StarWatch: Moravian College Astronomy

JUNE 2011

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The International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavor can be seen respectively as the bright and dim streaks in this extraordinarily bright (-3.9) flyover on May 31 at 3:38-45 a.m. A Canon 60D camera with a 70-200 mm Canon zoom lens at an EFF of 112mm was used at F/2.8, ASA 1000 for this guided 90 second image. A Borg-Hutech light pollution filter was mounted onto the front of the lens. The night was hazy clear, but by 3 a.m. clouds began to appear. About two minutes before the event the sky was mostly cloudy. Then it cleared in the area that I was photographing just as the ISS became visible in the morning sun. I was lucky. Gary A. Becker photograph, Coopersburg, PA...

East Coast moonset on a late spring evening… Every evening is different. I have photographed young moons perhaps 100 times and no two images are duplicates. A crystal clear day gave way to high clouds which I thought were going to ruin the image of June 3rd's young moon. Happily, I was proven wrong. An equatorially mounted Canon 60D camera was coupled with a 70-200mm Canon zoom lens with a 2x extender and set at an EFL of 640mm at F/5.6. The image was exposed for 20 seconds after which the drive was disengaged and another 20 second image recorded. The two images were then digitally combined. Gary A. Becker photography from Coopersburg, PA... Thank you spaceweather.com for using this image on your June 4 homepage.

Gary A. Becker photography from Coopersburg, PA...

772 JUNE 5, 2011: One Year to Spectacular Venus Transit: Heads up, because on June 5, 2012 one of the rarest repeatable astronomical events takes place, a transit of the planet Venus across the disk of the sun. The only difference between a transit and an eclipse is the size factor between the two objects. In a transit, the occulting body is much smaller than the object being hidden. Two sets of two transits (four in total) occur in a period of 243 years. Each set is separated by an eight year interval, but the sets themselves can be separated by a time gap of 121.5 years or 105.5 years. The 2012 event is the second of a set separated by eight years. The last transit of Venus across the sun occurred on June 8, 2004. I worked with a group of about 15 students and adults to organize a public event 30 miles west of Allentown, PA which began at sunrise. The East Coast was at the tail end of this worldwide event. Needless to say my efforts to attract print and broadcast interests for this happening were met with tepid responses. Unbeknownst to me was that all day while the transit was being viewed in other parts of the world, media sources were hyping this occurrence in the biggest possible ways. Dawn, June 8, was met with dense fog and drenching dew at our observing location. I told my group to set up and to keep acting positive. About a half hour after sunrise with pockets of mist wafting across the field and our capped telescopes dripping in the damp morning air, I explained to the 250 people assembled that probably the fog would burn off eventually, and maybe we would get a chance to see it. While speaking, someone in the crowd said, “Look, it’s there.” I turned around to be greeted by a deep, orange sun specked by one dot near its upper right limb. The sky slowly cleared, the transit unfolded on cue, and the media arrived in droves. What a glorious morning! If you miss next year’s Venus transit, plan on hanging around until 2117 or 2125 when it happens again.

773 JUNE 12, 2011: Gotcha!: When I was volunteering in Bryce Canyon’s Night Sky Team during the summer of 2006, answering questions at the front desk of the Visitor Center was one of my least enjoyed activities. Many queries went like this. “I’ve only got a few hours to spend in the park. What should I see?” “Well, sir,” I often felt like responding, “you’ve got 90 minutes before sundown, it’s going to be raining pretty soon, and several lightning fires have the park closed just up the road. Go down to Zion where it’s warmer and sunnier.” But then there was the day the French-Canadian hiker came in. When she stood in front of me, I was suddenly 25 again, buff and tan, with a shell choker. She had a rugged, outdoorsy type of beauty, but her eyes told me of another story, one of frustration. There was also a woman in back of her trying to get my attention, but I refused to make eye contact and focused only on her. She needed a backcountry pass. I told her she had arrived too late in the day for one to be issued. Then she pointed to a group of teens lingering near the entrance and told me her story. She was a naturalist from Montreal, bilingual, and hired by an exclusive French touring firm to escort kids, who came from very wealthy families, on a camping trip to the American West. Things were not going particularly well. The teens were not used to material deprivations and her partner spoke no English. My hands went to the forms like a magnet to iron. As we talked, she relaxed and smiled a bit and it became obvious to me that she really was prepared. She asked well-organized questions and knew the camping rules cold. I fantasized about schlepping down the trail that night with my hundred plus pounds of telescope gear to show her the stars, but it really was raining. She departed. I sighed. “Now to that pesky lady,” I thought. I looked her straight in the eye and gasped. It was my wild-eyed wife, Susan, that I saw. Gotcha!

774 JUNE 19, 2011: ISS-Endeavor Delivers: The website www.heavens-above.com/ is widely respected among astronomers for its accuracy in predicting satellite flyovers. Several weeks ago, I was looking for an opportunity to photograph the Endeavor tagging alongside the International Space Station. When I imputed the data for my location, a chart appeared listing about a dozen ISS/Endeavor passes and the second one, only 10 hours into the future, was about as favorable as any can get. At 3:38 a.m. the ISS was going to burst into visibility near the zenith and as bright as the planet Venus. I decided to pull an all-nighter. At 3 a.m., when I took my telescope and camera gear outside into the humid morning air to set up, the sky almost on cue became partly cloudy. With the stars going in and out, it was difficult to know precisely where I was pointing the camera as well obtaining a critical focus. I made a couple of educated guesses and numerous readjustments and waited. Two minutes before the appearance, the sky was almost completely overcast and I was lamenting the wasted hours of preparation and the lousy way I was going to feel the next day. Watching my atomic clock which keeps precise time from Fort Collins, CO, I started my exposure about 15 seconds ahead of the event, carefully placed the electronic cable release on the ground and looked up. A hole in the clouds was widening in the area that my camera was pointing. Right on cue, to the second of the prediction, the ISS appeared and glided silently with the invisible Endeavor across the sky. Did it go though my field? Did I capture the much fainter Endeavor? I had to wait an excruciating 90 seconds while the camera processed the image, but the answer was yes. A bright streak, a much fainter streak, and stars in good focus were seen. I looked up to the heavens to say a silent “Thank you,” and noticed it had become cloudy once again. See the photo below.

775 JUNE 26, 2011: Heavens-Above: A Fantastic Website: Last week, I wrote about how a parting of the clouds allowed me to photograph the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavor during a very bright flyover. I used the website www.heavens-above.com/ to obtain that information. If you would like to see the ISS or another bright satellite, here is how you can make a successful observation. When you log onto the site, you’ll see the word “Configuration” near the top left of the page. You’ll need to tell the program your location. I normally select from the “database” because I live only several blocks from the center of a small town, but I can choose the “map” option which will allow me to see my own property and even the small pine tree I normally observe near to because it obscures a close by sodium vapor lamp. I can also set my latitude and longitude using the “manual” prompt. When the Heavens-Above program knows your position, thousands of different objects are literally at your keyboard fingertips. To see the ISS, click the “ISS” link under “Satellites” and a chart will appear detailing visible passes during the next 10 days. The chart gives the time (to the second) when the pass will begin and the direction for the moment of visibility, as well as the altitude of the ISS. Zero equals the horizon; 90 degrees corresponds to directly overhead. Highest and ending directions are also given. The brightness of the pass is given as a magnitude. The more negative the number the brighter the pass. Clicking on the specific flyby link produces a map with the ISS’s path plotted among the stars. This feature is handy for camera pointing if you want to capture photographically the event as I did on May 31. Finally, in the “Miscellaneous” section, click on “What time is it?” and set your watch to the nearest second. You’ll be literally amazed when the ISS bursts onto the scene right on cue. The Heavens-Above is that accurate.