Hi all,
1. IAA Public Lecture, Wednesday November 20, 7.30 p.m. "New Perspectives Big and Small of the Trans-Neptunian Region", by Dr Meg Schwamb, QUB )
SYNOPSIS Pluto resides beyond Neptune orbiting in a sea of small icy bodies in the Trans-Neptunian Region. These distant objects are truly the fossils relics left over after our Solar System's formation. Digging into the orbits, dynamics, and physical properties of these bodies provide new insights and windows into the origins and past history of the outer Solar System. This includes hints of a possibly unseen planet or an event long-since erased from the rest of the Solar System. In this talk, I'll explore the changing views of the outer Solar System from the discoveries of ground-based surveys to the New Horizons fly-bys of the Pluto system and Arrokoth.
Dr Meg Schwamb is a lecturer at Queen's University Belfast. Meg's research focuses on how planets and their building blocks form and evolve, applying ground-based surveys to probe our Solar System's small body reservoirs. She is also involved in the Planet Four citizen science projects, which enlists the public to help study the seasonal processes of the Martian south pole and map the distribution of ridges on the Martian mid-latitudes. Meg also serves as co-chair of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope's Solar System Science Collaboration. Meg was awarded the 2017 Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science from the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Science.
Details; 7.30 p.m., Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building , QUB. Admission free, including light refreshments. See www.irishastro.org. more details inn next bulletin
2. Transit of Mercury, 11 November.
Well, the weather wasn't very convivial on Divis, but it did clear twice long enough for us to get telescopic views and some good images. Others also observed from their homes or other locations. Photos on the website, and at our next meeting.
3. Nov 21/22 - Brief but intense meteor outburst
This Thursday night (November 21-22) we have a good chance of witnessing a brief but rich outburst of the Alpha Monocerotids. This shower is normally weak, but this year it has a high possibility of a brief intense outburst. Astronomers Esko Lyytinen and Peter Jenniskens say that the circumstances this year are nearly identical to 1995, when an outburst did occur, sending the rate up to 400 meteors per hour (5-6 meteors per minute) under optimum conditions. If an outburst takes place it is likely to be centered around 04:50 on November 22, with a duration of 15 to 40 minutes maximum.
The radiant will be just below the bright star Procyon (Alpha CMi), which will be about 40 degrees up in the South at 04.20, which is when you should start observing to be safe. Don't expect many meteors at that time, but you'll need time for your eyes to dark-adapt, and you can watch the build-up to maximum. The meteors will appear all over the sky, so where's best to look? The general rule is to look about 40 degrees on either side of the radiant, and about 40-50 degrees above the horizon. That would give you the choice of the Leo area, or the region of N Orion to Taurus.
These outbursts are caused by the dust trail of an unknown long-period comet. Dust was released during the previous orbit of the comet, when it was last near the sun. Only when that dust trail wanders into Earth's path just as Earth is passing the stream do we see an outburst. Rates will be highest (5-6 per minute) when the radiant is overhead. In Ireland/UK, peak rates will be a bit less because the radiant will be lower in the sky.
Most will not be very bright, say the brightness of Polaris up to that of Vega, and many will be fainter, so choose a dark site with a clear view, particularly towards the South.
4. Untimely death of Prof John Bown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland. It's with great sorrow that I have to inform you of the sudden death of Prof John Brown on Saturday 16 November. John was a good friend, and gave several lectures to the IAA over the years. He also accompanied us on our very successful trip to Turkey for the Total Solar Eclipse in 2006. Our condolences to his widow Margaret and the rest of the family circle.
5. Show off your Science! International science photography competition back for 2019
The international science photography competition, Wiki Science, returns to Ireland again this year. Wiki Science will take place from 1st November to 15th December, organised locally by Wikimedia Community Ireland. This competition aims to raise awareness of science, scientists and their research in Ireland by creating a store of quality images taken by members of the public that are free to use in education and outreach.
Photographers of all skill levels are encouraged to explore the six categories and then upload their photos to Wikimedia Commons. The seven categories are people in science, microscopy images, non-photographic media, image sets, wildlife and nature, a general category, and a special prize for an image depicting Women in STEM. The entries will be judged by a panel of Irish judges, with the seven winners being announced in early December. These images will then be submitted to the international competition.
For full details of the competition see www.wikimedia.ie and for updates see @wikimediaIE and Wikimedia Community Ireland's Facebook page. You can see the winning images from the 2017 and 2018 competitions here and here, for some inspiration! The competition is supported by the SCI:COM conference.
6. The fastest star in the Galaxy?
Astronomers have spotted an ultrafast star, travelling at a blistering 6 million km/h, ejected by the supermassive black hole at the heart at the Milky Way five million years ago. The discovery is described in a new paper in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The discovery of the star, known as S5-HVS1, was made by Sergey Koposov from Carnegie Mellon University as part of the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S5). Located in the constellation of Grus – the Crane – S5-HVS1 was found to be moving ten times faster than most stars in the Milky Way. To put that in perspective, that's from here to the Sun in just over 1 day!
7. Space Careers Roadshow at National University Of Ireland Galway, 22 November. For Science Week 2019 and the Galway Science & Technology Festival , National University of Ireland Galway will host a Space Career Roadshow in conjunction with Science Foundation Ireland, ESERO Ireland and CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory. These roadshows will provide students with an excellent opportunity to engage with space industry professionals, and third level institutions, so that they can get a taste of the exciting opportunities that a STEM career in Space has to offer.
Date: Friday 22nd November 2019, Time: 10 am – 2.15 pm. Audience: Transition Year to Leaving Cert. Admission: Free. Further details here: https://www.bco.ie/events/space-careers-roadshow-at-nuig/
8. Armagh Observatory and Planetarium: Robinson Lecture, "Collisions and Catastrophes" with Stargazing and Dome show "Asteroid: Mission Extreme", 27 November. 6.30pm: Doors Open
7pm Talk , "Collisions and Catastrophes" Delivered by Professor Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University. Best known for her work on meteorites and with the ESA Rosetta spacecraft project, the Philae lander and its Ptolemy instrument. Asteroid 4731 was named Monica Grady in her honour.
SYNOPSIS: Monica Grady will explore the hazards of cosmic collisions, and explain why it is important and fascinating to study the material that arrives uninvited on our planet every day.
8pm Dome show: Asteroid Mission Extreme
Stargazing (weather permitting) from 7pm-9pm
9. Mission Santa, Christmas experience, AOP, every Saturday 30 Nov – 22 Dec. For kids, of course. Booking at www.armagh.space
10. Conjunction of Venus, Moon and Jupiter, 28 November.
This will be difficult to observe, very low down in the SW: You'll need a clear view to the horizon, and a clear sky to the horizon there too. You could start looking with binoculars about 16.45, trying to pick up the very thin crescent Moon, only 5.2% illuminated. Also look 1.75 degrees to the left of the Moon for Venus, which will be next brightest at mag -3.9. Jupiter will lie almost 3 degrees on the other side of the Moon, much fainter at mag -1.8. but you should spot it in good binoculars or a small telescope if the sky is clear enough. They will set about half an hour after they first become visible, so you won't have long. The further South you are in Ireland, the higher up they will appear, so the better your chances.
Saturn will be about 15 degrees to their upper left, but much fainter at mag 0.6.
11. 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
Ancient gas cloud shows universe's first stars formed quickly https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191108155444.htm
How massive spinning Black Holes form https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191108155440.htm
HST sees distant galaxy gravitationally lensed into 12 arcs! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191107160027.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
Peacock clouds in the Magellanic Clouds https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191114115856.htm
The science of interstellar Bucky Balls https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191113170322.htm
Black hole mergers only visible in the presence of gas https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191113153135.htm
How the universe became transparent https://www.livescience.com/ionizing-photons-escape-galaxies-small-channels.html?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10059&utm_content=20191114_LS_Essentials_Newsletter+-+adhoc+&utm_term=3473357&m_i=dStK2srnf4o4iXwP3wnJmiJULYLrB3QOm8mef1PLlwqnOyvOBrEYqJZc1xRhXMNxhjEL7bi9%2BrTaNHx1l8KrbYynf%2B6VB097dR
COSMOLOGY
New measure of the Hubble Constant is at the lower end of the existing range. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191108132158.htm
EARTH & MOON
https://newatlas.com/environment/climate-emergency-six-step-plan/. I've been arguing for these for years! And there's one other that they haven't mentioned – a shortage of water, both for irrigation, and for drinking, in certain high-population areas, particularly the Indian Subcontinent, which is supplied mainly by Himalayan glaciers, which are shrinking at an alarming rate. This also applies to certain areas in the Middle East supplied by rivers rising in the high mountains of E Turkey and the Caucasus, and certain communities fed by glaciers in the Andes, and to some areas on the W coast of the USA depending on run-off from the Sierras and the Rockies.
Thawing permafrost coastlines release huge amounts of CO2 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191108162559.htm
EXOPLANETS
Many multiple stars have exoplanets https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191113103726.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
Refining the search for habitable exoplanets https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191114075536.htm
SOLAR SYSTEM
Ultima Thule / MU69 gets an official name: Arrokoth https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/snowman-shaped-target-of-nasas-new-horizons-mission-gets-a-brand-new-name/ar-BBWGBv0?ocid=spartandhp
The weird dance of Neptune's moons https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191114140020.htm
SPACE
https://newatlas.com/space/boeing-unveils-fewest-steps-lunar-lander-plan/
Mars 2020 knows where to look for microfossils https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191114103546.htm
Advanced Electric Propulsion System for Lunar Gateway passes test https://newatlas.com/space/advanced-electric-propulsion-system-aeps-full-power-test/
Apollo 12 remembered: surviving 2 lightning strikes to carry out an elaborate mission https://newatlas.com/space/apollo-12-moon-mission-50th-anniversary/
12. 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 www.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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