Saturday, 11 Feb
7:00pm (19:00 for you military types)
River Ridge Observatory grounds in the clear, dark skies between the cities of Wye and Roland, AR.

Presentation for this month:
This is going to thrill ATMers (Amateur Telescope Makers) -and- people that want to tweak/fix their imperfect “big box store” telescopes to get max performance. Ray Jeter is going to present how he turned a humble collection of cheap/eBay/mall store “scope parts” into a compact wonder you can carry with one hand, yet captures the Heavens above with visual Image & Color perfection. If your bright “star” looks more like a bright “starfish” then you need to hear his tips, then your Reflector telescope can become a humble Hubble in your own back yard.

DOOR PRIZE:

All in attendance are eligible for the drawing for 2 more HUBBLE‘s best space pics photo books.

We’ll be getting an updates regarding:

William Bryden — he is designing CAAS shirts for 2012

Jim Fisher — CAAS business cards are in for every member and guest. Also, an update on our 501C status.

Need to learn how to use your scope?

We can help teach you… parents or kids. All you need is a love of the night’s sky and a sense of wonder in your heart, shooting stars, nebula and galaxies …await you together with friends. If you are bringing a scope you want to learn how to use, contact us so we can set your scope up BEFORE sunset (5:45pm)

After the short welcome and meeting at 7 p.m., skies permitting, we will adjourn to the observing field for fun and fellowship under the planets and stars.

If you need directions to the River Ridge Observatory, please email info@caasastro.org and they will email you the coordinates for Google as well as the password protected Driving Directions located on our website http://www.caasastro.org/category/dreictions-to-caas . Possibly, even meet up with a staff member in L.R. and you can follow our car as we drive to the site…or or maybe even arrange a ride with a staff member if you need a ride.

Become part of our family and friends. You don’t even need to own a scope. All are welcome.

Blue Skies
Bill
Servant to the amazing members of C.A.A.S., Skipper of the Big Dipper, Club President

The roof leak was fixed by Wade Van Arsdale and Danny Flippo on Saturday.  The heater in the bathroom had ceased to function.  Wade purchased and brought a replacement heater.  Wade will be reimbursed for his expenses.

Membership dues are due in January each year.  Quite a few membership dues were turned in Saturday night.

William Bryden presented some awesome T-Shirt design options.  There was quite a bit of discussion of the designs.  We hope to vote to select a design during the next meeting.

Darrell Heath was nominated for Membership Coordinator by William (Bill) Engberg.  The nomination was seconded by Roger Gudith.  Darrell was unanimously voted in as the Membership Coordinator.

Wade and Darrell volunteered to be the “Info@ Response Team” and answer questions we receive at the  info@caasastro.org email address.

Jim Fisher presented NASA Space Shuttle coins to VP Eric Walker and Carl Freyaldenhoven for their help last year.

The LANTERNS Feb 2,3,4 event at Wildwood will be headed by Darrell/UALR. He is checking to see if they want a telescope (or ten!) set up each night. If so, we have a few volunteers on  different nights (Carl Freyaldenhoven  on Thursday, John Reed on Friday,  and Darrell Heath on Saturday night).  We hope more will sign up for a night as well. 5000 guests are expected.  Show off your scope, make friends, and invite people to CAAS. Once Darrell confirms we are OK to come, he’ll get FREE passes for all attendees from CAAS and get you more info. Contact Darrell.

CAAS Business cards are being ordered by Jim Fisher for all members to give out to guests at star parties…better than writing in the dark.

Ms. Katie McKinney, the youngest person in attendance, drew numbers for door prizes.  Those winning Hubble books donated by Engberg were Roger Gudith, and Jane Hurley.  Those winning NASA Space Shuttle coins were Greg Hurley, Danny Flippo, and Katie McKinney.

Upcoming Programs

We have programs for the months listed above.  However, we still need volunteers to present programs in October, September, July, June, and February.

There were many first time guests at the meeting.

Members and Guests Who Attended The Meeting

Wade Van Arsdale

William Bryden

Jack Dixon

Jim Dixon

Patricia Dodson

William Engberg

James Fisher

Danny Flippo

Carl Freyaldenhoven

Roger Gudith

Darrell Heath

Greg Hurley

Jane Hurley

Chris Lasley

Don Lewis

Cliff McKinney

Katie McKinney

James Bruce McMath

John Reed

Coy Scott

Eric Walker

The next monthly CAAS meeting will be at 7 pm on Saturday, February 11.  Weather permitting, there is normally observing after the meeting adjourns (usually sometime from 8 pm to 8:30 pm).

Observation Planning Data

According to the Sky and Telescope web site almanac, sunset will be at 5:51 pm.  Twilight ends at 7:16 pm.  Twilight begins at 5:35 am on Sunday morning with sunrise at 7:01 am.  The moon is 79% illuminated and rises at 10:24 pm.  Venus sets at 9:09 pm.  Jupiter sets at 11:30 pm.  Mars rises at 7:54 pm.  Saturn rises at 11:00 pm.  The Sky and Telescope web site Interactive Sky Chart shows the constellation of Auriga nearest the zenith at 8 pm.  The great Orion constellation will be beginning to transit at 8 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Coy Scott

CAAS Secretary

NASA has a job opening. Wanted: People of all ages to sort, stack, and catalogue terabytes of simulated data from a satellite that launches in 2015. Agile thumbs required.

Sorting terabytes of data? It’s more fun than it sounds.

In fact it’s a game: Satellite Insight. The Space Place Team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory created the entertaining app for iPhones to get the word out about GOES-R, an advanced Earth science satellite built by NOAA and NASA.

Described by the Los Angeles Times as possibly “the nerdiest game ever,” Satellite Insight may be downloaded for free from Apple’s app store. Be careful, though, once you start playing it’s hard to stop. Some reviewers have likened it to Tetris, one of the most popular video games of all time.

GOES, short for “Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite,” is the workhorse spacecraft for weather forecasters. NOAA operates two (at a time) in geosynchronous orbit, one above the west coast of N. America and one above the east coast. They monitor clouds, wind, rain, hurricanes, tornadoes and even solar flares.  The GOES program has been in action since 1975.

GOES-R is the next-generation satellite with advanced technologies far beyond those of the older GOES satellites. It has sensors for lightning detection, wildfire mapping, storm tracking, search and rescue, solar imaging, and more. Many of the sensors are trailblazers. For example, the Advanced Baseline Imager has 60 times the capability of the current imager—16 channels instead of 5. It has twice the spatial resolution and five times the temporal refresh rate, including the 30-second imaging of weather systems over a region of 1000 km x 1000 km. Also, the Geostationary Lightning Mapper can count and pinpoint lightning bolts over the Americas 24/7. It’s the first such detector to fly on a geosynchronous satellite, and it could lead to transformative advances in severe storm warning capability.

All in all, GOES-R represents a “huge technological leap from the current GOES.” We know this because Satellite Insight tells us so. The app has an informative “Learn More” feature where players can find out about the satellite and the data they have been sorting.

Which brings us back to sorting data. It’s a bit like eating Cheerios; just don’t tell the kids it’s nutritious, and they love it. Helping GOES-R gather and stash data from all those advanced sensors is just as satisfying, too—a dose of Earth science wrapped in thumb-flying fun.

More information about Satellite Insight may be found on the web at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/satellite-insight/id463588902?mt=8. The game also available in web form (flying thumbs optional) at spaceplace.nasa.gov/satellite-insight.

This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Caption:

New iPhone game is first NOAA app and only the second NASA game app. Just as with the real GOES-R, the challenge with Satellite Insight is to keep up with the massive influx of weather and other environmental data.

Never looked through a telescope? YOU are invited! Like looking at the stars, but don’t know a thing about them? Come and bring your friends! You don’t need to be a member to attend and there is no charge to visit; see and look through all the other scopes; learn how to use “that telescope you were given as a gift”;  and love the beauty of the night’s sky, shooting stars, nebula and galaxies …together with friends. All are welcome.

DOOR PRIZE: That night, all in attendance are eligible for the drawing for 2 more HUBBLE‘s best space pics photo books.

–All, please email or bring a list of Presentation Topics you’d like to hear for 2012 and we’ll share/compile them during the meeting. If you think of one or many topics, maybe someone else will jump on one idea and they will give a 5 minute – 45 minute presentation on it later this year.

If you want to present a topic  [ YOU WOULD BE MY HERO ]  let me know so the secretary and I can schedule it on the month you want, and advertise it to the gang.  

You do NOT need to be an expert, just talk about what you love and what you learned. ( p.s.  I didn’t know a thing about the Mayan 2012 Calendar until I Googled and Wiki’ed everything )

Hopefully we’ll be getting an updates regarding:

   William Bryden — he is designing shirts for 2012 with Carolaina helping with info from last order.

    Jim Fisher — ordering CAAS business cards and fixing “tax exempt” 501C status with local tax lawyer. On that note, I’ll be moving that the Club pay for all the Cards and distribute 20 or more per year to every member…so we can actually do membership outreach “that works” by giving out a card in the dark (or at work / school / church)  rather than hoping guests and strangers remember a funny-spelling-acronym-filled-website-name …24 hours later.

After the short welcome and meeting at 7 p.m., skies permitting, we will adjourn to the observing field for fun and fellowship under the planets and stars.

If you need directions to the River Ridge Observatory, please email info@caasastro.org and they will email you the coordinates for Google as well as the password protected Driving Directions located on our website   Directions to CAAS .

I wish you a blessed New Year and amazing 2012.

Blue Skies

  Bill Engberg

   C.A.A.S. el Presidente, Boss of the Bolides, Captain of the Van Allen’s …and chief bottle washer

Dawn is the first space mission with an itinerary that includes orbiting two separate solar system destinations. It is also the only spacecraft ever to orbit an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft accomplishes this feat using ion propulsion, a technology first proven in space on the highly successful Deep Space 1 mission, part of NASA’s New Millennium program.

Launched in September 2007, Dawn arrived at protoplanet Vesta in July 2011. It will orbit and study Vesta until July 2012, when it will leave orbit for dwarf planet Ceres, also in the asteroid belt.

Dawn can maneuver to the orbit best suited for conducting each of its scientific observations. After months mapping this alien world from higher altitudes, Dawn spiraled closer to Vesta to attain a low altitude orbit, the better to study Vesta’s composition and map its complicated gravity field.

Changing and refining Dawn’s orbit of this massive, irregular, heterogeneous body is one of the most complicated parts of the mission. In addition, to meet all the scientific objectives, the orientation of this orbit needs to change.

These differing orientations are a crucial element of the strategy for gathering the most scientifically valuable data on Vesta. It generally requires a great deal of maneuvering to change the plane of a spacecraft’s orbit. The ion propulsion system allows the probe to fly from one orbit to another without the penalty of carrying a massive supply of propellant. Indeed, one of the reasons that traveling from Earth to Vesta (and later Ceres) requires ion propulsion is the challenge of tilting the orbit around the sun.

Although the ion propulsion system accomplishes the majority of the orbit change, Dawn’s navigators are enlisting Vesta itself. Some of the ion thrusting was designed in part to put the spacecraft in certain locations from which Vesta would twist its orbit toward the target angle for the low-altitude orbit. As Dawn rotates and the world underneath it revolves, the spacecraft feels a changing pull. There is always a tug downward, but because of Vesta’s heterogeneous interior structure, sometimes there is also a slight force to one side or another. With their knowledge of the gravity field, the mission team plotted a course that took advantage of these variations to get a free ride.

The flight plan is a complex affair of carefully timed thrusting and coasting. Very far from home, the spacecraft is making excellent progress in its expedition at a fascinating world that, until a few months ago, had never seen a probe from Earth.

Keep up with Dawn’s progress by following the Chief Engineer’s (yours truly’s) journal at http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/journal.asp. And check out the illustrated story in verse of “Professor Starr’s Dream Trip: Or, how a little technology goes a long way,” at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/story-prof-starr.

This article was provided courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

This full view of the giant asteroid Vesta was taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, as part of a rotation characterization sequence on July 24, 2011, at a distance of 5,200 kilometers (3,200 miles).  Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

• The Board moved to add Coy Scott as secretary and Danny Flippo as Board member to the nominations list.
• All voted and accepted the following lineup of officers for 2012:
•     Officers: President – Bill Engberg       Vice President – Eric Walker       Secretary – Coy Scott       Treasury – Andy Reed       Immediate Past President – Jim Fisher
•  Board: Jim Dixon, Carl Freyaldenhoven, John Reed, and Danny Flippo
• Jim Fisher expressed thanks to the officers from 2011.  As a special thank you, he gave awesome commemorative Space Shuttle coins to John Reed, Coy, Bill Engberg, and Carolaina.  The coins contain metal that was carried into space on a shuttle mission.
• Jim covered highlights from the year: custom Overhangs above doors, new cement drive way entrance, big telescope pad, garden cleanup, MSRAL sponsor (John, Rocky and Jim presented) new computer equipment in classroom, red lights, facebook page, website updated, grounds cleanup, refrigerator
• William Bryden is designing shirts for 2012 with Carolaina helping with info from last order.
• Jim Fisher will buy CAAS business cards and fix the CAAS tax status.
• CAAS authorized Bill Engberg to cut/trim the “anti-astronomy” trees close to the buildings or in the path of the ecliptic.
• A drawing was held for HUBBLE books donated by Engberg, 4 won: Bill Sanders; Scott Bryden; John Reed; Carolaina Ferren

The lone matter of official business will be the election of the 2012 Officers and Board members. The following members have been nominated for the 2012 CAAS leadership positions:

Bill Engberg                          President

Eric Walker                            Vice President

Jim Fisher                              Secretary

Andy Reed                             Treasurer

Jim Fisher                              Immediate Past President

Jim Dixon                               Board

Carl Freyaldenhoven             Board

John Reed                             Board

Coy Scott                               Board

Further nominations will be accepted from the floor just prior to the election.  All active CAAS members may participate in voting.

Holiday themed pot luck:  All CAAS members and guests are invited to bring potluck dishes.  Set up will begin at 4 p.m. Social hour and observing on the observing field beginning at  5 p.m.  Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. in the classroom.  The brief business meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Clouds permitting will adjourn to the observing field for fun and fellowship under the full moon and stars.

Please email jrfisher7@gmail.com if you plan to attend (no regrets please) and the dish or food item you plan to bring.

If you need directions to the River Ridge Observatory, please email info@caasastro.org.

Note:  We do NOT need any plastic plates, cups or service ware as the club has plenty.  In the event of an inclement weather forecast, we will move the meeting to the Whole Hog Café, 2516 Cantrell Road Little Rock, Arkansas 72202 with food service provided by the restaurant pay as you go (no pot luck necessary).

Now they’re thinking again. New observations by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that 55 Cancri e may be wetter and weirder than anyone imagined.

Spitzer recently measured the extraordinarily small amount of light 55 Cancri e blocks when it crosses in front of its star. These transits occur every 18 hours, giving researchers repeated opportunities to gather the data they need to estimate the width, volume and density of the planet.

According to the new observations, 55 Cancri e has a mass 7.8 times and a radius just over twice that of Earth. Those properties place 55 Cancri e in the “super-Earth” class of exoplanets, a few dozen of which have been found. Only a handful of known super-Earths, however, cross the face of their stars as viewed from our vantage point in the cosmos, so 55 Cancri e is better understood than most.

When 55 Cancri e was discovered in 2004, initial estimates of its size and mass were consistent with a dense planet of solid rock. Spitzer data suggest otherwise: About a fifth of the planet’s mass must be made of light elements and compounds—including water. Given the intense heat and high pressure these materials likely experience, researchers think the compounds likely exist in a “supercritical” fluid state.

A supercritical fluid is a high-pressure, high-temperature state of matter best described as a liquid-like gas, and a marvelous solvent. Water becomes supercritical in some steam turbines—and it tends to dissolve the tips of the turbine blades. Supercritical carbon dioxide is used to remove caffeine from coffee beans, and sometimes to dry-clean clothes. Liquid-fueled rocket propellant is also supercritical when it emerges from the tail of a spaceship.

On 55 Cancri e, this stuff may be literally oozing—or is it steaming? —out of the rocks.

With supercritical solvents rising from the planet’s surface, a star of terrifying proportions filling much of the daytime sky, and whole years rushing past in a matter of hours, 55 Cancri e teaches a valuable lesson: Just because a planet is similar in size to Earth does not mean the planet is like Earth.

It’s something to re-think about.

Get a kid thinking about extrasolar planets by pointing him or her to “Lucy’s Planet Hunt,” a story in rhyme about a girl who wanted nothing more than to look for Earth-like planets when she grew up. Go to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/story-lucy.

The original research reported in this story has been accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The lead author is Brice-Olivier Demory, a post-doctoral associate in Professor Sara Seager’s group at MIT.

This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Caption:

Artist’s rendering compares the size Earth with the rocky “super-Earth” 55 Cancri e. Its year is only about 18 hours long!

The place was packed and almost every seat was taken with new guests, new members, and the usual suspects

Eric Walker opened the floor to the board and attendees to nominate next year’s staff and voting will be done at the 10 Dec Club Meeting and BANQUET!

President – Bill Engberg

Vice President – Eric Walker

Secretary –Jim Fisher

Treasury – Andy Reed

Immediate Past President – Jim Fisher

Board: Jim Dixon, Carl Freyaldenhoven, John Reed, and Coy Scott.

After calling Hollywood, I verified there are no Astronomers, nor Prophets on staff that were consulted before making “2012”. I gave a PPT brief about the Mayan Calendar and how it is very cool how they developed it and that CAAS/Little Rock will be aligned with the Mayan Ball Court at Izapa for the (Friday) Dec 21, 2012 Galactic alignment…front row seats!

I think we should throw a big astro-party at CAAS and invite Little Rock (new membership / huge interest)

John Reed showed/taught about his excellent (and portable) Nikon DSLR Astro Camera rig…nice!

Roger Gudith gave a wonderful presentation on Astronomy.

Jim D gave a great lesson on the Constellation Perseus, its history and the objects of interest in it.

We had many guests Saturday night:

Vikrant Vijay

Amanda Poss

James Lane

David Williams

Nancy Jackman (winner of the Telescope!)

Lorali Brown (?)

Other CAAS members there were

Jim Dixon,

Eric Walker,

John Reed,

Rocky and Carol Togni,

Pat and Sandy Morris;

Coy Scott;

Roger Gudith;

Landon Sanders

Aimee Voisin;

William Bryden;

Allen Lee;

Carl Freyaldenhoven;

John Reed;

Tom and Barbara Walker

…and me, your humble scribe.

The clouds broke at the perfect time and the “Club built 10-inch scope ” was set up by Carl F. and the gang, for viewing by all of our first time guests.

Projects:

Done! Ardent’s new 9’ x 9’ concrete pad was uncovered and unveiled to the club.

Done! New driveway is smooth like….like…new concrete butter!

Hero!: Allen Lee came up with a great idea to work with PMSP or a school, etc, to advertise a L.R. “Set up your telescope Night” at PMSP or downtown, since so many people are asking CAAS members to help set up. A great membership drive to get Kids (  =  Parents!) and young people into CAAS. Contact Allen if you have ideas or wish to help.

—Need a CAAS hero to take care of this small $10 project.

Three…let me emphasize…. THREE different 1^st time visitors at different times said the same thing. When they arrived in the pitch black night, the only light they saw was to the bathroom (I had propped the door open).  They said we need a light above “the door you are supposed to go to, if you’ve never been here before.” For safety/liability reasons, I couldn’t agree more. Recommend a RED “L.E.D. Touch light” / hanging Red L.E.D. Lamp we can reach up and hang on a hook / or some other battery powered (or permanent switch fixture), for people to “home in on” at night, since it is a maze of buildings for 1^st time guests arriving in a sea of darkness. Once we have our 501C status approved, you will get a donation slip for the amount you paid. If you paid $100 for the lamp or permanent switch/fixture, you get a $100  tax write off.  Or, if you can visit some electricians in town, ask if they will volunteer a donation of parts OR labor.

—Officers

Need permission for me to buy this $35 HDMI-to-VGA-converter- box so new laptops can run our old projector

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Converter-Support-1080P-Output/dp/B0057UNQ18/ref=lh_ni_t

—Need a CAAS super hero who will donate an old computer to permanently plug into the projector, for when people want to run a Presentation. I’ll even donate the Microsoft Office / PowerPoint software. Once we have our 501C status, you will get a donation slip for the amount “you paid for the computer back in 200X.” If you paid $3000 for the computer, you get a $3000 tax write off. Nice.  Contact me if questions.
Blue Skies  
Bill
   Club Scribe     

Clouds permitting we will adjourn to the observing field for fun and fellowship under the Gibbous Moon and stars! We hope to see you there.