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In this issue of SpaceTides

Hello SpaceTides Subscribers

There has been somewhat of a delay in SpaceTides #48, but there is a very good reason: the 2006 ASSA Symposium! It was held at the end of September in Bloemfontein. It's been a hectic few weeks, but it was absolutely worth it. A Symposium Souvenir CD has been compiled with photos, speaker presentations etc. More info.

BIG NEWS is that South Africa got shortlisted to possibly host the massive Square Kilometer Array project: from 4 countries, South Africa and Australia were chosen. SA might get the largest radio telescope the world has ever seen! Congratulations to the SKA/KAT team.

The summer is almost here. Though it means more clouds for the inland region, we can look forward to seeing constellations like Taurus, Orion and Canis Major again... And not to speak of "Argo Navis" and its treasure of deep sky objects.

Have you subscribed to the free Universe Today email newsfeeds yet? Time you do! www.universetoday.com.

Also remember the Boyden open evening in Bloemfontein on 14 October and the talks by the space scientists on 15 October on the UFS campus. More info under section 8.

Regards,
Gerrit Penning, editor

Total subscribers as at 12 Octobers 2006: 687 (+14 from previous issue #47)

1. Spaceflight news from around the world

Seeing is believing: the Rover Opportunity form space... NASA.

MRO Captures a Rover on photo
JPL news release, 6 October 2006. Adapted from full article.

NASA's rover Opportunity has started to explore layered rocks in cliffs around the massive "Victoria crater" on the planet Mars.

While Opportunity was busy inspecting the crater's features, NASA's latest satellite to arrive at Mars photographed the rover and its surroundings from above. And the rover is but the size of a golf car! The level of detail in the photo from the high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will help guide the rover's exploration of crater Victoria.  Within two months after landing on Mars in early 2004, Opportunity found geological evidence for a long-ago environment that was wet.  The rovers have worked on Mars for more than 10 times their originally planned three-month missions.

South Africa's second satellite scheduled for December launch

SA's second satellite is named Sumbandila, a Venda name meaning 'lead the way'. The name was suggested independently by three pupils across the country.
The 1.8-metre SumbandilaSat weighs 80 kilograms and plans call for its launch from a submarine in Russia's Barents Sea in December 2006. The satellite has a low orbit and will be used for research into fields such as geographical mapping,  telecommunications and broadcasting, climatic studies, disaster management and more. The launch is seen as an important milestone for South Africa's utilization of space resources.  The constructor, SunSpace, also built SA's first low orbiting satellite in 1999. Photo at left: SunSpace

Tecnical details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumbandila

2. Astronomy news from around the world

An artist's concept of a Jupiter-mass planet orbiting Epsilon Eridani.

Seeing an exoplanet within reach
Space Telescope Science Institute News release - 9 October 2006. Read full article

Together with Earth-based telescopes, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided scientists definitive evidence for the existence of the nearest extrasolar planet to our own solar system.  Planets orbiting other stars are also referred to as "exoplanets".

This Jupiter-sized world orbits the star Epsilon Eridani, which is a mere 10.5 light-years away. The exciting news is that the planet is so close that it might be observable by Hubble and large ground-based telescopes in late 2007, when the planet makes its closest approach to Epsilon Eridani during its 6.9-year orbit.

As at 2 October 2006, 208 exoplanets have been discovered. More about exoplanets:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasolar_planet

Artist rendering of a black hole. A black hole is the remnant of an incredibly big star that came to the end of its life. Photo: NASA

Supermassive Black Holes on Swift roll-call
Goddard Space Flight Center News Release, 7 October 2006. Adapted from full article.

NASA scientists using the Swift satellite have conducted the first complete census of galaxies with active supermassive black holes, over a nine-month period.  The survey detected more than 200 supermassive black holes called Active Galactic Nuclei, or AGN, and provides a definitive census of black hole activity in the local universe (within 400 million light years from our solar system).


AGN's have a mass of millions to billions of suns, which are confined within a region about the size of our solar system. The term "active" refers to the process of actively pulling in gas and even whole stars and generating large amounts of energy in the process (e.g. like quasars and Seyfert galaxies). Nearly every massive galaxy seems to have a supermassive black hole, but only a few percent appear to be active. Our galaxy's central black hole is dormant, and this and similar black holes are not included in the Swift census.

All black holes were likely once active, and why some remain active and others are dormant in the modern, local universe is a mystery.

Other news:

Space Tourist returns home - 28 September 2006
A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying outgoing space station commander Pavel Vinogradov, NASA flight engineer Jeff Williams and space tourist Anousheh Ansari undocked from the international lab complex and returned to Earth end of September 2006: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp13/060928landing.html


Mars Rovers, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey Orbiter missions extended - 26 Sep 2006
The missions of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, (which arrived at Mars in January 2004), won approval for an additional year of exploration.  NASA is also adding two more years of operations for Mars Global Surveyor, which has been orbiting Mars since 1997. The Mars Odyssey orbiter also got a one-year extension, it's been at Mars since 2001.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0609/26rovers/

3. Interesting Space Facts

Credit: Herschel Space Observatory
http://herschel.jpl.nasa.gov/farIRandSubmm.shtml

Beyond visible light

- Stars and other bodies in space emit radiation in a range of different wavelengths.  Humans can see the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.  Special telescopes on the other hand, can even see in frequencies such as radio waves.

- Radio waves, microwaves, x-rays, gamma rays, and the spectrum of visible colors are all actually the same thing - electromagnetic energy. The difference lies with their wavelengths. Radio waves are long, measuring as much as hundreds of meters between peaks. Gamma ray wavelengths are very short on the other hand, sometimes as little as trillionths of a meter. From: http://herschel.jpl.nasa.gov/farIRandSubmm.shtml

- Optical, radio and some infrared rays can penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. In order to "see" cosmic rays in the form of Gamma rays, X-rays and UV rays (the shorter wavelengths), scientists launch sophisticated orbital space telescopes.

4. The Solar System: Venus

Venus from space. The atmosphere is so thick that you cannot see the surface. (JPL/NASA)

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "evening and morning star", although it is not a star at all! It is the brightest heavenly body after the Sun and Moon that we can see from Earth - time and again Venus has been mistaken for a 'UFO' because of its brightness and proximity to the horizon.

You will probably not want to go to Venus for a holiday. For a start, its surface temperature can reach an incredible 470 °C! (hottest of the planets, even hotter than Mercury). The atmospheric pressure alone is 90 times more than Earth's. When standing on Venus, it will feel as if you are 900 meters under the sea...  The atmosphere consists of 97% carbon dioxide and the upper part of sulphuric acid.

The surface is completely rocky and seismic-wise relatively quiet, but active volcanoes and lava flow are present. Life on Mars will have a hard time - it will not only be melted and fried, but also squashed and suffocated!

Nevertheless, Venus is still a very interesting planet. It has no moons, and is almost as big as the Earth. A day on Venus is equal to 243 Earth days (compared to Earth's 24 hours)! ESA's Venus Express is the satellite currently studying the planet from orbit.

5. Sky Observation Log

Planets - October 2006
Mercury is visible in the evening sky just above the western horizon for the entire month. Venus and Mars are too close to the sun for proper observation. Earth is that quaint bluish little rock hanging in space about 150 million km away from its star. Next time you visit it, try some yummy potjiekos. Jupiter shines bright in the evening sky towards the west, for the whole month. Saturn is visible in the morning sky.
Uranus is in Aquarius, magnitude 5.8. It will look like a star through a binocular - the disc will start to resolve through an 8 inch telescope.
Neptune is in Capricornus, magnitude 7.8.  A telescope is required, but don't expect to see the disc with a small one!
Pluto is in Ophiuchus, just over magnitude 14. Use a large telescope with camera equipment and observe over a period of time!

Constellations - October 2006
Find Pegasus (the Flying Horse) in the north-east later in the evening. It's not difficult to learn. Below Pegasus very close to the horizon is the constellation of Andromeda, famous for housing the farthest object visible with the naked eye: Andromeda Galaxy (M31)...

Other night sky events
- Full Moon on 7 October 2006. New Moon on 22 October 2006.
- The Orionid Meteor shower peaks on the morning of 21 October 2006. Under a dark sky, expect up to 20-30 meteors an hour.

Deep Sky Delights - October 2006
Star Birds of Paradise and objects in Phoenix - a wonderful account of the birds in the sky! http://assa.saao.ac.za/html/deepsky_delights_2006_october.html

Watching the International Space Station from your back yard
Did you know that you can look at the ISS, the Hubble Space Telescope and Iridium Flares from your home in the city? Select your neighbourhood from www.heavens-above.com and off you go!

The Power of Binoculars
Never underestimate the power of binoculars when it comes to astronomy. You will be amazed at how many stars and interesting objects you can see. A 10x50 binocular is a good choice while some amateur astronomers prefer a 12x50.

Stellarium
You will have to excuse me, but I'm going to make you crazy with Stellarium! This program is so incredible that I wish I could eat it. www.stellarium.org.

6. Amateur Astronomers' Corner

Variable Star Observations
An interesting pass time with a number of amateur astronomers is to observe variable stars. It is also an opportunity for an amateur to directly contribute to professional astronomical research. Although there haven't been (and still aren't) many active variable star observers, some of the greatest names in South African amateur astronomy was involved in variable star observations. You can also become involved and you don't even need expensive equipment (you can even observe variables from your back yard).

Variable stars are stars that change in brightness and some changes can be detected over a period of time even with the naked eye. Over 30,000 variable stars are known and catalogued (source), and many thousands more are suspected to be variable. There are a number of reasons why variable stars change their brightness. Have you ever looked at the star Mira in Cetus? Come back in a few months' time and you won't believe your eyes!

Why observe them? According to the AAVSO website: "Variable stars need to be systematically observed over decades in order to: determine the long-time behavior of a star, provide professional astronomers with data needed to analyze variable star behavior, to schedule observations of certain stars, to correlate data from satellite and ground-based observations, and to make computerized theoretical models of variable stars".

South Africans can contact the Director of ASSA's variable star section, Brian Fraser, for more information: http://assa.saao.ac.za/html/36_variablestarsection.html
You can also find a wealth of information, including tips on how to start on AAVSO's website: http://www.aavso.org/vstar/

7. Astronomy in Southern Africa

Part of the core of the SKA - artist concept. Credit: SKA.

South Africa shortlisted to host the Square Kilometer Array (SKA)
SKA press release, 28 September 2006: http://www.ska.ac.za/press/28092006.html

South Africa and Australia have been selected from 4 countries to possibly host the SKA project. News about the two runner-ups came on 28 September 2006. The SKA will be the largest radio telescope the world has ever seen. It will be a great scientific step forward for the country that gets the honour.

The price tag is about R10 billion. The SKA will consist of many small antennas, with a dense inner core that becomes further apart as you move away from the centre.

Hosting the SKA in South Africa will boost the development of high level skills and cutting edge technology infrastructure and will also attract expertise and collaborative projects to the continent. (SKA website).

Telescopes on the observation platform at Boyden during the Symposium. Hannes Pieterse.

7th ASSA Symposium held in Bloemfontein South Africa
ASSA held their 7th national astronomy symposium at Boyden Observatory, Bloemfontein. The event was attended mostly by amateur astronomers from all over South Africa and also professional astronomers. The international guest was Dr. Patrick Seitzer of the University of Michigan in the USA. Official website: http://www.assabfn.co.za/symposium2006/

Information about the Symposium has been posted on the national ASSA website, as conveyed in the October issue of ASSA's National web news:

- Feedback on the Symposium by Magda Streicher
- ASSA awards and certificates handed out at the Symposium
- 4 asteroids discovered at Boyden given names during Symposium, of which one was named after Mark Shuttleworth
- Project 27: the dream to establish the largest educational telescope in SA at Boyden
- Actual program of events and list of speakers

8. Astronomy events in Bloemfontein

Boyden Open Evening/Ope-aand: Saturday 14 October 2006 / Saterdag 14 Oktober 2006

Plek: Boyden Sterrewag, Bloemfontein (bo Maselspoort).
Tyd: 18h30 vir 19h00
Koste: R30 per voertuig
Bespreking noodsaaklik: 051-401 2322
Die tema vir die aand is “Waarnemings van die Son: naaste ster aan die Aarde”. Die spreker is Mnr. Jacques van Delft, direkteur van die nasionale sterrekunde vereniging (ASSA) se Son afdeling. Besoekers kan deur teleskope kom kyk en sal konstellasie toeligtig ontvang. Indien dit bewolk is gaan die aand steeds voort.

Venue: Boyden Observatory, Bloemfontein (above Mazelspoort)
Time: 18h30 for 19h00
Cost: R30 per vehicle
Reservations: 051-401 2322
The theme for the evening is “Observations of the Sun: closest star to the Earth”.  The speaker is Mr. Jacques van Delft, director of the national astronomy society’s Solar Section (ASSA). Visitors can also look through telescopes and will receive a constellation show.
In the event of clouds the evening will go ahead.

Space Scientists to give talks at UFS: Sunday 15 October 2006

Venue: CR Swart Auditorium, UFS campus, Bloemfontein
Time: 19h30
Cost: Free
As part of Astronomy Month 2006 two space scientists are presenting talks in Bloemfontein. Dr. Sima Adhya from the UK presents a talk entitled "Between a Rock and a Hard Place": how we know the Universe is expanding, the formation of solar systems, including planets, moons and asteroids. She has worked for NASA and is currently involved in an ESA project to deflect an asteroid.

Dr. Lerothodi Leeuw's talk is entitled "Observational Study of Cosmic Dust in our Galaxy and other nearby Galaxies". He will speak on and show images about his astrophysical research on cosmic dust in the sky. He will further discuss some of the latest findings about the field and how SALT and SKA can be used for such research.

9. Photo Sense

Dome of the 60 inch UFS-Boyden telescope at Boyden Observatory, Bloemfontein, photo taken by Hannes Pieterse on 28 September 2006 during the ASSA Symposium. The telescope is also the 3rd largest optical telescope in South Africa and is used in professional research projects (the search for exoplanets being the main focus). The South celestial pole is visible directly above the dome.