Astronomy_News_20_05_2020

Astronomy_News_20_05_2020
This months research Papers 20_05_2020
RASNZ_20_05_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/

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Research papers

Tidal evolution of exoplanetary systems hosting Potentially Habitable Exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.10318

The Effect of Seafloor Weathering on Planetary Habitability
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.09092

The large Trans-Neptunian Object 2002 TC302
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.08881

instantaneous incoherent speckle grid for high-precision astrometry and photometry
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.08751

Stellar Variability in a Forming Massive Star Cluster
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.08198

The Discovery of the Long-Period, Eccentric Planet Kepler-88 d
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.02427

Constraining the final merger of contact binary(486958) Arrokoth
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06525

Two examples of how to use observations of terrestrial planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06512

Earths in Other Solar Systems N-body simulations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.04233

World ships Feasibility and Rationale
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.04100

Further constraining the Planet Nine hypothesis with numerical simulations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.05326

Dark Energy Survey's extreme trans-Neptunian objects
https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.08901

The Brute-Force Search for Planet Nine
https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.14980

Biosignature Surveys to Exoplanet Yields and Beyond
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.04005

Snow-lines can be thermally unstable
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.03665

Wide band, tunable gamma-ray lenses
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.03894

The occurrence rate of exoplanets orbiting ultracool dwarfs as probed by K2
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.01440

Testing Earth-like atmospheric evolution on exo-Earths
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.01587

Laboratory studies on the viability of life in H2-dominated exoplanet atmospheres
https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.01668

Thermodynamic and Energetic Limits on Continental Silicate Weathering
https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.14058

Switching LPS to LED Streetlight May Dramatically Reduce Activity and Foraging of Bats
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/4/165

Dynamical effects on the habitable zone for Earth-like exomoons
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/432/4/2994/1001104

constraints-on-the-habitability-of-extrasolar-moons
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-international-astronomical-union/article/constraints-on-the-habitability-of-extrasolar-moons/09A95F86FB2CEBD7074F52FD45EF7B96


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Interesting News items




On Inspiration, Astrobiology, and the Origins of Life in the Universe: An Interview with Haritina Mogosanu
https://www.buzzsprout.com/678467/3721901

Dock at the ISS
https://iss-sim.spacex.com/

An Alternative to Planet 9: Maybe There Is Nothing Special
https://aasnova.org/2020/05/05/an-alternative-to-planet-9-maybe-there-is-nothing-special/


Zealandia
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2018745356/probing-the-hidden-continent-of-zealandia

Zealandia: Earth’s Hidden Continent
https://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/27/3/article/GSATG321A.1.htm



Hi,

At the moment there's a faint comet starting to just become visible to the naked eye in the morning sky - low above the east/northeastern horison just before it starts getting light. It's better to use binoculars to see it. I've just created a YouTube clip about it (for beginners) with photos and a star chart. It's not my best presentation, but I wanted to get it out to the NZ public before it disappears from our sky in ~2 weeks. It can be seen at -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAxK9ijCd0U


Hi all, here's an image of Jupiter from this morning through a 750nm
longpass filter, again this was the filter of choice due to poor seeing.
The GRS can be seen rising at lower left, and there is a prominent
bright storm close to the centre of the image in the North Equatorial Belt.

Also present in the image, but invisible, is Europa. It's off to the
left of the bright storm, however due to the long integration time for
this image (just over 40 minutes) it's relative motion over that time
smears it out so much that you can't see it unless you know exactly
where to look.

This image was made by combining 11 x 75s captures in Winjupos, between
1729UTC and 1810UTC.

Link:
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/gallery/jupiter/index.live?dir=/jupiter&image=20200510-173936

cheers, Anthony







Hi all,

I've recently begun an off-campus, part-time PhD with the University of Southern Queensland ( https://www.usq.edu.au/ ). One of my supervisors is Professor Wayne Orchiston, whom many of you will know. The thesis topic is New Zealand's historical role in the observation, photography, discovery and research of comets (from pre-European times until now). I'm currently in the very initial stages and am producing my thesis outline. Because this is primarily a historical working, I'm after old (and recent) photos of comets. I'm also seeking out observations of comets conducted by any New Zealand astronomers from now and into the distant past. If anyone has comet photos (that can be included in journal papers), observations done by, or stories of old local members who used to observe/sketch/image/study comets, then PLEASE let me know. If you've done astrometry of comets, a brief overall report would be very handy - roughly how many comets over how many years). I won't be able to pay for the materials I'm afraid, but you will be credited (if applicable). If you have recent (within the last 20-years) photos can you perhaps email them to me if -
1. They are good images of bright comets taken from New Zealand, or
2. Reasonable images of lesser known/not frequently imaged comets taken from NZ.

If you have ANY info (old stories)/photos/sketches/observations/newspaper clippings/local astronomical society newsletter photocopies/scans of older comets (say pre 2000), could you please send me a private email at -
kiwiastronomer@gmail.com

Or, if you want to post anything, please send to - kiwiastronomer@gmail.com

John Drummond
PO Box 113
Patutahi 4045

BTW, if anyone perhaps has any/all of Gray Kronk's Cometography series of books, would you be willing to possibly lend/sell them to me? There are six in the chronological series -

* Cometography, Volume 1, Ancient-1799, Cambridge University Press (1999).
* Cometography, Volume 2, 1800-1899, Cambridge University Press (2004).
* Cometography, Volume 3, 1900-1932, Cambridge University Press (2007).
* Cometography, Volume 4, 1933-1959, Cambridge University Press (2008).
* Cometography, Volume 5, 1960-1982, Cambridge University Press (2010).
* Cometography, Volume 6, 1983-1993, Cambridge University Press (2017).

Many thanks
John Drummond
---------------------------------------------------------------
Updates from Andrew B,


Jupiter moon Europa.

Imaged: Saturday 26th September 1998.

Three newly reprocessed views using raw images returned in September 1998 from the then Jovecentric (Jupiter centred) orbiting Galileo spacecraft.

The dlobal context view was made from Galileo spacecraft observations from December 1995 to September 1998.

The three areas shown are about 20 KM / 170 miles across. These images were obtained during orbit E17 (the `7th scientific orbit of the Galileo spacecraft and with the eighth out of eleven close approaches to Europa, all four of the Galilean moons, io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto had multiple dedicated close passes as well as more distant but still scientifically useful observations).

The first image shows Chaos Transition centred 6.4 degrees north latitude, and 135.3 degrees east longnitude within the equatorial Castalia Macula Quadrangle.

Here the general icy plains are disrupted on the left by chaotic terrein, where huge blocks of ice have fractured and tilted, some appearing like ice bergs trapped in a frozen sea.

The arctuate ridges appear to be where tidal forces from Jupiter and the large inner volcanic moon Io have cracked the crust and appears that Europa over long time periods does indeed turn speparately from the orbital period though this has not been detected owing to only a few decades of detailed observations starting with the Voyager 2 spacecraft encounter on: Monday 9th July 1979.

The second image shows centred 10.5 degrees south latitude, and 135.3 degrees east longnitude also within the equatorial Castalia Macula Quadrangle.

Here the general icy plains are disrupted by huge arctuate ridges. Some cross over others and not only does this show evidence of Europa maybe being slightly rotationally disjointed (over geological time periods, Europa may not keep the same face turned towards Jupiter, but for our short lives, then Europa does effectively), but also that Europa has had true polar wndering where the ice crust has slid over the mantle, perhaps even a global ocean, though that is not 100% confirmed. Cracks in the ice have had upwellings of slushy ice erupting through them and freezing solid. Minerals, carbon rich compounds and salts have also frozen soild withing the now frozen upwellings, giving them the darker, redder appearance.

The third image shows centred 40.7 degrees south latitude, and 142.4 degrees east longnitude also within the southern hemisphere Agenor Linea Quadrangle.

Here the general icy plains are disrupted by huge arctuate ridges including two bright white arctuate ridges near the giant Agenor Linea. Some cross over others and not only does this show evidence of Europa maybe being slightly rotationally disjointed (over geological time periods, Europa may not keep the same face turned towards Jupiter, but for our short lives, then Europa does effectively), but also that Europa has had true polar wndering where the ice crust has slid over the mantle, perhaps even a global ocean, though that is not 100% confirmed.

Cracks in the ice have had upwellings of slushy ice erupting through them and freezing solid. Minerals, carbon rich compounds and salts have also frozen soild withing the now frozen upwellings, giving them the darker, redder appearance. Aslo here chaotic terrain is visible where huge blocks of ice have fractured and tilted, some appearing like ice bergs trapped in a frozen sea. A very rare bright, mostly colourless arcutate ridge, Katreus Linea cuts across the north of the area.

Europa orbits Jupiter once every 3 days, 13 hours & 12 minutes. The rotational period is the same, so Europa keeps the same face turned towards Jupiter as our own Moon does with Earth. The mean orbital distance is 670,900 KM / 466,630 miles from Jupiter. Europa orbits Jupiter at an average a speed of 13.74 KPS / 8.32 MPS or 48,240 KPH / 29,957 MPH.

Europa is 3,122 KM / 1,939 miles in diameter.

Europa is the third densest moon in the solar system with a fairly high average density of 3.01 grams per cubic centimetre. There is a large iron core most likely 777 KM / 483 miles wide, with a silicate rich mantle and an ice crust with a postulated 100 KM / 61 mile deep subsurface ocean. If this ocean is real, then Europa has about three times as much liquid water, than Earth goes under that ice crust.

Calculations show that Europa with the inner, larger, twice as massive Io appears to have a roughly 140 million year cycle, where Europa causes Io to drop slightly towards Jupiter and Io accelerates Europa into a slightly higher orbit, the orbit becomes more circular and that the volcanoes on Io may stop for a few million years. Io causes a tidal bulge in Jupiter's atmosphere, the leads Io due to Jupiter's own rapid rotation and this accelerates Io. Europa's recession from Jupiter is halted by massive Ganymede and to an extent Callisto too, and Europa starts to fall back towards Jupiter, thus starting the next 140 million year cycle, Io's orbit becomes more eccentric again and the volcanoes on Io start up again.

The average surface temperature on Europa is minus 163 Celsius / minus 261 Fahrenheit or 110 Kelvin. The minimum at the poles are around minus 220 Celsius / minus 364 Fahrenheit or 53 Kelvin. The ice surface is almost as hard as rock at these temperatures, however many strange surface features, relatively few impact craters, smooth plains, ridges and even tilted ice slabs frozen in newer positions, all point to ongoing geological activity.

Text: Andrew R Brown.

NASA/ JPL Galileo spacecraft




Asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36).

Imaged: Wednesday 29th April 2020.

MapCam image.

Here the tiny asteroid barely 492 metres wide 101955 Bennu is seen by the OSIRIS.REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.

Here the tiny asteroid is seen in half phase with a very large boulder on the lower right about 30 metres / 98 feet tall. The boulder has been named Benben Saxum.

Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the god Atum settled in the creation myth of the Heliopolitan form of ancient religion of Ancient Egypt. The Benben stone, aka a pyramidion is the top stone of the pyramid. It is also related to the tip of the Obelisk.

Earthbased observations of 101955 Bennu using infrared and radar suggested that 101955 Bennu was relatively smooth with only a scattering of boulders. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has shown us how wrong & misleading those initial Earthbased observed results were.

JAXA have met the same problem with the Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) with the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft, also being misled by Earth based observations turning out to be largely wrong. It looks like that many of the Earthbased observations of near Earth asteroids may have to be reviewed in light of these two examples shown by spacecraft to be far rougher and boulder strewn than expected, with many Earthbased observations leading to assumptions being totally wrong.

OSIRIS-REx successfully arrived at the Home Position some 19 KM from the asteroid on: Monday 3rd December 2018, while 121.71 million KM / 76 million miles from Earth.

An early result is that water altered minerals in the form of hydroxils have been detected. This means that this tiny asteroid has clays and at some point these materials were in contact with liquid water in the very remote past. This discovery strengthens the notion that 101955 Bennu did indeed form out of materials fram a very large object indeed, and the best fit appears to be the giant protoplanet in the main asteroid belt, 2 Pallas.

101955 Bennu looks very similar to the Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) that the Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft had successfully surveyed and has successfully delivered three hopperbots on, and the first sample collection appears to have been successful. Both sample collection runs appear to have been successful and Hayabusa 2 is currently on the way back to Earth with the samples. 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.

OSIRIS.REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft



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RASNZ


Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 233, 20 May 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. Black Hole Found 'Nearby'
 2. Conference and AGM at Labour Weekend
 3. Existing Registrations for 2020 Conference
 4. Dark Sky Workshop - new date
 5. Students with a Passion for Astronomy (SWAPA) - Applications
 6. The Solar System in June
 7. Comet C/2019 U6 (Lemmon)
 8. Variable Star News
 9. Shock Waves Brighten Novae
11. Stargazers Getaway September 18-20
12. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference - Postponed
13. Super-Earth found by Microlensing
14. Margaret Burbidge Obituary
15. How to Join the RASNZ
  1. Black Hole Found 'Nearby'
A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole 1000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our Solar System than any other found to date. It is part of a triple system that can be seen with the naked eye.

The team found evidence for the invisible object by tracking its two companion stars using the 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. They say this system could just be the tip of the iceberg, as many more similar black holes could be found in the future.

Located in the constellation of Telescopium, the system is so close to us that its stars can be viewed from the southern hemisphere on a dark, clear night without binoculars or a telescope.

The team originally observed the system, called HR 6819, as part of a study of double-star systems. However, as they analysed their observations, they were stunned when they revealed a third, previously undiscovered body in HR 6819: a black hole. The observations showed that one of the two visible stars orbits an unseen object every 40 days, while the second star is at a large distance from this inner pair.

The hidden black hole in HR 6819 is one of the very first stellar-mass black holes found that do not interact violently with their environment and, therefore, appear truly black. The team found it and calculate its mass by studying the orbit of the star in the inner pair. "An invisible object with a mass at least 4 times that of the Sun can only be a black hole," concludes Rivinius, who is based in Chile.

Astronomers have spotted only a couple of dozen black holes in our galaxy to date, nearly all of them strongly interact with their environment to produce powerful X-rays. Scientists estimate that, over the Milky Way's lifetime, many more stars collapsed into black holes as they ended their lives. The discovery of a silent, invisible black hole in HR 6819 provides clues about where the many hidden black holes in the Milky Way might be. "There must be hundreds of millions of black holes out there, but we know about only very few. Knowing what to look for should put us in a better position to find them," says Rivinius. Baade adds that finding a black hole in a triple system so close by indicates that we are seeing just "the tip of an exciting iceberg."

Already, astronomers believe their discovery could shine some light on a second system. "We realised that another system, called LB-1, may also be such a triple, though we'd need more observations to say for sure," says Marianne Heida, a postdoctoral fellow at ESO and co-author of the paper. "LB-1 is a bit further away from Earth but still pretty close in astronomical terms, so that means that probably many more of these systems exist. By finding and studying them we can learn a lot about the formation and evolution of those rare stars that begin their lives with more than about 8 times the mass of the Sun and end them in a supernova explosion that leaves behind a black hole."

The discoveries of these triple systems with an inner pair and a distant star could also provide clues about the violent cosmic mergers that release gravitational waves powerful enough to be detected on Earth. Some astronomers believe that the mergers can happen in systems with a similar configuration to HR 6819 or LB-1, but where the inner pair is made up of two black holes or of a black hole and a neutron star. The distant outer object can gravitationally impact the inner pair in such a way that it triggers a merger and the release of gravitational waves. Although HR 6819 and LB-1 have only one black hole and no neutron stars, these systems could help scientists understand how stellar collisions can happen in triple star systems.

The discovery was published on 6 May 2020 in Astronomy & Astrophysics (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202038020).

-- From eso2007 Science Release forwarded by Karen Pollard.
 ---------
HR 6819 is a magnitude 5.4 star at (2000) 18 17 07.5  -56 01 24
  2. Conference and AGM at Labour Weekend
Dear RASNZ Members and 2020 Conference Delegates,

RASNZ Council has set the date for the 2020 AGM and Conference for Labour Weekend (23-25 October 2020). Please pencil these new dates into your calendar, noting that these new arrangements are themselves subject to further postponement depending on what restrictions remain on our activities at that time. Council will make further announcements relating to the AGM and Conference as developments arise.

For now, please stay safe within your isolation bubble!

Yours,
Nicholas Rattenbury, President, RASNZ
  3. Existing Registrations for 2020 Conference
Those who paid their registration fees for the postponed conference but do not wish to attend the re-scheduled conference over Labour Weekend in October can request a full refund, by emailing the conference organisers (conference@rasnz.org.nz) and providing your bank account details.

Registrants wishing to attend the October Conference need take no action, your registration will remain on record for the rescheduled conference, there being no change to the registration fees.

-- Glen Rowe, Chair, Standing Conference Committee
  4. Dark Sky Workshop - new date
A Dark Sky Workshop is planned to follow the re-scheduled RASNZ Conference as announced in the previous item.  The workshop will be held, subject to any restrictions that may be in place at the time, on the morning of Monday 26 October2020 (Labour Day).  Further details will be made available in due course.

-- Glen Rowe, Chair, Standing Conference Committee
  5. Students with a Passion for Astronomy (SWAPA) - Applications
The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) offers 10 to 15 top secondary students who are NZ citizens and at secondary school anywhere in New Zealand scholarships to enable them to attend the RASNZ annual astronomy conference, which will take place this year in Wellington, Friday 23 (afternoon) to Sunday 25 October 2020 (about 4 pm) - provided Covid-19 doesn't affect our plans.

The scholarships comprise free registration for the conference (value $265), free travel from their home to Wellington*, free backpacker accommodation in Wellington for 23 and 24 October*, and a free banquet ticket for the conference banquet on Saturday 24 October (value $95). Students in years 13, 12 or 11 may apply.
  *Accommodation and travel only if required for non-Wellington residents

To be considered, students should email a short statement of no more than 300 words explaining why they would like to attend the conference and why they are interested in astronomy. This statement should be sent to RASNZ Immediate-Past President, John Drummond ( kiwiastronomer@gmail.com ) by Friday 7th August 2020, 8 pm. Include your name, gender, age, school, year of study at school in 2020, city, email address, telephone contact and science teacher's name, phone and email. For more detail see the RASNZ webpage -
https://www.rasnz.org.nz/groups-news-events/events/conference/conf-swapa2020

-- John Drummond
  6. The Solar System in June
Dates and times shown are NZST (UT + 12 hours).  Rise and Set times are for Wellington. They will vary by a few minutes elsewhere in NZ.  Data is adapted from that shown by GUIDE 9.1

The southern mid-winter solstice is on June 21 at 9am NZST.

On the morning of the 6th the start of a partial penumbral eclipse of the moon is visible from NZ.  The moon will be very low and set shortly after mid eclipse.  Little change in the moon's brightness will be evident.  The whole event is "visible" from Australia.

An annular eclipse of the Sun occurs on the 21st.  No part of the event will be visible from NZ.

 THE SUN and PLANETS in June, Rise & Set  Magnitude & Constellation.
          June 1     NZST               June 30    NZST
         Mag  Cons    Rise    Set     Mag  Cons    Rise    Set
SUN     -26.7  Tau   7.34am  5.02pm  -26.7  Gem   7.45am  5.04pm
Mercury   0.2  Gem   9.31am  6.27pm    5.7  Gem   7.35am  5.25pm
Venus    -4.2  Tau   8.02am  5.10pm   -4.7  Tau   5.00am  3.04pm
Mars      0.0  Aqr  12.03am  1.15pm   -0.5  Psc  11.41pm 12.07pm
Jupiter  -2.6  Sgr   8.10pm 10.57am   -2.7  Sgr   6.02pm  8.54am
Saturn    0.4  Cap   8.34pm 11.13am    0.2  Cap   6.33pm  9.14am
Uranus    5.9  Ari   4.48am  3.17pm    5.8  Ari   3.00am  1.26pm
Neptune   7.9  Aqr  12.45am  1.26pm    7.9  Aqr  10.51pm 11.32am
Pluto    14.5  Sgr   7.57pm 10.54am   14.5  Sgr   6.00pm  8.58am

              June 1  NZST                June 30  NZST
Twilights    morning     evening        morning     evening
Civil:    start 7.06am, end  5.31pm   start 7.16am, end  5.33pm
Nautical: start 6.32am, end  6.05pm   start 6.42am, end  6.08pm
Astro:    start 5.58am, end  6.39pm   start 6.08am, end  6.41pm

   June PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZ & UT
  Full Moon:     June  6 at  7.12am (Jun 5 19:12 UT)
  Last quarter:  June 13 at  6.24pm (06:24 UT)
  New Moon:      June 21 at  6.42pm (06:42 UT)
  First quarter: June 28 at  8.16pm (08:16 UT)

PLANETS in JUNE

MERCURY is an evening planet setting 80 to 90 minutes after the Sun during the first half of June.  On the 20th it is stationary after which the planet quite rapidly moves back towards the Sun during the rest of the month.  It also becomes much fainter and will be completely lost to view towards the end of the month.

VENUS is at inferior conjunction, between Earth and Sun, on June 4 so is too close to the Sun for observation early in June.  After conjunction it becomes a morning object.  By mid-June, Venus will rise 90 minutes before the Sun.  It will be a prominent morning object for the rest of June.

MARS rises close to midnight all month so is essentially a morning object.  It moves from Aquarius to Pisces on the 24th.  On the morning of June 13 the moon, just before last quarter, will be about 5° above Mars. The following morning Mars will be less than 2° from Neptune.

JUPITER and SATURN remain a pair during June with Jupiter leading Saturn by about 5° early in the month.  They are becoming well placed for viewing in the late evening sky.   During June the planets are retrograding, the faster movement of Jupiter takes it further ahead of Saturn.  Their separation will increase by about a degree.

PLUTO will be near Jupiter all month.  Jupiter moves past Pluto at the end of June.  They are closest on the 30th, less than a degree apart.

URANUS moves further up into the morning sky during June.

NEPTUNE rises before midnight in June.  It will be less than 2° from Mars on the morning of June 14.  Neptune will be to the lower left of Mars.


POSSIBLE BINOCULAR ASTEROIDS in JUNE

                   June 1 NZST          June 30 NZST
                Mag  Cons  transit    Mag  Cons  transit
(1)  Ceres      9.0   Aqr   6.37am    8.6   Aqr  4.59am
(4)  Vesta      8.4   Ori   1.37pm    8.2   Gem 12.37pm
(7)  Iris       9.6   Sgr   2.33am    8.9   Sgr 12.11am

CERES is a morning object.  Early in the month it will be between Mars and Fomalhaut.  It rises at 11.30 pm on the 1st and just before 10 pm on the 30th.

VESTA, as an early evening object but difficult to observe.  It will set only 10 minutes later then the Sun at the end of June.

IRIS is at opposition on June 27/28 when it will be at its brightest, magnitude 8.8

-- Brian Loader
  7. Comet C/2019 U6 (Lemmon)
This comet was initially classed as an asteroid in a long-period orbit.  It began showing comet characteristics at the beginning of the year and is now brightening much more than earlier predicted. It is visible in binoculars.

Below are daily positions of C/2019 U6 at 7 p.m. NZST.  m1 is the total magnitude, the magnitude of a star defocused to the comet's size. The magnitudes have been added from Daniel Green's prediction in Electronic Telegram No. 4774, May 14.  An m1 fainter than 3 is not easily seen by eye.

May/ R.A.(2000)Dec.    m1    June  R.A.(2000)Dec.    m1
June h   m     °  '                h   m     °  ' 
20  06 12.2  -21 10           04  07 22.7  -18 31
21  06 16.2  -21 04   7.2     05  07 28.3  -18 13   6.3
22  06 20.2  -20 58           06  07 34.1  -17 53 
23  06 24.3  -20 51           07  07 39.9  -17 33 
24  06 28.6  -20 43           08  07 45.9  -17 11 

25  06 32.9  -20 35           09  07 52.1  -16 47 
26  06 37.4  -20 26   6.9     10  07 58.3  -16 22   6.1
27  06 41.9  -20 17           11  08 04.7  -15 55 
28  06 46.6  -20 07           12  08 11.2  -15 27 
29  06 51.4  -19 56           13  08 17.8  -14 57
 
30  06 56.3  -19 44           14  08 24.5  -14 26 
31  07 01.4  -19 32   6.6     15  08 31.3  -13 53   5.9
01  07 06.5  -19 18           16  08 38.2  -13 18 
02  07 11.8  -19 03           17  08 45.2  -12 42 
03  07 17.2  -18 48           18  08 52.3  -12 04 
                              19  08 59.4  -11 24   5.8

(To get the ephemeris columns to line up properly use Courier New typeface.)

The comet passes 0.9142 A.U., 137 million km, from the Sun, a bit less than Earth's distance, on June 18.8 UT.  It will at its closest to Earth, 0.827 AU, 124 million km, on June 30.  C/2019 U6 last visited the Sun 10,500 years ago.  The tweaks to its orbit made by the gravitational pull of the planets have shortened the orbital period to 5300 years, according to calculations by Syuichi Nakano.
  8. Variable Star News
Mark Blackford (Director of Variable Stars South) has provided for us the following information on the papers that were to be presented to VSS Symposium 6 that was planned for Easter 2020.

The NACAA conference and satellite meetings, scheduled for the Easter weekend, were called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the 6th Variable Stars South Symposium. A great program of speakers and topics (see below) had been assembled, however travel restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the virus made it impossible to proceed with the meeting.

Submitted papers:
  Roy Axelsen - Photometry of Variable Stars with the ZWO ASI1600MM Cooled Monochromatic CMOS Astronomical Camera
  Roy Axelsen - HD 121191 and HD 121620: Two Previously Unreported Variable Stars
  Mark Blackford - O-C Diagram analysis of eclipsing binaries
  Ed Budding - Progress Report on Southern Binaries Programme
  Stella Kafka - Spectroscopy with small telescopes
  Stella Kafka - Citizen Science with the AAVSO
  David Moriarty - Photometric and spectroscopic monitoring, radial velocities and evolutionary status of the chromospherically active, close eclipsing binaries ST Centauri and V0775 Centauri
  David O’Driscoll - Portal to research? The future of the VSS website
  Tom Richards - An R program for light curve analysis
  Stan Walker - Long Period Variables - from TSP to Astrophysics

Submitted poster:
Col Bembrick - Southern Eclipsing Binaries – modelling with Binary Maker 3

The talks by Tom Richards and Stan Walker will appear as articles in the April 2020 VSS Newsletter, as will Roy Axelsen’s first talk on the CMOS camera. Roy’s second talk was based on work already published in the Journal of the AAVSO (JAAVSO Vol. 47 Issue 2 and JAAVSO Vol. 48 Issue 1). Similarly, David Moriarty’s talk was based on his paper in Astrophysics and Space Science (AP&SS Vol. 365, Issue 1). Interested readers are referred to those papers. It is hoped that many of the other talks will appear in due course in the VSS Newsletters. If you have an interest in a particular paper not yet published we suggest you contact the author to discuss your interest.

The VSS Newsletter 2020 No 2 (April) is now available from the VSS web-site, https://www.variablestarssouth.org/vss-newsletter-april-2020/ (click on the image following the Table of Contents to download the PDF).
-----
This item was accidentally omitted from the April Newsletter. - Ed.
  9. Shock Waves Brighten Novae
University of Canterbury (UC) astronomers are part of an international team that has revealed how explosions on the surface of a white dwarf star increase its brightness by thousands or millions of times making it look like a new star.

A nova, or stella nova – Latin for “new star” – is a sudden explosion on the surface of a white dwarf, which is the hot, burnt-out core of a star. It produces a vast amount of energy and light, increasing the star’s brightness enormously. If a nova occurs relatively close to earth it can appear as a new star to the naked eye. About 10 novae occur in our galaxy per year.

For many years astronomers have thought that nuclear fusion of material on the surface of a white dwarf directly powers all the light from a nova explosion.  In new research, the team showed shock waves from the nova explosion, rather than nuclear fusion, cause most of the brightness.

The team used NASA’s space-based telescopes and ground-based telescopes, including some at the UC Mt John Observatory at Lake Tekapo, to observe a recent nearby nova in the constellation of Carina.  These observations proved that it is indeed shock waves that cause most of the nova’s brightness. The results were published in Nature Astronomy in April in a paper titled “Direct evidence for shock-powered optical emission in a nova”.

UC Associate Professor in Astronomy and Director of the University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory Karen Pollard, who co-authored the paper, was observing at UC’s Mt John Observatory using the McLellan telescope and HERCULES spectrograph a few days after the bright nova in Carina was reported in March 2018.

“I was excited to observe it – a new bright novae in the galaxy is an important opportunity to make a detailed study of the nova’s properties and how these change with time. Using spectroscopy we were able to examine shock-produced emission and calculate how energetic the shock waves were and how fast the shocked material was moving,” she says.
Elias Aydi, a research associate in Michigan State University’s (MSU) Department of Physics and Astronomy and lead author of the paper, says the discovery leads to a new way of understanding the origin of the brightness of novae and other stellar explosions. “Our findings present the first direct observational evidence, from unprecedented space observations, that shocks play a major role in powering these events.”

When material blasts out from the white dwarf, he says it is ejected in multiple phases and at different speeds. These ejections collide with one another and create shocks, which heat the ejected material producing much of the light.

Another side effect of astronomical shocks are gamma-rays, the highest-energy kind of electromagnetic radiation. The astronomers detected bright gamma-rays from the star, now known as nova V906 Carinae (also ASASSN-18fv).

An optical satellite happened to be looking at the part of the sky where the nova occurred. Comparing the gamma-ray and optical data, the astronomers noted that every time there was a fluctuation in gamma-rays, the light from the nova fluctuated as well.  The simultaneous fluctuations in both the visual and gamma-ray brightness confirmed that both were originating from shocks.

The research team estimates that V906 Car is about 13,000 light years from Earth. This means that when the nova was first detected in 2018, it had actually happened 13,000 years ago. The new information may also help explain how large amounts of light are generated in other stellar events, including supernovae and stellar mergers, when two stars collide with one another. Each nova explosion releases about 10,000 to 100,000 times the annual energy output of the Sun.

From Canterbury University's press release at https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/news/2020/astronomers-discover-the-science-behind-star-bursts-that-light-up-the-sky.html
  10. 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.

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
  11. 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.

For details see
https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/
  12. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference - Postponed
A note on the Conference's webpage says "Based on recent developments, we would like to inform you that CAP2020 will be postponed to next year and a new date announced on 1 June 2020.'

The Conference was to have been held on 21-25 September 2020 in Sydney.
See https://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2020/
  13. Super-Earth found by Microlensing
Astronomers at the University of Canterbury (UC) have found an rare  Super-Earth planet towards the centre of the galaxy. The planet is one of only a handful that have been discovered with both size and orbit comparable to that of Earth.
    
Dr Antonio Herrera Martin, the paper’s lead author, describes the planet-finding discovery as incredibly rare. The planet is one of only a handful that have been discovered with both size and orbit comparable to that of Earth. The planet-hunters’ research has recently been published in The Astronomical Journal.

Astronomers Dr Herrera-Martin and Associate Professor Michael Albrow, both of UC’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences in the College of Science, are part of an international team of astronomers who collaborated on the Super-Earth research.

Dr Herrera-Martin explains the planet was discovered using a technique called gravitational microlensing. “The combined gravity of the planet and its host star caused the light from a more distant background star to be magnified in a particular way. We used telescopes distributed around the world to measure the light-bending effect.”

The microlensing effect is rare, with only about one in a million stars in the galaxy being affected at any given time. Furthermore, this type of observation does not repeat, and the probabilities of catching a planet at the same time are extremely low.   “To have an idea of the rarity of the detection, the time it took to observe the magnification due to the host star was approximately five days, while the planet was detected only during a small five-hour distortion. After confirming this was indeed caused by another body different from the star, and not an instrumental error, we proceeded to obtain the characteristics of the star-planet system,” Dr Martin said.

Using the solar system as a point of reference, the host star is about 10% the mass of our Sun, and the planet would have a mass somewhere between that of Earth and Neptune, and would orbit at a location between Venus and Earth from the parent star. Due to the host star having a smaller mass than our Sun, the planet would have a ‘year’ of approximately 617 days.  The new planet is among only a handful of extra-solar planets that have been detected with both a size and orbit close to that of Earth's.

This particular microlensing event was observed during 2018 and designated OGLE-2018-BLG-0677. It was independently detected by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) using a telescope in Chile, and the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) to which the UC astronomers belong, using three identical telescopes in Chile, Australia, and South Africa. The KMTNet telescopes are equipped with very large cameras, which the team uses to measure the light output from around one hundred million stars every 15 minutes. “These experiments detect around 3000 microlensing events each year, the majority of which are due to lensing by single stars,” Professor Albrow notes.

“Dr Herrera Martin first noticed that there was an unusual shape to the light output from this event, and undertook months of computational analysis that resulted in the conclusion that this event was due to a star with a low-mass planet.”

This research was supported by the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society Te Aparangi.

Reference: Herrera-Martin A., et al., 2020, ‘OGLE-2018-BLG-0677Lb: A Super-Earth Near the Galactic Bulge’, The Astronomical Journal, 159, 256. Preprint version available at https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.02983
  14. Margaret Burbidge Obituary
The astronomer who established that the Earth’s chemical elements were formed inside stars

The British-American astronomer Margaret Burbidge, who has died aged 100, was the principal author of a watershed scientific paper in 1957 that set out the evidence for chemical elements having been formed inside stars. In essence, the work of her and her collaborators proved that the iron in our blood, the oxygen in our lungs, the calcium in our bones, even the carbon in our DNA was made in the hearts of massive stars and then exploded back into space billions of years ago.

The 100-page paper was titled Synthesis of the Elements in Stars and was published in the journal Reviews of Modern Physics. Burbidge was the first author, together with her collaborators, her husband, Geoffrey Burbidge, William A Fowler and Fred Hoyle; the paper became known as B2FH, from the first letters of its authors’ surnames.

Prior to its publication there were two competing theories for the origin of the chemical elements. The Soviet-American physicist George Gamow thought they were formed during the birth of the universe, in the big bang. However, astrophysicists had shown that stars generated energy by fusing lighter elements into heavier ones. This led the British astronomer Hoyle to propose, in 1954, that the big bang only made the three lightest elements, hydrogen, helium and lithium, and that stars made all the rest. Over a two-year period, 1955-56, the Burbidges and Fowler then gathered a wealth of evidence in support of Hoyle’s theory. These included astronomical observations taken by Margaret of the elemental abundances, and the laboratory measurements of nuclear reactions gathered by Fowler.

The results were conclusive. The paper changed our understanding of cosmic evolution, and of our connection to the vast universe. As Fowler put it: “All of us are truly and literally a little bit of stardust.”
Born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, to Stanley Peachey, a chemistry lecturer and inventor, and his wife, Marjorie (nee Stott), Margaret had a fascination with the stars that began with a bout of seasickness when she was four. The family was on a night crossing of the English Channel, en route to a holiday in France. She was lifted to the porthole so that she could distract herself by looking at the stars; it was the first time she had really seen those twinkling beacons and they captured her imagination.

From Francis Holland School in London, Margaret went to University College London (UCL) to study astronomy, physics and mathematics. She graduated with first class honours in 1939, just as the Second World War was looming, and went to work at the University of London’s Mill Hill observatory, where her observing logs indicated that she sometimes had to realign the telescope because of nearby explosions from German V1 flying bombs.

She gained a PhD in 1943 and took such joy in the wonders of the night sky that when she saw a detailed photographic plate of a spiral galaxy for the first time she said it felt almost sinful to be enjoying astronomy so much, now that it was her job and the source of her livelihood.

As the war was finishing, she applied for a postdoctoral fellowship at the Mount Wilson observatory in Los Angeles. Drawn by the sheer size of the telescopes being built in the US, she was turned down because she was a woman, and would have had to spend nights at the observatory with married men. Writing in 1994, she recalled that the rejection opened her eyes to gender-based discrimination, “A guiding operational principle in my life was activated: If frustrated in one’s endeavour by a stone wall or any kind of blockage, one must find a way around it — another route towards one’s goal. This is advice I have given to many women facing similar situations.”

Remaining in Britain, she met her future husband, who was a theoretical physicist at UCL, in late 1947, and six months later they were married. Her enthusiasm for the universe persuaded him to turn his talents to astrophysics too. She finally made it to the US in 1951 with a position at the University of Chicago’s Yerkes observatory in Wisconsin. Although she would occasionally return to Britain over the coming decades, she made the States her home, and became a naturalised US citizen in 1977.

She applied again to join the staff at Mount Wilson in 1955, and was again turned down because of her sex. So her husband applied and won the post. Margaret then took over the fellowship he had been chasing at nearby Caltech, the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. When he went observing, she went along as his assistant. In reality, however, she operated the telescope and ran the observing programme that would contribute to the B2FH paper.

In 1962 the Burbidges became professors at the UC San Diego, and a decade later Margaret returned to the UK on secondment to become director of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, at that point based at Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex. Until then the post had carried with it the title of astronomer royal. However, she was not conferred this honour, breaking more than 300 years of tradition, something she would sometimes put down to politics and sometimes to sexism.

In the same year she took a stand against the American Astronomical Society (AAS) by refusing to accept the Annie Jump Cannon award, given for distinguished contributions to astronomy. Her reason was that it was only awarded to female astronomers, and in her letter to the committee she explained that “it is high time that discrimination in favour of, as well as against, women in professional life be removed”.

In response the AAS convened a working group to investigate the status of women in astronomy. In 1974 Burbidge returned to the US, and two years later was elected the first female president of the AAS. In the subsequent decades she worked across many areas of astrophysics, and helped to develop the Faint Object Spectrograph, one of the original instruments for the Hubble space telescope.

She retired in 1988, and subsequently became professor emeritus. In 2005 she and her husband were jointly awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Geoffrey died in 2010. Margaret is survived by their daughter, Sarah, and a grandson, Conner.

• Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, astronomer, born 12 August 1919; died 5 April 2020

-- By Stuart Clark in The Guardian, 22 Apr 2020.  https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/apr/22/margaret-burbidge-obituary  
  15. How to Join the RASNZ
RASNZ membership is open to all individuals with an interest in
astronomy in New Zealand. Information about the society and its
objects can be found at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/membership-benefits

A membership form can be either obtained from treasurer@rasnz.co.nz or
by completing the online application form found at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/membership-application
Basic membership for the 2020 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
  Alan Gilmore               Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57                alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minor Planet Occultation Updates:


This email describes updates for minor planet occultations for May 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: *****



*****May 2 (5167) JOEHARMS: Star Mag 8.9, Max dur 1.6 sec, Mag Drop 6.23
A very narrow path of significant uncertainty across south-eastern Australia from Sydney across south-eastern New South Wales (just north of Canberra), central Victoria (including Ballarat) to Warrnambool.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200502_5167_68118_u.htm

*****May 2 (259) ALETHEIA: Star Mag 10.22, Max dur 10.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.91
A broad path across Australia, from directly over Sydney across central New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia to Exmouth.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200502_259_64842_u.htm

May 3 (308) POLYXO: Star Mag 11.39, Max dur 5.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.17
Across the South Island of New Zealand south of around Timaru to Wanaka, and just south of Tasmania.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200503_308_64850_u.htm

May 3 (1113) KATJA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 3.7 sec, Mag Drop 3.34
A narrow path across New Zealand, just including Cape Reinga, and across Australia from near Newcastle across central New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia to near Port Headland.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200503_1113_64848_u.htm

May 4 (56) MELETE: Star Mag 12.37, Max dur 15.5 sec, Mag Drop 0.46
Across northern Australia, from Cooktown across northern Queensland, central Northern Territory and central Western Australia to Carnarvon.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200504_56_64860_u.htm

May 5 (663) GERLINDE: Star Mag 11.3, Max dur 8.1 sec, Mag Drop 1.75
Across northern Australia, from north of Cooktown at very low elevation to south of Darwin .
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200505_663_64872_u.htm

May 5 (664) JUDITH: Star Mag 12.46, Max dur 5.9 sec, Mag Drop 3.68
Across the North Island of New Zealand, from roughly Hicks Bay to Hamilton, and across south-eastern Australia from Sydney across southern New South Wales, north Victoria and south-eastern South Australia near Adelaide, in evening twilight.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200505_664_64866_u.htm

May 6 (107) CAMILLA: Star Mag 10.42, Max dur 12.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.91
Across northern Australia from the Cape York Peninsula to northern Northern Territory including Darwin, in evening twilight.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200506_107_64878_u.htm

May 6 (236) HONORIA: Star Mag 11.38, Max dur 6.4 sec, Mag Drop 1.92
Across the South Island of New Zealand, from Dunedin to Queenstown, and across Australia from near Batemans Bay across New South Wales to north of Broken Hill, northern South Australia and central Western Australia to Port Headland.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200506_236_64880_u.htm

May 7 (545) MESSALINA: Star Mag 12.03, Max dur 4.2 sec, Mag Drop 3.56
Across Australia from Broome across northern Western Australia, south-east Northern Territory, north-eastern South Australia and into western New South Wales at low and decreasing elevation.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200507_545_64886_u.htm

May 7 (1960) GUISAN: Star Mag 9.3, Max dur 2.7 sec, Mag Drop 5.41
Across the South Island of New Zealand from Auckland to Haast, and just south of Tasmania.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200507_1960_67162_u.htm

May 7 (117) LOMIA: Star Mag 12.35, Max dur 23.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.13
Across New Zealand, including most of the east coast of the North Island and the west coast of the South Island.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200507_117_64888_u.htm

***May 8 (173) INO: Star Mag 11.92, Max dur 8.2 sec, Mag Drop 1.93
A fairly broad path across the South Island of New Zealand, from roughly Timaru to Wanaka at low elevation, and across southern  Australia including most of Victoria north of (and including) Melbourne, southern South Australia including Adelaide and southern Western Australia to Perth.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200508_173_64890_u.htm

May 8 (25) PHOCAEA: Star Mag 11.41, Max dur 7.5 sec, Mag Drop 1.19
Across the South Island of New Zealand near Dunedin at very low elevation, and across Australia from near Eden across New South Wales and western Queensland to Cape York.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200508_25_64892_u.htm

May 8 (980) ANACOSTIA: Star Mag 12.27, Max dur 6.3 sec, Mag Drop 0.76
Across Australia from Ballina across north-eastern New South Wales, southern Queensland and The Northern Territory and into northern Western Australia to a little south of Broome.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200508_980_64894_u.htm

May 8 (1001) GAUSSIA: Star Mag 10.71, Max dur 3 sec, Mag Drop 5
Across south-eastern  Australia from Narooma across south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria to south-eastern Melbourne and Cape Otway.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200508_1001_64898_u.htm

***May 8 (141) LUMEN: Star Mag 9.82, Max dur 11.2 sec, Mag Drop 3.27
A broad path across Australia from Maroochydore (including Maryborough to north Brisbane ) across southern Queensland, central South Australia and southern Western Australia to Moora.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200508_141_64896_u.htm

May 9 (980) ANACOSTIA: Star Mag 12.46, Max dur 6.2 sec, Mag Drop 0.66
Across northern Australia, from Tully across northern Queensland to Karumba, and across The Northern Territory passing close to Katherine.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200509_980_64910_u.htm

May 9 (56) MELETE: Star Mag 11.25, Max dur 18.7 sec, Mag Drop 0.91
Across Australia from Cooktown across northern and western Queensland and central South Australia to near Ceduna.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200509_56_64912_u.htm

May 9 (435) ELLA: Star Mag 12.16, Max dur 3.9 sec, Mag Drop 1.86
Across the North Island of New Zealand, from Woodville to Opunake, and across eastern  Australia from near Coffs Harbour into north-eastern New South Wales and south-west Queensland at decreasing elevation.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200509_435_64906_u.htm

May 9 (895) HELIO: Star Mag 11.01, Max dur 7.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.82
Across Western Australia, from near Esperance to near Exmouth.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200509_895_64908_u.htm

May 10 (208) LACRIMOSA: Star Mag 12.13, Max dur 3.6 sec, Mag Drop 1.36
Across Australia, from near Gladstone across central Queensland, northern South Australia and central Western Australia to near Geraldton.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200510_208_64920_u.htm

May 10 (916) AMERICA: Star Mag 10.9, Max dur 3.7 sec, Mag Drop 4.51
Across the north of the the South Island of New Zealand, from roughly Blenheim to Karamea.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200510_916_68122_u.htm

May 11 (604) TEKMESSA: Star Mag 12.41, Max dur 7.4 sec, Mag Drop 2.79
Across Australia, from Bowen across central Queensland, northern South Australia and southern Western Australia to Bunbury.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200511_604_64926_u.htm

May 12 (56) MELETE: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 21.1 sec, Mag Drop 0.56
Across Australia from Port Lincoln across eastern South Australia and central Queensland to Ayr.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200512_56_64930_u.htm

***May 15 (216) KLEOPATRA: Star Mag 10.39, Max dur 17.2 sec, Mag Drop 2.49
Across much of the North Island of New Zealand, including Auckland, Hamilton, Taupo and Napier.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200515_216_64946_u.htm

May 16 (490) VERITAS: Star Mag 10.79, Max dur 29.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.94
Across Australia, from Mt Gambier and Adelaide (in morning twilight) across South Australia and eastern Western Australia to near Derby.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200516_490_64970_u.htm

May 16 (560) DELILA: Star Mag 11.44, Max dur 3.3 sec, Mag Drop 4.23
Across the South Island of New Zealand, from roughly Christchurch to Westport, and across south-eastern Australia, including northern Victoria and possibly Adelaide at very low elevation.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200516_560_64962_u.htm

May 16 (69) HESPERIA: Star Mag 9.4, Max dur 4 sec, Mag Drop 1.01
Across western Australia from Carnarvon across western and south-eastern Western Australia and into western South Australia at decreasing elevation.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200516_69_64964_u.htm

May 16 (229) ADELINDA: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 12.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.16
Across the North Island of New Zealand crossing Hamilton, and just south of Tasmania.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200516_229_64966_u.htm

May 17 (108) HECUBA: Star Mag 11.75, Max dur 6 sec, Mag Drop 1.14
Across south-eastern Australia, from Narooma across south-eastern New South Wales and Victoria from Tallangatta to Warrnambool, including Melbourne.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200517_108_64974_u.htm

May 18 (24) THEMIS: Star Mag 12.45, Max dur 21 sec, Mag Drop 0.41
A fairly broad path across Australia from Grafton across north-eastern New South Wales, south-western Queensland, northern South Australia and central Western Australia to Exmouth.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200518_24_64980_u.htm

May 18 (546) HERODIAS: Star Mag 11.65, Max dur 6.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.44
Across eastern Australia from Gladstone across south-eastern Queensland, western New South Wales and western Victoria to south-eastern South Australia near Mt Gambier.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200518_546_64984_u.htm

May 19 (626) NOTBURGA: Star Mag 12.07, Max dur 6.9 sec, Mag Drop 1.83
Across Australia from Brisbane across southern Queensland, central Northern Territory and northern Western Australia to Derby.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200519_626_64990_u.htm

May 19 (52768) 1998OR2: Star Mag 9.82, Max dur 0.7 sec, Mag Drop 2.9
Along an extremely narrow path across Australia from a little south of Mandurah across southern Western Australia, central South Australia and southern Queensland to Gladstone.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200519_52768_72974_u.htm

May 20 (873) MECHTHILD: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 1.4 sec, Mag Drop 6.24
Across Australia from Port Lincoln across southern South Australia north of Adelaide and across central New South Wales to Ballina in morning twilight.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200520_873_67172_u.htm

May 20 (377) CAMPANIA: Star Mag 12.5, Max dur 12.7 sec, Mag Drop 1.28
Across south-western Western Australia from Esperance to Kalbarri.  (Just missing the south-west Tasmanian coast)
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200520_377_65000_u.htm

May 21 (1873) AGENOR: Star Mag 12.03, Max dur 3.7 sec, Mag Drop 4.84
A path of significant uncertainty across New Zealand, near Wellington and across Australia from near Sydney across central New South Wales, north-eastern South Australia, south-western Northern Territory and northern Western Australia to south of Broome.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200521_1873_65008_u.htm

May 21 (42) ISIS: Star Mag 11.95, Max dur 11.7 sec, Mag Drop 0.17
Across southern Australia from near Nowra and Canberra across south-eastern New South Wales, north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia to Victor Harbour, and just grazing the coast near Albany in Western Australia.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200521_42_65006_u.htm

May 22 (673) EDDA: Star Mag 9.6, Max dur 3.4 sec, Mag Drop 4.6
A narrow path across Australia, from Hervey Bay across southern Queensland and The Northern Territory and central Western Australia to Exmouth.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200522_673_67176_u.htm

May 23 (454) MATHESIS: Star Mag 11.99, Max dur 19.9 sec, Mag Drop 1.78
Across New Zealand, including Blenheim and just off the coast near Opunake, and across along the north-east Papua - New Guinea coast including Lae.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200523_454_65018_u.htm

May 24 (392) WILHELMINA: Star Mag 12.41, Max dur 4.6 sec, Mag Drop 2.14
Across southern Australia across Tasmania from Swansea to Smithton, across south-western Western Australia from Esperance to Moora, and just off the south coast of New Zealand near Invercargill.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200524_392_65024_u.htm

May 24 (4715) 1989TS1: Star Mag 9.3, Max dur 4.2 sec, Mag Drop 7.54
Across northern Australia from Innisfail across northern Queensland, The Northern Territory and Western Australia to Wyndham.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200524_4715_65022_u.htm

May 26 (654) ZELINDA: Star Mag 10.61, Max dur 10.3 sec, Mag Drop 1.41
A fairly broad path across Australia, from near Gladstone, at low elevation and in morning twilight, across southern Queensland, northern South Australia and southern Western Australia to a little north of Perth.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200526_654_65036_u.htm

May 26 (2731) CUCULA: Star Mag 9.8, Max dur 1.5 sec, Mag Drop 7.75
Across northern Australia from Wyndham across northern Western Australia (in evening twilight), The Northern Territory and Queensland to near Mackay.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200526_2731_67178_u.htm

May 27 (117) LOMIA: Star Mag 10.68, Max dur 15.7 sec, Mag Drop 2.16
Across the South Island of New Zealand, from Kaikoura to Haast, possibly including Christchurch, and just south of Tasmania.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200527_117_65042_u.htm

May 28 (451) PATIENTIA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 16.6 sec, Mag Drop 0.68
A broad path across Australia from Brisbane across southern Queensland, northern South Australia, southern Northern Territory and central Western Australia to slightly north of Carnarvon.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200528_451_65048_u.htm

May 28 (915) COSETTE: Star Mag 8.1, Max dur 1.7 sec, Mag Drop 6.85
A very narrow path across Australia from Nambucca Heads across northern New South Wales and South Australia and central Western Australia to south of Exmouth.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200528_915_68136_u.htm

May 29 (521) BRIXIA: Star Mag 12.5, Max dur 11.9 sec, Mag Drop 1.29
Across New Zealand, including Waipukuarau, Masterton and (just) Wellington, and most of the South Island.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200529_521_65060_u.htm

May 29 (466) TISIPHONE: Star Mag 11.3, Max dur 7.8 sec, Mag Drop 2.15
Across Western Australia, from near Perth towards southern Northern Territory at decreasing elevation and in morning twilight.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200529_466_68142_u.htm

***May 30 (319) LEONA: Star Mag 7.88, Max dur 4.2 sec, Mag Drop 0.81
A path across central New Zealand, including Wellington, Blenheim and Karmea, and across southern Australia, including Wilson's Prom and Cape Otway in Victoria and from Ravensthorpe to Busselton in south-west Western Australia.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200530_319_65070_u.htm

May 30 (155) SCYLLA: Star Mag 11.61, Max dur 2.7 sec, Mag Drop 5.04
A narrow path across Australia from near Cooktown in morning twilight across northern Queensland, southern Northern Territory and southern Western Australia to Busselton.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200530_155_65074_u.htm

May 31 (372) PALMA: Star Mag 9.16, Max dur 11.4 sec, Mag Drop 4.29
A broad path across Australia from Bowen across northern Queensland, central Northern Territory and northern Western Australia to Port Headland.
Details: http://www.occultations.org.nz//planet/2020/updates/200531_372_65080_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





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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

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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.
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