Astrofiles
Auburn Astronomical Society
E-Newsletter
February, 1999
Greetings Astrophiles,
In This Issue
February
Meetings
This month's meeting will be on Friday, February
5, in room 215 of the Aerospace Engineering building at 8:00 PM.
Following the business portion of the meeting, we'll watch the second half
of the John Dobson video, Telescope Building.
This month's star party will be on Saturday,
Feb 13 at Holley's Field. For
those travelling to Holley's Field on SR 170, the bridge that we detoured
around for two years has reopened.
January
Meeting
| William Baugh, Alan Cook, Ron Hatherley, Phillip
Hosey, Rhon and Joyce Jenkins, Everett Leonard, Jack McDaniel, Jim McLaughlin,
Larry Owsley, Robert and David Rock, Tom McGowan, Julie Ross, Allen Screws,
Marty Skelton, Russell Whigham, John Zachry, and visitor, Jeff Graves
were present for Dr. Sarma Mukkamala's excellent presentation on
binary stars . Special thanks again to Jim for arranging Dr.
Mukkamala's visit with us. At right
are, Rhon Jenkins, Robert Rock, Dr. Sarma Mukkamala, Russell Whigham, Jim
Mclaughlin, and Tom McGowan following Dr. Mukkamala's presentation .
(That's Allen Screws playing "Where's Waldo".) |
|
January
Star Party
Allen & Christy Screws, Michael Crouse, David
McLain, Everett Leonard, Phillip Hosey, Eddie and Nathan Kirkland, Ron
Hatherley, Russell Whigham, and Tom McGowan met on January 16, at Holley's
Field, following 24-hours of perfect skies, only to be joined by some very
UNwelcomed guests. Clouds appeared on the western horizon just at sunset
and within 30 minutes, the entire sky was overcast. We completely
missed the Io shadow transit of Jupiter and the seasons first peek at Venus.
Persistence paid off, however, as the cloud gods, apparently bored
with our conversations, moved on to harass amateurs somewhere to the east
of us and revealed the "diamonds on black velvet" sky that we had anticipated.
As hoped, several of us, had our first look at
the elusive Horsehead nebula -- thanks to Tom's beautiful home-made 20-inch
and his expert tutelage. I didn't see the snout on the horse; just
a "thumbprint" into IC 434, using the H-Beta filter. It was still
very faint. I feel somewhat vindicated for not ever having seen it
in the C-11. After an hour or so of cloud dodging, we were socked
in again around midnight. This was the first really dark sky for
Eddie, Everett, and Phillip and their new telescopes. We all enjoyed
sharing eyepiece time and getting to know each other better.
Member
News
From: Gazer110@aol.com
Hi Russell!
Frank Moon here. Long time no see. Just
thought I’d drop you a line to let you know that I have been elected president
of the Tri-State Astronomers. Actually, in the interest of Political
Correctness, we call it Chairman of the Board. Like Sinatra. TSA is a nonprofit
group that was established in 1985 to promote astronomy and encourage related
activities to anyone interested in the Maryland, Pennsylvania and West
Virginia area. We have about 50 members, most of whom have paid their dues.
:) As soon as it’s been revamped, I’ll send you the address for our web
page. If you are interested in opening dialogue with other clubs, we are
at your service. I enjoy reading the AAS newsletter and remembering
the good ol’ days under darker Alabama skies. Congratulations for being
recognized by the AAAA! Say hello to Robert for me and let me hear from
you guys soon.
Best Regards,
Frank Moon
Geology
Of The Solar System
SPRING QUARTER 1999
MTW, 2-3 PM
HC 2182
NO PREREQUISITES
3 QTR. HRS.
FOR INFORMATION: KING, GEOLOGY, 44282,
kingdat@mail.auburn.edu
TOPICS:
-
Impact craters
-
Tectonic processes and features
-
Volcanism on planets
-
Geological history of the solar system
-
Nomenclature of planets and satellites
-
Planetary and satellite maps
-
Geological mapping of planets and satellites
-
Geology of the inner solar system
-
Mercury
-
Venus
-
Earth and Moon
-
Mars, Phobos, and Deimos
-
Geology of the outer solar system
-
Jovian system
-
Saturnian system
-
Uranian system
-
Neptunian system
-
Pluto and Charon
DAVID T KING JR / PROFESSOR / DEPT OF GEOLOGY / AUBURN
UNIVERSITY
AUBURN, ALABAMA 36849-5305 USA / VOICE
334 844-4882 / FAX 334 844-4486
Winter
Star Party Chiefland February 14-21, 1999
(From Skypub's Star Party Calendar)
The 1999 Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys
has been cancelled due to hurricane damage to Camp Wesumkee. This year
we are opening our site, The Chiefland Astronomy Village, to those who
were planning to attend the WSP.
Northwest Florida has some of the darkest skies
in the eastern US. Since 1985 astronomers have been using a site six miles
south of Chiefland. This site consists of a road where all the land is
owned by astronomers. Many of the resident astronomers have built their
own observatories. Normally two small star parties a year are held here
- in May and October.
We have enough room for thousands of astronomers,
but no facilities except porta-potties. Camping on the observing field
next to your telescope is the normal routine. Motels are available in town,
along with plenty of restaurants.
The weather in Chiefland is expected to be in
the high 30s-low 40s at night, and 60s during the day. Be advised, it can
be warmer or cooler. Come prepared for everything. Observing conditions
are usually excellent.
Registration and Fees: Pre-registration is not
required, but an RSVP to let us know how many to expect is necessary to
help us plan ahead. Requested donations are $10 registration plus $5 per
night per person to help us cover expenses. There is no charge for children
under 12. You are welcome to attend for just one night or the entire week.
For more information, see http://www.skypub.com/resources/csp.html
(Tom McGowan will be representing AAS and
invites others to join him there. This is as close as the Winter
Star Party is ever likely to be.)
Comet
Comments By Don Machholz
Both Periodic Comet Jager and Periodic Comet Harrington-Abell
can be found against the background of the Winter Milky Way. Also
up nearly all night long are Comets Linear (1998 M5) and Williams.
C/1998 X1 (ODAS): This comet was discovered
by a German Asteroid Survey on Dec. 15.
It remains faint.
P/1988 VS24 (LINEAR): Here's another instance
of an object being identified as a comet after appearing as an asteroid
at discovery. This comet orbits the sun every nine years, with a
perihelion distance of 3.4 AU.
C/1998 Y1 (LINEAR): Found on Dec. 22 by
the LINEAR program, this comet will remain faint.
P/1998 Y2 (Li): The Lick Observatory Supernova
Search program imaged this comet in the field of NGC 1041. It was
found by Weidong Li. The comet orbits the sun every 15 years and
remains faint.
EPHEMERIDES
C/1998 M5 (LINEAR)
Date
R.A. (2000) Dec
El Sky Mag
02-01 19h16.9m
+54o07' 75o
M 9.1
02-06 19h20.7m
+57o12' 77o
M 9.0
02-11 19h24.7m
+60o37' 79o
M 9.0
02-16 19h28.9m
+64o21' 82o
M 9.0
02-21 19h33.2m
+68o26' 84o
M 9.0
02-26 19h37.8m
+72o49' 87o
M 9.0
03-03 19h42.9m
+77o30' 89o
M 9.0
03-08 19h49.2m
+82o24' 90o
M 9.0
C/1998 P1 (Williams)
Date
R.A. (2000) Dec
El Sky
Mag
02-01 10h55.4m
+24o13' 151o M
10.6
02-06 10h26.8m
+29o08' 159o M
10.8
02-11 09h57.4m
+33o16' 160o M
11.0
02-16 09h28.7m
+36o27' 155o E
11.2
02-21 09h02.1m
+38o44' 148o E
11.5
02-26 08h38.7m
+40o15' 140o E
11.8
03-03 08h18.7m
+41o11' 132o E
12.1
03-08 08h02.3m
+41o43' 124o E
12.4
P/1998 U3 (Jager)
Date
R.A. (2000) Dec
El Sky
Mag
02-01 06h19.3m
+31o05' 142o E
10.5
02-06 06h19.0m
+29o53' 137o E
10.5
02-11 06h19.5m
+28o42' 132o E
10.6
02-16 06h20.9m
+27o34' 127o E
10.6
02-21 06h23.1m
+26o27' 123o E
10.7
02-26 06h26.2m
+25o24' 119o E
10.7
03-03 06h30.0m
+24o22' 115o E
10.8
03-08 06h34.5m
+23o23' 111o E
10.8
52P/Harrington-Abell
Date R.A. (2000)
Dec
El Sky
Mag
02-01 07h03.7m
+36o13' 149o E
10.6
02-06 07h03.8m
+35o07' 145o E
10.7
02-11 07h04.9m
+33o58' 140o E
10.7
02-16 07h07.0m
+32o49' 136o E
10.8
02-21 07h10.1m
+31o38' 132o E
10.9
02-26 07h14.1m
+30o28' 129o E
11.0
03-03 07h18.9m
+29o19' 125o E
11.1
03-08 07h24.5m
+28o11' 121o E
11.2
ELEMENTS
Object: Williams
LINEAR (M5)
Peri. Date: 1998 10 17.838
1999 01 24.5733
Peri. Dist (AU): 1.14674 AU
1.742213 AU
Arg/Peri (2000): 294.473 deg.
101.2873 deg.
Asc. Node (2000): 156.379 deg.
333.3766 deg.
Incl (2000): 145.730 deg.
082.2285 deg.
Eccen: 1.0
1.0
Orbital Period: Long Period
Long Period
Ref: MPEC 32410
MPC 32410
Epoch: 1998 10 17
1999 01 22
Absol. Mag/"n":
7.5/4.0 5.5/4.0
Object: Harrington-Abell
Jager
Peri. Date: 1999 01 27.8772
1999 03 07.7714
Peri. Dist (AU): 1.755993 AU
2.152631 AU
Arg/Peri (2000): 138.8996 deg.
179.4942 deg.
Asc. Node (2000): 337.2882 deg.
303.8178 deg.
Incl (2000): 010.2186 deg.
019.0944 deg.
Eccen: 0.542909
0.652672
Orbital Period: 7.53 years
15.4 years
Ref: MPC 32595
MPC 32866
Epoch: 1999 01 22
1999 03 08
Absol. Mag/"n":
8.6/4.0 6.5/4.0
More on Comets
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 09:15:17 +1030
To: ASTRO@lists.mindspring.com
From: Tony Beresford starman@camtech.net.au
Subject: [ASTRO] New comet
I am pleased to be able to inform fellow ASTRO
readers that Justin Tilbrook of Clare, South Australia has found his second
comet. Its a magnitude 10.5 , 1 minute of arc blob , currently a
few degrees to the East of Formalhaut, and moving southwards. last measured
position was RA 23h 39min 7 secs, dec -29deg 47min 43 sec on Jan 13, 12:01UT,
measured by Frank Zoltowski of Woomera, S.A.. Its moving south at about
a degree a day. His imaging suggests a faint broad tail about 3 min of
arc long at position angle 80 degrees. Detais on IAU Circular 7084
Tony Beresford
And
From: Nick Martin nmartin@bonnyton.u-net.com
Having viewed it last night I would recommend
Comet Jager to anyone with reasonable skies and reasonable sized scope.
It is not just a fuzzy blob. Unlike the brighter LINEAR comets visible
at present, it has a nice arrow shaped coma at least 5’ in extent, with
some bright rays and the possibility of a longer tail visible from dark
sky sites.
Nick
A Windows
95 Galilean Satellite Simulator
Try this great little shareware program from the
Emerald Isle: http://indigo.ie/~gnugent/JupSat95/.
It only took about two minutes to download.
MAS 15
Year Reunion
Ginny Kramer writes:
The Mobile Astronomical Society 15 Year Reunion
is open to all current member and past members. And also open to
all of our friends. It will be May 15th, 1999. We will have
a cook out at my house, followed by a stargaze that night at the Environmental
Center, and I'm working on maybe having a breakfast at a local restaurant
(like Shoney's, etc) Sunday morning. We hope to encourage people
interested in astronomy back into the club. Anyone that would like
to attend can e-mail me at Ginnyorion@aol.com or write Ginny Kramer
at 1053 Linlen Ave. Mobile Al 36609
Eyepiece
Field Size
Would you like to know how to determine the True
Field of your eyepieces? Here's how:
Point your telescope at the celestial equator
(0 degrees declination), turn off the drive, then time the number seconds
it takes for a star to cross the middle of the field. Each second
of time equals 15" of arc. This time of year, the upper belt star
in Orion, Mintaka (Min-TAK-a), works well.
Pluto
Safe From Demotion
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The short national nightmare is
coming to an end. The solar system will continue
to have nine planets.
"There is no plan to 'downgrade' or 'demote' Pluto,"
says Brian Marsden, head of the International
Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center. "It will
stay as a planet." Sometime
early this year, it's likely Pluto will be designated a "transneptunian
object" -- but not lose its planetary status, as has lately
been rumored. For
more, see: http://www.treefort.org/pluto/
Hope to see everyone at the meeting,
Russell