Hi all,
(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1 IAA lecture via Zoom, 7 October, 19.30, by Nick Howes, FRAS, FBIS: "How do you solve a problem like Debris-ahh?
This highly topical talk by well-known space guru Nick Howes will look at the ever-increasing problem of space debris, and what can and should be done about it.
SYNOPSIS:
Public awareness of the clutter and rubbish humankind is littering our planet and oceans with has never been higher. David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg have firmly established the need to change our behaviour to avoid a catastrophe. But, whilst many companies and consumers are changing their behaviour to avoid plastic waste, a far bigger threat is looming, and one that will be much harder to solve. Currently over 130 million pieces of debris orbit our planet, ranging from microscopic to the size of a bus.
These are all in an uncontrollable set of orbits, many of the debris objects are smaller than a few cm, and as such, cannot be tracked. Yet, travelling at around 17,000 mph, pieces the size of a pea, could devastate a spacecraft, kill an astronaut, or astro-tourist and create a knock on effect, creating more and more debris, known as the Kessler Syndrome, famously seen in the Hollywood Movie "Gravity".
The impact of this would be devastating to global climate monitoring, defence, navigation, shipping and pretty much every part of our lives. With the launch of the so called "mega" constellations, adding tens of thousands of new satellites, we are at a crisis tipping point.
Nick will explain the issues, and possible ways to stop this from happening.
Biography:
Nick is lead analyst (space R&D) at multinational company BMT. A STEM ambassador for 10+ years, Nick has delivered 400 talks in 3 continents on many aspects of astronomy and space
Previously deputy director of Kielder Observatory, Nick worked closely with STEM organisations, delivering multiple events for persons aged 5 to 80, helped Wiltshire Cubs develop their astronomy badge program, and regularly broadcasts on various UK radio stations.
Nick has written for ESA on Mars Express, Herschel and Venus Express, helped develop the SKA telescope's public outreach website, and helped ESA find their 'lost' Herschel Telescope.
Nick was pro-am programme manager for the twin 2metre Faulkes Telescopes, mentoring students and co-discovering multiple objects, earning an award from the UK's most popular children's TV STEM programme.
He writes for many magazines and websites, including all major UK and US astronomy magazines, and for NASA's main and Blueshift websites, and appeared on the BBC Sky at Night several times.
He worked on the IAU project "Touching Space", delivering astronomy to blind and disabled youth, and developed the MARS MEDIAN methane sensor mission.
His award-winning astronomy imaging has appeared in National Geographic, The Times, Universe Today, Space.com, Financial Times and Discovery Channel Science, multiple books, peer reviewed journals, and even JPL
Nick has 400+ NASA ADS citations for comet and asteroid observations, and led a team creating the World's largest ground-based composite Moon image, supported by Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke.
In 2019, Nick worked with NASA's GSFC on a memorial to FIDO Tecwyn Roberts, and was invited by John Mather, PI of the JWST to Goddard for helping to prevent financial cancellation of the JWST.
This lecture is an IAA event for World Space Week.
Try and log in just before 7.30 to be on the safe side.
2. Mars brilliant as it nears opposition, and close pass by the Moon, Oct 2/3
Mars is now as bright as Jupiter as it gets closer to Earth. It reaches opposition on 13 October, but will actually be closest to Earth on 6 October, at a distance of about 62 million km, because of the ellipticity of its orbit. The greatest apparent diameter will be 22.6" The South Polar Cap is shrinking in Martian Spring, but is still readily visible in any reasonable telescope.
The just past-full Moon will pass closely to the South of it on the night of 2.3 October; they will be closest (about 1º) just before dawn
On Oct. 6, Mars will come within 38,568,816 miles (62,070,493 km) of Earth at 1418 GMT. At that moment, it will take a light beam 3 m 27s to travel between Earth and Mars. It won't get any closer until Sept. 11, 2035, when the planet will be 35.4 million miles (56.9 million km) away.
3. World Space Week, 4-10 October
World Space Week is an UN-declared celebration of space held annually, every October 4 to 10. These events are organized by institutions around the world, including space agencies, aerospace companies, astronomy clubs and museums. The 2020 World Space Week edition is dedicated to satellites under the theme "Satellites improve life". This is an important opportunity for our community to discuss the benefits of satellites to society and highlight the negative impact satellites constellations may have on astronomical observations and the pristine appearance of the night sky when observed from a dark region.
You can join the UN-endorsed "Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society" Online Workshop, from 5 - 9, October 2020. One day of the workshop will be dedicated to the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy and the recommendations for regulations. Registration is required.
You can also access the "Impact of Satellite Constellations on Optical Astronomy and Recommendations Toward Mitigations" reports:
Main report: https://noirlab.edu/public/products/techdocs/techdoc003/
Appendices (with all of the working group reports): https://noirlab.edu/public/products/techdocs/techdoc004/
And Press Conference video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCyE8BNYIKM&feature=youtu.be
You can read the IAU Statment on the Impact of Satellite Constellations and our IAU Theme here, and we encourage everyone to join the discussions.
Discover more about World Space Week 2020 at https://www.worldspaceweek.org/world-space-week-highlights/
4. ISS The ISS continues its series of evening passes until October 6 Full details for your location, and lots of other astronomy information, on the excellent free site www.heavens-above.com
5.TEASER – update with clue
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?
CLARIFICATION: In case of confusion, 2090 is the year 2090.
And as an extra clue, it's September 2090. And an extra extra clue – it applies to Ireland.
6. JUPITER and SATURN.
The two largest planets in the solar system are currently quite close together, low in the south around midnight. They are currently about 8º apart, They both resumed prograde motion in September, but will remain about 8º apart until mid-October when faster moving Jupiter starts to catch up with Saturn. By the end of October they are only 5º apart, and they will then 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! More on that later.
7. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR, October 13
They will be 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 13 October: 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.
8. Davagh Dark Sky Park and Observatory opens to public, Saturday, October 17
Because of restrictions on numbers, you have to pre-book for admission to the actual building to see the telescopes, exhibition and interactive stuff. See https://www.midulstercouncil.org/visitor/things-to-do/star-gazing/davagh-dark-sky-observatory , and https://www.facebook.com/omdarksky/
Or Tel: 03000 132 132
9. Paul Evans has produced another excellent 'Lockdown Video guide to the sky:
10. IAU Meet the Astronomers Programme. This is now open to everyone, for a virtual talk. See https://www.iau.org/public/meettheiauastronomers/
11. October 31: Crew-1 Crew Dragon mission to the ISS, carrying Nasa astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japan's Soichi Noguchi aboard a Falcon 9 rocket (5.47am EDT) from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
12. Mayo Dark Sky Festival, via Zoom. 31 October. More details later
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
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923124636.htm
There may be far more Dark Matter than we thought! https://www.facebook.com/172696189433474/posts/3318990211470707/?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=SkjV7pOSZs8AHbez
COSMOLOGY
Gravity causes the homogeneity of the universe https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200924114121.htm
Paradox-free time Travel is theoretically possible https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200924101938.htm This doesn't solve the other paradox where you go back and murder your father before you are conceived, so you could not have been born.
EARTH & MOON
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/this-is-what-would-happen-if-an-asteroid-hit-earth/vi-BB19kvuE?ocid=msedgdhp That illustrates quite a big one – bigger than a Chicxulub dinosaur killer, but with quite a low impact velocity, unless it's meant to be in slow motion.
And almost as scary - https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/david-attenborough-s-stark-warning-about-humanity-s-future-in-sobering-new-film/ar-BB19kQ82?ocid=msedgdhp
Antarctic warming may be irreversible https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923124706.htm and
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8758287/NASA-plans-return-Moon-cost-28-billion.html
Supernova near Earth 2.5m years ago. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200930144417.htm
EDUCATION
EXOLIFE
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/earth-life-may-have-traveled-to-venus-aboard-sky-skimming-asteroid/ar-BB19nrgR?ocid=msedgdhp Since microbes collected from our atmosphere like that would be on the surface of the asteroid (Which would be blazing hot at the time), they would have to survive not only those searing temperatures, but the following intense cold of interplanetary space, constant bombardment by intense solar and cosmic rays, and then a fiery descent into the Venusian atmosphere. To put it mildly, I wouldn't fancy their chances….
Missions which could find life in Venusian clouds, if it exists https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-life-on-venus-these-missions-could-find-it/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-in-science&utm_content=link&utm_term=2020-09-23_featured-this-week&spMailingID=68905353&spUserID=NDcyNjA3Njk3NzkzS0&spJobID=1962483878&spReportId=MTk2MjQ4Mzg3OAS2 A very comprehensive article.
EXOPLANETS
Seeing water above exoplanet cloud-tops https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200922102419.htm
Pi, the Earth-sized planet with a 3.14 day orbit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200921111713.htm Of course, that's very terrocentric! It's not 3.14 in Mercurian or Martian days. (If I had said 'geocentric' that would have given a different connotation)
IMAGES
LIGHT POLLUTION
QUANTUM PHYSICS
Bell's Inequality: I don't usually cover the quantum field, but this is about John Bell, N.I.'s most famous quantum physicist, and after whom the Bell Lecture Theatre in QUB, where we normally hold our meetings, is held. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200924135342.htm
SOLAR SYSTEM
Verifying a centuries-old conjecture about the formation of the SS https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923124639.htm
Missions which could find life in Venusian clouds, if it exists https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-life-on-venus-these-missions-could-find-it/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-in-science&utm_content=link&utm_term=2020-09-23_featured-this-week&spMailingID=68905353&spUserID=NDcyNjA3Njk3NzkzS0&spJobID=1962483878&spReportId=MTk2MjQ4Mzg3OAS2 A very comprehensive article.
Asteroid Ryugu's violent history https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200921111653.htm
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/did-a-migrating-jupiter-turn-venus-into-hell/ar-BB19uWL2?ocid=sf This is self-contradictory! How could it have both strong tides, and a high eccentricity, and then revert to near circularity after it lost the tides?
Venus might be habitable today, but for Jupiter https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200930085157.htm
Second 'alignment plane' of Solar System https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200929123458.htm
Cosmic diamonds in meteorites formed during gigantic collisions https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200929123418.htm
SPACE
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nasa-plans-to-send-first-woman-to-the-moon-in-2024/ar-BB19jLFY?ocid=msedgdhp That illustration may show an astronaut but s/he is not on any planet or moon in our solar system! Where do they get these unrealistic images from?
New design for giant space habitat produces artificial gravity by spinning https://www.facebook.com/352364611609411/posts/1707770659402126/?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=738qAO7jSje0CPRl
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/china-to-launch-asteroid-mining-robot/ar-BB19nAnL?ocid=msedgdhp
NASA warns ISS that space junk is an increasing threat https://www.facebook.com/6651543066/posts/10157819559328067/?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=c5QUg9kHTGxAcWlh
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8758287/NASA-plans-return-Moon-cost-28-billion.html
Faint orbital debris is not being monitored closely enough. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200924135332.htm
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/dawn-of-the-space-plane/vi-BB19yMdn?ocid=msedgdhp
Space-X to do FIVE launches in October! https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/elon-musk-s-spacex-adds-mysterious-october-rocket-launch/ar-BB19Atc4?ocid=msedgdhp
SUN
Can ripples on the Sun help predict flares? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200922144309.htm
How nanojets heat the solar corona https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200921115554.htm
Telescopes, Instruments, Techniques
Seeing water above exoplanet cloud-tops https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200922102419.htm
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
