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TAAS General Meeting - March 7thDr Diana Dragomir
ldquoMysteries of Super-Earth Exoplanetsrdquo
It was a well-attending meeting and Dr Dragomir a Research Assistant Professor in the UNM Department of Physics and Astronomy came fully prepared to pres-ent her favorite research subject to the members of TAAS and the visiting public Super-Earth Exoplanets
She rolled out the history of exoplanet discovery and research drawing data from the Keppler and TESS space telescopes with excellent slides and a clear technical explanation of the transit method to gain evi-dence of their existence and nature
Her presentation was followed by a lengthy QampA that demonstrated the knowledge and expertise of both the speaker and her audience
mdashLynne Olson
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical SocietyPO Box 50581 Albuquerque New Mexico 87181-0581 wwwTAASorg
S i n c e 1959
I N S I D E2 Presidentrsquos Message3 Under the Dome4 Calling All Alcon Volunteers5 Astrophoto The Rosette Nebula Starless
6Telescope Making and Maintenance Telescope Loan Program Update7TAASOSVC Star Party8 UNM Observatory Friday Nights9 Kiwi Skies
10 Astrophoto Theophilus Lunarsquos Jewel11Hubble at 3013TAAS Reports amp Notices14TAAS Directors amp Staff
continued on page 3
April 2020 ObservemdashEducatemdashHave Fun
The Sidereal Times
TAAS EVENT CANCELLATIONSDue to the coronavirus outbreak all previously scheduled GNTO observation sessions have been cancelled through April 10th along with the follow-ing
April 1 ATM April 3 UNM Observatory Friday Night April 4 TAAS General Meeting April 4 TAAS Astronomy 101 April 10 TAAS Fabulous Fifty April 10 UNM Observatory Friday Night
Future events will be reassessed on April 7th
mdashLynne Olson
Dr Diane Dragomir speaking on Super-Earth Exoplanets
Dr Dragomir at the TAAS General Meeting on March
General Meeting News Lynne Olson
Page 2
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
P r e s i d e n t rsquo s M e s s a g e Jim Fordice
Observing During the COVID-19 PandemicEver since we were forced to cancel all of our events due to the COVID-19 Pandemic I have been thinking about how to con-tinue to stay engaged in ama-teur astronomy A phrase I keep thinking about is ldquoStaying in touch without being in touchrdquo
That thinking led us to start the Virtual Observing Events Our first event is the Messier Mara-thon that has been announced on TAAS_Talk and on the web-site In addition to being a good way to stay in touch it will also give us a fairly good look at how well the Messier objects can be viewed under light polluted skies
By the time you read this the Messier Marathon will have been completed Some ideas for other events include splitting Sirius and the Double Star Marathon Please send me your thoughts on what other challenges we should take on
For those of you who live under dark skies and have your own observatory you are probably thinking that all of your hard work in building that observato-ry has really paid off For those of us who live in the city and have only our driveway to work from there still is a lot that can be accomplished
Take a look at the Astronomical Leaguersquos Urban Observing Pro-gram (httpswwwastroleagueorgalobsclubsurbanurbanhtml) for ideas on what to ob-serve The program is based on using a 6rdquo telescope and allows the use of Go-To The program includes an excellent list of tips for observing in light polluted areas It would be great to have Becky Ramatowski handing out some certificates and pins from this program in a few months
Can GNTO Be UsedWhile we are not opening GNTO for regular observing events it is still open to all TAAS Members
The procedure for using the site on your own is available at httpwwwtaasorgGNTODocu-mentshtml Look for the GNTO Observing Field Access Proce-dure and Checklist
Whether you use GNTO is a per-sonal decision I am writing this on 23 March right after listening to Governor Lujan Grishamrsquos an-nouncement of the order to close all non-essential businesses and her direction that we not gather in groups larger than five and to stay at home Since the Governor explained about going to places like parks with your family you can still use the site but only with five or fewer people there at a time
Keep safe out there and keep Observing Educating (yourself) and Having Fun
Page 3
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Under the DomeNotes from and about GNTO Jim Fordice
March 14 - 3rd Quarter Moon Ob-servingAlan Scott was the Opener He re-ported We had a great time down at GNTO last night As always the facil-ity is wonderful and everything was perfect Roads in and out were very good although there were ponds in the road numerous places Bypass roads were good and dry Weather was good We had some high clouds and medium trans-parency Cirrus clouds seemed to appear after sunset and impact us early but dissipated as the eve-ning progressed I never did run at high magnification but I was told by a few attendees that seeing was av-erage to poor As usual for our site it was very dark Wind was stubbornly about 10 to 15 mph for the first few hours then settled down Tempera-tures started in the 60rsquos and was in the mid 40rsquos when I left About 115 am the big orb of nighttime bright-
Venus was a beautiful beacon in the western skies As I noted above a few times I did see some bright-ness to the sky around it (prob-ably due to high cirrus clouds) but most of the night it was beautiful I was able to get all of the Messier ob-jects up to and including M92 in Hercules before the moon came up at 115 am (ie 70 out of 110) M77 was surprisingly easy and M74 was definitely seen although it has poor surface brightness in the twilight In a week both should still be visible I was using my 12rdquo travel telescope which worked very well March 20 21 amp 23 - Messier Mara-thon SessionsAll of the Messier Marathon sessions were cancelled during to the CO-VID-19 Pandemic
continued on page 4
ness came up over the Manzanos which put an end to a wonderful evening of observing I arrived about 6 pm and was met by Jim Fordice and Fernando Tor-res who were already onsite After opening I wandered around tak-ing names and asking what folks were doing Jim Viola Sanchez and I worked on the Messier John Brine-gar amp Mary Murnane were setting up and learning how to run a new tele-scope (that Mary said had been on order for 20 years - I think she was being serious) Ben Burnett worked on the TAAS 200 (a great list by the way) Jim Roucis was looking at faint galaxies Edgar Fischer was working on the planetary list and Wil Dick-erson was imaging the Rosette John Briggs showed up with a bookcase and proceeded to move it into the ROOST and fill it full of old copies of Sky amp Telescope All together we had 11 people show up
Edgar Fischer
Alan Scott John Brinegar Mary Murnane GNTO Observing Field
Page 4
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERSVOLUNTEERS are needed for the 19th ALCON Conference
Albuquerque July 15-19 2020
TAAS is hosting the ALCON Conference in July and we need help
We need volunteers for the following
bull BanquetDinner ndash July 1819
bull Conference Setup ndash July 15
bull Registration ndash July 15-18
bull Speaker amp Workshop Support- July 15-18
bull Tour Support ndash July 15 -19
bull Conference breakdown ndash July 19
The volunteer commitment is to work at least 50 of the conference (12 hours) In return volunteers will receive a Volunteer ALCON 2020 T-Shirt a Conference Attendee Bag and free conference attendance when not working
The deadline for volunteering is May 30
To volunteer contact Marcella Jones - Volunteer Coordinator at kiwi3528aolcom
Please Note In light of the coronavirus outbreak the status of this event is being reconsidered It may be postponed See TAAS_talk for future updates -Ed
GNTO has a New ComputerThe computer we have affection-ately called HAL for many years
has been replaced by a brand-new model that we have named SAL Those of you who are familiar with the 2001 A Space Odyssey storyline will know that SAL was the ground-based ldquotwinrdquo of HAL
This much faster and more capable computer was paid for by donations from Gordon Pegue Alan Scott Dee Friesen and me Thanks for the gen-erous donations guys
Possible Upcoming EventsThese events may be cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Watch the website for additional informa-tion
bull 18 April New Moon Observ-ing (Mike Fuge is Opener)
bull 16 May 3rd Quarter Moon Observing
bull 23 May New Moon Observ-ing (Vance Ley is Opener)
Donrsquot forget that the GNTO Observ-ing Field is available for use by TAAS members anytime Check the TAAS website for the procedure to follow Contact me if you have any ques-tions
As always check TAAS_Talk and the TAAS website for last-minute changes and updates GNTO events are open to all TAAS members and their guests
GNTO Director GNTOTAASorg or 505-803-3640
U n d e r t h e D o m e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3
ldquoSocial Distancingrdquo ndash Viola Sanchez Fernando Torres
Page 5
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
The Rosette Nebula Starless taken with a Full Frame Apogee F16M camera on a TEC 140 scope mounted on a Mach1GTO mount Ten hours of 20-minute exposures using a Baader 7nm Ha filter and a 8nm OIII filter Used Voyager software to control everything Processed in Pixinsight and used the add-on StarNet to remove the stars all but the central cluster NGC 2244
mdashDwightTalley
Page 6
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
ATM AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING AND
MAINTENANCEFor TAAS ATM does not mean a place to get cash from a bank machine
The ATM Workshop is excellent special interest group has been of-fering assistance with all things telescope ndashand binocular ndash since the end of the 90rsquos due to the core team of Mike Pendley Ray Collins and Jim Seargeant
These stalwarts show up on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Manzano Mesa Multi-Generational Center from 700-900 PM to make sure that our members and the public are getting the best use out of their instruments can get basic fixes for those scopes (and learn how to do some adjustments such as collimation themselves) and can make the best decision as to what scopes are suitable choices for their goals
Some begin the process of building their own scope or just talk with their fellow enthusiasts about using them to look at the skies night or day
In the last few years we have had some outstanding ldquoshow and tellrdquo presentations by Alan Scott with his travel scope and Viola Sanchez with her French-built one that showed the love engineering and detail that goes into these telescopes and all of them across the spectrum
Please join them when we are oper-ating more freely You can commu-nicate until then at atmTAASorg
Alan Scott (left) discusses a scope with ATM attendees
Mike Pendley and Mike Salazar work-ing on a scope
(NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-mences again)
mdashLynne Olson
Telescope Loan Program UpdateBy Rick Vergas Telescope Loan Program Coordinator
Fellow observers ndash Difficult times make for difficult decisions The CDC has determined that SARS-CoV-2 virus can remain viable for several days on hard surfaces like telescopes and eyepieces I have decided to suspend loans for the time being so as to avoid wiping down returned scopes and acces-sories or even the seven packages available right now without knowing how effective that might be If you have a loan package please keep it for now I have a record of who you are If you must I will accept a return In the meantime I hope for clear skies and that all of you and yours remain well
Loan Program Statistics
of Scopes on Loan Available
on Loan
35 28 7 80 Type Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics
23 7 12
Size Large (gt8rdquo) Medium (5rdquo-8rdquo) Small (lt5rdquo) 12 17 13
Tracking Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 5 7 11 As of 32120
Page 7
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
By nightfall many more TAAS tele-scopes were set up in the patio area Luna and Venus were the early showpieces but of course as darkness fell the stars popped out and our many guests were treated to the wonders of the pre-spring sky
Phil Fleming gave a TAAS Fabulous Fifty presentation at 700 PM to guests eager to learn about the brighter stars and their host con-stellations in the seasonrsquos skies
I want to offer my personal thanks and recognition to these TAAS vol-unteers
Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Ford-ice and Derek Wallentinsen Solar amp Night Sky Guides Trish Logan Star Wheel Activity Host Phil Flem-ing Fab 50 Presentation Allison Akbulut Jonathan Brown Marla Brown Bethany amp Ben Burnett Sandy Fleming Bob Hufnagel Ed Juddo Vance Ley Lynne Olson Jon Schuchardt Jim Stanley Fernando Torres and Sara Wofford Night Sky Guides
Special thanks go to Lynne Olson for her promotional efforts Steve Snider for performing the clos-ing honors and once again Trish Logan for surviving the star wheel onslaught
OSVC Star Parties always draw the public but the turnout on Sat-urday Feb 29 was exceptional Visitor Center workers counted 244 guests ndash and TAAS volunteers turned the afternoon and evening into a resounding success
This was especially rewarding since it was also among the last TAAS events before the coronavi-rus outbreak shut down so many of the clubrsquos activities in March
We had very cooperative weather and great preparation by the OSVC folks The one small hitch was construction that closed the alley we ordinarily use to drop off tele-scopes and other equipment ndash a very minor inconvenience
TAAS members Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Fordice and Derek Wal-lentinsen treated guests to views of the sun during the early hours of the event then switched their equipment over to nighttime view-ing as the sun set behind the build-ing
Trish Logan was the solo host of the ever-popular star wheel mak-ing activity in the OSVC lobby Every time I passed by her tables were mobbed I would not be sur-prised if she helped more than 100 guests kids and grownups alike to make their own star wheels
Photos by Lynne Olson and Jim Roucis
The OSVC Observing Field
Trish Logan left with guests making star wheels
Mike Molitor right with guests
Jim Fordice with guests
TAASOSVC Star Party February 29thAlbuquerque Open Space Visitor Center
By Jim Roucis
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 2
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
P r e s i d e n t rsquo s M e s s a g e Jim Fordice
Observing During the COVID-19 PandemicEver since we were forced to cancel all of our events due to the COVID-19 Pandemic I have been thinking about how to con-tinue to stay engaged in ama-teur astronomy A phrase I keep thinking about is ldquoStaying in touch without being in touchrdquo
That thinking led us to start the Virtual Observing Events Our first event is the Messier Mara-thon that has been announced on TAAS_Talk and on the web-site In addition to being a good way to stay in touch it will also give us a fairly good look at how well the Messier objects can be viewed under light polluted skies
By the time you read this the Messier Marathon will have been completed Some ideas for other events include splitting Sirius and the Double Star Marathon Please send me your thoughts on what other challenges we should take on
For those of you who live under dark skies and have your own observatory you are probably thinking that all of your hard work in building that observato-ry has really paid off For those of us who live in the city and have only our driveway to work from there still is a lot that can be accomplished
Take a look at the Astronomical Leaguersquos Urban Observing Pro-gram (httpswwwastroleagueorgalobsclubsurbanurbanhtml) for ideas on what to ob-serve The program is based on using a 6rdquo telescope and allows the use of Go-To The program includes an excellent list of tips for observing in light polluted areas It would be great to have Becky Ramatowski handing out some certificates and pins from this program in a few months
Can GNTO Be UsedWhile we are not opening GNTO for regular observing events it is still open to all TAAS Members
The procedure for using the site on your own is available at httpwwwtaasorgGNTODocu-mentshtml Look for the GNTO Observing Field Access Proce-dure and Checklist
Whether you use GNTO is a per-sonal decision I am writing this on 23 March right after listening to Governor Lujan Grishamrsquos an-nouncement of the order to close all non-essential businesses and her direction that we not gather in groups larger than five and to stay at home Since the Governor explained about going to places like parks with your family you can still use the site but only with five or fewer people there at a time
Keep safe out there and keep Observing Educating (yourself) and Having Fun
Page 3
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Under the DomeNotes from and about GNTO Jim Fordice
March 14 - 3rd Quarter Moon Ob-servingAlan Scott was the Opener He re-ported We had a great time down at GNTO last night As always the facil-ity is wonderful and everything was perfect Roads in and out were very good although there were ponds in the road numerous places Bypass roads were good and dry Weather was good We had some high clouds and medium trans-parency Cirrus clouds seemed to appear after sunset and impact us early but dissipated as the eve-ning progressed I never did run at high magnification but I was told by a few attendees that seeing was av-erage to poor As usual for our site it was very dark Wind was stubbornly about 10 to 15 mph for the first few hours then settled down Tempera-tures started in the 60rsquos and was in the mid 40rsquos when I left About 115 am the big orb of nighttime bright-
Venus was a beautiful beacon in the western skies As I noted above a few times I did see some bright-ness to the sky around it (prob-ably due to high cirrus clouds) but most of the night it was beautiful I was able to get all of the Messier ob-jects up to and including M92 in Hercules before the moon came up at 115 am (ie 70 out of 110) M77 was surprisingly easy and M74 was definitely seen although it has poor surface brightness in the twilight In a week both should still be visible I was using my 12rdquo travel telescope which worked very well March 20 21 amp 23 - Messier Mara-thon SessionsAll of the Messier Marathon sessions were cancelled during to the CO-VID-19 Pandemic
continued on page 4
ness came up over the Manzanos which put an end to a wonderful evening of observing I arrived about 6 pm and was met by Jim Fordice and Fernando Tor-res who were already onsite After opening I wandered around tak-ing names and asking what folks were doing Jim Viola Sanchez and I worked on the Messier John Brine-gar amp Mary Murnane were setting up and learning how to run a new tele-scope (that Mary said had been on order for 20 years - I think she was being serious) Ben Burnett worked on the TAAS 200 (a great list by the way) Jim Roucis was looking at faint galaxies Edgar Fischer was working on the planetary list and Wil Dick-erson was imaging the Rosette John Briggs showed up with a bookcase and proceeded to move it into the ROOST and fill it full of old copies of Sky amp Telescope All together we had 11 people show up
Edgar Fischer
Alan Scott John Brinegar Mary Murnane GNTO Observing Field
Page 4
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERSVOLUNTEERS are needed for the 19th ALCON Conference
Albuquerque July 15-19 2020
TAAS is hosting the ALCON Conference in July and we need help
We need volunteers for the following
bull BanquetDinner ndash July 1819
bull Conference Setup ndash July 15
bull Registration ndash July 15-18
bull Speaker amp Workshop Support- July 15-18
bull Tour Support ndash July 15 -19
bull Conference breakdown ndash July 19
The volunteer commitment is to work at least 50 of the conference (12 hours) In return volunteers will receive a Volunteer ALCON 2020 T-Shirt a Conference Attendee Bag and free conference attendance when not working
The deadline for volunteering is May 30
To volunteer contact Marcella Jones - Volunteer Coordinator at kiwi3528aolcom
Please Note In light of the coronavirus outbreak the status of this event is being reconsidered It may be postponed See TAAS_talk for future updates -Ed
GNTO has a New ComputerThe computer we have affection-ately called HAL for many years
has been replaced by a brand-new model that we have named SAL Those of you who are familiar with the 2001 A Space Odyssey storyline will know that SAL was the ground-based ldquotwinrdquo of HAL
This much faster and more capable computer was paid for by donations from Gordon Pegue Alan Scott Dee Friesen and me Thanks for the gen-erous donations guys
Possible Upcoming EventsThese events may be cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Watch the website for additional informa-tion
bull 18 April New Moon Observ-ing (Mike Fuge is Opener)
bull 16 May 3rd Quarter Moon Observing
bull 23 May New Moon Observ-ing (Vance Ley is Opener)
Donrsquot forget that the GNTO Observ-ing Field is available for use by TAAS members anytime Check the TAAS website for the procedure to follow Contact me if you have any ques-tions
As always check TAAS_Talk and the TAAS website for last-minute changes and updates GNTO events are open to all TAAS members and their guests
GNTO Director GNTOTAASorg or 505-803-3640
U n d e r t h e D o m e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3
ldquoSocial Distancingrdquo ndash Viola Sanchez Fernando Torres
Page 5
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
The Rosette Nebula Starless taken with a Full Frame Apogee F16M camera on a TEC 140 scope mounted on a Mach1GTO mount Ten hours of 20-minute exposures using a Baader 7nm Ha filter and a 8nm OIII filter Used Voyager software to control everything Processed in Pixinsight and used the add-on StarNet to remove the stars all but the central cluster NGC 2244
mdashDwightTalley
Page 6
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
ATM AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING AND
MAINTENANCEFor TAAS ATM does not mean a place to get cash from a bank machine
The ATM Workshop is excellent special interest group has been of-fering assistance with all things telescope ndashand binocular ndash since the end of the 90rsquos due to the core team of Mike Pendley Ray Collins and Jim Seargeant
These stalwarts show up on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Manzano Mesa Multi-Generational Center from 700-900 PM to make sure that our members and the public are getting the best use out of their instruments can get basic fixes for those scopes (and learn how to do some adjustments such as collimation themselves) and can make the best decision as to what scopes are suitable choices for their goals
Some begin the process of building their own scope or just talk with their fellow enthusiasts about using them to look at the skies night or day
In the last few years we have had some outstanding ldquoshow and tellrdquo presentations by Alan Scott with his travel scope and Viola Sanchez with her French-built one that showed the love engineering and detail that goes into these telescopes and all of them across the spectrum
Please join them when we are oper-ating more freely You can commu-nicate until then at atmTAASorg
Alan Scott (left) discusses a scope with ATM attendees
Mike Pendley and Mike Salazar work-ing on a scope
(NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-mences again)
mdashLynne Olson
Telescope Loan Program UpdateBy Rick Vergas Telescope Loan Program Coordinator
Fellow observers ndash Difficult times make for difficult decisions The CDC has determined that SARS-CoV-2 virus can remain viable for several days on hard surfaces like telescopes and eyepieces I have decided to suspend loans for the time being so as to avoid wiping down returned scopes and acces-sories or even the seven packages available right now without knowing how effective that might be If you have a loan package please keep it for now I have a record of who you are If you must I will accept a return In the meantime I hope for clear skies and that all of you and yours remain well
Loan Program Statistics
of Scopes on Loan Available
on Loan
35 28 7 80 Type Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics
23 7 12
Size Large (gt8rdquo) Medium (5rdquo-8rdquo) Small (lt5rdquo) 12 17 13
Tracking Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 5 7 11 As of 32120
Page 7
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
By nightfall many more TAAS tele-scopes were set up in the patio area Luna and Venus were the early showpieces but of course as darkness fell the stars popped out and our many guests were treated to the wonders of the pre-spring sky
Phil Fleming gave a TAAS Fabulous Fifty presentation at 700 PM to guests eager to learn about the brighter stars and their host con-stellations in the seasonrsquos skies
I want to offer my personal thanks and recognition to these TAAS vol-unteers
Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Ford-ice and Derek Wallentinsen Solar amp Night Sky Guides Trish Logan Star Wheel Activity Host Phil Flem-ing Fab 50 Presentation Allison Akbulut Jonathan Brown Marla Brown Bethany amp Ben Burnett Sandy Fleming Bob Hufnagel Ed Juddo Vance Ley Lynne Olson Jon Schuchardt Jim Stanley Fernando Torres and Sara Wofford Night Sky Guides
Special thanks go to Lynne Olson for her promotional efforts Steve Snider for performing the clos-ing honors and once again Trish Logan for surviving the star wheel onslaught
OSVC Star Parties always draw the public but the turnout on Sat-urday Feb 29 was exceptional Visitor Center workers counted 244 guests ndash and TAAS volunteers turned the afternoon and evening into a resounding success
This was especially rewarding since it was also among the last TAAS events before the coronavi-rus outbreak shut down so many of the clubrsquos activities in March
We had very cooperative weather and great preparation by the OSVC folks The one small hitch was construction that closed the alley we ordinarily use to drop off tele-scopes and other equipment ndash a very minor inconvenience
TAAS members Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Fordice and Derek Wal-lentinsen treated guests to views of the sun during the early hours of the event then switched their equipment over to nighttime view-ing as the sun set behind the build-ing
Trish Logan was the solo host of the ever-popular star wheel mak-ing activity in the OSVC lobby Every time I passed by her tables were mobbed I would not be sur-prised if she helped more than 100 guests kids and grownups alike to make their own star wheels
Photos by Lynne Olson and Jim Roucis
The OSVC Observing Field
Trish Logan left with guests making star wheels
Mike Molitor right with guests
Jim Fordice with guests
TAASOSVC Star Party February 29thAlbuquerque Open Space Visitor Center
By Jim Roucis
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 3
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Under the DomeNotes from and about GNTO Jim Fordice
March 14 - 3rd Quarter Moon Ob-servingAlan Scott was the Opener He re-ported We had a great time down at GNTO last night As always the facil-ity is wonderful and everything was perfect Roads in and out were very good although there were ponds in the road numerous places Bypass roads were good and dry Weather was good We had some high clouds and medium trans-parency Cirrus clouds seemed to appear after sunset and impact us early but dissipated as the eve-ning progressed I never did run at high magnification but I was told by a few attendees that seeing was av-erage to poor As usual for our site it was very dark Wind was stubbornly about 10 to 15 mph for the first few hours then settled down Tempera-tures started in the 60rsquos and was in the mid 40rsquos when I left About 115 am the big orb of nighttime bright-
Venus was a beautiful beacon in the western skies As I noted above a few times I did see some bright-ness to the sky around it (prob-ably due to high cirrus clouds) but most of the night it was beautiful I was able to get all of the Messier ob-jects up to and including M92 in Hercules before the moon came up at 115 am (ie 70 out of 110) M77 was surprisingly easy and M74 was definitely seen although it has poor surface brightness in the twilight In a week both should still be visible I was using my 12rdquo travel telescope which worked very well March 20 21 amp 23 - Messier Mara-thon SessionsAll of the Messier Marathon sessions were cancelled during to the CO-VID-19 Pandemic
continued on page 4
ness came up over the Manzanos which put an end to a wonderful evening of observing I arrived about 6 pm and was met by Jim Fordice and Fernando Tor-res who were already onsite After opening I wandered around tak-ing names and asking what folks were doing Jim Viola Sanchez and I worked on the Messier John Brine-gar amp Mary Murnane were setting up and learning how to run a new tele-scope (that Mary said had been on order for 20 years - I think she was being serious) Ben Burnett worked on the TAAS 200 (a great list by the way) Jim Roucis was looking at faint galaxies Edgar Fischer was working on the planetary list and Wil Dick-erson was imaging the Rosette John Briggs showed up with a bookcase and proceeded to move it into the ROOST and fill it full of old copies of Sky amp Telescope All together we had 11 people show up
Edgar Fischer
Alan Scott John Brinegar Mary Murnane GNTO Observing Field
Page 4
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERSVOLUNTEERS are needed for the 19th ALCON Conference
Albuquerque July 15-19 2020
TAAS is hosting the ALCON Conference in July and we need help
We need volunteers for the following
bull BanquetDinner ndash July 1819
bull Conference Setup ndash July 15
bull Registration ndash July 15-18
bull Speaker amp Workshop Support- July 15-18
bull Tour Support ndash July 15 -19
bull Conference breakdown ndash July 19
The volunteer commitment is to work at least 50 of the conference (12 hours) In return volunteers will receive a Volunteer ALCON 2020 T-Shirt a Conference Attendee Bag and free conference attendance when not working
The deadline for volunteering is May 30
To volunteer contact Marcella Jones - Volunteer Coordinator at kiwi3528aolcom
Please Note In light of the coronavirus outbreak the status of this event is being reconsidered It may be postponed See TAAS_talk for future updates -Ed
GNTO has a New ComputerThe computer we have affection-ately called HAL for many years
has been replaced by a brand-new model that we have named SAL Those of you who are familiar with the 2001 A Space Odyssey storyline will know that SAL was the ground-based ldquotwinrdquo of HAL
This much faster and more capable computer was paid for by donations from Gordon Pegue Alan Scott Dee Friesen and me Thanks for the gen-erous donations guys
Possible Upcoming EventsThese events may be cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Watch the website for additional informa-tion
bull 18 April New Moon Observ-ing (Mike Fuge is Opener)
bull 16 May 3rd Quarter Moon Observing
bull 23 May New Moon Observ-ing (Vance Ley is Opener)
Donrsquot forget that the GNTO Observ-ing Field is available for use by TAAS members anytime Check the TAAS website for the procedure to follow Contact me if you have any ques-tions
As always check TAAS_Talk and the TAAS website for last-minute changes and updates GNTO events are open to all TAAS members and their guests
GNTO Director GNTOTAASorg or 505-803-3640
U n d e r t h e D o m e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3
ldquoSocial Distancingrdquo ndash Viola Sanchez Fernando Torres
Page 5
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
The Rosette Nebula Starless taken with a Full Frame Apogee F16M camera on a TEC 140 scope mounted on a Mach1GTO mount Ten hours of 20-minute exposures using a Baader 7nm Ha filter and a 8nm OIII filter Used Voyager software to control everything Processed in Pixinsight and used the add-on StarNet to remove the stars all but the central cluster NGC 2244
mdashDwightTalley
Page 6
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
ATM AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING AND
MAINTENANCEFor TAAS ATM does not mean a place to get cash from a bank machine
The ATM Workshop is excellent special interest group has been of-fering assistance with all things telescope ndashand binocular ndash since the end of the 90rsquos due to the core team of Mike Pendley Ray Collins and Jim Seargeant
These stalwarts show up on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Manzano Mesa Multi-Generational Center from 700-900 PM to make sure that our members and the public are getting the best use out of their instruments can get basic fixes for those scopes (and learn how to do some adjustments such as collimation themselves) and can make the best decision as to what scopes are suitable choices for their goals
Some begin the process of building their own scope or just talk with their fellow enthusiasts about using them to look at the skies night or day
In the last few years we have had some outstanding ldquoshow and tellrdquo presentations by Alan Scott with his travel scope and Viola Sanchez with her French-built one that showed the love engineering and detail that goes into these telescopes and all of them across the spectrum
Please join them when we are oper-ating more freely You can commu-nicate until then at atmTAASorg
Alan Scott (left) discusses a scope with ATM attendees
Mike Pendley and Mike Salazar work-ing on a scope
(NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-mences again)
mdashLynne Olson
Telescope Loan Program UpdateBy Rick Vergas Telescope Loan Program Coordinator
Fellow observers ndash Difficult times make for difficult decisions The CDC has determined that SARS-CoV-2 virus can remain viable for several days on hard surfaces like telescopes and eyepieces I have decided to suspend loans for the time being so as to avoid wiping down returned scopes and acces-sories or even the seven packages available right now without knowing how effective that might be If you have a loan package please keep it for now I have a record of who you are If you must I will accept a return In the meantime I hope for clear skies and that all of you and yours remain well
Loan Program Statistics
of Scopes on Loan Available
on Loan
35 28 7 80 Type Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics
23 7 12
Size Large (gt8rdquo) Medium (5rdquo-8rdquo) Small (lt5rdquo) 12 17 13
Tracking Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 5 7 11 As of 32120
Page 7
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
By nightfall many more TAAS tele-scopes were set up in the patio area Luna and Venus were the early showpieces but of course as darkness fell the stars popped out and our many guests were treated to the wonders of the pre-spring sky
Phil Fleming gave a TAAS Fabulous Fifty presentation at 700 PM to guests eager to learn about the brighter stars and their host con-stellations in the seasonrsquos skies
I want to offer my personal thanks and recognition to these TAAS vol-unteers
Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Ford-ice and Derek Wallentinsen Solar amp Night Sky Guides Trish Logan Star Wheel Activity Host Phil Flem-ing Fab 50 Presentation Allison Akbulut Jonathan Brown Marla Brown Bethany amp Ben Burnett Sandy Fleming Bob Hufnagel Ed Juddo Vance Ley Lynne Olson Jon Schuchardt Jim Stanley Fernando Torres and Sara Wofford Night Sky Guides
Special thanks go to Lynne Olson for her promotional efforts Steve Snider for performing the clos-ing honors and once again Trish Logan for surviving the star wheel onslaught
OSVC Star Parties always draw the public but the turnout on Sat-urday Feb 29 was exceptional Visitor Center workers counted 244 guests ndash and TAAS volunteers turned the afternoon and evening into a resounding success
This was especially rewarding since it was also among the last TAAS events before the coronavi-rus outbreak shut down so many of the clubrsquos activities in March
We had very cooperative weather and great preparation by the OSVC folks The one small hitch was construction that closed the alley we ordinarily use to drop off tele-scopes and other equipment ndash a very minor inconvenience
TAAS members Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Fordice and Derek Wal-lentinsen treated guests to views of the sun during the early hours of the event then switched their equipment over to nighttime view-ing as the sun set behind the build-ing
Trish Logan was the solo host of the ever-popular star wheel mak-ing activity in the OSVC lobby Every time I passed by her tables were mobbed I would not be sur-prised if she helped more than 100 guests kids and grownups alike to make their own star wheels
Photos by Lynne Olson and Jim Roucis
The OSVC Observing Field
Trish Logan left with guests making star wheels
Mike Molitor right with guests
Jim Fordice with guests
TAASOSVC Star Party February 29thAlbuquerque Open Space Visitor Center
By Jim Roucis
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 4
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERSVOLUNTEERS are needed for the 19th ALCON Conference
Albuquerque July 15-19 2020
TAAS is hosting the ALCON Conference in July and we need help
We need volunteers for the following
bull BanquetDinner ndash July 1819
bull Conference Setup ndash July 15
bull Registration ndash July 15-18
bull Speaker amp Workshop Support- July 15-18
bull Tour Support ndash July 15 -19
bull Conference breakdown ndash July 19
The volunteer commitment is to work at least 50 of the conference (12 hours) In return volunteers will receive a Volunteer ALCON 2020 T-Shirt a Conference Attendee Bag and free conference attendance when not working
The deadline for volunteering is May 30
To volunteer contact Marcella Jones - Volunteer Coordinator at kiwi3528aolcom
Please Note In light of the coronavirus outbreak the status of this event is being reconsidered It may be postponed See TAAS_talk for future updates -Ed
GNTO has a New ComputerThe computer we have affection-ately called HAL for many years
has been replaced by a brand-new model that we have named SAL Those of you who are familiar with the 2001 A Space Odyssey storyline will know that SAL was the ground-based ldquotwinrdquo of HAL
This much faster and more capable computer was paid for by donations from Gordon Pegue Alan Scott Dee Friesen and me Thanks for the gen-erous donations guys
Possible Upcoming EventsThese events may be cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Watch the website for additional informa-tion
bull 18 April New Moon Observ-ing (Mike Fuge is Opener)
bull 16 May 3rd Quarter Moon Observing
bull 23 May New Moon Observ-ing (Vance Ley is Opener)
Donrsquot forget that the GNTO Observ-ing Field is available for use by TAAS members anytime Check the TAAS website for the procedure to follow Contact me if you have any ques-tions
As always check TAAS_Talk and the TAAS website for last-minute changes and updates GNTO events are open to all TAAS members and their guests
GNTO Director GNTOTAASorg or 505-803-3640
U n d e r t h e D o m e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3
ldquoSocial Distancingrdquo ndash Viola Sanchez Fernando Torres
Page 5
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
The Rosette Nebula Starless taken with a Full Frame Apogee F16M camera on a TEC 140 scope mounted on a Mach1GTO mount Ten hours of 20-minute exposures using a Baader 7nm Ha filter and a 8nm OIII filter Used Voyager software to control everything Processed in Pixinsight and used the add-on StarNet to remove the stars all but the central cluster NGC 2244
mdashDwightTalley
Page 6
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
ATM AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING AND
MAINTENANCEFor TAAS ATM does not mean a place to get cash from a bank machine
The ATM Workshop is excellent special interest group has been of-fering assistance with all things telescope ndashand binocular ndash since the end of the 90rsquos due to the core team of Mike Pendley Ray Collins and Jim Seargeant
These stalwarts show up on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Manzano Mesa Multi-Generational Center from 700-900 PM to make sure that our members and the public are getting the best use out of their instruments can get basic fixes for those scopes (and learn how to do some adjustments such as collimation themselves) and can make the best decision as to what scopes are suitable choices for their goals
Some begin the process of building their own scope or just talk with their fellow enthusiasts about using them to look at the skies night or day
In the last few years we have had some outstanding ldquoshow and tellrdquo presentations by Alan Scott with his travel scope and Viola Sanchez with her French-built one that showed the love engineering and detail that goes into these telescopes and all of them across the spectrum
Please join them when we are oper-ating more freely You can commu-nicate until then at atmTAASorg
Alan Scott (left) discusses a scope with ATM attendees
Mike Pendley and Mike Salazar work-ing on a scope
(NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-mences again)
mdashLynne Olson
Telescope Loan Program UpdateBy Rick Vergas Telescope Loan Program Coordinator
Fellow observers ndash Difficult times make for difficult decisions The CDC has determined that SARS-CoV-2 virus can remain viable for several days on hard surfaces like telescopes and eyepieces I have decided to suspend loans for the time being so as to avoid wiping down returned scopes and acces-sories or even the seven packages available right now without knowing how effective that might be If you have a loan package please keep it for now I have a record of who you are If you must I will accept a return In the meantime I hope for clear skies and that all of you and yours remain well
Loan Program Statistics
of Scopes on Loan Available
on Loan
35 28 7 80 Type Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics
23 7 12
Size Large (gt8rdquo) Medium (5rdquo-8rdquo) Small (lt5rdquo) 12 17 13
Tracking Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 5 7 11 As of 32120
Page 7
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
By nightfall many more TAAS tele-scopes were set up in the patio area Luna and Venus were the early showpieces but of course as darkness fell the stars popped out and our many guests were treated to the wonders of the pre-spring sky
Phil Fleming gave a TAAS Fabulous Fifty presentation at 700 PM to guests eager to learn about the brighter stars and their host con-stellations in the seasonrsquos skies
I want to offer my personal thanks and recognition to these TAAS vol-unteers
Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Ford-ice and Derek Wallentinsen Solar amp Night Sky Guides Trish Logan Star Wheel Activity Host Phil Flem-ing Fab 50 Presentation Allison Akbulut Jonathan Brown Marla Brown Bethany amp Ben Burnett Sandy Fleming Bob Hufnagel Ed Juddo Vance Ley Lynne Olson Jon Schuchardt Jim Stanley Fernando Torres and Sara Wofford Night Sky Guides
Special thanks go to Lynne Olson for her promotional efforts Steve Snider for performing the clos-ing honors and once again Trish Logan for surviving the star wheel onslaught
OSVC Star Parties always draw the public but the turnout on Sat-urday Feb 29 was exceptional Visitor Center workers counted 244 guests ndash and TAAS volunteers turned the afternoon and evening into a resounding success
This was especially rewarding since it was also among the last TAAS events before the coronavi-rus outbreak shut down so many of the clubrsquos activities in March
We had very cooperative weather and great preparation by the OSVC folks The one small hitch was construction that closed the alley we ordinarily use to drop off tele-scopes and other equipment ndash a very minor inconvenience
TAAS members Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Fordice and Derek Wal-lentinsen treated guests to views of the sun during the early hours of the event then switched their equipment over to nighttime view-ing as the sun set behind the build-ing
Trish Logan was the solo host of the ever-popular star wheel mak-ing activity in the OSVC lobby Every time I passed by her tables were mobbed I would not be sur-prised if she helped more than 100 guests kids and grownups alike to make their own star wheels
Photos by Lynne Olson and Jim Roucis
The OSVC Observing Field
Trish Logan left with guests making star wheels
Mike Molitor right with guests
Jim Fordice with guests
TAASOSVC Star Party February 29thAlbuquerque Open Space Visitor Center
By Jim Roucis
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 5
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
The Rosette Nebula Starless taken with a Full Frame Apogee F16M camera on a TEC 140 scope mounted on a Mach1GTO mount Ten hours of 20-minute exposures using a Baader 7nm Ha filter and a 8nm OIII filter Used Voyager software to control everything Processed in Pixinsight and used the add-on StarNet to remove the stars all but the central cluster NGC 2244
mdashDwightTalley
Page 6
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
ATM AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING AND
MAINTENANCEFor TAAS ATM does not mean a place to get cash from a bank machine
The ATM Workshop is excellent special interest group has been of-fering assistance with all things telescope ndashand binocular ndash since the end of the 90rsquos due to the core team of Mike Pendley Ray Collins and Jim Seargeant
These stalwarts show up on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Manzano Mesa Multi-Generational Center from 700-900 PM to make sure that our members and the public are getting the best use out of their instruments can get basic fixes for those scopes (and learn how to do some adjustments such as collimation themselves) and can make the best decision as to what scopes are suitable choices for their goals
Some begin the process of building their own scope or just talk with their fellow enthusiasts about using them to look at the skies night or day
In the last few years we have had some outstanding ldquoshow and tellrdquo presentations by Alan Scott with his travel scope and Viola Sanchez with her French-built one that showed the love engineering and detail that goes into these telescopes and all of them across the spectrum
Please join them when we are oper-ating more freely You can commu-nicate until then at atmTAASorg
Alan Scott (left) discusses a scope with ATM attendees
Mike Pendley and Mike Salazar work-ing on a scope
(NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-mences again)
mdashLynne Olson
Telescope Loan Program UpdateBy Rick Vergas Telescope Loan Program Coordinator
Fellow observers ndash Difficult times make for difficult decisions The CDC has determined that SARS-CoV-2 virus can remain viable for several days on hard surfaces like telescopes and eyepieces I have decided to suspend loans for the time being so as to avoid wiping down returned scopes and acces-sories or even the seven packages available right now without knowing how effective that might be If you have a loan package please keep it for now I have a record of who you are If you must I will accept a return In the meantime I hope for clear skies and that all of you and yours remain well
Loan Program Statistics
of Scopes on Loan Available
on Loan
35 28 7 80 Type Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics
23 7 12
Size Large (gt8rdquo) Medium (5rdquo-8rdquo) Small (lt5rdquo) 12 17 13
Tracking Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 5 7 11 As of 32120
Page 7
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
By nightfall many more TAAS tele-scopes were set up in the patio area Luna and Venus were the early showpieces but of course as darkness fell the stars popped out and our many guests were treated to the wonders of the pre-spring sky
Phil Fleming gave a TAAS Fabulous Fifty presentation at 700 PM to guests eager to learn about the brighter stars and their host con-stellations in the seasonrsquos skies
I want to offer my personal thanks and recognition to these TAAS vol-unteers
Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Ford-ice and Derek Wallentinsen Solar amp Night Sky Guides Trish Logan Star Wheel Activity Host Phil Flem-ing Fab 50 Presentation Allison Akbulut Jonathan Brown Marla Brown Bethany amp Ben Burnett Sandy Fleming Bob Hufnagel Ed Juddo Vance Ley Lynne Olson Jon Schuchardt Jim Stanley Fernando Torres and Sara Wofford Night Sky Guides
Special thanks go to Lynne Olson for her promotional efforts Steve Snider for performing the clos-ing honors and once again Trish Logan for surviving the star wheel onslaught
OSVC Star Parties always draw the public but the turnout on Sat-urday Feb 29 was exceptional Visitor Center workers counted 244 guests ndash and TAAS volunteers turned the afternoon and evening into a resounding success
This was especially rewarding since it was also among the last TAAS events before the coronavi-rus outbreak shut down so many of the clubrsquos activities in March
We had very cooperative weather and great preparation by the OSVC folks The one small hitch was construction that closed the alley we ordinarily use to drop off tele-scopes and other equipment ndash a very minor inconvenience
TAAS members Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Fordice and Derek Wal-lentinsen treated guests to views of the sun during the early hours of the event then switched their equipment over to nighttime view-ing as the sun set behind the build-ing
Trish Logan was the solo host of the ever-popular star wheel mak-ing activity in the OSVC lobby Every time I passed by her tables were mobbed I would not be sur-prised if she helped more than 100 guests kids and grownups alike to make their own star wheels
Photos by Lynne Olson and Jim Roucis
The OSVC Observing Field
Trish Logan left with guests making star wheels
Mike Molitor right with guests
Jim Fordice with guests
TAASOSVC Star Party February 29thAlbuquerque Open Space Visitor Center
By Jim Roucis
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 6
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
ATM AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING AND
MAINTENANCEFor TAAS ATM does not mean a place to get cash from a bank machine
The ATM Workshop is excellent special interest group has been of-fering assistance with all things telescope ndashand binocular ndash since the end of the 90rsquos due to the core team of Mike Pendley Ray Collins and Jim Seargeant
These stalwarts show up on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Manzano Mesa Multi-Generational Center from 700-900 PM to make sure that our members and the public are getting the best use out of their instruments can get basic fixes for those scopes (and learn how to do some adjustments such as collimation themselves) and can make the best decision as to what scopes are suitable choices for their goals
Some begin the process of building their own scope or just talk with their fellow enthusiasts about using them to look at the skies night or day
In the last few years we have had some outstanding ldquoshow and tellrdquo presentations by Alan Scott with his travel scope and Viola Sanchez with her French-built one that showed the love engineering and detail that goes into these telescopes and all of them across the spectrum
Please join them when we are oper-ating more freely You can commu-nicate until then at atmTAASorg
Alan Scott (left) discusses a scope with ATM attendees
Mike Pendley and Mike Salazar work-ing on a scope
(NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-mences again)
mdashLynne Olson
Telescope Loan Program UpdateBy Rick Vergas Telescope Loan Program Coordinator
Fellow observers ndash Difficult times make for difficult decisions The CDC has determined that SARS-CoV-2 virus can remain viable for several days on hard surfaces like telescopes and eyepieces I have decided to suspend loans for the time being so as to avoid wiping down returned scopes and acces-sories or even the seven packages available right now without knowing how effective that might be If you have a loan package please keep it for now I have a record of who you are If you must I will accept a return In the meantime I hope for clear skies and that all of you and yours remain well
Loan Program Statistics
of Scopes on Loan Available
on Loan
35 28 7 80 Type Reflectors Refractors Catadioptrics
23 7 12
Size Large (gt8rdquo) Medium (5rdquo-8rdquo) Small (lt5rdquo) 12 17 13
Tracking Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking 26 5 7 11 As of 32120
Page 7
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
By nightfall many more TAAS tele-scopes were set up in the patio area Luna and Venus were the early showpieces but of course as darkness fell the stars popped out and our many guests were treated to the wonders of the pre-spring sky
Phil Fleming gave a TAAS Fabulous Fifty presentation at 700 PM to guests eager to learn about the brighter stars and their host con-stellations in the seasonrsquos skies
I want to offer my personal thanks and recognition to these TAAS vol-unteers
Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Ford-ice and Derek Wallentinsen Solar amp Night Sky Guides Trish Logan Star Wheel Activity Host Phil Flem-ing Fab 50 Presentation Allison Akbulut Jonathan Brown Marla Brown Bethany amp Ben Burnett Sandy Fleming Bob Hufnagel Ed Juddo Vance Ley Lynne Olson Jon Schuchardt Jim Stanley Fernando Torres and Sara Wofford Night Sky Guides
Special thanks go to Lynne Olson for her promotional efforts Steve Snider for performing the clos-ing honors and once again Trish Logan for surviving the star wheel onslaught
OSVC Star Parties always draw the public but the turnout on Sat-urday Feb 29 was exceptional Visitor Center workers counted 244 guests ndash and TAAS volunteers turned the afternoon and evening into a resounding success
This was especially rewarding since it was also among the last TAAS events before the coronavi-rus outbreak shut down so many of the clubrsquos activities in March
We had very cooperative weather and great preparation by the OSVC folks The one small hitch was construction that closed the alley we ordinarily use to drop off tele-scopes and other equipment ndash a very minor inconvenience
TAAS members Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Fordice and Derek Wal-lentinsen treated guests to views of the sun during the early hours of the event then switched their equipment over to nighttime view-ing as the sun set behind the build-ing
Trish Logan was the solo host of the ever-popular star wheel mak-ing activity in the OSVC lobby Every time I passed by her tables were mobbed I would not be sur-prised if she helped more than 100 guests kids and grownups alike to make their own star wheels
Photos by Lynne Olson and Jim Roucis
The OSVC Observing Field
Trish Logan left with guests making star wheels
Mike Molitor right with guests
Jim Fordice with guests
TAASOSVC Star Party February 29thAlbuquerque Open Space Visitor Center
By Jim Roucis
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 7
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
By nightfall many more TAAS tele-scopes were set up in the patio area Luna and Venus were the early showpieces but of course as darkness fell the stars popped out and our many guests were treated to the wonders of the pre-spring sky
Phil Fleming gave a TAAS Fabulous Fifty presentation at 700 PM to guests eager to learn about the brighter stars and their host con-stellations in the seasonrsquos skies
I want to offer my personal thanks and recognition to these TAAS vol-unteers
Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Ford-ice and Derek Wallentinsen Solar amp Night Sky Guides Trish Logan Star Wheel Activity Host Phil Flem-ing Fab 50 Presentation Allison Akbulut Jonathan Brown Marla Brown Bethany amp Ben Burnett Sandy Fleming Bob Hufnagel Ed Juddo Vance Ley Lynne Olson Jon Schuchardt Jim Stanley Fernando Torres and Sara Wofford Night Sky Guides
Special thanks go to Lynne Olson for her promotional efforts Steve Snider for performing the clos-ing honors and once again Trish Logan for surviving the star wheel onslaught
OSVC Star Parties always draw the public but the turnout on Sat-urday Feb 29 was exceptional Visitor Center workers counted 244 guests ndash and TAAS volunteers turned the afternoon and evening into a resounding success
This was especially rewarding since it was also among the last TAAS events before the coronavi-rus outbreak shut down so many of the clubrsquos activities in March
We had very cooperative weather and great preparation by the OSVC folks The one small hitch was construction that closed the alley we ordinarily use to drop off tele-scopes and other equipment ndash a very minor inconvenience
TAAS members Mike Molitor Steve Snider Jim Fordice and Derek Wal-lentinsen treated guests to views of the sun during the early hours of the event then switched their equipment over to nighttime view-ing as the sun set behind the build-ing
Trish Logan was the solo host of the ever-popular star wheel mak-ing activity in the OSVC lobby Every time I passed by her tables were mobbed I would not be sur-prised if she helped more than 100 guests kids and grownups alike to make their own star wheels
Photos by Lynne Olson and Jim Roucis
The OSVC Observing Field
Trish Logan left with guests making star wheels
Mike Molitor right with guests
Jim Fordice with guests
TAASOSVC Star Party February 29thAlbuquerque Open Space Visitor Center
By Jim Roucis
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 8
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
UNM OBSERVATORY FRIDAY NIGHTS
During the UNM semesters grad students open the observatory dome for several hours on Friday nights to let the students have an opportunity to fulfill their lab re-quirements It is also open for the public and TAAS telescopes sur-round the observatory area in the parking lot around the domeThis has been taking place for many years and has helped countless stu-dents while opening a new world for the public and families who also
attendTAAS member Boris Venet coordi-nates this event with the university working with Dr Ylva Pihlstrom and TAAS telescope owners He at-tends with his regulars each Friday night during the school sessions from 7-9 or 8-10 depending on the time of yearOur members give information about their telescopes to the stu-dents and then point them at the outstanding targets of the season to show off nebulae galaxies double stars and the Moon and whatever planets might be visitingMembers are encouraged to bring their scopes to the Friday Nights and experience the excitement of the guests when they see the craters of the Moon up close and personal for the first time Go to unmotaasorg for more informa-tion
mdashLynne Olson (NOTE This program is suspended during the coronavirus situation and we will announce when it com-
UNM Observatory Dome in silhouette
Jim Roucis at UNMO
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 9
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Kiwi Skies Star Hopping in the Southern Hemisphere
By Dee FriesenIn February my wife Ruth and I had the wonderful experience of visiting the south island of New Zealand It was my fourth trip to the land of the Kiwi In 2014 eight other TAAS members and I attended the Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) Star Date star party on the north island Our influence on our Kiwi friends is still talked about down south
For this trip my goal was to observe as many of the Caldwell Objects as possible below latitude 40 degrees south I purchased an Orion 4 inch StarBlast reflector which would fit into my suitcase Using a 10 mm eye-piece I was working with a magnification of 45 X
Since most of the objects were reasonably bright (19 to 97 magnitude) I was able to locate all of the 39 objects south of 40 degrees south latitude by star hop-ping For the fainter objects I confirmed my averted vision observation by identifying star patterns in the location of the objects The only object that I was not able to positively identify was C 109 (mag 110) a planetary nebula in Chamaeleon
The first object all new visitors to the South want to see is the Southern Cross (Crux) the smallest constel-lation in the entire skies It contains the always pleas-ing Jewel Box Cluster C 94 and the naked eye dark
nebula the Coal Sack C 99
Two other dramatic and unmistakable features of the southern sky are the Magellanic Clouds which are tru-ly different from anything we see in the north In the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is C 106 (47 Tucanae) the second brightest globular cluster in the sky The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has C 103 a bright neb-ula just visible to the naked eye It is amazing to realize you are viewing a nebula in another galaxy
When observing the southern sky Orion is high in the north ldquoupside downrdquo Omega Centauri is nearly over-head and Scorpius rises high in the southern sky with its tail pointing south with Antares forty-five degrees high Lying low in the North with his paws above his head is Leo the Lion
The southern Milky Way is rich with many beautiful open and globular star clusters There are many in-teresting star patterns that appear nicely in the low power wide view that my little telescope afforded me Viewing the sky with low power and a wide view is like looking at a beautiful landscape but not seeing the detail of each object It gives you another satisfying view of the universe
I donrsquot know if I will make another trip below the equator But on this trip I realized that however and wherever you observe the night sky has much to offer
As TAAS members let us always remember to OB-SERVE EDUCATE and HAVE FUN
Hubble Space Telescope Photo courtesy NASA
Photo by Ruth Friesen
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 10
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Theophilus the ldquoJewel of Lunardquo is in the Mare Nectaris region of the Moon with two other prominent craters Cyrillus and Catharina The image was captured on Feb 29 at the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center at the end of an evening of showing the public Betelgeuse (not going to blow up soon) M42 and the Moon Seeing was not particularly good but through the magic of Lucky Imaging and an IR pass filter I was able to make this image of an interesting region of the MoonThis area was dis-cussed extensively during our AST 101 ses-sion on Lunar Observ-ing if you were there these craters should be old friends Theophilus Cyrillus and Catharina as well as Alti Scarp are captured with good detail
Catharina the southernmost of the three is also the oldest as evidenced by the damage cause by Cyrillus Catharina is about 100 km wide and its crater walls rise to about 3000 m In the floor you can see the crater Catharina P which has been nearly reduced to a ldquoghost craterrdquo
Cyrillus is the next moving north Itrsquos about 98 km and was impacted on its western side by a
meteorite leaving a 17 km craterlet There are also rilles and a central mountain range with three peaks
Theophilus described in the text I use as ldquothe jewelrdquo is the northernmost of the three Itrsquos clearly the youngest as it in-tersects Cyrillus The floor has landslips and a three-mountain range in the center that extends over 30 km and rises by 2000 m
Altai Scarp mdasha 480 km wall with height varying from 1000 to 3000 m The high plateau is pocked with craterlets while the base is relatively crater-free It is thought that Alti Scarp is the remnant of the original wall of Mare Nectaris
The image was created by capturing a video stream using ASI 120mm camera together with an Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR Pass Filter (to reduce the effect of air turbulence) on a C11 Edge at f10 and 2800 mm focal length A 2000 frame video stream was captured The best 200 frames were stacked using AutoStakert 2 followed by wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 The image is orientated N by NW mdashVanceLey
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 11
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Hubble at 30 Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By David Prosper NASA Night Sky Network
The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month Itrsquos hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decadesIt had a rough start -- an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of spherical aberra-tion of all time But subsequent repairs and upgrades by space shuttle astronauts made Hubble a symbol of the ingenuity of human spaceflight and one of the most important scientific instruments ever createdBeginning as a twinkle in the eye of the late Nancy Grace Roman the Hubble Space Telescopersquos work over the past thirty years changed the way we view the uni-verse and more is yet to come
Wersquove all seen the amazing images created by Hubble and its team of scientists but have you seen Hubble yourself You actually can Hubblersquos orbit ndash around 330 miles overhead -- is close enough to Earth that you can see it at nightThe best times are within an hour after sunset or be-fore sunrise when its solar panels are angled best to reflect the light of the Sun back down to Earth You canrsquot see the structure of the telescope but you can identify it as a bright star-like point moving silently across the night sky Itrsquos not as bright as the Space Sta-tion which is much larger and whose orbit is closer to Earth (about 220 miles) but itrsquos still very noticeable as a single steady dot of light speeding across the skyHubblersquos orbit brings it directly overhead for observers located near tropical latitudes observers further north and south can see it closer to the horizon You can find sighting opportunities using satellite tracking apps for your smartphone or tablet and dedicated satellite tracking websites These resources can also help you identify other satellites that you may see passing over-head during your stargazing sessionsNASA has a dedicated site for Hubblersquos 30thrsquos anniver-sary at bitlyNASAHubble30 The Night Sky Networkrsquos ldquoWhy Do We Put Telescopes in Spacerdquo activity can help you and your audiences discover why we launch telescopes into orbit high above the interference of Earthrsquos atmosphere at bitlyTelescopesInSpace Ama-teur astronomers may especially enjoy Hubblersquos im-ages of the beautiful objects found in both the Caldwell and Messier catalogs at bitlyHubbleCaldwell and bitlyHubbleMessier As we celebrate Hubblersquos legacy we look forward to the future as there is another tele-scope ramping up that promises to further revolution-ize our understanding of the early universe the James Webb Space Telescope Discover more about the history and future of Hubble and space telescopes at nasagov
Ed note this is a NASA handout article but consider-ing the nature of the anniversary it seemed right to include it in the Sidereal Times
continued on page 12
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 12
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail
address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug
LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership
TAASorg
Hubblersquos ldquofirst lightrdquo image Even with the not-yet-corrected im-perfections in its mirror its images were generally sharper compared to photos taken by ground-based tele-scopes at the time Image Credit NASA
H u b b l e a t 3 0 c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 1
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 13
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s
forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities
Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg
forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes
Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg
TAASPO Box 50581
Albuquerque NM 87181
Courtesy Pete Eschman
E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e
New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer
Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous
If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment
D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return
Joe Brawley
Jim Fordice
Dee Friesen
Ed Juddo
Pamela Lamson
Gordon Pegue
Alan Scott
Steve Stricker
T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s
E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Monday April 20 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg
W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g
T A A S M e m b e r s
Alan Ames
Shimal Ortiz-Martinez
Steve Stricker
Susan Stricker
L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull
6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW
3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo
bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW
3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo
bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW
3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo
For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact
Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg
M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tM a r c h 2 0 2 0
Membership Current Past Change Month Month
Regular 247 247 0Family 143 148 -5Educator 17 16 1Student 10 13 -3Military 3 4 -1Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 425 420 -8
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
Page 14
The Sidereal Times April 2020
The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640
steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066
doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252
carL LarsoN Secretary secretaryTAASorg408-623-4717
robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916
Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640
mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157
bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306
boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838
rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832
Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 AL_coordinatorTAASorg ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 fab50TAASorg GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Nametag Coordinator Billie Sue Patrick 575-937-1659 nametagTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 UNM_coordTAASorg Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg
2 0 2 0 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine
BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION
TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-THIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011
from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming
MEMBERSHIP
You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings
MAGAZINES
TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions
ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS
Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation
Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg
Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society
PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581
taas ONLINE
TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg
The TAAS website includes
bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star
Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more
bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and
Membersrsquo Blogs
E-mail TAASTAASorg
Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom
