April 2014

Monday, April 7, 2014

Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room

6:45 p.m. Setup and Conversation

7:00 p.m. Club Business

7:10 p.m. This Month's Sky

7:20 p.m. Current Astronomy News

7:30 p.m.

Yellowknife Aurora Tour

by Kelly Fox

Kelly Fox will present a slide show and discussion describing her late December trip to Yellowknife, in Canada, to observe and photograph the northern lights.

Membership Dues Reminder: Members who have not yet renewed membership for 2014 and wish to remain in the club, please pay annual dues, which came up for renewal for most members on November 1, 2012. Contact Treasurer at miltvend@sbcglobal.net with questions concerning annual amount or prorated amount, and where to mail payment. Thank you!

Save the Date: Mission: Mars Telecon with Dr. Pascal Lee coming in March

Save the date: March 26th at 6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET for our telecon with Dr. Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute and SETI on the future of Mars exploration with Mission: Mars! Subzero temperatures, killer rays, raging dust storms…Mars is a hostile planet. Could anything survive there? One job for Future Mars Explorers: Stay alive and help search for alien life.

Dr. Pascal Lee is chairman of the Mars Institute and a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute. He is also director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center. The project helps plan future human missions to Mars.

There is a TOTAL LUNAR Eclipse that starts at 12:58 AM CDT on April 15^th By John Land - Tulsa Club

You don’t need any special equipment to observe an eclipse of the moon. Just go outside locate the moon in the southern sky and enjoy. You don’t need dark skies and no special filters are needed. Of course binoculars or a low power telescope will enhance the view but certainly are not required. However you do need to go out and locate the moon BEFORE it is totally eclipsed, as it will be harder to find during totality.

During a lunar Eclipse the Full Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. The outer region of the shadow is called the Penumbra – where the sun’s light is partly eclipsed by the Earth shadow. An observer on the moon would see a solar eclipse as the Earth passed in front of the sun. Typically you won’t notice much of the penumbra until the sun is about 90% or more eclipsed.

The Dark inner shadow of the moon is called the UMBRA. The Umbra will appear as small “bite” out of the left side of the moon and progress across to the right. Finally the Umbra will completely cover the moon during totality. However the Earth’s atmosphere still bends some sunlight onto the moon. The moon takes on an eerie orange or reddish color. The color varies depending on how much dust is in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. I have seen eclipses as bright as a new penny – a dark brick red – and even one that was almost an invisible gray due to a recent volcanic eruption in Mexico. In ancient times people described the moon as turning to blood evoking fear and panic.

The Umbral phase of the eclipse starts about 12:58 AM CDT on April 15^th

Look for a small “nibble” on the Left side of the moon at about the 9 o’clock position.

Totality begins at 2:06 AM CDT on the 15^th and Mid eclipse is 2:45 AM CDT

End of totality is 3:24 AM CDT and the Umbra finally leaves the moon around 4:33 AM CDT

There is a great animation of this Eclipse at http://shadowandsubstance.com/

Lunar Eclipse view http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111215.html

A great composite image of the Earth’s Shadow http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130425.html

From the MSRAL 2014 Committee:

The St. Louis Astronomical Society in conjunction with the McDonnell Planetarium and Washington University wish to invite all Astronomical League members to the 2014 Mid-States Convention in St. Louis Missouri.

We hope the following information will give you a feel for what we are offering this year. Whether you spend just the weekend or extend your stay in St. Louis and visit our many tourist sites, we think you will have a great time.

We are planning a Friday night through Sunday morning convention. The traditional Friday Star-B-Q will be at our James S. McDonnell Planetarium, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary. There will be Friday night public telescope viewing, a Sky show and guest speaker as well as Laserium shows. On Saturday we will have our morning and afternoon paper presentations; and a tour of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Center at Washington University. Saturday night will feature our annual MSRAL banquet, Amateur of the Year presentation, and keynote speaker, Dr Ray Arvidson, James S McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department. Dr. Arvidson is involved with the Mars Rover missions and will give us the current status of their findings.

On Sunday, we plan to offer workshops on astrophotography as well as other talks, including Night Sky Network. The hope is to provide you with skills to increase your fun and productivity. Bring your laptops, photos, etc.

For people needing hotel rooms, Washington University’s Knight Center offers first class executive rooms. The Knight Center will also be the site of our Banquet, making for easy access to your rooms before and after the meetings. Information regarding accommodations will be updated on the registration page.

Our registration website is now open. Please visit it as soon as possible. We have included important dates and links below, and these are also on our website.

Here is the link for the convention information including registration: http://slasonline.org/msral2014.html

Please distribute this information to your club members. We have created the following slide show that will provide more details. We would appreciate it if you would present this at one of your club meetings.

http://slasonline.org/msralpreview.pdf

We hope to see all of you here in St. Louis June 6-8, 2014.

Best Regards,

2014 MSRAL Committee, St. Louis Astronomical Society

Important Links

St. Louis Astronomical Society Home Page: http://www.slasonline.org/

MSRAL2014 Home Page: http://www.slasonline.org/msral2014.html

St. Louis Astronomical Society Night Sky Network: http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/club-view.cfm?Club_ID=718

MSRAL Website: http://www.msral.org/

Meeting Location, Saturday 8-5, Sunday 8-noon: Crow Hall, Washington University, St. Louis, MO

When: Friday, June 6 - Sunday June 8

Star-BQ: James S. McDonnell Planetarium, Friday Night

Banquet: Knight Center, Washington University, Saturday Night

MSRAL Yahoo Group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/msral/info

SKY &TELESCOPE

Table of Contents: 1941 – 2013 by the Editors of Sky & Telescope

S & T is the longest running of the two major American Astronomy Periodicals. A couple of years ago they published a comprehensive DVD set of all their issues

Now they have put online a comprehensive Table of Contents to all those issues. A very valuable tool for subscribers who have collections of back issues or

persons looking for a particular type or information or event.

The Table of contents is available in a searchable Excel format or Text Format

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/iSTi-Table-of-Contents-1941---2013-242816951.html

From John Land - Astronomy Club of Tulsa

2014 Texas Star Party - Last chance to sign up now!The great tradition of dark sky observing continues with the 36th Annual TEXAS STAR PARTY, May 25-31, 2014! near Ft Davis, Texas Staying on the Ranch in housing, RV, or camping? Staying off-site in other accommodations? Everyone needs to enter the TSP drawing, held in late January. You should submit a Registration/Reservation Request Form to ENTER THE TSP DRAWING before January 22, 2014. This will provide you the highest possible chance of being selected as one of the 500 people who will be able to attend TSP this year. Follow this link to get started! http://texasstarparty.org/get-started/ SIGN UP NOW! You can find out the status of your TSP Registration at any time by visiting http://texasstarparty.org/account/ We have some really neat new stuff for TSP 2014... including The 2nd annual Texas Imaging Symposium, Find out about these and other news at: http://texasstarparty.org/news/ Questions? Visit our web site for the latest and complete details! http://www.texasstarparty.org/ or email tsprooms@texasstarparty.org

We look forward to seeing you next May! Sincerely, the volunteers for Texas Star Party Current News from Sky and Telescope

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news

A New Galactic Yardstick — April 2, 2014

Astronomers have developed a new method to measure distances to bright but faraway galaxies, a tool which will help better constrain the expansion rate of the universe.

Dust in the Heart of Circinus — March 28, 2014

Infrared observations of the Circinus Galaxy may help reveal the shape of the dusty region fueling its active galactic nucleus and shed light on what governs dust structures in other galaxies.

New Object Offers Hint of "Planet X" — March 26, 2014

Astronomers have kicked around the idea of a distant "Planet X" for decades. But the recent discovery of 2012 VP₁₁₃, located in an orbital "no man's land" roughly twice as far away as Pluto, has stoked the possibility that it really exists.

Interactive Mosaic of Moon's North Pole — March 21, 2014

With the first interactive lunar north pole mosaic released by the NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team you can explore an area of the Moon’s northern hemisphere about the size of Alaska and Texas combined.

First Direct Evidence of Big Bang Inflation — March 17, 2014

Researchers with an experiment based at the South Pole have discovered the long-sought "smoking gun" for inflation. The signal was hidden in polarization patterns in the cosmic microwave background and confirms physicists' audacious theory of how the Big Bang happened.

Planets Form With Magnetic Storms — March 13, 2014

Astronomers might have solved an outstanding mystery of why forming planetary systems emit more infrared light than expected. The key lies with gas and dust suspended in giant magnetic loops.

Hubble Displays Galactic Jellyfish — March 10, 2014

These stunning new images of spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 highlight its violent encounter with the intracluster plasma of Abell 3627, which is stripping away its gas and forming stars in the streamers.

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

• • April 8 - Mars at Opposition. The red planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to view and photograph Mars. A medium-sized telescope will allow you to see some of the dark details on the planet's orange surface. You may even be able to see one or both of the bright white polar ice caps.

  • April 15 - 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 07:42 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Pink Moon because it marked the appearance of the moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the first spring flowers. This moon has also been known as the Sprouting Grass Moon and the Growing Moon.

  • April 15 - Total Lunar Eclipse. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth's dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of North America, South America, and Australia. (NASA Map and Eclipse Information)

  • April 22, 23 - Lyrids Meteor Shower. The Lyrids is an average shower, usually producing about 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861. The shower runs annually from April 16-25. It peaks this year on the night of the night of the 22nd and morning of the 23rd. These meteors can sometimes produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds. The second quarter moon will be a slight problem this year, blocking the less bright meteors from view. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Lyra, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

  • April 29 - New Moon. The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 06:14 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.

  • April 29 - Annular Solar Eclipse. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is too far away from the Earth to completely cover the Sun. This results in a ring of light around the darkened Moon. The Sun's corona is not visible during an annular eclipse. The path of the eclipse will begin off the coast of South Africa and move across Antarctica and into the east coast of Australia. (NASA Map and Eclipse Information)

  • May 5, 6 - Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Eta Aquarids is an above average shower, capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. Most of the activity is seen in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, the rate can reach about 30 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet Halley, which has known and observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from April 19 to May 28. It peaks this year on the night of May 5 and the morning of the May 6. The first quarter moon will set just after midnight leaving fairly dark skies for what should be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2014.html)

2014 BAS Programs

Next Meeting

May 5, 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.

BAS Public Website: http://sites.google.com/site/bartlesvilleastronomyclub/

BAS Yahoo Group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/BvilleAstro/

If you want to have your email address removed from the Bartlesville Astronomical Society mailing list, please send an email requesting removal to bvilleastro@gmail.com

BAS Yahoo Group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/BvilleAstro/