AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter February 2019
Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 1
Astronomy News p. 9
General Calendar p. 11
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 11
Observing p. 13
Observing p. 13
Useful Links p. 15
About the Club p. 16
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
About the Club p. 16
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
7 Feb
|
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
|
Mt. Wilson video & online shorts
|
(A1/1735)
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AEA Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1st Thursdays at 11:45 am. For 2018: Jan. 4 in A1/1029 A/B, Feb. 1 & March 1 in A1/2906 and for the rest of 2018 (April-Dec), the meeting room is A1/1735.
Club News:
Feb. 12 Club outreach – Girl Scout astronomy night in El Segundo.
We have received a new Celestron AVX GoTo mount & portable tripod to go with our Explore Scientific 5-inch refractor. It can be found for now in Bob Oberto’s office in D8 – as yet unopened in boxes.
Still waiting to hear if we will get our FY19 AEA budget request, including software for our new laptop (Starry Night Pro Plus 7 & Maxim DL Pro Suite), a new portable GoTo MCT (Meade ETX-90), an Android tablet & Sky Safari 5 Pro app, SkyFi III wireless scope controller, another Mt. Wilson night, quarterly pizza parties, Astronomical League group membership & Observer’s Handbook.
We need volunteers to help with:
· Populating our club Sharepoint site with material & links to the club’s Aerowiki & Aerolink materials
· Arranging future club programs
· Managing club equipment
Astronomy Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month
(from Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
HESS Telescopes Explore the High-Energy Sky https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190108.html
Video Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander, H.E.S.S. Collaboration; Music: Emotive Piano by Immersive Music
Explanation: They may look like modern mechanical dinosaurs but they are enormous swiveling eyes that watch the sky. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) Observatory is composed of four 12-meter reflecting-mirror telescopes surrounding a larger telescope housing a 28-meter mirror. They are designed to detect strange flickers of blue light -- Cherenkov radiation --emitted when charged particles move slightly faster than the speed of light in air. This light is emitted when a gamma ray from a distant source strikes a molecule in Earth's atmosphere and starts a charged-particle shower. H.E.S.S. is sensitive to some of the highest energy photons (TeV) crossing the universe. Operating since 2003 in Namibia, H.E.S.S. has searched for dark matter and has discovered over 50 sources emitting high energy radiation including supernova remnants and the centers of galaxies that contain supermassive black holes. Pictured last September, H.E.S.S. telescopes swivel and stare in time-lapse sequences shot in front of our Milky Way Galaxy and theMagellanic Clouds -- as the occasional Earth-orbiting satellite zips by.Video Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander, H.E.S.S. Collaboration; Music: Emotive Piano by Immersive Music
A Total Lunar Eclipse Video https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190120.html
Video Credit & Copyright: Jun Ho Oh (KAIST, HuboLab), Kwon O Chul (TWAN), Jeong ByoungJun (RainbowAstro)
Explanation: Tonight a bright full Moon will fade to red. Tonight's moon will be particularly bright because it is reaching its fully lit phase when it is relatively close to the Earth in its elliptical orbit. In fact, by some measures of size and brightness, tonight's full Moon is designated a supermoon, although perhaps the "super" is overstated because it will be only a few percent larger and brighter than the average full Moon. However, our Moon will fade to a dim red because it will also undergo a total lunar eclipse -- an episode when the Moon becomes completely engulfed in Earth's shadow. The faint red color results from blue sunlight being more strongly scattered away by the Earth's atmosphere. A January full moon, like the one visible tonight, is referred to as a Wolf Moon in some cultures. Tonight's supermoon total eclipse will last over an hour and be best visible from North and South America after sunset. The featured time-lapse video shows the last total lunar eclipse -- which occurred in 2018 July. The next total lunar eclipse will occur only in 2021 May.Video Credit & Copyright: Jun Ho Oh (KAIST, HuboLab), Kwon O Chul (TWAN), Jeong ByoungJun (RainbowAstro)
Orion over the Austrian Alps
Image Credit & Copyright: Lukáš Veselý
Explanation: Do you recognize this constellation? Through the icicles and past the mountains is Orion, one of the most identifiable star groupings on the sky and an icon familiar to humanity for over 30,000 years. Orion has looked pretty much the same during the past 50,000 years and should continue to look the same for many thousands of years into the future. Orion is quite prominent in the sky this time of year, a recurring sign of (modern) winter in Earth's northern hemisphere and summer in the south. Pictured, Orion was captured recently above the Austrian Alps in a composite of seven images taken by the same camera in the same location during the same night. Below and slightly to the right of Orion's three-star belt is the Orion Nebula, while the four bright stars surrounding the belt are, clockwise from the upper left, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix,Rigel, and Saiph.Image Credit & Copyright: Lukáš Veselý
The Long Gas Tail of Spiral Galaxy D100
Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, Hubble, Subaru Telescope, W. Cramer (Yale) et al., M. Yagi, J. DePasquale
Explanation: Why is there long red streak attached to this galaxy? The streak is made mostly of glowing hydrogen that has been systematically stripped away as the galaxy moved through the ambient hot gas in a cluster of galaxies. Specifically, the galaxy is spiral galaxy D100, and cluster is the Coma Cluster of galaxies. The red path connects to the center of D100 because the outer gas, gravitationally held less strongly, has already been stripped away by ram pressure. The extended gas tail is about 200,000 light-years long, contains about 400,000 times the mass of our Sun, and stars are forming within it. Galaxy D99, visible to D100's lower left, appears red because it glows primarily from the light of old red stars -- young blue stars can no longer form because D99 has been stripped of its star-forming gas. The featured false-color picture is a digitally enhanced composite of images from Earth-orbiting Hubble and the ground-based Subaru telescope. Studying remarkable systems like this bolsters our understanding of how galaxies evolve in clusters.Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, Hubble, Subaru Telescope, W. Cramer (Yale) et al., M. Yagi, J. DePasquale
Wide Field View of Great American Eclipse
Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Lefaudeux
Explanation: Only in the fleeting darkness of a total solar eclipse is the light of the solar corona easily visible. Normally overwhelmed by the bright solar disk, the expansive corona, the sun's outer atmosphere, is an alluring sight. But the subtle details and extreme ranges in the corona's brightness, although discernible to the eye, are notoriously difficult to photograph. Pictured here, however, using over 120 images and meticulous digital processing, is a detailed wide-angle image of the Sun's corona taken during the Great American Eclipse in 2017 August. Clearly visible areintricate layers and glowing caustics of an ever changing mixture of hot gas and magnetic fields. Hundreds of stars as faint as 11th magnitude are visible behind the Moon and Sun, with Mars appearing in red on the far right. The next total eclipse of the Sun will occur on July 2 and be visibleduring sunset from a thin swath across Chile and Argentina.Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Lefaudeux
Yutu 2 on the Farside
Image Credit: Chinese National Space Administration
Explanation: On January 3, the Chinese Chang'e-4 spacecraft made the first successful landing on the Moon's farside. Taken by a camera on board the lander, this image is from the landing site inside Von Karman crater. It shows the desk-sized, six-wheeled Yutu 2 (Jade Rabbit 2) rover as it rolled down lander ramps and across the surface near local sunrise and the start of the two week long lunar day. Ripe for exploration, Von Karman crater itself is 186 kilometers in diameter. It lies within the Moon's old and deep South Pole-Aitken impact basin with some of the most ancient and least understood lunar terrains. To bridge communications from the normally hidden hemisphere of the Moon, China launched a relay satellite, Queqiao, in May of 2018 in to an orbit beyond the lunar farside.Image Credit: Chinese National Space Administration
The Umbra of Earth
Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Finazzi
Explanation: The dark, inner shadow of planet Earth is called the umbra. Shaped like a cone extending into space, it has a circular cross section most easily seen during a lunar eclipse. For example, on January 21 the Full Moon slid across the northern half of Earth's umbral shadow, entertaining moonwatchers around much of the planet. In the total phase of the eclipse, the Moon was completely within the umbra for 63 minutes. Recorded under clear, dark skies from the hills near Chiuduno, Italy this composite eclipse image uses successive pictures from totality (center) and partial phases to trace out a large part of the umbra's curved edge. Reflecting sunlight scattered by the atmosphere into Earth's shadow, the lunar surface appears reddened during totality. But close to the umbra's edge, the limb of the eclipsed Moon shows a distinct blue hue. The blue eclipsed moonlight originates as rays of sunlight pass through layers high in the upper stratosphere, colored by ozone that scatters red light and transmits blue.Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Finazzi
InSight Lander Takes Selfie on Mars
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Explanation: This is what NASA's Insight lander looks like on Mars. With its solar panels, InSight is about the size of a small bus. Insight successfully landed on Mars in November with a main objective to detectseismic activity. The featured selfie is a compilation of several images taken of different parts of the InSight lander, by the lander's arm, at different times. SEIS, the orange-domed seismometer seen near the image center last month, has now been placed on the Martian surface. With this selfie, Mars InSight continues a long tradition of robotic spacecraft on Mars taking and returning images of themselves, including Viking,Sojourner, Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Phoenix, and Curiosity. Data taken by Mars Insight is expected to give humanity unprecedented data involving the interior of Mars, a region thought to harbor formation clues not only about Mars, but Earth.Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Astronomy News:
(from https://www.sciencedaily.com )
Retreating snow line reveals organic molecules around young star
Date: February 4, 2019
Source: National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Summary: Astronomers using ALMA have detected various complex organic molecules around the young star V883 Ori. A sudden outburst from this star is releasing molecules from the icy compounds in the planet forming disk. The chemical composition of the disk is similar to that of comets in the modern solar system. Sensitive ALMA observations enable astronomers to reconstruct the evolution of organic molecules from the birth of the solar system to the objects we see today.
FULL STORY
The distribution of dust is shown in orange and the distribution of methanol, an organic molecule, is shown in blue.
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Lee et al. V883Ori
Astronomers using ALMA have detected various complex organic molecules around the young star V883 Ori. A sudden outburst from this star is releasing molecules from the icy compounds in the planet forming disk. The chemical composition of the disk is similar to that of comets in the modern Solar System. Sensitive ALMA observations enable astronomers to reconstruct the evolution of organic molecules from the birth of the Solar System to the objects we see today.
The research team led by Jeong-Eun Lee (Kyung Hee University, Korea) used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to detect complex organic molecules including methanol (CH3OH), acetone (CH3COCH3), acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), methyl formate (CH3OCHO), and acetonitrile (CH3CN). This is the first time that acetone was unambiguously detected in a planet forming region or protoplanetary disk.
Various molecules are frozen in ice around micrometer-sized dust particles in protoplanetary disks. V883 Ori's sudden flare-up is heating the disk and sublimating the ice, which releases the molecules into gas. The region in a disk where the temperature reaches the sublimation temperature of the molecules is called the "snow line." The radii of snow lines are about a few astronomical units (au) around normal young stars, however, they are enlarged almost 10 times around bursting stars.
"It is difficult to image a disk on the scale of a few au with current telescopes," said Lee. "However, around an outburst star, ice melts in a wider area of the disk and it is easier to see the distribution of molecules. We are interested in the distribution of complex organic molecules as the building blocks of life."
Ice, including frozen organic molecules, could be closely related to the origin of life on planets. In our Solar System, comets are the focus of attention because of their rich icy compounds. For example, the European Space Agency's legendary comet explorer Rosetta found rich organic chemistry around the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Comets are thought to have been formed in the outer colder region of the proto-Solar System, where the molecules were contained in ice. Probing the chemical composition of ice in protoplanetary disks is directly related to probing the origin of organic molecules in comets, and the origin of the building blocks of life.
Thanks to ALMA's sharp vision and the enlarged snow line due to the flare-up of the star, the astronomers obtained the spatial distribution of methanol and acetaldehyde. The distribution of these molecules has a ring-like structure with a radius of 60 au, which is twice the size of Neptune's orbit. The researchers assume that inside of this ring the molecules are invisible because they are obscured by thick dusty material, and are invisible outside of this radius because they are frozen in ice.
"Since rocky and icy planets are made from solid material, the chemical composition of solids in disks is of special importance. An outburst is a unique chance to investigate fresh sublimates, and thus the composition of solids." says Yuri Aikawa at the University of Tokyo, a member of the research team.
V883 Ori is a young star located at 1300 light-years away from the Earth. This star is experiencing a so-called FU Orionis type outburst, a sudden increase of luminosity due to a bursting torrent of material flowing from the disk to the star. These outbursts last only on the order of 100 years, therefore the chance to observe a burst is rather rare. However, since young stars with a wide range of ages experience FU Ori bursts, astronomers expect to be able to trace the chemical composition of ice throughout the evolution of young stars.
Story Source:
Materials provided by National Institutes of Natural Sciences. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
1. Jeong-Eun Lee, Seokho Lee, Giseon Baek, Yuri Aikawa, Lucas Cieza, Sung-Yong Yoon, Gregory Herczeg, Doug Johnstone, Simon Casassus. The ice composition in the disk around V883 Ori revealed by its stellar outburst. Nature Astronomy, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41550-018-0680-0
Cite This Page:
National Institutes of Natural Sciences. "Retreating snow line reveals organic molecules around young star." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 February 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190204114535.htm>.
General Calendar:
Colloquia, Lectures, Seminars, Meetings, Open Houses & Tours:
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 2019 Astronomy Lecture Series
Each year the Observatories organizes a series of public lectures on current astronomical topics. These lectures are given by astronomers from the Carnegie Observatories as well as other research institutions. The lectures are geared to the general public and are free.
– only 4 per year in the Spring www.obs.carnegiescience.edu. For more information about the Carnegie Observatories or this lecture series, please contact Reed Haynie. . Click here for more information.
2019 Season
Monday evenings: March 18, April 1, April 15 and April 29.
AT THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, ART COLLECTIONS, AND BOTANICAL GARDENS
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino
All Lectures are in Rothenberg Auditorium. The simulcast room adjacent to the Auditorium will also accommodate overflow attendance. Directions can be found here.
The lectures are free. Because seating is limited, however, reservations are required for each lecture through Eventbrite (links below). Additionally, the lectures will be streamed live through Livestream and simultaneously on our Facebook CarnegieAstro page. For information, please call 626-304-0250.
Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Each Lecture will be preceded by a brief musical performance by students from The Colburn School starting at 7:00 p.m. Lectures start at 7:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be available.
Monday, March 18, 2019
Glimpses of the Cosmic Dawn
Dr. Alexander Ji
Hubble Fellow, Carnegie Observatories
Astronomers have mapped almost the entire history of our Universe, from the Big Bang to the present day. One last frontier remains, an epoch known as Cosmic Dawn, when the first stars and galaxies are born and change the universe forever. Dr. Ji will take us on a short tour of the early history of our Universe and the current glimpses we have of this era.
Tickets will be available starting February 25th at Eventbrite.
7 Feb
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AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
|
Mt. Wilson video & online shorts
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(A1/1735)
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1 Feb
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Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS Monthly General Meeting
in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)
Topic: “Stellar Magnitude Scales” Ken Munson
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Feb. 8 The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2019
The World of Scientific Ballooning
Human flight began with the balloon and today it is the last bastion of guerrilla science. Scientific ballooning provides a well-tested, reliable, low-cost, moderate risk platform that helps prepare the next generation of scientists, engineers, and instruments. This talk will take a look at how our oldest flight technology actually paves the way for the future.
Speaker:
Jose V. Siles, Ph.D.
RF Engineer; LO Subsystem Lead and Antarctic Flight Campaign Team Member (STO-2, Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory)
Laura Jones-Wilson, Ph.D.
Systems Engineer (Europa Clipper); former Project Systems Engineer (STABLE: Subarcsecond Telescope And BaLloon Experiment)
Jose V. Siles, Ph.D.
RF Engineer; LO Subsystem Lead and Antarctic Flight Campaign Team Member (STO-2, Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory)
Laura Jones-Wilson, Ph.D.
Systems Engineer (Europa Clipper); former Project Systems Engineer (STABLE: Subarcsecond Telescope And BaLloon Experiment)
Location:
Thursday, none
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
Friday, Feb 8, 2019, 7pm
Caltech’s Ramo Auditorium
1200 E California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
Thursday, none
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
Friday, Feb 8, 2019, 7pm
Caltech’s Ramo Auditorium
1200 E California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA
› Directions
11 Feb
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LAAS General Mtg. 7:30pm Griffith Observatory
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NONE IN FEB.
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UCLA METEORITE GALLERY EVENTS
Location: Geology 3656
Time: 2:30PM | |||||||
7 March
|
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
|
TBD
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(A1/1735)
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Observing:
The following data are from the 2018 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s 2018 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 February:
Moon: Feb 4 new, Feb 12 1st quarter, Feb 19 Full, Feb 26 last quarter,
Planets: Venus visible at dawn all month. Mars visible at dusk, sets before midnight. Mercury visible at dusk after the 12th. Saturn visible at dawn all month. Jupiter visible at dawn all month.
Other Events:
2 Feb
|
SBAS out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke to coordinate a location. http://www.sbastro.net/.
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2 Feb
|
LAAS Private dark sky Star Party
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6, 13, 20, 27 Feb
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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
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9 Feb
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LAAS Public Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm
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13 February Mars Passes 1.1 deg from Uranus Look for these two planets in the western sky after sunset.
15 February Friday, 7 PM CalTech Astro: Stargazing and Lecture Series “The Universe at Cosmic Noon” a lecture by Rachel Theios. A discussion of galactic evolution over the last 10 billion years. For directions, weather updates, and more information, please visit: http://outreach.astro.caltech.edu
18 February Venus Passes 1.1 deg from Saturn Look for these two planets in the southeastern sky before sunrise.
19 February Supermoon Full Moon
23 February Saturday SBAS In Town Dark Sky Observing Session at Ridgecrest Middle School– 28915 NortbBay Rd. RPV, Weather Permitting: Please contact Ken Rossi or Ken Munson to confirm that the gate will be opened.
Internet Links:
Telescope, Binocular & Accessory Buying Guides
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/.
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, Walt Sturrock, 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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