by Loyd Overcash

Exposure was 135 minutes taken in 5 minute subs with my 14.5 RC and the ZWO-2600mc camera in Bin 3 Gain 300

by David Prosper

by Steve Goldberg

Asterism: a grouping of stars that form a recognizable pattern.

Constellation: Pisces
Right Ascension:  23h 17m 00.0s
Declination: -01° 45' 00"
Magnitude: 8
Size: 22’ x 50’                    

In honor of the Artemis 1 mission, we feature an asterism that looks like a rocket ship. This asterism, sometimes labeled as an open cluster, is located in Pisces, near the border with Aquarius.

There are 3 stars that form a triangle, that make up the shape of the capsule on top of the rocket. With a single star further out to represent the capsule escape tower. And then 3 stars that form a short line represents the engine exhaust.

by Daniel M. Roy and Debbie Moran

These shielded LEDs in a restaurant garden in Las Cruces, NM are warmer and put light exactly where it is needed

Imagine an electricity generating company building an observatory, encouraging STEM education within the community as well as heightening the community’s interest in limiting light pollution.    This is what the Exelon Corporation (now Constellation Energy) did in 2016 by building an observatory in the Muddy Run Recreational Park in southeastern Pennsylvania at a goldilocks distance from Lancaster.   To quote from a 2020 edition of 50+ life, “This part of southern Lancaster County lies in truly dark skies, away from the light pollution of much of the surrounding area. But it is sufficiently close to Lancaster to attract a curious public.   It is by far one of the most innovative and well thought-out and technologically sophisticated projects of its type in Pennsylvania.”

The light pollution problem

Here in Houston you have to drive a couple of hours to find dark skies like in Muddy Run Park.  The International Dark-Sky Association founded in 1989 has been educating communities about lighting for three decades. They first coined the term “light pollution” to describe the adverse environmental effects not only on the night sky but also on the humans, animals and plants who live below. Of course, we need light at night to see and feel safe in cities and towns. But there is a way to do it without driving out our view of the stars.

The LED street light revolution is highly beneficial because LEDs consume a fraction of the energy of other lighting technologies. But Houston, like many other early adopters, is using them counter productively. What is the problem? LEDs are highly directional and pinpoint…a little goes a long way and it is easy to over light. The blue part of the spectrum that makes up 30% of their neutral white (4000K or Kelvin) color can cause a host of problems. The shorter wavelength is inherently higher glare for drivers and homeowners because it scatters worse in the atmosphere and your eye. The reason objects appear sharp under whiter light is that the eye’s pupil is shrunk down to the smallest possible opening. But this is also the same mechanism that destroys night vision, making nearby areas appear much darker. The shallow shielding on Houston’s lights still allows the bright LEDs to be seen from some distance causing some areas to disappear in the glare. We are using twice the brightness yet seeing only half the light.  

Seeing is believing. We have gathered some examples of excellent as well as poor lighting on the new website www.softlighthouston.com. There you can find information on how to find good quality lighting. Shielded fixtures can be found using the key words “Dark Sky” but make sure they really do hide the bulb. For more information, also see www.darksky.org and www.idatexas.org.

And for more on light pollution please see

Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting – International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org)

An inspirational project

The Ryan observatory construction began in 2016 in a truly dark skies part of southern Lancaster County, and the doors opened to the public in October 2017.  The speaker at the opening ceremony was no less than Princeton quantum physics scientist the late Freeman Dyson (1923-2020).

From 50+ life again: “The Rittenhouse Astronomical Society of Philadelphia is the primary amateur organization that runs the Observatory.  Monthly events are open to the public free of charge.  Local amateur astronomers play important supporting roles, providing telescopes and educators”.

Attendance at one of the public outreach events at the Ryan observatory

The observatory is named for the Ryan Family and their efforts to bring a STEAM facility to the community, while honoring their daughter Layla, a brilliant young student of cosmology who tragically, passed away from a long-term illness in 2006 at age 24. In  Layla’s honor, her parents established a scholarship at the University of Illinois for female astronomy students with a demonstrated history of “giving back” to the community.  This happened to be a value shared by Exelon  and Constellation, who have also supported the Layla S Ryan Scholarship. 

Layla Ryan

I was fortunate to Email-interview her father, Mr. Al Ryan who led the effort to create the observatory in her name: 

1. What kind of telescopes are housed in the two domes?

1.Under one of the observatory domes a Celestron Edge HD 14 with an E S 80mm refractor equipped with a  DS10C allowing the public to compare the eyepiece view in the 14” with the full color version from the refractor/camera combo that is piped to large flatscreen monitors on the walls.  

2.In our second dome, a PlaneWave  CDK14 telescope with a STXL 16200 camera that is primarily used for astrophotography.  We intend to offer classes in astrophotography and make the observatory available under special circumstances to astrophotography class graduates. The third observatory houses our newest instrument that will soon be available to the public.  This telescope is a binocular telescope and designed especially for use in public settings.  .  As far as we have been able to determine, with its 25 ½” mirrors, this is the largest binocular telescope designed for public use in existence.  

Binocular Telescope, Moveable Shelter

We also make available a couple of 60mm Lunt solar telescopes, a C 9.25 Edge telescope, a 7” Questar and a few other smaller telescopes.

2. Any notable observation made from the site?
   • Last year we were able to capture an occultation of a star by Hi’iaka, a moon of  Haumea (one of the Trans-Neptunian asteroids) which lies some 4 billion miles away. ).  For more on this, see our web page at https://ryanobservatory.com/articles.  The data was reviewed and published.

• One of our student interns worked with one of our imaging operators to help produce a narrowband image of Messier 27.  That will be posted to the website in the near future.

3. Any anecdote to make my paper alive (construction/funding/ops headaches, fun facts and stories)?
   • I wouldn’t know where to start here.  We have always aimed high and that hasn’t always met the financial constraints.  But the site owner, Constellation Energy, has been magnificent and magnanimous in building all three facilities, retro-fitting the Visitors Center, providing staffing for public events and providing other non-descript support overall.  Some headaches and issues are ongoing, and range from lack of volunteers, insufficiently trained persons, reliance on one source for funds to expand programming, purchase new software and hardware, upgrading same, etc.  But the work we do has been extremely well received by the community.  Our latest hero is a kid who is almost continually in the hospital but manages to get out for each of our monthly open house events.  He is at most 8 years old but was thrilled when our primary astrophotography operator guided him through his very own capture of M13 with our equipment, which he and his family proudly displayed on Facebook.

A remarkable achievement

After a highly successful career in law, Mr. Ryan is even busier now with inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers as well as the curious public.  We felt that this story was worth sharing at a time when “success” often consists in less honorable outcomes.   A beautiful anonymous quote (wrongly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882) came to my mind:

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to live the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

The Ryan observatory is a testimony to the partnership between visionaries in the electric distribution, amateur astronomers and ordinary citizens animated by the common good.

To learn more:

Web site: Ryan Observatory

Facebook page (7) Ryan Observatory at Muddy Run | Facebook

Night sky net Ryan Observatory at Muddy Run | Night Sky Network (nasa.gov)

by David Prosper

Do you want to peer deeper into the night sky? Are you feeling the urge to buy a telescope? There are so many options for budding astronomers that choosing one can be overwhelming. A first telescope should be easy to use and provide good quality views while being affordable. As it turns out, those requirements make the first telescope of choice for many stargazers something unexpected: a good pair of binoculars!

Binoculars are an excellent first instrument because they are generally easy to use and more versatile than most telescopes. Binoculars can be used for activities like stargazing and birdwatching, and work great in the field at a star party, along the hiking trail, and anywhere else where you can see the sky. Binoculars also travel well, since they easily fit into carry-on luggage – a difficult feat for most telescopes! A good pair of binoculars, ranging in specifications from 7x35 to 10x50, will give you great views of the Moon, large open star clusters like the Pleiades (M45), and, from dark skies, larger bright galaxies like the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and large nebulae like the Orion Nebula (M42). While you likely won’t be able to see Saturn’s rings, as you practice your observing skills you may be able to spot Jupiter's moons, along with some globular clusters and fainter nebulae from dark sites, too.

What do the numbers on those binocular specs actually mean? The first number is the magnification, while the second number is the size in millimeters (mm) of the lenses. So, a 7x35 pair of binoculars means that they will magnify 7 times using lenses 35 mm in diameter. It can be tempting to get the biggest binoculars you can find, but try not to get anything much more powerful than a 10x50 pair at first. Larger binoculars with more power often have narrower fields of vision and are heavier; while technically more powerful, they are also more difficult to hold steadily in your hands and "jiggle" quite a bit unless you buy much more expensive binoculars with image stabilization, or mount them to a tripod.

Would it surprise you that amazing views of some astronomical objects can be found not just from giant telescopes, but also from seemingly humble binoculars? Binoculars are able to show a much larger field of view of the sky compared to most telescopes. For example, most telescopes are unable to keep the entirety of the Pleiades or Andromeda Galaxy entirely inside the view of most eyepieces. Binoculars are also a great investment for more advanced observing, as later on they are useful for hunting down objects to then observe in more detail with a telescope.

If you are able to do so, real-world advice and experience is still the best for something you will be spending a lot of time with! Going to an in-person star party hosted by a local club is a great way to get familiar with telescopes and binoculars of all kinds – just ask permission before taking a closer look! You can find clubs and star parties near you on the Night Sky Network's Clubs & Events page at bit.ly/nsnclubsandevents, and inspire your binocular stargazing sessions with NASA’s latest discoveries at nasa.gov.

The two most popular types of binocular designs are shown here: roof-prism binoculars (left) and porro-prism binoculars (right). Roof prisms tend to be more compact, lighter, and a bit more portable, while porro-prisms tend to be heavier but often offer wider views and greater magnification. What should you choose? Many birders and frequent fliers often choose roof-prism models for their portability. Many observers who prefer to observe fainter deep-sky objects or who use a tripod with their observing choose larger porro-prism designs. There is no right answer, so if you can, try out both designs and see which works better for you.

A pair of good binoculars can show craters on the Moon around 6 miles (10 km) across and larger. How large is that? It would take you about two hours to hike across a similar-sized crater on Earth. The “Can You See the Flag On the Moon?” handout showcases the levels of detail that different instruments can typically observe on the Moon, available at bit.ly/flagmoon. Moon image courtesy Jay Tanner

This article is distributed by NASA’s Night Sky Network (NSN). The NSN program supports astronomy clubs across the USA dedicated to astronomy outreach. Visit nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov to find local clubs, events, and more!