At the January Meeting......   
Don Surles brought the meeting to order at 7:15 with 26 members and guests attending.       
 New Members  Frank Colosimo, Exton, PA  William Ellis,  Pemberton, NJ    Michael Lecuyer, Viola, DE  
 Outreach Opportunities:
Cecil County Libraries 
Jerry Truitt reports:  I met with Beth Ann Ryan from the Cecil County libraries yesterday for the “Astronomy at the Library” program. We've set up a tentative
schedule for doing the other libraries as outlined below:
Chesapeake City 6 PM Sat. April 2nd 
Port Deposit 6 PM Sat. April 30th 
Perryville 7 PM Fri. June 3rd 
Cecilton 6 PM Sat. Sept 24th 
North East 6 PM Fri. Oct. 21st 
I will be registering these for the Night Sky Network for presentation. These dates coincide with the first quarter moon. I told Beth Ann we would also be
 viewing other things besides the moon, particularly in the Spring  when the planets will be out.   I think Saturn will be an object of great interest for the public.

James Morgan held an informal session at the library for 5 people that brought their new scopes for orientation as well as 16 more who wanted to
 learn how to observe.
 
How has the internet(WWW) changed Amateur Astronomy 
Below are the source URLs so others can find the info. They are:
http://www.phy.duke.edu/~kolena/sky.html  A links page for what's up
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/   S & T week at a glance
http://www.astro.indiana.edu/startrak.shtml Indiana University monthly viewing tips
http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/SkyWatchersDiary/Diary.html Abrams Planetarium skywatchers diary
http://stardate.org/  McDonald observatory Stardate online weekly observing tips.
 
Astrophotography with Film
Below is the outline of Don Surles’  Power Point presentation:
35MM or Larger
Requirements are Manual Shutter,Bright Viewer, and Cable Release. 35 mm is the best camera  for thru the scope shots, also more convenient
 for projectors.  More data can be collected on larger formats
Color or B&W Film  Night sky responds best to red film. Nebulae stars and Galaxies are best in color.
Star fields, planets, moon & sun are ok in black and white. E6 for color slides C41 for color prints.
Positives or Negatives
Positives are slides, Negatvies are prints.
Slides are transparent & hi definition   Slides need a projector or viewer.
Prints on paper and are viewed by reflected light and not as bright or sharp as slides.  Prints may not be what you saw in the viewfinder.
Tracking or Still Shots
Tracking compensates for earth’s rotation and makes the stars stand still.  As magnification increases, tracking accuracy must improve accordingly.
 Tracking is best done with a German equatorial mount or fork and wedge mount.  Still shots can be done with an altaz mount.
For stills,  use ISO400 with large aperture, Wide Angle lens and limit exposures to 30 seconds.
Thru the Scope or Piggy Back
Thru the scope requires camera connected to focuser, camera at Prime focus, or use eyepiece as projector.
High magnification requires guiding to compensate for polar alignment or drive system errors. 
Piggy back uses the scope’s drive system and gathers light with Camera lens, usually much faster than the scope lens (f1.4 vs f5 or f10)                            
Exposure times are shorter with wider apertures.  
Necessary Equipment
Camera with manual shutter release,  Lens <150mm at f1.4 to f3.8, Camera support,Connector (Camera T ring to scope)
Timer, red light ,Fresh film less than ISO 400, Keep good records.
 
From the President’s Desk....January 19, 2005
2005!  Wow, we survived the holidays and are halfway to the next decade!     The awesome power of Mother Nature was demonstrated via
 the tsunami…and you know, there is not an official name for that tsunami.
 Then  there was Cassini and Huygens and Saturn and Titan in the news.  Hats off to the European Space group for building a probe that worked after a 7-
year-2-billion mile journey.  I would say they had a REAL Diehard battery.  Cassini has been a huge success also – just visit the WWW and Google “Cassini”. 
And don’t forget the Rovers on Mars…that venture has been a real jewel for the world.
 
Now closer to home, i.e., Smyrna, things have not progressed that well.  Mother Nature has thrown clouds, rain, fog, bright moon light, and a host of
other impairments into the stargazing equation leaving us with telescopes in a state of un-used-ness funk.  President Georgy-boybush should declare
the Peninsula a disaster area for stargazing – maybe declare a “lights-out” time frame to make up for  the recent stargazing famine.
 
This week has featured some outstanding activity on our Sun.  Sunspot 720 produced coronal mass  ejections while aimed squarely at Earth and caused
some nice auroral activity for the northern latitudes.  Unfortunately for us they did not occur around latitude 40N and we had only moonlit skies to observe.
 Ron Zink, Bill McKibben, and I went out to Blackbird State Forest Monday night, Jan 17, in search of the auroras but it was too cold for them – and us. 
The wind felt like cold razors on my tender-used-to-the-inside-70F face.  This was probably the coldest night since last winter; and the wind made the chill
 factor something below zeroF.  So, we retreated, strategically of course, and will await a warmer opportunity to view the Northern Lights. 
 
We have received information that Paul Gray and Dave Lane have discovered a supernova.  I believe this their second discovery.   The supernova’s official
name is SN 2005B located at RA17h54m48s, Dec +71o32’35”.Congratulations to Dave and Paul.  For newcomers to our organization, Dave and Paul are
our Nova Scotia contingent of Delmarva Star Gazers.  Paul and his wife, Susan, lived near Annapolis a few years and  Paul was a very active member of our organization.  And Dave participated in our first MidAtlantic Mirror Making weekend.  Again, Congrats to these guys for their continuing efforts
 to locate these indicators of the changes our universe experiences.
 
Mirror making…we are hosting the FIFTH MMM this March 4-6.  If you have any curiosity about how fine telescope optics come into existence,
 you should contact Lyle Jones and make plans to participate or visit while this weekend is in progress.  You may just catch the ‘glass pushin fever’.
 
Our next meeting is February 1.   The topics will include current events (surely Huygens, Cassini, and the Mars Rovers will be included), Comfort @ the
Eyepiece by Tim Milligan, Telescope Making by Keith Lohmeyer, Isaac Newton and the First Newtonian by Jerry Truitt, Johannes Kepler and the Rudolphine
Tables by Greg Lee, and Tonight’s Night Sky by Keith Lohmeyer.  Please plan to attend and catch the “I want to learn and participate fever” that makes
our organization so successful.

Have you noticed the days are getting longer and sun higher in the sky each day?   The afternoons are much longer now than a month ago and the sun is
beginning to rise earlier also.  Sunlight is a wonderful commodity.  Earth has 4-5 billion years of evolution bathed in glorious sunlight and just about every type
of plant and animal life here responds to varying amounts and intensity levels of Ol Sol’s principal product – white light.  As you venture outside
 more and more and feel the warmth of Ol Sol in the coming weeks I can guarantee you will feel better and will even look better.
 Sunlight does the miraculous!
 
So enjoy what is left of winter, stay warm and bring your new toys to the next star party I want to play with your new toys.   See you
at the Church or T-hoe or Blackbird. 
 Don…


The Delmarva Star Gazers will host the fifth Mid-Atlantic Mirror Making Seminar March 4 thru March 6, 2005, at St. Jones Reserve, Dover DE.  See the link below for more site information: http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/dnrec2000/Divisions/Soil/DNERR/index.htm.

All attendees, and especially mirror makers, are asked to check into the Reserve before 11:00 A.M. to get settled in and meet everyone.  The Seminar will begin promptly at Noon on March 4.
Mirror Grinding: The purpose of the Seminar is to introduce proven, successful techniques for making telescope mirrors. Special emphasis will be placed on successfully completing a well-figured mirror in the time allowed. Mirror grinding, polishing, figuring, and testing assistance will be provided by Steve Swayze (Swayze Optical), Dr. Bill Hanagan (head of the Delaware Astronomical Society ATM SIG), David Groski (Stellafane 1st Place in Optics), and several other experienced mirror makers from the Mid-Atlantic region.
Starting mirror makers will begin with a 6" (f/8), 8" (f/6), or 10" (f/6) Pyrex mirror blank with a diamond generated curve ready for 220 grit and a matching plate glass tool. A work stand will be provided for each mirror maker along with all of the glass, grit, pitch, and polish needed.
Finishing mirror makers (anyone wishing to complete the figuring of their mirror at the Seminar) will be provided a work stand and expert assistance needed to do so.
Successful mirror makers will leave the Seminar with a finely-figured mirror ready for aluminizing -- and with enhanced skills, greater knowledge, and the confidence that comes from experience. While each mirror maker will have the materials, guidance, and the amount of time required by most people to produce a quality mirror, there is no guarantee that you will complete your mirror during the Seminar.
Non-mirror makers are encouraged to attend -- to watch the process, to learn, to get "glass-pushin' fever", and to participate in the other planned activities listed below:
Demonstrations / Show and Tell -- The making of pitch laps, Ronchi and Foucault testers, mirror test stands, Couder masks, mirror cells, spiders, secondary mirror mounts, finder scopes, etc. will be discussed.
Stargazing -- If the weather allows, we'll be using the Star Gazers' Meade 10" LX200 - and SBIG STV video camera for observing, in addition to other equipment.
Historic Site Visits -- The Reserve is very close to two free museums - the John Dickinson Mansion (Dickinson was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence) and the Dover Air Museum.
Hobnobbing with other Amateur Telescope Makers (ATMs) -- Priceless! Ad-hoc discussions about telescope making abound during the Seminar.
Friday and Saturday Night Talks -- We don't know what they are yet, but these talks are always interesting. Past topics have included Pete Ceravolo's Mak-Newt and comet video, astrophotography, and other astronomy-related items.
REGISTRATION: All mirror makers and attendees are asked to register by January 6, 2005, to provide sufficient lead-time for ordering supplies. In past years, the mirror making positions have been filled fairly quickly, so don't delay! Full payment must accompany the registration. There will be no refunds but substitutions are O.K.
Fee Schedule
Attendance and lodging only     $50.00
Attendance, lodging and grind 6” mirror     $200.00
Attendance, lodging and grind 8” mirror     $250.00
Attendance, lodging and grind 10” mirror     $400.00
Attendance, lodging and finishing a mirror     $120.00
Visit our web site at Registration for information. To register, or if you would like to converse with a real human being for additional information, Contact Lyle Jones, 230 N Bradford St, Dover, DE 19904, phone 302-736-9842, email lyjones@state.de.us
Please Note -- Mirror making positions will be limited. 12 mirror making stands are provided and will be assigned to mirror-making registrants on a first come, first served basis. If you decide to make an 8" or 10" mirror, consider asking someone to join you in this effort. There is a lot of manual labor involved and your chances of completing the mirror by the end of the seminar are better if you have a helper. Your helper needs to be registered for attendance and lodging only.
Lodging: Sleeping arrangements are dormitory style. While we can guarantee a warm place to sleep, floor space for your sleeping bag/air mattress, and bathrooms with showers, there are a limited number of beds available. In addition to a sleeping bag and a pillow, you may want to bring an air mattress and/or a cot. Buffet-style lunch and dinner are included in the cost of lodging. The volunteer cooks do a superb job!                  Come Join Us! -- The first four Mirror Making Seminars were very successful. Every participant and every person involved as a host has commented favorably on the experience.


“Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare”…  The poem by Edna St. Vincent Milllay sets the tone for this outline of the immeasurable contribution of the early Greek Mathematicians to the knowledge of the solar system, or the Universe as it was understood then.  The time line covered is 600 B.C. to 150 A.D., with repercussions extending to 1543 A.D.    This paper will introduce the events, people and places that shaped this time period.  It will also introduce less familiar names as well as those well known.

 Pythagoras, 530 to 479 B.C.   Pythagoras, the mathematician of triangle fame (C2=A2+B2 ),
 taught a universe in which the moon, sun, and planets rotated around a fixed spherical earth.  Privately to his disciples, however, he espoused a heliocentric universe with the sun at the center. Students of this persuasion were called Pythagoreans and would later include Philolaus and Aristarchus.
Philolaus, 480 B. C. to 410 B.C.  Philolaus conceived of a spherical counter weighted Earth in motion around a central cosmic fire along with an off-centered Sun.   The Earth revolved around the central fire once a day, the Moon once a month, and the Sun once a year. The other planets took even longer periods to orbit around the fire, while the sphere of the stars was stationary. One modern idea introduced here was that the Earth rotated on its axis.
Aristarcus  310 to 230 B.C.  Born on the Greek island of Samos, Aristarcus was perhaps the  most important mathematician of this time, not only in what he did, but in the effects it would have on future cosmology.   At a time when the earth was a massive immovable object, Aristarchus perceived  that, like the sun and moon above, the earth was also a sphere.   In addition, and without benefit of any scientific instruments, he crudely measured and calculated the sizes and distances of the sun and moon (with great inaccuracy) to each other.  But his geometry was brilliant in a day when sine functions had not yet been invented. To make these measurements, Aristarchus developed the Lunar Dichotomy method and the Eclipse method. The Eclipse method later became used to determine celestial distances up until the seventeenth century. His work was published under the title, “On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon”  and is the only surviving work of Aristarchus.  The accuracy of both methods was later improved when Eratosthenes (276-197B. C.) first measured the earth’s polar circumference with great precision and also, when Hipparchus (160 B.C.-100 B.C.) remeasured  Aristarchus’s distances of the sun and moon by inventing and using spherical trigonometry.  In any case, Ptolemy, the Prince of Astronomers, (80 – 150 A.D.) had the final word, establishing the Ptolemaic Universe which bears his name, replete with deferents and epicycles.

A serendipitous event occurred when Aristarchus conceived of and published a paper on his Heliocentric Universe.  While no traces of the original paper remain, it is nevertheless regarded by Sir Thomas Heath and other scholars as almost certainly the paper from which Copernicus in 1543 formulated his “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium “ (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies).  Many peers of Aristarchus had studied his book and criticized it unfavorably. A younger Archimedes writes:   “Aristarchus brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses. . . His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun remain unmoved, and that the Earth revolves about the sun in the circumference of a circle, the sun lying in the middle of the orbit.” Plutarch and Cleanthes felt Aristarchus should be indicted for impiety!   In one of Copernicus’s early drafts of Orbium Coelestium, are references made by Copernicus himself, to the heliocentric systems of Philolaus and Aristarchus.  These references were scratched out in later drafts. 

But now the genie is out of the bottle and as the Dark Ages descend on Europe, another 1400 years would pass before a dying Copernicus resurrects the heliocentric universe that will now bear his name.  In pursuing this history, an awareness arises that the enemy was not the church, as some believe, but the people themselves who refused to live on a spinning Yo Yo!  Now with Gallileo, Kepler, and eventually Newton on hand, Orbium Coelestium would finally become a Best Seller.