Hi all,
1. IAA Lecture, Wed 14 December, 7.30 p.m, LARMOR LECTURE THEATRE, Physics Building, QUB. "Life as a solar/stellar astronomer: 50 telescopes and counting."
by Professor Emeritus Gerry Doyle, MRIA, Armagh Observatory & Planetarium.
Brief Synopsis:
During this talk, I will touch upon data and projects conducted on around 50 different space and ground-based telescopes.; the high and lows, e.g. how I misinterpreted data which could have lead to the discovery of the first exoplanet. Also, when I was the SMM instrument planner, contact between Earth and the mission was lost due to incorrect commands uploaded to the spacecraft; not my fault, HONEST.
Biography.
I was born a few miles outside of Armagh city in a lovely place of the county called Armaghbreague. I attended Granemore Primary School until the grand old age of 14 whereby I left school without a single qualification. I then went to the Armagh Technical College doing a series of pre-apprenticeship courses, brick-laying, joinery, etc. After six months, I decided that I wanted my life to move in a different direction. I returned to the College, this time taking more academic courses which resulted in me going to Queens University Belfast in 1974. After getting a degree in Mathematics, I did a PhD under the direction of another Armagh man, Professor Arthur Kingston. Arthur came from an atomic physics background, but was very keen to apply the atomic physics calculations to solar observations. Since obtaining my PhD in 1980, I worked in atomic physics, data from Tokamaks, solar and stellar physics.
Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with many excellent tenure-track and PhD students producing over 550 academic publications to date. Although I have spent most of my research life in Armagh, I have worked at Queens for 2½ years, Mullard Space Laboratory for 1 year, plus shorter intervals (weeks to months) at many institutes world-wide. I find the golf course a great place to relax, solve problems and not just the line of the putt. Although I have officially retired, I am still research active with joint-supervision of two PhD students.
(Having chatted at length with Gerry, I can assure you that this will be a fascinating talk!)
NB: The lectures are now held in the LARMOR Lecture Theatre, also in the Physics Building, which is much bigger, and will allow greater distancing between attendees. Directions. The Larmor is at the other end of the Physics building to the entrance to the Bell LT, which we used previously. It's on the side of the Physics building which is closest to, and parallel to, University Road. There is a ramp to allow wheelchair axis. Please try to be there early, to facilitate a prompt start – access should be available from shortly after 7 p.m.
ADMISSION FREE – All welcome!
2. ARTEMIS to splashdown on Sunday!
The Artemis 1 Orion is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific on Sunday off the western coast of Baja California at 1740 GMT. You can watch the Artemis Orion splashdown live online for free via a NASA TV livestream that will begin at 1600 GMT.
NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft completes crucial maneuver near moon today | Space
Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft leaves moon's orbit to head home | Space
NASA Artemis 1 tracking website like flying with Orion to the moon | Space
See also under weblinks below.
3. GEMINIDS are under way!
The Geminids peak early on Dec 14, i.e. the night of Dec 13-14, ZHR 100, with the Moon waning gibbous at 72%. The Moon doesn't rise until about 9 p.m., giving several hours of moon-free observing time, although the radiant is still low then. However, it's such a rich shower that it's well worth observing even with the Moonlight. Face away from the Moon, and you should still see a fair number of meteors.
The shower is active from about Dec 8 to Dec 16; the early stages will obviously suffer most from Moonlight, but the night after maximum (the 14th-15th) should give good rates too, particularly as the Moon will be less obtrusive, and won't rise until about 10.15.
The radiant lies just above Castor.
4. Earliest Sunset
The earliest sunset for the year for the latitude of Belfast occurs on Dec 14. In Belfast it will occur at 15h 57m 19s. The offset from the solstice occurs because of the difference between clock time, in which each day is exactly 24h, and actual solar time, which varies for a number of reasons, primarily the ellipticity of the Earth's orbit.
The other side of that coin is that the latest sunrise occurs after the solstice; in Belfast it will be on Dec 29 at 08h 46m 49s.
5. Mercury
Will become visible as an evening star from about 14 December, initially just a bit further out from the Sun than Venus, although that situation reverses on 29 December when they pass each other. It will lie 13 degrees to the right of and below the thin crescent Moon on 25 December. Start looking low in the SW about 30 minutes after local sunset, with binoculars at first. But never do this before sunset!
6. Solstice, Dec 21.
The Sun will reach its most Southerly point on the ecliptic on Dec 21 at 21.47, giving us the shortest day, and longest night, of the year.
7. Mars still at its best.
Mars reached a good opposition on 8 December, high up in Taurus, at a distance of 0.5506052 AU (82,369,365 km). It's still essentially at its best for the year, with an apparent diameter of about 17", and now gets higher up earlier in the evenings. And moderate-sized telescope will show the South polar cap, and a larger one will show other features on the disc.
8. JUPITER
The giant planet was at opposition on 26 September, and is still by far the brightest object in the night sky apart from the Moon. This was a particularly close opposition, in fact the closest opposition in at least 70 years, with Jupiter at a distance of only 591,295,249 km. It still shines at around mag -2.6. The 4 Galilean moons will be easy to see, even in binoculars.
9. ISS. The ISS will start a new series of morning passes on 19 December. Details on www.heavens-above.com
10. N. I Science Festival, 2023, Feb 16 – 26,
The IAA will be doling at least one major event, at Lough Neagh Discovery Centre, on Saturday 25 February. More details later.
11. Irish Astronomy Week, 20 - 26 March - UPDATE
This has been proposed by Ronan Newman from Co Mayo, and member of Galway Astronomy Club, and has been well received. The date agreed is for the week commencing Monday 20 March, ending on Sunday 26 March
UPDATE: Ronan has set up a Go Fund me page with a description. So please take moment to check out it out. Websites are expensive!
I've started him off with a €50 donation – I hope many others can do likewise, with whatever you think appropriate.
12. COSMOS 2023: This has now been confirmed for the weekend commencing 24 March. It will be great to have this annual midlands attraction back again. Venue to be announced, but put it in your diaries.
13. Two comets coming.
This link gives a guide how to find them. One MAY become a naked-eye object early next year. Sneak Peek at Two Promising Comets - Sky & Telescope - Sky & Telescope (skyandtelescope.org)
14. Easy Teaser Answered:
Q. What does the figure 30.436849 represent? That one didn't last long! Cate Murphy was in almost immediately with the answer: It's the average number of days in a calendar month! Well done Cate, and welcome to the winners enclosure! (For the record, it's just under 1 day longer than the average length of the actual astronomical month, which is 29.53059 days: the precise difference is 0.906259 days)
15. New Easy Teaser:
What's next in this sequence? Acrux, Rigil Kentaurus, Hadar (Beta Cen), Achernar, Canopus, Fomalhaut - ?
16. Difficult Teaser – no-one got it!:
What does the number 43.875 represent?
No answers yet, so here's a clue: it's a ratio.
Still nothing, so another clue: the ratio involves human-made quantities.
Still nothing, so, another clue: It's the ratio between a largest and a smallest.
No answers yet, so another clue: It relates to the sky.
Another clue: one is only visible in more Southerly latitudes
I've really got you on this one! Final clue: What 'man-made' 'features' do we see in the sky?
ANSWER: Okay, I've defeated you with that one. It's simply the ratio of size of the largest constellation to the smallest! Hydra has an area of 3159 sq degrees, while Crux, has only 72 sq. deg.
17. New difficult teaser: What's the connection between 95 and 2060? That's a bit easier, given that we're entering the Season of Goodwill!)
Please send all Teaser answers to me at my aol address terrymosel@aol.com
18. 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:
Flash of light as bright as a quadrillion Suns dazzles astronomers (newatlas.com)
How did the Milky Way form? | Live Science
Webb reveals details of 'messy death' of a dying star – UKRI
Distant black hole eats half a sun a year, blasts leftovers at us | Space
Interactive map of the universe journeys through space-time | Space
The hunt is on for 2nd closest monster black hole to Earth | Space
Lab-grown black hole may prove Stephen Hawking theory right | Space
How Do Stars Get Kicked Out of Globular Clusters? - Universe Today
James Webb Space Telescope sees 'ghostly' interstellar light | Space
'Quantum time flip' makes light move simultaneously forward and backward in time | Live Science
EARTH & MOON
China will launch 2-in-1 asteroid deflection mission in 2025 | Space
NASA Wants to Build Landing Pads on the Moon - Universe Today
NASA's Artemis 1 Orion snaps gorgeous moon views over Apollo sites | Space
Radioactive space rocks could have seeded life on Earth, new research suggests | Live Science
Space Race: 7 countries that are planning missions to the Moon (msn.com)
Two entirely new minerals found in huge meteorite that fell on Somalia (aol.co.uk)
Who owns the moon? | Live Science
It'll be Tough to Stop an Asteroid at the Last Minute, but not Impossible - Universe Today
Success! NASA's tiny CAPSTONE probe arrives at the moon | Space
EXOPLANETS
There is a record-breaking super-Earth: 10 times bigger and its year lasts half a day (msn.com)
EXOLIFE
Alien life on Venus? No chance, says new NASA study | Live Science
IMAGES
NASA Releases a Stunning New Supercut of the Artemis I Launch - Universe Today
Hubble telescope captures dazzling embrace of merging galaxies | Space
Beautiful HST image of M54 globular cluster How Do Stars Get Kicked Out of Globular Clusters? - Universe Today
Interactive map of the universe journeys through space-time | Space
SETI:One of the World's Biggest Radio Telescopes is Hunting for Signals From Extraterrestrial Civilizations - Universe TodayChina's 'alien' signal almost certainly came from humans, project researcher says | Live Science SOLAR SYSTEMGiant magma plume reveals Mars may not be a dead planet after all (newatlas.com) The fascinating corollary of that is that either there is active heating making that plume hotter and therefore expanding, or else some other part of Mars must be sinking to compensate.Alien life on Venus? No chance, says new NASA study | Live Science Ingenuity helicopter sets altitude record on 35th Mars flight | Space Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft aced its test flight but still hasn't tested life support | SpaceJames Webb Space Telescope view of Saturn's weirdest moon Titan thrills scientists | SpaceMegatsunami swept over Mars after massive asteroid hit the Red Planet | Space, andColossal 'planet killer' asteroid sparked mega-tsunami on Mars, and now we know where it landed | Live Science Ingenuity helicopter sets altitude record on 35th Mars flight | Space
Asteroid impacts don't 'birth' craters – they form them, or create them, or blast them out if you want to be more dramatic, but they don't 'birth' them! A totally inappropriate term!Massive eruption from icy volcanic comet detected in solar system | Live Sciencehttps://www.europlanet-society.org/cosmic-ray-counts-hidden-in-spacecraft-data-highlight-influence-of-solar-cycle-at-mars-and-venus/ Europa Clipper instrument delays worry scientists eyeing 2024 launch | Space Two entirely new minerals found in huge meteorite that fell on Somalia (aol.co.uk)Search for possible sign of life in Venus' clouds comes up empty | Space
SPACE
Irish-born woman to join Japanese billionaire on first civilian flight to moon (msn.com)
dearMoon announces 8 artists to fly to moon on SpaceX Starship | Space
NASA astronaut Stan Love on the digital-age Orion cockpit | Space
China will launch 2-in-1 asteroid deflection mission in 2025 | Space
NASA Wants to Build Landing Pads on the Moon - Universe Today
Irish airspace access to be briefly restricted during UK Virgin satellite launch (msn.com)
Spacewalkers resume solar power system upgrade on International Space Station - CBS News
China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts land on Earth after 6 months in space | Space
China has 6 astronauts in space for the 1st time | Space
Who owns the moon? | Live Science
Artemis 1 moon mission squeezing communications with JWST | Space
SpaceX fires 11 engines of Starship Super Heavy booster (video) | Space
Space Race: 7 countries that are planning missions to the Moon (msn.com)
SpaceX delays launch of Japanese moon lander for rocket checks | Space
Space Elevators Are Less Sci-Fi Than You Think - Scientific American Very bad illustration: the elevator should be at 90 degrees to the Earth's surface! Doh! And how about two linked parallel ones: one for raising stuff into space, and the other for lowering stuff (e.g. returning astronauts, space-mined minerals etc) to Earth – that reduces the energy needed for moving stuff in both directions!
Telescopes, Instruments etc.
The largest telescope on Earth is coming to hunt radio-waves from the early universe | Live Science Doh! A radio telescope does not have a 'lens'. The proper term would be dish, although that's only an analogy.
NASA's Plan to Make JWST Data Immediately Available Will Hurt Astronomy - Scientific American
Construction begins on the 'ear' that will listen to the Universe – UKRI
19. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION. This link gives options to join the IAA.
https://irishastro.org/join-the-iaa/ If you are a UK taxpayer, please select 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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