Prof. Tom Hartquist is an astro-physics specialist from the University of Leeds and will be visiting us on Monday 13th May 2013 to give a talk on Stars and Planetary Formation.

Tom Hartquist studied at Harvard where he later worked as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1980 he was awarded a Royal Society Jaffe Donation Fellowship to conduct research in University College London. Subsequently, he became a senior scientist in a Max Planck Institute, part of what is generally considered the leading European scientific establishment outside the UK. His first work in astrophysics was in cosmology, but he became more fascinated in problems concerning how molecules regulate stellar birth and stellar death and how magnetic fields affect the dynamics of astrophysical sources. He has worked on the acceleration of cosmic rays and how they contribute to the support of plasma high above the disk of the Galaxy, atmospheric physics, lightning in the protoSolar nebula, starburst galaxies and many other topics. He has edited and authored several highly regarded books for Cambridge and Oxford University Presses.

Here are some web pointers to wet your appetite;

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBiU-mMfxzU - A YouTube preview of Prof. Hartquist
• http://www.ast.leeds.ac.uk/staff/hartquist.html - University webpage with links to his publications
• http://www.ast.leeds.ac.uk/research/starplanetform.html - Leeds University page on Star and Planetary Formation
• http://www.nrao.edu/index.php/learnsciencestarandplanetformation - Article from the NRAO on Star and Planet Formation

Hope to see many of you there.

Don't forget it is a combined bat watch / sky watch tomorrow night in Pearson Park. The bat watch is first and then hopefully after watching these extraordinary flying mammals the scopes will be set up and the sky will be clear to do a bit of planet & star spotting.

Obviously the sky watching bit is when it gets dark. Normally the astronomers pitch is towards the Pearson Park Hotel but you should easily be able to spot the scopes.

If you are going why not post a follow up.

There is a good article on the JPL website about the latest predictions for Comet Pan-STARRS.  Obviously USA based website but I still think it is applicable to us (can anybody comment on this point?).

Hopefully, the weather will be kind!



http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-088&cid=release_2013-088

Our next talk will be by Dr Arthur Speed of HERAS on "Imaging the Solar System".  The talk will be on Monday, 11th March 2013 at 7:30pm.

I have had a sneak preview of some of the images Arthur will be using to illustrate his talk and they look fantastic.  If you are interested in how to image our Solar System neighbours better or if you just like looking at great pictures this is a great one for you!

To give you a glimpse of the quality here is an image of Jupiter and Europa that Arthur recently took;



Details of this image are in our imaging forum at http://www.heras.org.uk/index.php?topic=789.0  where you can find a lot more of Arthur's work and many other talented imagers too.

We look forward to seeing many of you there.

All talks are at the University of Hull, LT27, Wilberforce Building.  Talks start at 7:30pm. Please arrive promptly.

A good article on the comet from One-Minute Astronomer
 

-- article --
 
The sky this month features Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) as it swings around the Sun and finally reveals itself to northern observers.  While the comet isn't quite living up to expectations, it should still be easily visible in binoculars and possibly with the unaided eye.  For northern observers, the comet lies about a fist-width above the western horizon just after sunset.  It becomes most accessible from March 8-20. 
 
There are also two bright planets in the night sky this month, the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north, and many of us lose an hour's sleep as the clocks move forward for much of the world...
Here's what to see in the night sky this month...

http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/sky-this-month/
 
Clear skies,
 
Brian Ventrudo
Publisher, One-Minute Astronomer
 
** "What To See In A Small Telescope" takes you to more than 100 deep-sky sights in the night sky from January through March. Includes maps and instructions to find every object, and tips on what to look for. Now available at Stargazer University.  Click below to learn more...
 
http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/what-to-see-small-telescope-january/

Dear fellow astronomer,

We have organised our annual meal and would like to invite you and your partner to a relaxed evening for food an astronomical related chat.

The meal will be at The Old Grey Mare pub (full details below) on Friday 8th March starting at 7:30pm.

If you would like to attend please email me with the names of the people coming with you (so I don't get double bookings).  Please ensure I email you back to ensure that I have received your email.  My email address is;

mark.HERAS@merrydowncontrolware.co.uk

If you like you can also post a follow up to this posting so that your HERAS friends can see you are going.  But email is the way to book so please email too.

I have attached the menu, from which you can order on the night.  Please note there may be a slight change to the menu as I think they will be doing an update in the near future but I suspect it will be very similar.

Old Grey Mare
193 Cottingham Road,
Hull

http://www.flaminggrillpubs.com/pub/old-grey-mare-hull/m6968/
Opposite the University main entrance.

Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=HU5+2EG&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=76.273886,156.005859&hnear=HU5+2EG,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=17


Hoping to see many of you there.

Very best wishes,
The HERAS Committee

Good article from One-Minute Astronomer...

http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/7449/armchair-astronomy-1/

If you’re going to be an armchair astronomer this weekend, here are two excellent links to keep your mind sharp and take you to two very different worlds within our own solar system…

First, here’s a link to a live video feed from the Clay Center Observatory near Boston, MA.  They plan to broadcast the passage of that pesky little asteroid 2012 DA14 as it passes the Earth tomorrow night:

http://bit.ly/Yal83D

Look for the link to the observatory’s Ustream channel… that is where you will see the broadcast.  It  begins at 6 p.m.  EST on Feb. 15, 2013.

Next stop for armchair astronomers: an interactive panorama of the so-called “John Klein” drilling site of the Mars Curiosity Rover.  Here you can pan, tilt, zoom and generally get an amazing view of a little piece of the floor of the Gale Crater on Mars.  As I played with this panorama this afternoon, I half-expected see a band of camel-mounted Bedouin emerge over a hill, snapped and frozen on this barren terrain like passersby in a Google street view…

http://www.360cities.net/image/mars-panorama-curiosity-solar-day-177#285.43,-3.46,59.1

And here’s a bonus for Valentine’s day… a lovely view of the Rosette Nebula by the astrophotographer Terry Hancock, assembled from a series of images taken late last year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryhancock/8462017437/in/photostream

I have just read about Comet Pan-STARS which will be in our skies in March and if we are lucky it will put on a spectacular show for us.  What is great is that there will be another comet which may put on a fantastic show in November (Comet ISON) so this will be a good way to ignite an interest in Comet spotting. 

If members could post follow up items about the comet and its position please post them here to share with everyone and if you take any pictures it would be much appreciated if you posted them in our image gallery forum http://www.heras.org.uk/index.php?board=29.0

The full article is at;

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/06feb_panstarrs/

Comet Pan-STARRS was discovered by the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System atop the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii. Astronomers use the massive 1.8 meter telescope to scan the heavens for Earth-approaching objects, both asteroids and comets, that might pose a danger to our planet. In June 2011 a comet appeared, and it was named "Pan-STARRS" after  the acronym for the telescope.

In early March, the comet will pass about 100 million miles from Earth as it briefly dips inside the orbit of Mercury.  Most experts expect it to become a naked-eye object about as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper.

-[snip]-

The best dates to look may be March 12th and 13th when Pan-STARRS emerges in the western sunset sky not far from the crescent Moon. A comet and the Moon, together, framed by twilight-blue is a rare sight.  "My guess is that the primary feature visible to the naked eye will be the gaseous coma around the head of the comet,” says Knight. “The comet's tail will probably require binoculars or a small telescope."

Two other key dates are March 5th when the comet comes closest to Earth (about 100 million miles away) and March 10th, when the comet comes closest to the sun.  The dose of solar heating it receives just inside the orbit of Mercury could be just what the comet needs to push it into the realm of naked-eye visibility.

Please note I have been trying to send out an email to all HERAS members but there seems to be an issue therefore please can you pass on the change of speaker details to people you know just in case they don't read this forum post.

Thank you.

Our next talk was going to be on Dark Energy but the speaker has had to cancel his visit so the February talk will be by Dr Michael Martin-Smith of HERAS on "The Asteroids - Past, Present and Future".  The talk will be on Monday, 11th February 2013 at 7:30pm.  Thank you very much Michael for stepping into the breach it is much appreciated.

I know many of you were interested in this subject and I will try to get a speaker on this for the 2013/14 programme of talks but I am sure that a talk on asteroids will be interesting too and to get you briefed up I have a couple of links that you might like to follow before the talk.

Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid

Article on asteroids with particular emphasis on Earth impacts: http://www.cosmicelk.net/asteroids.htm

A History Channel short on an asteroid that may hit us in 2036: http://www.history.com/shows/the-universe/videos/the-next-asteroid-impact#the-next-asteroid-impact


A BBC Radio 4 programme on asteroids: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9kh

A BBC guide to asteroids: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/other_solar_system_bodies/asteroid


We look forward to seeing many of you there.


All talks are at the University of Hull, LT27, Wilberforce Building.  Talks start at 7:30pm. Please arrive promptly.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England and requesting the publics help to do a star count between 8th February and th 16th February - don't worry it is not all of them they want you to count!  It is just the ones in the Orion constellation.  Full details are on the website with an extract following.  All people who help will have an entry to win a telescope.

Website: http://www.cpre.org.uk/what-we-do/countryside/dark-skies/update/item/3169-star-count-2013

Extract from CPRE website ...

"Please help us with the 2013 Star Count - our cosmic census. It’s easy to do, wonderful fun, and you need have no existing knowledge of the night sky – just the ability to count, and five minutes of spare time.

To join our 2013 Star Count, simply go out after dark any time between Friday 8 and Saturday 16 February, and count the number of stars you can see within the four corner points of the Orion constellation – the great hunter. The easiest way to find Orion is to look in the southwest sky (the same direction that household satellite dishes face). You are looking for three bright stars close together in an almost-straight line. These three stars represent Orion's belt. The two bright stars to the north are his shoulders and the two to the south are his feet, you don’t need to count the corner points, just the stars you can see within them – see illustration.

Afterwards, please enter your survey results online. Seeing more than thirty stars within Orion means you’re lucky enough to have truly dark skies; fewer than ten indicates severe light pollution. You can submit a star count from anywhere in the UK or even another country although we will only plot the results from the UK on our map.

Please only submit one star count unless you are submitting other counts from different locations.

Tell us your star count and enter our prize draw

Once you have done your star count, make sure you come back to the website where you can submit your results. We'll be collecting all the star count results from across the country and publishing a star count map to show where the darkest skies were with the most visible stars. You'll also have the chance to win a fantastic telescope which will take you right up close to the planets in the solar system.
Win a fantastic telescope

The AstroMaster Series telescopes produce bright, clear images of the moon and planets. It is easy to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with every one of these fine instruments. The lucky winner of our Star Count telescope prize, generously supplied by David Hinds Ltd, will be able to go on on a fascinating journey into astronomy from their home.

Even if you don't scoop the first prize, you can still be in with a chance to win one of ten runner-up prizes of the Stargazers' Almanac 2013 generously supplied by Floris Books, a beautiful month-by-month guide to the night skies. The guide is ideal for newcomers to star-gazing and helps you enjoy the night sky with the naked eye - without a telescope."

I have just received the invite for this years Star Party at Dalby Forest.  It is well worth the effort in going because if the seeing gods are in good spirits you will get an excellent view of the night sky and it is a very friendly atmosphere and you will make lots of new astro buddies.

Booking form attached


-- message from Mell of Scarborough & Ryedale Astronomical Society --

Hello Everyone
 
Come and join members of Scarborough & Ryedale Astronomical Society for their 13th Annual Starfest under some of the darkest skies in England. The event runs from the 9th August 2013 to the 12th August 2013, 3 nights.
 
Dalby Forest has recently been awarded the Milky Way class by Dark Sky Discovery and as you will be aware, the Milky Way and all it has to show, is a fantastic sight from Adderstone field.
 
We are again allowing you to arrive on the Thursday, 8th August, for an extra charge, but please note you are not allowed onto the site until 5pm.
 
We are organising a hogroast for the Friday evening, we do need to know a month before the event if you wish to partake of this as we need to inform the hogroast company of numbers (same company as last year seeing as you all enjoyed it, some going back for 3rds!).
 
We are also organising some speakers for over the weekend too, however, if you are able to give a talk if the weather is not favourable for observing, then do lets us know as we shall pencil you in.
 
We will also have the Elsan tanks for chemical toilet waste again this year for those of you with caravans / motorhomes.
 
A booking form has been attached. Please send, with remittance, to the address in the letter. Confirmation of bookings will be made via email within 10 days of receipt. If you have sent a booking and not heard anything after that time, please do get in touch. Information for Starfest booking will be emailed nearer the time and your hogroast tickets and car passes will be sent by post.
 
If you have any queries, please do get in touch.
 
Cheers
Mell Jeffery
 
Mell Jeffery, F.R.A.S.
Treasurer of Scarborough & Ryedale Astronomical Society
 
   http://www.scarborough-ryedale-as.org.uk
   https://www.facebook.com/ScarboroughRyedaleAstronomicalSociety
   https://twitter.com/scarbastro
 
Registered Charity Number 1092385 in England and Wales

Dear Hull and East Riding Astronomical Society

I am delighted to be hosting an Astronomy Holiday Course for Beginners at Cubertou in SW France from 8th - 14th Sept 2013.
Cubertou is an idyllic venue in an area of low light pollution in SW France.

The tutor is Gary Gawthrope, currently serving as president of the Federation of Astronomical Societies.

Cubertou has been home to various Art and Music courses in the past but as so many of our guests are spell bound by the night skies we have decided to include an Astronomy Holiday with this year's courses.

I was wondering whether you think your members might be interested in this event and if so, whether you might include a few words and/or a link to our webpage in your website or a mention in your newsletter please? Ideally ….'Astronomy Holiday Course for Beginners at Cubertou in SW France from 8th - 14th Sept 2013 with Gary Gawthrope', linking to www.cubertou.com/astronomy/

Your assistance in spreading the word would be very much appreciated.

Best wishes

Elizabeth Cutts ARCM
Manager Proprietor SARL Cubertou

Holiday Courses for Adults
Lot Valley, SW France

tel: + 44 (0) 777 5898 723
web: www.cubertou.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/cubertou
post: 27 Battledean Road, London N5 1UX

Dear all,

I have been asked to pass this on to you - a chance to meet a real astronaut!

See attached for full details but in summary (or http://www.space-lectures.com);

Dates: Friday, March 15th 7pm & Saturday, March 16th 5pm

With autograph and photograph opportunities around these times.

A dinner also available if required.

We are going to hold one of our popular public astronomy sessions with our friends from Friends of Pearson Park who have organised a bat watch event too.  The event will be on the evening of Wednesday 1st May 2013.

Just in case you don't know where Pearson Park is here is the Google map for it;

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pearson+Park%2C+Hull%2C+United+Kingdom&hl=en&sll=37.0625%2C-95.677068&sspn=78.813226%2C106.523437&oq=pearson+park&hnear=Pearson+Park%2C+Hull%2C+Kingston+upon+Hull+HU5%2C+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=17


For those that haven't been before the idea is that you come along and walk around the park spotting bats and learning more of their behaviour with the Friends of Pearson Park. While you are doing that we are setting up our telescopes so that when you return we are ready for a spot of public astronomical observing.

The rough schedule is;

7.15pm meet at Pearson Park Hotel to set up display

7.45pm Open to public

8.45pm Bat Walk

9.45pm Star Watch



If you have a telescope and are happy to bring it so that the public can use it please do. I would suggest just bring minimum equipment though - the viewing in Pearson Park is very much restricted to the brighter objects and also being a public place you have to keep an eye on your equipment.

Even if you don't have a telescope or don't want to bring it along I would encourage you to attend. We need lots of people who know a bit to talk to the members of the public while they are waiting to use the scopes and all your help will be much appreciated.

Obviously subject to weather conditions and I will attempt to keep you informed via this site or our main HERAS site (www.heras.org.uk)

Hope to see many of you there and if you are thinking of coming please could you post a follow up so we can get some ideas of numbers.