RASNZ_20_06_2019
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 222, 20 June 2019 Affiliated Societies are welcome to reproduce any item in this email newsletter or on the RASNZ website www.rasnz.org.nz in their own newsletters provided an acknowledgement of the source is also included.
Contents
1. Satellites Threaten Astronomy
2. Conference Honours
3. The Solar System in July
4. Stargazers Getaway August 30 - September 1
5. RASNZ Beatrice Hill-Tinsley Lecture Series
6. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
7. Space Weather Section Director Sought
8. Secretary for National Astronomical Society
9. New Zealand Starlight Conference
10. Ed Stone of Voyager Awarded Shaw Prize
11. 'Sky & Telescope' Bought by the American Astronomical Society
12. How to Join the RASNZ
13. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
14. Quotes
1. Satellites Threaten Astronomy
In May, SpaceX launched 60 200 kg satellites. Soon amateur astronomers started sharing images of those satellites in night skies, igniting an uproar among astronomers who fear that the planned orbiting cluster will wreak havoc on scientific research and trash our view of the cosmos.
The following is the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) statement about the threat:
Over the past decades, considerable effort has gone into designing, building, and deploying satellites for many important purposes. Recently networks, known as satellite constellations, have been deployed and are planned in ever greater numbers in mainly low-Earth orbits for a variety of purposes, including providing communication services to underserved or remote areas. Until this year, the number of such satellites was below 200, but that number is now increasing rapidly, with plans to deploy potentially tens of thousands of them. In that event, satellite constellations will soon outnumber all previously launched satellites.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is concerned about these satellite constellations. The organisation, in general, embraces the principle of a dark and radio-quiet sky as not only essential to advancing our understanding of the Universe of which we are a part, but also as a resource for all humanity and for the protection of nocturnal wildlife. We do not yet understand the impact of thousands of these visible satellites scattered across the night sky and despite their good intentions, these satellite constellations may threaten both.
The scientific concerns are twofold. Firstly, the surfaces of these satellites are often made of highly reflective metal, and reflections from the Sun in the hours after sunset and before sunrise make them appear as slow-moving dots in the night sky. Although most of these reflections may be so faint that they are hard to pick out with the naked eye, they can be detrimental to the sensitive capabilities of large ground-based astronomical telescopes, including the extreme wide-angle survey telescopes currently under construction. Secondly, despite notable efforts to avoid interfering with radio astronomy frequencies, aggregate radio signals emitted from the satellite constellations can still threaten astronomical observations at radio wavelengths. Recent advances in radio astronomy, such as producing the first image of a black hole or understanding more about the formation of planetary systems, were only possible through concerted efforts in safeguarding the radio sky from interference.
The IAU is a science and technology organisation, stimulating and safeguarding advances in those areas. Although significant effort has been put into mitigating the problems with the different satellite constellations, we strongly recommend that all stakeholders in this new and largely unregulated frontier of space utilisation work collaboratively to their mutual advantage. Satellite constellations can pose a significant or debilitating threat to important existing and future astronomical infrastructures, and we urge their designers and deployers as well as policy-makers to work with the astronomical community in a concerted effort to analyse and understand the impact of satellite constellations. We also urge appropriate agencies to devise a regulatory framework to mitigate or eliminate the detrimental impacts on scientific exploration as soon as practical.
The IAU’s Commission B7 Protection of Existing and Potential Observatory Sites welcomes the opportunity to work proactively with everyone involved in these efforts.
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See the full IAU statement with explanatory footnotes at https://www.iau.org/news/announcements/detail/ann19035/
See also
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/01/science/starlink-spacex-astronomers.html
2. Conference Honours
The Murray Geddes Prize was awarded to Antony Gomez, the current President of the Wellington Astronomical Society. The nominators noted that Antony has been very heavily involved in our local astronomical community for 20 years. Among his activities he has developed very strong links with local schools; established a regular ‘Astronomy Club’ at Hutt City Library; held many outreach events, generally on the Wellington waterfront, which attract hundreds, including many tourists; doubled the membership of WAS, with many younger and active members; set up a Facebook presence for WAS which has led to significant publicity of activities to especially younger people; assisted the Student Space Society become established; been a significant contributor to the Space and Science Festival and actively supported the establishment of the Martinborough Dark Sky Society.
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John Drummond was made a fellow of the RASNZ at the Annual General Meeting. John is Immediate Past President RASNZ and long-serving President of the Gisborne Astronomical Society. John was Director of the RASNZ Astrophotography Section, 2005-2018, and has been Director of the RASNZ Comet and Meteor Section since 2006. Along with Professor John Hearnshaw, John has run the SWAPA competition for the last three years. He was also a moderator of the Digital-Astro Yahoo Group (with over 10,000 members) for five years and organised numerous annual NZ-wide astrophotography competitions – which were displayed at RASNZ conferences.
John runs several telescopes and cameras at Possum Observatory, IAU Code E94, near Gisborne. From there he has helped discover over a dozen exoplanets in conjunction with the Ohio State University – including the unusual 2-Earth-massed planet orbiting a binary star which helped astronomers rethink planetary formation models. He does astrometry of comets and has worked with the British Astronomical Association (Richard Miles) in monitoring enigmatic comet 29P (Schwassmann/Wachmann) for a decade. John observed southern hemisphere meteor showers in the 1970s, to help confirm the list of southern radiants created by NZer R.A McIntosh and is the only regular New Zealand observer to submit observations to the International Meteor Organisation. He was the most prolific visual observer of comets in New Zealand in the late 1990s-2000s.
John is listed as an author in over 60 journal publications as well as appearing in many Minor Planet Electronic Circulars; had a section dedicated to his work in Martin Mobberly’s book, ‘Hunting and Imaging Comets’ (Springer 2011), and is a contributing editor for the ‘Australian Sky and Telescope’ magazine.
Among John's outreach activities include a monthly astronomy presentation on a Gisborne radio station and numerous public night star gazing events. He helped organise (with Gordon Hudson) the highly successful Central Star Parties in the mid-1990s 2000s. John produces the RASNZ's ‘Keeping in Touch’ and the ‘In Touch with the Sky’ and ran early morning Matariki viewing/singing/public speaking events for ten years. John trained 20 adults at Aotea Great Barrier Island International Dark Sky Sanctuary, enabling them to provide astro-tourism services. He provided sky measurements before and after the implementation of LED lights in Gisborne which were used in an international survey.
3. The Solar System in July
Dates and times shown are NZST (UT + 12 hours). Rise and Set times are for Wellington. They will vary by a few minutes elsewhere in NZ. Data is adapted from that shown by GUIDE 9.
THE SUN and PLANETS in JULY, Rise & Set, Mag. & Cons.
July 1 NZST July 31 NZST
Mag Cons Rise Set Mag Cons Rise Set
SUN -26.7 Gem 7.45am 5.04pm -26.7 Cnc 7.28am 5.26pm
Merc 1.1 Cnc 9.08am 7.00pm 2.2 Gem 6.23am 4.24pm
Venus -3.9 Tau 6.55am 4.10pm -3.9 Cnc 7.21am 5.02pm
Mars 1.8 Cnc 9.07am 6.38pm .1.8 Leo 8.07am 6.18pm
Jup -2.6 Oph 3.18pm 6.16am -2.4 Oph 1.11pm 4.08am
Sat 0.1 Sgr 5.33pm 8.28am 0.2 Sgr 3.24pm 6.22am
Uran 5.8 Ari 2.39am 1.15pm 5.8 Ari 12.45am 11.19am
Nep 7.9 Aqr 10.39pm 11.26am 7.8 Aqr 8.39pm 9.27am
Pluto 14.4 Sgr 5.51pm 8.47pm 14.4 Sgr 3.50pm 6.47am
July 1 NZST July 31 NZST
Twilights morning evening morning evening
Civil: start 7.16am, end 5.33pm start 7.01am, end 5.54pm
Nautical: start 6.42am, end 6.08pm start 6.28am, end 6.27pm
Astro: start 6.08am, end 6.41pm start 5.55am, end 7.00pm
JULY PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZST (& UT)
New moon: July 3 at 7.16am (July 2, 19:16 UT)
First quarter: July 9 at 10.55pm (10:55 UT).
Full Moon: Jun 17 at 9.38am (Jul 16, 21:38 UT)
Last quarter Jun 25 at 1.18pm (01:18 UT).
A total eclipse of the Sun occurs on July 2 (July 3 NZ time). The path of totality arcs across the South Pacific starting at sunrise several degrees east of New Zealand. It ends just south of Buenos Aries at sunset.
A partial umbral eclipse of the moon occurs a fortnight later. Only the very early stages of the penumbral eclipse are visible from New Zealand. Australia, especially the west, sees more of the eclipse.
More information about both eclipses can be found on the RASNZ web site.
PLANETS in July
MERCURY and MARS start July as very early evening objects, quite close to one another. An hour after sunset on the 1st it may be possible to glimpse Mercury some 9° above the horizon and 35° to the north of due west, as seen from Wellington. Mars will be even lower and a little fainter. Mercury in particular will get lower each following evening, particularly after it is stationary on the 7th. The following evening Mars will move past it to become the higher object.
Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 21st when it will be 5° south of the Sun. After conjunction Mercury moves into the morning sky, but will remain too close to the Sun for observation during the rest of July.
VENUS rises 50 minutes before the Sun on the 1st and only 7 minutes before it on the 31st. Thus it is a difficult morning object all month.
Meanwhile Mars, still in the evening sky and the Sun will slowly get closer, making it impossible to see the planet.
The presence of the moon on the 4th as a very thin crescent less than 2 days old and just below Mars will be a challenge to see.
JUPITER and SATURN are well placed for viewing during July, especially by mid evening. Jupiter will be higher in the evening sky, although by the 31st the two planets will be at similar altitudes at 10pm, with Jupiter further west than Saturn.
Saturn is at opposition on July 10 at 5 am.
The path of this month's occultation of Saturn by the moon takes place on the 16th. It misses New Zealand by a very small amount, the outer limit of the graze path just touching North Cape where the event occurs at 5.50 pm, a few hours before full moon. The Sun will be only 3° below the horizon.
The moon passes Jupiter on the morning of July 14. For NZ the two are 4° apart, shortly before moonset about 5 am.
PLUTO is close behind Saturn, rising slightly later. It is at opposition 5 days later than Saturn.
URANUS is a morning object in Aries.
NEPTUNE, in Aquarius, rises well before midnight by the end of July.
BRIGHTEST ASTEROIDS in JULY, mag. const. time of transit
JULY 1 NZDT JULY 31 NZST
Mag Cons transit Mag Cons transit
(1) Ceres 7.8 Lib 9.43pm 8.4 Lib 7.42pm
(2) Pallas 9.4 Boo 7.22pm 9.8 Boo 5.47pm
(4) Vesta 8.3 Cet 8.16am 8.1 Ari 6.57am
(15) Eunomia 9.3 Aqr 3.32am 8.5 Aqr...1.17am
(18) Melpomene 9.3 Sct 12.23am 9.6 Ser 9.58pm
CERES is in Libra about 16° west (left) of Jupiter. The asteroid is stationary mid month when its apparent motion reverts to easterly.
PALLAS is an evening object in Bootes. The asteroid will be 15 arc-minutes, half the diameter of the full moon, from eta Boo, mag 2.7, on the evening of July 25. At the end of July Pallas will be just over 4° from Arcturus.
VESTA is in the morning sky, rising by 1.30 am on the 31st. It moves into Aries a day earlier.
EUNOMIA brightens to magnitude 8.5 during July. At the end of the month, the asteroid will be 45 arc-minutes from beta Aqr, mag 2.9.
MELPOMENE is at opposition on July 1. Following opposition it starts to fade again. On the 17th Melpomene crosses into Serpens.
-- Brian Loader
4. Stargazers Getaway August 30 - September 1
The North Otago Astronomical Society Inc, would like to invite you to Stargazers Getaway 2019, over the weekend of, Friday August 30th to Sunday September 1st at Camp Iona in Herbert.
This is the second year back for our iconic Stargazers Getaway, building on last year's camp, the first in over 10 years!
With expressions for attendees already coming in, this year is promising to be bigger and better!!
Children under 5 are free
Students 5-17 - $20 p/night, $35 for both
Adults +18 - $35 p/night, $60 for both
Day visits for talks - $5 p/day
Interested people who would like to either attend, speak or present a poster paper are asked to email the Stargazers Getaway Co-ordinator, Damien McNamara, as numbers are limited at :- solaur.science@gmail.com
5. RASNZ Beatrice Hill-Tinsley Lecture Series
The RASNZ Lecture Trust Inc. is pleased to announce the itinerary of the 2019 Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecture series where Babak A. Tafreshi will be speaking at various NZ venues.
The lecture tour will take place in October. They are:
Thu 10 Oct – Auckland;
Fri 11 – Tauranga;
Sat 12 – Hamilton;
Mon 14 – Napier;
Tue 15 – Wellington;
Wed 16 – Nelson;
Fri 18 – Christchurch;
Mon 28 – Dunedin;
Wed 30 – Wanganui;
Thu 31 Oct – New Plymouth.
Note, Babek will be speaking at the NZ Starlight Conference and Festival (Sunday 20 – Fri 25 October - https://starlightconference.org/ )
For more information, see - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/beatrice-hill-tinsley-lectures.
-- From Keeping in Touch #32, 6th May 2019.
6. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
The 2020 Conference will be held 8-10 May at Wellington with the Wharewaka Function Centre the venue (near the Michael Fowler Centre) in downtown Wellington. The Wellington Astronomical Society is hosting this conference.
2020 marks a significant milestone in the life of the Society as it was founded in November 1920 with 75 members.
The SCC invites ideas from members how the Society might commemorate its centenary at next year’s conference. Please send your suggestions to the SCC at conference@rasnz.org.nz.
-- Glen Rowe, Chair, Standing Conference Committee
7. Space Weather Section Director Sought
Dear Members,
Following his valuable term of service as Director of the Space Weather Section, Damien McNamara has chosen to step down from that position. Damien has become more involved with the challenges brought by increasing light pollution from new and additional sources. For and on behalf of the Council, I would like to thank Damien for his effort, energy and leadership.
Damien stepped down as Director on 5 May 2019. At this time, Council is inviting any Member of the Society who wishes to be considered for the Directorship of the Space Weather Section to apply. Applications close at 5 p.m. 12 April 2019.
Applications are to be sent by post or email to the Secretary by the above deadline; secretary@rasnz.org.nz.
Applications are to include
1. a statement of interest which sets out the Member's interests in Space Weather, their past experience, their plans for leading the Section and any new initiatives for the Section's members, and
2. the names and contact details of two referees of whom Council can request further information about the applicant. Applications are to be no more than two sides of A4 in length, font size at least 12, font either Times New Roman or Ariel.
Yours,
Nicholas Rattenbury, RASNZ President.
8. Secretary for National Astronomical Society
The Royal New Zealand Astronomical Society (RASNZ) is seeking a suitable person to take on the voluntary role of Secretary. This is an important role within RASNZ. The new appointee will be a key member of RASNZ helping administer and make strategic decisions for RASNZ.
No formal qualifications or prior experience in a similar role are necessary, and, this role does not preclude holders of positions in other astronomical societies. However, knowledge of RASNZ rules
(https://www.rasnz.org.nz/images/articleFiles/Council/Rules2015.pdf), history and operations would be beneficial to performing the duties. Templates created by former holders of this position will be made available. This role can be undertaken entirely from the home office but attendance at the RASNZ Council's AGM held once a year at the RASNZ annual conference is strongly encouraged.
The responsibilities of the Secretary include:
(i) Receive and send physical and electronic correspondence on behalf of the RASNZ, document it and draw appropriate people's attention to the
correspondence;
(ii) Compile the Council's Annual Report and prepare it for approval by the Council in time for publication in the March issue of Southern Stars, and
(iii) Maintain a record of meetings and motions, both physical and electronic.
This offers a great opportunity for someone to contribute to the nationwide support and promotion of astronomy, science education and related research.
Contact: Nick Rattenbury (nicholas.rattenbury@gmail.com)
President - RASNZ
9. New Zealand Starlight Conference
Planning for the New Zealand Starlight Conference is progressing well. The conference will take place this year at Lake Tekapo and will discuss all aspects of dark skies protection, combatting light pollution, astro-tourism, astro-photography, lighting technology, the aesthetics of the starry night sky, the health and environmental issues of light pollution and much more. The dates will be 20 – 23 October 2019.
We have confirmed nine outstanding keynote speakers, with a tenth to be confirmed in the near future. These speakers are:
Babak Tafreshi, Massachusetts, of TWAN, the World at Night, the renowned astro-photographer;
Dr Paul Bogard, author of The End of Night, associate professor of English at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, where he teaches creative writing and environmental literature;
Dr Fabio Falchi, author of the New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, a renowned researcher on light pollution, from the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute (ISTIL) in Italy;
Dr George ‘Bud’ Brainard, world expert on the effects of light on biological and behavioral responses of animals and humans; co-author of the American Medical Association report in 2016 Human and Environmental Effects of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Community Lighting, from Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA
Dr Richard Wainscoat, astronomer at the University of Hawaii, an expert on preserving the dark night sky at observatories in the era of LED lighting
Ruskin Hartley, Executive Director of the International Dark Sky Association in Tucson, AZ, USA
Dr Antonia Varela, Director of the Fundación Starlight, and researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, Tenerife, Spain
Dr Karen Arthur, an Australian expert on the environmental impacts of light pollution, from the Ministry of the Environment, Canberra, Australia
Dr Rangi Matamua, expert on Maori astronomy from the University of Waikato, Hamilton NZ. He will talk about Matariki and Maori astronomy.
Karen Trevino, Chief, Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, US National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA (her participation is to be confirmed)
Many other speakers have offered talks on a wide range of topics based on lighting technology, light pollution and its health and environmental impacts, stargazing and astrotourism. This will therefore be a highly multidisciplinary conference.
A theme of the Starlight Conference is ‘towards the first dark-sky nation’. To this end we are encouraging people from New Zealand’s already accredited dark sky places, and representatives from all aspiring dark sky places (about a dozen of them) to participate in the conference. We plan to run a workshop with experts from the International Dark-Sky Association on how to become a dark sky place with IDA accreditation.
Our website is up and running and gives all information you will need to register for the NZ Starlight Conference 2019. Please visit https://starlightconference.org.
The NZ Starlight Conference has been registered as an official IAU100 event.
We hope to see you in Tekapo this October. Please let me know if you can come and present a paper.
-- John Hearnshaw
Chair, Organizing Committee, NZ Starlight Conference
10. Ed Stone of Voyager Awarded Shaw Prize
The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2019 is awarded to Edward C. Stone, David Morrisroe Professor of Physics and Vice Provost for Special Projects, California Institute of Technology, USA, for his leadership in the Voyager project. The latter has, over the past four decades, transformed our understanding of the four giant planets and the outer Solar System, and has now begun to explore interstellar space. This prestigious award is one way in which the Shaw Prize promotes astronomy, a goal shared by the International Astronomical Union (AU). The two organisations have a collaboration agreement which, among other things, involves promotion of astronomy in education through the Annual Shaw–IAU Workshop Astronomy for Education.
The Voyager project consists of two spacecraft launched by NASA in August and September 1977 to explore the outer Solar System. Both spacecraft flew past Jupiter and Saturn in the period 1979–1981, and Voyager 2 also visited Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. For the foreseeable future, Voyager 2 will remain the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. These unique data are particularly important for the study of exoplanets, since Uranus and Neptune now appear to be more representative of the bulk of the exoplanet population than the other Solar System planets.
The highlights of the encounters from Voyager’s journey include:
The discovery that Jupiter’s satellite Io has many volcanoes, powered by tidal heating of Io’s interior;
The first images of the rings of Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, and the discovery of complex structure in Saturn's rings, including gaps, narrow ringlets, density and bending waves, and transient “spokes”;
The first high-resolution images of the four giant planets in the Solar System, as well as their larger satellites, and the discovery of almost two dozen new satellites;
The discovery that Uranus and Neptune have magnetic fields, and these fields differ from those of other Solar System planets in that the magnetic pole is strongly tilted and offset relative to the north pole or spin axis. Voyager also provided our first data on the magnetospheres — extended atmospheres of ionized gas — surrounding these planets, including size, density, composition, and plasma waves. It also showed that Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune all have aurorae in their upper atmospheres;
The first detailed measurements of the atmospheres of Saturn's satellite Titan and Neptune’s satellite Triton;
The discovery that Neptune radiates about 2.5 times as much energy as it receives from the Sun. The nature of this energy source is not yet understood;
Measurements of the composition, winds, temperature and pressure profiles of the planetary atmospheres; in particular Voyager showed that Neptune’s atmosphere has winds of up to 2000 km/h and a vast storm system called the Great Dark Spot;
Voyager dramatically improved our knowledge of the masses, sizes, shapes, and gravitational fields of all the giant planets and many of their satellites.
Each spacecraft carried a “golden record” containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth and intended to be played only if Voyager encountered an advanced spacefaring civilization.
Voyager 1 looked back to take a famous “family portrait” of the planets including the image of Earth known as the “pale blue dot”, which became an icon for how small we are in the larger Universe.
Voyager 1 is now 145 times as far from us as the Sun and has become the most distant human artefact, while Voyager 2 is the second most distant. Many of their instruments continue to send back valuable data, more than forty years after the launch date. After this long voyage, the spacecraft has finally reached the outer boundary of the Solar System.
There are several possible ways to define the “boundary” of the Solar System, but the most natural one is the heliopause. The heliopause marks the end of the heliosphere, where the wind of ionized gas emitted by the Sun is finally halted by the pressure from interstellar gas. Inside the heliopause, space is filled by low-density material from the Sun, while outside the heliopause it contains material from other stars. Voyager 1 and 2 crossed the heliopause in 2012 and late 2018, respectively, and returned data on the velocity, density, temperature and other properties of the ambient plasma as the spacecraft crossed into interstellar space. This was the final major milestone of the Voyager mission.
Although many scientists and engineers have devoted much or most of their careers to Voyager, the dominant figure in the mission is Edward C. Stone, who has served as Project Scientist from 1972 to the present — over 45 years — and is also in charge of one of the spacecraft’s 11 instruments. During the planetary flybys, he became internationally known as the public spokesman for Voyager, and explained Voyager’s scientific discoveries to the public with remarkable lucidity and scientific authority.
For images see https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1906/?lang
Ed Stone
11. 'Sky & Telescope' Bought by the American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has agreed to acquire Sky & Telescope (S&T) magazine and its related business assets, including the skyandtelescope.com website, SkyWatch annual, digital editions, astronomy-themed tours, and S&T-branded books, sky atlases, globes, apps, and other stargazing products.
S&T's current owner, the magazine- and book-publishing company F+W Media, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2019 after what court filings described as six years of poor strategy and management at the corporate level. The AAS, the major organization of professional astronomers in North America and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, was the winning bidder for S&T in a bankruptcy auction process that concluded on Monday, 17 June, pending approval by all parties to the transaction, final documentation, filing of final sales agreements and schedules with the bankruptcy court, and a successful closing process.
The AAS anticipates that S&T's staff of editors, designers, illustrators, and advertising sales representatives will become AAS employees but will continue to work out of the magazine's offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The AAS is headquartered in Washington, DC, but already has about a dozen remote staff members scattered from coast to coast. As it accomplishes the operational transitions needed to publish S&T, the Society anticipates making few if any changes to the editorial content or the way the magazine operates, and subscribers should see no interruption in its monthly delivery schedule. Enhancements and new products and services are likely in the future; these will be developed in partnership with the magazine's editors and readers and with the Society's members and other stakeholders.
"The synergies between our two organizations are many and strong," says Peter Tyson, Editor in Chief of Sky & Telescope. "Many AAS members grew up on S&T, and we regularly report on the discoveries made by AAS members."
Sky & Telescope was founded in 1941 through the merger of two earlier magazines: The Sky, produced at New York's Hayden Planetarium, and The Telescope, published first at Ohio's Perkins Observatory then later at Harvard College Observatory. The business was employee-owned until 2006, when the staff sold it to the craft-and-hobby publisher New Track Media, which in turn sold it to F+W in 2014.
Before he became AAS Press Officer in 2009, astronomer Rick Fienberg worked at S&T for 22 years, serving from 2001 to 2008 as Editor in Chief. Upon learning of F+W's financial difficulties, he suggested that the magazine could be a good fit for the AAS, which publishes two of the leading peer-reviewed journals in the field - the Astronomical Journal (AJ) and the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) - and which recently created an Amateur Affiliate category of membership for backyard astronomers, many of whom collaborate on scientific research with their professional counterparts. AAS Executive Officer Kevin Marvel agreed and wrote a detailed proposal to the Board of Trustees, who unanimously endorsed the idea of trying to acquire S&T's business assets, not only because of S&T's close strategic alignment with the Society's own goals, but also because it would enhance the AAS's ability to connect with amateur astronomers and the general public.
-- Abridged from an AAS email to members.
12. How to Join the RASNZ
RASNZ membership is open to all individuals with an interest in
astronomy in New Zealand. Information about the society and its
objects can be found at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/membership-benefits
A membership form can be either obtained from treasurer@rasnz.co.nz or
by completing the online application form found at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/membership-application
Basic membership for the 2018 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
13. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
The RASNZ is responsible for recommending to the trustees of the
Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund that grants be made for astronomical projects.
The grants may be to any person or persons, or organisations,
requiring funding for any projects or ventures that promote the
progress of astronomy in New Zealand. Applications are now invited
for grants from the Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund. The application should
reach the Secretary by 1 November 2018. Full details are set down in
the RASNZ By-Laws, Section J.
For an application form contact the RASNZ Executive Secretary,
secretary@rasnz.org.nz
14. Quotes
In explaining June's 'Strawberry Moon' "Space agency NASA said the Moon will position itself opposite the Moon, fully illuminating its Earth-facing side." As quoted in 18 June Daily Mail science page.
”On the evening of the 15th of April a magnetic storm of unusual force prevailed over the entire northern section of the country, which so seriously affected the operation of the wires that, on some circuits, they could only be worked by taking off the batteries and employing the auroral current instead. The effects of this great disturbance of the earth's magnetism was manifested with particular power upon the wires between New York and Boston, and for several hours the lines upon this route depended entirely upon this abnormal power for their working current." -- Scientific American, June 1869, quoted in S.A. June 2019, p. 71.
"As for zeal, nobody has any zeal about arithmetic. It is not the vaccinationists but the anti-vaccinationists who generate zeal. Zeal is a bad mark for a cause." -- Harold Nicolson, January 1951.
Alan Gilmore Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57 alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 222, 20 June 2019 Affiliated Societies are welcome to reproduce any item in this email newsletter or on the RASNZ website www.rasnz.org.nz in their own newsletters provided an acknowledgement of the source is also included.
Contents
1. Satellites Threaten Astronomy
2. Conference Honours
3. The Solar System in July
4. Stargazers Getaway August 30 - September 1
5. RASNZ Beatrice Hill-Tinsley Lecture Series
6. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
7. Space Weather Section Director Sought
8. Secretary for National Astronomical Society
9. New Zealand Starlight Conference
10. Ed Stone of Voyager Awarded Shaw Prize
11. 'Sky & Telescope' Bought by the American Astronomical Society
12. How to Join the RASNZ
13. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
14. Quotes
1. Satellites Threaten Astronomy
In May, SpaceX launched 60 200 kg satellites. Soon amateur astronomers started sharing images of those satellites in night skies, igniting an uproar among astronomers who fear that the planned orbiting cluster will wreak havoc on scientific research and trash our view of the cosmos.
The following is the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) statement about the threat:
Over the past decades, considerable effort has gone into designing, building, and deploying satellites for many important purposes. Recently networks, known as satellite constellations, have been deployed and are planned in ever greater numbers in mainly low-Earth orbits for a variety of purposes, including providing communication services to underserved or remote areas. Until this year, the number of such satellites was below 200, but that number is now increasing rapidly, with plans to deploy potentially tens of thousands of them. In that event, satellite constellations will soon outnumber all previously launched satellites.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is concerned about these satellite constellations. The organisation, in general, embraces the principle of a dark and radio-quiet sky as not only essential to advancing our understanding of the Universe of which we are a part, but also as a resource for all humanity and for the protection of nocturnal wildlife. We do not yet understand the impact of thousands of these visible satellites scattered across the night sky and despite their good intentions, these satellite constellations may threaten both.
The scientific concerns are twofold. Firstly, the surfaces of these satellites are often made of highly reflective metal, and reflections from the Sun in the hours after sunset and before sunrise make them appear as slow-moving dots in the night sky. Although most of these reflections may be so faint that they are hard to pick out with the naked eye, they can be detrimental to the sensitive capabilities of large ground-based astronomical telescopes, including the extreme wide-angle survey telescopes currently under construction. Secondly, despite notable efforts to avoid interfering with radio astronomy frequencies, aggregate radio signals emitted from the satellite constellations can still threaten astronomical observations at radio wavelengths. Recent advances in radio astronomy, such as producing the first image of a black hole or understanding more about the formation of planetary systems, were only possible through concerted efforts in safeguarding the radio sky from interference.
The IAU is a science and technology organisation, stimulating and safeguarding advances in those areas. Although significant effort has been put into mitigating the problems with the different satellite constellations, we strongly recommend that all stakeholders in this new and largely unregulated frontier of space utilisation work collaboratively to their mutual advantage. Satellite constellations can pose a significant or debilitating threat to important existing and future astronomical infrastructures, and we urge their designers and deployers as well as policy-makers to work with the astronomical community in a concerted effort to analyse and understand the impact of satellite constellations. We also urge appropriate agencies to devise a regulatory framework to mitigate or eliminate the detrimental impacts on scientific exploration as soon as practical.
The IAU’s Commission B7 Protection of Existing and Potential Observatory Sites welcomes the opportunity to work proactively with everyone involved in these efforts.
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See the full IAU statement with explanatory footnotes at https://www.iau.org/news/announcements/detail/ann19035/
See also
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/01/science/starlink-spacex-astronomers.html
2. Conference Honours
The Murray Geddes Prize was awarded to Antony Gomez, the current President of the Wellington Astronomical Society. The nominators noted that Antony has been very heavily involved in our local astronomical community for 20 years. Among his activities he has developed very strong links with local schools; established a regular ‘Astronomy Club’ at Hutt City Library; held many outreach events, generally on the Wellington waterfront, which attract hundreds, including many tourists; doubled the membership of WAS, with many younger and active members; set up a Facebook presence for WAS which has led to significant publicity of activities to especially younger people; assisted the Student Space Society become established; been a significant contributor to the Space and Science Festival and actively supported the establishment of the Martinborough Dark Sky Society.
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John Drummond was made a fellow of the RASNZ at the Annual General Meeting. John is Immediate Past President RASNZ and long-serving President of the Gisborne Astronomical Society. John was Director of the RASNZ Astrophotography Section, 2005-2018, and has been Director of the RASNZ Comet and Meteor Section since 2006. Along with Professor John Hearnshaw, John has run the SWAPA competition for the last three years. He was also a moderator of the Digital-Astro Yahoo Group (with over 10,000 members) for five years and organised numerous annual NZ-wide astrophotography competitions – which were displayed at RASNZ conferences.
John runs several telescopes and cameras at Possum Observatory, IAU Code E94, near Gisborne. From there he has helped discover over a dozen exoplanets in conjunction with the Ohio State University – including the unusual 2-Earth-massed planet orbiting a binary star which helped astronomers rethink planetary formation models. He does astrometry of comets and has worked with the British Astronomical Association (Richard Miles) in monitoring enigmatic comet 29P (Schwassmann/Wachmann) for a decade. John observed southern hemisphere meteor showers in the 1970s, to help confirm the list of southern radiants created by NZer R.A McIntosh and is the only regular New Zealand observer to submit observations to the International Meteor Organisation. He was the most prolific visual observer of comets in New Zealand in the late 1990s-2000s.
John is listed as an author in over 60 journal publications as well as appearing in many Minor Planet Electronic Circulars; had a section dedicated to his work in Martin Mobberly’s book, ‘Hunting and Imaging Comets’ (Springer 2011), and is a contributing editor for the ‘Australian Sky and Telescope’ magazine.
Among John's outreach activities include a monthly astronomy presentation on a Gisborne radio station and numerous public night star gazing events. He helped organise (with Gordon Hudson) the highly successful Central Star Parties in the mid-1990s 2000s. John produces the RASNZ's ‘Keeping in Touch’ and the ‘In Touch with the Sky’ and ran early morning Matariki viewing/singing/public speaking events for ten years. John trained 20 adults at Aotea Great Barrier Island International Dark Sky Sanctuary, enabling them to provide astro-tourism services. He provided sky measurements before and after the implementation of LED lights in Gisborne which were used in an international survey.
3. The Solar System in July
Dates and times shown are NZST (UT + 12 hours). Rise and Set times are for Wellington. They will vary by a few minutes elsewhere in NZ. Data is adapted from that shown by GUIDE 9.
THE SUN and PLANETS in JULY, Rise & Set, Mag. & Cons.
July 1 NZST July 31 NZST
Mag Cons Rise Set Mag Cons Rise Set
SUN -26.7 Gem 7.45am 5.04pm -26.7 Cnc 7.28am 5.26pm
Merc 1.1 Cnc 9.08am 7.00pm 2.2 Gem 6.23am 4.24pm
Venus -3.9 Tau 6.55am 4.10pm -3.9 Cnc 7.21am 5.02pm
Mars 1.8 Cnc 9.07am 6.38pm .1.8 Leo 8.07am 6.18pm
Jup -2.6 Oph 3.18pm 6.16am -2.4 Oph 1.11pm 4.08am
Sat 0.1 Sgr 5.33pm 8.28am 0.2 Sgr 3.24pm 6.22am
Uran 5.8 Ari 2.39am 1.15pm 5.8 Ari 12.45am 11.19am
Nep 7.9 Aqr 10.39pm 11.26am 7.8 Aqr 8.39pm 9.27am
Pluto 14.4 Sgr 5.51pm 8.47pm 14.4 Sgr 3.50pm 6.47am
July 1 NZST July 31 NZST
Twilights morning evening morning evening
Civil: start 7.16am, end 5.33pm start 7.01am, end 5.54pm
Nautical: start 6.42am, end 6.08pm start 6.28am, end 6.27pm
Astro: start 6.08am, end 6.41pm start 5.55am, end 7.00pm
JULY PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZST (& UT)
New moon: July 3 at 7.16am (July 2, 19:16 UT)
First quarter: July 9 at 10.55pm (10:55 UT).
Full Moon: Jun 17 at 9.38am (Jul 16, 21:38 UT)
Last quarter Jun 25 at 1.18pm (01:18 UT).
A total eclipse of the Sun occurs on July 2 (July 3 NZ time). The path of totality arcs across the South Pacific starting at sunrise several degrees east of New Zealand. It ends just south of Buenos Aries at sunset.
A partial umbral eclipse of the moon occurs a fortnight later. Only the very early stages of the penumbral eclipse are visible from New Zealand. Australia, especially the west, sees more of the eclipse.
More information about both eclipses can be found on the RASNZ web site.
PLANETS in July
MERCURY and MARS start July as very early evening objects, quite close to one another. An hour after sunset on the 1st it may be possible to glimpse Mercury some 9° above the horizon and 35° to the north of due west, as seen from Wellington. Mars will be even lower and a little fainter. Mercury in particular will get lower each following evening, particularly after it is stationary on the 7th. The following evening Mars will move past it to become the higher object.
Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 21st when it will be 5° south of the Sun. After conjunction Mercury moves into the morning sky, but will remain too close to the Sun for observation during the rest of July.
VENUS rises 50 minutes before the Sun on the 1st and only 7 minutes before it on the 31st. Thus it is a difficult morning object all month.
Meanwhile Mars, still in the evening sky and the Sun will slowly get closer, making it impossible to see the planet.
The presence of the moon on the 4th as a very thin crescent less than 2 days old and just below Mars will be a challenge to see.
JUPITER and SATURN are well placed for viewing during July, especially by mid evening. Jupiter will be higher in the evening sky, although by the 31st the two planets will be at similar altitudes at 10pm, with Jupiter further west than Saturn.
Saturn is at opposition on July 10 at 5 am.
The path of this month's occultation of Saturn by the moon takes place on the 16th. It misses New Zealand by a very small amount, the outer limit of the graze path just touching North Cape where the event occurs at 5.50 pm, a few hours before full moon. The Sun will be only 3° below the horizon.
The moon passes Jupiter on the morning of July 14. For NZ the two are 4° apart, shortly before moonset about 5 am.
PLUTO is close behind Saturn, rising slightly later. It is at opposition 5 days later than Saturn.
URANUS is a morning object in Aries.
NEPTUNE, in Aquarius, rises well before midnight by the end of July.
BRIGHTEST ASTEROIDS in JULY, mag. const. time of transit
JULY 1 NZDT JULY 31 NZST
Mag Cons transit Mag Cons transit
(1) Ceres 7.8 Lib 9.43pm 8.4 Lib 7.42pm
(2) Pallas 9.4 Boo 7.22pm 9.8 Boo 5.47pm
(4) Vesta 8.3 Cet 8.16am 8.1 Ari 6.57am
(15) Eunomia 9.3 Aqr 3.32am 8.5 Aqr...1.17am
(18) Melpomene 9.3 Sct 12.23am 9.6 Ser 9.58pm
CERES is in Libra about 16° west (left) of Jupiter. The asteroid is stationary mid month when its apparent motion reverts to easterly.
PALLAS is an evening object in Bootes. The asteroid will be 15 arc-minutes, half the diameter of the full moon, from eta Boo, mag 2.7, on the evening of July 25. At the end of July Pallas will be just over 4° from Arcturus.
VESTA is in the morning sky, rising by 1.30 am on the 31st. It moves into Aries a day earlier.
EUNOMIA brightens to magnitude 8.5 during July. At the end of the month, the asteroid will be 45 arc-minutes from beta Aqr, mag 2.9.
MELPOMENE is at opposition on July 1. Following opposition it starts to fade again. On the 17th Melpomene crosses into Serpens.
-- Brian Loader
4. Stargazers Getaway August 30 - September 1
The North Otago Astronomical Society Inc, would like to invite you to Stargazers Getaway 2019, over the weekend of, Friday August 30th to Sunday September 1st at Camp Iona in Herbert.
This is the second year back for our iconic Stargazers Getaway, building on last year's camp, the first in over 10 years!
With expressions for attendees already coming in, this year is promising to be bigger and better!!
Children under 5 are free
Students 5-17 - $20 p/night, $35 for both
Adults +18 - $35 p/night, $60 for both
Day visits for talks - $5 p/day
Interested people who would like to either attend, speak or present a poster paper are asked to email the Stargazers Getaway Co-ordinator, Damien McNamara, as numbers are limited at :- solaur.science@gmail.com
5. RASNZ Beatrice Hill-Tinsley Lecture Series
The RASNZ Lecture Trust Inc. is pleased to announce the itinerary of the 2019 Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecture series where Babak A. Tafreshi will be speaking at various NZ venues.
The lecture tour will take place in October. They are:
Thu 10 Oct – Auckland;
Fri 11 – Tauranga;
Sat 12 – Hamilton;
Mon 14 – Napier;
Tue 15 – Wellington;
Wed 16 – Nelson;
Fri 18 – Christchurch;
Mon 28 – Dunedin;
Wed 30 – Wanganui;
Thu 31 Oct – New Plymouth.
Note, Babek will be speaking at the NZ Starlight Conference and Festival (Sunday 20 – Fri 25 October - https://starlightconference.org/ )
For more information, see - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/beatrice-hill-tinsley-lectures.
-- From Keeping in Touch #32, 6th May 2019.
6. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
The 2020 Conference will be held 8-10 May at Wellington with the Wharewaka Function Centre the venue (near the Michael Fowler Centre) in downtown Wellington. The Wellington Astronomical Society is hosting this conference.
2020 marks a significant milestone in the life of the Society as it was founded in November 1920 with 75 members.
The SCC invites ideas from members how the Society might commemorate its centenary at next year’s conference. Please send your suggestions to the SCC at conference@rasnz.org.nz.
-- Glen Rowe, Chair, Standing Conference Committee
7. Space Weather Section Director Sought
Dear Members,
Following his valuable term of service as Director of the Space Weather Section, Damien McNamara has chosen to step down from that position. Damien has become more involved with the challenges brought by increasing light pollution from new and additional sources. For and on behalf of the Council, I would like to thank Damien for his effort, energy and leadership.
Damien stepped down as Director on 5 May 2019. At this time, Council is inviting any Member of the Society who wishes to be considered for the Directorship of the Space Weather Section to apply. Applications close at 5 p.m. 12 April 2019.
Applications are to be sent by post or email to the Secretary by the above deadline; secretary@rasnz.org.nz.
Applications are to include
1. a statement of interest which sets out the Member's interests in Space Weather, their past experience, their plans for leading the Section and any new initiatives for the Section's members, and
2. the names and contact details of two referees of whom Council can request further information about the applicant. Applications are to be no more than two sides of A4 in length, font size at least 12, font either Times New Roman or Ariel.
Yours,
Nicholas Rattenbury, RASNZ President.
8. Secretary for National Astronomical Society
The Royal New Zealand Astronomical Society (RASNZ) is seeking a suitable person to take on the voluntary role of Secretary. This is an important role within RASNZ. The new appointee will be a key member of RASNZ helping administer and make strategic decisions for RASNZ.
No formal qualifications or prior experience in a similar role are necessary, and, this role does not preclude holders of positions in other astronomical societies. However, knowledge of RASNZ rules
(https://www.rasnz.org.nz/images/articleFiles/Council/Rules2015.pdf), history and operations would be beneficial to performing the duties. Templates created by former holders of this position will be made available. This role can be undertaken entirely from the home office but attendance at the RASNZ Council's AGM held once a year at the RASNZ annual conference is strongly encouraged.
The responsibilities of the Secretary include:
(i) Receive and send physical and electronic correspondence on behalf of the RASNZ, document it and draw appropriate people's attention to the
correspondence;
(ii) Compile the Council's Annual Report and prepare it for approval by the Council in time for publication in the March issue of Southern Stars, and
(iii) Maintain a record of meetings and motions, both physical and electronic.
This offers a great opportunity for someone to contribute to the nationwide support and promotion of astronomy, science education and related research.
Contact: Nick Rattenbury (nicholas.rattenbury@gmail.com)
President - RASNZ
9. New Zealand Starlight Conference
Planning for the New Zealand Starlight Conference is progressing well. The conference will take place this year at Lake Tekapo and will discuss all aspects of dark skies protection, combatting light pollution, astro-tourism, astro-photography, lighting technology, the aesthetics of the starry night sky, the health and environmental issues of light pollution and much more. The dates will be 20 – 23 October 2019.
We have confirmed nine outstanding keynote speakers, with a tenth to be confirmed in the near future. These speakers are:
Babak Tafreshi, Massachusetts, of TWAN, the World at Night, the renowned astro-photographer;
Dr Paul Bogard, author of The End of Night, associate professor of English at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, where he teaches creative writing and environmental literature;
Dr Fabio Falchi, author of the New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, a renowned researcher on light pollution, from the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute (ISTIL) in Italy;
Dr George ‘Bud’ Brainard, world expert on the effects of light on biological and behavioral responses of animals and humans; co-author of the American Medical Association report in 2016 Human and Environmental Effects of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Community Lighting, from Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA
Dr Richard Wainscoat, astronomer at the University of Hawaii, an expert on preserving the dark night sky at observatories in the era of LED lighting
Ruskin Hartley, Executive Director of the International Dark Sky Association in Tucson, AZ, USA
Dr Antonia Varela, Director of the Fundación Starlight, and researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, Tenerife, Spain
Dr Karen Arthur, an Australian expert on the environmental impacts of light pollution, from the Ministry of the Environment, Canberra, Australia
Dr Rangi Matamua, expert on Maori astronomy from the University of Waikato, Hamilton NZ. He will talk about Matariki and Maori astronomy.
Karen Trevino, Chief, Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, US National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA (her participation is to be confirmed)
Many other speakers have offered talks on a wide range of topics based on lighting technology, light pollution and its health and environmental impacts, stargazing and astrotourism. This will therefore be a highly multidisciplinary conference.
A theme of the Starlight Conference is ‘towards the first dark-sky nation’. To this end we are encouraging people from New Zealand’s already accredited dark sky places, and representatives from all aspiring dark sky places (about a dozen of them) to participate in the conference. We plan to run a workshop with experts from the International Dark-Sky Association on how to become a dark sky place with IDA accreditation.
Our website is up and running and gives all information you will need to register for the NZ Starlight Conference 2019. Please visit https://starlightconference.org.
The NZ Starlight Conference has been registered as an official IAU100 event.
We hope to see you in Tekapo this October. Please let me know if you can come and present a paper.
-- John Hearnshaw
Chair, Organizing Committee, NZ Starlight Conference
10. Ed Stone of Voyager Awarded Shaw Prize
The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2019 is awarded to Edward C. Stone, David Morrisroe Professor of Physics and Vice Provost for Special Projects, California Institute of Technology, USA, for his leadership in the Voyager project. The latter has, over the past four decades, transformed our understanding of the four giant planets and the outer Solar System, and has now begun to explore interstellar space. This prestigious award is one way in which the Shaw Prize promotes astronomy, a goal shared by the International Astronomical Union (AU). The two organisations have a collaboration agreement which, among other things, involves promotion of astronomy in education through the Annual Shaw–IAU Workshop Astronomy for Education.
The Voyager project consists of two spacecraft launched by NASA in August and September 1977 to explore the outer Solar System. Both spacecraft flew past Jupiter and Saturn in the period 1979–1981, and Voyager 2 also visited Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. For the foreseeable future, Voyager 2 will remain the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. These unique data are particularly important for the study of exoplanets, since Uranus and Neptune now appear to be more representative of the bulk of the exoplanet population than the other Solar System planets.
The highlights of the encounters from Voyager’s journey include:
The discovery that Jupiter’s satellite Io has many volcanoes, powered by tidal heating of Io’s interior;
The first images of the rings of Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, and the discovery of complex structure in Saturn's rings, including gaps, narrow ringlets, density and bending waves, and transient “spokes”;
The first high-resolution images of the four giant planets in the Solar System, as well as their larger satellites, and the discovery of almost two dozen new satellites;
The discovery that Uranus and Neptune have magnetic fields, and these fields differ from those of other Solar System planets in that the magnetic pole is strongly tilted and offset relative to the north pole or spin axis. Voyager also provided our first data on the magnetospheres — extended atmospheres of ionized gas — surrounding these planets, including size, density, composition, and plasma waves. It also showed that Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune all have aurorae in their upper atmospheres;
The first detailed measurements of the atmospheres of Saturn's satellite Titan and Neptune’s satellite Triton;
The discovery that Neptune radiates about 2.5 times as much energy as it receives from the Sun. The nature of this energy source is not yet understood;
Measurements of the composition, winds, temperature and pressure profiles of the planetary atmospheres; in particular Voyager showed that Neptune’s atmosphere has winds of up to 2000 km/h and a vast storm system called the Great Dark Spot;
Voyager dramatically improved our knowledge of the masses, sizes, shapes, and gravitational fields of all the giant planets and many of their satellites.
Each spacecraft carried a “golden record” containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth and intended to be played only if Voyager encountered an advanced spacefaring civilization.
Voyager 1 looked back to take a famous “family portrait” of the planets including the image of Earth known as the “pale blue dot”, which became an icon for how small we are in the larger Universe.
Voyager 1 is now 145 times as far from us as the Sun and has become the most distant human artefact, while Voyager 2 is the second most distant. Many of their instruments continue to send back valuable data, more than forty years after the launch date. After this long voyage, the spacecraft has finally reached the outer boundary of the Solar System.
There are several possible ways to define the “boundary” of the Solar System, but the most natural one is the heliopause. The heliopause marks the end of the heliosphere, where the wind of ionized gas emitted by the Sun is finally halted by the pressure from interstellar gas. Inside the heliopause, space is filled by low-density material from the Sun, while outside the heliopause it contains material from other stars. Voyager 1 and 2 crossed the heliopause in 2012 and late 2018, respectively, and returned data on the velocity, density, temperature and other properties of the ambient plasma as the spacecraft crossed into interstellar space. This was the final major milestone of the Voyager mission.
Although many scientists and engineers have devoted much or most of their careers to Voyager, the dominant figure in the mission is Edward C. Stone, who has served as Project Scientist from 1972 to the present — over 45 years — and is also in charge of one of the spacecraft’s 11 instruments. During the planetary flybys, he became internationally known as the public spokesman for Voyager, and explained Voyager’s scientific discoveries to the public with remarkable lucidity and scientific authority.
For images see https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1906/?lang
Ed Stone
11. 'Sky & Telescope' Bought by the American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has agreed to acquire Sky & Telescope (S&T) magazine and its related business assets, including the skyandtelescope.com website, SkyWatch annual, digital editions, astronomy-themed tours, and S&T-branded books, sky atlases, globes, apps, and other stargazing products.
S&T's current owner, the magazine- and book-publishing company F+W Media, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2019 after what court filings described as six years of poor strategy and management at the corporate level. The AAS, the major organization of professional astronomers in North America and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, was the winning bidder for S&T in a bankruptcy auction process that concluded on Monday, 17 June, pending approval by all parties to the transaction, final documentation, filing of final sales agreements and schedules with the bankruptcy court, and a successful closing process.
The AAS anticipates that S&T's staff of editors, designers, illustrators, and advertising sales representatives will become AAS employees but will continue to work out of the magazine's offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The AAS is headquartered in Washington, DC, but already has about a dozen remote staff members scattered from coast to coast. As it accomplishes the operational transitions needed to publish S&T, the Society anticipates making few if any changes to the editorial content or the way the magazine operates, and subscribers should see no interruption in its monthly delivery schedule. Enhancements and new products and services are likely in the future; these will be developed in partnership with the magazine's editors and readers and with the Society's members and other stakeholders.
"The synergies between our two organizations are many and strong," says Peter Tyson, Editor in Chief of Sky & Telescope. "Many AAS members grew up on S&T, and we regularly report on the discoveries made by AAS members."
Sky & Telescope was founded in 1941 through the merger of two earlier magazines: The Sky, produced at New York's Hayden Planetarium, and The Telescope, published first at Ohio's Perkins Observatory then later at Harvard College Observatory. The business was employee-owned until 2006, when the staff sold it to the craft-and-hobby publisher New Track Media, which in turn sold it to F+W in 2014.
Before he became AAS Press Officer in 2009, astronomer Rick Fienberg worked at S&T for 22 years, serving from 2001 to 2008 as Editor in Chief. Upon learning of F+W's financial difficulties, he suggested that the magazine could be a good fit for the AAS, which publishes two of the leading peer-reviewed journals in the field - the Astronomical Journal (AJ) and the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) - and which recently created an Amateur Affiliate category of membership for backyard astronomers, many of whom collaborate on scientific research with their professional counterparts. AAS Executive Officer Kevin Marvel agreed and wrote a detailed proposal to the Board of Trustees, who unanimously endorsed the idea of trying to acquire S&T's business assets, not only because of S&T's close strategic alignment with the Society's own goals, but also because it would enhance the AAS's ability to connect with amateur astronomers and the general public.
-- Abridged from an AAS email to members.
12. How to Join the RASNZ
RASNZ membership is open to all individuals with an interest in
astronomy in New Zealand. Information about the society and its
objects can be found at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/membership-benefits
A membership form can be either obtained from treasurer@rasnz.co.nz or
by completing the online application form found at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/membership-application
Basic membership for the 2018 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
13. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
The RASNZ is responsible for recommending to the trustees of the
Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund that grants be made for astronomical projects.
The grants may be to any person or persons, or organisations,
requiring funding for any projects or ventures that promote the
progress of astronomy in New Zealand. Applications are now invited
for grants from the Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund. The application should
reach the Secretary by 1 November 2018. Full details are set down in
the RASNZ By-Laws, Section J.
For an application form contact the RASNZ Executive Secretary,
secretary@rasnz.org.nz
14. Quotes
In explaining June's 'Strawberry Moon' "Space agency NASA said the Moon will position itself opposite the Moon, fully illuminating its Earth-facing side." As quoted in 18 June Daily Mail science page.
”On the evening of the 15th of April a magnetic storm of unusual force prevailed over the entire northern section of the country, which so seriously affected the operation of the wires that, on some circuits, they could only be worked by taking off the batteries and employing the auroral current instead. The effects of this great disturbance of the earth's magnetism was manifested with particular power upon the wires between New York and Boston, and for several hours the lines upon this route depended entirely upon this abnormal power for their working current." -- Scientific American, June 1869, quoted in S.A. June 2019, p. 71.
"As for zeal, nobody has any zeal about arithmetic. It is not the vaccinationists but the anti-vaccinationists who generate zeal. Zeal is a bad mark for a cause." -- Harold Nicolson, January 1951.
Alan Gilmore Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57 alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand
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