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Inside this issue Contact Information ····················································· 2
Editor’s Corner ····························································· 2-3
Messier Marathon at Lockwood Valley ! ······ 3
March Speaker Info ······················································ 3
Comet PanSTARRS in March ······················ 4-7
LAAS Annual Banquet
Life-Time Achievement Award
Images ·········································· 7-10
Telescopes for Sale ··································· 11
Mt Wilson 60-inch Nights Return ! ·············· 12
Lockwood Valley Family Nights Return ! ······ 13
RTMC, May 24th to 27th ······························ 13
Garvey Ranch Park Map ··············································· 14
New Members ······························································ 14
Event Calendar ····························································· 15
Website Information ····················································· 15
Sky & Telescope & Astronomy subscriptions ··············· 16
Membership Dues and Phone Lists ······························ 16
LOS ANGELES ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
BULLETIN
volume 87, issue 3 March 2013
Page 1 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
Page 2 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
87 YEARS OF ASTRONOMY IN
LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles Astronomical Society Griffith Observatory
2800 East Observatory Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90027
Change of Address, Membership: Sadie De Stefano, LAAS Secretary
LAAS Officers:
President ............................ Mary Brown
Vice President ............. Giovanni Somoza
Treasurer .......................... John O’Bryan [email protected]
Secretary ..................... Sadie De Stefano [email protected]
Volunteers:
Recording Secretary .... Richard Roosman
Library ............................... Mary Brown
Outreach ........................ Heven Renteria
& Evan Warkentine
Loaner Telescopes ......... Dave Sovereign
(626) 794-0646
Messier Program .... Herman Meyerdierks
New Members ............. Andee Sherwood
Speakers Bureau ............. Tim Thompson
Youth Liaison................... (not assigned)
Bulletin Editor ............. David Nakamoto
Bulletin Printer ........... Richard Roosman
Web Site Manager ........ Stephen Dashiell [email protected]
Editor’s Corner
W ell, the January public
star party at Griffith
was one of the best in
many a month. I’ll
write about it next
month.
A possible bright comet, PanSTARRS,
may appear briefly in our evening
skies in March. See pages 4 through
7 for more details.
The annual banquet was the best in
my humble opinion ! Great people,
good food, a great speaker and
topic, and many great door prizes.
The big award of the evening went
to our outreach and public star party
participants. The life-time
achievement award went to Herbert
Kraus for his many years of public
outreach, and contributions to our
board and bulletin. For details and
images see pages 7 thought 10.
Starting in May, a whole slew of
events will begin; 60-inch nights at
Mt Wilson (pg 12), Lockwood Valley
Family Nights (pg 13), and RTMC (pg
13).
Article submissions must be less
than 1,500 words. Only a few
images will be accepted from any
one person. A caption for each is
required. The deadline is the 10th of
each month. Please submit to:
Material may also be sent to the
LAAS address listed at the top of the
column on page 2. It must reach me
by the 10th of the month to be
(Continued on page 3)
Vol 87, issue 3 Page 3
March General Meeting SpeakerMarch General Meeting SpeakerMarch General Meeting SpeakerMarch General Meeting Speaker
The speaker is Dr. Ashwin Vasavada, the Deputy Project Scientist of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) at JPL.
His topic is about Curiosity's landing on Mars with updated information about the mission.
Dr. Ashwin Vasavada has a B. S. in Geophysics and Space Physics from University of California, Los Angeles in 1992, and a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the California Institute of
Technology in 1998. �
Messier Marathon Night !Messier Marathon Night !Messier Marathon Night !Messier Marathon Night ! Date: March 9th Saturday
Location: LAAS’ Lockwood Valley site.
Contact: Herman Meyerdierks [email protected] (310) 738 - 6519 Scott Miller (661) 212 - 3842
This is one of the traditions in amateur observing. The goal is to try and see ALL the objects in the Messier catalog of deep sky objects in one night. This is possible ONLY around the Spring Equinox because near that time, the Sun is positioned in a gap between Messier ob-jects which is JUST large enough so that the attempt can be made.
A check-off list and useful advice are just two of the things Herman and Scott can provide to assist observers in this endeavor. Please contact them if you plan on coming to the Lockwood Valley facilities
for the marathon. �
considered for inclusion into the next month’s bulletin. �
David NakamotoDavid NakamotoDavid NakamotoDavid Nakamoto
Page 4 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
Comet PanSTARRS in March by David Nakamoto
As we go to press, the next possibly Big Thing might be a comet visible to the unaided eye. Comet PanSTARRS, official designation C2011 L4, will cross the western skies during the evenings from March 12th through early April. That much is certain. What is not certain is how bright it will be. As some-one said once, “Comets are like cats; they have tails and do what they want to do.”
PanSTARRS stands for Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System. Operated by the University of Hawaii, its purpose is to do a contin-ual survey of the sky. Four 1.8 meter (71-inch) telescopes located on both Mauna Kea on Hawaii and on Haleakala on the neighboring island of Maui take images every clear night, and an array of cameras and computers com-pare the sky region by region, looking for changes from one image to the other, possible signs of new variables, asteroids, comets, and other transient objects. On June 2011, PanSTARRS detected the comet that may perform for the public this March.
The currently calculated orbit for Comet PanSTARRS matches a hyperbolic orbit, meaning that it is not a periodic comet, and will make one, and only one, pass by the Sun. This adds to the uncertainty as to how this comet will perform. First time comets are often unpredictable when it comes to their brightness as they near the Sun. Often they brighten quite well, due to a volatile and unfortunately thin layer of material on their surfaces, but when this quickly burns away, what lies underneath may not be as easily evapo-rated from the comet’s surface, and the comet doesn’t brighten as predicted. Some comets have actually faded into oblivion as they approached the Sun, sometimes becoming barely visible to large telescopes as they get closest to the Sun. But there’s nothing to be done except hope for the best, and brace for the worse, when it comes to any new comet.
Seiichi Yoshida, an amateur astronomer who maintains a comet website, has produced a light curve based on observations of the comet. As of February 11th 2013, based on this curve, he has revised the upper magnitude of this comet from an earlier estimate of magnitude 0 to no more than magnitude 3, still visible with the unaided eye, but just barely in the western twilight glow. The figure on the next page shows Yoshida’s graph. Notice the tightness of the data point the brighter the comet gets.
(Continued on page 5)
Vol 87, issue 3 Page 5
On March 12th, PanSTARRS will be 4° south of the 1 day old Moon, or left of the Moon, and more or less right above the point where the Sun has set. The moon will be hard to pick out, so perhaps this is the one time it might be eas-ier to see the comet ! The image below shows the view just 45 minutes after sunset. As you can see, this double event, moon and comet, is going to be hard to see due to the low altitude of both objects, and the strong possibility of haze fuzzing things out, if there is nothing worse.
(Continued on page 6)
Page 6 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
On March 13th, the comet will be 11° west of the 2 day old Moon, or under the Moon, and again right above the point where the Sun has set. It moves a lit-tle further to the north each night, but it doesn’t gain much in altitude, and unfortunate state of affairs.
During the March 16th Griffith public star party, at around 6:45pm, the comet will be further to the north of where the Sun sets, but still at an altitude of only 10° or less above the flat western horizon, and perhaps a lot less than that over the hills west of the observatory. It’ll be far below and a little to the right of the Moon, which will be 50° high at that time. It should be just to the right of a large radio tower that sits on the western hills almost directly west of Griffith and visible from Griffith.
Over the next two weeks, the comet will continue to travel slowly to the north, hugging the western horizon, not getting higher than about 15° high as the sun hits the horizon, setting an hour after the Sun does. It slowly passes through Pisces, then between Pisces and Pegasus, most likely fading as it goes, but only the comet knows for sure how bright it will be at that time. The only thing we know for certain is the path it will take through our eve-ning skies. The figure below shows the path at the same time, 6:45pm, 45 to 40 minutes after local sunset, that the comet will take. No matter what, this will be a difficult object to acquire and observe, but if it gets bright, that’ll make it easier.
Because of the low altitude of the comet, the premium item is a site with an unobstructed western view and a low horizon. This almost begs going to the beach and setting up there. And while Griffith Observatory might seem a perfect site, in Griffith park in general, and certainly at Griffith Observatory, there is a restriction that no one can set up their scopes there, except during public star parties, and then only members of the LAAS or Sidewalk Astrono-mers. In any case, whether we will see anything, and for how long, during the
(Continued on page 7)
Vol 87, issue 3 Page 7
March 16th star party, is problematical as far as I can see.
And don’t forget, at the end of this year, Comet ISON will start performing as soon as December 8th. Unfortunately for Griffith, ISON will be visible only in the early morning sky.
Good luck to everyone ! �
Life-time Achievement Award This year, we honored Herbert Kraus.
Herb has been an active member for years, not only providing invaluable
assistance as our Treasurer and board member, but also as a very active
participant in our Outreach program, both our school visitation program and
the Griffith public star parties.
Congratulations Herb, and our thanks for your many years of service to the
society !
LAAS Annual BanquetLAAS Annual BanquetLAAS Annual BanquetLAAS Annual Banquet
Page 8 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
NSN Awards As a result of our club's active participation on NSN and our club's commitment
and enthusiasm for sharing the wonders of the sky, the Night Sky Network
would like to award some of our club members for their dedication to astron-
omy outreach and education by providing a "Night Sky Network Star" pin for
2013. The criteria for receiving this award is that you must have participated in
or helped organize at least five outreach events throughout the year.
NSN award pins were donated by SOFIA, NASA's airborne infrared observatory.
SOFIA is dedicated to contributing to the enhancement of science, technology,
engineering, mathematics literacy and the public appreciation of the value of
scientific research in communities around the country.
Both Evan and I as NSN Coordinators would like to thank all of you for all that
you do to make our club a great one!
Please support your club's mission by volunteering for an upcoming Outreach
event. The children and parents always appreciate your time and effort! �
Andee Sherwood & Evan Warkentine
John O’Bryan Herb Kraus Mike White Tom Drouet Heven Renteria Evan Warkentine Tim Thompson Richard Roosman Scott Miller Van Webster Scott Nichols Bob Deubler Shirley Sunada Sheri Breaux Reynold Wang Richard Fuentes Bob Nolan Mary Brown
Pam Elles Larry Steenhoek Don DeGregori Ali Allison Dave Nakamoto Roger Keen Karen Kaboto Penny Kunitani Elizabeth Critch Kelly Critch Jody Dye Curtis Byrom Gabriel Reyna Miriam Mkhi-taryan Reynold Wang Norm Vargas Spencer SooHoo
Paul Keen Manual Rosales John Price Rob Komoto Kevin Gilchrist Tim Russ David Bararu Herman Meyer-dierks Larry Jaeger Estella Jaeger Dave Pinsky Dave Sovereign Andee Sherwood Darrell Dooley
Vol 87, issue 3 Page 9
Donors to our Annual Banquet Our Warm Thanks !
Companies: Astronomy Magazine http://www.astronomy.com
OPT http://www.optcorp.com
Orion Telescopes http://www.telescope.com
Sky and Telescope http://skytonight.com/
Kitt Peak Public Outreach http://www.noao.edu/outreach/kpvc/
Explore Scientific http://explorescientific.com
Celestron http://www.celestron.com
Individuals:
Herbert Kraus David Sovereign
Larry Steenhoek Matt Ventimigila
Marc Rayman was our guest speaker, and quite a wonderful talk he gave, about
the Dawn mission to the asteroids Vesta (now concluded) and Ceres, two new
worlds where our expectations will bump up against the stark reality we’ll find
there.
My thanks to Steve Dashiell for this and the two images on the next page.
Page 10 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
David Pinsky and Sadie de Stefano handed out the door prizes, and a wonderful
collection it was ! Two large, laminated star atlases, several interesting books, including
a book showing astronomical prints that were auctioned off, which I won, and a large
refractor, which you can see behind and to the left of Sadie above, and held in the arms
of Nicole Heumann, its proud winner, below ! This year’s banquet was, if not the most
successful I’ve attended, then one of the best in recent memory. My heartfelt thanks to
the organizers and all volunteers who donated their time, effort, and prizes to make this
so !
Vol 87, issue 3 Page 11
10-inch Dobsonian for Sale I'm selling my 10-inch aperture, f/4.5 Dobsonian mounted Newtonian reflector (whew !). It's basically the Orion SkyQuest XT10g Computerized GoTo telescope without the GoTo. Comes with a straight-through 9x50 finder, Cheshire alignment tool,
and 25mm eyepiece. I'm asking $400 for the scope.
I will not ship; this is too large and heavy. I wish to sell this equipment to someone in the LA/Orange county area. I will meet with the buyer at Griffith Observatory to exchange equipment for money (cash or bank/cashier-check), or some
other convenient location.
I can be contacted at [email protected], or on my cell phone at (626) 905-2704.
5-inch Maksutov for Sale I'm selling my 5-inch f/12 Orion Maksutov on a Vixen GP
polaris German equatorial mount. The mount has slow motion
motors on the Dec and RA axis, and will track objects in the sky
using the RA motor, but is NOT computerized. The mount has
an eyepiece/equipment tray, and a bubble level indicator. The
telescope includes a straight-through 9x50 finder, and white-
light metal solar filter, but no eyepieces.
I will not ship this equipment. I wish to sell this to someone in
the LA/Orange county area. I am willing to meet at Griffith
Observatory to exchange the equipment for money (cash or
bank-/cashier-check). I'm asking $750 for the entire set.
$200 for just the Maksutov. $500 for the mount. $50 for the
solar filter.
I can be contacted at [email protected], or on my cell at (626) 905-2704.
Page 12 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
LAAS has arranged for nights at the Mount Wilson 60-
inch telescope this year. All are New Moon nights. Half-
nights are until 1:00 am. Note that there is only one full
night, in September.
Only LAAS members are allowed to sign up. If there is
still room two (2) weeks prior to the date, paying guests
will be permitted. Everyone who shows up, whether family member, friend, or
guest, will have to pay in order to be allowed in the 60-inch telescope
observatory. The cost per person has not been determined at this time. We
are allowed to accommodate only a limited number of participants at each
session, and your reservations are being accepted on a first come, first serve,
basis.
To secure your reservation, send in your request AND A CHECK
payable to LAAS to our Treasurer at:
P.O. Box 56084
Sherman Oaks, CA 91413
Any LAAS member who has not been to a 60-inch night at Mount Wilson should
consider it as an opportunity to visit astronomy history. To see the location and
equipment used by giants such as Shapley and Hubble will add to your
appreciation of their contributions.
The scope will belong to LAAS for the time indicated. We mutually agree upon
which objects to view. Often, a member is the operator, so it is a very
comfortable environment. (Do bring a coat, however). The viewing is without a
doubt the best you are likely to see in your lifetime.
If you need any further information about attending these nights on Mount
Wilson, contact our Treasurer at [email protected] or by mail at the above
address. �
Mt Wilson 60” Nights
June 7th
, Fri (half night)
July 5th
, Fri (half night)
Aug 31st
, Sat (half night)
Sept 7th
, Sat (FULL night)
Oct 4th
, Fri (half night)
Vol 87, issue 3 Page 13
Family Nights Return to
Lockwood Valley Family Nights in Lockwood Valley at our dark sky site are back!
Please mark the following dates on your calendar:
May 4, 2013
June 29, 2013
July 27, 2013
Aug. 10, 2013 All LAAS members are invited to come up to the dark sky property and enjoy an
evening of stargazing with friends and family. Bring your telescopes, tents and
sleeping bags and camp out under the stars. Please RSVP and bring food for the
pot luck dinner that we'll all share together. Registered members of Night Sky
Network, will receive an event message in your email with an RSVP option.
Everyone else should send their RSVP to the following email:
Stay tuned for further information or check one of the dates on our calendar of
events in the near future to learn more about Family Nights. �
Andee Sherwood
Riverside Telescope
Makers Conference May 24-27, 2013
This year, RTMC is being held over Memorial Day weekend, from Friday the 24th
through the morning of Monday the 27th
. This is a full moon weekend, and
therefore not for deep skies, but apparently RTMC is going back to its tradition
of being held on Memorial Day weekend regardless of the phase of the Moon.
LAAS will probably have a booth. Please stay tuned for further details. For
immediate news, please subscribe to the LAAS general Yahoo group list.
David Nakamoto
Page 14 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
New Members The new members approved at last month’s board meeting
are :
• Douglas Baker • Paul Boyle • Tamara Krinsky • Steven Olson • Brad Owen • Thomas Sanchez II • Fred Zimmerman
We welcome to our club, and we hope you’ll enjoy your Astronomy with all of us ! Please join our online discussions.
�
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(The place to build your telescope)(The place to build your telescope)(The place to build your telescope)
Map to Monterey Park Observatory
Vol 87, issue 3 Page 15
EVENTS CALENDAR
Mar 6th (Wed) Board Mtg General Meeting room,
Garvey Ranch Park. Map on page 14
Mar 9th (Sat) Dark Sky Star
Party
Lockwood Valley Rules at
http://www.laas.org/Lockwood_Valley_Public_Rules.pdf
Mar 11th (Mon) General
Mtg
Leonard Nimoy Theater, Griffith Observatory 7:45pm to 9:45pm
Speaker and topic on page 3.
Mar 16th (Sat) Public Star
Party Griffith Observatory 2:00pm to 10:00pm
Apr 3rd (Wed) Board Mtg General Meeting room,
Garvey Ranch Park. Map on page 14
Apr 8th (Mon) General
Mtg
Leonard Nimoy Theater, Griffith Observatory 7:45pm to 9:45pm
Speaker and topic unknown.
Apr 13th (Sat) Dark Sky Star
Party
Lockwood Valley Rules at
http://www.laas.org/
Apr 20th (Sat) Public Star
Party Griffith Observatory 2:00pm to 10:00pm
LAAS Home Page: http://www.laas.org
LAAS Bulletin Online: http://www.laas.org/joomlasite/index.php/latest-bulletin-quicklinks
Page 16 LAAS BulletinLAAS Bulletin
Membership Annual Dues: Youth $ 20.00 Regular (18-65) $ 45.00 Senior Citizen (65 and up) $ 30.00 Senior Family $ 40.00 Family $ 60.00 Life $ 500.00 Additional fees: Charter Star member $ 30.00 Star member, with pad $ 70.00 Star member, no pad $ 60.00 Printed Bulletin $ 15.00 (Membership due date is indicated on the mailing label)
HANDY PHONE LIST LAAS Answering Machine ......(213) 673-7355 Griffith Observatory Program...............................(213) 473-0800 Sky Report...........................(213) 473-0880 Lockwood Site ........................(661) 245-2106 (not answered, arrange time with caller. Outgoing calls – collect or calling card) Mt. Wilson Institute .................(626) 793-3100
Astronomy Magazine Subscriptions
For a club rate subscription to Astronomy, send a check payable to Kalmbach Publishing Co. in the amount of $34 for one year or $60 for two years to :
LAAS treasurer
LAAS
P.O. Box 56084
Sherman Oaks CA 91413 Be sure to include the exact name and mailing address for your subscription. That magazine also requires later subscription renewals to be handled through the LAAS Treasurer. �
Sky and Telescope Subscriptions Sky and Telescope subscriptions renewals should be sent directly to Sky Publishing. To start a Sky & Telescope subscription at club rates, send a check payable to “Sky & Telescope” in the amount of $32.95 for a one year subscription to :
LAAS treasurer
P.O. Box 56084
Sherman Oaks, CA 91413 Be sure to include the exact name and mailing address for your subscription. Then thereafter send the renewal bills directly to Sky Publishing. �