Important Announcements

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 3, at 8 PM at the Carl Sandberg School Planetarium in Oldbridge. We will feature a presentation by Fran Decebis.

News & Events

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.

Remembering Kay

by Penny Fischer

Kay was a member of S*T*A*R since its beginning in 1957, and his enthusiasm and ease of character were his most endearing features. Not to say that Kay wasn't so much more, he was extremely intelligent yet he never talked down to anyone. As more than one member had mentioned, Kay always liked to take new members under his wing, making sure to go over and introduce himself and befriend them.

Bob Sears, his son, said that Kay's interest in astronomy really took off during the 1960's, when he got involved in the hobby as a father/son activity. He soon surpassed Bob in interest though, and ``rocketed away'' on his own path of discovery.

Kay was an avid satellite tracker, making his own predictions. His specialty at star parties was having a few sheets of predictions with him and at the appropriate time directing everyone's eyeballs to the satellite; be it Mir, a Cosmos, or another bright orbiting instrument. We'd watch amazed at his accuracy-- we wondered if perhaps he was a magician, conjuring up lights from the sky on cue.

Kay built a lot of his own equipment, and still used a telescope made in 1957, at the club's inception. He was always generous with his equipment and his knowledge. He was also an avid volunteer, you could always count on Kay!

As we pass these first difficult weeks, the reality of Kay's passing is becoming more painfully apparent. It is almost too hard for me to accept that I will never again observe with Kay again.

I will dreadfully miss Kay, for his kindness to me, his friendship, his advice, his intelligence, and his knowledge. I never felt alone observing shuttle launches -- even if I was not with Kay, I knew he was outside, looking at the same thing at the same time. It will never be the same again.

His wife, Gen, kind of summed it up for me. From the minute Kay woke up in the morning, she said, til he went to bed, he lived and breathed S*T*A*R Astronomy Club. His love for our club was unselfish and all encompassing.

The best way to honor Kay is to continue on the positive path S*T*A*R has been taking in the last few years. Because naturally, he would have wanted it that way. In fact, his family requested that instead of sending flowers, we should contribute to the club Kay loved so dearly.

If you have comments about or memories of Kay, we welcome them. We have put together a Kay Sears Memorial page, which can be accessed from the main page of our website, http://www.starastronomy.org . Please pass on your thoughts about Kay to his fellow members.

Notes from February

by Penny Fischer

S*T*A*R's February meeting was held on Friday, February 5th at the Poricy Park Nature Center.

The meeting was quite somber because earlier that morning we learned that longtime core member, Kay Sears, passed away in his sleep the night before. Dan began a short eulogy about his friend and fellow member, and it was with great effort that we followed through with the program as planned, but as Dan said Kay would have wanted it that way.

George Plumfield was our ``Scope and Tell'' member this month. He has a 6`` Astrophysics apochromatic refractor which he showed with enthusiasm to his fellow members. This amazing piece of artistry and machinery was assembled and described by George, who uses it primarily for viewing double stars. Because of the minimal aberrations this scope renders, it is good for splitting tight doubles as well as other deep sky and planetary observing.

After Dan's talk, we were treated to a special guest, Gorden Bjoraker, from the NASAGoddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Dr. Bjoraker's talk was about the results of the Galileo mission to Jupiter, still ongoing. Dr. Bjoraker is a planetary astronomer at the GSFC.

The next meeting will be held at the Carl Sandberg School Auditorium in Oldbridge on Wednesday, March 3rd. See you there.

Light Pollution Guide Offered

By John Batinsey

Eatontown Environmental Commission

Light pollution is misdirected or excessive outdoor lighting that causes glare and obtrusive light to spill in the wrong directions. The most serious problem is when we see a direct glare source as we drive. Such disabling or uncomfortable glare can make it difficult to see the roadway properly. Particularly sensitive to this problem are elderly drivers. Some fast food restaurants, car dealers, shopping malls and other businesses grossly exceed normal light levels, and even worse, recklessly cause the light to shine into the eyes of drivers in passing vehicles. In some cases this may even be intentional, to attract potential customers, Other times such inappropriate outdoor lighting is simply designed and installed by unqualified people, Even the electric utilities are at fault by Installing many of their "leased" floodlights improperly, causing unnecessary glare and spill light.

Most people assume that the glary and obtrusive light is a necessary part of outdoor lighting and nothing can be done abut it. However, with the right kind of lighting our visibility improves. We don't have to squint and strain our eyes to see at night. The New Jersey Light Pollution Study Commission issued its report to the Governor and Legislature in 1996 on how to control light pollution, (See Summer 1996 ANIEC Report article "State Commission Reports on Light Pollution.") The Commission found that the guidelines of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America should be followed, A great deal of outdoor lighting being installed is not in accord with these guidelines. This is a little like your physician ignoring AMA recommendations. The Massachusetts Medical Society recently passed a resolution supporting a State Bill to control light pollution.

Eatontown, a busy suburban municipality in Monmouth County with probably more than its fair share of shopping malls and industrial facilities, adopted an effective outdoor lighting ordinance about five years ago. The ordinance has been working in reducing light pollution for new and replacement lighting. As the Environmental Commission reviewed the many lighting plans submitted during this period, it was surprising to find that some designers were unfamiliar with or Initially not following the IES guidelines.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation has revised its lighting policy for all state roads and is now maximizing the use of cutoff (shielded) light fixtures on all new lighting being installed. The New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are doing likewise.

The three major New Jersey electric utilities have done little to combat light pollution from street lights. They continue to install non-cutoff (unshielded) street lights unless a municipality specifically insists on cutoff. The State Commission recommended; "The use of cutoff luminaires should be considered first choice In design." There is no additional cost, since the cutoff and non-cutoff fixtures cost the same and use the same amount of energy.

The electric utility floodlights cause even more light pollution. Many of these floodlights were not installed properly. The lights can be easily adjusted by adding simple visors and proper repositioning. In Eatontown, GPU has adjusted many floodlights to comply with the local ordinance. Electric utilities can make similar corrections voluntarily without waiting for specific public complaints.

An "Outdoor Lighting Guide" is available from the ANJEC Resource Center. The guide includes a model ordinance based on the Eatontown ordinance. The model contains the new IES lighting recommendations for parking lots just revised by the IES. The Guide provides comments and various options, so that an ordinance can be tailor made to fit the local needs. The Guide also includes some examples of how Eatontown has administered its lighting ordinance and has sample photos of "good" and "bad" lights and sample letters to promote the issue. Some newspaper articles have erroneously separated the issue into two camps; those for and those against lighting. The issue instead should be whether people are for safe, task-effective lighting or for lighting that is less effective, wasteful and sometimes even dangerous.

Reprinted from ANJEC REPORT - WINTER 1999 with the author's permission

[John will be speaking to us about light pollution and what we can do to stop it at our April meeting - Ed.]

Constellations for March

by Greg Cantrell

Last month we talked about the zodiac, the ``circle of animals'' that lie along the ecliptic, the path traveled annually by the Sun and planets. Since late December, the Sun has been moving northward along ecliptic and, on March 20^th, it will cross over the celestial equator, bringing spring to the Northern Hemisphere. This event is known as the vernal, or spring, equinox. The word equinox means equal night and is used to denote the nearly equal lengths of day and night that occur on this day. Spring brings with it warmer, longer days and, much to the chagrin of astronomers, shorter nights.

But why should there be seasons at all? The answer can be found by examining the Earth's axis of rotation, which can be depicted as a line drawn through the Earth from pole to pole. This line, the Earth's axis of rotation, is tilted at an angle of about 23.5 degrees from the Earth's orbital plane. When we look at the night sky the celestial equator is slated by the same angle, 23.5 degrees, when compared to the ecliptic. The Earth's spin is stable and keeps the axis pointed toward the same spot in the sky (at least over short periods of time). Therefore, as the Earth moves about its orbit, the Northern Hemisphere will be tilted toward the Sun part of the year (summer), and away from the Sun during part of the year (winter).

So, all this tilting and spinning and orbiting results in the seasons and causes the Sun to appear to move slowly along the ecliptic, crossing the celestial equator on March 20th this year. As we venture outside during these warmer, shorter nights, we notice that the Milky Way is slipping away toward the horizon, taking with it many of the bright winter constellations. Though the constellations of spring (shown on the attached chart) are, for the most part, made up of dim stars, they are filled with myth and adventure.

Hydra the Sea Serpent, is the largest and longest constellation in the night sky and takes over 6 hours to rise. While the serpent's head is found south of Cancer, the Crab, its sinuous body stretches nearly one quarter of the way around the night sky, almost to Scorpius, the Scorpion. According to certain Greco-Roman legends, Hydra was a multi-headed monster slain by Hercules. No small task, as two heads would sprout up for each head Hercules would cut off. Finally, Hercules was able to defeat the monster by cauterizing each stump with a torch. The last head was immortal and Hercules buried it under a stone to prevent it from causing anyone harm. During the battle, the goddess Hera sent Cancer, the Crab, to distract Hercules. While Cancer attempted to bite him, Hercules stepped on the crab, killing it. Hera placed the crab into the zodiac but did not give Cancer any bright stars, as it had failed at its task.

Hydra is adorned with a single bright star known as Alphard, the solitary one. While Cancer has no bright stars, a keen observer in a dark location will notice a faintly glowing patch within the constellation. This patch is known as Praesepe, or the Beehive. What looks like a glowing patch to the unaided eye is really an enormous cluster of stars!

Founding riding along on Hydra's back are the constellations Corvus, the Crow, and Crater, the Cup. According to Greco-Roman myths, the god Apollo sent Corvus to fill a cup with water from a spring. While filling the cup Corvus spied a large luscious looking fig. However, the fig was still green, so Corvus sat down to wait for it to ripen. Finally, Corvus returned to Apollo with the filled cup and Hydra grasped in his claws, claiming that a fight with the serpent had caused his long delay. Apollo knew the truth, however, and angrily banished all three to the night sky. Corvus now sits within sight of the filled cup but is unable to take a drink, as Hydra jealously guards the cup.

As warmer weather approaches, I'd like to encourage all of you to take a few moments to stroll outside and enjoy the night sky. It may take more than a single walk, though, as some of the constellation we've just discussed will be easier to find later in the month. Next month, we'll venture into a part of the night sky filled with lions and bears! Until then, Clear Skies!