September - Saguaro Astronomy Club
Contents
1. Answer to last month s question What is the most distant object visible to the naked eye M33 Many sources will say M31 the Andromeda galaxy is the farthest object visible to the naked eye but on clear steady nights M33 is indeed visi ble At 3 0 Million light years according to the lat est Hipparcos Data itis slightly Farther than M31 VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 SACNEWS October 2006 SAC Star Party Flat Iron S tonheaven P ot luck 21 AllArizona SP Arizona City 28 T hunderbird S targaze Glendale S chedule of E vents for O ctober 2006 Moon is full at 20 Bmst SAC General M ited Nes Grand C anyon U niversity at 1930 S peaker R ichard Payne T opic D igital D eep S ky P hotography Moon at third quarter at 1425 mst Ne S tar Party at Flat Iron S unset 1759 End Ast Twilight 1921 Moonrise S tonehaven P otluck S tar P arty S tonehaven O bservatory Maricopa S ee page D for directions Oct 20th 21st All Arizona S tar P arty at the Farnsworth R anch For more information go to http www eastvalleyas tronomy org aasp htm Oct 21st Moon is new at 2214 mst Oct 28th T EU i Public S targaze T hunderbird Park Glendale 1700 Direction on page 10 Oct 29th Moon at first Quarter at 425mst Future P lanning Nov Tth amp 18th S entinel S chwaar S targaze S entinel PAGE 8 Continued from page 5 Cluster Very large fairly bright very bright center very compressed well resol2. 10 f10 SCT 178X Joe Goss Globular Cluster very small very faint very compressed not well resolved 16 f4 4 Newtonian Rick Rotramel GC fS pB Rich pRound resolved very much brighter in the middle Nice 18 f4 5 Dobsonian 329X Dan Gruber There is a bright unresolved core no more than 2 diameter The halo is partially resolved helped by averted vision Total diameter is 4 5 The edge of the cluster did not seem well defined it simply fades into the stellar background NGC6723 As the globular clusters become brighter we see more and more detail 8 f6 Dobsonian 122X Rick Tejera At Higher power still noted as square in shape and still nothing resolved At this power it is mottled throughout and there seems to be a streamer of mottled stars off the SW corner 10 f10 SCT 178X J oe Goss Globular Cluster Fairly large fairly bright well resolved many chains of stars very bright core SACNEWS PAGE 5 18 f4 5 Dobsonian 329X Dan Gruber This is a rather loose knit globular cluster with a fairly bright but somewhat indistinct core about 3 in diameter The halo is about 10 in diameter and rather filamentous looking with some chains and clumps of stars The halo is well resolved and the core is partially resolved After this last observation tried to put a thought in the observers mind and it was something like why wasn t NGC6723 in the Messier Catalog No one seemed to have
3. Forest Service for violating forest closure Continued on page 3 SACNEWS VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 Space Place Deadly Planets By Patrick L Barry and Dr Tony Phillips About 900 light years from here there s a rocky planet not much bigger than Earth It goes around its star once every hundred days a trifle fast but not too different from a standard Earth year At least two and possibly three other planets circle the same star forming a complete solar system Interested Dont be Going there would be the last thing you ever do The star is a pulsar PSR 1257 12 the seething hot core of a supernova that exploded millions of years ago Its planets are bathed not in gentle life giving sunshine but instead a blistering torrent of X rays and high energy particles It would be like trying to live next to Chernobyl says Charles Beichman a scientist at J PL and director of the Michelson Science Center at Caltech Our own sun emits amounts of pulsar like X rays and high energy particles but the amount of such radiation coming from a pulsar is orders of magnitude more he says Even for a planet orbiting as far out as the Earth this radiation could blow away the planet s atmosphere and even vaporize sand right off the planet s surface Astronomer Alex Wolszczan discovered planets around PSR 1257 12 in the 1990s using Puerto Rico s giant Arecibo radio telescope At first no one believed worlds could form around
4. ISSUE 9 President s Message By Rick Tejera Finally some decent observing weather The To Heck With the Mon soons Star Party was a success We had at least 20 vehicles find ing their way to the Cherry Il Site for a night of observing This was my first night out since April Ouch and planned to make the most of it Armed with AJ s Call for Observations for September amp October Sagittarius amp Vulpecula respectively got some new observa tions of some objects already visited and made few new celestial friends also managed to fins all of AJ s Challenge objects including Palomar 8 amp Roslund 4 In the 8 they re not much to write home about but then with 8 the challenge is ac tually seeing them imagine aperture would do these object a bit more justice But was happy to add a couple of toughies to the found file observed until midnight a self imposed deadline due to obligations Sunday morning at church When left there were still quite a few folks who looked like they weren t going anywhere This is the kind of night that reminds us why we took up the hobby Hopefully with the monsoon abating we ll have more of these nights Before it got dark Steve Coe gave the 50 cent tour of telescopes to a few novice folks who came up Two are close friend s of mine It seems their inter est has been there for a while and now with get ting their feet wet and learning how to use the
5. School and go 2 miles to 355th Ave Turn North right This will turn into Wickenburg Rd Follow this road for about 12 miles J ust after mile marker 23 you will go through Jackrabbit wash and pass a cattle guard sign There is a dirt road just after the sign marked by white painted rocks Turn on to this road and follow it about 9 miles J ust after you pass through a wash you ll see the field on your left If you hit the cattle guard or the dirt road your on is next to a fence you ve missed the correct road Go back and look for the white rocks see detail map above TAKE l 10 SOUTH TOWARD TUC SON EXIT AT QUEEN CREEK ROAD TOWARD MARICOPA PROCEED THROUGH MARICOPA PAST THE HARRAH S AK CHIN CASINO 2 MILES TURN WEST RIGHT ON PAPAGO ROAD PROCEED WEST 5 MILES PAPAGO TURNS SOUTH LEFT AND BECOMES WARREN ROAD APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES YOU LL SEE BARNES RD FOUR STREETS PAST BARNES IS PRICKLY PEAR TURN WEST RIGHT 0 6 MILES ACROSS DEER TRAIL YOU CANT MISS THE DOME 53750 W PRICKLY PEAR RD MARICOPA AZ 85239 CELL 602 390 0118 HOME 520 424 9731 SDODDER HOTMAIL COM VOLUME 30 ISSUE SACNEWS S AC Membership S ervices M embership Memberships are for the calendar year and are pro rated for new members as follows J an Mar 100 A pr J un 75 J ul S ep 50 Oct Dec 25 LI 28 00 Individual Membership O 42 00 Family Membership M agazine S ubscription S ervices 1 4 00 Newsletter Onl T he following
6. another wise stellar core Sounds almost like a galaxy 14 f10 SCT 195X Joe Goss Globular Cluster Fairly small fairly faint haze few stars resolved in outer area may not be part of the cluster 18 f4 5 Dobsonian 209X Dan Gruber Visible as a faint diffuse fairly uniform glow about 5 in diameter It appears roughly round with slightly irregular edges Very few extremely faint mag VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 Crayon 14 stars resolved within the boundary of the object these might be field stars NGC6558 This globular has a magnitude of 9 3 and almost 4 making it easier to spot 14 f10 SCT 195X Joe Goss Globular Cluster Small fairly bright fairly compressed 8 10 stars resolved 18 f4 5 Dobsonian 209X Dan Gruber Shows a dim unresolved core less than 1 in diameter There is a very dim halo about 3 4 in diameter It appears asymmetrical with the halo extending further S than N from the core A few very faint mag 13 stars resolved at the extreme edge of the halo these might be field stars rather than cluster members NGC6652 At magnitude 8 9 this one is easier to find and we now begin to see some detail 8 f6 Dobsonian 135X Rick Tejera Small amp unresolved with some slight mottling It is very suddenly brighter to the middle Slightly elongated NE SW 14 f10 SCT 195X Joe Goss Globular Cluster Small fairly bright fairly compressed many stars resolved in outer area s
7. be a at Happy Jack on Sept 22 23 2006 The Thunderbird star party will be on Saturday Oct 28 and a a the Reach 11 event will be on Dec 5 253 02 Most of the recent as 4 i 9 Steve Dodder said that the next sets were from T shirt sales and b potluck at Stonehaven Observatory memberships ral i is on Saturday October 14 2006 i The next SAC general meeting will Announcements Jack Jones re be on September 8 2006 here at ported that there were still some re Grand Canyon University The maining T shirts for sale cheap speaker will be Dr Ted Bowell from A J Crayon presented Bob Christ Lowell Observatory Hunting for with the Urban 100 backyard dangerous Earth approaching as award Margie reported on the RE North Rim session of the Grand Speaker for August Canyon Star Party she said that there were Show and Tell Dave Fredrickson made a re problems because there were so many as cent visit to Mt Palomar Observatory in Cali tronomers there which caused difficulties with fornia and met the public affairs director Scott parking and set ups Rich pema Lae gave an excellent tour of Walker did report that he went the facility He showed some to the Reach 11 Public Star i nice slides of the visit Party but left because of cloud em cover Peter Argenziano a g After the break Rick Tejera in brought in some free astron troduced Dr Paul Scowen omy and cartoon posters E iy ET form ASU who spoke on t
8. bit on this as none of the observations made any kind of reference to the request Guess that shows how knowledgeable SAC observers are M22 Various telescopes Rick Rotramel GC from memory vL vB v vRich pRound this one is a beauty Extremely Nice 8 f6 Newtonian 38X Charlie Whiting this GC is a ghostly smudge on a gray background Two faint stars flank it to the NE 8 6 mag and SE 9 5 mag At 60X some stars become resolved but they are so faint and so tiny that they blend into the background granularity changed eyepieces going to 160X and Wow All of a sudden there are a bunch of resolved sparklers They look like an 8 point snowflake Adding a 2x Barlow the GC fills about 1 2 the FOV This means that the GC is about 5 in diameter However the data says that the cluster is 17 or 24 in diameter So my 5 is just the core did not try to see if outliers were visible There are 30 or easier to count stars and probably another 30 or more not so easy to count stars Plus there is still granularity not so easy to see 8 f6 Dobsonian 122X Rick Tejera Very large and bright cluster It is pretty much round with a very dense central core A grainy texture with mottling noted There are many stars resolvable with both the core and the halo Several dust lanes noted radiating out from the core in all directions through the halo 10 f10 SCT 178X Joe Goss Globular Continued on page 8 SACNEWS VOLUME 30
9. it is the bottom of the toolboxes turn Pair of pliers and two larger screw driver again must keep for emergencies Two sets of cables and two small boxes One cable is for the plat form controller the other for Sky Commander One box contains the platform controller The other box contains parts for the Sky Commander like the azimuth encoder screws to attach it to the rocker box and another allen wrench Unfortunately it is NOT the same size as the one for collimating nor do have a spare So nothing gets tossed from here but need to add spare allen wrenches So there you have it From my point of view don t carry as much extra stuff as Rick but certainly don t pack light There are few items would part with excepting for those already parted There is however an out standing question and that is how to pack the plastic container Or should a new slightly larger one be pur chased The relocation of the connector rod should save an extra minute in its new location Hope to test this hypothesis out many times in the time remaining in this year Allen wrenches don t know where to pur chase them separately so will have to buy a complete set just for the two need The remaining ones can go in the terrestrial toolbox found in my shed Finally need to get a 12 volt battery pack not an automobile battery for the Sky Commander s heater For this will also need someone checked out on electrical connections and solderi
10. magazines are available at a discount to club Y members Check the magazines you wish to subscribe to C 10 50 Nametag for members or renew and pay the club treasurer Please allow 3 4 Pinned Clasp months for the order to be processed O 2 00 Nametag for members H Sky amp Telescope 33 00 yr Magnetic Clasp LI Astronomy 34 00 yr will be mailed to address below L Astronomy 60 00 for 2 Years Please Print Make Check Payable to SAC Bring completed form to a meeting or mail it with your remittance to SAC Treasurer c o Paul Dickson 7714 N 36th A ve Phoenix AZ 850516401 L Check here if this is an update of information already on file SAC on the Internet Printed Newsletter mai ilina li Sac can save a lot of money if you download the PDF Pe ee a ae as version of the newsletter PDF files are readable by both address and put Subscribe in the PC s and Macs When the newsletter is published a subject box message will be sent to the address indicated above with the URL of the newsletter Check the box below if you SAC Announce freelists org SAC don t have access to the internet or if your prefer a printed Announce is a mailing list for just club copy announcements Typically 3 5 messages per month LI Please send mea hard C opy of the newsletter SAC Forum freelists org SAC Forum is a gente discussion mailing list Topics should be related to A stronomy or SAC S A C Board freelists org S A C Board is a maili
11. B 1842 1908 1928 1943 1938 pr 1854 159 1723 725 Sunset Astronomical T wilight E nds 919 1942 2005 2037 2108 229 2107 2042 1958 1921 1850 1854 Moonrise Site 0044 F 2335 F 2230 F 0347 F 057 C 0029 C 0346 C 0240 C 0B5 C 0033 F 2316 0449 F F F Flatlron C Cherry Road
12. Saguaro Astronomy Club SA Cnews Volume 30 Issue 9 S eptember 2006 SAC Officers President Rick T ejera 623 572 073 president saguaroastro org Vice P resident P aul Lind 602 863 3077 pulind qwest net Treasurer P aul Dickson 602 841 7044 treas urer saguaroastro org S ecretary S usan P ritchard 623 934 7496 svpritchard msn com Properties T om P olakis tpolakis cox net 480 967 1658 P ublic E vents Jack J ones 623 322 1559 publicevents saguaroastro org Astro Imaging S ub Group A S tiewing 623 875 3969 T reasurer saguaroastro org SACNEWS E ditor Rick T ejera 623 572 07B saguaroastro cox net ATM Subgroup T had R obosson 602 826 0328 atmgroup saguaroastro org Inside T his Issue T he Bottom of the Bag R edeaux NASA s S pace P lace Deadly P lanets Last Call For O bserva tion s S agittarius President s Message Calendar of E vents Bits amp Pisces minutes from the A ugust General meeting Member S ervices The Bottom of the Bag Redeaux By AJ Crayon In response to Rick Tejera s Bottom of the Bag article in the August 2006 issue of the SAC Newsletter thought it a good idea to inventory my astronomy stuff and share with everyone With that in mind have three containers an astro box a plastic container and a toolbox all in dire need of an inventory First the astro box made of plywood Some years ago Bill Anderson Steve Coe David Frederic
13. ceplace nasa gow en kids live for a great place to introduce kids to infrared and the joys of astronomy This article was provided by the jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 Continued from page 1 rules It s a warning not a fine or an arrest Nice me mentos of fun times gone by nice keepsakes for laughs There s a folder with fireball reporting form how long has that been buried in there It also has some extra drawing forms Send the drawing forms to the clipboard and toss everything else Not much to depart with here but some nice astro box cleaning Now on to the plastic container that is a little smaller than the astro box and contains observing type para phernalia get to this after the telescope is almost com pletely setup On top are some wool gloves that should be in the winter observing duffel bag a 110 volt battery charger for the fan that will now stay at home as one can t charge out in the field XP4 Flash Sky Commander and two three ring binders One binder contains the AZ Sky Observing List nice to have around for reference or using for a real time observing list The other has pa pers for observing reminders and observing challenges it includes blank paper for notes while observing latest SAC Roster and directions our observing sites The di rections also include longitude and
14. d the faint nebulae NGC6820 Try filters on the nebula to see if they help Finally we get to the Dumbbell Nebula need anything more be said about this entry Now for something a little more difficult than M27 Roslund 4 a rather small faint rather rich open cluster located in the bright nebulae IC4954 This duo is located about 1 40 east of northeast from 5 magnitude 15 Vulpeculae Our final treat is at the eastern end of the SACNEWS VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 constellation near the border with Pegasus NGC7080 It is 1 east of southeast from 5 magnitude 35 Vulpeculae For November we are going to try something a little different two constellations They are Delphinus and Equuleus There isn t much at all in Equuleus and there are a scant few in Delphinus within reach of most our telescope So taking both at the same time should take care of them besides how many of us have observations in Equuleus Delphinus will be first staring with NGC6891 a planetary located about 23 south of mag 7 5 SAO105890 Next is the galaxy pair NGC6928 and NGC6930 both in the 12 magnitude range fairly small by my standards about 4 apart and listed as IC1326 They are located about 17 west northwest of 6 5 mag SAO125960 The last two are globular clusters and part of the 400 Herschel list NGC6934 and NGC7006 The brighter is NGC6934 located about 30 northwest from 6 mag SA0125996 and should be visible in most finders Finally f
15. he Orion MIDEX star telescope Upcoming Events Next Satur A BM project from NASA day August 19 2006 will be Mys our regular monthly star party Respectfully submitted at Cherry Road II site and Award to Bob Christ Susan V Pritchard September 16 will be the last Secretary Saguaro Astronomy regular star party held there Steve Coe said Club that the next Novice Group will be at the August31 2006 Cherry Road site on August 19 as well This is SACNEWS VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 SAC Meeting and Observing S ites T hunderbird P ark Take the Loop 101 to 59th Ave Turn North onto 59th Ave toward the Albertson s amp Fry s Supermarkets go about 1 1 2 miles on 59th Ave until the road starts to climb the hill The entrance to the park is on the left 4 10 of a mile past the light at Deer Valley Rd Go to the right of the amphitheater and follow the signs to the sight Rangers will be there to guide you if you get misplaced easy to do if you ve never been there Q Observing Site Amphiteatre S tonehaven Potluck S tar P arty W Vet Viste Ad W Quel un Rd W Lows Johnsoni Dr lonehaven 53750 W Prickly Pear Rd Maricopa AZ 85259 602 700110 Flatiron S tar Parties Cattle Guard Rock Marker and Dirt Road Cattle Guard Caution Sign Mile Marker 33 Jackrabbit Wash Head west on I 10 to the 339th Ave exit exit 103 Turn North right and go two miles to Indian School Rd Turn West left on Indian
16. ir scope hope they ll be joining us more frequently OK calendar marking time we ve got quite a few events coming up so you should be able to get some time at the eyepiece in the next few months First up is the rescheduled 5 Mile Meadow Star party near Happy Jack Sept 22nd amp 23rd It s gonna get cold so be prepared You ll be glad you did Next is the fall edition of the now Semi Annual Stonehaven pot luck star party on October 14th Steve amp Rosie Dodder again will generously host the event at their home observatory In Maricopa Directions are on page 10 of this issue Two weeks later on Oct 28th is the Fall Thunder bird Stargaze held at Thunderbird park in Glen dale I ve said it before and l Il say it again this is our biggest public outreach event so please plan on attending with your telescopes The more the merrier and the shorter the lines to have a look It always a fun event so don t miss it Last but certainly not least on November 17th amp 18th we ll make our annual pilgrimage to Sentinel for the Sentinel S chwaar Stargaze Along with our regular Star Parties you should be able to get out at least once to enjoy some dark sky Considering the way the summer s been I ll look forward to some well attended events Till Next Month Clear Skies Monthly Trivia Question Which crewmember on Apollo 13 first reported the explosion of the O2 Tank saying Okay Houston we ve had Problem
17. ksen and myself built them as a joint project They have been serving us well for many a year Thad Robosson liked them so much he used them to model one for himself Only his is larger and has a more professional look OK now on to the inventory The astro box has two compartments top and bottom simple enough with the top containing accessories for setting up the telescope First to catch your eyes are boxes for the 9X50 finder laser collimator then there s the connector rod for elevation encoder Obviously the first two must stay Occa sionally forget the connector rod until the Sky Commander has been calibrated and find out the altitude reading doesn t change with that movement of the tele scope then have to attach it and re calibrate Would like a better place for the connector rod but have not found a more convenient location There are two bright yellow wool caps that are kept here be cause they are the first line of defense for semi cold observing conditions could keep one and put the other in the cold weather duffel bag There is an eyeglass case with an old pair of glasses Better really keep those in case one s I m wear ing become unusable Two count them two plastic ponchos which bring back memories of attempting to scope in a driv ing rain lIl Keep these hoping they help me make better decisions Insect repel lent duct tape masking tape Kleenex anemometer and lens cleaner all seem to be items
18. latitude for reference or emergency For atlases there s the Bright Star Atlas and both Deep Space CCD Atlases Can t get rid of any could leave the Sky Commander User Manual at home as it doesn t get used out in the field at all Yet it does n t take up much space Digging down deeper it begins to get interesting There s both Uranometria eyepiece box anemometer instruction manual Move this last one to the astro box where it joins the actual unit and the bottom of the container This setup is nice for when I m home with binders and atlases quickly available but becomes rather awkward when observing It works like this after setting up the telescope the next item usually needed are the eyepieces and guess where they are Bottom of the box So take everything out to get to the eyepiece box then put everything back Can t put Uranometria at the bottom because they won t lay flat ditto with Deep Space CCD Atlases could leave Uranometria one of my security blankets home or change things around before packing or get a container whose inside bottom is larger than 18 X12 and outside bottom is no larger than 18 2 X14 This last dimension might seem odd but it is the size of the top of the astro box where the plastic box is stored This one is still an open question waiting for an acceptable answer While moving things around and imagining possible scenarios a flash of brilliance hits me This container is the ideal
19. needing to stay Here s some thing interesting a first aid kit Better in ventory it as it has been there for years and has never been used It has band aids cotton and aromatic ammonia anti septic and some burn ointment and some other antiseptic pads Only things to get tossed from here are Velcro strips two empty glass cases and a C clamp won der what the aromatic ammonia might be used for The bottom compartment mostly has items used for actual observing First is the clip board that also holds drawing forms ob serving hood and a small box with pen cils erasers a blending stump and a pen cil sharpener There are also flashlights and small weights to keep papers from being blow by nice breezes Keepers all There s the filter box used mainly for planetary viewing something that wish the weather would allow more time for Now here s a box for gummed reinforce ment rings forgot about this one It contains a variable polarizing filter for lunar observing used it a lot with the 8 scope It doesn t cut down on the light nearly enough with the 14 nor is it enough for the 5 aperture stop so it is unusable can t part with this so guess I ll have to purchase a smaller telescope so it can get used There are some surprises deep down at the bottom of the draw A card board light shield for observing Halley s Comet circa 1986 not the 1912 apparition and a 2002 warning notice from the US
20. ng Will someone else do a bottom of the bag SACNEWS Call For Observations Sagittarius By AJ What is there that can be said about Sagittarius First it is supposed to be an archer but don t look for that Most of us myself included see it as a teapot But there is more to see than just these two stellar formations There is a dipper in these stars and it is called appropriately the Milk Dipper Starting with p the end of the handle going towards the end of the bowl there s u A 6 T and Now having started this conversation how many dipper formations are there Please submit the results with your observations This month s program included seven globular clusters starting with the pretty faint Palomar 5 progressing through larger and brighter and finally ending with the magnificent M22 This month has an excellent assortment of observations from one naked eye observation and many from 8 to 18 telescopes So much for the hype now it is time for the observations Palomar 8 The first to start with is magnitude 11 2 at almost 5 and isn t much for a globular cluster But none the less it is still visible in many size scopes 8 f6 Dobsonian 135X Rick Tejera Difficult to find Had to match the star field to be sure the little blob that was only slightly bigger the Surrounding stars was it Averted vision helped a bit but this was a toughie in the 8 Possible hint of some halo around
21. ng list for discussions of club business If you d like to see how the club is run or not run or have a question about the club this is the list to read T ypically month to month matters are discussed A Z Observing freelists org A Z Observing while not a Sac list is well attended by SAC members T his is the list to with observing places around Arizona Find out where people are going and what they saw SAGUARO ASTRONOMY CLUB 5643 W Pontiac Dr Glendale A Z 85308 9177 Phone 623 572 07B Fax 623 572 8575 E mail newsletter s aguaroastro org P ELLIS Mos 5 Te Videmus S tellae a S eptember 2006 OO Se www saguaroastro org lt ee ATM SAC Schedule of E vents 2006 SAC Meetings January Bth 2006 July Mth 2006 February 10th 2006 August 1th 2006 March 10th 2006 April 4th 2006 M ay 2th 2006 J une 9th 2006 S eptember 8th 2006 October 6th 2006 November 3rd 2006 December TBA ATM amp Astro lmaging Group Meetings J anuary 10th 2006 February 7th 2006 March 7th 2006 A pril 1th 2006 May 9th 2006 J une 6th 2006 J uly 1th 2006 A ugust 8th 2006 S eptember 5th 2006 October 3rd 2006 November 7th 2006 December 5th 2006 SAC S tar Parties Date Jan 21st 2006 Feb 18th 2006 Mar Bth 2006 A pr 22nd 2006 May 20th 2006 Jun Tth 2006 J ul 22nd 2006 Aug 19th 2006 Sep 16th 2006 Oct Mth 2006 Nov Ith 2006 Dec I6th 2006 17 52 B
22. ome may not be part of the cluster 18 f4 5 Dobsonian 329X Dan Gruber A fairly bright unresolved core about 1 in diameter The halo appears elongated E W with overall dimensions about 5 X 3 Only a few outlying stars resolved NGC6569 At mag 8 7 there is only slightly more to be seen but what is helpful is that NGC6558 is in the same field This was a wonderful view when first seen in my 8 Note there is a difference between the descriptions of these two stellar aggregates of stars 14 f10 SCT 195X Joe Goss Globular Continued on page 5 VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 Continued from page 4 Cluster Fairly small fairly bright 10 13 stars with AV 16 f4 4 Newtonian Rick Rotramel GC fL fF vRich oval a little brighter in the middle 18 f4 5 Dobsonian 329X Dan Gruber This globular has no defined core It s a generally round fairly uniform disc about 4 in diameter brightening slightly toward the center The core is unresolved but a few stars can be resolved near the outer edge NGC6624 The fifth in this sequence is a magnitude 8 3 only slightly brighter than the preceding two on or list 8 f6 Dobsonian 162X Rick Tejera At higher power this object becomes more round and the stars resolved at lower power are more to the center indicating to me that the Southern part of the cluster is not as dense as the northern part At higher power it becomes suddenly brighter to the middle
23. or Delphinus is NGC7006 and located about 23 to the northwest of 7 mag SA0106792 Now on to Equuleus where our first object is something rather new Levy 70 It is also called the Equuleus S as it is an S shaped asterism located at RA 21h 09m Dec 06 18 or almost 1 east northeast from 6 mag 4 Equulei Be sure to include its PA in your observation More information about David Levy s list may be found at www jarnac org levylisthtm Our second is NGC7015 is a faint and small galaxy no wonder it is the only observation in my old 8 The last of our tour for this mighty constellation is NGC7045 an interesting discovery by J ohn Herschel in 1827 and seen as extremely faint and later identified as a double star So get ready for this one because it is about 14 mag To help with locating this gem it is at RA 21h 14m 50 2s Dec 04 30 25 or about 6 SSW from 9 mag SA0O126648 but do not confuse with a 12 mag Star a little farther away So there you have it two constellations for one month VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9 SACNEWS PAGE 9 Bits amp Pisces Minutes of the August 11th 2006 General Meeting By Susan V Pritchard The August 11 2006 meeting opened at 7 40 the To Heck with the Monsoon meeting so by President Rick Tejera who welcomed all far the club is batting 5500 5 hits and 5 visitors and members He invited misses The new meeting date for the visitors to introduce themselves the 5 Mile Meadow Star Party will
24. pulsars it was too bizarre Supernovas were supposed to destroy planets not create them Where did these worlds come from NASA s Spitzer Space Telescope may have found the solution Last year a group of astronomers led by Artist s concept of a pulsar and surrounding disk of rubble called a fallback disk out of small which new planets could form do Deepto Chakrabarty of MIT pointed the infrared telescope toward pulsar 4U 0142 61 Data revealed a disk of gas and dust surrounding the central star probably wreckage from the supernova It was just the sort of disk that could coalesce to form planets As deadly as pulsar planets are they might also be hauntingly beautiful The vaporized matter rising from the planets surfaces could be ionized by the incoming radiation creating colorful auroras across the sky And though the pulsar would only appear as a tiny dot in the sky the pulsar itself is only 20 40 km across it would be enshrouded in a hazy glow of light emitted by radiation particles as they curve in the pulsars strong magnetic field Wasted beauty Maybe Beichman points out the positive It s an awful place to try and form planets but if you can it there you can do it anywhere More news and images from Spitzer can be found at http www spitzer caltech edu In addition The Space Place Web site features a cartoon talk show episode starring Michelle Thaller a scientist on Spitzer Go to http spa
25. storage place for the connector rod left in the top com partment of the astro box especially if placed by the Sky Commander A nice change at that Next is the toolbox that is actually more like a fishing tackle box but it serves my astronomy and telescopes SACNEWS PAGE 3 purposes very nicely Opening it up and it has three shelves and the bottom Top shelf contains one allen wrench for collimation the secondary mirror should have a spare with me but don t There is also a 2 Leatherneck combination knife and tool set This is a very handy item that has many uses and is a definite must stay The eyeglass holder also stays as does the 6 crescent wrench used for setup and tear down of the platform The compass is also a keeper and is needed to align the platform Second shelf has two LED flashlights bubble level an incomplete 24 cable for a 12 volt connection to the Sky Commander for its heater when the temperature drops an assortment of spare batteries and some wooden Popsicle holders Not sure what this last item is for but keep them in case because you never know when something like that may come in handy besides there s plenty of available space in the toolbox The bottom shelf contains nuts bolts washers screws small plastic bags a knife rubber bands a small Phillips screwdriver and a small blade screwdriver All must be kept for emergencies either mine or some one observing with me Now finally
26. ved outer area many arcs and chains of stars 18 f4 5 Dobsonian 135X Dan Gruber A huge beautiful cluster filling most of the 37 FOV The cluster has a well defined and well resolved core 10 12 in diameter The halo consists of a large number of stars in various patterns chains arcs and groups There s a rather distinctive 5 star arrowhead asterism in the NE quadrant pointing toward the core The halo also contains several apparent doubles plus some orange topaz red stars At 329X The core takes on a feathery appearance especially on the N and E sides with dark lanes running between rows of well resolved stars There also appears to be a distinct dark lane running N S on the E side of the core Call for Observations The sly Fox Vulpecula will command our attention for the month of October I ve wanted to look at red stars lately actually anything in the telescope would do and have discovered CG Vulpeculae has a color index of 4 28 which should put it in the color range It is about 0 5 north of northeast from 1 Vulpeculae Check it out and let us know your impression Next is the Vulpeculae Cluster but has other more recognizable names It may be found 2 7 southeast from CG Vulpeculae Once there you will immediately recognize its shape Nextis the open cluster Stock 1 located about 1 5 northeast of a Vulpeculae Hint it is pretty rich and bright Now we move on to the open cluster NGC6823 an
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