A Topical Index to the Main Articles in Mercury Magazine (1972 – 2019) Compiled by Andrew Fraknoi (U
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The First President of the IAU, Benjamin Baillaud
Under One Sky – the IAU Centenary Symposium Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 349, 2019 c 2019 International Astronomical Union D. Valls-Gabaud, C. Sterken & J.B. Hearnshaw eds. DOI: 00.0000/X000000000000000X The first President of the IAU, Benjamin Baillaud Jean-Louis Bougeret Observatoire de Paris – Universit´ePSL Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA) F-92195 Meudon, France email: [email protected] Abstract. Benjamin Baillaud was appointed president of the First Executive Committee of the International Astronomical Union which met in Brussels during the Constitutive Assembly of the International Research Council (IRC) on July 28th, 1919. He served in this position until 1922, at the time of the First General Assembly of the IAU which took place in Rome, May 2–10. At that time, Baillaud was director of the Paris Observatory. He had previously been director of the Toulouse Observatory for a period of 30 years and Dean of the School of Sciences of the University of Toulouse. He specialized in celestial mechanics and he was a strong supporter of the “Carte du Ciel” project; he was elected chairman of the permanent international committee of the Carte du Ciel in 1909. He also was the founding president of the Bureau International de l’Heure (BIH) and he was directly involved in the coordination of the ephemerides at an international level. In this paper, we present some of his activities, particularly those concerning international programmes, for which he received international recognition and which eventually led to his election in 1919 to the position of first president of the IAU. -
Review Section
CSIRO PUBLISHING www.publish.csiro.au/journals/hras Historical Records of Australian Science, 2004, 15, 121–138 Review Section Compiled by Libby Robin Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (CRES), Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia. Email: [email protected] Tom Frame and Don Faulkner: Stromlo: loss of what he described as a ‘national an Australian observatory. Allen & Unwin: icon’. Sydney, 2003. xix + 363 pp., illus., ISBN 1 Institutional histories are often suffused 86508 659 2 (PB), $35. with a sense of inevitability. Looking back from the security of a firmly grounded present, the road seems straight and well marked. The journey that is reconstructed is one where the end point is always known, where uncertainties and diversions are forgotten — a journey that lands neatly on the institution’s front doorstep. Institu- tional histories are often burdened, too, by the expectation that they will not merely tell a story, but provide a record of achieve- ment. Written for the institution’s staff, as well as broader public, they can become bogged down in the details of personnel and projects. In this case, the fires of January 2003 add an unexpected final act Few institutional histories could boast such to what is a fairly traditional story of a dramatic conclusion as Stromlo: an Aus- growth and success. The force of nature tralian observatory. The manuscript was intervenes to remind us of the limits of substantially complete when a savage fire- inevitability, to fashion from the end point storm swept through the pine plantations another beginning. flanking Mount Stromlo, destroying all the The book is roughly divided into halves. -
Gryphon: a Flexible Lunar Lander Design to Support a Semi-Permanent Lunar Outpost
AIAA SPACE 2007 Conference & Exposition AIAA 2007-6169 18 - 20 September 2007, Long Beach, California The Gryphon: A Flexible Lunar Lander Design to Support a Semi-Permanent Lunar Outpost Dale Arney1, Joseph Hickman,1 Philip Tanner,1 John Wagner,1 Marc Wilson,1 and Dr. Alan Wilhite2 Georgia Institute of Technology/National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA, 23666 A lunar lander is designed to provide safe, reliable, and continuous access to the lunar surface by the year 2020. The NASA Exploration System Architecture is used to initially define the concept of operations, architecture elements, and overall system requirements. The design evaluates revolutionary concepts and technologies to improve the performance and safety of the lunar lander while minimizing the associated cost using advanced systems engineering capabilities and multi-attribute decision making techniques. The final design is a flexible (crew and/or cargo) lander with a side-mounted minimum ascent stage and a separate stage to perform lunar orbit insertion. Nomenclature ACC = Affordability and Cost Criterion AFM = Autonomous Flight Manager AHP = Analytic Hierarchy Process ALHAT = Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology ATP = Authority to Proceed AWRS = Advanced Air & Water Recovery System CDR = Critical Design Review CER = Cost Estimating Relationship CEV = Crew Exploration Vehicle CH4 = Methane DDT&E = Design, Development, Testing and Evaluation DOI = Descent Orbit Insertion DSM = Design Structure Matrix ECLSS = Environmental Control & Life Support System -
The Denver Observer December 2017
The Denver DECEMBER 2017 OBSERVER Messier 76, the Little Dumbbell Nebula, one of the deep-sky objects featured in this month’s “Skies.” Image © Joe Gafford. DECEMBER SKIES by Zachary Singer The Solar System of view in your ’scope will include the Moon’s Sky Calendar 3 Full Moon December will be a decent month for eastern section and the star, with plenty of 10 Last-Quarter Moon planetary events; though some planets are room. 17 New Moon slipping from view, others will take their I recommend you observe early—it 26 First-Quarter Moon place. We also have an occultation of Alde- should be a beautiful view, with the star a baran; as seen from Denver, the Moon will bright spark near the Moon’s edge, and over pass in front of the star at approximately the following minutes (they’ll go fast, just like In the Observer 4:06 PM, on the 30th. At that point, with the recent solar eclipse did), you can see the Moon move in its orbit around us, using the sunset still more than half an hour away, the President’s Message . .2 star won’t be visible to the naked eye, but it star for a benchmark. (Before 4:00 PM, look Society Directory. 2 should be in a telescope if you know where for Aldebaran outside the square, but along to look: Imagine a square drawn just large the diagonal from the Moon’s center to that Schedule of Events . 2 enough to touch the edges of the Moon, and lower-left edge.) About Denver Astronomical Society . -
William Liller (1927–2021)
Bulletin of the AAS • Vol. 53, Issue 2 William Liller (1927–2021) Alan Hirshfeld1, Christine Jones2, William Forman2 1UMass Dartmouth, 2Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Published on: Apr 07, 2021 DOI: 10.3847/25c2cfeb.97f3253d License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0) Bulletin of the AAS • Vol. 53, Issue 2 William Liller (1927–2021) William Liller died on Sunday the 28th of February 2021. William (“Bill”) Liller, research mentor and major contributor to the study of planetary nebulae, comets, asteroids, magnetic activity in cool stars, the optical identification of X-ray sources, and astro-archaeology, died peacefully in his sleep on 28 February 2021, after a brief illness. He was 93 years old. Born on 1 April 1927 in Philadelphia to Carroll Kalbaugh “Pete” Liller, an advertising executive, and his wife, Catherine Dellinger Liller, Bill noted in the book “Asteroids to Quasars” that he became “obsessed with astronomy” in Photo courtesy Clive Grainger. August 1932, when his uncle drove up from West Virginia in a Model A Ford to view a solar eclipse from New York, near where Bill’s family was living at the time. At age 13, Bill’s report on the Quadrantid meteor shower was cited in an article in Popular Astronomy from the American Meteor Society. In his letter to the society, Bill had misspelled the name of the society’s director, C. P. Olivier, which Bill believed led to an intentional misspelling of his own name in the published article as “Billy Lillier.” In the February 2018 issue of the alumni magazine of Harvard’s Adams House, Bill recalled the years leading up to his matriculation in 1944: “After attending public schools in my home town of Atlanta, I was shipped off ‘to finish,’ and I spent my last two high school years at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. -
Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 165 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019 No. 187 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HAS NO called to order by the Speaker. United States of America, and to the Repub- FACTS lic for which it stands, one nation under God, f indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Mr. KELLER asked and was given PRAYER f permission to address the House for 1 minute.) The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, we J. Conroy, offered the following prayer: The SPEAKER. The Chair will enter- are now in week 2 of the ‘‘public phase’’ Eternal God, we give You thanks for tain up to five requests for 1-minute of Speaker PELOSI’s and Chairman giving us another day. Send Your spirit speeches on each side of the aisle. SCHIFF’s impeachment inquiry. of peace and calm, that all might have f What comes to mind is a song from confidence in Your faithfulness to us, 1980 by REO Speedwagon. I am not HOUSE DEMOCRATS WORK FOR and that no matter what lies ahead, going to do this any justice, but here it THE PEOPLE Your grace is abundantly available. is: ‘‘I heard it from a friend who heard Now we approach a week during (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given it from a friend who heard it from an- which all Americans will gather to re- permission to address the House for 1 other . -
Winter Constellations
Winter Constellations *Orion *Canis Major *Monoceros *Canis Minor *Gemini *Auriga *Taurus *Eradinus *Lepus *Monoceros *Cancer *Lynx *Ursa Major *Ursa Minor *Draco *Camelopardalis *Cassiopeia *Cepheus *Andromeda *Perseus *Lacerta *Pegasus *Triangulum *Aries *Pisces *Cetus *Leo (rising) *Hydra (rising) *Canes Venatici (rising) Orion--Myth: Orion, the great hunter. In one myth, Orion boasted he would kill all the wild animals on the earth. But, the earth goddess Gaia, who was the protector of all animals, produced a gigantic scorpion, whose body was so heavily encased that Orion was unable to pierce through the armour, and was himself stung to death. His companion Artemis was greatly saddened and arranged for Orion to be immortalised among the stars. Scorpius, the scorpion, was placed on the opposite side of the sky so that Orion would never be hurt by it again. To this day, Orion is never seen in the sky at the same time as Scorpius. DSO’s ● ***M42 “Orion Nebula” (Neb) with Trapezium A stellar nursery where new stars are being born, perhaps a thousand stars. These are immense clouds of interstellar gas and dust collapse inward to form stars, mainly of ionized hydrogen which gives off the red glow so dominant, and also ionized greenish oxygen gas. The youngest stars may be less than 300,000 years old, even as young as 10,000 years old (compared to the Sun, 4.6 billion years old). 1300 ly. 1 ● *M43--(Neb) “De Marin’s Nebula” The star-forming “comma-shaped” region connected to the Orion Nebula. ● *M78--(Neb) Hard to see. A star-forming region connected to the Orion Nebula. -
Binocular Universe: You're My Hero! December 2010
Binocular Universe: You're My Hero! December 2010 Phil Harrington on't you just love a happy ending? I know I do. Picture this. Princess Andromeda, a helpless damsel in distress, chained to a rock as a ferocious D sea monster loomed nearby. Just when all appeared lost, our hero -- Perseus! -- plunges out of the sky, kills the monster, and sweeps up our maiden in his arms. Together, they fly off into the sunset on his winged horse to live happily ever after. Such is the stuff of myths and legends. That story, the legend of Perseus and Andromeda, was recounted in last month's column when we visited some binocular targets within the constellation Cassiopeia. In mythology, Queen Cassiopeia was Andromeda's mother, and the cause for her peril in the first place. Left: Autumn star map from Star Watch by Phil Harrington Above: Finder chart for this month's Binocular Universe. Chart adapted from Touring the Universe through Binoculars Atlas (TUBA), www.philharrington.net/tuba.htm This month, we return to the scene of the rescue, to our hero, Perseus. He stands in our sky to the east of Cassiopeia and Andromeda, should the Queen's bragging get her daughter into hot water again. The constellation's brightest star, Mirfak (Alpha [α] Persei), lies about two-thirds of the way along a line that stretches from Pegasus to the bright star Capella in Auriga. Shining at magnitude +1.8, Mirfak is classified as a class F5 white supergiant. It radiates some 5,000 times the energy of our Sun and has a diameter 62 times larger. -
Title of the Paper
Variable Star and Exoplanet Section of Czech Astronomical Society and Planetarium Ostrava Proceedings of the 51st Conference on Variable Stars Research Planetarium Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic 1st November - 3rd November 2019 Editor-in-chief Radek Kocián Participants of the conference OPEN EUROPEAN JOURNAL ON VARIABLE STARS November 2020 http://oejv.physics.muni.cz ISSN 1801-5964 DOI: 10.5817/OEJV2020-0208 TABLE OF CONTENTS Modeling of GX Lacertae ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Cataclysmic variable CzeV404 Her ......................................................................................................................... 8 On the spin period variability in intermediate polars ............................................................................................. 11 Photometric and spectroscopic observation of symbiotic variables at private observatory Liptovská Štiavnica ... 18 Outburst activity of flare stars 2014 – 2019 ........................................................................................................... 29 2 OPEN EUROPEAN JOURNAL ON VARIABLE STARS November 2020 http://oejv.physics.muni.cz ISSN 1801-5964 DOI: 10.5817/OEJV2020-0208 INTRODUCTION The Variable Star and Exoplanet Section of the Czech Astronomical Society organized traditional autumn conference on research and news in the field of variable stars. The conference was held in a comfortable space of Ostrava Planetarium. In addition -
The Earth Observer. July
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Earth Observer. July - August 2012. Volume 24, Issue 4. Editor’s Corner Steve Platnick obser ervth EOS Senior Project Scientist The joint NASA–U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat program celebrated a major milestone on July 23 with the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Landsat-1 mission—then known as the Earth Resources and Technology Satellite (ERTS). Landsat-1 was the first in a series of seven Landsat satellites launched to date. At least one Landsat satellite has been in operation at all times over the past four decades providing an uninter- rupted record of images of Earth’s land surface. This has allowed researchers to observe patterns of land use from space and also document how the land surface is changing with time. Numerous operational applications of Landsat data have also been developed, leading to improved management of resources and informed land use policy decisions. (The image montage at the bottom of this page shows six examples of how Landsat data has been used over the last four decades.) To commemorate the anniversary, NASA and the USGS helped organize and participated in several events on July 23. A press briefing was held over the lunch hour at the Newseum in Washington, DC, where presenta- tions included the results of a My American Landscape contest. Earlier this year NASA and the USGS sent out a press release asking Americans to describe landscape change that had impacted their lives and local areas. Of the many responses received, six were chosen for discussion at the press briefing with the changes depicted in time series or pairs of Landsat images. -
Selected Highlights of Women's History
Selected Highlights of Women’s History United States & Connecticut 1773 to 2015 The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women omen have made many contributions, large and Wsmall, to the history of our state and our nation. Although their accomplishments are too often left un- recorded, women deserve to take their rightful place in the annals of achievement in politics, science and inven- Our tion, medicine, the armed forces, the arts, athletics, and h philanthropy. 40t While this is by no means a complete history, this book attempts to remedy the obscurity to which too many Year women have been relegated. It presents highlights of Connecticut women’s achievements since 1773, and in- cludes entries from notable moments in women’s history nationally. With this edition, as the PCSW celebrates the 40th anniversary of its founding in 1973, we invite you to explore the many ways women have shaped, and continue to shape, our state. Edited and designed by Christine Palm, Communications Director This project was originally created under the direction of Barbara Potopowitz with assistance from Christa Allard. It was updated on the following dates by PCSW’s interns: January, 2003 by Melissa Griswold, Salem College February, 2004 by Nicole Graf, University of Connecticut February, 2005 by Sarah Hoyle, Trinity College November, 2005 by Elizabeth Silverio, St. Joseph’s College July, 2006 by Allison Bloom, Vassar College August, 2007 by Michelle Hodge, Smith College January, 2013 by Andrea Sanders, University of Connecticut Information contained in this book was culled from many sources, including (but not limited to): The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, the U.S. -
GENERAL MEETING NORMAN SLEEP, Ph.D. Professor Of
Vol. 63, No. 10 – October 2015 GENERAL MEETING THE PRESIDIO . OBSERVATION POST . BUILDING 211 211 Lincoln Boulevard, San Francisco 7:00 pm Doors Open . 7:30 pm Announcements . 8:00 pm Speaker SFAA’s General Meetings occur on the 3rd TUESDAY of each month (except January) October 20, 2015 NORMAN SLEEP, Ph.D. Professor of Geophysics, Stanford University OUR MOON FROM FORMATION TO ASTEROID TARGET: MESSAGE FOR LIFE ON EARTH The present EarthMoon system formed in the aftermath of the impact of a Mars sized body on our planet. The Earth was then mostly melted and the Moon accreted from a ring of vapor and liquid orbiting the Earth. Part of the impactor’s core ended up in the Moonforming disk around the Earth. Iron metal within the disk was partly oxidized by ferric iron and water. Metallic iron remained and this formed our Moon’s small core, and about 2% of the impactor’s core ended up within Earth’s mantle. It is conceivable that early asteroid bombardment on the Earth was relatively benign and that planet sterilizing impact never occurred. A dense CO2 atmosphere blanketed Earth within about 10 million years of the impact, and a solarheated greenhouse maintained 200 degrees C temperatures at the surface. Earth did not become habitable until the CO2 subducted into the mantle. Subducted oceanic crust carried carbonates into the mantle, which partially melted beneath island arcs to form alkaline CO2rich lavas. Groundwaters within these lavas are an attractive prebiotic environment. By the time of Earth’s earliest sedimentary record at about 3.8 billion years ago, the surface was clement, the ocean was near its current pH about 8, and the CO2 pressure in the air was comparable to the modern value.