ISSN 1712-4425 PETERBOROUGH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION THE REFLECTOR Volume 5, Issue 8 November 2006 Editorial

he month of October wasn’t very T good for observing, but despite all of that rain there were some high points.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield gave a couple of talks in Peterborough on October 26th. In this issue of the Reflector is a picture of our PAA President getting an autograph!

At the October 27th PAA meeting we had Steve Dodson for a guest speaker. He talked about his work in astronomy and intrigued us with the mysteries of our universe. Check out an article on all of this and more on pgs. 8-9.

Shawna Miles [email protected] Cassiopeia A. taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA/JPL/ Caltech

remnants would be mixed and mashed When Cassiopeia A exploded, most Supernova Remnant together in one big cloud. of the original layers flew out in succes- sive order, but some layers went out fast, Finally Explained During the supernova, as the layers while others moved at slower speeds, shot outward, they hit the shockwave depending on where they started. t’s name is Cassiopeia A. The from the explosion. Materials that hit I was 15 to 20 times the mass of our the shockwave first have had more time For more information go to:http:// Sun. It is located in the Milky Way gal- to heat up into X-rays and visible light. www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/ axy, and exploded relatively recently. For We have been able to see these, but main/index.html or http:// astronomers have been trying to Spitzer has allowed for us to see the www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer figure out how this supernova remnant missing pieces. The material that is was created. The Spitzer Space Tele- now hitting the shockwave are cooler Shawna Miles scope has now helped to solve the mys- and create infrared light, which Spitzer [email protected] tery. can detect.

Spitzer has helped astronomers to Inside This Issue understand what happened when Cassio- peia A blew up. The original star was q EDITORIAL q SUPERWASP FINDS PLANETS made up of ‘shells,’ with the lightest ele- BEYOND OUR IMAGINATION ments in the outer shells and the heavier q ALOHA #7 - W.M KECK q CANADIAN SPACE-WALKER MUSES elements in the center. Spitzer’s new OBSERVATORY ON “THE SMELL OF SPACE” photographs show that the Cassiopeia A remnant is made up of shells, just like the q HUBBLE IDENTIFIES MORE q NASA SPACE PLACE - DEADLY star. This tells astronomers that the ex- CANDIDATES PLANETS plosion was not chaotic, otherwise the q THE SKY THIS MONTH q MEETING NOTES Page 2 THE REFLECTOR

about 2,000 times greater than a single The planet is known as HAT-P-1b SuperWasp Finds telescope and can monitor the entire and a star 450 light years from Planets Beyond Our local sky several times per night. One Earth in the . With a snapshot captures hundreds of thou- girth that is 36% larger than our own Imagination sands of for analysis. Jupiter, it is the largest exoplanet found to date. But big doesn’t mean brawn in The SuperWasp system detects this case. HAT-P-1b is only half Jupiter’s f you’ve kept pace with the astro- faint dips in the light from distant stars. density, or about one-quarter that of wa- I nomical community’s search for plan- This can be caused by a planet orbiting ter (the density of a cork). ets orbiting distant suns should be pretty in front of it. To find our two super Yet as weird as HAT-P-1b may seem to blasé about their numbers – 200+ at last Jupiters, Project SuperWasp monitored be, there are others like it – including the count. But check the specs on some of just over a million stars. first exoplanet ever discovered in 1999 in these far-out worlds and the word the constellation Pegasus. We’ve come a “incredible” is an understatement. Once SuperWasp had tracked down long way since – but instead of answers, a batch of likely candidates, the data we just pile up more questions. In 2004 two Hot Jupiters were dis- was transferred to the project’s French covered orbiting stars 1,000 light years counterparts at the Observatoire de Until we meet again, keep the lights and 500 light years away in the constella- Haute-Provence. Here another method down dim and the stars up big and bright. tion Andromeda. Their discovery came of detecting extrasolar planets is em- You’ll save energy, money, and the dark about thanks to a British project nick- ployed to confirm SuperWasp’s find- Kawartha night skies. named SuperWasp. ings. Again, highly sensitive equipment monitors the stars. But instead of look- John Crossen Using highly sensitive equipment ing for dips in the stars magnitude, this [email protected] Project SuperWasp scans the sky with a system (called Sophie) detects little battery of 8 scientific camera lenses gravitational tugs on the star. These 11cm in diameter. They are stacked in a tugs confirm that something is orbiting robotic fork mount that tracks the night the star and pulling on it – ever so sky. This system has a field of view slightly. Aloha#7 – W.M. Keck

Once the existence of the two extra- Observatory solar planets was confirmed, other tele- scopes such as the Spitzer and Hubble (Keck I & II) space observatories track down further data. So what do we know about our two new Hot Jupiters now that we t the 13,647 ft (4,160 m) altitude know where they are? A level, there are two optical/infrared telescopes side by side, each with a 33 ft Both their suns at a much (10 m) diameter mirror, housed in twin closer distance than our Jupiter does. 101 ft (30.8 m) high by 121 ft (37 m) These big boys swing around their stars wide domes. The mirrors are each con- in less than three days. Distant Jupiter structed of 36 hexagonal segments (6 takes 12 years. Being so close to their ft/1.8 m wide and 3 in/7.5 cm thick). star also makes them very hot. Both They are so finely polished that if each have an estimated surface temperature mirror segment were expanded to the of about 1,800C. For comparison, our width of the earth, the highest elevation sun’s surface temperature is 6,000C. would only be 3 feet high (less than a meter)! Each segment is manipulated to But that’s normal compared to the help the whole mirror operate as an ef- suspicion that the clouds on these two fective single unit. Computers control hotties are made from rock snowflakes. the tweaking of each mirror segment That’s because the types of clouds that twice every second. This results in an SuperWasp detects hundreds of thou- condense at these high temperatures are accuracy of 4 nanometers (about 25,000 sands in a single snap-shot. One made of elements that we normally times thinner than a human hair). Now night’s observing run generates up to think of as minerals – olivne, forster- that is precise optics. 60 GB of data. Project SuperWasp is a ite, and other magnesium silicates. UK/France initiative with camera sys- Moving from rock clouds, we now en- The Keck I telescope has confirmed tems in the Canary Islands and South counter a real mush-ball. the discovery of more extra-solar planets Africa. Continued... Page 3 THE REFLECTOR

Canadian Space- walker Muses On "The Smell Of Space"

It's always funny to hear astronauts mak- ing small-talk. How - I always wonder - can the traffic on the way to a public appearance or the latest episode of Lost compare with floating free in the vacuum of outer-space.

It was this thought that was going through my head after Canadian astro- naut and STS-115 spacewalker Steve MacLean finished up an interview for Daily Planet and DiscoveryChannel.ca in CTV's Scarbourgh studios. In addition to (more than 50) than any other ground How did the Keck Observatory get doing a TV interview with Jay Ingram based telescope. Keck I & II can be used it name? William Myron Keck (1880- for the show, Jay was nice enough to tip together for the same effective resolution 1964), the founder of The Superior Oil me off to Steve's appearance and the fact of a 279 ft (85 m) telescope. Keck also Company, established the W.M. Keck that we might want to have him do some claims to have recorded the most distant Foundation in 1954. This foundation "bonus" questions for the web site, which object known to astronomers ( at has always supported imaginative inno- he would ensure the asking of (being the 14 bly). vations for new scientific discoveries host and all makes this an easy promise and technology, so it only seems fitting for him to make.) NASA and Cal Tech run the facility, that these two unique telescopes carry which opened Keck I in 1992, and Keck the name of a foundation that stands for After Daily Planet's interview with a II in 1996. They are the classic “dome” what they accomplish. North Korean nuclear program expert got shaped and are striking in comparison to bumped over, Steve finally ended up the unconventional Subaru design. Dur- The control centre for the Keck sitting down in our studio (formerly the ing weekdays, Keck I is opened to tours domes is not located in Hilo, like most studio for the Dini Petty Show, for the from 10 to 4. Unfortunately, our tour of the other telescopes on Mauna Kea, TV trivia buffs out there) to do the inter- was a sunset tour, so we missed the op- but rather in the little community of view. portunity to view the inside of any obser- Kamuela (or Waimea), on land donated vatories while on Mauna Kea, but they by the huge Parker Ranch (at 150,000 But it was the small-talk before and still are really impressive from the out- acres, it is one of the largest ranches in after that I found most interesting as a side. the whole of the U.S.A.), located at the space buff, as I suspect a lot of us would. north end of the Big Island. This is still about 22 mi. (35 km) from the moun- Before the interview, I was sitting in taintop. The view of Mauna Kea from the control room, making sure our ques- Kamuela is breath taking even at this tions got asked. Jay and Steve ended up distance. The visitor centre here is not talking about the North Korean threat big, but definitely the best of all that I and how the whole morning got put on visited (and I saw them all). You will hold because Fox was first in the cue to “keck” yourself if you miss it. This is a interview the expert on the issue that we must see stop on any astronomy tour on also had lined-up. the Island of Hawaii. After the interview, Jay, the TV pro- For more information on the Keck Ob- ducer masterminding the interview, my- servatory, see their website: self, and our intern Brian ended up being There was a comfortable lobby area http://www.keckobservatory.org/ able to shoot the breeze with Steve on his with plenty of free literature, scale way to wait for a cab. (I actually got to models of the summit, interactive Rick Stankiewicz do a web video interview with Steve just monitors and stunning images taken [email protected] before the original 2002 launch date of by the Keck telescopes. Continued... Page 4 THE REFLECTOR

Hubble Identifies More Exoplanet Candidates

discussed earlier how the UK/French I collaboration called SuperWasp had punched the extrasolar planet count (planets orbiting distant stars) to the 200 mark. And in the process, it had identi- fied some very unusual planets – one was even fluffy!

Recently it was announced that the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has boosted the exoplanet potential count even higher with 16 new candidate stars. The project goes by the name SWEEPS which is mercifully short for Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Canadian Space Agency astronaut Steven G. MacLean, STS-115 mission special- Search. That’s a mouthful, but it does say ist, performs a task to relocate articulating portable foot restraints (APFR) during it all. the second of three scheduled spacewalks supported by the Atlantis astronauts and the crew members aboard the International Space Station. The HST was taking exposures of the Image credit: NASA central bulge of our . That’s in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. his mission to the International Space mixed with gunpowder". "Really?," I Station.) said. "Yeah," he insisted, (in a sort of The eclipsing technique is one of the "yup...seriously!" tone.) ways a potential extrasolar planet can be "What's the coffee like up there?" identified. When a planet comes between Brian asked. Apparently, NASA now We actually had a little more time its home star and the HST camera, the uses a mixture that looks like instant cof- before Steve's cab arrived to mingle star will dim slightly – call it a mini- fee crystals here on Earth, but when you and just shoot the breeze. We talked eclipse. That can be a clue to the possi- pour hot water over it for more than five about Air Miles and airport security bility that the star has at least a planet or minutes, it actually makes a brew similar (Steve hasn't flown on a commercial jet possibly a system of planets orbiting it. in quality to something you'd get from for two years) and what his kids watch Tim's or Starbucks. The brand is called on TV. During the search, which took place "Kobe" and apparently astronauts swear from February 23 to 29 in 2004, Hub- by it these days. It struck me that astronauts (at least ble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys im- the ones I've met) are real-life superhe- aged 180,000 stars. It was the deepest One question I wanted to ask for the roes - ultra -capable, mild-mannered, look ever taken into the crowded central on-camera interview but didn't have time and the best at what they do. But region of our galaxy. Now, two years for was whether the Space Station they're also moms, dads, people who later, the data has been boiled down with smelled: I've read in a few places that the lose their keys, and as likely as you to 16 potential new solar systems being Mir Space Station overheated and started want to talk to friendly folk about how identified. to reek of sweat for a while, back when their work's going. one of its radiators was on the fritz. Not The key word here is potential. Fur- the case at all on the ISS, according to Of course, their work may involve a ther study of the candidate stars will tell Steve. slightly longer commute... the tale as to their stature as planetary home stars, or just variable stars that dim "It actually doesn't smell like mutch By: Peter McMahon on a regular basis. As of this writing, 2 of of anything in there," Steve told me. "But the 16 have been confirmed as having the airlock actually has a distinct 'smell Based in Port Hope, Peter McMahon is extrasolar planets orbiting them. of space'," he said. Once materials, gas- a proud member of the PAA and is a ses, and other things get whisked in and new media producer for Discovery All of this may not seem like a lot, out of the "doors" to the final frontier, Channel Canada Continued... there's a distinct smell of "off-gassing Page 5 THE REFLECTOR

rect for the entire month at the times indicated on the chart.

And there you have it for this week - new planets orbiting distant stars, and free star charts just a click away on your computer. Until we meet again in the backyard, keep the lights down and the stars up bright. You’ll save money, energy, and the beautiful Kawartha night sky. Looking for a free star chart? Visit www.telescopes.com for a chart you John Crossen can print out that’s almost perfect for [email protected] the Kawarthas night sky. And while you’re there, you may just want to scan the site for some stargazing ac- cessories. At the welcoming sign of the Torrance Scouting Trip To The Barrens Conservation and Dark Sky but for every extrasolar planet discov- Reserve. ered, we come a tiny fraction closer to Torrance Barrens Torrance Barrens is an almost 5,000 answering the big question – are we alone in the universe? Already with 200+ acre (1990 ha) area of unique geologi- n the long weekend in August I cally terrain, characterized by low Pre- extrasolar planets on the books, we know worked in a trip to the Torrance cambrian bedrock ridges, wetlands of that our solar system is not alone. Con- O Barrens Conservation Reserve, just centrated analysis by spectroscopy will peat bogs and scrub oak and pine trees. north of Bracebridge, off Muskoka identify planets where life as we know it The first of its kind in Canada, the Tor- Rd.#169 (south of Bala). It was less rance Barrens has been officially recog- might exist. And then there is still the than ideal conditions for observing nized as a Dark Sky Reserve since 1999. vast arena of life as we don’t know it. (nearing full moon), but the visit was It is becoming a bit of a Mecca for as- worth the effort. I had heard of this tronomers in southern Ontario. One visit Digging for data a little closer to spot for several years and had driven by and it is easy to see why. This undevel- home, I had a request last week for a star it on business trips up north, but had chart. After giving my reader the basics oped landscape is primitive by any stan- never checked it out for myself. dards with the low trees and relatively on books and magazines to buy, I de- unobstructed horizon, but for observing cided to scan the web for some freebies. Astronomy Magazine the night sky, it is near perfect. There is a rough parking lot, one “port-a-potty”, a www.astronomy.com and Sky & Tele- couple signs and walking trails that lead scope’s www.skytonight.com offered downloadable monthly event schedules, off into the barrens and that is it. No fees station, no campsites and no lights. The but no printable star charts, though road in off Hwy#169 is paved, but that is S&T’s chart is interactive. SkyNews at www.skynews.com also has star events, the only “improvement” you will see.

but no star chart. Even the famous What really adds to this Reserves Abrams Planetarium, at www.abramsplanetarium.com asks that astronomical charm is that the local mu- nicipalities have embraced the concept of you subscribe to their newsletter and fighting light pollution and as a result monthly sky calendar. there is no sky glow to worry about. The idea is that there won’t be development Finally I visited www.telescope.com of this area that is typically associated the Orion Telescopes website. At last a free sky map my reader could download! with a “park”. The down side is that you cannot camp in the Reserve, but there is When the homepage comes up, look to lodging available close by in Bala or the right for a column called “In the Sky.” The Orion Evening Sky Chart is Bracebridge. I stayed in a B&B only 9 km away when I visited the area. designed for those living around 40 de-

grees north latitude. We’re at about 45 degrees north, so the chart works just I briefly experienced the barrens in Continued... fine for folks in the Kawarthas. It is cor- This picture shows some of what you can see at Torrance Barrens. Page 6 THE REFLECTOR

both the day and night time. My impres- The star is a pulsar, PSR 1257+12, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope sions were great, given the short time I the seething-hot core of a supernova may have found the solution. Last , was there. If there were time to walk any that exploded millions of years ago. Its a group of astronomers led by Deepto of the three trails and experience the planets are bathed not in gentle, life- Chakrabarty of MIT pointed the infrared habitat and the unique wildlife in the area giving sunshine but instead a blistering telescope toward pulsar 4U 0142+61. it would have been even better. I can torrent of X-rays and high-energy parti- Data revealed a disk of gas and dust sur- only image what a new moon would have cles. rounding the central star, probably done for the skies here. I took a few time wreckage from the supernova. It was exposures of the Big Dipper over a bog "It would be like trying to live next just the sort of disk that could coalesce to and oak tree, but the nearing full moon to Chernobyl," says Charles Beichman, form planets! was not conducive to great images. I a scientist at JPL and director of the look forward to a better-timed visit with Michelson Science Center at Caltech. As deadly as pulsar planets are, they clear skies and no moon to contend with. might also be hauntingly beautiful. The Would it be worth considering for a PAA Our own sun emits small amounts vaporized matter rising from the planets' field trip in the future? of pulsar-like X-rays and high energy surfaces could be ionized by the incom- particles, but the amount of such radia- ing radiation, creating colorful auroras For more information see: http:// tion coming from a pulsar is "orders of across the sky. And though the pulsar www.muskokaheritage.org/natural/ magnitude more," he says. Even for a would only appear as a tiny dot in the sky torrancebarrens.asp planet orbiting as far out as the Earth, (the pulsar itself is only 20-40 km this radiation could blow away the across), it would be enshrouded in a hazy Rick Stankiewicz planet's atmosphere, and even vaporize glow of light emitted by radiation parti- [email protected] sand right off the planet's surface. cles as they curve in the pulsar's strong magnetic field. Astronomer Alex Wolszczan dis- covered planets around PSR 1257+12 Wasted beauty? Maybe. Beichman NASA Fact in the 1990s using Puerto Rico’s giant points out the positive: "It's an awful Arecibo radio telescope. At first, no place to try and form planets, but if you www.nasa.gov one believed worlds could form around can do it there, you can do it anywhere." pulsars—it was too bizarre. Superno- vas were supposed to destroy planets, More news and images from Spitzer * On March 16, 1926, Dr. Robert H. not create them. Where did these can be found at Goddard successfully launched the worlds come from? Continued... first liquid fueled rocket. The launch took place at Auburn, Massachu- setts, and is regarded by flight histo- rians to be as significant as the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk.

NASA Space Place

Deadly Planets

bout 900 light years from here, A there's a rocky planet not much bigger than Earth. It goes around its star once every hundred days, a trifle fast, but not too different from a standard Earth- year. At least two and possibly three other planets circle the same star, form- ing a complete solar system.

Interested? Don't be. Going there Artist’s concept of a pulsar and surrounding disk of rubble called a “fallback” would be the last thing you ever do. disk, out of which new planets could form.

Page 7 THE REFLECTOR

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/ . In addi- aged. However, the guiding and point- tion, The Space Place Web site features a ing systems were affected and will cartoon talk show episode starring Mi- have to be repaired before observations chelle Thaller, a scientist on Spitzer. Go may be resumed. to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/ live/ for a great place to introduce kids to Next door, the Gemini North Ob- infrared and the joys of astronomy. servatory reported that its 8-meter tele- scope shook hard during the quake, but This article was provided by the Jet other than being moved in its azimuth Propulsion Laboratory, California track, suffered no structural or mirror Institute of Technology, under a con- damage. A date for resuming operation tract with the National Aeronautics has not been determined. and Space Administration. The Canada-France-Hawaii Tele- scope, which is home to a 3.6 meter By Patrick L. Barry and Dr. Tony Phil- optical and infrared telescope, reported lips that the dome has moved on its track and can’t be rotated. The CFHT staff is hard at work to get the scope back on schedule as quickly as possible.

Also nestled atop Mauna Kea is the United Kingdom Infra -red Telescope. It Hawaiian Quake had just finished an observing run good read whether you are a novice or Rocks The World’s about an hour before the quake struck. expert in the field of astronomy. There is The UKIT, along with the James Clerk something for everyone here. Largest Telescopes Maxwell Telescope suffered no me- chanical or optical damage. The unique thing about this book is the way the author has made each chapter n October 15th, the island of Ha- as different as the piece of the solar sys- waii experienced its largest earth- John Crossen O tem she is describing. Some are written quake in 20 years. The initial quake hit [email protected] in a narrative style and others in much magnitude 6.7 and was followed by 20 more of a first person experience. As aftershocks, resulting in interruptions to you might expect, each chapter is a dif- power and communications as well as ferent part of the solar system and each structural damage to buildings. High atop includes the history of the their discovery Mauna Kea, the world’s largest tele- Book Review: and what makes them what they are, but scopes were both shaken and stirred. it is the style of each chapter that I found

The Planets, by: intriguing. If you were a Martian rock The massive 10-meter mirrors of the that could talk, you would have written Keck telescopes appear to be undam- Dava Sobel (2005) Chapter 6 on Mars, or what better way to ome of you may recognize the learn about the discovery of Uranus and Neptune than from a letter by Caroline S author of this book, not only for her unusual name, but also as author of Herschel (circa 1840’s), a novel ap- two best selling books “Longitude” and proach for any novel.

“Galileo’s Daughter”. If you liked any of her previous works, you will not be In any case, I would recommend this disappointed in this most current effort. book to anyone in the club. I liked get- This book is still only available in hard- ting re-acquainted with our celestial fam- cover ($35 CDN), but I do not regret ily and learning more about our collec- the expenditure in these 270 pages. tive history. I guarantee that no matter how much you think you know about our solar system, you will end-up learning A recent series of earthquakes on the Sobel takes you on a unique tour of our solar system, at least how it was even more. big island of Hawaii shook up the as- tronomical community. Fortunately the known to have existed up to a year ago. Yes, Pluto was a planet then! The Rick Stankiewicz telescopes, located at the 15,000 foot [email protected] level on Mauna Kea, survived with re- amount of research that went into this markably little damage. book is quite evident and makes for a Page 8 THE REFLECTOR

Mark Coady, our light pollution guru, The Sky This Month Meeting Notes updated everyone on his achievements in October 13, 2006 the dark. One item we’ll keep our eye on is the assistance and the performance one MERCURY For once Friday the 13th was good of our municipalities can give to a person news. The night’s meeting was very who contacted us about a gross light pol- Mercury has a greatest elongation (East) well attended and we were delighted to luter on their lake. I received some pic- on the 17th, but appears quite low in the welcome new member Margaret tures they had taken at night. To be hon- West-southwest as it gets dark. Scorthorn. Margaret had attended a few est, I have seen tacky theme parks that meetings back in the 1990’s so even were less obtrusive. Mark put the party in touch with local officials. Now we’ll wait VENUS though she was familiar to our meeting room, most of us were new to her. Mar- and see what transpires.

garet does her observing with a pair of Venus is in superior conjunction with the * Changes to the club's meeting and Sun this month, and will be better ob- binoculars and is quite enthused about the club and her astronomical hobby. operating proceedures that will take served next month. Welcome aboard Margaret. place in January were also discussed. They are as follows: MARS New publications also took the

spotlight as John presented the latest * The club will hold one meeting per Mars, too, is a no-show this month be- month on the first Friday of the cause it appears too close to the Sun. editions of such helpful magazine of- ferings as Celestial Sampler by Sue month. Club observing nights will be

French, Cosmos and Atlas of the Stars on the Friday near or just after New JUPITER Moon with the following Saturday collector’s editions from Astronomy Magazine, and Sky & Telescope’s Sky- night as a back up date. Meeting Still in the West-southwest at nightfall, Watch 2007, an essential guide to plan- time and location will remain the Jupiter sets before mid-evening, so look same. Observing sites and times will early. It is in Libra ning next year’s observing schedule for club members. flex with the seasonal sunset times.

SATURN * The club will cease activities during Of particular interest to club mem- bers is the latest edition of a British the busy summer months of July and Saturn is the best placed planet visible to magazine called Sky at Night. In addi- August. the human eye this month, but it is a morning object. It doesn't rise until after tion to having some superbly written articles and telescope tests, the Maga- * Past President, Dave Duffus, will be midnight, in Leo. zine comes with an interactive CD granted honourary Life Time Mem-

bership for his years of service to the URANUS ROM that features none other than the renowned Sir Patrick Moore and a raft club.

of international astronomy experts dis- Uranus is in Aquarius. It is barely visible * Donations to chareties or for funeral to the naked eye, this planet sets about cussing the latest in celestial events. I find it to be a fascinating disc that one expenses must be determined and two hours after Neptune. can enjoy at his or her leisure. And it is approved by the PAA executive

committee. NEPTUNE very professionally done. Total cost for the magazine and CD ROM is about

$14 and well worth every cent. I think John Crossen Neptune is in Capricornus. Look west- [email protected] wards after sunset for it; this gas giant of it as a gift from the British.

sets before midnight. John also discussed the Lunar Ob-

serving Challenge and distributed cop- Chris Hadfield ies of a Moon map as well as October's METEOR SHOWERS: sky map to the assembled guests. The Capped A Great Leonids on November 17th and the Al- challenge will be broken down into naked eye, binocular, and telescope pha Moncerotid meteor shower on No- Month For Astronomy categories so that everyone can be vember 21st. equally embarrassed , or pleased with The skies may have been cloudy themselves and their achievements. The For details, see http:// T for most of October, but it was still rules and targets will be distributed via comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/ a great month for astronomy buffs. Not calendar.html. email shortly. only were we treated to two superb talks Continued... Page 9 THE REFLECTOR

in zero gravity on the ISS has helped us tended to last for a 90-sol tour of duty. learn more about osteoporosis. Now entering their third year, the rovers have answered the question, was there I had the pleasure of attending his ever water on Mars, with a positive yes. morning talk at Trent. It was an abso- lute delight as Colonel Hadfield took us The recently launched Mars Recon- through the development of our first naissance Orbiter (MRO) will now deter- steps in space, from Sputnik to the in- mine if there is any water beneath the ternational space station, and on to its surface of Mars. Part of its scientific gear most recent additions courtesy of The uses radar to map the distribution of Canada Arm II. It is an awe -inspiring rocks, ice and water up to 1km below the experience to hear about space travel Martian surface. If there is water still in from someone who has been there and existence, the next Martian mission will PAA President, John Crossen, getting done it. And it was equally inspiring to include a drilling rig to tap into the Mar- an autograph from Canadian astronaut understand the role Canada has played, tian aqua and analyze its content – espe- Chris Hadfield. and will play in the future of space cially for any microbial life forms. travel. from Canada’s first man to walk in October also saw the opening of New space, Colonel Chris Hadfield, but we Last Friday night members of the Mexico Tech’s new “Eye on the Uni- had a visit from one of Canada’s best- Peterborough Astronomical Associa- verse”, a $50 million optical observatory known amateur astronomers, as well as tion hunkered down with Stargazer and research facility. The ribbon cutting some great news from on recent launches Steve Dodson as he gave the club a was on October 26th and took place at the from NASA, the rovers on Mars, and the brief history of cosmology, then treated new facility which is located atop the opening of a new observatory in New everyone to a sneak-peak at a new tele- 10,800 foot high Magdalena Mountains. Mexico. scope he was developing. Steve’s new scope is based on the popular Dob- October’s agenda also included Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sonian design, but is even more com- NASA’s successful launch of two probes addressed a packed Wenjack Theatre at pact, lightweight, and portable. to image our Sun. Coincidentally, they Trent University last Thursday morning. were launched the morning of Chris Had- Next he was off to Hastings and Medoc The Mars Rovers, Opportunity and field’s talk and will be used to monitor to join secondary school students as they Spirit entered the record books in Octo- the harmful radiation of solar flares as communicated with the International ber as Spirit celebrated its 1000th day part of an early-warning system for fu- Space Station (ISS) via a radio link. (called a Martian sol) roving the red ture space-walkers and residents of the Later Colonel Hadfield returned to Peter- planet. The rovers were originally in- International Space Station. borough where he talked on how living Clear nights or not, October was a good month for astronomers and astron- Peterborough omy. Until we meet again in the back- Astronomical yard, keep the lights down dim and the Association stars up bright. You’ll save money, en- ergy, and the beautiful Kawartha night sky. The Reflector is a publication of the Peterborough Astronomical Association John Crossen (PAA). Founded in 1970, the PAA is your local group for astronomy in [email protected] Peterborough and the Kawarthas.

Website www.peterboroughastronomy.com J O K E ! J O K E ! J O K E ! J O K E !

Email An astronaut in space was asked by [email protected] Stargazer Steve Dodson demon- a reporter, "How do you feel?" strated his unique telescope design "How would you feel," the astro- Club Mailing Address at a recent meeting of the Peterbor- naut replied, "if you were stuck ough Astronomical Association. At John Crossen 13” aperture, it is a large scope. But here, on top of 20,000 parts each 2254 County Road 507 one supplied by the lowest bidder?" Buckhorn, ON, Canada K0L 1J0 it all breaks down and can fit into a mini-sized car with ease. ! J O K E ! J O K E ! J O K E ! J O K E Page 10 THE REFLECTOR

ARTICLES MEETINGS ubmissions for The Reflector must S be received by the date listed The Peterborough Astronomical Association meets every below. E-mail or “sneaker-net” (i.e., second Friday at the Peterborough Zoo Orientation Centre floppy disk) submissions are preferred (Next to the PUC Water Treatment Plant) at 8:00 pm. (Microsoft Word, ASCII and most graphics formats are acceptable). Typed or hand-written submissions are acceptable provided they are legible (and not too long). Copyrighted materials will not be published without written permission from the copyright holder. Submissions may be edited for grammar, brevity, or clarity. Submissions will be published at the editor’s sole discretion. Depending on the volume of submissions, some articles may be published at a later date. Please submit any articles, thoughts, or ideas to this address:

Shawna Miles 2192 Bass Lake Rd. Bobcaygeon, ON K0M 1A0

or via e-mail at: [email protected]

Please contact me first if you are sending a large file.

NEXT ISSUE’S DEADLINE IS Nov. 15, 2006 z

¦ CALENDAR OF EVENTS ¦

November 10, 2006 General Meeting— Movie Night – “Hubble: 15 Years of Discovery” - Riverside Zoo

November 24, 2006 General Meeting— Club Observing Night - Brett Hardy’s

December 8, 2006 General Meeting— PAA Christmas Cookie Crunch - Riverside Zoo

¦ Moon Phases ¦

Full Moon November 5, 2006 December 5, 2006 Last Quarter November 12, 2006 December 12, 2006

New Moon November 20, 2006 December 20, 2006

First Quarter November 28, 2006 December 27, 2006