SAAA meetings are held at Macatawa Bay School Planetarium, located at 3700 140th Avenue, Holland, Michigan on the second Friday of the month.

Visitors are always welcome!

Astronomical League	Int’l Dark Sky Assoc	Night Sky Network

News Highlights from Space.com

Vivekananda Clear Sky Forecast

Solar X-rays
Geomagnetic Field

In the past I have written about the real connection between us and the stars (as Carl Sagan said, “we are made of star stuff”). I have related how all of our scientific achievements, in fact, the entire scientific and industrial revolutions, can be traced to our quest to understand the night sky. Everything we take for granted in our technological world exists because long ago people looked at the stars and planets they saw in the sky and wondered. They wondered what were those lights in the sky and how do they move?

Perhaps you have been on a camping trip with a scout or church group and have witnessed this same wonder in the eyes of the children as they see the Milky Way or a shooting star for the first time and ask, “wow, what is that?” Perhaps you yourself have been awed by the beauty of the dark night sky.

If so, maybe you, too, are concerned that this beauty, this source of most of our understanding of the physical world, is becoming inaccessible to more and more people. The reason is light pollution.

Light pollution is any adverse effect of artificial light such as sky glow or light trespass - like the street light that shines in your bedroom window rather than on the road. Streetlights, security lights, decorative lights, and billboard lights are some of the most common sources of light pollution. It is easy to see - just go to the Lake Michigan shore at night and you will see a faint glow on the western horizon caused by the lights of Chicago and Milwaukee.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to outdoor lighting, I just think we should treat it as we do indoor lights (think lamp shades).

There is actually a great organization with a very informative web site devoted to combating this problem. It is called the International Dark Sky Association and can be found at www.darksky.org (or, just click on the IDA link on our home page). I highly recommend you check it out if you are concerned about this issue.

My top picks for viewing next month occur on the 16th through the 20th and on the last few days of the month. Starting on March 16, 45 minutes after sunset look for bright Venus near the western horizon. Use binoculars to see a very thin crescent Moon just to the right of the planet. Watch each night as the Moon climbs higher until, on March 20, it is right next to the Pleiades cluster. About a week later find Venus again and see if you can spot Mercury below and to the right. Because of the challenge, Mercury is one of my favorite objects to observe up in the sky.

This month in history:
March 2: Pioneer 10 launched - 1972
March 8: Voyager 1 discovers first active extraterrestrial volcanoes (on Jupiter’s moon Io) - 1979
March 14: Albert Einstein born - 1879
March 16: Carolyn Herschel born - 1750
March 18: Soviet rocket explosion at launch pad kills 50 workers - 1980
March 23: Russian space station, Mir, reenters atmosphere -2001
March 27: Contact lost with Phobos 2 - 1989

Here are this month’s viewing highlights:

Planets this month: Mars is visible lower left of Castor and Pollux in South. Venus is near western horizon just after sunset. Look for Mercury lower right of Venus at month’s end. Saturn near eastern horizon after sunset.

March 7: Last quarter Moon
March 15: New Moon.
March 23: First quarter Moon.
March 20: Spring begins at 1:32 p.m. when the Sun reaches vernal equinox.
March 21-2: Saturn is at opposition, rising around sunset and setting around sunrise.
March 29: Full Moon.

Old Business Items

1) Treasury Report:

Account balance as of Nov. 5th              $789.03
Cash collected at Nov. Park Twp meeting      $32.00
November payment from Park Twp               $84.00
2010 Membership dues                         $90.00
Int’l Dark Sky dues                         -$50.00
Payment to Science First for planispheres   -$55.45
Account balance as of Feb. 4th              $889.58

2) Event Updates:

November 13th SAAA meeting
Frank led a video presentation of the Aurora Borealis. Jim helped us find Aurora information on the Internet.

December 11th SAAA meeting- Christmas Party
We held our annual Christmas Party at Macatawa Bay Planetarium from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Larry presented the Rick Larson video “The Star of Bethlehem”.

January 7th Girl Scout program
SAAA presented a “Phases of the Moon” and Planetarium program for a Holland Girl Scout troop and a Brownie troop. The meeting took place at the Macatawa Bay Planetarium.

3) Upcoming Events:

February 12th General Meeting
Explore the new Night Sky Network web site, and present 2009 NSN service awards.

March 4th Women’s Enrichment Forum
SAAA has been asked to present an astronomy program for the Women’s Enrichment Forum on Thursday, March 4th, 2010. Meeting would take place at Macatawa Bay Planetarium, after our monthly board meeting.

March 12th Cub Scout program
Astronomy Belt Loop training for Cub Scout Pack 3055

March 13th Messier Marathon
Vivekananda Monastery, clear skies

April 24th National Astronomy Day
Peter will contact Ross at Lumir Corp. for permission to setup telescopes at Curtis Center Park.

May 19th Astronomy Program for Park Township
The topic for the Spring program is Deep Sky Objects. We need volunteers to help with the program.

New Business Items

We discussed buying a club banner to hang at gatherings. Jim contacted Troy Best at The Image Shoppe to confirm the banner quote is still good. We need to provide artwork to Troy for the banner.

George Miller – Secretary
February 09, 2010

We often equate February with cold, dreary, gray days, but the month can also offer fine observing opportunities. Although there are no spectacular eclipses of meteor showers scheduled for this month, you can still enjoy some fine planetary sights.

As the month begins, the planet Jupiter can be found above the western horizon after sunset. In the east, just below the stars Castor and Pollux, is the planet Mars. However, Mars’ brightness fades as the month progresses.

If you observe Jupiter each night, you will notice that it is soon joined by another bright object, the planet Venus. On the 14th, 15th, and 16th, look for the two planets very close together and below the crescent Moon. Remember, you are looking toward the western horizon, 20 minutes after sunset.

Saturn is also visible, although later on in the night. It rises over four hours after sunset on Feb. 1 but less than two hours after by month’s end. It is currently interesting to observe Saturn as it’s rings are nearly edge-on as seen from our perspective. Of course, a clear night and a small telescope are required to be able to see the rings.

On the Feb. 4th, use binoculars to look at Mars, well up in the east 1 - 2 hours after sunset. Scan a little to the right of the planet and you should be able to spot M44, the Beehive cluster in the constellation Cancer.

So hope for clear weather so you can enjoy the sights up in the sky.

This month in history:
Feb. 1: Shuttle Columbia breaks apart during reentry killing all 7 astronauts - 2003
Feb. 4: Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh born - 1906
Feb. 6: Alan Shepard hits first golf balls on Moon - 1971
Feb. 14: Voyager 1 looks back to take photo of solar system - 1990
Feb. 15: Galileo Galilei born - 1564
Feb. 19: Nicholas Copernicus born - 1473
Feb. 20: John Glenn is first American to orbit Earth - 1962
Feb. 24: Detection of first pulsar (by Jocelyn Bell in 1967) is announced - 1968

Here are this month’s viewing highlights:
Planets this month: Venus and Jupiter play tag near western horizon, Feb. 11-17. Look 20 minutes after sunset. Saturn rises several hours after sunset and remains visible for the rest of the night. Look for Mars between Gemini and Leo high in southeast after sunset.

Feb. 5: Last quarter Moon.
Feb. 11: Use binoculars to see Jupiter and Venus near western horizon 20 minutes after sunset. Watch nightly.
Feb. 13: New Moon.
Feb. 15: Look for crescent Moon above Jupiter and Venus.
Feb. 21: First quarter Moon.
Feb. 28: Full Moon.

Membership Dues for 2010
Membership dues will be collected at the January 8th general meeting. Individual/family membership is $20. Junior and Senior discounts are available.

1) Girl Scout Program Rescheduled: The Girl Scout Program was canceled due to conflicts with extracurricular school functions on November 19th. It will be rescheduled sometime in January (confirmed: January 7th). Irma Tibbetts provided a list of dates that will work well without conflicts for school events in January.

2) Christmas Program: Larry Logsdon offered to bring a movie on the Star of Bethlehem for the Christmas program next Friday. The movie is approx. 1.5 hours long.

3) Cub Scout Program: We received an email from Pack 3033 who would like a program in the planetarium to help them with an Astronomy Belt Loop award. We are awaiting feedback from the scouts with proposal dates.

4) Adventure Club Program: The Adventure Club from Grand Haven Seventh Day Adventist Church is working on an Astronomy Award and requested a program in the planetarium. We are awaiting feedback from the Adventure Club with proposal dates.

5) Club Banner: Jim will contact Troy Best to obtain graphics for the Club Banner.

6) Payment from Park Township Received: Jim received a check ($84) from Park Township for our astronomy program in October. The check will be transferred to Peter at the upcoming December meeting.

Jim Reier - President
December 1, 2009

The Sun orbits the earth, making one revolution every 24 hours. No, wait, it’s the other way around. The earth actually orbits around the Sun once per year and the apparent motion of the Sun is due to the rotation of the earth.

The solar system is well understood, but it wasn’t until relatively recently that I could make that statement. For a very long time, people thought that Earth was the center of the universe and everything orbited around it. Now we know a great deal about our solar system and how it works. This change in our thinking came about amidst much controversy. It took a long time for science to convince people of the true nature of our solar system.

We live in a world dominated by science. Most of what we take for granted was once the stuff of science fiction. Weather satellites, cell phones, TV, GPS, computers, and many medical procedures are all products of the scientific revolution. Very few people question the fact that these all rely on the theory of relativity for their validity. Yet other scientific theories are routinely labeled as questionable, open to interpretation, or “only a theory”.

We, as a nation, are scientifically illiterate, but the irony is that our economy, technology, and even our security all depend on science. Why is it, then, that some scientific theories are never questioned while others are extremely controversial?

One reason may be that most scientific principals do not conflict with our long-held beliefs. This was the source of our resistance to the Sun-centered theory which did, indeed, conflict with long-held beliefs. But the science supporting controversial topics is the same as that which supports accepted practice.

Another reason is that most people do not know how science works. Science is transparent and self-correcting. Remember cold fusion? The media had a heyday predicting the end of our energy problems. Unfortunately, the experiments performed after the initial announcements did not confirm the conclusions of the original investigators and the theory was abandoned.

Scientists collect data and interpret the results. The conclusions are based on many observations. Anyone is free to do their own data collection and interpretation. Scientific theories are formed when a great number of experiments lead investigators to the same conclusions. The popularity of a theory has no impact on its validity. If you want to question a result, you will be asked to “show me the data”. This is how science works.

This month in history:
Nov. 6: Tycho Brahe observes supernova in Cassiopeia - 1572
Nov. 8: Edmund Halley born. - 1656
Nov. 11: Vesto Slipher born - 1875
Nov. 13: Mariner 9 is first spacecraft to orbit Mars - 1971
Nov. 19: Second lunar landing made by Apollo 12 - 1969
Nov. 27: Mars 2 probe is first artificial object to hit Mars - 1971

Here are this month’s viewing highlights:
Planets this month: Jupiter continues to dominate the southern sky at nightfall, setting about 6 hours after the Sun. Mars high in SW at dawn. Venus and Saturn are in the ESE before dawn.
Nov. 2: Full Moon
Nov. 9: Last-quarter Moon
Nov. 12: Telescope shows Jupiter moon Europa passing in front of Io at 9:05 p.m.
Nov. 16: New Moon
Nov. 24: First-quarter Moon

Old Business Items

1) Treasury Report:

Account balance as of Oct. 1st          $801.03
Reimbursement to G. Miller for snacks   -$12.00
Account balance as of Nov. 5th          $789.03

Park Township pay check for October’s “Exploring the Solar System” presentation is “in the mail”.

2) Event Updates:

October 9th program for Park Township
We had a strong showing with many people registering the last two days, and some paying at the door. We split into two groups. Peter and Jim presented a planetarium show for both sessions. Frank led the other group on the “Pocket Solar System” scale model activity. George and Doug Sutherland helped out. Frank described different types of telescopes for the second session in the classroom.

October 16th Star Party at Vivekananda Monastery
This event at Vivekananda was cancelled, due to cloudy weather conditions.

October 24th Astronomy Day activities
This event at Curtis Center Park was cancelled, due to cloudy weather conditions.

3) Upcoming Events:

November 13th SAAA meeting
Frank will lead a video presentation of the Aurora Borealis. Jim will help us find Aurora information on the Internet.

November 19th Girl Scout program
SAAA will present a “Phases of the Moon” and Planetarium program for a Holland Girl Scout troop and a Brownie troop. The meeting will take place Thursday at Macatawa Bay Planetarium from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

December 11th SAAA meeting- Christmas Party
Our annual Christmas Party will be held at Macatawa Bay Planetarium from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Everyone should bring a treat to share.

March 4th Women’s Enrichment Forum
SAAA has been asked to present an astronomy program for the Women’s Enrichment Forum on Thursday, March 4th, 2010. Meeting would take place at Macatawa Bay Planetarium, after our monthly board meeting.

New Business Items

We discussed buying a club banner to hang at gatherings. Jim will work with Larry and Troy to obtain banner graphics.

Park Township asked if we wanted to have a program in their Winter 2010 Recreation schedule. We decided to decline this time, but plan to participate in their Spring 2010 schedule.

George Miller – Secretary
November 15, 2009

In attendance: Jim Reier, Frank Roldan, Peter Burkey, George Miller

Old Business Items

1) Treasury Report:

Account balance as of Sept. 3rd                   $821.03
State of Michigan Non-Profit registration fee     -$20.00
Account balance as of Oct. 1st                    $801.03

Other expenses approved for October:
International Dark Sky Association fee ($50.00)

2) Upcoming Events:

October 8th setup for Park Township program
SAAA will meet at 6:00pm at Macatawa Bay Middle School to prepare for the October 9th program.

October 9th program for Park Township
We may need to split up into two groups. Peter will present a planetarium show for registered guests of Park Township. The other group will watch a pictorial of the Space Shuttle preparation procedures, and perform activities from previous Night Sky Network toolkits. This meeting will take the place of our regular October meeting. George will bring cider and a snack (to be reimbursed from revenue from this event).

October 16th Star Party at Vivekananda monastery
Weather permitting.

October 24th Astronomy Day activities
Peter will contact Ross at Lumir Corp. to reserve Curtis Center Park for Astronomy Day activities on Saturday, October 24th. Please keep this date open to help at the park.

November 13th SAAA meeting
Frank will lead a video presentation of the Aurora Borealis.

New Business Items

1) Girl Scout Program SAAA has been asked to present an astronomy program for a Holland Girl Scout troop and a junior Brownie troop. We chose Thursday, November 19th from 4 dates she suggested. The meeting would take place at Macatawa Bay Planetarium from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.

2) Women’s Enrichment Forum Astronomy Program SAAA has been asked to present an astronomy program for the Women’s Enrichment Forum on March 4th, 2010. This meeting would take place at Macatawa Bay Planetarium, time to be determined.

George Miller – Secretary
October 07, 2009

If you are an early riser, this is the month for you. Three planets, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn, will display a gathering (or “conjunction”) in the morning eastern sky. If you observe for several days between October 4 and 15, you will see the three planets change position with respect to one another.

Look toward the eastern horizon about an hour before sunrise. Orient yourself by finding Venus, which will be shining like a beacon. At first Venus will be highest and brightest followed by Mercury just below it and then Saturn, to the lower left of Mercury, will be the dimmest of the three. As the days progress, Saturn will move up and to the right passing Mercury on the 8th and Venus on the 13th. On each of those days, the separation between the two planets will be less than the diameter of the full Moon.

Planets are like skaters on a roller rink, all going around a central point in the same direction at different speeds. Because of the planets’ orbits we see them in different positions from night to night, unlike the background stars that are so distant that their motions go undetected. Every now and then their motions cause them to “line up” and when they are in nearly the same direction (Saturn is, of course, much, much farther away than Mercury or Venus) it becomes easy for us to see their change in position with respect to each other. That is what is happening this month.

What you will be witnessing is an example of similar events that changed human history, for it was the study of the movement of the planets that led the early astronomers to figuring out how the soar system worked. This led to the beginnings of the scientific revolution.

I would like to invite my readers to submit questions about astronomy to me that I may answer. If you have a topic of interest or have a any questions, send me an email at pburkey@comcast.net and I will try respond in a forthcoming column. I look forward to hearing from you. Until then keep your eyes on what’s up in the sky.

This month in history:
Oct. 1: NASA founded - 1958
Oct. 4: Space Age begins when Sputnik 1, first artificial satellite, is launched - 1957
Oct. 10: Dedication of VLA - Very Large Array (remember “Contact”?) - 1980
Oct. 14: Chuck Yeager breaks sound barrier - 1947
Oct. 22: First record of solar eclipse - 2136 BC
Oct. 26: First flyby of Saturn’s moon Titan by Cassini spacecraft - 2004

Planets this month: Jupiter dominates southern sky after dark. Mars rises after midnight and is high in the south at dawn. Saturn passes Mercury and Venus in the Eastern predawn sky.

Oct. 4: Full Moon.
Oct. 11: Last quarter Moon.
Oct. 4-15: Watch gathering of planets just above the eastern horizon one hour before dawn.
Oct. 21-22: Peak of Orionid meteors.
Oct. 18: New Moon
Oct. 25: First quarter Moon.