September

EVANSVILLE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, INC. 2018

The EAS newsletter, Observer, is published monthly. Anyone wishing to contribute articles or photos may mail them to the club’s PO Box: EAS, PO Box 3474, Evansville, IN 47733, or e-mail them to the editor at: dasiceman@yahoo.com

September 1st, 2018 Mars Watch Held at the Museum

The EAS in partnership with the Evansville Museum participated in a Mars Watch event held at the

downtown museum. There was a large crowd and well attended by EAS members. Guests were treated to views of Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Some Deep Space Objects were also in the

eyepieces of many scopes.

Photo by Dave Kube

Inside this Issue..

2 – Local Events and information

3 – News around the Globe

4 – Calendar

5 – EAS Business

EAS OBSERVER NEWSLETTER

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The Evansville Astronomical Society (EAS) is a

non-profit organization fully incorporated in the state of Indiana. It has, as its primary goal, the advancement of amateur astronomy. Founded in 1952, the society seeks to: 1… maintain adequate facilities for its members and the public in order to extensively study the skies and 2… promote an educational program for those who wish to learn more about the science of Astronomy. Meetings are held the third Friday of each month, except June, when the annual EAS picnic is held. The society also sponsors monthly Open House events during the warmer seasons that afford the public an opportunity to tour the observatory.

EAS 2018 Officers and Contacts

President – Tony Bryan 812.827.3234

evansvilleastro@gmail.com

Vice President – Scott Conner

Secretary – David M Kube 740.223.6854

Treasurer – Ted Ubelhor

Counselors

Ken Harris (2016) Mitch Luman (2017)

Michael Borman (2018)

Webmaster – Michael Borman

Program Director Tony Bryan

Newsletter editor – Dave Kube

dasiceman@yahoo.com

For more information about the EAS or directions to the Observatory, please visit the club’s web

page: www.evansvilleastro.org

Local Events and Information

EAS Update:

Please Note we have a Regular Meeting scheduled at the Observatory on Friday, September, 21st, 2018 @ 7:30pm.

EAS Update:

Please Note we have our Fall Clean Up at the Observatory scheduled for Saturday, October 6th, 2018 beginning 10am.

EAS Update:

Please Note we have a Science Day event at the Museum on Saturday, October 13th, 2018 scheduled to begin 11am and end at 4pm. Evening PSW at the Museum as well.

EAS Update:

Please Note we have a Regular Meeting scheduled at the Observatory on Friday, October, 19th, 2018 @ 7:30pm.

EAS Update:

Please Note we have a Halloween PSW scheduled at the observatory on Friday, October 27th, 2018 @ 7:30pm.

FOR SALE:

Meade 8-inch Newtonian on heavy-duty LXD75 mount with AutoStar2 GoTo capability. Used very little. Asking $850.

Cave Astrola 10-inch f/15 Cassegrain on heavy-duty mount. Converts to an f/4 Newtonian. 10-inch Mathis RA drive gear. Asking $900.

Call Jim at 812-471-3017

Telescopes and accessories for sale...

As mentioned in last month’s issue, Mike Borman still has some excellent telescope equipment and imaging accessories for sale. Some of the gear has already been sold. If interested, go to Mike’s web page. Here is the link: http://www.mborman.org/forsale.htm

EAS OBSERVER NEWSLETTER

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One-Third of Known Planets may be Enormous Ocean Worlds.

Scientists looked at the mass of super-Earths, a kind of planet common across the cosmos but not present in our own solar system. These rocky worlds are several times larger than Earth, but the team’s analysis of known super-Earths reveals something astounding: Many of them may be literal water worlds. According to the research, many of these planets may be half water. By comparison, water is just a tiny fraction of Earth’s mass. But that doesn’t mean these super-Earths are friendly places to live. The Harvard-led team determined that those planets with 1.5 times Earth’s radius or below would be terrestrial, or rocky. Super-Earths above 2.5 Earth radius might be more like tiny versions of Neptune or Uranus. The two water dominated planets in our solar system are far from life friendly. Such hulking super-Earths would be enshrouded by a mostly-water vapor atmosphere. Further below, there might be oceans at extreme pressures and temperatures — between 390 and 930 degrees Fahrenheit (200 to 500 Celsius).

A new model of super-Earths implies many of these planets are covered in enormous, thick oceans. NASA

STEVE the Aurora isn’t an Aurora. Though the aurora is relatively well studied, it still holds surprises, such as STEVE — a vibrant, violet phenomenon known to amateur photographers and sky watchers for decades, but which only captured the attention of the Professional scientific community two years ago.

STEVE stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. The name is a “backronym” — an acronym devised after the fact to fit the letters of the name Steve, which was given to the phenomenon as a nod to the movie Over the Hedge. And though scientists had originally dubbed STEVE a kind of aurora, a new study published August 20th in Geophysical Research Letters now concludes that STEVE “is clearly distinct from the aurora.”

STEVE (left) appears as thin, ribbon-like purple emission during the aurora (far right), but it's not an aurora itself, research shows.

Ryan Sault

Dieting Black Holes Flicker More. Black holes are by nature difficult to study directly. Because even light cannot escape these massive objects. Astronomers must turn to other methods to spot and study them. While information is lost once it crosses a black hole’s event horizon, outside that boundary, it can still escape. A recent study, led by a graduate student in the Department of Astronomy of the Universidad de Chile, has now found that the amount of light emitted from around a black hole is determined by one thing, and one thing only: the rate at which matter is falling into the black hole.

This artistically enhanced image shows a Hubble Space Telescope view of the active galaxy Arp 220, which houses a feeding supermassive black hole at its center.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

EAS OBSERVER NEWSLETTER

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Up and Coming Events 2017/2018

Regular Meeting – Friday, September 21st

– Observatory @ 7:30 pm

Fall Cleanup – Saturday, October 6th

– Observatory @ 10:00 am

Science Day and PSW – Saturday, October 13th

– Beginning @ Museum 11:00 am

Regular Meeting – Friday, October 19th

– Observatory @ 7:30 pm

PSW(Halloween) – Saturday, October 27th

– Observatory @ 7:30 pm

PSW – Saturday, November 10th

– Observatory @ 7:30 pm

Moon Phases

New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Third Quarter

October 8th, 2018 October 16th, 2018 October 24th, 2018 October 2nd, 2018 October 31st, 2018

Moon Phases courtesey of Time and Date.com

EAS OBSERVER NEWSLETTER

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EAS Meeting Minutes for August 17th, 2018

The meeting was called to order at 7:35 pm by President Tony Bryan. There were 12 members present and No guests. The reading of the minutes was motioned to be accepted as published in the newsletter and seconded. The motion passed by majority vote.

V. President Scott Conner announced the below list of up-coming events. Mars Watch Saturday, Sept 1 8 – 10pm @ Museum PSW #5 Saturday, September 8 7:30 pm @ Observatory Regular Meeting Friday, September 21 7:30pm @ Observatory Fall Cleanup Saturday, October 6 10:00am @ Observatory Science Day and PSW Saturday, October 13 11 - 4 + evening @ Museum

TREASURER’S REPORT – Treasurer Ted Ubelhor was absent, so Scott Conner gave us an update of our funds. We currently have 40 members renewed for the New Year and 13 that have not. We also had an Amazon Smile Donation for $22.64.

SPECIAL PROJECTS – There have not been any updates to the ongoing special projects.

OLD BUSINESS We held our PSW #4 on August 11th, 2018. Ken Harris reported we had 60 people in attendance and we received $60 in donations. They were able to observe the planets and M57. We held our rain date for Stars On The Beach at Patoka Lake on August 4th, 2018. We had a large crowd and great support from both Louisville and the EAS. The park conducted a survey of those who attended and reported that the people loved it and thanked us for our participation. On August 10th, 2018 Mitch and Scott Conner Conducted a Mars Watch event at the Audubon State Park. Scott reported that we received a large donation and had large crowd. Mars was behind a tree but was able to view Jupiter and Saturn.

NEW BUSINESS

Mars Watch – On Monday September 1st from 7 – 9pm, the EAS will be setting up telescopes to assist the Evansville Museum during their Mars Watch event.

PSW #5 – Our fifth PSW of 2018 will be on September 8th. Matt Ken and Bob volunteered to host this event.

Fall Cleanup – On Saturday, October 6th at 10 am we will be doing our semi-annual cleanup and maintenance of the Observatory. There is a lot that needs to get done and the more people that we have, the more items we can check off. Lunch will be provided. Please help out on that day.

Science Day and PSW – On Saturday October 13th from 11AM to 4 PM and in the evening, the EAS will be setting up telescopes to assist the Evansville Museum during their Science Day, followed by a PSW.

About Capital Campaign – We are behind schedule on finalizing the Capital Campaign donation letter. It is hoped that by the middle of September the campaign will be in full swing.

Ken Harris Star Party – Ken conducted a Star Party at Frontier College on September 18th.

Temp Program Director – Matt Merlo (Current Program Director) stated he we going to be unavailable for the remainder of the year and needed someone to temporarily take over those duties until the end of the year. With the remaining meetings left for the year this would not be an issue.

Mitch presented a program regarding the Fall Equinox – Thanks Mitch.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:57 pm