FROM THE PRESIDENT Hank Bouchelle

Vol. 54, No. 2, February, 2009The International Year of Astronomy!

This is a sad time for many individuals and,indeed, for many organizations. The passing ofEmil Volcheck is a tragedy for the DAS and for manyof us personally, as well as many others that havebeen influenced and guided by a man whose pro-fessional life was dedicated to materials scienceand whose personal life was invested heavily inspreading human knowledge.

In many ways, Emil was the conscience andthe institutional memory of the current incarna-tion of the Delaware Astronomical Society. Hewas a strong voice on the DAS Board, and oneignored his comments and suggestions at one’speril. He was experienced and wise, and hecould be tough. Speaking personally, he was oneof the first people I contacted if I saw a problemreal or anticipated, and I always listened hard tohis response.

We must move on, but I know my life wouldbe less interesting and less rich had I not knownEmil. And the DAS would have a much less effec-tive current president.

Of course, Emil’s passing leaves a vacancyon the DAS Board. As an At-Large Board member,he would have run for re-election this spring. Hispassing requires me to appoint an individual to fillhis place, and the appointee would be free to runfor election in his or her own right. (continued on pg. 10)

Next Meeting – February 17, 2009 at 8:00 PM~Mini-Talks~with Speakers:

Gus Swartout on the Messier MarathonDave Groski on the Spilhaus Space Clockat the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory

DAS Loses Ardent Supporter &Native Son Emil Volcheck

Astronomy has lost a good friend and avid ambassador asDAS past president Emil John Volcheck, Jr. passed awaypeacefully on January 24, 2009, at the age of 78. Raised in Omaha, NE he completed a BS in Chemistryat MIT and a doctorate in organic chemistry at UC Berkeleyin 1955. Dr. Volcheck had a 34 year career with the DuPontCompany supervising research and development on a varietyof landmark textile products including Dacrron, Qiana andNomex--a fire resistant fabric that has saved countless livesin both fire-fighting and racing around the world. He retiredfrom DuPont in 1989 as a Research Manager at the DuPontExperimental Station in Wilmington Dr. Volcheck was an ardent friend of astronomy and afounding member of the Delaware Astronomical Society, hadserved in many positions including president and currentlysat on its Board of Directors. It was at a DAS star party thathe met his wife of 45 years, the former Diana Burgess. Hewas a telescope builder and had observatories in threeplaces where he lived. Dr. Volcheck was also a founding member and currentmanager of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory andcould frequently be found hosting and lecturing at its PublicNights. He was currently overseeing a research effort on theobservation of white dwarf stars. Dr. Volcheck developed aparticular interest in cosmology along with avid interests incomputers, electronics and photography which he combinedto great effect in his work at Mt. Cuba. He is survived by his wife, Diana; son, Emil F. III anddaughter-in-law, Kathleen Wilsbach; son, Christopher J;daughter, Juliana M; and family member Jeremy Good. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributionsbe made to the Mt. Cuba Observatory.

LOANER TELESCOPES Tom SidowskiOne of the best advantages of

being a member of the Delaware Astro-nomical Society is that all members havethe privilege of being trained to use andthen borrow equipment owned by the clubfor personal use. Currently, we have twoscopes available for loan: a Celestron 8"Schmidt-Cassegrain, and a 6" Orion Sky-Quest XT6 Dobsonian reflector. The loanis for at least a month. If you’re interestedin checking out either of these scopes, contactTom Sidowski at 239-1844.

MCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS Emil Volcheck

view our new all-digital full-dome planetarium,one of the first of its kind in the entire UnitedStates! You can pick up a schedule when younext come to a meeting - or get the latest updatedversion off the website at: www.MountCuba.org.Programs are presented on Monday nights at8pm. Some upcoming events are:

Feb 23- Mike Cox- “Native American Constellations”

STAR PARTIES AT MT. CUBA Tom SidowskiStar parties are usually held on the grounds

of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory. You canbring your own scope or just come to observe throughothers. Telescopes in use may include the club’s 12.5"Newtonian reflector, 17" Coulter Odyssey 2, or 6"Orion SkyQuest XT6 Dobsonian (when not on loan).Star parties are always weather permitting.

2009 OBSERVER'S HANDBOOKS ARE IN! Bob Mentzer

The 2009 Observer's Handbook is in. Youcan pick it up at the January meeting or I can mail itto you for $2 extra ($18 + 2=$20). I ahve extra soyou can order one ($18) by calling me at 764-1926 orE-mail -- RobMentzer@comcast.net

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS Bob MentzerYou can now mail Sky and Telescope sub-

scriptions, at the club rate, directly to S&T. If therenewal card says $32.95 you will save 5 cents overthe $33 we charge for a renewal. Both S&T and As-tronomy send out renewal notices about 6 monthsbefore your subscription expires. These renewalforms don’t have the expiration date for your sub-scription. But this information is part of the mailinglabel that is printed on the front cover of eachmonth’s magazine. So if you’re not sure of yourexpiration date, check the magazine label beforeyou send S&T a check. Astronomy subscriptionsmust still be processed through the club to get thefavorable subscription rate.

The Mt. CubaObservatory PublicNights continue yearround! In addition tolearning about manyaspects of the heav-ens, you’ll have achance to visit and

COMING EVENTS at the OBSERVATORY...

Photo Banners this month come from Hubble’s Nebula Collection at http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/nebula_collection/Planetary Nebula MyCn18Raghvendra Sahai and John Trauger (JPL), the WFPC2 science team, and NASA

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DAS AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKINGSPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan

The DAS Amateur Telescope Making (ATM)Special Interest Group (SIG ) meets on eveningsand weekends according to the availability of themembers and the particular projects that are un-derway. Currently he ATM SIG has a medium Dobbuilding program under way. The general range ofactivities of the ATM SIG includes all manner of tele-scope making, mirror making, and the making ofaccessories for telescopes and observing.

Anyone interested in joining the ATM SIGshould email their name, address, and phone numberto me at hanaganw?comcast?net (using “@” and“.” in place of ? and ?). Meeting dates are an-nounced primarily by email, so if you are interestedin telescope making, be sure to let me know!

PLANETARIUM FULLY OPERATIONAL Scott C. Jackson

Any one who knows how to do live shows can dothat now. The automated shows that Rob Lancasterhad put together are not there because they gotlost when the hard drive was reformated some timeago. We are working on getting a few automatedshows. But we are now fully operational.

DAS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY SPECIALINTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan

The next scheduled meeting of theDAS as-trophotography special interest group (DAS AP SIG)will be on Friday, March 6th at 7:30 P.M. at Mt. Cuba.The main topic for discussion will be announcedcloser to the meeting date. The DAS astrophotog-raphy special interest group (DAS AP SIG) meetson Friday nights at 7:30 P.M. every other month atMt. Cuba regardless of weather. The SIG also meetsfor photo shoots scheduled on 1-2 day notice tosynchronize with the weather.

The monthly meetings are informal and typi-cally include the presentation of astrophotos takenby the members along with an extended questionand answer period. Objects commonly photo-graphed include constellations, auroras, lunareclipses, and planetary photos, as well as a widevariety of deep-sky objects such as nebulae, galax-ies, star clusters, etc. The topics discussed coverthe entire gamut of astrophotography, from how toget started with a minimum of equipment, to polaraligning your telescope, all of the way to the finepoints of using auto-guiders and post-processingdigital images.

You can get started in astrophotography withjust your current camera mounted on a tripod or a mo-torized telescope by taking wide field photographs ofmeteor showers, conjunctions, constellations, and startrails. As you move to progressively fainter and smallersubjects, you’ll need better equipment. Joining the APSIG is a great way to learn what equipment you needand what works well before you spend your money.

If you are interested in joining the AP SIG,just email your name, address, and phone numberto me at hanaganw?comcast?net (using “@” and“.” in place of ? and ?).

Finally, please consider submitting one ormore of your favorite astrophotos for publicationin the Focus. You can email your photo(s), alongwith a brief description of how you made them, toour FOCUS editor, Joe Neuberger atJRNeuberger@gmail.com . Please include a briefdescription of how you made each photo along witha by-line so each photo can be properly credited.

The Wait is Over for...SAWIN OBSERVATORY REMINDER

Tom Sidowski The DAS maintains a club observatory on thegrounds of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory.The Sawin Observatory houses the club’s perma-nently mounted 12.5" reflecting telescope and a 17.5"Coulter Odyssey 2 Dobsonian telescope. It is forthe use by club members once they are trained andchecked-out in a simple operating procedure. Mem-bers who are interested in becoming key holders ofthe Sawin Observatory should contact me at 239-1844to arrange for training in the use of the facility.

DAS FORUM / E-MAIL SITE ON YAHOO Don Shedrick

This is a restricted e-mail service for use byDAS members for DAS purposes. To use this site,go to http://groups.yahoo.com; search for DelawareAstronomical Society; and click on the link thatcomes up. Or you can go there directly ath t t p : / / t e c h . g r o u p s . y a h o o . c o m / g r o u p /delawareastronomicalsociety. To join, you must havea Yahoo ID and password; if you don’t, you can regis-ter at this time by following Yahoo’s instructions. Youwill then be allowed to “Join the group” upon click-ing in that box. You must then register for the DASgroup and add your profile by clicking on “add newprofile” and completing the form. When adding orediting your profile, you will need to enter your actualname in the “Real Name” box so you can be identi-fied as a DAS member so Don Shedrick can approveyour application to join the DAS group, and everyonewill know to whom they are communicating. Finally,specify your desired email address for delivery ofmessages. Note- you may choose to not have yourname and email address displayed to anyone otherthan DAS members who are members of the YahooDAS email group.

For more detailed instructions, go to the DASwebsite under DAS Resource Links.

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Spread the WordAbout the 2009

International Yearof Astronomy!

The Entire World isLooking Up!!

Click the resource linkat the center ofpages 4 & 5 and

whereever you see agraphic or telltaleblue web lettering!

Can’t make this month’s DAS meeting?? We’llmiss you! Below is a calendar of the great talksscheduled for future meetings. Please join us then!

March 17 Anthony Nicastro, West ChesterState UniversityTopic to be determined

April 21 Hank Bouchelle Gerard Kuiper May 19 Dinner Meeting:

Sally O’Byrne--Legends of the Night June 16 Billie Westergard

Dynamics of Black Holes

Speaker Programsfor the Coming Months

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Just click thebox above, and use

these resourcesto discover the

excitement of the2009 InternationalYear of Astronomy!!

March 2009IYA Discovery Guide:Observing at Night. . . and in the Day

:

Featured Activity:Light Pollutionand Shielding

FeaturedObserving Object

Saturn

IYA2009 Coordinator Pedro Russo poses beforean exhibition of images from The World at Night.

Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal of the UnitedKingdom, addresses the audience at the openingceremonies of the International Year of Astronomyat USNESCO headquarters in Paris. Babak Tafreshi

Night. The latter shared space with awall-size permanent installation of art byFrench master Joan Miro, appropriatelyenough titled The Wall of the Moon(Miro’s The Wall of the Sun resideselsewhere at UNESCO). But as always at international gather-ings, a main preoccupation of manyattendees was meeting new friends andcollleagues. The students, many fromdeveloping countries where such oppor-tunities are rare, especially relished thechance. The halls looked every bit like aUN venue with the mix of cultures. Thereceptions (continued on next page)

For some, theaction was out-side the main hall.Exhibitions fromvarious observator-ies, space agencies,and commercial entitiesattracted visitorsthroughout the event.The Global e-VLBI — anarray of radio dishes combined electroni-cally to create an Earth-size interferom-eter — went beyond the static displaywith four large monitors showing datacoming in and being processed intoimages throughout the event.Exhibitions of art and astronomicalimages included popular displays ofpictures from IYA2009 CornerstoneProject From Earth to the Universe andIYA2009 Special Project The World at

to be taresourc

A Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases in the Omega/Swan Nebula (M17)Credit: NASA, ESA and J. Hester (ASU

The Year of Astronomy Begins!!The Year of Astronomy Begins!!

The main hall hosted two days of presen-tations by luminaries such as RobertWilson, Nobel Laureate for his codiscoveryof the cosmic background radiation,Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, and Jo-celyn Bell Burnell, discoverer of pulsars.International Astronomical Union presi-dent Catherine Cesarsky described thisas an opportunity for students fromaround the world to hear from the bestexperts in astronomy. The size of thecrowds in the hall indicated that it wasn’tonly students who appreciated theunique opportunity.

UNESCO hostsIYA Opening in Paris

January 19, 2009 -- by Mike Simmons

Excitement for the International Year ofAstronomy 2009 (IYA2009) is building asnational opening events take place aroundthe world. The star-studded opening eventfor the global effort was held at the worldheadquarters for the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization (UNESCO) in Paris onJanuary 15–16, with a diverse group ofastronomers, dignitaries, and studentsfrom 99 countries in attendance. Althoughthe event was invitation-only it was farfrom exclusive as 90 invited students fromaround the globe attended along withartists and other nonscientists interestedin the culture and philosophy of astronomy,all rubbing elbows with famous astrono-mers and Nobel Prize winners.

DAS COMMITTEE SEEKINGFUTURE “PORTER EDUCATOR”& “AMATEUR ASTRONOMER”

AWARDEESNEEDS YOUR DESERVING NOMINATIONS Gus Swartout

US IYAMajor

Partners:

held on both nightspresented even greateropportunities for mingling.An IAU symposium titled

“ The Role of Astronomyin Society and Culture”continues during thisweek, also at UNESCO. The opening event ofIYA2009 was more thanspeeches. The diversityof the participants inage, background, and

country of origin made that clear enough. And it was particularly important

for those from developingcountries. As Cesarsky put it, “They are seeing thesame sky as we are and they deserve to see thesame discoveries we are and to make some discover-ies for themselves in the future.” That perspective also fits the unprecedented publicastronomy outreach now underway with the theme:The Universe, Yours to Discover.

Mike Simmons is co-chair of the 100 Hours of AstronomyCornerstone Project and president of Astronomers Without Borders.

Bob Mentzer

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they are moons. In March of 1610 Galileo pub-lishes “Sidereus Nuncius” (Starry Messenger).Its success, catapults Galileo from an obscureprofessor who has yet to publish anything ofimportance to the leading scientist of Italy. In August of 1610 Galileo observes an oblongSaturn but cannot resolve the ring structure. Inthe fall Kepler and Harroit verify that Jupiterdoes have moons. In December of 1610 Galileofinds that Venus goes through phases. This canonly happen if Venus circles the sun which it doesin the Copernican model. In a twelve month period Galileo has observedfour heavenly objects with a telescope and writtena book on his discoveries. The world will neverbe the same after 1610. To learn more about thefascinating Galileo Project click the graphic above.

In the November 2008 issue of the FOCUS Italked of Hans LIppershey and his patent applica-tion (1608) for a device that is the earliest recordof the telescope. In May of 1609 Galileo first hears of the patent. InJune Galileo makes a 3-power telescope. In August,Thomas Harriott, observing near London, makes adrawing of the Moon as seen through a 6-powertelescope but does not publish his findings. In theearly fall Galileo demonstrates an 8-power telescopeto the Venetian Senate. They are so impressed theydouble his salary at the University of Padua. A fewmonths later city merchants are selling telescopesfor a fraction of his salary increase. In December of 1609 Galileo makes observationsof the Moon. In January he observes 4 bright starslined up around Jupiter. He soon realizes that

The CELEBRATING 400yrsof the INVENTION

of the TELESCOPE

Click any graphic or linkaken to fantastic web

ces available this month

The awards committee is looking for nomi-nations for both the Amateur Astronomer Awardand the Luther Porter Educator Award.

The Amateur Astronomer Award is open toall DAS members. If you have identified a candi-date from our monthly meetings or star partiesplease do not hesitate to nominate them. Lastyear’s recipient for Amateur Astronomer was BillMcKibben. You can find many of his photographspublished in our own Focus news letter.

The Luther J. Porter Educator Awardhonors an individual who has made a substantialcontribution to astronomy education and/orawareness, as either a professional or as a dedi-cated amateur. Luther J. Porter was a long-timemember and devoted supporter of the DAS andserved for many years as its Treasurer.

The awards are presented at the annualdinner meeting held in May. Nominations canbe submitted to any of the Award Committeemembers; Bob Karcha, Bill McKibben andGus Swartout.

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The Mars rovers’ Pancam, shown here swivelingatop Opportunity’s stalk-like “neck,” was theinspiration for GigaPan.

Revolutionary Inaugural PhotoUses Mars Rover Technology

Gigapan Camera Creates Interactive Pics

“Let’s learn to produce even bigger and better photos —digital pictures composed of a billion or more pixels – andbring that technology back to Earth.” Sargent worked withRich LeGrand of Charmed Labs LLC to design and producethe Gigapan products. A Gigapan panorama is composed ofmany individual images taken one at a time and stitchedtogether to form a whole. The inauguration photo contains220 individual shots that required a total of 15 minutes to take.

“I’m really a traditional, still photographer,” saysBergman. “I had seen the Gigapan system but never used it.Up until the day of the inauguration, I had no idea how to set itup. I fiddled around with it for a while in the hotel room to figureit out. That’s a testament to how easy it is to use.”The biggest challenge, says Bergman, was getting throughsecurity: “I had to be there at 6 in the morning and had topass through three capitol police security checkpoints. I didn’thave to face any Martian dust storms like the rovers do, but itwas bitterly cold, and the ceremony didn’t start until 11:30a.m. I had no room for a tripod, so I had to clamp the Gigapanassembly to a rail and hope it worked.”It worked like a charm.

Although it is relatively new, Gigapan has alreadyhelped a lot of people in a number of ways. For example, it wasused to create photographic overlays for Google Earth of areasaffected by natural disasters, enabling relief workers to pinpointareas in need of assistance in the aftermath of HurricaneKatrina, Hurricane Rita, and the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.Botanists, geologists, archeologists, and other scientistsaround the world are using the technology to document diverseelements of the Earth’s cultures and ecosystems.

From Earth to Mars and beyond, NASA technologyis getting the big picture. Now you can too.

February 2, 2009When a new president is inaugurated, it’s a big event,

and it calls for a big picture. To be precise, 1,474 megapixels.Using the same NASA technology that Mars rovers

routinely use to image the Red Planet, photographer DavidBergman created an unprecedented 1,474 megapixel panoramicphoto of President Obama’s inauguration. (For comparison, anordinary digital photo contains less than 10 megapixels.) Click onthe image to be taken to the web where you can pan aroundthe rotunda and zoom in on some of the two million people. Thedetail is amazing. You can see Hilary Clinton’s white earrings,Barbara Bush’s fuzzy black earmuffs, the word “Obama” stitchedon spectators’ winter hats, Yo-Yo Ma taking a picture with hisiPhone, and much more.

“Covering the inauguration of President Obama wasone of the biggest thrills of my life,” says Bergman. “Little didI know that it would be topped by the reaction to a photo Imade that day. …With the ability to zoom in and movearound the photo, it turned into an international game of‘Where’s Waldo?’ In the first 5 days, the image was viewedby millions of people in 186 countries.”

He created the image using Gigapan™, a camera system based on NASA technology. Here’s how it happened:

A few years ago, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Cornell University designed a

special high-resolution camera called “Pancam” for the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Each

of the twin rovers is equipped with a Pancam able to tilt 180degrees and rotate 360 degrees, so the robotic geologistscan snap photos in all directions. Special software stitchesindividual 1-megapixel digital images together into a high-resolution panorama and smooths out any anomalies.

Because the Pancams are mounted at eye level,viewing the final product helps scientists “look around” Marsas though actually hiking the desert-like terrain in their bootsinstead of via computer screens. The resolution of theimages lets the scientists zoom in and scrutinize Martianrocks and other objects close up, just as they would if theythemselves were kicking around in the dirt up there.

The masterminds behind Gigapan were Randy Sargentat NASA’s Ames Research Center and Illah Nourbakhsh atCarnegie Mellon University. The panoramic photographs of Marssparked an idea in their minds. It went something like this:

Celestron announces the launch of CelestronLife.com- a premier online community for Celestron users andfans. At CelestronLife.com you can interact with yourpeers via forums, blogs, post astro images, videos andthrough a variety of other activities. If you are new to the hobby this site could be helpfulwith Celestron-specific questions and for peer feedbackand solutions on problems associated with astronomyand its equipment. Long-term hobbyists may also findit useful on many levels, especially peer interaction.

www.CelestronLife.comA New Online Community for Ownersof Celestron Products & Equipment

February 4, 2009In 1996, a 7-year-old boy in China bent over the eyepiece of a

small telescope and saw something that would change his life—a cometof flamboyant beauty, bright and puffy with an active tail. At first hethought he himself had discovered it, but no, he learned, two mennamed “Hale” and “Bopp” had beat him to it. Mastering his disappoint-ment, young Quanzhi Ye resolved to find his own comet one day.

And one day, he did.Fast forward to a summer afternoon in July 2007. Ye, now 19

years old and a student of meteorology at China’s Sun Yat-sen Univer-sity, bent over his desk to stare at a black-and-white star field. Thephoto was taken nights before by Taiwanese astronomer Chi Sheng Linon “sky patrol” at the Lulin Observatory. Ye’s finger moved from point topoint—and stopped. One of the stars was not a star, it was a comet,and this time Ye saw it first.

Comet Lulin, named after the observatory in Taiwan where thediscovery-photo was taken, is now approaching Earth. “It is a green

Amateur astronomer Jack Newton sends this photo fromhis backyard observatory in Arizona: “My retired eyes stillcannot see the brightening comet,” says Newton, “but my14-inch telescope picked it up quite nicely on Feb. 1st.”

beauty that could become visible to the naked eye any day now,” says Ye.The comet makes its closest approach to Earth (0.41AU) on Feb. 24, 2009. Current estimates peg the maximum brightness at 4th or 5th magnitude, which means dark countryskies would be required to see it. No one can say for sure, however, because this appears to be Lulin’s first visit to the innersolar system and its first exposure to intense sunlight. Surprises are possible.

Lulin’s green color comes from the gases that make up its Jupiter-sized atmosphere. Jets spewing from the comet’snucleus contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C2). Both substances glowgreen when illuminated by sunlight in the near-vacuum of space.

In 1910, many people panicked when astronomers revealed Earth would pass through the cyanogen-rich tail ofComet Halley. False alarm: The wispy tail of the comet couldn’t penetrate Earth’s dense atmosphere; even it if had pen-etrated, there wasn’t enough cyanogen to cause real trouble. Comet Lulin will cause even less trouble than Halley did. Atclosest approach in late February, Lulin will stop 38 million miles short of Earth, utterly harmless.To see Comet Lulin with your own eyes, set your alarm for 3 am. The comet rises a few hours before the sun and may befound about 1/3rd of the way up the southern sky before dawn. Here are some dates when it is especially easy to find:

Feb. 16th: Comet Lulin passes Spica inthe constellation Virgo. Spica is a star of firstmagnitude and a guidepost even city astrono-mers cannot miss. A finderscope pointed atSpica will capture Comet Lulin in the field ofview, centering the optics within a nudge ofboth objects.

Feb. 24th: Closest approach! On this specialmorning, Lulin will lie just a few degreesfrom Saturn in the constellation Leo. Saturn isobvious to the unaided eye, and Lulin could beas well. If this doesn’t draw you out of bed,nothing will!

Ye notes that Comet Lulin is remarkable not only for its rare beauty, but also for its rare manner of discovery. “This isa ‘comet of collaboration’ between Taiwanese and Chinese astronomers,” he says. “The discovery could not have been madewithout a contribution from both sides of the Strait that separates our countries. Chi Sheng Lin and other members of theLulin Observatory staff enabled me to get the images I wanted, while I analyzed the data and found the comet.”

Somewhere this month, Ye imagines, another youngster will bend over an eyepiece, see Comet Lulin, and feel thesame thrill he did gazing at Comet Hale-Bopp in 1996. And who knows where that might lead. “I hope that my experiencemight inspire other young people to pursue the same starry dreams as myself,” says Ye.

Green CometApproaches Earth

Sign-up for NASA Space Science Newsdelivery by clicking the

news icon, below.

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LIBRARY NEWS Glenn BentleyThe DAS Library would like to thank

Amanda Lim who donated The Meaning of it All:Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist by RichardFeynman. The Amazon.com capsule review ofthis book says: “In this series of lectures origi-nally given in 1963, which remained unpublishedduring Richard Feynman’s lifetime, the Nobel-winning physicist thinks aloud on several “meta”questions of science. What is the nature of thetension between science and religious faith?Why does uncertainty play such a crucial role inthe scientific imagination? Is this really a scien-tific age?”

I invite the membership to drop by thelibrary after the February meeting to check outthis and other new materials. Clear skies!

MEMBERSHIP EXPIRATION NOTICES Bob Mentzer

If you receive the FOCUS by email, you willbe notified by email. If you receive it in the mail andthe mailing label on the envelope containing yourFOCUS is marked with Red Marker, your member-ship is expiring or has expired. To continue to re-ceive the FOCUS, Sky and Telescope or Astronomy,and Reflector, send the renewal form on page 10with your check to: DAS, c/o Robert Mentzer,605River Road, Wilmington, DE 19809

SN 1006 Supernova Remnant (Hubble)Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: W. Blair (Johns Hopkins Univ.)

DAS BOARD MEETING--MINUTES 7:00 p.m., January 20, 2009

LIBRARY: Glenn B. would like to give away duplicatebooks. All agreed.OBSERVING: Greg L. is setting up observing seriesfor summertime at Bellevue St. Park. The Park is alsohaving, very close to Astronomy Day, an Earth Day.We have been asked to have a table with somethingon light pollution. Lynn K. volunteered to work withGreg with light pollution information.SPEAKER: Lynn K. has read a book by MichaelLemonick, “The Georgian Star” as a possible speaker.She will contact him and see if it is a possibility. Mr.Lemonick lives in Princeton, NJ.SPEAKER SERIES: Hank B. would like to set upfunds through his estate plan that on his death a fundwould be funded to have an annual speaker series atU of DE. He would like a structure within the club –semi permanent awards’ chair. President wouldappoint awards’ chair who would handle Luther PorterAward, Astronomer of Year and lecture series. DASBoard approves and only Board could remove. Heasked us to think about this for future discussion.Lynn K. will check with Chadds Ford Historical Societyhow their lecture series is set up.YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009: Bill H. has tried tocontact Keith Love. Would like to have him come andshow his Galileo telescope and talk about how he built it. Respectfully submitted, K. Lynn King, Secretary

PRESENT: Hank Bouchelle, Bob Mentzer, Lynn King, BillHanagan, Dan Chester, Glenn Bentley, Bob Karcha, DaveSwartout, Greg Lee, also attending Billie WestergardTREASURER’S REPORT: Bob M. reviewed finances.Report attached to hard copy of the minutes. Hank B.asked about magazine subscriptions. Bob can’t tellbecause Sky and Telescope is renewed online.MINUTES: Approved. No comments.ASTRONOMY COURSE: Greg L. would like to haveone in the spring. Has not met with others to decidewhat to do. Someone will be needed to take Emil V.’ssection. Hank B. volunteered to help.AWARDS: Gus S. is taking nominations.DINNER MEETING LOCATION: Bill H. checked outDeerfield Country Club and handed out informationincluding costs. Lynn K. will check Greenbank Mill forprices. John Case recommended to Bob M. White ClayCreek Country Club at Delaware Park. Price $33-$38.Another option - have it at MCAO but we would need acaterer. Billie Westergard brought up that in the pastMCAO has underwritten the cost of the dinner ($5).Glenn B. suggested a golf club near New Garden Airport.Emails around on thoughts and suggestions, reports.EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: No report.FOCUS: No report from Joe N. Everyone com-mented on how great the newsletter is. Hank B. wouldlike a copy to go to the Astronomical League. Dan C.reported that we are getting a lot of hits on the website when it comes out.

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Arora OverBlair, Nebraska

FOCUS needs your photos. PLEASE send toeditor at JRNeuberger@gmail.com.

WEBSITEof the

MONTH

Photo Credit:Mike Holingshead /Spaceweather.com

Click below to see a full series of stunningimages of the auroras over Blair, NE atwww.extremeinstability.com/05-5-15-.htm.

Canon Digital Rebelwith 17-40L lens.

17mm.at ISO 400F4 for 10 seconds

Astronomy for children, students, and kids of all ages. KidsAstronomy.com, part ofthe KidsKnowIt Network, is the absolutely free astronomy resource designed to teach children about theexciting world of outer space.

Learning about science should never be boring. Travel to the moons of Jupiter, and explore thepossibility of life on these distant worlds. Travel through the expanse of the universeand discover just how much SPACE there is in Space. And you will learn how modernday scientists are pushing the limits of space exploration every day.

So strap yourself in for a great ride. This astronomy website is packed withgames, activities, fun facts, and resources to help Teachers, Parents, and Studentsof all ages reach out and touch our universe. Suggest this website to a child you know.Let’s begin educating the next generations and get a child looking up at the wonders of our Universe!

Apogee RA-88-Semi Apo Right Angle Giant Binocu-lars --88 mm objectives, multi coated on all air/glass

FOCUS CLASSIFIEDS: surfaces--two sets of matched eyepieces — 20X &32X--Mount - negotiable. Contact: Bill Zeitler -(302) 478-9173 or Billzeit@aol.com.

ASTRO-PHOTO of the

MONTH

DAS Board Meeting - February 17th

7:00 p.m. at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical ObservatoryAgenda

Review of January’s minutesTreasurer’s Report – Bob MentzerStanding committee reports/requests/notes

Focus/Publications – Joe NeubergerLibrary- Glenn BentleyEducation Programs- Bob KarchaSawin Observatory Tom SidowskiObserving – Greg Lee

Annual dinner venueWhere / Costs

Contributions to MCAO for EmilDiscussion/nominees

Luther J. Porter Educator AwardDAS Astronomer of the Year AwardAppointee: Vacant At-Large Board memberElection Chair- Board Member at Large election in spring

Astronomy Course Update?DatesCurriculum revision

Forward PlanningAnniv. of the telescope and Galileo’s observationsVernon Lecture series – Udel (Hank)Others?

Future of the Luther J. Porter AwardSpeaker list maintenanceRefreshment ChairFacility lock-upProposed legacy lecture series update – Thoughts, vote?Other?

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If you or someone you know wishes to servethe DAS, please let me know. I think it is impor-tant to act quickly to fill this important position.

If you attended our January meeting,you had the chance to hear and to meet anaccomplished educator and a dynamic andamusing speaker. Bob Summerfield, recipientof the 2008 Luther J. Porter Award, gave awonderful talk on an atmospheric phenom-enon (the rainbow) that was informative andcompletely entertaining.

This month’s program is mini-talks, andfeatures Dave Groski and Gus Swartout, both ofwhom have been long associated with the DASand known to most as informative and accom-plished speakers. If you would like to have ashort period of time to share experiences orknowledge with our group (and our programs

FROM THE PRESIDENT (continued from first page)

depend on member participation) let me know(983-7830 or hbouchelle@live.com) and share.

Beginning with the next issue of the Focus,look for information about the annual dinner meeting.Its location will change as a result of the closing ofthe former Terrace at Greenhill, but we do have agifted speaker whose appeal crosses all boundaries.If you have a spouse or significant other who youwould like to treat to a night out, here is your chance!Mark May 18 on your calendars!!

Speaking of the dinner meeting, please keep inmind that we are looking for folks worthy of the DASAstronomer of the Year Award, and the Luther J.Porter Educator Award, the latter not being limited toDAS members.

I look forward to seeing you at our FebruaryMini-Talk meeting.

Keep in touch.

100 Hours of Astronomy is a 100-hour,round-the-clock, round-the-globe event runningfrom Thursday, April 2nd through Sunday, April 5th

that includes live webcasts from research obser-vatories and public observing events. This planet-wide program is designed to bring astronomy tothe general public around the world, and the world-wide kick-off is happening in our own back yard atPhiladelphia’s Franklin Institute. This special eventwill be webcast live during the opening ceremonyfestivities by global sponsor Celestron, who willalso be conducting star parties throughout the100Hours of Astronomy weekend. You can visitwww.100HoursOfAstronomy.org/ to locate eventsaround the globe or to get resources and informa-tion for planning events locally. The Institute is proud to have also been selectedas the world exclusive host of Galileo, The Medici,and The Age of Astronomy, a unique exhibitionopening on April 4th during 100 Hours festivities.Created through the Institute’s exclusive partnershipwith the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza inFlorence, the exhibit showcases Galileo’s accom-plishments, his relationship to the ruling Medici

Major Events Planned Across the Country... with Some of the Most Exciting in Our Own Area!

family, his discoveries, and his overall impact on as-tronomy, physics, and math. This will be the first time one

of the two remaining Galileo telescopes hasleft Italy. Also exhibited will be other instruments belongingto Galileo, as well as paintings, prints, and manuscriptsfrom the priceless Medici collection. Together, the collec-tions will showcase how the union of science, art, andpolitical power gave rise to Galileo’s success. Paolo Galluzzi, Director of the Institute and Museum ofthe History of Science in Florence, Italy which is loaningthe artifacts to the Franklin Institute for this exhibition, willbe on hand to speak about the importance of Galileo’stelescopes and the discoveries he made with them as welook back 400 years to Galileo’s time. This sets the stagefor this 100-hour journey through time and space tomodern telescopes around the world and in space. This special event will be webcast live. The scheduleand list of speakers are to be announced.

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Star-Forming Region: NGC 6634 Planetary Nebula: NGC 40

Spiral Galaxy: NGC 5172 Edge-on Galaxy: NGC 4289 Interacting Galaxies: Arp 274

At last month’s meeting we heard fromthe 2008 Luther J. Porter EducatorAward recipient Bill Summerfield, shownat right with DAS President HankBouchelle. Bill gave an interesting andinformative lecture on The Physics ofReflection and Refraction of White Lightin a Drop of Water. The noted Philadel-phia area educator and astronomyenthusiast can be found on the WEB atwww.AstronomyToGo.com.

2008Awardee

GivesInformativeLecture at

JanuaryMeeting

It’s time again for the DAS annual Messier Marathon. Friday March 27th is fast approaching somark you calendar. This year’s location will be in St. John’s Manor on the banks of the Elk River. Seedirections. Bathroom facilities are available and there will be hot drinks and food for all under the bigtent. The Messier Marathon is an event where you try to locate as many Messier objects (M1, M2M3…) from dusk to dawn. But this does not mean you have to stay all night. Show up for an hour or twoand enjoy looking for those objects that Charles Messier and Pierre Méchain compiled so they wouldnot be confused with their comet search. If you feel intimated that you not be able find what you’relooking for, have no fear-- there is a great book that will help you look like a pro-- The Year RoundMessier Marathon by Harvard Pennington, published by Willmann-Bell. (www.willbell.com/HAND-BOOK/mess.htm) Harvard explains in detail how to use the book’s charts along with your telescope’sfinder or telrad to locate all 110 objects. The DAS library has a copy you can check out. If you’re inter-ested in having an enjoyable evening with friends bring your scope or a pair of binoculars and alsoplease send me an E-mail with your phone number to: dave.swartout@gmail.com

Directions to St. John’s Manor:West on route 40 towards Elkton. Continue past the intersection with Route 213 for ½ mile and thenturn left onto Landing Lane. Continue ½ mile and turn right onto Old Field Point Road. Follow OldField Point Road for 5-¾ mile to the entrance to St John’s Manor. Look to the sign on the left handside of the road. Turn left onto Casparus Way. And follow for ¾ of a mile. We are on the left at theaddress 321. Look for the signs.

OUTSTANDINGMessier Marathon Event

Planned for End of March

.........................................................................................................................................................................................~This Month’s Meeting Mini-Talk Will Whet Your Messier-Appetite--Don’t Miss It!~

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MEMBERSHIP or RENEWAL FORM

New Member Senior/Family Membership $20.00Renewal Junior membership (16/under) $10.00

Sky and Telescope Magazine $33.00Astronomy Magazine $34.00

NAME________________________________________

STREET ADDRESS____________________________ Total Submitted ——— $

CITY________________________STATE________ZIP________ TELEPHONE______________________

E-MAIL ADDRESS________________________________________________________________________-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

The Last Word. . . Wow! With so many interesting thingsgoing on, this month’s issue could havebeen pages longer and still not captured itall. We attempt each month to keep youinformed of club events and items ofinterest to this hobby we share that youmay not have come across in your otherreading. We hope you find it enjoyable.Clear skies!!

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FOR NEW MEMBERSHIPS or RENEWALSIf you have questions, call any of the member representatives listed.Otherwise, just check the appropriate boxes and complete the form below.Print it or cut it off and send it with your check to Bob Mentzer at hisaddress on the form. The magazine prices are group rates to DAS members.If you’re just joining us for the first time,

THANKS, and welcome to the DAS!

Board Members at LargeBill Hanagan -- 239-1844

also, ATM and Astronomical PhotographySpecial Interest Group

David Swartout -- 836-4618 or dave.swartout@gmail.comalso, Awards Committee Chair

Vacant

Other Chairs:Sarah Baird - 561- 0810

Youth Coordinator, Elections ChairRenee Van Caneghem -- 410-392-3718

ArchivistSheila Vincent --322-4739

Ad-hoc star parties

MCAO Web Page: www.MountCuba.org DAS Web Page: www.DelAstro.org

DAS CONTACTS Please call any of us with your concerns!Board members:OfficersPresident: Hank Bouchelle -- 983-7830 or hbouchelle@live.com

also, By-Laws issues, programsVice-President: John Case -- 836-4888 or case@udel.eduSecretary: Lynn King -- 764-8816

also, Messier ClubTreasurer: Bob Mentzer -- 764-1926 or robmentzer@comcast.net

also, Sky & Telescope & Astronomymagazine issues

Standing ChairsPublications: Joe Neuberger -- 655-2142 or jneuberger@gmail.com

also, Focus contributions/submissionsEducation: Bob Karcha -- 999-9509Observing: Greg Lee -- 762-5358

also, What’s Up?Observatory: Tom Sidowski -- 239-1884 or sidowski@udel.edu

also, Star PartiesLibrary Glenn Bentley -- 410-869-0706

FOCUS editor Joe Neuberger

Click the image below for an amusement.