Hamilton Amateur Astronomers June 1999 Volume 6 Issue 8 Constellation of the Month - Scutum NGC6664. Large, rich open cluster stars. by Margaret Walton of magnitude 7.8 containing about S 50 stars. Barnard 318. Dark nebula that snakes south and east of M11. cutum lies on the Milky Way NGC6704. Open cluster of Fairly easy to see at low power. between Aquila and Serpens magnitude 9.2 containing about 30 Cauda. Its midnight culmination is July 1. Scutum was created in honour of King John III Sobieski, the King of Poland who led his own troops and others from Europe to victory against the Ottoman Empire on September 12, 1683. Scutum was included as a new constellation in an atlas published by Johannes Hevelius in 1690. Objects M11 (NGC6705). Wild Duck Cluster. This is a very beautiful open cluster. It is a large, bright (mag. 5.8), rich cluster of about 500 stars. It is easily seen with binoculars. M26 (NGC6694). Open cluster of magnitude 8.0 containing about 30 starts. NGC6649. Small, rich open cluster of magnitude 8.9 containing about 50 stars. Chair's Report page 2 Ask Stella page 6 inside... Messier Hunt page 3 July Sky page 7 HAA Star Party page 5 Calendar of Events page 8 Page 2 Chair's Report TT showed us that image but one that went even fainter by using he June meeting is the more refined image processing. last one before we take a While he went through his slides break for the summer. The next some of us made note of the f e w m o n t h s o f f e r m a n y various NGC objects that he had opportunities for observing, captured with his homemade whether at our observing site at CCD camera. After the slide EE vent Horizon is a publication of the Hamilton Amateur Binbrook or at one of the many show was over we found that the Astronomers (HAA). Star Parties that are available in sky was much improved and southern Ontario. It is also a good since some scopes were still set The HAA is an amateur astronomy time to think about joining the up from the previous night we club dedicated to the promotion and council. There are only two fall started observing through the enjoyment of astronomy for people of meetings before a new council clear patches. Within about ½ all ages and experience levels takes over. Our club only exists hour the sky became totally clear through the efforts of our members and we were off to another long The cost of the subscription is and club activities such as the night of observing. Part of the included in the $15 individual or $20 spring and fall star parties are evening was devoted to family membership fee for the year. driven by your input. If you have observing some of the objects Event Horizon is published a been enjoying the benefits of that Paul had showed us just minimum of 10 times a year. membership perhaps now is the hours before. This proved to be time to put something back into a lot of fun and some of the HAA Council the club. objects were well worth the effort Chair Stewart Attlesey to find. Anyone who is into Second Chair Doug Welch Last fall Rob Dick gave the HAA a observing should make the effort Secretary Marg Walton talk titled Life in the Universe. At to visit a dark site such as Rob's. Treasurer Barbara Wight the meeting he extended an offer If you are reading this in time Obs. Dir Rob Roy to the members of the HAA to visit don't forget the HAA star party at Editor Rosa Assalone him at his observatory which is Silent Lake on the weekend of Membership Dir. Ev Rilett located about a one-hour drive June 18/19. The nights are short HAJA Coord Rosa Assalone from Ottawa. Some of us took him but the observing is excellent. up on his offer and visited him on Councillors the weekend of May 15/16. We I have a couple of web sites for Ann Tekatch were treated to two nights of you to check out this month. The Ray Badgerow excellent observing. On the Friday first is titled The Hitchhiker's Steve Barnes night we "only" observed until 3am Guide to the Moon, which can be John McCloy due to being tired from the drive found at http://www.shallowsky. Gary Sutton up and after a long week at work. c o m / m o o n / h i t c h h i k e r . h t m l. When we woke up on Saturday Another interesting site is by a Web Site afternoon the sky was totally Dutch amateur and it all about http://amateurastronomy.org/ overcast and remained that way objects that can be seen with a until after dinner. At that time a 6" telescope. Bert's Visual Deep- thin sliver of clear sky where the Sky Astronomy Site can be Sun was setting offered some found at: http://www.cobweb.nl/ hope. To pass the time we were bertyvon/Welcome.html treated to some astrophoto slides taken by Paul Boltwood from the Stewart Attlesey Ottawa Centre of the RASC. attlesey@interlog.com Anyone who read the May 1999 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine would have seen Paul's image, which set a record for the faintest object ever imaged by an amateur astronomer. He not only Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 3 Messier Hunt at the Observatory (Part 2) -by Bert Rhebergen light. (continued from May issue) M 99 small, brighter than M98 M 61 Faint round smudge, 1° north of star "16 virginis". M 100 larger than M99, similar brightness. M49 Much brighter than M 61. M 85 small, much brighter than M100. M 64 Brighter, much larger than M 49, stellar nucleus visible? M 94 small, bright, nucleus similar to M81 nucleus. M 53 grainy, globular structure. minut drift from M84. stopped search 2:55 a.m. E.D.T. stopped search at 2:30am E.D.T. NGC 4461 four minute drift from M84. 99/4/13-14 10:20pm E.D.T. 99/4/14-15 11:00pm E.D.T. 99/4/14 02:20-6:30 U.T. 99/4/15 03:00-05:00 U.T. NGC 4473 & NGC 4477 bright, small, brighter than NGC 4435/38, The following three objects were M 38 two intersecting arcs of snorth of NGC 4461. faint stars. found with a 6" (150mm) f8 reflecting telescope equipped NGC 4474 north of NGC 4477, with a 16mm plossl eye-piece. M 36 stars fewer in number, faint, small. brighter, than stars in M38. M 1 large, faint, elongated. NGC 4459 south preceding NGC M 37 smaller, more crowded 4474, brighter than NGC 4474. than M38, similar brightness. M 68 large, faint, grainy. M 88 large, oriented N.W. - S.E. M 101 large, extremely faint. M 83 at limit of detection in 6". (north preceding, south following) not seen in 4.5". M 102 (NGC 5866) smaller, M 91 (NGC 4548) much fainter, brighter than M101. star close- stopped search at 1:00am E.D.T. smaller, than M88. by hampers observation. M 91, M101, and M83 were NGC 4571 (somtimes called M verified by other observers. M 63 larger than M 102, similar 91) brightness, elongated east-west. I could not find the object. I'm Some NGC Galaxies in Virgo quite certain I had the right field. M 13 large, more diffuse than Cluster M3 similar size. Stopped search 11:55 pm E.D.T. 99/4/12 10:45 E.D.T M 92 much smaller than M13, 99/4/13 02:45-03:55 U.T. less grainy along edge. NGC 4267 faint, 1° preceding M84. (four minute drift = 1°) M 5 fainter than M92, noticeably grainy along edge. M 84 & M 86 smaller rounder than M88. M 57 similar to "out of focus star with central obstruction". NGC 4435 & NGC 4438 easily seen, similar brightness, two M 98 extremely faint smudge of Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 4 Cosmology Cosmology Discussion Discussion Group Group Yesterday (before 1950) we knew a lot. We will focus on what Bertrand Russell had to say about our universe. We can also look at a lot of other great thinkers from this period. READING MATERIAL A photograph of the asteriod Gaspra. Betrand Russell writes on the universe in his Gaspra Facts Gaspra Facts * Human Knowledge It's Scope and Limits Part 1, Chapter 2 and Part 4, Chapter 7 BD 161.R77 6th It's a Girl! Floor Mills Library, McMaster * The Scientific Outlook Chapter 5 *951 Gaspra orbits the Sun near the Q158.R96, 4th Floor Mills inner edge of the main asteroid belt Library, McMaster between Mars and Jupiter: *average distance from the Sun: 205,000,000 km *size: 19x12x11 D D avid Fleming is * reviews of Sir Arthur Eddington p l e a s e d t o in Vol. 10 of the Collected Papers announce the birth of his B1649.R91, 6th Floor Mills daughter Amelia Laura, on Library, McMaster (we have been km May 29 at 11:12 pm. Amelia unable to find volume 10 in the 6th tipped the scales at 7 lbs, 8 floor stacks, however it is *Gaspra was named by its o u n c e s . available for reading in the discoverer Neujmin for a resort on Mother and basement Russell Archives) t h e C r i m e a n p e n i n s u l a . daughter are Consequently, many of the doing well. Saturday, September 25th, 1999. asteroid's craters have been named Bailey now 8pm. McMaster's Burke Science for resorts and spas worldwide. seems very Building room B148 big and is enjoying having a *Like 243 Ida, Gaspra is an S-type baby sister. Free Coffee, Ginger Ale, and asteroid, believed to be composed of Timbits. a mixture of rocky and metallic minerals. Informal discussion, everyone welcome. *The first of only two asteroids so far observed close-up, Gaspra was For further information call Larry at encountered Oct 29, 1991 by the small craters on its surface, we can 529-1037. Galileo spacecraft on its way to estimate that Gaspra is about 200 Jupiter (Galileo later visited 243 Ida). million years old. *Gaspra is a member of the Flora family of asteroids. *Gaspra's surface is covered with impact craters. From the number of Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 5 HAA Summer Star Party - June 18-20 W W e've decided to have another HAA star party at Silent Lake Provincial Park. There is plenty to do at this park, including hiking, canoeing and swimming, even bike riding seems popular there. You can also explore abandoned mines in the area, and the town of Bancroft, "gem capital of Ontario", is about ten or so minutes up the road. The campsites are set within the woods which means you can sleep in in the mornings after a night of observing without the sun blazing down on your tent. This means, however, that to do astronomy we have to go to the parking lot of the day-use area near the front gate, so be prepared to put your telescope up and take it down again each night. Silent Lake Provincial Park is located on Highway 28, north of Peterborough. It's takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours to drive there. From Toronto, take Highway 401 east, past Bowmanville, to Highway 115. Then take Highway 115 north to Peterborough. Driving through nice, and this area has a full service awesomeness of the night sky as Peterborough you want to pick up washroom facility with free showers seen through their equipment and to route 29 north (previously called close by. There is also an area for share their expertise and Highway 28), but the city is poorly trailers which has electrical hookups experiences. And don't forget, as signed for this, and you can easily in a different part of the park. Terence Dickinson always reminds get lost here. You might just have to us, binoculars are an excellent and stop and ask for directions as If you would like to reserve your recommended tool for learning necessary. I think almost all of us campsite call 1-888-ONT-PARK. about the night sky. Hope to see you got lost in Peterborough last time, Also, look at the web site http:// there. but, as far as I know, we all made it ontarioparks.com for more eventually to the star party! North of information about Silent Lake. The Peterborough, route 29 eventually fee is close to $20/night, plus a becomes Highway 28 again. Follow $9.00 reservation fee. You'll need to Highway 28 past Lakefield and past provide your credit card number, Apsley till you come to Silent Lake. but you can pay by cash at the park The best plan is to have an Ontario when you arrive. For more road map which is as up-to-date as information about Silent Lake, call you can find, one which shows the Ministry of Natural Resources at Route 29 going north out of (416) 314-2000. Peterborough. Remember that you don't need a The regular campsites in the loop telescope to attend the star party. containing sites 49-58 where some Other members are always willing of us camped last time were very to let others experience the Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 6 Ask Stella! L To understand this we should Occam's Razor dictates that we ast month Stella had a first look at what a quasar is. For ignore the last idea in favor of question about Seyfert several years now, astronomers the first two. Of those, the galaxies and how it would affect a have known that a quasar is a second one seems far more planet like Earth if our galaxy distant galaxy with a massive, likely. Unfortunately, this is suddenly "went Seyfert". In central black hole. The hole where I really suffer from a lack keeping with the active galaxies typically has the mass of a billion of information. No technical theme, Stella responds to a suns. It is surrounded by dust papers about this research have question from the other side of the and gas that accretes onto a disk been published yet and so I don't planet. Isn't the internet terrific? as it falls inward. Material within understand why the discovery the disk is heated by friction and team has ruled out that L.P. Ping, a graduate student at gives off tremendous amounts of explanation. the City University of Hong radiation. Since the infalling Kong writes: matter is not actually inside the Some quasars are embedded in event horizon of a black hole, it dust clouds. The dust changes The recently discovered pink black can still escape and hence be their color from blue-white to holes sound like nonsense. Can seen by us. Quasars are really yellow. A pink cloud would, to you tell me more about them? high-Watt bulbs. The luminosity me, suggest a superabundance (energy per unit time) of a of dust. But then again, quasars Stella responds: quasar can be as much as a are not my area of expertise. thousand times that of the Milky Based on what information I've Way galaxy. However, Dr. Lynn Cominsky of been able to gather, I think you California State University has should forget the name "pink black There is ample evidence for an alternate idea. She suggests hole" and substitute "pink quasar". massive black holes in the that a pink quasar is related type Also, you might want to view the centers of many galaxies of active galaxy (a blazar) from "discovery" of these objects with including our own. In fact, a the side. This ties in with the the skepticism until more information popular modern theory is that all unified model of active galaxies, is availible. galaxies have massive central which states that blazars, black holes and that the major quasars, Seyfert galaxies, and I put "discovery" in quotations difference between quasars and radio galaxies are all similar because I'm not convinced that nearby galaxies is that the black types of object seen from Drs. Paul Francis, Rachel holes in nearby galaxies are no different angles. Radio galaxies Webster, and Michael Drinkwater longer getting much "food" (gas are currently assigned to the have found anything new. What and dust) and are therefore edge-on view that Cominsky they have found is a quasar that unable to pump out as much ascribed to the new pink objects. appears pinkish, rather than the radiation as their better-fed But the unified model has usual blue. But what does that cousins. several problems and is by no mean? means etched in stone, so Normally, quasars put out more perhaps pink quasars will aid in light at blue wavelengths, which refining the model. means they're bluish-white in color. In order for a quasar to be Another explanation, proposed pink, it would have to by Dr. Francis and colleagues, is that the swirling gas and dust is i) be much cooler than a normal "acting as a vast natural radio quasar transmitter". Again, the physics ii) be shrouded in a cloud of dust of accretion disks is a very new that absorbs and then re-emits and challenging field, and one the radiation at longer that I don't know that much wavelengths about. iii) exist in some exotic region of the universe where physics is However, one thing is quite weird. clear. The terms "pink black Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers (Continued on page 8) Page 7 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 8 Ask Stella Ask Stella ((continued) continued) Did you know that... (Continued from page 6) the totality of the hole" and (heaven help us) "pink June 23, at 8pm, noted hole" are really quite misleading. Canadian observer, Alan 1973 African By definition, no light can escape Whitman of Okanagan, B.C. will eclipse was from a black hole. So we can be speaking on deep sky and never actually see one, much mountain top observing, at the extended to an less tell what color it is. The only Hamilton Steam & Technology unprecedented 74 way that a black hole can be Museum on Woodward Street. detected is through indirect minutes by the means, such as observations of use for the first a c c r e t i o n d i s k s o r t h e gravitational influence of a hole time of a on neighbouring stars. So if supersonic people are going to think pink, they should think "pink quasar" Concorde jet instead. flying at Thanks for asking this interesting an altitude of 53,000ft (16,200m.) question! I'll be back next month, Rob Roy when the universe is a bit bigger. Astronomically yours, Stella CALENDAR OF EVENTS * June 18-20 HAA STAR PARTY - At Silent Lake Provincial Park. See page 5 for more details. * check your observing calendar BINBROOK OBSERVING NIGHTS - For confirmation or directions call Rob Roy at 692-3245 or Bret Culver 575-9492 or John McCloy 523- 4359. * Friday, September , 7:30pm HAA GENERAL MEETING - At the Spectator Building auditorium. * Saturday, September 25th 8pm COSMOLOGY DISCUSSION GROUP - McMaster Burke Science Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers