Talking about Cassini

Last Friday night I had the honor and pleasure to give a talk on the Cassini-Huygens mission at the newly dedicated McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord.

I was not expecting this, but at the last minute our Astronomy club (New Hampshire Astronomical Society) got a call that the original speaker could not make it, and could we cover the talk.

The club's Educational Outreach Committee (which is fairly new, having met only about four times) came together in the clutch. One member set up web conferences so we could work on the presentation together. Another contacted Jane Houston Jones, JPL Outreach Senior Coordinator for the Cassini mission, who provided us with endless material. On Wednesday I put together an outline of the talk and that evening members of the committee signed up for various sections. Then each person combed through all the JPL presentations looking for the slide or video that best described each item, from launch through the Huygens probe landing on Titan, to the icy moons, Saturn itself, its rings, and finally the Equinox extended mission plans.

Three of us met at Panera's in Concord at 5pm on Friday and went over the talk, had a quick bowl of soup and then headed over to the Discovery Center. We had about 30 people attending including a troop of Boy Scouts who asked the most (and best) questions. We ended the evening with two NHAS members outside operating three scopes so all the kids and parents could see Saturn for real. It was a great ending to a really enjoyable evening.

Shuttle Discovery Launch from Rye, NH, and ISS pass

The shuttle launched tonight from Florida, and my son Jason called me to tell me he'd seen it go up (he lives in Orlando). Sure enough, about 8 minutes later we saw it from the beach in Rye, in the distant southeast, and watched it until it disappeared in the northeast.

Then about 30 minutes later, along came the International Space station, which Discovery will rendezvous with in 2 days. Here's a picture (60 second exposure) of the ISS going past Orion's belt. The exposure ended by lucky chance just as the ISS had reached the belt. Notice the small brightening along the streak - must be a glint from a window or a solar panel. If you look carefully you can see how the stars, normally pinpoints of light, have become streaks due to the earth's rotation. The camera was mounted on a photo tripod which did not make any counter-motion to the rotation of the earth as a telsecopic mount might do. Several families happened to be there so we made it a sidewalk astronomy night too!

Outreach at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center

The NH Astronomical Society has a long-standing relationship with the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, where we provide public skywatches on the first Friday of every month.

Last Friday was extra special, because it was the grand opening and dedication of the new McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, which includes the original planetarium and much more including an observation dome with a 14" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

Although there were some clouds, we had a mostly clear night with around one hundred visitors between 6pm and 10pm. Four members of the NHAS had scopes set up, ranging in size from 4" refractors to 12" reflectors. Since the famlies were attending the opening of the Discovery Center, this was a very science-literate group and many of the kids knew a lot about the planets and moon already. We showed them Venus and explained why it was showing as a crescent, the lunar terminator and why craters were more clearly visible near sunrise on the moon, Saturn's rings, several star clusters, and a few other objects.

Sidewalk Astronomy in Portsmouth

Wednesday evening I set up the Zenithstar 110 refractor on the Minitower for about two hours of enjoyable sidewalk astronomy near the Parking Garage in Portsmouth. There were lots of very enthusiastic visitors.

I left the scope pointed at the Moon all evening since Saturn was hiding behind the garage most of the time. The "Straight Wall" (Rupes Recta) was easily visible and everyone was able to find it easily once I pointed it out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupes_Recta

Temperature was below 10F so I tried the new chemical heater pads for feet. My toes still got cold. Are electric socks in my future?

Omega Centauri and Quadrantids from Florida

Early morning on January 3rd was the best time to see the Quadrantid meteor shower, so I went outside at 5:30 to try to see them. They did not disappoint. My first impression was that these were travelling at very high rates of speed, they flashed across the sky as quickly as any meteor I have ever seen. There was one thirty second interval in which I saw three, but there were a few in each 5-minute interval until the sun came up at 6:30. Very impressive!

Since I am visiting my father in central Florida I decided to try to see Omega Centauri for the first time. I have a pair of binoculars (8x42) and my WO 80mm scope with several EPs with me. But the cluster is not easy to find! It is not near any bright stars, and I don't know the southern constellations very well being from New Hampshire. Still, the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas came in handy. I could see Corvus very clearly, and Omega Centauri is to the SE of Corvus about twice the distance between the two lower stars in Corvus. It turned out to be easy to find in the binoculars, but it took a while to find it in the 80mm even using the 35mm Panoptic EP. But I finally located it in both. Unfortunately it was quite washed out by the light pollution and by being fairly low in the sky. But it was very obvious that this object is big! I would estimate it at 10 times the area of M13, so I can't wait to try again tomorrow morning a little earlier when the sky is darker and I am more familiar with the stars in its area. All in all a very satisfying first glimpse of an object I have wanted to see for a long time.

Veasey Park star hop

Sunday night was my first time observing from the parking lot at Veasey Park in Groveland. It was pretty dark but high clouds started coming in and brightening the sky about 10pm. By 11 it was clearer but I put the scope away.

I was trying to starhop through Cepheus, the hut-shaped constellation next to Casseopeia. No luck - not a single star appeared to be as described in the book with the exception of M103 which I found on my own and then confirmed with Ken Graun's book.

Ron Sampson was there with his 8" TEC refractor on the AP mount. Looking through this scope at the double cluster using two 24mm Panoptic EPs in a binoviewer is an awe-inspiring experience. Thanks, Ron!

Mercury rising

Mercury was supposed to be visible in the morning, but I never seemed to be able to catch it due to low clouds over the Atlantic.

This morning was clear and beautiful, so Samantha the astropup and I went out about 6am. Well, there it was big as life, and Saturn above it to increase the pleasure. Saturn's rings are so close to edge on (less then 3 degrees tilt now) that they look more like just a bright line, but still beautiful.

I was able to see Mercury until 6:45am with binoculars, then it was lost in the glare of the rising sun.