Astral Projections Online June 2022
Check our Website for updated content at www.astra-nj.com
Club Presentations Wanted:
Does anyone have any astronomy items of interest to share with the membership?
Please let us know at Club Contacts.
ASTRAL PROJECTIONS ONLINE (APO for short) is an email-linked publication for members only. If you exit APO to the club website or other resources you will need to use the emailed link again to get back to it. If you wish to retain a copy please bookmark or refer back to the email. We will make all efforts to post by the first week of the month.
Submissions Welcome: Members are invited to submit articles, photos, news, or stories for inclusion with Astral Projections Online. Please contact the ASTRA Webmaster.
Event Calendar
ASTRA’s next meeting will be Friday, June 10, 2022, at 7 PM EST. This will be an in-person meeting at the Planetarium and virtual for those that would prefer to remain remote.
ASTRA PICNIC - August 13 - 2 PM - More details coming
Jakes Branch Public Star Party - Saturday, June 4, 2022, at 9 PM
Cloverdale Public Star Party - Saturday, July 23, 2022, at 8:30 PM
Jakes Branch Public Star Party - Saturday, July 30, 2022, at 8:30 PM
Jakes Branch Public Star Party - Saturday, August 20, 2022, at 8:30 PM
Island Beach State Park Moonlight hikes begin July 1 every Friday evening at 8 PM, until August 26. If you would like to volunteer to help out please let one of the executive board members know. We set up our telescopes in Parking Lot 13. This is not an ASTRA event, the public would need to contact Island Beach State Park to register.
EVENT Cancellations: Members will receive email notifications of an event cancellation.
Upcoming County Park Presentations 2022
Public Outreach, if any member wishes to support ASTRA outreach efforts with the public, please let Vinny, Ro, or Jim know of any interest. Currently, we have three events planned with the county parks.
July 23 - 7 PM to 8:30 PM - Beginners Astronomy
Location: Cloverdale Farms County Park
There is a registration fee of $5, payable to the park. Please call them to reserve your spot.
NOTE: The ASTRA Star Party at 8:30 PM is a separate event that will follow and is free for all to attend.
Website Updates …
Please visit our club website. We continue to have additional updates, if there is some content that would be useful to members please let us know.
"Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.”
- Edwin Hubble - Astronomer
ASTRA Meeting - May 13
Our ASTRA meeting this month was back at the planetarium. We discussed upcoming events and asked if there were any interest in doing some solar observing.
Rosemarie Spedaliere provided an overview this month on Astronomical events for the summer. We started off with the Lunar Eclipse on May 15 followed by a review of each planet that will be making an appearance during May.
On July 15, The Moon and Saturn will share the same right ascension, with the Moon passing 4°02' to the south of Saturn. The Moon will be 16 days old. At around the same time, the two objects will also make a close approach, technically called an appulse. An appulse is when two or more astronomical objects – usually the planets or the Moon – appear close to one another in the sky.
On July 18 there will be a conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter, followed by the Moon and Mars on July 21. On July 22 will be the Moon and Uranus. Closing out July on July 26 will be the Moon and Venus.
We then move into August with an conjunction with Mars and Uranus on August 1.
We will have the Perseids Meteor shower in August with it peaking on August 13.
Event Reports
DSLR Milkyway Photography
We had a presentation on DSLR Milkyway Photography at Catus Island on May 17.
Headcount was small being that it was truly a nice day out so couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to be inside. This presentation is being broken down into smaller segments with the deep sky widefield imaging being moved to a separate presentation.
Astronomy with Binoculars
We were able to have our first presentation on Astronomy with Binoculars on May 21 at Cloverdale Farm County Park.
Attendance was good and with some adjustments, the presentation will go smoother in my assessment the next time around. All in all, it was well-received, including the Light Pollution presentation.
The park staff was happy with how it turned out and having the star party after seems to have worked out well having both on the same day.
Cloverdale Star Party
On May 21 our star party at Cloverdale was a success with good numbers from the public that night. We also had plenty of telescopes on hand with a good membership headcount that night. All images below are from Alexandra Granovsky.
Around the Web
Cleaning Your Telescope
An article from Celestron on cleaning your telescope and accessories.
This month’s July issue of Sky&Telescope is an article about making artificial stars with contributions from ASTRA’s own John Deriso. Congrats John. John contacted the author, Jerry Oltion last December about this idea and they shaped it over the following months. It may be hard to read here, so I recommend purchasing this month’s issue.
July S&T Article
Our Nearest Neighbor
Let’s explore some interesting features, facts, or myths about our nearest neighbor, the Moon. Without it, life on Earth would be totally different, if not at all.
Monthly Lunar Destination - by Vic Palmieri
This month we will examine another very prominent Lunar Feature known as the crater, Plato. However, it is frequently referred to as a walled plain. This crater, or walled plain, is named after the Greek philosopher Plato who was born in Athens in 427 BC and died in 347 BC. Several sources offer a range of dates for his birth and death but the dates seem to coalesce around the dates herein.
Plato is considered a pivotal figure in Western philosophy. He created the Academy which was the first known institution of higher learning. He was also known for written dialogues as a way to discuss moral and philosophical issues between two or more persons.
T
he crater, or walled plain, Plato will from hereon be referenced as Plato. Plato is a circular crater 109 Km in diameter and has been estimated to be 3.8 billion years old. It is located in a blocky region between Mare Frigoris, Sea of Cold, and Mare Imbrium, Sea of Rains. On account of its northerly location foreshortening makes the appearance of Plato like an ellipse. The floor of Plato is dark and is made of two basalts of a slightly different shading. These separate eruptions filled the excavated crater about 2.8 billion years ago forming the smooth floor we see today.
Image Source: VJP
The average depth is about 1000 meters with several mountain peaks rising to more than 2000 meters. Along the western rim, there is a 23.4 Km diameter slump block that broke free when the crater was formed by an asteroid impact. Adjacent to the slump block but outside the crater rim there is a 5.7 Km wide and approximately 830-meter deep volcanic vent. From this vent, a rill flows southerly toward Mare Imbrium. I plan to see if it is possible to view this vent and rill under the next favorable conditions.
Adjacent to the slump block but outside the crater rim there is a 5.7 Km wide and approximately 830-meter deep volcanic vent. From this vent, a rill flows southerly toward Mare Imbrium. I plan to see if it is possible to view this vent and rill under the next favorable conditions.
There are four craterlets within Plato each about 2 km in diameter. Two lie close to each other. Under very good seeing conditions they are a test of your telescope optics. I have seen three with a 4” refractor. Sunrise 0.5 days after First Quarter, sunset 0.5 days after Last Quarter.
Image Source: Wikiwand
The rim of Plato does cast very jagged appearing shadows across the floor of the walled plain. I did note an interesting shadow pattern that reached halfway across Plato’s floor.
My notes indicated 1.5 days after First Quarter. I plan to obtain better data next time but for anyone desiring to see this shadow play try one day before First Quarter (shadows from the eastern rim) and one day after the Last Quarter (shadows from the western rim). Please let me know how you made out!
Image Source: Sky At Night Magazine
Video Link to Tour the Crator Plato: YouTube
Outreach material below is distributed free for public outreach.
Let’s Explore Space - What’s in the Sky June 2022?
Butterfly Cluster M6
The Butterfly Cluster is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Scorpius. Its name derives from the vague resemblance of its shape to a butterfly. The Trumpler classification of II 3 r encodes it is rich in stars, ranks II out of IV for disparateness, and greatly mixes bright with faint components. Wikipedia
Distance to Earth: 1,601 light years
Distance: 1.59 kly (0.487 kpc)
Constellation: Scorpius
Declination: −32° 13′
Apparent dimensions (V): 25′
Other designations: Messier 6, NGC 6405, Cr 341, Mel 178, Lund 769, OCL 1030, ESO 455-SC030
The name was first coined by Robert Burnham who described it as a "charming group whose arrangement suggests the outline of a butterfly with open wings".
From a dark site, M6 is an easy naked-eye target appearing as a hazy patch that hints at resolution. With 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars, it's a wonderful sight. The brightest six stars are of approximately the same brightness and line up to form the beautiful butterfly shape. Through a small 100mm (4-inch) telescope, the cluster is awash with stars of various colors. Most of the bright stars in M6 are hot, blue B-type stars but the brightest member is the K-type orange giant variable star, BM Sco (mag. +5.5 -> +7.0 - period ~850 days). The contrast between this star and the surrounding hot white/blue stars is striking, a wonderful view.
On the lighter side of astronomy …
Members Submitted Articles & Items
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Nothing for May
What’s Up: June 2022
Sky Watching Tips from NASA
Provided by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
For more go to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory webpage: What’s Up: Skywatching Tips From NASA
This article and images are distributed by NASA Night Sky Network
The Night Sky Network program supports astronomy clubs across the USA dedicated to astronomy outreach.
Visit nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov to find local clubs, events, and more!
Night Sky Notes: Solstice Shadows
By David Prosper
These images from NASA’s DSCOVR mission show the Sun-facing side of Earth during the December 2018 solstice (left) and June 2019 solstice (right). Notice how much of each hemisphere is visible in each photo; December’s solstice heavily favors the Southern Hemisphere and shows all of South America and much of Antarctica and the South Pole, but only some of North America. June’s solstice, in contrast, heavily favors the Northern Hemisphere and shows the North Pole and the entirety of North America, but only some of South America. Credit: NASA/DSCOVR EPIC
Solstices mark the changing of seasons, occur twice a year, and feature the year’s shortest and longest daylight hours - depending on your hemisphere. These extremes in the length of day and night make solstice days more noticeable to many observers than the subtle equality of day and night experienced during equinoxes. Solstices were some of our earliest astronomical observations, celebrated throughout history via many summer and winter celebrations.
Solstices occur twice yearly, and in 2022 they arrive on June 21 at 5:13 am EDT (9:13 UTC), and December 21 at 4:48pm EST (21:48 UTC). The June solstice marks the moment when the Sun is at its northernmost position in relation to Earth’s equator, and the December solstice marks its southernmost position. The summer solstice occurs on the day when the Sun reaches its highest point at solar noon for regions outside of the tropics, and those observers experience the longest amount of daylight for the year. Conversely, during the winter solstice, the Sun is at its lowest point at solar noon for the year and observers outside of the tropics experience the least amount of daylight- and the longest night – of the year. The June solstice marks the beginning of summer for folks in the Northern Hemisphere and winter for Southern Hemisphere folks, and in December the opposite is true, as a result of the tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation. For example, this means that the Northern Hemisphere receives more direct light from the Sun than the Southern Hemisphere during the June solstice. Earth’s tilt is enough that northern polar regions experience 24-hour sunlight during the June solstice, while southern polar regions experience 24-hour night, deep in Earth’s shadow. That same tilt means that the Earth’s polar regions also experience a reversal of light and shadow half a year later in December, with 24 hours of the night in the north and 24 hours of daylight in the south. Depending on how close you are to the poles, these extreme lighting conditions can last for many months, their duration deepening the closer you are to the poles.
A presenter from the San Antonio Astronomy Club in Puerto Rico demonstrating some Earth-Sun geometry to a group during a “Zero Shadow Day” event. As Puerto Rico lies a few degrees south of the Tropic of Cancer, their two zero shadow days arrive just a few weeks before and after the June solstice. Globes are a handy and practical way to help visualize solstices and equinoxes for large outdoor groups, especially outdoors during sunny days! Credit & Source: Juan Velázquez / San Antonio Astronomy Club
While solstice days are very noticeable to observers in mid to high latitudes, that’s not the case for observers in the tropics - areas of Earth found between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Instead, individuals experience two “zero shadow” days per year. On these days, with the sun directly overhead at solar noon, objects cast a minimal shadow compared to the rest of the year. If you want to see your own shadow at that moment, you have to jump! The exact date for zero shadow days depends on latitude; observers on the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° north of the equator) experience a zero shadow day on the June solstice, and observers on the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° south of the equator) get their zero shadow day on December’s solstice. Observers on the equator experience two zero shadow days, being exactly in between these two lines of latitude; equatorial zero shadow days fall on the March and September equinoxes.
There is some serious science that can be done by carefully observing solstice shadows. In approximately 200 BC, Eratosthenes is said to have observed sunlight shining straight down the shaft of a well during high noon on the solstice, near the modern-day Egyptian city of Aswan. Inspired, he compared measurements of solstice shadows between that location and measurements taken north, in the city of Alexandria. By calculating the difference in the lengths of these shadows, along with the distance between the two cities, Eratosthenes calculated a rough early estimate for the circumference of Earth – and also provided further evidence that the Earth is a sphere!
Are you having difficulty visualizing solstice lighting and geometry? You can build a “Suntrack” model that helps demonstrate the path the Sun takes through the sky during the seasons. You can find more fun activities and resources like this model on NASA Wavelength. And of course, discover the latest NASA science at nasa.gov.
For more on the Summer Solstice check out the linked video from Learn the Sky.
Tonight’s Sky: June
Though the nights are shorter in June, they are filled with fine sights. Look for the Hercules constellation, which will lead you to a globular star cluster with hundreds of thousands of densely packed stars. You can also spot Draco the dragon, which will point you to the Cat’s Eye Nebula. Keep watching for space-based views of globular star clusters and the nebula.
Submissions Welcome
Members are invited to submit articles, photos, news, or stories for inclusion with Astral Projections Online. Please contact the ASTRA Webmaster.