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)

Thursday, July 16, 2020

2020 July



AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter July 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. 11
    Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 11
    Observing p. 13
Useful Links p. 16
About the Club p. 17Club News & Calendar. 
Club Calendar

Club Meeting Schedule: --




2 July
AEA
TBD 
(A1/1735)
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
“The Structure of the Milky Way Galaxy”
Skype or A1/1735?

6 Aug
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
 TBD -- Great Courses video
(Skype)

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 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. We may know later in July whether it is likely that the observing night will be held in the COVID-19 shutdown.  $100 per person will be required at that time (the rest is subsidized by the club budget).  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:  APOD is 25 Years Old Today  https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200616.html
Video Credits: Idea & Lead: Alex Dantart (observatorio.info), Coordinators: Josef Chlachula (astro.cz/apod) & Alice Allen (ASCL);
& APOD's Tireless Volunteer Army of Translators and Social Media Digerati; Music: unminus.com: They Say, Sad Circus, Naya, Please Wait, Good God
Explanation: Welcome to the quadranscentennial year of the Astronomy Picture of the Day. Perhaps a source of consistency for some, APOD is still here. To help celebrate APOD's Silver Anniversary, some of APOD's TVAoTaSMD have recorded a birthday greeting and thanks to APOD's readership in today's featured video. Many have also highlighted a few of their favorite APOD images. In collaboration with NASA through APOD, these and other volunteers help to inform the world, in most major world languages and over most major media platforms, of NASA and humanity's growing knowledge, active exploration, and inspiring visualizations of the amazing astronomical universe in which we live. APOD's founders (still alive!) would also like to offer a sincere thank you -- not only to our TVAoTaSMD -- but to APOD's readership for continued interest, support, and many gracious communications over the years.
VIDEO:  A Ring of Fire Sunrise Solar Eclipse https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200615.html
Video Credit: Colin Legg & Geoff Sims; Music: Peter Nanasi
Explanation: What's rising above the horizon behind those clouds? It's the Sun. Most sunrises don't look like this, though, because most sunrises don't include the Moon. In the early morning of 2013 May 10, however, from Western Australia, the Moon was between the Earth and the rising Sun. At times, it would be hard for the uninformed to understand what was happening. In an annular eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block the entire Sun, and at most leaves a ring of fire where sunlight pours out around every edge of the Moon. The featured time-lapse video also recorded the eclipse through the high refraction of the Earth's atmosphere just above the horizon, making the unusual rising Sun and Moon appear also flattened. As the video continues on, the Sun continues to rise, and the Sun and Moon begin to separate. This weekend, a new annular solar eclipse will occur, visible from central Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and a narrow band across Asia, with much of Earth's Eastern hemisphere being able to see a partial solar eclipse.
VIDEO:  The Dance of Venus and Earth  https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200603.html
Video & Text Credit: James O'Donoghue (JAXA); Data: NASA, HORIZONS; h/t: Josef Chlachula
Explanation: Every time Venus passes the Earth, it shows the same face. This remarkable fact has been known for only about 50 years, ever since radio telescopes have been able to peer beneath Venus' thick clouds and track its slowly rotating surface. This inferior conjunction -- when Venus and Earth are the closest -- occurs today. The featured animation shows the positions of the Sun, Venus and Earth between 2010-2023 based on NASA-downloaded data, while a mock yellow 'arm' has been fixed to the ground on Venus to indicate rotation. The reason for this unusual 1.6-year resonance is the gravitational influence that Earth has on Venus, which surprisingly dominates the Sun's tidal effect. If Venus could be seen through the Sun's glare today, it would show just a very slight sliver of a crescent. Although previously visible in the evening sky, starting tomorrow, Venus will appear in the morning sky -- on the other side of the Sun as viewed from Earth.


Dragon over Central Park
Image Credit & Copyright: Stan Honda
Explanation: Still bathed in sunlight the International Space Station (ISS) arced through this Manhattan evening sky on May 30. Moving left to right, its bright trail was captured in this composite image with a series of 5 second long exposures. Stars left short trails and lights were reflected in still waters looking toward the north across the Central Park reservoir. Chasing the ISS in low Earth orbit the Crew Dragon spacecraft dubbed Endeavour also left a trail through that urban night. Seen about 6 hours after its launch the spacecraft's faint trail appears above the ISS, shown in the inset just as the two approached the bank of clouds at the right. Dragon Endeavour docked successfully with the ISS about nineteen hours after reaching orbit.



Eclipse under the ISS
Image Credit: NASA ISS Expedition 63
Explanation: The dark shadow of the New Moon reached out and touched planet Earth on June 21. A high definition camera outside the International Space Station captured its passing in this snapshot from low Earth orbit near the border of Kazakhstan and China. Of course those along the Moon's central shadow track below could watch the much anticipated annular eclipse of the Sun. In the foreground a cargo spacecraft is docked with the orbital outpost. It's the H-II Transfer Vehicle-9 from JAXA the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Eclipse under the Bamboo
Image Credit & Copyright: Somak Raychaudhury (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics)
Explanation: Want to watch a solar eclipse safely? Try looking down instead of up, though you might discover you have a plethora of images to choose from. For example, during the June 21st solar eclipse this confusing display appeared under a shady bamboo grove in Pune, India. Small gaps between close knit leaves on the tall plants effectively created a network of randomly placed pinholes. Each one projected a separate image of the eclipsed Sun. The snapshot was taken close to the time of maximum eclipse in Pune when the Moon covered about 60 percent of the Sun's diameter. But an annular eclipse, the Moon in silhouette completely surrounded by a bright solar disk at maximum, could be seen along a narrow path where the Moon's dark shadow crossed central Africa, south Asia, and China.

Eclipse Street, Hong Kong
Image Credit & Copyright: Gary Chan
Explanation: On June 21 an annular solar eclipse came soon after the solstice and our fair planet's northernmost sunset for 2020. At maximum eclipse, the New Moon in silhouette created a ring of fire visible along a narrow path at most 85 kilometers wide. The annular eclipse path began in central Africa, crossed south Asia and China, and ended over the Pacific Ocean. But a partial eclipse of the Sun was visible over a much broader region. In Hong Kong, this busy section of Jordan Street looks to the northwest, well-aligned with the track of the near solstice afternoon Sun. The street level view was composited with an eclipse sequence made with a safe solar filter on the camera. For that location the eclipse was partial. The Moon covered about 90 percent of the Sun's diameter at maximum, seen near the middle of the eclipse sequence.


The X-Ray Sky from eROSITA
Image Credit & Copyright: J. Sanders, H. Brunner, A. Merloni & eSASS Team (MPE); E. Churazov, M. Gilfanov, R. Sunyaev (IKI)
Explanation: What if you could see X-rays? The night sky would seem a strange and unfamiliar place. X-rays are about 1,000 times more energetic than visible light photons and are produced by violent explosions and high temperature astronomical environments. Instead of the familiar steady stars, the sky would seem to be filled with exotic stars, active galaxies, and hot supernova remnants. The featured X-ray image captures in unprecedented detail the entire sky in X-rays as seen by the eROSITA telescope onboard Spektr-RG satellite, orbiting around the L2 point of the Sun-Earth system, launched last year. The image shows the plane of our Milky Way galaxy across the center, a diffuse and pervasive X-ray background, the hot interstellar bubble known as the North Polar Spur, sizzling supernova remnants such as Vela, the Cygnus Loop and Cas A, energetic binary stars including Cyg X-1 and Cyg X-2, the LMC galaxy, and the Coma, Virgo, and Fornax clusters of galaxies. This first sky scan by eROSITA located over one million X-ray sources, some of which are not understood and will surely be topics for future research.


Magnetic Streamlines of the Milky Way
Image Credit: ESA, Planck; Text: Joan Schmelz (USRA)
Explanation: What role do magnetic fields play in interstellar physics? Analyses of observations by ESA's Planck satellite of emission by small magnetically-aligned dust grains reveal previously unknown magnetic field structures in our Milky Way Galaxy -- as shown by the curvy lines in the featured full-sky image. The dark red shows the plane of the Milky Way, where the concentration of dust is the highest. The huge arches above the plane are likely remnants of past explosive events from our Galaxy's core, conceptually similar to magnetic loop-like structures seen in our Sun's atmosphere. The curvy streamlines align with interstellar filaments of neutral hydrogen gas and provide tantalizing evidence that magnetic fields may supplement gravity in not only in shaping the interstellar medium, but in forming stars. How magnetism affected our Galaxy's evolution will likely remain a topic of research for years to come.


Astronomy News:

Astronomers confirm existence of two giant, newborn planets in PDS 70 system

Researchers capture birth of two planets orbiting the star PDS 70

A direct image of PDS 70 protoplanets B and C, with the circumstellar disk removed.
May 20, 2020
New evidence confirms that first-ever pictures do capture the birth of a pair of planets orbiting the star PDS 70.
Using a new infrared pyramid wavefront sensor for adaptive optics correction at the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, a Caltech team of astronomers applied a new method of taking photos of the baby planets, or protoplanets, and confirmed their existence. The National Science Foundation supported the work through a Major Research Instrumentation award to significantly upgrade the adaptive optics system on the 10-meter Keck II telescope.
The team's results are published in The Astronomical Journal.
PDS 70 is the first known multiplanetary system where astronomers can witness planet formation in action. The first direct image of one of its planets, PDS 70b, was taken in 2018, followed by multiple images taken at different wavelengths of its sibling, PDS 70c, in 2019. Both Jupiter-like protoplanets were discovered by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope.
"There was some confusion when the two protoplanets were first imaged," said Jason Wang, lead author of the study. "Planet embryos form from a disk of dust and gas surrounding a newborn star. This circumstellar material accretes onto the protoplanet, creating a kind of smokescreen that makes it difficult to differentiate the dusty, gaseous disk from the developing planet in an image."
To help provide clarity, the team developed a method to disentangle the image signals from the circumstellar disk and the protoplanets.
"We know the disk's shape should be a symmetrical ring around the star whereas a planet should be a single point in the image," said Wang. "So even if a planet appears to sit on top of the disk, which is the case with PDS 70c, based on our knowledge of how the disk looks throughout the whole image, we can infer how bright the disk should be at the location of the protoplanet and remove the disk signal. All that's left over is the planet's emission."
This project benefited from the innovative infrared sensor that measures distortions in light caused by the Earth’s atmosphere.
"New technology is a science multiplier," says Peter Kurczynski, a program director in NSF's Division of Astronomy. "It enables investigations that were never before possible."
--  NSF Public Affairs, researchnews@nsf.gov

How Newborn Stars Prepare for the Birth of Planets

Telescopes' exquisite resolution and sensitivity enable observation of planet-forming disks

Image of the Orion Molecular Clouds, identifying observations by ALMA (blue) and the VLA (orange).
February 26, 2020
An international team of astronomers used two of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world to create more than three hundred images of planet-forming disks around very young stars in the Orion Clouds. These images reveal new details about the birthplaces of planets and the earliest stages of star formation.
Astronomers want to know exactly when disks start to form and what they look like. But young stars are very faint, and there are dense clouds of dust and gas surrounding them in stellar nurseries. Only highly sensitive radio telescope arrays can spot the tiny disks around these infant stars amid the densely packed material in these clouds.
For this new research, astronomers pointed both the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to a region in space where many stars are born: the Orion Molecular Clouds. This survey, called VLA/ALMA Nascent Disk and Multiplicity, is the largest survey of young stars and their disks to date.
Many aspects about the first stages of star formation, and how the disk forms, are still unclear. But this new survey provides some missing clues as the VLA and ALMA peered through the dense clouds and observed hundreds of protostars and their disks in various stages of their formation.
The exquisite resolution and sensitivity provided by both ALMA and the VLA were crucial to understand both the outer and inner regions of protostars and their disks. While ALMA can examine the dense dusty material around protostars in great detail, the images from the VLA made at longer wavelengths were essential to understand the inner structures of the youngest protostars at scales smaller than our solar system.
"The combined use of ALMA and the VLA has given us the best of both worlds," said John Tobin of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. "Thanks to these telescopes, we start to understand how planet formation begins."
The research was presented in two papers in The Astrophysical Journal.
--  NSF Public Affairs, researchnews@nsf.gov


 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/ 

2 July
AEA
TBD
(A1/1735)
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
Great Courses video “The Structure of the Milky Way Galaxy”
Teams



Cancelled   for now

Friday Night 7:30PM SBAS  Monthly General Meeting
in the Planetarium at El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)




July 9 The von Kármán Lecture Series: 2020


A Day in the Life of the Deep Space Network

Following a day in the life of the Deep Space Network; the coder to the scientist to the ACE to the spacecraft and back again. We’ll explore the different aspects of what actually goes into the difficult Tetris game that is Deep Space Communications and what’s coming next.
This webcast show will be conducted via video conference, with speakers joining remotely from home. Watch live via YouTube and Facebook and submit your questions via the chat.
Host:
Brian White
Co-Host:
Heather Doyle
Manager, Solar System Public Engagement and Networks, JPL
Time: 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT; 0200 UTC)
Speaker(s):
Joseph Lazio
Chief Scientist, Interplanetary Network Directorate Jet Propulsion Laboratory
* Only the Thursday lectures are streamed live. Past shows are archived on YouTube.


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



NO JULY EVENT  

UCLA METEORITE GALLERY



6 August
AEA Astronomy Club Meeting
 TBD
(Teams)
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 July:

   

Moon: July 5 Full, July 12 last quarter, July 20 new, July 27 1st quarter                
Planets: Venus is a brilliant morning star all month.  Mars is a brightening, predawn object throughout July. Saturn & Jupiter rise in the evening and transit about 1 a.m. local DST.  Mercury visible at dawn starting on the 17th.
Other Events:


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

5 July Jupiter 1.9deg N of Moon
6 July Saturn 2deg N of Moon

11 July?
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


10 July Venus greatest illuminated extent
11 July Mars 2.0deg N of Moon
14 July Jupiter at opposition

15-23 July Comet Neowise visible:  For those hoping to catch a glimpse of  Comet NEOWISE before it’s gone, there are several observing opportunities over the coming days when it will become increasingly visible shortly after sunset in the northwest sky. If you’re looking at the sky without the help of observation tools, Comet NEOWISE will likely look like a fuzzy star with a bit of a tail, so using binoculars or a small telescope is recommended to get the best views of this object. 
For those hoping to see Comet Neowise for themselves, here’s what to do: 
·         Find a spot away from city lights with an unobstructed view of the sky
·         Just after sunset, look below the Big Dipper in the northwest sky
·         If you have them, bring binoculars or a small telescope to get the best views of this dazzling display
Each night, the comet will continue rising increasingly higher above the northwestern horizon as illustrated in the below graphic:

Cancelled
LAAS Private dark sky  Star Party

17 July Venus 3deg S of Moon

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

22 July Mercury at greatest elongation W (20deg)

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


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, 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

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