January 2023
Next BAS Monthly Meeting:
Thursday, January 5, 2023 at 7:00 at the library or via Zoom.
Program: A Year's Worth of Meteor Showers - Denise
Members will be sent a link to the Zoom meeting. Here is a link to the Join page on our website! If you are not a Club member but would like to attend, please email bvilleastro@gmail.com and ask to have the Zoom link sent to you!
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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April 8, 2024, there will be another total eclipse ‘across’ America.
Are you ready?
Do you plan to go?
Don’t wait until 2024 to make your plans!
NASA Site
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEsearchmap.php?Ecl=20240408
Weather Site
https://eclipsophile.com/2024tse/
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The email address is bvilleastro+comments@gmail.com .
The BAS 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
Family Fun with Sky Watching
Clear Sky Predictor for Bartlesville:
https://clearskyalarmclock.com/index.php
Sky and Telescope News https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/
The two richest, most reliable annual meteor showers, the Perseids and Geminids, are Moon-free in 2023. Others showers await you too.
BY: ALAN MACROBERT DECEMBER 27, 2022
Echoing summer's great arc of planets at dawn, winter presents the full octet again, this time splayed across the evening sky.
BY: BOB KING DECEMBER 22, 2022
The James Webb Space Telescope's early-release image of the Cosmic Cliffs is revealing growth spurts in young stars.
BY: MONICA YOUNG DECEMBER 22, 2022
When spacetime shivers last only a fraction of a second — as in the case of the massive-black-hole merger GW190521 — astronomers struggle to uncover their origins.
BY: CAMILLE M. CARLISLE DECEMBER 20, 2022
A new deep field from the James Webb Space Telescope shows how galaxies evolved in the early universe.
BY: MONICA YOUNG DECEMBER 19, 2022
Spectroscopic measurements confirm Webb's distance record, with images revealing galaxies that existed just 330 million years after the Big Bang.
BY: COLIN STUART DECEMBER 15, 2022
The Perseverance rover on Mars has recorded a dust devil using its microphone, providing unprecedented data about these whirlwinds.
BY: MONICA YOUNG DECEMBER 14, 2022
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight, iSpace’s Hakuto R from Japan, and the United Arab Emirates' Rashid rover are all headed to the Moon after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket.
BY: DAVID DICKINSON DECEMBER 11, 2022
Long-ago impacts tossed up the floors of an ancient ocean on the Red Planet and carried debris to the landing site of NASA’s Viking 1 lander.
BY: JEFF HECHT DECEMBER 8, 2022
It may not be the closest opposition, but this time around Mars arcs high across the sky where good seeing promises sharp views. That's not all. On December 7th, one night before opposition, the full Moon occults the Red Planet!
BY: BOB KING DECEMBER 7, 2022
Gamma-ray bursts are generally thought to come in two flavors — supernovae or neutron star mergers. But discoveries are blurring that line.
BY: MONICA YOUNG DECEMBER 7, 2022
On the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17, we look back at iconic photos as well as rarely seen images from the mission.
BY: DANIEL JOHNSON DECEMBER 7, 2022
Some of the small missions deployed from Artemis 1 will go on to do great things, while others remain silent.
BY: DAVID DICKINSON DECEMBER 6, 2022
A collection of five research studies delve into the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-39b as astronomers seek to better understand the chemistry of a world beyond the solar system.
BY: ARWEN RIMMER DECEMBER 2, 2022
Brand-new images from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Keck Observatory in Hawai'i reveal clouds beneath the haze on this enshrouded moon.
BY: MONICA YOUNG DECEMBER 1, 2022
Stars are most often born as multiples. Now, the TESS telescope has caught one of these multiple systems in a unique setup.
BY: AAS NOVA NOVEMBER 29, 2022
Polarized X-rays are helping astronomers take a closer look at blazars’ “plasma guns,” the particle jets powered by supermassive black holes.
BY: MONICA YOUNG NOVEMBER 23, 2022
Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events
(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2021.html)
2023
January 3, 4 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower. The Quadrantids is an above average shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at its peak. It is thought to be produced by dust grains left behind by an extinct comet known as 2003 EH1, which was discovered in 2003. The shower runs annually from January 1-5. It peaks this year on the night of the 3rd and morning of the 4th. This year the nearly full moon will block out most of the fainter meteors. But if you are patient you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Bootes, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
January 6 - 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 23:09 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Wolf Moon because this was the time of year when hungry wolf packs howled outside their camps. This moon has also been know as the Old Moon and the Moon After Yule.
January 21 - 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 20:55 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.
January 30 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest western elongation of 25 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.
February 5 - 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 18:30 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Snow Moon because the heaviest snows usually fell during this time of the year. Since hunting is difficult, this moon has also been known by some tribes as the Hunger Moon.
February 20 - 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 07:08 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.
March 7 - 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 12:42 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Worm Moon because this was the time of year when the ground would begin to soften and the earthworms would reappear. This moon has also been known as the Crow Moon, the Crust Moon, the Sap Moon, and the Lenten Moon.
March 20 - March Equinox. The March equinox occurs at 21:17 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 spring (vernal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.
March 21 - 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 17:25 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.
Next Month's BAS Meeting: February 6, Monday. 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:
President
Craig Brockmeier
Vice President
Rick Buck
Secretary
Denise Gregg
Treasurer
Evan Zorn
Appointed Positions and Board Members:
Program Director
Bob Young
Mike Woods
Observing Program Coordinator
Rick Buck
Member-at-Large
John Blaesi
Member-at-Large
Karen Cruce
Additional Appointed Positions:
Bartian Youth Astronomers Leader
Rick Bryant
Meeting Arrangements Coordinator
Daryl Doughty
Website and Social Media Administrator
Denise Gregg
Astronomical League Coordinator
Denise Gregg
Our officers and some individuals holding other club positions can be reached by email. To send an email, just click on a title above.
Membership Rates
Regular Membership
For age 18 or older. Holds one vote for BAS business.
$25 per year
Student Membership
For age 13 through high school, or age 18 or older and enrolled full-time at a post-secondary educational institution. Holds no vote for BAS business. A student younger than age 13 may join with an adult on a Family Membership.
$10 per year
Family Membership:
Two People
For two people, with at least one member age 18 or older. Holds one shared vote for BAS business.
$30 per year
Family Membership:
Three or More People
For three or more people, with at least one member age 18 or older. Holds one shared vote for BAS business.
$40 per year
Members are eligible for these discounted magazine subscriptions:
Sky and Telescope
Astronomy Technology Today
Astronomy Magazine
Please check with the BAS Treasurer for current discounted subscription rates.
Comments: Send email to bvilleastro+comments@gmail.com or our newsletter editor: bvilleastro+newsletter@gmail.com