1 9 4 9 C e l e b r a t i n g 6 5 Y e a r s o f B r i n g i n g A s t r o n o m y t o N o r t h T e x a s 2 0 1 4

PAGE 2 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

Contact information:Contact information: Info Officer (General Info) Info Officer (General Info) –– info@fortworthastro.cominfo@fortworthastro.com Website Administrator Website Administrator –– webmaster@fortworthastro.comwebmaster@fortworthastro.com

Postal Address:Postal Address: Fort Worth Astronomical SocietyFort Worth Astronomical Society 3812 Fenton Avenue3812 Fenton Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76133Fort Worth, TX 76133

Web Site: Web Site: http://www.fortworthastro.orghttp://www.fortworthastro.org Facebook: Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3eutb22http://tinyurl.com/3eutb22 Twitter: Twitter: http://twitter.com/ftwastrohttp://twitter.com/ftwastro Yahoo! eGroup Yahoo! eGroup (members only)(members only): : http://tinyurl.com/7qu5vknhttp://tinyurl.com/7qu5vkn

Officers (2013Officers (2013--2014): 2014): President President –– Jim Murray, Jim Murray, president@fortworthastro.compresident@fortworthastro.com Vice President Vice President –– Matt Reed, Matt Reed, vicepres@fortworthastro.comvicepres@fortworthastro.com Sec/Tres Sec/Tres –– Lewis Westerfield, Lewis Westerfield, secsec--tres@fortworthastro.comtres@fortworthastro.com

Board Members:Board Members: 20122012--20142014

Phil StagePhil Stage

Bruce CowlesBruce Cowles 20132013--20152015

Bill NicholsBill Nichols

Jim CraftJim Craft

Observing Site Reminders:

Be careful with fire, mind all local burn bans!

Dark Site Usage Requirements (ALL MEMBERS):

Maintain Dark-Sky Etiquette (http://tinyurl.com/75hjajy)

Turn out your headlights at the gate!

Sign the logbook (in camo-painted storage shed. Inside the door on the left-hand side)

Log club equipment problems (please contact a FWAS board member to in-form them of any problems)

Put equipment back neatly when finished

Last person out:

Check all doors – secured, but NOT locked

Make sure nothing is left out

FW

AS

I ns id e th is i s s ue :

May Club Calendar 4

Celestial Events 5

Moon Phase Calendar 6

Mars/Venus Data Sheet 7

Jupiter Data Sheet 8

Cloudy Night Library 9

Young Astronomer News 10

Member Observing Report 11

Constellation Families 12

AL Observing Club of the 13

Constellation of the Month 14

Constellation Mythology 15

Prior Club Meeting Minutes 17

General Club Information 20

That’s A Fact 20

November’s Full Moon 20

FWAS Foto Files 21

Cover Photo

Composite photo courtesy FWAS

members,

Chris Mlodnicki and Jim Murray

The Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) was founded in 1949 and is a non-profit scientific educational organization incorporated in the state of Texas. This publication may be copied and distributed for free only. This publication cannot be uploaded or distributed into any me-dia unless it is in its original, full, unaltered, published form. All rights reserved by FWAS.

Page

E d i t o r : E d i t o r :

S h a w n K i r c h d o r f e rS h a w n K i r c h d o r f e r

M o n t h l yM o n t h l y C o n t r i b u t o r s : C o n t r i b u t o r s :

M a t t M c C u l l a rM a t t M c C u l l a r

R u s s B o a t r i g h tR u s s B o a t r i g h t

B r i a n W o r t h a mB r i a n W o r t h a m

P a t r i c k M c M a h o nP a t r i c k M c M a h o n

PAGE 4 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

May 2014May 2014

LQ

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

FM

FQ

FWAS Monthly Meeting Starts @ 7pm

Born: (1953) Colm Meaney,

actor (Star Trek Deep Space 9)

See our full FWAS Event Calendar at:See our full FWAS Event Calendar at:

http://www.fortworthastro.com/meetings.htmlhttp://www.fortworthastro.com/meetings.html

for the latest updates on what our club has scheduledfor the latest updates on what our club has scheduled

Young Astronomers Meeting Starts @ 7pm-9pm

NM

Palo Pinto

Mountains State

Park Star Party

1961—Alan Shepard

becomes 1st American

in space (aboard Free-

dom 7) Museum Star Party

Meridian State

Park Star Party

1973—Skylab launched,

1st Space Station

2012—A SpaceX Drag-

on becomes the first

commercial spacecraft

to dock at the Interna-

tional Space Station

1959—Monkeys Able &

Baker zoom 300 mi

(500 km) into space on

Jupiter missile, became

1st animals retrieved

from a space mission

Born: (1939) Francis Scobee,

astronaut, died in Challenger

Space Shuttle explosion.

Born: (1944) George Lucas,

Writer and Director, Star Wars.

E t a A q u a r i d s Pe a k

31

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 5

May 01 May 01 -- ----::---- Venus: 42.8° WVenus: 42.8° W

May 01 May 01 -- 10:51 Moon10:51 Moon--Aldebaran: 2.1° SAldebaran: 2.1° S

May 02 May 02 -- 10:59 Moon North Dec.: 19° N10:59 Moon North Dec.: 19° N

May 05 May 05 -- 01:26 Eta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 6001:26 Eta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 60

May 06 May 06 -- 05:22 Moon Apogee: 404300 km05:22 Moon Apogee: 404300 km

May 06 May 06 -- 22:15 First Quarter22:15 First Quarter

May 10 May 10 -- 12:50 Saturn Opposition12:50 Saturn Opposition

May 11 May 11 -- 08:32 Moon08:32 Moon--Mars: 3.2° NMars: 3.2° N

May 12 May 12 -- 07:47 Moon07:47 Moon--Spica: 1.8° SSpica: 1.8° S

May 12 May 12 -- 17:06 Moon Ascending Node17:06 Moon Ascending Node

May 14 May 14 -- 07:41 Moon07:41 Moon--Saturn: 0.6° NSaturn: 0.6° N

C E L E S T I A L E V E N T S T H I S M O N T H

Deep Sky* - (M3) Globular Cluster, (M5) Globular Cluster, (M13) GC Hercules, (M44) Beehive Cluster, (M81) Bode’s Galaxy

Double/Multiple Stars** - Alpha Canum Venaticorum (α CVn), Delta Serpentis (δ Ser), Rho Herculis (ρ Her), Zeta Cancri (ζ

Cnc), Xi Ursa Majoris (ξ UMa),

Constellations* - Canes Venatici, Serpens Caput, Hercules, Cancer, Ursa Major

Asterisms*** - Bull of Poniatowski (Serpens), Hercules’ Club (Hercules), Manger (Cancer), Broken Engagement Ring (Ursa

Major)

Lunar Features**** - Reiner Gamma (R28), Rheita Valley (R68), Schiller-Zucchius basin (R70, R71), Kies Pi (R53)

Key to Geocentric Ephemeris of the Moon: http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonkey.html

I N T E R E S T I N G O B J E C T S

*Distant Suns—C = Caldwell Catalog / M=Messier Catalog **Double Stars ***Asterisms ****R = Rükl Index Moon Map

(* Times are Local)(* Times are Local)

May 14 May 14 -- 14:16 Full Moon14:16 Full Moon

May 16 May 16 -- 15:10 Moon South Dec.: 19° S15:10 Moon South Dec.: 19° S

May 18 May 18 -- 06:58 Moon Perigee: 367100 km06:58 Moon Perigee: 367100 km

May 21 May 21 -- 07:59 Last Quarter07:59 Last Quarter

May 25 May 25 -- 01:59 Mercury Elongation: 22.7° E01:59 Mercury Elongation: 22.7° E

May 25 May 25 -- 10:43 Moon10:43 Moon--Venus: 2.4° SVenus: 2.4° S

May 25 May 25 -- 12:56 Moon Descending Node12:56 Moon Descending Node

May 28 May 28 -- 13:40 New Moon13:40 New Moon

May 29 May 29 -- 19:38 Moon North Dec.: 19° N19:38 Moon North Dec.: 19° N

PAGE 6 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

M N

Data and Image Source: http://www.calsky.com/

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 7

May 01

May 15

May 31

V E N U S

Data and Image Source: http://www.calsky.com/

M

A

R

S 8 May 2014 18h Mars Magnitude dims to -1 mag

19 May 2014 20.5h Mars Stationary: Getting Prograde (relative to ecliptic)

21 May 2014 4.3h Mars Stationary: Getting Prograde (relative to equator)

11 Jun 2014 19h18m Mars Descending Knot Passage

22 Jun 2014 22h Mars Apparent Diameter shrinks to 10 arcsec (Brightness: -0.1 mag)

28 Jun 2014 16h Mars Magnitude dims to 0 mag

PAGE 8 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

J

UP

IT

ER

JU

PI

TE

R

Great Red Spot Transits

Charts and Data generated with Charts and Data generated with JupSat ProJupSat Pro Software .Software .

Jovian Moon Positions

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 9

“400 years ago, every-one in Florence could see the stars, but only Galileo had a telescope. Now everyone has a telescope but no one can see the stars.”

I chanced upon this book at the library re-cently. While “The End of Night” may sound like the title of a sci-ence-fiction novel or a soap opera, it's actually a good non-fiction book about our arch-enemy: light pollution. “Already, some two-thirds of Americans and Europeans no longer experience real night – that is, real darkness – and nearly all of us live in areas considered polluted by light,” Bo-gard writes.

The author traveled the world, examining dark sites and cities bursting with illumina-

tion, and interviewing astronomers, hobby-ists, doctors, researchers, and even police officers. I thought at first that The End of Night dealt strictly with light pollution oblit-erating the stars, but the book goes much further than that: Exactly why do we light up our homes and structures so brilliantly? Part of it may be a primal fear of the dark.

It may also have to do with the way we do business: people want to go where people are, and light attracts cus-tomers. Not only are gas stations and parking lots blazing with lights, but they are lit up ten times as brightly as they were just 20 years ago.

Curiously, Bogard claims that studies show there is no solid link between bright lights at night and security. Most peo-ple assume that lighting up a school, a ware-house, a public park, or even their own homes at night provide an ex-tra measure of security. (I think commercial businesses want to pro-tect themselves against

potential lawsuits by flooding their property with light as a safety measure, not just to

(Continued on page 16)

Book/Video Reviews By: Matt McCullar, FWAS

The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light

The End of Night:

Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light

Published 2013 by Little, Brown and Co., 325 pages

ISBN 978-0-316-18290-4

by Paul Bogard

PAGE 10 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

O nce again our young astrono-

mers were building their future

telescope fleet with the help

of verteran FWAS member John Dowell

and YA! facilitator Shawn Kirchdorfer.

We worked on mounting the mirrors to

the mirror cells and mounted several of

them in the tubes. We showed the kids

(and parents) how to align the primary

and secondary mirrors so they are

“collimated”. We weren’t able to finish

the build this session once again, so we

will finish them for sure this next meet-

ing, and the First Light star party for

the YA! members will be pushed back to

June. As John said, this is normally a 9

hour build workshop for one weekend’s

worth of work that we have been

squeezing into 2 hour chunks each meet-

ing. That makes it a little more difficult

to coordinate and finish in a timely man-

ner. We hadn’t planned for that issue.

But the kids seem to be really getting

into building the telescopes that will be

their group’s own to use.

Thanks to Beth Hayes for her patience

in the scheduling delays for the star

party. She has volunteered to host the

get together at their home out in the

country. The May meeting will finish the

build and we will also bring some tele-

scopes to view a little in the parking lot

like we had been prior to this telescope

build workshop.

Young Astronomers Young Astronomers

e

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 11

We got a small posse together out at Fort Griffin last Friday for a spot of stargazing. Threatening weather had shut down most of the weekend’s planned astronomy activities, but forecasts looked better for Friday night, so we took a chance. Tom Monahan, Ed Kotoplish, Mark Wheeler and my-ownself arrived about sundown with a number of instruments, but didn’t have much luck. While the sky was mostly clear, the wind didn’t die down until the wee hours of the morning. While we all know how difficult visual observing can be in high wind, this was our first experience with video astronomy in wind, and it’s not a whole lot bet-ter. While the 6” refractor on the GEM wasn’t the wind vane that the 18” Dobsonian is, the images

seemed to come out pale and grainy. We attributed it to the blowing dust.

I’ve enclosed a frame capture of the Whale Galaxy and companion, NGC 4631 and NGC 4627 which were probably the best of the night’s show. Better luck next time.

Also, I was recently fortunate to attend the OzSky Safari once again, and it was an amazing experience as always. I’ve included a link to an English lady’s blog, a fellow participant. She took better pix of all the telescopes than I did, plus she offers a different narrative on what it’s all about, so enjoy.

www.fjastronomy.com/travels/australia-2014

An Observing Letter By Russ Boatright

PAGE 12 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

By Shawn Kirchdorfer

Constellation Families

W e are all familiar with the 88 officially recognized constellations (most of us with at least the 52 Northern constellations anyway). However did you know that these constellations aren’t just shapes, animals, and people thrown together randomly in the sky?

Many of the constellations are grouped into “families” based on the mythological stories related to their naming or by the physical forms they represent. These families can help to guide you around the night sky. There are eight modern constellation families.

Take for example the Perseus Family of constellations; The Perseus Family or Perseus Group is a set of nine constellations composed of Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Peg-asus, Cetus, Auriga, Lacerta, and Triangulum. It spans from near the north celestial pole down to –30°. Six of the constellations are named for figures in the Perseus myth (think of the movie Clash of the Titans for the basic story plot) – (The Hero) Perseus, his winged horse Pegasus, (Princess) Andromeda, her parents (King) Cepheus and (Queen) Cassiopeia, and the sea monster Cetus (The Whale - aka “the Kraken”).

Perseus was the son of Zeus and the mortal princess Danaë (daughter of the King of Argos). Perseus’ mother was being wooed by a scoundrel of a man named Polydectes whom Persues tried to protect Danae from. Poly-dectes held a huge banquet and demanded the guest bring horses as gifts that he told them he planned to donate as gifts to gain the hand of a wom-an named Hippodamia. Perseus didn’t have a horse to give so he asked

Polydectes to name any gift and he would not refuse to get it for him. Polydectes know-ingly demanded the head of the only mortal Gorgon, Me-dusa, whose gaze turned peo-ple to stone. Being that Per-seus was Zeus’ son, the god-dess Athena helped him gath-er the needed weapons and tools he would use to slay Me-dusa. Upon cutting Medusa’s head off, from her neck sprang the wing horse Pegasus, and

(Continued on page 18) Amphora depicting Perseus rescuing Andromeda from Sutek

(Cetus), in the Altes Museum, Berlin.

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 13

Al Observing Club Al Observing Club

Highlight Of The MonthHighlight Of The Month

T he Caldwell List is a list of bright nebular objects that Charles Messier

omitted from his famous list. This new list was compiled by the famous

British amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (1923-2012). When creating

this list he realized that the Messier list had objects designated with the prefix letter

“M”. Since his last name also started with the letter “M” her chose to use the first

letter of his proper last name Caldwell-Moore, so he used the letter “C” and dropped

the Moore from the list’s name.

This list contains 109 objects that range in magnitude 1 through 13 and go from decli-

nation +85° to -80°. The Messier list only covers the northern hemisphere, but the Caldwell list covers almost the

entire sky, north and south, making this list much more challenging.

The Caldwell List has been broken into two award categories; 70 objects, and the complete list of 109. Each award

will consist of a certificate with Sir Patrick Moore's signature and photo, and an award pin. The pictures on the pins

are two of Sir Patrick's favourites; the Cat's Eye Nebula, visible from the Northern Hemisphere, and the Tarantula

Nebula, visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

To qualify for an AL Caldwell Program Award, you need to be a member of the Astronomical League, either through

an affiliated club or as a Member-at-Large, and observe and record your observations on The Observers Guide - Deep

-Sky Observation Form, or some similar form. This form

has a place for description and drawing. Only one is

required but the detail should be sufficient to convince

your society's awards coordinator that you did in fact

expend the time and effort to find and, hopefully, ap-

preciate the reason that Sir Patrick selected the object

for a place of honor on his list. A photo or CCD image

may be added but cannot replace the visual observa-

tion. Any telescope or binoculars are acceptable, how-

ever, computer assisted and Go -To capabilities are not

to be used.

CALDWELL PROGRAM O b s e r v i n g E x p e r i e n c e L E V E L

I N T E R M E D I A T E

e

Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore

PAGE 14 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

B oötes constellation lies in the northern hemisphere. Its name comes from the Greek word Βοώτης,

Boōtēs, which means ox driver, plowman, or herdsman.

The correct pronunciation is /boʊˈoʊtɨs/, with each ‘o’ pro-nounced separately and stress on the second syllable.

Boötes was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

The constellation is home to Arctu-rus, the third individual brightest star in the night sky, after Sirius in Canis Major and Canopus in Carina constellation.

Boötes has five stars with known planets and does not contain any Messier objects.

The brightest star in the constellation is Arcturus, Alpha Boötis, which is also the third brightest star in the night sky.

There are three meteor showers associated with the constellation Boötes: the January Bootids, the June Bootids, and the Quadrantids.

Boötes belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations, along with Camelopardalis, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Corona Boreal-is, Draco, Leo Minor, Lynx, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.

Boötes

Conste l lat ion of The MonthConste l lat ion of The Month

Data Sources: http://www.starrynighteducation.com/sntimes/2010/jun/index.shtml - http://www.constellation-guide.com/

constellation-list/ - Wikipedia (various – see article hyperlinks) - Image Source: http://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/

e

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 15

B oötes is traditionally depict-

ed as a herdsman with two

hunting dogs on a leash and

a club in his other hand. In the sky,

Boötes follows Ursa Major around

the pole. In one story, the constella-

tion represents a ploughman driving

the oxen in the Ursa Major constel-

lation, followed by his two dogs, As-

terion and Chara (represented by

the constellation Canes Venatici, the

Hunting Dogs). The ploughman’s ox-

en are tied to the polar axis and

their movement keeps the skies in

constant rotation

Most commonly, Boötes is taken to

represent Arcas, son of Zeus and

Callisto, daughter of the Arcadian

king Lycaon. Arcas was brought up

by his grandfather, the king, who

one day decided to test Zeus by

serving him his own son for a meal.

Zeus, however, saw through Lycaon’s

intentions, transformed the cruel king into a wolf, killed all his sons with thunderbolts, and

brought Arcas back to life.

Zeus’ wife Hera, having heard of her husband’s infidelity, transformed Callisto into a bear. Cal-

listo roamed the woods until, years later, she met her son, who was now grown up. Arcas did-

n’t recognize his mother and began to chase her. Callisto hid herself in a temple, where he

could not hurt her without risking being convicted to death for defiling a sacred place. To

avoid a tragedy, Zeus placed both of them in the sky; Callisto as Ursa Major and Arcas as

Boötes.

In another story, Boötes is taken to represent Icarius, a grape grower who once invited Diony-

sus to visit his vineyards. The god was so impressed that he gave Icarius the secret of making

wine. Icarius followed the recipe and enjoyed the beverage so much that he invited all his

friends to try it. They, however, enjoyed it a bit too much and, when they woke up the next

day with bad hangovers, they assumed Icarius had tried to poison them. Angry, they decided

to murder him in his sleep. Dionysus was saddened by the death of his friend and decided to

place Icarius among the stars.

In another myth, Boötes is credited for inventing the plough, which prompted the goddess

Ceres to place him in the heavens.

Text Source: http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/

Image source: Stellarium

MYTHOLOGY—Boö t e s

e

PAGE 16 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

attract customers.) The astronomical city of Flagstaff, Arizona has taken great pains to dra-matically lower their ambient light levels to protect the nighttime skies, and the author claims that Flagstaff does not suffer financially and is not a hotbed of crime as a result. The problem is convincing the vast majority of the public of this.

Some cities (such as Paris, France) are experimenting with lowering their light levels, most-ly to save money. Today's LED technology and computer controls can automatically lower outdoor streetlight levels when the Moon is bright. Why not use motion detectors to turn on outside lights only when necessary?

(Book Review—Continued from page 9)

(Continued on page 17)

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 17

If you have an idea for an article, have astronom-

ical related photos or an astronomy project you’ve

done, and you’d like to share or want to contrib-

ute to the newsletter in any other way, please con-

tact the editor at primefocus@fortworthastro.com

or through the club’s Yahoo! eGroup forum.

e

The End of Night goes even further, explor-ing the question of how working all night long affects people's health. A great many people (up to 20% of the population in de-veloped countries) now work the graveyard shift. This affects people in many ways, and not for the better. “Even if we're not work-ing the night shift, we are staying up later, exposing ourselves to light at night in ways that our bodies haven't evolved to handle.”

Especially vulnerable to the nighttime blan-ket of light, it seems, are animals. Lights from buildings, automobiles, offshore drill-ing rigs, etc., confuse many creatures, caus-ing them to either migrate in the wrong di-rection or fly into buildings. The environ-ment is changing and their senses can't adapt fast enough to keep up. (The book does not mention this, but I wonder: if all this light affects so many animals, what is it doing to the plants?)

The End of Night does not contain many photographs, but one of them is particular-ly striking. It shows the stunning difference in nighttime illumination between North Korea and South Korea, as seen from space. South Korea is a glowing blanket, with cities very easy to pick out; North Korea is almost totally blank.

The single-brightest area in the world? Las Vegas. The brightest beam of light on Earth shoots out the top of a casino. When it comes to light pollution, what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas. (Even so, there really is a Las Vegas Astronomical So-ciety.)

National parks seem to be our best bet for

dark skies in the future. The National Park System is conducting their own dark sky survey to establish standards and keep their skies as dark as possible, even adver-tising night hikes for city visitors.

The author obviously did a great deal of re-search on this project, but at over 300 pag-es I think this book could have been about 10% shorter. I also do not agree with all of his claims. But on the whole I learned a lot from The End of Night and enjoyed it.

Recommended. Four stars out of five (if you can see them, that is).

(Continued from page 16)

FWAS Meeting

Minutes for April 2014

are not available at the

time of publishing. For

details please contact

the club Secretary/

Treasurer through the

eGroup. Thx.

PAGE 18 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

the young man Chrysaor, son of Poseidon and Medusa (don’t ask me how they figured out that combination of parentage but that’s the story). Later on while travelling back home, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of Aethio-pia (not the Ethiopia of today) where King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia lived. They had a daughter, Andromeda, whom they openly claimed was more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs) which angered Poseidon. The angry sea god sent floods and the sea creature Cetus to devastate the kingdom unless they offered up Andromeda as an offering to Cetus. They fastened the princess to a rock in order to give her as sacrifice to the sea monster. Perseus saw this and saw how beautiful Andromeda was and slew Cetus and claimed Andromeda in marriage. In the classical myth Per-seus uses winged sandals given to him to help slay Medusa, but popular myth has him riding Pegasus. When Perseus returned home, he found his mother being abused by the violent Polydectes, so he saved his mother by killing him by turning him to stone with Medusa’s head.

Learning which constellations belong to which families can help you more easily identify and learn the location of other nearby constellations. This can be done much more quickly than trying to learn them all as separate disconnected constellations. If you learn a particu-lar family grouping and can find one of those constellations, then you know the other sur-

(Continued from page 12)

(Continued on page 19)

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 19

rounding constellations are probably the other family members to that group. This can help you avoid misidentifying those other surrounding constellations as being from a completely different family group.

Not all families have distinct stories that tie them all together; some are part of a constella-tion family simply because of their position in the sky.

Here is a listing of all the constellation families:

URSA MAJOR FAMILY Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Canes Venatici, Bootes, Coma Berenices, Corona Borealis, Camelopardalis, Lynx, Leo Minor

PERSEUS FAMILY Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Pegasus, Cetus, Auriga, Lacerta, Triangulum

HERCULES FAMILY Hercules, Sagitta, Aquila, Lyra, Cygnus, Vulpecula, Hydra, Sextans, Crater, Corvus, Ophiu-chus, Serpens, Scutum, Centaurus, Lupus, Corona Australis, Ara, Triangulum Australe, Crux

ORION FAMILY Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lepus, Monoceros

ZODIAC FAMILY (these lie along the ecliptic - the plane in which most of our Solar System lies) Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces

HEAVENLY WATERS FAMILY Delphinus, Equuleus, Eridanus, Piscis Austrinus, Carina, Puppis, Vela, Pyxis, Columba

JOHANN BAYER FAMILY (Southern Hemisphere - named by Johann Bayer in 1603) Hydrus, Dorado, Volans, Apus, Pavo, Grus, Phoenix, Tucana, Indus, Chamaeleon, Musca

LACAILLE FAMILY (Southern Hemisphere - named by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756) Norma, Circinus, Telescopium, Microscopium, Sculptor, Fornax, Caelum, Horologium, Oc-tans, Mensa, Reticulum, Pictor, Antlia

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation_family

http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/

(Continued from page 18)

e

PAGE 20 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014

Newsletter:Newsletter: The FWAS newsletter, The FWAS newsletter, Prime FocusPrime Focus, is published monthly. Letters to , is published monthly. Letters to the editor, articles for publication, photos you’ve taken, personal the editor, articles for publication, photos you’ve taken, personal equipment reviews, or just about anything you would like to have equipment reviews, or just about anything you would like to have included in the newsletter that is astronomy related should be sent included in the newsletter that is astronomy related should be sent to: to: primefocus@fortworthastro.comprimefocus@fortworthastro.com

Meetings:Meetings: FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at the FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at the UNT Health Science Center UNT Health Science Center –– Research & Education Building, Room Research & Education Building, Room 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always welcome.welcome.

Outreach:Outreach: Items regarding FWAS Outreach activities, or requests for FWAS to Items regarding FWAS Outreach activities, or requests for FWAS to attend an event, should be sent to: attend an event, should be sent to: outreach@fortworthastro.comoutreach@fortworthastro.com

Young Astronomers:Young Astronomers: FWAS’ youth activities (known as YA!) meet on the 3rd Saturday of FWAS’ youth activities (known as YA!) meet on the 3rd Saturday of every month between 7pm and 9pm (check our calendar for time every month between 7pm and 9pm (check our calendar for time changes throughout the year changes throughout the year -- determined by seasonal sunset times). determined by seasonal sunset times). This group meets for one hour at the Parkwood Hill HOA Club House This group meets for one hour at the Parkwood Hill HOA Club House -- 5573 Eastwedge Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76137. YA! Coordinators: 5573 Eastwedge Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76137. YA! Coordinators: ya@fortworthastro.comya@fortworthastro.com

FWAS Annual Dues:FWAS Annual Dues: $40 for adults / families & households$40 for adults / families & households $20.00 for students (half$20.00 for students (half--price Dec 1 thru May 31); Membership runs price Dec 1 thru May 31); Membership runs June 1June 1stst through May 31through May 31stst. Please make checks payable to:. Please make checks payable to:

Fort Worth Astronomical SocietyFort Worth Astronomical Society See our Secretary/Treasurer for more info:See our Secretary/Treasurer for more info: secsec--treas@fortworthastro.comtreas@fortworthastro.com

Cash and checks should be paid inCash and checks should be paid in--person at the next indoor meeting, person at the next indoor meeting, or checks can be mailed in the traditional way. Members should or checks can be mailed in the traditional way. Members should check the eGroup for the latest postal mailing address listed by the check the eGroup for the latest postal mailing address listed by the Secretary/Treasurer. Secretary/Treasurer.

Credit card payments (for existing membership Credit card payments (for existing membership renewalsrenewals only) can be only) can be made through our PayPal link (private link is on the club’s Yahoo made through our PayPal link (private link is on the club’s Yahoo eGroup eGroup –– no PayPal account required).no PayPal account required).

Discount Magazine Subscriptions:Discount Magazine Subscriptions: Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and StarDate (McDonald Observatory) Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and StarDate (McDonald Observatory) magazines are available for discounted subscription rates through our magazines are available for discounted subscription rates through our association with the NASA Night Sky Network and the Astronomical association with the NASA Night Sky Network and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The link can be found on the club’s Yahoo Society of the Pacific. The link can be found on the club’s Yahoo eGroup. (Members Only)eGroup. (Members Only)

Astronomical League Membership:Astronomical League Membership: Your FWAS membership gives you associate membership in the As-Your FWAS membership gives you associate membership in the As-tronomical League. This gives you access to earn various observing tronomical League. This gives you access to earn various observing certificates through the AL observing clubs. You also receive their certificates through the AL observing clubs. You also receive their quarterly magazine, quarterly magazine, ReflectorReflector. AL Observing clubs: . AL Observing clubs: http://http://tinyurl.com/7pyr8qgtinyurl.com/7pyr8qg

Fort Worth Museum of Science & History Monthly Star Parties:Fort Worth Museum of Science & History Monthly Star Parties: FWAS, as part of our historical relationship with the FWAS, as part of our historical relationship with the Noble Planetari-Noble Planetari-umum, participates in the monthly museum star parties by supplying the , participates in the monthly museum star parties by supplying the telescopes and manning to expose the public to amateur astronomy telescopes and manning to expose the public to amateur astronomy as a hobby, and to possibly spark interest in joining our club. This is as a hobby, and to possibly spark interest in joining our club. This is an excellent opportunity to socialize with and to get advice or help an excellent opportunity to socialize with and to get advice or help with your own equipment from other FWAS members. FWMSH star with your own equipment from other FWAS members. FWMSH star party schedule: party schedule: http://tinyurl.com/bosbwqahttp://tinyurl.com/bosbwqa

When 3 celestial bodies align,

like in an eclipse, it’s called a

“syzygy”. That's twenty three

points in Words w/ Friends!

F l o w e r s

spring forth

in abundance this month.

Some Algonquin tribes

knew this full Moon as the

Corn Planting Moon or the

Milk Moon. e

F U L L M O O N N A M E

Source: OId Farmer’s Almanac

“Full Flower Moon”

M a y

That’s a Fact!That’s a Fact!

Just go to their website at http://www.amsmeteors.org/

and hover your cursor on the Fireball menu item at the

top of the page and you will see the link to report a fire-

ball. They will ask you several questions in a web ques-

tionnaire and your observations will be added to the

other witnesses for the same event. These will be com-

piled and analyzed to determine the location and direc-

tion from which the object entered the atmosphere.

Seen a Fireball Lately?Seen a Fireball Lately? Report it to the Report it to the

American Meteor Society (AMS)American Meteor Society (AMS)

Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy.html

MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 21

Have an interesting photo you’ve taken of the sky? Discovered a technique and want to show the results to fellow FWAS mem-

bers? Submit your photos to primefocus@fortworthastro.com or send them in the Yahoo! eGroup to the attention of the news-

letter editor. Your participation in showing off your personal astrophotography is greatly appreciated by all FWAS members.

(above) Photo courtesty FWAS member, Brian Wortham, taken with a Canon rebel t3 EOS with 300mm zoom lens, Benbrook, TX.

(left)

Lunar Eclipse— Photo taken

by FWAS member, Patrick

McMahon.

Spica is the bright star to the

lower right of the moon, and

Mars is the bright object in

the upper right of the im-

age.