Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 7
General Calendar p.9
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 9
Observing p. 11
Useful Links p. 13
About the Club p. 13
Club News & Calendar.
Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
16 Oct Club Meeting Pizza Party &
astronomy fun & games A1/1735
20 Nov Club Meeting Helioseismology Part 2 Dr. Edward Rhodes, USC A1/1735
AEA Astronomy Club meetings are on 3rd Thursdays at 11:45am. For all of 2014 except May, the meeting room is A1/1735.
News:
For the Oct. 16 club mtg. (pizza party),
Pizza & drink are free for members, $5 for others -- must RSVP to Mark Clayson (mark.clayson@aero.org, x60708) by Oct. 13 w. preferences – see menu below).
Menu options for Oct. 16 lunch (give 1st & 2nd choices when you RSVP by Jan. 13 – we’ll have to share pizzas & pitchers of drink so you may not get your first choice – hopefully at least your 2nd):
Pizzas (order drink separate (see below):
The Works Pizza
Three Cheese Pizza
Barbecued Chicken Pizza
Margherita Pizza with Fresh Basil, Tomato and Mozzarella
Grilled Vegetable Pizza
Drinks:
Bottled or canned juice, water or soda (specify)
Pitcher of water
Wraps (includes a green salad or chips, choice of assorted cookies & sodas – please specify):
Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap
Garden Vegetarian Wrap
Aerospace now has two telescopes on Mt. Wilson. The first has 12 inch aperture, in a small dome called MOCCAM. The second has a larger (0.8m?) aperture, and is located in a larger Aerospace facility called MAFIOT, for which there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 16. The smaller scope apparently will get less use after the commissioning of the larger, and we’re looking into gaining access to it for the club.
Club kudos. Speaking of Mt. Wilson, as a result of the recent presentation by Dr. Rhodes of USC (on helioseismology), we heard of a mechanical jitter problem with the Mt. Wilson 60-foot solar tower telescope. Our Nicholas Tsacoumangos volunteered to apply his skills, and the offer has been accepted – another club benefit. And as a result of the recent presentation by Dr. Leo Meyer of UCLA, one of their post-docs was recently hired at Aerospace. The AEA board was anxious to share this information with the company to justify further AEA funding. We also told of the dozen or so interns we co-sponsored for a night on the Mt. Wilson 60-inch telescope, and our affiliation with the Astronomical League.
We’re still looking into scheduling another Mt. Wilson 60-inch session maybe in the Fall (we’ll see what our AEA budget allocation is). But we must await the AEA budget allocation, as we’ve completely depleted our bank account. Also, We’re also checking on the possibility of using Aerospace’s new 0.8m telescope at Mt. Wilson.
Astronomy Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month
(from Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html)
VIDEO: Full Moon Silhouettes http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140907.html
Video Credit & Copyright: Mark Gee; Music: Tenderness (Dan Phillipson)
Explanation: Have you ever watched the Moon rise? The slow rise of a nearly full moon over a clear horizon can be an impressive sight. One impressive moonrise was imaged in early 2013 over Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. With detailed planning, an industrious astrophotographer placed a camera about two kilometers away and pointed it across the lookout to where the Moon would surely soon be making its nightly debut. The above single shot sequence is unedited and shown in real time -- it is nota time lapse. People on Mount Victoria Lookout can be seen in silhouette themselves admiring the dawn of Earth's largest satellite. Seeing a moonrise yourself is not difficult: it happens every day, although only half the time at night. Each day the Moon rises aboutfifty minutes later than the previous day, with a full moon always rising at sunset. A good time to see a moonrise will occur at sunset on Tuesday as the Moon's relative closeness to Earth during a full phase -- called a supermoon -- will cause it to appear slightly larger and brighter than usual.
VIDEO: Earth at Equinox http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140922.html
Video Credit: Roscosmos / NTSOMZ / zelenyikot.livejournal.com
Courtesy: Igor Tirsky, Vitaliy Egorov
Explanation: Earth is at equinox. Over the next 24 hours, day and night have nearly equal duration all over planet Earth. Technically, equinox transpires at 2:29 am Universal Time tomorrow, but this occurs today in North and South America. This September equinox signal that winter is approaching in the northern hemisphere, and summer is approaching in the south. At equinox, the dividing line between the sunlit half of Earth and the nighttime half of Earth temporarily passes through Earth's north and south spin poles. This dividing line is shown in clear detail in the featured video, taken by the Russian meteorological satellite Elektro-L during last year's September equinox. The Elektro-L satellite is in geostationary orbit over one spot on Earth's equator and always points directly toward the Earth. The featured video shows a time lapse for an entire day surrounding the equinox, with a new image taken every 30 minutes. Cloud motions are visible as well as the reflection of the Sun are visible as the equinox day progressed. The next Earth equinox is scheduled for March.
NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda
Image Credit and Copyright: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ),
Hubble Space Telescope, Local Group Galaxy Survey (Phil Massey, PI), Mayall 4-meter , Robert Gendler
Explanation: The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is nestled within the dusty arms of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Also known as M31, the spiral galaxy is a mere 2.5 million light-years away. NGC 206 is near top center in this gorgeous close-up of the southwestern extent of Andromeda's disk, a remarkable composite of data from space and ground-based observatories. The bright, blue stars of NGC 206 indicate its youth. In fact, its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million years old. Much larger than the open or galactic clusters of young stars in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy, NGC 206 spans about 4,000 light-years. That's comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseries NGC 604 in nearby spiral M33 and the Tarantula Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Star forming sites within Andromeda are revealed by the telltale reddish emission from clouds of ionized hydrogen gas.
MAVEN at Mars
Image Credit: MAVEN, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Univ. Colorado, NASA
Explanation: Launched on November 18, 2013, the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft completed its interplanetary voyage September 21, captured into a wide, elliptical orbit around Mars. MAVEN's imaging ultraviolet spectrograph has already begun its planned exploration of the Red Planet's upper atmosphere, acquiring this image data from an altitude of 36,500 kilometers. In false color, the three ultraviolet wavelength bands show light reflected from atomic hydrogen (in blue), atomic oxygen (in green) and the planet's surface (in red). Low mass atomic hydrogen is seen to extend thousands of kilometers into space, with the cloud of more massive oxygen atoms held closer by Mars' gravity. Both are by products of the breakdown of water and carbon dioxide in Mars' atmosphere and the MAVEN data can be used to determine the rate of water loss over time. In fact, MAVEN is the first mission dedicated to exploring Mars' tenuous upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the Sun and solar wind. But the most recent addition to the fleet of spacecraft from planet Earth now in martian orbit is MOM.
Cloud, Clusters and Comet Siding Spring
Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)
Explanation: On October 19th, a good place to watch Comet Siding Spring will be from Mars. Then, this inbound visitor (C/2013 A1) to the inner solar system, discovered in January 2013 by Robert McNaught at Australia's Siding Spring Observatory, will pass within 132,000 kilometers of the Red Planet. That's a near miss, equivalent to just over 1/3 the Earth-Moon distance. Great views of the comet for denizens of planet Earth's southern hemisphere are possible now, though. This telescopic snapshot from August 29 captured the comet's whitish coma and arcing dust tail sweeping through southern skies. The fabulous field of view includes, the Small Magellanic Cloud and globular star clusters 47 Tucanae (right) and NGC 362 (upper left). Worried about all those spacecraft in Martian orbit? Streaking dust particles from the comet could pose a danger and controllers plan to position Mars orbiters on the opposite side of the planet during the comet's close flyby.
Potentially Habitable Moons
Image Credit: Research and compilation - René Heller (McMaster Univ.) et al.
Panels - NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute - Copyright: Ted Stryk
Explanation: For astrobiologists, these may be the four most tantalizing moons in our Solar System. Shown at the same scale, their exploration by interplanetary spacecraft has launched the idea that moons, not just planets, could have environments supporting life. The Galileo mission to Jupiter discovered Europa's global subsurface ocean of liquid water and indications of Ganymede's interior seas. At Saturn, the Cassini probe detected erupting fountains of water ice from Enceladus indicating warmer subsurface water on even that small moon, while finding surface lakes of frigid but still liquid hydrocarbons beneath the dense atmosphere of large moon Titan. Now looking beyond the Solar System, new research suggests that sizable exomoons, could actually outnumber exoplanets in stellar habitable zones. That would make moons the most common type of habitable world in the Universe.
Astronomy News:
NRL scientist explores birth of a planet
Published: Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - 07:08 in Astronomy & Space
P. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA/NSF
Dr. John Carr, a scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), is part of an international team that has discovered what they believe is evidence of a planet forming around a star about 335 light years from Earth. This research is published in the August 20th issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Carr and the other research team members set out to study the protoplanetary disk around a star known as HD 100546, and as sometimes happens in scientific inquiry, it was by "chance" that they stumbled upon the formation of the planet orbiting this star. A protoplanetary disk, or circumstellar disk, is a very large disk of material orbiting a newly formed star out of which a planetary system may form. The team was studying the warm gas in this disk using a technique called spectro-astrometry, which allows astronomers to detect small changes in the position of moving gas.
The researchers discovered an "extra" source of gaseous emission from carbon monoxide molecules that could not be explained by the protoplanetary disk alone. By tracking the changes in velocity and position of this extra emission over the years of the observations, they were able to show that it is orbiting around the young star. The distance from the star is somewhat larger than the distance of Saturn from the Sun. The evidence suggests that they are observing hot gas that surrounds an orbiting young planet. Carr points out that rather than seeing the planet directly, they are detecting the gas as it swirls around and onto the forming planet.
Through modeling carried out by Dr. Sean Brittain, a Clemson University astrophysicist and the lead author on the paper, and with additional data gathered by the team to confirm their initial hypothesis, they were able to investigate the extra emission as it orbited the star. The authors concluded that a likely explanation for the observations is a small circumplanetary disk of hot gas orbiting a forming planet. The candidate planet would be a gas giant at least three times the mass of Jupiter. The theory is that material from the large protoplanetary disk feeds into the circumplanetary disk, which then feeds onto the growing planet. Hence, a circumplanetary disk plays a mediating role in the growth of the planet. The remnants of a circumplanetary disk could also give birth to moons, such as those seen around Jupiter in our solar system. As Carr explains, a novel aspect of this new evidence for planet formation is the possible detection of a circumplanetary disk.
The team's study is based on four sets of observations gathered in 2003, 2006, 2010, and 2013. They used the Gemini Observatory and the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory, both located in Chile. The Gemini Observatory consists of twin 8.1-meter diameter optical/infrared telescopes located on mountains in Hawaii and Chile. The VLT is not just one telescope, but an array of four, each with a main mirror of 8.2 meters in diameter. The data were collected using high-resolution infrared spectrographs that allowed precise measurements of the motions of molecular gas surrounding the star.
"These results provide a rare opportunity," Carr says, "to study planet formation in action. Our analysis strongly suggests we are observing a disk of hot gas that surrounds a forming giant planet in orbit around the star. While such circumplanetary disks have been theorized to surround giant planets at birth and to control the flow of gas onto the growing planet, these findings are the first observational evidence for their existence. If our interpretation is correct, we are essentially seeing a planet caught in the act of formation."
Looking ahead, the team would like to continue to monitor the motion of the planet and obtain additional data to better define the properties of the circumplanetary disk. They predict that the planet and its disk will disappear from view in about two years time when they become hidden by the inner edge of the circumstellar disk. So, if the team's model is correct, the signature of the orbiting planet will not be seen for another 15 years until its orbit brings it back into view.
Source: Naval Research Laboratory
Simulations reveal an unusual death for ancient stars
Published: Monday, September 29, 2014 - 09:59 in Astronomy & Space
Ken Chen, University of California at Santa Cruz
Certain primordial stars -- those between 55,000 and 56,000 times the mass of our Sun, or solar masses -- may have died unusually. In death, these objects -- among the Universe's first-generation of stars -- would have exploded as supernovae and burned completely, leaving no remnant black hole behind. Astrophysicists at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) and the University of Minnesota came to this conclusion after running a number of supercomputer simulations at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and Minnesota Supercomputing Institute at the University of Minnesota. They relied extensively on CASTRO, a compressible astrophysics code developed at DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (Berkeley Lab's) Computational Research Division (CRD). Their findings were recently published in Astrophysical Journal (ApJ).
First-generation stars are especially interesting because they produced the first heavy elements, or chemical elements other than hydrogen and helium. In death, they sent their chemical creations into outer space, paving the way for subsequent generations of stars, solar systems and galaxies. With a greater understanding of how these first stars died, scientists hope to glean some insights about how the Universe, as we know it today, came to be.
"We found that there is a narrow window where supermassive stars could explode completely instead of becoming a supermassive black hole -- no one has ever found this mechanism before," says Ke-Jung Chen, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSC and lead author of the ApJ paper. "Without NERSC resources, it would have taken us a lot longer to reach this result. From a user perspective, the facility is run very efficiently and it is an extremely convenient place to do science."
[read more at: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/09/29/simulations.reveal.unusual.death.ancient.stars
Source: DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
]
University of Tennessee research uncovers forces that hold gravity-defying near-earth asteroid together
Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 - 13:51 in Astronomy & Space
NASA
Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have made a novel discovery that may potentially protect the world from future collisions with asteroids. The team studied near-Earth asteroid 1950 DA and discovered that the body, which rotates extremely quickly, is held together by cohesive forces called van der Waals, never detected before on an asteroid.
The findings, published in this week's edition of the science journal Nature, have potential implications for defending our planet from a massive asteroid impact.
[read more at: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/08/13/university.tennessee.research.uncovers.forces.hold.gravity.defying.near.earth.asteroid.together
Source: University of Tennessee
General Calendar:
Colloquia, Lectures, Seminars, Meetings, Open Houses & Tours:
Colloquia: Carnegie (Tues. 4pm), UCLA, Caltech (Wed. 4pm), IPAC (Wed. 12:15pm) & other Pasadena (daily 12-4pm): http://obs.carnegiescience.edu/seminars/
3 October
Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS Monthly General Meeting
Topic: Celestron: Past, Present and Future
Speaker: Eric J. Kopit.
6 Oct LAAS LAAS General Meeting.
Griffith Observatory
Event Horizon Theater
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Oct. 9 & 10 The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2014
Rosetta – A Lesson on Comets, the Solar System and Mysteries of Earth
Comets have inspired awe and wonder since the dawn of history. Many scientists today believe that comets crashed into Earth in its formative period spewing organic molecules that were crucial to the growth of life; and while some scientists think that comets and planets were both made from the same clumps of dust and ice that spewed from our Sun’s birth, others think that these roving time capsules are even older than that, and that they may contain grains of interstellar stuff that is even older than our solar system. The Rosetta spacecraft is on a ten-year mission to catch a comet and answer this and other questions by being the first spacecraft to soft-land a robot on a comet! Rosetta will also be the first spacecraft to accompany a comet as it enters our inner solar system, observing at close range how the comet changes as the Sun’s heat transforms it into the luminous apparition that has frightened and inspired people for centuries.
Speaker: Art Chmielewski, Manager US Rosetta Project
Locations: Thursday, Oct 9, 2014, 7pm
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
Friday, Oct 10, 2014, 7pm
The Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College
1570 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
Webcast: We offer two options to view the live streaming of our webcast on Thursday:
› 1) Ustream with real-time web chat to take public questions.
› 2) Flash Player with open captioning
If you don't have Flash Player, you can download for free here.
11 October Saturday 2:00 PM
SETI Institute and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute will give a talk at the Katy Geissert Civic
Center Library (3301 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503) in the Community Meeting Room.
JPL OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12, 2014
9 a.m to 4.p.m Location: JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, invites the public to its annual Open House. The event, themed “Welcome to Our Universe,” will take visitors on a “ride” through the wonders of space. Highlights include a life-size model of Mars Science Laboratory, demonstrations from numerous space missions; JPL’s machine shop, where robotic spacecraft parts are built; and the Microdevices Lab, where engineers and scientists use tiny technology to revolutionize space exploration.
The Earth Science Center will show 3-D videos of our home planet and JPL’s Earth science missions. Upon entering, visitors will pass an Earth globe with data from NASA’s Earth-orbiting satellites projected onto the sphere.
JPL is located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California, 91109. Admission to Open House is free. Parking is also free, but is limited. To get to JPL, take the Berkshire Avenue/Oak Grove Drive exit from the 210 Freeway in La Canada/Flintridge. All visitors should wear comfortable shoes --no buses will be provided from JPL parking lots. JPL will provide vans for mobility-challenged guests.
Vehicles and items carried by persons entering NASA/JPL property are subject to inspection by Officers at the entry checkpoints. The following items are prohibited at NASA/JPL: All weapons, explosives, incendiary devices, dangerous instruments, alcohol, illegal drugs, pets, all types of skates including skateboards, Segways and bicycles. Large bags, backpacks or ice chests are not permitted into the event, except small purses and diaper bags.
16 Oct Club Meeting Pizza Party &
astronomy fun & games A1/1735
Observing:
The following data are from the 2014 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s 2014 Skygazer’s Almanac & monthly Sky at a Glance.
Current sun & moon rise/set/phase data for L.A.: http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/usa/los-angeles
A weekly 5 minute video about what’s up in the night sky: www.skyandtelescope.com/skyweek.
Sun, Moon & Planets for September:
Moon: Oct 1 1st quarter, Oct 8 full, Oct 15 last quarter, Oct 23 new, Oct 31 1st quarter
Planets: Mercury & Venus are visible in E dawn twilight. Jupiter rises after midnight in east. Saturn and Mars are in the SW evening sky, setting early evening.
Other Events:
4 October Astronomy Day
4 Oct Public Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm
18 October
SBAS Saturday Night In Town Dark Sky Observing Session at Ridgecrest Middle School– 28915 North Bay Rd. RPV, Weather Permitting: Please contact Greg Benecke to confirm that the gate will be opened! http://www.sbastro.net/
8 October 2 – 6 AM Total Lunar Eclipse – entire eclipse visible from California, U3-P4 not visible from East Coast.
9 October Draconid Meteor Shower Peak
The maximum rate typically reaches 1-2 per hour, but outbursts of hundreds or thousands per hour
occurred several times during the 20th century.
21 October Orionids Meteor Shower Peak
Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will see around 20 meteors per hour at maximum.
23 October 2-5 PM Partial Solar Eclipse. Circumstances for L.A.:
Begins 14:08 Max. 15:28 Ends 16:40 sun alt. 29deg az. 229deg magnitude 0.452 obs. 0.335
25 October Saturn 1deg S of Moon, occultation
25 October SBAS out-of-town observing – contact Greg Benecke http://www.sbastro.net/.
25 Oct LAAS Dark Sky Night : Lockwood Valley (Steve Kufeld Astronomical Site; LAAS members and their guests only)
Internet Links:
Link(s) of the Month
A weekly 5 minute video about what’s up in the night sky: www.skyandtelescope.com/skyweek.
Telescope, Binocular & Accessory Buying Guides
Sky & Telescope Magazine -- Choosing Your Equipment
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars -- Buying Guides
Telescopes.com -- Telescopes 101
General
Getting Started in Astronomy & Observing
The Astronomical League
e! Science News Astronomy & Space
NASA Gallery
Astronomical Society of the Pacific (educational, amateur & professional)
Amateur Online Tools, Journals, Vendors, Societies, Databases
The Astronomy White Pages (U.S. & International Amateur Clubs & Societies)
American Astronomical Society (professional)
More...
Regional (Southern California, Washington, D.C. & Colorado)
Southern California & Beyond Amateur Astronomy Organizations, Observatories & Planetaria
Mt. Wilson Observatory description, history, visiting
Los Angeles Astronomical Society (LAAS)
South Bay Astronomical Society (SBAS)
Orange County Astronomers
The Local Group Astronomy Club (Santa Clarita)
Ventura County Astronomical Society
The Astronomical Society of Greenbelt
National Capital Astronomers
Northern Virginia Astronomy Club
Colorado Springs Astronomical Society
Denver Astronomical Society
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/.
Membership. For information, current dues & application, contact Alan Olson, or see the club website (or Aerolink folder) where a form is also available (go to the membership link/folder & look at the bottom). Benefits will include use of club telescope(s) & library/software, membership in The Astronomical League, 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: Mark Clayson, President & Program Committee Chairman (& acting club VP), TBD Activities Committee Chairman (& club Secretary), or Alan Olson, Resource Committee Chairman (over equipment & library, and club Treasurer).
Mark Clayson,
AEA Astronomy Club President
