MAY NEWSLETTER 2004
INDEX: MEETINGS, OTHER NEWS, CONTACTS
LAST MEETING
Talk
on the Moon
Given
by Peter Gill on 21st April 2004
In
Peter Gill's introduction, Murray Barber mentioned an astronomer in America who
has suggested nuking the moon to improve the night sky!
Peter said that by the end of the evening he hoped to have changed
member's opinions about this.
He
began his talk by saying that because of their relative sizes compared with the
other planets the earth-moon system is often regarded as a double planet.
Until 1608 and the invention of the telescope not a great deal of detail
was know about the moon. The same
face is always towards the earth-bound observer, but it was not until the
observer was able to take a magnified look that it was found the not just 50% of
the surface was visible, but due to various orbital variances and librations, as
much as 59% can be observed.
The
first detailed map of the moon with lunar nomenclature was published by Hevelius
in 1647 and Peter showed a number of detailed drawings from Hevelius'
publication. One of the drawings
was of crater Wilhelm Humboldt which he then compared with a modern observatory
photograph and then with a picture taken from a Lunar Lander.
This confirmed the accuracy of Hevelius' drawing and confirmed the crests
and dips.
Maury
is a double crater with a basaltic floor, and in the slide we could see radial
cracks that had shrunk, and a line of small craters possibly caused by a meteor
that had split into a trail before impact.
Apollo
8 was the first American manned mission to swing round behind the moon; although
Apollo 8 was the first craft to go into orbit, taking many images of the far
side of the moon's surface.
Several
controlled unmanned lunar landings had taken place to ensure the surface would
support a manned landing. Then we
were shown the famous photograph of Buz Aldrin standing on the surface of the
moon after the soft landing during the Apollo 11 mission.
Whilst
on the lunar surface a number of instruments were installed and these have
continued to give information about the solar wind, micro-meteorites and lunar
quakes.
Pictures
from Apollo 17 show a stark landscape, but one piece of evidence for using
manned missions was demonstrated when orange soil was noticed by one of the
astronauts and samples were taken to be returned to earth.
This was discovered to have been ejected from a nearby impact and
consisted of minute glass beads.
Peter
showed slides of other samples returned for analysis such as a pumice-like rock
containing glass bubbles. A photomicrograph showed that the rock had been broken
up and reformed many times. It was
also determined that in the craters, the higher rocks were in fact turned over
from the bedrock.
It
is now thought that the core of the moon is molten with a crust 65 Km thick.
This has mainly been determined through examining the effects of
moonquakes.
Peter
continued his talk with a theoretical history of the moon, formed through
evidence accumulated by the US Geological Survey. Theory suggests that a meteor the size of Mercury was
involved in a glancing impact with the primordial earth, knocking out the
material that was to form the moon.
Then
much more recently, 3.8 million years ago, Copernicus was formed after a huge
impact. Prior to this, it is
thought that there were no Mares (seas) on the moon's surface.
After about 3,500 years after impact, new features only just began to
appear. 3.3 million years ago the
Apennines began to appear, but Copernicus would still not have been visible, in
fact theory suggests that the crater only began to appear after 2.5 million
years after the impact.
In
the second part of Peter's talk, we were introduced to 85 Km diameter Tycho, one
of the most prominent craters on the moon with its ray structure dominating the
surface near full moon. It was
explained that the dark ring around the rim of the crater exists because very
little debris from impact would have gone straight up and then fallen straight
back down. At lunar dawn and
evening, Tycho is hardly visible because there are very few shadows.
We
spent most of the rest of the evening, looking at various craters carefully
drawn by observers viewing through the eye-piece of the telescope and talked of
the difficulty of being accurate. Peter
talked of various techniques, such as the German method of drawing rills using
short lines to illustrate their sides, and problems when astronomers have tried
to show ridges or troughs. He
showed this by comparing many old drawings with the same features taken recently
from space.
Finally,
Peter showed a number of slides of interesting features on the moon's surface
such as Wargentin in the Schikard group with its famous plateau thought now to
be a crater filled during volcanic activity.
By
the end of the evening, most members' interests had certainly been renewed in
observing the moon, rather than cursing it because of its effect on the night
sky.
Subsequently,
Peter Gill has written to Murray with this additional note:
"Something
I forgot to do was give the meeting particulars of the 'special' Eastbourne
Astronomical Society meeting on Saturday 5 June (three days before the transit
of Venus) at 19.30, when we have Dr Brian Marsden of the Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics (Cambridge, Mass.) speaking to us on 'Trans-Neptunian Objects' and
'The IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams and Its Work'.
"You and any of your colleagues would be welcome to come along (no charge!). Our meetings are held in Willingdon Memorial Hall, Church Street, Willingdon, on the south-western corner of the cross-roads between the A2270 and Church Street (which extends across both sides of the A2270), immediately north of the Eastbourne boundary. See map
The
hall is on the WESTERN side of Church Street (not named on the map); it is not
the church hall on the opposite side of the road. Please note that as there
is only a small car park, which is reserved for the speaker,
All very best wishes, Peter"
NEXT MEETING
The next Wadhurst Astronomical Society meeting will be held on Wednesday,
May 19th 2004 when the talk will be given by Mike Maunder and will be called
"The Transit of Venus/Astrophotography".
As usual, the meeting will be held in the Drama Studio at Uplands
College. The doors open at 7.15 and
the meeting starts at 7.30 prompt.
OBSERVING
SESSIONS
There will be Observing Session on the following Friday:
The sessions meet at 7.30 pm in the Crow and Gate pub, about a mile south of Crowborough on the A26 main Uckfield road. Then at 8.00 pm the group move onto Ashdown Forest with Sean’s and the Society’s telescopes and possibly others.
Sean Tampsett suggests that interested members phone him between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm to make sure the session is going ahead.
A NOTE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Steve
Camp and Doug Biswell have kindly taken on the position of society secretaries.
I would like to thank them and to ask the membership to support them in
this new responsibility. If anyone
in the WAS has a particular topic that they would like to see discussed by a
guest speaker, do please pass your comments on to Steve and Doug for
consideration.
I
have for many years been the Chair of the WAS and have very much enjoyed my
tenure and also the good humour, advice and support from an excellent committee
and membership. The time has come
for myself to stand down. Some
of you will know of my other interests and projects which I need to apply myself
to in a more committed way. In any
event a change is good! A new Chair
will bring renewed enthusiasm and will I'm sure steer the WAS onwards and
upwards. It has been said that the
Chair of any society should have an encyclopaedic knowledge but the truth is
that enthusiasm, communication and commitment are the most important
credentials. I will in my present
capacity officially chair the last meeting this July. Do please contact myself or any other committee member
if you wish to be Chair. I would be
happy to discuss and advise any potential candidate for this new opening within
the Society.
TREASURER'S NOTE
We have just received the annual booking renewal papers from Uplands
College for the period April 2004 - March 2005.
The news is that the cost of hiring the drama studio is to rise from £312
to £318 for the 11 months commencing April 2004 until March 2005.
Members may not be aware that it costs us approximately £50 to conduct
each monthly meeting. The hire of the room is the major part and we are very
thankful that most speakers have adopted a generous "reimbursement of
travel expenses only fee" or no fee at all.
Until last year our not insubstantial catering costs were absorbed by one
or two benefactors.
It
is not the Committee's present intention to increase subscriptions although we
would appreciate it if the gang of four would pay up. The ideal way to keep
costs and income in balance is for members to introduce some fresh members to
join the Society.
The Committee is not an exclusive elite.
Members may well have looked at its composition and have adopted the view
that "if it ain't broke don't change it".
However, only one member (last year) has joined the Committee in the past
4 years. Some have served for over
6 years and that is too long. We
are concerned that if volunteers are not prepared to join us, this could lead
along the path followed by at least two earlier similar societies in this area -
extinction.
There is no need to be apprehensive; at least two members of the present
committee have a meagre knowledge of astronomy and the others would agree that
there is more wisdom on the subject outside the committee than in it.
You don't need a late pass to attend four one-hour meetings a year.
Ian
Reeves
Chairman:
Murray R. Barber 01892 654618
murray.barber@virgin.net
Secretaries:
Steve Camp
steve.camp52@btopenworld.com
Doug Biswell dougrbiswell@aol.com
Treasurer:
Ian Reeves
01892 784255
Membership
Sec: Joan Grace
01892 783721
Editor:
Geoff Rathbone
01959 524727
Geoff@rathbone007.fsnet.co.uk
Publicity
& Web Site: Michael
Harte 01892
783292
michael@greenman.demon.co.uk
Dir.
of Obs:
Sean Tampsett
01892 667092
sean_tampsett@hotmail.com
Copy
for the July Newsletter should be with the Editor by June 30th
2004