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Date: 17 Dec 2006 21:24:15
From: Starlord
Subject: H.A.S. News
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Stop that Dog, he has my pizza!!!
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:
Greetings Fellow Stargazer,
Canis Major, the largest of Orion's two hunting dogs, might be chasing
Lepus, the Rabbit, who is just in front of him in the sky. Or perhaps he
is ready to help Orion battle the great bull.
OR perhaps, the true story should be told: The dog stole a Pepperoni
Pizza from Orion (and now wants to share it with the seven sisters -
the Pleiades sisters) while The Great Hunter had his mind on fighting off
Taurus, THE Bull! Now that's no bull!
http://web.mac.com/macyoda/iWeb/Site/Stars.html
So join us to at the next Star Party and make sure you guard your pizza
you bring from that Big Bad Dog, Canis Major and ME!
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Star Party Invitation for December 23rd,
Sponsored by the Hawaiian Astronomical Society
http://www.hawastsoc.org
Dillingham Airfield - before sunset 5:56 pm)
(http://www.hawastsoc.org/directions/Map_of_Dillingham.jpg)
(Star Party Directions are at the end of this message)
Bring:
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/skyWatch/2006/12/dec06.pdf
Here is where I go to check the weather on a Star Party Night:
http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?num=6&delay=15&scale=1&noclu
tter=0&ID=HMO&type=N0R&lat=0&lon=0&label=you
If it is clear, you will be able to see many astronomical sights.
It's now time for the Orion Nebula, and his big dog Canis Major.
Also all seven of the sisters will be there, and many other heavenly
bodies will be visible!
If you won't be in Hawaii, fear not. Check this link for a Star
Party near you!
http://SkyandTelescope.com/resources/organizations/
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December's Sky Tour
http://hubblesite.org/fun_.and._games/tonights_sky/show.php?month=december&;
year=06
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If you miss this month's HAS Star Party then join us at the next:
***** 2007 *****
January 20th
February 17th
March 10th
April 7th
May 5th
June 16th
July 14th
August 4th
September 15th
October 13th
November 10th
December 1st
***** 2008 *****
January 12th
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Want to Buy a Telescope for the Holidays?
Tis the season that I get many emails and phone calls from parents
wanting to get a telescope for their kids or themselves. The trend is go
get one at a local discount store for a couple hundred dollars. At this
point I usually tell them to get a couple hundred dollars in one dollar
bills, cut them up in fine pieces and throw them off a mountain side in a
strong wind. WHY??? Because one will have much more fun in doing this
then in the frustration they would get from a discount telescope. The
best way to figure out what kind of scope to get is to go to a Star Party
and look through ALL the different scopes and see which one would serve
you best. Then go and buy one just like that. Or join a astronomy club
and rent one. Or get adventurous and enjoy a great family project in
building a scope together:
http://members.aol.com/sfsidewalk/dobplans.htm
When pressed, I tell people that they should get at least a telescope
with the minimum of an eight inch diameter mirror in it. Regarding
telescopes, it's photons to the brain that count... soooo the bigger the
mirror in your light bucket, the better. It is kind of like pizza... the
area goes up as a function of the SQUARE of the radius... that is (pizza)
pi R squared. So bring at least a 8 inch pizza to the next Star Party
and we will calculate its area.
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COSMIC Factoids
(How many did you know?)
(How many have more recent data? Send updates to me, please.)
- Our Milky Way Galaxy is between 80,000 to 120,000 light-years across
and 4,000 to 7,000 light-years thick.
- Our Milky Way Galaxy contains 200 billion stars.
- How does our Milky Way Galaxy fit in the Universe:
-- The Milky Way is one of a group of 30 galaxies called the "Local
Group".
-- The Local Group is one of dozens of small clusters centered on a
large collection of more than 2,500 galaxies called the Virgo Cluster.
-- These galaxies and other galaxy groups form a "Supercluster".
-- The Universe contains millions of such Superclusters.
- The closest galaxy to our Milky Way is the Andromeda Galaxy
- The closest star to our Solar System is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.3
light-years from Earth.
- The closest star-forming region in our Milky Way is the Orion Nebula,
which about 1,500 light-years away.
- Speed of light = 186,000 miles per second (equivalent to circling the
Earth seven times a second).
- Light -Year = 5.87 trillion miles (the distance that light travels in
one year).
- Astronomical distances are measured at Parsecs. 1 Parsec = 3.26
light-years.
- Light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach the Earth.
- Earth's period of rotation is about 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds.
- An "Astronomical Unit" is the distance between the Sun & Earth = 93
million miles.
- Primary types of telescopes: Refractor, Newtonian Reflector,
Schmidt-Cassigrain Reflector.
- The Universe is perhaps approximately 13.7 billion years old.
- Yoda likes pizza anywhere he can get it in the Universe!
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The Wanderers (The Planets) this Month
Venus (magnitude 3.8) is deep in the bright afterglow of sunset. Scan
for it just above the southwest horizon about 20 or 30 minutes after
sundown.
Mars (magnitude +1.5) is just below or lower left of Jupiter (magnitude
1.7) low in the southeast during dawn. Farther below or lower right of
Mars sparkles Antares, similar to Mars in both color and brightness.
Saturn (magnitude +0.4, in Leo), rises around 9 p.m. and is well up in
the east in good telescopic view by 11 or midnight. Regulus, less bright,
sparkles 5° below Saturn after they rise, as shown at right, and left of
it before dawn (when they're high in the southwest).
Uranus (magnitude 5.9, in Aquarius) is still visible in the southwest
right after dark.
Neptune (magnitude 8.0, in Capricornus) is well to the lower right of
Uranus, getting too low for good spotting.
Pluto is hidden behind the glare of the Sun and afraid to show itself
since he is not one of the major players anymore ;-(
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Annual Meteor Showers
Quadrantids: January
Virginids: March/April
Lyrids: April
Scorpiids: May
Delta Aquarids: July
Perseids August
Piscids: September
Orionids: October
Leonids: November
Geminids: December
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Find what is moving overhead after sunset:
http://www.bester.com/
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/3d/JTrack3d.html
Check out when the next Iridium Satellite is available for you to
see:
http://www.heavens-above.com/Neighbours.asp?PlaceID=593409
(for non Oahu Star Gazers...)
http://www.heavens-above.com/selecttown.asp?CountryID=US
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Check out:
http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/12months/m-dec-i.html
and bring the above list...
As for the rest of the Messiers, check out
http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/messier.html It also has a link to:
http://www.hawastsoc.org/messier/index.html
(all the Messier Objects as photographed by HAS's local Jay Wrathall)
(and http://www.jastro.net/messier for great pictures)
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Star Party Directions
(http://www.hawastsoc.org/directions/dillingham.html)
To reach the Dillingham observing site, take the H2 to the end at
Schofield Barracks. Drive past Schofield and follow the signs to
Waialua. At the Y intersection at Waialua, bear left and pass under
the bridge. Drive out of town a few miles until you reach Dillingham
Airfield. Dillingham is several miles long. It has three gates. You
need to drive to the far end to the third gate (marked as Gate 1 on
the color map). When you enter the gate, the road will curve left
behind some hangars. It will then take you through a very sharp S
curve. 1/4 mile beyond that is a stop sign in the middle of nowhere.
Turn right at the stop sign, and you will be there. You can find me
by looking for the big red telescope in the corner with a table with
lots of pizza on it.
You will need to reach the site before sunset in order to find the
gate open!!!
A few words on light. We try to maintain dark conditions at the site.
Therefore we have certain rules about light. First, no white
flashlights. The only flashlights that you should use are not too
bright, red ones.
When entering and exiting the site, do not use headlights. Some cars
now can't turn off their headlights. If you have a car like that
please park nearer the windsock then the telescopes. Point it away
from the telescopes. Headlights make you lose your night vision for
up to 30 minutes. It immediately ruins any astro photography that
might be in progress.
Bring some warm clothes, something to sit on, some real powerful bug
spray, a dim or red covered flashlight and some munches to share with
your friends.
Remember there is an absolute need to remain clear of the runway, and
anyone attending the star party needs to remain in the immediate star
party area. Do not be wandering around in areas where we are not
permitted. Especially near any planes (parked or moving)!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Bishop Museum Planetarium Happenings
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/visitors/dailyschedule.html
Daily Planetarium schedule:
(808) 848-4136 for pre-recorded planetarium schedule.
11:30 a.m. The Stars Tonight (30 Minutes)
12:45 p.m. Explorers of Polynesia in Japanese, (30 Minutes)
1:30 p.m. Explorers of Mauna Kea, (30 Minutes)
2:30-3:15p.m. Observatory is open for solar viewing
3:30 p.m. Explorers of Polynesia in English, (45 Minutes)
Barry Peckham will host the Sky Tonight program on the first Friday
of each month. Reservations are required as there is limited seating
in the planetarium. Call 848-4168 for information and reservations.
Tickets cost $4 for adults, $3 for kids, free to Bishop Museum
members and Hawaiian Astronomical Society members.
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After Dark with Stars in the Park
Waikele Community Park
OR... Kahala Park
(Weather permitting)
***** 2007 *****
January 27th
February 24th
March 24th
April 21st
May 19th
June 23rd
July 21st
August 18th
September 22nd
October 20th
November 17th
December 15th
***** 2008 *****
January 19th
FROM DUSK to 9:30 PM
Bring your children! Tell your friends!
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Visit the cosmos via:
The HAS HomePage: http://www.hawastsoc.org/ or go to
(or show up at meeting 7:30pm first Tue of month)
and check out the Bishop Museum Planetarium Home Page
http://bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/planetarium/planetarium.html
and the Institute for Astronomy Colloquia/Seminars
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/ifa/astronomy_in_hawaii.htm
--
There are those who believe that life here, began out there, far across the
universe, with tribes of humans, who may have been the forefathers of the
Egyptians, or the Toltechs, or the Mayans. Some believe that they may yet be
brothers of man, who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the
heavens.
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html
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Date: 19 Dec 2006 00:21:44
From: L.A.T.
Subject: Re: H.A.S. News
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>
> Greetings Fellow Stargazer,
>
Hi Dennis
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Date: 18 Dec 2006 16:20:21
From: Starlord
Subject: Re: H.A.S. News
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The HAS news is sent to me and I send it out to my astronom/telescopes lists
and then post it on the astro newsgroups for anyone who might like reading
it.
I used to live where it comes from so know the area well.
--
There are those who believe that life here, began out there, far across the
universe, with tribes of humans, who may have been the forefathers of the
Egyptians, or the Toltechs, or the Mayans. Some believe that they may yet be
brothers of man, who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the
heavens.
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html
"L.A.T." <tonyt92@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:sgGhh.10196$HU.7419@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
>>
>> Greetings Fellow Stargazer,
>>
> Hi Dennis
>
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Date: 19 Dec 2006 00:25:02
From: L.A.T.
Subject: Re: H.A.S. News
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>
> Greetings Fellow Stargazer,
>
Hi Dennis,
Tried to email you but got bounced.
Happy Christmas and a healthy new year.
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Date: 18 Dec 2006 16:25:22
From: Starlord
Subject: Re: H.A.S. News
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If you tried late last week, my isp was upgrading their master mail machine
and changing to a nother spam filter service and virus filter service which
is doing a beter job now. So your mail might have hit during that time.
I might have to test my web site mail to make sure it's getting threw ok.
right now my trailer is being held at 44F by the heater and it's supost to
hit 20F for the 2nd night in a row. nice clear sky, but the cold icy wind is
to much.
--
There are those who believe that life here, began out there, far across the
universe, with tribes of humans, who may have been the forefathers of the
Egyptians, or the Toltechs, or the Mayans. Some believe that they may yet be
brothers of man, who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the
heavens.
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html
"L.A.T." <tonyt92@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:yjGhh.10198$HU.1758@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
>>
>> Greetings Fellow Stargazer,
>>
> Hi Dennis,
> Tried to email you but got bounced.
> Happy Christmas and a healthy new year.
>
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