ONLINE – General Meeting – June 2021

6:30 – 8:00 pm:  Open to everyone (via Facebook Live)                              Approximately 8:00 pm:  Members Only (via Zoom)

TAAA’s next general member meeting will be held on Friday, June 4, 2021, and available online. The Main Presentation starts at 6:30 P.M and is open to the public. A Members Only Meeting will follow. Non-members may attend the Main Presentation via Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy/. Members should attend the meeting via Zoom.

6:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  Ivory Towers in Backyards

Presentation: Many astronomers dream of their own personal observatory in their backyard.  What are some of the options out there for individuals to have a small observatory only feet away from family and a soft, warm bed? Joseph Wright uses anecdotes and a lifetime of talking to a wide variety of audiences, including youth, to inspire people to become involved or more involved in astronomy.

Presenter: Joseph Wright’s  interest in astronomy started when he was a teen Boy Scout working on the astronomy Merit Badge at the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola, MO, Joe continued his interest as a member of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City, and by studying Architecture and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas. He has created construction for several small observatories. He is now employed by UA and Steward Observatory as an Instructional Specialist, as well as a high school teacher in Architectural Design, CAD/Drafting and Robotics. The winner of many honors and awards in his field, Joe is Solar System Ambassador with Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), an Airborne Astronomy Ambassador with The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and the Sofia aircraft. And still more! He’s president of the National Sharing The Sky Foundation, and in his 17th year as Operations Manager of the Warkoczewski Observatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He resides near Excelsior, MO, and considers Tucson his second home.

32 inch Cassegrain Project

Virtual Astronomy Festival 2021

Our annual Astronomy Festival will be virtual this year and will stream to Facebook and YouTube Saturday April 17, 2021 from 3 – 7:30 pm Tucson Arizona Time (MST or PDT, UTC-7). It will include Solar Observing, nighttime observing, A Walk Around the Night Sky with Native and Star Lore, and activities and video’s about various astronomy topics. Tune in to watch it all or any portion. The festival will also be available to view later at the below links.

YouTube Astronomy Festival Premiere:  TAAA YouTube

Facebook Part 1 Link: Facebook Part 1  (3 pm – 4:50 pm)
Facebook Part 2 Link: Facebook Part 2 (4:55 pm – 7:28 pm)

Activity Schedule:

3.00-3.05 pm: Introduction
3.05-3.22 pm: Solar Observing Part 1 
     (Observe Sunspots, Prominences, and other activity on the Sun)
3.22-3.35 pm: Magnetic Sun (Learn about activity on the Sun like    
     Prominences, Flares, Filaments, Sunspots, and more)
3.35-4.16 pm: Sorting the Universe 
     (Learn how astronomers makes sense out of the Universe)
4.16-4.32 pm: Our Place in Our Galaxy 
     (Where we fit in our Galaxy)
4.32-4.50 pm: Solar Observing Part 2
    (Observe Sunspots, Prominences, and other activity on the Sun)

From here to the end if viewing on Facebook, add 5 minutes to the start and stop times (it will be aired under Part 2). Otherwise, for YouTube, the below times are still current.

4.50-5.07 pm: Why Do Eclipses Happen (How and why Eclipses happen and   
     when the next ones will occur)
5.07-5.19 pm: Pocket Solar System 
     (Make your very own Pocket Solar System)
5.19-5.31pm: Videos
     What is a Nebula
     Flight Through the Orion Nebula
     Losing the Dark
5.31-5.52 pm: TAAA Overview (Learn the benefits of becoming a member of 
     the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, our Dark Sky Observing 
     Sites, Special Interest Groups, Telescope & Book Library and lots more)
5.52-6.21 pm: Walk Around the Night Sky 
     (Native American and Ancient Star Lore of the Night Sky)
6.21-7.22 pm: Nighttime Star Party 
     (Observe galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, double stars, and lots more)
7.22-7.26 pm: Conclusion

Next Year’s Astronomy Festival is planned for April 9, 2022 at Brandi Fenton Park in Tucson Arizona. The Festival will go from 3 – 9 pm.

32 inch Cassegrain Project

PLANETS OF THE MONTH: APRIL

By Erich Karkoschka

Mars is the only evening planet. During dusk it becomes visible in the west 45 degrees high and sets just before midnight. It passes the M35 cluster on the 26th within half a degree.

Our two giant gas planets continue to separate from their close passage last December, from 12 degrees to 15 degrees distance during the month. They rise just before the morning twilight in the southeast and get up to 20 degrees high once dawn gets bright.

On the morning of the 2nd, Jupiter will appear to have an extra satellite because 44 Capricorni sneaks exactly into the line of Galilean satellites with just the right magnitude.

No other planet will be easily visible during April. Specialists may find Uranus after dusk during the first week and Mercury and Venus during dusk at the end of the month. Both planets will be only separated by 1 degree on the 25th. By the 30th, Mercury will appear 5 degrees above Venus and getting to be easier to spot. Both planets will stay together will visible for most of May.

The Full Moon on the evening of the 26th will be during perigee which makes for a large bright Full Moon. Last Quarter Moon is April 4 New Moon is April 11, and First Quarter April 19.

Chiricahua National Monument Stargazing

REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Call the Visitor’s Center to register: 520-824-3560, ext 9302.
Star Party at Chiricahua National Monument. We will have a Laser Walk Around the Night Sky starting 7:30. At 8:15 we will have a couple telescopes set up to view objects through a monitor. Event will be held at Faraway Ranch, 1 mile inside the entrance gate. Please try to use red light flashlights and minimize white light (to include cell phones) that will hinder your night vision. Chiricahua National Monument website: https://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm.  Weather dependent — Follow the event on the TAAA Facebook page to get weather and other updates: https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy/.

ONLINE – Astronomy Fundamentals Meeting – May 2021

AFSIG monthly meetings will be held online, starting at 6:30 P.M. The presentation is open to the general public. To view the meeting, please visit https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy

Constellation of the Month:

Camelopardalis

Presenter:  David Evans

David Evans will be giving us the highlights of the constellation Camelopardalis.

Main Presentation:

Pluto

Presenter:  Stephen Ferris

Stephen Ferris will finish up the night with the main topic on Pluto.

 

ONLINE – General Meeting – May 2021

6:30 – 8:00 pm:  Open to everyone via Facebook Live                              Approximately 8:00 pm:  Members Only

TAAA’s next general member meeting will be held on Friday, May 7, 2021, and available online. The Main Presentation starts at 6:30 P.M and is open to the public.  Non-members may attend via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy/.  Members should attend the meeting via Zoom, since a Members Only Meeting will follow.

6:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  Science for Everyone: Empowering Students with Citizen Science and More 

Science—including astronomy—is a messy process of discovery. And science education doesn’t always present the content in a way that actively engages students in the scientific process. At the same time, many science fields face challenges analyzing the wealth of data they collect. To help solve these challenges in astronomy, researchers have turned to citizen science through platforms such as the Zooniverse. These projects enable interested members of the public (adults as well as kids) to help analyze data by classifying galaxies, identifying features on Mars, or even isolating signals from meteoroids and near-Earth objects. Additionally, these projects create promising opportunities for students by broadening their science education to include contributions to ongoing research. And by integrating students’ research contributions with their typical science classes and relevant real-life experiences, students gain a greater appreciation for science and improve their abilities to critically examine, understand, and use data.

Presenter: Christine O’Donnell is a postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University with a joint appointment between the School for Earth & Space Exploration and the Center for Gender Equity in Science & Technology. Her current research focuses on developing and assessing science education curricular materials, and her past work also featured research into galaxy formation and dark matter. Christine completed her Ph.D. in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Arizona in Summer 2020. Outside of her work, Christine enjoys crafting/making hobbies, like glassblowing, crocheting, and knitting, and spending time with her cat.

 

32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month: MARCH

By Eric Karkoschka


Mars is the only evening planet. During dusk, it becomes visible in the southwest 70 degrees high and sets around midnight. It passes the Pleiades on the 4th within 3 degrees, which is closer than during the next 17 years.

The morning sky has three planets close to each other, the same planets that were close together in the evening sky at the beginning of the year: Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Saturn rises first, before twilight starts. Mercury and Jupiter rise half an hour later during the first week. They are close together, closest in the morning of the 5th (only .4 degrees). Jupiter is the brighter one of the close pair. Mercury races away from Jupiter and will get lost too close to the Sun on the 23rd. Jupiter and Saturn separate only slowly, from 8 degrees at the beginning of March to 11 degrees at the end.


Two additional planets can be seen in the evening sky with good eyes. Both are 6th magnitude this month. Uranus is about 30 degrees below Mars (~3 clenched fists width at arms length). Minor planet Vesta is in Leo, transiting 75 degrees high around midnight. Vesta’s motion is much faster than Uranus’, so it is easy to see its motion from night to night. Only once every three years or so does a minor planet become naked eye for several weeks.


The Moon will be close to the trio of planets in the morning sky on the 9th and then only three degrees from Mars on the 19th. The thin lunar crescent will be first visible in the evening sky on the 14th, setting before 8 pm.

ONLINE – Astronomy Fundamentals Meeting – April 2021

AFSIG monthly meetings will be held online, starting at 6:30 P.M. The presentation is open to the general public. To view the meeting, please visit https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy

Constellation of the Month:

Chameleon

Presenter:  David Evans

David Evans will be presenting Chameleon as the constellation of the month.

Main Presentation:

Neptune and Uranus

Presenter:  Doug Smith

Doug Smith will be talking about Neptune and Uranus for the nights main topic.

 

ONLINE – General Meeting – April 2021

TAAA’s general member meeting will be held on April 2 and be conducted online. The meeting will start at 6:30 P.M. It will be followed by Mary Turner’s popular Seasonal Night Sky Presentation. The main presentation and Night Sky Presentation are open to the public. A Members Only Meeting will follow. To view the meeting, please visit  Tucson Astronomy Facebook Live

6:30 pm – Main Public Presentation

Title:  OSIRIS-REx: Mission Update Before Final Farewell Flyby of Bennu

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission team has passed many milestones in its long journey to study near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu; overcoming unforeseen obstacles including house-sized boulders in its path, pandemics, and concerns of sample loss after successful sample collection in October 2020. This presentation will focus on recent discoveries and results of the Touch-and-Go-Sample Acquisition Maneuver (TAG event) last Oct. 20th.

Before heading back toward Earth, the team will conduct a Final Flyby of Bennu on April 7. Presenter Dolores H. Hill will explain the purpose of the flyby, as well as the important discoveries made all along both about navigating the mission, and about this “rubble-pile” asteroid’s formation and the history of the Solar System. The returned sample will reveal even more important details about Bennu, and the organic materials important to life. Join us us on Friday, April 2nd for the latest OSIRIS-REx news, and what to look forward to as well.

Presenter:  Dolores H. Hill is former OSIRIS-REx Ambassadors lead and is currently a member of the sample team for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission and coordinates LPL outreach. She is co-lead of the Astronomical League’s Target NEOs! Observing Program that transitioned from OSIRIS-REx Target Asteroids! citizen science program, honored as a White House Champion of Change for Citizen Science in 2013. Since 1981 Dolores has analyzed a wide range of meteorites at UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson, and provided technical support to space missions and LPL laboratories. A longtime member of the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Dolores also co-founded the Sunset Astronomical Society in Midland, Michigan, and was a member of the Warren Astronomical Society in the Detroit-area. Near-Earth asteroid (164215) Doloreshill is named after her. She looks forward to seeing samples of near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2023!

32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month: FEBRUARY

by Erich Karkoschka

  • Mars is the only naked eye evening planet. It transits at sunset more than 72 degrees high and sets past midnight. It moves through Aries and almost reaches the Pleiades by the end of the month.

On the 17th, three planets appear simultaneously in the morning sky. Jupiter is the brightest, but also lowest. Mercury is 4 degrees above Jupiter and Saturn is 4 degrees to the right of Mercury. For the next week, the three planets become easier to see while

maintaining their relative positions. Then, Mercury will be approaching Jupiter faster and faster and pass it very close on March 5th. By February 28, Mercury will be at its best while Jupiter and Saturn continue to become more obvious in March. During February, they all rise during dawn and remain low. The best

time is shortly after 6 am. Remember, those three planets were even closer together in the evening sky around January 10th.

Uranus is still visible in Aries to the lower right of Mars in the evening sky.

Vesta, minor planet number 4, is getting up to 6th magnitude in Leo and might be seen naked eye in March.

On the evening of February 12th, the 1 percent illuminated moon can be found low at dusk just before 7 pm. Last Quarter Moon is on the 4th, New Moon on the 11th, First Quarter Moon on the 19th, and Full Moon on February 27th.