FROM THE PRESIDENT Bill Hanagan

Two Mini-Talks by DAS MembersRe-Figuring of the DAS Coulter 175 Newtonian Primary Mirror

Speaker DAS President Bill Hanagan

Sir John Frederick William Herschel - an account of his life amp contributionsSpeaker DAS Secretary Lynn King

Next Meeting Tuesday February 21st 2012 at 800 PM

Each issue of FOCUS is full of useful hyperlinks Just click onany graphic or telltale blue web address and your browser shouldtake you to additional linked web resources

at the Mt Cuba Astronomical Observatory

Vol 57 No 2 February 2012

February 21 Mini-talks 1) The Re-Figuring of the DASCoulter 175 Newtonian Primary Mirror- a review of theproject by Bill Hanagan 2) Sir John Frederick WilliamHerschel Mathematician Astronomer Chemist Experimen-tal Photographer Botanist and Inventor- an account of hisamazing life and contributions by Lynn King

March 20 Mini-talks 1) Harnessing the Full Power of Skytools3- an in-depth guide to getting the most from this observing andastro-photography planning tool by Doug Norton 2) Improving theSpectral Response of Digital SLRs for Astro-Imaging- by RobLancaster 3) Regional Star Party Roundup for 2012 byBill Hanagan

April 17 Mini-talks 1) The Transit of Venus Then and Now-a brief review of how the transit of Venus first allowed us togauge the size of our solar system by Bob Mentzer 2)Regional Star Party Roundup for 2012 Plus Club Plans forObserving and Photographing the June 5 Transit of Venus-by Bill Hanagan 3) A Talk by Sheila Vincent (Title tobe determined)

May 15 Dinner Meeting Open

June 19 The Story of Neutrinos an account of their theo-retical prediction and eventual discovery and why they have be-come the leading edge of astronomy research by Jack Fisher

Remaining DAS Monthly Meeting Topicsand Speakers thru June 2012First off Id like to thank Januarys presenters for

their excellent mini-talks including Rob Lancaster who toldus about how he engineered and built his own imagingtelescope and Rick Davis who talked about auto-guiding forastronomical imaging Thanks also go out to Greg Lee forreviewing Whats Up in the Sky and Fred DeLucia forbringing in the refreshments

Our main meeting program for February 21 will beginwith a review of Whats Up in the Sky by DAS memberGreg Lee We also have two mini-talks scheduled forFebruary 1) The Re-Figuring of the DAS Coulter 175Newtonian Primary Mirror a progress report by the projectleader yours truly and 2) Sir John Frederick WilliamHerschel Mathematician Astronomer Chemist Experimen-tal Photographer Botanist and Inventor an account of hisamazing life and contributions by Lynn King

As always Id like to remind you to keep thinkingabout how YOU can contribute to the DAS and how you canmake the DAS a better astronomy club Weve had somevolunteers step forward and weve received a variety ofdonations but more volunteers and donations are needed

A club works best when essentially all of its able-bodied members pitch-in and help out at our club functionsin whatever way they can If you want to make the DAS abetter astronomy club give me a call at 302-239-0949 Imsure we can come up with something that you can do tohelp the DAS that also suits your particular interests

The Moon - Taken with an SBIG STV CCD camera and a10 Meade LX200 at 1600 mm focal lengthPhoto Credit by DAS Member Ron Worden

PUBLIC NIGHTS at the Mt CUBA OBSERVATORYMCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS Greg Weaver

the latest updated version off the website at httpMountCubaorg Programs are presented on Monday

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The Mt CubaObservatory PublicNights continue yearround In addition tolearning about manyaspects of the heavensyoull have a chance to

visit and view our all-digital full-dome planetarium You canpick up a schedule when you next come to a meeting or get

The Public Nights schedule for 2012 follows

nights at 8pm Please check the website for full details andupdates on programs planned

DAS Member Star Parties Bill Hanagan

Date Speaker TopicFeb 20 Hank Bouchelle Finding Constellations and Stars with a PlanisphereMar 5 James Dalessio TBDMar 19 Jon Sundqvist TBDApr 16 Stan Owocki TBDApr 30 Jack Fisher Global Warming Its Not all Your FaultMay 14 Hank Bouchelle How Fast are We MovingJun 4 Harry Shipman TBDJun 18 Don Wilson Wonders of the Universe

NEW

Observing with the Delaware Astronomical SocietyNEW

We held our first MSP of the year at the SawinObservatory on January 28 The unseasonably warmweather can be credited for somewhat higher than normalattendance for January with six DAS members presentThe upcoming potential dates for MSPs include February17 18 24 and 25

As always the MSPs will be flex-scheduledaccording to the weather using the DAS Yahoo Group Themechanics of the MSP program are described separatelyunder Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs)

As spring approaches our core group of observers willbe choosing dates for possible road trips to Cherry Springs PAas well as other very dark sites in West Virginia We normallyundertake these long-distance road trips only when

we expect at least two good nights on site While some ofour past trips have involved motel stays like the one toStarquest V at Green Bank in WV most of these trips arelikely to require camping like our last visit to Cherry Springsin PA However this is luxury camping right out of a carand we only go in good weather There is no need to back-pack anything anywhere The group shares responsibilitiesfor food and equipment so that not everyone who goes needsto bring a telescope shade for the daytime etc Just beprepared to pitch in lend a hand and have a good timeSome of our core observers have spare tents if you need toborrow one Let either myself or Greg Lee know if youreinterested in going along

Click the banner above to enter into the Universe in the Classroom This electronic educational newsletter is forteachers and other educators around the world who want to help students and people of all ages to learn more about thewonders of the universe through astronomy

From that webpage you can read the current issue subscribe to receive updates and browse their archives Youcan also learn more about the Universe in the Classroom and find out about how you can help by writing an article translat-ing the newsletter or contributing expertise in other ways

Its an outstanding resource for anyone interested in Astronomy or conveying that interest to others and worthy of a look

NEW

The DAS Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) SpecialInterest Group (SIG ) meets on evenings and weekendsaccording to the availability of the members and the particu-lar projects that are underway Currently the ATM SIG has amedium Dob building program under way The general rangeof activities of the ATM SIG includes all manner of telescopemaking mirror making and the making of accessories fortelescopes and observing

Anyone interested in joining the ATM SIG shouldemail their name address and phone number to me at

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DAS Special Interest Groups for Photography and Telescope ConstructionDAS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan

DAS AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Bill Hanagan

hanaganwverizonnetMeeting dates are announced primarily by email so if

you are interested in telescope making be sure to let me know

The DAS also maintains a club observatory on the groundsof the Mt Cuba Astronomical Observatory The Sawin Observatoryhouses the clubs permanently mounted 125 reflecting telescopeand a 175 Coulter Odyssey 2 Dobsonian telescope They are forthe use of club members once they are trained and checked-out ina simple operating procedure Members who are interested inbecoming key holders of the Sawin Observatory should contact meat 302-239-1844 to arrange for training in the use of the facility

One of the best advantages of being a member of theDelaware Astronomical Society is that all members have theprivilege of being trained to use and then borrow equipmentowned by the club for personal use Currently we have twoscopes available for loan a Celestron 8 Schmidt-Cassegrainand a 6 Orion Sky-Quest XT6 Dobsonian reflector The loan isfor at least a month If youre interested in checking out eitherof these scopes contact Tom Sidowski at 302-239-1844

LOANER TELESCOPES and SAWIN OBSERVATORY REMINDER Tom Sidowski

As always please consider submitting one or more ofyour favorite astrophotos for publication in the FOCUS Arecent photo is not required You can email your photo(s) asjpg files to our FOCUS editor Joe Neuberger at his address atjrneubergergmailcom Please include a text file brieflydescribing how you made each photo (in Microsoft Wordformat) along with any by-lines or captions you would like Joeto use If you would like you can write a more in-depthdiscussion to go with your photos Joe can make a masterfullayout but if you would like to suggest a layout of your ownyou can insert copies of your photos into the Word documentto give him an idea what you would like to see Either waydont forget to attach a high resolution jpg file to your email foreach photo Joe has done a great job improving the look of theFOCUS and adding relevant links to take advantage of the factthat the FOCUS is now on-line but like all newsletter editorshe needs as much material as he can get from club members

NEW

A meeting of the AP SIG was held on SaturdayFebruary 4th at MCAO At that session Correctors andField Flatteners were discussed Just about every telescopedesign needs some sort of corrector or field flattener toachieve sharp images over much of the area at the focal curve

The next meeting of the AP SIG is tentativelyscheduled for Saturday March 10th at 730 PM at the MountCuba Observatory EVERYONE is welcome

The refiguring of the clubs Coulter 175 primary mirroris continuing Let me know soon if you would like to partici-pate in this effort but have not yet advised me of your interest

Also dont forget the 12th Mid-Atlantic Mirror MakingSeminar which is hosted by the Delmarva Star Gazers andruns from March 22-25

700 pm Tuesday February 21 2012 In the Library at the Mt Cuba Observatory

The PRESIDENTS DAS BOARDMEETING AGENDA for FEBRUARY

In addition to routine items of business such as theTreasurers report well be discussing the following items1) Plans for the DAS Dinner Meeting2) Potential Sites and Plans for Observing the June 4

2012 Transit of Venus3) Other topics to be determined

NEW

NEW

The DAS astrophotography special interest group (DASAP SIG) meets on Friday nights at 730pm every other month at MtCuba regardless of weather The SIG also meets for photo shootsscheduled on 1-2 day notice to synchronize with the weather

The monthly meetings are informal and typicallyinclude the presentation of astrophotos taken by the membersalong with an extended question and answer period Objectscommonly photographed include constellations auroras lunareclipses and planetary photos as well as a wide variety of deep-sky objects such as nebulae galaxies star clusters etc Thetopics discussed cover the entire gamut of astrophotographyfrom how to get started with a minimum of equipment to polaraligning your telescope all of the way to the fine points of usingauto-guiders and post-processing digital images

You can get started in astrophotography with justyour current camera mounted on a tripod or a motorizedtelescope by taking wide field photographs of meteor showersconjunctions constellations and star trails As you move toprogressively fainter and smaller subjects youll need betterequipment Joining the AP SIG is a great way to learn whatequipment youll need and what works well before you spendyour money If you are interested in joining the AP SIG justemail your name address and phone number to me athanaganwverizonnet

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Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs) Bill Hanagan

MSP cycles are timed for a minimum of intrusion by moonlight during the hours before midnight to maximize opportunities for deep sky observingand imaging For each MSP cycle there are usually four potential dates designated in advance the Friday and Saturday nights which immediatelyprecede a new moon and the Friday and Saturday nights that follow or include the new moon date Which of the four potential dates is used for an MSP isflex-scheduled according to the weather using the DAS Yahoo Group email system

Please be sure to mark your calendars with the potential MSP dates that appear in the table Obviously you need to keep as many of thesedates open as possible so when a GO announcement is made youre in a position to attend the DAS Member Star Party regardless of which date theweather favors

The DAS has a core group of dedicated visual observers and astro-imagers who travel to Tuckahoe Cherry Springs West Virginia and otherdark sky sites as opportunities and the weather allow If youre interested in going along or meeting up on any of the road trips mentioned in the MSPschedule let me know and Ill fill you in on the details and keep you apprised as plans develop

Road trips to distant observing sites like Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania require that several DAS members commit to going inadvance should the weather prove favorable for both nights When the weather forecast only looks good for one night the MSP will often be redirected toa closer site such as the Elk River site or the Sawin observatory

While DAS members who go on road trips are often involved in both observing and imaging these road trips are particularly valuable for visualobservers because they offer the best opportunity to see deep sky objects through large aperture telescopes under dark skies

Long-time members of the DAS may remember the disappointing views they had looking through Mount Cubas 24 Tinsley Cassegraintelescope Dont let the bad views produced by that telescope affect your thinking about what can be seen through a large aperture telescope Most oftodays big Dobs produce vastly superior visual images compared to the Tinsley 24 Cassegrain thanks in part to better optics the use of a thin primarymirror and fans for removing the thermal boundary layer from in front of the primary mirror as well as pockets of hot and cold air in the optical path

If you are truly interested in visual observing you owe it to yourself to see first-hand what dark skies and a large aperture will allow you to seeFinally Id like to remind you that you need to be signed up for the DAS Yahoo Group to receive the scheduling announcements for the MSPs A

full description of the MSP program appears on the DAS website at httpdelastroorg and in the December 2009 issue of the FOCUS

-5-

Thermal infrared images of Saturn from the Very Large Telescope Imager andSpectrometer for the mid-Infrared (VISIR) instrument on the European SouthernObservatorys Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal Chile appear at center andon the right An amateur visible-light image from Trevor Barry of Broken Hill Austra-lia appears on the left The images were obtained on Jan 19 2011[Click photo at left for more Information]

Messier 3 - Also known as M3 or NGC 5272is a globular cluster of stars in the northernconstellation of Canes Venatici Photo was takenin June 2011 with an SBIG STV CCD camera anda 10 Meade LX200 at 1600 mm focal lengthPhoto Credit by DAS Member Ron Worden

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LIBRARY NEWS Glenn Bentley

MEMBERSHIP EXPIRATION NOTICES Bill McKibben

If you receive the FOCUS by email you will benotified of your membership renewal by email If you receivethe FOCUS in the mail and the mailing label on the envelopecontaining your FOCUS is marked with red marker yourmembership is expiring or has expired Please see therenewal form at the end of the FOCUS for additional renewalinformation Also see the Magazine Subscriptions sectionin the FOCUS for information about subscription renewal

I invite the membership to drop by the library afterthe February meeting to check out our collection of observingguides and Astronomy books

ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE MEMBERSHIPDAS members have the opportunity to become

members in the Astronomical League at the discounted rateof $750 per year Benefits include the Reflector (a quarterlynewsletter) observing programs awards discounts on booksand educational materials For questions on joining theAstronomical League contact Lynn King at meetings call302-764-8816 or email KLynnKingverizonnet

MT CUBA LENDING LIBRARY Paul Stratton

May I first extend a hardy thanks to all of thoseusing the Lending Library Your interest has made this arewarding effort Stop by after the meeting and sign a bookout for end-of-winter reading

DAS FORUM E-MAIL SITE ON YAHOO Don Shedrick

This is a restricted e-mail service for use by DASmembers for DAS purposes To use this site go to httpgroupsyahoocom search for Delaware AstronomicalSociety and click on the link that comes up To join youmust have a Yahoo ID and password if you dont you canregister at this time by following Yahoos instructions Youwill then be allowed to Join the group upon clicking in thatbox You must then register for the DAS group and add yourprofile by clicking on add new profile and completing the form

When adding or editing your profile you will need toenter your actual name in the Real Name box so you can beidentified as a DAS member so Don Shedrick can approve yourapplication to join the DAS group and everyone will know towhom they are communicating

Finally specify your desired email address for deliveryof messages Note you may choose to not have your nameand email address displayed to anyone other than DASmembers who are members of the Yahoo DAS email group

For more detailed instructions go to the DASwebsite under DAS Resource Links

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS Bill McKibbonSKY amp TELESCOPE will be processed by the club

for the first subscription year only The publisher should thensend renewal notices directly to the subscriber at the club rateof $3295 The subscriber can then pay the publisher directly

NOTE If you receive a renewal notice for an amountother than $3295 check to see if there are any specialoffers included in the rate Also check the renewal dateprinted on the magazine address label These specialoffers are likely to occur several months prior to the renewaldate However if you are approaching your renewal date andhave not received the correct renewal notice contact me andI will process the renewal through the club

ASTRONOMY will continue to be processed by theclub for all subscription years

Please see the renewal form at the end of theFOCUS for additional renewal information

DAS Elections Coming in May-Toss Your Hat into the Ring- Elections for the major DAS offices of President

Vice President Treasurer and Secretary are coming up inMay The March issue of FOCUS will contain a call formembers interested in serving the club in this way to offerthemselves as candidates in this election for these offices

The April issue will present to the membership 200word statements from the candidates presenting theirqualifications and reasons for deserving your vote

In May the election will be held like last year in thecontest for At-Large seats on the Board by online balloting Resultsfrom that balloting will be published in the June edition of FOCUS

The elections chairman for this round is RobLancaster with Rich LeMay assisting Former chair SaraBaird is acting as an adviser to these gentlemen

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The SunPhoto Credit DAS Member Rob Lancaster

httpwwwnasagovstation

M64 the

Did you know that people have been living and working in space around the clock every singleday for more than ten years During the past decade 15 nations have come together setting asideboundaries and differences to design assembleoccupy and conduct research inside and outside of thelargest and longest inhabited object to ever orbit the Earth- the International Space Station

Now that the space station is fully assembled andoperational what does the future hold for this remarkablestructure Whats next for humans as we continue to exploreand what role does the space station have in that future

Explore these and other issues and see all there is to know about the Space Station at theirwebsite by clicking above Its a remarkable journey into the human endeavor of inhabiting space

The International Space Station

The International Space Station is larger than a football field

WEBSITE of the

MONTH

ASTRO-PHOTO of the

MONTH

Rob took thisSolar Image on

January 282012 It is a

combination ofseveral framesusing a Canon60D with a 2x

Barlow lens onhis 10 Reflector

telescopemounted on

a Losmandy G11mount

He stacked 5frames each

about 1320 of asecond The

telescope hadBaader Solar film

in front of it

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As stated on page 3 the next AP SIG meeting is scheduled for Saturday March 10 at 730 PM at MCAOEven if you arent an AP-SIG member youre welcome to attend the AP-SIG meetings to learn more Be sure to

sign up for the DAS Yahoo Group in order to receive the email announcements that provide the exact date and time of mthe meetings

When I started the AP-SIG 10 years ago it was obvious to me that a significant percentage of amateur astronomershad a strong interest in astrophotography or simply imaging as it has come to be known Since then interest in imagingamong amateur astronomers has continued to grow Virtually every issue of Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazinesnow include multiple articles related to imaging One might well ask whether imaging is destined to overtake visual observingamong amateur astronomers It certainly has among professional astronomers

In February the Astro-Photography Special Interest Group (AP-SIG) reached a major milestone 10 years of continu-ous operation within the DAS This milestone could not have been reached were it not for a significant and persistentinterest in imaging among amateur astronomers in general and DAS members in particular

Indeed the level of interest in imaging within the DAS has proven to be quite comparable to the level of interest invisual observing over the last 10 years I know this because I am heavily involved in all three of the major activities of amateurastronomers 1) visual observing 2) imaging and 3) telescope making

The members of the AP-SIG are frequent contributors to the FOCUS As a group the AP-SIG has been the mainpresenter at several DAS meetings Its fair to say that the AP-SIG has supported the DAS time and again But what ofDAS support for its astro-imagers

The half-century old 125 Newtonian in the Sawin Observatory is the closest thing to an imaging capable instru-ment that we own Yet it lacks some of the most basic features that were recognized as essential for astrophotography wellover 50 years ago such as precise dual-axis speed control This telescope also lacks all of the technical advances made inthe last half century many of which have greatly advanced the science of imaging including CCD auto-guiding and the abilityto accurately center objects of interest that cant be detected and centered by visual means

In its 50 years of operation the 125 Sawin telescope has been marginally useful for planetary imaging that is forimaging large solar system objects such as the moon Jupiter Saturn and Mars It has been virtually useless for imagingdeep sky objects like nebulae galaxies and star clusters There are hundreds of deep sky objects worth imaging allbeyond the severe limitations of the 125 Sawin telescope

The point is not that the 125 is a failure at imaging Imaging was clearly not this telescopes primary purpose whenit was installed in 1962 This instrument was intended for visual use at a time when 125 was a very large telescope forvisual observing and the dark skies over New Castle County made it easy to see a large number of deep sky objectsIndeed over its 50 year lifetime the 125 has been used many many times by many people to observe a wide range ofastronomical objects I seriously doubt that any individual club member owns a telescope which has been more costeffective on the basis of views obtained per dollar spent Even so the 125 telescope was never properly equipped forimaging when it was installed 50 years ago and it has not been upgraded since

The point I am trying to make here is this our club has no equipment suitable for imaging but we should A DASmember with an interest in deep sky imaging must either buy a large amount of expensive equipment to satisfy their interestor give it up An astronomy club should help its members satisfy their astronomy interests by providing high quality equip-ment that individual members cannot afford to own themselves We did that when we built the Sawin observatory andinstalled the 125 for visual observing in 1962 we do that by maintaining other telescopes for visual observing like the 175Coulter Dob and its time we do it for imaging as well

DAS Astro-Photography Interest amp Equipment Bill Hanagan

Mt Cuba Astronomical ObservatoryIntroduction to Astronomy Course Spring 2012 Greg Weaver

The Mt Cuba Astronomical Observatory is offering a four-meeting Introduction to Astronomy course on Wednesdays April 4 to April 25 730 900 pmin the Mt Cuba Astronomical Observatory lecture room

This course is intended for beginners to the subject of astronomy and deals with what can be seen in the sky and where and when objects maybe found It requires no math or previous knowledge of astronomy It focuses upon what can be seen with the unaided eye but will include telescopicobservation as opportunities permit

The instructor is Hank Bouchelle EdD Dept of Physics and Astronomy University of DelawareThe purposes of this course are to provide participants with information about the consequences of Earths motions positions and posture to

become acquainted with the meaning of the ecliptic the (zodiacal) constellations and the apparent paths of the Sun Moon and planets to be able to useplanispheres star charts and other observational aids and to understand the types and uses of telescopes and binoculars

A syllabus and more information may be obtained by emailing hbouchellelivecomProceeds from the course support the Mt Cuba Astronomical Observatory and the Delaware Astronomical Society Registration is tax deductibleThe cost of the course is $40 Please make checks payable to MCAO Registration is limited to the first 25 enrollees Children under 17 must

registerattend with parent or guardianContact Greg Weaver at 302-654-6407 for more information Or see the Registration Form on pg 11 of this issue of the FOCUS

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Work Progresses on Refiguring the DASCoulter 175 Mirror for Sawin Observatory

Below are some photos from past sessions of the ongoing refiguring project of the DAS Coulter 175 mirrorAnother session was held on Sunday February 12th at the shop in the home of Bill Hanagan The mirror is being refiguredfor one of the two telescopes in the Sawin Observatory

This first photo shows Rob Lancaster in the process ofmaking a new 8 pitch lap for refiguring the DAS Coulter175 mirror

The second photo shows Bill Hanagan and Greg Lee working down a high zone onthe DAS Coulter 175 mirror

The third photo shows Greg Lee just after cleaning the DAS Coulter 175 mirror inpreparation for testing The fourth photo shows Bill Hanagan adjusting his test

rig prior to running another test on the mirrors qualities

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Work Progresses on Refiguring the DASCoulter 175 Mirror for Sawin Observatory

Below are some photos from past sessions of the ongoing refiguring project of the DAS Coulter 175 mirrorAnother session was held on Sunday February 12th at the shop in the home of Bill Hanagan The mirror is being refiguredfor one of the two telescopes in the Sawin Observatory

This first photo shows Rob Lancaster in the process ofmaking a new 8 pitch lap for refiguring the DAS Coulter175 mirror

The second photo shows Bill Hanagan and Greg Lee working down a high zone onthe DAS Coulter 175 mirror

The third photo shows Greg Lee just after cleaning the DAS Coulter 175 mirror inpreparation for testing The fourth photo shows Bill Hanagan adjusting his test

rig prior to running another test on the mirrors qualities

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Some Comets Like It Hot More on Comet Lovejoy

Comet Lovejoy at sunrise on Dec 25 2011 WayneEngland took the picture from Poocher Swamp westof Bordertown South Australia [Click for more photos]

This sequence of images gathered by an extremeUV telescope onboard NASAs STEREO-B space-craft shows Comet Lovejoys tail wiggling wildly intransit through the solar corona [Click for animation]

Jan 12 2012Comets

are icy andfragile Theyspend most oftheir time orbit-ing through thedark outskirtsof the solarsystem safefrom destruc-tive rays ofintense sun-light The deep-est cold is theirnatural habitat

Last Nov-ember amateurastronomerTerry Lovejoy

discovered a different kind of comet The icy fuzzball hespotted in the sky over his backyard observatory in Australiawas heading almost directly for the sun On Dec 16th lessthan three weeks after he found it Comet Lovejoy wouldswoop through the suns atmosphere only 120000 km abovethe stellar surface

Astronomers soon realized a startling fact CometLovejoy likes it hot

Terry found a sungrazer says Karl Battams of theNaval Research Lab in Washington DC We figured itsnucleus was about as wide as two football fieldsthebiggest such comet in nearly 40 years

Sungrazing comets arent a new thing In fact theorbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) watchesone fall toward the sun and evaporate every few days Thesefrequent kamikaze comets known as Kreutz sungrazersare thought to be splinters of a giant comet that broke aparthundreds of years ago Typically they measure about 10 metersacross small fragile and easily vaporized by solar heat

Based on its orbit Comet Lovejoy was surely amember of the same familyexcept it was 200 meters wideinstead of the usual 10 Astronomers were eager to see sucha whopper disintegrate Even with its extra girth there waslittle doubt that it would be destroyed

When Dec 16th came however Comet Lovejoyshocked us all says Battams It survived and even flourished

Images from NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatoryshowed the comet vaporizing furiously as it entered the sunsatmosphereapparently on the verge of obliterationyetComet Lovejoy was still intact when it emerged on the otherside The comet had lost its tail during the fiery transitatemporary setback Within hours the tail grew back biggerand brighter than before

Its fair to say we were dumbfounded says Matthew

Knight of the Lowell Observatory and the Johns HopkinsApplied Physics Lab Comet Lovejoy must have been biggerthan we thought perhaps as much as 500 meters wide

That would make it the biggest sungrazer sinceComet Ikeya-Seka almost 40 years ago With a tail thatstretched halfway across the sky Ikeya-Seki was actuallyvisible in broad daylight after it passed through the sunsatmosphere in October 1965 In Japan where observersspotted the over-heated comet only 12 degree from the sunit was described as 10 times brighter than the Full Moon

Comet Lovejoy wasnt that bright but it was stillamazing Only a few days after it left the sun the cometshowed up in the morning skies of the southern hemisphereObservers in Australia South America South Africa andNew Zealand likened it to a search light beaming up from theeast before dawn The tail lined up parallel to the Milky Wayand for a few days made it seem that we lived in a double-decker galaxy

Astro-nauts on theInternationalSpace Stationalso wit-nessed thecomet ISSCommanderDan Burbankwho has seenhis share ofwonders even

once flying directly through the Northern Lights onboard thespace shuttle declared Comet Lovejoy the most amazingthing I have ever seen in space

An armada of spacecraft including SOHO the SolarDynamics Observatory NASAs twin STEREO probesJapans Hinode spacecraft and Europes Proba2microsatellite recorded the historic event

Weve collected a mountain of data says KnightBut there are some things were still having trouble explaining

For instance what made Lovejoys tail wiggle sowildly when it entered the solar corona Perhaps it was inthe grip of the suns powerful magnetic field

What caused Lovejoy to lose its tail inside the sunsatmosphereand then regain it later This is one of thebiggest mysteries to me says Battams

And then there is the ultimate existential puzzleHow did Comet Lovejoy survive at all

As January unfolds the Comet that liked it Hot isreturning to the outer solar system still intact leaving manymysteries behind Itll be back in about 600 years saysKnight Maybe we will have figured them out by then

Author Dr Tony Phillips | Production Editor Dr Tony Phillips | Credit ScienceNASA

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Re-Thinking an Alien World

An artists concept of Earth and 55 Cancri e positioned side by side for comparisonClick picture above for ScienceCast web video

Jan 13 2012 Forty lightyears from Earth a rockyworld named 55 Cancri ecircles perilously close to astellar inferno Completingone orbit in only 18 hoursthe alien planet is 26 timescloser to its parent star thanMercury is to the Sun IfEarth were in the sameposition the soil beneath ourfeet would heat up to about3200 F Researchers havelong thought that 55 Cancri emust be a wasteland ofparched rock

Now theyre thinking again New observations byNASAs Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that 55 Cancri emay be wetter and weirder than anyone imagined

Spitzer recently measured the extraordinarily smallamount of light 55 Cancri e blocks when it crosses in front ofits star These transits occur every 18 hours giving re-searchers repeated opportunities to gather the data theyneed to estimate the width volume and density of theplanet

According to the new observations 55 Cancri e hasa mass 78 times and a radius just over twice that of EarthThose properties place 55 Cancri e in the super-Earthclass of exoplanets a few dozen of which have been foundOnly a handful of known super-Earths however cross theface of their stars as viewed from our vantage point in thecosmos so 55 Cancri e is better understood than most

When 55 Cancri e was discovered in 2004 initialestimates of its size and mass were consistent with a denseplanet of solid rock Spitzer data suggest otherwise About afifth of the planets mass must be made of light elementsand compoundsincluding water Given the intense heatand high pressure these materials likely experience researchers

think the compoundslikely exist in a super-critical fluid state

A supercriticalfluid is a high-pressurehigh-temperature state ofmatter best described asa liquid-like gas and amarvelous solvent Waterbecomes supercritical insome steam turbinesand it tends to dissolvethe tips of the turbineblades Supercriticalcarbon dioxide is used to

remove caffeine from coffee beans and sometimes to dry-clean clothes Liquid-fueled rocket propellant is alsosupercritical when it emerges from the tail of a spaceship

On 55 Cancri e this stuff may be literally oozingoris it steamingout of the rocks

With supercritical solvents rising from the planetssurface a star of terrifying proportions filling much of thedaytime sky and whole years rushing past in a matter of hours55 Cancri e teaches a valuable lesson Just because a planet issimilar in size to Earth does not mean the planet is like Earth

Its something to re-think aboutAuthor Dr Tony Phillips | Production Editor Dr Tony Phillips

| Credit ScienceNASAFor More InformationSpitzer Space Telescope home pageKepler Discovers a Tiny Solar System ScienceNASAKepler Discovers Three Hot Earths ScienceNASAKepler Confirms Exo-Planets in the Goldilocks Zone ScienceNASA

Credits The original research reported in this story has been acceptedfor publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics The lead author is Brice-Olivier Demory a post-doctoral associate in Professor Sara Seagersgroup at MIT

Mt Cuba Spring 2012 Introduction to Astronomy Course - Registration FormName(s) _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Name(s) of children if any and age ____________________________________________________________________

E-mail address _______________________________________________________________________________________

Street address________________________________________________________________________________________

City________________________________________________________State_______________Zip____________________

Send check for $40 and registration form to MCAO Mr Greg WeaverMt Cuba Astronomical ObservatoryPO Box 3915Greenville DE 19807

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What Happened to All the SnowSnowfall has been scarce in places that were overwhelmed with the white stuff last year

California dog driver Tony Phillips poseswith his new sled near MammothMountain In winter 2011 this spot wascovered by several feet of snow in 2012it is bare dirt [Click for video]

Jan 19 2012 Winterseems to have been onhold this year in someparts of the United StatesSnowfall has been scarceso far in places that wereoverwhelmed with thewhite stuff by the sametime last year

Heres a primeexample The MammothMountain ski resort in theSierras of California gotmore than 200 inches ofsnow last Decembersays NASA climatologistBill Patzert of the Jet Pro-pulsion Laboratory ThisDecember they got lessthan 10 inches

Temperatures have flip-flopped too There were 583new heat records broken in the first five days of January inthe US

Its 86 degrees in Los Angeles today [WednesdayJanuary 4th] says Patzert Everyone thinks its July Infact its warmer today in LA than it was on July 4th last yearAnd its been in the 60s and 70 even in the Dakotas lately

On January 5th in Bismark North Dakota it was 62 a marked departure from their average 23 degrees for thatday It was 66 in Denver Colorado where its usually in thelow 40s on that date

Whats going on Patzert identifies two culprits LaNintildea and the Arctic Oscillation

First of all he explains we are experiencing a LaNintildea pattern of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific OceanThis pushes the jet stream and the cold arctic air northward

On top of that this years Arctic Oscillation hasbeen stronger

The Arctic Oscillation is a see-sawing pressuredifference between the Arctic and lower latitudes When thepressure difference is high a whirlpool of air forms aroundthe North Pole Last year the whirlpool motion was weakerallowing cold air to escape from the polar regions and headsouthward to the US

This year the whirlpool has been more forcefulcorralling the cold air and keeping it nearer the pole Thathas reinforced the La Nintildea impact

While the corralling action of the Arctic Oscillation haskept snow away from parts of the contiguous United Statesit has brought extra snow to places inside the whirlpool

The strong positive AO has kept the Jet Streamnorth says Patzert Snow-delivering storm tracks arepounding Alaska

Cordova a small coastal town about 150 miles eastof Anchorage has been especially hard hit More than 18feet of snow has fallen so far this winter Snow dumps are

(left) Effects of the positive phase of the arctic oscillation (right)Effects of the negative phase of the arctic oscillation [Click for more](Figures courtesy of J Wallace University of Washington)

full roads have turned into one-lane snow canyons andNational Guardsmen have been sent in to help residents dig out

Even heartbroken snow-lovers of the lower 48 dontwant that much white stuff But theyd like some

Be patient advises Patzert We havent gotten tothe heart of winter Hold off on selling the new dogsledTheres plenty of time for snow It aint over till the SiberianHuskies sing

Author Dauna Coulter | Editor Dr Tony PhillipsCredit ScienceNASA

For More InformationNOAAs La Nina page basic information about the ElNinoLa Nina phenomenon

To see one key difference between this winter andlast winter compare the Arctic Oscillation Index 2010 vs 2011

Yes huskies do sing Dr Tony Phillips sled teamserenades the clouds for snow in Jan 2012

So far in the winter of 2011-2012 the AO Index has been mostly pos-itive signaling a strong Arctic Oscillation Compare this to last yearsnegative AO Index below and you can see the difference between thetwo winters notes Patzert

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Comet Corpses in the Solar WindAn intriguing new possibility--the presence of abundant comet corpses in the solar wind

Comet C2011 N3 fragments as it passes through the suns atmosphere on July 62011 Credit Solar Dynamics ObservatoryK Schrijver et al [See larger web image]

An extreme ultraviolet movie recordedby SDO shows comet Comet C2011 N3flying through the suns atmosphere[See Quicktime video]

Author Dr Tony Phillips | Production Editor Dr Tony Phillips | Credit ScienceNASA

Jan 20 2012 A paperpublished in todaysissue of Science raisesan intriguing newpossibility for astrono-mers unearthing cometcorpses in the solarwind The new researchis based on dramaticimages of a cometdisintegrating in the sunsatmosphere last July

Comet Lovejoygrabbed headlines inDec 2011 when itplunged into the sunsatmosphere andemerged again relativelyintact But it was not the first comet to graze the sun Lastsummer a smaller comet took the same trip with sharplydifferent results Comet C2011 N3 (SOHO) was completelydestroyed on July 6 2011 when it swooped 100000 kmabove the stellar surface NASAs Solar Dynamics Observa-tory (SDO) recorded the disintegration

For the first time we saw a comet move across theface of the sun and disappear says Dean Pesnell a co-author of the Science paper and Project Scientist for SDO atthe Goddard Space Flight Center It was unprecedented

In the Jan 20th issue of Science the research teamreported their analysis of the SDO images

A key finding was the amount of material depositedinto the suns atmosphere The comet dissolved into morethan a million tons of electrically charged gas says PesnellWe believe these vapors eventually mixed with the solarwind and blew back into the solar system

Pesnell says it might be possible to detect suchcomet corpses as they waft past Earth Comets are rich inice (frozen H2O) so when they dissolve in the hot solaratmosphere the gaseous remains contain plenty of oxygenand hydrogen A solar wind stream containing extra oxygencould be a telltale sign of a disintegrated comet Otherelements abundant in comets would provide similar markers

Comet corpses are probably plentiful Theres a busyfamily of comets known as Kreutz sungrazers thought tobe fragments of a giant comet that broke apart hundreds ofyears ago Every day or so SOHO sees one plunge into thesun and vanish Each disintegration event creates a puff ofcomet vapor that might be detectable by spacecraft samplingthe solar wind

Why bother Researchers are beginning to think ofsungrazers as test particles for studying the suns atmo-spherekind of like tossing rocks into a pond A lot can belearned about the pond by studying the ripples

Indeed SDO observed some extraordinary interac-tions between the sun and the doomed comet As C2011 N3(SOHO) moved through the hot corona cold gas lifted off the

comets nucleus andrapidly (within minutes)warmed to more than500000K hot enough toshine brightly in SDOs ex-treme ultraviolet telescopes

The evaporatingcomet gas was glowing asbrightly as the sun behindit marvels Pesnell

The gas was alsorapidly ionized by aprocess called chargeexchange which madethe gas responsive to thesuns magnetic fieldCaught in the grip ofmagnetic loops which

thread the solar corona the comets ionized tail waggedback and forth wildly in the moments before final disintegration

Watching this kind of sun-comet interaction couldreveal new things about the thermal and magnetic structureof the solar atmosphere Likewise measuring how long ittakes for comet corpses to reach Earth and then samplingthe gases when they arrive could be very informative

Before SDO no one dreamed we could observe acomet disintegrateinside the suns atmo-sphere says Pesnellwho confesses thateven he was a skepticBut now Im a believer

The originalresearch described inthis story may be foundin the Jan 20th edition ofScience Destruction ofSun-grazing comet C2011 N3 (SOHO) byC J Schrijver J C Brown K Battams P Saint-Hilaire WLiu H Hudson and W D Pesnell

For More InformationComet Lovejoy Plunges into the Sun and Survives ScienceNASAComets Demise Observed for the First Time videosfrom SDOSome Comets Like it Hot ScienceNASA feature storySungrazing Comet ScienceCast videoSome Comets Like it Hot ScienceCast video

-14-

Kepler Discovers a Tiny Solar SystemNASAs Kepler spacecraft has discovered the tiniest solar system so far

This artists concept depicts an itsy bitsy planetary system so compact in fact that its more likeJupiter and its moons than a star and its planets Astronomers using data from NASAs Keplermission and ground-based telescopes recently confirmed that the system called KOI-961 hosts thethree smallest exoplanets known so far to orbit a star other than our sun [Click for more]

Production Editor Dr Tony Phillips | Credit ScienceNASA

Honey I Shrunk the Planetary System This artists concept comparesthe KOI-961 planetary system to Jupiter and the largest four of its manymoons Image credit NASAJPL-Caltech [Click for more]

Jan 11 2012Astrono-

mers using datafrom NASAsKepler missionhave discoveredthe three small-est planets yetdetected orbitinga star beyond oursun The planetsorbit a singlestar called KOI-961 and are078 073 and057 times theradius of EarthThe smallest isabout the size ofMars

This is the tiniest solar system found so far saidJohn Johnson the principal investigator of the research fromNASAs Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Insti-tute of Technology in Pasadena Its actually more similar toJupiter and its moons in scale than any other planetarysystem The discovery is further proof of the diversity ofplanetary systems in our galaxy

All three planets are thought to be rocky like Earthbut orbit close to their star That makes them too hot to be inthe habitable zone which is the region where liquid watercould exist Of the more than 700 planets confirmed to orbitother stars called exoplanets only a handful are knownto be rocky

Astronomers are just beginning to confirm thou-sands of planet candidates uncovered by Kepler so far saidDoug Hudgins Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquar-ters in Washington Finding one as small as Mars isamazing and hints that there may be a bounty of rockyplanets all around us

Kepler searches for planets by continuouslymonitoring more than 150000 stars looking for telltale dipsin their brightness caused by crossing or transiting planetsAt least three transits are required to verify a signal as aplanet Follow-up observations from ground-based tele-scopes also are needed to confirm the discoveries

The latest discovery comes from a team led byastronomers at the California Institute of Technology inPasadena The team used data publicly released by theKepler mission along with follow-up observations from thePalomar Observatory near San Diego and the WM KeckObservatory atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii Their measurementsdramatically revised the sizes of the planets from whatoriginally was estimated

The three planets are very close to their star takingless than two days to orbit around it The KOI-961 star is ared dwarf with a diameter one-sixth that of our sun making itjust 70 percent bigger than Jupiter

Reddwarfs are themost commonkind of star inour Milky Waygalaxy Thediscovery ofthree rockyplanets aroundone red dwarfsuggests thatthe galaxy couldbe teeming withsimilar rockyplanets

Thesetypes of sys-tems could beubiquitous in theuniverse said

Phil Muirhead lead author of the new study from CaltechThis is a really exciting time for planet hunters

For more information about the Kepler mission visithttpwwwnasagovkepler

More InformationThe discovery reported in this story follows a string of recent

milestones for the Kepler mission In December 2011 scientistsannounced the missions first confirmed planet in the habitable zone of asun-like star a planet 24 times the size of Earth called Kepler-22b Laterin the month the team announced the discovery of the first Earth-sizeplanets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f

For the latest discovery the team obtained the sizes of thethree planets called KOI-96101 KOI-96102 and KOI-96103 with thehelp of a well-studied twin star to KOI-961 or Barnards Star By betterunderstanding the KOI-961 star they then could determine how big theplanets must be to have caused the observed dips in starlight In additionto the Kepler observations and ground-based telescope measurementsthe team used modeling techniques to confirm the planet discoveries

Prior to these confirmed planets only six other planets hadbeen confirmed using the Kepler public data

-15-

Jan 19 2012 WASH DC--The global

average surfacetemperature in 2011was the ninth warm-est since 1880according to NASAscientists The findingcontinues a trend inwhich nine of the 10warmest years in themodern meteorologi-cal record haveoccurred since theyear 2000

NASAsGoddard Institute forSpace Studies (GISS)in New York whichmonitors global sur-face temperatures onan ongoing basis re-

NASA Finds 2011 Ninth Warmest Year on Record

Global temperatures have warmedsignificantly since 1880 the beginning ofwhat scientists call the modern recordAt this time the coverage provided byweather stations allowed for essentiallyglobal temperature data As greenhousegas emissions from energy productionindustry and vehicles have increasedtemperatures have climbed most notablysince the late 1970s In this animation oftemperature data from 1880-2011 redsindicate temperatures higher than theaverage during a baseline period of 1951-1980 while blues indicate lower tempera-tures than the baseline average ]

While average global temperature will still fluctuate from year to yearscientists focus on the decadal trend Nine of the 10 warmest yearssince 1880 have occurred since the year 2000 as the Earth hasexperienced sustained higher temperatures than in any decade duringthe 20th century As greenhouse gas emissions and atmosphericcarbon dioxide levels continue to rise scientists expect the long-termtemperature increase to continue as well (Data source NASA GoddardInstitute for Space Studies Image credit NASA Earth Observatory RobertSimmon) [Click for Larger image]

leased an updated analysis that shows temperatures aroundthe globe in 2011 compared to the average global tempera-ture from the mid-20th century The comparison shows howEarth continues to experience warmer temperatures thanseveral decades ago The average temperature around theglobe in 2011 was 092 degrees F (051 C) warmer than themid-20th century baseline

We know the planet is absorbing more energy thanit is emitting said GISS director James E Hansen So weare continuing to see a trend toward higher temperaturesEven with the cooling effects of a strong La Nina influenceand low solar activity for the past several years 2011 wasone of the 10 warmest years on recordThe differencebetween 2011 and the warmest year in the GISS record(2010) is 022 degrees F (012 C) This underscores theemphasis scientists put on the long-term trend of globaltemperature rise Because of the large natural variability ofclimate scientists do not expect temperatures to riseconsistently year after year However they do expect acontinuing temperature rise over decades

The first 11 years of the 21st century experiencednotably higher temperatures compared to the middle andlate 20th century Hansen said The only year from the 20thcentury in the top 10 warmest years on record is 1998

Higher temperatures today are largely sustained byincreased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gasesespecially carbon dioxide These gases absorb infrared radiationemitted by Earth and release that energy into the atmosphererather than allowing it to escape to space As their atmosphericconcentration has increased the amount of energy trapped bythese gases has led to higher temperatures

The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere wasabout 285 parts per million in 1880 when the GISS globaltemperature record begins By 1960 the average concentra-tion had risen to about 315 parts per million Today it

exceeds 390 parts per million and continues to rise at anaccelerating pace

The temperature analysis produced at GISS iscompiled from weather data from more than 1000 meteoro-logical stations around the world satellite observations of seasurface temperature and Antarctic research station measure-ments A publicly available computer program is used tocalculate the difference between surface temperature in agiven month and the average temperature for the same placeduring 1951 to 1980 This three-decade period functions as abaseline for the analysis

The resulting temperature record is very close toanalyses by the Met Office Hadley Centre in the UnitedKingdom and the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministrations National Climatic Data Center in Asheville NC

Hansen said he expects record-breaking globalaverage temperature in the next two to three years becausesolar activity is on the upswing and the next El Nino willincrease tropical Pacific temperatures The warmest years onrecord were 2005 and 2010 in a virtual tie

Its always dangerous to make predictions about ElNino but its safe to say well see one in the next threeyears Hansen said It wont take a very strong El Nino topush temperatures above 2010

For more information on the GISS temperatureanalysis visit httpdatagissnasagovgistemp

NASA press releases and otherinformation are available automaticallyby sending a blank e-mail message tohqnews-subscribemediaservicesnasagovTo unsubscribe from this mailing listsend a blank e-mail message tohqnews-unsubscribemediaservicesnasagov

-16-

January 11 2012 WASH DCNASAs Hubble Space

Telescope has looked deep into thedistant universe and detected thefeeble glow of a star that explodedmore than 9 billion years ago Thesighting is the first finding of an ambi-tious survey that will help astrono-mers place better constraints on thenature of dark energy the mysteri-ous repulsive force that is causingthe universe to fly apart ever faster

For decades astronomershave harnessed the power of Hubbleto unravel the mysteries of theuniverse said John Grunsfeldassociate administrator for NASAsScience Mission Directorate in Wash-ington This new observation buildsupon the revolutionary research usingHubble that won astronomers the2011 Nobel Prize in Physics while

NASAS Hubble Breaks New Ground with Distant Supernova DiscoveryIn our search for superno-

vae we had gone as far as we couldgo in optical light said AdamRiess the projects lead investiga-tor at the Space Telescope ScienceInstitute and The Johns HopkinsUniversity in Baltimore Md But itsonly the beginning of what we cando in infrared light This discoverydemonstrates that we can use theWide Field Camera 3 to search forsupernovae in the distant universe

The new results werepresented on Jan 11 at the AmericanAstronomical Society meeting inAustin Texas

The supernova teams searchtechnique involved taking multiplenear-infrared images over severalmonths looking for a supernovasfaint glow After the team spottedthe stellar blast in October 2010

These three images taken by NASAs Hubble Space Tele-scope reveal the emergence of an exploding star calleda supernova [Click image for more info]

bringing us a step closer to understanding the nature of darkenergy which drives the cosmic acceleration As an astro-naut Grunsfeld visited Hubble three times performing a totalof eight spacewalks to service and upgrade the observatory

The stellar explosion nicknamed SN Primo belongsto a special class called Type Ia supernovae which arebright beacons used as distance markers for studying theexpansion rate of the universe Type Ia supernovae likelyarise when white dwarf stars the burned- out cores of normalstars siphon too much material from their companion starsand explode

SN Primo is the farthest Type Ia supernova with itsdistance confirmed through spectroscopic observations Inthese types of observations a spectrum splits the light froma supernova into its constituent colors By analyzing thosecolors astronomers can confirm its distance by measuringhow much the supernovas light has been stretched or red-shifted into near-infrared wavelengths because of theexpansion of the universe

The supernova was discovered as part of a three-year Hubble program to survey faraway Type Ia supernovaeopening a new distance realm for searching for this specialclass of stellar explosion The remote supernovae will helpastronomers determine whether the exploding stars remaindependable cosmic yardsticks across vast distances ofspace in an epoch when the cosmos was only one-third itscurrent age of 137 billion years

Called the CANDELS+CLASH Supernova Projectthe census uses the sharpness and versatility of HubblesWide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to assist astronomers in thesearch for supernovae in near- infrared light and verify theirdistance with spectroscopy CANDELS is the CosmicAssembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Surveyand CLASH is the Cluster Lensing and Supernova Surveywith Hubble

they used WFC3s spectrometer to verify SN Primos distanceand to decode its light finding the unique signature of a TypeIa supernova The team then re-imaged SN Primo periodicallyfor eight months measuring the slow dimming of its light

By taking the census the astronomers hope todetermine the frequency of Type Ia supernovae during theearly universe and glean insights into the mechanisms thatdetonated them

If we look into the early universe and measure a drop inthe number of supernovae then it could be that it takes a longtime to make a Type Ia supernova said team member SteveRodney of The Johns Hopkins University Like corn kernels in apan waiting for the oil to heat up the stars havent had enoughtime at that epoch to evolve to the point of explosion However ifsupernovae form very quickly like microwave popcorn thenthey will be immediately visible and well find many of themeven when the universe was very young Each supernova isunique so its possible that there are multiple ways to makea supernova

If astronomers discover that Type Ia supernovae beginto depart from how they expect them to look they might beable to gauge those changes and make the measurements ofdark energy more precise Riess and two other astronomersshared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering darkenergy 13 years ago using Type Ia supernova to plot theuniverses expansion rate

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of interna-tional cooperation between NASA and the European SpaceAgency NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center manages thetelescope The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)conducts Hubble science operations STScI is operated forNASA by the Association of Universities for Research inAstronomy Inc in Washington DC

For images and more information about Hubble visithttpwwwnasagovhubble

-17-

Solar Eclipse over the USA

The Ring of Fire Astrophotographer Dennis L Mammana photographedthis annular eclipse behind palm trees in January 1994 Copyright D L Mammana[Click for more Info]

Jan 27 2012 Mark yourcalendar On Sunday May20th the sun is going toturn into a ring of fire Itsan annular solar eclipsethe first one in the USA inalmost 18 years

An annulareclipse occurs when theMoon passes directly infront of the sun but thelunar disk is not quite wideenough to cover the entirestar At maximum theMoon forms a black holein the center of the sun

The path of annu-larity is a strip about 300km wide and thousands ofkm long It stretches fromChina and Japan acrossthe Pacific Ocean to themiddle of North AmericaIn the United States theafternoon sun will becomea luminous ring in placessuch as Medford OregonChico California RenoNevada St George UtahAlbuquerque New Mexicoand Lubbock Texas

Outside of thisrelatively narrow zone theeclipse will be partialObservers almost every-where west of the Missis-sippi will see a crescent-shaped sun as the Moon passes byoff-center

I like to compare different types of eclipses on ascale of 1 to 10 as visual spectacles says NASAs leadingeclipse expert Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space FlightCenter If a partial eclipse is a 5 then an annular eclipse isa 9

This event should not be confused with a totaleclipse In a total eclipse the Moon covers the entire surfaceof the sun bringing an eerie twilight to observers in the pathof totality and revealing the suns ghostly corona

On that scale of 1 to 10 he adds a total eclipseis a million Its completely off the charts compared to anyother astronomical event The next total eclipse in the USAis in the year 2017

Until then May 20th of this year will have to doAnnular eclipses have a special charm all their own

During an annular eclipse sunbeams turn into little rings oflight The best place to see this is on the sun-dappledground beneath a leafy tree Hundreds of circular shadowscan be found there

The path of annularity cuts across the continental United States at sunset onMay 20 2012 A global map is also available click here

You can alsomake a handy solarprojector by criss-crossingyour fingers waffle-styleRays of light beamingthrough the gaps will havethe same shape as theeclipsed sun

Be careful whenlooking directly at theeclipsed sun cautionsEspenak The ring ofsunlight during annularityis blindingly bright Eventhough as much as 94 ofthe Suns disk will becovered you still need touse a solar filter or sometype of projection tech-nique A 14 welders glassis a good choice There arealso many commercially-available solar filters

One of the uniquethings about this eclipsefor watchers in the USA isthat the Sun will still be indeep partial eclipse atsunset making for somegreat photographic oppor-tunities he continues Inwestern Texas aroundLubbock the sun actuallysets during the annular phase

A swollen red sunwith a black hole in the

Author Dr Tony Phillips | Production Editor Dr Tony PhillipsCredit ScienceNASA

middle Maybe 9 out of 10 isnt so bad after allFor more information about this eclipse including

maps and timetables please visit eclipsegsfcnasagov

For More Information

Solar Eclipse over the USA ScienceCast video

NASAs Solar Eclipse Home Page

Maps and Timetables for the May 20th annular eclipse

Annular eclipse photo gallery from spaceweathercom

-18-

More on Comets Rosetta Mission to Land on a Comet in 2014

An artists concept of Rosetta in orbit while the missions lander exploresthe comets surface [Click for ScienceCast Video on the Mission]

Feb 2 2012 EuropesRosetta spacecraft is enroute to intercept a cometand to make history In2014 Rosetta will enterorbit around comet 67PChuryumov-Gerasimenko andland a probe on it two firsts

Rosettas goal isto learn the primordial storya comet tells as it glori-ously falls to pieces

Comets areprimitive leftovers from oursolar systems construc-tion about 45 billion yearsago Because they spendmuch of their time in thedeep freeze of the outersolar system comets arewell preserveda gold minefor astronomers who want toknow what conditions werelike back in the beginning

As their elongated orbits swing them closer to thesun comets transform into the most breathtaking bodies inthe night sky A European Space Agency mission launchedin 2004 with US instruments on board Rosetta will have afront-row seat for the metamorphosis

What we know of comets so far comes from ahandful of flyby missions

In some ways a flyby is just a tantalizing glimpseof a comet at one stage in its evolution says ClaudiaAlexander project scientist for the US Rosetta Project atJPL Rosetta is different It will orbit 67P for 17 monthsWell see this comet evolve right before our eyes as weaccompany it toward the sun and back out again

Fierce solar heat will have a profound effect onRosettas target Well watch the comet start as just a littlenugget in space and then become something poetic andbeautiful trailing a vast tail

At the moment Rosetta is resting up for thechallenges ahead Its hibernating engaged in its high-speedchase while fast asleep

Reveille is on or around New Years Day 2014 whenthe spacecraft begins a months-long program of self-checkups

If all goes well in August of the same year Rosettawill enter orbit around 76Ps nucleus and begin scanning its

surface for a landing siteOnce a site is chosen thespacecraft will descendas low as 1 km to deploythe lander

The landers nameis Philae after an island inthe Nile the site of anobelisk that helped decipheryou guessed ittheRosetta Stone

Touchdown isscheduled for November2014 when Philae will makethe first ever controlledlanding on a cometsnucleus

When we land thecomet could already beactive says AlexanderBecause a comet has littlegravity the lander will anchoritself with harpoons Thefeet may drill into something

Author Dauna Coulter | Editor Dr Tony Phillips | Credit ScienceNASA

crunchy like permafrost or maybe into something rocksolid she speculates

Once it is fastened the lander will commence anunprecedented first-hand study of a comets nucleus Amongother things it will gather samples for examination byautomatic onboard microscopes and take panoramic imagesof the comets terrain from ground level

Meanwhile orbiting overhead the Rosetta space-craft will be busy too Onboard sensors will map the cometssurface and magnetic field monitor the comets erupting jetsand geysers measure outflow rates and much moreTogether the orbiter and lander will build up the first 3Dpicture of the layers and pockets under the surface of a comet

The results should tell quite a story indeed

For More InformationRosetta at a Glance from the European Space Agency

European Space Agency home page

Comet Corpses in the Solar Wind ScienceNASA

Some Comets Like it Hot ScienceNASA

Artist view of ESAs Rosetta cometary probe The spacecraftis covered with dark thermal insulation in order to keep its warmth whileventuring into the coldness of the outer Solar System beyond Mars orbit

Selected in November 1993 as a cornerstone mission ofESAs long-term science programme the Rosetta probe was launched

by an Ariane 5 on 2 March 2004 on an 11-year journey to the comet67PChuryumov-Gerasimenko

Built by EADS Astrium the Rosetta probe consists of a 3065-kg spacecraft (1578-kg dry mass) designed to enter orbit around the

comets nucleus in August 2014 after a series of gravity assist manoeuvresto gain enough orbital energy [Credits ESA image by AOES Medialab]

-19-

Click to view a ScienceCast video about IBEXs measurements of alienmatter in the solar system

Alien Matter in the Solar SystemA Galactic Mismatch

Feb 10 2012 This just inThe Solar System is differentfrom the space just outside it

Researchersannounced the finding at apress conference on Jan 312012 Its based on datafrom NASAs IBEX space-craft which is able tosample material flowing intothe solar system frominterstellar space

Weve detectedalien matter that came intoour solar system from otherparts of the galaxyand chemically speaking its notexactly like what we find here at home says DavidMcComas the principal investigator for IBEX at the South-west Research Institute in San Antonio Texas

Our solar system is surrounded by the heliospherea magnetic bubble that separates us from the rest of theMilky Way Outside the heliosphere lies the realm of thestars or interstellar space inside lies the sun and all theplanets The sun blows this vast magnetic bubble using thesolar wind to inflate the suns own magnetic field Its a goodthing The heliosphere helps protect us from cosmic raysthat would otherwise penetrate the solar system

Launched in 2008 the IBEX spacecraft spins inEarth orbit scanning the entire sky IBEXs special trick isdetecting neutral atoms that slip through the heliospheresmagnetic defenses Without actually exiting the solarsystem IBEX is able to sample the galaxy outside

The first two years of counting these alien atomshave led to some interesting conclusions

Weve directly measured four separate types ofatoms from interstellar space and the composition justdoesnt match up with what we see in the solar systemsays Eric Christian mission scientist for IBEX at NASAsGoddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Md

Among the four types of atoms detectedH He Oand Nethe last one neon serves as a particularly usefulreference Neon is a noble gas so it doesnt react withanything And its relatively abundant so we can measure itwith good statistics explains McComas

Using data from IBEX the researchers team com-pared the neon-to-oxygen ratio inside vs outside theheliosphere In a series of six science papers appearing inthe Astrophysical Journal they reported that for every 20neon atoms in the galactic wind there are 74 oxygen atomsIn our own solar system however for every 20 neon atomsthere are 111 oxygen atoms

That translates to more oxygen in any given slice ofthe solar system than in local interstellar space

Where did the extra oxygen come from

There are at leasttwo possibilities saysMcComas Either the solarsystem evolved in a sepa-rate more oxygen-rich partof the galaxy than where wecurrently reside or a greatdeal of critical life-givingoxygen lies trapped ininterstellar dust grains orices unable to move freelythroughout spaceand thusundetectable by IBEX

Either way thisaffects sceintific models of

how our solar system and life formedIts a real puzzle he saysWhile IBEX samples alien atoms from Earth orbit

An artists concept of Voyager ap-proaching the edge of the solar system[Click for more]

NASAs Voyager space-craft have been travelingto the edge of theheliosphere for nearly 40yearsand they couldsoon find themselves onthe outside looking inResearchers expectVoyager 1 to exit thesolar system within thenext few years The newdata from IBEX suggestthe Voyagers are heading

Author Dr Tony Phillips | Production Editor Dr Tony Phillips| Credit ScienceNASA

for a new frontier indeed

For More Information

Giant Ribbon Discovered at the Edge of the Solar System ScienceNASA

Mystery of the Giant Ribbon Solved ScienceNASA

A Big Surprise from tthe Edge of the Solar System ScienceNASA

IBEX Home Page (NASA)

IBEX Mission Page (SouthWest Research Institute [SWRI])

IBEX is the latest in NASAs series of low-cost rapidlydeveloped Small Explorers space missions SouthwestResearch Institute in San Antonio Tx leads and developedthe mission with a team of national and international part-ners NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in GreenbeltMd manages the Explorers Program for NASAs ScienceMission Directorate in Washington

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DAS CONTACTS Please call any of us with your concernsBoard membersOfficersPresident Bill Hanagan -- 302-239-0949 or

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Vice-President John Case -- 302-838-1568 or caseudeleduSecretary Lynn King -- 302-764-8816 or

KLynnKingverizonnet also Messier ClubTreasurer William McKibben -- Billmck21921gmailcom

Sky amp Telescope amp Astronomymagazine issues

Standing ChairsPublications Joe Neuberger -- 410-398-7394 or

JRNeubergergmailcom also FOCUScontributions submissions

The DAS Email Notification ListhttpgroupsyahoocomI spoke on this subject some two years ago and Im informed that we still have

MANY members who are not signed up for this email notification list for announcements ofstar party go or no go status and other important DAS happenings

Maybe some are wary of signing up thinking that their email box will become full of DAScommunications Let me assure you that this will NOT be the case The number of emailsreceived is extremely limited Over the last three months Ive received 8 in Nov 11 in Decand 8 in Jan Not exactly a full mailbox with a 3 month average of 9 per month

And if any have had trouble negotiating the Yahoo registration process PLEASEspeak up and let us help you with that Just drop me a note and well help you through it

So CLICK above and sign up today