By Bill Pellerin, Houston Astronomical Society
The first time I ever heard of the Stargate asterism was when I picked up a copy of John Wagoner’s observing list at the Texas Star Party some years ago. The asterism was mentioned by the well-known observer Philip Harrington in a May, 1998 article in Sky and Telescope magazine, but John tells me that he’s the guy who created the identifier ‘Stargate’ for this collection of stars.
Reminder: Tomorrow morning (in the US) is the Transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun. This is a somewhat rare event and if your skies are clear be sure to check it out. Don’t ever look at the sun without proper protective filtering. Mercury will be too small to see with welder’s glass or eclipse glasses.
Also, remember that we have a Special Observing Award for the transit:
https://test.astroleague.org//PlanetaryTransit_Venus2012
Good luck. Aaron
Thanks to one of our Observing Program Coordinators, Vince Foster, this is a link to a great article on the Apparition of Mars (going on now…).
http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/jbeish/2016_MARS.htm
Enjoy. Aaron
From now until the end of August, if you have any needs related to the Astronomical League’s Observing Programs and Awards, please work directly with the Coordinators. If you have needs that they can’t solve, then please address all emails to the other Observing Program Director, Cliff Mygatt at cliffandchris@wavecable.com. Thanks. have a great summer, and do lots of observing. Aaron Clevenson
The city of Chicago is planning to install 270,000 LEDs. It would benefit the quality of life of the residents in that area if those LEDs had a correlated color temperature of 3000K or less, and if their associated fixtures were fully shielded and pointed downward. In light of that, a petition to the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has been created to show support of quality outdoor lighting.
Petition. Bring Back Chicago’s Starry Night with Responsible City Lighting:
Contact Audrey Fischer of the Chicago Astronomical Society for more information.
The Astronomical League supports rational and civil discourse to illuminate the facts about LED lighting and light pollution.
The Olympic Astronomical Society (OAS) in Bremerton just handed over their first Library Telescope to the Kitsap County Library, Sylvan Way branch, Wednesday 30 March. Cliff Mygatt, President of the OAS, presented the telescope to Librarian Megan. The telescope was won from a drawing held at the Astronomical League Convention in July and sent to the OAS in October, the telescope and accessories were donated by Orion Telescopes and Celestron International to the Astronomical League for the drawing. The program was made possible by the vision of the Horkheimer Charitable Fund.
By Bill Pellerin, Houston Astronomical Society
Object: Denebola — β Leo
Class: Star
Constallation: Leo
Magnitude: 2.14
R.A.: 11 h, 49 m, 04 s
Dec: 14° 34’ 19”
Size/Spectral: 1.75 Solar Masses, Color: A3
Distance: 35.9 ly
Optics needed: Unaided eye
The name of this star may seem somewhat familiar. There’s another star in the sky named Deneb, in the constellation Cygnus (the swan). The name Deneb is from the Arabic word dhaneb which means ‘the tail’. The name Denebola is a combination of the Arabic words Deneb Alased, meaning the tail of the Lion, which, in fact it is. It lies at the eastern end of the constellation Leo the Lion.
The Astronomical League’s Special Award for the Mercury Transit is now on-line with all the requirements outlined. There are options for those who can take images as well as those who can’t. Check it out by clicking here.
Registration for ALCon 2016 in Washington DC is now available at
http://alcon2016.astroleague.org/registration
Listen to the many astronomy presentations; take the special tours of the Smithsonian meteorite collection, the National Air & Space Museum, the US Naval Observatory, Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Annex; enjoy an evening at the Star-becue; and hear about the future of space exploration from the leader of NASA – keynote speaker Maj.Gen. Charles Bolden, Jr., NASA Administrator!
ASTROCON 2017 (ALCon 2017) registrations are coming in daily. League club members who want to attend should register soon, so as to not miss this opportunity. Hotel and motel accommodations are booking quickly for this event!
Please go to the event website at http://astrocon2017.astroleague.org, then go to the “Registration” tab to complete your online registration.
The MARS region of the Astronomical League is helping to plan ASTROCON 2017 in the days leading up to the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. Volunteers from various clubs in the Utah, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado are actively involved helping to plan and coordinate this event. This will be a major outreach opportunity for amateur astronomy……a total solar eclipse!
ASTROCON 2017 is collaborating with and supporting the Wyoming Eclipse Fest to help educate and support the many eclipse chasers that will descend upon Casper for AMERICA’s GREAT ECLIPSE! Casper lies directly on the centerline of the moon’s shadow and has excellent weather prospects for a clear, dry eclipse day.
Astronomical League Website: test.astroleague.org
Event Website: astrocon2017.astroleague.org (Please go to the “Registration” tab)
Eclipse Information: www.eclipse2017.org (Look under “Community Links” and then “What some places are doing”)
