Mercury Society

Cotswold C A Astronomical S Mercury Society Volume 19 Issue 5 - January 2004 Inside this issue . Editor’s Spot 2 Coordinator’s Spot 2 The Young Challengers 4 Astronauts and Cosmonauts 5 Accommodation Review 7 Redshift 5 - a review 8 Deep Impact certificate 9 Making Astronomy (part 2) 10 Occultation (that nearly was) 13 Holiday Greetings 14 Derek Maskell’s telescope Mercury - The Newsletter of the Cotswold Astronomical Society, founded 1982 Editor’s Spot are dealing with here on Earth are just as per- by Peter Cadogan tinent as they were then, and indeed the world is a very dangerous place, perhaps for many of All is looking very bleak for Beagle 2, so let’s us more so. Today’s bomb was in Moscow, not now hope that the rest of Mars Express goes far from where I visited the Kremlin and well and trust that this will not mark the end reported to you in a past Mercury, and of this country’s adventures into space. It was although the prospect of visiting many places a joy to be in Pembrokeshire over the New today seems to put many of them off limits, it Year. Not only did I participate in the charity should not deter us. swim in the sea, I was also able to see all three open clusters in Auriga with the naked eye, In these times many people say that space surprising when they are supposedly below exploration is a waste of money and problems magnitude 6. Oh for such dark skies at home. on Earth are worthier of our attention. I totally disagree with this. If we on this planet spent a In this issue we have some thought provoking fraction of the money that we spend to wage words from Duncan on the space race (with his war on space exploration it would be money own illustration!) and his personal contacts well spent. Many of the conflicts that are with astronauts, together with his report of his waged on this planet revolve around talk to the Young Challengers. Derek Maskell resources, and their dispersion, or lack thereof. has provided part 2 of his fascinating account The symbolic space race of the 1960’s created of how he first became interested in astrono- the technology for many states and groups of my, Martin Sinton describes an ideal location nations, to monitor farming resources, weath- for astronomy in the south-west and we have er patterns, global warming patterns, and Alan’s picture of the latest promising comet as other factors that influence the availability of well as his asteroid “occultation” story. the resources. By understanding these issues, all humans should have fairer access to food I was asked to review the latest version of the and water. So when people who are content to planetarium sofware called Redshift for the let war rage, say space is a waste of money, I magazine and I also received a complimentary have to disagree. Which is better the bomb or copy of the very latest “Moon Book” from the technological equivalent of the plough? Chuck Wood, complimentary because it has Five Christmas’s before I was born, whilst war my picture in it! And if you missed getting raged unabated in Vietnam, students the your name on the Mars DVDs, you can still be world over were taking to the streets, and as immortalised on a comet, thanks to NASA’s some people fought for recognition of their Deep Impact mission. very humanity, three emissaries of humankind reported back to Earth from the orbit of the Co-ordinators spot moon. For the first time they witnessed with by Duncan Willoughby human eyes the beauty and fallibility of our blue oasis in the cold dark universe. At that This evening as I write this co-ordinators spot, moment as three Americans sped around the it is near to Christmas and yet again there has moon, the world’s eyes had been opened to the been another horrific bombing, and loss of life. futility of our conflicts. They had seen the big- I am not old enough to remember events such ger picture of our existence, and it set a new as the Cuban Missile crisis, or other events stage for the development of humankind. during the Cold War that brought us on this Whilst these first pioneers were not to open up planet to the brink of mutual annihilation. I do the Frontier of space as a brave new world, not remember the Space Race of those years they gave their leaders food for thought, and that attempted in part to put the ideological changed the place in which we humans live for struggle into space, and conduct it with sym- ever. For the knowledge of future human bols as opposed to real weapons. The world is beings these astronauts had turned a page, a different place to then, but the problems we with the realisation that no matter how hard Page 2 we fight each other we are all in this together, finite resources by attacking each other, and and our success or failure hinges on each of insulating ourselves from our irrational fears. our efforts. The symbol of the new frontier had the power to unite people once before, and open many When robotic explorers traveled to the edge of eyes to the universe on our doorstep, I trust for our solar system, and challenged the very lim- all our futures that it can do the same again, for its of our imagination, let alone our intelli- all Mankind. gence, was this money well spent? You bet! In the act of visiting the gas giants of our own A peaceful and prosperous New Year. solar system, humankind discovered some- thing new, not destroyed it. It created a new The Young Challengers, understanding of our solar system, and com- Hesters Way, 28th November 2003 pleted a circle of understanding started in the by Duncan Willoughby renaissance. There was no navel gazing here, rather the first glimpse of a new horizon of At the end of August, I was contacted by a human knowledge. If ever there were a real lady called Wendy Ruffle, with a view to moment that equated to the fictional revela- organising a talk and viewing night at another tions to humans by the monolith in the film new venue! 2001, Voyager’s first glimpse of the Jovian system were it. Earlier in the year, she and her young son had attended the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust On 17th December 2003 many have indicated evening at Slimbridge. During the Slimbridge that American President George W. Bush will evening, Wendy told me that her son was announce that America will return to the extremely interested in Space and Astronomy, Moon in the next ten years. Whilst no doubt and was currently carrying out a school project there is political expedience to this move, I sin- about the subject. After taking a look through cerely hope that the symbol of the 100th one of the telescopes, their evening was made Anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ flight is complete, and I promised that I would send not the only reason for this announcement. him some posters and leaflets. I duly sent the After the triumph of the first Chinese human material and thought nothing more about it. crewed spaceflight, I hope that a new era of Then I received a call. Human exploration can be ushered in, based on mutual co-operation, not distrust. The Wendy and her son enjoyed the Slimbridge future is that unexplored new Ocean out there. evening so much, that they were keen to It’s time to be brave and leave the harbour and organise another similar evening for their set sail for the voyage of our lives. Church group, the Young Challengers. This is a youth group based in the Hesters Way area Our little planet is the only one that appears to of Cheltenham which caters for young people be suitable for us, and the other creatures that from 5-15 years of age, and undertakes a pro- live on it. We have a duty as one of the most gramme of religious instruction, activities, and intellectually advanced representatives of life study badges, very much along the line of sim- here, to protect and nurture it, with a devel- ilar programmes organised by the Scouts, and oped understanding of the environment in other youth groups. which it exists. We cannot do this, if we fall upon each other and engage in pointless and We arranged two talks, one for the youngsters wanton destruction. Besides which we are from 5-10 years, and a longer talk for the amateurs up against the power of the universe teenagers. If weather permitted we would and all that it can throw at us. Better to under- organise some observations using binoculars, stand threats such as Near Earth Asteroids, or telescopes, and a bit of general naked eye Solar weather and take steps to protect our- astronomy to identify for beginners, the major selves where we can, than squandering our constellations. Page 3 Having set in to context what stars are, how My father and I arrived at 6.30 on a cold and they grow and age, it is useful to then give the overcast Friday night. I had had a hectic day at audience an estimate of how many stars there work, so generally was a bit tired, but ready to are. By looking conceptually at the amount of get talking and explaining the subject to the stars there are, it is easier then to explain cities audience.

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