SKYWATCHERS
NEWSLETTER OF THE CHINA LAKE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 42 No. 04	April 1, 2005

NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 4, 2005
Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest


PROGRAM FOR THE APRIL 4 MEETING

Dave Rosenthal will tell us about his recent trip to the Mayan country to 
explore their fascination with the planet Venus.  A building in the city 
of Uxmal is turned so that it forms an angle of 19 degrees with the other 
buildings in the area.  A local observer noted 350 images of Venus in the 
building and postulated that the 19-degree angle was related to Venus.  In 
1997 Dave went there to study the situation.  The building is positioned 
to capture the Venus rise every eight years, re-confirming that the Mayans 
had extensive knowledge of the Venusian path through the Earth's skies.  
In 2005 Dave returned for successful observations.

You can visit Dave's web site for further information at www.ridgenet.net/~n6tst.  
Then go to "Venus and the Maya."

 
DATES TO KEEP IN MIND

Monday, April 4, 2005:  Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in 
Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 8, 2005:  First CLAS public Star Party of the 2005 season.  
See below.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005:  Deadline for next Skywatchers Newsletter
Monday, May2 4, 2000:  Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in 
Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m.

Information about local CLAS star parties is on the next page.

***************************************************************************************

MT. WILSON STAR PARTY  

YOUR OBSERVATIONAL CHANCE OF A LIFETIME

The 60-inch diameter telescope at the Mt. Wilson observatory was completed 
in 1908 and was the biggest operational telescope in the world, until the 
completion of the 100-inch Hooker telescope, also on Mt. Wilson.  The 
60-inch with its  superb mirror surface is now available for visual use by 
amateurs.  The China Lake Astronomical Society has rented the 60-inch 
telescope for four hours (9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.) on Saturday evening 
April 30, 2005.

The observatory wisely limits the number of visitors at any one session.  
That limit matches the capacity of the 24-passenger bus that we have 
chartered for the trip from Ridgecrest.  The bus will leave from the 
Maturango Museum at 5:00 p.m., stopping at Carl's Jr. in Mojave to pick up 
additional passengers.  We expect to arrive back home in Ridgecrest about 
5:00 a.m. on Sunday.

The total cost, including the bus trip and observing, is $65.00 per 
person, assuming a full bus load.  If you signed up for the trip at the 
February or March CLAS meeting, we will try to contact you.  Other 
reservations will be taken sequentially.  Call Bruce Churchill at 
760-375-7247 for reservations or information.
If you have a reservation, pay by check to CLAS for $65.00.  Give the 
check to Treasurer Roger Brower at the April 4 meeting.

We can reschedule if the weather is prohibitive, but we are obligated to 
pay a $240 bus cancellation fee.  If the response exceeds 24 people, a 
standby list will be created.

The observatory provides a restroom, cold water, and an urn of hot water.  
Bring any other sustenance you require, but alcoholic beverages are 
prohibited.  Also be sure to bring observing supplies such as maps, 
notebook, etc.  The observatory is at 5700 feet above sea level, with no 
heat, so DRESS WARMLY.


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, 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 APRIL (Roger Brower)

1. Venus moves slowly away from the Sun this month but will not be easily 
seen in the evening sky until the end of the month.

2. Mercury moves to the morning sky this month and will be visible towards 
the end of the month. However, it will not be well placed for northern 
hemisphere observers.

3. Saturn is well placed for viewing in the evening but will set at about 
midnight.

4. Jupiter reaches opposition on April 3rd and so will be visible all 
night long.

5. Mars remains low in the morning sky throughout the month but will be 
rising about 3AM by the months end.

6. There will be a Solar Eclipse of the Sun on April 8th but you will have 
to be in the Pacific Ocean to see it total and in South America to see it 
in Annual.

7. Comet Machholz remains visible this month at 7th magnitude. Look for it 
about half way between Polaris and the bowl of the Big Dipper.


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

DUST POSES A MAJOR ENGINEERING PROBLEM: Both the Moon and Mars are covered 
with silt-fine dust, called "regolith." The Moon's regolith was created by 
the ceaseless bombardment of micrometeorites, cosmic rays and particles of 
solar wind breaking down rocks for billions of years.  Martian regolith 
resulted from the impacts of more massive meteorites and even asteroids, 
plus ages of daily erosion from water and wind.  There are places on both 
worlds where the regolith is 10+ meters deep.  Operating mechanical 
equipment in the presence of so much dust is a formidable challenge.  
"Even after short moon walks, Apollo 17 astronauts found dust particles 
had jammed the shoulder joints of their spacesuits, "Moondust penetrated 
into seals, causing the spacesuits to leak some air pressure." In sunlit 
areas fine dust levitated above the Apollo astronauts' knees and even 
above their heads, because individual particles were electrostatically 
charged by the Sun's ultraviolet light.  Such dust particles, when tracked 
into the astronauts' habitat where they would become airborne, irritated 
their eyes and lungs. "It's a potentially serious problem." Dust is also 
ubiquitous on Mars, although Mars dust is probably not as sharp as 
moondust.  Weathering smoothes the edges.  Nevertheless, Martian dust 
storms whip these particles 50 m/s (100+ mph), scouring and wearing every 
exposed surface.  As the rovers Spirit and Opportunity have revealed, Mars 
dust (like moondust) is probably electrically charged.  It clings to solar 
panels, blocks sunlight and reduces the amount of power that can be 
generated for a surface mission.

PLUTO MISSION: New Horizons mission, now in development and planning for 
liftoff January 2006 from Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center, 
NASA looks to unlock one of the solar system's last, great planetary 
secrets. "The United States has made history by being the only nation to 
reach every planet from Mercury to Neptune with a space probe," says New 
Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research 
Institute, Boulder, Colo. "With New Horizons, the U.S. can complete the 
reconnaissance of the solar system and round out our knowledge of the 
planets." After launch aboard an Atlas V, New Horizons would cross the 
entire span of the solar system -- in record time -- and conduct flyby 
studies of Pluto and its moon, Charon, in 2015. The seven science 
instruments on the piano-sized probe would shed light on the bodies' 
surface properties, geology, interior makeup and atmospheres. It would 
mark humankind's first voyage into the "third zone" of the solar system 
known as  the Kuiper Belt, populated by smaller, icy objects different 
than the rocky inner planets or the outer gas giants. The National Academy 
of Sciences placed the exploration of the third zone in general, and 
Pluto-Charon in particular, in its highest priority planetary mission 
ranking for this decade. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-05e.html



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)


WESTERN AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS WEB SITE  

																				
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 4, 2005: "MAYAN OBSERVATIONS OF 
VENUS"
AT THE MATURANGO MUSEUM, 100 EAST LAS  FLORES AVE.
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