AEA Astronomy Club
Newsletter December
2015
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. 10
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. 10
Useful
Links p. 12
About the Club p. 13
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
About the Club p. 13
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
3 December
|
AEA Astronomy
Club Meeting
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The Great Eclipse Expedition of 1991 – Mark Clayson &
Corp. Colloquium Video
|
A1/1735
|
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7 January
|
AEA Astronomy
Club Meeting
|
Astronomy STEM – Nahum Melamed et al
|
A1/1735
|
4 February
|
AEA Astronomy
Club Meeting
|
Hubble Operations,
Morgan Bracken, GSFC
|
A1/1735
|
AEA
Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1st Thursdays at 11:45am. For all of (except Aug. 6) 2015, the meeting
room is A1/1735.
Club
News:
Technical difficulties at the
Dec. 3 club mtg. prevented the showing of the 1991 Corporate Colloquium on the
Great Eclipse Expedition of 1991. We
will work on resolving them, and possibly show it at a later date, and/or
upload it for your personal viewing on Aerolink.
2017 Eclipse Plans
There was considerable interest expressed at the Dec. 3 club mtg. to
plan & prepare to go to centerline on Aug. 21, 2017. Prime locations (favorable cloud
climatology & distance from L.A.) appear to be just north of Idaho Falls, and north of Boise. The former also has the draw of proximity to
Yellowstone & Grand Tetons National Parks.
Lessons from the 1991 club & company expedition to Baja were reviewed
and committees formed for travel/accommodations, and a photo/observing pool
to use our equipment and record the eclipse.
Mary Lee Wheaton, a Travel Club member who also helped with the 1991
travel & lodging, will head the travel/accommodations committee, and Mark
Clayson will also serve on it. David
Taylor & Kirk Crawford volunteered for the photo/observing pool
committee. Additional volunteers on both
committees are welcome.
We will put out a general notice not only to the travel & camera/video
clubs, but to all of Aerospace, and
invite all interested in joining the expedition(s) (there may possibly be more
than one group/destination) to provide their names, destination(s) of interest,
flexibility on dates/duration, equipment/experience, travel mode(s) (drive,
fly/drive, etc.), etc.
With 300 million Americans
within a day or 2 drive of centerline, and widespread publicity already
especially in the amateur community, lodging may quickly book near
centerline. Camping or RV-ing are other options,
including in the national parks, and possibly dormitories at local universities. Much of our equipment will likely need to be
transported by car – to avoid the expense of buying sturdier cases for airline
checked luggage.
Equipment that we tentatively would plan to use for the eclipse
includes: The Meade 10-inch SCT w. solar filter &
video or CCD camera for partial phases, diamond ring, prominences & inner
corona during totality; the 5-inch refractor (& get a new filter) &
video or CCD camera for the same (& extended corona?); the H-alpha scope
& video or CCD camera for partial phases & prominences; the DSLR (w. a
new longer focal length telephoto) for extended corona, diamond ring,
prominences? The video camera (&
CCD/eyepiece video?) may also display on a flatscreen TV or laptop for group
viewing. The Celestron scope may be used
w. eyepiece camera. The tabletop
autotracker may be used for wide-angle panoramic/scenic shots w. another DSLR
or pocket/smartphone/tablet camera, and the Backpack Observatory may be used w.
eyepiece video. All of these (except the
H-alpha) may also be used for some night-time star party observations, as well
as the 8- and 16-inch Dobsonians.
Astronomy Video(s)
& Picture(s) of the Month
(from
Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html)
VIDEO: Assembly of The
International Space Station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgfWH3g9kpY
Animation Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Explanation: It is the
largest and most sophisticated object ever built off the Earth. It has taken
numerous spaceflights and over a decade to construct. The International Space
Station (ISS) is currently the premiere habitat for humans in Earth orbit, and an amalgamation
of sophisticated orbiting laboratories that have examined everything from the
formation of new materials and medicines created in microgravity -- to the limitations of the human body -- to
thecomposition of the universe. This month, the ISS is celebrating 15 years of continuous human habitation. The ISS has been visited by astronauts from 15
countries, so far, and has international partners led by NASA (USA),Roscosmos (Russia), CSA (Canada), JAXA (Japan), and ESA (Europe). The featured animation shows the piece-by-piece construction of the ISS from 1998 to 2011. Spanning the length of a
football field, the ISS can be seen as an unusually bright spot drifting slowly overhead by anyone who knows when and where to look.Animation Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
VIDEO:
Comet ISON Being Destroyed by the Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L54gUQTqko
Video Credit: NASA, ESA, SOHO
Explanation: Most comets
don't survive a close encounter with the Sun. Two years ago this month, though, Comet ISON was thought by some to be big enough to
withstand its perilous sungrazing dive. The featured video shows the drama as it was recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint mission of ESA and NASA. As
many Earthlings watched in fascination, a bright area did emerge from closest approach, but it soon faded and dispersed. It is now assumed that no large
fragments of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) survived. Besides the comet, the active
Sun is seen to eject puffs of plasma known as coronal mass ejections. Launched
in 1995, sun-orbiting SOHOhas become
a historic device in the discovery and tracking of comets known as sungrazers. Two
months ago, a comet designated SOHO 3000 was named in honor of the record 3000th comet that was discovered on SOHO images, a total that amounts to about half of
all known comets.Video Credit: NASA, ESA, SOHO
Earth and
Milky Way from Space
Image Credit: NASA, Scott Kelly
Explanation: Since November 2000, people
have been living continuously on the International Space Station. To celebrate
humanity's 15th anniversary off planet Earth, consider
this snapshot from space of our galaxy and our home world posing
together beyond the orbital outpost. The Milky Way stretches below the curve of
Earth's limb in the scene that also records a faint red, extended airglow. The
galaxy's central bulge appears with starfields cut by dark rifts of obscuring
interstellar dust. The picture was taken by Astronaut Scott Kelly on August 9,
2015, the 135th day of his one-year
mission in space.Image Credit: NASA, Scott Kelly
Gravity's
Grin
Image Credit: X-ray - NASA / CXC / J. Irwin et al. ; Optical - NASA/STScI
Explanation: Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published 100
years ago this month, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. And
that's what gives these distant galaxies such a whimsical appearance, seen through the
looking glass of X-ray
and optical image data from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. Nicknamed
the Cheshire Cat galaxy group, the group's two large elliptical galaxies are
suggestively framed by arcs. The arcs are optical images of distant background galaxies lensed by the
foreground group's total distribution of gravitational mass dominated by dark
matter. In fact the two large elliptical "eye" galaxies represent the
brightest members of their own galaxy groups which are merging. Their relative
collisional speed of nearly 1,350 kilometers/second heats gas to millions of
degrees producing the X-ray glow shown in purple hues. Curiouser about galaxy group mergers? The Cheshire Cat group grins in the constellation Ursa Major, some 4.6
billion light-years away.Image Credit: X-ray - NASA / CXC / J. Irwin et al. ; Optical - NASA/STScI
Unusual
Pits Discovered on Pluto
Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins U. APL, SwRI
Explanation: Why are
there unusual pits on Pluto? The indentations were discovered during the New Horizons spacecraft's flyby of the dwarf planet in July. The largest pits span a kilometer
across and dip tens of meters into a lake of frozen nitrogen, a lake
that sprawls across Sputnik Planum, part of
the famous light-colored heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio. Although
most pits in the Solar System are created by impact craters, these depressionslook
different -- many are similarly sized, densely packed, and aligned. Rather, it
is thought that something has caused these specific areas of ice to sublimate and evaporate away. In fact, the lack of overlying impact craters indicates these pits formed relatively
recently. Even though the robotic New
Horizons is now off
to a new destination, it
continues to beam back to Earth new images and data from its dramatic encounter with Pluto.Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins U. APL, SwRI
A 212-Hour
Exposure of Orion
Image Credit & Copyright: Stanislav Volskiy, Rollover Annotation: Judy Schmidt
Explanation: The
constellation of Orion is much more than three stars in a row. It is a
direction in space that is rich with impressive nebulas. To better appreciate
this well-known swath of sky, an extremely long exposure was taken over many clear nights in 2013 and
2014. After 212 hours of camera time and an additional year of processing, the featured 1400-exposure
collage spanning over 40 times the angular diameter of the Moon emerged. Of
the many interesting details that have become visible, one that particularly
draws the eye is Barnard's Loop, the
bright red circular filament arcing down from the middle. The Rosette Nebula is not the
giant red nebula near the top of the image -- that is a larger but lesser known
nebula known as Lambda Orionis. The Rosette Nebula is visible,
though: it is the red and white nebula on the upper left. The bright orange
star just above the frame center is Betelgeuse, while the
bright blue star on the lower right is Rigel. Other
famous nebulas visible include the Witch Head Nebula, the Flame Nebula, the Fox Fur Nebula, and, if
you know just where to look, the comparatively small Horsehead Nebula. About
those famous three stars that cross the belt of Orion the Hunter -- in this busy frame they can be hard to
locate, but a discerning eye will find them just below and to the right of the
image center.Image Credit & Copyright: Stanislav Volskiy, Rollover Annotation: Judy Schmidt
An
Unexpected Rocket Plume over San Francisco
Image Credit & Copyright: Abe Blair (Abe Blair Gallery)
Explanation: What is
that unusual light in the sky? A common question, this particular light was not
only bright but moving and expanding. It appeared just as the astrophotographer
and his friend were photographing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California against a more predictable night sky. They were
not alone in seeing this unusual display -- at least hundreds of people in California
reported a similar sight. The consensus of experienced sky
observers was that
the plume resulted from a rocket launch -- an explanation
that was soon confirmed as an unpublicized test of a submarine-launched, unarmed, Trident II D5 nuclear missile. Such
tests are not uncommon but do not usually occur just after sunset near a major metropolitan area -- when they are particularly noticeable to many people. Were plume images not posted to the Internet and quickly identified, such a
sky spectacle might have been understood by some to be associated with more grandiose -- but incorrect -- explanations.Image Credit & Copyright: Abe Blair (Abe Blair Gallery)
Astronomy
News:
What is the universe made of?
Published:
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 - 14:48 in Astronomy
& Space
Related
images
Credit: V.Springel, Max-Planck Institut für
Astrophysik, Garching bei München
Matter known as ordinary, which makes up everything we know, corresponds
to only 5% of the Universe. Approximately half of this percentage still eluded
detection. Numerical simulations made it possible to predict that the rest of
this ordinary matter should be located in the large-scale structures that form
the 'cosmic web' at temperatures between 100,000 and 10 million degrees. A team
led by a researcher from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland,
observed this phenomenon directly. The research shows that the majority of the
missing ordinary matter is found in the form of a very hot gas associated with
intergalactic filaments. The article reporting this discovery is published in
the journal Nature. Galaxies are formed when
ordinary matter collapses then cools down. In order to understand the origin of
this formation, it was vital to discover in what form and where the ordinary
matter that we do not perceive -- known as the 'missing baryons' -- is found.
To do this, the astrophysicists from UNIGE and the Ecole polytechnique fédérale
de Lausanne (EPFL) took an interest in Abell 2744, a massive cluster of
galaxies with a complex distribution of dark and luminous matter at its center.
They observed this cluster with the XMM space telescope, which is capable of
detecting the signature of very hot gas due to its sensitivity to X-rays.
Hot gas at the core of the filaments
Large-scale galaxy surveys have
shown that the distribution of ordinary matter in the Universe is not
homogeneous. Instead, under the action of gravity, matter is concentrated into
filamentary structures, forming a network of knots and links called the 'cosmic
web'. The regions experiencing the highest gravitational force collapse and
form the knots of the network, such as Abell 2744. Comparable to neural
networks, these knots then connect to one another through filaments, wherein
the researchers identified the presence of gas, and consequently, the missing
baryons. The astrophysicists pointed XMM in the direction of the areas where
they suspected to find the presence of filaments, and therefore, the presence
of 10-million degree hot gas structures. For the first time, they were able to
measure the temperature and density of these objects, and found that they
corresponded to the predictions of the numerical models. For this reason, we
now have a grasp of the form taken by the missing ordinary matter.
Will the amount of ordinary matter in the universe soon be
known?
This research is a very
significant validation of the models of galaxy formation in the Universe.
"Now we must verify that the discovery of Abell 2744's missing baryons is
applicable to the entire universe. This will consist in studying these
filamentary regions in detail, and measuring their temperature distribution and
the various atoms that compose them, in order to understand how many heavy
elements there are in the universe," says Dominique Eckert, led scientist.
In fact, if the researchers manage to measure the atoms in these filaments,
they will be able to estimate the number of heavy nuclei formed by stars since
the beginning of the universe. In order to deepen this research, the European
Space Agency (ESA) is in the process of developing a new space telescope.
Switzerland and the researchers from UNIGE are especially involved in this
project. The telescope, named Athena, should be operational in the mid-2020s.
Source: Université de Genève
General
Calendar:
Colloquia, Lectures, Seminars, Meetings, Open Houses & Tours:
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/
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. . Click here for more information.
3 December
|
AEA Astronomy
Club Meeting
|
The Great Eclipse Expedition of 1991 – Mark Clayson &
Corp. Colloquium Video
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A1/1735
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4 Dec
|
Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS Monthly General Meeting
in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw
Bl. In Torrance)
Friday
Night 7:30PM Monthly General Meeting
Topic: "The
Great Debate;The Size and Shape of the Universe” Speaker: Stephen Naftilan, Claremont
College
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The InSight Mission: Journey to the Center of Mars
December 4
The InSight mission to Mars, the
twelfth mission in NASA's Discovery Program, will launch in March of 2016,
landing six months later in Elysium Planitia. Unlike previous missions to Mars,
which have focused on surface features and chemistry, InSight aims to explore
the interior of the planet down to its very core. InSight will investigate the
fundamental processes of terrestrial planet formation and evolution by
performing the first comprehensive surface-based geophysical measurements on
Mars. It will provide key information on the composition and structure of an
Earth-like planet that has gone through most of the evolutionary stages of the
Earth up to plate tectonics.
The planet Mars is a keystone in our quest for understanding the early processes of terrestrial planet formation and evolution. Unlike the Earth, its overall structure appears to be relatively unchanged since a few hundred million years after formation. Unlike the Moon, it is large enough that the pressure-temperature conditions within the planet span an appreciable fraction of the terrestrial planet range. Thus the large-scale chemical and structural evidence within Mars should tell us a great deal about the processes of planetary differentiation and heat transport.
InSight will pursue these goals using seismology, precision tracking, and heat flow measurements. The limitation to a single location provides challenges to traditional seismology, which can be overcome with the application of single-station techniques that have been developed for terrestrial observations, and to heat flow interpretation, which is spatially variable and thus would prefer many distributed measurements.
The planet Mars is a keystone in our quest for understanding the early processes of terrestrial planet formation and evolution. Unlike the Earth, its overall structure appears to be relatively unchanged since a few hundred million years after formation. Unlike the Moon, it is large enough that the pressure-temperature conditions within the planet span an appreciable fraction of the terrestrial planet range. Thus the large-scale chemical and structural evidence within Mars should tell us a great deal about the processes of planetary differentiation and heat transport.
InSight will pursue these goals using seismology, precision tracking, and heat flow measurements. The limitation to a single location provides challenges to traditional seismology, which can be overcome with the application of single-station techniques that have been developed for terrestrial observations, and to heat flow interpretation, which is spatially variable and thus would prefer many distributed measurements.
Speaker:
Dr. Bruce Banerdt, InSight Principal Investigator, JPL
Dr. Bruce Banerdt, InSight Principal Investigator, JPL
Webcast:
Click here to watch the event live on Ustream (or archived after the event)
Click here to watch the event live on Ustream (or archived after the event)
Locations:
|
Thursday, (NONE), 2015, 7pm
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA › Directions Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, 7pm The Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College 1570 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA › Directions |
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Webcast:
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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. |
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14 Dec
|
LAAS
LAAS General Meeting.
|
Griffith
Observatory
Event Horizon Theater 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM |
7 January
|
AEA Astronomy
Club Meeting
|
Astronomy STEM – Nahum Melamed et al
|
A1/1735
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Observing:
The
following data are from the 2015 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s
2015 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
Sun,
Moon & Planets for December:
Moon: Dec 3 last quarter,
Dec 11 new, Dec 18 1st quarter, Dec 25 full
Planets:
Saturn
reappears in dawn twilight
late in Dec. Jupiter rises in the
east in late evening. Venus & Mars rise and are visible
in the East a few hours before sunrise. Mercury
is well-placed in the evening sky after Dec 7.
Other
Events:
1 December 2015 1:58 AM
Asteroid Gaspra Occults TYC-1862-116-1 Watch a faint 11th magnitude star appear to
blink as a faint asteroid passes in front of it.
5 Dec
|
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/
|
7 December Moon Occults
Venus
Occultation begins at about 8 AM and ends at about 9:55 AM. If you get up to
find Venus before dawn, expect to see Comet Catalina nearby. It’s supposed to
be a good pre-dawn binocular comet through December.
12 Dec
|
SBAS
out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke to coordinate a
location. http://www.sbastro.net/.
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12 Dec
|
LAAS
Private dark sky Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm
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14 Dec Geminid meteors
peak
2,9,16,23,30 Dec
|
LAAS
The Garvey Ranch Observatory is open to the public every
Wednesday evening from 7:30 PM to 10 PM. Go into the dome to use the 8 Inch
Refractor or observe through one of our telescopes on the lawn. Visit our
workshop to learn how you can build your own telescope, grind your own
mirror, or sign up for our free seasonal astronomy classes.
Call 213-673-7355 for further information.
Time: 7:30
PM - 10:00 PM
Location: Garvey
Ranch Obs. , 781 Orange Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91755
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19 Dec
|
LAAS
Public Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm
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22 December Ursids
Meteor Shower Peak
The point from where the Ursid meteors appear to come from is located within
the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the "Little Dipper". This
meteor shower is active during the period spanning December 17 to 25, but it
peaks on December 22/23. At maximum, rates can normally reach 10 per hour.
29 December Mercury at
its Greatest Eastern Elongation
Internet
Links:
Telescope, Binocular & Accessory Buying
Guides
General
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 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
