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www.bintel.com.au August 2013 * Volume 338 MOON HIT BY SMALL ROCK NARRABRI BRIGHT FLASH SEEN HERE Since 2005 NASA astronomers have The impact crater in Mare UImbri- been monitoring the Moon for signs um could be twenty metres wide. of explosions caused by The Lunar Reconissance Orbiter hitting the lunar surface. Lunar will probably be tasked with pho- REVEALED meteor showers have turned out to tographing the area when an op- be more common than anyone ex- portunity presents itself. pected, with hundreds of detectable impacts occurring every year. Since the monitoring program On March 17 the biggest explosion began in 2005, NASA’s lunar im- in the eight years of the program. pact team has detected more than was recorded. An object about the three hundred strikes, mostly much A few people got very excited size of a small boulder hit the lunar fainter than the March 17th event. recently when they saw some surface in Mare Imbrium, exploded More than half of all lunar mete- telescope equipment being ad- in a flash nearly ten times as bright ors come from known vertised at very low prices on as anything seen before. streams such as the Perseids and a website (http://www.sale-tel- Anyone looking at the Moon at the Leonids. The rest are sporadic escopes.com.) Wise heads, and moment of impact could have seen meteors that have no known flight those who could smell a rat in a the explosion--no telescope re- path in the Solar System. sealed jar, quickly figured that quired. For about one second, the The American will be heading the website was one of those impact site was glowing as bright as back to the Moon in a few years. that pop up regularly with unbe- a 4th star. It’s known that the Chinese have lievably low prices. If the prices An analyst at the Marshall Space the Moon as a future target. Al- are unbelievably low... they’re Flight Center was the first to no- though none of the astronauts who unbelievable. Don’t touch! tice the impact in a digital video landed on the Moon in the Apollo CSIRO COMES CLEAN... AFTER 25 YEARS recorded by one of the monitoring days was struck by a meteroid- * * * COMPACT ARRAY SECRETS OPEN TO PUBLIC program’s 14-inch telescopes. The even a dust-grain sized one, the po- To all those who get the NIGHT The CSIRO is going to invite the public to an Open Day at the Paul Wild meteoroid, estimated to weigh forty tential is still there. Identifying the SKY by post.... sorry! It was Observatory, near Narrabri NSW. kilograms hit the Moon traveling sources of lunar meteors and mea- very late in July. A mis-com- To help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Australia Telescope Compact at about twenty-five thousand kilo- suring their impact rates should munication within our stores Array, CSIRO’s division of Astronomy and Space Science will invite the metres per hour. 56,000 mph. The give future lunar explorers an idea (and a lost envelope by Austral- public to attend an open day at the Paul Wild Observatory, twenty kilo- resulting explosion was about the of what they might expect. When is ia Post) meant that there was a metres west of Narrabri, on Sunday the 1st September. The open day will same as a good B-52-load of con- it safe to go on a moonwalk? Dur- needless delay before readers offer a rare opportunity for members of the public to go behind the scenes ventional bombs. ing known meteor showers may got their monthly issue of read- of one of the most powerful radio telescopes on Earth. More than forty of University and NASA all-sky cam- probably not a good time to ven- ing goodness. our expert staff will be on hand to guide people around the observatory, eras recorded a steady stream of ture outside. answer questions and bring people up-to-date with the latest research in bright meteors entering the Earth’s * * * radio astronomy. atmosphere on the same night. The We mentioned, a couple of issues The Australia Telescope Compact Array comprises six twenty-two meter Earth’s atmosphere soaks up most ago that Meade Instruments had dishes, spread along a three kilometre track. The six dishes work together, meteoroids that are caught by the been bought by a Chinese com- as one instrument, to study the structure and evolution of the Universe. Dur- Earth. They burn up before reaching pany. We jumped the gun a lit- ing the public open day, three of the six dishes will be open to the public, as the surface. The Moon has no atmo- tle. Two further companies put well as the control building and computing room. Astronomy and space sci- sphere, so meteoroids can fly right in marriage bids- one American ence talks by leading experts in radio astronomy and radio engineering will into the lunar surface and explode and one Chinese. It looks as if showcase the achievements of the telescope as a world leading radio astron- on the surface. University of West- the Chinese company, a highly omy instrument. For more information on the 25th Anniversary Open Day ern Ontario scientists calculated experienced manufacturer of visit the website - http://www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/public/open_day/2013/ that the lunar meteor was probably microscopes may have won This is a rare chance to watch real radio astronomers at their mysterious from the same stream of debris that Meade’s hand. A new Agree- craft as they listen to the universe hissing and whistling at them. collided with Earth’s atmosphere. ment and Plan of Merger has been made with subsidiaries of Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co., WEIRD BLUE PLANET IS HOT, INCREDIBLY FAST Ltd., based near Shanghai. * * * AND BLASTED BY HOWLING GALES, SAYS NASA. We received a huge number of THEY HAVE NO PLANS TO SEND entries in the ‘coke-bottle tel- escope’ competition. Winner ASTRONAUTS ANY TIME SOON. will receive a display card with A strange, blue planet was discovered orbiting the star HD 189733 A in small amounts of genuine dust Vulpecula in 2005, by astronomers who detected it transiting in front of its from a Mars and a Moon mete- star. It’s sixty three light years from us. Constant observation has revealed orite. Due to the very late dis- some amazing facts about this strange object. patch of the printed edition of Recently scientists have managed to deduce that it is a deep blue in colour, NIGHT SKY (see above) we’ve that it has carbon dioxide in its atmosphere and that it is somewhat larger held off announcing a winner than Jupiter. Observation showed that it orbits its parent star in an astonish- for a couple more weeks. Hope ing 2.2 days at a speed of 150 kilometres per second! you don’t mind. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists from NASA and ESA have described a planet that won’t be high on anybody’d bucket list of ‘must visit’ * * * places. One described the most likely scenario as a place being blasted by In the good ‘ole days women glass pushed by “howling 7,000 kilometre-per-hour winds,” . Apparently were supposed to retire from the planet’s atmosphere is laced with silicates, from which we make glass. the workplace, stay at home and The surface would be well and truly sandblasted. and is not on NASA’s list make babies once they were of places to visit in the near future. married. Then there was a lady The enormous speed of the winds also effects the temperature of the plan- called Ruby who worked at the et. It is remarkable even, probably due to the redistribution of heat by the CSIRO. winds. There is evidence that the atmosphere also contains water vapour, Somebody wrote a book about neutral oxygen, methane and some carbon monoxide on the day side of the her. An amazing planet, which is tidally locked to the star. lady! See more about the book Slithy Toves ...... 2 subscribe to NIGHT SKY on Page 2 Milancovic ...... 2 Receive your copy every month free by email. August night sky ...... 3 ask [email protected] for your copy! OR Mick ‘n Don ...... 4 send $20 for a year’s subscription and have it posted. Mike The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 84 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe NSW 2037. Tel: 02 9518 7255 The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 519 Burke Road, Camberwell Vic 3124. Tel: 03 9822 0033 August 2013 * Volume 338 * Page 2 The sky is full of slithy toves tonight! A BOOK ABOUT A SHOULD-BE-FAMOUS WOMAN ASTRONOMER Mel charms the snake handler. In Making Waves, Miller Goss provides insight into the pioneering contributions of a female scientist at Beta (β) Oph or Cebalrai ‘the shepherd’s dog’ is an orange giant star of the beginning of radio astronomy, magnitude 2.8, lying about 82 light years away. Ruby Payne-Scott (1912 – 1981). Rho (ρ) Oph is a wonderful multiple star system for small telescopes. The As one of the first radio astrono- brightest component consists of magnitude 5.0 and 5.7 stars which can be mers in the world, Payne-Scott separated using high magnification in a small aperture telescope. On either made classic contributions to solar side of this pair are two other companions of magnitude 6.7 and 7.3. These radio physics. She also played a companions are quite wide and can be seen in binoculars. The system is major role in the design of the Aus- about 400 light years away. tralian government’s Council for 36 Oph is a pair of orange dwarf stars, both of magnitude 5.1. They can be Scientific and Industrial Research split by small aperture telescopes and it is estimated their is radars, which were in turn of vital about 500 years. They are approximately 20 light years away. importance in the Southwest Pacif- Tau (τ) Oph is a close pair of white-yellow stars of magnitudes 5.2 and 5.9. ic Theatre in World War II. These Their orbital period is estimated at 280 years and currently they are gradu- radars were used by military per- ally getting closer. A telescope with an aperture of 75mm is required to split sonnel from Australia, the United the pair, however by about 2025 an aperture of 100mm will be required. States and New Zealand. From a They are about 170 light years away. sociological perspective, her career 70 Oph is a renowned double, consisting of a yellow and an orange pair of offers many examples of the perils stars at magnitudes 4.2 and 6.0. They orbit each other once every 88 years of being a female academic in the and over the coming years the distance between them will widen, reaching first half of the 20th century. their maximum distance in the year 2025. They are approximately 16 light years away. Winter months remind us of the the wonderful Milky Way sights of Scor- RS Oph is a recurring nova. It has been observed in eruption at least five pius and Sagittarius. But observers should not forget the 13th zodiac con- times, last flaring to naked eye brightness in 2006. Normally the star is stellation – Ophiuchus which, lies beside Scorpius and Sagittarius and with around magnitude 12 so only telescopes of a larger aperture could pick up these two constellations high overhead it is often overlooked. this unusual star. Ophiuchus is an ancient constellation, representing a snake coiled around M10 or NGC 6254 is a globular cluster and at 7th magnitude is easily spot- a man. However, it is now often associated with Aesculapius, a mythical ted in binoculars or small telescopes. Apertures of 75mm or greater will healer said to have the ability to raise the dead. Certainly in Greek mythol- resolve individual stars. Messier discovered this cluster in 1764 but could ogy, it is Ophiuchus who raises Orion from the dead after he is bitten by the not resolve any stars. It lies 14,000 light years away. scorpion. Aesculapius is seen holding a snake, most likely as they were seen M12 or NGC 6218 is also a 7th magnitude globular cluster, but lies 4,000 as a symbol of power. light years further away than M10, at 18,000 light years. It is slightly larger Ophiuchus is seen as the 13th sign of the zodiac as due to the Earth’s preces- than M10 in telescopes and the stars are more loosely scattered. It is also sion, the Sun and Moon (and the planets) now pass through this constella- harder to resolve. tion – the Sun from November 30 – December 17. NGC 6633 is a scattered open cluster of about 30 stars. It is best seen in Ophiuchus has many interesting and varied objects for the observer. It con- binoculars as it covers a region of the sky similar in size to the full Moon. It tains the second-closest star to our Sun – Barnard’s Star, a red dwarf lying is about 950 light years away. 5.9 light years away at a magnitude of 9.5. IC 4665 is a 7th magnitude cluster. Like NGC 6633 it is a scattered cluster The brightest stars of this constellation are a mixed bag of colour. They and is also about the size of the full Moon, thus making it best seen in bin- This book offers fascinating in- range from blue and white stars to yellow, orange and red giant stars. There oculars. It is 1,100 light years away. sights into the beginnings of radio are also numerous double stars easily picked up in small aperture tele- NGC 6572 lies about 2,000 light-years from us. It is a planetary nebula, ap- astronomy and the role of a pioneer- scopes. pearing as a 9th magnitude blue-green oval in telescopes. ing woman in astronomy. The first Alpha (α) Ophiuchi or Rasalhague ‘head of the serpent collector’ is a white, This winter explore a little further afield from Scorpius and Sagittarius and chapter presents an overview of so- main sequence star, mag 2.1. It lies about 47 light years away. enjoy the wonders of Ophiuchus. lar astrophysics and the tools of the radio astronomer. The Earth’s axis completes one full This demonstrated the key role of Miller Goss, an American astron- cycle of precession approximately astronomy. In 1999, it was shown omer moved to Australia to the Milanković every 26,000 years. At the same that variations in the isotopic com- CSIRO Division of Radiophysics. time the elliptical orbit rotates more position of oxygen in the sediments In 1976 he was the recipient of the slowly. The combined effect of the at the bottom of the ocean follow Pawsey Medal of the Australian a man ahead of his time two precessions leads to a 21,000- Milankovitch theory. Although or- Academy of Science. Goss’ scien- Milutin Milanković was a Serbian He specialised in ribbed concrete year period between the astronomi- bital forcing of Earth’s climate is tific interests are radio astronomical mathematician, astronomer, geo- structures and designed dams, cal seasons and the orbit. In addition, well accepted, the details of how studies of the interstellar medium in physicist, climatologist, civil engi- bridges, viaducts and aqueducts the angle between Earth’s rotational orbitally-induced changes in inso- the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. neer, doctor of technology, univer- throughout Austria-Hungary. axis and the normal to the plane lation affect climate are still dis- Making Waves: Miller Goss sity professor, and writer. He made Milanković patented a new type of of its orbit (obliquity) oscillates cussed. continued Page 4 published Springer about $40 two fundamental contributions to reinforced concrete ribbed ceiling between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees on global science- the “Canon of the and published a paper on armored a 41,000-year cycle. It is currently Earth’s Insolation”, which character- concrete. He was offered the chair 23.44 degrees and decreasing. izes the climates of all the planets of applied mathematics at the Uni- Similar astronomical theories had of the Solar system. The second was versity of Belgrade, which he ac- been advanced in the 19th century Tele Vue Sale the explanation of Earth’s long-term cepted. Although he continued to by Joseph Adhemar, James Croll our end-of-year Delos eyepiece sale! climate changes caused by changes pursue his investigations of various and others, but verification was in the position of the Earth in com- problems pertaining to the applica- difficult due to the absence of reli- parison to the Sun, now known as tion of reinforced concrete, he de- ably dated evidence and doubts as sale ends Aug 31 . cided to concentrate on fundamen- to exactly which periods were im- tal research. portant. Eventually Milankovitch’s He founded cosmic climatology by theories were set aside. When cores calculating temperatures of the up- were taken from the bottom of the per layers of the Earth’s atmosphere oceans and an important scientific as well as the temperature condi- paper “Variations in the Earth’s Or- tions on planets of the inner Solar bit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages” was system, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and released in 1976 Milankovitch’s the- the Moon, as well as the depth of ory was seen in its true light. His the atmosphere of the outer plan- book “Canon of Insolation of the ets. Ice-Age Problem” was translated Milankovitch theory describes into English and published in 1969. the collective effects of changes In 1972, scientists compiled a time in the Earth’s movements upon its scale of climatic events in the past climate. He was able to work on 700,000 years from deep-sea cores. his theories during World War 1, They performed the analysis of the when as a Serb he was imprisoned cores and four years later, came Tele Vue Delos eyepieces by the Austro-Hungarian regime. to the conclusion that in the past 72 degree field of view 20mm eye-relief He was born in 1879 in a part of During his comfortable internment 500,000 years, climate has changed If you’ve been keeping a spot in your 00 Serbia that is now Croatia. Due to Milanković mathematically theo- depending on the inclination of the case for an affordable, $389. precarious health he was privately rized that variations in eccentric- Earth’s axis of rotation and its pre- premium eyepiece, you should educated by his family. At the age ity, axial tilt, and precession of the cession. In 1988 Cooperative Holo- 00 of seventeen, he moved to Vienna to Earth’s orbit determined climatic cene Mapping Project reconstruct- get a Tele Vue Delos! $329. study Civil Engineering and in 1905 patterns on Earth through orbital ed the patterns of global climate 3.5mm, 4.5mm, 6mm, 8mm, he joined a firm of civil engineers. forcing. change over the last 18,000 years 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17.3mm save $60 The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 84 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe NSW 2037. Tel: 02 9518 7255 August 2013 * Volume 338 * Page 3 The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 519 Burke Road, Camberwell Vic 3124. Tel: 03 9822 0033 You can shop on-line at www.bintel.com.au for your astronomical needs.

Saturn

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Evening sky August 2013

The Moon is big... very big. But Mercury: visible in there are other moons in the solar the dawn sky early in Saturn In the north- system and some are even bigger. the month- changes its west in Virgo early in the The largest moon is Jupiter’s Gany- mind and moves directly evening. The Moon makes a fleeting mede, w whopping 5,262 km in di- behind the Sun late in the month. visit on the 13th. ameter, followed by Saturn’s Titan, Jupiter’s Callisto, Jupiter’s Io, and Venus: Brightest thing Uranus: is in Pisces then the Earth’s Moon with a mean in the western sky. and has moved into diameter of 3475 km. Not as big as Moves from Leo into retrograde motion for Perseid Meteors: This information Ganymede but much more impres- Virgo. Appears to throw coloured most of the rest of the year. is carried on from last month sive when lined up beside the par- lights if you watch through very because the Perseids are best seen Look to the north-east on a good ent planet. Anyway, it’s the only powerful binoculars! in August. night and you’ll see the Square Moon we’ve got. N e p t u n e : i s a t During the peak, the rate of meteors of Pegasus. Above it can be found Mars Opposition on the 27th, can be up to sixty or so per hour. M15, an interesting globular cluster rd 3 Moon at Apogee In the morning sky in high overhead at midnight. Difficult These meteors are dusty remnants of of stars. To us it isn’t very bright but the Swift-Tuttle that has left th Gemini before moving into Cancer. to see in small telescopes. that’s because it’s 33,000 light years 7 New Moon Still just a tiny red dot even in tele- a trail of debris in a path around the away. Actually it has a total lumi- th scopes. solar system. Each year the Earth 14 First Quarter nosity of 360,000 times that of our Pluto: was in Opposition passes through this trail and collides Sun. Messier 15 is one of the most until he saw the Alpha 19th Moon at perigee Jupiter In the eastern with many small pieces- ranging densely packed globular clusters morning sky in Gemini. being sniffed by a couple of others. from grains of sand to golf-ball size in our galaxy. Its has an enormous 21st Full Moon The Moon slides by Were they baring fangs or smiling? stones. number of stars surrounding what Could there be a fight for leadership The Perseids are best seen in the pre- th early in the month. could possibly be a hungry central 28 Last Quarter of that pack? Please say ‘yes.’ dawn northern sky, black hole with evil intentions.. The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 84 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe NSW 2037. Tel: 02 9518 7255 The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 519 Burke Road, Camberwell Vic 3124. Tel: 03 9822 0033 August 2013 * Volume 338 * Page 4

Letters to the Milanković cont. In honour of his many achievements in astronomy, an Editor impact crater on the far side of the Moon was given the name Milankovic at the 14th IAU General Assem- Macarthur Astronomical Society Inc: NSW ☎ 0427 634 004 Chris Malikoff www.macastro.org.au bly in 1970. His name is also given to a crater on Mars Sutherland Astronomical Society Inc: NSW at the 15th IAU General Assembly in 1973. Since 1993 ☎ (02)9832 4082 Brett McMillan.www.sasi.net.au the Milutin Milankovitch Medal has been awarded by July Northern Sydney Astronomical Society Inc: ☎ Bob Fuller 0423 971374 www.nsas.org.au the European Geophysical Society (called the EGU His Eminence Professor Dr Nervo Sydney City Skywatchers (BAA) (NSW) since 2003) for contributions in the area of climate. Shatterini, Advisor Emeritus to ☎ 9398 9705 www.sydneycityskywatchers.asn.au A main belt discovered in 1936 has also been political functionaries of all persua- The Astronomical Society of NSW. ☎ 0428 965 249 John O’Brien www.asnsw.com dubbed 1605 Milankovitch. sions, suggests strongly that you The Western Sydney Amateur Astro Group Inc Milanković has been ranked among the top fifteen sit down and answer the following ☎ Gerry Aarts 0416 292 020 www.wsaag.org minds of all time in the field of earth sciences in questions before the next elec- Sydney Northwest Astronomical Society ☎ (02) 9634 1736 Ken Petersen NASA’s “On the Shoulders of Giants”. tions occupy the remnants of your The Wollongong Astronomy Club. NSW Hi Mike, brainpower: ☎ (02) 4261 9369 Paul Brown Many thanks for the passes to the Science Centre and (1) What’s the common name of The Illawarra Astronomical Society: NSW ☎ (02) 4276 3199 Peter McKinnon Planetarium. We visited last Tuesday and had a truly 511? www.illawarraastronomicalsociety.hostoi.com wonderful day. There were two floors of interactive SPECTRA (2) Which famous comet is associ- Shoalhaven Astronomers: South Coast NSW exhibits including a new section on nanotechnology. ☎ (02) 4423 2255 Jack Apfelbaum with the ated with the Taurid meteors? www.shoalhavenastronomers.asn.au The Planetarium had excellent seating, sound and im- (3) Faintest Constellation is...? The Astronomical Society of the Hunter: NSW ages. The staff were friendly and helpful to all. We STAR ANALYSER 100 (4) The brightest constellation? (02) 4937 4664 Col Maybury [email protected] Newcastle Astronomical Society: NSW thought that families would have a great day out here (5) The Clown Face Nebula’s other ☎ (02) 4950 0725 Allan Meehan www.nas.org.au especially the kids who would just love the shop full name? Coffs Harbour Astronomical Society: NSW of amazing science toys. (6) In which constellation is the ☎ (02) 6653 2742 Win Howard Coonabarabran Astronomical Society, NSW Kind Regards, Ghost of Jupiter? ☎ [email protected] Irene Waring. (7) Is the Sun in Cancer from Central West Astronomical Society, NSW 22June to 22July? John Sarkissian: [email protected]. Port Macquarie Astronomical Association NSW Thanks Irene, I’m glad you enjoyed the day! Mike (8) Which star has moved from ☎ 0403 683 394 Rodney Neasbey www.pmobs.org.au Lynx into Ursa Major? Grafton Astronomical Society, NSW Dear Editor, (9) Which famous meteor shower ☎ (02) 6646 2195 Mick Austin, President Pro tem. Bombala Astronomy Group, NSW I’ve been trying to see the Horsehead Nebula for the peaks this month? UNE & Northern Tablelands Astronomical Society past couple of years.I know roughly where it is. But I (10) Who invented the Plossl eye- ☎ 0438 518 483 Michael Williams can’t see it. Talk about frustrating! piece? Clarence Valley Astronomical Society ☎ (02) 6643 3288 Steve Fletcher I heard about a test of telescope eyepieces some years (11) Who named the variable in Ballaarat Astronomical Society: Vic ago. The person said that he could see the Horsehead Cetus as Mira? ☎ (03) 5332 7526 [email protected] Nebula with a 30mm eyepieces in a 250mm Newto- (12) It’s said that the Chinese http://observatory.ballarat.net Bendigo District Astronomical Society nian telescope. This was in the country. He said that saw five planets in Capricornus in PO Box 164 Bendigo Vic 3552 . Kate McMillan he could see detail in the Horsehead using a filter. Has which year? Astronomical Society of Victoria Inc anybody else been able to see detail in the Horsehead (13) In which constellation is the ☎ (03) 9888 7130. Linda Mockridge www.asv.org.au Latrobe Valley Astronomical Society Vic in a 250mm telescope- with a low-powered eyepiece? centre of our galaxy? ☎ (03) 5122 3014 home.vicnet.net.au/~lvas What is the best telescope to see the Horsehead? Now Available! (14) Where will you find the Eagle Astronomical Society of Geelong, Vic What is the best eyepiece to see the Horsehead Nebu- Nebula? ☎ 0407 345 070 Frank Baker for details. http://vicnet.net.au~asog la? And which filter would be the best? USES: (15) Who invented the gyroscope Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society, I really want to see the Horsehead Nebula! * Professional Astronomers routinely use the power and the ‘knife-edge test’ for optical ☎ 0419 253 252 Peter Skilton for details. James of spectroscopy to reveal the secrets of the universe. mirrors? http://www.mpas.asn.au Astronomy Benalla 03 5762 1523 Rupe Cheetham Now the STAR ANALYSER can do the same for the (16) What is the most common el- www.astronomybenalla.org.au amateur imager at an affordable price with this simple ement in the universe? Astronomical Society of Albury-Wodonga (17) Which existing constellation ☎Petra De Ruyter 0431 535 417 www.asaw.org.au telescope attachment. Mount Burnett Observatory. mtburnettobservatory.org * Used like a conventional 1.25 inch filter, it is the is referred to in the bible? ☎ 0419 516 560 Ray Schmidt. ideal accessory for today’s low cost astronomical im- (18) In which year did the Holden Snake Valley Astronomical Association (Vic) Torana GTR-XU1 first appear? ☎ 0418 425 207 Me Ken James. aging cameras, webcams and video cameras. Canberra Astronomical Society: ACT * For example, with a telescope of just 80mm aperture (19) How many constellations can ☎ (02)6248 0552 J. Howard and a simple unmodified webcam, the hidden charac- Pluto wander through? www.mso.anu.edu.au/cas (20) Of what does a Galilean tele- Brisbane Astronomical Society: Qld teristics of hundreds of stars down to magnitude +4 ☎ (07) 3321 8511 Darryl Mitchell can be revealed. With a 200mm aperture and a sensi- scope consist? www.bas.asn.au tive long exposure CCD imager, the identification of Award yourself half a point for Southern Astronomical Society:Qld every answer supplied by Google- ☎ 0421 866 376 Joe Zerafa. www.sas.org.au bright Novae and Supernovae or even a measurement Astronomical Association of Queensland, Qld Thanks James, I’m sure there are plenty of amateur of the expansion of the universe from the redshift of a three points for every answer you

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I don’t think my liver Has that got anythin’ to do with a certain No Mick, I won’t go Why not? can handle too much Night Sky is published monthly by State of Origin? The Binocular and Telescope Shop Pty Ltd Hey Don, near the place this I thought you Queensland ‘ambience’ 84 Wentworth Park Rd, Glebe 2037 enjoyed the Tel: (02) 9518 7255 Fax: (02) 9518 5711 are you year. at the moment. Any errors, mis-spellings, dropped apostrophes ambience and lost words are the fault of Mike Smith. goin’ up Whinges or comments should be send to- -and the [email protected] to Brissie Printed in a small back lane at Artarmon astronomy. by Master Printing. for the This newsletter is available at The Binocular and Telescope Shop and at many Astrofest astronomical society meetings and astronomy centres around Australia. this Night Sky is available free by email month? or in print by sending $20 to Bintel. Ask [email protected] to be on the mailing list for the NIGHT SKY.