Mississauga Centre RASC

88th Meeting

                                                            Members’ Night       

                                                   

 

Day:                Friday July 27, 2007

 

Chair                 Randy Attwood 

 

Speakers:            Ken Davey 

                           Randy Attwood

                             Chris Malicki

                            Roy Swanson

                             John Marchese  

 

                                              

Making Things on the Cheap

 

Ken Davey described woodworking at its best and showed a chart table and boxes for telescope components that he made.  The idea is to be able to build quickly, from left over parts, using familiar tools and methods, not using plans.  He spoke about tools needed and advised using screws rather than nails.  The chart table must be contained, ready to use, portable, flat, hold a star atlas and have a functioning lid.  The legs can be taken off for portability.  Boxes were constructed from left-over wood and are used to organize and protect their contents.  They have foam cushions, locking bolts. The tripod fits into the centre of one of the boxes with foam holding it in place.  Some boxes have legs with sliding tops. In summary, such home build containers should be cheap, practical and heavy enough to withstand punishment.

 

Observing the Total Lunar Eclipse of August 28, 2007

 

Randy Attwood discussed the upcoming lunar eclipse.  Over time we observe 2 out of every 3 lunar eclipses in Mississauga from a cloudiness point of view.  He described a total lunar eclipse, the penumbral and umbral phases and how it occurs during a full Moon. The darkness and colour depend on the atmospheric conditions at the time since the Moon is lit up by light refracted through the Earth’s atmosphere.  Because the Moons orbit is tilted 5 degrees to the earth’s orbital plane, the Moon has to be near one of its nodes for an eclipse to occur.  For the particular eclipse of August 28, total eclipse begins at 5:52 and ends at 7:23.  The Moon will set during totality in Mississauga.

 

What to look for?  Using images of the eclipse of January 20, 2000, Randy showed how the part of the Moon closest to the centre of the shadow is darker than the other side.  Penumbral darkening can be seen 15 to 20 minutes before the partial eclipse. Timings can be done of crater coverings.  At totality, the brightness (using the Danjon scale), and colouration of the Moon can be described.  From the Moon, one would see an eclipse of the Sun by the earth.  The biggest problem for this eclipse will be the encroaching twilight and hence difficulty in seeing totality.  Regarding photography, Randy recommended taking lots of pictures and bracketing due to changing light levels. He showed an exposure guide for lunar eclipse photography.

 

Finally, the next eclipse on February 20, 2008 was described.   

 

 

Astronomy Adventures in Renaissance Florence

 

Chris Malicki and his wife Liz traveled to Florence Italy in April 2007.  As an  amateur astronomer, Chris tries to find astronomical themes wherever he goes.  The Renaissance began in Florence in the 14th and 15th centuries.  The city is filled with art, architecture, sculpture and history. Chris showed pictures of a frieze of a 14th century astronomer in the cathedral museum, a painting of Galileo in Michelangelo’s house from the 1630’s, and a zodiac floor in the church of  San Miniato.  The museum of science history contains the lens that Galileo used to discover the moons of Jupiter, his book “the Starry Messenger”, telescopes of Cassini and ancient astrolabes and other astronomical instruments.  Galileo’s elaborate tomb in the basilica of Santa Croce was described.   In the Basilica of San Lorenzo, a side chapel has an accurate depiction of the sky as it appeared on July 4, 1442. This painting of the sky was compared to a modern representation of the sky at that time from a planetarium program.

 

The Sky Tonight

 

Roy Swanson described the eclipse of the Moon as seen from Panama in March 2007. He spoke about the Perseid meteor shower as being traditionally associated with the tears of St. Lawrence. The best time to watch the meteors is in the morning due to the earth plowing into the meteors at that time.

 

 

Mississauga Observing and Starfest

 

John Marchese described the last observing session at the Forks of the Credit park and he described the upcoming Starfest at Mount forest.

 

Randy Attwood spoke about the Mars – Moon hoax which is re-appearing each year at this time due to the close approach of Mars to the Earth in 2005. He also described Stellafane, the astronomy gathering in Vermont.

 

  

Submitted by Chris Malicki, Secretary  Chris Malicki, Secretary                               back to Miss Centre. meeting reports page
Mississauga Centre RASC