The Alpha star Castor is a double star thru telescopes but in reality has six components. The separation of the double portion is 3 arc seconds. It is spectral class A1V at magnitude 1.98 and is 51 light years away.
Pollux or Beta Geminorum at magnitude 1.2 is 32 light years distant with a spectral class KOIIIb.
Alhena, Gamma Geminorum, magnitude 2  AOIV is 112 light years away and is as bright as 160 suns.
Wasat, the Delta star, mag 3.5, is a slow moving F2 IV binary at 61 light years away with a K6 dwarf  companion.
Mebsuta, the Epsilon star  is a wide (optical) double suitable for small telescopes. The larger star is a 3rd mag supergiant G star at a distance of  1100 light years.  The companion is a 9th magnitude star.
Deep Space Objects
 M35 is an open star cluster visible in binoculars and beautiful in even modest telescopes. It is located 2 1/2^o northwest
of Eta Geminorum.
NGC 2392 This is the so called Eskimo Nebula, a greenish planetary nebula, with a bright central star.

Film Cameras for Astrophotography
The most popular camera for celestial photography is probably the 35 mm single lens reflex. The reason is not that it takes the finest pictures, but that it is relatively light and offers the most choices in accessories and films.
The requirements of Cameras used for astrophotography are almost the opposite of those used in every day applications
 Below are some of these requirements
Manual Operation Capability- On cold winter nights, batteries run down real quick so the camera must be capable of battery free operation.
Removable lenses- permit changing to lenses of different focal lengths and allow the use of  T adapters for mounting the camera to the telescope.
Bulb/Time Setting and Cable Release allows vibration free time exposures.
Removable Prism-Permits direct right angle viewing of the ground glass screen for overhead objects.
Changeable Focus Screen- Allows focusing on faint nebulae where you’ll want a very bright screen.
Mirror Lockup-this is the ability to lock the mirror in the “up” position before the shutter fires, to avoid the jarring vibration of the mirror return.   Many Olympus, Nikon and Pentax cameras have this feature.
Sturdy Tripod- The heavy duty vibration free camcorder type tripods are good for time exposure.
Don Surles brought  a number of cameras he has used for astrophotography including large format cameras in the 6X6 and 6X9 cm sizes. One of the 6X6's  was a Cirroflex twin lens reflex.  Don also presented a slide show of 35mm vs.the larger format “super slides”; there was no comparison.  The larger format slides had far more visual content. Many of the slides were impressive  western landscapes.
With the 35mm format, Don prefers slide film to print film  because the normal printing service for color prints compensates for the dark background and produces "something" resembling a sky shot that is usually unsatisfactory.  Slide film, however, is processed according to the type of film and it's speed, so the printing step is unnecessary and you get what you shot.
Concerning specific films, Don uses Kodak Elite-Chrome 400 for most photography.  If red is what a person is looking for, and he can track accurately, Don suggests Ektrachrome E100VS (vs= vivid saturation)  This is also a great film for all round use.  The extra brightness in the slides and the film does a great job capturing the nebulae of our night sky.
Dewing & Dew removal (Group effort)
Dew is really a very complex event where the dependent variables are temperature, relative humidity, and specific heat(s).   From a practical point of view however, it’s simply what happens to an object whose temperature is cooler than the ambient moisture laden air. If there’s no object present, we call it fog.
The Dew Point is the temperature at which these events can occur. Without getting into all the details, the most effective way of preventing dew is to make sure that all optical surfaces are warmer than the ambient air or the dew point.  This includes objectives, eyepieces, finders and diagonals. Cover them when not in use. Doug Norton likes to keep eyepieces in warm dry  towels when not in use. Some other methods of dew prevention are to delay the dew rather than prevent it. This includes dew shields on refractors and cadadioptrics. The reflector,of course, has the biggest dew shield of all: its own tube, although Don Surles has actually reduced dewing in his 25 inch  dob by lifting part of the cloth shroud, where it meets the mirror, thus  permitting ventilation!
 Since the scope at night is a black body radiator, its cooling down can be delayed by making it glossy & white or better yet silvering it (grin!).

From the President’s Desk...
February 17, 2002
Well, Winter has been mild and the Olympics are over.  Springtime is coming!  Have you noticed the increased brightness and warmth of the Sun?  By the time you get these comments we will probably see daffodils and crocuses(croci?) in bloom.  And it will almost be time to begin the Spring garden.
Are you ready for the 2nd Mid-Atlantic Mirror Making Conference?  I certainly hope you have it on your agenda – March 1-3, Mallard Lodge, Smyrna, DE.  Many of your fellow Star Gazers havebeen busy assembling the various supplies, ingredients, tools, equipment, correspondence, ie, planning and preparing, for this event.  We will have 12-13 mirror makers, several web-camera hackers, and 20 prominence scope assemblers plus some of the best talents in amateur astronomy
coming together for three days of REAL amateur astronomy.  If you are a participant I hope to see you, early in the morning, March 1.  If you plan to observe, please allow enough time to see it all and ask questions about the activities.
Following on the heels of the Mirror Makers weekend we will host Delmarva Star Gaze VIII – yes, that is number EIGHT.  It will begin April 10 and windup on April 14.  This is the first and longest star party of 2002 in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Tuckahoe State Park will again be inundated with gazers, scopes, tents, trailers, food, and amateur astronomy.  Put this one on your calendar – I am sure this one will be the best Stargaze yet.  We are making amateur astronomy a very popular
avocation.  What was once an extremely  lonely hobby is becoming one of close communication via a growing number of astronomy clubs, star parties, newsletters, and the internet. Delmarva Star Gazers are certainly doing their share – I want to thank all those who volunteer their time and expertise to make our organization a leader in promoting amateur astronomy in the Mid-Atlantic community.  Let’s continue to look for ways to become THE BEST astronomy club and to become more valuable in the promotion of science and understanding our universe.  Continue to look for ways to make steps toward improvements.  No one change needs to be revolutionary; evolution is easier than revolution.  One phrase I remember from long ago that emphasizes the necessity of small improvements is: “continuous improvement is better than postponed perfection”.
We can and should continuously improve our organization.  Please continue to communicate with each other and let your amateur astronomy organization know about your ideas and energies for improving and meeting the needs of yourself and your fellow Star Gazers.  You are the reason Delmarva Star Gazers exist.  Your ideas and support are why we have been so successful and why you are absolutely necessary for the continued success and improvement of Delmarva Star Gazers.
See you at First Presbyterian Church, Mallard Lodge, or Tuckahoe State Park.  Don…

The Editor’s Quadrant....
The Solar System in March
Mercury- in the morning twilight will be too low in the March  sky for decent viewing. Venus in March emerges from the western twilight as an evening star.  Mars-is in the western twilight sky in Aries. It continues fading in March, as its magnitude goes from 1.3  to 1.5 and the disk size goes  from  4.8” to 4.4” across.  Although Jupiter  also loses magnitude in March from -2.4 to -2.2, it is still high in the southern sky and next to the moon, is the brightest object in the sky.  Saturn, although past its opposition, remains a spectacular sight in March shining high and bright in Taurus with rings still at full tilt.  Your March Skymap  on page 5 shows the 10 p.m. position of these two planets poised above the constellation Orion. Both Uranus and Neptune  are coming out of  conjunction with the sun in March but will be too low in the morning twilight for observing.    Pluto in Ophiuchus  is pretty high  when the morning dawn approaches. On March 19th at 16h UT, the asteroid Vesta will pass less than 2’ south of  Saturn.
Clear Skies!,  Frank Sheldon  f.a.sheldon@att.net

Future Meetings...Future Meetings...The remaining meeting dates  for 2002 will be:
 February 05, March 05,  April 02,  May 07 June 04 July 06 Picnic at Tuckahoe,  August 06 to be announced, September 03,  October 08, November 05,  and December  03
 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 observing site will be at the baseball field in the camping  area at Tuckahoe State Park. The remaining monthly observing days for the year 2002 will be:   February 8,  March 15, Stargaze VIII April 10-14, May 10, June 07, July 12, August 9, September 9, No-Frills VII October 2-6, November 1,
December 6   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.

The Star Gazer News is usually  composed on or after the middle of each month and published seven days before the club meeting.   Send items to be included to editor Frank Sheldon (20985 Fleatown Rd, Lincoln, DE 19960), f.a.sheldon@att.net Corrections and updates to the mailing list, including e-mail addresses, should also go directly to Frank Sheldon.