ASTRONOMY CLUB NEWSLETTER

CLUB EVENTS Everyone's invited to join us at the West Davis Elementary School playground at 8:00 p.m., SATURDAY, April 26 for another viewing of Hale-Bopp and Mars. The School Is Located at 1212 Anderson Road. Wear Warm Clothing. Bring a Flashlight in a Paper Bag to Keep Lights Dim, mosquito or gnat repellent may be desireable. Also, Bring Something on Which to Sit or Lie. Telescopes and Binoculars Are Welcome. Though Hale-Bopp is leaving and won't be visible from Davis after mid-May, it should be still be an interesting object. Similarly, we are moving away from Mars, but it won't be much smaller than it was at its closest approach in March.

The Club Meeting on the evening of Sunday March 23 at West Davis Elementary School was great. The observing conditions were close to perfect, too: no wind, a balmy temperature, and only a few high thin clouds. Billed as a "Three Course Feast (for the eyes)," it featured the partially eclipsed Moon, the planet Mars, and Comet Hale-Bopp. A minor back sprain threatened to prevent me from attending the meeting, but Tim Feldman, Alvin Huey, and Ben Granett assured me that they would manage things-- I am very grateful for their help. The 50-100 attendees of all ages "feasted on" many views of the heavens through an assembled multitude of telescopes and binoculars.

The largest telescope yet to appear at one of our meetings drew a big, excited crowd. Alvin Huey assembled his 16 inch Dobsonian and provided stunning views of the Comet, the Great Nebula in Orion, and Mars. Visible through Alvin's scope were "hoods" of cometary dust and gas material that appeared to encircle the comet's head. Tim unlimbered his reliable 8 inch and, like Alvin, was kept busy helping people to the eyepiece, and answering questions about the Moon, Mars, the comet, and their telescopes. Ben set up his 6 inch telescope and provided views and information to many in attendance. In addition to these scopes and their hard working operators, many other members and attendees brought their own small refractors and binoculars and shared their enthusiasm for astronomy.

The image at right is, of course, of the comet Hale-Bopp. Bob Thompson took it on April 2nd at 8:00 p.m. on hypered tech pan film for 25 minutes with a 150 mm lens and digitally scanned it as a negative. The exposure was guided to follow the stars. The field of view is approximately 8 degrees by 9 degrees (approximately 144 full moons could fit into the area of this image). Note the gas tail to the left of the dust tail. The gas tail, which appears blue in color photos, is faintly discernable with binoculars from city streets in Davis.

Comet Memories. In less sophisticated times, the arrival of a great comet was greeted with foreboding. What will be your memories of Hale-Bopp's appearance? The media has made much of the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp and its link to the tragedy of the Heaven's Gate cult--but for stargazers, the arrival of Hale Bopp has been a wonderful occasion, giving us the opportunity to share our hobby with friends and neighbors, and to renew our wonder of the night sky. This Club aims to be your guide to the many aspects of astronomy that are available to the amateur.

I hope participating in Club meetings will be one of many happy memories of this spectacular Comet. For me, one such memory of Hale-Bopp will be of a young club member, Emmet Eagan, presenting me with a box of "Cocoa Comets" breakfast cereal. He believed it was quite appropriate for astronomers looking at the comet. May Hale Bopp leave you with good memories also.

For best comet views, observe from the darkest locations. The photo on the right was made by me from West Davis Elementary School playground April 3rdaround 8:00 p.m. I used a 35 mm camera, Kodak Royal 1000 film and a 55 mm lens at f/1.8 and the exposure was for 15 seconds. The camera was mounted on a tripod.

Planets in April. Mercury is an easy target after sunset in the west for the first week or so this month. Venus and Saturn are too close to the sun to observe. Mars is well situated for observing this month. Because it rises in the afternoon, it is high enough in early evening to be observed with telescopes. High power will be needed, as always, since Mars is only 13 seconds of arc in diameter--the size of a large lunar crater when viewed from the Earth. Around 7:30 on Thursday April 10th, view the young Moon as it approaches quite close to the "red eye" of Taurus the Bull. On Friday, April 18th, the nearly full Moon approaches within 4 degrees of Mars

Redding Area Astronomy Club Forming. Club member, Bob Thompson and other astronomy enthusiasts in the "greater Redding" area are interested in forming an astronomy club. Bob reports that " We put on a star-comet party in Chico last Friday (March 28) and over a thousand people showed up. And the weather was great. We have over a hundred people in our database here so far" If you are interested in this group, please contact Bob via e-mail at rhtastro@c-zone.net

Donation to the Telescope Fund. As you may be aware, the Club is assembling a large telescope and is soliciting donations to complete the work. Alvin Huey has generously donated a secondary mirror, with mounting, to further our efforts. It is a Meade 4 inch minor axis mirror, which will replace our simple glass mirror that we originally intended to use. Thank you, Alvin!

The Astronomy Club is hosted by Dennis Smith with the assistance of Tim Feldman and other eager astronomy buffs. The club is for everyone - adults, children, knowledgeable or ignorant. Come to listen, look and learn, or to share your expertise or experience.