August 2019
Next BAS Monthly Meeting:
Monday, August 5, 2019
6:30 pm Setup/Social, 7:00 pm Meeting
Bartlesville Public Library, Meeting Room B (first floor)
Program: LIGO Tour by Abby Bollenbach
BAS meetings are usually on the first Monday of each month.
Meetings are open to the public and visitors are welcome.
Next BYA Monthly Meeting:
Monday, August 19, 2019
6:30 pm Setup/Social, 7:00 pm Meeting
Our Savior Lutheran Church
300 NE Madison Blvd., Bartlesville, OK
BYA meetings are usually on the third Monday of each month.
BYA is for ages seven through high school.
The next club event is:
The BAS now has storage at First Christian Church for club equipment and records. We are trying to consolidate and we are requesting any members with club equipment or records to contact one of the officers to arrange to move the items to storage and log it into our inventory.
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
Clear Sky Predictor for Bartlesville: http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/BrtlsvlOKkey.html
Sky and Telescope News http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/
Fireball May Have Dropped Meteorites in Ontario
By: Bob King | July 26, 2019 | Comments 0
A lime-green meteor as bright as the full Moon streaked across Canadian skies on July 24th and may have delivered free samples from the asteroid belt.
Tension Over Hubble Constant Continues
By: Monica Young | July 24, 2019 | Comments 3
A new measurement fuels an ongoing debate about the rate at which today’s universe is expanding.
India Heads to the Moon With Chandrayaan 2
By: David Dickinson | July 22, 2019 | Comments 0
India enters the 21st-century race to the Moon with its Chandrayaan 2 mission.
Apollo’s 50th: A Look Back and a Look Forward
By: Megan Ray Nichols | July 20, 2019 | Comments 0
On the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, we take a look back at the history of the first landing and forward, toward NASA's Gateway and beyond.
Peer Deep Within the Large Magellanic Cloud
By: Sean Walker | April 18, 2019 | Comments 2
A team of amateurs reveals the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galactic neighbor, in an exceedingly deep, high-resolution mosaic.
Infographic: (Back) To the Moon
By: The Editors of Sky & Telescope | July 18, 2019 | Comments 0
Takes a look at what we can expect to see in the next five years of Moon exploration with Sky & Telescope's infographic from the July 2019 issue.
By: David Warmflash | July 17, 2019 | Comments 0
Apollo 11 broke new ground for exploration, but along the way NASA squeezed as much science as it could out of this and subsequent missions landing on the Moon. From President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 mandate to the moment when Apollo 17 departed the Moon in 1972, Apollo was about geopolitics. Nevertheless, NASA squeezed out…
Celebrate Apollo 11 with a Visit to Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins Craters
By: Bob King | July 17, 2019 | Comments 9
Find the craters named for the three astronauts who flew the first manned mission to land on the Moon.
German-Russian Astronomy Satellite Launches
By: Monica Young | July 13, 2019 | Comments 0
Spektrum-Röntgen-Gamma, a long-delayed and much-modified X-ray astronomy package, launched successfully from the Kazakh Steppe on Saturday.
Sky-surveying Telescopes Sweep Up Near-Earth Asteroids
By: Monica Young | July 10, 2019 | Comments 0
Discoveries include a near-Earth asteroid with the shortest “year” and another found hours before it burned up in Earth’s atmosphere.
From the Frontline of Totality: Sky & Telescope Reports
By: The Editors of Sky & Telescope | July 3, 2019 | Comments 2
Thousands of spectators, professional astronomers, and several Sky & Telescope editors traveled to see totality from the ground — and sky.
By: AAS Nova | July 3, 2019 | Comments 0
Last October, the first discovery of a potential exomoon was announced. But is Kepler-1625b-i an actual moon in another solar system? Or just an artifact of data reduction?
A Strategy to Get the Mars Insight Lander Back in the Drilling Business
By: David Dickinson | July 3, 2019 | Comments 0
Insight's robotic arm has uncovered the lander's "mole," as NASA and German aerospace engineers work to get it drilling once again.
We’re Going to Titan! Dragonfly Drone Will Explore Saturn’s Biggest Moon
By: Monica Young | June 28, 2019 | Comments 8
NASA has selected its next New Frontiers mission: Dragonfly, a rover-sized drone will begin ‘coptering around Titan in 2034.
Exploring the Solar System: Mission Updates
By: Monica Young | June 24, 2019 | Comments 0
Space agencies have selected two solar missions and a “comet interceptor” for development and launch.
Huge Mass Found Under Moon’s Largest Basin
By: Kelly Beatty | June 21, 2019 | Comments 0
Does the massive metallic core of a primordial impactor lie buried under the South Pole-Aitken basin on the lunar farside?
Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events
(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2019.html)
July 28, 29 - Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Delta Aquarids is an average shower that can produce up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by debris left behind by comets Marsden and Kracht. The shower runs annually from July 12 to August 23. It peaks this year on the night of July 28 and morning of July 29. The waning crescent moon will not be too much of a problem this year. The skies should be dark enough for what could 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.
August 1 - 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 03:12 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.
August 9 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest western elongation of 19.0 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 morning sky. Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.
August 12, 13 - Perseids Meteor Shower. The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862. The Perseids are famous for producing a large number of bright meteors. The shower runs annually from July 17 to August 24. It peaks this year on the night of August 12 and the morning of August 13. The nearly full moon will block out most of the fainter meteors this year, but the Perseids are so bright and numerous that it could still be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
August 15 - 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 12:30 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Sturgeon Moon because the large sturgeon fish of the Great Lakes and other major lakes were more easily caught at this time of year. This moon has also been known as the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.
August 30 - 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 10:37 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.
September 9 - Neptune at Opposition. The blue giant 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 and photograph Neptune. Due to its extreme distance from Earth, it will only appear as a tiny blue dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.
September 14 - 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 04:34 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.
September 23 - September Equinox. The September equinox occurs at 07:50 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 fall (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.
September 28 - 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 18:26 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-2019.html)
Next Month's BAS Meeting: September 2, Monday. Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room A (tentative), Presenter: TBA
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 multi-part articles are also welcome. Please submit your contributions to Mike Woods or to bvilleastro@gmail.com.
Bartlesville Astronomical Society is an organization of people interested in astronomy and related fields of science. Membership is open to everyone interested in any aspects of astronomy.
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Members are eligible for these discounted magazine subscriptions:
Sky and Telescope
Astronomy Technology Today
Astronomy Magazine
Please check with the BAS Treasurer for current discounted subscription rates.