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1 9 4 9 C e l e b r a t i n g 6 5 Y e a r s o f B r i n g i n g A s t r o n o m y t o N o r t h T e x a s 2 0 1 4
PAGE 2 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
Contact information:Contact information: Info Officer (General Info) Info Officer (General Info) –– [email protected]@fortworthastro.com Website Administrator Website Administrator –– [email protected]@fortworthastro.com
Postal Address:Postal Address: Fort Worth Astronomical SocietyFort Worth Astronomical Society 3812 Fenton Avenue3812 Fenton Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76133Fort Worth, TX 76133
Web Site: Web Site: http://www.fortworthastro.orghttp://www.fortworthastro.org Facebook: Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3eutb22http://tinyurl.com/3eutb22 Twitter: Twitter: http://twitter.com/ftwastrohttp://twitter.com/ftwastro Yahoo! eGroup Yahoo! eGroup (members only)(members only): : http://tinyurl.com/7qu5vknhttp://tinyurl.com/7qu5vkn
Officers (2013Officers (2013--2014): 2014): President President –– Jim Murray, Jim Murray, [email protected]@fortworthastro.com Vice President Vice President –– Matt Reed, Matt Reed, [email protected]@fortworthastro.com Sec/Tres Sec/Tres –– Lewis Westerfield, Lewis Westerfield, [email protected]@fortworthastro.com
Board Members:Board Members: 20122012--20142014
Phil StagePhil Stage
Bruce CowlesBruce Cowles 20132013--20152015
Bill NicholsBill Nichols
Jim CraftJim Craft
Observing Site Reminders:
Be careful with fire, mind all local burn bans!
Dark Site Usage Requirements (ALL MEMBERS):
Maintain Dark-Sky Etiquette (http://tinyurl.com/75hjajy)
Turn out your headlights at the gate!
Sign the logbook (in camo-painted storage shed. Inside the door on the left-hand side)
Log club equipment problems (please contact a FWAS board member to in-form them of any problems)
Put equipment back neatly when finished
Last person out:
Check all doors – secured, but NOT locked
Make sure nothing is left out
FW
AS
I ns id e th is i s s ue :
May Club Calendar 4
Celestial Events 5
Moon Phase Calendar 6
Mars/Venus Data Sheet 7
Jupiter Data Sheet 8
Cloudy Night Library 9
Young Astronomer News 10
Member Observing Report 11
Constellation Families 12
AL Observing Club of the 13
Constellation of the Month 14
Constellation Mythology 15
Prior Club Meeting Minutes 17
General Club Information 20
That’s A Fact 20
November’s Full Moon 20
FWAS Foto Files 21
Cover Photo
Composite photo courtesy FWAS
members,
Chris Mlodnicki and Jim Murray
The Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) was founded in 1949 and is a non-profit scientific educational organization incorporated in the state of Texas. This publication may be copied and distributed for free only. This publication cannot be uploaded or distributed into any me-dia unless it is in its original, full, unaltered, published form. All rights reserved by FWAS.
Page
E d i t o r : E d i t o r :
S h a w n K i r c h d o r f e rS h a w n K i r c h d o r f e r
M o n t h l yM o n t h l y C o n t r i b u t o r s : C o n t r i b u t o r s :
M a t t M c C u l l a rM a t t M c C u l l a r
R u s s B o a t r i g h tR u s s B o a t r i g h t
B r i a n W o r t h a mB r i a n W o r t h a m
P a t r i c k M c M a h o nP a t r i c k M c M a h o n
PAGE 4 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
May 2014May 2014
LQ
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
FM
FQ
FWAS Monthly Meeting Starts @ 7pm
Born: (1953) Colm Meaney,
actor (Star Trek Deep Space 9)
See our full FWAS Event Calendar at:See our full FWAS Event Calendar at:
http://www.fortworthastro.com/meetings.htmlhttp://www.fortworthastro.com/meetings.html
for the latest updates on what our club has scheduledfor the latest updates on what our club has scheduled
Young Astronomers Meeting Starts @ 7pm-9pm
NM
Palo Pinto
Mountains State
Park Star Party
1961—Alan Shepard
becomes 1st American
in space (aboard Free-
dom 7) Museum Star Party
Meridian State
Park Star Party
1973—Skylab launched,
1st Space Station
2012—A SpaceX Drag-
on becomes the first
commercial spacecraft
to dock at the Interna-
tional Space Station
1959—Monkeys Able &
Baker zoom 300 mi
(500 km) into space on
Jupiter missile, became
1st animals retrieved
from a space mission
Born: (1939) Francis Scobee,
astronaut, died in Challenger
Space Shuttle explosion.
Born: (1944) George Lucas,
Writer and Director, Star Wars.
E t a A q u a r i d s Pe a k
31
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 5
May 01 May 01 -- ----::---- Venus: 42.8° WVenus: 42.8° W
May 01 May 01 -- 10:51 Moon10:51 Moon--Aldebaran: 2.1° SAldebaran: 2.1° S
May 02 May 02 -- 10:59 Moon North Dec.: 19° N10:59 Moon North Dec.: 19° N
May 05 May 05 -- 01:26 Eta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 6001:26 Eta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 60
May 06 May 06 -- 05:22 Moon Apogee: 404300 km05:22 Moon Apogee: 404300 km
May 06 May 06 -- 22:15 First Quarter22:15 First Quarter
May 10 May 10 -- 12:50 Saturn Opposition12:50 Saturn Opposition
May 11 May 11 -- 08:32 Moon08:32 Moon--Mars: 3.2° NMars: 3.2° N
May 12 May 12 -- 07:47 Moon07:47 Moon--Spica: 1.8° SSpica: 1.8° S
May 12 May 12 -- 17:06 Moon Ascending Node17:06 Moon Ascending Node
May 14 May 14 -- 07:41 Moon07:41 Moon--Saturn: 0.6° NSaturn: 0.6° N
C E L E S T I A L E V E N T S T H I S M O N T H
Deep Sky* - (M3) Globular Cluster, (M5) Globular Cluster, (M13) GC Hercules, (M44) Beehive Cluster, (M81) Bode’s Galaxy
Double/Multiple Stars** - Alpha Canum Venaticorum (α CVn), Delta Serpentis (δ Ser), Rho Herculis (ρ Her), Zeta Cancri (ζ
Cnc), Xi Ursa Majoris (ξ UMa),
Constellations* - Canes Venatici, Serpens Caput, Hercules, Cancer, Ursa Major
Asterisms*** - Bull of Poniatowski (Serpens), Hercules’ Club (Hercules), Manger (Cancer), Broken Engagement Ring (Ursa
Major)
Lunar Features**** - Reiner Gamma (R28), Rheita Valley (R68), Schiller-Zucchius basin (R70, R71), Kies Pi (R53)
Key to Geocentric Ephemeris of the Moon: http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonkey.html
I N T E R E S T I N G O B J E C T S
*Distant Suns—C = Caldwell Catalog / M=Messier Catalog **Double Stars ***Asterisms ****R = Rükl Index Moon Map
(* Times are Local)(* Times are Local)
May 14 May 14 -- 14:16 Full Moon14:16 Full Moon
May 16 May 16 -- 15:10 Moon South Dec.: 19° S15:10 Moon South Dec.: 19° S
May 18 May 18 -- 06:58 Moon Perigee: 367100 km06:58 Moon Perigee: 367100 km
May 21 May 21 -- 07:59 Last Quarter07:59 Last Quarter
May 25 May 25 -- 01:59 Mercury Elongation: 22.7° E01:59 Mercury Elongation: 22.7° E
May 25 May 25 -- 10:43 Moon10:43 Moon--Venus: 2.4° SVenus: 2.4° S
May 25 May 25 -- 12:56 Moon Descending Node12:56 Moon Descending Node
May 28 May 28 -- 13:40 New Moon13:40 New Moon
May 29 May 29 -- 19:38 Moon North Dec.: 19° N19:38 Moon North Dec.: 19° N
PAGE 6 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
M N
Data and Image Source: http://www.calsky.com/
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 7
May 01
May 15
May 31
V E N U S
Data and Image Source: http://www.calsky.com/
M
A
R
S 8 May 2014 18h Mars Magnitude dims to -1 mag
19 May 2014 20.5h Mars Stationary: Getting Prograde (relative to ecliptic)
21 May 2014 4.3h Mars Stationary: Getting Prograde (relative to equator)
11 Jun 2014 19h18m Mars Descending Knot Passage
22 Jun 2014 22h Mars Apparent Diameter shrinks to 10 arcsec (Brightness: -0.1 mag)
28 Jun 2014 16h Mars Magnitude dims to 0 mag
PAGE 8 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
J
UP
IT
ER
JU
PI
TE
R
Great Red Spot Transits
Charts and Data generated with Charts and Data generated with JupSat ProJupSat Pro Software .Software .
Jovian Moon Positions
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 9
“400 years ago, every-one in Florence could see the stars, but only Galileo had a telescope. Now everyone has a telescope but no one can see the stars.”
I chanced upon this book at the library re-cently. While “The End of Night” may sound like the title of a sci-ence-fiction novel or a soap opera, it's actually a good non-fiction book about our arch-enemy: light pollution. “Already, some two-thirds of Americans and Europeans no longer experience real night – that is, real darkness – and nearly all of us live in areas considered polluted by light,” Bo-gard writes.
The author traveled the world, examining dark sites and cities bursting with illumina-
tion, and interviewing astronomers, hobby-ists, doctors, researchers, and even police officers. I thought at first that The End of Night dealt strictly with light pollution oblit-erating the stars, but the book goes much further than that: Exactly why do we light up our homes and structures so brilliantly? Part of it may be a primal fear of the dark.
It may also have to do with the way we do business: people want to go where people are, and light attracts cus-tomers. Not only are gas stations and parking lots blazing with lights, but they are lit up ten times as brightly as they were just 20 years ago.
Curiously, Bogard claims that studies show there is no solid link between bright lights at night and security. Most peo-ple assume that lighting up a school, a ware-house, a public park, or even their own homes at night provide an ex-tra measure of security. (I think commercial businesses want to pro-tect themselves against
potential lawsuits by flooding their property with light as a safety measure, not just to
(Continued on page 16)
Book/Video Reviews By: Matt McCullar, FWAS
The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light
The End of Night:
Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light
Published 2013 by Little, Brown and Co., 325 pages
ISBN 978-0-316-18290-4
by Paul Bogard
PAGE 10 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
O nce again our young astrono-
mers were building their future
telescope fleet with the help
of verteran FWAS member John Dowell
and YA! facilitator Shawn Kirchdorfer.
We worked on mounting the mirrors to
the mirror cells and mounted several of
them in the tubes. We showed the kids
(and parents) how to align the primary
and secondary mirrors so they are
“collimated”. We weren’t able to finish
the build this session once again, so we
will finish them for sure this next meet-
ing, and the First Light star party for
the YA! members will be pushed back to
June. As John said, this is normally a 9
hour build workshop for one weekend’s
worth of work that we have been
squeezing into 2 hour chunks each meet-
ing. That makes it a little more difficult
to coordinate and finish in a timely man-
ner. We hadn’t planned for that issue.
But the kids seem to be really getting
into building the telescopes that will be
their group’s own to use.
Thanks to Beth Hayes for her patience
in the scheduling delays for the star
party. She has volunteered to host the
get together at their home out in the
country. The May meeting will finish the
build and we will also bring some tele-
scopes to view a little in the parking lot
like we had been prior to this telescope
build workshop.
Young Astronomers Young Astronomers
e
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 11
We got a small posse together out at Fort Griffin last Friday for a spot of stargazing. Threatening weather had shut down most of the weekend’s planned astronomy activities, but forecasts looked better for Friday night, so we took a chance. Tom Monahan, Ed Kotoplish, Mark Wheeler and my-ownself arrived about sundown with a number of instruments, but didn’t have much luck. While the sky was mostly clear, the wind didn’t die down until the wee hours of the morning. While we all know how difficult visual observing can be in high wind, this was our first experience with video astronomy in wind, and it’s not a whole lot bet-ter. While the 6” refractor on the GEM wasn’t the wind vane that the 18” Dobsonian is, the images
seemed to come out pale and grainy. We attributed it to the blowing dust.
I’ve enclosed a frame capture of the Whale Galaxy and companion, NGC 4631 and NGC 4627 which were probably the best of the night’s show. Better luck next time.
Also, I was recently fortunate to attend the OzSky Safari once again, and it was an amazing experience as always. I’ve included a link to an English lady’s blog, a fellow participant. She took better pix of all the telescopes than I did, plus she offers a different narrative on what it’s all about, so enjoy.
www.fjastronomy.com/travels/australia-2014
An Observing Letter By Russ Boatright
PAGE 12 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
By Shawn Kirchdorfer
Constellation Families
W e are all familiar with the 88 officially recognized constellations (most of us with at least the 52 Northern constellations anyway). However did you know that these constellations aren’t just shapes, animals, and people thrown together randomly in the sky?
Many of the constellations are grouped into “families” based on the mythological stories related to their naming or by the physical forms they represent. These families can help to guide you around the night sky. There are eight modern constellation families.
Take for example the Perseus Family of constellations; The Perseus Family or Perseus Group is a set of nine constellations composed of Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Peg-asus, Cetus, Auriga, Lacerta, and Triangulum. It spans from near the north celestial pole down to –30°. Six of the constellations are named for figures in the Perseus myth (think of the movie Clash of the Titans for the basic story plot) – (The Hero) Perseus, his winged horse Pegasus, (Princess) Andromeda, her parents (King) Cepheus and (Queen) Cassiopeia, and the sea monster Cetus (The Whale - aka “the Kraken”).
Perseus was the son of Zeus and the mortal princess Danaë (daughter of the King of Argos). Perseus’ mother was being wooed by a scoundrel of a man named Polydectes whom Persues tried to protect Danae from. Poly-dectes held a huge banquet and demanded the guest bring horses as gifts that he told them he planned to donate as gifts to gain the hand of a wom-an named Hippodamia. Perseus didn’t have a horse to give so he asked
Polydectes to name any gift and he would not refuse to get it for him. Polydectes know-ingly demanded the head of the only mortal Gorgon, Me-dusa, whose gaze turned peo-ple to stone. Being that Per-seus was Zeus’ son, the god-dess Athena helped him gath-er the needed weapons and tools he would use to slay Me-dusa. Upon cutting Medusa’s head off, from her neck sprang the wing horse Pegasus, and
(Continued on page 18) Amphora depicting Perseus rescuing Andromeda from Sutek
(Cetus), in the Altes Museum, Berlin.
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 13
Al Observing Club Al Observing Club
Highlight Of The MonthHighlight Of The Month
T he Caldwell List is a list of bright nebular objects that Charles Messier
omitted from his famous list. This new list was compiled by the famous
British amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (1923-2012). When creating
this list he realized that the Messier list had objects designated with the prefix letter
“M”. Since his last name also started with the letter “M” her chose to use the first
letter of his proper last name Caldwell-Moore, so he used the letter “C” and dropped
the Moore from the list’s name.
This list contains 109 objects that range in magnitude 1 through 13 and go from decli-
nation +85° to -80°. The Messier list only covers the northern hemisphere, but the Caldwell list covers almost the
entire sky, north and south, making this list much more challenging.
The Caldwell List has been broken into two award categories; 70 objects, and the complete list of 109. Each award
will consist of a certificate with Sir Patrick Moore's signature and photo, and an award pin. The pictures on the pins
are two of Sir Patrick's favourites; the Cat's Eye Nebula, visible from the Northern Hemisphere, and the Tarantula
Nebula, visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
To qualify for an AL Caldwell Program Award, you need to be a member of the Astronomical League, either through
an affiliated club or as a Member-at-Large, and observe and record your observations on The Observers Guide - Deep
-Sky Observation Form, or some similar form. This form
has a place for description and drawing. Only one is
required but the detail should be sufficient to convince
your society's awards coordinator that you did in fact
expend the time and effort to find and, hopefully, ap-
preciate the reason that Sir Patrick selected the object
for a place of honor on his list. A photo or CCD image
may be added but cannot replace the visual observa-
tion. Any telescope or binoculars are acceptable, how-
ever, computer assisted and Go -To capabilities are not
to be used.
CALDWELL PROGRAM O b s e r v i n g E x p e r i e n c e L E V E L
I N T E R M E D I A T E
e
Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore
PAGE 14 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
B oötes constellation lies in the northern hemisphere. Its name comes from the Greek word Βοώτης,
Boōtēs, which means ox driver, plowman, or herdsman.
The correct pronunciation is /boʊˈoʊtɨs/, with each ‘o’ pro-nounced separately and stress on the second syllable.
Boötes was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
The constellation is home to Arctu-rus, the third individual brightest star in the night sky, after Sirius in Canis Major and Canopus in Carina constellation.
Boötes has five stars with known planets and does not contain any Messier objects.
The brightest star in the constellation is Arcturus, Alpha Boötis, which is also the third brightest star in the night sky.
There are three meteor showers associated with the constellation Boötes: the January Bootids, the June Bootids, and the Quadrantids.
Boötes belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations, along with Camelopardalis, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Corona Boreal-is, Draco, Leo Minor, Lynx, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.
Boötes
Conste l lat ion of The MonthConste l lat ion of The Month
Data Sources: http://www.starrynighteducation.com/sntimes/2010/jun/index.shtml - http://www.constellation-guide.com/
constellation-list/ - Wikipedia (various – see article hyperlinks) - Image Source: http://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/
e
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 15
B oötes is traditionally depict-
ed as a herdsman with two
hunting dogs on a leash and
a club in his other hand. In the sky,
Boötes follows Ursa Major around
the pole. In one story, the constella-
tion represents a ploughman driving
the oxen in the Ursa Major constel-
lation, followed by his two dogs, As-
terion and Chara (represented by
the constellation Canes Venatici, the
Hunting Dogs). The ploughman’s ox-
en are tied to the polar axis and
their movement keeps the skies in
constant rotation
Most commonly, Boötes is taken to
represent Arcas, son of Zeus and
Callisto, daughter of the Arcadian
king Lycaon. Arcas was brought up
by his grandfather, the king, who
one day decided to test Zeus by
serving him his own son for a meal.
Zeus, however, saw through Lycaon’s
intentions, transformed the cruel king into a wolf, killed all his sons with thunderbolts, and
brought Arcas back to life.
Zeus’ wife Hera, having heard of her husband’s infidelity, transformed Callisto into a bear. Cal-
listo roamed the woods until, years later, she met her son, who was now grown up. Arcas did-
n’t recognize his mother and began to chase her. Callisto hid herself in a temple, where he
could not hurt her without risking being convicted to death for defiling a sacred place. To
avoid a tragedy, Zeus placed both of them in the sky; Callisto as Ursa Major and Arcas as
Boötes.
In another story, Boötes is taken to represent Icarius, a grape grower who once invited Diony-
sus to visit his vineyards. The god was so impressed that he gave Icarius the secret of making
wine. Icarius followed the recipe and enjoyed the beverage so much that he invited all his
friends to try it. They, however, enjoyed it a bit too much and, when they woke up the next
day with bad hangovers, they assumed Icarius had tried to poison them. Angry, they decided
to murder him in his sleep. Dionysus was saddened by the death of his friend and decided to
place Icarius among the stars.
In another myth, Boötes is credited for inventing the plough, which prompted the goddess
Ceres to place him in the heavens.
Text Source: http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/
Image source: Stellarium
MYTHOLOGY—Boö t e s
e
PAGE 16 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
attract customers.) The astronomical city of Flagstaff, Arizona has taken great pains to dra-matically lower their ambient light levels to protect the nighttime skies, and the author claims that Flagstaff does not suffer financially and is not a hotbed of crime as a result. The problem is convincing the vast majority of the public of this.
Some cities (such as Paris, France) are experimenting with lowering their light levels, most-ly to save money. Today's LED technology and computer controls can automatically lower outdoor streetlight levels when the Moon is bright. Why not use motion detectors to turn on outside lights only when necessary?
(Book Review—Continued from page 9)
(Continued on page 17)
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 17
If you have an idea for an article, have astronom-
ical related photos or an astronomy project you’ve
done, and you’d like to share or want to contrib-
ute to the newsletter in any other way, please con-
tact the editor at [email protected]
or through the club’s Yahoo! eGroup forum.
e
The End of Night goes even further, explor-ing the question of how working all night long affects people's health. A great many people (up to 20% of the population in de-veloped countries) now work the graveyard shift. This affects people in many ways, and not for the better. “Even if we're not work-ing the night shift, we are staying up later, exposing ourselves to light at night in ways that our bodies haven't evolved to handle.”
Especially vulnerable to the nighttime blan-ket of light, it seems, are animals. Lights from buildings, automobiles, offshore drill-ing rigs, etc., confuse many creatures, caus-ing them to either migrate in the wrong di-rection or fly into buildings. The environ-ment is changing and their senses can't adapt fast enough to keep up. (The book does not mention this, but I wonder: if all this light affects so many animals, what is it doing to the plants?)
The End of Night does not contain many photographs, but one of them is particular-ly striking. It shows the stunning difference in nighttime illumination between North Korea and South Korea, as seen from space. South Korea is a glowing blanket, with cities very easy to pick out; North Korea is almost totally blank.
The single-brightest area in the world? Las Vegas. The brightest beam of light on Earth shoots out the top of a casino. When it comes to light pollution, what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas. (Even so, there really is a Las Vegas Astronomical So-ciety.)
National parks seem to be our best bet for
dark skies in the future. The National Park System is conducting their own dark sky survey to establish standards and keep their skies as dark as possible, even adver-tising night hikes for city visitors.
The author obviously did a great deal of re-search on this project, but at over 300 pag-es I think this book could have been about 10% shorter. I also do not agree with all of his claims. But on the whole I learned a lot from The End of Night and enjoyed it.
Recommended. Four stars out of five (if you can see them, that is).
(Continued from page 16)
FWAS Meeting
Minutes for April 2014
are not available at the
time of publishing. For
details please contact
the club Secretary/
Treasurer through the
eGroup. Thx.
PAGE 18 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
the young man Chrysaor, son of Poseidon and Medusa (don’t ask me how they figured out that combination of parentage but that’s the story). Later on while travelling back home, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of Aethio-pia (not the Ethiopia of today) where King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia lived. They had a daughter, Andromeda, whom they openly claimed was more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs) which angered Poseidon. The angry sea god sent floods and the sea creature Cetus to devastate the kingdom unless they offered up Andromeda as an offering to Cetus. They fastened the princess to a rock in order to give her as sacrifice to the sea monster. Perseus saw this and saw how beautiful Andromeda was and slew Cetus and claimed Andromeda in marriage. In the classical myth Per-seus uses winged sandals given to him to help slay Medusa, but popular myth has him riding Pegasus. When Perseus returned home, he found his mother being abused by the violent Polydectes, so he saved his mother by killing him by turning him to stone with Medusa’s head.
Learning which constellations belong to which families can help you more easily identify and learn the location of other nearby constellations. This can be done much more quickly than trying to learn them all as separate disconnected constellations. If you learn a particu-lar family grouping and can find one of those constellations, then you know the other sur-
(Continued from page 12)
(Continued on page 19)
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 19
rounding constellations are probably the other family members to that group. This can help you avoid misidentifying those other surrounding constellations as being from a completely different family group.
Not all families have distinct stories that tie them all together; some are part of a constella-tion family simply because of their position in the sky.
Here is a listing of all the constellation families:
URSA MAJOR FAMILY Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Canes Venatici, Bootes, Coma Berenices, Corona Borealis, Camelopardalis, Lynx, Leo Minor
PERSEUS FAMILY Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Pegasus, Cetus, Auriga, Lacerta, Triangulum
HERCULES FAMILY Hercules, Sagitta, Aquila, Lyra, Cygnus, Vulpecula, Hydra, Sextans, Crater, Corvus, Ophiu-chus, Serpens, Scutum, Centaurus, Lupus, Corona Australis, Ara, Triangulum Australe, Crux
ORION FAMILY Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lepus, Monoceros
ZODIAC FAMILY (these lie along the ecliptic - the plane in which most of our Solar System lies) Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces
HEAVENLY WATERS FAMILY Delphinus, Equuleus, Eridanus, Piscis Austrinus, Carina, Puppis, Vela, Pyxis, Columba
JOHANN BAYER FAMILY (Southern Hemisphere - named by Johann Bayer in 1603) Hydrus, Dorado, Volans, Apus, Pavo, Grus, Phoenix, Tucana, Indus, Chamaeleon, Musca
LACAILLE FAMILY (Southern Hemisphere - named by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756) Norma, Circinus, Telescopium, Microscopium, Sculptor, Fornax, Caelum, Horologium, Oc-tans, Mensa, Reticulum, Pictor, Antlia
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation_family
http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/
(Continued from page 18)
e
PAGE 20 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MAY 2014
Newsletter:Newsletter: The FWAS newsletter, The FWAS newsletter, Prime FocusPrime Focus, is published monthly. Letters to , is published monthly. Letters to the editor, articles for publication, photos you’ve taken, personal the editor, articles for publication, photos you’ve taken, personal equipment reviews, or just about anything you would like to have equipment reviews, or just about anything you would like to have included in the newsletter that is astronomy related should be sent included in the newsletter that is astronomy related should be sent to: to: [email protected]@fortworthastro.com
Meetings:Meetings: FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at the FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at the UNT Health Science Center UNT Health Science Center –– Research & Education Building, Room Research & Education Building, Room 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always welcome.welcome.
Outreach:Outreach: Items regarding FWAS Outreach activities, or requests for FWAS to Items regarding FWAS Outreach activities, or requests for FWAS to attend an event, should be sent to: attend an event, should be sent to: [email protected]@fortworthastro.com
Young Astronomers:Young Astronomers: FWAS’ youth activities (known as YA!) meet on the 3rd Saturday of FWAS’ youth activities (known as YA!) meet on the 3rd Saturday of every month between 7pm and 9pm (check our calendar for time every month between 7pm and 9pm (check our calendar for time changes throughout the year changes throughout the year -- determined by seasonal sunset times). determined by seasonal sunset times). This group meets for one hour at the Parkwood Hill HOA Club House This group meets for one hour at the Parkwood Hill HOA Club House -- 5573 Eastwedge Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76137. YA! Coordinators: 5573 Eastwedge Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76137. YA! Coordinators: [email protected]@fortworthastro.com
FWAS Annual Dues:FWAS Annual Dues: $40 for adults / families & households$40 for adults / families & households $20.00 for students (half$20.00 for students (half--price Dec 1 thru May 31); Membership runs price Dec 1 thru May 31); Membership runs June 1June 1stst through May 31through May 31stst. Please make checks payable to:. Please make checks payable to:
Fort Worth Astronomical SocietyFort Worth Astronomical Society See our Secretary/Treasurer for more info:See our Secretary/Treasurer for more info: [email protected]@fortworthastro.com
Cash and checks should be paid inCash and checks should be paid in--person at the next indoor meeting, person at the next indoor meeting, or checks can be mailed in the traditional way. Members should or checks can be mailed in the traditional way. Members should check the eGroup for the latest postal mailing address listed by the check the eGroup for the latest postal mailing address listed by the Secretary/Treasurer. Secretary/Treasurer.
Credit card payments (for existing membership Credit card payments (for existing membership renewalsrenewals only) can be only) can be made through our PayPal link (private link is on the club’s Yahoo made through our PayPal link (private link is on the club’s Yahoo eGroup eGroup –– no PayPal account required).no PayPal account required).
Discount Magazine Subscriptions:Discount Magazine Subscriptions: Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and StarDate (McDonald Observatory) Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and StarDate (McDonald Observatory) magazines are available for discounted subscription rates through our magazines are available for discounted subscription rates through our association with the NASA Night Sky Network and the Astronomical association with the NASA Night Sky Network and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The link can be found on the club’s Yahoo Society of the Pacific. The link can be found on the club’s Yahoo eGroup. (Members Only)eGroup. (Members Only)
Astronomical League Membership:Astronomical League Membership: Your FWAS membership gives you associate membership in the As-Your FWAS membership gives you associate membership in the As-tronomical League. This gives you access to earn various observing tronomical League. This gives you access to earn various observing certificates through the AL observing clubs. You also receive their certificates through the AL observing clubs. You also receive their quarterly magazine, quarterly magazine, ReflectorReflector. AL Observing clubs: . AL Observing clubs: http://http://tinyurl.com/7pyr8qgtinyurl.com/7pyr8qg
Fort Worth Museum of Science & History Monthly Star Parties:Fort Worth Museum of Science & History Monthly Star Parties: FWAS, as part of our historical relationship with the FWAS, as part of our historical relationship with the Noble Planetari-Noble Planetari-umum, participates in the monthly museum star parties by supplying the , participates in the monthly museum star parties by supplying the telescopes and manning to expose the public to amateur astronomy telescopes and manning to expose the public to amateur astronomy as a hobby, and to possibly spark interest in joining our club. This is as a hobby, and to possibly spark interest in joining our club. This is an excellent opportunity to socialize with and to get advice or help an excellent opportunity to socialize with and to get advice or help with your own equipment from other FWAS members. FWMSH star with your own equipment from other FWAS members. FWMSH star party schedule: party schedule: http://tinyurl.com/bosbwqahttp://tinyurl.com/bosbwqa
When 3 celestial bodies align,
like in an eclipse, it’s called a
“syzygy”. That's twenty three
points in Words w/ Friends!
F l o w e r s
spring forth
in abundance this month.
Some Algonquin tribes
knew this full Moon as the
Corn Planting Moon or the
Milk Moon. e
F U L L M O O N N A M E
Source: OId Farmer’s Almanac
“Full Flower Moon”
M a y
That’s a Fact!That’s a Fact!
Just go to their website at http://www.amsmeteors.org/
and hover your cursor on the Fireball menu item at the
top of the page and you will see the link to report a fire-
ball. They will ask you several questions in a web ques-
tionnaire and your observations will be added to the
other witnesses for the same event. These will be com-
piled and analyzed to determine the location and direc-
tion from which the object entered the atmosphere.
Seen a Fireball Lately?Seen a Fireball Lately? Report it to the Report it to the
American Meteor Society (AMS)American Meteor Society (AMS)
Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy.html
MAY 2014 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 21
Have an interesting photo you’ve taken of the sky? Discovered a technique and want to show the results to fellow FWAS mem-
bers? Submit your photos to [email protected] or send them in the Yahoo! eGroup to the attention of the news-
letter editor. Your participation in showing off your personal astrophotography is greatly appreciated by all FWAS members.
(above) Photo courtesty FWAS member, Brian Wortham, taken with a Canon rebel t3 EOS with 300mm zoom lens, Benbrook, TX.
(left)
Lunar Eclipse— Photo taken
by FWAS member, Patrick
McMahon.
Spica is the bright star to the
lower right of the moon, and
Mars is the bright object in
the upper right of the im-
age.