The AFSIG is currently NOT having online meetings.
ONLINE – General Meeting – June 2020
The General Meeting will continue online. See Mae’s member emails for information about topics and how to access the meeting.
At the current time, it is available only to members, but that may change in the future.
April Astronomy Observing
by Jim Knoll
April has a lot of interesting astronomy events and they are all visible with just your eyes.
April 2 morning. Mars and Saturn are very close in the morning sky (1.5 degrees) with Jupiter another 6 degrees to the upper right. View around 5 or 5:30 am.
April 3 evening. To the west, Venus (brightest object in the night sky in that area) will have a conjunction (get very close) to the Pleiades or 7 Sisters Cluster. In fact, Venus will be in the cluster. View around 7 or 7:30 pm.
Throughout April in the morning around 5 or 5:30 am. Mars (red), Saturn, and Jupiter form a nice line of planets with Mars closest to the horizon and Jupiter furthest with Saturn in the middle. The Moon joins the group April 14 – 16.
April 21-22. The evening or April 21 or even better the morning of April 22 will be the Lyrid Meteor Shower. Toward the east after 10 pm or early in the morning around 5 am look straight up. The shower radiant will be near the star Vega in the constellation Lyra and in the constellation Hercules right next door. Might see up to about 20 meteors per hour.
Sorry, no TAAA Public star parties in April and May. After the Monsoon, we will start them up again. Check our TAAA Website calendar for more info (tucsonastronomy.org) or follow a particular event here on our Facebook Page.
Clear skies and stay safe.
NASA Image, Robert Gendler
Planets of the Month: MARCH
by Erich Karkoschka
Mercury is just visible at dawn. Its greatest western elongation is the 23rd.
Venus is 45 degrees high at sunset, its best once every eight years. Greatest elongation from the sun is on the 24th, when it is half illuminated. On April 3 it will be inside the Pleiades (M45). At magnitude -4.5, it can be seen during the day if one can find it. The Moon visits Venus on March 26 & 27. Uranus is only 2 degrees from Venus on March 8 (within a binocular view).
Moon. First Quarter: March 2. Full: 9. Last Quarter: 16. New: 24. The Moon will visit Venus March 26 & 27.
Mars. Rises around 4 am at magnitude +1. Mars rises first early in the month, Jupiter is 5 degrees behind, and Saturn another 8 degrees behind. By the 18th Mars has almost caught up with Jupiter and the Moon is very close to both of them. Between the 20th & 31st, Mars will be between Jupiter and Saturn and within 7 degrees of each other. A Mars/Jupiter conjunction is on the 20th and a Mars/Saturn conjunction is on the 31st. After the 31st, Mars will have passed Saturn and will move on while Jupiter and Saturn stay within 6 degrees of each other.
Jupiter. Rises around 4 am at magnitude -2. See Mars write-up for positioning.
Saturn. Rises around 4 am at magnitude +1. See Mars write-up for positioning.
Uranus. Only 2 degrees from Venus on the 8th.
Neptune. Not visible. Solar Conjunction (in the glare of the Sun) is March 8.
The Vernal (Spring) Equinox is March 19 at 9 pm MST. This is when the Sun crosses the celestial equator (an imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator). This happens on March 19, 20, or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere.
Planets of the Month: FEBRUARY 2020
by Erich Karkoschka
Mercury is easily visible in the first half of the month during dust in the west. It disappears after the 18th.
Venus is 40 degrees high at sunset and even 44 degrees by the end of the month. This is close to the maximum possible. It sets after 9 pm. The Moon will visit Venus on the 27th, a beautiful sight.
MAIN EVENT. Occultation of Mars by the Moon on the morning of February 18, well visible from Tucson before dawn in the southeast. It starts about an hour after Mars rises and lasts for another hour. Mars disappears behind the bright side of the Moon at 4:38 am and will reappear at 5:40 am along the dark side. The disappearance will be visible in binoculars as Mars slowly becomes invisible at the bright limb of the Moon. The reappearance will also take about 20 seconds. Since it occurs at the dark limb, it can be observed with the naked eye.
Uranus is 60 degrees high after dusk, visible in binoculars or a telescope.
Morning Sky. Mars rises at 4 am. Jupiter follows at 5 am, and Saturn at 6 am. These three planets will get closer to each other as the month progresses.
Astronomy Fundamentals Meeting – March 2020
Constellation of the Month:
Auriga
Presenter: Gus Gomez
Gus Gomez will be presenting Auriga for the constellation of the month.
Main Presentation:
Discussion on Equipment Modifications
Presenter:
Our main topic will be an open discussion on equipment modifications that members have done to enhance their viewing sessions.
General Meeting – March 2020
6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation
Title: The Astronomical League and TAAA’s Astronomy Fundamentals Class
Speakers: Doug Smith and JD Metzger
TAAA member Doug Smith talks about The Astronomical League, and TAAA member JD Metzger talks about TAAA’s Astronomy Fundamentals Class.
7:30 pm – Main Presentation
Title: Using Light Echoes as Time Machines
Speaker: Jennifer Andrews is an observational astronomer interested in massive stars and the violent explosions that signal the end of their lives. She has been at Steward Observatory for the past few years, and spends a lot of her time observing supernovae and other transients with telescopes in Southern Arizona. Jennifer received her PhD at Louisiana State University, and prior to moving to Tucson she worked as a postdoc at the University of Massachusetts
The great eruption of the massive star Eta Carinae in the mid-1800s was a spectacular astronomical event, when it likely ejected a mass of material 10 – 20 times that of the Sun, and was visible to the naked eye. Until recently the only observations of that eruption were historical visual estimates of Eta Carinae’s brightness and color. Thanks to our evolving ability to use light echoes (LEs) we can now re-examine the event. As some light from Eta Carinae’s eruption traveled directly toward us and was observed in the 1800s, light directed away from us was scattered off dust, and we are finally observing it today as a light echo. Over the past decade we have been obtaining imaging and spectroscopy of these echoes with telescopes in the Southern Hemisphere, enabling us to reconstruct Eta Carinae’s physical state prior to and during the great eruption. Jennifer will discuss these observations and what they reveal about one of the most enigmatic massive stars in the Milky Way
Saguaro National Park EAST Monthly Astronomy Event
TAAA Support to the Saguaro National Park EAST monthly astronomy event.
Join park naturalists for an introduction to astronomy and a look at the desert night sky. Telescopes and binoculars will be available. Reservations are required. Call the Visitor Center at (520) 733-5153. Accessible Program.
Observing and talk will be at the Visitor Center from 7 – 9 pm.
Saguaro National Park EAST Monthly Astronomy Event
TAAA Support to the Saguaro National Park EAST monthly astronomy event.
Join park naturalists for an introduction to astronomy and a look at the desert night sky. Telescopes and binoculars will be available. Reservations are required. Call the Visitor Center at (520) 733-5153. Accessible Program.
Observing and talk will be at the Visitor Center from 7 – 9 pm.
Planets of the Month: JANUARY, 2020
by Erich Karkoschka
|
Mercury starts to be visible far below Venus in the West on the 26th. It will be well visible in early February. |
|
Venus is extending its visibility in the West from 2 to 3 hours and sets after 9 pm by the end of the month. |
|
The thin lunar crescent after New Moon in the West will be near Mercury on the 26th and near Venus on the 27th & 28th. |
|
Mars rises at 4 am. On the 18th & 19th, it will be 5 degrees north of Antares. Two red objects near each other. |
| |
Jupiter will slowly appear in the morning sky starting the 11th. |
| |
Saturn is not visible. It get occulted by the Sun on the 13th. |
| |
Uranus is 70 degrees high after dusk in the SW. |
| |
Neptune in Aquarius gets visited by Venus on the 27th with a separation of only 10 arc minutes, makiong it possible to fit two planets in the filed of view even at high magnification. |
 |
Minor planet #4, Vesta, is further near Uranus in Cetus and still brighter than 8th magnitude. |