Stories Wanted: Gemini is written entirely by our members, for our members! Gemini needs your stories… how you first became interested in astronomy, how your interest has evolved over the years, equipment you use, star parties and events you’ve attended here and elsewhere, how you’ve encouraged others — especially young people — to get involved in this fascinating hobby. Submit your stories to: brownreveugene66@gmail.com

E-mail Update: If your e-mail address has recently changed, chances are your address used for MAS email distribu-tion lists is not current. Please inform Bob Brose of your new e-mail address at bob@qbjnet.com

February 2016Volume 41 Number 1a publication of the Minnesota Astronomical Society

In the pages of the Gemini

The Music of the Spheres

By Dave FalknerThe Minnesota Astronomical Society does a great job performing public

outreach and introducing people to the wonders of the heavens. Most of the time it consists of a presentation or observing objects through a telescope or both. But once in a while we get the opportunity to do something truly extraordinary to engage the public in space and astronomy.

In November 2014 Sergey Bogza, artistic director for the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra (MSO), contacted me about a potential collaborative project between the MSO and MAS. If you are like me you probably have never heard of the MSO. So of course I Googled it. The MSO is a community orchestra located on the Iron Range. They have about 80 members and perform in both Virginia and Hibbing. All but three of the members are volunteers. They perform six times a year.

Sergey wanted to collaborate with MAS in the performance of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” The symphony has seven movements, one for each of the planets other than Earth. The movements, in order, are: Mars—The Bringer of War; Venus—The Bringer of Peace; Mercury—The Winged Messenger; Jupiter—The Bringer of Jollity; Saturn—The Bringer of Old Age; Uranus—The Magician; and Neptune—The Mystic. I’m not sure why Holst did the planets in that order, except that Mars is a very powerful piece and he probably wanted to start off with a bang. In case you’re wondering, Pluto hadn’t been discovered at the time Holst completed the symphony. The music reflects the personality of the astrological character. However, what Sergey thought would be interesting was to show images of the planets during each of the movements. He also wanted static displays about the planets so it wouldn’t be just the music but also have some scientific context as well. He wanted it to be educational as well as a musical experience.

The symphony was scheduled to perform “The Planets” one year later, on November 21 & 22, 2015. While I realized this would be a considerable undertaking, I felt the one-year lead time would be enough to put together a display and presentation worthy of MAS.

Ode to Greg HaubrichBy Gerald Jones…Page 7

MAS Board Minutes for November/December 2015

By Jerry Jones, Secretary…Page 8

MAS Patron Members…Page 9

Astronomy for City Dwellers By Michael Kauper…Page 9

Directions to Star Party Locations…Page 10

MAS 2016 Star Party Schedule…Page 11

Jupiter Movement

Minnesota Astronomical Society

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President: Clayton Lindsey E-Mail: ClaytonLindsey@comcast.net Phone: 651-231-5619Vice President: Jim Harstad E-Mail: JamesLHarstad@gmail.com Phone: 218-410-1117Treasurer: Heather Birch

Secretary: Jerry Jones E-Mail: jjones7777@aol.com Phone: 651-439-1877

Board-Member at Large: Suresh Sreenivasan E-Mail: sureshks1@msn.com Phone: 612-671-3388Board-Member at Large: Valts Treibergs E-Mail: vtreibergs@gmail.com Phone: 651-762-8285

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After a couple of telephone conversations with Sergey and a few e-mails, we had an idea of what we wanted to do. The first thing I needed to do was assemble a team that I felt would create a great presentation and display. Since the concerts were performed for children and adults alike, I thought a couple of educators would be helpful. Then I just wanted some folks who thought the whole idea of accompanying an orchestra with NASA images was as cool as I thought it was.

I was able to recruit seven people onto the team. Jake Hairrell and Roxanne Kuerschner are both educators. In addition Stu Chastain, Heather Birch, Steve Baranski, Suresh Sreenivasan and Larry Gray agreed to join the committee. We met and began to plan the event. The main piece would be a PowerPoint presentation to accompany the orchestra in its performance. In addition we needed to put together a static display. We decided that for each planet we would have a fact board and some sort of trivia Q & A. In addition we would set up a scale model Solar System Walk to give some feeling of how far apart things are in space. While I didn’t want a bunch of handouts I did think having some sort of fun take-away would be good. I knew that Mad Science Minnesota (MSM) had some space-themed items suitable for children, so I included them in our meetings. Pat Davis from MSM joined us. We planned what we intended to do and doled out tasks.

Heather volunteered to create the fact boards. As a group we came up with ten facts we wanted to convey about each planet. Along with those she found suitable images to include. She put those in either a PowerPoint or PDF format. Then we would take those to Kinkos to have them made into posters on foam board.

Jake volunteered to put together the trivia Q&A. We agreed on three to four questions per planet. He planned to make a box with flip doors. The question would be on top, and when somebody flipped open the door the answer would be revealed. We agreed that the questions would be related to the facts that Heather would have on her boards. The Solar System Walk was something I already had. I just needed to create small placards and a way to attach them to some sort of display so they would stand on their own.

Finally there was the main piece—the accompanying PowerPoint. I knew we would have to nail down exactly how we could have an interesting presentation with numerous slides and synchronize the presentation to each movement of the symphony. As mentioned above, each movement is based on a planet. Each movement is of a different duration and there are pauses between movements. The conductor sets the tempo for each movement, and while each performance will be similar, no two will be exactly the same, even with the same conductor. In addition, the pauses between movements will vary as well.

Dress Rehearsal Virginia

Map of Hibbing/Virginia area

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I knew that unless someone spent a considerable amount of time listening to the music, it would be nearly impossible to manually click through the slides and time it perfectly with each movement. One way around this is to have the presentation progress through the slides automatically, something PowerPoint can do. However, given the potential variances in performances explained above, a fully automated presentation could become misaligned to the music, especially toward the end. I needed to have some sort of hybrid that would automatically progress through the slides during the movement but pause at the end of a movement so an operator could manually start the next set of slides when the conductor began the next movement. I decided I needed to do a test run of my idea.

Giants Ridge Lodge

Roxanne and Stu agreed to create the PowerPoint with me. I showed them what I had done. Since they both had experience with PowerPoint, they could do the same thing with other movements. We made the assignments: I created Mercury, Venus and Mars; Roxanne did Jupiter and Uranus; and Stu assembled Saturn and Neptune. We agreed that all the images would be public domain, mostly NASA but some ESA and other space agencies. Once they completed their respective planets they sent the presentations to me and I did the final assembly and timing.

Bob Dylan House

I went on iTunes and purchased “The Planets” performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Each movement was a separate track, which was perfect because it also gave the time of each movement. I assembled a group of slides for Mercury. I started with a title slide giving the name of the movement and

an image of the Greek god. I followed that with slides that had pictures from NASA and brief titles, added a little animation to keep it interesting, and used the Transition feature in PowerPoint to automatically progress from one slide to the next. I could also delay when the slide transitions occur and add elements like fading in and out. When the final slide for Mercury came up it would remain until I did a mouse click, which would start the next series of slides. I timed the series of slides with a stopwatch, made a few tweaks, and then listened to the symphony while playing the PowerPoint presentation. It worked great.

For someone familiar with PowerPoint, creating a presentation with images, animations and transitions is not terribly difficult but it is time consuming. I don’t know for sure how much time Roxanne and Stu spent, but based on my experience I know dozens of man-hours were spent putting together the presentations. The value of this work is difficult to quantify, but let me try based on something that happened about midway through our preparations.

Hibbing Display

Once Sergey and I had worked out the high-level plan, he directed me to Erik Honkanen, a member of the orchestra who also helps with logistical arrangements. Eric and I talked about some of the mundane things like travel expenses, sleeping arrangements when we got there—stuff like that. In August Erik contacted me about a video the Duluth Symphony Orchestra had made with NASA to accompany their performance of “The Planets.” He thought it might save us some time if the two organizations wanted to foot the licensing fees. One license was $3,500.00! He sent me a link to a trailer that showed part of the video for the Mars movement. The videography was first rate, of course, but it was a lot about NASA and surprisingly little about the planet itself. I told him I thought the licensing fee was too steep and that our presentation would show more about the planets, even if the production quality wasn’t quite up to NASA standards. We agreed to continue on the course we had laid out.

By mid-September things were coming together. Stu, Roxanne and I had finished our respective presentations and I was busy putting them all together. Although there were slight differences in the look and feel of the presentations done by the three of us, the casual observer would never notice it. They looked great! Having the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra recording was indispensable in finalizing the timing.

Heather finished the posters in PowerPoint. The composition with the images and text was wonderful and looked great. Even though “The Planets” only highlights the seven planets other than Earth, Heather thought it was only right to include Earth in the posters. The court of public opinion, she felt, dictated that we include Pluto as well. With the fly-by of Pluto happening in July,

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she was able to include truly spectacular images from the New Horizons mission on the poster. The PowerPoints were sent to Kinko’s, where they were printed on 18" x 24" foam poster board and looked fantastic.

Virginia Display

Jake designed and built the trivia boards out of wood. Each of them had three questions about the planet with flaps for each question that revealed the answer when somebody flipped them up. The trivia boxes broke down so they were flat for transporting.

The final loose end was the takeaway. I knew Mad Science Minnesota had astronomy-related kits that kids could do on their own or with a little adult help. I contacted Pat Davis at MSM and asked her what was available. She sent me two pages of astronomy products and I chose 3-D glasses with images. I chose this because it was economical and some of the pictures were of planets. But we were about two-and-one-half weeks away from the event, and I was worried we wouldn’t receive them in time. She assured me they would.

Dave’s Venus Talk

In late October I contacted Sergey to make sure we were on the same page regarding the performance. There was one more thing. He wanted to talk about each movement and how Holst composed the music to elicit the musical depiction of the god and its astrological personality. Then he wanted me to say a few words about the planet. I put together some facts about each planet and another PowerPoint with a full image of each planet. We combined our two scripts so we knew how this part of the concert would proceed.

We were about a week away from the performance and I hadn’t heard anything from MSM. Finally I received an e-mail

saying the 3D glasses were arriving on Monday and we could pick them up on Tuesday. Larry Gray volunteered to pick them up from MSM. Then Tuesday night before we left I picked them up from Larry.

The stage was set. The final arrangements were made with Ben Johnson, another orchestra member and someone who helped with the orchestra setup. Jake, Stu, Heather and I would travel to the Iron Range on Friday afternoon, November 20. Accommodations were made for us to stay at the Giant’s Ridge Ski Lodge in Biwabik. Dress rehearsal would be Friday night, November 20, at 7:00 p.m. in the Virginia High School Auditorium. The first performance was Saturday, November 21, at 7:00 p.m. at the Hibbing High School Auditorium and the second performance was scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Virginia High School Auditorium. We would return home after Sunday’s performance.

I packed my Honda Odyssey with my duffle bag, the Mad Science handouts, the solar system model, the posters and my computer with the presentation. I picked up Stu and then Jake with his trivia boxes. Finally I picked up Heather. The back end was pretty full with the displays and our luggage, but there was plenty of room for the four of us. We made one stop at the intersection of Highways 33 and 53. There was a small convenience store with gas pumps where we made a rest stop and got some snacks. (This location would become more memorable on the return trip.) We arrived at Giant’s Ridge around 4:00 p.m. and checked in. Our accommodation was a two-bedroom suite with a futon in the living room. It also had a nice living area and a small kitchen with a stove, microwave, refrigerator, place settings and cooking utensils.

Virginia Display

avI contacted Ben Johnson and we agreed that we needed to be at the auditorium by 6:00 p.m. to set up the computer and get ready for dress rehearsal. We planned on eating at the Adventures Restaurant and Pub, a popular place to eat in Virginia. But when we arrived there was a half-hour wait and we decided we couldn’t spare the time, so we went across the street to the Country Kitchen and had supper. We finished the meal and arrived at the Virginia High School by a door Ben had directed us to.

Since the first concert was in Hibbing, we didn’t need to unload the van, just bring in the computer. I wasn’t sure what I expected the high school auditorium to look like, but I certainly didn’t expect what we walked in to. The high schools were built

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when iron ore companies ruled the range and were trying to attract workers. They spared no expense; the auditoriums were beautiful theatres with main level and balcony seating and acoustically perfect. The stage was fully equipped with lights, multiple curtains and a large projection screen. Any theatrical production could be performed there.

Setting up the computer went without a hitch and the dress rehearsal went well. The strategy of starting each section of the PowerPoint presentation with the orchestral movement worked very well. Afterward we agreed to meet at the Hibbing High School around 5:00 p.m. the next day so we could set up the static display before the doors opened at 6:00 p.m. for the concert.

On our way back to Giant’s Ridge we stopped off at a convenience store for some beer, snacks and breakfast food. We arrived at our room around midnight. The snow machines were hard at work trying to build up the ski runs after a very warm fall. After a celebratory beer and some snacks, we called it a night.

Saturday brought sunny skies. The snow machines were still hard at work. We think there were six of them, but there was a lot of snow in the air so it was a little hard to see. Jake got up early to go to the workout room. I went out exploring the lodge and found him. We were at the tail end of the offseason, so all the exercise equipment was disconnected. We dragged the treadmill over closer to an outlet so we could plug it in. We finally got it to run, but the tread was loose and it didn’t work right. Jake opted to run outside in the 25-degree air—a brisk and invigorating run.

Stu and Jake setting up Solar system

After Jake’s run we made bacon, eggs and toast and served it with juice and coffee. It was an excellent breakfast. We lounged around but we knew we had to leave by about 2:30. We were intrigued by two holes in the wall above the sofa. Although the whole room was rustic wood, it appeared the wall with holes was a separate panel. We moved the sofa to the side and grabbed the

holes. The top of the panel began to give. As it folded out we realized it was a Murphy Bed complete with mattress and fully made. Stu had volunteered to sleep on the futon the previous night, and even though he now had this option, he decided to remain on the futon. We put the Murphy Bed away.

The drive to Hibbing would take about an hour, and we needed to catch supper before meeting Ben at Hibbing High School around 5:00 p.m. to set up the displays and computer. We left on time and the drive over was uneventful. When we got to Hibbing we did a reconnaissance run to find the high school, then went to Grandma’s for supper.

After supper we were headed back to the high school when we decided to see if we could find Bob Dylan’s house, since he grew up in this area. We found out that the house was only a few blocks from the high school, so we drove by. After getting a picture we headed to Hibbing High School, met Ben at the designated door and unloaded all of our props. While Heather, Jake and Stu set up the static displays in the hallway outside the auditorium, I set up my computer, connecting it to the projector and verifying that it displayed on the huge screen above the orchestra. Then I went to help with setting up the display. We received a nice surprise when large, professional banners arrived, each with one of the eight planets. They were donated by the Paulucci Science Museum of Hibbing. We hung them on the wall behind the display. We had several banquet tables end-to-end and set up the planet displays along them. At one end we put the handout on the Solar System Walk and the Mad Science giveaways. Then we set up the Solar System Walk along the hallway leading to the auditorium.

I had made placards for each planet giving the actual size of the planet and its distance from the Sun as well as the scale planet size and distance from the Sun. The placards were displayed using a large, stiff wire with alligator clips at each end. Each planet had one end clipped to the placard and the other to a music stand provided by the MSO. The Sun, which was a yellow Styrofoam sphere, was too large for that alligator clip/wire connector, so we had a small rod with one end sticking into the Styrofoam with the other end in a block of modeling clay; the whole then rested on a music stand. We were able to fit from the Sun to Mars and then clustered the remainder of the planets just beyond that.

The orchestra began their pre-concert warm-up at 6:00 p.m. Once again, the Hibbing High School auditorium was more like a theatre with main floor and balcony seating. It would easily seat 1,200 people. The acoustics were wonderful. At 6:20 the doors to the building were opened and the general public began filtering in. They wandered from one display to another and were genuinely interested. About 6:50 the orchestra finished their warm-up and the doors to the auditorium were opened. It was almost show time!

At 7:00 an audience of about 155 people had gathered in the theatre. I was disappointed that there weren’t more people, but that didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. The lead violinist crossed the stage to applause and tuned up the orchestra. Then Maestro Sergey Bogza and I entered the stage to applause. He introduced me and set the stage for the performance.

Each concert was played in two parts. The first part was an explanation of how Holst depicted each of the planets in the composition. We did one planet at a time. Sergey would introduce the planet while I displayed a full view of the planet on the

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screen. Sergey explained how the music reflected the personality of the planet astrologically. He had the orchestra play small segments to demonstrate the music. At the end of his explanation for that planet I gave a three- to five-minute dissertation on the planet, bringing out some facts and interesting tidbits about our understanding of the planet through history to the present day. Then we moved to the next planet. Sergey insisted that I say a few words about Pluto, even though it was not a part of the orchestral piece. We seem to have a hard time letting go of Pluto as a planet. After we completed this portion of the concert there was a 20-minute intermission.

Talking about Mercury

When the audience returned to their seats, the lead violinist entered once again to tune the orchestra. Sergey entered and assumed his position in front of the orchestra; then they played the entire symphony. I was near the computer and projector so I could start each section of the PowerPoint with the orchestra. The remainder of the slides did their animation and transitions until the last slide in that planet’s section. I waited for the end of the movement, and then the orchestra would proceed to the next movement and I would click to the first slide in that planet’s section. It worked wonderfully.

At the intermission and at the end of the concert, the audience flooded out into the hallway. The images and explanation stirred their imaginations, and the displays took on new meaning. Everyone we talked to loved the performance and the displays. After the performance we packed up the displays, including the new addition of the banners, and took the hour-long drive back to Giant’s Ridge. Once again it was late, but it was opening night and it had gone very well!

Sunday moved a bit faster. We had to check out of Giant’s Ridge by 11:00 a.m. and get to the Virginia High School by 12:30 to set up before doors opened at 1:30 p.m. for the 2:30 performance. We had another great breakfast in the room. The highlight was the pancakes created by Jake. We packed our things and left Giant’s Ridge for the last time. The MSO had set it up and it turned out to be a very nice place to stay. The drive to Virginia was only about a half-hour, so we arrived in plenty of time. We had to wait for the outside doors to unlock at 12:30 before we could unload our cargo. The hallway was configured a little differently, but our setup went essentially the same. Our display was completely set up and the computer hooked up to the projector in plenty of time.

The orchestra started their rehearsal at 1:30. The local cable station set up a couple of cameras to record the concert. I thought that was great. We could get a copy to show how it went. Doors opened around 2:00 and the public started coming in. At 2:20 the theater opened and the concert started at 2:30. The performance was the same as at Hibbing with one hitch. We were using wireless microphones and at one point my microphone stopped working for about 10 seconds. I just raised my voice a bit and was told that I could be heard easily even in the back of the theatre. That’s how acoustically perfect the theatre was.

The concert ended around 4:30. After the crowd subsided we began breaking down the displays, and as I packed up my computer I asked the videographers about the performance. They proceeded to tell me that their cameras were not able to capture the orchestra and the screen where the images were displayed, so they just focused on the orchestra! Well, I hope their viewers enjoy the orchestral performance.

Sergey invited us to join him and a couple of the other folks we had worked with in this collaboration for supper. We had a three-and-one-half to four-hour drive ahead of us, but we thought we had worked so hard on this project and it had gone so well that we deserved to have a little celebration. Snow had started and was already accumulating a bit. We loaded the van and proceeded to The Whistling Bird restaurant in Gilbert, about halfway between Virginia and Biwabik. Walking into the restaurant was like walking from snowy Minnesota into Jamaica. The décor and music was Caribbean and so was the cuisine. Sergey, Ben and his wife, Erik and his fiancée, Nicole and a couple others joined us. We had a wonderful time with great food, drink and conversation. Heather and Nicole learned that they had a lot in common and became fast friends. We had such a good time we probably stayed longer than we should have but finally got on the road back to the Twin Cities around 7:45.

We had one last “up north” experience on the way home. We drove through the snow and reached the same convenience store that we had stopped at on the way up at the intersection of highways 33 and 53. After a brief rest stop we were getting ready to leave when we noticed across the parking lot three guys wrestling with something in the back of a pickup truck. As we watched it became clear that they were gutting a deer. Ah yes, only in Minnesota.

The snow stopped just south of Cloquet and we had dry roads the rest of the way to the Twin Cities. I dropped the others off at their respective houses and was back home by 12:30 a.m.

There had been 155 people at the Hibbing performance and 178 at the Virginia performance. While this may not have been the largest outreach event that MAS has been a part of in terms of the number of people attending, it was certainly the most complex and demanding, requiring coordination with a geographically remote partner and hours and hours of work by the MAS team. In the end it was a huge success, and MAS made a big impression on the Iron Range. Many thanks to the committee members, the support of the MAS Board and especially to my teammates who gave up the weekend before Thanksgiving to travel to the Iron Range and make this such a successful event.

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Ode to Greg Haubrich

By Gerald JonesExcept for Dave Tostesen and Tim Parson (No one ever

sees them at meetings anymore; perhaps they don’t exist), Greg Haubrich is one of the most experienced, most dedicated, most driven visual observer in MAS. Along with others of a similar ilk (John Marchetti being one of them), he has attended numerous national star parties and sports the largest number of observing pins on his MAS cap ever seen by humankind. Some of his best observing friends have names regarding his “pin passion” which, unfortunately, can’t be read by children under 13. Greg has served MAS as a member of the LLCC committee, as board member at large twice (2004 and 2013), and as the awards coordinator for the Astronomical League for a ridiculously long time—13 years. Hence the reason for this ode. As I have (foolishly) agreed to take the mantle of the Astronomical League awards coordinator, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greg for his amazing service to us by highlighting some of his accomplishments.

Greg with Megan Eagen

Greg became a member of MAS on October 18, 1996 (he remembers that date better than his wife’s birthday!) and joined the then-active Messier Special Interest Group (Messier-SIG) in February 1997. His first completed observing project was the honorary Messier program in December 1997. In his own words, “I was hooked.” Greg then took his passion for observing and focused on the membership of MAS. By 1999 he had organized the first annual MAS Messier Marathon (this year we’ll have our 17th annual, thanks to Greg) and hosted them through 2005. Greg also initiated the purchase of the 24" StarMaster BAD (Big A** Dobsonian) that is currently housed at Cherry Grove. It was his e-mail on October 21, 2002, to the MAS board which suggested that its members pool their funds to acquire “a telescope of the size and quality that few MAS members could afford or even dream of owning.” Thanks to the prodding of the BAD Task Force, of which Greg was a member, the board earmarked $5,000 in matching funds for the BAD donation. The rest is, as they say, history. Greg also initiated our annual Virgo Venture in 2004 as another attempt to get us out under the stars. It worked.

Greg and the DSS committee were instrumental in securing the memorandum of understanding between MAS and the Long Lake Conservation Center. Because of that understanding, LLCC is now the MAS dark-sky site which houses its two largest telescopes—the 25" and 30" Obsessions.

Even with all these accolades, Greg’s fondest experiences come primarily from his opportunities as Astronomical League awards coordinator, which he began in 2002. At that time he had only completed his honorary Messier program, even though many others—including the “Big Kahuna,” the Herschel 400—were in the hopper. He received his Master Observer award in 2005 (really, Greg, it took you three years?). He was the 46th Master Observer in the Astronomical League and the third in MAS.

Greg with John Marchetti

Among his favorite memories of being the A.L coordinator, Greg cites the pleasure of seeing the excitement and pride of our members as they receive their awards and share their interest and passion with others. He has also enjoyed some of the more colorful log entries he has had the pleasure of reading over the years (you know who you are). When asked why he is stepping down, his response was to allow some new blood into the mix. Well, given the idiot who took over the job, I’m not so sure he succeeded.

Tim Parson and daughter receiving Caldwell certificate

This past September I had the pleasure of tagging along with Greg and John Marchetti—some of you know what that’s like—to the Okie-Tex Star Party held near Kenton, OK. They were gracious enough to let me come along (it was my second national star party and their 24th) and did a great job of helping me with the ropes and keeping the hazing down to a bare minimum. It was our standard procedure to begin observing around 7:30 p.m., break for a snack around midnight, and continue until about 6:00 a.m. I had the pleasure of experiencing this type of observing

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for seven straight nights. It was wonderful. During this time I got a glimpse of how serious an observer Greg is. Those of you who have observed with him know what I mean when I use the word “intense” to describe Greg at the eyepiece. In fact, some of the stories I’ve been told can’t be written here, “for the sake of the children.” Suffice it to say, the Okie-Tex experience was a pleasant eye-opener to the meaning of serious observing.

The next time you see Greg Haubrich, please shake his hand and thank him for all he has done for our club and our calling. When asked if he had anything special he would like to say to all of you out there reading this ode, he said this: “Get out and observe!” Thanks, Greg.

MAS Board Minutes for November/December 2015

By Jerry Jones, SecretaryNovember:

Elections: The board is prepared for the voting to take place in December. Steve Baranski has things well under control. The candidates are: Valts Treibergs, Dave Venne, Alan Noot and Scott Anderson for member at large; Jim Harstad for vice president; Heather Birch for treasurer. Member of the Year: Much excellent discussion was had regarding the 2015 MAS Member of the Year. A unanimous decision was made. Steve Baranski is taking care of getting the plaque. It will be presented at the upcoming December meeting. (Secretary’s note: Steve Emert, membership coordinator and holder of multiple positions across MAS for decades, is the recipient of this year’s award.) Phone System Upgrade: The motion to upgrade the phone system for our information line from our current system to an e-mail-based response system has been temporarily dropped due to the fact that CenturyLink does not provide the system we currently need. Once CenturyLink enters the 21st century, the motion will be re-addressed. Third-Quarter Budget: Some time was spent in looking at our third-quarter budget. We seem to be right on track. Site Reports: The observatory at J.J. Casby will be receiving a new lock, and new staffers for Belwin will be trained. CGO is shut down for the winter. To eliminate public confusion, the LLCC committee will be rewriting the text on the Web page to clarify the Northern Nights Star Fest’s goals and purposes. ELO: the new locks are coming in and are more complicated than we previously

imagined. It will take some time before they are working correctly. Risk Assessment/Management: Wayne Boline is spearheading this project with the expectation that we will bring MAS into line with other non-profits in regard to this topic.December

New Members of the Board: We welcomed Valts Treibergs, Jim Harstad and Heather Birch to our meeting as new members of the MAS Board. Valts and Heather are having a few issues getting the necessary passwords, etc., but expect all will be in place quite soon. Site Reports: J.J. Casby: St. Paul staffers were trained, but Belwin staffers were not yet trained. Our memorandum of understanding between MAS and Belwin is now in need of renewing. ELO: We are working out some of the bugs between the new computers and the telescope mounts. Also, ELO would like to purchase a Power Point license for the Hot Spot. It has also been winterized. Some questions have arisen as to whether there are enough volunteer maintenance days and whether a better system of advertising them and tracking the members’ attendance might be possible. AL Coordinator: Jerry Jones has replaced Greg Haubrich as AL coordinator and has written a clever thank-you to Greg in this issue of Gemini. B-SIG Coordinator Needed: Suresh Sreenivasan is looking for an assistant B-SIG (Beginner’s Special Interest Group). If you are interested in serving, contact Suresh. Communications Chair: Dave Falkner has proposed that MAS include a communications chair. This individual would handle the communication between media and

Picture of Greg Haubrich in front of Larry Mitchell's 36" Obsession at TSP 2009

Greg with Scope

Greg with Award

February 20169

MAS Patron Members

Patron memberships are available to those who wish to contribute a little extra to support MAS activities. Patron memberships are established by constitution at 2-1/2 times the Regular membership rate—currently $65 annually for a patron membership. The $39 additional contribution is tax deductible. Patron memberships help fund equipment acquisitions, facility improvements, outreach activities and more. We would like to thank the following patron members as of January 11. Hytham Abu-SafiehTom and Arlene AlmScott AndersonStephen AnthonyJack AtkinsSteve BaranskiGreg BarilBradley BeiselChip BerniardScott BilleadeauWayne BolineKen BolvinRev. Eugene BrownJonathan BurkhardtJeff BurrowsWilliam BynumKen CarlsonJoshua CarlyleKurt CasbyStuart ChastainDeane Clark, Jr.Mark ConnollyKelda CutlerPaul and Jolie DavisMary Beth Smith & Ted DeMattiesJohn Donoghue

Brogan DuffyRussell DurkeeScott DutcherJim ElmquistSteven EmertDennis FaithDavid FalknerRobert FarrellJoseph FisherPatricia FlugaurRobert FoucaultAndrew FraserPaul GadePaul GarvieDon GazdikErik GisselquistWilliam GlassSteve GrabarkiewiczLawrence GrayMatt GrossJere Gwin-LenthBrandon HamilKevin HarrisGreg HaubrichThomas HawkinsonMichael HaydockJonathan Hayman

John HealeyVictor HeinerAngela Heins FamilyJohn HillMerle HiltnerLauren HoenErik HonkanenMichael HopfenspirgerGeorge HulmeAnton Jachim, PhDH. Richard JacobsonGale JallenBen JarvisChelen JohnsonJulie A. Y. JohnsonKurt JohnsonJerry JonesDeepak KamathMichael KauperColin KilbaneJim KnudsenDavid KockenParke KunkleMary LahrJonathan LarsonThomas LarsonChristine Laughlin

Louis LeichterRodney LiebegClayton LindseyBrad LinzieWalid MaalouliJohn MarchettiBruce McDonaldBrian McEnaneyRon McLaughlinJavier MedranoRebecca & Gary MesserMatt & Jessica MeyerBeverly MillerScott MorganBrian NelsonAlan NootDouglas OinesThor OlsonChristopher PaolaKen PedersonMike PittelkoKirby RichterStephen RiendlEric & Rebecca RobinsonJack Sandberg

Roy Cameron SarverPaul SchalegerDean SchantzenJames SchenzLoren SchoenzeitDavid SchultzLilah Schurstein-HannerDan Siers, Sr.David SiskindDavid SjogrenCindy and Al SmithGerald SmyserValts TreibergsDavid TruchotEarl TrussSteve UlrichSteven Vander LouwBob VangenDavid VennePaul WalkerFred WallJohn ZimitschNeal Zimmerman

Astronomy for City Dwellers

By Michael KauperAdults and school-age children welcome in this hands-on class. Discover

the sky through day- and night-time astronomy activities. Make your own star wheel, learn your true (science-based) Sun sign, learn to identify bright stars and constellations. No telescope needed to enjoy the sky. Learn about astronomy tourism and vacations, exo-planets, space exploration, light pollution, coming 2016 sky events, all about telescopes avnd binoculars, easy astrophotography, great astronomy websites, local and distant star parties.

In addition to four classes, we will take a field trip to the Eagle Lake Observatory.

Michael Kauper Community Education Adult Programs, April 19 & 26, May 3 & 10, 7:00-8:30 p.m., 612-668-3939

MAS as well as other duties including fundraising. Much discussion took place regarding this subject. The board will be seriously considering this option. Reflector Ads: As we have in the past, we will be placing ads in the AL. Reflector for our Camping with the Stars and our Northern Nights Star Fest. We have found these beneficial, not only in bring people from out of state to these events but also to advertise a few of the wonderful things MAS does throughout the year. Donation Telescopes: MAS has received the donation of a 10" Dob and eyepieces.

We have yet to determine if it is of good-enough quality to be placed in our loaner scope fleet. Budgets: Much discussion was had regarding our upcoming budget meeting in January, including how it connects with some of the risk-management questions. Gemini: We are having some trouble making ends meet with the publication of the printed Gemini as well as making the digital publication easier to find on our website. More discussion on this is necessary.

10GEMINI • www.mnastro.org

Directions to the Star Party LocationsFor maps and further details about the sites, please go to our website at www.mnastro.org/facilities.

Baylor Regional Park and Eagle Lake ObservatoryTo reach Baylor Regional Park, head west on Minnesota Highway 5, through Chanhassen and Waconia, to the town of Norwood-Young America. Turn right onto Carver County Road 33 and continue approximately two miles north. Baylor Regional Park is on the right side of the road, marked with a prominent sign. When entering the park, stay to the right and follow the road approx 1/4 mile.

When visiting the Baylor Regional Park, MAS members are requested NOT TO PARK OR DRIVE on the grass. There is a drive up to the observatory which can be used for loading or unloading or handicapped parking only. For an alternate route from the southern suburbs, take U.S. Highway 212 west to Norwood-Young America. Turn right at the second traffic light onto Carver County Road 33. Continue two miles north to the park entrance.

Cherry GroveCherry Grove is located south of the Twin Cities,in Goodhue County, about 20 miles south of Cannon Falls. To reach Cherry Grove, head south on Highway 52. On 52 about six miles south of Cannon Falls, and just past the Edgewood Inn, is a large green highway sign for Goodhue County Rd. 1 “WEST”. Turn right, and follow County 1 straight south for about sixteen miles until you arrive at a “T” intersection with County A. The observatory is immediately at your right, nestled in the shoulder of the “T”. Parking is permitted on the site, or along the road, preferably County A.

MetcalfHead east from St. Paul along Hwy. 94. Exit at Manning Avenue ( exit #253) Turn south (right turn) and then almost immediately turn left onto the frontage road (Hudson Road S). Continue east on the frontage road for about 1.5 miles. Turn right onto Indian Trail, checking the odometer as you turn. Follow Indian Trail south for just about 1.1 miles, where you’ll see an unmarked chain-link gate on the right, opening onto a dirt driveway with slight up-slope. This is the entrance to Metcalf.

Belwin/Joseph J Casby ObservatoryHead east from St. Paul along Hwy. 94. Exit at Manning Avenue ( exit #253). Turn south (right turn) and then almost immediately turn left onto the frontage road (Hudson Road S). Continue east on the frontage road about 3.4 miles until Stagecoach Trail South, then turn right onto Stagecoach Trail and go east about 2 miles until reaching Belwin Conservancy on your left at 1553 Stagecoach Trail South. From the Belwin driveway entrance, y travel about 500 feet and turn left at the gate. Travel about 1/4 mile through the woods until you emerge at the parking area near the classroom building and the Joseph Casby Observatory.

Long Lake Conservation CenterFrom Western Twin citiesTake I-94 west to Rogers/MN 101. Go north/right on MN 101 through Elk River, where MN 101 becomes USA 169. Continue north on US 169 approximately 90 miles to Aitkin. At stoplight in Aitkin, turn east/right onto US 169/MN 210 and go out of town eight miles. Then turn east/right, following MN 210 toward Duluth. Proceed seven miles. A large green highway sign marks the turn off 210 to Long Lake Conservation Center. Turn north/left on County Rd. 5. After three miles, turn east/right on gravel County Rd. 88. It is approximately one mile to the LLCC gate. Follow signs to parking and unloading areas.

From Eastern Twin citiesGo north on I-35 to Finlayson/Exit 195. Turn west/left and go one mile to County Rd. 61 and MN 18. At stop sign turn right/north and go two miles. Follow MN 18 west/left and continue 19 miles to MN 65. Turn north/right on MN 65 and proceed 30 miles to McGregor. Intersect with MN 210 and follow 210 west/left (through McGregor) for seven miles. A large green highway sign marks the turn off MN 210 to Long Lake Conservation Center. Turn north/right on County Rd. 5. After three miles, turn east/right on gravel County Rd. 88. It is approximately one mile to the LLCC gate. Follow signs to parking and unloading areas.

Photo at Eagle Lake Observatory by Father Brown

11 February 2016

Minnesota Astronomical Society 2016 Star Party Schedule

First Last Twilight Completely dark Duration of Moonrise Moon % Night Night Sunset: at: from: to: Dark* Moon-rise Moon-set Next Day Illuminated Location & Notes Mar 11 Mar 12 18:13 18:43 21:47 04:53 07:06 08:08 21:47 08:47 7% LLCC

Mar 12 18:19 23:02 21% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Mar 26 19:37 20:49 89% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Apr 01 Apr 02 19:40 20:10 21:22 03:56 06:34 03:12 13:09 03:56 44% LLCC/CGO

Apr 08 Apr 09 19:49 20:19 21:37 04:54 07:17 07:39 21:37 08:20 1% LLCC/CGO Messier Marathon at CGO

Apr 09 19:54 22:52 10% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Apr 23 20:12 21:41 97% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Apr 29 Apr 30 20:15 20:48 22:11 02:34 04:23 01:53 11:59 02:34 60% LLCC/CGO

May 06 May 07 20:24 20:57 22:25 03:52 05:27 06:10 18:24 06:53 1% LLCC/CGO Virgo Venture at CGO

May 09 Event begins at 6:00 am 08:39 10% ELO Mercury Transit - Cancelled if Cloudy

May 14 20:37 03:03 64% ELO Public Star Party - Astronomy Day

May 27 May 28 20:47 21:23 23:08 03:10 04:02 00:32 10:52 01:10 66% CGO

May 27 20:51 01:14 65% ELO Public Star Party - Opposition of Mars

May 28 20:52 01:49 55% ELO Public Star Party - Opposition of Mars

Jun 03 Jun 04 20:54 21:30 23:19 03:02 03:43 04:43 19:12 05:28 5% LLCC/CGO

Jun 10 Jun 11 20:59 21:36 00:32 02:56 02:24 11:29 00:32 12:31 30% LLCC/CGO

Jun 11 21:02 01:34 48% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Jun 25 21:06 12:26 68% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Jul 01 Jul 02 21:03 21:41 23:34 03:01 03:27 03:20 18:03 04:07 14% LLCC/CGO

Jul 08 Jul 09 21:01 21:38 23:33 03:11 03:38 10:51 23:33 11:17 16% LLCC/CGO

Jul 09 21:02 12:04 32% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Jul 23 20:51 23:02 81% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Jul 29 Jul 30 20:44 21:18 22:52 02:52 04:00 02:03 16:57 02:52 25% LLCC/CGO

Aug 05 Aug 06 20:35 21:08 22:37 04:03 05:26 09:02 22:03 10:04 6% CGO

Aug 05 Aug 07 20:35 22:05 11% ELO Camping with the Stars

Aug 20 20:13 21:37 91% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Aug 26 Aug 27 20:02 20:33 21:50 01:41 03:51 12:49 15:52 01:41 38% LLCC/CGO

Aug 27 20:01 01:44 20% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

LLCC/CGO Aug 31 Sep 03 19:49 20:19 21:34 04:53 07:19 07:51 20:32 08:51 1% Northern Nights Star Fest @ LLCC

Sep 10 19:35 01:13 65% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Sep 24 19:08 12:36 33% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

LLCC/CGO Sep 30 Oct 01 18:56 19:25 20:34 05:33 08:59 06:42 19:02 07:42 1% Mini Messier Marathon at CGO

Oct 07 Oct 08 18:43 19:13 23:02 05:42 06:40 13:20 23:02 14:10 32% LLCC/CGO

Oct 08 18:42 23:55 48% ELO Fall Astronomy Day

Oct 22 18:18 23:28 48% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Oct 28 Oct 29 18:08 18:38 19:46 06:09 10:23 05:35 17:33 06:34 6% LLCC/CGO

Nov 04 Nov 05 17:58 18:29 21:46 06:17 08:31 12:06 21:46 12:52 18% LLCC/CGO

Nov 05 17:58 20:42 32% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Nov 19 16:43 21:17 65% ELO Public Star Party - All Weather

Another group on campus: Use Red Filters on Path Lights. Yellow highlight means the moon is shortening the duration of the darkest period between astronomical twilights

Friday night is always the primary star party night at CGO with Saturday night being the alternate. LLCC may permit additional days during the week. * Time between evening and morning Astronomical Twilight (true dark, when the sun is 18 degrees or more below the hori-zon)

LLCC nights indicated with an “*” instead of an “X” means we will be sharing the facility with other groups. Not all of the lights will be extinguished.

This schedule is subject to change. Please check the MAS online calendar at www.mnastro.org for a complete schedule of all MAS events. Cherry Grove Star Parties are held on Friday nights, with Saturday reserved as the backup night if Friday is cloudy. LLCC Star parties are held on both Friday and Saturday night. Eagle Lake Public nights are held on Saturday nights only.

The Casby Observatory at Belwin is available to MAS members who have completed the Belwin Orientation and training to use at any time. We will not have scheduled star parties at Casby. To reserve the observatory for yourself, please post your request on the Casby Observatory Keyholders discussion forum.

The Metcalf Observing Site is available to MAS members at any time. We do not have organized, scheduled star parties at Metcalf. Feel free to head out there whenever you wish.

The Eagle Lake Observatory holds regularly scheduled pubic nights. You are welcome and encouraged to bring your own observing equipment to these events. All other nights the observatory is available for trained members use. To reserve the observatory, go to the Onan reservation calendar at http://www.mnastro.org.onankey/reservations/reserve.php Before heading out, Please check the Onan reservation calendar to verify if there is a outreach event scheduled.

How to pay your dues February 2016 Volume 41 Number 1Your MAS membership expires at the beginning of the month shown on your membership card. You will be notified of your renewal

by e-mail two months prior to expiration and by USPS mail the month of your expiration. You may renew by mail or online using PayPal. By mail: Send your payment to the MAS membership coordinator at: Minnesota Astronomical Society, Attn. membership coordinator, P.O. Box 14931, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Make checks payable to MAS. Current annual membership rates when paying by check are: $26 regular, $13 student, and $65 for patron memberships. You may renew for one year or for two years at a time. Online using PayPal: PayPal charges a fee, so MAS includes a voluntary contribution in the PayPal membership rates to offset that fee. Membership rates using PayPal are $27.50 regular, $13.75 student and $67.25 patron. The membership form and the procedure for joining or renewing using PayPal may be found at www.mnastro.org/members/join/. The bimonthly Gemini newsletter is included with your membership online as a downloadable .pdf file. Printed copies of Gemini are available as an optional subscription, priced at $9 per year ($9.50 when using PayPal).

To Renew Your Sky and Telescope Subscription

MAS members are offered subscriptions to these magazines at a club discount. The S&T discount subscription is $32.95 per year ($34.25 when using PayPal). Astronomy magazine discount subscriptions are $34 for one year or $60 for two years ($35.50 and $62.25 when using PayPal). New subscriptions to S&T at the member discount must be sent to MAS for processing. Send new subscriptions or renewals with your MAS membership to the P.O. box listed above. You may if you wish perform subsequent subscription renewals directly with S&T by mail or by phone with Sky Publishing at 1-800-253-0245. This method is especially beneficial if you wait until your subscription is about to expire to avoid missing any issues. Astronomy magazine renewals at the club discount must go through MAS. Renewal information may be found at the same membership links listed above.

How to Subscribe to MAS e-mail Distribution Lists

MAS uses Web discussion forums and e-mail distribution lists for timely communications. We highly recommend that you subscribe to both the Web forums and the MAS general distribution e-mail list.

To subscribe to the MAS e-mail list visit: lists.mnastro.org/mnastro/listinfo, click on the MAS list link and follow the subscription instructions. There is a general list (MAS), an outreach list and lists for other special purposes.

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