Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 7
General Calendar p. 10
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 10
Observing p. 12
Useful Links p. 14
About the Club p. 15
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
1 Sept AEA Astronomy Club Meeting "Astro Imaging Made Simple: From Photon Collection to Final Result," Jim Edwards
(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. Group lodging of 25 rooms have been reserved for our group at the Clarion Hotel in Pocatello, ID for the nights of 20 & 21 Aug., 2017. Cost is $99/night. Individuals need to call to reserve a room in the block, indicating they’re with the Aerospace Astronomy Club. Someone in the group was able to make a reservation at the Idaho Falls Hilton Garden Inn, although the price was steep ($330/night). Other hotels in the area haven’t been taking reservations as of yet.
From Jim Edwards: Wow... the sun is really boring these days. No spots for a looooong time and very few flares/prominences. Regardless, I took the attached image today (8/18/2016) from my rooftop using the Coronado H-alpha solar scope with the double Etlon stack. I likely over-stretched the contrast, sorry. There seems to be some sort of vignetting taking place such that the sun does not appear uniformly illuminated... this is likely the result of the double Etlon since there is a wicked internal reflection that I'm still learning how to mitigate (its not there with a single stack). Comments/suggestions/critiques are all welcome.
Fwiw, I forgot to mention that you can see two (smallish) prominences poking out from the edge at about the 7 o'clock position in this image.
Too, the imager seems to have developed a half column of hot pixels "recently" (this was there last year). Comes with age, I understand, and there is a simple software band-aide that will easily remove this blemish when "pretty pictures" are desired.
Astronomy Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month
(from Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
Mars at Closest Approach
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Explanation: When does Mars appear the largest? This occurs when Earth sweeps past Mars in their respective orbits around the Sun, creating a momentary Sun-Earth-Mars alignment called opposition. The featured image shows the Mars opposition that occurred earlier this year, as well as how Mars will look later this year. Mars actually changes its size continuously -- the monthly jumps in size are illustrative. During the first months of the year, Earth's view toward Mars is from relatively far away and from a relatively sideways angle -- making Mars appear small and at less than full phase (gibbous). As months progress, Mars appears increasingly larger and fuller. The day Earth and Mars were closest together was on May 30. By June, Earth had passed Mars, and part of the other side of Mars appeared shadowed. Mars will now appear increasingly smaller during 2016. Even if you watch Mars from Earth all along its orbit, though, Mars will never show a crescent phase.
Aurora over Icelandic Fault
Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN, Earth and Stars)
Explanation: Admire the beauty but fear the beast. The beauty is the aurora overhead, here taking the form of great green spiral, seen between picturesque clouds with the bright Moon to the side and stars in the background. The beast is the wave of charged particles that creates the aurora but might, one day, impair civilization. Exactly this week in 1859, following notable auroras seen all across the globe, a pulse of charged particles from a coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with a solar flare impacted Earth's magnetosphere so forcefully that they created the Carrington Event. A relatively direct path between the Sun and the Earth might have been cleared by a preceding CME. What is sure is that the Carrington Event compressed the Earth's magnetic field so violently that currents were created in telegraph wires so great that many wires sparked and gave telegraph operators shocks. Were a Carrington-class event to impact the Earth today, speculation holds that damage might occur to global power grids and electronics on a scale never yet experienced. The featured aurora was imaged last week over Thingvallavatn Lake in Iceland, a lake that partly fills a fault thatdivides Earth's large Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.
Apollo 15 Panorama
Image Credit & Copyright: Apollo 15, USGS, NASA
Explanation: On July 31, 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts Jim Irwin and Dave Scott deployed the first Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon. Using it to explore their Hadley-Apennine landing site they spent nearly three days on the Moon while Al Worden orbited above. This digitally stitched panorama shows Scott examining a boulder on the slope of 3.5 kilometer high Mons Hadley Delta to the left of their electric-powered, four-wheel drive vehicle. The sun at his back, Irwin casts the strong shadow to the rover's right. The panoramic view extends farther right to the sunward direction, over Hadley Rille and lunar terrain, revealed in harsh, unfiltered sunlight. In total, the rover traversed 28 kilometers (17 miles) on the lunar surface. The Apollo 15 mission returned about 76 kilograms of moon rocks to planet Earth.
Gigantic Jet Lightning over China
Image Credit & Copyright: Phebe Pan
Explanation: That's no meteor. While watching and photographing this year's Perseid Meteor Shower, something unexpected happened: a gigantic jet erupted from a nearby cloud. The whole thing was over in a flash -- it lasted less than a second -- but was fortunately captured by an already-recording digital camera. Gigantic jets are a rare form of lightning recognized formally only a few years ago. The featured high resolution color image, taken near the peak ofShikengkong mountain in China, may be the best image yet of this unusual phenomenon. The same event appears to have been captured simultaneously by another photographer, further away. The gigantic jet appears to start somewhere in a nearby thundercloud and extend upwards towards Earth's ionosphere. The nature of gigantic jets and their possible association with other types of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) such as blue jets and red sprites remains an active topic of research.
Astronomy News:
(from http://esciencenews.com/topics/astronomy.space)
Astronomy shown to be set in standing stone
Published: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - 12:52 in Astronomy & Space
Related images
(click to enlarge)
Image credit: Copyright Douglas Scott.
University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide research has for the first time statistically proven that the earliest standing stone monuments of Britain, the great circles, were constructed specifically in line with the movements of the Sun and Moon, 5000 years ago. The research, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, details the use of innovative 2D and 3D technology to construct quantitative tests of the patterns of alignment of the standing stones.
"Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind - it was all supposition," says project leader and University of Adelaide Visiting Research Fellow Dr Gail Higginbottom, who is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian National University.
Examining the oldest great stone circles built in Scotland (Callanish, on the Isle of Lewis, and Stenness, Isle of Orkney -- both predating Stonehenge's standing stones by about 500 years), the researchers found a great concentration of alignments towards the Sun and Moon at different times of their cycles. And 2000 years later in Scotland, much simpler monuments were still being built that had at least one of the same astronomical alignments found at the great circles.
The stones, however, are not just connected with the Sun and the Moon. The researchers discovered a complex relationship between the alignment of the stones, the surrounding landscape and horizon, and the movements of the Sun and the Moon across that landscape.
"This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2000 years," says Dr Higginbottom.
Examining sites in detail, it was found that about half the sites were surrounded by one landscape pattern and the other half by the complete reverse.
"These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the Sun and Moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the Moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years," Dr Higginbottom says.
"For example, at 50% of the sites, the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer than the southern and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north. At the other 50% of sites, the southern horizon is higher and closer than the northern, with the winter solstice Sun rising out of these highest horizons.
"These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew. They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their culture's survival."
Source: University of Adelaide
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2016/08/17/astronomy.shown.be.set.standing.stone
Nuclear puzzle may be clue to fifth force
Published: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - 12:37 in Astronomy & Space
Related images
UC Riverside
UC Riverside
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (http://www.ucr.edu) -- In a new paper, University of California, Riverside theoretical physicist Flip Tanedo and his collaborators have made new progress towards unravelling a mystery in the beryllium nucleus that may be evidence for a fifth force of nature. Earlier this year, an experiment in Hungary reported very unusual behavior in the decays of beryllium-8 nuclei. The experimental collaboration suggested that their results may come from the effects of a new force of nature.
If confirmed, this would have far-reaching consequences on fundamental physics including grand unification, dark matter and the experimental strategy for pushing the frontier of human knowledge.
Intrigued, Tanedo, an assistant professor at UC Riverside, and his collaborators - all theoretical physicists - decided to investigate further.
In an paper posted earlier this year, the team did the first theoretical analysis of the Hungarian team's interpretation, and showed how usual assumptions of how a fifth force would behave don't seem to work in this case because of the high energy physics experiments that would otherwise rule it out. This represented the first steps to finding wiggle room for what it would take for the fifth force interpretation to work.
The just posted paper fleshes out the previous work and presents explicit examples of theories that could explain the Hungarian experiment without running afoul of the existing constraints mentioned in the earlier paper.
"We think that the Hungarian anomaly is interesting and our model is proof that consistent theories can be constructed," Tanedo said. "We're not saying that a fifth force has been discovered - only that we can pass the first consistency check.
"The next big check is for other experiments to confirm the anomaly. Our paper lays down the framework for how other types of experiments can definitely check or refute the original Hungarian result. If it ends up being real, that would be a huge deal in our field."
The team performed a systematic study of the Hungarian results including cutting-edge nuclear physics, theoretical self-consistency and cross-checks with results from particle accelerators. They also developed a theoretical scaffolding to understand whether the beryllium result can be consistent with known physics.
"Some features that look perfectly mundane are actually violently at odds with other experiments, while other features that look difficult to explain actually can be explained by relaxing pre-conceptions about how a new force should manifest itself," Tanedo said. "If this is a new force, it is not at all what we would have expected."
The results of the study, which have been submitted to the journal Physics Review D and posted on the arXiv.org preprint server, elucidate the subtleties of the experimental results and illuminate the path forward.
"We've thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak and shown how on-going high-energy physics experiments built for other purposes can be used to definitively confirm or refute this new force," Tanedo said. "We should know within the next few years."
Source: University of California - Riverside
Fifth Force http://esciencenews.com/articles/2016/08/17/nuclear.puzzle.may.be.clue.fifth.force
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.
1 Sept AEA Astronomy Club Meeting "Astro Imaging Made Simple: From Photon Collection to Final Result," Jim Edwards (A1/1735)
9 Sept Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS Monthly General Meeting
in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)
Topic: TBD
Speaker: TBD
12 Sept LAAS LAAS General Meeting.
Griffith Observatory
Event Horizon Theater
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
September 22 & 23 The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2016
Revealing Saturn: Cassini Science Highlights and the Grand Finale
The Cassini mission’s findings have revolutionized our understanding of Saturn, its complex rings, the amazing assortment of moons and the planet’s dynamic magnetic environment. The robotic spacecraft arrived in 2004 after a 7-year flight from Earth, dropped a parachuted probe named Huygens to study the atmosphere and surface of Saturn’s big moon Titan, and commenced making astonishing discoveries that continue today.
Cassini’s current mission extension has led to some remarkable discoveries and more are expected when Cassini repeatedly dives between the innermost ring and the top of Saturn’s atmosphere during its final six months starting in April 2017. Late last year Cassini completed its final equatorial tour of Saturn’s icy satellites, culminating in a series of Enceladus encounters including a daring pass through the icy moon’s southern jets and plume.
The mission then began executing a series of Titan flybys, each of which increases the spacecraft’s inclination until it finally reaches nearly 64 degrees. At that point, in late November, the Cassini mission will embark on its final set of orbits: 20 F ring orbits with a periapsis just outside Saturn’s F ring, 22 Proximal orbits, the Grand Finale, with periapsis between the innermost D ring and Saturn, and finally, entry into Saturn’s atmosphere in September 2017.
What new puzzles will Cassini solve before it plunges into Saturn’s atmosphere rather than risk crashing into one of Saturn’s ocean worlds and contaminating it? Come and hear the story of recent science discoveries and the upcoming excitement during the final orbits. Dr. Linda Spilker, Cassini Project Scientist, will present highlights of Cassini’s ambitious inquiry at Saturn and an overview of science observations in the final orbits. Dr. Earl Maize will discuss Cassini’s exciting challenges and promise of the final year of the mission, ultimately flying through a region where no spacecraft has ever flown before.
This flagship mission is a cooperative undertaking by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian space agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)).
Speaker:
Dr. Earl Maize, Cassini Project Manager, JPL
Dr. Linda Spilker, Cassini Project Scientist, JPL
Webcast:
Click here to watch the event live on Ustream (or archived after the event)
Locations: Thursday, Sept 22, 2016, 7pm
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
Friday, Sept 23, 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.
18 Sept 2:30 PM UCLA Meteorite Gallery Lecture Series
Prof. Kevin McKeegan
Calcium-Aluminum-rich Inclusions: The Solar System’s First Rocks
Location: Slichter 3853
Time: 2:30PM
Chondritic meteorites are cosmic sediments that contain many distinct nebular products. In addition to chondrules and matrix, some chondrites have several percent of inclusions that are rich in Ca, Al, and other refractory elements. These so-called CAIs are the oldest datable rocks thought to have formed in our solar system and they have many interesting properties. Kevin McKeegan will describe some CAIs, where they are found, and where they may have formed in the solar nebula.
4863 Slichter Hall, 595 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles
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 September:
Moon: Sept 1 new, Sept 9 1st quarter, Sept 16 full, Sept 23 last quarter, Sept 30 new
Planets: Saturn & Mars are up for a few hours after sunset. Jupiter & Venus are visible briefly after sunset in the west. Mercury is visible for an hour or so before sunrise.
Other Events:
2 Sept Neptune at opposition, Jupiter 0.4 deg S of Moon
3 Sept Venus 1.1 deg S of Moon
3 Sept LAAS Private dark sky Star Party
7,14,21,28 Sept 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
10 Sept LAAS Public Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm
15 Sept Neptune 1.2 deg S of Moon
Sept 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/
22 Sept Autumnal Equinox
Sept SBAS out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke to coordinate a location. http://www.sbastro.net/.
28 Sept Mercury greatest elongation W (18 deg)
29 Sept Mercury 0.7 deg N of Moon
Internet Links:
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/.
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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