102 Years! www.cinastro.org Volume 108, No. 5 – May 2013

Image of the Month The CAS’ Kid’s Program has hopefully gotten more kids hooked on astronomy, including daytime observing, like observing the Sun safely. More on page 3. © Bryan Simpson

Calendar of Events for the Tri-state area

May

11 12 Greatest Astronomical Events. Jack Berninger will count down the 12 Greatest Astronomical Events in human history! The public is most welcome. No charge to attend, but we gladly accept donations! 8 – 10 p.m. *

12 Historical Tours of the Cincinnati Observatory (CoC). Drop in any time between 1 and 4 p.m. and explore the fascinating story of the people who made Cincinnati the "Birthplace of American Astronomy". $5 per person suggested donation. 1 – 4 p.m.

17 Board Meeting, 7 – 8:30 p.m. Members’ Meeting: Remote Viewing. 8:30 – 10 p.m. *

18 iSpace Day. iSPACE’s ninth annual Space Day, a free family event with plenty of interesting exhibits and hands-on activities to educate and entertain kids of all ages! CAS will have an exhibit there, so be sure to stop by our table!

This is a great opportunity for members who would like to do some outreach. 3254 East Kemper Road, Cincinnati, OH 45241. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

June

1 Kids’ Program. We will make a pin-hole camera so you can capture the movement of the sun from the solstice to the equinox. Come learn more about why and how the sun moves though our sky! Our presentation and activity will be held, cloudy or clear.

Weather permitting, we will open up the telescopes afterwards to take a close look at some planets and deep sky objects!

All kids and adults are most welcomed. No charge to attend, but we gladly accept donations! 7:30 – 9 p.m. *

7-8 Apollo Rendezvous presented by the Miami Valley Astronomical Society. Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, Dayton, Ohio

7 Telescope Training. Members’ telescope training on any of our 4 main telescopes. Additionally, if you would like assistance with your own telescope, bring it along! "We train, rain or shine." 7 – 8:30 p.m. *

8 The Summer Sky. CAS member Mike Smith will give us a preview of what to expect in the Summer Sky! The public is most welcomed. No charge to attend, but we gladly accept donations! 8 – 10 p.m. *

8 Late Night @ the Observatory. Can't sleep? Looking for a unique night out? Come see what the Observatory is like after hours - long after the "early crowd" has gone home. You'll get to use the oldest big telescope in the U.S. to view astronomical objects that are not visible until late at night (weather permitting).

Get a sneak preview of the next season's planets and stars a month or two ahead of everyone else. Each night is different and special!

These programs are recommended for adults only. If the weather does not permit viewing, we'll have fun with some of the crazy science experiments and "adult" constellation mythology stories that we can't share with family audiences. Admission is $10 per person. 10:30 – 12 a.m.

9 Sunday Sun-day Sundae! at the CoC. Safely see solar flares and sunspots. Free ice cream sundaes too! $7 per person.

14 Cowan Lake Stargaze. Telescopes will be set up in the campground, but you need not be a camper. 9 – 11:30 p.m.

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15 Caesar Creek Stargaze. Telescopes will be set up in the parking lot near the lake beside the campground. You need not be a camper to attend! 9 – 11:30 p.m.

15 An Evening of History and Science at the CoC. A Special Night for Educational Testing Service conference attendees. Experience the fascinating story of the first public astronomical observatory in the nation. From its founding in 1842 to the behind-the-scenes of today. Enjoy remarkable views of Saturn through our 1845 telescope. $7 Adults / $5 Children under 18. Program held cloudy or clear (viewing - weather permitting). Space is limited. Reservations required.

21 Board Meeting, 6 – 6:30 p.m. Annual Members’ Picnic. Please join other members at HQ for a pot-luck picnic! 6:30 – 8 p.m. *

22 SuperMoon! Largest and closest full Moon of the year and it's a Saturday night! Come on over to the CoC. $7/person.

25 Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System at the CoC. Believe it or not, the current exploration of the solar system has little to do with astronomy.

Find out how knowledge of the Earth itself and an understanding of its physical processes help us grasp the very nature of other terrestrial planets. Terry Endres is CAS president, faculty at Cincinnati State and an astronomy educator with the Cincinnati Observatory Center.

* Event at CAS HQ

CAS NEWS

The 12 Greatest Astro Events-Ever! It’s a Top Ten list with a few extras tossed in. And you can’t blame us, since we have over 13 billion years of celestial events to choose from.

#1 on the list might be the Big Bang that started it all, or the Chixculib asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, Copernicus moving the sun to the center of our solar system, humans walking on the moon, or one of NASA’s most recent discoveries. Bring your own Top Twelve list to compare. For our next installment of “CAS 2nd Saturdays”, CAS member, biologist and science educator Jack Berninger presents his twelve astronomical events that changed the history, geology and life on Planet Earth. Jack will share the dynamics of the events and how they influenced our thinking and understanding of the universe and continue to do so today. Every 2nd Saturday, the CAS features area astronomers who bring you the Universe. We invite families, students, teachers and scouts - anyone with a sense of wonder about our solar system, galaxy or the Universe. After Jack’s talk, astronomers will be on hand to answer all your space questions. You can tour the CAS observatories and learn how telescopes work, and you’ll view Saturn and other night sky treasures through CAS’s four large telescopes. (Presentation held clear or cloudy.) Have a telescope, big or small? Bring it along for expert help exploring the night sky. Astronomy is an exciting and engaging way to teach the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects by introducing all the sub-disciplines in astronomy such as astrobiology, along with physics, math, chemistry and geology. We never know which young visitor at one of our CAS 2nd Saturdays is going to have a career in the sciences. Someday, she might even be turning over rocks on Mars looking for life. Saturday, May 11th. Program begins at 8 p.m. Stargazing follows (weather permitting).

And, Save-the-Date: 2nd Saturday -June 8th, 8 pm. – “The Summer Sky” presented by Mike Smith. – Craig Niemi, Public Relations

Cub Scouts Barry and Ralph gave a hands-on tutorial of the telescopes while Steve Tilford and I gave the presentation and did a solar system activity for sub scouts from Pack 402 from Harrison, on April 14. There were 29 kids (25 of them were scouts) and their associate parents in attendance. Sadly, we did not have clear skies, but each scout was able to get their turn at focusing a telescope!

A special thanks to Pam and Rich Knudson for getting their Pack up to CAS! – Catherine Gallo

Kid’s Program Our CAS Kid’s Program in April was all about the Sun! A great turn out from members, volunteers, and the public. Unfortunately, we had some clouds roll in, so our views of the sun weren't as good as they could have been. Thanks so much to everyone for participating! YOU are what make our programs a success!

(cont’d on page 3).

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- Catherine Gallo, images by Bryan Simpson and Bernie Elliot

Member Reports

NEAF 2013 Arrival Last year was a real adventure, with nine pencil-sized holes in the right rear tire, 250 miles on the donut spare, no tire the right size anywhere in central Pennsylvania, and rolling in to Suffern, New York at 1:00 a.m., Saturday morning. This year, we followed a storm front pretty much all the way, but we outran the rain long enough to get in the room before it started to rain again.

First Look We started Saturday morning with breakfast at Friendly’s, which is located in the lot of the Howard Johnson hotel we stayed at (cont’d on page 4).

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After several pots of coffee and loads of protein, we took the short drive to the Rockland Community College Field House, the site of this annual show hosted by the Rockland Astronomy Club. This year was the 21st annual event. Registration was a relatively painless event, the worst of which was handing over $35 for a two-day pass. From the registration desk you proceeded down a corridor to a balcony overlooking the field house floor, and this is where you realize you didn’t bring enough money with you to actually go down the stairway to the show floor, and this is where you inventory your credit cards. It’s always our habit to tour the floor in an incredible serpentine hike through this astronomical wonderland to see who is here at the show, note the stuff you want to come back to, and pick up good free stuff before it’s all snapped up. You also sign up for the raffles individual vendors have running throughout the day. The Shopping List Last year, David Wolf and Tom Kloecker shared in our adventure. This year it was just me and Jim Mills. However, David provided me with a shopping list and financing to get himself set up for a Journey into the world of astrophotography. His primary goal was a new Meade LX80 mount, but only for $800 or less. We were really skeptical about being able to find that kind of discount since the LX80 currently sells for about $1,000.

Our usual route through goodie land takes us down the steps, past the Host organization’s booth, down to the southeast corner of the show floor. The third booth down on the right was OPT (Oceanside Photo and Telescope), staffed by Craig Weatherwax and crew from L.A. There, on a glowing sandwich board, Jim discovered the following announcement: “Show Special, LX80, Free Shipping, $799”. David is now the proud owner of a Meade LX80 - it arrived in less than a week. Interesting New Stuff Explore Scientific was showing off their new product offering, the Telescope Drive Master (TDM). The story was that this setup will turn your crappy mount into a research grade tracker. They offered the electronics package and high resolution encoder for around $1850 and an adapter for various telescope mounts for another $400 to $600. The TDM currently works with the AstroPhysics 1200 mount, Celestron CGE and CGE Pro mount, Celestron CGEM Mount, EQ6 mount, Losmandy G11 mount, MEADE LX200 8“-12“ mounts, MEADE LX200ACF 8"-14" mounts, MEADE LXD75 mount, Sky-Watcher Pro HEQ5 mount, Vixen GPDX/Celestron CAM/GT5 mounts, and the iOptron iEQ45 mount. Setup is said to be around 30 minutes. We stopped by the AstroTrac booth, it was being staffed by Richard Taylor, the managing director of the company. I just had to ask him what happened to the German Equatorial Mount (GEM) from AstroTrac that was leaked / announced as being under development at NEAF 2011.

He indicated that they did a complete redesign of the mount, started over from the ground up, and that he expects to introduce the new mount in a few months. It is still tied to the AstroTrac design philosophy of being lightweight, portable and extremely accurate in tracking.

We talked to Jim Burr of JMI telescopes as he was making the rounds on the floor looking for ideas for new things to develop. His latest development was a goto kit for the 12” Meade Lightbridge Dob. It uses the AutoStar controller (cont’d on page 5).

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Missing In Action I noticed an odd mix this year and have no real explanation for it. Lunt Solar Systems is a regular that was nowhere to be found this year. I sort-of missed their monster-sized solar telescopes, but DayStar filled the gap with a new monster scope that had

the ERF integrated with their Hα filter at the bottom end of the optical tube. I had no idea how they keep the tube cool since the objective was

in its usual place and the ERF/Hα filter was down at the other end of the tube, though it worked fine at the Solar Party. Ritchey-Chretien maker, Astro-Tech was also missing this year - their telescopes were noticeably missing from reseller offerings on the show floor also. There was a nearly complete lack of Newtonian Astrographs, none to be found anywhere on the floor. Remarkable People Here is a list of people that I have been dealing with for a number of years. They all are innovators in some aspect of astronomy. This is by no means an unbiased nor a complete list from my point of view. The links will take you to some interesting stuff on their various websites. Jim Burr http://www.jmitelescopes.com/ http://www.jmitelescopes.com/images/lb12_autostar.jpg Jim is the guy behind the design of the split ring mount carrying the 27” Stewart Reflector at the CAS Dark Sky Site. We have his focusers on both the 27” Stewart and the 16” Wessling reflectors. Anthony Davoli http://admaccessories.com/ If you need a doohickey to mount a telescope or to mount something on a telescope, this is a good place to look and if you don’t find what you’re looking for, Tony can probably make it for you.

Richard Taylor http://www.astrotrac.com/ Great stuff for portable astrophotography, I can hardly wait to see what his new GEM looks like. Richard Wright http://www.bisque.com/ http://eveningshow.com/AccidentalAstro I’m a Mac platform fanboy, so I was crestfallen when the Bisque brothers lost their Mac programmer and quit producing “TheSky for Mac”. Richard brought that platform back to Software Bisque. The second link is to his blog, The Accidental Astronomer. Craig Weatherwax http://www.optcorp.com/ If you can’t find it at OPT, you probably can’t find it elsewhere. Beside that, Craig plays an excellent Pope, chasing Galileo around the show floor. David Ho http://www.hotechusa.com/ David is always developing ingenious ways to improve telescope performance. We used his Advanced CT Laser Collimator to get the 27” Stewart collimated. The Stewart mirror started out as a Cassegrain primary, it had a 5” hole in the middle of it which precludes using a standard laser collimator. David has regularly contributed equipment to CAS over the years. Free Stuff As usual, we started looking for donations for our ongoing outreach programs, and this year, we picked up a lot of informational pamphlets from Astronomy Magazine to hand out at public events. Astronomy also volunteered to ship any additional materials they publish to us upon our request. We picked up a carton of current issues of Astronomy Technology Today, which will be available free at CAS functions held at headquarters.

We currently offer subscriptions at a club rate of $14 for 6 issues per year. We visited the Celestron booth looking for something to add to our Young Astronomers program, and they gave us a boxful of Celestron-branded ring Frisbees. Looking for an easier way to transport the Frisbees, Jim decided to stop by the OPT booth for a cloth bag to put them in when he got the attention of Craig Weatherwax, the OPT boss (yes, that’s what it says on his card). He quizzed Jim about our Young Astronomers program and donated a 4” Celestron refractor for that program. What is in store for next year? Start saving… – Ralph Goldsmith

The Observer The Helix Nebula The annular appearance of this planetary, while similar to the Ring nebula in Lyra, is not clearly seen visually, but shows up well on long exposure photographs. The general structure resembles a helix or coil with 2 turns. It is excited by a hot central star of 13th magnitude that is a dense bluish dwarf. The gases in the nebula are excited to shine by strong ultraviolet radiation from the star. Its bluish green color is caused by doubly-ionized oxygen.

A photo taken by the 200” Hale telescope, as well as images by the Hubble Space Telescope, reveals spoke-like features on the inner edge of the ring, all pointing towards the central star (cont’d on page 6).

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Otto Struve estimates its distance to be about 85 light years. It is expanding at about 10-20 miles per second and it has a diameter of about 12 x 16 arc minutes. Its catalogue number is NGC 7293. Have you seen it? – Bill Schultz, Education Chair

The Sky The planets will be converging in late May. At sunset on May 26th, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury will gather in the fading twilight to form a bright triangle only three degrees wide. Triple conjunctions of planets are fairly rare. The last time it happened was in May 2011, and it won't happen again until October 2015. This triple is especially good because it involves the three brightest planets in May's night sky: #1, Venus; #2, Jupiter; and #3, Mercury. The triangle will be visible even in places with heavy urban light pollution. The best time to look is about 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. The three planets will be hugging the horizon, so a clear view of the western sky is essential. Let Venus be your guide. It pops out of the fading twilight long before the others. As soon as you locate Venus, look in that direction using binoculars. If your binoculars are typical, all three planets will fit in the eyepiece simultaneously. As the twilight continues to fade, set the optics aside; eventually the triangle will become visible to the naked eye. You don't have to wait until May 26th to enjoy the show, however. The planets start gathering weeks earlier. Dates of special interest include: May 11th through 13th, when the crescent Moon, Venus, and Jupiter form a long diagonal line jutting upward from the sunset;

Chart above courtesy of SkyandTelescope.com May 23rd, when Jupiter and Venus converge to less than 5 degrees apart, close enough for simultaneous binocular viewing; May 24th, when Mercury passes Venus less than 2 degrees away, giving shape to the triangle that reaches maximum compactness two nights later on May 26th.

The triangle begins to disperse on May 27th (above, courtesy of Astronomy), but even then the show is not over. On May 28th, Venus passes Jupiter at a distance of 1 degree, forming a truly spectacular pair. From beginning to end, the three naked-eye planets will be close enough to fit inside the field of ordinary binoculars from May 23rd until early June. May 26th is just the best among many very good nights. Step outside, face west, and observe the planets. It's a beautiful way to end the day. – Dr. Tony Philips, Science@NASA

Exploring the Water World

By Diane K. Fisher

In some ways, we know more about Mars, Venus and the Moon than we know about Earth. That’s because 70% of our solar system’s watery blue planet is hidden under its ocean. The ocean contains about 98% of all the water on Earth. In total volume, it makes up more than 99% of the space inhabited by living creatures on the planet. As dominant a feature as it is, the ocean—at least below a few tens of meters deep — is an alien world most of us seldom contemplate. But perhaps we should. The ocean stores heat like a “fly wheel” for climate. Its huge capacity as a heat and water reservoir moderates the climate of Earth. Within this Earth system, both the physical and biological processes of the ocean play a key role in the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and climate variability. This great reservoir continuously exchanges heat, moisture, and carbon with the atmosphere, driving our weather patterns and influencing the slow, subtle changes in our climate (cont’d on page 7).

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This image from September 2012, shows that the Arctic sea is the smallest recorded since record keeping began in 1979. This image is from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio at Goddard Space Flight Center. The study of Earth and its ocean is a big part of NASA’s mission. Before satellites, the information we had about the ocean was pretty much “hit or miss,” with the only data collectors being ships, buoys, and instruments set adrift on the waves. Now, ocean-observing satellites measure surface topography, currents, waves, and winds. They monitor the health of phytoplankton, which live in the surface layer of the ocean and supply half the oxygen in the atmosphere. Satellites monitor the extent of Arctic sea ice so we can compare this important parameter with that of past years. Satellites also measure rainfall, the amount of sunlight reaching the sea, the temperature of the ocean’s surface, and even its salinity!

Using remote sensing data and computer models, scientists can now investigate how the oceans affect the evolution of weather, hurricanes, and climate. In just a few months, one satellite can collect more information about the ocean than all the ships and buoys in the world have collected over the past 100 years! NASA’s Earth Science Division has launched many missions to planet Earth. These satellites and other studies all help us understand how the atmosphere, the ocean, the land and life—including humans—all interact together. Find out more about NASA’s ocean studies at: http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography. Kids will have fun exploring our planet at The Space Place: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/earth. This article was provided through the courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Dark Sky Site With the warmer weather upon us, it’s time to head out and observe at night (though bugs may be the problem). For those who have not been to the Dark Sky Site, it is located in Adams County. Our 17 acre site is waiting for our members and guests. The field boasts electrical outlets and a cement pad for our members who desire a firmer base for their telescopes. There is a camping area complete with a fire pit, and grill. The actual address is:

20457 Route 41 Peebles, OH 45660

CAS Officers, Trustees, & Chairs

President Terry Endres 1st Vice President Steven Tilford

2nd Vice President Mike Smith Secretary Don Bockelman

Treasurer Jim Mills Trustees (Term Ends) Philip Boes (2013)

Ralph Goldsmith (2013) Nathan Mantia (2014)

Valerie Niemi (2015) Brad Reck (2015)

Bill Schultz (2014) Astronomical League Corr. Mike Smith Audit John Ventre Buildings Facilities Maint. Jim Mills, Chair Pat Freeman, Vice Chair Instruments Mike Catanzaro, Chair Ralph Goldsmith, Vice Chair Investments Brian Engel Library Valerie Niemi Membership Ralph Goldsmith Member Development Mike Smith, Chair Bill Schultz, Vice Chair Newsletter Jun Lao Photography Brad Reck Public Relations Craig Niemi Public Outreach Craig Niemi, Chair Steve Tilford, Vice Chair

Directions to CAS Headquarters above

CAS meets on the third Friday of each month at 8:30

p.m. at the CAS Headquarters. The Board meeting is

held at 7:00 p.m. prior to the regular meeting.

Headquarters/Scopes phone 941-1981

Web address: http://www.cinastro.org

The Sidereal Messenger is all about YOU – we would like to feature your activities, observations, instruments, and proposals. DO drop us a line – e-mail the editor, Jun Lao, appulse2000@yahoo.com.

SSSSidereal Messengeridereal Messengeridereal Messengeridereal Messenger Cincinnati Astronomical Society

5274 Zion Road

Cleves, OH 45002