April 2024
Next BAS Monthly Meeting:
Monday, April 1, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at the library (meeting room C) and via Zoom
Topic: The Eclipse That Verified Einstein's Theory of Relativity
Dr. Brian Turner, Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Einstein's Eclipse: The total solar eclipse of 1919 confirmed Einstein's Theory of Relativity and made him a world-wide celebrity with his brilliant and revolutionary ideas. It was not an easy measurement, however, and scientists had to battle travel, weather, and even world war to bring Einstein what he needed. This is the story of how an eclipse could prove Einstein correct, and how photographing such an eclipse would become an adventure - full of failures, but ultimately success.
The Great American Eclipse of April 8, 2024 is coming up soon! Are you ready? At the April 1 BAS meeting, the countdown will be at T-minus 7 days to the April 8 eclipse, and after that, we won’t have another total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous U.S. until August 23, 2044! That's twenty years from now. Don’t be left without the dark!
Club 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.
https://sites.google.com/site/bartlesvilleastronomyclub/
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April 2024
Members Message
First Light - a Good Night
by John Blaesi
A new telescope. Telescope - a word with three syllables. Just like 'I Love You'. Is there anyone reading this that does not love a new telescope? And isn't a new telescope like a 'new love'? Nope - not going there - you can, maybe you just did. Most of my telescopes are getting on in years, maybe that is because I am getting on in years. I only recall purchasing one brand new scope in my life, other telescopes that I have came from a gentlemen who was older than I am. Nothing wrong with that - telescopes are made to last forever. Not much goes wrong with a couple pieces of glass, toss in a mirror or two if needed. So I have been thinking about a new telescope, and guess what? I got an early Christmas present from my love - thank you Honey!
So what did I get, you may be asking yourself, it is a Seestar S50. I did my research on them, read the good and bad reviews, read the manuals, talked to a few club members that already own one, and I decided it was time. But I don't think I need to tell you these telescopes are going out the vendor doors as fast as they can get them in. Most of the vendors already had 'Out of Stock' in their listing. I called one vendor and they just sold their last one. Almost all of them had words in the listing like 'more on the way', coming soon', 'back ordered', call now we will not charge you until we ship. The usual stuff when you buy on line. And of course with an item this popular, there were absolutely no discounts. None, zippo, nada, no way. But I had time to at least settle on a vendor or two. Sure, I will share their names. Astronomics here in Oklahoma is a great vendor and I like to support the locals. B&H Photo has been my go to camera equipment supplier for decades and they provide good support. For both vendors I said a notify me when in stock and moved on. No - I did not check every hour, but I did check daily and looked for other sources. I did find one vendor had them in stock but for $50 higher! But I could have it the next day!
So one fine Friday morning I was getting my online news and thought I would check the aforementioned vendors and I got an email. BAM! WOW! B&H Photo had them in stock, free two day shipping. They have real people behind their sales - no robots answering texts or the phone. (Don't contact them on Friday afternoon or Saturday). So I contacted them and they said yes they are in stock and shipping. So really, I texted them at 8:30 am, hit the order button, and at 8:38 am the order was confirmed, and at 9:36 am the order was shipped! Not only that it came with a free insulated stainless steel water bottle and a free microfiber lens cloth. Both of these may come in handy on those cold nights when you are spending quality time with your telescope. And - two business days later here came the big FedEx truck with a big box, a smaller box inside, and inside the smaller box was the Seestar S50. Christmas did come early.
Well, since the telescope comes with a solar filter and has three modes for taking pictures of the Sun you don't have to wait for night time to use it. For the sun, you can take a photo, you can take a video, and you can do time lapse photography. The time lapse option should be perfect for the 2024 eclipse. Since the telescope battery was partially charged the first thing I did was take a few photos of the Sun. Ok, correction, the first thing I did was download the Seestar app to my phone and then put on the solar filter and added the just long enough tripod. Then I set the telescope on the driveway, turned on the scope, started the app, the app found the scope, the app updated the telescope firmware and off we went. All of this probably took less than five minutes. It actually took me longer to unbox the scope than it did to set it up. I told the app to take pictures of the sun, the scope had my automatically gleaned my GPS coordinates and time from some satellite overhead, it went and found the sun and automatically focused on the sun. WHAT! ALREADY! LESS THAN 5 MINUTES! I could take a picture of the whole sun or zoom in and focus on prominent sunspots. I was taking pictures already, I could move around the sun looking for other prominent features. Nice, neat, and the Seestar performed flawlessly. It sure beats hauling out a telescope, putting on solar shields, take off the finder, use the shadow method to find the sun, then - oh, now I need to add a camera to the mix - never mind.
And for another surprise - it was actually clear Monday night. You know the rule of thumb, you get a new telescope and it is going to be cloudy. Nope - it was a gorgeous clear night - no clouds, not too cold, the thin crescent moon was just setting behind the hill. So I missed taking pictures of the Moon but that meant it was going to be a moonless, cloudless, and dark night. Perfect! My favorite night sky objects are the Orion Nebula, Pleiades, and the Beehive Cluster. Again, I just set the telescope on the driveway, turned it on, connected the phone and told it to find the Orion Nebula. Within just a few minutes - the nebula appeared. OMG, Goodness Gracious, Gosh, Geez, Good Gravy, and WOW! Then on to Pleiades - WOW! Then over to the Beehive Cluster - Holy Smokes! Then - a moment of silence. Just me and the dark sky, full of stars, a little telescope robot doing my bidding.
I pair of binoculars came in handy to spot 'what the heck is that smudge in the dark sky' and just to look around for targets while I let the telescope do its thing for a few minutes each time. Each new target was just a minute or two away find and focus if needed. Taking a picture was three minutes on the average, five minutes at the most. I could have gone longer for better pictures on some of the objects but that was not my goal tonight. Even without a telescope - my goal is just to look up at a dark night sky and just be amazed.
So go out and enjoy the night - heck even if it is cloudy sometime I go out just to listen to the dark. Do you want to see pictures? Come to the Bartlesville Astronomical Society meetings (check times at https://sites.google.com/site/bartlesvilleastronomyclub/). We always try to have a portion of the meeting for member photos. And guess what! More and more members are showing up with Seestar photos. Hope to see you there!
John Blaesi
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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 .
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 full Moon will go through a penumbral eclipse. Comet Pons-Brooks nears its best showing in early evening. And as Mercury fades in the sunset, Jupiter becomes the only easy planet in the entire sky.
BY: ALAN MACROBERT MARCH 22, 2024
Ejections of solar material are increasingly commonplace as the Sun’s activity ramps up. Here’s what to expect if an eruption occurs on eclipse day.
BY: MONICA YOUNG MARCH 21, 2024
Astronomers have used the Webb telescope to observe Cepheid variable stars, ruling out one source of the prevailing "Hubble tension.”
BY: ARWEN RIMMER MARCH 20, 2024
Scientists have identified a colossal volcano on Mars using satellite imagery. It was undetected for decades due to extensive erosion.
BY: JAVIER BARBUZANO MARCH 19, 2024
James Webb Space Telescope data on distant worlds confirm some solar system formation hypotheses and confuse others.
BY: EMILY LAKDAWALLA MARCH 14, 2024
Betelgeuse has dipped nearly half a magnitude since late January. Could it be headed for another Great Dimming Event? We also take a look at this spring's "other" eclipse.
BY: BOB KING MARCH 13, 2024
Faint, small galaxies ionized the opaque fog that obscured the early universe.
BY: COLIN STUART MARCH 7, 2024
JWST has directly imaged two giant exoplanets orbiting white dwarf stars. This discovery may reveal the fate of our solar system.
BY: AAS NOVA MARCH 5, 2024
Odysseus has become the first mission of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to soft-land on the Moon.
BY: DAVID DICKINSON FEBRUARY 26, 2024
ASTRONOMY IN SPACE WITH DAVID DICKINSON
The Japanese space agency has reestablished contact with its SLIM lunar lander prior to sunset, enabling mission science to continue.
BY: DAVID DICKINSON FEBRUARY 26, 2024
Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events
(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-current.html)
2024
March 10 - 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 09:02 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 20 - March Equinox. The March equinox occurs at 03:01 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 24 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation of 18.7 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.
March 25 - 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 07:02 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 25 - 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 all North America, Mexico, Central America, and South America.
(NASA Map and Eclipse Information)April 8 - 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 18:22 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.
April 8 - Total Solar Eclipse. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely blocks the Sun, revealing the Sun's beautiful outer atmosphere known as the corona. This is a rare, once-in-a-lifetime event for viewers in the United States. The last total solar eclipse visible in the continental United States occurred in 2017 and the next one will not take place until 2045. The path of totality will begin in the Pacific Ocean and move across parts of Mexico and the eastern United States and Nova Scotia. The total eclipse will be visible in parts of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. (NASA Map and Eclipse Information) (NASA Interactive Google Map)
April 22, 23 - Lyrids Meteor Shower. The Lyrids is an average shower, usually producing about 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861. The shower runs annually from April 16-25. It peaks this year on the night of the night of the 22nd and morning of the 23rd. These meteors can sometimes produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds. Unfortunately the glare of the full moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. 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 Lyra, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
April 23 - 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 23:50 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Pink Moon because it marked the appearance of the moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the first spring flowers. This moon has also been known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Growing Moon, and the Egg Moon. Many coastal tribes called it the Fish Moon because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.
May 6, 7 - Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Eta Aquarids is an above average shower, capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. Most of the activity is seen in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, the rate can reach about 30 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet Halley, which has been observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from April 19 to May 28. It peaks this year on the night of May 6 and the morning of the May 7. The nearly new moon means dark skies for what should be an excellent show this year. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
May 8 - 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 03:23 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.
May 9 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest western elongation of 26.4 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.
May 23 - 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 13:55 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Flower Moon because this was the time of year when spring flowers appeared in abundance. This moon has also been known as the Corn Planting Moon and the Milk Moon.
June 6 - 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 12:39 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: May 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
John Blaesi
Vice President
John Grismore
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