Astronomy_News_20_03_2020
Astronomy_News_20_03_2020
This months research Papers 20_03_2020
RASNZ_20_03_2020
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/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research papers
The subsurface habitability of small icy exomoons
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.09231
Repeated Impact-Driven Plume Formation On Enceladus Over Myr Timescales
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.07866
The pivot energy of Solar Energetic Particles Affecting the Martian surface radiation environment
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06603
Europa's Hemispheric Color Dichotomy as a Constraint on Non-synchronous Rotation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06680
The Low Earth Orbit Satellite Population and Impacts of the SpaceX Starlink Constellation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.07446
The chaotic terrains of Mercury
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59885-5
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2020/03/17/an-unusual-look-at-mercury/
Earths polar night boundary layer as an analogue
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06306
Evolutionary history, potential intermediate animal host, andcross-species analyses of SARS-CoV-2
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jmv.25731
No credible evidence supporting claims of the laboratory engineering of SARS-CoV-2
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22221751.2020.1733440
Venusian Habitable Climate Scenarios
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.05704
Atmospheric compositions and observability of nitrogen dominated ultra-short period super-Earths
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.05354
A probabilistic analysis of the Fermi paradox in terms of the Drake formula
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.04802
TRAPPIST-1 Habitable Atmosphere Intercomparison
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.10950
The interior and atmosphere of the habitable-zone exoplanet K2-18b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11115
Observational Constraints on the Great Filter
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.08776
Indexing Exoplanets with Physical Conditions Potentially Suitable for Rock-Dependent Extremophiles
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.12650
Dust depleted inner disks in a large sample of transition disks through long-baseline ALMA observations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.00079
a Meteoritic Protein containing Iron and Lithium
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11688
The UV surface habitability of Proxima b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.00984
Two planets on the opposite sides of the radius gap transiting the nearby M dwarf LP 729-54
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.01140
Disentangling Atmospheric Compositions of K2-18 b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.01486
Will recent advances in AI result in a paradigm shift in Astrobiology and SETI
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.03944
An education & outreach tool for exploring the diversity of planets like our own
https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.01438
http://earthlike.world/
Proxima Centauri b A Strong Case for including Cosmic-Ray-induced Chemistry
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.02036
The Atmospheres of Rocky Exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.03628
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting News items
Habitable Planet Reality Check: TOI-700d Discovered by NASA’s TESS Mission
https://www.drewexmachina.com/2020/03/11/habitable-planet-reality-check-toi-700d-discovered-by-nasas-tess-mission/
Good News About the COVID-19 Pandemic
https://www.diamandis.com/blog/good-news-covid-19
Coronavirus
https://talbotspy.org/letter-from-toronto-an-infectious-diseases-specialist-reflects-on-corvid-19/
Coronavirus: 'Be prepared, but don't panic'
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/411700/coronavirus-be-prepared-but-don-t-panic
electronic-revolution
https://astronomy.com/magazine/2020/02/astronomys-electronic-revolution
New Zealand confirms case of Covid-19 coronavirus
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410625/new-zealand-confirms-case-of-covid-19-coronavirus
Travel ban having 'major effect' on universities, as Victoria predicts $12m loss
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/119843250/victoria-university-predicts-12-million-loss-from-coronavirus-as-chines-student-remain-stuck-in-china
Covid-19: Auckland university freezes staff hires due to travel ban
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410508/covid-19-auckland-university-freezes-staff-hires-due-to-travel-ban
Starlink
https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau2001
Neanderthals
https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/shanidarz
Habitable Neptunes
https://planetplanet.net/2020/02/10/second-chance-planets-2-pre-terraformed-habitable-evaporated-cores-of-mini-neptunes/
---------------------------------------------------------------
Updates from Andrew B,
Asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36).
Images obtained: Friday 19th April 2019.
High resolution map compiled as of: Monday 23rd March 2020.
Super Resolution Polycam images.
Here the tiny asteroid barely 480 metres wide 101955 Bennu was imaged in very high resolution by the orbiting OSIRIS.REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.
Here 101955 Bennu is seen here in this photomap at a resolution of about 20 cm, the original imagery was obtained at a resolution of 5 centimetres!!!!!!!!
101955 Bennu looks very similar to the Asteroid 162173 Ryugu that the Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is currently surveying and has successfully delivered three hopperbots on. Both 101955 Bennu and 162173 Ryugu have that weird angular shape, both also rotate on their axis in a retrograde direction, east to west so the sun would rise in the west and set in the east as seen from both. Also both are of low density, about 1.2 g/cm3. Both have large boulders on their surfaces.
However there are some notable differences. Firstly 101955 Bennu is much the smaller of the two, about 500 metres wide where as 162173 Ryugu is about 980 metres wide. Also 101955 Bennu has a much rounder equatorial region. 101955 Bennu is a slightly more evolved type B asteroid, a very rare subgroup of the type C / Carbonaceous Chondrite type where as 162173 Ryugu is of a more typical type C.
The density of 101955 Bennu is low, only about 1.2 g/cm3 or a mass of about 115 million tons, very low for even an object of this size. 101955 Bennu is certainly a pile of dusty, rocky ancient rubble held together by gravity.
Asteroid 101955 Bennu was chosen as is a very rare Type B, enriched with hydrated minerals and organic compounds (ingredients to help build life, not life itself) and the fact the asteroid may be made from ancient impact, ejected debris from a much larger, much more distant B type asteroid, maybe even the giant Main Belt Protoplanet 2 Pallas.
Asteroid 101955 Bennu rotates in a retrograde direction east to west, (Sun and stars would rise in the west and set in the east) about once every 4 hours & 17 minutes on it's axis & orbits the Sun once every 1 year & 72 days.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona
---------------------------------------------------------------
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 231, 20 March 2020
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. 2020 RASNZ Conference and AGM Postponed
2. Niue is the World's First 'Dark Sky Place'
3. The Solar System in April
4. NACAA Cancelled
5. New Zealand Astrophotography Competition
6. Stargazers Getaway September 18-20
7. Variable Star News
8. 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting
9. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference
10. Heather Couper (1949-2020)
11. Moon and Mars's Sub-Surfaces Probed
12. Meade Files for Bankruptcy
13. How to Join the RASNZ
14. Quote
1. 2020 RASNZ Conference and AGM Postponed
RASNZ President, Nicholas Rattenbury, writes:
It is with great regret that we have to inform you that the 2020 RASNZ Conference and AGM will be postponed - as will the Dark Skies workshop. Our Society has a responsibility to manage its affairs in light of current Government policy and prevailing health advice regarding novel coronavirus covid-19. We do not want to expose our Members or guests to any unnecessary risk of infection.
Council is working with our venue provider and guest speakers to find an optimal alternative date, in the final quarter of 2020. For those of you who have already paid your registration fees, your options are:
Take no action, and your registration will remain on record for the rescheduled conference, or
Request a full refund, by emailing the conference organisers and providing your bank account details.
We appreciate that this postponement may well come as a disappointment to you. Please be assured that Council is working hard to deliver the 2020 Conference and AGM. We will advise you further as the situation evolves. We aim to settle on a revised date for the Conference by the end of March and we will be in touch again at that time.
Until then, please take care of yourself and yours. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at president@rasnz.org.nz
2. Niue is the World's First 'Dark Sky Place'
Niue has become the world's first 'Dark Sky Place' following the International Dark-Sky Association's (IDA) approval of the island's application for the protection of its sky, land and sea. Such dark-sky area designations aim to restrict artificial light pollution so that night skies can be observed and enjoyed to their fullest potential.
Tourism Niue said the protection added to current measures, including a marine reserve which was 40 percent of Niue's exclusive economic zone.
The Huvalu Forest Conservation area, which contains some of the world's most threatened flora and fauna, is also protected. The marine reserve and forest sanctuaries cover 75 percent of the island's land mass.
Niue now had a dark-sky community and two dark-sky sanctuaries, said Tourism Niue chief executive Felicity Bollen. "It's a huge undertaking for us because it shows clearly to the rest of the world that we take very seriously the sustainability of our environment and culture and how precious we hold the land, the sea and now the sky." Celebrations were held on Sunday March 8 to mark the island's milestone achievement.
The initiative, championed by Niue Tourism, received support from the government and community with the whole island coming together to support the project and make the changes. Andre Siohane, of the Ministry of Infrastructure in Niue, said the government was committed to the protection, management and enhancement of the nation's dark skies.
"Some of the significant measures undertaken by the government include full streetlight replacement for the entire island and the upgrading of domestic private lighting," he said. Ms Bollen said dark skies and dark-sky tourism became one of the hottest trends last year. She said people could travel to Niue to admire the dark sky, and learn about the culture and the mythology from the people who lived on the land.
"Niue is always looking for tourism opportunities, tourism products, and services which have a minimal, negative impact on the environment and culture," she said. "Dark sky absolutely meets that criteria."
Ms Bollen said they had trained "dark-sky ambassadors" who had set up business in the villages and would take tours around the country. That was a great economic contributor for Niue and for small businesses, and Niue was proud to receive such an important acknowledgement from the IDA.
To be the first country to become a dark sky nation was a massive accomplishment for a small Pacific nation with a population of just over 1600 people, she said. "The stars and night sky have a huge significance to the Niuean way of life, from a cultural, environmental and health perspective. "Being a dark sky nation will help protect Niue's night skies for future generations of Niueans and visitors to the country."
Ms Bollen said the new status sat well with Niue's ethos of protection and conservation at all cost - that tourism had to comply with those standards.
New Zealand couple Richard and Gendie Somerville-Ryan researched and wrote Niue's application, after having previously carried out a successful bid for Great Barrier Island to become a Dark Sky Sanctuary.
Mr Somerville-Ryan said the journey to protect the island's pristine night skies began in mid-2018 when they formed a small team with Niue Tourism. "We then began to share our excitement about the quality of the island's dark sky with the wider community," he said in a statement.
"Niueans have a long history of star navigation and a life regulated by lunar cycles and star positions. "The knowledge of the night skies, held by the elders in the community, has been passed down through the generations."
Niuean elders now hope the passion to learn the cultural history of the stars is re-ignited in the younger generations. Elder and cultural guardian Misa Kalutea said Niue's skies had been appreciated for centuries. The new status added more emphasis to the importance of Niue's traditional knowledge - "providing a reason for the retelling and sharing of this knowledge before it's lost".
The IDA celebrated Niue's achievement in Arizona where the official announcement was made on Sunday. Niue's official Dark Sky recognition is set to provide a significant economic opportunity for the small Pacific island with a growing global interest in 'Astro-tourism'.
-- From https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/411280/niue-is-world-s-first-dark-sky-nation
Actual interviews are near the end of this 30-minute audio:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/programmes/tagata-o-te-moana/audio/2018738389/tagata-o-te-moana-for-14-march-2020
3. The Solar System in April
Dates and times shown are NZST (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 9.1
Clocks revert to NZST on Sunday 5 April.
The Sun and Planets in April: Rise & Set, Magnitude & Constellation
April 1 NZDT April 30 NZST
Mag Cons Rise Set Mag Cons Rise Set
SUN -26.7 Psc 7.34am 7.14pm -26.7 Ari 7.04am 5.30pm
Merc 0.0 Aqr 5.19am 6.22pm -1.7 Ari 6.40am 5.20pm
Venus -4.6 Tau 11.40am 8.56pm -4.7 Tau 10.39am 7.12pm
Mars 0.8 Cap 1.29am 4.17pm 0.4 Cap 12.18am 2.24pm
Jup -2.1 Sgr 12.59am 3.49pm -2.3 Sgr 10.17pm 1.03pm
Sat 0.7 Cap 1.30am 4.09pm 0.6 Cap 10.42pm 1.19pm
Uran 5.9 Ari 9.34am 8.12pm 5.9 Ari 6.49am 5.22pm
Nep 8.0 Aqr 5.37am 6.22pm 7.9 Aqr 2.48am 3.30pm
Pluto 14.5 Sgr 12.58am 3.53pm 14.5 Sgr 10.04pm 1.00pm
April 1 NZDT April 30 NZST
Twilights morning evening morning evening
Civil: start 7.09am, end 7.40pm start 6.38am, end 5.57pm
Nautical: start 6.37am, end 8.12pm start 6.06am, end 6.30pm
Astro: start 6.05am, end 8.44pm start 5.33am, end 7.02pm
April PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZ & UT
First quarter: Apr 1 at 11.21pm NZDT (10:21 UT)
Full Moon: Apr 8 at 2.35pm NZST (02:35 UT)
Last quarter Apr 15 at 10.56am (Apr 14, 22:56 UT)
New Moon: Apr 23 at 2.26pm (02:26 UT)
First quarter: May 1 at 8.38am (Apr 30, 20:38 UT)
PLANETS in APRIL 2020
VENUS remains the only naked eye evening planet in April. It sets about 100 minutes after the Sun.
The planet is in Taurus passing through the southern edge of the Pleiades on April 3 and 4. The crescent moon is about 8° from Venus as seen from NZ on the evenings of April 26 and 27.
MERCURY is relatively well placed for viewing as a morning object in the early part of April. It rises over 2 hours before the Sun on the 1st. At magnitude 0 it should be fairly easy to spot some 15° up an hour before sunrise. The planet will be some 6° to the north of east.
The interval between Mercury rise and Sunrise gets less during the month, down to about 100 minutes by the 15th. So Mercury will be lower but it will be a little brighter at -0.4. The trends continue for the rest of the month, by the 25th its magnitude -1.0, but rising only an hour before the Sun. During the last few days of the month, Mercury is likely to be too low in the morning twilight to observe.
MARS and SATURN are just under a degree apart on the morning of April 1. During the month Mars moves across Capricornus and away from Saturn which moves far more slowly.
JUPITER and PLUTO are morning objects in Sagittarius. The two start the month just under a degree apart. At their closest on the morning of the 6th they are only 43 arc minutes.
JUPITER and SATURN themselves are just over 6° apart on April 1 and a shade under 5° apart on the 30th. The two will gradually get closer during the rest of 2020.
URANUS is at conjunction on April 26, so is too close to the Sun for observation.
NEPTUNE moves up into the morning sky during April following its conjunction in early March. Mercury is a little over a degree from Neptune on the morning of April 4.
POSSIBLE BINOCULAR ASTEROIDS in APRIL
April 1 NZDT April 29 NZST
Mag Cons transit Mag Cons transit
(1) Ceres 9.3 Cap 10.28am 9.2 Aqr 8.12am
(4) Vesta 8.5 Tau 4.51pm 8.5 Tau 2.45pm
CERES is a morning object. It rises just after 3am NZDT on the 1st, and 1am NZST on the 30th. The asteroid moves from Capricornus to Aquarius on the 8th.
VESTA is an evening object. It sets at 9.47 pm NZDT on the 1st and 7.30 pm NZST on the 30th when the asteroid is just over 7° from Venus
-- Brian Loader
4. NACAA Cancelled
The 29th National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers (NACAA)
that was to be in Parkes over Easter has been cancelled. The message on their website https://www.nacaa.org.au/ says:
"Due to the unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 virus, the NACAA Inc Committee has decided, with due consideration to the safety of all concerned, that the 2020 NACAA at Parkes is cancelled.
All registration fees will be refunded in full. If you have booked accommodation, don't forget to cancel.
The committee is considering where and when the next NACAA will be held; this will be announced in due course."
5. New Zealand Astrophotography Competition - Closes September 21
Entries are sought for the 2020 New Zealand Astrophotography competition.
The competition is fully endorsed by the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand and is the nation's largest astrophotography competition.
This year we are honoured to have Babak Tafreshi as our judge, Babak founded "The World At Night" (TWAN) in 2007 and has been directing it ever since. TWAN is an international effort by the world’s leading nightscape photographers, to produce and exhibit stunning nightscape photos and time-lapse videos of the world’s landmarks against celestial attractions.
Babak is also a member of the board of advisors of Astronomers Without Borders and was a project coordinator for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). In 2009, he won the Lennart Nilsson Award for best scientific photography, in joint effort with NASA's Cassini Imaging Director Carolyn Porco.
This year we are introducing a new time lapse category so make sure you read over the new rules and conditions.
We are also very happy to announce new sponsorship from Sky-Watcher Australia who are sponsoring the overall winner of the competition with a $1000 NZD Sky-Watcher Australia Voucher to be spent on the Sky-Watcher Australia Website.
In addition to this fantastic prize the overall winner will have their name immortalized on the Harry Williams trophy for Astrophotography excellence. (Trophy to be returned prior to the 2021 competition)
We have also secured new sponsorship from Celestron Australia who are sponsoring the Deep Sky category with a $300 NZD Celestron Australia Voucher to be spent on the Celestron Australia Website.
As in previous years we are lucky to have Australian Sky & Telescope on board as sponsors of both the Deep Sky category and the Nightscape category, the winners of these categories will receive a one year subscription to the magazine as well as having their images printed in the magazine.
We are also lucky to have Astronz sponsor the Solar System category with a $300 Astronz gift voucher, Astronz is easily New Zealand's best known and most trusted supplier of Astronomical equipment. The Auckland Astronomical Society will also provide a cash prize for each category winner.
The competition cut-off date is the 21st of September and the competition awards will be announced at the annual Burbidge dinner which is the Auckland Astronomical Society's premier annual event, keep an eye out on the society website for details on the forthcoming Burbidge dinner.
You can find the rules and entry forms on the AAS website at https://www.astronomy.org.nz/new/public/default.aspx
-- From Jonathan Green's posting nnzastronomers Yahoo group
6. Stargazers Getaway September 18-20
Stargazers Getaway 2020 at Camp Iona on Friday September 18th to Sunday 20th. This is New Moon, so we are targeting this weekend for dark skies! Camp Iona is near Herbert, south of Oamaru.
https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/
Damien McNamara, Stargazers Getaway Co-ordinator, writes on Facebook:
"We have Amadeo confirmed again throughout Saturday with the inflatable planetarium from Otago Museum.
We have Dr Ian Griffin confirmed for early afternoon on Saturday, to speak about his aurora hunting adventures!
We will also be holding the Dark Skies Forum again, where a handful of people speak about dark sky developments around the country. There has been a major shift in the way we advocate for dark skies in the last year, moving from protecting the night sky, to protecting everything under the night sky.
I will return again as a panel member bridging the 2 fields of astronomy and human health with our story of enlightenment. I have also confirmed Alexander Tups, who is not only a DAS member, but also an Associate Professor at the Centre for Neuroendocrinology, a University of Otago Research Centre. His research around Melatonin suppression and circadian rhythms saw him present at the Starlight Conference in October last year in Tekapo.
So it's looking to be an amazing year, hopefully building on our amazing night skies from last year!"
See https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/permalink/1074448229591272/
7. Variable Star News
Variable Stars South Symposium Cancelled
The 6th VSS symposium, along with the NACCA Conference at Parkes, has been cancelled. The speakers who were to present at the Symposium are encouraged to prepare papers for the next issues of the VSS Newsletter (2020 April and July).
Betelgeuse Update
Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis) appears to have reached minimum in the current major event and brightness is increasing at about the rate of decline. After dipping to V filter magnitude 1.8 it is now at about V filter mag 1.15 which is still some way from maximum of approximately V-filter magnitude of 0.5. It is still visibly fainter than normal and it will be worthwhile when observing the night sky to follow its rate of rise in the next few months.
For a few years Carl Knight of Manawatu has been measuring the brightness of Betelgeuse with an infra-red J filter. The brightness at this wavelength has hardly varied during the current fading at visual wavelengths. Most of the energy of red pulsating stars is put out at infra-red wavelengths and the brightness change at the visual wavelengths usually arises from shifts of energy due to the pulsations.in the stellar layers. Hopefully modelling can distinguish whether the large brightness change has arisen from a larger than a normal red giant pulsation event or an exceptional obscuration event.
Spectroscopy Workshop USA
The109th Annual Meeting (AM) of the AAVSO is being held November 7th–8th in Boston. For queries on the AM go to the website or contact Kathy Spirer at kspirer@aavso.org.
Spectroscopy is becoming a more important part of variable star observing because of the additional information it gives on a star’s behaviour. In the two days (Nov 5th-6th) prior to the AM the Sacramento Mountains Spectroscopy Workshops will join with AAVSO at The Row Hotel, Somerville, Ma to present the AAVSO Spectroscopy Workshop (ASW2020). The advisory notice states “Hands on workshops will cater for beginner through to experienced amateur spectroscopists with concurrent sessions, and feature small group discussions and informational presentations.”
“The program will introduce participants to a variety of research projects and professional/amateur collaborations including the AAVSO’s Spectroscopy Database (AVSpec), and will discuss types of hardware and software to use. ASW2020’s goal is two-part: to help interested individuals get started with astronomical spectroscopy, and to help experienced amateurs improve their techniques.” For questions regarding the Sacramento Mountains Spectroscopy Workshop please contact Ken Hudson (ken.hudson.bus@gmail.com).
Note: The spectroscopy workshop was advised prior to covid-19 travel restrictions. If the restrictions aren’t lifted it may be that lectures will be given by internet.
-- Alan Baldwin
8. 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.
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 opened 20 Feb 2020. See www.aprim2020.org
for details.
-------
The above website now says:
"In light of the global COVID-19 situation, the APRIM 2020 organising committees are working on adjustments to our meeting to ensure the safety for all involved, as well as accessibility of the meeting to the astronomical community.
We will provide advice and information for those who have submitted abstracts, registered, and/or booked accommodation, and we recommend that no one books anything non-refundable until we provide further information.
More details will be available in coming weeks on what the changes will look like, please check back to our website regularly or follow us on Twitter."
9. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference
From 21 to 25 September 2020, Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Commission C2 - Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP), will host the world's largest conference on astronomy communication: Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2020 (CAP2020). Professionals from science communication, informal education, planetaria and science centres, as well as professional and amateur astronomers, journalists and creatives, are invited to attend the conference to exchange ideas and discuss best practice.
Under the central theme of Communicating Astronomy for a Better World: Environment, Culture and Peace, the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC) invites proposals for oral presentations, posters, and workshops to be submitted online by 15 March 2020 [Extended. See below.]. The topics that will be discussed at the conference are:
- Current Challenges in Astronomy Communication
- Best Practice in Public Outreach
- Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Empathy in Communicating Astronomy
- The Media's Role in Astronomy Communication
- Using Multimedia, Social Media, Immersive Environments and other Technologies for Public Engagement with Astronomy
- Astronomy and Climate Change
- Astronomy Communication to Promote Peace
- The Role of Astronomy in Bridging Cultures
- Communicating Astronomy in the Asia-Pacific Region
Participants will also have the opportunity to add their own topics for discussion during the event's "unconference" slots. Networking activities will encourage learning from peers, identifying potential partners, and strengthening the links between Asia-Pacific and international science communicators.
The link for the conference is:
https://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2020/
-- Forwarded by Tim Banks
Note: The website now says "Abstract & grant applications deadline extended until 5 April 2020.
10. Heather Couper (1949-2020)
U.K. Astronomer and television presenter whose passion for her subject captivated audiences, Heather Couper was also guest speaker at two RASNZ Conferences. The following tribute by Stuart Clark is from The Guardian.
The astronomer and broadcaster Heather Couper, who has died aged 70 after a short illness, helped, with her passion for the subject, to redefine the way her science was presented on television.
She made her name with two series in particular, The Planets (1985) and The Stars (1988), both on Channel 4. In these programmes, rather than presenting from a TV studio, Couper took viewers inside the observatories that shaped the subject she loved. Her scripts were often laced with tales of stargazers from the past, and this historical context, presented from a personal point of view, showed the process of the science, and humanised it.
Couper was a pioneer for women in science both on and off screen. In 1984 she was elected the first female president of the British Astronomical Association. In 1993 she became the first female professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London, a position that had been held only by men since its inception in 1597.
Her success with The Planets and The Stars led to her founding the television production company Pioneer Productions in 1988 with her lifelong collaborator, Nigel Henbest, and the director of The Stars, Stuart Carter. A year later the company produced The Neptune Encounter, a documentary about that year’s flypast of the eighth planet in the solar system by Nasa’s Voyager 2 spacecraft.
Couper wrote dozens of books, mostly with Henbest, including three popular titles for children: Black Holes (1996), Big Bang (1997), and Is Anybody Out There? (1998). Her recent publications include The Universe Explained: A Cosmic Q&A (2018) and the 2020 edition of Philip’s Stargazing Month-by-Month Guide to the Night Sky. The pair also wrote a monthly astronomy column for the Independent from 1987 until early this year.
Couper had been captivated by space from a young age. She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, to Anita (nee Taylor), a historian, and George Couper, a pilot. The family eventually settled in west London. As a child, Heather would sit up at night staring into the sky. On one occasion, when she was aged around eight, she saw a green shooting star, but her parents did not believe that such a thing could exist. She was vindicated the next day by a newspaper story on the star, and resolved to be an astronomer.
Aged 16, she wrote to the astronomer and TV personality Patrick Moore asking if her gender was a barrier to a career in astronomy. She received a letter back from him saying that being a girl was no problem at all. However, on leaving St Mary’s girls grammar school in Northwood, Middlesex, Couper initially abandoned that aspiration to become a management trainee at Topshop.
After two years she realised that she was not suited to a career in retail, and in 1969 became a research assistant at Cambridge observatory, while taking maths A-level at night school. She became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1970.
She then studied astronomy and physics at the University of Leicester, where she met Henbest. They became platonic companions for life, later (in 1985) forming the business partnership Hencoup Enterprises. Couper graduated in 1973 and began a PhD at Linacre College, Oxford. However, her drive to popularise her subject had taken hold, and she left after 18 months to begin giving talks at local societies and evening classes.
From 1977 onwards she gave regular lectures at the Old Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and in 1978 was invited to appear on Moore’s show The Sky at Night. This led to her presenting a children’s astronomy series, Heavens Above (1981), for Yorkshire TV.
Couper was also a skilled radio broadcaster. She presented the BBC World Service’s astronomy magazine programme Seeing Stars (1994-2000) and Britain’s Space Race (2007) on Radio 4. The following year, also for Radio 4, she wrote and narrated Cosmic Quest, a history of astronomy over 30 15-minute episodes.
As a millenium commissioner, Heather Couper advocated for funding for science venues such as The National Space Centre in Leicester
I worked with Heather when we were both guest lecturers in China for the 2009 total solar eclipse. Her ability to captivate an audience from the moment she took the microphone was extraordinary.
She was a member of the Millennium Commission (the body responsible for the distribution of funds raised by the National Lottery) from its inception in 1993 until its disbandment in 2009. Couper’s science background was unique among the commissioners and she became the subject’s chief advocate, with science and environment centres around the UK, such as the National Space Centre in Leicester, benefiting. She was appointed CBE in 2007. In 1999 an asteroid, 3922 Heather, was named after her.
Beyond astronomy, Couper’s interests were the countryside, church architecture and classical music. She and Henbest lived first in Greenwich, and then in the Chiltern Hills. He survives her.
• Heather Anita Couper, astronomer, writer and broadcaster, born 2 June 1949; died 19 February 2020
-- See https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/04/heather-couper-obituary
11. Moon and Mars's Sub-Surfaces Probed
At the end of February results were published from probes to two heavenly bodies: Chang’e 4, a Chinese mission to the Moon, and InSight, an American mission to Mars. Chang’e 4 landed in January 2019; InSight arrived the previous November. Chang’e 4 results appeared in Science Advances, an American journal, and InSight's Nature Geoscience, a British journal.
Chang’e 4 is China’s second successful lunar lander, and the first from any country to touch down intact on the Moon’s far side — the part never visible from Earth. Its purpose is to investigate the geology of Von Kármán crater in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. To that end it is fitted with a ground-penetrating radar which can peer many metres down.
This radar shows three distinct layers of rock, the top two each 12 metres thick and the lowest 16 metres thick. Below that, the signal is too fuzzy to see what is going on. The upper layer is composed of regolith — crushed rock that is the product of zillions of small meteorite impacts over the course of several billion years, and which covers most of the Moon’s surface. The other two, distinguishable by the coarseness of the grains within them, are probably discrete ejecta from separate nearby impacts early in the Moon’s history that were subsequently covered by the regolith.
InSight is intended to probe deeper than this. It is fitted with instruments designed to measure heat flow from Mars’s interior, any wobble in the planet’s axis of rotation (which would probably be caused by an iron core) and Marsquakes. The heat-flow instrument has so far been a washout. The “mole”, a device intended to dig into Mars’s surface, pulling this instrument with it, has refused to co-operate — to the point where the project’s directors are about to take the time-honoured step of hitting it with a hammer (or, rather, with the scoop on the probe’s robot arm) to persuade it to stay in the hole that it is supposed to be excavating. And the wobble detector, though working correctly, has insufficient data to report. So the release this week is mainly about the quakes.
InSight’s seismograph recorded 174 quakes between the craft’s landing and the end of September 2019. The strongest were between magnitudes three and four—just powerful enough, had they happened on Earth, for a human being to notice them. Quakes are a valuable source of information about a planet’s interior. A network of seismographs, as exists on Earth, allows their points of origin to be triangulated, their speed measured and their reflections from subsurface rock layers observed. From all this can be deduced those layers’ composition and depth. With but a single instrument, such deductions are trickier. InSight’s masters do, though, think that two of the quakes originated in Cerberus Fossae, a set of faults 1,600km from the landing site that are suspected of still being seismically active.
-- From The Economist 2020 February 29, p.65. See
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/02/27/the-exploration-of-the-moon-and-mars-continues-apace
12. Meade Files for Bankruptcy
Meade Instruments, one of the most respected names in telescope manufacturing, have filed for protection from bankruptcy just days after their parent company lost an antitrust case in court.
In 2013 Meade Instruments was purchased by Chinese company Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co. Ltd. An American company, Orion Binoculars and Telescopes, based in the San Francisco area, previously bought components from Meade with which to build their own brand telescopes. However, Orion claimed in a lawsuit that after the Meade takeover, Ningbo Sunny and Taiwanese company Synta Technology, who own well-known brands Celestron and Sky-Watcher, coordinated to fix manufacturing prices in an attempt to force Orion out of the telescope market.
On 26 November Orion won the case against Ningbo Sunny and were awarded initial damages of US$16.8 million. Eight days later, on 4 December, Meade filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which in United States law allows a company to re-organise and restructure their debts to avoid going out of business. It is believed that Meade Instruments currently carry debts of between $10 million and $50 million.
-- Copied from 'Astronomy Now', January 2020, p.20. astronmynow.com .
See also 'Sky & Telescope', April 2020, p.11.
13. 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 2020 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
14. Quote
Hope you are all coping OK. In Australia all people want to stock up with is toilet paper… A friend just txt us to say that in Germany they are responding to the crisis by stocking up on sausage and cheese. It is the Würst Käse scenario!
Alan Gilmore Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57 alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can view updated paths and other details at:
http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Minor Planet Occultation Updates:
================================
This email describes updates for minor planet occultations for March 2020.
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: *****
*****Mar 1 (466) TISIPHONE: Star Mag 5.79, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 8.63
A path across south-western Western Australia from Perth to north of Albany..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200301_466_64316_u.htm
Mar 2 (71) NIOBE: Star Mag 10.9, Max dur 6.8 sec, Mag Drop 0.76
Across Australia from Townsville across Queensland, southern Northern
Territory and central Western Australia to Geraldton.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200302_71_67916_u.htm
***Mar 3 (124) ALKESTE: Star Mag 10.26, Max dur 7.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.53
Across northern New Zealand, from Napier to New Plymouth, and across
Australia from southern Brisbane across Queensland and northern Northern
Territory and Western Australia to Wyndham.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200303_124_64326_u.htm
Mar 3 (318) MAGDALENA: Star Mag 11.91, Max dur 14.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.52
Across Western Australia from east of Esperance to south of Broome.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200303_318_64328_u.htm
Mar 3 (53) KALYPSO: Star Mag 12.39, Max dur 4.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.47
Across Australia from Gympie across southern Queensland, southern
Northern Territory and northern Western Australia to to Port Headland.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200303_53_64330_u.htm
Mar 4 (530) TURANDOT: Star Mag 10.4, Max dur 2.4 sec, Mag Drop 4.52
Across the South Island of New Zealand from Auckland to Haast, and
across south-eastern Australia crossing Victoria (possibly including
Melbourne) and into South Australia at low and decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200304_530_67132_u.htm
Mar 4 (316) GOBERTA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 2.3 sec, Mag Drop 5.16
Across far northern New Zealand, crossing Mangonui, and into
south-eastern Queensland near Brisbane at low and decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200304_316_67920_u.htm
Mar 6 (868) LOVA: Star Mag 11.1, Max dur 2.9 sec, Mag Drop 4.91
Across Australia from Broome across northern Western Australia, central
Northern Territory and Queensland to Rockhampton just on morning twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200306_868_67926_u.htm
Mar 6 (850) ALTONA: Star Mag 12.33, Max dur 7.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.99
Across Australia from Portland across western Victoria and New South
Wales, eastern South Australia and The Northern Territory to Darwin.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200306_850_64354_u.htm
Mar 6 (141) LUMEN: Star Mag 11.37, Max dur 9.7 sec, Mag Drop 2.87
A fairly broad path across the South Island of New Zealand from Milton
(and possibly Dunedin) to Wanaka and possibly Haast, and across
Australia, following the Queensland coast from Fraser Island to Cooktown.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200306_141_64356_u.htm
Mar 7 (604) TEKMESSA: Star Mag 11.97, Max dur 3.2 sec, Mag Drop 4.05
Across the North Island of New Zealand, from Woodsville to Opunake, and
across Australia from near Brisbane into south-east Queensland at low
and decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200307_604_64370_u.htm
Mar 9 (132) AETHRA: Star Mag 12.42, Max dur 3.1 sec, Mag Drop 0.6
Across the North Island of New Zealand, from Hicks Bay to Raglan (and
across central New South Wales including Sydney shortly before sunrise).
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200309_132_64378_u.htm
Mar 10 (418) ALEMANNIA: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 6.3 sec, Mag Drop 3.34
A path just south of New Zealand and across Australia, crossing
south-western Victoria, south-eastern South Australia and into southern
Western Australia well north of Perth at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_418_67930_u.htm
Mar 10 (335) ROBERTA: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 3.4 sec, Mag Drop 1.5
Across the South Island of New Zealand, from Timaru to Haast, and across
south-eastern Australia from Melbourne across southern Victoria and
south-eastern South Australia at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_335_64384_u.htm
Mar 10 (49) PALES: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 3.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.54
Across central New South Wales and into South Australia at low and
decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_49_67934_u.htm
Mar 10 (788) HOHENSTEINA: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 3.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.7
Across Australia from Grafton (in morning twilight) across northern New
South Wales, South Australia and into central Western Australia at
decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_788_67932_u.htm
Mar 11 (1669) DAGMAR: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 5.7 sec, Mag Drop 6.27
Across mid south-western Western Australia from near Norseman to Geraldton.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200311_1669_67936_u.htm
Mar 14 (3) JUNO: Star Mag 12.44, Max dur 18.9 sec, Mag Drop 0.09
A broad path across western Australia, from central New South Wales
around sunrise across South Australia and Western Australia to near
Port Headland.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200314_3_64422_u.htm
Mar 14 (409) ASPASIA: Star Mag 10.4, Max dur 7.6 sec, Mag Drop 2.86
A fairly broad path across south-eastern Australia including the
northern half of Tasmania and possibly the southern most points of
Victoria, and much of the South Island of New Zealand, but at low elevation..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200314_409_64416_u.htm
Mar 14 (3708) 1974FV1: Star Mag 12.41, Max dur 7.6 sec, Mag Drop 4.74
A somewhat uncertain path across New Zealand, from Blenheim to
Westport, and across southern Australia from Mallacoota across northern
Victoria and south-eastern South Australia (just north of Adelaide) to
central Western Australia near Exmouth at low elevation. The one sigma
limit covers New Zealand from Wellington to Christchurch, and much of
Victoria and southern New South Wales including Melbourne and Canberra
(just) and Adelaide.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200314_3708_64418_u.htm
Mar 15 (638) MOIRA: Star Mag 12, Max dur 18.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.04
Across northern Australia from Carnarvon across northern Western
Australia and The Northern Territory well west of Darwin, and into Papua
- New Guinea crossing Lae.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200315_638_64432_u.htm
Mar 16 (521) BRIXIA: Star Mag 12.42, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 2.07
Across New Zealand,including Wellington and Blenheim to Collingwood, and
across Australia from near Sydney across central New South Wales and
into northern South Australia at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200316_521_64442_u.htm
Mar 17 (335) ROBERTA: Star Mag 12.01, Max dur 3.7 sec, Mag Drop 1.74
Across the South Island of New Zealand, from Oamaru to Wanaka, across
the northern half of Tasmania, and across south-western Western
Australia, possibly near Albany, at low elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200317_335_64452_u.htm
***Mar 19 (2140) KEMEROVO: Star Mag 10.8, Max dur 2.6 sec, Mag Drop 5.24
A narrow path across south-eastern Western Australia from near Esperance
to Perth.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200319_2140_67946_u.htm
Mar 21 (38) LEDA: Star Mag 11.32, Max dur 12 sec, Mag Drop 1.57
Across central Western Australia from Kalbarri in morning twilight
towards southern Northern Territory.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200321_38_64506_u.htm
Mar 21 (4828) MISENUS: Star Mag 12.36, Max dur 4.8 sec, Mag Drop 5.5
A narrow, somewhat uncertain path path across south-eastern Australia,
from Bundaberg across south-eastern Queensland, western New South Wales
and south-eastern South Australia to Victor Harbour. Adelaide and
Brisbane are within the one sigma limit.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200321_4828_64504_u.htm
Mar 22 (546) HERODIAS: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 4.2 sec, Mag Drop 2.7
Across Australia, from the Gove Peninsula in The Northern Territory
across central Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales to near
Kempsey, and then just south of New Zealand.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200322_546_64512_u.htm
*****Mar 22 (704) INTERAMNIA: Star Mag 9.43, Max dur 21.3 sec, Mag Drop 2.2
A very broad path across Australia, including Tasmania north of Hobart
and Queenstown, Victoria just south of Melbourne to Nhill, south-eastern
South Australia south of Adelaide and Ceduna, and Western Australia to
Exmouth, and passing just south of the South Island of New Zealand.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200322_704_64510_u.htm
Mar 23 (751) FAINA: Star Mag 11.46, Max dur 3.4 sec, Mag Drop 2.67
Across Western Australia from Denham towards southern South Australia in
morning twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200323_751_64520_u.htm
Mar 23 (654) ZELINDA: Star Mag 12.14, Max dur 19.8 sec, Mag Drop 1.01
A path grazing the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New
Zealand, from Hicks Bay to Mangonui, and across Papua - New Guinea near Lae..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200323_654_64518_u.htm
Mar 24 (186) CELUTA: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 4.1 sec, Mag Drop 1.72
Across Australia from near Wyndham across north-eastern Western
Australia, south-western Northern Territory and South Australia to
Kangaroo Island.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200324_186_64528_u.htm
Mar 24 (1282) UTOPIA: Star Mag 11.56, Max dur 6.5 sec, Mag Drop 4.66
A quite narrow path across Australia from Cooktown across western
Queensland, south-eastern Northern Territory, north-western South
Australia and southern Western Australia to Perth.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200324_1282_64526_u.htm
***Mar 26 (5247) KRYLOV: Star Mag 9, Max dur 0.8 sec, Mag Drop 6.02
A very narrow path across the South Island of New Zealand, from
Christchurch to near Greymouth and just off the eastern Australian coast
from Fraser Island to Cape York.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200326_5247_67950_u.htm
Mar 27 (604) TEKMESSA: Star Mag 12.47, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 3.37
Across Australia from near Derby across northern Western Australia,
central Northern Territory and southern Queensland to Ballina in
north-eastern New South Wales.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200327_604_64556_u.htm
Mar 27 (1002) OLBERSIA: Star Mag 11.25, Max dur 4.4 sec, Mag Drop 4.59
A narrow path across south-eastern Australia from Melbourne across
southern and eastern Gippsland and south-eastern New South Wales to Narooma..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200327_1002_64552_u.htm
Mar 29 (1360) TARKA: Star Mag 10.6, Max dur 2.8 sec, Mag Drop 4.18
A narrow path across Australia, from near Grafton across north-eastern
New South Wales, southern Queensland and into southern Northern
Territory in evening twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200329_1360_67954_u.htm
Mar 29 (626) NOTBURGA: Star Mag 11.11, Max dur 6.1 sec, Mag Drop 3.54
Across eastern Western Australia to Derby.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200329_626_64570_u.htm
Mar 29 (664) JUDITH: Star Mag 10.21, Max dur 13.6 sec, Mag Drop 5.51
Across Australia from Cann River across eastern Vic, New South Wales
just west of Canberra and Bourke and south-western Queensland to
north-eastern Northern Territory east of Darwin in evening twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200329_664_64568_u.htm
Mar 30 (868) LOVA: Star Mag 11.28, Max dur 6.8 sec, Mag Drop 4.52
Across south-western Western Australia from a little north of Perth
towards southern South Australia in morning twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200330_868_64574_u.htm
Mar 30 (4828) MISENUS: Star Mag 11.55, Max dur 3.9 sec, Mag Drop 6.2
A narrow path of significant uncertainty just north of Cape Reinga in
the North Island of New Zealand, and across Australia from Grafton in
north-east New South Wales across southern Queensland and into The
Northern Territory at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200330_4828_64572_u.htm
Mar 31 (965) ANGELICA: Star Mag 9.42, Max dur 6.3 sec, Mag Drop 7.34
Across Western Australia from Perth to Broome at fairly low elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200331_965_64580_u.htm
Mar 31 (779) NINA: Star Mag 11.84, Max dur 13.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.16
Across south-eastern Australia from eastern Victoria across western New
South Wales and The Northern Territory to northern Western Australia at
low elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200331_779_64578_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 Director Occsec at the address
below. (PLEASE report observations on a copy of the report available
from our
website).
John Sunderland
---------------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note:
My standard caveat that these are the views of a learned amateur, not a professional in the sector, applies as always.
The above post/email/update represents my own words, views, research and opinions, unless stated otherwise the above work
represents my own writing. I’ll give credit or thanks if I have used or represented other people’s words and/or opinions.
The links and references listed below represent the work and research of the respective author’s.
Questions and constructive criticism are always welcome, however I don’t believe anything written here by myself is any reason for impolite behaviour.
Thanks for your time and I hope you have enjoyed reading.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This months research Papers 20_03_2020
RASNZ_20_03_2020
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/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research papers
The subsurface habitability of small icy exomoons
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.09231
Repeated Impact-Driven Plume Formation On Enceladus Over Myr Timescales
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.07866
The pivot energy of Solar Energetic Particles Affecting the Martian surface radiation environment
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06603
Europa's Hemispheric Color Dichotomy as a Constraint on Non-synchronous Rotation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06680
The Low Earth Orbit Satellite Population and Impacts of the SpaceX Starlink Constellation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.07446
The chaotic terrains of Mercury
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59885-5
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2020/03/17/an-unusual-look-at-mercury/
Earths polar night boundary layer as an analogue
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06306
Evolutionary history, potential intermediate animal host, andcross-species analyses of SARS-CoV-2
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jmv.25731
No credible evidence supporting claims of the laboratory engineering of SARS-CoV-2
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22221751.2020.1733440
Venusian Habitable Climate Scenarios
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.05704
Atmospheric compositions and observability of nitrogen dominated ultra-short period super-Earths
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.05354
A probabilistic analysis of the Fermi paradox in terms of the Drake formula
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.04802
TRAPPIST-1 Habitable Atmosphere Intercomparison
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.10950
The interior and atmosphere of the habitable-zone exoplanet K2-18b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11115
Observational Constraints on the Great Filter
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.08776
Indexing Exoplanets with Physical Conditions Potentially Suitable for Rock-Dependent Extremophiles
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.12650
Dust depleted inner disks in a large sample of transition disks through long-baseline ALMA observations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.00079
a Meteoritic Protein containing Iron and Lithium
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11688
The UV surface habitability of Proxima b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.00984
Two planets on the opposite sides of the radius gap transiting the nearby M dwarf LP 729-54
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.01140
Disentangling Atmospheric Compositions of K2-18 b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.01486
Will recent advances in AI result in a paradigm shift in Astrobiology and SETI
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.03944
An education & outreach tool for exploring the diversity of planets like our own
https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.01438
http://earthlike.world/
Proxima Centauri b A Strong Case for including Cosmic-Ray-induced Chemistry
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.02036
The Atmospheres of Rocky Exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.03628
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting News items
Habitable Planet Reality Check: TOI-700d Discovered by NASA’s TESS Mission
https://www.drewexmachina.com/2020/03/11/habitable-planet-reality-check-toi-700d-discovered-by-nasas-tess-mission/
Good News About the COVID-19 Pandemic
https://www.diamandis.com/blog/good-news-covid-19
Coronavirus
https://talbotspy.org/letter-from-toronto-an-infectious-diseases-specialist-reflects-on-corvid-19/
Coronavirus: 'Be prepared, but don't panic'
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/411700/coronavirus-be-prepared-but-don-t-panic
electronic-revolution
https://astronomy.com/magazine/2020/02/astronomys-electronic-revolution
New Zealand confirms case of Covid-19 coronavirus
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410625/new-zealand-confirms-case-of-covid-19-coronavirus
Travel ban having 'major effect' on universities, as Victoria predicts $12m loss
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/119843250/victoria-university-predicts-12-million-loss-from-coronavirus-as-chines-student-remain-stuck-in-china
Covid-19: Auckland university freezes staff hires due to travel ban
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410508/covid-19-auckland-university-freezes-staff-hires-due-to-travel-ban
Starlink
https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau2001
Neanderthals
https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/shanidarz
Habitable Neptunes
https://planetplanet.net/2020/02/10/second-chance-planets-2-pre-terraformed-habitable-evaporated-cores-of-mini-neptunes/
---------------------------------------------------------------
Updates from Andrew B,
Asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36).
Images obtained: Friday 19th April 2019.
High resolution map compiled as of: Monday 23rd March 2020.
Super Resolution Polycam images.
Here the tiny asteroid barely 480 metres wide 101955 Bennu was imaged in very high resolution by the orbiting OSIRIS.REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.
Here 101955 Bennu is seen here in this photomap at a resolution of about 20 cm, the original imagery was obtained at a resolution of 5 centimetres!!!!!!!!
101955 Bennu looks very similar to the Asteroid 162173 Ryugu that the Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is currently surveying and has successfully delivered three hopperbots on. Both 101955 Bennu and 162173 Ryugu have that weird angular shape, both also rotate on their axis in a retrograde direction, east to west so the sun would rise in the west and set in the east as seen from both. Also both are of low density, about 1.2 g/cm3. Both have large boulders on their surfaces.
However there are some notable differences. Firstly 101955 Bennu is much the smaller of the two, about 500 metres wide where as 162173 Ryugu is about 980 metres wide. Also 101955 Bennu has a much rounder equatorial region. 101955 Bennu is a slightly more evolved type B asteroid, a very rare subgroup of the type C / Carbonaceous Chondrite type where as 162173 Ryugu is of a more typical type C.
The density of 101955 Bennu is low, only about 1.2 g/cm3 or a mass of about 115 million tons, very low for even an object of this size. 101955 Bennu is certainly a pile of dusty, rocky ancient rubble held together by gravity.
Asteroid 101955 Bennu was chosen as is a very rare Type B, enriched with hydrated minerals and organic compounds (ingredients to help build life, not life itself) and the fact the asteroid may be made from ancient impact, ejected debris from a much larger, much more distant B type asteroid, maybe even the giant Main Belt Protoplanet 2 Pallas.
Asteroid 101955 Bennu rotates in a retrograde direction east to west, (Sun and stars would rise in the west and set in the east) about once every 4 hours & 17 minutes on it's axis & orbits the Sun once every 1 year & 72 days.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona
---------------------------------------------------------------
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 231, 20 March 2020
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. 2020 RASNZ Conference and AGM Postponed
2. Niue is the World's First 'Dark Sky Place'
3. The Solar System in April
4. NACAA Cancelled
5. New Zealand Astrophotography Competition
6. Stargazers Getaway September 18-20
7. Variable Star News
8. 14th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting
9. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference
10. Heather Couper (1949-2020)
11. Moon and Mars's Sub-Surfaces Probed
12. Meade Files for Bankruptcy
13. How to Join the RASNZ
14. Quote
1. 2020 RASNZ Conference and AGM Postponed
RASNZ President, Nicholas Rattenbury, writes:
It is with great regret that we have to inform you that the 2020 RASNZ Conference and AGM will be postponed - as will the Dark Skies workshop. Our Society has a responsibility to manage its affairs in light of current Government policy and prevailing health advice regarding novel coronavirus covid-19. We do not want to expose our Members or guests to any unnecessary risk of infection.
Council is working with our venue provider and guest speakers to find an optimal alternative date, in the final quarter of 2020. For those of you who have already paid your registration fees, your options are:
Take no action, and your registration will remain on record for the rescheduled conference, or
Request a full refund, by emailing the conference organisers and providing your bank account details.
We appreciate that this postponement may well come as a disappointment to you. Please be assured that Council is working hard to deliver the 2020 Conference and AGM. We will advise you further as the situation evolves. We aim to settle on a revised date for the Conference by the end of March and we will be in touch again at that time.
Until then, please take care of yourself and yours. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at president@rasnz.org.nz
2. Niue is the World's First 'Dark Sky Place'
Niue has become the world's first 'Dark Sky Place' following the International Dark-Sky Association's (IDA) approval of the island's application for the protection of its sky, land and sea. Such dark-sky area designations aim to restrict artificial light pollution so that night skies can be observed and enjoyed to their fullest potential.
Tourism Niue said the protection added to current measures, including a marine reserve which was 40 percent of Niue's exclusive economic zone.
The Huvalu Forest Conservation area, which contains some of the world's most threatened flora and fauna, is also protected. The marine reserve and forest sanctuaries cover 75 percent of the island's land mass.
Niue now had a dark-sky community and two dark-sky sanctuaries, said Tourism Niue chief executive Felicity Bollen. "It's a huge undertaking for us because it shows clearly to the rest of the world that we take very seriously the sustainability of our environment and culture and how precious we hold the land, the sea and now the sky." Celebrations were held on Sunday March 8 to mark the island's milestone achievement.
The initiative, championed by Niue Tourism, received support from the government and community with the whole island coming together to support the project and make the changes. Andre Siohane, of the Ministry of Infrastructure in Niue, said the government was committed to the protection, management and enhancement of the nation's dark skies.
"Some of the significant measures undertaken by the government include full streetlight replacement for the entire island and the upgrading of domestic private lighting," he said. Ms Bollen said dark skies and dark-sky tourism became one of the hottest trends last year. She said people could travel to Niue to admire the dark sky, and learn about the culture and the mythology from the people who lived on the land.
"Niue is always looking for tourism opportunities, tourism products, and services which have a minimal, negative impact on the environment and culture," she said. "Dark sky absolutely meets that criteria."
Ms Bollen said they had trained "dark-sky ambassadors" who had set up business in the villages and would take tours around the country. That was a great economic contributor for Niue and for small businesses, and Niue was proud to receive such an important acknowledgement from the IDA.
To be the first country to become a dark sky nation was a massive accomplishment for a small Pacific nation with a population of just over 1600 people, she said. "The stars and night sky have a huge significance to the Niuean way of life, from a cultural, environmental and health perspective. "Being a dark sky nation will help protect Niue's night skies for future generations of Niueans and visitors to the country."
Ms Bollen said the new status sat well with Niue's ethos of protection and conservation at all cost - that tourism had to comply with those standards.
New Zealand couple Richard and Gendie Somerville-Ryan researched and wrote Niue's application, after having previously carried out a successful bid for Great Barrier Island to become a Dark Sky Sanctuary.
Mr Somerville-Ryan said the journey to protect the island's pristine night skies began in mid-2018 when they formed a small team with Niue Tourism. "We then began to share our excitement about the quality of the island's dark sky with the wider community," he said in a statement.
"Niueans have a long history of star navigation and a life regulated by lunar cycles and star positions. "The knowledge of the night skies, held by the elders in the community, has been passed down through the generations."
Niuean elders now hope the passion to learn the cultural history of the stars is re-ignited in the younger generations. Elder and cultural guardian Misa Kalutea said Niue's skies had been appreciated for centuries. The new status added more emphasis to the importance of Niue's traditional knowledge - "providing a reason for the retelling and sharing of this knowledge before it's lost".
The IDA celebrated Niue's achievement in Arizona where the official announcement was made on Sunday. Niue's official Dark Sky recognition is set to provide a significant economic opportunity for the small Pacific island with a growing global interest in 'Astro-tourism'.
-- From https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/411280/niue-is-world-s-first-dark-sky-nation
Actual interviews are near the end of this 30-minute audio:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/programmes/tagata-o-te-moana/audio/2018738389/tagata-o-te-moana-for-14-march-2020
3. The Solar System in April
Dates and times shown are NZST (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 9.1
Clocks revert to NZST on Sunday 5 April.
The Sun and Planets in April: Rise & Set, Magnitude & Constellation
April 1 NZDT April 30 NZST
Mag Cons Rise Set Mag Cons Rise Set
SUN -26.7 Psc 7.34am 7.14pm -26.7 Ari 7.04am 5.30pm
Merc 0.0 Aqr 5.19am 6.22pm -1.7 Ari 6.40am 5.20pm
Venus -4.6 Tau 11.40am 8.56pm -4.7 Tau 10.39am 7.12pm
Mars 0.8 Cap 1.29am 4.17pm 0.4 Cap 12.18am 2.24pm
Jup -2.1 Sgr 12.59am 3.49pm -2.3 Sgr 10.17pm 1.03pm
Sat 0.7 Cap 1.30am 4.09pm 0.6 Cap 10.42pm 1.19pm
Uran 5.9 Ari 9.34am 8.12pm 5.9 Ari 6.49am 5.22pm
Nep 8.0 Aqr 5.37am 6.22pm 7.9 Aqr 2.48am 3.30pm
Pluto 14.5 Sgr 12.58am 3.53pm 14.5 Sgr 10.04pm 1.00pm
April 1 NZDT April 30 NZST
Twilights morning evening morning evening
Civil: start 7.09am, end 7.40pm start 6.38am, end 5.57pm
Nautical: start 6.37am, end 8.12pm start 6.06am, end 6.30pm
Astro: start 6.05am, end 8.44pm start 5.33am, end 7.02pm
April PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZ & UT
First quarter: Apr 1 at 11.21pm NZDT (10:21 UT)
Full Moon: Apr 8 at 2.35pm NZST (02:35 UT)
Last quarter Apr 15 at 10.56am (Apr 14, 22:56 UT)
New Moon: Apr 23 at 2.26pm (02:26 UT)
First quarter: May 1 at 8.38am (Apr 30, 20:38 UT)
PLANETS in APRIL 2020
VENUS remains the only naked eye evening planet in April. It sets about 100 minutes after the Sun.
The planet is in Taurus passing through the southern edge of the Pleiades on April 3 and 4. The crescent moon is about 8° from Venus as seen from NZ on the evenings of April 26 and 27.
MERCURY is relatively well placed for viewing as a morning object in the early part of April. It rises over 2 hours before the Sun on the 1st. At magnitude 0 it should be fairly easy to spot some 15° up an hour before sunrise. The planet will be some 6° to the north of east.
The interval between Mercury rise and Sunrise gets less during the month, down to about 100 minutes by the 15th. So Mercury will be lower but it will be a little brighter at -0.4. The trends continue for the rest of the month, by the 25th its magnitude -1.0, but rising only an hour before the Sun. During the last few days of the month, Mercury is likely to be too low in the morning twilight to observe.
MARS and SATURN are just under a degree apart on the morning of April 1. During the month Mars moves across Capricornus and away from Saturn which moves far more slowly.
JUPITER and PLUTO are morning objects in Sagittarius. The two start the month just under a degree apart. At their closest on the morning of the 6th they are only 43 arc minutes.
JUPITER and SATURN themselves are just over 6° apart on April 1 and a shade under 5° apart on the 30th. The two will gradually get closer during the rest of 2020.
URANUS is at conjunction on April 26, so is too close to the Sun for observation.
NEPTUNE moves up into the morning sky during April following its conjunction in early March. Mercury is a little over a degree from Neptune on the morning of April 4.
POSSIBLE BINOCULAR ASTEROIDS in APRIL
April 1 NZDT April 29 NZST
Mag Cons transit Mag Cons transit
(1) Ceres 9.3 Cap 10.28am 9.2 Aqr 8.12am
(4) Vesta 8.5 Tau 4.51pm 8.5 Tau 2.45pm
CERES is a morning object. It rises just after 3am NZDT on the 1st, and 1am NZST on the 30th. The asteroid moves from Capricornus to Aquarius on the 8th.
VESTA is an evening object. It sets at 9.47 pm NZDT on the 1st and 7.30 pm NZST on the 30th when the asteroid is just over 7° from Venus
-- Brian Loader
4. NACAA Cancelled
The 29th National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers (NACAA)
that was to be in Parkes over Easter has been cancelled. The message on their website https://www.nacaa.org.au/ says:
"Due to the unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 virus, the NACAA Inc Committee has decided, with due consideration to the safety of all concerned, that the 2020 NACAA at Parkes is cancelled.
All registration fees will be refunded in full. If you have booked accommodation, don't forget to cancel.
The committee is considering where and when the next NACAA will be held; this will be announced in due course."
5. New Zealand Astrophotography Competition - Closes September 21
Entries are sought for the 2020 New Zealand Astrophotography competition.
The competition is fully endorsed by the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand and is the nation's largest astrophotography competition.
This year we are honoured to have Babak Tafreshi as our judge, Babak founded "The World At Night" (TWAN) in 2007 and has been directing it ever since. TWAN is an international effort by the world’s leading nightscape photographers, to produce and exhibit stunning nightscape photos and time-lapse videos of the world’s landmarks against celestial attractions.
Babak is also a member of the board of advisors of Astronomers Without Borders and was a project coordinator for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). In 2009, he won the Lennart Nilsson Award for best scientific photography, in joint effort with NASA's Cassini Imaging Director Carolyn Porco.
This year we are introducing a new time lapse category so make sure you read over the new rules and conditions.
We are also very happy to announce new sponsorship from Sky-Watcher Australia who are sponsoring the overall winner of the competition with a $1000 NZD Sky-Watcher Australia Voucher to be spent on the Sky-Watcher Australia Website.
In addition to this fantastic prize the overall winner will have their name immortalized on the Harry Williams trophy for Astrophotography excellence. (Trophy to be returned prior to the 2021 competition)
We have also secured new sponsorship from Celestron Australia who are sponsoring the Deep Sky category with a $300 NZD Celestron Australia Voucher to be spent on the Celestron Australia Website.
As in previous years we are lucky to have Australian Sky & Telescope on board as sponsors of both the Deep Sky category and the Nightscape category, the winners of these categories will receive a one year subscription to the magazine as well as having their images printed in the magazine.
We are also lucky to have Astronz sponsor the Solar System category with a $300 Astronz gift voucher, Astronz is easily New Zealand's best known and most trusted supplier of Astronomical equipment. The Auckland Astronomical Society will also provide a cash prize for each category winner.
The competition cut-off date is the 21st of September and the competition awards will be announced at the annual Burbidge dinner which is the Auckland Astronomical Society's premier annual event, keep an eye out on the society website for details on the forthcoming Burbidge dinner.
You can find the rules and entry forms on the AAS website at https://www.astronomy.org.nz/new/public/default.aspx
-- From Jonathan Green's posting nnzastronomers Yahoo group
6. Stargazers Getaway September 18-20
Stargazers Getaway 2020 at Camp Iona on Friday September 18th to Sunday 20th. This is New Moon, so we are targeting this weekend for dark skies! Camp Iona is near Herbert, south of Oamaru.
https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/
Damien McNamara, Stargazers Getaway Co-ordinator, writes on Facebook:
"We have Amadeo confirmed again throughout Saturday with the inflatable planetarium from Otago Museum.
We have Dr Ian Griffin confirmed for early afternoon on Saturday, to speak about his aurora hunting adventures!
We will also be holding the Dark Skies Forum again, where a handful of people speak about dark sky developments around the country. There has been a major shift in the way we advocate for dark skies in the last year, moving from protecting the night sky, to protecting everything under the night sky.
I will return again as a panel member bridging the 2 fields of astronomy and human health with our story of enlightenment. I have also confirmed Alexander Tups, who is not only a DAS member, but also an Associate Professor at the Centre for Neuroendocrinology, a University of Otago Research Centre. His research around Melatonin suppression and circadian rhythms saw him present at the Starlight Conference in October last year in Tekapo.
So it's looking to be an amazing year, hopefully building on our amazing night skies from last year!"
See https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/permalink/1074448229591272/
7. Variable Star News
Variable Stars South Symposium Cancelled
The 6th VSS symposium, along with the NACCA Conference at Parkes, has been cancelled. The speakers who were to present at the Symposium are encouraged to prepare papers for the next issues of the VSS Newsletter (2020 April and July).
Betelgeuse Update
Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis) appears to have reached minimum in the current major event and brightness is increasing at about the rate of decline. After dipping to V filter magnitude 1.8 it is now at about V filter mag 1.15 which is still some way from maximum of approximately V-filter magnitude of 0.5. It is still visibly fainter than normal and it will be worthwhile when observing the night sky to follow its rate of rise in the next few months.
For a few years Carl Knight of Manawatu has been measuring the brightness of Betelgeuse with an infra-red J filter. The brightness at this wavelength has hardly varied during the current fading at visual wavelengths. Most of the energy of red pulsating stars is put out at infra-red wavelengths and the brightness change at the visual wavelengths usually arises from shifts of energy due to the pulsations.in the stellar layers. Hopefully modelling can distinguish whether the large brightness change has arisen from a larger than a normal red giant pulsation event or an exceptional obscuration event.
Spectroscopy Workshop USA
The109th Annual Meeting (AM) of the AAVSO is being held November 7th–8th in Boston. For queries on the AM go to the website or contact Kathy Spirer at kspirer@aavso.org.
Spectroscopy is becoming a more important part of variable star observing because of the additional information it gives on a star’s behaviour. In the two days (Nov 5th-6th) prior to the AM the Sacramento Mountains Spectroscopy Workshops will join with AAVSO at The Row Hotel, Somerville, Ma to present the AAVSO Spectroscopy Workshop (ASW2020). The advisory notice states “Hands on workshops will cater for beginner through to experienced amateur spectroscopists with concurrent sessions, and feature small group discussions and informational presentations.”
“The program will introduce participants to a variety of research projects and professional/amateur collaborations including the AAVSO’s Spectroscopy Database (AVSpec), and will discuss types of hardware and software to use. ASW2020’s goal is two-part: to help interested individuals get started with astronomical spectroscopy, and to help experienced amateurs improve their techniques.” For questions regarding the Sacramento Mountains Spectroscopy Workshop please contact Ken Hudson (ken.hudson.bus@gmail.com).
Note: The spectroscopy workshop was advised prior to covid-19 travel restrictions. If the restrictions aren’t lifted it may be that lectures will be given by internet.
-- Alan Baldwin
8. 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.
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 opened 20 Feb 2020. See www.aprim2020.org
for details.
-------
The above website now says:
"In light of the global COVID-19 situation, the APRIM 2020 organising committees are working on adjustments to our meeting to ensure the safety for all involved, as well as accessibility of the meeting to the astronomical community.
We will provide advice and information for those who have submitted abstracts, registered, and/or booked accommodation, and we recommend that no one books anything non-refundable until we provide further information.
More details will be available in coming weeks on what the changes will look like, please check back to our website regularly or follow us on Twitter."
9. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference
From 21 to 25 September 2020, Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Commission C2 - Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP), will host the world's largest conference on astronomy communication: Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2020 (CAP2020). Professionals from science communication, informal education, planetaria and science centres, as well as professional and amateur astronomers, journalists and creatives, are invited to attend the conference to exchange ideas and discuss best practice.
Under the central theme of Communicating Astronomy for a Better World: Environment, Culture and Peace, the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC) invites proposals for oral presentations, posters, and workshops to be submitted online by 15 March 2020 [Extended. See below.]. The topics that will be discussed at the conference are:
- Current Challenges in Astronomy Communication
- Best Practice in Public Outreach
- Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Empathy in Communicating Astronomy
- The Media's Role in Astronomy Communication
- Using Multimedia, Social Media, Immersive Environments and other Technologies for Public Engagement with Astronomy
- Astronomy and Climate Change
- Astronomy Communication to Promote Peace
- The Role of Astronomy in Bridging Cultures
- Communicating Astronomy in the Asia-Pacific Region
Participants will also have the opportunity to add their own topics for discussion during the event's "unconference" slots. Networking activities will encourage learning from peers, identifying potential partners, and strengthening the links between Asia-Pacific and international science communicators.
The link for the conference is:
https://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2020/
-- Forwarded by Tim Banks
Note: The website now says "Abstract & grant applications deadline extended until 5 April 2020.
10. Heather Couper (1949-2020)
U.K. Astronomer and television presenter whose passion for her subject captivated audiences, Heather Couper was also guest speaker at two RASNZ Conferences. The following tribute by Stuart Clark is from The Guardian.
The astronomer and broadcaster Heather Couper, who has died aged 70 after a short illness, helped, with her passion for the subject, to redefine the way her science was presented on television.
She made her name with two series in particular, The Planets (1985) and The Stars (1988), both on Channel 4. In these programmes, rather than presenting from a TV studio, Couper took viewers inside the observatories that shaped the subject she loved. Her scripts were often laced with tales of stargazers from the past, and this historical context, presented from a personal point of view, showed the process of the science, and humanised it.
Couper was a pioneer for women in science both on and off screen. In 1984 she was elected the first female president of the British Astronomical Association. In 1993 she became the first female professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London, a position that had been held only by men since its inception in 1597.
Her success with The Planets and The Stars led to her founding the television production company Pioneer Productions in 1988 with her lifelong collaborator, Nigel Henbest, and the director of The Stars, Stuart Carter. A year later the company produced The Neptune Encounter, a documentary about that year’s flypast of the eighth planet in the solar system by Nasa’s Voyager 2 spacecraft.
Couper wrote dozens of books, mostly with Henbest, including three popular titles for children: Black Holes (1996), Big Bang (1997), and Is Anybody Out There? (1998). Her recent publications include The Universe Explained: A Cosmic Q&A (2018) and the 2020 edition of Philip’s Stargazing Month-by-Month Guide to the Night Sky. The pair also wrote a monthly astronomy column for the Independent from 1987 until early this year.
Couper had been captivated by space from a young age. She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, to Anita (nee Taylor), a historian, and George Couper, a pilot. The family eventually settled in west London. As a child, Heather would sit up at night staring into the sky. On one occasion, when she was aged around eight, she saw a green shooting star, but her parents did not believe that such a thing could exist. She was vindicated the next day by a newspaper story on the star, and resolved to be an astronomer.
Aged 16, she wrote to the astronomer and TV personality Patrick Moore asking if her gender was a barrier to a career in astronomy. She received a letter back from him saying that being a girl was no problem at all. However, on leaving St Mary’s girls grammar school in Northwood, Middlesex, Couper initially abandoned that aspiration to become a management trainee at Topshop.
After two years she realised that she was not suited to a career in retail, and in 1969 became a research assistant at Cambridge observatory, while taking maths A-level at night school. She became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1970.
She then studied astronomy and physics at the University of Leicester, where she met Henbest. They became platonic companions for life, later (in 1985) forming the business partnership Hencoup Enterprises. Couper graduated in 1973 and began a PhD at Linacre College, Oxford. However, her drive to popularise her subject had taken hold, and she left after 18 months to begin giving talks at local societies and evening classes.
From 1977 onwards she gave regular lectures at the Old Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and in 1978 was invited to appear on Moore’s show The Sky at Night. This led to her presenting a children’s astronomy series, Heavens Above (1981), for Yorkshire TV.
Couper was also a skilled radio broadcaster. She presented the BBC World Service’s astronomy magazine programme Seeing Stars (1994-2000) and Britain’s Space Race (2007) on Radio 4. The following year, also for Radio 4, she wrote and narrated Cosmic Quest, a history of astronomy over 30 15-minute episodes.
As a millenium commissioner, Heather Couper advocated for funding for science venues such as The National Space Centre in Leicester
I worked with Heather when we were both guest lecturers in China for the 2009 total solar eclipse. Her ability to captivate an audience from the moment she took the microphone was extraordinary.
She was a member of the Millennium Commission (the body responsible for the distribution of funds raised by the National Lottery) from its inception in 1993 until its disbandment in 2009. Couper’s science background was unique among the commissioners and she became the subject’s chief advocate, with science and environment centres around the UK, such as the National Space Centre in Leicester, benefiting. She was appointed CBE in 2007. In 1999 an asteroid, 3922 Heather, was named after her.
Beyond astronomy, Couper’s interests were the countryside, church architecture and classical music. She and Henbest lived first in Greenwich, and then in the Chiltern Hills. He survives her.
• Heather Anita Couper, astronomer, writer and broadcaster, born 2 June 1949; died 19 February 2020
-- See https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/04/heather-couper-obituary
11. Moon and Mars's Sub-Surfaces Probed
At the end of February results were published from probes to two heavenly bodies: Chang’e 4, a Chinese mission to the Moon, and InSight, an American mission to Mars. Chang’e 4 landed in January 2019; InSight arrived the previous November. Chang’e 4 results appeared in Science Advances, an American journal, and InSight's Nature Geoscience, a British journal.
Chang’e 4 is China’s second successful lunar lander, and the first from any country to touch down intact on the Moon’s far side — the part never visible from Earth. Its purpose is to investigate the geology of Von Kármán crater in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. To that end it is fitted with a ground-penetrating radar which can peer many metres down.
This radar shows three distinct layers of rock, the top two each 12 metres thick and the lowest 16 metres thick. Below that, the signal is too fuzzy to see what is going on. The upper layer is composed of regolith — crushed rock that is the product of zillions of small meteorite impacts over the course of several billion years, and which covers most of the Moon’s surface. The other two, distinguishable by the coarseness of the grains within them, are probably discrete ejecta from separate nearby impacts early in the Moon’s history that were subsequently covered by the regolith.
InSight is intended to probe deeper than this. It is fitted with instruments designed to measure heat flow from Mars’s interior, any wobble in the planet’s axis of rotation (which would probably be caused by an iron core) and Marsquakes. The heat-flow instrument has so far been a washout. The “mole”, a device intended to dig into Mars’s surface, pulling this instrument with it, has refused to co-operate — to the point where the project’s directors are about to take the time-honoured step of hitting it with a hammer (or, rather, with the scoop on the probe’s robot arm) to persuade it to stay in the hole that it is supposed to be excavating. And the wobble detector, though working correctly, has insufficient data to report. So the release this week is mainly about the quakes.
InSight’s seismograph recorded 174 quakes between the craft’s landing and the end of September 2019. The strongest were between magnitudes three and four—just powerful enough, had they happened on Earth, for a human being to notice them. Quakes are a valuable source of information about a planet’s interior. A network of seismographs, as exists on Earth, allows their points of origin to be triangulated, their speed measured and their reflections from subsurface rock layers observed. From all this can be deduced those layers’ composition and depth. With but a single instrument, such deductions are trickier. InSight’s masters do, though, think that two of the quakes originated in Cerberus Fossae, a set of faults 1,600km from the landing site that are suspected of still being seismically active.
-- From The Economist 2020 February 29, p.65. See
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/02/27/the-exploration-of-the-moon-and-mars-continues-apace
12. Meade Files for Bankruptcy
Meade Instruments, one of the most respected names in telescope manufacturing, have filed for protection from bankruptcy just days after their parent company lost an antitrust case in court.
In 2013 Meade Instruments was purchased by Chinese company Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co. Ltd. An American company, Orion Binoculars and Telescopes, based in the San Francisco area, previously bought components from Meade with which to build their own brand telescopes. However, Orion claimed in a lawsuit that after the Meade takeover, Ningbo Sunny and Taiwanese company Synta Technology, who own well-known brands Celestron and Sky-Watcher, coordinated to fix manufacturing prices in an attempt to force Orion out of the telescope market.
On 26 November Orion won the case against Ningbo Sunny and were awarded initial damages of US$16.8 million. Eight days later, on 4 December, Meade filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which in United States law allows a company to re-organise and restructure their debts to avoid going out of business. It is believed that Meade Instruments currently carry debts of between $10 million and $50 million.
-- Copied from 'Astronomy Now', January 2020, p.20. astronmynow.com .
See also 'Sky & Telescope', April 2020, p.11.
13. 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 2020 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
14. Quote
Hope you are all coping OK. In Australia all people want to stock up with is toilet paper… A friend just txt us to say that in Germany they are responding to the crisis by stocking up on sausage and cheese. It is the Würst Käse scenario!
Alan Gilmore Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57 alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can view updated paths and other details at:
http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Minor Planet Occultation Updates:
================================
This email describes updates for minor planet occultations for March 2020.
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: *****
*****Mar 1 (466) TISIPHONE: Star Mag 5.79, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 8.63
A path across south-western Western Australia from Perth to north of Albany..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200301_466_64316_u.htm
Mar 2 (71) NIOBE: Star Mag 10.9, Max dur 6.8 sec, Mag Drop 0.76
Across Australia from Townsville across Queensland, southern Northern
Territory and central Western Australia to Geraldton.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200302_71_67916_u.htm
***Mar 3 (124) ALKESTE: Star Mag 10.26, Max dur 7.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.53
Across northern New Zealand, from Napier to New Plymouth, and across
Australia from southern Brisbane across Queensland and northern Northern
Territory and Western Australia to Wyndham.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200303_124_64326_u.htm
Mar 3 (318) MAGDALENA: Star Mag 11.91, Max dur 14.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.52
Across Western Australia from east of Esperance to south of Broome.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200303_318_64328_u.htm
Mar 3 (53) KALYPSO: Star Mag 12.39, Max dur 4.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.47
Across Australia from Gympie across southern Queensland, southern
Northern Territory and northern Western Australia to to Port Headland.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200303_53_64330_u.htm
Mar 4 (530) TURANDOT: Star Mag 10.4, Max dur 2.4 sec, Mag Drop 4.52
Across the South Island of New Zealand from Auckland to Haast, and
across south-eastern Australia crossing Victoria (possibly including
Melbourne) and into South Australia at low and decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200304_530_67132_u.htm
Mar 4 (316) GOBERTA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 2.3 sec, Mag Drop 5.16
Across far northern New Zealand, crossing Mangonui, and into
south-eastern Queensland near Brisbane at low and decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200304_316_67920_u.htm
Mar 6 (868) LOVA: Star Mag 11.1, Max dur 2.9 sec, Mag Drop 4.91
Across Australia from Broome across northern Western Australia, central
Northern Territory and Queensland to Rockhampton just on morning twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200306_868_67926_u.htm
Mar 6 (850) ALTONA: Star Mag 12.33, Max dur 7.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.99
Across Australia from Portland across western Victoria and New South
Wales, eastern South Australia and The Northern Territory to Darwin.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200306_850_64354_u.htm
Mar 6 (141) LUMEN: Star Mag 11.37, Max dur 9.7 sec, Mag Drop 2.87
A fairly broad path across the South Island of New Zealand from Milton
(and possibly Dunedin) to Wanaka and possibly Haast, and across
Australia, following the Queensland coast from Fraser Island to Cooktown.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200306_141_64356_u.htm
Mar 7 (604) TEKMESSA: Star Mag 11.97, Max dur 3.2 sec, Mag Drop 4.05
Across the North Island of New Zealand, from Woodsville to Opunake, and
across Australia from near Brisbane into south-east Queensland at low
and decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200307_604_64370_u.htm
Mar 9 (132) AETHRA: Star Mag 12.42, Max dur 3.1 sec, Mag Drop 0.6
Across the North Island of New Zealand, from Hicks Bay to Raglan (and
across central New South Wales including Sydney shortly before sunrise).
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200309_132_64378_u.htm
Mar 10 (418) ALEMANNIA: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 6.3 sec, Mag Drop 3.34
A path just south of New Zealand and across Australia, crossing
south-western Victoria, south-eastern South Australia and into southern
Western Australia well north of Perth at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_418_67930_u.htm
Mar 10 (335) ROBERTA: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 3.4 sec, Mag Drop 1.5
Across the South Island of New Zealand, from Timaru to Haast, and across
south-eastern Australia from Melbourne across southern Victoria and
south-eastern South Australia at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_335_64384_u.htm
Mar 10 (49) PALES: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 3.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.54
Across central New South Wales and into South Australia at low and
decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_49_67934_u.htm
Mar 10 (788) HOHENSTEINA: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 3.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.7
Across Australia from Grafton (in morning twilight) across northern New
South Wales, South Australia and into central Western Australia at
decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200310_788_67932_u.htm
Mar 11 (1669) DAGMAR: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 5.7 sec, Mag Drop 6.27
Across mid south-western Western Australia from near Norseman to Geraldton.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200311_1669_67936_u.htm
Mar 14 (3) JUNO: Star Mag 12.44, Max dur 18.9 sec, Mag Drop 0.09
A broad path across western Australia, from central New South Wales
around sunrise across South Australia and Western Australia to near
Port Headland.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200314_3_64422_u.htm
Mar 14 (409) ASPASIA: Star Mag 10.4, Max dur 7.6 sec, Mag Drop 2.86
A fairly broad path across south-eastern Australia including the
northern half of Tasmania and possibly the southern most points of
Victoria, and much of the South Island of New Zealand, but at low elevation..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200314_409_64416_u.htm
Mar 14 (3708) 1974FV1: Star Mag 12.41, Max dur 7.6 sec, Mag Drop 4.74
A somewhat uncertain path across New Zealand, from Blenheim to
Westport, and across southern Australia from Mallacoota across northern
Victoria and south-eastern South Australia (just north of Adelaide) to
central Western Australia near Exmouth at low elevation. The one sigma
limit covers New Zealand from Wellington to Christchurch, and much of
Victoria and southern New South Wales including Melbourne and Canberra
(just) and Adelaide.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200314_3708_64418_u.htm
Mar 15 (638) MOIRA: Star Mag 12, Max dur 18.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.04
Across northern Australia from Carnarvon across northern Western
Australia and The Northern Territory well west of Darwin, and into Papua
- New Guinea crossing Lae.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200315_638_64432_u.htm
Mar 16 (521) BRIXIA: Star Mag 12.42, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 2.07
Across New Zealand,including Wellington and Blenheim to Collingwood, and
across Australia from near Sydney across central New South Wales and
into northern South Australia at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200316_521_64442_u.htm
Mar 17 (335) ROBERTA: Star Mag 12.01, Max dur 3.7 sec, Mag Drop 1.74
Across the South Island of New Zealand, from Oamaru to Wanaka, across
the northern half of Tasmania, and across south-western Western
Australia, possibly near Albany, at low elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200317_335_64452_u.htm
***Mar 19 (2140) KEMEROVO: Star Mag 10.8, Max dur 2.6 sec, Mag Drop 5.24
A narrow path across south-eastern Western Australia from near Esperance
to Perth.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200319_2140_67946_u.htm
Mar 21 (38) LEDA: Star Mag 11.32, Max dur 12 sec, Mag Drop 1.57
Across central Western Australia from Kalbarri in morning twilight
towards southern Northern Territory.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200321_38_64506_u.htm
Mar 21 (4828) MISENUS: Star Mag 12.36, Max dur 4.8 sec, Mag Drop 5.5
A narrow, somewhat uncertain path path across south-eastern Australia,
from Bundaberg across south-eastern Queensland, western New South Wales
and south-eastern South Australia to Victor Harbour. Adelaide and
Brisbane are within the one sigma limit.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200321_4828_64504_u.htm
Mar 22 (546) HERODIAS: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 4.2 sec, Mag Drop 2.7
Across Australia, from the Gove Peninsula in The Northern Territory
across central Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales to near
Kempsey, and then just south of New Zealand.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200322_546_64512_u.htm
*****Mar 22 (704) INTERAMNIA: Star Mag 9.43, Max dur 21.3 sec, Mag Drop 2.2
A very broad path across Australia, including Tasmania north of Hobart
and Queenstown, Victoria just south of Melbourne to Nhill, south-eastern
South Australia south of Adelaide and Ceduna, and Western Australia to
Exmouth, and passing just south of the South Island of New Zealand.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200322_704_64510_u.htm
Mar 23 (751) FAINA: Star Mag 11.46, Max dur 3.4 sec, Mag Drop 2.67
Across Western Australia from Denham towards southern South Australia in
morning twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200323_751_64520_u.htm
Mar 23 (654) ZELINDA: Star Mag 12.14, Max dur 19.8 sec, Mag Drop 1.01
A path grazing the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New
Zealand, from Hicks Bay to Mangonui, and across Papua - New Guinea near Lae..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200323_654_64518_u.htm
Mar 24 (186) CELUTA: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 4.1 sec, Mag Drop 1.72
Across Australia from near Wyndham across north-eastern Western
Australia, south-western Northern Territory and South Australia to
Kangaroo Island.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200324_186_64528_u.htm
Mar 24 (1282) UTOPIA: Star Mag 11.56, Max dur 6.5 sec, Mag Drop 4.66
A quite narrow path across Australia from Cooktown across western
Queensland, south-eastern Northern Territory, north-western South
Australia and southern Western Australia to Perth.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200324_1282_64526_u.htm
***Mar 26 (5247) KRYLOV: Star Mag 9, Max dur 0.8 sec, Mag Drop 6.02
A very narrow path across the South Island of New Zealand, from
Christchurch to near Greymouth and just off the eastern Australian coast
from Fraser Island to Cape York.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200326_5247_67950_u.htm
Mar 27 (604) TEKMESSA: Star Mag 12.47, Max dur 5.4 sec, Mag Drop 3.37
Across Australia from near Derby across northern Western Australia,
central Northern Territory and southern Queensland to Ballina in
north-eastern New South Wales.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200327_604_64556_u.htm
Mar 27 (1002) OLBERSIA: Star Mag 11.25, Max dur 4.4 sec, Mag Drop 4.59
A narrow path across south-eastern Australia from Melbourne across
southern and eastern Gippsland and south-eastern New South Wales to Narooma..
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200327_1002_64552_u.htm
Mar 29 (1360) TARKA: Star Mag 10.6, Max dur 2.8 sec, Mag Drop 4.18
A narrow path across Australia, from near Grafton across north-eastern
New South Wales, southern Queensland and into southern Northern
Territory in evening twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200329_1360_67954_u.htm
Mar 29 (626) NOTBURGA: Star Mag 11.11, Max dur 6.1 sec, Mag Drop 3.54
Across eastern Western Australia to Derby.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200329_626_64570_u.htm
Mar 29 (664) JUDITH: Star Mag 10.21, Max dur 13.6 sec, Mag Drop 5.51
Across Australia from Cann River across eastern Vic, New South Wales
just west of Canberra and Bourke and south-western Queensland to
north-eastern Northern Territory east of Darwin in evening twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200329_664_64568_u.htm
Mar 30 (868) LOVA: Star Mag 11.28, Max dur 6.8 sec, Mag Drop 4.52
Across south-western Western Australia from a little north of Perth
towards southern South Australia in morning twilight.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200330_868_64574_u.htm
Mar 30 (4828) MISENUS: Star Mag 11.55, Max dur 3.9 sec, Mag Drop 6.2
A narrow path of significant uncertainty just north of Cape Reinga in
the North Island of New Zealand, and across Australia from Grafton in
north-east New South Wales across southern Queensland and into The
Northern Territory at decreasing elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200330_4828_64572_u.htm
Mar 31 (965) ANGELICA: Star Mag 9.42, Max dur 6.3 sec, Mag Drop 7.34
Across Western Australia from Perth to Broome at fairly low elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200331_965_64580_u.htm
Mar 31 (779) NINA: Star Mag 11.84, Max dur 13.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.16
Across south-eastern Australia from eastern Victoria across western New
South Wales and The Northern Territory to northern Western Australia at
low elevation.
Details:
http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200331_779_64578_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 Director Occsec at the address
below. (PLEASE report observations on a copy of the report available
from our
website).
John Sunderland
---------------------------------------------
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/
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note:
My standard caveat that these are the views of a learned amateur, not a professional in the sector, applies as always.
The above post/email/update represents my own words, views, research and opinions, unless stated otherwise the above work
represents my own writing. I’ll give credit or thanks if I have used or represented other people’s words and/or opinions.
The links and references listed below represent the work and research of the respective author’s.
Questions and constructive criticism are always welcome, however I don’t believe anything written here by myself is any reason for impolite behaviour.
Thanks for your time and I hope you have enjoyed reading.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Comments