Volume 41 No. 4 April 1, 2004 NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 5, 2004 Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, California APRIL 5 MEETING Sedna is the talk of the astronomical world. Let's talk about this newly discovered object and its role in our solar system. Inputs from the group are always welcomed. If you have information, especially pictures, bring them along to share. DATES TO KEEP IN MIND Monday, April 5, 2004: Regular monthly meeting, see above. Wednesday, April 21, 2004; Deadline for next Skywatchers Newsletter Friday, April 16, 2004: Regular star party, see below. Monday, May 3, 2004: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m. STAR PARTY SCHEDULE FOR THE 2004 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, April 16--Signs out at 8:00 p.m., Star viewing at 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 21--Signs out at 8:30 p.m., Star viewing at 9:00 p.m. Friday, June 18--Signs out at 8:30 p.m., Star viewing at 9:00 p.m. Friday, July 16--Signs out at 8:30 p.m., Star viewing at 9:00 p.m. Friday, August 13--Signs out at 8:00 p.m., Star viewing at 8:30 p.m. Friday, September 10--Signs out at 7:00 p.m., Star viewing at 8:00 p.m. Friday, October 15--Signs out at 6:30 p.m., Star viewing at 7:00 p.m. Friday, November 12--Signs out at 6:30 p.m., Star viewing at 7:00 p.m. PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS Our May 3 meeting will feature JPL scientist Steve Edberg, talking about the space interferometer, an upcoming project. THE SKY IN APRIL (Roger Brower) 0. Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation on March 29th. Look for it high in the Southwest just after sundown. (Editor's note: Item zero is repeated from the March newsletter, as most of you will receive this April issue in time to act on the information.) 1. Venus is high in the Southwest just after sundown. On April 2nd and 3rd, Venus passes within 1 degree of the Pleiades. Don't miss this great sight! 2. Saturn is still a fine evening object this month. Look for it high in the south as night falls. 3. Jupiter is low in east at sunset and will be visible almost all night long. 4. Mars still shines faintly in the southwest in the early evening. 5. Mercury joins the other naked-eye planets in the night sky for the first week in April. So for the first week in April, all five naked eye planets are visible. Look for it in the west below Venus. REPORT ON THE MARCH STAR PARTY Our March star party was held on Friday the 19th. It may be a long time before we have a better night. Although the timing was perfect for Messier objects, Venus and Jupiter stole the interest of the early evening. Venus was so near that only 50% of its disc was visible. Equatorial bands were easily visible on Jupiter and the red spot turned toward us in the late evening. In between the planetary viewing, there were lots of Messier objects ranging from seven in Ursa Major of the northern sky to the fifteen in Sagittarius of the southern sky. PAST OUTREACH On Thursday evening, March 18, Carroll Evans presented a program about meteorites to the regular monthly meeting of the Kern River Valley Astronomical Society. It was a friendly group, and well worth the trip. FUTURE OUTREACH We have again been invited to participate in the annual week long campout of Kern River Valley Middle School students. We don't have to spend the week, but we will bring our telescopes the evening of Thursday April 29. Please contact Carroll Evans for details if you can join us. DESERT SUNSET STAR PARTY - MAY 13 - 16, 2004 The 2004 Desert Sunset Star Party will be held at the Caballo Loco Ranch, about 11.5 miles south of Three Points, AZ, on Rt. 286, and then east for 8 miles. This RV ranch is in a secluded area of Arizona with dark skies. The Sierrita Mountains block the light dome of Tucson. The domes of Kitt Peak are in clear view to the west. The DSSP begins on Thursday night and runs through Saturday night. We will have a speaker on both Friday and Saturday evenings along with door prize giveaways. Registration information is posted on the DSSP website - http://chartmarker.tripod.com/sunset.htm Pat and Arleen Heimann - Chart Markers and More GREEN LASER POINTERS Green laser pointers are available at the low price of $70.00 each, if purchased by CLAS in quantities of ten. CLAS ordered, received, and distributed an initial order of fifteen. A second group of ten has been received. Contact Roger Brower at 760-375-1181 to see if any have not yet been sold.. HANDBOOKS AND CALENDARS FOR 2004 ARE STILL AVAILABLE. The Royal Canadian Astronomical Society of Canada publishes both the Observer's Handbook and the Observer's Calendar. They have been received, and we will hold the price at $15.00 and $10.00. They will be available at the April meeting, or by arrangement with Roger Brower at 760-375-1181 or email brower@iwvisp.com. ASTRONOMY NEWS, COURTESY OF EARL TOWSON VENUS TRANSIT: On June 8, 2004, Venus will cross in front of the Sun's disc for about seven hours, an event not seen since 1882. The transit will demonstrate a key technique being used to detect planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. Just as Venus crossing over will temporarily dim the light of our star, the Sun, a distant planet may cross over and block the light of its parent star. Several planned missions will hunt for such "extrasolar" planets as part of NASA's Origins program, which seeks to answer the questions: Where did we come from? Are we alone? For the next couple weeks, all five planets that are ever visible to the unaided eye shine at once during dusk. Moreover, the Moon and a prominent star cluster join the show as well, forming striking combinations in the early-evening sky.http://skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/pressreleases/article_1217_1.asp PLANETARY & LUNAR ASTRONOMY: THE POLES OF MARS HOLD LARGE RESEVOIRS OF WATER: Mars holds huge reserves of frozen water in its southern pole, according to the first detailed assessment of the data sent back by Europe's Mars Express spacecraft earlier this year. Reporting in Nature, the British weekly science journal, the French-led team says they have spotted frozen water in three forms in the Martian South Pole. The first is water ice mixed with "large concentrations" of frozen carbon dioxide (CO2) on a large bright spot on the perennial polar cap -- the cap that is there all year round. Beyond the boundary of the perennial cap, the frozen area advances and retreats in line with Mars' summer and winter. Exactly how much of the ice on this bright spot is water rather than CO2 is unclear. A good estimate would be about 15 percent. The second form is in icy deposits that encrust rugged scarps around the polar cap, and which appear to be free of CO2. But the most exciting find is huge icy deposits lying some distance away that seem to be a mixture of water and dust. This ice is present "along vast zones expanding down slope in stratified terrains, tens of kilometers (miles) wide, and tens of kilometers (miles) away" from the bright cap. As for the perennial cap, laser altimeter readings suggest it is a slab between one and three kilometers (half a mile to two miles) thick and some 400 kilometers (250 miles) across. The good news is that the bright spot which is mainly CO2 is only a small part of the cap. In the areas adjacent to it, the carbon dioxide ice "might well be restricted to a fairly thin layer, no more than some meters (yards) in depth". http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMYKEX5WRD_0.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2004/040317180201.pmjpbpw4.html COMET VISITATION STARDUST IMAGES JETS: On 2 January 2004, NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully survived flying through the coma (dust and gas cloud) surrounding comet 81P/Wild 2, captured thousands of fresh cometary dust particles released from the surface just hours before, and is now on its way home for Earth return set for January 2006. During the flyby, the highest resolution images ever taken of a comet's nucleus were obtained and have been the subject of intense study since the flyby. A short exposure image showing tremendous surface detail was overlain on a long exposure image taken just 10 seconds later showing jets. http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload 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 $49.00 per year Membership with Sky and Telescope magazine $53.00 per year Membership with both S & T and Astronomy $82.00 per year Send your check to: Roger Brower, Treasurer, China Lake Astronomical Society, P.O. Box 1783, Ridgecrest, CA 93556. PRESIDENT - Earl Wilson - (email zearlw@hotmail.com) VICE-PRESIDENT - Bruce Churchill - 760-375-7247 (email bchurchill@atsecure.net) SECRETARY - Ted Hodgkinson - 661- 824-2738 (email longeyes@antelecom.net) TREASURER - 760-375-1181 (email brower@iwvisp.com) 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, April 5, 2004 -"SEDNA, newly discovered Solar System object" AT THE MATURANGO MUSEUM, 100 EAST LAS FLORES AVE. CLAS WEB PAGE INDEX OF CLAS NEWSLETTERS