Published monthly since 1985 by The Binocular and Telescope Shop 84 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe NSW 2037 and 519 Burke Road, Camberwell Vic 3124 www.bintel.com.au November 2011 * Volume 317 WHAT HAS CLIMATE CHANGE GOT TO DO ERIS WHO? WITH OLD GALILEO? GALILEO’S NAME HAS BEEN FILCHED BY AN ANTI-CLIMATE CHANGE GROUP FOR THEIR OWN PARTICULAR AGENDA It would be most unlikely that Galileo Galilei would be pleased that his name I thought the rocketry chaps at has been pinched by a group dedicated to attacking science when he was at the the recent Macquarie Univer- receiving end of harsh treatment by the anti-scientists of his day. I suppose it’s sity Astronomy Open Night were possible that this desperate group can see the irony, but I doubt it. wearing very cool T-shirts and What is most troubling is that the group, which calls itself the Galileo Move- sloppy joes. They had the words ment, includes a number of scientists who should ‘know better’ as it were. Some “ROCKET SCIENTIST” printed appear to have vested interests that may cloud their judgement, but that’s not an in large letters. Maybe astrono- excuse, possibly just an explanation. mers should have t-shirts printed A classic example of this could be the book ‘Heaven and Earth’ published in The Sun’s most distant planet-like relative up with the words “astronomer 2009 by Ian Plimer, professor of mining geology in South Australia. has been measured. It’s very, very small ! NOT astrologer” or somesuch. For some reason the book includes, as an argument against climate change due Astronomers have accurately measured the diameter of the dwarf planet Eris It’s great to see in this day-and - to man’s activities, an extract from an acknowledged nonsense paper that argues for the first time by taking images as it passed in front of a faint star. This event age of ‘security’ and ‘cotton wool’ that the sun isn’t composed of 98 per cent hydrogen and helium, as astronomers was seen at the end of last year by telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in that there’s some fun left in the have confirmed through observation and theory, but is instead similar in compo- Chile. The diameter has been calculated at 2330km, making it almost exactly world. The ear-splitting roar of a sition to a meteorite. A critic said,” It is hard to understate the depth of scientific the same size as Pluto and somewhat smaller than the Earth’s Moon, which is real fire and smoke rocket tearing ignorance that the inclusion of this information demonstrates. It is comparable about 3475km in diameter. up into the sky is very satisfying! to a biologist claiming that plants obtain energy from magnetism rather than Eris appears to have a very reflective surface, suggesting that it is uniformly photosynthesis. Plimer has done an enormous disservice to science...“ the re- covered in a layer of ice, probably an atmosphere that has frozen and been * * * view continues... “Plimer’s book deserves to languish on the shelves along with deposited on the surface. Mythologically, Eris was the personification of strife Whilst the politicians wrangle similar pseudo-science such as the writings of Immanuel Velikovsky and Erich and discord. Eris had a daughter, Dysnomia the Greek goddess of lawless- with ways of curbing excessive von Daniken.” ness. The dwarf planet has a small moon which has been named, appropriately pollution of the atmosphere by It has been said that Professor Plimer is a director a number of coal, uranium enough. Dysnomia. industries it seems fairly point- and gold mining and gas-related companies and as a result his interest in the The name Eris was assigned in 2006, following an unusually long period after less unless the major players join continued profitability of these companies could be a factor in his stance. diiscovery in which it was known by the rather boring provisional designation in the effort. On the other hand It’s has also been stated that he is an associate of the Institute of Public Af- 2003 UB313. it would also seem a good idea fairs, a free-market advocacy group. He is listed as a member of the academic Eris is currently in the constellation Cetus at a distance of something like to plant trees and restore farm- advisory council for the Global Warming Policy Foundation a global warming 14,453,000,000 kilometres from the Earth, about three times as far as Pluto. ing land ... especially in those skeptic group and is listed as a member of the mining lobby group, Australians Eris will take 557 Earth years to circle the Sun. Don’t hold your breath waiting countries where deforestation is for Northern Development & Economic Vision, another ‘hands off mining -we for a birthday on Eris where the surface is staggeringly cold. causing desertification. Unfortu- want a free go’ group. In November last year astronomers calculated that Eris would pass in front of a nately, they have planted more Professor Plimer said his book would “knock out every single argument we hear faint background star and block its light. These occultations are very rare and landmines in Africa than trees. about climate change”, to prove that global warming is a natural cycle of the difficult to observe because of the small size and distance of the dwarf planet. Earth. “It’s got nothing to do with the atmosphere, it’s about what happens in the The next such event involving Eris will happen in 2013. Occultations provide * * * galaxy. You’ve got to look at the whole solar system and, most importantly, we the most accurate, and often the only way to measure the shape and size of a The annual ephemeris produced look back in time.” Plimer’s book was lauded, at its launch as being a great work distant planet or asteroid. by Quasar Publishing is out and that would stand alongside other great works of modern science. It may well be The candidate star for the occultation was identified by studying pictures from available. (see Page 4). It’s up to held up... but not quite for that reason. the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory. The ob- the usual very high standard of Professor Barry Brook, a leading environmental scientist, holder of the Sir Hu- servations were carefully planned and carried out by a team of European as- their publication. The three who bert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change at the School of Earth and Environmen- tronomers. To give themselves a better chance of success, observations of the labour long and hard over this tal Sciences, and Director of Climate Science at the University of Adelaide’s En- occultation were attempted from twenty-six locations around the world on the work, Ken Wallace, Peter North- vironment Institute. remarked predicted path of the dwarf planet’s shadow. As it turned out only two sites field and Glenn Dawes have our about the book, were able to positively observe the event directly, one telescope at La Silla admiration for the hundreds of “Well, it may well be held Observatory and two telescopes at San Pedro de Atacama, both observatories hours of hard slog they put in. In up as an example for the fu- in Chile. All three telescopes recorded a sudden drop in brightness as Eris my opinion it’s the best set out ture. An example of just how blocked the light of the distant star. The length of time of the occultation would and most readable annual ephem- deluded and misrepresenta- give astronomers a very good idea of its size, given that its distance was known eris anywhere. Every amateur tive the psuedo-sceptical war reasonably accurately. astronomer needs a copy of this against science really was in The combined results of observations from the two Chilean observatories indi- book in the Christmas stocking! the first decade of the 21st cate that Eris is close to spherical, a somewhat surprising result considering its century.” Ouch! small size, distance from the Sun and its probable composition. * * * I‘m sure that Galileo would Eris was first identified as a large object in the outer Solar System in 2005. Its When the Square Kilometre not be likely give his impri- discovery was one of the factors that led to the creation of a new class of ob- Array telescope is operational matur for the use of his name jects called dwarf planets and the reclassification of Pluto from planet to dwarf (hopefully in Australia) it will, by such a group. He’s proba- planet in 2006. The motion of Eris’s satellite Dysnomia was used to estimate says their website, need the com- bly suggest that it be renamed the mass of Eris. Eris is probably a large rocky body covered in a relatively puting power of one billion PC’s in honour of its principal pa- thin mantle of ice. The surface reflects 96% of the light that falls on it. It’s more in the head office to process the tron, a well-known Sydney ra- reflective than Venus. Its distance from the Sun means that very little light falls information received. What sort dio broadcaster. Mike Smith on it. Were it not so reflective it would probably never have been discovered. of pansy PC’s do they have in the UK? I recall a certain film where ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN DEEP SPACE. HOW DID THEY GET THERE ? the heroine used one single lap- Two researchers from the University of Hong Kong have announced that they The researchers investigated a set of infrared emissions detected in stars, inter- top PC to solve the great ques- have discovered highly complex substances in deep space that have the same stellar space, and galaxies.