
In this special episode we have an EWASS/NAM extravaganza, brought to you from the floor of the cross-over event held in Liverpool in April 2018, where the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) met the UK's National Astronomy Meeting (NAM). We also have time for Tana Joseph to round up the latest news and find out what we can see in the May night sky from Ian Morison and Gaby Perez.
The News
On the 18th of April, NASA's latest exoplanet research satellite was launched. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, TESS for short, was sent into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch was initially scheduled for two days prior, but had to be delayed due to a technical issue with the rocket.
TESS will use its thrusters, and even a gravitational assist from the Moon, to settle into its correct orbit around the Earth. This process will take several weeks. Once in its proper orbit path, the satellite will undergo a further 60 days of technical tests before starting its science observing.
This will be the first space-based all-sky monitoring observatory to search for planets outside our solar system. TESS will specifically be searching for Earth-like planets that could potentially harbour life. In order to find these exoplanets, TESS will observe stars and look for the slight dimming and re-brightening that indicates that a planet has passed in front of the star, called the transiting method. This is the same search method used by the highly successful planet-hunting mission, Kepler, which was launched in 2009 and is now running out of fuel.
TESS will be able to observe an area 400 times larger than what was covered by Kepler. In addition, it will be observing stars that are close enough for astronomers to be able to do follow-up studies, something that was possible with the systems Kepler studied. Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate had this to say about the mission, "We are thrilled TESS is on its way to help us discover worlds we have yet to imagine, worlds that could possibly be habitable, or harbor life."
Supermassive black holes that are millions to billions of times more massive than our Sun are known to reside in the centre of most galaxies. Some of these enormous black holes eject immense jets of charged particles travelling at nearly the speed of light. However, it is not currently known exactly how these jets are launched from the black hole.
Earlier this month, an international team of astronomers announced that they have observed jets being launched only 12 light days from their source around the supermassive black hole in the radio galaxy Perseus A. This is only the second time a jet has been observed so close to a supermassive black hole. The observation immediately surprised scientists as the jets were seen to be much wider than predicted by current theories of jet formation. This may mean that the jets originate further away from the black hole than previously thought. These extremely detailed images of the jets were made possible by using Very Long Baseline Interferometry, or VLBI. This observational technique works by linking several radio telescopes together to form a telescope that is effectively as large as the distance between the individual instruments. For this particular experiment, the VLBI configuration - which is called RadioAstron - consisted of more than twenty of the world's largest ground-based radio telescopes as well as a 10m Russian space-based radio telescope, resulting in a virtual telescope of 350 000 km across.
The Very Large Telescope, or VLT, in Chile has been used to take images of the disks of material around stars from which planets form. These disks are usually not visible due to the brightness of the host star. But, by blocking out the star's light in the obsertvations, astronomers were able to get a look at the circumstellar disks, which are made up of gas, dust and planetesimals, or proto-planets.
The study focussed on a type of young star called T Tauri stars. These stars are less than 10 million years old and have masses less than about three times the mass of our Sun. Only stars that are between 230 and 550 light years away were included, as their proximity makes the circumstellar disks easier to observe. The images revealed that these disks come in various shapes and sizes, from dense and puffed up, to small and faint. By studying these proto-planetary disks, we can learn more about how planets and solar systems form.
Interview with Hayden Goodfellow
Hayden Goodfellow is currently working at Kielder Observatory in Northumberland, one of the UK's dark sky sites. He talks to Emma about working with actual telescopes, the public outreach done at Kielder and maybe moving towards targeting transiting exoplanets.
Interview with Dr. Amy Tyndall
Josh interviews Dr. Amy Tyndall of the University of Edinburgh, who has since moved from her PhD at Jodrell Bank into full-time outreach, both for the University of Edinburgh's biomedical research program Proteus and as Editor for the magazine Popular Astronomy.
Interview with Prof. Chris Lintott
During EWASS/NAM, we caught up with an old friend of the Jodcast, Prof. Chris Lintott. In his 8th (!) appearance on the Jodcast, he tells us how his students and co-workers have been combining citizen science and machine learning within the Zooniverse. We also chat about exoplanet news and the Exoplanet Explorer - coming soon to a Zooniverse near you!
Interview with Dr. Matt Taylor
Another Jodcast friend had a stand at EWASS/NAM - Dr. Matt Taylor, ESA Project Scientist for the Rosetta Mission. With the mission now concluded, he and Josh look back at the story Rosetta and Philae, and forward to the science that is still coming from the data gathered.
Interview with Dr. Claire Burke and Maisie Rashman
Emma interviews Dr. Claire Burke and Maisie Rashman from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), the host institute for this cross-over event. Their recently-publicised research concerns the novel application of astronomical techniques and software to the world of conservation, to find and detect endangered animals using drone-mounted infra-red cameras.
Interview with Dr. Robert Massey
In our final interview from the floor of EWASS/NAM, Josh successfully corners Dr. Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). He discusses the ongoing work of the RAS both within and beyond the astronomical community, including taking action on the results of the recent RAS Diversity Survey and working to preserve scientific collaborations in a post-Brexit universe.
The Night Sky
Northern Hemisphere
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during May 2018.
The Planets
- Jupiter - Jupiter reaches opposition on May 8th, so will be visible all night. It shines at magnitude -2.5 and has a disk some 44 arc seconds across throughout the month. Jupiter's equatorisl bands and sometimes the Great Red Spot (see 'highlights' for the times when it crosses Jupiter's central meridian) and up to four of its Gallilean moons will be visible in a small telescope. Sadly, lying in Libra during the month, Jupiter is heading towards the southern part of the ecliptic and will only have an elevation of ~20 degrees when crossing the meridian. Atmospheric dispersion will thus hinder our view and it might be worth considering purchasing the ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector to counteract its effects.
- Saturn - Saturn, now well into its new apparition, rises at around midnight on the first of May and a couple of hours earlier by month's end. With an angular size of ~17.5 arc seconds (increasing to 18.1 during the month) it climbs higher before dawn and so becomes easier to spot as the month progresses. Its brightness increases from +0.4 to +0.2 magnitudes during the month. The rings were at their widest some months ago and are still, at 25 degrees to the line of sight, well open and spanning ~2.5 times the size of Saturn's globe. Saturn, lying in Sagittarius, is close to the topmost star of the 'teapot'. It will been seen best just before dawn but, sadly, even when at opposition later in the year it will only reach an elevation of just over 15 degrees above the horizon when crossing the meridian. Atmospheric dispersion will thus greatly hinder our view and, as for Jupiter, it might be worth considering purchasing the ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector to counteract its effects.
- Mercury - Mercury reached greatest elongation east from the Sun on April 29th and might just be glimpsed low above the western horizon for the first few days of May, but for the remainder of the month will lie too close to the Sun to be visible.
- Mars - Mars starts the month in Sagittarius and moves into Capricornus in mid-May. Now a morning object, it rises at around 1:30 am BST at the start of the month and a little after midnight by May 31st. During the month, Mars has a magnitude which increases rapidly from -0.4 to -1.2 and has an angular size of 11.1 increasing to 15.1 arc seconds during the month so it should be possible to spot details, such as Syrtis Major, on its salmon-pink surface with a small telescope. It will only reach an elevation of ~10 degrees before dawn at the start of the month and ~131 degrees by month's end. Sadly, the atmosphere will hinder our view. Another reason for purchasing a ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion corrector?
- Venus - Venus, seen in the west after sunset, shines brightly at magnitude -3.9 all month with an angular size of 11.5 increasing to 13 arc seconds. Venus rises a little higher in the sky as April progresses, initially setting around two hours after the Sun but increasing to two and a half hours by month's end as its elevation at sunset stays at around 20 degrees - it will be very prominent in the evening sky. Venus starts the month in Taurus, not far above the Hyades Cluster, but passes into Gemini on the 19th before passing between the Hyades and Pleiades Clusters on the 27th.
- May - a great month to view Jupiter. This is a great month to observe Jupiter which comes into opposition on May 8th and will be visible during all the hours of darkness. It is moving down the ecliptic and now lies in Libra and, sadly, will only reach an elevations of ~20 degrees when crossing the meridian. An interesting observation is that the Great Red Spot appears to be diminishing in size. At the beginning of the last century it spanned 40,000 km across but now appears to be only ~16,500 km across - less than half the size. It used to be said that 3 Earths could fit within it, but now it is only one. The shrinking rate appears to be accelerating and observations indicate that it is now reducing in size by ~580 miles per year. Will it eventually disappear?
- The features seen in the Jovian atmosphere have been changing quite significantly over the last few years - for a while the South Equatorial Belt vanished completely (as seen in Damian's image) but has now returned to its normal wide state.
- May: Look for the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. This list gives some of the best evening times during May to observe the Great Red Spot which should then lie on the central meridian of the planet. The times are in UT.
- May 5th and 6th before dawn: The Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower. The Eta Aquarids are one of the finest meteor showers that can be seen from the southern hemisphere but, in the northern hemisphere, may only be glimpsed in the pre-dawn sky in the south-east around 90 minutes before dawn. Sadly, this year the peak is when there is a waning gibbous Moon in the sky - so moonlight will hinder our view.
- May 5th - before dawn: Saturn, the Moon and Mars together in the southern sky. Before dawn on the 5th of May and given a clear sky and a low horizon to the east of south, you should be able to spot Saturn to the right of the waning gibbous Moon with Mars down to its lower left. Binoculars might be needed to penetrate the sky's pre-dawn brightness, but please do not use them after the Sun has risen.
- May 17th after sunset: Venus above a very thin crescent Moon. If clear after sunset on the 17th May and given a very low western horizon you should easily spot Venus! However it will be much harder to spot a very thin crescent Moon, just two days after new, down to its lower left. Binoculars may well be needed to see the Moon, but please do not use them until after the Sun has set.
- May 6th and 22nd - evenings: The Hyginus Rille. These evenings, should it be clear, are a superb time to view the Hyginus Crator and Rille as it will lie close to the terminator. For some time a debate raged as to whether the craters on the Moon were caused by impacts or volcanic activity. We now know that virtually all were caused by impact, but it is thought that the Hyginus crater that lies at the centre of the Hyginus Rille may well be volcanic in origin. It is an 11 km wide rimless pit - in contrast to impact craters which have raised rims - and its close association with the rille of the same name associates it with internal lunar events. It can quite easily be seen to be surrounded by dark material. It is thought that an explosive release of dust and gas created a vacant space below so that the overlying surface collapsed into it so forming the crater. The author's image of the crater and rille can be seen in the inset to the image of the 8 day old Moon below.
Highlights
Southern Hemisphere
Gabriela Perez from the Carter Observatory in New Zealand speaks about the Southern Hemisphere night sky during May 2018.
- Introduction - Kia Ora, Gabriela Perez here from Wellington New Zealand. It's autumn here in the southern hemisphere and we can tell from the chilly night and fallen leaves but also from our skies. We can see the summer months sinking into the Western horizon with Orion and his companions making way for all our winter constellations. Quite a nice time year to see Orion and Scorpius on either sides of the sky knowing that they're doomed to chase one another forever.
- Orion - The best time to view the deep space objects will be around the middle of the month as new moon will be on the 15th of May and on the 29th we will round off the month with the full moon.
- The Planets - In the middle of May we will have sliver Venus setting 90 minutes after the Sun in the northwest once again becoming our evening star. The fainter planets, Saturn and Mars will also be in the sky in the constellation of Sagittarius.
- Scorpius - Another fantastic sight in the constellation of Scorpius is the Bug/Butterfly Nebula. It is a bipolar planetary nebula, having one the most complex structures ever seen with a star at its centre, also in its final stages but burning at some of the hottest temperatures recorded in the galaxy (for a star).
- Stellar Clusters - Between Scorpius and Sagittarius is the zone designated Sagittarius A and it is our galactic centre. The middle point of our Milky Way or the 'bulge' making up some of the brightest and star-rich regions of our night sky. We have noted some intense radio feedback form this zone as astronomers believe that in the centre of our galaxy (and in fact the centre of every galaxy) is a supermassive black hole holding it together. On a clear night you can follow the Milky Way up to the Crux constellation or the Southern Cross, the smallest constellation but arguably the most well-known in the South. Use the pointer stars, the reddish orange Alpha Centauri and the blue/white Beta Centauri to make sure you have the right cross shape in the sky. Nearby star clusters such as the Jewel Box cluster or the Southern Pleiades make for some stunning telescope observations. Pick out the different colours in the cluster depicting stars of different sizes and at different stages of their lives. For a little bit of a challenge, and for another look at a dying star, you can move towards the constellation of Carina and find Eta Carinae and the Carina Nebula.
- Meteor Shower - If you're up late enough, at about around midnight on the 6th till the early hours of the 7th of May you can catch the peak of the Eta Aquarids. This spectacular annual meteor shower is capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour. They will radiate from Aquarius but can be seen in a lot of the night sky.
- Arcturus - And if you're up early enough soon after dusk Arcturus appears in the northeast, seen twinkling as it is close to the horizon with it's light being broken up. It is the brightest red object in the sky, only outshone by Mars and 120 times brighter than the Sun.
- That's all for me for this month in the South and remember to keep warm but not let that stop you from going outside and looking up!
Show Credits
News: | Tana Joseph |
Interview 1: | Hayden Goodfellow and Emma Alexander |
Interview 2: | Dr. Amy Tyndall and Josh Hayes |
Interview 3: | Prof. Chris Lintott and Emma Alexander |
Interview 4: | Dr. Matt Taylor and Josh Hayes |
Interview 5: | Dr. Claire Burke, Maisie Rashman and Emma Alexander |
Interview 6: | Dr. Robert Massey and Josh Hayes |
Night Sky: | Ian Morison and Gabriela Perez |
Presenters: | Josh Hayes and Nialh McCallum |
Editors: | Emma Alexander, Shruti Badole, Beth Jones and Tom Scragg |
Segment Voice: | Tess Jaffe |
Website: | Jake Morgan and Stuart Lowe |
Producer: | Jake Morgan |
Cover art: | The new Jodcast team - beyond the visible spectrum! CREDIT: Ant Holloway + George Bendo |