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alactic Observer GJohn J. McCarthy Observatory Volume 9, No. 1 January 2016 Return of the Falcon December 22, 2015: First stage of a Falcon 9 rocket returns to Cape Canaveral 10 min- utes after a successful launch. Image credit: Space X. The John J. McCarthy Observatory Galactic Observer New Milford High School Editorial Committee 388 Danbury Road Managing Editor New Milford, CT 06776 Bill Cloutier Phone/Voice: (860) 210-4117 Production & Design Phone/Fax: (860) 354-1595 www.mccarthyobservatory.org Allan Ostergren Website Development JJMO Staff Marc Polansky It is through their efforts that the McCarthy Observatory Technical Support has established itself as a significant educational and Bob Lambert recreational resource within the western Connecticut Dr. Parker Moreland community. Steve Allison Tom Heydenburg Steve Barone Jim Johnstone Colin Campbell Carly KleinStern Dennis Cartolano Bob Lambert Route Mike Chiarella Roger Moore Jeff Chodak Parker Moreland, PhD Bill Cloutier Allan Ostergren Doug Delisle Doris Papp Cecilia Detrich Marc Polansky Dirk Feather Joe Privitera Randy Fender Monty Robson Randy Finden Don Ross John Gebauer Gene Schilling Elaine Green Katie Shusdock Tina Hartzell Paul Woodell Amy Ziffer In This Issue UT THE INDOW ON OUR EFT "O W Y L " ............................... 4 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION/IRIDIUM SATELLITES .......... 14 YCHO RATER T C ............................................................. 5 SOLAR ACTIVITY ........................................................... 14 LANETS IN P 2016 ............................................................ 6 PHOTO CREDITS ............................................................ 14 EEP PACE ISSION ILESTONES D S M M ................................... 6 SECOND SATURDAY STARS ............................................... 15 EW ISSIONS N M .............................................................. 6 JANUARY GRAPHIC CALENDAR ........................................ 16 THE DEMISE OF PHOBOS ................................................. 6 VENUS OF BUST .............................................................. 7 NEW HORIZONS UPDATE ................................................. 7 12 EARTH-YEARS ON MARS ............................................. 8 JANUARY HISTORY .......................................................... 9 JANUARY NIGHTS .......................................................... 10 SUNRISE AND SUNSET ...................................................... 10 ASTRONOMICAL AND HISTORICAL EVENTS ......................... 10 COMMONLY USED TERMS ............................................... 13 REFERENCES ON DISTANCES ............................................ 13 LAGRANGE POINTS ........................................................ 14 2 Jan 2016 http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org January Astronomy Calendar and Space Exploration Almanac Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 12 Earth-Years On Mars http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org Jan 2016 • 3 Out the Window and On Your Left T’S BEEN OVER 40 years ditions for future landings. Details since we left the last footprint of the program and a compilation of Ion the dusty lunar surface. its results can be found in NASA Sadly, as a nation founded on ex- publication SP-184 issued in 1969 ploration and the conquest of new and available on the internet. frontiers, we appear to have lost Surveyor 7 returned 20,993 pic- our will to lead as a space-faring tures in its first lunar day (lunar days nation. But, what if the average are approximately 14 Earth days citizen had the means to visit our long). Despite battery damage from only natural satellite; what would the cold lunar night, 45 additional they see out the window of their pictures were returned on the second spacecraft as they entered orbit lunar day. On January 20th, the space- around the Moon? This column craft took part in a laser pointing may provide some thoughts to pon- demonstration (in advance of the der when planning your visit (if Apollo astronauts placing reflector Surveyor Lunar Lander model only in your imagination). arrays on the Moon). Six transmis- (on Earth). Credit: NASA sion sites were established on Earth, watt laser to the Cassegrain focus of each using a telescope (backwards) a 24-inch telescope. Surveyor 7’s to direct an argon laser beam towards camera was able to record the lasers the landing site. Perkin-Elmer in from both the Kitt Peak and Table Norwalk participated, attaching a 2- Mountain observatories. Tycho crater and landing site of Surveyor 7 The view this month is the re- gion around Tycho crater, one of the youngest, large impact craters on the Moon (53 miles or 85 km in diameter and estimated to be 108 million years old). The crater was targeted for a visit by Apollo 20 (circa 1972) before the mission was canceled due to budget cuts. In January 1968, an unmanned spacecraft landed approximately 18 miles north of the rim of Tycho crater. Surveyor 7 was the last of the U.S. robotic probes to explore The Surveyor 7 television camera recorded two laser beams in this the Moon in advance of the Apollo image taken on January 20th. The overexposed crescent is the Earth missions and the fifth to achieve a and the two bright dots to its left are the laser beams. The beam spot soft landing. The Surveyor mis- on the far left is from JPL’s 24-inch telescope at the Table Mountain sions were used to validate landing Observatory near Wrightwood, California. The adjacent beam spot is technology and confirm surface con- from the Kitt Peak National Observatory’s McMath solar telescope. 4 Jan 2016 http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org Five retroflector arrays would be were manufactured by the Perkin- 239,000 miles or 385,000 km), the rate left on the Moon by the U.S. (3) and Elmer Corporation. Laser ranging at which the Moon is moving away Soviet Union (2). The prisms for the from observatories on Earth have from the Earth (approximately 1.5 U.S. arrays carried to the Moon by provided precision measures of the inches or 3.8 cm per year) and varia- the crews of Apollo 11, 14 and 15 Earth-Moon distance (averaging tions in the rotation of the Moon. Tycho Crater http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org Jan 2016 • 5 Planets in 2016 New Missions to Mars. The orbiter will measure The outer planets return to the In January, a SpaceX rocket is trace gas concentrations in the evening sky in the first half of scheduled to carry Jason 3 into Martian atmosphere such as meth- 2016. Jupiter is closest to Earth on Earth orbit. The spacecraft is the ane. Data collected by the orbiter March 8th when it reaches Opposi- fourth in a series of ocean moni- will be used to select a landing site tion (opposite the Sun in the sky, toring (surface height) satellites. for a rover to be launched in 2018. rising with the setting Sun and vis- Jason 3’s altimeter is designed to In September, an Atlas 5 rocket ible all night). The gas giant can measure variations in global ocean will launch the OSIRIS-Rex space- be found in the constellation Leo. to an accuracy of 1.3 inches or 3.3 craft towards the asteroid 101955 Mars reaches Opposition on May centimeters, or better. Bennu on a sample return mission. 22nd, appearing in the constella- In February, a Japanese H-2A The spacecraft is scheduled to reach tion Scorpius. Saturn joins Mars rocket is scheduled to carry the Bennu in 2018 and return samples less than two weeks later, reach- Astro-H X-ray observatory into (about 2 ounces or 60 grams) to Earth ing Opposition on June 3rd and low-Earth orbit (deployed at an al- in 2023. The carbonaceous and po- appearing in the constellation titude of 340 miles or 550 km). The tentially hazardous Apollo asteroid Ophiuchus. telescope, 46 feet or 14 meters has a diameter of approximately 538 The year starts off with a morn- when fully extended, will observe yards (492 meters). Discovered in ing pairing of Saturn and Venus. X-ray emitting objects such as 1999, Bennu completes an orbit The gap between the planets black holes, supernova remnants around the Sun every 1.2 years with shrinks to less than 0.5 degrees (or and galaxy clusters. a close encounter with Earth every the apparent width of a full Moon) In March, a Russian Proton six years. on January 9th. Saturn and Venus rocket is scheduled to launch will be visible just before sunrise the European Space Agency’s The Demise of Phobos in the southeast with Venus being ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Phobos, the larger of the two noticeably brighter. Schiaparelli demonstration lander moons of Mars, orbits at a dis- On May 9th, the planet Mercury crosses in front of or transits the Phobos Sun (as viewed from Earth). Tran- Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ sits occur infrequently (the next University of Arizona transit will be in 2019 and then not again until 2039). The transit should only be viewed with the appropriate protective eyewear or through a solar filter. On August 27th, the planets Venus and Jupiter will approach within 0.06 degrees in the evening sky for a spectacular conjunction of two of the bright- est planets. Deep Space Mission Milestones After almost five years of deep space travel, the Juno spacecraft will reach Jupiter on July 4th. The solar powered spacecraft will spend 20 months orbiting Jupiter (37 orbits), studying the planet’s gravitational and magnetic fields as well as the gas giant’s dynamic atmosphere. 6 Jan 2016 http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org tances of only 3,700 miles (6,000 gravity. The successful tactic Akatsuki’s five cameras are km). At this distance, gravity is placed the spacecraft in