October Newsletter

Mooncusser's 21^st Century Almanac By Jim Carlson
Full Moon – Fri. October 06 at 23:15 EDT Last Quarter – Fri. October 13 at 20:27 EDT New Moon – Sun. October 22 at 01:15 EDT First Quarter – Sun. October 29 at 16:27 EST
Object	Oct. 01 (EDT)	Oct. 16 (EDT)	Oct. 31 (EST)
Sun	R: 06:37 S: 18:22	06:54 17:58	06:11 16:36
Mercury	R: 08:28 S: 19:04	09:10 18:46	07:46 17:08
Venus	R: 06:01 S: 18:13	06:38 17:56	06:16 16:42
Moon	R: 15:34 S: 23:41	01:17 15:49	14:08 01:11
Mars	R: 07:13 S: 18:39	07:05 18:03	05:58 16:29
Jupiter	R: 10:04 S: 20:05	09:20 19:15	07:38 17:26
Saturn	R: 02:38 S: 16:35	01:46 15:39	23:49 13:43
Uranus	R: 17:18 S: 04:29	16:18 03:28	14:18 01:27
Neptune	R: 16:13 S: 02:24	15:14 01:25	13:15 23:22
Pluto	R: 12:32 S: 22:37	11:34 21:39	09:37 19:41
October 2006 Events (UT)
03 – Neptune 3° north of the Moon.
05 – Meeting of the CCAS. The program for the evening is “So you want to Buy a Telescope.” Bring your telescope, demonstrate it to our visitors, and share your adventures with us.
05 – Uranus 0.5° north of the Moon.
06 – Moon at perigee (222,084 miles).
08 – Draconid meteors peak at around 2300 UT (1900 EDT).
10 – Moon 0.7° north of M45.

16 – Saturn 2° south of the Moon.

17 – Mercury at greatest eastern elongation, rising and setting east of the Sun.

19 – Moon at apogee (252,323 miles). (3) Juno 0.3° north of the Moon.

20, 21, 22 – Visit Gary Walker’s observatory near Plymouth, NH during the 3rd weekend in October. Gary says, “There is a small house there with electricity, running water, bathrooms, heat, phone, satellite TV, barn, observatory and usually clear skies.”

20 – Look for the Zodiacal Light in the east before morning twilight for the next two weeks.

21 –Orionid meteors peak around 1500 UT (1100 EDT).

23 – Mars in conjunction with the Sun.

24 – Mercury 1.4°, and Jupiter 5°, north of the Moon, both at 800 UT (400 EDT).

25 – Antares 0.4° north of the Moon. Mercury 4° south of Jupiter.

27 – Venus in superior conjunction.

28 – Mercury 4° south of Jupiter.

29 – End of Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Move your clocks back and subtract five hours from UT. Mercury and Neptune stationary.

30 – Neptune 3° north of the Moon.

Sources: TheSky6, Software Bisque

Observer’s Handbook 2006, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

The times of rise, transit, and set are for the days listed. On October 1st,

for example, Neptune will set at 02:24 EDT, rise at 16:13 EDT, and transit

the meridian at 21:17 EDT

October 5th CCAS Meeting

The evening’s program, “So You Want to Buy a Telescope”, will be presented by the membership as a whole. Vice President Mike Hunter will be the emcee for the program and will make a few opening remarks. The meeting will be held in the newly renovated Dennis-Yarmouth High School library. There will be lots of room and plenty of tables for members to set out catalogs, scopes, binoculars, etc. so bring yours.

Our Star in the Sky

Captain Dan Burbank

Cape Cod Astronomical Society (CCAS) is very fortunate to have its own star in the sky. Or should that be “…was very fortunate to have had… “? Either way, it was exciting to follow CCAS member Captain Dan Burbank’s flight on the Space Shuttle Atlantis and visit to the International Space Station. Dan was a mission specialist, on this his second trip into space, with primary responsibility for operating the shuttles robotic arm. He also made one space walk, aka EVA. His third task was to manage the navigation tools used to guide the shuttle during rendezvous and docking with and undocking from the space station. With a flight deck seat on both ascent and decent, he must have seen some wild scenes.

I wonder how those scenes compared with the ones Capt. Burbank (that’s right Capt.; the Coast Guard promoted Dan on September 1 last) saw while flying helicopter search and rescue missions during the Perfect Storm. That’s a question to ask him when he returns to the Cape.

Dan first came to Cape Cod when he was posted to Air Station Cape Cod in 1992. Four years later he was off to NASA. It was during those four years that he joined CCAS. The Society made Dan an honorary life member in August of 2004 when he

gave a lecture on the topics of astronaut training and the causes of the breakup of the shuttle Columbia.

Dan’s wife Roslyn (Capt., USCG, Ret.) and daughter and son have returned to the Cape and now live in Yarmouthport. The word is that Dan will also be returning soon.

Transit of Mercury

Mercury will transit the Sun on November 8. The timing will be good for Cape Cod with the transit occurring shortly before sunset. A good view of the horizon from southwest to west will be important. Beaches on the Bay in Dennis and Eastham should provide such a view. Now is the time to organize some groups to observe the transit.

Astro Trivia

The October trivia question, to be discussed and answered at the October meeting, is “What is the Equation of Time?”

Society Logo in Stone

Society member Ed Swiniarski is selling stone tiles with the society’s logo laser etched into the surface. The 5 ½” square, ¼” thick slate tiles have the etching highlighted with either gold or silver colored paint. The slate tiles sell for ten dollars each. Tiles made from other stone such as marble or granite are available by special order with the price varying according to the cost of the stone. All proceeds from the sales will be donated to the Cape Cod Astronomical Foundation. You can contract Ed at efswin@c4.net or 508-896-7270

Cape Cod Astronomical Society

President Jon Greenberg 508-255-8605

Vice President Michael Hunter 508-385-9846

Secretary Betsy Young 508-255-8448

Treasurer Kelvin Parkinson 508-385-5982

First Light Ed Michael Hunter 508-385-9846

Cape Cod Astronomical Foundation

Chairman Werner Schmidt 508-362-9301

Vice Chairman

Director R&D Bill McDonough 508-394-5919

Secretary James Carlson 508-432-4316

Treasurer Gregory McCauliff 508-385-7929

Observatory Dir James Carlson 508-432-4316

Observatory 508-398-4765

The Cape Cod Astronomical Society meets at 7:30 pm on the first Thursday of every month at the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Meetings are open to the public. Membership dues are $30 for adults, $15 for students in two year colleges, no charge for students in K-12 schools.

October 2006 Events (UT)