the astronews
TRANSCRIPT
July 2021
Club Information 2
President’s Message 2
Observer’s Notebook 3
Meeting Minutes 4
Event Calendar 5
NASA’s Night Sky Notes 7
Meteor Log 8
Treasurer’s Report 9
Inside this issue:
Upcoming Events:
• The next Board meeting is Sun., July 4th 3:30 PM. (Zoom Meeting)
• The next meeting is on Tue., July 6th at the Bishop Museum at 7:30 PM. —Zoom Meeting
• Bishop Museum’s planetarium shows are every 1st Saturday of the month at 8:00 PM (Online) www.bishopmuseum.org/calendar
The Astronews
www.hawastsoc.org
HAS have decided to cancel public HAS events for the time being for both public star party at Dillingham and in town star parties at Kahala and Geiger, as well as the monthly club meeting. These cancellations will con-tinue while we are still in tier level. As we are now in modified tier 4 on Oahu, we will only have the club member only star party. We will be limiting the club party to the key master and 29 extra members. Please check your email and website for an update. I have been trying to capture ISS transit in front of the Sun/Moon for many years. I used ISS Transit Finder website (https://transit-finder.com/) to help me find the trans-it near me. Those many times I tried, I failed due to many reasons. Some of the reasons are bad weather, incorrect camera setting, and unstable mount.
The latest opportunity was this past Tues-day morning, 6/29/2021, at 1:27 AM. Three weeks ago, the website showed that the cen-
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A word from your editor by
Sapavith ‘Ort’ Vanapruks
President’s Message July 2021
Many of you (we’re a fairly old bunch) re-member comet Hale Bopp, the “great comet” of 1997. It came to us from the Oort Cloud, a vast storehouse of objects that were thrown out there through gravitational interactions with the giant planets early in our solar system’s history. Because orbiting objects move slowest at their most distant from the body they orbit (in this case, the Sun), the Oort Cloud objects spend most of their time far from the inner solar sys-tem. Hale Bopp was about 60 kilometers in diameter (~37 miles), and it came closer to the Sun than Earth’s distance (although moving almost perpendicular to the plane of the eclip-tic). Now we have another Oort Cloud visitor ap-proaching. Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (C/2014 UN271) is 20 AU away and won’t reach perihelion for about 9½ years, but it’s already outgassing. And it’s 160 kilometers (100 miles) in diameter! It will only approach the Sun to approximately Saturn’s distance, so who knows how it will behave, but it is the biggest Oort Cloud denizen we have been able to observe well. With so much lead time, I think it is very likely that spacecraft will be sent to observe it. In the meantime, a fun exercise is to spot Venus in the daytime. If you know exactly where to look, you can see it in broad daylight. You can use a neighbor’s roof or any fixed marker, just pick a place you can return to every evening with a good view to the west and some-thing distinctive below Venus. Look for it ear-lier and higher each night, and before too long you’ll see it with the Sun still up! Please also look at and vote on the bylaws on the HAS web page (http://www.hawastsoc.org/). Click on the “show more” link at the end of the A Short “Who We Are” section and look for the bylaws link. Club members can send their vote on whether or not to adopt these changes to Peter Besenbruch ([email protected]) until the end of July. Last month I mischaracterized the lunar eclipse conditions. Because the Sun was pass-ing nearly overhead, the Full Moon was nearly at its southernmost point at zenith. My apology for that error.
Hawaiian Astronomical Society P.O. Box 17671
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
The Astronews Page 2
President Chris Peterson
956-3131 [email protected]
Vice President
Polly Miao
Secretary
Andy Stroble
Treasurer
Peter Besenbruch
Board Members-at-Large
j Marufa Bhuiyan [email protected]
Astronews Editor Sapavith ‘ORT’ Vanapruks [email protected]
HAS Webmasters Peter Besenbruch
School Star Party Coordinators
Mark Watanabe [email protected]
Charles Rykken [email protected]
The Astronews is the monthly news-
letter of the Hawaiian Astronomical Soci-ety. Some of the contents may be copy-righted. We request that authors and artists be given credit for their work. Contribu-tions are welcome. Send them to the Edi-tor via e-mail. The deadline is the 15th of each month. We are not responsible for unsolicited artwork.
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Observer’s Notebook—July 2021 by Ort
Planets in July
in the morning sky, rises at
3.36am on the 1st and at 2.25
am on the 31st when it will
transit at 7.39 am It moves
from Aries to Taurus on July
6.
Morning planet seen under dark sky conditions at the end of July, alt-hough unable to reach peak altitude.
Evening planet poorly posi-tioned. Half a degree from Mars on 13 July.
Evening planet poorly placed. Venus nearby on 13 July. Thin waxing lunar crescent near on 11 and 12 July.
Rises five hours before sunrise on 1 July. The bright waning gibbous Moon is nearby on 26 July.
Well positioned morning planet approaching opposi-tion. Rings brighten at the end of July due to the Seel-iger effect.
Morning planet slowly crawling out of the Sun’s glare. Not especially well-placed during July.
Morning planet rising one hour before sunrise at the start of July. Lost by the end of the month.
in Sagittarius, is at opposition on the night of 17/18 July when it will be almost 5 billion km from the Earth.
Pluto (Dwarf Planet)
1—Ceres (Asteroid)
Mercury Venus Mars
Jupiter Saturn Uranus
Neptune
Planets Close to the Moon Times are Hawaii Standard Time
Jul 4, 8h, Uranus 1.94° NNW of Moon; 59° from the Sun in the morning sky; magni-tudes 5.8 and -8.6
Jul 7, 18h, Mercury 3.7° S of Moon; 21° from the Sun in the morn- ing sky; magnitudes 0.1 and -5.9
Jul 12, 2h, Venus 3.1° SSW of Moon; 28° and 29° from the Sun in the evening sky; magnitudes -3.9 and -6.6
Jul 12, 3h, Mars 3.6° SSW of Moon; 29° from the Sun in the evening sky; magnitudes 1.8 and -6.7
Jul 24, 9h, Saturn 3.7° NNW of Moon; 171° and 170° from the Sun in the midnight sky; magnitudes 0.3 and -12.5
Jul 25, 19h, Jupiter 3.9° NNW of Moon; 153° and 152° from the Sun in the morning sky; magnitudes -2.8 and -12.0
Jul 27, 12h, Neptune 3.8° NNW of Moon; 132° from the Sun in the morning sky; magnitudes 7.8 and -11.4
Other Events of Interest Times are Hawaii Standard Time
Jul 3, 17h, Venus at northernmost latitude from the ecliptic plane, 3.4°
Jul 9, 22h, Moon 6.7° S of Castor; 5° and 10° from the Sun in the evening sky
Jul 10, 3h, Moon 3.2° S of Pollux; 7° and 8° from the Sun in the evening sky
Jul 12, 2h, Moon, Venus, and Mars within circle of diameter 3.63°; about 29° from the Sun in the evening sky
Jul 12, 23h, Moon 4.6° NNE of Regulus; 39° from the Sun in the evening sky
Jul 17, 0h, Moon 5.7° NNE of Spica; 90° and 89° from the Sun in the evening sky
Jul 21, 0h, Moon at perigee; distance 57.15 Earth-radii
Jul 29, 22h, Southern Delta Aquarid meteors; ZHR 25; peak 2 days before Last Quarter
Jul 29, 22h, Alpha Capricornid meteors; ZHR 5; peak 2 days before Last Quarter
Meeting Minutes H.A.S. Secretary
June 1st, 2021 7:30 PM (Zoom Meeting) Andy Stroble
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Meeting called to order at 7:34 pm by President Chris Peterson with 15 participants. Minutes from the May meeting were approved without changes, motion by Chris, seconded by Ort. Dillingham Airfield businesses have reportedly been granted six-month extensions, so perhaps we will be alright in the short-term. COVID-19: We may be moving to Tier 4, but for the June 5th star party we are still limited to ten participants, with usual pandemic precautions. New people: Fred and Carla Dauer are returning members. Pat Munoz, Elena Dobrica, and Jan and Jim were attending for the first time. Several members shared photos of the recent lunar eclipse, including some amazing cell-phone astrophotography, and an fantastic composition of the entire eclipse by Ort Vanapruks. Ort treated us to an exposition of the tools and method he used at the end of the meeting. Tom showed comparisons of the eclipse and a more total one previous. Dee shared an por-trayal of the thousands of human-made satellites orbiting the Earth. Changes to the by-laws have been in the works for a year. The Board would like to have a vote on the changes during the July meeting. A copy of the revised by-laws will be posted on the HAS website. Votes will be via email. Ort shared a presentation he will be giving to the Girl Scouts on “How to use a Star Map.” Star parties: All present were reminded of the procedure for the club star parties at Dil-lingham, maximum of ten people. All must be club members, no guests. All must have their own equipment, no view sharing. Members interested in attending need to email Peter Besenbruch to reserve a slot. Meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:00pm. There were approximately 22 attendees. Faithfully submitted, James Andy Stroble, Secretary.
Earth's atmospheric glow and star trails
The beauty of our home planet is shown
in this long exposure photograph. Taken
from the International Space Station as it
orbited 267 miles above the Indian Ocean,
it reveals Earth's atmospheric glow and
star trails.
Image Credit: NASA
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Hawaiian Astronomical Society
<<Upcoming Star Parties>> Club Party-Dillingham July 3 —7:00 PM (limit 25 people) Club Party Dillingham July 10 —7:00 PM (limit 25 people) Public Party Geiger/Kahala July 17 — CANCELLED
Upcoming School Star Parties
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Space Station Transits the Sun
This composite image made from seven frames shows the Interna-
tional Space Station, with a crew of seven onboard, in silhouette as it
transits the Sun
Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
ter line of the transit would be around Geiger Park. I thought that I do not have to drive to attempt to capture ISS Transit. Then two weeks ago, the location shifted east to Aiea. Well, not too far. However, last week, ISS position shifted again. This time it shifted far west. The center line now ran from Waialua to Makaha. I checked again on Monday, 6/28/2021, the location was the same. So that night, I drove to Waialua (I believed that it is darker than Makaha). I ar-rived just half a mile from Waialua High School at 12:50 AM. I took me 35 minutes to align my telescope and camera. I started my video recording at 1:26:45 AM and ended at 1:28:15 AM. Total video time is 1 minute and 30 seconds. Next day, I viewed the video and see a dot going in front of the moon at 1:27:46 AM. I used “Free Video to JPG Converter” to extract all frames from the video. I found 24 frames with ISS Transit. To my disappointment, I could not see the shape of ISS. My camera video 30 fps is too slow. I guess I will have to try a different method next time.
(Continued from page 1) Word form your editor
Ort’s image of ISS Moon Transit
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Summer skies bring glorious views of our own Milky Way galaxy to observers
blessed with dark skies. For many city dwellers, their first sight of the Milky Way
comes during trips to rural areas - so if you are traveling away from city lights, do
yourself a favor and look up!
To observe the Milky Way, you need clear, dark skies, and enough time to adapt
your eyes to the dark. Photos of the Milky Way are breathtaking, but they usually show
far more detail and color than the human eye can see – that’s the beauty and quietly
deceptive nature of long exposure photography. For Northern Hemisphere observers,
the most prominent portion of the Milky Way rises in the southeast as marked by the
constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius. Take note that, even in dark skies, the Milky
Way isn’t easily visible until it rises a bit above the horizon and the thick, turbulent air
which obscures the view. The Milky Way is huge, but is also rather faint, and our eyes
need time to truly adjust to the dark and see it in any detail. Try not to check your phone
while you wait, as its light will reset your night vision. It’s best to attempt to view the
Milky Way when the Moon is at a new or crescent phase; you don’t want the Moon’s
brilliant light washing out any potential views, especially since a full Moon is up all
night.
Keeping your eyes dark adapted is especially important if you want to not only see
the haze of the Milky Way, but also the dark lane cutting into that haze, stretching from
the Summer Triangle to Sagittarius. This dark detail is known as the Great Rift, and is
seen more readily in very dark skies, especially dark, dry skies found in high desert
regions. What exactly is the Great Rift? You are looking at massive clouds of galactic
dust lying between Earth and the interior of the Milky Way. Other “dark nebulae” of
cosmic clouds pepper the Milky Way, including the famed Coalsack, found in the
Southern Hemisphere constellation of Crux. Many cultures celebrate these dark clouds
in their traditional stories along with the constellations and Milky Way.
Where exactly is our solar system within the Milky Way? Is there a way to get a
sense of scale? The “Our Place in Our Galaxy” activity can help you do just that, with
only birdseed, a coin, and your imagination: bit.ly/galaxyplace. You can also discover
the amazing science NASA is doing to understand our galaxy – and our place in it - at
nasa.gov.
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Observe the Milky Way and Great Rift
By David Prosper
NASA's Night Sky Notes
The Astronews Page 8
Meteor Log—July 2021 by Tom Giguere
Three showers, plenty of observing options this month! For more info contact: Tom Giguere, 808-782-1408, [email protected]; Mike Morrow, PO Box 6692, Ocean View, HI 96737.
The month of July features three meteor showers; two of the showers are weak and the third shower, the Southern δ-Aquariids have a reasonable rate. Piscis Austrinids (183 PAU) - Very little information has been collected on the PAU over the years, so the details on the shower are not well-confirmed, mainly because of the large amount of northern hemisphere summer data, and the almost complete lack of south-ern hemisphere winter results, on the shower. Observations are needed to improve the sta-tistics. Southern δ-Aquariids (005 SDA) - Data collected by experienced observers under exceptional conditions in 2008 and 2011 show that the maximum ZHR of the southern δ-Aquariids is around 25 for about two days (λ = 125◦ − 127◦ ). The ZHR exceeds 20 be-tween λ = 124◦ and 129◦ . During the maximum there are numerous bright SDA meteors visible, causing r ≈ 2.5 around the maximum and r ≈ 3.1 away from the peak period. The “r” term represents the population index, a term computed from each shower's meteor mag-
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Phases of the Moon (courtesy timeanddate.com )
Finder chart for July’s three meteor showers. Credit: International Meteor Organiza-tion.
First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter New Moon
July 17 July 23 July 1/31 July 09
Shower Activity Maximum Radiant V∞ r ZHR
Date λ⊙ α δ km/s
Piscis Austri-nids (183 PAU)
Jul 15-Aug 10
Jul 29
125° 341° -30° 35 3.2 5
South. δ-Aquariids (005 SDA)
Jul 12–Aug 23
Jul 30
127° 340° -16° 41 2.5 25
α-Capricornids (001 CAP)
Jul 03–Aug 15
Jul 30
127° 307° -10° 23 2.5 5
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Treasurer’s Report by Peter Besenbruch
Here are the financial up through June 9. The bank charge challenged last month has been reimbursed. Thanks to all the new members, renewals, and donations. I updated our numbers with this year with the Astronomical League, and membership is up a bit compared to a year ago. On the monthly star parties at Dillingham: I am pleased to report that the airport authorities say we can have up to 30 people at a time at the members only star parties. Therefore I will no longer maintain sign-up lists. Again the star parties are for members only who have their own equipment and observing plans. You cannot go there expecting to pass your time looking through other people’s scopes. There are two reasons for this: People are often busy and not expecting to share. Also, the eye is a possible vector for virus transmission. If you and the person sharing have been vaccinated, the risk goes way down, however, so it is up to you to regulate how much eyepiece sharing you do. Just remember, eyepiece sharing is a risk and it is OK to say no.
Cash Flow - 5/10/2021 to 6/9/2021
Beginning Balance $3,907.22
Money into selected accounts comes from
Bank Charge Donation Membership - Electronic Membership – Family Membership - Paper Subscription - Astronomy
$34.00 $19.00
$120.00 $6.00
$52.00 $34.00
Total Money In $265.00
Money out of selected accounts goes to
Subscription - Astronomy $34.00
Total Money Out $34.00
Difference $231.00
Ending Balance $4,138.22
The Astronews Page 10
(Continued from page 7) NASA’s Night Sky Notes
If the Milky Way was shrunk down to the size of North America, our entire Solar System would be about the size
of a quarter. At that scale, the North Star, Polaris - which is about 433 light years distant from us - would be 11
miles away! Find more ways to visualize these immense sizes with the Our Place in Our Galaxy activity: bit.ly/
galaxyplace
The Great Rift is shown in more detail in this photo of a portion of the Milky Way along with the bright stars
of the Summer Triangle. You can see why it is also called the “Dark Rift.” Credit: NASA / A.Fujii
The Astronews Page 11
nitude distribution. r = 2.0—2.5 is brighter than average, while r above 3.0 is fainter than average. In the past there were observed outbursts: Australian observers reported a ZHR of 40 during the night of 1977 July 28/29; again a ZHR of 40 was observed for 1.5 hours on 2003 July 28/29 from Crete (the ZHR before and after the outburst was around 20). Unfortunately, the 2003 observation was not confirmed by other observers active in the period. The exten-sive 2011 data set showed no ZHR enhancement at the same solar longitude as in 2003. The activity level and variations of this shower need to be monitored. The last quarter Moon on July 30 is not optimal for visual work, but the considerable activity may compensate for moonlight-affected sessions. Hawaii is well placed to observe this shower. α-Capricornids (001 CAP) - The CAP and SDA radiants were both detected visually in all years. Although the radiant of the CAP partly overlaps that of the large ANT region, the low CAP meteor velocity should allow visual observers to distinguish between the two sources. Frequently, bright and at times fireball-class shower meteors are seen. Minor rate enhancements have been reported at a few occasions in the past. The highest observed ZHR of ≈ 10 dates back to 1995. Recent results suggest the maximum may continue into July 31.
(Continued from page 8) Meteor Log
Jun 30, 2021 is International Asteroid Day!
Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar
system about 4.6 billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is more than one million!
This image is an artist's illustration of our solar system's asteroid belt.
Image Credit: NASA/McREL
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