How's Your Latin? (translation is here...)

"The Vatican and Astronomy:
From a Calendar to the Cosmos"

Father Christopher J. Corbally, S.J., Vice Director of the
Vatican Observatory was the guest speaker of the Huachuca Astronomy Club on Friday, Aug. 15, 2008, at the Cochise College Campus in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Father Corbally talked about analyzing the light of stars to find other planets, and keeping the skies dark so that we can continue to do so, and everything from meteorites to the fate of the universe. He even answered the question of what the Vatican knows about extraterrestrials! Read more.

Deep Sky Report, August 2008
“Travels on the Celestial Sphere”
By Glen Sanner

[Note: Our other "Deep Sky Guy," Bob Kepple, was out of town for the August meeting. (He was probably seeking some clear skies.)]

Tonight’s travels on the celestial sphere take us down some back roads that are slightly off of the beaten path. These are lesser-known constellations, or constellations that are not often observed. Except for Microscopium (“The Microscope”), all these constellations are near the Summer Triangle: Vulpecula (“Little Fox”), Scutum (“The Shield”), and Equuleus (“Little Horse”).

The “Summer Triangle” is defined by three stars: Vega in Lyra, Altair in Aquila, and Deneb in Cygnus. The Summer Triangle is a large triangle, directly overhead in the late summer to early fall. The longest side of the triangle points south. Since the Summer Triangle is directly overhead as astronomical twilight ends in August and September, it may still be viewable as the monsoon season in southeastern Arizona starts to dry out and dissipate.

The original name for Scutum was Scutum Sobiescianum (Sobieski's Shield), in commemoration of the victory of the Polish forces led by Polish king and hero John III Sobieski in the battle of Vienna. One of the prime features of this constellation is the Scutum Star Cloud, which looks like a dense grouping of stars because you are looking lengthwise down the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Scutum contains several open clusters, as well as a globular cluster and a planetary nebula. The two best known deep sky objects in Scutum are M11 and M26. M11 (NGC 6705) is also nicknamed the “Wild Duck Cluster,” perhaps because it has one bright star with many fainter stars fanning around it in a lopsided fashion, like a leading duck within a flock. M11 is a dense open cluster that almost looks like a loose globular. M26 is another open cluster, also known as NGC 6694; it is one of the more compact open clusters in the Messier catalog. The globular cluster NGC 6712 and the planetary nebula IC 1295 can be found in the eastern part of the constellation, only 24 arcminutes apart.

Vulpecula has a couple of excellent deep sky objects. One is M27, also known as the “Dumbbell Nebula,” and "The Coat Hanger" asterism. Vulpecula is near Cygnus (“The Swan”) and Lyra (“The Lyre”). M27 is bright for a nebula, though it can be challenging to find because it is not located near any conspicuous stars. Brocchi’s Cluster, also known as “The Coat Hanger,” is an amusing asterism to observe in the constellation Vulpecula (“The Little Fox”). One of this asterism’s striking features is that it contains six bright stars that appear almost in a straight line. There is a “hook,” composed of four bright stars in a trapezoidal shape that complete the “coat hanger” shape. This asterism is easily observed with binoculars. Brocchi’s Cluster was first described by Al Sufi, who published his famous Book of Fixed Stars around 964, in Arabic, although the author himself was probably Persian.

Microscopium is the southernmost of these four constellations, due south of Capricorn. It is noted for galaxies, and that is about all. It is composed of faint stars—4th magnitude or fainter—and has no major deep sky objects. The Microscopium is one of the minor constellations that was established by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713 – 1762). He made up some other constellations out of instruments and mechanical devices, such as the telescope (Telescopium), the circle-compass (Circinus), the pendulum clock (Horologium (originally named Horologium Oscillitorium to honor Christian Huygens, the inventor of the pendulum clock in 1656-57)), the octant (Octans), the reticle (Reticulum), and the pump (Antlia).

Nine Years in the Making!
 
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 website: 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 thirty dollars. These books are essential astronomer's tools.

Phoenix Mars Mission
David Acklam, of the Phoenix Mars Mission team, operating from the University of Arizona in Tucson, gave an interesting PowerPoint presentation on the latest findings about the Red Planet on Friday, July 18, at the Huachuca Astronomy Club's meeting at Cochise College, Sierra Vista Campus.

In Memory of Jeff Medkeff,
1968 - 2008

The September 2008 Nightfall newsletter is here!


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: Sponsor and Door Prize donor.
  The 2008 HAC Sky Calendar is here!
Did you know?
As of March, 2008, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham, Arizona, is the world's largest 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 11.8-meter (39-foot) 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 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.


"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.

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.

Photometry of M57 Field Stars by Brian Skiff, click here.



Mr. Galaxy's Supernovae pages.



The HAC Brochure is available here. Download, print, and distribute.

That's Cool Wire

That's Cool Wire
Due to many requests, here is a link to the website 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.