Hi all,
(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1. IAA lecture via Zoom, 16 December, 19.30, "The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO)" by Dr Gavin Ramsay (AOP)
Abstract:
The direct detection of gravitational waves from merging black holes and neutron stars using the Ligo and Virgo detectors is one of humankind's greatest triumphs. However, the exact position in the sky of these bursts is not well constrained, often to within hundreds or more square degrees. For merging neutrons stars, it was predicted that an electromagnetic counterpart would be visible. If this could be identified then so would the location of the merging event. The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is a project whose goal is to detect these optical counterparts of gravitational wave events. One prototype has been running on the island of La Palma for more than 2 years, but next year will see a second array on La Palma, with two more nodes in Siding Spring being planned.
Biography
Gavin did his PhD at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory using data from the Rosat X-ray satellite to study magnetic accreting binaries. After several years at the University of Utrecht, he returned to MSSL, and came to Armagh in 2007. He still studies accreting binaries, but has led several wide field photometric surveys and also uses Kepler and TESS data to study the activity levels of Solar type and low mass stars. He leads Armagh's contribution to the GOTO project.
NB. The room will open at approximately 19:15 to get everyone in for a 19:30 sharp start.
The meeting will also be simulcast on our YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/irishastronomy/videos
2. JUPITER and SATURN closing, heading for the conjunction of a lifetime on Dec 21.
The two largest planets in the solar system are currently quite close together, low in the SSW twilight, and they will 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!
With a moderate telescope you'll be able to see the two biggest planets in the Solar System, and maybe 8 moons in the eyepiece simultaneously!)
They will lie low in the SW sky, so you'll need a good Clear SW horizon to see the event properly.
The following information is for 5p.m. each evening.
18 Dec, separation 21' 24"
19 Dec, separation 15' 04"
20 Dec, separation 9' 21"
21 Dec, separation 6' 08". Then at 10 minute intervals –
At 17.10, separation 6' 08"
At 17.20, separation 6' 07"
At 17.30, separation 6' 06"
At 17.40, separation 6' 07"
They then get very close to the horizon – at 17.40 the altitude from Belfast is only 5 degrees. But the further West and South you are, the better your view.
So what will you see? In a good telescope, you'll see the two planets, plus the 4 Galilean moons of Jupiter, plus, around Saturn, Titan, Rhea, and probably Tethys and Dione. Not to mention the glorious rings of Saturn! The greatest separation between these bodies will be from Callisto to Titan, and that will be only 8' 50", or less than a third of a lunar diameter. So use a moderate power wide field eyepiece and you should be able to fit them all in easily.
You should therefore be able to see, simultaneously, the two largest planets, plus the 5 largest other Moons in the Solar System (Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io, Europa), plus the 8th largest, Rhea. Iapetus will be around magnitude 11.3, so will be quite hard to spot, but a powerful telescope might catch it. That would give 9 moons simultaneously! The next brightest, Enceladus, will be about mag 12, and much closer to Saturn, so that would be quite a challenge!
It will be fascinating to see, but it doesn't signify anything. If we lived on Mars, for example, there wouldn't be anything special to see at all.
So beware of the media and astrological type nonsense!
Back on 16 July 1623 they appeared even closer together (5' 12") than they will on 21 December this year, but I'm not aware of anything special happening then. Nor on 4 March 1226 when they were also closer (5' 45"), and so on.... And it's only a line of sight effect - while they will appear close, Saturn will actually be 734 million kilometres beyond Jupiter.
OTHER DATES BEFORE & AFTER – THEIR SEPARATION at 17.30 GMT
14 Dec, 47' 16"
15 Dec, 40' 37"
16 Dec, 34' 13"
17 Dec, 27' 41"
18 Dec, 21' 12"
19 Dec, 14' 56"
20 Dec, 9' 17"
21 Dec, 6' 07"
22 Dec, 8' 55"
23 Dec, 14' 34"
24 Dec, 20' 54"
25 Dec, 27' 27"
You'll need a good clear SW horizon to see them clearly, so you could scout out some good observing sites for that in the meantime.
Note that they will have moved between now and 21 December. On 21 December Saturn will be at RA 20h 11m, Dec -20º 25'.
From Belfast. On 21 Dec at 17.30 it will be at Altitude 06º 0', Azimuth 221º 21'. Obviously the altitude and azimuth figures will vary according to your location in Ireland/UK, but the relative change in position between now and Dec 21 will be approximately the same, so allow for that.
They'll look great to the naked eye, better in binocs, but to really appreciate the spectacle, complete with up to 8 of their moons, you'll need a telescope, so look for a site where you can set one up.
If you live in Belfast, one good spot is the Giant's Ring in S. Belfast. There's a car park, and a short walk and gentle climb to the top of the embankment will get you a good view. Or if you want to avoid any distant lights in view, stay within the flat floor of the enclosure. There's a dolmen of some sort in the middle, which could give you an interesting foreground for a photo.
The Car Park is at N 54.54087, -5.94846. It's signposted off Ballynahatty Road, which is off Ballylesson Road. That's the first turn off on the right just after you cross Shaw's Bridge going out from the city. Go early before too many other 'visitors' arrive!
On 21 December, from Belfast, the Sun sets at 16.00, end of Civil twilight is at 16.44, and end of nautical twilight is at 17.31. At 17.30 they are about 6 degrees above the horizon, and they set at 18.29.
For observing in twilight a refractor is preferable to a Newtonian reflector as it admits less sky light. An SCT with a good light shield at the front is quite good too, so if you have a choice, bear that in mind. And if using an open tube reflector, such as some Dobs, make sure you use a tube shroud!
TRIVIA
NEXT CONJUNCTIONS AS CLOSE They will next be this close on 15 March 2080, but that will be even harder to see from our latitudes, as it occurs with them low down in the morning twilight.
The best one after that will be on 2417, August 24, when the minimum separation will be 5' 25", That will be at 16.07, and they will set before it gets dark here, but they will still be close by the time they rise next morning.
The closest one in this millennium will be at 15.15 on Christmas Day, 2874, when the separation will be a tiny 2' 19". That will be late afternoon here, but they will still be a mere 2' 21" apart when the sky gets dark enough to see them, and with an altitude of over 13 degrees. The separation between the edge of Jupiter's disc and Saturn's rings will be just 1' 55" – that's less than 3.5 Jupiter diameters!
Given the date, if they're still waiting for the Second Coming / Rapture / Armageddon or whatever (what's another 850 years, after 2,000?), no doubt the televangelists, Biblical Fundamentalists, astrologers etc will be in a frenzy!
(BTW, I know that Christ was almost certainly not born on 25 December, but that won't affect the hype!)
3. Two Big Sunspots two big sunspots, several times wider than the Earth, appeared recently on the Sun's disc. The arrival of these sunspots indicates a definite increase in solar activity. (and see news item under "Sun" in weblinks below
4. Tim Peake's show at the Waterfront on 1st Dec 2021. Thanks to Paul Evans for this alert. Tickets can be booked at https://www.waterfront.co.uk/what-s-on/tim-peake/
5. Last Teaser answered! Congratulations to Peter Millar (who else?) who sent the right answer within hours of receipt of the bulletin!
Q: What does the following sequence represent? Beta, Alpha, Gamma, Epsilon, Zeta.
ANSWER: They are the brightest stars in Orion, in order of brightness – Rigel (0.12), Betelgeuse (0.5v), Bellatrix (1.64), Alnilam (1.70), Alnitak (1.77). Usually, Alpha is the brightest star in a constellation, but in this case Rigel is brighter than Betelgeuse, even when the latter is at its brightest. (Next is Kappa, at 2.06, and Delta which should be fourth, comes next at 2.23)
6. Another Teaser – I hope this one is a bit harder!
What links the following numbers: 27, 57, 76, 97? (apart from the fact that they all contain the number 7)
7. ISS The ISS starts a new series of morning passes on 18 December. Full details for your location, and lots of other astronomy information, on the excellent free site www.heavens-above.com
8. Good for the Geminids. The best meteor shower of the year, the Geminids, coincides with New Moon this year, so conditions are very favourable. Maximum is on the night of 13/14 December (20h on Dec 13). The ZHR is expected to be 100+, so in good conditions you could average more than 1 meteor per minute! The radiant is near Castor, and the shower produces a fair number of fireballs. And the meteors are fairly slow, so that helps recording them with a camera, as each meteor spends a bit longer crossing each pixel.
If there's a clear sky, it's worth travelling some distance to get a dark site with a good view all round, and letting your eyes totally dark adapt, to enjoy the free celestial firework show!
Rates increase as the radiant rises, so best rates will be from about 11 p.m. to about 5 a.m.
Activity starts about Dec 7 with lowish rates, and then builds up steadily to maximum. So rates should be quite high even on the few nights before maximum, and on the night of 14/15 as well, so if it's cloudy on the 13th, you have other opportunities.
The Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is the rate which would be seen by an experienced observer, in a VERY dark sky, and with the radiant in the zenith: actual observed rates very rarely reach the nominal ZHR for various reasons but this year, an experienced observer in ideal conditions should get very close to the ZHR, plus a few sporadics as well.
Wrap up VERY well, and use a lounger or similar to avoid neck strain.
9. Paul Evans has produced another excellent 'Lockdown Video guide to the sky for December: https://youtu.be/bh5IDvpXs7Y
10. John Flannery's excellent astro calendar for 2021 is now available on line.
The download link is https://bit.ly/3mmSUU
11. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR – Extra Xmas Special on December 15
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 15 December: 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.
12. Space Lights Outdoor Trail Experience, Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, Now on 19 December.
This is a sound and light walking trail, which can be combined with a dome show ticket. Time slots available from 5 p.m. each day. Booking essential. See their website for details.
13.
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14. CATCH A STAR WRITING COMPETITION
2020 Catch a Star Writing Contest in Europe
Students from European countries who live anywhere in the world are invited to submit to the 2020 Catch a Star astronomical writing contest. Groups of up to three students with a non-student group leader can submit essays by 23 December 2020 to be considered.
Learn more here: https://www.eaae-astronomy.org/catch-a-star/welcome-to-catch-a-star-2020/
15. STFC Summer School at AOP postponed to January 2021 This year AOP was going to organize the STFC summer school for starting PhD students 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
16. 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.
17. Undergrad Summer Placements at I-Lofar at Birr.
Thanks to support from Berkeley, I will have 2 summer undergraduate research placements available next summer working with I-LOFAR, based at Birr Covid-permitting.
Any questions on this can be fired my way. Application deadline is Feb 12th.
https://lofar.ie/2021-research-summer-internship/
https://seti.berkeley.edu/Internship.html
Dr. E. F. Keane, evan.keane@GMAIL.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
Amazing new data from Gaia: details of 1.8 BILLION stars The Milky Way and beyond: Scientists publish new data on nearly 2 billion stars | Space
HST data explains some missing Dark Matter New Hubble data explains missing dark matter -- ScienceDaily
The Milky Way's brightest binary Gamma Ray source may be powered by a magnetar Research suggests our galaxy's brightest gamma-ray binary system may be powered by a magnetar star -- ScienceDaily
Testing for quantum gravity effects made easier by 3rd year student! Experiment to test quantum gravity just got a bit less complicated -- ScienceDaily
Black Holes Are 'Portals to Other Universes,' According to New Quantum Results (treehugger.com)
COSMOLOGY
Breach of parity may explain dark Matter and Dark Energy A hint of new physics in polarized radiation from the early universe -- ScienceDaily
Goodbye Black Holes, Hello String Fuzzballs? Black holes may not exist, but fuzzballs might, wild theory suggests | Live Science
The role of neutrinos in the evolution of the universe. Next step in simulating the universe: New approach to show how ghost-like neutrinos helped shape the Universe -- ScienceDaily
This is a disappointing and confusing abstract. For a start, it gives no indication of the constraints on the neutrino mass, which is the critical point! It also says
"neutrinos suppress the clustering of dark matter -- the 'missing' mass in the Universe -- and in turn galaxies. They also show that neutrino-rich regions are strongly correlated with massive galaxy clusters"
But surely that's self-contradictory – if neutrinos suppress dark matter and galaxies, how come those area are rich in neutrinos?
World's largest atom smasher could seed microscopic black holes | Space
Searching for the universe's first Gravitational Waves A technique to sift out the universe's first gravitational waves: Identifying primordial ripples would be key to understanding the conditions of the early universe -- ScienceDaily
EARTH & MOON
Supercomputer simulation shows how the Moon may have formed | Daily Mail Online. None of those seem to produce anything like the current situation. See also
Supercomputer simulations could unlock mystery of Moon's formation -- ScienceDaily
China's Chang'e 5 aces lunar orbit docking needed to bring moon samples home | Space
Nasa's unveils new plans for Moon base to be the 'gateway to the rest of the solar system' (msn.com)
This could be good for aurora seekers New sunspot cycle could be one of the strongest on record, new research predicts: Scientists use an extended, 22-year solar cycle to make the forecast -- ScienceDaily
Key building block for organic molecules discovered in meteorites -- ScienceDaily
EXOLIFE
Mars may once have harboured alien life miles beneath the surface | Daily Mail Online and
Scientists pinpoint where life might once have flourished on Mars (msn.com)
Nine explanations for the Fermi Paradox (some more sensible than others) 9 Strange, Scientific Excuses for Why Humans Haven't Found Aliens Yet | Live Science
Is this the source of the 'Wow!' signal? https://astronomy.com/news/2020/11/sun-like-star-identified-as-the-potential-source-of-the-wow-signal?utm_source=asyfb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=asyfb
EXOPLANETS
Strange exoplanet that behaves like the long-sought 'Planet Nine' | Daily Mail Online and
IMAGES
HST images of 30 objects in Sir Patrick Moore's Caldwell Catalogue NASA unveils 30 new Hubble telescope space pictures of cosmic wonders (msn.com) (#
He mentioned to me when he was working on it that he would have to call it the Caldwell catalogue (his full surname is actually Caldwell-Moore), otherwise there would be confusion With M for Moore and M for Messier!
And https://www.google.com/.../nasa-marks-30-years-of-hubble...
SOLAR SYSTEM
Mars may once have harboured alien life miles beneath the surface | Daily Mail Online
Hayabusa2 returns asteroid samples to Earth after fiery reentry (newatlas.com)
Magnetism gives key clues to early stage of SS development. Researchers uncover key clues about the solar system's history: New clues lead to a better understanding of the evolution of the solar system and the origin of Earth as a habitable planet -- ScienceDaily
Scientists pinpoint where life might once have flourished on Mars (msn.com)
Space Superhighway system discovered in SS. New superhighway system discovered in the Solar System -- ScienceDaily
Not so much water on Mars as we thought Water on Mars not as widespread as previously thought -- ScienceDaily
139 new minor planets found in the outer SS Astronomers find 139 new minor planets in the outer solar system | Astronomy.com
Dust round the Sun gives clues to planet formation A look at the sun's dusty environment -- ScienceDaily
SPACE
What space tells us about aging https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/DisplayMessage?ws_popup=true&ws_suite=true
Nasa confirms 'asteroid' spotted above Earth was actually a rocket booster from the 1960s (msn.com)
SpaceX's 1st crewed Mars mission could launch as early as 2024, Elon Musk says | Space No way! Europe plans space claw to capture orbiting junk | Science | AAAS (sciencemag.org) It's going to take a heck of a long time to solve the problem one piece at a time! But maybe if they get rid of most of the big pieces, at least it will reduce the risk of a collision breaking one of those into hundreds of sizeable pieces.
Virgin Galactic to launch spaceplane VSS Unity as early as next week | Daily Mail Online
Drone space launch vehicle can put satellite in orbit every 180 minutes | Daily Mail Online
NASA pays Colorado startup just $1 to collect moon dust in 2023 | Daily Mail Online
NASA astronauts grow radishes in SPACE aboard the ISS | Daily Mail Online
China's Chang'e 5 aces lunar orbit docking needed to bring moon samples home | Space
SpaceX launches upgraded Dragon cargo ship to space station, aces rocket landing | Space and
Nasa's unveils new plans for Moon base to be the 'gateway to the rest of the solar system' (msn.com)
NASA announces Artemis astronauts to fly to the moon (nationalgeographic.com) Major booboo in opening para – the 3 crew of Apollo 17 did not land on the moon – only Cernan and Schmidt did, with Evans remaining in orbit above in the CSM.
NASA begins fueling 1st Space Launch System megarocket core in 'green run' test | Space
Dark coatings can reduce satellite reflectivity Dark coating can reduce satellite reflectivity -- ScienceDaily
Santa Claws in space? European companies to remove space debris with giant claw - Big Think
SpaceX's test flight of SN8 successful, but for the last bit! SpaceX's Starship SN8 Prototype Soars on Epic Test Launch, with Explosive Landing - Scientific American Don't you just love the terminology? – the landing was a RUD. Which stands for Rapid Unplanned Disassembly, i.e. it exploded! As for what caused it – insufficient pressure in the header tanks – I wonder could that have been because the rocket was descending so fast that the fuel didn't feel the full pull of gravity down towards the engines?
Space Superhighway system discovered in SS. New superhighway system discovered in the Solar System -- ScienceDaily
SpaceX's latest Starship prototype COLLAPSES days after its predecessor exploded | Daily Mail Online
Chinese capsule with moon rocks begins return to Earth (msn.com)
What does space do to the human body? 29 studies investigate the effects of exploration (msn.com)
Ireland's involvement in the Hera mission ESA - Ireland helping ESA's Hera asteroid mission find its way
Blue Origin's proposal for crewed lunar landing and return Blue Origin's team turns in its moon landing proposal (geekwire.com)
SUN
DKIST is only partially complete, but is already producing fantastic images Hawaii solar telescope releases image of 10,000-mile wide sunspot | Daily Mail Online and
World's largest solar telescope captures its first dramatic sunspot image (newatlas.com),
How the solar atmosphere gets so hot Scientists get the lowdown on sun's super-hot atmosphere: Orbiting instrument hints at how stored magnetic energy heats solar atmosphere -- ScienceDaily
Telescopes, Instruments, Techniques:
Amazing, horrifying video of collapse of the Arecibo Radio Telescope. The first 40 secs are the view from the ground, the last section is an aerial view, presumably from a drone. It's well that no-one was working there, even inspecting it, when that happened. Look at the way the top of one of the three towers recoils backwards and topples off.; you can just see the end of that in the aerial footage too. Moment huge James Bond observatory collapses in Puerto Rico (msn.com)
Searching for the universe's first Gravitational Waves A technique to sift out the universe's first gravitational waves: Identifying primordial ripples would be key to understanding the conditions of the early universe -- ScienceDaily
19. 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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