Volume 42 No. 08 August 1, 2005 NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, August 1, 2005 Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest PROGRAM FOR THE AUGUST 1 MEETING Programs about current events are always special. Thus, for the July meeting we deferred our scheduled program so that we could view videos of the comet impact and of the supernova. In August we will revert to star clusters, which are among the favorite deep sky objects at out start parties. If you have pictures, observing tips, or other information bring them along. DATES TO KEEP IN MIND Monday, August 1, 2005: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 5, 2005: Public Star Party. See below. Wednesday, August 31, 2005: Deadline for next Skywatchers Newsletter Monday, September 12, 2005: 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, 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. MT. WILSON STAR PARTY The visit to Mt Wilson for viewing through the 60-inch telescope is now scheduled for Saturday September 24. Transportation details will be provided later. If you have objects for suggested viewing, you must name the object and provide the Right Ascension and Declination in Epoch 2000. THE SKY IN AUGUST (Roger Brower) 1. Venus and Jupiter move closer together throughout the month and by August 31st will be only 2 degrees apart. 2. Saturn and Mercury will also present a nice pair at the end of the month. 3. Uranus and Neptune both reach opposition in August and so will be well placed for viewing throughout the night. Uranus is in Aquarius and Neptune is in Capricornus. 4. Mars moves to the late evening sky this month and will be a late evening/early morning object all month. 5. The Perseid Meteor shower peaks on the evening of August 11/12th. The top meteor shower of the year always puts on a good show. CLAS OUTREACH (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. (Note, the June 4 event was cancelled because Sherman Pass was still closed by snow.) Progress report: The June 11 program was presented by Rich Burdge, of Kernville, and the July 9th program was presented jointly by Carroll Evans and Rich Burdge. My thanks to all the Kern Valley and Ridgecrest amateur astronomers who brought their telescopes. Both evenings were full houses. BOY SCOUT ASTRONOMY MERIT BADGE TRAINING (Alex Shlanta) Boy Scouts from Ridgecrest Troop 848 completed an Astronomy Merit Badge Training class on 14 July 2005. Eight evening sessions were held twice a week for 4 weeks. The requirements stated in the Astronomy Merit Badge booklet were tailored during these sessions to accommodate recent advancements, availability of celestial objects, observing equipment, and seeing conditions. The basic procedure for each session was instruction on the subject matter with practical tips and ending with astronomical observations at the Cerro Coso College Astronomical Observatory. Assisting the Scouts with the observations were Richard L'Hommedieu and China Lake Astronomical Society (CLAS) members Chuck Morgan, Ken Pringle, Calvin Clayson, and Peter Eiserloh. The topics of the sessions were as follows: (1) Astronomy Limitations and Binoculars; (2) Our Sun; (3) Maps, Stars, and Constellations; (4) Use of Telescopes; (5) Planets and the Solar System; (6) Nebula and Double Stars; (7) Larger Telescopes; and (9) Moon and Features. The Scouts attended the CLAS Star Party on 1 July 2005 also. Fourteen scouts signed up initially for the training and 10 ended up completing all the requirements. Several parents attended the sessions as well. The favorite objects for the Scouts to view during the training were details on the Moon, Jupiter, Albireo, M22 Globular cluster, M8 Lagoon Nebula, and M57 Ring Nebula. They are all a great bunch of young men and I enjoyed working with them. STAR PARTY REPORT (Bruce Churchill) Our most recent star party was held on Friday July first. The observing conditions were no better than average but there was excitement galore among the observations. The evening began with Jupiter brightening in the southwest twilight. The International Space Station crossed over the northern sky at about 9:00 p.m. Also thereabouts, Mercury and Venus set nearly in unison over the Sierras. As the skies darkened further there were several observations of the comet to be impacted two days later. Perhaps the rarest experience of night was the supernova that first appeared two days earlier near Canes Venatici. Mars arose in the east later in the evening. Seasonal objects included those of the spring and summer sky. M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) is always fine this time of year, and it got extra because of the supernova. Albireo, the blue and gold double star at the south end of Cygnus was colorful, but not at its best because of the breeze. Overhead was the M13 globular cluster, and the M6 and M7 open clusters. Sagittarius boasts the M8 (Lagoon) nebula, the M17 (Swan) nebula, and the M20 (Trifid) nebula. The M27 (Dumbbell) nebulas is impressive in Vulpecula. ASTRONOMY NEWS VIA EARL TOWSON EXOPLANET DETECTED IN A TRIPPLE STAR SYSTEM: The planet is called HD 188753 Ab. It is a "hot Jupiter" with roughly the mass of Jupiter, but orbiting its parent star every 3.3 days. The other two stars in the system take 25.7 years to orbit the main star (about the distance from the Sun to Saturn), and spin around each other every 156 days, For artist's concepts and other graphics, visit http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/ . Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-115 The masses of the three stars in HD 188753 system range from two-thirds to about the same mass as our Sun. WHITE 'STREAK' OBSERVED ON TITAN: During a recent flyby of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, NASA's Cassini spacecraft got a good look at the bright Xanadu region - where the Huygens probe landed earlier this year. One unusual feature is the strange bright line, which scientists are calling the "smile". This 560 km (345 mile) long feature is quite bright in several of Cassini's instruments; in both visible and infrared wavelengths. Its exact nature is still unknown, so scientists will continue to gather evidence from future flybys. At the landing site of the successful Huygens probe mission, brighter regions correspond to icy upland areas, while the darker regions are lowlands that possess a higher proportion of the organic byproducts of Titan's atmospheric photochemistry. Those results seem to confirm the long-standing hypothesis that Xanadu is a relatively high region of less contaminated ice. However, the cause of the even brighter Smile is a mystery that is still under study. DEEP IMPACT TELLS A TALE OF THE POWDER-COATED COMET: Data from Deep Impact's instruments indicate an immense cloud of fine powdery material was released when the probe slammed into the nucleus of comet Tempel 1 at 6.3 miles per second. The cloud indicated the comet is covered in the powdery stuff. http://spaceflightnow.com/deepimpact/050708powder.html TEMPEL 1 QUIETS DOWN: After getting smashed by Deep Impact two weeks ago, Comet Tempel 1 has finally settled back down and appears normal again. Right after the impact, material streamed off the comet, traveling 700 to 1000 km/h (430 mph to 600 mph). This created a large, diffuse halo around the comet which faded away over the next few days. The same jets astronomers could see before the impact are still streaming away, so it appears Tempel 1 suffered very little damage. 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 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, AUGUST 1, 2005: "Star Clusters" 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/