Newsletter of the Sonoma County Astronomical Society
A nonprofit scientific and educational organization
www.sonomaskies.org
October 2009
Galileo and
The Year of Astronomy
by Robert Koslowsky, SCAS Member
The world is celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s
telescope and the revolutionary observations he made. When
he published his discoveries, the story goes, Galileo threw off
the yoke of the ancient Greeks and challenged the authority
of the Church – thus opening the way for “modern” science.
John Dillon took a longer view of the history of science and
explored a subtler, more complex, relationship between Galileo,
his telescopes, the secular field of science and the spiritual
influence of the Church.
Some Background
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642 AD) is one of history’s most
controversial figures. One of his famous discoveries 1, the use of
the telescope, made him both the most respected and notorious
scientist of his time. Galileo was respected for his adoption of
the scientific method but reviled by academia and the Church
for challenging authority. His use of the telescope proved the
imperfection of the moon’s surface and supported Copernicus’s
notion that the Earth was not the center of the Universe. These
findings threatened the established view of the world order and
challenged existing teachings. Galileo, however, did not feel there
was a conflict between science (through his investigations) and
religion. Rather, any problems arising from Galileo’s scientific
inquiry and Italy’s theocratic dogmatic positions were due to
the handicap of humanity’s mind and imagination. He argued
that God was not so stricken. Galileo believed he could be both
a good Catholic and a faithful Copernican.
Galileo’s scientific achievements include, in part, the
following:
 Studying motion and articulating basics for the subsequent
law of inertia,
 Discovering surface tension by confirming Archimedes’
earlier work,
continued Page 12
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Discovering the WorldWide
Telescope from Microsoft
with George Loyer
SCAS Oct. 14 Meeting, 7:30 PM
at Proctor Terrace School
The WorldWide Telescope program was announced in February
2008 and made available at that time in beta for download. This
freeware is funded by Microsoft to showcase several important
Microsoft technologies
and was a personal project
of database gur u Jim
Gray. Since we don’t have
high-bandwidth Internet
access available during
the talk, we’ll explore the
capabilities of the software
through a set of prerecorded movies of sessions
meant to demonstrate the
basic features and how it
can be used by amateur
astronomers, especially
those of us engaged in
public astronomy.
We will cover the five main modes: Sky, Earth, Planets,
Panoramas and Solar System. But our main focus will be on
Sky where astronomy is most visible and accessible.
The program lends itself well to casual browsing for pure
entertainment, like many other planetarium programs. We’ll look
at some additional examples of how to use it to plan observing,
imaging, and research projects, including a selection of projects
with focus that ranges from the solar system to stars in our
local galactic arm, to clusters, to other galaxies. An interesting
possibility is opened by using the program connected to a
telescope, which allows you to either set the program to follow
continued next page
inside
Chasing Galileo: Moon
President’s Message
Events
School Star Party Report
Young Astronomers Club
Volume XXXII No. 10
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Space Place: Spitzer
Observing Highlights
Saturn Ring Quirks
October Calendar
SCAS Club Information
World Wide Telescope (from Page 1)
the telescope, giving you a deeper dive on data associated with
what you are observing, or to set the program to control the
telescope, driving it from your computer.
Public astronomy was the intended use of the Tour feature of
the software and we will watch one of the tours included with
the software out-of-box, and then demonstrate how to create a
tour of our own. The tour-creation and execution software is
designed to make the tours interactive so that as you encounter
something you’d like to dive deeper on, you can do that and
then return to where you left off. You can imagine that this
feature could be used either for leader-led sessions or as a set of
tours that an organization might create to highlight work it has
done, since the software allows users to upload and integrate
independent images into the data set that drives it.
Last, we’ll look at the future of this program and, more important,
the data and images that are available to it in the public domain
through the Virtual Observatory. This was Jim Gray’s vision,
now being realized by the WWT as it continues now after his
untimely death. WWT is not the only program of its kind, but
certainly is one that is worth some time for your exploration.
Our speaker, George Loyer, has been a member of the SCAS
since the 70’s—a past vice president, president, and Sonoma
Skies editor. George is currently on the board of the VMOA
and past president and founder of that organization. Lately most
interested in mechanical design of the Project 40 telescope,
keeping the RFO CCD telescope and camera in good operating
condition and starting to get involved in spectroscopy on the
RFO CCD telescope. His interest in astronomy was piqued by a paperback book he
picked up at the old Morrison Planetarium on building telescopes
and he got his start with a pair of 10x50 binoculars.
George learned most of his astronomy from public media,
reading and doing homework—endless notebooks filled with
scribblings that track his painstaking effort to reproduce what
he read. Through all of this time, he was also learning and doing
practical electronics and then moved to computer programming
for fun and then professionally. George spent a couple of years in college learning chemical
engineering followed by a couple of years of drama school at
SF State. Learning to observe with binoculars led him to look
for a local astronomy group as advised by his venerable copy of
Norton’s Sky Atlas. Frank Miller was running a small group at
Sonoma State’s Darwin Hall. He with others had a great time
building the group with a high point when they hosted a great
AANC conference at the old El Tropicana hotel attended by
hundreds and with a wonderful roster of speakers.
He has worked at some of the largest corporations in the world
(AT&T) and some of the smallest, and admits to have had the
most fun at the smaller ones. He currently works at MarketLive
in Petaluma where he helps keep a few hundred servers running
that bring us the pleasures of shopping online at Sur la Table
and PartyAmerica (for two examples).
The Robert Ferguson Observatory: The seeds of that project
came out of a desire to build a dark sky observatory that could
also somehow be opened to the public. He and others started
one attempt on a hill near the Palmieri observing pads, but never
2
got past some foundation work. The confluence of Al Heppe,
the Dept of Parks’ Vic Maris and SCAS mutual interests ended
in a circuitous way to the RFO, a delightful accident that we
all poured our energies into to make into something that could
endure. He claims that his drama training came in handy at
that juncture to drum up fund raising, encourage construction,
organization of the volunteers and liaison with a Parks team that
sometimes wasn’t sure what they’d gotten themselves into.
Chasing Galileo:
21-day-old Moon Comparison
by Jane Houston-Jones
Galileo’s drawing of the third quarter
moon was made on December 18,
1609 according to widely accepted
dates calculated by lunar scientist
Ewen Whitaker. He used the solar
colongitude and the latitude of
the subsolar point on the moon
to determine the position of the
terminator. You can read more about
it here on the Reliving Galileo’s
Observations page.
This page lists the colongitude
and solar latitude of the original
four engravings and seven small
drawings, and offers modern dates
with a similar view of the moon. I
was delighted to find that my sketch
(at right) made on July 14, 2009
matched one of the 4 engraving
dates!
The predicted “modern” dates refer to the pattern of lighting and
the position of the terminator relative to the surface features.
Libration will make the craters and other features displaced
somewhat with respect to Galileo’s drawings. Most folks do
not actually see any resemblance between now and then, but it
is a great project – sketching Galileo’s 400 year-old moon in a
21st century way.
There is a quite a bit of agreement about the “center” crater in
Galileo’s sketch. It is most likely Albategnius. It was just on
the terminator in my sketch too, and I accidentally made the
crater a little larger than it really is. It’s just human nature I
guess. Other features I can ID on
both Galileo’s and my drawing are
Mare Imbrium on both sides of the
terminator, including some higher
parts of Montes Caucasus lit on the
unlit side of the terminator. I also
can match the ghostly but well-lit
trio of Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and
Arzachel just next to Albategnius
on Galileo’s sketch, and I saw and
sketched them too. Other sunlit
Mare – Humorum (left) and Nubium Image take at eyepiece of 70mm
TV Ranger while sketching on
(right) below Albagetnius also match 7/14/09.
up nicely.
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
President’s Message
Hello friends. The astronomical calendar tells us we are in
our Autumn, with the nights becoming longer than our day,
another season changing, another summer passes. Still, I’m
writing this on a very sultry summery evening feeling like
one of Earth’s melting glaciers! Weather like this brings us
comfortable temperatures and clear night skies to encourage
us to get outside and enjoy the stars!
Recently I’ve had two opportunities to do just that--a public night
at RFO and a school star party at Sequoia School in Rincon
Valley. Both events brought out a lot of interested people of all
ages, eager to be students of the night sky. So I got to enjoy much
of what makes our group so valuable--shared camaraderie and
networking with each other while observing, providing a service
to an interested public, sharing our passion for astronomy and
inspiring some to think big thoughts as we ponder the wonders
of the universe.
That networking, sharing, and being of service are most of
what constitute the core of a group like ours. SCAS keeps us in
touch with each other, sharing our diverse interests; providing a
network through our meetings, website and yahoo group to keep
us connected with what’s going on the universe, who is going
out observing or doing public astronomy, and the like.
As I’ve said before a club like this doesn’t exist without your
interest and enthusiasm, but most of all by bringing your energy
to keep it viable. So once again I’m appealing to you for your
help in keeping SCAS alive. SCAS needs your help.
We have a long history now as a club of amateur astronomers with
many levels of interest, and much we’ve done and accomplished.
This will be our 25th year (!) of our Striking Sparks program.
We do school star parties and other public astronomy outreach
events every year. A Star-B-Que every summer at RFO (another
fantastic resource we have available to us). Monthly meetings
with some great programs, and last but definitely not least, one
of the finest newsletters I’ve ever seen! Cecelia puts a lot of
effort researching and compiling all those items of interest, and
using her creative talent to present a very professional journal
we all enjoy (and that impresses other clubs, too!).
So specifically I would like to ask for your help and ideas to
make our club grow and stay vital.
Vice President: Our Vice President Len Nelson will not be
serving another term next year. The Vice President has had
the responsibility for making sure we have a program for your
monthly meetings, among other duties.
We need someone to serve in that position. I might add that we
need your ideas for programs and activities for the VP to help
coordinate. Think of what SCAS meetings would be like without
a program. Would you continue to come to meetings without
a program? What would that do us as a club? Could we stay
viable? Would we wind up being a “virtual” club without the
opportunity to get together regularly? There are alternatives and
options, but I think continuing on the way we do, and growing
on it with new ideas and activities seem much more palatable
to me. Please consider helping your club. (By the way, that’s not
the only position and opportunity available, just ask!)
Let me know what your ideas are for what you’d like to see
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
The
S
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ms
i rt
-o
Sn
i o
rm
i e
u r
s
by
Herb
Larsen
Well, we think he looked
inside, saw himself...
and fell in love!
SCAS do and become. Do you have suggestions? Criticisms?
Let me know. You can email me via our website sonomaskies.
org (another great resource we have) at the contacts link for
President. My contact info is here in your newsletter, too. Ask
me questions about our board positions. No, you don’t have to
be an astronomy genius, just someone who wants to help out!
How about activities? Shall we do some field trips together?
Could you help with our Young Astronomers or the Striking
Sparks program? Let me know.
I’ve also been thinking lately that perhaps we need some “new
blood”, as in younger persons interested in astronomy and
science. The current generation uses virtual networking heavily
to keep in touch. I’ve been considering other ways to reach out
and perhaps inspire a new group of people. Perhaps we could have
a Facebook page, or maybe some of you have some knowledge
or talent in how to target a greater audience that may like to
become involved with SCAS and astronomy.
Please, let me hear from you with some good ideas and your
energies. I’m sure we would all like to keep the ball rolling here
in Sonoma County!
—John Whitehouse
Social Amenities
Many thanks to Emilio Ricci for providing refreshments at the
September SCAS meeting.
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Events
Robert Ferguson Observatory
Public Viewing­
Saturday, October 17
Solar Viewing: Noon - 4:00 PM
Night Viewing begins 8:00 PM
The Observatory features three telescopes: A 14-inch SCT with
CCD camera in the East wing, an 8-inch refractor under the dome
and a 24-inch Dobsonian in the West wing. SCAS members may
set up telescopes in the observatory parking lot to assist with
public viewing. Auto access closes at dusk; late arrivals must
carry equipment from the horse stable parking area.
Fees: No admission fee for the solar viewing, but donations are
appreciated. The Park charges $8 per vehicle for entry. A $3
donation is requested from adults 18 and over for admission to
the observatory during night viewing sessions.
Night Sky Fall Series classes
Each class includes a lecture on the constellations of the season,
their history and mythology, and how to find stars and deep sky
objects within them. Includes observing. Sign up now for the
entire series of six classes:
Session 1: Sept. 21
Session 4: Nov. 9
Session 2: Oct. 12
Session 5: Nov. 16
Session 3: Oct. 19
Session 6: Dec. 7
Classes held Mondays at 7:00 PM. Fees: $75 for the
series of six presentations. (Single session fee is $23). 10%
discount for VMOA members. Classes are held at the
Observatory. For information or to register: (707) 833-6979,
nightsky@rfo.org
Reserve the
Ferguson Observatory!
Groups of up to 50 can be accommodated. Astronomer docents
provide sky interpretation and operate telescopes, and you can
stay up as late as you want! Make your reservation at least two
weeks prior to your event. Best times for optimal sky gazing
are any time more than a week away from a Full Moon.
In addition to $111 charged by the RFO for use of the observatory
facilities, the State Park System charges $111 for use of the
Group Campground. Because it is adjacent to the Observatory,
the group camp must be reserved for private events. Total Cost:
$222. For information on how to make a reservation, visit
http://www.rfo.org or email George Loyer at gloyer@rfo.org.
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SRJC Planetarium
“The Lives of Stars” ends Oct. 18
“Winter Wonders” begins Oct. 23
Cool, long, fall nights provide us with the clearest view of this
season’s night sky. We’ll learn about the reasons for the seasons
in this show as we also discover the stars, constellations, and deep
space wonders that slowly cross our
winter sky. No planetarium show
Oct. 31 (Halloween).
Shows are held at Santa Rosa
Campus, Lark Hall, Room 2001, on
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 PM
and 8:30 PM, Sundays at 1:30 PM
and 3:00 PM during the Fall and Spring semesters. Admission
is $5 General; $3 Students and Seniors (60+). Tickets are sold
at the door only, beginning 30 minutes before show time. A
parking permit is required and is included in the Planetarium
admission price. Pick it up at the planetarium when you pay
admission. Please arrive early enough to place your permit on
your vehicle’s dashboard before the show starts.
Info: 527-4372, http://www.santarosa.edu/planetarium/
Oct. 2—“First Friday Night Sky”
First Friday Night Sky shows are offered on the first Friday of the
months October through December 2009 and February through
April 2010. These shows, offered at 7:00 and 8:30 PM, will be the
only shows given on those first Friday weekends. Show content
will vary with emphasis on the stars, constellation, planets, and
other interesting facts in or about the sky that night.
Admission is free; donations to support SRJC’s Planetarium
greatefully appreciated. Seating will be on a first-come, firstserved basis; arrive early enough to pick up your free parking
permit, place it on your vehicle, and arrive back by showtime.
Mt. Tamalpais Astronomy
Oct. 24, 7:00 PM: “The Dawn of the LHC Era: The
Convergence of Particle Physics and Astrophysics”—
Professor Michael Dine, UC Santa Cruz
Over the past year, the Large Hadron Collider, an extraordinary
scientific instrument, has begun to operate in Geneva. It offers
the possibility of answering some of the great questions we
confront in understanding the universe, including the identity
of the dark matter and the asymmetry between matter and
antimatter.
Sponsored by the Mt Tamalpais State Park and coordinated by
volunteers of the Mt Tam Interpretive Association. FREE and
open to the public. Families and students encouraged to come.
Presentations held in the Mountain Theatre. Viewing afterwards
in Rock Springs Parking Area, provided by San Francisco
Amateur Astronomers. Dress warmly and car pool if possible.
Bring a flashlight! Info: 415/455-5370; http://www.mttam.net/
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
Events
Sonoma State University Series
“What Physicists Do”
Mondays at 4:00 PM
Darwin Hall Room 103 (Coffee at 3:30 PM)
Oct. 5—“The Rich Physics of Nuclear Muon Capture”
Dr. Tom Banks of the University of California, Berkeley will
describe recent efforts by the MuCap Collaboration to precisely
measure the rate of nuclear muon capture in hydrogen, and how
the process of muon capture--which involves electromagnetism,
the weak interaction, and the strong interaction--is a unique
confluence of a diverse range of physics.
Oct. 12—“First Results from the Kepler Mission to find
Earth-Sized Exoplanets”
Dr. Gibor Basri, Professor of Astronomy and Vice Chancellor for
Equity and Inclusion at the University of California at Berkeley,
will discuss the latest from NASA’s new exoplanet-hunting
Kepler space telescope.
Oct. 19—“Formation and Evolution of Massive Galaxies”
Dr. Mariska Kriek of Princeton University will discuss the
formation and evolution of massive galaxies.
Oct. 26—“Sofia—The Stratospheric Observatory for
Infrared Astronomy”
Dr. Dana Backman, the director of education and public outreach
for SOFIA, will give us a status report NASA’s new airborne
observatory, a 2.5-meter telescope mounted in a Boeing 747.
Information: http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
SSU Observatory Public Viewing
Oct. 9, 8:00-10:00 PM: Jupiter and the Saturn nebula!)
Observatory located inside the stadium area at the SE corner
of campus (E. Cotati Ave. and Petaluma Hill Rd., two miles
east of US 101). Follow signs to campus. Parking Lot F is most
convenient. Call 707/664-2267 if it appears weather may force
cancellation.
http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/observatory/pvn.html
State Park Closures
On Sept. 25 we learned that the proposed 100 parks will not
be closed but many will have seasonal closures, and more will
be closed on weekdays.
As I write this on Sept. 30, the Press Democrat reports that
Sugar Loaf State Park is on the list for seasonal closure
November 1 through March 25—during one of our prime
viewing seasons.
RFO’s last public night attracted over 250 people, providing a
lot of revenue for the Park.
Please consider writing or calling your legislator to keep Sugar
Loaf State Park and the RFO open. http://www.legislature.ca.gov/
legislators_and_districts/legislators/your_legislator.html
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
SCAS Star Parties
Event Horizons
What a great way to start off the new
school year!
The first school star party of the 2009-10 school year was a
rounding success. On Wednesday evening, September 23rd,
John Whitehouse, Len Nelson, Bruce Lotz, Walt Bodley, Eric
Swanson, David Simons, Loren Cooper and new member
Justin Stevick were on hand to provide telescope viewing and
star tours for over 250 students and family members at Sequoia
Elementary School in Rincon Valley.
95% of the students were in the 1-4th grades with a few in higher
grades and some in K and pre-K. This school has historically had
a large turn-out at its star parties. John Whitehouse informed
me that the school’s marquee listed the star party on the top of
its announcements of school events.
Len found two Sparks candidates and got their names, grades
and teachers names and gave them contact information for
Sparks applications. They were eager to come to the RFO to
attend a public night.
Currently, there are no community events scheduled for October.
November has Rincon Valley Middle School scheduled on
Thursday, the 12th and Old Adobe in Petaluma on the 19th.
Both of these schools have drawn sizable assemblages of
viewers in past years. I will be sending requests for volunteers
later in October.
So far, there have been very few star party requests for this
school year. While I emailed all of the teachers with whom I
had been in contact with over the last several years, and a few of
them have set dates in the spring, we still have many good dates
open and available. To get more publicity about out “service”,
I have contacted the Sonoma County Office of Education with
an announcement to be distributed to all of the Sonoma County
teachers about the SCAS star party volunteers and classroom
presentations. Perhaps this announcement will yield more signups for this school year.
If you have a child or grandchild in a Sonoma County school,
perhaps if you would tell the teacher about our star parties and
classroom presentations we can get more events on the calendar.
Perhaps even one or two in October between the 12th and 23rd
(new moon on the 17th).
As always, if you would like to get on my email list of star
party announcements, send me an email at astroman@sonic.
net. Use this address to share with any teachers with whom
you might talk.
—Lynn Anderson, SCAS Director of Community Activities
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Events
SETI Institute Colloquium
Oct. 7: “Detecting Organics using Fluorescence
Spectroscopy”—Nathan Bramall, NASA Ames Space Science
Division
Many important organic molecules fluoresce strongly enough
to allow for their detection in terrestrial soils at the ppm level
or better. Dr. Bramall will discuss a method has advantages
over other methods of detecting organics in that it requires no
reagents, is very quick, requires no sample handling, and can
be rather specific. He has have developed several instruments
and instrument concepts that will be presented.
Oct. 14: “Fermi-LAT Observing the Universe with highenergy gamma-ray eyes”—Dr. Stefan Funk, Associate
Professor, Department of Physics, Stanford University
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly called
GLAST, is a satellite mission designed to measure gammarays in the energy range 20 MeV to >300 GeV, with supporting
measurements for gamma-ray bursts from 8 keV to 30 MeV. In
addition to breakthrough capabilities in energy coverage and
localization, the very large field of view enables observations of
20% of the sky at any instant, and the entire sky on a timescale
of a few hours. With its recent launch on 11 June 2008, Fermi
now opens a new and important window on a wide variety
of phenomena, including pulsars, black holes and active
galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, the origin of cosmic rays
and supernova remnants, and searches for hypothetical new
phenomena such as supersymmetric dark matter annihilations.
Dr. Funk will discuss early results and science opportunities of
investigations of the Universe with high-energy eyes.
Oct. 21: “Special Panel: LCROSS Mission - the first results
of the impact”—Tony Colaprete, Jennifer Heldmann and Diane
Wooden
The Lunar Crater Observation and Remote Sensing Satellite
(LCROSS) mission will impact into the lunar polar region on
October 9th. The panelists, consisting of the mission Principle
Investigator and two Science Co-Investigators, will discuss
the first results obtained from the cameras and spectrometers
aboard the shepherding spacecraft, as well as pictures of the
impact taken around the world and in space by the Hubble Space
Telescope. Will the LCROSS mission detect water in the lunar
regolith? Did the mission work as planned? The panel will let
us know.
Oct. 28: “The Inner Structure of a Floating Water Bridge”—
Elmar Fuchs, Wetsus - Centre of Excellence for Sustainable
Water Technology, The Netherlands
When high voltage is applied to distilled water filled into
two beakers close to each other, a water connection forms
spontaneously, giving the impression of a floating water bridge
(Fuchs et al. 2007 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. *40* 6112-4, 2008 J.
Phys. D: Appl. Phys. *41* 185502, Woisetschläger et al. 2009 Exp.
Fluids 2009 (accepted)). This phenomenon is of special interest,
since it comprises a number of phenomena currently tackled
in modern water science. The first data on neutron scattering
of a floating heavy water bridge and the preliminary results of
6
SETI continued
inelastic UV scattering seem to support the ‘bubble hypothesis’
suggested earlier (Fuchs et al. 2009, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys
*42* 2009 065502). These measurements can be interpreted in
accordance with the presence of electrically induced cavitation
nano bubbles. The quantum field theory prediction of coherent
domains (Del Giudice, Vitiello, personal communication 2008)
cannot be excluded either, since such domains would reveal
similar neutron scattering characteristics. However, since both
nano bubbles and coherent domains are said to carry charge, an
electrostatic mesoscopic network formed by either of them can
be held directly responsible for the stability of the bridge and
may thus explain one key feature of the phenomenon. Dr. Fuchs
will explain the phenomenon and his latest results.
Colloquiums run from noon to 1PM on Wednesdays at the
SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View. Free.
Get podcasts at: http://www.seti.org/Page.aspx?pid=592
Silicon Valley Astronomy
Lecture Series
Oct. 7, 7:00 PM: “Hubble Breakthrough: The First Photos
of a Planet Orbiting Another Star”— Prof. Paul Kalas of the
UC Berkeley Astronomy Department
Kalas was the leader of the team who managed the long-sought
feat of actually taking a photograph of a planet orbiting another
star. Before this, all the planets outside our solar system were
found by indirect means. He will describe how the team achieved
this breakthrough using the Hubble Space Telescope and discuss
the wide range of planets that astronomers are discovering. The
discovery was named one of the top ten science achievements
in 2008 by the journals Science and Nature.
Location: Foothill College’s Smithwick Theater, El Monte Road
and Freeway 280, Los Altos Hills. Parking on campus costs $2.
Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information
and driving directions. Free and open to the public.
Lawrence Hall of Science
Oct. 3 and 4, 11:30 AM-4:30 PM: “Discover Red Planet
Mars!: Planetarium Grand Opening Program”
The Red Planet has always held mysteries for us, even from the
most ancient of times. To unravel some of these secrets, you can
learn how to spot Mars in the night sky. You may study Mars
through a telescope, teasing out the subtle details of the planet’s
surface. Ponder what sort of creature might survive in Mars’s
harsh environment. Learn how space probes have updated—and
changed—what we know about our planetary neighbor. With
missions operating on and around Mars right now (and more
to come), there is a lot to discover!
Location: Centennial Drive, Berkeley
http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
Events
UC Berkeley IYA Lecture Series
Oct. 17, 11 AM-12 PM: “Fascinating Objects in our Solar
System”—Imke de Pater is a professor in the Department of
Astronomy at UC Berkeley, and a world-renowned planetary
scientist. She is an authority on modeling and mapping the
planets of our solar system, and led a worldwide campaign to
observe the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in
1994. A frequent user of the huge Keck telescopes in Hawaii,
she has discovered methane drizzle on Saturn’s moon Titan,
modeled Jupiter’s magnetic fields, and revealed the dynamic
behavior of Neptune’s skies.
In this talk Prof. de Pater will give you a tour through our Solar
System. Using her team’s observations from the 10-m Keck
telescope, together with Hubble Space Telescope and spacecraft
data, she will give you an up-to-date picture of several of the
most fascinating objects therein.
Location: UC Berkeley Genetics and Plant Biology Building,
Room 100. Limited hourly pay parking is available. Free.
Chabot Space Science Center
Evening Telescope Viewing every Friday and Saturday, 7:30
PM - 10:30 PM. Come for spectacular night sky viewing, the
best kept secret in the Bay Area, and see the magnificence of
our telescopes in action!
Daytime Telescope Viewing every Friday and Saturday, weather
permitting, 12 PM – 5 PM. Come view the sun, moon, or Venus
through Chabot’s telescopes.
Both are free with General Admission.
Dinner, a Movie, and the Universe every Friday and Saturday,
6:00 PM. Join us for Chabot’s unique evening social rendezvous.
Start your night off with dinner and drinks, then cozy up in the
planetarium as you’re whisked to the edge of the universe. Cap
off the evening with telescope viewing featuring breathtaking
views of the cosmos. Dinner: To assure your reservation,
purchase advanced tickets at http://www.chabotspace.org/ or
call the Box Office at (510) 336-7373. Purchase dinner separately
at the cafe ($15).
Directions: From Highway 80 in Oakland, take Highway 24
East (toward Walnut Creek) to Highway 13 South (toward
Hayward). Take the Joaquin Miller Road exit left and follow
the signs to Chabot.
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
Morrison Planetarium
Dean Lecture Series
Oct. 19, 7:30 PM: “Exploring the Extreme Universe with
Fermi”—Prof. Lynn Cominsky, Department of Physics and
Astronomy, Sonoma State University
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly known as
GLAST) mission was launched into orbit on June 11, 2008. Its
mission is to explore the most energetic and exotic objects in the
cosmos: blazing galaxies, intense stellar explosions and supermassive black holes. Using experimental technologies developed
by high energy particle physicists, Fermi’s astrophysical
observations are being conducted by international and multiagency teams including hundreds of scientists world-wide. Prof.
Cominsky will explain how Fermi uses matter and anti-matter
pair production to track gamma rays to their cosmic locations,
and will showcase the first exciting results from the mission.
Lectures sell out early, so reserve now. Call 800-794-7576 for
reservations. Tickets may be purchased at the door, but there
is slim guarantee of availability. Adults $12, Seniors $10,
Members $6.
http://www.calacademy.org/events/index.php
Exploratorium
Oct. 9, 1 PM: LCROSS Webcast: “Shoot the Moon”
—At the Exploratorium’s Phyllis Wattis Webcast Studio or
watch live online at: http://www.explo.tv
Is water ice present or absent in a crater near the moon’s polar
region? Join the Exploratorium for a live webcast of the LCROSS
(Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite) mission. LCROSS is a NASA mission investigating the presence of water
ice. The Exploratorium Web team will cover the mission, the
explosion on the moon, and the plume of matter that will shoot
40 feet into the air from the moon’s surface, visible from Earth!
http://www.exploratorium.edu/
New Member Bonus!
Scope City at 350 Bay Street, San Francisco, is offering
a $25 merchandise discount to new members.
Manager Sam Sweiss has supported SCAS and Striking
Sparks and offers a huge selection of telescopes,
accessories and more. Obtain a receipt from Dickson
Yeager, Membership Director, showing you have paid
the $25 SCAS membership dues. To arrange for your
merchandise discount, contact Sam at 415/421-8800 or
at http://www.scopecity.com
7
September YA Meeting Report
Young
Astronomers
The first YA meeting of the new season was held at the RFO
Saturday, 9/19. The sky was clear and the temperature was
comfortably warm. Warm enough that a short sleeve shirt was
manageable until close to the time to go home.
Who came with their Striking Sparks scopes? Blaine Eldred
(YA President and 2007 Sparks winner), Geoffray Knoll (YA
VP and 2005 Sparks winner), Andrew Wong and Ray Pan (both
2009 Sparks winners). See image at left.
This was an active star party session and use of the Striking
Sparks telescopes was put to maximum use. But first, we relied
on the fine telescope collimation services of Dickson Yeager
who used his laser collimator to tweak the scopes to perform
at their optical best.
Then, it was off to the races to find all of the items that I had
prepared for the evening’s Star Party. Jupiter and the 4 Galilean
moons was bright and clear in the SE and the cloud belts stood
out clearly.
As the evening darkened and the constellations revealed
themselves, we went on a hunt for the following: Aries, Bootes,
Capricorn, Cassiopeia, Cephus, Corona Borealis, Cygnus,
Delphinus, Draco, Hercules, Lyra, Pegasus, Perseus, Sagitta
and Ursa Major & Minor Major and some major stars were
identified such as: Albireo, Altair, Antares, Deneb, Enif, Polaris
and Vega. Late in the evening, Neptune was sought after and discovered
just to the left of Jupiter Uranus was an object that we wished
to locate but it is still too low in the SE to weed out of the
light pollution in that area. It will be a goal at the October star
party.
Naturally, we also went after a number of Messier / NGC objects
such as M13 & M15 (Globular Clusters), M31-32 (Galaxies),
M57(Ring Nebula), NGC 869 (Double Cluster in Perseus), M27
(Dumbbell) ...tough to find!
Galaxy M33 in Triangulum was on the list but it was yet too
low in the east and lost in light pollution. In October, it will be
higher up in a darker sky when we seek it.
YA Meeting at RFO
Saturday, October 17, 7 PM
What will our search list include at the October YA meeting
at the RFO? Well, what would you like to find? Certainly we
will seek out Uranus and Galaxy M33 in Triangulum, but you
need to look at your star charts and planispheres to determine
(1) what will be visible that evening and (2) determine what you
want to see in those constellations.
One thing that we can emphasize are double stars. We did find
Alberio and its double but there are many, many more that are
discernable in a Sparks scope. Also, what do you want to learn
that evening? There are many docents at the RFO that would
surely be delighted to give a talk about specific subjects. Please
think about that and call or email me at lennelsn@comcast.net
and I will make the arrangements.
Lastly, we will quickly review the constellations that we covered
in September so if you have questions, this repetition will help.
And if you could not come last time...please come on October 17.
I assure you that you will not feel left behind by not attending
the first session at the RFO.
—Len Nelson, SCAS Vice President
Young Astronomers Meetings
Photo: Len Nelson
The Young Astronomers will now meet at the RFO (Robert
Ferguson Observatory) at 7 PM on monthly public observing
nights. The Observatory is located in Sugar Loaf State Park
off Highway 12 in Kenwood. Admission to the state park is $8,
payable at the park’s kiosk. Admission to RFO is free to YA.
Bring your telescope. The RFO provides an ideal location for
observing the heavens and many docents are readily available
to offer enthusiastic help if needed or requested.
Any questions, please contact Len Nelson, SCAS Vice President,
at lennelsn@comcast.net
Left to right: Geoffray Knolls, Andrew Wong, Ray Pan and Blaine Eldred.
8
YA Elected Officers
President: Blaine Eldred
VP/Program Director: Geoffrey Knoll
Newsletter Editor: Max Eliaser, Maxxedout@comcast.net
Newsletter Co-Editor: Alex Katz
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
And interest in tracking near-Earth objects has grown in recent
years—a task for which Spitzer is well suited.
“Science has progressed, and people always have new ideas,”
Werner says. In its second life, Spitzer will help turn those ideas
into new discoveries.
For kids, The Space Place Web site has a fun typing game
using Spitzer and infrared astronomy words. Check it out at
spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spitzer/signs.
—Article provided by JPL/NASA
The “warm mission” of the Spitzer Space Telescope will still be able to use two
sensors in its Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) to continue its observations of the
infrared universe.
NASA SpacePlace
Spitzer, the Sequel
The Spitzer Space Telescope is getting a second chance at
life.
The liquid helium “lifeblood” that flows through the telescope
has finally run out, bringing Spitzer’s primary mission to an
end. But a new phase of this infrared telescope’s exploration of
the universe is just beginning.
Even without liquid helium, which cooled the
telescope to about 2 degrees above absolute zero
(-271°C), Spitzer will continue to do important
research—some of which couldn’t easily be done
during its primary mission. For example, scientists will
use Spitzer’s “second life” to explore the rate of expansion of
the universe, study variable stars, and search for near-Earth
asteroids that could pose a threat to our planet.
“We always knew that a ‘warm phase’ of the mission was a
possibility, but it became ever more exciting scientifically as
we started to plan for it seriously,” says JPL’s Michael Werner,
Project Scientist for Spitzer. “Spitzer is just going on and on
like the Energizer bunny.”
Launched in August 2003 as the last of NASA’s four Great
Observatories, Spitzer specializes in observing infrared light,
which is invisible to normal, optical telescopes.
That gives Spitzer the power to see relatively dark, cool objects
such as planet-forming discs or nearby asteroids. These objects
are too cold to emit light at visible wavelengths, but they’re still
warm enough to emit infrared light.
In fact, all warm objects “glow” with infrared light—even
telescopes. That’s why Spitzer had to be cooled with liquid helium
to such a low temperature. Otherwise, it would be blinded by
its own infrared glow.
As the helium expires, Spitzer will warm to about 30 degrees
above absolute zero (–243°C). At that temperature, the telescope
will begin emitting long-wavelength infrared light, but two of
its short-wavelength sensors will still work perfectly.
And with more telescope time available for the remaining
sensors, mission managers can more easily schedule new research
proposals designed for those sensors. For example, scientists have
recently realized how to use infrared observations to improve
our measurements of the rate of expansion of the universe.
Pocket Universe for iPhone, iPod
by Rob Koslowsky
“The Stars at Night: Pocket Universe” app taps into the location
features of an iPhone or iPod touch to give users a map of the
night sky that reflects where they are at what time.
Features of the app include:
 plots of the position of the Sun, Moon,and Planets (yes,
including Pluto)
 displays of 10,000 stars
 drawings of the 88 Constellation outlines
 offers a “Show Me” mode for guidance to the planets
 lunar phases of the current month
 the “Tonight’s Sky” option creates a list of meteor showers
and visible planets, and
 “Constellation Quiz” helps the user learn his or her way
around the night sky.
Here’s a Macworld.com review by Lex Friedman:
Pocket Universe would amaze Galileo. It’s a $3 app from Craic
Design that puts the entirety of the night sky in your pocket,
and it’s truly an impressive marvel. The iPhone can do some
amazing things, but it feels especially remarkable to keep the
heavens in your pocket.
If you’re using an iPhone 3GS, Pocket Universe can use the GPS
features to know almost precisely where you’re looking as you
point your iPhone skyward, updating its display in realtime.
If you’re using an earlier iPhone or iPod touch (as I was in my
testing), the app can still use Location Services to pinpoint
your approximate location and can detect as you tilt the device
up or down, but you’re forced to drag left and right for lateral
movement. I didn’t mind dragging on my GPS-less device.
I’m not an experienced astronomer—I’m a total beginner. Pocket
Universe’s Locate feature blew me away; I asked it to show me
planets, constellations, bright stars, and Messier objects, and the
app used arrows to guide my gaze both on screen and in reality.
Many objects offer brief explanatory text if you want to learn
more about what you’re seeing. And since Pocket Universe knows
both where you are and the current time, it’s representations
of where celestial objects should be are consistently accurate.
(Of course, you can travel through time with the app as well, if
you want to look up what the sky will look like, say, next week
during your trip to the country.)
This is obviously an app you’ll want to use outside, in the dark.
Accordingly, the developer implemented several exceedingly
clever options catering to such use: Nightvision mode replaces
bright whites in the interface with deep reds, so you won’t
continued next page
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
9
October Observing Notes
10/1 Mercury in East through 10/15, 6 AM. This is the best
morning apparition of 2009. Mercury is at least 4° above
the eastern horizon 45 minutes before sunrise through
10/15.
10/5 Mercury at greatest elongation West, 7 PM
10/8 Mercury very near Saturn, 6:30AM. Mercury is less than
1° from Saturn, and Venus is above this pair.
10/12 Moon near Mars, 2 AM
10/13 Jupiter Stationary, 2 AM. End of retrograde motion.
Venus is less than 1° from Saturn, 6 AM.
10/15 Zodiacal Light in the east before twilight through 10/28.
The glare of Venus will interfere somewhat and make it
a challenge to spot. Start looking around 0530.
10/16 Crescent Moon very near Venus and Saturn, 6:30 AM.
10/17 New Moon, 10:33 PM.
10/21 Orionids Peak, 3 AM. We have very favorable conditions
for the Orionids this year. There could be about 30 meteors
per hour.
10/25 The First Quarter Moon occurs at 5:42 PM PDST.
10/26 Moon near Jupiter, 10 PM.
10/31 Mars in M44! 12 Midnight. This should be a spectacular
sight as Mars passes through Praesepe. Mars rises at
about 2300 on 10/31.
11/1 Mars in M44! 12:30 AM.
Daylight Savings Time Ends, 2 AM.
—Provided by Jack Welch
Pocket Universe (from Page 9)
suffer that blinding retina burn-out sensation when you look
from screen to sky. You can also adjust the faintest stars Pocket
Universe should display, which is helpful if you live in an area
with heavy light pollution, or if you just want to focus on the
brightest stars. And it’s painless to toggle the display of different
heavenly bodies.
I’m a big fan of the Tonight’s Sky report, which gives you a
good sense of what you’ll be able to see tonight—and when.
For example, I know that as I write these words, Jupiter will be
visible with the naked eye tonight, and that the moon phase is
waxing crescent. I know Mars will rise around 1:09 a.m., and
will become visible around that time. I can even e-mail this
report to anyone without leaving the app, which is a nice touch
if you have amateur stargazing friends.
I didn’t know I wanted Pocket Universe until I saw it in the
App Store. I’m thrilled that the app has rekindled my childhood
interest in the night sky, and I’m continually impressed by
its completeness: I’m unable to identify any killer feature it
lacks.
Pocket Universe is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch
running the iPhone 3.0 software update.
10
Captured Comet Becomes
Moon of Jupiter
Jupiter’s gravity captured a comet in the mid-20th century,
holding it in orbit as a temporary moon for 12 years. The comet,
named 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu, is the fifth body known to
have been pulled by Jupiter from its orbit around the Sun. The
discovery adds to our understanding of how Jupiter interferes
with objects from the ‘Hilda group’, which are asteroids and
comets with orbits related to Jupiter’s orbit.
“Our results demonstrate some of the routes taken by cometary
bodies through interplanetary space that can allow them either
to enter or to escape situations where they are in orbit around
the planet Jupiter,” said researcher David Asher, an astronomer
at Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland who presented his
findings last month at the European Planetary Science Congress
in Potsdam, Germany.
Comets from the Hilda group have been seen in collision courses
with Jupiter for over 15 years. Most fly by without striking the
planet or becoming satellites, but there have been some notable
exceptions. Some astronomers have speculated that an Earthsized black scar, which appeared on Jupiter’s surface in July,
could have been from a Hilda group comet slamming into the gas
giant. Shoemaker-Levy 9, the first comet found orbiting Jupiter,
is thought to have remained trapped by the planet for over 50
years. It was destined for an explosive end, though. The powerful
effect of Jupiter’s gravity tore it into 20 fragments – some up to
2 km across – which plunged into the planet in 1994.
Asher’s team set out to find out how often Hilda comets became
moon-like satellites of Jupiter. They modelled possible paths
of 18 comets, searching for those that completed at least one
whole orbit of Jupiter.
Hundreds of possible paths were calculated for 147P/KushidaMuramatsu, based on tracking observations collected over the
past nine years. In all cases, between 1949 and 1961 two full
revolutions around Jupiter were completed. This 12-year-long
journey is the third longest orbit found to date. Strikingly,
Kushida-Muramatsu escaped the fate of Shoemaker-Levy 9,
and was thrown back into orbit around the Sun.
The researchers have identified a future moon too. Comet 111P/
Helin-Roman-Crockett is predicted to complete six laps of Jupiter
between 2068 and 2086. This won’t be the first time this comet
has orbited the giant planet – the study also shows that between
1967 and 1985, Comet 111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett was briefly
pulled into orbit for a warm-up run.
“It is remarkable that simple Newtonian gravitation can produce
such a complicated orbit transformation and in that process
potentially shield, and probably to a lesser extent endanger,
the Earth from collision with minor Solar System bodies,”
commented James Biggs, the director of the Perth Observatory
in Western Australia.
Geraint Lewis, an astrophysicist from the University of Sydney,
agrees. “Comets, which fall in from large distances, are attracted
mainly by the Sun when they are way out, but as they get closer
they feel the pulls of the other planets, distorting their orbits,” he
said. “This paper shows that Jupiter, with the second strongest
gravity in the Solar System, can have a big effect.”
— by Kerensa McElroy, Cosmos Online
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
The bright streaks visible in these Cassini images taken during Saturn’s August 2009
equinox are exciting evidence of a constant rain of interplanetary projectiles onto
the planet’s rings. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Cassini Finds New Ring Quirks
During Saturn Equinox
NASA scientists are marveling over the extent of ruffles and
dust clouds revealed in the rings of Saturn during the planet’s
equinox last month. Scientists once thought the rings were
almost completely flat, but new images reveal the heights of
some newly discovered bumps in the rings are as high as the
Rocky Mountains. NASA released the images Monday.
“It’s like putting on 3-D glasses and seeing the third dimension
for the first time,” said Bob Pappalardo, Cassini project scientist
at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “This
is among the most important events Cassini has shown us.”
On Aug. 11, sunlight hit Saturn’s rings exactly edge-on,
performing a celestial magic trick that made them all but
disappear. The spectacle occurs twice during each orbit Saturn
makes around the sun, which takes approximately 10,759 Earth
days, or about 29.7 Earth years. Earth experiences a similar
equinox phenomenon twice a year; the autumnal equinox will
occur Sept. 22, when the sun will shine directly over Earth’s
equator.
For about a week, scientists used the Cassini orbiter to look
at puffy parts of Saturn’s rings caught in white glare from the
low-angle lighting. Scientists have known about vertical clumps
sticking out of the rings in a handful of places, but they could
not directly measure the height and breadth of the undulations
and ridges until Saturn’s equinox revealed their shadows.
“The biggest surprise was to see so many places of vertical
relief above and below the otherwise paper-thin rings,” said
Linda Spilker, deputy project scientist at JPL. “To understand
what we are seeing will take more time, but the images and
data will help develop a more complete understanding of how
old the rings might be and how they are evolving.”
The chunks of ice that make up the main rings spread out 140,000
kilometers (85,000 miles) from the center of Saturn, but they
had been thought to be only around 10 meters (30 feet) thick in
the main rings, known as A, B, C, and D.
In the new images, particles seemed to pile up in vertical
formations in each of the rings. Rippling corrugations -previously seen by Cassini to extend approximately 804
kilometers (500 miles) in the innermost D ring -- appear to
undulate out to a total of 17,000 kilometers (11,000 miles)
through the neighboring C ring to the B ring.
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
The heights of some of the newly discovered bumps are
comparable to the elevations of the Rocky Mountains. One
ridge of icy ring particles, whipped up by the gravitational pull
of Saturn’s moon Daphnis as it travels through the plane of the
rings, looms as high as about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). It is the
tallest vertical wall seen within the rings.
“We thought the plane of the rings was no taller than two stories
of a modern-day building and instead we’ve come across walls
more than 2 miles [3 kilometers] high,” said Carolyn Porco,
Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in
Boulder, Colo. “Isn’t that the most outrageous thing you could
imagine? It truly is like something out of science fiction.”
Scientists also were intrigued by bright streaks in two different
rings that appear to be clouds of dust kicked up in collisions
between small space debris and ring particles. Understanding
the rate and locations of impacts will help build better models
of contamination and erosion in the rings and refine estimates
of their age. The collision clouds were easier to see under the
low-lighting conditions of equinox than under normal lighting
conditions.
At the same time Cassini was snapping visible-light photographs
of Saturn’s rings, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer
instrument was taking the rings’ temperatures. During equinox,
the rings cooled to the lowest temperature ever recorded. The
A ring dropped down to a frosty 43 Kelvin (382 degrees below
zero Fahrenheit). Studying ring temperatures at equinox will help
scientists better understand the sizes and other characteristics
of the ring particles.
The Cassini spacecraft has been observing Saturn, its moons and
rings since it entered the planet’s orbit in 2004. The spacecraft’s
instruments have discovered new rings and moons and have
improved our understanding of Saturn’s ring system.
—thanks to Merlin Combs for forwarding this article
Links
Hubble Delight
If you haven’t seen the
new images from our
upgraded Hubble, check
here: http://www.space.com/
scienceastronomy/090909new-hubble-images.html
The Antikythera
Mechanism
A 2000-year-old Greek
“computer” known as the
Antikythera Mechanism
has been recreated. It
shows the movements
of the sun and planets
according to ancient Greek
astronomical theories. See
the recreation on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ZrfMFhrgOFc
11
Year of Galileo (from Page 1)
 Laying
the foundation for the emergence of structural
engineering.
 Working with materials to build stronger magnets,
 Producing military compasses,
 Developing a water thermometer, and
 Improving telescope quality and subsequently making
numerous astronomical observations of the Moon, the phases
of Venus, Jupiter and four of its moons, and sunspots.
In the study of motion, Galileo rejected Aristotle’s (384-322
BC) idea of two different types of motion. Galileo showed
through his study of falling bodies, rolling balls along declined
planes, and swinging pendulums that motion was governed by
the fact that time was proportional to distance. He developed
a mathematical model to describe how objects travel through
the air. Motion was found to be a single parabolic path and not
two independent phases as Aristotle decreed 2.
In addition to these contributions in science, Galileo will be
remembered for the idea of ‘thought experiments.’ Through this
process, the human mind explores a problem and envisions a
likely solution. Then a hypothesis is developed, which can be
tested by physical experiments. Science, expressed through the
language of mathematics, would find the truth of the matter.
This approach directly challenged the philosophy of Aristotle
and his rejection of the use of mathematics in science. As we
know today, Galileo’s approach proved superior to Aristotle’s.
Maybe Galileo’s most lasting legacy is to remind us all that
nature is our judge - not any form of human authority. Anyone
in authority favoring rhetoric over quantitative analysis is almost
always afraid of being proved wrong.
Galileo Revisited in 2009 by John Dillon
During 2009, Galileo is being celebrated, in part, through the
recognition of this year’s ‘International Year of Astronomy.’
Sonoma County’s Astronomical Society (SCAS) recognized
Galileo’s influence on astronomy with a talk given by John
Dillon on September 9, 2009.
John Dillon is semi-retired as a Curator of the Randall Museum
and is a Past President of the SF Amateur Astronomers. He did
his graduate work in Zoology and Philosophy at Duke University
and studied History of Science at Cambridge University. He
currently teaches History and Philosophy of Science at UC
Berkeley Extension and Stanford Continuing Studies.
Galileo, Telescopes and the Beginning of Modern Science,”
began with the notion that Galileo is popularly referred to
as “The First Modern Astronomer,” a role suggesting that he
overthrew ancient Greek astronomy. Interestingly enough,
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the first astronomer to propose
a comprehensive theory for a sun-centered universe, marked
the end of ancient Greek astronomy, not the beginning of the
modern era. Copernicus’s role included corrections to Ptolemy’s
earth-centered theory of the cosmos with the publication of De
revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the
Celestial Spheres), published in 1543 just before his death.
The idea of challenging authority and rejecting its established
teachings spread across multiple disciplines. The Renaissance
was in full swing during the sixteenth century and change was
12
in the air. Dillon cited the example of the field of medicine as
proof of this change. The Fasciculus Medicina, printed in 1491,
is considered the first illustrated book of medicine. The artist
of the 1493 edition witnessed the beginning of change and
represented this in four woodcuts, addressing “the relevance
of knowledge-based medicine, the emergence of laboratory
medicine, the Hippocratic lessons
of patient observation, and the
emerging revolution in anatomy.”
The image (left) Dillon shared
shows a physician “on high”
following Galen’s instructions,
the Greek authority on medicine,
while a laborer performs the
surgery. Galen’s writings were
followed to the letter until Andreas
Vesalius (1514-1564) in Padua, Italy
revolutionized the field of human
anatomy with De humani corporis
fabrica (On the Structure of the
Human Body) published in 1539.
The image (left) depicts Vesalius,
the physician, in the middle of an
autopsy, getting his hands dirty.
Vesalius changed medicine by
“seeing for himself” and just doing
it. He refused to tak e knowledge
from an authority and redefined the
field of anatomy as a result.
This change during the Renaissance era was also applied to the
field of astronomy. Galileo became that change agent. In 1609,
he showed his “occhiale” to city planners, in order to make
money. Its 20x magnification impressed his patrons so much as
a military tool that Galileo had his salary doubled and secured
tenure at the University of Padua. It was a big step for a man in
his forties who had lived a scrappy existence as a “blue collar
worker” teaching math (computation being a trade, not a skill)
and fighting to get credit for his inventions. It was a difficult
life being a college dropout.
Galileo turned his telescope skyward. In January 1610, he found
four moons orbiting Jupiter. This was “earth shattering,” to say
the least. Galileo’s observations meant that moons were orbiting
another center of gravity and it was not the earth. He realized
that he could really milk this bit of knowledge for even more
money, but he had to rush to get his observations published
before someone else did. Galileo convinced the Medici family
on naming the
Jovian moons in
their honor and
published Sidereus
Nuncius in March
1610. Here is a
translation of a
letter to the Prince
of Venice, sent by
Galileo as a result
of his observations
during January
continued next page
1610.
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
Year of Galileo (from last page)
These observations are considered by many to be his most
important discovery.
Galileo made many more observations leading to sketches of
the moon suggesting its imperfection owing to the observed
vertical relief; shadows were observed. He showed the phases
of Venus, which proved the Copernican system, although he
did so for other reasons – he tried to use it to explain the tides.
Galileo also did battle with Christoph Scheiner (1573-1650)
over the interpretation of sunspots. Scheiner, a Jesuit trained
in the perfection of the heavens, believed sunspots were moons
orbiting the Sun. Galileo correctly figured out that sunspots were
a characteristic of the Sun’s surface. This, he believed, meant
that the sun was alive and the sunspots could be its excrement,
a less than appealing notion.
These ideas of Galileo over time revealed that he began to
interpret what he saw. Unlike Kepler 3 and other mathematical
astronomers, Galileo abandoned the simple (and boring) work of
positional astronomy in terms of charting the Moon and planets.
He sought to interpret what he saw. His ego and salary were
boosted in March 1611 when Federico Cesi (1585-1630) honored
him with a philosophy degree and made him a member of his
Accademia dei Lincei or the Lyncean Academy (founded in
1603). Galileo left the University System in favor of this Medici
Court in Tuscany. This meant greater income and even more
recognition. He desired to be an equal to the philosophers of
his time and was granted status as Filosofo E Matematico. At
this time, Cesi also named the occhiale or perspecullus as the
‘telescope,’ which has stuck to this day.
In 1615, Galileo’s “Letter to Christina” 4 made enemies of the
Dominicans for his blatant support for the Copernican theory
of the cosmos. “How dare Galileo autopsy the heavens like
that.” Galileo would not back down. He believed his work, as
a philosopher, was equal to that of the theologians. The Vatican
could not tolerate such an attitude. Their response was the
1616 Condemnation 5, which branded the Copernican theory
as foolish and absurd in philosophy and heretical in theology.
Galileo was more cautious in the following years but he had a
painted a target on his back. He was a marked man.
In 1623, Galileo wrote “The Assayer” in which he refuted the
astronomical views of a Jesuit, Orazio Grassi. He could not
accept the assertion that comets orbit the Earth. Although the
book was dedicated to the new pope, Galileo got himself in
hot water again. He stated that mathematics is the language of
God and only through mathematics can one discover truth in
physics. “Those who neglect mathematics wander endlessly in a
dark labyrinth.” Most upsetting to the Jesuits in the Vatican was
Galileo’s title as philosopher, granted by a Prince. He even took
heat for using a quote from Cardinal Cesare Baronio, “The Bible
is about how to go to Heaven – not how the heavens go 6!”
Galileo’s next major publication for the Pope, “Dialogue of
the Ebb and Flow of the Sea,” was renamed “Dialogue of the
Two Chief World Systems” in 1632. He wrote it in Italian, not
Latin, in order to reach intellectuals. He actually insulted Pope
Urban VIII (baptized 1568, 1623-1644) by portraying him as
Simplicio in the book. (John Dillon humorously suggested the
character could be called Stupidio.) Galileo had clearly violated
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
The Condemnation of 1616. The Vatican took immediate action.
Galileo was tried and found guilty for violating the Church’s
ruling, not for promoting Copernican cosmology, interestingly
enough. He was forced to recant and lived his remaining days
under house arrest.
Galileo remained active, although blind in his last four years.
He was able to sneak one of his manuscripts into Holland where
it was published in 1638 as the “Discourses and Mathematical
Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences.” It was a
compilation of previous work completed during the past thirty
years of his life. With this book, Galileo remained an important
voice in Europe and was supported by many Protestants.
Dillon wrapped up his talk with a reminder that Galileo
overthrew Aristotle. His work
marked the beginning of modern
astronomy. The mix of practical
tools, mathematics, and theory
brought science and technology
together during the Renaissance.
Dillon suggests that this conflict
between Galileo and the Church
was not seen as a war between
science and religion at the time. It
was all about making Galileo bend
to authority, the radical thinker who
forced his hand on the Church and Franceso Villamena’s Frontispiece
paid the price for his insolence.
for “The Assayer”
Notes:
[1] Galileo refined and popularized telescopes. The first telescope
(often called the ‘eye optick’) is attributed to the Dutch optician
Hans Lippershey in 1608. Lippershey’s invention featured
two glass lenses mounted in a narrow tube. It provided 3x
magnification versus Galileo’s at 20x magnification. Galileo’s
telescope offered a 50 mm aperture, 800 mm focal length, and
a 15 arc minute field.
[2] Galileo’s revolutionary work on motion challenged Aristotle’s
view that all bodies are naturally at rest, subsequent motion
is a result of an impetus, and a body so set in motion seeks to
return to rest. Galileo showed that a body continues in motion
until another force stops it - inertia being both a state of rest
and a state of motion.
[3] Kepler actually designed the first astronomical telescope,
not Galileo.
[4] The translated text of Galileo’s letter to Christina may be
found here:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/galileo-tuscany.html
[5] The Condemnation of 1616 text is here:
http://philosophy.ucsd.edu/faculty/rutherford/phil32/condemn.
html
[6] Analysis of Cesare Baronio quote is here:
http://www.oratoriosanfilippo.org/galileo-baronio-english.
pdf
13
October 2009
Sunday
Monday
4
Tuesday
5
Wednesday
6
7
Thursday
1
13
14
3
9
10
15
16
17
7:00 PM
YA Meeting
4:00 PM
SSU: What
Physicists Do
RFO Observing
Solar: Noon-4
Night: 8 PM >
7:00 PM
RFO Night Sky
18
Saturday
1:00 PM
Exploratorium
LCROSS
webcast
7:30 PM
SCAS Meeting
12
2
8
4:00 PM
SSU: What
Physicists Do
11
Friday
19
20
21
22
23
24
27
28
29
30
31
4:00 PM
SSU: What
Physicists Do
7:00 PM
RFO Night Sky
25
26
4:00 PM
SSU: What
Physicists Do
See Pages 4 - 8 for more detailed information on events..
14
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
SCAS Membership
Application/Renewal
Annual Membership dues are $25 due June 1.
(New members joining after Nov. 30 pay $12.50)
Please complete this form and give to the Membership
Director or a Board member with your check, payable to
“SCAS,” at the next meeting, or mail your dues to:
SCAS, P.O. Box 183, Santa Rosa, CA 95402-0183.
 New
 Renewal
(If renewing, provide name only plus any
information that has changed).
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(Required for Sonoma Skies)
Address: ______________________________________
City/State/Zip: _ ________________________________
Telephone: _ ___________________________________
I am interested in serving in one or more of these areas:
 School Star Parties  SCAS Board  Newsletter  Mentoring Young Astronomers
 Yosemite Star Party
New Members please note interests and hobbies you would
like us to know about:
_____________________________________________
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_____________________________________________
New Members please share your reason(s) for joining SCAS,
and how you heard about the club:
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Your dues include our monthly newsletter
Sonoma Skies, membership in the Astronomical League
and its Reflector magazine, discounted subscriptions for
Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines, great
guest speakers at our monthly meetings, the annual
Star-B-Que, and opportunities to meet new and
interesting people who share your passion for the
night sky and interest in many aspects of
astronomy and science. Welcome to the SCAS!
Sonoma Skies, October 2009
Sonoma County
Astronomical Society (SCAS)
Membership Information
Meetings: 7:30 PM on the second Wednesday of each month,
in the Multipurpose Room of Proctor Terrace Elementary School,
1711 Bryden Lane at Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, unless otherwise
announced in this publication. The public is invited.
Dues: $25, renewable June 1 of each year. New members
joining between December 1 and May 31 pay partial-year dues
of $12.50.
Star Parties: See the Events section for dates and times.
Rental Telescope: Members are eligible to borrow the club’s 80mm
refractor with tripod. Contact any Board member listed below.
Egroup URL: Connect with other members about going observing,
observing reports and chat about astronomy and news items
from AANC and Sky & Telescope. Hosted by Robert Leyland at
r.leyland@verizon.net. Any SCAS member is welcome to join. Visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scas and click the “Join” button, or
send an email to scas-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Discount Subscriptions: For Sky & Telescope, new subscribers
may send a check for $32.95 payable to “SCAS”, with your complete
mailing address, directly to: Larry McCune, 544 Thyme Place,
San Rafael, CA 94903. Once you have received the discount rate,
you may renew your subscription by sending your personal check with
the renewal notice directly to Sky Publishing. Discount subscriptions
to Astronomy Magazine occur annually in October. Check
Sonoma Skies for details.
Library: SCAS Librarian David Simons hosts a library of astronomy
books that may be checked out by members at SCAS meetings, to
be returned at the next meeting. Videotaped lectures on astronomy
may be rented for $3 per month.
Sonoma Skies is the monthly newsletter of the Sonoma County
Astronomical Society (SCAS). Subscription is included as part of
membership. Articles and member announcements are welcome and
are published on a first come, first served basis, space permitting,
and may be edited. The deadline for submissions is 7 days prior
to the end of each month. Mail to: Editor, SCAS, P.O. Box 183,
Santa Rosa, CA 95402, or email publications@sonomaskies.org
SCAS Elected Board
President: John Whitehouse 539-5549 jmw@sonic.net
Vice-President & Program Director: Len Nelson 763-8007
lennelsn@comcast.net
Treasurer: Larry McCune, (415)492-1426 llmccune@comcast.net
Secretary: Ted Judah, 766-6190 tedjudah@comcast.net
Membership Director: Dickson Yeager 539-2385
membership@sonomaskies.org
Director of Community Activities: Lynn Anderson 433-1154
astroman@sonic.net
Publications Director: Cecelia Yarnell 569-9663
publications@sonomaskies.org
SCAS Appointed Positions
Striking Sparks Program Coordinator: Larry McCune
(415)492-1426 llmccune@comcast.net
Webmaster: Jerry McBride, jerry-mcbride@comcast.net
Amateur Telescope Making: Steve Follett 542-1561
sfollett@sonic.net
Librarian: David Simons 537-6632 davidsimons@planetatm.com
Young Astronomers Advisor: Open
—continued
Visitnext
us page
on the web at:
www.sonomaskies.org
15