Hamilton Amateur Astronomers October 2001 Volume 8 Issue 11 Edwin Hubble - Sheila Overall nois. It was that same year built and opened in 1897 that Halley's Comet and still has the largest re- Edwin Hubble was born in streaked through the sky. fracting telescope in the Marshfield, Missouri on 29 world - 40" . Some as- November 1889. He was While at Oxford University, tronomers back then be- the third of seven children. Hubble studied astronomy lieved that there were no His father, John Powell but, to please his father, other galaxies outside the Hubble was an insurance studied law. Milky Way. Hubble, with the agent and his mother's use of more powerful tele- name was Virginia Lee In 1914, after the death of scopes, later proved other- James. his father, Hubble got a job wise, during the next ten at Yerkes Observatory to years. Edwin entered college at help finance his entrance the University of Chicago into graduate school and His work impressed Profes- where he won a Rhodes started postgraduate work sor Frost, that in 1919, Scholarship to study at Ox- that led to a doctorate de- Hubble travelled to ford University. While at gree in astronomy. Pasadena to start work at school, he decided then the Mount Wilson Observa- that he wanted to be an Yerkes Observatory was tory. It had taken George astronomer. During his sec- Hale, Mount Wilson's first ond year, one of his best Director, eleven years to professors, Albert A. complete this 100" tele- Michelson, won the Nobel scope. Prize for his work in mea- suring the speed of light. Today, this telescope is rated as a mechanical During Edwin's third year, masterpiece. In honour of he won a Junior College his accomplishments, the Scholarship, then later got telescope in orbit was a job at Millikan's Labora- named after him. tory. Hubble was voted the 1910 Rholes Scholar in Illi- inside... Chair's Report page 2 The Whirlpool Nebula page 4 Observer's Handbook page 2 Calendar of Events page 6 Dust Storms page 3 Renewal Form page 7 Page 2 Chair's Report Chair's Report EE vent Horizon is a publication of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers (HAA). O Once again we are teering at various events that The HAA is an amateur astronomy approaching the we attended. Please consider club dedicated to the promotion and end of our club `year' and it is joining the council for this enjoyment of astronomy for people of time to choose a new council. coming year ­ you don't have all ages and experience levels I have enjoyed my year as to do any heavy duty work, you help the club, make The cost of the subscription is chair. I would like to thank included in the $25 individual or $30 everyone who participated in friends, and have lots of fun. family membership fee for the year. our activities last year ­ Event Horizon is published a whether on council, or volun- Margaret Walton minimum of 10 times a year. HAA Council Hon. Chair Jim Winger Chair Marg Walton Second Chair Grant Dixon Secretary Stewart Attlesey Observer's Handbook 2002 Observer's Handbook 2002 Treasurer Barbara Wight Obs. Dir Bret Culver Publicity Doug Black Editor Rosa Assalone Membership Dir. Ann Tekatch It is time to order your Ob- HAJA Coord Rosa Assalone server's Handbook once Councillors again. If you want one, be Ray Badgerow sure to get your order in Sheila Overall soon. Cost is $15.00. Email Doug Welch margw@icom.ca, call (905) 627-7361, or sign up at the Web Site http://amateurastronomy.org/ club meetings. Mailing Address PO Box 65578 Dundas, ON L9H 6Y6 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 3 Sudbury Astronomy Club A Dust Storm on Mars 20th Anniversary On Nov 2-3, 2001, The Sudbury Dust storms on Mars warm its Astronomy Club will be celebrat- atmosphere. The temperature ing its 200th club meeting and A Apair of NASA 20th anniversary. spacecraft, the of Mars' upper atmosphere Mars Global Sur- soared 80 degrees Fahrenheit To mark the occasion, the veyor (MGS) and Hubble during the storm -- a result of S.A.C.is hosting a weekend ban- Space Telescope, is allowing sunlight heating airborne dust quet and we cordially invite all scientists to closely study the grains. However, the planet members, friends and fellow as- tronomers to come join us in biggest global dust storm seen surface has begun a cool pe- celebrating this historic event. on Mars in several decades. riod because of the large quan- The storm began three months tity of dust in the atmosphere. If you'd like further information ago, but it is now finally sub- regarding banquet details, ac- The Thermal Emission Spec- commodations, etc. please feel siding. trometer (or "TES") -- an in- free to contact one of the follow- ing coordinators below or check frared in- out our Web Site at... http:// strument ww2.isys.ca/astroclub on MGS - - has been Richard Robert tracking Treasurer - Ticket Master 705-524-7540 the dust richard.robert2@sympatico.ca s t o r m from Mars Harold Healy orbit by President measuring 705-524-1524 hhealy@sympatico.ca tempera- t u r e Donna-Marie Bonnett c h a n g e s Vice President that trace the amount and loca- 705-694-3165 Above: These Hubble Space Telescope images show the tion of dust in the atmosphere. Alan Ward Mars before (left) and during Meanwhile, the spacecraft's Past President - Banquet Chair (right) the great Martian dust Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 705-897-6542 storm of 2001. has captured detailed pictures moonward@isys.ca of the Martian surface in visi- award@inco.com Of course, Earth has dust ble light. Such close-up moni- Regards, storms, but none come close to toring has allowed scientists to the size of the storms on Mars. pinpoint places where dust was Alan Ward being raised, and to see it mi- Past President - Banquet No one knows exactly how grate and interact with other Chair Martian dust storms become so large. However, it is hoped Martian weather phenomena that the work being observa- and surface topography. It has tions being made by the two also provided an unprece- NASA spacecraft will provide (Continued on page 5) some answers. Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 4 M51, the Whirlpool Nebula, NGC5194/5195 About this image This image of M51 (NGC5194/5195), was made by combin- ing three CCD frames, taken at the Kitt Peak 0.9m telescope in 1991. By using differ- ent filters in front of the monochrome de- tector, corresponding approximately to the primary colors red, green and blue, it is possible to recreate a true color picture. Each image was pro- cessed to correct for detector sensitivity variations scopes exist solely to take ad- and to remove incorrect regions M51 (also known as Arp~85 vantage of the simplicity of a caused by manufacturing defects and VV~1) comprises the fixed, non-tracking mounting. and by the arrival of cosmic rays large spiral galaxy NGC5194 The large size of the M51 sys- at the telescope. and its smaller, barred and tem, famous as the first clearly Note that this image was re- more amorphous companion recognized spiral nebula, made worked in July 2000 to provide NGC5195. Some features are it necessary to use the drift a better looking and scientifi- better seen in a color picture: scan technique. cally more accurate color bal- note, for example, how ance. Orientation: N to the left, E NGC5195 takes on a reddish down. tinge due to the fact that it is This picture was made using the behind the dust-filled arm con- drift scan' technique, in which Note that smaller telescopes necting it to NGC5194. M51 the telescope is held fixed, not with a larger field of view can was the first astronomical ob- tracking against the Earth's rota- take such pictures without drift ject in which spiral structure tion in the usual manner. As the techniques, and can often ap- was discerned, by the Third sky passes across the detector, proach the same quality, espe- Earl of Rosse in 1845. The each row of the array is cially with clever processing, spiral arms are perhaps the clocked' along to the next row as this picture from the Kitt most perfect textbook' exam- in step with the apparent motion Peak Visitor Center's Ad- ple in any nearby galaxy, and of the astronomical image. This vanced Observing Program their very perfection points to makes it possible to take a pic- demonstrates. the presence of a long-lasting ture of an arbitrarily long strip of confining mechanism. This the sky, and specialized tele- About this object (Continued on page 5) Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 5 Mars... (Continued from page 3) regional storm in Claritas/Syria dented detailed look at how has been active every day since M51... storms start and "blossom" the end of the first week of across the orange arid planet. July," said Malin. (Continued from page 4) may be provided by the tidal After three months, the air is pull of NGC5195, whose grav- finally beginning to clear on The Hubble Space Telescope itational effects can generate Mars. The planet's surface has doesn't offer continuous Mars the necessary spiral density cooled, allowing the winds to coverage, as MGS instruments waves. This pattern also shows die down and the fine dust to do, but it does reveal the whole up in radio emission, suggest- begin settling. However, Mars planet in a single snapshot and ing that the magnetic fields in is approaching the closest shows the full range of dust the Whirlpool are also com- point of its orbit to the Sun activity from sunrise to sunset. pressed by the density wave. (called perihelion). Mars will Together, Hubble and MGS The innermost core of be at perihelion on October 12, provide a complete picture. NGC5194 contains a bright ul- 2001. Now that the atmo- traviolet source, as well as one "What we have learned is that sphere is beginning to clear, of the brightest known com- this is not a single, continuing the return of unfiltered solar pact radio sources. Although storm, but rather a planet-wide radiation could increase the smaller and less massive than series of events that were trig- surface temperature, trigger our own Galaxy, M51 is con- gered in and around the Hellas additional high winds and kick siderably brighter, due to re- basin," says Mike Malin of Ma- up the dust all over again. cent star formation and the lin Space Science Systems, Some scientists hope that the resultant dominance by young, Inc., lead investigator for the storm starts up again. Each hot, bright stars of types O and MOC. "What began as a local storm provides clues to the B. event stimulated separate mystery of the Mars' dusty storms many thousands of Location: 13 27 50 +47 29 climate. kilometers away. We saw the (1950.0), constellation of effects propagate very rapidly Canes Venatici. across the equator -- some- From a NASA press release, by Distance: approximately 31 thing quite unheard of in previ- Dr. Tony Phillips million light years. ous experience -- and move with the Southern Hemisphere Size: over 65000 light years jet stream to the east." across. "By the time the first tendrils of dust ... had circumnavigated Todd Boroson/NOAO/AURA/ the Southern Hemisphere, NSF which took about a week, sep- arate storms were raging in three main centers. The most intriguing observation is that a Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 6 HAA Website You have probably no- ticed by now that Anthony Tekatch has done an amazing job on the HAA website. (www.science.mcmaster.ca/ HAA) If you have anything you would like added to the website, such as photos, etc., send Anthony an e-mail at anthony@unihedron.com CALENDAR OF EVENTS * October 13, 19, 20 BINBROOK OBSERVING NIGHTS - For confirmation or directions call November 10, 16, 17 Ann Tekatch 575-5433, Marg Walton 627-7361, Rob Roy 692-3245 * Friday, November 9, 7:30pm HAA GENERAL MEETING - The meeting will be at the Spectator Building auditorium. * November 18, predawn LEONID SHOWERS -A burst lasting perhaps two hours is expected. The maximum rates should occur at 5:00 a.m. EST * Friday, December 12, 7:30pm HAA GENERAL MEETING - The meeting will be at the Spectator Building auditorium. Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 7 Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Membership Renewal November 1, 2001 - October 31, 2002 Name: ______________________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________________ Province: __________________________ Postal code: _____________________________ Phone number: (____)__________________ E-mail: ________________________________ Type of membership: Individual $25.00/year _____ Family $30.00/year _____ Royal $50.00/year* _____ Friend $100.00/year* _____ Patron $250.00/year* _____ Voluntary Donation: $_____________ *These levels of membership confer the same rights and privileges as a Family membership. We greatly appreciate the additional financial support our members provide by signing up as a Royal, Friend or Patron member. All membership dues are eligible for tax receipts. Total: $_____________ Please make your cheque payable to: Hamilton Amateur Astronomers P.O. Box 65578 Dundas, Ontario L9H 6Y6 Membership renewals are due November 1, 2001 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers