Highlights of the
December Sky. . .
- - - 1st - - AM: Saturn upper left of
Moon.
Last Quarter Moon
- - - 5th - - Dawn: Spica above, Venus
upper left of Moon.
- - - 9th - - New Moon
- - - 12th - - PM: Vesta upper right of
Moon.
- - - 14th - - AM: Geminid meteor
shower peaks (75/hour).
- 15th -
--PM: Pallas south of Moon.
- - - 16th - - PM: Uranus 2º south of
Moon.
- - - 17th - - First Quarter Moon
- - - 18th - - Mars closest approach to
Earth.
- - - 21st - - PM: Pleiades right of
Moon.
- - - 23rd - - PM: Mars near Moon.
Full Moon
- - - 24th - - Mars at opposition.
Prime Focus
A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
December 2007
This Months KAS Events
Annual Meeting: Friday, December 7 @ 6:30 pm
Kalamazoo Math & Science Center - See Page 4 for Details
Board Meeting: Sunday, December 9 @ 5:00 pm
Sunnyside Church - 2800 Gull Road - All Members Welcome
Observing Session: Thursday, December 13 @ 8:00 pm
Kalamazoo Nature Center - See Page 20 for Details
Inside the Newsletter. . .
November Meeting Minutes................ p. 2
Board Meeting Minutes......................... p. 3
Holiday Party........................................... p. 4
A Supernova & Christmas.................... p. 4
Observations........................................... p. 5
A Day at Alder Planetarium................. p. 6
Building A Vision..................................... p. 9
The Odd Comet Holmes..................... p. 12
PM: Pollux lower left of
Moon.
NASA Space Place.................................. p. 15
- - - 27th - - PM: Regulus near Moon.
Mars Map.................................................. p. 17
- 28th -
--PM: Saturn above Moon.
- - - 31st- - Last Quarter Moon
The Star-Splitter..................................... p. 16
December Night Sky............................. p. 18
KAS Officers & Announcements........ p. 19
Geminid Meteor Shower Watch........ p. 20
www.kasonline.org
November Meeting Minutes
The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
was brought to order by President Richard Bell on Friday,
November 2, 2007 at 7:13 pm. Approximately 40 members
and guests were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math &
Science Center (KAMSC).
After being in the awkward position of introducing himself,
Richard began the feature presentation of the evening. He
called his latest talk A New World, This World of Mars. The
Red Planet was likely first noticed at least 40,000 years ago.
It was at this time humans first developed complex language.
Artistic expression wasn’t far behind and Richard speculated
that humans finally had time to look up into the sky and found
that a handful of the lights above wandered around.
Eventually, cultures around the world developed mythological
beliefs about the red wanderer. The Australian Aborigines
called Mars Waijungari, after a hunter covered in red ocher,
who climbed into the sky. Ancient Egyptians called Mars Har
dacher, the Red One, and sekhad-et-em-khet-ket, he who
moves backward. To Babylonians, Mars was called Nergal,
the star of death. In India, Mars was known as Angakara, the
burning coal. In the Far East, it was known as the “fire star” Huoxing in China and Kasei in Japan. The ancient Greeks
called it Ares, after their blood-drenched god of war. Today,
we use the name of the Roman god of war for the fourth planet
from the Sun.
The elliptical nature of Mars’ orbit was then discussed and
how this explains why Mars appears different from one opposition to the next. After Mercury, Mars’ orbit is the most elliptical amongst the eight planets of the solar system. During
a perihelic opposition, Mars can be as close as 35 million
miles from Earth. These currently occur at intervals of 15 or
17 years. The last such opposition was in 2003 and the next
will be on July 27, 2018. An aphelic opposition takes place
when Mars is at its most distant from the Sun. At these times,
Earth and Mars can be separated by as much as 65 million
miles. During the most favorable oppositions, Mars’ angular
diameter reaches a maximum of 25.1". During the next Mars
opposition on December 24, 2007, Mars will appear only
15.88" in width. However, it’ll be well placed above the
southern horizon (75º in altitude at maximum).
Richard moved into the heart of his talk, the colorful observational history of the Red Planet. Galileo was the first to observe Mars through a telescope in 1610. He attempted to observe Mars in its Gibbous phase, but it was at its most distant
from Earth at the time. Christiaan Huygens was the first to
observe Syrtis Major, a prominent V-shaped feature on Mars,
and the first to estimate Mars’ rotation at ~24 hours in 1659.
Two German amateur astronomers, Johann Mädler and
Wilhelm Beer, created the first map of Mars in the 1830’s.
Using the 25-inch refractor at the U.S. Naval Observatory
Prime Focus
(then located in Washington D.C.), Asaph Hall discovered the
two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, in 1877. This was
also the year that one of the greatest Mars observers emerged
on the scene, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli.
Schiaparelli was director of Brera Observatory when he observed Mars on August 23, 1877. He wasn’t impressed at
first, but soon decided to launch an all-out observing campaign. The “most delicate explorations” were carried out in
October 1877. It was during this time he first observed and
sketched the soon-to-be infamous canali. This term can mean
either natural channels or artificial canals. It wasn’t long before the later term was used, but Schiaparelli always believed
that these thin lines were natural features.
By the early 1890’s, interest in Mars had become worldwide,
and approached hysteric proportions during the opposition of
1892. It was at this time that Percival Lowell, one of the
wealthiest members of the Boston Brahmin society, launched
his own campaign on the Red Planet. Lowell’s imagination
was fired when he read the book La Planéte Mars, written by
the famous French astronomer Camille Flammarion. After
only ONE MONTH of observations, Lowell developed his
grand “theory” about Mars. Mars, being a smaller world than
Earth, evolved more rapidly and had already lost much of its
water supply. To survive, the inhabitants had to build a vast
system of irrigation canals to transport water from the polar
caps. Needless to say, this idea sparked much controversy and
was not completely silenced until the Space Age.
This fascination about Mars created many popular works of
fiction. The first was The War of the Worlds, written by H.G.
Wells in 1898. Orson Welles adapted the story for his radio
broadcast in October 1938. Listeners across the country believed an actual Martian invasion was underway! Two major
movies have also been based on Wells’ book. The first was
released in 1953 and the latest in 2005. Edgar Rice Burroughs
started a series of Mars novels starting in 1911. It follows the
adventures of John Carter, who journeyed from Virginia to
Barsoom, as Mars was known to the inhabitants.
Richard then moved into the history and future of exploring
Mars with robotic spacecraft. Readers are encouraged to visit
NASA’s “Mars Exploration: Home” web site to learn about
the discoveries of past and current missions and enjoy the
many thousands of images they’ve taken from orbit and the
surface. Please point your browsers to:
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/
How to best observe Mars was then discussed. A refracting
telescope with a lens 4 to 6 inches in diameter, or a reflecting
telescope with a mirror at least 6 to 8 inches in width were
recommended. Eyepieces are the next important piece of
equipment and Richard encouraged everyone to purchase the
Page 2
December 2007
best quality possible. A Barlow lens is a cheaper alternative if
you already own a high-quality, medium power eyepiece for
deep sky viewing.
Filters are critical for serious Martian study. A #23A or #25
red filter is ideal for revealing surface detail. A #56 green or
#80A blue filter helps with white clouds and the polar caps. A
#8 yellow or #11 yellow-green filters will show any dust
storms that may be present. Buying colored filters in sets is
much more economical. A minus-violet filter is recommended
if you own an achromatic refractor. This will reduce the effects of chromatic aberration and even sharpen the view. Both
Orion and Tele Vue sell a special Mars filter. Richard has no
experience with these filters, but figured they’re worth a try.
Maps are also highly recommended (it’s nice to know what
features you’re looking at). Mars Previewer II is a handy bit
of freeware that can be downloaded from Sky & Telescope’s
web site. During the 2003 opposition, Richard found a nice
map of Mars online and made a special “KAS Mars Map”,
which can be found on page 17.
Lastly, Richard gave some quick tips on how to image Mars.
The best webcam today is the Philips SPC900NC 1.3 MP
camera. Higher end cameras include the DFK series from
Imaging Source and the SKYnyx series from Lumenera.
Popular camera control programs for webcams include
K3CCD Tools and IRIS. Popular image processing programs
include RegiStax and Astrostack.
During the break everyone enjoyed the special “Mars cookies”
courtesy of Jean DeMott (who was not able to attend the meeting). Richard then gave a very brief president’s report by
thanking all those that volunteered their time at a Public Observing Session this year. Several members reported observing Comet Holmes, which suddenly brightened on October
24th (see page 12 for details and images). Under astronomical
news, the successful launch of the China's Chang'e 1 spacecraft was discussed. It reached lunar orbit on November 5th
and joins Japan’s Kaguya spacecraft (which returned some
amazing HD images and video of the Earth and Moon).
After discussing upcoming activities, we held opening nominations for 2008 Board Members:
President
none
Vice President
Jack Price, Mike Sinclair
Treasurer
Rich Mather
Secretary/ALCOR
Roger Williams
Members-At-Large (no more than 4)
Jean DeMott, Dick Gillespie, Dan Morgan, & Dave Woolf
Final nominations and elections will be held at the December
meeting (see page 19 for more information). The meeting
concluded at 9:36 pm.
Board Meeting Minute
Minutess
The KAS Board met on November 11th at Sunnyside Church.
President Richard Bell brought the meeting to order at 5:00
pm. Present were Jean DeMott, Dick Gillespie, Rich Mather,
Dan Morgan, Jack Price, Dave Woolf, and Roger Williams.
The treasurer’s report from Rich Mather featured a new milestone for KAS, with a 5-figure balance ($10,000.50). Major
additions during the past month included $2,602 from Jean’s
plant sales (which should also be matched by Pfizer) and a
$1,000 Pfizer grant also obtained by Jean. Expenses were
minor during this month. The land acquisition fund (a subset
of the balance above) currently contains $3,203.89.
Richard summarized planned coming events, specifically the
annual holiday party on December 7th and a Geminid Meteor
Shower viewing scheduled on December 13th.
In follow-up items from last month, Jean and Dick confirmed
that they had distributed the KAS brochures taken last month.
Jack had not yet put together a first aid kit for Owl Observatory, but had it on the to-do list. Richard had prepared letters
for members who had not yet renewed for the coming year.
In relation to membership, Dan asked about the advantages
we can list for becoming a member and raised the question of
whether we could offer more. In ensuing discussion, the idea
was advanced of a cling window sticker with the KAS logo,
and this will be examined further.
Meeting topics for 2008 are being developed, with Mike Sinclair scheduled for January (topic to be announced) and Kirk
Korista in February, speaking about Pluto.
The category of other business featured a lively discussion of
a question raised by Dick, regarding our preparations (or lack
thereof) for keeping the club going after loss of a critical
member. Specifically, our president currently acts in addition
as program chairman, newsletter editor, and web site maintainer. This is very convenient for everyone else, but it also
means that no one is being trained in these other areas, and we
would probably have difficulty in getting anyone to step up if
needed. The Board did not come to a solution of the problem,
but it remains under discussion. Roger mentioned that the
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra is performing Holst’s “The
Planets” on April 18, 2008, and that this might be a good
venue for handing out KAS information. Roger and Molly
will check with the Symphony office about this possibility.
Live viewing will also be raised as a possibility.
The meeting was concluded at about 6:30 pm. The Board then
stuffed envelopes with the membership renewal letters. The
next meeting was set for December 9th, same time and place.
Respectfully submitted by Roger Williams
Prime Focus
Page 3
December 2007
You are cordially invited to the KAS
A Supernova & Christmas
Holiday Party
by Bob
December 7th @ 6:30 pm
Well, all to quickly the earth has made that lap around the
Sun and it is time for the annual KAS Holiday Party. It’s
time to pull out the best family heirloom recipes for appetizers and desserts and bring your submissions to this ever
popular get together of the KAS family. The KAS will be
providing beverages and Jean DeMott will once again be
making a bowl of steaming wassail. All you will need to
bring is either an appetizer or dessert to share.
For those of you new to this annual tradition, we will be
celebrating another successful year of club activities and
also holding our annual meeting on December 1st. This is
an evening open to members and their guests and it is always well attended, affording an excellent opportunity to
spend an enjoyable evening with fellow Society members
and their families.
We will start out at 6:30 pm (rather than our usual 7:00
pm) with food and socializing and then conclude that portion of the evening’s activities with a round of our always
highly competitive BINGO game run by our ever popular
caller and President, Richard Bell. We have rounded up
some very choice prizes this year.
The annual meeting, after the BINGO games, will feature
reports and images from the recent field trip to Adler
Planetarium, followed by the final nominations and election of officers and at-large board members for 2008. To
close out the evening we will be awarding door prizes at
the conclusion of the annual meeting. So, mark you calendar and we will see you at KAMSC for an astronomically
good time!
&<'
Havira
The following is excerpted from Barbara and my 2005
Christmas letter. It seemed appropriate to look at it again
with all the talk of supernovae the last several months.
Still an avid backyard astronomer, Bob is active in the
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society. A high point of the year
was to observe a supernova that had been discovered in a
neighboring galaxy in June. The galaxy is called the
“Whirlpool” because of its shape (also known as Messier 51
or just M51) and is located in the direction of the handle of
the Big Dipper. A star exploding, a supernova is the most
violent event in the universe. For a few weeks the star is
brighter than all of the other billions of stars in its galaxy
combined! It took about 15 million years for the light of that
star to reach the earth. What we saw was not very
spectacular however, and it took a pretty big telescope to see
it at all. I stood on a step ladder to look into the eyepiece of
a six foot long telescope that had a mirror 20 inches in
diameter. I could barely see the whirlpool shape of the
galaxy. The billions of
stars making it up were
just a faint fuzz. The
image on the left is very
close to what I saw. The
few bright stars shown
are between us and M51.
The supernova is the
bright spot to the right of
the center (at the arrow).
It had not been there June 27 and now (December) is no
longer visible. I had never seen a supernova before; nor had
my colleague, the owner of the large telescope who has been
observing for 28 years. The significance of a supernova is
that the explosion of a certain type of star is the ONLY way
that the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are
created. We are made up of some of these heavier elements
like nitrogen, oxygen and carbon. What this means is that
we are all made up of the stuff that some supernova created
in the distant past! How ‘bout them apples? The universe is
functioning and new elements are being created; maybe to be
incorporated into new life somewhere. Did I see God
creating the stuff for new life in M51? That is, 15 million
years ago? Who knows, but what I did see was about as awe
inspiring and just plain cool as anything can get, ever. Is this
a Christmas message? Beats me. By the way that star
collapsed into either a neutron star or a black hole. I won’t
even start on that!
As most members know the colleague was Robert Wade and
the telescope was his nifty 20-inch Obsession. I got more
comments on this piece than any other Christmas letter I’ve
written.
Prime Focus
Page 4
December 2007
Observations
by Richard S. Bell
As you’ve likely noticed by now, this is an extra-large issue of
Prime Focus. There are a couple of reasons for this. For one,
the KAS has been pretty busy as of late. Hopefully everyone
that attended the November General Meeting enjoyed my
special presentation on Mars. Many of you know that I’m my
own worst critic, but I was pretty happy with how it went.
Yeah, it was a bit long, but it seemed to flow pretty well. The
summary of my talk appears on page 2, but if you still have
any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
for providing additional images that accompany the article.
The KAS had a very successful field trip to Alder Planetarium
on November 10th. My detailed report appears on page 6.
Our next Fall Field Trip is a ways off, but it’s never too early
to toss around ideas for our next destination. If there’s any
place you’ve been dying to see then please mention it to a
Board Member.
We’ll also hold final nominations and elections for 2008 KAS
Officers & At-Large Board Members. Please consider nominating someone or even yourself for a position on the Board
or at least a spot on one of our understaffed committees.
There’s always a place for YOU in the KAS.
Comet Holmes burst (literally!) onto the astronomical scene
just after I finished last month’s issue of Prime Focus and five
days after our last Public Observing Session. No one stepped
forward to write an article about this extraordinary event, so I
wrote one myself. That begins on page 12. Special thanks go
to KAS members Mark Hansen, Jim Kurtz, and Eric Schreur
We hold our Annual Meeting and Holiday Party on December
7th. Please make note that we start at 6:30 pm, one half-hour
earlier than usual. I’m looking forward to sampling all the
dishes and deserts, so please prepare your best stuff. Last
year, attendance was so large we ran out of seats. Let’s hope
we have the same problem again this year. Those are the
types of problems we WANT to have!
The next Geminid Meteor Shower Watch is scheduled for
Thursday, December 13th. It is an inconvenient time of the
week, but you can get in several hours of observing before
midnight. Heck, just take Friday off of work if it looks like
it’ll be clear! Along with the Geminids, we’ll check out Mars
and Comet Holmes.
The other reason why this issue of Prime Focus is super-sized
is that I passed a milestone last month. I thought this issue
marked the 100th issue I’ve edited, but I miscalculated. So,
since this is the last issue of the year and the 101st issue I’ve
edited I decided to do something special.
My first run as Editor was from 1996 - 2001 (January 1996 January 2002 issues). The cover of my very first issue appears to your left. Pat yourself on the back if you were around
when that issue was published. I then filled in for two months
in 2004 (July & August) when Mike Sinclair was Editor and
finished out Robert Wade’s term in November and December
of 2005. We then decided to make Newsletter Editor a volunteer position in 2006 and I finish out 2007 with this issue.
Doing the newsletter has been a rewarding and educational
experience. It’s forced me to work on my grammar, writing,
and computer skills. There are many KAS members I would
like to thank for supporting and contributing to Prime Focus,
but there just isn’t enough room. The newsletter has been
such a great experience that I would be willing to hand it off
to someone else. In many ways it’s the most important job in
the KAS, since it keeps most members informed about their
club and keeps a historical record of our activities.
If you’re not interested in becoming Editor then at least contribute to Prime Focus. Take an astronomical trip? Write a
report. Buy a new piece of equipment? Write a review.
Please do your part to make Prime Focus the best astronomy
club newsletter on the planet.
Prime Focus
Page 5
December 2007
A Day at Adler Planetarium
by Jean
DeMott
&
Richard Bell
This year’s destination for the KAS Annual Fall Field Trip
was to the world renowned Adler Planetarium & Astronomy
Museum in Chicago. Adler Planetarium was the first facility
of its kind built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest
still in existence today. Adler was founded and constructed in
1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of
the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox. Adler was
declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
The planetarium is located on the shore of Lake Michigan in
Chicago’s Museum Campus along with the Shedd Aquarium
and the Field Museum of Natural History (home of Sue, the
largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil skeleton
known today).
The last KAS field trip to Adler was in November 1999. This
was the same year that Adler reopened after a major renovation. Over 35,000 square feet of exhibit space was added in
addition to the StarRider Theater. This makes Adler the only
museum in the world with two full-sized planetarium theaters.
It makes it all the more fortunate that this wonderful facility is
located only 3 hours from Kalamazoo.
Attendance for this year’s field trip was again overwhelming;
especially considering the all-day nature of the trip. A total of
27 members and guests participated in this year’s adventure.
The KAS members include: Richard Bell, Susan Bond, Joe
Borrello, Beverly Byle, Bob & Grace Cox, Jean DeMott, Dick
& Jackie Gillespie, Jim Kurtz, Gary Lubbert, Dan Morgan,
Jack Price, Frank Severance, Don & Danielle Stilwell (with
her guest Shawn Grandstaff), Dennis Stuart, Norm Terry, and
Dave & Sonnet Woolf.
Like last year’s field trip to Notre Dame, we decided to invite
The Sky Theater is the more traditional planetarium at
Adler.
It features the massive, yet beautiful Zeiss
projector.
members from the surrounding astronomy clubs. Those that
took us up on our offer include Christian Carmody from the
Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association, Beth &
Gary Spencer from the Muskegon Astronomical Society, and
Rajendra, Jayashree, and Aabharan Hemanth from the Shoreline Amateur Astronomical Association in Holland. It was
great having them along even though we didn't get to chat
with them as much as we wanted. It also again fulfills our
organization's stated purpose to “cooperate with other amateur and professional astronomical organizations.”
Most KAS members and invited guests started their day at the
Oakland Drive Park-and-Ride at ~6:30 am, while others met
us in Michigan City or at Adler. Thanks again to every KAS
member and guest for arriving at the carpool site on time. We
hit the road promptly at 6:40 am once everyone found a carpooler. Special thanks go out to Dick & Jackie Gillespie, Jack
Price, Don Stilwell, and Norm Terry for doing the driving to
Michigan City.
Weather conditions for the morning of November 10th were
cold, but tolerable. A fairly thick fog had also settled into the
area over night. It reduced visibility on the road, but didn’t
slow us down and thinned out the further south we got. Skies
were mostly cloudy the entire day, but not a drop of rain or
flakes of snow were to be seen.
The StarRider Theater features a Digistar 3 projector (the
rectangular box in the center) and an all-sky video
projection system.
Prime Focus
We arrived in Michigan City slightly before 8:00 am EST and
made a quick rest stop and breakfast break at a McDonalds.
We then headed down the road to Carroll Street Station and
waited for the 8:20 am EST train to arrive, which it did with a
few minutes to spare. We knew we had a problem as soon as
the train rolled in to the station. Just about every window on
the train had a head in it. In other words, the train was full!
Page 6
December 2007
Jean suggested we take the train and I also thought it would be
a fun thing to do. For one, we wouldn’t have to worry about
heavy weekend traffic and the ever-present road construction
in the Windy City. Parking at the Chicago Museum Campus
was $15 per vehicle, plus reimbursing the carpoolers for gas
made the $13 round trip train ticket a bargain. Plus, everyone
would be able to converse on the train instead of being separated in different cars. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way.
Many members (and other train passengers) were forced to
stand much of the way to Chicago. Relief finally came in
Gary, Indiana where four more cars were added (some folks
that got on at later stops still had to stand). Richard overheard
one lady who said that she rides the train all the time and
never saw it so crowded on a Saturday. Reasons may include
folks getting an early start on holiday shopping (we saw many
shopping bags on the way home) and $3.29/gallon gas prices.
Either way, we still thought the train ride was a good idea, but
we’d like to hear your opinion.
The train rolled into the Roosevelt Road Station 30 minutes
late due to the delay in Gary. We then walked to Adler and
checked in at the group reservation desk. Once everyone
packed their extra items away in a locker Richard passed out
tickets to all KAS members for the 2:30 pm Night Sky Live
show, which were courtesy of the KAS. After instructions on
when and where to meet for the first planetarium show, everyone went their separate ways and checked out the many great
exhibits at Adler.
Arizona. The other large fragment we saw was at the Meteor
Crater museum. Other exhibits covered Earth’s weather and a
life-sized model of the Mars Exploration Rovers.
Many of our stomachs were on empty at this point, so everyone gathered in the Galileo Café for lunch. The line wasn’t
too bad, but does seem longer when you’re hungry. Many fine
selections included soups, salads, and sandwiches were to be
had. Many of us ate together and enjoyed the great view of
the Chicago skyline.
After lunch, it was time to attend our first planetarium show.
We watched the 11:30 am CST showing of TimeSpace in the
StarRider Theater. As the title suggests, the program transported the audience to many different points in time and space.
Naturally, we started with the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years
ago. We also witnessed the impact that doomed the dinosaurs
65 million years ago and saw the appearance of Halley’s
Comet in the Yucatán Sky during the height of the Aztecs.
The show ended with a glimpse of the year 3001. The entire
program utilized the all-sky video system in the StarRider
Theater. It was just as impressive as the system we saw last
year at Notre Dame. They never once used the Digistar 3, so
we can’t compare it to the earlier versions.
The upper level contains the hands-on, educational exhibits.
One is called The Milky Way Galaxy and features a large
panorama of our entire galaxy, along with an interactive program showing you the location of many popular deep sky objects. Other exhibits include Extrasolar Planets and the Sun.
During clear days a live video image of the Sun is fed onto a
monitor from the Doane Observatory, located next to Adler.
A SOHO image was in its place, since it was cloudy.
The next exhibit is called Our Solar System. It features a scale
model of the planets hanging over your head (yes, Pluto is still
included). One exhibit let you shoot ice pellets into a wet,
sandy surface and make impact craters. Nearby was one of
the many meteorite fragments that created Meteor Crater in
Prime Focus
The Atwood Sphere, Chicago's oldest planetarium, was
constructed in 1913 and restored on the 1990’s. The
sphere is 15 feet in diameter with 692 holes drilled
through its metal surface, allowing light to enter and
show the positions of the brightest stars in the night sky.
Page 7
December 2007
We then continued to check out the many other exhibits at
Adler. One of the newest permanent exhibitions is called
Shoot for the Moon. It features many artifacts from the personal collection of Jim Lovell and the National Air & Space
Museum. The main attraction is the fully-restored Gemini 12
spacecraft, which was used by Jim Lovell and Edwin “Buzz”
Aldrin in 1966. The actual Apollo 8 Flight Manual is also on
display. It’s turned to the page that shows the lines from
Genesis that Lovell read from on Christmas Eve 1968. As you
might also expect, many artifacts from Apollo 13 are also on
display. These include Lovell’s EVA helmet and gloves he
never got to use on the lunar surface. The Apollo 13 plaque
meant to be left on the Moon is on display as well.
We then attended the 2:30 pm Night Sky Live show in the historic Sky Theater. This was a basic tour of the constellations
that Richard has given many times at the local planetarium
and the Nature Center. However, it was fantastic seeing the
Zeiss projector in action. The rendition of the Milky Way is
much more realistic than the Zeiss Mark IX projector we saw
at the St. Louis planetarium. The stars were very sharp and
shown in vivid color. However, some of the colors didn’t
seem right. For example, the Pleiades looked very yellow. It
was nice to hear the “ohhs and ahhs” once the lights were lowered. You don’t hear that with the green fuzzy stars of the
Digistar 2 projector at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and
Abrams Planetarium in East Lansing.
After the show we finally made it to the lower level. Let us
make something clear, when you visit Alder Planetarium for
the first time START ON THE LOWER LEVEL! This is
where they display temporary exhibits from Adler’s vast collection of historic artifacts. The main temporary exhibit was
called Mapping the Universe. It featured many beautifully
crafted celestial globes, armillary spheres, and star maps
drawn by giants like Hevelius and Johann Bayer. How we
would have loved to be able to flip through each page of every
Prime Focus
atlas on display. The other temporary exhibit tied in very
nicely with the talk Richard just gave at the November meeting. It was named Mapping Mars and featured many works
from famous Mars observers Camille Flammarion and Giovanni Schiaparelli. Other books by William Herschel and
Christiaan Huygens were also on display.
An original copy of the milestone book De Revolutionibus
Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies)
by Nicolaus Copernicus was also on display. It was turned to
the page that showed his heliocentric view of the solar system.
This book may not mean much to most folks, but this was the
book that gave birth to modern astronomy. It was well worth
the trip to Chicago just to see that book.
Our last stop was to see the Atwood Sphere, which really is
the third planetarium at Adler. It’s nothing more than a large,
hallow metal ball with 692 holes drilled through it, but it is an
important part of planetarium history. To view the constellations, you ride into the sphere on a small hydraulic lift. It’s
was pretty neat and definitely worth checking out. Oh, we
also made the mandatory trip to the gift shop, but didn’t get
anything!
Everyone that was still around then gathered on the front steps
for the group photo. We then made the somewhat long walk
to Grace O’Malley’s Restaurant & Pup. There was a short cut
we could have taken, but live and learn. We then had plenty
of time to relax, chat, and eat. The food was great and well
worth the walk. The walk back to the train station was a snap
and then we made our way back to Michigan City. Finding
seats was much easier, but it was still crowded. The last car
arrived back at the Park-and-Ride at about 12:30 am. It was a
great day at Adler and in Chicago. Our only complaint (aside
from the crowed train ride) was that there wasn’t enough time
in the day to check out the exhibits in more detail and the
other planetarium shows at Alder.
Page 8
December 2007
Building a Vision: Going Big to Go Deep
by Dan
Since my pre-teen years I have wanted to view the sky and
explore the universe. It wasn’t until my 10th birthday that I
received my second telescope (the first was a 50mm Tasco for
Christmas). It was given to me by a friend of mine who attended the same church. When I would go to his house I
would run to the back room where it was located and ask to
use it; essentially my passion for telescopes started there.
Years later, while I attended Gull Lake Middle School; Dave
Woolf, who was my science and astronomy teacher, displayed
Orion Telescope catalogs in the back of his classroom. Daily I
lingered at the magazine display rack and skimmed through
while I checked out the gigantic telescopes. I discussed my
thoughts with Mr. Woolf about buying a new telescope and he
suggested that I get the largest telescope that I would be able
to afford. Apparently, my parents had talked with Mr. Woolf;
and to my surprise, I received a 6" Orion SkyQuest telescope
for Christmas that year. Later, I sold the Orion SkyQuest to
purchase a 12" DSH (Deep Space Hunter). This model I later
sold to Don Stilwell to fund my 18" Dobsonian project.
Morgan
the width of the rocker box was slightly larger than the mirror
box to accommodate the mirror box and for it to be the most
compact telescope I could design. It wasn’t as compact as an
Obsession Telescope, but I was proud of it none the less. It
had taken me about six weeks to get eight pieces cut with cutouts to reduce weight. All of this was done by a skill-saw
rather than by using a router. I do wish I would have known
about the router beforehand! It took me weeks, using the
skill-saw, to get the pieces cut out and to get them all the same
size and shape. Most of the shaping came from using hand
files -- weeks of hand filing. Perhaps the part that took the
longest was the sanding. More than two-thirds of the ‘scope
project involved sanding and making sure that it looked eyecatching. Winter break was closing-in fast, and I had to make
sure that I got as much done as possible before then.
During the end of my junior year at Gull Lake, I decided to
schedule wood-tech as a fun class. I had wanted to design and
build my own telescope but had no idea how to accomplish
this. I turned to the internet to help me learn, as I often do,
and gathered data on how to build telescopes. I found people
who built their own ‘scopes, and I learned from the mistakes
that they had made, not to say that I didn’t make some of my
own mistakes along the way. Nevertheless, I made up my
mind about the design, somewhat, and drew some scaleddown templates of what I wanted each piece to look like.
By the time I started the class I had designed and sketched the
pieces, and then I proceeded to acquire the wood for the project. From what I had read the best wood was Baltic Birch
plywood, which my ‘scope is built from, along with a few
pieces of walnut and oak for visual appeal. My teacher, Mr.
Blackburn, became interested in my project as well as the
whole class; they wondered how someone could build a telescope out of wood? I explained to everyone how I had
planned to build it and showed them the basic concept of the
‘scope.
A few weeks had passed in the class before I could start using
the tools to create my dream ‘scope -- due to planning, safety
tests, and the acquisition of the Baltic Birch which was very
hard to find. The first step towards building the ‘scope was to
figure out where to cut the wood and with what tool. Most of
the time I used the feared table saw as this allowed the most
accuracy of any table saw in the shop. The first pieces I cut
were for the mirror box. It measured 24×24 inches square and
about 16 inches high. The next pieces were the sides of my
rocker box with dimensions I can’t remember. I do remember
Prime Focus
Dan poses with his hand-built 18" Dobsonian telescope
at the KAS Public Observing Session on September 22,
2007. It was the first public session Dan’s telescope was
fully operational. Both members and the public were
amazed with the views.
Page 9
December 2007
For about a week or so, I received some guidance from Dick
Gillespie, who helped me put the ebony star (laminate) on the
bottom of the rocker box. Also, he helped with the mirror cell
design and to get the metal that I needed for the mirror cell.
One crucial aspect he helped with was the altitude bearings,
which were not flat around the edges. He fixed this with a
sanded bit that would sand the edges flat. The altitude bearings then received the ebony star laminate for friction against
the Teflon pads.
The mirror box is glued together with walnut as the
edges. Also templates were cut out to reduce weight.
During break I noticed an ad on Astromart about an 18" fiberglass homemade telescope. The price was relatively low for
the whole ‘scope, but I was only interested in the optics. I
talked with the seller about buying just the optics. However, I
wasn’t sure if I really wanted to spend that much for them, so I
backed out. A month later, I saw that the ‘scope still hadn’t
sold, and talked with the guy again, but didn’t complete the
transaction. Finally, I couldn’t stand waiting for other negotiations on another mirror and finally made my final offer for
the fiberglass telescope optics. Negotiations over a Swayze
primary mirror broke down due to false descriptions of the
mirror. Nevertheless, I was able to come out with an 18" f/4
Pegasus primary mirror with 1/11.5 wave front and a 3.5" Astrosystems secondary mirror with 1/13th wave front. The
crazy thing is, after some discussion with fellow members of
the KAS (Richard, Jean, and Jack) I found out that I purchased
the optics from a former KAS member, Tom Taylor, who was
very patient with negotiations. However, I don’t think he
knew that I was only 18 years old at the time.
During the months of April through about June, little time
came my way to work on the telescope and it was put in the
closet, hence my Mom’s space. Soon, I graduated and found
loads of time to do just about whatever I wanted to do, and I
revived the work on my ‘scope once again. I turned to my
Grandpa Morgan, who had a workshop in his basement. I
loaded the telescope into my truck, which made my Mom
happy to get the telescope out of her living room, and took it
to my Grandpa’s. There my telescope really progressed in its
assembly stage. I was able to get all of the pieces of wood cut
out, sanded, and lacquered (very timely process). Overall at
that point the telescope began to look like what I had planned.
Then a few problems came my way, the mirror cell had to be
modified to fit inside my mirror box. I called a welding company in Battle Creek to help with that process, since I didn’t
know anyone who could weld aluminum. I gave them the
design layout and the piece that had to be constructed as the
modification. Several weeks later, it was finished and worked
quite well, with some force to get the two pieces of the cell
together.
Mid-summer had come and gone, August approached fast and
I had tons of things to get done before the Perseid Potluck
Picnic. Over a week’s period I spent about 10 hours a day at
my Grandpa’s to get it finished. The mirror cell was mounted
inside the mirror box; the upper tube assembly was glued together and lacquered. The Teflon pads were added, along
with the swivel mount. The truss-tube blocks were added to
One week remained to accomplish what had to be done and
the rest was to be completed on my own at home. In this
small time frame, I completed the upper tube assembly rings
and the pieces used to hold the rings together. I managed to
glue the mirror box together, using the walnut as the edge
joints for the mirror box and the rocker box. I completed the
piece for the swivel, which was difficult to make. Also I managed to get three coats of semi-gloss stain on it to give it a
shine and protect it from water, and other harmful elements.
With only limited time left, I proceeded to clean up the pieces
cosmetically. They appeared only half-done, so I varnished
the wood.
The class had ended and completion of the ‘scope was still in
the distant future. In January, Richard, along with some others
began to think the project was a conspiracy. I reassured them
that it would be completed soon, i.e. seven more months. The
February Freeze Out came and went, but it still wasn’t done;
then the Messier Marathon, but still no ‘scope.
Prime Focus
The altitude bearings measure 23.75" in diameter. Templates were cut out to reduce weight.
Page 10
December 2007
The rocker box is shown with the ebony star laminate
which causes friction against the Teflon tabs.
The mirror cell shows both parts of the cell. The black is
made of steel, while the aluminum was designed by me,
but constructed at a local welding shop.
the mirror box; although that process took about 10 hours in
itself, with several logical errors which were made on my part.
Finally, it all came down to cutting the truss-tubes to length. I
figured out how long the poles needed to be using the Pythagorean Theorem, again, a more complicated process than it
should have been. Then August 12th arrived and it was time to
debut my 18” telescope to the public. Around 8:00 pm I set it
up for the observation that evening; however, I soon discovered the truss tubes were too long by two inches. I was disheartened, but thrilled nonetheless to finally show everyone.
The following day I went back to my Grandpa’s and cut the
tubes two inches shorter. This gave me the result I had sought
the night before. That evening Dave Woolf and I gathered at
his observatory in Hickory Corners to be lavished with the
exquisite views of M57 (Ring Nebula), M13, M27 (Dumbbell
Nebula) and my favorite the Veil Nebula which blew my
socks off, figuratively. I was overjoyed to know that it
worked so well. That was the first time in my life I had ever
looked through anything larger than a 12" telescope. The best
part was that I had actually built it, with help from friends and
family.
My Grandpa Morgan looks at the almost finished mirror
box with the black kydex and the mirror cell set inside.
Special thanks to:
• Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
• Mr. Blackburn
• Dave Woolf
• Dick Gillespie
• Tom Taylor
• Olin Family
• My Parents and
• Grandpa Morgan
Dan Morgan joined the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society in
2005 and is currently serving his first term as a Member-AtLarge. He also attending his first semester at Michigan State
University and studying business administration.
Prime Focus
The upper tube assembly with the black kydex glued on
with contact cement. The hole has not been cut to accommodate the focuser.
Page 11
December 2007
The Odd Comet Holmes
by Richard Bell
Earlier this year we missed out on the brightest comet in over
40 years thanks to Michigan winter weather and the curvature
of the Earth. By all accounts and images, Comet McNaught
was a grand sight to observers in the southern hemisphere. I
freely admit to being envious and then fairly depressed. After
all, a bright comet is one of the “holy grails” of astronomy.
Eventually, I accepted the fact that it would probably be ten
years (on average) before we saw another bright comet grace
the skies of Earth.
That all changed when I saw the news flash on SpaceWeather
for October 24th:
Astronomers in Japan, Persia and Europe report that
Comet 17P/Holmes is undergoing a spectacular eruption.
The 17th magnitude comet has brightened by a factor of
five hundred thousand or more during the past 24 hours
becoming a naked-eye object in the evening sky. Look for a
yellow 2.5th magnitude fuzzball in the constellation
Perseus after sunset.
Most astronomers around the world probably started with the
same question: Comet who? This comet, called Holmes,
came from near obscurity to international prominence quite
literally overnight. It’s a feat an alleged Hollywood “star” or
political candidate would envy!
Outbursts are nothing new for comets, but one of this degree is
- as far as I know - unprecedented. Well, that’s not exactly
true. This exact same comet was already undergoing a similar
The author took this image of Comet Holmes on October
30th with the Meade 12” Schmidt-Cassegrain in Owl
Observatory at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. The total
exposure time was 6 minutes 45 seconds using a Canon
300D DSLR camera. Notice the off-set nucleus and the
concentric rings of dust and gas.
outburst when it was first discovered by the English amateur
astronomer Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892. Conditions
that evening were described as unfavorable, but Holmes still
made observations of Jupiter and some double stars with his
32 cm (12.6-inch) reflector. He was about to finish up for the
night with an observation of Mu Andromedae, located about
4º south of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Holmes observed
M31 on a regular basis, so he knew the area very well.
When Holmes pointed his telescope toward the region of Mu
Andromedae and looked through the eyepiece he at first
thought he was looking at M31. Holmes quickly realized he
was looking at something quite different and said out loud to
himself: “What is the matter? There is something strange
here.” His wife thought there was a problem with his telescope and rushed over to investigate. Holmes had stumbled
across a comet with a bright nucleus and coma about 5
arcminutes in diameter. The discovery was quickly confirmed
by both the telescope and the naked eye.
Roger Williams obtained this image of Comet Holmes on
October 28/29 with his 10” Newtonian and SBIG ST-8E
CCD camera. Luminosity images of 0.5 - 30 seconds
were combined, along with RGB images for color.
Background stars visible through the coma were
mistaken for nuclei fragments by many observers. Roger
says this image looks pretty close to his impression of
the visual appearance through a telescope
Prime Focus
Astronomers around the world reported observing Comet
Holmes during the first half of November. Unfortunately it
seems no one bothered to make magnitude measurements, so
it’s difficult to compare with the outburst of 2007. It does
seem this most recent outburst was brighter than the one that
occurred 115 years ago.
The comet gradually faded in brightness during the second
half of November, but experienced another outburst in January
1893. Comet Holmes was observed again in 1899 and 1906,
but was then lost until 1964. It has been observed at every
Page 12
December 2007
collisions separated by 115 years is highly unlikely. Another
similar idea was proposed by “Mr. Comet” himself, Fred
Whipple, in 1984. He wondered if Comet Holmes might have
a satellite that “reentered” the nucleus and released vast
amounts of gas and dust. Moonlets have been discovered
around some asteroids, but never a comet. There’s really no
data either way at this point, so only time will tell. Another
idea that can be ruled out, thanks to recent images from the
Hubble Space Telescope, is that Holmes has not broken apart
like Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 did in April 2006.
Comet Holmes was captured with this image by Jim
Kurtz on November 2nd. Jim combined eight 30 second
exposures with his Tele Vue 85 apochromatic refractor
and SBIG ST-2000 CCD camera. Notice how much the
nearly symmetrical coma, imaged by Richard and Roger,
has changed in just a matter of days.
apparition since that time, but another outburst wouldn’t occur
until October 2007.
The leading hypothesis suggests that repeated warmings by
the Sun caused a dusty, ice-free “crust” to form on the 3.5 km
(2 mile) diameter nucleus, sealing the interior and acting as a
blanket. Over time the pressure beneath this blanket steadily
grows as once-frozen ice becomes gas, eventually breaking
through and sending large chunks of crust flying into space
that quickly disintegrates into microscopic dust. This may
explain the nearly symmetrical coma observed and photographed shortly after the outburst.
The night of October 25th was our first opportunity to observe
Comet Holmes in west Michigan and skies were actually
clear! It was easily spotted with the naked eye from my light
The orbit of Comet Holmes was calculated soon after its 1892
discovery. Many refinements have been made since that time,
so we’re very familiar with its motion around the Sun. Comet
Holmes currently orbits the Sun every 6.88 years at an average
distance of 3.62 Astronomical Units (1 AU = 150 million kilometers or 93 million miles). However, its orbit is fairly elliptical with an eccentricity of 0.432564 (e = 0 for a circular orbit
and e = 1 for a highly elliptical orbit). Therefore, Holmes
presently reaches a perihelion distance of 2.05 AU (between
Mars and Jupiter) and an aphelion distance of 5.18 AU (just
beyond the orbit of Jupiter). In fact, Holmes is part of the
Jupiter family of comets and close encounters with the gas
giant has altered its perihelion distance and orbital period
through the ages (most recently in 2004).
Comet Holmes last reached perihelion on May 4, 2007 and
was actually closest to the Earth on November 6th. At this
time the comet and Earth were separated by a distance of 1.62
AU (242 million kilometers or 151 million miles). Comet
Holmes was performing its retrograde loop as perceived from
Earth during the outburst and will continue to do so until midFebruary 2008. Retrograde motion only occurs when a body
is opposite the Earth in the sky. It’s very fortunate the recent
outburst of Holmes occurred when it was near the Earth, just
as it did in 1892. Coincidence? No one knows for sure.
It may never be known why Comet Holmes undergoes these
apparent periodic outbursts. One popular idea is that the
comet was struck by a small meteoroid or asteroid. After all
the comet spends most of its time at the distance of the main
asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This scenario is
highly unlikely because Holmes’ orbital inclination (19º)
keeps it pretty isolated from the other members of the main
belt. Plus, collisions within the belt are fairly rare and two
Prime Focus
Eric Schreur took this picture of Comet Holmes near the
Perseus OB Association on November 3 from the
Kalamazoo Nature Center. It’s a 30 second exposure
with a Nikon D40 camera and a 55-200 mm zoom lens set
at 135mm. It demonstrates how little effort is required to
capture this bright visitor.
Page 13
December 2007
polluted front yard. It looked like a yellow star of at least 3rd
magnitude in the constellation Perseus. It formed a nice triangle with Alpha (Mirfak) and Delta Persei. The comet was also
easily visible on the next night (October 26th), which was during the closest, brightest Full Moon of the year.
Binoculars could turn the bright yellow “star” into a small
fuzzy disk. A telescope could reveal a bright, star-like nucleus
and the incredibly symmetrical coma. The nucleus was offset
from the center of the coma and a V-shaped feature (possibly a
jet) appeared to emanate from the nucleus. Many observers
believed they observed at least two pieces of the nucleus break
off on October 28th, but these were merely background stars.
My first successful attempt at imaging Comet Holmes was on
October 25th. The comet was small enough to fit onto the tiny
CCD chip of my Philips ToUcam Pro when attached to a
Meade 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain. (See the image on my web
site.) By October 30th, the coma had expanded to nearly a
third of the angular diameter of the Moon and took up a considerable portion of the chip on my Canon 300D DSLR camera (see image at the top of page 12). By this point, the comet
was now visible as a small, circular fuzzball with eyes alone.
Constant cloud cover had moved into the area after November
2nd, so those of us in west Michigan had to monitor the evolution of Comet Holmes on the Internet. The first images of a
tail came on October 28th. Long exposures (at least 45 minutes) revealed a short, blue ion tail, which made the comet
Mark Hansen acquired this image of Comet Holmes on
November 13th. Twenty exposures of 1 minute each were
taken with a modified Canon 350XT (set at ISO 800) and
an 8” f/4 Newtonian. Now the coma displays it typical
looking “comet head” shape as compared to earlier
images. Several stars are visible through the coma,
since the comet is passing through the rich star fields of
Perseus.
look like a jellyfish. The tail was short and difficult to spot
because it was pointed almost directly away from the Earth.
The nearly symmetrical coma started to give way to the more
traditional looking “comet head” shape around November 5th
and 6th as the solar wind began pushing the dust away. The
ion tail became much more prominent in images taken in early
November and actually became detached as seen in images on
November 8th and 9th. The coma of Comet Holmes passed in
front of the bright star Mirfak in Perseus beginning on November 19th.
Skies finally became clear enough in west Michigan to view
the comet on November 22nd and 23rd. By this time the Full
Moon had returned and the comet’s surface brightness had
decreased considerably as it expanded. Thus, Holmes was no
longer visible with the naked eye. Moonlight made it fairly
challenging to spot the comet with my Tele Vue Pronto (70
mm refractor). It appeared as nothing more than a nebulous
patch of light near Mirfak. The size of the comet, over ½º
(just bigger than a Full Moon), made it tough to spot with the
12" SCT and 41 mm Panoptic eyepiece.
Diagram shows comet's predicted orbital path (yellow
dots) from Nov. 2, 2007 to Dec. 21, 2007 as it crosses the
constellation Perseus. The comet will become dimmer as
time passes, so only some of the comet's path is shown.
For a broader view, see the all-sky star map on page 18.
Prime Focus
The comet will continue to expand and fade from view. Will a
secondary outburst occur like it did in January 1893? No one
knows, but if it does the increasing distance from Earth will
likely keep it from becoming a naked eye object again.
Holmes could remain an interesting telescopic object for the
next several months though. On January 21, 2008 the comet
will pass in front of another bright star. This time it’s Algol,
the “Demon Star” of Perseus. A moderate focal length Newtonian or refractor would be an ideal telescope to view this
event, due to the comet’s huge coma (which, at its peak, was
physically bigger than the Sun). Comet Holmes may not have
been as spectacular as Comet McNaught, but it’s easily one of
the most interesting objects I’ve ever had the privilege to view
through a telescope.
Page 14
December 2007
NASA Space Plac
Place
e - Going My Way?
by Diane K. Fisher
Not many endeavors require that you plan the mode of transportation before you even know what it is you are transporting. But weighing the physics and economics of getting any
sort of cargo to space is a major part of designing a space mission.
It’s one of the first issues that NASA’s New Millennium Program (NMP) considers when planning a new mission. NMP
has the forward-looking job to identify promising new technologies for space exploration. It then helps to mature the
technology so it will be available to space missions of the future. If the technology cannot be tested adequately on Earth,
the last part of this process is to actually send the technology
into space. With carefully documented test results, future mission planners can confidently incorporate the new technology
into their designs.
The Dawn mission uses an ion engine. This technology was
validated on the NMP mission Deep Space 1.
transported to and operated in space within the constraints of a
low-cost technology validation project?”
But where to begin? On call from the start, Linda Herrell is
the New Millennium Program Architect. Given a list of proposed technologies, she has the job of figuring out the feasibility of wrapping a mission around them.
Along with the list of possible mission payloads (the technologies), Linda also has a list of spacecraft to put them on, as well
as a list of launch vehicle parameters. All she has to do is try
them out in every possible combination (of which there are
thousands) and see what might work.
“We might be considering six or more technologies, anything
from solar panels to imagers to masts for solar sails to more
intelligent software. Of those, we may choose four. My job is
to answer the question — can the selected technology be
“Fortunately, we have a software tool to help with this analysis,” says Linda. When it comes down to it, her job is primarily to figure out how to get the technologies into space.
“Sometimes, it’s like figuring out how to get across town
when you don’t have your own car. You have to get creative.”
She keeps a database of all possible options, including riding
piggyback on another spacecraft, hitching a ride on a launch
vehicle as a secondary payload, or sharing a launch vehicle
with other NASA, Department of Defense, or even commercial payloads.
Her assessment is but one of a gazillion factors to be considered in planning a mission, but it is indeed one of the very first
“details” that forms the foundation for the rest of the mission.
Find out some of the technologies that NMP has already validated or is considering at:
http://nmp.nasa.gov/TECHNOLOGY/innovative-tech.html
Kids will enjoy watching Linda’s cartoon alter-ego talk about
her job at:
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/live/
NASA’s New Millennium Program selects breakthrough
technologies that will be of the greatest use to future space and
Earth science missions and that are perceived to be risky to the
first user.
Prime Focus
This article was written by Diane K. Fisher and provided by
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration.
Page 15
December 2007
The Star-Splitter
“You know Orion always comes up sideways. Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains, And rising on his hands, he looks in on me Busy outdoors by lantern‐light with something I should have done by daylight, and indeed, After the ground is frozen, I should have done Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney To make fun of my way of doing things, Or else fun of Orion's having caught me. Has a man, I should like to ask, no rights These forces are obliged to pay respect to?" So Brad McLaughlin mingled reckless talk Of heavenly stars with hugger‐mugger farming, Till having failed at hugger‐mugger farming, He burned his house down for the fire insurance And spent the proceeds on a telescope To satisfy a life‐long curiosity About our place among the infinities. "What do you want with one of those blame things?" I asked him well beforehand. "Don't you get one!" "Don't call it blamed; there isn't anything More blameless in the sense of being less A weapon in our human fight," he said. "I'll have one if I sell my farm to buy it." There where he moved the rocks to plow the ground And plowed between the rocks he couldn't move, Few farms changed hands; so rather than spend years Trying to sell his farm and then not selling, He burned his house down for the fire insurance And bought the telescope with what it came to. He had been heard to say by several: "The best thing that we're put here for's to see; The strongest thing that's given us to see with's A telescope. Someone in every town Seems to me owes it to the town to keep one. In Littleton it may as well be me." After such loose talk it was no surprise When he did what he did and burned his house down. Mean laughter went about the town that day To let him know we weren't the least imposed on, And he could wait — we'd see to him tomorrow. But the first thing next morning we reflected If one by one we counted people out For the least sin, it wouldn't take us long To get so we had no one left to live with. For to be social is to be forgiving. Our thief, the one who does our stealing from us, We don't cut off from coming to church suppers, But what we miss we go to him and ask for. by Robert
He promptly gives it back, that is if still Uneaten, unworn out, or undisposed of. It wouldn't do to be too hard on Brad About his telescope. Beyond the age Of being given one's gift for Christmas,* He had to take the best way he knew how To find himself in one. Well, all we said was He took a strange thing to be roguish over. Some sympathy was wasted on the house, A good old‐timer dating back along; But a house isn't sentient; the house Didn't feel anything. And if it did, Why not regard it as a sacrifice, And an old‐fashioned sacrifice by fire, Instead of a new‐fashioned one at auction? Out of a house and so out of a farm At one stroke (of a match), Brad had to turn To earn a living on the Concord railroad, As under‐ticket‐agent at a station Where his job, when he wasn't selling tickets, Was setting out up track and down, not plants As on a farm, but planets, evening stars That varied in their hue from red to green. He got a good glass for six hundred dollars. His new job gave him leisure for stargazing. Often he bid me come and have a look Up the brass barrel, velvet black inside, At a star quaking in the other end. I recollect a night of broken clouds And underfoot snow melted down to ice, And melting further in the wind to mud. Bradford and I had out the telescope. We spread our two legs as it spread its three, Pointed our thoughts the way we pointed it, And standing at our leisure till the day broke, Said some of the best things we ever said. That telescope was christened the Star‐Splitter, Because it didn't do a thing but split A star in two or three the way you split A globule of quicksilver in your hand With one stroke of your finger in the middle. It's a star‐splitter if there ever was one And ought to do some good if splitting stars 'Sa thing to be compared with splitting wood. We've looked and looked, but after all where are we? Do we know any better where we are, And how it stands between the night tonight And a man with a smoky lantern chimney? How different from the way it ever stood? Frost
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
http://www.kasonline.org/
December Night Sky..................
NORTH
This star map is property of the
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society.
However you may make as many
copies as you wish free-of-charge,
so long as it is for non-profit
educational purposes and full
credit is given to the KAS.
This map represents the sky at the
following local standard times:
y Early November 11 pm
y Late November 10 pm
y Early December 9 pm
y Late December 8 pm
EAST
WEST
www.kasonline.org
SOUTH
ed Planet Mars and Blue Planet
Earth will be separated by 54.8
million miles on December 18th.
From the skies of Earth, Mars will
appear as a brilliant red-orange star in
the constellation Gemini.
Moderate
sized telescopes will reveal a disk
15.88" in angular width. Best viewing
will be just after 1:00 am when Mars
transits the meridian at an altitude of
nearly 75º. Mars will be at opposition
on December 24th. A closer encounter
won’t occur until 2016, so get out and
view Mars while you can.
The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks on
the night of December 13th. An average
of 75 meteors/hour will appear to radiate
about 2º to the southwest of Castor. The
15% illuminated Waxing Crescent
Moon sets at 8:55 pm, so only clouds or
cold weather will stand in your way!
KAS OFFICERS
PRESIDENT
Richard S. Bell
373-8942
[email protected]
December 2007
Patch For Sale
VICE PRESIDENT
Jack Price
343-3193
[email protected]
TREASURER
Rich Mather
629-5312
[email protected]
SECRETARY/ALCOR
Roger Williams
375-4867
[email protected]
Page 19
Only $4.00!
Pick up some of our brand new patches at an upcoming general meeting and show
your KAS pride! Put one on to your hat, T-shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, and more. The
patches appear exactly as seen in the image above. The dimensions are 4.0” x 2.5”.
They can be sown or ironed on. If you’d like to reserve some before they sell out
contact Norm Terry (327-0365).
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Jean DeMott
381-1406
[email protected]
Dick Gillespie
966-9653
[email protected]
Dan Morgan
964-3156
[email protected]
Dave Woolf
762-8268
[email protected]
Sky Legends of the Three Fires
Saturdays, 11:00 am; Sundays, 1:30 pm
Blown Away: The Wide World of Weather
Saturdays & Sundays, 3:00 pm
Season of Light
Wednesdays, 3:00 pm; Saturdays, 2:00 pm
Planetarium admission is $3.00 per person. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is located at
230 North Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo. For more information please call (269)
373-7990 or visit us on the web at www.kalamazoomuseum.org
Final nominations and elections for
2008 KAS Officers and At-Large Board
Members will take place at the Annual
Meeting on December 7th. If you are
interested in running or nominating
someone for a position then please
contact Bob Havira (344-7707). Ask
not what the KAS can do for you, but
what you can do for the KAS!
Geminid Meteor Shower Watch
Most meteor showers occur when Earth
passes through a stream of particles left behind
by a rouge comet, but the Geminids are
different. This is the only major shower known
to be associated with an asteroid (3200
Phaethon). An observer may see 75 meteors/
hour under moonless, rural skies.
The Geminids always put on a great
show. The shower is predicted to peak at 4:00
UT on December 14 (11:00 pm EST on
December 13). The 15% illuminated Waxing
Crescent Moon sets at 8:55 pm, so we’ll enjoy
excellent conditions for this year’s shower.
BONUS: As an added attraction to this year’s
Geminid Watch we'll also observe Mars, which
we’ll be five days away from its closest approach
to Earth.
Comet Holmes may also be
observable, but only time will tell!
Kalamazoo Nature Center Thursday, December 13 @ 8:00 pm
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
c/o KAMSC
600 West Vine, Suite 400
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
© December 2007, Stargazer Productions
STAMP