Hi all,
(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1. IAA lecture via Zoom, 21 October, 19.30, by Dr Marc Sarzi, AOP, "The Hunt for Supermassive Black Holes: a Short History"
This highly topical talk by Dr Marc Sarzi, head of research at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, is highly topical, not only because of the increasing number and variety of Black Holes being discovered, but because if the recent award of the Nobel Prize for physics to three astronomers working on the subject'
SYNOPSIS:
In this talk I will describe the theoretical and observational milestones that lead to establishing the existence of supermassive black holes, and the award of the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics.
Biography
Marc Sarzi graduated in Padua and did his PhD spending time both at the Asiago Observatory in Italy and the Max Plank Institute fur Astronomie in Heidelberg, working at the detection of supermassive black holes using Hubble Space Telescope observations. After his PhD he moved on to post-doctoral research assistant positions in Durham and Oxford, after which he moved to the University of Hertfordshire where he held both a STFC Rutherford research fellowship and a Public Engagement fellowship before finally moving two years ago at the Armagh Observatory & Planetarium as Head of Research.
The lecture is also available on YouTube. The lecture is free, but if you would like to donate to AOP see donation page: https://armaghobservatoryplanetarium.ticketsolve.com/products/donation
2. Mars still brilliant, after close Opposition on Oct 13
Mars won't get any closer until Sept. 11, 2035, when the planet will be 35.4 million miles (56.9 million km) away. It's strikingly bright, with the ruddy hue obvious to the naked eye even in light polluted sky. The S Polar cap has shrunk markedly, as it's summer in that hemisphere, but it's still visible in most amateur telescopes in reasonable seeing.
3. Davagh Dark Sky Park and Observatory open to public, from Saturday, October 17 – Under review!
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/
Best to phone 03000 132 132 to make sure, due to changing Covid-19 advice.
4. Orionid meteors peak on October 22, producing up to 20 or so meteors every hour at maximum, they are active at lower rates throughout October. They appear to come from above Betelgeuse, just on the Orion side of its boundary with Gemini. These are particles from Comet Halley, and are typically fast, with some fireballs. The 6 day old moon will set as the radiant rises, and best views will ne had as the radiant gets higher in the pre-dawn skies.
5. ISS The ISS will commence a new series of morning passes on 23 October. Full details for your location, and lots of other astronomy information, on the excellent free site www.heavens-above.com
6. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR, October 27
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 27 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.
7. Connemara Astronomy Club lecture via Zoom, Thu 29 October, 19.00. Terry Moseley "ET, where are you?" Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81328386154?pwd=d3h3aVZwK1VGeVFiaVY1SFBUUWVMUT09
Meeting ID: 813 2838 6154; Passcode: 343375
8. Un of NSW Online lecture, Fri 30 October, 01.00 GMT (Note Time!) (The Mars 2020 Rover Mission). Free. See https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mars-2020-rover-mission-tickets-124958533337?aff=erelexpmlt&keep_tld=1
9. DIAS Lecture, Friday 30 October, 18.00. "Rosalind Franklin, De Valera and the Irish role in the secret of life https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-irish-role-in-the-discovery-of-the-secret-of-life-tickets-97295173483
10. Mayo Dark Sky Festival, via Zoom. 31 October. See https://www.mayodarkskyfestival.ie
11. QUB: The John Bell Day Lecture "Quantum Reality", by Prof Vlatko Vedral, U of Oxford. 4 Nov, 13.30 – 15.30, Online. This free event is hosted by QUB, see https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/john-bell-day-lecture-2020-quantum-reality-tickets-124123174757
12. RAS Lecture Fri 6 November, 19.30: Looking for Life on Mars with the Rosalind Franklin Rover. Free. See https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/looking-for-life-on-mars-with-the-rosalind-franklin-rover-tickets-123524620465?aff=erelexpmlt
13. RIA Academy Discourse, Astronomy and Poetry, by Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, 10 November, 19.00 – 20.30. Free, but booking essential. See https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/academy-discourse-astronomy-and-poetry-tickets-122542647357
14. RAS Lecture, Saturday 14 November, 10.00. Voyagers 1 and 2. Search via RAS website.
15. IAA Membership subs due. Annual subscriptions were due on 1 September. It's easy to pay online – see www.irishastro.org
16. TEASER – update – an answer is within someone's grasp
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. John O'Neill has got very close, but hasn't crossed the finishing line yet! Can anyone leap-frog him with the answer?
17. 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.
18. Paul Evans has produced another excellent 'Lockdown Video guide to the sky:
19. Crew-1 Crew Dragon mission to the ISS, postponed from Oct 31 to a date in November, 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.
20. 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.
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
Dark matter galaxy anomaly explained https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201013124125.htm
What causes the brightness variations in magnetars? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201013101641.htm
Multiple chirps from Black Hole mergers https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201008083756.htm
Betelgeuse is much smaller and closer to Earth than we thought! https://www.facebook.com/164665060214766/posts/4177683415579557/?sfnsn=scwspmo
Globular cluster in M31 is EXTREMELY metal-poor! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201015101814.htm
Star Clusters have much more to them than we thought! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201015092429.htm
VLT sees star being devoured by SMBH https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201012115956.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
X-rays linger long after neutron star collision https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201012103132.htm
EARTH & MOON
China plans to launch 3 big artificial moons! https://www.facebook.com/groups/616331748949766/permalink/750791435503796/?sfnsn=scwspmo
EXOPLANETS
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8824967/Astronomers-capture-direct-image-exoplanet-located-63-light-years-Earth.html The text should refer to "Beta Pictoris C".
Two exoplanets round a red dwarf https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201016112852.htm
Rogue rocky exoplanet found drifting in Milky Way https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/DisplayMessage?ws_popup=true&ws_suite=true
IMAGES
Mars – amazing image by Damian Peach, using 1m remote telescope in Chile
https://www.facebook.com/606900933/posts/10159267781245934/?sfnsn=scwspmo
Protecting the Night Sky
China plans to launch 3 big artificial moons! https://www.facebook.com/groups/616331748949766/permalink/750791435503796/?sfnsn=scwspmo
SOLAR SYSTEM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8822819/Asteroid-Bennu-contain-building-blocks-LIFE.html amazing video tour!
https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/DisplayMessage?ws_popup=true&ws_suite=true
Why there's snow on the mountains of Pluto https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201013134310.htm
SPACE
https://spacenews.com/russia-skeptical-about-participating-in-lunar-gateway/
China plans to launch 3 big artificial moons! https://www.facebook.com/groups/616331748949766/permalink/750791435503796/?sfnsn=scwspmo
SUN
Studying the Sun as a star to understand flares and exoplanets https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201012115943.htm
Telescopes, Instruments, Techniques:
JWSTwill reveal many hidden galaxies https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201015003439.htm
Time.
That was quick! This is only indirectly connected with astronomy, but it's so incredible that I had to include it. Scientists have measured the shortest ever time – mere sextillionths of a second! Read the link to the end for a mind-blowing fact!
https://www.facebook.com/76426236137/posts/10158571361801138/?sfnsn=scwspmo Isn't science amazing?
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
