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PAGE 2 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
Contact information: Info Officer (General Info) – [email protected] Website Administrator – [email protected]
Postal Address: Fort Worth Astronomical Society c/o Matt McCullar 5801 Trail Lake Drive Fort Worth, TX 76133 Web Site: http://www.fortworthastro.org (or .com) Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3eutb22 Twitter: http://twitter.com/ftwastro Yahoo! eGroup (members only): http://tinyurl.com/7qu5vkn
Officers (2015-2016): President – Si Simonson, [email protected] Vice President – Tom Roth, [email protected] Sec/Tres – Michelle Theisen, [email protected]
Board Members: 2016-2018 Bill Nichols Fed Klich 2015-2017 Matt Reed Phil Stage 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 inform 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
I ns id e th is i s s ue :
Cover Photo: NGC 6543 - Cats Eye Nebula in Draco, RCOS 16” RC F9, SBIG
STXL-11002
Photo by Eric Coles
The Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) was founded in 1949 and is a non-profit 501(c)3 scientific educational organization, and 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 media unless it is in its original, full, unaltered, published form. All rights reserved by FWAS.
Page
E d i t o r :
G e o r g e C . L u t c h
I s s u e C o n t r i b u -
t o r s :
E r i c C o l e s
Pa m K l i c h
Julyl Club Calendar 3
Young Astronomer News 4
Tandy Hills Star Party Info 4
Celestial Events 5
Interesting Objects 6
Abbreviations/Classifications 6
Cloudy Night Library 7
Constellation of the Month 9
Monthly AL Observing Club 10
ISS Visible Passes for DFW 11
Monthly Planet Visibility 12
Monthly Sky Chart 12
Moon Phase Calendar 13
1st/Last Crescent/Ephem 14
Conjunctions:Lunar/Planet 15
Mercury/Venus Data 16
June Meeting Minutes 17
Fundraising/Donation Info 18-19
That’s A Fact 20
Full Moon Name 21
FWAS Fotos 21
July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 3
See our full FWAS Event Calendar at:
http://www.fortworthastro.com/meetings.html
for the latest updates on what our club has scheduled
FQ
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
Click calendar icons above to see details of bright ISS passes this month.
Moon Apogee
FM
Young
Astronomers
Meeting
Starts @ 7pm-9pm
FWAS
Monthly
Meeting
Starts @ 7pm
LQ Moon Perigee
NM
Tandy
Hills
Prairie Sky
Star Party
J u ly 2 0 1 7
Erno Rubik Birth-
day (1944)
FQ
Amelia Earhart
Birthday (1897)
George Eastwood
Birthday (1854)
Ferdinand von Zeppe-
lin Birthday (1838)
Sir Edmund Hillary
Birthday (1919)
Roald Amundsen
Birthday (1872)
FWAS
Monthly
APSIG
Meeting
Starts @ 7pm
PAGE 4 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
Young Astronomers Light pollution is so important I wanted to publish more on it. Light pollution is excessive and inappropriate artificial light. The four components of light pollution are often combined and may overlap:
• Urban Sky Glow—the brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas.
• Light Trespass—light falling where it is not in-tended, wanted, or needed.
• Glare—excessive brightness which causes visual discomfort. High levels of glare can decrease visi-bility.
• Clutter—bright, confusing, and excessive group-ings of light sources, commonly found in over-lit urban areas. The proliferation of clutter contrib-utes to urban sky glow, trespass, and glare.
We need to educate our neighbors on it. Check out the Young Astronomers Web Page at: http://
www.fortworthastro.com/young_astronomers.html
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Tandy Hills Prairie Sky/Star Party: Astronomy—Community Engagement After many years at the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, the well-attended, monthly public star parties presented by the Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) have moved to Tandy Hills Natural Area. Established in 1949, FWAS is one of the first adult amateur astronomy clubs formed in the country and one of the largest with more than 200 active mem-bers.
Members will have several telescopes set up at Tandy Hills for viewing the night sky.
Free & open to the public. All ages wel-come. Family/kid-friendly - No dogs - Cool-ers welcome - Steel City Pops will be on hand More details at the NASA website: https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=76024 S t a r par t y E t i q u e t t e : h t t p : / /www.fortworthastro.com/etiquette.html
WHEN: Second Saturday of every month http://www.tandyhills.org/events/prairie-sky-star-party
July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 5
J u l 0 1 S a 0 2 : 2 8 M o o n - J u p i t e r : 2 . 9 ° S
J u l 0 1 S a V e n u s : 4 3 . 7 ° W
J u l 0 3 M o 1 9 : 5 9 A p h e l i o n : 1 . 0 1 6 7 A U
J u l 0 4 T u 1 9 : 2 1 V e n u s - P l e i a d e s : 6 . 7 ° S
J u l 0 5 W e 2 3 : 2 7 M o o n A p o g e e : 4 0 5 9 0 0 k m
J u l 0 6 T h 2 2 : 3 4 M o o n - S a t u r n : 3 . 6 ° S
J u l 0 8 S a 0 5 : 4 9 M o o n S o u t h D e c . : 1 9 . 4 ° S
J u l 0 8 S a 2 3 : 0 7 F u l l M o o n
J u l 0 9 S u 2 0 : 3 3 M e r c u r y - B e e h i v e : 0 . 1 ° N
J u l 1 2 W e 0 0 : 1 7 M o o n D e s c e n d i n g N o d e
J u l 1 3 T h 1 3 : 0 6 V e n u s - A l d e b a r a n : 3 . 1 ° N
J u l 1 6 S u 1 4 : 2 6 L a s t Q u a r t e r
J u l 1 9 W e 1 8 : 3 7 M o o n - A l d e b a r a n : 0 . 4 ° S
J u l 2 0 T h 0 6 : 1 3 M o o n - V e n u s : 2 . 7 ° N
J u l 2 1 F r 1 2 : 0 9 M o o n P e r i g e e : 3 6 1 2 0 0 k m
J u l 2 1 F r 1 7 : 1 1 M o o n N o r t h D e c . : 1 9 . 4 ° N
J u l 2 3 S u 0 4 : 4 6 N e w M o o n
J u l 2 4 M o 1 9 : 4 7 M o o n A s c e n d i n g N o d e
J u l 2 5 T u 0 3 : 4 9 M o o n - M e r c u r y : 0 . 9 ° S
J u l 2 5 T u 0 5 : 1 4 M o o n - R e g u l u s : 0 °
J u l 2 5 T u 1 2 : 0 7 M e r c u r y - R e g u l u s : 0 . 9 ° S
J u l 2 6 W e 1 8 : 5 9 M a r s C o n j u n c t i o n
J u l 2 7 T h 2 1 : 4 1 D e l t a A q u a r i d S h o w e r : Z H R = 2 0
J u l 2 8 F r 1 5 : 1 5 M o o n - J u p i t e r : 3 . 4 ° S
J u l 2 9 S a 2 2 : 5 9 M e r c u r y E l o n g a t i o n : 2 7 . 2 ° E
J u l 3 0 S u 1 0 : 2 3 F i r s t Q u a r t e r
C E L E S T I A L E V E N T S T H I S M O N T H
(* Times are Local) D a t a S o u r c e : N A S A S K Y C A L - S K Y E V E N T S C A LE N D A R
PAGE 6 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
I N T E R E S T I N G O B J E C T S
Deep Sky* - (NGC 6943) Cat’s Eye Nebula –DSO, (NGC 5866) Galaxy - GLX,
(NGC5879) Galaxy—GLX, (NGC5907) Galaxy-GLX, (Abel 2218) Galaxy Cluster-GLX,
Double/Multiple Stars** - η Draconis , Mu Draconis , Nu Draconis , Omicron
Draconis, Psi Draconis , 16 Draconis , 20 Draconis, 39 Draconis, 40 Draconis
Constellations* - Draco, Boötes, Ursa Major, Leo, Centaurus, Ursa Minor, Virgo
Asterisms*** - Engagement Ring, Kemble’s Kite, Broken Engagement Ring, Jaws,
Do Dz 6, Backwards 5
Lunar Features**** - Archimedes (12,22), Hipparchus (44, 45), Ariadaeus Rille (34)
July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 7
“Every book surprises me in some way, but _Lights of Mankind_ really threw me for a loop: As long as people have been going into space, we never had any good photographs of the ground taken by as-tronauts at night. Any manned spacecraft in low Earth orbit is traveling so fast that it's impossible to get a good, steady picture of nighttime objects; all you see is a smeared im-age. All that changed, fortunately, when the In-ternational Space Station (ISS) finally got the tech-nology advanced enough to solve the problem: ultra-sensitive digital camer-as, a capable camera tracking system (similar to those used on telescopes), and large, crystal-clear windows. Now we finally get to see what the astro-nauts see.
_Lights of Mankind_ shows not only cities and metropol-itan areas all over the world, but also grids of high-ways lit by streetlights, fishing boats at sea, oil wells, etc. It's difficult to tell if intelligent life exists on a particular planet by looking at the daytime side... but one look at Earth's nighttime side, and no doubt remains. It makes me wonder if our first verifiable evidence of life on exoplanets will come from a super-sensitive telescope taking pictures of
their nighttime hemispheres.
It may seem strange to point an astrophotography camera down instead of up, but that's what astro-nauts on board the ISS do. Particularly interesting is what we learn about the “Cupola,” a special 360-degree observation platform on the ISS. It was de-signed to allow astronauts to look at the Earth, with seven perfectly flat, ultra-clear borosilicate windows of 95% transmittance. (Why have a cam-
era lens worth thousands of dollars if you can only point it through a rotten window?) The windows are protected by external shutters when not in use. The main window is 31 inches in diameter, mak-ing it the largest window in space.
Astronauts provide de-tailed captions for each
photo. Their work schedules and ground-based weather sometimes conspire against good photos of certain regions. Some cities appear here from an overhead oblique angle; satellites can't do that,
because their cameras point only straight down. The ISS's orbit can't take it everywhere, so in some cases the astro-nauts must point and shoot “sideways.” Some captions
provide brief histories of certain regions, explain-ing how the local geography affected human settlement over time and what created the illumi-nated shapes we see.
More than one million astronaut photographs of
(Continued on page 8)
Media Reviews Media reviews by Matt J. McCullar, FWAS
Lights of Mankind: The Earth at Night as Seen from Space by L. Douglas Keeney
Published by Lyons Press – 2012 ISBN 978-0-7627-7755-6 282 pages
PAGE 8 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
Earth reside on the NASA servers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Only 400 of those made it into this book. Therefore, we get excellent pho-tos on every page. Astronauts download (literally) up to 300 Earth photographs every day. Because a particular target can pass underneath the ISS in less than 10 seconds, some photos must be carefully planned ahead of time.
The brightest area on Earth is Las Vegas. The darkest areas: oceans, North Korea, the central portions of continents (humanity tends to congre-gate near water), and, curiously, runways. Airport runways are kept dark at night to prevent light from blinding pilots. Conspicuous dark shapes within oceans of light are usually parks, runways or lakes. (The semicircular terminals of DFW In-ternational Airport are easy to spot, as are bridges over the Trinity River in Dallas.)
Astronauts never tire of looking at the Earth. A child once asked an astronaut if they watch televi-sion in space, and he thought, “Why would I watch TV when I can watch the Earth?” Astro-naut Clayton Anderson writes: “One of the neat-est things for me was to fly over the United States and see the tremendous amount of lights along the eastern seaboard from Maine all the way down to Florida – it was almost like looking at a map of the United States that had been painted neon orange.”
Most astronomers abhor light pollution, but in this case astronauts enjoy these ground-based constellations so much they coined a new phrase: “the unintentional artwork of mankind.” With practice they can readily identify their location over the Earth just by patterns of light they recog-
nize.
The most stunning image in the book, in my opin-ion, is a time exposure taken from the ISS show-ing the re-entry of STS-135, the final Space Shuttle flight, through the atmosphere below.
As much as I enjoy looking at the stars, the Earth is a joy to look at, too. _Lights of
Mankind_ is outstanding: stunning visuals, and beautifully written. Five sodium-vapor lights out of five!
The End
(Book Review—Continued from page 7)
If you have an idea for an article, have astronomical related photos or an astronomy pro-
ject you’ve done, and you’d like to share or want to contribute to the newsletter in any oth-
er way, please contact the editor at [email protected] or through the club’s
Yahoo! eGroup forum.
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July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 9
Draco constellation lies in the northern sky. It is one of the largest constellations in the sky.
The constellation’s name means “the dragon” in Latin. Draco represents Ladon, the dragon that guarded the gardens of the Hesperides in Greek mythology.
Draco is one of the Greek constellations. It was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. It is a circumpolar constellation; it never sets below the horizon for many observers in the northern hemisphere.
Draco is the eighth largest constellation in the night sky, occupying an area of 1083 square de-grees. It lies in the third quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ3) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -15°. The neighboring constellations are Boötes, Camelopardalis, Cepheus, Cygnus, Hercules, Lyra, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.
Draco belongs to the Ursa Major family of con-stellations, along with Coma Bereni-ces, Boötes, Camelopardalis, Canes Venati-ci, Corona Borealis, Leo Minor, Lynx, Ursa Ma-jor and Ursa Minor.
Draco has nine stars with known planets and contains one Messier object, M102 (NGC 5866). The brightest star in the constellation is Gamma Draconis. There is one meteor shower associat-ed with the constellation; the Draconids.
C o n s t e l l a t i o n o f T h e M o n t h
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Draco
PAGE 10 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
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D ragons in Greek mythol-
ogy that may have in-
spired the constellation's name in-
clude Ladon, the dragon who guarded the
golden apples of the Hesperides.
[6] Hercules killed Ladon during his 12 la-
bors; he was tasked with stealing the gold-
en apples. The constellation of Hercules is
depicted near Draco.[1]
In Greco- Roman legend, Draco was a drag-
on killed by the goddess Minerva and
tossed into the sky upon his defeat. The
dragon was one of the Gigantes, who
battled the Olympic gods for ten years. As
Minerva threw the dragon, it became twist-
ed on itself and froze at the cold North Ce-
lestial Pole before it could right itself.[6]
Sometimes, Draco is represented as the de-
mon son of Gaia, Typhon.[6]
Traditional Arabic astronomy does not de-
pict a dragon in modern-day Draco, which is
called the Mother Camels. Instead,
two hyenas, represented by Eta Draco-
nis and Zeta Draconis are seen attacking a
baby camel (a dim star near Beta Draconis),
which is protected by four female camels, represented by Beta Draconis, Gamma Draconis, Nu Draconis,
and Xi Draconis. The nomads who own the camels are camped nearby, represented by a cooking tripod
composed of Upsilon, Tau, and Sigma Draconis.[7] In some mythology, Draco had one hundred magnifi-
cent heads, guarded the golden apple tree, and was put in the sky as a constellation for protecting the ap-
ples with valor. The constellation has been subject to many more myths, but ones that are obscure.
Text Source: http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/ Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urania%27s_Mirror
Draco
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July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 11
Al Observing Club
Highlight Of The Month
I ntroduction:
Welcome to the Astronomical Leagues's new Caldwell Observing Program. While Charles Messier made a catalogue of faint fuzzy objects to be avoided when searching for comets, Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore has made a catalogue of beautiful and interesting objects you should, literal-ly, go out of your way to observe. Two of the obvious objects were never even given NGC designations. A letter from Sir Patrick (below) explains why and how he created the list at his home in Selsey, England, surrounded by his personal observatories.
Rules and Regulations:
To qualify for a Caldwell 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 a 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, appreciate the reason that Sir Patrick selected the object for a place of honor on his list. An image may be added but does not replace the visual ob-servation. Any telescope or binoculars are acceptable, however, computer assisted and Go-To capabilities are not to be used.
Caldwell Observing Program Coordinator:
Susan Rose
655 Bellmore Ave.
East Meadow NY 11554-4708
(516)640-4433
Email: [email protected]
To receive this certification, you must be a member of the Astronomical League in good standing either through an affiliated astronomy club or as a Member-at-Large.
To receive your certificate and pin, submit your observations to your society's awards coordinator for review and approval, who will then contact the Caldwell Observing Program Coordinator. Members-at-Large should send copies of their records directly to the League Coordinator. Upon verification, your award will be forwarded to your society's representative for presentation, or directly to Members-at-Large.
Be sure to include your name, mailing address, email, phone number, society affiliation or Member-at-Large, and to whom the certification should be sent.
Caldwell Observing 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
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PAGE 12 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
Times and Data are for Fort Worth, Texas Locations Only Data Source: Heavens Above
NOTE: NO bright ISS passes visible in the DFW area, for dates not listed.
Date Bright-ness
Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
01 Jul -1.4 05:39:38 10° S 05:41:48 17° SE 05:43:58 10° E visible
03 Jul -3.2 05:30:45 14° SSW 05:33:22 49° SE 05:36:32 10° ENE visible 04 Jul -2.0 04:40:38 21° SE 04:41:08 21° SE 04:43:43 10° ENE visible 05 Jul -3.4 05:23:05 20° WSW 05:25:03 52° NW 05:28:15 10° NE visible 06 Jul -3.7 04:32:48 65° ESE 04:32:48 65° ESE 04:35:55 10° NE visible 07 Jul -1.0 03:42:27 15° ENE 03:42:27 15° ENE 03:43:13 10° ENE visible 07 Jul -1.9 05:15:06 14° WNW 05:16:50 21° NW 05:19:24 10° NNE visible 08 Jul -2.7 04:24:40 38° NNW 04:24:40 38° NNW 04:27:24 10° NNE visible 09 Jul -1.0 03:34:11 18° NE 03:34:11 18° NE 03:35:08 10° NE visible 09 Jul -1.0 05:08:01 10° NW 05:08:45 11° NNW 05:09:29 10° NNW visible 10 Jul -1.5 04:16:17 17° NNW 04:16:17 17° NNW 04:18:21 10° N visible
11 Jul -0.7 03:25:41 15° NNE 03:25:41 15° NNE 03:26:27 10° NNE visible
13 Jul -0.4 03:16:58 11° N 03:16:58 11° N 03:17:08 10° N visible
19 Jul -0.6 06:05:15 10° N 06:07:07 14° NNE 06:09:00 10° ENE visible
21 Jul -1.6 05:55:43 10° NNW 05:58:38 30° NE 06:01:33 10° ESE visible
21 Jul -1.8 22:31:47 10° SW 22:32:57 20° SW 22:32:57 20° SW visible
22 Jul -0.6 05:03:41 10° N 05:05:54 17° NNE 05:08:07 10° ENE visible
22 Jul -3.7 21:39:20 10° SSW 21:42:28 47° SE 21:45:36 10° ENE visible
22 Jul -0.6 23:17:07 10° WNW 23:19:06 15° NNW 23:21:04 10° N visible
23 Jul -0.1 04:12:41 10° NNE 04:13:03 10° NNE 04:13:24 10° NE visible
23 Jul -3.8 05:46:40 10° NW 05:49:56 85° NE 05:53:11 10° SE visible
23 Jul -1.5 22:23:31 10° W 22:26:19 26° NW 22:29:07 10° NNE visible
24 Jul -2.3 04:54:14 10° NNW 04:57:18 37° NE 05:00:21 10° ESE visible
24 Jul -3.0 21:30:26 10° WSW 21:33:37 53° NW 21:36:49 10° NE visible
25 Jul -1.1 04:02:04 10° NNW 04:04:33 20° NE 04:07:02 10° E visible
25 Jul -3.1 05:38:07 10° WNW 05:41:01 30° SW 05:43:55 10° SSE visible 25 Jul -0.5 22:16:11 10° WNW 22:17:44 13° NNW 22:19:17 10° N visible
26 Jul -1.0 21:22:17 10° W 21:24:53 22° NW 21:27:29 10° NNE visible
28 Jul -0.4 21:15:19 10° NW 21:16:16 11° NNW 21:17:13 10° NNW visible
July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 13
Chart displayed is for July 15, 2017 @ 21:00 Local Time
Fort Worth, TX (32.7555°N, 97.3308°W)
July Sky Chart
PAGE 14 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 15
Data source: http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moon2017.html
Saturday 22 July 2017
6.2h Moon Lunar Crescent visible, only 22.2 hours before new moon Elongation: 12.6°, 1.4% illuminated, Position angle of crescent (from Zenith to East): 137.9° - crescent points to the lower left, Width of the crescent: 0.40', Length of the crescent: 99°, Moon lower limb relative to sunrise point at sunrise: dalt=8.5° daz=8.1° (i.e. westward), Altitude of moon center at listed time: 4.5°, Azimuth: 70.6°/ENE, Altitude of Sun: -5.0°, Moon rises at 5h47m, 50 minutes before the Sun (Azimuth: 67°/ENE) The Yallop (1998) criteria additionally states for this event with q=+0.125: Crescent visible only under perfect conditions
Monday 24 July 2017
21.1h Moon Lunar Crescent visible, 40.3 hours after new moon Elongation: 22.1°, 3.9% illuminated, Position angle of crescent (from Zenith to East): 233.1° - crescent points to the lower right, Width of the crescent: 1.19', Length of the crescent: 145°, Moon sets at 21h42m, 69 minutes after the Sun (Azimuth: 286°/WNW) The Yallop (1998) criteria additionally states for this event with q=+0.961 159°, Moon sets at 22h16m, 96 minutes after the Sun (Azimuth: 291°/WNW) The Yallop (1998) criteria additionally states for this event with q=+1.758
First and Last Lunar Crescent Visibility
Data source: https://www.calsky.com
PAGE 16 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
Lunar Occultations & Conjunctions of Planets
Saturday 01 July 2017
1.1h Moon Close to Jupiter, -2.1mag, with Sun below horizon, Separation=2.84°, Limb separa-tion=2.5951° =5.12 lunar dia., Position angle=149.2° SE, Azimuth az=261.0°, Altitude h=6.1°, RA=12h53.2m Dec= -4°16.8', Moon phase=52.3%, Sun altitude hsun=-33.7°
Thursday 06 July 2017
22.9h Moon Close to Saturn, 0.1mag, Separation=2.57°, Limb separation=2.3207° =4.68 lunar dia., Posi-tion angle=192.5° S, Azimuth az=162.7°, Altitude h=33.3°, RA=17h29.7m Dec=-21°56.1', Moon phase=96.2%, Sun altitude hsun=-22.9°
Thursday 20 July 2017
6.6h Moon Close to Venus, -4.0mag, Separation=3.24°, Limb separation=2.9659° =5.35 lunar dia., Posi-tion angle=342.7° N, Azimuth az=86.0°, Altitude h=34.4°, RA= 5h05.5m Dec=+20°43.6', Moon phase=12.3%, Sun altitude hsun=-0.4°, in daylight, elongation from sun: 41.0°
Monday 24 July 2017
21.4h Moon Close to Mercury, 0.2mag, with Sun below horizon, Separation=4.37°, Limb separa-tion=4.1226° =7.66 lunar dia., Position angle=105.6° E, Azimuth az=279.8°, Altitude h=6.2°, RA=10h03.9m Dec=+11°31.2', Moon phase=3.9%, Sun altitude hsun=-9.9°
Friday 28 July 2017
20.7h Moon Close to Jupiter, -1.9mag, with Sun below horizon, Separation=2.75°, Limb separa-tion=2.4932° =4.86 lunar dia., Position angle=232.7° SW, Azimuth az=231.7°, Altitude h=36.6°, RA=13h03.1m Dec= -5°25.4', Moon phase=34.8%, Sun altitude hsun=-3.0°
Data Source: http://www.calsky.com/
July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 17
Data and Image Sources: www.calsky.com
July 01
July 15
LOCAL SUNSET
July 01
July 15
July 30
July 30 LOCAL SUNSET
PAGE 18 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
Club Meeting Minutes— June 2017 Not available at publishing Pam Klich, Secretary-Treasurer
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July 2017 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PAGE 19
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Ama-
zon that lets customers enjoy the same wide
selection of products, low prices, and con-
venient shopping features as on Ama-
zon.com. The difference is that when custom-
ers shop on AmazonSmile at
smile.amazon.com, the AmazonSmile Foun-
dation will donate 0.5% of the price of eligi-
ble purchases to the charitable organizations
selected by customers.
To participate, visit AmazonSmile and select
Fort Worth Astronomical Society as your
charity upon log-in. For more information vis-
it org.amazon.com. The site will remember
your charity automatically when you visit
AmazonSmile to shop. If you are already an
Amazon.com user, you can use the same ac-
count to log-in to AmazonSmile to shop. You
must sign-in to AmazonSmile each time you
shop in order for your purchases to count to-
wards a donation to your charitable organiza-
tion. If you do not have an Amazon account,
signing up is free!
FWAS Club
Fundraiser FWAS is still asking for donations to raise
the $3000 to cover the costs of purchasing
our new Lunt LS60THa solar telescope and
an iOptron ZEQ25 GT mount. We have al-
ready used this at some outreach and edu-
cational events, and
it was a hit!
Donations are tax
deductible. We are a
501(c)3 non-profit
organization dedicat-
ed to educating and
sparking the interest
in Astronomy and
Space in the public.
If you would like to
help us recoup this
expense, it’s still not
too late. You can still
donate. Please click
the button below or
go to the URL shown
at the bottom. Any
amount is welcome
and greatly appreci-
ated.
http://www.fortworthastro.com/donate.html
PAGE 20 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
Newsletter: The FWAS newsletter, Prime Focus, is published monthly. Letters to the editor, articles for publication, photos you’ve taken, per-sonal equipment reviews, or just about anything you would like to have included in the newsletter that is astronomy related should be sent to: [email protected]
Meetings: FWAS meets at 7:00 PM on the third Tuesday of the month at the UNT Health Science Center – Research & Education Building, Room 100; 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd; Ft. Worth. Guests and visitors are always welcome.
Outreach: Items regarding FWAS Outreach activities, or requests for FWAS to attend an event, should be sent to: [email protected]
Young Astronomers: FWAS’ youth activities (known as YA!) meet on the 3rd Saturday of every month between 7pm and 9pm (check our calendar for time changes throughout the year - determined by seasonal sun-set times). This group meets for one hour at the Parkwood Hill HOA Club House - 5573 Eastwedge Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76137. YA! Coordinators: [email protected]
FWAS Annual Dues: $40 for adults / families & households $20.00 for students (half-price Dec 1 thru May 31); Membership runs June 1st through May 31st. Please make checks payable to: Fort Worth Astronomical Society See our Secretary/Treasurer for more info: [email protected] Cash and checks should be paid in-person at the next indoor meeting, or checks can be mailed in the traditional way. Mem-bers should check the eGroup for the latest postal mailing ad-dress listed by the Secretary/Treasurer. Credit card payments (for existing membership renewals only) can be made through our PayPal link (private link is on the club’s Yahoo eGroup – no PayPal account required).
Discount Magazine Subscriptions: Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and StarDate (McDonald Observa-tory) magazines are available for discounted subscription rates through our association with the NASA Night Sky Network and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The link can be found on the club’s Yahoo eGroup. (Members Only)
Astronomical League Membership: Your FWAS membership gives you associate membership in the Astronomical League. This gives you access to earn various ob-serving certificates through the AL observing clubs. You also re-ceive their quarterly magazine, Reflector. AL Observing clubs: http://tinyurl.com/7pyr8qg
The Sun burns 600
million tons of Hydrogen
every second.
At this time, a buck’s antlers are in full growth
mode. This full Moon was also known as the
Thunder Moon, because thunderstorms are so
frequent during this month.
Source: OId Farmer’s Almanac
“Full Buck Moon”
J u l y
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? Report it to the
American Meteor Society (AMS)
Source
e
July 2017 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.
(Below Right)
M106
. Photo taken by FWAS member
Jerry Keith
(Left)
DFW Night from ISS.
PAGE 22 FORT WORTH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2017
A ttendees: Bill Nichols, Fred Klich, Laura
Cowles, Matt Reed, Michelle Theisen, Pam
Klich, Patrick McMahon, Phil Stage, Si Simon-
son, Tom Roth
Si Simonson called the meeting to order.
Discussion Topics
Jerry Gardner + Reflector Cover – The club had Jerry’s picture
from the Reflector cover framed for presentation at the next
monthly club meeting on 5/16.
Meteor Evaluation by Rhiannon Mayne, TCU – Si will confirm
that the next date with Rhiannon to conduct meteor evalua-
tions for club members will be June 13, 2017 at the school lab.
Stars Over Euless – Si shared open dates in August and Sep-
tember but they have not responded yet.
Ft Worth Library –Si offered the use of the loaner telescope to
the library but has not yet heard back.
Inventory – The group likes the use of pictures in the invento-
ry. We will combine the photos and text list. Starr Ranch is
next to be inventoried.
Starr Ranch Toilet – The solar panels and batteries are not
providing adequate power. Si will reach out to the club for
options. Consider using a wind turbine. Mike Ahner will coor-
dinate.
Nobel Planetarium Telescope – the transfer paperwork is in
progress. Mike Jones to head up the effort for moving the
telescope to Thompson.
Bob Wilbers – Si will invite Bob to attend a Club Meeting again
and inquire about possible further donations from the charita-
ble organization Bob is a member of.
Business Cards – Si will order more cards, which are used at
FWAS events.
Upcoming FWAS Elections – the board will recruit volunteers
for the open positions. The target timeline is to finalize by the
May meeting.
The open positions are:
-VP
-Treasurer
-2 Board members (replace Matt and Phil)
Use of Solar Scope - The Board discussed the use of the solar
scope and came up with the following priority for usage:
--FWAS
--The Outreach Coordinator
--Other FWAS member
Young Astronomers, YA! – Attendance is very low. Will review
in the next few months and determine whether to continue
the program.
Starr Ranch – The access code has been changed. Find the
code on the eGroup site. The directions to the ranch need to
be updated. The shed needs to be cleaned out. Tom will
check on new vermin repellant.
2017 Christmas Party – targeting the 1st Saturday of Decem-
ber which is 12/2/17. Group agreed to reserve the room earli-
er this year.
Insurance – was renewed.
Presentations – May-Mike Jones, June-Building Solar Filters,
July-Si and Bruce Solar Eclipse Review, August-swap meet,
Sept-Parallel use of binoculars and telescope, Oct-Fred Stellar
Spectra, Nov-Dr. Tuttle, Dec-Christmas Party
Ft Davis Property – remains for sale at $19k.
Treasurer Report – Michelle reviewed the club finances and
discussed new bank options. Board agreed to convert to Wells
Fargo upon election of new treasurer. Phil mentioned the lack
of Wells Fargo locations in Arlington. Laura will re-check loca-
tions. Board is in favor depending on the outcome of the loca-
tion research.
The meeting was adjourned.
Business Meeting Minutes— May 09, 2017 Pam Klich, Secretary-Treasurer
e
