We are also working on getting a local legislator to attend, to present an "inside view" of how the issues important to astronomers currently stand in the legislature. Hope to see you all there!

Left to right, Roger, Bob, (host) Ron, and Scott discuss the finer points of astrophotography.

There were plenty of snacks (shown here much depleted), including shrimp, cheese, and crackers.

Left to right, Jim, Lloyd (Ron's bro), and George quench their thirst at the amply stocked bar.

Ron had laid out 8 movie choices for us to vote on. And the winner is ... Stargate, the original movie (1994).

The usual tour of Ron's workshop turned up a newly acquired toy. Yes, it's a planetarium projector, professional scale, and fully functional. If that isn't amazing enough, he has a second unit that was demonstrated after the movie (picture at end). He has plans to add a domed extension to his home to accommodate this awesome hardware: Walker Planetarium.

Around 5ish Ron fired up the BBQ and started grilling brats. With potatoe salad and select veggies, not to mention some great chocolate chip cookies as accessories, there was more than enough to go around, and with this year's turnout, we needed two table to seat everyone.

Table number 2, also having a great time. Vice Pres Jim relates stories of how he got into astronomy. Wife Jean (back to camera) has heard it all before.

And then it was show time. Ron isn't satisfied with the 20 foot diagonal screen + poster board extensions. He's got an even larger one ready to install, but needs to first build a frame to support it. After a brief system demo using "Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron," the main feature began: Stargate, the movie. For a 1994 movie, the SFX were impressive. The movie spun off a still-popular TV series of the same name. Although a few guests had to leave early, most stayed for the movie.

After the show, Ron fired up his other planetarium projector. Well, at least half of it anyway. Most of the equipment and wiring you see in this image has nothing to do with the planetarium ... it's parts of his home theater multimedia system, which kinda' dominates the room. But the video and sound are worth it. With the planetarium on, Ron killed all the lights. After a few minutes of dark adaptation time, we could see the stars clearly, albeit with constellations distorted geometrically due to the non-hemispherical ceiling. The relative brightness and star colors were amazing accurate. We had no trouble spotting constellations, even with the distortion. The Milky Way has its own separate projector optics, and produces a diffuse scattering of light that accurately mimics the real thing. And the orrery attachment (just left of the planetarium projector) provided an animated view of the major planets in "fast forward." When Ron adjusted the main projector, we all experienced that visceral sensation of motion as the sky turned around us. We can't wait until he build the dome extension to his home and gives his first real planetarium show.

After the movie and planetarium projector demo, it was past 10 pm so we called it a night. Thanks again to Ron and family for a wonderful evening! A good time was had by all.

Upcoming Speakers: Other than myself (and maybe an area legislator or county official) already booked for Lecture #1, nothing else it yet locked in. It's tough to get a commitment sooner than August, but the process is underway. Committed, but not yet scheduled, are Fr. George Coyne of the Vatican Observatory, Dr. Jeff Hester of ASU, Robert McMillen of BCHS (Kathy Hill's replacement who will update us on their student participation in the Phoenix Mars Mission), and our own Roger Serrato (who knows more about astronomy hardware and methods than you may suspect from his humble demeanor). By the time our Lecture Series is underway, we expect to have the usual plethora of outstanding speakers.

This just in ... I was informed last night via email from Principal Lauren Sheahan that Robert McMillen, Kathy Hill's replacement, has resigned his position. That means BCHS will be scrambling to find a new physics teacher / astronomy club moderator for next year. Presumably, this person will also continue Kathy's work with the Phoenix Mars Mission. I know how hard it is to find trained physics teachers on the market, especially at this late date. I get offers all the time, but am no longer interested in full-time teaching. We wish BCHS good luck in finding a replacement for the replacement.

Veterans Day Parade: With the help of VP Jim Renn, planning for this event is proceeding nicely. We decided to forego the idea of an actual float in the parade. Instead, we'll be setting up a table and a few scopes in the park area to educate residents after the parade. This daylight event will allow for the following astronomical sights: the Sun through my H-alpha filter, hopefully showing a solar flare, the Sun through a neutral density or mylar filter hopefully showing some sunspots (Roger has this one covered), a well aligned scope with an orange or yellow filter to try and spot Saturn, Venus, or Jupiter, all of which will be up and at least 30 degrees away from the Sun (the 1st Quarter Moon doesn't rise until 3 pm), and yet a fourth scope (Jim Renn has this one covered) simply focused on a distant mountain peak. We also need at least one person to staff the table/booth, to answer questions and distribute club info brochures. This event is planned for Saturday, November 8th, Noon - 4 pm. The parade ends at Noon, so setup will be from 11-11:30 am.. If you can help out at any of these two remaining positions:

1. A well aligned scope with an orange or yellow filter to view Saturn
2. Run the table, hand out DFAC brochures, and answer questions

please let me know. Running the table should be easy and fun. Spotting Saturn in the daytime takes a bit more skill, but we know it can be done with the right equipment. This is a fantastic PR opportunity. We expect to generate some great publicity for DFAC, and hopefully pull in some new members. Jim & Jean Renn have graciously offered to fund a parade sponsorship on behalf of DFAC, so we will have maximum visibility for this event. Thanks to Jim & Jean!

Website Changes: I don't know how much time our members spend browsing around our website, outside of Quid Novi, so I note here some recent changes worth checking out. First, we have added a new page called Local & GMT where you can see at a glance both local and universal time, day, and date. It's all done with JavaScript, the best thing since sliced bread. Also, on our Links page, you'll find a new source for astronomy video feeds, courtesy of VideoJug. There are ads, but no obnoxious popups or running banners, and tons of great astronomy multimedia. You'll need a broadband connection to enjoy most of this content, which includes high-quality video and audio.

Mike Fuller Essay Contest: Most of you never met him, but Mike joined DFAC right at the end of our first year. You'll see him listed as one of our charter members. He never made it to a meeting or other event, because shortly after joining he was diagnosed with cancer, and had to begin his long, and ultimately losing battle. I knew Mike from way back in my PAS days, when we were both members of that club. I have been discussing the idea of establishing a Mike Fuller Essay Contest in his memory. Details are still being worked out, but we're looking at something like a "Why I Want a Telescope" essay competition open to north Valley middle-school (grades 6,7,8) students, with the prize being a "starter" telescope. His wife Debbie has asked me to help sell Mike's telescope and accessories, the funds from which will seed a separate DFAC bank account, the interest from which will cover the prize. We will soon be adding another page to our website to feature this contest. If you'd like to donate to the fund, send your check to Roger, and be sure to label it "Mike Fuller Essay Contest." Thanks.

Dues are Past Due: Our dues cycle began anew on June 1st. Regular membership is still only $25 per household ($30 for postal newsletter delivery). We just sent in our dues to the Astronomical League, and our insurance premium (a total of $415), so we can use some cash to replenish our treasury. You can still mail your check to Roger Serrato at: PO Box 71458, Phoenix, AZ 85050. If your contact information has changed, please include a revised membership application form, available on our website here. Thank you for your continued support!

Sky Lights Still on Sabbatical: Still no good news here. I had received a commitment from Jason Stone, Editor of the Foothills Focus, to include my column when they next add another sheet. For those of you unfamiliar with the newspaper business, you can only add pages in multiples of 4 (one sheet). In order to make a profit, newspapers typically comprise 25% content and 75% advertising. So they need three pages of advertisers to add one page of real content. The Focus was at 32 pages, and had plans to expand to 36. Unfortunately, they recently dropped another sheet and went to 28 pages. When I asked Jason about this, he slowly shook his head, looked genuinely sad, and said "I just can't get the advertisers in this economy." It is a tough time in the newspaper business. So it looks like I'm back to square one on this. I might give "In&Out of Anthem" a shot, or I might just put it on my website as a blog, or I might go back to Jason and suggest he run Sky Lights in the Foothills Focus online version only. I'm still weighing my options, and will keep you posted on developments.

Thanks for reading Quid Novi. If you have feedback, you know where to reach me. Until next we meet, clear skies!

— Arthur Koestler

Hi all,

Jenn and I captured these images of the Space Station in a favorable pass at 4:00 this morning. At the same time that she marveled at how bright it had become, the video frames showed why it brightened. As the second and third images show, it was not at its brightest when it was largest.

http://www.pbase.com/image/96513458

We were listening to Bob Marley.

Tom

Great images as always, Tom.  May I ask what equipment that was imaged by, and what the exposure was?  The image sharpness appears seeing-limited, and not motion related.  That's got to be a tough shot.

Dan Heim
President
Desert Foothills Astronomy Club
http://www.dfacaz.org

Dan,

The telescope is a 10" f/5.5 Newtonian on a Dob base manually tracked by Jenn while I make adjustments at the laptop on the fly.  The camera is a 640x480 monochrome DMK series video camera by The Imaging Source.  I record at 60 frames per second. What was different this time around is that we used a 2.5x Barlow that when projected across a filter wheel acts as a 3.4x Barlow.  At f/19 and with the gain turned up pretty high, the shutter speed was 1/2500 sec, which is just barely good enough to prevent motion blur.  I'm pretty sure that this image is about at the upper limit for image scale which is 0.25 arcsec/pixel. When the ISS is 300 miles away,  one pixel covers about 2 feet.  Since the entire frame is only a couple arcminutes across, only several dozen out of the ~5000 frames actually show the ISS.

Tom