BAS Observer: October 2013 - Brisbane Astronomical Society

OCTOBER 2013 www.bas.asn.au
» Astronomy Photographer of the Year Award
» Did a hyper-black hole spawn the Universe?
» Scratching the surface of PixInsight
» Membership subscriptions now due
» The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy
» Moogerah Dam photo gallery
» SETI@home
SO, WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ASTRONOMY WEBSITE?
ABN 90 130 679 791
POSTAL ADDRESS
PO Box 15892
City East, QLD 4002
WEBSITE
www.bas.asn.au
EMAIL
info@bas.asn.au
Club representatives
PRESIDENT
Chris Landman
Ph: 0419 861 689
Email: president@bas.asn.au
VICE-PRESIDENT
Peter Teodorovic
SECRETARY
Andy Polichronis
TREASURER
Subbarao (Siva) Sivakumar
GENERAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Norm Bull
Robert Heath
Trevor Samson
LIBRARIAN
Andy Polichronis
EDUCATION OFFICER
Trevor Samson
EQUIPMENT OFFICER
Hermann Schraut
CATERING OFFICERS
Linda Landman, Trevor Samson
and Yvonne Samson
The obvious answer for BAS members would have to be www.bas.asn.au (of course!),
but let’s look a little further afield.
For a great local (Southern Hemisphere) forum, you really can’t beat IceInSpace,
and any beginner is well advised to check it out. You’ll find a wealth of information
from a broad community of southern amateur astronomers, including reviews,
opinions, resources, images – and much, much more.
NASA’s website is a must, as is the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)’s
hubblesite.org. My own number-one astronomical interest these days being cosmology,
I must also mention Discover Magazine’s cosmology pages. On the same subject, I
would thoroughly recommend Stephen Hawking’s site. Even though it isn’t updated
regularly, it contains a wealth of useful and stimulating material.
Bad Astronomy
If I had to name my most-visited astronomical
destination on the Web, however, it would undoubtedly
be Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy, which has recently
moved to a blog on the magazine Slate’s website.
A professional astronomer, Phil Plait is a
populariser of science and an outspoken critic of
pseudoscience, very much in the tradition of Carl
Sagan – hence the ‘Bad Astronomy’ label. I must
admit that I admire scientists who are not afraid to
speak their minds, and Phil is certainly one of those!
If, like me, you sometimes find yourself in the
‘Bad Astronomer’ Phil Plait
company of Moon-landing deniers, UFOlogists,
astrologers and the like – and you’re at a bit of a loss – a Google search for Phil’s
name and the particular subject will provide you with plenty of sound science to
counter any argument you might face.
Most recently, Phil has taken on ‘climate change sceptics’, with a series of
excellent posts on the subject. They constitute a devastating rebuttal of arguments
that global warming is not a reality or that it’s slowing down, that carbon dioxide is
not a greenhouse gas, and so on.
Of course, Phil’s blog is not just concerned with debunking myths. Its subtitle
‘The entire universe in blog form’ may be a slight (huge!) exaggeration, but even so,
Phil manages to provide some of the most accessible and fascinating science I’ve
found anywhere – all presented in an informal and often humorous style (check out
his Why Is Vesta Groovy?).
While I’m sure there are many
other fans of Bad Astronomy
out there, if you haven’t visited
Phil’s blog, I’d urge you to do so.
I think you’ll keep coming back
to it, just as I do.
So . . . as the title asks,
what’s your favourite astronomy
website?
Darryl Nixon
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Darryl Nixon
Ph: (07) 3219 3839
Email: darryl@sunsetdigital.com.au
Layout and design: Sunset Publishing Services Pty Ltd
PO Box 5207
Mt Gravatt East, QLD 4122
Cover photograph:
Andy Polichronis. (The Murphy
family at Moogerah Dam: Jamie and
Susan Murphy, with children Imogen,
Sienna and Lincoln. Canon EOS 60D;
14 mm Samyang lens; exposure
30 seconds; f/2.8 at ISO 3200.)
Vesta: Potato or spud?
LEFT: Vesta. Is it an asteroid or a planet?
The caption at left is Phil Plait’s original.
(Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/
UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.)
No material may be reproduced from this publication without the written permission of the Brisbane Astronomical Society Inc. © BAS 2013
2
BAS OBSERVER
CONTENTS
OCTOBER 2013 www.bas.asn.au
CLUB ACTIVITIES 4
by Chris Landman, BAS President
OCTOBER–NOVEMBER CALENDAR 5
MOOGERAH DAM PHOTO GALLERY 6
Images of members at 5th October’s Star-BQ,
from Andy Polichronis
QUOTE THAT! 8
Language that captures your passion, from Caroline Holliday
DID A HYPER-BLACK HOLE SPAWN THE UNIVERSE? 8
16
COMET NEWS 20
MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW DUE 9
Steve Taylor’s rundown on October’s comets
GALAXY OF THE MONTH 10
The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy (NGC 1365), by Andy Polichronis
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF PIXINSIGHT 14
LUNAR AND PLANETARY GUIDE 24
A Solar System reference for October from Paul Floyd
MEADE EQUIPMENT FOR SALE 30
by Tony Surma-Hawes
SETI@HOME 16
Searching for extraterrestrial intelligence on your own computer,
by Darryl Nixon
NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS 19
BAS INFORMATION 31
Equipment hire, library borrowing and membership subscriptions
ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH’S ASTRONOMY 44
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARD 32
New BAS President Chris Landman and wife Linda enjoy
a night under the stars at Moogerah Dam on 5th October.
(Photo by Andy Polichronis – more on page 6.)
NEW MEMBERS
A big welcome to Melinda Byrne (and family: Christopher Johnson), Jaskaran Rana, Ashley Ruaux, Brian Sengstock,
Tanya Spethman (and family: Glenn Allen, Jesse Allen, Zoe and Lachlan Allen). We do hope that you enjoy being members
of the Brisbane Astronomical Society and are able to participate in as many social and astronomical functions as you can.
May your journey in exploring and learning about the stars, planets and space be an enjoyable one.
OCTOBER MEETING
Friday, 18th October, 7.30 p.m., at the Kelvin Grove High School Library.
Visitors and all prospective members welcome. Supper provided. The meeting will start with 30 minutes of telescope
observing at 7.00 p.m. (weather permitting) and an introduction to the constellations visible in the sky. The formal
meeting content will commence inside the library at 7.30 p.m., with the well-intentioned aim of closing the meeting
at 9.00 p.m. All visitors are encouraged to bring their telescopes if they need assistance in using them.
OCTOBER 2013
3
Club activities
by Chris Landman, BAS President
A
s it has come about, there has been a change in
the Presidency of the club. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all members and visitors who
attended the Annual General Meeting in September and made
possible the confirmation of the new Management Committee
of the Brisbane Astronomical Society.
September meeting
We were very privileged to have Dr Edwin Erickson as our guest
speaker, talking about the ‘evolution’ of the airborne observatory –
starting from a humble Lear Jet with a basic refractor and mega
gyroscopes, to a mammoth Boeing 747 with an enormous telescope.
I think it was pretty interesting to learn about the growth in
airborne observatories and their work in the infrared area.
After our very interesting guest speaker, we moved on to the
formalities of the AGM. We had a very good report from our auditor,
but I would like to apologise to members that we did not send out the
auditor’s report earlier, as we only received it in the afternoon prior to the meeting. Although the report was read and
displayed to members at the meeting, there were still some who questioned its validity and accuracy. [The auditor’s
report is now available online.—ED.]
With that put behind us, we went on to the election of the Management Committee. As the persons who were
nominated for the various positions were unopposed, Peter Teodorovic, the outgoing President, asked for any
nominations from the floor. Only one person was nominated, but this person declined the nomination. The members
were then asked to vote for the Committee, but the general consensus from the floor was that seeing there was no
contest for any of the positions, the nominees should be accepted as elected. [See new Committee list on page 2.—ED.]
There was also a vote for the purchase of some imaging equipment for the club, which will be hired out to members
for their use. It was decided that we should purchase an altazimuth/equatorial mount with a 4-inch refractor, including
a guide ’scope with auto-guider. I shall be contacting the various astronomical equipment suppliers, asking for tenders
to supply this equipment. The vote for the use of funds was unanimous, and we as a Committee will proceed with the
purchase of these items, which will be displayed at meetings for members to view.
A venue change for general meetings was also proposed, as we are starting to outgrow our current venue.
We are looking at this to see if it is a viable option and shall be keeping everyone up to date on progress.
After the meeting and the election of the new Committee, we all had a cup of something to drink and some
delicious snacks to nibble on, which were provided by some of the members of our club.
Astrocamps
It is sad to say, but we have reached the end of the line at Hazeldean, our regular dark-sky site. The reason for
this is that we have outgrown it – and the trees are outgrowing us as well! On the upside of this, however, we have
been fortunate to secure the Lions Club site at Duckadang (the Astrofest venue). The dates for next year’s dark-sky
weekends will be posted on the BAS website.
Due to maintenance work at Hazeldean, our dark-sky weekend for October has been cancelled. (Funny how the
maintenance is always due when our dark-sky weekends are due. Hmm . . .)
Combined Societies Meeting
The Combined Societies Meeting will be taking place on 25th October, 2013, at Griffith University’s Nathan Campus.
The meeting has been scheduled to start at 7.30 p.m., and the venue has been changed to a larger room this year:
Room No. 0.03 in the Macrossan Building (N16). A map can be viewed at the university’s website: http://www.griffith.
edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/397047/Nathan-general-site-map.pdf.
4
BAS OBSERVER
Monthly Star-BQ
It has been decided that there will no longer be a Star-BQ held at Decker Park in Brighton. We have not been
successful in securing enough members and visitors to attend this venue, as Moogerah Dam has become the
preferred venue for Star-BQs because of the darker skies and better viewing.
Public viewing nights – Mt Coot-tha Lookout
These are becoming very popular events, and I would like to call on all members to come up to Mt Coot-tha
Lookout and interact with the public and show them the wonders of the night sky. We always need to make more
’scopes available to the general public in order to show more people more objects, so if you are available for a bit
of question-and-answer time and are prepared to interact with the public, you are welcome to come and join us at
our next public viewing night.
For up-to-date information on important dates in the coming month, please consult the BAS website or our Facebook
page regularly. ■
October–November Calendar
General meetings
• Friday, 18th October • Friday, 15th November
Combined Societies Meeting
• Friday, 25th October (see page 4 for more information).
Mt Coot-tha public Moon and planets viewing nights
• Saturday, 12th October • Saturday, 9th November
Hazeldean astrocamps
• Friday, 1st November to Sunday, 3rd November
• Friday, 29th November to Sunday, 1st December
Star-BQs
• Saturday, 26th October • Saturday, 23rd November (See BAS website for more information.)
School nights
• Support needed. Ask Education Officer Trevor Samson or any BAS Committee member for dates.
MEETING AND EVENT DATES IN 2013
Meeting dates for 2013 currently stand as follows, pending confirmation of meet­ing room availability:
18th October, 15th November and 20th December.
Mt Coot-tha viewing nights will be as follows: Saturday, 12th October, 9th November and 7th December.
Hazeldean astrocamp weekends: 1st–3rd November and 29th November–1st December.
Star-BQ nights are, subject to weather, Saturday, 26th October, 23rd November and 21st December,
commencing at 5.00 p.m.
OCTOBER 2013
5
Moogerah Dam photo gallery
Images of members at 5th October’s Star-BQ, from Andy Polichronis
Star-BQ participants
Trevor and Yvonne Samson
6
Jamie and Susan Murphy
BAS OBSERVER
An offer from Andy
All images on these pages were taken using a Canon EOS 60D with 14 mm Samyang lens, f/2.8 at ISO 3200, and an
exposure of 30 seconds.
Andy asked me to make special mention of the fact that if any families, couples or single people would like similar
pictures of their own, he would be more than happy to take photos for them at club events.—ED. ■
Robert Heath and Steve Taylor
Chris and Linda Landman
Steve Taylor with 14-inch Meade
OCTOBER 2013
7
Quote That!
Language that captures your passion
Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body,
the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the
crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that
exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching
pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all
connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically
and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool!
That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end
of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are
part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe
is in us.
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON American astrophysicist and science communicator
WITH MANY THANKS TO CAROLINE HOLLIDAY
Did a hyper-black hole spawn the Universe?
Was the Big Bang a mirage from a collapsing higher-dimensional star?
The event horizon of a black hole – the point of no return for anything that falls in – is a spherical surface. In a higher-dimensional universe,
a black hole could have a three-dimensional event horizon, which could spawn a whole new universe as it forms. (Artist’s impression by
Victor de Schwanberg, courtesy of the Science Photo Library.)
Many thanks to Chris Landman for this intriguing story from the scientific journal Nature, reported in The CourierMail on 18th September. It never ceases to amaze me how much we’ve been able to learn about the origins of
our Universe – and how much we still have to learn!
Read The Courier-Mail report here and the original article from Nature here. I think you’ll find this new ­cos­
mological hypothesis as fascinating as I did. Thanks again, Chris.—ED.
8
BAS OBSERVER
Telescopes
and
Accessories
and “GOTo Mounts
Telescopes
and
Accessories
Telescopes
and
Accessories
Mount Hub Pro’s and Accessories
CCD Cameras
Telecompressors
and
Adaptors
Starlight Xpress
and
Orion
Autoguiding Systems
Sirius Optics
Astro Tents
SIRIUS OPTICS
Dew Control
Systems
CCD Cameras
Full Range of Saxon Scopes
2898–2900 Logan Rd, Underwood QLD 4119
Phone: 07 3423 2355 Fax: 07 3423 2366
Email: soptics@bigpond.net.au
Web Site address: www.sirius-optics.com.au
MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW DUE
Just a reminder that BAS membership subscriptions are now due. You can pay your subscription at the October
OGM or by electronic funds transfer (EFT) through your banking website or over the counter at your local bank
or building society branch. Please pay:
Brisbane Astronomical Society Inc.
Bank of Queensland
BSB No. 124030
Account No. 10168155
It is vitally important that you identify who has made the deposit so that we are able to update up your subscription:
1. Enter your surname and initial in the reference field, e.g. ‘J. Citizen – BAS subs’. This reference will tell us who
made the payment and will appear on your next bank statement.
2. Promptly email the Treasurer at treasurer@bas.asn.au, confirming that you have made a payment by EFT,
with the following details:
• The name of your bank.
• The date payment made.
• How much lodged.
• The reference used.
The Secretary and Treasurer will then confirm that the payment has gone through and update your membership.
OCTOBER 2013
9
Galaxy of
the month
The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy
(NGC 1365), by Andy Polichronis
Great Barred Spiral Galaxy
facts
Designation: NGC 1365. Constellation: Fornax
(the Furnace). Class: SBb(s)b. Distance: 60 million
light-years. Radial velocity: 337 km/s away from
us. Size: 200 000 light-years – double the size of
our galaxy and one of the largest galaxies known.
Size of bar: 45 000 light-years. Magnitude: 10.3
(most luminous of all known barred spirals). Apparent diameter: 11.2 × 6.2 arcminutes.
Contains four supernovae: 2012fr, 2001du, 1983V and 1957C. Contains 50 Cepheids.
Galaxies have class
SBb(s)b
NGC 1365
10
BAS OBSERVER
Galaxy dynamics
• Speed: 1665 km/s away from us.
• Different parts of the galaxy take different times to
complete a full rotation around the galaxy’s core.
• Outer parts of the bar take about 350 million years
to complete a circuit.
• Supermassive black hole about 3 million kilometres
across (eight times the diameter of our Sun); the
mass of the black hole is 2 million times the mass
of our Sun.
• Black hole spins at nearly the speed of light.
Observing NGC 1365
NGC 1365 is a beautiful, barred spiral galaxy
seen face on, probably the finest example of its
class in the southern sky. The galaxy is visible in
small telescopes under dark skies, with an 8-inch
under good skies showing a bright, fuzzy nucleus
surrounded by the soft glow of unresolved spiral arms.
NGC 1365 (bottom right-hand corner) is a member of the Fornax Galaxy
In a 12-inch or larger telescope, structure in the
Cluster. The cluster contains about fifty-six members, and NGC 1365 is
spiral arms can start to be resolved beautifuly. The
the third‑brightest of them.
galaxy has a Z- or S-shaped appearance.
I have observed this galaxy through my 14-inch Dobsonian telescope, and it is truly an amazing sight – one of
the most beautiful galaxies I have ever seen. I would be delighted to show anyone interested in viewing this galaxy
through my ’scope at any club dark-sky event.
NGC 1365’s core (core size 50 × 40 arcseconds). The galaxy is
classified as having an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN).
NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope image (see inset) shows a bright X-ray
source in the middle of the image, which reveals the position of the
galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
Three steps to locating NGC 1365
1. Locate 0.5-magnitude star Achernar, and then follow the winding stars that make up the ‘river’ constellation
Eridanus to get to 3rd-magnitude star Acamar.
2. From Acamar, keep following the winding pattern of stars of Eridanus until you reach the small, triangular asterism
of 4th- and 5th-magnitude stars gEri, hEri and HIP 17797.
3. From this triangular asterism, use your telescope’s viewfinder to locate the 7th- and 8th-magnitude stars
HIP 16868 and HIP 16720. NGC 1365 is a nudge away from the star HIP 16720.
OCTOBER 2013
11
STEP 1: LOCATE ACHERNAR AND ACAMAR (zoom in for closer view)
STEP 2: LOCATE hEri, gEri AND HIP 17797 (zoom in for closer view)
NEWSLETTER DEADLINE FOR NOVEMBER ISSUE
Just a reminder that all newsletter contributions must be received three weeks before the
monthly meeting. For the November issue, that means Friday, 25th October. Only essential
announcements and news items will be accepted after that date. Late material will be
held over for the following issue.—ED.
12
BAS OBSERVER
STEP 3: LOCATE HIP 16868, HIP 16868 AND NGC 1365 (zoom in for closer view)
Right: SUPERNOVA SN 2012fr
Type 1a supernova SN 2012fr was
discovered by French astronomer Alain Klotz
on 27th October, 2012, using the La Silla
Telescope in Chile. The supernova’s
magnitude is currently around
12th magnitude.
Below left: HISTORY
NGC 1365 was discovered by Scottish
astronomer James Dunlop on
2nd September, 1826.
Below right: NGC 1365 IMAGED IN
VISIBLE AND INFRARED LIGHT
Infrared images help astronomers peer
through dust to reveal vast numbers of
stars in both the bar and spiral arms – stars
not revealed in visible-light images.
OCTOBER 2013
VISIBLE INFRARED Infrared images help astronomers peer through dust to reveal vast numbers of stars
13
in both the bar and spiral arms not visible in visible images.
Dark current: Scratching the surface of PixInsight
by Tony Surma-Hawes
A
s so often happens, the lure of our hobby eventually leads us to dabble in the dark and arcane arts of
astrophotography, or ‘astro-imaging’. Sometimes this is the very reason we became interested in the hobby:
when a particularly striking image of the heavens was encounted while surfing the net or browsing the shelves
of a newsagent or bookstore. In my own case, I have always been interested in the heavens, but that interest
was galvanised when I bought a special edition of Southern Sky magazine featuring the imagery of David Malin.
His rendition of the Great Orion Nebula (M42) just blew me away, and I have been totally hooked ever since.
David imaged with the Anglo-Australian Telescope (now known as the Australian Astronomical Telescope), and
mere mortals such as myself could not compete using our backyard instruments and SLR cameras, although there
were some who did very well. With the advent of DSLR cameras the universe literally opened up to us. These cameras
were more sensitive to incoming light, and the telescopes and mounts became cheaper and better. With the capture
of digital data, the techniques and software to process it developed exponentially.
Of the many programs that are available today, I think it would be safe to say that Adobe Photoshop (http://www.
adobe.com/au/products/photoshop.html) is synonymous with image processing and a tool that I still rely on a great
deal. Lately, however, I have started using a program called PixInsight (Pleiades Astrophoto: http://pixinsight.com/)
to work on my images. Unlike Photoshop, PixInsight is designed specifically to be used with astronomical data, is
very reasonably priced at €171 (approximately AU$245), and runs on multiple OS platforms. A fully functional, 45-day
trial version can be downloaded from the PixInsight website; there are no restrictions on file formats, saving options,
or watermarks across saved images. The downside is that the program has a very steep learning curve.
I have only just begun to dabble with the program, using only a few of its many tools and processes. This weekend
I learnt to use one of the program’s scripts, Batch Pre-Processing (BPP), to stack my sub-frames, darks and flats. BPP
undoubtedly stacks better than Deep Sky Stacker (DSS) – until now my program of choice for stacking my images –
but I need to learn how to correctly set the parameters. DSS has been a very versatile tool but sometimes produces
unexpected results, and I have not had much success stacking images from multiple sessions and nights.
Last night I loaded into PixInsight data I captured on four separate nights: 7 × 5 minutes at the Queensland
Astrofest and 7 × 10 minutes at Leyburn in September, and then 7 × 10 and 14 × 10 minutes on 5th and 7th October
at Leyburn, for a total of 315 minutes, or 5 hours 15 minutes. The resulting image contained a good deal of sky-glow,
which was easily removed using the Automatic Background Extractor (ABE) tool. A significant portion of the image
was cropped to remove the areas that were not overlapped well. Next, using Histogram Transformation, the dynamic
range was enhanced.
In my previous use of PixInsight I needed to boost the saturation to enhance the colours of nebulosity and stars,
but with over five hours of data I found that the colours naturally came to the fore, and I resisted the urge to tweak
them. The other benefit I gained from the long integration time is that the ‘noise’ that is usually present is virtually
non-existent in the result. Some of the data I collected on the weekend was not as focused as it could have been,
and this has resulted in some of the brighter stars containing dark halo artefacts. (Mind you, these could be the result
of not using the correct parameters in BPP.)
In conclusion, it appears that the next step in my evolution as an astro-imager is to master PixInsight, or at least
tame a few of the tools this program affords. Although the learning curve is a hard slog at the moment, I believe that
the results and improvements on the next page show what it is possible to achieve with PixInsight.
PixInsight system requirements
FreeBSD: PixInsight 1.8.0 for FreeBSD has been developed on PC-BSD 9.1 Isotope Edition x64. Tested FreeBSD releases: FreeBSD 9.1-RELEASE
x64, FreeBSD 9.0-RELEASE x64. Recommended FreeBSD configuration: PC-BSD 9.1 Isotope Edition x64 with KDE 4.8 or later, or Gnome 3.2
or later.
Linux: PixInsight 1.8.0 for Linux requires glibc version 2.15 (March 2012) and a 64-bit Linux distribution. Tested 64-bit Linux distributions: Fedora 16,
Fedora 17, Fedora 18, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, Ubuntu 12.10. Other Linux distributions for x86_64 should work without problems, as long as they provide
glibc 2.15 or later. Recommended Linux configuration: Fedora 16 x86_64 or later with KDE 4.8 or later, or Gnome 3.2 or later.
Mac OS X: Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) or Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). PixInsight is not compatible with Mac OS X 10.5
(Leopard). It requires at least Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). If you are still using Mac OS X 10.5 on your machine, the obvious solution is to install
OS X 10.6 (or 10.7/10.8). They’re more secure and efficient, and are real 64-bit operating systems (10.5 uses a 32-bit kernel).
Windows: Microsoft Windows 8, Microsoft Windows 7 or Microsoft Windows Vista (Service Pack ≥ 2 recommended). Windows XP is not supported.
The PixInsight Core application runs on Windows XP, but there are screen-rendering problems – and, more importantly, our own automatic updates
system does not work correctly on Windows XP. (Our updates system is based on UAC technology (User Account Control) and code signing,
which unfortunately are not available on Windows XP.) PixInsight does not run on Windows NT, 2000, ME, 98, 95, or 3.1x/Win32s.
14
BAS OBSERVER
The image above was captured at the Queensland Astrofest in August this year. Until the integration of the data
captured over three nights in September and October, using PixInsight, I had regarded this as the best result I could
achieve; however, compared with the image below, I now feel that the saturation boost in the original looks garish –
and the new image obviously shows much more nebulosity, detail and subtle colouration. ■
OCTOBER 2013
15
SETI@home
Searching for extraterrestrial
intelligence on your own computer,
by Darryl Nixon
I
don’t think there has been any development
in astronomical computing that caused quite
the flurry of excitement in BAS’s ranks as did
the release of SETI@home in 1999 – if we discount
Apple’s recent iOS 7 update, whose look and feel
has certainly caused excitement in a negative sense!
Hosted by the Space Sciences Laboratory at
the University of California, Berkeley, USA, SETI@home was aimed at harnessing the power of personal computers
around the world to process chunks of observational data from the Arecibo radio telescope. The intention was,
and is, to search for possible evidence of radio transmissions from intelligent lifeforms elsewhere in the cosmos.
Those BAS members who had embraced the World Wide Web, which was still in its infancy, were quick to take
the opportunity to participate in this exciting new venture. I guess we were a little naive, because any unusual spike
in the graphic user display made us think that maybe, just maybe, this was ‘it’! Unfortunately, however, it doesn’t
quite work that way. Then, of course, there was the inevitable competitiveness: ‘How many work units have you
processed so far? I’m up to . . .’
A reality check was inevitable, and sadly many of our members gave up on the project as the years went by –
including, I must confess, myself until recently. Impatience and SETI do not go together! Nevertheless, SETI@home
is alive and well, and the collaborative efforts of millions of participants across the globe continues. (For the sceptics
amongst us, it is important to note that only two per cent of the sky has been surveyed so far, but even so, there
have been some promising results, as we shall see.)
History
Between 1997 and 1998, two researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, David Anderson and
Dan Wertheimer, had been puzzling over a basic problem of SETI reseach: time on the world’s supercomputers
was strictly rationed, so how could the huge amount of data from Arecibo be analysed effectively? Their solution
was startling in its simplicity. All over the world, millions of personal computers in homes and offices were running
screensavers that served no useful purpose. What if that processing power could be harnessed for SETI research?
In 1998 Anderson and Wetheimer approached The Planetary Society with their idea, which they named SETI@home.
They had been attempting to obtain funding from
Silicon Valley companies for the project, but to no
avail; however, with The Planetary Society they
struck gold. Here was an organisation whose
mission was the popularisation of science,
and in its own words, ‘SETI was in the society’s
DNA from the very beginning.’ Not only did
The Planetary Society donate $50,000 to the
project, but it also arranged for a similar amount
from Paramount Pictures, which was promoting
its Star Trek movie franchise.
The end result was that SETI@home went
online on 17th May, 1999, and within a few
months it had more than a million users. A year
later the number was closer to two million.
(Anderson and Wertheimer had been hoping for
just one hundred thousand!)
LEFT: Arecibo Radio Telescope, Puerto Rico.
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BAS OBSERVER
In the years since 1999, the original
receiver at Arecibo has been replaced by
a state-of-the art, multi-beam model at
the apex of the dish, and is able to search
for more types of signal with far greater
sensitivity.
Inevitably, there have been many
updates to the software, with support
for the original (now named SETI@home
Classic) having been discontinued. The
most recent version will run on Microsoft
Windows (2000 SP5, XP SP2 and later),
Macintosh OS X (10.4.0 and later on
an Intel Mac) and Linux (kernel 2.2.14
or higher, and glibc 2.3.2 or higher), so
The original SETI@home (Classic), discontinued in 2005.
most users are well and truly covered!
The data collected includes spikes in power spectra, gaussian rises and falls in transmission power (possibly
representing the telescope beam’s main lobe passing over a radio source), triplets (three power spikes in a row),
pulsing signals (possibly representing a narrow-band, digital-style transmission), and autocorrelation (to detect
repeated signal waveforms).
Results
Has SETI@home actually detected any signals from extraterrestrial civilisations? There’s no definitive answer to
that question – much data is still being analysed – but there have been several candidate targets, where the spike
in intensity is not easily explained. One such was announced on 1st September, 2004, and is named Radio Source
SHGb02+14a.
SHGb02+14a was observed three times
at a frequency of about 1420 MHz,one of
the frequencies in the ‘waterhole’ region,
which is theorised to be a good candidate for
frequencies used by extraterrestrial intelligence
to broadcast contact signals.
Nevertheless, this candidate has
several features that have led to much
scepticism. The source is located between
the constellations Pisces and Aries (left),
a direction in which no stars are observed
within 200 light‑years of Earth. It is also a very
weak signal. The frequency of the signal has
a rapid drift, which would correspond to its
being emitted from a planet orbiting nearly
forty times faster than the Earth around the
Sun! Each time the signal was detected, it
was again at about 1420 MHz, the original
frequency before any drift.
There are a number of potential non-SETI
explanations for the SHGb02+14a signal, and
researchers at SETI@home have cautiously denied media reports of a likely extraterrestrial intelligence signal. It could be
simply an artefact of random chance, cosmic noise, or even just a glitch in the technology. So . . . the search continues.
BOINC
Today, SETI@home is part of the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC), an open-source
middleware system for volunteer and grid computing. While SETI@home had the honour of being the first BOINC
project, it was clear that utilising the enormous processing power of personal computers around the world had the
potential to be useful in areas as diverse as mathematics, medicine, molecular biology, climatology and astrophysics.
OCTOBER 2013
17
Depending on your interests, there are a host of BOINC research
projects you can install on your computer. (I’m running SETI@home
and Milkyway@Home at the moment.) Aside from SETI@home, those
directly related to astronomy are as follows, but do note that some
may not be currently active and there are others under development:
• BRaTS@Home: BRaTS@Home performs gravitational ray-tracing
calculations to study the distortion effects of gravity on background
images due to dark matter. (BRaTS stands for Berkeley Ray Trace Simulator.)
• Cosmology@Home: The goal of Cosmology@Home is to search for the model that best describes the Universe
and to find the range of models that agree with the available astronomical and particle physics data.
• Einstein@Home: Einstein@Home searches through data collected by the LIGO and GEO600 gravitational wave
detectors for evidence of periodic sources (such as spinning neutron stars), which would be the gravitational
equivalent of pulsars. Einstein@Home was launched as part of the World Year of Physics in 2005.
• MilkyWay@Home: MilkyWay@Home carries out research in modelling and determining the evolution of our galaxy,
the Milky Way.
• Orbit@Home: Orbit@Home studies Solar System dynamics, focusing firstly on Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) research,
specifically NEA search strategies and NEA impact hazard monitoring.
• Constellation@HOME: Constellation@HOME carries out research in various aerospace-related sciences.
Of course, there are plenty of other scientific projects that may capture your interest, so check out the full list at
http://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Project_list.
Installing BOINC and SETI@home
If you’ve read though the above, you’ll know that the first thing you need is BOINC, which can be downloaded from
http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download_all.php. BOINC is an easy install – at least it was on my Mac – but do steer clear
of development versions. Play it safe and download the recommended version for your particular computer platform.
Once you have BOINC installed and running on your computer, you’ll be prompted by BOINC Manager to add
projects (see screenshot below). You’ll be asked to register your email address and a user name for each project,
and, if you wish, you can add more comprehensive information to a user profile. You can add, suspend or delete
projects at any time. Help with installing and
running BOINC is available at http://boinc.
berkeley.edu/wiki/BOINC_Help.
It is important to note that each project
uses a small chunk of your hard disc space
and, of course, draws on your RAM and
gives your processor a good workout. There
are, however, many options available in the
program’s preferences to control when and
how BOINC works, and what proportion of
your computer’s available resources it uses.
Personally, I’ve had no problems running
two BOINC projects in the background
while I work, and I regularly use heavy-duty
professional graphics software. BOINC
does its thing, and I haven’t noticed any
slowdowns or other adverse effects.
Nevertheless, do bear in mind that BOINC may cause your computer to heat up, particularly if you are running
it with multiple projects. If it does, you will need to adjust the program’s preferences so that it is less taxing on your
computer’s processor. If necessary, you can even tell BOINC to suspend operations when certain other programs
are running. My own (Macintosh) computer runs a little warmer than before, but not alarmingly so.
To screensave or not to screensave
I guess lots of people still run screensavers, though I haven’t done so since CRT monitors bit the dust and the necessity
to prevent screen burn-in went with them. I do set my Mac to send its monitor to sleep after it’s been idle for a while,
but only to keep the power bill down. Still, watching SETI@home processing data has its attractions (see the screenshot
at the start of this article), so I did set BOINC as my screensaver.
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BAS OBSERVER
If you run two or more BOINC projects that include screensavers, you can
set them to alternate, but sadly, MilkyWay@Home displays only a generic BOINC
screensaver. There’s not much fun to be had there, but the SETI@home screensaver
is where the real action is!
The future of SETI@home
Back in 2004, US astronomer Seth Shostak stated that he expects to see a
conclusive signal and proof of alien contact between 2020 and 2025, a prediction
based on the Drake equation (see article on Frank Drake and SETI in the July BAS
Observer). With government funding for SETI research practically non-existent,
privately funded programmes like SETI@home will undoubtedly play a crucial role
in achieving that aim – assuming Shostak is right, of course.
Perhaps the main threat to the project comes from the possible closure of the
Arecibo Observatory facility, which is operated by the National Astronomy and
Ionosphere Center and administered by Cornell University. Arecibo’s future is
Astronomer Seth Shostak, who predicts
by no means assured, and it is currently suffering a shortfall of funds. If Arecibo
we will have proof of extraterrestrial
were to close, another radio telescope facility would need to be found for the
intelligence between 2020 and 2025.
SETI@home project.
The project itself could also fall victim to funding problems. While the Berkeley Space Science Lab has been
able to work within tight budget constraints, and while the SETI@home project has received a number of additional
donations since its inception, it still needs to compete with other SETI and space science projects for the limited
funds that are available. I sure hope it survives, as I intend SETI@home to remain a permanent fixture on my own
workstation and others on my business network (make sure you obtain permission from your employer if you do this
at your own workplace), and just maybe I’ll be around when the project bears fruit. How exciting would that be! ■
REFERENCES
Frank D. Drake and Dava Sobel, Is Anyone Out There? The Scientific Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Delacorte Press, 1992.
Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI@home
SETI@home website
Newsletter Contributions
Have you ever considered writing an article or con­tributing images (astrophotos or other­wise)
to the BAS Observer? A regular column on your own particular interest or area of expertise
would be great, but one-off con­tributions are just as welcome. Here are a few ideas:
BAS events
Many members are unable to attend BAS events on a regular basis, and keep­ing them
informed on what’s been happening is very important. Please remember to take your camera
along and submit images for the newsletter (please don’t forget to supply captions as well), and if you could write
a short piece on the event, that would be even better!
Articles on the latest developments in astronomy
There’s a lot happening in astronomy, and we’re very fortunate that we have the World Wide Web to inform us
of it. Mind you, it’s unlikely everyone is going to be aware of all the latest developments, so if you come across
something interesting, please submit it. Just be careful of copyright issues. (It may be necessary to obtain
permission to use images or reproduce text verbatim. Permission is usually easy to obtain, however, and all
that’s generally requested is the inclusion of a source credit.)
Book and equipment reviews
Everybody loves reviews, so if you’ve recently read a good book or acquired a new piece of equipment, please
do share the experience with your fellow members.
Items for sale
No, it doesn’t have to be a telescope, mount or eyepiece. As former BAS President Dennis Neil used to say,
‘anything from a telescope to parts of a yabby pump’! You may just find a buyer.—ED.
OCTOBER 2013
19
Comet news
Steve Taylor’s rundown on October’s comets
H
i, all. My name is Steve Taylor, and I hunt down comets and have been sketching them for over twenty years.
This month I have two comets for you that should be easy to find: one is close to Spica, and the other is
heading towards Scorpio’s Head.
Comet S3 Loneos
The first comet is S3 Loneos, currently at magnitude 9.5 and fading slowly by month’s end. To find this comet, look
west in the constellation Virgo and just above Spica. An 8-inch ’scope should see it as it moves slowly across the
sky relative to us.
Comet Loneos is moving through our solar system at 16.625 km/second and about 6.34 AU from the Sun.
Below is a photo taken by A. Novichonok and T. Prystavski from Siding Spring Observatory on 24th July, 2013.
This is the only image I could find of this comet.
20
BAS OBSERVER
The map below presents a view of Comet Loneos’s path, with other objects shown to give a comparative
indication of the magnitude of the comet.
Comet Helin-Roman-Alu
Comet Helin-Roman-Alu is in the constellation Libra and will be heading into Scorpio’s Head by month’s end.
To find this comet, look south-west high up into Libra from 6.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m., after which it will be too low
to observe.
The map below presents a view of Comet Helin-Roman-Alu’s path, with other objects shown to give an indication
of the comparative magnitude of the comet.
The photos on the next page are again by A. Novichonok and T. Prystavski, and show the appearance of the comet on
29th July, 2013.
OCTOBER 2013
21
Images of Comet Helin-Roman-Alu from Mayhll, USA (above) and Siding Spring (below) on 29th July, 2013 (A. Novichonok and T. Prystavski).
22
BAS OBSERVER
Below is a map of comets S3 Loneos and Helin-Roman-Alu with Saturn, Venus and Mercury (field of view 60°). A good
8- to 10-inch ’scope should see both these comets.
That’s all I have for you this month, as there’s not too much around, most comets being too faint to be worth mentioning;
however, Comet Ison is at magnitude 11 in the constellation Cancer, and we will be able to observe it at around 4.00 a.m.
in three or four weeks’ time. Happy hunting!
Until next time . . . ■
OCTOBER 2013
23
Lunar and
planetary guide
A Solar System reference for October from Paul Floyd
All planet comments are for mid-October 2013 unless otherwise noted.
V
enus is visible high above the western horizon as evening twilight ends. Saturn begins October visible to the eye
low above the western horizon as evening twilight ends; however, Earth’s speedier movement in our orbit around
the Sun means that we are well and truly leaving Saturn behind. This means from our viewpoint that by the end
of the month Saturn will be lost in the glare of evening twilight. Mercury reaches maximum elongation from the Sun
on 9th October and will be best placed for observation in the first half of the month. In the second half of the month,
Mercury will move back towards the glare of the Sun and be lost from view. Saturn and Mercury will reappear in the
morning sky in November. Mars rises at 2.45 a.m. AEST mid-month for the Brisbane/Gold Coast/Northern Rivers
region. Jupiter rises at 12.25 a.m. AEST mid-month for the Brisbane/Gold Coast/Northern Rivers region. Both Mars
and Jupiter are visible low above the north-eastern horizon as morning twilight begins. Neptune is visible all month
in the evening sky and sets around 3.00 a.m. mid-month. Uranus is visible almost all night due to its having reached
opposition on 3rd October.
Note that to the unaided eye all planets look like stars. The word ‘planet’ is from the Ancient Greek πλανήτης αστήρ
(planētēs astēr), meaning ‘wandering star’. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are easily visible to the unaided
eye. Due to their faintness, Uranus and Neptune will require a a large pair of binoculars and a detailed finder chart to
locate (see http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/12435011.html).
1st October, 2013
Waning crescent Moon located above Mars in the morning pre-dawn sky.
3rd October, 2013
Venus at aphelion.
3rd October, 2013
Uranus at opposition (midnight).
4th October, 2013
Jupiter 0.1° south of Delta Geminorum in the morning sky.
5th October, 2013
10.35 a.m.: New Moon.
7th October, 2013
Slim crescent Moon, Mercury and Saturn form a temporary triangle low above the western
horizon as evening twilight ends.
8th October, 2013
Slim crescent Moon located below and to the right of Venus in the early evening sky.
9th October, 2013
8.00 p.m.: Mercury at greatest elongation east (25.3°)
11th October, 2013
9.00 a.m.: Moon at perigee (369 814 km from Earth in its orbit).
12th October, 2013
9.02 a.m.: First Quarter Moon.
15th October, 2013
Mercury at greatest latitude south.
19th October, 2013
9.38 a.m.: Full Moon.
19th October, 2013
Penumbral lunar eclipse (not visible from Australia).
21st October, 2013
Orionid meteor shower peaks. The brightness of the Moon will prevent all but the brightest
meteors from being visible.
22nd October, 2013
1.00 a.m.: Mercury stationary.
23rd October, 2013
9.00 p.m.: Minor planet 387 Aquitania 0.05° north-west of 60 Sagittarii. Aquintania is faint at
only magnitude +11.8, requiring a large amateur telescope to glimpse it.
25th October, 2013
Venus at greatest latitude south.
25th October, 2013
Midnight: Moon at apogee (404 557 km from Earth in its orbit).
26th October, 2013
Waning gibbous Moon located above Jupiter in the morning sky.
27th October, 2013
9.40 a.m.: Last Quarter Moon.
30th October, 2013
Waning crescent Moon located above Mars in the morning pre-dawn sky.
All times AEST.
24
BAS OBSERVER
MOON, MARS AND REGULUS FINDER CHART FOR 1st OCTOBER, 2013, AT 4.00 a.m.
MOON, MARS AND REGULUS FINDER CHART FOR 30th OCTOBER, 2013, AT 3.30 a.m.
OCTOBER 2013
25
SATURN, MERCURY, MOON AND VENUS FINDER CHART FOR 7th OCTOBER, 2013, AT 7.00 p.m.
26
BAS OBSERVER
SATURN, MERCURY, MOON AND VENUS FINDER CHART FOR 8th OCTOBER, 2013, AT 7.00 p.m.
OCTOBER 2013
27
SATURN, MERCURY AND VENUS FINDER CHART FOR 17th OCTOBER, 2013, AT 7.00 p.m.
Information about the finder charts
Charts accompanying this article have been produced with permission using the highly recommended
Sky Safari Pro tablet app. Stars are shown to 5th magnitude. This is a compromise between what would be
seen from a dark-sky site and the reality that most people live in cities or towns with significant light pollution.
28
BAS OBSERVER
MOON AND JUPITER FINDER CHART FOR 26th OCTOBER, 2013, AT 3.30 p.m.
REFERENCES
Astronomy 2013, Quasar Publishing (http://www.quasarastronomy.com.au).
Sky Safari Pro iPad app (to generate finder charts – reproduced with permission of the software writers).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet
OCTOBER 2013
29
Afocal image of the Moon taken by Tony Surma-Hawes through the telescope once known as ‘the BAS 10-inch’ . . . with a hand-held iPhone 5!
Meade Equipment for Sale
Meade 12-inch LX200 Classic, OTA only:
$2000
Meade 10-inch LX200 Classic forks and electronics:
$500
’Scope and carrying case only (removed from the forks), no
other accessories. The corrector plate needs a clean, and
there are two small water spots on the main mirror. (Meade
12-inch LX200 shown at right with accessories that are
not included.)
Useful for spare parts for Classic LX200s.
Meade tripod from 10-inch LX200 Classic: $200
(Not shown.)
Contact: Brendan Downs (thunderchildobs on IIS)
Email: brendan.downs@bigpond.com
Phone: (07) 3812 2813
Also a lot of Games Workshop figures for 40K and Fantasy.
30
BAS OBSERVER
Equipment hire
BAS Information
The club has an extensive range of astronomical equipment available for hire at reasonable rates:
• 250 mm (10-inch) Dobsonian reflectors (two available)
• 200 mm (8-inch) Dobsonian reflectors (one standard and one collapsible)
• 150 mm (6-inch) Maksutov Cassegrain
• Personal Solar Telescope (PST)
• 115 mm (4.5-inch) equatorial reflector
• 10 × 50 binoculars
• Argo Navis: with club ’scope, extra $10.00
• Argo Navis: with own ’scope, $15.00
Equipment hire is for a period of three months to allow time to use the equipment if the weather should be
inclement. Hire fees will be required before hiring.
Note: In the case of new members, a probationary period of three months is required before eligibility to hire.
Library
An extensive range of books and magazines may be borrowed at meetings free of charge for a period of one
month. Please note that a fine of $2.00 per item per month applies to overdue material.
Membership subscriptions
Full Membership: $30.00
Full Family Membership: $36.00
Junior Membership: $18.00
Country Family Membership: $32.50
Country Membership: $26.50
Pensioner Membership: $18.00
The membership year is 1st July to 30th June, and renewal is due on 1st July each year.
New members joining after 1st January and before 30th April will pay a reduced amount of 50 per cent of
the above, while amounts paid on or after 1st May will go towards the following financial year.
Telephone: (07) 3255 1455
Facsimile: (07) 3255 1466
are pleased to support the
Brisbane Astronomical Society Inc.
Call us for all your personal tax and small business advice needs.
P.O. Box 1431
Coorparoo DC 4151
OCTOBER 2013
Unit 1
63 Annerley Road
Woolloongabba 4102
31
www.bas.asn.au
AUSTRALIAN MARK GEE WINS ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH’S ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
GUIDING LIGHT TO THE STARS
(Mark Gee: 8th June, 2013; Canon 5D Mark III camera; 24 mm f/2.8 lens; ISO 3200; 30-second exposure)
Don’t you just wish you’d captured this image? The judges who named it Overall Winner in the Photographer of
the Year ‘Earth and Space’ category probably wished they had too.
Photographer Mark Gee (http://markg.com.au) explains how it happened:
I recently spent a night out at Cape Palliser on the North Island of New Zealand, photographing the
night sky. I woke after a few hours’ sleep at 5 a.m. to see the Milky Way low in the sky above the Cape.
The only problem was that my camera gear was at the top of the lighthouse, seen to the right of this
image, so I had to climb the 250-plus steps to retrieve it before I could take this photo . . .
By the time I got back, the sky was beginning to get lighter with sunrise only two hours away. It looked
surreal but amazing as the twilight started to creep into the night sky. I took a wide panorama made up
of 20 individual images to get this shot. Stitching the images together was a challenge, but the result
was worth it!
Congratulations, Mark, from all of us here at BAS.