AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter June 2023
Contents
AEA Astronomy Club News & Calendar p.1
Video(s) & Picture(s) of the Month p. 2
Astronomy News p. 12
General Calendar p. 20
Colloquia, lectures, mtgs. p. 20
Observing p. 23
Useful
Links p. 27
About the Club p.
28
Club News &
Calendar.
Club Calendar
Club Meeting Schedule:
--
1 June AEA
Astronomy Club Meeting TBD – Great
Courses video Teams
6 July 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:
The club’s Meade LX-200 10”
telescope & accessories need a new home – contact Alex Ellis.
Nominations for club V.P. are being taken.
2023 AEA Astronomy
Club Dues
• The new Treasurer, Eric Belle,
will be sending out a request for 2023 Dues, it is recognized that this request
is being sent out 3 months late
• We will attempt to set up an
electronic method of dues payment; once the proposed method has been approved
by the officers, an email will be sent out to the membership along with a
request to pay 2023 Dues.
2024
Eclipse -- An update from the
2024 solar eclipse committee (Mark Clayson, Marilee Wheaton, Judy Kerner,Mai
Lee, Melissa Jolliff, Nahum Melamed):
The contract with our new hotel
on the north edge of San Antonio has been finalized, and Marilee Wheaton has the
link & phone to make reservations.
It is within an hour drive of Kerrville and Fredericksburg – two options
on centerline for observing. 50 rooms of
various varieties (kings, double queens, studio & 2-bedroom suites, all with
sofabeds). Rates are a bit higher.
If you would like more
information about the hotel & available rooms, the link and phone to
reserve a room as well as preliminary travel & car rental research and
observing plans, contact Marilee Wheaton at Marilee.wheaton@aero.org , 310-874-5480.
We are still
pursuing options for reserving an observing site – leaning now towards
Fredericksburg rather than Kerrville, as the latter has been adopted by NASA
for one of their 3 sites. Looking at
schools, parks, commercial & private properties. There are designated public viewing sites,
but we’d like to find a private one to avoid crowds and parking issues.
It is expected that all
people making reservations be members of the club in 2024. And, as with Mt. Wilson observing trips, we ask
that all family members/friends accompanying them also join the club for 2024,
as they will also be receiving benefits of the club (arrangements, equipment, photos,
expertise, and possibly eclipse glasses and T-shirt). Violations are subject to cancellation of
room reservations, if membership is not finalized by Dec. 31, 2023.
Also, please let Marilee
know of your anticipated travel plan – driving or flying. We need to know who’s driving and may be able
to take some of our club equipment for observing and photographing the
eclipse.
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:
·
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: Simulation: A
Disk Galaxy Forms https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230531.html
Video Credit: TNG
Collaboration, MPCDF, FAS Harvard U.;
Music: World's Sunrise (YouTube:
Jimena Contreras)
Explanation: How did we get here? We know that we live on a planet orbiting
a star orbiting
a galaxy,
but how did all of this form? Since our universe moves
too slowly to watch, faster-moving computer simulations
are created
to help find out. Specifically, this featured video from
the IllustrisTNG collaboration tracks
gas from the early universe (redshift 12)
until today (redshift 0).
As the simulation begins,
ambient gas falls into and accumulates in a region of relatively high gravity.
After a few billion years, a well-defined center materializes from a strange
and fascinating cosmic
dance. Gas blobs -- some representing small satellite
galaxies -- continue to fall into and become absorbed by the
rotating galaxy as the present epoch is reached and the video ends. For
the Milky
Way Galaxy, however, big mergers may not be over -- recent evidence
indicates that our large spiral disk Galaxy will collide and
coalesce with the slightly larger Andromeda spiral disk
galaxy in the next few billion years.
M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Patrick A. Cosgrove
Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The
first hint of our Sun's
future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At
that time, Charles
Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be
confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's
list, now known as M27 or
the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary
nebula, one of the brightest planetary nebulae on
the sky and visible with binoculars toward the constellation of
the Fox (Vulpecula).
It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, featured
here in colors emitted
by sulfur (red), hydrogen (green)
and oxygen (blue).
We now know that in about 6 billion years, our Sun will shed
its outer gases into a planetary
nebula like M27, while its remaining center will become
an X-ray hot white dwarf star.
Understanding the physics and significance of M27 was
well beyond 18th century science, though. Even today, many things remain
mysterious about planetary nebulas,
including how their intricate shapes are
created.
Virgo Cluster Galaxies
Image Credit & Copyright: Abdullah Alharbi
Explanation: Galaxies
of the Virgo Cluster are scattered across this nearly 4 degree
wide telescopic field of
view. About 50 million light-years distant, the Virgo Cluster is the
closest large galaxy cluster to our own local galaxy group. Prominent here are
Virgo's bright elliptical galaxies Messier
catalog, M87 at bottom center, and M84 and M86 (top to bottom) near
top left. M84 and M86 are recognized as part of Markarian's Chain,
a visually striking line-up of galaxies on the left side of this frame. Near
the middle of the chain lies an intriguing interacting pair of galaxies, NGC
4438 and NGC 4435, known to some as Markarian's Eyes.
Of course giant
elliptical galaxy M87 dominates the Virgo cluster. It's the
home of a super massive black hole, the first black hole ever imaged by planet
Earth's Event
Horizon Telescope.
The Galaxy, the Jet, and a Famous Black Hole
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Event Horizon Telescope
Collaboration
Explanation: Bright
elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87) is home to the supermassive
black hole captured in 2017 by planet Earth's Event Horizon Telescope in
the first ever image of a black hole. Giant of the Virgo galaxy cluster about
55 million light-years away, M87 is the large galaxy rendered in blue hues in
this infrared image
from the Spitzer Space telescope. Though M87 appears mostly
featureless and cloud-like, the Spitzer image does record details of
relativistic jets blasting from the galaxy's central region. Shown in the inset
at top right, the jets themselves span thousands of light-years. The brighter jet seen
on the right is approaching and close to our line of sight. Opposite, the shock
created by the otherwise unseen receding jet lights up a fainter arc of
material. Inset at bottom right, the historic black hole
image is shown in context, at the center of giant galaxy and
relativistic jets. Completely unresolved in the Spitzer image, the supermassive black
hole surrounded by infalling material is the source of enormous energy
driving the
relativistic jets from the center of active galaxy M87. The Event
Horizon Telescope image of M87 has now been enhanced to reveal a sharper view of the
famous supermassive black hole.
Jupiter's Swirls from Juno
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin M. Gill
Explanation: Big storms are different on Jupiter. On Earth, huge hurricanes and
colossal cyclones are
centered on regions of low pressure, but on Jupiter, it is the high-pressure,
anti-cyclone storms that are the largest. On Earth,
large storms can last weeks, but on Jupiter they
can last years. On Earth, large storms can be as large as a country, but on
Jupiter, large storms can be as large as planet Earth. Both types of storms are
known to exhibit lightning.
The featured
image of Jupiter's clouds was composed from images and data
captured by the robotic Juno
spacecraft as it swooped close to
the massive planet in August 2020. A swirling white
oval is visible nearby, while numerous smaller cloud
swirls extend into the distance. On Jupiter,
light-colored clouds are
usually higher up than dark clouds. Despite their differences, studying storm
clouds on distant Jupiter provides insights into
storms and other weather patterns on familiar Earth.
Supernova Discovered in Nearby Spiral Galaxy M101
Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks
Explanation: A nearby star has exploded and humanity's telescopes are
turning to monitor it. The supernova, dubbed SN 2023ixf,
was discovered by Japanese astronomer Koichi
Itagaki three days ago and subsequently located on automated
images from the Zwicky
Transient Facility two days earlier. SN 2023ixf occurred in the
photogenic Pinwheel
Galaxy M101, which, being only about 21 million light years away,
makes it the closest supernova seen in the past five years, the second
closest in the past 10 years, and the second supernova found in
M101 in the past 15 years. Rapid follow up observations already
indicate that SN 2023ixf is a Type II supernova,
an explosion that occurs after a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and
collapses. The featured image shows home
spiral galaxy two days ago with the supernova highlighted,
while the roll-over image shows the same galaxy a month before. SN
2023ixf will likely brighten and remain visible to telescopes
for months. Studying such a close and young Type
II supernova may yield new
clues about massive
stars and how they explode.
Total Eclipse: The Big Corona
Image Credit & Copyright: Reinhold
Wittich
Explanation: Most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence
of the Sun's
corona. Seeing the corona first-hand
during a total solar
eclipse is unparalleled.
The human
eye can adapt to see coronal features and extent that
average cameras usually cannot. Welcome, however, to the digital age.
The featured image digitally
combined short and long exposures taken in Exmouth, Australia that
were processed to highlight faint and extended features in the corona during
the total solar eclipse that occurred in April
of 2023. Clearly visible are intricate
layers and glowing caustics of an ever changing mixture of hot
gas and magnetic
fields in the Sun's corona. Looping prominences appear
bright pink just past the Sun's edge. Images
taken seconds before and after the total eclipse show glimpses of the
background Sun known as Baily's Beads and diamond ring effect.
The next total solar
eclipse will cross North America in April of 2024.
Fomalhaut's Dusty Debris Disk
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Processing: András
Gáspár (Univ. of Arizona), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Science: A. Gáspár (Univ. of
Arizona) et al.
Explanation: Fomalhaut is
a bright star, a 25 light-year voyage from
planet Earth in the direction of the constellation Piscis Austrinus.
Astronomers first noticed Fomalhaut's
excess infrared emission in the 1980s. Space and ground-based telescopes have since identified
the infrared emission's source as a disk of dusty debris, evidence
for a planetary system surrounding the hot, young star. But
this sharp infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope's
MIRI camera reveals details of Fomalhaut's debris disk never before seen,
including a large dust cloud in the outer ring that is possible evidence for
colliding bodies, and an inner dust disk and gap likely shaped and maintained
by embedded but unseen planets. An
image scale bar in au or astronomical units, the average
Earth-Sun distance, appears at the lower left. Fomalhaut's outer circumstellar
dust ring lies at about twice the distance of our own Solar System's Kuiper
Belt of small icy bodies and debris beyond the orbit of
Neptune.
Milky Way over Egyptian Desert
Image Credit & Copyright: Amr Abdulwahab
Explanation: For ten years the stargazer dreamed of taking a picture
like this. The dreamer knew that the White
Desert National Park in Egypt's Western
Desert is a picturesque place hosting numerous chalk
formations sculpted into surreal structures by a
sandy wind. The dreamer knew that the sky above could be impressively dark on
a clear moonless night, showing highlights such as the central band of
our Milky
Way Galaxy in impressive color and detail. So the dreamer
invited an even more experienced
astrophotographer to spend three weeks together in the desert
and plan the
composite images that needed to be taken and processed to create the dream
image. Over three days in mid-March, the base images were taken, all with the
same camera and from the same location. The impressive result is featured here,
with the dreamer -- proudly wearing a traditional Bedouin galabyia --
pictured in the foreground.
Shackleton from ShadowCam
Image Credit: NASA, ShadowCam, Korea Aerospace
Research Institute, Arizona
State University
Explanation: Shackleton crater lies at the lunar south pole.
Peaks along its 21 kilometer diameter are in sunlight, but Shackleton's floor
is in dark
permanent shadow. Still, this image of the shadowed rim wall and
floor of Shackleton crater was captured
from NASA's ShadowCam, an instrument on board the Korea Pathfinder
Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) launched in August 2022. About 200 times more sensitive
than, for example, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's Narrow Angle Camera,
ShadowCam was designed to image the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar surface.
Avoiding direct sunlight, those regions are expected to be reservoirs of water-ice and
other volatiles deposited by ancient cometary impacts and useful to future Moon
missions. Of course, the permanently shadowed regions are still illuminated by
reflections of sunlight from nearby
lunar terrain. In this stunningly detailed ShadowCam
image, an arrow marks the track made by a single boulder rolling
down Shackleton crater's wall. The image scale is indicated at the bottom of
the frame.
Astronomy
News:
(from ScienceNews.org)
·
May 12, 2023
·
New York Times
With 62 Newly Discovered Moons, Saturn Knocks
Jupiter Off Its Pedestal
If
all the objects are recognized by scientific authorities, the ringed giant
world will have 145 moons in its orbit.
·
In the red corner, Jupiter,
the largest planet orbiting our sun, which shaped our solar system with its gravitational bulk.
In the blue corner, Saturn,
the magnificent ringed world with bewildering
hexagonal storms at
its poles.
These two giant worlds are late in their bout for
satellite-based supremacy. But now the fight over which planet has the most
moons in its orbit has swung decisively in Saturn’s favor.
This month, the
International Astronomical Union is set to recognize 62 additional moons of
Saturn based
on a batch of objects discovered by astronomers. The small objects will give
Saturn 145 moons — eclipsing Jupiter’s total of 95.
“They both have many, many moons,” said Scott Sheppard, an
astronomer from the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. But
Saturn “appears to have significantly more,” he said, for reasons that are not
entirely understood.
The newly discovered moons
of Saturn are nothing like the bright object in Earth’s night sky. They are
irregularly shaped, like potatoes, and no more than one or two miles across.
They orbit far from the planet too, between six million and 18 million miles,
compared with larger moons, like Titan, that mostly orbit within a million
miles of Saturn. Yet these small irregular moons are fascinating in their own
right. They are mostly clumped together in groups, and they may be remnants of
larger moons that shattered while orbiting Saturn.
Saturn’s moon Pan has a mean radius of almost
9 miles and has been compared to a ravioli or a dumpling.Credit...NASA/JPL/Space
Science Institute
Pan shines in the Encke Gap in Saturn’s A ring. The dozens of
moons recently discovered by astronomers are even smaller than Pan.
Credit...NASA/JPL/Space
Science Institute
“These moons are pretty key to understanding some of the big
questions about the solar system,” said Bonnie Buratti of NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in California and the deputy project scientist on the upcoming Europa
Clipper mission to Jupiter.
“They have the fingerprints of events that took place in the early solar
system.”
The growing number of moons also highlights potential debates
over what constitutes a moon.
“The simple definition of a
moon is that it’s an object that orbits a planet,” Dr. Sheppard said. An
object’s size, for the moment, doesn’t matter.
The new moons were discovered by two groups, one led by Dr.
Sheppard and the other more recently by Edward Ashton of the Academia Sinica
Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. Dr. Sheppard’s group, in the
mid-2000s, used the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii to hunt for more moons around Saturn.
In March, Dr. Sheppard was also responsible for finding 12 new moons of Jupiter, which took it temporarily above Saturn in
the scuffle to be the biggest hoarder of moons. That record was short-lived, it
seems.
Dr. Ashton’s group, from
2019 to 2021, used
the Canada France Hawaii Telescope, a neighbor of the Subaru Telescope on Mauna
Kea, to look for more of Saturn’s moons and to verify some of Dr. Sheppard’s
discoveries. For a moon to be authenticated, it must be spotted multiple times
to “be sure the observations are a satellite and not just an asteroid that
happens to be near the planet,” said Mike Alexandersen, who is responsible for
officially confirming moons at the International Astronomical Union.
Large Titan and small Rhea are two of the more
well-known moons of Saturn. Names have yet to be assigned to all of the moons
discovered around the planet.Credit...NASA/JPL/Space
Science Institute
Most of Saturn’s irregular
moons orbit the planet in what astronomers call the Inuit, Norse and Gallic
groups. Each group’s objects may be the remains of larger moons, up to 150
miles across, that once orbited Saturn but were destroyed by impacts from
asteroids or comets, or collisions between two moons. “It shows there’s a big
collision history around these planets,” Dr. Sheppard said.
Those original moons may have been captured by Saturn “very
early on in the solar system,” Dr. Ashton said, perhaps in the first few
hundred million years after its formation 4.5 billion years ago. Not all orbit
in these groups, however, with a few rogue moons orbiting in a retrograde
direction — that is, opposite to the orbits of the other moons.
“We don’t know what’s happening with those retrograde moons,”
Dr. Sheppard said. Dr. Ashton suspects they may be remnants of a more recent
collision.
Learning more about the new moons is difficult owing to their
small size and remote orbits. They appear to be a special class of object,
different from asteroids that formed in the inner solar system and comets in
the outer solar system. But not much more is known.
“These objects might be unique,”
Dr. Sheppard said. “They might be the last remnants of what formed in the giant
planet region, likely very icy-rich objects.”
A mosaic of images recorded of Phoebe, one
Saturn’s larger irregular moons, which was visited by the Cassini spacecraft.Credit...NASA/JPL
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft
managed to observe about two dozen of the moons around Saturn up to its demise
in 2017. While not
close enough to study in detail, the data did allow scientists to “determine
the rotation period,” of some of the moons, the spin axis and “even the shape,”
said Tilmann Denk from the German Aerospace Center in Berlin, who led the
observations. Cassini also found abundant ice on the surface of one of the larger irregular moons, Phoebe.
Closer observations of Saturn’s tiny moons could give
scientists a window into a tumultuous time in the early solar system. During
that period, collisions were more common and the planets jostled for position,
with Jupiter thought to have migrated from nearer the sun farther out to its
current orbit. “That gives you additional information on the formation of the
solar system,” Dr. Denk said.
Yet the irregular moons we are seeing so far may only be the
beginning. “We estimated that there are potentially thousands,” around Saturn
and Jupiter, Dr. Ashton said. Uranus and Neptune, too, may have many such
irregular moons, but their vast distance from the sun makes them difficult to
discover.
Saturn, despite being smaller than Jupiter, appears to have
many more irregular moons. It may have three times as many as Jupiter, down to
about two miles in size. The reason is unclear, Dr. Ashton said.
Jupiter’s original moons
may have tended to be larger, and less likely to shatter. Or Saturn may
have captured more objects into its orbit than Jupiter. Or Saturn’s moons may
have been on orbits that were more likely to overlap and collide, producing
smaller, irregular moons.
Whatever the reason, the
outcome is clear. Jupiter is on the ropes, and it is unlikely to recover its
title as the planet with the most moons. As astronomers’ capabilities to
find smaller and smaller satellites improve, “Saturn will win by miles,” Dr.
Alexandersen said. “I don’t think it’s a contest any more.”
NASA’s Webb
Takes Closest Look Yet at Mysterious Planet
This artist’s concept depicts the planet GJ 1214 b, a
“mini-Neptune” with what is likely a steamy, hazy atmosphere. A new study based
on observations by NASA’s Webb telescope provides insight into this type of
planet, the most common in the galaxy.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
A science team gains new insight into the atmosphere of a
“mini-Neptune,” a class of planet common in the galaxy but about which little
is known.
NASA’s
James Webb Space Telescope has observed a distant planet outside our solar
system – and unlike anything in it – to reveal what is likely a highly
reflective world with a steamy atmosphere. It’s the closest look yet at the
mysterious world, a “mini-Neptune” that was largely impenetrable to previous
observations.
And
while the planet, called GJ 1214 b, is too hot to harbor liquid-water oceans,
water in vaporized form still could be a major part of its atmosphere.
“The
planet is totally blanketed by some sort of haze or cloud layer,” said Eliza Kempton,
a researcher at the University of Maryland and lead author of a new paper,
published in Nature, on the planet. “The atmosphere just remained totally
hidden from us until this observation.” She noted that, if indeed water-rich,
the planet could have been a “water world,” with large amounts of watery and
icy material at the time of its formation.
To
penetrate such a thick barrier, the research team took a chance on a novel
approach: In addition to making the standard observation – capturing the host
star’s light that has filtered through the planet’s atmosphere – they tracked
GJ 1214 b through nearly its entire orbit around the star.
The
observation demonstrates the power of Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI),
which views wavelengths of light outside the part of the electromagnetic
spectrum that human eyes can see. Using MIRI, the research team was able to
create a kind of “heat map” of the planet as it orbited the star. The heat map
revealed – just before the planet’s orbit carried it behind the star, and as it
emerged on the other side – both its day and night sides, unveiling details of
the atmosphere’s composition.
“The
ability to get a full orbit was really critical to understand how the planet
distributes heat from the day side to the night side,” Kempton said. “There’s a
lot of contrast between day and night. The night side is colder than the day
side.” In fact, the temperatures shifted from 535 to 326 degrees Fahrenheit
(from 279 to 165 degrees Celsius).
Such
a big shift is only possible in an atmosphere made up of heavier molecules,
such as water or methane, which appear similar when observed by MIRI. That
means the atmosphere of GJ 1214 b is not composed mainly of lighter hydrogen
molecules, Kempton said, which is a potentially important clue to the planet’s
history and formation – and perhaps its watery start.
“This
is not a primordial atmosphere,” she said. “It does not reflect the composition
of the host star it formed around. Instead, it either lost a lot of hydrogen,
if it started with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, or it was formed from heavier
elements to begin with – more icy, water-rich material.”
Cooler Than Expected
And
while the planet is hot by human standards, it is much cooler than expected,
Kempton noted. That’s because its unusually shiny atmosphere, which came as a
surprise to the researchers, reflects a large fraction of the light from its
parent star rather than absorbing it and growing hotter.
The
new observations could open the door to deeper knowledge of a planet type
shrouded in uncertainty. Mini-Neptunes – or sub-Neptunes as they’re called in
the paper – are the most common type of planet in the galaxy, but mysterious to
us because they don’t occur in our solar system. Measurements so far show they
are broadly similar to, say, a downsized version of our own Neptune. Beyond
that, little is known.
“For
the last almost decade, the only thing we really knew about this planet was
that the atmosphere was cloudy or hazy,” said Rob Zellem, an exoplanet
researcher who works with co-author and fellow exoplanet researcher Tiffany
Kataria at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “This paper
has really cool implications for additional detailed climate interpretations –
to look at the detailed physics happening inside this planet’s atmosphere.”
The
new work suggests the planet might have formed farther from its star, a type
known as a red dwarf, then spiraled gradually inward to its present, close
orbit. The planet’s year – one orbit around the star – takes only 1.6 Earth days.
“The
simplest explanation, if you find a very water-rich planet, is that it formed
farther away from the host star,” Kempton said.
Further
observations will be needed to pin down more details about GJ 1214 b as well as
the formation histories of other planets in the mini-Neptune class. While a
watery atmosphere seems likely for this planet, a significant methane component
also is possible. And drawing broader conclusions about how mini-Neptunes form
will require more of them to be observed in depth.
“By
observing a whole population of objects like this, hopefully we can build up a
consistent story,” Kempton said.
More About the Mission
The
James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory.
Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds
around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our
universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with
its partners, ESA (European Space Agency), and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
MIRI
was developed through a 50-50 partnership between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory led the U.S. efforts for MIRI, and a multinational
consortium of European astronomical institutes contributes for ESA. George
Rieke with the University of Arizona is the MIRI science team lead. Gillian
Wright is the MIRI European principal investigator. Alistair Glasse with UK ATC
is the MIRI instrument scientist, and Michael Ressler is the U.S. project
scientist at JPL. Laszlo Tamas with UK ATC manages the European Consortium. The
MIRI cryocooler development was led and managed by JPL, in collaboration with
Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
For
more information about the Webb mission, visit:
Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-808-2469
calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
Written by Pat Brennan
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):
https://obs.carnegiescience.edu/observatories-events (in-person, online & hybrid events
typically Tuesdays & Fridays)
Carnegie Zoom Digital Series
Zoom Webinar Platform
Night Sky Network Clubs
& Events
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/clubs-and-events.cfm
1 June AEA Astronomy Club Meeting TBD – Great Courses video Teams
2 June Friday Night 7:30 PM SBAS Monthly General
Meeting Topic: “Humans on the Moon” Dr. Steven Morris, in the Planetarium at El Camino
College (16007 Crenshaw Bl. In Torrance)
The von Kármán Lecture
Series:
June 2023 - The Universe
of Very Cold: The James Webb Space Telescope, MIRI, and the Cryocooler
June 22
Time: 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m.
EDT; 0300 UTC)
The James Webb
Space Telescope (JWST) takes incredible images using infrared light. The optics
and science instruments must be incredibly cold, especially JWST’s Mid-Infrared
Instrument (MIRI), which needs to be at a temperature of less than 7 kelvins,
or -447 F. This is not possible without the Cryocooler, which keeps MIRI’s
detectors cool.
Speaker(s):
Dr.
Konstantin Penanen, JWST/MIRI Cryocooler Lead, NASA/JPL
Host:
Nikki
Wyrick, Office of Communications and Education, NASA/JPL
Co-host:
Kaitlyn
Soares, Universe Public Engagement Lead, NASA/JPL
Webcast:
Click here to watch the event live on YouTube
No event currently scheduled.
6 July AEA Astronomy Club Meeting TBD – Great Courses video Teams
Observing:
The
following data are from the 2023 Observer’s Handbook, and Sky & Telescope’s
2023 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 June:
Moon June 4
Full, June 10 last quarter, June
18 new, June 26 1st quarter
Planets:
Venus
is visible at dusk all month. Mars is is visible at dusk
and sets after midnight. Jupiter visible
at dawn all month. Saturn rises shortly after midnight and visible to sunrise. Mercury
is visible at dawn from the 3rd to the 16th.
From the
Astronomical League:
Other
Events:
LAAS Event Calendar (incl.
various other virtual events):
https://www.laas.org/laas-bulletin/#calendar
|
June 7,14,21,28 |
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 |
4 June Venus at
Greatest Western Elongation
|
10 June |
SBAS In-town
observing session –at Christmas Tree Cove Located at the west end
of Palos Verdes Peninsula at the intersection of Via Neve and Paseo Del Mar.
Reached from PV West, turn on Via Anacapa then turn left on Via Sola and left
again on Via Neve., Weather Permitting. http://www.sbastro.net/. |
12 June Venus in the
Beehive See Venus in the beautiful open cluster M44 (the Beehive Cluster).
14 June Jupiter 1.5deg
S of Moon
15 June Uranus
2deg S of Moon
|
17 June |
SBAS
out-of-town Dark Sky observing – contact Ken Munson to coordinate a location.
http://www.sbastro.net/. |
|
? |
LAAS Private dark
sky Star Party |
21 June Summer Solstice
22 June Venus 4deg S of Moon
|
24 June |
LAAS Public
Star Party: Griffith Observatory Grounds 2-10pm See http://www.griffithobservatory.org/programs/publictelescopes.html#starparties for more information. |
1 July Conjunction of
Venus and Mars The two planets will pass about 3.5 degrees of each other.
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://aerosource2.aero.org/confluence/display/AstroClub/AEA+Astronomy+Club+Home 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 Eric Belle,
(Treasurer).
Mark Clayson,
AEA Astronomy Club Newsletter Editor
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