Once again, it is solstice time and we are celebrating with a potluck. TVS will provide soft drinks, coffee, tea, tableware, and paper products. Please bring your culinary contribution according to the chart below. The first letter of your last name determines your fare at our feast. Plan to feed 10 hungry fellow club members.
A through K Main dish (entree)
L through O Vegetable side dish
P,
Q,
R Rice or potato side dish
S through Z Dessert
Patron Member Dave Sworin will share his experience in variable star observing at our January 9 meeting.
Dave began observing variable stars in September 1994. Since then he has made about 3,000 variable star estimates, and has submitted them to AAVSO for inclusion in its data base.
He will focus on the observational aspects of variable star observing by demonstrating techniques for making an accurate estimate of a star's brightness. He notes that in the process, we will discover a great deal about our own eyes.
The presentation will cover many of the practical aspects of variable star observing such as useful charts, stars to observe, and organizations helpful to the amateur astronomer interested in variables. In addition, Dave will discuss the role of visual observing with small telescopes in a light-polluted, computer-dominated, Space Age when orbiting telescopes with CCD cameras can collect millions of highly accurate observations.
Keep this combined edition until you receive your February newsletter. January's information is included in this issue. (In addition to What's Up, Comet Comments will be presented with handouts at the January general meeting.) The newsletter deadline now becomes the 15th of the preceding month.
When planning your calendar for next year, please reserve the following dates for general meetings.
January 9
February 13
March 13
April 10
May 8
June 12
July 10
August 14
September 11
October 9
Nov.
13
Dec.
11
Subscriptions to Sky & Telescope and Astronomy are again available at discounted club subscription rates. S&T has jumped its rate slightly, to $27 per year; Astronomy remains at $24 annually. Magazine subscriptions (or renewals) are mailed the day after the February general meeting, so they are slightly offset from the January to December TVS membership year.
Renewals and subscriptions may be mailed to our post office box (see below), or you may bring a completed form and check to any general meeting between now and February.
Checking $3,117.34
CD #1 $3,212.00
CD #2 $2,500.00
CD #3 $2,000.00
The checking account is free of all fees and charges, provided we maintain a minimum balance of $3,000.
As announced in the October Prime Focus, the Dark Sky Site task force is compiling its recommend-ations for long-term club expend-itures and purchases. The CDs mature at staggered times, so that our assets can earn high interest until they are needed.
If you have suggestions for club improvements to the Sky Shack, or you would like the board to consider other club equipment or supplies, contact one of the board members or officers listed below. Most of them will attend the potluck, so feel free to speak personally with any of them.
If you are interested in taking the lead on school star parties, contact Rich Green at (510) 449-2190 or call club president Dave Anderson at (510) 661-4249.
Election Results
At the November general meeting, elections were held for the 1998 officers and directors. Most of the names will look very familiar to you, as all of the officers ran unopposed for their positions. We thank Dave Sworin for his past participation as a board member. Due to academ ic committments, he is unable to serve on the board again this year.
Members are always invited to attend the monthly planning meetings. They are held the Monday following a general meeting, at Round Table Pizza, 1540 First Street, Livermore (in the OSH/ Safeway shopping center). Planning meetings begin at 7:00 PM, when the first pizza hits the table.
The 1998 officers and directors are: President Dave Anderson
Vice President Chuck Grant
Secretary Bill Burnap
Treasurer Gene Nassar
Directors Alane Alchorn
Dennis Beckley Rich Combs Rich Green Kathleen Kelley Russ Kirk Dave Rodrigues Debbie Scherrer Al Smith Jim Zumstein
This puts our 1997 membership total at a club record of more than 215.
The
Millenium Star Atlas
arrived over
Thanksgiving weekend.
Chris says it measures up to the excellent reviews it has received (as well as its hype from Sky Publishing).The Atlas is printed in three hard-bound volumes,
arranged by right ascension.
Atlas volumes can be checked out for one month, with a refundable $50 deposit required. Due to the expected popularity of the Atlas, TVS reserves the right to assess a late charge to any member who is not punctual in returning the books at the end of the one month loan period.
In the event many members wish to borrow a volume, a lottery will be held at the holiday potluck to establish the borrowing order. Once again, the entire club thanks the generous and anonymous donor who presented this gift to us.
John Alfonso also deserves the accolades of every club member. He has enriched our library collection by more than 25 books. Thank you, John. We deeply appreciate your gift of this collection.
Park star party chair Jim McIntire received the following letter from the Livermore Area Recreation & Park District following our Camp Shelly star party.
Dear Jim, I wanted to drop you a line to thank you and all of the Tri-Valley Stargazers
for the wonderful presentations you made up at Camp Shelly this summer.
Every campground visitor I talked to that weekend was full of praise for the efforts of your group to make a mysterious world seem just a little bi t closer to our own earthbound lives.
Your slide presentations and your generosity in allowing our campers to use you telescopes really gave then an "up close and personal" look at the heavens.
Our goal at the campground is to provide families and visitors with an enriching camping and recreational experience. Your efforts really made a difference to a great number of people up at Camp Shelly this year, and we hope to see you folks up at the campground next summer.
Once again, thanks to all of the Tri-Valley Stargazers and their families for all of your efforts, and best wishes for the new year.
Pat Sotelo Park Ranger
Schilling Elementary School in Newark also sends its appreciation for the star party TVS held there last month. Dave Rodrigues and Dave Anderson helped the youngsters and their families learn their way around the evening sky. Thanks, guys!
Club member Jim Brown demonstrated his hand-crafted blinking LED marker at the November general meeting. It is a handy tool for marking the legs of your scope tripod.
We have reprinted Jim's handout with construction details. Burger King will sure love us!
| What's up for December 1997 | ||
| 1 | Mon | Mercury 7° south of Moon. |
| Io transits Jupiter 6:39 to 8:56 PM; shadow transits 7:50 PM PST. | ||
| 2 | Tue | Mars 5° south of Moon. |
| 3 | Wed | Venus 7° south of Moon. (Neptune and Uranus nearby.) |
| 4 | Thu | Jupiter 3° south of Moon. |
| Io reappears from eclipse by Jupiter 7:16 PM | ||
| Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-88) launch scheduled. (First International Space Station assembly mission.) | ||
| 5 | Fri | Ganymede reappears from occultation by Jupiter 7:45 PM, eclipsed 8:54 PM |
| 6 | Sat | First Quarter Moon 10:09 PM |
| Europa occulted by Jupiter 6:42 PM | ||
| 7 | Sun | End of Galileo's primary mission. |
| 8 | Mon | Saturn occulted by Moon 11:19 PM to 12:14 AM on the 9th. |
| 9 | Tue | Asteroid 23 Thalia (mag 9.2) at opposition. |
| 11 | Thu | Venus at greatest brilliance (mag -4.7). |
| Io occulted by Jupiter 5:46 PM | ||
| 12 | Fri | Aldebaran occulted by Moon 7:53 to 9:05 PM |
| Soyuz TM-26 launch scheduled. (Russian Mir docking mission.) | ||
| Io transits Jupiter until 5:25 PM; shadow transits until 6:31 PM | ||
| Ganymede occulted 8:24 PM | ||
| 13 | Sat | Full Moon 6:37 PM |
| Geminid meteor shower peaks about 10 PM | ||
| Callisto transits Jupiter 8:00 PM | ||
| 15 | Mon | TVS planning meeting 7:00 PM Round Table Pizza, 1540 First St., Livermore. |
| Europa transits Jupiter until 6:35 PM; shadow transits 5:54 to 8:44 PM | ||
| 16 | Tue | Algol at minimum 11:37 PM Eclipsing binary drops from mag. 2.1 to 3.4 in about 5 hours. (Period is 2.867315 days). Compare Alpha Persei (mag. 1.79), Gamma Andromedae (2.2 6) and Delta Persei (3.01 ). |
| Ganymede's shadow transits Jupiter until 6:45 PM | ||
| 17 | Wed | Delta Cephei at maximum 8:22 PM Variable rises to mag. 3.5 from 4.4 in about 1.5 days. (Period is 5.366341 days). Compare Zeta Cephei (mag. 3.35) and Epsilon Cephei (mag. 4.2). |
| 18 | Thu | Io occulted by Jupiter 7:46 PM |
| 19 | Fri | Tri-Valley Stargazers general meeting 7:30 PM Unitarian Universalist Church in Livermore, |
| Io transits Jupiter until 7:26 PM; shadow transits 6:10 to 8:27 PM | ||
| Algol at minimum 8:26 PM | ||
| 21 | Sun | Winter solstice 12:07 PM |
| Last Quarter Moon 1:43 PM | ||
| Venus 1.1° north of Mars. | ||
| 22 | Mon | Europa transits Jupiter 6:30 PM |
| 23 | Tue | Ganymede transits Jupiter until 6:47 PM; shadow transits 7:10 PM |
| 24 | Wed | Hanukkah. |
| Europa reappears from eclipse by Jupiter's shadow 6:30 PM | ||
| 26 | Fri | Io transits Jupiter 7:09 PM; shadow transits 8:06 PM |
| 27 | Sat | Excellent weekend for observing: No Moon until 5:12 AM |
| Io reappears from eclipse by Jupiter 7:31 PM | ||
| 29 | Mon | New Moon 8:56 AM |
| 30 | Tue | Venus 1.3° south of Moon. |
| Ganymede transits Jupiter 7:33 PM | ||
| 31 | Wed | New Year's Eve and first day of Ramadan. |
| Date (00UT) | R.A. (2000) | Dec | El | Sky | Mag |
| 12-03 | 07h25.5m | -60° 46' | 91° | M | 7.3 |
| 12-08 | 07h14.9m | -61° 52' | 91° | M | 7.4 |
| 12-13 | 07h03.3m | -62° 46' | 92° | M | 7.5 |
| 12-18 | 06h50.9m | -63° 29' | 92° | M | 7.6 |
| 12-23 | 06h38.1m | -64° 00' | 92° | M | 7.6 |
| 12-28 | 06h25.1m | -64° 19' | 92° | E | 7.7 |
| 01-02 | 06h12.3m | -64° 26' | 92° | E | 7.8 |
| 01-07 | 06h00.1m | -64° 23' | 92° | E | 7.9 |
| 01-12 | 05h48.6m | -64° 09' | 92° | E | 8.0 |
C/1997 J2 (Meunier-Dupouy)
| Date (00UT) | R.A. (2000) | Dec | El | Sky | Mag |
| 12-03 | 18h09.4m | +47° 22' | 73° | E | 11.7 |
| 12-08 | 18h22.8m | +46° 11' | 71° | E | 11.7 |
| 12-13 | 18h35.9m | +45° 01' | 70° | E | 11.6 |
| 12-18 | 18h48.6m | +43° 53' | 69° | E | 11.6 |
| 12-23 | 19h00.9m | +42° 47' | 67° | E | 11.6 |
| 12-28 | 19h12.9m | +41° 43' | 66° | E | 11.6 |
| 01-02 | 19h24.4m | +40° 42' | 64° | E | 11.6 |
| 01-07 | 19h35.6m | +39° 45' | 62° | E | 11.6 |
| 01-12 | 19h46.4m | +38° 51' | 61° | E | 11.6 |
C/1997 T1 (Utsunomiya)
| Date (00UT) | R.A. (2000) | Dec | El | Sky | Mag |
| 12-03 | 18h46.7m | +13° 22' | 48° | E | 10.5 |
| 12-08 | 18h46.6m | +11° 19' | 43° | E | 10.6 |
| 12-13 | 18h46.8m | +09° 30' | 39° | E | 10.6 |
| 12-18 | 18h47.1m | +07° 54' | 35° | E | 10.7 |
| 12-23 | 18h47.5m | +06° 27' | 32° | E | 10.8 |
| 12-28 | 18h48.0m | +05° 09' | 29° | E | 10.9 |
| 01-02 | 18h48.5m | +03° 58' | 27° | M | 11.0 |
| 01-07 | 18h49.0m | +02° 52' | 26° | M | 11.1 |
| 01-12 | 18h49.4m | +01° 52' | 26° | M | 11.2 |
103 P/Hartley 2
| Date (00UT) | R.A. (2000) | Dec | El | Sky | Mag |
| 12-03 | 21h18.1m | -09° 29' | 68° | E | 8.2 |
| 12-08 | 21h38.2m | -09° 25' | 68° | E | 8.1 |
| 12-13 | 21h59.4m | -09° 14' | 68° | E | 8.0 |
| 12-18 | 22h21.7m | -08° 56' | 68° | E | 7.9 |
| 12-23 | 22h45.1m | -08° 31' | 68° | E | 7.8 |
| 12-28 | 23h09.4m | -07° 58' | 69° | E | 7.8 |
| 01-02 | 23h34.5m | -07° 17' | 70° | E | 7.9 |
| 01-07 | 00h00.2m | -06° 29' | 71° | E | 7.9 |
| 01-12 | 00h26.2m | -05° 33' | 72° | E | 8.0 |
55P/ Tempel-Tuttle
| Date (00UT) | R.A. (2000) | Dec | El | Sky | Mag |
| 12-03 | 12h31.4m | +15° 16' | 71° | M | 16.7 |
| 12-08 | 12h33.6m | +16° 23' | 76° | M | 16.1 |
| 12-13 | 12h35.6m | +17° 53' | 81° | M | 15.5 |
| 12-18 | 12h37.1m | +19° 57' | 86° | M | 14.8 |
| 12-23 | 12h38.0m | +22° 51' | 92° | M | 14.0 |
| 12-28 | 12h37.9m | +27° 03' | 98° | M | 13.2 |
| 01-02 | 12h35.9m | +33° 30' | 105° | M | 12.3 |
| 01-07 | 12h29.5m | +43° 59' | 113° | M | 11.4 |
| 01-12 | 12h06.3m | +61° 34' | 19° | M | 10.4 |
One faint comet has recently been discovered. It was found by Jeff Larson using the Spacewatch equipment at Kitt Peak. It is not expected to become bright. Meanwhile the SOHO satellite picked up two more sungrazer comets falling into the sun.
Several comets are visible to us these nights. Comet Hale-Bopp is quite far south, many Northern Hemisphere observers have had their last view of this great comet. Comet Meunier-Dupouy remains in the north. Periodic Comet Hartley 2 crosses the Milky Way in the evening sky while the beautiful Comet Utsunomiya passes further north. Periodic Comet Temple-Tuttle, responsible for the Leonid Meteor Shower each November, returns after a 33-year absence. Its brightness curve may not be as steep as shown in the ephemerides below.
COMET HUNTING NOTES: Since January 1975, 48 different individuals have visually discovered comets that now carry their names. What countries do they live in? Twenty-three are in Japan, nine reside in the USA, with four in Australia. Other countries represented are the old USSR, Canada, England, South Africa, Philippines, Italy, New Zealand and Norway. Most discovery events occurred in Japan (33), followed by the USA (30) and Australia (19).
| Object | Hale-Bopp | Meunier-Dupouy | Hartley 2 |
| Peri. Date: | 1997 04 01.1370 | 1998 03 10.4365 | 1997 12 22.0242 |
| Peri. Dist (AU): | 0.914008 AU | 3.051015 AU | 1.031725 AU |
| Arg/Peri (2000): | 130.5787 deg. | 122.6755 deg. | 180.7240 deg. |
| Asc. Node (2000): | 282.4653 deg. | 148.8429 deg. | 219.9547 deg. |
| Incl (2000): | 089.4268 deg. | 091.2731 deg. | 013.6191 deg. |
| Eccen: | 0.995085 | 1.000760 | 0.700391 |
| Orbital Period: | ~2500 years | Long Period | 6.39 years |
| Ref: | MPC30738 | MPC30738 | MPC29880 |
| Epoch: | 1997 1201 8 | 1998 03 08 | 1997 12 18 |
| Absol. Mag/"n": | -1.0/4.0 | 4.0/4.0 | 8.0/6.0 |
| Object | Tempel-Tuttle | Utsunomiya |
| Peri. Date: | 1998 02 28.1034 | 1997 12 10.0570 |
| Peri. Dist (AU): | 0.976639 AU | 1.359850 AU |
| Arg/Peri (2000): | 172.4930 deg. | 095.8952 deg. |
| Asc. Node (2000): | 235.2568 deg. | 053.7059 deg. |
| Incl (2000): | 162.4861 deg. | 127.9898 deg. |
| Eccen: | 0.905507 | 1.0 |
| Orbital Period: | 33.23 years | Long Period |
| Ref: | MPC30244 | MPC30738 |
| Epoch: | 1997 12 18 | 1997 10 10 |
| Absol. Mag/"n": | 10.0/10.0 | 7.8/4.0 |
What's Up in January
Meeting Location
Unitarian Universalist Church in Livermore 1893 N.
Vasco Rd.
3/4 mile north of I-580
Membership: 215 +
Board
Alane Alchorn
Dennis Beckley
Rich Combs
Rich Green
Kathleen Kelly
Russ Kirk
Dave Rodrigues
Debbie Scherrer
Al Smith
Jim Zumstein
Tri-Valley Stargazers Membership/Renewal Application