February 2024 Meeting Notes
Bartlesville Astronomical Society Meeting Notes
February 5, 2024
Attendance:
26 people in attendance, in person and via Zoom. We had 19 members in attendance and 7 guests.
Main program: Daryl Doughty—Preparing for Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024
The April 8 total eclipse will be the third total solar eclipse he has viewed!
Daryl showed pictures of the equipment he used in the August 2017 solar eclipse, as well as recent images of sunspots and solar prominences shooting 5000 km high above the sun; the October 14, 2023 annular eclipse; and the 2017 total eclipse, all images that he took through his telescopes. Some images were taken using a hydrogen alpha filter, which gives you the most surface detail of the Sun. Daryl was in Boonville, MO for the 2017 eclipse and will be in Dallas for the one in April.
John Blaesi then reviewed some solar eclipse do’s and don’ts, and other eclipse tips:
Do—
Use proper certified solar filters, solar glasses and eclipse viewers
Don’t—
Use smoked glass, regular sunglasses, prescription regular sunglasses, welding helmets, vintage solar eyepieces from the 1950’s, crossed polarizing filters or neutral-density camera filters to view the eclipse.
He also showed an image he took of the October 14 annular eclipse.
Gil suggested that you could get a holder for your iPhone to put it on a tripod.
John G showed a DIY sun finder he made, with a pinhole and a projection end.
Others mentioned using a colander to view eclipse shadows—and that Ritz crackers or saltines with holes could even be used!
Use of an eclipse projector was also mentioned.
https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses has information from NASA about preparing for the eclipse.
Astronomy News - Virgil Reese:
Virgil was not in attendance this evening.
What’s up for February in the night sky—John B:
Ursa Major
Ursa Minor
Triple star system in Polaris
Bode’s Galaxy M81 in Ursa Major
Cigar Galaxy, M82 in Ursa Major
Pinwheel Galaxy M101 in Ursa Major
Surfboard Galaxy M108 (a barred spiral galaxy) in Ursa Major
Owl nebula M97 in Ursa Major
Meteor showers—alpha Centaurids (seen mainly further south)
Best planets: Jupiter (with crescent moon); Mercury, Venus and Mars on Feb. 14 before dawn
Astronomical events/reports:
Denise, Craig, Gil and Meg saw a bright green fireball on January 30 just before 9:30 p.m. Denise reported it to the American Meteor Society and they put her report at the top of the list of 22 reports filed for this event!
A number of people in the Club felt the earthquake that took place February 2 at 11:24 p.m. At magnitude 5.1, it is ranked 5th (tying with another earthquake) in Oklahoma. The epicenter was 6 km NW of Prague, OK and the earthquake was 6 km deep. It was felt in Copan, OK; north into Kansas, almost to Kansas City; and south into the Dallas area.
This time of year, watch for “diamond dust” after a snowfall, when the sky is clear again around dawn and the snow is sparkling in the early morning light. You might be able to see special optical effects such as arcs, haloes and sun pillars through diamond dust. (Be careful not to look at the sun directly without proper eye protection!)
Club Business:
Donation to Club—
James Dixon has donated a telescope to the Club. It is a Celestron PowerSeeker 114EQ. (It is missing an eyepiece tray.)
Treasurer’s Report – Evan:
Ending balance December 31, 2024: $13986.08
Expenses:
$52.86 to Luann for mall display purchases
$51.55 to John B for Club equipment
Receipts:
$155.00 in dues received
Ending balance January 31, 2024: $14036.67
If you work for or are retired from COP or P66 or another company that does volunteer grants, and you have not yet submitted hours for a volunteer grant for 2023 (if you have at least 20 hours of accrued volunteer time), the window of time may be closing in to apply, if not already past.
The next Astronomical League member report goes in mid-March. If you have not yet renewed for 2024, dues are due by March 15 if you would like to receive the Reflector magazine in 2024.
Upcoming outreach events:
Dewey Grade School, Feb. 20, 6-7:30 p.m. They are having a science fair and a book fair, and we have been invited to participate. Need volunteers! They expect to have 100-150 people attending (students and parents). Will want to have a couple telescopes there, and a small table for pictures and handouts. We will need people to help. If you can come, we will
meet at 5:30 p.m. to do setup.
Upcoming star parties:
· 2nd Saturday of the month star party at Jo Allyn Lowe February 10, weather permitting
· Star party at Osage Hills State Park Feb. 16 or 17, weather permitting
· If we do have a party at Osage Hills, you have to get a parking pass either in advance (the Park office is open 8:30 am-4:00 p.m. 7 days a week) or order it online in advance through the Premium Parking web app. The kiosk where you used to be able to drive up and get a parking pass at the park is not working right now.
Star parties further out:
· We are working on doing something at Woolaroc in fall or late summer.
· Tulsa Air and Space Museum: Denise has contacted them about doing a planetarium show for us, but she has not heard back yet.
· Jennifer mentioned that she lives near the Sutton Center and she has dark skies where she lives—that could be a possible future location for a star party.
Club Volunteers needed for:
Program director
Observing program coordinator
Outreach coordinator (including text blasting)
BAS Newsletter editor
BAS meeting Zoom host
BAS meeting chat moderator
Social media coordinator (At the meeting, Kat, Caleb and Katlynn volunteered to work together on social media! Thank you!!)
Website coordinator
Upcoming BAS programs:
March—NASA or other videos
April—Brian Turner will present on a total solar eclipse that validated Einstein’s theory of relativity
May—Solar eclipse pictures
June—Planetarium apps
July—New telescope technology
August—Scale of solar system/universe
September—Night sky photography
October—Club elections
November—Do you want a telescope for Christmas?
December—Denise’s presentation on meteor showers
January—What did you get for Christmas?
Eclipse supplies:
Denise recently got a new camera solar filter from Thousand Oaks—as of now, lead time is good. John Land also mentioned Rainbow Symphony as a good place to order solar glasses at reasonable prices.
Night Sky Network speaker:
We are eligible to get another expert speaker for our Club meeting for April, May or June. Denise has applied for this and requested June as our first-choice month, then May, then April.
Bartlesville City Survey in support of 20-year plan for Bartlesville--
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Endeavor2045
John G mentioned that there are questions about light pollution in this survey! John G has also sent an email about this to Larry Curtis, Director of Community Development, and Micah Siemers, Director of Engineering.
July 4-H event:
Oklahoma 4-H is looking for presenters for the 103rd Oklahoma 4-H Roundup July 24-26, 2023 on the OSU Stillwater Campus for eighth to twelfth graders. See https://4h.okstate.edu. 4-H is seeking presenters to share their knowledge with these amazing youth. Hands on activities are welcome. There are two workshop lengths to choose from (1 hour or 2 hour) and sessions will take place the afternoon of July 24th and July 25th. If interested in presenting, complete the following form by March 1, 2024. Accepted presenters will be notified by April 3. https://forms.office.com/r/e1FXV2LCNz
Next club meeting: March 4 at the library