2013-03 LAAS Bulletin · Page 2 LAAS Bulletin 87 YEARS OF ASTRONOMY IN LOS ANGELES Los Angeles...

Inside this issue Contact Information ····················································· 2

Editor’s Corner ····························································· 2-3

Messier Marathon at Lockwood Valley ! ······ 3

March Speaker Info ······················································ 3

Comet PanSTARRS in March ······················ 4-7

LAAS Annual Banquet

Life-Time Achievement Award

Images ·········································· 7-10

Telescopes for Sale ··································· 11

Mt Wilson 60-inch Nights Return ! ·············· 12

Lockwood Valley Family Nights Return ! ······ 13

RTMC, May 24th to 27th ······························ 13

Garvey Ranch Park Map ··············································· 14

New Members ······························································ 14

Event Calendar ····························································· 15

Website Information ····················································· 15

Sky & Telescope & Astronomy subscriptions ··············· 16

Membership Dues and Phone Lists ······························ 16

LOS ANGELES ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

BULLETIN

volume 87, issue 3 March 2013

LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin


87 YEARS OF ASTRONOMY IN

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles Astronomical Society Griffith Observatory

2800 East Observatory Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90027

Change of Address, Membership: Sadie De Stefano, LAAS Secretary

LAAS Officers:

President ............................ Mary Brown

Vice President ............. Giovanni Somoza

Treasurer .......................... John O’Bryan [email protected]

Secretary ..................... Sadie De Stefano [email protected]

Volunteers:

Recording Secretary .... Richard Roosman

Library ............................... Mary Brown

[email protected]

Outreach ........................ Heven Renteria

& Evan Warkentine

[email protected]

Loaner Telescopes ......... Dave Sovereign

(626) 794-0646

Messier Program .... Herman Meyerdierks

[email protected]

New Members ............. Andee Sherwood

[email protected]

Speakers Bureau ............. Tim Thompson

[email protected]

Youth Liaison................... (not assigned)

[email protected]

Bulletin Editor ............. David Nakamoto

[email protected]

Bulletin Printer ........... Richard Roosman

Web Site Manager ........ Stephen Dashiell [email protected]

Editor’s Corner

W ell, the January public

star party at Griffith

was one of the best in

many a month. I’ll

write about it next

month.

A possible bright comet, PanSTARRS,

may appear briefly in our evening

skies in March. See pages 4 through

7 for more details.

The annual banquet was the best in

my humble opinion ! Great people,

good food, a great speaker and

topic, and many great door prizes.

The big award of the evening went

to our outreach and public star party

participants. The life-time

achievement award went to Herbert

Kraus for his many years of public

outreach, and contributions to our

board and bulletin. For details and

images see pages 7 thought 10.

Starting in May, a whole slew of

events will begin; 60-inch nights at

Mt Wilson (pg 12), Lockwood Valley

Family Nights (pg 13), and RTMC (pg

13).

Article submissions must be less

than 1,500 words. Only a few

images will be accepted from any

one person. A caption for each is

required. The deadline is the 10th of

each month. Please submit to:

[email protected]

Material may also be sent to the

LAAS address listed at the top of the

column on page 2. It must reach me

by the 10th of the month to be

(Continued on page 3)

Vol 87, issue 3

March General Meeting SpeakerMarch General Meeting SpeakerMarch General Meeting SpeakerMarch General Meeting Speaker

The speaker is Dr. Ashwin Vasavada, the Deputy Project Scientist of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) at JPL.

His topic is about Curiosity's landing on Mars with updated information about the mission.

Dr. Ashwin Vasavada has a B. S. in Geophysics and Space Physics from University of California, Los Angeles in 1992, and a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the California Institute of

Technology in 1998. �

Messier Marathon Night !Messier Marathon Night !Messier Marathon Night !Messier Marathon Night ! Date: March 9th Saturday

Location: LAAS’ Lockwood Valley site.

Contact: Herman Meyerdierks [email protected] (310) 738 - 6519 Scott Miller (661) 212 - 3842

This is one of the traditions in amateur observing. The goal is to try and see ALL the objects in the Messier catalog of deep sky objects in one night. This is possible ONLY around the Spring Equinox because near that time, the Sun is positioned in a gap between Messier ob-jects which is JUST large enough so that the attempt can be made.

A check-off list and useful advice are just two of the things Herman and Scott can provide to assist observers in this endeavor. Please contact them if you plan on coming to the Lockwood Valley facilities

for the marathon. �

considered for inclusion into the next month’s bulletin. �

David NakamotoDavid NakamotoDavid NakamotoDavid Nakamoto


Comet PanSTARRS in March by David Nakamoto

As we go to press, the next possibly Big Thing might be a comet visible to the unaided eye. Comet PanSTARRS, official designation C2011 L4, will cross the western skies during the evenings from March 12th through early April. That much is certain. What is not certain is how bright it will be. As some-one said once, “Comets are like cats; they have tails and do what they want to do.”

PanSTARRS stands for Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System. Operated by the University of Hawaii, its purpose is to do a contin-ual survey of the sky. Four 1.8 meter (71-inch) telescopes located on both Mauna Kea on Hawaii and on Haleakala on the neighboring island of Maui take images every clear night, and an array of cameras and computers com-pare the sky region by region, looking for changes from one image to the other, possible signs of new variables, asteroids, comets, and other transient objects. On June 2011, PanSTARRS detected the comet that may perform for the public this March.

The currently calculated orbit for Comet PanSTARRS matches a hyperbolic orbit, meaning that it is not a periodic comet, and will make one, and only one, pass by the Sun. This adds to the uncertainty as to how this comet will perform. First time comets are often unpredictable when it comes to their brightness as they near the Sun. Often they brighten quite well, due to a volatile and unfortunately thin layer of material on their surfaces, but when this quickly burns away, what lies underneath may not be as easily evapo-rated from the comet’s surface, and the comet doesn’t brighten as predicted. Some comets have actually faded into oblivion as they approached the Sun, sometimes becoming barely visible to large telescopes as they get closest to the Sun. But there’s nothing to be done except hope for the best, and brace for the worse, when it comes to any new comet.

Seiichi Yoshida, an amateur astronomer who maintains a comet website, has produced a light curve based on observations of the comet. As of February 11th 2013, based on this curve, he has revised the upper magnitude of this comet from an earlier estimate of magnitude 0 to no more than magnitude 3, still visible with the unaided eye, but just barely in the western twilight glow. The figure on the next page shows Yoshida’s graph. Notice the tightness of the data point the brighter the comet gets.


Vol 87, issue 3

On March 12th, PanSTARRS will be 4° south of the 1 day old Moon, or left of the Moon, and more or less right above the point where the Sun has set. The moon will be hard to pick out, so perhaps this is the one time it might be eas-ier to see the comet ! The image below shows the view just 45 minutes after sunset. As you can see, this double event, moon and comet, is going to be hard to see due to the low altitude of both objects, and the strong possibility of haze fuzzing things out, if there is nothing worse.



On March 13th, the comet will be 11° west of the 2 day old Moon, or under the Moon, and again right above the point where the Sun has set. It moves a lit-tle further to the north each night, but it doesn’t gain much in altitude, and unfortunate state of affairs.

During the March 16th Griffith public star party, at around 6:45pm, the comet will be further to the north of where the Sun sets, but still at an altitude of only 10° or less above the flat western horizon, and perhaps a lot less than that over the hills west of the observatory. It’ll be far below and a little to the right of the Moon, which will be 50° high at that time. It should be just to the right of a large radio tower that sits on the western hills almost directly west of Griffith and visible from Griffith.

Over the next two weeks, the comet will continue to travel slowly to the north, hugging the western horizon, not getting higher than about 15° high as the sun hits the horizon, setting an hour after the Sun does. It slowly passes through Pisces, then between Pisces and Pegasus, most likely fading as it goes, but only the comet knows for sure how bright it will be at that time. The only thing we know for certain is the path it will take through our eve-ning skies. The figure below shows the path at the same time, 6:45pm, 45 to 40 minutes after local sunset, that the comet will take. No matter what, this will be a difficult object to acquire and observe, but if it gets bright, that’ll make it easier.

Because of the low altitude of the comet, the premium item is a site with an unobstructed western view and a low horizon. This almost begs going to the beach and setting up there. And while Griffith Observatory might seem a perfect site, in Griffith park in general, and certainly at Griffith Observatory, there is a restriction that no one can set up their scopes there, except during public star parties, and then only members of the LAAS or Sidewalk Astrono-mers. In any case, whether we will see anything, and for how long, during the


Vol 87, issue 3

March 16th star party, is problematical as far as I can see.

And don’t forget, at the end of this year, Comet ISON will start performing as soon as December 8th. Unfortunately for Griffith, ISON will be visible only in the early morning sky.

Good luck to everyone ! �

Life-time Achievement Award This year, we honored Herbert Kraus.

Herb has been an active member for years, not only providing invaluable

assistance as our Treasurer and board member, but also as a very active

participant in our Outreach program, both our school visitation program and

the Griffith public star parties.

Congratulations Herb, and our thanks for your many years of service to the

society !

LAAS Annual BanquetLAAS Annual BanquetLAAS Annual BanquetLAAS Annual Banquet


NSN Awards As a result of our club's active participation on NSN and our club's commitment

and enthusiasm for sharing the wonders of the sky, the Night Sky Network

would like to award some of our club members for their dedication to astron-

omy outreach and education by providing a "Night Sky Network Star" pin for

2013. The criteria for receiving this award is that you must have participated in

or helped organize at least five outreach events throughout the year.

NSN award pins were donated by SOFIA, NASA's airborne infrared observatory.

SOFIA is dedicated to contributing to the enhancement of science, technology,

engineering, mathematics literacy and the public appreciation of the value of

scientific research in communities around the country.

Both Evan and I as NSN Coordinators would like to thank all of you for all that

you do to make our club a great one!

Please support your club's mission by volunteering for an upcoming Outreach

event. The children and parents always appreciate your time and effort! �

Andee Sherwood & Evan Warkentine

John O’Bryan Herb Kraus Mike White Tom Drouet Heven Renteria Evan Warkentine Tim Thompson Richard Roosman Scott Miller Van Webster Scott Nichols Bob Deubler Shirley Sunada Sheri Breaux Reynold Wang Richard Fuentes Bob Nolan Mary Brown

Pam Elles Larry Steenhoek Don DeGregori Ali Allison Dave Nakamoto Roger Keen Karen Kaboto Penny Kunitani Elizabeth Critch Kelly Critch Jody Dye Curtis Byrom Gabriel Reyna Miriam Mkhi-taryan Reynold Wang Norm Vargas Spencer SooHoo

Paul Keen Manual Rosales John Price Rob Komoto Kevin Gilchrist Tim Russ David Bararu Herman Meyer-dierks Larry Jaeger Estella Jaeger Dave Pinsky Dave Sovereign Andee Sherwood Darrell Dooley

Vol 87, issue 3

Donors to our Annual Banquet Our Warm Thanks !

Companies: Astronomy Magazine http://www.astronomy.com

OPT http://www.optcorp.com

Orion Telescopes http://www.telescope.com

Sky and Telescope http://skytonight.com/

Kitt Peak Public Outreach http://www.noao.edu/outreach/kpvc/

Explore Scientific http://explorescientific.com

Celestron http://www.celestron.com

Individuals:

Herbert Kraus David Sovereign

Larry Steenhoek Matt Ventimigila

Marc Rayman was our guest speaker, and quite a wonderful talk he gave, about

the Dawn mission to the asteroids Vesta (now concluded) and Ceres, two new

worlds where our expectations will bump up against the stark reality we’ll find

there.

My thanks to Steve Dashiell for this and the two images on the next page.


David Pinsky and Sadie de Stefano handed out the door prizes, and a wonderful

collection it was ! Two large, laminated star atlases, several interesting books, including

a book showing astronomical prints that were auctioned off, which I won, and a large

refractor, which you can see behind and to the left of Sadie above, and held in the arms

of Nicole Heumann, its proud winner, below ! This year’s banquet was, if not the most

successful I’ve attended, then one of the best in recent memory. My heartfelt thanks to

the organizers and all volunteers who donated their time, effort, and prizes to make this

so !

Vol 87, issue 3

10-inch Dobsonian for Sale I'm selling my 10-inch aperture, f/4.5 Dobsonian mounted Newtonian reflector (whew !). It's basically the Orion SkyQuest XT10g Computerized GoTo telescope without the GoTo. Comes with a straight-through 9x50 finder, Cheshire alignment tool,

and 25mm eyepiece. I'm asking $400 for the scope.

I will not ship; this is too large and heavy. I wish to sell this equipment to someone in the LA/Orange county area. I will meet with the buyer at Griffith Observatory to exchange equipment for money (cash or bank/cashier-check), or some

other convenient location.

I can be contacted at [email protected], or on my cell phone at (626) 905-2704.

5-inch Maksutov for Sale I'm selling my 5-inch f/12 Orion Maksutov on a Vixen GP

polaris German equatorial mount. The mount has slow motion

motors on the Dec and RA axis, and will track objects in the sky

using the RA motor, but is NOT computerized. The mount has

an eyepiece/equipment tray, and a bubble level indicator. The

telescope includes a straight-through 9x50 finder, and white-

light metal solar filter, but no eyepieces.

I will not ship this equipment. I wish to sell this to someone in

the LA/Orange county area. I am willing to meet at Griffith

Observatory to exchange the equipment for money (cash or

bank-/cashier-check). I'm asking $750 for the entire set.

$200 for just the Maksutov. $500 for the mount. $50 for the

solar filter.

I can be contacted at [email protected], or on my cell at (626) 905-2704.


LAAS has arranged for nights at the Mount Wilson 60-

inch telescope this year. All are New Moon nights. Half-

nights are until 1:00 am. Note that there is only one full

night, in September.

Only LAAS members are allowed to sign up. If there is

still room two (2) weeks prior to the date, paying guests

will be permitted. Everyone who shows up, whether family member, friend, or

guest, will have to pay in order to be allowed in the 60-inch telescope

observatory. The cost per person has not been determined at this time. We

are allowed to accommodate only a limited number of participants at each

session, and your reservations are being accepted on a first come, first serve,

basis.

To secure your reservation, send in your request AND A CHECK

payable to LAAS to our Treasurer at:

P.O. Box 56084

Sherman Oaks, CA 91413

Any LAAS member who has not been to a 60-inch night at Mount Wilson should

consider it as an opportunity to visit astronomy history. To see the location and

equipment used by giants such as Shapley and Hubble will add to your

appreciation of their contributions.

The scope will belong to LAAS for the time indicated. We mutually agree upon

which objects to view. Often, a member is the operator, so it is a very

comfortable environment. (Do bring a coat, however). The viewing is without a

doubt the best you are likely to see in your lifetime.

If you need any further information about attending these nights on Mount

Wilson, contact our Treasurer at [email protected] or by mail at the above

address. �

Mt Wilson 60” Nights

June 7th

, Fri (half night)

July 5th

, Fri (half night)

Aug 31st

, Sat (half night)

Sept 7th

, Sat (FULL night)

Oct 4th

, Fri (half night)

Vol 87, issue 3

Family Nights Return to

Lockwood Valley Family Nights in Lockwood Valley at our dark sky site are back!

Please mark the following dates on your calendar:

May 4, 2013

June 29, 2013

July 27, 2013

Aug. 10, 2013 All LAAS members are invited to come up to the dark sky property and enjoy an

evening of stargazing with friends and family. Bring your telescopes, tents and

sleeping bags and camp out under the stars. Please RSVP and bring food for the

pot luck dinner that we'll all share together. Registered members of Night Sky

Network, will receive an event message in your email with an RSVP option.

Everyone else should send their RSVP to the following email:

[email protected].

Stay tuned for further information or check one of the dates on our calendar of

events in the near future to learn more about Family Nights. �

Andee Sherwood

Riverside Telescope

Makers Conference May 24-27, 2013

This year, RTMC is being held over Memorial Day weekend, from Friday the 24th

through the morning of Monday the 27th

. This is a full moon weekend, and

therefore not for deep skies, but apparently RTMC is going back to its tradition

of being held on Memorial Day weekend regardless of the phase of the Moon.

LAAS will probably have a booth. Please stay tuned for further details. For

immediate news, please subscribe to the LAAS general Yahoo group list.

David Nakamoto


New Members The new members approved at last month’s board meeting

are :

• Douglas Baker • Paul Boyle • Tamara Krinsky • Steven Olson • Brad Owen • Thomas Sanchez II • Fred Zimmerman

We welcome to our club, and we hope you’ll enjoy your Astronomy with all of us ! Please join our online discussions.

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(The place to build your telescope)(The place to build your telescope)(The place to build your telescope)

Map to Monterey Park Observatory

Vol 87, issue 3

EVENTS CALENDAR

Mar 6th (Wed) Board Mtg General Meeting room,

Garvey Ranch Park. Map on page 14

Mar 9th (Sat) Dark Sky Star

Party

Lockwood Valley Rules at

http://www.laas.org/Lockwood_Valley_Public_Rules.pdf

Mar 11th (Mon) General

Mtg

Leonard Nimoy Theater, Griffith Observatory 7:45pm to 9:45pm

Speaker and topic on page 3.

Mar 16th (Sat) Public Star

Party Griffith Observatory 2:00pm to 10:00pm

Apr 3rd (Wed) Board Mtg General Meeting room,

Garvey Ranch Park. Map on page 14

Apr 8th (Mon) General

Mtg

Leonard Nimoy Theater, Griffith Observatory 7:45pm to 9:45pm

Speaker and topic unknown.

Apr 13th (Sat) Dark Sky Star

Party

Lockwood Valley Rules at

http://www.laas.org/

Apr 20th (Sat) Public Star

Party Griffith Observatory 2:00pm to 10:00pm

LAAS Home Page: http://www.laas.org

LAAS Bulletin Online: http://www.laas.org/joomlasite/index.php/latest-bulletin-quicklinks


Membership Annual Dues: Youth $ 20.00 Regular (18-65) $ 45.00 Senior Citizen (65 and up) $ 30.00 Senior Family $ 40.00 Family $ 60.00 Life $ 500.00 Additional fees: Charter Star member $ 30.00 Star member, with pad $ 70.00 Star member, no pad $ 60.00 Printed Bulletin $ 15.00 (Membership due date is indicated on the mailing label)

HANDY PHONE LIST LAAS Answering Machine ......(213) 673-7355 Griffith Observatory Program...............................(213) 473-0800 Sky Report...........................(213) 473-0880 Lockwood Site ........................(661) 245-2106 (not answered, arrange time with caller. Outgoing calls – collect or calling card) Mt. Wilson Institute .................(626) 793-3100

Astronomy Magazine Subscriptions

For a club rate subscription to Astronomy, send a check payable to Kalmbach Publishing Co. in the amount of $34 for one year or $60 for two years to :

LAAS treasurer

LAAS

P.O. Box 56084

Sherman Oaks CA 91413 Be sure to include the exact name and mailing address for your subscription. That magazine also requires later subscription renewals to be handled through the LAAS Treasurer. �

Sky and Telescope Subscriptions Sky and Telescope subscriptions renewals should be sent directly to Sky Publishing. To start a Sky & Telescope subscription at club rates, send a check payable to “Sky & Telescope” in the amount of $32.95 for a one year subscription to :

LAAS treasurer

P.O. Box 56084

Sherman Oaks, CA 91413 Be sure to include the exact name and mailing address for your subscription. Then thereafter send the renewal bills directly to Sky Publishing. �

2013-03 LAAS Bulletin · Page 2 LAAS Bulletin 87 YEARS OF ASTRONOMY IN LOS ANGELES Los Angeles...

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Transcript of 2013-03 LAAS Bulletin · Page 2 LAAS Bulletin 87 YEARS OF ASTRONOMY IN LOS ANGELES Los Angeles...