New Member: Marc Henderson,Newark, DE

Outreach Opportunities
Prime Hook Wildlife Refuge-   Don Surles gave a  presentation to this group on December 9 at 7:00 p.m. with 12 people attending.
Montessori School-   On November 9th, Keith Lohmeyer, Lynn King (DAS) and Jerry Truitt did a presentation for United Way at the Montessori School.
Astronomy at the Library   Jerry Truitt, along with Keith Lohmeyer, James Morgan, and Bill McKibben presented a program at the Elkton
Central  Library on November 19th.  A letter from a student and a note from the teachers were received.
Willingboro Astronomical Society  by James Morgan
On Saturday November 6th, Jerry Truitt, Leonard White, Bill McKibben and several people from the Delaware  Astronomical Society joined with the members
of the Willingboro Astronomical Society to do some observing. The location was Fort Mott in New Jersey, just across the Delaware Memorial
Bridge.  This group is very much like our Delmarva Stargazers in both activities and temperment.   They are a fine group and it was a pleasure to meet
and join them in observing.  This was the first time I ever was at an observing event where the group ordered pizza delivered right to the observing field. A great
time was had by all. James T. Morgan.

 NASA Update
Jerry Truitt gave a power point presentation updating some of the Nasa projects .
  (1) The first image was taken with the Cassini Space Craft Wide Angle Camera on October 27, 2004 at a distance of 392000 miles from Saturn. This image shows the unlit side of the B rings.
 (2) The 2nd image was taken with the Cassini Space Craft Narrow  Angle Camera on October 29 at a distance from Saturn of 523000 miles.    It shows Saturn’s
inner C ring in an area 46000 miles from Saturn.  In the center of this area lies the dark Columbo Gap which houses the bright narrow Columbo Ringlet  in resonance with the moon Titan.
  (3) The 3rd image was taken on October 29 at a distance from Saturn of 509000 miles. Here the Cassini Narrow Angle Camera caught the sunlit side of the
outer B ring. Other objects involved were the Huygens Gap, the Huygens Ringlet  and the Moon Mimas.
 (4) The  4th image is a view of the potato shaped  moon Prometheus (63 miles across) ,interacting gravitationally with the multistranded F ring.
The Cassini Huygens portion of the power point ended with the December 3th Flyby of Saturn’s Moon Titan.
Also included in the NASA update were images taken on November 19th, when Rover Spirit’s Microscopic Imager took numerous photomicrographs
of 3 cm square samples of martian soil.

From the President’s Desk....
So, did Santa unload his sleigh at your house?  Did you get boxes and boxes of telescopes, eyepieces, computer-scope-camera connections and
combinations...maybe even some dark sky for wrapping paper?  Throw in a comet or two and we have the makings of a real Christmas for AA’s.
I hope you got a garage full of AA goodies because Santa and the postman have conspired and sent a sleigh full of bills to my mailbox.                                         Just be ready to share your new toys when we are observing together and I will share some of the bills!!!

Speaking of Comets!  There is a beauty in Orion’s portion of the sky at this time.  In the coming weeks Comet Macholtz will leave Orion, travel north
across the top of our sky, and increase in brightness as it travels north.  Log onto Sky & Tel to get the trajectory coordinates and plot them on your star charts.
This comet bears watching because it could become a real beauty.  Today it is a large, bright fuzz ball easily found in binoculars.  By the new moon in January
it should be much brighter.  Put Comet Observing on your schedule.

Was it cold enuf this morning?  My thermometer read 11 degrees F at 8:00 AM and I think the low was around 6 degrees F.   BRRRRR!  As the cold artic wind roared around our house this morning and I pulled the covers a little closer, I thought, “This is a very good morning to be on vacation”.  Then the new baby cat pounced and pounced again so I had to get up.  Such is life.

Our January meeting promises to be a great one.  Dave Wells will cover Home Observatories.  Astronomical photography will be revealed by Norman Todd (CCD cameras), Steve Long (digital cameras), and Don Surles (antique film cameras).  Greg Lee will tell us about Johannes Kepler and his Rudolphine Tables.  Jerry Truitt will update us on the influence of the Internet’s WWW on amateur astronomy.  And Keith Lohmeyer will tell us all about the January night sky.  So, put the meeting
on your calendar and join us for hot coffee and left over holiday cookies Tuesday night, January 4, 2005.

Yes, you have seen the following information before and it is still valid.  Orion is the Jewel of the Winter Sky – don’t postpone looking at it.  From 2003:
‘this is the season for Orion watchers.  The great constellation is “on the meridian” just after sunset during January and early February.  A word of caution: Observe now and observe often – the brilliance of Orion’s jewels will diminish as it heads westward during late winter and early spring.  Aperture and power complement
Orion’s wonders; use your largest scope and increase the power to the max; you  will not be disappointed with the Orion family.  But again, please do not postpone
your viewing – Orion’s beauty diminishes rapidly after the next few weeks.”

How about some New Year’s Amateur Astronomy Resolutions?  Is this the year you will make your very own telescope?  How about trying your hand at photography? Maybe grind and polish a mirror?  Or connect a computer to your scope?  Or add a day of observing to your very busy schedule?  How about promoting amateur astronomy in your circle of friends?  This is the year you can make a difference. All you have to do is make an effort and I guarantee you will be surprised at the results.

Please take every opportunity to make the most of these long, cold, clear, and transparent winter nights.  They can offer some of the best observing of the year.
All you have to do is bundle up, protect your sensitive twinkie-toed feet, do something similar to protect your balding head, and of course you will need some
hand protection; after all this, if you can still move, move toward the scope and do some serious viewing.  We are all waiting for you to recap your experiences on
our yahoogroups.
Enuf for now; see you in January.
Don…

Solar System in January
As with December, most of the happening stuff will be in the morning hours.  All of  the major planets except Saturn will be morning stars in January and even then,
Saturn will be visible into the wee hours. Mercury and Venus as morning stars on January 7th will both be low in the SSE and less than one degree apart.
 Mars will be nearby to the west and just above Antares in Scorpius as January begins but will retrograde 16 degrees by month’s end.  Although Jupiter
doesn’t rise until midnight, the best viewing is at its highest point in the morning twilight.   Saturn is at opposition on Jan. 13th, which makes Jan. a good month to view this planet.
The Messiers, M35, M36, M37, and M38 are all good objects to find this month. M36 and M38 are inside Auriga,with M35 and M37 between Auriga and Gemini.  Skip Neptune and Uranus in the eveing as well as Pluto in the morning  this month, as they are too close to the Sun.
January is also the month that the Cassini Huygens module will be inserted via parachute onto  the moon Titan.  While NASA currently seems almost secretive
about the time line involved,  my sources put the module insertion on January 14 at 9:00U.T.                                                                                                    C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) in January at magnitude 4 will pass from Orion to.just  west of the Pleiades where it may be visible to the naked eye or certainly to the Bushnell Voyager discussed below:

BUSHNELL’S VOYAGER 4.5 INCH FAMILY TELESCOPE Model  78-2010

    Sun and Moon Data for January 2005,Tuckahoe MD
     38.98°N  75.93°W  5hrW Standard Time  Astronomical Twilight
                 Sun                         Moon
      Date    Twi.  Rise  Transit  Set    Twi.  Rise  Transit  Set    %
    1/1/2005  5:47a  7:23a 12:07p  4:52p  6:28p 10:40p  4:26a 11:03a  70
   1/2/2005  5:47a  7:23a 12:08p  4:53p  6:29p 11:42p  5:08a 11:25a  60
   1/3/2005  5:47a  7:23a 12:08p  4:54p  6:30p  *****  5:50a 11:47a  50
   1/4/2005  5:47a  7:23a 12:09p  4:55p  6:30p 12:47a  6:33a 12:11p  40
   1/5/2005  5:48a  7:23a 12:09p  4:56p  6:31p  1:54a  7:21a 12:38p  30
   1/6/2005  5:48a  7:23a 12:10p  4:57p  6:32p  3:06a  8:12a  1:11p  20
   1/7/2005  5:48a  7:23a 12:10p  4:58p  6:33p  4:23a  9:10a  1:52p  11
   1/8/2005  5:48a  7:23a 12:11p  4:59p  6:34p  5:39a 10:14a  2:45p   5
   1/9/2005  5:48a  7:23a 12:11p  5:00p  6:35p  6:52a 11:21a  3:52p   1
  1/10/2005  5:48a  7:22a 12:11p  5:01p  6:35p  7:54a 12:29p  5:08p   0
  1/11/2005  5:48a  7:22a 12:12p  5:02p  6:36p  8:44a  1:33p  6:29p   2
  1/12/2005  5:47a  7:22a 12:12p  5:03p  6:37p  9:23a  2:31p  7:49p   7
  1/13/2005  5:47a  7:22a 12:13p  5:04p  6:38p  9:55a  3:24p  9:04p  15
  1/14/2005  5:47a  7:21a 12:13p  5:05p  6:39p 10:22a  4:13p 10:15p  24
  1/15/2005  5:47a  7:21a 12:13p  5:06p  6:40p 10:46a  4:59p 11:22p  34
  1/16/2005  5:47a  7:21a 12:14p  5:07p  6:41p 11:10a  5:43p  *****  44
  1/17/2005  5:46a  7:20a 12:14p  5:08p  6:42p 11:34a  6:27p 12:28a  54
  1/18/2005  5:46a  7:20a 12:14p  5:09p  6:43p 12:00p  7:13p  1:32a  64
  1/19/2005  5:46a  7:19a 12:15p  5:10p  6:44p 12:30p  8:00p  2:36a  73
  1/20/2005  5:45a  7:19a 12:15p  5:11p  6:45p  1:04p  8:49p  3:39a  81
  1/21/2005  5:45a  7:18a 12:15p  5:13p  6:46p  1:45p  9:40p  4:40a  88
  1/22/2005  5:45a  7:18a 12:15p  5:14p  6:47p  2:33p 10:31p  5:37a  93
  1/23/2005  5:44a  7:17a 12:16p  5:15p  6:48p  3:28p 11:22p  6:27a  97
  1/24/2005  5:44a  7:16a 12:16p  5:16p  6:49p  4:27p  *****  7:10a  99
  1/25/2005  5:43a  7:16a 12:16p  5:17p  6:50p  5:28p 12:11a  7:47a 100
  1/26/2005  5:43a  7:15a 12:16p  5:18p  6:51p  6:31p 12:58a  8:18a  98
  1/27/2005  5:42a  7:14a 12:17p  5:19p  6:52p  7:32p  1:43a  8:44a  95
  1/28/2005  5:41a  7:13a 12:17p  5:21p  6:53p  8:34p  2:25a  9:08a  90
  1/29/2005  5:41a  7:13a 12:17p  5:22p  6:54p  9:35p  3:07a  9:29a  84
  1/30/2005  5:40a  7:12a 12:17p  5:23p  6:55p 10:38p  3:48a  9:51a  76
  1/31/2005  5:39a  7:11a 12:17p  5:24p  6:56p 11:42p  4:30a 10:13a  67

Moondark for January: Deep Night Weekends for 2005

For the darkest skies, unspoiled by moonlight, observers plan around the new moon. Deep night refers to that time between astronomical twilights without the Moon in the sky. Especially favored are the deep nights of Fridays and Saturdays listed in the table below. Most of these are regular monthly observing nights for the Delmarva Star Gazers, and these circumstances are calculated for Tuckahoe State Park, MD, 38° 59' N and 75° 56' W.

2005 looks promising. As the year opens, we have bright Comet Machholz in the northern sky, and the Huygens probe reaches Saturn’s moon Titan. Throughout the year, there are lunar occultations of Jupiter, Antares and Spica. Mars returns and dominates the sky through year’s end. But why not use these deep nights to re-discover the constellations or complete your Messier list? For a greater challenge try the Caldwell, Herschel, NGC lists, or even the catalogs of hordes of dim, hard to find planetaries and galaxies out there. Our club has experts in all these, and our members will be only too glad to provide encouragement. Participate in the online discussion at the club's Yahoo! site or join us at a monthly meeting, held on the first Tuesday of the month in Smyrna.

For the latest info, be sure to check times and dates in the monthly newsletter, the Star Gazer News. Moondark is written by Doug Miller, published at the Moondark web site, and printed in the Delmarva Star Gazers' Star Gazer News. This document was last revised on 26 December 2004. Text and images copyright © 2004 by Douglas C. Miller, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.