1. science
2. physics
3. space and astronomy

NORTHERN COLORADO
ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
October 2014 Newsletter
CONTENTS
Page 2-3: Science news
Page 4: Science videos
Page 5: NCAS info
Page 6-7: October & November event
calendars
Page 8: NoCo resources
MEETINGS
TMT construction begins!
Photos of the Oct 8 lunar eclipse
2014 OFFICERS
add @ncastro.org to email
Date: November 6, 2014
Meeting (NEW TIME): 6:15 pm
Dinner (NEW TIME): 7:45 pm
Location: FoCo Museum of Discovery
Speaker: Dr. Ken Ogan
Topic: An inside tour of the new, large
astronomical observatories in Chile
TITLE:
NAME:
EMAIL:
Want more? Check out The Museum of
President
Dave Karp
pres@
Vice President
Greg Halac
vp@
Discovery news & events here or NCAS
Secretary
David Auter
sec@
Treasurer
Jeff Blume
treas@
Newsletter Editor
Amanda Bell
objview@
Web Editor & Outreach Coordinator
Greg Halac
web-edit@
member submissions, events, meeting
and more at our website.
SCIENCE
NEWS
Share your favorite stories, articles, photos or
events with your fellow members! Submit
anything and everything to your newsletter editor,
Amanda, at objview at ncastro.org.
MOON S AW GE OLOGICA LLY RE CEN T VOLCAN IC ER UPTI O NS:
Dark outpourings of lava gave the "man in the moon" his face more than three
billion years ago. And volcanic activity continued on the moon until it halted a
billion years ago – or so lunar scientists have long thought…
!
S CIEN T IST S N AME L ARGE BOUL D ER ON COMET 67P/
CH URY UMOV-GE RAS IM EN KO:
Since this cluster of boulders reminded the scientists of the pyramids of Giza, the
boulder has been named Cheops after the largest pyramid within the Giza
Necropolis.
MA PPIN G T H E WE AT H ER ON A N E XT RE ME EXOPLANE T:
Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have mapped the temperature and
water vapor in an exoplanet’s atmosphere. Tidally locked with its star, this planet
has different sides for day and night. Think: howling winds at the speed of sound
from a day side that is hot enough to melt iron (nearly 3000 degrees F) to the
black night side that seeds temps plunge to nearly 1000 degrees F. View a timelapse video of one planet rotation.
D IVERS E MIC ROBES FO UND D EE P BELOW AN TAR CTI C I CE SHEE T:
Nearly 4,000 species of microorganisms were found in the cold, dark waters of
Lake Whillans, which sits about half a mile below Antarctica’s ice sheet. Scientists
have isolated the genetic material (ribosomal RNA gene sequences) and
detected nearly 4,000 species of bacteria in water taken from below 800 meters
of ice and almost 2,500 species of bacteria in the sediment.
N AS A PR EPARE S IT S S CIEN CE FL EE T F OR OCT 19:
NASA’s extensive fleet of science assets, particularly those orbiting and roving
Mars, have front row seats to image and study a once-in-a-lifetime comet flyby on
Sunday, Oct. 19. "I would have been very surprised if you had told me we were
going to use CRISM to look at a comet," Humm said. "The likelihood of being this
close to a new comet is really very small, and we're operating well beyond our
design lifetime, so this exciting an opportunity is completely unexpected."
MEAS UR IN G AT M O SP HE RI C CA RB O N D I OX I DE FR OM S PACE :
2014 PHY SIC S NOB EL:
Atmospheric scientists have recently launched space-based instruments with the
potential to provide global measurements of greenhouse gas concentrations,
including carbon dioxide (CO2). If we can account for the confounding effects of
aerosols, satellite-based measurements of CO2 will improve our understanding of
Earth’s carbon cycle.
Developers of blue LEDs win 2014 physics Nobel.
This invention greatly extended the range of
applications for efficient and long-lived solid-state
lighting. Besides the potential for slashing the world's
electricity bill, GaN-based LEDs have other important
and widespread applications. The devices deliver
light to the screens of cell phones, computers, and
TVs. In poor countries, solar-powered LED lights are
supplanting lamps fueled by kerosene.
THE DAYS I DE : WO M E N I N P H YS I C S - A V I E W FROM 1948:
Physics Today made its debut in 1948. In that year's December issue the young
magazine ran a feature article about a topic that continues to challenge the
physics community: encouraging women to become and remain physicists.
ENTE R T HE N A M E - E XO -WO RLD S CO N T EST:
The IAU invites all public organisations with an interest in astronomy to register on
the IAU Directory for World Astronomy website for the NameExoWorlds contest,
where they will in early 2015 be able to suggest names for exoplanets and their
host stars. For the first time in history the public will then be able to vote for the
official name of stars and planets.
Isamu Akasaki
MEGA F L AR E S F R O M A MI N I STAR:
On April 23, NASA's Swift satellite detected the strongest, hottest, and longestlasting sequence of stellar flares ever seen from a nearby red dwarf star. The initial
blast from this record-setting series of explosions was as much as 10,000 times
more powerful than the largest solar flare ever recorded. (Video.)
Hiroshi Amano
Shuji Nakamura
MONST E R BL AC K H O L E I N DWARF GAL AX Y:
Astronomers have just discovered the smallest known galaxy that harbors a huge,
supermassive black hole at its core. The relatively nearby dwarf galaxy may house
a supermassive black hole at its heart equal in mass to about 21 million suns.
COS MIC Q UER IE S : FUN D IN G SPACE E XPLORAT IO N WIT H BI LL NY E:
SCIENCE
Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society, is back as guest host for an episode about a
CONTENTS
subject
near
and
dear
to
hisD
heart:
funding space exploration. You’ll learn how
N
O
R
T
H
E
R
N
C
O
L
O
R
A
O
VIDEOS
NASA works with contractors and why the privatization of space still costs
Page 2-3: Science news
money, and why for every $1 we spend on NASA, we get back $3.60.
A S T R O N O Mtaxpayers
ICA
L SOCIETY
Page 4: Science videos
Page 5: NCAS info
Page 6-7: October & November event
AN T I-M AT T ER EX PL AIN ED :
calendars
Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new
Page 8: NoCo resources
problems in physics -- all in a minute!
October 2014 Newsletter
IS S PA S SIN G IN FRON T OF T H E MOON :
MEETINGS
This video is actually only 1.3 seconds long. Watch this amazing sequence slowed
10x with the moon 240,000 miles away and ISS 400 miles away.
Date: November 6, 2014
Meeting (NEW TIME): 6:15 pm
Dinner (NEW TIME): 7:45 pm
Location: FoCo Museum of Discovery
AR E YOU LIVIN G IN A S IMULAT ION ?
Speaker: Dr. Ken Ogan
Philosophers have long considered the possibility that we live in an artificial or
Topic: An inside tour of the new, large
simulated reality. Dr. Beane gives a short overview of some of the simulation
add @ncastro.org to email
astronomical
observatories in Chile
arguments/scenarios that he personally finds most compelling. Dr. Beane
then
TMT construction
begins!
Many photos of the Oct 8 lunar eclipse.
2014 OFFICERS
TITLE:
attempts to frame the simulation argument in the context of science. In
NAME: , discusses recent
EMAIL:
particularly
work which suggests various observational tests of
President
the hypothesis that we are currently living in a simulated universe.
Dave Karp
pres@
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Newsletter Editor
Web Editor & Outreach Coordinator
Want more? Check out The Museum of
Discovery news & events here or NCAS
Greg Halac
vp@
N EIL D EG RAS S E TYS ON DICUS S E S T H E IG N OBE L P RIZ E: member submissions, events,
David Auter
sec@
DiveJeff
intoBlume
the strange world of the Ig® Nobel Prize. You’ll discover the “first
and more at our website.
treas@
scientifically documented case of homosexual necrophilia in the Mallard Duck
Amanda Bell
objview@
community”, “whether it is mentally hazardous for a human being to own a cat,”
Greg Halac
web-edit@
prize-winning teams that have researched Coca Cola as a spermicide and the
validity of the “5-Second Rule.”
meeting
F R O M N C A S T R O. O R G
NCAS was officially established in 1995 as a non-profit organization to promote interest in
the science and hobby of astronomy. We meet the first Thursday of each month to discuss
our interests and share our experience in the universal world of astronomy.
MEM BE R P HOTO
AL BUM S:
You'll want to see all
of the amazing
photos taken by our
members.
NCAS E M AI L :
Anyone can join the
email lists but
subscription requests
are monitored. Only
approved subscribers
are allowed to post.
BORR OW
E QUI PMEN T
H ER E:
Club items may be
borrowed at NO
COST to NCAS
members. Find out
more here.
CLUB M EE TI NG
OVE RVIEW:
Recommend a future
speaker or find out
how to join speakers
for dinner before the
NCAS meeting.
Don’t forget to renew your
membership today!
Membership dues are only $20 /
year, collected in January and prorated for new members who join at
other times of the year. Membership
benefits include: membership in the
Astronomical League (and their
Reflector Magazine), use of club
equipment and books and a
NCAS
ADM IN I ST R AT I VE
INFO
N CAS P UBLIC
OUT RE ACH
PROG RAMS :
Renew your
membership here.
Find group bylaws
and constitution.
Help NCAS fulfill its
primary mission: to
educate and engage
the public with yearround public events.
discount on Sky and Telescope
Magazine and/or Astronomy
magazines.
NCAS Event Calendar
October
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
1
Friday
2
Saturday
3
!
NCAS Meeting
6:15pm
Fort Collins MoD
5
6
7
Uranus at Op.
Lunar Eclipse
Draconids Shower
Draconids Shower
!
12
8
13
Astronomy Day
Part 2
9
15
16
Globe at Night
Globe at Night
26
Globe at Night
21
22
Orionid Shower
Orionid Shower
Solar Eclipse
Globe at Night
Globe at Night
Globe at Night
Globe at Night
!
27
!
28
Globe at Night
18
Globe at Night
23
24
30
31
!
29
Progress 57
!
Globe at Night
Orionid Shower
!
17
Bobcat Ridge
Skygazing
!
20
11
Public Skygazing
Orbital-3 ISS
Resupply Flight
19
10
!
14
4
Launch of Sputnik
School/Public
Skygazing
25
NCAS Event Calendar
November
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
30
1
Open House
Chamberlin Obsv.
!
Public skygazing
Fossil Creek, 7-9pm
2
3
4
5
Taurid meteor
shower
Taurid meteor
shower
NCAS Meeting
6:15pm, FoCo MoD
!
9
10
11
23
Leonids meteor
shower
Globe at Night
Globe at Night
8
13
14
15
America By Air
Opened 2007
!
Globe at Night
!
Globe at Night
19
Globe at Night
20
Globe at Night
21
LTO public star night
!
24
12
18
Leonids meteor
shower
!
Globe at Night
Launch to ISS
17
7
!
Taurid meteor
shower
Taurid meteor
shower
16
6
School outreach
Globe at Night
25
AMNH Astronomy
Live
!
Globe at Night
26
Globe at Night
27
22
LTO volunteer
training night
28
29
Public skygazing
Fossil Creek,
7:30-9pm
NORTHERN COLORADO
Astronomy Clubs, Museums, Observatories and Planetariums
BO ULDE R AST RO N O MY & S PAC E
S OC IETY ( BAS S ) :
D EN VE R AST RON OMICAL S OCIETY
( DAS ):
ESTES PARK M EM OR IAL OBSE RVATORY
( EPM O):
Meetings are hosted by the UC campus at the
Fiske Planetarium. Open to students and the
public. Membership and meeting
info here.
DAS Promotes understanding of astronomical
phenomenon with monthly meetings, outreach
and activities at the University of Denver’s historic
Chamberlin Observatory. Don’t forget
to follow the Chamberlin
Observatory on Twitter.
Has many goals, including raising interest of kids in
K-12th grade in math, physics and science. EPMO
encourages enthusiasm for physics and math and
wants their facility to be free of charge to everyone.
F ORT CO L LI N S MU S E U M O F D I S COV ERY
( F OCO M OD) :
FRON T RA N GE AST RON OMICAL
S UPE RCLUST ER ( FR AS C) :
F RO NT RAN GE COM M UNI TY COLLEG E
( FR CC ) OBS ERVATOR IE S:
The MoD isn't just where we hold our meetings.
Check out their calendar for current events to find
out more or just schedule a visit any time.
A confederation of regional astronomy clubs for
sharing information and hosting joint summertime
star parties. Includes societies in Denver, CO
Springs, Pueblo, Cheynne, FoCo (That's us!),
Longmont, Boulder and many more…
Sunlight Peak Observatory and Stargazer
Observatory of Fort Collins are both operated by
FRCC. Sunlight Peak Observatory is located on
campus; Stargazer Observatory
in Observatory Village near Fossil
Ridge High School.
LIT T LE T H OMP S O N O B S E RVATO RY
( LTO ):
LON GM ON T AST RONO MICAL S O CIETY
( LA S) :
SO M MER S BAUS C H OBSE RVATORY
( SBO ):
No-charge public access to the universe available
during regularly-scheduled public star nights or a
private event.
Promotes amateur astronomy through monthly
meetings, star parties and public observing
sessions. Meetings are open to the public.
SBO is operated by the Department of
Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) at CU
Boulder. Check out the visitor’s guide for more
info.