AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter, June
2012
Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 5
General Calendar p. 7
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 7
Observing p. 8
Useful Links p. 9
About the Club p. 10
Club News & Calendar.
Calendar
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 5
General Calendar p. 7
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 7
Observing p. 8
Useful Links p. 9
About the Club p. 10
Club News & Calendar.
Calendar
5 June
|
Venus Transit of the Sun
|
In
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21 June
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Monthly Meeting
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Space Radiation Modeling,
Joe Mazur, Aerospace A1/1029A/B
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19 July
|
Monthly Meeting
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Astrophotography & Research at an
Amateur Observatory, Francis Longstaff, Polaris Observatory Assn.
(amateur/pro collaboration) & UCLA Faculty & Saturn Lodge 0.7m
amateur telescope. A1/1029A/B
|
AEA Astronomy Club meetings are on 3rd Thursdays at 11:45am. For 2012, April-May we meet in A1/1026; June-July & Oct.-Dec. in A1/1029A/B; Aug. in A1/2143 and Sept. in A3/1607A/B.
News:
May 20
annular solar eclipse. It was every man for himself,
wherever he was – no one went to centerline, but we had some 80% from L.A. S.
Torrance , intermittently between & through clouds. Jim Edwards above clouds from PV & took
some photos (see the club Aerolink folder of 2012 activities, https://aerolink.aero.org/cs/llisapi.dll?func=ll&objId=16864908&objAction=browse&sort=name.
). And others sent in are posted there,
including a good bunch of crescents on the ground thru a tree from N. Calif.
May 26
RTMC astronomy expo & club observing night(s).
David Wright & son Gabriel went up Thursday, and was joined on Fri.
by Mark Clayson & Phillip Morris, his wife and infant. There was a steady wind, and temperatures
dipped below freezing (teens w. wind chill).
In the auditorium we watched a big screen projection from an outside
video camera on a telescope. Then went
out for a closer look at their setup – a Mallincam Extreme – the high-end model
we’ve considered for the club, and I’m now sold on. Few others were set up to observe, and about
midnight, as we were about to set up the 10-inch I’d brought, clouds came over
and dusted us w. snow. Just as well –
yours truly had forgotten the tripod (but brought all else in our inventory) –
note to self: make a checklist.
The next
morning, we looked at the vendors, and signed up for a rare tour of the Big
Bear Solar Observatory – the largest, highest resolution solar telescope on
earth. Holiday
traffic getting there was horrendous, and we missed meeting the group at the
locked gate. Not to worry, we slipped
thru the barbed wire & shocked the staff by joining the tour late. I then returned home. See photos at
David stayed longer, and reported later, “Well, we survived. The wind was
less Saturday, but it was very cold (in the 20's) and I just went to bed with
Gabriel. On Sunday it was much less windy. At the second raffle night, Gabriel
and I won one of the prizes -- unfortunately nothing too exciting: admission
for 5 to the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey
“We saw both iridium flashes on Sunday night, a -4 and a -8.
“We spread out your green outdoor carpeting and I set up the 10" on
the ground. We looked at a few things, M13 and alberio, and then Gabriel wanted
to go to sleep (around 11). I slept for a bit too, and then got up at 2:30am
and observed until it started getting light at 4:30, mostly everything I could
find in Cygnus, and Since it was near zenith, that meant I was lying on the
ground for most of that time, but the outdoor carpeting worked great! I did
notice ice on my aluminum camp table before I went to sleep.”
June 5
Venus transit (last in our lifetimes). We knew we could count on the laws of motion, but even the
weather cooperated. And there must have been hundred(s) of people in the AGO
mall who came & stood in line to view through the club H-alpha scope, Alan
Olson’s 8-inch Dobs, and my 90mm ETX, both w. NDF’s. All in all a very
successful event! There were several sunspots, plages & prominences
seen, that can be made out in some H-alpha photos. But no one noticed any
aureole or black drop effect around Venus. Jim Johansen was also set up at the Pasadena
office w. his 8-inch Celestron.
A lot of good shots w. cell phones! And the movies are incredible, especially for handheld w. a cellphone! I'm uploading them as they come in to our Aerolink folder where you can access them -- https://aerolink.aero.org/cs/llisapi.dll?func=ll&objId=16864908&objAction=browse&sort=name.
A lot of good shots w. cell phones! And the movies are incredible, especially for handheld w. a cellphone! I'm uploading them as they come in to our Aerolink folder where you can access them -- https://aerolink.aero.org/cs/llisapi.dll?func=ll&objId=16864908&objAction=browse&sort=name.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get the CCD imager focused and imaging before the sun started dropping into the trees & buildings around 7pm -- we came frustratingly close for novices. It didn't help to not have equatorial mounts or working sidereal drives (another item to acquire). Or to have to spend 20-30 minutes getting the imaging software drivers to be recognized. We have some good lessons learned for future events like the 2017 eclipse or 2016 Mercury transit
I caught the rest of it at the NASA webcast from Hawaii -- incl. 3rd & 4th contact which occured after sunset here -- I can say I saw it from start to end. I saved screen shots, and may post some of those.
A special thanks to Joe Nemanick & Alan Olson for bringing that great Dobs, and working the crowd, keeping the interest level up and the telescopes pointed, etc.
Astronomy
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month
(from Astronomy Picture of
the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html) Video(s)
2012 June 9
Explanation: As its June 6 2012 transit begins Earth's sister planet crosses the edge of the Sun in this stunning view from the Hinode spacecraft. The timing of limb crossings
during the rare transits was used historically to triangulate the distance to Venus and determine a value for the
Earth-Sun distance called the astronomical unit. Still, modern space-based views like this one show the event
against an evocative backdrop of the turbulent solar surface with prominences
lofted above the Sun's edge by twisting magnetic fields. Remarkably, the thin
ring of light seen surrounding the planet's dark silhouette is sunlight
refracted by Venus' thick atmosphere. 
2012 May 30
Image Credit: PHL @ UPR
2012 May 24
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Kevin Hand (JPL/Caltech),
Jack Cook (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Howard Perlman (USGS)
Astronomy News:
Baby galaxies grew up quickly
Published:
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - 12:34 in Astronomy & Space
For several thousand years after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago, the Universe consisted of a hot, dense primordial soup of gases and particles. But the Universe was expanding rapidly and the primordial soup became less dense and cooled. However, the primordial soup was not evenly distributed, but was denser in some areas than others. The density in some of the densest areas increased due to gravity and began to contract, forming the first stars and galaxies. This took place approximately 500 million years after the Big Bang.
The earliest galaxies were probably composed of primitive, giant stars that consisted of only hydrogen and helium. There were no heavier elements. They first appeared later in the evolution of the Universe, created by nuclear processes in the stars.
Cosmic cycle
A star is a giant ball of glowing gas that produces energy by fusing hydrogen and helium into heavier and heavier elements. When no more energy can be extracted the star dies and massive clouds of dust and gas are flung out into space. These large clouds are condensed and recycled into new stars in a gigantic cosmic cycle. The new stars that are formed will have a higher content of heavier elements than the previous and for each generation of star formation there are more and more of the heavy elements and metals. And heavy elements (especially carbon and oxygen) are necessary for the formation of planets and life, as we know it.
Up until now, researchers thought that it had taken billions of years for stars to form and with that, galaxies with a high content of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. But new research from the Niels Bohr Institute shows that this process went surprisingly quickly in some galaxies.
"We have studied 10 galaxies in the early Universe and analysed their light spectra. We are observing light from the galaxies that has been on a 10-12 billion year journey to Earth, so we see the galaxies as they were then. Our expectation was that they would be relatively primitive and poor in heavier elements, but we discovered somewhat to our surprise that the gas in some of the galaxies and thus the stars in them had a very high content of heavier elements. The gas was just as enriched as our own Sun," explains Professor Johan Fynbo from the Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.
Lighthouses of the Universe
The galaxies are so far away that you normally do not have the opportunity to observe them directly, but the researchers have used a special method.
"There are some extreme objects in the Universe called quasars. Quasars are gigantic black holes that are active and when matter falls into them, they emit light that is as strong as thousands of galaxies. They are like a kind of lighthouse that lights up in the Universe and can be seen very far away," explains Jens-Kristian Krogager, PhD student at the Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute, University Copenhagen. He explains that in order to use quasars as light sources the quasar must lie behind the galaxy you want to observe.
"We then look at the light from the quasar and can see that some light is missing. The missing quasar light in the image has been absorbed by the chemical elements in the galaxy in front of it. By analysing the spectral lines we can see which elements there are and by measuring the strength of each line we can see the amount of the elements," explains Jens-Kristian Krogager.
Life in the early Universe
They discovered not only that the galaxies from the very early Universe had a surprisingly large quantity of heavier elements, but also that one of the galaxies in particular was especially interesting.
"For one of the galaxies, we observed the outer regions and here there was also a high element content. This suggests that large parts of the galaxy are enriched with a high content of heavier elements and that means that already in the early history of the Universe there was potential for planet formation and life," says Johan Fynbo.
General Calendar:
Colloquia, Lectures, Seminars, Meetings, Open Houses & Tours:
Note: The South Bay Astronomical Society website
has changed from www.sbastro.org
to http://www.sbastro.net/.
Colloquia: Carnegie (Tues. 4pm), UCLA,
Caltech (Wed. 4pm), IPAC (Wed. 12:15pm) & other Pasadena (daily 12-4pm):
http://obs.carnegiescience.edu/seminars/
Carnegie astronomy lectures – only 4 per year in the Spring www.obs.carnegiescience.edu. Visit
www.huntington.org for directions. For more information about the Carnegie
Observatories or this lecture series, please contact Reed Haynie.
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1 June
|
SBAS Monthly
General Meeting at El Camino College planetarium. 7:30 PM
Topic: TBD Guest Speaker:. http://www.sbastro.net/.
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11
June
|
LAAS LAAS General Meeting.
|
Griffith
Observatory
Event Horizon Theater 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM |
21 June
|
AEA Astronomy Club Monthly Meeting
|
Space Radiation Modeling,
Joe Mazur, Aerospace A1/1029A/B
|
Jun. 21 & 22 The von Kármán Lecture Series:
Melting
Snows: The Threatened Lifeblood of the Western US
Snowmelt
from the Sierra Nevada and the mountains of the Upper Colorado River Basin
provides the water upon which Western society is built. In recent years,
increases in population and drought have pushed water demand past
snowmelt-dominated supply. Climate change and dust deposition from disturbed
lands have already begun the encroachment on this precious resource. Drops of
lake levels on Lake Mead have threatened unprecedented domestic and
international reductions in deliveries and the threat to southern California’s
water supply of a seismic breach of levies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta hangs like the Sword of Damocles. JPL is developing the Airborne Snow
Observatory and other systems to bring the nation to a mature monitoring of our
snow resource to anchor cutting edge science and water management in an
uncertain future.
Speaker:
|
Dr. Thomas Painter Research Scientist in the Water and Carbon Cycles Group, in the Earth Sciences Section, JPL |
Locations:
|
Thursday, June
21, 2012, 7pm The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA › Directions Friday, June 22, 2012, 7pm The Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College 1570 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA › Directions |
Webcast:
|
For the webcast on
Thursday at 7 p.m. PST, click here  If you don't have RealPlayer, you can download the free RealPlayer 8 Basic. |
Observing:
The following
data are from the 2012 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s 2012 Skygazer’s
Almanac & monthly Sky at a Glance.
A weekly 5 minute video about what’s up in the night sky: www.skyandtelescope.com/skyweek.
Sun,
Moon & Planets for June:
Moon: 4 Full, 11 Last quarter, 19 New, 27 First Quarter
Other
Events:
9 June
|
SBAS Star Party (weather permitting): RPV at
Ridgecrest Middle School 28915 North Bay Rd.
|
16
June
|
LAAS Dark Sky Night : Lockwood Valley (Steve Kufeld Astronomical Site; LAAS members and their guests
only)
|
16
June
|
SBAS
out-of-town observing – contact Greg Benecke http://www.sbastro.net/.
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23
June
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Public Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds
2-10pm
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Internet Links:
Link(s) of the Month
A weekly 5 minute video about what’s up in the night sky: www.skyandtelescope.com/skyweek.
General
Mt. Wilson Institute (www.mtwilson.edu/), including status for visits & roads
About the Club
Club Websites: Internal (Aerospace): https://aeropedia.aero.org/aeropedia/index.php/Astronomy_Club It is updated to reflect this newsletter, in addition to a listing of past club mtg. presentations, astronomy news, photos & events from prior newsletters, club equipment, membership & constitution. We have linked some presentation materials from past mtgs. Our club newsletters are also being posted to an external blog, “An Astronomical View” http://astronomicalview.blogspot.com/.
Club Websites: Internal (Aerospace): https://aeropedia.aero.org/aeropedia/index.php/Astronomy_Club It is updated to reflect this newsletter, in addition to a listing of past club mtg. presentations, astronomy news, photos & events from prior newsletters, club equipment, membership & constitution. We have linked some presentation materials from past mtgs. Our club newsletters are also being posted to an external blog, “An Astronomical View” http://astronomicalview.blogspot.com/.
Membership. For information, current dues & application, contact Jim Johansen, or see the club website where a form is also available. Benefits will include use of club telescope(s) & library/software, discounts on Sky & Telescope magazine and Observer’s Handbook, field trips, great programs, having a say in club activities, acquisitions & elections, etc.
Committee Suggestions & Volunteers. Feel free to contact: Paul Rousseau, Program Committee Chairman (& club VP), TBD, Activities Committee Chairman (& club Secretary), or Jim Johansen, Resource Committee Chairman (over equipment & library, and club Treasurer).
Mark Clayson,
AEA Astronomy Club President
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