the reflector: january 2010 - peterborough astronomical · pdf file ·...

Newsletter of the Peterborough Astronomical AssociationThe ReflectorVolume 15 • Issue 2

February 2016ISSN 1712-4425peterboroughastronomy.comtwitter.com/PtbAstronomical

Our greatest, largest-scale surveys of the universe have given us an unprec-

edented view of cosmic structure extending for tens of billions of light years. With the combined effects of normal matter, dark matter, dark energy, neutrinos and radiation all affecting how matter clumps, collapses and separates over time, the great cosmic web we see is in tremendous agreement with our best theories: the Big Bang and General Relativity. Yet this understanding was only possi-ble because of the pioneering work of Edwin Hubble, who identified

Ethan SEigEl

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and N. Gorin (STScI); Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt, of the loneliest void galaxy in the known: MCG+01-02-015.

a large number of galaxies outside of our own, correctly measured their distance (following the work of Vesto Slipher’s work measuring their redshifts), and discovered the expanding universe.

But what if the Milky Way weren’t located in one of the “strands” of the great cosmic web, where galaxies are plentiful and ubiquitous in many different di-rections? What if, instead, we were located in one of the great “voids” separating the vast majority of galaxies? It would’ve taken tele-scopes and imaging technology far more advanced than Hubble had at

his disposal to even detect a single galaxy beyond our own, much less dozens, hundreds or millions, like we have today. While the nearest galaxies to us are only a few mil-lion light years distant, there are voids so large that a galaxy located at the center of one might not see another for a hundred times that distance.

While we’ve readily learned about our place in the universe from observing what’s around us, not everyone is as fortunate. In particular, the galaxy MCG+01-02-015 has not a single known galaxy

The Loneliest Galaxy In The Universe

See “Loneliest Galaxy” on page 16

2 • pete rboroughas t ronomy.com

President’s Message

Letter from the Editor

The Reflector is a publication of the Peterborough Astronomi-cal Association (P.A.A.) Founded in 1970, the P.A.A. is your local group for astronomy in Peterborough and the Kawarthas.

The Reflector

www.peterboroughastronomy.com • [email protected] Phone: 705.748.2038Club Mailing AddressJaime Morales, PresidentPeterborough Astronomical Association1587 Redwood DrivePeterborough, ON K9K 1N9

We Want You!

So Long, Major Tom

J anuary tends to be a quiet month astronomy-wise. Indeed, a much an-ticipated comet viewing is turning out

to be another fizzle. While well-placed for viewing in the northern polar sky, Comet Catalina has not been as bright as hoped for. Rick Stankiewicz has the proof of that.

From the venerable John Crossen we have a number of articles on planets and dwarf planets (in the Kuiper Belt), the pos-sibilities of harvesting Martian water and the prospects of next-generation space travel.

Of note, while not directly astronomy-related, there has been much media cover-age of the death of musician David Bowie. Bowie, or David Robert Jones, rose to fame in the 70s and 80s on the strength of his 1969 single, “Space Oddity” and the 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”.

In the January 2016 issue of our news-letter, The Reflector, I commented on the strong educational contribution

that our organization makes to our com-munity. As a new member of the paa, I already enjoyed (I am sure, you do too) to see the happy faces of adults, teens and kids, after looking through our eye pieces. When the paa brings people together at the different public observations and members share their equipment and knowledge, I call it, “making community”.

In order to continue doing this noble effort, paa requires help from all of its members and from the community. If you have access to this news letter, you are a member, and the paa needs you. It does not

matter how you get engaged with the paa. It could be attending our monthly meet-ings, participating in public observations, reading The Reflector, sending comments via email or checking what is new in our web site. What is important is that you feel a part of the paa.

Sometime our life gets busy, if you are not able to attend or participate, keep in touch, and let us know your ideas via email. I am sure you have many ideas that you can share with the rest of the members. I will use John Crossen’s favourite email signa-ture, “That’s all Folks”.

Jaime Morales PAA President

These were only two examples of his var-ied accomplishments, but for fans of sci-fi and space they hold a special place. And we can thank Colonel Chris “Major Tom” Had-field for introducing Bowie to the YouTube generation.

Phillip Chee Editor, The Reflector

Vo l 1 5 • I s sue no. 2 • Feb rua r y 20 16 • 3 The Reflector

John CroSSEn

F fom the dawn sky to early evening, February’s sky is filled with planetary playmates. Early risers on

February 1st can see Mars just 2 degrees from the waning crescent Moon. By Feb-ruary 3rd, Saturn joins the breakfast club and on the 6th you will enjoy a celestial trio consisting of the thin-crescent waning Moon, Mercury and Venus. Just add a bowl of Wheaties, a hot mug of coffee and you’ve got the stargazer’s breakfast of champions.

But all the action isn’t confined to the sunrise set. Towards the end of February brilliant Jupiter will be rising with Leo the Lion. Look to the east about 7 p.m. to spot the jovial giant crawling up the eastern sky. Those with binoculars will be able to make out Jupiter’s moons as they dance around the gas giant, changing position every night. Telescope owners will want to wait until Jupiter is about 45-degress above the horizon where the atmosphere is steadier and clearer to search for the iconic Giant Red Spot.

February’s Sky is a Planetary Playground

Also on the evening’s entertainment list is Uranus. If you have a really good dark sky site and sharp vision you can spot magni-tude 5.8 Uranus naked eye. But most of us will need binoculars to see the blue-green dot. Uranus will be in the constellation Pi-sces as it heads for the western horizon.

Those seeking magnitude 7.8 Neptune are out of luck. It has dipped beneath the southwestern horizon along with its con-stellation companion Aquarius.

Moon-a-tics will can enjoy watching the Moon appear to grow as it rounds the Earth and passes into more and more sunlight. My favourite view of the Moon will occur on February 11. That’s when the Moon is in its thin-waxing-crescent phase. It’s purely an aesthetic thing. I just think it’s pretty.

By February 15 the Moon will have reached first-quarter phase. That’s when to bring out the binoculars and telescopes. At this phase the shadows on the lunar sur-face highlight the mountains, craters and

Jupiter. Towards the end of February Jupiter will be rising early in the evening. In this telescopic view its largest moons are clearly visible. In binoculars they appear as tiny pin pricks, but you can see them.

See “February” on page 15


See “Catalina” on page 15

D iscovered in 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey, Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) is the best we have right now

for a comet. It has been hanging around the northern hemisphere since last November after it rounded the Sun, but the weather has not been kind to us in southern Ontario for viewing opportunities of this appari-tion in the inner solar system. This comet reached its closest approach to Earth at 107 million km, on January 17th and though not moving fast, it is incrementally heading north and it will start to fade in the months to come. Not that it ever did get that bright at magnitude 6, which is below naked eye, but on its journey through the night sky it did slip by some bright celestial markers. It currently is between the Big and Little Dip-pers and closer to Polaris.

Between cloudy morning skies and cold temps, we have had few opportunities to catch this comet to date, but if the skies clear, the early weeks in February should be

New Horizons Lift off Nine years and 9 billion kilometres from lift off New Horizons rendezvoused with Pluto and snapped its images right on time.

Comet Catalina Slips Away to the North

riCk StankiEwiCzbest with a lack of lunar light pollution to washout the view. Keep checking the Clear Sky Clock on the paa website before going to bed every night and if it shows clear skies before dawn the next day, go out and have a look with a pair of binoculars, while you still can.

I had a chance the morning of January 19th and I was rewarded with some proof of my efforts. It might have been -20 °C with-out the wind-chill and -28 °C with it, but dressing warm and using hand warmers is the trick. I wasn’t going to let a little cold stop me … I’m Canadian!

This first cropped image shows what was visible using a 200mm lens on my modified Canon 50D camera mounted on an iOptron Skywatcher drive, for 20 seconds (iso 2000, ƒ/2.8). The dust-tail is barely visible sweep-ing to the lower right of the image. The ion-tail is not visible at all and I could not see it even in my ETX90 telescope at 50 ×


See “Kuiper Belt” on page 13

The Kuiper BeltHome of the Five Dwarves

Illustraion of Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is the far-flung suburbs of our solar system. Not to be confused with the asteroid belt which lies between Mars and Jupiter, the Kuiper Belt extends far beyond dwarf planet Pluto’s highly canted and elliptical orbit. Image credit: NASA.

When it Comes to Moons, Jupiter Outshines Them All

John CroSSEn

Whoever coined the phrase; “the vast emptiness of space” needed to take a look at the

current status of our solar system. Granted, it’s a whole lot bigger than just the Sun and a batch of planets and moons huddled around it. But it’s definitely not empty. If you think the Kuiper Belt is the latest fashion statement you must still be wearing suspenders.

The Kuiper Belt is our solar system’s ice bucket. Well, ice and some rocks to be more precise. It extends beyond Pluto and the distance across it is more than twice Pluto’s distance from the Sun. So to get to the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt, you’d have to travel another 15 billion kilometres after leaving Pluto. What’s out there?

For starters, more dwarf planets. Most astronomers consider Pluto to be a member

of the innermost edge of the Kuiper Belt. It is also joined by Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) Sedna, Eris, Makemake (Mock-key-Mock-key) and Haumea (How-me-ya). The five dwarves are also residents of our solar sys-tem’s distant suburbs and there are prob-ably thousands more.

Gerard Kuiper and Kenneth Edgeworth put forward the theory that there was a large body of material which had been gravitationally flung beyond the planets after the formation of our solar system. Sixty years later New Horizons has finally entered it with its flyby of Pluto.

The Kuiper Belt may contain trillions icy-rocky chunks that are leftovers from our solar system’s formation. It is also the launch pad of short-term comets — those with under a 200-year orbital period around


John CroSSEn

Could There Be Useful Water on Mars

P ut together the number of articles written recently about water on Mars they would comprise a small

library. But the situation has changed. I’m not writing about dried up river beds

and oceans that have left behind a stratified history of Mars’ past. The new find, by an imaging spectrometer on the Mars Recon-naissance Orbiter, suggests that water is still flows on Mars on a seasonal basis.

The water takes the form of hydrated minerals that appear as dark streaks which flow down the slopes of mountains during the warm season on Mars. They appear in several locations on the Red Planet when temperatures rise above -23 ºC.

According to John Grunsfeld in a quote from nasa’s Science Mission Directorate, “Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the

water’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected.”

Grunsfeld continued stating that, “This is a significant development as it appears to confirm that water — albeit briny — is flow-ing today on the surface of Mars.”

These dark, downhill streaks have fre-quently been described as being related to liquid water. The discovery of hydrated salts points straight to that relationship.

In the simplest description, the watery salts lower the freezing point of liquid brine, just as salt in oceans lowers its freez-ing point. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow with enough water wicking to the surface can explain the darkening.

GROWING CROPS IN MARTIAN TERRARIUM. Growing crops is another essential use for water in colonizing Mars. It can also be used to manufacture rocket fuel. Remember the H2 in H2O stands for hydrogen. Boom, boom, zoom, zoom.

See “Martian Water” on page 13


Aladdin Sane’s Lightning Bolt. A “constellaton” tribute was created by a Brussels radio station. The constella-tion is in the shape of the iconic lightning bolt that adorned the face of David Bowie on his 1973 album, Aladdin Sane. Check out Stardust for Bowie at http://stardustforbowie.be/.

Stardust For Bowie

PhilliP ChEE

Last month, David R. Jones, a.k.a. David Bowie, died and many music fans around the world mourned his

passing. As with many deaths of celebrities, fans memorialize their “hero”.

Studio Brussels, a Belgium radio station, partnered with the mira Public Observatory to create a “constellation” in his honour. Philippe Mollet of mira was quoted in a Brussels newspaper: “It was not easy to de-termine the appropriate stars. Studio Brus-sels asked us to give Bowie a unique place in the galaxy. Referring to his various albums, we chose seven stars — Sigma Librae, Spica, Alpha Virginis, Zeta Centauri, saa 204 132, and the Beta Sigma Octantis Trianguli Aus-tralis — in the vicinity of Mars. The constel-lation is a copy of the iconic Bowie lightning See “Starman” on page 13

and was recorded at the exact time of his death.”

While the “Starman” may have left our Earthly realm, a web site was created, “Star-dust for Bowie,” so fans can “observe” the constellation and add their own “stardust” tributes with their own messages and nam-ing their favourite Bowie song. One may also read other fans’ messages.

David Bowie’s first hit single was the 1969 “Space Oddity”, about an astronaut named Major Tom who goes adrift from his space capsule during a spacewalk. The song was released just before the Moon landing and was a sensation in the U.K.

Although many music critics believed “Space Oddity” was just that, an oddity or

http://stardustforbowie.be/


PHOTO GALLERY

The Great Orion Nebula Complex

Hi Everyone,

It was cold and snowing here over the weekend!!! Processing time on days like these!!!! (in early January).The Sword Region of Orion contains M42 and M43. The Great Orion Nebula (Red), M43, is the comma-shaped piece of the nebula. Also visible is NGC 1973-75-77 (3 parts), the blue reflection nebula, a.k.a. Running Man Nebula.

NGC-1981 is the bright blue open cluster near the left edge. and the brightest star on the right edge is Iota Orionis, a close double star, and above Iota is WDS 747, another nice double star from the Washington Double Star Cata-log. M42 and M43 is a massive and bright stellar nursery (star formation region) in the constellation of Orion. This image is of the Sword Region of Orion, which hangs down from Orion’s Belt Stars for us Northern hemisphere is a beautiful view in any size amateur scope.

Baader modified Canon Rebel Xsi dslr and modified 5.5” Newtonian reflector scope, iso 1600, 60 minute expo-sure, AVX Mount, and QHY5IIL Auto-guider + Burgess 90mm Guide scope. Captured in Canon Utility, 4 minute subs × 15 images calibrated and stacked in Nebulosity and processed in Adobe CS 2015. Captured at my observatories at jbspo in Yellow Springs, Ohio on January 2, 2016.

Best Regards,John Chumak www.galacticimages.com

http://www.galacticimages.com


The Wolf Moon Halo of 2016

It was easy to miss, due to all the cloudy weather we have had this past month, but if you ventured out in the evening during the Full Moon of January 16th, 2016, the veil of high cirrus clouds would have treated you to a Lunar Halo. Yes, the Wolf Moon of January was a howling success with this astrophotographer. I did not stay out long enough to hear any wolves howling, but I was out long enough to capture a few images of this halo. Look carefully at the brighter stars in the background and you should notice Orion to the right, outside the halo. Then continue clockwise to the 5 o’clock position for Sirius (Dog Star). Next, the star at the 6 o’clock position inside the halo is Procyon of Little Dog fame and then at 10 o’clock are two stars which are the twin stars of Gemini (Castor and Pollux).

The halo itself is typically 22 degrees around the Moon. This is about the width of your hand spread wide at arm’s length and though the Moon does not have to be full for this effect to be created, it sure helps. At this scale, the disk of the Moon can be covered by the end of your finger held at arm’s length. The light from the Sun is reflected off the Moon, passes through the cold ice laden clouds that have enough similarly oriented hexagonal shaped crystals and are bent (refracted) toward your vantage point, in a similar way to how rainbows are created. In fact, look closely for the prismatic effect on the inside of the halo in this image.

All you need to capture this phenomenon is a tripod, a camera that will focus at infinity and a very wide lens (this case 10mm). Due to the several second time exposure required to register the faint halo, the bright disk of the Moon will always over expose, but you get the idea.

Keep looking up,

Rick Stankiewicz


Astronomy Photographer of the Year (Prize-winning Images by Top Astrophotographers), Royal Observatory, Greenwich and Forward by Terence Dickinson. Firefly Books (2015), ISBN: 1770854738. $39.95

If you have an appreciation for the beauty of the night sky and the chal-lenges in capturing its wonders, you

will love this book. This 287 page, hardcover edition is a quality product published by Firefly Books. Initially, I thought these were the images from the winner, runners-up and highly commended of 2015, but I was delighted to find that it was a collection of images from the annual Royal Observa-tory’s, Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition from six years worth of entries (2009 to 2014). In 2014 alone there were over 1,700 entries. See “Astrophotography” on page 12See “Astrophotography” on page 12

The book is divided into three main cat-egories of “Earth and Space”, with photos that include landscapes, people and other “Earthly” things alongside an astronomical subject, “Our Solar System”, with photos of the Sun and its family of planets, moons, asteroids and comets, “Deep Space”, with photos of anything beyond the Solar Sys-tem, including stars, nebulae and galaxies and “Young Astronomy Photographer”, for those under 16 years of age. There are a variety of techniques used to capture the subject matter presented, but with the right

BOOK REVIEW

Vo l 1 5 • I s sue no. 2 • Feb rua r y 20 16 • 1 1 The Reflector

ESA IXV SPACECRAFT. Hot on the vapor trail of NASA’s Orion Spacecraft is the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle IXV from the European Space Agency. Dubbed a mini-space shuttle the IXV can see service as a cargo supply ship, a satellite service vehicle and a crew return vehicle.

Care For a Space Trip? There Are Plenty to Choose From

John CroSSEn

B eing an old coot, I remember back when a suborbital space flight was a big deal. The major astro-

activity at the time consisted of goosing an astronaut into space whilst the poor fellow was seated in the tip of a roaring, mega-ton rocket. Toss in the occasional launch of a spy satellite or a commercial one and that was it.

Things sure have changed today. Globally the proliferation of space-related proj-ects underway is astounding. The Euro-pean Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission has achieved the first landing on a comet and is currently collecting and analysing data on the comet, known as 67P. Plus they’ll tag along with the comet as it flies around the Sun, heating up to its maximum. I can’t wait to see the images.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (jaxa) has launched a mission to asteroid 1993 JU3. The mission, called Hayabusa 2 will have a lander known as Mascot that is patterned after the Philae lander Rosetta used. It’s a six-year mission that will return samples of the carbon-rich asteroid to Earth in 2020.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (nasa) are rife with excite-ment. The unmanned test flight of their Orion spacecraft successfully punched its way to 5,800 km during the 4.5 hour test. Future Orion missions will be crewed and probe deeper into space, perhaps eventually to Mars.

Mars will also continue to make news this year thanks to two new orbiting invaders,

See “Space Tripping” on page 12

1 2 • pete rboroughas t ronomy.com

continued from page 10 continued from page 11Astrophotography Space Tripping

equipment in the right hands, just about anything is possible and this volume illus-trates this throughout.

Every turn of the page was a delight. As a photographer, I found it both humbling and awe-inspiring. With a collection like this from around the world, it was not sur-prising to see names that were very familiar like, Alan Friedman, Pete Lawrence, Jack Newton, Damien Peach, Martin Pugh, and Tunç Tezel.

Every image is accompanied by a para-graph written by the photographer about his/her creation and a background piece that explains some of the basic technical elements of the image. It is a little shy on technique for each image though. This is not a how to manual, but there is an equip-ment list for each shot and there are a few pages at the back, in a section called, Guide To Astrophotography, but it is pretty basic information.

Then there are comments by some of the judges in the competition, including the late Sir Patrick Moore. The comments by the judges are insightful as to why they chose the images and what impressed them most. I found I was hard-pressed not to disagree.

I really appreciated the thumbnail imag-es of all 168 pictures in the book. This allows you to scan the whole book in a few pages, especially if looking for a particular image or theme. This volume is one of the nicest books of astrophotography I have even seen and I am proud to have it in my collection.

Ours in review, Rick Stankiewicz

one from India (called Mangalyaan) and Maven from nasa. The satellite from India will be charged with photographing the Red Planet’s terrain and sniffing out methane gas, a potential sign of life on the planet. Maven will spend its time analysing the Martian atmosphere in hopes of determin-ing how Mars lost what may have been a life-friendly atmosphere millions of years ago.

esa has taken on the challenge of making the most accurate 3D map of the Milky Way ever. The spacecraft Gaia is armed with two telescopes and will image over 1 billion stars along with some exoplanets. It’s a five-year mission that may change the way scientists look at our galaxy.

There’s even a full schedule of activity coming from the private sector. SpaceX and Boeing will see new competition from Orbital Sciences Corporation, xcor Aero-space, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Blue Origin.

Between what’s just happened and what’s coming, outer space is a busy place. We’ve gone from what used to be two fierce com-petitors — Russia and the U.S. to more than ten participants, most who have learned the wisdom of cooperation. More to come. Stay tuned.

Vo l 1 5 • I s sue no. 2 • Feb rua r y 20 16 • 1 3 The Reflectorcontinued from previous page 6continued from page 5

Martian WaterKuiper Belt

our Sun. Based on its size, the Kuiper Belt is the other half of our solar system and we just recently discovered it. So far, other than a few of its nearest and largest objects all we know is that it is home to literally trillions of objects, some as small as gravel and others large enough to be considered worlds unto themselves.

Cal Tech astronomer Mike Brown has been focusing on KBOs for a number of years. He and his team are credited with discovering several KBOs. Brown is also the author of How I Killed Pluto and why it had it coming. As you may have guessed, he was one of the driving forces that ultimately led to Pluto’s tumble to dwarf planet status.

The New Horizons spacecraft has flown past the Kuiper Belt’s nearest object, Pluto. Now what astronomers refer to as “the other half of our solar system” becomes the newest leg of our journey into deep space. There is much more to be learned. New Horizons is our first step into the distant unknown.

Could there be underground aquifers on Mars that we could tap into and refine drinking water from them? If so, that would save nasa millions when planning Martian missions. Consider this. For every pound launched into space it costs between $2,000 and $3,000 — and that’s just launching into low Earth orbit.

An underground aquifer would be the best scenario. But there are other possibili-ties. The Martian water could also be con-densation from the planet’s atmosphere. Remember what appeared to be water drops on the legs of the Phoenix Lander? Perhaps a method for condensing water on larger scale could be constructed. Scientists already collect the “morning dew” in some dry, mountainous regions here on Earth.

Whatever the source, water would con-tribute much to the establishment of a Mars colony. Thanks to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and a dedicated group of scientists, it appears that yesterday’s science fiction may be one small step closer to fact.

one-hit wonder, Bowie proved he had more artistry in him. In 1972 he released the album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Star-dust and the Spiders from Mars”. It was a concept album about a stranded alien who tries to fit in as a human by attempting to become a rock-and-roll star.

Even Bowie’s acting career was touched by his love of outer space. His first starring role was in the sci-fi cult film, “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. Bowie plays an extraterrestrial stranded on Earth during a mission to bring water back to his drought-ravaged planet.

His last album, “Blackstar” was released two days before his death. He conceived it as a swan song for his fans and reached it number 1 on many music charts after his death.

In one interpretation of “Blackstar”, we hear the “Starman” coming to grips with his mortality on Earth, but ironically the persona of “Bowie” achieves immortality as he will out live the actual man, David Robert Jones.

continued from page 7Starman

1 4 • pete rboroughas t ronomy.com

The Sky this MonthMercury is well placed in the morn-ing sky all month. Greatest elongation west (26°) on the 7th. Quasi-conjunc-tion with Venus and Moon on the 6th and quasi-conjunction with Venus on the 13th.Venus is bright in the morning sky and in quasi-conjunction with Moon and Mercury on the 6th and quasi-con-junction with Mercury on the 13th. Mars rises around 1 AM in Libra.Jupiter rises in the early evening in eastern Leo in retrograde motion. Reaches opposition on the 8th.Saturn is well-placed in the dawn sky in Ophiuchus 21° below celestial equa-tor.Zodiacal Light visible in northern latitude in west after evening twilight for 2 weeks starting on the 24th.

Moon PhasesLast Quarter 10:38 PM January 31New Moon 11:39 AM February 8First Quarter 2:46 AM February 15Full Moon 1:20 PM February 22

Vo l 1 5 • I s sue no. 2 • Feb rua r y 20 16 • 1 5 The Reflector

continued from page 4

continued from page 3

Catalina

Februarylarge flat areas called mare or oceans. As an added treat the Moon will be appear to be in the large open star cluster known as the Hyades.

Winter’s key characters are still Orion, Gemini, along with Canis Major and Mi-nor, the Big and Little Dogs. As the evening marches on they are joined by Cancer the Crab and Leo the Lion.

For deep sky observers this quorum of constellations is home to a herd of Messier objects second only to Sagittarius in the summer Milky Way in number.

February has plenty of sights to draw you out, even on the chilliest of winter nights. So bundle up and start looking up.

magnification. The haze of the comet’s head (coma) was distinct enough, but no hint of any tails. These are some of the benefits of astrophotography, you can capture more than your eye can and you can share with others afterwards. Note the faint track of a satellite that happened to be in the field of view when I exposed for the comet, I never saw it at the time. I captured the comet slipping by the handle stars of the Big Dipper in the other labelled image, using a 50mm lens for a 30 second exposure at ƒ/2.8. This also illustrates how

you can “star hop” to find things in the night sky sometimes. To find the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), envision an equilateral tri-angle using the last two stars in the handle of the Big Dipper (Alkaid and Mizar) as the base. Just put the crosshairs of your finder scope or your “red dot” in the vicinity of the top of the imaginary triangle and the galaxy should be in the eyepiece. What could be quicker and easier? And what is that star next to Mizar in this image? It is Alcor of course.


ArticlesSubmissions for The Reflector must be received by the date listed below. E-mail submissions are preferred (Microsoft Word, OpenDoc, ASCII and most common graphic formats are accept-able). If your article contains photso or graphics, please provide a separate file for each. Typed or hand-written submissions are acceptable pro-vided they are legible (and not too long.) Copy-righted materials will not be published without written permission from the copyright holder. Submissions may be edited for grammar, brev-ity, or clarity. Submissions will be published at the editor’s sole discretion. Depending on the volume of submissions, some articles may be published at a later date. Please submit any ar-ticles, thoughts, or ideas to:[email protected]

Next submission deadline:February 24 2016

Meetings The Peterborough Astronomical Association meets every first Friday of each month, except July and August, at the Peter-borough Zoo Guest Services and Rotary Educa-tion Centre (inside the main entrance at the north end of the Zoo) at 7 p.m. P.A.A. general annoucements will begin each meeting with the guest speaker starting at 7:30 p.m.

continued from page 1Loneliest Galaxyaround it for a hundred million light years in all directions. Were you to draw a sphere around the Milky Way with a radius of 100 million light years, we’d find hundreds of thousands of galaxies. But not MCG+01-02-015; it’s the loneliest galaxy ever discovered. Our Milky Way, like most galaxies, has been built up by mergers and accretions of many other galaxies over billions of years, having acquired stars and gas from a slew of our former neighbors. But an isolated galaxy like this one has only the matter it was born with to call its own.

Edwin Hubble made his universe-chang-ing discovery using telescope technology from 1917, yet he would have found abso-lutely zero other galaxies at all were we situated at MCG+01-02-015’s location. The first visible galaxy wouldn’t have shown up until we had 1960s-level technology, and who knows if we’d have continued looking? If we were such a lonely galaxy, would we have given up the search, and concluded that our galaxy encompassed all of exis-tence? Or would we have continued peering deeper into the void, eventually discovering our unusual location in a vast, expanding universe? For the inhabitants of the loneli-est galaxy, we can only hope that they didn’t give up the search, and discovered the entire universe.

This article is provided by NASA Space Place. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and

Earth science!

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov

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