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CalTech

Number 9? In January, scientists announced there may be a large planet in our Solar System lurking beyond the Kuiper Belt.

Journal of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York
February 2016 V
olume 65 Number 2; ISSN 0146-7662

An Astronomical Year for Astrophotography
AAA LECTURE SERIES By Rafael Ferreira "2015 was one amazing year for astronomy photography. We live in a really fortunate time," said Robert Nemiroff, as he introduced a presentation of NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day website's best images of the year at the American Museum of Natural History on Jan 8 for AAA's 2015-2016 Lecture Series. And he didn't disappoint. 2015's photos were revelatory and awe-inspiring. Nemiroff, who is now at Michigan Technological University, co-founded the website with Jerry Bonnell 20 years ago, when they worked together at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Their concept was simple, "Just f eature a new image each day." Back in 1995, they and their colleagues were privy to many images of space, emailed to each other across the internet at a rate comparable to today's high-speed internet ­ another AAA Member Stan Honda's photo of the Mar 20, 2015 Total Solar Eclipse was fea- NASA perk. tured among the best APOD pics of 2015. The site requires a lot of work from Nemiroff and Bonnell, but it is a labor of love. They select each featured image and post them with proper credit and a brief description that they write themselves. They create the blurbs with a variety of viewers in mind, from grade-school kids to professional astronomers. Hyperlinks to definitions of terms and concepts are also provided. But APOD does not offer just one image. It allows viewers to access the archive of its history, comprising some of the greatest and most iconic images of our universe. Many APOD images are supplied by amateur astronomers, and Nemiroff encouraged us all to submit. APOD is the second most visited NASA website, behind the space agency's homepage, with about a million views a day. Nemiroff explained this was due to an army of volunteers around the world who translate the website into over 20 languages and link APOD with Facebook and Twitter. Some
Best of APOD 2015 (cont'd on Page 4)

NYC Company Leads in Space Tech: Honeybee Robotics on Mars
OUT OF THIS WORLD By Stanley Fertig "It's OK to touch it," said John Abrashkin, Director of Business Development at Honeybee Robotics. And with his permission, I placed my hands on the Sprit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers' Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT). Or rather, I was able to feel and examine a model of a RAT during a tour of Honeybee's Brooklyn Navy Yard headquarters on January 18. That day, I was fortunate to be one of only a 9-person group allowed to visit to the New York City company's facility for a presenCourtesy of Honeybee Robotics tation and demonstration Honeybee's Rock Abrasion Tool on of its current and future the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers. space technologies. Honeybee Robotics (www.HoneybeeRobotics.com) is a cutting-edge developer of instruments for use in space exploration and in other industries. Their customers include corporations like Boeing, Merck, and Con Edison, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other space -related organizations. I first became aware of Honeybee from its frequent mention on Planetary Radio, the weekly podca st of the P la neta r y Society. But many space enthusiasts are unfamiliar with the company, despite the fact that most of us have certainly seen photos of their tools at work on Mars, usually captured in spacecraft selfies. So, allow me to introduce you to Honeybee, a leader in space technology and planetary exploration that's been buzzing about in your own back yard. Founded in 1983 by two entrepreneurs, Stephen Gorevan and Chris Chapman, the company was originally located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. For the past decade, it was based on Courtesy of Honeybee Robotics West 34th Street, but it Mars Phoenix Lander with Honeybee's Icy Soil Acquisition Device (ISAD). recently moved to its
Honeybee Robotics (cont'd on Page 4)

THIS MONTH: A A A L ect ur e on Feb 5; R egist r at ion op en for A A A Sp r ing A st r onom y C lass, b egins Feb 24


February 2016

WHAT'S UP IN THE SKY
AAA Observers' Guide
By Tony Faddoul

Cosmic Valentines
Valentine's Day doesn't have to be just an Earthly celebration this February 14. You can spread your love on a universal scale with beautiful nebulae in the spirit of the holiday ­ the red rose of the Rosette Nebula, and the glowing heart of the Heart Nebula. The Rosette Nebula About 5,000 light-years from Earth lies Caldwell 49, the flower-shaped Rosette Nebula. Its "petals" are formed by stellar wind from the cenAndreas Fink-Wikimedia tral open star cluster Caldwell 49, the Rosette Nebula. Caldwell 50, or NGC 2244. Those hot young stars are only a few million years old. The surrounding nebula glows red from H II emissions, lit by radiation from the young stars. The Rosette itself is actually defined by four nebulae designated NGC 2237, NGC 2238, NGC 2239, and NGC 2246, which were discovered at different times. They were charted visually over the past 200 years before astronomers realized they were part of one nebula. The Rosette is famous for its numerous newborn stars. The star-forming region in the petals is estimated to host 2,500 young stars. This stellar nursery is about 10,000 solar masses and 50 light-years in diameter. Can I see the rose? The Rosette Nebula is not visible to the naked eye, but you can see it with binoculars towards the constellation Monoceros the Unicorn. The Heart Nebula IC 1805, or Sharpless 2190, is known as the Heart Nebula. 7,500 light-years away in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, it is also an emission nebWikimedia ula, glowing with red light IC 1805, the Heart Nebula. emitted by atomic hydrogen. The intense color and distinctive shape of the Heart is produced by radiation from a small group of massive, hot, young stars near its center, open cluster Melotte 15 . The Heart Nebula has a companion to its east, the Soul Nebula ­ together they are known as the Heart and Soul. Sometimes called the Embryo Nebula, the Soul complex is designated as Westerhout 5, Sharpless 2-199, or LBN 667, but it is commonly referred to as IC 1848, a star cluster embedded inside. Can I see the heart? The Heart Nebula is too faint to be seen by naked eye. You'll need a telescope to view it. The Heart can be found between constellations Cassiopeia and Perseus.
Sources: atlasoftheuniverse.com; nasa.gov. Follow veteran sky watcher Tony Faddoul each month, as he points our minds and our scopes toward the night sky.

February's Evening Planets: Neptune is in Aquarius
the Water Bearer until 7 PM, setting earlier every night until 6 PM by the end of February. Uranus is in Pisces the Fish until 11 PM, setting earlier toward 9 PM through the month. Jupiter will be between Virgo the Virgin and Leo the Lion as of 8 PM, rising earlier every night toward 6 PM at the end of the month.

February's Evening Stars: The Winter Triangle will
be up until midnight this month: Sirius, the brightest star viewed from Earth, is in Canis Major the Great Dog; Betelgeuse is in Orion the Hunter; and Procyon is in Canis Minor the Small Dog. Spot Rigel in Orion, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Aldeberan in Taurus the Bull, and bright Castor and Pollux in Gemini the Twins. Also find the stars of constellations Cassiopeia, Perseus, Cepheus, Draco, Leo, Cancer, and Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).

February's Morning Planets: Venus will be moving
between Sagittarius the Archer and Capricornus the Sea -goat from 5 AM until sunrise. Mars will be in Libra the Scales as of midnight, lingering until sunrise. Jupiter can be seen between Virgo and Leo until sunrise. Mercury is between Sagittarius and Capricornus around 6 AM. Saturn will be in Scorpio the Scorpion as of 3 AM until sunrise.

February's Morning Stars: For a couple hours before
sunrise, see the Summer Triangle of Vega in Lyra the Harp, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, and Altair in Aquila the Eagle. Look for Capella in Auriga, reddish Antares in Scorpius, Castor and Pollux in Gemini, Arcturus in BoЖtes the Herdsman, and Spica in Virgo, along with the stars of constellations Leo, Hercules, Libra, Cancer, Corona Borealis, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.

February "Skylights"
Feb 2 Feb 6 Feb 8 Mars 3° south of Moon, pre-dawn Venus 3° south of Moon, pre -dawn New Moon at 9:39 AM

Feb 10 Moon at perigee (226,400 miles away) Feb 15 First Quarter Moon at 2:45 PM Feb 23 Jupiter 1.7° north of Moon, pre-dawn Feb 22 Full Moon at 1:20 AM Feb 26 Moon at apogee (251,800 miles away)
Times given in EST.

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February 2016

Astrophotography: It's All in the Planning
FOCUS ON THE UNIVERSE By Stan Honda Fortunately for stargazers and astrophotographers, the movements of the universe are fairly regular. Star charts and online planetarium programs can give you an idea of what will be present in the sky on a given night. Barring clouds or other obstructions, you should be able to see most objects as predicted, whether they be a planetary conjunction, satellite transit, eclipse, or other celestial event. Thankfully, such charts and programs can make planning a shoot pretty straightforward. For the January alignment of the crescent Moon, Venus, and Saturn, I started with a chart on the S k y & T elescope M agaz ine website in the "This Week's Sky at a Glance" feature. It showed that the pre -dawn Moon on Jan 6 would be above the planets, but it would be within just a few degrees of them the next morning. The Moon and the brighter planets are easy to see and photograph in our light-polluted New York City, so I decided to plan a shoot for Jan 7. But, I needed to do a bit more research. Available online is the free planetarium software S tellarium (www.stellarium.org). Stellarium showed tha t the MoonSaturn-Venus trio would be rising in the southeast. Applying the altitude-azimuth grid overlay and setting the program's clock to the early morning of Jan 7, I saw that the Moon would be positioned in the southeastern sky at five degrees above the horizon at 5:24 AM. Venus was three degrees higher than the Moon and just six degrees toward south. Saturn would be between the two, slightly higher than the Moon and slightly lower than Venus, creating a nice triangle.

adds some perspective and interest for a viewer. The running track around the Central Park reservoir provides clear views of either the east or west side of Manhattan ­ looking from across the reservoir, many buildings extend only about five degrees above the horizon. The TPE showed that the Moon would rise in the southeast directly across from any position along the west side of the reservoir.

Stan Honda

The Moon-Saturn-Venus conjunction over Manhattan, taken from the Central Park reservoir.

Stellarium

The Stellarium graphic for the early morning sky on Jan 7.

I then compared those measurements to the angular view of telephoto lenses and found that a 200mm lens on a fullframe digital camera takes in a view of seven degrees on the short side of the frame and 10 degrees on the long side. The rising trio would fit into this frame easily, with room to spare! Next, I turned to my favorite photo planning software, The Photographers Ephemeris (photoephemeris.com), or TPE, and searched for a good shoot location in the city. It is also important to consider a photo's composition when searching for the right spot. A nice foreground for night sky objects 3

Now to check the weather. The Clear Sky Chart (www.cleardarksky.com/csk) indicated only 10% cloud coverage from 5:00 AM to 6:00 AM on Jan 7. It sounded like a good time for a shoot! I arrived at the reservoir at 5:00AM, and the sky was quite clear, with just some thin clouds in the south. As I set up my camera and tripod, Venus was already up, and the Moon began peeking through the buildings across from me. About 20 minutes later, the Moon cleared the roof of a Fifth Avenue apartment building where I had aimed my camera. As the charts predicted, the crescent Moon, Saturn, and Venus were shining low on the horizon. I decided to set the zoom lens slightly wider at about 180mm to take in more of the foreground buildings. On my Sony a7S camera, exposure was 1 sec, f5 at ISO 6400. This overexposed the lit crescent of the Moon, but allowed the planets to shine brightly. I could also pick up the "earthshine" on the unlit portion of the Moon ­ the orb seemed to glow in the images. A bank of very thin clouds passed over the trio, creating a slight halo around the Moon but not obscuring Venus or Saturn. This added a nice element to the photo, reflecting the yellow-orange city lights. Some of the brighter stars nearby appeared in the photo; wider views captured Antares and part of Scorpius. This type of planning is pretty typical for the astrophotography I do, and for amateur astronomers, it's really an extension of information gathering for a general observing session. Of course, it's hard to plan a way to recover lost sleep from an early morning shoot. There's no software for that!

Explore more night sky photography at

www.stanhonda.com.
Submit your photography questions to

stanhonda@gmail.com.

Stan Honda is a professional photographer. Formerly with Agence France-Presse, Stan covered the Space Shuttle program. In his "Focus on the Universe" column, he shares his night sky images and explores his passions for astronomy and photography.


February 2016 Best of APOD 2015 (cont'd from Page 1) Honeybee Robotics (cont'd from page 1)

have even designed APOD apps for mobile devices. Nemiroff first revisited classic APODs from prior years. He shared a video from Jan 30, 2013 of a real-time Moonrise in New Zealand, where people were silhouetted by the enormous orb. The photographer was positioned on one hill with the foreground people atop another hill in the distance. The next image dated back to Jul 14, 2014 and featured a spectacular display of the Aurora Borealis in northern Canada. Turning to 2015, Nemiroff showed images of the Total Solar Eclipse on Mar 20, including a shot of observers witnessing the event in the sky above from Svalbard, Norway, taken by ESA/Rosetta/MPS On Nov 18, 2015, APOD posted AAA's Stan Honda. He also shared Thierry Legault's an photo by orbiting Rosetta spacecraft of a jet on Comet 67P, "double eclipse," a timebecoming active near perihelion. lapse composite of the International Space Station silhouetted as it crossed the Sun, while the Moon was still in the partial stage of the Solar Eclipse. ESA's Rosetta entered orbit at Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, and Nemiorff showed how its increasingly resolved photos revealed the comet's NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS/DLR/IDA odd double-lobe nucleus. APOD's Sep 16, 2015 highly reBut in 2015, things got really solved photo of mysterious spots interesting. As 67P neared on asteroid Ceres, now believed to be deposits of Epsom salt. the Sun in its orbit, it came alive. Rosetta caught images of sublimating ice jetting out gas and dust. Meanwhile last year, the Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around giant asteroid Ceres and spotted some strange white spots. The pixilated spots became more resolved throughout the year, and scientists determined they may be a magnesium sulfate called hexahydrate, otherwise known as Epsom salt. In 2015, Rosetta and Dawn gave us all the first up-close-and-personal views of these little understood primitive bodies from the early Solar System. Finally, Nemiroff turned to the most anticipated images of the evening, summed up in one word, "Pluto!" Before 2015, we could only dream of what it looked like ­ and nothing could NASA, Johns Hopkins U. APL, SwRI have prepared us for the reality. The mountains and plains of Images from the New Horizons Pluto, APOD Dec 14, 2015. spacecraft showed large, flat areas that are absent of craters. With a young surface, is there geologic activity on Pluto? Elsewhere, there is snakeskin-like terrain, and mountain ranges cascade upwards of 11,000 feet. Images will continue to pour in, and we can't wait! Nemiroff ended with the video "Wanderers," by Erik Wernquist, featuring a voiceover recording of Carl Sagan describing the potential of humanity. Thanks to APOD, we have a beautiful record of our astronomical achievements. 4

Brooklyn home. Honeybee also has satellite offices in Longmont, CO and Pasadena, CA, with the bulk of its planetary exploration work taking place out of the Pasadena facility. The RAT, which grinds holes and brushes away dust, was the fist machine to explore the interior of rocks on a different planet. Still in operation since Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004, it is Courtesy of Honeybee Robotics controlled today by HoneyPlanetVac by Honeybee Robotics. bee from its Brooklyn headquarters. The company also developed the Icy Soil Acquisition Device (ISAD), a scoop instrument on the 2008 Phoenix lander that was used to excavate dirt on the Martian surface. Honeybee's Sample Manipulation System (SMS) and the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) are essential components of the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, as it continues its exploration of the Red Planet. Currently, Honeybee is developing tools for future Mars and other planetary body exploration, including the PlanetVac and the Planetary Deep Drill, both recently featured on episodes of Planetary R adio. PlanetVac is an instrument for surface sampling of regolith or dirt using pneumatics. A puff of one gram of compressed gas can recover up to 5,000 grams of soil. Courtesy of Honeybee Robotics The Planetary Deep Drill is a tethered Honeybee's Planetary Deep Drill. robotic drill designed to bore thousands of feet below a planetary surface and deliver instruments into the borehole for in-situ analysis. Amazingly, it can do all this using only 250 watts of power. It is also specially designed to drill through water ice at low temperatures, a surface type that can be found at the Martian polar caps and on Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. This represents a qualitative leap in planetary exploration, as existing planetary drills, including that currently on the Mars rover Curiosity, are capable of drilling only a few centimeters. To advance the search for life in the Solar System and the study of planetary geology, a deep drilling capability is essential. Another Honeybee robot in design is the Asteroid Water Extractor, intended for a potential mission to water-rich asteroids. It would be able to drill and acquire icy soil samples from asteroids, Courtesy of Honeybee Robotics Artist's image of a future extract the water for later use, and Asteroid Water Extractor. dispose of the dry soil to prepare for another round of sample collection. Its architecture generates additional downforce to operate in microgravity, where drills require sufficient force to penetrate material that may be as hard as concrete. The future of planetary exploration, and maybe the discovery of life beyond Earth, will have Honeybee Robotics to thank ­ and I'm proud to know the Big Apple is a part of it.


February 2016

Snapping Space Selfies
WHAT IF??? By Richard Brounstein and Amy Wagner Our instant selfie-loving culture has come a long way since portrait sitters trembled during the minutes -long exposures of the first daguerreotypes in the 1800s. But even those early photographers knew they had a hit on their hands, a technology that feeds that conceited streak in the human psyche. We love to see ourselves on camera, and this remains true in the space age. We send spacecraft to the far reaches of our Solar System, equipped with cameras that not only image celestial objects for exploration, but also turn their lenses back to Earth. Those distant cameras may not be able to pick out individuals, but we get the chance to see the planet that represents all of humanity. We may have to wait hours or days for these photos, but no matter where we explore, we are drawn to look back at our home and take a picture. The first Earth selfie was taken before there were even satellites. The image was captured with a motion picture camera aboard a V-2 missile, launched from White Sands in White Sands Missile Range/Applied Physics Lab The first photo of Earth from space New Mexico. The scitaken October 24, 1946. entists and soldiers there were thrilled with their (classified) accomplishment. After the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik, and the public space age began, U.S. weather satellite TIROS-1 was launched to analyze cloud systems on Earth and to prove the value of spacecraft to meteorologists. It also snapped another black and white photo of Earth in 1960. Since then, thousands of satellites have been placed into Earth orbit, many collecting valuable data while also photographing our planet. Few images are more prized than those of our beautiful blue marble, a detail that later became apparent with color cameras. And while it may be conceited, Earth is arguably the most attractive planet out there. But even if it were not, it would still be a favorite of space paparazzi. Humans will always relate to Earth more than to the alien landscapes of other worlds, no matter how magnificent they may be. This was certainly true on December 24, 1968 during the first manned mission to orbit the Moon. Astronauts aboard Apollo 8 were the first to see the far side of the Moon, always hidden from Earth's view. That side faces away from us, because the Moon's rotation is synchronized with its orbit. With this new opportunity, NASA made sure the Apollo 8 crew had cameras ready to document that undiscovered half of the lunar surface. Yet, the most popuNASA/Bill Anders The "Earthrise" photo taken by Apollo lar photo taken from that 8 astronaut Bill Anders in1968. mission was not of new 5

sites of ancient craters and lunar lava plains, but one of the Earth rising over a desolate Moon. NASA hadn't requested these photos ­ after all, why take images of what we already knew from so far away? But when astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders saw the striking, colorful, living Earth rising beyond the dead, gray Moon, they couldn't help but try to capture it NASA/Goddard/Arizona State Univ. in photos and share them with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbitrest of humanity. "T he v ast lone- er updates "Earthrise" in 2015. liness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth," sa id Lovell, displa ying Bill Ander s' photo during the crew's live broadcast that Christmas Eve. What he expressed was a sensation referred to as the "Overview Effect," a profound, life-changing shift in awareness of the preciousness and fragility of Earth, experienced upon seeing it firsthand from space. The Apollo 8 crew gave humans the opportunity to feel the Overview Effect, which for many influenced their appreciation of Earth. The photo is often credited with inspiring the start of the environmental movement. In 2015, NASA operators had the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter take an up-to-date Earthrise photo from lunar orbit to refresh our memories and reinvigorate interest in our planet. Had robots been sent to the Moon on Apollo 8 instead of humans, they would have taken their pre-programmed lunar photos and humanity would have been deprived of this iconic image. Aesthetics are lost on machines. Only people know what can appeal visually to other people. Since the 1960s, robotic probes are relied on to explore the far -away celestial objects in our Solar System. And while they are not designed to collect data about Earth, scientists have programmed them to image the Earth from time to time. But the images of Earth as a fuzzy dot, taken from far flung regions of the Solar System cannot match the beauty of photos from the Moon and nearby satellites. They may not provoke the same sense of wonder about Earth, but they can serve to capture the public's imagination and interest in scientific study and exploration. In January 2014, the Curiosity rover snapped a photo of Earth from the surface of Mars. On the Red Planet, Earth looks like a featureless bright NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/TAMU star in its night sky. Yet The Curiosity rover took a photo of Earth from the surface of Mars in 2014. the idea that our nearest neighbor planet can see us, and that a robot we built is looking back at the home world of its human creators, continues to play on our conceit. The images of the Martian surface taken by rovers and landers reveal wonders of a planet we continue to explore, but the photos they take of Earth remind us of the significance of that exploration. As our space probes venture further and further away from Earth, we still want to have a snapshot of home. Why stop at Mars? Carolyn Porco, leader of the Imaging Team for


February 2016

the Cassini Spacecraft orbiting Saturn, decided to organize a selfie from a billion miles away. This time, we would have a chance to pose for the camera. Porco created a campaign that called on people to look up to the sky at the exact moment the image would be taken, and smile. At 5:30 PM NASA/JPL/SSI/CICLOPS EDT on July 19, 2013, "The Earth from Saturn's orbit, taken Day the Earth Smiled," milby Cassini on "The Day the lions said "cheese" for Cassini. Earth Smiled, July 19, 2013. "A f ter m uch w ork , the m osaic that marks that moment the inhabitants of Earth looked up and smiled at the sheer joy of being alive is finally here. In its combination of beauty and meaning, it is perhaps the most unusual image ever taken in the history of the space program," sa id P or co. Despite the ma ny a stonishing ima ges tha t Cassini has captured of Saturn and its fascinating moons, we will always treasure the photo of that smiling point of light between that planet's rings. The Cassini photo was inspired by "The Pale Blue Dot" image of Earth taken by Voyager 1 in February 1990 from beyond the orbit of Neptune. That selfie was proposed by Carl Sagan, but it was not intended to prove our space technology, inspire environmentalism, promote scientific exploration, or celebrate humanity, but rather to offer a more humbling perspective. "T he Earth is a v ery sm all stage in a v ast cosmic arena," Sa ga n wr ote, " Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves...There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known ." Like the tiny planet of Whoville in that speck of dust that only Horton can hear, we must come together as one to call out and work toward the preservation of our species. Are we finished taking space selfies? With Voyager 1 now in interstellar space, have we reached the limits of resolution to image Earth? It isn't NASA/JPL The "Pale Blue Dot" photo of Earth taken even a speck from from beyond Neptune by Voyager 1 in 1990. the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud. We will have to look for the bright Sun to represent us in any images. And if we ever send a spacecraft to another star system to explore and image its planets and moons, we might still see the dim light of our home star. Along with images of other systems that may harbor life, a photo of our own star would be a great accomplishment. By then, we may have found that life exists on other worlds in our Solar System. One of the most exciting selfies we take in the future could be a photo not of Earthlings, but of Solarians.
Sources: nasa.gov; space.com; planetary.org; universetoday.com.

...Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare. This is Major Tom to Ground Control I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today For here Am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world Planet Earth is blue And there's nothing I can do. Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles I'm feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go...

...That weren't no D.J. that was hazy cosmic jive. There's a starman waiting in the sky He'd like to come and meet us But he thinks he'd blow our minds There's a starman waiting in the sky He's told us not to blow it 'Cause he knows it's all worthwhile He told me Let the children lose it Let the children use it Let all the children boogie.

Goodbye to a Space Oddity and Starman. David Bowie, 1947-2016
6


February 2016

From the Ground Up
Record-setting Supernova is a Head Scratcher In January, astronomers announced they had seen the brightest supernova ever, shining with the light of 570 billion suns. 3.8 million light-years away, it was 200 times more powerful than typical supernovae and twice as bright as the brightest seen before. They believe it is a "superluminous supernovae," a recently discovered, rare type of stellar explosion. "S cientists are f rank ly at a loss, though, regarding w hat sorts of stars and stellar scenarios might be responsible for these extreme supernovae," sa id Subo Dong of P eking University, who first spotted the event in June last year. He observed it with the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASASSN) in Chile. ASASSN uses Nikon long-lens telescopes to search the sky for sudden bright events. The star, dubbed ASASSN-15lh, may have been 50-100 times the mass of the Sun but not much larger than the Earth when it exploded. Its afterglow is fading, and astronomers must learn what they can before the light goes out. It is similar to hydrogenpoor Type I supernovae, but it is bigger, brighter, and hotter. Its host galaxy is also bigger and brighter than those of a typical Type I. The supernova may have been supercharged by a highly magnetized, rapidly spinning object formed during the explosion. This m agnetar is small but The Dark Energy Survey / B. Shappee / The ASASSN Team very dense, Bright blue supernova ASASSN-15lh (right) out- spinning at shines its yellow host galaxy, imaged before (left). 1,000 times a second. As it slows, its rotational energy transfers into the expanding cloud of gas and dust from the explosion. AM W Source: earthsky.org; bbc.com; nationalgeographic.com .

Celestial Selection of the Month
Zeta Ophiuchi 460 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, a runaway star speeds through space, creating a hauntingly beautiful bow shock in infrared light. Zoom in g along at an unusually high velocity of 24 km/sec, Zeta Ophiuchi is thought to have been ejected from a NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope Stellar wind from bright, massive binary star system when its companion exploded in a runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi (center) curves the gas and dust ahead of it. supernova. Runaway stars are typically hot, massive O-type stars with surface temperatures of up to 50,000°C and sizes of up to 100 solar masses. They are also extremely bright. A hot, young star at only 3 million-years-old, Zeta Ophiuchi is 20 times more massive than the Sun and 65,000 times more luminous. It should be one of the brightest objects in our night sky, but this luminous, blue-white star, appears only dim and red to us in visible light, because it is obscured by clouds of gas and dust. Its strong stellar wind compresses the gas and dust that lies ahead of its path as it races through space, curv