April 2014

Treasurer’s report:

Balance March 1 $1647.74

Paid State of Oklahoma charitable organization registration during March, cost 15.00

Ending balance March 31 $1632.74

New member: Racheeta Agrawal

Sunfest June 2014: Steve will see if we can still sign up to have a booth

Next meeting May 5: Mike Maloney will present on Radio Astronomy

Current astronomical activity from Daryl:

Sunspots—

There haven’t been any really large sunspots since late January/early February, but we still have some.

March 19—one spot for equinox

April 4—can’t see any spots

The sun is active but on the dormant side of the current sunspot maxima. May go through monder minimum, which would be no sunspot activity for several decades.

April skies—

If clear, Mars would be bright now in Virgo.

Leo first becomes visible (“in like a lion”) in March

Mars opposition April 8, but closest track about a week later. A Martian year is 687 days. Next Mars opposition June 2016.

At closest approach, would be 35 million miles away in October 2018.

Eclipses:

Lunar eclipse early morning April 15: Penumbral begins 11:53 pm April 14. Partial eclipse 12:58 am April 15. Greatest totality 2:45:40 am. (Eclipse will be total for about an hour.) Midpoint of eclipse 2:47 am. Moon’s orbit tilted about 5 degrees.

Solar eclipse two weeks after the lunar eclipse but must be very far north to see it.

There will be four “blood moons” in 2014 and 2015. The first in each year will be during Passover and the second during an autumn Jewish holiday.

The Virgil report--

Virgil showed a picture from the Hubble of the “El Gordo” galaxy cluster 7 billion light years from earth. Has hundreds of galaxies 300 times the mass of the Milky Way.

There is a possibility of damage to satellites with a comet passage in October.

Our solar system has a new most distant object: VP 1113. Detected from a telescope in Chile. It indirectly detected gravitational waves in the early universe, supporting cosmic inflation.

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) accurately measured the expansion rate of the universe 10.8 billion years ago--1% per 44 million years.

Direct imaging of an extra solar planet in visible light, 28 light years away.

Cassini-Huggins project: began in the 1970’s, launched 1997, arrives Saturn in 2014 and lands on Titan after that.

Main presentation on Northern Lights by Kelly Fox:

She traveled to Fairbanks the last week of December 2013 and had an unforgettable trip.

The aurora season runs November to March in the Northern Hemisphere.

Top aurora viewing sites:

Tromso, Norway (although chances low; cloudy/snowy)

Yellowknife, Canada

Fairbanks, Alaska

Greenland is another good location with very little cloud cover. However, you have to go to Denmark and Iceland to get there.

Iceland is also good if can get clear weather.

You can also watch auroras online (without traveling!) real time.

Viewing in the U.S. below Canada—Coffeyville is about as far south as they can ever be seen.

If you are 80 degrees north when viewing auroras, that’s too far north. You want to be 60-65 degrees north.

Variables that can affect viewing:

Time of year

Lunar phases—moonlight can dilute colors

Auroras will shine through thin clouds, though.

If you can be present during a geomagnetic storm, you are fortunate!

Auroras run in 11-year cycles; this year is the least active since 1906. Next year will probably be good—then maybe wait a few years.

Best viewing of auroras is between 11 pm and 3 am.

Her Alaska trip:

When she went to Alaska she hired a guide (Ron Murray). Temperatures when she was there were minus 41-45 with ice fog.

Correct gear and clothing is important—don’t wear cotton. Use silk or capilene or wool for your base layer, then two more layers and then a jacket.

Wear thermal underwear; ski pants will help. Will need 2 layers of socks and “bunny boots”. Put balaklava on face to protect skin. Wear a muffler on your neck. Use mittens rather than gloves, plus wear a glove liner. Wear a ski cap with a soft “foil” liner and a miner’s lamp. She recommended buying clothing and supplies up there as less expensive.

You may need help with picture taking; you can rent a camera, tripod and camera bag up there. Keep a log of your camera settings; use minimum 25 second exposure and 400+ speed.

An iPhone will blank out in about 5 minutes due to the extreme cold!

She showed a video from Yellowknife that was awesome. The brighter the auroras, the faster they travel. The booklet she handed out showed “glass igloos” that run $500.00 a night.

Spears Travel in Bartlesville is taking a tour in October to Iceland; can book now. Best photo opportunities are in Iceland but the weather has to be good.