Monday, October 1, 2018

Setup and casual conversation starts at 6:30 p.m.

Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

Bartlesville Public Library

Meeting Room A (2nd floor)

Program: Lunar Geology and Stratigraphy by Bob Young

Meetings are open to everyone interested in astronomy

and visitors are welcome.

The Astronomical League has announced their plans for next year's national convention, ALCon 2019. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, the Astro League's convention will include a tour of Kennedy Space Center in Florida and a three-day Southern Sky cruise to the Bahamas. It will take place July 25 - 29, 2019.

Thanks!

Kristi Herrman

BAS ALCor

Here’s a link to a timelapse video I took during our members-only stargazing event at Civitan Park (aka Dinosaur Park).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdd8J1y2Sqw

John G

1. Webinar: Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS): Mission update & early results - August 29

NSN members are invited to a special webinar on Wednesday, August 29 at 6:00pm Pacific Time (9:00pm Eastern) when we'll hear from Dr. Knicole Colon of the TESS mission science team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. TESS, NASA's latest exoplanet hunter, is just now beginning to send back its science data after achieving its unique orbit. NSN members will get to hear the latest news!

Register for this webinar here. You can also find updates on our webinar news page. Find additional info at this resource page (NSN login required)

Next Month's Webinar: One Month Until International Observe the Moon Night with Andrea Jones (resource page link - NSN login required)

Apps for consideration

Distant Suns, your personal guide to the cosmos, lists Night Sky Network astronomy club star parties, safe solar gazing events, and lectures in the main navigation bar. Distant Suns is available for Android, Apple iOS, Kindle, and Nook.

SkySafari, a powerful planetarium that fits in your pocket, lists Night Sky Network astronomy club star parties, safe solar observing events, and lectures in the help menu. SkySafari is available for Android and Apple devices and computers.

Family Fun with Sky Watching

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-resources/stargazing-basics/family-projects-and-experiments/

Please use link below to access Member Presentations.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4CQup8TdDvCfnBiUlE5RURWWTl4Y0IyVVlyMnVwWlVtQW9uWnAxTDJHMHk4VmVuNFkxeXc

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!

Thanks

BAS President .

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

Touchdown: Hayabusa 2 Deploys Rovers to Explore Ryugu

By: David Dickinson | September 24, 2018 | Comments 0

The Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft dispatched the first of a set of smaller missions that will explore asteroid 162173 Ryugu.

The Magellanic Clouds Might Once Have Been a Trio

By: Christopher Crockett | September 21, 2018 | Comments 0

The Milky Way's two largest companion galaxies may have once been a threesome — but new data from the Gaia satellite leaves the satellites' history an open question.

Super-Earth Discovered in (Fictional) Vulcan System

By: Monica Young | September 17, 2018 | Comments 0

Thirty years ago, Gene Roddenberry, of Star Trek fame, and three astronomers made the case that the orange-hued star 40 Eridani A ought to host Vulcan, Mr. Spock's home. Now, a robotic survey has discovered a planet around that very star.

60-Second Astro News: Starbirth, Stardeath, and the Evolution of Galaxies

By: Monica Young | September 14, 2018 | Comments 0

Starbirth and stardeath light up a nearby galaxy while faraway galaxies twist and bend in these new images from NASA's Hubble and Chandra space observatories.

NASA’s Cassini Sees Saturn’s Towering Polar Hexagon

By: David Dickinson | September 10, 2018 | Comments 3

Cassini's legacy sheds more light on the strange mystery of Saturn's northern polar hexagon.

Jupiter’s Magnetic Field Has Weird Structure

By: Camille M. Carlisle | September 5, 2018 | Comments 1

Juno observations reveal that Jupiter’s magnetic field has a wacky plume.

Scientists Successfully Predicted the Shape of the Solar Corona

By: Emily Sandford | August 31, 2018 | Comments 1

Scientists predicted the shape of the solar corona as it would be seen during the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. Observations confirmed that they got the broad strokes right.

Osiris-REX’s First Views of Asteroid Bennu

By: David Dickinson | August 27, 2018 | Comments 2

NASA's Osiris-REX asteroid sample return mission spies target Bennu for the first time. Now the spacecraft is setting up for its close approach in December.

Arecibo Observatory Emerges from Storm with $6M Upgrade

By: Elizabeth Howell | August 27, 2018 | Comments 0

The famed Arecibo Observatory has faced down several funding challenges in recent years, and a hurricane to boot, but now a new project is making the radio dish more relevant to astronomy than ever.

Direct Evidence of Water Ice at Moon’s Poles

By: Kelly Beatty | August 24, 2018 | Comments 4

After more than a decade of tantalizing but inconclusive hints, new research shows convincingly that patches of water ice lie exposed on the floors of many permanently shadowed lunar craters. The quest to find water on the Moon is a scientific pendulum that has swung widely over the centuries. Long ago we used "seas" to…

Clear Sky Predictor for Bartlesville. http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/BrtlsvlOKkey.html

Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events

(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2018.html)

September 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 02:53 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Corn Moon because the corn is harvested around this time of year. This moon is also known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox each year.

October 8 - Draconids Meteor Shower. The Draconids is a minor meteor shower producing only about 10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner, which was first discovered in 1900. The Draconids is an unusual shower in that the best viewing is in the early evening instead of early morning like most other showers. The shower runs annually from October 6-10 and peaks this year on the the night of the 8th. This will be an excellent year to observe the Draconids because there will be no moonlight to spoil the show. Best viewing will be in the early evening from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

October 9 - 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 03:47 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.

October 21, 22 - Orionids Meteor Shower. The Orionids is an average shower producing up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Halley, which has been known and observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from October 2 to November 7. It peaks this year on the night of October 21 and the morning of October 22. The nearly full moon will block some of the fainter meteors this year, but the Orionids tend to be fairly bright so it could still be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Orion, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

October 23 - Uranus at Opposition. The blue-green planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view Uranus. Due to its distance, it will only appear as a tiny blue-green dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.

October 24 - 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 16:46 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.

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 thin crescent moon will set early in the evening leaving dark skies for viewing. 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 6 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation of 23.3 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset.

November 7 - 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 16:02 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 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 waxing gibbous moon will set shortly after midnight leaving fairly dark skies for what could be a good early morning 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 23 - 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 05:40 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 - 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 07:20 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-2018.html)

2018 BAS Programs