December 2021 News Research and Starcharts

 Research_News_20_12_2021

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Quaroa
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Twitter
https://twitter.com/EdwinRodham


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Research papers


Moons are planets Scientific usefulness versus cultural teleology in the taxonomy of planetary science
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103521004206

The Clustering of Orbital Poles Induced by the LMC
https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.07321



Investigating the risks of debris-generating ASAT tests in the presence of megaconstellations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.12196



Atmospheric dynamics of temperate sub-Neptunes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.11108

Towards a Classification Scheme for the Rocky Planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.11404

Effect of clouds on emission spectra for Super Venus
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.04587

Atmospheres of Rocky Exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.04663

Rocky planets as the Lavosier-Lomonosov Bridge from the non-living to the living world
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.04309

The HD 137496 system
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.08764

The Onset of a Globally Ice-covered State for a Land Planet
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.12913

Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) III
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.02054

TOI-712 mini-Neptunes extending to the habitable zone
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.02416

An upper limit on late accretion and water delivery in the Trappist-1 exoplanet system
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.13351

A hot Mars-sized exoplanet transiting an M dwarf
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.03958

The Ice Coverage of Earth-like Planets Orbiting FGK Stars
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.03372

Assessing TESS's Yield of Rocky Planets Around Nearby M Dwarfs
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.08337



A Cross-Laboratory Comparison Study of Titan Haze Analogs
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.04904

The 3D Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Study of Europa Gas Plume
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.13532

Do Oceanic Convection and Clathrate Dissociation Drive Europa's Geysers
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.15094

Salt Ice analogs of Jovian Icy moons in support of the planned JUICE mission
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.05697

Constraints on the production of phosphine by Venusian volcanoes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.00140

Production of Ammonia Makes Venusian Clouds Habitable
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.10850

Venus Life Finder Mission Study
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.05153

An Investigation of Libration Heating and the Thermal State of Enceladus's Ice Shell
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.07038



The Breakthrough Listen Exotica Catalog
https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.11304

A Search for Analogs of KIC 8462852 (Boyajian's Star)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.01208


Fast-running theropods tracks from the Early Cretaceous of La Rioja, Spain
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-02557-9


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Interesting News items


Tree of Life
http://www.onezoom.org/

Life on Venus?
http://astrobiology.com/2021/12/could-acid-neutralizing-life-forms-make-habitable-pockets-in-venus-clouds.html


Would Mars be More Habitable if it Orbited a Red Dwarf?
https://www.universetoday.com/153736/would-mars-be-more-habitable-if-it-orbited-a-red-dwarf/

Scientists envision what Mars would look like as an exoplanet
https://lasp.colorado.edu/home/2021/12/12/scientists-envision-what-mars-would-look-like-as-an-exoplanet/

Destination Mars
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/127261589/destination-mars-a-fastpaced-interstellar-adventure



Would Mars be More Habitable if it Orbited a Red Dwarf?
https://www.universetoday.com/153736/would-mars-be-more-habitable-if-it-orbited-a-red-dwarf/

New research may explain why satellite galaxies align themselves around the Milky Way.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/how-our-largest-dwarf-galaxy-keeps-the-others-in-line

The Clustering of Orbital Poles Induced by the LMC
https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.07321


A planet beyond the realm of possibility
http://nccr-planets.ch/blog/2021/12/08/a-planet-beyond-the-realm-of-possibility


Arabia Terra
http://astrobiology.com/2021/12/planetary-scientists-discover-brief-presence-of-water-in-arabia-terra-on-mars.html


Are Water Plumes Spraying From Europa?
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/are-water-plumes-spraying-from-europa-nasas-europa-clipper-is-on-the-case


An interesting look at Phobos
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/ESA_s_Mars_Express_unravels_mystery_of_martian_moon_using_fake_flybys

Search for MH370
https://www.mh370search.com/2021/10/11/how-can-wspr-help-find-mh370


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Updates from Andrew B,


Latest model of the interior of Jupiter based on JUNO spacecraft data.
The cross section of Earth is also shown on that graphic to scale & I have included a large graphic of the cross section of Earth.
Jupiter orbits the Sun once every 11.82 years or 11 years & 315 days at an average distance of 778.57 million KM / 483.78 million miles from the Sun. Jupiter rotates on it's axis once every 9 hours & 56 minutes, the shortest day of any of the planets in our solar system.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, 142,984 KM / 88,846 miles wide through the equator (11.21 times wider than the Earth) and 133,692 KM / 83,082 miles through the poles (10.25 times wider than the Earth). Jupiter is also the most massive planet in our solar system with a mass of 317.8 times that of the Earth or about 1.899 trillion trillion tons (1,898.2 followed by twenty two zeros) and a mean global density of 1.326 g/cm3 (grams per cubic centimetre). Jupiter's rapid rotation causes the equator to bulge out and the polar regions to flatten, hence the somewhat oval shape of Jupiter.
Our own Earth with a diameter of 12,742 KM / 7,917 miles, with a mass of 5,972.2 billion trillion tons (5,972.2 followed by twenty zeros) and a mean global density of 5.517 g/cm3.
Jupiter is a gas giant, mostly composed of compressed hydrogen and helium, with new evidence pointing at a dense core of rock and metal roughly 15 times the mass of the Earth at the centre, more recent findings suggest a more diffuse outer core. About the inner two thirds of Jupiter appears to be composed of Metallic Hydrogen, liquid hydrogen under so much pressure, that the regular diatomic hydrogen H2 (two atoms consisting on one Proton with one electron each)  are squashed together so hard that the compressed hydrogen acts as liquid metal as is conductive. Within Jupiter to put is simply, this huge layer of metallic hydrogen is convecting and is generating Jupiter's gigantic  magnetosphere, with traps particles from the Sun creating belts of very powerful radiation.
Two of Jupiter's large Galilean moons, Io and Europa orbit within one of these, hence radiation hardened spacecraft are needed to approach these two fascinating and very different moons  
Both Io and Europa have been successfully approached by Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and Galileo, these were radiation hardened as the earlier Pioneer 10 way back on Monday 3rd December 1973 was nearly fried by the trapped radiation near Io. It was by sheer luck Pioneer 10 survived but this finding meant all future spacecraft closely approaching Jupiter and the inner moons would be radiation hardened including the current JUNO spacecraft. Ganymede (Jupiter's and the Solar System's largest and most massive moon) is sometimes inside and at times outside of intense radiation and only the very large Callisto (Jupiter's second largest and the Solar System's third largest moon) out of the very large moons orbits permanently outside of dangerous radiation. All of the four smaller inner moons (Thebe, Amalthea, Adrastea and Metis from outside in) are all within intense trapped radiation. Jupiter's vastly extended family of outer moons (most of which are very small) are all outside of the radiation belts.
JunoCam
NASA / JPL-Caltech / SWRI / Malin Space Science Systems. JUNO spacecraft.



Jupiter rings.
Imaged: Thursday 2nd September 2021.
The Jovecentric orbiting (Jupiter centred) JUNO spacecraft successfully carried out the Perijove 36 science close pass of Jupiter.
JUNO passed 4,200 KM / 2,608 miles above Jupiter's stormy cloud tops at a speed of 216,606 KPH / 134,000 MPH.
A little bit of Jovecentric astronomy.
This view is of Jupiter's rings passing through therm of the constellation of Perseus the Hero, whilst JUNO was close to Perjove with the low light level Stellar Reference Unit  # 1 camera tracking Orion for navigational purposes.
JUNO was slightly north of the rings looking out and slightly 'down'. This incredible view of Jupiter's rings seen from close above Jupiter's atmosphere (approximately 5,000 KM / 3,100 miles the other way) looking out.
The brightest rings appear to be associated with the two closest known moons orbiting Jupiter, Adrastea & Metis.
The rings here were about 64,350 KM / 40,000 miles away from JUNO. The eclipsing binary star Algol / Beta Persei is labled here.
Stellar Reference Unit # 1 camera.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS. JUNO spacecraft.
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RASNZ

Hi astronomers,

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, the Central Star Party in the Hawkes Bay will not happen in January 2022. It is planned to continue as usual from January 2023. However, there is an opportunity for a group of like-minded people to get together (Thu 6 - Mon 10 (lunchtime) January 2022) for an astronomy get together, camping and night-time viewing. We plan to hold it at the same venue as our normal Central Star Parties - that is, in the Hawkes Bay (Tuki Tuki Valley).

With enough interest, this could happen. We would need around 20 people, at least, to make this feasible. You have been contacted because you have attended before. As stated above, the facilities would be the same as previous years but those attending would have to look after the site and help out with cleaning when we leave.

The cost would be $20 per night. The kitchen would still be available, but you would need to look after all your food/dietary requirements yourself. We would also need to be more aware of looking after the site, including leaving with all our own rubbish etc. There will be no sausage sizzle or Saturday night combined fish and chips. There would be no organised talks or movies, but there would be nothing to stop anyone making a presentation or organising something amongst ourselves and making our own fun.

At this stage Hawkes Bay is in the Orange traffic light, and naturally, Covid passports would be required. This is just an initial call to see if there is enough interest out there to make a booking with the church who hires out the camp. As soon as we have enough people interested, we can secure the booking. Time is ticking a bit here, so please let me (Dudley Meadows, email below) know within the next few days. I will let you know if it will go ahead soon and how to pay - or pay via phone/internet banking when you arrive.

If you are interested in coming please send a prompt email to:

dudleymeadows@gmail.com

Cheers
Dudley M


Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 252, 14 December 2021
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. President's Message
 2. 2022 RASNZ Annual Conference - Whangarei - June 3-5
 3. Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard)
 4. RASNZ Beanies
 5. RASNZ 2022 Calendar
 6. Central Star Party Cancelled
 7. Bright Planets and Stars in January
 8. RASNZ Deadlines
 9. 'The Kiwi Astronomers’ Podcasts
10. List Your Observatory to Help Combat Obtrusive Lighting
11. NZ's Participation in the DART Mission
12. IAU Pro-Am Engagement Survey
13. Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy - Martinborough, 25-27 March 2022
14. eQuinox Digital Telescopes
15. Plankton Evolution Follows Earth’s Orbit
16. James Webb Space Telescope Ready for Launch
17. Fluorine Found in Young Galaxy
18. How to Join the RASNZ
19. Quotes  
  1. President's Message
The RASNZ Council is developing a brief COVID policy to help ensure we keep our members and guests as safe as possible. More on this soon.
 
In recent weeks we have had 2 requests for confirmation of RASNZ membership for people wishing to purchase laser pointers for astronomy use. Astronomers have an exemption to purchase and use higher powered lasers provided they can prove membership of an astronomical society. This is a privilege we should protect as there has been some awful examples of dangerous activities in recent weeks. Please ensure those who use these pointers are members of your society or are otherwise authorised to possess or use a pointer. We are not permitted to allow members of the public to use these pointers.
 
During this year RASNZ and several Affiliated Societies made submissions for protection of night skies to the Natural and Urban Environments Bill. This Bill will become a replacement Act for the Resource Management Act. The report from the Select Committee to Parliament shows the submissions were received and understood. There has also been some encouraging follow up communications.
 
Next year's conference and AGM will be held in Whangarei over Queens Birthday weekend, 3rd to 5th of June, with a possible workshop on the Monday 6th. Keep an eye on our conference website as details are released.
 
Best wishes to you all for the festive season, and for a much more normal 2022.
 
Keep safe,
Steve Butler, President.
  2. 2022 RASNZ Annual Conference - Whangarei - June 3-5
From RASNZ President Steve Butler, ‘Start planning for next year’s AGM and Conference which will be hosted by the Northland Astronomical Society in Whangarei over Queens Birthday weekend, Fri 3 – Sun 5 June 2022’. Mon 6th is a workshop. If anyone has ideas for a workshop topic, please email Peter Felhofer at felhofernz@gmail.com . More details will soon appear on https://rasnzconference.org.nz/ .  
 
-- From Keeping in Touch #49, 6th December 2021.
  3. Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard)
Comet Leonard is expected to be visible low in the western evening sky from December 16 onward. It may be seen by eye for a few nights from the 16th if dust in its tail forward scatters sunlight. It should be visible in binoculars till early January. On December 16th it will be 11° below Venus and a bit left. (A fist at arm's length is about 10°.) On the 18th it will be 4° left of Venus.  On December 20th it will be 11° above and slightly left of Venus and 14° left and slightly above Saturn. It makes an equilateral triangle with Venus and Saturn on the 21st. It moves upward with a slight rightward tilt and slows.  In early January it is nearly stopped below gamma Grus, the star at the bottom end of a vertical line of stars. It is then moving directly away from us and the Sun.
 
Below are daily positions of the comet at 10 p.m. NZDT from December 15 to January 23. m1 is the total magnitude, the magnitude of a star defocused to the comet's size.  Comets fainter than m1 = 3 are not obvious to the eye. The ephemeris is adapted from one supplied by the Minor Planet Center.
 
Dec./R.A.(2000)Dec.    m1    Jan.  R.A.(2000)Dec.    m1
Jan. h   m     °  '                h   m     °  '  
15  18 35.6  -16 42   4.3     04  21 39.4  -35 53   6.3
16  19 02.4  -20 38   4.4     05  21 40.4  -35 59   6.4
17  19 26.1  -23 46   4.5     06  21 41.2  -36 04   6.5
18  19 46.7  -26 13   4.6     07  21 41.8  -36 09   6.6
19  20 04.4  -28 07   4.7     08  21 42.2  -36 13   6.7
 
20  20 20.1  -29 40   4.9     09  21 42.5  -36 16   6.8
21  20 32.9  -30 49   5.0     10  21 42.6  -36 19   6.9
22  20 43.9  -31 45   5.1     11  21 42.7  -36 21   7.0
23  20 53.2  -32 29   5.2     12  21 42.6  -36 22   7.1
24  21 01.2  -33 06   5.3     13  21 42.5  -36 24   7.2
 
25  21 08.0  -33 36   5.4     14  21 42.3  -36 24   7.3
26  21 13.9  -34 01   5.5     15  21 42.1  -36 25   7.4
27  21 18.9  -34 22   5.6     16  21 41.7  -36 25   7.5
28  21 23.1  -34 40   5.7     17  21 41.4  -36 25   7.6
29  21 26.8  -34 55   5.8     18  21 41.0  -36 24   7.7
 
30  21 29.9  -35 08   5.9     19  21 40.6  -36 23   7.8
31  21 32.5  -35 20   6.0     20  21 40.1  -36 22   7.9
01  21 34.7  -35 30   6.1     21  21 39.6  -36 21   8.0
02  21 36.6  -35 39   6.1     22  21 39.2  -36 20   8.1
03  21 38.1  -35 47   6.2     23  21 38.7  -36 18   8.2
 
Comet Leonard passed 35 million km from Earth on December 12 UT, while it was in the northern hemisphere sky.  It will pass 4.4 million km from Venus on the 18th.
 
Before this return Comet Leonard had travelled out to 600 billion km (4000 A.U.) from the Sun. It took 45,000 years to come back.  On this return it will pick up some extra speed from its encounter with the planets, notably Venus, and will escape the Sun's gravity altogether.
 
A star chart showing the comet's path in the evening sky is at https://www.rasnz.org.nz/ .
  4. RASNZ Beanies
Astronz advises that a limited stock of the RASNZ Centennial Beanies have arrive in and are now available on the Astronz website at
https://astronz.nz/products/rasnz-centenary-beanie .
  5. RASNZ 2022 Calendar
Astronz has partnered with RASNZ to produce a calendar for 2022.
Featuring the very best of New Zealand astrophotography with some of the best images from the 2021 NZ Astrophotography Competition and astronomical events during 2022.
Orders can be made at https://astronz.nz/products/2022-rasnz-calendar
 
The calendar will be shipping late November. Discounts are available to astronomical societies for bulk purchases.
For more information contact Astronz at sales@astronz.nz or phone 09 473 0203.
  6. Central Star Party Cancelled
From the Central Star Party (CSP) organising committee –
‘After careful consideration of all the factors involved, including the  current Covid status, government advice and considerable logistical complexities, the CSP organising committee have regrettably decided to  cancel the 2022 (January) event in the Hawkes Bay. We appreciate that this maybe disheartening to the domestic astronomy community - this decision has not been taken lightly.
Hopefully we will be able to run this again and see you all in 2023.’
 
-- From Keeping in Touch #49, 6th December 2021.
  7. Bright Planets and Stars in January
Golden Jupiter is the 'evening star', appearing low in the west soon after sunset.  Below Jupiter are Saturn and Mercury.  The three planets are equally spaced down the sky at the beginning of the month.  All three slip lower from night to night.  By mid-month Mercury and Saturn will be fading in the twilight.  Jupiter stays in the evening twilight till February.  The crescent Moon will be above Mercury on the 4th, between Jupiter and Saturn on the 5th, and above Jupiter on the 6th.
 
From places with a sea horizon brilliant Venus might be seen setting in the southwest, 30 minutes after the Sun at the beginning of the month. It quickly disappears from the evening sky as it passes between us and the Sun, then pops up in the morning sky.  By the 20th Venus will be rising an hour before the Sun.  At the end of the month Venus is up two hours before the Sun.  Above it is Mars, looking like a medium-brightness orange-red star.  The Moon will be to the right of Mars on the morning of the 30th and well to the right of Venus on the 31st. Mercury is then below the Moon.
 
Sirius, the brightest true star, appears in the east.  Left of Sirius as the sky darkens are bluish Rigel and orange Betelgeuse, the brightest stars in Orion the hunter. Between them, but fainter, is a line of three stars making Orion's belt. To southern hemisphere star watchers, Orion's belt makes the bottom of 'The Pot' or 'The Saucepan'.  A faint line of stars above and right of the belt is the pot's handle or Orion's sword.  It has a glowing cloud at its centre: the Orion Nebula.
 
Left of Orion is the V-shaped pattern of stars making the face of Taurus the Bull. The V-shaped group is called the Hyades cluster. Orange Aldebaran, making one eye of the bull, is not a member of the cluster but on the line of sight, at half the cluster's distance.
 
Left again, toward the north and lower, is the Pleiades/Matariki/Seven Sisters/Subaru star cluster. Pretty to the eye and impressive in binoculars.  From northern New Zealand the bright star Capella is on the north skyline.
 
Low in the south are Crux, the Southern Cross, and Beta and Alpha Centauri, often called 'The Pointers'.
  8. RASNZ Deadlines
The following RASNZ deadlines are approaching –
 
2022 RASNZ Subscriptions - The 2022 RASNZ subscriptions are due on the 1st of January 2022. See - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/payments-and-donations .
 
RASNZ Section and Group Reports - Could the RASNZ Section and Group leaders please send their 2021 report to the Executive Secretary (kiwiastronomer@gmail.com ) by 15 February 2022. These reports will be published in the March 2022 issue of Southern Stars. RASNZ By-Law F14 states, 'Each year...each Section shall provide Council with a report of its activities during the previous calendar year and where the section holds a bank account in the Society’s name, a financial statement.'
 
A Call for 2022 AGM Notices of Motion - If anyone has notices of motion for either the 2022 Annual General Meeting or the 2022 Affiliated Societies’ meeting, please send them to me, the Executive Secretary, by Friday 15th April 2022. Rule 71 – ‘Notice of all motions for any General Meeting of Members and Affiliated Society representatives other than motions emanating from the Council must be given in writing to the Executive Secretary  at least six weeks before the date of that meeting’. The AGM is planned for Saturday 4th June 2022, at the Whangarei conference.
 
Murray Geddes Memorial Prize Nominations - The Murray Geddes Memorial Prize is awarded by the RASNZ to a person or persons for contributions to astronomy in New Zealand.
 This award is named after the prolific New Zealand observer of aurorae, variable stars, meteors, sunspots, comet discoverer, and inaugural director of Carter Observatory, Murray Geddes, who passed away during WW2 when on active service. The award is usually made annually. The recipient of the prize must be a New Zealand resident but need not be a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. Normally a person may only receive the award once. The deadline is 3rd April 2022.
 
The Dark Sky Project Bright Star Award shall be awarded to a person or persons at intervals of not more than five years nor less than one year, for contributions in New Zealand in promoting astronomy to the public, or in astronomical education, or in promoting dark skies to allow astro-tourism to flourish. The deadline is 3rd April 2022.
 
RASNZ Fellows Nomination. Rule 14 ‘Fellowship of the Society shall be a distinction conferred upon members who have made notable contributions to either amateur or professional astronomy, or who have performed special services to the science or to the Society.’ See RASNZ Rules 14 – 23. Rule 19 ‘Nominations and supporting documents must be received by the Secretary at least 3 months prior to the next Annual General Meeting’, so by 3rd March 2022.
 
-- From Keeping in Touch #49, 6th December 2021.
  9. 'The Kiwi Astronomers’ Podcasts
See ‘The Kiwi Astronomers’ podcasts by Gareth Davies, John Drummond, Alan Gilmore and John Hearnshaw on a variety of astronomical topics at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz71UT575Hp26LxYyNqKXuA
  10. List Your Observatory to Help Combat Obtrusive Lighting
From RASNZ President Steve Butler -
If you own or operate an astronomical observatory in New Zealand, we would like to list this on the RASNZ Website. We will limit
details if you wish its specific location kept quiet. A recently updated Australia / New Zealand Standard on Control of the obtrusive
effects of outdoor lighting says the RASNZ will list observatories. This will allow local government planners to include protections
if required. Please have a look at https://www.rasnz.org.nz/nzo or email observatory@rasnz.org.nz with information or to ask
questions.
 
-- From Keeping in Touch #48, 14th October 2021.
  11. NZ's Participation in the DART Mission
NASA is testing planet-saving technology called DART. The spacecraft is launching in November and expected to crash into its test asteroid moon in September, 2022.
 
On November 24 NASA launched a spacecraft with the sole purpose of crashing it into an asteroid moon. The mission will be the agency’s first spacecraft mission for planetary defence.
 
Asteroid collisions with Earth are the only natural disaster that can be prevented, and while there’s no looming threat right now – or even in the next 100 years, based on the asteroids on NASA’s radar – it could be a problem down the line. Think of this simply as NASA planning ahead.
 
The plan is to test what’s called the Kinetic impactor technique – where an asteroid or object near Earth is “nudged” off its orbit, avoiding a potential collision with the Earth. This will be the first demonstration of the technique.
 
A small group of New Zealanders are part of this historic mission to test the Earth-saving technology. Dr Michele Bannister, an astronomer from the University of Canterbury, describes it as the spacecraft giving the asteroid moon a “little nudge”, and the moon doing a “little shimmy” afterwards.
 
DART has a specific object in its sights – a 163 metre-wide, 4.8 billion kg moonlet asteroid called Dimorphos that is orbiting a larger 780 metre-wide, 528 billion kg asteroid called Didymos. It will take almost a year to reach it and when it does, Dimorphos will be around 11.2 million km from Earth.
 
The collision is planned for either late September or early October. On its approach, the spacecraft will take photos of the asteroid moon to show its size and shape.  Around two days before impact, an asteroid camera will be deployed, and then four hours before impact, the asteroid moon will be targeted by the onboard navigation system.
 
Then, at go time, DART will fly into the centre of Dimorphos at around 6.58km per second and will have an impact mass of 560kg. The collision should decrease the moon’s 11.92-hour orbital period by around 10 minutes. Telescopes on Earth will be used to measure the effects of the impact on the asteroid system.
 
After DART collides with Dimorphos, Bannister, research fellow Ryan Ridden-Harper, and potentially a handful of students, will be looking up. “We are going to poke the asteroid and see what happens,” Bannister explains. They will be watching the asteroid moon before, during and after the collision to see what happens to it.
 
Around 30 telescopes around the world will be doing the same monitoring, but the more southerly telescopes – like New Zealand's – will have the best view.
 
The New Zealand team will be using the 1.8 metre telescope at Mt John Observatory in Tekapo. This is often used to take images of planets and other deep space objects. While it might not be the biggest ground-based telescope in the world (some have up to 10 metre collecting mirrors to this one’s 1.8m), it’s the right tool for this job based on its location.
 
The telescope won’t be looking at the surface of the asteroid moon because it’s too far away and too small. Instead, it will be looking at the measurement of light – the photometry.
 
-- Abridged from Brittney Deguara's article at https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/126929072/how-new-zealand-fits-into-the-plan-to-nudge-an-asteroid-with-a-rocket-and-eventually-save-the-world
-----------
Hear Michele's chat with Jim Mora about asteroid 4660 Nereus's flyby of the earth at
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018824220/5-billion-asteroid-nereus-to-fly-by-this-morning
  12. IAU Pro-Am Engagement Survey
Calling all amateur astronomers world-wide
The IAU is reaching out to engage with amateur astronomers
 
The International Astronomical Union, as part of its Strategic Plan 2020-30, is reaching out to engage with amateur astronomers around the world. The IAU is the body of professional astronomers, with some 12,000 members in 90 countries and with its headquarters in Paris.
 
For the first century of its existence, the IAU has had very few formal contacts with the much larger body of amateurs around the world. This changed in 2019 with a successful one-day workshop for amateurs in Brussels, followed by the formation of a new Working Group in April 2021 for professional-amateur relations in astronomy.
 
At the present time, no-one has a clear idea of how many amateurs there are in the world, but it is likely to be of the order of a million individuals, some two orders of magnitude greater than the number of active professionals in the IAU. The new pro-am WG wants to reach out to the amateur community, with the aim of promoting research collaborations with some of the most active amateurs. Further workshops are also envisaged, following on from Brussels 2019, and the IAU program ‘Meet the Astronomer’, in which professionals give talks to amateur societies, will be further promoted.
 
As a first step, the IAU has collected a database of the principal amateur societies, associations and groups in different countries, and from mid-December 2021 to February 2022 a survey will be carried out, asking both these societies and their members to respond with their views on how best amateurs can engage with the IAU professional community. The WG wants as many amateurs as possible to complete the survey, so that a statistical analysis of the interests of amateurs can be undertaken, and the level of amateur research being done. Professional astronomers with an interest in pro-am relations are also encouraged to complete the survey, and some professionals may wish to join the new WG. The survey is a prelude to encouraging future professional-amateur research collaborations.
 
LINK to Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IAU_ProAm
 
Feedback from the survey will be very helpful as we consider how best to move forward. Any questions should be directed to the IAU Pro-Am Working Group Secretary Yuko Kakazu at kakazu@naoj.org.
 
It is hoped to receive survey replies by the end of January in the first instance.
 
IAU Pro-Am Working Group
•     Aniket Sule, HBCSE-TIFR, Mumbai, India – Chairperson
•     John Hearnshaw, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand – Co-Chairperson
•     Tim Spuck, Associated Universities Inc., Washington DC, USA – Deputy Chairperson
•     Ilya Usoskin, Oulu University, Oulu, Finland – liaison of WG with IAU Executive Committee
•     Yuko Kakazu, Subaru Telescope & NAOJ, TMT Project, Hawaii – WG Secretary
•     Lina Canas, IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach, Tokyo, Japan – liaison with IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach
•     Beatriz Garcia, Institute of Technologies for Detection and Astroparticles-ITeDA (CNEA, CONICET, UNSAM), Mendoza, Argentina
•     Moein Mosleh, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
•     Antonia Varela Perez, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias & Starlight Foundation, Tenerife, Spain
•     Mirjana Povic, Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
•     Kaz Sekiguchi, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
•     Boonrucksar Soonthornthum, National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  13. Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy - Martinborough, 25-27 March 2022
The Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy is pleased to announce that the next course will be offered in Martinborough, 25-27 March 2022.
 
The course will run from the afternoon of Friday March 25 to the early evening of Sunday March 27. The venue will be the Wellington Conference Room in the Martinborough Hotel, Memorial Square, Martinborough.
 
The course is designed for current or prospective astrotourism night-sky guides or for anyone interested in navigating the night sky and understanding more about astronomy. Places at the course are limited to 30.
 
The AAA school will include:
• an immersive programme of lectures, talks, workshops and night-time observing (weather permitting),
• an optional visit to John Whitby’s Star Field Observatory on the Friday afternoon
• an evening reception on Friday 25 March
• practical workshops on astrophotography and establishing an astro-tourism business
• morning and afternoon teas and lunch on both Saturday and Sunday.
 
More details of the programme, the AAA instructors and of how to register are to be found on the AAA website at https://aaanz.org. Registration for the course can be made on-line at the AAA website.
 
Please email John Hearnshaw (john.b.hearnshaw@gmail.com) or Nalayini Davies (nbrito@vinstar.co.nz) if you have any queries.
 
We have chosen the Wairarapa for our third AAA course in recognition of the strong local support for protecting dark skies from the Wairarapa Dark Sky Association and also to support the growing astrotourism industry in this region of Aotearoa.
  14. eQuinox Digital Telescopes
eQuinox Digital Telescope to explore Deep Space, see Deep Sky Objects in crisp and colourful detail.
 
Key features:
- Powerful Smartphone-Controlled Digital Telescope
- Smart Light Pollution Reduction - ideal for light-polluted urban environments
- Easy, fast setup - no advanced preparation required
- Observe and navigate with your smartphone or tablet, connect to up to 10 users
- Live observation and imaging of distant and faint objects
 
Limited stock. Selling fast with only a few left from the first shipment. Order now for pre-Christmas delivery.
 
Full details here
https://astronz.nz/products/evscope-equinox
  15. Plankton Evolution Follows Earth’s Orbit
Variations in Earth’s orbit might help to determine the evolution of marine phytoplankton. Researchers analysed fossils of coccolithophores that lived in the Pleistocene period (from 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) alongside deviations in the circularity of Earth’s annual orbit, which cycles approximately every 100,000 and 400,000 years. They found that the diversity of plankton species increased during periods of high eccentricity of Earth’s orbit, when the seasons vary more in equatorial regions. Because the calcium carbonate skeletons of phytoplankton make a significant contribution to our planet’s carbon cycle, “such a link between orbital change, climate and phytoplankton evolution could be an intrinsic beat that underscores the Earth system”, writes biogeochemist Rosalind Rickaby.
 
-- The full paper is behind Nature's paywall at https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03549-5
  16. James Webb Space Telescope Ready for Launch
Mission team members have finished fuelling the James Webb Space Telescope at ahead of its planned December 22 launch from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, the European Space Agency announced on December 6. The fuelling for Webb, which is an international collaborative effort between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency, took 10 days and was completed on Dec. 3, according to the ESA statement.
 
After a series of delays since the development of the scope first began in 1996, Webb is still on track to finally launch Dec. 22 atop an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.
 
"Webb's propellant tanks were filled separately with 79.5 litres of dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizer and 159 litres of hydrazine," the ESA wrote in the announcement, adding that the oxidizer "improves the burn efficiency of the hydrazine fuel."
 
Now that Webb is fuelled, the mission team will begin "combined operations," according to the statement. In this phase, the teams behind the rocket and the telescope will come together to mount Webb on the Ariane 5 rocket and encapsulate it within the rocket's fairing. The newly joined pair will then be moved to the Final Assembly building for final preparations before lift-off.
 
Once successfully launched and in space, Webb will begin a complicated series of deployment manoeuvres to unfurl its solar arrays on its way to its ultimate destination where it will begin making observations.
 
Webb is destined for a location in space 1.5 million km away known as L2, a Lagrange point or a stable gravitational location in space. Upon arrival, the telescope will spend six months in a "commissioning period" during which the team will ensure that it unfolded correctly and its instruments are working correctly.
 
Webb was previously set to launch Dec. 18 (after many previous delays, budgetary concerns and more) but, as NASA reported, a clamp band that holds Webb to the launch vehicle adapter that will allow it to be integrated into the Arianespace launch vehicle had released unexpectedly. Teams investigated the unexpected event and performed additional testing before setting a new launch date and moving on to run a "consent to fuel" review before beginning fuelling.
 
Webb, which will observer the universe in infrared light, is set to be the most powerful telescope ever launched into space. Scientists aim to use the instrument to peer farther out into the cosmos than ever before, giving them an unprecedented peek into our universe's past.
 
Scientists hope that Webb's powerful observational technology will allow researchers to uncover more information about the early universe, explore mysterious things such as dark matter and dark energy and so much more.
 
-- See Chelsea Gohd's original article at https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-fueled-for-launch
  17. Fluorine Found in Young Galaxy
A new discovery is shedding light on how fluorine — an element found in our bones and teeth as fluoride — is forged in the Universe. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, a team of astronomers have detected this element in a galaxy that is so far away its light has taken over 12 billion years to reach us. This is the first time fluorine has been spotted in such a distant star-forming galaxy.
 
“We all know about fluorine because the toothpaste we use every day contains it in the form of fluoride,” says Maximilien Franco from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK, who led the new study, published today in Nature Astronomy. Like most elements around us, fluorine is created inside stars but, until now, we did not know exactly how this element was produced. “We did not even know which type of stars produced the majority of fluorine in the Universe!”
 
Franco and his collaborators spotted fluorine (in the form of hydrogen fluoride) in the large clouds of gas of the distant galaxy NGP–190387, which we see as it was when the Universe was only 1.4 billion years old, about 10% of its current age. Since stars expel the elements they form in their cores as they reach the end of their lives, this detection implies that the stars that created fluorine must have lived and died quickly.
 
The team believes that Wolf–Rayet stars, very massive stars that live only a few million years, a blink of the eye in the Universe’s history, are the most likely production sites of fluorine. They are needed to explain the amounts of hydrogen fluoride the team spotted, they say. Wolf–Rayet stars had been suggested as possible sources of cosmic fluorine before, but astronomers did not know until now how important they were in producing this element in the early Universe.
 
“We have shown that Wolf–Rayet stars, which are among the most massive stars known and can explode violently as they reach the end of their lives, help us, in a way, to maintain good dental health!” jokes Franco.
 
Besides these stars, other scenarios for how fluorine is produced and expelled have been put forward in the past. An example includes pulsations of giant, evolved stars with masses up to few times that of our Sun, called asymptotic giant branch stars. But the team believes these scenarios, some of which take billions of years to occur, might not fully explain the amount of fluorine in NGP–190387.
 
“For this galaxy, it took just tens or hundreds of millions of years to have fluorine levels comparable to those found in stars in the Milky Way, which is 13.5 billion years old. This was a totally unexpected result,” says Chiaki Kobayashi, a professor at the University of Hertfordshire. “Our measurement adds a completely new constraint on the origin of fluorine, which has been studied for two decades.”
 
The discovery in NGP–190387 marks one of the first detections of fluorine beyond the Milky Way and its neighbouring galaxies. Astronomers have previously spotted this element in distant quasars, bright objects powered by supermassive black holes at the centre of some galaxies. But never before had this element been observed in a star-forming galaxy so early in the history of the Universe.
 
The team’s detection of fluorine was a chance discovery made possible thanks to the use of space and ground-based observatories. NGP–190387, originally discovered with the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory and later observed with the Chile-based ALMA, is extraordinarily bright for its distance. The ALMA data confirmed that the exceptional luminosity of NGP–190387 was partly caused by another known massive galaxy, located between NGP–190387 and the Earth, very close to the line of sight. This massive galaxy amplified the light observed by Franco and his collaborators, enabling them to spot the faint radiation emitted billions of years ago by the fluorine in NGP–190387.
 
See the original press release at https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2115/
 
-- Forwarded by Karen Pollard.
  18. 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 2022 year starts at $40 for an ordinary
member, which includes an electronic subscription to our journal
'Southern Stars'.
  19. Quotes
  “Wherever scientific insight is denied and conspiracy theories and hatred are spread, we need to resist.” -- Democracy depends on maintaining our trust in facts, said quantum chemist Angela Merkel in her farewell address after 16 years as German Chancellor.
 
  “Isaac Newton said that scientists see further by standing on the shoulders of giants. So it’s vital to know whose shoulders we can trust. And we should definitely avoid giants whose shoulders have been photoshopped.” -- In her acceptance speech for the John Maddox Prize, science-integrity advocate Elisabeth Bik called for journals to do more to deal with problematic papers. See https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/dec/01/misinformation-fuelled-by-tsunami-of-poor-research-says-science-prize-winner
 
  "A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours." -- Milton Berle.
 
  "Spiders are the only web developers in the world that enjoy finding bugs."  -- From 'Where The Science Things Are'.
 
----------
 Season's greetings to all our readers. -Ed.
  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





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Minor Planet Occultation Updates:




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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
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Google Group
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Blogger Posts
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Twitter
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Reddit
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Quaroa
https://www.quora.com/q/astronomyinnewzealand

Groups.io

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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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