SKYWATCHERS NEWSLETTER OF THE CHINA LAKE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY Volume 41 No. 8 August 1, 2004 NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, August 2, 2004 Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, California AUGUST 2 MEETING President Earl Wilson and newsletter editor Carroll Evans were among those who traveled to see the transit of Venus on June 8, 2004. They are going to share their experiences with us at our August meeting. Keep in mind that Venusian transits occur only twice a century so this is a twice in a lifetime event. Member Alex Shlanta also observed the event, from Croatia. DATES TO KEEP IN MIND Monday, August 2, 2004: Regular monthly meeting, see above. Wednesday, September 1, 2004: Deadline for next Skywatchers Newsletter Friday, August 13, 2004: Regular star party, see below. Monday, September 13, 2004: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m. The September meeting will be one week later than usual because of the Labor Day Holiday. 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, 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. OUTREACH (Carroll Evans) As is our custom, the China Lake Astronomical Society provides programs to the Forest Service. Slide programs and telescope viewing will be provided at Tillie Creek (on the shore of Lake Isabella) and at the Black Rock Ranger Station. July 24 and August 21, both Saturdays, have been selected for Tillie Creek. Please contact Carroll Evans at 375-5681 to offer your help with a telescope or binoculars. July 17 and August 14 are scheduled for the Black Rock Ranger Station. Contact Neal Barry at 939-2607 (Work) or 375-3283 (Home) to volunteer. Note: as we go press, the July 17 event at Black Rock was cancelled due to rain. Both Tillie Creek events are still in the future. THE SKY IN AUGUST (Roger Brower) August CELESTIAL CALENDAR: 1. Venus remains brilliant in the morning sky and presents a fine view in the east for very early risers. 2. Saturn moves to the morning sky this month. 3. Jupiter is lost in the sun most of the month. 4. Mercury will be visible only the first few days of the month. 5. The annual Perseid meteor show peaks on the night of the 11th/12th and could be very good this month due to the crescent moon. REPORT ON THE JULY STAR PARTY (Bruce Churchill) Our July star party was held on Friday the 16th. There were some remnants of smoke from nearby forest fires, and there were overhead clouds at sunset, but thereafter the sky cleared and viewing became quite good. Mercury was an early attraction above the western horizon briefly before it set. Jupiter was up longer with three Galilean moons to the right and one to the left. Comets Neat and Linear were also special attractions. Deep Sky summer objects were also observed. In the vicinity of the Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, Altair) we saw M58(Ring Nebula), and the double yellow and blue star Albireo. The Veil nebula was also seen. Overhead the M13 Nebula was seen in Hercules. To the south we saw the M4 globular cluster and the M6 (Butterfly) open cluster in Scorpius. The M8 (Lagoon) nebula, M18 (Omega) nebula, and the M20 (Trifid) nebula in Sagittarius rounded out the evening. HAVE YOU CHECKED EBAY LATELY? I received the following email: Up for sale on eBay is a 27" dia. x 5" Zerodur mirror blank. (Item# 5910896650) If your organization, or one that you know of may be interested it would be a great deal. The auction ends Jul-30. Thanks , Jean-Philippe Editor's Note: Opening bid is $5000.00. ASTRONOMY AND SPACE NEWS PROVIDED BY EARL TOWSON ASTEROID WITH THE SMALLEST ORBIT: The ongoing search for near-Earth asteroids at Lowell Observatory has yielded another interesting object. Designated 2004 JG6, this asteroid was found in the course of LONEOS (the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search) on the evening of May 10 by observer Brian Skiff. 2004 JG6 goes around the Sun in just six months, making it the asteroid with the shortest known orbital period. Ordinary asteroids are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, roughly two to four times farther from the Sun than Earth, taking several years to go around the Sun. See: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-04g.html TAU CETI HAS LOTS OF ASTEROIDS: Astronomers have found that a nearby star, Tau Ceti, is surrounded by 10 times as many asteroids and comets as our own Solar System. Even if there are planets orbiting Tau Ceti, they would be unlikely to support life because of the frequent and devastating impacts by these objects. This discovery will help astronomers narrow down their search when looking for distant worlds that may support life; ones which have a small number of comets and asteroids. CASSINI CLOSE UPS OF TITAN: New pictures of Saturn's enigmatic moon Titan, taken by cameras aboard the Cassini probe show strange looking surface features and a deck of methane clouds the size of Arizona. But so far, the instruments have not detected reflections from the surfaces of lakes or small seas of liquid hydrocarbons many scientists believe must form in the ultra-cold environment. http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/040703titanpix.html CASSINI VIEWS RINGS IN UV: The best view of Saturn's rings in the ultraviolet indicates there is more ice toward the outer part of the rings, than in the inner part, hinting at the origins of the rings and their evolution. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Saturn's rings are a lot dirtier than originally believed, according to new observations by the Cassini spacecraft that show that the inner regions are packed with rock and mud. [info@jpl.nasa.gov] also see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2004-170 STELLAR & SOLAR ASTRONOMY: SPACE PROBES TRACK BLAST WAVE THROUGH SOLAR SYSTEM: A fleet of spacecraft dispersed throughout the solar system gave the best picture to date of the effects of blast waves from solar storms as they propagate through the solar system. The twin Voyager spacecraft, located at the edge of the solar system, have detected the effects of the most powerful solar storm ever detected, that blasted off the Sun in October/November, 2003. Thanks to a fleet of spacecraft, including Cassini, Mars Odyssey and the Voyagers, NASA scientists have been able to get a comprehensive view of how storms travel across the solar system. They hope that when the storm crashes into interstellar gas in a few more months, it will emanate radio waves detectable here on Earth. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0708flare.html also see http://www.esa.int/esaSC/Pr_13_2004_s_en.html INSTRUMENTATION & MISCELLANEOUS: DID COSMIC RAYS CAUSE ICE AGES? Ice ages could be caused by changes in the flux of cosmic rays hitting the Earth according to three physicists. Jasper Kirkby of CERN, Augusto Mangini of the University of Heidelberg and Richard Muller of the University of California at Berkeley suggest that the cosmic rays exert their influence through their effect on clouds. By challenging the established insolation theory of glacial cycles, the physicists are sure to encounter opposition from the geophysics community. (arXiv.org/abs/physics/0407005). http://physicsweb.org/article/news/8/7/6 SPACE ENGINEERING & MISSION STATUS: CASSINI: When Cassini reached Saturn on June 30th, it dashed through a gap in Saturn's rings, twice. One of onboard science instruments recorded a flurry of ring-dust harmlessly striking the spacecraft. Read today's story and listen to sounds--like "hail hitting a tin roof." FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/09jul_hailstorm.htm?list55866 Cassini spacecraft just emerged from behind the Sun today after being in solar conjunction since July 5. The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Deep Space Network's Goldstone tracking station near Barstow, Calif. The spacecraft is in excellent health and operating normally. For the latest images and more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=YqTWM-oX9HhO-3BCLCXxIg..And http://www.nasa.gov/cassini 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) 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, August 2, 2004: "Venus Transit Revisited" AT THE MATURANGO MUSEUM, 100 EAST LAS FLORES AVE. WESTERN AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS WEB SITE CLAS WEB PAGE INDEX OF CLAS NEWSLETTERS