San Diego Astronomy AssociationTwo Images by Zahir Valimahomed from San Diego Backyard 1 Second ISO 800, 77mm Telescope @ f/10.4. January 2012, Vol XLX, Issue 1 Published Monthly by

San DiegoAstronomy AssociationCelebrating Over 40 Years of Astronomical Outreach

Observatory (619) 766-9118http://www.sdaa.org

A Non-Profit Educational AssociationP.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215

January 2012

SDAA Business MeetingNext meeting will be held at:3838 Camino del Rio North

Suite 300San Diego, CA 92108January 10th at 7pm

Next Program Meeting February 4, 2012 Annual Banquet

Handlery Hotel & Resort

CONTENTS

Lunar Eclipse December 2011

Two Images by Zahir Valimahomed from San Diego Backyard

1 Second ISO 800, 77mm Telescope @ f/10.4.

January 2012, Vol XLX, Issue 1Published Monthly by the San Diego Astronomy Association$2.50 an issue/$30.00 yearIncorporated in California in 1963Lunar Ec l ipse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B a n q u e t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3December Minutes............................4January Calendar............................6SDAA Contac t s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7ASIG Gallery..........................................8Web Only______________________Dawn Takes a Closer Look.......................9

Newsletter DeadlineThe deadline to submit articles

for publication is the15th of each month.

San Diego Astronomy Association

Page 2 SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JANUARY 2012


Page 3SAN DIEGO ASTRONOMY ASSOCIATION NEWS AND NOTES, JANUARY 2012

You are cordially invited to The San Diego Astronomy Association’s

Annual Banquet On

Saturday, February 4, 2012, 5:30 – 11:00 pm Handlery Hotel & Resort- 950 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108

____________________________________________________________

Speaker: Luisa M. Rebull, Research Scientist, Spitzer Science Center/JPL/CaltechTopic: Baby Stars in the Infrared: Recent Star Formation Results from Spitzer, Herschel, and WISE

Cocktail hour is from 5:30 to 6:45 and dinner 7:00.

Menu

Choice of Entrees:

Steak Chicken Vegetarian

SDAA Banquet Order Form Use this form or order online at http://sdaa.org/banquet.htm

Name______________________________________________________ Address____________________________________________________ City, State, Zip______________________________________________ Telephone__________________________________________________ Email______________________________________________________ Dinner Selections (Enter number of each)Steak____ Chicken ____ Vegetarian ____ Check here if requiring sugar free dessert____Number Attending ____ @ $45 each Total Payment included $ _________

*Make checks payable to SDAA Orders must be received no later than 01/25/2012NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR

Mail to:San Diego Astronomy AssociationP.O. Box 23215San Diego, CA 92193-3215



SDAA Board of Directors Monthly Business Meeting Minutes13 December 2011- Unapproved and Subject to Revision

1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order at 7pm with the following board members in attendance: Bill Carlson, Vice President; Ed Rumsey, Treasurer; Jeff Herman, Corresponding Secretary; Brian McFarland, Recording Secretary; Bob Aus-tin, Director.

2. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes. Approved

3. Priority / Member Business. None

4. Standard Reports.

Treasurer’s Report. Approved.

Membership Report. Down 14 for a total of 531 members.

Site Maintenance Report.• BillQwiredpad#12totheelectricalgrid.CycledpowertotheRoboscopeperrequest.• Notedthelockonthewarmingroomneedstobereplaced,notrepaired(again).• BillCarlsonhasthenewWiFiantennasandwillinstallthemathis1stopportunity.

Observatory Report(FromJimTraweek).Acquiringpaintforfloor.Willneedtoremovemirrorstopreventoutgassingdamageto the coatings.

Private Pad Report(fromMarkSmith).• Iamcurrentlyintheprocessof writing3newleaseswithonepersonactivelychoosingapad.Whenall4of themaredone, we will have 4 pads available.• Iamworkingtoclearupthestatusof 3Padswheretheownersarebehindontheirrent.• MyplanistocollectthelatestPadsUsagesheetsnextweekendsoIcanhaveatleastapreliminarypadsusagereportforthe BOD in January.

Outreach Committee Report.• StarPartiesgoingwellexceptfortheweather.WearestillverythininSouthSanDiegoandIamgoingtobecarefulnotto schedule too many in succession down there.• Weneedtoputaplaceholderforthetransitof VenusonJune5,2012.ThetransitwillbevisibleintheWestasthesun sets. Ingress is about 1500 and the transit will be visible for hours. We just have to defeat the June gloom. It would be good to have several sites and give the news media plenty of time. Balboa Park should be OK for the early stages with the sun at 50 degrees elevation.

Program Report. Bill Carlson will start on next year’s schedule, which Bob Austin will post on the website.

NASA Robotic Observatory. All the parts are in so repair should take place soon.

AISIG Report. The meetings will commence in February 2012.

Governing Documents Report. Nothing to report.



Newsletter Report. Nothing to report.

Website Report. Nothing to report.

Site Master Plan Committee. Nothing to report.

Merchandise Report. Nothing to report.

5. Old Business. None

6. New Business. • Sincethevolunteersforeachof theavailable2012/2013Boardpositionsranunopposed,theRecordingSecretary(BrianMcFarland)castthesingleballotconfirmingthefollowingnewBoardof Directorsmembers:

Treasurer – Ed RumseyRecording Secretary – Brian McFarlandDirector – Mike FinchDirector – Kin SearcyDirector – Bob AustinDirector – Paul “Moose” Pountney

• FromBrianKeating/UCSDregardinglifetimememberships:a)Becominga‘’lifetime’’memberof theclub-isitpossible?ThatwayIwouldbeabletokeepmymembershipwithouthaving to renew.b)Purchasingasetof membershipsforUCSDstudentsandelementaryandhighschoolchildren[andtheirparents].Probably 5 at the High School Level/college level and 5 at the Elementary school level. These would be basic member-ships without TDS access. The idea is to incubate a small nucleus of interested students who would then bring their parentstomeetingsetcfortheschoolkidsandtobuildupconnectionswithUCSD’sastronomyclub.Specifically,Iwouldliketomakeadonationof about$5000inthehopesthatitwouldcoveritema)anditemb)for5years,afterwhichtimewe could re-evaluate. This topic was tabled by the Board until the next BOD meeting.

•Websiteprogrammer–weneedsomehelpwithaPayPalissueonourwebsite.Jeff Hermanknowsaprogrammerwhomaybewillingtodothis.TheBoardauthorizedaceilingof $500togetthisglitchfixed.• Banquet:

o 25 year member recognitiono Jeff Herman has the donation request letters ready to go

7. Call for other new business. None.

8. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 7:28 pm.

TDS Locks – we will change the combination on 12 February 2012. Watch for the new combo in the monthly membership announcement.



January 2012 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 HAPPY NEW

YEAR

2

3

4 Stars in the Park

5

La Jolla Elementary

6

7

8

9

Full Moon

10

SDAA Business Meeting

11

Lakeview Elementary

Science Night

12

Sherman Elementary

13

Stars at Mission Trails

14

15

16

17

Doyle Elementary

18

Hannalei Elementary

19

20 Pacific View

Charter School

Stars at Sycamore

Canyon

21

22

23 Spencer Valley

School

New Moon

24 Allen Elementary

Bonita

25

26 Earl Warren

Middle School

Hickman Elementary

27

PRIDE Academy

28

29

30

31

Whitman Elementary

1 2

Hearst Elementary

3 4

SDAA Annual

Banquet



SDAA ContactsClub Officers and Directors

President Michael Vander Vorst [email protected] (858) 755-5846Vice-President Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485Recording Secretary Brian McFarland [email protected] (619) 462-4483Treasurer Ed Rumsey [email protected] (858) 722-3846Corresponding Secretary Jeff Herman [email protected] (619) 846-4898Director Alpha Bob Austin [email protected] (760) 787-1174Director Beta Scott Baker [email protected] (858) 442-7513Director Gamma Michael Finch [email protected] (760) 440-9650Director Delta Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974

CommitteesSite Maintenance Bill Quackenbush [email protected] (858) 395-1007Observatory Director Jim Traweek [email protected] (619) 207-7542Private Pads Mark Smith [email protected] (858) 484-0540Outreach Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974N. County Star Parties Doug McFarland [email protected] (760) 583-5436S. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] E. County Star Parties -Vacant- [email protected] Central County Star Parties Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974Camp with the Stars Doug McFarland [email protected] (760) 583-5436K.Q. Ranch Coordinator Michael Vander Vorst [email protected] (858) 755-5846Newsletter Andrea Kuhl [email protected] (858) 547-9887New Member Mentor Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059Webmaster Bob Austin [email protected] (760) 787-1174AISIG Kin Searcy [email protected] (858) 586-0974Site Acquisition Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059Field Trips Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485Grants/Fund Raising Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059Merchandising Paul “Moose” Pountney [email protected] (619) 465-7014Publicity Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059Roboscope Director Jerry Hilburn [email protected] (858) 565-4059Governing Documents Scott Baker [email protected] (858) 442-7513TDS Network Bill Carlson [email protected] (425) 736-8485Amateur Telescope Making Peter De Baan [email protected] (760) 745-0925

Haveagreatnewpieceof gear?Readanastronomy-relatedbookthatyouthinkothersshouldknowabout?Howaboutaphotographof anSDAAMemberinaction?Orareyousimplytiredof seeingtheseBoxesintheNewsletterratherthansomething,well,interesting?

Join the campaign to rid the Newsletter of little boxes by sharing them with the membership. In return for your efforts, you will get your very own by line or pho-tograph credit in addition to the undying gratitude of the Newsletter Editor. Just send your article or picture to [email protected].

SDAA Editorial StaffEditor - Andrea [email protected]

Assistant Editor: Rick ImbraContributing Writer

Dr. Marc Rayman



AISIG Gallery

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATIONSend dues and renewals to P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215. Include any renewal cards from Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazine in which you wish to continue your subscription. The expiration date shown on your newsletter’s mailing label is the only notice that your membership in SDAA will expire. Dues are $60 for Contributing Memberships; $35 for Basic Membership; $60.00 for Private Pads; $5 for each Family membership. In addition to the club dues the annual rates for magazines available at the club discount are: Sky & Telescope $32.95 and Astronomy $34. Make checks payable to S.D. Astronomy Assn. PLEASE DO NOT send renewals directly to Sky Publishing. They return them to us for processing.

Orion is becoming a great object in the night sky, so it is time for an iconic image of the Flame and Horse Head Nebulae. Craig Hunter captured this excellent image from Santee using an SBIG ST2000XM CCD camera on an 80 mm refractor mounted on a Losmandy G-11 equatorial mount. He combined approximately 100 hours of frames of luminance and RGB to make this image.



Dawn Takes a Closer LookBy Dr. Marc Rayman

Dawnisthefirstspacemissionwithanitinerarythatincludesorbitingtwoseparatesolarsystemdestinations.Itisalsotheonlyspacecraft ever to orbit an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft accomplishes this feat using ion propulsion,atechnologyfirstproveninspaceonthehighlysuccessfulDeepSpace1mission,partof NASA’sNewMillenniumpro-gram. Launched in September 2007, Dawn arrived at protoplanet Vesta in July 2011. It will orbit and study Vesta until July 2012, when it will leave orbit for dwarf planet Ceres, also in the asteroid belt. Dawncanmaneuvertotheorbitbestsuitedforconductingeachof itsscientificobservations.Aftermonthsmappingthisalienworldfrom higher altitudes, Dawn spiraled closer to Vesta to attain a low altitude orbit, the better to study Vesta’s composition and map its complicatedgravityfield.ChangingandrefiningDawn’sorbitof thismassive,irregular,heterogeneousbodyisoneof themostcomplicatedpartsof themis-sion.Inaddition,tomeetallthescientificobjectives,theorientationof thisorbitneedstochange.Thesedifferingorientationsareacrucialelementof thestrategyforgatheringthemostscientificallyvaluabledataonVesta.Itgen-erally requires a great deal of maneuvering to change the plane of a spacecraft’s orbit. The ion propulsion system allows the probe to flyfromoneorbittoanotherwithoutthepenaltyof carryingamassivesupplyof propellant.Indeed,oneof thereasonsthattravelingfromEarthtoVesta(andlaterCeres)requiresionpropulsionisthechallengeof tiltingtheorbitaroundthesun. Although the ion propulsion system accomplishes the majority of the orbit change, Dawn’s navigators are enlisting Vesta itself. Some of the ion thrusting was designed in part to put the spacecraft in certain locations from which Vesta would twist its orbit toward the target angle for the low-altitude orbit. As Dawn rotates and the world underneath it revolves, the spacecraft feels a changing pull. There is always a tug downward, but because of Vesta’s heterogeneous interior structure, sometimes there is also a slight force to one sideoranother.Withtheirknowledgeof thegravityfield,themission team plotted a course that took advantage of these varia-tions to get a free ride. Theflightplanisacomplexaffairof carefullytimedthrustingand coasting. Very far from home, the spacecraft is making excel-lent progress in its expedition at a fascinating world that, until a few months ago, had never seen a probe from Earth. Keep up with Dawn’s progress by following the Chief Engineer’s (yourstruly’s)journalathttp://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/jour-nal.asp. And check out the illustrated story in verse of “Professor Starr’s Dream Trip: Or, how a little technology goes a long way,” at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/story-prof-starr.

This article was provided courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Labo-ratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

This full view of the giant asteroid Vesta was taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, as part of a rotation char-acterization sequence on July 24, 2011, at a distance of 5,200 kilometers (3,200 miles). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA