September - Sonoma County Astronomical Society

NEWSLETTER OF THE SONOMA COUNTY ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
September 2012
Volume XXXV no. 9
www.sonomaskies.org
Advancing into Space to Benefit Earth
If you are reading this, you no doubt
have at least a passing interest in one
aspect of the amazing times we live
in. That is that in the last 50 years
or so human beings have taken that
first step, that great leap off the surface of our planet and started our first
forays into what we call “space”.
The space that not only contains our
planet, but our whole solar system
and even the interstellar, intergalactic realm. To say that the “space age”
is an epochal event in the history of
humankind is probably an understatement. Yet while we have been to
the moon (and mourn the passing of
the man who made that first step for
mankind), still have a manned International Space Station in orbit, we
have lost our Space Shuttle and many
are wondering, “what’s next?”. Our
next guest speaker Paul Wieland may
have some ideas for the direction of
space exploration that benefit people
on earth, and provide the inspiration
to keep going and not let uncertainties and fiscal worries keep us earthbound.
his work mostly involved developing
life support systems for the International Space Station. In 2010 his book
was published entitled “Crossing the
Threshold: Advancing Into Space to
Benefit the Earth”.
Paul Wieland caught the stargazing
bug in the ‘60’s, when his brother
bought a telescope kit and hand
ground the mirror for it. He tagged
along with him as they explored the
celestial wonders overhead, which
kept him inspired for a lifetime of interest in what’s up there. After earning degrees in botany and mechanical engineering, he landed a job with
NASA in 1983. While he had a small
role in the Hubble telescope program,
CONTENTS
Prez Message .......................................2
Curious Ted ..........................................3
Events ..................................................4
Event Horizons ...................................7
The Semi-Sirius Astronomer .............7
Young Astronomers ...........................8
In Paul’s synopsis of his book, he
addresses the challenges of the 21st
century. He says these challenges
will test us on many fronts, but that
space exploration and development
provide viable ways to address these
challenges. The advancement of
knowledge of the universe is a right
and noble pursuit of its own, from
environmental monitoring to energy
supply, international security to material resources. Development of
technologies in other areas can help
lower the cost of space exploration,
while increasing our knowledge and
experience. The vision for the future
he presents provides material to help
overcome the cost/benefit analysis
that challenges our space program in
this day of limited funding available
Loose Clusters ................................10
The Kepler Mission...........................11
September Skychart .........................13
Calendar.................................14
SCAS Membership, Info ............15
(continued on page 11)
FROM THE PRESIDENT
For most of Sonoma County’s public school students the school year
will already have started by the time
this issue of Sonoma Skies has been
published. A few districts are still
looking forward to their first day
with students. If you are a parent or
a teacher this can be either a joyous
time or a stressful time. Either way,
it is a change.
Early in my teaching career (at least
in Cloverdale) the start of school always seemed to create quite a controversy. The calendar needed to
be established before the various
school personnel dispersed for the
summer, so they would know when
they needed to return. The prune
farmers, (remember when the Sonoma county farmland wasn’t covered with grape vines?) who relied
upon the local high school students
to harvest their crop wanted the latest possible start time. The students,
who relied upon the money earned
from picking the prunes also wanted
to delay the start of school (except
for football practice.) I understand
that the pear harvest in Lake County
was another tail that tried to wag the
dog.
Later the start of school was driven
by the SELPA calendar, (SELPA =
Special Education Local Plan Area)
which established the holiday schedule for the entire county. Since special education transportation services (busses) ran only on the SELPA
calendar days. If a school district
deviated from the SELPA calendar,
that district had to provide transportation for the students served regardless of whether the local schools
were in session or not.
As a teacher, my appointment cal-
2
endar was always an “academic
calendar,” which runs from July to
the following June. I still us an academic appointment calendar (the selection is in the office supply stores
is more abundant in June rather than
December.)
To astronomers the seasons have the
absolute beginnings and ends that
we call the solstices and equinoxes,
and yet these absolute alignments
don’t necessarily coincide with the
weather patterns that we relate to
the change of the seasons. In my
humble opinion, the ancient Celts
had a better read on the seasons with
their Cross-Quarter Days, which
pretty much align with the dates half
way between the solstices and equinoxes (February 2, May 1, August
1, and October 31.) We still tend
to celebrate two of these dates with
Groundhog Day and Halloween.
Most of us will agree that it tends
to feel more like summer on August
1st than on June 21st. My European friends celebrate Mid-sommer
around the time of the summer solstice because in ancient times this
was about midway between planting
and the harvest.
Even our “modern” Georgian calendar is a modification of the former
Julian calendar. The Islamic calendar is based on 12 lunar cycles
with either 354 or 355 days, rather
than the Earth’s orbit around the
sun. This is why the Holy Month of
Ramaḍān migrates throughout the
years. When Ramaḍān occurs during the solar winter, fasting from sun
up to sun down is much easier than
when the Holy Month occurs, as it
did this year between July 20 and
August 17 (and don’t even start to
wonder about Muslims who live in
Scandinavian countries where twilight lingers at both ends of the day.
A former student, who is married
to a Muslim, and I were Facebook
chatting about the prospects of how
a Muslim would handle Ramaḍān
while orbiting the Earth in the ISS.)
Like the Islamic calendar, the Hebrew calendar is primarily a lunar
calendar, but rather than merely ignoring the 10 or 11 day difference
between the lunar cycles and the
Earth’s orbit, the Hebrew calendar
adds an intercalary month every two
or three years to keep the significant
holidays in sync with the seasons.
The length of the Hebrew calendar
year varies in the repeating 19-year
Metonic cycle of 235 lunar months,
which just so happens to align with
the Saros cycle of eclipses.
There has not been much demand
for volunteer astronomy activities during the summer break from
classes. Now that school will have
started, there will be more requests
for classroom presentations and
telescope nights. Please also read
the Event Horizons column for information regarding upcoming volunteer opportunities.
-Lynn Anderson
SCAS President
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
CURIOUS TED
Do you have a favorite thing in the night
sky you go back to again and again?
I don’t think I have a leading one. The first one that I really
learned about was Cassiopeia. I like Cassiopeia in the summer sky. We were up in the Sierra,
Bob was looking at things in the sky
and Cassiopeia just stood out - that
big ‘W’. I don’t know it’s like a welcome to the heavens or something.
And then there is the winter star
Sirius. [Laughs] Bob used to ask me
the question, “OK, what is that?” and
I’d be puzzled and he’d say, “Well
now get Sirius!” [Laughs] And that’s
some of my story...
-June Ferguson
Since I don’t have a telescope and I
kind of tagalong with my husband I
would say to me the most fascinating
thing in the sky is between the Moon
and Jupiter.
Mmm. Well wow, there’s so many
really cool objects in the night sky
and... Yeah there’s lots of them that I
return to regularly. You talked about
Saturn last time and Saturn is always
a favorite - everybody loves it so if
we have friends over we enjoy Saturn
or the moons of Jupiter or Albireo.
There’s just so many... too many to
pick one...
-Colleen Ferguson
Saturn. Saturn or Jupiter. the Moon.
M41. M31. Things like that... Constellations -especially the little dipper
and the big dipper pointing those out
to people and how you get to Arcturus
and Spica using the handle of the big
dipper. Things like that.
-Len Nelson
- Linda Landon
Saturn.
Hmmmmmmm. I pop around... let’s see... [laughs] put me
on the spot and I get all nervous... Well, what got me into
astronomy a long time ago was basically I had got a small
telescope and just as a gadget wasn’t super interested in it at
all and it happened to be right around the time of that Comet
I can’t remember the name. It was a really bright one a few
years ago - like a really really really
bright for a short period of time and I
kept looking at it. Then after I looked
at it I wanted to photograph it and I got
into trying to photograph it. And that
got me looking, basically any deep
space object really. Ant deep space
object I just love looking at. [Laughs]
and then try to capture it.
- Jessie Hayes
3
-Conner age 9
Did you know SCAS
is on Facebook?
Read about interesting astronomy news.
See what club members are up to and
what the’re observing. View and post
your latest astro images. Check it out!
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
EVENTS
Optics Fair
Sunday, September 9th
Sonoma County Regional Parks
Sonoma Land Trust
The Sonoma County Bird Rescue
California Bluebird Recovery Program
River Otter Ecology Project
10:00 - 3:00 pm
Please note that a major optics festival will be held in Sonoma on Sunday, September 9th. The individual heading
it up Tom Rusert who is the founder of Sonoma Birding
(2004) based in SonomaValley. It is a volunteer “citizen science” based conservation organization that has established
sustainable bird and nature related events and programs
for all ages through a variety of partnerships in the United
States and Canada.
The Optics Festival is the latest local collaboration with the
Bay Area nature community. It will bring the leading binocular and scope companies from across the U. S to join us
in Sonoma for the first time along with several important
nature organizations from the San Francisco Bay Area.
The event will be held at the beautiful CornerStoneGardens
and is free. It promises to be a very nice family-oriented
affair for anyone that is interested in seeing and using the
best optics from the 14 optics companies that will be represented.
Audubon Canyon Ranch
Junior Duck Stamp display Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
International Bird Rescue
Snow Leopard Conservancy
For more info: www.sonomabirding.com
To attract attention to the SCAS (Sonoma County Astronomical Society) and RFO (Robert Ferguson Observatory),
I’ll be there (most likely with some help) doing solar with
my 70mm Coronado and 85mm TeleVue with solar filter.
–Len Nelson
Welcome New SCAS Members!
Phil Beffrey
Jesse Hayes
Shelly Murphy
Troy and Jean Kamby
In addition to the optics companies, there will non-profit
participants from:
Felidae Conservation Fund (Mt. Lions)
Gray Whale Coalition
CA. Bat Conservation
Quarryhill Botanical Gardens
Cittaslow USA - Sonoma Pollinator Pals
Wildlife Fawn Rescue
Worth A Dam (Martinez Beavers)
Neil Armstrong
Hungry Owl Project (Wildcare)
Jack London Park (Valley of the Moon Natural History
Association)
San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
San Pablo Bay - National Wildlife Refuge
4
1930
2012
This issue of Sonoma Skies is dedicated to the first
person to walk on the moon.
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
EVENTS
Tolay Fall Festival
Sonoma County Astronomical Society and Robert
Ferguson Observatory are partnering to provide solar
observing at this years festival located at Tolay Lake
Regional Park. The dates are October 11 - 14 and October 17 - 21. Weekdays are primarily for school children
coming by bus. Hours are 9am to 3pm. Weekends are
for the general public with hours 11am to 5pm. We will
be staffing the booth all 9 days.
- Relieving telescope operators and other positions.
- Managing the flow of visitors.
SIGN UP NOW
First choose a date (be brave and sign up for more
than one date):
Weekends: 10/13, 10/14, 10/20, 10/21
Weekdays: 10/11, 10/12, 10/17, 10/18, 10/19
The main ingredient needed is YOU. The detailed
volunteer information is in the August Sonoma Skies
Supplement which everyone should have received. If
not, the link is below. This will be a memorable event
and a great opportunity to acquaint the public to SCAS
and RFO.
http://sonomaskies.org/Newsletter/supplement_Tolay_Fall_Festival.pdf
We are planning on having 6 telescopes equipped with
proper solar filters. More telescopes are welcome. In
addition we will have tables displaying solar information and SCAS and RFO information. Also solar,
SCAS and RFO photographs will be on display. Last
years attendance was 17,000 meaning this is an excellent opportunity for the public, and especially school
children, to observe the Sun, have a science experience, and learn about the services SCAS and RFO provide to our community.
YOUR INVOLVEMENT
IS NEEDED
- Providing and operating solar equipped telescopes.
- Sharing information about the Sun with the public.
- Informing the public about SCAS and RFO.
5
Please email me at deep6@sonoc.net or call me at 5392385 if you have questions, comments or suggestions.
-Dickson Yeager
New Member Bonus!
Scope City at 350 Bay Street, San Francisco, is offering a
$25 merchandise discount to new members. Manager Sam
Sweiss has supported SCAS and Striking Sparks and offers a huge selection of telescopes, accessories and more.
Obtain a receipt from Mike Dranginis, Membership Director, showing you have paid the $25 SCAS membership
dues. To arrange for your merchandise discount, contact
Sam at 415/421- 8800 or at http://www.scopecity.com
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
EVENTS
We need 2012 Striking
Sparks Sponsors
The new school year is starting
this month and there is an opportunity for you or your organization
to sponsor a telescope and participate in this worthwhile program.
The cost to sponsor a “STRIKING SPARKS” telescope is $250.
The program can not be successful
without the support of sponsors.
This will be the 28th year Sonoma
County Astronomical Society plans
to award telescope to Sonoma
County students. Our program’s
goal is to focus student interest
in science and astronomy. For the
2012-2013 school year, we will be
awarding the contest winners telescopes at the Wednesday, March
13, 2013 meeting at Proctor Terrace Elementary School. Students
that have been nominated by their
teachers or by SCAS members,
write essays about their interest in
astronomy and attend SCAS meetings or the Robert Ferguson Observatory between now and February
3, 2013 are eligible to enter the
contest. All contest entries must be
postmarked no later than Saturday,
February 16, 2013. For information
see sonomaskies.org for additional
information or rfo.org for schedules and locations.
Contact Larry McCune – Striking Sparks Coordinator, at:
llmccune@comcast.net
6
Robert Ferguson Observatory
Star Parties
Saturday, September 15
Solar Observing: Noon-4pm
Public Star Party Begins 9PM
The Observatory features four telescopes: A 14-inch SCT with CCD
camera in the East wing, an 8-inch
refractor under the dome, a radio telescope for observing Sun activity, and a
24-inch reflector in the West wing.
SCAS members may set up telescopes
in the observatory parking lot to assist with public viewing. Auto access
closes at dusk; late arrivals must carry
equipment from the horse stable parking area.
Rent the Ferguson
observatory!
Groups of up to 50 can be accommodated. Astronomer docents provide
sky interpretation and operate telescopes, and you can stay up as late as
you want! Make your reservation at
least two weeks prior to your event.
Best times for optimal sky gazing
are around a week away from a Full
Moon.
For information or to make a reservation, visit www.rfo.org or email George
Loyer: gloyer(at)rfo.org.
Fees: No admission fee for solar viewing; donations are appreciated. Observatory night viewing fee: $3 for adults
18 and over; children admitted free.
The Park charges $8 per vehicle for
entry at all times. Info: www.rfo.org
Night Sky Classes—Summer Series
Mondays: Sept. 17, Oct. 8, Oct. 15,
Nov. 5, Nov. 12, Dec. 10
The 8-inch refractor at the Robert Ferguson
Observatory.
Mondays at 8:00 pm: Series of six sessions. Each class includes a lecture on
the constellations of the season, their
history and mythology, and how to
find stars and deep sky objects withinthem. Includes observing.
Fees: $75 for the series. (Single session
fee is $23). 10% discount for VMOA
members. Classes are held at the Observatory.
For information or to register:
(707) 833-6979, nightsky(at)rfo.org
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
EVENT HORIZIONS
We’re back!
While most school districts began classes by the fourth
week of August, the requests for school astronomy
nights or classroom presentations are just starting to
hit the “activities” email box. Many of the schools we
served last year have taken advantage of the “Pre Sale”
sign-up offer that was sent out last May. Twelve schools
have signed on for astronomy nights between now and
the end of November.
omy, contact Lynn at astroman(at)sonic.net to receive
email announcements about upcoming volunteer opportunities.
-Lynn Anderson
SCAS President and Director of Community Activities
First up is a request for solar telescopes at Santa Rosa
junior College’s Petaluma campus on Thursday, September 6th from 10:00-2:30. This event is put on by the
Associated Students Welcome BBQ and Volunteer Fair.
This could be a joint effort by SCAS and the RFO to
promote both organizations.
The week of the new moon has two schools on the calendar. Wilson Elementary in Peatluma has asked for
telescope viewing on Thursday, September 20 (backed
up with Friday the 21st.) Also on the 21st, on the other
side of the county, El Verano Elementary in Sonoma
has requested a night of telescope viewing.
On the following Friday, the parent’s club at Santa Rosa’s Strawberry Elementary had requested an afternoon
of solar viewing from 1:00-4:30.
That is what is on the calendar for September. October
has Whited Elementary in Rincon Valley for a night to
be determined. Sequoia has signed on for Wednesday,
October 17 and Guerneville School has booked Thursday, the 18th. Rincon Valley Middle School is on the
calendar for Tuesday the 23rd.
And don’t forget solar viewing at the Tolay Fall Festival
on the weekends of 10/13, 10/14, 10/20, 10/21
Weekdays: 10/11, 10/12, 10/17, 10/18, 10/19.
Go to http://sonomaskies.org/Newsletter/supplement_
Tolay_Fall_Festival.pdf for more information.
For those of you not yet on the list of volunteers who
want to get involved in sharing your passion of astron7
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
YOUNG ASTRONOMERS
Young Astronomer
meetings plan to resume
The YA intends to restart monthly YA meetings starting in
late September at Dunham Elementary in north Petaluma.
This may also become our star party rendezvous location
since it offers relatively dark skies with a broad horizon
Details are yet coming together and will be communicated
to you by email hopefully by the first week of September.
Stay tuned!
Young Astronomers Attend
Star Party at Dunham
Connor Wilde at his scope during the Dunham star party.
Photo: Len Nelson
Occultation of Venus by
the Moon on August 13th
(from left to right): Ky Heon, Connor Wilde & Cameron
Wong. Photo: Len Nelson
Ky Heon, Connor Wilde, Cameron Wong & Nikolas
Bizas attended our first viewing session at Dunham
on July 20th. Though their Sparks scopes we observed
some globular clusters: M13, M4 and M22 and more.
We viewed Saturn and its largest satellite, Titan. We
found constellations and discussed where they would be
coming into view in August as the Earth slowly moves
in its year long orbit to give us ever changing / evolving
night sky views.
8
August 13 - Venus approaches the Moon.
Photo: Len Nelson
From my back yard in Petaluma, I viewed and photographed this event. With me, using my 85mm TeleVue refractor on an equatorial mount was YA Harry
Prasetya. Harry had a much better view than I did since
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
YOUNG ASTRONOMERS
I was just looking though a 500 mm telephoto lens on
my Nikon SLR camera and taking images. Of about
50 images, only a few were clear and attached is one
of them along with another one of Harry posing with
my scope. Harry would have had an even better view in
Harry Prasetya watches the Occultation of Venus by the
Moon. Photo: Len Nelson
his Sparks scope but the crescent Moon was very hard
to find in the bright blue sky and my mount was motorized, following the rotation of the Earth. A Sparks
scope, as you know, requires that you to provide the
‘motor power’ to off set the Earth’s motion.
Clear Skies,
–Len Nelson
SCAS—YA Adult Advisor
9
August 13 Occultation (from left to right): Venus, the
Moon. Photo: Len Nelson
Websites for Kids!
http://climate.nasa.gov/kids
http://scijinks.gov
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
LOOSE CLUSTERS
Without a doubt, the weather was the
most pleasant that I have experienced
in the many years that I have gone with
the SCAS to Yosemite.
Photo by Len Nelson
The skies were clear both days and
nights and ....there was not a whiff of
smoke from natural fires or from controlled burns or controlled burns that
had gotten out of control. The Moon
was in a gibbous phase between quarter and full and set around 1:00 AM.
of the heavens under beautifully dark
skies. They would return to the camp
ground in the early morning when
some of us were just rising. I understand they took some great images.
Perhaps we’ll see some of them at the
SCAS meeting 9/12.
So,you are surely wondering who went
this year. In no particular order: John
Whitehouse, Keith Payee, Michael
Dranginis, YA Blaine Eldred, Lynda
& YA Cameron Wong, Jon, Sumiko
and YA Ky Heon, Ted, Linda & Hazel Judah & YA Jacob Righetti and, of
course, me (Len Nelson). This number
filled the group camp ground so we
were fortunate no others came. By a
stroke of ill fortune, two of our camp
sites were given to outsiders before I
arrived at 10:40 AM Friday by a new
camp host that did not know better. He
does now.
We had fewer visitors to our astronomical venture to Glacier Point this
year than in some prior but we felt that
much of this was due to the fact that
the summer Olympics began that evening and many people wanted to see
the opening ceremonies. But, those
that came, about 80 each evening,
were enthusiastic and very interested
in all that was to be seen.
It has been some years since the SCAS
went to Yosemite and enjoyed a new
Moon, dark sky, experience and we
hope to change that run of bad luck
next year.
Jim Goodenough and Linda Sinkay,
however, remained after the rest of us
left to return to our group camp site at
around 11:30-12:00 to take images
10
Photo by Ted Judah
Top: Jacob Righetti, Linda Wong, Cameron
Wong, Ky Heon. Bottom Row: Jon Heon,
Sumiko Heon, Hana Heon, Len Nelson, Hazel Judah, Linda Judah, Ted Judah, Blaine
Eldred, John Whitehouse, Mike Dranginis.
Not Pictured: Jim Goodenough, Linda Harmening Sinkay
Ky Heon
At the September SCAS meeting, I
will show a number of slides taken
during this wonderful 2 day event. If
you love public astronomy and have
a good astronomy grade scope (6” reflector grade or better), plan to come
next year if room allows. It’s an experience of a life time!
Len Nelson
SCAS - Yosemite- coordinator
YA - Adult Advisor
A great video on astronomy in
Yosemite: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=NaGmIMpXBvc - Ed
Astronomy Magazine
Subscrition Offer
Larry McCune, SCAS Treasurer
has received the annual notice offering Astronomy Magazine subscriptions at $34 for one year or $60
for two years. If you would like to
subscribe to the publication or renew at the discounted prices please
mail a check payable to SCAS to
Larry by October 10, 2012.
Larry McCune, SCAS Treasurer
544 Thyme Place
San Rafael, CA 94903
Photo by Len Nelson
Yosemite: July 27-28
SCAS member Bill Wheeler with telescope and
family at the August 18th Star-B-Que.
COOL SPACE FACT
If two pieces of metal touch
in space, they become permanently stuck together
This may sound unbelievable, but it is true.
Two pieces of metal without any coating on
them will form in to one piece in the vacuum
of space. This doesn’t happen on earth because
the atmosphere puts a layer of oxidized material between the surfaces. This might seem like
it would be a big problem on the space station
but as most tools used there have come from
earth, they are already coated with material. In
fact, the only evidence of this seen so far has
been in experiments designed to provoke the
reaction. This process is called cold welding.
For those who still don’t believe it, look up the
Wikipedia article on Cold Welding.
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
The Kepler Mission:
Zeroing in on Habitable Earths
Advancing
into Space to
Benefit Earth
Illustration: Ted Judah
(continued from page 1)
Anaximenes of Miletus (585–524 BC)
thought of exoplanets when he wrote:
“While the stars are of a fiery nature,
they also include (or contain) certain
earthly bodies which are carried round
along with them but are not visible.”
SETI featured Douglas Caldwell [1] on
July 11, 2012 to provide the gathering
an update on NASA’s Kepler mission.
His talk was entitled The Kepler Mission: Zeroing in on Habitable Earths and
its timing coincided with the release of
a new batch of data and the April 2012
news report that the mission has been extended by NASA for another four years
[2] “to keep doing what we’re doing.”
What is Kepler?
Kepler uses transit photometry to detect
extra-solar planets by measuring the
dimming of a star as an orbiting planet
passes between it and the space-based
telescope [3]. By detecting a dimming at
regular intervals lasting a fixed length of
time, it is probable that a planet is orbiting that star and passing in front of it
once every orbital period. The dimming
of a star during transit directly reveals
the size ratio between the star and the
planet. The size of the parent star is
known with considerable accuracy from
its spectrum, and transit photometry
11
provides astronomers a good estimate
of the orbiting planet’s size. Density is
a function of mass over size. Popular
spectroscopic methods, which provide
an estimate of a planet’s mass allow scientists to calculate the planet’s density.
This allows them to determine if the
earth-like planet is rocky, mainly liquid,
and more.
As of the first week of July 2012, astronomers, using the continuing stream
of Kepler data and a variety of other
techniques, including the use of groundbased telescopes, have confirmed the
existence of 736 exoplanets orbiting 587
stars.
The Search for New Earths is in Full
Swing!
Just over a decade ago, astronomers
could only speculate about whether
planets were commonplace in the universe, or exceedingly rare. The discovery of hundreds of worlds around other
stars is showing that planets orbit a given percentage of stars in our galaxy. The
extended Kepler mission is now trying
to determine how many of these planets
are Earth-size, and possibly Earth-like.
for all science programs, as well as
space exploration. Not to mention
that favorite catch phrase in the political dialogue lately, “job creation”.
He says that successfully crossing
the threshold to becoming a spacefairing civilization will usher in a
new age of discovery, that each of us
can have a role in making that happen.
Paul has been fortunate to work with
NASA during a time of great exploration and challenges, many of which
he will share with us, I’m sure. He
has been travelling the country giving talks on his subject, including to
the Von Braun Astronomical Society
in Huntsville, Alabama, where he
currently lives.
So if you have been in the doldrums
about the future of our space program of late, be sure to come share
an evening with us. Come meet Paul
Wieland for a “pep” talk on the value and direction of our continuing
exploration of space, and how that
can benefit everybody here on earth,
if not the health of the earth itself!
We meet at the usual time and place,
Proctor Terrace School, Wednesday
September 12th at 7:30 p.m.
This search for earth-like planets is
necessary to support life as we know
it. Scientists reported in the past that
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
“earth would dissolve in Jupiter” if the
two planets ever collided, reiterating
the point that we need to find planets in
other star systems with solid surfaces.
Molten liquid gas balls won’t do. Even
when these planets with solid surfaces
are found, they need to be orbiting about
their star in the so-called habitable zone,
an area swept in space by planets with
orbital periods on the order of one-half
to two years. In this case, water, needed
to sustain life, will likely not boil off the
planet’s surface. This life-ending process
occurred on Mars, making it a dry, unlivable planet. Once the water ended up in
the atmosphere due to excessive heating,
ultraviolet radiation from the Sun disassociated the water molecules, freeing the
hydrogen atoms into space and dropping
the remaining hydroxyl molecules (OH)
to redden the planet’s surface rocks. Kepler is needed to help us find these candidate planets that could be solid with a
possible atmosphere intact.
And it has. As of February 2012, 1,091
new transiting planet candidates have
been found, bringing the total to 2,321
candidates orbiting 1,790 stars. More
than 200 of these are Earth-size planets [4] and over 900 are smaller than
two Earth sizes. The data analysis also
revealed that some 46 exoplanet candidates orbit in their star’s habitable zone
and ten of those are near-Earth size.
What’s more, 20 percent of the host stars
have multiple planet candidates under
their gravitational pull.
The figure below shows the radius versus orbital period for each of the planet
candidates. The yellow points represent
new candidates added as of February
2012. The horizontal lines identify the
radius of Jupiter, Neptune, and Earth,
included for reference.
Image courtesy of Batalha et al, Fig.
3, Feb 27, 2012, http://arxiv.org/pdf/
1202.5852v1.pdf
The figure below illustrates the prevalence of multiple star systems. Planet radius versus orbital period of the cumulative set of planet candidates, as displayed
in the figure above, is shown. The points
are color coded to highlight members of
one, two, three, four, five, and six-planet
12
candidate systems. The Kepler analysts
noted the sparse number of giant planets at short orbital periods in multiple
planet systems. This suggests that if a
“hot Jupiter” is close in to its star, it has
likely swept up all of the smaller planets
as its orbital period degraded over time.
So far, 20 percent of the stars catalogued
by the Kepler team have multiple planet
candidates.
Image courtesy of Batalha et al, Fig.
8, Feb 27, 2012, http://arxiv.org/pdf/
1202.5852v1.pdf
What is new?
Kepler has now revealed that there are
lots of small planets in our galaxy and
that multiple planet systems, just like
our own Solar System, are common.
Work continues to determine if planets
like our own spaceship Earth are common.
Stay tuned.
- Submitted by R.K. Koslowsky, SCAS
Member
http://worldperspective.bravehost.com/
astronomy.html
Notes:
[1] Physicist Doug Caldwell is an expert
on one of the most promising schemes
for finding small worlds far beyond our
solar system: looking for the slight dimming of a star caused when a planet
crosses between it and us. One of these
schemes is his role as the Instrument
Scientist for NASA’s Kepler Mission, an
ambitious, space borne telescope that is
examining one hundred thousand stars
for evidence of orbiting worlds. If Earthsize planets become recognized as commonplace, Caldwell will be among the
first to know.
[2] According to Caldwell, the extended
Kepler mission could advance exoplanet
research for several reasons. Because
of the three-transit requirement, most of
the new worlds Kepler has discovered
to date zip around their stars relatively
quickly, in close-in orbits. So, granting
Kepler another four more years gives
it a chance to look for planets in more
distant orbits, including those found in
the habitable zones of warmer stars. The
extra time also affords mission analysts
a chance to confirm a planet’s status
– rocky or gaseous and more. Seeing
more transits will also increase the signal-to-noise ratio for closer-in planets,
allowing more of them to be detected.
Caldwell and his team have found that
others stars are generally contributing
more noise to the photometric data than
was expected. Apparently our star, the
Sun, is quieter than many other stars
found in our galaxy.
[3] The Kepler Space Telescope isn’t
any good as an optical telescope. In fact,
Principal Investigator Bill Borucki said
in 2009, “It takes ugly pictures. They’re
all fuzzy.” No, this is not a mistake like
the one that plagued the Hubble Space
Telescope’s (HST’s) mirror in its early
days, but a design objective. The Kepler
Space Telescope takes fuzzy pictures on
purpose to avoid pixel saturation from
the intense light of stars that would
obscure finding earth-like planet candidates. The wide field of view (FOV)
telescope coupled with a large array of
charge coupled detectors (CCDs) uses
photometry to detect planets.
[4] In December 2011, Kepler discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting
a sun-like star outside our solar system.
The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be
in the so-called habitable zone where
liquid water could exist on a planet’s
surface, but they are the smallest exoplanets ever confirmed around a star
like our sun.
[5] Part III in the Kepler Series is documented in the SCAS Sonoma Skies October 2010 newsletter, Volume XXXIII No.
9, p. 9.
[6] Part II in the Kepler Series may be
found in the SCAS Sonoma Skies March
2010 newsletter, Volume XXXIII No. 2,
pp. 1,9.
[7] Part I in the Kepler Series is captured in the SCAS Sonoma Skies July
2009 newsletter, Volume XXXII No. 7,
pp. 1, 8.
[8] Follow the progress of Kepler at
NASA: http://kepler.nasa.gov/.
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
SEPTEMBER 2012 SKY CHART
13
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
6:30 am
Last Quarter
Moon Near
Jupiter
7:30 pm
SCAS general
meeting - Proctor
Terrace School,
Santa Rosa
5 am
Zodiacal Lights in
the East thru 9/27
8:30pm
Crescent Moon
near Mars
7pm
RFO Observing
Lab: Star Death
7 pm
New Moon
noon
RFO Public Solar
Observing
9pm
RFO Public Star
Party
7pm
RFO Night Sky
Fall Series
12:30
1st Quarter
Equinox
8pm
8pm
Occultation of 43 Asteroid Pallas at
Sagitarius
opposition
14
midnight
Uranus at
opposition
8:30
“Harvest” Moon
Sonoma Skies, September 2012
Sonoma County
Astronomical Society (SCAS)
Membership Information
SCAS Membership
Application/Renewal
Annual Membership dues are $25 due June 1.
(New members joining after Nov. 30 pay $12.50)
Please complete this form and give to the Membership
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“SCAS,” at the next meeting, or mail your dues to:
SCAS, P.O. Box 183, Santa Rosa, CA 95402-0183.
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Your dues include our monthly newsletter
Sonoma Skies, membership in the Astronomical League
and its Reflector magazine, discounted subscriptions for
Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines, great
guest speakers at our monthly meetings, the annual
Star-B-Que, and opportunities to meet new and
interesting people who share your passion for the
night sky and many aspects of
astronomy and science.
Welcome to the SCAS!
15
Meetings: 7:30 PM on the second Wednesday of each month, in the Multipurpose Room of Proctor Terrace Elementary School, 1711 Bryden Lane at
Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, unless otherwise announced in this publication.
The public is invited.
Dues: $25, renewable June 1 of each year. New members joining between
December 1 and May 31 pay partial-year dues of $12.50.
Star Parties: See the Events section for dates and times.
Rental Telescope: Members are eligible to borrow the club’s 80mm refractor
with tripod. Contact any Board member listed below.
Egroup URL: Connect with other members about going observing, observing reports and chat about astronomy and news items from AANC and Sky
& Telescope. Hosted by Keith Payea at kpayea(at)bryantlabs.net. Any SCAS
member is welcome to join.
Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scas and click the “Join” button, or send
an email to scas-subscribe(at)yahoogroups.com
Discount Subscriptions: For Sky & Telescope, new subscribers may send a
check for $32.95 payable to “SCAS”, with your complete mailing address, directly to: Larry McCune, 544 Thyme Place, San Rafael, CA 94903. Once you
have received the discount rate, you may renew your subscription by sending
your personal check with the renewal notice directly to Sky Publishing. Discount subscriptions to Astronomy Magazine occur annually in October. Check
Sonoma Skies for details.
Library: We have a library of astronomy books that may be checked out by
members at SCAS meetings, to be returned at the next meeting. Videotaped
lectures on astronomy may be rented for $3 per month.
Sonoma Skies is the monthly newsletter of the Sonoma County Astronomical Society (SCAS). Subscription is included as part of membership. Submissions are welcome and are published on a first come, first served basis, space
permitting, and may be edited.
The deadline for submissions is 7 days prior to the end of each month.
Mail to: Editor, SCAS, P.O. Box 183, Santa Rosa, CA 95402, or email publicatio
ns(at)sonomaskies.org
SCAS Elected Board
President: Lynn Anderson 433-1154 scas_prez(at)sonic.net
Vice-President & Program Director: John Whitehouse 539-5549
jmw(at)sonic.net
Treasurer: Larry McCune, (415) 492-1426 llmccune(at)comcast.net
Secretary: Eric Swanson, 762-3118 emswanson(at)comcast.net
Membership Director: Mike Dranginis 523-4373
mike880(at)comcast.net
Director of Community Activities: Lynn Anderson 433-1154
astroman(at)sonic.net
Newsletter Editor: Ted Judah 766-6190
tedjudah4sonomaskies(at)gmail.com
Cartoonist: Herb Larson hlarsenii(at)yahoo.com
SCAS Appointed Positions
Striking Sparks Program Coordinator: Larry McCune
(415) 492-1426 llmccune(at)comcast.net
YA Adult Advisor: Len Nelson 763-8007 lennelsn(at)comcast.net
Amateur Telescope Making: Steve Follett 542-1561
sfollett(at)sonic.net
Librarian: David Simons 537-6632 davidsimons(at)planetatm.com
Visit us on the web at:
www.sonomaskies.org
Sonoma Skies, September 2012