April 2012

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cope: s e l e T s Faulke s nd Tip Hints a 17 PG 16-

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THE 2012 PHENOMENON

SETI– IS IT A SCIENCE OR A RELIGION THE LAW OF SPACE

PG 10-11 THE NIGHT SKY IN APRIL PG 12-13

Alisdair Smith (1978 – 2012)

Editor: Chloe Partridge Copy Editor: Martin Griffiths Contributors: Chloe Partridge, Alexander Hunt, Louisa Connelly Columnists: Phill Wallace, Martin Griffiths, Sam Whitaker It is with deep sadness that I report the death of Alisdair Smith, a former student on the Astronomy & Space course here at Glamorgan.

He is pictured above examining the Sun during the Exploring the Sky field school, Andalucia in 2010.

Faulkes Telescope Images: Sam Whitaker If you would like to contribute in any way, either by sending us your Faulkes images, or perhaps even writing an article , then

Alisdair obtained a first class honours degree and graduated just last summer. He then went on to take a Master’s course in Paleoanthropology at Liverpool University. Sadly he passed away last week. All here at Glamorgan send our heartfelt condolences to his family and will always remember him as a quiet, intelligent and gentle soul with a great sense of humour and an infectious laugh. He will be greatly missed.

get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Editorial Contacts : 10017607@glam.ac.uk mgriffi8@glam.ac.uk

EDITORIAL Astronomy at present is getting more and more difficult due to the increasing lightness of the evenings. However, there are some compensations such as drinking wine whilst sitting in the garden or learning how to produce huge conflagrations whilst lighting the BBQ with stored petrol….

Anyway, look out for Venus in the Pleiades early this month and hope for a return to the balmy sunny weather we experienced up until this week. For those who want to read through the latest professional papers in astronomy, where better to turn to than the National Astronomy Meeting held in Manchester last week. – news of this event and some wonderful introductions to all things heavenly can be found on their webpage: http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/meetings/nam2012/ Enjoy the Easter break and don’t be sick with all the choccie eggs you have hidden away…..

IMAGE REFERENCES: PG4-5. We were warned (2012) - www. Blog spot.com, 2012 Apocalypse - www.mnn.com PG6-9 Panspermia - www. Ciencialimada.com.ar, Alien picnic - www.steambird.com PG10-11. SETI - www.realscience.us, SETI@home - Wikicommons, UFO - www.german.china.org.cn PG12-13. Sky map - www.heavensabove.com, Moon, Corvus, NGC 4361 - Martin Griffiths PG14-15. Yuri Gagarin - www.untreaty.un.org, Moon landing - www.therelativelyinterestingblog.blogspot.com PG16-17. NGC 7009, M27, Screen dump - Sam Whitaker.

PG18.

Richard. P. Fynman - www.uweanimation.blogspot.com

GLMAORGAN ASTRONOMY

APRIL 2012 ISSUE

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4-5 4-5. THE 2012 PHENOMENON W ILL 2 012 BE THE LA S T YEA R IN HIS TOR Y ? S HORT A NSWE R: NO. R EA D O N TO F I N D O U T W H Y TH I S B E L I E F IS TO TA L L Y W R ONG. D ISC LA IME R :IF THE W ORL D D OE S E ND , Y OU W ON'T HA VE TIM E TO TE L L M E I TOL D Y OU S O.

6-9 6-9. A COSMIC INHERITANCE W HERE DOES LIFE S TART IN THE UNIVERSE, A ND HOW DID I T GE T THERE - WA S IT P LA N TED OR SP O N TA N E O US ?

10-11 10-11. IS SETI A SCIENCE OR A RELIGION SE TI HA S P ROVIDED MA NY CON TRA VERS IES BE TW EEN THE SCIEN TIFIC AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES, HERE WE EXPLORE THE QUES TION, IS SETI A SCIENCE, OR RELIGION? 12-13. THE NIGHT SKY IN APRIL TH IS M ON TH’S NIG H T S KY R OUND UP FEA TURES THE C ONS TE LLA TION OF C ORV US A ND A LL THE LA TE S T P LA NE TA R Y P OS I TI O N S . WA TC H O U T F O R V E N U S C L OS E TO TH E P LE IA D E S I N TH E E A R L Y PART OF APRIL.

16-17

14-15 THE LAW OF SPACE A N E XA M I N A TI O N O F TH E L A W S A N D R E G U L A TI O N S O F OU TE R SPA CE A C TIV I TY.

16-17. FAULKES A MONTH IN IMAGES W E TA KE A L O O K A T S O M E F IN A L A D D I TIO N S TO OUR IMAGE PROCESSING.

COSMOLOGICAL NEWS

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The 2012 Phenomenon

Don’t Panic !

The date is December the 21st 2012. Most people The idea that the world will end, or at least

adopted by the Mayans during their “classical

in the Western world will be doing their final

change drastically in late 2012 has been kicking period” from 250-900 AD (or thereabouts). It’s

preparation in order for Christmas, perhaps

around for a while. By now it has penetrated so broken up into a series of units roughly based

hunting down last minute gifts and worrying

far into our society that there are countless

about an alarming lack of stuffing for Christ-

documentaries, TV series and big-budget films the system, culminating in the “b’ak’tun”, equal

mas dinner. Those with a longer view might be

about 2012 and The End Of The World (yes,

looking forward to a good New Year’s bash in a capitalisation is required). We are at the point week or so. The Church will be holding final

now where even sensible, rational people be-

Christmas services and most people will be

lieve in this nonsense. Of course, most of the

looking forward to a long weekend of material

time they believe in it until somebody explains

and (for those who care for it) spiritual gain.

the full facts.

Perhaps there is snow falling and children playing. Altogether, it’s a wonderful time of year and virtually everyone will be happy, or trying to make those less fortunate feel better.

on 20. Days, weeks and years emerged from to 144,000 days (roughly 394 years).

According to Mayan histories, the Gods made several attempts at a suitable world. The first three failed, while the fourth was deemed suitable and man was placed in the world. According to the Long Calendar, the previous world

So, what horrible fate does 21/12/2012 have in ended after 13 B’ak’tuns (about 5,125 years). store for us? Well, most likely to be death or

The zero point for the calendar for our present

destruction or possibly some kind of spiritual

“fourth world” was set as the end of the third

hippi-ness. Either way, most of the ideas stem

world and the beginning of the fourth. This zero

And yet, there is a disturbing number of people from the end of a certain calendar from Latin

date corresponds to the 11th of August 3114 BC.

who believe that all these preparations for

If we assume that the 4th world lasts as long as

Christmas won’t be necessary this year, because those celebrations won’t be happening.

No, I am not talking about a global Grinch conspiracy; I am referring to the now-infamous 2012 Phenomenon.

America.

The Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar was a date system widely used in Central America prior to the arrival of European explorers.

Originally developed by the Olmecs, it was

the third, it will “end” on December the 21st 2012 (Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0).

However. There is nothing in Mayan prophecy (or any other Mesoamerican prophecy) to

APRIL 2012 ISSUE

suggest that the end of the 13th B’ak’tun would

Page 5

contained a bastardised version of Mayan culth

“of great significance.” However, since many of

be a catastrophic event. It would be something

tural wisdom. The idea that the end of the 13

of a celebration for the Mayans of course, ra-

B’ak’tun would lead to a great transformation

dreaming of them while using psychedelic mush-

ther like the 2000 celebrations were. The Ma-

for mankind rather than apocalyptic destruc-

rooms, their reliability is highly questionable.

yans had a strong notion of great cycles, and it

tion. Since it was dreamt up by hippies, this of

is likely that they perceived this date as nothing course means a spiritual transformation, genermore than the start of a fresh set of dates, just ally expressed in wonderfully grandiose terms like 2000 was.

In fact, there are even some Mayan inscriptions which refer to dates well beyond 2012. For instance, the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque which has a section of text projecting forward

such as “global transformation of consciousness.” This was connected with various astrological beliefs, such as the dawning of the Age of Aquarius (even though no one is quite certain when this Age begins).

the originators of such theories confessed to

By today, the damn myth is everywhere. Some elements of it are too ridiculous for me to bring myself to elaborate on (Earth being hit by a previously unknown planet called Nibiru for instance). There is however a few major advantages to having such an absurd mysticism around for those of use who are scientifically minded. First, it allows us to feel really smug

several thousand years past the coronation of a Another common myth is the idea of a “galactic when destroying such claims in an argument.

Mayan ruler, specifically to a date correspondst

ing to 21 of October 4772 AD. The end of the Long Count calendar has been known about since the days of Christopher Co-

alignment” of some kind, even though astrono-

And most importantly for students, it can be a

mers have known for years that no alignment

source of great wealth; making bets that we

will occur on 21/12/2012. Theorists will often

survive the year is an excellent win-win scenar-

mention solar precession, where the Sun’s

io.

March equinox position slipping backwards

A final word: I mentioned earlier “big budget films” about the 2012 phenomenon. Most promidiscovery of “most distant lands.” The ideas years. Similarly, they speak of the Sun’s winter nent amongst these is the film 2012. If you have remained in the back of societies’ mind until solstice lies currently in Sagittarius, towards any scientific training or interest; don’t watch it. quite recently. Most specifically, the 70’s. the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. Apparently, It takes the laws of physics and batters them The 70’s culture led to the emergence of Ameri- this solstice position will pass through the plane mercilessly. It also takes plausibility and logistics and murders them and then urinates on can New Age mysticism, which at its core of the galaxy on 21/12/2012 and that this is their graves. If however you enjoy watching cool special effects of Los Angeles falling into the We were warned...No, we weren’t!

Pacific, by all means go ahead. lumbus, who sparked End Time fears after his

through the Zodiac by about 1 degree every 72

BY PHIL ‘STARMAN’ WALLACE

COSMOLOGICAL NEWS

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A COSMIC INHERITANCE PANPERMIAN ROOTS Panspermia is an ancient idea, according to which life arrives from space.

These roots date all the way back to the 5Th

“Gentlemen, I could point to that liquid (in

doctrine of spontaneous generation recover

Century BC when the Greek philosopher Anax- the flask of sterile culture medium on the table from the mortal blow of this simple experiogoras hypothesised about the “seed of life”

before him) and say to you, I have taken my

from which all organisms descend, though this drop of water from the immensity of creation, idea did not take true scientific form until the th

ment. Know, there is now no circumstance known in which it can be affirmed that micro-

and I have taken it full of the elements appro- scopic beings came into the world without

mid-19 century due to the work of Louis Pas-

priated to the development of inferior beings.

germs, without parents similar to themselves.

teur(1822-1895). His theory of biogenesis had

And I wait, I watch, I question it, begging it to

Those who affirm it have been duped by illu-

accumulated so much evidential support that

recommence for me the beautiful spectacle of sions, by ill-conducted experiments, spoilt by

other alternative theories of spontaneous

the first creation. But it is dumb, dumb since

errors that they either did not perceive or did

generation, like that of Charles Robert Darwin

these experiments were begun several years

not know how to avoid.”

(1809-1882), where effectively disproven.

ago; it is dumb because I have kept it from the

Pasteur’s response to proponents of Darwin’s

only thing man cannot produce, from the

spontaneous generation was, as told to his

germs which float in the air, from Life, for Life

students during a lecture in 1864:

is a germ and a germ is Life. Never will the

Pasteur had now left space for new ideas and thoughts on the question of how life could have first arisen, which is exactly what began to happen.

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A VEH ICLE FOR PANSPERMIA In 1865 the German Physician H.E. Richter was itself, making Darwin’s theory of spontaneous

more specific branch to the Panpermian hy-

among some of the first people to argue the

generation irrelevant to his own ideas. The

pothesis whereby the transfer or spreading of

case for Panspermia, saying that it may be

idea that biological material can be transport- this biological material is from one planet to

possible for meteors to pick up living cells

ed around the universe by meteors and other

another planet within the same solar system.

from their environments and carry them away, such objects is subdivided into two categories Although both these hypothesises rely on the where in time they may possibly be delivered

by which their destination is determined. Litho- survival of the biological material from a) the

to the surface of other worlds. Richter’s idea

panspermia is the transfer or spreading of

accommodated Darwin’s theory of evolution

this biological material from one solar system origin, b) space itself, and c) arrival at it des-

without having to explain the origin of ‘life’

to another. Whereas Ballistic Panspermia is a

impact ejection process from the planets tination.

LIFE FROM LIFE Lithopanspermia was later re visited by William

have experienced no greater violence than indi-

est degree that there are countless seed-

Thomson (Lord Kelvin) and Hermann Von Helm-

vidual pieces of rock experience in a landslip or

bearing meteoric stones moving about through

holtz, both of whom reinforced Pasteur’s views

in blasting by gunpowder. Should the time when

space. If at the present instant no life existed

and argued that life came from space. The best

this earth comes into collision with another

upon this earth, one such stone falling upon it

known opinion on this subject though was ex-

body, comparable in dimensions to itself, be

might, by what we blindly call natural causes,

pressed in 1871 by Lord Kelvin in his address to

when it is still clothed as at present with vege-

lead to its becoming covered with vegetation. I

the British Association at Edinburgh, where he

tation, many great and small fragments carrying am fully conscious of the many objections which

said: "When two great masses come into collision in space, it is certain that a large part of each is melted; but it seems also quite certain that in many cases a large quantity of debris must be shot forth in all directions, much of which may

seed and living plants and animals would un-

may be urged against this hypothesis. I will not

doubtedly be scattered through space. Hence,

tax your patience further by discussing any of

and because we all confidently believe that

them on the present occasion. All I maintain is

there are at present, and have been from time

that I believe them to be all answerable."

immemorial, many worlds of life besides our own, we must regard it as probable in the high-

SOLAR SAILS However, it was the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius, in 1908, who popularized the concept of life originating from space, driving it into the 20th century. His theory was different from previous hypothesises and suggested that radiation pressure from our Sun and other stars would effectively “blow” microbes from one place to another within space. He said that the radiation acts like tiny solar sails, giving momentum to these microbes, sailing them on the sea of space to other worlds. This variation on

Panspermia is given the name Direct Panspermia. Although Arrhenius gave a cautious note at the end of his famous book titled Worlds in the making: “There is little probability, though, of our even being able to demonstrate the correctness of this view by an examination of seed falling down upon our earth.”, his idea still promoted a variety of experimental work.

Such as that of Paul Becquerel, who’s worked showed that bacteria retained their germinating powers under extreme cold in a vacuum for as

long as two year (conditions which reflect space). Though, Becquerel soon discovered that these same strains where killed quickly by ultraviolet light, which it would need to survive out in space in order to harvest life elsewhere.

Therefore , this contributed experimental data which ultimately cast serious doubt over Arrhenius’s idea of radiation pressure leading to Panspermia faded from view, not to be revived for another four decades.

COSMOLOGICAL NEWS

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ALIEN PICNIC In the 1960’s Thomas Gold described of anoth-

which almost certainly have come from the

transferred between the two. Some re-

er way in which life might travel from world to

Moon and Mars, it has become logical to ask

searchers believe that there is already evi-

world, an idea that painted intelligent life stop-

the question of whether one planet can affect

dence to suggest that life came to Earth bal-

ping by for a picnic and unwittingly not clean-

another ballistically. Exchange of mater, in the

listically from Mars, as in 1996 a meteorite

ing up afterwards, thus leaving behind “bugs”

form of asteroids, between Mars and the Earth

known as ALH84001 (known to have come

which then in turn would adapt to their sur-

was very common during the first 800 million

from mars), contained microscopic structure

roundings. What effect these “bugs” may have

years of Solar System formation. If simple

which resembled that of nanobacteria. Howev-

on Earth is impossible to predict, but such

organisms arose during this time on either of

er, this is not for certain as many experts now

considerations are in the minds of scientists.

these planets then there would be a strong

believe that the structure may have been

With the discovery of meteorites on Earth,

case for the life to have been ballistically

formed, instead, abiotically from organic mol-

PREBIOTIC MATERIAL Researchers Fred Hoyle and Chadra Wick-

transported to Earth by comets and meteorites. dence to the view that simple life-forms may

ramasinghe have gone even further and specu- There is evidence to support this as prebiotic

have originated between the stars or been

lated, persistently since the 1970’s, that com-

material has been detected in interstellar

capable of surviving long interstellar journeys

plex organic substances and perhaps even

clouds comets, and meteorites. The extraordi-

falling from the sky as well as in addition being

primitive organism, may have evolved on the

nary durability of some extremophiles, bacteri- manufactured here on Earth.

surface of cosmic dust grains and then been

al spores, and even exposed DNA, lends cre-

PLANTING THE SEED In 2006 Thomas Dehel also proposed a new

time to be destroyed by ultraviolet light and the years to reach other star clusters and be filled

idea for the transportation of life through

conditions of space. The result of this proposal, with extremophiles for diverse environments

space, except his followed on from the con-

along with scientific back up that showed the

and cyanobacteria which is similar to early

cepts of Arrhenius and radiation pressure. He

time it would take for radiation pressure to

microorganisms. There is much debate though

said that plasmoid ejected from the magneto-

carry spores of life to another planet , has led

over whether deliberate directed Panspermia

sphere may move spores lifted from the Earths to the idea that microbial capsules could be atmosphere out across interstellar space but,

is a good idea, although perhaps it would se-

sent into space to germinate other planets with cure the future of life, it may also affect our

with such speed that it may reach other condi- life. It was postulated that these capsules

own search for extra terrestrial life.

tions right for life even before the spores have could take anywhere between 0.1- 1 millions

SUN RISE OR SUN SET The case for Panspermia is a strong one, with many branches that have gained measurable scientific respectability over the years. From its ever mounting evidence of interplanetary transfer and its detection of prebiotic material in the interstellar medium, it would seem only a

matter of time before this hypothesis becomes fact. No longer embedded in science fiction, but a reality of how life came to be what it is today.

Whether that be on the solar sail of another Sun or even as a result of an un-cleaned picnic.

Maybe in the end all will be “vehicles” for

Panspermia, who knows? Though until conclusive evidence is found to support one of them ,then unfortunately Panspermia will remain only a hypothesis , perhaps left to take the back bench to future ideas...

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BY CHLOE PARTRIDGE

COSMOLOGICAL NEWS

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SETI One of, if not the biggest question modern science asks is, does extra-terrestrial intelligent life exist? It may be the stuff of science fiction but the topic is hotly debated, creating controversy between cultures, religion, and the scientific world. So, is the search for extra-terrestrial life (SETI) a real science, providing answers to questions we need answering? Or is it a type of following, a religion, in which people are chasing a dream, which cannot possibly be found, at least in this generation?

Origins of SETI

interest, and is a widely successful project. It

Projects

involves using a programme which can be From the moment humanity stared up towards Since 1960 there have been a few major rethe stars, the question of are we alone has

search projects carried out by Universities,

been wondered. It is only in the last century

NASA and the SETI institute. These include,

that scientific research projects have really

Project BETA (1995), a Harvard University

begun. SETI is the name given to the research project which scanned billions of radio chanpeople and organisations undertake to search nels looking for any profitable data. Project for intelligent life. It is classed as an explora-

META (1985) is also a Harvard University ex-

tory science searching for any signature of

periment, which searches millions of channels

another technology being used by an alien

at specific frequencies. NASA’s project - the

civilisation. It uses massive radio telescopes

High Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS)

in an attempt to pick up radio signals. The

began in October 1992, using two elements; an

official organisation is the SETI institute, which all-sky survey and a targeted search. Its purwas founded in in November 1984. It is a non-

pose was to search for microwave signals

profit corporation which originally, in the be-

from extra-terrestrial intelligence. However

ginning was funded by the United States gov-

controversially, it was cancelled after the U.S

ernment. However now it relies on private

congress voted to discontinue its funding for

funding.

the NASA’s SETI program. Subsequently, the SETI institute intervened and continued the targeted search portion and was re-launched as Project Phoenix.

downloaded for free by anyone with an internet connection. This then downloads and analyses radio telescope data. To date however, there has been no confirmation of any detection of ETI. So is this search for other beings a futile one?

Opposition For many, it is their objective opinion that funding for SETI projects is a waste of time.

SETI is based on assumption. To many, it does seem likely that life exists elsewhere in the Universe. But it is another uncertainty whether this life has evolved to become intelligent.

Even then, how can we be sure that another civilization which could be millions of years old, use technology as simple as ours? Government funding is no longer available for SETI attempts and the financial climate that we now find ourselves in definitely doesn’t help argue the case. Science fiction seems to have influenced SETI majorly, maybe even scaring the public into what the implications of actually communicating with other civilisations could

SETI@ home

bring. The idea of alien invasion can seem all

grabbed public

too real to some. There are a number of polls

attention and

suggesting that a high percentage of

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APRIL 2012 ISSUE

Americans believe that UFO’s exist and that

would be curious, and would want to know

the issue of where our species wants to go in

alien abduction has and does occur. It could be more, there would be little panic or hysteria.

our own cultural evolution. Understanding our

argued that the media has conditioned this way Different societies will be affected differently

own will help us in the mutual understanding in

of thinking. It has led to many civilians into

because of the diversity in cultures, religions

the event of extra-terrestrial contact.

believing that active SETI projects are danger-

and morals within them. It has been shown

ous and could provoke hostile attacks or con-

through human history that an idea that is so

tact from alien worlds. However, they seem to

shocking or out of the ordinary takes time to

overlook the fact that if contact were to be

settle on people’s minds. Such as Copernicus’

made, it would be via some sort of signal, radio heliocentric idea which rejected the notion of or maybe microwave – if they use that technol- the Earth being at the centre of the Universe, ogy. Maybe the solution is to educate people

or Charles Darwin’s’ hypothesis on biological

about what SETI actually is and does.

evolution. It would take a gradual change in

Reactions What would the possible societal and cultural effects be if extra-terrestrial life actually exist-

world view for the discovery of ETI to be accepted, especially as a beneficial concept.

Science or religion?

ed? Would it provoke hope or fear amongst our SETI has some parallels to Religion. But if you society? If any of the SETI projects succeeded,

examine what a religion really is; the directed

it would most certainly be the biggest discov-

devotion to an omniscient being or beings and

ery in human history, but it could potentially

faith in the absence of material evidence, it

disrupt humanity’s way of life. There are many

seems unlikely for SETI to be classed in this

tools which can be used to study our reaction;

area. Yes, there is no solid proof that ETI exists,

psychology, sociology and anthropology to

and the search for it has given negative results

name a few. There have been a number of soci- thus far, but we do have material evidence that ological studies into the consequences of dis-

life exists in the Universe…us, human beings

covering life. The conclusion of these studies

here on Earth. Faith in the scientific method is

show that religions would be rocked, but most

what drives SETI followers. Many people follow

would probably openly embrace the idea that

the idea maybe because they want to believe

we’re not alone. This could be a popular idea

that we are not alone in the Universe. SETI

During the past 40 years, SETI has failed to enhance our knowledge of ETI. But I think to advocate the termination of any SETI experiment based on discouraging results would not be in our best interest. The technology we are using today may seem simple, but it is still in its infant stages. It will take time and analysis techniques to improve, so why give up the search now? It is only the beginning in the quest for such a monumental discovery. Humanity did not abandon and achieved space exploration, even after failed attempts. Furthermore, through these ‘failed’ SETI observations, our understanding of the Universe has expanded. From the detection of supernova remnants and the discovery of organic molecules in space, our knowledge has increased.

There are many things we still don’t know about our universe, but SETI is at least providing some answers, and so long as it does, it should continue. It may take hundreds of years or just a couple we do not know, to achieve likely success, but if we do not try at all are chances of success are zero. Whether you are of religious or scientific background, everyone is searching for the reason as to why we are here and what our place is in this Universe. Therefore any attempt to find out surely seems worth it?

through the majority of the public. Most people uses scientific methods to achieve its goal, therefore is a science. I believe that it’s very important, if these projects are to continue, to spend more time and funding on studying the cultural aspects it could bring.

This may seem a bit premature as we still don’t know if other intelligent life exists, however we do know that it is likely and it is important that we think of the cultural impacts well in advance of the discovery of it.

We need to begin by looking at humanity and

BY LOUISA CONNOLLY

COSMOLOGICAL NEWS

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The Night Sky in April Although the nights are now much lighter after the spring equinox and the clocks have gone forward, April has many great opportunities to observe as long as the April showers don’t get in the way. The winter constellations are disappearing and the spring sky, full of galaxies, gives a glorious vision of the great beyond.

Moon In April: On the early evening of the 22nd April a very thin crescent Moon will accompany Jupiter in the west. They will be within 2 degrees of each other, yet make a challenging photographic opportunity due to the light evening.

First quarter: 30th March 29th April Full: 6th April Last Quarter: 13th April New: 21st April

Planets in April: Mercury: Reaches greatest western elongation shading of features on its surface though high rings and any satellites or shadows cast by the on the 18th April and is a morning object rising magnification is needed. rings. before the Sun Uranus: Still in conjunction with the Sun and due to the lighter evenings and shorter nights is not well placed this month it is 2 degrees north of Mercury on the morning of the 22nd April

Venus: Visible in the southwest after dark and still a very bright object though it has passed its greatest eastern elongation. It is magnitude is a bright -4.4

Jupiter: Moving toward conjunction with the Sun in May, it is a magnitude -1.8 star in the west, which sets around 22:00 in the middle of the month. Its moons and belts are clearly visible through a telescope

Mars: Visible in the evening in the east as a red star shining at magnitude -0.4 It has passed opposition but is visible for most of the night nonetheless. A telescope should reveal the

Saturn: Is at opposition on the 15 th April and is Neptune: is a faint morning object in Aquarius visible all night It should have a magnitude of shining at magnitude 7.9 but is not well placed 0.7 and the rings are plainly visible through a in the bright morning sky. telescope. Look for the Cassini division in the

Constellation of the month: Corvus The constellation of Corvus, "the Crow" is one that is steeped in antiquity, but the many legends regarding this bird have been lost in the stream of time. One such legend records how this bird came to the aid of Hera, when she and her brother Zeus were fighting for supremacy over each other.

Zeus killed the bird, but it was reverently placed in the sky by a grateful but vanquished Hera in honour of its bravery.

APRIL 2012 ISSUE

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The sky in April: The sky as it would appear at 22:00 on the 1st

It has also been known as a Raven, and a bearer of bad news; Ovid’s Metamorphoses informing us that at one time the bird was silver coloured, but after bringing the great god Apollo news of his lovers infidelity, Apollo turned the bird black.

Edgar Allan Poe used this image of the raven and the foreboding that accompanies it in his epic gothic, brooding poem The Raven, describing the despondency experienced over the death of a loved one:

foreign invaders, giving us an entertaining colliding galaxies lying about 90 million light story and direct link back to Bran’s raven as years away. The fascinating aspect of these galaxies is that the collision has led to the creation the ancient Britons knew it. of long streamers of stars radiating out into Corvus is a rather dim constellation comprised space, which has given rise to the name the of 4 main stars that make up a trapezoid that "Antennae Galaxy". Corvus is a little low in the sky can be found above the back of Hydra. The star from the UK but does contain some great deep Delta Corvi is the brightest recognizable star in sky objects nonetheless. this constellation, and marks the upper right

hand corner of the trapezium. Delta Corvi is a wonderful coloured double, conspicuous in a “Bird or fiend I shrieked upstarting, Get thee back small telescope. The primary is a brilliant white into the tempest of the nights plutonian shore, in colour whilst the 8th magnitude companion Leave no black plume as a token of the lie that is orange.

NGC 4361

thou has spoken, Leave my loneliness unbroken, One of the most famous deep sky objects in the take thy beak from out my heart and quit the bust heavens lies right on the northern border of above my door, quothe the Raven “Nevermore” Corvus. This is NGC 4594, the "Sombrero" galHistorical associations with this constellation are rife across the Celtic world. None can be as powerfully epitomized as the legend of Bran the Giant from the Welsh folk tales the Mabinogion.

Bran is the brother of Branwen, daughter of the sea god Llyr. Branwen is married off to the king of Ireland, but is mistreated, leading to war between the British and Irish. The Irish king Maddolwch is defeated but a poisoned arrow mortally wounds Bran. He asks his followers to cut off his head and bury it in London, with his face to the south to stop the land being invaded. In Celtic afterlife beliefs, souls become birds; Bran’s soul becomes a raven and his burial place, Bran’s tumulus, is now the site of the Tower of London. Tradition states if the ravens desert the Tower, the land will fall to

axy, as it looks like the renowned Mexican headgear in a small telescope. The object is otherwise known as Messier 104. A good pair of binoculars should pick up this fuzz of light against the background stars, but the view through a modest telescope is amazing, the whole galaxy is edge - on and is bisected by a dark dust lane that extends into the darkness of the night on its southern side. NGC 4594 is part of the Virgo cluster but is removed from the central area by many degrees. Its distance is estimated to be in the region of 50 million light years away.

Within the trapezoid of Corvus there lies a large planetary nebulae, which is of 10th magnitude and is a good target for modest equipment. The nebula is known as NGC 4361. The only other object worth hunting for is NGC 4038/39, a pair of

BY MARTIN GRIFFITHS

COSMOLOGICAL NEWS

T

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he Law of space is a fairly obscure orbit the equator, there are limited ’slots’ which they couldn’t have. topic. Mostly, it’s because space is countries can fill. Without going into too much interesting, and law is generally not. In property theory, it is hard to think of slots as the same way as you don't think about being owned, in the same way that you don’t

the contract formed when you buy a pint, you technically own a parking space you have a also don’t usually think about the law that goes permit for it. In light of this, the 1976 Bogota into launching a satellite into geo-stationary Declaration was an attempt by eight countries orbit.

However, space law is not only very important,

on the equator to claim sovereignty over parts of the GSO. Unsurprisingly, it failed.

it’s also older than you might think. In 1967, the Article II of the Outer Space Treaty expressly UK, US and Soviet Union signed what was to provides that “outer space, including the Moon become the first piece of space legislation: the and other celestial bodies, is not subject to

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies—or Outer Space Treaty. This Treaty

national appropriation by claim of sovereignty.”

So it is, in fact, technically impossible to own any part of space. There are two other interesting things to note about Article II. First of all, it

The second interesting point is that the Article only mentions national claims to sovereignty.

This theoretically leaves the door open to private ownership—something which MoonEs-

tates.com has exploited to full effect. Although the legal position is unclear, I wouldn’t expect the law to protect your acre of moon land too carefully…

Although ownership of space may seem rather pointless at the moment (bar the novelty factor, if it can be called that), the question remains of what might happen when space travel becomes the norm. Presumably Richard Branson won’t be able to open his inevitable moon hotel, but I’ll discuss this in more detail below.

forms the basis of all space law since, and I expressly prohibits ownership of the moon or wish to highlight some of its more interesting any other ‘celestial body.’ Like the Antarctic, Space Regulation propositions.

Who Owns Space?

space is considered to be ’the common heritage The ban on property rights seems a pragmatic of man.’ In other words, even if the USA had compromise to what isn’t really that much of an wanted to claim ownership of the Moon in 1969, issue. The regulation of space, however, is a

Property rights in space are a curious thing. In

fantastic bit of Cold War paranoia mixed with

some ways they exist, in others they are barred

wild Space Race overambition.

from existing.

Article IV of the Outer Space Treaty firstly exThe fact that space is primarily a vast nothing-

pressly prohibits the placement of nuclear

ness presents a few problems. How do we know

weapons or weapons of mass destruction in

what part of space we own?

orbit. A later Treaty outlawed conventional wea-

One of the few times we can answer this ques-

ponry. Given that the military potential of space

tion is also the only time formal property rights

was probably the spur of the Space Race to

exist in space: where that space is directly

begin with, this makes a lot of sense.

above a particular country, i.e. a geo-stationary orbiting position. Since GSO satellites must

Yuri Gagarin (right) at the signing of the 1967 Treaty at the UN.

The second provision is rather more prospective, in that it prohibits the establishment of

APRIL 2012 ISSUE

Page 15

Not pictured: military fortifications or massive lasers

military bases or fortifications in space, or on theme of cooperation goes a long way towards is there already. the Moon or other celestial bodies. Once again, explaining the lack of property rights as well. it refers explicitly to states only. So presuma- And while it’s all nice and heart-warming, I bly there is nothing to (legally) prevent a su- predict some problems arising in the future. pervillain setting up camp on the moon with a

The Future of Space Law

massive laser.

The fact that military operations are barred in space, though in part not strictly necessary, sends out an important message about the nature of space exploration as a cooperative endeavour, that space should be considered a resource for all mankind to share, not a tool of mutual destruction.

Much of the debate surrounding space exploration has been concerned with the future of

So let’s take a positive outlook on the future of Space owner ship: Japan will build their space elevator, Branson will get his lunar hotel and a proper legal framework of property rights and concessions for the space industry may be established.

mankind as a whole. Once we run out of re- Talk of earth colonialism may be premature, sources on Earth, we must then turn our gaze let alone the concept of a Solar Federation (or skywards. The problem is that the current a Galactic Empire, perhaps…), but with the legal position would make it impossible to development of space law into a coherent body exploit the resources available on the Moon, of legislation to stimulate growth and shared Mars and beyond. The lack of property rights scientific progress , there’s no reason to think

This leads me onto the second strand of space and conservation-geared laws would have to why we can’t expand beyond our tiny blue regulation, that of environmental protection change first. and scientific transparency. The Treaty imposes an obligation on all states to accept liability for any damage caused due to their space activity, and to preserve the cleanliness of space and of celestial bodies. It also forces nations to disclose “to the greatest extent feasible” any scientific discovery made, and to provide assistance to any astronaut or other person in space, regardless of nationality. This

planet.

Perhaps a more pertinent issue is how we will ever get to the stage where harnessing celestial resources is even within our technological grasp. With public space programmes being cut, perhaps its time the UN liberalised the space industry. Let Google, Branson et al do the hard work for us. The private space industry is growing—the commercial infrastructure

BY ALEXANDER HUNT

COSMOLOGICAL NEWS

Page 16

Hints and tips for improving your images.

In this installment we will look at some of the final steps in creating the perfect astronomical images.

For astronomical images I find between 0.5 and 4 pixels works best.

Clicking Okay will have made your image go After choosing your colour combinations you grey with vague outlines of the previous picmay find that space isn’t as black as you ture. This is supposed to happen. Make sure thought. You can quickly adjust this by Select- the High pass layer is selected and then ing the Levels option and clicking the inner change the Blending mode (Layers menu) from most brush (below options in the image below). Normal to Overlay and choose how strongly Then click the part of your image that you want you want to have your image sharpened. Once to be black, probably the space bit This will this is decided, Flatten the layers. then set every pixel of a similar colour and darker to black.

This process might have resulted in random pixels being sharpened and the appearance of This may make the main part of your image noise in your image. This can be fixed by an darker. If so, then use the Magic select tool to highlight the desired piece and use the History tool to turn just that part of the image back to how it was before hand.

Once you have found the right Levels for your image, we then move on to the High Pass function. For Galaxies, Planetary Nebulae and solar imaging this is a must. This filter sharpens the image, bringing dust lanes, filaments to the foreground of the image. Right Click the image in the layers menu and hit Duplicate. Select the top image and then find Filter on the toolbar.

Next, click Other, near the bottom and then High Pass. Depending on how sharp you require your image depends on the radius size.

external plugin called Neat Image, that, once downloaded for free, will appear in your Filter menu. This will smooth the random pixels while leaving the majority of the image sharp.

This is the final in this series of articles and after following all these hints and tips you should now be producing images like the professionals. If you have any questions, please email them in and I will try and answer them as best as possible.

Good luck and have fun!

NGC

Page 17

APRIL 2012 ISSUE

Continuing on from last months look at planetary nebulae, I thought I would share my two favorite, one for its beauty, the other for just being extremely cool for scientific research.

The Dumbbell Nebula, M27, is the first planetary nebula to be discovered. Charles Messier added this to his catalog in 1764, classifying these distinct objects as planetary nebulae, due to the observational similarities they shared with Uranus and Neptune through the small telescopes of the time. It is located in the constellation of Vulpecula, some 1400 light years from the Earth and is around 10,000 years old. Similarly to the Helix Nebula we saw last month, M27 also contains Cometary Knots, though these are far less obvious and appear to be only at a stage we see in the out skirts of the Helix.

This image uses the H-Alpha filter, coloured orange, where the OIII and Red filters are both designated blue colouring.

Each filter exposure length is 11 minutes long.

Dumbbell Nebula

Saturn Nebula, NGC 7009, located in the constellation of Aquarius, was discovered by William Herschel in 1782. It gets its name from the very close superficial resemblance to the planet of which it shares its name. Instead of icy rings however, the halo we see here are jets, expelled from the poles of the dying star. These jets are travelling at over 2000km per second making them some of the fastest moving objects in the universe, and thus making NGC 7009, one of the most dynamically and dramatically changing objects in deep space. The rapid changes in this nebula, in the jets and within the interior fillaments, make it an ideal subject to study the evolution and death of a star.

Taken with simple RGB and stacked using only the processes I have been through in the last few issues, this took no more than 10 minutes to do.

BY SAM WHITAKER

NGC 7009

“If I could explain it to the average person, I wouldn't have been worth the Nobel Prize “ - Richard.

P. Feynman

BSc (Hons) Observational Astronomy