September 2025 Meeting Notes

Bartlesville Astronomical Society Meeting Notes

September 4, 2025

Attendance: 

We had 13 members and 2 visitors in attendance this evening, in person and on Zoom.

Astro Quiz--John G:

·   At the August meeting:  Guess the percentage of cloud cover on August 11 for Perseid meteor shower:  The answer turned out to be 88%.  The closest guesses were 62.5% (John B) and 62% (Luann)! 

·   What constellation has the fewest stars?  Equuleus, the Little Horse

·   What constellation has the greatest number of galaxies?  Virgo

·   What constellation is the most likely to have a planet present in it at any moment in time?  Virgo, because it is longer in the ecliptic than any other constellation.

Ten-minute Astronomy: Observing Satellites by Luann

·       Luann showed us a video on this subject!

·       It takes a satellite typically about 1.35 hours to orbit the Earth.  The farther away from Earth a satellite is, the slower it orbits.

·       Two good ways to tell if what you are observing is a satellite or not: 

o   See how fast it is moving.  A satellite is much slower than a meteor. 

o   Is it blinking or not?  We see airplane lights blink, but we don’t see satellites blinking from Earth!

·       The International Space Station is the biggest and brightest satellite.  Luann also discussed Starlinks and iridium flares.

·       If a satellite is orbiting at a geostationary location, it is orbiting about 23000 miles from Earth.

·       Satellites serve a number of purposes.  They are used to study our weather patterns.  They are used for communications and military purposes.  Satellites also play an important role in astronomical observations.  Hubble is only one of many orbiting astronomical observatories.

·       Sputnik 1 was launched October 4, 1957.  The U.S.’s first satellite, Explorer 1, was launched January 31, 1958.

·       There are a number of apps that you can use on your mobile device for satellites.  Two of these are ISS Live Now and Satellite Tracker ($6.00/year). 

·       You can also use binoculars to help you view satellites.  40-50 mm, 7-8 X power are recommended.

Recent Club Events:

·       Woolaroc daytime event on Saturday, August 23 at the Welcome Center:  We held the event from 12-4 p.m. and had 50 visitors!  John B, Rebecca, Craig, Luann (with her Seestar telescope) and Denise participated in this event.  The event threatened to get rained out but it cleared up before noon and we had a great time!  We had nice visits with people who came to see us—one group we spoke with said they had seen the publicity that Woolaroc had put out for our event, and I sensed that went into their decision to come to Woolaroc this weekend!  Some of the people who attended wanted to get on our newsletter list.  The people who visited enjoyed our display of photography.

·       Members-only star party at McClintock Boy Scout Camp the week of August 17—cancelled due to weather

Upcoming Club events:

·       International Observe the Moon Night on October 4: This event will be held at Unity Square.  Volunteers needed!

Upcoming Astronomical Events:

·   September 7—Full Moon/Corn Moon

·   September 8—Moon near Saturn low in the east at dusk

·   September 12—Moon near Pleiades low in NE before midnight

·   September 16—Moon < 5 degrees from Jupiter in constellation Gemini before dawn

·   September 19—Venus < 0.5 degrees from Regulus in Leo, low in east at dawn

·   September 21—Saturn at opposition, best time to observe, visible all night and at its brightest

·   September 21—New moon, best time for dark sky observing

·   September 22—September equinox, equal day and night, autumn begins in northern hemisphere

·   September 24—Moon near Mars very low in the SW at sunset

Main presentation:  All About the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) by Evan

·       The James Webb Space Telescope serves four basic purposes:

o   Search for light form the first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang

o   Study galaxy formation and evolution

o   Understand star and planetary formation

o   Study planetary systems and the origins of life

·       Discussion of developing an infrared space telescope began in the 1990s.  (The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990.)  Initial designs of the JWST were done in 1996.  A re-design was done in 2005.  The JWST was launched December 25, 2021. 

·       The JWST reached LaGrange point L2 in January 2022.  (At a LaGrange point, the Sun’s and Earth’s gravity are balanced.  L2 is 930,000 miles from Earth.)  The JWST orbits around the L2 LaGrange point.  The telescope was unfolded in about two weeks.

·       The first photo, a deep field photograph in the region of the constellation Volans in the Southern Hemisphere, was released to the public July 11, 2022.

·       The JWST initial budget was $1 billion and it ended up costing $10 billion.  The primary contractor was Northrop Grumman but many countries were involved in its construction, as well as the European Space Agency.   The JWST is operated by the Space Telescope Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

·       The JWST has found objects 13.5 billion light years away.  It can observe the whole sky in about 6 months.  It takes the telescope about 12.5 hours to produce a composite image.

·       Colder objects like debris clouds and planets emit more strongly in infrared light.

·       High redshift objects (very early/distant) have visible emissions shifted into infrared so they are easier to see.  Infrared telescopes can see more easily through dust clouds.

·       The JWST has a primary 21-foot diameter mirror, composed of 18 hexagonal beryllium-based mirrors.  The mirrors are coated in a very thin layer of gold, along with a thin layer of glass.  The gold helps the mirrors reflect infrared light.

·       The JWST has a sun shield about the size of a tennis court.   The telescope must be kept at a temperature under 50 degrees Kelvin (about -370 F).   The JWST’s protective SPF rating against sunlight is 1,000,000.  (That is a lot more SPF than our suntan lotions!)

·       The JWST has an integrated science instrument module including a near-infrared camera, a near-infrared spectrograph, a fine guidance sensor and a near-infrared imager and slitless spectrograph.  It also has a service bus, engine thrusters for fuel, and a small solar panel to supply power for electrical needs.

·       The JWST can lock onto stars as faint as 18 magnitude.

·       The JWST can see weather on some planets!  It can also see trans-Neptunian and Kuiper Belt objects.  It was not designed to hunt for extra-solar planets, but it can analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets.  The telescope will take spectrographs of planets, their stars, and their transits of each other.

·       The JWST can see objects 100 times fainter than what the Hubble can capture.

·       The JWST is open to space; the Hubble is mostly enclosed.

·       The JWST was designed to last a minimum of five years.  It is hoped that it can last 10 years or longer.  Fuel consumption will be the determining factor in how long it can last.  The JWST does have refillable fuel tanks.

·       Evan showed a number of amazing photographs that the JWST has produced!

·       Evan recommends watching the “Cosmic Dawn” video produced by NASA.

Treasurer’s Report – Evan Z:

·   Ending balance June 30, 2025:  $16697.28

·   Additions during July and August:

o   Interest $90.47

o   COP volunteer grant (Pat) $1000.00

o   Dues $24.50

o   Two Blackbaud donations, $160.00 each, total $320.00

o   Total additions $1434.97

·   Payments:

o   Two storage fees for July and August $86.00 each, total $172.00

o   Charger for Seestar $26.11

o   Total payments $198.11

·       Ending balance August 31, 2025: $17,934.14

Club elections—October:

Here are the nominations for officers:

President—open

Vice President—Evan Zorn

Secretary—Denise Gregg

Treasurer—Luann Wright

Reminders:

BAS has equipment, books, educational materials and scopes available for loan to qualifying members.

Requests:  We would like to include member astrophotography, ranging from handheld smartphone pictures, to unguided camera on a tripod shots, to telescopic images, at future BAS meetings. Please email them to bvilleastro@gmail.com.

BAS needs volunteers:

We need volunteers for public star parties and other observing events.  All members are encouraged to help out with some of these events.  In addition to telescopes, help is needed with setup, answering general stargazing questions, conversing with and encouraging visitors, providing handouts and signup sheets. If you can help, contact jrgrismore@icloud.com.