Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri

In addition to other public events. Here’s the expected 2007 SCCP/SLAS/ASEM sponsored telescope outings:

(All are on Saturday nights, at St. Charles County Parks shown: Brommelsiek & Klondike)
March 3 Klondike, “Night Hike and Total Lunar Eclipse” start time 5:00 (eclipse is full & in-progress)
6:30-? hike-end other star gaze if possible. (note: very weather dependent at this date+full moon)

*April 21 7pm-12 PM Klondike *Moon*, Venus, Saturn, double stars
*May 19 7:15-12 PM Broemmelsiek Venus, Mercury, Saturn,Whirlpool Galaxy
*June 16, 7:30-12 PM Broemmelsiek Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, M13 Globular
*July 7, 8:00-12 PM, Broemmelsiek Venus, Jupiter (moon shadow+GRS), Ring Nebula, Lagoon & Trifid Nebulae
*August 4 7:30- 12 PM, Broemmelsiek Venus, Jupiter (moon shadow+GRS), Dumb-bell Nebula, Swan Nebula
*Sept. 15 7:00-12 PM, Klondike Jupiter, Andromeda Galaxy, Veil Nebula, M22 Globular
*Oct 6 6:30-12 PM, Broemmelsiek Mercury, Jupiter, Andromeda Galaxy, Double-Cluster

“GRS” = Great Red Spot (which is only visible about 1 hour of every 10, so two events that happen to be while we are viewing are very lucky). Also lucky seeing a shadow of one of Jupiter’s moons drift across Jupiter.

All dates are dependent on weather conditions. Generally, if cloud cover exceeds 75% no one will be there.
Directions: Klondike is off Hwy 94 about 10 miles south of Hwy 40/61 (couple miles past Defiance Mo).
Broemmelsiek Park is just west of Hwy DD (at ) about 4-5 miles south of Winghaven (at 40/61) and
3/4 mile west on Schwede Road.

    I have had a little time to relax so I chose to watch some of the " Science" programing on television in an attempt to further educate myself.  I have learned the Government isn’t telling us the truth about U F O’s.  It seems the truth comes from a  fisherman from Arkansas, who went to the mill pond with his drinking buddy, and saw a bright light in the sky. " It was horrible! "

     His counterpart in New Mexico has seen a UFO crash. These poor souls were subjected to unspeakable  experiences. Some even claimed to have been abducted.  Interesting to me is thousands of people do disappear in this country and are never found. Yet UFO abductees  can describe in great detail places none of our spacecraft have ever been, and they lived to tell the tale…. over and over.   Perhaps the aliens are true sportsmen and have a catch and release policy.

  What was missing from the segment? Not one astromomer, professional, or amature, not even a 12 year old kid that got a two and a half inch Alt, Az scope for Christmas.  Odd isn’t it that anyone with basic sky knowledge never sees anything out of this world but existing objects?

  If you have had a UFO experience while you were observing, with your telescope, I would be interested in hearing about it.

       Go West young man, go West !  The eclipse and Aurigid Meteor Shower will be best seen West of the Mississippi River and on the West Coast.  See what you can.  Dawn will be breaking near the high point of both events.

    August 28  Total eclipse of the Moon begins at 2:54 A.M.  CDT. Totality begins 4:52 A. M. CDT.

    Sept       1  Aurigid meteor shower.

                      Asteroid Pallas is near  34 Pegasi. ( More asteroids found in Sept, than any other month.)

    Sept       2  Pallas in opposition.

    Sept       3  The Moon passes 1.2 deg north of the Pleiades.

    Sept       4   The Moon passes 6 deg north of Mars.

    Sept       8   The Moon passes just north of Regulus.

                       The Moon passes south of Saturn 11:00P.M. CDT.

    Sept      10   Search for the zodiacal light about a half  hour before dawn. Sept is best time to see it.

    Sept      18   The Moon passes south of Antares 3 A.M CDT

    Sept      22    Mercury passes norht of Spica.

    Sept      23    Autumnal equinox occurs 4:41 A.M. CDT.

                         Venus at it’s brightest.

    Sept      25    The Moon passes north of Uranus. Christmas is three months away, also on Tuesday.

    Sept      26     Full Moon.

    Sept      27     The Moon is at perigee.

    Sept      29      Mercury reaches greatest elongation.

Wow. It sure was hot and humid tonight.

The official headcount by the parks dept was 35. I counted 30 total
at dusk, and I know we had about a dozen more float thru later on.

It was 95 degF when I arrived at 7pm. Scope operators tonight
included John Furlong, Marvin Stewart, newcomer Will Day, and
myself. Tonight’s guests included only a few repeats, but did include
a cub scout troop of around 10 seven year olds and a handful of dads.

(more…)

  10:30 PM July ninteenth I was standing on our boat dock on Sugar Maple Lake, located in the Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin. It is dark, so dark that stars are reflected in the water of the lake. There is no Moonlight, no lights on the opposite shore, I remind myself the dock is only 40 inches wide.

   In August the Milky Way, as it does twice a year will stand almost vertically, a ribbon of light dividing the eastern and western sky. This night it slices horizonaly dividing the sky North and South. Ancient civilizations explained it the best they could, a river, a highway for the dead to go to the after life, a rift in the fabric of heaven where the sun is born, and a ribbon of milk. Galileo looked at it with his telescope and was convinced it was made of lots of stars. He was right.

   By mid August, from a dark location, we can see the features of the Milky Way that were picked out by cultures around the world. The North American Indian saw the hands of the Great Spirit in Perseus. A dark cloud makes the bright stars appear as a pair of hands, palms up, fingers overlapping, and thumbs slightly apart. Cygnus, the Swan, flies down the Milky Way. To the Irish that immigrated to Glastonbury, England, it was Brigid, the benevelent old witch riding her goose in the sky.  Sounds a lot like Mother Goose to me, but that story came from France. In Cygnus, the Great Rift in the Milky Way begins and runs South just past Sagittarius, some 110 degrees, a dark lane of dust that in lore was a pathway also.

  I have never seen a map of the sky that has done justice to the Milky Way. I set up my telescope and go for the good stuff, I missed something. One dark night on a narrow boat dock a ribbon of stars that define the arms of our galaxy were spread out before me. It is truly a beautiful place to live.

August 03  The Moon is at perigee

August 06  The Moon passes 6 degrees north of Mars

August 12 New Moon

August 13  Perseid meteor shower peaks

August 18  The Moon is at apogee

August 21 Saturn is in conjunction with the Sun

                  The Moon passes 6 degrees south of Jupiter

August 27  The Moon passes 1.4 degrees south of Neptune

August 28  Full Moon occurs at 6:35 AM EDT: total lunar eclipse ( best for those west of the Mississippi)

August 29  The Moon passes 2 degrees north of Uranus

August 30  The Moon is at perigee

Star gazing in Broemmelsiek Park.  Bring your telescope and share with the public.  Dusk to mid-night.