The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

THE SOUTHERN ASTRONOMER

NEWSLETTER OF WORTHING ASTRONOMERS & WORTHING SKYWATCHERS

This issueLooking up in 2014Review of 2013Workshop ReportJade RabbitGlobe At NightStargazing Live Changing MoonObserving NotesAstronomy In The Pub

pages 1- 3page 3page 5page 6page 7page 7page 7page 10

page 12

Astronomy Meetings

Worthing Astronomers (WA) occasionally meet at the Worthing Society of Model Engineers, Field Place, Durrington, Worthing BN13 1NP. Details of meetings, as and when, are further on in the newsletter.

Adur AS (AAS) meet at Southwick Christian Community Church, 1-5 Roman Crescent, Southwick BN42 4TY.

Foredown Tower Astronomers (FTA) at Emmaus Charity Premises, on the corner of Manor Road and Drove Road, Portslade Old Village, BN41 2PA.

Worthing Astronomical Society (WAS) meet at Emmanuel URC, St.Michaels Road, Worthing BN11 4SD.

AAS, FTA, and WA venues have off road parking facilities and grounds adjacent for setting up telescopes when conditions allow.

At door charges: WA £2 admission, FTA charge £3 for non-member, Adur charge £5 (£3 for members) while WAS charge £4 at the door for non-member. All the above meetings above begin at 19.30hrs. WA members will always be made welcome at these groups. More information 01903 521205 or 07801 692244.

Fuller details of what our colleagues in neighbouring societies are doing at their monthly meetings is on the page 2 Quick View Diary.

Worthing Astronomers is a free to join society with a membership of over 280 persons all interested in the same hobby of Astronomy.

With the aid of this newsletter, regular star parties, workshops and public observing events we hope to encourage and share our interests in observing the sky with the public and our colleagues both in our own group and with neighbouring societies.

LOOKING UP IN 2014

There are always events that amateur astronomers can look forward to in the coming year and this year is no different.

Sadly there are no aspects of solar eclipses visible for us and neither are there any aspects of lunar eclipses visible either though we come close on the morning of April 15 when the penumbral phase of a lunar eclipse commences just after UK moon-set.

The year really kicks off on January 5 when Jupiter comes to opposition during the evening when it reaches its closest point to Earth – 4.2 astronomical units. Jupiter's angular diameter is 46.8” and will present a good object even in a small telescope while moderate to large instruments will show detail in the cloud belts that make up the visible portion of the planet. A good opportunity for imaging or even good old fashioned disk drawings. During that evening the four bright satellites will be on the western side of the planet with Io and Europa close to each other.

At the same time, the Great Red Spot will also be in evidence.

The planet is also quite high in the northern hemisphere sky this year and is the campaign object for National Astronomy Week that is being held during the first week of March.

Jupiter on January 5 at 2100UT rising in the south-east. The planet will be bright at -2.6m

Mars comes to opposition on March 8 but the planet will be low in the sky during this time, but every opportunity to see this planet is a good one. Again, imaging or observational disk drawings are well worth doing if only to keep a personal record of the event.

Venus and Mercury continue their dances around the Sun as the year goes on. Best evening views of Mercury will be from mid-January to early February and then during May while best morning views will be in July and then late October to mid-November.

Mercury is occulted by the Moon on June 26 at 1153UT. The Moon will be just short of new (hence a very fine and thin crescent), plus the proximity of the Sun (almost noon) makes this event a difficult (but not impossible) one to observe if sunlight precautions are taken.

During early January Venus passes from an evening object to a morning 'star' where it will remain for much of the year, going from a thin crescent to 'full' in late October until once more becoming an evening object in November.

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

The Ones To Watch Out For In 2014 cont.

Saturn, the only other bright planet to grace our skies is opening its rings to 23° presenting a good view of them even in a small telescope, though moderate to large instruments are needed to capture detail in them as they are to observe the atmospheric belts of the planet.

Saturn comes to opposition on May 10 and will be the planetary object to observe during summer nights, though it will be low in the south.

Saturn and the Moon meet during the late afternoon of October 25 when the Moon occults the planet.

Saturn (ringed – no pun) and the young Moon meet just after 1600UT

Unlike a star that when occulted by the moon 'blinks' out without warning, the progress of Saturn is a longer event, with first the preceding portion of the rings, then the globe of the planet and finally the following portion of the rings.

Being a Saturday and given the right weather conditions there is chance that some of us may get to see this rare event occur.

Similar events will occurs on February 21, May 14 and August 4 - when Moon and Saturn are below our horizon and visible from other parts of the world.

Uranus is an evening object until March when it begins to disappear into the evening twilight as the Sun begins to set later and the planet moves apparently closer; views of Neptune will last until the end of January when that planet dips into the same evening twilight.

The BBC will start the year off with a new series of Stargazing Live in January for three nights 7th, 8th and 9th and a new series of The Sky At Night will begin in February 9 (on BBC4), fronted by Dr Chris Lintott, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and possibly Dead Ringer Jon Culshaw.

The year also begins with some comets in our skies. Certainly C/2012 S1 (ISON) was expected to be giving a show during the latter part of December 2013 and into early January, but after its disastrous encounter with the Sun at perihelion in late November, the sparkle has now gone for this comet. Certainly no love or joy there.

Comets Brewington and Lovejoy observed by members at the end of 2013 will give a brief show in January. 154P/Brewington will be in the Square of Pegasus asterism on January 1 and will be in the 'tail' of Pisces by months end. It will be however be fading from 9m to 10m

during the month.

C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) will be low in the west after sunset – also about 9m – by mid-January it will be setting with the Sun.

209P/LINEAR has its closest approach with Earth on May 23 when it will be in Leo Minor, high in the west just after nightfall. Present magnitude estimates put this comet at nearly 12m so not a bright one but I mention it here because it will be sojourning the northern hemisphere skies from the start of the year until May and it will be circumpolar.

C/2012 K1 (PanSTARRS) may make a predawn 6m show at the end of September. Prior to that 11P/2001 X3 (Tempel-Swift-LINEAR) will be around for observing late summer to winter 2014. As usual, more details regarding comets as and when they are visible.

QUICK VIEW ASTRO EVENTS DIARY

JanuaryAll times shown are Universal Time (UT equals UK civil time in winter (GMT))

1 – Sunrise 0805h : Sunset 1608h New Moon (11h) Moon at perigee (21h) 2 - Venus 1.9S of Moon (11h) 3 - Quadrantids Meteors maximum (18h) 4 - Earth at perihelion (closest to Sun) (08h) 5 - Jupiter at opposition (21h) 6 - AAS: Imaging 8 - Moon: First Quarter (04h)10 - WA Stargazing Live On The Prom11 - Venus at inferior conjunction (12h) WA Stargazing Live On The Prom16 - Moon at apogee (01h) Full Moon (05h) FTA: History of the Constellations19 - Regulus 5N of Moon (01h)20 - WAS: January Social Globe At Night begins23 - Mars 3.5N of Moon (03h)24 - Moon: Last Quarter (05h)25 - Saturn 0.5N of Moon (13h)29 - Venus 2.2N of Moon (02h) 30 - Moon at perigee (09h) New Moon (22h)31 - Sunrise 0741h : Sunset 1653h Mercury greatest eastern elongation (06h)

ASTRO LINGOastronomical unit – the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth is known as an astronomical unit (AU). It is a convenient unit of measurement when discussing (especially writing down) distances in the solar system rather than describing distances in millions of kilometres.

The AU is defined as 149,597,870.7 kilometres (or 92,955,807.3 miles). Therefore Jupiter at opposition on January 5 will be 629,872,409.9 kilometres or 4.2 AU distant.

Err...wrong Lovejoy but 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' insists I leave it in for some

reason...

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THEY WHO GOT IT ALL HORRIBLY WRONG

Ever since Comet ISON was predicted to be an interesting object in late 2013, a large number of websites decided that Comet ISON was more than just a comet.

The website http://beforeitsnews.com decided that NASA were lying and it actually was the fabled PlanetX/Niburu/Wormwood (it goes by many names) which would be the harbinger of the end of the world (again!) - every year since the turn of the millennium Planet X is going to do its foulest deeds to planet Earth. The very fact you are reading this is a testament to the doomsayers' failures. But still they carry on.

Numerous You Tube links also pander to this peculiar notion of tying up the most innocent of astronomical objects and events with doomsday planets, while http://end-artemi-sorra-cyprus.blogspot.ca suggest that a global conspiracy concerning ISON was under way – and incidentally, the World Bank and the Jesuits are all involved as well.

All that egg on all those faces.

Long ago, comets were seen as the bringers of bad news and doom and in every generation there have been those who have forecast an end to the existing world when one appears. Even in 1910 when 1P/Halley made an appearance, news that Earth would pass through the tail of the comet caused enough people to believe that everyone would suffocate because of the poison gasses the tail contained.

Comet Kohoutek (C/1973 E1) in 1973 (in an age long before the internet) had soothsayers declaring the end of the world. That too was labelled 'comet of the century' as well and – yes you got it right – it did not live up to the hype either, though it did produce some pleasant views after perihelion. Like the name Kohoutek, ISON may come to be a term associated with a spectacular dud.

The Ones To Watch Out For In 2014 cont.

Meteor showers are annual of course but they do not always put on a show due either to moonlight interfering or the shower itself is a bit sparse. Most of the showers are considered favourable in 2014 except the two favourites – Perseids and Taurids which will suffer bright moonlight at their peak times.

Quadrantids Radiant January 3

The first shower of the year is the lesser known Quadrantids which appear between January 1 – 6, with the peak on January 3. It has been known to produce as many meteors as the Perseids (a ZHR of 80). The meteors are blue-yellow. The radiant lies close to the northern horizon during the period in question in the space between Böotes, Hercules and Draco – in a now defunct constellation called the Quadrant (hence the name). The BAA Meteor Section advise that there will be a lower peak for UK observers.

There are some things we cannot predict during the coming year. Will there be a supernova in our galaxy that we can observe or will a novae flare up? Some variable stars have a certain amount of predictability in their variability. β Persei (Algol) has a magnitude which varies from 2.1m to 3.4m every 2.8 days, while RZ Cassiopeiae and λ Tauri also have short periods of fluctuation in magnitude. There are long period variables like S Cassiopeiae who has a period of fluctuation lasting over 600 days and a magnitude variation of 9.7m to 14.8m.

There is much more. We shall, through the pages of The Southern Astronomer try to keep you updated month by month as to what is going on above our heads.

REVIEW OF 2013 Compared with 2012, the weather conditions during last year were much more favourable and this gave us the opportunity to do more stargazing together.

Members Brian Johnston and Andy Lee found themselves on the telly with the BBC South-East portion of Stargazing Live 2013 at the Amex Stadium in Brighton in January. Snow and ice bought about the cancellation of our SGL event on Worthing promenade a few days later. We finally did our gig on February 15 – lots of telescopes and lots of interested members of the public – an estimated 200 – did some stargazing on the prom and observed what the skies had to show for us.

At the beginning of March there was an club observing session at Nepcote Green. Half a dozen members or so saw a large number of deeps sky objects (DSO's) as well as Jupiter.

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

2013 - Review

April saw the return of Global Astronomy Month (GAM). The first event was a Sun Day event held during the day for solar observing and members were not only able to see what was happening on the Sun that day but also see how to observe the Sun safely.

Stargazing On The Prom followed on April 19 and 20. The first night was drizzled out but by the Saturday evening weather was very much improved and we were able to entertain members of the public with views of the Moon, Jupiter and other objects that were visible.

The last GAM event covered by members was the partial lunar eclipse on April 25 – when a Full Moon rose with a a partial shadow of the Earth on its visible face.

In June many of us met up on a wind swept Honeysuckle Lane car park to see if we could observe Lunar X on June 15– a feature that comprises several adjoining crater walls which when partially filled with shadow at the terminator resembles an X. Lucky again.

On July 21 a second solar observing Sun Day was arranged and many members turned up at Jan and Brian's observatory to watch sunspots being projected onto a white screen and view prominences and other solar phenomenon that are not visible in white light (ordinary) instruments using hydrogen-alpha (H-α) telescopes.

August is the month for Perseid observing and 20 members turned up at Nepcote Green on the evening of August 11 to look out for meteors – and we were not disappointed. The Perseid's put up an excellent show as did several artificial orbiting satellites and the International Space Station (ISS).

International Moon Observing Night occurred in October. As usual we chose two nights for public observing, Friday October 11 and Saturday October 12. The weather turned for the worse against weather forecasts on the Friday and indeed the Saturday which had been forecast for good turned out to be grotty – yet at the last minute the weather cleared in the very early evening and members were again able to show members of the public what was going on in the sky.

November saw a DSO evening at Nepcote Green planned and though the weather forecast was showing clear skies it turned out cloudy and ended with drizzle.

We have also held this year Workshops every couple of months or so and these have proven very popular with the members as not only were they able to get to do hands on thing like image processing but also learn about the use of filters, telescope mounts and other things as well as meet up and chat about things.

The latest was in December when Andy Lee spoke on starting out in astronomical photography (see report page 5). If the members can suggest any other things they would like to learn more about at future workshops then let us know and we may keep these events going in 2014.

All the events mentioned above were the collaborative efforts of several people and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard Adams, Steve Bassett, Kelvan Gale, Chris Pennells and Phil Trott who have all made the events held during the last year work so well.A thanks also to all those who spoke and shared their knowledge. If you have ideas or suggestions for what we might do, again, drop us a line at the address on the last page.

Finally, a big thank you finally to all of you, the membership, for your support over the last year either by turning out to a society event and, as we are a free membership society with a small amount of overheads that need to be catered for, even putting their hands in their pockets to donate monies to assist society funds.

We now have over 280 members. Have we peaked or will we grow even more? Lets hope this will be another exciting year. Clear skies for 2014.

Lunar X – right of centre June 15

The Moon by Robin Durant

Graham Williams and his parallelogram binocular mount proved to be an object of interest for many members at one of the Workshop evenings Photo: Brian Halls

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Andy's Toolbox

Photoshop Imaging Processing Lessons. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/atp2wqlfomk57cm/

BwU0-f6k1Q

Photoshop Astronomical Add-Ons.https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qfnoabxehdi85db/p

K7jgU_zsA

PixInsight Lite astronomy image processing.https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6hvme983htigwx/P

ixInsightLE32_1_0_2_143.exe

EOS Movie Recordhttp://sourceforge.net/projects/eos-movrec/

Astro Photography Toolhttp://ideiki.com/astro/

Back Yard EOS (similar to APT above)http://www.backyardeos.com/

Craterlet – image capture software for webcamshttp://www.stark-labs.com/craterlet.html

Registaxhttp://www.astronomie.be/registax/download.html

Deep Sky Stackerhttp://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Push Here Dummy (PHD - autoguide softwarehttp://www.stark-labs.com/phdguiding.html

ASCOM - This is the industry standard astronomy mount control software, and again it's free! You'll need this installed along with EQmod (link below) if you'd like to control your telescope mount via planetarium software. It basically lets your mount and computer/laptop talk to each other.http://ascom-standards.org/

EQMod - This is the partner software (free) to ASCOM and has a host of features, a lot of which I don't use, but some I am hoping to try out as and when we get enough clear skies. For simple use you'll just need to download EQASCOM.h ttp://eq-mod . sourceforge.net/ introindex.html

EQMod video lessons. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bxo5gmgum9pzsx2/2EnrXyfbse

ASTRO LINGO

DSLR – digital single lens reflex camera. These are the digital versions of the old film single lens reflex cameras where, via a mirror mounted behind the lens, direct views of the subject can be seen through the camera view-finder.

SLR's were always a useful camera be it for astronomical usage or for taking holiday pictures. The digital version allows the same flexibility with the added power of reviewing and discarding unwanted images immediately.

WORKSHOP EVENINGDecember 2013

The speaker for the evening evening was Andy Lee who is known to many of us either through his membership of WA and Worthing Skywatchers of through Andy's own group Astronomy 4 Everyone.

Before this however the groups' accounts (sent out with the November newsletter) needed to be formally accepted. Christa Sutton proposed and Paul Farmer seconded the motion that the accounts be accepted and was carried unanimously by the meeting. Many thanks to Jan who as treasurer put the figures together and Chris Pennells for auditing them.

An Introduction To Astro-Imaging: Andy's was at pains to point out that this talk was about his own personal journey of astro-imaging discovery and what he found worked for him might not work for someone else.

He started by explaining how he had got into astronomical photography/imaging. He had got hooked on astronomy and was telling others about what he was seeing but he realised that it would be far better if he could show people he was talking to, actual photographs.

This talk was the result of his experiences – both good and bad – and he wanted to share what he had learned so others might not make the same mistakes.

Andy broke the talk up into different sections – cameras, telescopes, mountings and processing. Andy described the different kinds of camera available, basic hand held, phone cameras, DSLR, webcam and CCD's which each have their pros and cons. A DSLR will produce good images of the Moon whereas a webcam or type that shoots AVI (movie) files are better for planetary. A DSLR is better for deep sky objects (DSO) than a webcam and in Andy's view they are generally equal to a dedicated astronomical CCD camera – but at much lower cost.

Telescopes and mountings were discussed – a steady and robust German equatorial mounting is best for the long exposure photography that Andy does and prefers short focus refractors for the work he does. He uses two DSLR cameras – one which has been modified (the standard IR filter removed) and one with the IR filter still in place. He uses a range of free software to operate the cameras and telescope and to process the images after.

Andy has kindly made available a list of where software is available from his own personal Dropbox (see side bar) and links to other sites.

He also believes that a lot of manufacturers of telescope equipment sell gadgets and gizmos that are either unnecessary or expensive and the best way to go when starting out he thought is second hand – a lot of equipment can be purchased this way or directly from source – an example is a Canon programmable cable release; over £60 in the UK while only a few US-dollars direct from the States. E-bay and the various on-line astronomical 'exchange and mart' type sites were another place to seek what you might want.

His philosophy is – if you don't need it, don't buy it. For example, why have dozens of coloured filters, usually for planetary and lunar astronomy if you are going to only observe DSO's- why not just use a filter for that sort of work?

There followed an interesting Q and A session with the audience asking various fine points but due to the lack of time further questions had to be curtailed, however during the packing up period Andy was able to answer further technical and practical queries from members.

It is hoped that Andy will return in the near future to speak on other aspects of astronomical imaging.

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

JADE RABBIT ON MOON

For the first time in nearly 38 years humans successfully soft landed a spacecraft on the Moon. The Chinese lunar rover, named Yutu (Jade Rabbit) is just the first, so the Chinese government advises, of several lunar missions over the next few years. This will culminate in a manned lunar mission sometime in the next ten years as suggested by the Chinese space agency.

Jade Rabbit's lander module (Chang'e - 3) landed in the Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows) during the early afternoon (UT) of December 14.

Sinus Iridum (arrowed) Original image: Della Griffiths

This is not the first time human technology has visited this part of the Moon.

In November1970 the (then) Soviet lunar spacecraft Luna 17 landed to the south of the Sinus and deposited a lunar roving vehicle – Lunakhod 1.

Described unkindly by some as looking like a bathtub on wheels, Lunakhod trundled gently over the lunar surface, travelling over 10 kilometres and taking many thousands of images of the lunar surface and which were relayed to Earth and participating in other scientific experiments.

Contact with Lunakhod was lost the following September however, that is not the end of little Lunakhod's story.

In March 2010, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the landing site of Luna 17, showing the lander and tracks of the rover. In April 2010, the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO) team based in Mexico announced that with the aid of these photos, they had reacquired the long-lost Lunokhod 1 rover and had received returns from the laser retro-reflector mounted on its body and remain in regular laser contact to this day.

Back to Jade Rabbit. Several hours later the lunar rover rolled of its lander and after a check down period so engineers could verify that all was well, Jade Rabbit began its exploration of the Sinus Iridum. Among its equipment is ground penetrating radar and stereoscopic cameras.

The rover is expected to continue operation for about 3 months, while the lander will carry out its own, static, scientific operations over the coming year.

Close up view of Sinus Iridum Image by Brian Halls

CHINESE LUNAR MYTHOLOGY

Chang'e Is the lunar goddess of early Chinese mythology and she has as a companion a pet rabbit named Yutu.

Go out at full Moon – or near as – and you to can see Yutu.

Image: Wikipedia

Humans have the ability to see shape or form in objects – a phenomena called pareidolia – and we, in our western culture, are used to seeing the face of The Man In The Moon.

Yutu's ears are the Seas of Fertility and Tranquillity, the head is the Sea of Serenity while the rest of the body encompasses the Sea of Rains (close to the new lunar rover landing site) and the majority of the Ocean of Storms.

The rabbit is said to be working away, mixing and pounding herbs to create the elixir of life to keep the goddess going.

On the morning of July 20, 1969 as the Apollo 11 astronauts prepared to make the first manned moon landing, Houston relayed them the story of Chang'e and her pet rabbit. Buzz Aldrin replied: “Okay. We'll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.”

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

GLOBE AT NIGHTJanuary 2014

January's constellation is Orion. All you need do is wait an hour after sunset (when twilight finishes) and see how many stars you can see in and around the constellation of Orion. Use the chart below as a guide and pencil in what stars you can see.

Any stars you cannot see on the chart, put a fine X through it.

When you have finished, go to the Globe At Night comparison charts on its website (address below).

Find the nearest comparison chart to your observation.

Report your observation.

http://www.globeatnight.org/

ASTRO LINGO

Libration – is an oscillating motion of orbiting bodies relative to each other.

Lunar libration is manifested as a slow rocking back and forth of the Moon as viewed from Earth, permitting an observer to see slightly different portions of the surface at different times. This gives us a 59% view of the lunar surface.

A good visual indicator is by looking at the Sea of Crises (Mare Crisium). Sometimes it appears almost circular while another time it will appear like an ellipse. This is due to libration in longitude. This is caused by the eccentricity of the lunar orbit around the Earth.

Libration in latitude also occurs and is the result of a slight inclination between the Moon's axis of rotation and the normal to the plane of its orbit around Earth.

THE GLOBE AT NIGHT

For the last several years, the Globe At Night (GAN) campaign has focussed on measuring light pollution during the dark months – basically, just counting the stars you can see in certain constellations from your usual observing location from winter to early spring. This year is different as star counting will carry on through the whole of the year with different target constellations, and the Southern Astronomer encourages everyone who can to participate, even in a small way.

You do not need a telescope. Just your eyesight. How to go about it is explained in the side bar.

This is a good way to encourage youngsters and other family members to look at the sky, understand light pollution, all the while doing useful science.

Why not encourage neighbours, friends and other family to partake?

STARGAZING LIVE 2014Its that time of year once more and BBC2 are producing three nights of SGL during the first full week of January.

Three themes are being covered, space weather (effects of solar activity on Earth and space around it), space exploration and, the Milky way and other galaxies.

We of course will be playing our small part by holding a Stargazing Live event on Worthing seafront at the eastern end of the promenade where we usually meet – Splash Point (not to be confused by the new swimming pool complex of the same name which is not even at Splash Point!)

The planned evenings are January 10 and 11. The Moon will be gibbous (that is, between first quarter and full) while Jupiter be rising majestically in the east.

Of course there will be the recognisable winter constellations like Taurus with its open clusters and Orion and its gaseous regions where new star birth is taking place plus, of course many other other objects in the sky.

The proposal is to start at about 1930UT. Those bringing telescopes should be there a little before. Dress warm and bring a thermos of hot drink plus a seat (the stone wall of the prom can be a bit chilly).

Check out our website nearer the time for weather outlook notifications. It is also a good time to remind anyone that if they do intend to bring along equipment they should check with their household insurances to see if they are covered. WA insurance does not cover third party equipment.

If anyone has recognised first aid experience please drop us a line (address back page).

THE CHANGING MOON?Brian Halls

A couple of issues ago we listed a number of lunar features highlighted by the BAA Lunar Section as worthy of observation – these objects were the source of observers reports of unusual features in the past. The BAA Lunar Section (BAALS) attempt repeat obser-vations of these features when the libration and illumination are similar to the original observations.

The story goes back a long way. Ever since the telescope was pointed to the Moon over 400 years ago, observers have reported changes to craters and other lunar features. The most famous case was in the nineteenth century when it was believed that the crater Linné had changed from a reasonably sized small crater to one which was hardly visible at all. It is quite a story but one I will not pursue here.

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The Changing Moon? cont.

In 1958, Soviet astronomer Nikolai A. Kozyrev was taking spectrograms of the central mountain of the lunar crater Alphonsus using the Crimea Observatory 48-inch reflector. He noted bright emissions in the spectra which indicated gaseous emissions from the lunar surface. Since then other strange effects – misty patches or coloured glows – have been claimed to be observed elsewhere on the Moon.

Many astronomers – mostly amateur – got interested in observing these; Patrick Moore claimed to have coined a name for these type of effects, Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLP). A catalogue was produced with historical and contemporary TLP observations.

Over 50 years later there is still debate as to what a TLP is. Without a doubt many if not most TLP observations are the result of one or a combination of the following – atmospheric seeing, optical effects of the eyepiece or telescopes, especially refractors, eyesight of the reporting observer, the physical condition of the observer.

Some 'events' were reported by a single observer while other events were observed by several observers over a large geographic area. The group observed events often allowed for the effects of local seeing conditions; it is not unknown for a TLP to be observed by observers at one observing site and not seen at another. This would lead to an assumption that atmospheric seeing at one site was better and worse at another.

The BAA Lunar Section are interested in revisiting some TLP events when the conditions outlined at the beginning of this article are repeated.

And so it was on December 9, 2013. The BAALS newsletter had asked if while observing the lunar crater Proclus (close to the Mare Crisium) was a dark spot visible on the inside of the crater wall. This was due to an observer in April 1989 having reported a dark feature in the crater out of character with the surrounding terrain. With the cloud having cleared earlier that afternoon, the Moon was high in a clear sky. As it started to get dark I took a look at the Moon using a x120 magnification. The seeing was really good with very little atmospheric wobble.

There was the crater Proclus and low and behold a dark spot could be seen on the south eastern crater wall. Taking the magnification up it was obvious the dark spot was actually part of the crater wall in deep shadow.

I connected up my DMK camera and took some test AVI images of the crater and it recorded the image of the crater and 'anomaly' well. The image of the crater reproduced here (page opposite) shows Proclus with the dark spot.

I was able to go online and check for any satellite observations of the crater Proclus and I found an Apollo 17 image of the crater under very nearly the same lighting conditions. The black spot – actually a part of the crater wall in deep shadow – can be seen in this image too.

What the result of this observation shows is that the black spot observed in 1989 is not an anomalous transient feature but actually a topographic detail of the lunar surface which when seen under certain conditions appears strangely darker than the surrounding terrain. No mystery!

The Moon is however undergoing change. The age of large asteroids slamming into the Moon that created the impressive lunar landscape finished just under a billion years ago, though since the moon landings of 40 plus years ago, we know the Moon is under continual bombardment by smaller material such as the same material that when interacting with our atmosphere cause meteor showers. Occasionally something larger hits the Moon and the image can be recorded in a video format. In March 2013, a bright spot of light was recorded in the Mare Imbrium as a large object struck the Moon. Recently NASA released before and after images of that area and the pictures can be seen on the page opposite.

The Moon may not undergo large fundamental changes but the lunar surface holds many 'mysteries' that the new and experienced observer alike can discover.

ASTRONOMICAL SEEING

ANTONAIDI SCALE

I. Perfect seeing, without a quiver.

II. Slight quivering of the image with moments of calm lasting several seconds.

III. Moderate seeing with larger air tremors that blur the image.

IV. Poor seeing, constant troublesome undulations of the image.

V. Very bad seeing, hardly stable enough to allow a rough sketch to be made.

This scale is used to describe the seeing through a telescope. Each number is usually prefixed with an A to reference what scale is being used and the number is expressed usually as a Roman numeral though an ordinary number is permitted.

The seeing on the night of the Proclus observation was relatively good and was estimated by the observer as being A2..Always try and use a scale like this when recording observations.

LUNAR ASTRONOMY RESOURCES

Virtual Moon Atlas: Check out the lunar phase for anytime past or future and details about lunar features. http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start

Peter Grego's Outline Lunar Chart: Outline maps of the Moon to help as a guide – ideal for printing off and using at the eyepiece.http://www.lunarobservers.com/

Moon Zoo: An ideal way to carry on doing lunar astronomy on a night you cannot observe.http://www.moonzoo.org/

BAA Lunar Section: http://www.baalunarsection.org.uk/

Lunar Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO):http://alpo-astronomy.org/

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

Image: Brian Halls Lunar crater Proclus. In this IAU-Aeronautic view, north is at the top and east

(sunrise) is to the right. Note the dark wall of the crater to its lower right. Part of the dark plains of the Mare Crisium can be seen at the right edge of the picture.

Picture: NASACompare the Apollo 17 picture of Proclus taken in 1972 (above) with the earth bound image on the left. Taken at approximately the same Sun angle, the south east wall is in shadow, giving the crater a 'black-spot' look about it.

Technical information for left hand image:

Image from December 9, 2013. UT 1701.Telescope used was a 15cm refractor with a nominal f8 focal length; the seeing was A2. As the seeing was so good the DMK camera used was connected to two x2 barlows lenses to increase focal length and increase the field of view. The visual magnification was equivalent to about x400.

The camera shot a 45 second AVI sequence at 60 frames a second. The 2700 frames were processed in Registax with nearly all of them being used. Post processing was done using GIMP.

The Moon was just past first quarter.

New Crater: Before..... ...and after.Images: NASA

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

OBSERVING NOTESJanuary

Details in the Notes are for mid month (15th) unless otherwise stated and the times expressed are in UT (see note on time on page two Astro Events Diary)

After the increase in sunspot activity in November – including a rare naked-eye sunspot mid month (as reported in the last issue), things quietened down to the more normal levels we have been observing lately. The predictions are that sunspot maximum will occur sometime this year. As the last sunspot minimum was a drawn out one, will the maximum be the same or will there be a peak followed by a rapid decline? We shall have to wait and see.

In November Brian States observed the Sun on 25 days. The average relative sunspot number (R) based upon the observations of WA members is 85.6; a higher figure than of late due to the number of groups observed comprising many small spots.

From the graphic above, it can be seen that the Full Moon dominates the sky for much of the night mid month but observations of the terminator regions (the line between light and dark) can be quite interesting if done when conditions allow from the time the Moon is first observed as a thin crescent in the evening sky all the way to Full Moon and, this time of year, the period after Full Moon when lunar night once more creeps across the lunar landscape.

Even at a reasonable hour of the morning, the waning Moon can be seen high in the sky prior to sunrise and even after, making it the best time of year for prolonged viewings of lunar features.

The Moon is often overlooked as an object to spend an evening observing but if you have friends or family around, it never fails to give anyone looking at the Moon's alien landscape a 'Wow factor'. A list of useful lunar resources is on page 8.

Venus is now too close to the Sun for observing. it will reappear at the end of January as a morning object. The dark mornings will help you find it.

Planet Jupiter will be at opposition at 2101UT on January 5 and it will remain a fixture of the evening skies until spring. Observations of the dark belts with moderate to large telescopes will show the structure in them as well as the feature known as the Great Red Spot. A list of transit times of the GRS across the face of Jupiter is on the next page.

Both Mars and Saturn are early morning risers and are well placed in the dark before sunrise for observing. With the dark mornings of this time of year one does not have to get up too early to see these objects.

As mentioned earlier, a number of comets plus the Ursid meteor shower are visible during the early part of the month (see Looking Up In 2014 on page 2 of this newsletter).

Deep SkyAs Orion is the campaign constellation for GAN it might be a good target for this months 'star-hopping'.

Venus is no longer an evening object – its proximity to the Sun makes it difficult to observe until it begins to rise just before the Sun in February.

The image above taken by Brian Halls on December 6, 2013 is another daytime image of the planet – 1420UT. Seeing is reported as being A4 (poor). The image is a result of filming the planet at fast frame rates (60fps) for 45 seconds – hopefully catching brief moments of good seeing – and then processing in Registax. The image was then post processed using GIMP and colour adjusted with a deep blue/violet 'virtual filter' in the processing.

This produced a crisper image of the planet not seen in the raw Registax image (below). DMK mono camera and 150mm refractor – no camera filters.

Following normal astronomy convention North at the bottom and preceding (West) to the left in both images.

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

Transits Times of the Great Red Spot (GRS) of Jupiter

January 1: 8:25, 18:21; 2: 4:16, 14:12; 3: 0:07, 10:03, 19:58; 4: 5:54, 15:50; 5: 1:45, 11:41, 21:36; 6: 7:32, 17:28; 7: 3:23, 13:19, 23:14; 8: 9:10, 19:06; 9: 5:01, 14:57; 10: 0:52, 10:48, 20:43; 11: 6:39, 16:35; 12: 2:30, 12:26, 22:21; 13: 8:17, 18:13; 14: 4:08, 14:04, 23:59; 15: 9:55, 19:51; 16: 5:46, 15:42; 17: 1:37, 11:33, 21:29; 18: 7:24, 17:20; 19: 3:15, 13:11, 23:07; 20: 9:02, 18:58; 21: 4:54, 14:49; 22: 0:45, 10:40, 20:36; 23: 6:32, 16:27; 24: 2:23, 12:18, 22:14; 25: 8:10, 18:05; 26: 4:01, 13:57, 23:52; 27: 9:48, 19:43; 28: 5:39, 15:35; 29: 1:30, 11:26, 21:22; 30: 7:17, 17:13; 31: 3:08, 13:04, 23:00

Reproduced courtesy of Sky PublishingThe GRS will be well placed for observing 50 minutes or so either side of the times

given.

Eyepiece view of M42

Part of the Horsehead Nebula

Images by Stellarium (top) and Robin Durant (Horsehead Nebula)

Observing Notes cont.

Using the technique we learned about last month we'll star hop around Orion. Orion is an easily identifiable constellation – the three stars of its belt are obvious. The middle star, Alnilam and the two 'feet' stars of Orion Saiph and Rigel form a neat triangle. Nearly at the centre of this triangle is a faint cluster of stars – obvious on a dark, clear and frosty night but not so obvious with the unaided eye from a location with light pollution.

Come straight down from Alnilam to this faint cluster of stars [1]. Referred too generally as M42 it contains another Messier object M43 – which is actually part of M42 which is separated from the main object by dark nebulosity. The bright red clouds seen in photographs will not be visible to the naked human eye. It will appear as a wispy smoke like structure. Four stars are in the heart – these are referred to by the asterism of The Trapezium.

To the left of Alnilam is the first star of Orion's Belt – Alnitak. star hop to a bright star just under it [2]. This is σ (sigma) Orionis. Close by and to its left – almost on the imaginary line that links Alnitak to Saiph is another area of nebulosity IC434 or as it is better known The Horsehead Nebula. Sadly this is not visible without some form of photography.

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The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

Observing Notes cont.

Orion contains many deep sky wonders (too many to describe in the newsletter) as it occupies a region of space where star formation is occurring. One day, long into the future when star formation is over, stellar winds from these young stars will 'blow' what remains of the nebulosity away.

We are lucky to be looking at this point of space at this time to wonder at the creation happening within.

Recording your Deep Sky ObservationsEveryone is able to observe many deep sky objects however many would like to keep a record of what they are observing. The simplest and most effective way of recording what you see through the eyepiece is the method used by astronomers for hundreds of years before the advent of photography – drawing.

On the page opposite is a drawing form for you to print and use – a PDF copy is also available to download from the WA website.

The central circle denotes the eyepiece field of view (FOV). Using soft nosed pencils you can draw the deep sky object you are looking at. A selection of pencils and a rubber to remove mistakes, a red light to illuminate what you are doing, and a firm surface on which to place your drawing form, and enthusiasm are all that is needed.

Above and below the FOV circle are places to make notes – date, time and places to write down the name of the object you are observing. Underneath are details of telescope, magnification, filters etc. used. None of these details need to be filled out though of course it is handy so you can look back on past observations.

Once the drawing is completed place it in a folder or binder where you keep your observations. Some eyepiece sketchers who do this will sometimes scan their observation sheet into a computer, saving the image as a picture file and then inverting the image to a negative, so the dark pencil drawings on the white paper back ground become white/grey sketches on a black sky back ground – a more natural way of presenting the observations.

If you are interested in doing this why not visit Dale Holt's Chippingdale Observatory web site on the internet at http://chippingdaleobservatory.com/ . Dale has quite a few deep-sky object drawing as well as solar lunar and planetary sketches – underlining what can be done with pencil and paper. If nothing else his website is worth a visit and look at the historical telescope he uses to create his drawings.

And don't worry if you believe you do have not having an artistic talent – you may pleasantly surprised at what you can do.

To find out some more about sketching your telescope views try and look in at at the following websites: http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/

http://www.deepskywatch.com/astronomy-sketches.html

http://www.fjastronomy.com/articles/deep-sky-sketching/

Or download a brief primer from the Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA):

http://www.popastro.com/documents/Sketching the Deep Sky.pdf

And finally...thank you for keeping with us during 2013 and lets hope we have clear skies and plenty of objects to observe during 2014.

ASTRONOMY IN THE PUBSTARGAZING AT THE STAR INN

STEYNING

We have been asked by Ellie Gloster who organizes family events for Steyning Downland Scheme is hoping to run an Astronomy In The Pub event at the (appropriately) named Star Inn in Steyning High Street.

Ellie writes: The rough plan for the event is to gather at The Star pub in Steyning - then walk to the Rifle Range which is a good dark skies spot - providing the weather is clear. I'm also hoping that a friend of mine- Richie Jarvis- who presents a radio show on Astronomy FM will be able to come and do a short slide show / presentation on the night skies at the start of the evening...I am looking at possibly Fri 24th Jan as the date - around 5.30 - 7.30pm.

It looks as if all we need do is supply the 'scopes so members of the public can look through them. Can you help? Contact Ellie on 07786 547114

DOES THE SOUTHERN ASTRONOMER CONTAIN THE

NEWS AND INFORMATION YOU WANT?

The Southern Astronomer is the society newsletter/magazine and we try and include as much information for the coming month to help you find your way around the sky and observe.

If you think there could be other items of interest or would like to contribute – letters, questions, ideas, suggestions, drawings, photographs or a written article – then drop us an email at:

info@worthingastronomers.org.uk

MONTHLY SKY MAP

The star map on the last page shows the position of stars and constellations on

January 15 at about 21.30UT

The map is created using the free Stellarium software.

This is a useful tool for amateur astronomers and can be downloaded from

www.stellarium.org

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WORTHING ASTRONOMERS DEEP SKY OBJECTOBSERVING REPORT FORM

Name __________________________ Date _______________________ Object Name _________________________

Object Type _______________________ Time ________________________________ Location __________________

Telescope_____________________________________Eyepiece(s)_________________________________

Filters_______________________________________Magnification_________________________________

Seeing______________________________________Conditions____________________________________

Notes:

The Southern Astronomer No.64 - January 2014

The sky from Sussex at around 20.30UT on January 15

Contributions – written articles (preferably word processed), photographs or letters to the editor for the February 2014 issue should be in by January 24 and sent to the editor at the contact address: info@worthingastronomers.org.uk

Detailed occultation predictions in PDF format may be had by contacting the same address. (Please include exact latitude, longitude and approx height above sea level – these can be found using a service like Google Earth, for example.)

If you no longer wish to subscribe to the group and receive newsletters and other information, please send an email (to the address above) with Unsubscribe in the subject line; we do not want our stuff to end up like spam littering your inbox. Volunteers are always welcome: if you want to find out more, call 01903 521205 or drop us a line at the e-mail address above.

If you like the newsletter or its content please feel free to pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested. Content is subject to copyright to the group and/or the individuals whose images or articles are used.

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