Prime Focus (07-08)PPrime Focurime Focurime Focuss A Publication of
the Kalamazoo Astronomical SocietyA Publication of the Kalamazoo
Astronomical SocietyA Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical
Society
General Meeting: Friday, July 11 @ 7:00 pm
Kalamazoo Math & Science Center - See Page 10 for Details
Observing Session: Saturday, July 12 @ 9:00 pm
Delightful Double Stars - Kalamazoo Nature Center
Observing Session: Saturday, July 26 @ 9:00 pm
Super Summer Nebulae - Kalamazoo Nature Center
This Months This Months KAS EventsEvents
July 2008
Highlights of theHighlights of the July SkyJuly Sky. . .. . .
-- -- -- 11stst -- -- -- PM: Mars is PM: Mars is ¾¾º above º above
Regulus, with Saturn 5º to Regulus, with Saturn 5º to the pairs
upper left.the pairs upper left. Mercury reaches greatest Mercury
reaches greatest western elongation (22º).western elongation
(22º).
-- -- -- 22ndnd -- -- -- New MoonNew Moon 10:19 pm EDT10:19 pm
EDT
-- -- -- 55thth -- -- -- PM: Waxing Crescent PM: Waxing Crescent
Moon lower right of Mars, Moon lower right of Mars, Saturn, and
Regulus.Saturn, and Regulus.
-- -- -- 66th th -- -- -- PM: Waxing Crescent PM: Waxing Crescent
Moon left of Mars, Saturn, Moon left of Mars, Saturn, and
Regulus.and Regulus.
-- -- -- 99thth -- -- -- Jupiter at opposition.Jupiter at
opposition.
-- -- -- 1010thth -- -- -- PM: Mars and Saturn are PM: Mars and
Saturn are within within ¾¾º of each other.º of each other. First
Quarter MoonFirst Quarter Moon 12:35 am EDT12:35 am EDT
-- -- -- 1414thth -- -- -- AM: Moon within 3º AM: Moon within 3º ——
4º 4º of Antares.of Antares.
-- -- -- 1717thth -- -- -- PM: Moon rises 7º to right PM: Moon
rises 7º to right of Jupiter.of Jupiter.
-- -- -- 1818thth -- -- -- AM: Moon sets 4º below AM: Moon sets 4º
below Jupiter.Jupiter. Full MoonFull Moon 3:59 am EDT3:59 am
EDT
-- -- -- 1818thth -- -- -- Last Quarter MoonLast Quarter Moon 2:42
pm EDT2:42 pm EDT
-- -- -- 2929thth -- -- -- AM: Delta Aquarid Meteor AM: Delta
Aquarid Meteor Shower (20 per hour).Shower (20 per hour).
www.kasonline.org
NYAA Honorable Mention.................. p. 2
June Meeting Note................................. p. 2
High-Tech Telescopes........................... p. 3
The Night Sky Observer’s Guide....... p. 5
NASA Space Place.................................. p. 7
July Night Sky.......................................... p. 8
KAS Officers & Announcements........ p. 9
General Meeting Preview..................... p. 10
July 2008 Prime Focus Page 2
Board Meeting MinuteBoard Meeting MinuteBoard Meeting
Minutesss
Lara Knorek, a graduate of the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics &
Science Center and Portage Northern High School is a 2008 National
Young Astronomer Award Honorable Mention. Lara’s research project
this past year at the Center was on “A New Model for Supernova
Light Curves”. She received the U.S. Air Force Award and the KAMSC
Parent Award at the Regional Intel Science and Engineering Fair
held at Western Michigan Univer- sity in March. Lara worked under
the guidance of Mike Sinclair, Vice President of the KAS, examining
a variety of supernova events over the past thirty years. She will
be attending Brown University this fall and majoring in
astronomy.
The KAS Board met on June 8th at Sunnyside Church, in the wake of
yet another of the thundershowers that have popped up of late.
President Jack Price brought the meeting to order at 5:15 pm. Also
present were Richard Bell, Jean DeMott, Dick Gillespie, and Roger
Williams. In the absence of the treasurer, there was no treasurer’s
report. Richard summarized the events of the previous week, notably
cancellation of the June 6th general meeting because of tor- nado
warnings added to one of the aforementioned storms. The June 7th
observing session was also scrubbed due to weather, albeit of a
less violent variety. After some discussion about whether to drop
the June meeting or to reschedule it for later in the month, there
was consensus that it was more practical to drop it. The speaker
will be re- scheduled for a later date. Hope continues for better
weather for the June 28th observing session, and the general
meeting on July 11th features Gadget Night. The meeting will be at
KAMSC, which we are assured will be available. In the category of
old business, Richard still had plans to go to Camp Friedenswald on
Friday, June 27th, and he would like to have a couple more people
with different types of telescopes to accompany him. A possible
problem is that it seems the campers go to bed at 10:30 pm, which
leaves a maximum of 30 minutes observing time. Assuming that this
can be stretched to an hour, the deal could still be done.
[Editor’s Note: The Camp Friedenswald observing session was moved
to Monday, June 23rd.] In new business, Jack announced a date of
Saturday, July 12th for the Kindleberger Park Summer Festival in
Parchment. The organization will provide a canopy, tables, and
chairs, so we need only display items and solar scopes. Jack also
men- tioned that a group of Scouts will be at the Air Zoo on August
1st & 2nd. He plans to be there for some observing and could
use another participant. Richard suggested some ideas for Astronomy
Day 2009. One is actor Michael Francis, who does an in-costume
portrayal of Galileo. The other is Neil deGrasse Tyson, who would
be a major attraction but whose fee would require our sharing
sponsorship with someone else (WMU?) and probably obtain- ing a
grant. There being no other business of significance, the Board en-
gaged in a brief bull session and adjourned at 6:10 pm. It was
decided that any business needing attention in July could be
handled at a short board meeting following the Friday, July 11th
General Meeting (weather permitting). Respectfully submitted by
Roger Williams
June Meeting NoteJune Meeting NoteJune Meeting Note by Richard
Bell
KAMSC Student ReceivesKAMSC Student Receives NYAA Honorable
MentionNYAA Honorable Mention
I’ve been attending KAS General Meetings for nearly 16 years and
we’ve never had to call a meeting off in all that time. There have
been close calls — usually during the win- ter months — but never a
cancellation. That all changed on June 6, 2008. The entire West
Michigan region was under a severe thunder- storm and tornado
warning until approximately 5:00 pm. I figured everything would
blow over in time for the general meeting at 7:00 pm, but I thought
I’d give Mike Sinclair (the man with the keys to KAMSC) a call. We
both were on the fence and decided I should check in with our guest
speaker. Fortunately, I was able to reach Dr. Arunav Kundu in his
of- fice at Michigan State University. Skies were sunny for him at
the moment and he saw no reason why he shouldn’t make the trip. My
power then briefly went out and I had to call Dr. Kundu back. He
again wasn’t worried until a second tornado warning came on my T.V.
screen. “That’s it!”, I said, and called off the meeting. According
to news reports, 8 people died in Michigan as a result of the
storms day, so we made the right call for sure. Dr. Kundu has
tentatively agreed to speak at the September meeting. Let’s hope
the weather cooperates next time.
July 2008
With the advent of CCDs and computer-controlled telescope drives,
this may be your first brush with the arcane world of really
high-tech. For anyone who may be considering some of the advanced
products now on the market, this page will pro- vide an
interpretation of a few terms that you've no doubt seen widely used
in advertisements. ALL NEW...
The power supply, connectors, and software are not com- patible
with previous versions. Even the screw threads are different.
ADVANCED DESIGN...
It nearly worked on the first try. DESIGN SIMPLICITY...
It was developed on a shoestring budget. EXCLUSIVE...
We're the only ones who have the directions telling how to use
it.
FIELD TESTED...
The manufacturer has no way to test it. FOOLPROOF
OPERATION...
It's unrepairable, short of sending it back to the factory (which
can't fix it either).
FUTURISTIC...
It only runs with the help of a next-generation computer, which
isn't available yet.
HIGH ACCURACY...
The screw threads match the threads of the holes they're supposed
to mate with.
IT'S HERE AT LAST...
We've released a 26-week project in 48 weeks. MAINTENANCE FREE (see
Foolproof Operation) MEETS OR EXCEEDS OPTICAL STANDARDS...
We haven't the foggiest idea about the wavefront accuracy.
NEW...
It comes in a different color than the first version.
PERFORMANCE PROVEN... It worked through beta testing.
QUALITY STANDARDS...
It works most of the time. REVOLUTIONARY...
Everything that's supposed to go round and round actually goes
round and round.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED...
We'll send you another manual if this one fails to work. STOCK
ITEM...
We shipped it once before and we can do it again, probably.
UNMATCHED...
No one else wants to copy our design. UNPRECEDENTED
PERFORMANCE...
May mean two different things:
1. Actually worked the first time right out of the box. 2. Nothing
before ever ran so erratically.
YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT...
Prime Focus Page 3
HighHigh--Tech TelescopesTech Telescopes Defining Terms Used in
MarketingDefining Terms Used in Marketing
Delighted at finding a Tasco 60mm refractor Professor McGuffy got a
little carried away building the mount.
July 2008
Recently, I was looking through several back issues of Sky &
Telescope that were donated to the KAS. Many of the histori- cal
articles were interesting, but I particularly enjoyed the old
advertisements. The one I found the most amusing was from Celestron
in the early 1980’s. They showed Leonard Nimoy (of Star Trek fame)
posing next to an 8-inch Schmidt- Cassegrain. May your scope live
long and prosper! I also noticed that all the beginner scopes of
the time came with wooden tripods. This stood out for me, because
for years I’ve struggled with the aluminum legs that came with an
Orion SkyView Deluxe German equatorial mount I purchased in 1999.
I’ve seen a lot of aluminum tripods in my day — both as an amateur
astrono- mer and former telescope dealer — and these were BY FAR
the worst set I’ve ever used. The legs were difficult to extend and
periodically became jammed shut. I hated them...deeply. Besides,
wooden legs are better. They’re more rigid and dampen vibrations
quicker than hollow aluminum legs. My search for a set of
replacement legs lasted for years. Most
of the choices available are at least $200 or more. This was way
more than I wanted to pay, since I only use the mount for solar
observing or short observing sessions in my backyard. I also
considered making a set of wooden legs myself, but I didn’t have
the desire or necessary tools. Finally, I came across the GTO Mount
from Hands On Optics; a telescope shop based out of Damascus,
Maryland. The General/Good Telescope Optics (GTO) Mount is actually
built by the Canadian manufacturer and reseller Antares. Hands On
Optics also sells GTO eyepieces and Barlow lenses, so the mount is
just another item in the series. As far as I can tell, Hands On
Optics is the only dealer to carry this tripod set. It’s not even
listed on the Antares web site. The tripod comes with a plastic
spreader, which increases the rigidity of the mount. An aluminum
tray is also included, but I already own two others. The central
hub, which attaches your equatorial mount to the tripod, is not
included. The GTO Mount is meant as a replacement for your existing
alu- minum tripod legs, so most users would already own one. The
legs retail for only $79.00 plus shipping and handling (which was
$12.00 for me). The legs will work with nearly any style mount.
These in- clude the Meade LXD55, LX300, and LX500 as well as Vixen
Polaris or Super Polaris mounts. They’ll also work with all the
Chinese Synta mounts (which includes the ver- sions sold by
Celestron and Orion). My order arrived from Hands On Optics three
business days after it was placed. The tripod came in one box and
the tray arrived in another (later in the day actually — guess the
FedEx guy forgot to give it to me). The craftsmanship is overall
good, but I didn’t like the paint job. I’d much prefer a natural
wood look, so I’ll probably sand the legs and varnish them sometime
down the road. One item that needs to be replaced is the hardware.
The first thing I did was to switch the top wing nuts with the
plastic knobs that came with my old legs. These are more finger
friendly. I’d also like to replace the bolts with something that
can be tightened with fingers alone. It’s difficult to tighten the
legs properly without a tool. The legs would often slip during
setup and in use. This should only mean a quick trip to the
hardware store, so it’s no big deal. I’d also like to find a sturdy
bag to carry the legs in. Stability is noticeably better, but my
Tele Vue Pronto (seen to your left) isn’t the greatest test
subject. Dampening time is easily under two seconds. I’d highly
recommend this set of affordable legs to anyone. The price is great
and they’re far better than any set of cheesy aluminum legs.
Prime Focus Page 4
Hands On Optics GTO MountHands On Optics GTO Mount by Richard
BellRichard Bell
July 2008 Prime Focus Page 5
Having owned and used my three volume copy of Burnham’s Celestial
Handbook until the binding started to fail, I was usu- ally quick
to recommend this set of books as my first choice for observers. I
gave my set to a beginning observer that was returning to Italy
after finishing a business assignment in the states; however I knew
that I still needed a good reference book for researching potential
observing targets and as a field aid to the maps and charts that I
usually bring out for a ses- sion. I saw the two volume set of The
Night Sky Observer’s Guide at my local telescope store, and a
studied perusal suggested that these books would be a good choice
as replacement for the Burnham’s set. First, let me contrast the
differences. The Burnham’s books are indeed a superb work. They are
really much more of a reference work, including lore, the root of
names, astronomy history, and several chapters on the nature of
various stellar and non-stellar objects. The Guide also contains
good tables with a very cryptic set of keys and icons to help you
determine what an object should appear like in the eyepiece. The
Night Sky Observer’s Guide is far more focused on OB- SERVING.
Volume 1 starts with a description of the books goals, and the
information you will need to understand how to fully exploit the
material it contains. The rest of Volume 1 is devoted to the
constellations of the Winter and Spring skies. Volume 2 contains
the Summer and Autumn constellations, and concludes by providing
pictures of some of the people that
contributed the enormous amount of ACTUAL OBSERVA- TIONS THROUGH
VARIOUS SIZE TELESCOPES! And THIS, my friends, is what makes these
volumes really interest- ing. The very heart of the value
proposition of these books is that it contains descriptions of
thousands of objects, and for most of these it gives a nice
description of how the object might appear in a small refractor, a
medium size reflector, and a large Dobsonian. Now not every object
has a description for every size telescope, but most include
descriptions for at least mid and large size telescopes. Almost all
of the more interesting objects also include at least an eyepiece
drawing, which is always accompanied by a note that credits the
observer and gives the size of telescope that was used, or a
photograph with similar information and expo- sure. Now I have
often been asked by someone what they might be able to expect to
see with a telescope of so many inches of aperture, and of course
this is a VERY difficult question to answer. There are just too
many variables. But this body of work does a VERY good job of
describing what other observ- ers HAVE seen, and what you might
expect to see. Each constellation chapter begins with about a ¾
page chart of the constellation. It includes constellation
boundaries for that constellation, RA and DEC lines, the
constellation connector lines, bright stars down to around
magnitude 6 or so (I don’t remember exactly), and DSOs. Brighter
stars often include common names, and usually include things like
Greek alpha- bet designations. The charts are not really
comprehensive and can’t totally replace a regular observing chart,
but at the same time, they are useful enough to perform basic
star-hopping. I have often located objects using nothing but these
charts and a Telrad finder. Throughout each constellation chapter,
there are also “Mini-Charts” that explore specific regions of each
constellation. Again, this is useful for star-hopping or just to
get a quick read about where the object is located. Next, there is
a less than one page constellation description. It includes basic
info on the constellation such as size and infor- mation like
pronunciation for the names, and sometimes a bit of history on the
name. The description will also often include a mention of some of
the showcase objects contained in the boundaries. Following the
description, each chapter next includes two ta- bles. The first is
a variable star table, and the second is a dou- ble-star table. Now
I am not into variables at all, so I can’t comment on their
utility, but I use the double-star tables all the time. Now oddly,
(or not, because while I like double-star observing, I am not
really a double-star observer!) the most
The Night Sky Observer’s GuideThe Night Sky Observer’s Guide
by by Ed MorenoEd Moreno
Both volumes of The Night Sky Observer’s Guide have become an
essential resource for amateur astronomers since they were first
released in 1998.
July 2008 Prime Focus Page 6
The 4 and 5 Star objects are visible in just about any telescope
even under magnitude 4 skies. Now when I was younger, I would never
have considered writing in a “Reference” book, but in the last
couple of years of having owned these books, I do find myself
jotting very terse notes in them. Often these notes are not much
more than a date, the aperture and magnification use, and maybe a
single word (Beautiful!)… These books are becoming increasingly
populated with these little notes, which to me indicate that the
books ARE being used, and they ARE helping me locate many new
targets for viewing. I own plenty of books on astronomy. These
include several small atlases and observing guides. I also own
several chart- ing programs and sky charts. Of all these materials,
The Deep Sky Observer’s Guide is my favorite and most used
observing aid. For some, I would even recommend them OVER some of
the more popular deep sky charts, because the books contain ample
charts suitable for star-hopping with, and they contain thousands
of actual observer comments that by themselves are worth the price
of the set. In the end, I give this 2 volume set my highest
recommenda- tion. These books are worth the price, and my bet is
that they will be used more than a lot of other things you could
spend the money on. Ed Moreno is a veteran amateur astronomer
living in Austin, Texas and works in the IT industry. Editor’s
Note: Volume 3 of The Night Sky Observer’s Guide will be released
by Willmann-Bell in mid-July. It features information on deep sky
objects visible from southern skies. For more information on the
entire series, including a sample chapter, visit the Willmann-Bell
web site:
http://www.willbell.com/
common reference is the Struve catalog number. Well, for me, the
only problem with this is that NONE of my Go-To telescopes include
Struve catalogs, so I am forced to rely on manually inputting the
coordinates, and the tables do indeed supply the RA and DEC
coordinates. In addition, they pro- vide the magnitude of the
components, separation, position angle, and in many cases, if the
double is a color contrast dou- ble, the table includes the most
reported colors for the compo- nents. Now as I said, I don’t
actually consider myself to be a die-hard double star observer, but
on many summer nights when there is a slight haze and my normal DSO
targets are obscured, I will usually take advantage of the stable
seeing that often accompanies the haze to dabble in doubles. These
lists have made it easy because they allow me to work an en- tire
constellation and have the important info right at my fin- gertips.
I have found and split some really rewarding doubles, and the
tables in these books were my guide. After the tables, the observer
reports begin. They also start with variables and doubles. For each
entry, there is a heading which includes basic info like
brightness, separation of the primary/secondary, and position
angle. In many cases, there is a reference to the mini-chart
mentioned earlier to aid in locat- ing the object (handy for
Dobsonian users), and in many cases, it will contain a reference to
a figure, which could be a picture or an eyepiece perspective
drawing. There are hundreds upon hundreds of eyepiece drawings, and
I find them to be some of the most valuable parts of this book. I
use these drawings to both set an expectation of what I will see,
and often, when trying to locate really challenging objects, I can
use them to accurately position the eyepiece to center the object
or deter- mine its extent. Following the heading, there will be
entries of reports on how the object will appear in various size
scopes. For example, there might be an entry for 4” to 6”
refractors, 8” to 10” re- flector, and 14” to 18” reflector. The
scope sizes vary some- times, but this is due to the fact that the
descriptions are based on ACTUAL reported descriptions by real
observers. The deep sky descriptions follow much the same format,
with a heading that includes similar info such as size, brightness,
number of stars for clusters, and a 5 star rating that indicates
how satisfying this object is to view. DSOs are usually identi-
fied by NGC number, but other listings such as Abel clusters and
such do appear. In addition, if the object has an alternate catalog
listing such as Messier number, this is also usually noted (always
true with M numbers, but not always with some of the more obscure
designations). Regarding the 5 star rating, I have come to use this
as one of the most important filters to select viewing targets. If
an ob- ject has two stars or less, under my magnitude 3 and 4 sky
conditions, that object will not be satisfactory for my 11” SCT. It
will be too dim or invisible. Now remember, this is me. Your actual
results may vary, but chances are you would still be able to use
this 5 star rating in much the same manner. The 3 Star objects are
usually viewable in my 11”, but often are just at the lower edge of
suitability for my 6” refractor.
July 2008
Congratulations! You’re an oceanographer and you’ve just received a
big grant to investigate the Pacific Ocean. Your task: Map the
mighty Pacific’s wind and waves, monitor its deep currents, and
keep track of continent-sized temperature oscillations that shape
weather around the world. Funds are available and you may start
immediately. Oh, there’s just one problem: You’ve got to do this
work us- ing no more than one ocean buoy. “That would be
impossible,” says Dr. Guan Le of the Goddard Space Flight Center.
“The Pacific’s too big to understand by studying just one
location.” Yet, for Le and her space scientist colleagues, this was
exactly what they have been expected to accomplish in their own
stud- i e s o f E a r t h ’ s m a g n e t o s p h e r e . T h e
magnetosphere is an “ocean” of magnetism and plasma sur- rounding
our planet. Its shores are defined by the outer bounds of Earth’s
magnetic field and it contains a bewildering mix of matter-energy
waves, electrical currents and plasma oscillations spread across a
volume billions of times greater than the Pacific Ocean itself.
“For many years we’ve struggled to understand the magneto- sphere
using mostly single spacecraft,” says Le. “To really make progress,
we need many spacecraft spread through the magnetosphere, working
together to understand the whole.” Enter Space Technology 5. In
March 2006 NASA launched a trio of experimental satel- lites to see
what three “buoys” could accomplish. Because they weighed only 55
lbs. apiece and measured not much lar-
ger than a birthday cake, the three ST5 “micro-satellites” fit
onboard a single Pegasus rocket. Above Earth’s atmosphere, the
three were flung like Frisbees from the rocket’s body into the
magnetosphere by a revolutionary micro-satellite launcher. Space
Technology 5 is a mission of NASA’s New Millennium Program, which
tests innovative technologies for use on future space missions. The
90-day flight of ST5 validated several devices crucial to space
buoys: miniature magnetometers, high-efficiency solar arrays, and
some strange-looking but effective micro-antennas designed from
principles of Darwin- ian evolution. Also, ST5 showed that three
satellites could maneuver together as a “constellation,” spreading
out to meas- ure complex fields and currents. “ST5 was able to
measure the motion and thickness of current sheets in the
magnetosphere,” says Le, the mission’s project scientist at
Goddard. “This could not have been done with a single spacecraft,
no matter how capable.” The ST5 mission is finished but the
technology it tested will key future studies of the magnetosphere.
Thanks to ST5, hopes Le, lonely buoys will soon be a thing of the
past. Learn more about ST5’s miniaturized technologies at:
http://nmp.nasa.gov/st5/ Kids (and grownups) can get a better
understanding of the artificial evolutionary process used to design
ST5’s antennas at: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/st5/emoticon/
This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Prime Focus Page 7
Space BuoysSpace BuoysSpace Buoys by Dr. Tony Phillips Dr. Tony
Phillips
Earth’s magnetic field, or magnetosphere, protects us from most
effects of solar storms and the solar wind. Credit: SOHO image
composite by Steele Hill (NASA).
Space Technology 5 micro-satellites proved the feasibil- ity of
using a constellation of small spacecraft with minia- ture
magnetometers to study Earth’s magnetosphere.
July Night Sky..............................July Night
Sky..............................
ES T
eep an eye on Leo after sunset in early July. Right at the 1st of
the month, Mars will be located
a mere ¾º above Regulus. Saturn can be found 5º to the pairs upper
left. The Moon joins the scene on the 5th, with its thin crescent
to the left of Mars, Saturn,
and Regulus. The Moon switches places on the 6th. Mars and Saturn
will then be within ¾º of each other on the evenings of the 9th and
10th. Jupiter reaches oppostion on the 9th. It’ll rise around
sunset and set around
sunrise. The giant planet will be a hard- to-miss -2.7 magnitude
beacon in Sagittarius. The Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks on the
morning of the 29th. Expect 20 meteors per hour.
SOUTH
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.
www.kasonline.org
Late July Dusk
This map represents the sky at the following local standard
times:
PRESIDENT Jack Price 343-3193
[email protected] VICE PRESIDENT
Mike Sinclair 373-7003
[email protected] TREASURER Rich
Mather 629-5312
[email protected] SECRETARY/ALCOR Roger Williams
375-4867
[email protected] MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Richard S. Bell
373-8942
[email protected] Jean DeMott 381-1406
[email protected] Dick Gillespie 966-9653
[email protected]
Dan Morgan 964-3156
[email protected]
KAS OFFICERSKAS OFFICERS July 2008 Page 9
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
Night of the Falling StarsNight of the Falling Stars Saturdays,
11:00 am; Sundays, 1:30 pm
Treasures of the Milky WayTreasures of the Milky Way Wednesdays
3:00 pm; Sundays, 2:00 pm
Ring WorldRing World Saturdays & Sundays, 3:00 pm
GET OUT GET OUT & OBSERVE!OBSERVE!
with the Kalamazoo Astronomical SocietyKalamazoo Astronomical
Society
JULY STARGAZING DATES Kalamazoo Nature Center 7000 N. Westnedge
Ave.
Saturday, July 12 @ 9:00 pm Delightful Double Stars
Saturday, July 26 @ 9:00 pm
Super Summer Nebulae
Moving?Moving? If you have a change of home and/or e-mail address
please contact one of the following KAS Board Members by phone or
e-mail:
Richard Bell 373-8942
Roger Williams 375-4867
If you are moving out of town before your membership expires please
contact us anyway. You paid for a years worth of newsletters and
that’s what you’ll get!
© July 2008, Stargazer Productions
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society c/o KAMSC 600 West Vine, Suite 400
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
STAMP
General Meeting Preview
Today the astronomical marketplace is flooded with telescopes and
accessories of all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. However, even
with the wealth of goods now available, there are some gadgets that
can only be hand crafted. Roger Williams’ equatorial platform stand
(seen at your left) is an excellent example. It just goes to show
that necessity really is the mother of invention and thankfully
amateur astronomers are an ingenious lot.
For our next meeting we invite KAS members to trot out the results
of their latest brainstorming. Please feel free to bring any
previously seen doodads, doohickeys, and devices from past Gadget
Nights as well - odds are they’ll be all-new to someone in
attendance. You won't want to miss this fun and entertaining
evening.
Friday, July 11 @ 7:00 pm Kalamazoo Area Math & Science
Center
600 West Vine, Suite 400 • Use Dutton St. Entrance
<< /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false
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/CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1)
/CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile
(sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Error
/CompatibilityLevel 1.4 /CompressObjects /Tags /CompressPages true
/ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true
/CreateJDFFile false /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent
/Default /DetectBlends true /DetectCurves 0.0000
/ColorConversionStrategy /CMYK /DoThumbnails false /EmbedAllFonts
true /EmbedOpenType false /ParseICCProfilesInComments true
/EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /EmitDSCWarnings false
/EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams false
/MaxSubsetPct 100 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true
/ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true
/PreserveDICMYKValues true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveFlatness
true /PreserveHalftoneInfo false /PreserveOPIComments true
/PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts true
/TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue
false /ColorSettingsFile () /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [
true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /CropColorImages true
/ColorImageMinResolution 300 /ColorImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK
/DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic
/ColorImageResolution 300 /ColorImageDepth -1
/ColorImageMinDownsampleDepth 1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold
1.50000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode
/AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG
/ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1]
/VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.15
/HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >>
/JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256
/Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth
256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false
/CropGrayImages true /GrayImageMinResolution 300
/GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleGrayImages true
/GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300
/GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2
/GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true
/GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true
/GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict <<
/QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >>
/GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples
[1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth
256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict
<< /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >>
/AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages true
/MonoImageMinResolution 1200 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK
/DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic
/MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1
/MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true
/MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1
>> /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /None ]
/PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false
/PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000
0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true
/PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ]
/PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier ()
/PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False
/Description << /CHS
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/CHT
<FEFF4f7f752890194e9b8a2d7f6e5efa7acb7684002000410064006f006200650020005000440046002065874ef69069752865bc9ad854c18cea76845370524d5370523786557406300260a853ef4ee54f7f75280020004100630072006f0062006100740020548c002000410064006f00620065002000520065006100640065007200200035002e003000204ee553ca66f49ad87248672c4f86958b555f5df25efa7acb76840020005000440046002065874ef63002>
/DAN
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/DEU
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/ESP
<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>
/FRA
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/ITA
<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>
/JPN
<FEFF9ad854c18cea306a30d730ea30d730ec30b951fa529b7528002000410064006f0062006500200050004400460020658766f8306e4f5c6210306b4f7f75283057307e305930023053306e8a2d5b9a30674f5c62103055308c305f0020005000440046002030d530a130a430eb306f3001004100630072006f0062006100740020304a30883073002000410064006f00620065002000520065006100640065007200200035002e003000204ee5964d3067958b304f30533068304c3067304d307e305930023053306e8a2d5b9a306b306f30d530a930f330c8306e57cb30818fbc307f304c5fc59808306730593002>
/KOR
<FEFFc7740020c124c815c7440020c0acc6a9d558c5ec0020ace0d488c9c80020c2dcd5d80020c778c1c4c5d00020ac00c7a50020c801d569d55c002000410064006f0062006500200050004400460020bb38c11cb97c0020c791c131d569b2c8b2e4002e0020c774b807ac8c0020c791c131b41c00200050004400460020bb38c11cb2940020004100630072006f0062006100740020bc0f002000410064006f00620065002000520065006100640065007200200035002e00300020c774c0c1c5d0c11c0020c5f40020c2180020c788c2b5b2c8b2e4002e>
/NLD (Gebruik deze instellingen om Adobe PDF-documenten te maken
die zijn geoptimaliseerd voor prepress-afdrukken van hoge
kwaliteit. De gemaakte PDF-documenten kunnen worden geopend met
Acrobat en Adobe Reader 5.0 en hoger.) /NOR
<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>
/PTB
<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>
/SUO
<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>
/SVE
<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>
/ENU (Use these settings to create Adobe PDF documents best suited
for high-quality prepress printing. Created PDF documents can be
opened with Acrobat and Adobe Reader 5.0 and later.) >>
/Namespace [ (Adobe) (Common) (1.0) ] /OtherNamespaces [ <<
/AsReaderSpreads false /CropImagesToFrames true /ErrorControl
/WarnAndContinue /FlattenerIgnoreSpreadOverrides false
/IncludeGuidesGrids false /IncludeNonPrinting false /IncludeSlug
false /Namespace [ (Adobe) (InDesign) (4.0) ] /OmitPlacedBitmaps
false /OmitPlacedEPS false /OmitPlacedPDF false /SimulateOverprint
/Legacy >> << /AddBleedMarks false /AddColorBars false
/AddCropMarks false /AddPageInfo false /AddRegMarks false
/ConvertColors /ConvertToCMYK /DestinationProfileName ()
/DestinationProfileSelector /DocumentCMYK /Downsample16BitImages
true /FlattenerPreset << /PresetSelector /MediumResolution
>> /FormElements false /GenerateStructure false
/IncludeBookmarks false /IncludeHyperlinks false
/IncludeInteractive false /IncludeLayers false /IncludeProfiles
false /MultimediaHandling /UseObjectSettings /Namespace [ (Adobe)
(CreativeSuite) (2.0) ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfileSelector
/DocumentCMYK /PreserveEditing true /UntaggedCMYKHandling
/LeaveUntagged /UntaggedRGBHandling /UseDocumentProfile
/UseDocumentBleed false >> ] >> setdistillerparams
<< /HWResolution [2400 2400] /PageSize [612.000 792.000]
>> setpagedevice