October 2020

Next BAS Monthly Meeting:

October 5, 2020

Monthly meetings are held through Zoom

please contact bvilleastro@gmail.com

6:30 pm Setup/Social, 7:00 pm Meeting

BAS meetings feature presentations on a variety of astronomy and space science topics. Meetings are usually on the first Monday evening of each month and are open to the public. Guests are always welcome. More event details are listed on our calendar.

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Next BYA Monthly Meeting:

6:30 pm Setup/Social, 7:00 pm Meeting

Our Savior Lutheran Church

300 NE Madison Blvd., Bartlesville, OK

Bartian Youth Astronomers is an interactive, hands-on youth group for ages seven through high school.

BYA meetings are usually on the third Monday evening of each month. More event details are listed on our calendar.

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Reflections on Astronomy

Brief essays about experiences in astronomy.

A meandering path to the present 70+ Years of Observing Nature Nannoplankton to Galaxies Bob Young Born & raised in Wichita Kansas. (1945-1969) HS graduation -1963 BS Wichita State 1967 MS Wichita State 1969 My first telescope was a present for my birthday or Christmas, mid 1950s. It was a Spitz Planetarium Moon scope. A 3in. Alt-Az reflector, with cardboard tube, plastic eyepiece and drawtube. With it I observed the moon, the sun via eyepiece projection, Jupiter and a couple of moons, Saturn and a hint of it's rings. My most exciting moment was when I thought I was seeing a solar flare on the sun. I soon realized it was smoke from melting plastic inside the eyepiece drifting through the optical tube. At that time other interests/hobbies were fossil and mineral collecting, and reading science fiction.

During Junior High years one of our next door neighbors, a math teacher at another Wichita school, introduced me to both Chess and Star Hopping. In his garage was a home built 12 inch Alt-Az reflector. Hand ground mirror and all. The tube and mount were made out of scrap iron pipe. As a result I was introduced to astronomical viewing through a small portable refractor. Then along came the International Geophysical Year, July 1, 1957-Dec 31, 1958. Russia launched Sputnik 1 (Oct. 4, 1957) &Sputnik 2 (Nov. 3, 1957). Both of which we observed passing overhead in Wichita. THE RUSSIANS WERE AHEAD OF US!! We trailed with Explorer 1 (Jan. 31, 1958) & Vanguard 1 (Mar. 17, 1958). As a result of the US effort to close the science gap; in the 9th grade I was able to take Biology as an option for my Science requirement. The school district received science funding to purchase new MICROSCOPES which we learned to use, PROPERLY.

My first satellite trail photograph was of the Echo 1 balloon satellite launched Aug. 12, 1960. The camera used was a Yashica D twin lens reflex. Remember these? During High School, I took Astronomy & Geology as science options and Physics for a required science. I was a member of the Science Club. Yep, I was a geek with black horn rimmed glasses. No pocket protector! That waited till college.

During college astronomy interest took the back burner. After taking calculus twice I realized that I should not try to become a nuclear physicist. Geology/paleontology became my focus. During a late summer family vacation to the South West in the mid 60s I had my first experience with truly Dark Skies. This was at Monument Valley in the four corners area. It was the first time I was able to eyeball a wide range of star colors. The color range was also captured on film; star trails shot with (High Speed Ektachrome ASA 160). November 1966 the record Leonids Meteor Storm was a spectacular sight in the early morning hours. Even from within Wichita. It looked just like driving through snow at night with your head lights on bright.

REAL ADULT JOBS!!! October 1969 - October 1980 Houston, TX. Texaco Inc. & Arco: Geologist, Paleontologist, Sr. Paleontologist Not a dark sky location. But I did go see the Apollo 12 and Apollo 13 astronauts return home to Ellington field, adjacent to the NASA complex. Houston was an awesome place to be during the NASA hay day. I walked into the 1st Lunar Scientific Conference and was given the mimeographed copy of the conference programs & abstracts that was given to conference attendees.

BACK TO THE MIDCONTINENT October 1980 - December 2002 Bartlesville, OK. Phillips, Conoco Phillips etc. Sr. Biostratigrapher Oil company paleontologists/biostratigraphers examine Micro Fossils, NOT dinosaurs etc. Why? To help Geologists correlate layers of strata between wells to aid in the attempt to find Oil & Gas. Much like the Geologist uses well logs to correlate.

While working at Phillips, I met several members of the Bartlesville Astronomical Society: Ken Wilcox, John Grismore, Sonny Manley, Craig Brockmeier, Fred Fry (Bartlesville Public Library). During this interval several significant astronomical events were observed and photographed, reactivating my interest in astronomy. Haley's Comet 1986. For this event I purchased a second hand dept. store refractor, strapped on it a film SLR with a telephoto lens and manually tracked for a minute or two exposures of the comet. It wasn't spectacular, but it was my first comet and I documented it. Comet Hale-Bopp 1997. Now this one was something else. I shot lots of film on this as it was easily visible for so long. Possibly my favorite shot was the comet located just above the large cross by the main entry to Our Savior Lutheran Church. Taken with a film SLR with a telephoto lens mounted on a photo tripod, 15-20 sec exposures.

December 2002- Present RETIREMENT-Joined BAS Feb 2012 Events/Subjects Observed and Photographed Annular Solar Eclipse May 20, 2012 Venus transit of the Sun June 5, 2012 Best Milky Way viewing to date Sept 8-9, 2015 Black Mesa. OK Natural Sky Site. Comet Love-Joy 2015. Mercury transit of the Sun May 9, 2016 Total Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017 Two Galaxies-1photo, Sept. 14, 2018 Comet NeoWise July, 2020

OBSERVATIONS OF A STABLE PALEONTOLOGIST on Powers of 10 Observing Nature - Nannoplankton to Galaxies ~10-6 to ~1022

The Micro Fossils I dealt with on a daily basis as an oil company paleontologist, Calcareous Nannoplankton, range in size from 1.5 micron to 40 microns. 1 micron = 1 thousandth of a millimeter. 10-6 Figure 1

Average length of human arm, shoulder to finger tip ~1 meter 100

Our Home Galaxy, the Milky Way; 100,000 light years in diameter 10²¹ Figure 2

M31, Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million light years away ~10²²

SCIENCE MATTERS Mother Nature is a Harsh Mistress She will neither be wished away nor lied away

Fig. 1 " Star field" of Nannoplankton 10^-6 Fig. 2 2 Galaxies 1 photo. Milky Way 1021 Andromeda 1022 upper right

The email address is bvilleastro+comments@gmail.com .

BAS Historical Materials Needed

In conjunction with the upcoming BAS Library Display, an effort is being made to locate as much historical club material as possible. Only a small part of the material will be included in the display, but we need to centralize all historical club information. If you know the location of, or have any access to old club photos, newspaper clippings, articles or other historical materials, or if you have memories or recollections of past BAS events or information, please contact John Blaesi or John Grismore. Thanks.

The BAS now has storage at First Christian Church for club equipment and records. We are trying to consolidate and we are requesting any members with club equipment or records to contact one of the officers to arrange to move the items to storage and log it into our inventory.

Apps for Consideration

Distant Suns, your personal guide to the cosmos, lists Night Sky Network astronomy club star parties, safe solar gazing events, and lectures in the main navigation bar. Distant Suns is available for Android, Apple iOS, Kindle, and Nook.

SkySafari, a powerful planetarium that fits in your pocket, lists Night Sky Network astronomy club star parties, safe solar observing events, and lectures in the help menu. SkySafari is available for Android and Apple devices and computers.

Family Fun with Sky Watching

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-resources/stargazing-basics/family-projects-and-experiments/

Clear Sky Predictor for Bartlesville: http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/BrtlsvlOKkey.html

Sky and Telescope News http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/

Explore Caroline Herschel's Celestial Showpieces

More than 200 years ago Caroline Herschel pointed her telescope at the heavens and discovered some of the finest deep-sky objects. Follow in her footsteps and see them for yourself.

BY: BOB KING SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Comets Have (Ultraviolet) Aurora, Too

Observations from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft show that Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has its own aurora.

BY: MONICA YOUNG SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

Giant Planet Found Around a White Dwarf

Astronomers have found a Jupiter-size planet orbiting a much smaller white dwarf. The discovery shows what a system might look like after its star's death.

BY: ARWEN RIMMER SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Race to Venus: How We’ll Verify Phosphine

Confirming phosphine's presence on Venus is difficult from Earth . . . and that makes a good case for a mission to our sister planet.

BY: ARWEN RIMMER SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Sun’s Activity Cycle Is Stabilizing

Solar Cycle 25 is here, and forecasts suggest the next decade of the Sun’s activity will mimic the last one — halting a 40-year trend.

BY: MONICA YOUNG SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Uranian Moons Are Like Dwarf Planets

The moons of Uranus exhibit heat signatures similar to dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt — where the moons were likely born.

BY: GOVERT SCHILLING SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Potential Biosignature Found in Venus’s Clouds

Astronomers might have found a potential indication of life in the clouds of Venus.

BY: ARWEN RIMMER SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

Hubble Images Reveal Dark Matter Problem

Astronomers studying Hubble Space Telescope images of massive galaxy clusters have uncovered a potential problem with dark matter.

BY: MONICA YOUNG SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

Amateur Astronomer Finds Kilometer-size Asteroid

A grant from the Planetary Society enabled an amateur astronomer's discovery of kilometer-size asteroid 2020 QU6.

BY: DAVID DICKINSON SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

Astronomers Map Andromeda’s Halo

Astronomers have observed 43 quasars in back of our sister galaxy, Andromeda, using the distant beacons to map its halo of hot gas.

BY: MONICA YOUNG SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

Stormy Times on Jupiter, Comet Howell Steps Up, and More

Colder weather might be coming, but don't pack away that telescope! You'll miss a powerful storm that's remaking Jupiter's North Temperate Belt, a returning comet, Mira on the rise, and a bright supernova in the Great Bear.

BY: BOB KING SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Study Suggests Jupiter Could Have 600 Moons

New detections of candidate moons suggest that the king of planets could have hundreds of smaller satellites.

BY: GOVERT SCHILLING SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Record-breaking Signal Reveals New Population of Black Holes

Gravitational-wave observatories have detected the most massive black hole merger yet, and it's challenging our ideas of black hole formation.

BY: GOVERT SCHILLING SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

SOLAR SYSTEM

Twinkling Quasar Hints at Mysterious Nearby Plasma Cloud

Radio observations have turned up evidence of a cloud of hot plasma near — or even in — the solar system. But its distance estimate is still up for debate.

BY: GOVERT SCHILLING SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Half-ton OGO 1 Spacecraft Set to Reenter

NASA's Orbiting Geophysical Observatory 1, a bus-sized relic of the early Space Age, is set to reenter in the coming week.

BY: DAVID DICKINSON AUGUST 27, 2020

Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events

(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2019.html)

September 22 - September Equinox. The September equinox occurs at 13:30 UTC. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.

October 1 - Full Moon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 21:06 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Hunters Moon because at this time of year the leaves are falling and the game is fat and ready to hunt. It has also been known as the Travel Moon and the Blood Moon. This full moon is also known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox each year.

October 1 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation of 25.8 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset.

October 7 - Draconids Meteor Shower. The Draconids is a minor meteor shower producing only about 10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner, which was first discovered in 1900. The Draconids is an unusual shower in that the best viewing is in the early evening instead of early morning like most other showers. The shower runs annually from October 6-10 and peaks this year on the the night of the 7th. The second quarter moon will ensure dark skies in the early evening for what should be a good show. Best viewing will be in the early evening from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

October 13 - Mars at Opposition. The red planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Mars. A medium-sized telescope will allow you to see some of the dark details on the planet's orange surface.

October 16 - New Moon. The Moon will located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 19:32 UTC. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

October 21, 22 - Orionids Meteor Shower. The Orionids is an average shower producing up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Halley, which has been known and observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from October 2 to November 7. It peaks this year on the night of the 21st and the morning of of the 22nd. The waxing crescent moon will set before midnight leaving dark skies for what should be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Orion, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

October 29, 30 - Southern Taurids Meteor Shower. The Southern Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. This shower is, however, famous for producing a higher than normal percentage of bright fireballs. The Southern Taurids is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 10 to November 20. It peaks this year on the the night of the 29th and morning of the 30th. The nearly full moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. If you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

October 31 - Full Moon, Blue Moon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 14:51 UTC. Since this is the second full moon in the same month, it is sometimes referred to as a blue moon. This rare calendar event only occurs every few months, giving rise to the term "once in a blue moon".

October 31 - Uranus at Opposition. The blue-green planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view Uranus. Due to its distance, it will only appear as a tiny blue-green dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.

November 10 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest western elongation of 19.1 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky. Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.

November 11, 12 - Northern Taurids Meteor Shower. The Northern Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. This shower is, however, famous for producing a higher than normal percentage of bright fireballs. The Northern Taurids is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The shower runs annually from October 20 to December 10. It peaks this year on the the night of the 11th and morning of the 12th. The thin crescent moon will not be much of a problem this year leaving dark skies for what could be a really good show. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

November 15 - New Moon. The Moon will located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 05:08 UTC. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

November 16, 17 - Leonids Meteor Shower. The Leonids is an average shower, producing up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. It peaks this year on the night of the 16th and morning of the 17th. The crescent moon will set early in the evening leaving dark skies for what should be an excellent show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

November 30 - Full Moon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 09:32 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Beaver Moon because this was the time of year to set the beaver traps before the swamps and rivers froze. It has also been known as the Frosty Moon and the Dark Moon.

November 30 - Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's partial shadow, or penumbra. During this type of eclipse the Moon will darken slightly but not completely. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of North America, the Pacific Ocean, and northeastern Asia including Japan. (NASA Map and Eclipse Information)

(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2019.html)

Next Month's BAS Meeting: November 2, Monday. Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room A (tentative), Presenter: TBA

Newsletter Contributions Needed

Our club newsletter is reaching more people each month, and member contributions in the form of short articles, interesting news items, alerts of upcoming astronomical events or activities, descriptions of personal observations or useful equipment, and observing tips, are encouraged. Recurring columns or multi-part articles are also welcome. Please submit your contributions to Mike Woods or to bvilleastro@gmail.com.

Bartlesville Astronomical Society is an organization of people interested in astronomy and related fields of science. Membership is open to everyone interested in any aspects of astronomy.

Elected Officers and Board Members: