Central Maine Astronomical Society

Barnard’s Loop/ Orion complex/Rosette Nebula

Jacob — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:25:21 +0000

This image was made with a Hutech modified Canon 5Dmk2 SLR using a 50 lens at F4 tracking on a AP 600 mount. Eight exposures of 4 minutes each were combined. No calibration was done. The image shows many of the popular winter objects: The Orion, Rosette, Horsehead and Flames Nebulae; if you look carefully you can see a faint outline of The Witchhead Nebula to the right of Rigel. The large red arc surrounding Orion’s Belt is called Barnards Loop; the round blob to the right of Betelgeuse is called Sharpless object 2-264. who knew all this stuff was out there!
Jacob Gerritsen

Proper Clothing Assures Opportunistic Viewing

Jon — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:07:42 +0000

Saturn and Venus are visible again, if only one knows how to see them. As a service to my fellow CMASers, I am posting details of how proper clothing aids in seeing these old friends.

Rising in the early morning darkness for no publishable reason, I happened to spy a glaring globe in the sky through the window in the stairhall. “Venus,” I thought to myself. “Must be. It’s brighter than Jupiter, which set through the trees at bedtime.” GoSkyWatch, the fastest loading astronomy software on my iPod Touch, showed that not only Venus, but also Saturn would be visible a bit higher in the sky, hidden in the treetops. Glorious Saturn, hidden from our hemisphere for six long months! Being a balmy 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside with no wind chill, I resolved to step outside to the shore of the lake for a better view.

Time was of the essence, as the brightening twilight would soon obscure the prizes. After warming my overboots by the pellet stove, I pulled them over my slippers. Then, I zipped my ice fishing coat over my pajamas, grabbed the Meade TravelView 12×50 binoculars and Celestron FirstScope 3″ Dob, and headed outside.

I was perfectly warm, but if not taking the time to dress for public appearances let me see my quarry, optics still mattered. Both instruments exhibited enough coma to hide the objects, so I ran inside for my Jason / Towa 60mm refractor (available for $50 to $125 used, or, from what I can see, $2,000 new old stock from Parks Optical). Took just the one Owl Astronomy Black Knight 25mm Super Plossl that was already attached (highly recommended! don’t be put off by the low price), but… Saturn had already vanished into the increasing sunlight. Venus was nevertheless perfect, sharply revealing herself to be about three-quarters full. Gotta love grab-and-go antique scopes with modern oculars!

The lesson for me was to always dress warmly, if not stylishly, and never to skimp on optics. Cheap binoculars and rich field scopes are fine for discerning fields of dim stars, but are ill suited for planetary work. Had I grabbed the larger Jason the first time out, I’d have seen Saturn’s rings. No biggie. I’ve had months to study Jupiter, and look forward to soon being able to see Saturn for months and months at more convenient hours.

Old News is Good News

Jon — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:25:48 +0000

Recently in applying for a job, I was asked to answer the question, “Where do you live online?” Because so much of our work at CMAS has been done via the listserv as we transition to using WordPress, I have posted this listserv message from October as an example of the sort of work I have done for the club. Thanks for understanding, CMASers. Future news will be new news.

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CENTRAL MAINE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

ELECTIONS AND STAR PARTY

Saturday, October 9, at 7:00pm

Brower Observatory, Whitefield

Directions: http://maineastro.com/brower-observatory-directions/

STAR PARTY AFTER ELECTIONS

If you have not seen the skies through the impressive 16″ Newtonian in the dome of Brower Observatory, you owe it to yourself to come to this party. This enormous scope turns smoothly on the equatorial mount recently completely refurbished by member Jim Curry. (Nice to have a machinist in the club! Thanks, Jim!) It can find anything quickly and easily with its extraordinary Go To system, known by name as “Colin Caissie.” We’re expecting dark, clear skies, but even if we get the sort of weather favoring smaller scopes, those are more than worth the trip. Brower Observatory houses an enormous collection of portable scopes in all sizes, including many historic prototypes and specialty scopes. See faint, distant galaxies through a 10″ Newt with a virtually perfect mirror, or Jupiter up close through a 6″ folded refractor made with an objective so perfect, it was used in a laboratory to test other lenses. We even have the actual prototype of the world-famous Edmund Astroscan. (Surprise! It does *not* have the distinctive ball-shaped mount.) Best of all, other members eagerly await showing you the skies. No prior knowledge required. You will quickly come to see more than you ever saw before, and will be glad you live under the clear, dark skies of Maine.

ELECTIONS – YOUR VOTE MATTERS

The club is at an important crossroads. It’s time to grow the membership. We have a devoted, knowledgeable core of astronomers, all of whom are eager teachers; another thirty members to entice back into the active fold; ideas for outreach to the public; an enviable bank account; and, all the gear any club could ever want. We lack only you, and the direction your expressed desires bring to the club, so together we may plan our activities to be an attractive priority in every member’s life.

IF YOU CAN NOT ATTEND

Your vote still counts. Prior to the elections, eMail the current President, Pete Kalajian, with your vote:

(Link removed from this post)

DUES AND SUFFRAGE – THREE CENTS PER DAY

Paid-up members are allowed to vote. Prior to the election, please visit the membership page and pay the $12 annual dues with either your credit card or PayPal account:

http://maineastro.com/membership/

If you are new to astronomy and have no equipment of your own, these modest dues cover everything you need, from scopes to help learning how to use them. Upon joining, you need only your interest, your eyes, and your new friends under clear skies.

CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE

To my knowledge, to date only Jim Curry has offered to serve as the new President. Jim would make a fine President. He did an astonishingly thorough job of arranging our club’s viewing and timing of the occultation of Omicron Leonis by the moon a few weeks ago. For starters, he knew it was happening; and then, he also knew how to find viewing sites along the narrow path from Tenant’s Harbor through Lewiston, and how to coordinate our club’s observations with the International Occultation Timing Association’s. Although clouds ultimately blocked the observations, it’s evident that Jim wants the job and knows what to do as President.

I hereby offer to serve as Vice President of Policy and Public Relations. Our Bylaws read:

“The President shall preside over all meetings and activities, shall make appointments to committees, shall issue and sign checks in the name of the organization with prior approval of the board of directors, and shall carry out any specific duties or powers delegated by the Board of Directors or the membership.

“(The) Vice President (of Policy and Public Relations) shall officiate over all meetings and activities in the absence of the president and shall see to it that the by-laws are amended and updated, via a majority vote of the membership present at a meeting, as necessary. This Vice President shall also be responsible for communication with all outside groups (media, schools, other organizations, etc.) as necessary for the promotion of the goals of the organization… also be responsible for publication of a quarterly newsletter.”

WHY THE VICE PRESIDENCY

Jim and I would make a solid team for advancing the club in science, administration, and a growing membership. I am particularly focused on becoming the liaison between the club and the outside world, and in writing for the newsletter and Web site.

For many years, I ran a residential children’s summer camp, recruiting thousands of campers and staff, and planning the activities that made them want to return each summer. I know how to advertise to outsiders and motivate insiders to grow the club.

Running a summer camp also taught me about successful programming. I decided to focus on the club’s outreach upon seeing the low turnout to last week’s star party at the Camden International Film Festival. With a captive audience of hundreds of people attending a movie about how light pollution affects astronomers, only half a dozen people approached our scopes. The problem was in thinking like astronomers, instead of promoters. We were off in the dark, out of the way where we could see the skies, but where no one could see us.

In summer camping, I learned that successful events are always carefully choreographed, so people can not help but walk into them. In speaking with the planners of events to which we are invited, or in planning our own, I know the questions to ask to assure a good turnout, and am experienced in negotiating for successful placement. In outreach, telescopes belong where the crowds gather — in the example of the Film Festival, by the outdoor movie screen, at the stop for the shuttle bus, or at the cafe tables, pointing at the skies out the side of the big tent. Scooping a workable, central location often requires some convincing of an event’s planner, a role I could fill well. Astronomers seek darkness, but promoters seek crowds. I understand how the goals of outreach differ from those of a purely dark-sky star party, and offer my services to grow the club.

CONTACT

This is not an official mailing of the club, but a message from an active member running for office and seeking to get a head start on assuring all members are well appraised of the club’s activities. Got comments or complaints about this message? File ‘em in my In Box here:

Jon Silverman

(Link removed from this post)

If you like, copy the Club’s President:

(Link removed from this post)

That will send to Pete Kalajian now, and to the new President after the October 9 elections.

THANK YOU AND CLEAR SKIES!

Jon Silverman

Little Dumbbell Nebula

Jacob — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 17:53:04 +0000

Here’s a very recent image composed of frames taken at the Galaxy Quest Observatory in Lincolnville. We’ve been working on getting the observatory back up and running after various equipment failures and software glitches. All the images that were used to make this final image were taken robotically, without the intervention of humans! The final image is 500 minutes of exposure time in Luminance, and RGB color filters. That’s about 8.5 hours worth.

Bob Daigle’s neat observatory

Pete — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:40:16 +0000

Here are some pictures of CMAS member Bob Daigle’s neat observatory.

The Veil Nebula in Hydrogen Alpha

Jacob — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 23:09:48 +0000

This image of the Veil was taken last night through a 4″ Apochromatic refractor called a Takahashi FSQ with a short FL of 540 mm. It has an amazingly wide FOV since the camera used has a full frame chip the size of a 35 mm slide. (SBIG STL-110000) I had trouble guiding as the stars get dim, so the image is made up of 14 ten minute exposures unguided and then stacked together and processed in Maxim, CCDSTACK and Photoshop. This is the object or parts of it anyway we looked at through my 80 mm refractor with the oxygen filter. Hopefully I can get some color data next time it’s my turn and I can combine them.

Jacob Gerritsen

Comet 103P/Hartley 2

Nimesh — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 00:27:13 +0000

Dear all,

I missed the opportunity to photograph the Comet Hartley on 7 Oct when it passed very close to the Double Cluster. But on Saturday night the sky was clear (and fortunately the neighbors had not turned on their bright porch lights) and I had a chance to observe the comet. Here are two images, one is a 30 sec unguided shot but with decent polar alignment, and the other is a stack of about 50 min of such frames.

Here is a website with info on the comet and some nicer pictures, including one with the double cluster.

Best wishes,

Nimesh

New Officers Elected

Jon — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:36:06 +0000

At the meeting on Saturday, October 9, at Brower Observatory, the club elected new officers:

Members at the Oct. 9th meeting

Jim Curry, President

Colin Caissie, Vice President of Equipment and Inventory

Jon Silverman, Vice President of Policy and Public Relations / Secretary

Jacob Gerritsen, Treasurer

Jim and Jon are new to their posts. Jim replaces Pete Kalajian, who wished to step down after over two years of service. Jon fills a previously empty Vice President’s post, and was additionally drafted to serve as Secretary because of his habit of taking notes at meetings on his iPod anyway. Colin and Jacob were reelected.

Minutes of October 9th Meeting

Jon — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 17:18:04 +0000

Brower Observatory, 7:00pm

Thirteen members showed for the meeting and elections, including three relatively new members. Pete Kalajian lead his last meeting as President.

Updates about refurbishing the club’s 16″ Newtonian in the dome of Brower Observatory:

Jim Curry, the club’s machinist, recently tested his latest work on the declination axis, and reports it “almost works.” This is good progress for a scope and counterweight system weighing many hundreds of pounds.

The new GoTo system has passed its initial testing. Once the declination axis is ready, one day’s work remains to complete the installation.

These significant upgrades will be great for star parties. We will no longer have to nudge the scope between observers, which will help immensely when there are many observers. Additionally, those of us who are less adept at finding dim objects manually will be able to share the work with the current scope masters.

The club has adopted preserving the dark skies of Maine as a major area of outreach.

Pete Kalajian, a science teacher in Rockland, used the club’s 80° sky meter and data collected by an army of his high school students to enact a lighting ordinance in Rockland. The club voted to buy a more precise 20° USB meter for real-time logging to detail Rockland and one other town. Jim Curry recommends Thomaston, to prepare for stores emerging around Wal-Mart.

There was some discussion of whether the club, Pete’s school, or perhaps some other organization should buy the new light meter, which will cost about $160. It was decided that owning the meter would put us in a strong position for outreach, with other organizations calling us asking for our help bringing lighting ordinances to their towns. The upgrade allows both better precision in measuring sources of light pollution and real-time analysis of the data via the connected computer, making projects faster and less expensive. The old meter may be sold on Astromart.

New member Dwight Lanpher is the Secretary of the Island Astronomy Institute, a nonprofit in Mt. Desert Island with a particular interest in preserving dark skies. Dwight is joining all the astronomy clubs in Maine, with the goal of enhancing them all by uniting the tribes. A collective newsletter is a first priority, with a long-term goal of some kind of federation so that all the clubs would know each other’s activities, and could more easily coordinate efforts among themselves and other organizations.

As an electrical engineer, Dwight lead a discussion of how the color of lighting was even more important than the cut-off (focusing all light downward). The new, blue, energy-efficient LED lighting permiates the sky in a manner causing more light pollution than the old, yellow sodium arc lighting, even when both are properly shaded. Dwight commented that Wal-Mart has been a good neighbor for lighting, because their accountants are savvy to the significant cost savings in lighting only the grounds, not the skies. The real risk is that the many smaller businesses Wal-Mart would attract may think they were saving money by buying cheap, outdated fixtures that actually were expensive to run.

Jon Silverman commented that the astronomical societies could work together with organizations seeking to lower Maine’s carbon emissions and overall use of energy. With the finances on our side, this is a wonderful, win-win opportunity for astronomers to retain the dark skies we need, while preserving Maine’s beauty for everyone.

Other new business:

CMAS will be joining The Astronomical League. Annual dues are $10 per club plus $5 per member. Treasurer Jacob Gerritsen said this could be paid out of General Fund. The League will provide liability insurance for the club’s officers at star parties, reducing the insurance burden on the landowners of our observing sites.

New member Pete Coughlin, Webmaster of Town of Randolph , will be creating a Facebook page for the club. There was discussion of how sites are only as good as their content, so we wanted to be careful not to dilute the existing site when adding another. Pete is confident he can do that, while allowing CMAS to take advantage of the marketing possibilities of social networking.

Pete Kalajian will continue as Webmaster, to help the new officers in the transition to the new WordPress based Web site.

M31

Jacob — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 14:13:47 +0000

The Andromeda Galaxy

Here’s my latest image of M31. All the frames were exposed remotely from my kitchen at an observatory in New Mexico.