Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Ev September 2002 ent Horizon Volume 9 Issue 10 SPECTACULAR SILENT NIGHTS! By Glenn Muller We hadn't expected a fire drill Saturday night; so next night's display. Still, before Stewart arrived with when Grant yelled "Glenn. Gail. There's an aurora his 20" Obsession, I managed to add to our log small happening!" I was only half-way into my long johns. globular M56, open cluster NGC 752 and galaxy NGC Seven of us had made the trip to Silent Lake Provin- 5907. cial Park, the weekend of Sept. 6/7/8, and the dark By midnight, Capella was up and the Pleiades ap- skies were proving to be all that Stewart Attelsey had peared for an inventory count. Without magnification promised. The first night, Friday, we were actually able I was able to spot seven stars but others got as high to detect the large but faint galaxy M33 with naked eye as eleven. When we saw Aldebaran, however, we knew averted vision. Saturn wouldn't be far behind. Sure enough, by two Twenty kilometres south of Bancroft, the park's o'clock, the ringed wonder cleared the tree line and wooded campsites provide enough shade throughout the I could make out Cassini's division and the planet's day for sleeping, and comfort stations with washers, shadow on the rings with a 7mm eyepiece (171x). dryers, showers and ice provided for those other neces- Cindy Bingham had called to say she was on Hwy sities. The parking lot we used for observing overlooked 115, so we continued observing. When she finally ar- the lake, and although most of the immediate horizon is rived, about three a.m., the site was so dark that she blocked by trees there was such a plethora of stars over- circled us without spotting our location. We caught head, the difficulty was in deciding where to start. For her before she made the exit, a good move since she'd Gail and I, this was settled by the appearance of Ann brought REALLY fresh doughnuts! Sugar-charged, we Milovsoroff. Not having viewed the Cosmos through trekked over to the lake where Orion could now be seen a telescope before, once our 6" dob was ready to go, reclining. With Castor and Pollux popping up we might she got a newbies tour of Albireo, M13, M31, M57, have waited for Jupiter only, by four-fifteen, our equip- M29, Herschel's Garnet Star and NGC's 869 & 884 - ment was dripping with dew and since we were tired we the Perseus Double Cluster. We expounded as best we made the decision to head back to camp. could but I was happy when Grant Dixon arrived to re- The park was fully-booked but our neighbours were ally flesh out what she'd seen through the Pentax 21mm no more annoying in the morning than we probably had eyepiece. been earlier (slamming car doors in the wee hours), so Ann had been urged to join us by her friend and we got enough sleep. Grant and Doreen had brought co-worker, Margaret Walton, and while waiting for us their canoe so went off to explore the lake - which turned to show up had already seen eight or nine meteors. We out to be three lakes; Cindy and Stewart had to go saw several more that night and, later, Gail found an into Bancroft for food; and we would have visited Ann article in the September issue of S&T (page 86) that but were unable to remember which site she was on listed a few minor showers for this period. so contented ourselves with a couple of books in the Using The Night Sky Observer's Guide and Cartes shade. Glad we did as a red-shouldered hawk landed on Du Ciel software, my observing plan covered several a branch not ten feet from our chairs. patches of sky. This was just as well since Sagittar- ius was obscured by trees and Ursa Major was partially washed-out by what could have been a precursor to the ... cont'd page 4 Chair's report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 2 Cartes du Ceil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 Web Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2 HAARP Fluxgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4 Pluto Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 4 Aurora Nights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 6 Page 2 Chair's Report The summer of 2002 now belongs things. First, time to renew! Sec- to the ages. While there were ond, everyone needs to start think- Event Horizon is a publica- stretches of unbelievably hot and ing about the make-up of Coun- tion of the Hamilton Amateur muggy weather, there were also cil for the coming year. A new Astronomers (HAA). choice observing sessions. Two ex- member, Cindy Bingham, has gra- The HAA is an amateur astron- amples: StarFest and the Great ciously agreed to being nominated omy club dedicated to the promo- HAA Silent Lake Observing Week- for Treasurer. Barb Wight, who tion and enjoyment of astronomy end! The folks who arrived early has served as long as any HAA for people of all ages and experi- enough at StarFest in August were Council member in the very de- ence levels. treated to SIX clear nights in a manding Treasurer position indi- The cost of the subscription is in- row!!!! Surely this is a record for cated that she would welcome a cluded in the $25 individual or this area! I spent only two clear break! We all owe a huge vote of $30 family membership fee for the nights at StarFest but they were thanks to Barb for her tireless ef- year. Event Horizon is published very memorable. Not only did I forts on our behalf and for helping a minimum of 10 times a year. get to do lots of observing, but us to maintain our non-profit sta- I also caught up with many old tus!! HAA Council friends. A special treat was looking Suggestions for future speakers are Hon. Chair . . . . . . . . . . Jim Winger through some scopes with H-alpha always welcome. One member who Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Doug Welch filters - the sun has been very ac- continues to send in good sugges- Second Chair . . . . . . . Grant Dixon tive this summer and seeing promi- tions is Tom Steckner - thanks, Secretary . . . . . . . Margaret Walton nences "live" is always a treat! Tom! Treasurer . . . . . . . . . Barbara Wight I was not able to get to the Silent Also, with the winter holidays not Observing Dir. . . Stewart Attlesey Lake weekend, but it sounds like it too many months away, feel free Editor/Web . . . . Anthony Tekatch was spectacular - two beautifully to submit your recommendations Membership Dir.. . . .Ann Tekatch clear, moonless nights. Not only for books to Anthony Tekatch to Councillor. . . . . . . . .Ray Badgerow that, the Saturday night had active be included under our "Books" aurora most of the time!! I man- link on www.amateurastronomy. Web: amateurastronomy.org aged to see the aurora from Dundas org. If people purchase through with many members of my family, these pages, the HAA gets a per- Mailing Address: so that was a treat in itself. Clearly centage of the sale. PO Box 65578 we need to do Silent Lake every I look forward to an active and in- Dundas, ON year! teresting 2002/03 astronomy sea- L9H 6Y6 Our membership year begins in son! November which means several Doug Welch Doug Welch is the current chair of the HAA and also a founding member. You can find out more about Doug at: http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/people/faculty/ Welch_DL_h.html WebWatch - Many interesting science stories updated daily at http://slashdot.org/science/ - A device which can send out e-mail when a visible aurora is taking place http://angwin.ece.uiuc.edu/~haunma/aurora/index.html Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers amateurastronomy.org Page 3 Domain Name and Web hosting for the Hamilton Amatuer Astronomy club supplied by Axess Communications Corporate and Residential DSL and Web Hosting http://www.axess.com support@axess.com ... cont'd 1 ized near the zenith. There were two shows that night, each lasting about forty five minutes yet, in between, I Apart from a doe and a couple of chipmunks, this was still managed to bag clusters M30, M72, M73,NGC 7009 the tally of our wildlife spotting. I didn't mind at all; - The Saturn Nebula, small, blue, planetary NGC 7662 having been invaded by raccoons and squirrels so often, and a small, nearly edge-on, spiral galaxy in Pegasus ­ that particular novelty has worn off. AND thanks to NGC 7331. the drought the camp was virtually bug-free! Anyway, you probably want to know about the au- Overall, I would rate the skies as better than Starfest rora. - even without the Teapot - though we felt it unfortu- We were sitting around Stewart's camp while he nate that so few people were able to make the trip. The made clam chowder - not drooling only because we'd drive through Toronto was thankfully unimpeded, but already eaten. Through a hole in the forest canopy I Grant and I discussed a road trip up Hwy #6 in search could see Vega, and thinking that Ann might be wait- of a comparable park. Any input towards this would be ing at the parking lot, Gail and I decided to get our appreciated. Despite that, Gail and I could easily spend warm clothes on and head over. We were changing in several more days enjoying all that Silent Lake has to our tent when Stewart looked up and wondered why the offer. sky was getting lighter instead of darker. The sound of When not bending nails into tent pegs, Glenn likes revving engines and Grant's call to arms told us all we looking for asterisms in open clusters. needed to know, and within minutes we had seats in the After a thirty year hiatus, Glenn Muller orchestra pit for the most concerted display of Northern is rediscovering astronomy. He and his Lights I've ever seen. Obviously, descriptions fail to do wife, Gail, observe from their backyard in justice; suffice it to say that from a bright blue northern Grimsby. They invite you to view their horizon rose great cathedrals of light, shimmering with webpage at: http://home.interlynx. white, red, and green bars, and giant "angels" material- net/~mullers/ Pluto Facts: Aurora Nights During two recent occultations of Pluto (when Pluto Heard from the driver of our van when I was birding crosses the path of starlight) measurements where made at Point Barrow, Alaska. of Pluto's atmosphere. He alleged that he drove a group of Japanese tourists It was deduced that Pluto's atmosphere may freeze one fall and learned that they believed a child would en- during its winter which lasts more than a century. joy especially good luck if it were conceived while the Aurora Borealis were going on. The group was fortu- A probe will be sent on a 10 year mission to Pluto nate. The aurora appeared, spectacularly. "Don't you starting in 2006 to study more curious Pluto tidbits. want to get out and see it?" the driver asked the leader Read more at: The Toronto Star http://www. of the group. "No! To the hotel!" was the leader's re- thestar.com/ sponse. Title: "Pluto's atmosphere may freeze solid in 2040" Date: "Sep. 8, 2002. 01:00 AM" A story seen on the birding mailing listserv by Robert Fisher. Submitted by Marg Walton Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers amateurastronomy.org Page 4 Cartes du Ceil by Grant Dixon I stumbled across this web site http://www. stargazing.net/astropc/ It is called "Cartes du Ceil" or Sky Charts. The great thing is it is all free. I have downloaded the Virtual Moon and all the pho- tos that go with it. This is absolutely one stunning pro- gram. There is a basic component that is required and then you can down load "Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon" well it is an abbreviated version that selects over 1000 of the best photos that cover the whole surface of the moon - whole that is with the exception Submitted by Doug Welch of what the LOPAM did not cover. Once you have lo- SIDs by Doug Welch cated an object on the moon and have read all about it you can then click on "Picture" and it will bring up the An explanation of the SID plot for August 2002 (on LOPAM of that area and will mosaic it if necessary. the next page) This is one kick-ass atlas. You can down load only As you may know, I have been recording distur- the parts that you are interested in an not the whole bances of the ionosphere due to solar flares since late program ...in fact you have to down load it in pieces. spring of 2002. I use a loop antenna in my basement http://www.astrosurf.com/avl/UK_index.html tuned to a VLF station with call letters NAA which I am now working on the star charts that allow you broadcasts at 24.0 kHz. At night, there are large fluc- to access down to 12th magnitude. With gazillions of tuations in signal level due to all sorts of causes. How- add-ons, again you can or have to down load it in units ever, once the sun starts illuminating the ionosphere, so you only have to take what you need or want. The the signal strength changes smoothly - unless a solar first thing that blew me away about this one is that it flare occurs! actually charts Bernard's Loup. August got off to a spectacular start with an X- by Grant Dixon class flare on August 3rd at about 15:00 EDT. X-class flares are the strongest and rarest category. Many days Grant Dixon is a founding member of the had one or more C- or M-class flares. August 28th was HAA. You can find out more about his life very active with several C- and M-class flares - the iono- and hobbies at: http://home.cogeco.ca/ sphere didn't have a chance to settle back down before ~grant.dixon/index.htm the next one came along! On August 30th, another HAARP Fluxgate X-class flare occurred. The observant among you may note that these X-class flares took place about one solar These plots are from the "HAARP Fluxgate Ma- rotation apart. gentometer" page at: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/ Other noticeable features on the plot are: large haarp/mg.fcgi Notice how easily one can discriminate empty regions and square-bottomed drop-outs. The between active periods and non-active!! The "Silent empty regions are when the voltage on my batteries Lake" aurora was active for a few hours after Sep 8 dropped below that required to power the opamps OR at 0h UT. when Windows decided to stop working for no good reason. The drop-outs typically occur during work hours on Mondays and are scheduled maintenance of the transmitters! Occasionally there are unusual dropouts due to unscheduled transmitter changes, such as the one on August 6th. Short vertical spikes can be due to light- ning, but in the case of August 27th, it was due to the operation of a vacuum cleaner! One of these days, everything will work for a whole month and I will be able to show you continuous traces! by Doug Welch Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers amateurastronomy.org Page 5 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers amateurastronomy.org 2 9 16 23 30 1 8 15 22 29 7 14 21 28 6 13 20 27 NightNight NightNight Saturday 5 12 19 26 November 2002 4 11 18 25 ObservingObserving ObservingObserving 3 10 17 24 7 14 21 28 6 13 20 27 5 12 19 26 MeetingMeeting 4 11 18 25 Friday NightNight NightNight 3 10 17 24 4 GeneralGeneral ObservingObserving 11 ObservingObserving HAAHAA 18 25 September 2002 2 9 16 23 30 1 8 15 22 29 Thursday 3 10 17 24 31 Halloween call Roy Tekatch info, Rob Ann Attlesey Wednesday 2 9 16 23 30 observing Stewart 827-9105, 692-3245, 575-5433 For Tuesday October 2002 1 8 15 22 29 Monday 7 14 21 28 Sunday ends DST