Hi all,
1. Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE - Third time lucky!
After two recent disappointments, this comet has been the best for N latitudes since Hale-Bopp last century. It has just passed closest to Earth and is now fading. Many IAA members, and others, have obtained excellent images. Finder charts are available on various websites, including www.heavens-above.com.
2. ISS The ISS evening passes continue until July 30. Full details for your location, and lots of other astronomy information, on the excellent free site www.heavens-above.com
3. TEASER
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?
4. Happy Birthday NASA: Founded on this date in 1958.
5. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR, August 4
After a very positive reaction to our first webinar on Mars, Nick Howes and I have been asked by Space Store Live to make it a regular fortnightly feature. It will be called "Space Store Live: Nick and Terry's Astro Round-up". The first one, on Tuesday 26th, was also very well received.
They will be approximately 30 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 4 August: 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.
6. EVLBIN Seminars via Zoom, from 8 July
The European VLBI Network (EVN) announces a series of online seminars "The sharpest view of the radio Universe: VLBI – Connecting Astronomers Worldwide". Seven speakers will cover 7 different science topics, and the talks will occur roughly every 7 weeks between early July 2020 and the EVN Symposium, which has been rescheduled to July 12-16, 2021. These talks will illustrate how Very Long Baseline Interferometry can improve our understanding of many astronomical phenomena, from stars to galaxies, and the talks are aimed at a broad astronomical audience. Full information about the webinars, which will be run using Zoom, can be found at https://www.evlbi.org/evn-seminars.
The first seminar will be on Wed 8 July 2020, 10:30 CEST. (9.30 BST) Our speaker, Cristiana Spingola (U.of Bologna) will talk about "Using Strong Gravitational Lensing to Zoom in on High-Redshift Galaxies".
The talks will be 35-40 min long, followed by a Q&A and discussion session. Attendants can join via Zoom following this link (Meeting ID: 977 9168 7969<https://astron.zoom.us/j/97791687969>). The talk will also be streamed in real time via YouTube (it will appear at the JIVE and EVN channel in due time <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqsrIBxQU7aDQpr4WFgV80g>). Participants will be deferred to the YouTube channel after reaching the limit of 100 people on the Zoom session. Find the Calendar invitation at this link for Google Calendar<http://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&dates=20200708T083000Z/20200708T093000Z&text=EVN%20Seminar:%20Using%20Strong%20Gravitational%20Lensing%20to%20Zoom%20in%20on%20High-Redshift%20Galaxies%20 (Cristiana%20Spingola)&location=&details=EVN%20Seminar%20on%20%22EVN%20Seminar:%20Using%20Strong%20Gravitational%20Lensing%20to%20Zoom%20in%20on%20High-Redshift%20Galaxies%22%20by%20Cristiana%20Spingola.%20See%20https://www.evlbi.org/evn-seminars%20for%20further%20information.%0AJoin%20the%20Zoom%20room%20at%20https://astron.zoom.us/j/97791687969>;.
7. Paul Evans has produced another excellent 'Lockdown Video guide to the sky:
8. Perseid meteors. August 11-12-13. Max on Aug 12 at 13h. This shower is already under way, with low rates at present, and a gradual build-up to maximum. Moonlight will be a problem for the first week in August. The radiant is near the famous 'Double Cluster' in Perseus
9. August 14 250th anniversary of perihelion of Comet Lexell , which had just passed 0.015 AU from Earth, approx 6 Lunar Distances, or about 1.4m miles. The coma was about 2° 23' across! This is the closest known comet pass to Earth.
10. August 19: GoSpaceWatch Online Lecture Meetings
The next meeting is on 19th August and features Pete Williamson talking about Remote Observing using telescopes around the world. My Speaker Programme link is given below.
https://gospacewatch.co.uk/wp/speaker-programme/
11. September 01: HEADS UP: close NEO / PHA pass on Sep 01. A 30m diameter asteroid will pass only 0.3 lunar distances from Earth at about 16.12 UT. More details later.
. Miss distance: 0.00066564.8 AU. It's 2011ES4, estimated diameter 30m. Not a dinosaur killer, but still a significant event if it were to hit, with a velocity of 8.2km/sec. But it's still a miss.
12. IAU Meet the Astronomers Programme. This is now open to everyone, for a virtual talk. See https://www.iau.org/public/meettheiauastronomers/
13. 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.
14. 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 energy source of the galaxy centre https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200703141210.htm
White dwarfs are a major source of the carbon in our universe https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706140858.htm
How galaxies die: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200716101607.htm
A Black Hole's corona disappears and reappears https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200716101557.htm
Students make breakthrough in study of GRBs https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200717120142.htm
Deciphering the birth of Supermassive Black Holes https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200714082901.htm
Fleeting flash is most-distant optical afterglow from gamma-ray burst ever detected
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200714111721.htm
Magnetic field lines extend far beyond spiral galaxy https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200721160739.htm
Stellar megaflare detected. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200709113523.htm The first of these stellar megaflares were detected by David Andrews while working at Armagh Observatory in the 1960s!
Spectacular UV flash may show how White Dwarfs explode. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723115907.htm I see that one of the authors (probably) is our own Kate Maguire.
New magnetic field structures discovered in MilkyWay-like galaxy. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200721132850.htm
Important clues from colliding neutron stars https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200708121439.htm
How galactic gas forms into stars and planets https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707113250.htm
New cluster of stars didn't originate in our galaxy https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707113239.htm
White dwarfs are major source of carbon in our universe https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706140858.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
COSMOLOGY
New research on oldest light confirms age of universe https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715170541.htm
How fast is the universe expanding? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02198-z
New data deepens mystery of the Hubble Constant https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mystery-over-universes-expansion-deepens-with-fresh-data/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-in-science&utm_content=link&utm_term=2020-07-21_featured-this-week&spMailingID=68050850&spUserID=NDcyNjA3Njk3NzkzS0&spJobID=1923102455&spReportId=MTkyMzEwMjQ1NQS2
The age of the Universe and the Hubble Constant are still not settled! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200727114724.htm
EARTH & MOON
How Earth keeps its magnetic field https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706140856.htm
AND – Earth's magnetic field can change 10 times faster than we thought https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706094136.htm
The origin of Earth's water https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200717120158.htm
New idea on how tectonic plates formed https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200720102101.htm
Interstellar organic matter might be major source of Earth's water https://newatlas.com/space/interstellar-organic-matter-earth-water/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=e58b1fd849-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_07_21_08_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-e58b1fd849-92786061
Global methane emissions reach record high https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200714182228.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
Space Force bases on the Moon? https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/DisplayMessage?ws_popup=true&ws_suite=true
The Moon is 85 million years younger than we thought
How life rebounded after the Chicxulub mass extinction https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200714121748.htm
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/asteroid-shower-rained-space-rocks-on-earth-and-the-moon-800-million-years-ago/ar-BB171cE7?ocid=msedgdhp As the Moon has no atmosphere (and hadn't one 800 million years ago), what are those asteroids 'streaking through'?
Odd meteorite puzzle may have been solved https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200724141349.htm
EXOLIFE
Possible life below Martian surface https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200728113541.htm
EXOPLANETS
Could mini-Neptunes by irradiated ocean worlds? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200720101806.htm
First image of multiplanet system round a sunlike star captured by VLT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722093501.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
IMAGES
https://newatlas.com/photography/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year-2020-shortlist-gallery/ I can't see the captions for most of these, so I don't know if any are from local people.
MISCELLANEOUS
I just thought you would like to know this. - Scientists have recently shown that a multitude of high-dimensional synthetic lattices naturally emerge in (abstract) photon-number space when a multiport photonic lattice is excited by N indistinguishable photons. More info at https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706113920.htm
SOLAR SYSTEM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8509871/NASA-starts-building-spacecraft-explore-metal-rich-asteroid.html It would cost more to return the metal to Earth than it would be worth. Even bringing it to the Moon would be horrendously expensive.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/scientists-identify-37-recently-active-volcanic-structures-on-venus/ar-BB16YzOp?ocid=msedgdhp and https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200720112333.htm
Is Planet Nine a Primordial Black Hole? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200712105456.htm
Giant waves of sand dunes moving on Mars https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/giant-waves-sand-are-moving-mars?utm_campaign=news_daily_2020-07-23&et_rid=415711678&et_cid=3418693
HST images summertime on Saturn https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723143759.htm
Odd meteorite puzzle may have been solved https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200724141349.htm
Prof Sanjeev Gupta gave a superb lecture on Mars to a joint meeting of the IAA and BGS - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8565141/UK-scientists-help-NASAs-Perseverance-rover-select-Martian-rock-soil.html
Oddities of the SS's outer dark icy bodies and their orbits https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707113251.htm
SPACE
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/nasa-jettisons-apollo-moon-landing-stats-to-reach-300th-american-spacewalk/ar-BB16YDI9?ocid=msedgdhp Is this politics? Does Trump want a good headline during his re-election run?
Designing better asteroid explorers https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200714101259.htm
Space Force bases on the Moon? https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/DisplayMessage?ws_popup=true&ws_suite=true
UAE's Hope mission is on its way to Mars https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/uae-mars-mission-hope-spacecraft-japan-space-a9627481.html
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/why-persevere-to-mars-op-ed/ar-BB174bbq?ocid=msedgdhp
Our cells could struggle to fight space germs https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723092638.htm
Mars 2020 Rover landing https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/nasa-s-mars-2020-perseverance-rover-will-use-some-of-the-best-martian-maps-ever-made/ar-BB17fqrN?ocid=msedgdhp and follow links, especially
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/entry-descent-landing/ and also
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8551539/China-launches-Mars-probe-space-race-US.html
Interesting historical review https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/the-vostok-program-the-soviet-s-first-crewed-spaceflight-program/ar-BB17hMac?ocid=msedgdhp
Linguistic problems of space travel https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706145433.htm
SUN
Solar Orbiter's first amazing images. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200716120652.htm
Missing solar neutrinos detected https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/rare-ghostly-particles-produced-inside-the-sun-just-detected-under-a-mountain-in-italy/ar-BB17eIqJ?ocid=msedgdhp
The 'central engine' powering a solar flare https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200727145826.htm
Telescopes, Instruments, Techniques
15. 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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