SKYWATCHERS - NEWSLETTER OF THE CHINA LAKE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY Volume 40 No. 12 December 1, 2003 NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, December 1, 2003 Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, California DECEMBER 1 MEETING Our December program will feature 60 Hubble Space Telescope images presented by Ted Hodgkinson. The planetary nebular images from the set were part of our November program. This month we will see the full set. Ted is a former President of CLAS and an expert observer. At least one of his astronomical photographs has appeared in an international magazine. We look forward not only to the images, but also to Ted's commentary about them. DATES TO KEEP IN MIND Monday, December 1, 2003: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 23. 2003: Deadline for next Skywatchers Newsletter No star party in December Monday, January 5, 2003: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m. No star party in January STAR PARTY SCHEDULE FOR THE 2003 SEASON: No more star parties until March 2004. BRIEF ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR FOR DECEMBER 2003 (Carroll Evans) Dec 8 Full Moon Dec 16 Last quarter Moon. Dec 21 December Solstice, at 11:04:53 p.m. The days will get longer. Dec 22 New Moon Dec 29 First quarter Moon. STAR PARTY REPORT Bruce Churchill Our October star party was held on Friday the 24th. There were traces of smoke in the north from wildfires, but overall viewing conditions were very good. Mars is diminishing in size, but it was still a good sight. Saturn rose later in the evening. Deep Sky objects included M57 (Ring Nebula) in Lyra, M27 (Dumbbell Nebula) in Vulpecula, M76 (Little Dumbbell Nebula) in Perseus, and the NGC 281 nebulosity in Cassiopeia. Andromeda is approaching its best position in the early evening with spectacular views of M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), M32 its nearby neighbor, and M110 its more distant neighbor. NGC 7662 (Blue Snowball Nebula) was also impressive as was M33 in nearby Triangulum. To the south, near the celestial equator, the M2 gloubular cluster, M72 (Saturn Nebula) and NGC 7923 (Helix Nebula) were observed in Aquarius. HANDBOOKS AND CALENDARS FOR 2004 ARE AVAILABLE. The Royal Canadian Astronomical Society of Canada publishes both the Observer's Handbook and the Observer's Calendar. They have been received, and we will hold the price at $15.00 and $10.00. They will be available at the December meeting, or by arrangement with Carroll Evans at 760-375-5681 or email clevans@ridgenet.net. CLAS OUTREACH PROGRAM (Carroll Evans) Wednesday evening November 19 was our evening to provide telescope viewing for children and parents from the Ridgecrest Montessori school. The children are pre-school and kindergarten age, so this may well have been the first view through a telescope for most of them. As you all know, dates for such events are selected well in advance, and are always stated as "weather permitting." We had been having some clear weather, but the sky became more and more overcast as the day progressed. However, my policy is "Don't cancel until the last minute." The skies cleared enough for good viewing. Students and parents caravanned to our regular star party site south of Ridgecrest, where Chuck Morgan, Ken Pringle, and Calvin Clayson had telescopes set up and waiting for us. Mars was visible, as were double stars and nebulae. GREEN LASER POINTERS Green laser pointers are available at the low price of $66.00 each, if purchased in quantities of ten. CLAS ordered, received, and distributed an initial order of fifteen. We will do it again if there is enough interest. Contact Carroll Evans at 760-375-5681 if you want one or more. A BIT OF KNOWLEDGE The December Solstice will be on the traditional date of December 21. At this time the days get longer and we can look forward to Spring. However, the shortest day does not have the earliest sunset and latest sunrise. These events occur in early December and early January. The ellipticity of the Earth's orbit is the primary cause of this phenomenon. ANNUAL ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD AT THE DECEMBER MEETING Again, as always, we need officers. Please consider trying it. We need a full complement of officers, with some new ideas. For 2003 the offices of Secretary and Treasurer were filled by the same person. Both the Secretary and Treasurer agree that this was not the best way to do the jobs. ASTRONOMY NEWS FROM EARL TOWSON STELLAR & SOLAR ASTRONOMY: ULYSSES GIVES FIRST 3-D OBSERVATIONS OF SUN STORMS: The sun's surface is a violent and turbulent place, where a fiery tempest always blows. Scientists are reporting in the journal Science that they have finally succeeded in getting a good three-dimensional view of it using the Ulysses spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0311/16ulysses/ IS IRON THE CAUSE OF THE SOLAR FLARES? The spate of solar storms to hit Earth in recent days may be caused by the sun's iron-rich interior, says a UMR researcher who theorizes that the sun's core is made of iron rather than hydrogen. Dr. Oliver Manuel, a professor of nuclear chemistry, believes that iron, not hydrogen, is the sun's most abundant element. In a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Fusion Energy, he asserts that the "standard solar model" -- which assumes that the sun's core is made of hydrogen -- has led to misunderstandings of how such solar flares occur, as well as inaccurate views on the nature of global climate change. Manuel claims that hydrogen fusion creates some of the sun's heat, as hydrogen -- the lightest of all elements -- moves to the sun's surface. But most of the heat comes from the core of an exploded supernova that continues to generate energy within the iron-rich interior of the sun. Manual thinks "that the solar system came from a single star, and the sun formed on a collapsed supernova core. In his paper "Superfluidity in the Solar Interior: Implications for Solar Eruptions and Climate," he suggests that the conventional view of how magnetic fields in the sun's interior -- the cause of solar flares and storms -- are formed is flawed. "The prevailing opinion in the solar physics community is that solar dynamos generate the sun's magnetic fields by plasma flows in the outer part of the sun. ... The model of a hydrogen-filled sun offers few other options. Manuel posits that the changing fields are caused either by the magnetic field of the rotating neutron star at the core of the sun itself or by a reaction that converts the iron surrounding the neutron star into a superconductor. This reaction is called Bose-Einstein condensation. More information at: http://www.umr.edu/index.php?id=1586&backPID=245&begin_at=4&tt_news=220 (Definitely a minority opinion - ERT) PLEIADES = RESULT OF THE COLLISION OF THREE OBJECTS: The Pleiades star is known to professional and amateur astronomers for the striking visible nebulosity that envelopes the cluster's brightest stars. Radio and infrared observations in the 1980s established that this nebulosity results from a chance encounter by the young stars of the Pleiades with an interstellar cloud, rather than being caused by debris from the cluster's formation. New data obtained at Kitt Peak National Observatory suggest that the Pleiades are actually encountering two clouds, giving rise to an extraordinary and previously unknown occurrence: a three-body collision in the vast emptiness of interstellar space. This new perspective on the motion of interstellar gas near the cluster comes from high-resolution spectra obtained at an adjunct facility of Kitt Peak's 2.1-meter telescope known as the Coud Feed. More at: http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr03/pr0309.html OBSERVING SUNSPOTS ON FAR SIDE: Using a technique called helioseismic holography, astronomers can do something amazing: look through the sun to find sunspots on the far side of our star. On Nov. 11th and 12th their holographic maps revealed giant sunspots 486 and 488--the same active regions that caused so much intense space weather a few weeks ago. These spots are still active. Explosions from their vicinity have been hurling clouds of gas over the sun's limb in recent days. The sun's 27-day rotation will soon carry the pair around to the Earth-facing side of the sun. More solar storms are possible when they reappear on or about Nov. 19th. Meanwhile, another one of last month's giant sunspots has already reappeared. Active region 484 is peeking over the sun's eastern limb. The sunspot looks smaller than it did in late October, but it too remains active--hurling a bright coronal mass ejection into space on Nov. 13th. Visit spaceweather.com for more information and updates. http://spaceweather.com SPACE ENGINEERING & MISSION STATUS: EUROPE'S FIRST STEP TOWARDS MARS SAMPLE RETURN: What is the next best thing to humans landing on Mars and exploring the wonders of the Red Planet? The answer: touching, imaging and analyzing carefully preserved samples of Martian rock in a state-of-the-art laboratory on Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0311/15marssample/ MARS EXPRESS IS NEARLY THERE: The European Space Agency's mission to Mars, Mars Express, is right on schedule to arrive at the Red Planet on December 25, 2003. The British-built Beagle 2 lander will also reach Mars the same day, but it will be released from Mars Express on December 19. Beagle 2 doesn't have any propulsion system of its own, so it's critical that Mars Express releases it on the right trajectory. It will plunge through Mars' atmosphere, deploy a parachute, and then land on the surface with the help of an airbag. Assuming everything went well, it will then be able to start examining rocks searching for evidence of life. http://www.esa.int/MiniSites/Mars_Express_header002.2.jpg MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Basic CLAS dues are $20.00 per year, which includes the Skywatchers Newsletter. As a benefit of membership you may also receive Astronomy Magazine and/or Sky and Telescope Magazine. The fee schedule is as follows: Basic membership $20.00 per year Membership with Astronomy magazine $44.00 per year Membership with Sky and Telescope magazine $53.00 per year Membership with both S & T and Astronomy $77.00 per year Send your check to: Carroll Evans, Treasurer, China Lake Astronomical Society, P.O. Box 1783, Ridgecrest, CA 93556. PRESIDENT - Roger Brower - 760-375-1181 (email brower@iwvisp.com) VICE-PRESIDENT - Bruce Churchill - 760-375-7247 (email bchurchill@atsecure.net) SECRETARY--TREASURER - Carroll Evans (email clevans@ridgenet.net) NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Carroll Evans Jr. - 760-375-5681 (email clevans@ridgenet.net) WESTERN AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS WEB SITE Meetings of the China Lake Astronomical Society are held at the Maturango Museum at 7:30 p.m. on the first Monday evening of each month, except when the first Monday is a holiday. SKYWATCHERS Newsletter of the CHINA LAKE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY POST OFFICE BOX 1783 RIDGECREST, CA 93556-1783 NEXT MEETING: 7:30 p.m., MONDAY, December 3, 2003 -"Hubble Telescope Images" AT THE MATURANGO MUSEUM, 100 EAST LAS FLORES AVE. CLAS WEB PAGE INDEX OF CLAS NEWSLETTERS