Volume 16, Issue 09 HAA’s June Meeting!
September 2009 By Heather Neprozel
June Meeting Was Well-Attended Photo by Don Pullen
HAA Chairperson Steve Ger- From The Editor’s Desk mann welcomed attendees to the HAA monthly general It is almost like the astronomy meeting at the Spectator gods hate amateur astronomers. building and made a brief an- This summer has been a very bad one nouncement regarding the for finding a clear sky. Sure, there have Perseids Meteor Showers occurring on August 11. been clear nights, but the seeing or Steve then proceeded to in- transparency has usually been lousy. troduce John Gauvreau and For my part, whenever one of those rare his presentation of “The Sky nights with a cloudless sky joins up this Month”. In addition to with clear air, it almost never failed that demonstrating how to ob- I had a meeting or some other commit- serve fascinating objects in the summer sky, John ment that kept me from my telescope. showed terrific images of the Oh well, perhaps during another life... great star cluster M13 and Tim Philp, Editor (Continued on page 2)
Inside this issue: Upcoming Events Chair Report 3 HAA AGM and Election Observing the Moon 4-5 of Officers 40 Years Ago 7 The Sky this Month 9-12 Friday, October 9th, 2009 Through the Looking Glass 13 7:30 PM @ The Specta- Astronomy—Shipboard Style! 15 tor Space Place 19 Event Horizon HAA’S June Meeting (continued)
(Continued from page 1) also another summer favourite M57 the Ring Nebula, both taken by member Andrew Bruce with his 80mm refractor. John also showed member Kerry Lecky-Hepburn’s stunning image of NGC 4565, a galaxy that al- ways looks to me to be reminiscent of a “flying saucer”. Greats shots guys and gals! After the conclusion of John’s talk Steve introduced our main speaker of the evening, long-time HAA member and former HAA chairperson Glenn Muller. Glenn’s talk this evening was on the history of astrophotography. Glenn joked that he has spent about “3 Minutes” doing astrophotography and “This is not going to be a work- shop”. I always have enjoyed Glenn’s dry sense of humour. Glenn started by talking about the impact of images on the world. Did you know that Herschel coined the term “photography”? The very first astronomical image was a “Daguerreotype” picture of the moon. Around this time (1840) daguerreotypes were labour intensive, to say the least. John William Draper took this picture and his son Henry Draper worked on the Draper Catalogue of images, which was commissioned by the elder Draper’s widow. Glenn described the very famous, or perhaps infamous might be a better description, of “The Shot of the Century”…sketches made by Percival Lowell detailing canals on Mars. Just what exactly did Lowell see, or thought he saw? Images can have a lot of power, and can resonate through society. Glenn mentioned that many people think that that the most important images of the 20th century were taken by Edwin Hubble. His red-shifted galaxies showed that the universe was not static and unified edifice but it was indeed expanding. “Our perception of the universe changed overnight.” Other notable moments in astrophotography according to Glenn: images taken by the first satellites to orbit
(Continued on page 8) Treasurer’s Report By Don Pullen
Sept 2009 Treasurer’s Report (Unaudited) Cash opening Balance (1 Jun 2009) $ 4161.34 Expenses $ 1520.44 Revenue $ 179.45 Closing Balance (31 Aug 2009) $ 2820.35 Notes: Major revenue sources included: Memberships ($135), 50/50 ($44). Major expenses included: York University trip ($118.76), Postage and BASEF prize ($43.49), 1 yr Binbrook CSC sponsorship ($56.33), Hall rental 2009-2010 ($1050.00), Binbrook an- nual donation ($100.00), SkyNews Magazine Shipping ($42.86), EH printing ($109.00).
PAGE 2 EVENT HORIZON From the Chair by Steve Germann
This being the International be extra seating and it's sure This November, (the month of Year of Astronomy, we have to be an interesting talk. Be- clouds, traditionally) council is been encouraged to bring the fore that, we have public nights planning to organize another night sky to the people of in Burlington, and Brantford. Planetarium visit for mem- Canada, more than ever be- Even more important than the bers, at the McCallion Plane- fore. Our club members have IYA, and our outreach to the tarium. always shared a contagious public, is our club's internal ca- There is one more Star Party joy for astronomy. Our annual maraderie among the mem- coming up... the Black Forest public nights at community bers, and our ability to support Star Party, and several HAA parks are an opportunity for each other with ideas, informa- members have already signed members to share their enthu- tion, enthusiasm, the odd bor- up. It's still not too late to con- siasm in an informal setting, rowed eyepiece, and shared sider joining in. and let people know why we views through various tele- Most importantly, though, is observe. scopes and optical instru- our continuous opportunity to When i cross the border to go ments. In addition, we get a look up from wherever we to Cherry Springs with my chance to refresh our knowl- may be. Our observing direc- telescope in the car, I am of- edge of the sky. As I have re- tor, John, has posted some ten asked "what's in the sky peated many times, it's much interesting blog articles re- tonight", that could merit you better to try out a telescope cently about Jupiter, a planet bringing your telescope'. In before you buy one, and you that looks good in telescope some cases i can tell them will have a chance to deter- (or binoculars) from anyplace about a momentous stellar mine what kind of telescope is on earth, being so bright. (You occasion, such as an eclipse, right for you. do need to have a gap in the but more often than not I am To that end, we are planning a clouds though). There was a celebrating 'Dark of the telescope clinic, for the last Fri- sunspot last week, and with Moon'. For me, the sheer day in November, in time for spots comes the chance for beauty and complexity of the Christmas shopping, as well as Aurora. Your best bet to see night sky is what gets me a chance for you to bring in Aurora is to look up each moving. your scope for help getting it clear night around midnight Our IYA activities are winding collimated and adjusted. and see what's happening. down for the year, but not There's also a chance to learn You could be pleasantly sur- without a few more sparkles. some tips and tricks about prised. Our blog is a dynamic In November (on Friday, No- your model from others who place for interesting updates vember 13) we will be hon- are familiar with the same and we should make good oured to receive an interna- kinds. use of it. tionally acclaimed speaker, Our 'The Sky This Season, I also want to thank every Roberto Abraham at our Live' sessions at Binbrook member of this year's council monthly meeting, as our in- have been a treat, and John for their efforts on behalf of stallment of the 'Galileo Lec- has done his usual excellent the club. The work they do be- ture Series', sponsored by the job of bringing the constella- hind the scenes makes our IYA team in Canada. Please tions and other wonders of the club enjoyable for everyone. invite your friends as there will sky home to us.
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 PAGE 3 InternationalObserving Year the of Astronomy—2009Moon By Internationalby Tim Philp Astronomical Union—Press Release
Often when we for supremacy. think about astron- It is at the termina- omy, we think tor where you get about deep sky the best views of objects, we think the moon as an- about galaxies and other large body nebulae – all dim similar to the objects that require Earth. You can see good telescopic mountains, craters, equipment with rills, and large flat which to observe lava flows that fes- them. We often toon the surface neglect an object and lay bare the that is right in front ancient history of of our faces night that pock-marked after night – the globe. moon. The best thing Our moon is our about lunar ob- closest neighbour serving is that you in space and it has don't need a lot of dramatically influ- expensive equip- enced our planet. ment to see quite a Everything from bit of the moon's regulating the life surface. A simple cycles of marine pair of binoculars life to slowing the will give you mag- rotation of our nificent views of planet to give us the lunar land- the length of our When the moon fills the sky with light, you might as well look at the scape. The moon moon because you are not going to get good deep-sky object visibility. day. It causes the is also about the tides and has been Gibbous moon taken on 09/08/02 by Tim Philp. 6” refractor Cannon only thing that you a source of illumi- 50D @ 1/60 sec. can use a cheap nation for our department-store planet for more than a billion Of course, the full moon is not telescope to see. It is a large years. the best time to observe the enough target that you don't Most astronomers who view moon because the lighting is very need expensive equipment to deep sky objects hate the harsh and fine details are ob- observe. moon. Its glow completely scured by the flat overhead light Each night when you view the washes out the sky and makes from the sun. The most interest- moon, you can see something observational astronomy very ing place to look at the moon is at different. In fact, you can ob- difficult – unless you want to the terminator. The terminator is serve the same area of the look at the moon. On full moon the boundary between light and moon, and each day, that ob- nights, I generally give up and dark on the moon's surface ject will have a different aspect just look at the moon. where shadows and light battle (Continued on page 5)
PAGE 4 EVENT HORIZON Observing the Moon (Continued)
(Continued from page 4) a face in the available photos that walls, meandering 'river' like we had of the area. There was a structures that look like they to it as the lighting conditions lot of nonsense printed about that were carved by running water, change on the surface due to rock formation and even a Holly- and craters of all shapes and the moon revolving around the wood movie used it as the basis sizes. Earth. for a rather cheesy plot. The moon is an interesting ob- Interestingly, you can see many Unfortunately for the believers in ject to look at and you can things that are not really there if alien civilizations, when high- spend hours and not see the you don't keep control of your resolution photos were made of same thing twice. As well, fa- imagination. Our brains are ex- the area, it became clear that it miliar objects can look vastly cellent in picking out patterns was just a pile of rocks, not a different in only a few days as from chaos and sometimes our face at all. the lighting changes move imagination gets away from our The moon too can present inter- shadows across the surface. control. esting patterns near the termina- Get out and have a look at our You may remember the contro- tor that sometimes resemble fa- nearest neighbour. versial 'face' on Mars. This was miliar objects. You can see a rock formation that resembled straight lines formed by canyon NOTICE of the Annual General Meeting of the HAA The HAA Annual General Meeting (AGM) Friday October 9th at the Spectator Auditorium. This is the time when the current Council ends their term and a new slate of candi- dates is presented to the membership for election. There are several positions on Council to be filled by member candidates each year. Any member in good standing can put their name forward to be included on the elec- tion slate by contacting us. We will provide further information at that time. For the office of Chair, a member must have been a director on Council for a mini- mum of one year and have their membership dues paid in full in advance of the AGM in year they are nominated. Any member choosing to stand for election as a Director or appointment as a Councilor at Large must have been a member in good standing for a minimum of six months prior and must have their membership dues for the year they are nomi- nated paid in full in advance of the AGM. We encourage your participation and are looking forward to hearing from you.
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 Page 5 Astro-Events for 2009 by Don Pullen
For the International Year of Astronomy, the HAA has put together a list of events that either we are sponsoring, or may be participating in over the next 6 months or so. For some of these events, a few HAA members may be par- ticipating on their own, or may be going to represent the HAA, such as some of the star parties. And while most of these events are "public" in nature meaning that both public and members are welcome to the activity, some are reserved strictly (indicated) for HAA members only (part of the privileges of membership). Please note that this list does not include any smaller events that a single individual (or maybe 2) might be under- taking such as camping trips or sidewalk astronomy plans. Please refer to our website for postings of these types of events or changes to any others. Fri Sep 11 - HAA Sept General Meeting
Sep 17-20 - Huronia Star Party - Duntroon, near Collingwood
Sep 18-20 - Black Forest Star Party - Cherry Springs PA Sat Sep 26 - Binbrook/Camtech Star Party, Bin- brook
Sat Oct 3 (4) - Burlington Public Night, Burloak Waterfront Park, Lakeshore Dr, Burlington
Fri Oct 9 - HAA Oct Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers (Thanksgiving weekend)
Oct 24 - Brantford Public Night, Tourism Centre
PAGE 6 EVENT HORIZON 40 Years Ago By Mike Spicer
Men landed on the Moon Corona Borealis. I forty years ago, and like bought a bigger tele- millions of others, I was up scope with prize before dawn that summer money from the Hamilton day, to watch it on TV. My Science Fair. Its beauti- little reflector telescope ful equatorial mount per- had given me many oppor- mitted long high-power tunities to observe the fas- observations of Jupiter cinating moonscape as the and the Great Red Spot, view waxed and waned, which was brick-red back the jagged terminator mov- then. ing from night to night and I joined the local astron- even or to hour. Now omy club in 1968, taking on the night I watched as- the bus out to McMaster tronauts bounce along on University every month that lunar surface, kicking for meetings attended by up sprays of dust as the about 30 adults and US flag was set up. The a handful of high school Moon would never again students. The adults seem so distant. were mostly interested in I'm an amateur astrono- the Apollo exploration mer. Observing the sky missions since almost all houses across the street from is more than a hobby for me, of them were "armchair astrono- my home. it's a way of thinking. I think of mers". A Hamilton teacher, Ken the Earth as a small rock in In those days Hamilton street Chilton was the club's observing space; I'm not looking "up" so lights were 60 watt light bulbs director and I attended the few much as I am looking "out" and from the front porch of my observing nights he organized at nearby objects. I have al- house on East Avenue, fourth at Rock Chapel Park in Dundas. ways been attracted to magnitude stars were easily He tried to encourage telescope changes in the sky. In elemen- visible to the naked eye observing but had little success tary school I started with solar and fainter constellations like with the adults. The students and lunar eclipses and charting Delphinus were obvi- were very enthusiastic and I or- the phases of the Moon. Then ous. Why, with my little 3" re- ganized the Student Observers I followed the motions of the flector, I could easily see 10th of Hamilton to conduct observ- planets Mars and Jupiter from magnitude stars and make out ing projects. We observed the week to week in the months the oval of M57 overhead using planets, followed variable stars around opposition, marking the the poor quality 0.96" eyepieces and charted the Perseid meteor movement in my Norton's Star that were standard at the showers every summer, when Atlas. As I entered high time. I didn't have binoculars in they were beautifully visible school, variable stars became high school so I used the tele- streaking in the night sky over the core of my hobby, starting scope to observe and meas- the city as we lay on the with Nova Delphini 1967, visi- ure the changes in variable grass at Sam Lawrence ble all summer above the stars such as R Leonis and R Park. Those were the days!
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 Page 7 June Meeting (continued)
(Continued from page 2) the earth; the Russian Luna3, an early “fax” type of photo of the moon; Mariner 9 in 1971 with the first high- resolution shots of Mars, showing craters, not vegetation somewhat disappointingly, especially to fans of Lowell’s “canals”. The astronauts on Apollo 8 took one of the most famous photos of all time – “Earthrise”. This image marked the first time humans journeyed safely to another world. This is one of Glenn’s favourites (I think a lot of folks would feel the same about this photo). Glenn had a real smorgasbord of fabulous images for us to feast our eyes on and to let the meaning of these images resonate: how about the iconic image of the astronauts boot print on the moon (from Apollo 11), the first steps of human beings on another world. Or the Mars Rover’s shot of Earth from the surface of the Red Planet: this image seems to coincide with the description, many years before, of Earth by Carl Sagan as “a pale blue dot”. How about the Hubble (remember him) Space Telescope’s “Deep Field” with an astounding 125 billion galaxies? And one of my favourites, The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s shot of the soon to be landing Mars Phoenix lander. Glenn says the acquisition of this image took exquisite timing and coordination. Glenn predicted a future great image: how about a shot of the first people on Mars?! Thanks Glenn for a thoroughly enjoyable presentation.
PAGE 8 EVENT HORIZON The Sky this Month by John Gauvreau
Over the summer I have heard many people complain about the weather. I have had no complaints, and have enjoyed the moderate temperatures and stormy spectacles that come with the late summer. I recognize though, that complaining about the weather is a long standing Canadian pastime. The good news though, is that, statistically, September is one of the clearest months of the year. You are more likely to have a clear night at this time of year than at any other. I hope you can take advantage of this and enjoy some of the won- derful sights in the early autumn sky.
The Sun passes the autumnal equinox on Tuesday September 22 this year, heralding the fall season. With it come not only cooler evenings, but earlier sunsets, allowing for more ob- serving in the evening sky. Before the equinox though, comes the new Moon of September, on the Friday the 18th. That weekend will provide wonderful dark skies for those of you who like to hunt deep sky objects. Take advantage of this time too, to look for the Zodiacal light. At this time of year it is visible in the morning (in the spring it is visible in the evening) and appears as a large triangular shaped glow rising from the eastern horizon before dawn. From a dark site it can be quite overwhelming. I recall one year at Starfest, as I was observ- ing Taurus rising in the morning sky. I was startled when the eastern sky began to lighten, thinking that the night had flown by much too quickly and here was the dawn. But of course it wasn't the dawn; it was the Zodiacal light, which is sunlight reflecting of all the loose dust particles that lie along the plane of the solar system. You will notice that the triangular shape is tilted relative to the horizon, as it follows the ecliptic across the sky. Last year, at Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania, a dark sky preserve with skies even better than Starfest, the Zodiacal light washed out the eastern Milky Way, and stopped astrophotogra- phers from shooting the eastern sky, because it shone so brightly. These next few weeks are the best time of year to see this elusive solar system phenomenon.
Jupiter rules the night during the month of September. If you have been observing Jupiter through the summer then you have enjoyed views of a suspected cometary impact, and a spectacular showcase of satellite antics. Jupiter is perhaps my favourite planet. While Sat- urn is pretty, Jupiter will show you something different every night, from the game of peek-a- boo that the moons play, darting in front of and behind the planet, to the moons' shadow plays that appear on Jupiter's surface, to the swirling clouds themselves, with bands and spots that are constantly changing. Any telescope will reward the observer with a planetary view like no other, and even binoculars will allow you to watch the ever changing moons. On September 29th the Moon will be only 2 degrees from Jupiter, as they rise in the east be- fore sunset. If you have a clear view to the east it is a great chance to observe Jupiter dur- ing the daylight hours. Many planets (and some stars) are bright enough to shine through the blue sky of day, if only you know where to look. Use the Moon to guide you to Jupiter, lying just 2 degrees below the Moon. Binoculars will help. Put the moon near the top of the (Continued on page 12)
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 Page 9 The Sky th his Month
Binocular Object: Collinder 399, The Coathanger
The Coathanger was first recorded by the great observer, Al Sufi, in the year 964. You too can see it with the unaided eye, as it shines with a total magnitude of about 3.6. Covering about 1 degree of sky, you could easily fit it into a wide field view in your telescope eyepiece, and this is the best way to see the faintest of the 40 stars that make up this cluster. The 10 brightest stars make up the shape that gives this cluster its name and, by viewing through binoculars the recognizable shape of this asterism stands out against the surrounding black sky, making the Coathanger pop , and look its best.
The Coathanger is an asterism that is well placed during the late summer months. In the constellation Vulpecula, it is nestled within the Summer Triangle just above the tail of Sagitta, and lies on a line about a third of the way from Altair to Vega. Looking through your binoculars, start at Altair and scan toward Vega and you will pick up this charming cluster with no trouble
When you spot it you will note, however, that this coathanger won't be very good at holding any garments; it's upside down! The Sky this Month (Continued)
(Continued from page 9) field of view, and Jupiter will appear near the center of most binocular fields. One of the best views I've ever had of Mars was through a six inch reflector in the daylight. As the sky brightened in the morning I just kept on observing until well after sunrise, and Mars contin- ued to show great detail even in the daylight, and was perhaps even easier to observe be- cause of the reduced glare. When we meet again in October we will all be enjoying a conjunction of three planets in the morning sky. I will mention it now (rather than wait for next month) so you don't miss any of the action. As the month of October begins Venus is still high in the morning sky, with Mer- cury below and to the left. Saturn is finally emerging out of the Sun's glare and hugs the horizon at sunrise. Over the next couple of weeks, though, the three planets dance around each other making for some lovely arrangements. By October 8th Saturn has joined Mer- cury, and they will appear only 20 arcminutes apart. Leaving Mercury behind, Saturn contin- ues on to meet Venus only 5 days later, on October 13th, when that pair will appear only 30 arcminutes apart. This half degree separation is the diameter of the full moon, so they will make a spectacular pairing, and easily fit in a telescope field of view at the same time. What a wonderful opportunity to compare the brightness of distant Saturn, where the Sun shines so dimly in the outer solar system, to Venus and Mercury, who constantly travel in the glare of an overwhelming Sun. This is a sight well worth getting up early for.
All of this planetary action is, of course, set against the lovely background sky of early au- tumn. The summer constellations of Cygnus and Lyra are still high overhead, and per- haps there is no better time of year to observe the nebula and cluster rich region around Deneb. And yet, even now, the great square of Pegasus is rising, and with it Cassiopeia and its clusters, and of course, our first good look of the perennial favourite, M31. The An- dromeda Galaxy is a sure sign of the season, and a favourite of many observers. It was the first deep sky object I observed as a teenager when I got my first telescope. Over the years my interest in it waned, it was simply a bright but nondescript fuzzy oval, while other more detailed galaxies stole my attention; the spiral arms of M51 or the knottiness of M82, or the dust lanes of NGC4565 or M104. Then, last year, I was again at a dark sky site and I saw the Andromeda Galaxy as if for the first time. Through my small but mighty 80mm re- fractor and a wide field eyepiece that gave a four degree field of view, M31 showed a rich amount of detail, dust lanes and a vast reach across the field, as the faint outer portions re- vealed themselves. It showed that it truly deserves the attention it gets as one of the pre- mier deep sky objects of the northern hemisphere.
As always, thanks to those who have helped out by contributing thoughts and images, and feel free to submit reports, anecdotes or observations to:
PAGE 12 EVENT HORIZON Through the Looking Glass by Greg Emory
Recently the 400th anniver- There is a joy and sense of reason why I like to grind my sary of Galileo’s invention of accomplishment in crafting a own optics. Doing so gives the telescope passed. He telescope with your own me a direct connect with was the original ATM. No hands. To start with a flat some of the greats of astron- he didn’t dispense money, piece of glass and to grind omy. People like Galileo, he built telescopes – or at and polish it to the correct Ritchey or Herschel. In previ- least supervised the con- shape, as determined by ous times there was no struction. As our society be- testing the equipment with choice but to be involved with comes more advanced, we that you also had to make is the design and construction lose touch with the basic wonderful. When finally fin- of the telescopes. function and operation of the ished the views in those tele- On a recent trip to England equipment we rely upon. scopes are better than other my wife, Joanna, went to How many of you reading telescopes – because you Bath. And picked up two this article drive a car? How had a hand in creating it. booklets for me on William many of you know how to do As we become more ad- Herschel. One pamphlet is the basic maintenance or vanced technologically (or is dedicated to cataloguing the minor repairs on that car? it more complicated) the telescopes that are still ex- How many of you own a skills we lose along the way tent. The pamphlet lists goto mount for your tele- are not lost completely – in some 40 telescopes ranging scope(s)? Any idea of the most cases a few profes- from 4” mirrors to a 14.7” math and trigonometry in- sionals or hobbyists will re- speculum mirror. Other volved in aligning your goto tain the skill set. Why documentation shows that each time? should we all be able to de- Herschel produced or super- We don’t actually need sign, build and test our own vised the production of 70 or these basic skills anymore. telescopes when we can more telescopes for both As long as we can find a spend less money buying a amateurs and professionals mechanic who does under- manufactured one? The alike. The telescopes would stand our vehicle, we should time waiting for delivery is have a cost (adjusted to be good. The engineers, often much less than the 1995) of $5000 to $10,000. technicians and production time it takes to make your Going out on a clear dark workers can make a goto own. Who knows, maybe night when the seeing is rock telescope with fairly consis- the time is coming when we steady is what we all hope tent results; we don’t need can skip standing out in the for. Staying in touch with our to worry about the details. cold damp night air, we can hobby or passion on cloudy As is always the case how- do our astronomy by nights can be accomplished ever, some people like the downloading real time im- many ways. Building, design, details as much or more ages from an orbiting tele- tinkering or even cleaning our than they like the whole ob- scope. telescopes and other equip- ject. Amateur telescope For me, there is one other ment keeps us in the game. making (ATM) is like this.
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 Page 13 Traveling Fast! By Tim Philp
I was in Germany a few the universe. After all, years ago and got to we have sent space- travel on the Autobahn, craft faster than that. their superhighway with For instance, the Mars no speed limits. I was Pathfinder mission driving a car that I rented traveled at more than in London and took over 120,000kms/hr. Does through the Channel Tun- the Earth have a faster nel. It was a Vauxhall motion? Vectra, not your fastest Well, as a matter of sports car to be sure. fact, it does. Besides Even so, after some going around the Sun, coaxing and heavy foot- the Earth also follows work, I managed to get it the Sun on its trip to climb to 207kms/hr! around the galaxy. This Man, did it seem like I 200-million-year trip is was moving! Of course, accomplished at about when you stop to think 225kms/second and about it, we are typically that is really motoring! moving at much higher As well, you can add velocities... we just don't the motion of the gal- know it. axy itself at about an- Take the Earth's rotation. other 40kms/second as At our latitude, we are it heads toward the traveling at about centre of the local 800kms/hr because the group of galaxies. Earth is spinning on its While that speed it a bit axis. Of course, we are leisurely, you can also also spinning at that add the motion of the speed and would be mov- galaxy as we speed ing even faster if we were toward the great Virgo at the equator. Of course, cluster – a vast group that seems kind of slug- of galaxies of which we gish. Heck commercial Just how fast can we go? While rockets and are a member. Here airliners travel at those space probes travel very quickly, these speeds we are moving at more kinds of speeds and pale in comparison to the speed that we are than 600kms/second. If faster. Surely we can do traveling as we sit and read the Event Horizon! that doesn't get us a better than that. cosmic speeding ticket, Well, let's look at the motion of translates into about I don't know what will. the Earth around the Sun. To 30kms/second! Kind of makes my trip on the complete the journey in a year, Well, that is fast, but it still does Autobahn seem rather tame by the Earth has to be moving at not seem to be blazingly fast comparison, doesn't it? more than 100,000kms/hr. That when you consider the size of
PAGE 14 EVENT HORIZON Astronomy—Shipboard Style! By Steve Germann
Last month I had During the trip, the pleasure of it's possible to touring northern go and visit the Quebec, Labra- car, to get dor, and New- things... foundland, on a the ferry is cross-country car decked out trip, with a buddy with about 40 of mine. We small cabins brought along my with sink and Celestron 25x100 bunk beds, for binoculars, and a those travellers lightweight tripod, who want to be and my green la- fresh the next ser, and we were morning. watchful for a Unfortunately, chance to do by the time I some sidewalk astronomy. 13 hours 'at sea', and we are knew when we would be trav- As luck would have it, almost supposed to report for elling, all of those were every night was cloudy and boarding 2 hours in advance. booked, so we had to make rainy, precluding any kind of So at about 3 pm Newfound- do with a coach-style seat in sidewalk astronomy, except land time (1:30 EST) we the lounge. My buddy was for one night. were ready for boarding. watching tv (the same DVD We took the 'Sir played 3 times), Robert Bond' while I went ferry, which had downstairs and been originally got my binocu- designed to carry lars and tripod railway cars, to set up. (and had the ves- I was able to tiges of ce- scrutinize the mented-over hills and moun- tracks on the ve- tains on shore, hicle deck) from since the de- Goose Bay, Lab- parture was in rador, to Cart- broad daylight. wright, Labrador, The boat had a on the night of small amount of August 2, 2009. vibration, but The ferry trip is (Continued on page 16)
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 Page 15 Astronomy—Shipboard Style! By Steve Germann
(Continued from page 15) not much sway. It also navi- gated, which caused fre- quent turn- ing to new headings. I searched the waters for any sign of whales, but saw none in Goose Bay. There was a gibbous waxing moon that evening, and it was possible to point purpose of showing that the litely anyway—her mom the binoculars at the moon moon has a lot of detail. I was could see it. and it would not drift out of also able, once it rose above There were clouds in most of view for long enough to let the distant clouds, to target the sky. I was fortunate to be someone else have a look, Jupiter, and its moons. Sev- able to see my targets. so despite some low clouds, eral pre-teens got their first Later we journeyed to a part I was able to observe the look at Jupiter's moons, and of the bay with less clouds, moon, and invite my ship- were well impressed. People and I was able to see some mates to do the same. of all ages got some entertain- stars. The next day, some- All in all, I estimate 50 peo- ment from it. I set up near the one asked if I saw the ple had a look at the moon. bar, and people on their way aurora. The 25x magnification made out for a smoke happened by Aw... I did not suspect it. it look quite large and de- and had a look. Some went to There was definitely a lot of tailed, but nothing like the bring their friends. cloud. 100x view through a real One toddler had a try, but did I packed up at about 1 AM telescope. It was, however, not see much. She smiled po- after a good night of side- perfectly adequate for the walk astronomy, ferry style.
PAGE 16 EVENT HORIZON Press Release LRO Images Apollo Landing Sites! NASA's Lunar Recon- tial resources, de- naissance Orbiter, or scribe the moon's ra- LRO, has returned its diation environment first imagery of the and demonstrate Apollo moon landing new technologies. sites. The pictures "Not only do these show the Apollo mis- images reveal the sions' lunar module great accomplish- descent stages sitting ments of Apollo, they on the moon's sur- also show us that lu- face, as long shadows nar exploration con- from a low sun angle tinues," said LRO make the modules' project scientist Rich- locations evident. ard Vondrak of The Lunar Reconnais- Aldrin on the moon in NASA's Goddard sance Orbiter Cam- front of the Eagle Lander Space Flight Center era, or LROC, was in Greenbelt, Md. able to image five of "They demonstrate the six Apollo sites, how LRO will be with the remaining Apollo 12 "The LROC team anxiously used to identify the best desti- site expected to be photo- awaited each image," said nations for the next journeys graphed in the coming LROC principal investigator to the moon." weeks. Mark Robinson of Arizona The spacecraft's current ellip- The satellite reached lunar State University. "We were tical orbit resulted in image orbit June 23 and captured very interested in getting our resolutions that were slightly the Apollo sites between July first peek at the lunar module different for each site but 11 and 15. Though it had descent stages just for the were all around four feet per been expected that LRO thrill – and to see how well pixel. Because the deck of the would be able to resolve the the cameras had come into descent stage is about 12 feet remnants of the Apollo mis- focus. Indeed, the images in diameter, the Apollo relics sion, these first images are fantastic and so is the fo- themselves fill an area of came before the spacecraft cus." about nine pixels. However, reached its final mapping or- Although these pictures pro- because the sun was low to bit. Future LROC images vide a reminder of past the horizon when the images from these sites will have NASA exploration, LRO's pri- were made, even subtle varia- two to three times greater mary focus is on paving the tions in topography create resolution. way for the future. By return- long shadows. Standing To view the new images, ing detailed lunar data, the slightly more than ten feet visit: mission will help NASA iden- above the surface, each http://www.nasa.gov/LRO tify safe landing sites for fu- Apollo descent stage creates ture explorers, locate poten- (Continued on page 18)
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 Page 17 LRO Images Apollo Landing Sites! (Continued)
(Continued from page 17) spacecraft reaching its a distinct shadow that fills primary mis- roughly 20 pixels. sion orbit. The image of the Apollo 14 The LROC landing site had a particu- instrument larly desirable lighting condi- comprises tion that allowed visibility of three cam- additional details. The Apollo eras -- two Lunar Surface Experiment high- Package, a set of scientific resolution instruments placed by the Narrow An- astronauts at the landing gle Cam- site, is discernable, as are eras and the faint trails between the one lower module and instrument pack- resolution age left by the astronauts' Wide Angle footprints. Camera. Launched on June 18, LRO LRO will be carries seven scientific in- directed into Apollo 11 Landing site (dead centre of image, left of cra- struments, all of which are its primary ter) as imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter currently undergoing calibra- mission or- (LRO). At last, we have photographic proof for the lunar tion and testing prior to the bit in Au- landing conspiracy buffs. We really did land on the moon.
gust, a nearly- circular orbit about 31 miles above the lunar surface. Goddard built and manages LRO, a NASA mission with international partici- pation from the In- stitute for Space Research in Mos- cow. Russia pro- vided the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft.
PAGE 18 EVENT HORIZON Space NASA—SpacePlace Place More EnergyLRO Images from Less Apollo Sunlight Landing Sites!
You know Uranus, Neptune, and However, ever since its formation in kay), the creator of humanity in Pluto. But how about their 1919, the International Astronomi- the mythology of Easter Island, so smaller cousins Eris, Ceres, Or- cal Union (IAU) ultimately decides named because Europeans first cus, and Makemake? How about whether to accept or reject the arrived there on Easter 1722. Easterbunny? name suggested by an object’s dis- coverers. "Easterbunny" probably Other names have other ration- These are all names ales. The dwarf planet given to relatively large discovered in 2005 “planet-like” objects that triggered a fierce recently found in the debate over Pluto’s outer reaches of our status was named solar system. Some Eris, for the Greek were just temporary goddess of strife and nicknames, others are discord. Another dwarf now official and per- planet with an orbit manent. Each has a that mirrors Pluto’s unique story. was dubbed Orcus, a god in Etruscan my- “The names we chose thology that, like Pluto, are important,” says ruled the underworld. Caltech astronomer Mike Brown, who had Brown says he takes a hand in many of the “this naming business” discoveries. “These very seriously and objects are a part of Artist’s rendering of dwarf planet MakeMake, discovered around Easter probably spends too our solar system; 2005. Unlikely to gain acceptance their nickname Easterbunny, the discov- much time on it. “But I they're in our neighbor- erers named it for the god of humanity in the mythology of Easter Island. enjoy it.” More tales of hood. We ‘gravitate’ to discovery and naming them more if they have real wouldn’t be approved. may be found in Brown's blog names, instead of technical According to IAU guidelines, com- MikeBrownsPlanets.com. names like 2003 UB313.” ets are named after whoever dis- Constellations have also been Nearby planets such as Venus covered them—such as comet Hale named after ancient gods, human and Mars have been known since -Bopp, named after its discoverers figures, and animals. Kids can antiquity and were named by the Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. As- start to learn their constellations ancient Romans after their gods. teroids can be named almost any- by making a Star Finder for this In modern times, though, who thing. IAU rules state that objects in month at spaceplace.nasa.gov/ gets to name newly discovered the Kuiper belt should be given en/kids/st6starfinder/ dwarf planets and other important mythological names related to crea- st6starfinder.shtml. There you will solar-system bodies? tion. also find a handy explanation of why astrology has no place in sci- In short, whoever finds it names So Brown’s team started brain- ence. it. For example, a few days after storming. They considered several Easter 2005, Brown and his col- Easter-esque names: Eostre, the This article was provided by the leagues discovered a bright pagan mythological figure that may Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cali- dwarf planet orbiting in the Kuiper be Easter’s namesake; Manabozho, fornia Institute of Technology, un- belt. The team’s informal nick- the Algonquin rabbit trickster god. der a contract with the National name for this new object quickly In the end, they settled on Make- Aeronautics and Space Admini- became Easterbunny. make (pronounced MAH-kay MAH- stration.
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 09 Page 19 The Event Horizon is a publication of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers (HAA) The HAA is an amateur astronomy club, for people of all ages and experience levels, dedicated to the promotion and enjoyment of astronomy . The cost of the subscription is in- cluded in the $25 individual or $30 family membership fee for the year. Event Horizon is published a minimum of 10 times a year. 2009 HAA Council HAMILTON AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Chair Steve Germann PO Box 65578 Dundas, Ontario Second Chair Jackie Fulton L9H 6Y6 Secretary Darrell Maude General Inquiries [email protected] Membership Treasurer Don Pullen [email protected] Meeting Inquiries [email protected] Membership Director Jim Wamsley Public Events [email protected] Observing Director John Gauvreau Observing Inquiries [email protected] Newsletter Event Horizon Editor Tim Philp [email protected] Webmaster Bob Christmas
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