Come celebrate the solstice with your astronomy club, on December 20, the third Friday of the month. TVS will provide delicious roast turkey and baked ham, cooked to perfection by club chefs Rich and Barbara Green. By popular request, this year's "assignments" have been changed! Please see the list below for your contribution to the potluck. The first letter of your last name determines the dish you should bring. Please prepare enough to feed eight to ten hungry astronomers.
| A through G | Dessert |
| H through R | Vegetable or Salad |
| S through Z | Rice or Potatoes or Dinner Rolls and Butter/Spread |
After dinner we'll swap observing tips and pass along good ideas for stocking-stuffer gadgets.
Others elected or re-elected to board positions are: Alane Alchorn, Dennis Beckley, Rich Combs, Russ Kirk, Dave Rodrigues, Debbie Scherrer, Al Smith, Dave Sworin, and Jim Zumstein. Rich Green continues in his ex-oficio position as past-president.
These new and familiar faces can be seen monthly at a new time. The General Meeting night now moves to the third Friday of each month. Dates for 1997 are: January 17, February 21, March 21, April 18, May 16, June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, October 17, November 21, December 19.
The membership/renewal application form on page 6 has been reformatted to include a hold-harmless statement and electronic options for those of us with Web and cyberspace connections. If you wish to be notified by e-mail when the newsletter becomes available on the Website each month, please put an "X" on the appropriate line on page 6. Likewise, mark the corresponding line if you do not wish to receive Prime Focus by mail any longer.
Discounted subscriptions to Astronomy , and Sky & Telescope . are available at $20 and $27 respectively. Please mark these lines if you want to be included in the club order. It will be submitted the Monday following February 's general meeting. Subscription fees should be added to your annual dues on a single check, payable to Tri-Valley Stargazers.
Patron membership is available after one year of general membership in good standing, subject to the approval of the board of directors. Patrons pay an additional $40 annually, over and above their general dues. They have access to the 17.5-inch telescope and the Sky Shack observatory. Patron membership is limited, with first priority given to active Patrons wishing to renew. For details, call vice-president Chuck Grant at (510) 449-1500 (yes, this really is his home number).
If your employer provides matching funds for charitable donations, the club benefits twice from your donation, no matter how modest it is. A line for TVS contributions has been provided on the revamped application form on the last page.
You, and your employer if applicable, will receive an acknowledgment of the donation, suitable for proving to the IRS that you are all-around good guys and deserve a tax break accordingly.
The board is looking for a Speakers and Programs committee chair. This individual will assist in selecting the program topics for general meetings, and in scheduling and confirming speakers on those topics. Coordination with the board can be accomplished by e-mail and phone, if it is a burden to attend planning meetings.
Even nearer to our hearts (and stomachs) is the Hostitality chair. He or she arranges for beverages and snacks at each general meeting. The club foots the bill for these edibles, but needs someone to fetch them.
Secretary Earl Mack (510 ) 828-1414
Vice President Chuck Grant (510) 449-1500
Treasurer Gene Nassar (510) 462-7843
Observatory Director Chuck Grant (510) 449-1500
Eyes on the Skies BBS Mike Rushford (510) 443-6146
Web Site http://www.hooked.net/~tvs/
Editor Alane Alchorn (510) 455-9464 (510 ) 455-9466 fax circlewing@aol.com
Meeting Location Unitarian Universalist Church in Livermore 1893 N. Vasco Rd. 3/4 mile north of I-580
Tri-Valley Stargazers P.O. Box 2467 Livermore, CA 94551 Membership: 185
| 16 Mon | TVS Planning Meeting 7:00 PM Round Table Pizza, 1540 First St., Livermore (in Orchard Supply/Safeway/Longs shopping center). |
| 17 Tue | First Quarter Moon 1:31 AM |
| Saturn 3° south of Moon. | |
| Algol at minimum 8:02 PM | |
| 18 Wed | Galileo's first flyby of Europa (69 2 km) 10:54 PM |
| 20 Fri | Tri-Valley Stargazers holiday potluck 7:30 PM PST. Unitari an Universalist Church in Livermore, 1893 N. Vasco Road, Livermore. (3/4 mile north of I-580). |
| 21 Sat | Winter Solstice 6:06 AM |
| 22 Sun | Aldebaran 0.9° south of Moon; occulted in central Canada. |
| 24 Tue | Full Moon 12:41 PM |
| Venus 6° north of Antares. | |
| 25 Wed | Christmas. |
| 27 Fri | Johannes Kepler's 425th birthday. |
| 31 Tue | New Year's Eve. |
| Mars 3° north of Moon. | |
| 1 Wed | New Year's Day. |
| Earth at perihelion (nearest to Sun: 0.98 3 AU = 147,0 95,000 km). | |
| Last Quarter Moon 5:45 PM PST. | |
| 3 Fri | Quadrantid meteor shower peaks around 3 AM |
| 4 Sat | Excellent weekend for observing: no Moon until after 2:30 AM |
| Algol at minimum 12:57 AM | |
| 6 Mon | Algol at minimum 9:47 PM |
| 7 Tue | Venus 5° south of Moon. (Look shortly before sunrise at 7:23 AM) |
| 8 | Wed New Moon 8:26 PM |
| 9 Thu | Young Moon less than 21 hours old at sunset (5:07 PM). |
| 10 Fri | First day of Ramad\342n. |
| 11 Sat | Excellent weekend for observing: Moon sets at 8:37 PM |
| 12 Sun | Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-81) launch scheduled 1:17 AM (Mir docking mission.) |
| Mercury 3° north of Venus. | |
| 13 Mon | Saturn 2° south of Moon. |
| asteroid 211 Isolda 8' (mag 11.7) from Crab Nebula (M1). (See January Astronomy, p. 70.) | |
| 15 Wed | First Quarter Moon 12:02 PM |
| 17 Fri | Tri-Valley Stargazers meeting 7:30 PM Unitarian Universalist Church in Livermore, 1893 N. Vasco Road, Livermore. (3/4 mile north of I-580). |
| Date(00UT) | R.A.(2000) | Dec. | El. | Sky | Mag. |
| 12-18 | 18h23.4 m | +01° 57' | 27° | E | 3.5 |
| 12-23 | 18h29.9 m | +02° 53' | 27° | E | 3.3 |
| 12-28 | 18h36.8 m | +03° 55' | 27° | E | 3.1 |
| 01-02 | 18h44.0 m | +05° 05' | 28° | M | 2.9 |
| 01-07 | 18h51.8 m | +06° 23' | 29° | M | 2.7 |
C/1996 Q1 (Tabur)
| Date(00UT) | R.A.(2000) | Dec. | El. | Sky | Mag. |
| 12-18 | 16h06.7 m | +16° 40' | 47° | M | 11.2 |
| 12-23 | 16h09.5 m | +15° 20' | 48° | M | 11.5 |
| 12-28 | 16h11.9 m | +14° 08' | 50° | M | 11.8 |
| 01-02 | 16h13.8 m | +13° 04' | 53° | M | 12.0 |
| 01-07 | 16h15.4 m | +12° 06' | 56° | M | 12.2 |
Comet Hale-Bopp continues to brighten as it passes north of the Sun and into the morning sky as 1996 draws to a close. Northern hemisphere observers will have difficulty seeing it for a few weeks, while southern hemisphere observers won't see it until May 1997. While Comet Hale-Bopp has developed jets near the nucleus, and a tail a few degrees long. Comet Tabur began to fade rapidly in late October. This was unexpected and it is unusual behavior for a comet. It may now be fainter than the adjusted magnitude estimates listed in the ephemerides below.
Several comets should be easily visible to us in 1997. Comet Hale-Bopp will likely be the brightest, reaching perihelion in late March. Between January and June, Periodic Comet Wild 2 will reach magnitude ten in the northern evening sky. At nearly the same time Periodic Comet Wirtanen will be of similar brightness. Periodic Comet Encke is visible to the southern hemisphere in mid-summer. Toward the end of the year Periodic Comet Hartley 2 may reach binocular visibility in the evening sky, while Periodic Comet Tempel-Tuttle crosses through the north polar region at magnitude nine. In addition to these returning periodic comets, one never knows when and where new comets will be discovered.
| Object | Hale-Bopp | Tabur |
| Peri. Date | 1997 03 31.86770 | 1996 11 03.50419 |
| Peri. Dist (AU) | 0.9170703 AU | 0.84001480 AU |
| Arg/Peri (2000): | 130.40061 deg. | 57.37495 deg. |
| Asc. Node (2000): | 282.46983 deg. | 31.41231 deg. |
| Incl (2000) | 89.38442 deg. | 73.36167 deg. |
| Eccen: | 0.99674010 | 1.0 |
| Orbital Period: | ~4700 yrs. | Long period |
How did you learn about the club?_________________
Why did you join?________________________________
Are we meeting your expectations ?____Yes_____No
Comments______________________________________
How long have you been interested in astronomy? __________years.
How long have you been a member?
____<1 year ____1-3 years ____3-5 years ____over 5 years
How often do you attend the monthly meetings?
Almost always____
About half the time____
Occasionally____
Never____
How often do you go to The Dark Site?
Several times a month_____
Once a month_____
Every 2-3 months____
1-3 times a year______
Never______
Rate the following activities for their importance to you (1=very important, 5=no interest)
_____Monthly meetings/speakers
_____Star parties at The Dark Site
_____Public star parties
_____Field trips to Yosemite,
White Mtns,
etc.
_____Using the 30"
telescope at Fremont Peak
_____Telescope making
_____CCD imaging
_____Astrophotography (film)
_____Deep-sky observing (faint objects)
_____School programs/presentations
_____Computer programs,
Internet,
bulletin boards
What kind of instrument do you use most for observing?
____________________________________
______________________________________________
What program topics would you like us to cover at the meetings?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Do you have a computer?
____Yes ____No
Type:_____Macintosh _____IBM or Clone
Does your computer have a modem?___Yes ___No
Have you ever logged on to the TVS Bulletin Board?____Yes ____No
Do you have access to the Internet?_____Yes _____No
e-mail?
_____Yes _____No
Have you visited the TVS web page? _____Yes _____No
Do you use your computer for astronomy related purposes?_____Yes_____No
If so,
what?_________________________________________
Have you ever borrowed books from the TVS library?
____Yes ____No
Books you would like us to have:___________________________
____________________________________
Are you interested in helping with a school program?
____Yes ____No
How is the newsletter format?____________________
How is the newsletter content ?___________________
Are there any activities that you would like us to provide?
_______________________________________
Can you suggest any improvements to the club? ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________