FROM THE PRESIDENT Bill Hanagan

The Story of Neutrinos -An account of Their Theoretical Prediction and Eventual Discovery

& Why They have Become the Leading Edge of Astronomy Research.

June 1, 2012Greetings fellow DAS members,

The 2012 DAS election ended last night at midnightand Jeff Lawrence, Diana Metzger, and I got together thisafternoon to verify that all the ballots we received were valid,to count the totals, and to verify the results. I am presentingall of the results above. I should note that there were a total (continued on page 2)

The DAS Election Results Are In and Official:

Vol. 57, No. 6, June, 2012

The Winners --Bill Hanagan for President,

John Case for Vice-President,Bill McKibben for Treasurer &

Rich LeMay for Secretary

Next Meeting – Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 at 8:00 PM

at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory Speaker: DAS Member Jack Fisher

First, please join me in congratulating FOCUSEditor Joe Neuberger, who received the DAS AmateurAstronomer of the Year Award at the May 15th dinnermeeting. Creating the FOCUS every month is a gigantictask and Joe has done a superb job of it since taking over asEditor three years ago.

Our speaker for the May dinner meeting, Mr. EdRezac, gave us an excellent talk on the Hubble SpaceTelescope servicing missions. I’ve heard a lot of positivecomments about Ed’s talk from several DAS members andI’m currently communicating with Ed about a possible DAStour of the Goddard Space Flight Center in the fall wherethey are working on robotic servicing of satellites. A photomontage of the Annual Dinner appears on pages 12 & 13.

Several people helped make the May dinner meetinga success and deserve our thanks for their contribution,including Tom DeMott, Rob Lancaster, Jeff Lawrence, DianaMetzger, Bill McKibben, Joe Neuberger, and Gus Swartout.

Our annual elections were once again conductedsuccessfully via electronic mail over the Internet, saving ourclub the cost of postage and reducing the manual laborrequired to conduct the election. Thanks go out to RobLancaster for implementing our club’s election process.Rob’s announcement of the election results appears else-where on this page of the FOCUS.

The DAS June 5 “Transit of Venus” MSP at the NewGarden Township Building was a fantastic success and washeavily attended in spite of an ominous looking sky andnearly 100% cloud cover leading up to the event. Thephotographs and the full story behind the Transit of VenusMSP appear elsewhere in this issue of the FOCUS.

At the upcoming June 19 meeting, Greg Lee willonce again review “What’s Up in the Sky” and I’ll be askingDAS members to volunteer presentations for our monthlymeetings for the coming year. (continued on page 2)

“PUBLIC NIGHTS” at the Mt. CUBA OBSERVATORY...MCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS Greg Weaver

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The Mt. CubaObservatory PublicNights continue yearround! In addition tolearning about manyaspects of the heavens,you’ll have a chance to

visit and view our all-digital full-dome planetarium. You canpick up a schedule when you next come to a meeting or getthe latest updated version off the website at: http://MountCuba.org. Programs are presented on Monday nights

The Public Nights schedule for June-Aug., 2012 follows:

at 8pm. Please check the website for full details and updateson programs planned. Interested individuals or groups canapply by letter or call 654-6407 (preferably between the hoursof 9 and 11 am, Monday through Friday) to the Observatory toobtain reservations for these “Public Nights”.

Date Speaker TopicJun 18 Don Wilson Wonders of the UniverseJuly 9 Greg Lee What’s Up in the Sky & How to Find ItJuly 23 Scott Jackson Volcanos of the Solar SystemAug. 6 Greg Weaver Meteor Showers & How to Observe Them

of only two issues during the election, one person's email address was wrong in the club records who was sent a email ballot, andone person's mailing address was wrong who was sent a ballot by US Post. These issues were both corrected within 2 days ofdiscovery and the people in question were sent replacement ballots. Not one person called or emailed to ask directions, to say theydidn't get a ballot (other than the two mentioned above), or to report any other problems during the election. It went very smoothly.

A Grand Total of 75 ballots were mailed out and 53 people voted which yields a 71% participation rate for the currentclub members in this election.

Please note that on one of the paper ballots, somebody wrote in a candidate in the Vice-President section and leftthe Treasurer blank. This is why, even though John Case and Bill McKibben were the only ones running for their posts, theydidn't get 100% of the vote.Thank you very much,Robert Lancaster, Diana Metzger and Jeff Lawrence--2012 DAS Election Committee

DAS 2012 Election Results (Continued from page 1)

The Transit of Venus -of June 5, 2012, between

clouds taken with 4"spotting scope with a20x-60x zoom and a

Canon 40D. Photo Credit: by DASMember Ron Worden.

Observing with the Delaware Astronomical Society...

FROM THE PRESIDENT (Continued from page 1)

Our main speaker for the June meeting will be DASmember Jack Fisher, aka “Dr. Dr.,” who will present TheStory of Neutrinos, an account of the theoretical predictionand the eventual discovery of Neutrinos and their importancein astronomical research.

The use of mini-talks has led to presentations atour monthly meetings that cover a wider range of astronomyrelated topics than we have seen in years past and it hassignificantly increased member involvement. However, weneed to get even more DAS members involved in presentingtalks at our monthly meetings. There is an old Chineseproverb that goes “Many hands make light work” thatapplies here. If you have been a member of the DAS formore than two years and you haven’t given a talk in the lastyear or two, please consider giving a talk next year on anaspect of astronomy that interests you.

If you think our mix of talks lacks enough tutorialmaterial for beginners or is too technical, too cultural, or tooanything else, this is your chance to balance out theprogram by giving exactly the kind of talk you think weneed. Please keep in mind that I can’t compel anyone to

give a talk on a topic that they don’t want to stand up and talkabout. Ultimately, the mix of talks given at our main meetingsis determined by what our members, including you, volunteerto talk about.

As always, I’d like to remind you to keep thinking abouthow YOU can contribute to the DAS and how you can make theDAS a better astronomy club. We’ve had some volunteers stepforward, and we’ve received a variety of equipment donations, butmore volunteers and donations are needed.

A club works best when all of its able-bodied memberspitch-in and help out at club functions in whatever way they can. Ifyou want to make the DAS a better astronomy club, give me a callat 302-239-0949. I’m sure we can come up with something thatyou can do to help the DAS that also suits your particular interests.

As most of you know, our monthly meetings and theFOCUS will both take a 2 month break over July and August,but they will resume again in September. However, our memberstar parties (MSPs) as well as the activities of the AstrophotographySpecial Interest Group (AP-SIG) and the Amateur Telescope MakersSpecial Interest Group (ATM-SIG) will continue over the summer.

If you do something related to astronomy this summer,try to get some pictures and collect some information so you cantell us about it at the September meeting. Enjoy your summer!

NEW

The DAS Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) SpecialInterest Group (SIG ) meets on evenings and weekendsaccording to the availability of the members and the particu-lar projects that are underway. Currently the ATM SIG has amedium Dob building program under way. The general rangeof activities of the ATM SIG includes all manner of telescopemaking, mirror making, and the making of accessories fortelescopes and observing.

Anyone interested in joining the ATM SIG shouldemail their name, address, and phone number to me athanaganw@verizon.net.

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DAS Special Interest Groups for Photography and Telescope Construction...DAS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan

DAS AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill HanaganMeeting dates are announced primarily by email, so if

you are interested in telescope making, be sure to let me know!

The DAS also maintains a club observatory on the groundsof the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory. The Sawin Observatoryhouses the club’s permanently mounted 12.5" reflecting telescopeand a 17.5" Coulter Odyssey 2 Dobsonian telescope. They are forthe use of club members once they are trained and checked-out ina simple operating procedure. Members who are interested inbecoming key holders of the Sawin Observatory should contact meat 302-239-1844 to arrange for training in the use of the facility.

One of the best advantages of being a member of theDelaware Astronomical Society is that all members have theprivilege of being trained to use and then borrow equipmentowned by the club for personal use. Currently, we have twoscopes available for loan: a Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain,and a 6" Orion Sky-Quest XT6 Dobsonian reflector. The loan isfor at least a month. If you’re interested in checking out eitherof these scopes, contact Tom Sidowski at 302-239-1844.

LOANER TELESCOPES and SAWIN OBSERVATORY REMINDER Tom Sidowski

As always, please consider submitting one or more ofyour favorite astrophotos for publication in the FOCUS. Arecent photo is not required. You can email your photo(s) as.jpg files to our FOCUS editor, Joe Neuberger at his address atjrneuberger@gmail.com. Please include a text file brieflydescribing how you made each photo (in Microsoft Wordformat) along with any by-lines or captions you would like Joeto use. If you would like, you can write a more in-depthdiscussion to go with your photos. Joe can make a masterfullayout, but if you would like to suggest a layout of your ownyou can insert copies of your photos into the Word documentto give him an idea what you would like to see. Either way,don’t forget to attach a high resolution .jpg file to your email foreach photo. Joe has done a great job improving the look of theFOCUS and adding relevant links to take advantage of the factthat the FOCUS is now on-line, but like all newsletter editors,he needs as much material as he can get from club members.

NEW

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The next AP SIG meeting will be July 27/28 and I’dlike to start our annual “on site” series of meetings at ourmembers own imaging sites beginning with this July meeting.Other potential weeends are Aug. 3/4, Sept. 7/8, Sept. 28/29and Oct. 5/6. Let me know if you would like to host the AP-SIGon one of these weekends, especially the next one in July.

The refiguring of the club’s Coulter 17.5” primary mirroris continuing. Multiple sessions have been held on multipleSundays in the last three months. Let me know if you wouldlike to participate in this effort but have not yet advised me ofyour interest. And keep an eye on the DAS Yahoo EmailGroup for announcements on the next Sunday of mirrorgrinding and other duties as we get the Coulter telescopebrought to a modern standard and improve its usefullness tothe club and its members.

The DAS astrophotography special interest group (DASAP SIG) meets on Friday nights at 7:30pm every other month at Mt.Cuba regardless of weather. The SIG also meets for photo shootsscheduled on 1-2 day notice to synchronize with the weather.

The monthly meetings are informal and typicallyinclude the presentation of astrophotos taken by the membersalong with an extended question and answer period. Objectscommonly photographed include constellations, auroras, lunareclipses, and planetary photos, as well as a wide variety of deep-sky objects such as nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, etc. Thetopics discussed cover the entire gamut of astrophotography,from how to get started with a minimum of equipment, to polaraligning your telescope, all of the way to the fine points of usingauto-guiders and post-processing digital images.

You can get started in astrophotography with justyour current camera mounted on a tripod or a motorizedtelescope by taking wide field photographs of meteor showers,conjunctions, constellations, and star trails. As you move toprogressively fainter and smaller subjects, you’ll need betterequipment. Joining the AP SIG is a great way to learn whatequipment you’ll need and what works well before you spendyour money. If you are interested in joining the AP SIG, justemail your name, address, and phone number to me athanaganw@verizon.net.

7:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 19, 2012 In the Library at the Mt. Cuba Observatory

The PRESIDENT’S DAS BOARDMEETING AGENDA for JUNE

In addition to routine items of business, such as theTreasurer’s report, we’ll be discussing the following items.

1) Follow up on the May Dinner Meeting;2) Speakers and topics for next year’s monthly meetings;3) Other topics to be determined

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Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs) Bill Hanagan

Friday Night Lights with WXPN --Star Party Event at ChesLen Preserve

Members might recall that I mentioned some time ago that on July 13 ChesLen Preserve is hosting theevent in the heading above. Last year the Chesmont Astronomical Society provided the Star Party portion and itwas there that I established the contacts for using ChesLen as an observing site. I took the liberty and obtained theOK from Angela Michie of the Natural Lands Trust (NLT) for DAS to also participate in this event this year. I'm sorryif I'm being presumptuous but I thought it would be a good gesture and a "Thank You" to do so since both DAS andsome of the CAS members use the site for observing. For any that bring a scope to participate admissionwould be free. I need to know in advance who wants to participate so I can let Angela know.

Here's what Angela wrote, "We would welcome the participation of the Delaware Astronomical Society.The event is indeed open to the public; feel free to promote it far and wide. NLT and WXPN members, theUniversity of Pennsylvania radio station (our partner for the event), get half off the ticket price. You can also let folksknow that we will have beer, wine, and snacks available for attendees and event participants."

Last year’s hit event returns to ChesLen Preserve in Chester County! ChesLen’s gorgeous fields and

Friday, July 13 -- 8:00 – 11:00 PM -- ChesLen Preserve, Coatesville, PA

vistas will form the backdrop as we celebrate the night sky.Unwind with complimentary beer from Victory Brewing Company, wine from Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, and non-alcoholic beverages as you

enjoy catchy, soulful folk music from Dan May and his band. Visit the s’mores bar to create a mouth-watering treat from a selection of cookies, crackers,chocolates, and marshmallows.

Explore the heavens. After sunset, astronomers from Chesmont Astronomical Society and Delaware Astronomical Society will train theirtelescopes on faraway planets and stars, and invite you to take a peek.

Be amazed by live owls with our partners from Great Valley Nature Center. You will meet a whole flock of remarkable (and adorable!) nocturnal predators.Don’t forget to bring your own picnic blanket or camping chairs, and wear sturdy shoes as the ground is uneven.Pre-registration is required and space is very limited! Membership is not required to attend the event, but if you are a member of either Natural

Lands Trust or WXPN, you’ll get a reduced ticket price! This event is suitable for adults age 21 or older.Non-member price: $20 per person, NLT and WXPN Member price: $10 per person.You can register now by clicking this link.Rain date is Saturday, July 14th.

MSP cycles are timed for a minimum of intrusion by moonlight during the hours before midnight to maximizeopportunities for deep sky observing and imaging. For each MSP cycle there are usually four potential dates designated inadvance: the Friday and Saturday nights which immediately precede a new moon, and the Friday and Saturday nights thatfollow or include the new moon date. Which of the four potential dates is used for an MSP is “flex-scheduled” according tothe weather using the DAS Yahoo Group email system.

Please be sure to mark your calendars with the potential MSP dates that appear in the table! Obviously, you needto keep as many of these dates open as possible so when a GO announcement is made you’re in a position to attend theDAS Member Star Party regardless of which date the weather favors!

The DAS has a core group of dedicated visual observers and astro-imagers who travel to Tuckahoe, Cherry Springs,West Virginia, and other dark sky sites as opportunities and the weather allow. If you’re interested in going along ormeeting up on any of the road trips mentioned in the MSP schedule, let me know and I’ll fill you in on the details and keepyou apprised as plans develop.

Road trips to distant observing sites like Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania require that several DASmembers commit to going in advance should the weather prove favorable for both nights. When the weather forecast onlylooks good for one night, the MSP will often be redirected to a closer site such as the Elk River site or the Sawin observatory.

While DAS members who go on road trips are often involved in both observing and imaging, these road trips areparticularly valuable for visual observers because they offer the best opportunity to see deep sky objects through largeaperture telescopes under dark skies.

Most of today’s big Dobs produce vastly superior visual images compared to older, large aperture observatory tele-scopes with which you might be familiar, thanks in part to better optics, the use of a “thin” primary mirror which cools faster,and the use of fans to cool the primary mirror and to remove warm air from the optical path. If you are truly interested in visualobserving, you owe it to yourself to see first-hand what dark skies and a modern large aperture telescope will allow you to see.

Finally, I’d like to remind you that you need to be signed up for the DAS Yahoo Group to receive the schedulingannouncements for the MSPs. A full description of the MSP program appears on the DAS website at http://delastro.org/and in the December 2009 issue of the FOCUS.

Fred DeLucia

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Laser Collimator If you would like to take advantage of this new tool available forlending to the membership, please contact the O&E Group by callingTom Sidowski at 302-239-1844. It’s a quick and easy procedure andwill improve your visual observing experience GREATLY!

for Aligning Your Newtonian or Dob ScopesNow Available for Loan

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LIBRARY NEWS Glenn Bentley

MEMBERSHIP EXPIRATION NOTICES Bill McKibben

If you receive the FOCUS by email, you will benotified of your membership renewal by email. If you receivethe FOCUS in the mail and the mailing label on the envelopecontaining your FOCUS is marked with red marker, yourmembership is expiring or has expired. Please see therenewal form at the end of the FOCUS for additional renewalinformation. Also see the “Magazine Subscriptions” sectionin the FOCUS for information about subscription renewal.

I invite the membership to drop by the library afterthe June meeting to check out our Summer Reading selec-tions. As always summer reading materials can be keptuntil the club reconvenes in August. I hope you all have agreat summer of observing and/ or just relaxing.

ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE MEMBERSHIPDAS members have the opportunity to become

members in the Astronomical League at the discounted rateof $7.50 per year. Benefits include the Reflector (a quarterlynewsletter), observing programs, awards, discounts on booksand educational materials. For questions on joining theAstronomical League, contact Lynn King at meetings, call302-764-8816 or email KLynnKing@verizon.net.

DAS FORUM / E-MAIL SITE ON YAHOO Don Shedrick

This is a restricted e-mail service for use by DASmembers for DAS purposes. To use this site, go to http://groups.yahoo.com; search for Delaware AstronomicalSociety; and click on the link that comes up. To join, youmust have a Yahoo ID and password; if you don’t, you canregister at this time by following Yahoo’s instructions. Youwill then be allowed to “Join the group” upon clicking in thatbox. You must then register for the DAS group and add yourprofile by clicking on “add new profile” and completing the form.

When adding or editing your profile, you will need toenter your actual name in the “Real Name” box so you can beidentified as a DAS member so Don Shedrick can approve yourapplication to join the DAS group, and everyone will know towhom they are communicating.

Finally, specify your desired email address for deliveryof messages. Note: you may choose to not have your nameand email address displayed to anyone other than DASmembers who are members of the Yahoo DAS email group.

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

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS Bill McKibbonSKY & TELESCOPE will be processed by the club

for the first subscription year only. The publisher should thensend renewal notices directly to the subscriber at the club rateof $32.95. The subscriber can then pay the publisher directly.

NOTE: If you receive a renewal notice for an amountother than $32.95, check to see if there are any specialoffers included in the rate. Also check the renewal dateprinted on the magazine address label. These ‘specialoffers’ are likely to occur several months prior to the renewaldate. However, if you are approaching your renewal date andhave not received the correct renewal notice, contact me andI will process the renewal through the club.

ASTRONOMY will continue to be processed by theclub for all subscription years.

Please see the renewal form at the end of theFOCUS for additional renewal information.

NEW

NEW

FOCUS uses plenty of photos in banners & elsewhere each issue, and

we want to use YOURS...not Hubble’s!!Please forward photos to the FOCUS editorJoe Neuberger at JRNeuberger@gmail.com

Saturn - This image of Saturn was obtained through a Celestron CG-11 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) that was iced down with cold packs for over an hourto cool the entire telescope including the primary mirror. The cold packs wereremoved about 30 minutes before acquiring images so the tube and the air insidecould warm up, in the ideal case leaving the mirror cooler than its surroundings.Working jointly with Rob Lancaster, I used an EOS 50D DSLR and 2x Televue “BigBarlow” lens to capture several video sequences containing about 1800 frameseach. The single best video obtained was then processed by selecting the bestindividual frames. I selected the best frames in a semi-manual fashion using theprogram Virtual Dub and stacked the selected frames using Registax V4.Photo Credit: by DAS Member Bill Hanagan.

MT. CUBA LENDING LIBRARY Paul StrattonTwo new books for the Lending Library--

Galaxies and Quasars by William J. Kaufmannand Stars and Nebulas also by William J. Kaufmann

Galaxies and Quaars are the two largest andluminous astronomical discoverys known. Written clearly, forquite an interesting read. Many photographs and illustrationswill help the reader grasp the subject matter.

Stars and Nebulas the spender of the night. Thiswork covers all star- type formations as well as someindividual stars and has a great section on the gravitationaldeflection of light and black holes.

Happy readingAlso, some DAS members may be aware of the

web site www.library-TEACH12.com. They have some greatCD’s and DVD’s are very reasonable prices when youconsider the total subject matter covered. To mention one,Cosmology: The History and Nature of Our Universe. Forthose not quite sure of what this study is about, consider thestudy of the origin, evolution, composition, and probable fateof our universe. Perhaps better put, the Mystery of the Cosmos.

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Annular Solar EclipsePhoto Credit: DAS Member Diana Metzger’s friend Dan Flanagan

In San Jose, CA we didn’t get the full annular eclipse. At itsmaximum it looked like the letter “C”, not an “O.” It was well

publicized in the local newspaper which wrote that we would getabout 84% solar coverage; Reno to our east, on the other

hand, would be in the zone to get the full effect.If I had prepared earlier, I would have purchased a filter for mycamera suited for the eclipse, but being short on time I had to

improvise; www.nikon.com’s “How to Photograph a SolarEclipse” gave useful tips. I placed my Nikon D-80 camera on a

tripod with focus set on manual. My 70-300 mm lens wasextended out to 300 mm. I think I used a shutter speed of

1/125 second and used various aperture settings, not noticingmuch difference between the various settings. The on-line

Nikon article stated that a filter was required to protect eyesight

ASTRO-PHOTO of the

MONTH

http://www.stargazing.net/naa/sotw.htm

As seen in San Jose, California on 5-20-12

and the imaging sensor of the camera. Here I had to get a little bit creative. First I removed the #10 lens from my weldinghelmet and the #5 lens from my welding goggles. Using two 3 x 5 file cards, I cut windows in each. Then I placed the two

lenses together between the file cards and stapled them together. With the lenses mounted together, I taped them to thecamera lens’s sunshade. I focused the camera as well as possible, but none of the images were really sharp. I attribute

this to the fact that the two thick filters are not designed for photography. The photos would probably be much sharper if anappropriately dense lens designed for cameras were used.

Of the photos I took, the one showing the most eclipsed image was taken at 6:33 pdt at the eclipse maximum.

WEBSITE of the

MONTH

“In an effort to recognize outstanding astronomy-relatedresources on the WWW, and to bring them to the attention of ourwebsite visitors, we, the webmasters of the Naperville Astronomi-cal Association, have developed our Select Astronomy Site Awardlist. We consider these websites to be amongst the finest andmost useful available to the astronomy enthusiast,” states thesite’s opening page.

It goes on to list over 40 of what they consider to be their“Select Astronomy Websites” from throughout the World Wide Web.Definately worth a look for it has, in one place, hyperlinks to sub-jects from A to Z as would concern and interest the Astronomyenthusiast from beginner to advanced. They’ve done the legwork...now give it a visit. You’ll be glad you did!

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The June 5, 2012 “Transit of Venus” MSPat the New Garden Township Center Bill Hanagan

Our sixth MSP of 2012 was the very special “Transitof Venus” observing session held on the property of the NewGarden Township Building in Landenberg, PA. The ominousdark clouds and nearly total cloud cover leading up to theevent was not at all reassuring. However, taking the variousweather forecasts into account, it appeared likely to me thatthere would be some sort of break in the clouds during thetransit with only a small chance of threatening weather.With the next transit of Venus being 105 years off, I decidedto issue a GO announcement for the event.

Nearly everyonewho attended was set upand ready to observeahead of time, but thethick cloud cover seen inthe photo at right obscuredthe sun through bothfirst and second contact.First contact is the pointat which the transitingobject first appears to make contact with the disc of the sun,while second contact is the point at which the disc of thetransiting object is first completely enveloped by the disc ofthe sun. At the start of the event, the sun was behind theclouds at the top of the photo. A couple of short periods oflight sprinkles came and went, but not enough to wet thetelescopes as much as a night of light dew.

Although we weren’t able to see the transit directly at this point, DAS members Sue Bebon, Maria LaValle, and Fred DeLucia were able to pull up a live image of the transit that was being webcast from Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Sue Bebon, Mary Ann

Hanagan, Glenn Bentley, Maria Lavalle, Bill McKibben, andJoe Neuberger are seen watching the live feed in the secondphoto above.

The third photo, below, shows the image beingtransmitted from Hawaii well after second contact.

Several minutes after second contact, the sun beganto make a series of dramatic local appearances due to thinspots in the clouds and everyone went back to their optics,some of which can be seen in the two photos below.

The back of the New Garden Township Building canbe seen in the next photo. The back parking lot and driveproved to be ideal for observingthe transit and provided anenormous amount of space forobserving and photographing thetransit with telescopes thatcould be set up immediatelynext to our vehicles. In fact,there was dramatically moreprime observing space than we needed and we could haveaccommodated three times as many telescopes andbinoculars as were deployed.

The siteoffered a view ofthe sun unim-peded by wiresand trees, a viewthat went nearlyall of the waydown to the truehorizon, as seenin the photo atleft, which was

taken shortly before sunset. (continued on following page)

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Transit Special Report (continued from preceeding page)

I took a number of photos of the transit through my998mm TEC 140 APO ED at f/7 using a TEC field flattenerand a Canon 50D DSLR. The ISO on the camera was set to400. In the first photo, below, obtained with a 1/40th secondexposure, the texture of the intervening clouds is revealed,leading to the illusion that some of the clouds are behindthe sun.

In the second photo, below, a 1/400th secondexposure, faint wisps pass in front of the sun to diminish itsbrightness and accentuate the visibility of several darksunspots.

In the third transit photo, at the top of the secondcolumn, the sun can be seen without clouds. This photowas taken with a 1/1000th second exposure which revealedfine detail on the surface of the sun in addition to Venus.

A careful examination of the fourth photo, a 1/800th

second exposure which was taken with the sun very near thehorizon, reveals an image of Venus nearly split by the samemirage effect which is often seen to split the sun intosegments at sunrise and sunset. I don’t know at this writingwhether this split will be visible in the FOCUS or not, but it

shows up easily on my computer screen.

Once the sun had clearly made its last appearanceof the day, we quickly packed up. Most of those who stayeduntil sunset appear in the group photo which appears as thecenterpiece in the montage on pages 14 and 15 of this outing.As we left, a spectacular sunset, which can be seen in the lastphoto, capped off our last in a lifetime observing experience.

Many of usmet up immediatelyafterward for a latedinner at a localBistro, where RichLeMay and JackieCoates graciouslyprovided the wineand beer.

Many moregreat photos appear on pages 14 & 15. Be sure to take a look.

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THE COMA CLUSTER... & So MuchMore at Cherry Springs State Park Fred DeLucia

occasions but these were sessions involving loading, drivingup to 2 hours, unloading, setting up, observing for severalhours, breaking down, loading up, driving home and unload-ing. I craved for an overnight or maybe even 2 under cleardark skies where I could leave the rig set up and beginobserving the next night well rested.

An ideal destination for such is the astronomyfriendly Cherry Springs State Park (CSSP) [for park rulesvisit http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/cherrysprings/index.htm] in Potter County, Pennsylvania.Designated as a Gold Level dark sky preserve in 2008 by theInternational Dark Sky Association it is one of the darkestsites on the east coast. Two major star parties are heldthere each year, The Cherry Springs Star Party (http://www.cherrysprings.org/) sponsored by the AstronomicalSociety of Harrisburg (ASH) and the Black Forest Star Party(http://www.bfsp.org/starparty/index.cfm?CFID=2066228&CFTOKEN=33999552) hostedby the Central Pennsylvania Observers (CPO). (The afore-mentioned websites give details regarding lodging andrestaurants in the area if one is not prone to camping on thefield.) Never having been to either of these major star parties,I’m told by many that do attend that the always-sold-out-gatherings of up 450 to 500 astronomers have a completeblast, even when totally rained out or clouded over. Spreadstrategically throughout the field are 17 power posts. Eachpost hosts 6 duplex AC outlets with 20 amp circuit breakers.The astronomy field is situated within a 48-acre state parkand surrounded by 262,000 acres of the SusquehannockState Forest. As the saying goes, all that glitters is not goldand in this case where once pristine dark skies reigned nowhas signs of light encroachment. Long time visitors talkabout the really dark sky of the 1990’s. Now, there’s a smalllight dome in the east and the narrow access roads to thepark frequently are under repair or in need of repair due tothe heavy gas driller trucks that, at least for now, havebrought an economic boom to the area. But, this is not thevenue to debate such issues. This story is about fun things.

For those who do not live in the northeast UnitedStates where the Jet Stream plays havoc with our weatherpatterns (or maybe better to say non-patterns), they havelittle to envy when it comes to astronomic observing. Obtain-ing an accurate forecast for any more than 6-12 hours is a

rare occasion indeed. Often my advanceplanning for a long trip to an observing session involvesvisiting many weather sites, studying animated radar/cloudmaps, wind directions, movement of pressure systems andextrapolating my own predictions before packing up myequipment. As a final check, I go outside and look up. Then Igo back inside to check the local forecasts to see if they areright. A chore for sure, but a necessary one nonetheless forI’ve been “skunked” too often by relying on a single forecaster.

So when I saw the long range forecasts for the May,2012 dark window I thought this could be the opportunity Iwas waiting for. After checking and rechecking the usualsuspects of weather sites, I concluded that there was “awhole lotta clear coming our way.” Well, “maybe” I said tomyself. I began watching the forecasts more closely forCSSP and other more remote dark sites on the east coastbut it seemed that the ever present Jet Stream was having itsusual fickle way fluctuating and varying the forecasts.Scattered thunderstorms were a real possibility… but theradar maps had that patch of clear still moving eastward witha high pressure system along with it. With CSSP being overa 5 hour drive, getting 2 nights out of such a trip is theminimum for me to make it worthwhile.

By the afternoon of Wednesday, May 16, myForester was loaded: 18” scope, all its accessories, campinggear and enough food for four days with room left only for adriver. I was ready for departure but several remaining errandsprevented me from an early start, so I left home the followingmorning arriving at CSSP at 3:30PM May 17. While stakingout my tent astro-buddies began arriving. Others who hadarrived on Wednesday spoke of the good seeing that nightbut transparency was somewhat off.

In August, 2011 I tookdelivery of a StarStructure 18”f/4.3 Dob (“Tony” ) with a Zam-buto mirror and equipped withArgo Navis digital telescopecontrol and ServoCat drivemotors. By May, 2012 I wasanxious for an extendedovernight session at a gooddark site. I had the scope outquite often under 5.5 andeven 6.1 mag skies on

Using my 10mm and pushing the power further with my6mm, the galaxy took up a substantial portion of the field ofview. But in my Ethos 13mm, it stood out, just as if someonepunched that part of the cosmos in the eye, the large darkdust lanes formed a picturesque semi-encirclement of thebright nucleus with enough of the remainder of the galaxyspreading out and fading into a velvety blackness. Staying onthe object under my hooded observing vest, enhanced mydark adaptation further and I began to make out the darklanes’ extension which prompted me to replace the 13mmwith the Delos 10mm and then the 6mm (173x, 226x, 376x,respectively). Deciding to stay with the (continued on next page)

My most memo-rable view of the spectacu-lar three nights I spent atCherry Springs State Parkwas the Coma Cluster. Irevisited it each night.Starting with M64, theaptly named Black EyeGalaxy was one of the testobjects for my new 6mmand 10mm Delos eyepieces.

“TONY”

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The Coma Cluster (continued from preceeding page)

13mm Ethos (about 1/2 degree true field of view [TFOV]) Ibegan scanning and encountering a small host of galaxiesscrolling into view that had me switch over to my 17mmEthos because there was so much to see. I didn’t bother totry to identify any of the galaxies. I was enjoying the view somuch; the black sky and being on the ladder were equaldeterrents for checking my charts. I shared the view with anobserving companion during one of the nights and he lostcount of the galaxies.

Although scanning the Coma Cluster was my mostexciting view, the 6.5-6.6 mag skies afforded significantopportunities for the usual eye candy. Most of my time wasspent on the Messier Objects, so there was no shortage ofspectacle. After several frustrating attempts to put M51 (TheWhirlpool) into view at the zenith (right in the Dob hole) I gaveup on it. I later discovered that a battery cable was restrictingmy scope’s movement. This was my first visit to CSSP withmy 18” and it was not without some minor mishaps, the mostsignificant of which was splitting not one, but two of the eight,plastic heads of the “Tee” screws that secure the truss polesto the mirror box. But once I was on M51 it warranted a shoutfor others to come take a look. The cores of both M51 and itscompanion, NGC 5195, appeared brighter than I remembered.The spiral arms clearly attached to the cores spinningoutwards and ever so faintly, but surely apparent, the darklane connecting both galaxies was identifiable. This was setagainst a beautiful pitch black, rich velvet background withexcellent contrast in my 17mm Ethos (133x, .75° TFOV).From there I moved on to M101. What a surprise! Never havingseen it so vivid at my usual local dark sites, this time it wastruly a revelation. A Pinwheel for sure appearing like it waspirouetting, again with superb contrast, its arms, althoughdimmer than M51’s, were nonetheless startling to see underthese conditions. Interchanging the 13 Ethos and 17 Ethosbrought significantly different comparisons. In the 17mm itwas slightly brighter with more stars apparent in the surround-ing field lending more of a cosmic sense to the occasion,whereas the view through the higher power 13mm brought aslight chill, even in CSSP’s warm temps, as it nearly filled themore than ½° TFOV (173x) and reminded me that this starcity is nearly twice the size of the Milky Way.

NGC4565, an edge-on galaxy, in the 10mm Deloswas blade-like, taking up nearly the entire field of view fromtip to tip, a ragged dark dust lane running from one end ofthe galaxy, bisecting the bright core and through to theopposite tip. So impressive I had to drop in the 6mm Delos.A more up-front view, dimmer, now reaching out past the fieldof view but still it stood out in that black background with noapparent magnification of any sky glow. It was just a galaxysitting in complete blackness, scarred by a huge dust lane.M57, the Ring Nebula... yes, the central star (CS) was there,not with direct vision, but with the 3.7mm Ethos (611x) and alittle patience, the CS would play peek-a-boo through thesometimes turbulent seeing conditions.

M92, a gorgeous globular cluster that many favorover M13, in the 10mm Delos had clearly defined stars downinto the core with small clusters of perhaps half-dozen ormore stars around the very center of the brightly burning core.

M82, (The Cigar) in the 6mm Delos, brought several

“WOWS” from fellow observers. Taking up most of the field of view at376x its distorted non-symmetrical shape displayed dark veinsthroughout and the dark slash transecting its center was quite distinct.

The feathery textures of M17 (The Omega Nebula,The Swan) were well supported in both the 10mm and 6mmDelos with a Tele Vue OIII filter, more so in the 10mm whichpresented the more impressive view, in that it lacked the brush-stroke effect of the higher power. Both views still captured thestark contrast of the previously noted very black background.

The Owl’s (M97) eyes starred right back at me but Iwasn’t so sure of its elusive central star.

I visited several Arp galaxies, most notably the interactingpair NGC 5953/5954 looking like quite the distorted cloud and oddlyshaped prompting one fellow observer when he saw it through myscope to say, “There’s something definitely going on THERE.”

Before turning in each night I treated myself to someof the joys in Cygnus that only an OIII filter can give: NGC6888 (The Crescent Nebula) and The Veil (NGC 6960/westand NGC 6992/east). These diffuse nebulae supportedvarying powers of magnification extremely well in my 31mmNagler Type5, 17 Ethos, 13 Ethos, and 10 Delos. Rangingfrom a 1° to 1/3° TFOV I was able to follow the wispy strainsof filaments, portions of which were like fingers probing to thenext nebulous segment in The Veil. As I scanned past 52Cygni, the foreground star, in the 10mm Delos the nebulositywas partly illuminated and partly obscured but it still lent avarying degree of wonder to this huge supernova remnant. Some-what differently constructed, smaller but just as enthralling, TheCrescent’s presentation in the 31mm Nagler startled me at first. As Islid the Tele Vue OIII filter into play I didn’t expect it to be sopronounced. But through the 13 Ethos, the OIII barely dimmed thesprinkling of stars while still enhancing the striking details of thearced shape nebula and differentiated it well from the abundantly richblack background. Those were some of the major highlights. Fivestraight nights of clear skies were reported by others, three of which Iwas able to take in fully, observing until the earliest indications of dawn.

Other sights through other scopes on the field were:in a 6" Antares refractor Barnard’s E (B134), a dark nebula(truly pitch black) in a large star field, like an enormous riverof ebony or the shadow of a leafless tree with many branchesstretching out to the stars in a 3° field of view; Friday morninga Lunt Solar Scope with binoviewers had a jaw dropperpicture perfect, 3D globular, hydrogen-alpha full view of ourparent star exhibiting numerous prominences, riddled withfilaments, bubbling active regions and oodles of cell structure.

I fear it might be quite some time before I’ll top thisobserving trip. At $11 a night, it was the best $33 I’ve everspent on this hobby and itdefinitely had my most enjoyableviews so far at CSSP being thatit was my first visit there withmy 18". The sky was gorgeousthe whole time. It was just aboutbone dry ALL NIGHT (when Ipacked up even my groundtarp under my tent was dry, aswas the grass beneath). Mildtemperatures prevailed. There was no wind to speak of. Com-bine all this with excellent company to share it all and you havethe ingredients for an exceptionally rewarding trip.

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D A S A n n u a l A w a r d s Tuesday, May 15th

Edward Rezac, onthe left in the pic atleft with BillHanagan, and onthe right in the picat center right, wasthe speaker for theevening. He joinedus from NASA’sGoddard SpaceFlight Center andpresented on“Behind the Scenesof Hubble SpaceTelescope Servic-ing,” with examplesof actual tools usedin the last servicingmission, whichmembers hold inpics at far right Allwould agree it wasone of the finestAnnual DinnerMeeting pesen-tations ever.

Bill Hanagan, onthe right in thepics on the leftand right, pre-

sents JoeNeuberger withthe 2012 DAS

Amateur Astrono-mer of the Year

award and prize.It is the Club’shighest honor

bestowed upona member.

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D i n n e r f o r 2 0 1 2 Wilmington/Christiana

at the Hilton

Awards Committee Chair Gus Swartout, left, and DAS President BillHanagan flank Dr. Stephanie Wright, founder, President and CEO of theDelaware AeroSpace Education Foundation (DASEF) and the wnner of theDAS 2012 Luther Porter Educator Award.

Photos Courtesy of DASMember Rob Lancaster.

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2 0 1 2 T r a n s i t o f V e n u s Photos by DAS President

The DAS Orion 6” lending scope was put to gooduse and gave surprisingly good views of theTransit of Venus.

Glenn Bentley waiting for the clouds topart, which they did frequently, providingall with spectacular views of the Transitfrom the fantastic Landenberg site.

Man your scopes, the clouds have parted!

DAS Ambassador Greg Lee, at right,does some outreach with some passers-by who were wondering what all the excite-ment was about. Jeff Lawrence enjoying the view through

Jim Chang’s telescope as Jim looks on.

DAS Member Attendees--1st Row: Maria LaValle, G(standing): Sue Bebon, Jack Fisher, Bill McKibben; 2ndGlenn Bentley; 2nd Row (standing again): Jim ChanJoe Neuberger, Rich LeMay, David Clifton (head on

Joe Neuberger watches Rob Lancaster takingboth movies & still pics with his scope creation.

Tom Sidowski finds the DAS Dob’s mark.

Bill Hanagan capturing thethe spread on these two pa

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f r o m L a n d e n b e r g , P A Bill Hanagan & Joe Neuberger

Crowd assembles around Maria Laalle andSue Bebon’s feed from Mauna Kea in Hawaii

sitting on the front seat in their car. Photo atright is the computer with the internet feed

with the ladies pictured in the inset above..

An incredible array of telescopes and large format binoculars were onhand for members to enjoy views for the Transit, & the heavens cooperated.Another Rob Lancaster creation for bino-viewing!

Former Treasurer Bob Mentzer and DAS VPJohn Case enjoy a moment..

Greg Lee, Jeff Lawrence, Bill Hanagan; 2nd Rowd Row (low down): Mary Ann Hanagan, Bob Mentzer,ng; 3rd Row (shallow and deep): Fred DeLucia,nly), Rob Lancaster, Tom Sidowski, Dave Sewell

Transit photos that appear inages

The Sunsets onanotheroutstandingDASviewingevent!

The Sun’scoopera-tion wasby nomeansassured,as the picat left willattest, butall turnedout welland someincredibleviews ofthe Transitof Venuswereenjoyedby all inatten-dance.

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DAS Member Star Parties Bill Hanagan

Call for DAS Astroimages forDisplay in Mt. Cuba Lobby

Greg Weaver

Images will be displayed for up to a year and replacedas new images are submitted. Full credits to theimager will be included. Please include all technicalinformation with the image (date, telescope andcamera used, exposure time, image processingsoftware, etc.). You may email digital images to theMt. Cuba website. Photos may be sent to the Obser-vatory or brought to a DAS meeting. The Observatorylooks forward to displaying your beautiful images!

MCAO is asking for any DAS members tosubmit their astroimages for display in the Observa-tory. It would like to display the club member’s talentsand update some of the images currently on display.

Transit’s ATM SIG Solar Filter Making Event Bill Hanagan

Our fifth MSP of 2012 was held at the Sawin observatory on May 18. Seven DAS members attended. We managedto hunt for and find a number of “spring galaxies” in Leo as well as M51, M81, and M82, though at times we had to observebetween a latticework of wispy clouds. At about the same time, DAS member and avid observer Fred DeLucia was visitingCherry Springs State Park. His observing report appears elsewhere in this issue of the FOCUS on pages 10 & 11.

Since this is the last issue of the FOCUS until mid-September, I’ll list all of the potential MSP dates that come inJune, July, and August. They are: June 15/16; and 22/23; July 13/14 and 20/21; and August 10/11 and 17/18. Try to keepthese weekend dates open for possible MSPs so that you can attend should the weather prove favorable.

As always, the upcoming MSPs will be “flex-scheduled” according to the weather using the DAS Yahoo Group.Announcements specifying exactly when and where the MSP will be held will go out via DAS Yahoo Group email. Themechanics of the MSP program are described separately under “Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs)” on page 4.

Our core group of observers is still looking into a long distance road trip to a primordially dark site like CherrySprings, PA similar to that described by Fred DeLucia in his story in this issue of FOCUS. Let either myself or Greg Leeknow if you’re interested in going along on such a trip. As Fred describes, the views can be outstanding!

In May, the ATM SIG’s solar filter making programhelped quite a few club members make solar filters in timefor the June 5th Transit of Venus. The members and theoptics for which they made solar filters were: Glenn Bentley(10” SCT), Randy Detra (2 sets of binoculars and an 11”SCT), Rob Lancaster (4” binoculars), Dave Sewell (Canon ISbinoculars and a Televue 85 refractor), and Sheila Vincent(4.5” Dob). Jim Chang also joined for the initial filter makingsession to show us some rare, vintage solar filters fromyears gone by and to help out with making the new filters.

The first photo, below, shows Rob Lancastercreating the cylinder section of the filter mount for one sideof his 4” binoculars.

The second photo, atright, shows Dave Sewelltesting and adjusting the fit ofthe filter he made for hisTelevue 85 refractor.

The third photo, blow,shows Glenn Bentley at thestart of the transit MSP withthe filter he made for his 10”Meade SCT.

Many of the opticsthat required filters hadOTAs that were not simplecylinders. As a result,customized mounts had tobe built for them. Oneexample was Dave Sewell’sCanon image stabilizedbinoculars seen in the lastphoto , which uses a box-shaped filter holder thatcovers both lenses.

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The Arc of Venus observed during the planet’s 2004 transit by amateurastronomer André Rondi using a 10-cm refractor near Toulouse, France.Click for more Info. or Click for ScienceCast Video

The Mysterious Arc of Venus

understand what happened. Backlit by the sun, Venus’satmosphere refracted sunlight passing through layers of airabove the planet’s cloudtops, creating an arc of light thatwas visible in backyard telescopes and spacecraft alike.It turns out, researchers can learn a lot about Venus byobserving the arc. Indeed, it touches on some of the deepestmysteries of the second planet.

“We do not understand why our sister planet’satmosphere evolved to be so different than Earth’s,” explainsplanetary scientist Thomas Widemann of the Observatoirede Paris.

Earth and Venus are similar distances from the sun,are made of the same basic materials, and are almostperfect twins in terms of size. Yet the two planets arewrapped in stunningly dissimilar blankets of air. Venus’satmosphere is almost 100 times more massive than Earth’sand consists mainly of CO2, a greenhouse gas that raisesthe surface temperature to almost 900°F. Clouds of sulfuricacid tower 14 miles high and whip around the planet as fastas 220 mph. A human being transported to this hellishenvironment would be crushed, suffocate, desiccate, andpossibly ignite.

For the most part, planetary scientists have no ideahow Venus turned out this way.

“Our models and tools cannot fully explain Venus,which means we lack the tools for understanding our ownplanet,” points out Widemann. “Caring about Venus is caringabout ourselves.”

One of the biggest mysteries of Venus is super-rotation. The whole atmosphere circles the planet in just fourEarth days, much faster than the planet’s spin period of 243days. “The dynamics of super-rotation are still a puzzledespite a wealth of data from landmark missions such asNASA’s Pioneer Venus, Russia’s Venera and VEGA missions,

June 4, 2012:When Venus transits

the sun on June 5th and 6th,an armada of spacecraft andground-based telescopes willbe on the lookout for some-thing elusive and, until recently,unexpected: The Arc of Venus.

“I was flabbergastedwhen I first saw it during the2004 transit,” recalls astronomyprofessor Jay Pasachoff ofWilliams College. “A bright,glowing rim appeared aroundthe edge of Venus soon afterit began to move into the sun.”

For a brief instant,the planet had turned into a“ring of fire.”

Researchers now

NASA’s Magellan and morerecently ESA’s VenusExpress.”

This is where theArc of Venus comes in. Thebrightness of the arc revealsthe temperature and densitystructure of Venus’s middleatmosphere, or “mesos-phere,” where the sunlight isrefracted. According tosome models, the mesos-phere is key to the physicsof super-rotation. Byanalyzing the lightcurve ofthe arc, researchers canfigure out the temperatureand density of this criticallayer from pole to pole.

When the arcappeared in 2004, the apparition took astronomers bysurprise; as a result, their observations were not optimized tocapture and analyze the fast-changing ring of light.

This time, however, they are ready. Together,Pasachoff and Widemannhave organized a world-wide effort to monitor thephenomenon on June 5th,2012. “We’re going to ob-serve the arc using 9coronagraphs spacedaround the world,” saysPasachoff. “Observing sitesinclude Haleakala, BigBear, and SacramentoPeak. Japan’s Hinodespacecraft and NASA’sSolar Dynamics Observa-tory will also be gatheringdata on the arc.”

The arc of Venus as seen by NASA’sTRACE spacecraft in 2004. Credit: J.Pasachoff, G. Schneider, L. Golub.From “Venus: It’s Now or Never”

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips |Credit: Science@NASA

For More Information:The 2012 Transit of Venus — Science@NASA

The ISS Transit of Venus — Science@NASA

Live webcast of the 2012 Transit of Venus

Transit of Venus Images From the ISS — from the Interna-tional Space Station (available during and after the Transit)

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James Cook and the Transit of Venus

The Endeavour. Credit: HMB EndeavourFoundation. Click for ScienceCast Video

Every ~120years a dark spot glidesacross the Sun. Small,inky-black, almostperfectly circular, it’s noordinary sunspot. Noteveryone can see it, butsome who do get thestrangest feeling, ofstanding, toes curled inthe damp sand, on thebeach of a SouthPacific isle....

City odorsdrifted in from Plymouth, across the ship, shoving aside thesalt air. Sea gulls fluttered upward, screeching, as the sailssnapped taut. The wind had changed and it was time to go.

On August 12, 1768, His Majesty’s Bark Endeavourslipped out of harbor, Lt. James Cook in command, bound forTahiti. The island had been “discovered” by Europeans only ayear before in the South Pacific, a part of Earth so poorlyexplored mapmakers couldn’t agree if there was a giantcontinent there or not. Cook might as well have been goingto the Moon or Mars. He would have to steer across thou-sands of miles of open ocean, with nothing like GPS or evena good wristwatch to keep time for navigation, to find aspeck of land only 20 miles across. On the way, dangerousstorms could (and did) materialize without warning. Unknownlife forms waited in the ocean waters. Cook fully expectedhalf the crew to perish.

It was worth the risk, he figured, to observe a transitof Venus.

“At 2 pm got under sail and put to sea having onboard 94 persons,” Cook noted in his log. The ship’s youngnaturalist Joseph Banks was more romantic: “We took ourleave of Europe for heaven alone knows how long, perhapsfor Ever,” he wrote.

Their mission was to reach Tahiti before June 1769,establish themselves among the islanders, and construct anastronomical observatory. Cook and his crew would observeVenus gliding across the face of the Sun, and by doing someasure the size of the solar system. Or so hopedEngland’s Royal Academy, which sponsored the trip.

The size of the solar system was one of the chiefpuzzles of 18th century science, much as the nature of darkmatter and dark energy are today. In Cook’s time astrono-mers knew that six planets orbited the sun (Uranus, Nep-tune, and Pluto hadn’t been discovered yet), and they knewthe relative spacing of those planets. Jupiter, for instance, is5 times farther from the Sun than Earth. But how far is that… in miles? The absolute distances were unknown.

Venus was the key. Edmund Halley realized this in1716. As seen from Earth, Venus occasionally crosses theface of the sun. It looks like a jet-black disk slowly glidingamong the sun’s true spots. By noting the start- and stop-times of the transit from widely spaced locations on Earth,Halley reasoned, astronomers could calculate the distanceto Venus using the principles of parallax. The scale of the

rest of the solar system would follow.But there was a problem. Transits of Venus are rare.

They come in pairs, 8 years apart, separated by approxi-mately 120 years. Halley himself would never live to see one.An international team did try to time a Venus transit in 1761,but weather and other factors spoiled most of their data. IfCook and others failed in 1769, every astronomer on Earthwould be dead before the next opportunity in 1874.

Cook’s expedition is often likened to a spacemission. “The Endeavor was not only on a voyage of discov-ery,” writes Tony Horwitz in the Cook travelogue Blue Lati-tudes, “it was also a laboratory for testing the latest theoriesand technologies, much as spaceships are today.”

In particular, thecrew of the Endeavor wereto be guinea pigs in theNavy’s fight against “thescourge of the sea”—scurvy. The human bodycan store only about 6week’s worth of vitamin C,and when it runs out sea-men experience lassitude,rotted gums, hemorrhaging.Some 18th century shipslost half their crew to scurvy.Cook carried a variety ofexperimental foods onboard,feeding his crew such things as sauerkraut and malt wort.Anyone who refused the fare would be whipped. Indeed,Cook flogged one in five of his crew, about average in thosedays, according to Horwitz.

By the time Cook reached Tahiti in 1769, he’d beensailing west for 8 months—about as long as modern astro-nauts might spend en route to Mars. Five crewmen were lostwhen the ship rounded stormy Cape Horn, and anotherdespairing marine threw himself overboard during the 10-week Pacific passage that followed. Endeavor was utterlyvulnerable as it angled toward Tahiti. There was no contactwith “Mission Control,” no satellite weather images to warn ofapproaching storms, nohelp of any kind. Cooknavigated using hourglassesand knotted ropes tomeasure ship’s speed, anda sextant and almanac toestimate Endeavor’sposition by the stars. It wastricky and dangerous.

Remarkably, theyarrived mostly intact onApril 13, 1769, almost twomonths before the transit.“At this time we had butvery few men upon the Sicklist … the Ships compneyhad in general been very healthy owing in a great measure tothe Sour krout,” wrote Cook. (continued on the following page)

Portrait of Cook, oil on canvas, NathanialDance, 1735-1811. Credit: NationalLibrary of Australia.

The view from Point Venus, Tahiti, whereCook and his men observed the transitof Venus. Oil on canvas, WilliamHodges, 1744-1797. Credit: NationalLibrary of Australia.

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James Cook (Continued from preceeding page)

Tahiti was as alien to Cook’s men as Mars might seem to ustoday. At least the island was comfortable and well provi-sioned for human life; the islanders were friendly and eagerto deal with Cook’s men. Banks deemed it “the truest pictureof an arcadia (idyllic and peaceful) … that the imaginationcan form.” Yet the flora, fauna, customs and habits of Tahitiwere shockingly different from those of England; Endeavor’screw was absorbed, amazed.

Perhaps that is why Cook and Banks had so little tosay about the transit when it finally happened on June 3,1769. Venus’ little black disk, which could only be seengliding across the blinding sun through special telescopesbrought from England, had a powerful rival: Tahiti itself.

Banks’ log entry on the day of the transit consists of622 words; fewer than 100 of them concern Venus. Mostlyhe chronicled a breakfast-meeting with Tarróa, the King ofthe Island, and Tarróa’s sister Nuna, and later in the day, avisit from “three handsome women.” Of Venus, he says, “Iwent to my Companions at the observatory carrying with meTarróa, Nuna and some of their chief attendants; to them weshewd the planet upon the sun and made them understandthat we came on purpose to see it. After this they went backand myself with them.” Period. If the King or Banks himselfwas impressed, Banks never said so.

Cook was a little more expansive: “This day prov’das favourable to our purpose as we could wish, not a Clowdwas to be seen … and the Air was perfectly clear, so that wehad every advantage we could desire in Observing the wholeof the passage of the Planet Venus over the Suns disk: wevery distinctly saw an Atmosphere or dusky shade round thebody of the Planet which very much disturbed the times ofthe contacts particularly the two internal ones.”

Drawings of the 1769 transit of Venus by James Cook. Click for more.

the telescope. Cook’s observations were clearly affected.Indeed, his measurements disagreed with those of ship’sastronomer Charles Green, who observed the transit besideCook, by as much as 42 seconds.

This was a problem for observers elsewhere, too.When all was said and done, observations of Venus’ 1769transit from 76 points around the globe, including Cook’s,were not precise enough to set the scale of the solar sys-tem. Astronomers didn’t manage that until the 19th centurywhen they used photography to record the next pair of transits.

Cook wouldn’t dwell on these matters; there was alot more exploring to do. Secret orders from the Navyinstructed him to leave the island when the transit was doneand “search between Tahiti and New Zealand for a Continentor Land of great extent.”

For much of the next year Endeavor and her crewscoured the South Pacific, searching for a continent thatsome 18th century scientists claimed was necessary tobalance the great land masses of the northern hemisphere.At one point they were out of sight of land for almost twomonths. But the terra australis incognita, the unknown“south land,” didn’t exist, just as Cook thought all along.Along the way Cook met the fierce Maori of New Zealand andthe Aborigines of Australia (encounters both races wouldlament in later years), explored thousands of miles of Kiwiand Aussie coastline, and had a near-disastrous collisionwith the Great Barrier Reef.

Later, during a 10-week stopover in Jakarta forrepairs, seven seamen died of malaria. The port city wasdensely populated by people and diseases. Cook left asquickly as possible, but the damage was done. Ultimately 38of the Endeavour’s original company (and 8 who joined later)perished, including astronomer Charles Green. “The ship’s40% casualty rate wasn’t considered extraordinary for theday,” writes Horwitz. “In fact, Cook would later be hailed forthe exceptional concern he showed for the health of his crew.”

On July 11, 1771, Cook returned to England at Deal.The survivers had circumnavigated the globe, cataloguedthousands of species of plants, insects and animals,encountered new (to them) races of people, and hunted forgiant continents. It was an epic adventure.

In the end, the transit was just a tiny slice of Cook’sadventure, overshadowed by Tahiti and sabotaged by blackdrops. But because of the voyage Venus and Cook arelinked. In fact, it might be said that the best reason to watcha transit of Venus is history.

Decide for yourself. On June 5-6, 2012, Venus is dueto cross the face of the Sun again. The event will be webcast, broadcast, and targeted by innumerable sidewalktelescopes. In other words, you can’t miss it. Look into theinky black disk. It can carry you back to a different place andtime: Tahiti, 1769, when much of Earth was still a mysteryand the eye at the telescope belonged to a great explorer.

Can you feel the sand between your toes?

Cook also observed the “black drop effect.” WhenVenus is near the limb of the sun—the critical moment fortransit timing—the black of space beyond the sun’s limbseems to reach in and touch the planet. This makes it verydifficult to say precisely when a transit begins or ends. Theeffect was not fully understood until 1999 when a team ofastronomers led by Glenn Schneider of the University ofArizona studied a similar black drop during a transit ofMercury. They proved1 the distortion is caused by a combina-tion of solar limb darkening and the point-spread function of

Footnote: (1) TRACE observations of the 15 November 1999 transit ofMercury and the Black Drop effect: considerations for the 2004 transit ofVenus by Glenn Schneider, Jay M. Pasachoff, and Leon Golub, Icarus168 (2004) 249-256

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips |Credit: Science@NASA

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Astronomers Predict Titanic Collision:Milky Way vs. Andromeda

The Milky Way and Andromeda are moving toward each other under the inexorable pullof gravity. Also shown is a smaller galaxy, Triangulum, which may be part of the smashup.(Credit: NASA; ESA; A. Feild and R. van der Marel, STScI)

May 31, 2012:NASA as-

tronomers say theycan now predict withcertainty the nextmajor cosmic event toaffect our galaxy, sun,and solar system: thetitanic collision of ourMilky Way galaxy withthe neighboringAndromeda galaxy.

The MilkyWay is destined to geta major makeoverduring the encounter,which is predicted tohappen four billionyears from now. It islikely the sun will beflung into a new regionof our galaxy, but ourEarth and solar systemare in no danger ofbeing destroyed.

“After nearly acentury of speculationabout the future destinyof Andromeda and ourMilky Way, we at lasthave a clear picture ofhow events will unfoldover the coming billionsof years,” says SangmoTony Sohn of the SpaceTelescope Science Insti-tute (STScI) in Baltimore.

“Our findingsare statistically consis-tent with a head-oncollision between theAndromeda galaxy andour Milky Way galaxy,”adds Roeland van derMarel of the STScI.

The solutioncame through painstak-ing NASA Hubble SpaceTelescope measure-ments of the motion ofAndromeda, which alsois known as M31. Thegalaxy is now 2.5 millionlight-years away, but itis inexorably falling towardthe Milky Way under the

mutual pull of gravitybetween the twogalaxies and theinvisible dark matter thatsurrounds them both.

The scenariois like a baseballbatter watching anoncoming fastball.Although Andromedais approaching usmore than 2,000times faster than afastball, it will take 4billion years beforethe strike. Computersimulations derivedfrom Hubble’s datashow that it will takean additional twobillion years after theencounter for theinteracting galaxies tocompletely mergeunder the tug ofgravity and reshapeinto a single ellipticalgalaxy similar to thekind commonly seenin the local universe.

Although thegalaxies will plow intoeach other, starsinside each galaxyare so far apart thatthey will not collidewith other stars duringthe encounter. However,the stars will be throwninto different orbitsaround the new galacticcenter. Simulationsshow that our solarsystem will probablybe tossed muchfarther from the galacticcore than it is today.

To makematters more compli-cated, M31’s smallcompanion, theTriangulum galaxy,M33, will join in thecollision and perhapslater merge with the(continued on next page)

Titanic Collision (Continued from Preceeding Page)

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Click above for a computer animation ofthe Milky Way - Andromeda collision.

sideways motion in the sky, despite attempts dating backmore than a century. The Hubble Space Telescope team, ledby van der Marel, conducted extraordinarily precise observa-tions of the sideways motion of M31 that remove any doubtthat it is destined to collide and merge with the Milky Way.

”This was accomplished by repeatedly observingselect regions of the galaxy over a five- to seven-year period,”says Jay Anderson of STScI.

”In the worst-case-scenario simulation, M31 slamsinto the Milky Way head-on and the stars are all scatteredinto different orbits,” adds Gurtina Besla of Columbia Univer-sity in New York, N.Y. “The stellar populations of bothgalaxies are jostled, and the Milky Way loses its flattenedpancake shape with most of the stars on nearly circularorbits. The galaxies’ cores merge, and the stars settle intorandomized orbits to create an elliptical-shaped galaxy.”

The space shuttle servicing missions to Hubbleupgraded it with ever more-powerful cameras, which havegiven astronomers a long-enough time baseline to make thecritical measurements needed to nail down M31’s motion.The Hubble observations and the consequences of themerger are reported in three papers that will appear in anupcoming issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

For More Information:Click for more images and animations of the Milky Way-Andromeda smashup.

Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

NASA Showered with Bold New Concepts for Mars Exploration

An artist’s concept of the rover Curiositylanding on Mars in August 2012. For moreinformation about ongoing missions to theRed Planet, visit NASA’s Mars programhome page.Some of the best new ideasfor Mars exploration will be presented atthe Concepts and Approaches for MarsExploration workshop in Houston, TX,June 12-14, 2012. Click for the Workshopweb site.

May 24, 2012:NASA’s call to

scientists and engineersto help plan a newstrategy to explore Marshas resulted in a flurry ofunique and bold ideas,almost doubling thenumber of expectedsubmissions.

“This strongresponse sends a clearmessage that exploringMars is important tofuture exploration,” saysJohn Grunsfeld, associ-ate administrator forNASA’s Science MissionDirectorate at theagency’s headquarters inWashington and an astrophysicist and astronaut.

NASA is reformulating the Mars Exploration Programto be responsive to high-priority science goals and PresidentObama’s challenge of sending humans to Mars orbit in the2030s. About 400 concepts or abstracts were submitted tothe Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration Work-shop in Houston. Submissions came from individuals andteams that included professional researchers, undergraduateand graduate students, NASA centers, federal laboratories,industry, and international partner organizations.

The challenge now will be to select the best ideasfor the next phase,” says Grunsfeld.

Selected abstracts will be presented during theworkshop June 12-14 hosted by the Lunar and PlanetaryInstitute in Houston. Selectees are now being invited topresent and discuss concepts, options, capabilities andinnovations to advance Mars exploration. Workshop discus-sion will help inform a strategy for exploration within availableresources beginning as early as 2018, and stretching intothe next decade and beyond. Proceedings will be streamedlive online.

“Developing abstracts is very time consuming,requiring intense preparation, and we appreciate the fabulousresponse,” said Doug McCuistion, director, NASA’s MarsExploration Program in Washington. “Even though space islimited, to ensure transparency in the process anyone canobserve the scientific and engineering deliberations viathe Web.”

Based on the abstracts selected, associatedworking groups will consider the ideas and concepts in depthduring the workshop. Near-term ideas will be taken intoconsideration for early mission planning in the 2018-2024timeframe, while mid- to longer-term ideas will inform pro-gram-level architecture planning for 2026 and beyond.

The Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG), taskedwith developing options for a reformulated Mars ExplorationProgram, will consider the workshop inputs for the variousoptions, taking into consideration budgetary, programmatic,scientific, and technical constraints.

Options developed by the MPPG (continued on page22)

M31/Milky Way pair. There is a small chance that M33 willhit the Milky Way first.

A century ago astronomers did not realize that M31was a separate galaxy far beyond the stars of the MilkyWay. Edwin Hubble measured its vast distance by uncover-ing a variable star thatserved as a “mile-post marker.”

Hubble went onto discover the expandinguniverse where galaxiesare rushing away from us,but it has long been knownthat M31 is moving towardthe Milky Way at about 250,000miles per hour. That is fastenough to travel from hereto the moon in one hour.The measurement was made using the Doppler effect, whichis a change in frequency and wavelength of waves producedby a moving source relative to an observer, to measure howstarlight in the galaxy has been compressed by Andromeda’smotion toward us.

Previously, it was unknown whether the far-futureencounter will be a miss, glancing blow, or head-onsmashup. This depends on M31’s tangential motion. Untilnow, astronomers had not been able to measure M31’s

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Concepts for Mars Exploration (Continued from page 21)

are expected to advance the science objectives in theNational Research Council’s Planetary Science DecadalSurvey. The survey rated the return of Mars samples to Earthas a top scientific goal. Developed in consultation with thescientific and technical community, the MPPG report isexpected to be delivered for NASA review at the end ofthe summer.

”Getting to Mars is hard,” says Grunsfeld. “We’vehad successes and losses, but the human spirit to continueexploring the Red Planet prevails.”

For updates and more information about the work-shop, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/marsplanning/home/index.html.

Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

A New Count of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids

In this simulated view of the near-Earth asteroid population, potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) aredenoted in orange. Less dangerous near-Earth asteroids are blue. Earth’s orbit is green. [Click for more Info.]

May 16, 2012:Observations from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey

Explorer (WISE) have led to the best assessment yet of oursolar system’s population of potentially hazardous asteroids.Also known as “PHAs,” these asteroids have orbits thatcome within five million miles (about eight million kilometers)of Earth, and they are big enough to survive passing throughEarth’s atmosphere and cause damage on a regional, orgreater, scale.

The asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE mission,called NEOWISE, sampled 107 PHAs to make predictionsabout the population as a whole. Findings indicate there areroughly 4,700 PHAs, plus or minus 1,500, with diameterslarger than 330 feet (about 100 meters). So far, an estimated20 to 30 percent of these objects have been found.

While previous estimates of PHAs predicted similarnumbers, they were rough approximations. NEOWISE hasgenerated a more credible estimate of the objects’ totalnumbers and sizes. Because the WISE space telescopedetected the infrared light, or heat, of asteroids, it was ableto pick up both light and dark objects, resulting in a morerepresentative look at the entire population.

“The NEOWISE analysis shows us we’ve made agood start at finding those objects that truly represent animpact hazard to Earth,” said Lindley Johnson, programexecutive for the Near-Earth Object Observation Program at

NASA Headquarters. “But we’ve many more to find, and itwill take a concerted effort during the next couple of decadesto find all of them that could do serious damage or be amission destination in the future.

”The new analysis suggests that about twice asmany PHAs as previously thought reside in low-inclinationorbits, which are roughly aligned with the plane of Earth’s orbit.

“Our team was surprised to find the overabundanceof low-inclination PHAs,” said Amy Mainzer, NEOWISEprincipal investigator, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.“Because they will tend to make more close approaches toEarth, these targets can provide the best opportunities forthe next generation of human and robotic exploration.”

The NEOWISE analysis suggests a possible originfor the low-inclinaton PHAs: Many of them could haveoriginated from a collision between two asteroids in the mainbelt lying between Mars and Jupiter. A larger body with alow-inclination orbit may have broken up in the main belt,causing some of the fragments to drift into orbits closer toEarth and eventually become PHAs.

The lower-inclination PHAs appear to be somewhatbrighter and smaller than other near-Earth asteroids. Thediscovery that PHAs tend to be bright says something abouttheir composition; they are more likely to be either stony,like granite, or metallic. This type of information is importantin assessing the space rocks’ potential hazards to Earth.The composition of the bodies would affect how quickly theymight burn up in our atmosphere if an encounter were totake place.

“The NEOWISE project, which wasn’t originallyplanned as part of WISE, has turned out to be a hugebonus,” said Mainzer. “Everything we can learn about theseobjects helps us understand their origins and fate.”

The NEOWISE results have been accepted forpublication in the Astrophysical Journal.

Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

For More Information:More information is online at http://www.nasa.gov/wise andhttp://jpl.nasa.gov/wise.

NASA Space Telescope Sees the Light from an Alien Super-Earth

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An artist’s concept of 55 Cancri e, a toasty“super-Earth” that rushes around its starevery 18 hours. [Click above for video][Click for more Info.]

May 8, 2012:NASA’s

Spitzer SpaceTelescope has detect-ed light emanatingfrom a “super-Earth”beyond our solarsystem for the firsttime. While the planetis not habitable, thedetection is a historicstep toward theeventual search for signs of life on other planets.

“Spitzer has amazed us yet again,” said Bill Danchi,Spitzer program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Wash-ington. “The spacecraft is pioneering the study of atmo-spheres of distant planets and paving the way for NASA’supcoming James Webb Space Telescope to apply a similartechnique on potentially habitable planets.”

The planet, called 55 Cancri e, falls into a class ofplanets termed super Earths, which are more massive thanour home world but lighter than giant planets like Neptune.The planet is about twice as big and eight times as massiveas Earth. It orbits a bright star, called 55 Cancri, in a mere18 hours.

Previously, Spitzer and other telescopes were ableto study the planet by analyzing how the light from 55Cancri changed as the planet passed in front of the star. Inthe new study, Spitzer measured how much infrared lightcomes from the planet itself. The results reveal the planet islikely dark, and its sun-facing side is more than 2,000 Kelvin(3,140 degrees Fahrenheit), hot enough to melt metal.

The new information is consistent with a prior theorythat 55 Cancri e is a water world: a rocky core surroundedby a layer of water in a “supercritical” state where it is bothliquid and gas, and topped by a blanket of steam: video.

“It could be very similar to Neptune, if you pulledNeptune in toward our sun and watched its atmosphere boilaway,” said Michaël Gillon of Université de Liège in Belgium,principal investigator of the research, which appears in theAstrophysical Journal. The lead author is Brice-Olivier Demoryof the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

The 55 Cancri system is relatively close to Earth, at41 light-years away. It has five planets, with 55 Cancri e theclosest to the star and tidally locked, so one side always

faces the star. Spitzer discovered the sun-facing side is ex-tremely hot, indicating the planet probably does not have asubstantial atmosphere to carry the sun’s heat to the unlit side.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduledto launch in 2018, likely will be able to learn even more aboutthe planet’s composition. The telescope might be able to usea similar infrared method to Spitzer to search other potentiallyhabitable planets for signs of molecules possibly related to life.

“When we conceived of Spitzer more than 40 yearsago, exoplanets hadn’t even been discovered,” said MichaelWerner, Spitzer project scientist at NASA’s Jet PropulsionLaboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “Because Spitzer was builtvery well, it’s been able to adapt to this new field and makehistoric advances such as this.”

In 2005, Spitzer became the first telescope to detectlight from a planet beyond our solar system. To the surpriseof many, the observatory saw the infrared light of a “hot Jupiter,”a gaseous planet much larger than the solid 55 Cancri e.Since then, other telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble andKepler space telescopes, have performed similar feats withgas giants using the same method. This marks the first time,however, that light from a super-Earth has been detected.

For more information about 55 Cancri e, please seethe ScienceCast video Rethinking an Alien World

Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

For More Information: During Spitzer’s ongoing extended mission, stepswere taken to enhance its unique ability to see exoplanets,including 55 Cancri e. Those steps, which included changingthe cycling of a heater and using an instrument in a new way,led to improvements in how precisely the telescope pointsat targets. JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope missionfor NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer ScienceCenter at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) inPasadena. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archivehoused at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center atCaltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer and http://spitzer.caltech.edu/. Moreinformation about exoplanets and NASA’s planet-findingprogram is at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov.

The plot shows how the infrared lightfrom the 55 Cancri system, both the

star and planet, changed as theplanet passed behind its star. When

the planet disappeared, the totallight dropped, and then increased

back to normal levels as the planetcircled back into view. The dropindicated how much light came

directly from the planet itself. Thistype of information is important for

studying the temperatures andcompositions of planetary atmo-

spheres beyond our own. [Click for more Info.]

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