning sky in early February in the Southern Hemisphere. It will gradually increase in brightness until its encounter with the Sun on March 10. By this time it will be visible in the evening sky in the Northern Hemisphere. It can be seen just to the left of the setting sun. It will continue to be visible in the evening sky for the rest of March and into early April.

  • March 11 - New Moon. The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 19:51 UTC. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

  • March 17 - Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter. The Moon will pass about one and a half degrees of the giant planet Jupiter in the evening sky. The first quarter moon will be at magnitude -11.4 and Jupiter will be at magnitude -2.2. Look for both objects in the west after sunset. The pair will be visible in the evening sky for about 5 hours after sunset.

  • March 20 - March Equinox. The March equinox occurs at 11:02 UTC. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.

  • March 27 - Full Moon. The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 09:27 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Worm Moon because this was the time of year when the ground would begin to soften and the earthworms would reappear. This moon has also been known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Crust Moon, and the Full Sap Moon.

  • April 10 - New Moon. The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 09:35 UTC. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2013.html)

2013 BAS Programs

Next Meeting

March 4, Monday. Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room (tentative)

Newsletter Contributions Needed

Our club newsletter is reaching more people each month, and member contributions in the form of short articles, interesting news items, alerts of upcoming astronomical events or activities, descriptions of personal observations or useful equipment, and observing tips, are encouraged. Recurring columns or multipart articles are also welcome. Please submit your contributions to Mike Woods or to bvilleastro@gmail.com .

Bartlesville Astronomical Society - Membership

B.A.S. is an organization of people interested in Astronomy and related fields of science.

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