December 2020 News and research

 Astronomy_News_20_12_2020
This months research Papers 20_12_2020
RASNZ_20_12_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
Google Group
https://groups.google.com/g/nzastrochat
Astronomy in Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/groups/11451597655/
Blogger Posts
http://laintal.blogspot.com/
Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/user/Edwin_Rod_NZ
Quaroa
https://www.quora.com/q/astronomyinnewzealand
Twitter
https://twitter.com/Laintal


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research papers

An approximation to determine the source of the WOW! Signal
https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.06090

The effect of stellar multiplicity on protoplanetary discs. A NIR survey of the Lupus star forming region
https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.12297

The First VERA Astrometry Catalog
https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.03089

Chemically tracing the water snowline in protoplanetary disks with HCO
https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.12319

New insights into ice properties and their effect on ice shell convection
https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.12502

Interstellar Objects Outnumber Solar System Objects in the Oort Cloud
https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.14900

Natural radioactive environments as sources of local disequilibrium for the emergence of life
https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.14839

Astrochemistry associated with planet formation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.01472

The effect of pre-impact spin on the Moon-forming collision
https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.02965

The Role of Early Giant Planet Instability in the Terrestrial Planet Formation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.02323

Modeling transmission windows in Titan's lower troposphere
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.02247

A Distinct Population of Small Planets Sub-Earths
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.02273

Gaia Early Data Release 3
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.03380

A Statistical Estimation of the Occurrence of Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the Milky Way Galaxy
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.07902

Bayesian analysis of Juno/JIRAM's NIR observations of Europa
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.05240

On the Robustness of Phosphine Signatures in Venus' Clouds
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.05844




Lava Worlds From Early Earth to Exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.07337

Detectability of biosignatures on LHS 1140 b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.11426

Magnetospheres of Terrestrial Exoplanets and Exomoons
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.11694

Visible-wavelength Spectra of Europa's Trailing Hemisphere
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.11737

The Fundamental Connections Between the Solar System and Exoplanetary Science
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.11628


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting News items

FORTHCOMING STAR PARTIES -


CENTRAL STAR PARTY. Thu 14th – Mon 18th January 2021. Four days/nights of tenting/bunk rooms, excellent astronomy talks and
telescope viewing! Tuki Tuki Camp site, 70 Moore Rd, Haumoana, Hawkes Bay. www.censtar.party .

STARDATE – SOUTH ISLAND. Waitangi weekend, Fri 5th -Mon 8th February 2021. Staveley. Keep an eye on https://cas.org.nz/

STARDATE. Fri 12 and Sat 13 February 2021, at Stonehenge. Phoenix Astronomical Society. Contact secretary@astronomynz.org.nz


Mysterious metal monolith pops up in Christchurch
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/123769650/aliens-or-artists-mysterious-metal-monolith-pops-up-in-christchurch-the-latest-home-to-the-global-phenomenon


Rocket plumes
http://satobs.org/seesat_ref/misc/zuma_vs_falcon9-stage2_clouds_plumes_overview.pdf

The world’s oldest story? Astronomers say global myths about ‘seven sisters’ stars may reach back 100,000 years
https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-oldest-story-astronomers-say-global-myths-about-seven-sisters-stars-may-reach-back-100-000-years-151568

Chance Played A Major Role In Keeping Earth Fit For Life
http://astrobiology.com/2020/12/chance-played-a-major-role-in-keeping-earth-fit-for-life.html


Christmas without lockdowns, despite contrary views
https://sciblogs.co.nz/lately-in-science/2020/12/24/christmas-without-lockdowns-despite-contrary-views/



A Transient at Proxima Centauri?
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2020/12/21/a-transient-at-proxima-centauri/

A signal from Proxima? Likely intelligent, unlikely from aliens
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-signal-from-proxima-likely-intelligent-unlikely-from-aliens

BLC1: A candidate signal around Proxima
https://sites.psu.edu/astrowright/2020/12/20/blc1-a-candidate-signal-around-proxima/

A Statistical Estimation of the Occurrence of Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the Milky Way Galaxy
https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.07902

Alien hunters detect mysterious radio signal from nearby star
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/12/alien-hunters-detect-mysterious-radio-signal-from-nearby-star/





Hi,

Currently there's a mag 7-ish comet in the morning sky (Comet Erasmus). It rises just before astro twilight. It could be a reasonable astrophotography target (albeit, we're fighting trilight down here in NZ). Here's an observation from J. J. Gonzalez Suarez (Spain) -

C/2020 S3 (Erasmus):
2020 Nov. 28.25 UT: m1=6.8, Dia.=3', DC=7/,
Tail= 0.4 deg. in PA 270 deg, 25x100B.
[ Zodiacal light. Altitude: 4 deg. Sidgwick method.
Tycho-2 comparison stars. SQM: 20.3.].  

Ephemerides from GUIDE 9.1 -
Erasmus (C/2020 S3)
Date         RA            declination     r      delta   mag Elong  Speed   PA  Con
----         --            -----------     -      -----   --- ----- ------ ----- ---
29 Nov 2020  14h07m46.36s  -22 56' 21.5"  0.5472  1.0850 11.6  30.2 330.15  96.0 Hya
30 Nov 2020  14h17m15.22s  -23 09' 00.1"  0.5304  1.0949 11.5  28.9 330.23  95.1 Hya
 1 Dec 2020  14h26m45.81s  -23 19' 25.4"  0.5140  1.1058 11.4  27.7 330.23  94.1 Lib
 2 Dec 2020  14h36m17.73s  -23 27' 37.2"  0.4983  1.1174 11.3  26.5 330.19  93.1 Lib
 3 Dec 2020  14h45m50.61s  -23 33' 35.9"  0.4833  1.1299 11.2  25.2 330.12  92.2 Lib
 4 Dec 2020  14h55m24.08s  -23 37' 22.8"  0.4691  1.1431 11.2  24..0 330.05  91.2 Lib
 5 Dec 2020  15h04m57.81s  -23 38' 59.6"  0.4558  1.1570 11.1  22.8 329.96  90..3 Lib
 6 Dec 2020  15h14m31.48s  -23 38' 29.0"  0.4436  1.1715 11.0  21.6 329.85  89.4 Lib
 7 Dec 2020  15h24m04.72s  -23 35' 53.9"  0.4326  1.1866 11.0  20.4 329.70  88.5 Lib
 8 Dec 2020  15h33m37.15s  -23 31' 18.3"  0.4230  1.2022 10.9  19.2 329.46  87.6 Lib
 9 Dec 2020  15h43m08.30s  -23 24' 46.5"  0.4148  1.2182 10.9  18.0 329.07  86.8 Lib
10 Dec 2020  15h52m37.63s  -23 16' 23.5"  0.4081  1.2345 10.8  16.8 328.47  86.0 Sco
11 Dec 2020  16h02m04.51s  -23 06' 15.0"  0.4032  1.2510 10.8  15.7 327.58  85.2 Sco
12 Dec 2020  16h11m28.21s  -22 54' 27.1"  0.4000  1.2677 10.8  14.5 326.34  84.5 Sco
13 Dec 2020  16h20m47.89s  -22 41' 06..5"  0.3987  1.2844 10.8  13.4 324.67  83.8 Sco (perihelion)
14 Dec 2020  16h30m02.66s  -22 26' 20.3"  0.3992  1.3011 10.9  12.3 322.52  83.1 Oph
15 Dec 2020  16h39m11.60s  -22 10' 15.7"  0.4016  1..3177 10.9  11.3 319.88  82.5 Oph
16 Dec 2020  16h48m13.77s  -21 53' 00.0"  0.4058  1.3343 11.0  10.3 316.72  81.9 Oph
17 Dec 2020  16h57m08.29s  -21 34' 40..5"  0.4117  1.3507 11.1   9.3 313.08  81.4 Oph
18 Dec 2020  17h05m54.35s  -21 15' 24.4"  0.4192  1.3670 11.2   8.4 308.98  80.8 Oph
19 Dec 2020  17h14m31.23s  -20 55' 18.4"  0.4282  1.3832 11.3   7.6 304.49  80.3 Oph
20 Dec 2020  17h22m58.34s  -20 34' 29.0"  0.4387  1.3993 11.4   6.9 299.65  79..8 Oph

Cheers
John D - RASNZ Comet and Meteor Section

---------------------------------------------------------------
Updates from Andrew B,


Miranda.
Imaged: Friday 24th January 1986.
Here are seen several nice views of the Uranus moon Miranda during the historic Voyager 2 spacecraft encounter back in January 1986.
Here the innermost main moon of Uranus was seen to be very geologically diverse. Impact craters, huge coronae, faults and gigantic cliffs were seen. The tallest cliffs rising some 20 KM / 12 miles high were spotted, since named Verona Rupes.
The huge array of features takes some explaining.
The three favourites are:
1) Miranda was destroyed in a huge collision and then reformed out of the rubble, with heavier, rockier material sinking to form a core and warming up the ice shell, before it froze solid.
2). Miranda was once in a resonance with one of the other larger moons of Uranus, possibly Umbriel.
3). Miranda once had two small co orbital moons that shared the same orbit around Uranus and in time these slowly impacted Miranda.
Miranda is 468 KM / 291 miles wide across the equator, 466 KM / 289 miles through the poles and 480 KM / 298 miles through the long axis pointing at Uranus.
Miranda has a low density of 1.20 grammes per cubic centimetre, denser than pure water ice, approx 75% ice, 25% rock with a very low average surface temperature of minus 215 Celsius / minus 355 Fahrenheit or 58 Kelvin.
Miranda orbits Uranus at an average distance of 129,400 KM / 80,360 miles once every 1 day, 9 hours and 8 minutes. Miranda is uranosynchronous, so keeps the same face turned towards Uranus permanently.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA/JPL-Caltech. Voyager 2 Spacecraft.


Andrew R Brown
·
Moon.
Tuesday 1st December 2020.
The China National Space Administration , Chang'e 5 successfully soft landed on the Moon this afternoon @ 15:11 GMT / 23:11 BT (Beijing Time).
Image shows a tiny area just after landing. The rock at top left is very small, about the size of a finger nail.
The precise position was reported as 51.8 degrees West longitude and 43.1 degrees North latitude. Well to the Northeast of Mons Rümker.
About 18:00 GMT (Tuesday 1st December 2020) / 02:00 BT (Wednesday 2nd December 2020) sample collection was expected to commence with the aim to return with about 2 KG of mare basalts. The lunar samples will be from the Mons Rümker volcanic province to the north east of the Mons Rümker formation itself, a shield volcano about 1,100 metres / 3,609 feet tall with a diameter averaging 70 KM / 43.50 miles wide. Mons Rümker is located within the northwestern part of Oceanus Procellarum / Ocean of Storms in the northern hemisphere on the Moon's near side.
Mons Rümker appears to be a former 'Mantle, Magmatic Hot Spot' much like the islands of Hawaii, Galapagos Islands, Canary Islands, Yellowstone, etc on Earth. A plume of molten rock rises from the lower mantle, 'melting' a hole in the crust forming volcanoes. In case of the Earth, due to plate tectonics, these form island arcs (like Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean) or arcs of calderas, like Yellowstone. Wyoming, USA (older inactive calderas from the same hot spot as Yellowstone have been traced from Wyoming to Idaho).
Chang'e 5 will be able to return samples that were once part of the Moon's lower mantle, near the core as the landing site is within the same LIP / Large Igneous Province that Mons Rümker is itself. Perhaps will shed further light onto the origin of the Moon, for instance, was or was not the Moon ever a part of the early Earth? How hydrated were rocks very deep inside the Moon, what isotope ratio between regular and heavy water as compared to Hot Spot volcanic lava on Earth, ratio and abundances of metals, etc?
Mons Rümker was named after the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Christian Rümker, born: Wednesday 28th May 1788 & died: Sunday 21st December 1862. 74 years of age, which during that period was a very good age indeed.
The landing on the Moon took place about 48 hours after sunrise at the end of a minus 180 Celsius / minus 292 Fahrenheit lunar night.
Chang'e 5 will take images including at least one high resolution panorama of the landing site, before attempting sample collection, which too will be recorded.
Time is of the essence as unlike the previous lander / rover predecessors Chang'e 3 and Chang'e 4, Chang'e 5 has no RHUs / Radioactive Heating Units to protect the internal electronics from the two week long, cryonically cold lunar nights. At night the temperature drops to at least minus 180 Celsius / minus 292 Fahrenheit / 93 Kelvin at this location at lunar sunrise (about the same as the average surface temperatures of the moons of Saturn).
On: Saturday 12th December 2020, the sample return capsule will leave the Moon to return to Earth.~
On: Thursday 17th December 2020, the samples will land in Ulanqab Region, Inner Mongolia, China to awaiting scientists.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
CNSA / China National Space Administration.


Finally got to the bottom of the mystery of the 'Hills' on the horizon as seen by the CNSA / China National Space Administration Chang'e 5 Lander.
They were as I initially suspected before getting 'duff' information, that these are some large hills, about 500 metres / 1,640 feet high (so low mountains really), the nearest is 13 KM / 8 miles away to the SSW of Chang'e 5.
So they are not Mons Rümker after all (shame really as it would be cool to see lunar volcanoes from the surface). These hills are part of older lunar crust, poking up through the lava plains of Oceanus Procellarum / Ocean of Storms.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
CNSA / China National Space Administration. Chang'e 5.



Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
Sols 2,878 to 2,921.
Wednesday 9th September 2020 to Friday 23rd October 2020.
.
LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in Gale Crater.
MSL Curiosity was climbing the 5,500 metre / 18,050 foot tall Aeolis Mons, at the inside the 4,850 metre / 15,900 foot deep and 154 KM / 96 mile wide Gale Crater, within the Aeolis Quadrangle on Mars.
MSL Curiosity remains in superb shape and continues to operate flawlessly.
Here a long mosaic of imagery is taken of Housedon Hill and part of Aeolis Mons, using the ChemCam / Chemistry Camera.
The ChemCam was initially designed to image a feature close up, then fire a 1 MW (MegaWatt) laser at it to vapourize a small quantity iof said rock, or feature and the ChemCam images it again whilst the composition of the vapour is analyzed by the onboard spectrometer.
What became clear very early on in the mission post landing was that ChemCam would aklso make a superb telescope, being able to image features, many KMs away in much greater detail, thus raising the scientific return of MSL Curiosity.
There is an updated. but similar camera onboard the Mars Perseverance Rover, currently on route to Mars, due to land in Jezero Crater on: Thursday 18th February 2021 @ about 20:00 HRS GMT.  The sim,ilar camera on Mars Perseverance Rover is known as The SuperCam and is also in full colour where as the one on MSL Curiosity is a black & white one.
Here the entire swathe is shown along with full sized sections.
Full resolution version through the link below.
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA24262.jpg
Text: Andrew R Brown.
NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.



The Mars InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander which landed on Mars on within the Elysium Planitia, Elysium Quadrangle, on: Monday 26th November 2018, continues to operate well and has uncovered important new discoveries about Mars.
The first Marsquake was not detected until April 2019, and none have exceeded magnitude 3.7 on the Richter Scale. Also these quakes have originated within a fairly small area within the Cerberos Fossae about 1,609 KM / 1,000 miles to the east of the Mars InSight lander. None have been detected to date from the closer giant volcano Elysium Mons (one of the reasons why I wanted this particular landing ellipse) or elsewhere on Mars.
There have been no surface waves detected during these quakes, suggesting that these come from very deep under the surface of Mars, some 400 KM / 249 miles below the surface. It could be that the top 10 KM / 6.2 miles of the crust underneath the area Mars InSight landed is fractured and that dampens out the surface waves. Further analysis will determine whether or not that is the case.
Then in late June 2020 the quakes appeared to stop, then the next one was not detected until late September 2020 and only four since then.
One thing that this 'hiatus' might have been due to is the wind blowing accross the surface during a windier spell and the vibrations from these winds may have drowned out weak Marsquakes. Further analysis will determine whether or not that was the case.
More sense has been made of the landing site using imagery from the IDC (Instrument Deployment Camera) located on the arm just below the elbow.
The scene is that of a rolling, low topographic relief region, as expected for a lava plain. To the north is a small ridge, covered in duricrust, hiding an ancient degraded small crater. To the east is a 100 metre wide crater since named Sunrise Crater.
Attached some Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE views,  some general views of the landscape, Sunset and Sunrise and a 290 degree panormama from the Mars InSight Instrument Deployment Camera.
Text: Andrew R Brown.
HiRISE /  High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, HiRISE.
IRIS / Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. Earth & Mars.
IDC / Instrument Deployment Camera.
SEIS.
NASA / JPL-Caltech. Mars InSight.
Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport

---------------------------------------------------------------
RASNZ


==================================================
.   Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
.   Email Newsletter Number 240, 20 December 2020
==================================================
Affiliated Societies are welcome to reproduce any item in this email
newsletter or on the RASNZ website http://www.rasnz.org.nz/
in their own newsletters provided an acknowledgement of the source is
also included.

Contents
--------
 1. President's Message
 2. Asteroid Sample Arrives
 3. Lunar Sample Returned
 4. Arecibo Radio Telescope Collapses
 5. The Solar System in January
 6. Star Parties
 7. Stardate South Island - Waitangi Weekend 2021 - Staveley
 8. Royal Society of NZ Awards
 9. Variable Stars South News
10. Artificial Light Is Pollution
11. The Galaxy Mapped by VLBI
12. Minimoon Characterised
13. Quote

================================================================
1. President's Message
----------------------
For a Centenary year it didn't go to plan. In 1920 the Astronomical
Society of New Zealand was formed and 2020 should have been the year we
celebrated the foresight of our founders and the contributions of all
our members over the first 100 years.
A global pandemic put paid to face-to-face celebrations as the RASNZ
Annual General Meeting and Conference was first postponed then shifted
to an extended online version.
I would like to extend my thanks to those who adapted to these
challenging times and worked hard to provide the online meetings.

Given more settled times ahead, 2021 gives us the opportunity to
celebrate the first meeting of our Society in 1921 in Wellington.
Planning is underway to hold our AGM and Conference over the weekend of
9 to 11 of July in Wellington. The conference will host those Students
With A Passion for Astronomy who missed their chance this year along
with the successful students from 2021. This will continue the work of
the SWAPA programme to encourage young New Zealanders to follow
astronomy and related science careers.
Hopefully the world's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic will be
advanced enough for us to invite international speakers again.

Keep safe, keep healthy and enjoy the festive times and a more settled
2021 ahead.

Steve Butler
President RASNZ

================================================================
2. Asteroid Sample Arrives
--------------------------
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 successfully delivered a sample of asteroid Ryugu last week. This was confirmed when the capsule was opened on December 14.  The discovery comes a week after the Hayabusa-2 probe dropped off its capsule, which entered the atmosphere in a streak of light before landing in the Australian desert and then being transported to Japan.

The Japanese space agency (JAXA) released a picture of a small deposit of sooty material inside the metal box—a first glimpse at the results of an unprecedented six-year mission for the unmanned probe. The dust was found in the capsule's outer shell, agency officials said, with more substantial samples expected to be found when they open the inner container, a delicate task. "JAXA has confirmed that samples derived from the asteroid Ryugu are inside the sample container," the agency said. "We were able to confirm black, sand-like particles which are believed to be derived from the asteroid Ryugu."

Hayabusa-2 travelled about 300 million km from Earth to collect the samples, which scientists hope could help shed light on the origin of life and the formation of the solar system. The probe collected both surface dust and pristine material from below the surface that was stirred up by firing an "impactor" into the asteroid.

"We will continue our work to open the sample-catcher within the sample container. Extraction of the sample and analysis of it will be carried out," JAXA said.  Half of Hayabusa-2's samples will be shared between JAXA, US space agency NASA and other international organisations, and the rest kept for future study as advances are made in analytic technology.

But work is not over for the probe, which will now begin an extended mission targeting two new asteroids.
See Katie Forster's summary with images at  
https://phys.org/news/2020-12-black-sand-like-asteroid-japan-probe.html

===============================================================
3. Lunar Sample Returned
------------------------
An unmanned Chinese spacecraft carrying rocks and soil from the moon returned safely to Earth early on December 17 (local time) in the first mission in four decades to collect lunar samples, the Xinhua news agency said.

The capsule carrying the samples collected by the Chang’e-5 space probe landed in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region, Xinhua said, quoting the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The director of CNSA, Zhang Kejian, declared the mission a success, Xinhua added.  With this mission, China has become only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the US and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.

Beijing is looking to catch up with Washington and Moscow after taking decades to match its rivals’ achievements and has poured billions into its military-run space programme.

The spacecraft, named after a mythical Chinese moon goddess, landed on the moon on 1 December and began its return voyage two days later. While on the moon it raised the Chinese flag.  

When the probe left the moon two days later, that marked the first time that China had achieved take-off from an extraterrestrial body, CNSA said
The module then went through the delicate operation of linking up in lunar orbit with the part of the spacecraft that brought the samples back to Earth. Scientists hope the samples will help them learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface. The spacecraft’s mission was to collect 2 kgs of material in an area known as Oceanus Procellarum, or “Ocean of Storms”, a vast, previously unexplored lava plain, according to the science journal Nature.

The capsule will be airlifted to Beijing for opening, and the moon samples will be delivered to a research team for analysis and study, the space agency said.  China will make some of the samples available to scientists in other countries, Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the CNSA’s Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center, has said.

Xinhua described the mission as one of the most challenging and complicated in China’s aerospace history. The probe comprised separate craft to get to the moon, land on it and collect the samples, get back up and then return the rocks and soil to Earth.

The return capsule entered the Earth’s atmosphere at an altitude of about 120km. When it was about 10km above land, a parachute opened and it landed smoothly, after which a search team recovered it, the news agency said.  This was the first such attempt since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission in 1976.

Under President Xi Jinping, plans for China’s “space dream”, as he calls it, have been put into overdrive. China hopes to have a crewed space station by 2022 and eventually send humans to the moon.

See the original article at https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/dec/16/chinese-spacecraft-carrying-rocks-and-soil-from-the-moon-returns-safely

=================================================================
4. Arecibo Radio Telescope Collapses
------------------------------------
The huge radio telescope in Puerto Rico that has played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century collapsed on December 1, officials said. The telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform fell onto the reflector dish more than 400 feet below.

The US National Science Foundation had earlier announced that the Arecibo Observatory would be closed. An auxiliary cable snapped in August, causing a 100ft gash on the 1,000ft-wide (305m) reflector dish and damaged the receiver platform that hung above it. Then a main cable broke in early November.

The collapse stunned many scientists who had relied on what was until recently the largest radio telescope in the world. “It’s a huge loss,” said Carmen Pantoja, an astronomer and professor at the University of Puerto Rico who used the telescope for her doctorate. “It was a chapter of my life.”

Scientists worldwide had been petitioning US officials and others to reverse the NSF’s decision to close the observatory. The NSF said at the time that it intended to eventually reopen the visitor centre and restore operations at the observatory’s remaining assets, including its two Lidar facilities used for upper atmospheric and ionospheric research, including analysing cloud cover and precipitation data.

The telescope was built in the 1960s with money from the US defence department amid a push to develop anti-ballistic missile defences. It had endured hurricanes, tropical humidity and a recent string of earthquakes in its 57 years of operation.

The telescope has been used to track asteroids on a path to Earth, conduct research that led to a Nobel prize and determine if a planet is potentially habitable. It also served as a training ground for graduate students and drew about 90,000 visitors a year.

“I am one of those students who visited it when young and got inspired,” said Abel Mendez, a physics and astrobiology professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo who has used the telescope for research. “The world without the observatory loses, but Puerto Rico loses even more.”
He last used the telescope on 6 August, just days before a socket holding the auxiliary cable that snapped failed in what experts believe could be a manufacturing error. The National Science Foundation, which owns the observatory that is managed by the University of Central Florida, said crews who evaluated the structure after the first incident determined that the remaining cables could handle the additional weight.
But on 6 November another cable broke.

Scientists had used the telescope to study pulsars to detect gravitational waves as well as search for neutral hydrogen, which can reveal how certain cosmic structures are formed. About 250 scientists worldwide had been using the observatory when it closed in August, including Mendez, who was studying stars to detect habitable planets.
“I’m trying to recover,” he said. “I am still very much affected.”

The original article is at
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/01/arecibo-radio-telescope-collapses-puerto-rico

A video of the collapse can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3AASKr_iHc

See also Duncan Steel's backgrounder on Arecibo at
https://sciblogs.co.nz/out-of-space/2020/11/23/big-eye-wide-but-shut/

===============================================================
5. The Solar System in January
------------------------------
Dates and times shown are NZDT (UT + 13 hours).  Rise and Set times are for Wellington. They will vary by a few minutes elsewhere in NZ.  Data is adapted from that shown by GUIDE 9.1.

THE SUN and PLANETS in JANUARY, Rise & Set, Magnitude & Constellation
          JAN 1        NZDT           JAN 31        NZDT  
      Mag  Cons    Rise    Set     Mag  Cons    Rise    Set
SUN     -26.7  Sgr   5.48am  8.59pm  -26.7  Cap   6.22am  8.44pm
Mercury  -1.0  Sgr   6.14am  9.36pm    0.9  Cap   7.47am  9.14pm
Venus    -3.9  Oph   4.25am  7.29pm   -3.9  Sgr   5.16am  8.05pm
Mars     -0.2  Psc   2.52pm  1.40am    0.4  Ari   2.10pm 12.19am
Jupiter  -2.0  Cap   7.38am 10.17pm   -2.0  Cap   6.16am  8.41pm
Saturn    0.6  Cap   7.32am 10.13am    0.6  Cap   5.52am  8.26pm
Uranus    5.7  Ari   3.38pm  2.11am    5.8  Ari   1.40pm 12.13am
Neptune   7.9  Aqr  11.32am 12.19am    7.9  Aqr   9.37am 10.23pm
Pluto    14.6  Sgr   6.52am  9.52pm   14.6  Sgr   4.55am  7.54pm

              January 1  NZDT            January 31  NZDT
Twilights    morning     evening        morning      evening
Civil:    start 5.18am, end  9.31pm   start 5.54am, end  9.13pm
Nautical: start 4.35am, end 10.14pm   start 5.16am, end  9.51pm
Astro:    start 3.44am, end 11.04pm   start 4.34am, end 10.33pm

   Nov PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZDT & UT
  Last quarter:  Jan  6 at 10.37pm (09:37 UT)
  New Moon:      Jan 13 at  6.00pm (05:00 UT)
  First quarter: Jan 21 at 10.01am (Jan 20, 21:01 UT)
  Full Moon:     Jan 29 at  8.16am (Jan 28, 19:16 UT)

THE PLANETS in JANUARY

MERCURY is an evening object during January but is likely to be unobservable during the month.  It is at its greatest elongation from the Sun on January 24, when it sets some 51 minutes after the Sun.  This is during the period of Nautical twilight when the western horizon is still bright.

VENUS is a morning sky object during January, rising over an hour before the Sun.  As a result it will be low rather to the south of east in the morning twilight.  On the morning of January 12 about 30 minutes before sunrise, the crescent moon will be just over 1° from Venus, the latter being a little under 8° above the horizon.

MARS sets after midnight during January, so remains readily visible in the evening sky.  It continues to fade slowly during the month as its distance from the Earth increases.  The planet moves from Pisces to Aries on the 5th, where it passes Uranus on the 21st.  The two will be 1.8° apart, with the moon, at first quarter, 3.7° from Mars and the other side of Uranus.  Moon, Uranus and Mars are almost in line at 9.30 pm half an hour after sunset.

JUPITER and SATURN remain close to one another, but they set just over an hour after the Sun at the beginning of January and virtually at the same time as the Sun on the 31st. Saturn is at conjunction with the Sun on the 24th with Jupiter at conjunction on the 29th.

URANUS sets after midnight in January.  Its line up with Mars and the moon on the 21st could give a chance to locate the planet, easily visible using binoculars.

NEPTUNE is an evening object but will set a little after 10 pm by the end of the month.  This is 100 minutes after Sunset.  


POSSIBLE BINOCULAR ASTEROIDS in January

                   Jan 1 NZDT          Jan 31 NZDT  
                Mag  Cons  transit    Mag  Cons  transit
 (1) Ceres      9.3   Aqr   5.46pm    9.3   Aqr   4.24pm
 (4) Vesta      7.1   Leo   6.09am    6.7   Leo   4.17am
 (8) Flora      9.5   Cet   9.01pm   10.1   Ari   7.36pm
(14) Irene      9.7   Cnc   3.34am    9.2   Cnc   1.10am
(15) Eunomia    8.9   Cnc   3.10am    8.8   Cnc  12.41am

CERES is an evening object best seen as soon once the sky is dark.  It remains in Aquarius setting at 12.47 am on the 1st and 11.06 pm on the 31st.

VESTA is a morning object in Leo rising at 12.39am on the 1st and 10.54pm on the 31st.  On the morning of January 5, Vesta will be less than half a degree from the moon as seen from NZ at about 1.45 am. Guide shows an occultation of the asteroid nominally visible from Antarctica, which will be sunlit.

FLORA, is an evening object but is likely to be lost to binocular view during the month.  It sets shortly after midnight on the 31st.

IRENE and EUNOMIA, are both in Cancer, just under 10° apart on January 1, with the moon between them.  The moon lies between the pair again on the 28th.  

Both asteroids are well north of the celestial equator, especially Irene which will only be 20° up, as seen from Wellington, at transit on the 31st.  Eunomia rises at just after 10 pm on the 1st, Irene an hour later.

Both are at opposition during January:  Eunomia on the 20th at magnitude 8.5, Irene on the 27th magnitude 9.1.

-- Brian Loader

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6. Star Parties
---------------
Central Star Party. Thu 14th – Mon 18th January 2021. Four days/nights of tenting/bunk rooms, excellent astronomy talks and telescope viewing! Tuki Tuki Camp site, 70 Moore Rd, Haumoana, Hawkes Bay. www.censtar.party .

Stardate - South Island.  Waitangi weekend, Fri 5th-Mon 8th February 2021. Staveley. See next item for details.

Stardate. Fri 12th and Sat 13th February 2021, at Stonehenge. Phoenix Astronomical Society. Contact secretary@astronomynz.org.nz

=================================================================
7. Stardate South Island - Waitangi Weekend 2021 - Staveley
-----------------------------------------------------------
Waitangi Weekend - Friday 5th - Monday 8th Feb 2021 @ Staveley Camp
Stardate SI will be held at Staveley 5-8 Feb and will add an extra night this year due to the long weekend. This is an awesome event and one that's great for the kids as there's plenty of space outside for them too. All the normal activities... lectures, pot luck dinner, telescope walk, solar viewing, kid's activities etc. plus some great observing from a dark sky location. Plenty of space to camp and great facilities makes it fun weekend for the family.

Bookings information can be found at Euan's website:
http://www.treesandstars.com/stardate/
Detailed information will be available soon and we will send out an agenda including the booking site link and prices in our email updates.

===============================================================
8. Royal Society of NZ Awards
-----------------------------
In November the Royal Society of New Zealand announced two awards related to space and astronomy:

2020 Pickering Medal to Rocket Lab
To recognise innovative work in design, development or invention leading to significant commercial success.

Citation:
To the Rocket Lab team for developing world-leading small satellite launch technology, including unique rocket engine designs, 3D printing for manufacture, and all carbon-composite construction.

The Pickering Medal for innovation leading to significant commercial success was won by Rocket Lab’s research and development team, led by Peter Beck. Rocket Lab’s research and development team have achieved technical breakthroughs that have allowed the company to become the world’s leading dedicated-launch-provider for small satellites. Its competitive advantage derives from research and development that has achieved both a drastic reduction in the cost of dedicated launches and an increased launch frequency.  Key innovative features from the in-house R&D include unique motor designs, 3D printing for manufacture and all carbon-composite construction. The launch vehicle’s components are designed and manufactured in-house at Rocket Lab’s facilities for quick turnaround times and increased efficiencies. Global uptake is significant and growing. Read more about the 2020 Pickering Medal at
https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/medals-and-awards/research-honours/2020-research-honours-aotearoa/2020-pickering-medal/
 
------------
Callaghan Medal to Rangi Matamua
For an outstanding contribution to science communication and raising public awareness of the value of science and technology to human progress.

Citation:
To Rangianehu Leslie Matamua for his science communication work in Maori astronomy that examines Maori scientific knowledge associated with the cosmos.

The 2020 Callaghan Medal for an outstanding contribution to science or technology communication has been awarded to Professor Rangi Matamua (Tuhoe) for his pioneering work in Maori astronomy that has engaged the public in the interface between western science and matauranga Maori.

Rangi is Professor in Te Pua Wananga ki te Ao - the Faculty of Maori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato. His work illustrates the ways empirical science has always been a part of traditional Maori knowledge systems.  Through his study of Maori Astronomy he examines Maori scientific knowledge associated with the cosmos.

Rangi’s passion to engage the public in the interface between science and matauranga Maori has resulted in television shows, online and print publications, social media blogs, more than 100 public lectures, a museum exhibition visited by more than 100,000 people, and a best-selling book Matariki: The Star of the Year written in both English and te reo Maori. In 2019, he was awarded the Maori Language Commission’s “Nga Mahi Papaho – Broadcasting and Media Award” for his show Living with the Stars. In June 2020 he received the 2019 Prime Minister’s Science Communication Prize for his work communicating about Maori astronomy, including raising awareness about the significance of the rising of the Matariki star cluster in mid-winter for Maori.

Rangi’s science communication work emphasises how empirical science has always been a part of traditional Maori knowledge systems. His scientific outreach demonstrates the ways that Maori ancestors have applied this science to navigate the Pacific Ocean, explore new lands throughout Oceania, and ultimately thrive here in Aotearoa.  This science was subsequently embedded in cultural narrative and customary practice and was celebrated in ceremony and religion.  Gaining deep knowledge of Maori astronomy, which has been supported by two grants from the Marsden Fund Te Putea Rangahau a Marsden, he has unpacked and disseminated Maori scientific knowledge associated with the cosmos to both national and international communities.

Importantly, Rangi’s work is communicated in both English and te reo Maori, and he is making new linguistic contributions pertaining to te reo Maori and Maori astronomy - helping to expand both fields.  Rangi has delivered lectures to Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa, universities, marae, corporate organisations, astronomical societies, community groups, and to Parliament. Maori and Pasifika currently make up less than 2% of the scientific workforce in New Zealand. In line with Maori perspectives of research excellence and impact, Rangi’s important science communication work makes a difference – to the ways young Maori and Pasifika see themselves as future scientists, and by showing that ancestral ways of ‘knowing’ the world still hold true in contemporary times, thus legitimising Indigenous knowledge systems.

Rangi and his family have had a connection with Royal Society Te Aparangi since the late 1800s.  His ancestor, Te Kokau Himiona Te Pikikotuku, was an informant and friend of Royal Society member Elsdon Best.  Their relationship set in course the collection and recording of Maori astronomical knowledge by Te Kokau, which Rangi inherited. In honouring this enduring relationship, between April and June 2019 Rangi gave 21 two-hour talks throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia for the Royal Society Te Aparangi series ‘Ko Matariki e arau ana’, with support from the Marsden Fund Te Putea Rangahau a Marsden. This roadshow introduced his work on Matariki to more than 10,000 people.

Rangi is committed to emphasising the interface that exists between Matauranga Maori and western science.  His belief is that by seeking the connections between these spaces a richer, deeper and more culturally rewarding understanding of science will emerge.  This new approach to understanding the place and importance of Maori science within the wider field of science has the potential to be transformative. Like the work of medal namesake Sir Paul Callaghan, Rangi is championing a more open, inclusive and innovative view of science in Aotearoa New Zealand.

See https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/medals-and-awards/research-honours/2020-research-honours-aotearoa/2020-callaghan-medal/

================================================================
9. Variable Star News
---------------------
Roy  Axelsen’s work with Observed- Calculated (O-C) charts  referred to in last month’s RASNZ News has now appeared in print in AAVSO Journal 2020, No 2.  The work by Axelsen R A and Napier-Munn T is an analysis of the high amplitude delta Scuti star RS Gruis. More recent observations using a DSLR camera and latterly a CMOS astronomical camera have expanded the data-set to cover 68 years. The paper is Expansion and Reinterpretation of the O–C Diagram of the High Amplitude d Scuti Star RS Gruis.   It can be seen at    https://aavso.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3ad9dedd265a0351968ebddee&id=446bae8495&e=e75acde184

Another data analysis paper in this issue of the AAVSO Journal is a study of 33 Red Giant stars by Kate M. Blackham of Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia. The stars studied are drawn from the list in the AAVSO International Database. The objective was to check that the GCVS  classification, Mira, semi-regular, irregular, etc. of the individual stars was correct and also to determine if any exhibited changes in period with time, indicative of long term changes. The paper gives a Table of new determinations of period for the 33 stars compared with the VSX database. The Table indicates the wide range of periods exhibited by these types of star. The period analysis was undertaken using a ”weighted wavelength Z transform” (WWZ) algorithm.
V854 Cas, TU CVn and mu Cep exhibited variations that may indicate long-term changes and particularly warrant long term studies.
Link: Light Curve Analysis of 33 Pulsating Red Giant Stars.     https://aavso.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3ad9dedd265a0351968ebddee&id=ee42a9c9c3&e=e75acde184

Hoping observers experience clear skies and good viewing in 2021.

-- Alan Baldwin.

================================================================
10. Artificial Light Is Pollution
---------------------------------
Artificial light should be treated like other forms of pollution because its impact on the natural world has widened to the point of systemic disruption, research says. Human illumination of the planet is growing in range and intensity by about 2% a year, creating a problem that can be compared to climate change, according to a team of biologists from the University of Exeter. Hormone levels, breeding cycles, activity patterns and vulnerability to predators are being affected across a broad range of species, they write in a paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

From reduced pollination by insects and trees budding earlier in spring, to seabirds flying into lighthouses and sea turtles mistakenly wandering inland to bright hotels in search of the dawn sun, their study-of-studies brings together 126 previous papers to assess the extent of the impact. In all the animal species examined, they found reduced levels of melatonin – a hormone that regulates sleep cycles – as a result of artificial light at night.

Behavioural patterns were also disturbed in both nocturnal and diurnal creatures. Rodents, which mostly forage at night, were active for a shorter duration, while birds started singing and searching for worms earlier in the day.

The outcomes were not purely negative. The scientists said certain species in certain locations benefited from night-time light: some plants grew faster and some types of bats thrived. But they said the overall effect was disruptive, particularly to the insects drawn to singeing bulbs or fast-moving car lamps.

“What stands out is how pervasive the effects are. The effects were found everywhere – microbes, invertebrates, animals and plants,” said the lead author, Kevin Gaston, a professor at the university’s Environment and Sustainability Institute. “We need to start thinking about lighting in the way we think of other big systemic pressures like climate change.”
He said there had been an increase in studies in the past five to 10 years as the amount of lighting in the world has increased and the effects become more evident.

Satellite images of the Earth at night show how rapidly the problem is expanding geographically, but lights are also becoming more intense as expensive soft amber bulbs are replaced by greater numbers of cheap bright white LEDs. This is biologically problematic because the white light has a wider spectrum, like sunlight. Gaston urged governments, companies and individuals to be more discriminating. “At the moment, we have the attitude that lighting is something we chuck out there and don’t think about it very much. But we need to think in terms of using it only when we need it, where we need it and how we need it,” he said. “It is another pollutant.”

Unlike the climate crisis, however, he said solving the lighting problem would save rather than cost money. If people use fewer lights, it would mean lower costs, less electricity and lower emissions. But it would require a change of mindset.  “At the heart of this is a deep-rooted human need to light up the night. We are still in a sense afraid of the dark,” he said. “The ability to turn the night-time into something like the daytime is something we have pursued far beyond the necessity of doing so.”

See the original article by Jonathan Watts, Global Environment editor of The Guardian, at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/02/ treat-artificial-light-form-pollution-environment

==============================================================
11. The Galaxy Mapped by VLBI
-----------------------------
Earth just got 7 km/s faster and about 2000 light-years closer to the supermassive black hole in the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that our planet is plunging towards the black hole. Instead the changes are results of a better model of the Milky Way Galaxy based on new observation data, including a catalogue of objects observed over the course of more than 15 years by the Japanese radio astronomy project VERA.

VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry, by the way “VLBI” stands for Very Long Baseline Interferometry) started in 2000 to map three-dimensional velocity and spatial structures in the Milky Way. VERA uses a technique known as interferometry to combine data from radio telescopes scattered across the Japanese archipelago in order to achieve the same resolution as a 2300 km diameter telescope would have. Measurement accuracy achieved with this resolution, 10 micro-arcseconds, is about 20 mm at the Moon's distance.

Because Earth is located inside the Milky Way Galaxy, we can’t step back and see what the Galaxy looks like from the outside. Astrometry, accurate measurement of the positions and motions of objects, is a vital tool to understand the overall structure of the Galaxy and our place in it. This year, the First VERA Astrometry Catalogue was published containing data for 99 objects.

Based on the VERA Astrometry Catalogue and recent observations by other groups, astronomers constructed a position and velocity map. From this map they calculated the centre of the Galaxy, the point that everything revolves around. The map suggests that the centre of the Galaxy, and the supermassive black hole which resides there, is located 25800 light-years from Earth. This is closer than the official value of 27700 light-years adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1985. The velocity component of the map indicates that Earth is travelling at 227 km/s as it orbits around the Galactic Centre. This is faster than the official value of 220 km/s.

Now VERA hopes to observe more objects, particularly ones close to the central supermassive black hole, to better characterizes the structure and motion of the Galaxy. As part of these efforts VERA will participate in EAVN (East Asian VLBI Network) comprised of radio telescope located in Japan, South Korea, and China. By increasing the number of telescopes and the maximum separation between telescopes, EAVN can achieve even higher accuracy.

“The First VERA Astrometry Catalogue” by VERA collaboration et al. appeared in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan in August 2020.

See the original press release with Galaxy map at
https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2020/20201126-mizusawa.html

===============================================================
12. Minimoon Characterised
--------------------------
Astronomers have characterized the second known minimoon of Earth, a newly discovered asteroid with the designation 2020 CD3, or CD3 for short. Observations with the Lowell 4.3-meter Discovery Telescope (LDT) helped to clarify both the rotation rate and the orbit of this diminutive body, which helped to prove that CD3 is a natural body and not some relic piece of human-made space junk.
    
Minimoons are small asteroids temporarily captured into orbit around Earth. Within about a year, they escape back into interplanetary space. The first known minimoon, 2006 RH120, was detected 14 years ago.
    
CD3 was discovered on 15 February 2020, by the Catalina Sky Survey, operating out of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Due to the rarity of minimoons, a global effort led by postdoctoral research fellow Grigori Fedorets of Queen's University Belfast was quickly launched to study this object. Twenty-three researchers from 14 academic institutions in seven countries participated, using several telescopes including the LDT. The team made observations through mid-May 2020 and published their results on November 23rd in the Astronomical Journal.
    
Lowell Observatory astronomers measured CD3's changing brightness over time (i.e., its light curve) and established its rotation rate to be about three minutes. Fedorets said, "The rotation rate was probably the largest unanswered question of this research. The Lowell team showed that it rotates slower than anticipated for objects of this size range."

CD3's orbit and inferred silicate composition indicate it is certainly a natural object. This distinguishes it from another recently discovered object, 2020 SO, which scientists believe may be the upper stage of NASA's Surveyor 2 spacecraft.

The study estimates CD3 is approximately 1-1.5 meters in diameter -- about the size of a small car -- and that it came within about 13,000 km of Earth at closest approach. Observing objects this small is challenging and requires a telescope big enough to see them. In addition, their transient nature means the window of time to observe them can close quickly. The ready availability of the LDT make it optimal for such studies.

The global response to CD3 may very well serve as a template for future minimoon studies, which are anticipated to happen soon. According to Fedorets, "Minimoons are expected to be discovered in high numbers in the following decade, with the opening of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory expected in 2023." This facility is now being built in Chile and features an 8.4-meter telescope that will allow astronomers to detect many more small bodies such as minimoons.
    
Scientists are interested in learning more about these bodies for several reasons. Because minimoons are close to Earth, they are potentially accessible targets for robotic or human exploration. Such efforts will be scientifically valuable to understand the origin of these objects and their relationship to other asteroid and comet populations in the solar system. These objects could also someday be commercially important as targets for in-space resource mining.
    
-- From https://lowell.edu/lowell-scientists-help-characterize-second-known-minimoon/    Forwarded by Karen Pollard.

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13. Quote
---------
  "There are three stages of man: he believes in Santa Claus; he does not believe in Santa Claus; he is Santa Clause." -- US journalist Bob Phillips, quoted in the NZ Listener.

================================================================
Alan Gilmore               Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57                alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand

==========================




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December Celestial Calendar by Dave Mitsky
All times, unless otherwise noted, are UT (subtract five hours and, when appropriate, one calendar day for EST)
12/1 The Moon is at the ascending node (longitude 79.9 degrees) at 8:00
12/2 Mars is at the ascending node through the ecliptic plane at 3:00; the Moon is 0.2 degrees north of the bright open cluster M35 in Gemini at 8:00
12/3 The Moon is at its northernmost declination of the year (24.9 degrees) at 1:00; the Moon is 7.4 degrees south of the first-magnitude star Castor (Alpha Geminorum) at 21:00
12/4 The earliest end of evening twilight at 40 degrees north takes place today; the Moon is 3.7 degrees south of the first-magnitude star Pollux (Beta Geminorum) at 2:00
12/5 The Moon is 2.6 degrees north-northeast of the bright open cluster M44 (the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe) in Cancer at 4:00; Mercury is at the descending node through the ecliptic plane at 18:00
12/6 The Moon is 4.5 degrees north-northeast of the first-magnitude star Regulus (Alpha Leonis) at 20:00
12/7 The earliest sunset at latitude 40 degrees north occurs today; asteroid 16 Psyche (magnitude +9.5) is at opposition in Taurus at 20:00; the Moon is 0.5 degrees north of asteroid 4 Vesta, with an occultation taking place in Micronesia, the northern Philippines, Japan, most of China, most of Russia, and most of eastern and northern Europe, at 22:00
12/8 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 0:37; Mercury is 4.3 degrees north-northeast of the first magnitude star Antares (Alpha Scorpii) at 11:00; the Curtiss Cross, an X-shaped clair-obscure illumination effect located between the craters Parry and Gambart, is predicted to be visible at 16:32
12/12 The Moon is at perigee, subtending 33' 02" from a distance of 361,773 kilometers (224,795 miles), at 20:42; the Moon is 0.8 degrees north of Venus, with an occultation taking place in western North America, Alaska, Hawaii, and far eastern Russia, at 21:00
12/14 The peak of the Geminid meteor shower (a zenithal hourly rate of 100 to 120 per hour) occurs at 1:00; the Moon is at the descending node (longitude 260.0 degrees) at 11:00; the Moon is 1.0 degree north-northeast of Mercury at 12:00; a total solar eclipse visible from the South Pacific, southern South America, Antarctica, the South Atlantic, and southwestern Africa, begins at 14:33 UT1 and ends at 17:54 UT1; New Moon (lunation 1212) occurs at 16:16
12/15 The Moon is at its southernmost declination for the year (-24.9 degrees) at 22:00
12/16 Mercury is at aphelion (0.4667 astronomical units from the Sun) at 3:00
12/17 The Moon is 2.9 degrees south of Jupiter at 6:00; the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn lie within a circle with a diameter of 3.0 degrees at 6:00; the Moon is 3.0 degrees southeast of Saturn at 7:00
12/18 The Sun enters the constellation of Sagittarius (ecliptic longitude 266.6 degrees) at 2:00
12/20 Mercury is at superior conjunction with the Sun (1.447 astronomical units from the Earth; latitude -4.5 degrees) at 3:00
12/21 The Moon is 4.2 degrees southeast of Neptune at 0:00; the Sun is at a longitude of 270 degrees at 10:02; the northern hemisphere winter solstice occurs at 10:02; Jupiter is 0.1 degrees south of Saturn at 14:00; First Quarter Moon occurs at 23:41
12/22 The Lunar X (Purbach or Werner Cross), an X-shaped illumination effect involving various rims and ridges between the craters La Caille, Blanchinus, and Purbach, is predicted to be fully formed at 4:33; the peak of the Ursid meteor shower (a zenithal hourly rate of 5 to 10 per hour) occurs at 9:00
12/23 Venus is 5.6 degrees north of Antares at 21:00
12/24 The Moon is 5.1 degrees southeast of Mars at 0:00; Mercury is at its southernmost declination (-25.1 degrees) at 7:00; the Moon is at apogee, subtending 29' 30" from a distance of 405,011 kilometers (251,663 miles), at 16:31; the equation of time is equal to zero at 22:00
12/25 The Moon is 3.2 degrees southeast of Uranus at 2:00
12/27 The Moon is 5.8 degrees southeast of the Pleiades at 2:00; the Moon is 4.6 degrees north of the first-magnitude star Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) at 20:00
12/28 The Moon is at the ascending node (longitude 80.0 degrees) at 15:00
12/29 The Moon is 0.2 degrees north of M35 at 15:00
12/30 Full Moon (known as the Before Yule, Cold, Long Nights, and Oak Moon) occurs at 3:28
12/31 The Moon is 7.4 degrees south of Castor at 3:00; the Moon is 3.8 degrees south of Pollux at 8:00
Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, E. E. Barnard, and Arthur Eddington were born in December.
Giovanni Cassini discovered the Saturnian satellite Rhea on December 23, 1672. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille discovered NGC 2070 (the Tarantula Nebula) on December 5, 1751. The bright spiral galaxies M81 and M82 in Ursa Major were discovered by Johann Bode on December 31, 1774. William Herschel discovered the galaxy pair NGC 3166 and NGC 3169 in Sextans on December 19, 1783. Caroline Herschel discovered Comet 35P/Herschel-Rigoliet on December 21, 1788. Caroline Herschel discovered Comet C/1791 X1 (Herschel) on December 15, 1791. The Jovian satellite Himalia was discovered by Charles Perrine on December 3, 1905. Audouin Dolfus discovered the Saturnian satellite Janus on December 15, 1966. The Saturnian satellite Epimetheus was discovered by Richard Walker on December 18, 1966.
The peak of Geminid meteor shower occurs on the morning of December 14th and is not adversely affected by moonlight. The Geminids, which are associated with the Palladian asteroid, or possible cometary nucleus, 3200 Phaethon, have become the most reliable meteor shower of the year. Geminid meteors appear to originate from a radiant that’s just northwest of Castor. That radiant lies almost at the zenith at 2:00 a.m. local time. Geminid meteors travel at a relatively slow speed of 35 kilometers per second (22 miles per second). An article on this year’s Geminids can be found on pages 14 through 19 of the December 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope. The Ursids, a normally minor meteor shower with a maximum zenithal hourly rate of 10 per hour, peak on the morning of December 23rd and are somewhat affected by the First Quarter Moon. The radiant is located close to Kochab (Beta Ursa Minoris), some 15 degrees from the north celestial pole. See https://earthsky.org/.../everything-you-need-to-know... for additional information on the Geminids and page 49 of the December 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope and https://earthsky.org/?p=2976 for more on the Ursids.
Information on passes of the ISS, the X-37B, the HST, Starlink, and other satellites can be found at https://www.heavens-above.com/
The Moon is 15.6 days old, is illuminated 99.8%, subtends 30.1 arc minutes, and is located in Taurus on December 1st at 0:00 UT. Due to the position of the ecliptic, the Moon reaches its highest point in the sky for the year in December. It attains its greatest northern declination for the month on December 3rd (+24.8 degrees) and December 30th (+24.8 degrees) and greatest southern declination (-24.9 degrees) on December 16th. Longitudinal libration is at a maximum of +6.5 degrees on December 19th. It’s at a minimum of -6.3 degrees on December 6th. Latitudinal libration is at a maximum of +6.9 degrees on December 21st and a minimum of -6.8 degrees on December 8th. Favorable librations for the following lunar features occur on the indicated dates: Crater Rydberg on December 6th, Crater Andersson on December 8th, Crater Vashakidze on December 18th, and Crater Compton on December 20th. New Moon occurs on December 14th. The Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn lie within a circle with a diameter of 3.0 degrees on December 17th. The Moon is at perigee (a distance of 56.72 Earth-radii) on December 12th and at apogee (a distance of 63.50 Earth-radii) on December 24th. The Moon occults asteroid 4 Vesta on December 7th and Venus on December 12th from certain parts of the world. Consult http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm for information on lunar occultation events. Visit https://saberdoesthestars.wordpress.com/.../saber-does.../ for tips on spotting extreme crescent Moons and http://www.curtrenz.com/moon06.html for Full Moon data. Consult http://time.unitarium.com/moon/where.html or download http://www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start for current information on the Moon. Visit https://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/lunarform/maria.html... for a list of lunar maria and https://upload.wikimedia.org/.../600px-Moon_names.jpg... for a simple map of the Moon showing the most prominent maria. See https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4768 for a lunar phase and libration calculator and https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/?extent=-90,-27.218173,90,27.218173&proj=10&layers=NrBsFYBoAZIRnpEBmZcAsjYIHYFcAbAyAbwF8BdJUTBbSfI0yq8iioA for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Quickmap. Click on https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2020/november for a lunar phase calendar for this month. Times and dates for the lunar crater light rays predicted to occur this month are available at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/rays.htm
The Sun is located in Scorpius on December 1st. Sol enters Sagittarius on December 18th. Winter solstice for the northern hemisphere occurs when the Sun is farthest south for the year on December 21st. It is the shortest "day" of the year (9 hours and 20 minutes) at latitude 40 degrees north. A total solar eclipse occurs in the southern hemisphere on December 14th. It’s the 23rd eclipse of Saros 142. Greatest eclipse takes place in southern Argentina at 16:13:29 UT1 and has a duration of 2 minutes 14 seconds. For more on this event, consult http://www.eclipsewise.com/oh/ec2020.html#SE2020JDec14T or pages 48 and 49 of the December 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope.
Brightness, apparent size, illumination, distance from the Earth in astronomical units (a.u.), and location data for the planets and Pluto on December 1st: Mercury (magnitude -0.8, 4.9", 96% illuminated, 1.37 a.u., Libra), Venus (magnitude -3.9, 11.7", 89% illuminated, 1.43 a.u., Libra), Mars (magnitude -1.1, 14.6", 92% illuminated, 0.64 a.u., Pisces), Jupiter (magnitude -2.0, 34.4", 100% illuminated, 5.73 a.u., Sagittarius), Saturn (magnitude +0.6, 15.7", 100% illuminated, 10.61 a.u., Sagittarius), Uranus (magnitude +5.7, 3.7", 100% illuminated, 19.10 a.u. on December 16th, Aries), Neptune (magnitude +7.9, 2.3", 100% illuminated, 30.02 a.u. on December 16th, Aquarius), and Pluto (magnitude +14.3, 0.1", 100% illuminated, 34.87 a.u. on December 16th, Sagittarius).
During the evening, Mars can be found in the southeast, Jupiter and Saturn in the southwest, Uranus in the east, and Neptune in the south. Mars and Uranus are in the west at midnight. In the morning, Mercury is located in the east and Venus in the southeast.
Mercury heads sunward and is not visible after early December. It's at aphelion on December 16th. The speediest planet achieves superior conjunction on December 20th.
Venus rises less than 90 minutes before the Sun by the end of the month. The separation between the planet and the Sun is 20 degrees on December 31st. A waning crescent Moon passes less than a degree north of Venus on December 12th. A daytime occultation of the planet that is discussed on page 50 of the December 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope takes place in some locations. Venus passes just 10 arc minutes north of the third-magnitude binary star Graffias (Beta Scorpii) on the morning of December 18th. The brightest planet enters Ophiuchus on December 22nd and lies 5.6 degrees north of Antares on the morning of December 23rd.
During December, Mars decreases in brightness from magnitude -1.1 to magnitude -0.3, in angular size from 14.6 arc seconds to 10.5 arc seconds, and in illumination from 92% to 89%. It culminates around 9:00 p.m. local time on December 1st and an hour earlier on December 31st. The Red Planet is at its ascending node on December 1st, crossing from south to north of the ecliptic. At 10:00 p.m. EST, Valles Marineris and the volcanoes of the Tharsis Ridge are well placed during the first part of the month. Followed by Sinus Sabaeus, Syrtis Major, and the Hellas basin during the middle of December. At month's end, Mare Cimmerium is centered on the Martian disk. The waxing gibbous Moon passes 5.1 degrees southeast of Mars on the evening of December 23rd.
Jupiter and Saturn are 2.1 degrees apart as December begins and lie within one degree of one another from December 12th through December 29th. During the first week of December, the two planets set by 8:30 p.m. local time. A waxing crescent Moon passes three degrees south of Jupiter and Saturn on the evening of December 16th. On December 21st, the two gas giants are separated by just six arc minutes less 45 minutes after sunset and are positioned about 14 degrees above the southwestern horizon some 30 degrees east of the Sun. On that date, Jupiter shines at magnitude -2.0 and subtends 33.3 arc seconds. Saturn's brightness is magnitude +0.6, its disk has an apparent diameter of 15.4 arc seconds, and its rings span some 35 arc seconds. This is the first conjunction of the two planets since 2000 and the closest conjunction since 1623. The last observable conjunction in which Jupiter and Saturn were closer occurred in 1226. During the conjunction, Ganymede will transit Jupiter. Saturn's satellites Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Titan will be to the west of the planet and Rhea and Mimas to the east. For additional information on this Great Conjunction, see https://earthsky.org/.../great-jupiter-saturn-conjunction... and https://earthsky.org/.../jupiter-saturn-conjunction... and https://www.timeanddate.com/ast.../planets/great-conjunction
Uranus lies a few degrees southeast of the sixth-magnitude star 19 Arietis in southern Aries and transits the meridian in the early evening. Uranus lies five degrees northwest of the waxing gibbous Moon on December 24th. Visit http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/uranus.htm or consult page 51 of the October 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope October for finder charts.
Neptune is located about three quarters of a degree northeast of the fourth-magnitude star Phi Aquarii during the early part of the month. As December ends, Neptune lies one degree from the star. The waxing crescent Moon passes four degrees south of Neptune on 20th. Neptune culminates during evening twilight and sets before midnight by the middle of the month. Browse http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/neptune.htm or see page 48 of the September 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope for finder charts.
Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune are also available at https://skyandtelescope.org/.../UranusNeptune2020_BW... and an article on observing the ice giants is posted at https://skyandtelescope.org/.../ice-giants-neptune-and.../
Click on https://skyandtelescope.org/.../interactive-sky-watching.../ for JavaScript utilities that will illustrate the positions of the five brightest satellites of Uranus and the position of Triton, Neptune’s brightest satellite.
Pluto will not be readily visible again until next year.
For more on the planets and how to locate them, see http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/
The graphic at https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/planets/distance displays the apparent and comparative sizes of the planets, along with their magnitudes and distances, for a given date and time.
The periodic comet 88P/Howell shines at approximately tenth magnitude as it heads northeastward through Capricornus this month. The comet passes about four degrees north of the seventh-magnitude globular cluster M30 on December 18th and approximately one degree southeast of Deneb Algedi (Delta Capricorni) on December 21st. For additional information on comets visible this month, browse http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/ and http://www.aerith.net/comet/future-n.html
A list of the closest approaches of comets to the Earth is posted at http://www.cometography.com/nearcomet.html
Asteroid 1 Ceres heads northeastward through Aquarius during December, passing close to the eleventh-magnitude globular cluster NGC 7492 at the end of the month. Asteroids brighter than magnitude +11.0 reaching opposition this month include 16 Psyche (magnitude +9.5) on December 7th, 79 Eurynome (magnitude +9.9) on December 11th, 13 Egeria (magnitude +10.0) on December 20th, 39 Laetitia (magnitude +9.9) on December 21st, 52 Europa (magnitude +10.2) on December 28th, and 356 Liguria (magnitude +10.9) on December 31st. For information on this year’s bright asteroids and upcoming asteroid occultation events respectively, consult https://curtrenz.com/asteroids.html and http://asteroidoccultation.com/
A wealth of current information on solar system celestial bodies is posted at http://nineplanets.org/ and http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomy.html
Information on the celestial events transpiring each week can be found at http://astronomy.com/skythisweek and http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
The famous eclipsing variable star Algol (Beta Persei) is at a minimum, decreasing in brightness from magnitude +2.1 to magnitude +3.4, on December 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, 14th, 17th, 20th, 23rd, 26th, 29th, and 31st. Consult http://www.skyandtelescope.com/.../interactive-sky.../ and page 50 of the December 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope for the times of the eclipses. Algol is at minimum brightness for observers in North America for about two hours centered at 1:54 a.m. on December 3rd, 10:43 p.m. EST on December 5th, 12:27 a.m. EST on December 26th, and at 9:16 p.m. EST on December 28th. The chance of seeing Algol at least one magnitude fainter than normal on a random night is about 1 in 30. For more on Algol, see http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/Algol.html and http://www.solstation.com/stars2/algol3.htm
Free star charts for the month can be downloaded at http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html and https://www.telescope.com/content.jsp... and http://whatsouttonight.com/
Data on current supernovae can be found at http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/
Finder charts for the Messier objects and other deep-sky objects are posted at https://freestarcharts.com/messier and https://freestarcharts.com/ngc-ic and https://www.cambridge.org/.../seasonal_skies_october...
Telrad finder charts for the Messier Catalog and the SAC’s 110 Best of the NGC are posted at http://www.custerobservatory.org/docs/messier2.pdf and http://sao64.free.fr/observat.../catalogues/cataloguesac.pdf respectively.
Information pertaining to observing some of the more prominent Messier galaxies can be found at http://www.cloudynights.com/.../358295-how-to-locate.../
Author Phil Harrington offers an excellent freeware planetarium program for binocular observers known as TUBA (Touring the Universe through Binoculars Atlas), which also includes information on purchasing binoculars, at http://www.philharrington.net/tuba.htm
Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel are useful freeware planetarium programs that are available at http://stellarium.org/ and https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start
Deep-sky object list generators can be found at http://www.virtualcolony.com/sac/ and http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php and https://telescopius.com/
Freeware sky atlases of varying "depth" can be downloaded at http://www.deepskywatch.com/deep-sky-hunter-atlas.html and http://www.olle-eriksson.com/night-sky-maps/ and https://allans-stuff.com/takis-8-5-magnitude-star-atlas/
One hundred and five binary and multiple stars for December: Gamma Andromedae, 59 Andromedae, Struve 245 (Andromeda); Struve 362, Struve 374, Struve 384, Struve 390, Struve 396, Struve 400, Struve 19, Otto Struve 67 (Camelopardalis); Struve 191, Struve Iota Cassiopeiae, Struve 263, Otto Struve 50, Struve 283, Struve 284 (Cassiopeia); 61 Ceti, Struve 218, Omicron Ceti, Struve 274, Nu Ceti, h3511, 84 Ceti, h3524, Lambda Ceti, Struve 330 (Cetus); h3527, h3533, Theta Eridani, Rho Eridani, Struve 341, h3548, h3565, Tau-4 Eridani, Struve 408, Struve 411, h3589, h3601, 30 Eridani, 32 Eridani (Eridanus); h3478, h3504, Omega Fornacis, Eta-2 Fornacis, Alpha Fornacis, See 25, Xi-3 Fornacis, h3596 (Fornax); Struve 268, Struve 270, h1123, Otto Struve 44, h2155, Nu Persei, Struve 297, Struve 301, Struve 304, Eta Persei, Struve 314, Otto Struve 48, Tau Persei, Struve 331, Struve 336, Es588, Struve 352, Struve 360, Struve 369, Struve 382, Struve 388, Struve 392, Struve 410, Struve 413, Struve 425, Otto Struve 59, Struve 426, 40 Persei, Struve 434, Struve 448, Es277, Zeta Persei, Struve 469, Epsilon Persei, Es878 (Perseus); Struve 399, Struve 406, Struve 401, Struve 422, Struve 430, Struve 427, Struve 435, 30 Tauri (Taurus); Epsilon Trianguli, Struve 219, Iota Trianguli, Struve 232, Struve 239, Struve 246, 10 Trianguli, Struve 269, h653, 15 Trianguli, Struve 285, Struve 286, Struve 310 (Triangulum)
Notable carbon star for December: U Camelopardalis
One hundred deep-sky objects for December: NGC 891 (Andromeda); IC 342, K6, St23, Tom 5 (Camelopardalis); Be65, IC 1848, K4, Mel15, NGC 896, NGC 1027, St2, Tr3 (Cassiopeia); M77, NGC 788, NGC 835, NGC 864, NGC 908, NGC 936, NGC 955, NGC 958, NGC 1015, NGC 1016, NGC 1022, NGC 1042, NGC 1052, NGC 1055, NGC 1087, NGC 1094 (Cetus); IC 2006, NGC 1084, NGC 1140, NGC 1187, NGC 1199, NGC 1209, NGC 1232, NGC 1291, NGC 1300, NGC 1309, NGC 1332, NGC 1337, NGC 1353, NGC 1357, NGC 1395, NGC 1400, NGC 1407, NGC 1421, NGC 1426, NGC 1440, NGC 1452, NGC 1453, NGC 1461 (Eridanus); NGC 1079, NGC 1097, NGC 1201, NGC 1292, NGC 1316 (Fornax I Galaxy Cluster), NGC 1317, NGC 1326, NGC 1344, NGC 1350, NGC 1360, NGC 1365, NGC 1371, NGC 1374, NGC 1379, NGC 1380, NGC 1381, NGC 1387, NGC 1398, NGC 1404, NGC 1406, NGC 1425 (Fornax); Bas10, Cz8, IC 351, IC 2003, K5, Mel 20, M34, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 957, NGC 1023, NGC 1058, NGC 1161, NGC 1245, NGC 1275 (Perseus I Galaxy Cluster), NGC 1333, NGC 1342, NGC 1444, Tr2 (Perseus); M45 (Taurus); NGC 777, NGC 784, NGC 890, NGC 925, NGC 949, NGC 959, NGC 978A/B (Triangulum)
Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for December: M34, M45, Mel15, Mel20, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 1027, NGC 1232, St2, St23
Top ten deep-sky objects for December: M34, M45, M77, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 891, NGC 1023, NGC 1232, NGC 1332, NGC 1360
Challenge deep-sky object for December: vdB14 (Camelopardalis)
The objects listed above are located between 2:00 and 4:00 hours of right ascension.



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Minor Planet Occultation Updates:


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

Dec 1 (2356) HIRONS: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 3.5 sec, Mag Drop 3.8
Somewhat uncertain path across Queensland, Northern Territory and West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201201_2356_66710_u.htm

Dec 3 (971) ALSATIA: Star Mag 9.4, Max dur 8.2 sec, Mag Drop 3.8
Path across West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201203_971_66734_u.htm

Dec 4 (487) VENETIA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 2.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.1
South Australia and Queensland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201204_487_73372_u.htm

Dec 5 (2) PALLAS: Star Mag 10.3, Max dur 14.7 sec, Mag Drop 0.9
West Australia, during evening twilight, and Northern Territory.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201205_2_67340_u.htm

Dec 6 (13) EGERIA: Star Mag 11.6, Max dur 19.0 sec, Mag Drop 0.3
Very wide path across western West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201206_13_66750_u.htm

Dec 7 (62) ERATO: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 8.7 sec, Mag Drop 1.5
Path across Tasman Sea.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201207_62_66754_u.htm

Dec 8 (1036) GANYMED: Star Mag 11.4, Max dur 2.6 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Path across New Zealand, passing near Hamilton, and southern Tasmania, passing near Hobart.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201208_1036_73376_u.htm

***** Dec 11 (547) PRAXEDIS: Star Mag 13.4, Max dur 10.0 sec, Mag Drop 1.1
Path across southern and eastern Victoria, passing Cape Otway and Mornington Peninsula, Warragul and Bairnsdale, and south-eastern New South Wales, over Eden and Merimbula.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201211_547_73764_u.htm

Dec 13 (44594) 1999OX3: No update for this Centaur event over south-eastern Australia.

Dec 14 (287) NEPHTHYS: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 11.0 sec, Mag Drop 0.6
Path across New Zealand, northern Victoria, southern New South Wales, South Australia and south-western West Australia, passing over Bega, Albury-Wodonga, Adelaide, Port Lincoln and Bunbury.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201214_287_66802_u.htm

Dec 18 (483) SEPPINA: Star Mag 11.6, Max dur 5.3 sec, Mag Drop 2.2
Path across northern Queensland, Northern Territory and north-eastern West Australia, passing over Cairns.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201218_483_66842_u.htm

Dec 20 (971) ALSATIA: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 6.0 sec, Mag Drop 1.2
Path across Northern Territory, south-eastern Queensland and north-western New South Wales, passing over Coonabarrabran and Newcastle.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201220_971_73388_u.htm

Dec 24 (137) MELIBOEA: Star Mag 11.8, Max dur 9.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Path across northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing over Broome and Tennant Creek.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201224_137_66898_u.htm

Dec 25 (523741) 2014TY85: Very low probability TNO event which may cross north-eastern Australia.

Dec 25 (838) SERAPHINA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 9.3 sec, Mag Drop 3.0
Path across Melville Island in Northern Territory and northern West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201225_838_73396_u.htm

***** Dec 25 (52) EUROPA: Star Mag 11.1, Max dur 24.0 sec, Mag Drop 0.4
Path across Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand, passing over Hobart, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201225_52_66910_u.htm

***** Dec 27 (592) BATHSEBA: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 5.9 sec, Mag Drop 1.7
Path across New Zealand, passing near Gisborne, New South Wales, passing over Wollongong and Armadale, over Whyalla in South Australia and across southern West Australia, passing over Perth.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201227_592_66932_u.htm

***** Dec 29 (440) THEODORA: Star Mag 9.9, Max dur 1.7 sec, Mag Drop 3.3
Somewhat uncertain path across south-eastern New South Wales and eastern and southern Victoria, passing over Narooma, Belgrave and Geelong.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201229_440_67358_u.htm

***** Dec 31 (150) NUWA: Star Mag 9.6, Max dur 11.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.8
Path across southern Queensland, northern South Australia and southern West Australia, passing over Byron Bay, Coolangatta, Toowoomba and Cervantes.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2020/updates/201231_150_66988_u.htm

Note: for some events there will be an additional last minute update so check
for one, if you can, on the day of the event or in the days leading up to it.
You may need to click "Reload" or "Refresh" in your browser to see the updated page.

Please report all attempts at observation to the address below.
(PLEASE report observations on a copy of the report available from our website).

Peter Litwiniuk

---------------------------------------------
RASNZ Occultation Section
P.O.Box 3181 / Wellington, 6140 / New Zealand
---------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Email: Director@occultations.org.nz
---------------------------------------------


---------------------------------------------------------------

Further links and discussion can be found at the groups/links below

Astronomy in New Zealand - Groups.io
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Google Group
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/11451597655/
Blogger Posts
http://laintal.blogspot.com/
Twitter
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Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/user/Edwin_Rod_NZ
Quaroa
https://www.quora.com/q/astronomyinnewzealand

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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