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OAKLAND ASTRONOMY CLUB

NEWSLETTER

                                                        MARCH 2008                                                        

Gort
Bill  MacIntosh,  Editor



CLUB PRESIDENT:     Jim Saoud  (248-652-1496)                                                             WEBSITES:   www.oaklandastronomy.org   Link                  
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                                                                                                                                                                            Addison Oaks  Sky Clock  Link

                                                                                                                                                   
LAST MEETING
Minutes from March 9, 2008
M. Jeffery, Secretary                                                                                                                                            
                                                             
Opening
President Jim Saoud called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM.     
9 Members present, 0 visitors

The Sky-at-a-Glance

Bill Girardin not present; Bill MacIntosh filled in with an overview from Astronomy magazine.  ( See below)

Observations & Presentations

Eclipse of Feb 20th:  Many club members observed the eclipse.  About 700 folks gathered to view it at the Cranbrook Observatory, despite the frigid cold.  Saturn was also a very popular target.

Bob Berta was able to do some Sunspot observing on March 9th.  Even seeing the Sun at all has been a rare event lately.

Dave Holt brought in an Astelle 4” MakNewt, acquired at the Ford Swap Meet.  Its collimation was excellent, with “perfect” diffraction patterns.  Unusual trait: the central obstruction in the main lens also functions as a finderscope.  Dave  also brought in another trophy from the Swap Meet - a mid-20th century Star Atlas by Sarna.  Unusual trait:  star clusters are not just denoted by some special symbols - the atlas actually shows the stars in the cluster!

Bob Berta brought in his StellaCam 3, which had just arrived.  It’s very sensitive, auto-integrating, and has its own electric cooling.  As soon as he can find a hole in the clouds, he hopes to try it out with his 11” Celestron SCT, with f/1.8 Hyperstar lens from Starizona.  For a review of the StellaCam 3, see the September 2007 Sky & Telescope.   This amazing video device quadruples effective aperture with its super-sensitive capabilities----so, for example, a 5 inch scope would exhibit a 4 X gain to almost a 20 inch scope equivalent !!!     Faint fuzzies are history !

Dave Bailey gave a portion of a talk on Gravity Wells and gravitational potentials, directed toward the formation of dense objects, like Black Holes or even beginning star formation from gas clouds.
 His approach was based on identifying areas of zero spin in all directions of a large cloud.  This would permit the collapse of the cloud into a dense object without the increase in spin due to the conservation of angular momentum that would counteract the full collapse.     The degree to which this occurs from random quantum effects or from supernova shock waves, which may increase density,  is unclear.    

Club Activities

Past

1.    Ford Club Swap Meet:  Feb 16th

Dave Holt and John McSorley attended.  See presentations above concerning Dave’s new telescope and atlas.

2.    Ehlers Gathering, March 8th at 5pm.    Jim Ehlers' residence in Clarkston.

Dave Holt attended.  Arriving quite late, he homed in on the 10 guys standing out in a dark driveway in single digit temperatures.  Who else could it be but astronomers?  Jim has a 12 ½” Classical Cassegrain,  and a 6” Astrophysics refractor.   Guests enjoyed pizza and munchies while getting in some observation time when the sky cleared up after the earlier snowstorm.


Future

1.    Trinity Lutheran -    Mary  F.  plans on "auctioning" off an OAC observing nite for those interested.
2.    Michiana Star Party, May 2nd-4th, Potawatomi Wildlife Preserve, Indiana.
3.    Spring Independence Oaks Star Party:  May 10th  9-11pm, 
4.    Oakland Astronomy Club Swap Meet (along with Warren Club):  May 17th 
5.    2008 Independence Oaks Star Parties Aug 23rd  9-11pm,  Nov 22nd  8-10pm.
6.    Great Lakes Star Gaze:  September 25-28th, Thursday evening through Sunday morning.
   


Observing Night Contacts

Contact for:     April 4-5th    Dave Holt    248-674-1950

                        April 11-12th     John McSorley    248-879-4630


Business Meeting:

·    Financial Report: Bill Girardin not present; no report.


Adjournment:   9:15 PM
Next Meeting:    Sunday, 7:30 PM, April 13th, 2008
NOTE:    Meeting after next is May 4th, due to Mother’s Day
The Sky-at-a-Glance  
 
MOON     
                  NM   Fri, Mar 7,  12:14 p.m. EST        
                  FQ     Fri,  Mar 14, 6:46 a.m. EDT
                  FM    Fri,  Mar 21, 2:40 p.m. EDT
                  LQ     Sat,  Mar 29, 5:47 pm. EDT      

PLANETS
                  MERCURY   along with Venus, rises about an hour before the Sun
                  VENUS        hangs close to Mercury all month.  On the 23rd, Mercury passes 1 degree S of Venus in morning sky        
                  MARS         Visible all night, high and bold at mag 0.2, cruising Gemini and passing M35 along its path on the 9th & 10th
                  JUPITER     Low in the SE an hour before sunrise at midmonth at mag -2.0,  only 5 degrees from the Moon on March 30
                  SATURN     Visible all night in Leo, shining a full magnitude brighter than Regulus nearby   

METEORS -  Nothing notable expected this month, but sporadics can be seen about every 10 to 15 minutes as usual

THE VERNAL EQUINOX occurs at 1:48 a.m. EDT March 20, marking the precise moment when the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading from south to north.
                               

 
MOONPHASE GADGET

This clever little gizmo can be placed on your
desktop. It uses the computer clock to self-update and stay current.
Go ahead and try it:

http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/phasenow.php

                                                                                                                                                             


DSO OF THE MONTH
 From Sky-at-a-Glance

                      

 
   M  35   OPEN CLUSTER     (and NGC 2158)                                                          Distance = 2,800  LY                                          
M 35 Even the naked eye finds this cluster easily near the 3 "foot stars" of Gemini under fairly good observing conditions.  The discovery of M35 is usually assigned to Philippe Loys de Cheseaux  who observed and cataloged it in 1745 or 1746,  although Messier gives the credit to John Bevis.

Comprised of about 200 stars, M 35 is readily observed with binos.   A scope is required for NGC 2158 (lower right), over 5 times more distant at about 16,000 LY, it was once mistaken for a globular cluster.



RA       06: 08.9 (h:m)  
DEC  +24 : 20 (deg:m)

Apparent Mag    5.3
Apparent Size     28 arc min

(Source:  http://seds.org/Messier/m/m035.html)
Image Credit:  NASA     http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021129.html                                         Constellation:   GEMINI

 


 

 

 

 

 


 
Eclipse Revisited
The Lunar eclipse on February 20 was enjoyed by everyone.
Represented here is one of the more creative eclipse photos of the event.

Eclipse montage

Image Credit:   ASTRONOMY.com Picture of the Day
   



                                                ADVERTORIAL
                                          (CLUB PROMOTION)

Woven patches with the Club logo are available for only $3 bucks in two styles, button loop and stitch/iron on.
   		      SEE DAVE HOLT TO GET 'EM.                               






ASTRO-FACTOID OF THE MONTH


DID YOU KNOW?  

  • MARCH is Messier Marathon Month---March 17 through April 3rd  when all 109 objects are visible in a single night  !   
  • Fifty-four of the sky's 88 constellations (61 percent) contain no Messier objects at all.

 
 
A Special Note of Thanks

To Kevin Berg for his work as Webmaster on the OAC website.
Kevin is planning a hiatus from his maintenance efforts which we hope
will be temporary.    Meanwhile, this newsletter will continue to serve
for updates on activities and events as we try to figure out what to do
during his absence.
 

PERSPECTIVES


Beautiful..............uh...........what is it  ?




ngc604
  • Nope, it doesn't have a Messier number
  • You can't see it in binos                              
  • HINT:    It's not even in our galaxy      
  • Click HERE for the answer                  



 

FUNZIES

Got filters?
Astrophotography made simple


filterphotography
   

                                                                 Credit:   Sidney Harris  http://www.sciencecartoonsplus.com/galastro2.htm    
 
 
 
     
CLUB MEMBER ASTROPHOTO OF THE MONTH

As Orion passes over the horizon for the upcoming Spring,
here's one last shot from the great Hunter.

Horsehead: Berta

Image Credit:   Bob Berta
Celestron 11" SCT





 



launch

CLUB DUES FOR 2008

Membership fee is $35 annually
If you are unable to make the next meeting and wish to support OAC
with your 2008 dues, you can mail your check payable to

OAKLAND ASTRONOMY CLUB
600 Shelley Dr
Rochester Hills, MI  48307-4237


NEXT MEETING:   April  13,  2008       7:30 PM
           
                                                                        
.

ASTRONOMY TECHNOLOGY TODAY

Astronomy Technology Today  - A new startup magazine for equipment geeks features reviews, specs and images from both users and distributers.   They are offering subscriptions for $18 per year.  
Details on their website:   www.astronomytechnologytoday.com

2007 NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
Oakland Astronomy Club Newsletters are on the Web as Public Domain and may be freely accessed, linked-to or referenced by anyone.
However, certain images and articles are copyrighted material and such acknowledgements and credits are are given whenever known.
Opinions in signed articles are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the Editor or the OAC.


Orbiting




Submit Club news, astro-photos, equipment sale/trades to the editor:

Bill MacIntosh
nightwinger2004@yahoo.com