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Volume 83
Number 12
October 2007
October 2007 talks:
The Antikythera Mechanism (photo right)
Saturday, October 27, 2007, 7:30 pm
Speaker: Dr. Tom Malzbender, of Hewlett-
Packard
Chabot Space & Science Center
Physics Lab, 2nd Floor, Spees Building
I
n 1900 sponge divers off an island in Greece were seek-
ing refuge from a storm when they stumbled across a
magnificent ancient shipwreck. Among the wealth of
bronze and marble statues recovered from the wreck
was a lump of clay and mud that failed to attract much atten-
tion. Eventually it was noticed that this lump had many
bronze gears embedded in it. This lump is now known as the
Antikythera Mechanism, an astronomical computer built by
the ancient Greeks around 140 BCE. It is believed to have
predicted the location of at least the sun and moon in the sky, It’s that time of the year,
as well as lunar and solar eclipses. Nothing of comparable again…
complexity is known to be fabricated by man for another 1000
years. Recently we applied our technique of reflectance imag- EAS
ing to the surface of the mechanism, to assist in the process of
reading inscriptions and seeing surface detail. This simple
Membership
technique involves photographing the object under varying Renewal Time
lighting conditions, but from a fixed perspective. From these
images, per-pixel estimates of surface normals can be made, October 31st
which can be used to relight the object with improved reflec-
tance characteristics. More info and a demo is available at: marks the end of the Eastbay Astronomical Soci-
http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/ptm/antikythera_mechanism/ ety membership year. Thank you for being with
index.html us in 2007! We hope you will consider rejoining
Tom Malzbender is a senior research scientist at Hewlett-
Packard Laboratories and member of the Antikythera Mecha-
us for 2008, and beyond!!! (Application Form inside)
nism Research Project. His research interest lie at the intersec- DINNER WITH THE Inside This Issue:
tion of computer graphics, signal processing and computer SPEAKER
vision. He has developed the methods of fourier volume ren- 5:30 pm
dering, polynomial texture map- Saturday, October 27 Catch some (lunar) rays 2
ping, reflectance imaging and opac- HUNAN YUAN Future conjunctions 2
ity-weighted volume resampling. 4100 Redwood Rd., #11 News ‘n Views 3
(next to Safeway) EAS Board minutes 3
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/
Oakland CalStar star party 4
Tom_Malzbender/? Spare Shots 5
jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN (510) 531-1415
No need to confirm—just Directions & Schedule 6
« EAS Membership form (insert)
show up!
Hesiodus is a crater
Catch Some (Lunar) Rays 28 miles in diameter
By Jane Houston Jones to the east of Pitatus,
with a pass into the
L
unar sunrise and sunset rays are shafts of light latter and with gaps
which shine through clefts in crater walls and in its north wall. Pi-
mountains to illuminate the lunar surface. They tatus is a magnificent
occur only at very low angles of light - during lunar lagoon-like ring, 50
sunrise or sunset. Sunrise and sunset rays are usually triangu- miles in diameter, on
lar-shaped illumi- the southern shore of
nations. Don’t con-Mare Nubium. The
fuse them with im- light of the rising
pact crater rays – Sketch of the ray by the author, Jane
Sun shines westward Houston Jones
which are the de- through the two cra-
bris blasted out byters’ common gap and bisects Hesiodus. Two weeks later, the
crater forming im- eastward shining light of the setting Sun bisects Pitatus. Sev-
pacts on Coperni- eral times a year the geometry of Earth, Sun and Moon allow
cus and other the light path to pass exactly through the low spot creating
young craters. One the ray.
of these rays, the On October 19, 2007 I had mostly been showing people
Hesiodus Sunrise the Straight Wall, Plato, Cassini and Mons Huygens during
Ray, is a favorite our monthly sidewalk astronomy night. My eye drifted from
of mine. It’s easy the Straight Wall to Pitatus and Hesiodus. The center of Pi-
to find the crater,tatus was bathed in sunlight, which cast a shadow on its cen-
which is just southtral peak. The crater floor looked convex or dome-like to me.
of Rupes Recta, or And guess what, the Hesiodus Ray, a narrow triangular shaft
the Straight Wall. of light, illuminated the dark floor of Hesiodus.
Lunar ray spot- You’ll find predictions for about 75 rays, including the
ting gained popu- Hesiodus and Pitatus Rays, on the Robinson Lunar Observa-
Hesiodus Ray Robin Casady Image of the larity about 10 tory webpage, http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/
hesiodus ray taken by Robin Casady years ago thanks torays.htm. There are six opportunities to see each of these two
an article about the
fleeting shafts of light next year. The first dates are January
Hesiodus light ray in the July 1996 issue of Sky & Telescope. 16 and 31.
A cleft in the neighboring crater Pitatus provides an opening Now get out and catch some rays! «
for the shaft of light to cross the floor of this crater at various
times throughout the year. Since that time, many amateur FUTURE CONJUNCTIONS—2007
astronomers have calculated when the sunrise or sunset will
strike a crumpled or broken crater wall and create these short- (We’re running out of year, so this list isn’t long.)
lived light shows.
Oct 27 General Meeting, Chabot, Physics Lab, 7:30pm
Nov 1 New EAS Membership year begins!
(Have you renewed, yet?)
15 Board Meeting, Chabot, Soda Board Rm, 7:30pm
24 General Meeting, Chabot, Physics Lab, 7:30pm
(tba) MOVN @ Chabot, Wightman Plaza*
Dec 13 Board Meeting, Chabot, Soda Board Rm, 7:30pm
(tba) MOVN @ Chabot, Wightman Plaza*
(tba) Club Holiday Party (might be in the first part of January,
2008)
*Members Only View Night:
Always call 510 482-2913 after 5pm to confirm
NOTE: Dates and times may change. We will provide as much
Hesiodus - Map of the area from "The Moon", by Moore advance warning as possible.
and Wilkins (Faber & Faber, 1955)
[2]
Editor’s EAS Board Meeting
News ‘n Views Thursday, September 13, 2007
Howdy astro fans! Hey! Pretty ex- Attendees: Celeste Burrows, Alan Fisher, Terry Galloway,
citing speaker we’ve got this Paul Hoy, Gerald McKeegan, Carter Roberts, Dave Rodri-
month, eh what? Can you imagine: gues (via telephone), Don Saito, Paul Zurakowski.
an ancient Greek mechanical astro-
nomical calculator that pre-dates Event Director’s Report: This month’s meeting will be an-
the birth of Christ? How would nual Members’ Night. Will feature photos of Yosemite Star
such a thing work? What does it Party and astrophotos from Barcroft. Also show Jane Hous-
do? Are they selling them on Ebay, yet? (I’m only half- ton Jones’ monthly NASA web video. Speakers already
joking, here. I think it would be the ultimate in cool if some- lined-up for October (Dr. Tom Malzbender of H.P. will be
day someone came up with a working replica of this thing. speaking about the Antikythera mechanism, the 2,000 year-
Just think what a great conversation piece it would make!) old Greek Astronomical computer), and November meetings.
Debbie Dyke, Con- Needs info on meeting dates for 2008; Sunday, March 23 or
rad Jung, and I attended 30 for annual awards dinner? Or, Sunday Feb 24. Meeting
this year’s AANC’s dates for 2008: Jan 19, Mar 29, Apr 19, May 17, Jun 14, Jul
2007 Reach for the 19, Aug 16, Sep 20, Oct 18 Nov 15.
Stars convention, held Treasurer’s Report: Invested spare club funds into short-term
on Saturday, September CD; will make about $35-$40 a month interest. Insurance for
29, and it was a great the next year has been paid. Spoke a little off-topic about
success, with high at- Nellie’s focuser. Sky & Tel can be renewed online without
tendance, amazing going thru the club.
speakers, and tons of Loaner Scope Program: Got a whole box of eyepieces (exact
Sam from Scope City handing out raffle
prizes
fun for all participants. number undetermined). Ray Wong told Paul he doesn’t want
Highlights included to be the lead for the program, but will be willing to help it.
(but were not limited to): The Board will need to find someone else to take the lead on
• Dr. Imke de Pater, Professor of Astronomy and of Earth this. Possibly involve the Galaxy Explorers to help fix up
and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley, talking about the some of the loaner scopes. Paul Z reports a woman contacted
current studies on the rings of Uranus... him who wishes to donate a 12” reflector. Put a note in the
• Jane Houston Jones’ talk about NASA’s Cassini Space newsletter asking for a volunteer to take over the LSP. EAS
Probe Mission to Saturn... to partner w/Chabot to use their and our loaners. Paul Z al-
• Christopher Go’s talk on high-resolution planetary asto- most has a 24” scope that is ready to loan out. The Board
photography, and Richard Crisp’s talk about emission approved going ahead with the loaner program as it had been
line astrophotography of deep sky objects... described in prior meetings (ie, a half dozen or more tele-
• A “Sky Tonight” planetarium show by Prof. Darryl Stan- scopes maintained for loan to EAS members, also to other
ford, using the College of San Mateo’s new Digistar 3 Chabot volunteers for use on the deck). The Board also de-
planetarium... cided to seek an EAS member to help with the program.
• Thousands of dollars worth of raffle items, mostly from Celeste offered to help by checking telescopes in and out
Sam at Scope City... during the times that she was at Chabot. We also decided to
• ...and many more activities, too numerous to list! ask Ray if that would be enough assistance to allow him to
The work on Chabot’s 36” reflector telescope Nellie con- continue to head up the program.
tinues—tweaking, its alignment, prepping it for the addition Regarding the Observing Program: The Board approved
of two 5” finder scopes, and for a set of ventilation fans to supporting the four proposals that had been written up and
cool the mirror, faster, and break up the air over its surface submitted in August, along with the subsequent edits. They
(which, surprisingly, has been shown to increase a mirror’s are: the loaner program, the solar/daytime observing pro-
resolution). Slowly but Shirley, things do improve. gram, the observing pin program, and the scouts telescope
The following is the September EAS Board Meeting Min- training program at Chabot.
utes, to let you know the kind of stuff that we do at these JPA Report: Terry reports things continue to go well between
meetings. There’s a bunch of stuff that goes on in our club the EAS and CSSC under their new leadership. A motion
that doesn’t always get announced or discussed at the general was made and passed to approve the EAS/CSSC Observing
club meetings, so I thought I’d start posting these so you can Program (with a few small edits). Also:
see more of what we’re up to.
And that’s it for now! « Continued Page 4
[3]
Meeting Minutes—Continued from Page 3
1. Several funding efforts underway with NASA and Moore Foundation.
2. Alex also has a number of other good funding leads he is exploring.
3. More interest now in starting planning for Deck expansion including solar telescope.
4. The combination of the above will help pay down the COPS loan, which will reduce Chabot large monthly interest pay-
ment burden.
5. Phase one of Blast Off - entering Space (formerly Living & Working In Space) is underway - this will not impact TMW.
6. Phase two will starting planning phase after Phase One is nearly completed and staff load lightens up.
7. Chabot has had many quarters of a pretty good budget balance condition and the future looks pretty stable but not high
growth.
Outreach on the 13th of Oct. Motion for Board to recommend to Carter that he use his $500 Local Heros award to pur-
chase a 35mm Panoptic eyepiece for Nellie (recommended to him by Al Nagler, specifically for Nellie), and to use the rest of
the funds to purchase spare volunteer jackets for CSSC volunteer telescope operators. Terry G will donate a CG3 clock drive
to EAS; Paul H will donate a tripod to fit the CG3 to EAS; EAS to donate the working mount to CSSC, for use with their
Coronado PST, so EAS will get the credit for the donation. This will make it easier for daytime volunteers at Chabot to run
the PST for public (they won’t have to manually adjust it every few minutes). Volunteer operators of the system must be
trained on correct set-up and breakdown, storage of the equipment, otherwise, it will quickly become inop. Get flat cones for
the tripod feet, to help prevent accidental damage to the equipment.
New Night Sky Network: new kits coming, soon. Paul H has been reporting EAS’ attendance stats to NSN, which shows the
club’s activity level with the program, which is comparatively high. Channels 2 and 5 were here until 05:00 the morning of
the recent total lunar eclipse. Several EAS members were featured in short television news interviews.
Carter to send Casey list of dates for 2008 EAS Board Meetings. «
morning, despite the covers. But, all in all, it was a successful
Bill and Paul’s Excellent CalStar one-night star party, and as you can see, they got some nice
Adventure results (see below). The Pleiades image was a total of 480
secs at ASA 1000, and The Flame and Horsehead nebulae
CalStar, put on by the San Jose Astronomical Society, was were 600 secs at 1000 ASA (next page) «
held this year on October 11-13 by the shores of the darksky
location Lake San Antonio, located over the hills west of
Hwy 101 between King City and Paso Robles. Dedicated |The Pleiades
astrophotographers and EAS members Paul Hoy and Bill open star clus-
ter, Messier
Drelling were itching to check out Paul's new Canon 40D catalog number
digital camera, get some practice with it, and see what it 45. Paul’s
could do. Paul got there around 11:30am of the event’s last photo captures
day, but it was cloudy. He decided to hang out to see if it’d the glowing gas
be worth it for Bill to attend, too. The night before, they'd remnant of the
gotten 45 mins of viewing between rain showers. Paul and cluster’s forma-
Bill thought about going to Henry Coe State Park instead, but tion cloud.
Bill wanted to see the CalStar location, so he decided to
come down, even if only to see the site and talk to the people,
there. Plus, the weather was looking a bit more favorable.
Bill arrived around 5pm, and they had a catered dinner |The far-left
with tri-tip steak; there was no entry fee to the event, but the star in Orion’s
Park charges $20 per night, and of course they had to pay for Belt, Al Nitak,
the meal. lights up the
The weather improved enough to take pictures, so they set Flame and
up, and began imaging. It was mostly clear, but around 2am Horseshoe
fog started coming in and the dew started falling. They went nebulae, and
until 3:30am, took their last picture of Al Nitak in the Belt of glows with extra
Orion (looked like a huge star, due to the effects of the substance due
clouds overhead). Paul had no sooner got nestled down to to dew forming
on the lens dur-
take a nap when Bill knocked on the window to say a dense ing the session.
fog was moving in, so he had to get up again to cover his
gear. It was so bad, their equipment was still dripping in the
[4]
Spare Shots
| Ken Swagerty caught
this amazing photo of a
Blue Angel F/A 18 going
trans-sonic, causing a
shock-induced vapor
cloud to form
}Peter Jenniskens (of
meteor shower predic-
tion fame) and EAS
member Debbie Dyke at
AANC’s AstroCon 2007
}No, it’s not
}The the revival
College of disco.
of San Don Saito
Mateo’s points out
new Venus at the
planetar- Boy Scout
ium, Expo, held
where at Memorial
many of Park in Al-
AstroCon bany. Photo
2007 by Gerald
events McKeegan
were held
|Lying down on
the job. Conrad |Paul Terrill
Jung was getting shows Japanese
a sore neck doing Moon Viewing
critical mirror Festival Coordi-
alignment adjust- nator Liane Scott
ments on Nellie, the Moon through
so Ken Swagerty his Orion 4.7”
put a bench onto refractor.
the hand operated
fork lift and made
the job a little
easier for him.
}Paul Hoy }Gerald
shows atten- McKeegan shows
dees at the M15 to Moon Fes-
Japanese tival attendees,
Moon Festi- held at Lake Mer-
val where his ritt’sGarden Cen-
telescope is ter. Not bad, from
pointed on a
the middle of the
planishere.
City of Oakland!
And that’s it for
now! «
[5]
Eastbay
Astronomical
Society
Post Office Box 18635 = Oakland, CA 94619-0635
October 2007
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Eastbay Astronomical Society
President: Carter Roberts (510) 524-2146 cwroberts@earthlink.net Vice President: Paul Hoy (510) 531-6305 ahoy@aol.com
Treas: G.McKeegan (925) 926-0853 geraldspace@earthlink.net Membership Reg: Bruce Skelly bjskelly@yahoo.com
Secretary: Linda Lazzaretti (510) 633-2488 Events Coord: Dave Rodrigues (510) 483-9191
Articles and photos for The Refractor are encouraged. Deadline for the November 2007 issue is November 3, 2007. Items may be submitted by mail to:
Editor - 3514 Randolph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602-1228. Internet email address: donsaito@comcast.net Hm: (510) 482-2913.
Join the Eastbay Astronomical Society
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q Family, $36/year
q Contributing, $40/year
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q Sustaining, $60/year or more
Discounted Magazine Subscriptions:
q Sky & Telescope $32.95 (order between July & December)
q Astronomy $34 (order between July & December)
Note: Note: Each membership year begins November 1, and ends
October 31. New memberships starting from July - October will be
good through to the end of October of the next year
Contact: EAS Treasurer
Post Office Box 18635
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Telephone: (925) 926-0853
Email: geraldspace@earthlink.net
Sign up online at http://www.eastbayastro.org/ (click on
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above.
By default, (if you have an email address) you will be notified by email that the digital (.pdf) version of the club news-
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THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!
Membership has its privileges…
= Monthly newsletter, The Refractor, with interesting articles on currently visible
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and more.
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Every and any thing having to do with astronomy, telescopes, and the space sciences.
All that, and cookies and sodas, too!
= Help and advice to new telescope owners. Got a new telescope and don’t know
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there are a lot of bad telescopes out there!
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