San Jose Astronomical Association Membership Form P.O
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EPHEMERIS November 2011 SJAA Activities Calendar The (Unusual) Making of a Jim Van Nuland Planet November p.m, 5% moon sets 6:30 p.m. Henry Paul Kohlmiller 4 Houge Park star party. Sunset 6:07 Coe Park’s “Astronomy” lot has been When a star of sufficient size explodes p.m, 74% moon sets 2:56 a.m. Star reserved. in a nova, the remnant can be a pulsar. party hours: 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. December Pulsars are neutron stars, stars that 5 Houge Park star party. Sunset 6:06 2 Houge Park star party. Sunset 4:50 are so dense that atoms are crushed p.m, 81% moon sets 3:52 a.m. Part p.m, 57% moon sets 12:44 a.m. Star to the point that only neutrons exist. of the Bay Area Astronomy & Sci- party hours: 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. Imagine shrinking the size of the sun ence Festival. 10 General Meeting. Board meeting at to the size of the city of San Jose. The 6 DST ends at 2 a.m. Retard clocks to 6:30; General Meeting at 8:00. Our pulses come from beams that come 1 a.m. speaker is Dr. Bruce Margon, on out from the magnetic poles. These beams of (typically) X-ray or radio 12 General Meeting. Board meeting “Glimpsing the Edge of the Universe: electromagnetic radiation sweep around at 6:30; General Meeting at 8:00. Results from the Hubble Space Tele- as the star rotates. So from Earth they Our speaker is Dr. Lynn Rothschild, scope”. appear to be flashes. on Life at the Edge: Life in Extreme 16 Astronomy Class at Houge Park. 7:00 Environments on Earth and the p.m. The topic: The Sun, planets and Pulsars are so consistent they are as Search for Life in the Universe. minor solar system objects. accurate as atomic time clocks. This 13 Astronomical Swap Meet. Noon to 16 Houge Park star party. Sunset 4:52 means that when something perturbs late afternoon. p.m, 60% moon rises 11:23 p.m. Star them, like another object orbiting the 18 Astronomy Class at Houge Park. party hours: 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. pulsar, it is easy to characterize what 7:00 p.m. The topic: Amateur 17 Dark-Sky weekend. Sunset 4:52 p.m, must be causing the blips in the data. telescope making, why, how and 33% moon rises 1:33 a.m. Of course, many stars are binary stars. where. With members of the 24 Dark-Sky weekend. Sunset 4:55 p.m, What happens to the companion star? Chabot Science Center’s Telescope 5% moon sets 6:30 p.m. Henry Coe Well, one outcome is that the mass of Maker’s Workshop. Park’s “Astronomy” lot has been the second star gets pulled bit-by-bit 18 Houge Park star party. Sunset 4:56 reserved. onto the neutron star. These are called p.m, 44% moon rises 12:25 a.m. 30 Houge Park star party. Sunset 4:59 “Black Widow” pulsars. Now, think Star party hours: 7:00 until 10:00 p.m, 40% moon sets 11:30 p.m. Star about what that kind of ablation means. p.m. party hours: 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. The companion star gets smaller and 19 Houge Park star party. Star party smaller. It might have started out as a for students of Live Oak Academy, The Board of Directors meets before sun-like star but it loses mass. Eventually Conducted by the School star each general meeting at 6:30 p.m. All Continued on page 2 party team. Others welcome too. are welcome to attend. 19 Dark-Sky weekend. Sunset 4:55 24 hour news and information hotline: p.m, 33% moon rises 1:33 a.m. (408) 559-1221 26 Dark-Sky weekend. Sunset 4:52 http://www.sjaa.net Copyright © 2011 San Jose Astronomical Association, Inc. Volume 22 Number 11 Official publication of the San Jose Astronomical Association, November 2011 The (Unusual) Making of a Planet planetary system. On the other hand, have companions and some do not. The Continued from page 1 these strange exoplanets are the lowest distinction, as you might expect, is how it will no longer have the mass necessary mass exoplanets discovered to date, as close the companion is when it starts to continue nuclear fusion. Then it gets small as the Moon. losing mass to the larger star. If it is far even smaller until it becomes ... Jupiter! enough away, say several solar radii, the Or at least something about that size. Although the planetary companion companion will survive. of PSRJ1719-1438 is about the size of In Science magazine (Sept. 23, 2011), Jupiter, its mass is about 20 times that of But should this pulsar companion researchers describe finding a planet Jupiter. This suggests it is not made up be considered a planet at all. You will around a pulsar (PSR J1719-1438) that of hydrogen and helium, the best guess recall the 2006 attempt to restrict the is spinning very fast - one rotation in 6 is carbon. At these pressures, the carbon definition of “planet’ which excluded milliseconds or less. Its companion can would be in a crystallized form, hence Pluto, to the horror of school kids be detected by perturbations in the this planet’s nickname “The Diamond around the world. The article for Science pulses that can be detected on Earth. As Planet”. was written by Frederic Rasio from a star the companion probably got to be Northwestern. He says “The lesson here a carbon white dwarf. In Science magazine, one article is a is perhaps that, as our rapidly improving summarization of a more technical astronomical instruments make it Planets around pulsars are not new. paper. In this case the technical paper is possible to detect objects of smaller and The very first exoplanets were detected written by M. Bailes et. al. (where the “al” smaller mass in distant and, sometimes, around pulsar PSR B1257+12. They are consists of 17 coauthors). A question very exotic environments, any narrow often considered to be “not real planets” raised in the technical paper is why definition of planet will soon become because of the strange nature of their should some millisecond pulsars (MSP) obsolete.” Contact (The Reel and the Real): Humanity’s Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence A film and talk with Dr. Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute Wednesday evening, Nov. 2, at 6 - 9:30 p.m. Andrew Fraknoi Directions to Houge Park McKenna Theater at San Francisco State University, Houge (rhymes with “Yogi”) Park is in San Jose, Holloway Avenue and Tapia Drive, San Francisco, CA near Campbell and Los Gatos. From Hwy. 17, take the 94132 (For a map and parking links, see: http://www.sfsu. Camden Avenue exit. Go east 0.4 miles, and turn right edu/~sfsumap/) at the light, onto Bascom Avenue. At the next light, turn left onto Woodard Road. At the first stop sign, turn right Co-sponsored by the SF State Department of Physics onto Twilight Drive. Go three blocks, cross Sunrise Drive, and Astronomy. Free and Open to the Public (seats are then turn left into the park. available first come, first served) From Hwy. 85, take the Bascom Avenue exit. Go north, and turn right at the first traffic light, onto White Join astronomer Jill Tarter, whose work and life was a key Oaks Road. At the first stop sign, turn left onto Twilight model for the character Jodie Foster plays in the film Drive. You will now be passing the park. Turn right at the Contact, for a very special evening of science fiction and first driveway, into the parking lot. cutting-edge science. We will screen the full-length film about the discovery of intelligent life among the stars, and then hear Dr. Tarter discuss her ongoing work at the SETI Institute to find radio signals from alien civilizations. After her film and the talk, there will be time for questions from the audience. SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 2 November 2011 The Shallow Sky Flooded craters Akkana Peck Daylight Savings Time ends on while you’re in the area, just south of low for anyone but the most dedicated November 6: it’s time to set your clocks there is Capuanus, the “bear paw” (Rukl Plutocrat. back again (those that aren’t set by chart 63), another interesting filled-in radio or internet signals). So we’ll get a “ghost crater”. It’s called the “bear paw” But the real star of November nights little more evening time to observe this because of the claws extending from it. is Jupiter. I wrote last month that this month. Take a look — you’ll see! should be an excellent Jupiter year (weather permitting, of course). The And that’s handy, because Mercury Another excellent flooded lunar crater giant planet is only a few days past hangs in the early evening sky most of is Fracastorius (Rukl chart 58), a lovely opposition as we move into November, the month — and it’s not alone there. It horseshoe crater rim with a smoothly and since it’s relatively far north — sits near Venus for the first two weeks, filled floor. It makes a nice sight at transiting as high as 65 degrees — with Antares joining the pair on the 9th sunrise with its neighbor Piccolomini. maybe some of you were able to show it and 10th. Try them on Halloween or on November to the kiddies on Halloween.