The Celestial Observer August, 1999

Trivia 101: What smells bad and has 3,000 telescopes ?
Answer elsewhere in the newsletter.

It is another busy month, with road trips, picnics, meteors and eclipses. More details in following sections.

The program for August's meeting will feature yours truly talking about Ralph Pass' and my successes at imaging Omega Centuari from Gloucester. This will be a practice run of a tent talk I'm scheduled to give at Stellafane on Friday night, August 13th. (Why does that worry me ?) Please come and offer constructive criticism. Emphasis on constructive !

A brief reminder that our September meeting is scheduled for the third, which is the Friday of the Labor Day weekend. We will be holding the business meeting on that night, but will not have any program.

John Gall
President

Salem State College

The Observatory is closed for the summer, but work has been progressing with painting the dome and other upgrades. The scope has been removed during this period, and is undergoing several enhancements during this period. Look for observing to begin again in the middle of September

Club Picnic

Every year we hold a club picnic in the month of August. This year we'll hold the picnic on August 28th, starting at around 3 pm at VMP in Groveland. The highlight of each recent event has been a brilliant "Siebel Sighting". We hope that this year will be no different !

Highlights of the event include solar viewing, games - croquet, anyone, food and the opportunity to converse with fellow club members in the brilliant sunshine. We'll provide a grill, hot dogs and hamburgers, condiments, and a "lunar landing punch for the out to lunch bunch". You are more than welcomed to bring your own food, or desert if you wish.

SHARE

Rob Nelson reports that several applications for further funding of this system are in the works . Hopefully he'll be able to report back some good news to us in the near future.

Road Trips

Height of Land Star Party and Moose Dodge

This event will take place the weekend of September 10th through 12th, in the Rangely Lakes area of Maine. Spectacular dark skies.

If you plan to attend you should inform Rob Nelson (978)374-3527 or email: rnelson807@AOL.com no later than Friday September 3, 1999. This will give us time to determine the number of sites we will need, to get an idea on tent space availability/requirements, and to buy groceries.

We are planning a menu for this trip based on the number of registrants, unless you have dietary restrictions (let us know in advance that you will not participate) we respectfully request that you take advantage of this plan so that we do not over buy groceries.

This is a 4-hour drive on a good day, 182 miles from Groveland. The observing site we will be using is owned by Boise Cascade and we have secured permission to use it. There is no camping at the observing site. The site is 8 miles from the State Park, is at about a 2 thousand foot elevation and offers a 360 degree horizon that is for the most part unobstructed to about 20 degrees.

Night driving to this area is not recommended to those unfamiliar with the area and or driving in a heavily populated moose area!!!

Do not bring food into your tent or leave any in an open accessible area overnight! There has been problems with the black bears of late, residents have been asked to move their trash away from their living quarters and not to fill any bird feeders they may have.

All food items should be stowed in your vehicle overnight!

Stellafane

For almost 10 years now a group of NSAAC'ers has headed up to Springfield, VT for the annual Stellafane Convention. For the past few years we've generally numbered between 15 to 20 members and their families. Hopefully this year we can break 20.

This assemblage of amateurs has been going on since the 1920's and is by far the oldest event of its kind in the country. Stellafane, by the way, loosely translates to "shrine to the stars", or so we're told. While it is billed as an event for amateur telescope makers, many, many people who have never ground glass routinely attend.

This year's event promises to be especially interesting. The Keynote speaker is John Dobson, he for whom the Dobsonian mount is named. John will be around preaching the values of grinding your own mirror during the day, and will hold forth at the Saturday evening assembly. If he holds true to form, the Saturday evening talk will be about everything but telescope making.

Please join us in Springfield on August 13, 14 and 15. If you haven't done so yet, you'll have to register at the gate.

If you have never been there before, the following clip from the Stellafane website is informative.

If this is your first visit to the Stellafane Convention, especially if you are camping, there are several things you should know. First, our camping is very primitive. We have limited drinking water and only portable chemical toilets. There are no showers, no electrical hookups and no isolated campsites. You are likely to be camping back-to-back with others and while this usually makes for good friendships, it can cause other side effects. The Convention site is often hot and dusty. Furthermore, the land is all carved out of a rugged Vermont hillside. Bring comfortable clothes and walking shoes. Sunscreen by day and insect repellent by night should be the first order of business and always be prepared for a possible thunder shower. White lights are not permitted on the grounds after dark as there will be people observing, weather permitting, throughout the Convention site. Bring a RED FILTER for your flashlight! If you forget to bring a red filter you can stop by the t-shirt table or the Pink Clubhouse to get one. Please see the Food Service & Cooking section for food accommodations. We do our best to see that everyone has a happy and comfortable Convention but don't be surprised by our rustic conditions -- they are part of the Stellafane tradition.

Business Meeting Minutes for the July, 1999 Meeting of the NSAAC

No Meeting, no minutes !

Rising Sun Eclipse

On August 11th, a total solar eclipse takes place in Europe and Central Asia. Locally, we never reach totality - but the sun is rising (about 5:45 am ) during the eclipse. Predictions are for the sun rising approximately 90 % eclipsed - plenty enough to make for an interesting picture or two. Remember to follow proper precautions to protect your eyes.

I suspect that several people will head to the seashore to catch a glimpse of the event. Remember to get to a site that has a clear view down to the horizon to the east north east, since the sun will be rising at an azimuth of about 68 degrees. And at last contact the sun will be up only 8 degrees over the horizon. Personally, I'll be in Gloucester, probably at Bass Rocks or the lighthouse at Eastern Point.

John Gall

Directions to the NSAAC Observing Site

The NSAAC meets regularly on clear Friday nights in Groveland, MA at Veasey Memorial Park, 201 Washington Street. Observing begins around dusk throughout the year. If the sky is only marginally clear, members may not be present to observe on that night. Monthly business meetings are held on the first night Friday of the month at 8:00 p.m.

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 a short distance down on the right

For more information about the club and its activities, call Dave Thomas, Membership Director at 978-388-2341 or contact John Gall, President, e-mail at M104@aol.com. Better yet, visit our Web Site at

http://www.nsaac.org.

Please support those who support us.

Star.net is our internet service provider, please look them up if you need internet service. Also, Brewster LaMacchia's company Jovian Systems is now hosting our internet e-mail service. We're not sure what Jovian system does, but Brewster says if you send him money, that's ok.

Additionally, the Phoenix Press in Groveland provides printing services for our monthly newsletter. Please consider them for any printing needs you may have.

Lastly, we'd like to make special note of those people who have made generous contributions in support of the SHARE program, including Lucent Technologies and that inestimable gentleman, Harry Chase at F. C. Meichsner Co, in Boston. If you need to equip a telephone company see Lucent. If you need a telescope, see Harry.

Meteors by the Millions

Well folks, as August approaches, Meteor Season 1999 is upon us! :)))

A variety of groups will soon be posting data on the Internet about the many upcoming Major and Minor Meteor Showers. But suffice it to say here that the Perseid Meteor Shower will begin to show itself in mid-July, and reaches a crescendo of tens of meteors per hour around August 11, 12 and 13!

For more information on getting the MOST out of watching this shower in a new moon year, refer to the following Web site, or email or phone me directly:

http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/showers.html

Also, if you've got YOUNGER SKYWATCHERS to organize for, see the July 1998 issue of the ATMs of Boston astronomy club newsletter, on the Web at:

http://www.atmob.org/news98/Jul98.html

In addition, a host of "minor" showers will be racing on the coattails of the mighty Perseids, including the Alpha Capricornids, North and South Delta Aquarids, North and South Iota Aquarids, Piscis Austrinids and ephemeral Kappa Cygnids! The peaks of some of these showers are sadly lost to bright moonlight during late July, but their activity will be felt (and will require observation by dedicated meteor observers like you!) throughout the Summer.

(Picking up the slack following the fall-off of the Perseids in late August, the complex and possibly related Alpha Aurigid and Delta Aurigid radiants, as well as the sparser Piscids, will fill dark skies with their intermittent flashes throughout September. From there, observers begin to prepare for the Orionids and the lesser but brighter North and South Taurids of October-November.)

In the end, though, no one on Earth can say for sure whether the Perseids of August will measure up to the two other *truly Major showers* we all eagerly anticipate: the possibly stormy and always fascinating Leonids in mid-November, and the "Old Faithful" of showers, the sparkling Geminids of mid-December!

Truly an exciting half-year of meteors lies ahead, for those of us with the knowledge and the patience to watch the night sky for shooting stars...

I'll be watching the Perseids peak this year from Hawaii, on my long-awaited Honeymoon! But if you'd like to organize a meteor-observing watch in our area, contact me before August 6. Or contact the North American Meteor Network at:

MeteorObs@Charleston.Net, meteors@eclipse.net

You can also browse their Web site: http://Web.InfoAve.Net/~meteorobs

Lew Gramer, 781-396-7822, dedalus@latrade.com

Club Goods/Assets

The new blue Tee's are in sizes L, XL, and XXL @ $10.00 each. Quantity discounts are available for 2 or more purchased at the same time. See Dennis Gudzevich for them, as well as mugs and other items.

Night Sky for August
Day	 Time 	(EDT) 
3	 10 p.m.        The moon passes 4 degrees south of Jupiter 
4	 8 p.m.         The moon passes 3 degrees south of Saturn 
6	 noon           The moon passes 0.8 degree north of Aldebaran 
7	 3 p.m.         Uranus is at opposition 
9	 11 p.m.        The moon passes 1.2 degrees north of Mercury 
10	 noon           Venus passes 8 degrees south of Regulus (evening) 
11	 7 a.m.	        Total solar eclipse (visible in Europe and Asia) 
12                      Perseid meteor shower peaks
14	 10 a.m.        Mercury is at greatest western elongation (19 degrees, morning) 
18 	 8 a.m.         The moon passes 7 degrees north of Mars 
20	 8 a.m.         Venus is in inferior conjunction 
24	 10 a.m.        The moon passes 0.7 degree north of Neptune 
25	 9 a.m.         The moon passes 0.6 degree north of Uranus 
26	 8 a.m.	        Mercury passes 10 degrees north of Venus (morning) 
31	 5 a.m.         The moon passes 4 degrees south of Jupiter
Courtesy of Astronomy Magazine

Barrie Sawyer on a ten day hike ? No, Stellafane