Volume 12 Issue 01, January 2000
A GLANCE INSIDE
What’s Up in January
A Look Back at December
On the Horizon
2000 Calendar of Events
From the Internet – Quadrantids
U-NAH-LI-YA Map
WHAT'S UP IN JANUARY
January 3rd QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER
This year’s Quadrantid Meteor Shower should
be decent due to a new moon on January 6th and a favorable time
for the shower’s peak in North America. The peak will occur at midnight
with rates up to 150 per hour under dark, country skies. Please see the
article on page 4 for more information on the shower.
Steve Mofle has once again offered his backyard
to those who want to get away from the city lights (It’s also warmer when
we huddle together!). It’s located at 2431 North New Franken Road in New
Franken. You can call him at 920-866-3523 for current weather conditions
and directions.
January 7th - 9th CAMP U-NAH-LI-YA WINTER WEEKEND
The cost for the weekend is $60.00 for adults
and $50.00 for those under 18. This is a very reasonable price considering
what you get: two nights lodging, six meals, unlimited use of all facilities,
cross country skis, ice skates, sauna etc.
If you are interested in going it is imperative
to call Don DeWitt at 405-8534 TODAY! We need to let U-NAH-LI-YA know
how many are coming to avoid paying for meals we do not need. Checks should
be made payable to the NPMAS.
They will be set up for people to start arriving
around 5:30pm Friday. We’ve requested
that dinner (probably buffet style) be served between 6:30 PM and 7:00
PM but this is usually flexible. People should report to the Dining Hall
for check-in.
We look forward to you coming along and making
Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya Winter weekend a weekend to remember!
January 12th MONTHLY MEETING
Has winter been keeping you cooped-up in your
house? How about joining us at the Neville Public Museum from 7:00 to 9:00
PM. This month’s talk is "Solar & Lunar Eclipses" given by Don DeWitt
and Ted Kordes.
Also, all of the calendars (weekly and monthly)
and the observer’s handbooks are now in and will be distributed at the
meeting. Please have your payment ready. As usual, Happy Joe’s to follow.
January 20th TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
The first total lunar eclipse of this millennium
takes place this month. First contact with the umbra takes place at 9:01
PM. Totality starts at 10:04 PM and lasts for one hour and 18 minutes.
The top of the moon will pass barely below
the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, so it will display the reddest colors
of all. Dress warm and enjoy the show!
January 26th ASTRONOMY DAY PLANNING MEETING
Everyone is welcome to join us at our first
official planning meeting for Astronomy Day 2000. The more people
we have, the lighter the work will be and the more fun doing it.
The meeting will be at the home of Jeff and
Jill Last, 536 St. Francis Drive in Green Bay. The meeting starts at 7:00
PM. Call Jill or Jeff at 920-434-6539 for directions. Bring along your
ideas and your enthusiasm.
A LOOK BACK AT DECEMBER
MONTHLY MEETING – December 8th
Forty-three people attended last month’s meeting,
a very good turnout. During the first hour regular club business was conducted
including a brief report from Beth Schultze on her participation at Space
Camp in Huntsville, AL. Beth described her six days of lectures and mission
simulations as "So much fun!" Hopefully we can learn more about her adventure
in a future article.
The second hour featured a slide-show presentation
of "The 50 Best Non-Messier Objects" given by Katrina DeWitt and George
McCourt. The talk was informative and the pictures were outstanding. Great
job Katrina and George!
HOLIDAY PARTY – December 11th
By Wayne Kuhn
We had an exceptional turnout for our 1999
Holiday Party held at Damon’s Clubhouse. Attendance was 39, which is up
by nine over last year. They included:
George & Kathy McCourt, Steve, Sue, and Tammy Wicker, Wayne & Linda Kuhn, Allen Collins, Ray Nancoz, Thomas Cashman, Brad DeMain, Tom & Jon Jorgenson, Terry Becker and Guest, Steve Mofle, Dave Jorgenson and Carol, Ted & Kathy Kordes, Ron Parmentier, Don & Katrina DeWitt, Shaun Stamnes and Wife, Bill & Becka La Plant, Jill & Jeff Last, Gary Baier Mike and Fran Monfils, Fred Zimmerman & Guest, The Fritschel’s.
I know I’m missing a few people and I apologize.
Hopefully after a few more Holiday Parties I will be able to remember everyone
by name.
Everyone I talked to said they enjoyed their
meal but wished we had a separate room to dine in. Since it appears that
I may be in charge of next year’s party I am open to suggestions. Please
let me know your ideas in the next few months so I can get a jump on reserving
the room.
ON THE HORIZON
February 6th SCIENCE SATURDAY
By Katrina DeWitt
The museum once again approached the Astronomy
club to help out with Science Saturday, slated for February 6th,
2000 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This year's theme is ‘Who's Got the Time?’.
The focus is on the different ways of measuring time.
The tricky part is to come up with a hands
on activity or activities to demonstrate some aspect of time. This could
be distinguishing between universal and local mean time, some aspect of
Einstein's Theory of Relativity, etc. The activity needn't be long or complicated
and should be geared towards grade school age kids to adults.
We need your help!
If you're interested in helping out or would like more information please contact Wayne Kuhn at 920-468-0765 or email him at waylin98@gbonline.com
2000 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
January
07-09 Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya Winter Weekend
12 Monthly Meeting-Solar & Lunar Eclipses
26 Astronomy Day Planning Meeting
31-Feb 5 Winter Star Party – Florida Keys
February
09 Monthly Meeting-Eyepieces Part 2
23 Astronomy Day Planning Meeting
March
04 12th Annual Messier Marathon
08 Monthly Meeting-Introduction to Observing
22 Astronomy Day Planning Meeting
April
08 Astronomy Day and Public Observing
12 Monthly Meeting-Space Scopes & Planets
30-May 07 Texas Star Party
May
05-06 NCRAL Convention-LaCrosse, WI
10 Monthly Meeting-Drawing at the Eyepiece
June
02-04 Wisconsin Observers Weekend
09-10 Come to the Moon Party
14 Monthly Meeting-Internet Astronomy
30-July 02 Crivitz Observers Weekend Part 1
July
12 Monthly Meeting-Guest Speaker
15 Club Field Trip to Adler Planetarium
19-22 A.L. CON 2000 Convention
28-29 Parmentier Observatory Weekend
29-Aug. 05 Nebraska Star Party
August
04-06 Northwoods Starfest
09 Montly Meeting-Weather On Other Planets
12 17th Annual Club Picnic
25-26 Parmentier Observatory Weekend(NewStar)
September
01-03 Parmentier Observatory Weekend
13 Monthly Meeting-Celestial Navagation
22-24 Astrofest, Kankakee Illinois
29-30 Parmentier Observatory Weekend
October
06-07 Fall Public Observing Weekend
11 Monthly Meeting-Astronomy Photos
27-29 Crivitz Observers Weekend Part 2
November
08 Monthly Meeting-Astronomical Toys
December
09 Holiday Party
13 Monthly Meeting-Building Of Parmentier Observatory
FROM THE INTERNET
A Y2K METEOR SHOWER
Taken from NASA Science News
If you're the type of person who enjoys
a bit of arctic chill on a long, dark winter night, then the 2000 Quadrantid
meteor shower could be for you.
The shower stretches from Dec. 28, 1999 to
Jan. 7, 2000, with a sharp maximum on Jan. 4 at 0530 UT
(00:30 EST) when as many as 200 shooting stars per hour might be seen.
The peak occurs just two days before the phase of the Moon is new. That
means the sky will be dark, and viewing conditions should be excellent.
No matter where you live, the best time to watch will be between midnight
and 6 am local time on the morning of January 4.
Despite the fact that the Quadrantids make
up one of the year's most intense meteor showers, they are also among the
least observed. Why? One reason is the weather. The shower's radiant is
located high in the Northern sky, so the Quadrantids are visible mainly
to observers in the Northern hemisphere where the weather is cold and often
stormy in January. After a series of summertime and autumnal meteor showers
like the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids, many sky watchers have seen plenty
of meteors by the time the Quadrantids arrive. Who can blame them for lingering
by the comforts of the hearth while the shower rages outside?
The situation is almost certainly exacerbated
by the brevity of the shower's peak, which usually lasts just a few hours.
Even dedicated meteor observers are likely to miss such a sharp maximum
simply because they live at the wrong longitude. In his classic book Meteor
Astronomy, Prof. A.C.B. Lovell lamented that "useful counts of the
Quadrantid rate were made in 24 Januaries out of a possible 68 between
1860 and 1927. ... The maximum rate during this period appears to have
occurred in 1932 (80 per hour) although the results are influenced by unfavorable
weather." With observations in such short supply, it's no wonder that many
basic questions about the Quadrantids remain unanswered. For example, What
is the source of the Quadrantid meteors? No one knows.
Most meteor showers are caused by comets.
When a comet passes close to the sun, bits of dust and ice boil away from
its nucleus and form a stream of tiny particles, called meteoroids, that
orbit the sun. A meteor shower results when Earth passes through the debris
stream. Presumably the Quadrantid meteors are formed in the same way. But
when astronomers compare the orbits of Quadrantid meteoroids with the orbits
of all known comets and asteroids, they can't find a match. The source
of the Quadrantid meteor shower is unknown.
Quadrantid meteroids are in a highly elliptical
orbit tilted about 70 degrees from the plane of the solar system. Some
astronomers have speculated that the parent comet was captured or disrupted
by Jupiter's gravity thousands of years ago, and that the Quadrantid meteoroids
are the leftovers from that ancient celestial collision. Advocates of this
idea believe that the original comet was orbiting the Sun nearly in the
plane of the solar system. Since its disruption, the orbit of the debris
stream evolved to its present state because of periodic gravitational perturbations
from Jupiter.
Other scientists argue that the source of
the Quadrantids could be an existing comet or asteroid that has yet to
be discovered. If this is true, then we might expect to see outbursts of
Quadrantid meteors during years when the parent comet is nearby, just as
the well-known Leonid meteors are especially intense around the time that
their parent comet, Tempel-Tuttle, passes close to Earth. In this regard,
amateur observations of the Quadrantids could prove especially valuable
to professional astronomers who would like to know when to look for the
source of the meteors. If you're interested in observing the Quadrantids
and reporting your data to NASA, please visit Quadrantids.com
for details.
CAMP U-NAH-LI-YA MAP
