It is interesting to write a piece for a more traditional format. With the added advantage of having a professional do the editing, with feedback. The result is much like the articles I have written for Darker View. Some rehashing of material I have used here, but re-written to provide a more complete story. The photo below is the one chosen by the editor to illustrate the article.
We are going to get buzzed Tuesday. A reasonably large asteroid will pass quite close to the Earth, well inside lunar orbit. Asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass 325,000 km (202,000 mi) from the Earth. This is a good sized object, about 400m (1300ft) in diameter, large enough to create significant damage if it were to collide. We do know that the object will safely miss, this time. It is an object to track carefully. Data from this encounter and a future encounter with Venus in 2029 will set YU55 up for another encounter with Earth in 2041. Again we believe it will miss, but it will be close.
Keck 2 will be observing YU55 using adaptive optics and NIRC2 in an attempt to get high resolution imagery of the asteroid. It is quite convenient that this interesting asteroid is passing close to Earth, it will be in easy reach of our best astronomical instrumentation. I suspect I will be spending a little time in Keck 2 remote operations Tuesday night to get a look for myself.
Those of us who use green lasers for astronomy outreach are always worried about law enforcement cracking down on these devices. As the lasers get cheaper and more available they inevitably get into the hands of those who do not use them responsibly. Worse, the lasers are easily available at power levels that are truly dangerous.
Deb pointing out the star βPhoenicis to VIS volunteer Joe McDonoughThe problem has continued to escalate, each year there are more reported incidents of aircraft being illuminated by the laser of some idiot (yes, the correct term) who thinks it might be cool to tempt fate and the law. In 2010 there were 2836 incidents reported to the FAA, up from only a few hundred a few years before. With this sort of trend it seems inevitable there will be some sort of official reaction.
Illuminating an aircraft with a laser can be prosecuted under federal law. Not because there is any specific statute addressing lasers, but as it is deemed “Interference with a Crewmember” using an interpretation of a pre-existing 1961 federal law, specifically 14 CFR 91.11.
The FAA has put together a new webpage on lasers and aircraft safety. The page organizes and links some informative resources. This includes a couple reports on the possible effects of laser illumination on aircraft crew, as well as the legal and regulatory recommendations of the FAA. I urge anyone who uses these devices to follow the link and do a little reading.
Used responsibly these lasers are extraordinarily useful in astronomy education. Nothing grabs the crowd’s attention so quickly as that brilliant green beam. Everyone can follow along without confusion as objects are pointed to across the sky. From the constellations to the Milky Way, satellites, planets and zodiacal light, on to star clusters and galaxies, everyone knows right where to look. I do prefer lasers in the 20-30mW range, bright enough to be seen by a crowd, even under moonlight. Not powerful enough to easily injure in the case of a brief exposure to the beam.
Four previous times we have attempted to do this, hold a star party for the students of Waikoloa Elementary School. Four times it has been either cloudy, or outright raining. Yes, raining in one of the driest areas of the island, a place that gets, maybe, ten inches of rain each year.
We even had clear skies!
It was a great event, perfect skies, several big telescopes, and hundreds of eager eyes.
Students of Waikoloa Elementary School enjoying the night with Mr. OEarly in the evening I was worried that it was all for naught. About 7:30pm we were all set up and had a total of two guests, a mother and her daughter. They were getting a private showing of the sky at my telescope, with good views of Saturn, star clusters and nebulae. But where was everyone else? Classroom announcements had been made. Flyers had been sent home with every student. Two people?
They hit us just after 8:00pm, a steady stream of students and parents drawn to see the sky. I would guess that well over two hundred folks came by the star party. The skies in Waikoloa are wonderful for this sort of thing. Nice and dark, with the summer Milky Way glowing brightly overhead. We slewed from globulars to nebulae, to binary stars. Steady lines of folks waiting to look through each telescope. I have never gotten tired of the reaction when someone sees something spectacular through the eyepiece for the first time.
Cliff used his 24″ ‘scope to hunt down the new supernova in M101, visible as a small star like object at the edge of a faint halo. I was wondering which star was actually the supernova. Examining some photos afterwards I realized we were looking at the correct object. It will be interesting to observe this event over the coming week, as a nearby Type 1A supernova it should get quite bright.
My thanks to the guys from WHAC who supported this event. Mr. O, our school contact had everything perfectly arranged, from the flyers, to insuring the lights and sprinklers were off for the night. It was a great event, I expect we will do this again.
I get email. Unlike some more controversial folks on the web, this does not normally contain hate mail. My messages are usually fun to read. A regular feature of my mail are astronomy newcomers asking the usual questions…
Hi,
I found your site while hunting around Google for an answer to a question. I wonder if you can help.
My telescope was bought during the winter of 2011. I’m new to hunting and finding stars and planets. This morning like many mornings I was out and about around 5:38 am. I live in the northern hemisphere, on a farm. As always I look around for any stars that might still be out before the Sun rises fully. If I look hard enough I can find a few. One always sticks out. It is to the south, high in the sky and very bright. At first I thought it was Saturn, but my star chart tells me Saturn would be closer to SSW at 5:35 in the morning. Being I’m not using a compass, I wonder if indeed I’m not facing true south. I’ve read it could be Sirius, but I don’t believe it is, maybe I’m wrong.
Are you able to give me some idea’s as to what star I’m looking at?
Thanks, and I hope you don’t mind the crazy question.
One more question. In the spring when I was looking at Saturn I could have sworn I was able to see the rings of Saturn tilting, or better stated moving up and down for lack of better wording. Am I correct in that? I am using a Celestron AstroMaster 114. Not the best but it was affordable, just in case star gazing was not for me.
Cheers,
[Name withheld]
Saturn with Titan above, Philips ToUcam PCVC740K on a C-14 w/2x barlow, stack of 550 frames selected from 1200With a message like that I just have to respond…
[Name withheld],
Looking up whenever you walk outside is a good sign that you are indeed a stargazer at heart. I find myself doing the same any time I am under the night sky, even when walking across a supermarket parking lot I look up to see what stars or planets are visible.
Learning the sky simply takes a curious mind and a little experience. The patterns of the sky are regular and predictable. Keep learning and you will be able to recognize any bright star any time you step outside.
A remarkable early morning star could indeed be Sirius this time of year. This is the brightest visual star in the sky and can be quite striking. A quick look at the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major will also reveal the bright constellation Orion just to the north.
Each morning a fixed star like Sirius will rise about four minutes earlier, about one degree higher in the sky each day. The cycle repeats each year with the same stars visible in the same positions in the same season. By fall Canis Major and Orion will be in the evening sky and they will disappear into the Sun’s glare come spring.
Your description of Saturn is interesting… The angle of Saturn’s rings does change, but only over the months and years as the the Earth and Saturn orbit the Sun and the angle from which we view the planet changes.
It may not have been your imagination either. You may have been experiencing what astronomers call poor seeing. This is due to the air above, through which we view the heavens, distorting the light. the effect is the same thing that gives stars a twinkle or can cause the image to shimmer over a hot road. Normally the effect will blur the image slightly, coming and going with moments of clarity. When really bad the image of a star or planet can move about in the eyepiece. I have seen Jupiter look like a bouncing rubber ball under bad seeing conditions.
The Telrad finder is one of the most useful telescope accessories ever invented. A set of glowing red rings showing you, at a glance, exactly where your telescope is pointed in the sky. I have one on each of my telescopes. The Mauna Kea VIS also equips each telescope with one of these simple devices.
They do not work so well after hitting the ground a few times.
As I have mentioned in the past, the equipment at the Mauna Kea VIS gets used hard. It is setup every single night of the year. Thousands upon thousands of people use these telescopes to see the wonders of the night sky, the first time for many. The wear and accidental damage in the darkness takes a toll.
A box full of broken Telrad finders awaiting repairWhen Deb and I were last at the VIS we spent the day cleaning eyepieces and making other repairs to the ‘scopes. One of the things I found in the storeroom was a small pile of broken Telrads. Some were missing windows, many had broken battery holders, mirrors were missing and reticle holders hanging loose. Many had been patched back together with tape or hot glue, attempts to keep them working for another night.
Quite a few had reticles that were missing or melted by exposure to sunlight. The lens that focuses the reticle’s ring pattern, projecting it into the sky, will also focus sunlight on the reticle, quickly melting the thin film if a Telrad is left in the sun.
Gathering up partial and scattered parts I collected a box of finders that I can work on later. It made quite a pathetic sight, a box of broken Telrads. A couple evenings later, five of the Telrads are now rebuilt and ready to return to duty. Four more are awaiting replacement reticles before I can call them completed. I will take them back up next time we are on the mountain, but I expect we will find something else that needs to be fixed.
Sounds like someone acting very foolishly has pointed a green laser at aircraft around the Hilo airport. Thanks to Baron for noting the HPD press release on the issue. I wonder if there is someone out there who is unaware that aiming a laser at an aircraft is a violation of federal law.
Green lasers in use at the Mauna Kea VIS nightly observing with the Milky Way high overheadGreen lasers have been in the news quite a bit over recent years, ever since they became inexpensive enough that people buy them on a whim. Lasers in the under 100mW range used to cost hundreds of dollars, can now be ordered on-line for less than fifty dollars. There have been multiple incidents of these lasers pointed at commercial and law enforcement aircraft. Fortunately the usual result is simply distraction for the pilot and no accidents have been reported from laser interference with flight operations.
These lasers are also immensely useful. At the VIS and other local star parties we use green lasers to point out the constellations and to educate our visitors about the sky. There is nothing like being able to point out a specific star, nebula or galaxy directly, you can instantly connect an entire audience with the sky without the usual confusion. Friday night it was a green laser that served as a link to the stars when I used it on the patio of the Mauna Kea VIS.
I use a laser under 30mW, bright enough to be seen by a large crowd, as well as being visible with a bright Moon in the sky, but with a low enough power to be reasonably safe. Above about 50mW these laser pointers become much more dangerous as the laser can inflict injury to the eye faster than you can blink and turn away. Fortunately there is almost no air traffic over Mauna Kea making this a place where you can use the lasers with little worry. Another personal rule I follow is to never let kids handle this laser, even though they always clamor to see this bright wonder of technology.
I can only hope this issue does not attract the attention of our reactionary county council, they have a tendency to ban anything that even seems dangerous. This would be another classic case of one stupid person creating problems for those of us who use a technology responsibly.
Last night was the sort of evening we love, and the reason we volunteer at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station. One of those nights where the stars seem close enough to touch, we bring them within reach of those who came to the mountain to learn about the universe.
The Mauna Kea VIS at night with a crowd at the telescopesConditions were near perfect, a dark, clear sky with no Moon, it would rise later. Not only was it dark, but the air was steady, allowing nice high magnification views of Jupiter and other objects. The air was still, it was cold, but without the wind that can make conditions miserable at 9,200ft. The result was a beautiful night that everyone cold enjoy to the fullest.
Joining us were visitors from around the world, I met people speaking German, Spanish and Czech, a British family living in Japan, and more. About fifty people were to be found on the patio when I did the evening star talk. Not only did they come, but they came with curious minds and a will to learn. The questions came from all sides, fast and furious, a constant stream of information.
With such beautiful sights in the telescope to see, the questions just come naturally. I used a C-14 on the Astro-Physics mount to jump from object to object, the Swan Nebula, the globular cluster of M22, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Wild Duck Cluster, the Ring Nebula, the Dumbell Nebula, Alberio. Everything looked so nice that even as jaded observer, I found myself lingering at the eyepiece to enjoy the view.
The evening was a series of personal conversations with one group or family. I would try to use little vignettes to put the knowledge in context, the shape and size of our galaxy, or the story of star birth and death. Trying to convey, in a few minutes, a little glimpse of a bigger picture and not just a mess of gee-whiz information. Sometimes this works, and you are rewarded with a moment of connection, where your audience suddenly understands.
Waimea was living up to reputation with a gusty wind and blowing mist. But this did little to dampen the Waimea Planet Walk sponsored by Keck and CFHT Observatories. A steady stream of parents and kids walked the length of the main street to visit the booths representing a scale model of the solar system.
Keck Observatory’s Ashley Yeager answers questions about the Sun at the Waimea Planet Walk
The Sun and the inner solar system… Mercury, Venus Earth and Mars, all occupied the lawn directly in front of the Keck lobby. Each location was measured properly to achieve the correct position, each booth had a scale model of the planet to correctly interpret the scale of the entire solar system. This meant the Sun was about 8 inches (20cm) in diameter and the Earth a small dot mounted to a piece of wood. In the far corner of the Keck lawn, several hundred feet from the Sun, sat Jupiter represented by a 1/2-inch (1cm) ball bearing.
To visit the remainder of the solar system it was necessary to walk down Mamalahoa highway. Saturn sat in the upper corner of the KTA parking lot, beside the historic cemetery. Uranus was located in the lower corner of the KTA parking lot. Neptune in the park across the street from the library. At the end of the walk, Pluto and the rest of the TNO’s in the lawn of CFHT.
Everyone, volunteers and guests, seemed to be having a great time learning. All up and down the street walked parents and kids from station to station. It is always interesting to see the entire solar system represented to scale like this, even if you have seen it before. The experience is the first step to seeing just how big space is…
Deb and I did a volunteer evening at the VIS last night. A great night with a great crowd, the sort of evening that defines the reason we continue to volunteer at the Mauna Kea VIS. Lots of great questions, great conversations and a little learning about the sky and Mauna Kea. As the southern cross hung above the slopes of Mauna Loa my green laser was busy pointing out constellations and bright stars.
The only real problem with the evening was the nearly full Moon hanging in the sky. The bright moonlight drowning out many of the deep sky objects we would normally view. Even bright objects like M13 were merely dim smudged in the eyepiece in place of the beautiful sights they offer under darker skies. With these conditions much of the telescope viewing was concentrated on the Moon and a beautiful planet Saturn.
One activity that is always a hit with a bright Moon partly makes up for the loss of dark sky viewing. I hold and quick course in introductory lunar photography using the afocal method. Show a few people how to take lunar photos and there is soon a line of people waiting at the refractor for their turn to try a few frames. A few hints and people are quickly taking great lunar shots, a photo and a memory to take home from the mountain.
The evening sped by quickly, spent in conversation with guests from the islands and from across the US. People ask about the sky as seen from different latitudes and locations. A few visitors from other countries add their perspective. It is often interesting to hear about other names for constellations or to learn bits of folklore from many other cultures.
So often the crowd disappears an hour after dark, driven off by the cold and wind. This night many didn’t go until it was time to shut down the telescopes. I guess they were not ready to end an enjoyable evening under moonlight.
The Moon one day short of full, afocal photograph taken with a 102mm refractor, 32mm eyepiece and a Canon G9 camera.
Larry, our PIO officer asked me to write an article about Keck for the North Hawai’i News. He has arranged for us to get a nice one page article into this local weekly paper each month. This month I contributed the text and photos for the Nov 10th edition.
