An NTU Astronomical Society Publication
Foreword Hello again readers. Welcome to another exciting year of astronomy ahead! This year, we will be taking a look at one of the strangest and most intriguing topics of all – The End of the World. Since we are the Astronomical Society, not the Occult Society, we will be doing an in-depth review of the end of the usual phenomena in the universe, as we know it. The death of our Sun-what happens after a star dies? What is a black hole? What will happen to our universe after a really long time? And for the equipment techies out there – What is a telescope and how does it work? Such questions boggle the mind yes? Our crack team of dedicated writers have gone all out to present to you the answer to these issues in a readable and easy-to-understand format, so you too can have a go at the most intriguing topics in astronomy! Astronomy to me has always been a source of wonder and awe for a long time. My parents bought me a picture book of the nine planets when I was four (yes it was still nine of them back then!) and I was hooked on ever since. What made me so passionate about astronomy is that I will never run out of things to explore, to learn and to discover. Astronomy has also brought together a band of friends and people who too share a similar passion to mine and want to keep learning and discovering together as we move on. I hope these artfully crafted article can broaden your views on the universe and night sky, and ignites a passion for Astronomy like how that book of nine planets did to me almost two decades ago. Clear skies ahead! Zong Yang President NTU Astronomical Society
Contents Special Feature: End of the World – The Four Major Theories…………………………………………..2 From Cradle to Grave: The Life Cycle of a Star.…………………………………………………………………6 Black Hole – Galactic Time Machine……………………………………………………………………………….10 Telescopes…….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...13 AY14/15 At a Glance: NTUAS Events.…..………………………………………………………………………...16 Astronicle 2015
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Special Feature:
End of the World – The Four Major Theories By Thai My Linh Nearly all of us have heard about the Big Bang, the widely-accepted theory that explains how the universe came to be. But how about theories on how it could end? Here at NTU Astronomical Society, we astrophiles understand the thrill that comes with speculating about the future – be it your final grade or the fate of human civilisation billion years to come – so we proudly present to you the four purported ways in which the universe could end.
exactly equal to the critical density. This socalled “critical universe” would continue expanding forever at a slower and slower rate, theoretically taking an infinite amount of time to come to a stop, but never collapsing. An open universe, with Ω < 1, implies a density less than the critical density, so the universe would continue expanding, either at a constant rate (“coasting universe”) or at an increasing rate (see Big Freeze).
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few notes before we begin, astrophysicists believe that the ultimate fate of the universe depends on three things: 1) Its shape 2) Its density and 3) How much Dark Energy it is truly made up of. The universe is believed to exist in a “closed” (i.e. positively curved, spherical), “flat” (self-explanatory) or “open” system (i.e. negatively curved, similar to the surface of a saddle), with the boundary density value between open model and closed model being termed critical density. To date, the critical density is estimated to be approximately 5 atoms (of monoatomic hydrogen) per m3, while the average density of ordinary matter in the universe is around 0.2 atoms per m3. If the ratio Ω between the universe’s actual density and the critical density is more than 1, then the ‘verse is closed. This Ω > 1 implies a density greater than the critical density, so expansion would halt and the universe would gravitationally collapse on itself (see Big Crunch). Meanwhile, Ω = 1 implies a flat universe, with a density 2
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Here’s a snazzy diagram on that explanation, for all of you visual people. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project data implies that the universe is flat with only a 0.4% margin of error, its expansion accelerating (!). All observational evidence for this accelerated expansion points towards the existence of Dark Energy, which has negative pressure and overrides the effect of gravity. If Dark Energy strengthens over time, Big Rip will ensue. If it stays constant then Big Freeze; and if it experiences a reverse in the expansion effect, Big Crunch. And in case you haven’t noticed, there’s an obvious naming tradition here (thanks, Big Bang).
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication 1: The Big Freeze Let’s start with this popular apocalyptic scenario, which also relies on deciphering the true nature of Dark Energy. Also known as “Heat Death” or “Big Chill”, this theory says that the universe will continue to expand, with heat dispersed throughout space as clusters, galaxies, stars and planets are pulled apart. It will continue to get colder and colder, till its temperature reaches absolute zero (or a point at which the universe can no longer be exploited to perform work). If the universe’s expansion continues, the galaxies will eventually lose access to raw material needed for star formation, and the lights inevitably go out for good.………………………………...………………...
This is the point at which the universe would reach a maximum state of entropy. Any stars that remain will continue to slowly burn away, until the last is extinguished. Instead of fiery cradles as it is now, galaxies will become coffins filled with remnants of dead stars. Many astronomers and physicists alike believe this may be one of the most probable scenarios thought up currently, as time taken for the universe in this case to reach its current size (see annotation on the neat diagram below) also corresponds to the actual age of the universe itself, which to the best of our knowledge is around 14 billion years.…...………………………………………..
From L-R: recollapsing universe i.e. Big Crunch scenario (Ω > 1), critical universe (Ω = 1), coasting universe (Ω < 1) and accelerating universe i.e. Big Freeze scenario (Ω < 1).
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2: The Big Rip This apocalyptic theory that works in the “flat”/”open” cosmic geometry assumes that the expansion of the universe will continue indefinitely, until the galaxies, stars, planets and matter (potentially even the subatomic building blocks that comprise all matter) can no longer hold themselves together, so they rip apart. Everything in the universe will be torn apart, broken free from the bonds of nature and physics (that’s the least horrifying way we can put it into words).
3: The Big Crunch In this model, after possibly trillions of years, if the average density of the universe is enough to stop the expansion, the universe will begin to collapse on itself. Eventually, all of the matter and particles in existence will be pulled together into a super dense state. The Crunch is due to either a reversal of Dark Energy’s current negative pressure effect, or as the result of gravity collecting the entirety of spacetime into a single point. Unlike the first two scenarios, this model relies on the geometry of the universe being “closed”, which we now know is possibly not the case. Furthermore, the fact that the Universe is expanding at an increasing rate also challenges this theory. However, some scientists have theorized that the universe we see is the result of a cyclic repetition of the Big Bang, where the first cosmological event came about after the collapse of a previous universe, in something called Conformal Cyclic Cosmology. … …
Talk about going out with a bang. If this theory won out over all of the other apocalyptic scenarios put forth in this piece, the event would occur in some odd 22 billion years, when our Sun has already ballooned into a red-giant, potentially incinerating Earth in the process. If it did manage to survive intact, the planet would explode about 30 minutes before the grand finale.
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In other words, Big Crunch(es) might have already happened before.
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication
This proposition is similar to the “Big Bounce” theory, in which the universe is really in a continuous cycle of expanding out and then collapsing onto itself. Effectively, we could be one of many iterations of various other universes that once existed. And perhaps even more eerie to think about, maybe each time the universe resets, it plays out exactly the same way. The cosmos may be like the mythical phoenix: in death, it is reborn. 4. The Big Slurp This is one of the newer theories (theorized in 2012) that came as a result of the evidence of the Higgs Boson, aka “The God Particle,” a.k.a. the particle that gives other particles mass. In this model, if the Higgs boson particle weighs in at a certain mass, it could indicate that the vacuum of our universe may be inherently unstable. If this were the case, it is possible for the universe to suddenly end its current stint in the prolonged metastable state and return to ground state (read: be completely annihilated). And what might bring about this catastrophe? A possible scenario involves a quantum bubble from another universe, which somehow makes its way into ours and disrupts our own quantum state. As a result, the bubble will expand at the speed of light and pull all particles together. Weird? Yes. Plausible? Sure. This scenario is interesting because theoretically speaking, it could happen at any time, anywhere. It could happen as you are reading this or it could happen in billions of years. Unlike the other three scenarios, this does not require much time to bring an end to the universe.
An outsider’s view of a false vacuum bubble that formed and detached from a true vacuum (Credit: Kamran Samimi). Some knowledge of quantum field theory would be needed to fully appreciate this scenario, for now let us be contented with vacuum and bubbles imageries. A Closing Note… Admittedly none of the above scenarios sounds very fun. But should you feel overwhelmed by the apparently gloomy prospect of human civilisation, keep in mind that we are talking billions of years here; and humanity are very unlikely to experience the apocalypse soon. And meanwhile, as we spent our lives coasting the still expanding universe, remember to take greater appreciation for our cosmic origin and the beauty of our humble existence in the universe. We are star stuff, after all.
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From Cradle to Grave: The Life Cycle of a Star By Chin Zong Yang Welcome aboard! This short article will be providing you with a brief understanding of a star’s life cycle. To make the topic as interesting as possible, much of the math and calculations are gone, in which a much simpler process of imagining is required and many diagrams and pictures will be included for your reading pleasure.
significantly massive object, or in most extreme scenarios, shockwave from a nearby supernova explosion. Whenever there is a chunk of this cloud that has significant mass and density, gravity will take over and the cloud begins to contract and orbit around a dense centre. Like an ice skater withdrawing her arms close to her body and spinning faster afterwards, our cloud further condenses into a flat disk as the gas and dust spin around faster and faster, its centre becoming hotter and denser in the process. And as creative a name the astronomers could come up with, this is called a protostar.
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tars, like us humans, have lives and deaths too. At any moment, just as new earthlings enter this world, new stars are born as well. And these stellar orbs will die too, after a lifetime spent playing chemistry: converting hydrogen into helium and beyond. A Very Dusty and Gassy Nursery – Humble Beginnings All the stars in the universe, be it bloated supergiants or tiny red dwarfs, are first created from a gigantic and really, really cold mass of dust and gas floating around in space. This has a fancy Latin name: Nebula, or cloud. This gargantuan floating cloud consist of about 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, and less than 2% of random elements from lithium all the way up to uranium with differing concentrations. Okay let’s cut the specifics and move on! For a star to form, there must be some movement and density disparity in the nebula, which might be due to a passing star, a strong gravitational field from a 6
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A typical emission nebula. These clouds of gas and dust provides raw materials for star-building. When temperature at the cloud’s centre is high enough for nuclear fusion to occur (yes that fancy process in which 4 hydrogen nuclei form a helium nucleus and gives out energy), and when pressure of the gases acting inwards balances out the thermal expansion acting outwards, a star is born. This process can take a few million years, and of course way exceeding our 70-year average human lifespan.
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication Stellar Careers: Blazing blues & sleepy reds Look up at the sky. Of the very few stars you can see dotting Singapore’s nighttime view, do you see that some of them have different colours? It’s not just white, isn’t it? There are red stars, orange stars, yellow stars and blue stars too. Why is that so? All stars go through a similar process after its birth, called the “Main Sequence”. This is a period of time when the star is most stable and spends most of their lives in. Our wonderful, heat-stroke-inducing Sun is also currently in the main sequence and will continue to do so for 5 billion years more. Yes, 5 billion! 9 zeros behind the 5! Our Sun is a yellow dwarf and is considered an average star. When considering stars, the main factor that dictates star type is its mass. A high-mass star of 10 times our Sun’s mass would be called a blue giant and would be very bright. At the other end of the spectrum, a low-mass star about half our Sun’s mass would be called a red dwarf: dim, red and unspectacular. This had prompted our astronomer friends to classify the stars we observe, and what a confusing way of classifying it is! Forget about alphabetical order, for O is the bluest and brightest main sequence star, while M is the reddest and dimmest main sequence star. This also means that O is the most massive as well. For your information, our Sun is a G2 star. As stated earlier, all stars have to die after a long stellar career (pun very much intended). First off, we will see what happen when a common star like our yellow dwarf, the Sun, nears its end.
A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. A good way to remember the classes of stars is the mnemonic “Oh Be A Fine Guy/Girl, Kiss Me!” Death of our Sun: Puff, Puff and Away! A star starts to die when the core of the star runs out of hydrogen as fuel. For our sun, this only occurs 10 billion years after it is born. Smaller stars like our Sun “burn” fuel economically. Think of the Sun as a regular 4-seat European car: economical and relatively decent looking (car lovers pick away!). Mass plays a part here as well: a low mass star has a much longer lifespan than a high mass star. For example, the Mtype red dwarfs are like the ultra-fuelefficient Japanese cars (e.g. Toyota Corolla) which are common, with lifespans of 100 billion years and up, while high mass O-type blue giants are like the supercars: flashy, fast and guzzle fuel at an astronomical rate (e.g. Ferrari, Lamborghini), with a lifespan of 100 million years, and also much rarer and harder to find.
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Different star classes in Main Sequence and their sizes and colours.
dwarf â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a white-hot remnant of the core of the star jam-packed with carbon (basically an earth-sized diamond). The outer layers will form what we call a planetary nebula. And it has nothing to do with any planet or the star-yielding nebula we discussed earlier. The white dwarf then slowly cools and fades away as a black dwarf over billions of years, never to be seen again.
Back to our European 4-seater: when hydrogen runs out, the star contracts due to the lack of heat in its core. This is due to the by-product of hydrogen fusion, helium, requires a higher temperature to begin nuclear fusion. The contraction of the star, in consequence, results in temperature rising at the core due to pressure; and upon reaching a certain temperature the core provides a suitable environment to begin helium fusion. Hence, the star is back alive again, this time, burning helium as the fuel and yielding carbon in the process. As a result, the star balloons many times its original size and turns red and cool on the outer layers. This is called a Red Giant. Our Sun in this stage would be so large that it can swallow up Mercury, Venus, and even the Earth! This stage, however, is short-lived. Within a few million years, the core will run out of helium to fuse and now the star has to fuse carbon into heavier elements. Like the stage that faces hydrogen shortage, the star contracts but this time, no matter how much it contracts, there is just simply not enough heat to allow carbon to fuse and release energy. As the star contracts, the outer layers of the star become so tenuous that it gets puffed out. This slowly results in the star puffing out all its outer layers, leaving behind a white 8
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The Cateye Nebula, a typical Planetary Nebula that forms after a sun-like star dies. Death of a Big, Blue Supergiant: Out with a BANG!!! Similar to the low-mass star, the giants several times more massive than our Sun will also go through the same process in which the core runs out of hydrogen at the end of its 100 million year life (which is really short in astronomical standards!). Consequently, it will puff out to become a red supergiant, its size putting our Sun to shame. In fact, placing a red supergiant at the center of our solar system and it will devour everything up to Jupiterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s orbit, and swallow even that almighty planet up as well!
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication
If the core of the star is much more than 3 times the mass of the Sun, it will produce a black hole, an object so dense that even light cannot escape its gravitational pull.
Your typical red supergiant star, which can swell up to an impressive size! Only this time, a red supergiant can fuse carbon and does not stop fusing elements together until it reaches iron. Iron nuclei have the highest binding energy per nucleon, hence any fusion beyond iron will consume energy instead of releasing it. Therefore, once a supergiant runs out of material to fuse and gets stuck with an iron core, the star collapses and crushes its core until all stellar matter deep in the core has reached the density of an atomic nucleus. This is the point where the star cannot compress any further and the material surrounding the core bounces outwards, causing a massive explosion of stellar material called a Supernova. What left behind at ground zero after a supernova depends on the starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core mass. A stellar core less than 3 times the Sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mass will become a neutron star, which is compressed to the size of a city (<10km). These strange objects are so dense that its density can compare to that of a Boeing 747 compressed to the size of a grain of sand. Just to note as well, a rapidly spinning neutron star with its radiation directed at us is called a pulsar!
Surrounding the supernova, shockwave of gas ripples outwards, forming a supernova remnant. Materials expelled consist of quite a bit of the stuff generated at the core of the dying star, which includes heavy metals like iron, mercury all the way up to uranium. Over time, such materials spread over nebulae that form new stars, and the cycle repeats all over again.
The Crab Nebula, or Messier 1, is a famous supernova remnant with a pulsar within. Wait, we are back to where we started again! Yes, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a cycle, only this time the newer stars have a small amount of rare elements in them; the same can be said for planets formed around these new stars as well. The iron in our blood, the calcium in our bones and all those aluminum and other metals we encounter in our everyday life (constructed into ERP gantries, how sad!) are all made from the cores of massive stars. Cynics will comment we are made of stellar waste. Romantics like me will prefer to say we are made of stardust, literally! Astronicle 2015
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Black Hole – Galactic Time Machine By Caleb Soh Drawing pictures of the sun is as common a childhood experience as colouring it yellow and making it large and round like a sunny-sided egg yolk. Google images has lots of these, some of which stand out because the suns are blue or brown or even black. Scientists know the blues and browns are real like the yellows, but what about the blacks? The story of black suns is far stranger with many mysteries, some of which still shrouded in secrecy. Strong secrecy. The kind you would willingly read 10 full paragraphs to uncover. Pause for a moment and imagine a black star. 6 grandfathers or 300 years ago this is exactly what Cambridge man John Michell did. He imagined a sun so massive it could pull light into itself and prevent outsiders from seeing it. 12 years later and Pierre Laplace of the French mathematical elite was captivated by this same dream. A titan intent on hiding its power and powerful enough to bend the laws of physics to do so. Both pondered its possibility and decided to publish papers about it. Michell wanted to include a picture and Laplace a mathematical outline. Unfortunately, an ongoing political battle for Royal Society presidency was ongoing during the release of Michell’s paper; and the Laplace publication occurred at the turn of the French revolution. Their world is not yet ready enough to seriously question a universe of black-coloured stars. Childhood drawings remain only that and nothing more. 10
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The celebrated German astronomer and physicist Karl Schwarzschild.
History ages 134 years, so imagine it’s 1916 with Einstein, electricity and World War I. Fighting the Russian Front is German Artillery Officer Karl Schwarzschild. Schwarzschild had contracted a rare disease which would later claim his life, but before his death the officer smuggled three papers out: one of which tells his world black stars are present in Einstein’s field equations. Science realizes that these black titans, instead of consuming vast real estate as previously expected, have hidden themselves crushed into point-like objects smaller than electrons, yet retain the power of an invisible and irresistible hand that traps all surrounding signals and materials for kilometres around forever inside! Fast forward to when Physics wins World War II. With more free time, Hydrogen Bomb scientist John Wheeler had christened these titans ‘black holes’. He speculated for a while on their power, then wrote a textbook and left harder questions concerning its existence, quantity and purpose (if any) to future generations.
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication
object known to man is a black hole, or more precisely the swirling accretion disk of matter being sucked into the hypermassive black hole 3 billion light years away called C3273. Mathematical models of what may well be #1 of the 7 wonders of the universe show in-spiralling material undergoing stupendous friction and super-heating at billions of Celsius. A furnace hot enough to outshine all 300 billion stars in our galaxy, such is the tremendous titanic gravitational power of Michell’s black stars. Eckehard W. Mielke together with John Wheeler (right) in Kiel, Germany in 1985
It is now 1990, one year before the end of Cold War and very close to your birth. Mankind had made up its mind to place a telescope in space to orbit Earth and study the stars. Post-launch problems had been detected, so astronauts were sent to repair the Hubble lens. After the image cleared, astronomers discovered black holes hiding in the centres of every galaxy! Speculation ensued to the present day and attempts were made to formalize exactly how black holes determine the shape of surrounding star systems, and whether anything other than a black hole could do the job. When looking at the night sky, it may startle you to consider that the brightest
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Perhaps more interesting still is what happens upon approaching the edge of Schwarzschild’s Radius for this hypermassive black hole. At that ‘event horizon’, Einstein tells that time mysteriously slows down relative to the rest of the universe. It slows down so much that time virtually stops for a traveller here compared to the outside universe. This traveller would witness passing eons as he himself ages mere seconds (assuming he had the equipment to process incoming information so swiftly). Like H.G. Wells’ time traveller, he would venture into the otherwise inaccessibly far-flung future. However, getting to this point is far from easy, since 3C273 is more than 3 billion light years away. (The furthest human spacecraft, Voyager 1, is little more than 2 millionths of a light year away at time of writing).
This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours.
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— U.S. president Jimmy Carter describing Voyager Astronicle 2015
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There are closer black holes, such as Sagittarius A* at the centre of our galaxy 26,000 light years away. Unfortunately, closer black holes happen to be smaller, and these smaller black holes have more violent approach sequences, in which the difference in gravitational pull between the legs and head for an astronaut at their event horizon is so great that no human of present form can survive along them. But getting to 3C273 is merely a problem of engineering. Once there, there would be the far more deadly problems of science. This astronaut of our imagination, teetering at the edge of forever, would see a future but never be able to inform anyone of or change it. The event horizon is the ultimate non-disclosure line, necessary for any who desire to discern secrets concerning the fundamental makeup and fate of this universe.
So the rest of the story, whatever happens to Mr. Humanity as he passes the event horizon, remains unknown. There is no theory presently available that predicts what happens at the very centre of a black hole, with the best candidates Relativity and Quantum Mechanics contradicting each other here: relativity predicts a smooth continuous increase in gravitational force until the astronautâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very atoms are ripped apart, while quantum mechanics foretelling strange, random fluctuations in spacetime. They cannot both simultaneously be correct. Unfortunately, this part of the story lies outside the realm of present science and awaits a different day for discovery. Does that day already exist on the edge of an event horizon?* *This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t actually possible, see Young and Freedman.
Telescopes By Koh Rong Ting Telescope were first used and made during the 17th Century. One of the oldest types of telescopes that was used by the famous Galileo Galilei back in the 17th Century was the refracting telescope. In the modern world, there are now many types of telescopes, which includes optical telescopes, radio telescopes, infra-red telescopes to name a few. This article would be focusing on the optical telescopes, which is the most common, and dated since the 17th Century. We have the refractor telescope, reflecting telescope and the catadioptric telescope. 12
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In telescopes, there are two main things to take note of regarding their specification, namely Aperture and Focal Length. The aperture is the total length of the primary mirror. The larger the value, the bigger the mirror. A bigger mirror will allow the telescope to collect more light, and thus, create a higher resolution. Did you know that some of the largest research telescopes has mirrors that are 8 METRES in diameter? For focal length, the longer the focal length, the higher the magnification of the object. The magnification is determined by the focal length of the telescope divided by
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication
the focal length of the eyepiece. For example, if the telescope has a focal length of 1000mm and the eyepiece is 25mm, it would provide a magnification of 40x. However, it must be noted that the highest possible magnification is controlled strictly by the aperture. A small telescope with a very high magnification will suffer from low quality images. First up, the refractor telescope. This telescope uses only lenses to collect light and enlarge the object. Light enters from the front of the telescope and down to the eyepiece attached and into the human eye. This form of telescope is the oldest known telescope to be developed and used.
Secondly, we have the reflector telescope, which uses only curved mirrors to reflect light to form the image. Reflectors commonly includes the Newtonian and Dobsonian telescopes. The principle of reflector is the light will be collected on the primary mirror, which is then reflected onto the secondary mirror and into the human eye.
Finally, we have the catadioptric telescopes, with makes use of both lenses and mirrors. Examples of catadioptic telescopes are Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes. These telescopes are known for their very long focal range due to that both the mirrors are curved and smaller sized as compared to the other types of optical telescopes.
There are many telescope makers in the world right now. Some of these huge Astronicle 2015
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companies includes Celestron and Orion and Meade. Telescopes can be easily obtained from any of the local astronomical shop in your country. The entry level can cost as little as a hundred. The higher ends can cost as much as tens to hundreds of thousands, depending on the needs of the individual. Telescopes are usually mounted onto telescope mounts. There are many different types of telescope mounts in the market. The two most common types are the altazimuth and equatorial mounts. Altazimuth mounts (left figure below) are
simple mounts that rotates in vertical and horizontal axis. Equatorial mounts (right figure below) are specialized mounts that follows the rotation of the sky. This allows an object in the night sky to be tracked just by turning one axis. There are also automated mounts called GoTo mounts that are able to locate objects in the sky with a push of the controller and are able to track the sky objects and keep them centered on the eyepiece.
AY14/15 At a Glance: NTUAS Events By Ummu Sumaiyah Eliase
AY 14/15 was filled with new beginnings for NTUAS. Let’s journey together to see what made AY 14/15 memorable. If you’ve missed any of the events mentioned below, unfurrow your brow and wipe away your tears – you are most welcome to join us next time! CCA Week and Welcome Tea (August 2014) The CCA week and welcome tea are events held annually at the beginning of the first semester in August. The purpose of these two events are to inform freshmen and new members about NTUAS and our activities. Members of the previous main committee braved the wet weather to hand out flyers during booth hours. Participants for the welcome tea, besides learning a lot about NTUAS, were treated to a delicious buffet and an observation session. 14
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An NTU Astronomical Society Publication Annual General Meeting (September 2014) A send off for the previous committee, and a welcome for the new one. 23rd president Yang Chuyi gave her farewell address and handed over the baton to Chin Zong Yang. The new president expressed his hopes for the future of NTUAS, and revealed some exciting new events planned for the year ahead. This included the trips to the Science Centre and fortnightly stargazing sessions. After the handing over ceremony, attendees were treated to an exquisite buffet dinner, followed by a stargazing session at a South Spine rooftop (sky was extremely clear!). A true embodiment of our motto: To eat, drink, and stargaze.
Pleased to meet you! The new Main Committee and Event Committee of NTUAS posing for a photo.
Blood Moon Part 1: Observation (October 2014) A special observation session was scheduled on the 8th of October 2014 at Nanyang House to catch the dramatically named blood moon – in other words, a total lunar eclipse. Throngs of NTU’s Astronomy enthusiasts, at the ready with their cameras, braved the haze to observe this rare phenomenon. After all, it wasn’t every day you got to see a total lunar eclipse. Although the haze did impair the visibility somewhat, it did nothing to diminish the eerie beauty of the blood moon.
Moon-fever: Observing the Blood Moon at Nanyang House
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Blood Moon Part 2: Workshop (October 2014) treated to games, shopping and prizes. External vendors were also invited to display their merchandise. Astronomythemed postcards, paperweights, and stickers were also available for sale. Not to be eclipsed by the success of the booth, the workshop that followed met with a favourable response. The speakers – Zong Yang and Caleb – discussed at length regarding lunar eclipses and methods of stargazing in Singapore. In addition, participants stood a chance to Attentive: A participant waits for her turn win prizes by answering questions. True to look through the telescope. to tradition, all who attended were th treated to a mouth-watering buffet On the 24 of October, a Blood moon (potato wedges and chicken, anyone?) themed booth and workshop were held. and a stargazing session. Those who dropped by our booth were Overseas Trip to Bandung, Indonesia (January 2015) Braving the weather, among other things, we flew to Bandung, Indonesia on the 7th of January to kick off 2015 with some good ol’ stargazing. Places visited included Bosscha Observatory and Institut Teknologi Bandung, the top technological university in Indonesia. Visits to scenic places like Lake Kawah Putih, Ciwedey and a strawberry plantation were also planned for those who enjoy the great outdoors. Shopaholics were not forgotten – visits to the Dago area and Cihampelas Walk yielded quite a large haul. On the 10th, we returned to Singapore, bringing suitcases bulging with souvenirs, and hearts overflowing with memories. Overnight Trip + Practical Stargazing Workshop (2015)
Details to be confirmed as of the date of printing. Please refer to our Facebook page for more details as they become available.
It does not take a genius to figure out that Singapore may not be the best place for stargazing. With the detrimental effect of light pollution and a temperamental mother nature, a “Starry Night” in the city typically means being able to see ten – wait, that was a plane – nine stars without trying too hard. However, there are areas in Singapore where stargazing is viable. For instance, Changi Beach, the planned location for the NTUAS Overnight Observation Trip (2015), makes for an excellent place to camp out, chill out, and stargaze. In conjunction, a workshop will also be held with the topic of practical stargazing in Singapore, or any country. Weekly trips to the Science Centre (Ongoing) Every Friday, the Science Centre Observatory holds observation sessions opened to the public between 7:30 PM and 10 PM. If you are interested in attending, but recoil at the thought of going alone, hang around Jurong East MRT station at 7 PM to meet other likeminded NTUAS members before going. This is also a great opportunity for you to chit chat and catch up on the latest astronomical scoop with fellow astrophiles. Once again, this activity is FREE, so bring you friends, your cameras, and even your family if you want to. 16
Astronicle 2015
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication Fortnightly observations at Nanyang House (Ongoing) Join us every Tuesday at Nanyang House autumn lunar observation in between 7 PM and 10 PM for some August/September, where you get to good ol' stargazing. On clear nights, enjoy mooncakes while looking at the expect to see planets, nebulae, as well moon. Observations will commence from as other interesting objects invisible to the second week of the semester, and the the naked eye. Get hands on experience final session will (tentatively) be two in using telescopes and locating objects weeks before the exam week. in the night sky. Bring your friends and Observation sessions may also be your cameras; participation is FREE for postponed in the event of bad weather, all NTU students! Stay tuned for themed so please check our Facebook page observation sessions such as the midregularly for updates. T-shirt sales (Ongoing) Get yourself an NTUAS Tee at $12 each! $1 discount per T-shirt when you buy with friends, and flash your NTUAS membership card for further discounts. Available sizes range from XS to XXL. To get yours, simply drop an e-mail to ntuastrosociety@gmail.com indicating your name, size, and available dates for T-shirt collection.
Black is the new black: The design for the NTUAS Tshirt (left)
Volunteering at the Science Centre Details: Fridays (schedules to be confirmed), 7PM to 10PM at the Singapore Science Centre. Attendance for a training session is required. Interested in learning more about astronomy in Singapore? Want to know how to use and maintain a telescope? Or want to share your love of astronomy with the world? Join our volunteer corps to work with the amazing folks at the Science Centre. Learn about astronomy and get a certificate upon completion of 72 hours of service. In addition to this, expect perks and goodies from the Science Centre. Interested volunteers please email ntuastrosociety@gmail.com with your name, matric number, contact number, and your reasons for volunteering, in 100 words or less. Telescope Survey + A Chance to Win Lucky Draw Prize! We are conducting an online survey to find out your preference regarding usage of telescopes in club activities. Take some time to answer a few simple questions and you just might walk away with a little something from us! Survey closes on 1/3 midnight, winner will be randomly chosen and notified via email. Easy peasy, so what are you waiting for? Scan that QR code on the left and get started!
See you soon, and Clear Skies! Astronicle 2015
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An NTU Astronomical Society Publication
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Astronicle 2015
An NTU Astronomical Society Publication
Astronicle 2015
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