(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1. IAA lecture via Zoom, 4 November, 19.30, by Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, QUB, "What makes a comet "Great"?
This should be good! Alan is a very popular, informative and entertaining speaker, and a world-renowned authority on comets.
SYNOPSIS:
Hopefully, many members of the IAA saw comet NEOWISE this summer. Although was a great comet to see, it wasn't a "Great Comet". That title is reserved to the best and brightest of the comets. But what is it about a comet that can make it a "Great Comet"? This talk will look at the physical and dynamical reasons that make comets "Great", illustrated by previous apparitions of these magnificent objects.
Biography
Alan Fitzsimmons is a Professor of Astronomy in the Astrophysics Research centre at Queen's University Belfast. He saw his first comet in 1983 while walking to the pub, and hasn't looked back since. He also still enjoys looking at comets.
Link: Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84213718994?pwd=ZlRMdmdHay9iM1UxMXlHZUFGTWoxUT09
Meeting ID: 842 1371 8994
Passcode: 166505
2 . Five fabulous festival females! Congratulations to the team that made the Mayo Dark Sky Festival on October 31 such a great online success. It only struck me afterwards that all the organisers and hosts were women. So congrats and thanks to (in alphabetical order) Carol, Fiona, Georgia, Maggs and Marina!
And by coincidence 3 of the other online astronomy events over the previous few days were also hosted by women! Again in alphabetical order: Caitriona Jackman (DIAS), Eucharia Meehan (DIAS) and Sinead Mannion (Connemara AC)! And two of the speakers were women: Dame Prof Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Prof Michelle Doherty (unfortunately I didn't get to see her lecture)
Men, are we now redundant???
3. Mars still brilliant, after close Opposition on Oct 13
Mars won't get any closer until Sept. 11, 2035, when the planet will be 35.4 million miles (56.9 million km) away. It's strikingly bright, with the ruddy hue obvious to the naked eye even in light polluted sky. The S Polar cap has shrunk markedly, as it's summer in that hemisphere, but it's still visible in most amateur telescopes in reasonable seeing.
4. Paul Evans has produced another excellent 'Lockdown Video guide to the sky for November: https://youtu.be/kyvqsUoiZ1Q
5. John Flannery's excellent astro calendar for 2021 is now available on line.
The download link is https://bit.ly/3mmSUU
6. Davagh Dark Sky Park and Observatory closed until further notice!
See https://www.midulstercouncil.org/visitor/things-to-do/star-gazing/davagh-dark-sky-observatory , and https://www.facebook.com/omdarksky/ I'll post any updates here. Or phone 03000 132 132 for changing Covid-19 advice.
7. TEASER Cracked! Two readers independently came up with the answer. The question was -
Q. What's the connection between Bono & The Edge and 2090? (CLARIFICATION: In case of confusion, 2090 is the year 2090)
The answer is that Bono and The Edge are both members of the Irish rock band U2. The next Total Solar Eclipse visible in Ireland will be in September 2090 (on 23 Sep). And U2 is the name given to the stage of the eclipse when the umbra first becomes totally projected onto the Earth.*
It seems that Neill McKeown submitted the correct answer first, but it never reached me. After investigating, he sent it again, and it then arrived at the same time as one from Conn Buckley. Since they both answered independently, both share the honours, but I think that Neil has priority. (A bit like N Ireland's First Minister and Deputy First Minister, who are both apparently equal, in spite of the names. Only in N. I ….)
(* U1 is when the edge of the umbra first touches Earth, U2 is when it is first completely projected on to Earth, U3 is when the umbra is last completely projected on Earth, and U4 is when it last touches the Earth)
Now I'll have to think of another one….
8. ISS The ISS continues its series of morning passes until 9 November. It will commence a new series of evening passes on 22 November. Full details for your location, and lots of other astronomy information, on the excellent free site www.heavens-above.com
9. Mercury pops up into morning sky.
We get a good morning apparition in November, with the innermost planet reaching Greatest Elongation of 19º on 10 November. Look low in the ESE morning twilight. It will lie about 15 degrees below left of much brighter Venus.
You'll get a good opportunity to spot it on 13 November when it will lie just below the waning crescent Moon, and with Venus above the Moon
The following table gives details for about 30 minutes before sunrise for each morning.
| Date | Mag | Ph % | Elongº | Diam |
| Nov 03 | 0.7 | 24.5 | 15.5 | 8.4" |
| Nov 06 | -0.1 | 39.2 | 18.0 | 7.7 |
| Nov 09 | -0.4 | 53.0 | 19.0 | 7.0 |
| Nov 12 | -0.6 | 64.6 | 19.0 | 6.5 |
| Nov 15 | -0.7 | 73.4 | 18.3 | 6.1 |
| Nov 18 | -0.7 | 80.9 | 17.1 | 5.7 |
| Nov 21 | -0.7 | 86.1 | 15.7 | 5.5 |
| Nov 24 | -0.7 | 90.0 | 14.2 | 5.3 |
As Mercury's apparent diameter is always very small, even with a big telescope all you will make out is the phase. Start looking about 45 minutes before local sunrise.
Never look for Mercury with optical aid while the Sun is above the horizon, in case you accidentally get the Sun into the field of view, risking very serious eye damage
10. QUB: The John Bell Day Lecture "Quantum Reality", by Prof Vlatko Vedral, U of Oxford. 4 Nov, 13.30 – 15.30, Online. This free event is hosted by QUB, see https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/john-bell-day-lecture-2020-quantum-reality-tickets-124123174757
11. RAS Lecture Fri 6 November, 19.30: Looking for Life on Mars with the Rosalind Franklin Rover. Free. See https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/looking-for-life-on-mars-with-the-rosalind-franklin-rover-tickets-123524620465?aff=erelexpmlt
12. Science Week Ireland, 8 – 15 November. Various events. See https://blackrockcastleobservatory.newsweaver.com/1b01aamufs/1refm1asbqt1mtwv5ee8hw?email=true&lang=en&a=2&p=5799633&t=2621657 and
https://www.sfi.ie/engagement/science-week/
13. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR, November 10
Presented by me and the amazing Nick Howes, they are approximately 40 minutes long, every second Tuesday, at 7.30 p.m., covering whatever is topical in space and astronomy. The next one will be on Tuesday 10 November: youtube.com/spacestorelive
It's a Zoom webinar, and will be Live streamed to YouTube SpaceStore Live! Channel and Live streamed to Facebook Live. I'll post any last minute news via Twitter.
14. RIA Academy Discourse, Astronomy and Poetry, by Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, 10 November, 19.00 – 20.30. Free, but booking essential. See https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/academy-discourse-astronomy-and-poetry-tickets-122542647357
15. RAS Free lecture, online. 12 November, Dr Tana Roberts. "Challenging afro-Pessimism: the SKA in Africa
16. RAS free online Lecture, Saturday 14 November, 18.00. Mars the Planet.
17. RAS Lecture free online lecture Sun 15 Nov, 18.00 Mars rocks
18. STFC Summer School at AOP postponed to January 2021 This year AOP was going to organize the STFC summer school for starting PhD student in astronomy. This event will now take place online and has been postponed to early January 2021 to attract also student's contributions on their proposed research topics, through short talks and poster. We have put together an exciting program of lectures, complementary skills workshops and meet the speaker breakout sessions and we would be glad to also invite students from everywhere in Ireland. Please feel free to forward the appended message to your postgraduate program coordinator as well as to your own students.
STFC 2020 INTRODUCTORY ASTRONOMY SCHOOL – 2nd Announcement. We should be grateful if you would circulate the details for the STFC Introductory Astronomy school to STFC funded students that could benefit from the school. The dates of the remote school are 11- 15 January 2021 and registration needs to be completed by 12 December 2020. PhD students are encouraged to present a short talk or poster outlining their proposed research topic – prizes will be awarded.
On behalf of the school organizing committee, Marc Sarzi & Simon Jeffrey. http://astro-online.iopconfs.org/home
19. JUPITER and SATURN.
The two largest planets in the solar system are currently quite close together, low in the south around midnight. They are currently about 8º apart, They both resumed prograde motion in September, but will remain about 8º apart until mid-October when faster moving Jupiter starts to catch up with Saturn. By the end of October they are only 5º apart, and they will then slowly but inexorably get ever closer until 21 December, when they will be just over 6 arcminutes apart – 1/5 of the diameter of the Moon! More on that later.
20. IAA Membership subs due. Annual subscriptions were due on 1 September. It's easy to pay online – see www.irishastro.org
21. Crew-1 Crew Dragon mission to the ISS, postponed to 14 November, carrying Nasa astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japan's Soichi Noguchi aboard a Falcon 9 rocket (5.47am EDT) from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
22. National Astronomy Week, 14 – 22 November.
National Astronomy Week (NAW) will be held in the UK from Saturday 14 November to Sunday 22 November, to celebrate the close approach of Mars. Amateur and professional astronomers will be holding observing events during the week. Seen through a telescope magnifying about 100 times, Mars will appear as a pale orange disc, with its markings clearly visible, at a distance of 80 million km.
Although Mars is at its closest to Earth a month earlier, by November it is well up in the sky during the early evening, allowing younger schoolchildren an opportunity to get a good view of the planet. It will not be as close again until 2033. As well as Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon will be on show during National Astronomy Week. Details of observing events will be posted on the NAW website.
23. INTERESTING WEBLINKS (Disclaimer - Use of material herein from various sources does not imply approval or otherwise of the opinions, political or otherwise, of those sources). NB: If the title in the weblink does not indicate the subject matter, I give a brief simple intro before the link. I may also comment about the link afterwards.
ASTROPHYSICS
A treasure trove of archival Black Hole and Neutron star GW events https://www.space.com/ligo-rounds-up-black-hole-mergers?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9155&utm_content=SDC_Newsletter+&utm_term=3473357&m_i=owCojg11J2I8BmyLxOJTGfPwb5fv1uv2%2B4BAlCZz5J5GNE312vnKM4SDEyTlJv7Q9ssrU8sFRnd7NVatSaQa0JUJ4bxjfOpcbEu2HS5ooP
Most isolated massive stars were kicked out of clusters https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201030111825.htm
The most detailed family portrait of Black Holes to date https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028203240.htm
Weak Equivalence Principle is violated in Gravitational Waves https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028110627.htm
Quarter of a Billion stars surveyed in MW's central bulge https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201027192401.htm
COSMOLOGY
Imprecise velocity measurements affect the figure for the Hubble Constant https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029104959.htm
EARTH & MOON
EXOPLANETS
300 million habitable exoplanets in MW! https://newatlas.com/space/300-million-potentially-habitable-planets-milky-way-galaxy/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=e7429953d9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_10_30_09_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-e7429953d9-92786061
Molecular absorption in the atmosphere of a hot Neptune https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201026114244.htm
IMAGES
Amazing huge image of centre of our galaxy! https://newatlas.com/space/survey-milky-way-galaxy-image/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=e7429953d9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_10_30_09_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-e7429953d9-92786061
Protecting the Astronomical Sky
Not so much light pollution comes from streetlights as we thought https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029135503.htm Note that Prof Brian Espey was one of the contributors to this research.
(Thanks to Albert White for the following):
Irish recognition in International Dark Sky Awards
A. Professor Brian Espey of TCD has been awarded the 2020 Dr. Arthur Hoag and William T. Robinson Award. This award is given to an individual who has been outstanding in educating governmental organizations, businesses, and the public about the merits of outdoor lighting control ordinances. Brian led the first survey of night-time light in Ireland. Additionally, Brian is a founding member of the Dark Sky Ireland Network. Through this network, he continues to provide guidelines to county councils, environmental agencies, NGOs, and dark sky preservation groups. He is instrumental in helping Dark Sky Place applicants through the IDA guidelines and has also performed critical work on lighting guidelines and led to change in national lighting policy.
B. Sophie McQuillin and Roisin Grant were recipients of The Rising Star Award.
Sophie and Roisin competed in the BT Young Scientist Exhibition with a project demonstrating a correlation between air and light pollution. Sophie and Roisin won the top award in the junior section for their light pollution project entitled "An Investigation into the Photolytic Degradation of the Nitrate Radical (NO3) by Light Pollution in Cork City and County". This was quite a complex undertaking with the requirement for professional chemical testing of the samples. Through their work, they have raised the profile of dark skies and light pollution within Ireland as their project work garnered media attention as well as from the 55,000 school students as well as members of the public who attended.
Full details of the awards are at https://www.darksky.org/ida-announces-2020-award-recipients/
SOLAR SYSTEM
Water on Mars 4.4 billion years ago! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201030142127.htm
Scars on asteroid Bennu tell of its wandering past https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201030142121.htm
Ryugu asteroid was shaken by the Hyabusa 2's impactor https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029122951.htm
The birth of Jupiter and Saturn, and the ejection of a 'lost' planet https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029115802.htm
Sprites and Elves in Jupiter's atmosphere https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028143100.htm
Activity on a distant Centaur leads to it being re-classified as a comet https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028124544.htm
SPACE
Musk's plan for internet for the 1 million people he plans to put on Mars by 2050. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8874025/SpaceX-aims-build-Starlink-mega-constellation-MARS.html So he plans to have 3 flights per day, or 1,000 flights per year, with 100 on each, reaching 1 million by 2050. So that has to start by 2040. That requires the food, water, oxygen, medical facilities, power, protection from radiation and meteorite impacts etc and accommodation to be in place for the first flights by 2040. And from then on, enough new resources being provided for an extra 300 people arriving EVERY DAY!
Just work it out: day 1, 300 people, day 2, 600, day 3, 900, day 4, 1200, day 5, 1500, day 6, 1800, day 7, 2100 and so on up to 1 million. And remember, each new day's arrivals will just be consumers of resources – they won't be able to be productive for at least 3 or 4 days, and not fully productive for at least a week – see below.
And enough fuel for each rocket has to be manufactured and transported to the launch sites to fly it back to Earth and land again. That would be hundreds of tons per day. If the fuel reaction involves liquid oxygen, that will take a huge amount of what the people will need to breathe. And it will require at least a dozen separate landing sites with all the facilities because you can't land a big interplanetary rocket, unload it, check it, refuel it, and have it launch again within 8 hours. A couple of days would be an absolute minimum.
On top of that, those 300 people per day won't be able to go and start work for the next arrivals immediately. They will all be suffering to a significant extent from space debilitation – bad balance, bad loco-motor co-ordination, muscle wastage, bone decalcification, weakened heart muscles, maybe radiation sickness, psychological problems and much more. They will all require at least a few days of medical treatment and recuperation. Ask any astronaut who's spent 6 months in the ISS! If each new arrival needs say 3 days of medical attention, they'll need hospital or medical care facilities for almost 1,000 people at any one time!
Well at least you can't say he lacks ambition! Which is a polite way of saying – he's nuts! On this target anyway.
https://www.space.com/how-to-destroy-a-space-station-safely?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9155&utm_content=SDC_Newsletter+&utm_term=3473357&m_i=gOxoPB6HId9qDI8mxVJfJMfWz6NvH0TsYs092dCFDmtSxWZGHPm0SJUuIOnWLD14SOWDWGWvGZ%2B0ZmstNf6JHWIkgRqcR2wDDCpIEpggg0 It would cost a lot more to put it safely into solar orbit, but it could be done. And if it does make an uncontrolled re-entry, and there's damage, the resulting compensation might cost more than putting it into solar orbit. Remember, the ISS flies over EVERY major city on Earth apart from those in Scandinavia, N Russia, N. Europe and Northern UK. Alternatively, it would be in Solar orbit for ever, as an orbiting 'museum exhibit'. Better than destroying it!
Spacesuits to resist lunar dust https://newatlas.com/space/esa-spacesuit-materials-lunar-dust/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=eb66f9b596-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_10_29_09_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-eb66f9b596-92786061
24. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION. This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://documents.irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc
If you are a UK taxpayer, please tick the 'gift-aid' box, as that enables us to reclaim the standard rate of tax on your subscription, at no cost to you. You can also make a donation via Paypal if you wish: just click on the 'Donate' button. See also https://irishastro.org/
The Irish Astronomical Association is registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 105858
DISCLAIMER: Any views expressed herein are mine, and do not necessarily represent those of the IAA.
Clear skies,
Terry Moseley
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