January 2014 BRAS Newsletter
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Thanet Astronomy Group Astronomy for Everyone in Plain English
Thanet Astronomy Group Astronomy for Everyone in Plain English What to see December 29th Constellation (Orion) Stars (Betelguese, Bellatrix, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Rigel, Saiph,) Asterism (The Winter Triangle) Stars (Betelguese, Sirius, Procyon) November to March the constellation Orion the Hunter is at its best. There are some 20 prominent stars in this constellation. The brightest and more easily observed stars are the 8 in the main body. The other stars form Orion's right arm with club, and a slain animal in his left hand. These stars are dimmer and difficult to see due to light pollution. At 8:00pm Looking South East at 119° up to 30° you see the star Betelguese, the top left corner of Orion, a red super giant, more than 1½ billion kms in diameter. Look at 127° up to 33° you see the star Bellatrix, the top right corner of Orion, at 8½ million kms in diameter. Look at 128° down to 24° you see Alnitak, the first of three stars side by side, forming Orion's belt. Alnitak, Alnilam (at 128° 25°) and Mintaka (at 129° 26°). Probably one of the more easily recognised groups of stars in this area of sky. Look at 137° down to 21° you see the star Rigel, the bottom right corner of Orion. A blue/white super giant, 108 million kms in diameter. Look at 130° down to 16° you see the star Saiph the bottom left corner of Orion, nearly 31 million kms in diameter. Orion Stars Orion the Hunter In August I wrote about The Summer Triangle. -
Arxiv:2012.09981V1 [Astro-Ph.SR] 17 Dec 2020 2 O
Contrib. Astron. Obs. Skalnat´ePleso XX, 1 { 20, (2020) DOI: to be assigned later Flare stars in nearby Galactic open clusters based on TESS data Olga Maryeva1;2, Kamil Bicz3, Caiyun Xia4, Martina Baratella5, Patrik Cechvalaˇ 6 and Krisztian Vida7 1 Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences 251 65 Ondˇrejov,The Czech Republic(E-mail: [email protected]) 2 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Universitetsky pr. 13, 119234, Moscow, Russia 3 Astronomical Institute, University of Wroc law, Kopernika 11, 51-622 Wroc law, Poland 4 Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotl´aˇrsk´a2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic 5 Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia Galileo Galilei, Vicolo Osservatorio 3, 35122, Padova, Italy, (E-mail: [email protected]) 6 Department of Astronomy, Physics of the Earth and Meteorology, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynsk´adolina F-2, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia 7 Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly Thege Mikl´os´ut15-17, Hungary Received: September ??, 2020; Accepted: ????????? ??, 2020 Abstract. The study is devoted to search for flare stars among confirmed members of Galactic open clusters using high-cadence photometry from TESS mission. We analyzed 957 high-cadence light curves of members from 136 open clusters. As a result, 56 flare stars were found, among them 8 hot B-A type ob- jects. Of all flares, 63 % were detected in sample of cool stars (Teff < 5000 K), and 29 % { in stars of spectral type G, while 23 % in K-type stars and ap- proximately 34% of all detected flares are in M-type stars. -
EMBEDDED CLUSTERS in the LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD by Krista Romita Grocholski August 2017 Chair: Elizabeth A
EMBEDDED CLUSTERS IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD By KRISTA ROMITA GROCHOLSKI A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 c 2017 Krista Romita Grocholski To- Aaron, Allegra, Mom, and Dad. All is possible with you at my side. Thank you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to acknowledge the University of Florida Astronomy Department for providing me with the opportunity to complete my dissertation. I would like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Lada for taking me on as her graduate student, and for giving me the opportunity and freedom to become a confident, independent researcher. I would also like to thank Drs. Ata Sarajadini, Anthony Gonzalez, and Alessandro Forte for serving on my committee. I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Maria-Rosa Cioni; without your generous collaboration this dissertation project would not be possible. Drs. Margaret Meixner and Lynn Carlson deserve considerable credit for getting me started, not only in astronomy research, but in the wonderful field of star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud. I will always be grateful for your support and friendship over the years. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Igor Mikolic-Torreira for giving me the opportunity to apply my research skills beyond the realm of academia. Your guidance and enthusiastic support opened doors to me that changed the nature of my career. I cannot thank you enough. To my fellow UF Astronomy graduate students, the community you have created is something I am proud to have been a part of. -
C. Mintaka, Alnitak, Alnilam
Post-18.1: This graph shows the functional form of the dependence of the parallax angle on the distance an object is from Earth. If the minimum parallax angle we could measure were 0.5 arcsec, what is the maximum distance of a star that we could measure? a. ~ 1.00 arcsec b. ~ 2.2 pc c. ~ 10 pc ©2014 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 8 Post-18.1: This graph shows the functional form of the dependence of the parallax angle on the distance an object is from Earth. If the minimum parallax angle we could measure were 0.5 arcsec, what is the maximum distance of a star that we could measure? a. ~ 1.00 arcsec b. ~ 2.2 pc c. ~ 10 pc ©2014 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 9 Post-18.2: The Moon never stops in its orbit; however, it is possible to get an exact measurement of its parallax and thus its distance at any given moment. How would we get the parallax shift of the Moon? a. Take simultaneous measurements from two locations. b. Take two measurements at different times from one location. c. Take two measurements from the same location at the same phase of the Moon. ©2014 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 10 Post-18.2: The Moon never stops in its orbit; however, it is possible to get an exact measurement of its parallax and thus its distance at any given moment. How would we get the parallax shift of the Moon? a. Take simultaneous measurements from two locations. b. Take two measurements at different times from one location. -
Winter Constellations
Winter Constellations *Orion *Canis Major *Monoceros *Canis Minor *Gemini *Auriga *Taurus *Eradinus *Lepus *Monoceros *Cancer *Lynx *Ursa Major *Ursa Minor *Draco *Camelopardalis *Cassiopeia *Cepheus *Andromeda *Perseus *Lacerta *Pegasus *Triangulum *Aries *Pisces *Cetus *Leo (rising) *Hydra (rising) *Canes Venatici (rising) Orion--Myth: Orion, the great hunter. In one myth, Orion boasted he would kill all the wild animals on the earth. But, the earth goddess Gaia, who was the protector of all animals, produced a gigantic scorpion, whose body was so heavily encased that Orion was unable to pierce through the armour, and was himself stung to death. His companion Artemis was greatly saddened and arranged for Orion to be immortalised among the stars. Scorpius, the scorpion, was placed on the opposite side of the sky so that Orion would never be hurt by it again. To this day, Orion is never seen in the sky at the same time as Scorpius. DSO’s ● ***M42 “Orion Nebula” (Neb) with Trapezium A stellar nursery where new stars are being born, perhaps a thousand stars. These are immense clouds of interstellar gas and dust collapse inward to form stars, mainly of ionized hydrogen which gives off the red glow so dominant, and also ionized greenish oxygen gas. The youngest stars may be less than 300,000 years old, even as young as 10,000 years old (compared to the Sun, 4.6 billion years old). 1300 ly. 1 ● *M43--(Neb) “De Marin’s Nebula” The star-forming “comma-shaped” region connected to the Orion Nebula. ● *M78--(Neb) Hard to see. A star-forming region connected to the Orion Nebula. -
TAAS Monthly Observing Challenge December 2015 Deep Sky Object
TAAS Monthly Observing Challenge December 2015 Deep Sky Object NGC 772 (GX) Aries ra: 01h 59m 20.1s dec: +19° 00’ 26” Magnitude (visual) = 10.3 Size = 7.2’ x 4.3’ Position angle = 130° Description: NGC 772 (also known as Arp 78) is an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 130 million light-years away in the constellation Aries. Around 200,000 light years in diameter, NGC 772 is twice the size of the Milky Way Galaxy, and is surrounded by several satellite galaxies – including the dwarf elliptical, NGC 770 – whose tidal forces on the larger galaxy have likely caused the emergence of a single elongated outer spiral arm that is much more developed than the others arms. Halton Arp includes NGC 772 in his Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 78, where it is described as a "Spiral galaxy with a small high-surface brightness companion". Two supernovae (SN 2003 hl & SN 2003 iq) have been observed in NGC 772. Source: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_772 AL: Herschel 400 Challenge Object NGC 2371 / 2372 (PN) Gemini ra: 07h 25m 34.8s dec: +29° 29’ 22” Magnitude (visual) = 11.2 Size = 62” Description: NGC 2371-2 is a dual lobed planetary nebula located in the constellation Gemini. Visually, it appears like it could be two separate objects; therefore, two entries were given to the planetary nebula by William Herschel in the "New General Catalogue", so it may be referred to as NGC 2371, NGC 2372, or variations on this name. Source: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2371-2 AL: Herschel 400, Planetary Nebula Binocular Object NGC 1807 (OC) Taurus ra: 05h 10m 46.0s dec: +16° 31’ 00” Magnitude (visual) = 7.0 Size = 12’ Description: NGC 1807 is an open cluster at the border of the constellations Taurus and Orion near the open cluster NGC 1817. -
Educator's Guide: Orion
Legends of the Night Sky Orion Educator’s Guide Grades K - 8 Written By: Dr. Phil Wymer, Ph.D. & Art Klinger Legends of the Night Sky: Orion Educator’s Guide Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………....3 Constellations; General Overview……………………………………..4 Orion…………………………………………………………………………..22 Scorpius……………………………………………………………………….36 Canis Major…………………………………………………………………..45 Canis Minor…………………………………………………………………..52 Lesson Plans………………………………………………………………….56 Coloring Book…………………………………………………………………….….57 Hand Angles……………………………………………………………………….…64 Constellation Research..…………………………………………………….……71 When and Where to View Orion…………………………………….……..…77 Angles For Locating Orion..…………………………………………...……….78 Overhead Projector Punch Out of Orion……………………………………82 Where on Earth is: Thrace, Lemnos, and Crete?.............................83 Appendix………………………………………………………………………86 Copyright©2003, Audio Visual Imagineering, Inc. 2 Legends of the Night Sky: Orion Educator’s Guide Introduction It is our belief that “Legends of the Night sky: Orion” is the best multi-grade (K – 8), multi-disciplinary education package on the market today. It consists of a humorous 24-minute show and educator’s package. The Orion Educator’s Guide is designed for Planetarians, Teachers, and parents. The information is researched, organized, and laid out so that the educator need not spend hours coming up with lesson plans or labs. This has already been accomplished by certified educators. The guide is written to alleviate the fear of space and the night sky (that many elementary and middle school teachers have) when it comes to that section of the science lesson plan. It is an excellent tool that allows the parents to be a part of the learning experience. The guide is devised in such a way that there are plenty of visuals to assist the educator and student in finding the Winter constellations. -
In the Heart of the Orion Nebula 2 April 2009
In the heart of the Orion Nebula 2 April 2009 technique allows astronomers to combine the light from several telescopes, forming a huge virtual telescope with a resolving power corresponding to that of a single telescope with 200 m diameter. The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) now offers this revolutionary technique to European astronomers and allows them to directly reconstruct images from the interferometric infrared data. A team of European astronomers utilized the VLTI and its near-infrared beam-combination instrument AMBER to demonstrate the imaging capabilities of this unique facility and to study the intriguing Zooming in the centre of the Orion star-forming region massive young star Theta1 Ori C in unprecedented with the four bright Trapezium stars (Theta 1 Ori A-D). detail. The dominant star is Theta 1 Ori C, which was imaged with unprecedented resolution with the VLT Theta 1 Ori C is the dominant and most luminous interferometer (lower right). Image: MPIfR/Stefan Kraus, star in the Orion star-forming region. Located at a ESO and NASA/Chris O'Dell distance of only about 1300 light years, it is the nearest region where massive stars are born and provides a unique laboratory to study the formation process of high-mass stars in detail. The intense (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of astronomers, led by radiation of Theta 1 Ori C is ionizing the whole Stefan Kraus and Gerd Weigelt from the Max- Orion nebula. With its strong wind, the star also Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in shapes the famous Orion proplyds, young stars still Bonn, used ESO's Very Large telescope surrounded by their protoplanetary dust disks. -
A Review on Substellar Objects Below the Deuterium Burning Mass Limit: Planets, Brown Dwarfs Or What?
geosciences Review A Review on Substellar Objects below the Deuterium Burning Mass Limit: Planets, Brown Dwarfs or What? José A. Caballero Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, E-28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain; [email protected] Received: 23 August 2018; Accepted: 10 September 2018; Published: 28 September 2018 Abstract: “Free-floating, non-deuterium-burning, substellar objects” are isolated bodies of a few Jupiter masses found in very young open clusters and associations, nearby young moving groups, and in the immediate vicinity of the Sun. They are neither brown dwarfs nor planets. In this paper, their nomenclature, history of discovery, sites of detection, formation mechanisms, and future directions of research are reviewed. Most free-floating, non-deuterium-burning, substellar objects share the same formation mechanism as low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, but there are still a few caveats, such as the value of the opacity mass limit, the minimum mass at which an isolated body can form via turbulent fragmentation from a cloud. The least massive free-floating substellar objects found to date have masses of about 0.004 Msol, but current and future surveys should aim at breaking this record. For that, we may need LSST, Euclid and WFIRST. Keywords: planetary systems; stars: brown dwarfs; stars: low mass; galaxy: solar neighborhood; galaxy: open clusters and associations 1. Introduction I can’t answer why (I’m not a gangstar) But I can tell you how (I’m not a flam star) We were born upside-down (I’m a star’s star) Born the wrong way ’round (I’m not a white star) I’m a blackstar, I’m not a gangstar I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar I’m not a pornstar, I’m not a wandering star I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar Blackstar, F (2016), David Bowie The tenth star of George van Biesbroeck’s catalogue of high, common, proper motion companions, vB 10, was from the end of the Second World War to the early 1980s, and had an entry on the least massive star known [1–3]. -
List of Easy Double Stars for Winter and Spring = Easy = Not Too Difficult = Difficult but Possible
List of Easy Double Stars for Winter and Spring = easy = not too difficult = difficult but possible 1. Sigma Cassiopeiae (STF 3049). 23 hr 59.0 min +55 deg 45 min This system is tight but very beautiful. Use a high magnification (150x or more). Primary: 5.2, yellow or white Seconary: 7.2 (3.0″), blue 2. Eta Cassiopeiae (Achird, STF 60). 00 hr 49.1 min +57 deg 49 min This is a multiple system with many stars, but I will restrict myself to the brightest one here. Primary: 3.5, yellow. Secondary: 7.4 (13.2″), purple or brown 3. 65 Piscium (STF 61). 00 hr 49.9 min +27 deg 43 min Primary: 6.3, yellow Secondary: 6.3 (4.1″), yellow 4. Psi-1 Piscium (STF 88). 01 hr 05.7 min +21 deg 28 min This double forms a T-shaped asterism with Psi-2, Psi-3 and Chi Piscium. Psi-1 is the uppermost of the four. Primary: 5.3, yellow or white Secondary: 5.5 (29.7), yellow or white 5. Zeta Piscium (STF 100). 01 hr 13.7 min +07 deg 35 min Primary: 5.2, white or yellow Secondary: 6.3, white or lilac (or blue) 6. Gamma Arietis (Mesarthim, STF 180). 01 hr 53.5 min +19 deg 18 min “The Ram’s Eyes” Primary: 4.5, white Secondary: 4.6 (7.5″), white 7. Lambda Arietis (H 5 12). 01 hr 57.9 min +23 deg 36 min Primary: 4.8, white or yellow Secondary: 6.7 (37.1″), silver-white or blue 8. -
List of Bright Nebulae Primary I.D. Alternate I.D. Nickname
List of Bright Nebulae Alternate Primary I.D. Nickname I.D. NGC 281 IC 1590 Pac Man Neb LBN 619 Sh 2-183 IC 59, IC 63 Sh2-285 Gamma Cas Nebula Sh 2-185 NGC 896 LBN 645 IC 1795, IC 1805 Melotte 15 Heart Nebula IC 848 Soul Nebula/Baby Nebula vdB14 BD+59 660 NGC 1333 Embryo Neb vdB15 BD+58 607 GK-N1901 MCG+7-8-22 Nova Persei 1901 DG 19 IC 348 LBN 758 vdB 20 Electra Neb. vdB21 BD+23 516 Maia Nebula vdB22 BD+23 522 Merope Neb. vdB23 BD+23 541 Alcyone Neb. IC 353 NGC 1499 California Nebula NGC 1491 Fossil Footprint Neb IC 360 LBN 786 NGC 1554-55 Hind’s Nebula -Struve’s Lost Nebula LBN 896 Sh 2-210 NGC 1579 Northern Trifid Nebula NGC 1624 G156.2+05.7 G160.9+02.6 IC 2118 Witch Head Nebula LBN 991 LBN 945 IC 405 Caldwell 31 Flaming Star Nebula NGC 1931 LBN 1001 NGC 1952 M 1 Crab Nebula Sh 2-264 Lambda Orionis N NGC 1973, 1975, Running Man Nebula 1977 NGC 1976, 1982 M 42, M 43 Orion Nebula NGC 1990 Epsilon Orionis Neb NGC 1999 Rubber Stamp Neb NGC 2070 Caldwell 103 Tarantula Nebula Sh2-240 Simeis 147 IC 425 IC 434 Horsehead Nebula (surrounds dark nebula) Sh 2-218 LBN 962 NGC 2023-24 Flame Nebula LBN 1010 NGC 2068, 2071 M 78 SH 2 276 Barnard’s Loop NGC 2149 NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula IC 2162 Ced 72 IC 443 LBN 844 Jellyfish Nebula Sh2-249 IC 2169 Ced 78 NGC Caldwell 49 Rosette Nebula 2237,38,39,2246 LBN 943 Sh 2-280 SNR205.6- G205.5+00.5 Monoceros Nebula 00.1 NGC 2261 Caldwell 46 Hubble’s Var. -
Ioptron CEM40 Center-Balanced Equatorial Mount
iOptron®CEM40 Center-Balanced Equatorial Mount Instruction Manual Product CEM40 (#7400A series) and CEM40EC (#7400ECA series, as shown) Please read the included CEM40 Quick Setup Guide (QSG) BEFORE taking the mount out of the case! This product is a precision instrument. Please read the included QSG before assembling the mount. Please read the entire Instruction Manual before operating the mount. You must hold the mount firmly when disengaging the gear switches. Otherwise personal injury and/or equipment damage may occur. Any worm system damage due to improper operation will not be covered by iOptron’s limited warranty. If you have any questions please contact us at [email protected] WARNING! NEVER USE A TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT A PROPER FILTER! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Children should always have adult supervision while using a telescope. 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 3 1. CEM40 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 5 2. CEM40 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1. Parts List .........................................................................................................................................