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Guy Ottewell’s 2011 Astronomical Calendar

The 2011 Astronomical Calendar: 

Specially priced for League members

 

The Astronomical League is pleased to announce a special offer for our members from the Universal Workshop, the producers of Guy Ottewell’s popular Astronomical Calendar. They are making the 2011 edition of the Astronomical Calendar available at a discounted price. There are plenty of good reasons why it has been published for over thirty years. The 2011 edition will not disappoint!

 

Packed throughout its 84 pages are monthly sky charts; daily celestial highlights; charts, tables, and explanations of planetary movements; eclipse times and paths; and lunar occultation specifics. There are extensive descriptions of the year’s meteor showers and periodic comets, as well. This calendar tells, in clear language, what events occur and when they happen.

 

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Jack Horkheimer’s Passing

The Astronomical League has received the sad word that Jack Horkheimer, Public Television’s  Star Gazer for 30 years, has died. 

He was a long time supporter of the League, including his sponsorship of the League’s Horkheimer Service and Horkheimer Youth Journalism awards.  In addition to being a giant in the planetarium field, many amateur astronomers were honored to hear him speak at various League ALCons, regional conventions and star parties.

He will definitely be missed.

Here is the link for the news story:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/20/1785361/star-gazer-host-jack-horkheimer.html

As Jack always said “Keep looking up”.

Aperture Isn’t Everything

By Bill Pellerin
Houston Astronomical Society
GuideStar Editor

When amateur astronomers get together and talk about their telescopes, they usually discuss the aperture of the telescope first. Why? Because it is easy to determine, in fact, it is probably the parameter that is of most interest to knowledgeable telescope buyers.

Professional observatories make great efforts, and spend a lot of money, to increase the effective aperture of their telescopes. The Keck telescopes in Hawaii combine the light from two mirrors (two telescopes, really) providing an aperture of 280 feet and a resolution of 5 milli-arcseconds. At Mount Wilson, there is the Infrared Spatial Interferometer – three 65” telescopes, spaced up to 279 feet apart to get high-resolution infrared images.

The next most discussed parameter is focal ratio, which is stated as f/10 or f/5, whatever it is. This number defines the focal ratio, the aperture = the focal length (f) divided by the focal ratio. Or, the focal length = the aperture * the focal ratio. The focal ratio is of great importance to those who image the sky.

For example, a f/10 SCT (a common telescope in use by amateurs) of 8” diameter has a focal length of 10 * 8 = 80 inches. It is more common that the focal length is talked about in millimeters, so applying the correct conversion (1” = 25.4 millimeters) we get the focal length = 2032 mm. It’s peculiar that astronomers talk about diameter in inches and focal length in millimeters, but that is often the case.

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Doubling Up on Double Stars

By Bill Pellerin, GuideStar Editor

Houston Astronomical Society

The Astronomical League has a Double Star Club, which I highly recommend (and which I completed some years ago). The program requires you to observe 100 double stars and to record those observations in an observing log with a drawing of the double star (anybody can put a pair, or more, of dots in a circle).

If that is not enough double star observing for you, there are additional resources that you can use to continue your double star observing program. The two books that I will review for this article will keep you in the double star observing business for a long time. Which of these two books is appropriate for you depends on how you like to go about your observing program.

The two books are:

  • Double Stars for Small Telescopes – by Sissy Haas
  • The Cambridge Double Star Atlas – by James Mullaney and Wil Tirion

The Haas book includes 2100 double stars to see and the Mullaney/Tirion book has 2400 stars. Both books include double stars visible from both the northern and the southern hemisphere, so for most observers not all of the stars in the books will be accessible. Both are large format books useful in the field but only the Mullaney/Tirion book is spiral bound, allowing it to lie flat on the table.

 

Here are the two books.

The Cambridge Double Star Atlas, by James Mullaney and Wil Tirion (March, 2009)

The Cambride Double Star Atlas

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Press release for Astroleague Youth Awards (NYAA and Horkheimer Awards)


(Presentations to be made at National Convention in Tucson, Arizona)

(Kansas City, MO)–The Astronomical League is pleased to announce the top finishers in the competitions for its National Young Astronomers Award Program (NYAA) and the Jack Horkheimer Award Program.

The first-place winner in the NYAA program is Andrew Hitchner, Norristown, Pennsylvania. His project was entitled “A Study in Stellar Spectroscopy.” Tongji Li, Hershey, Pennsylvania, was awarded second-place in this competition for her work “Will Humans Become Extinct Like the Dinosaurs Did?” Third place was awarded to Erika Tinley, Tucson, Arizona, for “The Geometry of Active Galactic Nuclei as Evidenced by their Emission Line Spectra.” The first-place winner receives an all-expenses- paid trip to ALCon 2010, the national convention of the Astronomical League, being held in late June in Tucson, Arizona. The top three finishers receive beautiful plaques to commemorate their outstanding achievements. The NYAA is generously supported by Explore Scientific, which also provides one of its great telescopes to the first-place winner.

Other top finishers in the National Young Astronomer Award Program include Stephen Argentati, Tucson, Arizona; Gayathri Cheran, Burke, Virginia; Summer Emmons, Trussville, Alabama; Travis Le, Aica, Hawaii; Caroline Moore, Warwick, New York; Megan Parsons, Fowler, Michigan; Christina Ramsey, Humble, Texas; and Megan Rosenberger, Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania. All top NYAA finishers receive a one-year complimentary membership in the International Dark Sky Association, an organization devoted to protecting the night sky.

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Horkheimer Service Awards Program extended to April 15

Star gazing with Jack HorkheimerThe deadline for the Horkheimer Service awards program has been extended April 15.

If a member of your local astronomy club is under the age of 19  please encourage them to apply for the Jack Horkheimer awards. The Award is based upon service to the League, either directly or through service to any Astronomical League society. Service could be in the form of educational outreach, knowledge and skills at public star parties or other astronomical service.
 

Young astronomers can apply for both the National Young Astronomer Award and the Horkheimer Awards. The three awards are the Horkheimer/Smith Award, Horkheimer/Parker Award and the Horkheimer/D’Auria Award.
 

The winner of the Horkheimer/Smith Award will receive an expenses-paid trip to the 2010 Astronomical League Convention in Tucson, Arizona, a plaque presented at the convention’s awards banquet and a $1,000 cash prize. In addition, for the past several years, Celestron, Inc. has donated one of its fine telescopes to the Horkheimer winner. Top finishers for the Horkheimer/Parker Award and the Horkeimer/A’Auria Award also receive the $1,000 cash prize.

 

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The Jack Horkheimer Award Program Expands for 2009

Jack Horkheimer Awards 2009Thanks to the continuing generosity of Jack Horkheimer, four awards are now part of the Astronomical League’s Jack Horkheimer youth award program, including a youth journalism award. The former Jack Horkheimer award has been renamed the Horkheimer/Smith Award. 

Horkheimer/Smith Award:
This award is named in Honor of Arthur P. Smith, Jr. Art Smith was the president of the Astronomical League from 1964-66, and he inspired Mr. Horkheimer to become active in astronomy.

The Jack Horkheimer Award is presented to any Astronomical League member under the age of 19 on the date of the application.  The Award is based upon service to the League, either directly or through service to any Astronomical League society. Service could be in the form of educational outreach, knowledge and skills at public star parties or other astronomical service. Young astronomers can apply for both the National Young Astronomer Award and the Horkheimer Award. These criteria also apply to the Horkheimer/Parker as well as the Horkheimer/D’Auria Award listed below.

The winner of the Horkheimer/Smith Award will receive an expenses-paid trip to the Astronomical League Convention, a plaque presented at the convention’s awards banquet and a $1,000 cash prize. In addition, for the past several years, Celestron, Inc. has donated one of its fine telescopes to the Horkheimer winner.

Horkheimer/Parker Award: This new award is named in honor of Dr. Donald Parker. Don Parker, a retired physician from Coral Gables, Flori­da, has had a lifelong interest in astronomy and, since 1953, has built a number of telescopes ranging in diameter from three to sixteen inches. Over the years Dr. Parker came to specialize in Solar System research and planetary photography. He has taken over 20,000 photographs and electronic images of Mars and Jupiter, as support for professional astronomers at NASA, JPL, and various observatories.

 
 
Dr. Parker is a past director of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (A.L.P.O.) and currently serves on the Board of that organization. He has been an A.L.P.O. Mars Section Coordinator since 1977, and has done extensive research on the climate and meteorology of Mars. 2008 is his 53rd year of observing Mars.

 

Parker has authored or co-authored over 150 papers on the Solar System and on planetary photography. These have been pub­lished in both amateur and profession­al journals, such as Science, Nature, Icarus, The Astronomical Journal, and The Journal of Geophysical Research. Parker’s photographs and electronic images of the planets have appeared in numerous books and magazines throughout the world, including Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1996 Science and the Future. He is co-author of the book Introduction to Observing and Photographing the Solar System.

In recognition of his contributions to planetary astronomy, Dr. Parker was honored by the International Astronomical Union in 1994, when an asteroid was given the name “5392 Parker.” In 2004 he was awarded the Oriental Astronomical Association’s Gold Medal for his work on Mars.

 
The winner of this award will receive a plaque and a $1,000 cash prize.
 
 
Horkheimer/D’Auria Award:
 
 
This award is named in honor of Matthew (Tippy) D’Auria.Tippy is an electronics engineer and has a degree in Electronic Engineering Technology, and a degree in Computer Integrated Manufacturing. He has been an active astronomer since 1980. He is the founder of the Winter Star Party, which is sponsored by the Southern Cross Astronomical Society.  In June 2001, Tippy joined an elite group of some of the world’s best planetary astronomers on a mission to record a predicted flash on the red planet … flashes that may be reflections from ice or other highly reflective land features on Mars in a region called Edom. In the astronomical community, such phenomena are typically met with skepticism; however the brightening effect on Edom occurred as predicted and was recorded by Tippy D’Auria along with Dr. Donald C. Parker through a Meade 12″ LX200 scope on video. It appears that it is the only existing video sequence of this event, which made the IAU circulars and headlines throughout the global astronomical community.
 
In January 2001, Tippy received recognition for his contributions to amateur astronomy, as he was honored by the International Astronomical Union, when an asteroid was given the name “11378 DAuria.”
 
 In April 2001, he led an expedition to the volcanoes of Costa Rica, to film a National Geographic documentary called “The Volcano Hunters.”
In August 2007, Tippy received the Astronomical League Award for his many contributions to the astronomical community. In February 2008, he received an Astronomy Outreach Award – in recognition for his contributions in outreach and public education in astronomy.
 
The winner of this award will also receive a plaque and a $1,000 cash prize.
 
 
 
 
How to make nominations for the Horkheimer/Smith, Horkheimer/Parker and Horkeimer/ D’Auria Awards:
 
The vice president of the Astronomical League will chair the award committee. The chair will select at least three judges who have previously been affiliated with the Astronomical League. The president of the Astronomical League will approve the selected judges.
 
The deadline for applying for the next Horkheimer Service Award is April 10, 2009.  The 2009 application form is available on the League’s website at test.astroleague.org. More specific information is found on the application form. The same application is used for all three awards. If you have any young astronomers who have provided service to your society or who are talented observers, please contact Vice President Carroll Iorg at Carroll-Iorg@kc.rr.com for more information or an application form.
 
 
Youth Journalism Award:
 
Horkheimer/ O’Meara Award:
 
This new award is named in honor of Stephen and Donna O’Meara.
 
Donna’s Bio:
 
Donna O¹Meara is an award-winning children’s author, National Geographic Contract Photographer/Videographer/Explorer, volcano expert  and experienced student lecturer (Grades K-12). Donna O’Meara has served as a female scientist role model for over two decades to a generation of children learning about Earth’s volcanic
and other natural wonders.   O’Meara has worked her lifetime getting
young people interested in natural science, Earth’s most remote and fragile
environments and volcanoes. O’Meara has blazed a vast scientific trail as
cited by City Smart Magazine. She was chosen in September 2007 as an
”outstanding woman who is changing the world” and as a National Geographic Funded Volcano Explorer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stephen’s Bio:
 
Steve O’Meara earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University. He has spent much of his career on the editorial staff of Sky & Telescope, is new a columnist and contributing editor for Astronomy magazine, and has authored or coauthored 10 books on diverse subjects: astronomy, volcanoes, and scary science for youngsters. 
 
The Texas Star Party (TSP) gave him its highest honor, the Lone Stargazer Award, “for setting the standard of excellence in visual observing.” The TSP also gave him its Omega Centauri Award for “advancing astronomy through observation, writing, and promotion, and for sharing his love of the sky,” and the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 3637 O’Meara in his honor. He has also been awarded with the Caroline Herschel Award for his greatest achievements.
 
Among his many astronomical achievements, he was the first to sight Halley’s Comet on its 1985 return; he noticed the dark “spokes” in Saturn’s B ring before the Voyager 1 spacecraft imaged them; and he was the first person to determine the rotation period of the distant planet Uranus. 
 
Steve enjoys traveling the world with his wife, Donna, to document volcanic eruptions. National Geographic Explorer produced a movie (“Volcano Hunters”) about the O’Mearas’ research; the film was selected as one of the year’s best National Geographic documentaries and won the Fall 2002 Golden Eagle Award  for excellence in documentary. Steve is also a dynamic lecturer on astronomy and volcano topics. He is also a contract videographer for National Geographic Digital Motion and a contract photographer for National Geographic Image Collection.
 

 
 
This competition for the Horkheimer/O’Meara Youth Journalism Award is open to young writers in the 8-14 age groups. The submission should be 300 to 500 words we are not limiting the entries to astronomy-related topics. We are open to any science-related topic that interests the contestant –– from robin’s eggs to quasars. What we are looking for is someone who can take a factual scientific event or discovery and write an accurate story that is so exciting and informative that readers will not want to put it down, they are learning so much. Aside from accuracy, entries will be judged on three criteria: creativity, conciseness, and clarity.
 
The winner will win a plaque and a $1,000 cash prize.

 

How to make nominations for the Horkheimer/ O’Meara Award:
Entries should be sent either in writing to the O’Mearas, P. O. Box  218, Volcano, HI 96785, or via Email: donna@post.harvard.edu
 
The deadline is April 10, 2008

The 2008 National Young Astronomer Award

Shown at the left is John Hodge II, the 2008 National Young Astronomer Award winner who is giving the audience details of his project.  John created and analyzed light curves of catclysmic variable star systems. In the fall of 2005 he used a 12 inch Meade LX200 telescope and ST7 CCD camera to obtain his images. The following year he did a more detailed study using different stars and a more complex mathematical analysis.

His interest in astronomy was sparked by his father who is an amateur astronomer. He was participating in a magnet program at his high school which required a  detailed research project. He contacted Dr. Joseph Patterson at Columbia  University who suggested several ideas. He chose cataclysmic variable star systems after some inital research.

 

 

 

 

The 2008 Jack Horkheimer Award Winner

2008 Jack Horkheimer Award winnerChristine Lee, The 2008 Jack Horkheimer Award winner,  is making a presentation about the “Galaxy Zoo” program at this years ALcon.  Christine is a volunteer for the Galaxy Zoo project which is classifying millions of galaxies obtained with Sloan Deep Sky Survey telescope. She  is a member of the Rose City Astronomers in Portland, Oregon. Christine is a very active club member who has made presentations about science, astrophysics, galaxies, and other science topics. She is currently grinding a 6 inch mirror at a club workshop.

She was initially interested in physics but after looking through some telescopes at Roster Rock State Park Star Party she became fascinated with astronomy. 

 

 

 

 

 

ALCon Expo 2008 Day #1

TBrian Butcher, president, Des Moines Astronomical Societyhe Astroleague 2008 conference/expo is now in progress. Brian Butcher, president of the Des Moines Astronomical Society, welcomed participants to the conference this morning. 

Our enthusiastic thanks to the host committee whose many, many hours of work has produced a wonderful event. This years conference has three tracks giving participants a great set of topics and fascinating speakers from which to choose.

Last evening the Concil tour featured a visit to the Science Center of Iowa and a trip to the Drake Municipal Observatory.

Tonight the conference participants will be treated to a picnic dinner at the Ashton Observatory. The weather at the moment looks “iffy” but Brian has reassured us that  they have a large tent to protect from the rain.  Irregardless of the weather I’m sure everyone will have a great time! 

Update 7/19 – it stopped raining, the sky cleared, and the evening turned out to be beautiful.  The star picnic was a fun event and all present had a great time!

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