The next scheduled meeting of Astronomers of Verde Valley will be held on Saturday, August 21, 1999 at 7:00 p.m. in the old conference room of Marcus J. Lawrence Hospital.
Doug Ostroski will be reviewing a new astronomy software package that he states makes all of his previous astronomy programs obsolete. Then, following a short break, Jay Fleishman will begin a series of discussions for the beginners in the club, involving the changing skies and movement in our solar system. As always, we encourage you to invite guests and their families.

The Perseid Meteor Showers made their appearance and provided a bright but sporadic show last week. Camped on Oak Creek, near Two Trees, two friends and I spent Wednesday and Thursday nights on air mattresses watching the show. The annual monsoonal weather turned out to be very cooperative, giving us two crystal clear nights with quite stable atmospheric conditions.
The meteors predominantly were very fast and short lived, but a good majority were very bright (magnitude of about -1.0 or better) and some left trails that reached across a third of the sky. During both nights of observing, the meteors seemed to come in groups. We would have a short period of several meteors followed by a period of sometimes more than an hour before seeing anymore.
The "best of show" award went to a meteor on thursday night at about 11:00 p.m. It was very bright, having an estimated magnitude of -2.0. It originated just to the north of Cassiopeia, passing almost directly over Polaris on its westward course. It left a bright trail that encompassed at least a third of the visible sky from our location. My two friends, who are both newcomers to astronomy, both agreed that this one meteor was well worth the trip, including the visit of a rather large snake in the middle of the show.

Astronomers of Verde Valley are pleased and excited to announce that for our September 18th meeting, we will have Mr. Warren Parks, a noted Archeo-Astronomer, as a special guest speaker. During his presentation, Mr. Parks will be discussing the question of the role of astronomy in the life of the ancient Native-Americans. This promises to be a very interesting and informative program, and we would encourage all of the membership to make plans to attend and invite interested friends and their families.

The website for Astronomers of Verde Valley is still very much in the works. Unfortunately, I have encountered several problems with different Website Hosting Services in accessing the files and editing pages after the initial registration process.
The new URL for the Website is now: https://www.angelfire.com/az2/AVV
I hope to have at least the rudimentary aspects of the homepage up and running by the time of our next meeting. Members with Internet Access will be able to view the monthly newsletter online, view astro-photos by other members and follow links to other clubs and astronomy related sites. Afull report will be given at the club meeting. We are still in need of astro-photographs and photographs of club functions for the site. Please contact me if you have any materials you would like to submit. Thank you.

Now that the Milky Way is high in the sky at a convenient time, we will look into the heart of our galaxy for this month's Messier objects. Some are naked eye objects, and all are accessible with binoculars. In our tour this month we will be visiting sex globular clusters, four open clusters and two diffuse nebulae.

M10 - This globular cluster in Ohiuchus forms an interesting pair with its neighbor, M12. It is a rich cluster with a bright center. Partial resolution of the member stars can be achieved with apertures of six inches or greater. It lies at a distance of about 22,000 light years, with a diameter of about 70 light years.

M12 - This is a slightly larger, but dimmer cluster thatn its neighbor M10. Discovered by Messier in May of 1764, it lies at a distance of about 18,000 light years and has a diameter of 75 light years.

m107 - This cluster is rather difficult, but possible with binoculars. It contains some dark obscure regions which are unusual in objects of this type. Its distance is given as about 19,600 light years with a diameter of 70 light years.

M9 - This is a small bright cluster located 3.5 degrees SE of Eta Ophiuchi. It is one of the nearer clusters to the center of the Milky Way, with a distance of about 7500 from the galactic center. This corresponds to a distance of about 26,400 light years from our solar system with a diameter of 70 light years.

M19 - This is a small bright cluster that lies in a very rich field. the surrounding area is swarming with stars of the Milky Way. It is fairly easy to find in binoculars, appearing smaller than M10 and M12, and it requires moderate apertures to begin to resolve the individual stars. Its distance is given as between 20 and 30 thousand light years.

M62 - This globular cluster lies only four degrees from its neighbor, M19 and it is slightly dimmer. Its distance is 21,500 light years and moderate apertures are needed to begin to resolve it into its individual stars.

M6 - This is one of my all time favorites and always a crowd pleaser, especially with children. alos known as the Butterfly Cluster, it is one of the few objects that actually looks like the object it is named for, with just a little bit of imagination on the part of the observer. This object was instrumental in my being interviewed by the Smithsonian Magazinein June of 1998 at the Grand Canyon Star Party. It is a naked eye object that appears as a small fuzzy patchjust above the stinger of Scorpius. At a distance of only 2,000 light years it is among the closer star clusters and in even small apertures it appears as a bright loose grouping of stars.

M7 - This is another bright open cluster visible to the naked eye. It is larger and brighter than M6 and is easily resolved in binoculars. It is very close as such objects go, with a distance of only 800 light years, and it has a diameter of about 18 light years.

M8 - This is a bright emission nebula in Sagittarius, easily visible to the naked eye. the common name for this nebula is The Lagoon Nebula, and binoculars will reveal it as a bright oval cloud larger than the full moon with several bright stars embedded in it. It lies at a distance of 5,200 light years, with linear dimensions of 140 light years x 60 light years.

M20 - This is another diffuse nebula in Sagittarius, only 1.4 degrees NW of M8. The Trifid Nebula is easily seen in binoculars as a smokey patch surrounding a few bright stars. Telescopic views will begin to reveal the three dark dust lanes which give the nebula its name.

M21 - This small but bright open cluster in Sagittarius is situated right next to M20. Binoculars will show it as a very small bright patch partially resolved. It can be seen in the same field with M8 and M20, arguably one of the finest binocular fields to be found. Telescopic views will easily resolve all of the member stars of this cluster. It lies at a distance of 4,250 light years, just a little closer than its neighbors which are both about 5,200 light years distant.

M23 - The last object on our tour of the Messier Catalog this month is another large open cluster in Sagittarius. With binoculars it appears as a large fuzzy patch of lightabout the size of the full moon, and telescopic views easily resolve the member stars among a very rich background field.

The first issue of a new local paper, The Verde Free Press, was delivered via the U.S. Postal Service last week. The publisher had contacted me early in august to inquire if I would consider writing a astronomy related column for the paper. The column, entitled Stargazing is geared toward the general public and discusses primarily naked eye objects and events in our sky.
Originally intended to be a monthly column, the publisher contacted me just before the first issue went to press and aske that I prepare a column on a bi-monthly basis. It is also a very good opportunity for our clubto gain more exposure in the coomunity as our meetings and public functions will be included in the articles.
If you did not receive a copy in the mail, the paper can be viewed online at the following URL: http://www.verdefreepress.com/vfp/index.html

For Sale:12 1/2 inch Cave Astrola f6 on a "transportable mount." 8x50 finder, 60 mm f12 guide scope, R.A. drive, no eyepieces, Dec. motor not hooked up, German equatorial mount with casters, lens covers and canvas cover. Will deliver. $1200.00 Contact Bill Kelley for details.

For Sale:20" Dobsonian, massive mounting plus trailer. Superb optics. Bill Kelley estimates that $2500.00 will buy it. Contact him for details.

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