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Home , 58 Ophiuchi, IC 335, Messier 37, NGC 1049, NGC 1310, NGC 1317

Southern THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND

Volume 58, No 3, 2019 September ISSN Page0049-1640 1 Southern Stars Journal of the RASNZ Royal Astronomical Society Volume 58, Number 3 of New Zealand (Inc.) 2019 September Founded in 1920 as the New Zealand Astronomical Society and assumed its present title on receiving the Royal Charter in 1946. In 1967 it became a member body of the R​oyal Society of New Zealand. CONTENTS P O Box 3181, Wellington 6140, New Zealand Rakiura International Dark Sky Sanctuary [email protected] http://www.rasnz.org.nz R W Evans...... 3 Subscriptions (NZ$) for 2019: Ordinary member: $40.00 Cluster Andrew Robertson...... 5 Student member: $20.00

Affiliated society: $3.75 per member. th Minimum $75.00, Maximum $375.00 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19 Century Corporate member: $200.00 Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us.. John Drummond ...... 8 Printed copies of Southern Stars (NZ$): $35.00 (NZ) A New Hope R W Evans...... 23 $45.00 (Australia & South Pacific) $50.00 (Rest of World) Book Review Grahame Fraser ...... 25

Council & Officers 2018 to 2020 FRONT COVER President: The barred NGC 1365 in the Fornax Galaxy Nicholas Rattenbury Auckland. [email protected] Cluster Image: Steve Chadwick Immediate Past President: John Drummond Patutahi. [email protected] BACK COVER The NGC 1317 (the smaller one) and the Vice President: brightest member NGC 1316 also known as Fornax A, Steve Butler Invercargill. [email protected] on the edge of the Fornax . Image: Steve Chadwick Secretary: Appointment pending. [email protected]

Treasurer: Susan Shoebridge Auckland. [email protected]

Members’ Councillors: Hinerangi Curtis Christchurch. [email protected]

Bob Evans Invercargill. [email protected]

John Hearnshaw Christchurch. [email protected] [email protected]

Glen Rowe Lower Hutt. [email protected]

Affiliated Societies’ Councillors: Nalayini Davies Auckland . [email protected]

Peter Jaquiery Dunedin. [email protected]

Fellows’ Councillor: Karen Pollard Christchurch. [email protected]

Page 2 Southern Stars Rakiura International Dark Sky Sanctuary:- R W Evans

Rakiura International Dark Sky Sanctuary

R W Evans Dark Sky The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) confirmed on Januaryth 4 this that Stewart Island (Rakiura) had been successful in its application for the establishment of an International Dark Sky Sanctuary. This made it the fifth Dark Sky Sanctuary, and only the second island sanctuary, in the world. The first island sanctuary is New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island International Dark Sky Sanctuary.

The Southland Astronomical Society was recently asked to provide a speaker to describe the night sky for the benefit of Stewart Islanders that might conduct visitors on Dark Sky excursions. The writer volunteered to do this and in August spoke to 40 islanders in a well appointed upstairs conference room on the wharf overlooking Halfmoon Bay. Late-comers had to stand! There are number of viewing platforms around the island and earlier in the day I was taken on a tour of some of them. Observation Rock: This viewing platform is the closest to the town centre of Oban. The walk is relatively steep although only 30 minutes return from the town centre but there are cars available on the island. It is a great place to view the night sky as well as the island’s majestic sunrises and sunsets. The view is 270° wide and the main view is to the south. A favourite for observing the aurora australis. Hopefully in October or soon after, work will begin on a platform at this site. It is to be a two tier platform with a glass balustrade. This will cater for more visitors than can at present be accommodated and protect them from a precipitous drop over the edge. Moturau Moana Gardens: These gardens are a one hour return walk from Oban. ‘Moturau Moana’ Gardens translates to ‘islands of bush above the sea’ and they are a native garden gifted to the people of New Zealand. The garden offers 180° views south over Halfmoon Bay. Ackers Point: This lookout is the site of an historic lighthouse and is a 2 to 3 hour return walk from Oban. The platform at the end offers excellent 270° views to the east and back towards Four of the observation points around the town of Oban on Halfmoon Bay and the surrounding area. Stewart Island.

View looking south across Paterson Inlet, from Observation Rock. Iona Island is in the foreground. Ulva Island beyond that, to the left. Behind the distant hills is Big Glory Bay. All photos by the author.

58, 3, 2019 September Page 3 Rakiura International Dark Sky Sanctuary:- R W Evans

Lee Bay looking north across Fouveaux Strait. The southern coast of the South Island is often visible on the horizon by the promontory on the right of the photograph. Lee Bay: Approximately an hour walk from Oban, Lee Bay At present, Stewart Island receives 45 000 visitors a year. Once is the official entrance to Rakiura National Park. The views the infrastructure for night tours is in place and more publicity here are to the north, offering a panorama of the island’s generated, this number is expected to grow; filling the winter coastline. It has a chain sculpture that matches another found doldrums. There are many motels on the island and a recently at Bluff, symbolising Maori the legend in which Maui fishes renovated Backpackers that can sleep up to 76 people. up the North Island from the South Island (his waka (canoe)) and drops his anchor – Stewart Island. The sculptures were In August, the new direct Invercagill to Auckland two hour Air designed by the late Russel Beck. He featured in my article in NZ flight began and there is already interest in Great Barrier the 2017 September Southern Stars. Island - Stewart Island Dark Sky excursions.

Ringaringa Beach: This is another excellent viewing spot although because of coastal erosion a new road is being [email protected] planned.

Ringaringa Beach looking east. The eastern horizon is also visible from the Oban town front.

Page 4 Southern Stars Fornax Galaxy Cluster:- Andrew Robertson

Fornax Galaxy Cluster

Andrew Robertson Observation

This article follows on from Grus and the Grus Galaxy chain in Southern Stars June 2019. The Fornax Galaxy cluster lies mainly within the of Fornax at a distance of about 60 million light . NGC 1399 (mag 8.8) is at its centre and its brightest member is NGC 1316 at mag 8.2. The Fornax Galaxy cluster, commonly known as ACO S373, New Zealand also has excellent dark and transparent skies but is part of the Fornax- super cluster of galaxies. It is being an island like the UK does experience higher humidity the second richest cluster of galaxies within 100 million light at lower elevations (this was certainly my experience during years of us, only beaten by the far richer cluster. There my visit earlier this year.) My observations in La Palma were are 54 main galaxies in the cluster and perhaps 378 other made at an altitude above 1,000 metres where the air is much galaxies associated with it spread across 4 degrees of sky. The drier. Ditto I experienced better skies in the vicinity of Lake cluster is dominated by the NGC 1365 Tekapo at 700 metres albeit not in the town itself which has and the elliptical/lenticulars NGC 1399 and 1316. Unusually too many lights for my taste. I have included in this article a for a galaxy cluster the massive galaxy NGC 1316 lies on list of all the Fornax galaxy cluster members with NGC or IC the edge of the cluster rather than the centre. The distances designations - see Table 1. I’ve also included a description to galaxies in the cluster range from about 56 million light where made, of the ones I did observe. I’ve also included a list years for NGC 1365 to perhaps 65 million light years for NGC (Table 2) and description of other non-cluster objects observed 1399. NGC 1365 would therefore be on the near side of the in this area as there are some superb ones and you can’t really cluster and if the distance is correct it is about 200 000 light miss them out. years across, making it a very large galaxy. The cluster has its own catalogue called the Ferguson Catalogue, I observed this area over several nights. Initially I just picked or FCC. This contains perhaps 378 clusters members within out more prominent objects individually. Then I made a 3.5 degrees of the core. The cluster appears to be widely spread systematic attempt to move through and identify the whole both across the sky and in distance. The Fornax group consists cluster. I soon found myself getting lost, partly because of the of two sub-clusters. The main group around NGC 1399 and distribution and partly because they’re split into two groups a subgroup around NGC 1316 which is in the process of with ‘stragglers’ in-between! So similar to my observation of falling into the main cluster. As part of the confusion around the Grus galaxy chain I made a rough (very rough) schematic galaxy cluster cataloguing the group is also known as LGG 96 of the ‘two’ groups and had another go. I made descriptions which is centred around NGC 1399 and contains 36 galaxies of some but not all, there are quite a few elliptical or bland not including NGC 1365. This perhaps comes from a spatial ones so at times my description was merely where I’d moved cluster algorithm. Most of the brighter galaxies in the cluster the scope to locate the next. Unless otherwise stated all were discovered by either James Dunlop or John Herschel, the observations made with 13mm T6 Nagler giving ×115 and a group lies too far south for William to have found any. From 43’ FOV. Fornax is a fairly inconspicuous constellation but as the Henry C Ferguson catalogue there are 36 galaxies with a starting point to get one’s bearings, alpha is a nice double: an NGC designation which I’ve listed in a table. The faintest of these NGC galaxies is NGC 1396 at mag 14.8B, the next Alpha Fornax: mag.3.9, mag.6.5, 4.8” separation. brightest being NGC 1373 at mag 14.1B or 13.3V. There are four IC galaxies of which I think a couple will be challenging Descriptive notes of individual galaxies with my 12” even from La Palma skies. NGC 1316: (Fornax A – ) – quite bright, brightish core, large halo, slightly oval. 6’ to the N is Following on from my previous article on the Grus galaxy NGC 1317 aka 1318; a smaller fainter galaxy with a small chain I observed the Fornax galaxy cluster on the same visit brightish core and slightly oval halo. Couldn’t detect to La Palma with my 12” F5 Dobsonian. My preparation for NGC 1316C. this observation was from Kepple and Sanner’s NSOG (K&S). NGC 1350: Nice, small bright core, elongated oval halo. This was a more awkward group to observe than the Grus Stephen O’Meara refers to it as the ‘Cosmic Eye.’ galaxy chain because there are many more galaxies spread NGC 1365: Large bright core – extended bar, arms coming around a lot more and in two main groups. There are also a from top and bottom, a lot going on. number of galaxies in Fornax that are not part of the Fornax NGC 1386: just in same field as NGC 1365 (39’ East). Bright Galaxy Cluster. Also, my preparation was fairly basic. I have almost stellar core with a thin tapered halo. 1386 is a Seyfert researched it more in preparing this article. Overall, I observed galaxy which probably explains the bright core. 22 galaxies in the cluster but clearly, I could have observed NGC 1389: 16’ North of 1386, tiny stellar core, very small many more and suspect that all if not most of the NGC ones halo, elongated slightly. 24’ NE of 1389. 1.2° NE of 1365 is:- should be observable in the 12” under the excellent skies La NGC 1399: a bright core with a circular halo around it. 10’ Palma has to offer, so another visit is in order. I should add that South and slightly East is:-

58, 3, 2019 September Page 5 Fornax Galaxy Cluster:- Andrew Robertson

At this stage I just moved the scope around picking out galaxies and used the ID function of the Argo Navis unit to identify which was which.

Next day I made the schematic and re-visited picking up NGC 1380B (aka NGC 1382) which is 16’ South of 1380. NGC 1427A, NGC 1336, NGC 1326, NGC 1317 (1318). I missed NGC 1310 I think because a) there were two separate groups and I was concentrating on moving from NGC 1316 towards NGC 1399, b) I simply missed it off my rough schematic and it wasn’t specifically mentioned in K&S. NGC1310 would have been relatively easy I suspect. There are more that should have been within reach of the 12” from La Palma skies. I had intended to sketch this group as per the Grus chain but I spent about an hour just revisiting and re- identifying where I was with them, just ran out of time but did NGC 1404: almost as bright as 1399 but half its size, again a describe a few more on this sweep. bright tiny core with a slightly oval halo around it which seems NGC 1336: faint smallish glow, bright stars in the field. to be just touching a faint on its East side. To SE is a much NGC 1326: is small but has a brightish core and an oval halo. brighter (mag.8) star. NGCs 1399 & 1404 make a nice pairing. NGC 1326A: I was going to say I couldn’t see it at first then Going back to 1399 and then 19’ West is: I just detected it, very faint elongated glow so I suspect I was NGC 1387: quite bright with a bright tiny core and an oval seeing the combined glow of 1326A and 1326B. halo. 1387 forms a rectangle with the three previous galaxies NGC 1427A: AV3, a very faint glow forming a ‘square’ with (1399, 1404 & 1389.) 12’ further West still is: 3 other stars. NGC 1379: slightly larger than 1387 a brightish core and a NGC 1427/8: a tiny faint glow, almost looks like a faint star, a roundish, slightly oval halo. N.B. I considered 1387 smaller faint stellar core with a faint halo around it. A faint star to the than 1379 but it is reversed, 1387 is slightly larger but again a west of it. N.B. In my dictaphone at the time I’d identified this smaller brighter core with a fainter larger halo so obviously not galaxy as NGC 1427 but looking at the descriptions later for seeing the full extent. North of these two and forming a line this article I realise I must have been describing NGC 1428! with 1387 & 1389 is: Whilst not a galaxy let alone a member of the Fornax galaxy NGC 1381: a faint edge-on galaxy with a brightish core and a cluster you can’t observe in this area without looking at: - tiny halo. Moving 15’ to the West of 1381 I can see a pair of NGC 1360, an outstanding Planetary in a medium size galaxies:- scope (12” or 14”) or larger. My observation notes: 13mm NGC 1375: a small elongated faint galaxy with a hint of a core. 2.5’ to the North of 1375 is:- NGC 1374: a brighter roundish galaxy with a brighter core. 20’ North of these two and 1381 is:- NGC 1380: Nice, quite a bright galaxy, a bit like the , bright core, extended outer oval halo. 15’ North of 1380 is:- NGC 1380A: an extremely faint, slightly elongated galaxy. N.B. the size is given as 2.7’ x 0.8’ and images show quite a tapered halo at the tips so clearly I wasn’t seeing the full extent of this. I missed NGC 1339 (cluster member) which is 1.5° North of 1350 but did pick up NGC 1344 (aka 1340) which is not a cluster member a further 1.25° N Part of the Fornax galaxy cluster Image: John Burt of 1399. Page 6 Southern Stars Fornax Galaxy Cluster:- Andrew Robertson

Nagler, much better with UHC, large ghostly oval, one half ID Obs’d? Con Mag Size RA 2000 DEC 2000 brighter, bright central star, dark patches, one end tapered. NGC 1310 For 12.6 2.0’x 1.5’ 03h21m03.5s -37°06’06” NGC 1316 y For 9.4 12.6’x 7.9’ 03h22m41.5s -37°12’27” I also observed in the area: - NGC 1316C For 14.4 1.5’x 0.6’ 03h24m58.5s -37°00’34” NGC 1317(8) y For 11.9 3.1’x 2.6’ 03h22m44.7s -37°06’10” NGC 1340 AKA 1344: I thought not that dissimilar to NGC 1326 y For 11.4 4.5’x 3.2’ 03h23m56.7s -36°27’50” NGC 1350, just as bright, an elongated oval with a tiny core in NGC 1326A y For 14.1 1.8’x 1.2’ 03h25m08.7s -36°21’49” the middle of it, not quite as long as 1350. NGC 1326B y For 13.7 3.5’x 1.4’ 03h25m20.1s -36°23’07” NGC 1369; very faint, could only just detect, just West of a NGC 1336 y For 13.2 2.2’x 1.6’ 03h26m32.2s -35°42’49” brightish star. Not part of the Fornax cluster and in Eridanus NGC 1339 For 12.6 2.0’x 1.5’ 03h28m06.4s -32°17’06” but hard not to include as just down in a line from 1389 & NGC 1341 For 12.9 1.6’x 1.3’ 03h27m58.2s -37°08’57” 1386. NGC 1350 y For 11.2 5.9’x 3.0’ 03h31m08.3s -33°37’44” NGC 1398: 1.3° SE of 1360, brightish core – stubby, oval NGC 1351 For 12.4 3.5’x 2.2’ 03h30m34.7s -34°51’12” NGC 1351A For 13.9 2.5’x 0.6’ 03h28m48.9s -35°10’44” elongated halo. NGC 1365 y For 10.4 10.5’x 6.2’ 03h33m36.4s -36°08’26” NGC 1406: faint edge-on galaxy, one or two dark notches NGC 1373 For 14.1 1.2’x 1.1’ 03h34m59.2s -35°10’16” reminded me of M82. NGC 1374 y For 12 2.8’x 2.6’ 03h35m16.6s -35°13’35” NGC 1425: bright core, ghostly elongated halo, reasonable NGC 1375 y For 13.2 2.3’x 1.0’ 03h35m16.6s -35°15’59” size. NGC 1379 y For 11.8 3.0’x 2.9’ 03h36m03.9s -35°26’29” NGC 1049 is a that resides within the Fornax NGC 1380 y For 10.9 5.1’x 2.8’ 03h36m27.5s -34°58’31” . The latter is a member of our and NGC 1380A y For 13.3 2.7’x 0.8’ 03h36m47.2s -34°44’22” very difficult to observe. I didn’t observe it either but did NGC 1380B y For 13.9 1.7’x 1.3’ 03h37m08.9s -35°11’42” observe NGC 1049, the brightest of its five globulars. NGC 1381 y For 12.4 2.9’x 0.9’ 03h36m31.4s -35°17’39” NGC 1386 y Eri 12.1 3.7’x 1.3’ 03h36m46.2s -35°59’57” NGC 1097: nice elongated galaxy, bright core, faint elongated NGC 1387 y For 11.7 3.5’x 3.4’ 03h36m57.1s -35°30’24” halo, below bottom tip a bright knot – 1097A, also known as NGC 1389 y Eri 12.4 2.9’x 1.7’ 03h37m11.7s -35°44’41” Arp 77. Also made a sketch of this from La Palma back in NGC 1396 For 14.8 53”x 37” 03h38m06.5s -35°26’24” 2015 with my Intes-Micro 5” Mak-Cas. NGC 1399 y For 10.4 7.2’x 6.6’ 03h38m29.0s -35°26’58” NGC 1404 y Eri 10.9 4.7’x 3.7’ 03h38m51.7s -35°35’35” So, overall on this trip I observed 22 galaxies from the Fornax NGC 1419 Eri 13.5 1.4’x 1.2’ 03h40m42.1s -37°30’39” Cluster itself and another eight objects in Fornax, a total of 30. NGC 1427 ? For 11.8 3.9’x 2.6’ 03h42m19.5s -35°23’37” I could have observed more but failed simply because of poor NGC 1427A y Eri 13.6 2.1’x 1.1’ 03h40m09.0s -35°37’34” planning and not being aware of the extent of its members. NGC 1428 y? For 13.9 1.5’x 0.8’ 03h42m22.9s -35°09’12” NGC 1437(6) Eri 11.7 3.0’x2.1’ 03h43m37.1s -35°51’14” On my next visit to La Palma in the appropriate season I aim NGC 1437A Eri 13.4 1.6’x1.2’ 03h43m1.5s -36°16’30” to re-visit Fornax and attempt to observe all the NGC and IC NGC 1437B Eri 13.1 2.9’x 0.9’ 03h45m54.7s -36°21’31” galaxies in the cluster. I reckon most will be doable in the 12”. NGC 1460 Eri 13.5 1.8’x 1.5’ 03h46m13.8s -36°41’47” Fornax is a superb constellation to visit and I do so whenever the opportunity presents itself, mainly to soak up the splendours IC 335 For 13.1 2.5’x 0.6’ 03h35m30.7s -34°26’47” of its objects such as NGC 1360, 1097 and 1365 – probably the IC 1913 For 14.5 2.0’x 0.4’ 03h19m34.6s -32°27’54” best example of a barred spiral to be seen visually (See front IC 1919 For 13.8 1.7’x 1.1’ 03h26m02.3s -32°53’40” cover). There are also lots of good targets nearby low down in IC 1993 For 12.6 2.6’x 2.3’ 03h47m04.8s -33°42’36” Eridanus which are difficult or impossible from the UK. Table 1: All Fornax Cluster members with NGC or IC designations. As an epitaph I was looking through a 1978 6th revised edition of ‘The Observers Book of Astronomy’ by Sir Patrick Moore ID Class Con Mag Size RA 2000 DEC when I came across his entry on the Fornax constellation for NGC 1049 Glob For 12.6 1.2’ 02h39m48.0s -34°15’30” which I quote his full entry, NGC 1097 Gal For 10.2 9.3’x 5.6’ 02h46m19.1s -30°16’30” NGC 1097A Gal For 14 1.0’x 0.5’ 02h46m09.9s -30°13’45” “Fornax – known originally as Fornax Chemica, the Chemical NGC 1340(4) Gal For 11.2 5.2’x 3.2’ 03h28m19.6s -31°04’05” Furnace – was introduced by Lacaille in 1752. It lies near NGC 1360 PNe For 9.4 6.0’ 03h33m14.6s -25°52’18” Eridanus, and contains no bright stars or objects of interest. It NGC 1369 Gal Eri 13.9 1.5’x 1.3’ 03h36m45.0s -36°15’19” is included in the map with Eridanus (page 60).” NGC 1398 Gal For 10.6 7.1’x 5.0’ 03h38m52.1s -26°20’17” NGC 1406 Gal For 12.4 4.1’x 0.8’ 03h39m23.3s -31°19’17” Admittedly it was aimed at beginners with small telescopes and NGC 1425 Gal For 11.3 5.8’x 2.5’ 03h42m11.4s -29°53’40” so concentrates on the moon, planets and stars but just shows how much amateur astronomy has come along in 40 years. Table 2: Non-cluster objects observed in this area.

Acknowledgements This article is based on an article first appearing in ‘The Deep- Owen Brazell, observing friend, chairman of the Webb Deep Sky Observer No. 181, a journal of the Webb Deep-Sky Society. Sky society and the editor of its journal, the Deep-Sky Observer That society has given permission for this to reproduced in kindly provided the technical information on the Fornax galaxy Southern Stars. cluster for me. https://www.webbdeepsky.com/

58, 3, 2019 September Page 7 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond

E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us…

John Drummond Conference Paper

Edwin Emmerson Barnard was a famous 18th – 19th Century American astronomer who, through careful observational and astrophotography skills, discovered a wide range of celestial objects, some of which helped astronomers redefine the structure and make-up of our Galaxy. Barnard has been described as ‘the greatest visual observer who ever lived’ (Bakich 2004). This article is based on a talk about E.E. Barnard, a sometimes-overlooked astronomer, that I presented at the 2019 RASNZ conference. Edwin Emmerson Barnard was born in 1857 in Nashville, Tennessee. The circumstances around his birth were far from pleasant in that the rumblings of the American Civil War were progressively growing closer and because young Edwin’s father died a few months prior to his birth. Consequently, without a proverbial ‘bread winner’ in the family, Barnard had to cut his schooling short1 and start working as a photographer’s assistant when about nine years of age to support his mother and brother – a position he held for 17 years. This fortunate employment would have a lifelong effect on Barnard, as later he used the skills developed as a photographer in a photographic survey that enabled astronomers to rethink their understanding of the structure and makeup of the Milky Way.

According to Professor Timothy Ferris’s documentary ‘Seeing in the Dark’, Barnard saw his youth as a time of deep sadness

Figure 2: Barnard at work by a wagon devoted to outdoor photography. Photo: Vanderbilt University Special Collections and loneliness. He recalls it as “so sad and bitter that even now I cannot look back at it without a shudder”. To comfort himself, Barnard would lay on the deck of an open wagon or on the roof of his employer Rodney Poole’s2 studio on clear nights with a candle and read books, one of which was on astronomy. Using the star charts contained in Thomas Dick’s 1845 Practical Astronomer3, he would gaze at the star-studded sky and learn the and brighter stars. After time, he recalled, Figure 1: Young Barnard. Photo: Wiki Commons the stars became his friends that he would frequently visit and

1 It is often stated in literature that Barnard’s formal education amounted to only two months schooling. His mother home-schooled him effectively in his formative years (Mumford, 1987). 2 Barnard initially worked for Van Stavoren’s photography studio. In the early 1870s, Rodney Poole took over the studio. Barnard worked as an assistant to J.W. Braid, Poole’s chief photographer. 3 Some sources state that it was this book by Dick that Barnard read, others that it was Thomas Dick’s 1840 ‘The Sidereal Heavens and other Subjects Connected with Astronomy...’.

Page 8 Southern Stars E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond explore with a 25mm telescope that a fellow employee made first comet discovery – Comet 1881 VI (C/1881 S1), whilst for him from the lens of a broken spyglass found in the street. sweeping the sky in Virgo.

In 1876, at the age of nineteen, Barnard purchased his first 1881 turned out to be a memorable year in the life of Barnard, commercial telescope, a 125mm refractor made by John Byrne as he married Rhoda Calvert in the same year as he discovered of New York. This equatorial wasn’t a cheap instrument, it his first official comet. Rhoda was an English-born lass (1844 cost young Barnard US$400 (about 2/3 of a year’s wage in that – 1921) who was the sister of two brothers that Barnard worked economic setting). Barnard scoured the sky that he learned as with (Hardy 1964). This and four subsequent comet discoveries a child. One object he observed and noted in 1884 was a faint, earned Barnard many ‘brownie points’ with Rhoda as a fee of 10’ diameter smudge near the . This ~1.6 million US$200 (about 1/3 of a year’s salary in that economic climate) light year distant galaxy (NGC 6822), which is a member of was paid out to any American or Canadian who discovered the Local Group, would bear his name as the discoverer - a new comet between January 1881 and mid 1886(?) as part Barnard’s Galaxy (see Figure 3). of H.H. Warner’s ‘Safe Remedies Prize’. Hulbert Harrington In 1877 Barnard attended a talk by the eminent American Warner (1842 – 1923) was a wealthy philanthropist who astronomer Simon Newcomb4. Upon learning that Barnard acquired his wealth by the sale of millions of dollars of safes had secured a 5” telescope, Newcomb told Barnard to start searching for comets. These words of wisdom didn’t fall upon deaf ears because in September 1881 Barnard reported his

Figure 3: Barnard’s Galaxy (NGC 6822) has a combined of about 8.2 but is quite a challenge to see telescopically. Figure 4: Rhoda Barnard in old age. Photo by the author, 41 cm f5.2 Newtonian. 50×90 seconds. Photo: University of Chicago

# COMET NAME DATE MAG* CONST NOTES 1 1881 VI C/1881 S1 (Barnard) 1881 Sept 17 5.1 (G) Virgo Barnard’s first. Received US$200 2 1882 III C/1882 R2 (Barnard) 1882 Sep 13 9.8 (G) Gemini Received US$200. 3 1884 II D/1884 O1 (Barnard) 1884 July 16 8.4 (G) Lupus Periodic – 5.4 years. US$200 4 1885 II C/1885 N1 (Barnard) 1885 Jul 7 10.8(G) Received US$200 5 1886 II C/1885 X2 (Barnard) 1885 Dec 3 11.4(G) Taurus Received US$200 6 1886 IX C/1886 T1 (Barnard-Hartwig) 1886 Oct 4 8.3 (G) Sextans First co-discovery 7 1886 VIII C/1887 B3 (Barnard) 1887 Jan 23 8.7 (G) Vulpecula 8 1887 III C/1887 D1 (Barnard) 1887 Feb 16 9.0 (G) Puppis 9 1887 IV C/1887 J1 (Barnard) 1887 May 12 9.7 (G) Lupus 10 1889 I C/1888 R1 (Barnard) 1888 Sep 2 10.1(G) Monoceros 11 1888 V C/1888 U1 (Barnard) 1888 Oct 30 9.2 (G) Hydra 12 1889 II C/1889 G1 (Barnard) 1889 Mar 31 11.1(G) Taurus 13 1889 III P/1889 M1 (177P - Barnard) 1889 Jun 23 10.0(G) Andromeda First periodic comet he discovered 14 1891 I C/1891 F1 (Barnard-Denning) 1891 Mar 29 8.4 (G) Andromeda 15 1891 IV C/1891 T1 (Barnard) 1891 Oct 2 10.1(G) Puppis 16 1892 V P/1892 T1 (Barnard-(Boattini)) 1892 Oct 12 12.0(G) Aquila First discovered photographically Table 1: Comets discovered by E.E. Barnard. Compiled by the author - with the help from the Comets-M1 Yahoo Group. * The discovery magnitude is based on GUIDE 9.1 planetarium software (G) and is possibly inaccurate – also note that a comet’s spread out coma magnitude is fainter than a star’s point-source magnitude.

4 Professor Simon Newcomb (1835-1909) was head of the US Naval Observatory’s Nautical Almanac Office. His work involved better determining the of planets and trying to better measure the speed of light (Ridpath 2012).

58, 3, 2019 September Page 9 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond and then, later, patent medicines (Wikipedia). These monies paid off the mortgage on the Barnards’ new house5 – it often being referred to as ‘Comet House’ and ‘The house that comets paid for’ by friends (Figure 7)6.

Barnard went on to discover/or co-discover a total of sixteen comets. His last discovery was the first comet to be discovered using the developing astronomical tool of photography. See Table 1 for a list of Barnard’s comets. Note that in 1886 he discovered three comets in the one year. In addition to being a prolific discoverer of comets and observer, Barnard wasa dedicated cometographer (one who photographs comets) and astrophotographer. Figure 7: ‘Comet House’ in 1882. Barnard’s wife and Due to Barnard’s many comet discoveries and increasing fame, mother on the porch. A building from Vanderbilt university he was offered a fellowship and invited to take charge of the is seen in the background. Photo: Vanderbilt then, new observatory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1883. While there he studied maths and languages (Hardy 1964). When not fulfilling his duties as an astronomical as a ‘special’ student – but due to his lack of formal school instructor, as with any telescope within Barnard’s reach and education, these were restricted ‘to a non-degree curriculum’ under a clear sky, he put the 15cm (6 inch) telescope to very good use. He left Vanderbilt in 1887. A hall of residence at the university was later named Barnard in his honour.7

In 1887 Barnard was asked to join the original staff at Lick Observatory on 1,290 metre Mount Hamilton in California. This being the observatory of the University of California. The prospect of using the (then) world’s largest telescope, the 91cm (36 inch) Lick Refractor, was overpowering for this, the most prolific observer on the planet (see Figure 9). He accepted and worked there until 1895. These nine years were a mixture of astronomical highs and in-house lows for the 30-ish year-old Barnard.

A high of dizzying proportions was the discovering of a fifth moon around Jupiter (the first four being the Galilean Moons) Figure 5: Vanderbilt University Observatory. by Barnard in 1892. Barnard had finally, after four years of Photo: Vanderbilt University requests and an appeal to the university regents, been granted

Figure 6: Examples of Barnard’s extraordinary photographic skills. Left: Mars and Syrtis Major, 1909-09-29, 40” Yerkes. Centre: Comet Brookes (C/1893 U1), 1893-10-21. Right: Needle Galaxy in Coma Berenices, undated. All photos by E.E. Barnard.

5 In the late 1950s or early 1960s the Barnards’ ‘Comet House’ was ‘swept away to make room for a parking lot’ (Hardy 1964). The 2002 song ‘They paved paradise and put up a parking lot’ by the Counting Crows springs to mind... 6 In a letter of appreciation to Warner, Barnard stated that the prize “not only increases the watchfulness of observers, but handsomely rewards them for their labour.” He added, “By encouraging the observer you add to his zeal, which can but redound to the benefit of astronomy.” (Kronk). 7 As Hardy wryly observes, it seemed ‘dubious and most inappropriate of naming one of Vanderbilt’s dormitories after (Barnard) - a man who was never know to sleep’. (Hardy).

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Figure 10: Amalthea from the Galileo Probe. Figure 8: Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, Photo: C.J. Hamilton / NASA California. Photo: https://www.ucolick.org/main/ News of Barnard’s discovery spread rapidly. Newspapers permission to regularly use the 36” refractor a month earlier. across the United States picking up the story. Many hailed the th On the 9 September Barnard was using the great telescope discovery of ‘J V’ as ‘the greatest astronomical achievement of on his weekly Friday allotment. Initially he observed the the century’ and that E.E. Barnard was the greatest astronomer region around Nova Aurigae and found previously unknown of all time (Cruikshank 1982) – a rather emotive statement nebulosity around that star. He then made measurements of made by American newspapers! Amalthea was the name double stars – and planet positions. While observing Jupiter later bestowed upon Barnard’s discovery.8 This was the last th closely, he noted a 13 -magnitude object close to Ganymede. planetary satellite to be discovered visually. In recognition of Scrutinising it over 2½ hours until it disappeared behind Barnard’s discovery, impressive astronomical work in many Jupiter, he wrote the following in his logbook, ‘This must be a fields, and earlier university studies, Vanderbilt University new satellite at elongation. It is apparently smaller than either bestowed upon E.E. Barnard the award of Doctor of Science a of the satellites of Mars.’ (Cruikshank 1982). The next night, few years after discovering Jupiter’s fifth known moon (Hardy Barnard gained permission to use the ‘great equatorial’ again to 1964). search for the new satellite. After a few minutes he found it to the east of Jupiter. Barnard had found a new moon of Jupiter! Barnard stayed on at Lick Observatory until 1895 as the professor of practical astronomy. Of consternation to Barnard and fellow staff members at Lick was the dictatorial rule of the observatory director and former army officer, Edward S. Holden (Figure 11). Holden assembled the best observers of the time – S.W. Burnham (double stars - not of Burnham’s Handbook fame), James Keeler (spectroscopy), John Schaebertle, Charles Hill, E.E. Figure 11: Barnard and more. The staff would E.S. Holden, Lick soon learn that Holden ruled with Observatory director a tight fist and was, in their view, from 1888-1897. Photo: Wiki Commons ‘scientifically unproductive’ – often leaving the 36” on his two nights a week after only a few hours observing. In-house bickering leaked out to local newspapers. Keeler, Hill and then Burnham, seeing the situation as hopeless, resigned in 1891-2. Barnard endured until 1895. In 1895 Barnard accepted an invitation by the University of Chicago to become a professor of astronomy at Yerkes Observatory – with its impressive 102cm (40”) refractor, the largest in the world.9 Barnard was allocated between 2-4 nights a week to use this behemoth (Frost 1923). It was during his time at Yerkes (1916 to be more precise) that Barnard determined the highly unusual of Barnard’s Figure 9: Barnard beside the 36” Lick Refractor. Star – a 9th magnitude star in Ophiuchus that is 5.96 light years Photo: © Lick Observatory away (the second closest after the Alpha Centauri system). Its 8 Amalthea is the 3rd closest satellite to Jupiter, lying at 181 200 km. It is 250×146×128 km in diameter and orbits Jupiter in 0.498 days (Ridpath 2012). 9 The 40” lens was made by legendary telescope maker Alvan G. Clark

58, 3, 2019 September Page 11 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond position changes by 10”.36 per year – a quarter of a degree in a human lifespan (Kaler).

Around this time Barnard considered using the developing astronomical tool of photography to examine the Milky Way ‘in order to delineate its large-scale structure’ (Mumford 1987). With his considerable knowledge from nearly two decades in the photographic profession, he reasoned that a portrait lens would be best for this (see Figure 13). Portrait lenses of the time were large objective lenses coupled with short focal ratios.

Regarding the response of photographic plates, they became progressively more sensitive to photons as technology progressed. The following are some highlights regarding said improved light sensitivity and photography -

1816 – Joseph Nicephore Niepce (France) – first moderately successful images 1830s – Niepce and Louis Daguerre – Daguerreotype Figure 13: An example of a portrait lens (Willard and Co., photography. Bright terrestrial scene = ~30 minutes exposure. circa 1860. These mini light-buckets were conducive to 1840 – J.W. Draper, first daguerreotypes of the Moon. photographing people with slow-response photographic 1851 – F.S. Archer - ‘Wet Plates’ – wet collodion process plates. The faster the lens, the less sitting time for the (glass plates coated with potassium iodine and collodion model! Photo: Mark Lund (AKA Gun Cotton), then placed in baths of silver nitrate – and exposed/used when wet). Bright terrestrial scene = ~10 seconds exposure.

Figure 12: Albert Einstein (near centre), E.E. Barnard (8th from left) and others at the102 cm (40”) Yerkes Refractor, 1921. Photo: Yerkes Observatory

Page 12 Southern Stars E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond

1870s – Dr R.L. Maddox – Gelatin dry-plates (Albumen) process developed. Bright 1 terrestrial scene = ~ /15 second exposure. 1880s – Henry Draper – First deep sky astrophoto (M42 – 51 mins). Gelatin dry-plate (Figure 14). 1892? - Barnard’s first exposures with a 15cm (6”) Willard lens. Manually guided for up to six hours per exposure! Figure 14: Henry Draper’s M42, 1882.Photo: H. Draper English astronomer, A.A. Commons, was producing superior images of nebulae in the 1880s. He was using the newly developed Gelatin dry photographic plates and a reflector telescope. In addition, photos by the Henry brothers (Paul and Prosper) in Paris inspired Barnard to pursue his quest. First, Barnard had to secure his equipment. Earlier he experimented imaging the Milky Way with a 15cm (6”) aperture Willard lens at Lick Observatory. Based on this, he believed a fast lens with a diameter of 10 inches (25 cm) would gather the faint light and provide a nice large field of view. In 1897, American philanthropist and patron of astronomy, Catherine Bruce of New York provided US$7,000 10 for the lens and mounting. Figure 16: The Bruce Telescope had 25cm and 16cm After much searching, testing, lenses and a 13cm guide ‘scope. Photo: Wiki Commons and rejection of lenses Barnard of the Milky Way’. Barnard’s photos were exquisite. The lens settled for a 10-inch doublet produced a lovely, rich field. As a testament to his skills, his made by John Brashear of photos are comparable to those obtained by astrophotographers Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Of over 100 years later – with the huge technological advances in this lens, Barnard wrote, ‘(it) equipment and film (or rather CCD) that we have today! gave exquisite definition over a field some 7˚ in width.’ Barnard was described as an observeaholic. He was known (Mumford 1987). Barnard to regularly image all night (in a reindeer coat – Figure 17) 11 designed the housing, which – and we’re talking about meticulous manual guiding here - was custom-made by Warner and then spend most of the day developing and inspecting his and Swasey in Cleveland, Ohio photos. One funny anecdote is that when on Mount Wilson, he – the same company that made Figure 15: John Brashear came off the hill only once during his eight-month stint – for the mountings for the 91cm (1840-1920). Photo: RAS a haircut! (36”) Lick and 102cm (40”) Yerkes telescope (Figure 16). One aspect of the Milky Way that puzzled him (and other astronomers) were the dark regions in the bright arms of the First light for the ‘Bruce Camera’ occurred in April 1904. It Galaxy. Many speculated that they were holes in our galaxy, was housed in a 5-metre domed observatory on the grounds of through which we could view the universe on the other side. Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin (University of Contrary to these empty holes, bright nebulae were correctly Chicago), at a latitude of 42˚ 34’ N. It was about 100 metres seen as gas-rich regions where occurred. In from Barnard’s home. One year later, between February and the late 1800s and early 1900s few believed that these dark September 1905, thanks to a grant, Barnard took his camera holes were like the light nebulae, but had no stars imbedded to Mount Wilson, near Los Angeles, California (Carnegie within them to illuminate the gas. In 1884, in a paper, Barnard Institution for Science) at a latitude of 34˚ 14’ N. Barnard described (what would later be called Barnard 92 – Figure 18) wanted a more southern location in order to photograph low, a small, dark patch in Sagittarius. He titled the paper the southern Milky Way targets. During these eight months Barnard ‘Small Black Hole in the Milky Way’, thus revealing his (and painstakingly obtained 80% of the photos that would grace his others’) view that such holes in the Galaxy existed. However, later publication, ‘A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions over time Barnard encountered an evolutionary cognitive shift 10 Wealthy amateur astronomer Catherine Bruce (1816-1900) established the Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in recognition of lifetime achievements and contributions to astrophysics. It is one of the prestigious awards in the field. It was first awarded in 1898 to Simon Newcomb. From www.astrosociety.org 11 Barnard found that the observatory pack mule, Pinto, had hair finer than a human, so he used Pinto’s hair for the crosshair in his guiding scope!

58, 3, 2019 September Page 13 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond which became evident in about the size of the Moon drifting across the brilliant swath of progressive journal articles the Milky Way hid the farther star fields and appeared as dark that he penned… ink drops – in the same manner that dark nebulae block out the It’s interesting to read more distant starlight. Barnard’s transformative evolution in successive In 1915, after a decade of examining his photos taken with articles he authored – usually the Bruce Telescope, Barnard cast his vote, as it were. ‘There in the Astrophysical Journal. are two possible explanations of [dark patches]:(1) That it is In 1905 he wrote12 about the an opening in a widely diffused nebulous stratum. (2) That Milky Way in Cepheus and it is an opaque, non-luminous object projected against space, the nebulosity around Rho which is itself luminous.…From investigations…in the sky, I Ophiuchi (Figure 19). He Figure 17: Barnard in his lean towards the idea that these are relatively non-luminous, writes, ‘In reference to these coat from a reindeer hide. opaque bodies, seen against a luminous background.’ dark lanes and holes, there Photo: Lick Observatory seems to be a growing tendency to consider them dark masses In 1919 Barnard wrote a summative account – nearer to us than the Milky Way…This idea was originally put ‘I did not at first believe in these dark obscuring masses. The forward by Mr. A. C. Ranyard. Though this may in a few cases proof was not conclusive. The increase of evidence, however, be true – for some of them look very much that way – I think from my own photographs convinced me later, especially they can be more readily explained on the assumption that they after investigating some of them visually, that many of these are real vacancies. In most cases the evidence points palpably markings were not simply due to an actual want of stars, but in this direction.’ were really obscuring bodies nearer to us than the distant stars. However, five In this way it has fallen to my lot to prove this fact. I think years later, there is sufficient proof now to make this certain. For some Barnard seemed years I have tried to secure long exposure photographs of as to be changing his many of these bodies as possible. This has resulted in the opinion. In 1910 he location of a considerable number of them in different parts wrote, ‘At present of the sky. Their apparent preference for the bright regions of we have no means the Milky Way is obviously due to the fact that they are more of determining readily shown with a bright background.’ (Barnard 1919). whether a nebula is transparent or not… By meticulous observational and photographic skills, E.E. If these dark spaces Barnard had led the astronomical community out of the dark of the sky are due ages, as it were, and into the light of a better understanding of Figure 18: Barnard 92 - a mysterious to absorbing matter the structure and make-up of our Galaxy. dark patch. between us and the Photo: E.E. Barnard (crop fromplate 31) stars – and I must The following page shows images taken by the author to confess that their looks tempt one to this belief – such matter illustrate key texts written by Barnard in his pursuit for an must, in many cases, be perfectly opaque, for in certain parts of understanding of these dark patches… the sky the stars are apparently entirely blotted out.’ Edward Emmerson Barnard died at his home near the grounds of Yerkes Observatory and near his beloved Bruce Telescope In 1913 he further writes that the Horsehead Nebula (B33) in 1923 (Figure 24). His wife Rhoda died less than two years (Figure 33), ‘is clearly a dark body projected against, and before. During his 66 years Barnard published over 800 works. breaking the continuity of, the brighter nebulosity. Possibly The list of awards this is a portion of bestowed upon the nebula itself him is magnificent. nearer to us, but C o n t e m p o r a r y dark and opaque, astrophotographer that cuts out the Professor Max light from the Wolf named rest of the nebula two of his minor against which it is planet discoveries projected.’ That Barnardiana and same year, Barnard Rhoda after Barnard was observing and his late wife under pristine Rhoda (Crommelin conditions and 1923). Edward is wrote how seeing buried in his birth small -bound Figure 19: Plate 13 - . town of Nashville, cumulous clouds Photo: E.E. Barnard Tennessee. Figure 20: Barnard when older. 12 The following paragraphs are based on Mumford’s (1987) work. In 1927 Barnard’s Photo: F. Kelleher, Yerkes Museum

Page 14 Southern Stars E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond

Figure 21: In 1919 Barnard wrote, ‘I do not think it necessary to urge the fact that there are obscuring masses of matter in space. This has been quite definitely proved in my former papers on this subject. If any doubt remains of this it will perhaps be readily dispelled by a close examination of the photographs previously printed. The conclusive ones I think are… The photograph of the nebula about [above] which clearly shows partial and complete obscuration by the great winglike nebula that covers much of the immediate region of Nu Scorpii and extends southward to the great nebula of Rho Ophiuchi’ (Barnard 1919). Photo by John Drummond: 18cm f2.8 Takahashi Epsilon Newtonian and SBIG STL1100M CCD, Clear filter, 15 x 5 minutes, 1x1 bin, March 2019. North=left, East=down.

Figures 22: Barnard continued (from Figure 21 above), ‘The small black spot (No. 92) shown in the photographs [above left]…where visual observations prove the existence of a material object’ (Barnard 1919). Barnard first observed B92 when comet hunting in the 1880s. And ... ‘The region of Rho Ophiuchi [above right], where a large space of sky is blotted out by a great and beautiful nebula. The fact of obscuration is clearly evident here, for wherever a trace of the nebula extends, especially to the west, the general background of small stars is sharply blotted out’ (Barnard 1919). Photos by John Drummond. B92: 41cm f5.2 Newtonian, STL11000M CCD. Rho Ophiuchi: 100mm Sigma lens and STF8300M CCD.

58, 3, 2019 September Page 15 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond

The following table lists the plate numbers and target regions. Note that the ‘Areas’ in italics are too far north/or very low for New Zealand skies. Also note that the Plate Number order is based on ascending . A webpage for viewing each plate can be found at – https://exhibit-archive.library.gatech.edu/barnard/bpdi/search.php?search=0

Plate No. RA (2000) Dec (2000) Area Barnard’s FoV 1 2h 12m +57.0 Region of the Double Cluster in Perseus - 2 2h 44m +60.0 In Perseus and Cassiopeia - 3 3h 30m +31.0 In Perseus and Taurus - 4 3h 39m +23.8 Regions of the 5 4h 16m +28.0 Nebulous Region in Taurus 6 5h 28m +9.8 In Orion (Meissa) 7 5h 43m +32.5 Region of the Custer in - 8 6h 2m +24.4 Region in Gemini, near the Cluster - 9 6h 9m +22.2 Region in Gemini, Southeast of Messier 35 Figure 23: Barnard at the Bruce Telescope. 10 7h 11m -23.1 Region in Canis Major 11 15h 54m 24s -25° 23´ Region in Scorpius and Libra 7° x 7° Note the 10” and 6” lenses for imaging and the 12 16h 14m 46s -19° 33´ Region of Nu Scorpii 5.5° x 5° 5” guide ‘scope. Photo: University of Chicago 13 16h 25m 35s -23° 46´ Region of the Great Nebula of Rho Ophiuchi 8.5° x 8° 14 16h 52m 05s -22° 45´ Dark Lanes in Ophiuchus (see Figure 29) 6° x 10° book, ‘A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of 15 16h 56m 08s -28° 06´ In Scorpius and Ophiuchus 9.5° x 9° the Milky Way’ was published in two volumes (see 16 16h 57m 30s -39° 33´ In the Southern Part of Scorpius 10.5° x 10° Figure 25). Only 700 sets were printed. This occurred 17 17h 01m 29s -32° 02´ Region in Scorpius, near Messier 62 6° x 6° four years after his death; Yerkes director, Edwin 18 17h 13m 54s -27° 45´ Region in Ophiuchus and Scorpius 10° x 10° 19 17h 20m 03s -21° 27´ Region North of 7.5° x 7.5° Frost and Barnard’s niece, Mary Culvert (Figure 26) 20 17h 25m 38s -24° 18´ Dark Markings near Theta Ophiuchi 8° x 8° completed what her uncle had nearly finished. In his 21 17h 29m 45s -26° 07´ Region of Theta Ophiuchi and Eastward 8° x 8° book, Barnard presented 50 photographic plates of, as 22 17h 40m 19s -32° 15´ Region in Scorpius and Sagittarius, near Messier 6 8° x 8° the name suggests, selected regions in the Milky Way. 23 17h 43m 10s -21° 36´ Region of 7° x 7° 24 17h 54m 10s -34° 43´ Region in Scorpius and Sagittarius, near 8° x 8° By closely scrutinising these and other plates, Barnard 25 17h 56m 45s -16° 58´ Region in Serpens and Sagittarius 9° x 9° identified ~370 dark regions. Each of these were 26 18h 02m 13s -29° 21´ Great Star Clouds in Sagittarius 10° x 10° labelled ‘B’ followed by the identification number – 27 18h 03m 52s -29° 01´ Great Star Clouds in Sagittarius - 2 8.5° x 8.5° e.g. The Horsehead Nebulae is labelled B3313. Not 28 18h 04m 32s -32° 51´ Region South of the Great Star Cloud in Sagittarius 6° x 6° 29 18h 08m 54s -21° 15´ Region in Sagittarius, North of the Great Star Cloud 7° x 7° satisfied with half-tone photographic reproduction, 30 18h 11m 05s -25° 39´ A Region in Sagittarius 6° x 6° his images were printed onto actual photographic 31 18h 16m 51s -18° 40´ Small Star Cloud in Sagittarius 6° x 6° paper from reproducing negatives and bound into 32 18h 24m 46s -20° 12´ Region in Sagittarius, SE of the Small Star Cloud 6° x 6° each volume (Frost 1923). Barnard personally 33 18h 28m 02s -25° 06´ Region in Sagittarius 6.5° x 6.5° 34 18h 29m 51s -14° 08´ In Aquila and Sagittarius 8° x 8° inspected the 35,700 prints used for the books (35,700 35 18h 36m 53s -11° 22´ Region in Aquila and Sagittarius 8° x 8° / 700 = 51 prints/set), setting a precedent for future 36 18h 47m 48s -04° 38´ Region of the Star Cloud in Scutum, Northern Part 7° x 7° photographic plates in astronomy books. 37 18h 51m 35s -06° 57´ The Great Star Cloud in Scutum 10° x 10° 38 18h 59m 42s +00° 50´ Region in Aquila, Western Part 8° x 8° 39 19h 05m 10s -05° 14´ Region in Aquila 8.5° x 8.5° 40 19h 13m 13s +00° 47´ In Aquila, Northeast of the Star Cloud in Scutum 6° x 6° 41 19h 36m 20s +11° 06´ In Aquila, Northwest of Altair 9° x 9° 42 19h 39m 56s +17° 45´ Region of Sagitta 7° x 7° 43 19h 59m 14s +35° 58´ Region in Cygnus, Southern Part - 44 20h 23m 11s +39° 59´ Region of Gamma Cygni - 45 20h 35m 48s +45° 13´ Region of Alpha Cygni - 46 20h 57m 48s +44° 09´ Region of the North America Nebula - 47 21h 13m 02s +58° 46´ Region in Cepheus - 48 21h 18m 12s +50° 38´ Region in Cygnus, Northeastern Part - 49 21h 38m 37s +57° 34´ Region in Cepheus - 50 22h 15m 14s +55° 47´ Region in Cepheus, Cygnus and Lacerta -

For around six months, ending in May 2019, I attempted to image some of Barnard’s fields found in his book out of historic curiosity. In order to do so I used a 70-200mm f2.8 Sigma lens (70mm aperture) attached to a SBIG STF8300M CCD camera. The field of view ranged from ~14 × 11 degrees at Figure 24: The Barnard’s house, next to Yerkes 70mm to ~5.3 × 4.1 degrees at 200mm. I generally used the lens at 100mm for Observatory in 1897. Barnard’s target regions – which was comparable to Barnard’s field with the Photo: University of Chicago Photo Archives Bruce Telescope. At 100mm my lens afforded a field of approximately 10.3 ×

13 Note that some Barnard objects, such as B33 (the Horsehead Nebula) were known objects prior to Barnard’s imaging and cataloguing process. In the case of B33, the Horsehead Nebula was photographed by William Pickering of Harvard College Observatory in 1888 and identified by Williama Flemming soon after. Barnard was one of the first to write descriptive notes about it, stating that it was a “Dark mass, diam. 4’, on nebulous strip extending south from ζ Orionis.” cataloguing the dark nebula as Barnard 33 (Barnard 1919).

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Figure 25: E.E. Barnard’s 2-volume set of Figure 26: Barnard’s niece, Mary exquisite photos. Photo: Wiki Commons Culvert. Photo: Yerkes Observatory 7.6 degrees with an image scale of 10.9”/Pixel. Unfortunately, Despite the poor resolution, I persevered in my attempt to my large image scale restricted the resolution in the images replicate numerous Barnard images14. A few are shown – compared to Barnards. Regarding the Bruce Telescope, below (and are in bold print in the table above). Note that Barnard wrote, ‘The focus of the 10-inch, determined from the originals matched Barnard’s orientation of North up and the photographs, is 50.3 inches (127.8 cm), and the scale is East left, however, to fit on the pages of Southern Stars, some therefore 1 inch =1°14 or 1°= 0.88 inch. The ratio, a/f =1/5.03, images are often rotated 90 degrees (so North is right and East I believe to be the best for the purpose. The plate-holder for the is up). In Barnard’s book he provides detailed descriptions 10-inch carries a plate 12 inches square [i.e. 12 × 12 inches]’. of the photographic field, sketches of the photographic field – showing known objects and Barnard’s numbered objects, and That is, the Bruce Telescope lens was 10 inches (25 cm) in a table of said known objects and Barnard objects (e.g. B33). diameter and had a focal length of 50.3 inches (127.8 cm), i.e., had a focal ratio of f5. The square photographic plate The following are a few examples of some of my images laid measured a whopping 12 inches x 12 inches (30 cm x 30 cm). alongside selected regions that this giant of astrophotography If my SBIG STF8300M CCD (5.4 × 5.4 micron pixels, 3326 and astronomy took 100 years before… × 2504 pixels) was placed on Barnard’s lens, the field of view would be about 49’ x 37’ with an image scale of 0.88”/Pixel – contra to the 10.9”/Pixel with the Sigma lens set at 100mm focal length.

Figure 28: The author leaning nonchalently on his 41cm (f4.5 Figure 27: E.E Barnard leaning native and f5.2 with coma corrector) nonchalently on the 36” Lick telescope. Newtonian telescope. 14 I imaged the following of Barnard’s 50 photograpic plate fields - Plate 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34 and 37 (the bold numbers on the list above). Twelve were too far north for me. In the following pages, the Plates shown are in bold for the whole line.

58, 3, 2019 September Page 17 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond Plate 14

Figure 29: Plate 14 in Barnard’s book. Dark lanes in Ophiuchus. N=right, E=up. Note Barnard’s list of dark objects in his list - B43, B44, B45, etc. Barnard’s (left) exposure was 3 hours, mine (right) was 0.5 hour.

Page 18 Southern Stars E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond Plate 18

Figure 30: Plate 18 in Barnard’s book - ‘Region South of the Great Star Cloud in Sagittarius’. N=up, E=left. Barnard’s exposure (left) was 4.4 hours, mine (right) was 1 hour. Note, the Pipe Nebula in Barnard’s photo is the beak of the Kiwi - smaller image (inverted). Can you see it? Kiwi photo by the author.

58, 3, 2019 September Page 19 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond Plate 30

Figure 31: Plate 30 in Barnard’s book - ‘A Region in Sagittarius’. N=up, E=left. Barnard’s exposure (left) was 4.5 hours, mine (right) was 0.3 hours. Note the Trifid (M20) and Lagoon (M8) Nebulae at the upper right. A close-up image was made by the author in May 2019 with a 18cm f2.8 Takahashi Epsilon Newtonian, CCD and Hα filter - 2.5 hour exposure time.

Page 20 Southern Stars E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond Plate 31

Figures 32: Plate 31 in Barnard’s book - ‘Small Star Cloud in Sagittarius’. N=up, E=left. Barnard’s exposure (left) was 4.5 hours, mine (right) was 0.3 hour. Note M17 (the - aka the Swan Nebula) at upper centre. A close-up image as made by the author with a 41cm f5.2 Newtonian.

58, 3, 2019 September Page 21 E.E. Barnard A Legendary 18-19th Century Astrophotographer Whose Images Still ‘Wow’ Us...:- John Drummond

Figure 33: Interestingly, B33 (the Horsehead Nebula) is not included in Barnard’s book. Nevertheless, it was an object that helped transition him from the hole in the Galaxy hypothesis to that of dark nebulae blotting background light. Barnard described B33 in a paper in 1913 as ‘clearly a dark body projected against, and breaking the continuity of, the brighter nebulosity. Possibly this is a portion of the nebula itself nearer to us, but dark and opaque, that cuts out the light from the rest of the nebula against which it is projected.’ Photo by the author, 13cm f3.3 Takahashi Epsilon Newtonian and CCD.

Conclusion Kronk, G. 2017, Lewis Swift: Celebrated Comet Hunter and Edward Emmerson Barnard was a prolific comet discoverer, the People’s Astronomer (Springer) observer and astrophotographer. He was ahead of his time in McHenry, L., EE Barnard and His Dark Nebulae - his investigation of what at first were thought to be voids in our http://stellar-journeys.org/EE%20Barnard%20and%20 Galaxy and then realised to be dark nebulae. His two-volume His%20Dark%20Nebula.pdf (accessed 7 Sept 2019) set, ‘A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Mumford, G.S. 1987, The Legacy of E.E. Barnard, Sky and Way’, is a testament to Barnard’s thousands of hours of manual Telescope magazine, July 1987 guiding and pain staking investigation of his prints during the Orchiston, W. 2016, Exploring the History of New Zealand day. Next time you’re under a starry sky, try to locate some Astronomy – Trails, Tribulations, Telescope and Transits of Barnard’s ‘B’ dark regions and remember the legacy that is (Springer: New York) Edward Emmerson Barnard… Ridpath, I. 2012, Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Bibliography Sabuchill - http://www.saburchill.com/HOS/astronomy/033. ApJ, Vol 35, Issue 820, pages 25-26, 1923, Obituary Notice html (accessed 8th Sept 2019) http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1923AJ.....35...25. Smith, K.A. 2018, ‘The James Lick Telescope Bakich, M.E. 2004, Barnard’s Milky Way, Astronomy Is Built Over The Grave Of Its Namesake’ - magazine, August 2004 https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2018/01/08/ Barnard, E.E. 1919, ApJ, ‘On the Dark Markings on the Sky’, the-james-lick-telescope-is-built-over-the-grave-of-its- January 1919 namesake/#661b1f722fae (accessed 8th Sept 2019) Barnard, E.E. & Dobek, G.O., 2011, A Photographic Atlas of Struve, O. 1961, E.E. Barnard and Milky Way Photography, Selected Regions of the Milky Way (Reprint) (Cambridge: Sky and Telescope magazine, July 1961 Cambridge University Press) Vanderbilt University Special Collections - Crommelin, A.C.D. 1923, Nature, March 23, 1923 http://exhibits.library.vanderbilt.edu/barnard/nashville. Cruikshank, D.P. 1982, Barnard’s Satellite of Jupiter, Sky and shtml Telescope magazine, September 1982 University of Chicago Photographic Archive Ferris, I. 2007, Seeing in the Dark documentary - http://photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy? show= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKDjSCx-8g8 browse6.xml%7C36 Frost, E.B. 1923, Edward Emerson Barnard, ApJ Vol. LVIII, “Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal - Astronomical Society”. No. II www.astrosociety.org. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Hardy, R. 1964, The Early Life of E.E. Barnard (Part II), Retrieved 7 September 2019. Astronomical Society of the Pacific – Leaflet No. 416, Wikipedia (‘Hulbert Harrington Warner’) - February 1964. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulbert_Harrington_Warner Kaler, J., Barnard’s Star - https://web.archive.org/ web/20060905110505/http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/ sow/barnard.html (accessed 11 Sept 2019)

Page 22 Southern Stars A New Hope:- R W Evans

A New Hope

R W Evans Southland Astronomical Society

Two years ago, in the September 2017 Southern Stars, I wrote a short history of the Southland Observatory and of its demise. Since then, the Southland Astronomical Society has been active in tryng to restore observing facilities for the Southland community. Our two main requisites were a dark observing site and storage only minutes to set this up and be running. Simultaneously, facilities. A meeting place as well would be a bonus. This displays inside the club rooms allow visitors to freely wander year we have obtained all three and are about to negotiate a between observing the night sky and studying our material in continued lease of them. Fingers crossed! the warmth of a log burner, which admittedly does struggle on cold nights to bring the room up to optimum temperature. The We are using the former Oreti Sands Golf Links grounds. That building also allows us to cater for visitors on cloudy nights. club was forced to close because of diminishing membership. It had a nine hole golf course, a large club room and a sealed We have worried whether people would find accessibility a approach road. It is a 20 minute drive west of Invercargill’s problem, as the the observatory we formerly used was right CBD, near Oreti Beach. Between the site and the city is the in the town centre. But with special school holiday events Invercargill airport and New River Estuary, and the rural and group bookings we have been reasonably satisfied with suburb of Otatara with not much more than a dozen streetlights numbers. We have also increased our society membership. (downward facing LED). Consequently our site is very dark. If we can renew our lease into the future we could be more For a reaonable lease from the Invercargill City Council we confident in developing our programmes. There are other can use the site for our monthly meetings, Wednesday winter groups, mainly sporting organisations, that have shown interest public viewing nights plus other nights by special arrangement, in using the site, but since they would be active in the daytime, and recently a newly formed Friday astronomical photographic there should be no problem in sharing the facilities. The nearby section meeting. This latter was formed from a core of areas though are already well catered for ball games, water enthusiastic aurora photographers, including the society’s sports and motor sports. We are not far from the Teretonga president, Liz King. Raceway.

While we bring out our 10” Meade LX 50 telescope on busy A hope for the future would be that we could build an observatory nights, our prime instrument at present is the Celestron C8 on the site. A domed building is its own advertisement. on our newly acquired iOptron AZ Mount Pro. It takes us

The arrow points to the Southland Astronomical Society’s Oreti Sands observing and meeting site. It lies between the Oreti Beach on its left in this Google Earth image, and the Oreti River on its right. The Dunns Road bridge over the river (top left) is a favourite place for photographing the aurora as at that point it is due south looking down the river. The Invercargill airport is just out of the picture top centre.

58, 3, 2019 September Page 23 A New Hope:- R W Evans

The Oreti Sands site looking south. Observing takes place on the grass area shown here in front of the club rooms. Curtains are normally drawn over the windows to preserve the darkness. The glow above the trees to the left is from Invercargill. Above the rooms is the glow from Bluff. Somewhat enhanced here as they don’t normally worry us. At top left is seen the tracks of two serendipitously crossing satellites. Another satellite is seen on the right edge of the photo. The photo was taken this year July 1st. Photo: Liz King

This shows inside the club rooms where we display telescopes (when not in use outside), posters, large aurora photographs, dark sky information, a full size photo of an astronaut on the Moon, with a domed washing machine window for its helmet for children to look through and have their photos taken: always popular! Behind this photographer is an area where we give talks with the aid of a large flat screen monitor. Also a kitchen. Here is a kindergarten group visiting one evening and enjoying a feast of fish and chips. At night, if it is cloudy and no observing can be done, children are allowed to end their visit by running outside in the pitch dark waving light sticks around. This always burns off surplus energy. Photo: Liz King

Page 24 Southern Stars Book Review:- Grahame Fraser

Book Review Grahame Fraser Radio Astronomer John Bolton and a New Window on the Universe by Peter Robertson

2017 week course on how to be 421 pages an officer and a gentleman ISBN: 174223545X and a one month course on US$46 naval electronics and radar ebook available (in which he was top of the University of New South class). He gained experience Wales Press Ltd, Sydney installing airborne radar on Naval aircraft at a naval This is a very readable book. base in Scotland and later In 421 pages Peter Robertson on R.A.F. aircraft with the maintains a detailed flow Telecommunication Research of background material as Establishment in England. he describes the different After D-Day he joined HMS events and decisions in John Unicorn, a large aircraft Bolton’s life. There are carrier with a crew of 1200. plenty of photos. It had been purpose built as a floating workshop to service The book begins with a and repair aircraft from other Foreword where two of his carriers, both American and former students, Ron Ekers British. He was responsible snd Ken Kellermann, give for all airborne electronics, their own thoughts about ship-to-ship communication John Bolton. They say that and navigational aids. “Examples of John’s very special research style pervade Early in 1945 Unicorn sailed this book... He considered it to Australia to join the British essential for researchers to Pacific Fleet. When the war understand their instrument ended John decided to stay and helping to build it is the in Australia and within a best way to learn” day of being demobbed he applied for a position at the Then follows a Prologue by RadioPhysics Laboratory in the author, describing his Sydney at the beginning of meetings with Bolton and, Australia’s world class radio later, the production of the astronomy. film “The Dish”. He began work in late There are no footnotes within September 1946 at Dover the text. Each page is full; references are marked with small Heights where he worked for the next seven years. His superscript numbers. At the end of the book are Notes which first projects used sea-interferometers in Australia and New is a 26 page collection of references and additional comments. Zealand. This was a technique with which he was familiar This is followed by a five-page Bibliography, three pages of from his wartime work in the Royal Navy. Early ship radars Selected Bolton Publications and an Index. were unavoidably sea-interferometers because their long wavelength (1 to 10m) and limited aerial size resulted in a broad beam with energy being reflected from the sea surface, Early life in a Lloyd’s mirror geometry. John Bolton was born on 25th June 1922 in Sheffield (U.K.). He attended school in Sheffield and entered Cambridge University in October 1940 with two scholarships and graduated from the Radiophysics tools available for astronomy truncated wartime degree course in 1942. by 1946 In the 19th century Maxwell’s equations showed the possible In June 1942 he enlisted in the Navy, following a teen- existence of electromagnetic waves and Hertz confirmed their age ambition to be a naval architect. On entry he did a one existence. Subsequently Marconi, Rutherford and others sent

58, 3, 2019 September Page 25 Book Review:- Grahame Fraser electrical energy without wires using waves generated by the Atlantic publishing quantitative studies of signals and noise. spark transmitters which produced a buzzing sound. When Bell Telephone Laboratories mathematicians in the U.S. were that buzzing sound was turned on and off by Morse keys, significant contributors. Other BTL staff (Jansky, and Penzias communication by the new “wireless telegraphy” was possible and Wilson) had also made significant astronomical discoveries over very large distances. while locating sources of noise in radio communication.

The end of WW2 was a most favourable time for the The author divides Bolton’s career into three development of radio astronomy. Radiophysics had progressed distinct stages quickly during two World Wars and the 1919-1939 peacetime developments in radio broadcasting, TV and long-distance Dover Heights 1946-1954 radio communication. After two years (1953-1954)in Bowen’s Cloud Physics research group (Chapter 6) John and his family left for California. The first radio wave generators were spark gaps but this type of transmission had serious disadvantages. During WW1 Caltech and Owens Valley 1955-1960 spark signal sources were being replaced by continuous wave generators which could be interrupted by a Morse key or Parkes 1961-1981 modulated with speech, a process called amplitude modulation The critical part that Parkes played in NASA’s Apollo (AM). AM transmissions could be resolved into a spectrum programme is a long and interesting story (Chapter 13), of Fourier component frequencies in the electromagnetic including the wind storm so dramatically presented in “The spectrum. This is the standard way of defining radio stations, Dish” (the Working Dog Productions film in 2000). by their carrier frequency in Hertz (Hz). There were rapid developments in radio communication, direction finding, John Bolton died at home on 6th July 1993. broadcasting, telephony, facsimile and early television. His career included contact with both radio and optical At this point there was a kerfuffle in the progress of astronomers. There was variety in events such as the occasional radiophysics. During the 1920s a strong argument was astronomical disagreement; his first return to Cambridge put forward that the audio sidebands predicted by Fourier since working at RPL (he felt unwelcome at the Cavendish analysis of AM transmissions could not exist as real energy Laboratory but his meeting with Fred Hoyle began a long components in the electromagnetic spectrum as they were friendship between the two cricketers from Yorkshire); his “only mathematical concepts”, i.e. they could not be tuned in departure to found the Owens Valley Observatory in California with a radio receiver. This confusion lasted about a decade and his return six years later to be the inaugural director of and resulted in a series of Letters to Nature in early 1930 by Parkes observatory; dealing with dilatory northern hemisphere Fleming, Lodge, Bedford, Glazebrook, Fortescue, Ratcliffe, referees; Barnes Wallis’ advice about the Parkes dish design. Brown and others. Ratcliffe pointed out that (a) individual sidebands had been used for some years to send independent information in the trans-Atlantic telephone network and (b) that a modulation technique had been used to shift frequencies Department of Physics and Astronomy University of in the visible spectrum. Soon it was accepted that the Fourier Canterbury analysis was valid.

During WW2 a combination of diffraction theory and Fourier methods was used to design microwave radar aerials with specified beam shapes. The diffraction analysis used spatial distributions of radiating elements to generate specific beam shapes. Conversely the beam shape of incoming radio waves can be determined from an array of aerials - as in the SKA.

Wanted items in the spectrum are usually classified as “signals” and unwanted items as “noise”. By the late 1930s the audio and visual presence of noise produced in electronic amplifiers by the thermally-dependent random motion of electrons in conductors could (in the absence of TV signals) be heard in the early analogue TVs as a hissing sound and seen as“snowflakes”. Now that the hiatus with “unreal sidebands” had been resolved it was clear that Fourier analysis was a valid tool for analysing radio signals. It was also valid for describing random noise, represented as Fourier series of sinusoidal oscillations with random coefficients. The old spark transmitters qualified as random noise.

In the 1930s there were many mathematicians on both sides of

Page 26 Southern Stars outhern Stars is published quarterly in March, June, September and December. It is sent to all members and affiliated societies. Institutions and libraries may subscribe. SIndividuals may purchase single copies. Contact the Executive Secretary for information. Contributions The editor welcomes; RESEARCH PAPERS theoretical, observational, technical, historical, etc.; NEWS ARTICLES regarding recent events in NZ astronomy, discoveries, gatherings, awards, etc.; ANNUAL REPORTS from NZ astronomical institutions; REVIEWS of astronomical activities, sections, local/regional groups, personal, etc.; OBSERVERS’ FORUM particularly interesting photographs and/or descriptions. All contributions should be original; not (at least widely) having been published elsewhere. All correspondence regarding Southern Stars should be addressed to the editor: 15 Taiepa Road, Otatara R D 9, Invercargill 9879, New Zealand or [email protected].

Appointed Officers Electronic Newsletter Editor: Mr A C Gilmore Southern Stars Editor: Mr R W Evans Membership Liaison: Ms M Head Membership Manager Mr Rory O’Keefe Web Master: Mr P Jaquiery Advisor on Space Law to RASNZ Dr Maria Pozza Property Officer Mr G Hudson Archivist Mr G Hudson Hon. Auditor: Mr A Wheelans Hon. Solicitor: Mr J McCay

Sections Astrophotography Director Mr J Green, 374 Sunnyside Road, RD2, Albany 0792, NZ. http://www.rasnzaps.co.nz, [email protected] Comet and Meteor Director Mr J Drummond, P O Box 113, Patutahi 4045, NZ http://www.cometeor.co.nz Dark Skies Group Convenor Mr S C Butler, 30 Hoffman Court, Invercargill 9810, NZ http://www.rasnz.org.nz/groups-and-sections/dark-skies-group Education Group Leader Miss Carolle Varughese, c/o Auckland Astronomical Society, PO Box 24-187, Royal Oak, Auckland 1345. [email protected] Occultation Director Mr S R Kerr, 22 Green Ave, Glenlee, Queensland 4711, Australia http://www.occultations.org.nz Professional Astronomers’ Group Dr N. Rattenbury, Department of Physics, University of Auckland, NZ http://www.rasnz.org.nz/groups-and-sections/professional-astronomers-group Variable Stars South Director Mr M G Blackford, 25 Bambridge St, Chester Hill, NSW 2162, Australia. http://www.variablestarssouth.org Fellows Mr W H Allen Prof E Budding Mr S C Butler Dr G W Christie Mr J K Drummond Mr R W Evans Mr A C Gilmore Prof. J B Hearnshaw Ms P M Kilmartin Mr B R Loader Ms J M McCormick Ass. Prof. K R Pollard Dr D J Sullivan Mr W S G Walker Prof. P C M Yock

Honorary Members Gerry Gilmore, FInstP, ScD, MAE, FRS Thomas Richards MA(Hons VUW), DPhil(Oxon)

Brian Warner BSc(Hons), PhD, DSc(London), MA, DSc(Oxon), Assoc RAS, FRSSAf, MASSAf

© Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand 2019. Individual articles, illustrations, etc. remain the copyright of the author or photographer, whose permission must be obtained before reproduction.

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