NOVEMBER 2011 SOCIETY JOURNAL - Auckland … · · 2012-05-30SOCIETY JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2011 ... 6...

SOCIETY JOURNALNOVEMBER 2011

November Society Meeting - The People’s AstronomerThe Life and hisTory of PeTer read

by Gordon hudson, KoTiPu PLace observaTory, Monday noveMber 14Th 8:00PM

a one-hour Presentation & Touring exhibition sponsored by The royal astronomical society of nZ, carter observatory and the Kiwispace foundation, Gordon hudson of the Wellington astronomical society / carter observatory will present an exhibition of the life and work of Peter read.

This presentation will feature a lot of information about Peter and his time as a young adult with his first telescope through to his last telescope, a 6” cooke refractor. it will show Peter’s time with nZbc presenting the night sky for eleven years, some of his collections of Telescopes and Guns. The show will also show his travel to antarctica and to the usa where he visited nasa and watched the apollo 15 launch. Gordon will show two short videos interviewing his two sons, christopher & adam read, who both live in australia. on display will be several of Peter’s telescopes, a double star micrometer, many of his paintings and scrapbooks, and some of his nasa badges along with his 16mm original films in cannisters.

2 SocieTy jourNAl, NoVeMBer 2011

Well-attended SGM

october Society Meeting SGM and Planetarium show - Seven WondersBy Gavin Logan

after a well-attended special General

Meeting to change the society’s rules,

attendees watched a Planetarium

show called “seven Wonders”.

This 40-minute show featured the seven

Wonders of the ancient World, of which

only one still exists, the Pyramids in

egypt. others, such as the Lighthouse of

alexandria in egypt, the Greek Temples of

Zeus and artemis, the hanging Gardens of

babylon and Mausoleum at halicarnassus

in Persia have not survived the passage of

the centuries and the wars, earthquakes

and the changing rulers of those centuries.

The show created what these would have

been like and how they might have been

created. it also suggested that the colossus

of rhodes, a thirty-metre tall statue of

helios the sun God, inspired the design of

the statue of Liberty in new york.

2012 NZ Astronomical yearbook

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

after the historical segment, the show went

on to explore the “seven wonders of the

universe,” looking at celestial objects such

as saturn’s rings, the orion nebula, the

crab nebula and the gigantic black hole at

the centre of the galaxy M87.

Published by the stardome observatory, this is a must-have astronomy almanac for what’s happening in the new Zealand skies for 2012!

as well as featuring monthly sky guides for 2012 and information on the planets, Moon and sun, it includes topical articles on:

- ‘2012 not the end’ dispelling the popular myths and false science about the end of the world.

- ‘Mars exploration’ - the search for life continues with a new rover called ‘curiosity’

- The transit of venus and how to watch it on 6 June 2012

- The rise of Matariki festival

- Latest discoveries and technological advancements

- Large glossy full colour space images

- information for beginners as well as veterans

- contact information for other nZ astronomical societies

3www.ASTroNoMy.org.NZ

october Film Night - Time Travel With Gavin Logan

A good attendance of society members watching leading scientists discussing the latest ideas on time.

october’s film night featured a documentary on Time Travel. This documentary explored the possibilities of Time Travel and how this fits in with einstein’s theory of relativity and the laws of physics. it looked at the bizarre consequences of going into the past and altering the future, how doing this might have prevented people alive today from ever being born and the problems this idea presents. however, time travel towards the future claims to be an established as well as essential facet of albert einstein’s theory of relativity and presents less theoretical difficulty, but immense practical difficulty. Wormholes and warping space to travel faster than the speed of light were discussed in relation to travelling into the future. it showed that present scientific theories provide a few likely possibilities for time travel, but that building a functional time machine, whether or not probable, continues to be a distant possibility.

finally, the film looked at travelling to the nearest star, 4.3 light-years away, at nearly the speed of light and how this could be time travel. To the crew of the space ship this would appear to take only 45 days, but when they returned to earth about 9 years will have passed.

after the main film, september’s sky at night show with Patrick Moore was shown. called “final frontiers”, it covered the space

shuttle programme and its contribution

to science and speculated on what might

follow now the shuttle Programme has

ended.

next month’s film night is on Monday 21st

november at 8pm at stardome and features

a documentary called “solar storm”. This

documentary explores how activity on the

sun could threaten earth’s power supply.

how extreme solar events could seriously disrupt earth’s electric power networks to an extent where repairs could take months. it uses a mixture of history and the latest research to support its claims. it is 46 minutes long. it will be followed by the May 2011 sky at night show with Patrick Moore called “storm chasing”, which looks at storms on other planets (30 minutes long).

The 2012 edition is available to members at the special price of $14.00 (+$2 postage) per copy when purchased from the aas. normal retail price is $20.00. (note this price is not available from the stardome shop)

Purchases can be made at all aas meetings or you can order from andrew buckingham; by email at [email protected] or by phone on 09 473 5877

is now available


2011 Burbidge DinnerPictorial Review

The 2011 auckland astronomical society

burbidge dinner took place at the Te Tuhi

centre for the arts in Pakuranga on saturday

october 30th. The event was as popular

as ever, and attendees enjoyed, along with

dinner, the presentation of the annual

harry Williams astrophotography Trophy

and the beaumont Prize for Journalism for

submissions to the society’s Journal.

This was followed by a stimulating and

interesting talk on the subject of ‘Life in

extreme environments and Possible Life on

Mars’ by assoc Prof Kathy campbell of the

university of auckland.

Thanks go to our volunteer judges, John

White, brian donovan and John hearnshaw,

and to those who gave their time to help

organise another successful event.

Prizes are awarded for the Society’s annual competitions

Assoc Prof. Kathy Campbell gives her talk on ‘Life in extreme environments and Possible Life on Mars’ to the burbidge audience.

Guests recover from dinner and listen to our guest speaker’s excellent presentation


Second: Tony BuRnS - “ASTRoniMBuS PARTS 1 And 2”

an article about astronomy at non-visible

wavelengths, concluding with ideas for

reasonably simple equipment with which

amateurs can make useful observations.

Judge’s comments - survey of aspects of

astronomy which expand our understanding

of the universe, presented in an amusingly

whimsical style which made this reader, at

least, want to look immediately for further

information.

FiRST: ReBeccA GReATRex - “L PLATeS” - LeARninG AT An ASTRoPhoToGRAPhy couRSe

This article described taking part in a training course in astrophotography extending over several nights, engagingly and clearly written. it showed that members of the society are able to take part in serious activities with members who have serious talents. it also highlighted the considerable contribution which dave Moorhouse, the course instructor, makes to the society.

Judge’s comments - a seriously practical article, showing amateur astronomers doing serious work and displaying serious talents and skills in the process.

ThiRd: coLin LiTTLe - The MySTeRy oF LiFe – eMeRGence oF LiFe

The origin of life on earth isn’t a normal

topic for an astronomical publication, but

the article presents a theory that prions were

the catalysts for reactions from which larger

biological molecules emerged. (The best-

known modern example of a prion is the

agent responsible for ‘mad cow disease’.)

Judge’s comments - anyone writing an

engagingly readable scholarly article at age 97

deserves special recognition.

Beaumont writing Prize 2011 Judged by John White

Members and guests enjoy dinner and company

Grant Christie explains the purpose and details of his Winning entry in the Harry Williams Astrophotography competition.

Bernie Brenner presides over events with his usual good humour and flair.

Petra Tang and a colleague provide music


DECEMBER PROGRAMME

fri 2 7:30 pm young astronomers with Margaret arthur

Mon 5 8:00pm Practical astronomy summer observing night

Mon 12 8:00pm Monthly meetingspeaker to be announced

Mon 19 8:00pm film nightWhat happened before the big bang

NOVEMBER PROGRAMME

fri 4 7:30pm young astronomers - enter by library door

Mon 7 8:00pm Practical astronomycelestial navigation basics

Mon 14 8:00pm Monthly Meeting november - The Life and history of Peter read with Gordon hudson

Mon 21 8:00pm film night november - solar storm

with Gavin Logan

Mon 28 8:00pm introduction to astronomyvideo lecture and tutorialwith bernie brenner

calendar and events

PRACtiCAl AstRONOMy - CElEstiAl NAViGAtiON BAsiCs Monday 7th November at 8:00pm

This session will give some tips and techniques for finding and observing objects using various navigation techniques

NOVEMBER MONtHly MEEtiNG Monday 14th November at 8:00pmspeaker: Gordon Hudson

The PeoPLe’s asTronoMer - The Life and hisTory of PeTer read a one-hour Presentation & Touring exhibition sponsored by The royal astronomical society of nZ, carter observatory and the Kiwispace foundation, Gordon hudson of the Wellington astronomical society / carter observatory will present an exhibition of the life and work of Peter read.

FilM NiGHt NOVEMBER - sOlAR stORMMonday 21st November at 8:00pmwith Gavin logan

This documentary explores how activity on the sun could threaten earth’s power supply, how extreme solar events could seriously disrupt earth’s electric power networks to an extent where repairs could take months. it uses a mixture of history and the latest research to support its claims.

it is 46 minutes long.

it will be followed by the May 2011 sky at night show with Patrick Moore called “storm chasing”, which looks at storms on other planets (30 minutes).

FilM NiGHt NOVEMBER - WHAt HAPPENED BEFORE tHE BiG BANGMonday 19th December at 8:00pmwith Gavin logan

some scientists believe that the big bang was not really the beginning. our universe may have had a life before this. This documentary explores the latest ideas about the big bang and what created it or came before it. Theories about cosmic bounces, rips and multiple universes are discussed to try to find out what happened before the big bang. it is 50 minutes long.

it will be followed by the august 2011 sky at night show with Patrick Moore about asteroids (30 minutes).

PRACtiCAl AstRONOMy DECEMBER - sUMMER OBsERViNG NiGHt Monday 5th December from 8:00pm

our seasonal observing event.

The evening will start in the planetarium with a tour of the summer sky and will progress to telescope viewing as it gets dark. The eWb Zeiss Telescope will be available for viewing as well as portable telescopes outside in the courtyard. Members will be on hand to help people who have questions about telescopes or your own telescope. feel free to bring your own telescope along.

The event will be weather-independent as we will have the planetarium available and other activities planned.

The evening is aimed to include members who are getting started with exploring the night sky, as well as the more experienced, so come along and join in.

WElCOME NEW MEMBERs

rick reimann (family)deanna hackney (family)Max Maclaurin (ordinary)robert Groenestein (ordinary)


Astrophotography lesson with Dave MoorhouseBy Gavin Logan

october’s Practical astronomy

night was facilitated by david

Moorhouse who covered the

basics of astrophotography.

david showed attendees a range of

equipment he uses including a canon

dsLr camera, which can be purchased

from a camera shop, to a specialist astro

ccd camera with a cooling system in

it to keep the ccd chip at very cold

temperatures (20c below 0) for long

exposures photography.

he explained how, using a dsLr camera

with a telephoto lens, excellent wide-

angle pictures of the sky could be taken.

using his 80mm Williams optics triplet

refractor, he explained the principles of

using the dsLr camera with a telescope.

david went on to explain that as the

aperture of the telescope being used

gets bigger, the difficulties in taking

images become greater. he also showed the type of telescope mount needed for astrophotography. Photographic noise and how this is reduced were also covered.

David Moorhouse with an image of the Milky Way on the screen explaining to a well-attended Practical Astronomy session how this was taken.

David Moorhouse with his Canon DSLR camera attached to his 80 mm refractor on a motorised equatorial mount.

MAKe STArDATe PArT oF your HoliDAy PlANS!Where: Tukituki valley, near havelock north, hawkes bay - When: 20-23 January 2012

stardate is an annual event held during the month of January with as much hands on observing as the weather allows. for anyone with an

interest in astronomy, stardate provides opportunities to look through a range of telescopes, listen to a wide range of astronomy related

talks and meet a variety of astronomers.

stardate is an astronomical gathering for people who are interested in observing the stars through a variety of telescopes brought along by

participants; people who like listening to interesting talks and participating in workshops; people who like good food and good company;

people who are interested in diverse aspects of astronomy. by the way that includes children; stardate is a family affair.

The hawkes bay is a lovely holiday area so you may choose to make this part of your summer break; bring the family too if you wish. There’s

astronomy for the enthusiasts but also lovely beaches, wineries, art deco tours, museums, splash Planet for the kids, the Gannet colony and

lots, lots more. read the reports the 2011or 2010 stardate – that will give you an idea of the fun in store. The 2010 review has pictures.

We try to keep prices to a minimum and endeavour to maintain a warm and friendly atmosphere; camping, bunks or tent sites available and

are included in the registration fee. individual registrations start from $60 and families from $160. Meals are extra, but apart from saturday

night - are barbeques by gold coin donation

The programme commences at 7pm on friday 20 January and ends on sunday night. There are no programmed events on Monday, but

there will be informal activities for those that want to stay longer. Please keep an eye on this webpage as we will post the programme as

speakers and topics are confirmed.

but you don’t need to wait for the programme - a special early bird fee applies prior to 1 december. you can register and pay by credit card

or find more information online at http://groupspaces.com/Phoenixastronomicalsociety/item/167644

noTe: the exact arrival and departure times are yet to be confirmed.


the area that needs to be lit.

b) Many commercial buildings (particularly multi-storey office buildings) leave non-street level lights on when the buildings are unoccupied using power unnecessarily and adding to light pollution.

We want added to the auckland Plan that as a basic policy all street lighting in auckland city should use light shrouds to protect the dark sky wherever possible. We would like to see a policy adopted where all new and replacement street and exterior building lighting uses light shielding so that light is directed where it is needed and is not wastefully producing sky glow. When granting building and resource consents for new commercial buildings and multi-dwelling residential complexes, we would like to see a policy in place that mandates the use of shrouded lighting for all exterior lights and outdoor car park lighting.

We also request the council to pass a bylaw or take other appropriate action to require the lights in its own buildings and preferably all commercial buildings be switched off when these buildings are not in use. We cannot see how the council can achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2031 if energy is wasted by unnecessary lighting.

a very beneficial effect of adopting these policies will be mitigation of the adverse effects of urban light pollution on auckland regional and other parks, some of which are losing their starry sky because of the effect of sky glow from auckland’s lights. These areas need to be quiet and dark. it is the right of every citizen to have access to starry night skies. being able to see the Milky Way, stars and planets is as much part of our heritage as any other aspect of our cultural and natural heritage. if the council is serious about “the impact on auckland’s rural and natural environment” as stated in the plan, which it says “is a comparative advantage” then the lighting issue needs to be addressed with urgency as auckland as a city is rapidly losing one of its natural environmental advantages.

This is also becoming a quality of life issue for many people in urban auckland, with bright invasive street lighting becoming difficult to block out of the house at night causing sleep difficulty for some people. Many studies have shown that light pollution and light trespass adversely effects human health and the health of ecosystems. researchers at the american national cancer institute (nci) and national institute of environmental health sciences have also concluded a study that suggests that artificial light during the night can be a factor for breast cancer. a good review of current knowledge of the health consequences (including cancer risks) of exposure to artificial light at night and an explanation of the causal mechanisms was published in the Journal of Pineal research in June 2007 (“The dark side of light at night: physiological, epidemiological, and

GAvin LoGAn And dAvid BRiTTen ARe PRovidinG A SuBMiSSion To The AuckLAnd counciL in ReGARd To The neW AuckLAnd PLAn, in oRdeR To enSuRe The inTeReSTS oF ouR coMMuniTy ARe RePReSenTed.(full submission available on request)

The auckland astronomical society would like to see an auckland Plan that incorporates policies to stop light

pollution and sky glow and the waste of energy resources that results from poor lighting. We are concerned with the continuing loss of a dark night sky in auckland and the lack of any policy on lighting in the auckland Plan. although energy efficiency is mentioned nothing is said about the inefficient and polluting use of lighting in auckland. This is disappointing considering that we gave detailed submissions on this for the auckland unleashed document and the auckland city draft regional Parks Management Plan.

The society’s submission covers the use of lighting in auckland city and funding for stardome by making four main points:

1) badly designed lighting is polluting the night sky, and adversely affecting the stardome observatory, a ratepayer supported facility.

2) unnecessary use of lighting wastes energy resources and is environmentally irresponsible. Many goals contained in the draft auckland Plan cannot be achieved unless this is corrected.

3) The significant benefits and energy savings from correctly designed and efficient use of lighting.

4) assuring continued funding assistance for stardome observatory and Planetarium.

some of new Zealand’s best astronomical facilities, including stardome observatory in one Tree hill domain and various private observatories, are being seriously affected by badly designed lighting in surrounding areas. an example of this is the lighting erected in recent years outside the royal oak Mall carpark, which shines directly into the main telescope dome at stardome observatory nearly half a kilometre away. although having a perfectly dark sky is not always possible in large urban centres, it is possible to preserve much of the night sky and at the same time conserve electricity if the correct lighting policies are followed. even if one drives many kilometres out of auckland you will still find the glow of the city polluting the night sky. The society has a dark sky observatory about 8km from Kumeu, which is also affected by sky glow and light pollution from auckland.

This is because:

a) Most of auckland’s street lighting, outdoor building lighting and car park lighting sends light in all directions rather than just towards

ecological consequences”, Kristen J. navara and randy J. nelson) in 2009 Professor steven Lockley of harvard Medical school, wrote “blinded by the Light?” in chapter 4 of that work, “human health implications of light pollution” he concludes that “light intrusion, even if dim, is likely to have measurable effects on sleep disruption and melatonin suppression. even if these effects are relatively small from night to night, continuous chronic circadian, sleep and hormonal disruption may have longer-term health risks”.

it is hard to see how the council’s goal of making auckland the world’s most liveable city can be achieved without action being taken to control light pollution.

as an example of how effective this type of policy can be, in 2005 the Ports of auckland replaced 1300 floodlights with 650 environmentally friendly fully shielded luminaires. These not only provided far better lighting onto the actual wharf where it was needed, but has saved the company 15% on their annual electrically usage, equivalent to the electricity usage of 400 average households a year. in 2006 the Ports of auckland were awarded the illumination engineering society of new Zealand’s Lighting excellence award.

as can be seen from this example, the numbers involved are not small or insignificant, but the actual achieved energy savings are large. if replicated city wide this would result in large power savings for the auckland region, reducing the use of the huntly coal-fired or natural gas power stations thereby reducing auckland’s greenhouse gas emissions. This would assist in the council’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2031. saving energy by reducing unnecessary and wasteful lighting would be a popular and cost efficient way to improve auckland’s environment and help meet the council’s economic goal of efficient and environmentally responsible growth. The savings made might also help reduce future rate rises.

We would also submit that the council should undertake a cost-benefit analysis of either replacing all of auckland’s existing street lighting with environmentally friendly fully shielded luminaires or retro-fitting cut-off shades, to establish whether an immediate upgrade should be done on all street lighting.

What has happened to the enlightened guidelines prepared by the auckland city council in 2008 and Waitakere city and when will these be administered or enforced by appropriate by-laws? We note with disappointment that streetlights of the worst possible design for light pollution have just been erected on the new bridge of over the latest piece of the south Western Motorway and question why this is still happening.

Local authorities are the first port of call for the implementation, monitoring and

Submission on Auckland Plan - Abridged Summary


Martian clay hints at life by cosmos.com

The discovery of Martian clays rich in minerals formed by water activity suggest the planet could have supported life

relatively recently in its history.

identified from data collected by nasa’s Mars reconnaissance orbiter (Mro), the minerals were found inside two small depressions in a region of the planet known as noctis Labyrinthus, or the ‘labyrinth of the night’.

The findings, published earlier this month in the journal Geology, suggest the region may have previously been habitable when drier conditions existed on the planet’s surface.

“We discovered locations at noctis Labyrinthus that show many kinds of minerals that formed by water activity,” said catherine Weitz, lead author and senior scientist at the Planetary science institute in arizona.

“The clays we found, called iron/magnesium (fe/Mg)-smectites, are much younger at noctis Labyrinthus relative to those found in the ancient rocks on Mars, which indicates a different water environment in these depressions relative to what was happening elsewhere on Mars.”

Mapping hydrated minerals

smectites are a specific type of clay mineral that expand and contract when immersed in water. They are common on earth where they form by chemical reactions between circulating water and primary silicate rocks.

Weitz and her co-authors studied approximately 300 metres of vertically-exposed layered rocks within two 30 to 40-kilometre-wide depressions, called troughs, near the western end of the valles Marineris canyon system.

The team used high-resolution images and hyperspectral data from instruments aboard the Mro spacecraft. They combined this with digital terrain models to determine elevations and view geometric relationships between units.

The team was then able to map hydrated minerals and understand how the water chemistry had varied with time within each trough, said Weitz.

retracing water activity and volcanism

each trough probably experienced multiple episodes where water partially filled in low-lying regions and deposited minerals.

as each trough continued to enlarge and experience collapse over time, older minerals became buried and separated, followed by deposition of younger minerals, then finally erosion to re-expose buried units.

volcanism from the Tharsis volcanoes to the west may have created subsurface water that was subsequently transported through the ground and into the troughs.

Localised volcanism that produced ash and gases, hydrothermal activity, and melting snow or ice within the troughs could have also produced some of the minerals.

The observed minerals indicate water varied in ph levels over time, in one trough from acidic to neutral, and in the other trough from neutral to acidic and back to neutral.

Potential oasis for life

“These types of minerals had already been discovered in some of the older terranes on Mars when the climate there may have been warmer and wetter,” explained geologist Marc norman from the australian national

university, who was not involved in the study.

“but life may not have had a chance to get started or at least would have been very simple and perhaps difficult to recognise or distinguish from abiogenic chemicals.”

The significance of this discovery, said norman, “is that they found these hydrated alteration products in a much younger geological terrane of Mars, which looks like it has an age of perhaps only 2 billion years old”.

This is less than half the age of the solar system - both earth and Mars are about 4.5 billion years old. at the same time life on earth was robust and complex, making it easier to identify as uniquely biological, commented norman.

“This terrane may have provided an oasis for life on Mars to survive and evolve, and would certainly be an interesting place to explore further with landers and possibly sample return missions to bring real material back to labs on earth for detailed study,” he added.

however, such a mission may prove too risky given the landscape. “These troughs would be fantastic places to send a rover, but unfortunately the rugged terrain makes it unsafe both for landing and for driving,” said Weitz.

Layers in the lower portion of two neigh-bouring buttes within the Noctis Labyrin-thus formation on Mars are visible in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The discovery of martian clay rich in minerals formed by water suggests the region may have hosted life relatively recently.

The Noctis Labyrinthus, which formed when the Martian crust stretched and fractured. As faults opened, they released subsurface ice and water, causing the ground to collapse. This westward view combines images taken during the period from April 2003 to September 2005 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instru-ment on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter

managing of lighting regulations that protect the environment and promote energy efficiency. auckland city has on opportunity to lead the way.

funding for stardome: auckland council has a considerable investment in stardome and it is a very successful, world-class educational and research facility with strong public outreach across the region. it needs continued funding to be successful and to preserve the council’s current investment. although much is said about investment in educational and cultural amenities in chapters 3 and 11 of the plan, stardome is not

mentioned. We would like specific provision for continued funding for the operating and future upgrading of this important amenity included in the plan so that it continues to be a leading-edge facility.

conclusion: To protect the significant investment auckland city ratepayers have, over many years, put into the facilities at stardome observatory the lighting issue needs to be addressed fully in this plan. The continuing encroachment of unnecessary light pollution and sky glow devalues this investment. in this age of space travel and satellite communications, learning about

astronomy and the universe is an important part of education for both children and adults. Preserving a dark sky where possible is fundamental to this. if most of the stars and objects of the night sky are invisible or hard to see because of sky glow from bad lighting then part of the wonder of nature is removed. it is just the same as denying people access to any other part of our natural heritage of a clean, green new Zealand, which we are trying so hard to preserve. The plan’s goal of making auckland the world’s most liveable city and an energy efficient city cannot be achieved is unless the lighting issue is addressed.


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SKANZ 2012 coNFereNce

“PATHwAyS To SKA ScieNce iN AuSTrAlASiA”

14 – 16 February 2012

auT university is again hosting the international sKanZ conference at its city (Wellesley) campus. The location of the sKa will be announced in 2012 so this is an opportunity to hear the latest developments in sKa Precursors, wide-field and high resolution science, engineering and computing.

Full details of programme and registration are on the conference website: www.aut.ac.nz/skanz2012


tHE 2010 COUNCil

President Grant christie 021 024 04992vice President david britten 09 846 3657Treasurer & andrew buckingham 09 473 5877Membershipsecretary Kleo Zois 022 691 2055curator of ivan vazey 09 535 3987instrumentsLibrarian Tony reynolds 09 480 8607 Journal editors clive bolt 09 534 2946 shaun fletcher 09 480 5648Webmaster nick Moore 09 268 9910 council bernie brenner 09 534 4103 council Gavin Logan 09 820 6001

sOCiEty CONtACts

auckland astronomical society inc, Po box 24187, royal oak, auckland 1345, new Zealand

email [email protected] [email protected] www.astronomy.org.nz

Membership enquiries:contact andrew buckingham at [email protected] or by phone on 09 473 5877 or 027 246 2446

Kepler mission has discovered a world where two suns set over the horizon instead of just one. The planet, called Kepler-16b, is not thought to be habitable. It is a cold world, with a gaseous surface, and it circles two stars, just like “Star Wars” Tatooine.CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech

look Skywatcher! Twin Suns of real-life ‘Tatooine’ Planet Visible in BinocularsMike Wall, SPAce.com Senior Writer

scientists have spotted a real-life

Tatooine — a world with two suns,

like Luke skywalker’s home planet in

the “star Wars” films — and you should be

able to see this alien star system, too, using

a good pair of binoculars.

astronomers announced the discovery of

the alien planet, called Kepler-16b, today

(sept. 15). The saturn-mass planet orbits

a pair of stars known as Kepler-16a and

Kepler-16b. someone on Kepler-16b would

see two suns hanging near each other in

the sky, just as Luke did on Tatooine.

The Kepler-16 star system is just 200 light-

years from earth, in the constellation cygnus

(the swan). because it’s so close, it should

be visible to many amateur skywatchers,

researchers said.

“if you want to find Kepler-16, it’s 11

1/2 -magnitude,” Laurance doyle of the

search for extraterrestrial intelligence

(seTi) institute, lead author of the paper

announcing the discovery of Kepler-16b,

told reporters today. “you could probably

squint and see it through binoculars.” (on

an astronomer’s scale, lower magnitudes

represent brighter objects.)

The sky map of cygnus here shows the constellation as it currently appears high overhead at night. The bright star vega is identified as a reference star. The binary Kepler-16 star system, which is home to the Tatooine-like planet Kepler-16b, can be found with telescopes and binoculars within the constellation. crediT: starry night software


Harry williams 2011 Astrophotography competition

The 2011 harry Williams Trophy was awarded, as is traditional, at the society’s annual dinner on saturday 30th october. attendees

enjoyed a slideshow of the entries throughout the evening.

The presentation of the winners was rather difficult, as only two aucklanders were in the audience to receive their prizes, which were kindly donated by asTronZ nZ LTd and stardome observatory.

We wish to thank our two judges, brian donovan and John hearnshaw, for the time and effort they took in deciding the final winners and of course, a huge thank you to the astrophotographers for submitting their photographs for the competition.

a downloadable Pdf is available on the society website of the winning entries - http://www.astronomy.org.nz

The winners of the aas harry Williams astrophotography competition are as follows;

deeP Sky Section winner

George ionas, Palmerston north - nGc2070

runners up

dave Moorhouse, auckland - helix nebula

George ionas, Palmerston north - nGc3372

SoLAR SySTeM Section winner

Grant bisset, Wanaka - iridium flare, aurora australis

runners up

foxton beach astronomical society, Levin - sun

Grant bisset, Wanaka - Moonrise over Geike icefield

ScienTiFic Section winner

Grant christie, auckland - blend of ao, fco,

Mao and Ko satellite KosMos1490

ARTiSTic section winner

John burt, Gisborne - ruapehu Panorama

runner up

John burt and John drummond - stardate star Trails.

George Ionas, Palmerston North. Judges Notes - NGC 2070: is a striking image of the Tarantula Nebula which makes good use of colour contrast to nicely separate the well-captured and detailed complex of nebulosity from the starry surroundings and back-ground. (Incidentally, and this is just an aside, I also find myself reminded of a similar image, though in black and white, taken by Harry Williams himself that he showed me years ago.)

John Burt, Gisborne - Ruapehu Panorama. Judges Notes - The picture that I considered to be clearly the most impressive, and thus the winner of this section, is Ruapehu Panorama. This approximately 180-degree panoramic image, taken from the lower slopes of Mt Ruapehu, shows the entire length of the Milky Way visible from the location at the time stretching from horizon to horizon, with the Sagittarius region centred at the top of the arc (a view of the galaxy that would be the envy of our northern hemisphere counterparts). It’s a satisfyingly deep exposure, with the star clouds and dark rifts well-exposed, and with the added interest of the Large Magellanic Cloud hovering above the mountain. Artificial lighting higher up the mountain has illuminated parts of it nicely, without affecting the overall exposure. I understand that the original is of higher resolution than the version submitted, and this would be even more impressive.

Brian Donovan, one of the judges of the Astophotography competition, explains his selections to the Society at the 2011 Burbidge Dinner.

oveRALL WinneR - hARRy WiLLiAMS TRoPhy Scientific Section

Grant christie, auckland - blend of ao, fco, Mao and Ko satellite KosMos1490


John Burt, Gisborne - Ruapehu Panorama. Judges Notes - The picture that I considered to be clearly the most impressive, and thus the winner of this section, is Ruapehu Panorama. This approximately 180-degree panoramic image, taken from the lower slopes of Mt Ruapehu, shows the entire length of the Milky Way visible from the location at the time stretching from horizon to horizon, with the Sagittarius region centred at the top of the arc (a view of the galaxy that would be the envy of our northern hemisphere counterparts). It’s a satisfyingly deep exposure, with the star clouds and dark rifts well-exposed, and with the added interest of the Large Magellanic Cloud hovering above the mountain. Artificial lighting higher up the mountain has illuminated parts of it nicely, without affecting the overall exposure. I understand that the original is of higher resolution than the version submitted, and this would be even more impressive.

Grant Bisset, Wanaka - Iridium Flare, Aurora Australis. Judges Notes - There was one image that I found especially memorable, thus winning this section: Iridium flare and Aurora: this is a remarkable picture of two relatively rare events occurring together.

The exposure seems to me to be spot on, short enough to capture structure in the auroral display, as well as a great multitude of stars with barely noticeable trailing, and with the bonus of course of the recorded satellite flare. The overall colour balance is good, with a nice near-neutral sky background colour, and the clouds add a pleasing sense of depth in a landscape where there are few other visual perspective cues.

Grant Christie, Auckland (et al) - Blend of AO, FCO, MAO and KO Satellite KOS-MOS1490.

Judges Notes - This was a most interesting piece of team work which recorded a very rare event, namely the flash of sunlight from solar panels on a Kosmos satellite. The fact that four independent observers recorded it was remarkable. The observ-ers have carefully aligned their images and recorded the parallactic shift of the satellite flash relative to the background stars. They have then analysed these ap-parent positions to determine the distance to the satellite. This is an impressive bit of analysis, and the observers have been able to determine a clear result and compare it with the published satellite orbit. Because the analysis accompanying this entry is the most complete, the scientific objective is clear, the event in itself is quite rare and it is a nice piece of team work, I recommend this entry for the prize.

Overall winner

My recommendation is that the overall winner for 2011 should be the scientific entry Satellite KOSMOS1490

I had formed the view early on that this im-age, together with the explanatory account of its origins, and the analysis undertaken,

was sufficiently remarkable to stand out from other entries, admirable though a number of them were; indeed I hesitated a little over the obvious fact that the im-age, taken by itself, was not particularly aesthetically pleasing – but the competition guidelines for judging the scientific entries made it clear that this should not be an obstacle. And if chance played a part in its making one can only recall the obser-

vation that fortune favours the prepared mind. I really can’t add any more to John Hearnshaw’s lucid citation, other than to congratulate the winner.

Contributors: AO = Auckland Observa-tory (Christie, Natusch), FCO = Farmcove Observatory (McCormick), KO = Kumeu Observatory (Moorhouse, Thornley), MAO = Molehill Astronomical Observatory (Bos)


The evening Sky in November 2011By Alan Gilmore, university of canterbury‘s Mt John observatory, www.canterbury.ac.nz

brilliant silver venus appears in the south-west soon after sunset and sets about two hours later. Mercury is above and left of

venus till mid month. Then it slides into the twi-light as it passes between earth and sun. nei-ther planet is impressive in a telescope. Mercury is always small. so is venus for several more months as it is on the far side of the sun. now it is 230 million km from us.

venus and Mercury pass by orange antares in the second week of november. antares marks the heart of scorpius. The scorpion’s tail points up toward the zenith, like a back-to-front ques-tion mark. The tail is ‘the fish-hook of Maui’ in Maori star lore.

Jupiter appears in the northeast soon after sun-set, shining with a steady golden light. binoculars and small telescopes will show Jupiter’s brightest

moons on either side of the planet, swapping sides from night to night. Jupiter is around 600 million km away from us now. There is an old and unreliable rule that stars twinkle and plan-ets don’t. it works for Jupiter. The planet’s disk blurs the air’s twinkling effect.

canopus, in the southeast, is the second bright-est star in the sky. it moves eastward and up-ward during the night as the stars appear to


circle clockwise around the south celestial pole, scP.

canopus is 300 light-years away. seen up close it would be 13,000 times brighter than the sun.

sirius rises in the east around dusk. When low in the sky it is shining through a lot of air. The air breaks its white light into colours so sirius twinkles like a diamond. it is the brightest star, both because it is relatively close, nine light-years away, and 23 times brighter than the sun.

Left of sirius in the late evening is the constella-tion of orion, with ‘The Pot’ at its centre. rigel, a bluish supergiant star, is directly above the line of three stars; betelgeuse, a red-giant star, is straight below. Left again is a triangular group by aldebaran. it is called the hyades cluster and makes the upside down face of Taurus the bull. still further left is the Pleiades or Matariki star cluster, also called the seven sisters, subaru and many other names. six stars are visible to the eye; dozens are seen in binoculars. The Pleiades

cluster is 400 light-years away and around 70 million years old.

The Milky Way is low in the sky, visible around the horizon from the northwest, through south into the eastern sky. The broadest, brightest part is in sagittarius, to the right of the scorpi-on’s sting. The Milky Way is our edgewise view of the galaxy, the pancake of billions of stars of which the sun is just one. The thick hub of the galaxy is 30,000 light years away in the direction of sagittarius.

Low in the south are the Pointers, beta and al-pha centauri, and crux the southern cross. in some Maori star lore the bright southern Milky Way makes the canoe of Maui with crux be-ing the canoe’s anchor hanging off the side. in this picture the scorpion’s tail can be the canoe’s prow and the clouds of Magellan are the sails.

The clouds of Magellan (LMc and sMc), high in the southern sky, are two small galaxies about 160,000 and 200,000 light-years away,

respectively. They are easily seen by eye on a dark moonless night. The larger cloud is about 1/20th the mass of the Milky Way galaxy, the smaller cloud 1/30th. That’s still billions of stars in each. The globular star cluster 47 Tucanae appears near the sMc but is ‘only’ 16,000 light-years away. Globular clusters are spherical clouds of stars many billions of years old.

very low in the north is the andromeda Galaxy, easily seen in binoculars on a dark night and faintly visible to the eye. it appears as a spindle of light. it is similar in shape to our galaxy but a little bigger and nearly three million light-years away.

Mars (not shown) is in the morning sky. it rises in the northeast after 3 a.m. it has an orange-red tint. in november it passes by regulus, the brightest star in Leo. regulus is white and a little fainter than Mars.

Diary of Solar System events November 2011By Brian Loader RASnZ

november 3 Moon at first quarter at 5.38 am nZdT (nov 2, 16:38 uT).

november 4 66% lit moon 6.5° below neptune, magnitude 7.9, evening sky.

november 6 83% lit moon 9° left of uranus, magnitude 5.7, evening sky.

november 7 89% lit moon 8.5° below uranus, magnitude 5.7, evening sky.

november 8 Moon at apogee, its greatest distance from the earth for the Lunar month, 406178 km.

november 9 98% lit Moon 6° to lower left of Jupiter, evening sky.

november 10 neptune stationary.

november 10 venus 4° to lower right of antares, scorpii magnitude 1.0, with Mercury between them, low in early evening.

november 11 full Moon at 5.16 am nZdT (nov 10, 20:16 uT).

november 11/12

Mars, magnitude 1.0, at closest to regulus α Leo magnitude 1.4, early dawn sky.

november 13 97% lit moon 6.7° below aldebaran, α Tauri magnitude 1.0, morning sky.

november 13 Moon furthest north, so lowest southern hemisphere transit for the month.

november 14 Mercury at greatest elongation, 23° east of sun.

november 19 Moon at last quarter 4.09 am nZdT (nov 18, 15:09 uT).

november 19 50% lit moon 5.8° from regulus Leo magnitude 1.4 with Mars, 4° beyond the star, early dawn sky.

november 23 9.5% lit moon 1° to upper right of spica, virginis magnitude 1.1, with saturn 4° below the star, low in dawn sky.

november 24 Moon at perigee, its closest to the earth for the lunar month, 359694 km,

november 24 Mercury stationary.

november 25 new Moon at 7.10 pm nZdT (6:10 uT).

november 26 Moon furthest south, so highest southern hemisphere transit for the month.

november 26 1.6% lit crescent moon 3° below Mercury, low in early evening sky.

november 27 6% lit crescent moon 4° to lower right of venus, early evening sky.

daTe (nZdT) diary of soLar sysTeM evenTs in auGusT 2011 for neW ZeaLand


interesting objects in orion and TaurusBy RASnZ

Taurus the bull and orion the hunter are constellations recognised by most northern hemisphere cultures. To see the northern hemisphere pictures, turn the chart upside down. The face of Taurus is outlined by the v-shaped hyades cluster. The brightest star in this group is orange aldebaran, the name meaning ‘the eye of the bull’ in arabic. Tau-rus’s long horns extend down our sky. The Pleiades cluster rides on the bull’s back

orion, in the northern hemisphere view, has a shield raised toward Taurus and a club ready for action. The line of three stars makes orion’s belt. The line of faint stars above and left of the belt form orion’s sword in the northern view, dangling from his belt. To most southern hemisphere sky watchers the belt and sword form The Pot, The iron Pot, or The saucepan.

The Pleiades / seven sisters / Matariki / sub-aru, and many other names, is a cluster of stars well-known in both hemispheres. Though often called the seven sisters, most modern eyes see only six stars. dozens are visible in binoculars. The cluster is about

440 light-years away. its brightest stars are around 200 times brighter than the sun.

The hyades cluster is 160 light-years away. its brightest stars (not aldebaran!) are about 70 times brighter than the sun. The cluster is 630 million years old. aldebaran is not a member of the cluster but simply on the line of sight. it is 65 l.y. away and 150 times brighter than the sun. aldebaran is a giant star about 25 times bigger than the sun though only five times heavier. its orange colour is due to its temperature, around 3500°c The sun is 5500°c.

The orion nebula is visible in binoculars as a misty glow around the middle stars of orion’s sword or the handle of The Pot. it is a vast cloud of dust and gas about 1300 l.y. away and more than 20 light-years across. ultra-violet light from a massive, extremely hot star in the cloud causes it to glow. some stars in this region are only two million years old. The sun, by contrast, is 4.6 billion years old. stars continue to form in a giant cloud behind the glowing nebula. There are many bright and dark nebulae in this region. The

horsehead nebula, a favourite of astronomy books, is beside the right-hand star of ori-on’s belt, but too faint to be seen in small telescopes.

rigel is a blue ‘supergiant’ star around 40 000 times brighter than the sun and 800 l.y. away. its surface temperature is around 20 000°, giving it a bluish colour.

betelgeuse is a red giant star 250 times big-ger than the sun - wider than earth’s or-bit! - but only around 20 times heavier, so it is mostly very thin gas. it is around 10,000 times brighter than the sun, about 400 light-years away, and has a surface temper-ature around 3000°.

sirius is the brightest star, though the plan-ets venus and Jupiter, and sometimes Mars, are brighter. sirius appears bright because it is both brighter than the sun and a rela-tively close 8.6 l.y. away. sirius was often called ‘the dog star’ being the brightest star in canis Major, one of the two dogs that follow orion across the sky.

chamaeleon - The lizard by ivan vazey

The constellation known as The chamaeleon was first noted astronomically in bayer’s 1603 “uranometria”

being so far south it has no Greek legend or associated story to brighten up its rather drab existence.

chameleons are part of the Lizard family and are found in europe and africa to name a few places. Madagascar, however, is home to over 30 species and it was probably a species from there that the constellation was named after.

chameleons change colour to camouflage themselves and this feature keeps them fairly well-hidden. They have toes fused into groups of two or three and like many lizards, long tongues. The only one of these attributes that in any way tie in with this constellation is the fact that is not easy to spot.

chamaeleon is situated midway between Musca and the large Magellanic cloud and is on the border of octans.

What’s to see.

nGc 3195 (caldwell 109) is one of dreyer’s remarkable objects and fairly bright planetary nebula. The central star, however, is mag 15.3 so is not easy to find.

other than that, it’s worth hunting down alpha cha, Theta cha, delta 2 cha, and beta cha, which basically follow cha’s body outline from head to tail. if you get that far, then go back to delta 2 cha and drop down to follow the rear leg to Gamma cha. if you don’t find any of these, then cha may have just changed colour on you.


Drawing of a massive star collapsing to form a black hole. Energy released as jets along the axis of rotation forms a gamma ray burst that lasts from a few milliseconds to minutes. Such an event within several thousand light years of Earth could disrupt the biosphere by wiping out half of the ozone layer, creating nitrogen dioxide and potentially causing a mass extinction.

the same amount of energy. astronomers rely on this property to measure distances in space.

The fainter brightness of remote Type ia supernovae was a clear indication that they were even more distant than assumed. instead of slowing down the expansion, the universe was accelerating. a new form of mass-energy -- dark energy -- needed to be introduced into the theory in order to reconcile the previous models of the universe with the observations. The calculations indicate the existence of a huge amount of dark energy, nearly 20 times greater than the amount of mass-energy related to the world accessible to human senses. “overnight, dark energy became, quite literally, the greatest mystery of the universe,” says Prof. demiaski.

To this day no one knows exactly what dark energy is. There are two models explaining its nature. according to the first one, dark energy is a property described by the famous cosmological constant introduced by albert einstein. according to the second

dark energy is the basic constituent of the universe today, one that is responsible for its accelerated expansion. although astronomers observe the cosmological effects of the impact of dark energy, they still do not know exactly what it is. a new method for measuring the largest distances in the universe, developed by scientists from the faculty of Physics at the university of Warsaw and the university of naples federico ii, helps solve the mystery. a key role is played by the most powerful cosmic explosions -- gamma-ray bursts.

What is the nature of dark energy, a recently discovered dominant constituent of the universe today? is expansion-accelerating dark energy an intrinsic property of space-time itself, or rather a field unknown to science? a new distance-measuring method developed by scientists from the faculty of Physics, university of Warsaw (fuW) and the university of naples federico ii can provide the answer. “We are able to determine the distance of an explosion on the basis of the properties of the radiation emitted during gamma-ray bursts. Given that some of these explosions are related to the most remote objects in space that we know about, we are able, for the first time, to assess the speed of space-time expansion even in the relatively early periods after the big bang,” says Prof. Marek demiaski (fuW). The method was used to verify models of the structure of the universe containing dark energy.

in 1998, during the analysis of the brightness of Type ia supernovae, it was discovered that the most remote explosions seemed to be too weak. Type ia supernovae appear in binary systems. one of the stars is a white dwarf, a relic of an evolutionary cycle of stars similar to the sun. When the second star of the system enters the red giant phase and swells up, its external layers, containing mainly hydrogen, begin to fall onto the white dwarf, which gradually grows in mass. When the white dwarf reaches 1.4 solar masses, it explodes and is completely torn apart. since the conditions that trigger the explosion are similar every time, Type ia supernovae always release more or less

model, the accelerated expansion is caused by some unknown scalar field. “in other words, it is either-or: either space-time expands by itself or is expanded by a scalar physical field inside it,” says Prof. demiaski.

examining the density of dark energy in various periods after the big bang can help choose the correct model. if the density remained constant, it would mean that dark energy is related to the cosmological constant, that is to say, the property of space-time. but if the acceleration of the universe is caused by a scalar field, then, given the swelling-up of space-time, the density of dark energy should change. “This used to be a problem. in order to assess the changes in the density of dark energy immediately after the big bang, one needs to know how to measure the distance to very remote objects. so remote that even Type ia supernovae connected to them are too faint to be observed,” says Prof. demiaski.

The group of Polish and italian astrophysicists suggested using gamma-ray bursts (Grbs),

gamma-ray Bursts Shed light on the Nature of Dark energy By university of Warsaw, Poland, via Science daily


the most powerful explosions observed in the universe today, to measure the largest distances in the universe. They analyzed the so-called long bursts that probably arise during the collapse of the core of a large star. The process leads to the formation of a black hole. The gamma radiation emitted at that time is so intense that even objects that exploded 400 million years after the big bang can be observed.

The main problem was how to assess the total energy of a burst. To that end, the scientists analyzed databases of previous gamma explosions. it turned out that a part of the explosions occurred in galaxies the distance to which could be measured using other methods, for example, by means of Type ia supernovae. “We focused on those instances. We knew the distance to the galaxy and we also knew how much energy of the burst reached the earth. This allowed us to calibrate the burst, that is to say, to calculate the total energy of the explosion,” explains Prof. demiaski.

The next step was to find statistical dependencies between various properties of the radiation emitted during a gamma-ray burst and the total energy of the explosion. such relations were discovered. “We cannot provide a physical explanation of why certain properties of gamma-ray bursts are correlated,” points out Prof. demiaαski. “but we can say that if registered radiation has such and such properties, then the burst had such and such energy. This allows us to use bursts as standard candles, to measure distances.”

The team of scientists from the universities in Warsaw and naples, headed by dr ester Piedipalumbo, analyzed data gathered by astronomers. extremely remote gamma-ray bursts are quite rare. The amanti catalogue listed 95 such phenomena and failed to provide enough clues as to the exact nature of dark energy. “it is quite a disappointment. but what is important is the fact that we have in our hands a tool for verifying hypotheses about the structure of the universe. all we need to do now is wait for the next cosmic fireworks,” concludes Prof. demiaski.

The insufficient amount of observational

data remains the main problem in the data analysis of gamma-ray bursts. for this reason, many groups of astronomers and astrophysicists combine their efforts in order to register them in the fastest and most accurate manner possible. one of such projects is “Pi of the sky,” a system of robotic telescopes for real-time monitoring of large areas of the sky, co-organized by the faculty of Physics, university of Warsaw.

An artistic image of the explosion of a star leading to a gamma-ray burst. (Credit: FUW/Tentaris/Maciej Frołow)

Peek at Huge Asteroid Provides More Questions Than Answers - eSAThe european space agency’s rosetta spacecraft took this image of the asteroid Lutetia during a flyby on July 10, 2010.

a new look at an asteroid in deep space has revealed signs of a molten-hot core, a smoldering remnant from the earliest days of the solar system that could also help unlock secrets of some of earth’s weirdest meteorites, researchers say.

at the heart of the new study is the asteroid 21 Lutetia, one of the millions of rocks in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The european space agency’s rosetta probe flew by 21 Lutetia in 2010, providing scientists with their first detailed look at a large asteroid.

Measurements of Lutetia have found it to be unusually dense for an asteroid. because its surface appears porous, its density could be explained by a heart of molten metal, similar to those of planets like earth.


Ghost of the cepheus Flare Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, University of Arizona

Explanation: Spooky shapes seem to haunt this starry expanse, drifting through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus. Of course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds faintly visible in dimly reflected starlight. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, they lurk at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away.

Over 2 light-years across, the ghostly nebula and relatively isolated Bok globule, also known as vdB 141 or Sh2-136, is near the centre of the field. The core of the dark cloud on the right is collapsing and is likely a binary star system in the early stages of formation. Even so, if the spooky shapes could talk, they might well wish you a happy Halloween.

Society Telescopes for Hire

The society has a wide range of telescopes for hire to members.

if you are looking to purchase or upgrade a telescope and are not sure what to buy, this is a very good way to evaluate some of the available equipment. see also the advertisement on the back page.

To inquire about hiring or for advice on what to buy and for information about equipment, contact ivan vazey, curator of instruments, on (09) 535-3987

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