HAC Vice-President Glen Sanner demonstrated his advanced astronomical skills by observing 120 galaxy clusters and galaxy groups. Of the 250 objects listed in the Galaxy Groups and Clusters Guide, one must observe 120 objects: 1) 30 Galaxy Trios; 2) 30 Hickson compact galaxy groups; 3) 30 Additional Galaxy Groups; and 4) 30 Abell galaxy clusters.

Dave Healy, our AL Correspondent (ALCor), said about the Astronomical League’s thirty different observing programs, “I think it’s a very good way to learn the sky. I think we all face the problem of what to look at when we take our telescope out. This is an organized way of learning the sky, and learning very different objects. The difficulty level is from simple to challenging, and the range of optical instruments is from your eye to a large telescope. There are very simple programs where you just identify and map the constellations by eye, and going up all the way to some very difficult ones, including one I am going to award tonight.”

This was Glen’s first observing certificate, but he went right to the advanced level: the Astronomical League's Galaxy Groups and Clusters Observing Club. Dave Healy continued, “This is probably the most difficult club in the entire bunch: 120 Galaxy Clusters and Galaxy Groups. I want to read you the letter he got from Dereth Murray of the Astronomical League: ‘Dear Glen, Congratulations on your achievement on observing and recording all 120 of the objects required for certification for completion of the Astronomical League’s Galaxy Groups and Clusters Observing Program. This certification committee has reviewed your documentation and determined that you qualify for the certificate of completion and special “ GGC Observer” pin (see image, below). You join an elite group of advanced observers and can include this award in your quest for the title of Master Observer.’”

“We have three Master Observers in the Huachuca Astronomy Club,” said Dave, “which I think speaks well for the dark skies and the dedication of the people involved. If you get ten observing certificates: five electives and five required, you qualify automatically for the Master Observer award, and there are three of us in the club.”

“Going back to Glen [the letter], ‘you are hereby awarded Certificate #20 and have been added to the awards Web page, and will be in the ALReflector publication on the awards page. I want to thank you for the quality of your documentation and the effort you put forth to qualify for this award. Kudos for a job well done. Best regards, Dereth Murray, Certificate Committee Galaxy Groups and Clusters.’”

Glen Sanner received the prestigious Galaxy Groups and Clusters Observing Club award from the Astronomical League at the Jan. 29, 2010 meeting of the Huachuca Astronomy Club at Cochise College. Photo by Del Gordon

Glen Sanner received the award from Dave Healy and then said, “As you can imagine, this is a fun thing to do. It took me forever. It’s been almost five years that I worked on that. Now, that’s my own fault.”

“So in only forty-five more years you’ll qualify for Master Observer,” said Dave.

“That’s right,” replied Glen, “I want to stretch this out. But you can do this much quicker than that. It took me a long time because I would work on it a while and then put it aside for a while. […] I would encourage everyone to pursue some of these programs. They are a lot of fun, and you will get a lot out of it.”

HAC President Wayne Johnson said, “I have to second that, too. Congratulations, Glen, that’s great, and you’ll notice he’s only the twentieth person to get that award, so that’s out of the entire United States. That’s pretty darn good! But if you’re one of those people who have wondered, what should I look at in the sky, or where should I begin, these Astronomical League observing certificates are a real good way to get started. So, thank you, Dave, for coordinating that, I know Dave has as much fun giving the awards out as anybody. So, we really appreciate it.”

“The duties of the ALCor are very light and very pleasant,” said Dave.

“Dave is one of our Master Observers,” said Wayne, “so that is a great honor.”

Dave replied, “The other two are James Taylor and Bob Kepple, so that’s the three Master Observers in our club.”

Congratulations, Glen Sanner, on your not-merely-stellar, but galactic achievement!

Astronomical League Observing Clubs

The Astronomical League (AL) provides many different observing programs (clubs). These programs are designed to provide a direction for your observations and to provide a goal. The programs have certificates and pins to recognize the observers’ accomplishments and for demonstrating their observing skills with a variety of instruments and objects.

Speaker: Dr. Alan Binder
“Binary Star Observations with a 17th Century Non-Achromatic Long-Focal Refractor”



On Friday, Jan. 29, 2010, The Huachuca Astronomy Club, in collaboration with Cochise College, was pleased to present Dr. Alan Binder as a speaker at our January regular meetiing. The topic of his talk was “Binary Star Observations with a 17th Century Non-Achromatic Long-Focal Refractor Telescope.”

Astronomy Night
There will be an Astronomy Night event held at the Sierra Vista residence of Bob Hebert on Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, at 5:30 p.m. A map and directions will be available soon.

Searching for Faint Planetary Nebulae

What's in your wafer? [Click on image for larger version.]
Photo © 2009 Del Gordon.

What’s on the wafer (pictured above) is a special kind of charge-coupled device (CCD) chip that Dr. George Jacoby and his team at Kitt Peak invented for the WIYN telescope. The WIYN telescope has spectacular image quality for a ground-based telescope—yielding images of a quarter-arcsecond resolution. Typically they can achieve 0.7 arcseconds. Most telescopes on Kitt Peak are one to one-and-a-half arcseconds. This capability allows astronomers to observe faint planetary nebulae—glowing shells of gas ejected by dying, low-mass stars.

The scientific value of an image is the inverse square of the size of the seeing. So if one is getting half-arcsecond images, then that’s four times as useful as a one-arcsecond image from the same telescope. The WIYN team has developed a kind of CCD that actually improves the seeing by following the motion of the stars during the time the picture is being taken. It does this by moving the electrons around that are being collected so that they always fall under the stars. If the star moves, the electrons move with it. The next photon creates an electron where this electron packet has been moved to.

Searching for Faint Planetary Nebulae Using the Digital Sky Survey

HAC 2009 Election Results
The election was conducted by Rob Shernick. The 2009 HAC election results are as follows:

Officers
Wayne Johnson, President
Glen Sanner, Vice President
Bob Gent, Secretary
Bob Kepple, Treasurer

Directors
Del Gordon (Webmaster)
James Taylor (Publicity)
Rich Swanson (Outreach Events Coordinator)
Chris Hanawalt
Doug Snyder (Past President)

Congratulations go to Wayne Johnson for becoming the first four-consecutive-term HAC President. Congratulations, Wayne! Also, congratulations to the other officers and directors, who will be taking the HAC into the next decade of astronomical exploration, discovery, and outreach.

Note that the position of Nightfall Newsletter Editor remains vacant. Please contact any of the HAC officers or directors if you are interested in helping the Huachuca Astronomy Club.


International Year of Astronomy 2009
At the Jan. 2009 HAC meeting, Doug Snyder gave a talk on the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). He presented a PowerPoint presentation created by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), and also had some handouts for the folks in attendance.

Doug Snyder's IYA2009 web site is here.

The IAU's IYA2009 web site is here.

How to Buy a Telescope
Travel to Deep Space from your Back Yard
Members of the the Huachuca Astronomy Club presented talks on "How to Buy a Telescope" on Oct. 2, 2009, at Cochise College, Sierra Vista Campus. Many different types of telescopes were on display. The advantages and disadvantages of each type were explained. Attendees were able to get a first-hand look at all types of telescopes.

Have a Blast Probing the Heavens
You can order a Galileoscope for $25 at galileoscope.org.



The telescope changed everything: Galileo's discoveries revolutionized our perception of the universe and Earth's place in it.



Library Finds a New Home on Strawberry Street
As of August 2009, the HAC Library will be maintained at member Howard Day's house. Howard's address is 5842 Calle de la Fresa, Hereford, Arizona. His telephone number is: 803-7909. Thank you, Howard, for helping to support the Huachuca Astronomy Club. Your efforts are much appreciated!

HAC Library periodicals include issues of Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, Deep Sky, Telescope Making, WEBB Society, JRASC, Astronomy Canada, Griffith Observer, and Mercury. There is also a selection of books, including authors such as Kaku, Ferris, Sagan, and Levy, and there are even some videos.

HAC members are welcome to use, borrow, or donate materials to, our club assets. In the case of duplicate monthly periodicals, members are welcome to acquire those that they desire. Read more... >>


Get Your Hi-Res C-Row Star-B-Q Pix Now, Before Time Runs Out!
The high-resolution pictures of the 2009 C-Row Star-B-Q at the RGO will only be available on the Web for a limited time. The high-resolution pictures are 3888 x 2592 pixels, and can take between about 2 to 5 megabytes of storage space per picture. (this high resolution works best for printing). Due to our limited Web space, and the large size of these images, they will be removed from the Web site on Oct. 1, 2009. Note that the medium (800 x 600) and small versions of these images will continue to be available. The high-res images are available here (under the Select a Gallery... option menu, select XLarge). Or, go directly to the XLarge gallery, here.



Photo Gallery Update: Mar. 1, 2009



Astrophotos of Comet Lulin by Paul Dybvig taken Mar. 1, 2009. Note the difference between tracking on the comet and tracking at the normal sidereal rate. Click here.

Astrophotos by Paul Dybvig taken Jan. 28, 2009. Can you find Supernova 2008in? Click here.


WMO
Connecting to the Universe

The Windy Mountain Observatory (WMO) web site,
        by Rich Swanson.


Welcome to the Exciting World of Astronomy
The featured speaker for the January 2009 HAC meeting was Bob Gent, and his topic was entitled, "Welcome to the Exciting World of Astronomy."

The program included selected astronomical images from spacecraft, some from professional observatories, and others from amateur astronomers. In addition, Bob showed some of his favorite reference materials that he used to get started in astronomy. He will conclude his talk with a brief discussion of the urgent need to protect the beauty of our night skies.

Bob Gent's slide presentation on Light Pollution.

About the speaker: Bob Gent is a retired USAF lieutenant colonel, and he is the past-president of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). He also served as president of the Astronomical League, a nonprofit federation of 275 astronomical societies and nearly 17,000 members. Among other activities, he taught astronomy at Pima Community College in 1997-98. He holds university degrees in mathematics, astronomy, and international relations.


Remote Observatories: Innovative Bubble Dome



See Tom Kaye's Bubble Dome Construction Page!


The Chandra Deep Field South Image

Scott Schneeweis presented the Chandra Deep Field South image, from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The image represents a 40-hour stare, observed in the U-, B-, and R-bands. The U-band VIsible MultiObject Spectrograph (VIMOS) observations were made over a period of 40 hours and constitute the deepest image ever taken from the ground in the U-band. The image covers a spot in the sky 14 x 21 arc minutes—a third of a degree—which is about one-third the size of your finger held at arm’s length. What you see are tens of thousands of galaxies. There are even merging galaxies that appear to be doing the tango. The deeply red-shifted objects are probably about 11.5 billion light years, so that’s about 85 or 90 percent of the age of the known universe.

The Chandra Deep Field South Image

European Southern Observatory (ESO)

 
The third volume of the three-volume Night Sky Observer’s Guide is now available. Huachuca Astronomy Club (HAC) member Bob Kepple is one of the authors. Subtitled The Southern Skies, Volume 3 has taken nine years to complete. This volume covers the skies of the southern hemisphere. The chapters are organized by constellation, and include the following: Apus, Ara, Caelum, Carina, Centaurus, Chamaeleon, Circinus, Crux, Dorado, Grus, Horologium, Hydrus, Indus, Mensa, Musca, Norma, Octans, Pavo, Phoenix, Pictor, Reticulum, Telescopium, Triangulum Australe, Tucana, Vela, and Volans; plus extensive coverage of The Large Magellanic and Small Magellanic Clouds. A detailed description of the book can be found on Bob Kepple's web site: http://astronomy-mall.com/astrocards.

Order the Night Sky Observer's Guide books here!

Note that Bob is offering signed versions of the book to HAC members for $34.95 (no sales tax). These books are essential astronomer's tools.

New Discovery: The December 2009 Nightfall newsletter is here!

HAC Meeting Dates for 2010


Outreach Star Parties
Would you like to have an educational "Star Party" for your school, youth group, or organization? Please contact Rich Swanson at:
(520) 803-7298, or send email to:
telegeek-64@cox.net

Event Guidelines and Polices

HAC Sponsors


Starizona and Farpoint: Sponsors and door prize donors. Upcoming Events

See the list in the sidebar at upper left, or view the HAC Calendar.

  Astronomy Year 2009
What is the International Year of Astronomy all about? Find out here.

  A 2009 list of HAC events is here.


Did you know?
As of July 2009, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham, Arizona, is the world's largest optical telescope. The LBT has taken celestial images using its twin side-by-side, 8.4-meter (27.6-foot) primary mirrors together, achieving first "binocular" light. The LBT has a light-collecting area equivalent to a single 11.7-meter (39-foot, or 464.5-inch) surface and will combine light to produce the image sharpness equivalent to a single 22.8-meter (75-foot) telescope (900 inches). It is located on 3194-meter (10,480-foot) Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona.

U.S., Italian and German partners in the LBT, have released new images. First binocular light is a milestone not only for the LBT—now the world's most powerful telescope —but for astronomy itself.

The world's largest segmented telescope is the Gran Telescopio Canarias (meaning "Great Canaries Telescope"), also known as GranTeCan or GTC. It is a 10.4-meter (410-inch) reflecting telescope undertaking commissioning observations at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands of Spain, as of July 2009.


"Amateur astronomers today are exceptionally fortunate to be living in an era when high quality, and very large, optics are so affordable."

Night Sky Observer's Guide, Kepple and Sanner

Light Pollution Monitoring with Google Earth, click here.


Light Pollution info.

That's Cool Wire

That's Cool Wire
Due to many requests, here is a link to the web site that sells the electroluminescent wire: thatscoolwire.com

Some pictures can be found here.

Specifically, the product similar to that you may have seen at HAC events can be found by clicking here.

The above link is the medium width wire. For wrapping around telescope tripods, the thinnest wire may work best, as it may be slightly dimmer.

For comparison, the model number purchased was: WY-PPL-N2, (2.2mm), EL Wire Kit 4, 15 feet, 3VDC, $17.61. This model was used to wrap around the handle of a step-stool for visibility.

Longer lengths, such as 26 feet, might be better for other applications, such as tables or signs. Measure for your application and order accordingly. The wire can be powered by two AA batteries, or with an AC adapter.

What is the Temperature of Deep Space?
Glenn Minuth gave a follow-up report to his prior talk in April on “Earth’s Energy Balance.” James Taylor had asked about why his infrared thermometer read -127° C when he pointed it into space. This leads to the question, “What is the temperature of Deep Space?” This is like asking, “What is the temperature of Earth?” How would you describe the temperature of Earth, would you use a range, or an average, or would it depend on your particular location? It turns out that as a result of the Big Bang, we can observe what is known as the Cosmic Background Radiation. Wherever you go in the Universe, if you are not close to a planet, that is, that temperature turns out to be 2.7° K (-455° F, or -270° C). If you are in the area of our solar system’s outer planets, the temperature is around 40° K (-388° F, or -233° C), and increasingly warmer the nearer to the Sun that you get. The temperature of absolute zero is 0° K, and nothing that we know of can get any colder than that, because at that temperature all molecular activity stops.


Schedule for 2009 Member and Public Star Parties.

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"Watch the stars, and learn from them." — Albert Einstein

Big Star: "I am the brightest star in the sky."
Little Star: "Are you joking?"
Big Star: "No, I am Sirius."