Hi all,
(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1. IAA lecture via Zoom & YouTube, 17 February, 7.30 p.m.: " Investigating the atmospheres of alien worlds"
Abstract:
It has now been over 25 years since the discovery of the first exoplanet around a Sun-like star. Since then, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, most in systems that do not resemble our own Solar System. What is more, we have been able to study the atmospheres of some of these worlds. In this talk, I will discuss how we can study exoplanet atmospheres and what we have learned so far.
Biography: Dr. Ernst de Mooij is a lecturer at Queen's University Belfast. He obtained his PhD from Leiden University, after which he became a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto. Subsequently he moved to Queen's University Belfast as the Michael West Fellow, following on from that he was an assistant professor for 3 years at Dublin City University.
His research is focused on the characterisation of exoplanets and their environment, including their atmospheres and exo-rings.
The link is:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86203682703?pwd=S1NJMGU3Uml1TVpxeEQwOFdmOFhBQT09
Meeting ID: 862 0368 2703
Passcode: 090170
The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start. This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/irishastronomy/videos
2. Watch Mars Perseverance landing 'Seven Minutes of Terror' live, 18 February
Watch Online: Mars Landing - NASA Mars
And read this first - I get nervous just reading this! Go, Perseverance, go ! Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) - NASA Mars
3. Paul Evans' great new Sky video for February
In glorious Full HD, here's my sky guide for February 2021 featuring the Sun, the Planets, a very thin Moon and much more!
4. The ISS will start another series of morning passes on 19 February.
Details of each pass for your own location, and lots more astronomy and space information, on www.heavens-above.com
5. Women and girls in Astronomy month: The IAU is promoting this awareness event from 11 Feb to 8 March.
https://www.iau.org/public/women-and-girls-in-astronomy/
6. John Flannery's excellent guide for February in the Irish Times
What to watch out for in February's night skies (irishtimes.com)
7. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR – Next is February 23
NB: Note platform change. Since most people have been watching on YouTube, we are ceasing the presentation via Zoom, and it will now be streamed live on both YouTube and Facebook. This will also give us lots of added features in the presentation.
Presented by me and the amazing Nick Howes, they are approximately 45 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 23 February: youtube.com/spacestorelive
NB – So, from now on it will be Live streamed to YouTube SpaceStore Live! Channel and Live streamed to Facebook Live. I'll post any last minute news via Twitter.
8. Royal Astronomical Society Education & Outreach Grants
( I've only just learned of this – maybe too short notice now, but worth bearing in mind for the next deadline of 15 August, giving yourself more time to prepare.)
The 15 February deadline for the Royal Astronomical Society Education & Outreach Grants is fast approaching. These one-time, 5000 GBP grants are designed to fund specific projects that bring astronomy to the public.
Learn more here: https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/outreach/education-outreach-small-grants-scheme
9. Telescope for sale
For sale: Celestron C8 (OTA only, no mount, but comes with a few accessories). About 8 years old but has had very little use, so is in excellent condition.
I would prefer to try and sell it locally if I could (socially distanced and with masks of course).
I do have a rough price in mind, but would be open to sensible offers. Contact details are:
ciaranodonnell2000@yahoo.co.uk
Mob. 07791394834
10. STAR TRACKER ONLINE, hosted by AOP, 24 Feb, 31 Mar.
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium hosts "Armagh StarTracker Online", a star show where we take you on a tour of the night sky using a virtual planetarium followed by live viewing the stars using telescopes in the Canary Islands. We will be using Slooh's online robotic telescopes to view the celestial objects. There will be a chance throughout the sessions to ask questions to the Director of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, Professor Michael Burton.
Each session will focus on different objects and stars that are visible in the night sky.
Tickets are free (donations are welcome) and the zoom details will be emailed in advance.
*Please note you only need to book one ticket for one household.*
Dates: 24th February, 31st March, Time: 8pm
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
11. Reach for the Stars astrophotography competition, run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and the Irish Times jointly with the support of the IAS - John Flannery will be one of the judges. Details available at this site: For info: the images can be taken anywhere on the whole island of Ireland, ujp until 31 March 2021.
https://www.dias.ie/ga/2020/12/16/reach-for-the-stars-diass-astrophotography-competition/ or see
We're sponsoring a new DIAS astrophotography competition! - Alice PR & Events
Or else, just go to dias.ie, the host website, and you should see it flagged in the announcements.
12. Space for Art Foundation Requesting Space Art from Children, deadline 1 May
The Space for Art Foundation invites children from anywhere in the world to contribute artwork to their next project: a space suit called BEYOND. Submissions can be emailed to the foundation or posted to the foundation's Facebook page. Entries should be submitted by 1 May 2021.
Learn more here: https://www.spaceforartfoundation.org/projects
13. Free Online Courses
"Moons of our Solar System" Online Course
Free online course on moons in the solar system from The Open University
Link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/moons
Link: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=6910
AstroSTEM
Lesson plans and activities about astronomy and other STEM fields
Link: http://www.astrostem.org/
See the full list of online events and resources here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RgKVmO-JkuiWMV55syx3EwUS2-hnYcJ72Ks3HLKex2A/edit?usp=sharing
14 'Easy Teaser' answered quickly
What's the connection between a piano and the night sky? Answer: there are 88 constellations, and a piano has 88 keys. First correct answer came from Tom O'Donohue, followed a few hours later by Mark Hawkins. Well done to both.
15. New 'Hard' Teaser. Okay; you've been getting them too quickly. So - No more 'Mr Nice Guy – this should test you!
What links: Cardiff (Wales), TCD, Tonbridge (Kent), and a bible ?
Please send all answers to me at my aol address terrymosel@aol.com
16. Astrophysics & Cosmology Masterclass, 25 February. Maynooth University
This event is targeted at 5th & 6th year LC secondary-school pupils, and may be of interest to younger members and acquaintances. More info at the following link.
https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/node/498485
17. Close fast pass by mountain-sized asteroid on March 21.
Asteroid 231937 will whizz past us on Mar 21, at only 5.3 Lunar Distances, and at the high speed of 34.4km/sec. It has an estimated diameter of 1024m. No danger of a collision, but that's fairly close for such a big asteroid and especially one going so fast! Remember, the energy of the impact increases directly with the mass of the body, but increases with the square of the velocity. That impact would destroy Greater London!
Addendum: Brian Beesley did some calculations, and estimates that the destruction would be very many times greater than my conservative guess.
Now the media is onto the story Asteroid news: Largest asteroid to fly by this year travelling 100 times faster than sound (msn.com) and Asteroid news: NASA tracking 2021's biggest asteroid- three times bigger than Eiffel Tower (msn.com)
18. ESA seeks new astronauts: apply March 31 to May 28
European Space Agency on the hunt for new astronauts (msn.com)
19. June 8-11: Institutions of Extraterrestrial Liberty, hosted by U of Edinburgh. 4 days of webinars on Human Exploration of Mars.
20. 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.
21. 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
A giant black hole suddenly went dark, and no one knows why (msn.com)
Another triumph for citizen science Scientists find the source of mysterious pulses being blasted towards Earth (msn.com)
NASA demonstrates the life course of a red giant (msn.com)
Neutrinos – the particles which shouldn't exist https://www.facebook.com/100005425388535/posts/1554550034735828/?substory_index=2&sfnsn=scwspmo
A weird magnetar https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-detect-strange-never-before-seen-activity-from-a-very-weird-magnetar
True identity of mysterious gamma-ray source revealed -- ScienceDaily
Astrophysicists: gamma-ray jets exceed the speed of light - Big Think
Could there be a cluster of antimatter stars orbiting our galaxy? | Space
Scientists find clump of black holes inside the heart of globular cluster (video) | Space and
Hubble uncovers concentration of small black holes -- ScienceDaily
Mystery of gamma radiation solved: Hidden cannibal star is just having dinner (msn.com)
Sounds like one of Lady Gaga's outfits! White dwarfs wear the crushed corpses of planets in their atmospheres (msn.com) Here's a much more sensible and accurate headline – even if it's from the DE!
Astronomers detect remains of vaporised ancient Earth-like planets | Science | News | Express.co.uk
Heart shape found in centre of Crab Nebula Spectacular 'honeycomb heart' revealed in iconic stellar explosion -- ScienceDaily
Student finds missing matter in our galaxy Student astronomer finds galactic missing matter: Distant galaxies used as 'locator pins' to detect 'invisible' cold clump of gas -- ScienceDaily
Black hole breakthrough could 'violate' Einstein's theory as find poses 'huge implication' (msn.com)
Rare blast's remains discovered in Milky Way's center -- ScienceDaily
Revealing Betelgeuse's secrets Study of supergiant star Betelgeuse unveils the cause of its pulsations: Recalibrated its mass, radius, and distance -- ScienceDaily
COSMOLOGY
Scientists narrow down the 'weight' of dark matter trillions of trillions of times (msn.com) That's fantastic – now they only have a range of 10^9 to consider! Like looking for a needle in only a billion haystacks instead of octillions of haystacks!
Detecting axions as Dark Matter particles Dark matter: A new tool in the search for axions -- ScienceDaily
Recreating the Big Bang, and determining the density of matter https://www.facebook.com/102023751671829/posts/3650636375024682/?sfnsn=scwspmo
Could there be a cluster of antimatter stars orbiting our galaxy? (msn.com)
Superpowerful 'oscillon' particles could have dominated the infant universe, then vanished (msn.com)
Massive space structures may explain weird alignments - Big Think But Inflation is based on the premise that the universe is homogenous on the large scale. If this shows that it isn't, there's no need to hypothesize Inflation. Back to Square One! And also https://www.facebook.com/46126453526/posts/10158010531588527/?sfnsn=scwspmo
DARK SKIES
Saving our dark skies (msn.com)
EARTH & MOON
Sea level will rise faster than previously thought -- ScienceDaily
How do electrons close to Earth reach almost the speed of light? -- ScienceDaily
The End is Nigh – again. And again - about 40 times! Seriously, I've been hearing this crap every year or so since I've been able to remember. Enjoy – it's a good free laugh Pastor Paul Begley warns 'the earth is going to be shaking' (msn.com)
'First glimpse of life' NASA sparked stunning discovery underneath Antarctica's ice (msn.com)
NASA appoints climate advisor to prioritize Earth science in Biden administration (msn.com)
Denmark's first artificial energy island will power 3 million homes (msn.com)
NASA picks Firefly Aerospace to deliver science payloads to the moon in 2023 (msn.com)
Science suggests possible climate link to Covid-19 | Climate News Network
Balloon test flight plan under fire over solar geoengineering fears (msn.com)
Elon Musk launches $100 million Xprize competition (msn.com)
We need to start refreezing the Arctic Ocean as soon as possible to save our megacities (msn.com)
Scientists prepare for their last good look at asteroid Apophis before 2029 flyby (msn.com) and
Asteroid Apophis: Watch live as 'God of Chaos' passes Earth in March | Science | News | Express.co.uk They seem to be ignoring the fact that another asteroid, 231937, the same size as Apophis, and going more than twice as fast, will pass very much closer to us on 21 March! See item in main section above!
China's Yutu 2 rover finds 'milestone' on far side of the moon (msn.com)
Moon appears to DEFLATE as it disappears behind the horizon in ISS footage | Daily Mail Online You can see the same thing to a lesser extent from the ground, but not quite so quickly!
NASA scientists explore the 'anomaly' in Earth's magnetic field (msn.com)
The comet that killed the dinosaurs: New theory explains possible origin of the Chicxulub impactor -- ScienceDaily There's nothing particularly new in this – it was always one of the possibilities. But it doesn't explain the iridium anomaly – iridium is more common in asteroids than in comets.
EXOPLANETS
Amazing http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/habitable-zone-planet-alpha-centauri-a-09343.html
Mysterious origin of Super-Earths Astronomers uncover mysterious origins of 'super-Earths': Study shows super-Earths are not leftovers of mini-Neptunes, challenging our understanding of planetary formation -- ScienceDaily
A new way to look for life-sustaining planets -- ScienceDaily
NASA's TESS discovers new worlds in a river of young stars -- ScienceDaily
EXOLIFE
HISTORY / ORIGINS
100,000-year-old story could explain why the Pleiades are called 'Seven Sisters' (msn.com)
IMAGES
Amazing space images of the week (msn.com)
LIGHT POLLUTION –Health Risks
Street lamps can increase your risk of thyroid cancer by up to 55%, study shows | Daily Mail Online
SETI
Pollution on other planets could help us find aliens, Nasa says (msn.com)
SOLAR SYSTEM
Mars: Experiment shows the activity of soil analog samples (msn.com)
NASA alien life study: Mars landslides could indicate 'near-surface active chemistry' (msn.com)
20 cool facts to know about Pluto (msn.com)
https://futurism.com/the-byte/perfect-spot-mars-colony
Mars may have had up to 20 separate ice ages Mars had up to 20 separate ice ages, discover scientists - Big Think
Mission to metal-rich asteroid Psyche approved NASA's Psyche mission moves forward, passing key milestone (phys.org)
Clues about Mars' atmosphere may lie on the surface of its moon Phobos (msn.com)
Scientists prepare for their last good look at asteroid Apophis before 2029 flyby (msn.com)
China releases first video of Mars captured by Tianwen-1 in orbit (msn.com)
Astronomers confirm solar system's most distant known object is indeed Farfarout -- ScienceDaily and
https://phys.org/news/2021-02-astronomers-orbit-distant-solar.amp and https://www.facebook.com/groups/1442958012638876/permalink/2941676009433728/?sfnsn=scwspmo
Jupiter's Trojans provide puzzles https://www.facebook.com/672161609/posts/10157688420546610/?sfnsn=scwspmo
Water vapour detected coming from Mars https://www.facebook.com/47849178041/posts/10158059973223042/?sfnsn=scwspmo
Why 'Oumuamua isn't an alien artefact https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/02/10/new-theory-perfectly-explains-oumuamua-naturally-from-exo-pluto-collisions/
NASA Mars InSight lander limits operations due to dusty solar panels (msn.com)
Claim for giant 'Planet Nine' at Solar System's edge takes a hit | Science | AAAS (sciencemag.org) the jury is still out! See also
The solar system's mysterious 'ninth planet' may never have existed at all, scientists say (msn.com)
And 'Any evidence for Planet Nine is gone': Scientists dispute probability of mystery planet (msn.com)
As Perseverance Approaches Mars, Scientists Debate Its Sampling Strategy - Scientific American I really hope it's not 'barreling'! Barrels roll along like a log rolling downhill! Just say it's 'speeding' towards Mars.
Mars InSight: why we'll be listening to the landing of the Perseverance rover (theconversation.com)
SPACE
Will private space travel become a reality?
https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/DisplayMessage?ws_popup=true&ws_suite=true
Oops again! Another RUD on landing. SpaceX Starship high-altitude test flight ends in another fiery finale (newatlas.com) and
Test flight for SpaceX's Starship ends in spectacular fashion... again (msn.com)
UK could soon become world leader in tackling space junk, says rocket developer (msn.com)
Starship SN10 launch date: Prelaunch testing expected 'soon' after fiery crash of SN9 (msn.com)
Elon Musk gives damning indictment of SpaceX over Starship SN9 failure 'Too dumb' (msn.com)
Northrop Grumman names spacecraft for NASA 'Hidden Figure' Katherine Johnson (msn.com)
Northrop Grumman test-fires rocket motors for new Vulcan Centaur booster (msn.com)
US still committed to landing Artemis astronauts on the moon, White House says (msn.com)
Biden administration appoints Steve Jurczyk acting NASA chief | Space
China's iSpace fails to reach orbit in 2nd launch attempt (msn.com)
The UK's space industry has to benefit communities across the country (msn.com)
Spacewatch: Airbus to build three more moon mission modules (msn.com) Why can't they just say how much power it will generate in kW? I've no idea how much it takes to power "two households"! And is that in summer or winter? Households probably vary by a factor of at least 5 in energy consumption, depending on lots of variables. Why not just say 8kW, or 12kW or 15kW, or whatever it is?
NASA picks Firefly Aerospace to deliver science payloads to the moon in 2023 (msn.com)
Ministers accused of 'punishing' UK Space Agency by stripping it of strategy decisions (msn.com)
https://futurism.com/the-byte/perfect-spot-mars-colony That's better than nothing, but still not nearly enough. And just think what they will be exposed to every time they go out onto the surface! If they go out at night they will be shielded from solar radiation, but every time they're on the surface they will be exposed to much more dangerous cosmic rays. Even Elon Musk, with his grandiose schemes to produce a Martian atmosphere (which isn't really possible either), won't be able to get Mars to generate a magnetic field like the Earth's. So plans for Mars as a 'second Earth' are just fantasy.
How Mars became the prize for the new space race – and why China is hellbent on winning it (msn.com)
Space Race, mark 2! (or 3, if you include China) An unleashed Jeff Bezos will seek to shift space venture Blue Origin into hyperdrive (msn.com)
Elon Musk outlines biggest hurdles the SpaceX Starship needs to overcome (msn.com)
The ethical concerns of space exploration & the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (msn.com)
Elon Musk explains 'risks' of moving to Mars (msn.com)
SpaceX Starship SN10 fitted with new engines as road closures suggest testing is imminent (msn.com)
New private space plane making progress https://www.facebook.com/692905441/posts/10165024446905442/?sfnsn=scwspmo
China releases first video of Mars captured by Tianwen-1 in orbit (msn.com)
NASA's Perseverance Rover's dramatic decent to land on Mars (msn.com) Even if it sets down safely, if just one of those 4 wires fails to detach…. ! Everything has to work just right, and at exactly the right time.
I wish them luck, but they're too far from the equator to be ideal from low inclination orbits, and not far enough North to be good for near-polar orbits. Still, they have better weather on average than some other UK locations. Spaceport Cornwall: Newquay set to be hub of UK space travel (msn.com)
SpaceX head Elon Musk reveals imperative of 'colonising entire galaxy' (msn.com)
A new mini space shuttle https://www.facebook.com/692905441/posts/10165024446905442/?sfnsn=scwspmo
SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket set to launch NASA moon outpost in 2024 (newatlas.com)
Osiris-Rex will depart Bennu on May 10 for its return journey to Earth with its samples NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission Plans for May Asteroid Departure - OSIRIS-REx Mission (asteroidmission.org)
Exploring Mars: How scientists prevent Earth's microbes from contaminating other planets (msn.com)
SpaceX launches new Starlink satellites – but fails to land booster (msn.com)
SUN
NASA: Solar Dynamics Observatory captures solar flare (msn.com)
TELESCOPES, INSTRUMENTS, TECHNIQUES
Physicists to look for quantum time dilation inside nuclear reactor (newatlas.com)
Astronomy surveys aim to up the pace with army of tiny robots | Science | AAAS (sciencemag.org)
SKA gets final full approval Square Kilometre Array: 'Lift-off' for world's biggest telescope - BBC News
22. 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
