2020 May

AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter May 2020

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

Useful Links p. 18
About the Club p. 19

Club News & Calendar.

Club Calendar

Club Meeting Schedule: --

7 May	AEA Astronomy Club Meeting	TBD -- Great Courses video?	Skype
4 June	AEA Astronomy Club Meeting	TBD	(Skype or A1/1735)

AEA Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1^st  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: 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Astronomy News:

An ancient river on Mars may have flowed for 100,000 years

SPACE 5 May 2020

By Donna Lu

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

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2242630-an-ancient-river-on-mars-may-have-flowed-for-100000-years/#ixzz6Lipmkw5h

[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.

Full story: NASA budget cuts at Mars threaten 'crisis' for Curiosity rover and prolific orbiters

·         With coronavirus spreading, NASA may tweak astronaut prelaunch quarantine plans

·         Coronavirus outbreak prompts ESA to impose travel restrictions

·         How would NASA handle an astronaut disease outbreak?

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.

Full story: Small asteroid zips safely by Earth just ahead of a larger space rock's flyby

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.

Full story: Meet Ingenuity: Alabama team names NASA's pioneering Mars Helicopter

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.

Full story: NASA wants private moon landers from 3 companies. Here's how they'll work.

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.

Full story: Don't panic about Russia's recent anti-satellite test, experts say

NASA wants Apollo-style "buzz" for Artemis moon program

Advertisement

(Image credit: NASA)

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.

Full story: Beacon of hope? NASA sees inspiration parallels between Apollo and Artemis moonshots

 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 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

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.

	7 May AEA TBD (A1/1735)			AEA Astronomy Club Meeting	TBD -- Great Courses video?	Skype
May 8 cancelled			Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS  Monthly General Meeting in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)

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

Speaker(s):
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/

Webcast:

› Click here for the YouTube playlist of past shows

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

* Only the Thursday lectures are streamed live.

11 May cancelled

LAAS General Mtg. 7:30pm Griffith Observatory (private)

May cancelled

UCLA Meteorite Gallery [no events currently scheduled]

4 June

AEA Astronomy Club Meeting

TBD

(Skype or A1/1735)

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 1^st 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

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

22 May – Mercury 0.9 deg S. of Venus

23 May

LAAS Private dark sky  Star Party

24 May – Venus 4 deg N. of Moon, Mercury 3 deg N. of Moon

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

30 May  cancelled

LAAS Public  Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm See http://www.griffithobservatory.org/programs/publictelescopes.html#starparties  for more information.

Internet Links:

Telescope, Binocular & Accessory Buying Guides

Sky & Telescope Magazine -- Choosing Your Equipment

Orion Telescopes & Binoculars -- Buying Guides

Telescopes.com -- Telescopes 101

General

Getting Started in Astronomy & Observing

The Astronomical League

 e! Science News Astronomy & Space

NASA Gallery

Astronomical Society of the Pacific (educational, amateur & professional)

Amateur Online Tools, Journals, Vendors, Societies, Databases

The Astronomy White Pages (U.S. & International Amateur Clubs & Societies)

American Astronomical Society (professional)

More...

Regional (Southern California, Washington, D.C. & Colorado)

Southern California & Beyond Amateur Astronomy Organizations, Observatories & Planetaria

Mt. Wilson Observatory description, history, visiting

Los Angeles Astronomical Society (LAAS)

South Bay Astronomical Society (SBAS)

Orange County Astronomers

The Local Group Astronomy Club (Santa Clarita)

Ventura County Astronomical Society

The Astronomical Society of Greenbelt

National Capital Astronomers

Northern Virginia Astronomy Club

Colorado Springs Astronomical Society

Denver Astronomical Society

About the Club

Club Websites:  Internal (Aerospace): https://aeropedia.aero.org/aeropedia/index.php/Astronomy_Club  It is updated to reflect this newsletter, in addition to a listing of past club mtg. presentations, astronomy news, photos & events from prior newsletters, club equipment, membership & constitution.  We have linked some presentation materials from past mtgs.  Our club newsletters are also being posted to an external blog, “An Astronomical View” http://astronomicalview.blogspot.com/. 

 
Membership.  For information, current dues & application, contact Alan Olson, or see the club website (or Aerolink folder) where a form is also available (go to the membership link/folder & look at the bottom).  Benefits will include use of club telescope(s) & library/software, membership in The Astronomical League, discounts on Sky & Telescope magazine and Observer’s Handbook, field trips, great programs, having a say in club activities, acquisitions & elections, etc.

Committee Suggestions & Volunteers.  Feel free to contact:  Mark Clayson, President & Program Committee Chairman, 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