Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of observing at Jenny Jump. It was refreshing to see so many people observing in the middle of winter, and nice to have a warming house. Jenny Jump has great potential. Club members should check it out.

Spring is quickly approaching and it is time for election of new club officers. Up for grabs are vice president, secretary and treasurer. S*T*A*R needs new blood and volunteerism to navigate the treacherous shoals of an amateur astronomy club.

S*T*A*R Astronomy is unofficially hosting Jersey Star Quest; our own Greg Cantrell is running the event, which will be on June 11-13. Contact Greg for more information. If you wonder about a star party, this is the one to go to - either to camp or as a day trip. Greg has promised a primo spot reserved just for S*T*A*R. Come one, come all, bring the children, go to Jersey Star Quest.

News & Events

	John Gasparini will be hosting a star party in Oceanport (near the Monmouth Race Track) on February 19 (rain date February 20), for 5 Girl Scout troops. If you would like to help out, contact John.
	S*T*A*R has a new phone number - 732-888-4378. Check this number for club happenings.
	S*T*A*R is planning a March Messier Marathon star party on Friday, March 19 (rain date March 20), at Coyle Field. For those unfamiliar with the term, a ``messier marathon'' is an all night observing session, where the goal is to be able to spot all the messier objects. There are only a few days in March when all the objects can be seen in one night. Check out the discussion board or contact Steve Walters if interested.
	Just a ``head's up'' - the March meeting will be Wednesday, March 3rd at the Carl Sandberg School Planetarium in Oldbridge.

Notes from January

by Penny Fischer

Dan started the meeting with a review of some of the astronomical highlights of 1999, including an upcoming rare transit of Mercury across the face of the sun. Dan also described his search for Comet Williams, which he says was disappointing.

S*T*A*R is trying to coordinate a promotional sidewalk astronomy demonstration during the showing of the new Star Wars movie at the Atlantic Highlands Cinemas, sometime in the early spring. Dan will let us know further details as the time gets closer.

Eric Zimmerman, of ASTRA , presented S*T*A*R with a certificate for hosting three meetings jointly in 1998 when we had special guest speakers. This was a surprise and it was nice to be acknowledged. Thanks ASTRA!

Colliers Mills and Coyle field were both mentioned as observing sites for the club. Thanks to Greg Cantrell, S*T*A*R now has an official letter allowing members to use Coyle Field as an observing site, so if anyone is planning to observe there, please contact Dan and get a copy of the letter. Dan has a new email address, dpontone@exit109.com.

A video was shown about auroras. An amateur astronomer/photograph in Alaska photographs the sky by shooting a few frames a minute, this is then pieced together to show the wonderful greenish and white patterns of these magnetic curtains as they fold and unfold across the northern night sky. This was a beautiful video with some science thrown in, with shuttle astronauts talking about research that had been done on the Earth's magnetic field.

Penny talked about the Mars Polar Lander mission, which was launched in January and will reach Mars next December 3^rd. This mission will not only employ a stationary lander which will look specifically for subsurface water on the Southern Martian polar region, but will deploy the Deep Space 2 probes, which will bury themselves a few feet into the Martian surface, dig up some soil, bake it and test for water vapor.

For further info on the whys and wherefores of this mission, you can check out the NASA home page on the Mars Surveyor 98 missions at http://mpfwww.arc.nasa.gov/msp98/lander/. As a footnote; the landing takes place on a club member's birthday, and the primary mission is slated to end February 29 th, 2000, Penny's birthday.

Rick Wilczek showed off his new Orion 6 inch reflector, which was an impressive scope on a sturdy equatorial mount. Rick seems very satisfied with his purchase. He notes that this scope is relatively inexpensive to buy compared to an SCT.

Our guest speaker on Wednesday was S*T*A*R's own Ed Collett, who presented a talk on optical aspects of your equipment, such as how to determine focal length and field of view for your eyepieces and telescopes. Ed recommends to newcomers that you do not buy a telescope at first. Rather, opt for a more portable and wider field of view set of binoculars. The reasons are that most telescopes present a narrow field of view, even at low power, and the sky is a very big place to find thing in. Also, binoculars can be used for other purposes as well as astronomy

How I Started Solar Observing

by Ralph Marantino

I started out as an amateur astronomer in March 1990 by buying a pair of 11x80mm binoculars and joining a club - the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Princeton. It did not take long to realize that there is a curse associated with amateur astronomy called `` it rains or is cloudy on all scheduled observing nights but it is clear during the full moon.'' Happily I was working the night shift from midnight to eight A.M., so I decided to concentrate on the nearest star to my house in Old Bridge, N.J. - good old Sol. I purchased some very modest equipment; a 60mm spotting scope and a ``Thousand Oaks type 2'' glass solar filter in 60mm diameter. At a magnification of 45x this gave a very pleasing view of the Sun's disk and sunspots but the straight through optical path left me bent in half almost permanently.

I solved this problem by selling the 11x80mm binoculars and buying an 80mm Brandon 500mm focal length refractor (f/6.25), and a quick run to the hardware store to buy a PVC pipe fitting resulted in a cheap way to mount the 60mm filter in a 80mm objective cell all for 69 cents. This also helped in changing the focal length to a more useful f/8.7. I began a journey of Solar discovery that is still going on.

I spent every morning between 8:30 and 9:30 viewing the sun and making a detailed drawing of my observations on a form of my own design for two consecutive years. I only slowed down after my job responsibilities changed and I was switched to the day shift. It really helped having the optical tube mounted on a standard ``video tripod'' to quickly acquire the sun. I took out my 9mm Nagler eyepiece and put the Sun's image on the diagonal mirror (as you might infer, I have found out that 45x seems to be an ideal magnification for viewing the whole Solar disk at once). I use a black fine tip marking pen for the umbra and a hard number 4 drafting pencil for drawing and shading the penumbra. I also use a colored marking pen to fill in the whole solar disk as it appears in the eyepiece, yellow or orange or even light blue if I am using a Tuthill ``solar screen.'' As you may already know if you use an orange filter in your eyepiece you can see the Sun ``naturally'' with a mylar filter.

Most everyone who has been an amateur astronomer for a while has experienced the upgrade syndrome. In an ever increasing quest for enhanced resolution I graduated to a Meade 90mm f/11 refractor tube assembly and a new 90mm ``Thousand Oaks Type 2 Plus'' glass white light solar filter. I was amazed at the highly improved view of sunspot detail afforded by this new setup. This optical tube assembly is still short and light enough to be used as an alt-az mount on a video tripod.

I am greatly looking forward to the next eleven years of the new solar cycle to make a better set of drawings. I have quite a few friends who view the sun in white light wavelengths with various hardware setups and the sun looks good in all. These setups range from a 5.5 inch f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian to a 4 inch f/5 APO refractor to a 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov; the most important thing is to actually go out and make an observation. Recently a friend has started using objective glass filters on a pair of 10x50mm binoculars with good results.

Three years ago I graduated to the next plateau of expense and equipment. Santa was good enough to fill my stocking with a ``Thousand Oaks `` 1.5 Angstrom bandpass Hydrogen-Alpha solar filter. Now I could go out with my new 8 inch SCT telescope and view magnificent solar prominences. I should note that an energy rejection filter must be used in front of the telescopes objective to filter out 99% of the incoming light before it strikes the actual Hydrogen-Alpha filter. A band pass of above one Angstrom gives a better view of solar prominences but is useless for viewing features on the solar disk. You must buy a very costly sub-Angstrom Hydrogen-Alpha filter to observe solar flares and faculae.

I learned that just like a ``Daystar T-Scanner .7 angstrom filter'' my filter would only work in a narrow temperature range precluding use in cold weather. The tilt adjustment knob on the filter assembly only works in a narrow range of temperature variations. I tried an experiment and blew air from a 1200 watt hair drier on the filter casing for 3 minutes while outside in 10 degree Fahrenheit conditions. The filter worked just fine for about ten minutes until it cooled back down. I called Thousand Oaks and told them what I did and they assured me there would be no damage to the filter. This has afforded me the ability to observe solar prominences all year round.

While at the Rockland Astronomy Forum last spring I spied a used Daystar .655 filter for sale and pounced on it. It was manufactured in 1980 and required a refurb at the Manufacturers factory. I had many a good hour of conversation about solar observing with DayStar 's owner Dell N. Woods. The information I gleaned was an added bonus for the price paid. I now observe in Hydrogen-Alpha light with my 8 inch SCT while I have used a set of 130mm Losmandy mounting rings to ``piggyback'' the 90mm refractor on the 8inch OTA. Being able to switch back and forth with ease between the two views helps a lot at public events. I am now about to try and capture some Hydrogen-Alpha views with my just completed `` Cookbook 245 CCD Camera'' there's always something to do when the Sun's out.

Constellations for February, 1999

by Greg Cantrell

Last month we visited that part of the sky occupied by Orion, the Hunter and his faithful companions, Canis Manor and Canis Minor, the Big and Little Dogs. This month we'll move north of Orion to a part of the sky known as the zodiac [please refer to chart on last page - Ed.]. Before talking about a couple of the constellations that can be found there, it might be helpful to first consider what the zodiac is, and how it was named.

You may recall that last month we learned that Orion's belt happens to lie roughly along the celestial equator, a line formed by the projection of the Earth'S equator into the night sky. The zodiac lies along another line, the apparent annual path that the Sun, Moon, and other planets trace through the sky, called the ecliptic. The ecliptic is actually the path, or plane, of the Earth'S orbit projected into the sky. However, fooled by our senses, we often attribute motion to the Sun and planets, rather than to ourselves.

The zodiac is comprised of the twelve constellations that lie centered about the ecliptic. Each of these ancient constellations, except Libra, the Scales, represents a real or imaginary animal. Hence the name zodiac, a word derived from the Greek term for ``circle of animals.''

Taurus, the Bull, is often represented in star charts as charging down on Orion from the northwest. However, the legends of Taurus center more on the bull as a symbol of strength and fertility. Between 4000 to 6000 years ago, the Sun appeared in Taurus at the beginning of spring, corresponding with the beginning of the New Year for many ancient Middle Eastern civilizations. In Assyria, Taurus was seen as the winged bull that stood guard over many palaces. In ancient Egypt, Taurus represented Apis, the Bull of Memphis, who served as the earthly vessel for the soul of Osiris, god of the Sun and the Nile. Taurus may have given rise to the Cretan Minotaur (a creature with the body of a bull and the head of a man), and perhaps even the Golden Calf, idol of the Israelites. The Druids held spring festivals that revolved around worship of the bull. Greco-Roman mythology depicts Taurus as a white bull with golden horns, the shape Zeus assumed when he abducted and seduced the beautiful Europa.

The Hyades and the Pleiades are each star clusters that lie within the constellation that may be seen with the naked eye. The Hyades were sisters of Hyas, a great hunter whose death they mourned. They had been chosen by Zeus to care for his child Dionysus after the infant's mother was killed. Zeus took pity on them for their grief and placed the Hyades in the sky, where they continued to weep for their brother. Their tears were said to bring on the rainy season that occurred each autumn. The Hyades consist of about 200 stars and make up Taurus' V-shaped face. Aldebaran, a bright orange-red star often shown as eye of the bull, is not actually associated with the Hyades. Aldebaran just happens to lie in front of the cluster, as seen from our point of view. The Pleiades were the beautiful half-sisters of the Hyades and were placed in the night sky by Zeus to help them escape the unwanted affections of Orion. The brightest of the Pleiades is Alcyone, though you should be able to make out a cluster of six stars on dark, clear nights.

Moving east along the ecliptic east we come to Gemini, the Twins, a constellation marked by the bright stars Castor and Pollux. According to certain Greek myths, the twins were hatched from an egg borne to Leda after her seduction by Zeus, who was at the time in the form of a swan. Brothers to Helen of Troy, they were raised by Chiron, the wise centaur depicted by the constellation Centaurus, and accompanied Jason in search for the Golden Fleece. Ancient Chinese saw these bright stars as yin and yang, representing the dual forces of nature, while the Romans often associated the twins with Romulus and Remus, legendary founders of Rome.

Another version of the Greek myth depicted the twins as having separate fathers, one mortal, and the other immortal. When Castor (the mortal twin) was killed in battle, Pollux (the immortal twin) was overcome by grief. Zeus then allowed Pollux to give half of his life (his immortality) to Castor and placed them both in the night sky as a testament to their brotherly devotion. An easy way to remember the location of each star is to associate them with stars in neighboring constellations. Pollux, then, is the star nearest Procyon in Canis Minor, while Castor is found nearest Capella, the yellow giant star located in Auriga, the Charioteer.

Auriga lies northeast of Taurus and is usually drawn roughly in the shape of hexagon. While it's exact origins are unknown, Auriga is frequently associated with the Roman god Vulcan, known to the Greeks as Hephaestus and credited with inventing the chariot. The star Capella was, to the Greeks, depicted as Amalthea, the goat that nursed the infant Zeus. While playing with the goat, the baby Zeus broke off one of her horns. He later gave the horn magical qualities that allowed it to spill forth food and water to anyone who desired them – the cornucopia.

In ancient India, Capella was thought to be the ``heart of Brahma,'' while Peruvians called it Colca and associated it with a herder of flocks. The Greeks also depicted Auriga as a goat herder. He was sometimes shown carrying the goat Capella over his shoulder and three kids (baby goats) on his arm. The kids are represented by a small triangle of dim stars located just southwest of Capella.

Editor's Notes

For those of you who don't know it, I am the editor of the Spectrogram, and also one of the webmasters of the club's web site ( / ). I hope you've been enjoying the format and contents of the newsletter this year. Since I had some extra space in this issue, I thought I would say a little bit about the newsletter.

The newsletter is available to all club members in either paper or electronic form. Here's how it works. If you are receiving the paper version and would rather receive the electronic version, send e-mail to me at mikel@att.net and let me know. Be sure to include your name, so I take the right person off the paper mailing list. Then, each month when the newsletter is mailed out, you will receive e-mail with the URL (web address) of the latest issue.

If you are reading the paper newsletter, and wonder why some words seem to be randomly underlined, it is because they are hyperlinks. In the electronic version of the newsletter, these underlined words can be clicked on with a mouse to go to a web site with more information, or to send e-mail (in the case of contact information) .

In addition to having these convenient hyperlinks, the electronic version of the newsletter saves the club money. Each issue costs around 75 cents to produce, print and mail, so half of your dues are consumed by the newsletter. The electronic version costs only my time, which is volunteered, so it costs the club essentially nothing.

Several people have suggested putting a password on the electronic version of the newsletter, so non-club members can't read it. Aside from the headaches of distributing passwords, I think it's a good idea to allow anyone to read the newsletter. It doesn't cost the club anything, and the information may spark interest in the club, generating new members.

For those who worry that people won't join the club because they can get the newsletter on-line for free, the newsletter is only one small benefit of club membership. Permission to use the club's observing sites and telescopes, discounts on astronomical material and publications, being able to participate in club events, and the camaraderie of talking and observing with other members are far better reasons to join than being able to read a web page.

The main purpose of the club's newsletter is to let members know about club events and meetings, and report club business. I have also tried to include articles of interest to club members in each issue. I hope you enjoy them. If you have any comments about what's in or not in the newsletter, please let me know, either via e-mail or by writing to the club address below or in person at a meeting. Compliments or constructive criticism will be graciously accepted.

S*T*A*R Astronomy Society
P. O. Box 863
Red Bank, NJ, 07701

Finally, let me remind you that articles don't just drop out of thin air. If you something you'd like to share with the club, consider writing an article. It might be about some area of astronomical knowledge, coverage of an event or star party, or personal experience. I'd be happy to help you get your ideas into a readable form if you have trouble in that area. Guidelines for potential authors can be found at http://home.att.net/~mikel/star/author.html . Alternately, if you see an article you think would be of interest to the club, let me know. Event if it's copyrighted, we can try to get permission to publish it in the newsletter.

Clear Skies! -- Mike Lindner