Nine Years in the Making!
 
The third volume of the three-volume Night Sky Observer’s Guide is now available. Huachuca Astronomy Club (HAC) member Bob Kepple is one of the authors. Subtitled The Southern Skies, Volume 3 has taken nine years to complete. This volume covers the skies of the southern hemisphere. The chapters are organized by constellation, and include the following: Apus, Ara, Caelum, Carina, Centaurus, Chamaeleon, Circinus, Crux, Dorado, Grus, Horologium, Hydrus, Indus, Mensa, Musca, Norma, Octans, Pavo, Phoenix, Pictor, Reticulum, Telescopium, Triangulum Australe, Tucana, Vela, and Volans; plus extensive coverage of The Large Magellanic and Small Magellanic Clouds. A detailed description of the book can be found on Bob Kepple's website: http://astronomy-mall.com/astrocards.

Order the Night Sky Observer's Guide books here!

Note that Bob is offering signed versions of the book to HAC members for thirty dollars. These books are essential astronomer's tools.

HAC Meeting News, July 18, 2008
HAC President Wayne Johnson (l) presents Master Observer Bob Kepple (r) with the Lunar Club Certificate from the Astronomical League. July 18, 2008. [Click image for larger version.]

Astro Awards
Bob Kepple was awarded the Lunar Club Certificate from the Astronomical League. Even though Bob is known as one of our Deep Sky Guys, he somehow summoned up enough courage and forgiveness to look at that big, bright, near-sky chunk of light pollution called the Moon. To achieve the award, one must observe 100 lunar features that are broken down into three groups: 18 naked-eye, 46 binocular, and 36 telescopic features. Note that any pair of binoculars and any telescope may be used for this program. Bob encouraged everyone to get involved with the observing programs of the Astronomical League. This award is Bob’s twelfth award, and he qualifies for the title of Master Observer. It was also announced that Del Gordon won the Webmaster of the Year award for 2008 from the Astronomical League for the website that you are now visiting, hacastronomy.com.

Star Party Report, July 2008
HAC Vice President Keith Mullen gave the Star Party report at the July 18, 2008 meeting of the Huachuca Astronomy Club. The upcoming public and member star parties are as follows:

* Fri., July 25, 2008, Public Star Party at JBO.
* Sat., Aug. 2, 2008, Member Star Party at DSO.
* Fri., Aug. 29, 2008, Public Star Party, location to be announced, but probably at the JBO.

Keith and Teresa Mullen visited Celestron in California and had an enjoyable tour. They met with the CEO and some people from the marketing department. The Celestron folks were pleased to hear about the June 7, 2008 Star-B-Q event at the RGO. It appears, therefore, that next year, 2009, another Star-B-Q event will take place. This time, though, it will hopefully be even bigger and better. The event may span two days this time, with door prizes, telescopes, and other goodies to be provided by Celestron. The planned dates are Friday and Saturday, June 19 and 20, 2009. Of course, further details will be provided as the date draws nearer.

Deep Sky Report
By Glen Sanner and Bob Kepple
“Summer Objects Near or Within the Summer Triangle”

These deep-sky objects are especially good for beginners, or for people who have smaller scopes, because most of these objects can be seen with small-to-moderate aperture sizes. Most of these objects are fairly bright, and some are even binocular objects.

The “Summer Triangle” is defined by three stars: Vega in Lyra, Altair in Aquila, and Deneb in Cygnus. The Summer Triangle is a large triangle, directly overhead in the late summer to early fall. The long side of the triangle points south. Several objects worth observing were described by the Deep Sky Guys. They are as follows.

The Ring Nebula (M57, or NGC 6720), in Lyra, is one of the finest planetaries in the summer sky. It may not seem like it, but M57 is bigger than Jupiter or Venus, even at their largest. Even so, try using averted vision with this object.

M56 is a nice globular cluster, and can be easily resolved. It is a loose globular. It is fairly easy to find because it is about halfway between Albireo and γ Lyrae or Sulafat.
 
Brocchi’s Cluster, also known as “The Coat Hanger,” is an amusing asterism to observe in the constellation Vulpecula (“The Little Fox”). One of this asterism’s striking features is that it contains six bright stars that appear almost in a straight line. There is a “hook,” composed of four bright stars in a trapezoidal shape that complete the “coat hanger” shape. This asterism is easily observed with binoculars. Brocchi’s Cluster was first described by Al Sufi, who published his famous Book of Fixed Stars around 964, in Arabic, although the author himself was probably Persian.
 
β Cygni, or Albireo, is the “Head of the Swan,” where the “swan” refers to the constellation Cygnus. Albireo is also at the foot of the “Northern Cross,” an asterism in Cygnus. This is perhaps the nicest double star to look at in the summer sky. It is golden yellow with a blue companion. It can be seen with binoculars.
 
There is a pair of dark nebulae, Barnard 142 and Barnard 143, in Aquila, that are a little tougher to observe. However, they can be seen in binoculars. They are also called the "Double Dark Nebulae," and are also known as the "E Nebula," because their shape resembles the letter 'E'. They are quite close to a very bright star.
 
M71, a globular cluster. M71 is a fairly easy object to find: right in the shaft of an arrow-shaped asterism—the constellation called Sagitta (suh-ji’-tuh), which is also known as "The Arrow." This is a loose globular cluster.
 
M27, The Dumbbell Nebula. This nebula is in Vulpecula. Use averted vision to see light and dark areas.
 
The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888 or Caldwell 27) is an emission nebula in the Cygnus constellation.
 
AstroBits
The planets of our Solar System and their known number of moons (the number known as of 2008):
Mercury = 0
Venus = 0
Earth = 1
Mars = 2
Jupiter = 63
Saturn = 56
Uranus = 27
Neptune = 13
Pluto = 3 (Charon, Nix, and Hydra)

Phoenix Mars Mission
David Acklam, of the Phoenix Mars Mission team, operating from the University of Arizona in Tucson, gave an interesting PowerPoint presentation on the latest findings about the Red Planet on Friday, July 18, at the Huachuca Astronomy Club's meeting at Cochise College, Sierra Vista Campus.

The August 2008 Nightfall newsletter is here!


Outreach Star Parties
Would you like to have an educational "Star Party" for your school, youth group, or organization? Please contact Rich Swanson at:
(520) 803-7298, or send email to:
telegeek-64@cox.net

Event Guidelines and Polices

HAC Sponsors

Starizona: Sponsor and Door Prize donor.
  The 2008 HAC Sky Calendar is here!
Did you know?
As of March, 2008, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham, Arizona, is the world's largest telescope. The LBT has taken celestial images using its twin side-by-side, 8.4-meter (27.6 foot) primary mirrors together, achieving first "binocular" light. The LBT has a light-collecting area equivalent to a single 11.8-meter (39-foot) surface and will combine light to produce the image sharpness equivalent to a single 22.8-meter (75-foot) telescope (900 inches). It is located on 10,480-foot Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona.

U.S., Italian and German partners in the LBT, have released new images. First binocular light is a milestone not only for the LBT—now the world's most powerful telescope —but for astronomy itself.


"Amateur astronomers today are exceptionally fortunate to be living in an era when high quality, and very large, optics are so affordable."

Night Sky Observer's Guide, Kepple and Sanner

Light Pollution Monitoring with Google Earth, click here.

Upcoming Events
See the list in the sidebar at upper left, or view the HAC Calendar.


Astronomy Year 2009

What is the International Year of Astronomy all about? Find out here.

Photometry of M57 Field Stars by Brian Skiff, click here.



Mr. Galaxy's Supernovae pages.



The HAC Brochure is available here. Download, print, and distribute.

That's Cool Wire

That's Cool Wire
Due to many requests, here is a link to the website that sells the electroluminescent wire: thatscoolwire.com

Some pictures can be found here.

Specifically, the product similar to that you may have seen at HAC events can be found by clicking here.

The above link is the medium width wire. For wrapping around telescope tripods, the thinnest wire may work best, as it may be slightly dimmer.

For comparison, the model number purchased was: WY-PPL-N2, (2.2mm), EL Wire Kit 4, 15 feet, 3VDC, $17.61. This model was used to wrap around the handle of a step-stool for visibility.

Longer lengths, such as 26 feet, might be better for other applications, such as tables or signs. Measure for your application and order accordingly. The wire can be powered by two AA batteries, or with an AC adapter.

What is the Temperature of Deep Space?
Glenn Minuth gave a follow-up report to his prior talk in April on “Earth’s Energy Balance.” James Taylor had asked about why his infrared thermometer read -127° C when he pointed it into space. This leads to the question, “What is the temperature of Deep Space?” This is like asking, “What is the temperature of Earth?” How would you describe the temperature of Earth, would you use a range, or an average, or would it depend on your particular location? It turns out that as a result of the Big Bang, we can observe what is known as the Cosmic Background Radiation. Wherever you go in the Universe, if you are not close to a planet, that is, that temperature turns out to be 2.7° K (-455° F, or -270° C). If you are in the area of our solar system’s outer planets, the temperature is around 40° K (-388° F, or -233° C), and increasingly warmer the nearer to the Sun that you get. The temperature of absolute zero is 0° K, and nothing that we know of can get any colder than that, because at that temperature all molecular activity stops.