NGC 1499 (the California Nebula)

by LAS member Gary Garzone

Longmont Astronomy Society Newsletter

September 2011

From the President:

LAS Meeting - Thursday, September 15 The September meeting of the Longmont Astronomical Society is this Thursday,

September 15th at the IHop Restaurant, 2040 Ken Pratt Blvd., Longmont, CO. A group of

us will meet for dinner around 6 pm at the restaurant; you are welcome to join us! The

general meeting will begin at 7 pm.

The speaker is Dr. Doug Biesecker, solar physicist from the Space Weather Prediction

Center in Boulder, CO. Doug will talk about space weather prediction science.

Dr. Biesecker started his career at Goddard Space Flight Center as a data grunt on the

Solar Maximum Mission. There, he developed his passion for all things solar, and did his

PhD on statistical properties and avalanche theories of solar flares at the University of

New Hampshire. From there, he researched coronal mass ejections in Birmingham,

England, back at GSFC, and finally at NOAA in Boulder. At the Space Weather Prediction

Center, he brings in real-time data from SOHO, STEREO, and SDO, validates models, and

plans for future

LAS TelescopesOver the years we have acquired a number of telescopes. Most are sitting in basements

or garages and not being used. We discussed the scopes and what to do with them

briefly at the August meeting. Since then I’ve heard from a number of people regarding

what should be done with the club telescopes. There appears to be interest in keeping

the scopes and getting them loaned out. We’ll schedule an exec meeting in a week or

so to discuss completion of some of the scopes and a procedure to get the scopes to

those who would like to use them.

Upcoming Star Parties and EventsBeginning Astronomy Class – Friday evening Sept. 30 to Oct. 21. Telescopes needed for

Oct. 7th and 21st star parties at Sandstone.

The Greeley Chamber of Commerce/Visitors Bureau event “Star Gazing on the Prairie”

at the Crow Valley Campground is on Saturday, Oct. 22nd.

In the sky this month:

Meteor ShowersDraconids night of October 8. Moon is nearly full, viewing best just before dawn.But on the other hand, you could combine the two activities:

Pack the car full of friends and family grab some moon munchies, and go out to an astronomy club moon event!

PlanetsMercury:at superior conjunction on the 28th and passing to the evening skyVenus:close to the Sun Mars: in Gemini, still dim in the morning skyJupiter:High in the south at sunriseSaturn: close to the Sun

Interesting Stars/Galaxies

Supernova Erupts in Pinwheel GalaxyGood news for those of you who missed out on June's supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51: You can slew just across to the other side of the Big Dipper's handle to track another stellar explosion.

This one's located in the face-on spiral M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy. It was discovered on August 24th at magnitude 17.2 by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF), an automated supernova search being conducted with the 1.2-m Oschin Schmidt Telescope at Palomar Observatory in southern California.

Club Calendar:

October meeting: Thursday October 20, Dinner and companionship at 6, dessert only at about 6:40, meeting at 7. Location: IHOP of Longmont

Fiske Planetarium:Admission costs $3.50 for kids and seniors and $6 for adults

Wednesday, September 21 7:00 pm

NASA Astronaut Jim Voss will be live at Fiske Planetarium to talk about his time in space, living on the Space Station, and the legacy of the now retired Space Shuttle. We will also tune in live to NASA TV to watch the launch of a RussianSoyuz rocket that is taking astronauts up to the International Space Station. (Oh, no they're not – that's been canceled) After the launch we will talk live with the Director of Flight Operations for the International Space Station from JohnsonSpace Center in Houston, Texas. The conclusion of this evening will be a Q & A session with Astronaut Jim Voss.September 30 7:30 pm

Secrets of Polynesian Navigation with Dr. John StockeWe will explore the star knowledge of Polynesian cultures and how they navigated the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. No compasses, no maps, and no land references, just the positions of the sun and stars. This intimate knowledge allowed these people to make a 2000 mile journey from the Marquises Islands north to the Hawaiian Islands over

500 years ago. Come learn the techniques and traditionsInternet Resources:October 20 & 21 7:30 pm

Juno: Mission to Jupiter with Dr. Fran Bagenal

NASA’s Juno mission will be launched August 2011 and will go into orbit over Jupiter’s poles five years later. Juno carries instruments that will probe Jupiter’s deep interior and measure the amount of water - a key component of solar system evolution. Juno is the first spacecraft to fly over Jupiter’s aurora and will measure both the energetic particles raining down on the planet and the bright “northern & southern lights” they excite.

Upcoming Space Missions:

Current Space Missions:

August 18, 2011: For the first time, a spacecraft far from Earth has turned and watched a solar storm engulf our planet. The movie, released today during a NASA press conference, has galvanized solar physicists, who say it could lead to important advances in space weather forecasting.

“The movie sent chills down my spine,” says Craig DeForest of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "It shows a CME swelling into an enormous wall of plasma and then washing over the tiny blue speck of Earth where we live. I felt very small.”

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18aug_cmemovie/ for the video.... (Editor's note: how about getting this guy live for a talk at a future meeting?)

August 24, 2011: Scientists using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have discovered six "Y dwarfs"-- star-like bodies with temperatures as cool as the human body.

This artist's conception illustrates what a "Y dwarf" might look like. Y dwarfs are the coldest star-like bodies known, with temperatures that can be even cooler than the human body. [more]

Astronomers hunted these dark orbs for more than a decade without success. When viewed with a visible-light telescope, they are nearly impossible to see. WISE's infrared vision allowed the telescope to finally spot the faint glow of a half dozen Y dwarfs relatively close to our sun, within a distance of about 40 light-years.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/halloffame/ Skip the rooting around – these are the pictures in the “hall of fame” for the Cassini mission to Saturn. A must view. THEN you can root around in the other few thousand images.

Spirit is dead, but Opportunity motors on (with a limp or two) and has arrived at Endeavor Crater for exploring. Pictures are at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

The GRAIL mission to the Moon is on the launch pad – off to map the gravitational field of the Moon. Hope is to figure out the past history – collisions, eruptions, etc. This has been going on ever since the Apollo program discovered 'mascons'. And I predict that there will be two questions for every answer obtained. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/main/index.html for the GRAIL mission, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_concentration_%28astronomy%29 for the Wikipedia discussion of the nuts and bolts of mascons.

This month's Field Trip:

All Aboard the Starlight Express! The Southern Colorado Astronomical Society has been working closely with the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad to create an astronomical excursion train ride event. We’ve been able to put enough pieces in place to offer 1 trip prior to the end of the 2011 season,

September 24th and 25th. In 2012 a schedule will be made available to the general public offering multiple trips during the course of the summer months with one multi-day trip tentatively planned. Here are the course details:The Starlight Express is the historic No. 18 steam engine locomotive plus 4 cars. The astronomical excursion trip departs early Saturday afternoon and returns early Sunday afternoon. The train takes amateur astronomers and star gazers from La Veta, CO to Fir Station at Veta Pass, elevation 9,200ft. At Veta Pass astronomers, their families and friends, and equipment are dropped off with the train then completing its run to Alamosa. At Fir Station, Rio Grande has an ATV Mule at our disposal to transport gear and people to the camping/viewing location. Astronomers will have the remaining afternoon to set up their tents and get their telescopes ready for night viewing. Once the sun has gone down the sky opens itself up to remarkable viewing with extreme clarity, offering a limiting magnitude of 6 with the unaided eye. The survey team experienced the ability to walk about just by the light of the Milky Way. That next morning the No. 18 steam engine will return to Veta Pass, pick everyone up, and we head back to La Veta. To get a better idea of the trip please visit www.scaspueblo.com/media Play the top video block, it starts out with a vintage looking still of the steam engine.

Internet Resources:

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/25aug_sunspotbreakthrough/ new process in sunspot detection and forecasting solar storms. Click on the movie and watch – not bad.....

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes/ You're going to have fun playing with this tour of the Solar System. Just click on a planet / asteroid/ whatever...

Oh, goody! Room for a few member pictures from the month!

Comet Garradd passes M71 by LAS member Brian Kimball

NGC 6995 by LAS member Gary Garzone

Comet Garradd passes the Coat Hanger by LAS member Gary Garzone

Messier 11, the Wild Duck Cluster by LAS member Brian Kimball