August 2024 Meeting Notes
Bartlesville Astronomical Society Meeting Notes
August 5, 2024
Attendance: We had 19 people members in attendance this evening, in person and on Zoom, 16 members and 3 guests.
Main program: New Telescope Technology--Presentations on ZWO Seestar S50 by Luann Wright and Celestron StarSense Explorer by Craig Brockmeier
ZWO Seestar S50 by Luann Wright:
Luann showed an image taken of the Andromeda Galaxy using a ZWO Seestar S50 in 2024, using a 45-minute exposure, and compared that to the 45-minute exposure 100-inch telescope image taken in 1923 by Edwin Hubble of the Andromeda “Nebula”—an image that convinced Hubble that Andromeda was actually a galaxy. But the difference in what Hubble’s telescope picked up, and what the Seestar can pick up, is amazing!
The Seestar is an astrophotography telescope, as opposed to a visual telescope (which the Celestron StarSense Explorer is). You control the Seestar using an app on a smart device, and images are displayed on your device. You can save images. If you stack images taken over a longer time period, you can get better images. The Seestar is suitable for a wide range of users, from beginners to experts; it’s easy to set up and operate. It’s designed for deep-space photography more than it is for planets in our solar system, although you can image planets. (It has a small field of view, in portrait mode only, not as suitable for planets.)
The Seestar uses an apochromatic 3-element lens, and includes a lightweight, sturdy, carbon fiber tripod. It has a built-in anti-dew heater and an integrated dual narrow band filter for light pollution. It also has UV and solar filters. It can install regular software and firmware updates; it has built-in WiFi network capability and is Bluetooth-enabled. It has a Sony color sensor camera. The Seestar battery lasts six hours; if you are using the dew filter, probably just four hours.
The app includes weather forecasts and can suggest objects for best viewing tonight, as well as upcoming events. It shows the times of moonrise and moonset. It also has an extensive sky atlas catalog of objects. It can show which Messier objects are visible tonight.
When you are using the Seestar, you can even see who is imaging near you, using a Seestar, at the same time! There are Facebook groups for Seestar users.
The Seestar has a number of modes for different imaging purposes—such as stargazing (for deep space objects), solar, lunar (good for lunar craters), planetary and scenery.
You can get image enhancement tools from Siril, a third-party product, for free; you can also buy PixInsight, for example, to use with the Seestar.
The Seestar is made in China and costs around $500. If you were to put together something with the capabilities of the Seestar using individual components, you’d probably spend at least $2,000.
Luann showed a range of images she has taken with a Seestar, such as of the Sun (with sunspots!); M42, the Orion Nebula; the Moon; IC 5070, the Pelican Nebula; IC 5146, the Cocoon Nebula; M31, the Andromeda Galaxy; M5, Globular Cluster in Serpens; M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy; and M41, an open cluster in Canis Major.
We also saw John Land’s Seestar image of the occultation of Spica by the Moon.
Celestron StarSense Explorer DX102AZ by Craig Brockmeier:
The Celestron Star Sense Explorer DX102AZ is a visual telescope, but you control the telescope using an app on a mobile phone. To use it, you have the mobile phone take a picture of the sky, and then the app figures out where it is so it can guide you to finding objects with the telescope.
You use the mobile phone to do a go-to for an object. The app gives you arrows of where to point the telescope to guide you, and the arrows turn green when you have located the object. The object is then visible in the telescope’s eyepiece.
The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX102AZ has a 400 mm focal length and a 102 mm objective and will resolve planets better than the Seestar; it can resolve the moons of Jupiter and rings of Saturn.
Meg Greenwood—Moon moving away from Earth:
Meg Greenwood discussed something she has read recently about the Moon drifting away from Earth, at the rate of about 4 cm/year! Eventually, we won’t have total solar eclipses from Earth, only annular ones—about 600 million years from now.
Astronomical events/reports:
We did have a star party at Jo Allyn Lowe Park on July 13! We had seventeen in attendance that evening. One of the highlights of the evening was observing and photographing the Moon occulting Spica.
Craig saw an unusual, very bright and long-lived fireball on the night of July 29 (about 1:10 a.m. July 30). It was very bright and white at first. It went from south to north and broke apart into five pieces, that continued traveling north along with the original fireball. At the time it split, it was in multiple colors—yellow, green, blue-green and blue. Craig said that he had never seen anything like it. The American Meteor Society received two reports about this fireball, one from Bartlesville and another from Broken Arrow.
Club Business:
Treasurer’s Report – Evan Z:
Ending balance June 30, 2024: $15,471.40.
Astronomical League dues: $196.00
Payment to Denise for Sunfest and library display supplies: $165.96
Interest from new Truity account: $29.54
Ending balance July 31, 2024: $15138.98
This report incorporates two bank accounts for the first time, our ongoing Arvest account and the new savings account we have set up at Truity Credit Union to put the larger share of our Club funds in, as we can get 4 ½% interest on the account, using a special program that Truity offers for non-profits.
Volunteer grants—Phillips 66: Employees may continue to apply for volunteer grants ongoing, but for retirees, volunteer hours can no longer be applied to volunteer grants starting July 1. There have been no changes announced for ConocoPhillips volunteer grants for retirees.
Club projector: Still working on this
Library display: We set up our exhibit August 1! Thanks go to Craig, John B, Joann, Luann, Evan, Gil, Meg and Denise for working on setup! We have new photographs in the exhibit this year of the April 8 total eclipse from Mike Woods, the October 14 annular eclipse from Katlynn and Caleb, and the Northern Lights from Denise—in addition to familiar favorites by Daryl Doughty, Rick Bryant, Rick Buck and John Grismore! Takedown will be August 31.
Girl Scout event this September: We are planning to do a star party (like we have done before) at Camp Wah-Shah-She Friday, September 20. Craig is coordinating this event. There will be about 60 girls in attendance; we will split into two groups of 30. They will be ages 8 or 9. Craig wants to take the Club’s Celestron
StarSense Explorer to go along with telescopes the Girl Scouts have at Wah-Shah-She. Five or six people volunteered to help with this event at the meeting. Craig wants to go out to Wah-Shah-She the weekend before to collimate the telescopes that are there that he wants to use.
Green Country Village: Denise did a presentation at Green Country Village July 23 on meteor showers and the aurora borealis. About 25 people at Green Country Village attended, including residents and staff. Afterward, we went outside to their entrance area and visited with residents while Luann and Craig showed live images of the Sun taken with their ZWO Seestar S50 telescopes that they had set up (with solar filters) by the entrance. They (and John B, who also had his Seestar with him) also showed them stored images of the Moon and the April 8 total solar eclipse taken with their Seestars.
Eldercare fundraiser--“Dinner Under the Stars” to be held at the Cross Bell Ranch: Date not yet set, would need to take place before September 30. John B is coordinating this event. Will need volunteers; several volunteered to help with this at the meeting.
Tulsa Air and Space Museum planetarium: Denise has suggested some September dates to them; she has not yet heard back.
Star party at the Bolinger’s on October 5: We are working on having a star party for members at the Bolinger’s on October 5!
Club officers and appointed chairs for 2025:
We will be discussing these at the September meeting.
Elected officers:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
At-large (2)
Appointed chairs:
Program director
Newsletter
Public outreach
Coordinator for other projects
Mall and Library Display Lead
Next club meeting: Thursday, September 5 at the library, in meeting room C. Topic will be something on night skies (perhaps a video) and proposed slate of Club officers for 2025.
October: Club elections and other business, and something fun
November: Do you want a telescope for Christmas?
December: An upcoming year’s worth of meteor showers; possibly a star party
January: You got a telescope for Christmas. Now what do you do with it?