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Next BAS Monthly Meeting:
Monday, October 7 at 7:00 p.m. at the library (in meeting room C) and via Zoom
Program: Elections of Club officers for 2025, and something fun!
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/
The email address is bvilleastro+comments@gmail.com .
Astronomy night at the Girl Scout Camp - Wow, Wow, Wow!
And a big thank you to Luann, Craig, Denise, Gil, Evan, JohnG, and JohnB for partipcating in the Girl Scout "ASTROSCOUT" night. Also a big thank you to the Girl Scout leaders and Moms and the older girl scouts who helped keep this event altogether.
First we spent a good half day earlier in the week getting the Girl Scouts four nice 4" goto Celestrons cleaned, tested, fresh batteries, aimed and sighted to be sure they would be working. They were the Celestron NexStar 4 SE (https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-NexStar-4-SE-Telescope/dp/B000GUFOBO/) and they performed nicely. Luann brough her Seestar and Craig brought the club's Celestron StarSence telescopes which were put to good use too. We set up seven stations with red ground lights (thank you Denise) to indicate where each station was. Four stations had the NexStars, one had the StarSense, one had the SeeStar with the portable TV (thank you Luann) inside the lodge, and one was a spot you could look over the top of the flag poll and see the North Star! The green laser pointer was a big hit - that made it easy to point out various night sky delights. Of course the laser pointer came with lessons such as never point at a person, never point at a plane, never leave it on pointed anywhere for a more than a short time and the reasons why and no it does not start fires. They were surprised that such a bright light came out of such a small flashlight! And there were informative lessons on flashlights and to keep your white flashlights off or pointed down to the ground, why we use red flashlights, and when all the lights were off - look - you can still see people and the scopes and other objects once your eyes got adjusted!
The night was gorgeous, not really hot hot hot, just a very slight breeze, and oh - those clouds - and oh, the lightening off to the far far north. But - all led to an interesting, entertaining, and educational night. Each telescope's was aimed at a different night sky object such as Venus, Saturn, Arcturus, Fomalhaut, Andromeda, the Moon at least to start with. There were a lot of oohs and ahhs as we sited the night time delights. As the clouds came in the scopes were pointed to other interesting objects in the sky. As the clouds continued to come in, the stories and astronomy facts (and a little fiction) came out. The girls themselves had several stories about constellations, astronomy, astrology, Greek Mythology, and a few ghost stories of course. After the event was done we had time to put the telescopes back in the cases, back in the storage building double checked the grounds, and say a few thank you and goodbyes. A GREAT night!
And since the grounds were cleared and all of the equipment was put up, we do not have to go back Saturday or Sunday to finish putting equpiment away!
A good time was had by all and a big thank you to the Girl Scouts for an enjoyable evening of star gazing at the camp and a big thank you for a nice donation they made to the astronomy club.
Wow - let's do that again!
John B
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/
On these moonless evenings, Cassiopeia shows some of its inner workings. The Circlet of Pisces offers a very red star next to a little-known cross. From Vega, Lyra points away from the head of Draco.
By: Alan MacRobert September 27, 2024
Explore the Night with Bob King
As Saturn's rings narrow, now's the time for its moons to shine.
By: Bob King September 25, 2024
Starting September 29th, another moon of sorts will briefly accompany Earth. The house-size asteroid will stick around less than 2 months.
By: David L. Chandler September 24, 2024
A team of scientists thinks a clustering of ancient impact craters points to a temporary ring around Earth hundreds of millions of years ago.
By: Jeff Hecht September 23, 2024
A pair of black hole jets powered by a supermassive black hole span far beyond their host galaxy — potentially affecting the cosmic web around it.
By: Monica Young September 18, 2024
Glass beads in samples from China’s Chang’e 5 mission show that volcanic eruptions occurred on the Moon within the past 120 million years or so.
By: David L. Chandler September 16, 2024
NASA’s Juno mission has spotted a new volcano on Jupiter’s pockmarked moon, Io.
By: Monica Young September 13, 2024
A new brightness forecast for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS whets our hopes for a fine appearance in late September and early October.
By: Bob King September 12, 2024
Astronomers can see hot gas boiling on the surface of the giant star R Doradus, 180 light-years away.
By: Monica Young September 11, 2024
For decades, scientists have wondered what accelerates solar wind particles as they move away from the Sun. New evidence points to magnetic switchbacks.
By: Arwen Rimmer September 8, 2024
Webb Telescope data are still turning up more massive galaxies in the early universe than astronomers expect.
By: Kit Gilchrist September 6, 2024
The BepiColombo mission has completed its fourth and closest pass yet of Mercury, giving us brand-new views of the planet's south pole region.
By: David Dickinson September 5, 2024
Astronomers may have finally solved the mystery of how dark space really is.
By: Colin Stuart September 5, 2024
Billions of years ago, the close pass of another star might have sculpted the outer regions of our solar system.
By: Govert Schilling September 4, 2024
The BepiColombo mission has completed its fourth and closest pass yet of Mercury, giving us brand-new views of the planet's south pole region.
By: David Dickinson September 5, 2024
Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events
(Source: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-current.html)
2024
October 2 - 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 18:51 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 2 - Annular Solar Eclipse. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is too far away from the Earth to completely cover the Sun. This results in a ring of light around the darkened Moon. The Sun's corona is not visible during an annular eclipse. The eclipse path will begin in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America and move across parts of southern Chile and Argentina. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout most of southern South America. (NASA Map and Eclipse Information) (NASA Interactive Google Map)
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 could be a good show. If you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. 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 17 - Full Moon, Supermoon. 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 11:28 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. This moon has also been known as the Travel Moon and the Blood Moon. This is also the second of three supermoons for 2024. The Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.
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. The shower peaks this year on the night of October 21 and the morning of October 22. The waning gibbous moon will block out most of the fainter meteors this year. But if you are patient, you should 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 Orion, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
November 1 - 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 12:49 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 4, 5 - Taurids Meteor Shower. The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. It peaks this year on the the night of November 4. The first quarter 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.
November 15 - Full Moon, Supermoon. 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 21:30 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. This is also the last of three supermoons for 2024. The Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.
November 16 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation of 22.5 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.
November 17 - 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 17, 18 - 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 17th and morning of the 18th. Unfortunately the nearly full moon will block 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 from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
December 1 - 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 06:22 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.
December 7 - Jupiter at Opposition. The giant 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 Jupiter and its moons. A medium-sized telescope should be able to show you some of the details in Jupiter's cloud bands. A good pair of binoculars should allow you to see Jupiter's four largest moons, appearing as bright dots on either side of the planet.
December 13, 14 - Geminids Meteor Shower. The Geminids is the king of the meteor showers. It is considered by many to be the best shower in the heavens, producing up to 120 multicolored meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by debris left behind by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. It peaks this year on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th. The nearly 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 Gemini, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
December 15 - 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 09:03 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Cold Moon because this is the time of year when the cold winter air settles in and the nights become long and dark. This moon has also been known as the Long Nights Moon and the Moon Before Yule.
December 21 - December Solstice. The December solstice occurs at 09:17 UTC. The South Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its southernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.44 degrees south latitude. This is the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere.
December 21, 22 - Ursids Meteor Shower. The Ursids is a minor meteor shower producing about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790. The shower runs annually from December 17-25. It peaks this year on the the night of the 21st and morning of the 22nd. The waning gibbous moon will block out many of the fainter meteors this year. If you are patient, you should still be able to catch some of the brighter ones. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
December 25 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest western elongation of 22 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.
December 30 - 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 22:28 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: November 4, 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
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