Sidereal Times - TAAS Home Page · Moon and Venus on my left shoulder as I drove home. Mercury was also visible. It was a lovely sight. March 19 – Special Observing Session: Jim

continued on page 2

I N S I D E2Oak Flat Season Opener2Telescope Loan Update3Under the Dome

4Astrophoto Light at GNTO 6Astrophoto Markarianrsquos Chain 7Sketching Stars

8Astrophoto The Medusa Nebula 9TAAS Reports amp Notices 10TAAS Directors amp Staff

The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical SocietyPO Box 50581 Albuquerque New Mexico 87181-0581 wwwTAASorg

The Sidereal TimesAprilndashMay 2018

since 1959taas mdash 2011 winner of astronomy magazinersquos out-of-this-world award for outstanding public programming

ObservemdashEducatemdashHave Fun

sincesince

Public Star Party Fri May 4Bachechi Open Space700ndash1000 pm

continued on page 3

G e n e r a l M e e t i n g N e w s Lynne Olson

TAAS GENERAL MEETINGSATURDAY APRIL 28TH - 700PM

SCIENCE amp MATHLEARNING CENTER UNM CAMPUS

Free and Open to the Public

continued on page 3

TESS Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

The topic for this meetingrsquos speakers Pe-ter Sinclair and Farzin Farzam is ldquoTESS Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satelliterdquo ndash NASArsquos new mission to discover planets orbiting other stars and to explore their conditions for possible life This two-year project has been in the works for sev-eral years and was was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday April 18This is the follow-up to the earlier Ke-plerK2 program which discovered ap-

New MoonPicnic Sat May 19GNTO

TAAS ASTRONOMY 101 Opera Glass Astronomy

SATURDAY APRIL 28TH - 600pm SCIENCE AND MATHLEARNING CENTER

UNM CAMPUS

Prior to the start of the TAAS General Meeting on April 28 Phil Fleming will be the speaker for Astronomy 101 our series of presentations on astronomy basics Philrsquos topic will be miniature binoculars ndash opera glasses ndash inspired by a book by Gar-ret P Serviss published in 1888 He will cover the development basic optics and modern-day improvements to these aids to astronomy Many find these helpful with their low magnification for observing the stars and their associated

BACHECHI OPEN SPACE PUBLIC STAR PARTY

FRIDAY MAY 4TH - 700-1000PM RIO GRANDE AND ALAMEDA Free and open to the public

Bernalillo County the Bachechi Open Space and TAAS are again co-hosting a pub-lic star party on the evening of May 4We will begin with a talk by TAAS chief sci-entist Dr Barry Spletzer at 700pm so plan to arrive well in advance to park and get a seat in the Education Building Sunset is at 748pm and observing will start at 800 with TAAS telescopes showing the objects of the late spring skies and members always ready to share their knowledge and exper-tise Activities for the younger set will also be in the Education Building including making Star Wheels (planispheres from TAAS) to use and take home light refreshments will be provided by the County teamYou may enter off of Rio Grande with very

Orion over Bachechi Open Space March 2017

NASA Image

Public Star PartyOak Flat Picnic AreaSat May 12600 pm til late

I N S I D E

Public Star PartyOak Flat Picnic AreaSat May 12600

The Sidereal Times AprilndashMay 2018

The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical SocietyPage 2

Observe ndash Educate ndash Have Fun

Oak Flat Season OpenerOAK FLAT PUBLIC STAR PARTY

SATURDAY MAY 12 - 600pm TIL LATEOAK FLAT PICNIC GROUNDS

(9 miles south of Tijeras on NM 337)

Our always popular first Oak Flat Public Star Party of the summer series begins at 6pm with sunset at 756 Plan to arrive well before then to park and orient your-selves to the layout of our event

Parking will be at the Juniper and Yucca lots (Yucca has the restrooms) The main access to the observing field will be through the picnic area trail from Juniper and backtracking to the dirt road from

parking for Yucca We will have red path-way lights to guide you along both paths

Please bring only red lights for the view-ing field to prevent loss of night vision (you can rubber band red cellophane over your regular flashlights and remove to find way back to car When you are on the field find a place along the edges if you have chairs or blanket and do not set up in the middle of the field as it is danger-ous and rocky in places and cars with scopes will be coming and going Be care-ful of uneven ground on the field

TAAS telescopes are the real stars of the event (other than those in the sky of course) Vehicles with telescopes can ac-cess the field as usual via the dirt road between the ldquoTrdquo and Yucca being careful of the two steel posts on either side of

the entrance driving slowly and setting up around the perimeter Please arrive well before dark and let someone know when you are leaving so they can help you leave safely

- Lynne Olson

Oak Flat Public Star Party June 2016 Photo by Martin Hilario

continued on page 4

Looking for a new Loan Ranger I took over the Loan Program Manager (aka Loan Ranger) duties from Barry Spletzer about four years ago I have greatly enjoyed expanding and improving the program getting to meet many of our new members and helping TAAS members to learn about the different types of telescopes

The time has come for me to turn over the loan program to someone else so that I can focus on other aspects of TAAS The program is in excellent condition and is fairly easy to run though it does take some time to arrange and complete the telescope package issuances and returns The inventory value of the program is over $40000

The new Loan Ranger will start with a Loan Program Fund of $49222 that is used for repairs parts and acquisition of new items In addition there are 10 donated telescopes and two Night Sky Observerrsquos Guides ready for the annual auction that should generate $500 to $1000 in additional funds

For the last four years Barry Spletzer has served as the programrsquos repairman (aka Tonto) Barry has agreed to continue in that role

If you are interested in assuming the Loan Ranger duties please contact me at jimfordicenet or 505-803-3640

Telescope Loan Program Update

by Jim Fordice Telescope Loan Coordinator

proximately 2700 exoplanets from 2009 until present Unlike Kepler TESS will fo-cus on nearby stars looking for Earth and Super-Earth-sized planets it is expected to catalog over 1500 exo-planet candi-dates

Our speakers Peter Sinclair and Farzin Farzam are both members of NASAJPLrsquos Solar System Ambassadors knowledgeable volunteers who share details of NASArsquos space exploration missions with their com-munities nationwide

Peter is a second-year PhD student in the astronomy program at the University of New Mexicorsquos Physics and Astronomy De-partment He joined UNM after completing a Bachelorrsquos of Science in Physics at Wash-ington State University He is a member of the AAS Astronomy Ambassadors and a contributor to Astrobites (httpwwwas-

G e n e r a l M e e t i n g N e w s c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

trobitesorg) the online ldquoReaderrsquos Digestrdquo for astronomy and space science After completing his degree he plans to pursue astronomy outreach as a full-time career

Farzin a PhD candidate in the Optical Science and Engineering program (OSE) at UNMrsquos Department of Physics and As-tronomy received his bachelorrsquos degree in physics from the University of Tehran This summer he will join the University of Mas-sachusetts medical school as a postdoc to work on the genetic model C Elegance to investigate RNA interference therapeutics on genetic diseases He is also a cinephile and a literary translator from English to Farsi and has translated and published four books two by Japanese author Haruki Murakami



continued on page 5

Under the DomeNotes from and about GNTO Jim Fordice

von martin and edgar

March 16 ndash Messier Marathon Night 1Dee Friesen was the Opener He arrived at 5 pm and met Bill Wallace at the gate Bill is making a good recovery from his by-pass surgery On arrival the temperature was 620 F the wind was 10 to 15 mph and there was 25 cloud cover By 7 pm the temperature was 580 F the wind was down to 5 to 10 mph but the sky was 85 covered with more clouds moving in I had arrived a bit earlier and Dee and I determined that Night 1 would be a non-observing evening We closed the facility at 745 pm with complete cloud cover and headed to Pennyrsquos Diner to enjoy a milk-shake

March 17 ndash Marathon Night 2Will Ferrell was the Opener He opened the site about 530 pm with the temperature at 670 F winds at 15 mph with gusts to 20 mph and cloud cover at 20

Although winds were brisk a dozen ob-servers settled down to start observing A number of people took part in the Messier Marathon It reminded Will of when he first started and there were masses of peo-ple enthusiastically doing the Marathon Attendees were Alan Scott Viola Sanchez Jon Schuchardt Eric Edwards Martin Hi-lario Melissa Kirk Kevin McKeown Paul Pulaski Nena Iriarte Mike Molitor and Vance Ley

About 930 pm Mike noted that the wind was picking up The clouds crept in at the western horizon Will went to the Cocina to eat something and when he came out there was 30 cloud cover At 1030 pm there was 75 coverage

Most everyone departed soon after Vance decided to spend the night and closed the site in the morning Most of the observ-ers recorded around 30 objects before the clouds took over

March 18 ndash Marathon Night 3I was the Opener for Night 3 Unfortu-nately this was by far the worst night of the three When I arrived at 6 pm the wind was 25 mph with gusts to 36 mph I closed the site at 730 pm after no one else showed up (showing good sense on everyonersquos part) I enjoyed seeing the Moon and Venus on my left shoulder as I drove home Mercury was also visible It was a lovely sight March 19 ndash Special Observing SessionJim Kaminski and Martin Hilario teamed up to open the site on 19 March Joining them was Kevin McKeown Melissa Kirk Fernando Torres and Bob Fugate

March 20 ndash Special Observing SessionVance Ley opened the site on 20 March to do some imaging Jim Roucis joined him Vance reported that it was the best night he has had at GNTO in a while The clouds were few and far between the tempera-ture comparatively mild and the seeing good-to-average Vance collected data in the imaging dome Jim Roucis observed with his large Dobsonian The seeing dete-riorated by midnight Jim drove home and Vance decamped to the Ortega building He closed the site after sunrise

April 7 ndash 3rd Quarter Moon Observing SessionMike Fuge was the Opener He reported The daring individuals who defied the ominous forecast of ldquotoo-much-windrdquo were treated to a wonderful evening of warm temperatures very light breezes and great observing Everyone in attendance enjoyed the attempts to locate and observe the Horsehead Nebula The Zodiacal light phe-nomenon and the Milky Way showed up at 930 pm for the party

Jim Fordice brought an 8 Meade SCT on a Celestron Equatorial Mount controlled using SkySafari on his iPad Will Ferrell

utilized his 18 Dobsonian and was also interested in Canes Venatici Alan Scott viewing with his 20 Dobsonian worked on a double star search and the Herschel 400 program Kevin McKeown spent much time in the wonders of planetary nebulas and investigations for the Astronomical League of ultra-high contrast objects

Bridget de Saint Phalle with road map in hand and a loaner 6 Orion Dobsonian was not fazed by the level of sophistication and endeavored to search the heavens for stars and faint nebulas Susan Evans a first-time observer was razzle-dazzled by all of the grouprsquos telescopes (with lots of oohs and aahs) and by Gordon Pegue who was inter-ested in the trio-in-Leo Both were observ-ing and having fun

Myself I enjoyed the great weather and

limited parking there or walk from the expansive parking lot off Alameda the Open Space (TAAS members with tele-scopes should enter by Rio Grande and be directed to the observing area to park and unload)See wwwtaasorg for more info and a map to Bachechi

mdashLynne Olson

A s t r o n o m y 1 0 1 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

B a c h e c h i O p e n S p a c e S t a r P a r t y c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

constellations Quoting Serviss ldquoSurely there is not another field of human con-templation so wondrously rich as astron-omy It is so easy to reach so responsive to every mood so stimulating uplifting abstracting and infinitely consolingrdquoPhil is a member of the International An-tique Telescope Society and a student of astronomical lore

mdashLynne Olson



The General Nathan Twining Observatory We have met the enemy and he is us At this rate the City of Albuquerque will be complaining about the GNTO light dome Made from one hour of 5 minute exposures (16 mm at f4 and ISO 400) stacked in StarStax with dark frames mdashVance Ley

Loan Program Statistics of Scopes on Loan Available on Loan 42 36 6 86 Type Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics

23 7 12

Size Large (gt8) Medium (5-8) Small (lt5) 12 17 13

Tracking Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 5 7 11

As of 41018

Update There were no significant changes to the Loan Program Inventory in the last month 86 of the telescopes are on loan but feel free to ask for whichever telescope you want In most cases you will have it with a week or so The telescopes that are immedi-ately available (as of 10 April) are

bull 10rdquo Discovery Dobsonianbull Celestron 80mm ED Refractor

T e l e s c o p e L o a n P r o g r a m U p d a t e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3

bull Orion 12x63 Mini-Giant Binoculars (Mir-ror Mount)bull Orion 20x80 Binoculars with Parallelo-gram Mountbull Meade 10rdquo Starfinder Dobsonian

In addition there are premium eyepieces filter sets and many other useful accessories available Check out the full inventory on the TAAS Website



company I had time with my LittleBig binoculars and my Jumbo Atlas and Mess-ier Marathon field book to star hop in the numerous challenges before me All good things donrsquot last forever the wind did ar-rive at 11 pm and by 1130 pm the GNTO facility was secured We all observed were educated and had fun despite the weather forecast

April 9 - Special Observing SessionJim Kaminski started the ball rolling for the April 9th Special Observing Session Vance Ley graciously decided to open and close GNTO for this session so when Jim arrived just after 630 pm the gate was already open When Jim left at 520 am Vance was still resting Other observers included Jim Roucis and Bridget de Saint Phalle who stayed until just after midnight The skies were very clear but unsettled (generally turbulent) and the weather forecasters got the wind mostly wrong (again) It started at 8-10 mph and in-creased a little by about 11 pm and did not drop to 5 mph until 3 am ndash when of course Jim K had just finished observing Skies were mostly the usual darkness (a darkness meterSQM-L reading of 215) until about 2 am when they got darker than Jim K has ever seen at GNTO a read-ing of 2165 and then 217 at about 3 am Temperatures were in the 50s but felt colder because of the wind The evening started well just after 9 pm with a view of an ISS pass traveling

through Cassiopeia and Ursa Minor before fading in Ursa Major Vance spent much of his time troubleshooting controller-to-mount communication problems Jim R searched for out-of-the-way galaxies in Virgo Bridget practiced her star-hopping skills in finding the Perseus Double Cluster and Jim K hunted some peculiar-looking faint fuzzes (galaxies) Upcoming Events

bull May 12 3rd Quarter Moon Observ-ing

bull May 19 New Moon Observing amp Picnic

bull June 9 3rd Quarter Moon Observ-ing

bull June 16 New Moon Observing

Annual Picnic Donrsquot miss the annual GNTO Picnic on May 19th Find details on the TAAS Website and via TAAS_Talk

Donrsquot forget that the GNTO Observing Field is available for use by TAAS members anytime Check the TAAS website for the procedure to follow Contact me if you have any questions

As always check TAAS_Talk and the TAAS website for last-minute changes and up-dates GNTO events are open to all TAAS members and their guests

GNTO Director GNTOTAASorg or 505-803-3640

U n d e r t h e D o m e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3

Photos Jim Fordice

GNTO Sunset

GNTO Observing Field

Susan Evans and Gordon Pegue

Will Ferrell Kevin McKeown and Alan Scott

Sidereal Times publication scheduleIn May the full moon and therefore the TAAS general meeting will oc-cur very near the end of the month So to accommodate Luna this issue is dated AprilndashMay Wersquoll get back on track in June

mdashThe Editors



Markarianrsquos Chain ndash at least a part of it ndash captured at GNTO on March 20th using imaging dome At the bottom-center of the image is M84 at the center M86 At the upper center of the image is NGC 4438 also known as ldquoThe Eyesrdquo Several other galaxies are also visible Markarianrsquos Chain is part of the Virgo galaxy cluster and is located immediately north of the constellation Virgo The data was collected over about 1 frac12 to 2 hours Equipment amp software an SBIG STF 8300 camera mounted on the club C14 with a Hyperstar lens In this mode the instrument operates at f19 and 675 mm focal length allowing the rapid acquisition of data of wide field data The field of view (FOV) of the system is 15ordm x 113ordm The mount is a Losmandy G11 with guiding by an Orion 400

mm guide scope an Orion Starshoot autoguider and PhD2 software Image acquisition consisted of 35 x 120rdquo subframes The images was processed using PixInsight

I will be scheduling a training session using the Imaging Dome this spring Interested parties should email me at avleymsncom At most three people (besides me) can be accommodated in the dome so if yoursquore interested let me know as soon as possible Currently this session is fully subscribed However it is common for people whorsquove signed up to cancel due to schedule conflicts so let me know if yoursquore interested and Irsquoll put you on the wait list If there is sufficient interest I will schedule another session

mdashVance Ley



Sketching Starsby Jim Kaminski

I take notes when I observe objects seen weather and observing conditions optics used and notable features In recent years I have also been making sketches and my efforts make my observing (and reminisc-ing) more enjoyable I donrsquot always make a sketch star cluster sketches are limited to objects that have notable star chains or misshapen outlines (such as ldquocutrdquo on a side as in globular cluster M9 by Barnard 64 or a promi-nent dark lane such as in M8 the Lagoon Nebula) My lack of artistry makes me fearful of sketching any part of Luna And when ldquosurfingrdquo galaxy-rich regions like the Markarian Chain in Virgo or the Hydra I Galaxy ClusterSupercluster (ie AbellACO 1060) I generally just describe the 10 or more galaxies I stumble across I began sketching for my first Astronomi-cal League observing program on Double Stars I was terrified when I first read that sketches were needed because I have es-sentially ZERO artistic talent But then I noticed that only two dots were needed on each sketch and I figured I might be able to at least do that much It was a real struggle for me because not only did the dots have to be different sizes (based on star bright-ness) but I also had to place them in the correct orientation with regards to North and separate the dots as I saw them in the eyepiece It was tedious work but I did fin-ish the program After that difficult start I stopped sketch-ing for a time Then I started reading about how it forces one to study the ob-ject in more detail when observing so I decided to sketch carbon stars (about five neighboring stars for each sketch) then sunspots and dark nebulae and finally gal-axies (especially distorted ones) The more sketches I made the more I really studied

the object and saw detail I had previously glossed over And since new observations tend to obscure the memory of earlier ones sketches helped me recall what Irsquod seen earlier

At this writing I have probably made 400 to 500 sketches and I may have improved during this process but these sketches are my personal records to be shared with others only on rare occasions They mostly stay in my logbooks

I sketch on ordinary paper with a circle made for the eyepiece view boundary I use common pencil 2B lead with a soft white polymer eraser stick to fix my many mistakes or to lighten a section of graph-

ite First I make dots for the bright stars then tiny dots for dim but nearby (loca-tion-relevant) stars I imagine triangles rectangles and arcs for locating stars and objects For a nebula or galaxy I use an in-expensive blending stump (a tortillon usu-ally made of rolled white paper tapered at the ends) to smudge the graphite into a faint fuzzy of the desired shape then add dots for any stars or bright (or dark) areas within the nebulagalaxysunspot region I always mark West on the sketch to orient the viewer Thatrsquos it

I am no artist but I think that others can make equally crude (or perhaps fantastic) sketches that will benefit their observing Give it a try

Saturday April 28 Science and Math Learning Center UNM Campus

700 pm

TAAS General Meeting

TESSmdashTransiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

Peter Sinclair and Farzin Farzam

600 pm Astronomy 101 Opera Glass AstronomyPhil Fleming

Jim Kaminskirsquos sunspot sketches made at Okie-Tex



The Medusa Nebula ndash a Planetary Nebula on the border of Gemini next to Beta Canis Minor or Gomeisa (29) It is about 4 light years in size or about 8rsquo in the sky with a distance of 1500 light from Earth It has two other names Sharpless Sh2-274 and Abell 21 This was taken 3 miles north of Oak Flat on my backyard patio on Feb 3 from dark to after 11pm MST Three hours total exposure

This nebula was discovered in 1955 by George Abell of UCLA It was first thought to be a SNR but gas velocities from spectral

analysis and thermal radiation from Radio Astronomy readings downgraded it to a planetary nebula status An O III filter is needed to see it in at least an 8rdquo scope I never saw it in my scope and used coordinates to find it

Equipment amp software ES ED127CF f75 SBIG ST8300M with FW5 CCD camera iOptron CEM60 mount Guider SBIG SG-4 on a AT72ED f6 CCDSoft V 5210 ImagesPlus V 575a AstroArt V 60 PhotoShop Elements V 14 Astronomy Tools

mdashJohn Laning



M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s

forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities

Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg

forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes

Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg

TAASPO Box 50581

Albuquerque NM 87181

Courtesy Pete Eschman

E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e

New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is reg-istered when your check is received by the treasurer

Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your member-ship is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it expires your new ex-piration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous

If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a member with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment

D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S

The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deductible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return

Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco

T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s

E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Friday May 18 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is

editorTAASorg

W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g

T A A S M e m b e r s

Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood

L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull

6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW

3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo

bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW

3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo

bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW

3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo

For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg

M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 1 8

Membership Current Past ChangeMonth Month

Regular 248 246 2Family 142 142 0Educator 19 18 1Student 27 30 -3Military 1 1 0Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 442 442 0



Dale Murray PresidentpresidentTAASorg

Martin Hilario Vice PresidentvpTAASorg

213-999-2582

BoB SHipley Secretary secretaryTAASorg

bobship10gmailcom505-872-8366

Doug legranD TreasurertreasurerTAASorg

505-559-0252

roBert anDerSon DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916

JiM ForDice DirectorObservatory Director gntoTAASorgTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg 505-803-3640

toM grzyBowSki DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg 505-363-9427

BoB Havlen Director505-856-3306

carl larSon Director gorDon pegue Directorgpegue at comcast dot net505-332-2523

BoriS venet Directorvenetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838

ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 (H) atmTAASorg Dark Sky Coordinator David Penasa 505-269-8717(W) darkskyTAASorg Education Outreach Trish Logan education_coordTAASorg Events Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 events_coordTAASorg Grants Coordinator Barry Spletzer 505-228-4384 (C) grantsTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor (Content) Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 (C) editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor (Design) Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 (C) editorTAASorg Observatory Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Public Relations Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Solar Outreach Coordinator Roger Kennedy 505-314-6273 rwkennedy45gmailcom Telescope Loan Coordinator Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Fernando Torres unm_coordTAASorg Volunteer Coordinator Webmaster Barry Spletzer 505-228-4384 (C) webmasterTAASorg

2 0 1 8 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f

pHoto notavailaBle

TAAS is honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine

BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION

TAAS is honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-wORLDrdquo AwARD 2011

from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming

MEMBERSHIP

You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings

MAGAZINES

TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions

ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS

Articles personal astronomical classified advertisements and advertisements for businesses related to astronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calendar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commer-cial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter editor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail at-tachments in Microsoft Word or compat-ible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is preferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more information

Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg

Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg

TAAS ONLINE

TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg

The TAAS website includes

bull Programs bull TAAS 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star

Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more

bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and

Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg

Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom

The Albuquerque Astronomical Society

PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581



Observe ndash Educate ndash Have Fun

Oak Flat Season OpenerOAK FLAT PUBLIC STAR PARTY

SATURDAY MAY 12 - 600pm TIL LATEOAK FLAT PICNIC GROUNDS

(9 miles south of Tijeras on NM 337)

Our always popular first Oak Flat Public Star Party of the summer series begins at 6pm with sunset at 756 Plan to arrive well before then to park and orient your-selves to the layout of our event

Parking will be at the Juniper and Yucca lots (Yucca has the restrooms) The main access to the observing field will be through the picnic area trail from Juniper and backtracking to the dirt road from

parking for Yucca We will have red path-way lights to guide you along both paths

Please bring only red lights for the view-ing field to prevent loss of night vision (you can rubber band red cellophane over your regular flashlights and remove to find way back to car When you are on the field find a place along the edges if you have chairs or blanket and do not set up in the middle of the field as it is danger-ous and rocky in places and cars with scopes will be coming and going Be care-ful of uneven ground on the field

TAAS telescopes are the real stars of the event (other than those in the sky of course) Vehicles with telescopes can ac-cess the field as usual via the dirt road between the ldquoTrdquo and Yucca being careful of the two steel posts on either side of

the entrance driving slowly and setting up around the perimeter Please arrive well before dark and let someone know when you are leaving so they can help you leave safely

- Lynne Olson

Oak Flat Public Star Party June 2016 Photo by Martin Hilario

continued on page 4

Looking for a new Loan Ranger I took over the Loan Program Manager (aka Loan Ranger) duties from Barry Spletzer about four years ago I have greatly enjoyed expanding and improving the program getting to meet many of our new members and helping TAAS members to learn about the different types of telescopes

The time has come for me to turn over the loan program to someone else so that I can focus on other aspects of TAAS The program is in excellent condition and is fairly easy to run though it does take some time to arrange and complete the telescope package issuances and returns The inventory value of the program is over $40000

The new Loan Ranger will start with a Loan Program Fund of $49222 that is used for repairs parts and acquisition of new items In addition there are 10 donated telescopes and two Night Sky Observerrsquos Guides ready for the annual auction that should generate $500 to $1000 in additional funds

For the last four years Barry Spletzer has served as the programrsquos repairman (aka Tonto) Barry has agreed to continue in that role

If you are interested in assuming the Loan Ranger duties please contact me at jimfordicenet or 505-803-3640

Telescope Loan Program Update

by Jim Fordice Telescope Loan Coordinator

proximately 2700 exoplanets from 2009 until present Unlike Kepler TESS will fo-cus on nearby stars looking for Earth and Super-Earth-sized planets it is expected to catalog over 1500 exo-planet candi-dates

Our speakers Peter Sinclair and Farzin Farzam are both members of NASAJPLrsquos Solar System Ambassadors knowledgeable volunteers who share details of NASArsquos space exploration missions with their com-munities nationwide

Peter is a second-year PhD student in the astronomy program at the University of New Mexicorsquos Physics and Astronomy De-partment He joined UNM after completing a Bachelorrsquos of Science in Physics at Wash-ington State University He is a member of the AAS Astronomy Ambassadors and a contributor to Astrobites (httpwwwas-

G e n e r a l M e e t i n g N e w s c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

trobitesorg) the online ldquoReaderrsquos Digestrdquo for astronomy and space science After completing his degree he plans to pursue astronomy outreach as a full-time career

Farzin a PhD candidate in the Optical Science and Engineering program (OSE) at UNMrsquos Department of Physics and As-tronomy received his bachelorrsquos degree in physics from the University of Tehran This summer he will join the University of Mas-sachusetts medical school as a postdoc to work on the genetic model C Elegance to investigate RNA interference therapeutics on genetic diseases He is also a cinephile and a literary translator from English to Farsi and has translated and published four books two by Japanese author Haruki Murakami



continued on page 5
















mdashLynne Olson




mdashLynne Olson





23 7 12



As of 41018




















Photos Jim Fordice

GNTO Sunset





mdashThe Editors






mdashVance Ley











700 pm












mdashJohn Laning








TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



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continued on page 5
















mdashLynne Olson




mdashLynne Olson





23 7 12



As of 41018




















Photos Jim Fordice

GNTO Sunset





mdashThe Editors






mdashVance Ley











700 pm












mdashJohn Laning








TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


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MEMBERSHIP


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23 7 12



As of 41018




















Photos Jim Fordice

GNTO Sunset





mdashThe Editors






mdashVance Ley











700 pm












mdashJohn Laning








TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo









213-999-2582




505-559-0252









pHoto notavailaBle





MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg


















Photos Jim Fordice

GNTO Sunset





mdashThe Editors






mdashVance Ley











700 pm












mdashJohn Laning








TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo









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505-559-0252









pHoto notavailaBle





MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg









mdashVance Ley











700 pm












mdashJohn Laning








TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo









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505-559-0252









pHoto notavailaBle





MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg














700 pm












mdashJohn Laning








TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo









213-999-2582




505-559-0252









pHoto notavailaBle





MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg










mdashJohn Laning








TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo









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505-559-0252









pHoto notavailaBle





MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg











TAASPO Box 50581









Steven Haas

Thomas Marker

Amy Richman

Stacy Alan Sacco



editorTAASorg



Susan Evans

David Flores

Aldric Hill

Neal Schneider

Aidan Wood



3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo









213-999-2582




505-559-0252









pHoto notavailaBle





MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg








213-999-2582




505-559-0252









pHoto notavailaBle





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MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg








MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES






TAAS ONLINE






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Documents

Sidereal Times - TAAS Home Page · Moon and Venus on my left shoulder as I drove home. Mercury was also visible. It was a lovely sight. March 19 – Special Observing Session: Jim