Volume XIX No. 3 November 2007 ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg Ronald McIntosh, Amateur Meteor Astronomer By Mike Luciuk T he science of meteor astronomy was still in its infancy early in the twentieth century. Little was known about cometary nuclei and their formation of meteoroids, although it had been found that some annual meteor showers had orbits similar to some comets. Some astronomers still believed in the existence of stationary meteor shower radiants. Questions arose on the velocities of meteoroids and whether they came from inter-stellar origins. Research on the existence of non-shower (sporadic) meteors was in its early stages. Until after the Second World War, active meteor observations were quite sparse in the Southern Hemisphere. The vast majority of meteor observation activity was located in Europe and North America. As a result, the observer activity carried out by Ronald A. McIntosh (1904-1977) personally, and by the New Zealand Meteor Section he directed from the late 1920s through the mid-1950s, contributed greatly to the identifi-cation and characteristics of previously unknown meteor show-ers. He often used data gathered by the famous British meteor ob-server, W. F. Denning (1848-1931), when Northern Hemisphere information was needed for his research. Ronald McIntosh's exposure to astronomy began at an early age. In 1910, at age six, his parents showed him Halley's Comet. This was a particularly dramatic apparition of Halley's, and most likely made a great impression on the young boy. By age 13, he was observing the Moon and comparing his observations with existing maps. In addition, he observed sunspots, Nova Aquilae 1918, the planets, the Moon, a lunar eclipse, and peculiar cloud formations. He was self- taught and had no formal astronomical training. In 1927, McIntosh purchased a 35 cm (13.8 inch) aperture Newtonian reflector for the sum of 80 pounds. One of McIntosh's favorite solar system objects was the planet Jupiter. His careful observations of Jupiter included coloration changes in its equatorial belts. He was interested in the color periodicity of Jupiter's Equatorial Zone, and forecast a period of 7.35 years in 1936. He published observed South Equatorial Belt outbursts in 1949 and 1962. McIntosh observed and some-times photographed known comets. He independently dis-covered Comet de Kock-Paraskevopoulos (1941 IV) in 1941. (Continued page 5: Ronald McIntosh) Ultimate Video Camera Comparison Test By Ernie Rossi V ideo astronomy of our solar sys-tem has been around for more than ten years and has enabled us to see detail never before possible. Deep sky video observing is relatively new. This is the ultimate shootout or comparison test comparing the two most popular deep sky video cameras on the market, the StellaCam 3 and the MallinCam HYPER Video CCD Colour Camera. Originally the contest was supposed to take place in April 2007, but the weather didn't cooperate. This shootout was done at Chiefland under good conditions. Bob Schilling and I, along with other observers, reviewed some of the images. I need to explain some of this in detail since the shootout is a little like comparing apples and oranges so you need to read carefully. What we saw on the monitors didn't go through any programs -- it was the raw data. I found both cameras to have their strengths and weaknesses, but this may also depend on personal preferences; I will go into that later. The biggest difference is that all the controls for the Stellacam are on a pad or controller that's wired to the camera, and you hold the pad in your hand, while all the con-trols for the MallinCam are on the camera. The StellaCam is more user-friendly since it has fewer controls, while the MallinCam has more selections but requires a steeper learning curve. Location: Chiefland, Florida, Friday, September 7, 2007; we had very good skies all night, slight breeze, temperatures 65-75° F. We had light dew but not until after midnight. Telescopes: 20" f/5 Obsession with a .5 Atik focal reducer vs. Star Master 20" f/4.3 with a .66 MFR-3 focal reducer. Both scopes had Servo-cat drives with go-to remotes. Cameras: StellaCam 3 uncooled, unlimited integration setting; MallinCam HYPER Video CCD Colour Camera; mild Peltier cooled Hyper mode 28 seconds. Monitors: Stellacam 3 used a 12-inch black and white with 800 lines of resolution, and the Mallincam a 3.5-inch color monitor. Joe Mize pointed out that the monitors made a big difference. A 3.5-inch monitor will have tighter pixels, however, the 12-inch will show a larger image. We tried to keep the same amount of exposure time per object. We first looked at the planetary and emission nebula, M 27, M 8, M 20, M 17, M 16, M 57, M 42, NGC 246 and probably a few more. Winner overall was the MallinCam because of its color. Actual detail was about the same, but, because of the color, details jumped out at you more easily. Even then, the difference was slight. Most everyone watching said they would go with the color camera. The images were jaw dropping and that literally was everyone's reaction. I wanted to compare images of M 57 to see if both cameras would show the little IC 1296 galaxy. I also wanted to see about how deep we were going since I have a map showing magnitude limits all around M 57. That's tough to accomplish because if you try exposing for too long, you overexpose M 57 since the camera finds it too bright and overexposes M 57 and whites it out. It even shows it that way in my reference image, which goes down to magnitude 20. Both cameras showed IC 1296, including its structure and arms, plus several dimmer galaxies. We could see the central star, the one next to it, and stars in the ring very easily. Galaxies: M 74, M 77, NGC 6946, NGC 7331, NGC 253, NGC 891, NGC 7479, NGC 7814, M 33, Stephan Quintet, and it could have been even more. All of the galaxies looked as good as most good CCD images. They are so spectacular it almost knocks you off your feet. Arms, swirls, dust lanes, wisps -- just fabulous images almost in real time. Example: around NGC 7331 at least another 3-4 galaxies were visible within a tiny area of the sky. The Winner? It was a draw! Lar-ger galaxies like NGC 253, 891 filled up the screen. Most agreed that they looked better on the Stel-laCam 12" monitor. Both cameras showed about the same detail and went just as deep. Bob was limited to 28 seconds on his MallinCam, and if I went past 28 seconds, I got some smearing caused by my drive accuracy and the light wind. In my opinion, color is hard to beat when you're comparing objects, even if they are showing the same detail because the contrast is better and most people like color. This of course applies only to objects that show lots of color. Otherwise there is almost no difference. It would have been nice to have the same size screen. We wondered whether the Mallincam images would be as sharp if displayed on the 12-inch black/white monitor? The MallinCam monitor was just 3.5-inches and cost $425. If the Stellacam 3 had the thermal cooled unit, would it have done better? If my drive was smoother and we had no wind and I could have gone 60 seconds in the integrated mode, would I have been able to go deeper and pull out more detail? Probably so. The newest MallinCam units can expose up to 56 seconds. What did I think of the MallinCam? It's one terrific camera, but I think it needs a remote pad more than the StellaCam since all the controls are on the camera. This would eliminate climbing up a ladder on a large telescope pointed toward zenith to make any changes. The MallinCam has a lot more settings to play with than the Stellacam. If you have a smaller scope and could easily reach the camera without climbing, it wouldn't make that much difference. The MallinCam doesn't have a freeze frame like the StellaCam, but continues to upload the image according to your setting. For example, if you have it set on 7 seconds, it keeps changing that image every 7 seconds. Freezing the image on the monitor is a great educational tool. You can also take that freeze frame and move it over to your laptop or PC. when you think you have the best image. However, in my opinion the MallinCam is the best color deep sky video camera around. I think the StellaCam 3 is a wonderful camera. It costs slightly less than the MallinCam, but it's available only in black and white. The camera also needs a remote box to eliminate the wire, but I also give it the advantage over the Mallincam especially if you use a ladder when the telescope is pointed toward zenith. The MallinCam HYPER Video CCD Colour Camera offers a larger WOW factor for most people. I'm thinking of adding this camera to my inventory in the near future. Both cameras are terrific values when you realize their capability of showing objects ten times larger than what can be seen in the eyepiece. And you get these views without long exposures and tedious processing as required by most CCD cameras. Local Recognition By Joe Arcaro O n October 24, 2007, the Cranford Chamber of Commerce recognized Amateur Astronomers, Inc. for its long history of providing service to the local communities. Each year the Cranford Chamber of Commerce recognizes individuals and organizations who voluntarily contribute their time and energy into making Cranford a community to be proud of. This year AAI along with the Green Thumb Garden Club of Cranford, The Celebration Singers, and Crane's Ford Chapter NSDAR were recognized along with five deserving individuals. AAI was recognized for its work in maintaining and staffing Sperry Observatory and for providing educational Astronomy information to the community for the past fifty-eight years. In thanking the Chamber of Commerce, I stressed the important role that Union County College plays in our achievement. I made special mention of the Beinecke Family whose outstanding generosity in creating the William Miller Sperry Observatory enables AAI and UCC to provide such service. And finally, I told the assemblage that, by acknowledging our efforts, they were actually honoring everyone who has helped to make AAI what it is today. For that, I thanked them. For us, this is not an ending but a beginning. We have labored for fifty-eight years without formal recognition from the local community. Now that our efforts have been acknowledged we will continue to demonstrate how much we deserve it. Again, this is done only with your support. Ronald McIntosh (continued from page 1) Unfortunately, it had previously been discovered by de Kock in South Africa and Barnes and Skjellerup in Melbourne. Within months, he independently computed the comet's orbital elements. The fact that Ronald McIntosh joined the American Meteor Society (headed by C. P. Olivier (1884-1975)) at age 15 is an indication of his great interest in observing me- teors. Olivier was surprised to find, after an exchange of photographs several years later, that he had been in contact with quite a young man. Olivier had the impression from the standard of McIntosh's papers that he was corresponding with a much older and more highly trained person. McIntosh was urged by Olivier to go to the United States, but he was not able to. One can only wonder how much more McIntosh could have achieved if he was able to get sci-entific training under Olivier before pursuing his pioneering New Zea-land meteor activity. McIntosh's Meteor Section was formed in 1928 under his direction. It concentrated on identifying Southern Hemisphere meteor shower radiants and activity levels, an area that was mostly unexplored at the time. A number of research articles were published based on the following areas: " The first list of Southern Hemisphere meteor showers " Paths of fireballs " Meteor velocities " Seasonal variation of meteor heights By 1945, the Meteor Section had observed 15,627 meteors over 585 nights and had determined 1,270 radiants. Observational activity lessened during and after WWII. McIntosh's own participation began to decline due to wartime duties and other responsibilities and, after 1944, he was inactive in meteor astronomy. McIntosh formally concluded the Meteor Section's activity in 1955. As amateur observers, the Meteor Section made use of naked-eye observations rather than utilizing photographic techniques. This allowed the detection of faint meteors, and also permitted the discovery of lower activity meteor showers. It was difficult to repeat the confirmation of radiants on succeeding evenings or on an annual basis due to New Zealand's poor weather conditions. As a result, the one- time low activity shower radiant determinations were compromised by pollution from sporadic meteors. Martin Beech pointed out that: The modern day meteor astronomer now knows that probably only 10 to 30 per cent of the observed meteors actually belong to well-defined meteoroid streams. What this means is that the vast majority of observed meteors cannot, in fact, be traced to common radiant points. This principal, while clear to modern astronomers, was not, however, known to Denning or his contemporaries. They believed, in contrast, that all meteors could be traced to a radiant point, and that each radiant point could probably be associated with the orbit of a comet. Following were some of McIntosh's published research activities: His "Seasonal Variation on the Height of Meteors" used Denning's and other British source observations. Sporadic meteors had higher elevation appearances in summer versus winter. Since it is the most active Southern Hemisphere meteor shower, several papers on the Eta-Aquarids established accurate radiant movements, meteor characteristics, and activity levels. He correctly confirmed that the Eta-Aquarid radiant was not stationary, as previously claimed by Denning. In "The Velocities of Meteors", McIntosh used Denning's observations to assess meteor paths versus their velocities. "His most important paper, "An Index of Southern Meteor Showers", was especially useful in providing important new meteor information from the Southern Hemisphere. Kronk credits this paper for the discovery of nine meteor showers. Current meteor experts still refer to this paper as a significant historical reference. McIntosh was truly an amateur. He had no formal astronomical training, but he was a dedicated observer of meteors as well as other astronomical phenomena. His work was acknowledged by meteor astronomy professionals of the time, and current meteor publications still reference this talented New Zealander's meteor shower radiant observations. Following are some of his society memberships and awards: International Astronomical Union - Commission 22 (Meteors) Royal Astronomical Society Royal New Zealand Astronomical Society American Meteor Society British Astronomical Association Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Societé Astronomique de France Donovan Award - 1936 for meteor observations Donovan Medal - 1939 for meteor research McIntosh's Meteor Section was formed in 1928 under his direction. It concentrated on identifying Southern Hemisphere meteor shower radiants and activity levels, an area that was mostly unexplored at the time. A number of research articles were published based on the fol GENERAL MEETING NOVEMBER 16, 2007 "New Eyes on the Universe: Observing Beyond Hubble with the Chandra and Spitzer Space Tele-scopes" - Dr. Kimberly Weaver, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center The world has been fascinated by glorious images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. But these visible images represent just a small portion of a larger picture. Much of the universe contains violent processes and dust-enshrouded objects that are revealed only by searching for their signatures in X-ray and infrared light. In particular, star birth, star death, black holes, cosmic collisions, and the origins of other solar systems are revealed in stark clarity. Her talk will focus on new images from NASA's Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes, how these images are add-ing to our knowledge, and what they are telling us about our complex universe. Dr. Weaver is from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland where she serves as the Associate Director for Science in the Exploration of the Universe Division. She was the program scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope and is also affiliated with Johns Hopkins University as an adjunct associate professor. In 1996, she won a NASA Presidential Early Career Award to pursue research in extragalactic astronomy. NOTE: The business portion of our General Meeting on Friday, November 16 will be held immediately following the presentation by our featured speaker, Dr. Kimberly Weaver. 8PM IN THE MAIN LECTURE HALL MEMBERSHIP DUES Regular Membership: $21 Sustaining Membership: $31 Sponsoring Membership: $46 Family Membership: $5 First Time Application Fee: $3 Sky & Telescope: $32.95 Astronomy subscription: $34 (Subscription renewals to S&T can be done directly. See "Membrship-Dues" on website for details.) AAI Dues can be paid in person to Membership Chair or Treas-urer, or by mail to: AAI, PO Box 111, Garwood, NJ 07027-0111 DR. LEW'S SEMINARS See Dr. Lew Thomas for possible upcoming seminar topics. (Choice of topic at Dr. Lew's seminars is determined by participants' interest) EMAIL CONTACTS president@asterism.org President of AAI editor@asterism.org Editor of The Asterism Ray Shapp, Acting Editor Deadline for submissions to each month's newsletter is the first Friday of that month. membership@asterism.org AAI Membership Chair trustees@asterism.org All three Trustees of AAI ray@asterism.org Ray Shapp for the website exec@asterism.org Executive Committee plus Trustees QOs@asterism.org All Qualified Observers Info@asterism.org AAI president, corresp. secretary, and computer services chair DOME DUTY SCHEDULE November 23 Team B November 30 Team C December 7 Team D December 14 Team E December 21 Team A FRIDAYS AT SPERRY November 23, 2007 Ask The Astronomers Staff November 30, 2007 TBA December 7, 2007 What's Up: A Down-to-Earth Sky Guide Kathleen Quinn Vaccari December 14, 2007 TBA All schedules above were accurate at time of publication. Please check www.asterism.org for latest informa-tion (click on "Club Activities") Stunning Beauties of Our Solar System by Ken Kremer Descending Into Victoria Crater on Mars Please contact me for further information or science outreach presentations. My upcoming talks include: Rittenhouse Astronomical Society (RAS) at the Franklin Institute: Philadelphia, PA, Wed, Nov 14, 8 PM. "Cassini and Titan's Lakes". http://www.rittenhouseastronomicalsociety.org Dorothea's House (Italian Society): Princeton, NJ, Sun, Dec 2, 5 PM. "Italy Unveils Cosmic Masterpieces: Italian Contributions to Space Exploration (in 3-D)". Location: 120 John Street, near YMCA. http://www.dorotheashouse.org Program Brochure: http://www.dorotheashouse.org/DHbrochure07-08.pdf Riverside Elementary School: Princeton, NJ, Thur, Dec 6, 6:30 PM. "Twin Robots Explore Mars (in 3-D)". Astronomical Society of Long Island (ASLI): Old Westbury, LI, NY, Wed, Mar 26, 8:30 PM. "Exploring Mars and Asteroids (in 3-D)". http://www.asliclub.org Raritan Valley Community College Planetarium: Somerville, NJ, Wed, Apr 2, 7:30 PM. "Launching DAWN (and Phoenix): From Behind the Scenes, Kennedy Space Center". http://www.raritanval.edu/planetarium Washington Crossing Nature Center: Apr 12, 1 PM. "Mars, Saturn, Asteroids and Beyond (in 3-D)". Dr. Ken Kremer NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador Email: kremerken@yahoo.com Theater In The Sky by Ron Ruemmler December 2007 begins with early evenings completely devoid of visible planets. Jupiter and Mercury are lost in the glare of the Sun the whole month while Venus and Saturn are deep in the cold morning sky. But a little patience is rewarded with a display by Mars that makes up for the absence of all its colleagues. Around Christmas in New Jersey, Mars is above the horizon for almost 15 hours, rising and setting while the Sun is still in the sky. During the endless nights within the Arctic Circle, Mars never sets at all. Of special interest to armchair astronomers is the cluster of events occurring during the few days before Christmas. First is the Winter Solstice which places the Sun as far south as it can get. Eleven hours later, Jupiter also reaches its southernmost declination (latitude) of the year. The next day, Jupiter slowly passes directly behind the disk of the Sun! So Jupiter, the Sun, and the Earth are in a perfectly straight line, albeit totally unobservable. Later that day we have a Full Moon. Two hours after that, Mars passes directly behind the Moon, as seen from Seattle and points north and west of there. That means the Earth, the Moon, and Mars are in a per-fectly straight line. Unlike the Jupiter event, this conjunction is spectacularly observable, even from locations where an occultation does not occur. Since we don't have a lunar eclipse, we know that the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon cannot be in perfect alignment at this time, but the Moon is full, so it must be a fairly close call. In fact, the Moon passes about four degrees north of the Earth's shadow. Still the nearly straight Jupiter-Sun-Earth-Moon-Mars line in space is a nice image. Normally the best time to view Mars is at its opposition from the Sun. This year, however, it's best to try about a week earlier. Not only is the Moon out of the way, but the Red Planet is actually closer to the Earth then. This odd displacement in dates is due to the elliptical orbits of the planets. For the last few years the oppositions of Mars have been getting dimmer. Still, Mars will not be this bright again until 2016. During the last week of the year, try to get outside just before midnight. Find Mars almost directly over-head. Then find Sirius far below it to the south. Mars is calculated to be 0.2 magnitude brighter than this brightest of all stars. Do you agree? December SKY CALENDAR 1 Sat 6:00 AM Moon just below Saturn 1 Sat 7:44 AM First Last Quarter Moon 5 Wed 6:00 AM Crescent Moon right of Venus and below Spica 6 Thu 6:00 AM Thin crescent Moon far below Venus 7 Fri 4:29 PM Earliest Sunset of the year 9 Sun 12:40 PM New Moon 17 Mon 5:17 AM First Quarter Moon 18 Tue 7:00 PM Mars nearest to the Earth 22 Sat 1:08 AM Winter Solstice; shortest day of the year 22 Sat noon Jupiter furthest south of the year 23 Sun 1:00 AM Jupiter passes directly behind the Sun 23 Sun 8:15 PM Full Moon 23 Sun 10:00 PM Mars just below Full Moon 24 Mon 3:00 PM Mars at opposition from the Sun 31 Mon 2:50 AM Second Last Quarter Moon Launching DAWN to the Asteroid Belt Ken Kremer At 7:34 AM EDT on 27 September 2007, I was watching from Cape Canaveral as the DAWN Asteroid Orbiter roared off Launch Pad 17 B atop a Delta II Heavy rocket with 1.1 million pounds of liftoff thrust (see photo below), faster than a space shuttle, to begin an 8 year long science mission for the first in-depth investi- gations of the two most massive asteroids, Ceres and Vesta. DAWN is NASA's newest mission of Planetary Exploration. I attended the launch and the press briefings at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) with a NASA press pass from Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and also as media representative for the Planetary Society. It was the thrill of a lifetime to witness history as the events unfolded throughout launch week. As Guest Blogger for The Planetary Society Weblog, I filed online reports during launch week which are available in the archives at weblinks listed below. One day prior to the launch I had the privilege of an "Up Close" tour of Launch Complex 17 and stood within inches of a mighty Delta II rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. My tour of the Delta II launch facility was graciously arranged by Craig Covault, Senior Editor of Aviation Week & Space Technology maga-zine and by United Launch Alliance which operates the Delta launch vehicle programs, and to whom I am thankful. The complete photo album of my tour is available for all at Blog #1162 below. Left: This image was captured moments after Dawn lifts off from my vantage point about 2.5 miles south of the Delta launch pad in Cape Canaveral. Credit: Ken Kremer Right: Anyone for a barbeque? I am gazing at stacked Delta II with solid rocket motors at the launch pad sitting atop flame duct while awaiting ignition of Solid Rocket Motors. Credit: Craig Covault Launching DAWN to the Asteroid Belt Ken Kremer In the latest post launch news, Dr. Marc Rayman, told me (as we go to press) that all 3 science instru-ments and 2 of 3 ion thrusters have been "turned on and tested and appear to be in excellent health. We have lots more tests ahead, but for now, we couldn't be happier". Marc is Chief Engineer for DAWN at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Ca. More on DAWN at the JPL home page: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/getInvolved/index.asp The Planetary Society Weblog: Reports by Dawn Guest Blogger Ken Kremer http://planetary.org/blog Dawn launch: Go for fueling! Sep. 22, 2007: http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001154 Dawn launch: Delayed to September 27 Sep. 24, 2007: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001155 Dawn launch: One- on-one with Marc Rayman at Kennedy Space Center Sep. 26, 2007: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001160 Dawn launch: Go Dawn, go Delta! Sep. 26, 2007: http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001161 Dawn launch: T minus 1 day: Up close at the Delta II launch pad Sep. 26, 2007: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001162 Dawn launch: Terminal countdown begun Sep. 27, 2007: http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001164 Dawn launch: 77 minutes and counting, go for LO2 fueling Sep. 27, 2007: http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001165 Dawn launch: A brilliant flash and a thunderous roar! Sep. 27, 2007: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001168 Dawn launch: Solar arrays deployed Sep. 27, 2007: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001171 Dawn launch: Post-launch update Oct. 2, 2007: http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001175 Delta II and DAWN rocket to the heavens. Credit: Ken Kremer Rollout of Space Shuttle Discovery Ken Kremer Perched atop the crawler, the Space Shuttle Discovery is rolled out for a 6 hour trip to Launch Pad 39A on 30 September 2007 as I watch nearby in awe. Credit: Ken Kremer Science Outreach and Exploration Update Ken Kremer Launching DAWN to the Asteroid Belt at AAI Monthly Meeting : Oct 19, 2007 AAI Monthly Meeting Oct 19, 2007: A standing room only crowd of over 130 people gets first hand ex-perience with the power of ion thrusters at my AAI lecture on "Launching DAWN (and Phoenix): From Be-hind the Scenes at Kennedy Space Center". At the kind invitation of the Rittenhouse Astronomical Soci-ety (RAS) in Philadelphia on Oct 10, I created this completely new talk (also for AAI) after returning just days earlier from the liftoff at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The presentation described my personal journey, from the rarely seen 'reporters perspective', of launching spacecraft on missions of science and exploration. Credit: Ken Kremer Science Outreach and Exploration Update Ken Kremer AAI Monthly Meeting : Oct 19, 2007 In addition to DAWN, my lecture covered the Phoenix mission to touch and analyze water in the martian north polar icy soil, the revived exploits of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers and concluded with the Solar System in 3-D. Science Outreach and Exploration Update Ken Kremer AAI Monthly Meeting : Oct 19, 2007 Please contact me for further information or science outreach presentations. My upcoming talks include: Rittenhouse Astronomical Society (RAS) at the Franklin Institute: Philadelphia, PA, Wed, Nov 14, 8 PM. "Cassini and Titan's Lakes". Website: http://www.rittenhouseastronomicalsociety.org Dorothea's House (Italian Society): Princeton, NJ, Sun, Dec 2, 5 PM. "Italy Unveils Cosmic Masterpieces: Italian Contributions to Space Exploration (in 3-D)". Location: 120 John Street, near YMCA. Website: http://www.dorotheashouse.org. Program Brochure: http://www.dorotheashouse.org/DHbrochure07-08.pdf Riverside Elementary School: Princeton, NJ, Thur, Dec 6, 6:30 PM. "Twin Robots Explore Mars (in 3-D)". Astronomical Society of Long Island (ASLI): Old Westbury, LI, NY, Wed, Mar 26, 8:30 PM. "Exploring Mars and Asteroids (in 3-D)". Website: http://www.asliclub.org Raritan Valley Community College Planetarium: Somerville, NJ, Wed, Apr 2, 7:30 PM. "Launching DAWN (and Phoenix): From Behind the Scenes at Kennedy Space Center". Website: http://www.raritanval.edu/planetarium Washington Crossing Nature Center: Apr 12, 1 PM. "Mars, Saturn, Asteroids and Beyond (in 3-D)". Dr. Ken Kremer NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador Email: kremerken@yahoo.com Science Outreach and Exploration Update Ken Kremer AAI Monthly Meeting : Oct 19, 2007 Ken discusses entry of Opportunity rover into Victoria Crater in 3-D at Sperry Observatory at Oct 19 Meeting Stella Della Valley Star Party: Ottsville, PA, Oct 13, 2007. The Bucks Mont Astronomical Society hosts this annual star party with a giant observing field at a dark sky site in Bucks County. Well over 150 people at-tended from numerous clubs near and far as the weather cooperated for clear skies. The room was packed with a friendly group of kids and adults for my keynote presentation on "Exploring Mars and Asteroids (in 3-D)". Credit: Ken Kremer Mission to "Millionaire" By Stewart Meyers I appeared as a contestant on the TV program, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" on September 21, 2007. Here are some of my experiences. Getting on a game show is not easy. I made eleven failed tries to get on "Jeopardy" in the '80s and early '90s, and I made other at-tempts to get on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" from 2003 to 2006. 2007: The Year I Get On However, that changed on March 23rd, when the Star Ledger ran an article on game shows which showed what I was doing wrong. I then visited the "Millionaire" web-site (http://www.millionairetv.com) and got an audition. This time, eve-rything went right and I got the call saying that I was to be a contestant. I began working on the phone-a-friend list, though a rule that re-quires only landlines (no cell phones) complicated it. I did get a panel including AAI President, Joe Arcaro. July 26th, 2007 I arrived at the studio and was es-corted to the green room. Later, I met Darren, a producer, who inter-viewed me. Sometimes, a small thing can have major effects. Before taping, I got several briefings. At one, a producer said that the questions are prepared weeks in advance and that some-times discoveries are made between the time a question was written and its use. I noted this, and it would come back to haunt me later. Final Preparations Believe it or not, the idle talk on game shows is planned. Darren told me how to respond about my convention trips (astronomy was a back-up topic). Prior to the game, the staff contacts everyone on your phone-a-friend list. Though I told everyone about the cell phone ban, my brother, Don, forgot and was disqualified. Meredith Soon, I went to the set entrance. As Darren was giving some tips, I met Meredith Vieira. Seeing Meredith on TV is little preparation for seeing her up close. She is shorter than she appears on TV. Also, she seems very delicate. Meredith is a very natural good-looking woman. Meredith told me to take her hand as we entered the set together. The Game Itself After we got on the set, Meredith began our little banter. She commented on my interest in computers, astronomy, and science fic-tion. I played my part and explained that I was not stereotypical. When I go to conventions, I don't dress up as any character, and I don't speak alien languages or foreign ones. Finally, the game began. The first questions were easy. Then there was a commercial break. After that, we did another bit. Meredith asked how being on the show compared to a convention. I said that there was no comparison and that the show was unique. The only thing in common was that conventions had celebrities and "Millionaire" also had one - Meredith. She thought that was cute. Then the game continued. The first hint of trouble was a question about what letter is not at the end of any US state. The choices were "T", "H", "L" and "N". While I should have deduced it, my brain seemed unable to run through the list. So, I turned to the audience. Fortunately, they came through. The $16,000 question was about who was the father on "Hannah Montana". I could not recall his name, but I said that the title of the show sounded like it was a suburb of Bozeman (a city in Montana). So, I used the 50/50. Luckily it worked. Then came the $25,000 question: "which mammal has the longest life- span". The choices were A) Bactrian Camel, B) Asian Elephant, C) Su-matran Orangutan, and D) Fin Whale. This is where that briefing got me in trouble. I was able to rule out the camel and orangutan. That left the elephant and the whale. I knew elephants lived for a fairly long time, but did not recall about whales. However, I had read an ar-ticle two weeks prior to the taping about a whale that was killed and was found to have a century-old harpoon in it. I was not sure if this "new" information was used for the question, and I thought it was too arcane for my phone-a-friends, so I gambled, assuming that it was based on what I felt was old information - and lost, dropping back to the $1,000 level. While that was the end of what aired on TV, I sat around for another minute and got a kiss from Meredith. Then I had to sign some papers so I could get my winnings. Epilogue Later, I found it is well known that whales are long- lived, though the 135-year old whale was a record. But I do not recall hearing about whale longevity prior to that article. Still, it was not a total disaster. Only one percent of the people in the contestant pool are picked, so get-ting on was a victory. While it would have been nice if I had won more money, and I would have liked the chance to discuss astronomy, being on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" was still a unique experience for me. If anyone is inspired to try to get on a TV game show, I would be willing to assist.