Desert Skies

Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association

Volume XLIX, Number 11, November, 2003

Contents

Calendar of Events

Main Meeting: Friday, : Friday, Nov 7 at the Steward Observatory Auditorium – Room N210

BEGINNERS LECTURE: 6:30 pm
Title: The Right Telescope for The Right Job
Speaker: Andrew Cooper

Yes another talk about telescopes, but the telescope is the basic tool of the trade. Here I will focus on an more in depth review of several basic telescope types, the Newtonian, Schmidt-Cassegrain and the Apochromatic Refractor.

GENERAL MEETING: 7:30 pm
Title: Chicxulub Impact Crater
Speaker: David A. Kring, Ph.D.

The Chicxulub impact crater was discovered and linked to dinosaur extinction by a University of Arizona-led team. The crater is immense, measuring about 180 kilometers in diameter. Debris from the crater was distributed around the world. The impact crater is the best-preserved large crater on Earth, but it is buried beneath a kilometer of sediments. Consequently, the only direct way to study the crater is to drill deep boreholes. Recently, a UA team participated in a deep drilling project in the Yucatan, which recovered new samples of the crater. The initial results of that project will be discussed.

In addition, our understanding of the environmental consequences of the impact event continues to mature. The distribution of impact-generated wildfires, for example, is now better known. It is now clear that fires were ignited in southern North America, central South America, central Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. Fires elsewhere in the world would have occurred only if the trajectory of the impacting asteroid or comet had specific orientations. A summary of the fires and other environmental consequences will also be presented.

Dr Kring is an Associate Professor of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and holds an associate professor position in the UA Department of Geosciences. He is the director of the NASA Space Imagery Center located at the UA and director of the UA Meteorite Recovery Program. Dr Kring last spoke to us three years ago about Arizona meteorites. His website (http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/people/faculty/kring2.html) includes a link to the The Chicxulub Scientific Drilling Project and a map of meteorite finds in Arizona.


Board of Director's Meeting:: Wednesday, Nov 12, 6:30 pm at Steward Observatory Conference Room N305

Star Parties and Events:

 

NEWSLETTER SCHEDULE:Deadline for articles: Sat, Nov 22. Printing: Mon, Nov 24. Folding Party: Tues, Nov 25. Mailing: Wed, Nov 26. The newsletter is mailed at least one week prior to the following month’s General Meeting.

Note: The board of directors meeting is the first Wednesday after the monthly meeting. The astrophoto SIG is the first Thursday after the monthly meeting.

General Information





		
             Office               Name                Phone        Email
             ------               ----                -----        -----
             President            Thom Peck          327-7825     thomas.peck@optics.arizona.edu
             Vice-President       Steve Peterson     762-8211     swpeterson@thereiver.com
             Secretary            Ken Wheelock       579-9099     kenandclancy@yahoo.com
             Treasurer            Terri Lappin       579-0185     tklappin@earthlink.net
             Member-at-Large      Ed Finney          296-9266     cefinney@NetZero.com
             Member-at-Large      Bill Lofquist      297-6653     wlofquist@aol.com
             Member-at-Large      Ray Toscano        529-3074     ray_toscano@Earthlink.net
			 
			Other Officers for 2003

            School S. Party Schedule Coordinator    Steve Marten        906-0049   steve1636@aol.com
            School S. Party Volunteer Coordinator   Robert Wilson       744-0263   rasjwilson@aol.com
            Desert Skies Editor                     George Barber       822-2392   barbergj@flash.net
            AstroLeague Correspondent               Nick de Mesa        797-6614   demesan@onsetbeach.com
            Astrophotography SIG                    Dean Ketelsen       293-2855   ketelsen@as.arizona.edu
            Astrocomputing SIG                      Roger Tanner        574-3876   rtanner@seds.lpl.arizona.edu
            Chief Observer                          Wayne Johnson       586-2244   mrgalaxy@juno.com
            Webmaster                               Dean Salman         250-0407   E-Mail
TAAA Mission Statement

Membership in the TAAA

Desert Skies Publishing Guidelines

Desert Skies is published monthly by the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, PO Box 41254, Tucson, Arizona 85717

President's Message

Club News

U of A Homecoming Activity

Our meeting falls on the Friday before the U of A Homecoming. There are some homecoming activities planned for Friday evening, most notably a bonfire on the UA mall, which will start about 8pm. However in our favor, our meeting begins well before that event. Both the invited speaker and his topic are excellent (The Chicxulub impact crater) so we hope all interested members will not let the homecoming activities prevent them from attending the meeting. You might plan on needing a few extra minutes for parking.

Member News

We welcome the most recent members to join the TAAA: David & Adriana Gaffney, and Vidhya & Saravanan Vaitheeswaran. Glad to have all of you join! New members should be sure to pick up a new members pack at a meeting. Hope you’ll make it to our star parties or meetings so we can all get to know you. (Updated membership lists are available to any member at most regular meetings, so pick one up if you need it.)

We’ve heard that Michael and Mary Turner will be returning to Tucson after spending some time in San Diego. We’ll be glad to see them at our star parties again.

Paul Kangieser, TAAA member for about 10 years passed away on September 15th after a long battle with cancer. Paul was born in Topeka but lived most of his life in Arizona. He was a member of the TAAA for about 10 years, although illness kept him from attending events for the past two years. In addition to his interest in astronomy, Paul played the piano and worked as the state climatologist for Arizona. He is credited with developing the “3 consecutive days with a dew point over 55 degrees” rule to define the start of our summer monsoons. We wish Paul’s wife, Jeanette, and the rest of his family comfort in this difficult time.

Looking Sharp!

TAAA apparel will be for sale at the November meeting. Orders may also be placed for jackets with the TAAA logo. Cost for the jackets will be $50.00. All jacket orders need to be paid in advance. The jackets can be picked up during the December meeting.


Calendars for 2004

Calendars for 2004 will be available at this month’s regular meeting. We have selected the Deep Space Mysteries calendar this year, which is published by Kalmbach Publishing (Astronomy Magazine) The cost is $10 each (~$2 off the regular selling price), or $9 each for more than one. This calendar has daily information about astronomical events, both historical and observational…plus space for adding important events you need to remember. Each month features a full-color astronomical image of a deep sky object. May’s image is of “The Mice” (NGC4676). Almost every object in the image is another distant galaxy. June features a stunningly colorful image of the Eagle Nebula (M16).

Proceeds from the sale of these calendars will be used appropriately as decided by the board. Thank you to all who support the TAAA through the purchase of the yearly calendars.


Support TAAA with Basha’s Thanks a Million Program

Basha’s shoppers can now designate the TAAA to receive up to $1 for each $100 spent when they use their Basha’s “Thank You” card. Currently there are 6 members in the program who have collectively spent almost $500 in the last month. We appreciate your support! To participate, Basha’s shoppers should give the cashier our 5-digit number (23178) when they check out. After doing this once, your very first receipt will state that the TAAA has been linked to your card purchases. Save that first receipt and bring it into a meeting for $1 off club apparel, calendars, or membership dues. You only need the number once; future purchases will automatically be linked to the TAAA. (You can link up to 3 of your favorite groups to your purchases and the 1% will be evenly distributed among those groups.) If you have questions contact Terri Lappin at 579-0185, tklappin@earthlink.net.


Congratulations

Dr. Tim Hunter was awarded the 2003 Astronomical League Award for his exceptional support of astronomy. See the article in Reflector for more information.


Did you see the blue flier?

By the time you read this, the 50th Anniversary Banquet will be less than 90 days away. That means it's time for you to:

• Circle January 23, 2004 on your calendar.

• Fill out and mail the blue flier, which is the means of reserving your place at the table and letting us know your entree preference.

• Take a few minutes to dig around in your office and memory for mementos, souvenirs or other memorabilia, which TAAA might borrow as part of the celebration of 50 years of history.

So, please be sure to read the blue flier in this newsletter. It will tell you all the details. Also, A reminder to past presidents to please have your written histories to Sheila Conrad by Thanksgiving. Address is at the bottom of the flier.


50th Anniversary TAAA T-Shirts

Special Edition 50th Anniversary TAAA T-Shirts are in the works! We plan to have them available at the December 5th member's meeting (in time for holiday gift giving!).


TAAA History Project Volunteers Needed!!

We are planning to have historical materials available for the 50th anniversary dinner in January, and need people to help sort/organize/identify. Anyone can help but we may especially need the memories of long-time members. If you are interested, please email Twila Peck at twilap@email.arizona.edu, or phone Sheila Conrad at 520-529-1750 as soon as possible.


TAAA Telescope Raffle

As part of the TAAA 50th anniversary celebration, the club will be raffling off a Meade 10 inch LX200GPS telescope. The tickets are on sale now and can be purchased now through January meetings or by mail. The price of each ticket is $5.00. You must be a member of the TAAA to purchase the tickets and they are not transferable. The winning ticket will be drawn at the 50th anniversary party held on the 23rd of January at the Hidden Valley Inn. You need not be present to win. The winner is responsible for shipping/pick up. The telescope is valued at $2730.00. If you are unable to attend the meetings and want to purchase the tickets by mail, please call Liz Kalas at 620-6502.


Corrections

There were some errors in the article on the LBT tour in last month’s newsletter. Please note the following:
We were on Mt Graham, not Mt Hopkins.
Gary Rosenbaum didn't arrange the tour. Gary and Teresa Lappin were there as Steward Observatory representatives and tourists.
John Hill was completely overlooked and it was his idea in the first place to invite the TAAA up the mountain. He contacted Dean Ketelsen and Dean was the go-between for the TAAA.
John Hill and John Waack conducted the tour. Not sure if Jon Rousseau or JT Williams conducted any part of the tour.

The telescope pictured for the raffle [10” LX-200GPS] in the October issue is on a wedge. The telescope being raffled does not include the wedge. It is an alt-azimuth mount. The photograph has been corrected in this issue.

In last month’s minutes, Dean Salman’s name was misspelled.


Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Star Party a Success
By Andrew Cooper

My thanks to all who came to help out at our Fall ASDM Public Star Party. I think the words "unqualified success" sum up the event most accurately. The publicity effort worked very well and the crowd was beyond our expectations.

Knowing the effort going into the publicity I had worried about how many observers and 'scopes were going to be there. Deb and I rolled in at exactly 5:45pm, the planned setup time, and our members were already out in force, we almost didn't find a spot to set up in the first couple rows. You, our membership, were there in force to share our love of the night sky with our fellow citizens of Tucson.

The result was about forty telescopes ready to meet the crowd that just kept rolling in. And roll in it did, many were commenting on how this was the largest crowd we had ever had at an ASDM event. To meet the crowd was a wide assortment of 'scopes of all types and sizes, from a several 18" and 16" dobs to the usual flurry of SCT's and a few refractors giving good views of Mars. Scopes manned by experienced public presenters as well. In the couple moments I had to walk the crowd I listened with respect to the knowledgeable answers given in response to the questions that always get asked. So many of you have done this time and again at these semi-annual events, or at the monthly school star parties and the experience shows. Answers coming quickly, explained in terms understandable by anyone. Few clubs in the world can field so many experienced and dedicated volunteers, probably the club's greatest asset.

The crowd just kept coming, I long lost count of how many waited in line for sights through Deep Violet, my 18" dob. The line was usually ten to twenty people waiting for looks at star clusters and nebulae. I think some of the best views were of the many planetary nebulae the fall skies offered, M27, M76, M57, NGC7662, NGC6543 all were targets of my scope through the evening. The subtle colors of these nebulae leading to questions and answers about human vision and the elements present in these nebulae and the deaths of stars.

The usual problems with a public star party were present, car headlights, lost glasses, etc. But this is the usual environment when those not used to star party etiquette are present. The biggest problem was ending it. The crowd was still present when 11:00pm rolled around, the last few vehicles leaving almost at midnight; the museum security was getting a little impatient. It seemed such a shame to break down the scope under such a beautiful fall sky, but break down we did, ending a very successful star party.


A New Astronomy Course At Pima Partnership High School
By Bill Lofquist

The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, through its Reach for the Stars program, is offering an astronomy course at the Pima Partnership High School, a charter school operated by the Pima Prevention Partnership. It is located at the southeast corner of Stone and Drachman.

The course began on October 24, lasts two hours each week, and runs for seven weeks. TAAA members and others from the University and Kitt Peak are participating as presenters.

The presentations are as follows: Andrew Cooper on "The Scale of the Universe"; George Barber on "The Stars"; Rik and Dolores Hill on "The Sun, Asteroids, Comets, Meteorites and Other Near Earth Objects"; John Kalas on "The Moon" and Terri Lappin on "The Planets"; Wayne Johnson on "Supernova, Galaxies and Planetary Nebulae" and Scott Tucker on "Astrophotography"; and Chris Walker on "Star Formation, Open and Globular Clusters, Galaxies and Extra-Galactic Phenomena."

We will also do some solar and nighttime observing, make field trips to Kitt Peak, the Planetarium, the Mirror Lab and the Lunar and Planetary Lab, and have reports by students on astronomers and other topics.

Mr. Eddie Rodriguez is the science teacher at the school. He is most enthusiastic about the course. Bill Lofquist is the course coordinator.

The support of this program by all who are participating is greatly appreciated.

William A. Lofquist
Development Publications
P. O. Box 36748
Tucson, AZ 85740
(520) 575-7047
email: wlofquist@comcast.net


Las Cienegas Star Party Review
27-28 September, 2003
By Andrew Cooper

It was a good night! How could it not be? The first new moon weekend since the end of Monsoons, barely a cloud in the sky, and those dissipated as the twilight darkened to full night. With the clear and classic western horizons that Las Cienegas offers to enjoy as you wait for the stars. About 25 vehicles and telescopes greeted this beautiful observing night. A good crowd, but not unexpected as many were suffering from ancient photon deprivation after months of cloudy nights. The good parts... no clouds, warm temperatures, and no bugs to speak of! The bad parts... not much to mention.

The summer Milky Way dominated the sky, providing a clear demonstration of an edge-on spiral galaxy seen up-close and personal. So the evening started by visiting old favorites along nebula row. A lot of aperture was available to those wandering up and down the old landing strip. An 18", a 15", a 14", and a whole slew of tens, eleven's and, twelve's. And refractors from a very nice 90mm f/5 APO to a folded eight-inch.

About twenty UofA students, members of the astronomy club, joined us. They did have a little fun getting to the site. Apparently the lead card of their caravan missed the turnoff down the old runway and ended up in a mud puddle just a bit further on. Well... mud lake might be more appropriate. According to the tales told later around the telescopes several inches of water got into the car and required the assistance of quite a few students sloshing around to push to dry ground.

Mars wasn't too bad in the twilight, the seeing could have been a bit steadier and it did improve late into the night. But, even at first, what remains of the south polar cap was easily visible as well as some albedo features. Definitely worth the efforts of the several web cams that were busily eating up megabytes of disk space

For those few who held out Saturn was gorgeous, currently located in a few field stars that make it difficult to pick out the outer moons from the background. The outermost ring is currently visible in its entirety, just peeking above the pole. Again the web cams were busy, maybe we will see more than just Mars at the next astrophoto SIG meeting.

About a half dozen observers held out to see the zodiacal light appear in the eastern sky, a huge glowing pyramid that appeared like a false dawn towering into the sky. Before the last two scopes were broken down Jupiter and even Mercury were added to the observing list of this very successful night.

 

Items of Interest

"ET" Star Cluster
by Randy Quiroz, TAAA member

The "ET" (extraterrestrial) open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia shows a pattern of that famous little guy from the popular movie. There are two bright stars marking his eyes & some dimmer stars depicting his torso, his two arms extended outward away from his body in opposite directions & two stars marking his feet. The cluster is NGC-457, also known as The Owl Cluster. At 6.40 Magnitude, it is easily visible in a small telescope or large binoculars. Its angular size is 13.0 minutes of arc & celestial coordinates are, RA 1h 19m 21s, Dec. +58 degrees 21m 08s. It's within 2 degrees of the star, "Ruchbah", one of the stars that make the "W" pattern in Cassiopeia. Have fun looking at it!


Obtrusive Outdoors Lighting

Obviously, dark skies are necessary in order to enjoy the night sky here in the Tucson area. Therefore, it is most important that we all do our part in protecting us from obtrusive lighting. We do not want our telescopes to become "white-elephants".

Both the City of Tucson and Pima County, are well as several other governmental entities, are now doing a much better job of responding to formal lighting complaints. Therefore, we have included a copy of the Obtrusive Lighting Complaint Form in this newsletter. Feel free to make as many copies of it as you need.

I am sure that each and every one of you is bothered by several poor outdoor lighting installations. What I suggest is that you first approach the owner of the properties and try to "work-it-out". If that fails, in a reasonable amount of time, then fill out the enclosed form and send it to us. That only takes a few minutes.

We will then personally check out each problem, and if confirmed that the lighting is indeed illegal, we will forward on your complaint(s) to the proper authorities or you. We also try to follow-up on these complaints, but you can help us out by providing us with progress reports occasionally.

Note that some "poor" lighting has been voluntarily improved or removed by property owners, even if it does strictly meet the legal codes. In other cases, the lights were simply shut off most, if not all, of the time. That was done by simply, and politely, pointing out the problem to the property owners.

Finally, we give out awards for "Excellence in Outdoor Lighting" to those properties that make major improvements to their outdoor lighting.

Yours,
John Polacheck, Acting Chairman
Southern Arizona IDA (SAIDA)

Telephone: (520)-622-4599 (Days), (520-743-1362 (Evenings), FAX: (520)-903-9972
E-mail: jpolacheck@earthlink.net


Giant Sunspots Make the News

Even though the sun is past the peak of its sunspot cylce, it is proving to be very active. Andrew Cooper, while at the All Arizona Star Party, photographed these enormous sunspot groups 484 and 486 in white light on the morning of October 25th from Arizona City. Photo taken with a 90mm APO, Thousand Oaks solar filter, 35mm Panoptic, and Nikon 995 digital camera.

WEBSITES: TRIPS ON THE INTERNET SUPER-SKYWAY
Monsoon Maintenance
By Rik Hill

The web is now full of Mars pictures, the best I have ever seen from amateur astronomers in my 45 years of being one. Some are just breathtaking, like those of Ed Grafton:
http://www.ghg.net/egrafton/

Many such images can be seen at the ALPO Mars Section page:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/marstuff/recobs.html

But some images are not the same high quality just due to poor focusing. In some cases, like at my house, it's due to plain bad seeing. I'm plagued by it. But often it's instrumental. So what is a good way to get that telescope focused? There is a device based on the optical test called the Hartmann Test that makes accurate focusing a breeze. The most simple and straightforward explanation for this device can be found at:
http://www.pinn.net/~dhahne/focusing.html

All you need is a sharp knife and some cardboard. The mask does not have to be all that fancy, even a crude one will serve well. You can see one such mask, made in minutes, at:
http://velatron.com/dca/articles/focus/

There are a variety of variations on this theme that you can see at:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/pete/Focus.htm
http://www.laughton.com/paul/rfo/focus/focus.html
http://rao.150m.com/Focusaid.html
http://www.isomedia.com/homes/cvedeler/scope/focus.htm
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/I08/I0819/I0819.HTM

There is even one that you can use on your camera lenses. Bet you never thought of that one:
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/I08/I0817/I0817.HTM

I have seen too many great 35mm slide astrophotos ruined by poor focus. It must be awful to guide for an hour only to be defeated by focus.

Well this is a lot of reading material, but the point is that only a few minutes and the side of an old cardboard box is all you need to get that $1000 camera in focus!

As always, if you know of a particularly good website you would like mentioned here, drop me a line at: rhill@lpl.arizona.edu

2003: A Year of Sky Events
By Joe Orman
Photo Pages: http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/JoeHome.html

Mark your calendar for these interesting alignments, conjunctions, occultations, eclipses & meteor showers in the year 2003. Times are calculated for Phoenix, Arizona; other locations may differ. Most will be easy to see with the unaided eye, some very challenging -- take a look!

November 8 (evening): Total Lunar Eclipse (partial at moonrise at 5:27pm MST), low in ENE. Totality from 6:09 pm to 6:29pm.

November 16-17 (night): Last quarter Moon comes within 1 arc-minute of 3.5-magnitude star eta Leonis at 2:19am MST, in E (grazing occultation for northern Arizona).

November 17-18 (night): Leonids meteor shower. Last quarter Moon rising about midnight will interfere. Shower radiates from constellation Leo, which rises in E about midnight. Best time to look between midnight and dawn. Typical rate 20 meteors per hour, some years much higher.

November 25 (evening): Venus 4 degrees to right of crescent Moon, low in SW after sunset.

December 10 (evening): Saturn 5 degrees to right of gibbous Moon; both rise in ENE about 7pm.

December 13-14 (night): Geminids meteor shower. Gibbous moon rising about 9pm will interfere. Shower radiates from Castor in constellation Gemini, which rises in NE around 7pm and is near zenith in early morning hours. Best time to look between 7pm and dawn. Typical rate 60 meteors per hour.

December 24 (evening): Venus 5 degrees to right of crescent Moon, low in SW after sunset.

Star Parties and Events

White Elementary K-5 Star Party Southwest
Tuesday, 11/4/2003 No. of Scopes: 7

White Elementary K-5 is holding their annual star party titled Salsa II at 2315 W. Canada St. Get on I-10 to I-19 south. Exit onto Irvington westbound (exit #89) to S. Mission Rd., turn left (south). Go 1/2 mile to W Canada St., turn right (west). School is on left side of street. The viewing area is on the south field near portable LRC 90B. Use the gate on Canada Street that is just east of the first parking lot; take the dirt road to the south field. Contact person Anne Peralta can be reached at 908.5300 or email anne.peralta@tusd.k12.az.us. Set-Up Time: 6:30pm Observing will be from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. Sunset: 5:31, Dark Sky: 6:54 Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous.


Cornerstone Christian Academy Star Party Foothills
Thursday, 11/6/2003 No. of Scopes: 3

Cornerstone Christian Academy is hosting Night Sky With the Planets at 2150 E. Orange Grove. Take Campbell north to Sunrise; turn left (west) on Sunrise to Camino Miraval--just before Orange Grove. Turn left (south), and take first left into school parking lot. (If Miraval is unavailable due to construction, go left instead on Orange Grove and left on Camino La Zorella, and left again on Camino Miraval; turn right into school parking lot, just before Sunrise). Viewing will be on the Grassy play area east of the parking lot. Contact person Kathy Lemay can be reached at 529.7080 or email jklemay@copper.net. Set-Up Time: 6:00pm; Observing will be from 6:30 pm to 8:00pm. Sunset: 5:30, Dark Sky: 6:53 Moon Phase: near Full Moon.


Desert Sky Middle School Star Party South
Friday, 11/14/2003 No. of Scopes: 4

Desert Sky Middle School will be hosting Starry Night at 9850 E Rankin Loop. From Broadway, take Houghton Rd south 8.2 mi and turn right on Rita Rd. Go about a third of a mile to E Rankin Loop, turn right (north); school is a quarter mile down on left. TAAA members will be directed to the viewing location. Contact person Rachel Darnell can be reached at 762-2729 or email randrdarnell@cox.net. Set-Up Time: 6:00pm; Observing will be from 6:30 pm to 8:00pm. Sunset: 5:24, Dark Sky: 6:49 Moon Phase: (no moon during viewing).


TAAA Star Party at TIMPA
Saturday, 11/15/03

Come on out and enjoy the fall skies! TIMPA star parties are great for both beginners and experienced observers. Our novice members can get help with observing issues or equipment problems, as there are many experienced members there who would be happy to help. If you don’t own a telescope, come anyways, because there are lots of telescopes set up and everyone is invited to look through them. This is a great way to check out different telescope designs before you make that all-important decision to buy. There is no scheduled talk for this activity, just come out and enjoy. We’ll do our best to get you the answers you need. If you have friends or relatives who are curious about amateur astronomy, feel free to bring them along. The TIMPA site features a large parking area, and full restroom facilities. Be prepared for cold temperatures. Directions to the TIMPA site are located on the outside flap of this newsletter.


Cragin Elementary Star Party Central
Tuesday, 11/18/2003 No. of Scopes: 4+

Cragin Elementary is celebrating Pie and the Sky at 2945 N. Tucson Blvd. From Grant and Campbell take Grant west to Tucson Blvd, turn left (north); school is on corner of Tucson Blvd and Blacklidge (between Glenn and Ft. Lowell). The viewing area is on the field near the Ramada on the west side of school. Contact person Cyndi Bush can be reached at 232-6700 or email cyndibush@hotmail.com. Pizza and coke will be available for TAAA volunteers! Set-Up Time: 7:00 pm; Observing will be from 7:30 pm to 9:00pm. Sunset: 5:22, Dark Sky: 6:47 Moon Phase: (no moon during viewing).


Donaldson Elementary Star Party Northwest
Friday, 11/21/2003 No. of Scopes: 7

Donaldson Elementary will hold Exploring the Night Sky at 240 W Omar Drive. Take La Cholla Blvd North from River Road. Go right (east) on Omar Drive (Omar is the next traffic light North of Orange Grove Road). The school is on the north side of the street, immediately after turning onto Omar. To enter the playground, turn into the last parking lot entrance (someone will be there to direct you to the exact observing position). Contact person Kevin Johnson can be reached at 794-1663 or email kljohnsonmk@email.msn.com. Pizza & coke will be available for TAAA volunteers! Set-Up Time: 6:00pm; Observing will be from 6:30 pm to 8:00pm. Sunset: 5:21, Dark Sky: 6:46 Moon Phase: (no moon during viewing).


TAAA Star Party at Las Cienegas (Empire Ranch)
Saturday, 11/22/03

Las Cienegas (formerly Empire Ranch) has been our normal dark-sky observing site for quite a number of years. Please try to arrive before sunset. Stay as long as you like, but let everyone know when you are ready to leave; someone may be taking astrophotos. Bring a telescope if you have one, but you don’t need one to attend. Any member would be glad to let you look through their telescope. There are no restroom facilities at the site, so be prepared. Las Cienegas is at 4000 feet so be prepared for cold temperatures after sunset. Attendees should park their vehicles either perpendicular to the airstrip facing toward the center of the strip, or parallel to the airstrip along either side facing west. That way, when you are ready to leave, you will not have to back up and turn on your bright white backup lights. See the directions to Las Cienegas on the outside flap of this newsletter.


Esperero Canyon Middle School Star Party Foothills
Monday, 11/24/2003 No. of Scopes: 5

Esperero Canyon Middle School will be viewing both lunar sights and deep space objects during Moonscapes at 5801 N. Sabino Canyon Rd. Take Campbell, Swan or Craycroft to Sunrise and go east to the very end of Sunrise. Turn left (north) 1/4 mile to school on left side of road (just north of Canyon View Elementary which is across from Sabino Canyon Park). Viewing will be on the track/soccer field adjacent to (northwest of) main parking lot. Snacks will be provided for TAAA Volunteers! Contact person Kelly Cwiak can be reached at 577.5330 or email kcwiak@cfsd.k12.az.us. Set-Up Time: 6:00pm; Observing will be from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Sunset: 5:20, Dark Sky: 6:46 Moon Phase: Crescent.


Davis Education Center Star Party South-Central
Tuesday, 11/25/2003 No. of Scopes: 7

The science classes at Davis Education Center will be viewing Mars and the Night Sky at 5660 S. 12th Ave. Take Irvington to 12th Ave., turn south. Continue past the light at Nebraska until the La Princessa shopping plaza on the right (and before Drexel). Turn right at street on south side of shopping plaza; school is behind shopping center. The viewing area will be on the school yard behind the main building. Contact person Ms. Heather Hilliard can be reached at 722-8130 or email hhilliard@deccs.org. Set-Up Time: 5:45pm; Observing will be from 6:15pm to 7:30pm. Sunset: 5:19, Dark Sky: 6:45 Moon Phase: Crescent.

**** DECEMBER STAR PARTIES BEFORE THE DECEMBER MEETING ****

Gallego ES Star Party South-Central
Tuesday, 12/2/2003 No. of Scopes: 5

Gallego Elementary School will be hosting MoonScope at Esperanza School 5102 S. Cherry Ave [not at Gallego School!!] Take Kino (Campbell north of Broadway) south. After passing over the freeway and just beyond Irvington, look for Bantam (3-4 blocks south of Irvington) and turn left. Proceed through neighborhood; school is at end of street. Viewing will be held on the basketball court. Contact person Tom Costello can be reached at 545-3000 or email tomPBJ@netscape.net. Pizza & coke will be available for TAAA volunteers! Set-Up Time: 6:30pm; Observing will be from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. Sunset: 5:19, Dark Sky: 6:45 Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous.


Hohokam Middle School Star Party Southwest
Wednesday, 12/3/2003 No. of Scopes: 4

Hohokam Middle School at 7400 S Settler Avenue will be hosting a star party for their students. Take Park south to Valencia and turn right (west). Continue past I-19 for approx 2.5 mi to Cardinal Ave, turn left (south). At Los Reales turn right (west) and continue to Brackenbury, turn right (west). Brackenbury becomes Tetakusim. Turn right (north) at Settler to school (half-block from corner). TAAA members will be directed to viewing area. Contact person Julie Wanat can be reached at 908-3700 or email Julie.Wanat@tusd.k12.az.us. Set-Up Time: 6:00pm Observing will be from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Sunset: 5:18, Dark Sky: 6:45; Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous.

 

Dark Skies for November 

DARK SKIES (no twilight, no moonlight) for Tucson in 24-hour MST: 18=6pm, 20=8pm, 22=10pm, 0=12am
RISE, SET, VISIBILITY for sun and bright planets: rise for morning object, set for evening object

Fr/Sa 31/ 1  23:35 -  5:18         Mo/Tu  10/11    -   -   -          Fr/Sa  21/22  18:47 -  5:25
Sa/Su  1/ 2   0:40 -  5:18         Tu/We  11/12  18:50 - 19:15        Sa/Su  22/23  18:46 -  5:34
                                   We/Th  12/13  18:50 - 20:02                                   
Su/Mo  2/ 3   1:41 -  5:19         Th/Fr  13/14  18:49 - 20:55        Su/Mo  23/24  18:46 -  5:35
Mo/Tu  3/ 4   2:40 -  5:20         Fr/Sa  14/15  18:49 - 21:52        Mo/Tu  24/25  18:46 -  5:36
Tu/We  4/ 5   3:37 -  5:21         Sa/Su  15/16  18:48 - 22:52        Tu/We  25/26  19:05 -  5:36
We/Th  5/ 6   4:33 -  5:21                                            We/Th  26/27  20:12 -  5:37
Th/Fr  6/ 7    -   -   -           Su/Mo  16/17  18:48 - 23:54        Th/Fr  27/28  21:21 -  5:38
Fr/Sa  7/ 8    -   -   -           Mo/Tu  17/18  18:48 -  0:57        Fr/Sa  28/29  22:28 -  5:39
Sa/Su  8/ 9 TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE    Tu/We  18/19  18:47 -  2:00        Sa/Su  29/30  23:33 -  5:39
                                   We/Th  19/20  18:47 -  3:06                                   
Su/Mo  9/10    -   -   -           Th/Fr  20/21  18:47 -  4:14        Su/Mo  30/ 1   0:34 -  5:40

Weekend    Sun   Sun      Mercury     Venus      Mars     Jupiter    Saturn                       
Sa/Su      Set   Rise     Set  Vi    Set  Vi   Set  Vi    Rise Vi   Rise Vi    Vi=Visibility      
                                                                                                  
 1/ 2     17:32  6:40     17:45 -   18:34  2   1:54 -1    2:15 -2   21:33 0    -3 brilliant       
 8/ 9     17:26  6:46     17:50 -   18:37  1   1:40 -1    1:53 -2   21:05 0     0 conspicuous     
15/16     17:22  6:52     17:58 9   18:43  0   1:28 -1    1:30 -2   20:36 0     3 moderate        
22/23     17:19  6:58     18:10 7   18:50 -1   1:17 -1    1:07 -2   20:07 0     6 naked eye limit 
29/30     17:17  7:04     18:23 5   19:00 -1   1:07  0    0:43 -2   19:38 0     9 binoculars limit

By Erich Karkoschka
Meeting Minutes

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