March 2018

SOCIETY JOURNAL Society Meeting Monday 12th March at 8:00pm

Colliding Neutron Stars, Gravity Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements

Recently one third of the worlds astronomers became involved in observing a distant and violent event, when two neutron stars collided and exploded. This represented the first time in history that a cosmic event was observed with both gravity waves and light -- the birth of "multi-messenger astronomy." Dr. Quataert gives a non-technical history of how we are now able to find gravity waves, what happens dur-ing such a merger, and why we now believe that much of the gold, platinum, uranium and other heavy elements in the universe is assembled in such mergers.

This is a redbroadcast of a Silicon Valley Lecture.

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 2

Programme and Notices for March 2018

March 2018 Programme April 2018 Programme

Welcome to New Members

Introduction to Astronomy, March 5

The Northern Lights

AAS member, John Cartwright, is an experienced chaser

of the Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Boreal-

is. His talk will nicely complement last year’s talk on the

Southern Lights.

A full discussion will include a historical timeline retrac-

ing the observations, documentation and cultural under-

standing the Northern Lights over thousands of years.

He will also cover the more practical side of chasing the

lights across the Northern Hemisphere, photographing

and capturing the Northern Lights, and the impact of

technology in supporting this.

If the stunning display of the aurora lights fascinate you,

or they are on your "must do" list, then this talk is for

you! Claire Ignatova (Family)

Jevin Graham (Ordinary)

Nova Edgcombe

(Ordinary)

John Walmsley (Family)

Sanjeev Dando (Family)

Bruce Anderson (Family)

John Stewart (Ordinary)

Rose Bronlund (Youth)

Agustina Esmerado

(Ordinary)

Allysha Denston

(Ordinary)

Film Night, March 26

Living in a Parallel Universe

This month’s documentary delves into the science of

other universes and the physics involved in the theory

of Parallel Universes.

Parallel universes sound like a myth, but a surprising

number of leading scientists believe they are real. Some

are interviewed and give practical demonstrations of

how this might work.

This is a very entertaining film. It is 51 minutes long and

will be followed by the latest Sky at Night show (30

minutes long).

3 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

Waharau Dark Sky Weekend The Waharau Dark Sky Weekend is from Friday, April 13 to Sunday, April 15 at Waharau Regional Park, 1748 E Coast Rd, Orere Point, Whakatiwai 2473. It is great opportunity to spend a weekend viewing the sky from a dark site on Moonless nights through a range of different telescopes. Bring your telescope or binoculars, but if you don't have any there will be plenty there for you to look through. It will be a full programme. During the day on Saturday there will be talks on various astronomical topics including astrophotography. Films will be shown in the early evening. Price: Member earlybird $20.00 - payment by Friday, March 30. Member standard $30.00 Non-member earlybird $40.00 - payment by Friday, March 30. Non-member standard $50.00 This price includes bunk bed type accommodation. To book please email Gavin Logan gavinlgn@gmail.com giving the names of the people attending. Phone 021 144 1055.

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 4

UNIVERSE: Exploring the Astronomical World

Book Review by John Wishart

magnitudes are superbly repro-

duced. Murdin covers early Chi-

nese astronomical interest dating

from 2000 BC. The well-researched

illustrations include a 21 metre

long paper scroll which shows all

known constellations, with rising

and setting times. This was hidden

until 1900 when a monk began

selling the scrolls which he found

behind a bricked up room. It was

brought finally to the British Li-

brary in London. Another fasci-

nating illustration is an intricately

produced chart from 1247 showing

that the celestial North Pole was

then marked by a completely

different star from the present day

Polaris.

The wide variety of artists, photog-

raphers and astronomers chosen

by the editor (art historian Rosie

Pickles), in this comprehensive

production include Copernicus,

Galileo, Edwin Hubble, Georgia

O’Keefe, Pablo Picasso, Chesley

Bonestell, Leonardo da Vinci, Al-

brecht Durer, Kandinsky, Miro and

Alexander Calder. Even Bonestell’s

backdrops for Hollywood films,

including Citizen Kane (1941), are

described in the book’s successful

attempt to show the effect of the

universe on human imagination

and creativity.

Other excellent sections include a

history of viewing the universe, a

glossary, biographies and a time-

line. Highlights from the timeline

include Greek astronomer Aristar-

chus who suggested in 280 BC, that

the Sun was the centre of the uni-

verse. Among other interesting ma-

terial included in “Universe” are the

facts that in the 1390’s poet

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a manual

“Treatise on the Astrolabe” and that

in 1576 mathematician Thomas

Digges of England suggested stars

extend to infinity. By 1783 John

Michell, professor of geology at

Cambridge, was speculating about

black holes and the effect of gravity

on light.

Perhaps the most impressive of all

the illustrations are Saturn’s rings

based on data from the Cassini

spacecraft (2005), and the surface

of Mercury by Chesley Bonestell

(1949).

“Universe” is an exceptionally com-

prehensive, interestingly arranged

and beautifully produced volume, a

combination of history, art and as-

T his is a big beautiful book,

many orders of magnitude

above a typical coffee table pro-

duction. The illustrations have

been cleverly arranged in pairs

which compare and contrast

themes and ideas about the histo-

ry of astronomy and the origins of

the universe. Printed by Phaidon, it

displays the remarkably high

standards associated with such a

renowned name in fine art publish-

ing.

The introduction, by Professor Paul

Murdin of the Cambridge Institute

of Astronomy, begins by showing

that the earliest human art refer-

ring to the cosmos is found in

17000 year old prehistoric

paintings from the Lascaux caves in

the Dordogne region of France.

Above a drawing of a now extinct

cattle type, is a clearly shown Pleia-

des cluster. Murdin discusses a

bronze disc from 1600 BC, the Ne-

bra sky disc. This was found in a

small German town near Leipzig. It

is recognised by UNESCO as the

oldest depiction of the cosmos and

includes the Sun, Moon and again

the Pleiades. The writer describes

early maps of stars which were

produced on clay tablets in Meso-

potamia (present day Iraq).This

knowledge was transmitted to

Greece and then to Arabic culture

where mathematics thrived in con-

cert with astronomy. Early maps

from 964 AD by the Persian astron-

omer Abd-al-Rahman al Sufi which

give star positions, colours and

UNIVERSE: Exploring the astronom-

ical world Published by Phaidon.

Edited by Rosie Pickles (art histori-

an) 2017 352 pp $ 90

5 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

tronomy which would be a fasci-

nating and well worthwhile addi-

tion to the library of any lovers of

these subjects.

The 2018 edition of the NZ Astronomical Yearbook is now available.

This is a must-have astronomy almanac for what’s happening in the New

Zealand skies for 2018, plus current highlights in astronomy. Full of spectacular

images from New Zealand astrophotographers.

The 2018 Yearbook features:

•Sky guides and star charts for the year

•Monthly guide to celestial events

•Latest discoveries and technological advancements

•Information for beginners as well as veterans

•Contact information for NZ Astronomical Societies

AAS Members can purchase the 2018 Astronomical Yearbook at the discounted

member price of $15.00 (+$3.50 postage).

Orders can be made:

- Available at all AAS meetings

- via the Astronz website - Use the discount code 'AAS'

https://www.astronz.nz/shop/item.aspx/2018-nz-astronomical-

yearbook/232/

- contact Andrew at Ph 09 473 5877 or email sales@astronz.nz

Radio Occultation: Unravelling

Saturn’s rings,2005,NASA.JPL Digital

simulated image, dimensions varia-

ble.

Picture credit: NASA/JPL (page 19)

Notice of Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the Auckland Astronomical Society Inc. will be held at the

Stardome Observatory, One Tree Hill Domain on Monday 30th April 2018 starting at 8:00pm. All society members are encouraged to attend and help with the future of the Society. The agenda and a copy of the reports will be posted on the member’s area of the society website (www.astronomy.org.nz) prior to the meeting. Printed copies will also be distributed at the meeting. Nominations are open for all council positions; President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Librarian, Curator of Instruments, Editor and three to five council members. Nominations must be received by the Secretary by Monday 9th April 2018 and must be made using the form below. Note nominees, nominators and seconders must be current financial members. Any questions or enquires can be directed to Bill Thomas (President) by email to president@astronomy.org.nz or phone 09 478 4874.

NOMINATION FOR AUCKLAND ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY COUNCIL To be completed by the nominator & a seconder. Both must be a current financial member. I .................................................................... nominate .............................................................................

for the position of ................................................................................

signed: ...................................................... .........dated: I .................................................................... second the nomination of .............................................................

for the position of ................................................................................

signed: ...................................................... .........dated: To be completed by the nominee. The nominee must be a current financial member and have been so for at least one year. I .................................................................... accept nomination for ........................................................

signed: ...................................................... .........dated:

SEND FORM TO: The Secretary, Auckland Astronomical Society email: secretary@astronomy.org.nz post: PO Box 24187, Royal Oak, Auckland 1345

Must be received by 9th April 2018.

7 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

Dark Sky Night, Saturday 17th March

Location: Wainui School, 492 Waitoki Rd, Wainui Picnic dinner at 6:30pm, followed by telescope viewing once dark. A great opportunity to view the sky from a dark site on a Moonless night through a range of different telescopes. Bring your telescope or binoculars, but if you don't have any, there will be plenty there for you to look through.

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 8

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to Reveal

Secrets of the Red Planet

Source Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

M ars rovers and orbiters have

found signs that Mars once

hosted liquid water on its surface.

Much of that water escaped over time.

How much water was lost, and how

does the water that’s left move from

ice to atmosphere to soil? During its

first year of operations, NASA’s James

Webb Space Telescope will seek an-

swers. Webb also will study mysterious

methane plumes that hint at possible

geological or even biological activity.

The planet Mars has fascinated sci-

entists for over a century. Today, it

is a frigid desert world with a car-

bon dioxide atmosphere 100 times

thinner than Earth's. But evidence

suggests that in the early history of

our solar system, Mars had an

ocean's worth of water. NASA's

James Webb Space Telescope will

study Mars to learn more about the

planet's transition from wet to dry,

and what that means about its past

and present habitability.

Mars will be targeted as part of a

Guaranteed Time Observation

(GTO) project led by Heidi Hammel,

a planetary astronomer and execu-

tive vice president of the Associa-

tion of Universities for Research in

Astronomy (AURA) in Washington,

D.C. The GTO program provides

dedicated time to the scientists who

have worked with NASA to craft the

science capabilities of Webb

throughout its development. Ham-

mel was selected by NASA as a

JWST Interdisciplinary Scientist in

2003. Mars will be visible to Webb

from May to September 2020 dur-

ing its first year of operations,

known as Cycle 1.

"Webb will return extremely inter-

esting measurements of chemistry

in the Martian atmosphere," noted

Hammel. "And most importantly,

these Mars data will be immediately

available to the planetary communi-

ty to enable them to plan even

more detailed Mars observations

with Webb in future cycles."

"We are all looking forward to

Webb's observations of Mars. I just

know they will be fantastic, with the

potential for immediate scientific

discoveries," said Jim Green, direc-

tor of NASA's Planetary Science Di-

vision, NASA Headquarters, Wash-

ington, D.C.

Webb's advantages and challenges

Mars has been visited by more mis-

sions than any other planet in our

solar system. It is currently orbited

by six active spacecraft, while two

rovers trundle across its surface.

Webb offers several capabilities

that complement these up-close

missions.

Hubble took this photo of Mars when the planet was 50 million miles from Earth, during its last opposition in 2016.

The photo reveals details as small as 20 to 30 miles across.

Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), J. Bell (ASU), and M. Wolff (Space Science Institute)

9 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

One key asset is Webb's ability to

take a snapshot of the entire disk of

Mars at once. Orbiters, in contrast,

take time to make a full map and

therefore can be affected by day-to-

day variability, while rovers can only

measure one location. Webb also

benefits from excellent spectral res-

olution (the ability to measure small

differences in wavelengths of light)

and a lack of interfering atmosphere

that plagues ground-based meas-

urements from Earth.

That said, observing Mars with

Webb will not be easy. "Webb is

designed to be able to detect ex-

tremely faint and distant targets,

but Mars is bright and close," ex-

plained Geronimo Villanueva of

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Cen-

ter, Mars lead on the GTO project.

As a result, the observations will be

carefully designed to avoid swamp-

ing Webb's delicate instruments

with light.

"Very importantly, observations of

Mars will also test Webb's capabili-

ties in tracking moving objects

across the sky, which is of key im-

portance when investigating our

solar system," said Stefanie Milam

at NASA's Goddard Space Flight

Center, Greenbelt, Md. who is coor-

dinating the solar system program

with Webb.

Water and methane

Much of the water Mars once held

was lost over time due to ultraviolet

light from the Sun breaking apart

water molecules. Researchers can

estimate how much water vanished

by measuring the abundance of two

slightly different forms of water in

Mars' atmosphere -- normal water

(H2O) and heavy water (HDO), in

which one hydrogen atom is re-

placed by naturally occurring deu-

terium. The preferential escape of

lighter hydrogen over time would

then lead to a skewed ratio of H2O

to HDO on Mars, indicative of how

much water has escaped into space.

Webb will be able to measure this

ratio at different times, seasons and

locations.

"With Webb, we can obtain a real

and accurate measurement of the

ratio of H2O to HDO across Mars,

permitting us to determine how

much water was truly lost. We also

can determine how water is ex-

changed between polar ice, the at-

mosphere, and the soil," said Vil-

lanueva.

Although most of the water on Mars

is locked up in ice, the possibility

remains that some liquid water

could exist in underground aquifers.

These potential reservoirs could

even host life. This intriguing idea

received a boost in 2003, when as-

tronomers detected methane in the

Martian atmosphere. Methane

could be generated by bacteria, alt-

hough it could also come from geo-

logical processes. Data from Webb

could provide new clues to the

origin of these methane plumes.

The James Webb Space Telescope is

the world's premier infrared space

observatory of the next decade.

Webb will solve mysteries of our

solar system, look beyond to distant

worlds around other stars, and

probe the mysterious structures and

origins of our universe and our

place in it. Webb is an international

program led by NASA with its part-

ners, the European Space Agency

(ESA) and the Canadian Space Agen-

cy (CSA).

Meeting Broadcasts

The Society is now broadcasting many of its meetings online through our YouTube channel. You can watch the

meetings live or at a later time. Perfect if you are unable to make it to the meeting or would just like to see the

talk again.

You can subscribe to our YouTube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4W5_RJtWZBceOteC-8PTIA

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 10

Hubble Sees Neptune’s Mysterious Shrinking Storm

Source NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

T hree billion miles away on the

farthest known major planet

in our solar system, an ominous,

dark storm -- once big enough to

stretch across the Atlantic Ocean

from Boston to Portugal -- is shrink-

ing out of existence as seen in pic-

tures of Neptune taken by NASA's

Hubble Space Telescope.

Immense dark storms on Neptune

were first discovered in the late

1980s by NASA's Voyager 2 space-

craft. Since then, only Hubble has

had the sharpness in blue light to

track these elusive features that

have played a game of peek-a-boo

over the years. Hubble found two

dark storms that appeared in the

mid-1990s and then vanished. This

latest storm was first seen in 2015,

but is now shrinking.

Like Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS),

the storm swirls in an anti-cyclonic

direction and is dredging up mate-

rial from deep inside the ice giant

planet's atmosphere. The elusive

feature gives astronomers a

unique opportunity to study Nep-

tune's deep winds, which can't be

directly measured.

The dark spot material may be hy-

drogen sulfide, with the pungent

smell of rotten eggs. Joshua

Tollefson from the University of

California at Berkeley explained,

"The particles themselves are still

highly reflective; they are just slight-

ly darker than the particles in the

surrounding atmosphere."

Unlike Jupiter's GRS, which has been

visible for at least 200 years, Nep-

tune's dark vortices only last a few

years. This is the first one that actu-

ally has been photographed as it is

dying.

"We have no evidence of how these

vortices are formed or how fast they

rotate," said Agustín Sánchez-

Lavega from the University of the

Basque Country in Spain. "It is most

likely that they arise from an insta-

bility in the sheared eastward and

westward winds."

This series of Hubble Space Telescope images taken over 2 years tracks the demise of a giant dark vortex on the

planet Neptune. The oval-shaped spot has shrunk from 3,100 miles across its long axis to 2,300 miles across, over

the Hubble observation period.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and M.H. Wong and A.I. Hsu (UC Berkeley)

11 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

The dark vortex is behaving differ-

ently from what planet-watchers

predicted. "It looks like we're cap-

turing the demise of this dark vor-

tex, and it's different from what well

-known studies led us to expect,"

said Michael H. Wong of the Univer-

sity of California at Berkeley, refer-

ring to work by Ray LeBeau (now at

St. Louis University) and Tim

Dowling's team at the University of

Louisville. "Their dynamical simula-

tions said that anticyclones under

Neptune's wind shear would proba-

bly drift toward the equator. We

thought that once the vortex got

too close to the equator, it would

break up and perhaps create a spec-

tacular outburst of cloud activity."

But the dark spot, which was first

seen at mid-southern latitudes, has

apparently faded away rather than

going out with a bang. That may be

related to the surprising direction

of its measured drift: toward the

south pole, instead of northward

toward the equator. Unlike Jupi-

ter's GRS, the Neptune spot is not

as tightly constrained by numerous

alternating wind jets (seen as

bands in Jupiter's atmosphere).

Neptune seems to only have three

broad jets: a westward one at the

equator, and eastward ones

around the north and south poles.

The vortex should be free to

change traffic lanes and cruise any-

where in between the jets.

"No facilities other than Hubble

and Voyager have observed these

vortices. For now, only Hubble can

provide the data we need to un-

derstand how common or rare

these fascinating neptunian weath-

er systems may be," said Wong.

The first images of the dark vortex

are from the Outer Planet Atmos-

pheres Legacy (OPAL) program, a

long-term Hubble project that annu-

ally captures global maps of our so-

lar system's four outer planets. Only

Hubble has the unique capability to

probe these worlds in ultraviolet

light, which yields important infor-

mation not available to other pre-

sent-day telescopes. Additional da-

ta, from a Hubble program targeting

the dark vortex, are from an inter-

national team including Wong,

Tollefson, Sánchez-Lavega, Andrew

Hsu, Imke de Pater, Amy Simon,

Ricardo Hueso, Lawrence Sromov-

sky, Patrick Fry, Statia Luszcz-Cook,

Heidi Hammel, Marc Delcroix, Kath-

erine de Kleer, Glenn Orton, and

Christoph Baranec.

SWAPA Secondary School Competition

The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) is interested in promoting astronomy for NZ

high school students who have an interest and passion for this science. The Society is holding its annual

conference in 2018 in Christchurch from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th May. The normal conference registra-

tion for non-RASNZ members is around $200, however the Society is waiving this cost for up to 10 young

astronomers who are keen to attend and find out more about our science. In addition, the cost of the

Saturday night banquet, travel costs to/from the conference and accommodation (usually backpacker)

for the Friday and Saturday nights are paid for. To be considered students should email a short state-

ment of no more than 300 words explaining why they would like to attend the conference and why they

are interested in astronomy. This statement should be sent to RASNZ President, John Drummond (email:

john_drummond@xtra.co.nz by Thursday 15th March, 5 pm. Please include your name, school, age, year

of study at school in 2018, email address, telephone contact and science teacher’s name.

The winners of the competition will be selected for a clear enthusiasm for astronomy, their seniority, and

good English in their submitted statement. Alternatively, a printed version can be posted to John Drum-

mond, PO Box 113, Patutahi 4045. The RASNZ Students with a Passion for Astronomy (SWAPA) competi-

tion is mostly intended for students in years 11, 12 or 13, however excellent students in years 10 or be-

low should not be deterred from applying. Those who win the free registration/travel/accommodation

will be notified around early-April 2018.

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 12

H igh resolution observations

show a rotating dusty gas

torus around an active supermas-

sive black hole. The existence of

such rotating donuts-shape struc-

tures was first suggested decades

ago, but this is the first time one has

been confirmed so clearly. This is an

important step in understanding the

co-evolution of supermassive black

holes and their host galaxies.

Almost all galaxies hold concealed

monstrous black holes in their cen-

ters. Researchers have known for a

long time that the more massive the

galaxy is, the more massive the cen-

tral black hole is. This sounds rea-

sonable at first, but host galaxies

are 10 billion times bigger than the

central black holes; it should be

difficult for two objects of such vast-

ly different scales to directly affect

each other. So how could such a

relation develop?

Aiming to solve this shadowy prob-

lem, a team of astronomers utilized

the high resolution of ALMA to ob-

serve the center of spiral galaxy

M77. The central region of M77 is

an "active galactic nucleus," or AGN,

which means that matter is vigor-

ously falling toward the central su-

permassive black hole and emitting

intense light. AGNs can strongly

affect the surrounding environment,

therefore they are important ob-

jects for solving the mystery of the

co-evolution of galaxies and black

holes.

The team imaged the area around

the supermassive black hole in M77

and resolved a compact gaseous

structure with a radius of 20 light-

years. And, the astronomers found

that the compact structure is ro-

tating around the black hole, as

expected.

"To interpret various observational

features of AGNs, astronomers

have assumed rotating donut-like

structures of dusty gas around ac-

tive supermassive black holes. This

is called the 'unified model' of

AGN," explained Masatoshi

Imanishi?(National Astronomical

Observatory of Japan), the lead

author on a paper published in the

Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"However, the dusty gaseous donut

is very tiny in appearance. With the

high resolution of ALMA, now we

can directly see the structure."

Many astronomers have observed

the center of M77 before, but never

has the rotation of the gas donut

around the black hole been seen so

clearly. Besides the superior resolu-

tion of ALMA, the selection of mo-

lecular emission lines to observe

was key to revealing the structure.

The team observed specific micro-

Rotating Dusty Gaseous Donut Around an Active

Supermassive Black Hole

Source: National Institute of Natural Sciences

ALMA revealed the rotation of the torus very clearly for the first time. Cred-

it: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

13 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

wave emission from hydrogen cya-

nide molecules (HCN) and formyl

ions (HCO+). These molecules emit

microwaves only in dense gas,

whereas the more frequently ob-

served carbon monoxide (CO) emits

microwaves under a variety of con-

ditions . The torus around the AGN

is assumed to be very dense, and

the team's strategy was right on the

mark.

"Previous observations have re-

vealed the east-west elongation of

the dusty gaseous torus. The dy-

namics revealed from our ALMA

data agrees exactly with the ex-

pected rotational orientation of the

torus," said Imanishi.

Interestingly, the distribution of gas

around the supermassive black hole

is much more complicated than

what a simple unified model sug-

gests. The torus seems to have an

asymmetry and the rotation is not

just following the gravity of the

black hole but also contains highly

random motion. These facts could

indicate the AGN had a violent his-

tory, possibly including a merger

with a small galaxy. Nevertheless,

the identification of the rotating

torus is an important step.

The Milky Way Galaxy, where we

live, also has a supermassive black

hole at its center. This black hole is,

however, in a very quiet state. Only

a tiny amount of gas is accreting

onto it. Therefore, to investigate an

AGN in detail, astronomers need to

observe the centers of distant gal-

axies. M77 is one of the nearest

AGN and a suitable object for peer-

ing into the very center in detail.

Scientists Discover Almost 100 New Exoplanets

Source: Technical University of Denmark

B ased on data from NASA's K2

mission an international team

of scientists have just confirmed

nearly 100 new exoplanets, planets

located outside our solar system.

This brings the total number of new

exoplanets found with the K2 mis-

sion up to almost 300.

"We started out analyzing 275 can-

didates of which 149 were validated

as real exoplanets. In turn 95 of

these planets have proved to be

new discoveries," said American

PhD student Andrew Mayo at the

National Space Institute (DTU

Space) at the Technical University

of Denmark.

"This research has been underway

since the first K2 data release in

2014."

Mayo is the main author of the

work being presented in the Astro-

nomical Journal.

The research has been conducted

partly as a senior project during his

undergraduate studies at Harvard

College. It has also involved a team

of international colleagues from

institutions such as NASA, Caltech,

UC Berkeley, the University of Co-

penhagen, and the University of

Tokyo.

The Kepler spacecraft was launched

in 2009 to hunt for exoplanets in a

single patch of sky, but in 2013 a

mechanical failure crippled the tele-

scope. However, astronomers and

engineers devised a way to repur-

pose and save the space telescope

by changing its field of view periodi-

cally. This solution paved the way

for the follow up K2 mission, which

is still ongoing as the spacecraft

searches for exoplanet transits.

These transits can be found by reg-

istering dips in light caused by the

shadow of an exoplanet as it cross-

es in front of its host star. These

dips are indications of exoplanets

which must then be examined

much closer in order to validate the

candidates that are actually ex-

oplanets.

The field of exoplanets is relatively

young. The first planet orbiting a

star similar to our own Sun was de-

tected only in 1995. Today some

3,600 exoplanets have been found,

ranging from rocky Earth-sized

planets to large gas giants like Jupi-

ter.

It's difficult work to distinguish

which signals are actually coming

from exoplanets. Mayo and his col-

leagues analyzed hundreds of sig-

nals of potential exoplanets thor-

oughly to determine which signals

were created by exoplanets and

which were caused by other

sources.

"We found that some of the signals

were caused by multiple star sys-

tems or noise from the spacecraft.

But we also detected planets that

range from sub Earth-sized to the

size of Jupiter and larger," said

Mayo.

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 14

One of the planets detected was

orbiting a very bright star.

"We validated a planet on a 10 day

orbit around a star called HD

212657, which is now the brightest

star found by either the Kepler or K2

missions to host a validated planet.

Planets around bright stars are im-

portant because astronomers can

learn a lot about them from ground-

based observatories," said Mayo.

"Exoplanets are a very exciting field

of space science. As more planets

are discovered, astronomers will

develop a much better picture of

the nature of exoplanets which in

turn will allow us to place our own

solar system into a galactic con-

text".

The Kepler space telescope has

made huge contributions to the

field of exoplanets both in its origi-

nal mission and its successor K2

mission. So far these missions have

provided over 5,100 exoplanet can-

didates that can now be examined

more closely.

With new, upcoming space missions

like the James Webb Space Tele-

scope and the Transiting Exoplanet

Survey Satellite, astronomers will

take exciting new steps toward

characterizing and studying ex-

oplanets like the rocky, habitable,

Earth-sized planets that might be

capable of supporting life.

After detecting the first exoplanets in the 1990s it has become clear that planets around other stars are the rule ra-

ther than the exception and there are likely hundreds of billions of exoplanets in the Milky Way alone. The search for

these planets is now a large field of astronomy.

Credit: ESA/Hubble/ESO/M. Kornmesser

15 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

Society Contacts

President Bill Thomas (09) 478 4874 president@astronomy.org.nz

Vice-President Grant Christie (09) 636 3437 grant@christie.org.nz

Treasurer Niven Brown (021) 935 261 events@astronomy.org.nz

Secretary Gavin Logan (021) 144 1055 secretary@astronomy.org.nz

Membership Chris Benton (09) 424-4278 membership@astronomy.org.nz

Curator of Instruments Steve Hennerley (027) 245 6441 rental@astronomy.org.nz

Librarian Jerina Grewar (09) 444 5086 library@astronomy.org.nz

Journal Milina Ristić (029) 912 4748 journal@astronomy.org.nz

Shaun Fletcher (09) 557 8686

Meetings Coordinator David Britten (09) 846 3657 meetings@astronomy.org.nz

Social Media Jonathan Green (09) 415 7284 jonathangreen@xtra.co.nz

Events/Outreach Niven Brown (021) 935 261 events@astronomy.org.nz

Auckland Astronomical Society Inc.

PO Box 24187, Royal Oak

Auckland 1345, New Zealand

Website: www.astronomy.org.nz

Facebook www.facebook.com/AuckAstroSoc

Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC4W5_RJtWZBceOteC-8PTIA

Email: info@astronomy.org.nz

Taking a Lesson from an Old Pirate By Trevor Fafeita

C an we as astronomers take a les-

son from the past?

While watching an episode of 'Duck

Quacks Don't Echo' I chanced upon a

fact regarding pirates wearing an eye

patch. We tend to think an eye patch

means a lost or damaged eye. but in

fact, many mariners of the time wore a

patch. They wore a patch most of the

time while aboard ship to cope with the

change between light above deck and

lack of light below decks. Below decks

was dark. We tend to think of there

being lanterns, but these were rare.

There were no port holes and most

decks were below the water line. To

allow a sailor to adapt faster, he would

wear a patch over one eye to shield it

from the light and allow it to become

night adapted. When he went below

into the dark, he would move the patch

over and would immediately be able to

see in the dark. Before going above, he

would place the patch back over the

eye to keep it adapted to dark. The tele-

vision show tested the theory and

found the control team could not find

their way in the underground chamber

littered with obstacles. The patched

team was able to walk straight through

the room avoiding the obstacles imme-

diately after the doors were closed.

Today with so many electronic devices

in service to aid our viewing and naviga-

tion of the stars, it is too easy to turn on

a light or look at a device and instantly

lose our dark adapted sight. That is un-

less we use red backgrounds. We can

take a lesson from the sailors of old and

wear a patch on an eye when away

from the scope eyepiece. This would

make returning to the scope much easi-

er and enhance our view of the heav-

ens. I hope to see more eye patches at

our next star party.

While thinking of vision, have you ever

thought of having a dominant eye? Just

as you are left or right handed, you are

also left or right eyed. Shooters are well

aware of this and only use the domi-

nant eye to sight down the barrel. How

do you determine which eye is domi-

nant? Hold out an arm in front of you

and point at a distant object. Now close

each eye one at a time and see which

one still rests on the target. You will

find one is a little to the side. The other

is spot on and is the eye to use for

sighting.

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 16

Help Wanted The Society continues to grow. To maintain our level of programmes and member services it takes a lot of work to organise, so the more people than can help with the various tasks will spread the load and make it an easier job for everybody. The Society Council recently identified various jobs that we need help with and we are looking for volunteers to join the small teams than run these functions. We are also looking for someone to take over the position of Treasurer. Please note, none of these jobs are positions on Council. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Bill Thomas at president@astronomy.org.nz or phone 09 478 4874 or 021 225 8175 to discuss further. He will also be available at AAS meetings.

Special Events Coordinator This role is primarily to organise the Burbidge Dinner and also any other special events that the Society may hold. The role receives a lot of support from Council in terms of inviting speakers, venue hire etc. The Coordinator liaises with the coordina-tors of the astrophotography competition and writing prize but is not required to organise the judging for these awards. Outreach Team The Society is very active in public outreach. There are a growing number of events, particularly around the Matariki Festival, where the Society can fulfil its aim of taking astronomy to the public. Being part of the Outreach Team entails attending public events where members and the Society provide telescopes for viewing, discussing the night sky and the importance of dark skies and light pollution. This is a very satisfying team to be a part of as you really get to experience the wonder of astronomy over and over again. Meetings Team We would like to establish a team of people that look after all the little jobs that help make meetings run. These include open-ing up and setting up for meetings, recording and filming of speakers, packing up after meetings, monthly meeting suppers, managing the website meeting calendar etc. Assistant Secretary This role is to help the Secretary with the recording and preparation of minutes of Council meetings. We also need someone to help with the archival of Society records and documents. Membership Assistants We are looking for people to help the Membership Officer with tasks that include; welcoming and orientation for new mem-bers, issuing membership renewal notices and following up on overdue memberships. Assistant Editor To be part of the team that prepares the Society Journal. You will need to have access to and experience in using publishing tools such as Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher. Assistant Librarians To help the Librarian with the issuing and return of library books, managing our digital collection, sourcing new books and preparing book reviews for the Journal. Rental Assistant To help the Curator of Instruments with the issue & return of rental equipment and with the training of members on use of the equipment.

17 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

The Evening Sky in March 2018

By Alan Gilmore

Notes by Alan Gilmore, University of Canterbury's Mt John Observatory, P.O. Box 56, Lake Tekapo 7945, New Zealand.

www.canterbury.ac.nz

The brilliant planet Venus (not shown on the chart) might be seen from places with a low western skyline, setting in the twilight. At the end of March it sets 50 minutes after the Sun. Mercury will be near Venus in the first half of March but much fainter. It then sinks back into the twilight. Jupiter is the brightest 'star' in the late evening sky. At the beginning of the month it rises after 11 pm NZDT. It rises four minutes earlier each night so it is in the eastern sky after 9 pm at the end of March.

Jupiter is the biggest planet by far. Its mass is greater than all the other planets put together. Any telescope shows Jupiter's disk with its four bright 'Galilean' moons lined up on either side. Sometimes one or two moons can be seen in binoculars, looking like faint stars close to the planet. Jupiter is 720 million km from us in March. The Moon will be below Jupiter on the 7th.

Northwest of overhead is Sirius. It is the brightest true star in the sky but fainter than Jupiter. Southwest of the zenith is Canopus, the second brightest star. Below Sirius are bluish Rigel and orange Betelgeuse, the brightest stars in Orion. Between them is a line of three stars: Orion's belt. To southern hemisphere star watchers, the line of stars makes the bottom of 'The Pot'. Orion's belt points down and left to a V-shaped pattern of stars. This makes the face of Taurus the Bull, upside down to us. The orange star Aldebaran is at one tip of the V making one eye of the bull. Continuing the line from Orion down and left finds the Pleiades or Matariki star cluster. It is about 440 light-years* away.

Sirius is the brightest star both because it is relatively close, nine light years away, and 23 times brighter than the Sun. Rigel is a bluish supergiant star, 40 000 times brighter than the Sun and much hotter. It is 800 light years away. Orange Betelgeuse is a red-giant star, cooler than the Sun but much bigger and 9000 times brighter. It is 400 light years from us.

Near the north skyline are Pollux and Castor marking the heads of Gemini the twins. Though paired in myths, the two stars are not related at all. Castor is a hot white star like Sirius but 52 light years away. Golden Pollux is bigger and brighter but cooler than Sirius and 34 light years away. Above and right of them is the star cluster Praesepe, marking the shell of Cancer the crab. Praesepe is also called the Beehive cluster, the reason obvious when it is viewed in binoculars. It is some 500 light years from us.

Crux, the Southern Cross, is in the southeast. Below it are Beta and Alpha Centauri, often called 'The Pointers'. Alpha Centauri is the closest naked-eye star, 4.3 light years away. Beta Centauri, like most of the stars in Crux, is a blue-giant star hundreds of light years away. Canopus is also a very luminous distant star; 13 000 times brighter than the sun and 300 light years away.

The Milky Way is brightest in the southeast toward Crux. It becomes broader lower in the southeast toward Scorpius. Above Crux the Milky Way can be traced to nearly overhead where it fades. It becomes very faint in the north, right of Orion.

The Clouds of Magellan, LMC and SMC are high in the south sky, easily seen by eye on a dark moonless night. They are two small galaxies about 160 000 and 200 000 light years away.

Mars and Saturn (not shown on the chart) are in the morning sky. Mars rises around 12:30 at the beginning of the month looking like an orange-red star. It is below the orange star Antares. 'Antares' is Greek for 'rival to Mars'. The two look similar now but Mars will brighten as we catch up on it.

Saturn is below and right of Mars at the beginning of March. It is the brightest 'star' in that part of the sky and has a creamy-white colour. Saturn stays put against the star background rising a little earlier each night. The Moon is between the two planets in the morning of March 11.

SOCIETY JOURNAL, March 2018 18

The Night Sky for March 2018

19 WWW.ASTRONOMY.ORG.NZ

Society Astronomical Equipment for Rent

The Society has a wide variety of equipment available for rental to members, from beginner

friendly Dobsonian telescopes, through to more advanced computerised GOTO systems.

All rental equipment is of high quality and regularly maintained.

Rental periods are normally in 4 week blocks, but other arrangements may be available if

you have a specific requirement. Full training and support is given for all equipment,

including advice if equipment is suitable for your needs, or experience level.

Current rental equipment includes:

* 200mm Astronz Dobsonian Telescopes ($10/week)

* Celestron Nexstar 5 127mm Schmidt Cassegrain Alt/Az GOTO Telescope ($12.50/week)

* iOpton Minitower multipurpose Alt/Az Mount with Celestron C5 127mm OTA ($15/week)

* Meade 90mm Achromatic Refractor ($7.50/week)

Also, newly added to the rental stock

* Coronado PST 40mm Hydrogen-Alpha Solar Telescope ($12.50/week)

* iOpton ZEQ25 Computerised Equatorial Mount

We are often adding items to our rental equipment, and we're really keen to hear what other items may be useful

to members - any ideas, or for any information regarding availability or how to rent equipment, please contact

Steve Hennerley on 027 245 6441 or email at rental@astronomy.org.nz

Solar System Events for March 2018 From the RASNZ Website

apogee: Furthest point in the orbit of a body orbiting the Earth

conjunction: Two astronomical objects are 'lined up' (have the same right ascension) when viewed from Earth

declination: 'Latitude' for celestial objects. The distance in degrees above (north) or below (south) the celestial equator.

perigee: Nearest point in the orbit of a body orbiting the Earth

March 1 Regulus 0.9˚ south of the Moon Occn

March 2 Moon full

March 4 Neptune at conjunction

March 4 Mercury 1.1˚ north of Venus

March 7 Jupiter 3.9˚ south of the Moon

March 9 Jupiter stationary

March 9 Moon last quarter

March 10 Mars 3.8˚ south of the Moon

March 11 Saturn 2.2˚ south of the Moon

March 11 Moon southern most declination (-20.1˚)

March 11 Moon at apogee

March 12 Pluto 1.7˚ south of the Moon

March 15 Mercury greatest elong E(18)

March 16 Neptune 1.7˚ north of the Moon

March 17 Moon new

March 18 Venus 3.5˚ north of the Moon

March 19 Uranus 4.4˚ north of the Moon

March 19 Mercury 3.8˚ north of Venus

March 20 Equinox

March 22 Mercury stationary

March 22 Aldebaran 0.9˚ south of the Moon Occn

March 24 Moon first quarter

March 25 Moon northern most declination (20.2˚)

March 26 Moon at perigee

March 28 Regulus 1.0˚ south of the Moon Occn

March 29 Venus 0.1˚ south of Uranus

March 31 Moon full

Easy to use, but with large apertures and a small price tag, Astronz Dobsonian telescopes are ideal for both beginners and advanced astronomer alike.

www.astronz.nzemail: sales@astronz.nz

ph: 09 473 5877

Newtonian/Dobsonian TelescopesHigh Grade Ritchey-Chretien Telescopes

Eyepieces, Diagonals, Barlows, FiltersiOptron GoTo Mounts, QHY Cameras

200mm (8”) - $749254mm (10”) - $1075303mm (12”) - $1499

• 200mm (8”) f/6 or 254mm (10”) f/5 or 303mm (12”) f/5 Newtonian Optical Tube Assembly

• 9mm Plossl 1.25” Eyepiece• 30mm Superview 2” Eyepiece• 2” 10:1 Crayford Focuser with 1.25” adapter• Dobsonian base (assembly required)• 8x50 Finder Scope

• Cooling Fan

Dobsonian Telescopes

people who love the night sky