Meeting AgendaStudent Check In 7:15 - 7:30 pm

Astronomy Lesson 7:30 - 7:50 pm

Call to Order: Dr. Milton Friedman

Sky Tonight: Alan Daroff

Guest Speaker

Rooftop Observing: Weather Permitting

Founded 1888 WWW.RITTENHOUSEASTRONOMICALSOCIETY.ORG

NEWSLETTER

RITTENHOUSEASTRONOMICAL

SOCIETY December 2008

OPEN TO PUBLIC AND STUDENTSUpcoming Meeting on December 10th at

7:30 PMThe Franklin

20th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway

December’s Meeting: “Daring Flight of the Phoenix:

Icy Jackpot Hit on Mars (in 3-D)”by Dr. Ken Kremer

NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador andThe Planetary Society.

Rittenhouse Astronomical Society, Board member. Experience the sights and discoveries of the daring NASA

Phoenix mission to the icy Martian Arctic tundra. Phoenix is humanities fi rst mission to dig, touch and sample life giving water and search for a habitable zone on a world beyond Earth. See the custom Martian photo mosaics specially created by Ken just days after the landing for the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine (9 June 08) and continuing throughout the mission also for Spacefl ight magazine. Celebrate 5 years on Mars with the twin Rovers; Spirit & Opportunity. Lecture includes spectacular 3-D images placing you “On Mars”.

Ken is a research scientist and journalist whose articles and space exploration images have appeared in magazines, books and on websites, including Astronomy Picture of the Day (12 June & 12 Nov 08) and the covers of Aviation Week & Space Technology and Spacefl ight magazines. His presentations at educational institutions, civic organizations, museums and astronomy clubs aim to educate and excite kids and adults about science and space exploration.

Visible Planets 12/10/2008Rises Transit Sets

Mercury 07:58 am 12:29 pm 05:00 pm

Venus 10:20 am 03:05 pm 07:51 pm

Mars 07:09 am 11:47 am 04:25 pm

Jupiter 09:40 am 02:25 pm 07:10 pm

Saturn 11:54 pm 06:13 am 12:33 pm

“Phoenix and the Snow Queen” Photo Mosaic: featured on the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine 9 June 2008 issue, Astronomy Picture of the Day website on 12 June 2008 and Spacefl ight magazine October 2008 issue. Credit: Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo, NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute/Aviation

Week & Space Technology magazine.

Mosaic of Phoenix lander footpad to left of large block of water ice, which was cleared of topsoil by descent rockets as the spacecraft touched down near the frigid Martian North Pole on May 25, 2008. Phoenix was specifi cally targeted to land on icy soils in the Martian arctic to look for organics and other clues to Martian life. The ice layer was found about 5 cm below the surface. A robotic arm camera developed by the University of Arizona and Max Planck Institute in Germany was lowered by the arm to take this false-color image of the feature dubbed “The Snow Queen”.

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Message from the President:The Rittenhouse Astronomical Society has wonderful

memories of the past. In 1985, we brought Sally Ride to The Franklin Institute where she gave a most inspiring and informative talk about her trips aboard the Space Shuttles. Sally Ride was Americas fi rst female astronaut in space. She had fl own on the shuttle STS-41 in 1983 where she deployed a satellite and performed electrophoresis experiments. She fl ew again in 1984 as part of the largest crew to fl y as of that date. In 1989, she became professor of physics at the University of California in San Diego and in 2001 founded her own company: Sally Ride Science motivating girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology. She is the only person to have served on the commissions investigating both the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia accidents. In November 2008, the Sally Ride Science Festival, a meeting with talks and workshops, was held at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Astronomy Picture of the Day link (12 June 2008): “Phoenix and the Snow Queen”

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080612.htmlAviation Week link to 9 June 2008 photo mosaic,

“Phoenix and the Snow Queen”:http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/space/index.

jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a04ce340e-4b63-4d23-9695-d49ab661f385Post%3a0df9d0ab-cecd-4c00-9403-865345b1053d

“Phoenix and the Holy Cow” Photo Mosaic: featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day website on 12 November 2008, in Spacefl ight magazine October 2008 issue and Science News magazine online on 13 November 2008. Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Kenneth Kremer, NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute/Spacefl ight

magazine.

“Holy Cow” water ice layer beneath Phoenix. Ice blasted free by descent rocket thrusters visible at top. Martian soil excavated inside retro rocket blast zone creates depression about 2 inches deep. Mosaic view from Robotic Arm Camera of the feature named “Holy Cow”.

Astronomy Picture of the Day link (12 Nov 2008): “Phoenix and the Holy Cow”

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081112.htmlScience News Magazine Online link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/access/id/38521/title/

PARTING_SHOT

In 1992, Harrison Schmitt spoke before the Rittenhouse and The Franklin Institute. Schmitt received a Ph.D. in Geology from Harvard University in 1964 and was a U.S. Senator for New Mexico from 1977 to 1983. On Apollo 17, Schmitt brought back 244 pounds of lunar rocks from the moon and was part of the longest manned lunar landing fl ight that involved 22 hours, 4 minutes traveling on the lunar surface. In 1990, Schmitt received the award for excellence from the Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation.

The Rittenhouse had the fi rst and the last of the best. The fi rst female American astronaut in space and the last astronaut to visit the moon. Fond memories.

~Dr. Milton Friedman

http://www.sallyridescience.com/

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Amateur Astronomer’s Inc (AAI) at Union County College: Cranford, NJ, Fri, Dec 19, 8 PM. “Daring Flight of the Phoenix: Icy Jackpot Hit on Mars (in 3-D)”.

Website: http://www.asterism.orgAmateur Astronomers Association of Princeton:

Princeton, NJ, Jan 13, Tue, 8 PM. “Daring Flight of the Phoenix & 5 Years of Mars Rovers (in 3-D)”.

Website: http://princetonastronomy.org/activities.htmlDoylestown Presbyterian Church: Doylestown, PA,

Wed, Jan 7, 6:30 PM. “Phoenix and the Twin Mars Rovers in 3-D”. Website: http://www.dtownpc.org/frames12.html

Dr. Ken Kremer Email: kremerken@yahoo.comNASA JPL Solar System Ambassado

Website:http://www.rittenhouseastronomicalsociety.org/Dr.Kremer/K.htm

Astronomy Outreach Dr. Ken Kremer

During November I presented 3 talks on Phoenix and the Mars Rovers to enthusiastic red planet fans at astronomy clubs in 3 states: NY, NJ and PA. Learn more about Phoenix at my upcoming RAS talk on Dec 10 and other talks listed below.

College students and Ken: Cheering for Phoenix digging on Mars at Ken’s talk and photo display on “Daring Flight of the Phoenix” at the Gloucester County College (GCC) Astronomy Club on 17 Nov 2008. My thanks to RAS member Dan McCormick and the GCC staff for the kind invitation and gracious reception. Over 80 people from the local

community, kids and college students attended.

Phoenix in 3-D at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY for Ken’s talk on Mars exploration on 21 Nov 2008. The Rockland Astronomy

Club co-sponsored my talk to a crowd of over 110.

Please contact me for more info or science outreach presentations by email. My upcoming Astronomy talks include:

Riverside Elementary School, Family Astronomy Night: Princeton, NJ, Dec 4, Thur, 6 PM. “Phoenix and the Twin Mars Rovers (in 3-D)”.

Rittenhouse Astronomical Society (RAS) at the Franklin Institute: Philadelphia, PA, Wed, Dec 10, 8 PM. “Daring Flight of the Phoenix Mars Lander: Icy Jackpot Hit on Mars”.

Website: http://www.rittenhouseastronomicalsociety.org

November’s Meeting:Review

Our student lesson started with a quick review of our Solar system and the planetary conjunction that is drawing near on November 30, December 1. We Virtually viewed the ecliptic plane of our solar system and saw the geometry that causes planets to appear close to each other in our night sky.

Our November meeting was a homecoming for our guest speaker Andrew Johnston. Andrew originally worked with The Franklin as a college student. Some may remember Andrew as one of our planetarium console operators over a decade ago.

Andrew’s talk on how we navigate through the solar system was highly informative; the accompanying PowerPoint he prepared was an excellent augmentation for the presentation. Andrew’s enthusiasm for the topic easily carried us through the evening. The missions of Pioneer, Voyager, Mariner, Cassini, Gallileo, and New Horizons were all included in his interplanetary traveling review. We all came away with a better understanding of the importance of ‘gravity assist’ and the intricate maneuvering performed with our interplanetary satellites to propel them through space.

Our November fi lm premier the fi lm did not occur, but we served up the best substitute possible with a review of the Rover missions in 3-D. Dr. Ken Kremer stepped forward to lead the 3-D tour of the surface of Mars. We used our own projector to help increase the color saturation needed to work with the 3-D glasses and had better success than some of our past attempts in the planetarium.

~Ted Williams

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Planetary MotionWith many people having few recognizable patterns they

can observe, the casual sky watcher feels the sky to afford us the same view night after night. Many are unaware of the changing of the celestial tapestry throughout the year as we revolve around the sun, and even fewer realize they are seeing not just stars, but also planets. This past month we have been treated to a view of planetary motion. Jupiter and Venus have been easily visible in the South and South west, and the two appear to be coming closer together each evening. By the time you receive this newsletter they will be almost together in the evening sky and joined by the thin crescent moon, a photographic delight for some. Where’s the Astronomy

This question was recently raised pertaining to our website. For quick access check out our header bar for Night Sky Notes, Clear Sky Chart, my favorite Tonight’s Sky, Sky Maps, This Week, Monthly Podcast, and Moon information. Looking for more?

Try the menu bar on the left titled Astronomy for 150 links to amazing sites. Sky Talk on our menu bar lets you hear Derrick Pitts with his weekly sky informational program broadcast on WHYY 91FM with quite timely topics. Don’t forget our monthly newsletter available in PDF format

for downloading or reading on the web. With timely articles by Ivin Williams, Eric Van Austin and Ken Kremer, we keep bases covered. If you can’t find it on our site, check out our student site for more including a Monthly Sky calendar, new podcasts, observational challenges to look for, suggestions for successful observing and communication tools to ask us questions or share your observations. You might try our Area Resources link leading to most every astronomy club in the area, a good choice of observatories and planetaria round out the selection. Eye on the Sky by Dan Benedict complements our site with many resources from across the river in neighboring New Jersey. Where’s the Astronomy? It’s everywhere at:

www.RittenhouseAstronomicalSociety.org

On a few recent evenings the overcast of high level thin clouds have blocked out all the stars from view while the light from Jupiter and Venus would shine through, making them the only visible objects other than the moon in the evening sky. It’s a wonder our ancestors thought these stars to have magical powers of the gods and goddesses. They wander slowly through the months most times in the opposite direction across the night sky (moving west to east) than the rest of the stars. They even change direction, apparent retrograde motion traveling east to west, over a period of time. Due to light cloud cover, planets can maintain visibility at times when all others stars are hidden from sight. Nightly, they join the daily motion of the other stars caused by our rotation.

At our past few meetings we have talked about it, demonstrated it, and traced their paths using the Fels planetarium sky. Many of us are taken away by the technology afforded modern society and amazed by the view provided at our meetings, but remember, the real show

is any evening you are viewing the night sky. Our goal is to encourage you to look, to understand, and to appreciate the beauty of what you see. If you are in the city area, you are also in on the beauty since these planets are bright enough to be seen easily dancing above the roof tops as one travels their way through the canyons created by the buildings. I hope you have had the opportunity to watch and observe their motion this past month. It brings a peaceful close to a hectic day when we remember to get out and witness the majesty of Jupiter, and the beauty of Venus as they wander their course gathering together in the early evening sky.

December 2008 WWW.RITTENHOUSEASTRONOMICALSOCIETY.ORG Page 5

Now Comes Dark Flow,What is Next?

Ivin Williams In November’s newsletter, I mentioned that the recently

discovered unknown force called “dark flow” appears to be dragging or pulling enormous amounts of matter in the form of galaxy clusters at velocities of some 2 million mph towards an also unknown destination in a patch of sky between the southern constellations Centaurus and Vela. This news has the astrophysics and cosmology community scratching their heads because such a force if ultimately proven to actually exist, flies in the face of the revered Big Bang Model (Big Bang) origin of our universe. Dark matter, dark energy and now dark flow, what is next?

The Big Bang, one of a range of explanatory models for the origin of the universe is in many ways the easiest one to comprehend. The Big Bang uses the framework that some 13 billion plus years ago and at some singular point in space and time, all matter that makes up everything we know and observe, be it me, you, our planet, our sun, every other star and every astronomical object including every galaxy and cluster of galaxies violently exploded outward in every possible direction and continues to do so. One Big Bang and there one has it! An actual explosion may not have actually occurred of course but that is the popular description. The theory sounds so simple and in many ways it is when one strips away much of it’s abstractness and mathematical jargon. Every 4th of July, many of us witness a similar event though on a much smaller scale when certain fireworks can be seen exploding in every direction and were it not for the earth’s gravity, they would continue to keep flying outwards indefinitely.

A reliable scientific model is one that over time can have various alternative theories or explanations thrown at it and for the most part, it successfully fights off all challenges. The Big Bang has repeatedly done this over the last several decades and is a model that works hand in hand with almost everything that has been discovered about our universe thus far. Edwin Hubble’s discovery called “Hubble’s Law” that all galaxies seem to be moving away from us at velocities directly proportional to their distance was in many ways no more than a confirmation that a Big Bang had once taken place. The 1965 discovery that a faint glow of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB) which is radiation in the microwave regions of the electromagnetic spectrum that to this day is prevalent in all regions throughout the observable universe was more tangible confirmation that a Big Bang had once taken place. Factor in the abundance of

Hydrogen and Helium which are the two lightest elements that are extremely prevalent throughout the observable universe and it goes without saying that the Big Bang has held it’s own in explaining how our universe came to be. That is until dark flow showed up.

Dark flow is taking place at the edge of our visible universe some 13 billion lights years out and looks to be pulling enormous clusters of galaxies towards one direction which also means that we are most likely being pulled in that one direction whether we like it or not since we are part of the Milky Way Galaxy which is part of the Local Group of galaxies and which in turn is part of the Virgo Super Cluster of galaxies. This one directional movement should not be taking place according to the Big Bang since it’s bread and butter is that all matter that now makes up our universe was scattered in all directions from the very beginning and continues to be so, meaning that no one point in the universe should be subjected to special treatment.

This dark flow was actually detected by calculating minute differences in the cosmic microwave background radiation using the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WAMP). This radiation is detectable in every direction of the observable universe and according to the Big Bang is radiation from the first light that was released some 380,000 years after the actual Big Bang. In all, some 700 galaxy clusters were studied and their zooming along in one direction at speeds of some 2 million mph is what is causing astronomers around the world to scratch their heads because this rapid movement is distinctly separate from the normal expansion of our universe.

Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland who led the dark flow research team used a simple analogy to help explain this dark flow concept where one is sitting in a boat out on a vast ocean and when they look out in all directions, everything appears to be the same just like our universe appears to be when astronomers look out at it in all directions. I will add to Mr. Kashlinsky’s analogy that not only does this ocean look the same in all directions to the person sitting in the boat but no matter where this person is at, they know through rigorous calculations exactly where on the ocean they are at and why they are there. Mr. Kashlinsky goes on to explain that while out on the boat, one detects a “faint but coherent flow in your ocean” meaning that something beyond the ocean’s horizon must be tugging or pulling at the water to create a dark flow which in turn causes the boat to move in a way that cannot be accounted for by those rigorous calculations and very much like our cosmological dark flow whether it is another body of water such as a

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river or stream.It goes without saying that this dark fl ow is very

controversial but one explanation that the Big Bang can add to this dilemma is something called infl ation where in a trillionth of a second after the big bang actually occurred, the universe hyper infl ated making it possible that clumps of matter actually escaped our universe which in turn might mean that it is this matter that is now tugging at our visible universe.

What is going on out there? The real answer of course is that we just don’t know. The infl ation explanation makes a lot of sense and of course does not disrupt our Big Bang way of looking at the universe. Perhaps there really are multiple universes out there as some scientifi c models have suggested and maybe it is one of these other universes that is letting us know that they exist by getting their paws on the biggest structures in our universe and pulling on them. I personally fi nd this news to be extremely fascinating and one that has added some real excitement to astrophysics and cosmology considering that it has been a while since a story of this magnitude has been released. Perhaps in the not too distant future, astronomers will announce that they have indeed detected what appears to be another universe out there and will give it the not so original title of “Dark Universe.”

Our NEW Mailing Address:

Rittenhouse Astronomical SocietyP.O. box 283

Feasterville, PA 19053-0283

Abrams SkyMapThe Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar promotes

skywatching for people of all ages. As its name implies, the sheet for each month takes the form of a calendar. Diagrams in the boxes invite the reader to track the moon’s rapid motion past the planets and bright stars of the zodiac, as well as to follow the more leisurely pace of the planets in their gatherings with bright stars and other planets. The reverse side consists of a simplifi ed star map of the month’s evening sky. The sky maps are designed for use at a convenient time in mid-evening, for a latitude useful for the entire continental U.S. (40 degrees north).

The Sky Calendar has received awards for excellence in educational journalism from the Educational Press Association of America. It has since had favorable reviews not only from astronomical publications, such as Sky & Telescope and Mercury, but also from School Library Journal and Scientifi c American. In his review column in the latter, Phillip Morrison determined it to be “a bargain entry into direct observation of tthe changing order visible in the heavens.” In an annual summary of astronomy publishing (in Mercury magazine), the Astronomical Society of the Pacifi c gave its Special Commendation to the

Membership Update Dues for our society student membership is $15.00,

adults $20.00, and a premium membership for those who can give extra support is $35.00+.

From your dues we maintain an excellent website. We have a newsletter published monthly available by postal or e-mail delivery. Now provided with your membership is the monthly Sky Calendar (an award winning publication) from the Abrams Planetarium to which we subscribe on behalf of our members with their dues. Membership cards and a frame worthy certifi cate of membership are available on request. A discount subscription rate to Sky and Telescope magazine is available with club membership.

Membership starts in September and follows the student academic year (we meet monthly from September through June.) We again ask your support the following September. As of January 1, 2009 we will update our data base excluding those who have not kept current with their dues. Your membership expiration date is posted on your mailing label on this envelope for your verifi cation. For some of you this will be a parting newsletter.

If you have reconsidered your membership with our organization, membership forms and proper mailing address is posted on our website. We understand the hardship many face this year with the downturn of our economy, please know we will endure to welcome you whenever you return to meet with us in the future. We appreciate your past support, and hope you realize you are always welcome at our meetings regardless of your membership status.

Sky Calendar. Astronomer George Lovi, in his Ramblings column for Sky & Telescope, called it “one of the most approachable, understandable, and friendly observing guides ever offered.”

We are pleased to be able to bring the Abrams Sky Calendar to our members as a membership benefi t. If you do not receive our newsletter by U.S. mail, we will have copies at our meeting available for paid members. For our visitors and guests we will make copies of our previous mailing from SkyMaps.com, which is free for all and easily available on the web.