alactic Observer G John J. McCarthy Observatory Volume 11, No. 11 November 2018 Observe the the Moon Night See page 20 for more information The John J. McCarthy Observatory Galactic Observer New Milford High School Editorial Committee 388 Danbury Road Managing Editor New Milford, CT 06776 Bill Cloutier Phone/Voice: (860) 210-4117 Production & Design Phone/Fax: (860) 354-1595 www.mccarthyobservatory.org Allan Ostergren Website Development JJMO Staff Marc Polansky Technical Support It is through their efforts that the McCarthy Observatory Bob Lambert has established itself as a significant educational and recreational resource within the western Connecticut Dr. Parker Moreland community. Steve Barone Jim Johnstone Colin Campbell Carly KleinStern Dennis Cartolano Bob Lambert Route Mike Chiarella Roger Moore Jeff Chodak Parker Moreland, PhD Bill Cloutier Allan Ostergren Doug Delisle Marc Polansky Cecilia Detrich Joe Privitera Dirk Feather Monty Robson Randy Fender Don Ross Louise Gagnon Gene Schilling John Gebauer Katie Shusdock Elaine Green Paul Woodell Tina Hartzell Amy Ziffer In This Issue "OUT THE WINDOW ON YOUR LEFT" ................................... 3 REFERENCES ON DISTANCES ................................................. 19 APOLLO 12 ........................................................................ 4 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION/IRIDIUM SATELLITES .............. 19 INSIGHT ............................................................................ 4 SOLAR ACTIVITY ................................................................ 19 APOLLO 7 ANNIVERSARY ...................................................... 4 NASA'S GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ................................... 19 50TH ANNIVERSARY COINS ................................................... 5 LAGRANGE POINTS ............................................................. 19 PARKER SOLAR PROBE - STATUS REPORT ............................... 6 FRONT PAGE GRAPHIKC INFORMATION ................................. 20 NEW DWARF PLANET .......................................................... 7 CONTACT INFORMATION ...................................................... 21 HAYABUSA 2 AND MASCOT ............................................... 8 NOVEMBER GRAPHIC CALENDAR ......................................... 22 APOLLO 8 BELATED ACCOLADES ........................................... 8 AGING SPACE OBSERVATORIES .............................................. 9 EXOMOON ......................................................................... 10 GRAND FINALE SCIENCE ......................................................11 LEONID METEOR SHOWER .................................................. 12 DANGER: SPACE DEBRIS ..................................................... 12 NOVEMBER HISTORY: APOLLO 12 ........................................ 14 NOVEMBER NIGHTS ............................................................ 15 SUNRISE AND SUNSET .......................................................... 15 ASTRONOMICAL AND HISTORICAL EVENTS ............................. 16 COMMONLY USED TERMS ................................................... 19 "Out the Window on Your Left" Apollo 12 T'S BEEN OVER 45 years since we left the last footprint Ion the dusty lunar surface. Sadly, as a nation founded on ex- ploration and the conquest of new frontiers, we appear to have lost our will to lead as a space-faring nation. But, what if the average citizen had the means to visit our only natural satellite; what would they see out the window of their spacecraft as they entered orbit around the Moon? This column may provide some thoughts to pon- der when planning your visit (if only in your imagination). The landing site of Apollo 12 is visible in this month's image. The site for the second Moon landing was approximately 930 miles (1,500 km) smooth landing area. The Apollo 12 was required to be at least 500 feet west of the Apollo 11 site and simi- site was selected for its proximity to away from Surveyor). The Sun was lar in that it offered a relatively Copernicus crater, 190 miles (300 only 6° above the horizon at touch- km) to the north and the ejecta that down, casting long shadows across was believed to have covered the site the volcanic plains and adding sharp from the crater's formation. The lo- relief to the geologic features at the cation was also home to Surveyor 3, landing site. an unmanned robotic spacecraft that Conrad and Bean spent 7 hours landed on the Moon in April of 1967. and 45 minutes on the surface, in two The crew of the Apollo 12 Lunar separate excursions, collecting 75 Module (Pete Conrad and Al Bean) pounds (34 kg) of rock and soil executed a pinpoint landing on No- samples and setting up experiments. vember 19, 1969, setting down 535 The astronauts were also able to ven- feet from the Surveyor spacecraft (to ture into the crater in which Surveyor minimize the potential of contami- had landed and remove pieces (in- nating the Surveyor spacecraft by the cluding the TV camera and soil Astronaut Alan Bean inspects descent engine exhaust or from dust scoop) for further study back on Surveyor 3. Credit: NASA kicked up by the engine, the landing Earth. http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org JJMO Nov 2018 • 3 InSight instruments and equipment from the The miniature spacecrafts are NASA's Discovery Program lander's deck and place them on the trailing behind InSight and will be mission InSight (Interior Explora- ground. The arm is also equipped in position to monitor InSight's tion using Seismic Investigations, with a camera which will survey the decent and landing onto the Red Geodesy and Heat Transport) was area around the landing site for Planet (being equipped with high- launched on May 5th from the optimal instrument placement. This gain antennas, radios and color Vandenberg Air Force Base in will be the first time that a robotic cameras). Although not vital to California aboard a United Launch arm will be used for this purpose mission performance (NASA's Alliance Atlas V rocket. It was the (moving instruments and equipment Mars orbiters will be used for data agency's first interplanetary into position on another world). relay), MarCO success could benefit mission launched from the west The InSight spacecraft was future missions to other places in coast. InSight is scheduled to land launched with two CubeSats, the solar system where such assets on Mars' Elysium Planitia, a called Mars Cube One (MarCO). are not available. relatively smooth plain in Mars' northern hemisphere, on November 26th at approximately 4 pm EST. The 794 pound InSight lander is built on a platform similar to that used for the successful Phoenix mission that explored the planet's polar region, saving testing time and development cost. The lander is equipped with two science instruments, a seismometer and heat probe, as well as communication antennae for a radio science experi- ment. The seismometer will provide information on the nature of the planet's crust, mantle and core by detecting seismic waves (vibra- tions) generated from marsquakes,InOMN Highlight meteorite impacts or other events,Mare Humorum and Gassendi as they pass through and interactCrater with the planet's interior. The heat probe will burrow into the soil, up Artist Illustration of Proposed Landing Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech to a depth of 16 feet (5 meters), to measure the heat from the planet's Apollo 7 Anniversary interior and pinpoint its source. Fifty years ago, on October 11, equal on both sides, pieces to be The lander's antennae will be used 1968, Apollo 7 lifted off from what brought into the spacecraft, and 60 to precisely determine the planet's is now the Cape Canaveral Air to 90 seconds to egress under the position in space as Mars orbits the Force Station, atop a Saturn 1B best conditions was changed to a Sun, and measure the planet's rocket. It was the first manned one-piece (unified) hatch with a wobble about its axis. From this flight since the Apollo 1 pad fire pressurized gas, quick-release data, the size, composition and on January 27, 1967 in which three which opened outward in 3 sec- state (solid or liquid) of the astronauts were lost. The flight was Eleven Day Old onds and allowed the crew to interior can be inferred. The designed to qualify an Apollo Moon egress in less than 30 seconds. science from InSight is also Command and Service Module in Visualizations by Commander Wally Schirra expected to contribute to our low-Earth orbit that had undergone Ernie Wright (Mercury 8) and rookies Command understanding of the formation of extensive design changes since the Module Pilot Donn Eisele other rocky and terrestrial planets. fire. For example, the three-piece, and Lunar Module Pilot Walt InSight is equipped with a unwieldly main hatch in Apollo 1 Cunningham made up the three-man robotic arm that will remove the that required the pressure to be Apollo crew. Objectives of the 4 • Nov 2018 JJMO http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org eleven-day mission included the field testing of spacecraft systems - Launch of Apollo 7 in particular, the Service Module's engine which would be used to place the spacecraft in lunar orbit and back out of lunar orbit for the trip home on future missions. All eight firings of the Service Module's engine were successful, with the final firing used to slow the spacecraft for re-entry. Eisele also practiced a simu- lated docking with the rocket's sec- ond stage, required on a lunar mis- sion to extract the Lunar Module from the adapter atop the Saturn V's third stage. The Apollo 7 flight took