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)

Friday, July 10, 2015

2015 July

AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter  July  2015

Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 3
Astronomy News p. 8
General Calendar p.11
    Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 11
    Observing p. 12
Useful Links p. 14
About the Club p. 15

Club News & Calendar.

Club Calendar

Club Meeting Schedule:

2 July
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
Pizza Party & Mat Kaplan, Planetary Society Radio Producer/Host 

A1/1735


6 August
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
A DVD from our Library?  In June we learned why the night sky is dark (not trivial) 

A1/1026

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:  

Sept. 18 – Save the Date for Mt. Wilson!  2 separate (or combined) activities to choose from:

1.     We have made a reservation for a half night of observing on the historic Mt. Wilson 100-inch telescope for Friday, Sept. 18.  I believe we have 8 club members who’ve indicated they’d go, and so need to enlist 10 more to round out the limit of 18.  We will advertise company-wide on the Inside Aerospace website.  It will be first-come, first-served/waitlisted, so don’t hesitate.  We must send in payment at least 4 weeks in advance, which would be Aug. 21.  A once-in-a-lifetime chance to view through the same telescope that Hubble used to discover the true nature of galaxies and the expansion of the universe.  The cost per member, after club subsidy of $50 per person, is $100.  We need payment by Aug. 14.  Additionally, we will need to know if you’re interested in a guided tour of Mt. Wilson beforehand (the club I think will cover the $10/person), and a box dinner (turkey or vegetarian) at $16.35 – your cost.

2.    We also have agreement that either Renny Fields or someone in his area will be there at the new Aerospace facilities on Mt. Wilson to give us access to them & a quick tour before the guided Mt. Wilson tour.  If some would like to bring club or personal telescopes, and do a star party rather than observe through the 100-inch, I believe that will be an option (if not there, then at least nearby).  We’ll see if the Aerospace telescopes there will be in use for work, or if we might even get to use one of them after dark.  I understand the 80cm mirror is scheduled for delivery & installation at the end of Aug. or early Sept.

With our club budget, we have just acquired a Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera, with 24-105mm zoom lens, for astrophotography (or terrestrial).  It came highly recommended by Jason Fields, for its very low noise, and 20Mpixel capability.  We already have a T-adapter for Canon cameras to use it with our telescopes, such as the Meade 10-inch.  Or it can be used alone for wide-angle sky shots.  We also got a wireless remote for vibrationless shutter release, a tripod, flash, filters, cleaning kit, camera bag, extra battery & 64 Gb storage.  There is an option to do an after-factory installation of an H-alpha filter for nebulae.


Mat Kaplan, the Planetary Society Radio Producer and Host gave a very interesting presentation July 2.  We recorded it on video, and will upload it shortly for your viewing pleasure.  There are various other presentations that have been recorded and are on our archive page. 

From Jim Edwards:
“The weather has been deplorable for more than 4 months now.  I've been able to do astronomy stuff only one time during this period, back on June 23.  Here are a couple of images I captured [the moon & M3 globular cluster].”





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


VIDEO: New Horizons http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150622.html
Video Credit & Copyright: National Space Society
Explanation: In three weeks, the robotic New Horizons spacecraft will reach Pluto. As the featured video makes clear, though, humanity has been on an unprecedented epoch of robotic exploration of our Solar System's planets for the past half century. The video highlights artistic illustrations of Mariner 2 flying by Venus in 1962, Mariner 4 flying past Mars in 1965, Pioneer 10 flying past Jupiter in 1973, Mariner 10 flying past Mercury in 1974, Pioneer 11flying past Saturn in 1979, and Voyager 2 flying past Uranus in 1986 and then Neptune in 1989. Next is a hypothetical sequence depicting New Horizons flying past Pluto next month. Assuming things work as planned, dwarf planetPluto will then become the farthest world yet explored by humans. Of course, these Pluto illustrations are only a guess. How Pluto and its moons will really look may be a mixture of familiar things, such as craters, and unfamiliar things, such as …
VIDEO: Pulsating Aurora over Iceland http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150601.html
Video Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Vetter (Nuits sacrées); Music: Eric Aron
Explanation: Why do some auroras pulsate? No one is sure. Although this unusual behavior has been known for a long time, the cause remains an active topic of research. Featured here is a dramatic video that captured some impressive pulsating auroras in mid-March over Svínafellsjökull Glacier in Iceland. The 48-second video shown is not time-lapse. The real-time pulsations are exemplified by sequences where the astrophotographer is visible moving about in the foreground. A close inspection of the enigmatic flickering sky colors reveals that some structures appear to repeat, while others do not. The quick rapidity of the pulsations seen here is somewhat unusual -- more common are aurora with pulsations that last several seconds. Recent research shows that pulsations are more common in electron-generated aurora, rather than proton aurora, and that the Earth's local magnetic field may fluctuate in unison.
VIDEO: Fly Over Dwarf Planet Ceres http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150610.html
Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS/DLR/IDA, DLR, ESO
Explanation: What would it look like to fly over dwarf planet Ceres? Animators from the German Aerospace Center recently took actual images and height data from NASA's robotic Dawn mission -- currently visiting Ceres -- to generate several fascinating virtual sequences. The featured video begins with a mock orbit around the 950-km wide space rock, with the crater featuring two of the enigmatic white spots soon rotating into view. The next sequences take the viewer around the Ceres' north and south poles, and then over a limb of the dark world highlighting its heavily cratered surface. Here, terrain height on the asteroid belt's largest object has been digitally doubled, while an artificial star field has been added in the background. The Dawn spacecraft will likely remain an unusual artificial moon of Ceres long after its mission concludes.
VIDEO: Sunspot Group AR 2339 Crosses the Sun http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150629.html
Images Credit: NASA, SDO; Video compilation & Copyright: Stanislav Korotkiy (AstroAlert) & Mikhail Chubarets; 
Music: Pas de Deux (Bird Creek)
Explanation: How do sunspots evolve? Large dark sunspots -- and the active regions that contain them -- may last for weeks, but all during that time they are constantly changing. Such variations were particularly apparent a few weeks ago as the active region AR 2339 came around the limb of the Sun and was tracked for the next 12 days by NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory. In the featured time lapse video, some sunspots drift apart, while others merge. All the while, the dark central umbral regions shift internally and their surrounding lighter penumbras shimmer and wave. The surrounding Sun appears to flicker as the carpet of yellow granules come and go on the time scale of hours. In general, sunspots are relatively cool regions where the local magnetic field pokes through the Sun's surface and inhibits heating. Over the past week, an even more active region -- AR 2371 -- has been crossing the Sun and releasing powerful flares that have resulted in impressive auroras here on Earth.
Into the Void 
Image Credit: NASA, Gemini Project, James McDivitt
Explanation: Fifty years ago, on June 3, 1965, Edward White stepped out of the orbiting Gemini 4 spacecraft to become the first US astronaut to walk in space. White is captured in this photo taken by mission commander James McDivit from inside the capsule as White's spacewalk began over the Pacific Ocean on Gemini 4's third orbit. Planet Earth, spacecraft, and tether are reflected in White's gold tinted helmet visor. A gas powered manuevering gun is held in his right hand. Though the gun ran out of gas after only 3 minutes, he continued to manuever by twisting his body and pulling on the tether for the remainder of the 23 minute long Extra Vehicular Activity. White later described his historic spacewalk as the most comfortable part of the mission, and said the order to end it was the "saddest moment" of his life.
1000 Sols 
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech; Mosaic Processing: Marco Di Lorenzo, Kenneth Kremer
Explanation: Shortly before Mars' June 2015 conjunction, the Curiosity Rover celebrated 1000 sols on the red planet. After its August 5, 2012 landing, Curiosity's 1000th sol or martian day on the surface corresponded to planet Earth's calendar date May 31, 2015. Because the line-of-sight to Mars is close to the Sun near the conjunction, radio communications are affected and the six-wheeled, car-sized robotic rover cautiously remains parked at this spot for now. The view looks back toward the stomping grounds for Curiosity's nearly 10.6 kilometer trek so far, with the hazy rim of Gale Crater looming in the distance. The mosaicked panorama was constructed with images from navigation cameras taken on Curiosity's sol 997.
LightSail A 
Image Credit: The Planetary Society
Explanation: Hitching a ride to low Earth orbit, LightSail A accomplished a challenging test mission, unfurling its 32 square meter mylar solar sail on June 7. This dramatic image from one of the bread loaf sized spacecraft's fisheye cameras captures the deployed sail glinting in sunlight. Sail out and visible to Earthbound observers before its final orbit, LightSail A reentered the atmosphere last weekend. Its succesful technology demonstration paves the way for the LightSail B spacecraft, scheduled for launch in April 2016. Once considered the stuff of science fiction, sailing through space was suggested 400 years ago by astronomer Johannes Kepler who observed comet tails blown by the solar wind. But modern solar sail designs, like the one tested by LightSail A, rely on the small but continuous pressure from sunlight itself for thrust.
Galaxy NGC 7714 After Collision 
Image Credit: NASA, ESA; Acknowledgement: A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Inst.)
Explanation: Is this galaxy jumping through a giant ring of stars? Probably not. Although the precise dynamics behind the featured image is yet unclear, what is clear is that the pictured galaxy, NGC 7714, has been stretched and distorted by a recent collision with a neighboring galaxy. This smaller neighbor, NGC 7715, situated off to the left of the featured frame, is thought to have charged right through NGC 7714. Observations indicate that the golden ring pictured is composed of millions of older Sun-like stars that are likely co-moving with the interior bluer stars. In contrast, the bright center of NGC 7714 appears to be undergoing a burst of new star formation. NGC 7714 is located about 100 million light years away toward the constellation of the Fish (Pisces). The interactions between these galaxies likely started about 150 million years ago and should continue for several hundred million years more, after which a single central galaxy may result.
Astronomy News:
(from http://esciencenews.com/topics/astronomy.space)

 

Supernova hunting with supercomputers

Published: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 - 12:54 in Astronomy & Space

Related images

Daniel Kasen, Berkeley Lab/ UC Berkeley

Type Ia supernovae are famous for their consistency. Ironically, new observations suggest that their origins may not be uniform at all. Using a "roadmap" of theoretical calculations and supercomputer simulations, astronomers observed for the first time a flash of light caused by a supernova slamming into a nearby star, allowing them to determine the stellar system from which the supernova was born. This finding confirms one of two competing theories about the birth of Type Ia supernovae. But taken with other observations, the results imply that there could be two distinct populations of these objects. The details of these findings will appear May 20 in an advance online issue of Nature. "By calibrating the relative brightness of Type Ia supernovae to several percent accuracy, astronomers were able to use them to discover the acceleration of the Universe. But if we want to push further and constrain the detailed properties of the dark energy driving acceleration, we need more accurate measurements. If we don't know where Type Ia supernovae come from, we can't be totally confident that our cosmological measurements are correct," says Daniel Kasen, an Associate Professor of Astronomy and Physics at UC Berkeley, who holds a joint appointment at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

In 2010, Kasen predicted a new way to test the origins of supernovae. Using theoretical arguments and simulations run on supercomputers at the Department of Energy's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), he showed that if a supernova is born in a binary star system, the collision of the debris with the companion star will produce a brief, hot flash of light. The challenge is then to find a Type Ia event shortly after it ignites, and quickly follow it up with ultraviolet telescopes. Using an automated supernova-hunting pipeline--the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF), which uses machine-learning algorithms running on NERSC supercomputers--astronomers did just that. They found iPTF14atg just hours after it ignited in a nearby galaxy. Follow up observations with NASA's Swift Space Telescope showed ultraviolet signals consistent with Kasen's predictions.
"Kasen's paper was very important to our work. Without it, we wouldn't have known what to look for," says Yi Cao, a graduate student at Caltech and lead author of the Nature paper. "With the help of NERSC's Edison supercomputer, the iPTF pipeline can turn up supernova candidates 10-15 minutes after its initial detection. This is crucial to our work to search for the ephemeral signal predicted by Kasen."

"We often talk about how computational science is the third pillar of the scientific method, next to theory and experimentation, this finding really brings that point home. In this case, we can see how computational models and tools are driving discovery and transforming our knowledge about the cosmos," says Peter Nugent, Berkeley Lab scientist and member of the iPTF collaboration.

Origin Theories for Type Ia Supernovae

Because the relative brightness of Type Ia supernovae can be measured so well no matter where they are located in the Universe, they make excellent distance markers. In fact, they were instrumental to measuring the accelerating expansion of the Universe in the 1990s--a finding that netted three scientists the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, including one for Berkeley Lab's Saul Perlmutter. Yet, astronomers still do not fully understand where they come from.

There are currently two competing origin theories. In both theories, the white dwarf star that eventually becomes a Type Ia supernova is one of a pair of stars that orbits around a common center of mass. In the double-degenerate model the stellar companions are both white dwarfs and the supernova ignites when both stars merge.

In the competing single-degenerate model a white dwarf star orbits with a Sun-like star or a red giant star, which is essentially a dying Sun-like star. As these stars orbit, the white dwarf's gravity pulls, or accretes, material from its stellar companion. As the white dwarf becomes more massive, the temperature and pressure in its core increases, eventually initiating a runaway nuclear reaction, which will end in a dramatic explosion or Type Ia supernova.

In the single-degenerate model, Kasen predicted that the material ejected from a Type Ia supernova would slam into its companion star, generating a shockwave that heats the surrounding material. According to his calculations, the collision should produce emissions detectable at ultraviolet wavelengths in the hours and days following the supernova explosion. And, that's exactly what Cao and his team at Caltech saw in the Swift observations.

The Swift telescope measured a pulse of ultraviolet radiation that declined initially but then rose as the supernova brightened. Because such a pulse is short-lived, it can be missed by surveys that scan the sky less frequently than the iPTF does.

"We have never observed a white dwarf just before it went supernova, but if you can get data soon after ignition, it may be possible to infer the nature of the progenitor system," says Kasen.

After Kasen made his prediction in 2010, he notes that a lot of people tried to look for the ultraviolet signature, but this is the first-time that anyone has seen it. "This discovery is a proof of principal that we can get images of Type Ia supernovae in their infancy. Now we can move forward and try to acquire a large number of these 'baby pictures,' which will tell us how the different channels for igniting stars affect the properties of the supernova," says Kasen.

According to Shrinivas Kulkarni, Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science at Caltech and principal investigator for the iPTF, the discovery "provides direct evidence for the existence of a companion star in a Type Ia supernova, and demonstrates that at least some type Ia supernovae originate from the single-degenerate channel."

Although the data from supernova iPTF14atg support the single-degenerate model, the double-degenerate model has not been disproven. In fact, previous data from the iPTF have provided credible evidence to support that alternative theory. And that means that both theories actually may be valid, says Caltech Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics Sterl Phinney. "The news is that it seems that both sets of theoretical models are right, and there are two very different kinds of Type Ia supernovae."
"It's really exciting to learn that something that once only existed in your imagination, is actually out there in the real Universe. Automated surveys like iPTF have revolutionized the field by catching these events earlier and earlier. It opens up a new avenue for studying the life and death of stars," says Kasen.

Source: DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory


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/ 
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.  This year's Astronomy Lecture Series will take place at A Noise Within on March 30, April 13, April 27, and May 11. Click here for more information.
2 June
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
A DVD from our Library 

A1/1735









10 July
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:   TBA
Speaker: Steven Levin, JPL

13 July
LAAS LAAS General Meeting.
Griffith Observatory
Event Horizon Theater
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
July 16 & 17 The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2015

Discovery at Mars

July 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of Mariner 4, the first spacecraft to successfully fly by the planet Mars. Scientists were surprised by what the first images revealed, a theme that has continued through a half century of exploring the red planet. Join us for an evening to celebrate a half century of Mars exploration with a screening of The Changing Face of Mars with introductory remarks by its producer/director/writer.
Speaker:
Mr. Blaine Baggett, Director, Office of Communication and Education, JPL
Locations:
Thursday, July 16, 2015, 7pm
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions

Friday, July 17, 2015, 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.







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 July:


Moon: July 2 full, July 8 last quarter, July 16 new, July 24 1st quarter, July 31 full             

Planets: Jupiter & Venus  are visible in the W for a couple hours after sunset.  Saturn is up until just after midnight.  Mars is hidden in the Sun’s glare all month.  Mercury is visible just before sunrise at until July 13.
Other Events:


1 July Venus Passes 0.4 Degrees from Jupiter

 
11 July
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/

14 July New Horizons Pluto Fly-By NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Pluto after a nine and a half year journey. Launched on January 19, 2006, this will be the first spacecraft to visit Pluto. New Horizons will give us our first close-up views of the dwarf planet and its moons. After passing Pluto, the spacecraft will continue on to the Kuiper Belt to examine some of the other icy bodies at the edge of the Solar System.

1,8,15,22,29 July
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
18 July
LAAS private dark sky night


18 July
SBAS out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke to coordinate a location. http://www.sbastro.net/.  


25 July
LAAS Public  Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm

29 July Southern Delta-Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak The Southern Delta Aquariids are a meteor shower visible from mid-July to mid-August each year with peak activity on July 28 or 29 July. The shower originated from the breakup of what are now the Marsden and Kracht Sungrazing comets. The Delta Aquariids get their name because their radiant appears to lie in the constellation Aquarius, near one of the constellation's brightest stars, Delta Aquarii. The name derives from the Latin possessive form "Aquarii", whereby the declension "-i" is replaced by "-ids" (hence Aquariids with two i's). There are two branches of the Delta Aquariid meteor shower, Southern and Northern. The Southern Delta Aquariids are considered a strong shower, with an average meteor observation rate of 15–20 per hour, and a peak zenith hourly rate of 18.

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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