Volume 40 No. 10 &nb sp; O ctober 1, 2003
NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, October 8, 2003
Maturango Museum, 100 East
Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, California
OCTOBER 6 MEETING
David
Hollingsworth will give a slide show talk on ÒAutumn Skies Over the Indian
Wells Valley.Ó HeÕll show images
of the solar system as well as deep space objects we can expect to enjoy
observing through our amateur telescopes this time of year.
DATES TO KEEP IN MIND
Monday, October6, 2003: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango
Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, October 22.
2003: Deadline for next
Skywatchers Newsletter
Friday, September 24, 2003 Ð Star Party, see below.
Monday, November 3, 2003:
Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m.
STAR
PARTY SCHEDULE FOR THE 2003 SEASON:
Star Parties will be held on the dates listed below. Star Parties are an activity where
members and guests join together to share views of the skies. If you have a telescope, bring it. If not, come and look through someone
else's. Star parties are held at a
site in the open desert south of Ridgecrest. To reach the star party site from
Ridgecrest, go south on China Lake Boulevard 6.5 miles from its intersection
with Ridgecrest Boulevard. Continue straight across Highway 395 and you will be
on Brown Road (Old Highway 395).
Follow Brown Road as it curves to the right and goes west. After 2.3 miles there will be a 30-inch
orange cone on the left. Turn left
and follow the dirt road marked by 12-inch cones. The CLAS Star party is 0.5 miles along this road. Watch for signs and cones, which will
be put out about a half-hour before viewing starts. Call Carroll Evans 760-375-5681, or Bruce Churchill
760-375-7247, for more information.
Friday,
October 24--Signs out at 6:30 p.m., Star viewing at 7:00 p.m.
Friday, November 21--Signs out at 6:30 p.m., Star viewing at 7:00 p.m.
BRIEF ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR FOR OCTOBER 2002
(David Hollingsworth)
Oct 2 First Quarter Moon.
Oct 3 Mercury shows its greatest illuminated
extent (21Ó) in morning hours.
Oct 10 Full Moon.
Oct 18 Last Quarter Moon.
Oct 22 Orionid meteors (from Comet Halley) peak before
dawn.
Oct 24 Zodiacal Light visible in East before morning
twilight for next two weeks.
Oct 25 New Moon.
Oct 26 Daylight Savings Time ends at 2 a.m.
Oct 31 First Quarter Moon.
OBSERVING IN
OCTOBER 2003 (David Hollingsworth)
With
the new Moon on the 25th, the best deep sky observing will be from
the 18th through the 29th. On the 24th, the night of the CLAS public star
party, the sun
sets at 18:04 PDT and end of astronomical twilight is at 19:30.
Planets:
Mercury can be spotted low in the east before sunrise the first week in
October. Venus is low in the west
after sunset all month. Mars is
still the high priority planet to observe in October, crossing the meridian for
best views around 22:30 PDT early in the month, at 21:00 PDT on the CLAS star
party night, and at 20:00 PST at monthÕs end. Best views will be obtained early in the month, as MarsÕ
size shrinks significantly by monthÕs end. Uranus (mag. 5.7, a couple of degrees NW of Mars in
Aquarius) and Neptune (mag. 7.9, about an hour west of Uranus in Capricornus)
will also be high in the south early in the evening in October. Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune
can be found on page 105 of the April issue of Sky & Telescope or online at http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/. At this web site can also be found a very useful link to Sky
& Telescope's Mars
Profiler, which will show you which side of Mars (with labeled visible
features) will be facing you for any input date and time. This utility will allow you to compare
what you see on Mars with a map correctly oriented for your telescopeÑvery
useful for those viewing through typical small amateur telescopes. Saturn rises in Gemini about midnight in early
October and around 22:30 at monthÕs end, so best views will still be during the
early morning hours. Saturn
reaches western quadrature (90¡ east of the Sun) on October 6th, meaning the shadow
of the planet will show up strongly against the ring system, creating a
pleasing highly 3-dimensional effect.
Jupiter rises just a couple of hours ahead of the Sun; however, due to
its brightness, it can be observed right up to sunrise.
Binocular and Telescope
Highlights: Highlights
in the west include M13 (Hercules Cluster), M57 (Ring Nebula), M27 (Dumbbell
Nebula), and NGC 6992/6995 (Veil Nebula supernova remnant, use UHC or
OIII). Many of the MÕs in the
Scutum-Sagittarius-Ophiuchus region are still visible early in the evening in
the southwest. Now lining up in
the south are GCÕs M15, M2, and M30.
Members of our Local Group of galaxies, M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), M32,
M110, and M33 (Pinwheel Galaxy) are all found in the east. Here are some non-Messiers to check out
along the northern Milky Way: NGC 864/889 (Double Cluster, in Perseus), NGC 281
(4.0Õ m. 7.4 cluster with nebulosity, use UHC or OIII, 1.6¼ E of Alpha CAS),
NGC 457 (Owl Cluster, also looks like ET the extra terrestrial, 2¡ S of Delta
CAS), and NGC
7789 (16.0' mag. 6.7 open cluster,
53Õ SSE of Rho CAS), and NGC 7662 (Blue Snowball Nebula, 17.0"x14.0"
m. 8.6 PN, 2¡ 22Ó @ 254¡ from Iota AND).
Also in the north, look for NGC 188 (14.0Õ m. 8.1, one of the
oldest open clusters known at 9 B yrs, 4¡8Õ @ 211¡ from Polaris) and NGC 6543
(CatÕs Eye Nebula, 2¡58Õ @ 133¡ from Omega DRA).
Comets: Comet Enke is expected to be observable
(predicted 10th mag.) near the Andromeda Galaxy late this month,
particularly around the new Moon.
A finder chart can be found on page 65 of the October Sky & Telescope. Enke is predicted to be a
naked eye object by late November.
OUTREACH PROGRAM
CLAS will be presenting an Astronomy Program for Harvey SokoloffÕs Adventurers in Learning kids on Saturday, 11 October at the Maturango Museum. Carroll Evans will be giving a short slide show at 8:00 p.m. Viewing through membersÕ telescopes will follow. Volunteers with telescopes are needed. Please contact Carroll (375-5681) if you would like to participate.
LOCAL OUTREACH
CLAS members operated the Maturango Museum observatory and brought several telescopes so that the public could see Mars at its closest approach in 60,000 years. Never mind that it was also close about 15 years ago, and is close every so many years. Mars has a good public relations agent. The populace really turned out on Thursday evening August 21. We had four telescopes in use, the 8-inch in the dome, Chuck MorganÕs 10-inch outside the dome, Alex ShlantaÕs 8-inch Dobsonian, and the CLAS 20-inch Obsession in its debut appearance. We did not count the attendance, but it appeared to be about 300 people, some of which stood in separate lines for each of the four scopes.
Our regular monthly star party, south of town, was well received, and mentioned favorably in the local press by local columnist Elizabeth Watson. Our own reporter, Bruce Churchill, could not be at the star party, so we do not have the usual specific start party report.
EXTENDED OUTREACH
We did two programs for the Forest Service on the same evening, Saturday August 23. Neal Barry spearheaded a group of CLAS members with their scopes at the Black Rock Ranger Station, beyond Kennedy Meadows. Viewing only, no formal program. About 40 members of the public attended. Meanwhile, at the Tillie Creek Amphitheater, near Kernville, Carroll Evans gave a standard astronomical slide show to about 100 people, who then looked through telescopes brought by Rich Burdge and his friend Bill, from Kernville.
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AHEAD
Presented here, without
endorsement, is an email received by Carroll Evans. ÒDear Sir / Madam,
We
are an inbound tour operator in Istanbul / Turkey with experience of 16 years.
As
you know, Solar Eclipse 2006 will be observed in Turkey. We have interesting
package itineraries regarding this event.
On
the other hand, I have university degree in physics. I think, as being the
president of a travel agency in Turkey I am the only one having
studied physics.
In
case of interest pls do not hesitate to contact us.
We
hope to hear from you soon.
Best
regards,
Ms.Sibel
Eronc / ETT ERONC TOURISM TRAVELÓ
BORROWED
FROM SKY & TELESCOPEÕS WEB PAGE, by Alan MacRobert:
Now that Mars's record-breaking close approach is history (it
happened on the night of August 26-27) is the show over?
No way!
Mars remains just as big and bright, for all practical purposes,
during the first half of September. In fact, until the end of the month it's
larger and brighter than it will be during its next opposition in late 2005.
Moreover, in one way the show is getting better than ever! Every day Mars rises
higher in the sky earlier in the night, which makes it easier to view at a more
convenient hour.
Mars is the breathtakingly bright "star" in the
southeast after dark. You can't miss it. Mars shines many times brighter than
any actual star in the sky. Anyone can see it, no matter how little you know
about the stars or how badly light-polluted your sky may be. It gets higher as the
evening grows late, and by 11 p.m. or so, it's at its very highest in the
south. The planet displays a clear, fiery yellow or yellow-orange hue, due to
rust-like iron compounds in its surface.
Because it is close to Earth in space, Mars looks like a dramatically
bright "star" in the southeast at dusk. It's highest in the south by
11 p.m. daylight saving time and sets in the southwest before dawn.
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Basic CLAS dues are $20.00
per year, which includes the Skywatchers Newsletter. As a benefit of membership you may also receive Astronomy Magazine and/or Sky and
Telescope
Magazine. The fee schedule is as follows:
Basic
membership
; $20.00
per year
Membership
with Astronomy magazine $44.00
per year
Membership
with Sky and Telescope magazine $53.00
per year
Membership
with both S & T and Astronomy $77.00
per year
Send your check to: Carroll
Evans, Treasurer, China Lake Astronomical Society, P.O. Box 1783, Ridgecrest,
CA 93556.
PRESIDENT
- Roger Brower - 760-375-1181 (email brower@iwvisp.com)
VICE-PRESIDENT
- Bruce Churchill - 760-375-7247
(email bchurchill@atsecure.net)
SECRETARY--TREASURER
- Carroll Evans (email clevans@ridgenet.net)
NEWSLETTER
EDITOR - Carroll Evans Jr. - 760-375-5681
(email clevans@ridgenet.net)
WESTERN AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS WEB SITE http://www.waa.av.org/
Meetings of the China Lake
Astronomical Society are held at the Maturango Museum at 7:30 p.m. on the first
Monday evening of each month, except when the first Monday is a holiday.
SKYWATCHERS
Newsletter of the
CHINA LAKE ASTRONOMICAL
SOCIETY
POST OFFICE BOX 1783
RIDGECREST, CA 93556-1783
NEXT MEETING: 7:30 p.m.,
MONDAY, October 6, 2003 ÐÒAutumn
Skies in the Indian Wells ValleyÓ
AT THE MATURANGO MUSEUM,
100 EAST LAS FLORES AVE.
CLAS WEB PAGE
http://www1.iwvisp.com/brower/clas.html
INDEX OF CLAS NEWSLETTERS
http://www.ridgenet.net/~jebush/clas/