Volume 14 • Issue 6 June 2015 ISSN 1712-4425 peterboroughastronomy.com twitter.com/PtbAstronomical The Reflector Newsletter of the Peterborough Astronomical Association The “G” in GOES Is What Makes It Go Ethan Seigel oing up into space is the best way to view the uni- verse, eliminating all the Gdistortionary effects of weather, clouds, temperature variations and the atmosphere’s airflow all in one swoop. It’s also the best way, so long as you’re up at high enough altitudes, to view an entire 50 percent of Earth all at once. And if you place your observatory at just the right location, you can observe the same hemisphere of Earth continuously, tracking the changes and behavior of our atmosphere for many years. The trick, believe it or not, was worked out by Kepler some 400 years ago! The same scientist who discovered that planets orbit the sun in ellipses also figured out the relationship between how distant an object needs to be from a much more massive one in order to have a certain orbital period. All you need to know is the period and dis- tance of one satellite for any given body, and you can figure out the Image credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, of the first image ever necessary distance to have any de- obtained from a GOES satellite. This image was taken from over 22,000 miles (35,000 sired period. Luckily for us, planet km) above the Earth’s surface on October 25, 1975. Earth has a natural satellite — the an orbital distance of 42,164 km same location on our world. Other Moon — and just from that infor- (26,199 miles) from Earth’s center, effects — like solar wind, radiation mation, we can figure out how or 35,786 km (22,236 miles) above pressure and the Moon—require distant an artificial satellite would mean sea level. onboard thrusters to maintain need to be to have an orbital period We call that orbit geosynchro- the satellite’s precisely desired that exactly matches the length of nous or geostationary, meaning position above any given point on a day and the rotational speed of that a satellite at that distance Earth’s surface. While geostation- Earth. For our world, that means always remains above the exact See “GOES” on page 16 2 • peterboroughastronomy.com President’s Message May Flowers and Good Weather stronomy on the Hill” was for the until September but this does not mean the most part another very successful end of activities for the paa. Our monthly event. We got some great press Sat- observing sessions will continue and in Aurday night with a silhouetted Phil appear- August we will be back “on the hill” for the ing in the Peterborough Examiner and eight Perseids meteor shower and back out to more photos on their website. There was Emily Park to dazzle the campers. Keep good viewing and an estimated 200+ people checking the website, e-mail reminders will arrived on the hill. Sunday was a bit of a be sent out as well. fizzle with a poor turnout but we did have Don’t forget the President’s Star-B-Q another great display by Dean Shewring and viewing on June 20th. Please reply to and a kids craft organized by Kristina, Rob the email that was sent out to allow suffi- and Adam Flindall. The Sun co-operated cient time for planning. We’ve had very few with a fair number of sunspots. responses so far however we do request a The paa was requested to set up tele- reply by June 13th. scopes in Isabel Morris Park Lakefield at I wish everyone a safe and fun filled sum- the Scout Ship. Cubs and leaders enjoyed mer with lots of clear skies. Keep observing some great viewing with the cubs getting and we’ll see you in September if not before. their Astronomy Badge. A write-up is in- Rodger Forsyth cluded in this issue. PAA President June is our last meeting before our sum- mer break. Meetings are discontinued Summer Send-off he month of June heralds Summer gives us the details of this interesting day of and the possibilities of wonderful celebration. stargazing. As we hope for clear So, away we go to a great summer. We Tskies and break from meetings we also take hope to see you at our next public event, the a hiatus from the club newsletter. Perseid Meteor Shower viewing on Armour So without further ado lets introduce Hill. this month’s reading. We have reports from Phillip Chee Rodger Forsyth about the Lakefield scouts Editor, The Reflector viewing session. Dean Shewring reports on the new club displays that graced the Astronomy on the Hill weekend. Rick Stankiewicz reports on the Hill weekend The Reflector itself. Dallas Kitchen sent in some photos of his visit to the National Air and Space The Reflector is a publication of the Peterborough Astronomi- Museum in Washington, D.C. He promised cal Association (P.A.A.) Founded in 1970, the P.A.A. is your local group for astronomy in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. us an article but I figure we’ll let it go this www.peterboroughastronomy.com • [email protected] time. John Crossen previews the viewing Phone: 705.292.0729 Club Mailing Address highlights for June and July. Rodger Forsyth, President And we would be amiss to not promote Peterborough Astronomical Association 536 Robinson Road RR #1 Asteroid Day on June 30. Rick Stankiewicz Peterborough, ON K9J 6X2 Vol 14 • Issue no. 6 • June 2015 • 3 The Reflector PAA Assists Lakefield Cubs Rodger Forsyth he peterborough Astronomi- cal Association(paa) was asked to set up telescopes at the Scout Ship in TLakefield’s Isabel Morris Park to provide a learning opportunity for cubs to help with their Astronomy Badge. Boyd Wood, Paul Ward, Sean Dunne and I took up the chal- lenge. I addressed the group before the viewing got underway. One item discussed was the Dawn Mission and mission cards were handed out. The group also received paa brochures and business cards.
Group photos by Rodger Forsyth As the evening progressed things got Photo by Sean Dunne even better. Jupiter was only 6° directly As things got underway the excitement above the Moon. The Cubs and leaders started. We had three telescopes set up and enjoyed the cloud bands and the four Jovian all were “on the Moon” at the beginning. moons. Venus was available for viewing as The wow factor was rampant, the group well, then later in the evening Saturn made went from one scope to another. its appearance and the wow factor went up Most started with Sean, moved on to another notch. Boyd then to me. This was a very successful outing and I received the following email from the leader that asked for our help. “Thank you again for assisting us on Saturday...a good night and now have 5 happy Cubs who completed their astron- omy badge. If you send me a photo and some information I will hopefully be able to get it in the Herald. Carol”
Paul arrived a bit later and set up with binoculars and a tripod. 4 • peterboroughastronomy.com The PAA on Display
Photo by Dean Shewring
Dean Shewring ave you ever wondered where Material is often drawn from the library and how we get our displays and to exhibit for use to make up display boards what use we put them? for use in the Fine portable at the Peterbor- HDuring the past several years, the paa ough Museum for Astronomy on the Hill on has taken part in putting together a one- the Sunday. In the immediate past, we have week exhibit to place in the large wall lobby put together displays for special screenings display case at the Peterborough Public and guest lectures at Trent University and Library. About three months in advance, for other events. We also have an ongoing members are requested to provide materials campaign to combat light pollution, for on a theme approved by the executive. The which we have two display boards currently display is generally designed by myself, with in stock. We’ve also added a couple of out- input from other executive members. Then door signs to notify the public of our activi- several of us go down on the designated ties. All of this has added to our flexibility to day and time (Monday, just after 12 noon) promote the paa. to install the exhibit. Though only in place Our stocks of displays had become for a week, that’s generally enough time to depleted due to too many of the current attract much interest by the hundreds of display boards having “one-off” subject mat- people who pass through the library each ter, such the “Year of the Comet” or “Year of day. This exhibit has been timed to run one Astronomy”, lacking current relevance. So, or two weeks prior to our Astronomy on the four new display boards were created from Hill in May, and is used to help publicize the material used in “Our Changing Solar this event. continued on next page When it Comes to Moons, Jupiter Outshines Them All
Vol 14 • Issue no. 6 • June 2015 • 5 The Reflector continued from previous page System” library exhibit. Additionally, Rick celebrating solar system missions to the Sun, Venus, Mars, a comet, Saturn and Stankiewicz provided his new philatelic dis- Titan. play on the Hubble Telescope to augment • The Hubble Space Telescope 1990-2015 our Astronomy on the Hill exhibition. The The ongoing story of the first great space new displays are as follows: telescope told in postage stamps from • Our Changing Solar System around the world. A truncated version of the library exhibit, the display board features an accurate pro- We still have several active displays in portioned view of the objects in our solar stock, including “Auroras: Night Sky Won- system, including important moons, aster- ders”, an older large panel on “Auroras”, oids, dwarf planets and Kuiper Belt objects. “Light Pollution”, three double-sided panels This display is enhanced by an article by showing Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope John Crossen on the Rosetta Mission and deep space wonders, several cfht posters two photos (a four-planet conjunction and the transit of Venus) by Rick Stankiewicz. and a panel on space objects. So, we should • Dawn Mission have sufficient stock of displays, as long as The NASA mission shows findings from we update the new missions displays, to use asteroid Vesta and the mystery of the bright for the next couple of years. But who knows spots on dwarf planet Ceres, with photos by what tomorrow might bring? Sean Dunne and Rick Stankiewicz depicting Should we add a permanent or ongo- Ceres and Vesta in the night sky. ing astro-photography display, now that • New Horizons Mission so many of our members have added this Launched in 2006, this outer solar system talent to our hobby? Should we be looking mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt pres- at preparing special displays or including ents the initial photos of dwarf planet Pluto some of our current displays at talks during and its five moons as it approaches rendez- vous in mid-July. An article by John Crossen our monthly meetings? Do we need to have on the unusual objects to be found in our a permanent indoor banner for events? Can solar system is part of this display. we find even more uses for the displays we • Astronomy Postage Stamps have — and will create in the future? The Depicting a 2012 British issue of six stamps sky’s the limit!
Planet Mars: Can it sustain life as we know? The Frank Hancock Award Winners, Madison Earle and Madyson Graham, pose with their project. Photo by Sean Dunne.
Award Presentations. PAA President, Roger Forsyth, Photo by Rick Stankiewicz presents the Frank Hancock Award to Madison Earle and Madyson Graham (top) and a one year PAA Family Membership to runner up Gabriel Sikma (bottom). Pho- tos by Rick Stankiewicz. 6 • peterboroughastronomy.com Astronomy-on-the-Hill 2015 Another Successful Year!
Rick Stankiewicz he 8th Annual “Astronomy-on- that stayed later in the evening, they were the-Hill” with the Peterborough As- treated to Comet Lovejoy and some nebulas tronomical Association, was another and star clusters. There were even some Tsuccessful event this year. The weather on weak iridium flares for those that were pay- both days was some of the best we have ever ing attention. had for this event. The local media contin- This weekend’s event wrapped up on the ued to give us some amazing coverage too. afternoon of May 17th at the Peterborough Reporters from The Examiner showed up Museum and Archives grounds. Dozens of both days and Peterborough SNAPD maga- people showed up to see the Sun through zine was there too. On the evening of May six specially-filtered telescopes that were 16th hundreds of people were up at Ash- able to show numerous sunspots on our burnham Memorial Park (Armour Hill) to closest star. Some of these spots were the see the wonders of the night sky with the size of planet Earth! Brett Hardy’s refractor paa and its dedicated members. Our free actually showed people Venus and Jupiter public event was a hit with people of all ages in broad daylight. This is not something the as they were shown Venus, Jupiter (and public get to see every day. four of its 67 moons) and even Saturn, later If this was not enough, there were beauti- in the evening. Young and old alike lined fully informative displays themed around up at all six of the telescopes and binoculars “Our Changing Solar System”, in the Peter- that were set-up for this purpose. For those continued on next page Vol 14 • Issue no. 6 • June 2015 • 7 The Reflector continued from previous page borough Museum and Archives, Fine Por- table. These were crafted by Dean Shewring and manned by John Cameron. In the Fleming Portable, there were space-related children’s crafts and activities, as many kids created their own solar systems. This brain- child of Kristina Flindall was executed with the help of her family (Rob and Adam).
The day finished with free draws for a number of special astronomy related prizes, including a donated and signed copy of Ter- ence Dickinson’s famous book NightWatch. It was a great weekend of out of this world experiences for the people of Peterborough, thanks to the members of the paa. Thanks to all who showed up and played any role this weekend, it helps make our events the successes they are.
All photos by Rick Stankiewicz. 8 • peterboroughastronomy.com PHOTO GALLERY
PAA Member Visits National Air and Space Museum
Hi Roger, Dallas Kitchen here, I am a member of the PAA. I was unable to make the last meeting of the PAA as I was away on holiday. I was in Washington DC and went to the National Air & Space Museum. I took a few photos while I was there. Not sure if anyone would be interested but I thought Id send the photos to you to disperse to all the members as I don’t have everyone’s email address to send to all at once.
I have attached some of them to this E-mail and will send a second Email with a couple more photos. There are six in total. Regards, Dallas Kitchen Vol 14 • Issue no. 6 • June 2015 • 9 The Reflector 10 • peterboroughastronomy.com What’s up? You Better Be to Catch June’s Eye-candy
Jupiter will be leaving the night sky soon, so give it a gander. Simple hand-held binoculars will bring it close enough to see its moons and ever-changing weather bands. I recommend 7×50 or 10×50 models for Jupiter and any type of beginner-level stargazing. Moonatics will enjoy a Full Moon on June ohn rossen J C 1. Again all you need is a pair of 7×50 binoc- arm summer nights are ulars or a small telescope to amaze yourself an aphrodisiac for stargazers. with the lunar detail. In fact you can identi- Suddenly hundreds of armchair fy some of the major details with the naked Wastronomers are seduced out to the night eye. A Moon chart can help you with this. skies. Armed with binoculars, telescopes What is called the First Quarter Moon is and star charts they assemble at dark sky the best phase for observing. That’s because locations, far from city light pollution. the Moon is lit from an angle and the shad- This June, you can hitch a ticket for a ows the mountains and craters cast high- multi-planet voyage. At dusk Venus and lights them for a stunning view. Jupiter will be a close pairing in the western This June New Moon (no Moon) arrives sky. Meanwhile Saturn will be low in the on the 16th. First Quarter will be on June southeast and rising slowly to optimum 24th. Third Quarter will greet nighthawks viewing level around midnight. A pair on June 9th. of 7×50 binoculars will capture Jupiter’s While we’re talking Moon phases, the moons and a small telescope at 30× is all New Moon favours constellation cadets and that’s required for you to marvel at Saturn’s deep sky observing. With no moon glow to rings. See “Thermacell” on page 15 Vol 14 • Issue no. 6 • June 2015 • 11 The Reflector The Milky Way is Back
Summer Stargazing Nightshot. Learn about and look through a variety of telescopes at anyone of the star par- ties across Canada. These are family events which usually feature guest speakers, displays, camping, a banquet and all the answers to your astronomical questions. Image courtesy Alan Dyer. the globular clusters M4 and M80. Plus two John Crossen open star clusters, M6 and M7 are thrown in uly kicks off with a Full Moon on to sweeten the deal. All are visible in a pair Canada Day. Seven days later the Last of hand-held 7×50 binoculars. Quarter Moon rises in the wee hours Next door, to the left, is Sagittarius. Jof the morning. On July 15 constellation Often referred to as the Teapot, this constel- crazies and deep sky observers will rejoice lation is supposed to represent a half horse, in the dark, New-Moon sky. Plus the Moon- half man with a bow and arrow. I wish the less sky on the 15th will make the gorgeous ancient Romans hadn’t drunk so much wine summer Milky Way stand out beautifully when they were organizing the constella- the dark background. tions. I sure can’t see it. The occasion will also allow stargazers to Sagittarius is where we Northern Hemi- drink in the sight of our galactic home at a sphere stargazers see the Milky Way begin. reasonable hour — say 11:00 p.m. As is usual It emerges from the spout of “the Teapot” for stargazing, a dark rural site, free and and climbs from the south arcing across the far from any light is the best way to see the sky, then down to the northern horizon. As night sky’s treasures. And treasures there you begin in the lower regions of Sagittari- are. us you will discover the spectacular globular With the Milky Way’s rising come two star cluster known as M22. Move up a bit star cluster and nebulae sprinkled constel- and you’ll come to the Lagoon Nebula, M8 lations — Scorpius and Sagittarius. Scorpi- and the Trifid Nebula, M20. Both are im- us, the Scorpion, is the stomping ground of See “Sagittarius” on page 15 12 • peterboroughastronomy.com Asteroid Day
Rick Stankiewicz ne 30th is a special day, it’s Asteroid Day! You may not have heard of it yet, but let me explain. Asteroid Day was officially launched on December 3, 2014 and is a global movement to make the citizens of our planet aware of the dangers that asteroids pose Jto Earth and what can be done to protect ourselves and future generations from their threat. This effort is being supported and promoted by over 100 famous astronauts, scien- tists, technologists and musicians from around the world including Jim Lovell, Alexei Le- onov and Chris Hadfield, Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Carolyn Shoemaker, Bill Nye (The Science Guy), Dr. Brian May (guitarist of Queen) and Peter Gabriel, to name a few. Asteroid Day is being held on the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska (Siberia) blast that was the largest asteroid to impact Earth in recent history. I made reference to Asteroid Day in my March (Vol.13 No.3) article on Ceres. The purpose is not to fear monger, but to educate and gain support to increase research and efforts to protect our planet from a danger that has proven to be real. As an example, no one saw the meteor coming that ex- ploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia on February 15, 2013, until it was too late, but it certainly was a wake-up call from outer space! The odds were about 100 million to one that it would have happen, but it still happened. This cause is bigger than any one country or nation, so it is really good to see citizens of the world uniting to support this effort. The hope is that Asteroid Day will garner support for a 100-fold increase in international efforts and commitments to deal with detecting, monitoring and handling potential threats from asteroids. Why not join the effort, learn more and spread the word, I am. For more about Asteroid Day see: www.asteroidday.org Vol 14 • Issue no. 6 • June 2015 • 13 The Reflector Chances of a Life-friendly Planet Nearby are Unfriendly
Due to their high magnesium-to-silicon ratio, “it is possible that the mineralogical makeup of planets around Tau Ceti could be very different from that of Earth,” according to mineral physicist Sang-Heon Shim, of Arizona State University. John Crossen frequently read about new plan- distance across our home galaxy, the Milky etary systems discovered orbiting other Way. stars in our solar system. Most are cov- With today’s rockets it will take millions Iered competently and quietly by astronomy upon millions of years to get Tau Ceti. It’s and science publications. going to take a revolution in propulsion But sometimes the more-public media technology to get there in even a single life turn up the volume and trumpets: “Earth time. But let’s zoom in a little closer and 2 discovered” or pose the leading question take a look at the planets dancing around “Could we live on this newly-discovered Tau Ceti. planet?” Scientists and journalists are both The Five are known as Tau Ceti b, Tau guilty of these over-zealous, headlines de- Ceti c, Tau Ceti d, Tau Ceti e, and Tau Ceti signed to sell papers or attract attention to f. Tau Ceti b, c, and d are too close to their increase a funding grant. So who’s right? home star to be habitable — just like Mercu- A recent study by the University of Ari- ry and Venus in our own solar system. But zona says a cautious “no” to any Earth-like with a generous helping of luck Tau Ceti e planets within a dozen light years of us. and f might just be life-friendly. As an example we have 5 planets orbiting The most likely candidate is Tau Ceti f. a star called Tau Ceti in the constellation It appears to be within what is called the Cetus. By cosmic standards Tau Ceti is a habitable zone, not too far or too close to next door neighbour — just 11.9 light years Tau Ceti. Earth is in this “goldilocks zone” away. In round numbers a single light year as it orbits our Sun. Another perk of being is equal to 10 billion kilometres. Multiply in the habitable zone is the fact that water that by 11.9 and you come up with 119 billion remains in its liquid form. kilometres. That’s almost a dozen times the See “Tau Ceti” on page 15 14 • peterboroughastronomy.com
The Sky this Month
Mercury is well placed in the morn- ing from the 9th to the 30th. Greatest elongation west (22°) on the 24th. Infe- rior conjunction on the 31st. Venus is in the evening sky and reach- es greatest elongation east (45°) on the 6th. Closing in on Jupiter and reaches a mininum separation of 0.3° on the 30th. Mars not visible. In conjunction with the Sun on the 14th. Jupiter is low in the western evening sky and moves from Cancer into Leo on the 9th. Sets after midnight. See Venus above. Saturn is visible most of the night. Retrograding in Libra. Summer Solstice arrives at 12:38 PM on the 21st.
Moon Phases Full Moon 12:19 PM June 2 Last Quarter 1:42 PM June 9 New Moon 10:05 AM June 16 First Quarter 7:03 AM June 24 Vol 14 • Issue no. 6 • June 2015 • 15 The Reflector continued from page 10 continued from page 11 Thermacell Sagittarius contend with, the stars are easier to see. mense clouds of gas and dust where new Leo, the Lion will be crawling into his lair stars are born. From a really dark site they in the west shortly after dusk. Virgo will are naked eye targets. But to bring them to scamper along behind him while Ophiuchus life, reach for your binoculars. Farther up (oh-fee-you-cuss) climbs the south eastern the Milky Way you’ll come to two more star sky. The bright star Arcturus will be high up clusters, M11 and M26. M11 is also known as in the southern sky and the Big Dipper will the Wild Duck cluster, but once again it’s a be standing on the tip of its cup by around stretch for the unassisted brain to visualize. 10 o’clock in the northwest. If you’re just starting out in stargazing One thing no one looks forward to as and this is already over your head, I highly summer arrives is the flying armada of recommend that you buy a copy of Terence mosquitoes. These critters can turn a night Dickinson’s NightWatch. It will help you find of stargazing into a festival of Bohemian all the night sky objects I’m talking about. It slap dancing. But instead of becoming a is one of the best stargazing guides I have walking, scratching ad for Calamine Lotion ever read and will help eliminate any cos- pick up on a new product called Thermacell. mic confusion you may have. Amazon sells It uses butane to heat up a chemical- it for as low as $20 or you can toddle over impregnated mat. The chemical is allethrin to the nearest big box book bin and drive which is a copy of a natural insecticide, home with a copy for just over $30 — tax in. pyrethin, found in chrysanthemum flowers. If that’s too steep, pick up a copy of SkyNews The heated mat gives off vapours that for about $6. keep the flying blood suckers away from you Summer is one of my favourite seasons and your friends. On a calm night it works for stargazing. The selection of viewing tar- in an area about 15 feet in diameter. So if gets is unequalled. The weather is astron- you’re a mosquito magnet, Thermacell can omer-friendly. And there are a host of star make you a lot less attractive. parties you can visit across Canada. Here in the Kawarthas the Fall ‘N’ Stars gathering is one of the best. Google Fall ‘N’ Stars - RASC - Bellville for all the details.
continued from page 13 Tau Ceti Unfortunately Tau Ceti f has only resided Tau Ceti e stretches the bounds of the in the habitable zone of its home star for goldilocks zone to their maximum, perhaps less than a billion years. So even if it can beyond. It is 4.4 times the mass of the Earth, support life astronomers may have a hard so once again you’ll need a heavy-duty, time finding any “biosignatures” or signs of motor-powered cart to get from here to life in its atmosphere. there in. Plus it’s on the very fringe of the Also, Tau Ceti f is 6.6 times the mass of habitable zone. Tau Ceti e receives 1.7 times Earth. So whatever you weigh now, multi- the solar radiation as does the Earth, so ply it by 6.6. Chances are you couldn’t even bring that Sun Block 35 if you visit. stand up or walk on Tau Ceti f. The Olym- pics would be reduced to crawling and fall- ing events until humans evolved into much more muscular beings. 16 • peterboroughastronomy.com continued from page 1 GOES ary satellites have been in use since 1963, it was only in 1974 that the Synchronous Articles Meteorological Satellite (sms) program be- Submissions for The Reflector must be received by the date listed below. E-mail submissions gan to monitor Earth’s weather with them, are preferred (Microsoft Word, OpenDoc, ASCII growing into the Geostationary Operational and most common graphic formats are accept- Environmental Satellite (goes) program able). If your article contains photso or graphics, the next year. For 40 years now, goes satel- please provide a separate file for each. Typed or lites have monitored the Earth’s weather hand-written submissions are acceptable pro- vided they are legible (and not too long.) Copy- continuously, with a total of 16 satellites righted materials will not be published without having been launched as part of the pro- written permission from the copyright holder. gram. To the delight of nasa (and Ghost- Submissions may be edited for grammar, brev- busters) fans everywhere, goes-r series ity, or clarity. Submissions will be published at will launch in 2016, with thrice the spectral the editor’s sole discretion. Depending on the volume of submissions, some articles may be information, four times the spatial resolu- published at a later date. Please submit any ar- tion and five times the coverage speed of its ticles, thoughts, or ideas to: predecessors, with many other improved [email protected] capabilities. Yet it’s the simplicity of gravity Next submission deadline: and the geostationary “G” in goes that gives August 24 2015 us the power to observe our hemisphere all at once, continuously, and for as long as we like!
Meetings The Peterborough Astronomical Association meets every first Friday of each month, except July and August, at the Peter- borough Zoo Guest Services and Rotary Educa- tion Centre (inside the main entrance at the north end of the Zoo) at 7 p.m. P.A.A. general annoucements will begin each meeting with the guest speaker starting at 7:30 p.m.