october 2017 - bdas 2017 asv’s galactic ... those which were printed in the weekly news-magazine,...
TRANSCRIPT
October 2017
ASV’s Galactic Star Party & Swap Meet Leon Mow Dark Sky Site, Heathcote
Saturday 16th September
A party of a dozen BDAS members, now also members of the Astronomical Society of Victoria, ventured along to the ASV’s Leon Mow Dark Sky Site for the Galactic Star Party, our first event there since moving our Telescope shed and “Persephone” our 16” reflector to the LMDSS. John Llewelyn had recently restored Persephone and this was to be its first try out.
The daytime events included solar viewing, thanks to the ASV Solar Section and Russell Cockman, a barbecue dinner and a swap meet . We came armed with our surplus BDAS assets, wrapped up and ready for sale. Brien Blackshaw, Michael Goodwin and Ian Blume were on hand to “negotiate” given that disposal was more important than price! We did well, disposing of all of the larger items and a good number of bits and pieces. We collected $120.00 and were left with 8-9 small telescope accessories, an excellent result.
John Llewelyn was on hand to supervise the movement of Persephone onto the viewing oval and collimate our “Little Leviathan” (the ASV’s 25” monster was set up a few metres away) ready for our first night’s viewing at Leon Mow. We were not alone, there being a good number of fellow ASV members and their scopes around us. The atmosphere was friendly and convivial. A sunny, cool day was closing and the temperature was falling. While cloud was predicted later in the evening, the first few hours of Moonless dark looked promising.
Brien Blackshaw.
ASV’s Galactic Star Party & Swap Meet Leon Mow Dark Sky Site, Heathcote
Saturday 16th September Cont./-
More photos taken at the
ASV Galactic Star Party,
showing our container
in its new position, the
restored Persephone,
and in the photo below,
the ASV’s 25”.
Sunspots & Aurora John Wilkinson
Member John Wilkinson has done it again. He has taken a photos of our Sun showing the two cur-rent main sunspot groups. In his own words:
“Managed to get a lucky break in the clouds, rain and very windy conditions today. Yellow pic is at 540 nm to show sunspots, orange one is at Ha 656 nm to show flares. Flaring around AR 2673. Both single exposures with Canon 550d camera.
I’m also adding a NASA picture showing size of said same sunspot groups compared to Earth.
Remember 11 Earths equals one Jupiter”
Also 2673 has been active with flares to M5 that are predicted to produce a G3 class aurora, strongest possible so visible in central Victoria. It was expected in the wee small hours of 7 Sept our time, with cloud cover predicted to be mostly clear.
Regards,
Chris, spacenaut [email protected] @SpacenautChris @BDASPresident [email protected] @SpacenautChris @BDASPresident
Photographing the Moon: Wednesday October 4th, 7.30 pm - 9 pm. Discovery Science & Technology Centre, 7 Railway Place, Bendigo.
(next to Bendigo Marketplace).
A presentation by Dr John Wilkinson and Chris Wyatt. Bendigo District Astronomical Society invites the public to 'Photographing the Moon' , a presentation by Dr John Wilkinson and Chris Wyatt.
Both John and Chris are experienced astrophotographers, and will share their knowledge on how to photograph the Moon using a digital SLR camera, as well as through a telescope. They will show you some photographs of the Moon and discuss how they were taken. See some spectacular images and learn more about the Moon.
The evening commences at 7.30 pm, Wednesday October 4th at Discovery Science & Technology Centre Bendigo; $2.00 entry, $5.00 family, or children under 12 free. For more information, contact Dr John Wilkinson on 5470 6349.
BDAS Media and Communications Graeme Knight
'The_Moon.jpg'. Image credit: Dr John Wilkinson.
Caption: 'The Sea of Tranquility can be clearly seen in this photograph of the Moon'.
COMING EVENTS
COMING EVENTS
BDAS Monthly General Meeting: Wednesday, 25th October 2017: 7.15 for a 7.30 start:
Come to the Discovery Science & Technology Centre, for our next General Meeting on the 25th October at 7.15 for a 7.30pm start, for the opportunity to participate in, and contribute to, the Club’s decision making.
Prospective members are welcome to attend these meetings.
Sidewalk Astronomy (weather permitting) Bendigo Marketplace Car Park:
Friday 27th October 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm: Bring the family to view the night sky through our telescopes. Craters, mountains and more on the Moon in fine detail, Saturn with her beautiful rings and our last view of Jupiter and her Moons for 2017. And all this for a gold coin donation! Contact: Brien Blackshaw, Ph 54477690 Weather update – 7:00 pm:
Sidewalk Astronomy (weather permitting) Bendigo Marketplace Car Park:
29 December @ 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Bring the family to see cool stuff through our telescopes. Craters and mountains on the Moon, mysterious Alpha Centauri, the beautiful Jewel Box star cluster, Mercury our smallest planet and a late view of the mighty Orion Nebula. All this for a gold coin donation! Contact: Brien Blackshaw, Ph 54477690. Weather update – 7:30 pm:
Sidewalk Astronomy (weather permitting) Bendigo Marketplace Car Park:
24 November @ 8:30 am - 10:00 pm
View cool stuff in Bendigo’s night sky through our telescopes. Craters on the Moon close up, a last look at Saturn with her beautiful rings for 2017, and illusive Mercury our smallest planet. Great family entertainment for a gold coin donation! Contact: Brien Blackshaw, Ph 54477690. Weather update – 7:30 pm:
NOTICE BOARD
Bintel Melbourne Closes, BTTS Opens
As a consequence of Bintel closing its Melbourne Branch (it still operates from the Syd-ney office), manager Anthony Battes has opened a residential based optical repair and maintenance service, Binocular and Telescope Technical Services, in Heidelberg.
The BTTS web site URL is enclosed: http://www.battes.com.au/ Brien Blackshaw
BDAS Discovery Presentations 2017
Talks on various aspects of astronomy’ and held for the public and BDAS members monthly on a Wednesday night at 7.30 pm.
If you would like to do a presentation this year please let John Wilkinson know. Contact: [email protected] or phone 54706349.
Future Sidewalk Astronomy for 2017
These are the dates for Sidewalk evenings for the rest of 2017:
29 September: 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm 27 October: 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm 24 November: 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm 29 December: 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm
“Beyond Earth” by Paul Foley
Paul’s book contains re-edited (in some cases rewritten) essays/articles from those which were printed in the weekly news-magazine, the Bendigo Miner over the years.
The book is selling for $20. If you'd like a copy, please contact Paul by the following email,. [email protected]
The Solar System in Close up. By: John Wilkinson
Copies are now available direct from the author.
Cost is $48 (signed author copy).
This is the most up to date book on the solar system - covering the latest findings of the New Horizons probe to Pluto, the Dawn probe to Ceres and Vesta, and the landing of a probe on the comet 67P. in colour and a great read.
Astronomy 2017 is now available
Richard has limited copies of Astronomy 2017 available.
They cost has been reduced to just $10.00 per copy. If you would like to buy a copy, phone Richard on 54432041, to arrange purchase.
Engineers are exploring this ancient art form to create folding spacecraft.
An ancient art form has taken on new shape at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Origami, the Japanese tradition of paper-folding, has inspired a number of unique spacecraft de-signs here.
It's little wonder that it fascinates NASA engineers: origami can seem deceptively simple, hiding complex math within its creases.
Besides aesthetic beauty, it addresses a persistent problem faced by JPL engineers: how do you pack the greatest amount of spacecraft into the smallest volume possible? One answer might be found in the Starshade, an immense, folding iris that has been proposed as a way to block light from distant stars. It would unfurl to a diameter of about 85 feet (26 meters) in space, about the size of a standard baseball diamond.
Dampening the brightness of a star's light would extend the capability of a space telescope to detect orbiting exoplanets. One future project being consideredfor possible use with Starshadeis the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, which will employ a special coronagraph to image larger planetsaround other stars.If a Starshade is flown, combining it with WFIRSTwould allow it to detect smaller planets, too.
Something that big is more at risk of micrometeorite strikes; any punctures could mean light getting through and obscuring a telescope's vision. That's why JPL turned to an origami-inspired folding pattern, said Manan Arya, a technologist working on Starshade.
"We use multiple layers of material to block starlight, separated by some gaps so that, if we do get hit, there's a good chance that there won't be a line-of-sight puncture," Arya said.
The key was developing algorithms that allow the Starshade to fold smoothly, predictably and repeatedly.
"A huge part of my job is looking at something on paper and asking, 'Can we fly this?'" Arya said. He could be considered Starshade's "origamist in chief." His PhD thesis looked at the use of origami in space superstructures.
Cont/-
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Some examples of origami designs at JPL.
A colorful history of space folding inspired him. That includes solar arrays, like those on the International Space Station; experimental wings designed for the space shuttle program in the 1980s; even Echo 1, a 10-story-tall, Earth-orbiting balloon that had to be packed into a 26-inch-diameter (66 centimeters), spherical payload canister before launching.
"Once I realized this is how you fold spacecraft structures, I became interested in origami," Arya said. "I realized I was good at it and enjoyed it. Now I fold constantly." He's not alone. Robert Salazar, a JPL intern who helped design the Starshade folding pattern, now works on an experimental concept called Transformers for Lunar Extreme Environ-ments. JPL senior research scientist Adrian Stoica leads the project, which would use un-folding, reflective mirrors to bounce the Sun's rays into deep craters on Earth's moon. Once deployed, this solar energy could melt water ice or power machinery.
Salazar tests folding designs and materials in a work area littered with scraps, mostly from paper. He also folds Kapton, a tinsel-like material used as spacecraft insulation, and a special polyethylene fabric that doesn't form permanent creases. "With most origami, the magic comes from the folding," Salazar said. "You can't design pure-ly from geometry. You need to know the qualities of the material to understand how it will fold." Salazar has been making origami for 17 years. As a kid, he was inspired by the children's book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." His own original designs include paper ani-mals. In fact, he folds paper versions of endangered species and donates them to benefit wild-life conservancies. He said the use of origami in engineering is relatively new and is spurring the publication of technical papers on folding patterns. "There are so many patterns to still be explored," Salazar said. "Most designs are for shapes that fold flat. Non-flat structures, like spheres or paraboloids, largely haven't been done."
Starshade and the Transformers project are still in their early stages. But Arya points out that we could see space origami very soon. CubeSats are one promising application: these minia-turized satellites are the size of a briefcase, and NASA will launch several key missions using these modular spacecraft in coming years. Because they require so little space, mass and cost, they're easier to launch. But CubeSats are limited in what they can do without folding structures, which can pack antennas and other equipment into them.
"That's an area where I see origami having an increasing role," Arya said. Another is robotics. A JPL robot called PUFFER was inspired by origami. Its collapsible body is made from a folding circuit board embedded with fabric. When in use, it pops-up and can climb over rocks or squeeze down under ledges.
In July, NASA placed an open call for origami designs to be used in radiation shielding -- an-other sign that the art form has much to offer the future of space exploration.
Origami designs at JPL. Cont/-
Also, check out these NASA sites for kids: - of all ages.
http://climatekids.nasa.gov
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov
http://scijinks.gov
Contact the Club
President: Michael Goodwin
0448 402 032 [email protected]
Vice President: Malcolm Sanders 0435 775 080 [email protected]
Secretary: Richard Henson [email protected]
Treasurer: Beryl Vinnicombe [email protected]
Ordinary Member Michelle Baker
Public Presentations Coordinator: John Wilkinson
Newsletter editor: Di. Fisher 03 5439 3876 [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bdas.net
Mail: Bendigo District Astronomical Section P.O. Box 164 Bendigo, Vic, 3552
Public meetings Public meetings featuring Keynote Speakers are held throughout the year. Meetings begin at 7.30pm. Details of meetings can be found on the Club website in the 'Calendar', they will also be published in the newsletter. For further information contact Michael Goodwin on 0448 402 032.
General Meetings are held at Discovery Science & Technology Centre, next to the Market Place shopping centre on the fourth Wednesday of the month, except December and January. Prospective members are welcome to attend General Meetings. They begin at 7.30pm. Contact the President for further information.
For regular astronomy news and BDAS updates, tune into Radio KLFM on Saturdays at 5.30 pm. In Bendigo on 96.5 or Castlemaine on 106.3.
The Bendigo District Astronomical Section thanks the City of Greater Bendigo, Northgate Fosterville Gold Mine and Bendigo Community Telco for their sponsorship to support Club programs.