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The Nearest Stars: a Guided Tour by Sherwood Harrington, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
www.astrosociety.org/uitc No. 5 - Spring 1986 © 1986, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112. The Nearest Stars: A Guided Tour by Sherwood Harrington, Astronomical Society of the Pacific A tour through our stellar neighborhood As evening twilight fades during April and early May, a brilliant, blue-white star can be seen low in the sky toward the southwest. That star is called Sirius, and it is the brightest star in Earth's nighttime sky. Sirius looks so bright in part because it is a relatively powerful light producer; if our Sun were suddenly replaced by Sirius, our daylight on Earth would be more than 20 times as bright as it is now! But the other reason Sirius is so brilliant in our nighttime sky is that it is so close; Sirius is the nearest neighbor star to the Sun that can be seen with the unaided eye from the Northern Hemisphere. "Close'' in the interstellar realm, though, is a very relative term. If you were to model the Sun as a basketball, then our planet Earth would be about the size of an apple seed 30 yards away from it — and even the nearest other star (alpha Centauri, visible from the Southern Hemisphere) would be 6,000 miles away. Distances among the stars are so large that it is helpful to express them using the light-year — the distance light travels in one year — as a measuring unit. In this way of expressing distances, alpha Centauri is about four light-years away, and Sirius is about eight and a half light- years distant. -
A Temperate Rocky Super-Earth Transiting a Nearby Cool Star Jason A
LETTER doi:10.1038/nature22055 A temperate rocky super-Earth transiting a nearby cool star Jason A. Dittmann1, Jonathan M. Irwin1, David Charbonneau1, Xavier Bonfils2,3, Nicola Astudillo-Defru4, Raphaëlle D. Haywood1, Zachory K. Berta-Thompson5, Elisabeth R. Newton6, Joseph E. Rodriguez1, Jennifer G. Winters1, Thiam-Guan Tan7, Jose-Manuel Almenara2,3,4, François Bouchy8, Xavier Delfosse2,3, Thierry Forveille2,3, Christophe Lovis4, Felipe Murgas2,3,9, Francesco Pepe4, Nuno C. Santos10,11, Stephane Udry4, Anaël Wünsche2,3, Gilbert A. Esquerdo1, David W. Latham1 & Courtney D. Dressing12 15 16,17 M dwarf stars, which have masses less than 60 per cent that of Ks magnitude and empirically determined stellar relationships , the Sun, make up 75 per cent of the population of the stars in the we estimate the stellar mass to be 14.6% that of the Sun and the stellar Galaxy1. The atmospheres of orbiting Earth-sized planets are radius to be 18.6% that of the Sun. We estimate the metal content of the observationally accessible via transmission spectroscopy when star to be approximately half that of the Sun ([Fe/H] = −0.24 ± 0.10; the planets pass in front of these stars2,3. Statistical results suggest 1σ error), and we measure the rotational period of the star to be that the nearest transiting Earth-sized planet in the liquid-water, 131 days from our long-term photometric monitoring (see Methods). habitable zone of an M dwarf star is probably around 10.5 parsecs On 15 September 2014 ut, MEarth-South identified a potential away4. A temperate planet has been discovered orbiting Proxima transit in progress around LHS 1140, and automatically commenced Centauri, the closest M dwarf5, but it probably does not transit and high-cadence follow-up observations (see Extended Data Fig. -
No. 40. the System of Lunar Craters, Quadrant Ii Alice P
NO. 40. THE SYSTEM OF LUNAR CRATERS, QUADRANT II by D. W. G. ARTHUR, ALICE P. AGNIERAY, RUTH A. HORVATH ,tl l C.A. WOOD AND C. R. CHAPMAN \_9 (_ /_) March 14, 1964 ABSTRACT The designation, diameter, position, central-peak information, and state of completeness arc listed for each discernible crater in the second lunar quadrant with a diameter exceeding 3.5 km. The catalog contains more than 2,000 items and is illustrated by a map in 11 sections. his Communication is the second part of The However, since we also have suppressed many Greek System of Lunar Craters, which is a catalog in letters used by these authorities, there was need for four parts of all craters recognizable with reasonable some care in the incorporation of new letters to certainty on photographs and having diameters avoid confusion. Accordingly, the Greek letters greater than 3.5 kilometers. Thus it is a continua- added by us are always different from those that tion of Comm. LPL No. 30 of September 1963. The have been suppressed. Observers who wish may use format is the same except for some minor changes the omitted symbols of Blagg and Miiller without to improve clarity and legibility. The information in fear of ambiguity. the text of Comm. LPL No. 30 therefore applies to The photographic coverage of the second quad- this Communication also. rant is by no means uniform in quality, and certain Some of the minor changes mentioned above phases are not well represented. Thus for small cra- have been introduced because of the particular ters in certain longitudes there are no good determi- nature of the second lunar quadrant, most of which nations of the diameters, and our values are little is covered by the dark areas Mare Imbrium and better than rough estimates. -
Divinus Lux Observatory Bulletin: Report #28 100 Dave Arnold
Vol. 9 No. 2 April 1, 2013 Journal of Double Star Observations Page Journal of Double Star Observations VOLUME 9 NUMBER 2 April 1, 2013 Inside this issue: Using VizieR/Aladin to Measure Neglected Double Stars 75 Richard Harshaw BN Orionis (TYC 126-0781-1) Duplicity Discovery from an Asteroidal Occultation by (57) Mnemosyne 88 Tony George, Brad Timerson, John Brooks, Steve Conard, Joan Bixby Dunham, David W. Dunham, Robert Jones, Thomas R. Lipka, Wayne Thomas, Wayne H. Warren Jr., Rick Wasson, Jan Wisniewski Study of a New CPM Pair 2Mass 14515781-1619034 96 Israel Tejera Falcón Divinus Lux Observatory Bulletin: Report #28 100 Dave Arnold HJ 4217 - Now a Known Unknown 107 Graeme L. White and Roderick Letchford Double Star Measures Using the Video Drift Method - III 113 Richard L. Nugent, Ernest W. Iverson A New Common Proper Motion Double Star in Corvus 122 Abdul Ahad High Speed Astrometry of STF 2848 With a Luminera Camera and REDUC Software 124 Russell M. Genet TYC 6223-00442-1 Duplicity Discovery from Occultation by (52) Europa 130 Breno Loureiro Giacchini, Brad Timerson, Tony George, Scott Degenhardt, Dave Herald Visual and Photometric Measurements of a Selected Set of Double Stars 135 Nathan Johnson, Jake Shellenberger, Elise Sparks, Douglas Walker A Pixel Correlation Technique for Smaller Telescopes to Measure Doubles 142 E. O. Wiley Double Stars at the IAU GA 2012 153 Brian D. Mason Report on the Maui International Double Star Conference 158 Russell M. Genet International Association of Double Star Observers (IADSO) 170 Vol. 9 No. 2 April 1, 2013 Journal of Double Star Observations Page 75 Using VizieR/Aladin to Measure Neglected Double Stars Richard Harshaw Cave Creek, Arizona [email protected] Abstract: The VizierR service of the Centres de Donnes Astronomiques de Strasbourg (France) offers amateur astronomers a treasure trove of resources, including access to the most current version of the Washington Double Star Catalog (WDS) and links to tens of thousands of digitized sky survey plates via the Aladin Java applet. -
Glossary Glossary
Glossary Glossary Albedo A measure of an object’s reflectivity. A pure white reflecting surface has an albedo of 1.0 (100%). A pitch-black, nonreflecting surface has an albedo of 0.0. The Moon is a fairly dark object with a combined albedo of 0.07 (reflecting 7% of the sunlight that falls upon it). The albedo range of the lunar maria is between 0.05 and 0.08. The brighter highlands have an albedo range from 0.09 to 0.15. Anorthosite Rocks rich in the mineral feldspar, making up much of the Moon’s bright highland regions. Aperture The diameter of a telescope’s objective lens or primary mirror. Apogee The point in the Moon’s orbit where it is furthest from the Earth. At apogee, the Moon can reach a maximum distance of 406,700 km from the Earth. Apollo The manned lunar program of the United States. Between July 1969 and December 1972, six Apollo missions landed on the Moon, allowing a total of 12 astronauts to explore its surface. Asteroid A minor planet. A large solid body of rock in orbit around the Sun. Banded crater A crater that displays dusky linear tracts on its inner walls and/or floor. 250 Basalt A dark, fine-grained volcanic rock, low in silicon, with a low viscosity. Basaltic material fills many of the Moon’s major basins, especially on the near side. Glossary Basin A very large circular impact structure (usually comprising multiple concentric rings) that usually displays some degree of flooding with lava. The largest and most conspicuous lava- flooded basins on the Moon are found on the near side, and most are filled to their outer edges with mare basalts. -
Naming the Extrasolar Planets
Naming the extrasolar planets W. Lyra Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, K¨onigstuhl 17, 69177, Heidelberg, Germany [email protected] Abstract and OGLE-TR-182 b, which does not help educators convey the message that these planets are quite similar to Jupiter. Extrasolar planets are not named and are referred to only In stark contrast, the sentence“planet Apollo is a gas giant by their assigned scientific designation. The reason given like Jupiter” is heavily - yet invisibly - coated with Coper- by the IAU to not name the planets is that it is consid- nicanism. ered impractical as planets are expected to be common. I One reason given by the IAU for not considering naming advance some reasons as to why this logic is flawed, and sug- the extrasolar planets is that it is a task deemed impractical. gest names for the 403 extrasolar planet candidates known One source is quoted as having said “if planets are found to as of Oct 2009. The names follow a scheme of association occur very frequently in the Universe, a system of individual with the constellation that the host star pertains to, and names for planets might well rapidly be found equally im- therefore are mostly drawn from Roman-Greek mythology. practicable as it is for stars, as planet discoveries progress.” Other mythologies may also be used given that a suitable 1. This leads to a second argument. It is indeed impractical association is established. to name all stars. But some stars are named nonetheless. In fact, all other classes of astronomical bodies are named. -
Download the AAS 2011 Annual Report
2011 ANNUAL REPORT AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY aas mission and vision statement The mission of the American Astronomical Society is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe. 1. The Society, through its publications, disseminates and archives the results of astronomical research. The Society also communicates and explains our understanding of the universe to the public. 2. The Society facilitates and strengthens the interactions among members through professional meetings and other means. The Society supports member divisions representing specialized research and astronomical interests. 3. The Society represents the goals of its community of members to the nation and the world. The Society also works with other scientific and educational societies to promote the advancement of science. 4. The Society, through its members, trains, mentors and supports the next generation of astronomers. The Society supports and promotes increased participation of historically underrepresented groups in astronomy. A 5. The Society assists its members to develop their skills in the fields of education and public outreach at all levels. The Society promotes broad interest in astronomy, which enhances science literacy and leads many to careers in science and engineering. Adopted 7 June 2009 A S 2011 ANNUAL REPORT - CONTENTS 4 president’s message 5 executive officer’s message 6 financial report 8 press & media 9 education & outreach 10 membership 12 charitable donors 14 AAS/division meetings 15 divisions, committees & workingA groups 16 publishing 17 public policy A18 prize winners 19 member deaths 19 society highlights Established in 1899, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. -
On the Polar Distances of the Greenwich Transit Circle
fi 1260-1263. l'he prominence, which iR due in many astronoiiiicsl re- ortlcr to restore this uniforiiiify , which is otiviously of the searches to the long and excellent series of the Greenwich iiiost esseritial iiriporhiicbe, 1 have rel'errctl all the otiser- mericliorial oliservations, gives to any changes of the instrri- vatioiis to the Circle reatlirigs. which corresporrtl to the Naclir nients, by means of which these ohservatioiis are procurecl, observations of the wire. It iiiight have heen tlcsirahle to a higher and more general importance, than they woulcl other- get rid, as much as pnssilile, of' pere~nalecpitions in the wise possess. Hence the interest, with which astrononicrs reading of iiiicroscope - iiiicronieters etc. hy iisiclg for each are wont to regRrtl the construction and cfhiency of any new observer his own Zenithpoints. A closer inspec:tiori sjiotv,, instrunient of superior pretensions, is greatly enhanced in however, that, owing to several ciiwes, this (:nurse is for the case of the powerful Greenwich Transit Circle, and the the past observations inipracticable. I have 'coiiserperitly asiral question, concerning the degree of correctness, which considered it best to adopt the same periods of uri;iltered the results of a new apparatus have attained, acquires addi- Zenithpoints, as have Iieerl used in the Greenwiclr rechictioris. tional claims to be answered. As I an1 not aware, that a The values of the corrections, which it was accordingly seces- strict determination of this point has yet been attempted, 1 sary to apply to the single ohservations, fluctuate I)ct\veeri shall here niake it the suhject of inquiry with reepect to -fO"45 and TO"71. -
EXPLORING the MOON in the 21St CENTURY
CosmoELEMENTS EXPLORING THE MOON IN THE 21st CENTURY Samuel J. Lawrence1 and Clive R. Neal2 DOI: 10.2138/gselements.15.5.360 INTRODUCTION In 2019, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of NASA’s momentous Apollo expedi- tions to the Moon. The samples brought back by the astronauts, and the fieldwork those astro- The South Pole of the Moon, pictured here in an oblique view from FIGURE 1 NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, is the landing site for the nauts performed on the lunar surface, cemented the Moon’s status as seventh human lunar landing. IMAGE COURTESY OF NAC M1195011983LR (NASA/ the cornerstone of the solar system. It is not an exaggeration to say GSFC/ARIZONA STATE UniVERSITY). that the Apollo expeditions transformed our understanding of our solar system, and, in fact, most of the discoveries made in planetary science since the 1960s can trace directly, or indirectly, from the scientific of the Sun’s evolution and history. Finally, this is another area where results of those Apollo expeditions. the Apollo expeditions represent a strength: there are five decades worth of planetary science hypotheses that lunar geological fieldwork Although some erroneously proclaim that the Moon is “Been there, will address. The lunar surface could also provide a unique and stable done that”, nothing could be further from the truth. After a long long-term platform for astronomy. In particular, manned radio obser- st hiatus, beginning in the first years of the 21 century, there has vatories or optical interferometers on the far side of the Moon could been a resurgence of interest in the Moon, including the Kaguya produce dramatic advances in astrophysics. -
Calibration Against Spectral Types and VK Color Subm
Draft version July 19, 2021 Typeset using LATEX default style in AASTeX63 Direct Measurements of Giant Star Effective Temperatures and Linear Radii: Calibration Against Spectral Types and V-K Color Gerard T. van Belle,1 Kaspar von Braun,1 David R. Ciardi,2 Genady Pilyavsky,3 Ryan S. Buckingham,1 Andrew F. Boden,4 Catherine A. Clark,1, 5 Zachary Hartman,1, 6 Gerald van Belle,7 William Bucknew,1 and Gary Cole8, ∗ 1Lowell Observatory 1400 West Mars Hill Road Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA 2California Institute of Technology, NASA Exoplanet Science Institute Mail Code 100-22 1200 East California Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 3Systems & Technology Research 600 West Cummings Park Woburn, MA 01801, USA 4California Institute of Technology Mail Code 11-17 1200 East California Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 5Northern Arizona University Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science NAU Box 6010 Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA 6Georgia State University Department of Physics and Astronomy P.O. Box 5060 Atlanta, GA 30302, USA 7University of Washington Department of Biostatistics Box 357232 Seattle, WA 98195-7232, USA 8Starphysics Observatory 14280 W. Windriver Lane Reno, NV 89511, USA (Received April 18, 2021; Revised June 23, 2021; Accepted July 15, 2021) Submitted to ApJ ABSTRACT We calculate directly determined values for effective temperature (TEFF) and radius (R) for 191 giant stars based upon high resolution angular size measurements from optical interferometry at the Palomar Testbed Interferometer. Narrow- to wide-band photometry data for the giants are used to establish bolometric fluxes and luminosities through spectral energy distribution fitting, which allow for homogeneously establishing an assessment of spectral type and dereddened V0 − K0 color; these two parameters are used as calibration indices for establishing trends in TEFF and R. -
Stellar Distances Teacher Guide
Stars and Planets 1 TEACHER GUIDE Stellar Distances Our Star, the Sun In this Exploration, find out: ! How do the distances of stars compare to our scale model solar system?. ! What is a light year? ! How long would it take to reach the nearest star to our solar system? (Image Credit: NASA/Transition Region & Coronal Explorer) Note: The above image of the Sun is an X -ray view rather than a visible light image. Stellar Distances Teacher Guide In this exercise students will plan a scale model to explore the distances between stars, focusing on Alpha Centauri, the system of stars nearest to the Sun. This activity builds upon the activity Sizes of Stars, which should be done first, and upon the Scale in the Solar System activity, which is strongly recommended as a prerequisite. Stellar Distances is a math activity as well as a science activity. Necessary Prerequisite: Sizes of Stars activity Recommended Prerequisite: Scale Model Solar System activity Grade Level: 6-8 Curriculum Standards: The Stellar Distances lesson is matched to: ! National Science and Math Education Content Standards for grades 5-8. ! National Math Standards 5-8 ! Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (grades 6 and 8) ! Content Standards for California Public Schools (grade 8) Time Frame: The activity should take approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete, including short introductions and follow-ups. Purpose: To aid students in understanding the distances between stars, how those distances compare with the sizes of stars, and the distances between objects in our own solar system. © 2007 Dr Mary Urquhart, University of Texas at Dallas Stars and Planets 2 TEACHER GUIDE Stellar Distances Key Concepts: o Distances between stars are immense compared with the sizes of stars. -
Milan Dimitrijevic Avgust.Qxd
1. M. Platiša, M. Popović, M. Dimitrijević, N. Konjević: 1975, Z. Fur Natur- forsch. 30a, 212 [A 1].* 1. Griem, H. R.: 1975, Stark Broadening, Adv. Atom. Molec. Phys. 11, 331. 2. Platiša, M., Popović, M. V., Konjević, N.: 1975, Stark broadening of O II and O III lines, Astron. Astrophys. 45, 325. 3. Konjević, N., Wiese, W. L.: 1976, Experimental Stark widths and shifts for non-hydrogenic spectral lines of ionized atoms, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 5, 259. 4. Hey, J. D.: 1977, On the Stark broadening of isolated lines of F (II) and Cl (III) by plasmas, JQSRT 18, 649. 5. Hey, J. D.: 1977, Estimates of Stark broadening of some Ar III and Ar IV lines, JQSRT 17, 729. 6. Hey, J. D.: Breger, P.: 1980, Stark broadening of isolated lines emitted by singly - ionized tin, JQSRT 23, 311. 7. Hey, J. D.: Breger, P.: 1981, Stark broadening of isolated ion lines by plas- mas: Application of theory, in Spectral Line Shapes I, ed. B. Wende, W. de Gruyter, 201. 8. Сыркин, М. И.: 1981, Расчеты электронного уширения спектральных линий в теории оптических свойств плазмы, Опт. Спектроск. 51, 778. 9. Wiese, W. L., Konjević, N.: 1982, Regularities and similarities in plasma broadened spectral line widths (Stark widths), JQSRT 28, 185. 10. Konjević, N., Pittman, T. P.: 1986, Stark broadening of spectral lines of ho- mologous, doubly ionized inert gases, JQSRT 35, 473. 11. Konjević, N., Pittman, T. P.: 1987, Stark broadening of spectral lines of ho- mologous, doubly - ionized inert gases, JQSRT 37, 311. 12. Бабин, С.