{"id":1481,"date":"2017-12-30T08:35:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-30T13:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/?p=1481"},"modified":"2019-01-17T07:57:15","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T12:57:15","slug":"janfebmar2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/2017\/12\/30\/janfebmar2018\/","title":{"rendered":"JanFebMar2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Recent ASHN Activities<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">By Donna Pursley<\/h3>\n<h2>Public Observing at Silver Sands State Park<br \/>\nFriday October 20, 2017<\/h2>\n<p>The forecast was for a clear sky tonight, and we had just that. We had close to a dozen scopes and binos set up. There was a huge crowd and there were lines for the biggest scopes. It looked clear, but there was a haze that kept us from finding the deep sky objects. But Saturn was visible in the early evening, and later a scope or two were aimed at Uranus. There were a few new people with scopes who had never been to a public event before. We seem to be getting more people that ask really good questions.<\/p>\n<p>Dave Noble set up a camera to record the activity of this evening under the stars. A few of his pictures are on the next page.<\/p>\n<h2>Public Observing at Young\u2019s Pond Park<br \/>\nSaturday October 21, 2017<\/h2>\n<p>Again, the forecast was for a clear sky. It was too much to ask for two clear nights in a row. We had about 50% clouds and 50% clear sky. There were a ton of scopes and binos. The evening got off to a spark when a bright meteor appeared overhead and about half of the group saw it, with many oohs and aahs. Again, we had some long lines at the big scopes.&nbsp; There were also some new people here trying out their scopes. We were able to look at many different deep-sky objects.&nbsp; We also saw all three planets that were up that evening, Saturn, Uranus, and even the tiny green ball of Neptune. The dew was heavy that evening, and everything was so wet when we packed up. All in all, it was a good weekend at both locations.<\/p>\n<h2>Observing at Lake Gaillard, North Branford<br \/>\nFriday November 10, 2017<\/h2>\n<p>The Regional Water Authority of New Haven had a star gazing event at Lake on this Friday evening. It was a cold and windy day. It was a VERY cold and VERY windy day. When we left home it was 24 degrees with very gusty winds. Despite the cold, we had many members show up. We all waited to set up until we saw some people coming to look through the scopes. Then we set up 4 or 5 scopes. The 10\u201d Dobs were able to find many objects, but shook every time the wind gusted. My 6\u201d didn\u2019t seem to have the shake problem probably because of less surface area to the wind. There wasn\u2019t a huge crowd, but we had about 7 people show up. They must have been very interested to brave this cold. By 8:30 everyone had left and we packed up, went home and had some hot chocolate. This was a good practice for a cold Messier Marathon to see how our outwear holds up to the cold.<\/p>\n<h2>Public Observing at Silver Sands State Park<br \/>\nFriday November 17, 2017<\/h2>\n<p>This turned out to be our last event public star gazing event for 2017.&nbsp; Again, it was a very cold night.<\/p>\n<p>I could not believe the number of people that come out for the first time on a night like this. The sky was very clear and the people that came out were not disappointed. As seems to happen more often at our observing events, one family brought a telescope that they bought but did not know how to use.&nbsp; This time Leo Taylor and Mike Zarick spent quite a bit of time working with them and showing them how to use it. Before they were done, they had observed a few objects with their scope. We encourage people to bring their scopes if they need to learn how to use them, and this is a good way to get some help.<\/p>\n<p>The event did end earlier than usual because of the cold. I think we were mostly packed up by 9:30.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>An Evening at Silver Sands State Park in Milford<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Friday, October 21, 2017<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Images and Videos&nbsp;by Dave Noble<\/h3>\n<p>Dave has made several excellent time-lapse movies of our events at Silver Sands, as well as videos of star trails at CSP and of the solar eclipse last August.&nbsp; Below are four images from Silver Sands, but you can watch the entire time-lapse video at <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=0B73-qJRvwRPwRTRUWENmN0gxS1E\">this link<\/a>.&nbsp; A video of&nbsp;an observing night at Silver Sands from last spring is <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1b5LkoUFTcYzLDVtMNc2sv0CqM2CCFngB\">here<\/a>. Both of these videos nicely capture the activity of these public outreach events.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1496\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands4.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands4-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1497\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands9.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands9-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands9-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1498\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands5.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands5-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands5-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1499\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands10.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands10-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SiverSands10-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Golden Binary Merger<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1517 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"277\" height=\"365\">Based on the Universe of Learning Science Briefing, \u201cMulti-messenger Astronomy:&nbsp; A New Era in Space Science\u201d by Dr. Ira Thorpe (NASA GSFC), Dr. Colleen Wilson-Hodge (NASA MSFC), and Dr. Lynn Cominsky (Sonoma State University) and &#8220;The Universe through Gravitational Waves\u201d by Brian O\u2019Reilly (LIGO Livingston Laboratory).&nbsp; Summarized by Laurie Averill, volunteer Solar System Ambassador, JPL. Unless otherwise noted, all images are courtesy NASA.)<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ripples in space-time, gravitational waves, traveling 130 million light years at near&nbsp;the speed of light from the merger of a binary neutron star in the galaxy NGC 4993 within the constellation Hydra reached Earth on August 17, 2017, just after 8:41 A.M. (EDT) This infinitesimal stretching of the fabric of space-time was about the diameter of one Hydrogen atom over the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatories (LIGO) in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana, measured and represented it as a 100 second <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/-Yt5EmEgz2w\">chirp<\/a> in which gravitational waves increased in frequency and strength accelerating to beyond 500 cycles per second, the upper limit of the sensors, and then abruptly stopped. Seconds later a short, relatively faint burst of gamma rays was recorded by both NASA\u2019s Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope and the European Space Agency\u2019s INTEGRAL satellite.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1518\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"755\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary2.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary2-300x203.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 755px) 100vw, 755px\" \/>A global cohort of astronomers was alerted and within hours comparisons of the data from Fermi, INTEGRAL, the LIGO\u2019s, and the Virgo detector of the European Gravitational Observatory underground near Pisa, Italy, localized the merger.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1519\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"711\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary3.jpg 711w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary3-300x197.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 711px) 100vw, 711px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Space and Earth-based observatories targeted this region and were rewarded with multiple observations of the event in a variety of electromagnetic wavelengths. Swift detected a source of an intense but rapidly decreasing ultra-violet rays. Chandra\u2019s x-ray observatory sensed x-rays from the after-effects of the event nine days after the initial discovery followed quickly by sensing GHz radio emissions. Eleven days after the discovery Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) detected a radio source and on September 2 additional observations located the merger as the source and continued collecting data through September 25. Beginning 13 days after the discovery, the Hubble Space Telescope captured images in both optical and the near infrared wavelengths of the event over a period of six days. Twenty-three days after the initial discovery the Spitzer captured the continuing event in infrared showing that heavy elements were produced.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1520\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"684\" height=\"391\">Initially six ground-based observatories searched for, located, and confirmed the identity of the event as the object that was named as SSS17a or AT 2017gfo. The kilonova initially glowed with a bright, blue light at about magnitude 17, rapidly dimming to red at a rate of about .6 to 1 magnitude per day.<\/p>\n<p>(Continued on next page)<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>The Golden Binary, continued:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1521\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"476\"><br \/>\nIn Chile ten hours after the event, the One-Meter, Two-Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 meter Swope at Las Campanas Observatory made an optical observation. Within one hour, fives other teams found, observed, and confirmed it. These were: the Distance Less than 40 Mpc survey (DLT 40); VISTA in near infrared; MASTER-OAFA robotic telescope as part of the MASTER Global Robotic Net with an automated search located the optical source; optical observation by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam); and optical observation by the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) surveying the target area with its worldwide collection of 1 and 2 meter telescopes.<\/p>\n<p>By the time that the initial research paper \u201cMulti-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger\u201d was published in<em> The Astrophysical Journal Letters<\/em>, 20 October 2017, over 3600 astronomers from more than 950 institutions made significant contributions to observations and analyses of data about this event, building upon the information and findings shared within a world-wide collaboration.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What happened? Why is it important?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1530\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary6-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary6-1.jpg 850w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary6-1-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary6-1-768x431.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/>This was the first observation of the merger of two neutron stars. It was also the first time that gravitational waves have been detected from a source that was specifically located in space and observed in multiple electromagnetic wavelengths. Previous gravitational waves had been recorded from the merger of black holes that did not release electromagnetic radiation, being so dense that they immediately reabsorbed it. The observations of the merger of the golden binaries confirmed Einstein\u2019s hypotheses that gravitational waves travel at speeds approaching the speed of light and that gravitons have negligible mass. It also confirms a current model of neutron star mergers\u2014an accelerating and intensifying spiral as their orbits decay until they merge in a massive explosion, sending out gravitational waves, jetting gamma rays from its axes, forming a kilonova ejecting a cocoon of highly charged material emitting electromagnetic radiation and forming heavy elements that include gold, platinum, lead, mercury, uranium.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Continuing studies of radio and x-ray emissions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chandra sensed brightening x-rays 105 days after the merger suggesting the energy in the blast wave is increasing in time possibly due to slower, higher-energy ejected materials catching up to and reenergizing the decelerating ejecta of the expanding cocoon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What were the chances?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CalTech LIGO-affiliated astronomers calculated that the odds of observing a merger of neutron stars as 80,000 to one.<\/p>\n<p>Gravitational waves are sensed by the interferometers of LIGO\u2019s and Virgo if they are generated at an angle to Earth. They must be asymmetrical relative to Earth. Straight-on, symmetrical gravitational waves would not have been detected.<\/p>\n<p>Observations were hampered by the relative position of the Sun to the merger. When optical Earth-based observatories were in daylight, they were unable to survey the target area. In space, at times the Sun also obscured the location of the merger, so continuous observations of a single type of electromagnetic radiation by the same instrument was not possible. Continuous collection of data about the merger covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum required global choreography of a collaboration of Earth- and space-based observatories.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1524 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary7.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GoldenBinary7-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/>No similarly strong chirp was sensed by Virgo. Was this a problem with the recent upgrade or important information? Understanding that the gravitational waves were not sensed by Virgo in the same way they had been detected by LIGO and trusting that Virgo\u2019s readings were accurate were key to determining the source of the merger. The location of the merger was somewhere in Virgo\u2019s blind spots. Overlaying the location of Virgo\u2019s blind spots with the data from LIGO, Fermi, and INTEGRAL made it possible to more accurately define the target region for searching for the source.<\/p>\n<p>A glitch obscured the LIGO Livingston data.&nbsp; An automatic alert was not sent to astronomers.&nbsp; They had to scramble to remove the glitch when LIGO Hanford report its chirp.<\/p>\n<p>Virgo had been shut down for an upgrade and had just started making observations 17 days before event.<\/p>\n<p>One week later LIGO\u2019s would be shut down for upgrades.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Upcoming Public Events<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>These events are free and open to the public. If the weather looks questionable for an observing event, check the <a title=\"ASNH\" href=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ASNH website<\/a> before you leave home. There will be a scrolling message on the home page if an event has been cancelled.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuesday, January 30, 7:00pm<\/strong><br \/>\nYale Leitner Student Observatory<br \/>\nGeneral monthly meeting<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuesday, February 27, 7:00pm<\/strong><br \/>\nYale Leitner Student Observatory<br \/>\nGeneral monthly meeting<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuesday, March 27, 7:00pm<\/strong><br \/>\nYale Leitner Student Observatory<br \/>\nGeneral monthly meeting<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Upcoming Events for ASNH Members<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><strong>Winter Solstice Dinner<br \/>\nSaturday, January&nbsp;6, 6:00pm<br \/>\n<\/strong>(Rescheduled from December because of snow)<br \/>\nUnitarian Church Hall<br \/>\n608 Whitney Avenue, New Haven CT<br \/>\nAs usual, this will be a pot-luck dinner. Please contact Cheryl Barker at cheryl.barker@gmail.com or call (leave a message) at (203) 675-1829 with what you would like to bring.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Friday, March 23, 7:00pm<br \/>\n<\/strong>Meadowside Science Night<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>Meadowside Middle School, 80 Seemans Lane, Milford, CT<br \/>\nTelescopes are needed for the outdoor portion of this outreach event. Inside, our meteorite collection will be on display.<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Astronomy Links<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FLSfRrC6Jmg&amp;list=PLdk9IVIIdZ1n1ugS0sjy00dC3JWV9MQ_W&amp;index=2\">Here<\/a> is a short video about the telescope ASNH has provided to the Blackstone Library in Branford, including an interview with ASNH President Greg Barker:<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Ray Kaville submitted a&nbsp;few interesting Internet links:<\/p>\n<p>A story about astronaut&nbsp;Peggy Whitson:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dINQj36FEN4\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dINQj36FEN4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A NASA video on&nbsp;the three supermoons of this winter:<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"m_5193150935148530878yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1512404745342_12096\" class=\"m_5193150935148530878enhancr2_4fdf2c61-753d-850f-cb1b-35dc10a3d793\" href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-news\/sciencecasts\/a-supermoon-trilogy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-news\/sciencecasts\/a-supermoon-trilogy&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1512591599218000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFjiuIh2sy4N92CwFqlhkLa093p-g\">A Supermoon Trilogy | Science Mission Directorate<\/a><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Features<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>If you have not looked at the newsletter before, check out some of the regular features. There are four useful links in the menu at the top of this page:<\/p>\n<p><b>Calendar <\/b> This is a monthly calendar that includes all the scheduled events of ASNH, other regional events of interest, plus the dates and times of noteworthy events in the night sky.<\/p>\n<p><b>SkyMap <\/b> This page has a chart of the sky as it appears over the New Haven area at the present date and time. It is constantly updated, so you can go to this page on any clear night to see what is overhead.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Space Place<\/strong> Read the monthly article from Space Place.<\/p>\n<p><b>Directions <\/b>This page gives directions to all the locations where regular activities of ASNH take place, including the monthly meeting, public observing sessions, and the annual Connecticut Star Party.<\/p>\n<p>Other regular features can be found within these pages:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Upcoming Public Events <\/strong>Many ASNH events are free and open to the public. These include the monthly meetings and public observing sessions at Young&#8217;s Pond Park in Branford and Silver Sands State Park in Milford. This section gives the dates, times, and descriptions of these events.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Upcoming Events for ASNH Members <\/strong>These events are for ASNH members only. Some are private observing nights, and others are outreach events where volunteers are needed with the telescopes and equipment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Night Sky Highlights <\/strong>This section lists some objects to observe in the sky during the next few months, whether you are using just your eyes, a pair of binoculars, or a telescope.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallery <\/strong> This section will feature recent photographs of celestial targets taken by ASNH members and others. If you have a picture you want to share with us, please submit it to <a href=\"mailto:newsletter@asnh.org\">newsletter@asnh.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Night Sky Highlights for&nbsp;January-March 2018<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Solar System<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Quadrantid Meteor Shower<br \/>\nJanuary 3-4<br \/>\n<\/strong>The full Moon will interfere with the Quadrantids this year, but the best chance to catch some meteors will be on the night of January 3-4.&nbsp;&nbsp;The radiant is in Draco, low in the northern sky during the evening hours.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lunar Eclipse<br \/>\nMorning of January 31<br \/>\n<\/strong>In Connecticut, we will catch just a&nbsp;little of the partial phase of this eclipse&nbsp;before the Moon sets on the morning of January 31. If you have a good view to the west, see whether you can spot the early portions of the Earth&#8217;s shadow covering the Moon before dawn.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mercury<br \/>\n<\/strong>Mercury will be visible in the eastern sky before dawn for a few days around New Year&#8217;s Day. Then in mid-March it will make an evening appearance in the western sky after sunset. It will be furthest from the Sun and easiest to see in the few days before and after March 15.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Venus<\/strong><br \/>\nAs February ends, brilliant Venus&nbsp;will start&nbsp;to appear low in the western sky after sunset. As spring approaches, it will&nbsp;slowly get a little higher in the evening sky. It will be coming from the far side of the Sun in its orbit, and its cloud-covered disk will be more than 95% illuminated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mars<\/strong><br \/>\nMars is far from Earth throughout the winter, and it will&nbsp;display only a small disk through a telescope. It will move through the constellations Libra, Scorpius, and Sagittarius. On the morning of <strong>January 7<\/strong>, Mars will be just 0.3 degrees from Jupiter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jupiter<\/strong><br \/>\nIn January, Jupiter will be the brightest object in the eastern sky before dawn, and it will get higher in the sky as the winter progresses.&nbsp; In February and March, it will rise in the east around midnight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saturn<\/strong><br \/>\nSaturn is in Sagittarius, and it will be visible in the morning sky before dawn throughout the winter.&nbsp; It will be quite close to the Sun in January, but by February and March it will be easy to observe in the predawn sky.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Uranus<\/strong><br \/>\nUranus is in Pisces,and it will be possible to observe it in the early evening throughout the winter months.&nbsp; On <strong>March 28<\/strong>, it will be just 4&#8242; northwest of Venus, and this will be an excellent time to find this green planet. If you try to spot it on other nights, this article from the <em>Sky &amp; Telescope<\/em> website includes finder charts for both Uranus and Neptune:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyandtelescope.com\/observing\/celestial-objects-to-watch\/planets\/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus\/\">www.skyandtelescope.com\/observing\/planets\/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Neptune<\/strong><br \/>\nNeptune is in Aquarius.&nbsp; In January it will be possible to observe it in the western sky after sunset. In February and March it will be too close to the Sun to observe.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Deep Sky Objects<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Take a look at this NEW FEATURE: Online star-hop charts.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In past issues, when I&nbsp;recommended some deep-sky objects to observe, I would&nbsp;sometimes give verbal directions on how to find these targets. Beginning with this issue, I have decided to try a different approach. For each target, at the end of the description there is a link that&nbsp;takes you to&nbsp;printer-friendly star-hopping charts and instructions for tracking down the object. There are two charts for each object: a wide-field view to give the general sky location, and then a close-up chart for zeroing in on the target.&nbsp; If you want to try finding some deep-sky objects that you might not have observed before, I hope these charts will be helpful. &#8211;Jim Mazur<\/p>\n<p><strong>Messier 1, the Crab Nebula<br \/>\n<\/strong>Supernova remnant in Taurus<br \/>\nThis nebula is the product of a supernova explosion in the year 1054 A.D.&nbsp; Its size is about 7\u2019 by 4\u2019, and it has irregular edges that give rise to its nickname. Although it is fairly dim and diffuse, it is still well worth tracking down.&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/Messier1-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Messier 35 and NGC 2158<br \/>\n<\/strong>Open clusters in Gemini<br \/>\nMessier 35 is a bright group of over 100 stars that is a beautiful sight through a telescope with a low power eyepiece.&nbsp; But if you use higher power and move your telescope about \u00bc degree to the southwest, you may be able to spot NGC 2158, which is another open cluster, five times farther away.&nbsp; They make an interesting contrasting pair of objects.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/Messier35-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Messier 36, 37, and 38<br \/>\n<\/strong>Open clusters in Auriga<br \/>\nThese three open clusters are just a few degrees apart, and each can be easily seen in binoculars.&nbsp; Through a telescope, it is not too hard to sweep from one cluster to the net.&nbsp; Each has a distinctly different appearance.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/Messier36-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Messier 46 and 47<br \/>\n<\/strong>Open clusters in Puppis<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>These two open clusters are just about a degree apart, and they both present nice views through a telescope.&nbsp; M46 has the added attraction of including a small planetary nebula (NGC 2438) that can be seen with a medium-sized telescope.&nbsp; The planetary nebula is actually a background object.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/Messier46-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Messier 78<br \/>\n<\/strong>Diffuse Nebula in Orion<br \/>\nAt magnitude 8.3, this is a relatively bright reflection nebula, glowing by reflecting the light of two 10<sup>th<\/sup> magnitude stars that can be seen inside the nebula. It appears as an oval patch, 8\u2019 by 6\u2019.&nbsp; You might also be able to spot a smaller nebula, NGC 2071, just a bit to the north of M78.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/Messier78-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Messier 79<br \/>\n<\/strong>Globular cluster in Lepus<br \/>\nThe winter sky does not feature many examples of globular clusters, but one is Messier 79.&nbsp; It is not as bright as the better known globular clusters, but it can be spotted with just about any telescope, and some of its individual stars can be resolved with scopes of medium to large apertures.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/Messier79-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Almach (Gamma Andromedae)<br \/>\n<\/strong>Double star in Andromeda<br \/>\nAlmach is a pretty double star, about 390 light years away. The brighter of the pair is a yellow star of magnitude 2.2, and the dimmer is a blue star of magnitude 5.0. The two stars are separated by 9.8 arcseconds. This pair resembles the double star Albireo in Cygnus, except that the stars are closer together and require about 75x or more to get a good look.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/GammaAndromedae-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Beta Monoceros<br \/>\n<\/strong>Triple star in Monoceros<br \/>\nThis is a nice system of three blue-white stars. The separation between the A and B components is 7.4 arcseconds, and the separation between the B and C components is only 2.8 arcseconds. This closer pair will require a magnification of at least 100x and possibly more to separate the two.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyledge.net\/BetaMonoceros-hop.htm\">Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Gallery<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Editor&#8217;s note: I always encourage our members to submit their astronomical images and techniques. In this issue, Dave Noble presents some beautiful and dramatic still images and videos of star trails and time-lapse sequences.&nbsp; (Links to two other videos, of public observing nights at Silver Sands, are available on page 2.)&nbsp; Below, Dave describes the steps that he used to acquire and process his images.<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Star Trails and Time-Lapse Videos<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">By Dave Noble<\/h3>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">Soon after I purchased my digital SLR camera, I tried to capture star trails using the same techniques I had used with my old film cameras: open up the aperture to its maximum setting, focus on infinity, and sit back and wait for a few hours as the sensor collected the light from thousands of stars slowly slide by. The longer the exposure, the longer the stars trails would be in the final image, which was after all the goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">I was shocked to find at the end of a 2 hour test exposure that instead of fine star trails against a dark background, the image from the DSLR showed a pink glowing sky, the result of light pollution and thermal noise from within the camera itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\"><strong>Imaging<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">Imaging star trails with a DSLR requires new techniques: a large number of relatively short exposures overlaid or stacked together to give, more or less, the impression of continuous star trails. An added benefit of taking a long series of photos is the ability to animate the images and create a time-lapse video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">With a little quick math, I discovered that in order to capture star trails covering 4 hours, exposures of 30 seconds would require 480 images. To reduce the number of images, allow the camera time to recycle after each exposure, and to give me an opportunity to clear the lens from dew, I decided to space each 30 second exposure by 1 minute. Skipping 30 seconds between exposures creates a small gap in the star trails. These gaps can be minimized during post processing by adding a blur effect to the final still image. Star trail purists may not like this break between shots. If so, the time between frames must be minimized or reduced greatly. Video playback is unaffected by the intermittent spacing between frames.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">The final setting to be adjusted is the ISO sensitivity of the camera. Exposures of the night sky for 30 seconds using fast lenses can capture a fair amount to detail at ISO settings of 800-1600 before chip noise becomes an issue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">For nightscape scenes with activity in the foreground, however, exposures of 30 seconds can be too long to follow the action. In these situations, times must be reduced to single seconds between exposures. Even with higher ISO settings of 1600-3200 to compensate, it will be difficult to capture any but the brightest stars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\"><strong>Post Processing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">As with most astrophotography work, some basic post processing of the images is required to maximize the low brightness levels. With so many frames involved, I decided to use GraphicConverter to automate the adjustments for an entire batches of images.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">To create the star trail images, I used StarStax to overlay and combine the series of individual shots and applied a slight blur\/fill for dramatic effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">Finally for video animation, I imported the image sequence into QuickTime v7. The video can then be saved at a variety of playback rates, generally from 15-30 frames per second, in order to create the best fluid motion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\"><strong>Software<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p1\">GraphicConverter 9<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemkesoft.de\/en\/products\/graphicconverter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=https:\/\/www.lemkesoft.de\/en\/products\/graphicconverter\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1513634953240000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGI96yPq6IN_TKMJUmTnAJjMm8ZQg\">https:\/\/www.lemkesoft.de\/en\/<wbr>products\/graphicconverter\/<br \/>\n<\/a>Adjust Levels, resize to 1080&#215;720, convert from RAW to PNG<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p5\"><span class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-s1\">StarStaX &#8211; Version 0.71<br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-s1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.markus-enzweiler.de\/software\/software.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.markus-enzweiler.de\/software\/software.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1513634953240000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHEJI8qfdpn45XWYiSUmMukd-lEkQ\">http:\/\/www.markus-enzweiler.<wbr>de\/software\/software.html<br \/>\n<\/a><\/span><span class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-s1\">StarStaX is available as Freeware for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">QuickTime 7.6.6<br \/>\nImport image sequence and create time lapse video<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\" style=\"text-align: left;\">The image below, aiming at the north polar region, was taken at the 2017 Summer Star Party in Plainfield, Massachusetts.&nbsp; Multiple&nbsp;exposures&nbsp;were also combined into a video that you can watch <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=12NuhBh4NDHw_OXQTVRUK4vORWRMg_QqE\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1501\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-North.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-North.png 800w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-North-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-North-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>Image details:&nbsp;Canon EOS 60D camera, 30-second exposures, f\/2.8 10mm ISO 1600<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\" style=\"text-align: left;\">The image below was also taken at the Summer Star Party, this time facing south. <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1sFuFWO_Dx1kzJe1TDBvs6kBdaKiTZXyA\">One video<\/a> shows the stars moving across the sky, and a <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1cBqGAq4OVk9Hvy96STbmxR_5wk_TXZNV\">second video<\/a> shows emerging star trails as the images are combined.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1502\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-South.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-South.png 800w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-South-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/SSP-Star-Trails-South-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>Image details:&nbsp;Canon EOS 60D camera, 30-second exposures, f\/2.8 10mm ISO 1600<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\" style=\"text-align: left;\">The image below was taken in New Hampshire over the Thanksgiving weekend. It includes trails of the Pleiades and Hyades rising in the east.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1503\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/NH-Star-Party-Trails.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"567\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/NH-Star-Party-Trails.png 850w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/NH-Star-Party-Trails-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/NH-Star-Party-Trails-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/>Image details:&nbsp;Canon EOS 60D, 30-second exposures, f\/5.6 14mm ISO 1600<\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-3586400474353767423gmail-p4\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent ASHN Activities By Donna Pursley Public Observing at Silver Sands State Park Friday October 20, 2017 The forecast was for a clear sky tonight, and we had just that. We had close to a dozen scopes and binos set &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/2017\/12\/30\/janfebmar2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1481"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1881,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions\/1881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}