Hamilton Amateur Astronomers October 1999 Volume 6 Issue 10 Mars Climate Orbiter Team Finds Likely Cause of Loss A failure to recognize and correct indicate. detect the error. That's why we an error in a transfer of lost the spacecraft." information between the Mars "People sometimes make Climate Orbiter spacecraft team errors," said Dr. Edward Weiler, The peer review preliminary in Colorado and the mission NASA's Associate Administrator findings indicate that one team navigation team in California led for Space Science. "The problem used English units (e.g., inches, to the loss of the spacecraft last here was not the error, it was the feet and pounds) while the other week, preliminary findings by failure of NASA's systems used metric units for a key N A S A ' s J e t P r o p u l s i o n engineering, and the checks and spacecraft operation. This Laboratory internal peer review balances in our processes to information was critical to the maneuvers required to place the Rob'serving Report spacecraft in the proper Mars orbit. U "Our inability to recognize and more of their small picnic tables correct this simple error has had p c o m i n g B i n b r o o k to use for seating and a major implications," said Dr. observing nights are workspace for looking at charts, Edward Stone, director of the Jet scheduled for Oct. 8, 9 and Nov. etc. It will make an incredible Propulsion Laboratory. "We 5, 6, 12, 13. Bret says that he difference to our comfort and have underway a thorough will open up the Conservation warmth in the coming months. investigation to understand this area after the monthly meeting if No excuses that it is too cold, issue." skies are clear. Call Rob Roy anymore! (692-3245), Bret Culver (575- Two separate review committees 9492) at 7pm for local weather It is that time of year when we have already been formed to conditions and to confirm. The send a small donation to the investigate the loss of Mars gate will be opened at about 8 Niagara Conservation Authority Climate Orbiter: an internal JPL pm. in appreciation for the use of peer group and a special review their facility. If you would like to board of JPL and outside There is very good news about make a contribution to this experts. An independent NASA the BCA site. We have been donation or to the purchase of failure review board will be given permission to use the the heater & lamp, please see formed shortly. building just north of our parking the secretary, Barb Wight at one lot for the winter months. There of the meetings. You may prefer "Our clear short-term goal is to is no electricity, so we are to mail your donation to The maximize the likelihood of a planning on getting a small Hamilton Amateur Astronomers, successful landing of the Mars propane heater and a kerosene Box 65578, Dundas Postal Polar Lander on December 3," lamp. Maybe one of you has a Outlet, Dundas, ON. L9H 6Y6 s a i d spare heater, 20lb tank or a lamp? We can borrow one or Rob Roy, Chair's Report page 2 Solar Eclipses page 6 inside... Constellation of the Month page 3 Calendar of Events page 8 Exoplanets page 5 November Sky page 9 Page 2 Chair's Report O O This will be done by: ctober brings us to the end 1.Broad public outreach to of yet another membership instill the vision of pioneering Mars. year for the HAA. This means that 2.Support of ever more next month you will see a new aggressive government funded Mars council. I have been the Chair of the exploration programs around the HAA for two years now. I have had a world. good time in this position and I 3 . C o n d u c t i n g M a r s haven't regretted being Chair for one exploration on a private basis. EE vent Horizon is a publication of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers (HAA). minute. I'll tell you a secret; the Chair doesn't run the club. The Chair is The next two sites are related to last The HAA is an amateur astronomy only the person that is most visible at month's meeting topic about Aurora. club dedicated to the promotion and the meetings. The entire council runs The website at http://www.triax. enjoyment of astronomy for people of the club and I would like to thank all com/vlfradio/natradio.htm will all ages and experience levels of them for their efforts over this past introduce you to the sounds of year. Earth's fascinating, naturally - The cost of the subscription is included occurring radio signals between 300 in the $15 individual or $20 family We already have lots of speakers Hz and 10 kHz. Many of the sounds membership fee for the year. Event lined up to give talks for the new that can be listened to are Horizon is published a minimum of 10 season. So far we have Peter Forint associated with Aurora. The site times a year. from Sienna Software giving a http://mailman.McMa ster.CA/ presentation on their Starry Night mailman/listinfo/magnetometry-l HAA Council series of software in November. We will get you connected to a listserver Hon. Chair Jim Winger will hold a raffle for a copy of their on the topic of magnetometry. Doug Chair Stewart Attlesey new Starry Night Pro! In the same Welch is running this list for Second Chair Doug Welch month, John Ne my and Carol Legate discussion and distribution of Secretary Marg Walton will make a presentation on the observations of geomagnetic Treasurer Barbara Wight August solar eclipse. Jeff Collinson phenomena. Specifically, its Obs. Dir Rob Roy will be giving us a talk about William members are usually amateur Editor Rosa Assalone Herschel in December. We will let observers of geomagnetism who Membership Dir. Ev Rilett you know as soon as the details are have constructed (or are HAJA Coord Rosa Assalone finalized for the other speakers so c o n s i d e r i n g c o n s t r u c t i n g ) that you can mark your calendars. m a g n e t o m e t e r s t o m o n i t o r Councillors geomagnetic activity. Ann Tekatch If you are one of our "armchair Ray Badgerow astronomers" and thinking of buying Don't forget about the upcoming Steve Barnes a scope for yourself or someone else meteor showers for October and John McCloy for Christmas and don't know what November. The Orionids peak on the Gary Sutton to buy then make a point of coming 22nd of October and the Leonids to the November or December peak on the 17th of November. Web Site meetings. There are lots of people in http://amateurastronomy.org/ the club who would be happy to give Stewart Attlesey you some valuable advice. attlesey@interlog.com There are three sites that I am recommending a visit to this month. Since the main talk at our October meeting is by the Mars Society I have chosen their web site at http:// www.marssociety.org/ as one that you should visit. To quote from their web pages; The purpose of the Mars Society is to further the goal of the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 3 Constellation of the Month - Cassiopeia Margaret Walton kingdom. In order to satisfy his Andromeda and Perseus. C anger and save her people, Cassiopeia had to sacrifice her Objects to See assiopeia's midnight daughter Andromeda to the Stars culmination is in early sea monster. Eta Cas. ­ This is a binary star October, however, it is visible system with contrasting stars of to us all year. It is probably the As Andromeda was chained to yellow and red. most distinctive arrangement of the rocks and the sea monster stars in the sky after the Big was approaching, Perseus Deep Sky Objects Dipper. The stars are bright came upon the sea. He IC289. This is a planetary and form the shape of a `W'. pledged to save Andromeda in nebula with ring structure and a The Milky Way passes through return for her hand in marriage. smooth disk. It is bright and Cassiopeia. Although Cassiopeia and large. Mag is 13.2. Cepheus agreed to the match, Queen Cassiopeia was the Cassiopeia changed her mind IC1747. This is a faint small wife of King Cepheus of Joppa and arranged for a former planetary located in a `C' (now known as Jaffa, in Isreal) suitor of Cassiopeia's, Phineas, formation of stars. The and the mother of Andromeda. to attack. Perseus defeated planetary is the second `star' She was beautiful, but also Phineas and turned everyone from the top of the `C'. very vain. She claimed that to stone with the head of Magnitude is 12.0. she was more beautiful than Medusa. the sea nymphs. Poseidon, M52. This is a large, rich open the nymphs' protector, became The entire family group can be cluster of about 100 stars. very angry and sent a sea seen in the same area of the Magnitude is 6.9. monster (Cetus) to terrify the sky ­ Cassiopeia, Cepheus, M103. (NGC581) This is a bright, large open cluster with a bright gold star in the centre. Mag is 7.4. NGC185. This is a bright, large irregular elliptical galaxy of magnitude 9.2. It has a fainter companion galaxy NGC147. NGC436. This is a small, rich open cluster of mag 8.8. NGC457. Owl Cluster. This is a large, bright, rich open cluster of mag 6.4. It resembles an owl's face with 2 bright eyes. (Continued on page 4) Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 4 Cosmology Cosmology Observer's Handbook 2000 Discussion Discussion Group Group It is time to order your Observer's Handbook once again. This year, all orders will be taken in advance, so if you Mike Jefferson will present "Powers want one, be sure to get your order in of Ten - The Cosmology of Ray and before November 13. Cost is $14.00. Charles Eames." Animating the Email margw@icom.ca or sign up at the presentation will be the National Film Board vignette, "Cosmic Zoom." club meetings in October or November. Following the film will be an illustrated presentation of the Eames view of the cosmological realm, from the ultra-macro to the ultra micro. Plenty of room for questions, comments and discussion as our Observer's Calendar 2000 topic unfolds. Observer's calendars have been Saturday, November 27th, 1999. ordered and will be here shortly. Cost 8pm. McMaster's Burke Science is $9.00. Reserve yours by signing up Building room B148 at the meetings or email margw@icom. Free Coffee, Ginger Ale, and ca. First come, first served. Only 20 Timbits. available. Informal discussion, everyone welcome. For further information call Larry at 529-1037. Constellation of the Month - Cassiopeia (Continued from page 3) surrounded by a rich star field so is best viewed through a low NGC654. This is a bright, rich power eyepiece. Magnitude is open cluster of mag 6.5. 6.7. NGC663. This is a large, PK119-06.1. This is a small, bright, rich open cluster of mag bright planetary nebula 7.1. It can be seen in the same appearing as a smooth disk. view (in low powered eyepiece) Magnitude is 12.3. as NGC559, a smaller bright, rich cluster of mag 9.5. TR-1. This is a small open cluster of magnitude 8.1. It is NGC7789. Magnificent quite close to M103 and very Cluster. This is a very beautiful easy to find. open cluster containing 300 ­ 1000 stars. It is very large and Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 5 Dwarfs, Disks, And Pale Blue Marbles: The ongoing search for exoplanets at UCLA Denise Kaisler place. step away from planets. In their kaisler@astro.ucla.edu g r o u n d b r e a k i n g s e a r c h , Pioneering Studies Zuckerman and Becklin detected one tantalizing object. It's known It all began more than twelve as GD 165B. years ago, when UCLA A A Short Time Ago, In A Galaxy Not Far Away. . . astronomers Ben Zuckerman With a surface temperature near and Eric Becklin began looking 2000 K, this object is about three So begins the saga of the search for sub-stellar companions times cooler than the sun, yet it for extrasolar planets-worlds around nearby stars.It was not lacks the lithium signature that which orbit stars other than our planets that they hoped to would place it squarely in the sun. As of this month, we know detect-those were too small and brown dwarf regime. Instead, we of 20 such objects, all but three faint for the instruments available now believe GD 165B is a of them around sunlike stars at the time. Instead, they were transition object right on the right in our cosmic backyard. Yet searching for brown dwarfs: a boundary between brown dwarfs new extrasolar planets, or mysterious class of objects that and stars -- one of only a handful exoplanets, are being discovered are too massive to be planets, known to us. The diagram of so quickly that one or two be but not massive enough to be effective temperature vs. time, added to the list up by the time stars reproduced here, shows the you read this. relationship between GD 165B Brown dwarfs form the way stars and other, more familiar objects. This flood of new discoveries is do. They condense out of clouds not due to a sudden interest in of gas in the inky depths of Another search for brown dwarfs worlds beyond our sun. space, getting hotter and more and planets was done with the Astronomers have been actively dense as gravity squeezes them. Hubble Space Telescope's searching for decades and But although the core of a star NICMOS camera. Zuckerman interesting blips have been can get hot enough to fuse and Becklin were part of this showing up since the 1940s, hydrogen into helium, a brown team, as were graduate students however, no detections were dwarf can never reach that point. Patrick Lowrance, Chris confirmed until 1994. Now, a Instead it gradually radiates McCarthy, and Richard Webb, scant five years later, away its initial heat and does as well as postdoctoral astronomers all over the world very little from then on. A brown researcher Alycia Weinberger. are searching for planets using a dwarf is basically a failed star. Just this year, the NICMOS host of new techniques and search team uncovered TWA 5 : technologies. And it is here at Still, these objects are interesting another brown dwarf candidate UCLA that a number of these for a number of reasons, not on the near edge of the Hyades innovative searches are taking least of which is that they're a (Continued on page 7) Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 6 Canadian Solar Eclipses: 1000 BC to 3000 AD Key: An/+,Tn/ Ray Badgerow + : non-central annular and total eclipses with no This article deals with the occurrence of solar eclipses throughout Canada during a period of northern limit, 40 centuries. The calculations done were carried out using the software Guide 6/7 and EclipseLive 1.1 for local circumstances.My work will show not only how many eclipses axial(n) and non-axial(+). occurred at a given location, but also will compare the rate of reccurrence between 2 adjacent cities.For my purposes, I chose to explore the occurrence of solar eclipses at the provincial/ Note: The total sums of territorial capitals and the RASC centers as well.This set of articles was somewhat from the both annular and total original target date in the spring for a number of reasons such as the work load involved,and eclipses includes the non- the fact that I went to see the August eclipse in Turkey. These articles could eventually central eclipses as well. become the basis for a web site,if you agree. This article was also Table 1: Summary of Eclipses based upon a previous Type Number Orbit article in May 1992 Annular 379 that dealt with solar Total 347 Annular-Total 36 eclipses as seen from Non-Central Annular 17 Hamilton over a smaller Non-Central Total 6 Partial 1113 time interval. The first central eclipse that Total 1898 occurred in Canada was an Annular on July Here is the summary per century: 21,997 BC,and the last Table 2: Canadian Solar Eclipses Per Century one will be a total eclipse Time Span Annular Total Ann/Tot An/+ Tn/+ Partial Sum/Century on May 6,2999. -999 to -900 8 11 0 1 1 30 43 -899 to -800 11 8 0 1 0 23 43 -799 to -700 13 4 1 0 0 24 42 Next month: Victoria and -699 to -600 11 10 0 1 0 30 52 Vancouver. -599 to -500 13 6 0 0 0 23 42 -499 to -400 10 6 4 2 0 32 54 -399 to -300 7 11 0 0 0 34 52 -299 to -200 7 12 1 1 1 29 51 -199 to -100 7 9 3 0 0 31 50 -99 to 000 11 9 2 0 0 28 50 001 to 100 9 9 3 0 0 33 54 101 to 200 3 12 2 1 0 27 45 201 to 300 8 11 0 0 1 30 50 301 to 400 7 13 1 0 0 21 52 401 to 500 7 10 0 0 0 28 45 501 to 600 13 9 0 0 0 32 54 601 to 700 10 12 1 0 0 32 55 701 to 800 11 6 0 0 0 27 44 801 to 900 6 12 0 2 0 33 53 901 to 1000 11 8 0 0 0 29 48 1001 to 1100 17 5 1 0 0 30 53 1101 to 1200 9 10 0 0 0 34 53 1201 to 1300 14 8 1 0 0 28 51 1301 to 1400 11 7 2 0 0 24 44 1401 to 1500 8 9 0 1 1 28 47 1501 to 1600 10 8 1 1 1 22 43 1601 to 1700 6 10 3 0 0 25 44 1701 to 1800 11 5 2 0 0 24 42 1801 to 1900 11 7 0 1 0 27 46 1901 to 2000 3 11 2 0 0 23 39 2001 to 2100 7 7 0 0 1 21 36 2101 to 2200 7 8 1 1 0 25 42 2201 to 2300 10 8 1 0 0 27 46 2301 to 2400 14 9 0 0 0 25 48 2401 to 2500 10 9 1 1 0 24 45 2501 to 2600 8 6 1 0 0 28 43 2601 to 2700 10 8 0 1 0 31 50 2701 to 2800 14 5 0 1 0 27 47 2801 to 2900 12 6 2 0 0 27 47 2901 to 3000 12 13 0 1 0 27 53 Sum 379 347 36 17 6 1113 Average/Century 9.67 8.67 0.9 0.425 0.15 27.8 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 7 Dwarfs, Disks, And Pale Blue Marbles: Continued... around multiple stars, Ghez and base grows and technologies (Continued from page 5) graduate student Jennifer mature, new, deeper searches star cluster. But again, only one Patience have come to the become possible. One of these companion was found out of a conclusion that multiplicity is a was begun just last month by survey list of over forty. This factor. They have found that the Zuckerman, UCLA graduate rarity of brown dwarfs, a disks around binary stars are Bruce Macintosh, and grad condition that also extends to smaller than those around single student Denise Kaisler. They are planets, is puzzling to a good stars, leaving less material for using a new technique known as many astronomers. planet formation. Graduate adaptive optics (AO) to search student Russell White has taken nearby stars for evidence of sub- Solar Systems In The Works this one step futher. His research stellar companions. The big shows that if a planet does form advantage of AO is that it allows What astronomers at UCLA are around either member of a astronomers to overcome the finding, is a number of dusty binary pair, it's most likely to limitations of peering through the disks. These pancakes of rocky form around the primary Earth's atmosphere. Normally, particles surround many young (brighter) star. the image of a star is spread out stars, resembling what many due to pockets of turbulence in believe our own solar system Ghez and team are also active in the air above. But an AO system looked like billions of years ago. the field of direct imaging. Last includes a wavefront sensor to The NICMOS team recently year, a collaboration which also detect deviations in the incoming imaged a remarkable disk included Russel White and Greg starlight plus a palm-sized encircling the star HR 4796. In Schultz, used one of the 10 deformable mirror to correct the near-infrared image shown meter Keck Telescopes to things. The resulting image has here. the star at the center has observe a quadruple system in much higher resolution, which been blocked out to enhance the the constellation Taurus. The means that objects at a great disk's visibility. smallest, coolest member of this distance may be distinguished four-star set is yet another brown from one another. HR 4796 was originally identified dwarf candidate. Like TWA 5, as interesting by Dr. Michael this cool, faint object hasn't yet This AO image, taken last month Jura, another UCLA astronomer. been analyzed spectroscopically at Lick Observatory near San In 1991, he noticed an excess of to see if it bears the telltale Diego, shows a cool, red star 60 infrared radiation coming from lithium signature. but the mass light years away. Without HR 4796 and rightly concluded and luminosity of this object adaptive optics, we see a fuzzy that there must be an envelope make it a good bet as any to be halo, but with the system of dust around this young, blue a brown dwarf. w o r k i n g , a p r e v i o u s l y star. Later this month, he and undiscovered companion star graduate student Christine Chen But Where Are The Planets? has been resolved. Although this will travel to Hawai'i where they is probably not one of the brown will use the world's largest Well, we've never stopped dwarfs that the team is hoping telescope to extend that searching. As our knowledge for, it beautifully demonstrates research by looking for the capabilities of AO. protoplanetary disks around Macintosh and team plan to look other young stars. for brown dwarfs at Lick and then move on to the Keck Disks are also the concern of Dr. observatory next year. The Andrea Ghez and her research higher sensitivity of that group, as are multiple stellar telescope should allow the team systems. Most of the stars in the to directly image extrasolar universe exist in binary or triple planets, something which has systems, making the lone sun not yet been achieved in modern something of an oddity. Thus the astronomy. question of whether planets can form in a binary system naturally arises. By studying the disks Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 8 Membership Renewal November 1, 1999 - October 31, 2000 Name: ___________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Province: ___________________ Postal code: _________________ Phone number: (____)_______________________ E-mail: ____________________________________ Type of membership: Individual $15.00/year Family $20.00/year Voluntary Donation: $_____________ (tax receipts will be issued) Total: $_____________ Please make your cheque payable to: Hamilton Amateur Astronomers P.O. Box 65578 Dundas, Ontario Membership renewals are due November 1, 1999 CALENDAR OF EVENTS * October 8, 9 BINBROOK OBSERVING NIGHTS - For confirmation or directions November 5, 6, 12, 13 call Rob Roy at 692-3245 or Bret Culver 575-9492 * Friday, November 12, 7:30pm HAA GENERAL MEETING - At the Spectator Building auditorium. John Nemy and Carol Legate will speak on the August solar eclipse. * Saturday, November 27th 8pm COSMOLOGY DISCUSSION GROUP - McMaster Burke Science Building, room B148. For more information contact Larry at 529-1037. * Friday, December 10, 7:30pm HAA GENERAL MEETING - At the Spectator Building auditorium. Jeff Collinson will give a talk about William Herschel . Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 9 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 10 Beginning Observational Astronomy Page This is the start of a series of articles for beginning (and not so beginning) astronomers who wish to learn the art of observing. We will cover many of the basics including: learning the night sky, binocular observing, finding objects, star charts, choosing a telescope, eyepieces, filters and more. If you have a topic you wish covered, just send email to margw@icom.ca. How to Get Started in Astronomy This month's article will cover the basic steps to take to start observing. These topics will be covered in more depth in the coming months. 1. Join a Club. The most important thing you can do is to join an astronomy club. Most clubs have members ranging in experience from beginners to experts and those with more experience are usually more than happy to help beginners. By joining in on observing sessions you can learn how and what to observe, and do it through others' scopes before making the decision on the right purchase for you. 2. Learn the Night Sky. In order to find things in the night sky you need to learn the constellations. You don't need a dark site to do this; in fact, it may be easier to pick out the constellations at a brighter site without a background of thousands of stars. All you need is a map showing all the constellations (such as a planisphere), a red flashlight (for reading the map) and your eyes. 3. Don't Buy a Telescope ­ Yet. Using a telescope can be a frustrating and discouraging exercise until you learn a few basic things. These include: learning the constellations, knowing where some of the basic naked eye objects are, learning to use sky charts, and spending time looking through others' scopes. When the time comes to buy a scope, don't waste money on a cheap `department store' scope. You are better off waiting until you can afford a decent one. By looking through others' scopes, you will get a better idea of what you would like. 4. Do Buy Binoculars. 7 ­ 10 power binoculars can be hand-held and are light and portable enough to take anywhere. There are many objects that can be seen with binoculars: planets, moons, star clusters, galaxies and even some nebulae. They are a great way to become familiar with finding your way around the sky without investing in expensive equipment. Binoculars can also be used for other activities such as bird watching, on those mornings you are NOT sleeping in because it was too cloudy the night before to observe! 5. Invest in Charts and Guidebooks. While binoculars can see many things, how are you going to find them? Charts and guidebooks will help you find objects to see, whether using binoculars or a telescope. In addition, it is essential to know how to use star charts before you buy a telescope. Other great sources of information are astronomy magazines. Two of the most popular are Sky and Telescope and Astronomy. These have monthly sky charts and articles describing what you can see in the sky each month. You can get a discounted subscription to these magazines through our club. 6. Have Fun! Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers