alpha

Astronomical League of the

Philippines’ HerAld

Vol. 7, Issue No. 2

February 2009 © 2009, Astronomical League of

the Philippines

Visit our website at

www.astroleaguephils.org Francisco Lao, Jr.,

Editor-in-Chief < appulse2000@yahoo.com >

FEATURE IMAGE THIS ISSUE

One of the highlights for February is the approach of Comet Lulin, which will hopefully brighten to naked eye visibility later in the month. These images, taken a week apart (Jan. 20 and 27), show a normal tail and an anti-tail since we are viewing the plane of the comet’s orbit. Details on page 19. © John Nassr

CLUB NEWSCLUB NEWSCLUB NEWSCLUB NEWS

Philippine Astronomy Convention The Philippine Astronomy Convention (PAC) is planned as an annual gathering of professional and amateur astronomers in the country, to be started during the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA 2009). This event is being hosted by the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP). The convention was initiated by the ALP as a means of establishing a forum for all astronomers and astronomy-related organizations, institutions and agencies in the country to exchange ideas and discuss matters of astronomy and astrophysics. The convention is envisioned to be held every year during National Astronomy Week (NAW).

NAW 2009 is a weeklong celebration participated in by numerous astronomical organizations, institutions, schools and universities in the country. An astronomical exhibit will showcase astronomical images taken by Filipino astronomers. Poster contributions from local and international scientists will also be displayed to disseminate their activities and research output. In order to foster observational astronomy in the country, stargazing sessions will be held to introduce the general public to the scenic beauty of the cosmos. Some of them will have their first view of the planets, the lunar craters, and deep sky objects through mid-sized telescopes and binoculars. This activity is also in line with the IYA 2009 cornerstone project – “100 Hours of Astronomy”. Held during the Philippine Astronomy Convention, the plenary session or talks will serve as a formal venue for astronomers in and outside the Philippines to disseminate their studies and researches in the different branches of astronomy, as well as other topics of astronomical interest. Plenary speakers and lecturers are expected to come from varied fields, such as observational astronomy, instrumentation, astronomy education, astrophysics and other areas. This year's Philippine Astronomy Convention will be held on February 15 (Sunday) at the Rizal Technological University on Boni Avenue. This event will be a whole day affair and will end with a public stargazing session in the evening. The program for the opening is featured on page 12.

Sidewalk Astronomers Congratulations to Dr. Armando Lee, for being appointed as National Organizer for Sidewalk Astronomers for 2009! As National Organizer, Dr. Lee has been given the duties, responsibilities, rights and privileges to facilitate activities involving amateur astronomers in the Philippines related to the 100 Hours of Astronomy Project, International Sidewalk Astronomy Night, and the International Year of Astronomy.

January Meeting Last January 4, members of the ALP held its monthly meeting at the Manila Planetarium. Members present included James Kevin Ty; Dr. Jett Aguilar; Angie Tan; Dr. Armando Lee; Vincent Lao; Tommy Tan; Edgar Ang; Bel Pabunan; Jomar Lacson and his wife Beth and son Cid; and new member Alfredo Pascual, with his grandson Aaron Pascual Galano (� p. 12).

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1st PHILIPPINE ASTRONOMY CONVENTION (2009) PROGRAMME

The Astronomical League of the Philippines, Inc. (ALP)

in cooperation with Rizal Technological University (RTU),

National Museum - Manila Planetarium, and the

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services

Administration

The 1The 1The 1The 1stststst Philippine Astronomy Convention Philippine Astronomy Convention Philippine Astronomy Convention Philippine Astronomy Convention

In Celebration of National Astronomy Week

2009 and

International Year of Astronomy

P R O G R A M M E

9:00 - 9:30 Prayer and National Anthem

(Bldg. lobby, ground floor)

Ms Alice Villa-Real, ALP

Emcee

9:30 - 10:00 Welcome Remarks and

Opening of Exhibits/Ribbon Cutting Ceremony (Bldg.

lobby, ground floor)

Hon. Jose Q. Macaballug

10:00 - 11:00 Lecture: IYA2009 (RTU Plenary

Hall)

Dr. Cynthia Celebre, PhD

11:00 - 12:00 Lecture: Course Offerings In

Astronomy in the Philippines (RTU Plenary Hall)

Dr. Jesus Rodrigo Torres, ALP

12:00 - 1:30 Astronomical Exhibit (Bldg.

lobby, ground floor) and Solar

Viewing (RTU grounds)

ALP members

2:00 - 3:00 Lecture: Ethno-Astronomy in

the Philippines (RTU Plenary

Hall)

Dr. Dante Ambrosio, PhD

3:00 - 3:30 Lecture: Sidewalk Astronomers

celebrates IYA2009 (100HA, Global Star Party, IYA) (RTU

Plenary Hall)

Dr. Armando Lee, ALP

3:30 - 4:00 Lecture: EQMOD (RTU Plenary

Hall)

Engr. Raymund Sarmiento, ALP

4:00 - 5:00 Lecture: Jupiter & Red Spot Jr.

(RTU Plenary Hall)

Mr. Christopher Go, ALP

5:00 - 5:30 Awarding of Certificates &

Closing Remarks

James Kevin Ty

ALP President/Chairman

5:30 - 6:00 Telescope Exhibit (RTU

grounds)

BS Astronomy Tech Students

6:00 - 9:00 Telescope Viewing Session

(RTU grounds)

ALP members

January Meeting (cont’d from cover)

The meeting started at around 3:30 p.m. with ALP President James Kevin Ty doing a slide show lecture on what to expect and see during a Total Solar Eclipse. He used his previous Oct 24, 1995 Total Solar Eclipse slide images to show his experience on eclipse chasing. Afterwards, he proceeded with a PowerPoint lecture on how solar eclipses occur, showing the phases of the eclipse as well as showing live video footage of the just-concluded August 1, 2008 total solar eclipse in China and Siberia, so that the members can have a feel of what they can see, in case they will join the ALP July 22, 2009 Total Solar Eclipse Expedition Team. James is the Expedition Team Leader and will train the members en route to E-Day on July 22. Among the first batch of members that had confirmed to join the team are: James, Dr. Jett Aguilar, Dr. Armando Lee, Henry So, John Nassr, Jun Lao, Eric Africa, Christopher Go, Tomio Akutsu, Angie Tan, Melisa Bata, Andrew Ian Chan, Alfonso Sy, and Alfredo Pascual. Some of the member's family members are also expected to join the trip as well. For those who want to join the team, kindly inform Eclipse Team Leader James Kevin Ty at (0917) 855-9863 of their full intention to join the trip in China. Details and plans of the eclipse trip are on hold for further announcements. The meeting ended at around 6:00 p.m. – James Kevin Ty

BREAKINGBREAKINGBREAKINGBREAKING NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS

Astronomers Crack Lunar Mystery Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) carried out the most detailed analysis of the oldest pristine rock from the Apollo collection and have solved a longstanding puzzle. Magnetic traces recorded in the rock provide strong evidence that 4.2 billion years ago, the Moon had a liquid core with a dynamo, like Earth's core today, that produced a strong magnetic field. The Moon rock that produced the new evidence was long known to be a very special one. It is the oldest of all the Moon rocks that have not been subjected to major shocks from later impacts - something that tends to erase all evidence of earlier magnetic fields. In fact, it's older than any known rocks from Mars or even from Earth. The rock was collected during the last lunar landing mission, Apollo 17, by Harrison "Jack" Schmidt, the only geologist to walk on the Moon. It is one of the oldest and most pristine samples known. If that wasn't enough, it is also perhaps the most beautiful lunar rock, displaying a mixture of bright green and milky white crystals. The team studied faint magnetic traces in a small sample of the rock in great detail. The data enabled them to rule out the other possible sources of the magnetic traces, such as magnetic fields briefly generated by huge impacts on the Moon. Those magnetic fields are short-lived, ranging from just seconds for small impacts, up to one day for the most massive strikes. The evidence written in the lunar rock showed it must have remained in a magnetic environment for a long period of time - millions of years - and thus the field had to have come from a long-lasting magnetic dynamo. That's not a new idea, but it has been one of the most controversial issues in lunar science. Until the Apollo missions, many prominent scientists were convinced that the Moon was born cold and stayed cold, never melting enough to form a liquid core. Apollo proved that there had been massive flows of lava on the Moon's surface, but the idea that it has, or ever had, a molten core remained controversial (� p. 13).

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The magnetic field necessary to have magnetized this rock would have been about one-fiftieth as strong as Earth's is today. This is consistent with dynamo theory and also fits in with the prevailing theory that the Moon was born when a Mars-sized body crashed into Earth and blasted much of its crust into space, where it clumped together to form the Moon. - MIT, Cambridge, Maryland

Martian Methane Mars today is a world of cold and lonely deserts, apparently without life of any kind, at least on the surface. Worse still, it looks like Mars has been cold and dry for billions of years, with an atmosphere so thin, any liquid water on the surface quickly boils away while the sun's ultraviolet radiation scorches the ground.

There is evidence of a warmer and wetter past - features resembling dry riverbeds and minerals that form in the presence of water indicate water once flowed through Martian sands. Since liquid water is required for all known forms of life, scientists wonder if life could have arisen on Mars, and if it did, what became of it as the Martian climate changed. New research reveals there is hope for Mars yet. The first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars indicates the planet is still alive, in either a biologic or geologic sense. "Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas," said Dr. Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Methane - four atoms of hydrogen bound to a carbon atom - is the main component of natural gas on Earth.

It's of interest to astrobiologists because organisms release much of Earth's methane as they digest nutrients. However, other purely geological processes, like oxidation of iron, also release methane. Right now, we don’t have enough information to tell if biology or geology -- or both - is producing the methane on Mars. It does tell us that the planet is still alive, at least in a geologic sense. It's as if Mars is challenging us, saying, hey, find out what this means. If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface, where it's still warm enough for liquid water to exist. Liquid water, as well as energy sources and a supply of carbon, are necessary for all known forms of life.

Red areas indicate where in 2003, ground-based observers detected concentrations of methane in the Martian atmosphere, measured in parts per billion (ppb). © NASA / M. Mumma & others On Earth, microorganisms thrive 2 to 3 kilometers beneath the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa, where natural radioactivity splits water molecules into molecular hydrogen (H2) and oxygen. The organisms use the hydrogen for energy. It might be possible for similar organisms to survive for billions of years below the permafrost layer on Mars, where water is liquid, radiation supplies energy, and carbon dioxide provides carbon. Gases, like methane, accumulated in such underground zones might be released into the atmosphere if pores or fissures open during the warm seasons, connecting the deep zones to the atmosphere at crater walls or canyons. Microbes that produced methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide were one of the earliest forms of life on Earth.

If life ever existed on Mars, it's reasonable to think that its metabolism might have involved making methane from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, it is possible a geologic process produced the Martian methane, either now or eons ago. On Earth, the conversion of iron oxide (rust) into the serpentine group of minerals creates methane, and on Mars this process could proceed using water, carbon dioxide, and the planet's internal heat. Although we don’t have evidence on Mars of active volcanoes today, ancient methane trapped in ice "cages" called clathrates might now be released. Methane was found in the atmosphere of Mars by carefully observing the planet over several Mars years (and all Martian seasons) with NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, run by the University of Hawaii, and the W. M. Keck telescope, both at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Spectrometer instruments were attached to the telescopes to make the detection. Spectrometers spread light into its component colors, like a prism separates white light into a rainbow. The team looked for dark areas in specific places along the rainbow (light spectrum) where methane was absorbing sunlight reflected from the Martian surface. They found three such areas, called absorption lines, which together are a definitive signature of methane. They were able to distinguish lines from Martian methane from the methane in Earth's atmosphere because the motion of the Red Planet shifted the position of the Martian lines, much as a speeding ambulance causes its siren to change pitch as it passes by. We observed and mapped multiple plumes of methane on Mars, one of which released about 19,000 metric tons of methane. The plumes were emitted during the warmer seasons - spring and summer - perhaps because the permafrost blocking cracks and fissures vaporized, allowing methane to seep into the Martian air. Curiously, some plumes had water vapor while others did not. According to the team, the plumes were seen over areas that show evidence of ancient ground ice or flowing water. For example, plumes appeared over northern hemisphere regions such as east of Arabia Terra, the Nili Fossae region, and the southeast quadrant of Syrtis Major, an ancient volcano 1,200 kilometers across. It will take future missions, like NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, to discover the origin of the Martian methane. One way to tell if life is the source of the gas is by measuring isotope ratios. Isotopes are heavier versions of an element; for example, deuterium is a heavier version of hydrogen (� p. 14).

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In molecules that contain hydrogen, like water and methane, the rare deuterium occasionally replaces a hydrogen atom. Since life prefers to use the lighter isotopes, if the methane has less deuterium than the water released with it on Mars, it's a sign that life is producing the methane. - Bill Steigerwald, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

More Massive Milky Way Scientists have dramatically revised the mass of the Milky Way, saying our home galaxy is half again as heavy as previously thought. The Milky Way is now on par with the nearby Andromeda Galaxy in terms of heft. The Milky Way spins a lot faster than was thought, too. Astronomers arrived at the new mass by using the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope to make detailed images of the galaxy's structure, measuring distances and motions of different areas of the Milky Way. These high-precision measurements indicate that the galaxy's speed at the position of our solar system (at a distance of 28,000 light-years from the galactic center) is about 970,000 kph to 160,000 kph faster than previously thought. That increase in speed increases the Milky Way's mass by 50 percent and that added heft makes our galaxy a much more serious contender against Andromeda. The new mass for the Milky Way is 3 trillion solar masses, and that larger mass, in turn, means that the Milky Way exerts a greater gravitational pull that increases the likelihood of collisions with Andromeda or other smaller nearby galaxies. The team used the VLBA, a system of 10 radio-telescope antennas stretching from Hawaii to New England and the Caribbean, to observe regions of prolific star formation across the Milky Way. Gas molecules strengthen the naturally-occurring radio emissions in portions of these regions, in the same way that lasers strengthen light beams. The astronomers tracked these areas, called cosmic masers, observing them when the Earth was at opposite sides of its orbit around the sun. The apparent shift of the light can be measured against the background of more distant objects to triangulate their positions and movements. The observations are also shedding light on the Milky Way's spiral structure, because cosmic masers "define the spiral arms of the Galaxy". The measurements showed that "most star-forming regions do not follow a circular path as they orbit the galaxy; instead we find them moving more slowly than other regions and on elliptical, not circular, orbits. The elliptical orbits are the result of what are called spiral density wave shocks, which can take gas in a circular orbit, compress it to form stars and cause it to go into a new, elliptical orbit, reinforcing the galaxy's spiral structure.

The VLBA observations also yielded other surprises about the spiral structure. These measurements indicated that our galaxy probably has four, not two, spiral arms of gas and dust that are forming stars. Recent surveys by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that older stars are found mostly in just two spiral arms. Why they don't form in the other arms is a question astronomers say will require more measurements and observations. In separate news, NASA released a striking new image that is the sharpest infrared view ever taken of the Milky Way's core. It reveals a new population of massive stars and new details about complex structures in the hot gas around the galactic center. - Andrea Thompson, Space.com

Black Hole in Centaurus A The jets and lobes emanating from Centaurus A's (NGC 5128) central black hole have been imaged at sub-millimeter wavelengths for the first time. The new data, from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile, which is operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), have been combined with visible and X-ray wavelengths to produce this striking new image. Centaurus A is Earth's nearest giant galaxy, at a distance of about 13 million light-years in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is an elliptical galaxy, currently merging with a companion spiral galaxy, resulting in areas of intense star formation and making it one of the most spectacular objects in the sky. Centaurus A hosts an active and luminous central region that radiates strongly at radio and X-ray wavelengths. A supermassive black hole powers all this activity.

In the image, we see the dust ring encircling the giant galaxy and the fast-moving radio jets ejected from the galaxy's center, signatures of the supermassive black hole at the heart of Centaurus A. In sub-millimeter light, we see not only the heat glow from the central dust disc, but also the emission from the central radio source and - for the first time in the sub millimeter - the inner radio lobes north and

south of the disc. Measurements of this emission, which occurs when fast-moving electrons spiral around the lines of a magnetic field, reveal the material in the jet is traveling at approximately half the speed of light. In the X-ray emission, we see the jets emerging from the center of Centaurus A and, to the lower right of the galaxy, the glow where the expanding lobe collides with the surrounding gas, creating a shockwave. - ESO

ReportsReportsReportsReports Caliraya Stargazing Last December 28, members of the ALP went to Caliraya, Laguna for a stargazing session. Among the members present were ALP president James Kevin Ty; VP Dr. Jett Aguilar; NAW/Education Chairman Dr. Armando Lee; Nathaniel Custodio; and, Irving Raymundo. Joining them were students of RTU Astro Tech, namely Pauline Divinagracia, Antonette Icot, Rhyan Coronel and Frank Kelvin Martinez. Also present were Dr. Lee's wife Mia and son Jason as well as Pauline's mom, Fatima.

ALPers met up at Shell Alabang at around 3 p.m. en route to Caliraya, while Dr. Lee and RTU students proceeded to the site from Dr. Lee’s house in Calamba. They arrived almost at the same time - around 7 p.m., and were greeted with a good sky but a very strong wind. Nevertheless, they proceeded to set up their tents and equipment at the grassy part of the site. James brought along his TV-101 refractor on GP-DX mount; Jett his Takahashi TSA-102 refractor on GP-DX mount; Nathaniel his William Optics Megrez 90 DFD refractor on GPD2 mount; Irving his Orion XT10 Dobsonian reflector; and Armand brought his William Optics Zenithstar 80ED refractor on Atlas EQ-6 mount. The night started with astro-gremlins causing a havoc on all members with scopes. Armand had problems on his GOTO accuracy; Nathaniel started out with good results only to find out that his camera battery ran out on him after a few exposures; James got into trouble with his RA motors after accidentally hitting the RA motor housing while adjusting the mount's altitude control, thus he had to disassemble the entire RA housing only to find out clouds kept covering his target of the night, the Horsehead Nebula, after making the system run smoothly again; Jett also got into trouble with his controller's cable as well.

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RTU students help Dr. Lee set up the tent for the night (top); NGC2024/ B33 Horsehead Nebula in Orion (above) by Nathaniel Custodio All of them got their systems working again, but the sky suddenly became cloudy again. As the night progressed, most of them did visual observation most of the time as it was hard to image because of fast clouds passing through most of the areas being imaged. Through Irving's 10" reflector, Saturn was a beauty and almost showed an edge-on ring. Wind was exceptionally strong that time, the strongest so far that James had experienced in the 5 years of his Caliraya sessions. It was also very cold that evening and all had to wear thick sweaters and drink coffee to warm themselves up. At around 4:00 a.m., Jett, Irving, Nathaniel and James had to go back to Manila because of early morning commitments, Dr. Lee and family as well as RTU students waited till morning before heading back home.

NGC3293 Open Star Cluster in Carina by Dr. Armando Lee Amid the weird circumstances that hounded the group that evening, most of them still got time to enjoy the evening with observations, simple imaging and chatting.

M45 - Pleiades Star Cluster in Taurus by Dr. Armando Lee The group is expecting to go back to the site again this coming January with the promise to get better imaging results the next time around. - by James Kevin Ty. Images by James Kevin Ty, Dr. Armando Lee & Nathaniel Custodio

Partial Solar Eclipse: Lunar New Year: Ox na Ox for ALP ALP Boardwalk Observing Site Last January 26, 2009, ALP members set up in various observing sites around the country to document the partial solar eclipse that was visible in the late afternoon. The primary observing site was at the Boardwalk seawall beside the Manila Ocean Park. Aside from the Boardwalk, prime observing sites were also set up by ALPers at Aling Mahsya Restaurant in the south wing seaside parking of SM-MOA (near the SM-MOA dampa seafood market), Cebu City and Iloilo City. At the Boardwalk main site, members started to arrive at around 2:45 p.m. Among those present were ALP President James Kevin Ty; VP Jett Aguilar and wife Angge; Membership Chairperson Angie Tan; PRO Alice Villa-Real; Secretary Rich Pijuan; members Tommy Tan, Alfonso Sy, Andrew Ian Chan and sister Berenice Viola, Dennis Buenviaje; staff of the Manila Planetarium, including Liza Quitlong, Nel Lagda, Roberto Silvestre, and Maximo Zabanal; guests Mr. & Mrs.Yoshikatsu Chikira and staff of Sun East Asia Corporation; AP photographer Aaron Favila; and, ABS-CBN reporter Jeff Canoy and his crew. During that day, Francis Sarmiento III, who was at the 1986 total solar eclipse in General Santos City, and Soriano Lim became the newest ALP members as well. If one was to see who will comprise the ALP Solar Eclipse Expedition Team to Wuhan, China, one could say that most of the ALPers present that day are the serious ones that will comprise the team (� p. 16).

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ALP eclipse expedition team leader James Kevin Ty had informed the members that this event will be used as one of the first dry runs to be made by the expedition team to further train their awareness and concentration for the July 22 total solar eclipse in China. At around 3:30 p.m., they started to set up their telescopes facing the seawall. James brought along his TV-101 refractor on Vixen GP-D mount; Jett his Takahashi TSA-102 refractor, Stellarvue 80 mm refractor and Canon 100-400 mm IS zoom lens on Vixen GP-D mount; Andrew his Skywatcher 80ED refractor on EQ-1 mount; Alice and Angie their Orion ST-80 refractors on tripod; and, Manila Planetarium staff brought along their Celestron C8 SCT. Guests Mr. Chikira of Sun East Asia Corporation brought along several units of the Galileo telescope which will be the official telescope that will be used by the PAGASA National Organizing Committee (NOC) in promoting this year's International Year of Astronomy (IYA), while AP photographer Aaron brought along his huge Canon 400mm f/2.8 telephoto lens. The sky that afternoon was not clear as lots of thick clouds were covering the entire sky, with some small patches of clear sky passing across or beside the Sun. First contact was expected at around 4:55 p.m. but unfortunately, they missed seeing it because of the bad weather. First glimpse of the Sun was seen at around 5:39 p.m. already with a large chunk of the Sun already eclipsed. Loud cheers and camera shutters started to trigger away and with the Sun already low in the sky, James shouted out to the members to remove their solar filters as the Sun was still covered with a thin haze of clouds near the horizon. With less than 10 minutes to go, anxiety filled the air as everyone was wondering if the Sun will make a final move to let the members as well as the crowd see an eclipsed Sun before it set into the western horizon.

Jett Aguilar’s image of the setting eclipsed Sun at the back of a freighter.

The ALP observing group at the Boardwalk A few minutes before sunset, the Sun popped out of the clouds to show its maximum 62% obscuration and sunk behind a freighter parked at the edge of the horizon where the Sun set. Still a beautiful sight to behold. Everyone, including foreigners and locals, cheered and applauded after the Sun set. It was a nice experience for the team members, especially for the first timers of the group, to get a feel of what's in store for them in the July event. As for James, it will help him assess how the team members performed that day. It will also let him get a first hand look on what needs to be addressed and corrected to ensure the team members will perform flawlessly when E-Day arrives! - James Kevin Ty Members of the ALP gathered in the Manila Bay parking lot to view, photograph and document the partial phases of an annular solar eclipse. It was a great treat for all of us as the Sun and Moon played hide and seek. We thought we would get clouded out, but the last few minutes were too breathtaking that we broke into applause as these two celestial objects bid goodbye.

Eclipse in progress It is just a glimpse of things to come as we prepare for a scientific expedition to Wuhan, China on July 22 to document the longest total solar eclipse of the century (6+ minutes).

Eclipse sequence:

5:33 p.m.

5:48 p.m.

5:49 p.m.

5:50 p.m. A curious crowd gathered within our periphery wanting to experience the same excitement we had as we viewed our local star being eclipsed by the moon (� p. 17).

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5:50 p.m.

5:51 p.m.

We realized how fast time really flies as the Sun was setting. – Alice Villa-real New member Francis Sarmiento III joined the group during the eclipse and also had a few images to share. His photos show ALPers, members of the media and the public marvel at this solar spectacle. –

Francis Sarmiento III

This image showed the frustrating moments before the clouds parted to reveal the Sun already in partial eclipse.

Set up before the event.

Shoemart Mall of Asia - South Wing Seaside Parking Observing Site As early as 3:45 p.m., Dr. Armando Lee, together with his wife Mia and son Jason, arrived at the south seawall of the SM-Mall of Asia. They were later joined by the 1st year BS Astronomy Technology students from the Rizal Technological University - Antonette Icot, Pauline Divinagarcia, Angela Lequiron, and Miguel Artificio. The restaurant manager, Aling Rosa, was there to assist and coordinate with the security personnel of SM-MOA. Telescopes came in when Sidewalk Astronomer Bencie Lee (Dr Lee's brother) arrived with Fermin Naelga, Wilbert Palma and girlfriend Bes in a van. The following scopes were then set up: WO ZS80EDII on an EQ2 mount; ST80 on an EQ2 mount fitted by Dr Lee with PC164c-ex CCD video camera and KIWI-OSD-VTI and Canon ZR200 videocamera; and, another set up for public viewing - the Celestron version of ST-80.

ALP second site - setup at SM Mall of Asia

Dr. Armand Lee’s image of the partially eclipsed setting sun was featured in the front webpage of Spaceweather.com, on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, and reddit.com. At first, the sky was so cloudy that the Sun’s disk could not be discerned even by the naked eye. At first contact time - 4:55 p.m., the video setup of Dr. Lee was already recording, but unfortunately too much cloud cover prevented viewing the eclipsed Sun. Relatively clear sky only came in right before sunset, as thick clouds covered the sun, and 5 mins. before sunset, the western horizon cleared and people were ecstatic to see a crescent Sun setting. Shouts were heard as people ran towards the seawall while Dr Lee and Fermin Naelga shot their images and the rest of the people watched the sun with the naked eye while they screamed, shouted and clapped with joy (� p. 18).

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Everything went too slow as we watched the spectacle with great awe! A very memorable event indeed that will last a lifetime of memories. This one is for the books...until the next eclipse comes. We will sure be there again to be awestruck. The group finished off the session with a sumptuous dinner provided partly by the owner of the restaurant, Mr. Bernie Esporlas, and Dr. Armando Lee. Everyone kept talking about the event as if it never ended. A sure sign that everyone got their share of pure bliss. - Armando Lee ALPer Alexander Loinaz was also at the SM MOA site to image the partial solar eclipse but he opted be separated from the ALP's SM MOA South Wing Seaside Group as well as the ALP's Boardwalk Group, in search for an even better imaging position with his very mobile setup, a 1000-mm mirror lens setup on tripod. Here are a few photos of the partial solar eclipse taken at the Mall of Asia. I took both digital and film images, which I will scan and post once I get them from the lab.

The Philippine Star photographers were with me and this is why we have the same images as posted in the front page of the Philippine Star. It was just awesome and my lucky day. I was at the Mall the day before photographing the sunset so I knew where exactly it was going down and what to expect based on the weather satellite photos of the day before and the actual day itself. The satellite photos showed no clouds west of the Philippines so it was only a canopy directly above.

True enough, it slowly slipped out of the canopy and performed a magnificent show. We (including the guys of the Philippine Star) all cheered as it was breaking out of the clouds, and the calculations were right! Even the crowd with us cheered and clapped as it was coming out of the canopy. Just awesome. I now have both the sunrise solar eclipse of June 11, 2002 and the January 26, 2009 sunset eclipse. - Alex Loinaz

Iloilo City Observing Site Solar eclipses really fascinated new ALPer Ted when he experienced it more than two decades ago, during his high school when they were allowed to go out from their classrooms and observed crescent shapes of sunlight through punctured cardboards. It grew an interest in him to explore the heavens and some frequent stiff neck incidences watching the night sky. On October last year, thanks to James Kevin Ty’s help, he was able to acquire a Vixen R130sf Newtonian Reflector telescope on Porta 2 mount and also a Baader solar filter. He tried practicing afocal pictures of the sun (and the Moon as well) with an Olympus FE-170, a point and shoot camera, which is the only one he had on hand. Upon learning there would be solar eclipses this year, he checked the internet if he could see it from Iloilo City. Luckily, his friend and officemate Chad Torrefranca mentioned that from his lawn, he can see the sunset.

Ted brought along his cousin, Mark Sequio, and they set up at his residence as early as 4 p.m. and waited eagerly for the moon’s silhouette on the Sun. He used a 20-mm Plossl eyepiece in order to get a full picture of the Sun when photographing it afocally. They were grateful that it was sunny that day, though windy, but with very little cloud cover. It was a good idea to put sunblock on, for they seldom took their eyes off the eyepiece. He took several shots, until the Sun was too low and covered with clouds hovering along the mountains of Cabatuan a few minutes before 6 p.m.

Images taken with a Vixen R130Sf Newtonian Reflector, Baader Solar Filter, 20-mm Plossl eyepiece & Olympus FE-170 Digicam. It was a very rewarding experience, being able to see an eclipse up close and in real-time and not just from pictures or television. Being new to astronomy sure has many of “firsts” and I am quite sure this is one of the best. - Teodoro Gonzaga

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Moon and Venus I’ve been traveling on business trip the past few weeks, and while taking a rushed visit to the Coliseum in Rome, I beheld ancient pillars near the site that framed the young crescent Moon and Venus (above), as I was about to board a taxi on the way back to the hotel and on to the airport on Jan. 28.

2 days later, I was in Belgium, and got to image the tighter pairing vs. the old Town Hall at the Grand Place in the center of Brussels (above). – Jun Lao

Moon Jan. 3, 2009. Seeing the moon out tonight, I set up my Nexstar 6SE and used the NexImage for the 1st time to shoot the moon:

Using RegiStax (which I didn't know how to use) and playing around with the options, I don't know how but I was able to "save" this jpg file. It may not look remotely like any of the beautiful moon photos in astro books, but it's my first and it looks pretty to me. Hope you'll forgive my enthusiasm and exuberance.

Feb. 1. I took a shot of the moon tonight using a Celestron C8 & Canon 1000D (above). – Hernando Bautista

Comet Kushida Comet 144/P Kushida has brightened more rapidly than expected and presently glows at magnitude 8.8. It is located in the constellation Taurus and is already high in the sky early evening. Except for the moon, the comet should be easily spotted through a pair of 10x50 binoculars. It continues to brighten and is expected to be brightest during the last days of January 2009.

Imaged January 6, 2009 with an Astrophysics 5" Starfire f/8 telescope with Atik 16HR camera on Losmandy Titan mount. Exposure 66 minutes with Astronomik LRGB filter 9, 6, 9, 9x2 minutes This image was taken through a 5-inch refractor using a total of 33 two-minute sub exposures. The comet is moving quite rapidly among the background stars that leave long trails in this one-hour exposure with a bright, nine day old waxing moon. – John Nassr, Baguio

Comet Lulin Jan. 20. Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin early this morning was an easy visual target through a 3-inch scope. It appeared large and fuzzy even with a last quarter moon shining quite brightly roughly 8 degrees away from it. No tail was visually detected (cover image, top).

However, an 84-minute exposure reveals both a distinct tail and a faint anti-tail. East is to the left and north is up in this image. The faint diagonal streak crossing the comet is a passing satellite captured during blue exposure. It was imaged with an Astrophysics 5" Starfire f/8 telescope on Losmandy Titan mount and Atik 16HR Camera using 84 minutes exposure and Astronomik Filters LRGB 50, 10, 12, 12 minutes. Jan. 27. Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin displays both a rather prominent anti-tail and tail in this 88-minute exposure with a field of view slightly over two full moons wide (cover image, bottom). Imaged with a Borg 77ED f/4.3 scope and Atik 16HR camera on Losmandy Titan mount. 88 minutes exposure using Astronomik LRGB filter at 50, 18, 10, 10 minutes. - John Nassr, Baguio

Titan Transit Jan. 7. It had been cloudy for the past weeks. The condition today wasn't great because transparency was poor. I was able to have a break late in the session before clouds and haze started to roll in again. I was finally able to capture Titan’s Transit. This type of transit is so rare that the last time this happened was in 1995. After March 12, the next one will be on 2025!! The last 4 transits of this season will be on 1/23, 2/8, 2/24 and 3/12. The March 12 transit is the rarest as it will feature both Titan and its shadow. All the Titan transits this season will only be seen in the Australasia region!

The color image is an LRGB image of Saturn and Titan. The monochrome animation was taken using luminance. The northern hemisphere is darker than the southern hemisphere. The Southern Temperate Disturbance (STD) is no longer visible so it must have dissipated. There is a hint of the Cassini Division at the edge of the ring. Jan. 23. Condition wasn't great, but improved as Saturn went higher. Clouds came in after an hour of imaging. It had been cloudy for the past weeks. I was fortunate to get a clearing this evening (� p. 20).

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Saturn is getting bigger and higher. The dark spot on Saturn is Titan, and NOT it's shadow. Titan transits are very rare! And I'm fortunate to be able to view this. There are 3 more transits for the year. The one on February 24 will be a rare quadruple transit. The images are LRGB images. Note the white spot below Titan. Is this a white spot or an artifact? Note the band detail on Saturn's disk. The southern hemisphere is still brighter than the northern hemisphere.

Jan. 27. Condition was better this evening. I imaged Saturn when it was overhead. Note the excellent band details on these images. I was hoping to image the radio disturbance but could find any white spot in the image. Note the reddish belt close to the South pole.

The north polar area is still bluish. The northern hemisphere is dark red. The ring angle is getting wider now. The Cassini division can be seen close to both edges. – Chris Go, Cebu

Blue Egg Nebula NGC 1360 is a strikingly blue planetary nebula found in the southern sky domain of Fornax (right).

An 8th-magnitude central star threw off an eggshell-shaped bubble of predominantly blue oxygen gas that gives NGC 1360 its distinctive beauty.

Imaged on January 17, 2009 using an Astrophysics 5" Starfire f/8 on Losmandy Titan Mount and Atik 16HR Camera and Astronomik L, R, G, B, OIII filters. Exposure 14.1 hours – John Nassr, Baguio

Grand Spiral NGC 1398 (above) is a beautiful sample of a face-on spiral galaxy with a well-defined and distinct bar bisecting its central core.

The constellation Fornax hosts this magnitude 9.7 galaxy with a smaller curious coma-shaped object just to the right of it. Imaged January 31, 2009 using Astrophysics 5" Starfire f/8 telescope and Atik 16HR Camera on Losmandy Titan mount using 9 hours exposure on Astronomik LRGB Filter: 180, 120, 120, 120 minutes. – John Nassr, Baguio

Galaxies I imaged galaxies last night (Jan. 31) at the SLA Campsite as mentioned by Irving Raymundo.

M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy

M81 and M82

The Leo Triplet

Although sky conditions were not great, with haze and lots of clouds late, I was able to eke out a few shots with my 127-mm. All shots are unguided due to equipment communication problems. – Brian Davis

The Crab I spent last Thanksgiving (late November) at New Mexico Skies with my wife. I haven't been the same since. To help me with my withdrawal symptoms, fellow imager Tom Carrico of CCDARGO (http://www.ccdargo. com/) generously leased me some time at his setup in New Mexico Skies recently. Here is the result of my first light taken with his equipment at that location that evening (� p. 21).

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Equipment: RCOS 10" f/9 Truss Tube Ritchey-Chretien on Paramount ME mount, with SBIG ST-10XME imager and SBIG AO-8, using Astrodon filters:

L: 33 x 10 minutes binned 1 x 1

R: 9 x 10 minutes binned 1 x 1

G: 9 x 10 minutes binned 1 x 1

B: 9 x 10 minutes binned 1 x 1

As mentioned in the title, this is the Crab Nebula, M1, in Taurus. I thought it was late in the season for this target, but fortunately it was up long enough for me to shoot some significant exposure time over a few nights. - Eric Africa, Westchester, Ohio

Sky CalendarSky CalendarSky CalendarSky Calendar February is normally a time when skies open up and are clear, as the cold dry Siberian winds bring dry air into the country. A penumbral lunar eclipse is visible on Feb. 9. It will be a challenge to see how dark it will get and how noticeable the eclipse will be. Venus continues to be the bright luminary that dominates the western sky after sunset during the month. Observe Venus as it changes over to a large gibbous then to a quarter shape as it heads in a more northerly track. Saturn comes next - it steadily rises earlier and its brightness and ring tilt continue to increase. As our distance to the ringed planet lessens, it becomes brighter. Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter head to a triple conjunction in the early morning sky on Feb. 24. The only problem is that they are low near the horizon, and thus are caught in the Sun’s glare. You’d need to have an unobstructed eastern horizon to see it. On Feb 16-18, Mars and Jupiter are less than a degree apart, while Jupiter and Mercury are about a degree apart on Feb. 23.

Also on Feb. 23, the Moon joins the three planets (above, showing the sky at 7 a.m.). The triple conjunction occurs on Feb. 24 when they are at their tightest. On Feb. 28, Mars and Mercury are about a degree apart. The draw for the month is of course Comet Lulin, which should become a naked eye comet, as it rapidly moves across the sky. It is expected to be at its brightest toward the third and fourth week of February.

The Sky

DAY HRDAY HRDAY HRDAY HR EVENTEVENTEVENTEVENT

February 2009February 2009February 2009February 2009

03 07:12 FIRST QUARTER

04 09:30 Moon 0.2o N of Pleiades

09 02:23 Moon 1.8o S of Beehive star cluster

09 22:37 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (visible in the Philippines, 16% max. penumbral mag.)

09 22:49 FULL MOON

10 14:20 Moon 2.8o S of Regulus

14 04:31 Mercury Greatest Elong. 26o W

17 05:36 LAST QUARTER

17 17:37 Mars 0.6o S of Jupiter

18 03:19 Moon 0.4o S of Antares

23 04:06 Mercury 0.5o S of Moon

23 07:40 Jupiter 0.08o S of Moon

23 17:46 Mars 1.9o S of Moon

24 11:08 Mercury 0.6o S of Jupiter

25 09:34 NEW MOON

28 05:33 Venus 1.9o N of Moon

Comet Lulin In 1996, a 7-year-old boy in China bent over the eyepiece of a small telescope and saw something that would change his life - a comet of flamboyant beauty, bright and puffy with an active tail. At first he thought he himself had discovered it, but no, he learned, two men named "Hale" and "Bopp" had beat him to it. Mastering his disappointment, young Quanzhi Ye resolved to find his own comet one day.

Fast forward to a summer afternoon in July 2007. Ye, now 19 years old and a student of meteorology at China's Sun Yat-sen University, bent over his desk to stare at a black-and-white star field. The photo was taken nights before by Taiwanese astronomer Chi Sheng Lin on "sky patrol" at the Lulin Observatory. Ye's finger moved from point to point - and stopped. One of the stars was not a star, it was a comet, and this time Ye saw it first.

Comet Lulin, named after the observatory in Taiwan where the discovery photo was taken, is now approaching Earth. "It is a green beauty that could become visible to the naked eye any day now," says Ye.

The comet makes its closest approach to Earth (0.41 AU) on Feb. 24, 2009. Current estimates peg the maximum brightness at 4th or 5th magnitude, which means dark country skies would be required to see it. No one can say for sure, however, because this appears to be Lulin's first visit to the inner solar system and its first exposure to intense

sunlight. Surprises are possible (� p. 22).

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The comet’s location on Feb. 16 (above) and Feb. 24 (below).

Lulin's green color comes from the gases that make up its Jupiter-sized atmosphere. Jets spewing from the comet's nucleus contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C2).

Both substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight in space’s vacuum.

To see Comet Lulin with your own eyes, set your alarm for 3 a.m. The comet rises a few hours before the sun and may be found about 1/3rd of the way up the southern sky before dawn.

Feb. 16: Comet Lulin passes Spica in the constellation Virgo. Spica is a star of first magnitude and a guidepost even city astronomers cannot miss. A finderscope pointed at Spica will capture Comet Lulin in the field of view, centering the optics within a nudge of both objects (left).

Feb. 24: Closest approach! On this special morning, Lulin will lie just a few degrees from Saturn in the constellation Leo (left bottom). Saturn is obvious to the unaided eye, and Lulin could be as well. If this doesn't draw you out of bed, nothing will.

Ye notes that Comet Lulin is remarkable not only for its rare beauty, but also for its rare manner of discovery. "This is a 'comet of collaboration' between Taiwanese and Chinese astronomers," he says. "The discovery could not have been made without a contribution from both sides of the Strait that separates our countries. Chi Sheng Lin and other members of the Lulin Observatory staff enabled me to get the images I wanted, while I analyzed the data and found the comet."

Somewhere this month, Ye imagines, another youngster will bend over an eyepiece, see Comet Lulin, and feel the same thrill he did gazing at Comet Hale-Bopp in 1996. And who knows where that might lead...?

"I hope that my experience might inspire other young people to pursue the same starry dreams as myself," says Ye. – Tony Philips, Science@NASA

Alternative Observing Site In line with ALP's objective "to locate and set up observation sites that have less light pollution than in city proper" may I propose an alternative site for those living within Metro Manila:

http://slacampsite.multiply.com/

The site is at Buso-Buso, Antipolo about 5 minutes away from ALP's former observing site (Touch of Glory Prayer Mountain - TGPM) and 45 mins. drive from Ortigas Ave. If you've been to TGPM you already have a good idea of how much less light pollution there is at SLA than in the city. Entrance fee is 100 pesos per head.

Advantages of the site are:

1. There are tents which you may rent for a charge should you feel like camping. Monoblock chairs may be used for free (� p. 23).

alpha February 2009 Page 23

2. A decent toilet with water

3. Less dew, less windy

4. And for those into imaging there is a 220V power source to run your equatorial mounts, laptops, and dew heaters (should you need one).

However there are disadvantages as well. Metro Manila skyglow runs about south-southwest to north-northwest. All the other directions are sufficiently good for imaging/viewing. You will also need to carry your gear about 70 meters from the parking area up a gently-sloping concrete staircase leading to the setup area. The setup area can accept probably around a maximum of 8-10 telescopes while the parking area can accommodate around 6-7 vehicles.

For those who do not want to drive too far away from the city I think the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages. – Irving Raymundo

What Happened to Comet

Holmes? by Dr. Tony Phillips

One year after Comet 17P/Holmes shocked onlookers by exploding in the night sky, researchers are beginning to understand what happened.

“We believe that a cavern full of ice, located as much as 100 meters beneath the crust of the comet’s nucleus, underwent a change of phase,” says Bill Reach of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology. “Amorphous ice turned into crystalline ice” and, in the transition, released enough heat to cause Holmes to blow its top.

Anyone watching the sky in October 2007 will remember how the comet brightened a million-fold to naked-eye visibility. It looked more like a planet than a comet — strangely spherical and utterly lacking a tail. By November 2007, the expanding dust cloud was larger than Jupiter itself, and people were noticing it from brightly-lit cities.

Comet Holmes as imaged by the multiband imaging photometer (MIPS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The enhanced contrast image at the right shows the comet’s outer shell and mysterious filaments of dust.

Knowing that infrared telescopes are particularly sensitive to the warm glow of comet dust, Reach and colleague Jeremie Vaubaillon, also of Caltech, applied for observing time on the Spitzer Space Telescope — and they got it. “We used Spitzer to observe Comet Holmes in November and again in February and March 2008,” says Reach.

The infrared glow of the expanding dust cloud told the investigators how much mass was involved and how fast the material was moving. “The energy of the blast was about 1014 joules and the total mass was of the order of 1010 kg.” In other words, Holmes exploded like 24 kilotons of TNT and ejected 10 million metric tons of dust and gas into space. These astonishing numbers are best explained by a subterranean cavern of phase-changing ice, Reach believes. “The mass and energy are in the right ballpark,” he says, and it also explains why Comet Holmes is a “repeat exploder.”

Another explosion was observed in 1892. It was a lesser blast than the 2007 event, but enough to attract the attention of American astronomer Edwin Holmes, who discovered the comet when it suddenly brightened. Two explosions (1892, 2007) would require two caverns.

That’s no problem because comets are notoriously porous and lumpy. In fact, there are probably more than two caverns, which would mean Comet Holmes is poised to explode again.

When? “The astronomer who can answer that question will be famous!” laughs Vaubaillon.

“No one knows what triggered the phase change,” says Reach. He speculates that maybe a comet-quake sent seismic waves echoing through the comet’s caverns, compressing the ice and changing its form. Or a meteoroid might have penetrated the comet’s crust and set events in motion that way. “It’s still a mystery.”

But not as much as it used to be.

See more Spitzer images of comets and other heavenly objects at www.spitzer.caltech.edu. Kids and grownups can challenge their spatial reasoning powers by solving Spitzer infrared “Slyder” puzzles at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spitzer/slyder.

This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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Severe Space Weather by Dr. Tony Phillips

Did you know a solar flare can make your toilet stop working? That's the surprising conclusion of a NASA-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences entitled Severe Space Weather Events —Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts. In the 132-page report, experts detailed what might happen to our modern, high-tech society in the event of a “super solar flare” followed by an extreme geomagnetic storm. They found that almost nothing is immune from space weather — not even the water in your bathroom.

The problem begins with the electric power grid. Ground currents induced during an extreme geomagnetic storm can melt the copper windings of huge, multi-ton transformers at the heart of power distribution systems. Because modern power grids are interconnected, a cascade of failures could sweep across the country, rapidly cutting power to tens or even hundreds of millions of people. According to the report, this loss of electricity would have a ripple effect with “water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, fuel re-supply and so on. The concept of interdependency is evident in the unavailability of water due to long-term outage of electric power — and the inability to restart an electric generator without water on site.”

It takes a very strong geomagnetic storm to cause problems on this scale - the type of storm that comes along only every century or so. A point of reference is the “Carrington Event” of August-September 1859, named after British amateur astronomer Richard Carrington who witnessed the instigating solar flare with his unaided eye while he was projecting an image of the Sun on a white screen. Geomagnetic storms triggered by the flare electrified telegraph lines, shocking technicians and setting their telegraph papers on fire; Northern Lights spread as far south as Cuba and Hawaii; auroras over the Rocky Mountains were so bright, the glow woke campers who began preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning!

“A contemporary repetition of the Carrington Event would cause… extensive social and economic disruptions. Widespread failures could include telecommunications, GPS navigation, banking and finance, and transportation.

The total economic impact in the first year alone could reach $2 trillion (some 20 times greater than the costs of Hurricane Katrina).

The report concluded with a call for infrastructure designed to better withstand geomagnetic disturbances and improvements in space weather forecasting. Indeed, no one knows when the next super solar storm will erupt. It could be 100 years away or just 100 days. It’s something to think about … the next time you flush.

One of the jobs of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and the Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) operated by NOAA is to keep an eye on space weather and provide early warning of solar events that could cause trouble for Earth.

You can keep an eye on space weather yourself at the National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center, www.swpc.noaa.gov. And for young people, space weather is explained and illustrated simply and clearly at the SciJinks Weather Laboratory, scijinks.gov/weather/howwhy/spaceweather

This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

International Year of Astronomy 2009 The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA 2009) is a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture and marks the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. The aim of the Year is to stimulate worldwide interest, especially among young people, in astronomy and science under the central theme "The Universe, Yours to Discover". IYA 2009 events and activities will promote a greater appreciation of the inspirational aspects of astronomy that embody an invaluable shared resource for all nations.

IYA 2009 will promote and facilitate the creation of international networks to foster a global appreciation of the role and value of science and astronomy as a unifying activity for humanity. IYA 2009 will start up, connect and support networks of professional and amateur astronomers, educators and astrophysicists from all over the world, so that all these valuable sources of knowledge can be shared. The networks of hundreds, if not thousands of astronomical organizations, nationally and internationally, will be one of the legacies of IYA 2009 that will last far beyond the year 2009. The activities of IYA 2009 are taking place largely at the national level, but a significant global network has already been created. This global network has reached 136 countries and a total of 140 are eventually expected to take part, making it possible to reach out to 97% of the world's population.

Global Events

� January 15–16, 2009: IYA 2009 Opening Event. UNESCO, Paris, France.

� January 19–23, 2009: IAU Symposium 260: "The Rôle of Astronomy in Society and Culture". UNESCO, Paris, France.

� August 3 – 14, 2009: IAU`s XXVII General Assembly, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

� October 25 – 31, 2009: The European Society for Astronomy in Culture 17th Annual Meeting, Alexandria, Egypt

National Opening Ceremonies

� Belgium: January 16, 2009

� Taiwan: January 18

� Philippines: January 19

� Germany: January 20

� Brazil: January 20-28 (The opening will take place in 50 different cities)

� Spain: January 27: Official Openning of IYA2009 (Madrid); February 19: Opening for the general public (Cuenca)

� Slovenia: January 27

� Malta: January 27

� Portugal: January 31

� Switzerland: February 5

� Hong Kong: February 7