The Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada PROMOTING ASTRONOMY IN CANADA October/octobre 2013 Volume/volume 107 Le Journal de la Société royale d’astronomie du Canada Number/numéro 5 [762] Inside this issue: David Levy, Fireflies, and Arcturus David Levy Comes Home Astronomers Kiss and Tell Rendezvous with the Stars Tribute to Jim Hesser Strategies for Making Friends David Levy among the stars Astrophotographers take note! This space is reserved for your B&W or greyscale images. Give us your best shots! Steve Holmes is an aficionado of narrowband αH photography, as seen in this image of the Cygnus wall—the ridge of high emissivity in the North America Nebula that gives form to the Central America portion. The Wall is an ionization front where high-energy ultraviolet light encounters a high-density portion of the dust and gas that makes up the nebula. October/octobre 2013 | Vol. 107, No. 5 | Whole Number 762 contents / table des matières Feature Articles / Articles de fond 212 Imager’s Corner: Recovering Star Colours by Blair MacDonald 186 David Levy, Fireflies, and Arcturus 214 Rising Stars: Peter McMahon—From Star Wars to Grace the London Centre SkyNews and Beyond by Dale Armstrong by John Crossen 187 David Levy Comes Home by Randy Attwood 216 Cheap Stuff From China: Doing Astro-stuff with a Raspberry Pi 188 Astronomers Kiss and Tell—Imperfections Revealed by Rick Saunders by Richard J. Legault 219 On Another Wavelength: The Lunar Atmosphere 199 What to Do When the Astrologer Crashes and Dust Environment Explorer Your Star Party: Strategies for Making Friends by David Garner and Influencing Enemies by R.A. Rosenfeld 220 Second Light: Enceladus’s Tidally Driven “Tiger Stripes” 202 Rendezvous with the Stars and the Universe, Too by Leslie J. Sage by Maureen Arges Nadin 207 A Tribute to Jim Hesser by John R. Percy Departments / Départements 182 News Notes/En manchettes Columns / Rubriques Compiled by Andrew I. Oakes 203 Pen and Pixel Extra: – Spectrographic analysis establishes exoplanet’s colour Scenes from the General Assembly – Report details 2020 Mission to Mars – Two Plutonian moons feature mythical names – Scientific achievements bring prestigious recognitions 205 Pen and Pixel: Helix Nebula / Conjunction / – Earth and Moon seen from Saturn and Mercury vantage Noctilucent Clouds / Cocoon Nebula points Randy Krall / Joel Parkes / Sheila Wiwchar / Lynn Hilborn – New robotic telescope LT2 to be double in size 209 Through My Eyepiece: The Big Picture 222 Reviews/Critiques by Geoff Gaherty The Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas / Introduction to Planetary Geomorphology / The Quest to Regain Paradise / 210 Cosmic Contemplations: An Ultraportable Open, Our Enigmatic Universe: One Astronomer’s Reflections Folded, 8.5-inch ƒ/12.5 Refractor on the Human Condition by Jim Chung 227 Society News by James Edgar 228 Astrocryptic by Curt Nason 228 It’s Not All Sirius—Cartoon by Ted Dunphy Front cover — David Levy and Kingston Centre President Sue Gagnon observe from the Lennox and Addington Dark-Sky Viewing Area. David shows Sue the area in the sky where he discovered his first comet. Photo: Terence Dickinson. October / octobre 2013 JRASC | Promoting Astronomy in Canada 181 The Journal is a bi-monthly publication of The Royal News Notes / En manchettes Astronomical Society of Canada and is devoted to the advancement of astronomy and allied sciences. Compiled by Andrew I. Oakes It contains articles on Canadian astronomers and current activities of the RASC and its ([email protected]) Centres, research and review papers by professional and amateur astronomers, and articles of a historical, biographical, or educational nature of general interest to the astronomical community. All contributions are welcome, but the editors reserve the right to edit material Spectrographic analysis establishes prior to publication. Research papers are reviewed prior to publication, and professional astronomers with institutional affiliations are asked to pay publication charges of $100 per exoplanet’s colour page. Such charges are waived for RASC members who do not have access to professional funds as well as for solicited articles. Manuscripts and other submitted material may be Planet HD 189733b, orbiting a star 63 light-years away from in English or French, and should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. Earth, is cobalt blue in colour say astronomers studying the Editor-in-Chief Contributing Editors exoplanet’s reflected light. Using the Hubble Space Telescope’s Jay Anderson Jim Chung (Cosmic Contemplations) 203 – 4920 Dundas St W John Crossen (Rising Stars) Imaging Spectrograph, astronomers have measured changes in the Toronto ON M9A 1B7, Canada Ted Dunphy (It’s Not All Sirius) colour of light from the exoplanet before, during, and after a Email: [email protected] Geoff Gaherty (Through My Eyepiece) Web site: www.rasc.ca Dave Garner (On Another Wavelength) pass behind its yellow-orange star. The planet is a “hot Jupiter,” Telephone: (416) 924-7973 Blair MacDonald (Imager’s Corner) a class of large planets orbiting close to their parent stars. Fax: (416) 924-2911 Curt Nason (Astrocryptic) Andrew I. Oakes (News Notes) Associate Editor-in-Chief Randall Rosenfeld (Art & Artifact) During observations, researchers saw the light becoming less Nicole Mortillaro Leslie J. Sage (Second Light) Email: [email protected] bright in the blue but not in the green or red. The missing blue Rick Saunders (Cheap Stuff From China) light when the object was hidden meant that the planet that Associate Editor, Research David Turner (Reviews) Douglas Hube disappeared had that colour. Despite its deep-blue-dot Proofreaders Email: [email protected] Ossama El Badawy appearance, the exoplanet is not considered Earth-like. The Associate Editor, General Margaret Brons daytime temperature on the planet is nearly 1100 degrees Michael Attas Angelika Hackett Email: [email protected] Terry Leeder Celsius, while the night-side temperatures are lower by about Assistant Editors Kim Leitch 250 degrees, with fierce winds travelling at about 7200 km/h Suzanne Moreau Michael Allen from the day side to the night side. Discovered in 2005, the Martin Beech Design/Production Dave Chapman Michael Gatto, Grant Tomchuk exoplanet, only 4.64 million kilometres from its star, is Ralph Chou Email: [email protected], gravitationally locked to its parent, so that one side permanently Ralph Croning [email protected] Dave Garner faces the star while the other side is perpetually dark. Advertising Patrick Kelly Melissa Mascarin Gail Wise Email: [email protected] Editorial Assistant Printing Suzanne E. Moreau Canselmdc Email: [email protected] www.cansel.ca Production Manager The Royal Astronomical James Edgar Email: [email protected] Society of Canada The Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is published at an annual subscription rate of $93.45 (including tax) by The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Membership, which includes the publications (for personal use), is open to anyone interested ToVision inspire curiosity in all people about the Universe, to in astronomy. Applications for subscriptions to the Journal or membership in the RASC and information on how to acquire back issues of the Journal can be obtained from: share scientific knowledge, and to foster collaboration in astronomical pursuits. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 203 – 4920 Dundas St W Toronto ON M9A 1B7, Canada Mission Email: [email protected] The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) Web site: www.rasc.ca encourages improved understanding of astronomy Telephone: (416) 924-7973 Fax: (416) 924-2911 for all people, through education, outreach, research, publication, enjoyment, partnership, and community. Canadian Publications Mail Registration No. 09818 Canada Post: Send address changes to 203 – 4920 Dundas St W, Toronto ON M9A 1B7 Canada Post Publication Agreement No. 40069313 Values We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada The RASC has a proud heritage of excellence and Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. integrity in its programs and partnerships. As a vital part of Canada’s science community, we support discovery through the scientific method. We inspire and encourage © 2013 The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. All rights reserved. ISSN 0035-872X Cert no. SW-COC-005174 people of all ages to learn about and enjoy astronomy. 182 JRASC | Promoting Astronomy in Canada October / octobre 2013 an open competition for payload and science instruments to be carried by a rover similar to that of Curiosity, currently operating on Mars. Applying Curiosity’s design is expected to minimize mission costs, reduce risks, and attain mission objectives. The new rover configuration would feature a car-sized vehicle about 3 metres long, 2.7 metres wide, and 2.2 metres tall, not including an arm. Instruments on the new rover will permit visual, mineralogical, and chemical analysis down to microscopic scale. The aim is to understand the environment around the landing site and identify biosignatures or features in the rocks and soil that could have been formed biologically. Figure 1 — An artist’s concept shows a deep-blue exoplanet, HD 189733b, Looking for signs of past life is the next logical step, notes the orbiting its yellow-orange star, HD 189733. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Science Definition Team, as Curiosity recently confirmed that G. Bacon (STScI) past environmental conditions on Mars could have supported living microbes. The Science Definition Team has also proposed that the rover collect and package as many as 31 samples of Astronomers have concluded that the cobalt blue colour comes rock cores and soil for a later mission to bring back for more from a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds definitive analysis in laboratories on Earth. laced with silicate particles. Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more Two Plutonian moons feature mythical names than red light. Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons are now officially called Report details 2020 Mission to Mars Kerberos and Styx.