EYEPIECE Journal of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York

December 2011

Volume 59 Number 12 ISSN 0146-7662

MESSENGER stands for Mercury Surface, Space Envi-

ronment, Geochemistry, and Ranging. This instrument-rich

spacecraft, launched in August 2004, is designed to answer a

broad range of science questions. Eyepiece readers may have

attended the public lecture given by Principal Investigator Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in

July 2010 at the American Museum of Natural History. After

three flybys, a major rocket burn inserted the MESSENGER

spacecraft into Mercury orbit six months ago.

What have we learned? Seven papers in Science (vol.

333, 30-Sept-2011) reveal Mercury's surface composition, map

flood volcanism in the Northern Plains, suggest possible recent

volcanic activity, constrain the shape and variability of Mer-

cury's magnetic field, and describe interactions between the

magnetosphere and plasma in Mercury's exosphere.

"This is the first major scientific meeting at which MES-

SENGER orbital observations are being presented to the scien-

tific community," says MESSENGER Principal Investigator

Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "As

the first spacecraft to orbit our solar system's innermost planet,

MESSENGER continues to reveal new surprises every week.

It is timely to sum up what we've learned so far and to seek

feedback from our international colleagues across planetary

science on our interpretations to date."

The composition of Mercury is very different from that

of the Moon and other terrestrial planets. Its iron core makes

up about 65 % of Mercury's total mass. Earth‟s core, by com-

parison, is just 32 % of its mass. Understanding how such a planet accumulated from the dust, ice, and gas in the early

solar nebula is a key science goal of the MESSENGER mis-

sion. To a cosmochemist, the finding of an Earthlike ratio of

potassium to thorium, very unlike the low ratio in the K-

depleted Moon, signifies lack of substantial fractionation of

volatile elements. Mercury's surface also has a high sulfur/

silicon ratio, higher than the Earth's. Both of these findings

rule out formation hypotheses requiring the boiling off of Mer-

cury's mantle by an early, hot sun, or high-temperature con-

densation of Mercury from the same kind of material that

formed the Earth.

MESSENGER‟s compositional analysis also raises diffi-

culties for another hypothesis: that a major impact occurred

MESSENGER BRIEFING: ORBITING the METAL-RICH PLANET

By Denton Ebel, Curator (Meteorites)

Curator-in-Charge

Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, AMNH

after differentiation of the core, and stripped off much of the

planet‟s original mantle. Re-accreted impact debris should

have lost volatile elements to space. Unless almost all of the

stripped mantle material failed to re-accrete, Mercury's high

volatile content is difficult to explain by the impact hypothesis.

Your author, and Conel Alexander of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washing-

ton, recently proposed in Planetary and Space Science that

Mercury's formation zone was enriched in carbon-rich inter-

planetary dust that caused sulfur to condense into solid, less

volatile minerals at very high temperatures. This hypothesis

predicts MESSENGER‟s findings of high sulfur content, but

does not entirely explain the stark condition of Mercury's huge

iron core.

New research results are expected to come from recent

increases in solar flare activity excited x-ray emission by heav-

ier elements, allowing further confirmation of Mercury's high

sulfur/silicon ratio by the MESSENGER x-ray fluorescence

spectrometer (XRS), and better constraints on surface concen-

trations of titanium. Accumulating XRS data begin to suggest

compositional differences between various rock units.. Spec-

troscopists are working to tease out the mineralogy of Mer-

cury's surface, but its low iron and titanium contents relative to

the Moon or Mars render infrared spectra nearly featureless.

Measurements of Mercury's elongate scarps are providing new constraints on how much the planet has shrunk over time. The

geophysics group has worked out the parameters that describe

Mercury's shape, using gravity data (ranging). These constrain

models of Mercury's interior structure, which is sure to be

unique given its large core and sulfur-rich composition. With

time, the complex exosphere - magnetosphere - solar wind

interactions begin to reveal themselves as solar maximum is

approached.

MESSENGER has provided the first up-close look at

Mercury since the Mariner flybys of the 1970's, and the first

sustained investigation from orbit. Humans have been trying to

figure out how planets form for hundreds of years, and these

new findings bring the last so-called 'terrestrial planet' into the

realm where comparative planetology can be applied with

strong observational constraints.■

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December’s Evening Planets: At dusk, brilliant Venus

is low in the southwest, slowly getting higher each day. After

Venus sets, Jupiter dominates the sky. The Moon passes close

to Jupiter on the December 6 and meets Venus as a lovely

crescent on the December 26.

December’s Evening Stars: Here come the magnificent

winter stars! By 6 p.m., in the middle of December, Auriga

and Taurus (with its Pleiades and Hyades clusters) are up in

the east. An hour later Gemini and Orion join them, followed

by Canis Minor and Canis Major with the brilliant star Sirius.

December’s Morning Planets: At 11 p.m. Mars rises.

If you can, watch it regularly – you will see the Red Planet

brighten with each month. Around 3 AM Saturn comes up.

Before dawn you will be able to spot Mercury easily in the

southeast. It will be best on the December 23, but still be eas-

ily seen a week before or after.

December’s Morning Stars: Look to the west about 6

a.m. to see the tail end of the winter constellations – Auriga,

Gemini, Canis Minor and parts of Orion and Canis Major. The

spring stars are at center stage: Regulus in Leo (Mars nearby);

Spica in Virgo (Saturn nearby), and Arcturus in Boötes.

Comet Garradd: In Hercules this month, it should be visi-

ble with binoculars. Look for it in the northwest in the early

evening hours or in the east just before dawn breaks.

December Day-by-Day

December 2 – First Quarter Moon at 4:52 a.m.

December 4 – Mercury at inferior conjunction, entering the

morning sky

December 6 – Jupiter is upper left of the Moon this evening

December 10 – Full Moon at 9:36 a.m. Total lunar eclipse is

visible only in the western US

December 10 – Uranus is stationary, resuming direct eastward

motion with respect to the stars

December 14 – The Geminid meteor shower peaks

December 17 – Mars is well north of the Moon

December 17 – Last Quarter Moon at 7:48 p.m.

December 20 – Saturn is north of the Moon this morning. December 22 – Winter begins at 12:30 a.m. EST

December 23 – Mercury is at its greatest western elongation

in the morning sky

December 24 – New Moon at 1:06 p.m.

December 26 – Jupiter is stationary, resuming eastward move-

ment with respect to the stars

December 26 – Venus is left of the crescent Moon

December 29 – Pluto is in conjunction with the Sun

December 31 – Minor planet Ceres is in conjunction with the

Sun

For more information go to: http://www.aaa.org/month1112

AAA LECTURE SERIES TO PRESENT NOVAE and SUPERNOVAE - DEC. 2

By Dan Harrison

Dr. Michael Shara, curator in the Department of Astro-physics at AMNH, will discuss “How Novae and Supernovae

Are Connected” on Friday, December 2. The free public lec-

ture begins at 6:15 p.m. in the Kaufmann Theater .

In discussing what he‟ll talk about and why it‟s signifi-

cant, Shara tells Eyepiece: “The 2011 Nobel Prize in physics

was awarded to three astrophysicists credited with discovering

„dark energy,‟ the mysterious entity which accounts for 70%

of all the mass-energy in the universe, and which is causing

the universe‟s expansion to accelerate.”

“Measuring and understanding dark energy hinges on

understanding type Ia supernovae, the „standard candles‟ used

by the Nobel prize winners. Are these luminous objects really

all the same luminosity, or do they have subtle differences

whose misinterpretation could mimic an acceleration of the

universe?

The only way to understand type Ia supernovae is to know, with certainty, exactly what kind of star gives rise to

them. This would allow astronomers to determine if these

kinds of stars changed systematically over 13 billion years,

and thus if we might be misinterpreting them as standard can-

dles when they are, in fact, not standard at all.

Six models for type Ia-supernova progenitors, the stars

that give rise to them, have been proposed in the past 30 years,

including several kinds of novae. I‟ll describe these models,

and show how Hubble Telescope observations have made dra-matic progress in the past six months in ruling out all but two

of these models. I‟ll also answer the question: Could dark en-

ergy not really be there?”

Prior to joining the museum 12 years ago, Shara spent 17

years at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) where he

managed peer-review committees for the Hubble and is now

an astronomer with tenure. His Ph.D. from Tel-Aviv Univer-

sity and master‟s degree from the University of Toronto are

augmented by an adjunct professorship at Columbia. Shara‟s AMNH responsibilities are to conduct research, train astro-

physicists, and curate exhibitions. His “Beyond Planet Earth”

special exhibition opened November 19.

Shara‟s research interests include the structure and evo-

lution of novae and supernovae, collisions between stars and

the remnant descendants of those collisions, and the popula-

tions of stars inhabiting star clusters and galaxies.■

WHAT’S UP IN THE SKY AAA Observer’s Guide for December 2011

By Richard Rosenberg

EYEPIECE December 2011

Future AAA 2012 Lecture Series Dates

January 6: Robert Nemiroff, Michigan Technological University

and NASA, “Best Short Astronomy Videos”

February 10: Glennys Farrar, NYU, “Getting Photos of Super-massive Black Holes Tearing Stars Apart”

March 2: Charles Keeton, Rutgers, “A Ray of Light in a Sea of

Dark (Matter)”

April 6: Debra Fischer, Yale, “Searching for Earthlike Worlds”

May 4: Alex Wolszczan, Penn State, “The Astronomical Future

of Man.”

For more information, go to: www.aaa.org/lectures1112

3

Hello Members:

It‟s getting a little chilly, but we‟re rewarded this time of year with a bunch of easy to spot constellations, magnificent star

clusters (including the Pleiades), a nebula visible with binoculars (the Orion Nebula), the remains of a supernova explosion (M1)

and most exciting -- a comet bonus (comet Garradd).

Comet Garradd is predicted to be sixth-magnitude in brightness through February, making it visible in a telescope and bin-

oculars. Now in the constellation Hercules, it is positioned in the northwest a short time after sunset and a short time in the east

before sunrise. Early in December is the best time to see it in the evening -- visibility diminishes with each week , and it is lost in

twilight by the end of the month. To compensate, the comet becomes more easily visible in the pre-dawn sky throughout winter.

On Saturday December 3, we‟ll have a good chance to spot the comet and other objects at the Salt Marsh Nature Center from

5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Observing will be preceded by a talk describing the winter sky. For more information and driving instructions, go

to http://www.aaa.org/saltmarsh on our website.

Later in the month, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 21, we‟ll have another observing session at Belvedere

Castle in Central Park. Comet Garradd will probably not be visible but the winter sky will be spectacular and Venus, Jupiter and

the Moon will compensate. There will also be a pre-event talk.

In addition to these two special events, there will be observing at Floyd Bennett Field on Dec 2 and solar observing in Cen-

tral Park on Dec 17.

Our monthly seminar series in conjunction with New York University continues on December 8. Event chair and NYU pro-fessor Gerceida Jones will speak on The Sirius Mystery by Robert K.G. Temple (St. Martin‟s Press, 1975). It presents the hypothe-

sis that the a west African tribe preserves a tradition of contact with intelligent extraterrestrial beings from the Sirius star-system.

This month‟s lecture will be given by Michael Shara of the AMNH. He will speak Dec 2 on “How Novae and Supernovae

are Connected.”

We hope to see many of you at a AAA event soon.

Sincerely,

Rich Rosenberg, AAA President, president@aaa.org (718) 522-5014

A Message from AAA President Richard Rosenberg

GOOD COMETS DON’T DIE ... THEY JUST FADE AWAY

Russian amateur astronomer Leonid Elenin had the good

fortune to discover a comet last December 10, but it lasted less

than a year from then until its demise.

Initially, comet Elenin received much attention because

its orbit would take it close to Earth, within 22 million miles

on October 16. As recently as August 19, the comet was

brighter than predicted, as observed by amateur astronomers in

Australia, notably Michael Mattiazzo.

Then a coronal mass ejection made the comet drop half a

magnitude in brightness. It continued to drop, despite getting

closer to the Sun. Elenin was apparently disintegrating, as can

happen when comets pass too close to the Sun.

On September 10, the comet passed its perihelion, mark-

ing its closest approach to the Sun at 44.84 million miles. The

next day, Mattiazzo managed a couple of images in evening

twilight as Elenin dropped too close to the Sun to be followed

any further. The comet was a faint ghost of its former self.

Elenin passed Mercury September 27 before moving out of

SOHO‟s field of view September 29.

The comet, whose remains won‟t return for 12,000 years,

came closest to Earth October 16, but by that time all that was

left were small bits. When it passed perihelion in September, it

had broken into pieces. When Elenin came within 22 million

miles of Earth, only a cloud of debris was visible in scopes.

The comet had been 1.2 miles wide when it was in one piece.■

EYEPIECE December 2011

CALL FOR EYEPIECE WRITERS

Those members who enjoy reading Eyepiece may want

to learn more about astronomy by participating as a writer.

For the past two years and now as current editor, I am

constantly exploring leading-edge astronomical events

through research for my articles and attending lectures and

presentations as an Eyepiece representative. I encourage any-

one focused on learning more about the science of astronomy

and the exciting missions at NASA, ESA and other sources in

the field to join our team of dedicated writers.

Please contact me directly to discuss working together.

Evan B. Schneider, Editor

Email: editor@aaa.org Tel: 212-986-4225

Contacting AAA: Website: www.aaa.org; General Club

Matters and Observing: president@aaa.org; Membership

Business: members@aaa.org; Classes: classes@aaa.org;

Seminars: seminar@aaa.org; Eyepiece: editor@aaa.org

4

meteorites like the Knowles meteorite from the museum‟s col-

lection are 99% metal alloy and, like some asteroids, could be

mined for valuable materials.

Asteroids are also a constant threat to life on Earth.

NASA has identified more than 1,200 asteroids wider than 500

feet whose orbits come within 5 million miles of Earth. A

touch-screen interactive exhibit explores plausible scenarios

for deflecting a “doomsday” asteroid.

Next comes Mars. There‟s a full-scale model of the nine-

foot-long Mars Science Laboratory Rover, Curiosity, which

launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26. It will seek

evidence of organic life.

Miniature models show how astronauts might eat, sleep and

exercise during a months-long journey aboard NASA‟s Nauti-

lus-X spaceship. Since not everyone is suited for the trip, visi-

tors can take a personality test to see how they‟d fare. A proto-

type of a new space suit shows what an astronaut might wear.

A walk-through diorama of the Martian surface and an

interactive fly-over simulation give visitors a sense of what it

might be like to explore the planet. Visitors can zoom in on

locations such as the Gale Crater, the landing spot for the Curi-

osity Rover, and Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and tall-est mountain in the solar system. The Mars terraforming table

allows several visitors at once to transform Mars from a fro-

zen, thin-aired environment to an Earth-like planet.

The exhibit then moves to the outer solar system. The

search for life on Europa could fall to a robotic submersible, a prototype of which is featured, that would melt through the

moon‟s icy surface and explore its salty oceans.

Now it‟s time to exit the solar system. The exhibition

concludes with a look at more than 1,000 stars that have been

found to have planets. These exoplanets were detected by the

Kepler Space Telescope in the first four months of operation.

In conjunction with the show, the museum is offering

lectures and educational programming. These include

SpaceFest January 15, a family celebration featuring space-

related activities, performances and special dome presenta-

tions. There will also be a March 11 program about extremo-

philes that will examine how organisms that survive in Earth‟s

most hostile environments offer clues about extraterrestrial

life. See amnh.org for info on additional programs.

Predictably, Shara and astronauts Mike Massimino and

John Grunsfeld, who appeared on a panel at the media pre-

view, asserted that benefits of space travel will be worth the

expense. But it was clear they are cognizant of the challenge

facing these far-reaching programs: pressure on all agencies of

government, including NASA, to tangibly pare budgets. That

notwithstanding, the three agreed major advances can be ex-pected starting in 10 years, with Shara predicting humans on

Mars in 15-20 years.

“We‟ll only know about Martian life by going there,”

Shara said.

EYEPIECE December 2011

AMNH LAUNCHES ITS VISION - THE FUTURE OF SPACE TRAVEL

By Dan Harrison

AMNH astrophysicist Michael Shara, lead curator for

“Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration,” an

exhibition at the museum that opened November 19 and runs

through August 12, 2012, told a media preview November 15

that the exhibition is coming at a critical time for NASA.

“We‟re at a kind of crossroads. The shuttle program has

ended, and that‟s a little bit like graduating from kindergarten.

We want to take those next steps out of our backyard into the

neighborhood and then into the big city to visit all the other

places in the solar system.”

The show offers a vision of the future of space travel as it

explores our next steps in the solar system and beyond. It takes

visitors on humanity‟s journey to explore the next frontier,

either through ourselves or via robotic proxies. Highlighted

conceptual future missions include building a space elevator

on the surface of the Moon, deflecting a hazardous near-Earth

asteroid and traveling to Mars--perhaps establishing colonies

there.

Before attending the exhibition, visitors can download a

free augmented reality (AR) app for iPhone, iPod Touch or

iPad created for the show. The app, “Beyond Planet Earth

Augmented Reality,” can activate 11 AR icons throughout the

exhibition, which unlock animations and allow visitors to

share images via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter in addition to

accessing a special site with additional space-themed links. The icons and links can also be found on the “Beyond Planet

Earth” section of amnh.org.

The exhibition opens with a retrospective of historic

manned and unmanned space missions: Sputnik 1, the first

manmade satellite; the Vostok 1 space capsule that boosted

Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, into orbit; the Hubble

Space Telescope; and a Mars Exploration Rover. Authentic equipment and artifacts on display include a Soviet cosmonaut

helmet and U.S. astronaut gloves. A model of Virgin Galac-

tic‟s SpaceShipTwo, a space plane in development, highlights

emerging space-travel vehicles.

The solar system theater has a video presentation that

introduces visitors to future manned and unmanned space mis-

sions to Mars, Europa and beyond.

The section on returning to the Moon notes that NASA

and other space agencies have identified Shackleton Crater,

near the South Pole, as a promising site for a lunar base be-

cause it offers access to resources such as water-ice and near-

constant sunlight to generate electricity. Along with a scale

model of a habitat that could house four astronauts, this area features models of a space elevator that could transport mined

materials and a liquid-mirror telescope on the Moon‟s surface.

Exploring Asteroids: This section features a 3-D re-

creation of the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa and the Japanese

Hayabusa spacecraft that rendezvoused with it in 2005 to col-

lect samples. Obtaining pristine samples for study not only

helps scientists better understand the formation of the solar

system, but may reveal the presence of valuable metals. Iron

5

an impressive number which included the brightest burst

(GRB 080319B) as well as the farthest burst and farthest ob-

ject of any kind ever sighted (GRB 090429B) 13.14 billion

light years distant. Finally, the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope

launched in 2008. Fermi‟s most exciting discovery is GRB 080916C, a burst releasing the greatest amount of total energy

ever recorded. This enormous output was due to the burst‟s 23-

minute duration compared to the two second average for short-

duration, high-energy GRBs.

Astronomers now divide GRBs into two categories: long

bursts exceeding two seconds and short bursts. Each type has

its own characteristics. Each is powered by different physical

phenomena. Scientists are now certain that long bursts, which

account for about 70% of all GRBs, result from the collapse of

massive stars into black holes. The gamma-ray emissions

from long bursts tend to emit lower levels of energy while long

bursts are linked to supernovae. However these supernovae

are special; only one in 1,000 are powerful enough to generate

the energy associated with a long gamma-ray burst.

The longest lasting GRB was detected in March 2011 in

the center of a galaxy 3.8 billion light years away in the con-

stellation Draco. The burst lasted over a week and is believed

to be the result of that galaxy‟s massive black hole shredding a

neighboring star.

Because of their brief duration, short GRBs are still

poorly understood. There are no supernova remains after short

bursts which eliminates a massive star collapse as a cause. A

consensus is developing among astronomers that the short bursts are the result of extremely violent collisions between

neutron stars or even between neutron stars and black

holes.

To date, no gamma-ray bursts of any kind have been ob-served within our Milky Way Galaxy. How fortunate for us

all. A burst occurring 10,000 light years away with its jet

pointed in our direction would eliminate most life on Earth.

There is some good news, though. In 2006 the Hubble Space

Telescope determined that the composition of our galaxy is not

favorable for spawning long duration GRBs; unfortunately,

this is not the case for the short duration variety. We are still

at risk, but at least Earth is a small target in a sea of stars.■

EYEPIECE December 2011

NEBULA OF THE MONTH—ORION

A vast stellar nursery 1,500 light-years from Earth, the

Orion Nebula has been studied recently by the Spitzer Space

Telescope taking amazing infrared photographs of the evolv-

ing mass of gas and forming stars. The brightest portion of the

nebula is centered on Orion's young, massive, hot stars,

known as the Trapezium Cluster. But Spitzer also detects the

nebula's many protostars, still in the process of formation.

Red spots along the dark dusty filament to the left of the

bright cluster include the protostar cataloged as HOPS 68,

recently found to have crystals of the silicate mineral olivine

within its protostellar envelope.

EXPLOSIVE GAMMA-RAY BURSTS LIGHT UP THE UNIVERSE By Alan Rude

What is the farthest one can see with the naked eye? This

has long been a trick question posed to non-astronomers.

When pointed to the Andromeda Galaxy, they were astonished

to learn that they could see an object over two million light

years away (if you do the math, that distance is an incredible

13,000 quadrillion miles).

On March 19, 2008, astronomers detected a burst of en-

ergy which shattered the record for the most distant object ever

discovered. A gamma-ray burst (GRB 080319B) was ob-served with a visual magnitude 5.3 at a distance of 7.5 billion

light years, 3,700 times the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy.

Half-way across the visible universe, the visual afterglow fol-

lowing the burst set a new record for the most intrinsically

bright object ever observed: 2.5 million times brighter than the

brightest supernova. This burst emitted more light and energy

in several seconds than the Sun will emit over its entire life-

time.

Gamma-ray bursts are, with the exception of the Big

Bang itself, the brightest, most intense and most powerful ex-

plosions in the universe. GBR080319B (GRBs are designated

by year [2008] month [03] and date [the 19th]), may have been

the brightest of those observed, but all such objects emit

amounts of energy greater than the Milky Way Galaxy‟s out-

put for an entire year.

GRBs were first observed by the Vela system of satellites

deployed to detect covert (i.e. Soviet) nuclear experiments.

Vela detected emissions of gamma-rays and, after ruling out

the Earth and Sun as possible sources, scientists concluded that these were “cosmic in origin”. At first the common hypothesis

was that these flashes or “bursts” originated from inside the

Milky Way. Further GRB analyses showed that they were

evenly distributed throughout the sky and not just in the plane

of our galaxy. In fact, many of the newly discovered GRBs

were at “extra-galactic” distances, as far as 13 billion light

years away.

This discovery brought up a significant problem. At such

distances and assuming a spherical pattern, the colossal energy

output could not be explained by any known physics. In re-

thinking the problem, astronomers developed a “jet-beaming

model” where the energy is concentrated in two particle jets

flaring in opposite directions and expanding outward at relativ-

istic speeds. Only when a GRB jet points directly at the Earth do we detect the full effect of the gamma-ray explosion and

the visual afterglow. This jet-beaming model reduces the en-

ergy emitted to ranges that our physics can handle.

GRBs have been studied intensively for almost four dec-ades utilizing a series of observing satellites. The first,

BATSE, was deployed in 1991. BATSE showed that the ma-

jority of gamma-ray bursts originate in distant galaxies and

therefore are highly energetic. BATSE was followed in 1996

by BEPPO-SAX, a Dutch-Italian mission affording increased

precision in observation utilizing a wide-field camera.

In 2004 NASA launched the SWIFT Gamma-ray Burst

Explorer. Six years later SWIFT had detected its 500th GRB,

6

Astronomical Facts of the Month

What Color is the Universe?

The answer is “pinky beige” according to John Hopkins

University and the Australian 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey at

the Anglo-Australian Observatory in New South Wales, Aus-

tralia. Perception of color will vary depending upon viewing

at setting daylight (Standard D65) or when dark adapted

(Illuminant E).

________________________

How Did It Get to be This Color and Will It Change?

The universe started out young and blue, and grew

gradually redder as the population of evolved red giant stars

built up. The rate of formation of new stars has declined pre-

cipitously in the last 6 billion years due to the decline in re-

serves of interstellar gas for forming new stars. As the star-

formation rate continues to decline and more stars become red

giants the color of the universe will become redder and redder.

Eventually all stars will disappear and nothing will be left but

black holes. These too will eventually evaporate via the

Hawking Process and nothing will be left except for old light,

which will itself redden as the universe expands forever (in

the current cosmological model).

THIS MONTH’S BOOK REVIEW

“A MORE PERFECT HEAVEN…”

By Luis Marcelo Cabrera

“Fascinating and immersive” - that is how I describe

Dava Sobel's latest book, “A More Perfect Heaven: How Co-

pernicus Revolutionized The Cosmos” (Walker & Company,

2011, $25).

Although the main ideas behind the Copernican model

have been discussed, explained and debated for centuries, the

author successfully mixes science, history, biography and po-

litical affairs to bring a truly entertaining account of Coperni-

cus and the publishing of De revolutionibu, his seminal work

on heliocentric theory.

The book is divided into several chapters comprised of

three main parts. The first describes Copernicus' life, interests

and work. It is a very fluid narrative, not spending too much

time detailing the political arena of the times but still exploring

several historic events that play a significant role later on the

book. and in history.

Sobel continues the story as if it were a play, narrating

the relationship between Copernicus, Rethicus and other char-

acters. Although no one knows for sure how he managed to

convince his master to publish De revolutionibus the young

mathematician Rethicus ultimately succeeds.

Sobel's prose is a compelling presentation of the event.

The book paints a vivid picture of the dangers awaiting any-

body who opposes clerical teachings, scripture and common

sense. Not only the Roman Catholic Church would later con-

demn heliocentrism, but prominent protestant figures, includ-

ing Luther himself will voice strong opposition to this concept.

The book continues with a collection of accounts about

the "aftermath" of the publication of De revolutionibus, pro-

viding descriptions of the works of renowned scientific mas-

ters Rethicus, Tycho, Kepler, Galileo and others, and how each

scientist was influenced by Copernican theory. These scientists

were all linked by their common goal to seek out the truth, and

at the time Copernicus‟ perspective was the strongest.

Sobel graciously describes in great detail personal experi-ences surrounding the publication of De revolutionibus. Fasci-

nating anecdotes include "Doctor Copernicus" and his work as

a canon of the Archdiocese of Varmia, Rethicus' stay in Var-

mia during times when Protestants had been vanished from

that land and life before and after working with Copernicus. Of

particular interest is the anonymous and unauthorized preface

to De revolutionibus by Osiander and Kepler's later attack on

Osiander when he published his New Astronomy.

Fascinating read, entertaining and informative, “A More

Perfect Heaven” is another great work by this accomplished

author. Science buffs and history lovers alike will enjoy read-

ing the chronicles of a Polish cleric, his secret manuscript and

how its publication revolutionized the way we understand our

place in the universe today.

As she achieved with her previous international best-sellers “Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, “ Sobel pushes

beyond popular science writing into a book that is entertaining

and intriguing for us all.■

EYEPIECE December 2011

NOVEMBER OBSERVATIONS

By Joseph A. Fedrick

Venus Enters the Evening Sky

A Large Sunspot Region (1339) Appears

During the first two weeks of November I watched the Sun become more active as I projected its image using my

60mm refractor scope. During November much of the Sun

was covered with spots and an especially large group, num-

bered as Region 1339 by solar astronomers, was so large that

it was visible with eclipse glasses without magnification. I

have not observed any Northern Lights yet; however, several

nights have been clouded out. Auroral displays have been seen

in recent weeks as far south as Arkansas.

I first noticed that brilliant Venus was visible just barely

above a hill to my southwest during the first week of Novem-

ber. Venus was still very low and I was awaiting mid-

November so that I might try seeing Mercury just two degrees

below Venus. Jupiter appeared near the Moon as the second

week of November was underway. Coral pink Mars was ap-

pearing bright in the morning sky and formed a nice contrast

with bluish Regulus in Leo in early November. Orion was

rising earlier to my east and was in the sky by 9PM as we re-

sumed standard time. ■

7

strument for chemical analysis of lunar material. Before con-

tinuing our journey, we observed the footprints of these astro-

nauts as they walked from their LEM to inspect the small craft.

Apollo 14 landed in the Fra Mauro Formation highlands,

traversing the edge of Cone Crater and making observations of

the impact rocks around the perimeter edge. By collecting

samples from large rocks near the rim, geologists could study

the material dug out by the impact from the deepest part of the crater. These rocks were not exposed to cosmic radiation until

dug out by the impact, so geochemistry techniques could esti-

mate how long the rocks have been exposed. In 1975, C.J.

Morgan was able to determine that Cone is about 26 million

years old (Apollo 14 Lunar Journal can be accessed at http://

next.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/a14.conegeo.html).

The Apollo 15 lunar landing team brought their Boeing-

built lunar rover to the surface for the first time. As with the

footprints of previous missions, tire tracks were made during

the three EVAs, each covering a 2-3 mile route along the

11,000 ft. high Hadley Delta rock formation. On one EVA the

astronauts discovered the Genesis Rock formed in the early

stages of the solar system, at least 4 billion years ago.

Eight months later, Commander John Young and LMP

Charles Duke brought Apollo 16 to the surface. After acting as

the backup crew for ill-fated the Apollo 13, the astronauts

made their contribution to the program by discovering that the

Descartes region of the highlands, thought to be formed by

volcanism was actually full of impact-formed rocks.

Our virtual tour of the Moon was capped by Apollo 17,

the last flight of the program. Commander Eugene Cernan and

LMP Harrison Schmitt, (the only Apollo geologist astronaut), traveled 21.7 miles across the lunar surface in their rover. Pri-

marily a geological mission to understand the composition of

rocks in the Taurus-Littrow region, the astronauts returned to

Earth with 242 pounds of samples for analysis.

As Carter pulled us away from the lunar surface, we

viewed the live stream data set feed from NASA/JPL. We

were heading home to Earth after our extended visit to the

Moon.

On October 25, AMNH hosted a near capacity crowd as

veteran dome flyer Carter Emmart and Apollo 11 historian

Andrew Chaikin conducted a detailed exploration of the Moon

from the perspective of NASA‟s Apollo program.

The room was in semi-darkness as the Moon floated at

the top of the dome. It was July 20, 1969 and the Eagle lunar

module was about to land safely onto the lunar surface. As

acting Capcom, future Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke was

communicating with Neil Armstrong during the lunar landing

phase. And then the words 500 million people around the

world heard live: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle

has landed.” Our evening had launched.

Nestled into the front row was surprise guest speaker

Charles Byrne, a former Bell Laboratories system engineer for

the Apollo Program for Lunar Orbiter Photography. Byrne

explained that NASA needed to identify landing sites for the

missions. A stable surface was required to handle the maxi-mum 50cm lunar dust depth for the LEM landing. Bell‟s pho-

tographic study determined where astronauts would be able to

minimize this risk. Using analog transmissions of scanned

photographs sent to Earth, the angle of descent and sunlight

was coordinated so that the pilot could see the surface and

navigate accurately. Greater contrast provided safer landing

conditions. This work coupled with Surveyor craft data al-

lowed NASA to complete its landing analysis. (Mr. Byrne‟s

book “Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Near Side of

the Moon” (Springer, 2005, $109) is available or visit the Lu-

nar Orbit Image Recovery Project website).

With Carter at the controls, Andrew flew over the Moon

at Lunar Orbiter distance, carefully identifying typical ele-

ments of lunar topography – low lying dark rock areas (maria)

indicating former lava flows and older light rock areas (terrae)

forming the highlands. Mare Orientale, a 3.5 billion year old

asteroid impact crater in the shape of a bulls-eye was shown to display cracks where ancient lava once flowed. This crater is a

large scale example of how the Moon‟s molten subsurface rose

to form its ridges and basin. Bell‟s Apollo team studied these

formations and identified twenty-six potential landing sites for

the program.

From above the terrain, Chaikin brought up the Google Moon program and flew above several key landing sites.

Apollo 11 used the hardened lava surface in the Sea of Tran-

quility while the Ocean of Storms was the Apollo 12 target.

During a lunar EVA on October 5, 2003, Apollo 12 astronauts

Alan Bean and Pete Conrad visited Surveyor 3, one of several

earlier unmanned probes investigating surface conditions. The

main objective was to obtain close-up images to determine if

the terrain was safe for manned landings. Each Surveyor craft

was equipped with a television camera. Surveyors 3 and 7 car-

ried a soil mechanics surface sampler scoop which dug

trenches and performed soil tests. Surveyors 5, 6, and 7 had magnets attached to the footpads and an alpha scattering in-

EYEPIECE December 2011

AMNH FLIES AUDIENCE TO THE MOON AND INTO HISTORY

By Evan Schneider

INTREPID MUSEUM WILL BE HOME FOR

SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE IN 2012

NASA‟s space shuttle orbiter Enterprise will land next

summer on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space

Museum in NY. Intrepid took ownership on November 22.

The orbiter will be flown from Washington, D.C. to JFK

aboard a 747 NASA Shuttle Carrier aircraft and then complete

its journey to the museum by barge.

Enterprise, which didn‟t fly in space but performed at-

mospheric approach and landing tests in the late 1970‟s is one

of four retired shuttle orbiters NASA is providing to museums

for public display.

8

globular cluster NGC 6624. Globular clusters are good places

to look for millisecond pulsars because dense packing of stars

facilitates formation of binary systems. J1823-3021A spins at

about 11,100 revolutions per minute, one complete turn every

5.44 milliseconds.

LIFE OR DEATH FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Persistence of life on Earth may depend upon massive

explosions from the other side of the galaxy, according to a

new theory suggesting powerful bursts of space radiation

could have played a part in some of Earth‟s major extinctions.

The explosions, gamma-ray bursts thought to occur when two

stars collide, can release tons of high-energy radiation into

space. Such blasts could contribute to depletion of the Earth‟s ozone layer. Researchers are beginning to connect these

bursts‟ timing to extinctions on Earth that can be dated through

fossil records. Such stellar collisions probably happen about

once every 100 million years in a galaxy. At this rate, Earth

would have been hit by a number of these events during its 4.5

billion-year history.

GALACTIC PINBALL

In the last nine billion years, almost every galaxy has had, on average, one major collision with a neighbor, a new

study reveals. The discovery, using Hubble data, provides the

most accurate check on galaxy collision rates. Having an accu-

rate value for the merger rate is critical because galactic colli-

sions may be a key process driving galaxy assembly, rapid star

formation in early times and the accretion of gas onto central

supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. Small gal-

axies collide more frequently with large galaxies; clashes be-

tween dwarf and massive galaxies in the distant universe three

times more often than crashes between two heavy galaxies.

BABY’S FIRST PICTURES

Astronomers have photographed the youngest exoplanet

ever found, capturing the first direct images of a planet form-

ing around its star. LkCa 15 b appears to be a hot protoplanet

that‟s sucking up a surrounding swath of cooler dust and gas.

The planet sits in a wide gap between its star and an outer disk

of dust. LkCa 15 b is about five times younger than the previ-

ous record holder. For the first time, scientists directly meas-

ured the planet, 450 light-years away in Taurus, and dusty

matter around it. The star, about as massive as the Sun, is only about two million years old.

HIDDEN EXOPLANETS DETECTED

Astronomers analyzing 1998 Hubble data found visual

evidence for two planets that previously went unnoticed. Lo-

cating them will allow astronomers to compare earlier obser-

vations of the planets‟ orbital motion with more recent meth-

ods of detecting alien worlds. Four large known planets circle

the massive young star HR 8799, 130 light-years away in Pegasus. Its first three gas-giant planets were discovered in

2007 and 2008. In 2010, a fourth, innermost planet was dis-

covered. This is the only alien multi-planet system of which

astronomers have direct images. The three outer planets have

very long orbits: 100, 200 and 400 years.

BRIEFS IN ASTRONOMY

NASA’S CURIOSITY HEADS FOR MARS

NASA launched the Mars rover Curiosity November 26,

kicking off a long-awaited mission to investigate whether the

planet could have once hosted microbial life. After travelling

354 million miles, the spacecraft will reach Mars in August,

2012. Weighing 1,000 lbs., Curiosity is five times heavier than

each of the last two Mars rovers, the golf-cart-size twins Spirit and Opportunity. While each carried five science instruments,

Curiosity sports 10, including a rock-zapping laser and equip-

ment designed to identify organic compounds that would have

supported life in Mars. Some instruments sit at the end of Cu-

riosity's five-jointed, seven-foot-long robotic arm, which itself

is nearly half as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. The arm also

wields a two-inch drill, allowing the rover to take samples

from deep inside Martian rocks, something no other mission

has been able to accomplish. A rocket-powered crane will

lower the rover on cables, a maneuver never tried during

planetary exploration. Curiosity isn‟t designed to search for Martian life. In fact, if the red dirt of Gale Crater harbors mi-

crobes, the rover will probably drive over them unaware.

ASTEROID’S NEAR MISS OR TARGET PRACTICE?

On November 8, a huge asteroid that could potentially threaten Earth one day travelled inside the Moon‟s orbit. At its

closest approach, 2005 YU55, roughly 1,300 feet wide, passed

by Earth at a distance of 201,700 miles, solidly within the

Moon‟s average orbital distance of 240,000 miles. Due to its

size and proximity, YU55 was classified as a potentially haz-

ardous asteroid several years ago. Its proximity to Earth was

the closest ever calculated in advance. A campaign was organ-

ized for amateur astronomers to observe YU55. They were

equipped with 0.2-0.5-meter scopes and higher-end CCD cam-

eras. Participants trained in asteroid photometry which re-

quired keeping the signal strong enough without excessive trailing. Very short exposures and frequent readjustments to

the field kept the asteroid in frame. A key observation target:

evidence of a spin-state change of YU55 from the tug of

Earth‟s gravity field.

THE YOUNG AND THE BRIGHTEST

Astronomers have found the brightest and youngest ex-

ample yet of a fast-spinning star, suggesting the extremely

luminous versions of these super-dense objects may be more common than thought. The millisecond pulsar called J1823-

3021A, emits intense gamma-rays inside a globular cluster

27,000 light-years away in Sagittarius. Analysis suggests the

pulsar is 25 million years old, young for these stars, since mil-

lisecond pulsars tend to be at least one billion years old. The

pulsar‟s age and brightness challenge current ideas about how

millisecond pulsars form and how widespread they may be.

Pulsars form when massive stars die in supernova explosions.

Their remnants collapse into compact objects made of neu-

trons. “Normal” pulsars rotate between seven and 3,750 revo-

lutions per minute, but millisecond pulsars spin up to 43,000 rpm. They‟re thought accelerate by accretion of matter from a

companion star. For the study, researchers trained Fermi on

EYEPIECE December 2011

9

HOW BIG IS BIG?

One of the largest sunspots in years has appeared. It‟s

about 50,000 miles long and 25,000 miles wide. The sunspot

wasn‟t yet facing us when spotted November 3. Initial photos

of the sunspot showed the solar region as it came into view on the northeastern edge, or limb, of the Sun. The sunspot is actu-

ally a group of nearby darkened spots, some of which are

wider than Earth.

DONUTS IN THE MILKY WAY Mysterious donut-shaped clouds of dust found near some

gigantic black holes could be the cosmic remains from violent,

high-speed collisions between planets and asteroids, according

to a new study. Astronomers studying supermassive black

holes found about half are obscured from view by strange, fat

dust clouds. They suspect the supermassive black hole in the

Milky Way expelled most of the gas that would otherwise turn

into more stars and planets.

GAMMA-RAY BURSTS - ANCIENT GALAXIES

A bright space explosion has provided a look at the in-

gredients of two ancient galaxies. Astronomers studied the

light of a gamma-ray burst as it passed through its host galaxy

and a galaxy nearby. They found the galaxies, which formed

when the universe was relatively young, are richer in heavier

chemical elements than the Sun. This suggests the galaxies are far more chemically mature than astronomers thought was

possible for galaxies that formed during such a young stage of

the universe‟s evolution. The galaxies are seen as they were

about 12 billion years ago. Without the gamma-ray burst, these

faint galaxies would likely be invisible. The galaxies must be

forming new stars at a tremendous rate, which could explain

how the galaxies‟ cool gas was enriched with heavier chemi-

cals so quickly. This study supports the idea that gamma-ray

bursts may be associated with vigorous, widespread star for-

mation.

METHANE-ICE ERUPTION ON URANUS

Uranus, recently highlighted for orbiting the Sun on its

side, has gained more atypical attention. Astronomers have

detected that an enormous bright spot may be an unprece-

dented eruption of methane ice high in the atmosphere. As-tronomers recorded a region 10 times brighter than the plane-

tary background. The spot sits at an unusually low latitude.

Earlier, a new study suggested Uranus was tipped on its side

by a succession of punches rather than a single knockout blow

as previously thought.

VENUS OZONE LAYER DETECTED

An ozone layer has been found high in Venus‟ atmos-

phere. It was detected by a craft gazing at stars that can be

seen at the edge of the planet through its atmosphere. The

probe scrutinized the starlight for key characteristics of gases

in the atmosphere as it‟s absorbed at different wavelengths. It

discovered ozone because it absorbed some ultraviolet light

from the stars. Venus‟ ozone forms when sunlight breaks up CO2 molecules, which releases oxygen atoms. Venus is

thought to have built up ozone by non-biological means. The

ozone layer sits 62 miles above the surface, roughly four times

higher than Earth, and is 100 to 1,000 times less dense.

VESTA MOUNTAIN RIVALS MARS’ OLYMPUS MONS

The Dawn spacecraft orbiting Vesta has shone a light on

a mountain much taller than anything on Earth rising up from

the south pole. The photo shows the peak rising nearly 13

miles, more than twice as high as Everest and nearly as tall as the highest peak in the solar system, Olympus Mons, which

towers 15 miles above the Martian surface.

TINY BROWN DWARF SIX TIMES JUPITER’S MASS

Astronomers have discovered more than two dozen pre-viously unknown brown dwarfs, including one that ranks

among the puniest of its kind. The objects are in two young

star clusters. One is just six times the mass of Jupiter, making

it one of the lightest free-floating objects known. Its mass is

comparable to the giant planets‟, yet it doesn‟t circle a star.

The brown dwarfs are in star clusters NGC 1333, about 1,000

light-years away in Perseus, and Rho Ophiuchi, 400 light-

years away near Ophiuchus and Scorpius. NGC 1333 harbors

half as many brown dwarfs as normal stars.

MINING OBSERVATIONS FROM THE MOON

A new map of the Moon has uncovered many areas rich

in titanium ore. Some rocks harbor 10 times as much as on

Earth. The map combined observations in visible and ultravio-

let. A wide-angle camera snapped pictures in seven wave-

lengths at different resolutions. Since specific minerals reflect

or absorb different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, sci-

entists got a clearer picture of the chemical composition of the

surface.

MARTIAN CLAY TELLS THE STORY

There‟s more evidence that Mars was wet and warm in

the ancient past, but the discovery comes with a twist: the wa-

ter may have flowed below the Martian surface. Analysis of

clay deposits revealed Mars‟ surface may have been dry and

arid even in its distant past, with lakes and rivers dotting the

Martian landscape for only brief periods. Scientists examined a

decade‟s worth of images, searching for clay deposits. Because different conditions give rise to different chemical changes in

the same material, clay can be a distinctive record of the envi-

ronment that shaped it. Underground clay dominates several

types found. This means the majority of Martian clays formed

underground, not requiring surface water. Clay beds are dry,

arid surfaces covering a wet and tumultuous pulse just beneath

the ground.

REIONIZATION PERIOD REDEFINED

In their hunt for the most distant galaxies ever detected,

astronomers have assembled the first timeline for a dramatic

phase in early cosmic history. The timeline covers a period

known as reionization, 13 billion years ago. It shows it must

have occurred more rapidly than thought. During reionization,

hydrogen gas cleared and first became transparent to ultravio-

let light. Astronomers can look into the remote past and ob-serve faint light from galaxies at different stages in cosmic

evolution. A team probed the most distant galaxies several

times as ultraviolet light passed through unhindered. Data

helped astronomers measure distances of the galaxies, and

determined they were observed as they were 780 million to 1

billion years after the Big Bang.

ries continued on p

EYEPIECE December 2011

10

DON’T BLAME THE METEORITES

Huge meteorites may not deserve the rap they‟ve gotten

as life-ending agents of destruction. In fact, cataclysmic colli-

sions in space may have set the stage for the rise of life on

Earth. Scientists say a hail of meteorites far earlier than the species extinction 65 million years ago may have created ideal

conditions for primordial life forms. During the Early Bom-

bardment, when Earth was 500 million years old, a barrage of

meteorites smashed into the planet, which could have provided

necessary materials for a hydrothermal system, similar to to-

day‟s deep-sea vents.

LIFE-GIVING STARS A POSSIBILITY

A new look at the interstellar dust permeating the uni-

verse has revealed hints of organic matter that could be created

naturally by stars. Researchers observed stars at different evo-

lutionary phases and found they can produce complex organic

compounds and eject them into space, filling the regions be-

tween stars. Such chemical complexity was thought to arise only from living organisms, but results of the new study show

these organic compounds can be created in space even when

no life forms are present. Scientists also found the chemical

structure of organic star dust is similar to complex organics in

meteorites.

SNOW WHITE IS A DWARF A mysterious little world nicknamed Snow White is cov-

ered in ice and may sport remnants of an atmosphere, a new

study of the dwarf planet outside Neptune has found. Even

though Snow White, in the Kuiper Belt, is actually red, half

the surface is covered by water ice that probably spewed from

ancient cryovolcanoes. The dwarf planet‟s reddish hue likely

comes from a thin layer of methane, the last gasps of an atmos-

phere that has been bleeding into space for eons. It was once

an active world with water volcanoes and an atmosphere, and

now is frozen dead, with its atmosphere slipping away. Snow

White is about half the size of Pluto. The combination of red

and water indicates methane.

THE DARK SIDE OF GALAXY CLUSTERS

Warped visions of distant galaxy clusters are offering a

reflection of invisible matter inside them that astronomers are

using to map the universe‟s unseen side. Using Hubble, as-

tronomers observed the first of a number of galaxy clusters

they hope to use to build a cosmic census of dark matter. To

find out where dark matter lies, and how much there is, scien-

tists look for gravitational lensing. By compensating for this

effect, researchers can deduce what component is caused by

dark matter. Scientists are planning to observe 25 galaxy clus-

ters. Previous research suggested dark matter is packed denser inside galaxy clusters than thought. If the new study confirms

that, it may mean galaxy clusters formed earlier than believed.

“OOPS” IN RUSSIAN

A robotic Russian spacecraft that launched on a mission

to the Martian moon Phobos November 8 is apparently stuck

in Earth orbit. The probe separated from its rocket properly,

but its thrusters failed to fire to send the spacecraft toward

Mars. The malfunction dealt a blow to the mission, which aims

to send bits of Phobos‟ surface to Earth by 2014. There may

still be hope for Russia's first attempt at an interplanetary mis-

sion since 1996. Engineers are trying to fix the problem. After

several days, the batteries were due to run out, and the space-

craft will likely turn into another piece of space debris. The

mission is also carrying China‟s first Mars probe, a small

spacecraft engineered to orbit Mars. The Russian mission was slated to shed light on the evolution of Mars and the solar sys-

tem, and was due to arrive in autumn of 2012. Some instru-

ments were to stay behind to continue scientific observations.

One of the mission‟s payloads is a capsule of microbes pre-

pared by the Planetary Society in the U. S. to investigate how

life forms survive and behave on flights through deep space.

IT’S SNOWING ON ENCELADUS

New high-res maps of Enceladus confirm wintry condi-

tions prevail. “Snow” falls, but at less than a thousandth of a

millimeter per year. Ice particles ejected by geysers fall back

onto the surface. By mapping these deposits, researchers dis-covered active icy plumes likely last tens of millions of years

on the surface and blanket Enceladus in a thick layer of tiny

ice particles. These features are explained by a layer of looser

material on top of more solid ices. This layer is thought to be

accumulated deposits from Enceladus‟ plumes, which form a

snowy blanket across the surface. The layer of plume deposits

in one site sits 350 feet deep. Three other sites exhibit similar

topography. Because accumulation of icy particles is slow, the

thermal heat source that powers the plumes and maintains liq-

uid water beneath Enceladus‟ icy crust is likely similarly long-

lived.

LIFE FORMING 60 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH?

Icy comets could be bombarding a nearby alien star sys-

tem in a storm similar to the one thought to have brought water

and other life-forming ingredients to Earth. Focusing on a

bright star, Eta Corvi, 60 light-years away, scientists found

signs of a band of dust that strongly matches the chemical

composition of an obliterated giant comet. The Eta Corvi sys-

tem‟s age, some 1 billion years, would place it in the right time

for such a comet storm. Astronomers haven‟t found evidence

of a planet around Eta Corvi, but based on contents of the dust

and its proximity to the star, findings suggest one or more

comets collided with an Earth-like rocky body. Researchers analyzing light from the dust found such chemical signatures

as water ice, organics and rock pointing to a giant comet as its

source.

WHAT’S UP, DOCK? CHINA SPACE STATION COMING

A pair of robotic Chinese spacecraft docked in orbit for

the first time November 2, marking a key step toward China‟s

goal of building a space station and establishing a permanent

manned presence in space by the end of the decade. The Shen-

zhou 8 spacecraft latched onto a prototype space-lab module,

Tiangong 1. The link is designed to test technologies China

will use to assemble a space station in orbit, which it hopes to

effect by 2020. The spacecraft circled Earth together for

twelve days. Then, Shenzhou 8 detached, retreated 460 feet

from Tiangong 1 and docked again. The second docking lasted

two days. The first Chinese docking was the second orbital rendezvous of the day. Russia successfully docked a robotic

cargo ship to the ISS. China hopes to replicate Shenzhou 8

with two more docking missions by the end of 2012. At least

one mission will be manned.

EYEPIECE December 2011

11

attention to the physiological training we received. We fol-

lowed instructions closely. “Don't move your head when you

are in two-g and simply lay very still flat on the floor.” None

of us got sick but other groups weren‟t as fortunate. Safety was

also huge. We had to account for every item brought into the

airplane hangar (which is where most of our pre-flight work

occurred). One experiment contained 500 BBs which we had

to account for daily. If not, all flights were grounded until eve-

rything was accounted for. We learned very quickly how to

keep our items contained. During flight, it was almost an un-

real experience. We had no outside visual stimulation (all the

windows were shaded) so other than floating during zero-g and

being pinned to the floor in two-g, we weren't sure if we were

climbing or falling during the parabola.”

In terms of the hypothesis and results, Brennan shares, “I

personally did not think there would be a large difference. The

measurable difference was that a magnet can hold more mass

in zero-g - the magnetism itself does not change. In the BB

experiment with the key chain magnet, we videotaped the BB's

in zero-g, floating up and attracted to the magnet. As the plane

went into two-g you could see them being pulled off (holding

less mass). “

Nicole, a 5th grade student, volunteered her perspective,

"I thought it was a great experience for the teachers. I want to

be a teacher just so I can go to NASA and do the same thing. I

thought the magnet would hold less until you told me about the

plastic tubes that would hold the washers. Then I thought it

would hold more in zero-g"

The teachers have been presenting to schools throughout

their area and have been filmed by NJTV. The show airs De-

cember 11th and January 15th at 12:30pm & 7:30pm For more

information about the Reduced Gravity Education Flight Pro-

gram, visit:

http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov and the teacher blog

at http://mountviewmagforce5.tumblr.com.

Teacher Kerry Brennan is the mother of 8 year-old AAA

member Turner Brennan and the niece of the writer.■

This year five New Jersey grade school teachers had a

unique experience to relate to their students during their “What

I did last summer,” class discussions. Linda Kerins, Michelle

Marks, Drew Burns, Adrienne O‟Keefe and Kerry Brennan

from the Mountview Road School in Hanover Township re-

cently completed their participation in NASA‟s Reduced Grav-

ity Education Flight Program (RGEFP). Selected from over 70

proposals and based on scientific merit and education outreach

potential, the program gives teams of educators an opportunity

to propose, design, build, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity

experiment. Flying out of NASA‟s Johnson Space Center

Ellington Field in Houston, their hypothesis was tested aboard

the “Weightless Wonder,” a microgravity aircraft producing

periods of weightlessness lasting 18-25 seconds while flying a

series of 30 parabolas – a steep climb followed by a free fall –

over the Gulf of Mexico. “Being selected to fly our experiment

was an amazing adventure. It was truly a once in a lifetime

experience that we plan to share with our fellow teachers and

students,” said teacher Michelle Marks.

The team flew their experiment “Magnets in Space” from

June 23rd to July 2nd. The focus of their investigation was to

study the magnetic force and field around a magnet. Would a

magnet‟s ability to lift objects on Earth in one-g change in zero

-g or hyper-g? Would the magnetic field around a magnet in

one-g conditions remain the same in zero-g and hyper-g? Sci-

entific concepts and equipment needed to be easily identifiable

to kindergarten through fifth grade students. The experiments

were designed using commonly found items - plastic cups as

containers, 5/8th inch washers and metal BBs as standard

weights, and both wand magnets and key-chain magnets for

testing.

Every student participated in related magnet and gravity

experiments prior to the team‟s trip. They formulated the hy-

pothesis and signed washers that would be flown in zero-g and

returned to them as a NASA souvenir. “The students were able

to see design flaws in our experiment when they were in the

planning stages,” Brennan explained. “When I asked for their

hypothesis on how many washers a wand magnet could hold in

zero-g, I was told there would be everything from several to

none, or they would all float away. We hadn't told them that

we were in the process of attaching tubes to the wand magnets

to hold them in place to be attracted to the magnets,” Brennan

added. “They clearly understood the concept of zero-g. Once

we explained that, they said the magnet could hold more wash-

ers in zero-g.”

In terms of training, Brennan provided some insight. “We

realized very quickly that the key to not getting motion sick-

ness and getting our experiment completed was paying close

EYEPIECE December 2011

TEACHERS FLY IN ZERO GRAVITY

By Edward Fox By Edward Fox

TRAJECTORY FOR ZERO GRAVITY MANEUVER

12

AAA Events on the Horizon December 2011

Wednesdays, December 7, 14; 6:30-9:00 p.m., P

Fall Class: Laird Whitehill, Evolution of the Solar System Cicatelli Center, 505 Eighth Avenue, Manhattan

$45 members; $80 non-members (Pre-registration req‟d)

Monday, December 2, 6:15 p.m., AAA Lecture, P Michael Shara, “How Novae and Supernovae are Connected"

Kaufman Auditorium of the American Museum of Natu-

ral History

Next date: January 6

Friday, December 2, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m., P, T, C

Observing at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn

Next date: March, 2012

Saturday, December 3, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m., P, T, C

Observing, Salt Marsh Nature Center, Brooklyn

Next date: TBD

Thursday, December 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m., P

Seminar – Recent Advances in Astronomy

New York University, 726 Broadway, 6th Floor Conference

Room

Next date: January, 2012

Saturday, December 17, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., P, T, C Solar observing in Central Park at Conservatory Water Next date: January 28.

Saturday, December 21, 5 - 7 p.m., P, T, C Observing, Belvedere Castle, Central Park Next date: TBA

Legend for Events

M: Members

P: Open to the public

T: Bring your telescopes, binoculars, etc.

C: Cancelled if cloudy

AMNH: For ticket information, call (212) 769-5200; Check the AMNH’s

website at www.amnh.org for an additional listing of other events.

For directions to AAA observing events, check the

club's website, www.aaa.org.

NOVA SERIES OPENER

WHAT EINSTEIN GOT RIGHT

By Leo Genn

Albert Einstein looked into space and saw it was curved. Since his initial 1916 publication, “Relativity: The Special and

General Theory” (H. Holt and Company), physicists around

the world have been working to prove or disprove whether or

not Einstein had it right - that space and time are interwoven

and that mass pulls on and curves the space around it. Even

NASA has launched missions to confirm that time moves

faster as gravity decreases; that space and time bend as Ein-

stein theorized. On November 2, at Columbia University‟s

Miller Theatre, the World Science Foundation premiered

“What is Space,” the first hour of Nova‟s four-hour series

based on the book, “The Fabric of the Cosmos” (Deckle Edge, $32.50) written by one of the world‟s most noted string theory

physicists, Dr. Brian Greene.

Greene first stated that light coming from an object

moving toward or away from us always travels at the same speed. Paraphrasing Albert Einstein‟s description of why

light‟s speed never varies, Green said “Knowing that speed is

just a measure of the space that something travels over time…

Einstein proposed…that space and time could work together,

constantly adjusting by exactly the right amount, so that no

matter how fast you might be moving, when you measure the

speed of light, it always comes out to be 671 million miles per

hour.” Thus, space is no longer an empty, absolutely static

backdrop, but instead, space and time “meld together with

motion, forming a single entity, “spacetime.”

For ten years Einstein struggled with the way Newtonian

physics failed to explain how gravity actually works across

seemingly empty space. Greene provided a straightforward

summary of current theories of space, time and gravity, stat-

ing: “Einstein reached a startling conclusion: the secret to gravity lay in the nature of spacetime. It was even more flexi-

ble than he had previously realized. It could stretch like an

actual fabric. This was a truly radical break from Newton. If

spacetime were nice and flat, objects would travel in straight

lines, but if space is like a fabric that can stretch and bend - if I

put something heavy on the stretchy spacetime fabric then, a

ball shot nearby will travel along an indentation in the fabric

that the heavier object creates. And this, Einstein realized, is

how gravity actually works. It‟s the warping of spacetime

caused by the objects within it. In other words, gravity is the

shape of spacetime itself. The moon is kept in orbit not be-

cause it‟s pulled to the earth by some mysterious force, but rather because it rolls along a curve in the spacetime fabric that

the earth creates.”

Adding to this vision of space as a flexible fabric, Profes-

sor Susskind, one of many renowned physicists interviewed

said, “With Einstein, space became not only real, but flexible.

So suddenly space had properties. Suddenly space had curva-

ture. Suddenly, space had a flexible kind of geometry almost

like a rubber sheet.” Greene said that with this, Einstein‟s The-

ory of General Relativity shows space “as dynamic, it‟s inter-

woven with time, it dictates how things move.”

Nova Series Opener continues on page 13

EYEPIECE December 2011

13

Amateur Astronomers Association

PO Box 150253

Brooklyn, NY 11215.

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

First Class

EYEPIECE December 2011

NOVA SERIER OPENER (Con’t)

Somewhat poetically, Professor Gates added that, “Einstein

becomes Einstein because of that observation.”

Greene then explored physicist Leonard Schiff‟s 1959

concept to put a gyroscope into orbit to see if the mathematics

behind Einstein‟s General Theory of Relativity would cor-

rectly demonstrate how the mass of the Earth would warp sur-

rounding spacetime. The gyroscope would help point and

measure changes in direction of its host satellite. Schiff pre-

dicted these measurements would show the presence of the

mass of the Earth twisting the space around the satellite like a

piece of cloth, thereby proving Einstein‟s theory of General

Theory regarding the relativity of space and time.

Nova provides great detail of the research leading

up to 2004 when NASA‟s Gravity Probe B was launched. Sub-

sequent measurements of the satellite‟s motion and gyroscopes

matched the mathematics behind Einstein‟s theory of the geo-

detic effect: that space and time bend around a gravitational

body. This initiative provided quantifiable physical evidence

that the curvature of space exists.

Greene stated that while Quantum Mechanics accu-

rately explains the subatomic world where particles are con-

stantly popping in and out of existence and annihilating each

other, the laws of Quantum Mechanics seem to irreconcilably

conflict with Einstein‟s General Theory. To resolve this, Greene and many of the world‟s leading physicists have spent

the last forty years developing superstring theory as a “Unified

Theory” where the theories of General Relativity and Quantum

Mechanics no longer contradict. In the episode, Greene ac-

knowledged that the window is closing for experimental re-

sults from the Large Hadron Collider to find superstrings or

particles from the “Higgs Field” that would experimentally

prove superstring theory. Greene has said that such a failure

could lead to the collapse of superstring theory.

In the hour long question and answer discussion after the

show, 2011 Nobel Prize recipient Professor Saul Perlmutter

stated that “dark energy occupies 75% of the Universe,” is just a phrase to describe something we don‟t understand. In

discussing the future of our understanding of dark energy,

Perlmutter said “I‟m betting that if we get one more big shot of

data in the next round of experiments we will have a least a

fighting chance.” Professor Susskind explained that the three

dimensional world of particles we see may be a hologram like

the surface of subatomic particles that exist in several dimen-

NEXT MONTH IN EYEPIECE

Here’s a peek at January: Maya Kushner covers the

AAA Lecture Series‟ “How Novae and Supernovae are Con-

nected;" Stan Honda shares dark sky observing and astrophot-

ography experiences in the Grand Canyon and Petrified For-

est; Diane McMillian covers an AMNH presentation of “The Four Percent Universe;” Tony Hoffman delves into the world

of exoplanets and the HARPS project (High Accuracy Radial

Velocity Planet Searcher); “Briefs in Astronomy” continues to

amaze us and, of course, Rich Rosenberg‟s “What‟s Up in the

Sky” keeps our scopes trained on monthly celestial events.