ALERT NEWSLETTER – May 2023

Hi Everyone, and welcome to the 191 st Alert Newsletter!
I hope this finds you doing well & that you have been enjoying these cool spring days.
Our May 9 ALERT meeting will feature our annual elections.
These will be the first elections since life was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Positions to be decided are President, Vice President, Treasurer/Membership, Secretary and NWS
Liaison/K4NWS Station Trustee.
Those recommended by the Nominating Committee and any nominations from the floor (made by
a current ALERT Operational Member) and any volunteers for those positions will be voted on by
secret ballot, or acclamation if no other nominations exist from the floor.
If you are a paid up Operational Member or Supporting Member, which is a member interested in
Amateur Radio, Skywarn or Emergency Communications, but doesn’t have a ham license, you
may vote in the 2023-2024 ALERT leadership elections.
The positions of Public Information Officer and the non-permanent 1 two year and 2 one year
Board of Directors positions will be appointed by the incoming President.
The Editor of the Newsletter isn’t mentioned in the Bylaws and is merely a voluntary “labor of
love” of which I have been overseeing since 2007. And, not hearing any volunteers clawing at the
doors to take over, I will probably (pending Presidential approval) continue onward and upward to
infinity and beyond.
The officers will assume their positions at the July meeting.
July is also when ALERT dues are due. Remember, if you wish to respond to ALERT callouts or
serve as an officer you MUST be current with your dues.
May your May be a happy one!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2023 Hurricane Outlooks

Colorado State University has issued its outlook for the 2023 tropical season, which runs from
June 1 to November 30.
https://tropical.colostate.edu/Forecast/2023-04.pdf
Their forecast predicts a near average season with 13 named storms during the Atlantic hurricane
season. Of those, researchers expect 6 to become hurricanes and 2 to reach major hurricane
strength of Category 3 or greater, with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater.
There is 44% chance for at least one major hurricane to strike the United States.
There is 22% chance for at least one major hurricane to strike the US East coast including the
Florida Peninsula.
There is 28% chance for at least one major hurricane to strike the Gulf Coast from the Florida
Panhandle to Brownsville Texas.
AccuWeather’s 2023 Atlantic hurricane outlook also calls for an “near average” season with 11 to
15 named storms. Of those storms, 4 to 8 are forecast to become hurricanes, 1 to 4 being major
hurricanes and 2 to 4 hurricanes are likely to hit the United States.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/accuweathers-2023-atlantic-hurricane-season-
forecast/1503557
The National Hurricane Center will issue their outlook on May 25.
A “Normal” season sees about 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes.
The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, after “above average” predictions, ended up being a near
“average season” with 14 named storms, 8 hurricanes 2 of which were major.
Despite it being a near average season, it became one of the costliest Atlantic seasons due to the
impact of Hurricane Ian, which struck Florida on September 28 th . Ian was the strongest hurricane
to hit Florida since Michael in 2018, following the exact path of Hurricane Charley in 2004.
This year El Nino conditions are forecast to return this summer around the peak of hurricane
season, which would be the first time since 2018 and 2019. El Niño leads to stronger upper level
winds, or wind shear, in the Atlantic, which is less favorable for tropical development.
The 2023 North Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclone names are Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily,
Franklin, Gert, Harold, Idalia, Jose, Katia, Lee, Margot, Nigel, Ophelia, Phillippe, Rina, Sean,
Tammy, Vince & Whitney.
Note that the names are used on a six-year rotation & that this list will return in 2027. Only names
of catastrophic or damaging storms are retired. Which is why you will never have another
Andrew, Betsy, Camille, Fredrick, Gilbert, Ivan, Katrina or Opal, to name a few ne’er-do-well
storms of the past.
If so many storms occur that the 2023 list is depleted, the storm names will revert to the World
Meteorological Organization supplemental list of names: Adria, Braylen, Caridad, Deshawn,
Emery, Foster, Gemma, Heath, Isla, Jacobus, Kenzie, Lucio, Makayla, Nolan, Orlanda, Pax, Ronin,
Sophie, Tayshaun, Viviana and Will.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Mysterious World Of Unlicensed Radios

The Christmas of 1966, when I was 8 years old, I was given a pair of General Electric walkie
talkies. These sets operated on CB Channel 14. While being crystal controlled for transmit, they
had very wide open receivers, receiving anything in or near the 11 Meter band, because they were
basically junk.
My friends and I played with them for a season, talking house to house, fencing with the 3 foot
long antennas, or 3 feet until we broke them trying to put each other’s eyes out and finally lay
these sets aside and moved on to other things.
During the brief time we used them, I only heard one other station beside ours come through the
ether, some guy who called himself “the Georgia Bulldog”, which seemed odd.
Ten years later, in 1976, I found one of the pair in the closet and out of curiosity, I plopped a in 9
volt battery and thought the receiver must have been shot, as there were dozens upon dozens of
people doubling, tripling, quadrupling, cussing and screeching on top of each other.
The CB Boom was booming.
A few months later my everyone in my family would have a CB radio. I would talk to my sister as
she drove to work at night to make sure she arrived safely and I talked many people as I ploughed
through the noise with my puny, but fun station.
Two factors worked to make the CB Boom the disaster that it proved to be. One being that it was
the fad of the day which suddenly plopped two million people into 23 channels, soon to be
increased to 40. The second factor was that the boom hit just as Solar Cycle 21 was heading
towards its peak. So not only did you have to deal with the local free for all, but you also had a
few hundred thousand intimate friends from California dumping in on you via the ionosphere as
well.
Why the FCC created a service meant for local communications in a DX band is still hard to
comprehend.
In 1977, to help relieve overcrowding and to give little walkie talkies half of a chance, the FCC
created 5 channels for “toy” walkie talkies just beneath the 6 meter ham band on 49.830, 49.845,
49.860, 49.875 and 49.890 MHz. 49.860 being the most used commonly frequency.
These new $7.95 100 mw units touted “up to ¼ mile range” and the “toy” Channel 14 units were
phased out and no longer sold after 1978, although a few not dubbed “toys” continued for a while.
Curious as to what activity I might hear, I got a 49 MHz walkie talkie and I never heard another set
drift in. But, I heard something else, quite by accident.
As it turned, out these frequencies were also shared with cordless telephone handset channels 6,
2, 3, 5 & 7, in that order. The base units were in the 46 MHz range. They also shared frequencies
with the older cordless phone base channels 06A, 13A,19A, 25A & 27A, whose handsets were just
below and slightly within the 160 meter ham band in the 1.695 – 1.825 MHz range. Then I
accidently found that baby monitors also used the same 5 channels.
So, quite by accident, I found that basically half my neighborhood had “bugged” itself . And,
Good Lord in Heaven the things I heard!
Now this was before the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 made it illegal to listen to
certain forms of communications. But, even after this act became effective, the FCC said “The
FCC and the Communications Act do not forbid certain types of interception and disclosure of

radio communications, including: Mere interception of radio communications, such as
overhearing your neighbor’s conversations over a cordless phone…” so, I wasn’t breaking the law
listening. And listen I did. It was kind of hard not to.
Exactly what I heard, I will never say, but suffice it to say that The Young & Restless had nothing
on some of those little old ladies that kept drifting in. Just because they were in their 80’s didn’t
mean they weren’t messy little biddies with “secrets”. I won’t even hint at what I heard, as this is a
family friendly forum, except to say, “People, people, people….Good Lord above”.
But that was decades ago as a teenager, and in a totally different neighborhood than I live in now.
And, though there might be some units still using the 49 MHz range, most are in the 900 MHz, 1.9
GHz and 2.4 GHz range.
I don’t know if anyone in my neighborhood uses 49 MHz devices. I’m not sure I really want to
know either. I sort of wish I hadn’t heard what I heard back then. Sometimes ignorance truly is
bliss.
Incidentally, in the early days of cellphones, during the 1G-Analog cellular days, before the
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 made it illegal to do, if you had an older TV whose
tuner went to Channel 83 and tuned carefully in those unused upper UHF TV channels you could
eaves drop on cellphone calls. Most of the traffic was mundane “pick up a loaf of bread” type
conversations, some tended to be pornographic and a very significant percentage of calls you
heard were clearly drug trafficking related.
Everything is now digital and encrypted, so drug dealers can feel safe, and by law scanners and
broadband receivers have the cellular frequencies, 824 – 849 & 869 – 894 MHz blocked.
The 49 MHz band is still available for unlicensed devices and may still be used, but it’s not the
only license free band.
In the March 2019 Newsletter Article we covered “Non-Amateur Radio Options For Emergency
Preparedness” and mentioned the license free or “licensed by rule”, (whatever that means)
services, the Family Radio Service – FRS, Multi User Radio Service – MURS and Citizens Band
aka CB.
The Class D Citizens Radio Service aka Citizen Band or just plain CB we are fairly familiar with.
Channel 19 is the Highway Channel (except in California and the West Coast, where Channel 19 is
for east-west traffic and Channel 17 is for north-south traffic). Channel 9 in the US is reserved for
emergencies, and sometimes is sporadically monitored in some locations, but not to be depended
on, since you can’t assume anyone is actually listening. Often, during band openings you will
hear Spanish speaking stations, from areas where Channel 9 is just another channel. Channel 6
aka “the Super Bowl”, a channel with whopping signals, sometimes splattering from one end of
the band to the other, wild and wooly, but never ever boring. The other channels have traffic that
is just random chit chat, usually without profanity or kookiness, just people talking normally and
stations “shooting skip” seeking distant stations, which is perfectly legal as of 2018.
I said “fairly familiar with” in that there is a love-hate relationship with ham and CB radio. To
some, CBers are the Great Boogeymen of Radio. Anyone acting like a fool on the air is
automatically declared to be a CBer, when in fact, it usually turns out being an ancient amateur
with a cooked cranium.
Yes, there are some CBers who use illegal equipment, with illegal power on illegal frequencies
and some who act like foul mouthed louts, but not all do. I tend to believe that most CBers
actually run “clean” stations and operations, but you since they “behave” they don’t stand out.
Sort of like school day. People remember the hooligans, but the quite shy ones that didn’t act out
fade into the mists of memories. I operate a “clean” station and have since 1976.

At first, I believed the ham vs CB resentment, (and the resentment goes both ways), was simple
rivalry, not unlike rival sports teams. Alabama fans may insult Auburn fans, but more Alabama
fans than not “root” for Auburn, except during that certain dreaded day in November. There are
those who take it to a much darker level though.
Some CBers resent hams because some hams are so quick and vocal condemning CBers. Some
hams resent CBers pointing to poor CB operating practices, disregard for the FCC rules, because
of the history of CB or simply because they think “that’s what the ‘cool kids’ do.” And we all
wanna be cool, don’t we?
Having “dual radio citizenship”, being in both CB & ham since 1977, I can see both sides of the
argument.
As to history, 65 years ago what is now CB was the 11 Meter Amateur Radio band, which
stretched from 26.960 to 27.230 MHz. This was a secondary allocation in the realm of ISM or
Industrial, Scientific and Medical devices and was never a popular band. Partly because it was
not harmonically related the other Amateur bands, such as 160, 80, 40, 20 15 or 10 Meters, and
largely because of interference from the devices of the primary ISM users which legally created
hellacious broadband interference from coast to coast.
Not that much protest was heard, when in 1958 the frequencies were reallocated and given to a
new the Class D Citizens Radio Service aka Citizens Band. But, popular or not, the “we was
robbed” sentiment helped create the love/hate relationship that exists to this day.
GMRS, which shares frequencies with FRS, is sometimes confused as “UHF CB” and some are
under the impression that GMRS is CB Version 2.0 or a “ham like“ service. There is some truth
that the defunct UHF Class A CB was the forerunner of GMRS and defunct VHF Class B is
arguably an even more distant ancestor of FRS, but that is where the similarities end.
Class C CB, now known as the Radio Control Radio Service, includes spectrum at 72 and 76 MHz
in addition to the original 27 MHz channels interspersed among voice channels as well as CB
Channel 23.
In 1973 there was a petition to create a Class E CB service in the neglected 220 MHz or 1.25 meter
amateur band, which, with due credit to the ARRL, was defeated in 1977.
However, in the late 1980’s, the United Parcel Service (UPS) began lobbying the FCC to reallocate
part of the 1.25-meter band to the Land Mobile Service, as they publicized plans to use the band to
develop a narrow-bandwidth wireless voice and data network using a mode called ACSSB
(amplitude-companded single sideband). They picked 220 MHz citing that it was little used and
that it was in the public interest. In 1980 the FCC reallocated 220 – 222 MHz to private and federal
government land-mobile use. The UPS then changed their minds and went in another direction
communications wise and the FCC issued parts of the band to other private commercial interests,
especially pagers, which have now gone the way of dinosaurs.
So, basically we hams lost 220 – 222 MHz for nothing, though the FCC did reallocate 219 – 220
MHz on a secondary bases for amateur use, for fixed digital message forwarding. So, if you ever
look at a frequency allocation chart and wonder why there is a gap of 220 – 222 MHz in the 219 –
225 MHz 1.25 meter band, now you know why.
Will the FCC ever give the frequencies back to the Amateur service? Probably not, as there is so
little activity on the band. Which is a shame, as it’s a very good band. There is a scarcity of
radios and a scarcity of people, probably due to the scarcity radios, which is due to the scarcity of
people who can’t find radios to talk to the few people with radios, and so forth and so on.

Moving on to GMRS/FRS & MURs, what can you REALLY hear on the GMRS/FRS & MURs
frequencies?
After months of monitoring at a location atop Red Mountain from 1000 feet up overlooking the
city, Interstates I-65, I-20/59, I-22 and US Highways 280 & 31 and their tangled drug induced
interchanges. I can tell you that in Birmingham, at least, on FRS and GMRS 95% of what I hear is
business related. I hear schools, security, a hospital, a pet supply store, plumbers, contractors,
random Spanish, and occasionally kids on FRS Channel 1 screeching, but no highway traffic like
CB Channel 19 or “meeting cool new people” as in 2 meter ham radio. It is just not that type of
realm.
There is a repeater near Birmingham in Blount County at Palisades Park near Oneonta on 462.600
Mhz, (DCS 155), which Red Mountain blocks me from hearing at home, but, from work on Red
Mountain, it has a great signal and beautiful audio.
This repeater is operated by JR Lowery KK4CWX. If you have a GMRS license, standard protocol
is to always contact the repeater owner and ask permission to use the repeater before actually
doing so, and if I can ever bore a hole through Red Mountain, look out world, here I come!
As for GMRS, some suggest, (though GMRS frequencies are referred to as “frequencies” not
“channels” since the FCC doesn’t call them “channels” and some radios use different channel
configurations) using Channel 16 for 4 x 4 off road groups (4×4=16) and Channel 19 for highway
use, mimicking CB. Channel 20 was promoted as the “Travelers Channel” with a PL tone of 141.3
Hz, the “Travel Tone”, by groups, but, after months of listening, I see no one frequency used more
than any other. Everything is very random and unpredictable.
On MURs, unless I am near a Walmart, months go by before I hear any signal. Then it may be an
itinerant worker or two cars on a road trip chatting until they drift out of range.
MURs, which has 2 watts power output, and as opposed to FRS. no antenna restrictions and the
same propagation characteristics as 2 meters, is an overlooked resource.
What other low power services are there?
There are critters known as a “LowFERs”.
LowFERs or “Low Frequency Experimental Radio”, are experimental stations that operate below
the AM Broadcast Band from 160 – 190 kHz, with up to 1 Watt using a 3 meter (9.84 feet) antenna.
This is not to be confused with the new 2,200 meter ham band, which stretches from 135.7 – 137.8
kHz, which is available for CW and phone operations with 1 Watt EIRP.
Most LowFER activity is in the form of CW beacons, though actual CW QSO’s do occur, and with
good band conditions and a lot of luck, 100 – 300 miles or more range is possible during winter
nights.
LowFER activity is hindered by interference from power line control carriers, utility stations and if
the conditions are VERY good, Broadcasters from Europe and Africa, as there is a Longwave
Broadcast band in ITU Region 1 from 148.5 – 283.5 kHz.
MedFERs, or Medium Frequency Experimental Radio suffers the same plight of AM broadcast
interference, and even more so seeing that they lie from 510 – 1705 kHz, overlapping the AM
Broadcast Band. They use a mighty 1/10 th of a Watt and a 3 meter (9.84 feet) antenna.

At one time they had a refuge from 1600 – 1710 kHz, with the only competition being fish net
buoys in the Gulf IDing in CW and an aeronautical beacon in Caracas Venezuela. Then the FCC
expanded the AM band to 1700 kHz, which took away all their fun.
HiFERs or High Frequency Experimental Radio lies in a 14 kHz wide slice of spectrum centered at
13.560 kHz. The ultimate in QRP operations, they use 4.8 milliwatts into a dipole or quarter wave
antenna. They are plagued by interference from diathermy machines and other devices in the
Industrial, Scientific, and Medical or ISM band.
Want your own FM radio station? The FCC does permit very low power operations using a 200
kHz wide FM signal where the emission “shall not exceed 250 microvolts per meter at 3 meters”.
The actual output of the transmitter is based on field strength not, output power. One person I
know played oldies music from his iPod to his neighborhood, which the neighbors told him they
enjoyed.
Recently, I was in an online argument, which seems to be the New American Pastime, as a certain
error laden website, “carcbradios.com” stated “The frequencies that can be used without a
license are: 1.) 902 to 928 MHz (33cm Amateur Band)…”
,
They are wrong and slightly correct, in that there are companies that market 1 watt, FHSS
(Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) handheld radios under the ISM umbrella. They typically
stay on a frequency for 90 milliseconds and then hop to another frequency, or about 11 hops per
second.
But, this is a far cry from the case of “aw just get a ham radio and use it, because who gives a rip
anyway?” (An attitude becoming more and more prevalent as people bootleg on ham bands, the
Marine Band and anywhere a radio happens to land).
Yes, it is a radio and yes, it is license free, but then again you don’t need a license for a cellphone
either.
We will close out this article with a little beast called “PMR446”.
PMR446 is the European Union equivalent of the Family Radio Service in the US. Where FRS
operates in the 462 MHz range, PMR446, which uses 500 mw, operates in the 446 MHz range,
which in the US is the 70 CM ham Band.
PMR446 Analog FM frequencies are:
Ch 01 446.00625 MHz “Children’s Channel”
Ch 02 446.01875 MHz
Ch 03 446.03125 MHz
Ch 04 446.04375 MHz
Ch 05 446.05625 MHz
Ch 06 446.06875 MHz
Ch 07 446.08125 MHz
Ch 08 446.09355 MHz “Calling Chanel”
Ch 09 446.10625 MHz
Ch 10 446.11875 MHz
Ch 11 446.13125 MHz
Ch 12 446.14375 MHz
Ch 13 446.15625 MHz
Ch 14 446.16875 MHz
Ch 15 446.18125 MHz
Ch 16 446.19375 MHz

There are also 32 DMR channels interspaced between the listed FM channels from 446.003125 –
446.196825 MHz, but I’ll focus on the FM channels.
PMR446 radios, in their original purpose as unlicensed low power two way radios, are illegal for
use in the US and are not sold in the US. But, it is possible you might hear one now and again, as
visiting Europeans will on occasion bring them with them, not knowing or perhaps not caring
about their legality, or lack thereof.
The interesting question arises though, since they are FM in the voice portion of the 70 CM band,
can a licensed ham use them? The answer is theoretically yes.
They reside in the portion of the band recommended for simplex, auxiliary and control links and
repeaters and Channel 1 is very close to the 70 CM National Simplex Frequency 446.000 MHz.
Two problems arise. First, will it interfere with auxiliary and control links or repeaters?
Secondly the frequency arrangements are 12.5 kHz “splinter frequencies”, which are non-
standard.
But, if the answer to the first question is “no”, that resolves the main concern. So, yes, a US ham
could legally use a pair of FM PMR446 radios, even if they have weird spacing, say for camping
and such. But, with only a 500 milliwatts to play with, there are much better options available.
Assuming you are a ham, just get a regular run of the mill HT and ham away. If you don’t have a
license and don’t want to fork out $35 for a GMRS license, get an FRS or MURs radio.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mark’s Almanac

May is the fifth month & third month of the Roman calendar. May is named for the Greek goddess
Maia, who was identified with, Bona Dea, the Goddess of Fertility, who was celebrated in May.
Since ancient times the first day of the month, “May Day” has been a time of celebration. In Rome
it honored Flora, the goddess of flowers.
On May the fifth Mexican’s celebrate Cinco De Mayo, the celebration of Mexico’s 1862 victory over
Napoleon III’s forces at Puebla. This is not, as many assume, Mexico’s Independence Day, which
is actually on September 16.
Rainfall decreases in May as the Azores-Bermuda High strengthens, expands Westward over the
Southeastern US & begins rerouting storm systems northward.
The door opens to the Gulf of Mexico & Gulf moisture spreads northward over the continent.
The center of maximum tornadic activity also shifts northward over the Nation’s Heartland. May is
the peak tornado month, with a 42% increase over April’s amount.
Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins May 15, and although the North Atlantic hurricane
season has not arrived, occasionally a tropical system will form in the Gulf of Mexico. From 1851
to 2022 there have been 27 Tropical Storms and 5 Hurricanes, including an 1863 Category 2 storm,
the knowledge of which is based on historical reanalysis by NOAA’s Michael Chenoweth and Cary

Mock in 2013 and posthumously given the name Hurricane Amanda, named after, a Union ship the
storm washed ashore. It made landfall near Apalachicola Florida.
60% of off-season Hurricanes occur in May.
Days continue to grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon increases from 71.6
degrees at the beginning of the month to 78.4 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight increases
from 13 hours 31 minutes on May 1 to 14 hours 13 minutes on May 31.
Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:
May 1 Sunrise 5:59 AM Sunset 7:30 PM
May 15 Sunrise 5:47 AM Sunset 7:41 PM
May 30 Sunrise 5:39 AM Sunset 7:52 PM
Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Aries, The Ram.
At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude +4.2 in Aries, The Ram, is hidden in the glow of
the Sun. He will pass between the Earth and the Sun, or be in “Inferior Conjunction, on May 1.
He will then emerge very low into the predawn morning sky on May 12, at 5:09 AM, some 30
minutes before Sunrise, and brighten rapidly as the month progresses.
On May 29, he will reach his highest point above the horizon or “Greatest Western Elongation”,
13° above the horizon, rising around 4:30 AM, and hour before Sunrise, at magnitude +0.4.
Venus, magnitude -4.1 in Taurus, The Bull, becomes visible around 7:45 PM, 35° above the
western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. She will then sink towards the horizon, setting 3
hours and 21 minutes or so, after Sunset.
On May 12, she will be at her highest point in the sky in her 2023 evening visit, shining brilliantly
at a magnitude of -0.3, 40° above the horizon.
One interesting note, during the pandemic, while many we’re shut in watching TV, Washington
University in St. Louis graduate student Rebecca Hahn was busy doing something else. She took
the highest-resolution imagery available of the Venusian surface, which was obtained by NASA’s
Magellan spacecraft from 1990 to 1994 using radar to penetrate the perpetual cloud cover and
loaded it into mapping software like that used by engineers and urban planners on Earth. She
then set out to map every single volcano visible in the grainy, black-and-white images by hand.
The result was a map of 85,000 volcanos.
So, with sulfuric acid rains, 855° surface temperatures, 1000 PSI atmospheric pressure, and now
this, I have decided not to visit there after all.
How many of these volcanoes are active, no one knows. While Mars has inactive volcanoes, only
Earth and Jupiter’s moons Io & Europa have active volcanoes. Io is so volcanic that it is
constantly resurfacing itself.
Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Virgo, The Virgin.
Mars, magnitude +1.3, in Gemini, The Twins, is an early evening object, becoming visible around 8
PM, 56° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He then sinks towards the horizon,
setting just before 1 AM.
He will reach his furthest distance from the Sun in his 687 day orbit, or “Aphelion” on May 30.

Mars has a significantly elliptical orbit around the Sun, and at Aphelion he receives 31% less heat
and light from the Sun than at his closest point, “Perihelion”, which he will reach May 8, 2024.
Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +7.5, is in Coma Berenices, or “Berenices Hair.
Jupiter, magnitude –2.1, in Pisces, The Fish, is lost in the glow of the Sun as the month begins.
By mid-month he will emerge into the dawn sky, rising around 4:30 AM, an hour before the Sun,
reaching an altitude of 10° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks an
hour later.
Jupiter will pass 0.8° South of the Moon on May 17.
Saturn, magnitude +0.9, in Aquarius, The Water Bearer. Is an early morning object, rising, at the
beginning of the month, around 3 AM, 2 hours and 50 minutes before the Sun at an altitude of 24°
above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks.
He rises earlier and earlier as the month progresses, by mid-month rising around 02:14, 3 hours
and 30 minutes before the Sun, and reaching an altitude of 31° above the south-eastern horizon
before fading from view as dawn breaks around 05:06 AM.
By months end he will rise a little after 1 AM and reach an altitude of 38° above the south-eastern
horizon before fading into the dawn around 5 AM.
Uranus, magnitude +5.9 in Aries, is lost in the glow of the Sun.
He will pass behind the Sun, or be in “conjunction”, on May 8.
Neptune, magnitude 7.8 in Pisces, The Fish, is lost in the glow of the Sun as the month begins.
By months end he will emerge into the morning sky rising a little after 2 AM, 3 hours and 26
minutes before the Sun and reaching an altitude of 27° above the south-eastern horizon before
fading from view as dawn breaks around 4:30 AM.
Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim +14.5 in Capricorn, The Sea Goat..
Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint
magnitude of +17.3 in Bootes, The Herdsman
Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) faintly shines at magnitude +17.1
in Coma Berenices.
Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful
telescopes at magnitude +18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster.
At least five additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and
though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as
well.
90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude +19.1 between Hydra, the Sea Monster and
Serpens, The Snake.
50000 Quaoar,and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Ophiucus, The Serpent Bearer,

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System,
glows faintly at magnitude +20.8 in Taurus, The Bull.
225088 Gonggong, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Aquarius, The Water
Bearer.
Unnamed Dwarf Planet 2014 UZ224, nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles
from the Sun, at magnitude +23.1 in Eridanus, The River.
Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, and asteroid unofficially
called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5
magnitude in Lynx.
FarFarOut is 12,246,241,135 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 15 minutes and 40.1951 seconds
from Earth.
The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 45 years, 7 months and 20 days
is 14,793,533,059 miles, or in Light Time, 22 hours, 3 minutes and 34 Seconds from Earth as of
11:50 AM, April 26, 2023, sailing through Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer.
It is still in contact with the Earth via NASA’s Deep Space Network from interstellar space, or more
poetically put “somewhere between the stars.”
There are 1,281,179 known asteroids as of April 26, per NASA.
5338 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of April 17, per NASA’s
Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/.
Full Moon will occur May 15th at 12:36 PM CDT or 17:36 UTC, May 5. The Moon will be located on
the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated. May’s Moon is
“Flower Moon” in Native American folklore, because of the abundance of spring flowers. It has
also been called “Corn Planting Moon” & “Milk Moon”.
During a Full Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -12.7.
There will be a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse May 5. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon
passes through the Earth's partial shadow, or penumbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will
slightly darken, but not completely. The eclipse will be visible throughout Asia, Australia and
parts of eastern Europe and eastern Africa.
The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest distance from Earth on May 10, when she will be 229,500
miles from Earth.
Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur May 12 at
9:29 AM or 14:29 UTC.
During the Quarter Moons the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.
The Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower, an above average shower, peaks May 5 & 6. It can produce up
to 60 meteors per hour at its peak, but most of the activity is seen in the Southern Hemisphere. In
the Northern Hemisphere, the rate can reach about 30 meteors per hour, which is still a decent
shower. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet Halley, due to return in a mere 39
years in the summer of 2061. The shower runs annually from April 19 to May 28. It peaks this year
on the night of May 5 and the morning of the May 6. The nearly full moon will be a problem this
year, blocking out all but the brightest meteors. If you are patient, you should be able to catch a

few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from
the constellation Aquarius but can appear anywhere in the sky.
New Moon will occur on May 19 at 10:55 AM CDT or 15:55 UTC. The Moon will be located 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.
The Moon will be at Apogee, or her farthest point from the Earth on May 25 at 251,351 miles.
First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur May 27 at
10:23 AM or 15:23 UTC. During the Quarter Moons the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.
In the Northern Sky the Big Dipper, part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, begins the month upside
down, “spilling its water” on Polaris, the North Star, which is the tip of the handle of the Little
Dipper or Ursa Minor, the Little Bear.
Interestingly, the Big and Little Dippers are arranged so that when one is upright, the other is
upside down. In addition, their handles appear to extend in opposite directions. The Big Dipper is
by far the brighter of the two, appearing as a long-handled pan, while the Little Dipper resembles a
dim ladle.
The Big Dipper is called by other names across the world. In the Netherlands it’s the “Saucepan”,
“The Plough” in England and “The Great Wagon” in other parts of Europe.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This month’s meeting will be on May 9 at 7 PM.
The meeting will be held at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Calera and remotely as
was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.
I hope to see you there!
Mark Wells
WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter