Local Group

Discover the Universe in Ottawa

2013-05-22T16:29:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/8473.discovertheuniverse_5F00_ottawa2.JPG" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/8473.discovertheuniverse_5F00_ottawa2.JPG"] [/caption]In April, Canada's Ottawa Valley Astronomy and Observer’s Group (OAOG) participated in the Astronomical League-sponsored Astronomy Day. On a specified day (April 20 this year), astronomical societies, planetariums, museums, and observatories host events all over the world so that people across all latitudes and longitudes can experience the coolness what’s above our heads. This year, the OAOG also made its event part of Astronomy magazine’s Discover the Universe program to bring sidewalk astronomy to everyone. Jim Thompson, an OAOG member, reports on their trials, tribulations, and ultimate victory:

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/8132.discovertheuniverse_5F00_ottawa1.JPG" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/8132.discovertheuniverse_5F00_ottawa1.JPG"]The Ottawa Valley Astronomy & Observer's Group held an impromptu sidewalk astronomy event this April and shared telescopic views and information with several hundred people who may or may not have been on the way to the movies. // Randy Armitage[/caption]The Ottawa Valley Astronomy & Observer’s Group (OAOG) planned to hold its annual Astronomy Day event Saturday, April 20. Unfortunately, this year Mother Nature decided it wasn’t going to happen. The weather forecast leading up to the event teetered between “scattered showers” and “partly cloudy,” and we didn’t give the night a “GO” until the last minute Friday evening. We awoke Saturday morning to a mixture of thunder, hail, rain, snow, sleet, cold temperatures, and high winds. No brimstone, luckily. Some of the more optimistic members of our group set up their telescopes, but after the second bout of hail and high winds, the event was officially canceled for the first time in 13 years.

Our group members were all very disappointed. Many had been preparing for months for this day, including my son and me. As a small concession, Mother Nature provided a clear, calm Sunday that we were able to take advantage of. Because all of the official preparations were made for an all-day event specifically on Saturday, the Sunday event was limited to an impromptu sidewalk astronomy session. We had approximately 10 to 12 group members out with their telescopes, providing splendid views of the Sun, the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn. In fact, the seeing conditions were some of the best we’ve had in the Ottawa area for months — oh, the irony! The International Space Station also made a well-timed appearance. Being it was a Sunday night, we entertained only a couple hundred passersby, but nonetheless a good time was had by all.

Our fingers are crossed for better weather next year. Some group members are even discussing having our Astronomy Day on a different date than that set by the Astronomical League, later in May, to better suit our northern climate. I guess we shall see.

I’m sure the Astronomical League approves of events any day of the year, and multiple hundreds of passersby is a great turnout. Thanks for holding a fantastic event even in the face of meteorological pushback. If your astronomy club is interested having a sidewalk astronomy event that gives someone their first-ever view through a telescope, and you’d like to take part in Discover the Universe, send me an email! I’m Associate Editor Sarah Scoles, and my email address is sscoles@astronomy.com. I’ll be happy to discuss the program more with you and send you an application.

An interview with the "Toy Hunter" at C2E2

2013-05-21T15:05:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Comic_2D00_Con/5584.C2E2_5F00_Doctor_2D00_Who.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Comic_2D00_Con/5584.C2E2_5F00_Doctor_2D00_Who.jpg"]Doctor Who cosplayers challenged even Star Wars for the number seen at C2E2. Here, my wife, Holley, poses between the fourth Doctor (left) and the current 11th Doctor. // photo by Michael E. Bakich[/caption]A few weeks ago, I attended the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2). The 2013 version of C2E2 ran April 26–28, and the venue was the North Building of Chicago’s McCormick Place. Like most “comic” conventions these days, C2E2 also covers all aspects of pop culture.

I managed to get press credentials again this year and started searching for potential interviews. When the Travel Channel contacted me about a possible interview with Jordan Hembrough of its Toy Hunter television show, I jumped at the chance. While taping the interview, I asked him a variety of questions, which I hope you’ll find interesting. (He seemed to be having a great time.) I wanted to chat with him about science-based toys. I know some manufacturers still make them. How well do they sell? Are there collectors out there that specialize in them? Considering that, as a whole, toy collectors can be eccentric and imaginative, do those qualities tie in to other hobbies that involve curiosity and imagination like astronomy?

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Comic_2D00_Con/7230.C2E2_5F00_Godzilla.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Comic_2D00_Con/7230.C2E2_5F00_Godzilla.jpg"]Godzilla normally attacks Tokyo, but he has been known to go after other creatures, so, I thought, why not join in the fun? // photo by Holley Y. Bakich[/caption]Because I had only a hand-held video camera, I must apologize for the occasional shakiness of the interview. Also, because several thousand people were within shouting distance, the background noise is much higher than it would have been in a studio. Still, I think Jordan’s personality and his great answers trump these minor issues.

I’ve also included a few images from the convention. I had a great time, I met plenty of science geeks, and everyone who realized I worked for Astronomy magazine thought it must be one of the coolest jobs in the world.

It is.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Attend the American Astronomical Society conference and star party in Indianapolis

2013-05-16T16:06:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Logos/8228.aas222logo.png" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Logos/8228.aas222logo.png"]American Astronomical Society[/caption]If you enjoy astronomy, convention centers, and knocking elbows with top-notch scientists, you’ll be thrilled to hear that the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is inviting you — yes, you — to attend its 222nd meeting. The conference, which takes place June 2–6 in Indianapolis, will host more than 500 science-professional attendees, and the number of public guests is up to you and your friends and cousins and co-workers.

For a discounted rate of $50 per day, you can show up at the Indiana Convention Center (100 S. Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46255) on Monday, June 3, or Tuesday, June 4, and enjoy full access to the conference proceedings. For a Ulysses S. Grant bill or two, you can:

Attend talks by invited speakers and prize-winners
Peruse halls of posters detailing the latest research
Zip into sessions of short talks on topics like exoplanets, variable stars, globular clusters, star formation, and more
Listen to public policy discussions between astronomers and the National Science Foundation and NASA Headquarters
Visit ground- and space-based telescope exhibits manned by the scientists who work at each facility
Stock up on astro-themed gifts
Dive into a digital planetarium[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Logos/8156.IndianaAstronomicalSocietyLogo.gif" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Logos/8156.IndianaAstronomicalSocietyLogo.gif"]Indiana Astronomical Society[/caption]

I will be there the whole time and keep you updated about what’s happening via tweets and blog posts. Expect in-depth investigative reporting about the latest astronomical announcements. I’m most excited about the “Bridging Laboratory and Astrophysics: Molecules,” “A Glimpse of Galaxies at the Dawn of the Universe,” “Outer Limits of the Milky Way,” and “Transients in the Local Universe” sessions. The town hall meetings between government agencies and scientists are always a good way to keep up with the latest funding controversies and take the temperature of astro-politics.

If you decide to attend the conference, find me and say hello! I’m the one with curly hair who will be wearing a press badge.

To check out the schedule, visit http://aas.org/meetings/aas-222nd-meeting. To register, visit http://aas.org/meetings/aas-222nd-meeting-public-registration.

And even if you don’t register for the conference, you can still attend the star party that the AAS will co-host with the Indiana Astronomical Society on June 3 at 9 p.m. (rain/cloud date is June 4). The party will be raging on the Convention Center Plaza on the corner of South Capitol Avenue and West Maryland Street in downtown Indianapolis. Astronomers, both hobbyist and professional, will guide you to Saturn’s rings, which are so perfect that they almost look unreal through a telescope.

For updates about the star party, including those related to weather and logistics, visit the AAS facebook page.

Help discover gravitational lenses

2013-05-14T20:08:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Deep_2D00_sky+objects/4571.abell370.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Deep_2D00_sky+objects/4571.abell370.jpg"]The mass of a galaxy cluster warps space-time, and so light from a distant galaxy will bend and magnify around the cluster. Here are a few examples of such gravitational lenses; the lensed background objects take the shape of arcs and smears. In Zooniverse’s new citizen science project, Space Warps, you hunt for these objects. // photo by NASA/ESA/The Hubble SM4 ERO Team/ST-ECF[/caption]Zooniverse, which is home to 14 online citizen science projects and more than 830,000 users, just launched another program aimed at armchair astronomers: Space Warps. In this project, you’ll hunt for gravitational lenses. These are the optical illusions created as the light from distant galaxies is bent as it travels near a foreground galaxy or galaxy cluster. (The gravity of that foreground object warps space-time around it.) So you can end up seeing bright arcs, or even full circles, of a background galaxy around the foreground object. Such observations have enabled astronomers to find some of the earliest galaxies known.

The first images available to scan in Space Warps are from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope legacy survey. Just like with Zooniverse’s Galaxy Zoo and the Milky Way Project, Space Warps uses the fact that humans are better at identifying certain objects than computer programs. Citizen scientists helping with both of these projects, and additional ones from the Zooniverse, have led to all kinds of discoveries (like this one, and this one, and of course, Hanny’s Voorwerp).

So, try your hand at finding these awesome results of extreme gravity. I plan to log in and try identifying some gravitational lenses this week, too.

Astronomy Festival on the National Mall

2013-05-13T18:55:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Star+parties/3582.Astronomyfestival_5F00_washmonument.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Star+parties/3582.Astronomyfestival_5F00_washmonument.jpg"]In years past, the Astronomy Festival on the National Mall has included sidewalk exhibits. // all photos by Bruno Sánchez-Andrade Nuño [/caption]Have you ever looked through a telescope while the Washington Monument towered over you? If not (or if you have and would like to do so again), you’ll have your chance in just over a month.

On June 14 (or June 15 if the sky is not cooperating), the astronomy outreach arm of Hofstra University will host the Astronomy Festival on the National Mall. The event, whose title describes it quite accurately, will run from 5–11 p.m.

That evening, museums, universities, observatories, and other organizations will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to share their excitement about and knowledge of astronomy. Participants will get great telescopic views of Saturn’s rings, our Moon, Jupiter’s moons, Mars’ redness, double stars, and star clusters from expert hobbyist astronomers from the area. But before the Sun sets, attendees can view it through a solar telescope, visit exhibits and view demonstrations by astronomers with the American Astronomical Society, Astronomy Foundation, the International Dark-Sky Association, the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences — all organizations filled with scientists whose brains are ripe for picking.

If visitors need to relax and take a passive role in their astronomical learning, they can view the planetarium programs Journey to the Stars (narrated by Whoopie Goldberg) and Cosmic Collisions (narrated by Robert Redford). [caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Star+parties/5165.Astronomyfestival_5F00_solar_5F00_observing.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Star+parties/5165.Astronomyfestival_5F00_solar_5F00_observing.jpg"]In 2011, when this picture was taken, 2,000 people attended the Astronomy Festival on the National Mall. [/caption]

Additionally, an important figure from scientific history will haunt the D.C. sidewalks. Astronomer Caroline Herschel (portrayed by K. Lynn King), the first modern female astronomer and the sister of William Hershel who discovered Uranus, returns from the past to discuss her contributions.

As for the living, Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA, is the headlining speaker and will describe the agency’s astronomy program and answer questions.

So if any of that sounds fun to you (and how could it not, really?), and you’re within 2,500 miles of the nation’s capital, consider attending the Astronomy Festival on the National Mall. If you’re part of an organization that would like to participate — amateur astronomy clubs are welcomed — [caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Star+parties/4454.Astronomyfestival_5F00_Dobsonian.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Star+parties/4454.Astronomyfestival_5F00_Dobsonian.jpg"]This 14-inch Dobsonian is the biggest telescope these children have ever seen.[/caption]email Donald Lubowich of Hofstra University at Donald.A.Lubowich@hofstra.edu. Tables, chairs, and generators will be available. To learn more about this event and to see a calendar of other Hofstra astronomy outreach events, visit www.hofstra.edu/astronomy.

George Washington would be proud.

Send your poems to Mars on MAVEN

2013-05-07T18:42:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Missions/6087.maven.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Missions/6087.maven.jpg"]The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission will take scientific instruments and three poems to the Red Planet. // NASA/GSFC[/caption]

NASA’s newest venture around Mars, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN), will launch in November. It will carry the usual spectrometers and magnetometers, but it also will have cargo of a more literary sort: poetry, stored on a DVD and authored by you (if you’re lucky).

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, which coordinates the “Going to Mars” campaign for MAVEN, and NASA are inviting the public to submit their names and the messages they would like to send to the Red Planet. The messages, however, must be in the classic three-line, five-seven-five syllable haiku poetry form. After all, everyone knows that martians much prefer haiku to the Petrarchan sonnet, which is too long for their attention spans.

So if you have something you would like to say to Mars, distill it down to its essential 17 syllables, come up with some clever enjambments, and submit it at http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/goingtomars/send-your-name/. All submitters’ names will be burned onto the DVD, but only the three winners’ poems will make the long and digitally encoded trip across the solar system.

You can enter your haiku until July 1. From July 15–July 29, anyone with an internet connection can vote for their favorite poems. On August 8, “Going to Mars” will announce the three winners.

Along with carrying human literary tradition, MAVEN will study Mars’ atmosphere to determine how it is changing right now (specifically, how it has lost its volatile elements like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water); how it has changed over time; and how that loss changed the planet’s climate, wateriness, and habitability.

In other words, MAVEN is asking:

Oh, planet so stark,
were you always this dusty?
Where is your N₂?

Astronomy dreams at C2E2

2013-04-25T20:30:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Misc/0336.Bakich_2D00_C2E2_2D00_2012.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Misc/0336.Bakich_2D00_C2E2_2D00_2012.jpg"]At the 2012 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, I roamed about freely as one of the elite media. // all photos by Holley Y. Bakich[/caption]The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) starts Friday, April 26, and for the second straight year I’ll be there. I guess the convention organizers liked what I did last year because they’ve issued me press credentials again.

The 2013 C2E2 runs April 26–28. The convention, which, in addition to comics, also spans the latest and greatest in the worlds of movies, television, toys, and video games, is being held in the North Building of Chicago’s McCormick Place.

This year, thousands of people will be hanging on every word spoken about Star Wars, Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, The Big Bang Theory, The Walking Dead, Godzilla, and, of course, Doctor Who.

I’ll be searching for science. It underlies nearly every idea present at C2E2, you know. Energy beams? Check. Spaceships? Check. Alien worlds and civilizations? Check. Time travel. Check. Even the creators of fantasy realms imbue them with natural laws. (I’ve yet to encounter one where gravity doesn’t function, for example.)

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Misc/7827.C2E2_2D00_2012.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Misc/7827.C2E2_2D00_2012.jpg"]Fans of every entertainment genre packed the convention. How many, I wonder, are also science nerds?[/caption]As of this writing, I’ve snagged at least one super-cool interview. Hopefully, more will follow. But I know that Friday afternoon I’ll be speaking with Jordan Hembrough of Travel Channel’s Toy Hunter television show.

Hembrough is a self-professed comic-book geek and film buff who was bitten by the collecting bug at an early age. He quickly learned that he could make more money selling toys to his school peers than he could on any paper route. At age 16, he began buying and selling toys professionally. In 1998, he founded Hollywood Heroes, where he sells toys and film props to the collectible market and offers consulting services to toy and entertainment companies.

I want to chat with him about science-based toys. I know some manufacturers still make them. How well do they sell? Are there collectors out there that specialize in them? Considering that, as a whole, toy collectors can be eccentric and imaginative, do those qualities tie in to other hobbies that involve curiosity and imagination like astronomy? I only have 15 minutes with him, and I mean to make it count. Look for a blog about it soon after I return.

Both last year’s C2E2 and the San Diego Comic-Con were well worth the effort to attend. What surprises does the 2013 version of C2E2 hold in store for me? Store? Ooh, that reminds me: Take lots of spending money.

Discover the Universe in Maryland and Delaware

2013-04-24T16:35:00Z

During the month of March, the Sussex County Astronomy Society and the Delmarva Space Sciences Foundation held three events — one at the seashore, one at a rocket launch complex, and one on a boardwalk — as part of Astronomy magazine’s Discover the Universe program to bring sidewalk astronomy to everyone. Gerry Lyons, the Sussex Society’s outreach coordinator, reports on their success:

Assateague Island National Seashore
On March 9, we held our first event of the season with the Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland. To attract a large crowd, we started with a media blitz. We appeared on a local daytime TV show, placed information in all three local newspapers, and worked with a local DJ who did public service announcements for five radio stations (I highly recommend this market if you haven’t tried it before).

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/3022.discover-the-universe-3.JPG" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/3022.discover-the-universe-3.JPG"]Gerry Lyons (Sussex County Astronomy Society)[/caption]The night of the event, we worked in conjunction with some members of the Delmarva Stargazers. To begin, a NASA scientist spoke about meteors and meteorites. Our attendees then ventured outside so we could introduce them to a crystal-clear, incredibly dark night sky with 11 telescopes varying in size from 108mm to 14 inches.

Because our evening was aimed at children, families went inside the seashore’s visitors’ center to warm up, drink hot chocolate, and participate in activities such as building a sky wheel. Due to the chill in the air, copious amounts of hot chocolate disappeared.

After a while inside, visitors came back outside for another round of celestial delights. While the rangers at Assateague hoped for 100 people, we had approximately twice that number — 200!

Wallops Island
Do you know the significance of MARS on the Delmarva Peninsula? MARS stands for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, which is the rocket launch complex at Wallops Island in Virginia, associated with the NASA Flight Facility. Scientists will begin launching rockets to the International Space Station and the Moon during 2013.

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/2335.discover-the-universe.JPG" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Outreach/2335.discover-the-universe.JPG"]Gerry Lyons (Sussex County Astronomy Society)[/caption]March 22 is the annual celebration of Sun-Earth Day. This year, NASA sponsored a webcast out of MARS and invited 100 – 120 middle- and high-school folks from the area to participate. NASA asked the Sussex County Astronomy Society and the Delmarva Space Sciences Foundation to do solar astronomy in conjunction with the event. We had eight solar telescopes in place, as well as the materials from the Astronomy Foundation, the Night Sky Network, and NASA Goddard.

Our final attendance total for the event was 180. Afterward, the scientist presenters came outside to check out our equipment and material. They seemed very pleased and surprised to see that we were promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects while sharing our experiences and our passion for astronomy.

Rehoboth Beach
On March 29–30, we held our second annual Easter weekend astronomy event on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. This is usually the first weekend that sees a significant influx of visitors each spring.

While temperatures were cool, visibility was moderate, even under the heavily light-polluted skies of the boardwalk. We obtained permission again to set up our equipment at the busiest point of the boardwalk. Curious onlookers mobbed us while we attempted to set up.

Despite that, we managed to set up five telescopes each night, ranging from 3 inches to 11 inches and mostly of the Schmidt-Cassegrain variety. The festive group of attendees, ranging in age from infants to 80-year-olds and including many children, displayed highly infectious happiness throughout the two nights. Friday, March 29, the group was smaller because visitors were still arriving at the beach for the weekend from the surrounding areas of Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. We fielded many questions about how to locate local programs when visitors went home. That night, we spoke with at least 350 people; Saturday night, we totaled about 475 folks. Most of them left with pamphlets, brochures, magazines, and business cards. Representatives from various schools in the surrounding states subsequently contacted our astronomy society about providing programs for the school systems. A Girl Scouts regional representative also contacted us about future participation with them.

Overall, these three events in one month provided us direct contact with close to 1200 people. Indirect contact numbers through publicity channels and networking cannot be estimated. But the return on investment is (if you’ll pardon the pun) astronomical.

That’s quite a reach! Thanks to the Sussex County Astronomical Society and the Delmarva Space Sciences Foundation for being the first Discover the Universe bloggers this year and for holding successful events that include hot chocolate. If your astronomy club is interested having a sidewalk astronomy event that gives someone their first-ever view through a telescope, and you’d like to take part in Discover the Universe, send me an email! I’m Associate Editor Sarah Scoles, and my email address is sscoles@astronomy.com. I’ll be happy to discuss the program more with you and send you an application.

An "unofficial" name for Alpha Centauri Bb

2013-04-15T18:10:00Z

Last week, I wrote about the Uwingu "People's Choice" contest that invites people to vote on a popular name for the nearest known exoplanet. Today, I have two updates:

1) Uwingu has extended the contest by one week, and the winning name now won't be decided until Monday, April 22, at midnight EDT. You can continue to vote at www.uwingu.com.

2) In response to Uwingu's efforts, which ultimately raise money for space education and research, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) issued a press release calling such contests “schemes” and stating that “it dissociates itself entirely from the commercial practice of selling names of planets, stars or even ‘real estate’ on other planets or moons.” The organization called itself the “single arbiter of the naming process.” Today, Uwingu issued a response:

Uwingu affirms the IAU’s right to create naming systems for astronomers. But we know that the IAU has no purview — informal or official — to control popular naming of bodies in the sky or features on them, just as geographers have no purview to control people’s naming of features along hiking trails. People clearly enjoy connecting to the sky and having an input to common-use naming. We will continue to stand up for the public’s rights in this regard, and look forward to raising more grant funds for space researchers and educators this way.

We now take this opportunity to note to the public that, contrary to the IAU press release:

- Informal names for astronomical objects are common (e.g., “The Milky Way”). And in fact, there is no such thing as a unified astronomical naming system, and there never has been. Claims to the contrary are simply incorrect, as an astronomical database search on a representative star, Polaris, reveals. This star is also known to astronomers and the public as the North Star, Alpha Ursae Minoris, HD 8890, HIP 11767, SAO 308, ADS 1477, FK5 907, and over a dozen more designations.

- There are many instances where astronomers name things without going through the IAU’s internal process. There are many features on Mars, ranging from mountains to individual rocks, with names applied by Mars-mission scientists and never adopted by, or even considered by, the IAU. And Apollo astronauts did not seek IAU permission before naming features at their landing sites or from orbit.

- There are also numerous recent press releases in which astronomical objects were given names by astronomers without any IAU process: Supernova Wilson, galaxy cluster El Gordo, the Black Eye Galaxy; none drew attention from the IAU.

- Uwingu looks forward to continuing to help the general public to engage creatively in astronomy and to participate in the excitement of the exploration of the universe in which we all live.

In our Alpha Centauri People’s Choice naming contest, anyone can nominate a name to honor a friend, colleague, loved one, or to recognize a place name, an author, an artist, or a sports team, for example. The name getting the highest number of votes will be declared the public’s choice for Uwingu to use as the name for this mysterious new world. Never before has the public been asked to choose its favorite name for a planet.

Name nominations are $4.99; votes cost $0.99. Proceeds from naming and voting fuel new Uwingu grants to fund space education projects affected by sequestration cuts to NASA.

So, yes, the IAU is right in that the designation can't become “official.” But then again, the North America Nebula isn't the official designation for NGC 700, nor is the Horsehead Nebula the official designation for Barnard 33. Yet the public still uses such monikers. And to infer that the Uwingu contest is in the same category as various star registry companies is a little excessive. You don’t “buy” a planet name; you buy a vote, and the money goes toward a good cause.

I say keep voting if you understand the parameters of the contest and what “winning” really means. No one gets hurt by spending a little money to help space funding. And who knows, the name just might catch on.

The Sun lets loose the biggest coronal mass ejection of the year

2013-04-12T16:10:00Z

[caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Solar+system+objects/5582.goddard_5F00_sun_5F00_cme_5F00_2.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-Solar+system+objects/5582.goddard_5F00_sun_5F00_cme_5F00_2.jpg"]Coronal mass ejections usually occur after solar flares on our active Sun. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught April 11’s M6.5-class flare on camera. Don’t look straight at it. // NASA/SDO[/caption]Yesterday at 3:36 A.M., the Sun launched billions of tons of plasma into space at 600 miles per second (966 kilometers/second) — 37 times as fast as our fastest spacecraft. This event, called a coronal mass ejection (CME), sent charged particles and radiation hurtling toward Earth.

The radiation, traveling at the speed of light, reached Earth in the usual 8.5 minutes, but the particles, slowed down by their pesky mass, will take 1−3 days to get here. The radiation caused a brief radio blackout when it reached the part of the atmosphere where GPS and communications information zips around, but all is well now, and scientists predict no major “space weather” issues.

In order to affect Earth at all, a CME’s path must be in line with Earth. And even if one is headed toward us, the radiation can’t penetrate all the way through our atmosphere and reach the ground. But if you’re currently hanging out in Alaska or Norway or Siberia, a) that’s awesome, and b) look up at the sky in 1−2 days to see the spectacular northern lights that will occur as the solar particles, channeled along Earth’s magnetic field lines, collide with particles in the upper atmosphere.

This CME is associated with a mid-level M-class flare that peaked at 3:16 A.M. The flare, though 10 times weaker than an X-class flare, is the strongest so far in 2013. Expect more solar excitement in the near future, as we’re churning toward “solar maximum,” the part of the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle when the star is the most dynamic. Scientists expect this peak to occur late this year.

The Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured April 11’s coronal mass ejection (CME) as the plasma separated from the Sun and began its journey toward Earth. Click on the image to see an animated view of the CME. // ESA/NASA/SOHO/GSFC