March 2019

Attendance: 20 people, including two new members.

Treasurer's Report:

Beginning balance Feb. 1 $3,357.81

Expenditures -0-

Dues Received $105.00

Ending balance Feb. 28 $3,462.81

The BYA also has received $90.00 more funds from their silent auction that started in January.

New possible funding source: The Amazon Smile program will donate 0.5 percent of purchases to the BAS, if we set it up with Amazon Smile to do this. There is no cost to us. Evan Zorn will look more into this to see if there would be any potential issues with us doing this.

New funding source: Evan says that COP and P66 can do matching funds, for donations of at least $25.00.

Meeting Notes: Notes of February meeting were approved.

Astronomical League news and activities--Kristi Herrman: The Astronomical League has shut down the portion of its website that was accessible to members via a log-in, due to lack of use, and is moving content to the public portion of the website. The digital version of the Reflector magazine is now available online to the public.

BYA Report--Rick Bryant: The February meeting was a fun one--they played Astronomy Pictionary. Meeting this month is on the 4th Monday in March due to the school spring break week. The theme of the March meeting will be astrophotography; Derek, Gianna and Rick Bryant will present on this topic. In April, the group will work on homemade cell phone adapters for astrophotography.

Student Memberships: The BAS By-laws state that full-time students age 18 or older can join at the student membership level, but our membership sign-up form didn't indicate this. Kristi will update the membership form.

Sunfest:

  • Denise will submit the non-profit application for Sunfest.

  • Rick Bryant is working on a new banner with a logo featuring a buffalo and the Milky Way. Rick Buck, Evan, and Denise offered to help with this.

  • Rick said that he created the buffalo and Milky Way elements in his design himself--i.e. he didn't copy them from other sources. (This would be useful for us later on if we want to try to register a new logo.)

  • Denise will get her revised 6-page handout posted and also do a rewrite of the one-page BAS handout. We want the one-page BAS handout to have a link to the youth brochure as well as our updated 6-page handout.

Other Outreach: Tulsa Central Library Astronomy Night on Space on June 17--Due to lack of volunteers, Craig informed them that the Club is not interested in helping with this event.

Highlights of Abby's astronomy news compilation:

  • Mars rover Opportunity's last message to Earth: "My battery is low and it's getting dark". Well done, Opportunity...

  • Following a successful launch early Saturday morning, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has successfully conducted a rendezvous and docking to the International Space Station for the first time. Docking was ahead of schedule at 5:51 AM EST (10:51 UTC) on Sunday, March 3. A Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket lofted Dragon to orbit from LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, kicking off the first orbital test flight of NASA’s Commercial Crew program.

  • Awesome aurora image--Dragon Aurora over Iceland (2019 Feb 18)

  • A glaciologist has discovered another enormous impact crater under more than a mile of ice in Greenland. This is on the heels of the November 2019 discovery of an impact crater in the same area.

  • Observations with SOFIA tell a mysterious story about supernova explosions the powerful blast wave that destroys almost everything in its path.

  • There’s no shortage of interesting things to see in our own galaxy, but astronomers love finding new galactic neighbors as well. Observing other galaxies can teach scientists a lot about how the massive structures form, live, and die.

  • Using images from the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers studying distant, dim stars accidentally stumbled upon something they hadn’t anticipated: An entirely undocumented galaxy sitting around 30 million light-years from Earth. News of the discovery was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

  • SpaceX and Mars: Lifting all the gear needed to colonize Mars off the face of the Earth is going to involve some serious firepower, and SpaceX has just tested out an important piece of the puzzle. A flight version of the Raptor engine that will serve as a primary building block for the company's Starship spacecraft has been engaged, as it targets the first grasshopper test flights in the coming months.

Event at Tulsa Air and Space Museum Planetarium:

  • Members' party at Tulsa Air and Space Museum Planetarium: March 8, 6:30-8:30 pm.

  • Craig and John Blaesi have met with Bryan Kyle who will conduct the two-hour planetarium show. It promises to be an awesome event!

  • Craig has also worked with Madeline Butler at the Museum to make this event happen. (If you see her at the event, thank her!)

  • Any contributions members might like to make would be appreciated. (There will be a donation box.) Standard museum admission is $14 per person.

  • The Planetarium seats 100 people. Members can invite parents, children, and spouses but we don't want to invite so many guests that we wouldn't all fit. One BAS member is a professor of astronomy at OKWU and he may bring some of his students. Roughly 50 people so far are expected to attend.

  • There will not be an organized carpool to this event--if you want to carpool on your own with others, that is fine!

  • Address: 3624 N 74th E Ave. Take 36th St N exit off US 75 and head east toward the airport, about 3 miles.

Main Presentation: Kissing the Milky Way - Keep It Simple Seven-Step Method for Milky Way Photography by John Blaesi

  • John began by showing an image of the Milky Way that Bob Young took at the star party at the Bolingers' last September.

    • The seven steps are: Weather, Moon, Sun, Location, Equipment, Camera Settings, and Post-processing.

    • John showed a very informative video, Josh Dunlap presenter, which discussed these seven keys. (ExpertPhotography.com)

  • The weather: Apps for weather include Weather Underground, StarCaster, iCSC, Dark Skies Finder, www.cleardarksky.com

  • The moon: Check phases of the moon, moon rise/set and location. You can use AstroLeague Calendar, Darkness Calendar at www.dreistein.nl, and apps such as Deluxe Moon and Sun Surveyor

  • The sun: Check darkness after astronomical dusk. Apps include SOL: Sun Clock, Sun Surveyor, and Sky Safari

  • The location: Find dark skies--see www.lightpollutionmap.info. Apps include Dark Sky Finder, The Photographer's Ephemeris, Photo Pills, Sky View and Sky Safari

  • The equipment: Smartphone--maybe. Don't need a super-expensive camera but full manual exposure helps, and the camera lens is very important.

  • Lens details--wide aperture f/1.4-2.8. Focal length wide angle 12mm-30mm. Common specs are 14mm f2.8, 12mm f2.0, 25mm f1.4.

  • Use your camera hood!

  • When buying a tripod, look for one that is sturdy with anti-vibration feet.

  • Camera manual settings: Use wide aperture, such as f2.8. Shutter speed can help you prevent star trails. For full frame, about 35 seconds; crop frame, about 20 seconds. ISO 3200 recommended. Other settings include manual focus to infinity, long exposure noise reduction, both JPEG and Raw format, and a timer. Then practice! You can practice your setup in the daytime, including checking your equipment and your settings. Also, scout your location. When reviewing your images afterward, you can use a histogram to adjust exposure. Adjust shutter speed if you have star trails. If you have noise, adjust ISO.

  • Post-processing steps: Lens correction and histogram; exposure, white balance, hue, and saturation; clarity, dehaze and structure; highlights, shadows and contrast; graduated filter, bushes and masks; and vignette and effects.

  • More info in John's presentation, which can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qTKHLqdwdhaI7CgGqZ9KYPMuNIHieYLV/view?usp=sharing