STAR GAZER  NEWS
NEWSLETTER OF THE DELMARVA STARGAZERS
  June 2004         WWW.DelmarvaStarGazers.Org   Volume 11 Number 12
At the May Meeting.....                                           
Don Surles brought the meeting to order at 7:15 with 21 members and guests attending.    
New Members
Jeannie Adams, Harbeson, DE 

STAR GAZE X RECAP
Most members present had preferred the Equestrian Center to our normal site for star parties. Reasons cited were more visible skies and
lower horizons and way more room, should we decide to expand.  The cooking facilities and food preparation areas  were better and there
 was gas heat available  to escape the cold night weather.  There was an area for slide, overhead  and computer projection presentations,
 superior to the pavilion.  On the down side was a lack of nearby bathing facilities and the need for Porta Potties. There was also some sky
glow from the west and occasional lights from parallel traveling cars.
 
Current Sky Objects  were briefly discussed such as the visibility of the naked eye planets, total Moon Eclipse May 4-5,  the 2 comets
NEAT and LINEAR, and the June 8 Transit of Venus. 
 
Outreach Events
Somerset Lake Jerry Truitt announced a May 8th Star Party at Somerset Lake community, involving  about 30 people with about half of them
 being children.     The Star Party will start at 8:00 p.m. at the tennis courts of the Somerset Lake Clubhouse in Landenburg, PA, near
Hockessen, DE.   Driving directions are posted on the Stargazer Yahoo pages.
Ridgley Facility Lyle Jones  received a request that an observing session be set up for 13 handicapped individuals at the Ridgely facility near
 Tuckahoe State Park. Two persons will be in wheel chairs and one person has vision problems. 
The Ridgley contact person is Dolly at 410 634-843.
 
Candidates for Club Officers 2004-2005
The following candidates were nominated for the 2004-2005 time period:
President  Don Surles
Vice President  Jerry Truitt
Secretary     Keith Lohmeyer, Paul Riley
Treasurer  Kathy Sheldon
Aid de Camp Leonard White
The Aid de Camp  is a less formal volunteer position similar to a committee member.
Election will be held at the  June 1st club meeting.
 
UPDATE ON MARS ROVERS
Jerry Truitt presented a portion of the NASA slide show on the 2 Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity for the time periods
of April 3 -9 and  April 10-16.   
Below are further updates  to the middle of May.  You will see the word sol and sols used frequently. While  the term “sol” represents a
solar martian day, solar time keeping on Mars is  complicated by the planet's orbital eccentricity,  five times larger than Earth's, causing a
40% seasonal variation in its incoming sunlight and a fifty minute variation in the timing of local noon (as measured on a 24 "hour" Mars clock).
 Therefore I recommend using earth time; along with the sols.
SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Speeds to 'Lead Foot' - sol 124-126, May 12, 2004. Spirit drove 80 meters (262.5 feet) on sol 124, bringing its
total odometry to 1,909.52  meters (1.2 miles). Spirit has less than 1.2 kilometers (.75 mile) to go before reaching the base of the"Columbia Hills,"
and will reach them by sol 160. Later in the martian day, after completing the sol 124 drive, Spirit took a 360-degree afternoon panorama of its
surroundings with the navigation camera. On sol 125, Spirit continued driving and set a new one-sol driving record of 123.7 meters (405.8 feet).
 Science on Sol 125 included morning atmospheric sky and ground remote sensing, mini thermal emission spectrometer observation of the sol 126
 instrument deployment device work volume, imaging with the panoramic camera, and cloud observations. After the long sol 125 drive,
 Spirit was in perfect position to work with the instrument deployment device on sol 126. This included alpha particle X-ray spectrometer,
 Mössbauer and microscopic imager work on a target called "Lead Foot" (in honor of the big drive on sol 125).
The Mössbauer was used as the feeler for all these activities but touched down on rocks rather than soil at the "Lead Foot" location, compromising
 the Mössbauer and microscopic imager data (images out of focus). Spirit also did some driving on this sol, and added 55.6 meters (182.4 feet) to
 the odometer, bringing Spirit's new drive total to 2,089 meters (1.3 miles). At the end of the sol, Spirit successfully executed a sequence that used
the panoramic camera to find the Sun and correct for accumulated rover attitude errors. 
Below is the final  Spirit mission map:

 
OPPORTUNITY UPDATE
sol 103-106, May 13, 2004: Crater Cruise
On Sol 103, Opportunity traversed approximately 13 meters (about 43 feet) farther south along the eastern rim of "Endurance Crater," reaching the
 beginning of the "Karatepe" area. On sol 104, the rover approached "Lion Stone," a rock at the crater's edge that stands about 10 centimeters tall
(about 4 inches) and is about 30 centimeters long (12 inches). This brought Opportunity's total mission odometry to1,054 meters (3,458 feet)!
On Sol 105, Opportunity acquired a series of microscopic images of Lion Stone and the surrounding soil  The rover then went on to collect a
short Mössbauer integration on the rock during the day, performed a tool change to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer in late afternoon, and
acquired that integration in the early morning of Sol 106. That sol also included additional microscopic images and a successful "bump" maneuver to
reposition the rover so the top of Lion Stone was in position for the rock abrasion tool on Sol 107. Remote sensing was also acquired during the two
 sols, including panoramic camera images of the heatshield that protected Opportunity during its toasty trip through the martian atmosphere. The heat
shield impacted approximately 250 meters (about 820 feet) south of Endurance Crater.
Plans for Sol 107 are to perform a rock abrasion tool grind on Lion Stone with subsequent microscopic images and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer
overnight integration. The tentative plan for Sol 108 is to leave Lion Stone and begin traverse to observation position 2 on the southeastern rim of
Endurance Crater.
 
 From the Presidents Desk....
 The 2004 Transit of Venus…we have all probably seen a few articles on this phenomenon resulting from “cosmic geometry”.  Honestly, I always
 planned to put the event on my calendar and make every effort to view the spectacle.  But, I have not done a lot of research on the crossing and
half expect to have clouds or fog or rain…we have all been skunked by Mother Nature and understand all too well the sinking feeling when we are
denied the necessary conditions to observe special events.
This week I read an article on the Transit of Venus in the Science and Health section of May 14’s Financial Times.  I will attempt to paraphrase
the information so that we all have a better understanding of this event.  The last time a transit occurred was in 1882; no one alive today witnessed
the event. Transits of Venus normally occur on a 122 year cycle and normally come in pairs separated by 8 years.  So, we will have the second one
of this cycle in 2012.
The first sighting of a Venus transit was in 1639.  The 1874-1882 cycle was a culturally stimulating event.   John Phillip Sousa wrote the march
“The Transit  of Venus” and Harper’s Magazine cover showed Appalachian school children watching the sun through a pane of smoked glass.
Astronomers were psyched too.  The US Congress funded 8 expeditions in 1874 for $177,000 – Russia fielded 26 teams!  There is a picture
of some astronomers who transported a portable observatory from Greenwich to Egypt in the Financial Times article (the scope appears to be a 4 or
5 inch refractor).  The camera was relatively new and mating it with a telescope seemed the right thing to do (glass plates!…definitely not a 35mm or digital)
.  The goal was to time the exact second when the disk of Venus slipped inside the disk of the Sun from several points on Earth.  The data from these
observations would be used to calculate the distance from Earth to Venus and via Johannes Kepler’s orbital laws one could also calculate the distance from
the Earth to the Sun or the value for one Astronomical Unit (AU).  The answer derived from the observations was very close to today’s accepted value of
150 million kilometers.  But the teams were hindered by the “black drop effect” which is a distortion of the silhouette of Venus just as it enters and exits the
 Sun’s disk.  The usually round shape appears to distort and look like a water drop.  Some believed the clouds of  Venus caused the black drop effect;
 others discounted the atmosphere of Venus and blamed Earth’s atmosphere.  Still others blamed the bending of light within the telescope.    
 Fast forward to 1999 – a satellite (NASA’s Transition Region and Coronal Explorer- TRACE) high above Earth’s atmosphere observed a transit of
Mercury  which has no appreciable atmosphere and experienced the same black drop effect.  Astronomers again blamed the scattering of light within
the satellite’s scope/camera system.  And they added the possibility that the “limb darkening” of the Sun could be the culprit.  The same satellite will again
attempt to  record June’s Venus transit and any distortion of the image.  Stay tuned…we may finally learn what causes the black drop effect.
So now I have more appreciation for the transit and the efforts of previous generations to learn from it.
Have you seen Comet NEAT?  I have seen it and have enjoyed watching it climb higher each night.  The 25 X 100 Chinese binocular is a wonderful
instrument for this type of comet.  The comet is a big fuzz ball with a dense core.  And by shifting the bino just a tad, the short stubby tail pops out from the background.   The communications about this comet between members of our organization has been plentiful and inspiring.  We are fortunate to live in a
 time when communications are so inexpensive, fast and easy.
We will hold our election for 2004-2005 officers at the June 1 meeting.  The candidates were nominated at the May meeting and you have to be present
at the June 1 meeting to vote. Planning meeting(s) for the coming year will be sometime in late June/early July.   Typically, those interested in planning for
 the coming year meet at Frank and Kathy’s house for a Saturday afternoon of food, drink, fun, and of course planning for the coming year.
  All members are invited to attend, to share their ideas and volunteer to insure their favorite activities are properly and successfully executed. 
 Take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts and any pertinent information so that you can convince the group and gain their support.
 I am always amazed at the variety of opportunities our group can assemble in an afternoon.
Enuf for now – see you at Tuckahoe or the Church.
Don…
 
Observer Notes 
The following are observer notes excerpted mostly from the Yahoo pages with minimal editing.
May 12 13   Kent Blackwell
Galaxy Quest? No, not the movie but rather a report on my continuing quest for spring edge-on galaxies, all observed through a moderate 
10" Dobsonian. I located 27 additional edge-ones Wednesday, May 12 bringing the two-night total to a whopping 60 edge-on galaxies.
Do I need to get a life or what?
One you should surely put on your list is  NGC 5746 in Virgo. My notes read, "!!! Wow! Beautiful edge-on galaxy just slightly west of the
3.7 magnitude star109 Virginis. The galaxy is dusty, and I suspect a dust lane. Wonderful object."
How about a real test for those with 8-10" scopes? I have never seen NGC 5971 in any telescope, so I tacked it with my 10" f/4.7. Here's my notes:
"eef, pl, elongated. Lies just to the NE of the wonderful pencil-thin  edge-on N5965.
 This galaxy, at 15th magnitude, is the faintest I have yet seen with the 10".
NGC 5746 Mag 11.4 Virgo RA14h 44 d +01 57'
NGC 5971 Mag 15   Draco RA15h 35m d+56 27'
 
Bob Bunge May 15 
Actually, I did TSP Saturday night! All of the forecasters had been guessing the cold front was finally going to come east all week, and
Saturday night started out looking a lot like Friday had, so I made the run.
The skies started clear. There were toads everywhere on the ballfield.  About 8:30 I heard a Barred owl make it's normal call. About 8:45, 
I heard a Great Horned Owl call. Since the Great Horneds like to eat the Barreds, that quited the Owls for the night.
This is the first Great Horned I've ever heard at TSP.  About 8:45, a Buck, apparently, in the field on the other side of the trees to
the east, decided to stand ground against me and made repeated aggressive noises. I decided not to charge.
On a whim, I glanced at Jupiter in the 20-inch and was surprised to see one of the best views I've ever had of it.  I ranked the seeing at 9.5 at 800x
and holding.   At 9:15, I hunted up the Beehive and quickly found Comet NEAT in the 4.25-inch f/4 finder. It was a fine view of both the cluster,
the comet and the comet's tail. The 20-inch  showed nice detail in the outer parts of the coma and the close in tail. As I started to draw the view in
the 4-inch, noticed the first of the flashes to the west. By the time I finished the drawings, the skies were almost completely overcast.
 I Hung around for a few minutes and was packed up by 10:30.   While on Rt 304, my wife called from Bowie to comment they were in heavy
 downpours. I ran into the first wind gusts just before Kent Island and the first rain drops as I approached the Bay bridge.
A short, but a pretty fun trip.  FYI, being the only warm blooded target on the field  was not pleasant; the blood sucking insects were about
 the only draw back
of the night. Bob Bunge
 
The Solar system in June by Paul Riley
Good News - For only the sixth time since the invention of the telescope Venus will transit the Sun. It will be on the morning of June 8th.
Bad News - We will get to see the egress only. For us, Venus will start to egress at 7:05 AM and complete egress by 7:25 AM.
Sunrise on June 8th is 5:36 AM so if you get up early, you will be able to see Venus transit the Sun for almost 2 hours. Remember, use only approved
solar viewing devices !
Comet NEAT will be in URSA MAJOR in the middle of June, While Comet lLinear will be near Hydra.
June 21st brings us the summer solstice, the shortest night of the year. Astronomical twilight occurs at 10:44 PM and at 3:38 AM the following morning. As
you remember, Civil twilight starts when the sun is 6 deg. below the horizon. Nautical twilight starts when the sun is 12 deg below, and astronomical twilight
starts when the sun is 18 deg. below the horizon. All that means that the sky will be at it's darkest for less than 5 hours.
The moon will set at 11:41 PM that night. How many Messiers can you find during the shortest night ?

Observing Chair Comparison  By Keith Lohmeyer
Observing chairs allow observers to have more quality eyepiece time. Longer views at the eyepiece will bring out more object detail. You will also have a better chance of catching those moments of ‘perfect’ seeing. Refractor users really benefit by keeping them off their knees. There are also chairs that can be used by dob users too. Stargazers were invited to bring their favorite observing chair but only two showed up.  One was made by James Morgan and the other by Keith Lohmeyer. Both were variations on the Denver Chair shown in photo below left.        This is probably the best and most foolproof of the home made type with the most critical element being the 3M adhesive backed stair tread which keeps your seat and you) from crashing down.     
 

Below are the various types available

Brand                          Price                   Height    Const.            Features                                            Available From
TeleVue Air-Chair           $175              21" to 28"    metal        padded seat, lever                High Point Scientific and other Televue dealers
                                                                                                seat adjustment 
Drum Throne                $30 - $115        17" to 28"    metal      similar to airchair, screw               DrumNetwork.Com and other music stores
                                                                                                or manual seat adjustment
Denver Observer
 seat                                about $35         10" to 28"    wood      ATM project, plans online          http://members.tripod.com/ denverastro/seat.html
Kendrick Observing
 Chair                               $139                  9" to 30"    wood           similar to Denver chair                        Anacortes Telescope
Starbuckets
Observing   chair              $135                13" to 29"    wood         available in Red Oak or Hickory           Starbuckets Telescopes
StarStep Observing          $139                  8" to 29"    wood         triangle shape, can use standing              Starmaster Telescopes
Chair   
Starbound                         $159                9" to 32"       metal           padded seat, black or white                High Point Scientific and others
viewing   chair  
Astro Chair                        $95                18" to 32"       metal           padded seat, lightweight - 10lb    http://www.buyastrostuff.com/
Beerchair observing           $199                 9" to 35"      wood    lightweight - 8lb, padded seat, carrying case    http://www.thebeerchair.com/
chair 
Catsperch observing        plans$44             8" to 46"       wood      includes footpegs, usable with dobs    http://www. catseyecollimation.com/
chair                                kit $188  

 
Sun and Moon Data for June 2004 Tuckahoe MD
   38.98°N  75.93°W  5hrW Daylight Time  Astronomical Twilight
          Sun                         Moon
      Date    Twi.  Rise  Transit  Set    Twi.  Rise  Transit  Set    %
    6/1/2004  3:44a  5:40a  1:02p  8:24p 10:20p  6:57p 11:59p  4:17a  97
   6/2/2004  3:44a  5:39a  1:02p  8:24p 10:21p  8:18p  *****  4:54a 100
   6/3/2004  3:43a  5:39a  1:02p  8:25p 10:22p  9:35p  1:02a  5:41a 100
   6/4/2004  3:42a  5:39a  1:02p  8:26p 10:22p 10:44p  2:08a  6:40a  96
   6/5/2004  3:42a  5:39a  1:02p  8:26p 10:23p 11:41p  3:16a  7:49a  91
   6/6/2004  3:41a  5:38a  1:02p  8:27p 10:24p  *****  4:20a  9:04a  83
   6/7/2004  3:41a  5:38a  1:03p  8:27p 10:25p 12:25a  5:19a 10:20a  73
   6/8/2004  3:40a  5:38a  1:03p  8:28p 10:26p  1:00a  6:12a 11:33a  63
   6/9/2004  3:40a  5:38a  1:03p  8:29p 10:27p  1:28a  7:00a 12:41p  52
  6/10/2004  3:40a  5:38a  1:03p  8:29p 10:27p  1:53a  7:45a  1:46p  41
  6/11/2004  3:39a  5:38a  1:03p  8:30p 10:28p  2:16a  8:27a  2:49p  32
  6/12/2004  3:39a  5:38a  1:04p  8:30p 10:29p  2:38a  9:09a  3:50p  23
  6/13/2004  3:39a  5:37a  1:04p  8:30p 10:29p  3:01a  9:51a  4:51p  15
  6/14/2004  3:39a  5:37a  1:04p  8:31p 10:30p  3:26a 10:34a  5:53p   9
  6/15/2004  3:38a  5:38a  1:04p  8:31p 10:30p  3:54a 11:20a  6:54p   4
  6/16/2004  3:38a  5:38a  1:05p  8:32p 10:31p  4:27a 12:07p  7:55p   1
  6/17/2004  3:38a  5:38a  1:05p  8:32p 10:31p  5:07a 12:57p  8:52p   0
  6/18/2004  3:39a  5:38a  1:05p  8:32p 10:32p  5:53a  1:48p  9:43p   1
  6/19/2004  3:39a  5:38a  1:05p  8:32p 10:32p  6:46a  2:39p 10:28p   3
  6/20/2004  3:39a  5:38a  1:05p  8:33p 10:32p  7:44a  3:29p 11:07p   7
  6/21/2004  3:39a  5:38a  1:06p  8:33p 10:32p  8:46a  4:17p 11:40p  13
  6/22/2004  3:39a  5:39a  1:06p  8:33p 10:32p  9:49a  5:03p  *****  20
  6/23/2004  3:40a  5:39a  1:06p  8:33p 10:32p 10:52a  5:48p 12:08a  29
  6/24/2004  3:40a  5:39a  1:06p  8:33p 10:32p 11:56a  6:32p 12:33a  38
  6/25/2004  3:40a  5:40a  1:06p  8:33p 10:32p  1:00p  7:15p 12:57a  49
  6/26/2004  3:41a  5:40a  1:07p  8:33p 10:32p  2:07p  8:01p  1:20a  59
  6/27/2004  3:41a  5:40a  1:07p  8:33p 10:32p  3:17p  8:49p  1:45a  70
  6/28/2004  3:42a  5:41a  1:07p  8:33p 10:32p  4:31p  9:42p  2:13a  80
  6/29/2004  3:42a  5:41a  1:07p  8:33p 10:32p  5:49p 10:41p  2:46a  88
  6/30/2004  3:43a  5:42a  1:07p  8:33p 10:32p  7:07p 11:45p  3:27a  95