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Welcome to Newsletter No. 25.
So much has happened since Newsletter 24, so the following is just a snapshot of all of it.
The has been quite a lot of activity in the Society as well as a lot of planning being started on various upcoming projects.
Society news
The past three months have seen a busy schedule of events at the
Clubroom and Observatory too, so here is a brief summary:
Program 2007-8 was completed with an interesting mix to presentations
by Society members as well as visiting Speakers
Mike Hezzlewood, from the Planetary section of the SPA (Society for
Popular Astronomy) came to HAPS in February.
The main thrust of his presentation was the Astronomy you can do by
simply looking at an astronomical object, not necessarily using
binoculars, Telescope or an imaging device.
He covered areas such as sketching constellations and lunar craters
(whilst looking through a telescope), drawing the paths of meteors,
circum-lunar and circum-solar arcs these are created when
Moon/Sunlight is refracted by ice crystals and water vapour in the
Earths atmosphere.
Also covered with weather patterns such as Noctilucent clouds again a
formation caused by ice crystals formed high in the Earths atmosphere
In general, his conclusions were that if you have the time to just
watch the night sky go by, and you have some simple means of recording
what you observe, suing pencil and paper, it can be quite rewarding.
As a footnote to this, any one who also went to WYAS to hear another
Apollo Astronaut speak, will remember the abiding message that they all
were rewarded with stunning views of the Lunar landscape they could
take photographs but they all remember seeing the Earth set against
the blackness of space and in some cases they have, once returned to
earth, recorded their observations on canvas.
The March Public Lecture was given by Dr June McCombie from Nottingham University, on the subject of the Chemistry of Space.
If you can remember the visit, the previous year, by Dr Martin
McCoustra, you will know how technical that got, so Dr McCombie's talk
was a bit easier to understand, on the subject of the identification of
molecules in space.
The key, to any researcher, in this field of Astronomy is not that
there are molecules in space,there a many hundreds the difficulty
is pinning down an observation to a designated molecule.
For example, there have been numerous carbon compounds found in space,
but when you utilise high-resolution Spectroscopy Dr McCombie's
speciality - then you can pin down the exact molecule you are
observing. In point of fact Dr McCombie had been out of work until
she was approached by Astronomers, from America and Europe, to
collaborate with their Telescopic observations.
They had the Telescope time (utilising the Hubble Space telescope, the
Subaru Infra Red telescope and numerous others) and she had the
knowledge and insight to work out what the images meant.
Following on in April we had the Hunt for dark matter. Originally
planed to be given by Dr Ed Daw from Sheffield University, he was
called away to a conference as so his assistant Dr Valery Kudriadtsev
stepped in.
Dark Matter is the next Holy Grail for Cosmologists as it is hoped to
explain why the Universe is starting to expand faster than was thought
50 years ago.
As its name suggests Dark matter is Dark i.e. cannot be seen only
that its influence on the motions of stars in galaxies and galaxies
within Clusters and Clusters of galaxies with other Clusters shows its
self on the large scale of the Universe.
Even so it was an enthralling presentation with quite a debate at the
end as to what might be the probable nature of dark matter.
Dark matter detectors are hidden in Boulby Mine a Potash mine in
Derbyshire, some 2,000 ft underground. It has to be this far down to
shield the detectors from all other forms of radiation. There are plans
for new detectors but only if enough money can be raised across an
international collaborative effort to find where this dark matter is
hidden.
The first Public Lecture of the 2008-9 program kicked off with Martin
Lunn, from York Museum talking about Viking Astronomy.
The Vikings are one of the few civilisations who left almost nothing in the way of archives about their Astronomical exploits.
This is because their traditions are all handed down by word of mouth.
Thankfully, their stories or Runes as they are known, contain clues to
their use of the stars and constellations of the Night Sky, to pass
down myths and legends such as Odin, Valhalla etc.
The hardest part is to find these records as there is very little in
the way of written manuscripts or carved stone tablets etc that are
still in existence.
Even so, broadly speaking, their view of the Night Sky was very similar
to our own they used the recognisable constellations of the Great
Bear (Ursa major), Draco the Dragon, Gemini the twins
They were aware of the motions of the known planets as far out as
Saturn there is some evidence that their observations led them to
suspect that there was a 7th Planet (i.e. Uranus) some 700 years before
it was actually found.
Also, and far more intriguing, was that they knew about what was later
to become Halleys Comet their stories had recollected a visiting
star every 75-80 years going back before the year 900AD again some
700 yeas before Halley made his historic observation and predictions.
The other meetings held recently have included a presentation by Marcus
on the Large Hadron Collider. This was scheduled to be operational this
year, but due to a big miss-hap one of the large magnetic coils was
dropped from a crane the unit will not be operational to late 2008.
The purpose of the LHS is to collide beams of protons together at near
light speed (somewhere near 0.999999999 c) and record the debris from
the collision in the hope of finding (amongst other things) the Higgs
Bosonthis is a fundamental particle in the current Theory of
particle physics and if found would close out one in this
theory.
There have been protests, from various groups, claiming that the LHC
would :
a) End the Universe
b) Create a mini-Block Hole inside the device
c) Unleash the Devil
And a whole load of other cranky ideas. Anyway we will just have to
wait and see what results do come from this giant experiment (the
equipment sits under the Countries of France and Switzerland and the
is 50Km in diameter)
A recent debate was Martian Meteorites still controversial.
Almost 10 years a go some meteorites were found in the Allen Hills, of
Antarctica. Their composition identified their origins as from Mars and
on examination under the Electron Microscope some channels were found
that indicated, possibly, of an origin from ancient micro-fossils.
There was a huge amount of publicity about this, when it happened, in
the media but no sooner that the announcement had been made then as
many if not more counter claims surfaced.
Marcus took the opportunity to lay out the evidence before the group
and suggest the tantalising possibility that, perhaps indeed, some many
hundreds of millions of years ago just maybe Mars did have simple life
forms on its surface but they were soon extinguished during a period of
climatic upheaval and are no longer present on the Martian surface.
We have had another National Science Week this year it coincided with
Dr June McCombie's presentation and an Observatory Open Week more
about this later
The 2008 Annual general meeting took place in late April the last and
first Event of the Society's program unlike previous years this
years AGM was a fairly quiet affair with no major decisions taken.
The 2007-8 year has been a successful year for the Society helped in no
doubt by the Beginners Astronomy Courses (which are schedules for
2008-9 as well).
Unusually there were no resolutions submitted for discussion/voting so it will be same as usual for this year.
International Year of Astronomy
As some of you may know 2009 celebrates the 400th birthday of the
telescope used by Galileo in 1609 to view Jupiter and Saturn and in
doing so he overturned centuries of doctrine, held sacred by the Church
that the Earth was at the centre of the Universe.
To celebrate this event, an International group of professional
Astronomers, has got together to prose a list of events and activities
that Amateur astronomers , such as ourselves, can do to shoe to the
general public what IYA2009 is all about.
If you visit www.IYA2009.org you can find out a lot more about what is
being planned.
HAPS has got in quite early as we have already booked out first
event:
On January 9th 2009, Professor John Brown, Astronomer Royal and member
of the Magic Circle, is coming from Glasgow University to Huddersfield University
to give a presentation Our Magical Universe and how we reveal its
tricks.
You can find out more about what we have got planned by visiting the
www.huddersfieldastronomy.org website this will get regular updates
about the plans for his visit.
Professor John Brown
and here is the logo:
Events News
A recent talk by Gain lee on DSLR photography attached a number of the Societys Digital Imagers.
In recent years, Digital imaging has, like other forms of photography, taken over from Slide or film imaging in Astronomy.
Just as will film/slide there is a knack to getting the best from
your digital astronomy image and it doesnt necessarily need the best
equipment rather a lot of patience and attention to detail as well as
planning and execution.
Observatory News
It has been a fairly quite time at the Observatory, in the past few months.
However, over the next three months quite a lot of work and activity is planned:
a) Refurbishing the slit of the dome so that it runs better on the
circular track this is already part done with improvements to the
sealing strip on the bottom of the slit already in place
b) Replacing the broken Solar panel
c) Installing a new Solar Battery to provide more lighting power
d) Repairs to the inner door to make it open better/easily
e) General refurbishment possibly some painting and clear-out of the room downstairs
All this is hoped to be done before the end of August in time for the next Open day at the Observatory.
The Society BBQ is planned for the Sunday 10th August (TBC).
Kielder Forest Star Camp April 2008
As some of you may know the Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society
has been recently formed to oversee the operation of a new Observatory
in Kielder Forest near SkyScape.
Located in one of the darkest localities in England the Kielder
Observatory utilises a unique wooden design, to fit in with the
forested surroundings.
It is a 2Km walk from the nearest building/Kielder campsite, but the
effort will be worth it as the skies are often magnitude 6 or better
(i.e. the faintest stars to be seen with the unaided eye is magnitude 6
some 5 times fainter than can be seen from Huddersfield.
The nearest source of light pollution is some 50 Km away and Kielder
itself ifs only 5Km from the Scottish border.
A number of HAPS members have already joined KOAS and even though it is
a 250Km drive to Kielder Forest the night skies can be so rewarding of
that journey.
Even so the Weather at Kielder can be quite harsh.
For the most recent SkyCamp a number of HAPS members ventured to
Kielder and stayed across the weekend from Thursday to Monday (In
various shits so to speak).
Mostly everyone saw something. Having said that we did have some snow
of the Saturday evening but this cleared after 10pm and we were
rewarded with magnitude 7 skies until dawn 9those that managed to stay
awake that long anyway). Mel Westwood made the awesome comment I could not see the stars because there we SO MANY of them!).
Everyone
came away with an appreciation of just how good it can be at Kielder
though many of us who have been there in previous years also know how
BAD it can get with the great flood a few years back!).
One of the main reasons for going to Kielder this April was to see the
completion of the Observatory construction however due to delays
caused by unstable foundations and bad weather preventing access to the
site the Observatory wasnt completed in time for the Official opening
ceremony.
This should be done by late May so when we go back for the Autumn Star
Party in late October, it should be fully working as there is still
equipment commissioning to do once construction is completed.
Some pictures from Kielder:
The Kielder Observatory as at 05/04/08 (it was snowing at the time!)
Our Pitch
The morning after the night before!
If you want to know more about KOAS then browse their website at : www.kielderobservatory.org
2007 The year of the Comet (contributed by Gain Lee)
In over thirty years of observing the sky, comets have been a staple
diet for my many hours spent at the eyepiece. I remember vividly,
Halley's return in the mid eighties, which for me was a big name comet
with a not so big view, to be followed a decade later by the sprawling
mighty Hale Bopp.
Another decade on and 2007 has proved for me to be the best yet,
offering two spectacular comets; my first daylight comet and my most
unusual.
Comet McNaught C/2006 P1 was discovered by British Australian
astronomer Robert H McNaught in a CCD image on August 7th, 2006. The
comet was in Ophiuchus, at the time glowing feebly at magnitude +17.
Five months later the comet would brighten to the glorious magnitude of
-6.0, making it an easy daylight target. Comet McNaught was to become
the brightest in 40 years and was ultimately dubbed the Great Comet of
2007.
Using my 10 X 50 binocular, I picked up the comet on a cold and windy
afternoon at approximately 4.15pm, low on the western horizon. Sunset
that day was 4.00 pm; clouds were plentiful but they were moving fast,
affording me a few gaps to scan for a view of comet McNaught.
Suddenly, through a clearing, McNaught finally came into view. I was
treated to an amazing sight! I was dazzled; nothing beforehand had
prepared me for the view which lay before my eyes. The comet was not
large in size but exhibited a typical cometary appearance, that is, a
bright nucleus followed by a sweeping tail. It was an intense white
against a steely blue daylight sky and with a very well defined
outline. I grabbed some camera gear and fired off a few shots. A dog
walker came by and asked me for the subject of my photography to which
I answered, A bright comet and pointed over to the west. WOW,
that's incredible was his reply. He spotted it quickly and easily
without optical aid. We both stood on the road side for over 45 minutes
before the clouds rolled in and ended the show. Never to be repeated
and not to be forgotten.
That was January and it wasn't until late October when another bright
comet made an appearance in the northern sky. Comet 17P/Holmes, a slow
moving interloper amongst the stars of Perseus, was unusual in its
behaviour and appearance. Named after it's discoverer Edwin Holmes, the
comet was seen at 5th magnitude whilst he was conducting routine
observations of the Andromeda galaxy on the night of November 6th 1892.
Normally a 17th magnitude periodic comet, 17P/Holmes waited 115 years
to have another major flare up, this time brightening a million times
to magnitude +2.2.
I had heard so much about this comet since its resurgence into the
night sky but the unforgiving cloud cover would make me wait a full
five nights before surrendering the first display of this erratic
comet. I was surprised at how easy it was to locate in the late
twilight with my binocular, showing up as a small ghostly disc with a
slight brightening toward the centre. It was through the telescope that
the comet gave away it's true colours; a very bright nucleus surrounded
by an almost as bright coma, then a dark ring followed by another
bright ring. It was a comet made up of concentric circles and just made
me think of doughnuts. Over the subsequent few weeks, Holmes would
lower in surface brightness but grow considerably larger in size and at
a very rapid rate.
It is rare that a year passes by without a display of a good comet in
the night sky, but the sublime beauty of Holmes and the magnificence of
McNaught have made 2007 my Year Of The Comet.
Astrophotographer and deep sky observer, Gain Lee
Some pictures of the comet
Presentation at St Aidens School in Skelmanthorpe
'HAPS was invited to St Aidens School in Skelmanthorpe to participate
in a 'Space Day' as part of National Science & Engineering Week
2009.
Activities included:
a) a picture tour of our Universe starting with a grain of sand scaling all the way up to the size of the whole Universe.
b) a powerpoint slide show, of images taken by Shuttle/ISS Astronaut
Sunita Willliams, showing the beautiful vistas of the Earth surface as
seen from a few hundred kilometers above the surface.
c) Demonstrations of the relationship between the Sun, the Earth and
the Moon describing how and why Solar and Lunar Eclipses take place.
d) A look at some of the interesting objects both in our Solar System
and beyond describing some of the special places that Astronomers are
looking.
e) Describing the importance of Galileo and his contemporaries and why
Astronomers are celebrating 2009 at International Year of Astronomy.
f) A questions and answers session.
g) A look at some meteorites.
Many of the kids and teachers had dressed up for Red Nose Day.
A big thank you to Evelynn Barrow, the headteacher of St Aidens CE (VA)
First School, for organising the day and making HAPS most welcome'.
Previous Newsletters
Newsletter 22
Newsletter 23
Newsletter 24