SKYWATCHERS
NEWSLETTER OF THE CHINA LAKE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 41 No. 1 January 1, 2004
NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, January 5, 2004
Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, California
JANUARY 5 MEETING
CLAS member Richard Rynne will bring DVDs of "Destination Mars" and
"Mars, the Red Planet." These programs were first shown on the Discovery
Channel. Included is a discussion of the prospects of a Martian journey.
The claim is that "We could do it today!" The DVDs will be shown on the
Museum's new digital projection system.
DATES TO KEEP IN MIND
Monday, January 5, 2004: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in
Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, January 22. 2004: Deadline for next Skywatchers Newsletter
Monday, February 2, 2004: Regular CLAS Meeting at the Maturango Museum in
Ridgecrest, 7:30 p.m.
No star parties in January or February
STAR PARTY SCHEDULE FOR THE 2004 SEASON:
No more star parties until March 2004.
HANDBOOKS AND CALENDARS FOR 2004 ARE STILL 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 January meeting, or by arrangement with Carroll Evans at
760-375-5681 or email clevans@ridgenet.net.
GREEN LASER POINTERS
Green laser pointers are available at the low price of $70.00 each, if
purchased by CLAS in quantities of ten. CLAS ordered, received, and
distributed an initial order of fifteen. We have established a waiting
list for a second batch. Contact Carroll Evans at 760-375-5681 if you
want one or more.
ANNUAL ELECTIONS WERE HELD AT THE DECEMBER MEETING
We again have a full slate of officers. Our President for 2004 will be
Earl Wilson. Bruce Churchill continues as Vice-President (and Program
Chairman), Ted Hodginson takes over as Secretary, and Roger Brower will be
Treasurer. Carroll Evans will continue as Newsletter Editor, which,
however, is not an elective office.
THE SKY FOR JANUARY 2004 (Carroll Evans)
Saturn is well placed for evening observation. Mercury can be seen before
sunrise mid-month. Mars is still visible, but of course not as
spectacular as last Summer. Venus is an early evening beacon. Jupiter
rises late, and can be seen for the rest of the night.
ASTRONOMY NEWS FROM EARL TOWSON
SATURN: When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31st, heralding the start
of 2004, dash outside and look up. Directly overhead you'll see a yellow
star outshining the others around it. That star is a planet: Saturn,
having its
closest encounter with Earth for the next 29 years. "Saturn's going to be
really beautiful," says NASA astronomer Mitzi Adams. "Not only will Saturn
be about as close to Earth as it can get--748 million miles away-- but
also its rings are tipped toward us. Sunlight reflected from Saturn's
rings makes the planet extra bright." If you have a telescope, advises
Adams, be sure to point it at Saturn. Even a small 'scope will reveal the
spectacular rings. "They're breathtaking". 2004 is going to be a big year
for Saturn. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, en-route since 1997, will
arrive there in June. In January 2005, Cassini will drop the European
Space Agency's Huygens probe through the clouds to find out what lies
underneath.http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/12dec_saturn.htm
MARS EXPRESS & BEAGLE LANDING: The exciting event can be followed at
ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, on
Thursday, 25 December, from 01:30 to 14:00 CET, together with the mission
managers, the operation teams, scientists and top ESA management,
including ESA's
Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA's Director of Science David
Southwood and ESA's Director of Technical and Operational Support Gaele
Winters. The highlights of the night will also be web cast over the
internet at http://mars.esa.int . The ESA TV
Service will provide live coverage of operations, from the Operations
Control Centre at ESOC. All transmission and satellite details are
published online athttp://television.esa.int/
BEAGLE 2 LANDING SITE IN 3D:
As the time for Beagle 2 separation approaches, a 3D representation of the
landing site is available for download. Fly over the surface of Mars and
explore the planet's terrain and features in detail.
http://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?oid=34374
DUST ACTIVITY ON MARS:
Mars has been receding from Earth and fading since last August. This week,
though, the red planet has gotten a smidgen brighter. The reason: a dust
storm is brewing. Bright dust clouds on Mars, reflecting sunlight more
than the underlying terrain have boosted the planet's total brightness by
about 0.17 magnitudes. Amateur astronomers using 12 to 16 inch telescopes
have been tracking the dust clouds responsible for this change. You can
see their pictures on spaceweather.com. So far the dust storm is a
regional one; it spans only a fraction of a Martian hemisphere. Sometimes
such clouds grow to encircle all of Mars, but that hasn't happened in this
case--at least not yet. HTTP://SPACEWEATHER.COM/
MER ENTRY INTO MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE:
The process of entry, descent and landing on Mars is no walk in the park.
It entails getting a 827-kilogram (nearly a ton) spacecraft, entering the
Martian atmosphere at 19,300 kilometers (12,000 miles) per hour, to safely
slow to a stop on the surface in six nail-biting minutes. Complicating
matters is the Martian surface, which is plagued with unpredictable winds
and obstacles: massive impact craters, cliffs, cracks and jagged boulders.
During the first four minutes of descent, friction with the atmosphere
slows the spacecraft to 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) per hour. With only
100 seconds left, and at the altitude a commercial airliner typically
flies, a parachute opens to further slow the spacecraft to 321 kilometers
per hour (200 miles per hour). With six seconds left, and at 91 meters
(100 yards) above ground, the retro rockets fire to bring the spacecraft
to zero velocity. Seconds later, the lander freefalls from a height of
about four stories, cocooned in airbags to cushion the hard blow as it
hits the ground at 48 kilometers (30 miles) per hour, or more if it is
windy. The lander then bounces approximately 30 times from as high as a
four-story building and down to a rolling stop. Media Contact: Charli
Schuler (818) 393-5467...
HELIOPAUSE:
According to data gathered by NASA's Voyager spacecraft, the Sun's
heliopause - the boundary between the solar wind and interstellar wind -
seems to be approximately 23 billion kilometers from the Sun. Using
Voyager 1's plasma wave instrument, controllers detected a burst of
radiation that they were able to calculate was due to a period of solar
flares that started almost three years ago. Launched in September, 1977,
Voyager 1 is currently 13.5 billion km from the Sun, and the furthest
object ever created by humans.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2003/december/120803gurnett.html
SPRING ARRIVES EARLIER: Using data from several NASA satellites,
scientists believe that the Spring thaws in the Northern latitudes are
arriving earlier and earlier each year. The change is so dramatic, that
the thawing has come on average one day earlier each year since 1988. The
shorter winter warms up areas that were previously permafrost (permanently
frozen), and this releases additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Scientists are just starting to understand what role the polar areas have
in the regulation of the Earth's climate.
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2003/1210landfreeze.html
This regional thawing trend, advancing almost one day a year since 1988,
has the potential to alter the cycle of atmospheric carbon dioxide intake
and release by vegetation and soils across the region, potentially
resulting in changes in Earth's climate. The lengthening growing season
appears to be promoting more carbon uptake by the vegetation than is being
released into the atmosphere for the region. How long this trend will
occur depends on whether soils continue to remain cold and wet. News
Release: 2003-166; December 10, 2003.
GLOBAL WILDFIRES DID NOT KILL THE DINOSAURS:
New research has revealed that thermal radiation, resulting from the
impact of an asteroid colliding with the United States 65 million years
ago, was not responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs and other land
organisms. The massive 65 million year old impact crater, Chicxulub, on
the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, was first located by Alan Hildebrand and
co-workers in 1991. The discovery led scientists to conclude that large
amounts of thermal radiation released by the asteroid's impact would have
raised ground temperatures to around 1000!C, igniting globally extensive
forest fires and effectively boiling land organisms alive. However, new
NERC funded research, shows that although forest fires played an important
part in the latest Cretaceous and earliest Tertiary ecosystems, there is
no evidence that North America was engulfed by wildfires 65 million years
ago. Details of the research will appear in the December issue of Geology
(volume 31). Read the original news release at
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Whats-New/news2003/dinosaurs.html.
An additional article on this subject is available at
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-03zzu.html.
{Note by Skywatchers Editor: Residents of the Yucatan Peninsula may be
surprised to find out that they are in the United States)
CASSINI: The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is
operating normally. More than a year before the Cassini spacecraft arrives
at Saturn; the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) has made the first in
situ observations of interstellar pickup ions beyond the orbit of Jupiter.
This is the first major discovery using data gathered by CAPS, destined to
reach Saturn in July 2004. Information on the present position and speed
of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web page
located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm
and Southwest Research Institute News Release; December 8, 2003.
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: Roger Brower, Treasurer, China Lake Astronomical
Society, P.O. Box 1783, Ridgecrest, CA 93556.
PRESIDENT - Earl Wilson - (email zearlw@hotmail.com)
VICE-PRESIDENT - Bruce Churchill - 760-375-7247 (email
bchurchill@atsecure.net)
SECRETARY - Ted Hodgkinson - 661- 824-2738 (email
longeyes@antelecom.net)
TREASURER - 760-375-1181 (email brower@iwvisp.com)
NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Carroll Evans Jr. - 760-375-5681 (email
clevans@ridgenet.net)
WESTERN AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS WEB SITE http://www.waa.av.org/
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, January 5, 2004 -"Destination Mars"
AT THE MATURANGO MUSEUM, 100 EAST LAS FLORES AVE.
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