The Celestial Observer
Newsletter of the North Shore
Amateur Astronomy Club
April,
2005
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From the President
Members
voted at the March Business Meeting to follow the recommendation made by the
board of directors to donate the SHARE system to the Magic Valley Astronomical
Society in Idaho. It was a difficult decision to make. Both the Magic Valley
group and the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association are well qualified
organizations to be recipients of the system. The fact that the Idaho group was
seeking to make their 24 inch telescope “the most handicap accessible telescope
in the world” prior to their learning about SHARE, pushed the decision in their
favor.
Having
one candidate running for each board position allowed the Vice-President to
cast one vote, and members accepted the slate by acclamation. I’d like to
welcome our new Vice-President, Russ Pinizzotto, and our two new
Members-At-Large, Ron Sampson and Tony Costanzo, to the 2005 Board of
Directors. I’d also like to thank Secretary John Hobbs, Treasurer Art
Schneiderman and Membership Director Barrie Sawyer for continuing their
services to the club for another year. To outgoing Vice-President Fred
Sammartino, and Members-At-Large Chris Nicholl and Lew Gramer, thank you very
much for your hard work this past year!
The
new board will have some exciting work to do in the year ahead. I have proposed
to the board and members that the club expand and enhance our observing
equipment. Once SHARE is behind us, I’d like to return to having an equipment
manager. We’ll take inventory of our current equipment, and then come up with a
list for expanding and improving it. I envision our having good working
examples of different types of telescopes, binoculars, and possibly an h-alpha
solar filter!
The
club’s equipment would be available for members to use at VMP for an evening,
or to possible borrow for a period of time. It would also be available for the
public to use under a new public outreach program which I envision. The public
would be able to come to VMP and take equipment out for use that evening, under
supervision of course. The idea is to make astronomy easier for members of the
public to try on their own, before spending money and possibly making a
mistake.
Some
of you may be wondering where this equipment would be stored; in a small
interior room at VMP for which only two people have keys? That’s way too
impractical! I have proposed to the directors of VMP that they allow us to use
a portion of “Lucille’s Cottage” (the one next to the parking lot that we
stripped shingles from last fall) as an exclusive use clubhouse. They are very
receptive to, and actually excited by the idea! The cottage now has a new roof,
but the interior needs a lot of work, and of course they’ll be expecting us to
pitch in with a lot of labor. A show of hands at the March meeting indicates
that the majority of members present would be willing to do labor on the
cottage in exchange for an NSAAC clubhouse.
A
clubhouse in the cottage is a long way off. Barrie Sawyer and I inspected the
interior on March 10th with
the VMP directors to assess what all the building needs. There is some
structural damage in one section, and a lot of interior cosmetic work. If and
when it does materialize for us, we’d have a clubhouse committee of six to eight
people with keys. We’d be able to use it anytime without seeking permission. We
could furnish and decorate it as we choose, and we’d have a place to warm
ourselves on those long cold New England observing nights!
Kevin Ackert
President
VMP Work Day April 2
On
March 10th Barrie Sawyer and I inspected the cottage at VMP to asses
its renovation needs and the feasibility of using a portion of it as a
clubhouse. The building needs a lot of work, some of which is structural. The
interior needs a lot of cleaning and cosmetic work. Total renovations including
the structural work, heating, and plumbing will most likely take a year or
more, but VMP is hoping to have portions of the building usable by July for a
children’s workshop they have planned. They have planned a work day for
Saturday, April 2 to begin some of the cleaning and cosmetic interior work and
have asked me if NSAAC members can help. They have a troop of boy scouts who
will be helping, but some semi-skilled labor will also be needed.
The
bulk of the work for April 2 will be the removal of mildewed sheetrock and
ceiling tiles. There will also be general cleaning of surfaces, windows, etc.
About six to eight NSAAC volunteers should be enough to get the job done and
avoid tripping over each other. Tools to bring include old clothes, work
gloves, hammer, and your favorite wrecking bar. Lunch will be served. The start
time was not discussed but arrival between 8:30 and 10:00 will be fine.
IMPORTANT: Please contact me at president@nsaac.org
or at 978-663-5305 if you plan to attend.
Kevin
Ackert
Telescope Clinics
Two
Telescope Clinics providing information on repairs, upgrades, and help with any
aspect of using your telescope will be conducted during April. The first will
be for NSAAC members and their guests, and will be held indoors at VMP on
Saturday, April 9 at 5:00. We will be serving refreshments and a light supper,
observing to follow weather permitting. The second clinic will be advertised to
the general public and will be held at Merrimack College on Tuesday, April 26
at 6:30.
The
goal is to help members and their guests who own telescopes to learn how to use
them; to solve problems they are having; and to improve the optical and
mechanical performance of them. Several experienced members and technicians
will be on hand to help fix, repair, and answer questions. All those who are
planning to attend should contact the clinic in advance regarding the type of
telescope you’ll be bringing and the specific problem or question you have
concerning it. This information is important so that we may have the correct
tools, supplies and optical test equipment.
Please
contact the clinic at telescopeclinic@nsaac.org
or at 603-382-0836 if you plan to attend.
Thanks
Tony Costanzo
NSAAC Welcomes Our New Member:
Chris Gardner of Boxford, MA
Minutes of
the NSAAC Business Meeting, March 4, 2005
President Ackert called the March Business Meeting of the NSAAC to order at 8:10PM. President Ackert called for introduction of new guests: there were no guests. There were 20 members in attendance plus 5 Board members. There was an official quorum.
Committee Reports:
Secretary: The minutes of the February Business Meetings as printed in the newsletter were approved.
Treasurer: The treasurer gave the year-end fiscal report. Net income was $775.64, checking account balance was $7,944.56, and the land fund was $7,879.13. The treasurer’s report was accepted.
Membership: The membership chairman announced two new members.
Merrimack College: OGS has picked up the 20-inch scope for refurbishing. A 4” Unitron has been placed on the mount and has been giving good views. The observatory will be open for observing using the Unitron. Russ Pinizzotto had about 30 people at his session.
Go-On Committee: The GO-ON event for March is binocular get out and observe this evening after the business meeting. It was be lead by Rick Margolis. Tony Costanzo will be running a binocular Messier Marathon on Saturday March 12th. There will be a note put on the list server.
Salem State: The Observatory was clouded out last month.
Star Parties: There was a star party Wednesday February 9th at IRWS and was given by Russ Pinizzotto. There was a star party Tuesday February 15th at the Proctor School in Topsfield. Jim Foy gave a star party at Cranes Beach Saturday February 12th. Salem school will hold a star party on Thursday, March 24th from 6-8PM. There will be a star party at the Portsmouth Christian Academy in Dover, NH on March 15th.
High-Rock Tower Observatory. Mark has meet with the officials in Lynn and discussed the issues. They want a session with Mark before they commit to any agreement. There will be some effort to staff the observatory.
Telescope Clinic: The Telescope Clinic had their first meeting prior to the March business meeting and has scheduled a Clinic for members and their guests on April 9th at 5PM at VMP. It will start indoors and will proceed to outdoors for observing weather permitting. There will be refreshments served. There will be a clinic for the general public on April 26th at 6:30 PM at Merrimack College. Information will be in the March newsletter.
Upcoming Events: Astronomy Day will take place at Merrimack College on Saturday, April 16.
Lew Gramer announced that he will be relocating to South Florida and has invited any members to visit and view at the dark skies.
Old Business:
SHARE System –The Board reviewed the two proposals and recommend to the club that the SHARE system be awarded to Magic Valley/Centennial Observatory. The vote of the membership was 23 for Magic Valley Astronomical Association and 2 votes for Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association. The Secretary will draft letters to the winner and loser for Board approval.
New Business:
The slate of candidates was approved by a vote of acclamation. They are:
President- Kevin Ackert
Vice President- Russ Pinizzotto
Treasurer- Art Schniderman
Secretary-John Hobbs
Membership Director- Barrie Sawyer
Member at large: Tony Costanzo, and Ron Sampson were elected by acclamation.
President Ackert has talked to the VMP management and discussed the possibility of using the building that we helped replace the roof on, as a club office and meeting facility. VMP was excited and they suggested that maybe the club could use this site.
He also indicated that the club might want to acquire some more astronomy scopes for public use and to have a dedicated once a month star party for the town of Groveland. The Board will discuss these at future meetings.
Next Board meeting will Wednesday March 16 at 8PM at VMP.
Meeting adjourned at 9:35 PM
Respectively
submitted,
John Hobbs, Secretary NSAAC
NSAAC Star parties
for April 2005
A star party celebrating Astronomy Day is scheduled for Saturday April 16, 2005 at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. Set-up time is 7:00PM. A program on “Saturn” by Gary Meehan will run from 7:30PM to 8:30PM. Telescope observations start 8:30PM. The event will not be cancelled for weather. About 25 to 50 people have registered for the IRWS fund raising program
Directions to Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
From Boston and the south: Take Rt. 95 north to exit 50 and follow Rt.
1 North into Topsfield. At the junction of Rt. 1 and Rt. 97, turn right onto
Rt. 97 South (towards Beverly and Danvers).
From the north: Take Rt. 95 south to exit 53 and follow Rt. 97 south. At the
junction of Rt. 1 and Rt. 97 in Topsfield, stay on Rt. 97 south.
2) Once you have reached the junction of routes 1 and 97, and have traveled
about 0.5 miles along route 97 South towards Beverly and Danvers, you will
encounter a rather well lit intersection. On the left-hand side of this
intersection you will see the sign of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, a bird
within a triangle. Turn left onto the road marked by this sign. It is called
Perkins Row.
3) Perkins Row is a long, windy road. After about a mile, you'll encounter
another, identical, Audubon sign. Shortly thereafter, you'll come across yet
another. This last one marks the entrance to the Sanctuary. Note that at this
entrance is a wooden gate. It is very possible that the gate will be closed. If
the gate is closed simply get out of your car and swing it open. It won't be
locked.
4) As you drive through the gate, you'll find yourself proceeding up the
sanctuary driveway. As soon as you catch sight of sanctuary signs posted along
the driveway, look for an opening for the entrance to a dirt parking lot on the
left-hand side. This dirt parking lot is where you'll want to set up the
`scope.
Jim Foy
Star Party Coordinator
Special Mini-Series: “What Am I Looking At?” (A Brief Guide to Observing Deep-Sky Objects) – Part 1 of 3
by Lew Gramer (dedalus@alum.mit.edu)
One of the things I enjoy most about astronomy, is actually being able to look through an eyepiece (or up from my lawn chair), to see the physical universe “in action” for my very own self! Nothing is a keener or more satisfying thrill, than to have read about some amazing bit of physics or chemistry out in the vastness of space – and then to actually be able to glimpse its effects directly, under the gorgeous night sky.
Unfortunately, nebulae and galaxies are shy creatures – only sharing a faint glimmer of their true beauty with the naked-eye observer. Still, a trained eye and a patient mind can glean a great deal of the amazing nature of these denizens of deep space: “You can see a lot just by looking,” as the saying goes…
To inspire (or irritate) others into trying to see some of these fascinating features for themselves, here is a summary list of the things that I try to look for (and to log) in different objects, when I’m at the eyepiece:
Multiple star – How many stars appear to be together? Is it just the primary (brightest or “A” star) and the comes (“B” or secondary star, pronounced “koh-meez”)? Or is there a third-brightest companion (“C”), and even a fourth (“D”)? What is the separation of each companion from the primary star? (How far apart are they in arcseconds, arcmins, or “fractions of your eyepiece field”?) What Position Angle does each make with the primary – PA tells a companion star’s orientation in the field, with PA 0o meaning a companion lies due North of its primary, PA 90o meaning due East, etc. (Remember, you can always tell due north by “nudging” your telescope in the direction of Polaris: where ever you see new stars entering the field, that’s north!) Lastly, do you see any colors or contrast effects between the primary and its brightest companions?
Planetary nebula – Can you see a central star or “core nebula” (central star is fuzzy)? Is the PN annular (darker or “empty” toward the center), and/or bipolar (two or more lobes or brighter areas are visible on opposing sides)? How many rings or outer shells can be glimpsed? (Remember, some PNe have an extremely faint outer halo which may extend to 2, 3 or even 4 times the published extent of the object!) Can you glimpse any internal structure within the inner or outer nebula – any brighter parts, irregularities, “striations”, unusual darkenings, etc.? What Position Angle (see Multiple stars above) does each of these features make with the center of the nebula? Finally, how does the nebula as a whole, and each feature you have noted (above), respond to different nebular filters? (Every PN is different – a few kinds respond best to no filter, or a broad-band or “DeepSky” filter. Many more respond better to a narrower-band or “Ultra-High Contrast/UHC” filter. And probably most will respond best to an Oxygen-III (“OIII” or “O3”) filter – try them all, including a “Hydrogen-Beta line” or “Hbeta” filter, or color filters if you have them! And remember, different filter responses mean different physics within that particular object… Amazing! J
To
learn more about deep-sky observing techniques, or about a particular deep-sky object, or to archive your own observing log of any object for posterity, visit the Internet
Amateur Astronomers Catalog of Visual Deep Sky Observations (IAAC or
‘netastrocatalog’), online at: http://www.visualdeepsky.org
Getting to Veasey Memorial Park
From Interstate 95 north, take the Route 133 west (54B) exit, and follow it into Georgetown Center. Go straight through the light, now on Route 97N. Go about 1.5 miles and take a left onto Salem Street (Tea Garden Restaurant at this intersection). Stay on Salem Street and turn left onto Washington Street. VMP is down a bit on the right.
Directions to all of the NSAAC observing sites are available on our web site's “About” page at:
http://www.nsaac.org/about.htm
Contact Information
For more information about the club and its activities, contact Barrie Sawyer, Membership Director, email: membership@nsaac.org or contact Kevin Ackert, President, e-mail at president@nsaac.org. If you have no email access, you may phone Fred Sammartino, Vice President at (978) 989-9977.
Our club web site is: http://www.nsaac.org.
The Celestial Observer is edited by Leor Zolman. Feedback, and member contributions are welcome. Contact: newsletter@nsaac.org.
Suggestions regarding the content of the NSAAC web site are also welcome, as I (Leor) am also acting as de-facto webmaster for the site. Do you have a web site you’d like to see listed on the members’ web site page? Suggestions for the Resources (or any other) page? Just email webmaster@nsaac.org with your ideas.
E-Mail Listserve
If you have email access and are an NSAAC member in good standing, you may want to subscribe to the email notification system that Lew Gramer established for the Club in 1996. This is a "members only" system that places you in contact with other members for late breaking news concerning spontaneous observing activities, outings, tech talk, etc. You can subscribe by emailing your request to the address below. Your message should look like this:
To: majordomo@nsaac.org
Subject: Email list (you can put anything here)
Body: subscribe NSAAC Full-Name <email-address>
The on-line archives of all list server messages since April ’04 are available via this URL:
http://lists.nsaac.org/mailman/private/nsaac/
(See the January, 2005 newsletter for information on retrieving your subscriber password, necessary in order to view the archives.)
To remove yourself from the email
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delivery from the list or access your other options, please use our “Subscriber
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