{"id":860,"date":"2015-06-25T12:52:52","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T16:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/?p=860"},"modified":"2019-01-17T08:05:14","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T13:05:14","slug":"julaugsep2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/2015\/06\/25\/julaugsep2015\/","title":{"rendered":"JulAugSep2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer Solstice Picnic, June 13, 2015
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

It was a beautiful day for a picnic. About 25 people attended our annual solstice picnic at Sleeping Giant State Park. There was plenty of good food and good company to go around. We even had a solar scope set up. This is a good event to see each other during the daylight and get to know everyone a little better.<\/p>\n

\"picnic1\"<\/p>\n

\"picnic2\"<\/p>\n

\"solstice<\/p>\n

Member\u2019s Only Viewing at Ansonia Nature Center, June 13, 2015<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To make the day complete, we had a successful member\u2019s only event the night of the solstice picnic. This is where just ASNH members set up under dark skies without being a public event. We can spend the night looking for what we want to see with the added bonus of having more experienced members nearby for assistance and company. There were some scattered clouds and the dampness made us turn in about 11:30. More than a dozen members enjoyed a good night of viewing.<\/p>\n

\"Ansonia\"
\n<\/p>\n

Monthly Meetings<\/strong><\/h1>\n

April Meeting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At April’s monthly meeting at the Leitner Observatory, Leo Taylor gave a very informative presentation on solar telescopes.  He described several different varieties of solar scopes and how they work.  He wanted members to be aware that the Society owns three Personal Solar Telescopes (PSTs) that they can borrow, and that these are an under-utilized resource that more members should take advantage of.  These solar scopes are light and very portable, and they can be set up to observe the Sun in just minutes.<\/p>\n

Richard La Plante showed the group his own solar telescope, and Bob Carruthers brought and described some telescopes he has built from ordinary materials, including one with his well-known salad bowl mount. In addition, Al Washburn presented some examples of posters featuring the constellation Cygnus that were made by his high-school students over the years.<\/p>\n

\"Leo

Leo Taylor explains the design and operation of solar telescopes.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Al

Al Washburn shows a poster of Cygnus made by one of his students.<\/p><\/div>\n

May Meeting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

May’s meeting was held at the McGee Middle School in Berlin so that members could get a first-hand look at Moon rocks and soil samples collected by the Apollo astronauts.  ASNH member Laurie Averill is a Solar System Ambassador, which allowed her to borrow the samples from NASA to show students at the school and anyone else who was interested. To add to the display of extraterrestial objects, Al Washburn brought the Society’s meteorite collection.  In addition, Jim Mazur gave a presentation on “The evolution of astrophotography:  Reflections on the last 50 years.”  His talk highlighted the major technological advances that have led to dramatic improvements in the quality of astronomical images that can be obtained by amateurs.  Jim has been taking pictures of the night sky since the 1960s, and he used examples of his own images to illustrate the progress that has taken place over the years.<\/p>\n

\"The

The lunar rock and soil samples available for observation at the May monthly meeting.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Upcoming Public Event<\/strong><\/h1>\n

These events are free and open to the public. Our members will also point out the stars, planets, and constellations that you can see with the naked eye.  If you have your own telescope or binoculars, feel free to bring them.  If you have a telescope but don’t know how to operate it, our experienced observers can help you learn to use your equipment. If the weather looks questionable for an observing event, check the 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

Friday, September 18, beginning at sunset<\/strong>
\nBethany Observatory, Bethany, CT
\nOpen house and public observing session<\/p>\n

Upcoming Event for ASNH members<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Saturday, October 3, beginning at sunset
\n<\/strong>Ansonia Nature Center, Ansonia, CT
\nMembers only observing session<\/p>\n

Connecticut Star Party<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Friday, September 11 – Sunday, September 13<\/strong>
\nJune Norcross Webster Scout Reservation, Ashford, CT<\/p>\n

Features<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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

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

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

Space Place<\/strong> Read the monthly article from Space Place.<\/p>\n

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

Other regular features can be found within these pages:<\/p>\n

Upcoming Public Events <\/strong>Many ASNH events are free and open to the public. These include the monthly meetings, open houses at Bethany Observatory and public observing sessions at Young’s Pond Park in Branford. This section gives the dates, times, and descriptions of these events.<\/p>\n

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

Night Sky Highlights <\/strong> For those who are new to astronomy, 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

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 newsletter@asnh.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Recent ASNH Activities
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

by Donna Pursley<\/h3>\n

Ansonia Nature Center Event, March 28
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bob Carruthers gave a talk to the Friends of the Ansonia Nature Center about stars. There were about 20 people there even though it was snowing out. He talked about the life and death of stars. How they burned, the chemical makeup, and what happens as they age. There were a few children with some very good questions. There would have been viewing if it wasn\u2019t cloudy and snowing.<\/p>\n

Discovery Museum Event, March 29
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This was the Discovery Museum\u2019s space day. They had different groups at tables with astronomy related topics. One table had some moon rocks. Al Washburn and Greg Barker had the meteorites set up and a table showing large crater sites. Mike Zarick and Donna Pursley were there to help.<\/p>\n

Outside there was solar viewing with scopes from the Westport and Booth astronomy clubs along with members from the local Sidewalk Astronomers. The count at 4pm was 1500 people that came to the museum that day.<\/p>\n

Bethany Observatory Open House, April 24
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It started off very cloudy but the forecast said it was supposed to clear up. Al Washburn had the meteorites set up inside so our visitors had something to see. Just when we were thinking of closing up, the sky cleared. The two scopes were on the Moon, Jupiter and a few deep sky objects. We had a few new members stop by which is always encouraged. There were about 20 visitors in total.<\/p>\n

Public Observing at Young\u2019s Pond Park in Branford, April 25
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It was a clear night. We started off showing the Moon, Venus and Jupiter. The moons of Jupiter were lined up nicely, and a few of our visitors were able to see them move throughout the night. Al Washburn brought a few meteorites which was a big hit. We had more than a dozen scopes and binoculars. There were a few new members (Thanks!!) and some local amateur astronomers tonight. Over 75 people stopped by with a few staying for long time. We were able to show them the Beehive Cluster (M44), the Sombrero Galaxy, M3 and other deep sky objects.<\/p>\n

New Haven Science Fair,  May 11-13<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There were 234 student finalists competing at the New Haven Science Fair. The program is dedicated to improving the quality of science and math education in the New Haven Schools Grades Pre-K through 12. Very few projects were astronomy-related this year. The ASNH judges didn\u2019t feel that any of the projects merited a 1st<\/sup>, 2nd<\/sup>, or 3rd<\/sup> prize. We did want to reward those with an enthusiasm towards astronomy with a \u2018Certificate of Honor\u2019 prize along with $60 for each group.<\/p>\n

Next year, we are going to supply some guidelines to the coordinators of the Science Fair to help guide the students to better astronomy themed projects.<\/p>\n

The winners were:
\n8th<\/sup> grade students Elliot Faulkner and Robert Logan from Edgewood School for their project \u201cOur Project is Crater Then Yours\u201d. This project experimented with different density of balls (comets) falling into flour (planet) and measured the crater.<\/p>\n

8th<\/sup> grade student Victor Cotto from Fair Haven School for his project \u2018When Worlds Collide\u201d. He also worked with a ball (comet), but changed the substance that was struck by the comet to see how the craters differed.<\/p>\n

5th<\/sup> grade students CJ Cicarella, Dillon Ridgway and Anthony Franco from Nathan Hale School. Their project was named \u201cUp Up and a Weight\u201d. They used model rockets with different weights (payloads) to see which would climb highest.  One of these students commented on wanting to be an astronaut or to design rockets for transport into space.<\/p>\n

The judging was done Monday night without the students and Tuesday morning with the students. The awards were handed out on Wednesday night by ASNH President Greg Barker.<\/p>\n

\"Winners

Winners for astronomy-related projects in the 2015 New Haven Science Fair.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bethany Observatory Open House, May 22
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It was a clear day and a clear night. People came by before the 8pm start time. We must have had at least 45-50 visitors. The scopes were on the Moon before it was totally dark. Then they turned to Jupiter and other bright objects since the sky was still too bright for most deep sky viewing. Al Washburn had the meteorites set up inside and people went between the scopes and the meteorites.<\/p>\n

Public Observing at Young\u2019s Pond Park in Branford, May 23<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Another clear night for viewing. We had a good number of telescopes and binoculars. We didn\u2019t have very many visitors, but the ones that were there stayed a long time. We showed them the Moon, Venus, Jupiter and our first view of Saturn this year. Ray commented that Saturn looked particularly nice. There was a nice pass-by of one of the stars in Cancer with the crescent Moon. This is a good way to show the movement of the Moon to the public. Some of the summer objects like the Ring Nebula made an appearance later in the night.<\/p>\n

Ansonia Nature Center Event, June 5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Gaianne Jenkins, a retired mathematician with an interest in paleo-astronomy, gave a talk entitled \u201cThe turning of Venus,\u201d about an ancient calendar used as late as the middle ages. This calendar predicts the motions of the Moon and some planets. She focused on the eight phases of Venus and the ancient five seasons of the year. The calendar explained a lot about how we see Venus in the sky. On the night of this talk Venus was near maximum eastern elongation, turning from the phase of the lake to the phase of the earth, and we will be changing seasons from spring to high summer. After the talk, even though the sky was mostly cloudy, we were able to view Venus and Jupiter through telescopes. Venus showed as a bright crescent half disc.<\/p>\n

Outreach at the Amity Girl Scout Camporee in Oxford, June 6
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is the first time since I have been in the club that we have been invited to provide star gazing for Girl Scouts. We have been to multiple Boy Scout events. It was a mid-sized field with tall trees around the edges. We had 5 scopes and 1 pair of binoculars set up. We started looking at Venus before it was dark because it was setting at our location. We showed the girls Jupiter with 4 nicely placed moons. When it became dark, the girls were able to see double stars, star clusters, galaxies, and the Ring Nebula. Later, we were able to show them Saturn\u2019s rings. The girls and adults were very polite with lots of thank-you\u2019s. This event showed how well everything works when the adults explain the rules to the kids beforehand. Most knew about not using white flashlights. Also, most where studying astronomy in school so they had a little knowledge which made the questions more interesting.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Night Sky Highlights for July-September, 2015<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Solar System<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury
\n<\/strong>This will be a great summer for viewing the planets. In July and early August, Venus and Jupiter will be close together in the western sky right after sunset. In fact, on July 1<\/span><\/strong>, these two bright planets will be only about 1\/3 degree apart in a spectacular conjunction. In early August, they will be joined by Mercury, but it will be very low in the west and binoculars may be needed to see it. On the evenings of July 18 and 19<\/span><\/strong>, the crescent Moon will join Venus and Jupiter, and first magnitude Regulus will be nearby too. Their relative positions will be changing night by night, so check out the sky after sunset as often as you can.<\/p>\n

Saturn
\n<\/strong>Saturn will be high in the evening sky throughout the summer.  It is in Scorpius, just above the three stars that form the claws of the scorpion. With its rings now open wide from our vantage point, it will be a beautiful object to observe.<\/p>\n

Perseid Meteors
\n<\/strong>Peaking on the night of August 12-13
\nOne of the highlights of the summer is the annual Perseid meteor shower. This will be an ideal year for viewing the Perseids (as long as the weather cooperates), because the shower peaks around the time of the new Moon. The meteors can be seen as soon as it gets dark, but they are most frequent after midnight. Although they will peak on the night of August 12-13, this is a long-lasting shower, and quite a few Perseids can be seen for a week or more before and after.<\/p>\n

Total Eclipse of the Moon
\n<\/strong>Night of September 27-28
\nThis should be a very nice eclipse for North American viewers, weather permitting. Here are some of the key times, in Eastern Daylight Time:<\/p>\n

9:01 pm: Partial eclipse begins (Moon enters umbra)
\n10:10 pm: Total eclipse begins
\n10:47 pm: Mid-eclipse
\n11:24 pm: Total eclipse ends
\n12:27 am: Partial eclipse ends (Moon leaves umbra)<\/p>\n

Neptune
\n<\/strong>Neptune is in Aquarius, and it will be visible in the evening sky later in the summer and into the fall. At about magnitude 8, it can be spotted in binoculars or a finder scope if you have a map showing where to look for it, such as this one:
\nhttp:\/\/www.nakedeyeplanets.com\/neptune.htm#finderchart<\/a><\/p>\n

Its blue-green disk is 2.3 arcseconds in diameter and will show nicely with a medium-sized telescope at high power.<\/p>\n

Deep Sky Objects<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the summer sky there are literally hundreds of deep-sky objects that are worth exploring with a telescope, and many of them are also visible through binoculars or simply with the naked eye. Here is just a small sample of some of the better-known targets.<\/p>\n

Messier 13
\n<\/strong>Globular cluster in Hercules
\nAlways a favorite for amateur astronomers, this group of about 500,000 stars is one of the most impressive globular clusters in the sky.   It is high overhead throughout the summer.<\/p>\n

Messier 5
\n<\/strong>Globular cluster in Serpens
\nAfter observing Messier 13, try finding Messier 5 for comparison. The overall magnitudes of these two clusters are about the same, but M5 is smaller and more condensed. It may appear brighter, but because it is so compact its stars are harder to resolve.<\/p>\n

Messier 55
\n<\/strong>Globular cluster in Sagittarius
\nAs a third point of comparison, try Messier 55, located to the west of the Sagittarius teapot. This globular is also similar in overall magnitude to M13 and M5, but it is more loosely structured, and so through a medium or large telescope its stars are quite easy to resolve as individual pinpoints of light.<\/p>\n

Messier 23
\n<\/strong>Open cluster in Sagittarius
\nThis is a large and bright group of over 100 stars that is a beautiful sight through a telescope at low power, and it can be readily seen through binoculars as well.<\/p>\n

Messier 25
\n<\/strong>Open cluster in Sagittarius
\nLike Messier 23, this open cluster is large and bright, and it is another good target for a small telescope or binoculars.<\/p>\n

Scutum Star Cloud
\n<\/strong>Milky Way star cloud in Scutum
\nThis dense section of the Milky Way is a great sight for the naked eye, binoculars, or any telescope. On a dark night, it can be seen just south of the stars that form the tail of Aquila, the eagle.<\/p>\n

Collander 399, the Coathanger Cluster
\n<\/strong>Open cluster in Vulpecula
\nAlso known as Brocchi\u2019s Cluster, this large group can be dimly seen with the naked eye on a clear dark night. Through binoculars or a small telescope, its coathanger shape is obvious to everyone who looks at it.<\/p>\n

Beta Scorpii
\n<\/strong>Double star in Scorpius
\nThe uppermost of the three stars that form the \u201cclaws\u201d of the scorpion is a fine double star for observation with just about any telescope. The two component stars are magnitudes 2.9 and 5.1, and they are separated by about 14 arcseconds, so they are fairly easy to discern, even at fairly low magnification.<\/p>\n

Epsilon Lyra
\n<\/strong>Double-double star in Lyra
\nLooking with the naked eye, young people with excellent eyesight can just barely tell that Epsilon Lyra is a double star. This becomes obvious through binoculars. But when observed through a telescope with a magnification of 100x or more, each of the two stars can be resolved into a close pair of stars with similar brightness.<\/p>\n

Messier 57, the Ring Nebula
\n<\/strong>Planetary nebula in Lyra
\nWhile in Lyra, don\u2019t forget to check out the famous Ring Nebula. Through a small telescope it can be seen as a small oval, and you might be able to see the slightly darker center. With larger telescopes, the ring shape is obvious.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gallery<\/strong><\/h1>\n

These two pages display some astronomical images taken by ASNH members.<\/p>\n

Richard Asarisi describes how he took this image of International Space Station passing in front of the Sun:
\nPat Maturo and I were fortunate enough to catch the ISS transit the Sun on 5\/4 at 8:34am EDT.  We grabbed the information for this from CalSky, over 5 days the path of the transit center line moved 3 times.  We were lucky enough to find a cemetery in Naugatuck that was right on the line. I took this with my Nikon D4 and 600mm lens with a 1.4x teleconvertor, made it 850mm Full Frame with a Baader filter. This is created from 11 frames registered and stacked in PhotoShop CC. I added a little color to make it look more natural.<\/p>\n

\"ISS
\nCombining a new camera with an old telescope, Al Sacharow demonstrated the versatility of modern point-and-shoot cameras.  Sacharow writes:  “The camera is a Nikon Coolpix 9900 and the scope is an ancient Criterion 6″ f\/8.  I just held the camera to the eyepiece and pressed the shutter button.”  Below are his picture of the Moon, and the telescope.<\/p>\n

\"Sacharow-Moon-scope\"
\n<\/p>\n

Gallery, page 2<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Jim Mazur used a 14″ Meade LX850 telescope and an SBIG ST-8300M imager to capture some springtime galaxies:<\/p>\n

\"Spiral

Spiral galaxy Messier 106 in Canes Venatici, and to its upper right, NGC 4248.<\/p><\/div>\n

Larger image of Messier 106<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Four

Four galaxies in Leo with distinctly different shapes. From left to right, they are: NGC 3193, an elliptical galaxy; NGC 3190, a spiral galaxy viewed nearly edge-on; NGC 3187, with an angular “S” shape; and NGC 3185, with an outer ring and a central bar. Several smaller galaxies are also visible.<\/p><\/div>\n

Larger image of NGC 3190 group<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer Solstice Picnic, June 13, 2015 It was a beautiful day for a picnic. About 25 people attended our annual solstice picnic at Sleeping Giant State Park. There was plenty of good food and good company to go around. We … Continue reading →<\/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":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-15"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860","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=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1892,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions\/1892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}