The Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image (see description on the right, below)

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image
(10,000 galaxies in an area 1% of the apparent size of the moon -- see description on the right, below)

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

2015 January

AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter January 2015

Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 3
Astronomy News p. 10
General Calendar p.12
    Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 12
    Observing p. 13
Useful Links p. 15
About the Club p. 15

Club News & Calendar.

Calendar

Club Meeting Schedule:

8 Jan
Club Meeting
Pizza Party & Astronomy Fun & Games, Astrophotos

A1/1735

AEA Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1st  Thursdays at 11:45am.  For all of 2015, the meeting room is A1/1735.  Jan. 8 is an exception (2nd Thursday) due to New Year’s Day.

News:  

For the Jan. 8 club mtg., it's time for our quarterly pizza party, and some astrophotos and/or video(s), and astronomy fun & games.
  
Pizza & drink are free for members, $5 for others -- must RSVP to Mark Clayson (mark.clayson@aero.org, x60708) by Jan. 6, 10:00am w. preferences – see menu below).   
Menu options for Jan. 8 lunch (give 1st & 2nd choices when you RSVP by Jan. 6 – we’ll have to share pizzas, 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 

A reminder that for most of us, our club membership expired Dec. 31 (except those who joined in the last few months and likely paid also for 2015).  If you haven’t yet, we invite you to renew for 2015 at your earliest convenience & in time for the pizza lunch Jan. 8 (the first of our quarterly pizza parties of the year) -- we must have your $12 dues payment (& pizza order -- see the menu above) by Thursday, Jan. 8 to get member credit.  See the club website for the many other benefits of membership.  Please submit the renewal form (available on Aerolink at https://aerolink.aero.org/cs/llisapi.dll?func=ll&objId=13659520&objAction=browse&viewType=1, or attached) with your payment ($12 check made out to AEA Astronomy Club) to Alan Olson at M1-107. 

Jason Fields has been busy doing some astrophotography -- M42, M33 & M51 images below.  Note the streaks in the M42 image – can you guess what they are?  Here are his notes:

“Attached is a single, unprocessed 30-second image taken with a 10-cm refractor (*) and a DSLR (**) on 26 November at 23:07 PST. Light pollution, focus, camera mount to telescope, and tracking mount error were all issues... I was just testing a few pieces of new equipment that night. … Back of the envelope: I estimate the faintest stars in this image are around mag ~17; the five brighter … streaks are probably mag ~13 or so.”

“I know that in darker conditions, in better focus, on a better mount, I can reach mag = 20.00 (measured, confirmed against a catalog) with this same refractor and camera with just 9 x four-minute exposures, median stacked; see the second and third attached images, both taken in June before I had a field flattener and proper camera t-adapter. There is no processing done to either of those images except for stacking and some stretching of the intensity histogram.”

“For an idea of what similar equipment can do with two nights' worth of 9-minute frames, see APOD for 10/23.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1410/ngc7331fieldAeW.jpg”

(*) StellarVue 102-mm triplet f/7 
(**) Canon EOS 6D; CMOS; I estimate the <QE> to be ~5% -- very low!; pixel pitch = 6.55 um; pixel IFOV = 9.35 urad = 1.93 arcsec
(All images downsampled for this email)









Astronomy Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month
(from Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html)


Wanderers http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141208.html
Video Credit: Visuals: Erik Wernquist; Music: Christian Sandquist Words & Voice: Carl Sagan  Explanation: How far out will humanity explore? If this video's fusion of real space imagery and fictional space visualizations is on the right track, then at least the Solar System. Some of the video's wondrous sequences depict futurehumans drifting through the rings of Saturn, exploring Jupiter from a nearby spacecraft, and jumping off a high cliff in the low gravity of a moon of Uranus. Although no one can know the future, wandering and exploring beyond boundaries -- both physical and intellectual -- is part of the human spirit and has frequently served humanity well in the past.

The Infrared Visible Andromeda 
Image Credit: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Space Telescope 
Mayall 4M Telescope (KPNO, NOAO), Digitized Sky Survey, Spitzer Space Telescope 
Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler
Explanation: This remarkable synthetic color composite image was assembled from archives of visible light and infrared astronomy image data. The field of view spans the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), a massive spiral a mere 2.5 million light-years away. In fact, with over twice the diameter of our own Milky Way, Andromeda is the largest nearby galaxy. Andromeda's population of bright young blue stars lie along its sweeping spiral arms, with the telltale reddish glow of star forming regions traced in space- and ground-based visible light data. But infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, also blended directly into the detailed composite's red and green color channels, highlight the lumpy dust lanes warmed by the young stars as they wind ever closer to the galaxy's core. Otherwise invisible at optical wavelengths, the warm dust takes on orange hues. Two smaller companion galaxies, M110 (below) andM32 (above) are also included in the frame.
Comet Lovejoy before a Globular Star Cluster 
Image Credit & Copyright: Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet)
Explanation: Comet Lovejoy has become visible to the unaided eye. To see the comet, just go outside an hour or so after sunset and look for a fuzzy patch to the right of Orion's belt. Binoculars and a star chart may help. Pictured here, Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) was captured three days ago passing nearly in front of M79, the globular star cluster visible as the bright spot slightly above and to the left of the comet's green-hued coma. The nucleus of Comet Lovejoy is a giant dirty iceberg that is shedding gas into a long and intricate ion tail, extending across the image, as it nears the Sun. The comet is expected to become even easier to spot for northern observers during January, as it is rises earlier and, hopefully, continues to brighten.
The Cliffs of Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko 
Image Credit & Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO): ESA, Rosetta spacecraft, NAVCAM; Additional Processing: Stuart Atkinson
Explanation: These high cliffs occur on the surface of a comet. They were discovered to be part of the dark nucleus of Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko (CG) by Rosetta, a robotic spacecraft launched by ESA which began orbiting the comet in early August. The ragged cliffs, as featured here, were imaged by Rosetta about two weeks ago. Although towering about one kilometer high, the low surface gravity of Comet CG would likely make a jump from thecliffs, by a human, survivable. At the foot of the cliffs is relatively smooth terrain dotted with boulders as large as 20 meters across. Data from Rosetta indicates that the ice in Comet CG has a significantly different deuterium fraction -- and hence likely a different origin -- than the water in Earth's oceans. The Rosetta spacecraft is scheduled to continue to accompany the comet as it makes its closest approach to the Sun in 2015 August.


The Potsdam Gravity Potato 
Image Credit: CHAMP, GRACE, GFZ, NASA, DLR
Explanation: Why do some places on Earth have higher gravity than others? Sometimes the reason is unknown. To help better understand the Earth's surface, sensitive measurements by the orbiting satellites GRACE and CHAMPwere used to create a map of Earth's gravitational field. Since a center for studying these data is in Potsdam, Germany, and since the result makes the Earth look somewhat like a potato, the resulting geoid has been referred to as the Potsdam Gravity Potato. High areas on this map, colored red, indicate areas where gravity is slightly stronger than usual, while in blue areas gravity is slightly weaker. Many bumps and valleys on the Potsdam Gravity Potato can be attributed to surface features, such as the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Himalayan Mountains, but others cannot, and so might relate to unusually high or low sub-surface densities. Maps like this also help calibrate changes in the Earth's surface including variable ocean currents and the melting of glaciers. The above map was made in 2005, but more recent and more sensitive gravity maps of Earth were produced in 2011.

The Mysterious Methane of Mars 
Illustration Credit: Methane Workshop, Frascati Italy, Villanueva et al. 2009, ESA Medialab, NASA
Explanation: What's creating methane on Mars? Recent measurements from the robotic Curiosity rover currently rolling across Mars indicate a surprising 10-fold increase in atmospheric methane between measurements only months apart. Life is a major producer of methane on Earth, and so speculation is rampant that some sort of life -- possibly microbial life -- is creating methane beneath the surface of Mars. Other possibilities do exist, though, with a leading model being the sudden release of methane produced by the mixing of specific soil chemicals with underground water. Proposed origins of Martian methane are depicted in the featured illustration. The origin of Mars' methane is a very active area of research, with missions like Curiosity and India's Mars Orbiter Mission searching for clues by measuring methane abundance changes and possible byproducts of different methane-producing processes.
Crystals on Mars 
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS
Explanation: This extreme close-up, a mosaic from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the Curiosity rover, spans a breathtaking 5 centimeters. It captures what appear to be elongated crystal shapes formed by the precipitation of minerals dissolved in water, a likely result of the evaporation of ancient lake or river from the Martian surface. Brushed by a dust removal tool and illuminated by white LEDs, the target rock named Mojave was found on the Pink Cliffs outcrop of the Pahrump Hills at the base of Mount Sharp. The MAHLI images were acquired on Curiosity's sol 809, known on planet Earth as November 15, 2014. Of course, the inset 1909 Lincoln Cent image is provided for a comparison scale. Covered with Mars dust itself, the penny is a MAHLI calibration target attached to the rover.




Astronomy News:

Researchers detect possible signal from dark matter

Published: Thursday, December 11, 2014 - 15:45 in Astronomy & Space
Could there finally be tangible evidence for the existence of dark matter in the Universe? After sifting through reams of X-ray data, scientists in EPFL's Laboratory of Particle Physics and Cosmology (LPPC) and Leiden University believe they could have identified the signal of a particle of dark matter. This substance, which up to now has been purely hypothetical, is run by none of the standard models of physics other than through the gravitational force. Their research will be published next week in Physical Review Letters. When physicists study the dynamics of galaxies and the movement of stars, they are confronted with a mystery. If they only take visible matter into account, their equations simply don't add up: the elements that can be observed are not sufficient to explain the rotation of objects and the existing gravitational forces. There is something missing. From this they deduced that there must be an invisible kind of matter that does not interact with light, but does, as a whole, interact by means of the gravitational force. Called "dark matter," this substance appears to make up at least 80% of the Universe.
Andromeda and Perseus revisited
Two groups have recently announced that they have detected the much sought after signal. One of them, led by EPFL scientists Oleg Ruchayskiy and Alexey Boyarsky, also a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, found it by analyzing X-rays emitted by two celestial objects -- the Perseus galaxy cluster and the Andromeda galaxy. After having collected thousands of signals from the ESA's XMM-Newton telescope and eliminated all those coming from known particles and atoms, they detected an anomaly that, even considering the possibility of instrument or measurement error, caught their attention.
The signal appears in the X-ray spectrum as a weak, atypical photon emission that could not be attributed to any known form of matter. Above all, "the signal's distribution within the galaxy corresponds exactly to what we were expecting with dark matter, that is, concentrated and intense in the center of objects and weaker and diffuse on the edges," explains Ruchayskiy. "With the goal of verifying our findings, we then looked at data from our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and made the same observations," says Boyarsky.
A new era
The signal comes from a very rare event in the Universe: a photon emitted due to the destruction of a hypothetical particle, possibly a "sterile neutrino." If the discovery is confirmed, it will open up new avenues of research in particle physics. Apart from that, "It could usher in a new era in astronomy," says Ruchayskiy. "Confirmation of this discovery may lead to construction of new telescopes specially designed for studying the signals from dark matter particles," adds Boyarsky. "We will know where to look in order to trace dark structures in space and will be able to reconstruct how the Universe has formed."

Source: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne


'Perfect storm' quenching star formation around a supermassive black hole

Published: Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 17:47 in Astronomy & Space


B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
High-energy jets powered by supermassive black holes can blast away a galaxy's star-forming fuel, resulting in so-called "red and dead" galaxies: those brimming with ancient red stars yet containing little or no hydrogen gas to create new ones. Now astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered that black holes don't have to be nearly so powerful to shut down star formation. By observing the dust and gas at the center of NGC 1266, a nearby lenticular galaxy with a relatively modest central black hole, the astronomers have detected a "perfect storm" of turbulence that is squelching star formation in a region that would otherwise be an ideal star factory.
This turbulence is stirred up by jets from the galaxy's central black hole slamming into an incredibly dense envelope of gas. This dense region, which may be the result of a recent merger with another smaller galaxy, blocks nearly 98 percent of material propelled by the jets from escaping the galactic center.
"Like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, the particles in these jets meet so much resistance when they hit the surrounding dense gas that they are almost completely stopped in their tracks," said Katherine Alatalo, an astronomer with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and lead author on a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal. This energetic collision produces powerful turbulence in the surrounding gas, disrupting the first critical stage of star formation. "So what we see is the most intense suppression of star formation ever observed," noted Alatalo.
Previous observations of NGC 1266 revealed a broad outflow of gas from the galactic center traveling up to 400 kilometers per second. Alatalo and her colleagues estimate that this outflow is as forceful as the simultaneous supernova explosion of 10,000 stars. The jets, though powerful enough to stir the gas, are not powerful enough to give it the velocity it needs to escape from the system.
"Another way of looking at it is that the jets are injecting turbulence into the gas, preventing it from settling down, collapsing, and forming stars," said National Radio Astronomy Observatory astronomer and co-author Mark Lacy.
The region observed by ALMA contains about 400 million times the mass of our Sun in star-forming gas, which is 100 times more than is found in giant star-forming molecular clouds in our own Milky Way. Normally, gas this concentrated should be producing stars at a rate at least 50 times faster than the astronomers observe in this galaxy.
Previously, astronomers believed that only extremely powerful quasars and radio galaxies contained black holes that were powerful enough to serve as a star-forming "on/off" switch.
"The usual assumption in the past has been that the jets needed to be powerful enough to eject the gas from the galaxy completely in order to be effective at stopping start formation," said Lacy.
To make this discovery, the astronomers first pinpointed the location of the far-infrared light being emitted by the galaxy. Normally, this light is associated with star formation and enables astronomers to detect regions where new stars are forming. In the case of NGC 1266, however, this light was coming from an extremely confined region at the center of the galaxy. "This very small area was almost too small for the infrared light to be coming from star formation," noted Alatalo.
With ALMA's exquisite sensitivity and resolution, and along with observations from CARMA (the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy), the astronomers were then able to trace the location of the very dense molecular gas at the galactic center. They found that the gas is surrounding this compact source of the far-infrared light.
Under normal conditions, gas this dense would be forming stars at a very high rate. The dust embedded within this gas would then be heated by young stars and seen as a bright and extended source of infrared light. The small size and faintness of the infrared source in this galaxy suggests that NGC 1266 is instead choking on its own fuel, seemingly in defiance of the rules of star formation.
The astronomers also speculate that there is a feedback mechanism at work in this region. Eventually, the black hole will calm down and the turbulence will subside so star-formation can begin anew. With this renewed star formation, however, comes greater motion in the dense gas, which then falls in on the black hole and reestablishes the jets, shutting down star formation once again.
NGC 1266 is located approximately 100 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. Leticular galaxies are spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way, but they have little interstellar gas available to form new stars.

Source: National Radio Astronomy Observatory


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/ 

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Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS  Monthly General Meeting
in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)
Topic: “Edward Emerson Barnard: The World’s Greatest Observer of His
Time, 19th Century Astronomer and Astrophotography Pioneer”
Matthew Ota, Telescopes in Education Foundation

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LAAS LAAS General Meeting.
Griffith Observatory
Event Horizon Theater
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Jan 15 & 16  The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2015

Low Density Supersonic Decelerator

January 15 & 16
As NASA plans ambitious new robotic missions to Mars, the spacecraft needed to land safely on the red planet's surface necessarily becomes increasingly massive, hauling larger payloads to accommodate extended stays on the Martian surface. The heavier planetary landers of tomorrow, however, will require much larger drag devices than any now in use to slow them down -- and those next-generation drag devices will need to be deployed at higher supersonic speeds to safely land vehicle, crew and cargo. NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) Technology Demonstration Mission, led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has conducted full-scale, stratospheric tests of these breakthrough technologies high above Earth to prove their value for future missions to Mars.
Speaker:
Mr. Mark Adler, Project Manager & Dr. Ian Clark, Principal Investigator, JPL
Locations:
Thursday, Jan 15, 2014, 7pm
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions

Friday, Jan 16, 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.







8 Jan
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
Pizza Party & Astronomy Fun & Games, Astrophotos

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 January:


Moon: Jan 5 full, Jan 13 last quarter, Jan 20 new, Jan 27 1st quarter                    
Planets: Mercury, Venus & Mars are visible in the SW briefly after sunset.  Jupiter rises early evening in the east.  Saturn is visible in the E in the morning just before sunrise.
Other Events:

4 Jan. Quadrantid Meteors peak, double shadow transit (also Jan. 6, 10, 11, 13, 17, 20, 24 – also triple, 27)

8-12 Jan. Venus & Mercury within 1 deg of each other in SW early evening.

 
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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/


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LAAS Dark Sky Night : Lockwood Valley (Steve Kufeld Astronomical Site; LAAS members and their guests only)

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SBAS out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke http://www.sbastro.net/.  


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Public  Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm


Internet Links:

Telescope, Binocular & Accessory Buying Guides


General


Regional (Southern California, Washington, D.C. & Colorado)
Southern California & Beyond Amateur Astronomy Organizations, Observatories & Planetaria
Mt. Wilson Observatory description, history, visiting

  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 
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