Astronomy_News_20_12_2019
Astronomy_News_20_12_2019
This months research Papers 20_12_2019
RASNZ_20_12_2019
Further links and discussion can be found at the groups/links below
Astronomy in New Zealand - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/5889909863/
Astronomy in New Zealand - Groups.io
https://groups.io/g/AstronomyNZ
Astronomy in Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/groups/11451597655/
Blogger Posts
http://laintal.blogspot.com/
This months research
Hidden Planets Implications from Oumuamua and DSHARP
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.06387
The Search for Living Worlds and the Connection to Our Cosmic Origins
https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.05951
HERITAGE a Monte Carlo code to evaluate the viability of interstellar travels using a multi-generational crew
https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.08649
Revisiting the cosmic-ray induced Venusian radiation dose in the context of habitability
https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.12788
The Transits of Extrasolar Planets with Moons
https://arxiv.org/abs/1105.3189
Photometry of an unusual small distant object 2016 ND21
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02533
Distribution and Energy Balance of Pluto's Nitrogen Ice, as seen by New Horizons in 2015
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02333
Atmospheres for Potentially Habitable Environments on TRAPPIST-1 Planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02313
retrieving exoplanet atmospheric winds from high-resolution spectroscopy
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02787
Simulated Direct Imaging Detection of Water Vapor For Exo-Earths
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02228
Future stellar flybys of the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.03503
Habitable Age Instead of Location for Terrestrial Worlds
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02862
Climate bistability of Earth-like exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.05392
Do the TRAPPIST-1 Planets Have Hydrogen-rich Atmospheres?
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.05749
Detection of a wide orbit planetary mass companion to a solar-type Sco-Cen member
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.04284
Why Are We Obsessed with "Understanding" Quantum Mechanics?
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.08090
Can close-in giant exoplanets preserve detectable moons
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.08049
A record of the final phase of giant planet migration
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02833
"Identifying Candidate Atmospheres on Rocky M Dwarf Planets via Eclipse Photometry," Daniel D. B. Koll et al., 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13138].
* "Identifying Atmospheres on Rocky Exoplanets Through Inferred High Albedo," Megan Mansfield et al., 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13150].
* "Analyzing Atmospheric Temperature Profiles and Spectra of M Dwarf Rocky Planets," Matej Malik et al., 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13135].
* "A Scaling Theory for Atmospheric Heat Redistribution on Rocky Exoplanets," Daniel D. B. Koll, 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13145].
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Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 228, 20 December 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. Nobel Prizes to Astronomy
2. Annual General Meeting Deadlines
3. Subscriptions and Reports Due
4. The Solar System in January
5. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
6. Star Parties in 2020
7. RASNZ 100 Programme
8. Variable Star News
9. Astronz Dobsonians on Christmas Special
10. 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting
11. Mike Clark (1942-2019)
12. Neptune-size Planet Found Orbiting Close to a White Dwarf
13. The Starlink Situation
14. Links to Other News
15. How to Join the RASNZ
16. Gifford-Eiby Lecture Fund
17. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
18. Quotes
1. Nobel Prizes to Astronomy
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 “for contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth’s place in the cosmos” with one half to James Peebles, Princeton University, USA, “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor,
University of Geneva, Switzerland and Didier Queloz, University of Geneva, Switzerland, and University of Cambridge, UK, “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star”.
The prize rewards new understanding of the universe’s structure and history, and the first discovery of a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system.
James Peebles’ insights into physical cosmology have enriched the entire field of research and laid a foundation for the transformation of cosmology over the last fifty years, from speculation to science. His theoretical framework, developed since the mid-1960s, is the basis of our contemporary ideas about the universe.
The Big Bang model describes the universe from its very first moments, almost 14 billion years ago, when it was extremely hot and dense. Since then, the universe has been expanding, becoming larger and colder. Barely 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the universe became transparent and light rays were able to travel through space. Even today, this ancient radiation is all around us and, coded into it, many of the universe’s secrets are hiding. Using his theoretical tools and calculations, James Peebles was able to interpret these traces from the infancy of the universe and discover new physical processes.
The results showed us a universe in which just five per cent of its content is known, the matter which constitutes stars, planets, trees – and us. The rest, 95 per cent, is unknown dark matter and dark energy. This is a mystery and a challenge to modern physics.
In October 1995, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the first discovery of a planet outside our solar system, an exoplanet, orbiting a solar-type star in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. At the Haute-Provence Observatory in southern France, using custom-made instruments, they were able to see planet 51 Pegasi b, a gaseous ball comparable with the solar system’s biggest gas giant, Jupiter.
This discovery started a revolution in astronomy and over 4,000 exoplanets have since been found in the Milky Way. Strange new worlds are still being discovered, with an incredible wealth of sizes, forms and orbits. They challenge our preconceived ideas about planetary systems and are forcing scientists to revise their theories of the physical processes behind the origins of planets. With numerous projects planned to start searching for exoplanets, we may eventually find an answer to the eternal question of whether other life is out there.
This year’s Laureates have transformed our ideas about the cosmos. While James Peebles’ theoretical discoveries contributed to our understanding of how the universe evolved after the Big Bang, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz explored our cosmic neighbourhoods on the hunt for unknown planets. Their discoveries have forever changed our conceptions of the world.
-- From the Nobel Foundation press release at https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2019/press-release/
2. Annual General Meeting Deadlines
Nominations for RASNZ Council positions.
The executive positions are: President, Vice President, Executive Secretary, and Treasurer. The immediate Past President is an ex-officio position.
Five Councillors are elected by members. Two Councillors are appointed by the Affiliated Societies Committee. One Councillor is elected by the Fellows.
All nominations must be sent to the Executive Secretary (see below) by 8th February 2020. A nomination form was included in the recent Keeping in Touch #35, 17th December.
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Notices of motion for Annual General Meeting must be submitted to the Executive Secretary by Saturday, 28th March.
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Nominations for RASNZ awards and prizes -
• MURRAY GEDDES MEMORIAL PRIZE - Nominations must be made by March 8th. See By-Law G5.
• EARTH & SKY BRIGHT STAR AWARD - for contributions in NZ in promoting astronomy to the public, or in astronomical education, or in promoting dark skies. Nominations by 8th February.
• FELLOWS NOMINATION - nominations by February 8th. See Rules 14-23.
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For a link to the RASNZ rules see - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/images/articleFiles/Council/Rules2019.pdf
The Executive Secretary's email address is
John Drummond
Postal address: John Drummond, PO Box 113, Patutahi 4045.
3. Subscriptions and Reports Due
2020 RASNZ subscriptions are due on the 1st January. See - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/payments-and-donations
Section and Group reports are due with the Executive Secretary by 9th March. For more details see By-Laws F1 - F16.
4. The Solar System in January
Dates and times shown are NZDT (UT + 13 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.
A penumbral eclipse of the Moon on the morning of January 11 is not observable from NZ. The early stages of the eclipse are visible from Australia. Being penumbral there will be little to see.
THE SUN and PLANETS in January, Rise & Set Magnitude & Constellation
January 1 NZDT January 31 NZDT
Mag Cons Rise Set Mag Cons Rise Set
SUN -26.7 Sgr 5.48am 8.59pm -26.7 Cap 6.21am 8.45pm
Merc -1.0 Sgr 5.17am 8.42pm -1.0 Cap 7.30am 9.29pm
Venus -4.0 Cap 8.36am 11.03pm -4.1 Aqr 9.47am 10.30pm
Mars 1.6 Lib 3.06am 5.42pm 1.4 Oph 2.18am 5.25pm
Jup -1.8 Sgr 5.35am 8.43pm -1.9 Sgr 4.06am 7.09pm
Sat 0.5 Sgr 6.45am 9.39pm 0.6 Sgr 5.01am 7.50pm
Uran 5.7 Ari 3.19pm 2.03am 5.8 Ari 1.22pm 12.05am
Nep 7.9 Aqr 11.23am 12.17am 7.9 Aqr 9.29am 10.21pm
Pluto 14.6 Sgr 6.48am 9.46pm 14.6 Sgr 4.51am 7.48pm
January 1 NZDT January 31 NZDT
Twilights morning evening morning evening
Civil: start 5.17am, end 9.31pm start 5.53am, end 9.14pm
Nautical: start 4.34am, end 10.14pm start 5.15am, end 9.52pm
Astro: start 3.43am, end 11.04pm start 4.33am, end 10.34pm
January PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZDT & UT
First quarter: Jan 3 at 5.45pm (04:45 UT)
Full Moon: Jan 11 at 8.21am (Jan 10, 19:21 UT)
Last quarter Jan 18 at 1.59am (Jan 17, 12:59 UT)
New Moon: Jan 25 at 10.42am (Jan 24, 21:42 UT)
PLANETS in JANUARY
MERCURY is at superior conjunction on January 11. As an evening object following conjunction it remains unobservable, setting during twilight.
VENUS is an evening object all month. On the 28th Venus passes Neptune with a minimum distance of some 3 arc minutes, at 9 am NZDT before it rises. By the evening, when visible in NZ, Venus will be just over half a degree from Neptune. In addition the crescent moon will then be 3.3° from the planet.
MARS is a morning object rising 4 hours before the Sun on the 31st. During its passage from Libra to Ophiuchus the planet crosses a narrow portion of Scorpius. Mars will be passing Antares during January, the two being closest on the 19th and 20th when a little under 5° apart. A chance to compare the colour of the two, Antares being the brighter object.
The crescent moon is 3° from Mars, the opposite side to Antares, on the morning of the 21st.
JUPITER, having been at conjunction at the end of December, is too close to the Sun to observe early in January. By the end of the month it rises more than two hours before the Sun so should be visible low, in a direction a little to the south of east, by about 5.30 am.
On the afternoon of the 23rd the moon will occult Jupiter. The event is “observable” from NZ, the planet disappears at the sunlit limb of the Moon and reappears at the invisible, unlit, limb.
SATURN is at conjunction with the Sun on the 14th, so is not observable during January.
PLUTO is at conjunction a couple of hours before Saturn.
URANUS is an evening object setting well after midnight but will get low by the end of January.
NEPTUNE is an early evening object. By the end of January it sets just before the end of astronomical twilight.
POSSIBLE BINOCULAR ASTEROIDS in JANUARY
January 1 NZDT January 31 NZDT
Mag Cons transit Mag Cons transit
(1) Ceres 9.0 Sgr 2.01pm 9.1 Cap 12.52pm
(4) Vesta 7.5 Cet 9.26pm 8.0 Ari 7.39pm
(5) Astraea 9.6 Cnc...3.02am 9.2 Cnc 12.39am
CERES is at conjunction with the Sun mid month, so is not observable.
VESTA is an evening object setting near 1 am by the 31st. It moves from Cetus to Aries mid month.
ASTRAEA is at opposition on January 21 with a magnitude 8.9.
-- Brian Loader
5. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
The 2020 Conference will be held Friday 8 - Sunday 10 May 2020 in Wellington. The Wellington Astronomical Society is hosting the Conference.
The Conference venue is the Wharewaka Function Centre located on the waterfront just 2 minutes walk from Te Papa.
As the programme will commence at the earlier than usual time of 1pm on Friday we encourage as many as possible to make their travel arrangements to arrive in the city during the morning. The Conference will conclude mid-afternoon on Sunday.
A Dark Skies workshop will be held is association with the Conference - the timing of this half-day meeting will be confirmed shortly. The workshop will consist of short talks on relevant key local and international dark sky updates and discussion/demonstration on topics such as sky quality measurements and dark sky friendly lighting.
Invited Speaker: the SCC is pleased to announce that we will have, as our invited speaker, a member of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration who in April 2019 captured an image of the black hole in the centre of M87 using a virtual Earth-sized telescope. Dr Dom Pesce is currently a postdoctoral fellow working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics with research interests including black holes, active galactic nuclei, astrophysical masers, and the application of statistical techniques to astronomical data.
A further two international speakers have been confirmed for the Conference:
RAS Bicentenary Lecturer: Professor Chris Lintott. We are grateful to have the Royal Astronomical Society sponsoring Chris's trip to NZ as they mark their bicentenary during the year that we celebrate our centenary. Chris is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford with a background in the chemistry associated with star formation. He is currently focused on galaxy formation and runs citizen science projects to investigate galaxy formation, discover planets and more. Chris is also presenter of The Sky at Night on BBC Four.
2020 BHT Lecturer: Professor Anna Scaife. The RASNZ Lecture Trust is bringing Anna to NZ as the Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecturer for 2020 and her BHT Lecture Tour will coincide with the Conference. Anna is Professor of Radio Astronomy at the University of Manchester where she is Head of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics Interferometry Centre of Excellence. Anna is regarded a being a world leader in radio astronomy and leads numerous international projects for the new generation of large radio telescope, such as the Low-Frequency Array and Square Kilometre Array.
Planning for the conference is progressing and further details will be announced shortly once they are confirmed. Keep watching the RASNZ website www.rasnz.org.nz. In the meantime please mark the above dates in your calendar and consider participating in this Conference as RASNZ celebrates its centenary.
-- Glen Rowe, Chair, Standing Conference Committee.
6. Star Parties in 2020
The following star parties are planned for 2020:
Central Star Party: Thursday January 16th to Sunday 19th at the Tuki Tuki Camp site in the Hawkes Bay. https://censtar.party/
Stardate North Island: Friday February 21st to Sunday 23rd at Stonehenge, Carterton. Check Phoenix website - http://www.astronomynz.org/
Stardate South Island: Friday February 21st to Sunday 23rd, at Staveley, South Island. Keep an eye on https://cas.org.nz/
Stargazers Getaway 2020 Camp Iona, Friday September 18th to Sunday 20th. This is new Moon, so we are targeting this weekend for dark skies! See
https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/
NACAA: The 29th NACAA conference will be held in the NSW (Australia) regional city of Parkes (where the world-famous Parkes Radio Telescope is) over the 2020 Easter weekend, Friday April 10th – Monday 13th. For more details see http://nacaa.org.au/2020/about
-- Mostly from 'Keeping in Touch' #34, 27th Sept 2019.
7. RASNZ 100 Programme
The RASNZ Council is pleased to announce its RASNZ 100 Programme to support Affiliated Societies celebrating the RASNZ's Centennial year in 2020. The programme encourages Affiliated Societies to promote astronomy within their regions to raise the profile of the Society, the RASNZ and astronomy in general. The RASNZ is providing up to $500 to each Affiliated Society to support RASNZ 100 events run by Affiliated Societies. For more information, see https://www.rasnz.org.nz/groups-news-events/rasnz-100-events
-- From 'Keeping in Touch' #34. 27th Sept 2019
8. Variable Star News
Variable Stars South (VSS) News
In the October newsletter we advised the upcoming eclipse of the Algol type variable BL Tel. This eclipsing binary is rather unusual in having a very long interval between eclipses, of the order of two years. Because of the long gap the start of decline is usually signalled to allow good coverage of the event. Being at high southern declination (-51 degrees) it has been a target for southern observers, particularly from 1983.
Currently the star's brightness is climbing back to its normal combined magnitude. What has become apparent from the VSS Google Group is that a number of regular observers are not now able to make observation; this has mostly arisen from the effects of the bush fires on Australian observers. This will obviously also affect other astronomical observations. In addition BL Tel is sinking towards the southern horizon which will prevent observations by more northerly observers. At the time of writing the observations submitted to the AAVSO database show that coverage is reasonably adequate so far. It is hoped there will be enough time for southern observers with good southern horizons to be able to define the end-point light curve.
-- Alan Baldwin
9. Astronz Dobsonians on Christmas Special
Astronz, the Auckland Astronomical Society's telescope shop, advises that they are doing a Christmas special on Dobsonian telescopes:
6-inch (15 cm) Skywatcher Dobsonian - $439
8-inch (20 cm) Skywatcher Dobsonian - $689
8-inch (20 cm) Astronz Premium Dobsonian - $749.
Easy to use, but with large apertures and a small price tag, Astronz and SkyWatcher Dobsonian telescopes are ideal for both beginners and advanced astronomer alike. See www.astronz.nz for details.
Email: sales@astronz.nz Phone: 09 473 0203
10. 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting
The 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting will be held in Perth, Western Australia, on July 6 - 10, 2020 at the Perth convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Scientific Organising Committee invites abstracts on all original work to be submitted for consideration in either an Oral Presentation or Poster Presentation. Abstract submission closes 14 Feb 2020.
Conference themes will be:
Solar System Objects and Exoplanets
Solar/Heliospheric and Stellar Physics and Evolution
Interstellar Medium, Star Formation, and Milky Way
Compact Objects and High Energy Astrophysics
Galaxies, AGNs, Large Scale Structure and Cosmology
Gravitational Waves/Multi-Messenger Astronomy
SKA and Upcoming Ground- and Space-based Observing Facilities
Diversity and Inclusion in Astronomy
Public Outreach, Education, and Astronomy for Development
Early bird registration opens 20 Feb 2020. See www.aprim2020.org
For details.
11. Mike Clark (1942-2019)
Michael Clark, former superintendent at the University of Canterbury's Mt John Observatory and discoverer of Comet 71P/Clark, died in Melbourne on November 27.
Bob Evans remembers Mike's days in Christchurch:
Mike Clark's trade was as a builder. While we were establishing the R F Joyce Memorial Observatory at West Melton, Mike's expertise was called upon and he was very generous with his time. His wife June was also very generous, in fact I would say gracious, in allowing us to make use of him.
Over a number of months in the 1960s, each Saturday I would drive out to Mike's place, pick him up, go to his work place to collect his tools, then onto the Wigram Air Force base to pick up Rod Austin, and then onto West Melton. We were building the Lodge there. Rod and I were just the labourers, Mike was the Supervisor. On many occasions other members of the Canterbury Astronomical Society came out to help and it is a reflection on Mike that we all always worked together efficiently as a team.
A few years later, Mike's interest in Astronomy led him to Tekapo, and Mt John. I visited him there once and he and June attended the 1989 RASNZ Conference in Invercargill. I lost touch with him after that but always valued his friendship.
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Rod Austin's memories:
I first met Mike Clark when I persuaded the RNZAF to post me to Wigram Air Base at the beginning of 1969. My main interest in getting to Christchurch was because I had heard of the Photoelectric Photometry programme being run by the late Clive Rowe. Mike and Frank Andrews were on the team and we quickly became firm friends. The main observing programme was on the Eclipsing Binary EL TrA, and I eventually wrote a short paper for Southern Stars (May 1970).
At the same time as the photometry programme was in operation, the West Melton Observatory was undergoing some major changes, with the Lodge being built during this time. Mike originally trained as a builder and a carpenter, although (from memory) he was actually working for Kodak at the time. Naturally he was put in charge of the practical side of the project. His skills were greatly sought after, and frankly I am not sure if the project could have been as successful, without him. Throughout this time, a group of us used to spent nights onsite observing and generally ‘hanging out’ astronomically speaking. He was also later responsible for many projects and construction on Mt John.
[Mike and Rod both got jobs at Mt John in 1971. Mike running the Bamberg Camera Patrol, Rod doing photometry for the University of Florida.]
The following year, Mike just missed out on the discovery of the Supernova in NGC 5253; the brightest supernova in an external galaxy for nearly a century. By one of those coincidences that always seem to spring up; the galaxy’s position put it squarely in the overlap of two fields in the setup of the four cameras. Mike was overtired from a series of very long observing runs, and although having processed the plates, he left them until the following day to give them a quick inspection. The nett result was that someone else found the supernova first. Mike was determined that such an event would not happen to him again, and always carefully inspected each plate immediately after processing from that time on.
In May 1973, his persistence paid off. Near the corner of one plate he found a faint smeared fuzzy spot, which was in a very slightly different position on the next set of overlapping plates. He immediately took a special plate of the area, and there it was again, in yet another position. The records show that it was finally confirmed to be not only a new comet, but that it had a remarkably short period of only 5.5 years. To my knowledge it is the second shortest period of any comet observed at more than one apparition. It is now known as Comet 71P/Clark. On its second return since discovery in 1984, I observed it first before continuing with my normal comet-hunting programme, on the night that I found my second comet, which turned out to be nowhere near as interesting an object.
It has to be noted that Mike was not always as overjoyed about the discovery. He told me some years later, that he did not wish to be remembered merely as someone who had discovered a comet. His main interest in astronomy was the observation of variable stars, and the technical aspects of the job.
He was actually English-born, and in his early years he resided in a little village called Battle near Hastings. Battle is very close to the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The family moved to New Zealand when he was in his late teens. One of his early interests was fishing, and indeed he also encouraged me during my time at Mt John. We used to go down to either Lake Tekapo, or Lake Alexandrina during the season, in the late afternoon or early mornings after observing.
Mike was also very interested in music. He was an accomplished guitar player, and indeed made an electric guitar in the workshop on the mountain. On many a night he would play accompaniment to notable bands such as ‘The Shadows’, while the Bamberg Cameras carried on the work of recording the variations of the Universe. I have many great memories of the somewhat boring routine of photometric observation, made more bearable particularly on very cold nights; by the music belting out across the Mackenzie Basin. In more recent times he sent me recordings he had made.
After I left Mt John late in 1979, Mike carried on and eventually spent some time as Superintendent of the Observatory after the retirement of Doug Mabin. Later he transferred back to the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Christchurch. On retirement he and June moved back to live in Fairlie, which was where I last saw and spoke to him directly in 2015 on the way to the RASNZ Conference in Tekapo.
About three years ago his health took a downturn when he was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer. He and June moved to Melbourne 2017, to be near their son Terry. Treatment continued, and he was in remission, when a series of strokes caught them unawares.
I knew Mike for just over 50 years, when fate cruelly took him from us. He was a truly great friend, fisherman, astronomer, musician, and amateur rock-hound. His very dry and quirky sense of humour and immense practical knowledge will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
12. Neptune-size Planet Found Orbiting Close to a White Dwarf
A Neptune-size planet has been found orbiting just 10 million km from a hot white dwarf star. The discovery was made by an international team of astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope and published in 'Nature' on December 4.
The team had inspected around 7000 white dwarfs observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and found one to be unlike any other. By analysing subtle variations in the light from the star, they found traces of hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur in amounts that scientists had never before observed at a white dwarf. By studying the fine details in the spectra taken by ESO's X-shooter, the team discovered that these elements were in a disc of gas swirling into the white dwarf, and not coming from the star itself.
The detected amounts of hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur are similar to those found in the deep atmospheric layers of icy, giant planets like Neptune and Uranus. If such a planet were orbiting close to a hot white dwarf, the extreme ultraviolet radiation from the star would strip away its outer layers and some of this stripped gas would swirl into a disc, itself accreting onto the white dwarf. This is what scientists think they are seeing around WDJ0914+1914: the first evaporating planet orbiting a white dwarf.
Combining observational data with theoretical models, the team of astronomers from the UK, Chile and Germany were able to paint a clearer image of this unique system. The white dwarf is small and, at 28 000 degrees Celsius (five times the Sun's temperature), extremely hot. By contrast, the planet is icy and large - at least twice as large as the star. As it orbits the hot white dwarf at close range the high-energy photons from the star are gradually blowing away the planet's atmosphere. Most of the gas escapes, but some is pulled into a disc swirling into the star at a rate of 3000 tonnes per second. It is this disc that makes the otherwise hidden Neptune-like planet visible.
The discovery also opens up a new window into the final fate of planetary systems. Stars like our Sun burn hydrogen in their cores for most of their lives. Once they run out of this fuel, they puff up into red giants, becoming hundreds of times larger and engulfing nearby planets. In the case of the Solar System, this will include Mercury, Venus, and even Earth, which will all be consumed by the red-giant Sun in about 5 billion years. Eventually, Sun-like stars lose their outer layers, leaving behind only a burnt-out core, a white dwarf. Such stellar remnants can still host planets, and many of these star systems are thought to exist in our galaxy. However, until now, scientists had never found evidence of a surviving giant planet around a white dwarf. The detection of an exoplanet in orbit around WDJ0914+1914, located about 1500 light years away in the constellation of Cancer, may be the first of many orbiting such stars.
The exoplanet orbits the white dwarf in just 10 days at a distance of only 10 million kilometres, or 15 times the sun's radius. That would have been deep inside the red giant star. The unusual position of the planet implies that at some point after the host star became a white dwarf, the planet moved closer to it. The astronomers believe that this new orbit could be the result of gravitational interactions with other planets in the system, meaning that more than one planet may have survived its host star's violent transition.
"Until recently, very few astronomers paused to ponder the fate of planets orbiting dying stars. This discovery of a planet orbiting closely around a burnt-out stellar core forcefully demonstrates that the Universe is time and again challenging our minds to step beyond our established ideas," concludes Boris Gänsicke of the University of Warwick, who led the study.
See the original at https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1919/
-- From an ESO press release forwarded by Karen Pollard.
13. The Starlink Situation
Starlink and other megaconstellation satellites pose a real problem to astronomy of every stripe — from backyard stargazing to professional astronomy.
By now many of us have seen the photo of the Starlink satellite train launched by SpaceX crossing the field of view of a professional telescope, and perhaps also the video of Starlinks interfering with a meteor-monitoring video camera. [See https://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=25&month=11&year=2019]
The shots are dramatic — even shocking — but they’re also a bit misleading. The real problems that Starlink and other so-called megaconstellation satellites pose are actually more insidious.
As with the last Starlink launch in May this year, the most recent launch placed 60 satellites in a staging orbit. The staging orbit for the first 60 was 440 km; for the ones just launched in November, it was only 280 km. This is the altitude where SpaceX first communicates with and checks out its satellites, and it’s low on purpose. If a satellite fails, and several from the May launch did fail, then it can passively de-orbit from this lower altitude and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere fairly quickly, rather than remaining on as space junk. SpaceX claims the failed satellites from the May launch will burn up within a year; presumably, the more recently launched satellites will deorbit even more quickly.
So until the satellites have undergone testing and have moved to higher altitudes, they’re going to look really bright. The satellites launched in May first appeared around magnitude 2 but by July they appeared around magnitude 6. A similar pattern should occur for the second batch.
The satellites are all bunched together following their deployment but they won’t stay in that configuration for long. For their first 1,584 satellites, SpaceX has US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for 24 orbital planes of 66 satellites each. Once they’ve started operations, each orbital plane will have satellites spread out 22 minutes apart.
Finally, contrary to headlines claiming the ruin of astronomical exposures, the passage of the Starlink train over the Dark Energy Camera posed only a modest loss to the astronomers involved. The problem is that each batch of satellites spends perhaps 5% of its lifetime reaching operational altitude. Depending on how many launches are occurring — and SpaceX and another company, OneWeb, are both aiming for a high frequency of launches — the satellite train could become a more common sight.
However, the real problem actually occurs when the satellites reach operational orbits. Current photos and videos of the satellite train can’t accurately capture the near-future situation we're facing.
If SpaceX fills out its planned 12,000-satellite Starlink constellation, or its proposed 42,000-satellite constellation (though the latter plan doesn’t have international or federal approval yet), astronomy will change forever.
From Monica Young's article with pictures and videos at
https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/starlink-satellites-astronomy/
----
For an item on the likely effect of satellite megaconstellations on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope see
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/22/not-cool-telescope-faces-interference-from-space-bound-satellites
14. Links to Other News
An 'impossible' 68-solar mass black hole has been reported in a binary system. See Govert Schilling's article with images at
https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/heavyweight-black-hole-find-mystifies-astronomers/
ESO telescope images stunning central region of Milky Way, finds ancient star burst
https://cdn.eso.org/images/newsfeature/eso1920a.jpg
15. 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 2019 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
16. Gifford-Eiby Lecture Fund
The RASNZ administers the Gifford-Eiby Memorial Lectureship Fund to
assist Affiliated Societies with travel costs of getting a lecturer
or instructor to their meetings. Details are in RASNZ By-Laws Section
H and at http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/ge-fund
The application form is at
http://rasnz.org.nz/Downloadable/RASNZ/GE_Application2019.pdf
17. 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. The deadline for this round of the Kingdon-Tomlinson Grants is Friday 1st November 2019. Full details are set down in the RASNZ By-Laws, Section J. Information on the K-T Fund is at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/kt-fund
Send applications to the RASNZ Executive Secretary at rasnz.secretary@gmail.com.
The application form at
http://rasnz.org.nz/Downloadable/RASNZ/KT_Application2019.pdf
18. Quotes
If consultants ran Christmas - An Elf-and-Safety Nightmare
Memo from: Bognor Consulting Group. To: Santa Claus, North Pole HQ, Lapland.
Thanks for asking us to have a look at your business model. Our staff have now recovered from their frostbite and have a number of significant suggestions for a revamp before next year.
First, the brand name. The business seems to use several different monikers, including St Nicholas, Santa Claus and Father Christmas. We suggest settling on one of the three. Father Christmas is clearly paternalistic and gender-biased. St Nicholas overtly religious. Santa Claus is a much more inclusive term. Once trademarked, there is a ton of money to be made from merchandising rights, particularly from greeting-card companies and department stores. Frankly, your intellectual property is an underutilised resource.
Making better use of it could help address your most glaring challenge: the lack of revenue stream. Mince pies, carrots and glasses of brandy are not a sound basis for remuneration for a multinational organisation. And who pays for the raw materials needed to make the presents? We are surprised that the authorities have not launched an investigation into money-laundering.
Next, the distribution system. We admit you have an excellent record to date. However, in attempting to deliver millions of presents from a single point over the course of one night, you have been flying by the seat of your sled. It would take just one injured reindeer or a chimney accident and the whole system would grind to a halt. It is far from clear that you co-ordinate your flights with air-traffic control systems.
Outsourcing is the obvious answer. Amazon, Fed Ex and UPS would do the job just as efficiently. If the chimney-delivery route is still preferred then small drones may be the answer.
Now let us turn to working conditions. Basing your operations at the North Pole exposes your workers to extreme cold and, thanks to climate change, melting ice. It is a health-and-safety (or should that be elf-and-safety) nightmare. Speaking of which, our human-resources department is unsure whether employing elves should be classed as an admirable diversity policy or discrimination against Homo sapiens. As with distribution, the operation could be outsourced. The elves could be retrained, perhaps as shoemakers.
Our team was also very concerned about animal welfare. Asking reindeer to fly around the world in one night, pulling a heavy load, must put an enormous strain on their physiques. One of the reindeer has a very shiny nose and we recommend immediate veterinary attention.
The next issue is data protection. You tell us you have a "list" which records whether children are "naughty or nice". We are afraid that checking it twice is simply not an adequate safeguard. Children, and their parents, have the right to inspect the list to see whether they agree with your assessment. Even keeping the list is a breach of data-protection rules around the planet. And how are the data compiled? The fact that you see children when they are sleeping, and know when they are awake, suggests surveillance on an Orwellian scale. This must be stopped immediately. If you insist on pre-gift monitoring, simply look at the children's Snapchat accounts. That should tell you all you need to know.
While we are on the subject, how do you know which families celebrate Christmas and which do not? In some jurisdictions, you may be liable to a religious-discrimination lawsuit.
We are also worried about succession planning. No insult intended but the white beard suggests you are past retirement age and the rotund physique does not bode well for your health. You need to hire a graduate, preferably from an Ivy League college such a Yule University.
The good news is that you do live up to many of the precepts of modern business theory. Just-in-time delivery, a flat management structure and a purpose-driven ethos are all things we recommend to other clients. And no one can say that flying reindeer are not "agile".
Finally we need to talk about the terms of our bill. Our expenses were considerable; have you seen the price of a first-class seat on Lapland Airways? Your offer of a train set and slippers was very kind but we prefer a bank transfer. Mind you, if you could drop a hassle-free Brexit solution down the chimney, the people of Britain would be very grateful.
-- 'The Economist' 22 December 2018, p.88.
"The Children told me they wanted a pony for Christmas. But I don't know if it will fit in the oven." -- Seen on Twitter, quoted in 'NZ Listener', 21 December 2019.
Season's greetings to all our readers and good wishes for 2020.
Alan Gilmore Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57 alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand
---------------------------------------------------------------
Updates from Andrew B,
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sol 2,613. Friday 13th December 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Some stunning Navigation Camera shots looking around from a vantage point betwwen Western Butte, a nearby hill and Central Butte. Much of the northern rim of Gale Crater is visible including Rim Mountain and because MSL Curiosity has climbed quite high, features outside of Gale Crater to the north are starting to become visible. Also the entire depth of the north crater wall is visible as at the start of the mission, the base could not be seen due to the curvature of Mars.
The wheel tracks are 40 CM wide and are 2.8 metres apart.
MSL Curiosity has climbed 462 metres / 1,472 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 444 metres / 1,457 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.637 KM / 14.687 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperature here was minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 87 Celsius / minus 125 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.5 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth is in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
Navigation Cameras.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sols 2,592 & 2593. Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd November 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Some stunning Navigation Camera shots looking around from a vantage point betwwen Western Butte, a nearby hill and Central Butte. Much of the northern rim of Gale Crater is visible including Rim Mountain and because MSL Curiosity has climbed quite high, features outside of Gale Crater to the north are starting to become visible. Also the entire depth of the north crater wall is visible as at the start of the mission, the base could not be seen due to the curvature of Mars. I understand that colour, higher resolution images will be coming shortly too.
Parts of MSL Curiosity are visible too such as the MMRTG / MultiMission Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator (another of which will also be used on the Dragonfly spacecraft to the Saturn moon Titan) and the REMS / Rover Environmental Monitoring Station weather equipment (a similar system is also onboard the Mars InSight Lander within Elysium Planitia).
MSL Curisosty has climbed 447 metres / 1,466 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 429 metres / 1,407 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.480 KM / 14.590 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperture here was minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 86 Celsius / minus 123 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.6 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth has just moved in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
Next week the Earth and the planet Mercury will put on a dual evening star show as they enter a close conjunction only 4 degrees apart, but Mercury fades from magnitude 0.95 to 1.90 within days. The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
Navigation Cameras.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sol 2,595. Sunday 24th November 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Just in.
Two possible meteorites have been spotted. Nicknamed "Pladda Isle" and "Swona".
Due to Mars's proximity to the inner edge of the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, it is not surprising that a large number of meteroites are being found on the surface of the red planet.
These to me look like Type S, Silicate meteorites, possibly parent body could be a main belt Asteroid like 7 Iris, 8 Flora (the closest large asteroid larger than 120 KM wide to the Sun) or 951 Gaspra (seen up very close by the Jupiter bound Galieo spacecraft in October 1991, also possibly related to 8 Flora), these three orbit the Sun very close to the inner edge.
Also the extremely thin atmosphere, at the Aeroid, Mars's equivalent of sea level on Earth is about the same density as Earth's atmosphere some 35 KM / 22 miles above sea level, so will have less stopping power, more will get through to the surface.
MSL Curisosty has climbed 447 metres / 1,466 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 429 metres / 1,407 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.480 KM / 14.590 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperture here was minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 82 Celsius / minus 116 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.5 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth has just moved in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
Next week the Earth and the planet Mercury will put on a dual evening star show as they enter a close conjunction only 4 degrees apart, but Mercury fades from magnitude 0.95 to 1.90 within days. The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
ChemCam / Chemistry & Camera.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sol 2,597. Tuesday 26th November 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Some stunning Navigation Camera shots looking around from a vantage point betwwen Western Butte, a nearby hill and Central Butte. Much of the northern rim of Gale Crater is visible including Rim Mountain and because MSL Curiosity has climbed quite high, features outside of Gale Crater to the north are starting to become visible. Also the entire depth of the north crater wall is visible as at the start of the mission, the base could not be seen due to the curvature of Mars.
The wheel tracks are 40 CM wide and are 2.8 metres apart.
MSL Curisosty has climbed 449 metres / 1,472 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 431 metres / 1,412 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.518 KM / 14.613 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperture here was minus 21 Celsius / minus 6 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 83 Celsius / minus 117 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.7 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth has just moved in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
The Earth and the planet Mercury are putting on a dual evening star show as they enter a close conjunction only 4 degrees apart, but Mercury fades from magnitude 1.71 to 1.90 within two days. The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
Navigation Cameras.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Both the Chang'e 4 lander and Yutu 2 rover have begun their 12th lunar day on the farside on the Moon.
New image released from earlier today.
China National Space Agency's Chang'e 4 landing site.177.61° East. 45.47° South. Von Kármán Crater.
The Yutu 2 rover awoke first on: Wednesday 27th November 2019 @ 16:51 hours UTC and unfurled the solar arrays which were tucked away to help keep the Yutu 2 rover electronics from getting too cold, along with a radioactive heating unit.
The Chang'e 4 lander awoke earlier today: Thursday 28th November 2019 @ 09:03 UTC, also internal electronics were kept warm with a radioactive heating unit and is thoroughly insulated.
During the fortnight long lunar night, the lunar surface temperature had dropped to minus 190 Celsius / minus 310 Fahrenheit.
The reason is unclear why the lunar farside gets slightly colder than the lunar nearside night (minus 180 Celsius / minus 292 Fahrenheit), but I myself suspect it is because there was no Earthshine. At the previous Chang'e 3 site in Mare Imbrium / Sea of Rains, the Surveyor Landers and the Apollo landing sites, it did not get quite so cold as from the Moon at lunar midnight it was Full Earth, appearing about 16 times larger and about 65 times brighter than a Full Moon does to us. I wonder if there was enough heat radiated and reflected from Earth to keep the lunar nearside night time temperatures from dropping as far as on the lunar farside, where the only nightime illumination is from the distant planets and the stars? The lunar farside gets seriously dark.
The 180 KM / 112 mile wide, 8,000 metre / 26,250 foot deep Von Kármán Crater. which in turn is within the 2,500 KM / 1,553 mile wide & 13,000 metre / 42,650 foot deep South Pole–Aitken Basin in the southern hemisphere on the Moon's farside, the side that never faces Earth.
Von Kármán Crater offers a real window into the geology of the Moon, being well inside the deepest part of the South Pole–Aitken Basin. Von Kármán Crater has lava flows, lava flooded floor which may well contain material from the moon's mantle erupted from under the crust. The finding and analysis of this is a key mission objective of the Yutu 2 rover carried to the surface by the Chang'e 4 lander.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
China National Space Agency. Chang'e 4.
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This email describes updates for minor planet occultations for December 2019.
If you do not wish to receive these updates please advise
the Occultation Section.
You can view updated paths and other details at:
http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Minor Planet Occultation Updates:
================================
Events of particular ease or importance below are marked: *****
Dec 1 (269) JUSTITIA: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 3.6 sec, Mag Drop 2.1
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing over Innisfail and near Port Hedland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191201_269_62216_u.htm
Dec 2 (569) MISA: Star Mag 9.7, Max dur 3.1 sec, Mag Drop 5.4
Path across West Australia, passing near Carnarvon.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191202_569_62228_u.htm
Dec 4 (119) ALTHAEA: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 6.0 sec, Mag Drop 0.6
Path across New Zealand, passing near Dunedin and Invercargill.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191204_119_62248_u.htm
Dec 4 (238) HYPATIA: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 20.0 sec, Mag Drop 1.7
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, running from Cape Melville to Shark Bay.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191204_238_62250_u.htm
Dec 4 (559) NANON: Star Mag 12.3, Max dur 6.1 sec, Mag Drop 1.4
Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing over Birdsville and near Alice Springs and Port Hedland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191204_559_62252_u.htm
Dec 6 (132) AETHRA: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 3.6 sec, Mag Drop 0.5
Somewhat uncertain path across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, running from Marlborough to Kingston SE, passing over Mildura.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191206_132_62262_u.htm
Dec 11 (204) KALLISTO: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 4.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing near Onslow and Exmouth.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191211_204_62300_u.htm
Dec 12 2014SZ348: No update for this small TNO occultation of a mag 12.3 star in Eridanus.
***** Dec 15 (2394) NADEEV: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 7.0 sec, Mag Drop 3.1
Significantly uncertain path across New Zealand, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, passing over Wellington, Moruya, Swan Hill and Adelaide.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191215_2394_62350_u.htm
Dec 15 (347) PARIANA: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 8.3 sec, Mag Drop 0.7
Tasmania, south-western Victoria, South Australia and central West Australia, passing over Lorne, Colac, Murray Bridge and Adelaide.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191215_347_62352_u.htm
***** Dec 17 (458) HERCYNIA: Star Mag 10.5, Max dur 1.8 sec, Mag Drop 3.9
Slightly uncertain path across Victoria and New South Wales, passing over Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191217_458_62930_u.htm
Dec 17 (329) SVEA: Star Mag 11.8, Max dur 11.0 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and north-east West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191217_329_62372_u.htm
***** Dec 17 (675) LUDMILLA: Star Mag 8.8, Max dur 21.2 sec, Mag Drop 2.6
Slightly uncertain path across Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, passing over Normanton, Albury-Wodonga and Bairnsdale.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191217_675_62374_u.htm
Dec 18 (1176) LUCIDOR: Star Mag 10.7, Max dur 3.7 sec, Mag Drop 0.8
Somewhat uncertain path across Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, passing over Groote Eylandt, Coonabarrabran, Bathurst and Ulladulla.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191218_1176_62934_u.htm
Dec 19 (408) FAMA: Star Mag 11.6, Max dur 9.2 sec, Mag Drop 2.5
Somewhat uncertain path across western Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, passing over Tamworth and Newcastle.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191219_408_62386_u.htm
***** Dec 24 (3248) FARINELLA: Star Mag 10.7, Max dur 4.5 sec, Mag Drop 5.0
Somewhat uncertain path across south-eastern Queensland, western New South Wales, north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, passing over Harvey Bay, Mildura and Murray Bridge.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191224_3248_62448_u.htm
Dec 25 (17109) 1999JF52: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 2.3 sec, Mag Drop 6.4
Significantly uncertain path across central Queensland, South Australia and West Australia, running from Sarina to Point Culver, passing over Birdsville.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191225_17109_67582_u.htm
Dec 25 (1085) AMARYLLIS: Star Mag 11.6, Max dur 5.0 sec, Mag Drop 2.6
Queensland, Northern Territory and West Australia, passing over Tully and Broome.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191225_1085_62464_u.htm
Dec 25 (2634) JAMESBRADLEY: Predicted path has shifted over Malaysia and Northern Indonesia.
Dec 27 (1074) BELJAWSKYA: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 5.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.6
Queensland, Northern Territory and West Australia, passing near Mossman and Port Hedland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191227_1074_62496_u.htm
***** Dec 27 (601) NERTHUS: Star Mag 11.1, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 3.6
New South Wales, South Australia, West Australia and New Zealand, passing over Gosford, Parkes, Broken Hill and Geraldton.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191227_601_62506_u.htm
***** Dec 30 (2375) RADEK: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 2.2 sec, Mag Drop 5.5
Somewhat uncertain path near Cape Reinga in New Zealand, then across Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, running from Maroochydore to Broome.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191230_2375_62948_u.htm
Note: for some events there will be an additional last minute update so check
for one, if you can, on the day of the event or in the days leading up to it.
You may need to click "Reload" or "Refresh" in your browser to see the updated page.
Please report all attempts at observation to the address below.
(PLEASE report observations on a copy of the report available from our website).
Peter Litwiniuk
---------------------------------------------
RASNZ Occultation Section
P.O.Box 3181 / Wellington, 6140 / New Zealand
---------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Email: Director@occultations.org.nz
---------------------------------------------------------------
Further links and discussion can be found at the groups/links below
Astronomy in New Zealand - Groups.io
https://groups.io/g/AstronomyNZ
Astronomy in New Zealand - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/5889909863/
Astronomy in Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/groups/11451597655/
Blogger Posts
http://laintal.blogspot.com/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/Laintal
Groups.io
Astronomy in New Zealand
https://groups.io/g/AstronomyNZ
AstronomyNZ@groups.io
Wellington Astronomers
https://groups.io/g/WellingtonAstronomers
WellingtonAstronomers@groups.io
AucklandAstronomers
https://groups.io/g/AucklandAstronomers
AucklandAstronomers@groups.io
North Island Astronomers
https://groups.io/g/NorthIslandAstronomers
NorthIslandAstronomers@groups.io
South Island Astronomers
https://groups.io/g/SouthIslandAstronomers
SouthIslandAstronomers@groups.io
NZAstrochat
https://groups.io/g/NZAstrochat
NZAstrochat@groups.io
NZ Photographers And Observers
https://groups.io/g/NZPhotographers
NZPhotographers@groups.io
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This months research Papers 20_12_2019
RASNZ_20_12_2019
Further links and discussion can be found at the groups/links below
Astronomy in New Zealand - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/5889909863/
Astronomy in New Zealand - Groups.io
https://groups.io/g/AstronomyNZ
Astronomy in Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/groups/11451597655/
Blogger Posts
http://laintal.blogspot.com/
This months research
Hidden Planets Implications from Oumuamua and DSHARP
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.06387
The Search for Living Worlds and the Connection to Our Cosmic Origins
https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.05951
HERITAGE a Monte Carlo code to evaluate the viability of interstellar travels using a multi-generational crew
https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.08649
Revisiting the cosmic-ray induced Venusian radiation dose in the context of habitability
https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.12788
The Transits of Extrasolar Planets with Moons
https://arxiv.org/abs/1105.3189
Photometry of an unusual small distant object 2016 ND21
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02533
Distribution and Energy Balance of Pluto's Nitrogen Ice, as seen by New Horizons in 2015
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02333
Atmospheres for Potentially Habitable Environments on TRAPPIST-1 Planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02313
retrieving exoplanet atmospheric winds from high-resolution spectroscopy
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02787
Simulated Direct Imaging Detection of Water Vapor For Exo-Earths
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02228
Future stellar flybys of the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.03503
Habitable Age Instead of Location for Terrestrial Worlds
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02862
Climate bistability of Earth-like exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.05392
Do the TRAPPIST-1 Planets Have Hydrogen-rich Atmospheres?
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.05749
Detection of a wide orbit planetary mass companion to a solar-type Sco-Cen member
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.04284
Why Are We Obsessed with "Understanding" Quantum Mechanics?
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.08090
Can close-in giant exoplanets preserve detectable moons
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.08049
A record of the final phase of giant planet migration
https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02833
"Identifying Candidate Atmospheres on Rocky M Dwarf Planets via Eclipse Photometry," Daniel D. B. Koll et al., 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13138].
* "Identifying Atmospheres on Rocky Exoplanets Through Inferred High Albedo," Megan Mansfield et al., 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13150].
* "Analyzing Atmospheric Temperature Profiles and Spectra of M Dwarf Rocky Planets," Matej Malik et al., 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13135].
* "A Scaling Theory for Atmospheric Heat Redistribution on Rocky Exoplanets," Daniel D. B. Koll, 2019, Astrophysical Journal [http://apj.aas.org, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13145].
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Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 228, 20 December 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. Nobel Prizes to Astronomy
2. Annual General Meeting Deadlines
3. Subscriptions and Reports Due
4. The Solar System in January
5. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
6. Star Parties in 2020
7. RASNZ 100 Programme
8. Variable Star News
9. Astronz Dobsonians on Christmas Special
10. 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting
11. Mike Clark (1942-2019)
12. Neptune-size Planet Found Orbiting Close to a White Dwarf
13. The Starlink Situation
14. Links to Other News
15. How to Join the RASNZ
16. Gifford-Eiby Lecture Fund
17. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
18. Quotes
1. Nobel Prizes to Astronomy
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 “for contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth’s place in the cosmos” with one half to James Peebles, Princeton University, USA, “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor,
University of Geneva, Switzerland and Didier Queloz, University of Geneva, Switzerland, and University of Cambridge, UK, “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star”.
The prize rewards new understanding of the universe’s structure and history, and the first discovery of a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system.
James Peebles’ insights into physical cosmology have enriched the entire field of research and laid a foundation for the transformation of cosmology over the last fifty years, from speculation to science. His theoretical framework, developed since the mid-1960s, is the basis of our contemporary ideas about the universe.
The Big Bang model describes the universe from its very first moments, almost 14 billion years ago, when it was extremely hot and dense. Since then, the universe has been expanding, becoming larger and colder. Barely 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the universe became transparent and light rays were able to travel through space. Even today, this ancient radiation is all around us and, coded into it, many of the universe’s secrets are hiding. Using his theoretical tools and calculations, James Peebles was able to interpret these traces from the infancy of the universe and discover new physical processes.
The results showed us a universe in which just five per cent of its content is known, the matter which constitutes stars, planets, trees – and us. The rest, 95 per cent, is unknown dark matter and dark energy. This is a mystery and a challenge to modern physics.
In October 1995, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the first discovery of a planet outside our solar system, an exoplanet, orbiting a solar-type star in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. At the Haute-Provence Observatory in southern France, using custom-made instruments, they were able to see planet 51 Pegasi b, a gaseous ball comparable with the solar system’s biggest gas giant, Jupiter.
This discovery started a revolution in astronomy and over 4,000 exoplanets have since been found in the Milky Way. Strange new worlds are still being discovered, with an incredible wealth of sizes, forms and orbits. They challenge our preconceived ideas about planetary systems and are forcing scientists to revise their theories of the physical processes behind the origins of planets. With numerous projects planned to start searching for exoplanets, we may eventually find an answer to the eternal question of whether other life is out there.
This year’s Laureates have transformed our ideas about the cosmos. While James Peebles’ theoretical discoveries contributed to our understanding of how the universe evolved after the Big Bang, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz explored our cosmic neighbourhoods on the hunt for unknown planets. Their discoveries have forever changed our conceptions of the world.
-- From the Nobel Foundation press release at https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2019/press-release/
2. Annual General Meeting Deadlines
Nominations for RASNZ Council positions.
The executive positions are: President, Vice President, Executive Secretary, and Treasurer. The immediate Past President is an ex-officio position.
Five Councillors are elected by members. Two Councillors are appointed by the Affiliated Societies Committee. One Councillor is elected by the Fellows.
All nominations must be sent to the Executive Secretary (see below) by 8th February 2020. A nomination form was included in the recent Keeping in Touch #35, 17th December.
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Notices of motion for Annual General Meeting must be submitted to the Executive Secretary by Saturday, 28th March.
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Nominations for RASNZ awards and prizes -
• MURRAY GEDDES MEMORIAL PRIZE - Nominations must be made by March 8th. See By-Law G5.
• EARTH & SKY BRIGHT STAR AWARD - for contributions in NZ in promoting astronomy to the public, or in astronomical education, or in promoting dark skies. Nominations by 8th February.
• FELLOWS NOMINATION - nominations by February 8th. See Rules 14-23.
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For a link to the RASNZ rules see - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/images/articleFiles/Council/Rules2019.pdf
The Executive Secretary's email address is
John Drummond
Postal address: John Drummond, PO Box 113, Patutahi 4045.
3. Subscriptions and Reports Due
2020 RASNZ subscriptions are due on the 1st January. See - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/payments-and-donations
Section and Group reports are due with the Executive Secretary by 9th March. For more details see By-Laws F1 - F16.
4. The Solar System in January
Dates and times shown are NZDT (UT + 13 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.
A penumbral eclipse of the Moon on the morning of January 11 is not observable from NZ. The early stages of the eclipse are visible from Australia. Being penumbral there will be little to see.
THE SUN and PLANETS in January, Rise & Set Magnitude & Constellation
January 1 NZDT January 31 NZDT
Mag Cons Rise Set Mag Cons Rise Set
SUN -26.7 Sgr 5.48am 8.59pm -26.7 Cap 6.21am 8.45pm
Merc -1.0 Sgr 5.17am 8.42pm -1.0 Cap 7.30am 9.29pm
Venus -4.0 Cap 8.36am 11.03pm -4.1 Aqr 9.47am 10.30pm
Mars 1.6 Lib 3.06am 5.42pm 1.4 Oph 2.18am 5.25pm
Jup -1.8 Sgr 5.35am 8.43pm -1.9 Sgr 4.06am 7.09pm
Sat 0.5 Sgr 6.45am 9.39pm 0.6 Sgr 5.01am 7.50pm
Uran 5.7 Ari 3.19pm 2.03am 5.8 Ari 1.22pm 12.05am
Nep 7.9 Aqr 11.23am 12.17am 7.9 Aqr 9.29am 10.21pm
Pluto 14.6 Sgr 6.48am 9.46pm 14.6 Sgr 4.51am 7.48pm
January 1 NZDT January 31 NZDT
Twilights morning evening morning evening
Civil: start 5.17am, end 9.31pm start 5.53am, end 9.14pm
Nautical: start 4.34am, end 10.14pm start 5.15am, end 9.52pm
Astro: start 3.43am, end 11.04pm start 4.33am, end 10.34pm
January PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZDT & UT
First quarter: Jan 3 at 5.45pm (04:45 UT)
Full Moon: Jan 11 at 8.21am (Jan 10, 19:21 UT)
Last quarter Jan 18 at 1.59am (Jan 17, 12:59 UT)
New Moon: Jan 25 at 10.42am (Jan 24, 21:42 UT)
PLANETS in JANUARY
MERCURY is at superior conjunction on January 11. As an evening object following conjunction it remains unobservable, setting during twilight.
VENUS is an evening object all month. On the 28th Venus passes Neptune with a minimum distance of some 3 arc minutes, at 9 am NZDT before it rises. By the evening, when visible in NZ, Venus will be just over half a degree from Neptune. In addition the crescent moon will then be 3.3° from the planet.
MARS is a morning object rising 4 hours before the Sun on the 31st. During its passage from Libra to Ophiuchus the planet crosses a narrow portion of Scorpius. Mars will be passing Antares during January, the two being closest on the 19th and 20th when a little under 5° apart. A chance to compare the colour of the two, Antares being the brighter object.
The crescent moon is 3° from Mars, the opposite side to Antares, on the morning of the 21st.
JUPITER, having been at conjunction at the end of December, is too close to the Sun to observe early in January. By the end of the month it rises more than two hours before the Sun so should be visible low, in a direction a little to the south of east, by about 5.30 am.
On the afternoon of the 23rd the moon will occult Jupiter. The event is “observable” from NZ, the planet disappears at the sunlit limb of the Moon and reappears at the invisible, unlit, limb.
SATURN is at conjunction with the Sun on the 14th, so is not observable during January.
PLUTO is at conjunction a couple of hours before Saturn.
URANUS is an evening object setting well after midnight but will get low by the end of January.
NEPTUNE is an early evening object. By the end of January it sets just before the end of astronomical twilight.
POSSIBLE BINOCULAR ASTEROIDS in JANUARY
January 1 NZDT January 31 NZDT
Mag Cons transit Mag Cons transit
(1) Ceres 9.0 Sgr 2.01pm 9.1 Cap 12.52pm
(4) Vesta 7.5 Cet 9.26pm 8.0 Ari 7.39pm
(5) Astraea 9.6 Cnc...3.02am 9.2 Cnc 12.39am
CERES is at conjunction with the Sun mid month, so is not observable.
VESTA is an evening object setting near 1 am by the 31st. It moves from Cetus to Aries mid month.
ASTRAEA is at opposition on January 21 with a magnitude 8.9.
-- Brian Loader
5. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
The 2020 Conference will be held Friday 8 - Sunday 10 May 2020 in Wellington. The Wellington Astronomical Society is hosting the Conference.
The Conference venue is the Wharewaka Function Centre located on the waterfront just 2 minutes walk from Te Papa.
As the programme will commence at the earlier than usual time of 1pm on Friday we encourage as many as possible to make their travel arrangements to arrive in the city during the morning. The Conference will conclude mid-afternoon on Sunday.
A Dark Skies workshop will be held is association with the Conference - the timing of this half-day meeting will be confirmed shortly. The workshop will consist of short talks on relevant key local and international dark sky updates and discussion/demonstration on topics such as sky quality measurements and dark sky friendly lighting.
Invited Speaker: the SCC is pleased to announce that we will have, as our invited speaker, a member of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration who in April 2019 captured an image of the black hole in the centre of M87 using a virtual Earth-sized telescope. Dr Dom Pesce is currently a postdoctoral fellow working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics with research interests including black holes, active galactic nuclei, astrophysical masers, and the application of statistical techniques to astronomical data.
A further two international speakers have been confirmed for the Conference:
RAS Bicentenary Lecturer: Professor Chris Lintott. We are grateful to have the Royal Astronomical Society sponsoring Chris's trip to NZ as they mark their bicentenary during the year that we celebrate our centenary. Chris is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford with a background in the chemistry associated with star formation. He is currently focused on galaxy formation and runs citizen science projects to investigate galaxy formation, discover planets and more. Chris is also presenter of The Sky at Night on BBC Four.
2020 BHT Lecturer: Professor Anna Scaife. The RASNZ Lecture Trust is bringing Anna to NZ as the Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecturer for 2020 and her BHT Lecture Tour will coincide with the Conference. Anna is Professor of Radio Astronomy at the University of Manchester where she is Head of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics Interferometry Centre of Excellence. Anna is regarded a being a world leader in radio astronomy and leads numerous international projects for the new generation of large radio telescope, such as the Low-Frequency Array and Square Kilometre Array.
Planning for the conference is progressing and further details will be announced shortly once they are confirmed. Keep watching the RASNZ website www.rasnz.org.nz. In the meantime please mark the above dates in your calendar and consider participating in this Conference as RASNZ celebrates its centenary.
-- Glen Rowe, Chair, Standing Conference Committee.
6. Star Parties in 2020
The following star parties are planned for 2020:
Central Star Party: Thursday January 16th to Sunday 19th at the Tuki Tuki Camp site in the Hawkes Bay. https://censtar.party/
Stardate North Island: Friday February 21st to Sunday 23rd at Stonehenge, Carterton. Check Phoenix website - http://www.astronomynz.org/
Stardate South Island: Friday February 21st to Sunday 23rd, at Staveley, South Island. Keep an eye on https://cas.org.nz/
Stargazers Getaway 2020 Camp Iona, Friday September 18th to Sunday 20th. This is new Moon, so we are targeting this weekend for dark skies! See
https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/
NACAA: The 29th NACAA conference will be held in the NSW (Australia) regional city of Parkes (where the world-famous Parkes Radio Telescope is) over the 2020 Easter weekend, Friday April 10th – Monday 13th. For more details see http://nacaa.org.au/2020/about
-- Mostly from 'Keeping in Touch' #34, 27th Sept 2019.
7. RASNZ 100 Programme
The RASNZ Council is pleased to announce its RASNZ 100 Programme to support Affiliated Societies celebrating the RASNZ's Centennial year in 2020. The programme encourages Affiliated Societies to promote astronomy within their regions to raise the profile of the Society, the RASNZ and astronomy in general. The RASNZ is providing up to $500 to each Affiliated Society to support RASNZ 100 events run by Affiliated Societies. For more information, see https://www.rasnz.org.nz/groups-news-events/rasnz-100-events
-- From 'Keeping in Touch' #34. 27th Sept 2019
8. Variable Star News
Variable Stars South (VSS) News
In the October newsletter we advised the upcoming eclipse of the Algol type variable BL Tel. This eclipsing binary is rather unusual in having a very long interval between eclipses, of the order of two years. Because of the long gap the start of decline is usually signalled to allow good coverage of the event. Being at high southern declination (-51 degrees) it has been a target for southern observers, particularly from 1983.
Currently the star's brightness is climbing back to its normal combined magnitude. What has become apparent from the VSS Google Group is that a number of regular observers are not now able to make observation; this has mostly arisen from the effects of the bush fires on Australian observers. This will obviously also affect other astronomical observations. In addition BL Tel is sinking towards the southern horizon which will prevent observations by more northerly observers. At the time of writing the observations submitted to the AAVSO database show that coverage is reasonably adequate so far. It is hoped there will be enough time for southern observers with good southern horizons to be able to define the end-point light curve.
-- Alan Baldwin
9. Astronz Dobsonians on Christmas Special
Astronz, the Auckland Astronomical Society's telescope shop, advises that they are doing a Christmas special on Dobsonian telescopes:
6-inch (15 cm) Skywatcher Dobsonian - $439
8-inch (20 cm) Skywatcher Dobsonian - $689
8-inch (20 cm) Astronz Premium Dobsonian - $749.
Easy to use, but with large apertures and a small price tag, Astronz and SkyWatcher Dobsonian telescopes are ideal for both beginners and advanced astronomer alike. See www.astronz.nz for details.
Email: sales@astronz.nz Phone: 09 473 0203
10. 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting
The 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting will be held in Perth, Western Australia, on July 6 - 10, 2020 at the Perth convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Scientific Organising Committee invites abstracts on all original work to be submitted for consideration in either an Oral Presentation or Poster Presentation. Abstract submission closes 14 Feb 2020.
Conference themes will be:
Solar System Objects and Exoplanets
Solar/Heliospheric and Stellar Physics and Evolution
Interstellar Medium, Star Formation, and Milky Way
Compact Objects and High Energy Astrophysics
Galaxies, AGNs, Large Scale Structure and Cosmology
Gravitational Waves/Multi-Messenger Astronomy
SKA and Upcoming Ground- and Space-based Observing Facilities
Diversity and Inclusion in Astronomy
Public Outreach, Education, and Astronomy for Development
Early bird registration opens 20 Feb 2020. See www.aprim2020.org
For details.
11. Mike Clark (1942-2019)
Michael Clark, former superintendent at the University of Canterbury's Mt John Observatory and discoverer of Comet 71P/Clark, died in Melbourne on November 27.
Bob Evans remembers Mike's days in Christchurch:
Mike Clark's trade was as a builder. While we were establishing the R F Joyce Memorial Observatory at West Melton, Mike's expertise was called upon and he was very generous with his time. His wife June was also very generous, in fact I would say gracious, in allowing us to make use of him.
Over a number of months in the 1960s, each Saturday I would drive out to Mike's place, pick him up, go to his work place to collect his tools, then onto the Wigram Air Force base to pick up Rod Austin, and then onto West Melton. We were building the Lodge there. Rod and I were just the labourers, Mike was the Supervisor. On many occasions other members of the Canterbury Astronomical Society came out to help and it is a reflection on Mike that we all always worked together efficiently as a team.
A few years later, Mike's interest in Astronomy led him to Tekapo, and Mt John. I visited him there once and he and June attended the 1989 RASNZ Conference in Invercargill. I lost touch with him after that but always valued his friendship.
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Rod Austin's memories:
I first met Mike Clark when I persuaded the RNZAF to post me to Wigram Air Base at the beginning of 1969. My main interest in getting to Christchurch was because I had heard of the Photoelectric Photometry programme being run by the late Clive Rowe. Mike and Frank Andrews were on the team and we quickly became firm friends. The main observing programme was on the Eclipsing Binary EL TrA, and I eventually wrote a short paper for Southern Stars (May 1970).
At the same time as the photometry programme was in operation, the West Melton Observatory was undergoing some major changes, with the Lodge being built during this time. Mike originally trained as a builder and a carpenter, although (from memory) he was actually working for Kodak at the time. Naturally he was put in charge of the practical side of the project. His skills were greatly sought after, and frankly I am not sure if the project could have been as successful, without him. Throughout this time, a group of us used to spent nights onsite observing and generally ‘hanging out’ astronomically speaking. He was also later responsible for many projects and construction on Mt John.
[Mike and Rod both got jobs at Mt John in 1971. Mike running the Bamberg Camera Patrol, Rod doing photometry for the University of Florida.]
The following year, Mike just missed out on the discovery of the Supernova in NGC 5253; the brightest supernova in an external galaxy for nearly a century. By one of those coincidences that always seem to spring up; the galaxy’s position put it squarely in the overlap of two fields in the setup of the four cameras. Mike was overtired from a series of very long observing runs, and although having processed the plates, he left them until the following day to give them a quick inspection. The nett result was that someone else found the supernova first. Mike was determined that such an event would not happen to him again, and always carefully inspected each plate immediately after processing from that time on.
In May 1973, his persistence paid off. Near the corner of one plate he found a faint smeared fuzzy spot, which was in a very slightly different position on the next set of overlapping plates. He immediately took a special plate of the area, and there it was again, in yet another position. The records show that it was finally confirmed to be not only a new comet, but that it had a remarkably short period of only 5.5 years. To my knowledge it is the second shortest period of any comet observed at more than one apparition. It is now known as Comet 71P/Clark. On its second return since discovery in 1984, I observed it first before continuing with my normal comet-hunting programme, on the night that I found my second comet, which turned out to be nowhere near as interesting an object.
It has to be noted that Mike was not always as overjoyed about the discovery. He told me some years later, that he did not wish to be remembered merely as someone who had discovered a comet. His main interest in astronomy was the observation of variable stars, and the technical aspects of the job.
He was actually English-born, and in his early years he resided in a little village called Battle near Hastings. Battle is very close to the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The family moved to New Zealand when he was in his late teens. One of his early interests was fishing, and indeed he also encouraged me during my time at Mt John. We used to go down to either Lake Tekapo, or Lake Alexandrina during the season, in the late afternoon or early mornings after observing.
Mike was also very interested in music. He was an accomplished guitar player, and indeed made an electric guitar in the workshop on the mountain. On many a night he would play accompaniment to notable bands such as ‘The Shadows’, while the Bamberg Cameras carried on the work of recording the variations of the Universe. I have many great memories of the somewhat boring routine of photometric observation, made more bearable particularly on very cold nights; by the music belting out across the Mackenzie Basin. In more recent times he sent me recordings he had made.
After I left Mt John late in 1979, Mike carried on and eventually spent some time as Superintendent of the Observatory after the retirement of Doug Mabin. Later he transferred back to the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Christchurch. On retirement he and June moved back to live in Fairlie, which was where I last saw and spoke to him directly in 2015 on the way to the RASNZ Conference in Tekapo.
About three years ago his health took a downturn when he was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer. He and June moved to Melbourne 2017, to be near their son Terry. Treatment continued, and he was in remission, when a series of strokes caught them unawares.
I knew Mike for just over 50 years, when fate cruelly took him from us. He was a truly great friend, fisherman, astronomer, musician, and amateur rock-hound. His very dry and quirky sense of humour and immense practical knowledge will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
12. Neptune-size Planet Found Orbiting Close to a White Dwarf
A Neptune-size planet has been found orbiting just 10 million km from a hot white dwarf star. The discovery was made by an international team of astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope and published in 'Nature' on December 4.
The team had inspected around 7000 white dwarfs observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and found one to be unlike any other. By analysing subtle variations in the light from the star, they found traces of hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur in amounts that scientists had never before observed at a white dwarf. By studying the fine details in the spectra taken by ESO's X-shooter, the team discovered that these elements were in a disc of gas swirling into the white dwarf, and not coming from the star itself.
The detected amounts of hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur are similar to those found in the deep atmospheric layers of icy, giant planets like Neptune and Uranus. If such a planet were orbiting close to a hot white dwarf, the extreme ultraviolet radiation from the star would strip away its outer layers and some of this stripped gas would swirl into a disc, itself accreting onto the white dwarf. This is what scientists think they are seeing around WDJ0914+1914: the first evaporating planet orbiting a white dwarf.
Combining observational data with theoretical models, the team of astronomers from the UK, Chile and Germany were able to paint a clearer image of this unique system. The white dwarf is small and, at 28 000 degrees Celsius (five times the Sun's temperature), extremely hot. By contrast, the planet is icy and large - at least twice as large as the star. As it orbits the hot white dwarf at close range the high-energy photons from the star are gradually blowing away the planet's atmosphere. Most of the gas escapes, but some is pulled into a disc swirling into the star at a rate of 3000 tonnes per second. It is this disc that makes the otherwise hidden Neptune-like planet visible.
The discovery also opens up a new window into the final fate of planetary systems. Stars like our Sun burn hydrogen in their cores for most of their lives. Once they run out of this fuel, they puff up into red giants, becoming hundreds of times larger and engulfing nearby planets. In the case of the Solar System, this will include Mercury, Venus, and even Earth, which will all be consumed by the red-giant Sun in about 5 billion years. Eventually, Sun-like stars lose their outer layers, leaving behind only a burnt-out core, a white dwarf. Such stellar remnants can still host planets, and many of these star systems are thought to exist in our galaxy. However, until now, scientists had never found evidence of a surviving giant planet around a white dwarf. The detection of an exoplanet in orbit around WDJ0914+1914, located about 1500 light years away in the constellation of Cancer, may be the first of many orbiting such stars.
The exoplanet orbits the white dwarf in just 10 days at a distance of only 10 million kilometres, or 15 times the sun's radius. That would have been deep inside the red giant star. The unusual position of the planet implies that at some point after the host star became a white dwarf, the planet moved closer to it. The astronomers believe that this new orbit could be the result of gravitational interactions with other planets in the system, meaning that more than one planet may have survived its host star's violent transition.
"Until recently, very few astronomers paused to ponder the fate of planets orbiting dying stars. This discovery of a planet orbiting closely around a burnt-out stellar core forcefully demonstrates that the Universe is time and again challenging our minds to step beyond our established ideas," concludes Boris Gänsicke of the University of Warwick, who led the study.
See the original at https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1919/
-- From an ESO press release forwarded by Karen Pollard.
13. The Starlink Situation
Starlink and other megaconstellation satellites pose a real problem to astronomy of every stripe — from backyard stargazing to professional astronomy.
By now many of us have seen the photo of the Starlink satellite train launched by SpaceX crossing the field of view of a professional telescope, and perhaps also the video of Starlinks interfering with a meteor-monitoring video camera. [See https://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=25&month=11&year=2019]
The shots are dramatic — even shocking — but they’re also a bit misleading. The real problems that Starlink and other so-called megaconstellation satellites pose are actually more insidious.
As with the last Starlink launch in May this year, the most recent launch placed 60 satellites in a staging orbit. The staging orbit for the first 60 was 440 km; for the ones just launched in November, it was only 280 km. This is the altitude where SpaceX first communicates with and checks out its satellites, and it’s low on purpose. If a satellite fails, and several from the May launch did fail, then it can passively de-orbit from this lower altitude and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere fairly quickly, rather than remaining on as space junk. SpaceX claims the failed satellites from the May launch will burn up within a year; presumably, the more recently launched satellites will deorbit even more quickly.
So until the satellites have undergone testing and have moved to higher altitudes, they’re going to look really bright. The satellites launched in May first appeared around magnitude 2 but by July they appeared around magnitude 6. A similar pattern should occur for the second batch.
The satellites are all bunched together following their deployment but they won’t stay in that configuration for long. For their first 1,584 satellites, SpaceX has US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for 24 orbital planes of 66 satellites each. Once they’ve started operations, each orbital plane will have satellites spread out 22 minutes apart.
Finally, contrary to headlines claiming the ruin of astronomical exposures, the passage of the Starlink train over the Dark Energy Camera posed only a modest loss to the astronomers involved. The problem is that each batch of satellites spends perhaps 5% of its lifetime reaching operational altitude. Depending on how many launches are occurring — and SpaceX and another company, OneWeb, are both aiming for a high frequency of launches — the satellite train could become a more common sight.
However, the real problem actually occurs when the satellites reach operational orbits. Current photos and videos of the satellite train can’t accurately capture the near-future situation we're facing.
If SpaceX fills out its planned 12,000-satellite Starlink constellation, or its proposed 42,000-satellite constellation (though the latter plan doesn’t have international or federal approval yet), astronomy will change forever.
From Monica Young's article with pictures and videos at
https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/starlink-satellites-astronomy/
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For an item on the likely effect of satellite megaconstellations on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope see
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/22/not-cool-telescope-faces-interference-from-space-bound-satellites
14. Links to Other News
An 'impossible' 68-solar mass black hole has been reported in a binary system. See Govert Schilling's article with images at
https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/heavyweight-black-hole-find-mystifies-astronomers/
ESO telescope images stunning central region of Milky Way, finds ancient star burst
https://cdn.eso.org/images/newsfeature/eso1920a.jpg
15. 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 2019 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
16. Gifford-Eiby Lecture Fund
The RASNZ administers the Gifford-Eiby Memorial Lectureship Fund to
assist Affiliated Societies with travel costs of getting a lecturer
or instructor to their meetings. Details are in RASNZ By-Laws Section
H and at http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/ge-fund
The application form is at
http://rasnz.org.nz/Downloadable/RASNZ/GE_Application2019.pdf
17. 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. The deadline for this round of the Kingdon-Tomlinson Grants is Friday 1st November 2019. Full details are set down in the RASNZ By-Laws, Section J. Information on the K-T Fund is at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/kt-fund
Send applications to the RASNZ Executive Secretary at rasnz.secretary@gmail.com.
The application form at
http://rasnz.org.nz/Downloadable/RASNZ/KT_Application2019.pdf
18. Quotes
If consultants ran Christmas - An Elf-and-Safety Nightmare
Memo from: Bognor Consulting Group. To: Santa Claus, North Pole HQ, Lapland.
Thanks for asking us to have a look at your business model. Our staff have now recovered from their frostbite and have a number of significant suggestions for a revamp before next year.
First, the brand name. The business seems to use several different monikers, including St Nicholas, Santa Claus and Father Christmas. We suggest settling on one of the three. Father Christmas is clearly paternalistic and gender-biased. St Nicholas overtly religious. Santa Claus is a much more inclusive term. Once trademarked, there is a ton of money to be made from merchandising rights, particularly from greeting-card companies and department stores. Frankly, your intellectual property is an underutilised resource.
Making better use of it could help address your most glaring challenge: the lack of revenue stream. Mince pies, carrots and glasses of brandy are not a sound basis for remuneration for a multinational organisation. And who pays for the raw materials needed to make the presents? We are surprised that the authorities have not launched an investigation into money-laundering.
Next, the distribution system. We admit you have an excellent record to date. However, in attempting to deliver millions of presents from a single point over the course of one night, you have been flying by the seat of your sled. It would take just one injured reindeer or a chimney accident and the whole system would grind to a halt. It is far from clear that you co-ordinate your flights with air-traffic control systems.
Outsourcing is the obvious answer. Amazon, Fed Ex and UPS would do the job just as efficiently. If the chimney-delivery route is still preferred then small drones may be the answer.
Now let us turn to working conditions. Basing your operations at the North Pole exposes your workers to extreme cold and, thanks to climate change, melting ice. It is a health-and-safety (or should that be elf-and-safety) nightmare. Speaking of which, our human-resources department is unsure whether employing elves should be classed as an admirable diversity policy or discrimination against Homo sapiens. As with distribution, the operation could be outsourced. The elves could be retrained, perhaps as shoemakers.
Our team was also very concerned about animal welfare. Asking reindeer to fly around the world in one night, pulling a heavy load, must put an enormous strain on their physiques. One of the reindeer has a very shiny nose and we recommend immediate veterinary attention.
The next issue is data protection. You tell us you have a "list" which records whether children are "naughty or nice". We are afraid that checking it twice is simply not an adequate safeguard. Children, and their parents, have the right to inspect the list to see whether they agree with your assessment. Even keeping the list is a breach of data-protection rules around the planet. And how are the data compiled? The fact that you see children when they are sleeping, and know when they are awake, suggests surveillance on an Orwellian scale. This must be stopped immediately. If you insist on pre-gift monitoring, simply look at the children's Snapchat accounts. That should tell you all you need to know.
While we are on the subject, how do you know which families celebrate Christmas and which do not? In some jurisdictions, you may be liable to a religious-discrimination lawsuit.
We are also worried about succession planning. No insult intended but the white beard suggests you are past retirement age and the rotund physique does not bode well for your health. You need to hire a graduate, preferably from an Ivy League college such a Yule University.
The good news is that you do live up to many of the precepts of modern business theory. Just-in-time delivery, a flat management structure and a purpose-driven ethos are all things we recommend to other clients. And no one can say that flying reindeer are not "agile".
Finally we need to talk about the terms of our bill. Our expenses were considerable; have you seen the price of a first-class seat on Lapland Airways? Your offer of a train set and slippers was very kind but we prefer a bank transfer. Mind you, if you could drop a hassle-free Brexit solution down the chimney, the people of Britain would be very grateful.
-- 'The Economist' 22 December 2018, p.88.
"The Children told me they wanted a pony for Christmas. But I don't know if it will fit in the oven." -- Seen on Twitter, quoted in 'NZ Listener', 21 December 2019.
Season's greetings to all our readers and good wishes for 2020.
Alan Gilmore Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57 alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand
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Updates from Andrew B,
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sol 2,613. Friday 13th December 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Some stunning Navigation Camera shots looking around from a vantage point betwwen Western Butte, a nearby hill and Central Butte. Much of the northern rim of Gale Crater is visible including Rim Mountain and because MSL Curiosity has climbed quite high, features outside of Gale Crater to the north are starting to become visible. Also the entire depth of the north crater wall is visible as at the start of the mission, the base could not be seen due to the curvature of Mars.
The wheel tracks are 40 CM wide and are 2.8 metres apart.
MSL Curiosity has climbed 462 metres / 1,472 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 444 metres / 1,457 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.637 KM / 14.687 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperature here was minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 87 Celsius / minus 125 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.5 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth is in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
Navigation Cameras.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sols 2,592 & 2593. Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd November 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Some stunning Navigation Camera shots looking around from a vantage point betwwen Western Butte, a nearby hill and Central Butte. Much of the northern rim of Gale Crater is visible including Rim Mountain and because MSL Curiosity has climbed quite high, features outside of Gale Crater to the north are starting to become visible. Also the entire depth of the north crater wall is visible as at the start of the mission, the base could not be seen due to the curvature of Mars. I understand that colour, higher resolution images will be coming shortly too.
Parts of MSL Curiosity are visible too such as the MMRTG / MultiMission Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator (another of which will also be used on the Dragonfly spacecraft to the Saturn moon Titan) and the REMS / Rover Environmental Monitoring Station weather equipment (a similar system is also onboard the Mars InSight Lander within Elysium Planitia).
MSL Curisosty has climbed 447 metres / 1,466 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 429 metres / 1,407 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.480 KM / 14.590 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperture here was minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 86 Celsius / minus 123 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.6 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth has just moved in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
Next week the Earth and the planet Mercury will put on a dual evening star show as they enter a close conjunction only 4 degrees apart, but Mercury fades from magnitude 0.95 to 1.90 within days. The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
Navigation Cameras.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sol 2,595. Sunday 24th November 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Just in.
Two possible meteorites have been spotted. Nicknamed "Pladda Isle" and "Swona".
Due to Mars's proximity to the inner edge of the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, it is not surprising that a large number of meteroites are being found on the surface of the red planet.
These to me look like Type S, Silicate meteorites, possibly parent body could be a main belt Asteroid like 7 Iris, 8 Flora (the closest large asteroid larger than 120 KM wide to the Sun) or 951 Gaspra (seen up very close by the Jupiter bound Galieo spacecraft in October 1991, also possibly related to 8 Flora), these three orbit the Sun very close to the inner edge.
Also the extremely thin atmosphere, at the Aeroid, Mars's equivalent of sea level on Earth is about the same density as Earth's atmosphere some 35 KM / 22 miles above sea level, so will have less stopping power, more will get through to the surface.
MSL Curisosty has climbed 447 metres / 1,466 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 429 metres / 1,407 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.480 KM / 14.590 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperture here was minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 82 Celsius / minus 116 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.5 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth has just moved in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
Next week the Earth and the planet Mercury will put on a dual evening star show as they enter a close conjunction only 4 degrees apart, but Mercury fades from magnitude 0.95 to 1.90 within days. The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
ChemCam / Chemistry & Camera.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sol 2,597. Tuesday 26th November 2019.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
Some stunning Navigation Camera shots looking around from a vantage point betwwen Western Butte, a nearby hill and Central Butte. Much of the northern rim of Gale Crater is visible including Rim Mountain and because MSL Curiosity has climbed quite high, features outside of Gale Crater to the north are starting to become visible. Also the entire depth of the north crater wall is visible as at the start of the mission, the base could not be seen due to the curvature of Mars.
The wheel tracks are 40 CM wide and are 2.8 metres apart.
MSL Curisosty has climbed 449 metres / 1,472 feet since landing from a point 18 metres / 59 feet below the mean level of the Gale Crater floor, so is 431 metres / 1,412 feet above the mean floor of Gale Crater. Has also driven 23.518 KM / 14.613 miles since landing.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
The afternoon maximum temperture here was minus 21 Celsius / minus 6 Fahrenheit with a sunrise low of minus 83 Celsius / minus 117 Fahrenheit. Atmospheric pressure was 7.7 mb. Winds light, sunny by day, clear at night.
The Sun as seen from Mars was in front of the constellation of Pisces the Fishes, the Earth has just moved in front of Aries the Ram not long after coming out of superior conjunction from behind the Sun in September. The Earth is bright at magnitude minus 1.6 as a bright evening star on Mars.
The Earth and the planet Mercury are putting on a dual evening star show as they enter a close conjunction only 4 degrees apart, but Mercury fades from magnitude 1.71 to 1.90 within two days. The Earth will continue to dominate the martian evening skies in the west. Jupiter dominates the martian early morning skies at magnitude minus 2.93 in front of Sagittarius the Archer. Saturn too is very clearly visible in front of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer from Mars at magnitude minus 0.71. Venus may become briefly visible shortly before martian sunrise at magnitude minus 2.83. From Mars, Jupiter and Earth can at times outshine Venus, something that can never happen from Earth.
Navigation Cameras.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Both the Chang'e 4 lander and Yutu 2 rover have begun their 12th lunar day on the farside on the Moon.
New image released from earlier today.
China National Space Agency's Chang'e 4 landing site.177.61° East. 45.47° South. Von Kármán Crater.
The Yutu 2 rover awoke first on: Wednesday 27th November 2019 @ 16:51 hours UTC and unfurled the solar arrays which were tucked away to help keep the Yutu 2 rover electronics from getting too cold, along with a radioactive heating unit.
The Chang'e 4 lander awoke earlier today: Thursday 28th November 2019 @ 09:03 UTC, also internal electronics were kept warm with a radioactive heating unit and is thoroughly insulated.
During the fortnight long lunar night, the lunar surface temperature had dropped to minus 190 Celsius / minus 310 Fahrenheit.
The reason is unclear why the lunar farside gets slightly colder than the lunar nearside night (minus 180 Celsius / minus 292 Fahrenheit), but I myself suspect it is because there was no Earthshine. At the previous Chang'e 3 site in Mare Imbrium / Sea of Rains, the Surveyor Landers and the Apollo landing sites, it did not get quite so cold as from the Moon at lunar midnight it was Full Earth, appearing about 16 times larger and about 65 times brighter than a Full Moon does to us. I wonder if there was enough heat radiated and reflected from Earth to keep the lunar nearside night time temperatures from dropping as far as on the lunar farside, where the only nightime illumination is from the distant planets and the stars? The lunar farside gets seriously dark.
The 180 KM / 112 mile wide, 8,000 metre / 26,250 foot deep Von Kármán Crater. which in turn is within the 2,500 KM / 1,553 mile wide & 13,000 metre / 42,650 foot deep South Pole–Aitken Basin in the southern hemisphere on the Moon's farside, the side that never faces Earth.
Von Kármán Crater offers a real window into the geology of the Moon, being well inside the deepest part of the South Pole–Aitken Basin. Von Kármán Crater has lava flows, lava flooded floor which may well contain material from the moon's mantle erupted from under the crust. The finding and analysis of this is a key mission objective of the Yutu 2 rover carried to the surface by the Chang'e 4 lander.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
China National Space Agency. Chang'e 4.
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This email describes updates for minor planet occultations for December 2019.
If you do not wish to receive these updates please advise
the Occultation Section.
You can view updated paths and other details at:
http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Minor Planet Occultation Updates:
================================
Events of particular ease or importance below are marked: *****
Dec 1 (269) JUSTITIA: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 3.6 sec, Mag Drop 2.1
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing over Innisfail and near Port Hedland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191201_269_62216_u.htm
Dec 2 (569) MISA: Star Mag 9.7, Max dur 3.1 sec, Mag Drop 5.4
Path across West Australia, passing near Carnarvon.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191202_569_62228_u.htm
Dec 4 (119) ALTHAEA: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 6.0 sec, Mag Drop 0.6
Path across New Zealand, passing near Dunedin and Invercargill.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191204_119_62248_u.htm
Dec 4 (238) HYPATIA: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 20.0 sec, Mag Drop 1.7
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, running from Cape Melville to Shark Bay.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191204_238_62250_u.htm
Dec 4 (559) NANON: Star Mag 12.3, Max dur 6.1 sec, Mag Drop 1.4
Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing over Birdsville and near Alice Springs and Port Hedland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191204_559_62252_u.htm
Dec 6 (132) AETHRA: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 3.6 sec, Mag Drop 0.5
Somewhat uncertain path across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, running from Marlborough to Kingston SE, passing over Mildura.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191206_132_62262_u.htm
Dec 11 (204) KALLISTO: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 4.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing near Onslow and Exmouth.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191211_204_62300_u.htm
Dec 12 2014SZ348: No update for this small TNO occultation of a mag 12.3 star in Eridanus.
***** Dec 15 (2394) NADEEV: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 7.0 sec, Mag Drop 3.1
Significantly uncertain path across New Zealand, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, passing over Wellington, Moruya, Swan Hill and Adelaide.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191215_2394_62350_u.htm
Dec 15 (347) PARIANA: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 8.3 sec, Mag Drop 0.7
Tasmania, south-western Victoria, South Australia and central West Australia, passing over Lorne, Colac, Murray Bridge and Adelaide.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191215_347_62352_u.htm
***** Dec 17 (458) HERCYNIA: Star Mag 10.5, Max dur 1.8 sec, Mag Drop 3.9
Slightly uncertain path across Victoria and New South Wales, passing over Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191217_458_62930_u.htm
Dec 17 (329) SVEA: Star Mag 11.8, Max dur 11.0 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and north-east West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191217_329_62372_u.htm
***** Dec 17 (675) LUDMILLA: Star Mag 8.8, Max dur 21.2 sec, Mag Drop 2.6
Slightly uncertain path across Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, passing over Normanton, Albury-Wodonga and Bairnsdale.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191217_675_62374_u.htm
Dec 18 (1176) LUCIDOR: Star Mag 10.7, Max dur 3.7 sec, Mag Drop 0.8
Somewhat uncertain path across Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, passing over Groote Eylandt, Coonabarrabran, Bathurst and Ulladulla.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191218_1176_62934_u.htm
Dec 19 (408) FAMA: Star Mag 11.6, Max dur 9.2 sec, Mag Drop 2.5
Somewhat uncertain path across western Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, passing over Tamworth and Newcastle.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191219_408_62386_u.htm
***** Dec 24 (3248) FARINELLA: Star Mag 10.7, Max dur 4.5 sec, Mag Drop 5.0
Somewhat uncertain path across south-eastern Queensland, western New South Wales, north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, passing over Harvey Bay, Mildura and Murray Bridge.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191224_3248_62448_u.htm
Dec 25 (17109) 1999JF52: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 2.3 sec, Mag Drop 6.4
Significantly uncertain path across central Queensland, South Australia and West Australia, running from Sarina to Point Culver, passing over Birdsville.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191225_17109_67582_u.htm
Dec 25 (1085) AMARYLLIS: Star Mag 11.6, Max dur 5.0 sec, Mag Drop 2.6
Queensland, Northern Territory and West Australia, passing over Tully and Broome.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191225_1085_62464_u.htm
Dec 25 (2634) JAMESBRADLEY: Predicted path has shifted over Malaysia and Northern Indonesia.
Dec 27 (1074) BELJAWSKYA: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 5.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.6
Queensland, Northern Territory and West Australia, passing near Mossman and Port Hedland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191227_1074_62496_u.htm
***** Dec 27 (601) NERTHUS: Star Mag 11.1, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 3.6
New South Wales, South Australia, West Australia and New Zealand, passing over Gosford, Parkes, Broken Hill and Geraldton.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191227_601_62506_u.htm
***** Dec 30 (2375) RADEK: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 2.2 sec, Mag Drop 5.5
Somewhat uncertain path near Cape Reinga in New Zealand, then across Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, running from Maroochydore to Broome.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191230_2375_62948_u.htm
Note: for some events there will be an additional last minute update so check
for one, if you can, on the day of the event or in the days leading up to it.
You may need to click "Reload" or "Refresh" in your browser to see the updated page.
Please report all attempts at observation to the address below.
(PLEASE report observations on a copy of the report available from our website).
Peter Litwiniuk
---------------------------------------------
RASNZ Occultation Section
P.O.Box 3181 / Wellington, 6140 / New Zealand
---------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Email: Director@occultations.org.nz
---------------------------------------------------------------
Further links and discussion can be found at the groups/links below
Astronomy in New Zealand - Groups.io
https://groups.io/g/AstronomyNZ
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Blogger Posts
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https://twitter.com/Laintal
Groups.io
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https://groups.io/g/SouthIslandAstronomers
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