Monday November 2, 7:00 p.m.

Bartlesville Public Library

7:15 p.m.

The Challenges of Medicine in Space

by W. Michael Woods, MD

and

Extremophiles

by Sue P. Woods, PhD

Mike will discuss the effects of space on the body. Including the effects on balance, the spine, bones, blood, fluid shifts, muscle mass, kidneys, and radiation exposure.

Sue will discuss microbes that survive in extreme environments on earth and facilitate a discussion on the implications for space.

2016 annual BAS Membership Dues notice for November 1st: Dues amounts for most renewing members will be $20; Students $10; and couples (or two in a family) $30. Members, only if agreeable to this request, who joined during 2015 are asked to pay a prorated amount to bring all members up to the club renewal month of November, 2016. Treasurer may be contacted at miltvend@sbcglobal.net for BAS mailing address or any other questions concerning dues amounts.

Thank you.

Featured Article: The Future of Exoplanets: The Next 20 Years of Exploration

Twenty years ago this month, the detection of the first planet orbiting a Sun-like star was announce. As we celebrate the anniversary of this historic discovery, we look ahead to see what discoveries we will make in the next twenty years and how we will make those discoveries. You can read up on more of the incredible future of exoplanet research here.

Featured Article: Help Discover Exoplanets

Hunting for exoplanets is not just for astronomers with years of training and specialized equipment-you too can join the hunt for worlds around other stars! There are many citizen science projects you can join to help find more planets and assist in the search for life around other stars. Amateur astronomers also help confirm exoplanets from their own backyards, and have even made a few discoveries of their own! To find out how you can help find exoplanets, check our our mini guide here.

Featured Activity: Keys to the Rainbow

Discover how we learn about stars and the atmospheres of exoplanet s by examining their light in greater detail. Match up the spectra of stars and planets with their atmospheric ingredients. In particular, what ingredients are we looking for in planets that may harbor life? Find out more about this activity here.

The Sky-Watchers Handbook, written by the staff of the ASP and NSN, is out soon!

Night Sky Network Admins David Prosper and Vivian White, along with ASP Director Linda Shore, are pl ease to announce that their new book, The Total Skywatchers Manual, is out next week. This is a fully illustrated and family friendly guide for astronomy enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds.

This quintessential guide will help you choose the best telescope, identify constellations and objects in the night sky, search for extraterrestrial phenomena, plan star parties, capture beautiful space imagery, and much more.

For more information and a few preview pages, go to http://www.astrosociety.org/skywatchers

You can reach both of us any time at nightskyinfo@astrosociety.org

Wishing you clear skies!

Vivian White & David Prosper

The Night Sky Network Team

nightskyinfo@astrosociety.org

Hello BAS Members --

With so many people interested in AstroPhotography in the group, we have thought of having a "Astro Picture of the Month" competition each month at our meetings.

Entry Rules:

Send one picture of the night sky/ object of the current month with a description of the picture and the equipment used to take this.

Mail it to bvilleastro@gmail.com.

Best picture is chosen in the next meeting and uploaded to our Facebook/Twitter pages with your mention!

So let the entries pouring in for our next meeting on the Feb 2, 2015.

Thanks

BAS President .

Take the Future of Amateur Astronomers Survey

The Night Sky Network is doing a new survey of amateur astronomers located in the United States. We are attempting to understand the landscape of educational outreach performed by astronomy clubs and assess the needs of the amateur astronomy community for the next 5 years. We want to hear your voice.

Please let us know what your needs are and how we can better help you and your clubs by taking our survey, located here: http://bit.ly/2014astrosurvey

Pass this announcement along to any other persons or organizations that would have an interest in this survey as well. Thank you all!

You can see daily images of the Sun on www.Spaceweather.com

See a Fantastic image comparing sunspot to size of earth

http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=18&month=10&year=2014

Sky and Telescope News http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news

Close-in Asteroid Offers Halloween Treat

By: Kelly Beatty | October 22, 2015 | Comments 0

The recently discovered asteroid 2015 TB145 won't come especially close to Earth on October 31st, but it's big enough to be seen in medium-size backyard telescopes.

Closest Star-shredding Black Hole

By: Camille M. Carlisle | October 22, 2015 | Comments 0

The last hurrah of a star wrenched apart by a supermassive black hole tells astronomers what the stellar crumbs are doing.

Venus-Jupiter Conjunction This Weekend!

By: Alan MacRobert | October 22, 2015 | Comments 0

Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, draw close together in the eastern sky before dawn, creating an ever more eye-catching spectacle for skywatchers. They're in conjunction October 25 and 26.

The Curious Case of KIC 8462852

By: Kelly Beatty | October 20, 2015 | Comments 14

The Kepler spacecraft recorded a bunch of irregular dimmings around one of its target stars, designated KIC 8462852. No natural phenomenon explains the dips well.

How to Spot the USAF’s ‘Mini-Shuttle’

By: David Dickinson | October 20, 2015 | Comments 0

Now is the time to track the secret space plane X-37/B on its OTV-4 mission.

Searching for Exoplanets Around HL Tau

By: Monica Young | October 19, 2015 | Comments 0

When astronomers went searching for the planets that must exist around HL Tau, they came up empty — and future searches may not fare much better.

Pluto-Charon Results Highlighted in Science

By: Kelly Beatty | October 15, 2015 | Comments 2

Forget the high-octane press releases. NASA's New Horizons team has detailed the mission's early results in today's issue of Science.

Hubble’s Stunning New Pictures of Jupiter

By: Monica Young | October 15, 2015 | Comments 3

A Hubble legacy program has returned high-res pictures of Jupiter, revealing changes to the Great Red Spot and mysterious new wisps in the North Equatorial Band.

- See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/#sthash.wtJniiFf.dpuf

Advanced LIGO On the Hunt

By: David Dickinson | October 14, 2015 | Comments 0

What exciting new discoveries await astronomers in the field of gravitational wave astronomy?

A Dusty Mystery Around AU Microscopii

By: Shannon Hall | October 7, 2015 | Comments 0

Unexplained ripples have been found racing through a dusty disk.

Rosetta’s Comet Began as Two

By: Camille M. Carlisle | October 6, 2015 | Comments 4

Comet 67P’s nucleus was born when two became one.

India Launches First Astronomy Satellite

By: David Dickinson | October 6, 2015 | Comments 0

AstroSat launched into orbit on September 28, 2015, and will soon start returning visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray images of the universe.- See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/#sthash.7XwsEr1Z.dpuf

Explore Mars in Fiction and Reality

By: Monica Young | October 2, 2015 | Comments 5

The incredibly popular novel, and now movie, The Martian draws people to the Red Planet with realistic detail. Explore the Red Planet not just in fiction but in reality with our Mars globe and map.

Charon: Cracked, Cratered, and Colorful

By: Kelly Beatty | October 2, 2015 | Comments 0

A fresh batch of high-resolution images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft shows that Charon, Pluto's largest moon, has endured a lot.

New Horizons: A Billion Miles to 2014 MU69

By: Alan Stern | October 1, 2015 | Comments 3

Planetary scientist Alan Stern continues his exclusive series of blogs with details of what awaits the New Horizons spacecraft when it reaches its next objective.

Tour October’s Sky: Predawn Planet Pileup

By: Kelly Beatty | September 30, 2015 | Comments 0

Early risers will be treated to wonderful groupings of bright planets, and evening sky offers excellent stargazing as well.

Clocking Water’s Escape from Comet 67P

By: David Dickinson | September 30, 2015 | Comments 1

Thanks to the Rosetta spacecraft, researchers can follow the cycle of water escaping from the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.- See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/#sthash.5Zkkr5pt.dpuf

Is the Milky Way’s Black Hole Feeding?

By: Monica Young | September 24, 2015 | Comments 1

The answer is a tantalizing maybe. Astronomers are investigating whether an increase in the number of flares from Sgr A* are due to the recent close passage of a dusty object known as G2.

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

October 27 - Full Moon, Supermoon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 12:05 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Hunters Moon because at this time of year the leaves are falling and the game is fat and ready to hunt. This moon has also been known as the Travel Moon and the Blood Moon. This is also the last of three supermoons for 2015. The Moon will be at its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.

October 28 - Conjunction of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. A rare, 3-planet conjunction will be visible on the morning of October 28. The planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will all form a tight 1-degree triangle in the early morning sky. Look to the east just before sunrise for this spectacular event.

November 5, 6 - Taurids Meteor Shower. The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. It peaks this year on the the night of November 5. The second quarter moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. If you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

November 11 - New Moon. The Moon will located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 17:47 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.

November 17, 18 - Leonids Meteor Shower. The Leonids is an average shower, producing an up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. It peaks this year on the night of the 17th and morning of the 18th. The first quarter moon will set shortly after midnight leaving fairly dark skies for what could be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

November 25 - Full Moon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 22:44 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Beaver Moon because this was the time of year to set the beaver traps before the swamps and rivers froze. It has also been known as the Frosty Moon and the Hunter's Moon.

December 7 - Conjunction of the Moon and Venus. A conjunction of the Moon and Venus will take place on the morning of December 7. The crescent moon will come with 2 degrees of bright planet Venus in the early morning sky. Look to the east just before sunrise.

December 11 - New Moon. The Moon will located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 10:29 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.

December 13, 14 - Geminids Meteor Shower. The Geminids is the king of the meteor showers. It is considered by many to be the best shower in the heavens, producing up to 120 multicolored meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by debris left behind by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. It peaks this year on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th. The crescent moon will set early in the evening leaving dark skies for what should be an excellent show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

• • (Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2015.html)

2015 BAS Programs

Next Meeting

December 7, 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.