Aylesbury Astronomical Society
Registered Charity Number 276313
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AYLESBURY ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
For Heaven’s Sake! Aylesbury Astronomical Society Newsletter
NOV 2011
Issue No. 523
Welcome to the official newsletter of the Aylesbury Astronomical Society. If some of the following is not clear or not to your liking, please contact a member of the committee.
See also www.aylesbury-astronomy.org.uk if you have access to the web.
OBSERVING:
Observing is from 8pm on Fridays 25th Nov, 2nd & 16th Dec. (Dates selected to miss full moons.) In case of doubtful weather, please check with a committee member before attending.
The Winchendon Observatory is available at any time to key holders. Keys are available from Steve Edwards, 01296 427098 or steven.l.edwards@ntlworld.com.
We ask that you attend with at least one other person in case of mishap at the site and check clashes with visiting groups although helpers are welcome. Please record your visit in the log book provided.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
All at 7.30 pm at the Scout Hut, Oakfield Road, Aylesbury unless otherwise stated.
Monday 7th November: Mike Beales – Update on his current observing
Monday 5th December: Nigel Mason (OU) on Mars
Monday 9th January: TBC
Monday 6th Feb Lucy Rogers.
Monday 5th March Steve Edwards or visit to South West Herts Planetarium TBC.
There may also be a visit to South West Herts Astronomy Society in December for a Quiz night - details to be confirmed.
Newsletter and website
Please forward any newsletter contributions to the Editor (see link at end). An email prompt like “Next month is the anniversary of the first aardvark in space” helps make newsletters more topical.
Newsletters will be forwarded by email to many members saving postage, printing and, you can have this newsletter sooner than by post. Please forward your email address to the Editor (details at end) if not an electronic recipient.
Some members still prefer a hard copy which will be available at the monthly meeting or by post. Despite many references to web sites, not everyone has access to a computer which why I would appreciate a review on any book vaguely connected with astronomy you’ve read, even if not very recently.
Visit the AAS web site at www.aylesbury-astronomy.org.uk and if you have any comments or suggestions, contact the committee or email the Webmaster.
WHAT’S UP? November Night Sky
The following shows the night sky at 22:00 on 15th. (I’ve got it right this time!)
The bright constellations of winter are now becoming more prominent. Looking south behind your head is Ursa Major and the Plough are starting to rise, with the little bear, Ursa Minor, hanging straight down from its tail. Towards the north-west Cygnus is sitting straight up with the bright contrasting double star Albireo at the base of the Cross. High above your head at this time of night are Perseus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda. The bright galaxy M31 should be easily visible to the naked eye as an extended fuzzy blob. Either this or your glasses need cleaning. The double cluster should also be visible midway between Cassiopeia and Perseus. A small telescope shows these clusters very well. NGC884 NGC869 are about 7000 ly away and approaching us at 22 km/s so watch out. Below Andromeda lies Aries and Pisces with Cetus the Sea Monster further south. Except for Mars after midnight, Jupiter, between Aries and Pisces is the only prominent planet this month.
Moon: 2nd – First quarter; 10th – Full; 18th -- Last quarter; 25th – New.
Moon will be close to: Jupiter on the 9th. Pleiades on the 11th. Hyades on the 12th. Mars on the 19th. Saturn on the 22nd. Venus on the 27th.
Mercury will be very difficult to see in the evening twilight.
Venus now becoming prominent in the western evening sky but staying very low throughout November.
Mars is visible in the early morning sky after midnight moving through Leo during the month. Mars passes close to Regulus on the morning of 10th and now starting to brighten at magnitude 0.8.
Jupiter now visible all night after passing through opposition and makes excellent viewing as it is big and bright at magnitude -2.7. The Galilean satellites should be visible but the cloud belts and the red spot will need a large instrument.
Saturn now creeping into the morning twilight in Virgo in the eastern sky. A little dim at Magnitude +1.3.
Uranus is situated in the lower part of Pisces getting lower in the sky and becoming more difficult to observe.
Neptune is now low down in the south-east sky after dark, difficult to observe.
Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) is still easily visible with a modest scopes, Garradd is moving through Hercules this month but will soon start to fade slowly.
Taurid Meteors: Two maximi occur on 3rd and 12th but the latter is near the full moon. 120 per hour predicted so maybe worth a try?
Leonid Meteors: Predicted maximum of 20 per hour on the morning of 18th. Last quarter Moon will interfere somewhat.
Jodrell Bank is hosting its latest Star Party on 26th November
Obviously we are nowhere near JB but if you happen to be in this area end of this
month, might be worth booking a ticket. Guests will be joined by Dr Ian Morrison
who will give a talk on telescopes – how they developed, how they work and how to
use them to observe the night sky. Weather permitting, guests will be able to use
telescopes outside to observe the night sky and put their learning into practice.
This event is also the North West Launch of the new Dark Sky Discovery project, led
by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), funded by the Big Lottery
Fund and awarded through Natural England’s Access to Nature. Dark Sky Discovery is
designed to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to come together in their
local area and enjoy the night sky. During the evening, visitors will also have the
opportunity to walk around the Discovery Centre exhibitions and talk to local astronomical
societies.
To learn more about the Dark Sky Discovery project www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk
This event is sponsored by STFC, which means that tickets are free and available
on a first come first served basis so spaces are limited Please call 01477 571 766
to book your ticket.
Suitable for children aged 12 to 99 years Event: 7.30pm – 10.30pm.
Talk starts: 8.30pm
Margaret Kendrick also writes about Dark Skies:
Newbury Astronomical Society's "Communicating Astronomy" 40th Anniversary celebration at Appleton Rutherford on 22nd October was a jolly good day out and apart from anything else, there is a bit of "awe and wonder" attached to the “Diamond Light Source” building (UK's national synchrotron science facility).
The day's events were aimed at local society participation in communicating astronomy and the following might be of interest to members:
Rob Simpson's Zooniverse website, www.zooniverse.org began as galaxy zoon in 2007 and is now a collection of projects (the Milky Way site is pretty to look at), including Hubble, Mergers, Super Novae,Moon Zoo, Solar Storm Watch, Old Weather, Ice Hunters etc. Two planets have been discovered by The Planet Hunter site about half a million people take part.
On 24th October there was a national press release highlighting a Dark Sky Discovery (following on from Dark Sky Scotland). Societies can nominate safe places in their area, like Commons or playing fields, for the general public to go where the sky is dark and good for observing. The aim is to get people out into their own streets stargazing with or without binoculars. So members of our society could nominate a Dark Sky Discovery Site however the Winchenden site is not suitable owing to access and car parking,. In some ways villages are better than towns as they often have fewer street lights. These sites will be eventually mapped on google web for public information.
http://darkskydiary.wordpress.com shows some of the best places in the UK for observing.
From the Editor:
www.zooniverse.org/project/planethunters
The above link is available from the zooniverse web site where, if you have an up to date web browser, you can help filter the data for a possible planet in another solar system.
And finally, you may have heard that the Russians have completed 520 days of rehearsing for a Mars Landing in a Warehouse in Moscow. Well, at least they’ve owned up to it this time – someone must have found out!
CONTACTS www.aylesbury-astronomy.org.uk
Chairman:
Ralph Campbell 81 Narbeth Drive, AYLESBURY, HP20 1NY 01296 421328 Chairman@aylesbury-astronomy.org.uk
Secretary:
Sue Macdonald 107 Willis Road, Haddenham, AYLESBURY, HP17 8HG 01844 299031 Secretary@aylesbury-astronomy.org.uk
Editor:
Simon Leach 28 Vicarage Road, Winslow, Bucks, MK18 3BE 01296 713061 Editor@aylesbury-astronomy.org.uk
