AEA Astronomy Club
Newsletter
January 2023
Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 11
General Calendar p. 11
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 11
Observing p. 13
Useful Links p. 15
About the Club p. 16
Club News &
Calendar.
Club Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
--
5 Jan AEA Astronomy Club Meeting TBD – Great Courses video Teams
2 Feb AEA Astronomy Club Meeting TBD – Great Courses video Teams
AEA
Astronomy Club meetings are now on 1st Thursdays at 11:30 am. Virtual meetings on Teams until further
notice. When live meetings resume, our
preferred room has been A1/1735, when we can reserve it.
Club
News:
We have a new treasurer –
And a new Astronomical League
rep (“ALCOR”) – Kelly Gov.
Nominations for club V.P. being taken.
2024
Eclipse -- An update from the
2024 solar eclipse committee (Mark Clayson, Mai Lee, Melissa Jolliff, Nahum
Melamed, Judy Kerner, Marilee Wheaton):
The 2 Kerrville (on
centerline, 1 hour from San Antonio) hotels that previously said they might
accommodate us (50 rooms for about 100 people anticipated) between them – Days
Inn & Hampton Inn – have now said they won’t take reservations until 6-9
months ahead. And they’ve had some 60
requests. That sounds very iffy.
2 options in Boerne,
halfway between Kerrville & San Antonio.
We did have a very positive response from the Bevy Hotel in Boerne. Normally
they don't take reservations more than a year out, but they could do a contract
earlier at current rates (either a mix of room types of our choosing, or
theirs). If 50% of the contracted rooms
are not reserved by individuals in the group 1 month before the reserved date,
we would be liable to pay the gap (rooms below the 50% not reserved). I.e., we could reserve 50 rooms (for about
100 people) safely if we have firm commitments for 25 and have no group
liability. After 1 month out, any rooms
not reserved are put back on the open market. Their conference room accommodates 100+.
The Fairfield Inn
& Suites in Boerne probably couldn't book 50, but could divide w. another
of their other properties, e.g Springhill Suites nearer San Antonio. Might have at least 2 price tiers. Their conference room accommodates only 45,
but we could book Burdick community Ctr or Bevy hotel’s conf. rm.
Typical group
contracts allow individual group members to make their individual reservations
and deposits directly with the hotel.
And deposits may not be required until month(s) before the stay. Still checking other options just in case –
some say they’ll require 3 or 4 day minimum stay – we’ve been saying most of us
will likely want 2 days (day before and of the eclipse).
We have also made
tentative arrangements for an observing site at a local church in Kerrville 3
miles from the 2 Kerrville hotels mentioned above. With adequate parking & restrooms. I believe they’ll also let us have our
pre-eclipse mtg. there the night before.
As courtesy, we’ll invite members of their congregation to join us.
Contact Jason Fields if interested in joining him for an observing
night with his 20” Dobs – per recent emails.
We need volunteers to help with:
·
Serving
as club Astronomical League representative
·
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, Sam has a fair chunk of the equipment)
Astronomy Video(s)
& Picture(s) of the Month
(generally from
Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html)
VIDEO:
Video: Powers of Ten https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221204.html
Video Credit & Copyright: Charles & Ray
Eames (Eames
Office)
Explanation: How different does the universe look on very small scales?
On very large scales? The most famous short science film of its generation
gives breathtaking comparisons. That film, Powers of Ten, originally created in the 1960s, has been officially
posted to YouTube and embedded here. From a picnic blanket near Chicago out past the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, every ten seconds the film zooms out to show a square
a factor
of ten times larger on each
side. The 9-minute video then reverses, zooming back in a factor of ten every
two seconds and ends up inside
a single proton. The Powers of
Ten sequence is actually based on the book Cosmic View by Kees Boeke in 1957, as is a similar but mostly animated
film Cosmic Zoom that was also created in the late 1960s. The changing
perspectives are so enthralling and educational that sections have been recreated using more modern computerized techniques, including the first few
minutes of the movie Contact. Ray and husband
Charles Eames, the film's
creators, were known as quite visionary spirits and even invented their own popular
chair.
Here is my first attempt at processing this event.
Technical details:
Camera: ZWO ASI585MC (3840x2160 array, 2.9 micron pixels),
Telescope: Celestron Edge800,
Accessory: 2X Powermate, yeilding over 4m focal length.
Image/Processing details: Single frame from video capture at 10
fps. Sharpened and processed in Pixinsight using Debayer, RGBWorking
space, MultiscaleLinearTransform (think wavelets) for sharpening, TGVDenoise
for reducing noise.
I also took timelapse of Mars approaching, tracking across the moon surface,
then Mars departure. Higher resolution video for ingress and
egress. Very good polar alignment kept Mars very close to center frame 1
hour later for capture during egress.
When I have time, I will pull together a video and other sharpened individual
frames.
Enjoy,
Jay Landis
Full Moon, Full Mars
Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas
Slovinsky
Explanation: On
December 8 a full Moon and a
full Mars were close, both bright and opposite the Sun in planet Earth's
sky. In fact Mars was occulted, passing behind the Moon when
viewed from some locations across Europe and North America. Seen from the city
of Kosice in eastern Slovakia, the lunar occultation of Mars happened just
before sunrise. The
tantalizing spectacle was
recorded in this telescopic timelapse sequence of exposures. It took about an
hour for the Red Planet to disappear behind the lunar disk and then reappear as a warm-hued full Moon, the last full Moon of 2022, sank toward the western
horizon. The next lunar occultation of bright planet Mars will be in the new
year on January 3, when the Moon is in a waxing gibbous phase. Lunar
occultations are only ever
visible from a fraction of the Earth's surface, though. The January 3
occultation of Mars will be
visible from parts of the South Atlantic, southern Africa, and the Indian
Ocean.
Sun Halo at Sixty-three Degrees North
Image Credit & Copyright: Goran
Strand
Explanation: Happy Solstice! Today is the December solstice, marking an astronomical beginning of summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in the north. On its yearly trek through planet Earth's skies, at this solstice the Sun reaches its southern most declination, 23.5 degrees south, at 21:48 UTC. About 4 days ago the Sun was near this seasonal southern limit and so only just above the horizon at local noon from Ostersund in central Sweden. This view looking over the far northern lakeside city finds the midday Sun with a beautiful solar ice halo. Naturally occurring atmospheric ice crystals can produce the tantalizing halo displays, refracting and reflecting the sunlight through their hexagonal geometry. Still, with the Sun low and near the horizon in the clear sky, likely sources of the ice crystals producing this intense halo are snow cannons. Operating at a local ski area, the snowmaking machines create a visible plume at the top of the nearby island Froson toward the right side of the panorama.
A Full Circle Rainbow over Norway
Image Credit & Copyright: Lukas Moesch
Explanation: Have you ever seen an entire rainbow? From the ground,
typically, only the top portion of a rainbow is visible
because directions toward the
ground have fewer raindrops. From the air, though, the entire 360-degree circle
of a rainbow is more commonly visible. Pictured here, a
full-circle rainbow was captured over the Lofoten Islands of Norway in September by a drone passing through a rain
shower. An observer-dependent phenomenon primarily caused by the internal reflection of sunlight by raindrops, the rainbow has a full diameter of 84 degrees. The Sun is in the exact opposite direction from the rainbow's center. As a bonus, a second rainbow that was more faint and color-reversed was visible
outside the first.
[And in between the two rings is Alexander’s Dark
Band. No supernumerary arcs visible here.]
NGC 6164: Dragon's Egg Nebula and Halo
Image Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman
Explanation: The star at the center created everything. Known as
the Dragon's Egg, this star -- a rare, hot, luminous O-type star some 40 times as massive as the Sun -- created
not only the complex nebula (NGC 6164) that immediately surrounds it, but also the encompassing
blue halo. Its name is derived, in part, from the region's proximity to the
picturesque NGC 6188, known as the fighting Dragons of Ara. In another three to four million years the massive star
will likely end its life in a supernova
explosion. Spanning around 4
light-years, the nebula itself has a bipolar symmetry making it similar in
appearance to more common planetary nebulae - the gaseous shrouds surrounding dying sun-like stars. Also like many planetary
nebulae, NGC 6164 has been found to have an extensive, faint
halo, revealed in blue in this deep telescopic
image of the region. Expanding
into the surrounding interstellar medium, the material in the blue halo was likely expelled from an
earlier active phase of the O-star. NGC 6164 lies 4,200 light-years away in the southern constellation of the Carpenter's Square (Norma).
25 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky
Image Credit & Copyright: Tragoolchitr Jittasaiyapan
Explanation: Do you know the names of some of the brightest stars? It's
likely that you do, even though some bright stars have names so old they date back to near the beginning
of written
language. Many world cultures
have their own names for the brightest
stars, and it is culturally
and historically important to
remember them. In the interest of clear global communication, however,
the International Astronomical
Union (IAU) has begun to
designate standardized
star names. Featured here in true color are the 25 brightest stars in the night sky, currently as seen by humans, coupled with their IAU-recognized
names. Some star names have interesting
meanings, including Sirius ("the scorcher" in Latin), Vega ("falling" in Arabic), and Antares ("rival to Mars" in Greek). You are likely even familiar with the name of at least
one star too dim to make this list: Polaris.
Artemis 1: Flight Day 13
Image Credit: NASA, Artemis
1
Explanation: On
flight day 13 (November 28) of
the Artemis 1 mission the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from
Earth. In fact, over 430,000 kilometers from Earth its distant retrograde orbit
also put Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same field of view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and
large natural satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the
uncrewed spacecraft's perspective. Today (December 1) should see
Orion depart its distant
retrograde orbit. En route to planet Earth it will head toward a second powered
fly by of the Moon. Splashdown on the home world is expected on December 11.
Lunar Dust and Duct Tape
Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA
Explanation: Why
is the Moon so dusty? On
Earth, rocks are weathered by wind and water, creating soil and sand. On the
Moon, the history of constant micrometeorite bombardment has blasted away at
the rocky surface creating a layer of powdery lunar soil or regolith. For the Apollo astronauts and their equipment, the
pervasive, fine, gritty
dust was definitely a
problem. Fifty
years ago, on the lunar surface in
December 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan needed to repair
one of their rover's fenders in
an effort to keep the rooster
tails of dust away from
themselves and their gear. This picture reveals the wheel and fender of their
dust covered rover along with the ingenious application of spare maps, clamps,
and a grey strip of "duct tape".
Astronomy
News:
“Peaks of ‘Eternal’ Light”
[Editor: A few years
ago Akshay Bakane & I in the Space Architecture Dept. supported a NASA
Artemis study on RTG (radioisotope thermal generators) utility
& feasibility, to augment solar, and/or nuclear fission power and thermal
for landers, habitats and rovers. We used environmental data and models based
on anticipated Lunar south polar landing, on or near a ridge of “eternal
light.” I.e., where there is advantageous near-continuous solar illumination
for all but a couple weeks or so out of the year. And the benefit of nearby
craters with permanent shadow, and deposits of water ice. It appears that they
have expanded the number of sites under consideration since then. Below are
links to articles on the sites, the nature of these “peaks of ‘eternal’ light,”
a simulated video flyover, and some concerns over Chinese competition for the
few small sites. As well as policy & legal issues. I note that various
south polar craters/features are named for earth south polar explorers like
Shackleton, Amundsen & Scott. Lunar north polar sites are named after earth
north polar explorers Byrd & Peary.
Astronauts could shuttle between the two poles.]
“Artemis III:
Astronauts will step foot on one of these 13 Lunar landing spots”
https://www.inverse.com/science/artemis-iii-landing-spot
“PEAKS OF ‘ETERNAL’ LIGHT”
https://skyandtelescope.org/sky-and-telescope-magazine/peaks-of-eternal-light/
“The Peak of Eternal Light” video by ESA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXr2auGOxus
“NASA Chief Issues Warning About China Banning US Astronauts
From Landing on the Moon”
“A legal regime for lunar peaks of eternal light”
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/2423/1
“The Peaks of Eternal Light: a Near-term Property Issue on
the Moon” https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1608/1608.01989.pdf
General Calendar:
Colloquia,
Lectures, Seminars, Meetings, Open Houses & Tours:
Colloquia: Carnegie (Tues.
11am), UCLA, Caltech (Wed. 4pm), IPAC (Wed. 12:15pm) & other Pasadena
(daily
12-4pm): http://obs.carnegiescience.edu/seminars/
https://carnegiescience.edu/events/carnegie-digital-series
Carnegie Zoom Digital Series
Zoom Webinar Platform
Night Sky Network Clubs
& Events
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/clubs-and-events.cfm
5 Jan AEA Astronomy Club Meeting TBD – Great Courses video Teams
13 Jan Friday Night 7:30 PM SBAS Monthly General
Meeting Topic: “El Camino College Planetarium Show” in the Planetarium at El Camino
College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)
The von Kármán Lecture
Series:
January 2023 - How Do
Missions Get Formed?
Credit: Paulo Younse
How Do Missions Get Formed?
Jan. 19
Time: 7 p.m. PST (10 p.m.
EST; 0300 UTC)
We’ll talk to
one of our Robotics Engineers about project formulation and demonstration,
looking at the process of generating ideas - from napkin sketch to prototype to
development and testing. We’ll also look at how they figure out the right
questions to ask in order to understand what technologies are needed to get the
job done using real life experiences and stories about the Mars Rovers and Mars
Sample Return Mission.
Speaker(s):
Paulo Younse, Robotics Engineer, NASA/JPL
Host:
Brian White, Office of Communications and Education, NASA/JPL
Co-Host:
Lindsay McLaurin, Mars Public Engagement, NASA/JPL
Webcast:
Click here to watch the event live on YouTube
JANUARY UCLA Meteorite Gallery Lectures -- No event currently scheduled.
2 Feb AEA Astronomy Club Meeting TBD – Great Courses video Teams
Observing:
The
following data are from the 2022 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s
2022 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 January:
Moon Jan. 6 Full, Jan 15 last quarter, Jan 21 new, Jan 28 1st
quarter
Planets:
Venus
is visible at dusk all month. Mars transits the meridian
in the evening and sets before dawn. Jupiter
culminates around sunset. Saturn is visible at dusk and sets in
the early evening. Mercury
is visible at dawn starting on the 15th.
Other
Events:
LAAS Event Calendar (incl.
various other virtual events):
https://www.laas.org/laas-bulletin/#calendar
3 January Quadrantids
Meteor Shower Peak The Quadrantids (QUA) are a meteor that peaks in early
January and whose radiant lies in the constellation Bootes. The Zenithal Hourly
Rate (ZHR) of this shower can be as high as that of two other reliably rich
meteor showers (120/hour), the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December,
yet Quadrantid meteors are not seen as often as those of the two other showers
because the time frame of the peak is exceedingly narrow, sometimes lasting
only hours. Moreover, the meteors are quite faint, with mean apparent
magnitudes between 3.0 and 6.0.
|
Jan. 4, 11, 18, 25 |
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. Time: 7:30
PM - 10:00 PM Location: Garvey
Ranch Obs. , 781 Orange Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91755 |
|
14 Jan |
SBAS In-town
observing session – In Town Dark Sky Observing Session at Ridgecrest
Middle School– 28915 North Bay Rd. RPV, Weather Permitting: Please contact
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 |
|
21 Jan |
SBAS
out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Ken Munson to coordinate a location.
http://www.sbastro.net/. |
|
? |
LAAS Private dark
sky Star Party |
|
28 Jan |
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
e! Science News Astronomy & Space
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)
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)
The Local Group Astronomy Club
(Santa Clarita)
Ventura County Astronomical
Society
The
Astronomical Society of Greenbelt
Northern
Virginia Astronomy Club
Colorado
Springs 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 Kaly Rengarajan, 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: Jason Fields, President & Program Committee Chairman, Sam
Andrews, VP, Kelly Gov club Secretary (& librarian), or Kaly Rangarajan,
(Treasurer).
Mark Clayson,
AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter Editor
