Membership Makes Milestone
-Sean Tvelia-

Proposed observatory structure containing Montauk Observatory's 20" Meade RCX

Over the past two years we have announced many important milestones in Montauk Observatory history. In this issue I am proud to announce that in the past two months the observatory has passed yet another milestone. With the help of the new members (listed in the New Member section) Montauk Observatory now boasts 135 members. Thank you to all who have joined. Without you this observatory would not be possible!

Since Montauk Observatory first began accepting members in June, 2007 our membership list has steadily grown. From professional and amateur astronomers to world renown authors, professors, and students of all ages the Montauk Observatory membership list is a virtual who's who in science-- and not just on Long Island. Montauk Observatory members span the east coast from Montauk to Buffalo and from Conneticut to Florida. Although we always knew the observatory would be successful we never imagined that so many would share our dreams.

That dream does not come cheap. Over the past few months members of the Board of Directors have been actively working with county officials to finalize the Montauk Observatory site contract and also with Robert Young of Murdock Young Associates to ensure that plans for the observatory (shown above) encoporate all county requirements as well as those of our astronomers. Although thousands of dollars have been donated in the form of architectural drawings and manpower, the observatory still needs to raise roughly $100,000 to cover materials to complete construction.

This is where Montauk Observatory needs your support. As a 501C-3 corporation your contributions to Montauk Observatory are tax deductable and it is your contribution that will help build our observatory. All donors will be recognized on our website and within our newsletter. If you have attended one of our public lectures or star parties I hope you have seen the same value as I do in this facility and will consider joining us on this wonderful project. Your donation will be richly appreciated. If you have yet to join us at one of our events I would personally like to invite you to see the telescope and come to one of our observation sessions.

Most of us have long appreciated the beauty of the East End of Long Island and we are privileged to spend time in such an extraordinary place. The Montauk Observatory will help affirm and celebrate this areas special relationship to nature. Please take a moment to visit our website and make your donation now.

As always I look forward to seeing you at the next Montauk Observatory event.

Starting this week members of the Montauk Observatory can access and use the new Montauk Observatory Blog.

This site , which can be accessed at http://blog.montaukobservatory.com, was designed to allow our members from across Long Island (and the U.S) to communicate and discuss recent events in Astronomy or science in general.

Once registered (for free) members can post discussion topics and/or comment on previous post.

The site also features "Ask an Astronomer,"a page where questions can be posted and subsequently answered by our many professional astromers and an events listing where Montauk Observatory and our sister organizations can freely advertise their educational events.

If you would like more assistance in using this feature please feel free to contact Sean at Seant@montaukobservatory.com

We are all familiar with the bright Milky Way, and the equally bright constellations it passes through, such as Cassiopeia,

Sky map detailing area of sky occupied by Camelopardalis (polaris at center)

Scorpio, and the rest, but what about its fainter parts that are often left off an amateurs observing schedule

Camelopardalis is probably one of the least observed and least known constellations in the entire sky even if it is one of the largest. Also, being circumpolar and having the Milky Way traversing it, you would think that this would be a well recognised and much observed constellation. The truth of the matter is very different; it is almost unknown amongst amateurs. Why? Well it has no stars brighter than 4th magnitude, and its shape is meandering and non-descript, even though some of it is lies within the confines of the Milky Way. But it actually has quite a few objects well worth observing, including double stars, nebulae, and clusters.

Lets begin our look at what the Milky Way in Camelopardalis has to offer with some nice double stars; Sigma (Struve) 390, Sigma (Struve) 485 (SZ) and Sigma (Struve) 550 (1 Camelopardalis). Sigma (Struve) 390 is a system of unequally bright stars, one white, and one that takes on a rarely-observed purple tint. It can be easily seen in telescopes of about 10 cm and greater. The fainter member is also an eclipsing binary of the Algol type. Sigma (Struve) 485 will need a slightly bigger aperture, say, 20 cm or more, in order to be seen, and appears as two blue-white stars. Finally, Epsilon (Struve) 550 is an easy double of a white star and a pale blue star.

Our first open cluster is Stock 23, lying close to the Camelopardalis-Cassiopeia border. It is a bright, large but spread out cluster, easily seen in binoculars which will reveal several stars. But viewed in medium-aperture telescopes some 40 stars can be seen. It lies some 10 degrees to the northwest of Alpha Persei. There are some rumours that the cluster has some associated nebulosity. But no one I have spoken to has ever seen it. Have you?

Tombaugh 5 is another open cluster that lies within the Milky Way. However a word of caution is required here as it needs a large aperture telescope in order to be seen in any detail. It is faint, with an integrated magnitude of 8.4, but most of its 40 or so members are of 12th and 13th magnitude, hence the warning. Even so, it nevertheless stands out well against the star-filled background.

A fine bright cluster for binoculars is NGC 1502 (also sometimes known as Herschel 47). It is visible with the naked eye under good conditions but is sometimes a problem to locate. In binoculars it appears as a hazy round patch of light, rich and bright, but small. Some observers say it resembles a fan shape. With a large telescope it is a grand sight, bright, rich and standing out well against the background. As a bonus, contained in the cluster are two multiple stars: Struve 484, a nice triple system, and Struve 485, a true spectacle with nine components, seven of which are visible in a 10 cm telescope, ranging between 7th and 13th magnitude. The remaining two components, of 13.6 and 14.1 magnitude, can be seen in a 20 cm telescope. But wait, there is even more! What makes this cluster even better is the long stream or string of stars that appear to end at the cluster. The star string, or asterism, is nearly 2 degrees in length, around 5th to 8th magnitude, and lies to the northwest of NGC 1502.

This asterism is called Kemble’s Cascade, after the late Lucien Kemble, a Canadian astronomer and is a splendid sight in binoculars. Finally, at the end of the cascade and near to the cluster is the variable star UV Camelopardalis. This is a semi-regular variable that varies in brightness from 7.5 to 8.1 magnitude over a period of 294 days.

A little known but nice planetary nebula is also available for observation, NGC 1501 (Herschel 53), also called the Oyster Nebula. This is a blue planetary nebula easily be seen in telescopes of 20 cm, and perhaps even glimpsed in apertures of 10 cm. With a larger aperture, structure can be glimpsed, and it has been likened to the much more famous Eskimo Nebula. The central star can be glimpsed if a high magnification is used – 300X.

Now something for those lucky people who have large aperture telescopes - two reflection nebulae within the Milky Way area of Camelopardalis that are exceedingly faint. These are van den Bergh 14 and van den Bergh 15. To say they are faint is not an exaggeration as they are very difficult objects to see visually. One will need to use averted vision and the sky has to be very dark and very transparent (a situation that is getting all too rare in the UK). If observed, both nebulae will appear as faint pale streaks of light. It may be that this is not so much a visual observing challenge, but a photographic or CCD-imaging challenge!
Finally, scanning this area of the sky with binoculars will reveal several dark nebulae lying within this section of the Milky Way, including one vast area that actually seems as if part of the Milky Way is missing! This large expanse of obscuring gas and dust actually lies within the Perseus/Camelopardalis border.

When the sky is dark, go outside and try observing this much ignored part of the Milky Way!

Object in Camelopardalis (adapted from Popular Astronomy January-March 2005)

The Spring Skies
-Tom Madigan-

Figure 1 The stars of Orion and Canis Major (~7:00pm)

Figure 2 Jupiter, prominently placed in the southeast during pre-dawn hours is set against the rich backdrop of the Milkyway

With Lyra climbing the Northeastern sky towards midnight along with Cygnus and the rich summer Milky Way following close behind, we’re certain that spring is here and that summer will soon follow. This is my favorite time of year, a time that harkens me back to younger days to a time when you could see magnitude 5.5 stars and a breathtaking Milky Way from Commack.

With the fresh spring air, the sweet smell of Lilacs and Honey Suckle wafting about and the temperature and humidity still moderate, it’s truly a pleasure to be out under the stars. The late winter, early spring provides an opportunity to take in both the subtly beautiful winter Milky Way and its more striking counterpart, the brilliant summer Milky Way, visible later on the same night. The winter Milky Way is observable immediately following astronomical twilight during this time of year with the summer Milky Way well placed for observation about 2 hours before sunrise.

In figure 1 the brilliant stars of Orion and Canis Major as seen against the backdrop of the ethereal winter Milky Way. The striking trio of stars that identifies the belt of Orion points to Sirius, one of a handful of stars that lie within 9 light years of our solar system. Rigel, a beacon rivaling Sirius in brightness but at the much greater distance of 800 light years, is well placed prominently to the west. These 2 stars, Sirius and Rigel, represent an object lesson in comparative stellar luminosities with the dazzling Rigel having an intrinsic luminosity almost 2,000 times that of Sirius! If placed at the distance of Sirius, Rigel would rival the full moon in brightness! Another point worthy of mention regarding the winter sky, specifically concerning Rigel and the winter Milky Way, is that our solar system is located in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, our home in the universe.

With Jupiter prominently placed low in the southeast, the last print illustrates the rich summer Milky Way, looking south towards Sagittarius and Scorpio. Almost on the meridian at this hour, Antares, a red giant star and the heart of Scorpio, appears as a beautiful ruby set against the rich star clouds of our galaxy’s center. If placed at the center of our solar system, Mars would orbit inside of Antares!

• March 14th- The Mystery of Cosmic Rays
  Observing session at Theodore Roosevelt County Park following the lecture
  
• March (date to be announced)- Mars and the Search for Water
  Observing session at Theodore Roosevelt County Park following the lecture
  
• April 11th- Our Sun
  Observing session at Theodore Roosevelt County Park following the lecture

• April 25th- Star Party at Theodore Roosevelt County Park

For more information regarding Montauk Observatory events contact seant@montaukobservatory.com

Custer Institute Events

March 15th- St. Patricks Day Dinner & Concert

March 28th- Members Night

March 29th- Starlab Portable Planetarium Shows

For more information regarding Custer Institute events contact CusterDonna@yahoo.com

Naked-Eye Planets for March- April 2008

Neptune, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon in th epredawn hours of March 5, 2008

Key Dates January - February:

March

• 7 - new Moon.
• 14 - Moon - first quarter.
• 20 - Vernal equinox.
• 21 - Full Moon
• 27 - Antares 0.5 degrees from moon (occultation)
• 29- Moon- last quarter

April

• 05 - New Moon.
• 7 - Moon - perigee.
• 12 - Moon-First quarter
• 20 - Full Moon
• 28- Moon- last quarter

If you would like to make a contribution to this newsletter please send your article or essay to montaukobserver@montaukobservatory.com.

Montauk Observatory Board of Directors

David Larkin, President
Terry Bienstock
Susan Harder
Sean Tvelia
John Imperatore
Robert Young, Architect of Record
Eva Growney, Architectural Consultant

Board of Advisors

Dava Sobel, Author
Dr. Mike Inglis, Astronomer, SCCC
Dr. Dean Peterson, Astronomer, SUNY Stony Brook
Joe Malave, Science Teacher, Montauk Public School
David Cohn, Director, Educational Projects Network
Donna McCormick, President, Custer Institute
Tom Madigan, Custer Institute
Robert Deluca, President of Group for the South Fork