H2G2 Astronomy Society
Previous Articles of 2002
Charting the uncharted backwaters of the Universe

All the articles below appeared on the h2g2as main page, and are now stored here for your reference. They are split into monthly sections.

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2002
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2001
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December 2002

Rosetta Launch Delayed
Following the recent launch falieure of the new augmented Ariane 5 launcher. The detonation of the launcher during the 3rd minuite of launch destroyed the HotBird 7 and Stentor satellites worth over $600 million. The Ariane launcher is currently under study to discover why it went off course to prevent a similar event occouring again. The Rosetta probe the Euopean Space Agencies commet research mission.

Tuesday 31st December

Solar Eclipse from Space
On December the 4th the only Total Eclipse of the Sun was visible from parts of Sentral to Southern Africa and Australia. It was also visible to the enhabitants of the International Space Station as they passed over the region 3 times during the eclipse. One of the crew took, Don Pettit, this photo of the penumbra displayed on the surface of the Earth. At this time the umbra, where totality is visible, was racing accross the Indian Ocean.

Friday 6th December

November 2002

Leonids Meteor Watch
Yet again the Leonids put on a dazzeling show last week with some amazing views seen. Much of the UK was cloudy however Megan gave us this report:
"We had a very clear night from about 8pm on monday to 5am on tuesday (I got home at half five!) and my total count for the night was around 30 from the centre of Manchester. My astronomical society from back home met up at their usual dark-ish site in the Pennines and the highest count their was 193 in the clear spell they had from around half three till half four!"
Sadly that will be the last impressive Leonid meteor shower for about 100 years (or 3 cycles) as we wont pass directly through dence parts of the comets track, however there will still be some. See the spaceweather.com Leonid Gallery for some beautiful photographs.

Tuesday 26th November

Leonids Meteor Watch
This evening and early tomorrow morning will witness the peak activity of the Leonid meteor shower, 4am UT Nov 19th to be exact. If your out observing then make a not of the number of meteors you see in every half hour period you are observing for and then post them below in the Leonids Watch forum. Make sure you dress up warm and let someone know where you will be observing from.

Monday 18th November

Leonids Meteor Shower
Neil Bone of the BAA writes:
"The earlier of the predicted peaks is ideally timed for observers in the British Isles. At 04h UT on November 19, the Leonid radiant - in Leo - will be climbing high into the eastern sky, at an elevation of about 50 degrees. Observations will, however, be somewhat hampered by strong moonlight. The Moon is a day before Full, and its glare will drown most faint meteors. Thankfully the Moon is low in the western sky by the time of the expected Leonid peak - so it should be easy to hide it from direct view behind local obstructions. In any case, observers will wish to look to the opposite, eastern side of the sky, so a field of view directed towards the Plough, for example, will be ideal.".

Thursday 14th November

Jupiters Moons
Did you know that they have given eleven of Jupiter's moons new names? Jupiter's moons have traditionally names taken from Greek Mythology. The new names are: Callirrhoe, Themisto, Magaclite, Taygete, Chaldene, Harpalyke, Kalyke, Iocaste, Erinome, Isonoe, and Praxidike. We know about 39 moons around Jupiter, and there's still twelve without names. A table with the old referances versus the new names can be found here.

Monday 4th November

October 2002

Weekend Aurora Watch
News from Spaceweather: Solar wind gusts have triggered auroras off and on since Oct. 23rd. There could be even more geomagnetic activity this weekend if a coronal mass ejection (CME) sweeps past our planet as expected. The CME billowed away from the Sun on Oct. 25th not long after a spectacular prominence erupted--the movie on spaceweather.com is a must-see. Sky watchers should be alert for Northern Lights after nightfall on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday 26th October

New 'Planet' Discovered
Reports are seeping into the AS about a possible new plannet that has been discoeered outside of the orbit of Pluto. The body named "Quaoar" (pronounced kwa-whar¹) is found in the Kupier belt, a billion km further out than Pluto. It was discovered by ground based telescopes last June and now that Hubble has taken a look it appears to be a planetoid of about half the size of Pluto.

Tuesday 8th October

Atlantis Launch
The space shuttle has had it's cracked plumbing repaired and is almost ready for launce this week. The shuttle will be going to the ISS for an 11 day mission to continue the assembly of the station and also take film of the mission with it's exterior mounted television camera. However the path of hurricane Lili could perspone the launch as it's path threatens to pass over the site. Depending on when the shuttle launches there is a possibility to see the craft and used fuel tank as it passes over the UK just after sepaaration form the main tank.

Tuesday 1st October

September 2002

Autumnal Equinox
At 4:55 am UT this morning the Earth passed the point in it's orbit which we know as the autuminal equinox. At this point the terminator² makes a vertical line between the two poles on the earth making the day and night equal lenght. This is where the term equinox comes from, meaning equal night, and marks the transition to Autumn and Spring for the Northern and Southern hemispheres respectivly.

Monday 23rd September

August 2002

British Balloonists Set to Reach Space
Some day soon two British balloonists will take an open-air balloon trip to the very edge of space at an altitude of 25 miles. This altitude will set a new world record and the two balloonists, Andy Elson and Colin Prescot will only be protected by modified Russian space suits. The flight will take off when the weather is favourable from England and splash down in the Atlantic Ocean after a 2 hour stay at the edge of space and a controlled decent.

Friday 30th August

Magnificent Perseids Display
This years Perseid meteor shower over the early part of August did not disappoint many observers over the UK and rest of the world. The peak, which occurred around 10pm UT on August the 12th was actually visible form many parts of England in particular the Cotswolds where the cloud actually cleared for the evening. One member of the h2g2as reported seeing 38 shooting stars in about 2 hours on that night. We can now look forward to lengthening evenings and the prospect of the Leonid shower in November.

Thursday 29th August

Perseid Activity Rising
The annual Perseid meteor shower, which is visible in early August, will reach it's peak tonight at 10pm UT³ which is when the Earth passes through the densest part of the debris trail left be the comet Swift-Tuttle. Observers will be blessed by the lack of a bright moon which has obscured many of the fainter meteors with it's glare. If you are going out to observe the best location to be is far away from any large towns and cities⁴ and dressed warmly. The meteors will appear to radiate from Perseus, just below Cassiopeia (the 'W'), as streaks of light and should be seen streaking over the whole sky. Please upload all your observations (numbers and bright meteors) to a forum below.

Tuesday 12th August

NASA Lunar Sample Return Mission
NASA has proposed a new mission to our nearest neighbour the Moon. The target is a deep crater on the far side, the South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the oldest and deepest impact craters on the surface. There are a number of challenges faced with this mission mainly that of communication with the far side which we cannot see and will therefore require a communications satellite in lunar orbit.

Thursday 1st August

July 2002

SMART Trip to the Moon
In a recent spout of lunar interest the European Space Agency, EAS has proposed a number of lunar mission, the first of which is SMART-1. This will be an orbiting spacecraft whose aim is to discover more about out closest neighbours creation and history and possibly look to lunar colonisation prospects. The mission will also test electric propulsion techniques for use on future missions.

Wednesday 30th July

Contour Mission Takes Off
NASA's newest mission to be launched on Monday is the Contour mission which aims to take close-up pictures of two comets over the next four years. The quest is to find out more about the creation stages of our solar system. The probe will remain in a LEO⁵ untill the 15th August when it will fire it's engine and head off.

Wednesday 3rd July

June 2002

Partial Solar Eclipse
This evening many in north America will see a beautifull sight as the sun sets in a cresent. The paritial ecclipse will not greatly affect the light levels but will be immpressive. Of course do not look directly at the sun and if you are going to take photographs be sure to protect the lense or photograph a projected immage of the sun. Photo links to come...

Monday 10th June

Huge Solar Prominence
Today the SOHO sighted a huge and beautiful solar prominence rising from the suns limb. Prominence are formed my the twisted magnetic field lines in the sun and erupt off the surface into the suns atmosphere along the field lines. This prominence is over 50 earth diameters long⁶. Take a look at the SOHO immage of the prominence here

Sunday 9th June

Shuttle and Fueltank Sightings
A report from Woodpigeon: At 22.46 tonight I spotted 2 bright objects in the sky travelling fast on exactly the same arc in the sky, roughly West to East. One object was travelling slightly faster than the other - they passed each other just above my location (Southern Ireland).
This was infact the Spaceshuttle endevour and it's jettisoned fueltank on it's way to dock with the ISS on the 111^th mission.

Wednesday 5th June

May 2002

Planetary Allignment
Over the weekend a quite spactacular allignment of 3 planets was seen by many who were not obscured by cloud. Venus, Saturn and Mars all appeared together forming a equilateral triangle low in the western horizon just after sunset. Jupiter was also higher above the triagle and Mercury just below. Sceptics and mystices predicted various events from huge traffic jams, to 'a sence of complete calm through the world' but life just went on as usual.

Wednesday 8th May

Yugi Hyakatake Dies
Comets are known to come quickly and go within weeks or months but the passing of a discoverer particularly at a young age is a shock. We suffered such a shock this week. Yugi Hyakatake, the discovere of the comet Hyakatake which passed by last year, died at age 51 of an aortic aneurism according to sky and telescope magazine. Article from Shagbark.

Tuesday 7th May

April 2002

Space Tourism Takes Flight
On Thursday the 25th April the worlds second paying space tourist took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, inside a Soyuz rocket bound for the International Space Station. Mark Shuttleworth has reportedly spent $20 million for the privalage of seeing the Earth form space and is the first African ever to do so. Mark has had half a years training at Star City, the cosmonaught training base to prepair for the trip and he will be conducting experiments while aboard for his eight day exzcersion.

Tuesday 30th April

Aurora Activity Expected
On Monday, April 15th (0400 UT), a full-halo coronal mass ejection billowed away from the Sun. The expanding cloud is heading toward Earth and could ignite Northern Lights (most likely at high latitudes but possibly at mid-latitudes as well) when it sweeps past our planet on April 17th or 18th. Visit spaceweather.com for updates (article from Spaceweather notification).

Wednesday 17th April

STOP PRESS: Saturn Vanishes
"I have just watched as Saturn, my favourite ringed planet completely vanished in front of my eyes. The crescent moon was not very near it and Saturn just flickered off. Has someone or something just stolen Saturn? Is this a government cover-up?"

Said slightly worried astronomer from England.

Tuesday 16th April

STOP PRESS: Saturn Is Spotted
While looking for other eye witnesses of Saturn’s disappearance the follow controversial story was heard:

"I was out viewing the moon as usual with my 10x50 binoculars and it was a normal evening. I popped inside for just a moment and when I returned someone had put Saturn right next to it! It most certainly wasn't there about a minuet before and then there it was as if nothing had happened.

a little later on Tuesday 16th April

Planetary Moon Dance
Over the next 5 nights the moon will pass by four of the major planets as they are lining up for the groupings. Tonight the Moon passes Venus and Mars on Monday. A clear evening on Tuesday after sunset will afford a view of Saturn being eclipsed by the moon. The eclipse should be visible from the northern hemisphere above a latitude of 51 degrees and start around 9:30. On Thursday the moon skips by Jupiter. More information on the alignment can be found on the BBC Spectacular Planet Show page.

Sunday 14th April

Comet Ikeya-Zhang
As the comet now begins its recession from the solar system it will become dimmer and its tail will fade away. Currently it is visible from the northern hemisphere as it passes through the constellation of Cassiopeia. The best viewing is around an hour after sunset and is in the northwest, currently just below the 'W' of Cassiopeia.

Tuesday 9th April

Planetary Groupings
Towards the end of April the western horizon will become populated by 5 planets which will make quite a sight. The grouping contains Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn with Jupiter further away which will all start to appear soon after sunset. Venus will be the brightest and with favorable conditions the elusive Mercury can be seen.

Monday 8th April

Asteroid 1950 DA
This asteroid was first recorded in February 1950 and was not seen again until 31 December 2000. Recent observations from the Acribo telescope make it to be a near earth asteroid of 1.1 km diameter. It's orbit was then replotted and found that it could make a very close approach to Earth on March 16, 2880 with a 1 in 300 or less chance of colliding. Though Don't Panic as with 878 years notice we should be prepared.

Sunday 7th April

March 2002

Vernal Equinox
At precisly 9:16 AM GMT on Wednesday the 20th the Earth passed the vernal exuinox. At that time the shadow of the earth streached from the north to south pole illuminating both at once and causing day and night to 12 hours each everywhere else on Earth. The seasons also now technically swap to autumn for the southern hemisphere and spring for the northern.

Wednesday 20th March

Visible Naked-eye Comet
The comet Ikeya-Zhang is now vivible to the naked eye as a reasonably bright fuzzy ball as it flies in it's orbit around the sun. Currently it can be found in the constellation of Pisces in the early evening western sky. Look out around 8pm if it's clear and Orions bow wielding arm (from Bellatrix)is pointing twords it. On March the 18th it become invisible form Earth as it passes behind the sun but will then reappear as an early morning object.

Wednesday 6th March

Attracting Sattelites
NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)
spacecraft, which some had given up for dead in December
after critical guidance components failed, was returned to
full operations when the team developed an innovative new
guidance system. The system uses a complex new set of
procedures that lets controllers use electromagnets in the
satellite to push and pull on the Earth's magnetic field.
Experts had speculated about such an approach as a fallback
for failing satellite guidance systems, but it had never been
employed to steer a satellite with the exacting accuracy
needed for scientific observations. Full NASA FUSE pres release.

Wednesday 6th March

February 2002

Moon Blues
The Moon continues to dassle earth observers as last night saw the largest moon this year. Largest full moon? As with all planetary bodies, their orbits are not perfect circles but elipses, with a major body at one focus. The moon orbits the earth in this elipse which brings it close to the earth at perigee and further away at apogee. Last night, the 27th, saw the full moon at perigee which made it appear much larger to earth observers.

Thursday 28th February

Cassini-Huygens and Galileo Duet
The Cassini-Huygens and Galileo spacecraft orbited Jupiter for two days in January 2001, making observations of the planet's magnetosphere. The experiments conducted during this unique event have shed light on many of the processes that take place in Jupiter's magnetosphere, and reports on ultraviolet emissions, interaction with solar radiation and the presence of ultra-relativistic electrons appear in the current issue of Nature (2002 415 issue 6875). Read the full Physicsweb Jupiter Duet article.

Wednesday 27th February

Alien Life Debate
Dr Roger Angel, a leading scintist in the filed of alien life, believes that if there are alien astronomers on different worlds then thay will probably know about us. He explained at America's biggest science meeting in Boston, that the presence of life on Earth has been sending a signal to the stars announcing our existance. Read the Astronomy Feature below for more.

Tuesday 19th February

Space Hotels, Mars Link
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is leading a team of researchers, including engineers at Purdue University, to design a new class of spacecraft that would serve as orbiting hotels perpetually cruising between Earth and Mars. Read the full Spaceflightnow.com Space Hotels article. Sign up for the Spaceflightnow.com newsletter

Thursday 7th February

The Growing ISS
For those of you in the UK this week and next have many excelent opertunities to view the ever growing ISS⁷. The timings vary depending on your location but are from about 6 to 8 in the evening and last around 4 minutes. I saw it last night and it was spectacular. If you have reasonable sized viewing equipment it is possible to watch it rotate and even film its path.

Thursday 7th February

Hessi to Launch on Tuesday
The High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager spacecraft will ride to a 373-mile-high perch above the planet aboard an air-launched Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. The rocket will have been released from a modified jetliner over Palm Bay, Florida. Read the full Spaceflightnow.com Hessi Launch article.

Tuesday 5th February

January 2002

Galileo's Closest and Final Io Flyby
NASA's Galileo orbiter will dart past Jupiter's moon Io on Thursday in the veteran spacecraft's last and closest flyby of any of the giant planet's four major moons. "Galileo's days are numbered now, so it's especially exciting to visit Io one last time," said Dr. Eilene Theilig, Galileo project manager. Read the full Spaceflightnow.com Io Flyby article.

Wednesday 16th January

AS on Yahoo One Today
The h2g2as has been running for over a year now but the yahoo groups discussion list has just made it's first year and going strong. If you've been a visitor to the site and haven't joined yet then please do, we would love to see you there. Just go to the h2g2as Yahoo page and click 'Join this Group' at the top right.

Thusday 12th January

The Colour of the Universe
Acording to new research undertaken the colour of the universe is not black as you probably suspect but more of a blueish-green, or to be precice half way between aquamarine and turquoise! This research has looked at all the available light in the univers and averaged it to get the 'colour of the universe' so when you look up at night you will still see a black sky.

Friday 11th January

Star Bright, Planet not so Bright
On the 11th of January Mercury will be at its furtherst point from the Sun however it is not favouribly placed for observers to view it. Sirius will be bright this month as it is the second brightest objest in the night sky (Jupiter being the brightest). Sirius, Betelgeuse and Procyon make up the winter triangle, a low key version of the summer triangle.

Thusday 10th January

Close Solar Approach for 96P/Machholz
The periodic comet 96P/Machholz is heating up as it approaches the sun at the perigee of it's 5.24 year orbit. This week the comet swings remarkably close to the Sun however we on Earth will be unabe to view it due to it's proximity to the sun. Luckily for us the SOHO spacecraft, which constantly watch the sun, will be able to see the comet whihc is growing a long bright tail. Keep an eye on NASA's SOHO website and Spaceweather.com for movies and images of the comet.

Monday 7th January

Previous Feature Articles

Life Signs

The Leonid Meteor Shower 2001

Are you looking forwards to the Leonid Meteor shower this year? Well, it should be a good one according to current predictions. The Peak of the shower should be on
Sunday 18 ^th of November

Will you be out?
Everyone is of course at the mercy of the weather, espicially the British as England allways has a good amount of cloud stored up for a good meteor shower. So it is advisable to check the current weather forcasts for your location to find out when your clearest skies are. The AOL international weather forcast page Has local predictions as well as current sattelite immages of cloud cover around the globe.

If you are out and observing then send your results either into a forum on any of the h2g2as pages or email using the contact links below. Mention your location, observing times, number per hour or half hour etc, and note any particulary bright meteors.

Extra-solar Planets

Passage from the Sky and Telescope news webpage.

Astronomers of a generation ago wondered whether planets would ever be found orbiting other stars. Nowadays they announce their discoveries by the dozen, or nearly so. Today the Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search Team, headed by Michel Mayor, announced the detection of 11 additional worlds encircling other suns. These range from something roughly the mass of Jupiter to behemoths at least 10 times heftier. All told, astronomers have now identified nearly 70 bodies around other stars low enough in mass to be considered planetary in nature — with roughly half of those finds credited to Mayor's team.

Beyond the sheer numbers, the recent discoveries underscore that planetary systems come in all shapes and sizes. For example, HD 82943, a Sun-like 6.5-magnitude star in the constellation Hydra, was already known to have one world that circles it every 445 days. But Mayor and his colleagues have now found a second body with a revolution period half as long. This suggests that the two planets are locked in an orbital resonance, much like the case for the dim red-dwarf star Gleise 876. Mayor's just-announced discoveries also include a two-planet system around 4th-magnitude HD 74156, with a Jupiter type body relatively close in and a more massive one much farther out; a planet whose extremely eccentric orbit (0.927) cycles it between 5 and 127 million kilometres from HD 80606 every 112 days; and a giant planet moving around HD 28185 in a roughly circular orbit remarkably like Earth's in radius — a world that could theoretically be habitable.

Contact

If you would like to contact me please use these two links:
yeliab@home and yeliab@uni