Constellation of the Month- Pegasus  (PEG-a-sus) Presented by Tim Milligan
Tim gave a short slide presentation that highlighted the Mythology, interesting stars and Deep Sky objects of Pegasus.  Pegasus, from Greek mythology, was the winged horse that Perseus rode to rescue Andromeda from Cetus the Sea Monster.
Tim listed the number of Pegasus objects from popular catalogs to include: PGC (3250 galaxies), NGC/IC (443 objects), Messier (1), and USNO WDS (2260 multiple stars).
Tim then discussed the variable star AG Pegasi,  a Symbiotic star system with a massive B type subdwarf and a M type red giant.  The symbiotic nature, matter exchange, is what drives the system's variability.
The presentation then moved on to DSOs.  First up was the only Messier object, the globular cluster M15. At Magnitude  6 and 30.6 thousand light years away, this globular has a bright core and a planetary nebula (Pease 1).  Next up were two galaxy clusters: the Pegasus I cluster - 11 bright galaxies at 250 million light years distance and Stephan's Quintet - 5 faint galaxies, 4
gravitationally bound, at 297 million light years distance and another (NGC 7320) optically aligned with the group at 43 million years distance.

Program: Eyepieces
Don started  with the list below showing the wide variety of eyepieces available.  All were offered in the American 1.25” size with the American brands also being offered in the 2.0”size. Only the foreign brands were also offered in the 0.965 “ size.

This bewildering array of eyepieces have evolved as the focal ratios of the telescopes themselves become ever faster and the focal lengths ever shorter.  If all scopes were f8 or higher we might get by with just the ortho or plossl designs.
Fortunately all of the  eyepieces can be reduced  to variations of  5 basic types which are depicted schematically below:

Don summarized all of this with:
Rules to Live  by:
1-Long Focal Length Scopes ( f 7+) are forgiving in eyepiece design They are not made for wide angle viewing but for high power viewing. Orthos do well.
2- Short Focal Length Scopes  are not forgiving in eyepiece design They are made for deep sky low power viewing and are prone to coma, poor collimation etc. They are normally larger diameter lower quality optics.
Go for the super corrected space walking eyepieces.
3-Old eyepieces are not better than new ones Modern eyepieces are much better.
4- Demand Anti-reflective coatings The more the better.
5-Be Critical Don’t assume a good brand name is a good eyepiece. Compare it with others and if
you are not satisfied send it back.
6-Protect your investment Keep dry in a foam lined case Clean sparingly with cotton Q-tips

From the President’s Desk....
December 21, 2002
‘Tis the season…I hope you had a Merry Christmas and are having a Happy New Year!  Seeing family and friends at this time of year is so enjoyable and is the catalyst for making some of our best memories.  This is one of our rewards for a year of hard work.  Enjoy your time with your friends and family.
2003 is going to be a great year – when we look back on 2003 fond memories will be plentiful.  Before we jump ahead lets back up and survey what’s in store for Delmarva Star Gazers. First, I hope each one of you received many astronomical gifts for Christmas.  And if you did, I want you to remember that sharing is great for your stargazing buddies – actually, sharing is one of the greatest pleasures of stargazing regardless of what Santa did or did not leave under the tree.
I am looking forward to our first couple of stargazing sessions. What is significant about 2003?  It’s our 10th anniversary!
Yes, Delmarva Star Gazers will be 10 years old in April.  So, we must have a birthday party.  We need a birthday party
committee…this is a solicitation, a request, a draft notice, and an opportunity for our socially oriented and talented members.  Please step forward and show us your skills in action.  We need you!
Other events for 2003 include the Audubon Society star party that has been rescheduled to February (Lyle will fill in the details later), our mirror making weekend Feb 28-Mar 2, Delmarva Star Gaze IX in April, Mars at its closest distance to Earth in 50,000 years, comets, atmospheric phenomena, new scopes, good food, stargazing with your fellow Gazers, and then there are the unknowns that make our hobby so interesting.
Last week Karen left a message on my business phone that we had received a package from Burgess Optical.  Six of us Star Gazers have been waiting since our Spring star party for some 25X100 binoculars from our friend Bill Burgess of Burgess Optical.  My first question to Karen was “Is it one or six binos?” and her response that the package weighed 37 pounds led me to the conclusion that we had indeed received six binos.
When I finally arrived home and dug into the large package I found it was double boxed with peanuts between the boxes – packed very well.  Then there were individual boxes that contained the “substantial” bino cases.  Bottom line, there was only two binos in the huge and heavy package.
Historically, 25X100 binos have been $1000-2000 for quality that just didn’t seem good enough.  Historically, the field of view has been very narrow and eye relief uncomfortably short.   Overall, the large binos have historically been a disappointment.
But Bill Burgess is a salesman who knows what amateur astronomers want in their toys.  We took a chance on Burgess Optical – he had only a picture of what the bino would resemble and a description of the optical system when we placed our order last April.
Now, after a couple of days and nights playing with the bino I have to confess that his Chinese made bino is very satisfactory in both quality and price.  The FOV is huge, eye relief is comfortable, collimation is “right on”.  These glasses are NICE!  They are a pleasure to use.  If you get a chance to peer  though a Burgess Optical 25X100 please do so – I think you will be
impressed.  You will need a substantial tripod because they are HEAVY and at 25X they cannot be held steady.   A parallelogram mount would be a nice addition.  I look forward to other products for amateur astronomers from Bill in the near future.
Last night Doug Norton and I experimented with the bino and various filters used on only one of the eyepieces.  We learned the brain can process both a filtered and unfiltered image to create a single image.  I can’t wait until a moonless night under dark skies to check out the nebulae.
We have received a shipment of 2003 calendars and Observer’s Handbooks from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.  They will be available at our January meeting.   The calendars are $7 and the Handbooks are $15 each.  Please see Kathy to purchase them.
We have also received a very nice german equitorial mount, tripod and dual axis drive for our prominence scope.  The mount is sold by Orion; another nice piece of equipment from China.   I will bring it to the January meeting for your review.
Our January meeting will also focus on amateur astronomy magazines.  We will review Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, and others.  “Others” are important because we need competition so that amateur astronomers have information from several viewpoints covering all aspects of our hobby.
Well, enuf for now.  See you at the January meeting, Don
 

The Editor’s Quadrant....
The Solar System in January
Mercury- goes into conjunction with the sun on January 11. It will be briefly visible as an evening star at the beginning of January, low in the WSW and as a morning star at the end of January,  low in the SE.
Venus will be a morning star in January, rising around 4:00 a.m.  Around January 11th, it will show its crescent phase.
Mars- rises near Venus as a morning star  in the beginning of January.  It is still too dim and too small to show much detail.  Jupiter rises at dusk during January and is visible all night, transiting after midnight.
Saturn is visible in January from dusk through most of the night, transiting around 11:00 p.m. at the beginning of the month and 9:00 p.m. at the end of the month.
Both Uranus and Neptune  are still in Capricornus and Pluto has emerged from conjunction with the Sun in December.
Clear Skies!,  Frank Sheldon  f.a.sheldon@att.net
 
 
  Club Activities..
Club Meetings- We meet in the First Presbyterian Church in Smyrna, DE   (653-8000) on the first
Tuesday of each month from 7-9 PM.  From US 13, turn west at Wendy's and go one stoplight on
Commerce Street; the church is on the right directly across from the Fire Hall.
Future Meetings...The meeting dates for 2003 will be:
January 07, February 04, March 04, April 01, May 06, June 03, July 05 (Picnic at Tuckahoe),
August 05 (No meeting at church - schedule special event) September 02, October 07, November
04 and December 02 The regular meeting format includes discussion of club activities, observing
highlights and an advertised presentation. We solicit suggestions for topics and presenters.
 
Club Observing... Observing is (usually) scheduled for the Friday nearest the New  Moon to
maximize the hours of  deepnight  without the moon in the sky.   Unless otherwise stated,  the
monthly observing site will be at the baseball field in the camping  area at Tuckahoe State Park.
The observing days for the year 2003 will be: January 3, January 31, February 28,
April 4,  April 30 - May 5 (Star Gaze IX), May 30,     June 27, July 25, August 1, August 29, September
24 - 28 (No-Frills VII) October 24, November 21, December 19.   The cloud or rain date for the
monthly Friday observing will be the following Saturday, but don't trust the weather man!  Go
outside and look for yourself or check the CNN weather link on our web page.   If  you still can't
decide, Call Don Surles (302) 653-9445 or Lyle Jones (302) 736-9842.

2002 Christmas Party Photos