Fort Worth Astronomical Society October 2010 Club Calendar – 2
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The Astronomical Garden of Venus and Mars-NG915: the Pivotal Role Of
The astronomical garden of Venus and Mars - NG915 : the pivotal role of Astronomy in dating and deciphering Botticelli’s masterpiece Mariateresa Crosta Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF- OATo), Via Osservatorio 20, Pino Torinese -10025, TO, Italy e-mail: [email protected] Abstract This essay demonstrates the key role of Astronomy in the Botticelli Venus and Mars-NG915 painting, to date only very partially understood. Worthwhile coin- cidences among the principles of the Ficinian philosophy, the historical characters involved and the compositional elements of the painting, show how the astronomi- cal knowledge of that time strongly influenced this masterpiece. First, Astronomy provides its precise dating since the artist used the astronomical ephemerides of his time, albeit preserving a mythological meaning, and a clue for Botticelli’s signature. Second, it allows the correlation among Botticelli’s creative intention, the historical facts and the astronomical phenomena such as the heliacal rising of the planet Venus in conjunction with the Aquarius constellation dating back to the earliest represen- tations of Venus in Mesopotamian culture. This work not only bears a significant value for the history of science and art, but, in the current era of three-dimensional mapping of billion stars about to be delivered by Gaia, states the role of astro- nomical heritage in Western culture. Finally, following the same method, a precise astronomical dating for the famous Primavera painting is suggested. Keywords: History of Astronomy, Science and Philosophy, Renaissance Art, Educa- tion. Introduction Since its acquisition by London’s National Gallery on June 1874, the painting Venus and Mars by Botticelli, cataloged as NG915, has remained a mystery to be interpreted [1]1. -
Midterm Results the Milky Way in the Infrared
3/2/10 Lecture 13 : Midterm Results The Interstellar Medium and Cosmic Recycling A2020 Prof. Tom Megeath The Milk The Milky Way in the Infrared Way from Above (artist conception) The Milky Way appears to have a bar and four spiral arms. Star formation and hot blue stars concentrated in arms. View from the Earth: Edge On Infrared light penetrates the clouds and shows the entire galaxy 1 3/2/10 NGC 7331: the Milky Way’s Twins The Interstellar Medium The space between the stars is not empty, but filled with a very low density of matter in the form of: •Atomic hydrogen •Ionized hydrogen •Molecular Hydrogen •Cosmic Rays •Dust grains •Many other molecules (water, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, methanol, etc) •Organic molecules like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons How do we know the gas is there? Review: Kirchoff Laws Remainder of the Lecture Foreground gas cooler, absorption 1. How we observe and study the interstellar medium 2. The multiwavelength Milky Way Absorbing gas hotter, 3. Cosmic Recycling emission lines (and (or cooler blackbody) blackbody) If foreground gas and emitting blackbody the same temperature: perfect blackbody (no lines) Picture from Nick Strobel’s astronomy notes: www.astronomynotes.com 2 3/2/10 Observing the ISM through Absorption Lines • We can determine the composition of interstellar gas from its absorption lines in the spectra of stars • 70% H, 28% He, 2% heavier elements in our region of Milky Way Picture from Nick Strobel’s astronomy notes: www.astronomynotes.com Emission Lines Emission Line Nebula M27 Emitted by atoms and ions in planetary and HII regions. -
The Comet's Tale, and Therefore the Object As a Whole Would the Section Director Nick James Highlighted Have a Low Surface Brightness
1 Diebold Schilling, Disaster in connection with two comets sighted in 1456, Lucerne Chronicle, 1513 (Wikimedia Commons) THE COMET’S TALE Comet Section – British Astronomical Association Journal – Number 38 2019 June britastro.org/comet Evolution of the comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) along a total of ten days on January 2018. Composition of pictures taken with a zoom lens from Teide Observatory in Canary Islands. J.J Chambó Bris 2 Table of Contents Contents Author Page 1 Director’s Welcome Nick James 3 Section Director 2 Melvyn Taylor’s Alex Pratt 6 Observations of Comet C/1995 01 (Hale-Bopp) 3 The Enigma of Neil Norman 9 Comet Encke 4 Setting up the David Swan 14 C*Hyperstar for Imaging Comets 5 Comet Software Owen Brazell 19 6 Pro-Am José Joaquín Chambó Bris 25 Astrophotography of Comets 7 Elizabeth Roemer: A Denis Buczynski 28 Consummate Comet Section Secretary Observer 8 Historical Cometary Amar A Sharma 37 Observations in India: Part 2 – Mughal Empire 16th and 17th Century 9 Dr Reginald Denis Buczynski 42 Waterfield and His Section Secretary Medals 10 Contacts 45 Picture Gallery Please note that copyright 46 of all images belongs with the Observer 3 1 From the Director – Nick James I hope you enjoy reading this issue of the We have had a couple of relatively bright Comet’s Tale. Many thanks to Janice but diffuse comets through the winter and McClean for editing this issue and to Denis there are plenty of images of Buczynski for soliciting contributions. 46P/Wirtanen and C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) Thanks also to the section committee for in our archive. -
Analysis of New High-Precision Transit Light Curves of WASP-10 B: Starspot
Astronomy & Astrophysics manuscript no. wasp10 c ESO 2018 September 10, 2018 Analysis of new high-precision transit light curves of WASP-10 b: starspot occultations, small planetary radius, and high metallicity⋆ G. Maciejewski1,2, St. Raetz2, N.Nettelmann3, M. Seeliger2, Ch. Adam2, G. Nowak1, and R. Neuh¨auser2 1 Toru´nCentre for Astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Gagarina 11, PL–87100 Toru´n, Poland e-mail: [email protected] 2 Astrophysikalisches Institut und Universit¨ats-Sternwarte, Schillerg¨asschen 2–3, D–07745 Jena, Germany 3 Institut f¨ur Physik, Universit¨at Rostock, D–18051 Rostock, Germany Received ...; accepted ... ABSTRACT Context. The WASP-10 planetary system is intriguing because different values of radius have been reported for its transiting exoplanet. The host star exhibits activity in terms of photometric variability, which is caused by the rotational modulation of the spots. Moreover, a periodic modulation has been discovered in transit timing of WASP-10 b, which could be a sign of an additional body perturbing the orbital motion of the transiting planet. Aims. We attempt to refine the physical parameters of the system, in particular the planetary radius, which is crucial for studying the internal structure of the transiting planet. We also determine new mid-transit times to confirm or refute observed anomalies in transit timing. Methods. We acquired high-precision light curves for four transits of WASP-10 b in 2010. Assuming various limb-darkening laws, we generated best-fit models and redetermined parameters of the system. The prayer-bead method and Monte Carlo simulations were used to derive error estimates. -
Messier Objects
Messier Objects From the Stocker Astroscience Center at Florida International University Miami Florida The Messier Project Main contributors: • Daniel Puentes • Steven Revesz • Bobby Martinez Charles Messier • Gabriel Salazar • Riya Gandhi • Dr. James Webb – Director, Stocker Astroscience center • All images reduced and combined using MIRA image processing software. (Mirametrics) What are Messier Objects? • Messier objects are a list of astronomical sources compiled by Charles Messier, an 18th and early 19th century astronomer. He created a list of distracting objects to avoid while comet hunting. This list now contains over 110 objects, many of which are the most famous astronomical bodies known. The list contains planetary nebula, star clusters, and other galaxies. - Bobby Martinez The Telescope The telescope used to take these images is an Astronomical Consultants and Equipment (ACE) 24- inch (0.61-meter) Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope. It has a focal ratio of F6.2 and is supported on a structure independent of the building that houses it. It is equipped with a Finger Lakes 1kx1k CCD camera cooled to -30o C at the Cassegrain focus. It is equipped with dual filter wheels, the first containing UBVRI scientific filters and the second RGBL color filters. Messier 1 Found 6,500 light years away in the constellation of Taurus, the Crab Nebula (known as M1) is a supernova remnant. The original supernova that formed the crab nebula was observed by Chinese, Japanese and Arab astronomers in 1054 AD as an incredibly bright “Guest star” which was visible for over twenty-two months. The supernova that produced the Crab Nebula is thought to have been an evolved star roughly ten times more massive than the Sun. -
A Hot Subdwarf-White Dwarf Super-Chandrasekhar Candidate
A hot subdwarf–white dwarf super-Chandrasekhar candidate supernova Ia progenitor Ingrid Pelisoli1,2*, P. Neunteufel3, S. Geier1, T. Kupfer4,5, U. Heber6, A. Irrgang6, D. Schneider6, A. Bastian1, J. van Roestel7, V. Schaffenroth1, and B. N. Barlow8 1Institut fur¨ Physik und Astronomie, Universitat¨ Potsdam, Haus 28, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany 2Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK 3Max Planck Institut fur¨ Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 1, 85748 Garching bei Munchen¨ 4Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA 5Texas Tech University, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Box 41051, 79409, Lubbock, TX, USA 6Dr. Karl Remeis-Observatory & ECAP, Astronomical Institute, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Sternwartstr. 7, 96049 Bamberg, Germany 7Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 8Department of Physics and Astronomy, High Point University, High Point, NC 27268, USA *[email protected] ABSTRACT Supernova Ia are bright explosive events that can be used to estimate cosmological distances, allowing us to study the expansion of the Universe. They are understood to result from a thermonuclear detonation in a white dwarf that formed from the exhausted core of a star more massive than the Sun. However, the possible progenitor channels leading to an explosion are a long-standing debate, limiting the precision and accuracy of supernova Ia as distance indicators. Here we present HD 265435, a binary system with an orbital period of less than a hundred minutes, consisting of a white dwarf and a hot subdwarf — a stripped core-helium burning star. -
Winter Constellations
Winter Constellations *Orion *Canis Major *Monoceros *Canis Minor *Gemini *Auriga *Taurus *Eradinus *Lepus *Monoceros *Cancer *Lynx *Ursa Major *Ursa Minor *Draco *Camelopardalis *Cassiopeia *Cepheus *Andromeda *Perseus *Lacerta *Pegasus *Triangulum *Aries *Pisces *Cetus *Leo (rising) *Hydra (rising) *Canes Venatici (rising) Orion--Myth: Orion, the great hunter. In one myth, Orion boasted he would kill all the wild animals on the earth. But, the earth goddess Gaia, who was the protector of all animals, produced a gigantic scorpion, whose body was so heavily encased that Orion was unable to pierce through the armour, and was himself stung to death. His companion Artemis was greatly saddened and arranged for Orion to be immortalised among the stars. Scorpius, the scorpion, was placed on the opposite side of the sky so that Orion would never be hurt by it again. To this day, Orion is never seen in the sky at the same time as Scorpius. DSO’s ● ***M42 “Orion Nebula” (Neb) with Trapezium A stellar nursery where new stars are being born, perhaps a thousand stars. These are immense clouds of interstellar gas and dust collapse inward to form stars, mainly of ionized hydrogen which gives off the red glow so dominant, and also ionized greenish oxygen gas. The youngest stars may be less than 300,000 years old, even as young as 10,000 years old (compared to the Sun, 4.6 billion years old). 1300 ly. 1 ● *M43--(Neb) “De Marin’s Nebula” The star-forming “comma-shaped” region connected to the Orion Nebula. ● *M78--(Neb) Hard to see. A star-forming region connected to the Orion Nebula. -
The Evolution of the Milky Way: New Insights from Open Clusters
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 000, 1–?? (2016) Printed 12 September 2016 (MN LATEX style file v2.2) The evolution of the Milky Way: New insights from open clusters Arumalla B. S. Reddy1⋆, David L. Lambert1 and Sunetra Giridhar2 1W.J. McDonald Observatory and Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA 2Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560034, India Accepted 2016 September 07. Received 2016 September 07; in original form 2016 May 12 ABSTRACT We have collected high-dispersion echelle spectra of red giant members in the twelve open clusters (OCs) and derived stellar parameters and chemical abundances for 26 species by either line equivalent widths or synthetic spectrum analyses. We confirm the lack of an age−metallicity relation for OCs but argue that such a lack of trend for OCs arise from the limited coverage in metallicity compared to that of field stars which span a wide range in metallicity and age. We confirm that the radial metallicity gradient of OCs is steeper (flatter) for Rgc < 12 kpc (>12 kpc). We demonstrate that the sample of clusters constituting a steep radial metallicity −1 gradient of slope −0.052±0.011 dex kpc at Rgc < 12 kpc are younger than 1.5 Gyr and located close to the Galactic midplane (| z| < 0.5 kpc) with kinematics typical of the thin disc. Whereas the clusters describing a shallow slope of −0.015±0.007 −1 dex kpc at Rgc > 12 kpc are relatively old, thick disc members with a striking spread in age and height above the midplane (0.5 < | z| < 2.5 kpc). -
THE MYTH of ORPHEUS and EURYDICE in WESTERN LITERATURE by MARK OWEN LEE, C.S.B. B.A., University of Toronto, 1953 M.A., Universi
THE MYTH OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE IN WESTERN LITERATURE by MARK OWEN LEE, C.S.B. B.A., University of Toronto, 1953 M.A., University of Toronto, 1957 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OP PHILOSOPHY in the Department of- Classics We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, i960 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada. ©he Pttttrerstt^ of ^riitsl} (Eolimtbta FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAMME OF THE FINAL ORAL EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of MARK OWEN LEE, C.S.B. B.A. University of Toronto, 1953 M.A. University of Toronto, 1957 S.T.B. University of Toronto, 1957 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1960 AT 3:00 P.M. IN ROOM 256, BUCHANAN BUILDING COMMITTEE IN CHARGE DEAN G. M. SHRUM, Chairman M. F. MCGREGOR G. B. RIDDEHOUGH W. L. GRANT P. C. F. GUTHRIE C. W. J. ELIOT B. SAVERY G. W. MARQUIS A. E. BIRNEY External Examiner: T. G. ROSENMEYER University of Washington THE MYTH OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE IN WESTERN Myth sometimes evolves art-forms in which to express itself: LITERATURE Politian's Orfeo, a secular subject, which used music to tell its story, is seen to be the forerunner of the opera (Chapter IV); later, the ABSTRACT myth of Orpheus and Eurydice evolved the opera, in the works of the Florentine Camerata and Monteverdi, and served as the pattern This dissertion traces the course of the myth of Orpheus and for its reform, in Gluck (Chapter V). -
The State of Anthro–Earth
The Rosette Gazette Volume 22,, IssueIssue 7 Newsletter of the Rose City Astronomers July, 2010 RCA JULY 19 GENERAL MEETING The State Of Anthro–Earth THE STATE OF ANTHRO-EARTH: A Visitor From Far, Far Away Reviews the Status of Our Planet In This Issue: A Talk (in Earth-English) By Richard Brenne 1….General Meeting Enrico Fermi famously wondered why we hadn't heard from any other planetary 2….Club Officers civilizations, and Richard Brenne, who we'd always suspected was probably from another planet, thinks he might know the answer. Carl Sagan thought it was likely …...Magazines because those on other planets blew themselves up with nuclear weapons, but Richard …...RCA Library thinks its more likely that burning fossil fuels changed the climates and collapsed the 3….Local Happenings civilizations of those we might otherwise have heard from. Only someone from another planet could discuss this most serious topic with Richard's trademark humor 4…. Telescope (in a previous life he was an award-winning screenwriter - on which planet we're not Transformation sure) and bemused detachment. 5….Special Interest Groups Richard Brenne teaches a NASA-sponsored Global Climate Change class, serves on 6….Star Party Scene the American Meteorological Society's Committee to Communicate Climate Change, has written and produced documentaries about climate change since 1992, and has 7.…Observers Corner produced and moderated 50 hours of panel discussions about climate change with 18...RCA Board Minutes many of the world's top climate change scientists. Richard writes for the blog "Climate Progress" and his forthcoming book is titled "Anthro-Earth", his new name 20...Calendars for his adopted planet. -
Mind the Gap, Part 2
Mind The Gap, Part 2 CFAS General Meeting Wednesday, September 10, 2014 Lacerta the Lizard As the last glow of evening twilight drains from the western sky during September evenings, the small constellation Lacerta crawls high overhead. This celestial lizard was created in 1687 by Johann Hevelius to fill the void between Cygnus and Andromeda. - Walter Scott Houston, Deep-Sky Wonders Urania’s Mirror, circa 1825 No region in the heavens is barren. No constellation is fruitless for the observer. Even a lifetime of exploring the celestial display cannot exhaust the surprises that dance so beautifully before the amateur astronomer. - WSHouston NGC 7243 (Caldwell 16), is an open cluster of magnitude +6.4. It is located near the naked-eye stars Alpha Lacertae, 4 Lacertae, an A-class double star, and planetary nebula IC 5217. It lies approximately 2,800 light-years away, and is thought to be just over 100 million years old, consisting mainly of white and blue stars. NGC 7209 is a young, open cluster estimated to be around 410 million years-old and as suggested by the plethora of bright bluish stars. It is comprised of approximately 100 member stars and dominated by a handful of magnitude 7 to 9 stars and which includes an impressive pair of carbon stars at its center (mags 9.48 and 10.11). NGC 7209 is well-detached from the backround sky with a slight vertical concentration in a field spanning the apparent diameter of the full moon. The cluster has been estimated to lie at a distance of 3,810 light-years away. -
The Extragalactic Distance Scale
The Extragalactic Distance Scale Published in "Stellar astrophysics for the local group" : VIII Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics. Edited by A. Aparicio, A. Herrero, and F. Sanchez. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998 Calibration of the Extragalactic Distance Scale By BARRY F. MADORE1, WENDY L. FREEDMAN2 1NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database, Infrared Processing & Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 2Observatories, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena CA 91101, USA The calibration and use of Cepheids as primary distance indicators is reviewed in the context of the extragalactic distance scale. Comparison is made with the independently calibrated Population II distance scale and found to be consistent at the 10% level. The combined use of ground-based facilities and the Hubble Space Telescope now allow for the application of the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation out to distances in excess of 20 Mpc. Calibration of secondary distance indicators and the direct determination of distances to galaxies in the field as well as in the Virgo and Fornax clusters allows for multiple paths to the determination of the absolute rate of the expansion of the Universe parameterized by the Hubble constant. At this point in the reduction and analysis of Key Project galaxies H0 = 72km/ sec/Mpc ± 2 (random) ± 12 [systematic]. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION TO THE LECTURES CEPHEIDS BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE OBSERVED PROPERTIES OF CEPHEID