|
|||
|
|
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
|
On 29 March this year, after an extensive year-long refurbishment, the Rossall Assheton Observatory near Fleetwood in Lancashire finally reopened. Nick A Lister of Rossall School reports. The refurbished observatory and (inset) its shabby condition before the work. The Rossall Assheton Observatory houses a classic Victorian refractor manufactured by Thomas Cooke & Sons in 1870. It is a fine example of Victorian engineering at its best – a six-and-a-half inch objective diameter, fl3.5 instrument – and one of the best publicly accessible telescopes of its kind. The observatory building was constructed in 1904 and has had something of a coloured history, including burglary, vandalism, neglect and a Second World War requisition for an ammo store (hence the ugly grey concrete blocks). Our position on the coast, while often improving astronomical seeing, does have the drawback of exposing the observatory to some interesting weather. A couple of years ago we and the observatory roof in particular, were on the receiving end of some spectacular winds. Due to the unusually narrow path of storm damage, we remain convinced that we were visited by a small, unobserved tornado, in common with Patrick Moore. When we began restoration, two things were obvious: the telescope had worn well, but the observatory building had not. Thankfully the Cooke engineers employed a great deal of brass in their telescopes. If they had used more steel I fear we would be left merely with a pile of rust – the observatory is just 200 yards from the salty Irish Sea. The planned renovation has in reality amounted to an almost complete overhaul, providing new roof, new floor and new walls. It would in fact have been far easier to level the buildings and start again, but since this would have involved exposing or moving the refractor, it was decided that the best option would be to reconstruct the observatory piecemeal around the telescope. After a great deal of work it is now not beautiful but very comfortable and really quite homely. I've now installed a (low wattage) music system and find that, as well as the usual gentle classical strings playing in the background, a certain amount of rock 'n roll really does encourage and enhance serious observational work. It is pleasing to note that, as refurbishment proceeded and people saw the large unsightly shed being transformed into something of obvious scientific curiosity, there was a steady increase in the amount of public attention. “When will the observatory be open?” “Can we use it?” “What will we be able to see with it?” etc. The opening ceremony was blessed with some fine (but rare) spring weather and the function was well attended by all those interested and involved, including the BBC. The observatory, and its associated field study centre, has now become “an openly accessible venue for the study of astronomy”. Our telescope has a priority access for the public. It is used for simple visual enjoyment, astrophotography, or amateur research. Anybody should be able to gain access to the teachings of astronomy and the use of an instrument such as the one at the Assheton Observatory. According to Peter Hingley, the RAS Librarian, our telescope has a twin, currently believed to be in New Zealand, in unknown condition. Both the instruments were specifically made for observing the transits of Venus at the end of the 19th century. It is an enormous credit to Messrs Cooke & Sons that, over a century later, we can now perhaps prepare ourselves for identical observations of the next series of such transits, the first pair of which occur in 2004. I genuinely hope that such observations are but “a few of the many” for which the Assheton Observatory will be used. Anyone interested in finding out more about observing at the Assheton should contact the author. . |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Galieo's magnetometer has revealed stronger evidence that there could be a salty ocean lying beneath Europa's icy surface. Europa's chaotic terrain, after repeated rifting and refilling. (NASA Galileo/JPL.) Europa, the fourth largest satellite of Jupiter, has come to prominence in recent months as a likely place for extraterrestrial life, because it may have a body of water below its icy surface. Now Galileo's magnetometer has added more compelling evidence for a salt-water ocean below the surface of Europa. The magnetic data, reported by Margaret Kivelson of the University of California, Los Angeles, the Principal Investigator for the instrument, come from Europa's field, which arises from electric currents induced in a conducting layer as the moon moves through Jupiter's magnetic field. The data are best modelled as arising from a layer of electrically conducting liquid. Without a conducting layer, there would be no local field. Gravity data (also from Galileo) put the density of the outer layers of the moon at close to that of water or water ice, but ice would not be a good conductor. The surface features of Europa – a jumble of rafts of ice and rifts that appear to have been filled from below – have been cited as evidence for a crust of ice floating on fluid below, but they do not necessarily mean that there is liquid below the crust now. The magnetometer data are a sign of existing liquid. Althoug the evidence is getting stronger, it is not yet certain that
Europa has such a liquid layer, however. To be sure, researchers would
need to measure gravity and the altitude of the surface in order to model
the tides raised in the moon by Jupiter . |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
The end of the first stage of the construction of the Very Large Telescope took place on the night of 3 September this year. A colour composite of some of the first astronomical exposures obtained by Yepun, the VLT's fourth instrument. The object is the planetary nebula Hen 2-428, located at a distance of 6000-8000 light years and seen in a dense sky field, only 2º from the main plane of the Milky Way. As other planetary nebulae, it is caused by a dying star (the bluish object at the centre). The field measures 88 x 78 arcsec. North is to the lower right and east is to the lower left. The European Southern Observatory completed its suite of 8.2 m telescopes at Paranal when the fourth instrument, Yepun, joined the other three (Antu, Kueyen and Melipal), after 15 years of preparation. From now on, the powerful “Paranal Quartet” will be observing night after night, with a combined mirror surface of more than 210 m². And beginning next year, some of the telescopes will be linked to form part of the unique VLT Interferometer, with unparalleled sensitivity and image sharpness. First-light photos of astronomical objects established the optical and mechanical quality of the instrument and it is fit for commissioning. The name of this telescope, like the other three, comes from the Mapuchu
language, spoken by people living in the Paranal region. The names were
chosen after a competition among schoolchildren in the Antofagasta region
of Chile. The winning essay was submitted by 17-year-old Jorssy Albanez
Castilla from Chuquicamata near the city of Calama. She received the prize,
an amateur telescope, during the Paranal Inauguration. Antu means the
Sun, Kueyen the Moon and Melipal the Southern Cross. Yepun was thought
to mean Sirius, but linguistic research suggests that it means the Evening
Star, Venus. . |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Work begins on most powerful telescope in southern hemisphere. Work officially began on the South African Large Telescope (SALT) in the Karoo, on 1 September this year. The new telescope, to be built on the South African Astronomical Observatory site (SAAO) near Sutherland in the Northern Cape, is a joint venture with astronomers from Germany, New Zealand, Poland, the UK and the USA. Ben Ngubane, South Africa's Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, said: “It is with great national pride that we stand here today to witness the turning of the sod of what will be the most powerful telescope – not only on the continent of Africa, but in the entire southern hemisphere. Such a telescope will provide a focus for the development of basic sciences on the African continent.” Great economic and educational benefits are expected from the project. Ngubane expressed the hope that SALT would be a significant catalyst in producing more black post-graduate students in science and engineering. Five UK institutes (the universities of Central Lancashire, Keele, Nottingham and Southampton and Armagh Observatory) represent British interests. By investing in the project they will ensure an input into the specification and development and over 100 nights observation time from a unique location for observing the southern skies. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
||||||
|
||||||
Suspicion is growing that many public understanding of science intiatives are not working. Although there are laudable exceptions, many people in the field go at it as if the world is one big university, full of recalcitrant students who simply don't try hard enough. But people need to be interested, not lectured to. Broadening the appeal of science has to engage people who have a limitless choice about what they spend their time on. And that means efforts need to be directed towards enagaging with those people and their concerns, communicating in new ways and listening to responses. Astronomers have a strong tradition of this, in the amateur community of observatories and astronomy clubs. Perhaps professionals should make more of this tradition of engagement and life-long learning, and learn from them why astronomy is so engaging. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Shakespearian characters, an Astronomer Royal and ex-Presidents of the RAS are among those honoured by the IAU. The International Astronomical Union's General Assembly in Manchester in August was the occasion for the announcement of some new names for asteroids and for features on planets and moons. The IAU is the only body that awards such names. Three past Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society, Sir Fred Hoyle, Prof. Carole Jordan, and Sir Bernard Lovell, have had asteroids named in their honour. Hoyle, Carolejordan and Bernardlovell are joined by Leviathan, which commemorates the great reflecting telescope at Birr Castle, County Offaly, Ireland, completed by the Third Earl of Rosse in 1845. It was known as the Leviathan of Parsonstown and for 75 years it was the largest in the world. Rosseven is named for William Brendan Parsons, the Seventh Earl of Rosse, who restored the telescope to full working order, a project that took three years and was completed in 1999. The IAU also rectified an omission when it named a lunar ring between the lunar crater Plato and Mt Piton after Nathaniel Bliss, the fourth Astronomer Royal, who served from 1762–64. Bliss was until now the only Astronomer Royal without the honour of a named body or feature. The late Carl Sagan is remembered with a 95 km wide crater near the equator on the planet Mars. The IAU working group for planetary system nomenclature likes to maintain a theme for related features, so characters from Shakespeare's play The Tempest provide names for the moons of Uranus. Prospero will now join Miranda and Ariel. On a lighter note, features currently being mapped on Eros will include Cupid, Casanova and Lolita. In contrast, craters on Mathilde will be named after great coal basins of the world – Mathilde is, after all, a dark asteroid. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
The Hubble Heritage Program exists to highlight the spectacular images that the Hubble Space Telescope has produced. Careful selection and processing of images is producing an archive of spectacular and significant images. The International Center of Photography in New York City has rewarded the Program for its work with the annual Infinity Award for Applied Photography. This image shows the chance alignment of a face-on spiral galaxy in front of a larger inclined spiral, about 140 million light years from Earth in the direction of the southern hemisphere constellation Hydra. This unique pair is known as NGC 3314. The line-up provides astronomers with a rare opportunity to see dark material within the foreground galaxy, silhouetted against the light from the more distant galaxy. The outer spiral arms of the front galaxy (NGC 3314a) appear to change from bright to dark, as they are projected first against deep space, and then against the bright background of the other galaxy. The nucleus of the more distant galaxy (called NGC 3314b) is the small, red patch near the centre of the image, reddened by its passage through dust. The image was made by William Keel and Ray White III (University of Alabama) in blue and infrared light, combined with new images obtained by the Heritage team in March 2000 using blue, green and red filters. (NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA.) |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Rachel Howes calls for papers for an RAS-sponsored meeting. Large lenses, prisms, Schmidt plates, optical domes etc are increasingly important in laser systems, astronomy and optical test equipment. They are high-value items that demand expertise in design, manufacture and operation. Nevertheless, they pose problems that are often unfamiliar both to the optical designer and to the manufacturer. Aberrations scale up; materials are problematical; thermal effects (including that on refractive index) and lens mounts need special attention; aspherical profiles may be very deep and difficult to produce; optical tests may also be difficult (even for a single spherical surface, if it is large and convex). Despite this, when the talk is of large optics, often it is only mirrors that are considered. To rectify this situation, the Optical Science Laboratory at University College London, is holding a conference on “Large lenses and prisms” that will explore how lens technology can grow. All aspects of large lenses and prisms will be discussed, including applications, design, materials and production technology. But how large is large? As a guide, glass lenses about 300 mm in diameter and prisms about 200 mm on a side certainly qualify for this meeting. Also, major problems can be encountered at smaller sizes with crystalline and polymeric materials, or with wide ranges of temperature, so some lenses well under 300 mm are also relevant to the meeting. At the venue at University College London, silica lenses up to 536 mm diameter and individual prisms up to 60 kg will be on test. They are components for a spectrograph for the 8 m Gemini South telescope. The Conference takes place from 27–30 March. Abstracts should be in by 1 January 2001 and papers should be submitted at the meeting, deadline 27 March 2001. Papers are solicited in the following areas: • Applications of large lenses and prisms. • Optical designs: problems of aberrations in the design of large lenses. Thermal effects. Non-axisymmetric and off-axis systems. Deep aspherical surfaces. • Materials in large sizes; glasses, crystals, polymers, infrared materials. • Optical manufacturing. • Testing and metrology methods. Transmission tests of large optics, testing deep aspherical surfaces and large convex surfaces. • Coating large lenses. • Mechanical mounts for large lenses and prisms. • Large lens systems. Their environment, temperature and operation; laser
damage. Please send abstracts by e-mail (plain text) to osl@star.ucl.ac.uk
for the attention of Rachel Howes. For more information visit the conference
Web site at http://lenses.osl.ucl.ac.uk
or contact: Rachel Howes, Optical Science Laboratory, Dept Physics and
Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. Tel:
+44 20 7679 3647. Fax: +44 20 7679 7153. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Alan Pickwick invites nominations for the annual RAS prizes to be awarded for outstanding PhD theses. The RAS awards two prizes for PhD theses: The Michael Penston Astronomy Prize (formerly the RAS Astronomy prize), and the RAS–Blackwell Prize. The Society invites nominations for the 2000 Michael Penston Astronomy Prize to be awarded for the best doctoral thesis in astronomy or astrophysics. The prize of £1000 is sponsored jointly by PPARC and the RAS and is administered by the RAS Education Committee. The award is open to students of all nationalities registered at universities in the UK and is not restricted to Fellows and Junior Members of the RAS. To be eligible, the thesis must have been: • on a topic in astronomy or astrophysics, • submitted to a university in the UK, • and examined and recommended for the award of a doctorate by the examiners in the academic year 1 October 1999 to 30 September 2000. The Society invites nominations for the 2000 RAS–Blackwell Prize to be awarded for the best doctoral thesis in: • exploration geophysics, • physics of the Earth's atmosphere, ionosphere or magnetosphere, • planetary physics, • solar physics, • or solid-earth geophysics. The prize of £1000 is sponsored by Blackwell Science Limited and is administered by the RAS Education Committee. The award is open to students of all nationalities registered at universities in the UK and is not restricted to Fellows and Junior Members of the RAS. To be eligible, the thesis must have been: • on a topic in the list above, • submitted to a university in the UK, • and examined and recommended for the award of a doctorate by the examiners in the academic year 1 October 1999 to 30 September 2000. The winners of each prize will be expected to give a short presentation on their thesis to an A&G (Ordinary) Meeting of the Society. They will also be required to collaborate with the organizers in publicizing the work to the public. In case of doubt about the eligibility of a particular thesis, the chair of the judging panel will have discretion on whether to accept the entry and that decision will be final. Nominations for this year's awards must be received by the Executive Secretary at Burlington House by 31 January 2001. Nominations for each prize should: • be submitted by the student's examiner or supervisor, • be in the form of a citation of not more than 500 words, • be accompanied by a copy of the thesis abstract, • and contain the names of two referees familiar with the thesis, at
least one of whom should be affiliated to an academic or research establishment
other than that of the candidate. Suitable referees would be the candidate's
internal and external examiners for the doctorate. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Derek Ward-Thompson
My research interests are in the formation of stars and planets, particularly: protostellar collapse and pre-stellar evolution of progenitors of solar-mass stars; submillimetre and infrared mapping of star-forming regions; and the properties and behaviour of the galactic inter-stellar medium. I am currently a lecturer in astronomy at Cardiff University. I have previously been a student or a post-doc at Oxford, Durham, Central Lancs, and Cambridge Universities, and was an ROE research fellow for five years before taking up my current post in 1998. I am a former member of several PPARC committees, including PATT, JCMTAP and ACP, and am a current member of the UK SSAC, UK ALMA SAC and RAS Meetings Committee. My reasons for joining RAS Council include a desire, as a strong supporter of the RAS, to see that it continues to keep in touch with its membership, and continues to represent UK astronomers in the best ways that it can, with PPARC, the government and the media. My hobbies include fly-fishing and Scottish malt whiskies. Favourite river: the Spey. Favourite whisky: Glen Grant.
I am currently a PPARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, UCL, and see myself as both an astronomer and a planetary scientist. I completed my PhD on studies of Vega-like stars and their dusty discs, and am continuing as a PDRF with studies of the Moon. I am using multispectral data from the Clementine mission to study impact craters and volcanic regions of the Moon. In October 2000, I will join the Planets & Space Plasma Group at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, to take up the post of project scientist of D-CIXS, an X-ray spectrometer that will fly on SMART-1, ESA's first mission to the Moon. Although I work primarily with the Moon, I have great interest in many other solid bodies in the solar system (and would like to take this chance to mention the October RAS Discussion Meeting on “Asteroids and meteorites”). As Chair of the UK Planetary Forum (http://ast.star.rl.ac.uk/forum),
I have links with several groups around the country and, working with
them, I am committed to raising the profile of planetary science in the
UK. I have been involved in several space education projects over the
past few years, and continue to work with children and adults alike to
bring to them the magic of the space science work we carry out. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
From
the RAS Archives
|
|||
|
|||
|
This small engraving, of unidentified source but published by C Clarke, 6 Tudor St., Blackfriars, London, came to light during the listing of RAS ADD MS 90 – another item from Mrs Jackson Gwilt's collection (page 54). The Sun, with his vacuous grin, seems ready to welcome the train-loads of excursionists, unlike such 19th century aesthetes as Ruskin and Wordsworth who resented the intrusion of the iron road with its freight of humanity escaping from the grime of the cities, into their beloved Lakes. The Man in the Moon looks decidedly left out. The flag-bedecked balloons which support the track are also much of the period and anticipate the ideas of W Heath Robinson for raising the spans of Saltash Bridge with balloons. The item is undated, but one might guess the date as circa 1850s and the title, “A long expected line” suggests that it was a lampoon on the frenzied promotion of railways in that period, when lines were promoted to everywhere you could think of, and quite a few places you couldn't; after all, if railways were being promoted to Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, and Dinas Mawddwy, Montgomeryshire, the Sun would seem quite a profitable destination by comparison. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
The November issue of Geophysical Journal International introduces a festschrift by friends, colleagues and former students of Leon Knopoff, Research Professor of Physics and Geophysics and Research Musicologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, for his 75th birthday and to honour his contributions to the fields of geophysics. Some of the papers were presented at a symposium in his honour held on 14 September 2000 at UCLA. The scope reflects the broad and wide-ranging interests and contributions made by Prof. Knopoff to geophysics. The guest editors will be Anthony F Gangi (gangi@tamu.edu),
Robert W Fredricks (rfrdrcks@earthlink.net)
and Joseph F Hook (joehook@msn.com).
Non-subscribers wishing to buy it can find details at http://www.blackwell-science.com/gji/.
. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Alan Pickwick announces the new competition for schools. Imagine the year is 2020 and you have just heard the amazing and disturbing news that signs of intelligent life have been detected from beyond our planet. The SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) team is cautious but thinks that radio telescopes have picked up faint signals from a star system about 10 light years away. The RAS invites groups of pupils to produce a newspaper as if written on that momentous day. The competition is open to groups of pupils in the age ranges 7–11, 11–14, 14–16 and 16–19 years, and to committed individuals. Our highly successful inter-disciplinary newspaper competition has been running for four years. For teachers, the project provides an excellent opportunity to forge cross-curricular links and a real reason to use the Internet and the library to search for material. There will be a range of superb prizes for the winners of each age group. Closing date is 1 May 2001. An information sheet is available at http://www.ras.org.uk or by post (please enclose SAE) from: SETI Competition, Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1V 0NL. . |
|||
|
|
|||
| top of page |
