Volume 12 Issue 5, May 2000
A GLANCE INSIDE
What’s Up in May
A Look Back at April
Astronomy Day Pictures
New Club Web Address
On The Horizon
From the Membership
WHAT'S UP IN MAY
MAY 5TH – 6TH NCRAL CONVENTION
Hopefully if you going to this years North Central Region of the Astronomical League convention you have registered already. If not, it will cost you $35 at the door. The convention is being held in La Crosse and features a planetarium program and an observing program on Friday night as well as five speakers and a banquet on Saturday. Please see last month’s issue for more details or call Katrina De Witt at 920-405-8534.
MAY 10TH MONTHLY MEETING
Join us at the Neville Public Museum from 7:00 to 9:00 PM for our monthly club meeting. This month’s talk is "Drawing at the Eyepiece" given by club president Katrina De Witt. Happy Joe’s to follow!
MAY 12TH OBSERVING GROUP
Club member Rueben Lear has been asked to put
together an observing session for the Oconto County Homeschoolers. The
place will be Parmentier Observatory starting about 8:30 PM.
Reuben is expecting up to 10 families. Since
only a small group can fit in the observatory at one time, Rueben would
like to have several other club members set up their scopes below the observatory
and help out. If you can make it please let Reuben (920-826-7734) or Wayne
Kuhn (468-0765) know.
A LOOK BACK AT APRIL
ASTRONOMY DAY 2000 REVIEW – APRIL 8TH
By Jill Last
Astronomy Day was once again
a huge success! This year's turnout was better than ever. More than twice
as many men, women and children showed up to participate in this year’s
event. The weather was decent, except for the wind, which prevented the
children from launching their paper rockets outside. Overall, our Astronomy
Day was one to remember.
This year was the first time
we set up at the Neville Public Museum, but due to a mix-up with the Wildlife
Sanctuary, we had to have some stand-alone displays to accommodate those
folks who visited there. But most of our Astronomy Day was hosted by the
Museum, who graciously took care of our publicity, contributing a great
deal to our wonderful turnout.
Friday afternoon set-up went
smoothly and relatively quickly. The Museum workers had set up our tables
for us, and all we had to do was arrange the tables and set up some of
the displays. We arranged as much as we could, which took most of the afternoon.
Saturday morning started a little
cool, but with much sunshine. The wind did not pick up until mid morning.
Many members arrived early, and I got there about 9:30 a.m. but I brought
the donuts! I arranged the National Weather Service booth and helped with
other various tasks, while most of the others took care of the booths that
they were responsible for. Gary Baier and Roger Kaminski were gracious
enough to take care of the small displays at the Sanctuary and answer questions
as people started to show up there. The final touches were being made as
people started to stroll into the Museum a little before 11 a.m.
By lunchtime we felt the onslaught.
Crowds of people came into the main room where most of the activities and
booths were located, after the NASA speaker, Ralph Winrich, finished his
talk. This happened again around 2 p.m. Looks like we are going to need
more room next year!
Many of the displays had people
crowded around them. They were looking and reading and asking many questions.
Some of the displays in the main room included telescopes, binoculars,
light pollution awareness, meteorites, debunking astrology, mirror grinding,
the National Weather Service, CCD imaging, and days of the week. Activities
in the main room included rocket building and the Earth-Moon scale model.
In the TAM room, kids and adults
had a chance to make craters after they made some measurements and calculations
of the size of impact they would produce. Kids could also play Solar System
Bingo. For the little ones, there were "dot to dots" and coloring, and
putting the planets in the correct order.
In the hallways were some other
activities, including the Solar System scale model (taped to the floor
as you walked into the museum) and an activity that showed the effect of
the moon’s gravity compared to the Earth. The kids measured the distance
of their jumps, and then made some calculations to see how far they would
have gone had they been on the moon. Many were surprised when they realized
just how far they could go!
Outside, solar observing was
taking place. Wayne Kuhn, Dan Sheber and Bryan Becker were set up to handle
the people. I didn’t get a chance to take a look myself, but many people
were awed by what they saw.
Before we knew it, the time
was close to 3 p.m. Take down time went much faster than set up, and everything
was close to being packed up by 4 p.m. Then it was back to the Sanctuary
for the nighttime observing session, for which I gave an EXCELLENT forecast.
(Hey, as a meteorologist I need to toot my own horn when I can - otherwise
I get the blame!)
For the observing session, mom
nature once again came through for us. (Even though she gave us a scare
with an almost overcast sky around 5:00p.m). Club members started arriving
and setting up about 6:30 p.m. Those that were not setting up telescopes
began pounding in stakes and stringing up caution tape along the road to
guide the public into and out of the observing area.
As the sun set around 7:30,
people were making their way to the observing field to get a look at the
moon, Jupiter and Saturn. While it didn't get completely dark until well
after 8:00, those arriving early enjoyed what they saw and managed to stay
for awhile.
Attendance set a record, despite
the cold evening. We saw around 350-400 people walk through the gates.
Thanks in part to our promoting our observing at the daytime activities.
For many, this was their first time looking through a telescope and they
were not disappointed! By 10:30 p.m. most of the crowds had gone and people
began to pack up. Frank and Pat's Pizza place was in demand!
Going through the evaluations
that were turned in, (of those given out, 1/5 were returned) the overwhelming
response was positive. All of the comments mentioned how friendly, approachable
and knowledgeable our club members were in answering questions and helping
out in anyway. The only suggestions for improvement: have bags for all
the handouts and believe it or not, to make it less crowded!
A HUGE thanks to the 38 members
that helped out on Astronomy Day! A special thank you to Ann Koski, Marilyn
Stasiak, John Jacobs, the rest of the museum staff as well as those from
the National Weather Service and Tad Theno from Space Explorers!
Due to next year's regional
convention in town, we will not host astronomy day. Look for its return
in 2002! A bigger, better, talk of the town event!!
MONTHLY MEETING – APRIL 12TH
Our scheduled speaker, Ray Nancoz,
was unable to make our club meeting. Luckily Ron Parmentier had a video
he taped of the NASA speaker from Astronomy Day. Unluckily, technical difficulties
prevented us from viewing the tape. But the time was filled with quite
a few awards to be handed out.
First up were the certificates
for objects observed during our Messier Marathon in March. A complete list
of recipients will be published in the next Eyepiece.
Next were certificates for Astronomical
Leauge observing programs. Steve Wicker received a Messier Certificate
(#1728) for observing 70 Messier objects. Wayne Kuhn received a Messier
Certificate (#1733) for observing all 109 Messier objects. Katrina DeWitt
received a certificate (#108) for completing the Double Star observing
program. Dan Sheber received the Herschel II certificate (#12) for observing
the second set of 400 Herschel objects. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
INTERNET UPDATE
by Tony Kroes
For those club members that were
not at the April meeting, Don Dewitt and I made an announcement about the
club's new web page. My employer, Venom Technologies, has graciously given
the club unlimited web space to post our
site. Don has registered the club name and we are now
at WWW.NPMAS.COM! Don and I will be
working in the months ahead to add some new
features.
Along with the web site, I have
talked my boss into getting a better deal for internet service for astronomy
club members. If anyone is looking to start internet service, or is fed
up with their current ISP (busy signals, crummy tech support, etc.) Give
me a call (490-9605) or Venom Technologies (498-0948) and tell them you
are with the NPMAS. The deal is $14.95 monthly internet service, unlimited
time, unlimited e-mail addresses, unlimited hard-drive space (put up your
own web site if you want!). We also do IN-HOME setup in the greater Green
Bay area for FREE so you know you will be up and running smoothly. It’s
a great deal, and I'm not just saying that cause I work there!
Venom also has yearly internet
programs that include training if you are new to surfing the web. We build
custom computers, networks for businesses, host web sites, design web pages,
program databases, and anything else computer related. Call and ask for
me and I'll get you a good price on whatever you need.
ON THE HORIZON
WISCONSIN OBSERVERS WEEKEND
Taken from the NEWSTAR web page
One of the biggest highlights of the year for area amateur astronomers and their families is the Wisconsin Observers Weekend (WOW). Summer camping and observing at Hartman Creek State Park just west of Waupaca is the highlight of the weekend. Club members bring along their telescopes for a weekend filled with the fun of helping some find objects for the first time, as well as the enjoyment of pursuing the challenge of finding new objects for their own enrichment.
WHEN: June 2nd – 4th
WHERE: Hartman Creek State Park (about 5 miles west of Waupaca)
HOW: Fill out the enclosed registration form by following this link Note, pre-registration is due by May 15th
MORE: Information is available on the NEWSTAR Web Page by following this link.
Hope to see you there!
FROM THE MEMBERSHIP
SPRING NOTES
By Gary Baier
On Sunday April 2, Ron and myself
completed the spring cleaning of Parmentier Observatory. All the dead flies
and millipedes are vacuumed up while the animal holes have been filled
in the driveway. Ron and I did some investigating about where to park cars
to make more observing spaces. Two options have been considered. Three
or four cars could be parked on the west side of the observatory. The lower
hill on the north side of the observatory could be used as telescope platforms.
Both of these options will require some landscaping work. Please bring
your ideas to the meeting and what dates you could help out.
I have also been in contact
with the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society about the Northwoods Starfest
August 4 - 6. Space is available for about 130 people on a first come first
serve basis. The event will be held at the Hobbs Observatory about 10 miles
east of Eau Claire, WI. There is limited room for tents and RV’s but most
people stay in the cabins near the observatory. More information will be
given at the April and May meetings. Please let me know as soon as possible
if you plan on attending.
RESULTS: THE CCD CAMERA UPGRADE
by Tony Kroes
For those club members who may
not know, I am really into CCD and digital astrophotography. I own a Santa
Barbara Instruments Group (SBIG) ST7 CCD camera. While it has served me
well for the last year or two, I figured I could do better but didn't want
to spend the money for a new camera. Recently, Kodak (the maker of the
actual CCD chip itself) began manufacturing a chip that has a much better
response to light (more sensitive) across the entire spectrum, but especially
on the blue end. I sent my camera back to SBIG for an upgrade to the new
chip as well as installation of their new 'cooling package' that allows
me to get the camera much colder and thus get cleaner shots with less electronic
noise and static.
The 'first-light' results are
in! Things are looking good. I had a chance to get out a couple of times
during April and do some testing. The results are fabulous. Although my
tests are subjective, the detail on my 5 minute Herschel II objects leads
me to say that the new chip at least twice as sensitive as the old one.
This means I can do the same images that I did before in half the time,
or get twice as much detail in the same length shots! Every object has
a different response because of the variations in the increased sensitivity
curve, but overall I am impressed. On 5 minute exposures I am recording
stars in the mid 17th magnitude range - good enough to start my asteroid
hunting program...!
The increased cooling also allows
me to get the chip regularly into the –20 degree Celsius range for my images.
The cooling package consists of a new heat-sink, fan, and Peltier cooler
to help cool the original cooler that cools the chip, kind of a piggy-back
operation. Also, the package is set up with water-cooling like a car radiator.
While I have not set up the water cooling outside yet, in living-room tests,
I was able to get the camera temperature to 40 degrees Celsius BELOW the
ambient air temperature - exactly as advertised. The old cooling package
could only go 25 degrees Celsius lower than ambient. What does this additional
15 degrees get me you may ask? It means that the electronic noise in my
images just got reduced by at least a factor of 4! (Chip noise doubles/halves
for every 6 degrees of chip temperature warmer/colder).
I will post new images as I
get some that are interesting to the group as a whole. The Herschel II's
sure got a step better though. Images I took last year when starting the
program were just small fuzzy blobs for most galaxies while this year's
intro test shots are showing quite a bit of structure and detail that I
am sure I would have missed without the upgrade. I'll keep you informed!
A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
By Roger Dier
Dear Editor,
Would the NPMAS be interested
in having a book exchange at a future meeting? I have several astronomy
books that are gathering dust, and I know there are many astronomy books
I have yet to read.
There are several ways we could
do it, but it could be a free (book-for-book) exchange, or if a member
would like a token amount for a book, she/he could identify the amount
it's for sale via sticky note on the cover, and who the owner is.
Some NPMAS book owners may want
to identify a sale price and donate the sale proceeds to
the NPMAS or SETI or any other worthy cause that seeks
to substitute what we believe about the universe with what we know.
What do you think, Mr. Editor?
What does the club think about such an event?
EDITOR – Please give your comments on this issue (or any other) to myself or club president Katrina DeWitt.