Hi all,
1. IAA Lecture, Wed 5 January, 7.30 p.m. Comets and their tales, by Prof Antonio Martin Carillo.
Comets are very much in the news, with the recent visit by Comet Neowise.
Comets are small fast moving frozen rocks that travel in very elliptical orbits around the Sun, getting sometimes really close to it, making them shine bright. Every time a comet's elliptical orbit brings it close to the Sun, intense heat vaporizes the frozen gases and releases the dust within, which streams behind the comet, forming two distinct tails: an ion tail carried by the solar wind and a dust tail. During this talk Dr Antonio Martin-Carrillo of UCD will tell us about the nature of comets, why they look the way they do and what they can tell us about the formation of the solar system and our origin. Study of these tails reveals important clues about our solar system's early history.
Biography
Antonio Martin-Carrillo is an UCD Ad Astra fellow/Assistant Professor in the School of Physics. He graduated with a BSc and MSc in Physics with Astronomy from University Complutense Madrid. Following 2 years working at the European Space Agency as part of the XMM-Newton space observatory calibration team, he moved to UCD where he completed his PhD investigating gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and pulsars. He is currently a member of the Space Science Group studying the transient Universe and in particular the prompt and afterglow emission of GRBs using high-energy space observatories and ground-based telescopes such as UCD's Watcher robotic telescope. His research also includes the development of software tools for advanced data analysis. As such he is an ambassador and collaborator on the Astropy project aimed at providing a wide range of software packages written in Python for use in astronomy. He is also a member of the INTEGRAL multi-messenger group searching for gamma-ray counterparts to gravitational waves, neutrino events and other transient sources; the ATHENA X-ray space observatory, an ESA large mission scheduled to launch in 2028, and the THESEUS space telescope, currently in its study phase with ESA.
DETAILS
Topic: IAA Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 5, 2022 07:15 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86772024897?pwd=YzhURHhRTjJheE5QZnlBREl4dDZmUT09
Meeting ID: 867 7202 4897
Passcode: 132894
The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start
This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel
2. JWST is on its way to L2!
Some amazing and fascinating information in this article 10 unbelievable but true facts about NASA's James Webb Space Telescope | by Ethan Siegel | Starts With A Bang! | Dec, 2021 | Medium
3. Quadrantid Meteors, 3-4 January
One of the year's best meteor showers peaks on 3-4 January. Under good conditions, we could see 50 or so meteors an hour that night. Most meteor showers are associated with comets, but the Quadrantids seem linked to the near-Earth asteroid (196256) 2003 EH1, which may be an extinct comet seen by Chinese astronomers in 1490. They are caused when tiny pieces of debris shed by the parent body collide with our atmosphere at high speed (about 40km/sec in this case) and burn away in a second or so, usually at a height of about 80km.
The radiant, or point in the sky where the shower members appear to come, is named for the former constellation, Quadrans Muralis. It actually lies in Bootes, about halfway between the end of the handle of the Plough or Big Dipper, and the head of Draco. The peak this year is predicted to occur at 20:40 GMT on 3 January. The Quadrantid peak is quite narrow, so a few hours before and after the peak, the rate is only about half the maximum.
But, the radiant will be rising in the NE as the night progresses, and the higher the radiant, the more meteors can be seen. Also, more meteors tend to be seen after midnight, when the dark hemisphere of Earth is facing the same way as the Earth's orbital motion: that means that the meteors collide with the atmosphere at a higher speed, thus making smaller ones more visible. However, it's worth observing as soon as the sky gets totally dark, even though the radiant will then be low in the North, as the activity builds up towards the peak. So, we could get reasonable rates of meteors through most of the night.
There will be no interference from moonlight, so it will be worth observing from as dark a location as possible. Use a lounger or reclining chair, wrap up really warm, and allow time for your eyes to dark adapt. Enjoy, and clear skies.
4. Perihelion. The Earth will be closest to the Sun in its elliptical orbit on Jan 04 at 06.53, so if you're still observing Quadrantids at that time, stop for a celebratory hot chocolate! The distance will be 0.9833355 AU, or 147,105,046.6km.]
5. Catch Jupiter while you can.
Jupiter is just still visible from UK & Ireland, but it's getting over closer to the Sun in the sky as it heads towards conjunction on 5 March
It's in Capricorn, mag -2.2, and with an apparent diameter of 36".
6. ISS:
The ISS continues its series of morning passes until 5 January. It will commence a new series of evening passes on 19 January. Full details for your location on www.heavens-above.com, and on various Smartphone Apps
7. Public Engagement Officer at DIAS Dunsink Observatory
We are delighted to accept applications for the position of Public Engagement Officer in Data and Space Science at DIAS Dunsink Observatory. We are seeking an enthusiastic and creative person to run public-facing events including Ireland's first space-themed escape room, and to develop and deliver new content around the themes of Data Science and Space Science, reflecting the modern, cutting edge work of the DIAS Astronomy and Astrophysics Section.
Interested candidates should submit an application on our online recruitment system by 5pm on January 20th 2022. For more information visit http://dias.ie/public-engagement-officer
8. ESO Summer Research Programme 2022, ESO-HQ, Garching b. München, Germany / or virtually* 4th July - 12th August 2022 Applications open: 8th December 2021; Application deadline: 4th February 2022
The ESO Summer Research Programme provides a unique opportunity to students not yet enrolled into a PhD programme, to carry out a 6-week long research project at the ESO Headquarters in Garching (Germany)*. This fully-funded programme will allow the participants to choose between a wide range of research projects covering many areas of astronomy, from planet formation to cosmology. The ESO Summer Research Programme will also provide opportunities beyond research, including lectures, a mini-workshop, and social activities.
| * The ESO Summer Research Programme will be hosted in Garching if all accepted students are able to travel to ESO HQ. If the COVID-19 pandemic does not allow an in-person visit, the programme will be held virtually as it was done in 2020 and 2021. Website: http://eso.org/summerresearch/ ESO - SummerResearch2021 ESO is the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. It operates the La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile and has its headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany. |
Poster: http://eso.org/sci/meetings/2022/SummerResearch2022/SummerProgramme2022-poster.pdf. Enquiries: summerresearch@eso.org
9. 'Easy' Teaser answered.
To what was I referring? – "Father confused with eternal city".
Cate Murphy was quick off the mark with this one: Rome is known as the Eternal City; Father is Da, 'with' gives us 'and': De-confusing them all gives Andromeda. Well done Cate, at her first attempt – welcome to the winners enclosure!
10. DIFFICULT TEASER Answered Too
That one didn't last long either! Previous winner Peter Millar was first to get it right.
The question was: What's next in this sequence, and why: Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars ? The answer is Earth – the list is that of the planets in decreasing order of oblateness or flattening. The official oblateness figures are: Sat = 0.098; Jup = 0.065; U = 0.022; Nep = 0.021; Mars = 0.009; Earth = 0.0034; Venus and Mercury – negligible.
Two responders said – Earth, but for the wrong reason, saying that the sequence is 'decreasing number of satellites'. Firstly, that would have been too easy, and secondly, it's not strictly correct. Jupiter and Saturn have exactly the same number of officially named moons - 53 each. (The other 16 and 19 respectively are awaiting official ratification.) So I would have had to put Saturn and Jupiter as 'First equal;' rather than first and second.
11. New EASY Teaser
What record does the 5m Hale telescope on Mt Palomar still hold?
12. NEW DIFFICULT TEASER
What does the number 695 represent?
NB: One early reply said that it was the distance in LY to a particular object. Well, firstly, that would have been too easy – just search lists of objects until you find one with that figure, in AU, LY, or parsecs etc ! I don't make these ones as easy as that! No, you'll have to do a bit of thinking about this one, as usual. When you see the answer your initial subjective reaction will be - Wow, that's amazing! Then you'll think – Well, yes, of course!
13. Non-Astronomical Teaser + Hint for the holiday period – so non-astro spouses and partners can have a go: What have counties Cavan, Dublin, Tipperary and Wexford uniquely got in common?
No answers for this one yet, so here's a hint: it's to do with their names.
Please send all answers to me at my aol address terrymosel@aol.com
14. Davagh Dark Sky Park and Observatory is open, with pre-booking, and some restrictions.
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.
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
We may finally be able to test one of Stephen Hawking's most far-out ideas (msn.com)
EXOLIFE
Life on Venus bombshell: Aliens could be hiding in Earth-like planet's clouds - scientists (msn.com)
EARTH & MOON
China launches mineral survey and science outreach satellites | Space
Indestructible 'Black Box' will record our planet's demise in minute detail | Space I applaud the idea and motivation, but to call it 'indestructible' is tempting fate! An impact from a small asteroid, such as the one that hit Tunguska in Siberia over a century ago, would vaporize it. Very unlikely, but not impossible.
We can add a new item to the lists of things that are infinite: human stupidity It's not just flat earthers - there's also Donut Earth Theory (msn.com)
SOLAR SYSTEM
Tour Mars' Jezero Crater with this gorgeous Perseverance rover mosaic (video) (msn.com)
SPACE
Leveraging space to advance stem cell science and medicine -- ScienceDaily (just ignore that awful term 'leveraging'!)
Soyuz rocket launches 36 OneWeb internet satellites into orbit | Space It's not just SpaceX that's polluting the skies!
Spacewalking Chinese astronauts add camera to Tiangong space station module | Space
NASA clears Axiom crew for 1st private mission to International Space Station | Space
Celebrating the animal astronauts who paved the way for human spaceflight | Space
Rocket scientists aren't any smarter than the rest of us, science says | Space Can we now expect a series of explosions and perhaps even some successful rocket launches from back yards as Jo and Joe Soap start experimenting?
SpaceX in 2021: Elon Musk's space company set records for reusability and more | Space
Space tourism took a giant leap in 2021: Here's 10 milestones from the year | Space
How to keep astronauts healthy on missions to Mars (newatlas.com)
Telescopes, Instruments, Techniques.
https://www.sciencealert.com/there-was-a-major-unexpected-benefit-to-james-webb-s-christmas-launch
UFOs, ALIENS, etc.
9 things we learned about aliens in 2021 (msn.com)
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
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