Sir Patrick Moore...
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Monday 10 December 2012
[BAA-ebulletin 00711] Sir Patrick Moore
============================================================
BAA electronic bulletin
============================================================
It is with the deepest sadness that I report the death just before 12.30
today of Sir Patrick Moore.
Patrick has long been an inspiration and guide for so many BAA members.
He served as the Association's President from 1982-1984, as well as
directing with energy and distinction both the Mercury & Venus Section
and the Lunar Section. Indeed, he performed the latter role on two
occasions, from 1964-1968 and from 1971-1976. In recent years he has
been an honorary Vice-President, and although he has been unable to
attend our meetings, he has continued to take an active interest in the
affairs of the Association that he first joined in December 1934 at the
age of 11. He made a point of visiting the BAA stand at Astrofest 2012,
despite not being in the best of health.
There can be few BAA members who do not owe their interest in astronomy
to the influence of Patrick, either through his numerous publications or
his monthly "Sky at Night" television programme. His enthusiasm was
deeply infectious, and what he had to say was truly inspirational. Many
of us benefited from personal contact with him - the time and energy he
devoted to correspondence with all who wrote to him was quite amazing,
and his hospitality at Farthings legendary.
Patrick's passing was peaceful, at home in Selsey, where he was
surrounded by those closest to him. Many of us felt that this day could
never come, and that the normal laws of nature would somehow be
suspended in this case. Sadly and inevitably, that was not be be, and we
shall all miss a presence that has enriched British astronomy, and the
lives of most of us, for as long as we can remember.
In due course we shall have occasion to pay full and proper tribute to
the man and his achievements. The grief we feel at this moment is
bitter, but Patrick's legacy is immense - and that is something from
which we shall all continue to benefit in the future.
Bill Leatherbarrow
President
============================================================
BAA-ebulletin mailing list or visit:
http://lists.britastro.org/mailman/listinfo/baa-ebulletin
(c) 2012 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/
============================================================
--
BAA electronic bulletin
============================================================
It is with the deepest sadness that I report the death just before 12.30
today of Sir Patrick Moore.
Patrick has long been an inspiration and guide for so many BAA members.
He served as the Association's President from 1982-1984, as well as
directing with energy and distinction both the Mercury & Venus Section
and the Lunar Section. Indeed, he performed the latter role on two
occasions, from 1964-1968 and from 1971-1976. In recent years he has
been an honorary Vice-President, and although he has been unable to
attend our meetings, he has continued to take an active interest in the
affairs of the Association that he first joined in December 1934 at the
age of 11. He made a point of visiting the BAA stand at Astrofest 2012,
despite not being in the best of health.
There can be few BAA members who do not owe their interest in astronomy
to the influence of Patrick, either through his numerous publications or
his monthly "Sky at Night" television programme. His enthusiasm was
deeply infectious, and what he had to say was truly inspirational. Many
of us benefited from personal contact with him - the time and energy he
devoted to correspondence with all who wrote to him was quite amazing,
and his hospitality at Farthings legendary.
Patrick's passing was peaceful, at home in Selsey, where he was
surrounded by those closest to him. Many of us felt that this day could
never come, and that the normal laws of nature would somehow be
suspended in this case. Sadly and inevitably, that was not be be, and we
shall all miss a presence that has enriched British astronomy, and the
lives of most of us, for as long as we can remember.
In due course we shall have occasion to pay full and proper tribute to
the man and his achievements. The grief we feel at this moment is
bitter, but Patrick's legacy is immense - and that is something from
which we shall all continue to benefit in the future.
Bill Leatherbarrow
President
============================================================
BAA-ebulletin mailing list or visit:
http://lists.britastro.org/mailman/listinfo/baa-ebulletin
(c) 2012 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/
============================================================
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
--
Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
--
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)
--
Information
--
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)
--
Information
--
Monday 26 November 2012
SPA ENB No. 343
***********************************
The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
***********************************
====================================================
Electronic News Bulletin No. 343 2012 November 25
====================================================
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/
FREE DVD
For a limited time only, new members of the SPA will receive a free
DVD, Eyes on the Skies, produced by the ESA/Hubble team. The
60-minute programme covers the development of the telescope, from its
invention to the achievements of the Hubble telescope, and is on sale
elsewhere at £14.99. Joining the SPA has never been better value!
GIFT IDEAS FOR CHRISTMAS
The SPA has a varied range of astronomy related gifts that are
suitable for Christmas. Included in the selection are ideas for all
members of the family.
Just arrived is a new range of galactic jewellery - pendants and
keyrings.
Also just arrived, and ideal for a cloudy night, is the game
'Astronauts'.
Check out the complete range at the SPA shop - www.shop.popastro.com
ORPHANED PLANET DISCOVERED
ESO
Astronomers have identified an object that is probably a planet
wandering through space without a parent star. At a distance of about
100 light-years, it is the closest such object so far discovered.
Its comparative proximity, and the absence of a bright star very close
to it, has allowed the team to study its atmosphere. The object also
gives astronomers a preview of the exo-planets that they hope future
instruments will image around stars other than the Sun. Free-
floating planets are planetary-mass objects that roam through space
without any ties to a star. Possible examples of such objects have
been found before, but without knowledge of their ages, it was not
possible for astronomers to know whether they were really planets or
brown dwarfs ('failed stars') that lack the mass to trigger the
nuclear reactions that make stars shine. The new object, labelled
CFBDSIR2149, may be associated with the 'AB Doradus moving group',
which is the closest such group to the Solar System. If so, then it
is a young object, and it is possible to deduce much more about it,
including its temperature, mass, and what its atmosphere is made of.
There remains a possibility that the association with the moving group
is by chance. Free-floating objects like CFBDSIR2149 are thought to
form either as normal planets that have been ejected from the
vicinities of their parent stars, or as lone objects like the smallest
stars or brown dwarfs.
GAS AND DUST AROUND 49 CETI
ScienceDaily
Over the past three decades, astronomers have discovered hundreds of
dusty discs around stars, but only two -- 49 Ceti is one -- also have
large amounts of gas orbiting them. Young stars, about a million
years old, have discs of both dust and gas orbiting them, but the gas
almost always dissipates within about 10 million years. Yet 49 Ceti,
which is thought to be about 40 million years old, is still being
orbited by a large quantity of gas in the form of carbon monoxide
molecules. Astronomers do not know why there should be so much gas
around an otherwise ordinary star that is that old. The gas may be in
a massive disc region, perhaps rather similar to the Sun's Kuiper Belt,
although 49 Ceti is a much brighter star than the Sun -- it is more
like Sirius.
The total mass of the various objects that make up the Kuiper Belt,
which lies beyond the orbit of Neptune and includes Pluto, is about
one-tenth the mass of the Earth. But when the Sun was young, the
Kuiper Belt may have had a mass as much as 40 times the Earth's. The
possible analogue that orbits around 49 Ceti, however, now has a mass
of about 400 Earth masses. Innumerable comets may orbit around
49 Ceti and also round one other star whose age is about 30 million
years. Young comets probably contain more carbon monoxide than
typical comets in our Solar System. When they collide, the carbon
monoxide escapes as a gas. It is suggested that the gas seen around
the two stars is the result of an incredible number of collisions
among their comets -- but that begs a question, because the comets
must have been formed from carbon monoxide (among other things) in
the first place.
PLANETARY NEBULA EXPLAINED?
ESO
Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered a
pair of stars orbiting each other at the centre of a remarkable
planetary nebula. The new result supports a suggestion about what
controls the spectacular and symmetrical appearance of the nebula.
Planetary nebulae are glowing shells of gas around white dwarfs --
formerly-Sun-like stars in the final stages of their evolution.
'Fleming 1' is a beautiful example that has strikingly symmetrical
jets that weave into knotty, curved patterns. It is in the southern
constellation Centaurus and was discovered just over a century ago by
Williamina Fleming, a former maid who was hired by Harvard College
Observatory after showing an aptitude for astronomy.
Astronomers have wondered how the symmetrical jets could be created,
but no consensus has been reached. Now, an effort has been made to
combine new observations of Fleming 1 with computer modelling to
explain how the bizarre shapes came about. The team used the VLT to
study the light coming from the central star and found that Fleming 1
is likely to have two white dwarfs at its centre, circling each other
every 1.2 days. Although binary stars have been found at the hearts
of planetary nebulae before, systems with two white dwarfs orbiting
one another are rare. Astronomers have suggested a binary star
before, but it was thought that in that case the pair would be well
separated, with an orbital period of tens of years or longer. The new
observations found the pair to be very much closer. When a star
with a mass up to eight times that of the Sun approaches the end of
its evolution, it begins to lose mass by blowing off its outer shells.
That exposes the hot inner core of the star, which radiates strongly,
causing the outward-moving cocoons of gas to glow brightly as a
planetary nebula. Many such nebulae are strikingly complex, with
knots, filaments, and intense jets of material forming intricate
patterns. The new study indicates that the patterns for Fleming 1 are
the result of the close interaction between the pair of stars -- the
surprising swan song of a stellar couple. This is the most
comprehensive case yet of a binary central star for which simulations
have correctly reproduced the shape of the surrounding nebula.
STAR FORMATION SLUMPS BY 97%
RAS
The current model for the evolution of the Universe supposes that
stars began to form about 13.4 billion years ago, or around three
hundred million years after the Big Bang. Many of the first stars are
thought to have been monsters by today's standards, and were probably
hundreds of times more massive than the Sun. Such objects would have
aged very quickly, exhausted their fuel, and exploded as supernovae
within a million years or so. Lower-mass stars, in contrast, have
much longer lives and last for billions of years. Much of the dust
and gas from stellar explosions was (and still is) recycled to form
fresh generations of stars. Our Sun, for example, is thought to be a
third-generation star, and has a very typical mass by today's
standards. But regardless of their mass and properties, stars are key
ingredients of galaxies like our own Milky Way. Unveiling the history
of star formation across cosmic time is fundamental to understanding
how galaxies form and evolve.
In a new study, scientists used the UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), the
VLT and the Subaru telescope to carry out a survey of star-forming
galaxies at different distances, with around ten times the data of any
previous effort. With the range of distances, the time taken for the
light to reach us means that we see identically selected galaxies at
different periods in the history of the Universe, so we may be able to
understand how conditions changed over time. By looking at the light
from clouds of gas and dust in galaxies where stars are forming, the
team is able to assess the rate at which stars are being born. It
seems that the production of stars in the Universe as a whole has been
continuously declining over the last 11 billion years, being 30 times
lower today than at its peak 11 billion years ago. If the decline
continues, then no more than 5% more stars will form over the
remaining history of the cosmos, even if it lasts for ever. The
research suggests that we live in a Universe dominated by old stars.
Half of them were born in the boom that took place between 11 and 9
billion years ago, and it took five times as long to produce the rest.
CANDIDATE FOR MOST DISTANT GALAXY
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
A new record has been claimed by 'CLASH' (Cluster Lensing And
Supernova Survey with Hubble) for finding the most distant galaxy,
which appears as a diminutive blob that is only a tiny fraction of the
size of our Milky Way galaxy. The CLASH survey is a multi-wavelength
census of 25 massive clusters of galaxies. The programme uses the
'gravitational lensing' effects of such clusters to identify amplified
images of objects behind them. The very distant galaxy, called
MACS0647-JD, is seen as it appeared when its light left it 420 million
years after the 'big bang' when the Universe was only 3% of its
present age of 13.7 billion years. Its light has travelled 13.3
billion years to reach us. Along the way, 8 billion years into its
journey, it found multiple paths around the massive galaxy cluster
MACS J0647+7015. In the absence of the cluster, astronomers would not
have seen it, but because of gravitational lensing, the CLASH research
team was able to observe three magnified images of MACS0647-JD with
the Hubble telescope. The cluster's gravity boosted the light from
the far galaxy, making the images appear about eight, seven, and two
times brighter than they otherwise would be. MACS0647-JD is less than
600 light-years across; for comparison, the Large Magellanic Cloud (a
dwarf-galaxy companion to the Milky Way) is 14,000 light-years across.
MACS0647-JD has a redshift of 11, the highest yet observed.
TYCHO BRAHE 'NOT POISONED'
BBC Online
The 16th-Century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe is unlikely to have
been poisoned, according to a researcher studying his remains. His
body was exhumed in 2010 in a bid to establish the cause of his death.
Tycho was born Tyge Ottesen Brahe in 1546 in Scania, which at the time
was a Danish province, and studied astronomy at the University of
Copenhagen, as well as at German academic institutions. He catalogued
more than 1,000 new stars, and his stellar and planetary observations
helped lay the foundations of modern astronomy. Brahe's fame is also
partly due to his personal life. He lost the bridge of his nose in a
duel while at the University of Rostock in 1566, and wore a metal
prosthetic for the rest of his life. Tests now indicate that the
prosthetic was in fact made of brass, not gold and silver as accounts
had suggested.
On his death in 1601, he was buried at Tyn Church near Prague's Old
Town Square. His body has been exhumed previously, in 1901. It has
been thought that he died of a bladder infection, but traces of
mercury were found in hair taken from his beard in 1901. However, the
recent tests have found that the level of mercury was not high enough
to have killed him. There has been speculation that he was killed on
the orders of the Danish king, or even by fellow astronomer Johannes
Kepler. A team of Danish and Czech scientists has been working to
solve the problem by analysing bone, hair and clothing samples. The
description given by Kepler of Brahe's death at the age of 54 matches
well the progression of a severe bladder infection. One widely told
story is that his bladder burst at a royal banquet when he had not
dared to leave the table to relieve himself. Accounts say that he
died 11 days later.
GEMINID METEOR SHOWER
By Tony Markham, SPA Meteor Section Director
The 2012 Geminids are very well placed for observation, with their
December peak being almost coincident with New Moon. Although the
Perseids of August attract more observers, the Geminids of December
produce higher rates. Observing the Geminids does, however, pose the
challenges of enduring the cold December nights and a (usually) lower
chance of clear skies than for the Perseids.
The Geminid meteor shower is active from around Dec 7 to Dec 16. This
year's peak is due during the night of Dec 13-14 (Thurs-Fri), most
likely within a few hours of 2330UT. Rates will also be high during
Dec 12-13, but will have dropped off by Dec 14-15. The peak Geminid
ZHR is usually in excess of 100, although actual observed hourly rates
will, of course, depend on the radiant altitude and the darkness of
your observing site. The Geminids are observable throughout the
night. Good numbers of Geminids can be seen from around 8pm onwards,
with the best observed rates likely to be seen between midnight and
2am.
In some ways the Geminids are like the Perseids, being rich in bright
meteors. In other ways they are different, with very few Geminids
leaving persistent trains -- a consequence of the Geminids being more
robust particles derived from asteroid 3200 Phaethon whereas the
Perseids are more fragile icy material derived from comet Swift-
Tuttle.
The Geminid radiant is located near the star Castor. A chart showing
the radiant location can be found at http://tinyurl.com/d2zypg2
SPA SOLAR SECTION OCTOBER 2012
By Richard Bailey, SPA Solar Section Director
Rotation Nos. 2128, 2129
WHITE LIGHT
Forecasts have been made for many months by several Solar experts that
the Maximum of current Cycle 24 will be of lesser intensity than
others in recent times. Records of observations made by Section
members have shown the Sun to have been less active than hoped for at
this stage in the Cycle ( the Maximum is due about mid-2013). The MDF
and R figures for this month hardly vary from those for September. It
will be interesting to see how the data goes from now through to
May/June next year, to confirm, (or otherwise ) the forecasts. Each
day at least one AR was on show, the SH again heading the activity
ratings. No large AR's were seen, the biggest being in mid-month, NHAR
1589 and NH 1591. 1589 was an open cluster of small spots, about 13 at
its best. The Sun was quietest on the 7th., 8th., and 9th., From the
10th, activity in both hemispheres increased, concentrated near the
equator. Around the 18th. NH AR1591 was very close to the equator, 7
degrees N. The month ended with a row 4 AR's across the SH, none in
the NH though. Limb faculae were seen regularly. Poor observing
weather in many parts of the UK again restricted observing time, and
the Director is again very grateful for all the work done by Section
members in such conditions.
MDF 3.89 R 48.66 H-ALPHA
The MDF was up slightly on the September value of 4.86. mirroring the
steady state of solar activity seen in white light. No flares were
seen , nor special plaging activity. Filaments were usually ordinary,
small prominences scattered around the perimeter showed on each
observation. Larger ones stood out on the 9th, 10th and 20th., in the W.
MDF 5.31
Check out impressive pictures and drawings by Section members on the
Solar link from the SPA Homepage, under Monthly Reports. Click on the
thumbnails to see the originals.
Bulletin compiled by Clive Down
(c) 2012 the Society for Popular Astronomy
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
--
Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
--
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)
--
--
Monday 19 November 2012
Shuttle Atlantis plastic wrapped / Issues on SpaceX cargo flight
----------------------------------------------------------
The latest news from Spaceflight Now
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We're proud to help launch Future Space(TM) in a new direction.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's half-century of proven, dependable rocket engines has powered missions that have changed life on Earth. Our employees are ready to lead the charge into Future Space(TM). To innovate solutions, embrace new opportunities and make giant leaps.
http://www.FutureSpaceUSA.com/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SHUTTLE ATLANTIS WRAPPED IN PROTECTIVE COVERING
-----------------------------------------------
The space shuttle Atlantis has been encased in a protective plastic, a wrap that will keep the spacecraft dust-free while construction crews finish building the exhibit hall to showcase her to the public.
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/121115wrap/
SPACEX, NASA SCRUTINIZE ANOMALIES FROM CARGO FLIGHT
---------------------------------------------------
Engineers are combing through data from SpaceX's October cargo mission to the International Space Station, examining a rocket engine failure, electronics glitches from suspected radiation, and a power loss that could have imperiled precious medical samples returned from the outpost, NASA officials said Wednesday.
http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/004/121114anomalies/
GOCE GRAVITY-MAPPER DROPS CLOSER TO EARTH FOR SCIENCE
-----------------------------------------------------
Europe's ion-powered GOCE satellite, devised to skim through the outer reaches of Earth's atmosphere, is lowering its altitude in a precarious attempt to map Earth's gravity field with unmatched precision.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1211/16goce/
MARS ROVER CATCHES WIND OF FLEETING DUST DEVILS
-----------------------------------------------
Weather sensors on the Curiosity rover have picked up signs of dust devils brushing by the six-wheeled robot, researchers said Thursday, but the rover's cameras have not yet caught sight of the passing whirlwinds.
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/121115update/
AIR FORCE RECEIVES BIDS FOR DEBRIS-TRACKING SPACE FENCE
-------------------------------------------------------
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have submitted bids to the U.S. Air Force for construction of a network of radars to scan the sky and detect small fragments of space debris with unprecedented precision, the companies announced this week.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1211/14spacefence/
INTERACTIVE iPAD GUIDE TO CURIOSITY ROVER MISSION
-------------------------------------------------
Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now have created an interactive iPad guide to the Curiosity rover mission. Learn more about the mission, explore the rover's components and preview Europe's plans for the next Mars rover destined to visit the Red Planet. Now updated with a timeline of the triumphs and disasters of Mars exploration.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mission-to-mars-astronomy/id548931049?mt=8
+++ FERRYFLIGHT SHUTTLE PATCH
"The Final Mission" - NASA emblem developed for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft crew and their support teams to deliver the orbiters to their final destinations at museums. http://www.spaceflightnowstore.com/ +++
| |||||||||||||||
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
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)
--
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)
Fwd: Skywatch
Well, tonight, Saturday, was a washout. No Leonid meteor shower to see through this thick cloud. The weather forecast for Sunday night is a clear sky, a mild SW Wind at 5 knots so Richard, Leonard and myself will aim to be there about 6.30 to 7.00 pm
IF IT IS CLEAR.
Usual spot, on the little green on Pakefield Cliff behind the Trowel and Hammer in Pakefield Street, free parking available.
I will bring a telescope. There should be a crescent moon, shortly to set, and Jupiter rising in the East.
Regards
John P
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
--
Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
--
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)
--
--
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)
--
Monday 12 November 2012
Taurid Meteor Shower
Space Weather News for Nov. 11, 2012
http://spaceweather.com
TAURID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of gravelly debris from Comet Encke, source of the annual Taurid meteor shower. Because the debris stream is not very congested, Taurid meteor rates are low, no more than 5 per hour. The special thing about Taurids is that they tend to be fireballs. Check http://spaceweather.com for the latest videos and images of the display, which is expected to peak around Nov. 12th.
Don't just watch meteors, wear them: Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.com/ownameteorite.aspx
--
http://spaceweather.com
TAURID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of gravelly debris from Comet Encke, source of the annual Taurid meteor shower. Because the debris stream is not very congested, Taurid meteor rates are low, no more than 5 per hour. The special thing about Taurids is that they tend to be fireballs. Check http://spaceweather.com for the latest videos and images of the display, which is expected to peak around Nov. 12th.
Don't just watch meteors, wear them: Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.com/ownameteorite.aspx
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
--
Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
--
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)
--
Information
--
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)
--
Information
--
SPA ENB no. 342
***********************************
The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
***********************************
====================================================
Electronic News Bulletin No. 342 2012 November 11
====================================================
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/
FREE DVD
For a limited time only, new members of the SPA will receive a free
DVD, Eyes on the Skies, produced by the ESA/Hubble team. The
60-minute programme covers the development of the telescope, from its
invention to the achievements of the Hubble telescope, and is on sale
elsewhere at £14.99. Joining the SPA has never been better value!
SCIENTISTS MONITOR COMET BREAK-UP
NASA
Amateur and professional astronomers alike have been following Comet
168P/Hergenrother, which has been traversing the constellations of
Andromeda and Lacerta. Over the past several weeks it has produced a
series of outbursts of dusty material. Now the comet's nucleus has
taken another step in its fragmentation: it has separated into at
least four distinct pieces, resulting in a large increase in dust
material in its coma. With more material to reflect the Sun's rays,
the coma has brightened considerably. The fragments are considerably
fainter than the nucleus. The fragmentation event was initially
detected on October 26 by observers using the Faulkes Telescope North
on Haleakala, Hawaii.
MARS ROVER FINDS SOIL SIMILAR TO HAWAII'S
NASA
The Curiosity rover has made its first analysis of soil on Mars.
A preliminary operation served to 'cleanse the palate' of the rover's
sample-collection systems, which may have brought contaminants from
the Earth. With that out of the way, Curiosity used a technique
called X-ray diffraction, in which X-rays are shot into samples that
include crystalline materials. The precise ways in which the X-rays
scatter off the crystals gives clear information as to their chemical
makeup, and hints as to their structure. The 'CheMin' experiment
first sieves a soil sample, separating out the components smaller than
150 microns. It then gives the sifted soil a shake while firing
X-rays at it. The sample was found to contain the minerals feldspar,
olivine and pyroxene, such as might be found in weathered basaltic
materials of volcanic origin, like those in Hawaii. So far, the
materials that Curiosity has analyzed are consistent with initial
ideas of the deposits in Gale Crater (the large equatorial crater
where it landed in August), recording a transition through time from a
wet to a dry environment. In the weeks since its arrival on Mars, the
rover has already examined some larger rocks. The ancient rocks, such
as the conglomerates, suggest flowing water, while the minerals in the
younger soil are consistent with limited interaction with water. The
next step is to deliver soil samples into another experiment within
the rover ('Sam', or 'Sample Analysis at Mars') instrument, which will
look for the presence of carbon-containing molecules.
DOUBTED EXO-PLANET MAY EXIST AFTER ALL
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
A second look at data from the Hubble telescope is reviving the claim
(reported in ENB 256, 2008 November 30) that the 'nearby' star
Fomalhaut hosts a massive planet. The study suggests that the planet,
named Fomalhaut b, is completely shrouded by dust. Fomalhaut is the
brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and lies 25
light-years away. In 2008, Hubble astronomers announced the
exo-planet as the first one ever directly imaged in visible light
around another star. The object was imaged just inside a ring of
debris surrounding but offset from the host star. The planet's
location and mass -- no more than three times Jupiter's -- seemed just
right for its gravity to explain the ring's appearance. Recent
studies have claimed that that planetary interpretation is incorrect.
On the basis of the object's apparent motion and the lack of an
infrared detection by the Spitzer space telescope, the studies have
suggested that the object is a short-lived dust cloud unrelated to any
planet. A new analysis, however, brings the planet conclusion back to
life. Although the results seriously challenge the original discovery
paper, they do so in a way that actually makes the object's
interpretation much cleaner and leaves intact the core conclusion,
that Fomalhaut b is indeed a massive planet. The discovery study
reported that Fomalhaut b's brightness varied by about a factor of two
and cited that as evidence that the planet was accreting gas. Follow-
up studies then interpreted the variability as evidence that the
object actually was a transient dust cloud instead. In the new study,
astronomers re-analyzed Hubble observations of the star from 2004 and
2006. They easily recovered the planet in observations taken in red
light, and made a new detection in violet light. In contrast to the
earlier research, the team found that the planet remained at constant
brightness.
The team attempted to detect Fomalhaut b in the infrared with the
Subaru telescope in Hawaii, but was unable to do so. The non-
detections with Subaru and Spitzer imply that Fomalhaut b must be less
than twice the size of Jupiter. Another contentious issue has been
the object's orbit. If Fomalhaut b is responsible for the ring's
offset and sharp interior edge, then it must follow an orbit aligned
with the ring and must now be moving at its slowest speed. The speed
implied by the original study appeared to be too fast. Additionally,
some researchers argued that Fomalhaut b follows a tilted orbit that
passes through the ring plane. Using the Hubble data, the team
established that Fomalhaut b is moving with a speed and direction
consistent with the original idea that the planet's gravity is
modifying the ring. The team also addressed studies that interpret
Fomalhaut b as a compact dust cloud not gravitationally bound to a
planet. Near Fomalhaut's ring, orbital dynamics would spread out or
completely dissipate such a cloud in as little as 60,000 years. The
dust grains experience additional forces, which operate on much faster
time-scales, as they interact with the star's light. Given what we
know about the behaviour of dust and the environment where the planet
is located, scientists think that they are seeing a planetary object
that is completely embedded in dust rather than a free-floating dust
cloud. Because astronomers detect Fomalhaut b by the light of
surrounding dust and not by light or heat emitted by its atmosphere,
it no longer ranks as a 'directly imaged exo-planet'. But because it
has the right mass and is in the right place to affect the ring, it
could perhaps be allowed the weasel-worded claim to be a 'planet
identified from direct imaging'!
STREAM OF STARS BEING INGESTED BY MILKY WAY
Yale University
Researchers have discovered a band, or stream, of stars that they
believe to be the remnant of an ancient star cluster slowly being
ingested by the Milky Way galaxy. It was found by searching a region
recently surveyed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), an
international collaboration that is mapping the sky through wide-field
photometry. Galaxies are believed to form hierarchically through the
merger of smaller galaxies and still smaller star clusters, which are
disrupted by the gravitational force of the principal galaxy. That
process may be the primary way galaxies such as the Milky Way grow in
mass. The Milky Way is constantly accreting small galaxies and star
clusters, because the more powerful gravity of our Milky Way pulls
them apart and their stars then become part of the Milky Way itself.
Researchers have previously found evidence of the Milky Way
assimilating dwarf galaxies, but it is thought that the newly found
stellar stream, called the Triangulum stream, is the remnant of a star
cluster rather than of a larger galaxy, because the stream is very
narrow.
FIRST DIRECT DETECTION OF DARK GALAXIES
ScienceDaily
It has been suggested that most of such people as think about galaxies
at all picture them as huge islands of stars, gas and dust that
populate the Universe in visual splendour. Theory, however, has
allowed that there could be other types of galaxies that are devoid of
stars and are made predominantly of dense gas. Such 'dark' galaxies
would be unseen against the black backdrop of space. Some models have
proposed that dark galaxies were common in the early Universe when
galaxies had more difficulty forming stars -- partly because their
density of gas was not sufficient to form stars -- and only later did
they begin to ignite stars, becoming like the galaxies we see today.
According to a current theory of galaxy formation, big galaxies form
from the merger of smaller ones. Dark galaxies bring to big galaxies
a lot of gas, which then accelerates star formation in the bigger
galaxies. Now, an international team of astronomers has actually
detected several dark galaxies by observing the fluorescent glow of
their hydrogen gas, illuminated by the ultraviolet light of 'nearby'
quasars.
FERMI MEASURES COSMIC 'F0G' PRODUCED BY ANCIENT STARLIGHT
NASA
Astronomers using data from the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope have
made a measurement that enables them to estimate the total amount of
light from all of the stars that have ever shone, accomplishing a
primary mission goal. The optical and ultraviolet light from stars
continues to travel throughout the Universe even after the stars
themselves have ceased to shine, so it forms a sort of fossil
radiation field that can be explored by observations of gamma rays
from distant sources. Gamma rays are the most energetic form of
light. Since Fermi's launch in 2008, it has observed the entire sky
in high-energy gamma rays every three hours, creating a detailed map
of the Universe at those energies. The total sum of starlight in the
cosmos is known to astronomers as the extragalactic background light
(EBL). To gamma rays, the EBL functions as a kind of cosmic fog.
Astronomers investigated the EBL by studying gamma rays from 150
blazars, or galaxies powered by black holes, that were strongly
detected at energies greater than 3 billion electron volts (3 GeV), or
more than a billion times the energy of visible light. With more than
a thousand detected so far, blazars are the most common sources
detected by Fermi, but gamma rays at those energies are few and far
between, which is why it took four years of data to make the analysis.
As matter falls toward a galaxy's central super-massive black hole,
some of it is somehow accelerated outward at almost the speed of light
in jets pointed in opposite directions. When one of the jets happens
to be aimed in the direction of the Earth, the galaxy appears
especially bright and is classified as a blazar. During their
journey, which may be across billions of light-years, the gamma rays
pass through a sort of fog of visible and ultraviolet light emitted by
stars throughout the history of the Universe. Occasionally, a gamma
ray collides with starlight and transforms into a pair of particles --
an electron and its antimatter counterpart, a positron. Once that
occurs, the gamma-ray light is lost. In effect, the process dampens
the gamma-ray signal in much the same way as fog dims a distant light
source.
From studies of nearby blazars, scientists have determined how many
gamma rays should be emitted at different energies. More distant
blazars show fewer gamma rays at higher energies -- especially above
25 GeV -- thanks to absorption by the cosmic fog. Thus the farthest
blazars are missing most of their highest-energy gamma rays. The
researchers then determined the average gamma-ray attenuation across
three distance ranges between 9.6 billion years ago and today. From
that measurement, the scientists were able to estimate the fog's
thickness. To account for the observations, the average stellar
density in the cosmos has to be about 1.4 stars per 100 billion cubic
light-years, which implies that the average distance between stars in
the Universe is about 4000 light-years.
Bulletin compiled by Clive Down
(c) 2012 the Society for Popular Astronomy
--
The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
***********************************
====================================================
Electronic News Bulletin No. 342 2012 November 11
====================================================
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/
FREE DVD
For a limited time only, new members of the SPA will receive a free
DVD, Eyes on the Skies, produced by the ESA/Hubble team. The
60-minute programme covers the development of the telescope, from its
invention to the achievements of the Hubble telescope, and is on sale
elsewhere at £14.99. Joining the SPA has never been better value!
SCIENTISTS MONITOR COMET BREAK-UP
NASA
Amateur and professional astronomers alike have been following Comet
168P/Hergenrother, which has been traversing the constellations of
Andromeda and Lacerta. Over the past several weeks it has produced a
series of outbursts of dusty material. Now the comet's nucleus has
taken another step in its fragmentation: it has separated into at
least four distinct pieces, resulting in a large increase in dust
material in its coma. With more material to reflect the Sun's rays,
the coma has brightened considerably. The fragments are considerably
fainter than the nucleus. The fragmentation event was initially
detected on October 26 by observers using the Faulkes Telescope North
on Haleakala, Hawaii.
MARS ROVER FINDS SOIL SIMILAR TO HAWAII'S
NASA
The Curiosity rover has made its first analysis of soil on Mars.
A preliminary operation served to 'cleanse the palate' of the rover's
sample-collection systems, which may have brought contaminants from
the Earth. With that out of the way, Curiosity used a technique
called X-ray diffraction, in which X-rays are shot into samples that
include crystalline materials. The precise ways in which the X-rays
scatter off the crystals gives clear information as to their chemical
makeup, and hints as to their structure. The 'CheMin' experiment
first sieves a soil sample, separating out the components smaller than
150 microns. It then gives the sifted soil a shake while firing
X-rays at it. The sample was found to contain the minerals feldspar,
olivine and pyroxene, such as might be found in weathered basaltic
materials of volcanic origin, like those in Hawaii. So far, the
materials that Curiosity has analyzed are consistent with initial
ideas of the deposits in Gale Crater (the large equatorial crater
where it landed in August), recording a transition through time from a
wet to a dry environment. In the weeks since its arrival on Mars, the
rover has already examined some larger rocks. The ancient rocks, such
as the conglomerates, suggest flowing water, while the minerals in the
younger soil are consistent with limited interaction with water. The
next step is to deliver soil samples into another experiment within
the rover ('Sam', or 'Sample Analysis at Mars') instrument, which will
look for the presence of carbon-containing molecules.
DOUBTED EXO-PLANET MAY EXIST AFTER ALL
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
A second look at data from the Hubble telescope is reviving the claim
(reported in ENB 256, 2008 November 30) that the 'nearby' star
Fomalhaut hosts a massive planet. The study suggests that the planet,
named Fomalhaut b, is completely shrouded by dust. Fomalhaut is the
brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and lies 25
light-years away. In 2008, Hubble astronomers announced the
exo-planet as the first one ever directly imaged in visible light
around another star. The object was imaged just inside a ring of
debris surrounding but offset from the host star. The planet's
location and mass -- no more than three times Jupiter's -- seemed just
right for its gravity to explain the ring's appearance. Recent
studies have claimed that that planetary interpretation is incorrect.
On the basis of the object's apparent motion and the lack of an
infrared detection by the Spitzer space telescope, the studies have
suggested that the object is a short-lived dust cloud unrelated to any
planet. A new analysis, however, brings the planet conclusion back to
life. Although the results seriously challenge the original discovery
paper, they do so in a way that actually makes the object's
interpretation much cleaner and leaves intact the core conclusion,
that Fomalhaut b is indeed a massive planet. The discovery study
reported that Fomalhaut b's brightness varied by about a factor of two
and cited that as evidence that the planet was accreting gas. Follow-
up studies then interpreted the variability as evidence that the
object actually was a transient dust cloud instead. In the new study,
astronomers re-analyzed Hubble observations of the star from 2004 and
2006. They easily recovered the planet in observations taken in red
light, and made a new detection in violet light. In contrast to the
earlier research, the team found that the planet remained at constant
brightness.
The team attempted to detect Fomalhaut b in the infrared with the
Subaru telescope in Hawaii, but was unable to do so. The non-
detections with Subaru and Spitzer imply that Fomalhaut b must be less
than twice the size of Jupiter. Another contentious issue has been
the object's orbit. If Fomalhaut b is responsible for the ring's
offset and sharp interior edge, then it must follow an orbit aligned
with the ring and must now be moving at its slowest speed. The speed
implied by the original study appeared to be too fast. Additionally,
some researchers argued that Fomalhaut b follows a tilted orbit that
passes through the ring plane. Using the Hubble data, the team
established that Fomalhaut b is moving with a speed and direction
consistent with the original idea that the planet's gravity is
modifying the ring. The team also addressed studies that interpret
Fomalhaut b as a compact dust cloud not gravitationally bound to a
planet. Near Fomalhaut's ring, orbital dynamics would spread out or
completely dissipate such a cloud in as little as 60,000 years. The
dust grains experience additional forces, which operate on much faster
time-scales, as they interact with the star's light. Given what we
know about the behaviour of dust and the environment where the planet
is located, scientists think that they are seeing a planetary object
that is completely embedded in dust rather than a free-floating dust
cloud. Because astronomers detect Fomalhaut b by the light of
surrounding dust and not by light or heat emitted by its atmosphere,
it no longer ranks as a 'directly imaged exo-planet'. But because it
has the right mass and is in the right place to affect the ring, it
could perhaps be allowed the weasel-worded claim to be a 'planet
identified from direct imaging'!
STREAM OF STARS BEING INGESTED BY MILKY WAY
Yale University
Researchers have discovered a band, or stream, of stars that they
believe to be the remnant of an ancient star cluster slowly being
ingested by the Milky Way galaxy. It was found by searching a region
recently surveyed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), an
international collaboration that is mapping the sky through wide-field
photometry. Galaxies are believed to form hierarchically through the
merger of smaller galaxies and still smaller star clusters, which are
disrupted by the gravitational force of the principal galaxy. That
process may be the primary way galaxies such as the Milky Way grow in
mass. The Milky Way is constantly accreting small galaxies and star
clusters, because the more powerful gravity of our Milky Way pulls
them apart and their stars then become part of the Milky Way itself.
Researchers have previously found evidence of the Milky Way
assimilating dwarf galaxies, but it is thought that the newly found
stellar stream, called the Triangulum stream, is the remnant of a star
cluster rather than of a larger galaxy, because the stream is very
narrow.
FIRST DIRECT DETECTION OF DARK GALAXIES
ScienceDaily
It has been suggested that most of such people as think about galaxies
at all picture them as huge islands of stars, gas and dust that
populate the Universe in visual splendour. Theory, however, has
allowed that there could be other types of galaxies that are devoid of
stars and are made predominantly of dense gas. Such 'dark' galaxies
would be unseen against the black backdrop of space. Some models have
proposed that dark galaxies were common in the early Universe when
galaxies had more difficulty forming stars -- partly because their
density of gas was not sufficient to form stars -- and only later did
they begin to ignite stars, becoming like the galaxies we see today.
According to a current theory of galaxy formation, big galaxies form
from the merger of smaller ones. Dark galaxies bring to big galaxies
a lot of gas, which then accelerates star formation in the bigger
galaxies. Now, an international team of astronomers has actually
detected several dark galaxies by observing the fluorescent glow of
their hydrogen gas, illuminated by the ultraviolet light of 'nearby'
quasars.
FERMI MEASURES COSMIC 'F0G' PRODUCED BY ANCIENT STARLIGHT
NASA
Astronomers using data from the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope have
made a measurement that enables them to estimate the total amount of
light from all of the stars that have ever shone, accomplishing a
primary mission goal. The optical and ultraviolet light from stars
continues to travel throughout the Universe even after the stars
themselves have ceased to shine, so it forms a sort of fossil
radiation field that can be explored by observations of gamma rays
from distant sources. Gamma rays are the most energetic form of
light. Since Fermi's launch in 2008, it has observed the entire sky
in high-energy gamma rays every three hours, creating a detailed map
of the Universe at those energies. The total sum of starlight in the
cosmos is known to astronomers as the extragalactic background light
(EBL). To gamma rays, the EBL functions as a kind of cosmic fog.
Astronomers investigated the EBL by studying gamma rays from 150
blazars, or galaxies powered by black holes, that were strongly
detected at energies greater than 3 billion electron volts (3 GeV), or
more than a billion times the energy of visible light. With more than
a thousand detected so far, blazars are the most common sources
detected by Fermi, but gamma rays at those energies are few and far
between, which is why it took four years of data to make the analysis.
As matter falls toward a galaxy's central super-massive black hole,
some of it is somehow accelerated outward at almost the speed of light
in jets pointed in opposite directions. When one of the jets happens
to be aimed in the direction of the Earth, the galaxy appears
especially bright and is classified as a blazar. During their
journey, which may be across billions of light-years, the gamma rays
pass through a sort of fog of visible and ultraviolet light emitted by
stars throughout the history of the Universe. Occasionally, a gamma
ray collides with starlight and transforms into a pair of particles --
an electron and its antimatter counterpart, a positron. Once that
occurs, the gamma-ray light is lost. In effect, the process dampens
the gamma-ray signal in much the same way as fog dims a distant light
source.
From studies of nearby blazars, scientists have determined how many
gamma rays should be emitted at different energies. More distant
blazars show fewer gamma rays at higher energies -- especially above
25 GeV -- thanks to absorption by the cosmic fog. Thus the farthest
blazars are missing most of their highest-energy gamma rays. The
researchers then determined the average gamma-ray attenuation across
three distance ranges between 9.6 billion years ago and today. From
that measurement, the scientists were able to estimate the fog's
thickness. To account for the observations, the average stellar
density in the cosmos has to be about 1.4 stars per 100 billion cubic
light-years, which implies that the average distance between stars in
the Universe is about 4000 light-years.
Bulletin compiled by Clive Down
(c) 2012 the Society for Popular Astronomy
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
--
Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
--
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)
--
Information
--
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)
--
Information
--
Thursday 18 October 2012
Earth-sized planet found around star next door to Sun
----------------------------------------------------------
The latest news from Spaceflight Now
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CHARITABLE SPACE AUCTION BLASTING OFF SOON!
Be the first to preview 60 of the most incredible space artifacts, FLOWN-in-space items and astronaut experiences available during the 10th Annual Auction of Astronaut Experiences and Memorabilia! Meet astronaut legends and take home a piece of SPACE! Register now for a virtual paddle number at www.astronautscholarship.org/auction. Auction bidding opens Oct. 26 and ends Nov. 3.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
EARTH-SIZED PLANET FOUND AROUND STAR NEXT DOOR TO SUN
-----------------------------------------------------
Our sun's neighbor harbors a blistering world about the size of Earth, astronomers announced Wednesday, raising hopes a life-supporting planet could be found close to home.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1210/16alphacentaur/
PHOTO GALLERY: ENDEAVOUR TAKES TO THE LA STREETS
------------------------------------------------
Spaceflight Now captured space shuttle Endeavour's once-in-a-lifetime journey through an American city from start to finish, from the ground and even in the air. This 8-page photo gallery relives the remarkable event that will never be forgotten for the million spectators who lined the sidewalks of Los Angeles.
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts134/paradegallery/1/
KEPLER'S EXOPLANET SURVEY JEOPARDIZED BY TWO ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------
NASA's Kepler space telescope, a sleuth with electronic eyes, needs an extra four years to meet its goal of finding an Earth-sized planet in habitable zones around other stars, but a critical hardware failure aboard the probe this summer has managers worried the mission could end at any time.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1210/16kepler/
EXPERTS ENDORSE DESIGN OF PRIVATE SPACE TELESCOPE
-------------------------------------------------
The design and objectives of the B612 Foundation's privately-funded asteroid-hunting space telescope are technically sound, according to an independent panel of industry and NASA experts commissioned to advise the project.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1210/15b612/
INTERACTIVE iPAD GUIDE TO CURIOSITY ROVER MISSION
-------------------------------------------------
Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now have created an interactive iPad guide to the Curiosity rover mission. Learn more about the mission, explore the rover's components and preview Europe's plans for the next Mars rover destined to visit the Red Planet. Now updated with a timeline of the triumphs and disasters of Mars exploration.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mission-to-mars-astronomy/id548931049?mt=8
+++ FERRYFLIGHT SHUTTLE PATCH
"The Final Mission" - NASA emblem developed for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft crew and their support teams to deliver the orbiters to their final destinations at museums. http://www.spaceflightnowstore.com/ +++
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
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)
--
Information
--
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)
--
Information
--
Tuesday 9 October 2012
SpaceX Falcon launches space station's commercial resupply era
----------------------------------------------------------
The latest news from Spaceflight Now
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SPACE LEGENDS GATHER FOR AUTOGRAPH SHOW
The 2012 Astronaut Autograph & Memorabilia Show is set for November 1-3, 2012. Benefiting the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, the weekend's events include Cape tours, astronaut lectures, an Apollo 17 dinner and more. Over 30 astronauts and space celebrities will be present to sign autographs! Secure your tickets at http://www.AstronautScholarship.org/aams!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SPACE STATION'S COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY ERA BEGINS
----------------------------------------------
SpaceX began work on a $1.6 billion contract with NASA tonight, when a Falcon 9 rocket blasted off with 882 pounds of supplies on the first operational commercial cargo flight to the International Space Station. Liftoff occurred on the first attempt at 8:35 p.m. EDT (0035 GMT).
http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/004/121007launch/
DELTA 4 ROCKET OVERCOMES ENGINE ISSUE DURING LAUNCH
---------------------------------------------------
Generating less than its normal 25,000 pounds of thrust because of a still unknown problem, the upper stage engine on the Delta 4 rocket had to fire for longer periods of time Thursday morning before ultimately delivering the GPS payload into the right orbit, overcoming the adversity to achieve success.
http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d361/rl10.html
LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY:
http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d361/launch/
GPS GETS ANOTHER UPGRADED SATELLITE FOR CONSTELLATION
-----------------------------------------------------
Upgrading the Global Positioning System one launch at a time, a modern bird soared to space Thursday to replace a long-surviving navigation satellite deployed 19 years ago, a durable craft of the past that doubled life's expectations and will give way to current advancements.
http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d361/
NEW CANADARM COULD BE VITAL FOR FUTURE EXPLORATION
--------------------------------------------------
A next-generation robotic arm with finer dexterity and made of lighter materials will be required for planned exploration missions to deep space, asteroids and Mars, according to Canadian officials who unveiled new robotics concepts last week.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1210/04canadarm/
INTERACTIVE iPAD GUIDE TO CURIOSITY ROVER MISSION
-------------------------------------------------
Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now have created an interactive iPad guide to the Curiosity rover mission. Learn more about the mission, explore the rover's components and preview Europe's plans for the next Mars rover destined to visit the Red Planet. Now updated with a timeline of the triumphs and disasters of Mars exploration.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mission-to-mars-astronomy/id548931049?mt=8
+++ FERRYFLIGHT SHUTTLE PATCH
"The Final Mission" - NASA emblem developed for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft crew and their support teams to deliver the orbiters to their final destinations at museums.http://www.spaceflightnowstore.com/ +++
| ||||||||||
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
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)
--
Information
--
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)
--
Information
--
Draconid Meteor Outburst Underway
Space Weather News for Oct. 8, 2012
http://spaceweather.com
METEOR OUTBURST: Radars in Canada are reporting a major outburst of Draconid meteors commencing at 16 UT on Oct. 8th. "Radar rates are at 1000 meteors per hour," says Bill Cooke of NASA' Meteoroid Environment Office. "This is greater than last year's outburst, and 5x the 2005 level."
Cooke encourages northern sky watchers, especially in Europe where night is falling, to be alert for Draconid activity. Because radars are sensitive to very small meteoroids, there is no guarantee that this radar outburst will translate into meteors visible to the human eye. On the other hand, a brilliant display could be in progress. The only way to know is to go outside and look. Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.
Don't just watch meteors, wear them. Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.com
-- http://spaceweather.com
METEOR OUTBURST: Radars in Canada are reporting a major outburst of Draconid meteors commencing at 16 UT on Oct. 8th. "Radar rates are at 1000 meteors per hour," says Bill Cooke of NASA' Meteoroid Environment Office. "This is greater than last year's outburst, and 5x the 2005 level."
Cooke encourages northern sky watchers, especially in Europe where night is falling, to be alert for Draconid activity. Because radars are sensitive to very small meteoroids, there is no guarantee that this radar outburst will translate into meteors visible to the human eye. On the other hand, a brilliant display could be in progress. The only way to know is to go outside and look. Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.
Don't just watch meteors, wear them. Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.com
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
--
Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
--
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)
--
Information
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)
--
Information
--
Draconid Meteor Shower
Space Weather News for Oct. 7, 2012
http://spaceweather.com
DRACONID METEOR WATCH: Earth is about to pass through a stream of debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, source of the annual Draconid meteor shower. Last year, Europeans witnessed a faint but furious outburst of 600 meteors per hour when the shower peaked. No such display is expected this year, but the Draconids are notoriously unpredictable. Northern-hemisphere sky watchers should be alert for slow-moving meteors emerging from the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon (not far from the North Star) on Sunday night, Oct 7th, through Monday morning Oct. 8th. Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.
INCOMING CME: A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading for Earth. The incoming cloud is expected to deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetosphere on October 8th, possibly sparking auroras at high latitudes. Would you like a phone call when the CME arrives? Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).
Don't just watch meteors, wear them. Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.com
http://spaceweather.com
DRACONID METEOR WATCH: Earth is about to pass through a stream of debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, source of the annual Draconid meteor shower. Last year, Europeans witnessed a faint but furious outburst of 600 meteors per hour when the shower peaked. No such display is expected this year, but the Draconids are notoriously unpredictable. Northern-hemisphere sky watchers should be alert for slow-moving meteors emerging from the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon (not far from the North Star) on Sunday night, Oct 7th, through Monday morning Oct. 8th. Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.
INCOMING CME: A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading for Earth. The incoming cloud is expected to deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetosphere on October 8th, possibly sparking auroras at high latitudes. Would you like a phone call when the CME arrives? Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).
Don't just watch meteors, wear them. Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store: http://www.shopspaceweather.com
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
--
Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
--
Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
--
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)
--
Information
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)
--
Information
--
SPA ENB No. 340
***********************************
The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
***********************************
====================================================
Electronic News Bulletin No. 340 2012 October 7
====================================================
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/
BIG SUN-GRAZING COMET DISCOVERED
Spaceweather.com
The newly-discovered Comet Ison, currently still beyond the orbit of
Jupiter, is heading for a very close encounter with the Sun next year.
In 2013 November, it will pass less than 0.012 AU (1.8 million km)
from the solar surface. The fierce heating it will experience could
turn the comet into a bright naked-eye object -- but comets can and
often do fizzle out! Meanwhile, comet researcher John Bortle has
pointed out a similarity between the orbit of Comet Ison and that of
the Great Comet of 1680. "Purely as speculation," he says, "perhaps
the two bodies could have been one a few revolutions ago."
SHOCK WAVES SHAPED OUR SOLAR SYSTEM?
RAS
Certain scientists think that shock waves that might have been emitted
from the Sun when it was very young might have caused the planets in
the Solar System to form at different times. It seems that the waves
might have created a series of debris rings that eventually accreted
into planets, the outermost ones first.
DAWN SUGGESTS SPECIAL DELIVERY OF HYDRATED MATERIAL TO VESTA
RAS
The mechanism by which water was incorporated into the terrestrial
planets is a matter of debate. Now, observations of Vesta by the Dawn
mission suggest that hydrous materials were delivered to the asteroid
mainly through a build-up of small particles during an epoch when the
Solar System was rich in dust. Vesta's surface shows distinct areas
enriched with hydrated materials. Those regions are not dependent on
solar illumination or temperature, as we find in the case of the Moon.
The uneven distribution is unexpected and indicates ancient processes
that differ from those believed to be responsible for delivering water
to other airless bodies, like the Moon. Analysis of data from Dawn's
mapping spectrometer showed large regional concentrations of hydroxyl
(a hydrogen and an oxygen atom bound together) clearly associated with
features including ancient, highly-cratered landforms and the Oppia
crater. Hydroxyl on the surface of the Moon is thought to be created
continuously by the interaction of protons from the solar wind with
the lunar regolith. Highest concentrations are found in areas near
the lunar poles and in permanently shadowed craters where it is very
cold. By contrast, the distribution of hydroxyl on Vesta is not
dependent on significant shadowing or unusually cold temperatures.
It is also stable over time, so its origin does not appear to be due
to short-term processes.
The hydroxyl-rich regions on Vesta broadly correspond to its oldest
surfaces. Around relatively large and young impact craters, hydroxyl
detections are weak or absent, suggesting that the delivery of
hydroxyl is not an ongoing process. The spectrometer evidence
suggests that much of Vesta's hydroxyl was delivered by small
particles of primitive material, less than a few centimetres in
diameter, over a time-limited period, but it is not clear what period
that was.
SUPERNOVA 1006
ScienceDaily
Astronomers all over the world observed the supernova of the year
1006. Some of them, including Chinese astronomers, highlighted the
fact that it was visible for three years. The most explicit record,
made by the Egyptian Ali ibn Ridwan (988-1061), notes that the
phenomenon was about three times brighter than Venus, and that it
emitted light of a quantity equivalent to almost a quarter of the
Moon's brightness. Now a team of astronomers has studied the existing
stars in the area, regarding distance and possible contamination by
elements of the supernova, and the results show that there is no star
that could be considered the progenitor of the explosion and that the
event was probably the result of a collision and merger of two white
dwarf stars of similar mass.
MILKY WAY IS SURROUNDED BY HALO OF HOT GAS
Chandra X-ray Observatory / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics
Astronomers have found evidence that the Milky Way Galaxy is embedded
in an enormous halo of hot gas that extends for hundreds of thousands
of light-years. The estimated mass of the halo is comparable to the
mass of all the stars in the Galaxy. If the size and mass of such a
gas halo is confirmed, it could also be an explanation for what is
known as the 'missing baryon' problem for the Galaxy. Baryons are
particles, such as protons and neutrons, that make up more than 99.9%
of the mass of atoms found in the cosmos. Measurements of extremely
distant gas haloes and galaxies indicate that the baryonic matter
present when the Universe was only a few billion years old represented
about one-sixth the mass and density of the existing unobservable, or
dark, matter. In the current epoch, about 10 billion years later, a
census of the baryons present in stars and gas in our galaxy and
nearby galaxies suggests that at least half the baryons are
unaccounted for. In a recent study, a team of astronomers used data
from Chandra, the XMM-Newton space observatory and the Suzaku
satellite to set limits on the temperature, extent and mass of the hot
gas halo. Chandra observed eight bright X-ray sources located far
beyond the Galaxy at distances of hundreds of millions of light-
years. The data indicated that X-rays from those distant sources are
absorbed selectively by oxygen ions in the vicinity of the Galaxy.
The scientists determined the temperature of the absorbing halo is
between 1 million and 2.5 million °C.
Other studies have shown that the Milky Way and other galaxies are
embedded in 'warm' gas with temperatures between 100,000 and 1 million
degrees. Studies have indicated the presence of a hotter gas with a
temperature greater than 1 million degrees. The new research provides
evidence that the hot gas halo enveloping the Milky Way is much more
massive than the warm gas halo. In an effort to estimate the size and
mass of the halo, the authors supplemented Chandra data on the amount
of absorption produced by the oxygen ions with XMM-Newton and Suzaku
data on the X-rays emitted by the gas halo. They concluded that the
mass of the gas is equivalent to the mass in more than 10 billion
Suns, perhaps as large as 60 billion Suns. The work shows that, for
reasonable values of parameters and with reasonable assumptions, the
Chandra observations imply a huge reservoir of hot gas around the
Milky Way. It may extend for a few hundred thousand light-years
around the Milky Way or it may extend further into the surrounding
local group of galaxies. Either way, its mass appears to be very
large. The estimated mass depends on factors such as the amount of
oxygen relative to hydrogen, which is the dominant element in the gas.
Nevertheless, the estimation represents an important step in solving
the question of the missing baryons, which has puzzled astronomers.
Although there are uncertainties, the work provides the best evidence
yet that the Galaxy's missing baryons have been hiding in a halo of
million-degree gas that envelopes the Galaxy. The estimated density
of the halo is so low that similar haloes around other galaxies would
have escaped detection. It must be noted that the weighty conclusions
proposed in this item all stem from a mere eight observations, and may
accordingly be open to some revision.
ULTRA-DISTANT GALAXY DISCOVERED
Johns Hopkins University
A team of astronomers has discovered what could be the most distant
galaxy ever detected. The young galaxy observed by the Hubble
telescope and Spitzer shone when the Universe was just 500 million
years old. The far-off galaxy existed within an important era when
the Universe began to emerge from the so-called 'Dark Ages', as it
went from a dark, starless expanse to a recognizable cosmos full of
galaxies. Technically speaking, the galaxy has a redshift of 9.6.
It is observable only because it has been enhanced by a 'gravitational
lens'.
FIRST TWO JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE MIRRORS DELIVERED
NASA
The first two of the 18 primary-mirror elements for the James Webb
space telescope have arrived at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The
rest will make their way from Ball Aerospace to Goddard over the next
12 months. Each of the 18 hexagonal tiles that make up the primary
mirror measures more than 1.3 metres across, and weighs about 40 kg.
PLANETS
By Alan Clitherow.
October offers some beautiful sights for the planetary observer.
For those prepared to be up before dawn, Jupiter is excellently placed
towards the south-east. From mid-UK latitudes the planet rises at
around 20.20 UT on the first of the month and by midnight UT is some
31° up, almost due east. As the night progresses its altitude climbs
and our view of it improves as we view through less and less
atmosphere. If you can wait until 4h UT Jupiter is nearly 60° up and
almost due south, and on a clear and steady night will reveal
beautiful detail in any astronomical telescope. On August 10 amateur
observers witnessed a bright fireball on Jupiter's limb as a small
comet or asteroid burnt up in the planet's atmosphere. Six such
events have been seen since Voyager 1 passed by in 1979, most by
amateurs. The recent fireball seen over the UK (September 21) puts
such observations in context, and it is likely that there are more
such events that go unobserved or un-reported.
The great disturbances in the planet's atmosphere seem to have settled
down a little, with the North Equatorial Belt and the North Temperate
Belt almost merged and the Equatorial Zone dark with activity and
festoons. The Great Red Spot is pale but still clearly visible, and
it is currently keeping company with Oval BA, or the little red spot,
which is moving past it, just to the South. It will be interesting to
see how those weather systems evolve in the coming months. By the end
of October Jupiter will be due south at around 2.25 UT, still 60° up,
and I urge you to view it at such anti-social hours if you can. The
planet will be beautifully placed for many months; however, frigid
winter nights often give poorer seeing conditions than those of late
autumn.
If you are up in the early morning, then once you have finished with
Jupiter, switch to Venus. Rising at 2.20 UT on the first of the month
a little north of east, Venus is shining at -4.0 magnitude and is a
brilliant beacon in the sky. By 5h UT the sky will be noticeably
lightening but Venus will still stand out clearly some 25° above the
eastern horizon and will present a disc of 15 arc-seconds across, of
which some 70% will be illuminated, giving an obvious visible phase.
If you can, observe with a dark-blue or violet filter (a Wratten
number 47 filter is often recommended) as that will not only help to
cut down the brilliant glare of the planet but may reveal subtle
details in its thick blanket of clouds. Venus is best observed early
in the month because it is moving quite rapidly away from us and its
separation from the Sun is decreasing as the month progresses.
Notwithstanding, the planet, once found, can easily be followed
through dawn and into daylight, so long periods of observation are
possible; just take great care whenever trying to observe anything
once the Sun is in the sky. You have been warned!
If we now switch to evening observation, there is less that is obvious
on view. Mercury reaches its greatest eastern elongation, that is its
greatest separation distance from the Sun in the evening sky, on
October 26, but it is extremely low on the horizon at sunset and you
are unlikely to get more than a glimpse of it before it sets.
Similarly Mars is very low in the south-west though you may catch it
as one of a pair of low red 'stars' as it is around 4° from Antares.
Saturn moves behind the Sun on the 25th (superior conjunction) so is
effectively invisible; so what does that leave us with? The answer is
Uranus.
At the start of the month Uranus can be found below the Great Square
of Pegasus in the south-eastern sky. If you draw a line from
Alpheratz in the top-left-hand corner of the Square and extend it down
to the bottom-left-hand-corner star Algenib, then extend the line the
same distance again downwards, you will almost be on top of a pale
blue-green star hovering on the edge of naked-eye visibility; it will
show clearly in binoculars. Since truly green stars are rather like
hens' teeth you will have, in fact, found Uranus. At only 3 arc-
seconds in diameter it will take larger telescopes and very steady
seeing to make out anything other than an obviously planetary-like
disc, but some faint banding detail is occasionally seen. I have
recently seen images taken with a large-aperture telescope using a
filter that passes only infra-red light from 685 Nm upwards (Baader
Planetarium filters) in which this banding was very obvious. By
midnight UT on the 1st of the month the planet reaches just under 40°
elevation, due south, and is well worth a look, it will remain
on show throughout October but viewing early in the month is
recommended if possible.
As usual, please submit any observing reports you may have via the
planetary section web site.
2012 SEP 21 UK FIREBALL
By Tony Markham, SPA Meteor Section Director
A bright slow moving fireball was seen by observers across much of the
UK shortly before 11pm BST on the night of Friday 21st September. The
start of the fireball was also seen by some observers in Belgium,
Denmark and the Netherlands and the end was seen from Ireland. This
fireball has attracted international attention and there has even been
speculation that the object may have been a very small Aten type
asteroid gravitationally "captured" by the Earth for some time before
finally entering the Earth's atmosphere. There has also been
speculation that, with the object entering the atmosphere at a very
shallow angle, part of it may have re-emerged from the atmosphere,
orbited the Earth again and then been responsible for a very similar
fireball seen over North America approx 155 minutes later. Another
possibility, of course, is that the latter was a different object on
a similar trajectory.
As is always the case, most eyewitnesses were non-astronomers with
little knowledge of the night sky and so the positions reported in
their accounts were often rather approximate. Reports that did quote
azimuths and altitudes or which described its path through the
constellations were particularly valuable. Based on the reports,
Alastair McBeath was able to produce a preliminary analysis.
Although there was scatter in the times reported, the average time
reported for its appearance was 21:57 ± 5 minutes UT. The mean
reported visible duration was estimated at 24 seconds, though this may
be somewhat under-estimated, as many people saw only part of the full
path. Magnitude estimates averaged in the -7 to -10 range, something
which was made still more difficult than normal because the fireball
was breaking up for much of its flight. Colours reported were many and
varied, but almost 80% were in the red-orange-yellow to white range,
the remaining 20% or so favouring predominantly green.
The long atmospheric flight for the meteor created problems in
determining where it may have flown above, but the information
available suggested that it probably followed a roughly east to west
trajectory (or perhaps ENE to WSW) across northern England, most
likely passing overhead around the Durham/North Yorkshire to southern
Cumbria/Lancashire region. Three reports of possibly associated sonic
booms were made between 30 seconds to three or four minutes after the
meteor had passed-by from Co. Durham (two) and Lancashire, which help
to confirm this possible overflight zone, albeit tentatively. The
start was likely out over the North Sea, and the end may have been
somewhere above central-western Ireland or over the Atlantic off the
western coast.
Early press coverage also suggested the event may have been a man-made
re-entry. However, if we assume the average visible duration noted
above was roughly correct, and that the full visible path was between
circa 500 to 1000 km long as a crude estimate, the object's velocity,
not allowing for deceleration, would have been well above any near-
Earth man-made objects, but comfortably within the expected meteor
atmospheric-entry range, between ~20 to 40 km/sec."
Subsequent reports have required minimal change to Alastair's analysis.
The only significant change has been to push the start point further
East, probably beyond the Dutch-German border, suggesting a path
length for the fireball of at least 1100km.
ORIONID METEORS
By Tony Markham, SPA Meteor Section Director
The Orionid Meteor shower is active during the second half of October,
with the highest rates likely during Oct 20-23. The meteors are
typically swift moving, with many leaving good persistent trains. The
peak ZHR is typically around 25-30, although stronger returns have
occurred in some years.
The Moon is at First Quarter on Oct 22, but is in the Sagittarius/
Capricornus area and although it will provide some interference while
the radiant is still low in the sky, it will not be an issue later in
the night.
Note that the Orionid radiant actually lies beyond the top left of
the main pattern of Orion, close to the border with Gemini. Be aware
also that the Orionid radiant doesn't rise until after 10pm BST and
so no Orionids will be seen before then. Rates should then increase
as the radiant altitude increases and will be best late in the night.
Alongside the Orionid activity, you may well also see a few Taurid
meteors each hour.
Charts showing the locations of the Orionid and Taurid radiants can
be found at: http://snipurl.com/256pzla
SPA SOLAR SECTION
By Richard Bailey, Solar Section Director
SEPTEMBER 2012 (edited edition) Rotation Nos. 2127, 2128
WHITE LIGHT
Activity during the month resembled that in August. A maximum of 9
AR's showed across both hemispheres until the 9th; then diminished
activity was seen until the 25th; when a surge of up to 8 AR's gave
a stronger end to the month. Between the 13th. to 19th. only one AR
was recorded in the NH, AR1566. Over the time, the SH was slightly
more active than the NH. One NH AR,1560, was by the equator, the
highest latitude ones in each hemisphere being around 25 degrees.
The return of previously seen AR's increased in number. No large AR's
were seen, SH AR1564 developing rapidly to have the most individual
spots. Faculae was seen each day in limb areas of both hemispheres.
No(protected) naked eye sunspots were seen.
Week 1: Up to 9 AR's were seen daily, mostly in the SH. NH AR1560
was by the equator, showing a loose line of small spots and with SH
AR1564, a scattered collection of them, were the two largest AR's of
the month. Both decayed during the week.
Week 2: Around the E limb on the 12th. came SH AR1569, a run of small
spots, closely followed in line by SH AR 1571, the strongest AR's of
the week.
Week 3: The two main AR's diminished as they went westwards. NH AR
1566 was the only NH AR from the 13th. to 19th.
Week 4 to end of month. Up to 8 AR's were on the disc until the
30th. when 4 were seen. Most were small, often just single sunspots.
MDF 4.00 R 53.15
H-ALPHA
As in recent months, prominences of varied shapes and sizes were to
be seen daily, similarly filaments. Numbers of both followed the AR
activity. One large horse-shoe shaped filament west of AR1579 was a
feature for some days in the last week. A small amount of minor
flare activity was reported, in addition to plaging to larger AR's.
MDF 4.86
The un-edited version of this Report can be seen on the Solar link
from the SPA homepage, accompanied by a selection of pictures of
solar activity during the month. Click on pictures to see the
original full resolution ones.
Owing to holidays, the next scheduled bulletin will be issued on
October 28.
Bulletin compiled by Clive Down
(c) 2012 the Society for Popular Astronomy
The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
***********************************
====================================================
Electronic News Bulletin No. 340 2012 October 7
====================================================
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/
BIG SUN-GRAZING COMET DISCOVERED
Spaceweather.com
The newly-discovered Comet Ison, currently still beyond the orbit of
Jupiter, is heading for a very close encounter with the Sun next year.
In 2013 November, it will pass less than 0.012 AU (1.8 million km)
from the solar surface. The fierce heating it will experience could
turn the comet into a bright naked-eye object -- but comets can and
often do fizzle out! Meanwhile, comet researcher John Bortle has
pointed out a similarity between the orbit of Comet Ison and that of
the Great Comet of 1680. "Purely as speculation," he says, "perhaps
the two bodies could have been one a few revolutions ago."
SHOCK WAVES SHAPED OUR SOLAR SYSTEM?
RAS
Certain scientists think that shock waves that might have been emitted
from the Sun when it was very young might have caused the planets in
the Solar System to form at different times. It seems that the waves
might have created a series of debris rings that eventually accreted
into planets, the outermost ones first.
DAWN SUGGESTS SPECIAL DELIVERY OF HYDRATED MATERIAL TO VESTA
RAS
The mechanism by which water was incorporated into the terrestrial
planets is a matter of debate. Now, observations of Vesta by the Dawn
mission suggest that hydrous materials were delivered to the asteroid
mainly through a build-up of small particles during an epoch when the
Solar System was rich in dust. Vesta's surface shows distinct areas
enriched with hydrated materials. Those regions are not dependent on
solar illumination or temperature, as we find in the case of the Moon.
The uneven distribution is unexpected and indicates ancient processes
that differ from those believed to be responsible for delivering water
to other airless bodies, like the Moon. Analysis of data from Dawn's
mapping spectrometer showed large regional concentrations of hydroxyl
(a hydrogen and an oxygen atom bound together) clearly associated with
features including ancient, highly-cratered landforms and the Oppia
crater. Hydroxyl on the surface of the Moon is thought to be created
continuously by the interaction of protons from the solar wind with
the lunar regolith. Highest concentrations are found in areas near
the lunar poles and in permanently shadowed craters where it is very
cold. By contrast, the distribution of hydroxyl on Vesta is not
dependent on significant shadowing or unusually cold temperatures.
It is also stable over time, so its origin does not appear to be due
to short-term processes.
The hydroxyl-rich regions on Vesta broadly correspond to its oldest
surfaces. Around relatively large and young impact craters, hydroxyl
detections are weak or absent, suggesting that the delivery of
hydroxyl is not an ongoing process. The spectrometer evidence
suggests that much of Vesta's hydroxyl was delivered by small
particles of primitive material, less than a few centimetres in
diameter, over a time-limited period, but it is not clear what period
that was.
SUPERNOVA 1006
ScienceDaily
Astronomers all over the world observed the supernova of the year
1006. Some of them, including Chinese astronomers, highlighted the
fact that it was visible for three years. The most explicit record,
made by the Egyptian Ali ibn Ridwan (988-1061), notes that the
phenomenon was about three times brighter than Venus, and that it
emitted light of a quantity equivalent to almost a quarter of the
Moon's brightness. Now a team of astronomers has studied the existing
stars in the area, regarding distance and possible contamination by
elements of the supernova, and the results show that there is no star
that could be considered the progenitor of the explosion and that the
event was probably the result of a collision and merger of two white
dwarf stars of similar mass.
MILKY WAY IS SURROUNDED BY HALO OF HOT GAS
Chandra X-ray Observatory / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics
Astronomers have found evidence that the Milky Way Galaxy is embedded
in an enormous halo of hot gas that extends for hundreds of thousands
of light-years. The estimated mass of the halo is comparable to the
mass of all the stars in the Galaxy. If the size and mass of such a
gas halo is confirmed, it could also be an explanation for what is
known as the 'missing baryon' problem for the Galaxy. Baryons are
particles, such as protons and neutrons, that make up more than 99.9%
of the mass of atoms found in the cosmos. Measurements of extremely
distant gas haloes and galaxies indicate that the baryonic matter
present when the Universe was only a few billion years old represented
about one-sixth the mass and density of the existing unobservable, or
dark, matter. In the current epoch, about 10 billion years later, a
census of the baryons present in stars and gas in our galaxy and
nearby galaxies suggests that at least half the baryons are
unaccounted for. In a recent study, a team of astronomers used data
from Chandra, the XMM-Newton space observatory and the Suzaku
satellite to set limits on the temperature, extent and mass of the hot
gas halo. Chandra observed eight bright X-ray sources located far
beyond the Galaxy at distances of hundreds of millions of light-
years. The data indicated that X-rays from those distant sources are
absorbed selectively by oxygen ions in the vicinity of the Galaxy.
The scientists determined the temperature of the absorbing halo is
between 1 million and 2.5 million °C.
Other studies have shown that the Milky Way and other galaxies are
embedded in 'warm' gas with temperatures between 100,000 and 1 million
degrees. Studies have indicated the presence of a hotter gas with a
temperature greater than 1 million degrees. The new research provides
evidence that the hot gas halo enveloping the Milky Way is much more
massive than the warm gas halo. In an effort to estimate the size and
mass of the halo, the authors supplemented Chandra data on the amount
of absorption produced by the oxygen ions with XMM-Newton and Suzaku
data on the X-rays emitted by the gas halo. They concluded that the
mass of the gas is equivalent to the mass in more than 10 billion
Suns, perhaps as large as 60 billion Suns. The work shows that, for
reasonable values of parameters and with reasonable assumptions, the
Chandra observations imply a huge reservoir of hot gas around the
Milky Way. It may extend for a few hundred thousand light-years
around the Milky Way or it may extend further into the surrounding
local group of galaxies. Either way, its mass appears to be very
large. The estimated mass depends on factors such as the amount of
oxygen relative to hydrogen, which is the dominant element in the gas.
Nevertheless, the estimation represents an important step in solving
the question of the missing baryons, which has puzzled astronomers.
Although there are uncertainties, the work provides the best evidence
yet that the Galaxy's missing baryons have been hiding in a halo of
million-degree gas that envelopes the Galaxy. The estimated density
of the halo is so low that similar haloes around other galaxies would
have escaped detection. It must be noted that the weighty conclusions
proposed in this item all stem from a mere eight observations, and may
accordingly be open to some revision.
ULTRA-DISTANT GALAXY DISCOVERED
Johns Hopkins University
A team of astronomers has discovered what could be the most distant
galaxy ever detected. The young galaxy observed by the Hubble
telescope and Spitzer shone when the Universe was just 500 million
years old. The far-off galaxy existed within an important era when
the Universe began to emerge from the so-called 'Dark Ages', as it
went from a dark, starless expanse to a recognizable cosmos full of
galaxies. Technically speaking, the galaxy has a redshift of 9.6.
It is observable only because it has been enhanced by a 'gravitational
lens'.
FIRST TWO JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE MIRRORS DELIVERED
NASA
The first two of the 18 primary-mirror elements for the James Webb
space telescope have arrived at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The
rest will make their way from Ball Aerospace to Goddard over the next
12 months. Each of the 18 hexagonal tiles that make up the primary
mirror measures more than 1.3 metres across, and weighs about 40 kg.
PLANETS
By Alan Clitherow.
October offers some beautiful sights for the planetary observer.
For those prepared to be up before dawn, Jupiter is excellently placed
towards the south-east. From mid-UK latitudes the planet rises at
around 20.20 UT on the first of the month and by midnight UT is some
31° up, almost due east. As the night progresses its altitude climbs
and our view of it improves as we view through less and less
atmosphere. If you can wait until 4h UT Jupiter is nearly 60° up and
almost due south, and on a clear and steady night will reveal
beautiful detail in any astronomical telescope. On August 10 amateur
observers witnessed a bright fireball on Jupiter's limb as a small
comet or asteroid burnt up in the planet's atmosphere. Six such
events have been seen since Voyager 1 passed by in 1979, most by
amateurs. The recent fireball seen over the UK (September 21) puts
such observations in context, and it is likely that there are more
such events that go unobserved or un-reported.
The great disturbances in the planet's atmosphere seem to have settled
down a little, with the North Equatorial Belt and the North Temperate
Belt almost merged and the Equatorial Zone dark with activity and
festoons. The Great Red Spot is pale but still clearly visible, and
it is currently keeping company with Oval BA, or the little red spot,
which is moving past it, just to the South. It will be interesting to
see how those weather systems evolve in the coming months. By the end
of October Jupiter will be due south at around 2.25 UT, still 60° up,
and I urge you to view it at such anti-social hours if you can. The
planet will be beautifully placed for many months; however, frigid
winter nights often give poorer seeing conditions than those of late
autumn.
If you are up in the early morning, then once you have finished with
Jupiter, switch to Venus. Rising at 2.20 UT on the first of the month
a little north of east, Venus is shining at -4.0 magnitude and is a
brilliant beacon in the sky. By 5h UT the sky will be noticeably
lightening but Venus will still stand out clearly some 25° above the
eastern horizon and will present a disc of 15 arc-seconds across, of
which some 70% will be illuminated, giving an obvious visible phase.
If you can, observe with a dark-blue or violet filter (a Wratten
number 47 filter is often recommended) as that will not only help to
cut down the brilliant glare of the planet but may reveal subtle
details in its thick blanket of clouds. Venus is best observed early
in the month because it is moving quite rapidly away from us and its
separation from the Sun is decreasing as the month progresses.
Notwithstanding, the planet, once found, can easily be followed
through dawn and into daylight, so long periods of observation are
possible; just take great care whenever trying to observe anything
once the Sun is in the sky. You have been warned!
If we now switch to evening observation, there is less that is obvious
on view. Mercury reaches its greatest eastern elongation, that is its
greatest separation distance from the Sun in the evening sky, on
October 26, but it is extremely low on the horizon at sunset and you
are unlikely to get more than a glimpse of it before it sets.
Similarly Mars is very low in the south-west though you may catch it
as one of a pair of low red 'stars' as it is around 4° from Antares.
Saturn moves behind the Sun on the 25th (superior conjunction) so is
effectively invisible; so what does that leave us with? The answer is
Uranus.
At the start of the month Uranus can be found below the Great Square
of Pegasus in the south-eastern sky. If you draw a line from
Alpheratz in the top-left-hand corner of the Square and extend it down
to the bottom-left-hand-corner star Algenib, then extend the line the
same distance again downwards, you will almost be on top of a pale
blue-green star hovering on the edge of naked-eye visibility; it will
show clearly in binoculars. Since truly green stars are rather like
hens' teeth you will have, in fact, found Uranus. At only 3 arc-
seconds in diameter it will take larger telescopes and very steady
seeing to make out anything other than an obviously planetary-like
disc, but some faint banding detail is occasionally seen. I have
recently seen images taken with a large-aperture telescope using a
filter that passes only infra-red light from 685 Nm upwards (Baader
Planetarium filters) in which this banding was very obvious. By
midnight UT on the 1st of the month the planet reaches just under 40°
elevation, due south, and is well worth a look, it will remain
on show throughout October but viewing early in the month is
recommended if possible.
As usual, please submit any observing reports you may have via the
planetary section web site.
2012 SEP 21 UK FIREBALL
By Tony Markham, SPA Meteor Section Director
A bright slow moving fireball was seen by observers across much of the
UK shortly before 11pm BST on the night of Friday 21st September. The
start of the fireball was also seen by some observers in Belgium,
Denmark and the Netherlands and the end was seen from Ireland. This
fireball has attracted international attention and there has even been
speculation that the object may have been a very small Aten type
asteroid gravitationally "captured" by the Earth for some time before
finally entering the Earth's atmosphere. There has also been
speculation that, with the object entering the atmosphere at a very
shallow angle, part of it may have re-emerged from the atmosphere,
orbited the Earth again and then been responsible for a very similar
fireball seen over North America approx 155 minutes later. Another
possibility, of course, is that the latter was a different object on
a similar trajectory.
As is always the case, most eyewitnesses were non-astronomers with
little knowledge of the night sky and so the positions reported in
their accounts were often rather approximate. Reports that did quote
azimuths and altitudes or which described its path through the
constellations were particularly valuable. Based on the reports,
Alastair McBeath was able to produce a preliminary analysis.
Although there was scatter in the times reported, the average time
reported for its appearance was 21:57 ± 5 minutes UT. The mean
reported visible duration was estimated at 24 seconds, though this may
be somewhat under-estimated, as many people saw only part of the full
path. Magnitude estimates averaged in the -7 to -10 range, something
which was made still more difficult than normal because the fireball
was breaking up for much of its flight. Colours reported were many and
varied, but almost 80% were in the red-orange-yellow to white range,
the remaining 20% or so favouring predominantly green.
The long atmospheric flight for the meteor created problems in
determining where it may have flown above, but the information
available suggested that it probably followed a roughly east to west
trajectory (or perhaps ENE to WSW) across northern England, most
likely passing overhead around the Durham/North Yorkshire to southern
Cumbria/Lancashire region. Three reports of possibly associated sonic
booms were made between 30 seconds to three or four minutes after the
meteor had passed-by from Co. Durham (two) and Lancashire, which help
to confirm this possible overflight zone, albeit tentatively. The
start was likely out over the North Sea, and the end may have been
somewhere above central-western Ireland or over the Atlantic off the
western coast.
Early press coverage also suggested the event may have been a man-made
re-entry. However, if we assume the average visible duration noted
above was roughly correct, and that the full visible path was between
circa 500 to 1000 km long as a crude estimate, the object's velocity,
not allowing for deceleration, would have been well above any near-
Earth man-made objects, but comfortably within the expected meteor
atmospheric-entry range, between ~20 to 40 km/sec."
Subsequent reports have required minimal change to Alastair's analysis.
The only significant change has been to push the start point further
East, probably beyond the Dutch-German border, suggesting a path
length for the fireball of at least 1100km.
ORIONID METEORS
By Tony Markham, SPA Meteor Section Director
The Orionid Meteor shower is active during the second half of October,
with the highest rates likely during Oct 20-23. The meteors are
typically swift moving, with many leaving good persistent trains. The
peak ZHR is typically around 25-30, although stronger returns have
occurred in some years.
The Moon is at First Quarter on Oct 22, but is in the Sagittarius/
Capricornus area and although it will provide some interference while
the radiant is still low in the sky, it will not be an issue later in
the night.
Note that the Orionid radiant actually lies beyond the top left of
the main pattern of Orion, close to the border with Gemini. Be aware
also that the Orionid radiant doesn't rise until after 10pm BST and
so no Orionids will be seen before then. Rates should then increase
as the radiant altitude increases and will be best late in the night.
Alongside the Orionid activity, you may well also see a few Taurid
meteors each hour.
Charts showing the locations of the Orionid and Taurid radiants can
be found at: http://snipurl.com/256pzla
SPA SOLAR SECTION
By Richard Bailey, Solar Section Director
SEPTEMBER 2012 (edited edition) Rotation Nos. 2127, 2128
WHITE LIGHT
Activity during the month resembled that in August. A maximum of 9
AR's showed across both hemispheres until the 9th; then diminished
activity was seen until the 25th; when a surge of up to 8 AR's gave
a stronger end to the month. Between the 13th. to 19th. only one AR
was recorded in the NH, AR1566. Over the time, the SH was slightly
more active than the NH. One NH AR,1560, was by the equator, the
highest latitude ones in each hemisphere being around 25 degrees.
The return of previously seen AR's increased in number. No large AR's
were seen, SH AR1564 developing rapidly to have the most individual
spots. Faculae was seen each day in limb areas of both hemispheres.
No(protected) naked eye sunspots were seen.
Week 1: Up to 9 AR's were seen daily, mostly in the SH. NH AR1560
was by the equator, showing a loose line of small spots and with SH
AR1564, a scattered collection of them, were the two largest AR's of
the month. Both decayed during the week.
Week 2: Around the E limb on the 12th. came SH AR1569, a run of small
spots, closely followed in line by SH AR 1571, the strongest AR's of
the week.
Week 3: The two main AR's diminished as they went westwards. NH AR
1566 was the only NH AR from the 13th. to 19th.
Week 4 to end of month. Up to 8 AR's were on the disc until the
30th. when 4 were seen. Most were small, often just single sunspots.
MDF 4.00 R 53.15
H-ALPHA
As in recent months, prominences of varied shapes and sizes were to
be seen daily, similarly filaments. Numbers of both followed the AR
activity. One large horse-shoe shaped filament west of AR1579 was a
feature for some days in the last week. A small amount of minor
flare activity was reported, in addition to plaging to larger AR's.
MDF 4.86
The un-edited version of this Report can be seen on the Solar link
from the SPA homepage, accompanied by a selection of pictures of
solar activity during the month. Click on pictures to see the
original full resolution ones.
Owing to holidays, the next scheduled bulletin will be issued on
October 28.
Bulletin compiled by Clive Down
(c) 2012 the Society for Popular Astronomy
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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
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Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
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Lyra Website: https://sites.google.com/site/lyrasociety/
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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)
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Information
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)
--
Information
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