Astro Nerds Magazine Issue 1 June 2014

EXTANT LIFE ON MARS?
THE MARS SOCIETY

ICY SCIENCE PUBLICATION: WWW.ICYSCIENCE.COM: WINTER 2013/14
3 2
A s t r o N e r d s J u n e 2 0 1 4 A s t r o N e r d s J u n e 2 0 1 4
ASTRO NERDS
JUNE 2014
6. Mars Beautifual
and Majectic
13. Making Amateur
Astronomy Accessible
20. Look UP
In Wonder
26. #ONESKY
4 0 . K I D S
CORNER-Fuzzballs
48. Astro
Camp
p.6
p.13 p.20
p.48
Welcome to the new Astro Nerds
mini e-magazine.
Each month there will be a guide to
the night sky.
WE WILL LOOK AT EVENTS FROM THE PEOPLE
WHO GO TO THEM
AND MUCH MORE........
ENJOY......
CONTENTS
ASTO NERDS
5 4
EDITOR:David Bood
Front Cover:
Malcolm Park
Twiter: @Starfest2014
Artcles:
Henna Khan
J L Kennedy
Ralph Wilkins
Nicole Willet
Joolz Wright
Observing Guide
John Harper FRAS
Contact:
E: dbood@icyscience.com
TWITTER: @DavesAstronomy
W: www.icyscience.com
By Andy Black (Scarborough)
Welcome to the new Astro Nerds
mini e-magazine form Icy Science.
Each month we will bring you a
guide to the night sky. There will
be articles and images from people
around the world.
And best of all it is FREE................
ENJOY..........
EDITOR
DAVE BOOD
JUNE 2014
ASTRO NERDS
7 6
Ma r s , Be a u t i f u l a n d Ma j e s t i c
by Nicole Willet
www.marssociety.org
Twiter: @TheMarsSociety
There is a glowing red beacon in the sky, guiding us, no, calling
us to her. Mars, beautful and majestc Mars..she lures us in.
For those of us who are more Martan than Earthling, we under-
stand. Mars has been the focus of myths and stories for mil-
lennia. From Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars, to H.G.
Wells War of the Worlds, Mars has been the setng for many
science fcton adventures as well. However, at The Mars Society,
our aim is geared toward science fact. Mars is a beautful desert
landscape with rolling hills and plains. The Red Planet is also
home to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons
and an enormous 3,000 mile long canyon system named Valles
Marineris. One could easily imagine looking out over the rocky
landscape at the coral sky as the two moons, Phobos and Deimos,
quickly cross the celestal sphere. As the sun sets, the tempera-
ture plummets, dust devils traverse the landscape, and the sky
turns from a pale coral color to light blue.
The thought of one day standing on Mars and looking out
at the astonishing landscape, may be beyond the imag-
inaton of some, but not to the members of The Mars
Society and all other people with a deep interest in the
exploraton and human setlement of Mars. Our goal is
to reach out, educate the public, raise awareness, and
send humans to Mars. One way we accomplish this is by
hostng a conventon once a year. This years 17th annual
conventon (htp://www.marssociety.org/a/marssociety.
org/www/conventons/2014 )will be held near Johnson
Space Center in Houston, TX. The conventon will host
many scientsts, inventors, and entrepreneurs. The con-
venton will be held at the South Shore Harbour Resort in
League City, TX (near Houston). Previous years highlights
have included speeches by SpaceX founder Elon Musk
9 8
MSL Curiosity program leader Adam Steltzner (htps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y3VK9dF5eo ), Mars
Exploraton Rover Principal Investgator Steve Sqyures (htps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKbr9CEjI6c ),
and many more.
If you have ever heard the saying, It takes a village., well we at The Mars Society are utlizing that concept to
send humans to Mars. As an entrely volunteer organizaton, we have accomplished many great things since our
incepton in 1998. Examples of our current projects are the following: The Mars Desert Research Staton (MDRS)
(htp://mdrs.marssociety.org/ ).
This staton houses volunteer crews of six Marsonauts, who live and do research as if they were on the
surface of Mars. An upcoming and unprecedented mission, called the Mars Arctc 365 (htp://ma365.mars-
society.org/ ), will be a one-year Mars surface simulaton expediton in the Canadian High Arctc. We also
dare college students to partcipate in the University Rover Challenge (URC) (htp://urc.marssociety.org/ )
where they build robotc rovers and compete untl a winner is crowned. In step with the URC we also sponsor the Youth
Rover Challenge (YRC) (htp://youthrover.com/ ) where middle and high school students compete in a rover design
challenge as well, utlizing Lego Mindstorm sofware. We have also launched an Educaton Task force (htp://educa-
ton.marssociety.org/ ), to reach out to educators, students, and the general public to help expand their knowledge
IMAGE: MRDS
11 10
of Mars, astronomy, space news, and space exploraton.
If you are interested in a presentaton by a member of
the Educaton Task Force (nicolew@marssociety.org) or a
member of the Speakers Bureau, please contact us (info@
marssociety.org ). To learn more about The Mars Society
or for volunteer opportunites, please visit our main page
(htp://www.marssociety.org/ ) or contact us (info@mars-
society.org ) for more informaton.
The character of the human race will be measured
by whether or not we have taken responsibility for our
own future. We must build our character by responding
to what is happening around us. What is happening is;
we are outgrowing the Earth. It takes a worldwide com-
munity of Martans to collaborate and reach the goal
set forth by Dr. Robert Zubrin in the late 1990s. The goal
is to send humans to Mars. We wish to accomplish this
by pooling our resources as a worldwide community.
On April 17, 2014, NASA announced that the
Kepler Space Telescope (KST) has discovered the frst
Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of its parent
star. Although this planet is 500 light years away, it only
begs the queston, When will we fnd an Earth-sized exo-
planet within reach of a generaton of explorers? The
answer is most likely within the next decade. The KST
has confrmed 966 extrasolar planets with another 3,845
planetary candidates. With these discoveries it is more important than ever
to explore and setle Mars. Some may say Mars is a frozen wasteland with
robots slowly churning through a dusty and rocky landscape. However,
we like to think of Mars as the new fronter of raw desert. She is waitng,
wontng, patently orbitng her parent star while we decide when to step
foot on her precious soil. The tme is now.
Top Image: Mars Sunset- NASA
Middle: Mars Landscape- NASA JPL
Below: Youth Rover
Botom Right: URC2
13 12
Making Amateur Astronomy Accessible
The skies in London are awful. Probably worse than awful.
New York City and Las Vegas are the only places Ive seen that stand any
chance of taking Londons crown of being the most light polluted city in
the world and less suited to astronomy.
Except astronomy is available and available to enjoy for anyone, wherever
they live or work.
I hope this artcle inspires you to ignore the web-chater and magazine art-
cles that will tell you that you need to seek out light polluton-free skies,
far from free roaming photons of artfcial light that will wreak havoc with
your ability to pick out faint galaxies, if youre to enjoy real amateur astron-
omy. Firstly there is no such thing as real amateur astronomy; but there
are pedants who think that you have to do things the way they learned,
and want to keep it that way. Let me dispel a few myths. Recite afer me:
goto is good, star hopping is optonal.
Secondly, amateur astronomy is a very wide spectrum from the naked
eye Internatonal Space Staton watchers at one end, to radio astronomy
15 14
instrument builders at the other with binoculared star hoppers, meteor watchers, sketchers and solar
observers in the middle. Each pursuit along this spectrum will have its purists and each will have its relaxed
enjoyer of the actvity. This isnt professional astronomy. There isnt a right or wrong; just the way that eeks
the most enjoyment out for your own personal experience.
So when I joined the commitee of the newly formed Baker Street Irregular Astronomers in the summer
of 2010, I had no qualms about running an astronomical society situated under the light polluted dome of
London - nor in August, when many astronomical societes make a sensible choice to take a summer break,
awaitng darker skies in autumn and winter.
Founder member, Simon Bennet of Londons astronomy showroom The Widescreen Centre, made the
crucial contributon (besides startng the group) of bringing telescopes to Regents Park a venue made
possible by the other founding member, Royal Parks policeman, Carl Drake. A small range of telescopes
means that people dont spend too much tme waitng for a view and they can also compare telescope
types if theyre wishing to invest in one.
But perhaps the most valuable lesson I could ofer is to make it accessible. I dont just mean physically
accessible to get to, but welcoming, an event that people wont feel too intmidated to try out if they
havent done so already.
The Baker Street Irregulars grew from 20 people in 2010 to one and a half thousand members in 2014,
with the US Astronomy magazine editor, David Eicher, UK Astronomy Now editor, Steve Young and Tele
Vue Optcs owners, David & Sandy Nagler, among our guests at our free monthly events. We dont do
formal talks, have schedules or entrance tmes (not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that)
but we have a turn up when you want and leave when youve had enough attude that we feel com-
fortable with, and we regularly team up with our friends from the Britsh Astronomical Associaton to
give away telescopes in rafes.
People make a society and its people also defne its character. A friendly and relaxed atmosphere will
atract friendly and relaxed people and help dispel the perceived myth of the socially inept, middle-aged
white guy, amateur astronomer. This is an excitng hobby (or career, if youre lucky) where you get to
watch galaxies merging, the sun eruptng and stars exploding a long tme ago in a galaxy far far away.
Whether youre taking your scope to a town square to give passers by a view of the moon or startng
up an astronomical society in a local park, creatng a friendly and welcoming atmosphere will reap so
17 16
many rewards in terms of how successful your gatherings are and in the type of feedback youll get back
(and you want that too thats your reward for the hard work you put in). If people think they need to have
their own scope to atend or have to have a good working knowledge of stellar evoluton, they wont come
and theyll really be missing out.
Encouraging and accessible are the watchwords. Brian Cox is more popular than Saul Perlmuter. Perlmuter
discovered dark energy, that makes up 68% of the universe and you may not have heard of him. Brian Cox
isnt an astronomer by trade but you will all have heard of him and his great work to get the public inter-
ested in astronomy.
Its accessibility that led me to create
the Awesome Astronomy podcast to
explore new ways to bring the uni-
verse to wider audiences in a friendly
and engaging manner. At least I hope
it does! It also inspired me to start
the AstroCamp stargazing weekend
in the Internatonal Dark Sky Reserve
of the Welsh Brecon Beacons in 2012
to encourage learners and abso-
lute beginners to feel comfortable in
coming to an astronomy event for the
frst tme, or possibly alone. In the case of the AstroCamp, it then becomes the friendliness of the atend-
ees that sustains its fun and welcoming atmosphere.
And, whether its an event under pristne dark skies or passing city folk under soupy urban skies, a frst view
of the rings of Saturn or a peer into a large lunar crater will give them that same visceral reacton that
wow! that may be so long ago now that youve forgoten how awesome it felt for you.
With my Awesome Astronomy and AstroCamp partners, Paul Hill, Damien Phillips and John Wildridge, weve
now begun taking scopes to busy thoroughfares in London as pop-up astronomy events. We show people
walking by their frst ever views of bright objects like the moon or the cloud belts and moons of Jupiter.
The moon and planets look just as good in city skies as they do in darker or clearer skies and astronomy truly
is the gateway drug to science. We must have hooked hundreds, if not thousands, of people on astronomy
IMAGE: ALEX SPEED
19 18
What Im trying to show is that the vast array of amateur astronomy targets and methods means that there really is
no such thing as real amateur astronomy, but there is enjoyable amateur astronomy. And that atracts more interest
from other people eager to promote the hobby, whether it be Sir Patrick Moore making a beeline to Regents Park to
flm a rare episode of The Sky at Night with him on locaton in March 2011 (so keen was he to promote city amateur
astronomy) or the regular returns of the Sky at Night teams to our AstroCamp in Wales to show the sociable side of
astronomy in 2012, 2013 and now 2014.
It just takes a bit of passion, a bit of efort and a desire to show people the sky.
WORDS RALPH WILKINS
TWITTER @BakerStAstro
http://www.bakerstreetastro.org.uk/
21 20
LOOK UP IN WONDER :A GUIDE TO THE NIGHT SKY -JUNE 2014
As the month proceeds, the Sun climbs through the stars of Taurus untl around 19h on the 21st, when it crosses
the border into Gemini, the solstce having occurred on the June 21st at 10h51, eight hours earlier. The earth-
sun distance is 152, 028,935 km. The solstce marks the astronomical start of summer in the northern hemisphere,
and the beginning of winter in the southern. Thus takes place the longest day and shortest night for us here in the
UK, and thereafer night length increases once again. The season of summer lasts 93.65 days. In the northern UK,
there is no true night, and at astronomical midnight, the sky is not black but a beautful velvet deep blue, merging
to turquoise on the northern horizon. Dont forget to look out for noctlucent clouds in the hour before and afer
midnight as they catch the light of the sun, which is not very far below the northern horizon at this tme of year.
The Moon
Moon is at apogee (furthest from the earth) on June 3rd at 04h, and again on the 30th at 19h11. Perigee
(nearest to the earth) is on the 15th, at 03h35.
First Quarter takes place on the 5th at 20h39, on the Leo/Sextans border.
Full Moon is at 04h12 on the 13th, in the constellaton of Ophiuchus, and is the second lowest Full Moon
of this year.
Last Quarter Moon is on the 19th at 18h39 near the circlet in western Pisces.
June twilight of evening around 21h, when its alttude is 8 above the NW horizon, between 300 and 310 in azimuth.
(Azimuth is a coordinate system marking the positon on the horizon where an object might be seen, measured from
North 0, through East, 45, South 180, West 270, and back to North)
Throughout June, Venus rises between one and two hours before the sun, and may be seen low in the eastern sky as
morning twilight increases at around 03h. On the morning of the 24th, shortly afer 02h you will see the thin waning
crescent moon and Venus, rising together; the two are 5 apart, the moon lying to the right of the bright Morning
Star. At this tme the pair lie beneath the Pleiades, that beautful open cluster of stars, commonly known as the Seven
Sisters in the constellaton of Taurus the Bull. You can use the moon later on, afer the sun rises, to see Venus in full
New Moon occurs on the 27th, at 08h09, when the moon lies on the Orion/ Gemini border, and 5 south of
the sun.
The Planets
Mercury contnues its favourable appariton in the evening sky during the frst week of June, afer which it is
lost rapidly in the suns encroaching light. Indeed, the elusive litle planet reaches inferior conjuncton and lies
between the sun and us during the late evening of the 19th. Use binoculars to look for Mercury in the strong
23 22
daylight. Simply fnd the moon and then look towards where Venus was, and you will see as the textbooks state, that Venus is visble in a blue sky, if you know where
to look! As the short night begins to fall at 22h on the 7th, Mars and the gibbous waxing moon are in conjunction 25 in altitude in the SW sky. At this time Mars
will be seen just less than 3 above the moon. During June Mars is visible from sunset until 02h in the morning when it sets. However by the end of the month,
the planet is setting a few minutes before astronomical midnight. (01h BST). Mars is now fading as earth leaves it behind, and appears to move slowly eastwards
through midsummer in Virgo as it approaches the constellations brightest star Spica for the second time this year. On the last day of the month, Spica is some 5
to the left of the brighter planet Mars, which by the months end, the latters magnitude is slightly less than Arcturus, (alpha Botis), which lies 30 above the pair
Jupiter continues to be visible in the evening sky, although the days of the evening apparition of this giant planet are numbered. Conjunction with the sun takes
place next month. Look for the planet in the NW sky at around 21h. Jupiter is moving slowly eastwards in Gemini and by the end of the month is in line with the
constellations two chief stars Castor and Pollux, which seem to point towards Jupiter in the evening twilight.
Saturn continues to dominate Libra, the zodiacal constellation in which it lies, and may be seen crossing the meridian in the south shortly after sunset at an alti-
tude of some 20 in that direction. If you look another 20 to its lower left, you may see the giant red star Antares twinkling low in the SE, in the neighbouring
constellation of Scorpius, the same angular distance to the right of Saturn is Spica, and a further 10 on in the same direction is Mars.
(20 in the sky is a little over the distance of a span with the hand held out at arms length.)
Just after sunset on the 10th, the gibbous waxing moon is close to Saturn, the angular distance being some 2 at that time, with Saturn above the moon in the sky.
Both Uranus in Pisces, and Neptune in Aquarius are difcult to observe because of twilight this month, and also because there are no bright stars in their vicini-
ties to help you locate these remote worlds.
During this month the International Space Station is passing through a period of full illumination. This ofers multiple opportunities for viewing the ISS for observ-
ers in the UK. Constellations visible in the south around midnight, mid-month, are as follows: Ophiuchus, Serpens Cauda, Hercules, and the head of Draco the
dragon, which is near the zenith.
All times are GMT 1 is one fnger width at arms length.
WORDS: JOHN HARPER (FRAS) FOUNDER SCARBOROUGH & RYDALE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
25 24
27 26
A couple and their 10 year old son
stopped by and had a look at Mars.
The litle guy was blown away by
Mars; he could see the top part
was covered with snow Russell
Bateman, Nova Scota.
On 9th May 2014, astronomers all around the world set up their
telescopes free of cost at various locatons for anyone passing
by to take a look through them. Hundreds of people all around
the globe saw the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter for the frst
tme in awe and wonder.
Image Below: Credit: Scot Lewis (Space Fan News), USA
The event was organized as part of an Internatonal efort to remind people that in spite of the borders
and diferences we have built between ourselves, we are stll all connected by our One Sky. Click the
image below to play
29 28
Almost all of them had seen the planets FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Credit: Syed Roshan, Pakistan
Knowledge Observatory; Credit: Andrew Davies, UK
It was a fun night with my neighbors and friends.
We agreed we should repeat this again soon
Shirley Vuille, USA
Adorable children observing the Sun in Romania.
Credit: Valentn Grigore
31 30
Celebrations from Iraq. Credit:
Hassan Sabbar
Celebrations in Japan. Credit:
Takahiro Nakao
33 32
Celebrations in Spain. Credit: ASTER-Agrupaci Astronmica de Barcelona
Celebrations in Malaysia. Credit: Amirul Hazim Kamarulzaman
35 34
Celebrations in El Salvador. Credit: Ramon Centeno
Credit: Michael Cook, Canada (BELOW)
Cr e d i t : T e a l e Br i t s t r a
37 36
Credit: Muchammad Thoyib, Indonesia Credit: Siva Subramanyam
ARTICLE : Henna Khan
Twitter: @henna_khan
39 38
www.onlineastronomycourses.co.uk
Email OASAcademy@gmail.com
41 40
K
I
D
S

C
O
R
N
E
R

FUZZBALLS & THE SQUEAKY SQUIRT by J L Kennedy
Twinkle, the youngest Fuzzball in the Space Base, was reading an email in the Control Room.
His mother, Priscilla, came in carrying a plate of his favourite cupcakes.
Ive just made these, Twinkle. Would you like one?
No thanks Im not hungry
Youre always hungry, Twinkle! You havent caught Fuzzball Flu, have you?
Im OK but Squeak has a problem, replied Twinkle.
Squeak was the smallest robot on planet, Quadro.
Poor Squeak, whats wrong? asked Priscilla.
Hes lost his voice thats why we have to email each other. Its Squeaks birthday next week he just wants his
voice back no other presents.
Im sure hell be fne by then
Dont think so, Mum. Squeak hasnt managed even a small squeak for
more than two weeks. Yesterday he was reprogrammed and rewired but
that failed.
Speak to Drew - hes the best space engineer - he might be able to help.
I think Drews having a shower though now hes just fnished work on
my Comet Rocket.
Twinkle fed down the Fuzz Flume and found Drew in the Star Spa.
Drew! squealed Twinkle. Can you make a robot talk? Squeaks lost his
voice
43 42
Twinkle felt so much better after telling Drew about Squeaks problem, that he ate two cupcakes! His
mother says sharing problems always helps.
Well, said Drew. Radio the Squirts now ask them to bring Squeak here.
Twinkle zoomed back to the Control Room.
Space Base to Quadro. Twinkle calling.
Quadro to Space Base. Senior Squirt here. Go ahead, Twinkle.
Drew might be able to help Squeak when can you come to the Space Base?
Im afraid we have another problem. Our space ship wont lift of we have to wait a week for a new part.
But we must fx Squeak before his birthday. Ill ask Drew if we can fy to you but we wont have room for
all the tools and equipment
OK, Twinkle.
After lunch, Drew and Twinkle landed on Quadro in their Comet Rocket; the Squirts lined up to welcome
them.
Thank you for coming so quickly, said the Senior Squirt. We can manage without the space ship for a
week, but Squeak is desperate to get his voice back
No problem shall we get started?
45 44
Dont worry, Squeak, said Drew, Im going
to switch you of then carefully dismantle
you. You wont feel a thing.
Squeaked nodded but he was trembling
nervously.
Twinkle passed a large screwdriver to Drew.
Minutes later Drew unscrewed Squeaks
head and put it gently on the workbench.
Twinkle shone a torch inside Squeaks head, and Drew
removed several small parts to examine.
Nothing wrong here, said Drew. Well have to open up
his back panel. Pass me screwdriver number seven please,
Twinkle.
Drew worked in silence, testng every part.
Yes! he shouted fnally. Look at this green sensor, Twinkle.
Its overheated. Squeak probably squeaked too loudly for
too long!
Can you fx it?
No, I cant but I can replace it.
Drew took another small sensor out of his tool box. Squeak
should be talking again in minutes
And Drew was right!
Yippee! called Squeak in his usual squeaky voice.
Cant thank you both enough, said the Senior Squirt.
Weve got a spare sensor in case Squeak needs it, said Twinkle.
Might be useful, replied the Senior Squirt. Squeak will be making a lot of noise at his party! You will both be
coming, wont you?
Defnitely! said Twinkle.
And I could help you fx your space ship if the new part has arrived, added Drew.
47 46
Whats the problem?
It wont lif of just makes a litle squeaking noise that we cant stop
Twinkle giggled. You had a robot called Squeak who couldnt squeak, and a space ship that shouldnt squeak but wont stop squeaking! Everyone was laughing, but Squeak was laughing the loudest. Having my voice back is
the best-ever early birthday present!
More stories on our website www.fuzzballs.co.uk
Follow us on Facebook
Copyright 2014 J L Kennedy. All rights reserved.
49 48
Astrocamp Spring
2014
I would never have thought that Astrocamp would become part of my
regular yearly trips list.but here we were with four events under our
belts! This was the frst tme I arrived a couple of days early, as the
Astrocamp dates actually fell on the weekend preceded by the school
holidays. So my son and I decided to extend our camp by a couple of
days and so glad we did...for many reasons! Sufce to say we were
not alone and were greeted by old friends that we had made at pre-
vious camps.
We arrived to glorious sunshine and clear skies in the hope that they
would contnue into the night. We were not disappointed and the
minute Jupiter appeared dazzling in the duskthe scopes were already
out and poised ready! The weather forecast leading up to the weekend
had been a litle bleak and social media frenzy had led to much specu-
laton as to how much we would be able to observe over the weekend
so we were grateful when the following evening meant we had views
of the stars and planets yet again. Just in case, we set up a gazebo
nearby and used it for shelter and social retreat and as more early
arrivals appeared it was beginning to feel more like Astrocamp was
really approaching!
Mars with my DSLR, 127 Mak
and 2x Barlow through a gap in the
cloud!
I was really happy to be able to get a great capture of
Mars with my DSLR, 127 Mak and 2x Barlow through
a gap in the cloud!
The next morning saw the arrival of the organisers
and Astrocamp was ofcially underway!
Unfortunately many arrivals on the Saturday were
greeted by rain and howling gales and that soon
meant that any hopes of clear skies were being
drowned outliterally. Many astrocampers were
out helping new arrivals pitch tents in dreadful con-
ditons but the camaraderie kept spirits high and
the antcipaton of a great weekend, despite the
weather, was evident in the excited buzz around
the camp.
The social events were soon underway with a full
itnerary of fabulous actviteskicking of with a
DSLR Astrophotography and wide feld imaging
demonstraton from Pat ( @physicist13 ) huddled
under the gazebo during intermitent rain!
An unfortunate turn in the weather meant that
as the wind got stronger and the rain heavier
any hopes of setng up the marquees on the
common (the central hub of the camp) were
dashed. Many campers retreated to the local pub,
whilst others sheltered in their tents or gazebos.
A few made the most of the gazebo placed from
the night before in a temporary positon next
to our pitch. This meant that the curry we had
planned between a few of us from the previous
51 50
Autumn Astrocamp (knowing the pub is always busy on the frst night!) soon expanded and grew. Many arrived
to huddle from the wind and rain bringing anything from snacks, to drinks, their own tea to shareand of course
fantastc company I think around thirty managed to huddle underneath two gazebos strapped together
having to occasionally grab the corners to stop it from taking of!
Image Paul Hill
53 52
A wonderful surprise was also a fantastc Astrocamp Cake which
was greeted by gasps and ahs by everyone! The creator, Helen
Knight, was very keen to have it cut as soon as possible due to
the adverse weather and lack of somewhere to keep it so it
only made it to the planned High Tea event on the Monday in
slices! But it was certainly the star atracton both visually and
gastronomically! As darkness fell the cloud remained persis-
tent so it was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends
and make new ones over a glass of wine or two! Amazingly at
around 9.30 the rain stopped and the clouds managed to part
revealing the most glorious sky! It was one of the most magical
moments as it was totally unexpected and the excitement was
treasure to behold! As no one was set up observing or imaging
it was great fun watching lasers pointng out various celestal
delightsand I took the opportunity to take some fun wide feld
shots to capture the moment!
The following day more brilliant events were kicked of with Erics
(@EmmsStarGaze) SUN-day solar observing on the common
with many astros with specialist scopes and modifed observing
equipmentand yes, there was intermitent sunshine!
Never dull moments at Astrocamp -there were astro
imaging workshops from Damien (@Dephelis) ongoing
throughout the weekend and a comet making session
with Paul Hill (@SiriusAstro) using some easy accessi-
ble household items (including HP sauce!) and dry ice!
This was great fun as many got to handle the comet
using gloves, of course!
No one misses out at Astrocamp! (Image HowardCooper)
55 54
There was also a chance to view the Cloud Chamber
which was painstakingly constructed by John (@north-
ern1979) and proved to be another star atracton at
Astrocamp! This again was a chance to watch some real
science in acton using alcohol and dry ice it was pos-
sible to follow the trails formed by cosmic rays passing
through the forming vapour inside the sealed tank. Afer
the excitement of the morning events most of the camp-
site then migrated to the local pub where the afernoon
events were to be held.
Afer a fabulous Sunday carvery the tables were cleared
and many were crammed into a room to hear a fabulous
talk by Chris Lintot (BBC Sky at Night). This was then fol-
lowed by the infamous Astrocamp Pub Quiz with some
amazing prizes! Everyone was given a chance to win as
random numbers were used as winning score posi-
tons so very good and not so good answers were all in
with a chance! During the weekend another great fun
actvity was a Solar System themed Limerick compet-
ton ran by Jeni and John Millard and the results of these
were read out in the pub too! Afer retreatng back to
the camp site, we eagerly set up ready for the evening
to arrivehoping desperately for clear skies! Meanwhile
the BBC Sky at Night team was flming around the camp-
site and intermitent cloud and sunshine kept the solar
observers happy! When darkness fell there were some
Top: Comets!
Below: Viewing the Cloud Chamber (Image David
Woodford)
opportunites for observing and imaging in between the cloud but an unexpected visit from the Sky at Night
team, interested in wide feld imaging, resulted in three of us being whisked away into the botom feld to
flm with Pete Lawrence to discuss our techniques! Afer an hour of watching various parts of the show in
acton we were flmed from various angles and then released back to our camp, by which tme the sky had
completely clouded over and it was well into the early hours of Monday!...but heywe were TV stars!
The fnal full day of Astrocamp was ever so quick to arrive and the obligatory full English breakfast at the
local caf was a great start to the day! Astro High tea in the afernoon, which was a last minute get together
last camp, was now on the event schedule! Lots of cakes, snacks, treats and beverages made an impres-
sive banquet for this social gathering! (Yes, the clouds meant there was lots of eatng and drinking over the
weekend!)
Image P.55 Top: A very packed pub! (Image Lillian Kwok)
Image P.55 Botom Lef: Paul HIll
57 56
The social aspect of Astrocamp is what makes it really special and the sharing of tps and just general astro
chit chat is always a great pleasureand great moments when a camper brings out his guitar and sings in
front of newly made friends and then shares it around for others (who can!) to play a tuneare just fabu-
lous memories.
Monday evening was prety much clouded over, with a great rainstorm thrown in for good measure and at
11pm I decided to call it a night. Around 1am I was woken by knocking on the caravan window with a friend
so excited that the clouds had dispersed leaving the best view yet of the sky of the whole weekend! Afer
togging up again, I went outside to be greeted by that glorious Cwmdu sky we have all grown to know and
love. The views of the Milky Way were breathtakingboth naked eye and on imaging!
What a fnale!
Afer a good hour under a gorgeous clear sky I felt like it had all come to a fantastc end. I always enjoy
Astrocamp for many reasonsthe locaton, the space, being able to just geek out with my scope and camera
24/7 with no other distractons, the company, the laughsbut it all really boils down to one thing. That sky
and our passion for it that brings us all together twice a yearand I wouldnt want to be anywhere else.
Home Sweet Cwmdu Home
Artcle: Joolz Wright
Twiter: @farmerswifee
58
A s t r o N e r d s J u n e 2 0 1 4
ASTRO NERDS
www.icyscience.com

Astro Nerds Magazine Issue 1 June 2014

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Astro Nerds Magazine Issue 1 June 2014

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

EXTANT LIFE ON MARS?

THE MARS SOCIETY

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen