Volume 30, Issue 5 January / February 2013 Inside this issue: End of an era Editor’s Desk 2 Coordinator’s 2 Report Sir Patrick 4 Moore Remem- bered Observing Di- 5 rector’s Notes Dates For Your 6 Diary Looking Back 10 Sir Patrick Moore Remembered. By John Fletcher Society Loan 14 Equipment (see page 4) Events schedule 15 Page 2 Mercury — January / February 2013 Editor's Desk Well it’s that time again. Here is the first issue of Mercury for 2013. Over the past couple of years Mercury has run to 20 or 24 pages. The more observant of you may have noticed that both the November issue and this current publica- tion only contain 16 pages. ‘Why?’ you might ask. I might answer ‘Mercury is prepared from contributions from the membership, it is quite a task to produce to a newsletter If there is no news!’ So let’s have it folks. Observations, sto- ries, sketches, images..whatever you feel like sharing. This is your chance to show off. Make the most of it. Rik NGC281 The Pacman Nebula Co-ordinater’s Report Ha image mapped to red. By Peter Cadogan Also at the December meeting, Peter Bur- gess gave us a fascinating account of the 3.5 hours total expo- Looking back on 2012, it has certainly been sure in 10 min subs. Hoba meteorite fall in South Africa, which an interesting year for astronomy and he visited out in the Namibian wilderness a space science. In a poll of members at the few years ago. It was certainly facinating last meeting, the most significant event of to hear that it must have lost most of its the year was deemed to have been the cosmic velocity to have survived the im- landing of Curiosity on Mars, closely fol- pact without being vapourised. Perhaps it lowed by the discovery of the Higgs Boson “skipped” over the atmosphere at a shal- at the LHC. But there have been some low angle a few times. As we visit more other equally profound discoveries, nota- and more asteroids we will start to under- bly galaxies that were formed just 400 stand better where these enigmatic bodies million years after the Big Bang (imaged by came from. Perhaps we will even land as- Hubble’s Extra Deep Field) and earth-sized tronauts on one and use it as a base for “January is planets found around distant stars, discov- exploring the rest of the solar system. ered by Kepler. Perhaps the most extraor- going to a dinary find was the discovery of water ice The very latest astronomy news, of course, busy month at the poles of the planet Mercury. How has been that Sir Patrick Moore is no could it possibly survive so close to the longer with us. He was responsible for the Sun? I am personally most interested in the throughout his long life for inspiring many society...” results recently returned by the lunar generations to take up practical astronomy gravity mission, Grail, whose probes, and interest us in what is “up there”. My imaginatively called “Ebb” and “Flow”, family didn’t even have a television set at have now crashed into the moon. We now home when he began broadcasting “The have a much better understanding of the Sky at Night”, but his interest in mapping structure of the moon’s interiors and it the moon was very useful at the start of would appear that the lunar crust is a lot the space program and I am very happy to thinner than we previously thought it was. have a 1953 copy of his “Guide to the Moon” on my bookshelf. I only met him Volume 30, Issue 5 Page 3 personally once, at an astronomy conven- Those of you who came to the December tion in Bristol many years ago, but the meeting will have heard about our eventful sight of him speaking to a large audience holiday in Australia, which culminated in about whatever came into his head at the just managing to view the total solar time was an experience not to be missed. eclipse from near Cairns through a small One thing that Patrick never needed was a hole in the clouds. I was unfortunately “one of our most microphone. unable to photograph it myself, because pressing my camera got damaged in the rain on top requirements is As we look forward to 2013 as a society, of a granite monolith, but our neighbours one of our most pressing requirements is in our B&B, Brain and Jill, were sitting to elect a new to elect a new Membership Secretary at next to us on the beach and were able to Membership the AGM. Rod Salisbury has combined this catch the event for us. I am pleased to role with that of Treasurer for 13 years report that the camera has now been Secretary at the and the rapid recent growth in member- mended, It was a truly awesome experi- AGM” ship means that the workload has grown ence to see the sun disappear to reveal the too much to be managed by one person. So pink prominences around the “black hole” please give this some serious thought in and the delicate structure of the corona good time before the AGM in April. If you through binoculars. We now look forward want to know more about what is involved, to going to the USA in 2017 – I am already please contact Rod or myself. As you starting to plan our itinerary (Grand Can- would be manning the desk at meetings, it yon, Arizona Crater, Monument Valley, would be a great way to get to know mem- Yellowstone, etc). And good luck to Rod bers, so it might well suit a couple. and Rosemary in the mid-Atlantic next year. January is going to a busy month for the society, with three Stargazing Live open Clear Skies meetings planned. At 6pm on Friday 18th we will be joining forces with the National Trust on Minchinhampton Common, by the reservoir, and the following day we will try to repeat our previous successful events at Century Hall from 6.30pm. Then on Sunday 20th we will be at Nature in Art, near Gloucester, from 6.30pm. Fuller de- tails can be found on the BBC Things to Do web site at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ thingstodo/project/stargazing-live We hope that many of you will be able to participate in one or more of these events. Just bring a telescope along and wrap up warm. There will be lots of opportunities for sharing your knowledge, however lim- ited, with some absolute beginners and their children. Let us hope that we have some luck with the weather. Through the clouds by Bryan Coxall Page 4 Mercury — January / February 2013 Sir Patrick Moore 1923 - 2012 By John R. Fletcher F.R.A.S. Patrick would often throw big parties for all his friends and often big marquees were put up and hundreds were With deep regret, sadly one of the most famous as- invited to come along. His many "Sky at Night" anniver- tronomers, a great friend of mine, Sir Patrick Alfred sary parties such as the 45 year and 55 year celebra- Caldwell-Moore, died today aged 89. tions were wonderful. He recently supported Cystic Fibrosis and held a garden party at his home earlier this Patrick was a dedicated amateur astronomer who be- year which was a great success. If fact he has sup- came known worldwide as an author of many hundreds ported and helped many throughout his life and at of books, a writer, radio commentator and television great expense. That was Patrick. He strongly supports presenter. Since 1957 he was the presenter of his tele- the Cat protection society and recently wrote and had vision programme on the BBC called 'The Sky at Night' published a book called "Miaow! Cats really are nicer making this a world record for the longest running tele- than people" He loves cats and his little black cat vision programme retaining the same presenter. Ptolemy was a number one in his life. There were al- He was an inspiration to myself and everyone that he ways groups visiting him and everyone went away with met and all who spoke to him. He encouraged every- wonderful memories of this great man. one, and in particular young children to learn all about He was a former president of The British Astronomical astronomy and the stars above. Association, and was elected into The Royal Society and My regular astronomy lectures called "The Solar System later received him knighthood and personal coat of and Beyond" and to teach astronomy to young children I arms that he was so proud of. try to put in a way that the average person could un- His main observing passion was the Moon. I have seen derstand. This was endorsed by Sir Patrick many dec- the many thousands of his original drawings of the ades ago. Moons crater formations. On my many stays at his lovely home in Selsey I had the As with many famous astronomers of the past he also privilege to meet many famous people and hundreds of had a strong link with music as a composer and also his friends and visitors. Often I was given the job in enjoyed playing the xylophone and piano. He wrote recent years to show them around his three fine obser- marches and waltzes. The very first music he played to vatories, one housing a fine 15inch telescope.