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Monday 14 June 2010

SPA ENB No. 290

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                 The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
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         Electronic News Bulletin No. 290      2010 June 13
        ====================================================


Here is the latest round-up of news from the Society for Popular
Astronomy.  The SPA is Britain's liveliest astronomical society, with
members all over the world.  We accept subscription payments online
at our secure site and can take credit and debit cards.  You can join
or renew via a secure server or just see how much we have to offer by
visiting  
http://www.popastro.com/



ETA AQUARIDS
By Alastair McBeath, SPA Meteor Section Director

The generally disappointing year for visual meteor observers
continued with the Eta Aquarids in April-May, as mentioned in
ENB 286 (archived at:
http://snipurl.com/w9p9b  ) due to peak
around May 6, with an aggravating last quarter Moon. Though never
an easy shower to see from Britain anyway, because its radiant rises
only after morning twilight begins here, Section contributors elsewhere
in the world have sometimes had better luck for them. In 2010
though, just Rich Taibi in Maryland, USA, reported having spotted a
lone shower member, on the morning of May 6. You may like to
know the American Meteor Society has just added a profile of Rich
to its collection of biographies of leading North American meteor
observers, including another long-standing Section supporter Mark
Davis. These are available from the "Observer Profiles" link on
the
http://www.amsmeteors.org homepage.

Turning to the radio data, April's Radio Meteor Observation Bulletin
(RMOB No. 201; all past RMOBs are archived at:
http://www.rmob.org ) had already shown rising activity in the last few
days of April, as typically expected due to the increasing numbers of
Eta Aquarids 'radio-visible' during the morning daylight hours. The
arrival of May's RMOB, No. 202, in the past week, helpfully provided
as usual by its editor Chris Steyaert, has enabled a fuller examination
across the expected maximum, combined with a series of additional
radio results from one of the RMOB observers, regular Meteor
Section contributor and correspondent, Jeff Brower. Not everyone
was fortunate with observing conditions unfortunately, with
interference from sheets of Sporadic-E (Es) happening unhelpfully
strongly early in 0this summer's 'season'. Most observers' data were
affected by this to some extent.

Es sheets are localised clouds of ions that collect randomly in the
upper atmospheric E-layer. They generally occur around 120-100 km
altitude, in the upper part of the typical meteor ablation zone (between
roughly 120-80 km altitude for most visual meteors). The clouds are
thought to be composed chiefly of ions from meteors, brought together
through the combined actions of wind-shear and atmospheric internal
gravity waves.  Such ion cloud sheets are vertically thin, about a
kilometre or so, but can be laterally extensive, up to ~100 km, and
they provide an effective surface ideal for reflecting radio waves,
particularly those at lower frequencies in the VHF range. Around 50
MHz, Es often can be detected on most days during the main May-
August 'season' for example, but the number of Es events tends to fall
as the radio-signal frequency increases.  For HAM radio operators, Es
is an excellent way of getting shortwave radio signals to travel a lot
further than would be possible ordinarily, by bouncing the signal off a
suitably-located Es sheet (known as 'propagation'). However, for
radio meteor observers, Es is disastrous, because the quantity of
radio signals reflected by the Es ions completely blankets out the
far fewer signals being bounced from meteor ionization trails. This is
especially so, as to be effective for meteor work, most RMOB
observers are dependent upon radio frequencies between 48 to
62 MHz.

The radio observers who were able to achieve some coverage
across part of the critical Eta  Aquarid epoch in the first ten days
of May comprised: Enric Algeciras (Spain), Michael Boschat
(Nova Scotia, Canada), Jeff Brower (British Columbia, Canada),
Willy Camps (Belgium), Johan Coussens (Belgium), Gaspard De
Wilde (Belgium), Franky Dubois (Belgium), Kurt Fisher (Utah,
USA), Patrice Guérin (France), Mike Otte (Illinois, USA), Steve
Roush (Arizona, USA), Andy Smith (England), Chris Steyaert
(Belgium), Dave Swan (England), Istvan Tepliczky (Hungary), Dirk
Van Hessche (Belgium), Felix Verbelen (Belgium).

Carefully examining the less Es-affected results with the Section's
analysis technique, developed when using raw radio data over many
years, showed definitely increased activity most probably due to
the Eta Aquarids, between May 3 to 9 inclusive. The majority of
operational systems found one or more peaks during the local
daytime morning hours of May 4 to 8, with similar, stronger maxima
detected on May 6, 7 and 8. Although the mean and weighted mean
of all the surviving results statistically indicated May 6 as producing
the most plausible maximum within this interval, nicely in-line with
expectations, the analysis was not able to identify a definitive peak
on just that date. It does seem likely the radio Eta Aquarid maximum
took place sometime between May 4-8 however, and almost certainly
between May 6-8.

Very many thanks and hearty congratulations to all our contributors
during the shower this year!


FIREBALLS UPDATE
By Alastair McBeath, SPA Meteor Section Director

Information recently received from French meteor expert Karl Antier
has increased the tally of sightings for one of the April 16-17 fireballs
(last discussed in ENB 288 - see:
http://snipurl.com/xcmq1  ) to eight,
with two reports now from Brittany to go with six southern British
mainland observations of it. Unfortunately, it has not been possible
to refine the approximate trajectory for this meteor beyond what I
suggested originally back in ENB 287 (
http://snipurl.com/xcqjg  ),
but its probable time of occurrence has now been amended slightly
to between 21:58-22:00 UT.

In addition, there has been a second UK report of the "other" ~22h
fireball that evening, like the first one, also from Norfolk, from where
it was seen to the east/southeast. The timing for this event has been
adjusted slightly as a result, to between 22:00-22:03 UT, and it seems
the fresh witness may have spotted the earlier fireball as well, low to
the west/southwest. That report is among the postings on the April
fireballs topic of the Observing Forum, at:
http://snipurl.com/wagm0  .

May proved somewhat less fireball-productive than April, even so
with five events notified to the Section from the second half alone - as
listed on the "Recent Fireball Sightings" webpage,
http://snipurl.com/w9p6d  . One at 01:18 UT on May 14-15 seems
to have been seen from Warwickshire and imaged in the Netherlands
by Klaas Jobse's all-sky fireball camera system, according to details
kindly forwarded by David Entwistle. Red and green colours were
recorded visually and on the image. The photo is available on Klaas'
website, at:
http://snipurl.com/xcqur  . Another 'dual-site' bright
meteor was spotted on May 28-29 around 22:30 UT from the
Lleyn Peninsula of north Wales and Co Cork in Ireland.

David drew attention as well to the fact Klaas has recently had minor
planet 2002 QQ66 named after him - now 215463 Jobse - a fitting
reward for his many years of near-Earth asteroid and meteor-imaging
studies. I am very happy to add the Meteor Section's congratulations
to Klaas too!

All further British and nearby fireball sightings (meteors of magnitude
-3 and brighter), whether of the above events or not, would be most
welcome. For assistance and an electronic report form, see the
"Making and Reporting Fireball Observations" webpage, at:
http://snipurl.com/u8aer .


JUNE BOÖTIDS
By Alastair McBeath, SPA Meteor Section Director

In about ten days' time, we could see some June Boötid activity for the
first time since 2004, as four 19th-century dust trails from that
meteoroid stream are predicted to encounter the Earth on June 23-24.
These were laid down by the shower's parent comet, 7P/Pons-
Winnecke, at its perihelion returns of 1836, 1830, 1825 and 1819,
and are expected to produce whatever activity they may around 22:40
UT on June 23 and near 00:07, 01:22 and 03:53 UT respectively on
June 24. Zenithal Hourly Rates (ZHRs) are uncertain, but may be
possibly similar to those seen in 2004, which were ~20-50. The Moon
is at first quarter on June 19, and full on the 26th, which, with the
perpetual twilight for UK observers, will make conditions unhelpfully
poor. However, checking for whatever takes place is very important
this summer, especially as most of the maximum timings fall perfectly
for overnight British coverage. Past June Boötid returns, including
that with ZHRs of ~50-100 in 1998, the first strong return since
1927, were readily seen from Britain despite the twilight, so if skies
are clear, face towards as much darker sky as you can, avoid having
the Moon in your view, and hope for the best!

June Boötids are very slow meteors, so should be quite unmistakable,
likely emanating from a diffuse radiant in northern Boötes centred at
RA 14h56m, Dec +48°, an area well on-view throughout the short
nights. Note though that new International Meteor Organization video
results have suggested some very weak annual Boötid activity has
occurred in most recent years, at a level too low to be detected by
visual watchers, from a radiant centred notably south of the expected
one, near RA 14h24m, Dec +38° on June 23. A few June Boötids
could be seen at other times between June 22 and July 2, but
remember, there are no guarantees activity will definitely occur at all.
More information on June's meteor showers can be found at:
http://snipurl.com/xd0or .

Good luck, and clear skies!


IMC 2010 UPDATE
By Alastair McBeath, SPA Meteor Section Director

Do not forget that the price to register for this year's International
Meteor Conference (IMC) at Armagh, the first to be held in the
British Isles, from September 16 to 19, increases after June 30. In
addition, the IMC Organizing Committee recently noted that more
than half the places at the Youth Hostel accommodation (the cheapest
full-board option) have been taken already, so if you wish to register
for this option especially, and have not yet done so, now is the time
to book! Further notes about IMCs generally were in ENB 284
(
http://snipurl.com/xd0q3  ), while for more information on the 2010
event, including registration details and a booking form, go to
http://www.imo.net/imc2010 .


LUNAR FEATURE OF THE MONTH
Peter Grego, SPA Lunar Section Director

A saintly trio -- Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina

On the evening of 17 June after sunset the broad crescent Moon
hangs above the western horizon beneath the belly of Leo the Lion.
If you take a look at the Moon through steadily-held binoculars or a
telescope you'll see that the sunrise terminator has rolled back to
reveal a prominent group or 'chain' of three connected craters just
to the west of Mare Nectaris (the Sea of Nectar), about one-third of
the way up from the bottom of the Moon. These magnificent craters
are Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina, each of which were named
after Christian saints of old.

Theophilus (100 km across) is an imposing structure. Its prominent
circular rim rises 1,200 metres above the level of Mare Nectaris to
its east. Inside, broad walls descend in an intricate series of terraces
some 4,400 metres to an impact melt floor. At its centre, a group of
three hefty central peaks – Theophilus Alpha, Theophilus Phi and
Theophilus Psi - rise to heights of 1,400 metres above the floor.
Low  foothills link Theophilus Alpha and Theophilus Psi to the inner
southeastern and northwestern walls respectively, but the northeastern
part of Theophilus floor is uniformly smooth. Theophilus B (9 km), a
small bowl crater lies amid the terraces inside the crater's
northwestern rim. Theophilus' outer ramparts display an extensive
system radial ridges, grooves, secondary impact craters and crater
chains that spread east across the plains of Mare Nectaris and north
across Sinus Asperitatis to distances exceeding 100 km. Under a high
illumination, all traces of radial impact structure disappears, Theophilus'
rim appearing as a ghostly grey ring enclosing the brilliant spots of its
central peaks and Theophilus B.

Theophilus overlies the northeastern wall of Cyrillus (98 km), a similar
sized crater that shares many of the same topographic features, only
considerably more ancient and eroded than its neighbour. Cyrillus'
ramparts are lower and less orderly than that of Theophilus, but
traces of its original external impact sculpting can be found to its
north, notably in the radial grooves that cut through Ibn Rushd
(33 km) to its northwest. Cyrillus' rough inner southwestern wall is
host to Cyrillus A (15 km).  Three rounded mountains -- Cyrillus
Alpha, Cyrillus Delta and Cyrillus Eta -- rise to heights of 1,000
metres above Theophilus' floor, slightly northeast of centre. A rille
(25 km long) curves southwest from Cyrillus Alpha across the crater
floor to just east of Cyrillus A, and a ridge along Cyrillus' inner
eastern wall gives the illusion of the presence of another curving rille
when the area is illuminated by a late afternoon Sun.

A rough mass of mountain ridges breaks from Cyrillus' southern wall
and runs to the south, across the northeastern ramparts of Catharina
(100 km). Under a low angle of illumination, Cyrillus appears
connected to Catharina by a broad valley. Catharina has a low,
eroded rim that is dented by a number of craters, notably in the
northeast by a small chain of craters that runs south from Catharina B
(19 km). Much of Catharina's northern floor is occupied by the
flooded Catharina P (49 km), parts of whose southern edge are
breached and level with the rest of Catharina's floor. Catharina S
(14 km), the rim of another submerged crater, lies on Catharina's
southern floor, touching the inner wall.

By the time full Moon arrives on 26 June, can you see any traces of
the crater trio? Their location near the border of Mare Nectaris is
easy enough to find, but without any shadows to throw up relief
features, you'll find it tricky to positively identify anything of the
craters, except the bright eastern rim and central mountains of
Theophilus. By the evening of 29 June / morning of 30 June, the trio
is beginning to display shadows from a late afternoon Sun. Have a go
and make comparison sketches of the features at various days and
see how they appear to change over the course of a lunar month –
do send in your results to the SPA Lunar Section.

lunar@popastro.com


A NAKED EYE COMET FOR MIDSUMMER?
Jonathan Shanklin, SPA Comet Section Director

Rob McNaught's 51st comet discovery, comet 2009 R1 (McNaught),
was found on images taken during the Siding Spring Survey with the
0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt in Australia, like the majority of the others that
he has found.  It is brightening nicely and is on track to reach magnitude
3.5 at the end of the month, though by then it will be very low in the
bright summer twilight and only visible from the southernmost parts of
the UK.  It shows a well condensed coma, with a gas tail visible in
CCD images and by some visual observers in dark sky locations.
The comet is now visible all night, however it is not high in the sky and
is highest near dawn.  The best viewing will probably be around mid
June, when it is highest in a moonless sky, though it will brighten
another magnitude by the time we lose it at the end of the month.

The comet is currently in Perseus, and for the southern UK is at
about 8° altitude when it gets reasonably dark at around 23:30
BST.  It passes less than half a degree south of delta Per on the 14th,
and lies between mu and 48 on the 17th.  It is furthest north on the
17th and 18th before crossing into Auriga.  It passes just over a
degree from Capella on mid-summer's day and the short tail should
be nearing its longest.  On the 24th it is close to beta, and on the
28th close to the open cluster NGC 2281, but by now it will be
getting increasingly difficult to spot.  Whilst the orbit is well known,
and so far the light curve has been straightforward, comets are not
always predictable, so do go out and have a look, just in case a
disintegration event makes it a truly spectacular object.

I'd be pleased to receive observations, whether magnitude estimates,
sketches or digital images.  In theory, provided your message has
been sent to the correct address, has a recognisable subject line and
isn't too big (try to keep below 1Mb for email), it should get into my
inbox.  Sadly, I get so much email traffic from various sources that I
find it impossible to respond to the majority of messages that I receive,
but I do try to use all observations when it comes to analysing the data.


OCCULTATIONS FOR JUNE
Jeff Stevens, SPA Occultation Section Director

Towards the end of June there are three opportunities to witness lunar
occultations involving stars brighter than magnitude 6.5.  All timings
below are for British Summer Time and are calculated for Greenwich.
Further details and timings can be found on the SPA lunar-occultation
prediction web page:    
http://popastro.c.topica.com/maan3BuabYA3xcjF2SWb/   .

The first event is shortly before midnight on the evening of Wednesday
June 23.  At approximately 23:42 BST the 5.4-magnitude star V913 Sco
(HR 5942) will disappear behind the slender dark limb of the waxing
gibbous Moon.  A graphic showing the location of the star relative to
the lunar limb can be found at  
http://snipurl.com/x3wyz .  You will
need a clear view of the horizon to observe this event, as the Moon
will be only 13 degrees above the southern horizon.

The second event takes place in the early hours of Tuesday June 29,
when the 4.9-magnitude multiple star rho Capricorni is scheduled to
reappear from behind the slender dark limb of the waning gibbous Moon,
at approximately 0:43 BST.  What makes this a particularly
interesting event is that Rho Cap is a double star, having a seventh-
magnitude companion only about 1" away from it, so the reappearance
may well be seen as stepwise.  Moreover, the 6.6-magnitude component
'D' of the same multiple system (ADS 13887)  will reappear at almost
the same time, just 4 arc minutes below rho Capricorni.  A graphic
showing the location of the stars relative to the lunar limb can be
found at  
http://snipurl.com/x4gxo .  Again, a clear view of the
south-east horizon will be required, owing to the low altitude of the
Moon.

The last event is on the evening of Wednesday June 30, when the
6.4-magnitude star HR 8134 will reappear from behind the dark limb of
the waning gibbous Moon.  A graphic showing the location of the star
relative to the lunar limb can be found at
http://snipurl.com/x4gzg .
On this occasion the Moon will be 21 degrees above the south-east
horizon.

Should you require a more detailed listing, involving stars down to
magnitude 10, please email the Section director at
occultation@popastro.com.

If you are successful in observing those or any other occultation
events then please do send a report to the Section Director, or share
your observation with the SPA on our on-line Observing Forum:
http://snipurl.com/x4h0l


PLANETS
By Andrew Robertson, SPA Planetary Section Director

It's been very quiet of late, probably owing to the shortness of the
nights and the fact that the planets are not well placed at present.
As the Sun finally sets, Venus, Mars and Saturn are lining up ready to
set themselves.  A superb spectacle with the unaided eye is created by
Regulus joining the scene.  The colour contrast between the blue-white
Regulus and orange-red Mars, almost the same magnitude and less than 2
degrees away, is superb.  Mars is less than 6" in diameter, so only
very limited observations can be made.  Through a telescope at high
power in good seeing you can make out its phase of 90% and see a small
North Polar cap.  You may at best get a very tenuous hint of dusky
markings.

Venus is moving closer to the Sun now, getting larger in diameter but
smaller in phase as it does so.  By June 20, as the Sun sets it will
be at an altitude of 19 degrees with a diameter of 14" and a phase of
75%.

Saturn's rings are still close to edge-on.  Through a telescope you
can see the thin black shadow of the rings on the planet and some very
subtle banding.  I have received only one report since the last ENB --
a superb image obtained by SPA member Martin Lewis.  It can be viewed
on the Planetary Section's web page at:
http://snipurl.com/xc9r8 .

Jupiter is the up-and-coming planet for the next season.  Observations
are hampered by the fact that it is still very low (making for poor
seeing) as the Sun rises, which is a shame as there's a lot happening
at present.  As per ENB 289, the SEB has almost vanished but could
re-appear at any time and as per the special news bulletin that went
out on June 5 there has been another possible impact observed on
Jupiter.

Any observations of Jupiter would be most welcome at:
http://popastro.com/planet/contact/


'ASTEROID' 2010 KQ IS ARTIFICIAL
The Register

An unknown object that recently approached the Earth is almost
certainly artificial in origin rather than being an asteroid.  Object
2010 KQ was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona last month
and subsequently tracked by the Near-Earth Object Program based at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.  Observations with the
infrared telescope in Hawaii indicate that 2010 KQ's spectral
characteristics do not match any of the known asteroid types, and the
object's magnitude suggests that it is only a few metres in size.  The
object has apparently made a close pass by the Earth, coming in almost
to the distance of the Moon's orbit, and is now headed away again.
The object has used no propulsion during the time it has been under
observation.  However the Spacewatch scientists believe that it must
have moved under its own power at some point, given its position and
velocity.  Its orbit is very similar to that of the Earth, and one
would not expect a naturally-occurring object to remain in such an
orbit for very long.  It is thought likely to be a booster stage from
an interplanetary mission of the past, now drifting back past the
Earth and out again.  The next visit will probably be 2036, at which
time there is a small chance that 2010 KQ will enter the atmosphere
and burn up.


ECLIPSING WHITE-DWARFBINARY SYSTEM DISCOVERED
Science Daily

Astrophysicists have identified two white-dwarf stars in an eclipsing
binary system, allowing the first direct radius measurement of a rare
white dwarf composed of pure helium.  White dwarfs are the very dense
remnants of stars like the Sun, with dimensions comparable to that of
the Earth.  A star becomes a white dwarf when it has exhausted its
nuclear fuel and all that remains is the dense inner core, typically
made of carbon and oxygen.  One of the stars in the newly discovered
binary is a relatively rare helium-core white dwarf with a mass only
10-20% of that of the Sun.  The existence of such stars has been known
for more than 20 years.  Theoretical work predicted that they should
be hotter and larger than ordinary white dwarfs, but until now their
size had never been measured.  Photometric monitoring of the unusual
white-dwarf binary system NLTT 11748 with the Faulkes Telescope North
of the Las Cumbres Observatory, with a frequency of about one exposure
a minute, showed a few consecutive images where the star was slightly
fainter.  There proved to be two three-minute eclipses during every
5.6-hour orbit.  The discovery was confirmed by the 10-m Keck
telescope just five weeks after the first observation.  Scientists
were able to measure the radial velocity of the more-luminous star as
it orbited its fainter companion, which is also a white dwarf but is a
more ordinary one, composed mostly of carbon and oxygen and with about
70% of the mass of the Sun.  The ordinary one is more massive and also
much smaller than the helium dwarf, and is 30 times fainter.  The
formation of such a binary system containing an extremely-low-mass
helium white dwarf must be the result of mass loss and transfer
between the two original stars.


CAUSE OF BLACK-HOLE OUTBURSTS
NASA

Data from an ongoing survey by the Swift satellite have helped
astronomers understand why a small percentage of black holes emit vast
amounts of energy.  Only about 1% of super-massive black holes exhibit
that behaviour.  The new findings confirm that black holes 'light up'
when galaxies collide, and the data may offer insight into the future
behaviour of the black hole in our own Milky Way galaxy.  The intense
emission from galactic nuclei arises near a super-massive black hole
containing between a million and a billion times the Sun's mass.
Giving off as much as 10 billion times the Sun's energy, some active
galactic nuclei (AGN) are among the most luminous objects in the
Universe.  They include quasars and blazars.

Before Swift's hard-X-ray survey, astronomers could not be sure that
they had counted the majority of the AGN.  Thick clouds of dust and
gas surround the black hole in an active galaxy, and can block
ultraviolet, optical and low-energy ('soft') X-rays.  Infrared
radiation from warm dust near the black hole can pass through the
material, but it can be confused with emissions from the galaxy's
star-forming regions.  Hard X-rays can allow scientists to detect
directly the energetic processes occurring near the black hole.  Since
2004, the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) aboard Swift has been mapping
the sky in hard X-rays.  The survey, which is sensitive to AGN as far
as 200 Mpc (megaparsecs; 1 parsec is about 3.26 light-years) away,
uncovered dozens of previously unrecognized systems.  The team has
found that about a quarter of the BAT galaxies are in mergers or close
pairs; theoreticians had already thought that mergers should trigger
AGNs.


OLD MOON ROVER RETURNS LASER FLASHES TO EARTH
NASA

A Soviet robot lost on the Moon for the past 40 years has been found
again, and is returning surprisingly strong laser pulses.  Scientists
beamed a laser on Lunokhod 1's position, and were surprised by the
power of the reflection.  The scientists from the University of
California will attempt to get the robot working again.  Almost
forgotten in the lore of the Apollo-era space race, Lunokhod 1 was one
of the greatest successes of the Soviet lunar-exploration programme.
The remote-controlled rover travelled almost 7 miles during an
11-month tour, relaying thousands of TV images and hundreds of
high-resolution panoramas back to Earth.  It also sampled and analyzed
lunar soil at 500 locations.  Then Lunokhod 1 was lost -- until last
month, when the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter found it again.


NEW NATIONAL TELESCOPE AT LA SILLA
ESO

A new robotic telescope has seen 'first light' at ESO's La Silla
Observatory in Chile.  TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals
Small Telescope) is a collaboration between the University of Liège
and the Geneva Observatory.  The telescope is installed in the
building that housed the old Swiss T70 telescope.  The project is on a
fast track: it took only two years between taking the decision to
build and first light.  It is a lightweight 0.6-m robotic telescope,
fully automated and moving precisely across the sky at a high speed.
The observing programme is prepared in advance and the telescope can
perform a full night of observations unattended.  A meteorological
station monitors the weather continuously and decides to close the
dome if necessary.

TRAPPIST is intended to study planetary systems through two
approaches: the detection and characterization of planets outside the
Solar System (exo-planets), and the study of comets orbiting the Sun.
It will make high-precision measurements of brightness dips that might
be caused by exo-planet transits.  The astronomers behind TRAPPIST
will work closely with those using HARPS on the 3.6-m telescope and
CORALIE on the Swiss 1.2-m Euler telescope, both at La Silla.
TRAPPIST will also be used for the study of southern comets.  The
telescope is equipped with special cometary filters to allow
astronomers to study regularly and in detail the ejection of several
types of molecules by comets.



Bulletin compiled by Clive Down

(c) 2010 the Society for Popular Astronomy


--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Profile:
http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
--
Web:
http://lyra.freewebsites.com/
--
Information:
http://www.clubbz.com/club/2895/LOWESTOFT---3054/Lowestoft%20And%20Great%20Yarmouth%20Regional%20Astronomers%20(Lyra

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