ALERT NEWSLETTER – December 2021

Hi Everyone,

I hope this finds everyone well as we look forward to the Christmas Season.

Do you know where you stand on the Naughty and Nice List?

I find it’s getting harder to trick Old Saint Nick, especially with Alexa and Siri snitching on me, for you do know they are listening, don’t you? I heard them talking about me just the other day.

Will I get a nice new antenna, good gooey chocolate or that large sack of coal, as the mechanical sounding heifers were saying just yesterday?

Only time will tell.

But, I trust you are all on the Nice list and are safe from unpleasant surprises.

So, I from the House of Mark and Teresa, we wish you all a very safe and Merry Christmas!

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Skywarn Appreciation Day!

It’s time for Skywarn Day 2021!

Skywarn Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the ARRL to honor the contributions that Skywarn volunteers make to the NWS mission – the protection of life and property during threatening weather.

During the Skywarn special event, normally hams operate from ham equipped NWS offices nationwide. The object of the event is for all participating Amateur Radio stations to exchange contact information with as many NWS stations as possible on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2 meters, 220 MHz and 70 centimeters. Contacts via repeaters are permitted.

These of course are not normal times, and while we won’t be activating K4NWS onsite at the NWS, we WILL be an active bunch during this event.

One exciting feature of this year’s event is its expansion to include the NWS social media outreach. There will be Facebook presentations with seminars, interviews, balloon launch footage and many other interesting surprises.

If you have never participated in SRD you definitely want to give it a go, for this is a fun event.

Details from our NWS Liaison and Station Trustee, Russel Thomas follows:

“Skywarn Recognition Day is an event celebrates the contribution of SKYWARN volunteers to the NWS’s mission. More information about the event, including Operating Procedures for the contest, Participating Offices, Echolink Info/IRLP info, all can be found at the link below. Also, NWS request you fill out the Registration form so NWS can associate your operation with a specific NWS office, the form can also be found at the following link:
https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition

To make contact with us via Amateur Radio:

HF: 10,17,15,20 Meters
2M FM 146.880 (BARC), 147.320 and 146.980 (SCARC)
220 FM 224.500
70cm FM 444.700
DMR Talk Group 31013 which is available on all DMR repeaters in the Birmingham area but is also available on various repeaters in the BMX county warning area.
D-Star: REF058B or REF090C/XRF334C
AllStar: 48168
EchoLink: K4NWS-L (155003)
IRLP Experimental Reflector: 0091
WinLink: K4NWS (at) winlink (dot) org

In 2020 and in response to COVID, SRD was expanded outside of Amateur Radio to include all Skywarn Storm spotters.

Here are some ways to contact our station that are not Amateur Radio:

Zello: https://zello.com/channels/k/duTMd
Telegram: http://t.me/K4NWS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/K4NWS/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/K4NWS
MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/alert

Our participation in SRD in previous years can be found here:
http://alert-alabama.org/SRD/index.htm“

73,

Russell Thomas, KV4S
NWS Liaison and Station Trustee
http://alert-alabama.org

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How To Manually Program That “Darned Piece Of Junk” Baofeng Radio

The Baofeng UV-5R. Hams have a love hate relationship with these little radios.

It is said by some that they reek when it comes to transmit spectral purity, throwing spurious signals far and wide making it a true all band radio since it transmits on all bands at once.

Mine can’t receive worth dog spit, and transmits even worse, but others rave about how wonderful they are. And, they may be wonderful, I sometimes have questionable luck and may have gotten a lemon.

My main complaint isn’t with the radio at all, but with the unscrupulous advertisers who sell them dirt cheap to preppers, off-roaders and anyone else without even the slightest whisper of “pssssst….you need a ham license to use these” and by doing so promote bootlegging on ham bands, public service frequencies or anywhere else they have the notion to transmit.

Some think they are similar to FRS radios and just don’t know any better and some know and don’t care. They figure “who needs a stinkin’ license, in an emergency anything goes”, and assume they will turn on the radio a radio they don’t know how to use, it will still be charged and they will call out somewhere, anywhere on the radio dial and people will be listening random oddball frequencies anxiously awaiting their call and that they will know that they aren’t just playing with Daddy’s radio, believe them and rush to their rescue.

Radio communications simply doesn’t work that way. But try to tell them and some will “bow up”, use the word “radio police” or wrap themselves in the American flag and try to pretend that displaying stupidity is some sort of patriotic act.

On the plus side, they are the least expensive means of getting on the air, are compact, good looking, which certainly counts, because who wants an pug ugly radio? and they are far superior to the junk I ran or tried to run when I got started back in the Dark Ages in 1977.

One drawback to these and other similar radios is the complexity of programming, which is certainly complicated by a manual apparently originally written in Klingonese.

Many, perhaps most, use an app called “CHIRP” to program these radios. I chose a different route.

“Why don’t you just use the durned cable that came with the radio?” I was asked.

There are two reasons. One, is I’m too old and lazy to try and learn CHIRP, secondly, I don’t want to be overly “computer dependent”.

I wanted to be able to change the programming “on the fly” in case someone said “hey, can you hit the new Podunk repeater? It ain’t even listed yet.” Or, if a repeater changes or adds subtones, I can quickly adjust. And, if I am travelling, I can program the repeaters along the route. These are common scenarios that may occur when I may not have a laptop with me.

Also, by learning this, a lot of the mystique of the radio disappears, and you can unravel other features and tricks, which were there all the time, but you just didn’t know how to access them or were afraid to try.

I will warn you right away not to expect this to work the first time, or second, or third. The CD set “Swearing Effectively In Mandarin” may come in handy. You will try, start over, try again, start over again, try yet again and…wait a minute…IT WORKED! Why did it work?….I got it!” This was my experience.

Once you have mastered the Baofeng, programming other radios such as the Wouxon are not that problematic. They all use similar methods.

So, if you have one of these radios, give it a try (or two).

I will mention that you do not need a license to listen, but you do if you intend to transmit on ham frequencies.

If you don’t have a license yet, you will want one, because, if you purchased it for emergencies, you want to become proficient in its use, protocol, procedures, limits, pros and cons and this proficiency only comes by practice, and, the knowledge gained by preparing for and passing the FCC test.

For more information, seek out your local ham club or go to: Ham Radio Licenses (arrl.org)

I strongly recommend that you find and attend your local ham club. They can help you with licensing and with ideas for setting up and using your equipment to their best advantage.

Two of the best are the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club and the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club.
http://www.w4cue.com/ & http://www.w4shl.com respectively.

Now one question that arises is “are these legal for CB, FRS, GMRS & MURs. The simple answer is “no”, They are too far up the dial to reach the CB band and they are not “type accepted” for the other services. They are legal for amateur radio only.

So, lets look at programming the Baofeng UV-5R,

First you will need a frequency list. I prefer the Repeaterbook site, RepeaterBook.com: Quick Search.

One caution to remember is that that all repeater databases are out of date. Some have been recently updated, some not for years. There is no requirement that a repeater owner list his repeater with any database. Some do, some prefer not to.

The result is you will probably end up programming some “dead” repeaters into your radio. That’s another reason why getting involved with your local club is so important. They know what repeaters are real and which are illusions.

Some repeaters are listed, but can’t be found because someone plans on putting it on the air, but, hasn’t been able to, usually due to time and finances, since putting a repeater on the air is not an inexpensive proposition. Some are missing because they are being repaired or renovated. This may take days, weeks, months even years to accomplish. Again, time and finances dictate speed.

Now, one thing worth mentioning is that unlike programming say a Kenwood or Yaesu, with a Baofeng you have to program the receive and transmit frequencies separately. This can be an advantage, in that since you have 128 channel positions, you can program frequencies that you would never want to talk on anyway. NOAA Weatheradio, for instance. MURs, FRS/GMRS, Marine, etc., you can listen to, but, since the radio is not “legal” for those frequencies, you could just program the receive side and leave the transmit side alone. My radio has many frequencies I like to listen in on, but, have no business nor desire to transmit on.

I have many non-amateur frequencies programmed into mine. The radio has a scan program, so, I can use it just like a scanner.

With that said, let us begin.

PROGRAM RECEIVE FREQUNCY

1. Charge the battery pack. (The battery indicator is for flash only. It will lie to you telling you have a strong battery right until the battery dies. Also, very soon after the battery loses peak charge the receive and transmit capability will rapidly decrease. So charge it before you begin.
2. Turn the radio on.
3. Enter “frequency mode” by pressing the VFO/MR button.
4. Press the AB button to highlight the upper frequency in the display.
5. Type in the receive frequency, for example 146.880.
6. Press MENU.
7. If the repeater uses an output subtone so that only radios set to receive a signal with this subtone will hear the signal, use the following steps to program the receive subtone. Not all repeaters use these tones and if you program them in, any signal without the tone will not be heard. I don’t use this feature, because I want to be able to hear the other signals. Especially if someone is not hitting the repeater and transmits on the repeater output. Especially useful during emergencies. If you do not wish to use this feature skip to Step 14.
8. Press MENU.
9. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys, go to option 1, which will be on the right side of the display. The display should show “R-CTCS Off”
10. Press MENU.
11. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys select the proper tone.
12. Press MENU to save the setting.
13. Press EXIT.
14. Press MENU.
15. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys go to option 27. The display should show “MEM-CH CH 001”
16. Press MENU.
17. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys scroll to an empty channel position. (Not that you cannot overwrite a currently stored frequency. You must go to option 28 “DEL-CH”, press MENU, select the channel to be erased and then press MENU to delete that channel. Then you can replace the channel with a more favored one.)
18. Press MENU.
19. Press EXIt.
20. Press VFO/MR button.
21. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys go to the programmed channel and see if it “took” and is there. If not, go back to Step 3.

PROGRAM TRANSMIT FREQUNCY

1. Enter “frequency mode” by pressing the VFO/MR button.
2. Press the AB button to highlight the upper frequency in the display.
3. Type in the receive frequency, for example 146.280.
4. Press MENU.
5. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys go to option 2 to set transmit power level.
6. Press MENU.
7. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys go to set either High or Low.
8. Press MENU.
9. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys go to option 13 to set transmit PL tone, display should read “T-CTCS OFF”.
10. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys go to set the tone, in this example 88.5.
11. Press MENU.
12. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys go to option 27. The display should show “MEM-CH CH 001”
13. Press MENU.
14. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys scroll to the channel of the receive frequency of 146.880.
15. Press MENU.
16. Press EXIt.
17. Press VFO/MR button.
18. Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys scroll to the channel just programmed.
19. Key the radio (don’t forget to identify). If the repeater “kerchunks” Great! If not, go to Step 1 again.

Sometimes you will have to program the transmit information twice to get it to work. Why, only the Lord knows.

Yes, it is a pain in the posterior to try this. But, with time and sooner than you may think, the process will go faster and faster until it’s no big deal. In the process you will lose the “fear of the radio and start to tinker with other settings.

Some of these settings are:

“Using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys scroll to Option:”

Option 8, which turns the beep on or off.
Option 14, which switches the voice to English, Chinese or off.
Option 29. which controls the “tuning” LED color.
Option 30. which controls the “receive” LED color.
Option 31. which controls the “transmit” LED color
Color choices being blue, purple, amber or off.
Option 0. which controls the squelch level.
Or simply press MENU and press 0 to set the squelch level.
Pressing * turns the scan feature on.
Pressing the orange CALL button on the side turns the FM radio on.

Here is my programming scheme:

CH# Receive Transmit PL Tone Remarks

001. 146.880 146.280 88.5 Birmingham (programmed when it was the ARES frequency)
002. 146.280 146.880 – Birmingham – Reverse (to listen for weak signals)
003. 146.880 146.880 – Birmingham – Simplex (in case of repeater failure)
004. 145.130 144.530 103.5 St. Clair County
005. 145.230 144.630 203.4 Birmingham
006. 145.350 144.750 91.6 Tuscaloosa “Tall Tower”
007. 145.450 144.850 100.0 Blount County
008. 146.420 144.420 – Simplex
009. 146.500 146.500 – Simplex
010. 146.520 146.520 – Simplex
011. 146.530 146.530 – Simplex
012. 146.550 146.550 – Simplex
013. 146.555 146.555 – Simplex
014. 146.640 146.040 123.0 Walker County
015. 146.700 146.100 91.5 Blount County
016. 146.760 146.160 88.5 Birmingham (ARES Frequency)
017. 146.840 146.240 156.7 Birmingham
018. 146.880 146.280 88.5 Birmingham
019. 146.980 146.380 88.5 Shelby County
020. 147.075 147.675 67.0 Birmingham
021. 147.120 147.720 100.0 Birmingham
022. 147.140 147.740 156.7 Birmingham
023. 147.280 147.880 100.0 Birmingham
024. 147.320 147.620 88.5 Birmingham
025. 147.555 147.555 – Simplex
026. 146.580 147.580 – Simplex
041. 443.775 448.776 91.5 Birmingham
042. 444.100 449.100 162.2 Birmingham
043. 444.200 449.200 179.9 Birmingham
044. 444.700 449.700 156.7 Birmingham
045. 444.825 449.825 131.8 Birmingham
046. 444.975 449.975 156.7 Birmingham
047. 445.975 445.975 – Simplex
048. 446.000 446.000 – Simplex
049. 446.025 446.025 – Simplex
050. 446.030 446.030 – Simplex

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Receive Only

Multi-Use Radio Service – MURS

061. 151.820 – MURS 1
062. 151.880 – MURS 2
063. 151.940 – MURS 3
064. 154.570 – MURS 4 – Blue Dot (Walmart & Sam’s Club frequency)
065. 154.600 – MURS 5 – Green Dot

Marine Service

070. 156.800 – Marine Channel 16 – Emergency Channel

 

Commercial Dot & Star Frequencies

089. 151.625 – Red Dot
090. 151.955 – Purple Dot
091. 464.500 – Brown Dot
092. 464.550 – Yellow Dot
093. 467.7625 – J Dot
094. 467.8125 – K Dot
095. 467.850 – Silver Star
096. 467.875 – Gold Star
097. 467.900 – Red Star
098. 467.925 – Blue Dot

Family Radio Service & General Mobile Radio Service – FRS & GMRS

101. 462.5625 – FRS 1 / GMRS 1
102. 462.5875 – FRS 2 / GMRS 2
103. 462.6125 – FRS 3 / GMRS 3
104. 462.6375 – FRS 4 / GMRS 4
105. 462.6625 – FRS 5 / GMRS 5
106. 462.6875 – FRS 6 / GMRS 6
107. 462.7125 – FRS 7 / GMRS 7
108. 467.5625 – FRS 8 / GMRS 8
109. 467.5875 – FRS 9 / GMRS 9
110. 467.6125 – FRS 10 / GMRS 10
111. 467.6375 – FRS 11 / GMRS 11
112. 467.6625 – FRS 12 / GMRS 12
113. 467.6875 – FRS 13 / GMRS 13
114. 467.7125 – FRS 14 / GMRS 14
115. 462.550 – FRS 15 / GMRS 15
116. 462.575 – FRS 16 / GMRS 16 / White Dot
117. 462.600 – FRS 17 / GMRS 17
118. 462.625 – FRS 18 / GMRS 18 / Black Dot
119. 462.650 – FRS 19 / GMRS 19
120. 462.675 – FRS 20 / GMRS 20 / Orange Dot
121. 462.700 – FRS 21 / GMRS 21
122. 462.725 – FRS 22 / GMRS 22

128. 162.550 NOAA Weatheradio – Birmingham

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Mark’s Almanac

December was the tenth Roman Month, from whence it gets its name, “decem” meaning “ten”. Among many Native American tribes it was called “the Moon of Clacking Rocks”, as it was the time when they prepared and manufactured stone tools, implements and weapons, since the growing season was over, and bad weather prevented them from hunting.

December is the cloudiest month of the year, with only 40 to 60% of possible sunshine poking through the clouds. It is also the stormiest month of the year for the Continental US & the Gulf of Mexico. By “stormy” meaning large-scale storms, not necessarily the tornadic storms that they bring, even though we are still in our Second Tornado Season.

A region of heavy rainfall usually forms from Texas to Northwest Florida to Tennessee and Arkansas. Cold waves bringing rain, snow, ice and occasionally tornadoes, sweep across the region.

Average precipitation in Birmingham is 4.47” of rainfall and 0.1” of snowfall.

December can be cloudy and cold, and, then it can swing into spring like warmth, luring plants to bloom early, only to have the frosts and freezes return and the plants are “nipped in the bud”.

Hurricane season is now “officially” over, however Mother Nature sometimes throws a surprise in to make life interesting.

From 1851 – 2019 there have been 19 Tropical Storms and from 1822 to 2020 there have been 8 Category 1 hurricanes, but, none have ever struck the United States.

Two notable December hurricanes are:

Hurricane Alice of 1954, which is the only known Atlantic hurricane to span two calendar years and one of only two named Atlantic tropical cyclones, along with Tropical Storm Zeta of 2005, to do so.

Alice developed on December 30, 1954 from a trough of low pressure in the central Atlantic Ocean in an area of unusually favorable conditions. The storm moved southwestward and gradually strengthened to reach hurricane status. After passing through the Leeward Islands on January 2, 1955, Alice reached peak winds of 90 mph before encountering cold air and turning to the southeast. It dissipated on January 6 over the southeastern Caribbean Sea.

The last December hurricane to occur was Hurricane Epsilon during the 2005 season, the year in which we ran out of hurricane names. The year also featured Tropical Storm Zeta, the latest forming Tropical Storm which formed on December 30, 2005 and lasted until January 7, 2006.

Days continue to grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 34.6 degrees at the beginning of the month to 33.0 degrees at Winter Solstice on December 21 and then the angle begins to lift reaching 33.4 degrees on New Year’s Eve,

Daylight decreases from 10 hours 6 minutes on December 1 to 9 hours 56 minutes at Winter Solstice and then increases to 9 hours 58 minutes on December 31

 

Sunrise and Sunset times for Birmingham are:

December 1 Sunrise 6:33 AM Sunset 4:39 PM
December 15 Sunrise 6:43 AM Sunset 4:40 PM
December 21 Sunrise 6:47 AM Sunset 4:43 PM
December 31 Sunrise 6:51 AM Sunset 4:49 PM

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Scorpius.

Mercury, magnitude –1.4, in Scorpius is out of sight passing behind the Sun. In late December he will begin emerging from the sunset and will be briefly visible 30 minutes after sunset.

Venus, magnitude –4.9, in Sagittarius, continues to be the brilliant “evening star” in the southwest during and after twilight and reaches her greatest brilliance and highest altitude in the evening sky on December 7th, and then will begin descending a little lower every week.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the Constellation Taurus.

Mars, magnitude +1.5, in Libra, is emerging from the sunrise and will continue gaining altitude as the months progress.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +7.1, is in Taurus.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.3, in Capricornus, shines prominently in the South to Southwest during the evening far upper left of Venus.

Saturn, magnitudes +0.7, in Capricornus. Is 16 degrees or nearly two fist lengths to the lower right of Jupiter.

Nearby at 22 degrees or two fist lengths from Jupiter’s lower left is Fomalhaut, the Autumn Star, magnitude +1.2.

Saturn sets around 9 p.m. Jupiter sets a little more than an hour later.

When looking at Saturn and Fomalhaut, you will notice that one twinkles and the other does not. For unless there is an extremely turbulent atmosphere, planets do not twinkle.

Planets don’t twinkle because since they are closer to the Earth they are appear larger and that larger size in a sense “averages out” the turbulent effects of the atmosphere, presenting a relatively stable image to the eye. Stars, on the other hand are much more distant and being pinpoints of light, any variation is noticeable.

Uranus, magnitude 5.7, in Aries, above the head of Cetus the Sea Monster, is high in the east after dark.

Cetus, incidentally, is in the “watery” portion of the sky, with the water related constellations of Aquarius The Water Bearer, Pisces The Fish and Eridanus The River.

Eridanus is notable for containing the star 40 Eridani A, the host star of Star Trek’s planet Vulcan.

40 Eridani A, which has a formal designation of HD 26965b, has actually been found to possess a planet about twice the size of Earth and is considered the closest “super-Earth” orbiting a sunlike star.

For now, it’s known as HD 26965b, in keeping with naming guidelines set forth by the International Astronomical Union.

This newfound exoplanet is 16 light-years away.

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/astronomers-just-discovered-spock-s-home-planet-vulcan-ncna911136

Live long and prosper.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, at the Aquarius-Pisces border, is high in the south after dark.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Sagittarius.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, its ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.4 in Bootes.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.3 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster

4575 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of November 18, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

New Moon occurs December 4 at 1:44 AM CST or 7:44 UTC. The Moon will on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

On November 19 there was a near Total Lunar Eclipse. If you have a Lunar or Solar Eclipse, there will be a Solar or Lunar Eclipse two weeks following, since both bodies are temporarily still in a proper alignment or orbital plane.

On December 4 there will be a Total Solar Eclipse. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely blocks the Sun, revealing the Sun’s beautiful outer atmosphere known as the corona.
The total eclipse will be limited to Antarctica and the southern Atlantic Ocean. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout much of Southern Africa

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on December 4, when she will be 221,701 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur December 10.

The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks on December 13-14. Geminids are one of the year’s best meteor showers. It is my favorite meteor shower and considered by many to be the best shower in the heavens. It’s a consistent and prolific shower, and usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing the more widely recognized Perseids of August. This shower typically produces 50 or more multicolored meteors an hour, or about one every minute, and at the peak 120 meteors per hour.

As a general rule, the dazzling Geminid meteor shower starts around mid-evening and tends to pick up steam as evening deepens into late night. No matter where you live worldwide, the greatest number of meteors usually fall in the wee hours after midnight, or for a few hours centered around 2 a.m. local time, as the Earth plows headlong into the stream. If you’re game, you can watch the Geminid shower all the way from mid-evening until dawn.

The Geminids are produced by debris left behind by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. It peaks this year on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th. The morning of the 15th could also be nearly as active this year.

The waxing gibbous moon will block out most of the fainter meteors this year. But the Geminids are so numerous and bright that this could still be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on December 17, when she will be 252,477 miles from Earth.

Full Moon occurs at 10:37 PM CST on December 18 or 4:37 UTC on December 19 when the Moon, being on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun will be fully illuminated. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Cold Moon because this is the time of year when the cold winter air settles in and the nights become long and dark. This moon has also been known as the Moon Before Yule and the Full Long Nights Moon.

As I write this, I am reminded of a Full Moon and a Lunar Eclipse which occurred December 30, 1963. I remember a 5-year-old me looking at it in wonder, which probably planted the seeds of interest that are resulting in the Almanac you are reading today.

I was afraid of the Moon back then, since it kept nosily peeking through the window blinds at me.

Winter Solstice will occur on December 21 at 9:59 AM CST or 19:59 UTC. The South Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its southernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.44 degrees south latitude. This is the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Ursid meteor shower, a minor meteor shower, which runs annually from December 17-25 will peak on the night and morning of December 21 – 22 producing about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790.

The nearly full moon will be a problem this year, blocking all but the brightest meteors. But if you are patient enough, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur December 26.

One notable object to look for in the December skies is The Great Square of Pegasus. By looking overhead, maybe a tad to the North the Square is easily seen. Looking at it facing North, you will see two parallel arms or streamers of stars coming off the upper left corner of the Square. If you look with binoculars at the second pair of stars, and move just barely North, you will see the hint of a rice grain shaped object, which, due to the nature of the human eye, frustratingly fades from view if you try looking directly at it.

This object is Messier 31, also know The Andromeda Galaxy. Boasting an apparent magnitude of 3.1, under clear, non-light polluted skies, the galaxy can be seen with the naked eye. NASA claims you can see it even in areas with moderate light pollution, though you can’t prove it my me.

If you do spot it with the unaided eye, if someone ever asks how far you can see, you can shrug and nonchalantly say “oh 2.54 million light years, give or take.”

Now if you follow the arm radiating from the Square that lies next to Messier 31 on out you will in short order come to the Double Star Cluster of Perseus, one of the best telescope targets in the heavens, And, it doesn’t take Lowell Observatory size telescope to see it.

Backyard optics will do just fine.

 

’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

Christmastime is a time of wonder & mystery. A time of bright lights, shining trees and the time of hide and seek, as presents are hidden from inquiring minds and fingers.

It is a time when one’s mind and memories drift back to days of childhood, and Christmases now long gone by. Remembering friends and family, some here, some now gone & longing that they were near once again, as it was once upon a time not so long ago.
And it is a time when, if we allow ourselves and don’t choose to “Grinch out” and be sour pusses, we can become kids once again.

Most importantly though, it’s a time to remember that the true “reason for the season” occurred in a manger, long ago on that first cold and chilly “Silent Night.”

So, as you go about your Christmas preparations remember the magic that was there when you were a child & don’t let that magic die. Make it magic once again

For Christmas truly is “the most wonderful time of the year”.

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The December meeting will, due to the Holidays, was held Tuesday, November 30, so the next meeting will be January 11 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
Wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

Mark’s Weatherlynx
Weather Resource Database
https://weatherlynx.webs.com/