SKYWATCHERS NEWSLETTER OF THE CHINA LAKE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY Volume 42 No. 03 March 1, 2005 NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 7, 2005 Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest PROGRAM FOR THE MARCH 7 MEETING Virgo has more observable objects, including Messier objects, than any of the Spring constellations. Let's talk about these objects at our March meeting. If you have pictures, observing tips, or observing tales, please bring them along. DATES TO KEEP IN MIND Monday, March 7, 2005: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 11, 2005: First CLAS public Star Party of the 2005 season. See below. Wednesday, March 23, 2005: Deadline for next Skywatchers Newsletter Monday, April 4, 2000: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m. STAR PARTY SCHEDULE FOR THE 2005 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, March 11--Signs out at 6:30 p.m., Star viewing at 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 8--Signs out at 7:30 p.m., Star viewing at 8:00 p.m. Friday, May 6--Signs out at 8:00 p.m., Star viewing at 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 3--Signs out at 8:30 p.m., Star viewing at 9:00 p.m. Friday, July 1--Signs out at 8:30 p.m., Star viewing at 9:00 p.m. Friday, August 5--Signs out at 8:00 p.m., Star viewing at 8:30 p.m. Friday, September 2--Signs out at 7:00 p.m., Star viewing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, September 30--Signs out at 6:30 p.m., Star viewing at 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 28--Signs out at 6:30 p.m., Star viewing at 7:00 p.m. THE SKY IN MARCH (Roger Brower) 1. Venus remains too close to the Sun to be easily seen this month. 2. Mercury continues in the evening sky the first of the month. This will be its best evening apparition of 2005. 3. Saturn is just two months past opposition and will be visible almost all night long. 4. Jupiter will rise about 8:30PM on the 1st of March and will rise earlier each night getting ready for its opposition in early April. 5. Mars remains low in the morning sky throughout the month but will be rising about 3AM by the month's end. 6. Comet Machholz passes close to Polaris (the North star) the first of the month and will be visible in binoculars and small telescopes and to the naked eye at dark sites throughout the month. 7. The first star party of the month will be held on March 11th. Signs will be out at 7:30PM with viewing at 8PM. CLAS OUTREACH IN THE FUTURE (Carroll Evans) We will be presenting astronomical programs and telescope viewing for the Forest Service again this year. We are scheduled for the Tillie Creek Campground amphitheater on Saturday evenings June 11, July 9, and August 13. These evenings have the Moon near first quarter. Dark Sky events are scheduled for June 4 and August 6 at the Black Rock Ranger station. NEWS VIA EARL TOWSON 12 MORE EXOPLANETS: In the last month planet hunters have uncovered 12 new worlds orbiting other stars, European planet hunting teams have discovered 6 gas giants as part of the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Search (HARPS), and an American team uncovered 5 more using the W.M. Keck observatory in Hawaii. And a single, Pluto-sized planet was discovered orbiting a pulsar by Penn State's Alex Wolszczan and Caltech's Maciej Konacki . The names of the new planets around main sequence stars are: * HD 2638 b * HD 27894 b * HD 63454 b * HD 102117 b * HD 93083 b * HD 142022A b * HD 45350 b * HD 99492 b * HD 117207 b * HD 183263 b * HD 188015 b A WORD FROM EARL WILSON Lunar occultation of Antares Mar. 3. ( For early risers) Approx. times - Disappears 0215 PST - Reappears - 0300 PST. This will be the best of the Antares occultations for this year with the moon only 50% illuminated. May 24 and July 18 will occur at more reasonable times of the night but will happen during full or nearly full moons. http://lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0303zc2366.htm Occultation Predictions of 2366 dM1 Magnitude 1.1v Date 2005 March 3 (Thursday) Moon: % illumination 53-, solar elongation 93 Disappearance U.T. Sun Moon CA PA WA a b Location h m s Alt Alt Az o o o m/o m/o Bakersfield CA 10 17 7 12 135 -21S 168 161 -0.6 -1.7 Fresno CA 10 15 23 10 134 -24S 165 157 -0.5 -1.4 Las Vegas NV 10 14 56 13 137 -34S 156 148 +0.0 -0.9 Reappearance U.T. Sun Moon CA PA WA a b Location h m s Alt Alt Az o o o m/o m/o Bakersfield CA 10 58 16 17 142 52S 241 233 +2.6 +2.3 Fresno CA 10 59 24 16 142 55S 244 236 +2.3 +2.1 Las Vegas NV 11 8 54 20 148 64S 253 246 +2.2 +1.5 MARS NEWS VIA EARL TOWSON FROZEN MARTIAN SEA? The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft has uncovered evidence for a massive sea of water ice in warm conditions near the Martian equator. Since temperatures in this region can rise above freezing, it could be a good location to look for life. The frozen sea measures 800 x 900 km across (497 x 559 miles), varies up to 45 meters (150 feet) deep. Previous observations by Mars Express of methane levels do match up to this newly discovered ice, so it builds on the theory that there could be microbial life living underneath Mars' freeze dried and irradiated surface. The water that formed the sea appears to have originated beneath the surface of Mars, and to have erupted from a series of fractures known as the Cerberus Fossae, from where it flowed down in a catastrophic flood, and collected in a vast area about 5 million years ago. It initially averaged 45 meters deep, making it about the same size and depth as the North Sea. It was the pack-ice which formed on the surface of the sea that drew the attention of Mars Express scientists. The young age of this feature has caused excitement among scientists. Although formed at the time when early hominids on Earth were evolving from apes, this is very young in geological terms, and suggests that vast flooding events, which are known to have occurred from beneath Mars' surface throughout its geological history, are still continuing to happen. The presence of liquid water for thousands of millions of years, even beneath the surface, is a possible habitat in which primitive life may have developed, and might still be surviving now. Clearly this must now be considered as a prime site for future missions looking for life. 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 - 760-876-5455 (email zearl.email@gmail.com) VICE-PRESIDENT - Bruce Churchill - 760-375-7247 (email bchurchill@atsecure.net) SECRETARY - Ted Hodgkinson - 661- 824-2738 (email longeyes@antelecom.net) TREASURER - Roger Brower - 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, MARCH 7, 2005: "OBJECTS IN VIRGO" AT THE MATURANGO MUSEUM, 100 EAST LAS FLORES AVE. WESTERN AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS WEB SITE CLAS WEB PAGE INDEX OF CLAS NEWSLETTERS