Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 8
General Calendar p. 12
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 12
Observing p. 17
Observing p. 17
Useful
Links p. 18
About the Club p. 19
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
About the Club p. 19
Club News & Calendar.
Club Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
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AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
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TBD -- Great Courses video?
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Skype
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4 June
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AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
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TBD
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(Skype or
A1/1735)
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AEA
Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1st Thursdays at 11:45 am. For 2020:
March 5 & April 2 in A1/2906 and for the rest of 2020 (Jan., Feb., May-Dec),
the meeting room is A1/1735.
Club
News:
We had technical problems sharing a Great Courses lecture by Skype
(did a test before the April 2 mtg.), so Mark Clayson presented his Grand Tour
of the Universe Powerpoint instead. He’d
last shared it with the club 10 years ago, according to club records. 26 people joined by Skype – one of our
best-attended meetings – thanks to COVID-19 cabin fever?
We have received our AEA funding for the year -- $4,000 as
requested. We had some ideas how to
spend it, but if you have any additional ones, feel free to share.
This year’s annual night at Mt. Wilson Sept. 12, on the 100-inch
telescope, has a full roster, and a few on the waiting list. But we sometimes
have several drop out as the time approaches, so we can still add you to the
waiting list. Next year will be the 60-inch telescope – we alternate between
the 2 telescopes. The evening often includes a tour of the Aerospace MAFIOT
facility, and a Mt. Wilson docent tour.
We need volunteers to help with:
·
Assembling
our new 16-inch Hubble Optics Dobs
·
Installing
our new software on our tablet & laptop
·
Populating
our club Sharepoint site with material & links to the club’s Aerowiki
& Aerolink materials – Kaly Rangarajan has volunteered to help with this
·
Arranging
future club programs
·
Managing
club equipment & library (Kelly Gov volunteered to help with the
library)
Astronomy Video(s)
& Picture(s) of the Month
(generally from
Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html)
VIDEO: Cassini
Approaches Saturn https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200419.html
Video Credit & Copyright: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA, S. Van Vuuren et al.;
Music: Adagio for Strings (NY Philharmonic)
Explanation: What would it look like to approach Saturn in a spaceship?
One doesn't have to just imagine -- the Cassini spacecraft did
just this in 2004, recording thousands of images along the way, and hundreds of thousands
more since entering orbit. Some of Cassini's early images have
been digitally tweaked, cropped, and compiled into the featured inspiring video which
is part of a larger developing IMAX movie
project named In
Saturn's Rings. In the concluding sequence, Saturn looms
increasingly large on approach as cloudy Titan swoops
below. With Saturn whirling
around in the background, Cassini is next depicted flying
over Mimas,
with large Herschel
Crater clearly visible. Saturn's majestic rings then take over
the show as Cassini crosses Saturn's thin
ring plane. Dark shadows of the ring appear on Saturn
itself. Finally, the enigmatic ice-geyser moon Enceladus appears
in the distance and then is approached just as the video clip ends. After more
than a decade of exploration and discovery, the Cassini
spacecraft ran low on fuel in 2017 was directed to enter Saturn's
atmosphere, where it surely melted.Video Credit & Copyright: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA, S. Van Vuuren et al.;
Music: Adagio for Strings (NY Philharmonic)
VIDEO: Around the World at Night https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200424.html
Video Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN, IDA), Music: Peter Jeremias
Explanation: Watch this video. In only a minute or so you can explore
the night skies around planet Earth through a compilation of stunning timelapse
sequences. The presentation will take you to sites in the United States, Germany,
Russia, Iran, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and China. You might even catch the view
from a small
island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. But remember
that while
you're home tonight, the night sky will come to
you. Look up and celebrate the night during this International Dark Sky Week.Video Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN, IDA), Music: Peter Jeremias
The Kepler-90 Planetary System
Illustration Credit: NASA Ames, Wendy Stenzel
Explanation: Do other stars have planetary systems like
our own? Yes -- one such system is Kepler-90.
Cataloged by the Kepler
satellite that operated from Earth orbit between 2009 and
2018, eight
planets were discovered, giving Kepler-90 the same number of
known planets as our Solar
System. Similarities between Kepler-90 and our system include
a G-type
star comparable to our Sun, rocky planets comparable to our
Earth, and large planets comparable in size to Jupiter and Saturn.
Differences include that all of the known Kepler-90 planets
orbit relatively close in -- closer than Earth's orbit around the Sun -- making
them possibly too hot to harbor life.
However, observations over longer time periods may discover cooler
planets farther out. Kepler-90 lies
about 2,500 light years away, and at magnitude 14 is visible with a
medium-sized telescope toward the constellation of the Dragon (Draco).
The exoplanet-finding
mission TESS was
launched in 2018, while missions with exoplanet finding capability planned for
launch in the next decade include NASA's JWST and WFIRST.Illustration Credit: NASA Ames, Wendy Stenzel
Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn's Enceladus
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team
Explanation: How will humanity first learn of
extraterrestrial life? One possibility is to find it under the icy
surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
A reason to think that life may exist there are long features -- dubbed tiger
stripes -- that are known to be spewing ice from
the moon's icy interior into space. These surface cracks create clouds of fine
ice particles over the moon's South Pole and create Saturn's
mysterious E-ring.
Evidence for this has come from the robot
Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from
2004 to 2017. Pictured
here, a high resolution image of Enceladus is
shown from a close flyby. The unusual surface tiger stripes
are shown in false-color blue. Why Enceladus is
active remains a mystery, as the neighboring moon Mimas,
approximately the same size, appears quite
dead. A recent
analysis of ejected ice grains has
yielded evidence that complex organic molecules exist inside Enceladus. These
large carbon-rich molecules
bolster -- but do not prove -- that oceans under Enceladus'
surface could contain
life. Another Solar
System moon that might contain underground
life is Europa.Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team
Edwin Hubble Discovers the Universe
Image Credit & Copyright: Courtesy Carnegie Institution for Science
Explanation: How big is our universe? This very question, among
others, was debated by two leading astronomers 100 years ago today
in what has become known as astronomy's Great
Debate. Many astronomers then believed that our Milky
Way Galaxy was the entire universe. Many others, though,
believed that our galaxy was just one of many.
In the Great
Debate, each argument was detailed, but no consensus was reached.
The answer came over three years later with the detected variation of single
spot in the Andromeda
Nebula, as shown on the original glass
discovery plate digitally reproduced here. When Edwin Hubble compared
images, he noticed that this spot varied,
and so wrote "VAR!" on the plate. The best explanation, Hubble knew,
was that this spot was the image
of a variable star that was very far away. So M31 was really
the Andromeda Galaxy --
a galaxy possibly similar to our own. The featured image may
not be pretty, but the variable spot on it opened a door through
which humanity gazed knowingly, for the first time, into a surprisingly vast
cosmos.Image Credit & Copyright: Courtesy Carnegie Institution for Science
Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth
Model Visualization Credit: NASA Earth Observatory, GEOS FP, Joshua Stevens
Explanation: It
was just another day on aerosol Earth. For August 23, 2018, the
identification and distribution of aerosols in
the Earth's atmosphere is shown in this dramatic, planet-wide digital
visualization. Produced in real time, the Goddard Earth Observing System
Forward Processing (GEOS
FP) model relies on a combination of Earth-observing satellite
and ground-based data to calculate the presence of types of aerosols, tiny
solid particles and liquid droplets, as they circulate above the entire planet.
This August 23rd model shows black carbon particles in red from combustion
processes, like smoke from the fires in the United States and Canada, spreading
across large stretches of North America and Africa. Sea salt aerosols are in
blue, swirling above threatening typhoons near South Korea and Japan, and the
hurricane looming near Hawaii. Dust shown in purple hues is blowing over
African and Asian deserts. The location of cities and towns can be found from
the concentrations of lights based on satellite image data of the Earth at night.Model Visualization Credit: NASA Earth Observatory, GEOS FP, Joshua Stevens
Country Sky versus City Sky
Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky; Text: Matipon Tangmatitham (NARIT)
Explanation: Dark skies are disappearing from
the world. With modernization comes artificial lighting that
brightens the night. While these lights allow modern humans
to see, much light is wasted
up into the sky. This light pollution not
only wastes
energy, but, when reflected by the Earth's atmosphere back down,
creates a nighttime brightness that disrupts
wildlife and harms
human health, while doing very little to prevent
crime. Light pollution is also making a dark night sky a scarcity for
new generations. While there is little that can be done in large cities, rural
country areas could benefit from lighting that
is fully shielded from exposing the night sky where
it is not needed. The featured panorama contains 6 adjacent vertical segments
taken from different locations across Slovakia --
but with the same equipment and at the same time of night, and then subjected
to the same digital
post-processing. Although no stars are visible on the left-most city
sky, the right-most country sky is magnificently dark.
You can help protect the wonders of your night sky by favoring, when
possible, dark
sky friendly lighting.Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky; Text: Matipon Tangmatitham (NARIT)
Astronomy
News:
An ancient river on Mars may have flowed for 100,000 years
SPACE 5 May 2020
This Martian cliff may have been cut by hundreds
of thousands of years of water flowing over it
Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University
We know from images of Mars’s surface that the planet once had
plenty of flowing water, but now we’ve found the first evidence of a river that
was there for more than 100,000 years.
Francesco Salese at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and his
colleagues discovered a high rocky cliff in the north-western rim of Mars’s
Hellas basin that seems to have been formed gradually by the flow
of an ancient river.
As rivers moves, they deposit sediment that builds up in layers.
The rocky outcrop is 200 metres high – about twice the height of the White
Cliffs of Dover – and 1.5 kilometres wide. The sedimentary rocks of the cliff
are an estimated 3.7 billion years old. For something of this size to form, it
would have required a river that was active for at least 100,000 Earth years.
The team found the outcrop using satellite data from the HiRISE
camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which captures imagery
of Mars at
a resolution of 25 centimetres per pixel.
Read more: Mars rocks may have drunk up all the water and doomed life there
Satellite pictures of Mars are usually limited to the bird’s eye
view, so we only get a snapshot of the top layer of sediment, says Salese.
“We were lucky because this cliff was exposed in the right way,”
he says. That allowed the team to analyse the underlying rock layers. The
researchers then developed 3D-reconstructions of the area.
“To form these 200-metre-thick deposits we needed conditions that
would have required an environment capable of maintaining significant volumes
of liquid water,” says Salese. That means the water would have flowed year
round, which suggests that Mars once had a water cycle driven by
precipitation, similar to that of Earth.
The Hellas basin, in the southern hemisphere of Mars, once hosted
a large lake and a network of rivers and deltas. “These geological areas
are crucial in our search for evidence of ancient life on Mars,” says Salese.
The NASA Perseverance rover, which is due to fly to Mars in July
or August, will investigate similar kinds of rock deposits in other areas of
the planet, he adds.
Journal reference: Nature
Communications, DOI:
10.1038/s41467-020-15622-0
[Following are from https://www.space.com/36316-the-most-amazing-space-stories-of-the-week.html]
Curiosity threatened by
NASA budget cuts
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
The Curiosity rover landed on Mars in 2012 to worldwide acclaim,
flawlessly sticking the landing after "seven minutes of terror."
Shortly afterwards, it found evidence of ancient water on Mars – and the
discoveries keep on coming. The rover, however, is facing an early end to its
prolific scientific return. Budget cuts at NASA could stop the rover in its
tracks just as the agency is gearing up to launch a successor, Perseverance.
Some long-running Martian orbiters are also under threat.
Asteroids zip safely past
Earth
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Two asteroids made safe flybys of Earth this week. Asteroid 2020
HS7, which was newly discovered, made a close pass-by on Tuesday (April 28)
while a second one zoomed by a day later on Wednesday (April 29). NASA and a
network of telescopes regularly scan the sky for new discoveries and they say
these kinds of flybys are common. No imminent large threat to Earth has been
found.
Mars helicopter renamed
Ingenuity
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NIA/Rupani Family)
The Mars helicopter that will accompany the Perseverance rover
to the Red Planet now has a name, Ingenuity. An Alabama teen named the flying
vehicle, making the final cut after a nationwide call for names. The goal of
Perseverance is to look for potential ancient habitability on Mars, while the
helicopter – which is a testing mission – will scout the pathway of
Perseverance from the air.
NASA books three private
companies for human moon landers
(I
mage credit: NASA)
Three companies are in their final push to prove to NASA they
have the chops to land people on the moon: SpaceX, Dynetics and a Blue-Origin
led team. These are big names in the space industry and building from their
diverse experience, they all have different ideas about how to bring humans
safely to the surface. NASA wants to put the first landers (with humans) on the
moon by 2024.
Why Russia's anti-satellite
tech doesn't really concern experts
(Image credit: Roscosmos)
Blowing satellites out of orbit is a dangerous endeavor, not
only because of the space debris, but also because such activities could
disrupt vital communications or weather forecasting for a particular country.
That's why there was a little international concern after Russia recently
performed an anti-satellite test, but experts say the real utility of the tech
Russia used is not really proven.
NASA wants Apollo-style
"buzz" for Artemis moon program
It's been 50 years since astronauts landed on the moon during
the Apollo program, and to this day it still inspires people to enter the space
industry. NASA hopes to do the same with the forthcoming Artemis program that
aims to put boots on the moon again by 2024. The agency outlined its approach
to raise inspiration around Artemis at a troubled time internationally, when
much of the world is in lockdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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 2020 Astronomy Lecture Series Season
In order to limit exposure to COVID-19 in our community, the March 23,
April 13, and May 18 lectures have been postponed. We are working with The
Huntington to reschedule these programs and will post updated information here
when it becomes available.
Monday evenings:
April 13 and May 18.
AT
THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, ART COLLECTIONS, AND BOTANICAL GARDENS
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino
2020 Season
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, May 18, 2020
Hubble's Troublesome Constant
Dr. Chris Burns
Research Associate, Carnegie Observatories
Dr. Chris Burns
Research Associate, Carnegie Observatories
Nearly 100 years ago,
Carnegie astronomer Edwin Hubble made two truly revolutionary discoveries.
First, that our Milky Way was only one of many galaxies in a vast universe; and
second, that the farther these galaxies were from us, the faster they appeared
to be moving away. The ratio between these speeds and distances, which we now
call the Hubble Constant, is a fundamental quantity that sets the scale for the
size and age of the entire cosmos. For decades, its precise value has been a
source of contention among astronomers. Even today, with the most powerful
telescopes at our disposal, tension between different groups remains. Dr. Burns
will cover the history of Hubble’s troublesome Constant and how we are trying
to pin it down.
Tickets will be available
starting April 14th at Eventbrite.
Can't make it to the
event? Watch it live online.
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AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
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TBD -- Great Courses video?
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Skype
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May
8 cancelled
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Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS Monthly General Meeting
in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw
Bl. In Torrance)
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In accordance with CDC guidelines, SBAS has decided to not
have the monthly [April] meeting at the El Camino College planetarium. The next
SBAS meeting will be held on May 1st if the current restrictions have been
lifted by then.
After our successful live-stream
last week, we will host another virtual public lecture and Q&A panel next
Friday, April 10 at 7PM PDT on YouTube Live! If you have any burning questions
about astronomy or space for our panel, respond with them here! https://bit.ly/2Tz0zEB
CalTech Astro: Astronomy
on Tap Series
For directions, weather updates, and more information,
please visit: http://outreach.astro.caltech.edu
May 7
The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2020
Becoming
a NASA Engineer
What does it take to become a NASA
Engineer? In a sit-down with Tracy Drain, JPL Systems Engineer, we’ll follow
her road to her dream job. Using past and future missions as examples, we’ll
find out that the path is more cyclical than you think and discover why you
should always take your own notes. This webcast show will be conducted via
video conference, with speakers joining remotely from home. Watch live via
YouTube and submit your questions via the chat.
Host:
Brian White
Brian White
Speaker(s):
Tracy Drain, Systems Engineer, JPL
Time: 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT; 0200 UTC)
Tracy Drain, Systems Engineer, JPL
Time: 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT; 0200 UTC)
Location(s):
View online here: https://www.youtube.com/nasajpl/
View online here: https://www.youtube.com/nasajpl/
Webcast:
For
educational content related to this talk, explore these videos and activities
for kids, plus resources for teachers from JPL Education:
› Explore Engineering – Activities for Kids
› Explore Engineering – Lessons for Educators
› Explore at Home – Learning Space
› NGSS Engineering in the Classroom Tool for Educators
› Meet JPL Interns blog
› Explore Engineering – Activities for Kids
› Explore Engineering – Lessons for Educators
› Explore at Home – Learning Space
› NGSS Engineering in the Classroom Tool for Educators
› Meet JPL Interns blog
* Only the Thursday lectures are streamed live.
11 May cancelled
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LAAS General Mtg. 7:30pm Griffith Observatory
(private)
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May cancelled
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UCLA Meteorite Gallery
[no events currently scheduled]
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4 June
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AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
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TBD
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(Skype or
A1/1735)
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Observing:
The
following data are from the 2020 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s
2020 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 May:
Moon: May 7 Full, May 14 last
quarter, May 22 new, May 30 1st quarter
Planets:
Venus
high at dusk, sets in late evening. Mars, Saturn & Jupiter reasonably high by dawn. Mercury
becomes visible min-month, setting just before Venus.
Other
Events:
5 May Eta Aquarids
Meteor Shower Peak Unlike most major annual meteor showers, there is no sharp
peak for this shower, but rather a broad maximum with good rates that last
approximately one week centered on May 5. The meteors we currently see as
members of the Eta Aquariid shower separated from Halley's Comet hundreds of
years ago. Under dark skies, one can see a ZHR of 55.
May
Cancelled
|
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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12 May – Jupiter 2
deg N. of Moon
16 May?
|
SBAS In-town
observing session – 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. http://www.sbastro.net/. Only if we get
permission to use the school grounds again and CDC guidelines are reduced
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22 May – Mercury 0.9 deg S. of Venus
23 May
|
LAAS Private dark
sky Star Party
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24 May – Venus
4 deg N. of Moon, Mercury 3 deg N. of Moon
?
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SBAS
out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Greg Benecke to coordinate a
location. http://www.sbastro.net/.
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30 May cancelled
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LAAS Public
Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm See http://www.griffithobservatory.org/programs/publictelescopes.html#starparties for more information.
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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, Kelly Gov club Secretary (& librarian), or Alan Olson, Resource Committee Chairman (over equipment, and club Treasurer).
Mark Clayson,
AEA Astronomy Club President
