Newsletter WELLINGTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY July 2011, Volume 41, Number 6, ISSN 01147706, www.was.org.nz

Wednesday, 6th of July, 7:30 PM at Carter Observatory

THIS MONTH’S

MEETING FEATURES Lunar & Matariki 07-2011 a presentation by Frank Andrews In this issue:

Presidents Report for July 2011 2 OBSERVING AT PAUATAHANUI 3 OBSERVING AT THOMAS KING  3 WAS July’s talk resumé 3 COUNCIL OF THE WELLINGTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY INC. 3 June 2011 Crossword answers 3 Some astronomical related sights on a recent trip to Europe 4 New Zealand’s Starlight Reserve - A Brief History 5 The Evening Sky in July 2011 7 Cross Word with Murray Forbes 8 Presidents Report for July 2011

The month of June was very quiet on Guest speaker Fred Watson’s public about Light Pollution. Most enjoyable the astronomy scene although we have talk “Timewarp” about Time Travel and well done Haritina. had one or two good nights but that was and Space was the highlight of the about all. conference although there were I also enjoyed the talk by Gary Sparks some other excellent presentations. “Thinking Outside the Envelope” this Observing at Pauatahanui on June 4th Fred also presented a talk called “An was about his collection of Space Stamps was clouded out and canceled so we moved Alien Like You” this was about Life on and some of the stories behind its superb observing to the following Saturday other worlds. and very extensive collection. June 11th and this to was clouded out. Observing seems to be getting less and If you ever get the chance to here Fred The conference dinner was excellent and less frequent as the weather gets cloudier Watson talk you will be enthralled and and wetter. his humour is just outstanding.

Borg, Martian, , Arthur Dent and Frank as himself. Photography by Dr Who The Reception hall

On June 4th Frank Andrews spoke to David Malin the second guest speaker had as a theme ‘Your Favourite Sci-Fi another enthusiastic group in Levin at spoke about ‘The discovery of the Character’, there were some excellent Ron Fishers Stargazers group and he spoke Southern Cross’. David was here to costumes. Fred Watson’s after dinner about Matariki. Frank is also talking to run the Photographic Workshop which speak was called “Poles Apart? Extremes our July meeting and this promises to be was held on the Monday with about 25 of Art and Science”. a very educational topic about the Lunar attendees unfortunately I was not one of & Matariki. them as I had other business to attend to. Next years conference will be in the I am told that the workshop was excellent Wairarapa and hosted by the Phoenix My talk about “Peter Read the Peoples and attendees learned a lot from it. Astronomical Society. Astronomer” went together quite well as I only had a couple of hours to prepare as Our own Haritina presented a different The Minor Planet symposium on the it was different to what I showed at the version of her trip to the Mars desert Thursday & Friday prior to the RASNZ RASNZ conference. research station this was Sunday morning conference was well attended with she then stepped in for Steve Butler and 30 people and was a most interesting Frank gave us an excellent overview of Deborah Hambly and presented a Light symposium which was all about timing the RASNZ conference. I enjoyed the Pollution presentation which she followed and accuracy and how to achieve exact conference very much. up with a question and answer session timing. A new timing device was launched by David Herald which unfortunately is being built in the USA and is not cheap.

On July 9th there will be a first quarter moon.

The August talk will be with Dr Melanie Johnston-Hollitt talking about the SKA (Square Kilometer Aray) she will come to us from Victoria University.

continued in page 5

Warwick and Marilyn - Pride and Prejudice Zombies

Page 2 ISSN 01147706, NUMBER 6, VOLUME 41, WAS NEWSLETTER OBSERVING AT COUNCIL OF THE June 2011 PAUATAHANUI WELLINGTON Crossword answers ASTRONOMICAL Across The next observing evening at SOCIETY INC. Pauatahanui is on July 9th starting 1 . P o l A r i s ‚ T h e N o r t h S t a r ; 5. CANOPUS‚ Autahi; 8. NORTH‚ thorn at 7.00 pm, alternative July 23rd. (anagram); 10. BAR‚ some spiral galaxies If doubtful please ring Chris President: have one; 12. GIOTTO‚ Name of ESA Monigatti on his mobile 021 890 spacecraft that intercepted Halley’s comet; Gordon Hudson 14. ENCELADUS‚ end clause (anagram); 222 to see if the session is going [email protected] 16. MASS‚ I weight 6 times less on the Moon, ahead. Ph 04 236 5125 but still have the same ???; 17. ALGOL‚ Demon star; 19. HYADES‚ an open cluster in Taurus; Vice-President: Roger Butland 2 0 . B lu e M o o n ‚ O n c e i n a . . . ; OBSERVING AT [email protected] 21. HALO‚ angels and galaxies both have one; 22. HST‚ an orbiting telescope; 27. DAY‚ THOMAS KING Ph 04 478 0419 24 hours; 31. LMC‚ could be mistaken for a cloud; 32. SMC‚ satellite galaxy All public observing evenings Secretary: Ross Powell to the Milky Way; 33. NOON‚ mid-day; will be held at the Thomas King [email protected] 34. LOKI‚ volcano on Io; 35. DENEB‚ alpha Observatory run by our Observatory Ph 04 389 9765 Cygnus; 37. DESDEMONA‚ A satellite of Uranus, a character in Othello; 38. TELESCOPE‚ elect Director Ross Powell. from 7:00 pm. Treasurer: John Talbot pose (anagram); 40. SCORPIUS‚ constellation Ring Ross on 389 9765 to check [email protected] with a sting; 44. REDGIANT‚ A type of star if there are public observing evenings whose core hydrogen has been used up.; 47. Ph 04 293 4620 on most FRIDAYS, starting as soon as KEPLER‚ Early German astronomer - formulated 3 laws of planetary motion; 49. ION‚ an it gets dark depending on the weather arrested atom; 50. FUSION‚ process that powers and Ross’s availability. stars; 51. KILOGRAM‚ The SI unit of mass; Newsletter Editor: 52. UFO‚ flying saucer; 53. STARDATE‚ A NZ Haritina Mogosanu astronomy summer getaway; [email protected] Down 1. PERIGEE‚ When the Moon is closest to the WAS July’s Earth; 2. ICE‚ frozen liquid; 3. GIBBOUS‚ a talk resumé Committee phase of the Moon; 4. ANALEMMA‚ figure Frank Andrews of 8 pattern formed by the Sun’s position Presenter: : Frank Andrews [email protected] at the same time of day over a year; 6. APOGEE‚ When the Moon is furthest from Duration: approx. 50 minutes Chris Monigatti the Earth; 7. QUASISTELLAROBJECT‚ full [email protected] TITLE: Lunar & name for quasar; 9. VEGA‚ alpha Lyr; Mob o21 890 222 11. BINOCULARS‚ robin claus (anagram); Matariki Calendar John Homes 12. GAS‚ solid, liquid or ...; 13. ECLIPTIC‚ plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun; 15. SOHO‚ satellite [email protected] observatory studying the Sun; 18. HOUR‚ unit By looking at the Aline Homes of time; 23. RUTHCRISP‚ Carter Observatory’s we are looking at the Origin [email protected] public telescope; 24. PLEIADES‚ The Seven Sisters; 25. PHOBOS‚ A Moon of Mars; that we used to measure time. 26. BOLIDE‚ A meteor that appears to explode; Positions Outside Council 28. PANDORA‚ a shepherd satellite of Saturn’s We then look closer at the Email newsletter F ring, also the first women in Greek mythology; Lunar Calendar and look Murray Forbes 29. ECLIPSE‚ to block light from another at the way it is harmonised [email protected] object; 30. VIRGO‚ Constellation with Spica; with the . 31. LONGITUDE‚ Latitude and ?; 33. NOVA‚ a new star; 36. LEO‚ A lion circling the Earth; In particular taking Matariki 39. PEGASUS‚ The winged horse constellation; as an example of the process. 41. SETI‚ A serious search for aliens (abbrev); www.was.org.nz 42. BINARY‚ a double star; 43. VENUS‚ a very cloudy planet; 45. IO‚ One of the Galilean satellites; 46. ATOM‚ smallest indivisible piece of a element; 48. PAVO‚ The Peacock constellation;

WAS NEWSLETTER VOLUME 41, NUMBER 6, ISSN 01147706 Page 3 Some astronomical related sights on a recent trip to Europe By John Talbot Apparently Kepler died in Regensburg while staying there trying to recover During May and early June my wife some monies owing to him. and I travelled across Turkey and Europe most by riverboat on the Rhine-Maine-Danube rivers and finished up in Prague. It was surprising (but maybe should not have been) how many places had connections with famous astronomers or astronomy.

And in Prague there was an even smaller one room Kepler museum with

this memorial in the courtyard.

In Istanbul, Turkey I spotted the new moon echoing the crescent on the top of a minaret. In Regensburg, Germany, we In Salzburg, Austria I spotted this came across a punning poster in the window of a Keplerstrasse and fancy chocolate shop. I could find no found a small reference to him in the guide book but museum (which clearly at least some locals honour him. was shut on The Astronomical clock in Prague, Czech Monday) but had this memorial Republic displays 24 hour time, Moon The astronomical instruments gallery bust and plaque phase and season in the top part and of the Clementinium (for St Clement) accessible. Astrological Constellations in the bottom. museum in Prague.

Page 4 ISSN 01147706, NUMBER 6, VOLUME 41, WAS NEWSLETTER President’s report, continued from New Zealand’s Starlight page 2 Reserve - A Brief History We are still trying to get our 6” The 2002-2003 Mackenzie County •The Chair of the Lake Tekapo Aoraki/ dobsonians returned so that they Council Tekapo Vision statement included Mt Cook Working Party held a two-day can be checked. So if you have one “Maintaining the ability to view the workshop in Paris in November 2010 to we would like it returned at the next Night Sky.” This led to the local people plan the way ahead. meeting. I have already have two initiating interest in the concept of a park Since the inception of the project there returned. We have other members in the Night Sky and to set up a Working has been unprecedented local, national waiting for these telescopes. Party in collaboration with the Mackenzie and international media interest in the Tourism and Development Board. Night Sky project which has resulted in We are still requiring members to At its annual meeting in Durban in 2005 significant increases in the number of assist at the Carter Observatory the World Heritage Committee adopted visitors to the area. observing on Saturday nights so if a resolution to explore an initiative on you haven’t volunteered yet now is “Astronomy and World Heritage as a your chance to do so. Register your means to promote nominations which Conclusions name with our secretary Ross Powell recognise and celebrate achievements in •New Zealand has an opportunity to on 389 9765. Science”. recognise the area designated by the The New Zealand National Commission Mackenzie District Councils Lighting for UNESCO, the University of Ordinances as a Starlight Reserve and a Canterbury Astronomers and interests unique destination for tourism, education, in the Mackenzie District responded culture, scientific research, photography to the challenge and began to work on and art. developing a proposal for a Night Sky •The Christchurch International Airport Park around the Mt John Observatory. as the Gateway to the South Island would Support was received from the RSNZ, also be the Gateway to the Stars. RASNZ, UNESCO NZ, the Mackenzie Tourism and Development Trust and •The Mackenzie District Council, the subsequently from the NZ Government Canterbury Development Corporation, through The Ministry of Tourism. The the Canterbury Employers Chamber Mackenzie group including the University of Commerce, the Christchurch of Canterbury actively participated in the International Airport, the Department of World Heritage Committee meeting in Conservation, the Royal Society of NZ Christchurch in July 2007. and the Royal Astronomical Society of NZ have indicated support for the initiative. The opportunity was taken to make presentations and to actively promote the •The Lake Tekapo, Aoraki/Mt Cook potential for a World Heritage Park in the Starlight Reserve Working Party believes Sky at Lake Tekapo at: that a declaration by New Zealand of the And finally the highlight for me was Area bounded by the Mackenzie Lighting meeting with Dr Josef Dürech of the •Two conferences at La Palma in the Ordinances and including Twizel if agreed Charles University in Prague. We had just Canary Islands 2007 and 2009 is an essential step towards eventual finished a nice pub dinner together when international recognition either by the I took this. Josef is one of the key guy’s •The launch of the International Year of Astronomy and the following Symposium International Dark-Sky Association and/ behind the Database of Asteroid Models or the World Heritage Committee. from Inversion Techniques (DAMIT). – Paris 2009 He uses some very clever maths to infer •The World Heritage Committee meeting A Third Starlight Workshop will be held the 3D shape of asteroids from their in Brasilia 2010 to support the adoption of at Tekapo in June 2012. For details of this long term brightness light curves. See the Thematic Study on Heritage Sites of workshop go to: http://starlight2012.org http://astro.troja.mff.cuni.cz/projects/ Astronomy and Archeoastronomy in the Abridged from article asteroids3D/web.php for more details. context of the UNESCO World Heritage by Margaret Austin What is more they have proved to have Convention. NB New Zealand was one of good agreement with the shapes measured five invited to submit a Case Study for the Chair, Lake Tekapo Aoraki/Mt Cook by multi chord occultation methods. Chapter on Windows to the Universe. Starlight Reserve Working Party See paper at http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.4227 April 2011

WAS NEWSLETTER VOLUME 41, NUMBER 6, ISSN 01147706 Page 5 Page 6 ISSN 01147706, NUMBER 6, VOLUME 41, WAS NEWSLETTER The Evening Sky in July 2011

Alpha Centauri is the third brightest shows many clusters of stars and some star. It is also the closest of the naked glowing gas clouds. eye stars, 4.3 light years away. And The Large and Small Clouds of it is a binary star: two sun-like stars Magellan, LMC and SMC, look like Sirius, the brightest star, sets in the orbiting each other in 80 years. A two misty patches of light low in the southwest in early twilight twinkling telescope magnifying 50x will split southern sky. They are easily seen by like a diamond. Canopus, the second the pair. Beta Centauri, like most of eye on a dark moonless night. They brightest star, is also in the southwest at the stars in Crux, is a blue-giant star are galaxies like our Milky Way but dusk. It swings south later. Mercury hundreds of light years* away. much smaller. The large cloud is 160 is in the western sky at dusk, setting Canopus swings down to the southern 000 light years away; the small one after 7 pm mid month. South of the skyline before midnight then moves 200 000 light years. zenith are ‘The Pointers ‘, Beta and into the southeast sky in the morning Jupiter (not shown) rises in the eastern Alpha Centauri. They point to Crux hours. Canopus is a truly bright star: the Southern Cross on their right. Left sky after 1 a.m. It is the brightest ‘star’ 13 000 times the sun’s brightness and in the late night sky and shines with of the Pointers, along the Milky Way, 300 light years away. is orange Antares, the brightest star in a steady golden light. By dawn it is Scorpius. Midway up the northern Arcturus, in the north, is the fourth midway up the north sky. Binoculars sky is a brighter orange star, Arcturus. brightest star and the brightest in the show the disk of Jupiter and perhaps Above and left of Arcturus is Saturn northern hemisphere sky. It is 120 one or two of its bright moons. A small with similar-looking Spica above it. times the sun’s brightness and 37 light telescope easily shows all four moons years away. When low in the northwest and stripes in Jupiter’s clouds. Mars Mercury remains in the western sky all around midnight Arcturus twinkles rises in the northwest about 6 a.m. month as it swings out from the far side red and green. appearing below Aldebaran, a star of of the sun and catches us up. It is at similar brightness and orange colour. East of the zenith is the orange star its greatest angle from the sun around Brilliant Venus might be glimpsed low Antares, marking the heart of the July 20. Then it is setting around 7:30. in the bright dawn twilight. Being just one-third the diameter of Scorpion. The Scorpion’s tail, upside *A light year (l.y.)is the distance that light Earth, Mercury is always small in a down, is stretched out to the right of Antares making the ‘fish-hook of travels in one year: nearly 10 million million telescope. At the beginning of July 13 Maui’ in Maori star lore. Antares is a km or 10 km. Sunlight takes eight minutes it looks like a tiny gibbous moon. It to get here; moonlight about one second. red giant star: 600 light years away and is then170 million km away. By the Sunlight reaches Neptune, the outermost end of the month it is closer, around 19 000 times brighter than the sun. major planet, in four hours. It takes four years 100 million km away, but most of the Below Scorpius is ‘the teapot’ made to reach the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. by the brightest stars of Sagittarius. sunlit side will be turned away from us It is also upside down in our southern leaving a tiny crescent. Mercury orbits hemisphere view. Notes by Alan Gilmore, the sun at one-third our distance so University of Canterbury’s moves much faster than Earth. It laps The Milky Way is brightest and Mt John Observatory, P.O. Box 56, us every 116 days. broadest in the east toward Scorpius Lake Tekapo 7945, New Zealand. and Sagittarius. In a dark sky it can be A small telescope will show Saturn’s www.canterbury.ac.nz, 110410 traced up past the Pointers and Crux, rings and biggest moon Titan about fading toward Sirius. The Milky Way four ring-diameters from the planet. is our edgewise view of the galaxy, the Other smaller moons appear as faint pancake of billions of stars of which stars closer to Saturn. Saturn is around the sun is just one. The thick hub of 1470 million km away in July. Signals the galaxy, 30 000 light years away, from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting is in Sagittarius. The actual centre is Saturn take 80 minutes to reach us. hidden by dust clouds in space. A scan along the Milky Way with binoculars WAS NEWSLETTER VOLUME 41, NUMBER 6, ISSN 01147706 Page 7 Cross Word with Murray Forbes

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EclipseCrossword.com Across Down 1. Early German astronomer - formulated 3 laws of planetary motion; 4. satellite observatory studying the Sun; 6. frozen liquid; 7. The Peacock constellation; 8. 2. to block light from another object; 3. New Zealander; 4. type of galaxy with The North Star; 11. some spiral galaxies have one; 13. flying saucer; 17. type of unusally bright nucleus; 5. unit of time; 8. A Moon of Mars; 9. an arrested atom; galaxy; 19. Largest galaxy in the Local Group; 21. could be mistaken for a cloud; 10. alpha Lyr; 12. smallest indivisible piece of a element; 14. Once in a ...; 15. 24. solid, liquid or ...; 25. type of telescope; 26. A satellite of Uranus, a character LMC; 16. I weight 6 times less on the Moon, but still have the same ???; 18. an open in Othello; 27. satellite galaxy to the Milky Way; 28. star time; 32. Constellation cluster in Taurus; 20. thorn (anagram); 22. study of the large-scale structure and with Spica; 33. Mars; 35. a very famous comet; 38. 24 hours; 39. volcano on Io; origin of the universe; 23. The winged horse constellation; 25. astronaut; 29. Carter 41. brightest star in Canis Minor; 44. angels and galaxies both have one; 45. a Observatory’s public telescope; 30. A NZ astronomy winter weekend getaway; 31. very cloudy planet; 46. men’s concerto (anagram); 47. an orbiting telescope; 49. opposite to zenith; 34. TheS even Sisters; 36. A lion circling the Earth; 37. son’s recipe process that powers stars; 50. road site (anagram); 51. a new star; 52. second most (anagram); 40. TheSI unit of mass; 42. volcano on Io; 43. A meteor that appears to common element; 54. proposed theory of evolution; explode; 48. A serious search for aliens (abbrev); 53. One of the Galilean satellites;

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