Newsletter of the Desert Foothills Astronomy Club
Issue #26: July 27th, 2008 (Summer Supplement)
Contact the Editor: Dan Heim, phone: 623.465.7307 or email:
DFAC Events for 2008-2009: | ||||||
Date | Time | Event | Location | |||
July 19 | 3:00 pm - ? pm | DFAC Summer Social | 6638 E. Highlands Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 | |||
Sep 24 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Lecture
Meeting #1 Main Speaker: Dan Heim Guest Speaker: A local legislator? Topic: Light Pollution Update |
Boulder Creek High School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ 85086 | |||
Oct 29 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Lecture
Meeting #2 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBA |
Boulder Creek High School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ 85086 | |||
Nov 8 | 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Veterans Day
Parade DFAC booth & scopes |
Anthem Community Park | |||
Nov 26 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Lecture
Meeting #3 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBA |
Boulder Creek High School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ 85086 | |||
Jan 28 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Lecture
Meeting #4 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBA |
Boulder Creek High School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ 85086 | |||
Feb 25 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Lecture
Meeting #5 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBA |
Boulder Creek High School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ 85086 | |||
Mar 25 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Lecture
Meeting #6 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBA |
Boulder Creek High School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ 85086 | |||
Apr 29 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Lecture
Meeting #7 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBA |
Boulder Creek High School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ 85086 | |||
May 27 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | DFAC Business Meeting | Boulder Creek High
School, 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem, AZ
85086 (later adjouring to) Legends Sports Bar & Grill, 3655 W Anthem Way Suite D115, Anthem, AZ 85086 |
Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 |
As has become our tradition, the first
meeting of the year will feature DFAC President Dan Heim.
Dan will update us on developments and club activities
relating to light pollution abatement, one of DFAC's main
missions. He is, at present, personally focused on a new
subdivision planned for just east of Heimhenge, and
spreading 270 degrees around Gavilan Peak (a prominent
mountain in the area). The developers, Gavilan Peak
Estates, are applying for rezoning from R43 (one house
per 43,000 square feet, which is one acre, maximum
density) to R1-35 (one house per 35,000 square feet.
R1-35 zoning also allows second stories, with a height
limit of 30 feet (though only single story structures are
planned). This will be a private HOA community with their
own sewage treatment plant, and two deep wells with
storage tanks for their water system. Main access will be
along a private road extending from 29th Avenue, with
connections to 33rd and 35th Avenue. There will be no
street lighting, and all residential lighting will be
fully shielded, with no up-lighting. At least that's what
they say now. To view a detailed map of the proposed
development, click here
(675 k). The project was only recently brought to his
attention, and there is more to be learned, but expect a
grass-roots resistance to arise against that rezoning
request. More to come at the meeting. 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! |
Last Meeting: Saturday, July 19th, 2008 |
Our third annual DFAC Summer Social
was held again at the home of member Ron Walker in Cave
Creek. Ron and family graciously provided a fine
assortment of food and drink for our members. Turn out
this year was around 20 stargazers, including many
spouses. We started earlier this year (3 pm) to allow
more time for chat, BBQed brats, tours, etc., and still
leave time for a full-length feature movie in the
"WalkerPlex," Ron's massive home theater.
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. |
State of DFAC: By Dan Heim, President |
Crisis in New River?:
I have often said, "Trust that we will fight to
preserve dark night skies in the north Valley."
Although I already have many irons in the fire, I
recently became aware of a major development planned for
just east of Heimhenge. You can read the details in the Next Meeting section at the top of this page. Suffice it to
say this is where I must focus my efforts at this time.
The official rezoning application has not yet been filed,
but before that happens, I must mobilize the area
residents. If I ever want to build my observatory, I need
to minimize the impact of lighting for this development.
According to the development consulting company (Coe
& Van Loo), "we're looking at a 2-5 year time
frame." So I still have time to act, but no time to
waste. My intentions are to fight this under the auspices
of DFAC, not only for myself, and for other DFAC members
in the New River area, but also for the residents of New
River, astronomers or not, who came here to enjoy the
beauty of the dark night sky. Expect to be updated at our
first meeting this Fall, and perhaps have a
legislator/zoning planner/or other county official
present to respond to our concerns. 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 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! |
Quote of the Month: |
"In my youth I
regarded the universe as an open book, printed in the
language of equations, whereas now it appears to me as a
text written in invisible ink, of which in our rare
moments of grace we are able to decipher a small
segment." Arthur Koestler |
Space Debris: |
The ISS is a tough shot for
astrophotographers, since it moves so fast and won't
track like normal objects. You need special computer
control, the current orbital elements for ISS, and the
ability to slew your scope very quickly and accurately.
Or you can just be a talented photographer. Tom Polakis,
our speaker back in Jan 2008, posted some of his recent
images of ISS on the AZ-Observing list server. The email
exchange (and link to the images, which are amazingly
clear) follows: 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 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 |