Hi all,
(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1. ExoMars PanCam and Planetary Protection, Tue 13 October, 13.00 – 14.00 BST.
Please note: this free and open to the public lecture is taking place online and is part of the RAS 200 year anniversary celebrations.
Mars, the most visited planet in our solar system, will soon receive another visitor. The European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover is due for launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan in Summer 2022, arriving in March 2023. The rover will be looking for signs of water-rich minerals which may be indicators of past life on the Red Planet. PanCam is the panoramic camera for the Rosalind Franklin – its scientific eyes through which we will be able to take a close-up look at the local Martian geology. A big challenge for the mission, among other things, is fulfilling the Planetary Protection requirement: an international standard established by the Committee on Space Research to protect against interplanetary biological and organic contamination. In this talk, Anna will delve into some of the challenges faced by the PanCam team in producing a bespoke camera system for a planetary mission and how they managed to overcome them.
About the speaker:
Anna Nash is an AIT (Assembly, Integration, and Testing) & Contamination Control Engineer at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, the home of UCL's Department for Space & Climate Physics. Having graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in Physics, she wanted to gain more hands-on experience in cleanroom laboratories and was intrigued by MSSL's flight programmes. Since joining MSSL, she has primarily been involved in the ExoMars PanCam project, the panoramic camera for ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover which is being launched in July/August 2022. She has been involved in carrying out thermal vacuum testing and calibration of PanCam and helps to ensure compliance with the project's Planetary Protection requirement.
Register for free at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ras-public-lecture-anna-nash-tickets-123272143299
2. Mars brilliant, with 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.
3. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR, October 13
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 13 October: 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.
4. IAA lecture via Zoom, 21 October, 19.30, by Dr Marc Sarzi, AOP, "The Hunt for Supermassive Black Holes: a Short History"
This highly topical talk by Dr Marc Sarzi, head of research at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, is highly topical, not only because of the increasing number and variety of Black Holes being discovered, but because if the recent award of the Nobel Prize for physics to three astronomers working on the subject'
SYNOPSIS:
In this talk I will describe the theoretical and observational milestones that lead to establishing the existence of supermassive black holes, and the award of the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics.
Also available on YouTube
5. IAA Membership subs due. Annual subscriptions were due on 1September. It's easy to pay online – see www.irishastro.org
6. ISS The ISS will commence a new series of morning passes on 23 October. Full details for your location, and lots of other astronomy information, on the excellent free site www.heavens-above.com
7. TEASER – update – an answer is within someone's grasp
Here's another to occupy your grey matter until things get back to 'normal'; it is of course astronomical:
Q. What's the connection between Bono & The Edge and 2090?
CLARIFICATION: In case of confusion, 2090 is the year 2090.
And as an extra clue, it's September 2090. And an extra extra clue – it applies to Ireland. John O'Neill has got very close, but hasn't crossed the finishing line yet! Can anyone leap-frog him with the answer?
8. 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.
9. Davagh Dark Sky Park and Observatory opens to public, Saturday, October 17
Because of restrictions on numbers, you have to pre-book for admission to the actual building to see the telescopes, exhibition and interactive stuff. See https://www.midulstercouncil.org/visitor/things-to-do/star-gazing/davagh-dark-sky-observatory , and https://www.facebook.com/omdarksky/
Or Tel: 03000 132 132
10. Orionid meteors peak on October 21, producing up to 20 or so meteors every hour at maximum, they are active at lower rates throughout October. They appear to come from above Betelgeuse, just on the Orion side of its boundary with Gemini. These are particles from Comet Halley, and are typically fast, with some fireballs. The 6 day old moon will set as the radiant rises, and best views will ne had as the radiant gets higher in the pre-dawn skies.
11. Paul Evans has produced another excellent 'Lockdown Video guide to the sky:
12. October 31: Crew-1 Crew Dragon mission to the ISS, 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.
13. Mayo Dark Sky Festival, via Zoom. 31 October. See https://www.mayodarkskyfestival.ie
14. 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.
15. 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
The formation of heavy metals constrained star formation https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201006114245.htm
The story behind the awarding of the Nobel Prize for physics to 3 scientists working on Black Holes https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201006080924.htm
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/a-mini-fractal-universe-may-lie-inside-charged-black-holes-if-they-exist/ar-BB19PwtH?ocid=msedgdhp One has to wonder how much of this is like the 'square root of minus-one'? But the related stories via the links in this article are worth reading too.
https://www.space.com/black-hole-star-death-spaghettification
In the eye of a stellar cyclone https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201011220801.htm
The missing link between Magnetars and Pulsars https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201008104253.htm
COSMOLOGY
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/10/08/no-roger-penrose-we-see-no-evidence-of-a-universe-before-the-big-bang/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie/#76616c657269 A good long read, but worth it!
EARTH & MOON
The Moon's crust was magnetized by a former molten core. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007093636.htm
US space policy could thwart international agreements https://www.space.com/us-space-policy-mining-artemis-accords
Amazing high quality film! https://www.space.com/moon-landing-footage-remastered.html. It brings it all back; I watched this live at the time, but the quality was poor then.
Nitrous Oxide is a growing Greenhouse Gas threat https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007123131.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29 We need a drastic reduction in the human population!
EXOLIFE
EXOPLANETS
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007123037.htm
Ultrahot exoplanet has vaporised metal in its atmosphere https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201008142123.htm
Stellar flares affect habitability of exoplanets https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007123037.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
FILMS
IMAGES
LUNACY
Protecting the Night Sky
Astronomers hope that the UN will tackle the mega-constellation satellite threat https://www.space.com/satellite-megaconstellations-threat-dark-skies-un
Satellite constellations will also threaten radio astronomy https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/starlink-already-threatens-optical-astronomy-now-radio-astronomers-are-worried?utm_campaign=news_daily_2020-10-09&et_rid=415711678&et_cid=3515087 And unlike optical astronomy, these will be a blight 24/7, as radio astronomy operates throughout daytime too.
SOLAR SYSTEM
Pieces of Venus could be lying on the Moon
https://www.space.com/ancient-venus-rocks-on-moon But if these bits of Venus have been lying on the Moon for billions of years, they would have been pretty well pulverised by the constant meteoritic bombardment of the Moon, and the constant irradiation of the surface by solar and cosmic rays ever since. Anyway, why not start by examining the 382 kg of moon material brought back by Apollo?
and
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201007123033.htm
Explaining the hexagon storm on Saturn https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201006165740.htm
Water on Bennu https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8822819/Asteroid-Bennu-contain-building-blocks-LIFE.html
The rugged surface of asteroid Bennu https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201008170643.htm
And the interior of Bennu is odd https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201008170641.htm
SPACE
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/china-selects-18-new-astronauts-in-preparation-for-space-station-launch/ar-BB19PKXL?ocid=msedgdhp I wouldn't be surprised if the first human on Mars is a Taikonaut….
US space policy could thwart international agreements https://www.space.com/us-space-policy-mining-artemis-accords
Amazing high quality film! https://www.space.com/moon-landing-footage-remastered.html. It brings it all back; I watched this live at the time, but the quality was poor then.
The future of spaceflight – from orbital vacations to humans on Mars https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/space-exploration/future-spaceflight/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Compass_20201010&rid=B44D5BDD89C3D2302973C899D2E91C40
SUN
https://www.space.com/12584-worst-solar-storms-sun-flares-history.html
A new look at sunspots https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201009121852.htm
Telescopes, Instruments, Techniques:
The Legacy of the SST (Spitzer Space Telescope) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201009094948.htm
Distant stars connect clocks across the Earth for the first time https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201008124432.htm
16. 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
