OAKLAND ASTRONOMY CLUB

NEWSLETTER

                                                      MAY 2008                                                        

Bill  MacIntosh,  Editor

•  Trinity Lutheran -   Mary  F.  plans on "auctioning" off an OAC observing nite for a school fundraiser.   Date to be  determined.    So far, nothing specific from them.    Nothing from Hugger Elementary either this year.    
  
•  The May 17th  Oakland Astronomy Club Swap Meet (along with Warren Club) has been RESCHEDULED to May 24  from 1 to 4 pm at the  OAC meeting site in Rochester (Environmental Ed Center, SW corner of Livernois and Avon)
•  2008 Independence Oaks Star Parties

•  Great Lakes Star Gaze:  September 25-28th, Thursday evening through Sunday morning.
•  Astronomy on the Beach, Kensington MetroPark

• Dave Bailey gave a short presentation about "Chemical Factors Affecting Global Warming" showing how various molecular combinations in the atmosphere either trap or emit heat, producing infrared, citing the inelastic nature of molecular Hydrogen and the asymmetric structure of CO2 and Methane as contributers to heating.
• Terry Coatta offered a DVD titled "Roving Mars" to be presented at a future meeting
  

 

MOON                        NM   Mon,   May 5                           FQ     Sun,    May 11                   FM    Mon,  May 19                   LQ    Tues,  May 27      PLANETS                   MERCURY   Greatest elongation on May 12 in WNW about half hour after sunset                   VENUS          Not visible since it's in the Sun's glare all month                           MARS           W to NW .  Mars passes through The Beehive Cluster (M44) on May 22 & 23                   JUPITER       SE from late evening until morning at about mag -2.5                   SATURN       Still hanging out near Regulus and shining a full magnitude brighter than the star.       METEORS -  The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks on May 5.   Radiant is located between Aquarius and Pegasus.  Expect 30 to 70 meteors per hour at the peak.   Unfortunately the radiant rises around 4 a.m. at only 15 degrees high in the East.    The shower derives from Comet 1P/Halley and the number of meteors varies on a 12 year cycle peaking between 2008 and 2010.   This is thought to be an influence of Jupiter's gravity.    (Astronomy, May 2008, P 49) CONSTELLATION PICKS: BOOTES:   The Herdsman    Brightest Star:  Arcturus, a Red Giant and the 3rd brightest star after Sirius and Canopus.      Mag −0.05            Distance =  36.5 LY       DSO PICK:    M3 Globular Cluster, a popular favorite for amateur scopes between Bootes & Canes Venatici ( See feature below)

Easily spotted in finders, M3 lies just west of Arcturus about halfway to Cor Caroli very near a 6th mag star.  Even a smaller scope can resolve the outer fuzzy halo under dark skies and larger apertures reveal condensed pinpoints of starlight across the cluster. It was discovered by Messier in 1764, and resolved into stars by William Herschel around 1784. This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars, including many variables. RA      13h  42m  11.23s     DEC    28° 22′ 31.6″ Apparent Mag    6.2  (brightest cluster stars 12.7) Apparent Size     18′.0 More details:   http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m003.html

Image Credit:   http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=6796 Robert Gillette imaged the cluster from Ossipee, New Hampshire, March 17, 2008 Equipment used: Tele Vue TV-85 scope and Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C camera on an AP 900 mount for seventeen 5-minute subs

Constellations:  BOOTES / CANES VENATICI

• URSA MAJOR is the 3rd largest of the 88 constellations with 1,280 square degrees       
• It ranks just behind Hydra and Virgo                                                                             
• The portion we know as The Big Dipper is only a small part of the overall constellation
  

                                                                                                                                     

Source:   Sky & Telescope, May 2008, P 48

                                                

 

 

 

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PERSPECTIVES

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

• Nope, it doesn't have a Messier number  
• No NGC  number either                          
• In fact, it's known mostly by a NAME     
• HINT:  It's close at only 407 LY              
• Click HERE for the answer                    
  

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FUNZIES





©Jim Bertram     Used with permission from the artist

   

     

                                                                 

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CLUB MEMBER ASTROPHOTO OF THE MONTH

NGC 2359   THOR'S HELMET

Constellation:  Canis Major

Distance = 15,000 LY

A Wolf-Rayet star is believed responsible for the wierd bubbles in the nebula.   Astronomers suspect this may be a Supernova waiting to happen.
 

Image Credit:   Bob Berta
11" Celestron SCT w/Hyperstar




 

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CLUB DUES FOR 2008

Membership 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

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NEXT MEETING:   June 8th,  2008       7:30 PM

           
                                                                        

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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:   http://www.astronomytechnologytoday.com/

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http://oaklandastronomy.ulmb.com/oacnews0607.html    OAC Newsletter June 2007 http://oaklandastronomy.ulmb.com/oacnews0707.html    OAC Newsletter July 2007 http://oaklandastronomy.ulmb.com/oacnews0807.html    OAC Newsletter Aug 2007 http://oaklandastronomy.ulmb.com/oacnews0907.html    OAC Newsletter Sep 2007 http://oaklandastronomy.ulmb.com/oacnews1007.html    OAC Newsletter Oct 2007  http://oaklandastronomy.ulmb.com/oacnews1107.html    OAC Newsletter Nov 2007  http://oaklandastronomy.ulmb.com/oacnews1207.html    OAC Newsletter Dec 2007

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