February 2020 News, reasearch, and starcharts
Research_News_20_02_2022
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/EdwinRodham
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Research papers
Europa's Surface Water-ice Crystallinity
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.07430
Has the impact flux of asteroids varied through time on Mars the Earth and the Moon
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X2100618X#fg0020
Methane-saturated layers limit the observability of impact craters on Titan
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.09587
Large Impacts onto the Early Earth
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.09349
A holistic aerosol model for Uranus and Neptune, including Dark Spots
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.04516
Dynamical origin of the Dwarf Planet Ceres
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.09238
Assessing Planetary Complexity and Potential Agnostic Biosignatures using Epsilon Machines
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.03699
A new estimation of astrometric exoplanet detection limits in the habitable zone around nearby stars
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.06301
Habitable planet formation around low-mass stars
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.05909
A candidate short-period sub-Earth orbiting Proxima Centauri
https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2202/eso2202a.pdf
Large planets may not form fractionally large moons
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28063-8
Water content trends in K2-138 and other low-mass multiplanetary systems
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.11532
Microphysics of Water Clouds in the Atmospheres of Y Dwarfs and Temperate Giant Planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.01355
A 3D Climate Model for Exoplanet Atmospheres
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.09797
Prospects for water vapor detection in the atmospheres of exoplanets around M-dwarf stars
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.08423
transiting, Earth-sized planet GJ 3929 b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.00970
The Habitable Zones of Rapidly Rotating Main Sequence A/F Stars
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.06918
On possible life-dispersal patterns beyond the Earth
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.07347
The DRAKE mission finding the frequency of life in the Cosmos
https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.10226
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Interesting News items
Wow 5 years ago
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/day-of-discovery-7-earth-size-planets
Rise of oxygen
http://astrobiology.com/2022/01/what-the-rise-of-oxygen-on-early-earth-tells-us-about-life-on-other-planets.html
Saving the night sky: New Zealand's craziest experiment yet?
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220202-saving-the-night-sky-new-zealands-craziest-experiment-yet
A local landmark gone
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/127711824/derelict-wairarapa-haunted-house-goes-up-in-flames
The numbers are growing all the time
https://dewesoft.com/daq/every-satellite-orbiting-earth-and-who-owns-them
New planet detected around star closest to the Sun
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202
Amazing work to image the surface here
http://spaceref.com/venus/first-visible-light-images-of-venus-surface-from-space.html
More amazing results from Gaia
https://www.mpg.de/18263284/0217-astr-milky-way-mergers-106969-x
Star-hoppers: planets bouncing between binary stars
https://planetplanet.net/2022/02/24/star-hoppers-planets-bouncing-between-binary-stars
Night side of venus
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/the-parker-solar-probe-captures-surprising-images-of-venus-nightside
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Updates from Andrew B,
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Hello RASNZ members and friends,
The following 2022 RASNZ Conference information is from Standing Conference Committee (SCC) Chair Peter Felhofer. The conference runs over the Queen's Birthday weekend of Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th June 2022. The venue for the conference will be the Barge Community Events Centre, Whangarei.
Please distribute to astronomy friends, local society members, etc.
Many thanks.
John Drummond
RASNZ Executive Secretary
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Greetings to you all from the SCC.
Registrations are now being accepted for the 2022 Conference being held in Whangarei. Please use the first link to submit your registration, and for those who wish to present a paper or a poster please also use the second link.
https://rasnz.org.nz/groups-news-events/conference-registration
https://rasnz.org.nz/groups-news-events/submit-conference-paper
The SCC will continue to monitor the progress of the Omicron outbreak and any impact it may have on the conference. As has been the case in the last two years, developments can occur with very little notice so there are some considerations.
As of today, the conference venue is limited to 100 people. We have exclusive access to the venue and all delegates will be registered so the conference will run as a private event. This relaxes the need for masks and social distancing while at the conference so hopefully it will not impact proceedings.
The usual guidelines do apply, if you are unwell or symptomatic please do not attend. The SCC has discussed the refund policy and decided it would be unfair to penalise anyone for Covid related cancellations, even at the last minute.
All delegates will need to show a vaccine certificate at the registration desk. Unless government mandates change before June this policy will be required by the venue and the SCC.
Due to the cap on numbers we suggest submitting your registration early. For those who would like to attend but have some concern over being able to attend we have created a 'standby' option under payment options. If you select that, you will be given priority to any unsold or cancelled tickets up to one week before the conference without losing the early-bird price.
Any registration queries can be sent to me at felhofernz@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Peter Felhofer
SCC Chair
felhofernz@gmail.com
RASNZ
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 254, 20 February 2022
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 Notes
2. Lone Black Hole Found in the Milky Way
3. Stars and Planets in March
4. RASNZ Deadlines
5. The Dark Skies Retreat - June 23-26
6. Variable Star News
7. Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy - Martinborough, 8-10 July 2022
8. The JWST Will Map the Atmosphere of Exoplanets
9. Third planet found orbiting Proxima Centauri
10. Centre Formed to Counter Satellite Swarms
11. Historical Reflection by Wayne Orchiston (#1)
12. How to Join the RASNZ
13. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
14. Quotes
1. President's Notes
General
It is very pleasing to see that the BHT Lecture Series is underway and that Dr Héloïse Stevance is moving around the country. Vaccination passports and masks are playing their part in allowing this series to continue. I was privileged to hear Héloise speak in Fairlie.
Omicron is beginning to surge across the country as I write and we need to keep an careful eye on each other and our activities.
Conference Registration
The AGM and Conference is In Whangarei this year, 3rd June - 5th June. The RASNZ Conference Website has been updated and is available at: https://rasnzconference.org.nz/ Please have a look at the site and get your registrations in as the Covid and venue restrictions mean there will be a limit of 100 attendees for this year's conference.
Conference Papers
Please consider giving a presentation or preparing a poster for conference. The registration link for speakers is: https://www.rasnz.org.nz/groups-news-events/submit-conference-paper
Membership Subscriptions
Notices have not been sent out at this time but subscriptions for 2022 are now due. Please check in and pay at: https://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/payments-and-donations
Keep well and safe.
Steve Butler
RASNZ President
2. Lone Black Hole Found in the Milky Way
The first detection of a lone black hole in the Milky Way has just been reported. Doubly interesting is that several NZ astronomers, amateur and professional, contributed to the discovery.
Black holes from around three times the mass of the Sun or more have been detected since the 1970s but all of these were orbiting close to another star. They are termed 'stellar-mass' black holes to distinguish them from the monsters at the centres of galaxies. In stellar-mass black holes the gravity of the black hole is pulling gas off the companion star. As the gas spirals into the black hole it is heated by friction as the inner gas circles faster than gas further out. This raises the gas temperature to millions of degrees so it emits x-rays. Thus the first stellar-mass black holes were detected by satellites with x-ray telescopes.
The black holes in binary star systems arise when one of the two stars is big -- nine times the mass of the Sun and bigger -- and explodes as a supernova. The core of the star is crushed to a black hole.
It was always recognised that many (most?) stellar-mass black holes would be made by lone big stars exploding. Since they have no companion star to 'feed' on, they don't make any radiation at all, so are invisible.
This lone black hole was found when it passed in front of a star in 2011. The gravity of the black hole bent the star's light and focused it toward us, a phenomenon called gravitational microlensing. The brightening of the star was detected by telescopes at Mt John and in Chile. From the graph of the brightening and fading of the star (that most of the NZers mentioned contributed to), and follow-up measurements by the Hubble Space Telescope over six years, it was possible to estimate the mass and distance of the black hole. It was found to be around seven times the mass of the Sun and 5000 light years away. It is in the direction of the galactic bulge, the mass of stars around the galactic centre. The follow-up observations showed that the lensing object was dark. Also it was much too massive to be white dwarf or a neutron star.
The observations showed that the black hole was moving at around 45 km/s, faster than surrounding stars. This confirms an idea that collapsing stars can get a little off-centre in the collapse so they get kicked sideways.
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The NZers involved were Phil Yock of Auckland University, Karen Pollard and Michael Albrow of Canterbury University, Tim Nausch and Grant Christie of Auckland Observatory, Jennie McCormick of Farm Cove Observatory in Auckland, John Drummond near Gisborne and Bill Allen near Blenheim. The total author list has ~80 names.
The discovery is written up in
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00346-6
A pre-print is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.13296
3. Stars and Planets in March
Northwest of overhead is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Southwest of the zenith is Canopus, the second brightest star. Below Sirius are bluish Rigel and orange Betelgeuse, the brightest stars in Orion. Between them is a line of three stars: Orion's belt. To southern hemisphere star watchers, the line of stars makes the bottom of 'The Pot'. Orion's belt points down and left to a V-shaped pattern of stars. This makes the face of Taurus the Bull, upside down to us. The orange star Aldebaran is at one tip of the V making one eye of the bull. Continuing the line from Orion down and left finds the Pleiades or Matariki star cluster, low in the northwest. It is also called the Seven Sisters and Subaru. It sets after 9 pm, mid-month.
Near the north skyline are Pollux and Castor marking the heads of Gemini the twins. Above and right of them is the star cluster Praesepe, marking the shell of Cancer the crab. Praesepe is also called the Beehive cluster, the reason obvious when it is viewed in binoculars.
Crux, the Southern Cross, is in the southeast. Below it are Beta and Alpha Centauri, often called 'The Pointers'. The Milky Way is brightest toward Crux. It becomes broader lower in the southeast toward Scorpius. Above Crux the Milky Way can be traced to nearly overhead where it fades.
The Clouds of Magellan are high in the south sky. They are easily seen by eye on a dark moonless night, looking like two misty patches. They are two small galaxies, close by as galaxies go, but light takes 160,000 years to travel from the big cloud and 200,000 years from the small cloud.
All the bright planets are in the morning sky. Brilliant Venus is the beacon for the region, rising due east after 3:30 at the beginning of the month. To the right of Venus is Mars, much fainter and red-coloured. Well below and right of Venus are Mercury and Saturn. They make a close pair at the beginning of the month, rising after 5 a.m. Mercury is the brighter of the two. All the planets are the brightest 'stars' in this empty part of the eastern sky. Saturn rises earlier each day, while Mercury falls lower as it moves to the far side of the Sun. By mid-month Saturn is rising after 4:30. By the end of March, Saturn and Mars are above Venus, roughly equally-spaced up the sky. The crescent Moon will be beside Venus and Saturn on the 29th with Mars above them.
Jupiter begins its morning sky appearance in the second half of March. On the morning of the 22nd it will make a close pairing with Mercury, the two rising after 6:30, an hour before the Sun. Jupiter is the brighter 'star'. The apparent closeness of the planets is all line-of-sight, of course. At mid-month Mercury is 194 million km away, Venus 96 million, Mars 285 million, Jupiter 890 million and Saturn 1600 million km away.
4. RASNZ Deadlines
The following RASNZ deadlines are approaching –
2022 RASNZ Subscriptions - The 2022 RASNZ subscriptions were due on the 1st of January 2022. See - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/payments-and-donations .
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.
5. The Dark Skies Retreat - June 23-26
The Dark Skies Retreat, June 23-26, Thursday-Sunday. Supported by ASTRONZ. A weekend getaway of astronomical proportions! Astronomy, astrophotography, night sky education, outreach, with a big focus on dark skies. Held over the first Matariki Public Holiday in June, under the dark skies of Camp Iona, Herbert Forest, Herbert (20-minutes south of Oamaru). Contact Damien McNamara, solaur.science@gmail.com
-- From 'Keeping 8n Touch' #50, January 8th.
6. Variable Star News
Conference and symposium
The Australian Astronomy Conference (NACAA) will now be held as a fully online meeting. Thus the proposed VSS (Variable Stars South) symposium that was to be held in conjunction with NACAA will now be a series of separate online presentations with dates yet to be determined. More information will be provided when details are finalised.
Quarterly Newsletter
The first Variable Stars South Newsletter for 2022 has been published and can be downloaded from www.variablestarssouth.org.
An article which may be of interest to those encouraging new observers and scientists is: Undergraduate project using remote learning and observing – Liam Parker, Hayden Parker, Ross Parker and Faraz Uddin (Harper College, Illinois). “This is an excellent example of how motivated students with competent guidance can develop a greater understanding of scientific processes and publish in peer reviewed journals” (MB). The original article was published in JAAVSO https://app.aavso.org/jaavso/article/3774/).
Information on the VSS Symposium was provided by Variable Stars South Director Mark Blackford (MB).
-- Alan Baldwin
7. Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy - Martinborough, 8-10 July 2022
The Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy has postponed the planned course in Martinborough to 8-10 July 2022. This was necessary as a result of the covid omicron wave, which is expected to be at its peak in March when the course was originally scheduled.
The course will now run from the afternoon of Friday July 8 to the early evening of Sunday July 10. 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.
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.
8. The JWST Will Map the Atmosphere of Exoplanets
Exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun, are found at distances very far from Earth. For example, the closest exoplanet to us, Proxima Centauri b, is 4.2 light-years away, or 265,000 times the distance between the Earth and the sun.
To the naked eye, the planets in the solar system appear as bright spots. However, using a telescope, these dots stand out from the stars and reveal structures such as Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, Saturn’s rings, or the ice caps of Mars.
Although the presence of such phenomena is expected on exoplanets, their distance from the Earth prevents us from directly resolving their surfaces. Nevertheless, there are ways to learn more about the structure of their atmospheres and map them.
Apart from a few special cases where light from a planet can be observed directly, the majority of exoplanets are detected using indirect methods. An indirect method consists of observing the effect of the planet’s presence on the light emitted by its star.
The transit method has led to the greatest number of exoplanet detections. A transit occurs when, from our perspective, an exoplanet passes in front of its host star. During the transit, the light from the star decreases as the star’s surface is partially obscured by the planet.
Light is divided into a spectrum of wavelengths that correspond to different colours. When a transit is observed at several wavelengths, it is possible to measure the atmospheric composition of the exoplanet. For example, water molecules strongly absorb light in the infrared wavelengths, making the planet appear larger, since its atmosphere blocks a larger fraction of the light from its star. In a similar way, it is also possible to measure the temperature of the atmosphere and to detect the presence of clouds.
In addition, a transiting planet can also pass behind its star. This phenomenon, in which only the light from the star is observed, is called secondary eclipse. By observing this, it is possible to isolate the light coming only from the planet and thus obtain additional information about its atmosphere.
The transit method is more sensitive to the presence of clouds, while the secondary eclipse method provides more information about the temperature of the atmosphere.
In general, the atmosphere of an exoplanet is considered a one-dimensional object when analysing it. That is, its composition and temperature are considered to vary only with altitude and not with its position in longitude and latitude. To take these three dimensions into account simultaneously would require complex models as well as a high degree of observational accuracy. However, solely considering altitude may produce approximations that are not valid. On Earth, for example, the temperature at the equator is much higher than at the poles.
Some exoplanets also have strong spatial variation in their atmospheres. Hot Jupiters, similar in size to Jupiter, orbit very close to their host star and can thus reach temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius.
In addition, these planets generally revolve around themselves at the same speed as they do around their star. This means that on these planets, a day and a year are the same length. In the same way that we can only see one side of the Moon from Earth, only one side of a hot Jupiter constantly faces its star. This phenomenon can lead to a large temperature difference between the day side, which is illuminated by the star, and the night side, which is perpetually in darkness.
Although it is impossible to observe the surface of an exoplanet directly, it is possible to measure the spatial variation of the atmosphere using two methods: phase curve analysis and secondary eclipse mapping.
The phase curve is the variation of light from the star-planet system during a period of revolution. Since the planet rotates on itself during its orbit, different sections of its atmosphere are successively visible to us. From this signal, it is possible to map the intensity of the light emitted by the planet in longitude. In the case of hot Jupiters, whose day side is generally hotter, the maximum of light from the planet is near the secondary eclipse. Similarly, the minimum of the curve is near the transit, since it is then the night side that is observed.
In secondary eclipse mapping, the day side of the exoplanet is resolved. As the planet moves in and out from behind its star from our point of view, sections of it are hidden, allowing us to isolate the light emitted by a given section of its atmosphere. By measuring the amount of light emitted by each individual section, it is then possible to map the day side of the atmosphere against longitude and latitude.
To date, phase curve analysis has been applied to several planets using space telescopes, including the Hubble, Kepler and TESS space telescopes. Secondary eclipse mapping has only been applied to one exoplanet, Hot Jupiter HD189733 b, from observations with the Spitzer space telescope. However, these observations are usually made at a single wavelength and don’t provide a complete picture of the atmospheric processes at work on these exoplanets.
With its 6.5-meter mirror, compared to Hubble’s 2.4-meter mirror, the James Webb telescope will provide unprecedentedly precise observations over a wide range of wavelengths. Four instruments will observe in the infrared range and characterize the atmospheres of a multitude of exoplanets. It will be possible to apply the mapping methods available to us to measure the three-dimensional variation of exoplanet atmospheres. These measurements will allow us to deepen our knowledge of atmospheric processes. As technology and instruments continue to advance, it may even be possible to map an Earth-like exoplanet in the future.
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From an article Louis-Philippe Coulombe, a PhD student in astrophysics at the University of Montreal. The article was originally published in French and on The Conversation.
See https://www.space.com/the-james-webb-space-telescope-will-map-the-atmosphere-of-exoplanets?
9. Third planet found orbiting Proxima Centauri
A team of astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile have found evidence of another planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Solar System. This candidate planet is the third detected in the system and the lightest yet discovered orbiting this star. At just a quarter of Earth’s mass, the planet is also one of the lightest exoplanets ever found.
Proxima Centauri is just over four light-years away. It is a 'red dwarf' star, a few thousandths the brightness of the Sun, so is a faint (10th magnitude) object in a telescope.
The newly discovered planet, named Proxima d, orbits Proxima Centauri at a distance of about four million kilometres, less than a tenth of Mercury’s distance from the Sun. It orbits between the star and the habitable zone — the area around a star where liquid water can exist at the surface of a planet — and takes just five days to complete one orbit around Proxima Centauri.
The star is already known to host two other planets: Proxima b, a planet with a mass comparable to that of Earth that orbits the star every 11 days and is within the habitable zone, and candidate Proxima c, which is on a longer five-year orbit around the star.
Proxima b was discovered a few years ago using the HARPS instrument on ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope. The discovery was confirmed in 2020 when scientists observed the Proxima system with a new instrument on ESO’s VLT that had greater precision, the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO). It was during these more recent VLT observations that astronomers spotted the first hints of a signal corresponding to an object with a five-day orbit. As the signal was so weak, the team had to conduct follow-up observations with ESPRESSO to confirm that it was due to a planet, and not simply a result of changes in the star itself.
At just a quarter of the mass of Earth, Proxima d is the lightest exoplanet ever measured using the radial velocity technique, surpassing a planet recently discovered in the L 98-59 planetary system. The technique works by picking up tiny wobbles in the motion of a star created by an orbiting planet’s gravitational pull. The effect of Proxima d’s gravity is so small that it only causes Proxima Centauri to move back and forth at around 40 centimetres per second (1.44 kilometres per hour).
ESPRESSO’s search for other worlds will be complemented by ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in the Atacama Desert, which will be crucial to discovering and studying many more planets around nearby stars.
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See the original press release at https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2202/
10. IAU Centre Formed to Counter Satellite Swarms
Three years ago, astronomers were reeling from the launch of the first 60 satellites of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which aims to provide broadband internet access worldwide. The satellites left bright traces on astronomical images, posing “an existential threat to observation from the ground,” said astronomer Debra Elmegreen, president of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), at a briefing on February 3. Without much coordination, different groups of astronomers scrambled to understand the problem and to mitigate it by working with satellite operators. But now, astronomers are getting organized about it.
IAU announced today it is setting up the Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference. The IAU centre will coordinate efforts to study the impacts of the new swarms on astronomy, negotiate with their operators, and lobby for laws to protect the night skies, says centre director, Piero Benvenuti of the University of Padua, a former IAU president. The centre will begin operations on 1 April with funding for seven staff. Funding will come mostly from IAU and two partner institutions, the U.S. National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) and the Square Kilometre Array observatory.
At the start of this year, constellation operators had launched about 2800 satellites — mostly SpaceX but some from U.K.-based OneWeb — already overtaking the 2200 satellites that were active at the time of Starlink’s first launch. Those and other companies have sought approval for plans that would loft as many as 50,000 satellites into low-Earth orbit. “Hundreds will be visible to the eye on any night,” says NOIRLab’s Connie Walker, who will be co-director of the IAU centre. “It will have a substantial impact on all telescope operations.”
Assessing the impact of future constellations is one goal for the centre. Studies have already shown that survey telescopes with wide fields of view will be the worst affected. For instance, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, due for first light in 2023, will have as many as one-third of its images ruined by satellite streaks during part of the night. Radio telescopes could also be affected by interference from radio downlinks that satellite constellations use to communicate with the ground.
A second task will be to work with industry to develop protocols for reducing reflections and tracking satellite positions so telescopes can avoid them. After Starlink’s debut, astronomers worked with SpaceX to reduce the satellites’ impact by installing “visors” that shade reflective surfaces. Benvenuti says astronomers are already in dialogue with two other operators — OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. “We’re happy with what has happened so far,” he says. “The example they made should be followed by other companies.”
But astronomers don’t want to rely on companies’ goodwill. Another role for the centre will be to create national and international laws and norms for what regulators allow in orbit. “We need to codify these good intentions, to have some backup,” says Richard Green of the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. “We’ll take a two-pronged approach: Cooperate and develop legislation to apply if necessary.” IAU and other bodies are working to convince the United Nations’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of the need for legislation. “We are confident that we will have guidelines that will have to be followed by companies in the near future,” Benvenuti says. Cosmologist Aparna Venkatesan of the University of San Francisco says it would be good if there were laws in the United States and elsewhere that echoed the influential U.S. Clean Air Act: “Many of us dream of a Clean Skies Act.”
A last job for the centre will be to alert and seek help from other affected groups, including amateur astronomers, astrotourism operators, and Indigenous communities that observe the sky in their cultural practices. Satellite constellations, says Jessica Heim, an expert in cultural astronomy at the University of Southern Queensland, “interrupt our relationship with the stars.”
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See Daniel Clery's original article at
https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-set-center-counter-threat-satellite-swarms?
11. Historical Reflection by Wayne Orchiston (#1)
1. Preamble
For those who enjoyed the recent historical papers in Southern Stars by Joseph Roberts (Subantarctic Astronomy), John Hearnshaw (early history of the New Zealand Astronomical Society) and Glen Rowe and me (Cook voyages astronomers), there are other recent publications, along with conference presentations, that may be of interest. These are discussed below.
2. New Zealand Chapters in Recent Books
Orchiston, W., 2016. Exploring the History of New Zealand Astronomy: Trials, Tribulations, Telescopes and Transits. Cham (Switzerland), Springer.
Here is a listing of the chapters in this book:
Chapter 01 Introduction
Part 1 Pre-European Astronomy in the Pacific
Chapter 02 The skies over Aotearoa/New Zealand: astronomy from a Maori perspective
Chapter 03 Mahutonga: did proto-Polynesian astronomers record the supernova of AD 185?
Part 2 Cook Voyage Astronomy and New Zealand
Chapter 04 Astronomy on Cook’s First Voyage: Mercury Bay and Queen Charlotte Sound, 1769–1770
Chapter 05 Astronomy on Cook’s Second Voyage: Dusky Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound, 1773–1774
Chapter 06 Astronomy on Cook’s Third Voyage: Queen Charlotte Sound, 1777
Part 3 Fundamental Astronomy: Of Telescopes and Observatories
Chapter 07 The ‘Cook’ Gregorian telescope in The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Chapter 08 Stephen Carkeek, the Wellington time ball, and New Zealand’s oldest ‘surviving’ observatory
Chapter 09 The historic astronomical observatories in the Wellington Botanic Garden: a brief introduction
Chapter 10 The Thames Observatory of John Grigg
Chapter 11 The Wanganui Refractor and its remarkable English Equatorial Mounting
Chapter 12 Joseph Ward: pioneer New Zealand telescope-maker
Chapter 13 From Crossley to Carter: the life and times of an historic Cooke refractor
Part 4 Transits of Venus: The Quest for the Astronomical Unit
Chapter 14 The 1874 and 1882 transits of Venus: an overview
Chapter 15 Refining the Astronomical Unit: Queenstown and the 1874 transit of Venus
Part 5 Stunning Spectacles: Eclipses, Comets and Meteor Showers
Chapter 16 An amazing public spectacle: the total solar eclipse of 1885
Chapter 17 John Grigg and the genesis of cometary astronomy in New Zealand
Chapter 18 C.J. Westland and Comet C/1914 S1 (Campbell): a forgotten episode in New Zealand cometary
astronomy
Chapter 19 A Catholic approach to astronomy: the remarkable record of Ronald A. McIntosh
Part 6 Other Notable Astronomers and their Activities
Chapter 20 Great Comets, and Wellington’s earliest European astronomers
Chapter 21 Henry Severn: Thames’ talented transitory astronomer
Chapter 22 John Grigg and his pioneering astronomical photography
Part 7 Opening a New Window on the Universe: Early New Zealand Radio Astronomy
Chapter 23 Dr Elizabeth Alexander and the mysterious ‘Norfolk Island Effect’
Chapter 24 John Bolton, Gordon Stanley, Bruce Slee and the riddle of the ‘radio stars’
If you are interested in any particular chapters email me (wayne.orchiston@gmail,com) and I’ll send you e-copies. And for the record, I should mention that I don’t receive royalties from sales of this book. Springer has told me that the book has sold well around the world—much to my surprise.
Nha, I.-S., Orchiston, W., and Stephenson, F.R. (eds.), 2017. The History of World Calendars and Calendar-making: Proceedings of the International Conference in Commemoration of the 600th Anniversary of the Birth of Kim Dam. Seoul, Yonsei University Press.
There is one New Zealand-related chapter in this book:
Orchiston, W., and Orchiston, D.L., The Maori calendar of New Zealand: a chronological perspective. Pp. 57–78.
This chapter documents the change that took place in the ancestral Maori astronomical system within 200 years of the original Polynesian settlement of Aotearoa/New Zealand, when kumara became the dietary staple in place of taro and yams. Email me if you want a copy.
Orchiston, W., 2017. John Tebbutt: Rebuilding and Strengthening the Foundations of Australian Astronomy. Cham, Springer.
The final chapter in this book discusses the history of Tebbutt’s library, research files and astronomical instruments after his death in1916. Ultimately, his 8-in Grubb refractor was purchased by the late Frank Bateson and installed in an observatory in the Cook Island, then it was operational at Mt John when Bateson was the Officer in Charge there. Bateson sold the telescope to the Whakatane Astronomical Society when he retired, and eventually the Grubb telescope was returned to Tebbutt’s original Windsor Observatory (near Sydney) in exchange for a C14. Pages 526–533 recount the Cooks Islands–NZ history of the telescope. If you would like a copy of this chapter email me.
Nakamura, T., and Orchiston, W. (eds.), 2017. The Emergence of Astrophysics in Asia: Opening a New Window on the Universe. Cham, Springer.
There are four New Zealand chapters in this book:
Hearnshaw, J., and Orchiston, W., The development of astronomy and emergence of astrophysics in New Zealand. Pp. 581–621.
Gilmore, G.F., Alexander William Bickerton: New Zealand’s first astrophysicist? Pp. 623–640.
Orchiston, W., and Rowe, G., New Zealand astronomy and the 9 September 1885 total solar eclipse. Pp. 641–673.
Orchiston, W., The early development of New Zealand radio astronomy. Pp. 675–702.
Note that the Orchiston and Rowe chapter is about the research programs carried out by amateur and professional astronomers, whereas the 1885 eclipse chapter in my 2016 book (mentioned above) is about the public response to the eclipse (and thus is about popular astronomy).
Email me if you want copies of any (or all) of these chapters.
3. New Zealand and Cook Voyage Papers in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (JAHH)
In recent years, the following NZ- and Cook-related papers have been published in this journal:
Kinns, R., 2017. The principal time balls of New Zealand. JAHH, 20(1), 69–94.
Kinns, R., 2017. The time light signals of New Zealand: yet another way of communicating time in the pre-wireless era. JAHH, 20(2), 211–222.
Orchiston, W., 2017. Cook, Green, Maskelyne and the 1769 transit of Venus: legacy of the Tahitian observations. JAHH, 20(1), 35–68.
Orchiston, W., and Drummond, J., 2019. The Mount Tarawera volcanic eruption in New Zealand and Maori cometary astronomy. JAHH, 22(3), 521–535.
Orchiston, W., Drummond, J., and Kronk, G., 2020. Observations of the Great September Comet of 1882 (C/1882 R1) from New Zealand. JAHH, 23(3), 628–658.
Orchiston, W., Drummond, J., and Shylaja, B.S., 2020. Communication issues in war-time astronomy: independent Australian, Indian, New Zealand and South African discoveries of Comet C/1941 B2 (de Kock-Paraskelopoulos). JAHH, 23(3), 659–674.
Orchiston, W., and Rowe, G., 2021. New Zealand’s first scientific observatories: the tent observatories used on Cook’s second and third voyages to the Pacific. JAHH, 24(4), 1033–1056.
Orchiston, W., Drummond, J., and Luciuk, M., 2021. Ronald A. McIntosh: pioneer Southern Hemisphere meteor observer. JAHH, 24(3), 789–817.
Orchiston, W., and Wells, W., 2020. Cook’s Third Voyage to the Pacific and scientific astronomy on the north-western coast of America: the sojourn at Nootka Sound in April 1778. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 23, 174?208.
Taibi, R., 2019. A tale of three telescopes: the John A. Brashear Company and its 46-cm objective of 1893. JAHH, 22(2), 247–265.
Tobin, W., 2021. Two photographic albums from the German transit of Venus expedition to the Auckland Islands in 1874. JAHH, 24(3), 823–861.
These can be downloaded directly from the journal’s web site (www.jahh.org) or from ADS. Otherwise email me and I’ll send you copies.
Professor Wayne Orchiston,
Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia.
Email: wayne.orchiston@gmail.com
12. 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'.
13. Gifford-Eiby Lecture Fund
The RASNZ administers the Gifford-Eiby Memorial Lectureship Fund to
assist Affiliated Societies with travel costs of getting a lecturer
or instructor to their meetings. Details are in RASNZ By-Laws Section
H and at http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/ge-fund
The application form is at
https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz-ge
14. Quotes
“Imagine how dangerous sailing the high seas would be if all the ships ever lost in history were still drifting on top of the water,... That is the current situation in orbit, and it cannot be allowed to continue.” ...“We are operating in [space] well beyond our ability to make sound and sustainable decisions,... and this will be to our eventual detriment”... we need a new kind of international governance, one that seeks to reduce the potential for conflict as well as the trashing of space... Our choice to treat it as a battleground and a scrap heap is, I think, a powerful message to the rest of the universe about where we, as a species, are headed." -- Jeremy Miller, see https://lnkd.in/g95ztHb4
Quote circulated by Kyra Xavia.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." -- attributed to Bertrand Russell.
"Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line till it is no longer important to you."
"Kids today will never know what it was like to take a ton of pictures - and have to wait a week to find out they were useless."
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
February Celestial Calendar by Dave Mitsky
All times, unless otherwise noted, are UT (subtract five hours and, when appropriate, one calendar day for EST)
2/1 New Moon (lunation 1226) occurs at 5:46
2/2 The periodic comet 19P/Borrelly is at perihelion (1.31 astronomical units from the Sun) today; the Moon is 4 degrees south of Jupiter at 21:00
2/3 The astronomical cross-quarter day (i.e., a day half way between a solstice and an equinox) known as Imbolc or Candlemas occurs today; the Moon is 4 degrees south of Neptune at 21:00; Mercury is stationary at 22:00
2/4 Saturn is in conjunction with the Sun at 19:00
2/5 Asteroid 20 Massalia (magnitude +8.5) is at opposition in Cancer at 8:00
2/7 The Moon is 1.2 degrees south of Uranus, with an occultation occurring in the South Sandwich Islands and a portion of Queen Maud Land, at 20:00
2/8 The Lunar X (the Purbach or Werner Cross), an X-shaped clair-obscure illumination effect involving various rims and ridges between the craters La Caille, Blanchinus, and Purbach, is predicted to be visible at 16:44; First Quarter Moon occurs at 18:47
2/9 The Moon is 0.03 degrees north of the dwarf planet/asteroid 1 Ceres, with an occultation occurring northern Micronesia, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, southeastern China, most of southeastern Asia, Sri Lanka, the southern portion of India, the Maldives, and the Seychelles, at 11:00
2/11 The Moon is at apogee, subtending 29' 31" from a distance of 404,896 kilometers (251,591 miles), at 2:37
2/12 The Moon is 1.9 degrees northeast of the bright open cluster M35 in Gemini at 4:00; Venus is at greatest brilliancy (magnitude -4.9) at 18:00
2/13 Venus is at its greatest heliocentric latitude north today; Venus is 7 degrees north of Mars at 1:00
2/16 Full Moon (known as the Hunger, Snow, or Storm Moon) occurs at 16:56; Mercury is at greatest western elongation (26 degrees) at 21:00
2/18 The Moon will be at aphelion (0.99 astronomical units from the Sun) at 10:08
2/20 The Hesiodus Sunrise Lunar Crater Ray is predicted to begin at 23:23
2/23 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 22:32
2/24 The Curtiss Cross, an X-shaped clair-obscure illumination effect located between the craters Parry and Gambart, is predicted to be visible at 20:11
2/26 The Moon is at perigee, subtending 32' 29" from a distance of 367,789 kilometers (228,533 miles), at 22:25
2/27 The Moon is 9 degrees south of Venus at 6:00; the Moon is 4 degrees south of Mars at 9:00
2/28 Mercury is at aphelion today; the Moon is 4 degrees south of Mercury at 20:00
2/29 The Moon is 4 degrees south of Saturn at 0:00
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille discovered the open cluster NGC 3228 in Vela on February 11, 1752. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille discovered the face-on barred spiral galaxy M83 in Hydra on February 23, 1752. Johann Bode discovered the globular cluster M53 in Coma Berenices on February 3, 1775. The planetary nebula M97 in Ursa Major was discovered by Pierre François André Méchain on February 16, 1781. Caroline Herschel discovered the open cluster NGC 2360 in Canis Major on February 26, 1783. William Herschel discovered the face-on barred spiral galaxy NGC 4027 in Corvus on February 7, 1785. William Herschel’s 40-foot-focal-length telescope saw first light on February 19, 1787. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on February 18, 1930. James Hey detected radio waves emitted by the Sun on February 27, 1942. Gerald Kuiper discovered the Uranian satellite Miranda (magnitude +15.8 ) on February 16, 1948. The first pulsar, PSR B1919+21, was discovered by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish on February 24, 1967. Supernova 1987A was discovered by Ian Shelton, Oscar Duhalde, and Albert Jones on February 23, 1987.
The zodiacal light should be visible in the west after evening twilight from a dark location during the last two weeks of February. An article on the zodiacal light appears on pages 48 and 49 of the February issue of Sky & Telescope. Click on https://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/zod1.htm for more on the zodiacal light.
Information on passes of the ISS, the USAF’s X-37B, the Tiangong, the HST, Starlink, and other satellites can be found at http://www.heavens-above.com/
The Moon is 27.6 days old, is illuminated 4.8%, subtends 32.0', and is located in the constellation of Sagittarius at 0:00 UT on February 1st. The Moon attains its greatest northern declination (+26.4 degrees) for the month on February 13th and its greatest southern declination (-26.5 degrees) on February 26th. Longitudinal libration is at a maximum of +6.6 degrees on February 5th and at a minimum of -5.0 degrees on February 18th. Latitudinal libration is at a maximum of +6.5 degrees on February 2nd and a minimum of -6.5 degrees on December 17th. Favorable librations for the following lunar features occur on the indicated dates: Crater Goddard on February 5th, Crater Hubble on February 7th, Mare Orientale on February 18th, and Crater Carpenter on February 26th. New Moon occurs on February 1st. The Moon is at apogee on February 11th and at perigee on February 26th. The Moon will be at aphelion on February 18th. The Moon lies some five degrees from the first-magnitude star Regulus (Alpha Leonis) on February 16th and the first-magnitude star Spica (Alpha Virginis) on February 20th and three degrees from the first-magnitude star Antares (Alpha Scorpii) on February 24th. The Lunar X occurs on February 8th and the Curtiss Cross on February 24th. The Hesiodus Sunrise Lunar Crater Ray is predicted to occur on February 20th. See https://astronomy.com/.../observe-shadow-play--on-the-moon for an article on these and other lunar clair-obscur events. The 65%-illuminated waxing gibbous Moon occults Kappa1 (magnitude +4.2) and Kappa2 (magnitude +5.3) Tauri from most of Canada and the United States on the night of February 8th. The 66%-illuminated waning gibbous Moon occults Zubenelgenubi (Alpha Librae) on the morning of February 22nd from most of the western United States, western Canada, Mexico, and portions of Central America. Browse http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm for information on these and other 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. Go to https://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/MoonMap.pdf and https://celestron-site-support-files.s3.us-east-1.amazona... and https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/ObserveMoon.pdf for simple lunar maps. Click on https://astrostrona.pl/moon-map/ for an excellent online lunar map. Visit http://www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start to download the free Virtual Moon Atlas. Consult http://time.unitarium.com/moon/where.html for current information on the Moon and https://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/lunarform/lunarform.html for information on various lunar features. See https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4955 a lunar phase and libration calculator and https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/?extent=-90,-25.2362636,90,25.2362636&proj=10&layers=NrBsFYBoAZIRnpEoAsjYIHYFcA2vIBvAXwF1SizSg for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Quickmap. Click on https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2022/february 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 subtends 32' 28'' and is located in the constellation of Capricornus at 0:00 UT on February 1st. It enters Aquarius on February 16th.
Brightness, apparent size, illumination, distance from the Earth in astronomical units, and location data for the planets and Pluto on February 1: Mercury (magnitude +1.2, 9.4", 20% illuminated, 0.72 a.u., Sagittarius), Venus (magnitude -4.8, 49.2", 15% illuminated, 0.34 a.u., Sagittarius), Mars (magnitude +1.4, 4.3", 96% illuminated, 2.17 a.u., Sagittarius), Jupiter (magnitude -2.0, 33.6", 100% illuminated, 5.86 a.u., Aquarius), Saturn (magnitude +0.7, 15.3", 100% illuminated, 10.90 a.u., Capricornus), Uranus (magnitude +5.8, 3.5", 100% illuminated, 19.95 a.u. on February 15th, Aries), Neptune (magnitude +8.0, 2.2", 100% illuminated, 30.81 a.u. on February 15th, Aquarius), and Pluto (magnitude +14.4, 0.1", 100% illuminated, 35.32 a.u. on February 15th, Sagittarius).
Jupiter and Neptune can be seen in the west and Uranus in the southwest in the evening sky. Uranus is in the west at midnight. In the morning sky, Mercury and Saturn lie in the east and Venus and Mars in the southeast.
The Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all located in Sagittarius on February 1st. The waning crescent Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, which will be less than three degrees in altitude, are all visible in the eastern sky 30 minutes before sunrise on February 27th. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter (which lies too close to the Sun to be seen), Saturn, and Neptune span 57 degrees along the ecliptic as the month ends.
Mercury begins its best morning apparition of the year for observers in the southern hemisphere this month. It brightens to magnitude -0.1 by February 19th. The innermost planet is stationary on February 3rd and is at greatest western elongation on February 16th, when it forms an isosceles triangle with Venus and Mars. Mercury is at the descending node on February 18th and is at aphelion on February 28th. The waning crescent Moon passes four degrees south of Mercury on February 28th.
Venus decreases in angular diameter from 49 arc seconds to 32 arc seconds but increases in illumination from 15% to 37% this month. Venus shines at magnitude -4.9 when it reaches its greatest illuminated extent of 26% on February 12th. The brightest planet is at its northernmost latitude from the ecliptic plane and passes seven degrees north of Mars on February 13th. The waning crescent Moon passes nine degrees south of Venus on February 27th.
Mars lies nine degrees southwest of Venus as the month begins. That gap narrows to about seven degrees by the night of February 12th, when the two terrestrial planets straddle the Teaspoon asterism in eastern Sagittarius, and remains at about that distance for the rest of February. The waning crescent Moon passes four degrees south of Mars on February 27th.
Jupiter is visible in the early evening twilight in early February. The 1.5-day old waxing crescent Moon passes four degrees south of Jupiter on February 2nd. Jupiter disappears into the glare of the Sun as it heads on its way to solar conjunction in early March.
Saturn is in conjunction with the Sun on February 4th and consequently will not be visible again until late in the month.
Uranus lies approximately 11 degrees south-southeast of the second-magnitude star Hamal (Alpha Arietis) and 5 degrees north-northeast of the fourth-magnitude star Mu Ceti. It sets about 10:00 p.m. local time by the end of the month. Uranus is just 43 arc minutes east of the sixth-magnitude star 29 Arietis on February 28th. A waxing crescent Moon passes one degree south of Uranus on February 7th. Visit http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/uranus.htm for a finder chart.
Neptune is located about four degrees northeast of the fourth-magnitude star Phi Aquarii. It sets about three hours after the Sun in early February. The eighth planet passes just 1.5 arc minutes north of a sixth-magnitude star on February 3rd. A slender crescent Moon passes four degrees south of Neptune on that date. Neptune disappears from view by the end of the month. Browse http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/neptune.htm for a finder chart.
Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune and an article on observing the ice giants can be found at https://skyandtelescope.org/.../ice-giants-neptune-and.../
Click on http://www.skyandtelescope.com/.../interactive-sky.../ for JavaScript utilities that will illustrate the positions of the five brightest satellites of Uranus and the position of Triton, Neptune’s brightest satellite.
The dwarf planet Pluto is not visible this month.
For more on the planets and how to locate them, browse http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/
Comet 19P/Borrelly travels northeastward through Pisces and Aries during February. The periodic comet shines at ninth magnitude and is at perihelion on February 2nd. Comet C/2019 L3 (ATLAS) also has a brightness of ninth magnitude as it heads southwestward through Gemini. The periodic comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a tenth-magnitude object as it slides southward through Cancer. For additional information on comets visible this month, browse http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/ and http://www.aerith.net/comet/future-n.html and https://cobs.si/
A list of the closest approaches of comets to the Earth is posted at http://www.cometography.com/nearcomet.html
The dwarf planet/asteroid 1 Ceres shines at magnitude +8.5 as it heads northeastward through Taurus this month. It begins February less than a degree to the east of 13 and 14 Tauri and ends the month less than two degrees east of 37 Tauri. Asteroids brighter than magnitude +11.0 that reach opposition this month include 20 Massalia (magnitude +8.6) on February 4th, 11 Parthenope (magnitude +10.1) on February 10th, and 19 Fortuna (magnitude +10.6) on February 22th. Consult http://asteroidoccultation.com/2020_02_si.htm for information on asteroid occultation events taking place this month. Visit http://www.curtrenz.com/asteroids.html to learn more about a number of asteroids.
A wealth of information on solar system celestial bodies is posted at http://nineplanets.org/ and https://www.curtrenz.com/astronomy.html
The major meteor showers that will occur this year are discussed at https://skyandtelescope.org/.../best-meteor-showers-of-2022/
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/
A monthly podcast on various astronomical topics is available at https://www.skyandtelescope.com/obser.../astronomy-podcasts/
Free star charts for the month can be downloaded at http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html and http://whatsouttonight.com/
A star-hop through this year's mid-February sky can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/.../pcb.../4812260802196707
The famous eclipsing variable star Algol (Beta Persei) is at a minimum, decreasing in magnitude from 2.1 to 3.4, on February 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 20th, 23rd, and 26th. Consult page 50 of the February 2022 issue of Sky & Telescope for the times of the minima. The Demon Star is at minimum brightness for approximately two hours centered at 1:42 a.m. EST on February 9th, at 10:31 p.m. EST on February 11th, and at 7:21 p.m. EST on February 14th. For more on Algol, see http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/Algol.html and http://www.solstation.com/stars2/algol3.htm
Data on current supernovae can be found at http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/
Information on observing some of the more prominent galaxies in the Messier Catalog is available at http://www.cloudynights.com/.../358295-how-to-locate.../
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_january-march
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://www.star-shine.ch/.../messiercharts/messierTelrad.htm and http://sao64.free.fr/observat.../catalogues/cataloguesac.pdf
Author Phil Harrington offers an excellent freeware planetarium program for binocular observers known as TUBA (Touring the Universe through Binoculars Atlas) 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 https://telescopius.com/ and http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php
Freeware sky atlases can be downloaded at http://www.deepskywatch.com/.../Deep-Sky-Hunter-atlas... and https://www.cloudynights.com/.../free-mag-7-star-charts... and https://allans-stuff.com/triatlas/
Forty binary and multiple stars for February: 41 Aurigae, Struve 872, Otto Struve 147, Struve 929, 56 Aurigae (Auriga); Nu-1 Canis Majoris, 17 Canis Majoris, Pi Canis Majoris, Mu Canis Majoris, h3945, Tau Canis Majoris (Canis Major); Struve 1095, Struve 1103, Struve 1149, 14 Canis Minoris (Canis Minor); 20 Geminorum, 38 Geminorum, Alpha Geminorum (Castor), 15 Geminorum, Lambda Geminorum, Delta Geminorum, Struve 1108, Kappa Geminorum (Gemini); 5 Lyncis, 12 Lyncis, 19 Lyncis, Struve 968, Struve 1025 (Lynx); Epsilon Monocerotis, Beta Monocerotis, 15 (S) Monocerotis (Monoceros); Struve 855 (Orion); Struve 1104, k Puppis, 5 Puppis (Puppis)
Notable carbon star for February: BL Orionis (Orion)
Fifty deep-sky objects for February: NGC 2146, NGC 2403 (Camelopardalis); M41, NGC 2345, NGC 2359, NGC 2360, NGC 2362, NGC 2367, NGC 2383 (Canis Major); M35, NGC 2129, NGC 2158, NGC 2266, NGC 2355, NGC 2371-72, NGC 2392, NGC 2420 (Gemini); NGC 2419 (Lynx); M50, NGC 2232, NGC 2237, NGC 2238, NGC 2244, NGC 2245, NGC 2251, NGC 2261, NGC 2264, NGC 2286, NGC 2301, NGC 2311, NGC 2324, NGC 2335, NGC 2345, NGC 2346, NGC 2353 (Monoceros); NGC 2169, NGC 2174, NGC 2194 (Orion); M46, M47, M93, Mel 71, NGC 2421, NGC 2423, NGC 2438, NGC 2439, NGC 2440, NGC 2467, NGC 2506, NGC 2509 (Puppis)
Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for February: M35, M41, M46, M47, M50, M93, NGC 2244, NGC 2264, NGC 2301, NGC 2360
Top ten deep-sky objects for February: M35, M41, M46, M47, M50, M93, NGC 2261, NGC 2362, NGC 2392, NGC 2403
Challenge deep-sky object for February: IC 443 (Gemini)
The objects listed above are located between 6:00 and 8:00 hours of right ascension.
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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
Astronomy in New Zealand - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/5889909863/
Google Group
https://groups.google.com/g/nzastrochat
Astronomy in Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/groups/11451597655/
Blogger Posts
http://laintal.blogspot.com/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/EdwinRodham
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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