Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 6
General Calendar p. 9
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 9
Observing p. 11
Useful Links p. 12
About the Club p. 13
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
7 July AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
Pizza & “Meteor Swarms & Satellites,” Glenn Peterson
(A1/1735)
AEA Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1st Thursdays at 11:45am. For all of 2016, the meeting room is A1/1735.
Club News:
2017 (Aug. 21) Solar Eclipse Expedition. We have reserved viewing sites in & near Rexburg, Idaho, within a few miles of eclipse centerline (losing only 1 second of totality). Rexburg is 25 miles north of Idaho Falls, and about an hour and a half from both West Yellowstone & Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The in-town site is on the campus of BYU-Idaho, and the other a gun club 9 miles west of town. Additionally, in case of local cloud cover that morning, state road 33 running thru & east & west of Rexburg provides over 50 miles of flexibility in each direction, following closely the eclipse centerline and losing no more than several seconds of totality.
12 survey respondents stepped forward to join the photo pool, which will be making arrangements on best use of club and personal equipment for photographing/videographing the partial phases, diamond ring, totality (corona, prominences), events on the ground, etc.
The travel committee is researching lodging in Rexburg, Idaho Falls, West Yellowstone & Jackson Hole. And air travel to Idaho Falls and Pocatello.
Sept. 1 Mt. Wilson Night preparations are on track for the tours of the Aerospace facility & Mt. Wilson, and observing on the 60-inch telescope as well as the club’s 10-inch Meade SCT. There is a waiting list for those not in the group limit of 25.
Astronomy Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month
(from Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
VIDEO: Juno Mission Trailer http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160628.html
Video Credit: NASA, JPL, Juno Mission
Explanation: What will NASA's Juno spacecraft find when it reaches Jupiter next Monday? Very little, if Juno does not survive Jupiter Orbit Insertion, a complex series of operations in an unknown environment just above Jupiter's cloud tops. If successful, as explained in the featured video, Juno will swoop around Jupiter, passing closer than any previous spacecraft. The goal is to decelerate, enter into a highly elliptical orbit, and begin two years of science operations. Juno's science mission objectives include mapping Jupiter's deep structure, determining how much water is in Jupiter's atmosphere, and exploring Jupiter's powerful magnetic field and how it creates auroras around Jupiter's poles. These lessons hold promise to help humanity better understand the history of our Solar System and the dynamics of our Earth. Juno is powered predominantly by three large solar panels, each measuring a side of small truck. Launched in 2011, Juno's planned mission will take it around the Jovian giant 37 times, after which, to avoid contaminating Europa with microbes, it will be directed to dive into Jupiter's thick atmosphere, where it will break apart and melt.
VIDEO: GW151226: A Second Confirmed Source of Gravitational Radiation http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160615.html
Illustration Credit: LIGO, NSF
Explanation: A new sky is becoming visible. When you look up, you see the sky as it appears in light -- electromagnetic radiation. But just over the past year, humanity has begun to see our once-familiar sky as it appears in a different type of radiation -- gravitational radiation. Today, the LIGO collaboration is reporting the detection of GW151226, the second confirmed flash of gravitational radiation afterGW150914, the historic first detection registered three months earlier. As its name implies, GW151226 was recorded in late December of 2015. It was detected simultaneously by both LIGO facilities inWashington and Louisiana, USA. In the featured video, an animated plot demonstrates how the frequency of GW151226 changed with time during measurement by the Hanford, Washington detector. This GW-emitting system is best fit by two merging black holes with initial masses of about 14 and 8 solar masses at a redshift of roughly 0.09, meaning, if correct, that it took roughly 1.4 billion years for this radiation to reach us. Note that the brightness and frequency -- here mapped into sound -- of the gravitational radiation peaks during the last second of the black hole merger. As LIGO continues to operate, as its sensitivity continues to increase, and as other gravitational radiation detectors come online in the next few years, humanity's new view of the sky will surely change humanity's understanding of the universe
VIDEO: Tycho's Supernova Remnant Expands http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160601.html
Video Credit: NASA, CXC, GSFC, B. Williams et al.
Explanation: What star created this huge expanding puffball? Featured here is the first expansion movie ever created for Tycho's supernova remnant, the result of a stellar explosion first recorded over 400 years ago by the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe. The 2-second video is a time-lapse composite of X-ray images taken by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory between the years 2000 and 2015, added to a stock optical frame. The expanding gas cloud is extremely hot, while slightly different expansion speeds have given the cloud a puffy appearance. Although the star that created SN 1572, is likely completely gone, a star dubbed Tycho G, too dim to be discerned here, is thought to be a companion. Finding progenitor remnants of Tycho's supernova is particularly important because the supernova is of Type Ia, an important rung in the distance ladder that calibrates the scale of the visible universe. The peak brightness of Type Ia supernovas is thought to be well understood, making them quite valuable in exploring the relationship between faintness and farness in the distant universe.
The New World Atlas of Artificial Sky Brightness
Image Credit & License: F. Falchi et al., Light Pollution Atlas, ISTIL
Explanation: How far are you from a naturally dark night sky? In increasing steps, this world map (medium | large) shows the effect of artificial night sky brightness on the visual appearance of the night sky. The brightness was modeled using high resolution satellite data and fit to thousands of night sky brightness measurements in recent work. Color-coded levels are compared to the natural sky brightness level for your location. For example, artificial sky brightness levels in yellow alter the natural appearance of the night sky. In red they hide the Milky Way in an artificial luminous fog. The results indicate that the historically common appearance of our galaxy at night is now lost for more than one-third of humanity. That includes 60% of Europeans and almost 80% of North Americans, along with inhabitants of other densely populated, light-polluted regions of planet Earth.
Northern Lights above Lofoten
Image Credit & Copyright: Alex Conu
Explanation: The Aurora Borealis or northern lights are familiar visitors to night skies above the village of Reine in the Lofoten Islands, Norway, planet Earth. In this scene, captured from a mountaintop camp site, the auroral curtains do seem to create an eerie tension with the coastal lights though. A modern perspective on the world at night, the stunning image was chosen as the over all winner in The World at Night's 2016 International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. Selections were made from over 900 entries highlighting the beauty of the night sky and its battle with light pollution.
Galaxy and Planets Beyond Bristlecone Pines
Image Credit & Copyright: Brad Goldpaint (Goldpaint Photography)
Explanation: What's older than these ancient trees? Nobody you know -- but almost everything in the background of this picture. The trees are impressively old -- each part of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest located in eastern California, USA. There, many of the oldest trees known are located, some dating as far back as about 5,000 years. Seemingly attached to tree branches, but actually much farther in the distance, are the bright orbs of Saturn (left) and Mars. These planets formed along with the Earth and the early Solar System much earlier -- about 4.5 billion years ago. Swooping down diagonally from the upper left is the oldest structure pictured: the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy -- dating back around 9 billion years. The featured image was built from several exposures all taken from the same location -- but only a few weeks ago.
Sunrise Solstice over Stonehenge
Image Credit & Copyright: Max Alexander, STFC, SPL
Explanation: Today the Sun reaches its northernmost point in planet Earth's sky. Called a solstice, the date astronomically marks a change of seasons -- from spring to summer in Earth's Northern Hemisphere and from fall to winter in Earth's Southern Hemisphere. The featured image was taken during the week of the 2008 summer solstice at Stonehenge in United Kingdom, and captures a picturesque sunrise involving fog, trees, clouds, stones placed about 4,500 years ago, and a 4.5 billion year old large glowing orb. Even given the precession of the Earth's rotational axis over the millennia, the Sun continues to rise over Stonehenge in an astronomically significant way.
Astronomy News:
(from http://esciencenews.com/topics/astronomy.space)
A new look at the galaxy-shaping power of black holes
Published: Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - 14:04 in Astronomy & Space
Related images
University of Waterloo
Data - Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing - Al Kelly
University of Waterloo
Data from a now-defunct X-ray satellite is providing new insights into the complex tug-of-war between galaxies, the hot plasma that surrounds them, and the giant black holes that lurk in their centres. Launched from Japan on February 17, 2016, the Japanese space agency (JAXA) Hitomi X-ray Observatory functioned for just over a month before contact was lost and the craft disintegrated. But the data obtained during those few weeks was enough to paint a startling new picture of the dynamic forces at work within galaxies.
New research, published in the journal Naturetoday, reveals data that shows just how important the giant black holes in galactic centres are to the evolution of the galaxies as a whole.
"We think that supermassive black holes act like thermostats," said Brian McNamara, University Research Chair in Astrophysics at the University of Waterloo. "They regulate the growth of galaxies."
Champagne bubbles of plasma
During its brief life, the Hitomi satellite collected X-ray data from the core of the Perseus cluster, an enormous gravitationally-bound grouping of hundreds of galaxies. Located some 240 million light years from earth, the Perseus cluster is one of the largest known structures in the universe. The cluster includes not only the ordinary matter that makes up the galaxies, but an "atmosphere" of hot plasma with a temperature of tens of millions of degrees, as well as a halo of invisible dark matter.
Earlier studies, going back to the 1960s, have shown that each of the galaxies in the cluster - and indeed most galaxies - likely contains a supermassive black hole in its centre, an object 100 million to more than ten billion times as massive as our sun.
"These giant black holes are among the universe's most efficient energy generators, a hundred times more efficient than a nuclear reactor," said McNamara from Waterloo's Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science. "Matter falling into the black hole is ripped apart, releasing vast amounts of energy in the form of high speed particles and thermal energy."
This heat is released from just outside the black hole's event horizon, the boundary of no return. The remaining matter gets absorbed into the black hole, adding to its mass. The released energy heats up the surrounding gas, creating bubbles of hot plasma that ripple through the cluster, just as bubbles of air rise up in a glass of champagne.
The research is shedding light on the crucial role that this hot plasma plays in galactic evolution. Researchers are now tackling the foremost issue in the formation of structure in the universe and asking: why doesn't most of the gas cool down, and form stars and galaxies? The answer seems to be that bubbles created by blasts of energy from the black holes keep temperatures too high for such structures to form.
"Any time a little bit of gas falls into the black hole, it releases an enormous amount of energy," said McNamara. "It creates these bubbles, and the bubbles keep the plasma hot. That's what prevents galaxies from becoming even bigger than they are now."
Because plasma is invisible to the eye, and to optical telescopes, it wasn't until the advent of X-ray astronomy that the full picture began to emerge. In visible light, the Perseus cluster appears to contain many individual galaxies, separated by seemingly-empty space. In an X-ray image, however, the individual galaxies are invisible, and the plasma atmosphere, centred on the cluster's largest galaxy, known as NGC 1275, dominates the scene.
Although the black hole at the heart of NGC 1275 has only one-thousandth of the mass of its host galaxy, and has a much smaller volume, it seems to have a huge influence on how the galaxy and how the surrounding hot plasma atmosphere evolve.
"It's as though the galaxy somehow knows about this black hole sitting at the centre," said McNamara. "It's like nature's thermostat, that keeps these galaxies from growing. If the galaxy tries to grow too fast, matter falls into the black hole, releasing an enormous amount of energy, which drives out the matter and prevents it from forming new stars."
McNamara notes that the actual event horizon of the black hole is about the same size as our solar system, making it as small compared to its host galaxy as a grape is to the Earth. "What's going on in this tiny region is affecting a vast volume of space," he said.
Thanks to the black hole's regulatory effect, the gas that would have formed new stars instead remains a hot plasma - whose properties Hitomi was designed to measure.
Doomed satellite missions
Hitomi employed an X-ray spectrometer which measures the Doppler shifts in emissions from the plasma; those shifts can then be used to calculate the speed at which different parts of the plasma are moving. At the heart of the spectrometer is a microcalorimeter; cooled to just one-twentieth of a degree above absolute zero, the device records the precise energy of each incoming X-ray photon.
Getting an X-ray satellite equipped with a microcalorimeter into space has proved daunting: McNamara was deeply involved with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, launched in 1999, that was initially set to include a microcalorimeter, but the project was scaled back due to budget constraints, and the calorimeter was dropped. Another mission with the Japanese space agency known as ASTRO-E was equipped with a microcalorimeter; it was set for launch in 2000, but the rocket exploded shortly after liftoff. A third effort, Japan's Suzaku satellite, launched in 2005, but a leak in the cooling system destroyed the calorimeter. Hitomi launched and deployed perfectly, but a series of problems with the attitude control system caused the satellite to spin out of control and break up.
The data from Hitomi, limited as it is, is enough to make astronomers re-think the role of plasma in galactic evolution, according to McNamara. "The plasma can be thought of forming an enormous atmosphere that envelopes whole clusters of galaxies. These hot atmospheres represent the failure of the past -- the failure of the universe to create bigger galaxies," he said. "But it's also the hope for the future. This is the raw material for the future growth of galaxies - which is everything: stars, planets, people. It's the raw material that in the next several billion years is going to make the next generation of suns and solar systems. And how rapidly that happens is governed by the black hole."
The observations give researchers, for the first time, a direct measurement of the turbulent speed of the hot plasma. "This measurement tells us how the enormous energy released by supermassive black holes regulates the growth of the galaxy and the black hole itself," said McNamara.
Source: University of Waterloo
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. . Click here for more information.
7 July AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
Pizza & “Meteor Swarms & Satellites,” Glenn Peterson
(A1/1735)
8 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: “The Texas Star Party” Greg Benecke & Steve Lindsey
11 July LAAS LAAS General Meeting.
Griffith Observatory
Event Horizon Theater
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
17 July 2:30 PM UCLA Meteorite Gallery Lecture Series “Geysers and Plate Motions onSaturn’s Icy moon Encyladus An Yin, Professor of Geology and Tectonics, UCLA 4863 Slichter Hall, 595 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles
July 14 & 15 The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2016
To Boldly Go… Well, You Know: NASA’s Dawn Mission to the Asteroid Belt
The ambitious and exciting Dawn mission, launched in September 2007, is one of NASA's most remarkable ventures into the solar system. The spacecraft completed a spectacular exploration of Vesta in 2011-2012 and arrived in orbit around Ceres last year. These were among the last uncharted worlds in the inner solar system prior to Dawn. They are the two most massive residents of the main asteroid belt, that vast collection of bodies between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres is so large that it is included in the category of dwarf planets, along with Pluto. The alien landscapes Dawn reveals provide humankind with a new perspective on the solar system. Remnants from the time that planets were formed, Ceres and Vesta hold clues that will help scientists understand the dawn of the solar system.
Dawn is the only spacecraft ever to orbit a dwarf planet and is the only one ever to orbit any two extraterrestrial destinations. This year it has been orbiting closer to the surface of Ceres than the International Space Station is to Earth. Such a mission would be impossible without the use of ion propulsion, a technology that has largely been in the domain of science fiction, but which was tested extensively on the Deep Space 1 mission, paving the way for Dawn.
Dr. Marc Rayman will give a fascinating and entertaining presentation on the Dawn mission and its use of ion propulsion as well as its two exotic destinations. He also will share the excitement and profundity of controlling a spacecraft in deep space.
Speaker:
Dr. Marc Rayman, Mission Director and Chief Engineer, Dawn Mission, JPL
Webcast:
Click here to watch the event live on Ustream (or archived after the event)
Locations: Thursday, July 14, 2016, 7pm
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
Friday, July 15, 2016, 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 2016 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s 2016 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 4 new, July 11 1st quarter, July 19 full, July 26 last quarter
Planets: Saturn & Mars are up from sunset until after midnight. Jupiter is up until about 10 pmMercury & Venus are visible briefly after sunset in the west.
Other Events:
2 July SBAS out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke to coordinate a location. http://www.sbastro.net/.
2 July LAAS Private dark sky Star Party
6, 13, 20, 27 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
9 July LAAS Public Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm
9 July Jupiter 0.9deg N of Moon, occultation
16 July Mercury 0.6 deg S of Moon, occultation
23 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/
29 July Southern Delta-Aquarid Meteor Shower Peak The Southern Delta Aquarids 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. Expect to see 15-20 meteors per hours.
30 July SBAS out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke to coordinate a location. http://www.sbastro.net/.
30 July LAAS Private dark sky Star Party
Internet Links:
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
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