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AKASHA
Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers

The newsletter of ABAA

Issue 13 May-June 2013

Hows this for a photo shot by an amateur astronomer with his first camera ? The image, of course, is of Jupiter with the Galilean moons. Also see page 3 for a picture of Saturn. Guess which camera was used for this stunning image and how much the camera cost ! The answers in some detail will be in the next issue.

2 Editorial collective Ravindra Aradhya Jayant Basavarajaiah Sanjay A Pai Kiran Subash Prakash Subbanna Were back ! After a hiatus - for various reasons Akasha is back . Of course, on an astronomical scale of time, this 2 year gap is not too long ! Still, this time, we hope to be more regular. We expect that Akasha, the e-newsletter that connects members of ABAA, will be a bimonthly initially. Akasha will carry photos and happenings of ABAA meetings so that those who are unable to be regular ( exams can be a hindrance, right ?!) know what they have missed and can get the gist of the meeting. We also start a series on an alphabet soup of Astronomy. A regular feature will be notes on what to observe in the sky for the coming two months as well as some news from the world of astronomy. Akasha will carry occasional articles and photos that will be of general interest. This issue has some photographs taken by a..well, youll have to read this in the next issue ! But what do you think of the images ? What else ? Birthdays, comments, any letters from you, dear readers and more. Its up to you, members of ABAA to contribute and to think of new columns ! The only condition is this : be original ! A big thank you to the contributors of this issue we look forward to your support and guidance for future issues, as well as from the others. Sanjay A Pai Editors note

Acknowledgements to : Dr Shylaja BS, JN Planetarium, Bangalore

We meet at 5.30 PM every Sunday at the JN Planetarium, T Chowdaiah Road, Bangalore . Contact us at: abaa_org@googlegroups.com or on Facebook at the ABAA Bangalore page. Or read our blog at http://abaaonline.blogspot.in Akasha is the newsletter of ABAA, Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers. We look forward to submissions, ideas, articles and photos from the universe of astronomy. All submissions including comments, criticism and feedback- to : sanjayapai@gmail.com Reproduction of any material from Akasha is freely permitted. However, please mention the source [ Akasha/ ABAA ] when you do so.

PS. Do send this newsletter to all your contacts in order to popularise astronomy.

3 Presidents message Astronomy is one of the oldest fundamental sciences. Our society reacts differently to astronomical events scientifically or through blind belief. Scientific understanding of astronomical events has led to more participation by the common man, leading to stronger understanding, and ultimately making learning enjoyable. At ABAA, all possible astronomical occasions are used to increase awareness and explanations to those who do not know but wish to learn. The members of the association meet every Sunday evening to dwell over various topics of astronomy through open house discussions, discussions led by anchors, talks by members etc. Appropriate simple working models are used for demonstrations to illustrate the point, thereby avoiding complex equations that normally go over ones head. We thus bring people from all walks of life and keep them involved. During discussions at ABAA, we do have many non-members participating in such discussions and many become members after attending some meetings. Popularization of astronomy being the sole motive of ABAA, active participation by members has kept ABAA up and running for 37 years. I personally thank all the members for the active participation and my humble request is to share whatever you have learnt and take this initiative forward to popularize astronomy and importantly in some way contribute back to the societyto eradicate blind beliefs. Let us make this wonderful subject of astronomy reachable, understandable - and most importantly, enjoyable. Jayant Basavarajaiah

Saturn, as shot by the same camera[ seepage 1] Birthdays ABAA members who have recently celebrated their birthdays include Leela Kalyanram ( April 11) and Gaurav Hari (April 19). ABAA wishes them a happy birthday and also to Abhinandan D Joshi.May 2 Imran Lateef.May 7 Sanath Kumar Sastry.May 22 Surendra SidlaghattaMay 27 Hitesh PoddarJune30 Some havent been seen for some time : do give us the opportunity to wish you in person ! CONGRATULATIONS! To Santhosh S, quite literally, a bright young star of ABAA, for having secured a mindboggling 92.5% in his SSC exams. Santosh plans to take up physics/astrophysics for a future. Watch this space tomorrow ! In the meanwhile, do read his article on Asteroids in this issue.

4 ABAA meeting : Exoplanets The next question is - what would be the planet's requirements? It a. would have to be not too large ( like Jupiter), for gravity would become a problem b. should have a molten core, to provide a magnetic field, to protect the planet from its host star's radiation c. should have an ozone layer, to protect the planet's life forms from UV d. should have a crust, so that plant and mammal life can evolve e. should have an atmosphere We began with the fundamental question: where in a galaxy, could one search for such planets? We agreed that it would be more feasible in the galactic arm, where the formation of nebulas would be less disturbed. Secondly, what kind of stars could host such planets? They are a) Supergiants ? - no, because their lifespan would be in millions of years while a planet to evolve to become earthlike would require at least a couple to 4 billion years. b) Medium sized stars like our Sun - yes, the best possibility, c) Small red Dwarfs - yes, very likely too Based on the star type, we worked on the Habitable Zone ( Goldilocks zone) of the medium stars and red dwarfs. Here, we discussed our own solar system, where it begins (at the end of Venus' position) and stretches upto Mars, with Earth falling in the middle. Could there have been life on Mars, a billion years ago? f. possibly, would require the presence of a big brother like Jupiter to fend off meteors and comets, so that life on the planet could evolve peacefully g. might require a moon h. must have water in its liquid state

On March 3, 2013, we decided to have an impromptu talk on finding earthlike exoplanets. A discussion which left us convinced that, yes, there definitely could be!

The meeting was great fun, with a lot of interaction, and left us with more to read on! Leela Kalyanaraman

5 ABAA Meeting : Occultation ABAAs topic for 28th April 2013 revolved [ not rotated !] around occultation. The topic was discussed largely by Jayanth Basavarajaiah, president of ABAA, and Ravi Aradhya. Occultation is an event where a celestial body obscures another. This is derived from the word occult which means hidden. It is important to note that occultation and transit are events with opposite definitions. The difference lies in the fact that, in occultation an apparently larger body passes in front of an apparently smaller body, while in transit an apparently smaller body passes in front of an apparently larger one. Planets, asteroids, satellite, stars, space station are the bodies involved in occultation. A classic example of transit would be of planets (from earth, only two planetary transits are visible i.e. of Mercury and Venus). Occultation lasts from a few seconds to few minutes. It is a most interesting event to watch and for amateur astronomers very few prerequisites are required. These are clear skies ( sigh !) telescope/ binoculars - and most important an appropriate timer ! study the above. However in order to profile, data must be pooled in from different locations. The official organisation that studies occultations is the IOTA (International Occultation and Timing Association). Amateur astronomers play a huge role in collecting data during occultations, which can be used by professionals for interpretation and derivations. -- Harshitha SC

Mars, media misunderstanding..and madness ! It is interesting to learn how the search for Martians began. In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli while observing Mars through a telescope, exclaimed that he had seen canali which is Italian for channels. However, this was interpreted by the English media as canals. The difference between the two is significant : channels are naturally formed (water) bodies, while canals are artificially constructed. Thus, the erroneous translation meant that people now thought that Martians existed and had built canals on their planet ! This of course led to science fiction stories and beliefs of little green men from Mars !

The types of occultations include lunar, planetary and asteroidal occultations. The moon occulting a star is one of the sights that should not be missed as it may lead to grazing occultation. Occultation holds advantages to astronomers as the events allow to profile the occulting body! This includes calculating diameter and shape, checking for composition, temperature, studying the planetary rings, revealing the presence of atmosphere. Instruments like photometer, spectrophotometer is necessary to

Search for the primordial soup? The ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimetre Array),the worlds most powerful radio telescope, has started operations in Chile, on 13 March, 2013 [yet another 13.see box on the number 13, elsewhere in this issue !]. ALMA is run by a group consisting of astronomers

6 from USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, Taiwanand Chile, of course. ALMA differs from other radio telescopes, states a report in The Economist (March 16, 2013 issue) in that while the others can only study signals emitted by simple, small molecules in space,eg. CO and Hydrogen cyanide, ALMA can detect complex substances such as glycoaldehyde and acetone. We also learn that ALMA will be capable to detecting intermediate stages of chemical reactions processes which are often too transient to be studied on earth as well as pathways which may not take place on earth at all ! What difference does this make ? A big one. Given that life began as a chemical reaction, likely from simple sugars and organic acids, astrochemists and astrobiologists hope to be able to glean new ideas and insights on the perplexing subject of how life was born in the universe or earth.

Contd.How did it come to be named Pluto ? Apart from the fact that it was appropriate Pluto is the God of the underworld in Greek mythology and cold Pluto at the distance of 30-49 AU, is certainly in the underworld, there was another reason. The first two alphabets of Pluto are PL and these are also the initials of Percival Lowell, the Bostonian who initiated the search for the nineth planet, which he termed planet X. Thus, it honours the man who had earlier goofed up with his belief on Martian canals ( see separate box in this issue ). It is an entirely different matter that despite this near-eponym ( whats an eponym ? See a future issue of Akasha to find out ! )today, we know that PLs calculations for the planet X were errononeous and that Pluto is no longer considered a planet !

Number 13 Lucky for some and unlucky for othersnumber 13 !, goes the MC in a game of housie /tambola. ( But do readers know why 13 is considered unlucky by some ?). The number 13, of course, in space travel reminds us of Apollo 13, the manned rocket which caught fire en route to the moon, but was successfully was brought back without loss of life or limb to the astronauts. Readers will remember the Tom Hanks movie which depicts the story and the master understatement, Houston, weve had a problem. We believe that Issue 13 will be lucky for us : it marks the rebirth of this newsletter!

ABAA meeting, 7th April : status of Pluto We began this meeting with a strawpoll : how many of the people gathered that evening believed that Pluto still deserved to be a planet ? Turns out most did, probably, as Ravindra Aradhya suggested, for emotional reasons, rather than for scientific ones. Among the things discussed, participants learnt that Pluto has atmosphere and has large amounts of nitrogen and methane. It now has five moons - Charon, Nix, Hydra, P4, and P5.

7 Around the solar system : Check out this URL : http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/04/a round-the-solar-system/100503/ [ accessed 264-2013 ] for some fantastic images of the solar system. You will regret not doing so ! contractions due to the internal activities i.e. because of certain nuclear fusions or ionization of Helium ions or in few cases stored energy trying to flow outwards, hence causing unbalanced forces which leads to feedback mechanism, thereby playing a role in changing brightness. However in case of eruptive variable stars, the variation of brightness is because of materials lost from the star or being accreted to it. In these cases there are events like flares and ejections from a star. Examples of eruptive variable stars are Orion variables, R Coronae Borealis variables. In case of Cataclysmic, there are supernovae, novae which account for the changing brightness. Examples are Crab nebula, AM Herculis variables and so on. 2) Extrinsic the variation in the brightness is because of external cause. Broadly, there are Eclipsing, planetary transits and rotating extrinsic variables. On 17th February, 2013, ABAAs topic was on variable stars and was given by Vinay. Eclipsing variable stars are those where fluctuation in the brightness is due to star eclipsing another, this is seen largely in binary stars. Example - Beta Lyrae variables. In planetary transit, the stars brightness changes when their planets pass between the observer and the star. Rotating variable stars show variation in brightness due to the rotation, because as they rotate they reveal their bright areas or due to stellar spots or the ellipsoidal shape may contribute to the changing brightness. [contd on next page ]

ABAA meeting : Variables

Variable stars are the ones with changing brightness (apparent) when seen from earth. Broadly, they are of Intrinsic and Extrinsic kinds. 1) Intrinsic the cause of fluctuation of brightness is due to certain activities of the star. Examples being pulsating, eruptive, cataclysmic etc. In the case of pulsating stars, they expand and contract, hence contributing to the change in brightness.eg. Cepheids, RV Tauri, RR Lyrae etc. Pulsating stars show expansion and

8 Following are the basic settings you need on your camera : set your camera to M mode or the Manual mode. Set your Lens focus to Manual mode and switch off the image stabilization if any. Set the aperture to Maximum opening...this means the widest aperture on your lens...eg. 3.5 or 2.8 or even lower, whichever is available. Set the speed dial to B position or BULB mode. In this mode the shutter is open as long as the shutter button is held pressed. You can use infrared remote or Cable release. If you dont have a remote, set the dial to 30 sec. The last thing you have to do is set the ISO or the sensor sensitivity setting anywhere between 800 ISO to 1600 ISO (depending on the darkness of the surrounding and sky conditions). You are now all set ...look out for a dark location, devoid of city lights, identify some constellations, align your camera, and focus the star to a point looking through the viewfinder or on the live view mode on your DSLR. Press the shutter button and hold on ! The next thing you see is you have recorded some of your favourite constellations on your DSLR. You can also point the camera to Polaris, the pole star and attempt a circumpolar star trail image if you can keep the shutter open for a longer period of time. A word of caution...you may not get it at the first attempt, but keep trying and view you results on a larger screen to enjoy it. Come to ABAA to share your work and discuss more about it. Prakash Subanna

[contd] Such observations of variable stars are done using photometry, spectrophotometry, spectroscopy instruments. In such instruments the interpretation is done done analyzing graphs where the peaks and the dips account to the changes in the brightness and their frequencies. The period of their variable peaks and dips can vary from few days to few months. Studying variable stars helps scientists to infer stars surface temperature, radius, luminosity, age, inner workings of a star and to an extent origin and evolution of star. American Association of Variable Star Observers monitors and records every variable star. ABAA meeting : Astrophotography Prakash Subanna took a class on astrophotography, cameras and lenses on March 31, 2013, as a followup on the discussion on Cameras, which had been held on March 24, 2013 .For those who missed the class, here are some tips, written by Prakash himself. I must add that he is also an acclaimed wildlife and nature photographer, so you could even learn this from him sometime Editor. If you have a DSLR (kit) and interest in astronomy,...the next best thing is to try astrophotography. Let me try to kindly your interest and ask you to do some Astrophotography with what you have. I presume you have a DSLR with a Kit lens, which means a body with a 18-55 mm lens. This lens covers a fairly wide field in the sky, enough, at least to image constellations. The next equipment you need is a sturdy tripod on which can mount your DSLR and operate it with a Remote release or a Cable release.

9 ABAA meeting : Moongazing and more

Image : Orion and its surroundings, 2006

ABAA meeting : Crater watching

The ABAA meeting of April 21, 2013 had members and many many more who turned up take a peek at the moon as well as see the splendid rings of Saturn. An unforgettable sight even if you have seen them before !

The ABAA meeting on April 14, 2013 had all amateur astronomers young and old eagerly taking up the Presidents challenge to identify the craters which could be seen in the early crescent moon. The image above shows some amateurs poring over a map of the moon though, as can be seen, others are more interested in posing for the photo-op ! Shades of IPL spectators !?

10 that many factors such as collisions from other asteroids, radiation from sun, internal heating in the initial stages caused breaking and weathering of planetisimals and gave birth to more asteroids. Ceres was the first asteroid to be discovered. It was discovered in 1801 by Guiseppe Piazzi. It was initially classified as a planet. Astronomers had, at that time, predicted that there likely to be missing planets in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Later, Ceres, Vesta etc were discovered. Scientists initially used manual methods to locate and find asteroids. Later, by using many devices such as long exposure cameras and others, they discovered hundreds of other asteroids. There are many terminologies regarding asteroids. They include METEROID: Smaller asteroids. METEOR: A meteoroid comes in contact with earths gravitational field and gets attracted and falls into earth by emitting light due to friction offered by the atmosphere. METEROIT: A part of a meteor that survives the passing through the atmosphere and hits the earth. METEOR SHOWER: Many meteors appear to come from the same point of the sky during a particular part of the year. FIREBALL: A meteor brighter than the planet Venus. BOLID: A large meteor that explodes in the atmosphere. Comets are also objects like asteroids but they are composed of ice and dust. Due to solar winds, they leave a tail when they come close

Alphabet soup of Astronomy.A

A is for Apple [ Newtons or otherwise ]. A is for Andromeda. A is for Asimov, Astronomy, Asterism and. Asteroids. Space is a matrix having many different, mysterious, amazing objects. An asteroid is one among them. Asteroids are masses of matter which float in the space. They are similar to planets, but are much smaller. Most are irregular in shape but some giant asteroids are spherical due to their mass. Larger asteroids are also called as planetoids. The asteroid belt is a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where there are hundreds of millions of these asteroids. Their sizes vary from dust to hundreds of kilometers. About half of the belts mass is concentrated in four giant asteroids named namely Ceres, Hygiea, Pallas and Vesta. Ceres is the biggest with a diameter with about 950 km. Hence it is also known a dwarf planet. These asteroids are so thinly distributed that many spacecrafts have passed through them without even having their contact. These asteroids are mainly classified into three categories. They are: Carbonaceous type (Ctype), Silicate type(S-type) and Metal-rich type (M-type) based on their composition. The formation of the present asteroids is still not completely clear. Scientists believe that these asteroids were formed by the breaking of planetesimals during the formation and evolution of the solar system. Theories suggest

11 to sun. Kuiper Belt is a belt similar to the asteroid belt but it is much larger and is present beyond the orbits of all planets. It is composed of comet-like objects and asteroids. Due to the gravitational pull of gas giants they come into the solar system and are seen as comets. Asteroids are also found along the orbits of other planets or moons. They share their same orbits. These are known as Trojans. Example: Jupiter Trojans. After knowing about these asteroids, we can get to know their might in our solar system. They are also used as military outposts in some science fiction films, such as Armageddon. They are also used to study many heavenly bodies like distant stars etc. So the hunt for more asteroids is still going on and will bring us some good. Santhosh. S. phase as Venus is coming out of Superior conjunction which was on March 28th. Mars: Still hidden in the glare of the morning Sun, we will have to wait couple of more months for good observation of the red planet. Jupiter: This month we say goodbye to the giant planet Jupiter from the evening sky. By the end of the month Jupiter will be very close to Sun in separation and will be lost in Suns glare as it approaches conjunction. Jupiters superior conjunction is on June 19th. Jupiter will put up a last show with Venus and Mercury on May 30th as they line up in the evening sky. Saturn: Saturn is now visible all night giving a lot of observing time as it rises before sunset. Even with a small telescope, we can enjoy this amazing ringed planet. Saturn will be in constellation of Virgo. Uranus: The sky in May 2013 Mercury: Mercury remains close to the sun in angular separation, making it difficult to spot and observe in the early morning. Mercury will reach superior conjunction on May 11th and its only towards the end of the month that we will be able to spot Mercury in the evening sky, close to bright Venus. Venus: Venus is now the evening star, shining bright at -3.8 magnitude (remember : negative sign means brighter). In the beginning of the month, Venus sets at 7:15pm and towards the end of the month it will set at 7:45pm. When observed through a telescope, Venus will show almost full Uranus is well placed for observation in the constellation of Pisces. The planet rises early in the morning at 3:45 am at the beginning of the month and will rise at 2:30 am towards the end of the month of May; Uranus is a very easy object for binoculars and telescopes. Neptune: Neptune too is nicely placed for observation as it rises at 1:40 am in the constellation of Aquarius in the early part of the month and will rise 00:30 am. Neptune is a good challenge for binoculars and an easy target for even small telescopes. Pluto: Pluto, shining at 14th magnitude is now in the star rich of field of Sagittarius constellation

12 which makes it an extremely challenging object to find. As Jupiter reaches conjunction on 19th June, the giant planet will be hidden in Suns glare in the month of June. Saturn: As the giant planet leaves the evening sky, we are now treated with the wonderful ringed planet Saturn. The planet is well placed for observation as the planet rises early at 3 pm. By the time Sun sets, Saturn will be placed high in the sky for good observations. Uranus and Neptune: Uranus and Neptune are early morning planets and they are good challenge for binoculars and telescopes. Uranus in the constellation of Pisces rises at 1:50 am and Neptune in the constellation Aquarius rises at 11:50 pm. Pluto: Pluto still shining at 14th magnitude is now in the star rich of field of Sagittarius constellation which makes it an extremely challenging object to find. Moon: June 8th New Moon June 16th First Quarter June 23rd Full Moon June 30 Last Quarter

Moon: New Moon: 10th May First Quarter: 18th May Full Moon: 25th May Last Quarter: 1st June ---Ravindra Aradhya

The sky in June 2013 Mercury: This month is a good time to observe planet Mercury in the evening sky. Mercury being close to sun will always be close to horizon so make sure when planning on seeing observing Mercury that the horizon is not obstructed by buildings or trees. Mercury will set at 8:30 pm in the first week of the month and reach greatest elongation of 24 degrees on 12th of June. Towards the end of the month Mercury will set earlier at 7:45 pm. Venus: Venus still dominates the evening sky shining bright at -3.8 magnitude; only Sun and Moon are brighter than Venus. On 20th June, Mercury and Venus will be close in angular separation of just 2 degrees. Mars: Mars rising close to Sun in the beginning of the month makes it difficult to observe, but towards the end of the month the red planet will rise just an hour before Sun. Jupiter:

Solstice: Sun reaches north most declination on June 21st this is called Summer Solstice. After reaching Solstice, 23.5degrees, Sun will start moving towards south and reach 0 degrees declination in September. ---Ravindra Aradhya *****