Cape Fear Skies The Cape Fear Astronomical Society Newsletter - Editor Debbi Hayden This Month's Meeting will be: Sunday, May 2, 2004 Featuring our own Tom Jacobs who has a presentation that will be a surprise! Gastronomy! Join us before the meeting for dinner at the Rockola Café on College Road, at 5:15 pm. There will be a screening of the classic 1955 movie This Island Earth. after the meeting for those who would like to stay. Released when DVD's first came on the market, the DVD is long out of print and very hard to find. Meeting Minutes for April 4th, 2004 - by CFAS Secretary Terry Herrin President Ronnie Hawes called the meeting to order in Room 101 of Morton Hall at 7:00pm. There were no officers' reports this month. Under old business, club t-shirts were not available for this meeting, but would be ready by next month's meeting. Ronnie reminded everyone to pay their dues. He also thanked Tommy Puckett for helping out with the elementary and high school tests. The annual Cape Fear Spring Science Spectacular is coming up on April 17th from 10:00am to 4:00pm. The following Saturday, April 24th, is Astronomy Day, and the club is planning a telescope clinic and viewing session at Snipes Elementary School starting at 3:00pm. Under new business, Alan Hilburn passed out a document detailing upcoming meteor showers. He also discussed two comets that will be visible to the naked eye in April and May. Alan said the club should plan a viewing session at Ft. Fisher for the Venus transit of the sun on June 8th. Ronnie announced two upcoming lectures at UNCW by astronomer Sten Odenwald. Both will be in DeLoach Hall, Room 212. The first will be Thursday, April 22nd, at 7:00pm, entitled New Discoveries in 21st Century Astronomy. The second will be Friday, April 23rd, at 2:00pm, entitled Past and Prolog: What to Expect from Recent Sunspot Cycles. Continuing new business, Ronnie discussed the life, death, and resurrection of his Celestron C5 telescope. He also announced there will be a viewing session of the moon for the Girl Scouts on Monday, April 26th. Billy Kidney suggested the club form a viewing committee to organize viewing times and locations. Billy was subsequently volunteered to head up said committee. Under viewing reports, Terry Herrin gave a report of his and John Canaday's Messier Marathon at New Mexico Skies, near Cloudcroft, NM on March 20th. Using the facility's 30" Tectron Dobsonian and Sky Commander digital setting circles, they were able to observe 109 of the 110 objects in the Messier Catalog, with the only one missed being M30, due to it being too close to the rising sun. Billy Kidney talked about viewing at Yamacraw, and at the Peachtree Star Party. Ronnie talked about viewing sessions at the Holly Shelter site March 27th and April 3rd. The meeting broke for fifteen minutes at 8:00pm. Ben Steelman then gave a presentation on astronomical observing in the Southern Hemisphere. After Ben's presentation, Ronnie asked if there were any other club business, and having none, adjourned the meeting at 9:00pm. News Cluster Thank you to everyone who helped out at the Spring Science Spectacular and at the telescope clinic/viewing session on Astronomy Day! T-shirts will be ready for pick-up at this month's meeting! A new "nebula" has been discovered by Wayne and Debbi Hayden... It will become visible to the naked eye sometime in late October! (Congratulations to Wayne & Debbi, and best wishes!!) Sky Calendar May 02 - Venus is at greatest brillancy (mag -4.5) at 4:00am EDT.           CFAS May Meeting at 7:00pm May 04 - Full Moon at 4:33pm EDT, Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks May 11 - Last quarter Moon at 7:04am EDT May 14/15 - CFAS Group Viewing Sessions           Photo opportunity! Comet NEAT is close to M44, the Beehive Cluster! May 19 - New Moon at 12:52 am EDT May 21/22 - CFAS Group Viewing Sessions May 27 - First quarter Moon at 3:57am EDT June 02 - CFAS June Meeting June 08 - Transit of Venus, sunrise Ready for the Comets? LIGHTS (out, preferably), CAMERA (ready), and (hopefully) ACTION! The two comets we have been anxiously awaiting are finally just around the corner - Comet NEAT (C/2001 Q4) will be at its brightest in early May and come into view just after sunset on the southwest horizon. By mid-May, it will be high in the dark sky but fading a bit. NEAT will still be nicely placed through June and July, but will become visible only with the use of a telescope. Comet LINEAR (C/2002 T7) is expected to get a little brighter than NEAT, but a bit more elusive as well. It shows up in the first days of May very low in the eastern sky at dawn. You will need binoculars to find it this early. It brightens to its maximum in mid-May, but will be hidden in the Sun's glare. By the time it is seen again on the west-southwest horizon, it will be fading in brightness. Some highlights for both comets in May are seen here: May 05th - Comet NEAT passes 9° from Sirius, the sky's brightest star. May 06th - Comet NEAT is closest to Earth, and will be at its peak brightness of 2.5 magnitude. May 15th - Comet NEAT reaches perihelion, and will be near the Beehive Cluster, M44! May 19th - Comet LINEAR will be closest to Earth and at its greatest brightness of mag 2. May 22nd - LINEAR will be only 3° from Sirius. Late May - Both comets will be visible at once! NEAT high in the western evening sky           at 4th magnitude, and LINEAR low in the WSW sky. Tips on Photographing the Transit of Venus on June 8th - Make sure you have a safe, properly-fitting solar filter, as well as a solid tripod. - Test your equipment and take "practice shots" of sunspots to determine the desired image size on the film and exposure settings. It is best to do your testing around the same time of day as the transit will occur. - Consider type of film. Faster film speeds require less exposure time and minimize blurring due to vibrations and tracking errors, but are more grainy than slower film speeds. - Continually recheck your focus throughout the transit, as it can change with changing temperatures. - If you will be using a digital camera or video camera, use a freshly charged battery, and have another on hand as a spare! ____________________________________________________________ All content unless otherwise stated Copyright (c) 2002-2004 CAPE FEAR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. All Rights Reserved.