Following in the Footsteps of Little Bo Peep
    By Aaron B. Clevenson, ALCor

    That very law which moulds a tear
    And bids it trickle from its source,
    That law preserves the earth a sphere,
    And guides the planets in their course.
    By Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)

Welcome to the 6th article on Astronomical League Club certifications. This month we will follow in the footsteps of Little Bo Peep (and James Wooten, our November 2002 meeting speaker) and we will search for the lost sheep. We are going to check out the local neighborhood (at least on an astronomical scale it is local): The Planets.

The Astronomical League has a club for certification as a Planetary Observer. This certification has 27 items to choose from and you only need 25. Sounds simply right? Well not quite. Many of the items are fairly easy to get, some require proper timing, and some are a little tough. They break the requirements up into three groups: The Sun and Moon, The Inner Planets, and the Outer Planets.

The Sun and the Moon. These are 6 pretty easy requirements and a telescope is required for the moon work. There is one for the Sun that involves noting where it rises or sets each day during two adjacent seasons. This is one I didn’t do. I didn’t have enough patience and the weather did not cooperate. The Moon requirements are fairly standard: Maria, Highlands, Craters, Scarps and Occultations. The Occultations require you to know when a good occultation is going to happen, and then to observe it. Not tough, but a bit of extra work.

The Inner Planets. The next 8 requirements contain many that require some additional work as well and most require either a telescope or a good pair of binoculars. You need to find Mercury (timing and planning); Venus: Low Power Crescent (timing), Daytime (timing and planning), and Phases (tenacity); Mars: Albedo (timing, and this is the year to do this, when it is closest to Earth) and Retrograde Motion (timing and tenacity); and lastly the Asteroids: Course Plotting and Measuring Movement (fairly easy). I didn’t do the Mars Retrograde Motion. I was in the wrong time of the orbits.

The Outer Planets. The last 13 requirements are all fairly easy but they require either a telescope or a good pair of stabilized binoculars (tripod mounted). Half of the requirements are related to Jupiter. The easy ones: Red Spot, Cloud Belts, and Satellites. The ones requiring special planning and timing: Shadow Transits, Satellite Transits, and Satellite Occultations. And a tough one with binoculars, following in Galileo’s footsteps, see the four large moons. Add to this the remaining requirements (all fairly easy): Saturn’s Rings, Saturn’s Disk Markings, The Cassini Division, Saturn’s Moons, Uranus, and Neptune. The good news: You Don’t Have to Find Pluto. (After all, it may not even be a true planet but that’s another story.)

Get to know your Neighbors, Join the local Neighborhood Watch, Follow in the Footsteps of pioneers like Little Bo Peep, Find the Lost Sheep, and get the AL Planetary Observer Club certification. Join us next month for a look at Meteors.