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)

Sunday, August 6, 2017

2017 August

AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter August 2017

Contents

AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 7
General Calendar p. 11
    Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 11
    Observing p. 13
Useful Links p. 15
About the Club p. 16

Club News & Calendar.

Club Calendar

Club Meeting Schedule:
3 Aug
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
Eclipse planning & Video Presentation
(A1/1735)
7 Sept
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
TBD
(A1/1735)

AEA Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1st  Thursdays at 11:45 am.  For all of 2017, the meeting room is A1/1735. 


Club News:  

Eclipse News.  The Rexburg Idaho expedition & photo pool has been busy making final preparations for the Aug. 21 eclipse.  We are organizing a viewing event in the AGO mall that morning (9:05am to 11:44am, with mid-eclipse (maximum 69% from El Segundo) about 10:21am), with various telescopes with filters, one displaying images on a monitor, and eclipse glasses.  Volunteers needed for three ½- or 1-hour shifts. 

Mt. Wilson.  Another group of 18 are anxiously looking forward to our night on the Mt. Wilson 100-inch telescope Sept. 23.

Casual low-power scanning of the sky (deep space objects along the Milky Way & elsewhere) is greatly enhanced by this light-weight option that permits hand-held operation while eliminating the shaking with image stabilization technology.




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

VIDEO: Pluto Flyover from New Horizons https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170731.html
Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, SwRI, P. Schenk & J. Blackwell (LPI); Music Open Sea Morning by Puddle of Infinity
Explanation: What if you could fly over Pluto -- what might you see? The New Horizons spacecraft did just this in 2015 July as it shot past the distant world at a speed of about 80,000 kilometers per hour. Recently, many images from this spectacular passage have been color enhanced, vertically scaled, and digitally combined into the featured two-minute time-lapse video. As your journey begins, light dawns on mountains thought to be composed of water ice but colored by frozen nitrogen. Soon, to your right, you see a flat sea of mostly solid nitrogen that has segmented into strange polygons that are thought to have bubbled up from a comparatively warminterior. Craters and ice mountains are common sights below. The video dims and ends over terrain dubbed bladed because it shows 500-meter high ridges separated by kilometer-sized gaps. Although the robotic New Horizons spacecraft has too much momentum ever to return to Pluto, it has now been targeted at Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU 69, which it should shoot past on New Year's Day 2019.
VIDEO: Moon Shadow versus Sun Reflection
 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170717.html
Image Credit: Himawari-8, NASA's SVS (GSFC)
Explanation: What are those lights and shadows crossing the Earth? As the featured five-second time-lapse video progresses, a full day on planet Earth is depicted as seen from Japan's Himawari-8 satellite in geostationary orbithigh above the Pacific Ocean. The Sun rises to the right and sets to the left, illuminating the half of Earth that is most directly below. A reflected image of the Sun -- a Sun glint -- is visible as a bright spot that moves from right to left. More unusual, though, is the dark spot that moves from the lower left to upper right That is the shadow of the Moon, and it can only appear when the Moon goes directly between the Earth and the Sun. Last year, on the day these images were taken, the most deeply shadowed region experienced a total eclipse of the Sun. Next month a similarly dark shadow will sweep right across the USA.
VIDEO:  Celestial Fireworks: Into Star Cluster Westerlund 2 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170704.html
Visualization Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, J. Anderson et al. (STScI); Acknowledgment: The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), the Westerlund 2 Science Team, and the ESO
Explanation: What if you could go right into a cluster where stars are forming? A one-minute, time-lapse, video visualization of just this has been made with 3D computer modeling of the region surrounding the star clusterWesterlund 2, based on images from the Hubble Space Telescope in visible and infrared light. Westerlund 2 spans about 10 light years across and lies about 20,000 light years distant toward the constellation of the Ship's Keel (Carina). As the illustrative animation begins, the greater Gum 29 nebula fills the screen, with the young cluster of bright stars visible in the center. Stars zip past you as you approach the cluster. Soon your imaginary ship pivots and you pass over light-year long pillars of interstellar gas and dust. Strong winds and radiation from massive young stars destroy all but the densest nearby dust clumps, leaving these pillars in their shadows -- many pointing back toward the cluster center. Last, you pass into the top of the star cluster and survey hundreds of the most massive stars known.




Int-Ball Drone Activated on the Space Station 
Image Credit: JAXA, ISS, NASA
Explanation: What if you were followed around by a cute floating ball that kept taking your picture? Then you might be an astronaut on today's International Space Station (ISS). Designed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the JEM Internal Ball Camera -- informally "Int-Ball" -- is a bit larger than a softball, can float and maneuver by itself but also be controlled remotely, can take high resolution images and videos, and is not related to Hello Kitty. Int-Ball was delivered to the ISS in early June and is designed to allow ground-control to increase the monitoring of ISS equipment and activities while decreasing time demands on human astronauts. Int-Ball moves by turning on small internal fans and sees with a camera located between its two dark eyes.

NGC 4449: Close-up of a Small Galaxy 
Image Credit & Copyright: Data - Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; 
Processing - Domingo Pestana Galvan, Raul Villaverde Fraile
Explanation: Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory. Their young, blue star clusters and pink star forming regions along sweeping spiral arms are guaranteed to attract attention. But small irregular galaxies form stars too, like NGC 4449, about 12 million light-years distant. Less than 20,000 light-years across, the small island universe is similar in size, and often compared to our Milky Way's satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud(LMC). This remarkable Hubble Space Telescope close-up of the well-studied galaxy was reprocessed to highlight the telltale reddish glow of hydrogen gas. The glow traces NGC 4449's widespread star forming regions, some even larger than those in the LMC, with enormous interstellar arcs and bubbles blown by short-lived, massive stars. NGC 4449 is a member of a group of galaxies found in the constellation Canes Venatici. It also holds the distinction of being the first dwarf galaxy with an identified tidal star stream.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Nuclear Ring 
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, LEGUS; Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Explanation: What's happening around the center of this spiral galaxy? Seen in total, NGC 1512 appears to be a barred spiral galaxy -- a type of spiral that has a straight bar of stars across its center. This bar crosses an inner ring, though, a ring not seen as it surrounds the pictured region. Featured in this Hubble Space Telescope image is a "nuclear ring" -- one that surrounds the nucleus of the spiral. The two rings are connected not only by a bar of bright stars but by dark lanes of dust. Inside of this nuclearring, dust continues to spiral right into the very center -- possibly the location of a large black hole. The rings are bright with newly formed stars.

3D Lava Falls of Mars 
Image Credit: NASA, MRO, HiRISE, JPL, U. Arizona
Explanation: Get out your red/cyan glasses and gaze across lava falls of Mars. The stereo anaglyph was created by combining two images recorded by the HiRISE camera onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The multi-level falls were created as flowing lava breached sections of the northern rim of a 30-kilometer diameter martian crater, located in the western part of the Red Planet's volcanic Tharsis region. As the molten lava cascaded down the crater wall and terraces to reach the crater floor it left the distinctly rough, fan-shaped flows on the steeper slopes. North is up and the breathtaking 3D view is 5 kilometers wide.

Astronomy News:
(from https://www.sciencedaily.com )

High-energy trap in our galaxy's center, revealed by gamma-ray telescopes

Date:
July 18, 2017
Source:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Summary:
The center of our Milky Way contains a 'trap' that concentrates some of the highest-energy cosmic rays, among the fastest particles in the galaxy, a combined analysis of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the High Energy Stereoscopic System, a ground-based observatory in Namibia, suggests.
Share:
     
FULL STORY
An illustration of NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope orbiting Earth.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
A combined analysis of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), a ground-based observatory in Namibia, suggests the center of our Milky Way contains a "trap" that concentrates some of the highest-energy cosmic rays, among the fastest particles in the galaxy.
"Our results suggest that most of the cosmic rays populating the innermost region of our galaxy, and especially the most energetic ones, are produced in active regions beyond the galactic center and later slowed there through interactions with gas clouds," said lead author Daniele Gaggero at the University of Amsterdam. "Those interactions produce much of the gamma-ray emission observed by Fermi and H.E.S.S."
Cosmic rays are high-energy particles moving through space at almost the speed of light. About 90 percent are protons, with electrons and the nuclei of various atoms making up the rest. In their journey across the galaxy, these electrically charged particles are affected by magnetic fields, which alter their paths and make it impossible to know where they originated.
But astronomers can learn about these cosmic rays when they interact with matter and emit gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light.
In March 2016, scientists with the H.E.S.S. Collaboration reported gamma-ray evidence of the extreme activity in the galactic center. The team found a diffuse glow of gamma rays reaching nearly 50 trillion electron volts (TeV). That's some 50 times greater than the gamma-ray energies observed by Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT). To put these numbers in perspective, the energy of visible light ranges from about 2 to 3 electron volts.
The Fermi spacecraft detects gamma rays when they enter the LAT. On the ground, H.E.S.S. detects the emission when the atmosphere absorbs gamma rays, which triggers a cascade of particles resulting in a flash of blue light.
In a new analysis, published July 17 in the journal Physical Review Letters, an international team of scientists combined low-energy LAT data with high-energy H.E.S.S. observations. The result was a continuous gamma-ray spectrum describing the galactic center emission across a thousandfold span of energy.
"Once we subtracted bright point sources, we found good agreement between the LAT and H.E.S.S. data, which was somewhat surprising due to the different energy windows and observing techniques used," said co-author Marco Taoso at the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Madrid and Italy's National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Turin.
This agreement indicates that the same population of cosmic rays -- mostly protons -- found throughout the rest of the galaxy is responsible for gamma rays observed from the galactic center. But the highest-energy share of these particles, those reaching 1,000 TeV, move through the region less efficiently than they do everywhere else in the galaxy. This results in a gamma-ray glow extending to the highest energies H.E.S.S. observed.
"The most energetic cosmic rays spend more time in the central part of the galaxy than previously thought, so they make a stronger impression in gamma rays," said co-author Alfredo Urbano at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva and INFN Trieste.
This effect is not included in conventional models of how cosmic rays move through the galaxy. But the researchers show that simulations incorporating this change display even better agreement with Fermi data.
"The same breakneck particle collisions responsible for producing these gamma rays should also produce neutrinos, the fastest, lightest and least understood fundamental particles," said co-author Antonio Marinelli of INFN Pisa. Neutrinos travel straight to us from their sources because they barely interact with other matter and because they carry no electrical charge, so magnetic fields don't sway them.
"Experiments like IceCube in Antarctica are detecting high-energy neutrinos from beyond our solar system, but pinpointing their sources is much more difficult," said Regina Caputo, a Fermi team member at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who was not involved in the study. "The findings from Fermi and H.E.S.S. suggest the galactic center could be detected as a strong neutrino source in the near future, and that's very exciting."
Story Source:
Materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
1.       D. Gaggero, D. Grasso, A. Marinelli, M. Taoso, A. Urbano. Diffuse Cosmic Rays Shining in the Galactic Center: A Novel Interpretation of H.E.S.S. and Fermi-LAT γ-Ray Data. Physical Review Letters, 2017; 119 (3) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.031101
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. "High-energy trap in our galaxy's center, revealed by gamma-ray telescopes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 July 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170718142916.htm>.


Best measure of star-forming material in galaxy clusters in early universe


Date:
July 20, 2017
Source:
University of California - Riverside
Summary:
The international Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS) collaboration has combined observations from several of the world's most powerful telescopes to carry out one of the largest studies yet of molecular gas -- the raw material which fuels star formation throughout the universe -- in three of the most distant clusters of galaxies ever found, detected as they appeared when the universe was only four billion years old.
     
FULL STORY
The Tadpole Galaxy is a disrupted spiral galaxy showing streams of gas stripped by gravitational interaction with another galaxy. Molecular gas is the required ingredient to form stars in galaxies in the early universe.
Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA and Bill Snyder
The international Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS) collaboration based at the University of California, Riverside has combined observations from several of the world's most powerful telescopes to carry out one of the largest studies yet of molecular gas -- the raw material which fuels star formation throughout the universe -- in three of the most distant clusters of galaxies ever found, detected as they appeared when the universe was only four billion years old.
Results were recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Allison Noble, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led this newest research from the SpARCS collaboration.
Clusters are rare regions of the universe consisting of tight groups of hundreds of galaxies containing trillions of stars, as well as hot gas and mysterious dark matter. First, the research team used spectroscopic observations from the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, and the Very Large Telescope in Chile that confirmed 11 galaxies were star-forming members of the three massive clusters. Next, the researchers took images through multiple filters from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which revealed a surprising diversity in the galaxies' appearance, with some galaxies having already formed large disks with spiral arms.
One of the telescopes the SpARCS scientists used is the extremely sensitive Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope capable of directly detecting radio waves emitted from the molecular gas found in galaxies in the early universe. ALMA observations allowed the scientists to determine the amount of molecular gas in each galaxy, and provided the best measurement yet of how much fuel was available to form stars.
The researchers compared the properties of galaxies in these clusters with the properties of "field galaxies" (galaxies found in more typical environments with fewer close neighbors). To their surprise, they discovered that cluster galaxies had higher amounts of molecular gas relative to the amount of stars in the galaxy, compared to field galaxies. The finding puzzled the team because it has long been known that when a galaxy falls into a cluster, interactions with other cluster galaxies and hot gas accelerate the shut off of its star formation relative to that of a similar field galaxy (the process is known as environmental quenching).
"This is definitely an intriguing result," said Gillian Wilson, a professor of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside and the leader of the SpARCS collaboration. "If cluster galaxies have more fuel available to them, you might expect them to be forming more stars than field galaxies, and yet they are not."
Noble, a SpARCS collaborator and the study's leader, suggests several possible explanations: It is possible that something about being in the hot, harsh cluster environment surrounded by many neighboring galaxies perturbs the molecular gas in cluster galaxies such that a smaller fraction of that gas actively forms stars. Alternatively, it is possible that an environmental process, such as increased merging activity in cluster galaxies, results in the observed differences between the cluster and field galaxy populations.
"While the current study does not answer the question of which physical process is primarily responsible for causing the higher amounts of molecular gas, it provides the most accurate measurement yet of how much molecular gas exists in galaxies in clusters in the early universe," Wilson said.
The SpARCS team has developed new techniques using infrared observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to identify hundreds of previously undiscovered clusters of galaxies in the early universe. In the future, they plan to study a larger sample of clusters. The team has recently been awarded additional time on ALMA, the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the Hubble Space Telescope to continue investigating how the neighborhood in which a galaxy lives determines for how long it can form stars.
Story Source:
provided by University of California - Riverside. Original written by Iqbal Pittalwala. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
1.       A. G. Noble, M. McDonald, A. Muzzin, J. Nantais, G. Rudnick, E. van Kampen, T. M. A. Webb, G. Wilson, H. K. C. Yee, K. Boone, M. C. Cooper, A. DeGroot, A. Delahaye, R. Demarco, R. Foltz, B. Hayden, C. Lidman, A. Manilla-Robles, S. Perlmutter. ALMA Observations of Gas-rich Galaxies in z ∼ 1.6 Galaxy Clusters: Evidence for Higher Gas Fractions in High-density Environments. The Astrophysical Journal, 2017; 842 (2): L21 DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa77f3
University of California - Riverside. "Best measure of star-forming material in galaxy clusters in early universe." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 July 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170720133110.htm>.



 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.
3 Aug
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
Eclipse planning & Video Presentation
(A1/1735)


4 Aug
Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS  Monthly General Meeting
in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)
Topic:  “Milestones in Astrophotography” Dr. Steven Morris, Harbor College

7 Aug
LAAS General Mtg. 7:30pm Griffith Observatory

August 24 & 25 The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2017
40 Years in Space: Voyager’s Remarkable Journey Continues
In 1977, NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft embarked on an incredible journey to the outer planets and beyond. After delivering stunning images of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the probes sailed on to study the boundary of our heliosphere, the bubble that encompasses our sun, planets and solar wind. Voyager 1 crossed that frontier in August 2012, becoming the first human-made object in interstellar space, while Voyager 2 is expected to enter the space between the stars in the coming years. In this talk, I will revisit the highlights of the last 40 years and speculate on what lies ahead for the intrepid Voyagers. For as long as they continue communicating with Earth, the Voyagers may discover even more wonders before becoming Earth’s silent ambassadors to the Milky Way, orbiting the center of our galaxy forever.
Speaker:
Alan Cummings, Senior Research Scientist at Caltech and Voyager team member since 1973

Location:
Thursday, Aug 24, 2017, 7pm
  Click here to add the date to your online calendar
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions 

Friday, Aug 25, 2017, 7pm
  Click here to add the date to your online calendar
The Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College
1570 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA
› Directions

27 Aug


DR. PAUL WARREN

METEORITES FROM MARS AND ON MARS

Location: Geology 3656
Time: 2:30PM
Martian meteorites are key sources of information about the Red Planet, especially its volcanic history. Ar and N isotopic ratios show the martian connection. Even though there are fewer martian meteorites (about 110) than lunar meteorites (140), the tally for meteorite falls is 5 martians to zero lunars. Rovers have analyzed a few meteorites among the cobbles on the martian surface. Photo credit: Ron Baalke

Observing:

The following data are from the 2017 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s 2017 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 August:

  

Moon: Aug 7 full, Aug 15 last quarter, Aug 21 new, Aug 29 1st quarter                 
Planets: Venus visible before & during dawn all August in ENE to East.  Mars out of sight until month’s end, then very low in the dawn.  Mercury  out of sight all August.  Saturn visible all month evening south to SW. Jupiter all August early evening WSW.
Other Events:

1 August Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower Peak This shower has infrequent but relatively bright meteors, with some fireballs. The Alpha Capricornids is a shower with peak rates of 2-5/h, sometimes having outbursts of bright flaring meteors with rates up to 5-9/h.

2,9,16,23,30 August
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

6 August Southern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak This stream consists of two fairly diffuse branches. The Southern Iota Aquarids possess a duration extending from July 1-September 18. The August 6 maximum produces an hourly rate of 7-8.

12 August SBAS Saturday Evening In Town Dark Sky Observing Session at Ridgecrest Middle School– 28915 NortbBay Rd. RPV, Weather Permitting: Please contact Greg Benecke to confirm that the gate will be opened!

12 Aug Perseid Meteors peak This most famous of meteor showers can produce a ZHR of 50-80 under good dark sky conditions.

 
12 Aug
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/

19 Aug Venus 2 deg north of Moon

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

19 Aug
LAAS Private dark sky  Star Party

21 Aug total solar eclipse across US from Oregon to S. Carolina.  69% in L.A.

26 Aug
LAAS 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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