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Icy Science is a free Astronomy, Space & Science digital magazine. packed with articles and news. So share with you friends and download a copy today
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EXTANT LIFE ON MARS?THE MARS SOCIETYTHE BIG SPACE BALLOONASTROCAMP
SUN DOGSICY SCIENCE PUBLICATION: WWW.ICYSCIENCE.COM: WINTER 2013/14
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
ORION IMAGE: MIKE GREENHAM
5 Editors Note6 How Quantum Mechanics Can Create
Many Worlds Of Possiblility
8 Will DrillingFind Extant
Life On Mars?
12 Aurora18 The Big Space Balloon
32 Rovers And Space Ships Everywhere
40 Astrocamp48 The Imaginary Number
54 E=MC258 Sundogs: Fact or Fiction?
65 Astronomy For The Absolute
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» p.8
» p.17 » p.12
» p.32
Beginner
70 Astronomy & Science Edution in India
75 Women,Astronomy And UKWAIN Launch
85 Lets Talk Interview With Frase Cain
98 ISSET
102 Reign of the Radio Leoinid meteor capture.
CO N T E N T S MAGAZINE
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EDITOR:
David Bood
Special ThanksDan Lucus
Nicole Willett (Mars Society)
Mars Society
Sophia Nsar
The Big Space Ballon Company
Joolz Wright
Adrian Jannetta
Julian Onions
Henna Khan
Mary Spicer
UKWIAN
Fraser Cain (Unverse Today)
Mike Greenham
Contact:E: [email protected]: @DavesAstronomyW: www.icyscience.com OAS2013 COMP CODE
MORE SPECIAL THANKS
Danny Owen (ISSET)
Michael knowles
Roy Alexander
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Icy Science is a quarterly free magazine to read and download. No material may be copied or used on other media outlets without written consent.
LOOK UP.... Free monthly Astronomy Newsletter includes sky notes
Welcome to the new ICY SCIENCE online magazine. the magazine is packed with articles from the Science, Astronomy and Space worlds.
The magazine will be out quar-terly with the first edition out in December 2013.
NEXT EDITION
FEB 2014
Merrry Xmas to All
W E LCO M E TO I C Y S C I E N C E ICY SCIENCE
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Then we become adults, and these con-
cepts begin to encapsulate our imagina-
tion. Tales like Stephen Kings’ ‘The Dark
Tower’ has its characters visiting differ-
ent Earths by travelling through differ-
ent doorways and shows like ‘Sliders’ saw
its protagonists encounter many differ-
ent incarnations of themselves that have
been exposed to different experiences
as they slid from Universe to Universe on
their journey.
Decisions,Decisions, Decisions
How Quantum Mechanics Can Create Many Worlds of Possibility
By Dan Lucas
Many of us have grown up in a world entrenched in Science Fiction. We surround ourselves
with tales of aliens, artificial intelligence, and parallel universes.
From a young age – and without even realising it – these ideas of alternate realities become
part of our understanding of the world. Engrained into children’s tales like ‘The Chronicles of
Narnia’, where an alternate reality exists beyond a wardrobe; or exposure to cartoons such as
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ which depicts its villains as having travelled from a ‘Dimension X’,
complex scientific ideas are suggested and become integral to our knowledge of the Universe.
Sliders
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This idea of alternate reality forms a key part of quantum mechanics. As I explained in my
article ‘How a Simple Cat in a Box Can Alter How You View the Universe’, the outcome of an
experiment is determined by the observer. Until that outcome is observed, all possible out-
comes occur simultaneously. Once an observation has been made, all other outcomes are
no longer possible. It is at this point where the system is described as having collapsed. It
is this collapse into one outcome where quantum mechanics suggests an alternate reality
could exist.
An idea known as the Many World’s
Interpretation of quantum mechan-
ics suggests that not only are alter-
nate realities possible, but they could
actually be infinite in number. Every
time you’ve ever wondered what
would have happened if you had
made a different decision – such as
which cereal to buy, or whether your
life would be better had you taken a
different job – all possible outcomes
would be played out in a different reality. In terms of
quantum mechanics, this notion that every outcome
occurs prevents the system from collapsing. The
observer still only observes one single outcome,
but an alternate reality is created for each potential
outcome not observed.
H T T P : / / E N . W I K I P E D I A . O R G / W I K I /
MANY-WORLDS_INTERPRETATION
So what does this mean for us as individuals? Well
not a great deal to be fair. We’ll never see these alter-
nate realities, because then that would be our reality
which creates a whole impossible paradox, and we’ll
never be able to find just how different things could
have been. But isn’t it nice to think that somewhere
out there, you always made the right decision?
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As we anxiously await the analysis
from Curiosity’s second drill sample, which was taken on May 20, 2013, we can discuss the search for present life on Mars
Wi l l Dr i l l ing FindEx tant L i fe on Mars?
BY NICOLE WILLETT, THE MARS SOCIETY
I attended the online NASA/JPL Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) meeting that was held
on July 23, 2013. The meeting’s purpose was to discuss the Mars 2020 rover and many other Mars explo-
ration issues. Many people wonder why NASA keeps sending rovers to Mars without stating that they will
unequivocally search for extant life. The term extant means, still in existence. We know that MSL Curiosity
has the equipment to detect life and that Mars 2020 will have many of the same instruments. However, Jack
Mustard, Brown University professor, who presented at the MEPAG meeting, stated, “To date, the evidence
that we have from observations of Mars and Martian samples is that we don’t have the clear indication
that life is at such an abundance on the planet that we could go there with a simple experiment like Viking
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[had] and detect that [life is] there.”
Mustard went on to explain that it
makes more sense financially and
scientifically to search for past life
instead of current life. He believes
that we must continue studying
the past geology of the planet
in order to better understand
whether past life existed on Mars.
.As indicated above the Mars 2020
rover will not search for extant
life. Some people do not under-
stand why we must wait seven
years to launch a rover similar to
MSL with a sample return cache
that will sit on the planet for an
unknown period of time with no
plan as to how it will be returned
to Earth. However, there are
other missions planned for Mars
which may search for and possi-
bly find current life on Mars. Two
such missions are ExoMars and
the Icebreaker Life Mars mission.
ExoMars is collaboration between
the European Space Agency and
the Russian Federal Space agency.
It is a mission that includes an
orbiter and lander planned for
2016 and a rover with a drill that
can reach two meters beneath
the toxic surface, planned for
2018. The 2018 mission objective
is to search for past or present
life on Mars. During the MEPAG
meeting, the question was asked,
“What if ExoMars finds life, and
how will that affect Mars 2020?”
The answer was given by Jim
Green, Director of NASA Planetary
Science, who stated, “It would be
a great problem to have.” This
also started a discussion about
whether this would be a “Sputnik
moment” and possibly encourage
a new race for humans to Mars.
The Icebreaker Life mission could
also be funded for a 2018 launch
under the Discovery/New Frontier
program, a separate funding
scheme like the 2016 Insight
mission. In a paper published in
the journal Astrobiology on April
5, 2013, Dr. Chris McKay, Dr. Carol
Stoker, and other leading scien-
tists stated, “The search for evi-
dence of life on Mars is the primary
motivation for the exploration of
that planet. The results from pre-
vious missions and the Phoenix
mission in particular, indicate that
the ice-cemented ground in the
north polar plains is likely to be
the most recently habitable place
that is currently known on Mars.”
The goals of the Icebreaker Life
mission include:
(1) Search for specific biomole-
cules that would be conclusive
evidence of life.
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(2) Perform a general search for
organic molecules in the ground
ice.
(3) Determine the processes of
ground ice formation and the role
of liquid water.
(4) Understand the mechanical
properties of the Martian polar
ice-cemented soil.
(5) Assess the recent habitability
of the environment with respect
to required elements to support
life, energy sources, and possible
toxic elements.
(6) Compare the elemental com-
position of the northern plains
with midlatitude sites.” [http://
onl ine. l ieber tpub.com/doi/
abs/10.1089/ast.2012.0878]
Journal Astrobiology 4/5/2013
This mission is very similar to the
Phoenix lander but will have more
advanced scientific equipment,
including a drill that will reach
a meter below the surface, an
instrument called the Signs of
Life Detector (SOLID), an Alpha
Particle X-ray Spectrometer, a Wet
Chemistry Lab, and many other
instruments. This combination of
instruments may potentially alter
how we view life in the universe.
The SOLID instrument has the
ability to detect compounds with
a biological origin such as whole
cells and complex organic mole-
cules. It has an advanced digital
camera and what is known as a
“lab on a chip” that can perform
various chemistry tests using
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equipment the size of microchips. The technological advances
being made are greatly improving the field of robotic explora-
tion and experimentation in ways never thought possible in the
past. In the Journal Astrobiology a paper was published by McKay,
Stoker and other leading scientists on April 5, 2013. The first lines
of the abstract stated, “The search for evidence of life on Mars is the
primary motivation for the exploration of that planet. The results
from previous missions and the Phoenix mission in particular,
indicate that the ice-cemented ground in the north polar plains
is likely to be the most recently habitable place that is currently
known on Mars.” The Icebreaker Life mission will search for bio-
markers in the same region near the north pole of Mars where the
Phoenix Lander executed its mission in 2008. A biomarker is any
molecule that indicates the presence of life, such as an enzyme.
These biological molecules carry organic biochemical information.
The Icebreaker drill is capable of drilling one meter into the sub-
surface of the Red Planet in order to search for biomarkers. The
ice shavings retrieved from the drill would be analyzed for mol-
ecules that are too complex to be present from a non-biological
source. It is important to drill below the surface in order to retrieve
samples that have not been exposed to the radiation and perchlo-
rates (salts) that exist on the surface of Mars. The radiation and per-
chlorates could potentially destroy any biomarkers or biological
material present, hence the importance of a subsurface mission.
[Images: NASA, ExoMars, Astriobio.net]
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Image Credit:
Anneliese Possberg,
[email protected] (www.possi.de)
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No one can deny the beauty of
aurorae, a stunning display of
colorful lights dancing gracefully
about the sky. Usually these beau-
tiful sky lights can only be seen at
high latitudes. But how do these
beautiful aurorae form in the sky?
Why can they only be seen from
extreme northern or southern lat-
itudes? How are the various colors
produced? First, let’s get familiar-
ized with the naming of aurora
with respect to the part of the
hemisphere in which they occur.
In the northern hemisphere,
they are called Aurora Borealis,
or northern lights. In the south-
ern hemisphere, they are known
as Aurora Australis, or southern
lights. From Latin, Aurora Borealis
translates to “dawn of the north”,
and Aurora Australis to “dawn of
the south”. Now, let’s get to the
formation of aurorae. In addition
to emitting light which travels
at c = 3.00*10^8 m/s and takes
about 8 minutes to reach Earth,
the Sun also spits out plasma
during solar storms which travels
at much slower speeds. During
such storms, the Sun sends out a
flow of highly charged particles,
sometimes directed at the Earth.
These charged particles travel at
speeds of up to 8 million km/h
AU R O R A BY SOPHIA NASR
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(about 5 million mi/h), or about 2.22*10^6 m/s, much
slower than light speed c. It takes about 40 hours for the
storm to reach the Earth. When these charged particles
penetrate the Earth’s ionosphere and collide with atoms
in the atmosphere, the atoms become “excited” and reach
higher energy levels. Excited atoms will then “de-excite”
and go down to lower energy levels, during which photons
are released and produce aurorae in the sky. The Earth’s
magnetic field plays a role in this phenomenon as well—it
is responsible for aurorae being visible only from extreme
northern and southern latitudes. The Earth’s magneto-
sphere helps shield the Earth from the solar storm, but only
succeeds in shielding mid-latitude to equatorial regions
of the Earth. The flow of charged particles then follows
the magnetic field lines and is directed towards the poles,
where the majority of aurorae are produced. Aurorae do
sometimes reach lower latitudes as well, usually when the
sunspot count is high during solar maximum. The colors
produced depend on the kind of atom the charged parti-
cles come in contact with. Striking oxygen atoms produces
green and red aurorae, while colliding with nitrogen atoms
creates blue and purple/violet aurorae. The most common
color formed is green, while the rarest are red and blue.
Aurorae form at altitudes ranging from 80 to 640 kilome-
ters (50 to 400 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
I have yet to observe aurorae in person, but
this is definitely on my list of things I must
do at least once in my life! The next time you
get to see aurorae, keep in mind that you are
observing a beautiful physics phenomenon
unfolding before your eyes. Now that is what
I call awesome!
Top Image: Wikipedia Further Reading: http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northern-lights.htmlhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/cli-mate-weather/atmospheric/question471.htm5-minute video: http://www.universetoday.com/87436/video-how-does-the-aurora-bore-alis-form/
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IC 1101Let’s talk about size (astronomically speaking).
Our galaxy is 100,000 light-years across. That’s
pretty big, but it’s not the biggest galaxy in our
astronomical “neighborhood”. The Local Group
(our “neighborhood”) is comprised of 54 galaxies
(dwarf galaxies included) that are gravitationally
bound to each other. The biggest in the group
Andromeda, 2.5 million light-years away from us,
visible to the naked eye as a fuzz patch (in dark
skies) in the constellation Andromeda, and some
220,000 light-years across. Okay, our Milky Way
still holds its own as the second largest galaxy in
our Local Group. Our Local Group is a whopping 10 MILLION light-years across! That is huge, Now, let’s turn
our attention to the largest known galaxy in the universe. Way out in the distance, 1.07 billion light-years away
in the constellation Virgo, in the large galaxy cluster Abell 2029, lies an enormous galaxy: IC 1101. This gargan-
tuan elliptical is over half the diameter of our entire Local Group of 54 galaxies—nearly 6 MILLION light-years
across! But wait, there’s more! The Milky Way contains roughly 200 billion stars. IC 1101, by contrast, contains
an estimated 100 TRILLION. Absolutely MIND-BLOWING!!! but it makes sense considering it’s a group of 54 gal-
axies. Just to give an idea of the types of galaxies out there, there are three major classifications: dwarf galax-
ies, spiral galaxies, and giant elliptical galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are small, like the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies,
the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. These can be as small as 200 light-years across and are not much larger
than star clusters. Spiral galaxies, like our Milky Way and Andromeda, are the most common types of galaxies.
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They have spiral arms, with blue regions representing active star formation, and yellowish regions popu-
lated with old stars where star formation has ceased. Giant elliptical galaxies are the largest, spherical to
nearly flat in shape, and are yellowish in hue because they are populated with old stars where star forma-
tion has nearly ceased. These are usually a result of mergers and collisions between galaxies. IC 1101 is a
giant elliptical. Now let’s get to the how—how IC 1101 became so large, that is. The size of IC 1101 is the
result of numerous collisions and mergers between other much smaller galaxies, galaxies about the size
of our very own Milky Way, and our familiar galactic neighbor Andromeda. Over time, it grew bigger and
bigger as it continued to merge with neighboring galaxies. Now, as we see it, it is nearly a monstrous 6
million light-years across! Keep in mind that at 1.07 billion light years distant, we are looking at IC 1101 as
it looked just over a billion years ago. Who’s to say what its size is today, or what its state is, for that matter!
If it hasn’t continued colliding and merging with other galaxies, its stars will fade, as there is very little star
formation occurring. If it has, then it’ll be even larger!
Speaking of mergers and collisions, aren’t Andromeda and our very own Milky Way destined for the same
fate some 3.5 billion years from now, merging into one elliptical galaxy?? Food for thought.
~Sophia Nasr
Further reading and information on IC 1101:
http://astounde.com/the-largest-galaxy-in-the-universe-ic-1101/
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/ic-1101-the-largest-galaxy-ever-found/
http://amandabauer.blogspot.ca/2009/02/biggest-galaxy-in-universe.html
http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/07/14/munchkin-milky-way-meets-mega-monster-galaxy-ic-1101/
5 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE8yHySiJ4A
“All Science, All the Time”: https://www.facebook.com/AllScienceAllTheTime
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The Big Space Balloon - The Mission
The Big Space Balloon is a
project which aims to launch
the Worlds biggest crowd based
high altitude research balloon,
designed to fly to the edge of
space and explore the highest
regions of the earth’s atmosphere
to an altitude of up to 130,000
feet, into the Earths Stratosphere.
The balloon’s envelope will
be up to a 100 metres in diame-
ter. Potentially using a super pres-
sure balloon envelope design,
which can enable a sustained
period of flight of several days
over thousands of miles. The Big
Space Balloon will carry a sci-
entific capsule to undertake a
range of experiments regarding
space sciences, providing a low
cost platform for companies &
the space industry to carry out
research & development at the
edge of space.
The aim is for Big Space
Balloon to act as platform to
test out new technologies in the
space environment, such as the
printed Solar-cells on the balloon
envelope.
These could pave the way for
a new way of powering future
spacecraft or space stations,
produced and deployed at rela-
tively low cost compared to tra-
ditional space based solar cell
units, which are both expensive
T H E B I G S PAC E B A L LO O N
SPACE BALLOON
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to manufacture and require
highly engineered deployment
mechanisms.
There’s also the possibility of
using the technology developed
in interplanetary balloon mis-
sions. At an altitude of around
120,000 feet plus, the Atmosphere
is very similar in density to that at
ground level on Mars, one of the
instruments the science capsule
may carry could be to detect
micro organisms in the earths
upper atmosphere, technology
that could be then transferable
to a future Mars or Venus mission
The hope is that the Big Space
Balloons science capsule could be
re-used in further missions, many
of Nasa’s and ESA’s scientific pay-
loads go on to make multiple
flights, and some of technology
developed for this project could
be used in other space missions.
Although the Big space
Balloon is an un-manned project,
the science capsule aims to be
a fairly large structure, approx 2
metres in diameter by 2 metres
high, so could demonstrate the
potential of this technology for
possible manned space flight
vehicles.
The intention is to pressurise
the top section of the science
capsule to an inhabitable envi-
ronment to see how these mate-
rials perform in the space environ-
ment, technology used in build-
ing the science capsule, could
be scaled up to build a manned
space vehicle in the future.
Be part of something big
The Big Space Balloon has the
potential to be the Worlds biggest
scientific outreach program.
The project is aiming to
have a large element of public
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engagement and the project
will offer people the chance to
see them selves at the edge of
space with the “Face in Space
Competition”.
The free to enter competition
offers up to 10,000 members of
the public the chance to have a
mini-image of themselves printed
onto the science capsule, to be
photographed at the edge of
space with the latest in high-def-
inition cameras.
We have already started to
receive 100’s of entrants from
around the world.
The balloon could be launched
in the summer / autumn of 2015
if all goes well, the project is still
in its early stages so the main
focus at the moment is on the
fund raising and increasing public
awareness of the project which
in-turn will lead to a main sponsor.
Stratospheric Balloon Technology
Most large stratospheric bal-
loons are made from a light-
weight polythene usually around
20-30 microns thick, NASA and the
Japanese have experimented with
composite polythene’s which can
be as thin as 5 microns. The Big
Space Balloon is aiming to use a
polythene based fabric of around
30 microns thick, this will either
have flexible solar photovoltaic
cells printed onto the fabric, or
flexible photovoltaic strips com-
bined with the polythene strips,
a UK company Eight19 are cur-
rently developing these type of
solar cells.
Plastic (polymer) solar cells are
much cheaper to produce than
conventional silicon solar cells
and have the potential to be pro-
duced in large quantities.
Experts from the University
of Sheffield’s Department of
Physics and Astronomy and the
University of Cambridge have
created a method of spray-coat-
ing a photovoltaic active layer by
an air based process – similar to
T H E B I G S PAC E B A L LO O N
SPACE BALLOON
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http://www.shef.ac.uk/news/nr/solar-photo-voltaic-pv-spray-painting-lidzey-1.251912
spraying regular paint from a can
– to develop a cheaper technique
which can be mass produced.
Professor David Lidzey from
the University of Sheffield said
“Spray coating is currently used to
apply paint to cars and in graphic
printing. We have shown that it
can also be used to make solar
cells using specially designed
plastic semiconductors. Maybe in
the future surfaces on buildings
and even car roofs will routinely
generate electricity with these
materials”.
( see web site )
http://www.shef.ac.uk/news/
nr/solar-photovoltaic-pv-spray-
painting-lidzey-1.251912
This has the potential to will
turn the balloon envelope into
a giant power generating unit
which could produce up to 180Kw
of electricity.
The Big Space Balloon will
start with approx. 4000 cubic
metres of lifting gas ( Helium or
Hydrogen ) as the balloon climbs
and the air thins, the atmospheric
also pressure drops, once you get
to around 30km the atmospheric
pressure is about 100th com-
pared to the air pressure at sea
level, so it effectively equals that
of the Helium or Hydrogen in the
balloon and you loose the buoy-
ancy effect and stop climbing.
The Buoyancy force is from
using a lighter than air gas, such
as Helium or Hydrogen, which
both have low molecular masses.
Helium weighs 0.1786 kg per
cubic metre at sea level, air weighs
1.2kg, so the difference between
the two gases gives helium 1kg
of lift at sea level ( 1.2 – 0.1786 =
1.022kg ) per cubic metre.
Helium is used most because
it is inert and therefore very safe,
but it can also be relatively expen-
sive compared to Hydrogen. The
current crude price of Helium is
around $75 per 1000 cubic feet.
The gas we finally use will
depend on the launch site and
the type of gas available their
and the associated costs, their
may be higher launch safety costs
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and insurance premiums in using
Hydrogen compared with Helium,
making the cost of Hydrogen not
worth the potential risk.
It is possible to climb higher
than this by heating the gas in
balloon by making use of solar
radiation ( sunlight) causing the
gas to expand further, but this
then requires a bigger balloon
envelope for the gas to expand
into, the balloon material needs
to be thinner to reduce its weight,
which in-turn increases the risk of
the balloon fabric ripping.
The Big Space Balloons
envelope will be designed to have
a volume of around 400,000 cubic
metres when fully inflated at our
target altitude of approx. of 30km
(120-130,000 feet )
We are not looking to break
any altitude records with the Big
Space Balloon as the main aim
is to try out new technologies,
such as the solar balloon skin, but
the higher the better in terms of
T H E B I G S PAC E B A L LO O N
SPACE BALLOON
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testing out this technology and
carrying out scientific experi-
ments in a space environment.
Ascent time is usually around
3 hours, initial ascent speed can
be around 3 metres per second
this then reduces as the atmo-
sphere thins and the buoyancy
becomes proportionally less,
for each 5.5 km you ascend, the
atmospheric pressure halves so
when you reach an altitude of
5,500 metres, the air pressure is
only about one half of what it
was at sea level, half of the Earth’s
atmosphere is already below you,
at 11,000 meters air pressure is
only about one quarter of that at
sea level and at an altitude of 30
km you have risen above 99% of
the Earth’s atmosphere.
The speed of most strato-
spheric balloons will be deter-
mined by wind speed which at an
altitude of 30km is approximately
15knots ( 7.5 metres per second)
or 27 kilometres per hour.
The volume of the Balloon and
the amount of lifting gas in rela-
tion to the weight of the vehicle,
determines the maximum alti-
tude you can achieve, i.e a lighter
balloon fabric and science capsule
will mean the Big Space Balloon
could go higher, although as
stated earlier this isn’t a priority
at the moment.
The heating of balloon by
solar radiation from the Sun and
the atmospheric temperature and
moisture in the air can also effect
the altitude reached.
The balloon will then contract
in the night-time when the lifting
gas cools, resulting in a loss of alti-
tude. This loss in Altitude will vary
according to the type of balloon
design we finally use.
Main types of large strato-
spheric balloons
There are two main types of
large stratospheric balloons, zero
pressure and super pressure.
Zero pressure balloons are
the most common type of large
stratospheric balloon, they are
designed to release their lifting
gas once they have achieved
there maximum inflation size and
the lifting gas begins expanding
further in the sunlight, to avoid
the balloon envelope bursting or
ripping.
By adjusting the total weight
of the balloon and payload in rela-
tion to the balloon envelope size
and amount of lifting gas, you can
determine the approx altitude
you wish to achieve.
The balloons payloads of
Zero pressure types are designed
to release ballast (usually sand)
during the night time cycle, this
allows the balloon to climb again
due to having reduced its weight.
When the balloon gets
heated by the sun again during
the daytime cycle, more lifting
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
gas is released to avoid bursting
the balloon envelope, after 2 or 3
day-night cycles the balloon will
have released all of its ballast and
will have lost a certain amount of
lifting gas, so will begin to loose
its useful altitude, ( certain scien-
tific missions are based on being
at defined altitudes ).
A panel is then cut open in
the balloon fabric, usually done
by electrically heating an-embed-
ded wire, to release enough gas
to descend the balloon, at around
5,000 feet the capsule is released
from the balloon to descend using
a separate parachute, this avoids
the payload being dragged on the
ground by the deflated balloon
envelope and hopefully allows
you to more accurately determine
the landing site.
The super pressure balloons
are designed to stay afloat for
much longer than zero pressure
balloons, potentially up to several
weeks giving you much more
flight time per balloon launch.
Super pressure balloons work
by being designed to with-stand
the additional pressure created
from being heated by solar radia-
tion, avoiding the need to release
any lifting gas and carry an ballast,
the super pressure balloon does
loose some altitude during the
night-time cycle when the lifting
gas cools, but will climb again
once heated by the sun during
the daylight cycle.
I’m keen to use the super pres-
sure design as it offers the poten-
tial of a much longer flight time,
possibly allowing the balloon
to fly for several weeks, but if
this proves to be to difficult, we
may use the zero pressure type
balloon.
The main technical challenge
with super pressure designs are
that the balloon envelope needs
to be strong enough to withstand
T H E B I G S PAC E B A L LO O N
SPACE BALLOON
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
the extra pressure of sunlight
heating, but light-weight enough
to give you a good altitude, there
is no final design for super pres-
sure balloons as the research is
on-going as material technolo-
gies develop.
The weight of the balloon
material is also a factor which I’ve
estimated to be around 1000kg
for the Big Space Balloon.
The balloon will have a surface
area of approximately 32,000
metres square, each square metre
of balloon material will need to
be no more than 32g in weight, (
a £1.00 weighs 7.5g ).
The Science Capsule
The total payload including
the science capsule is approxi-
mately 1 metric tonne, (1000kg)
this is made up of around 500kg
for the science capsule itself with
the other 500kg for scientific
equipment.
The material for the science
capsule is yet to be finalized, but
I’m very interested in using the
manufacturing process known
as Additive Layer Manufacturing
(ALM) or 3D Printing.
Single products can be created
from a fine powder of metal (such
as titanium, stainless steel or alu-
minium), nylon or carbon rein-
forced plastics.
This allows fairly complex and
bespoke structures to be manu-
factured straight from the com-
puter, avoiding wastage of raw
materials and additional fabrica-
tion jigs or molds.
The German company Voxljet
have developed a 3D printer
capable of producing objects up
to 2 metres in diameter using a
Nylon based powder printer.
These machines work by
adding a thin layer of powder to
a platform which is at the top of
container box, a laser then fuses
the powder together to form a
thin section of the object you
wish to print.
The platform is then lowered
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
a fraction of a milometer into the
box, another thin layer of powder
is then spread across the plat-
form, the laser then fuses this new
powder to the existing section to
form a new section on top, to start
building up the object.
This process is repeated mul-
tiple times until you have created
your 3D object & / or the platform
has reached the bottom of the
container box.
At the end of the process the
box is full of both Nylon powder
& your printed object, so excess
powder is then vacuumed off to
reveal the object, this powder
can then be re-used for new 3d
objects.
• This method of 3D print-
ing was used by a team at
Southampton University to build
the worlds biggest 3D printed
glider. The SULSA (Southampton
University Laser Sintered Aircraft)
plane is an unmanned air vehicle
(UAV) whose entire structure has
been printed, including wings,
integral control surfaces and
access hatches. It was printed on
an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser
sintering machine, which fab-
ricates plastic or metal objects,
building up the item layer by
layer.
Scientific Research
The project can hopefully be
used for a range of space related
/ upper atmosphere research, but
as yet I’m not able to detail these
as its yet to be decided.
But these could include
T H E B I G S PAC E B A L LO O N
SPACE BALLOON
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
research involving the Earths
atmosphere, such as investing
levels of pollution in the strato-
sphere and how these effect
global warming.
Testing out earth observation
technology such as high defini-
tion imaging devices for later use
in orbital space craft.
The use of Lasers in space, to
see if these could be used to track
and possibly remove small space
debris by reducing its orbital
velocity and causing it fall to earth
faster.
The detection of micro orga-
nizations high in the earths atmo-
sphere to see how far up life , such
as Bacteria’s, can survive.
At 30km the Earths atmo-
sphere is very similar in density
to that at ground level on Mars,
so equipment for detecting life on
Mars could be tested by the Big
Space Balloon.
( Please see our website for a
range of balloon related scientific
missions ).
Prof Robertus Erdelyi is
Head of the Solar Physics and
Space Plasma Research Centre
at Sheffield University and is cur-
rently developing instruments to
detect Plasma emissions from the
Sun, which we aim to include in
the Big Space Balloons science
capsule.
The atmosphere of the planets
in the Solar System strongly inter-
act with huge magnetised plasma
flows originating from the Sun,
and often associated with massive
solar plasma eruptions and mag-
netised solar tornadoes, causing
phenomena like the Aurora
Borealis that can occasionally
destroy our mode satellites, tele-
communication systems or even
may preventing us to make a
simple phone call?
Their is no way of steering
stratospheric Balloons, so it will
be carried with the wind.
At the altitudes were aiming
towards the thin air at these levels
means that the winds have very
little force, but balloons can be
carried for several thousand miles.
The winds are easterly during
the summer and westerly during
the winter. Depending on where
we launch, time of year and how
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
long the balloon stays afloat will determine where the balloon lands, hopefully it’ll be over land!.
But it could in theory circumnavigate the globe which would be rather cool.
The recent BRRISON project was a NASA mission that sent a balloon carrying a telescope and instru-
ments high above Earth to study Comet ISON.
The Balloon Rapid Response for ISON (BRRISON) – carried a 0.8 m telescope and optical and infrared
sensors to study the comet from above nearly all of Earth’s atmosphere.
Launch Sites
We are currently looking into various launch sites, the best at the moment would be to use the Esrange
space centre, in Kiruna, Sweden, as they are equipped for large stratospheric balloon launches and are rel-
atively close compared to established launch sites in the US and Antarctica, although it would be nice to
launch from the UK if possible, but it can get very busy above us and there’s a higher risk of the balloon
drifting and descending over populated areas.
T H E B I G S PAC E B A L LO O N
SPACE BALLOON
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Rich Curtis – Project Director
The Big Space Balloon is an idea I’ve been working on for a couple of years, I’m part of the generation
that grew up during the Apollo missions with the mighty Saturn V rockets, Skylab, Soyuz and then the
Space Shuttle, so I’ve had a life long interest in space and space technology.
My background is in construction design for the housing market so I’m used to working on large build-
ing sized projects, I’ve combined these interests in the Big Space Balloon project.
My reason for choosing a balloon are several really; a big stratospheric balloon allows you to lift a rea-
sonably substantial payload of up to several tonnes into a space environment.
• Balloons also allow you to put relatively large payloads into a space environment at a lower costs
compared to a rocket, which can easily run into 100’s of £millions per launch.
• Balloon payloads
can also be launched many
times allowing modifica-
tions, improvements and
upgrades to the on-board
equipment with each
launch.
It would also be very
exciting to use some of the
latest technologies such
as 3D printing, to build a substantial
vehicle and to send it on its way to the
edge of space and see the images of
the Big Space Balloon flying above the
earths atmosphere, against the black-
ness of space.
The biggest challenge will be the
fabrication of the balloon envelope
due to its size, I’m in the process of
building partnerships with organisa-
tions and companies who could either
be involved in the project
directly through the manu-
facture of the balloon enve-
lope and the science capsule
or the through supplying
scientific equipment, again
this is in the early stages and
theirs a lot to do.
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Our team includes:
John Ackroyd - Designer & Consultant Engineer, who has worked on a range of balloon based projects
including Balloon projects; the first being the “Endeavor” round the world project for Julian Nott, design-
ing the pressurized crew capsule which was molded in Kevlar East Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, as well as
the pressurised capsules for Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand’s high altitude crossings of the Atlantic
and Pacific, and their round the world attempts; as well as Per’s high altitude capsule in which he reached
65,000 feet in Texas.
Other projects include the extraordinary Earthwinds R.T.W. balloon, working in the USA for several
years and more recently the mega balloon (worlds largest inflatable) used at the opening ceremony of
the 2010 commonwealth games.
Andy Elson - Balloonist and Engineer, Andy has been involved in a huge range of balloon projects
including several record breaking balloon attempts including piloting the world’s first hot air balloon flight
over Mt Everest 1991, working as both designer and co-pilot with Colin Prescot on the Brietling Orbiter II
balloon flight from Switzerland to Burma in 1998.
He was also involved with the QinetiQ1 balloon as both pilot and balloon fabricator, Andy still has the
main equipment in storage, used in the fabrication of the huge balloon envelope made for their attempt
T H E B I G S PAC E B A L LO O N
SPACE BALLOON
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
on the manned high altitude balloon record in 2003.
Dr. Andras Sobester - Andras is a member of the Computational Engineering and Design research group
within the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Southampton. Undertaking research in a
range of areas including Design optimization Aircraft design, High altitude flight.
Andras is involved with the ASTRA (Atmospheric Science Through Robotic Aircraft initiative), Exploring
Earth’s atmosphere using high altitude unmanned instrument platforms.
I’ve also spoken with the director at Cameron balloons, Alan Noble, who along with their partner
company Linstrand balloons, both have the manufacturing know-how to fabricate a balloon on this scale.
The project is still in the preliminary stage, so the prime focus at the moment will be on fundraising,
the estimated cost of project is between £1,500,000 to £2,000,000 pounds.
The exact funding is not finalized at the moment as it depends on the final
material costs and whether we fund any scientific equipment or whether this is
provided by partners, but I am currently looking into a range of options & am
determined to make this happen.
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Rover and Engineering Design Competitions from The Mars Society- 5th
grade thru Undergraduate
R O V E R S A N D S PAC E S H I P S E V E R Y W H E R E ! BY: NICOLE WILLETT, CHUCK MCMURRAY AND THE MARS SOCIETY
The Mars Society is host to three (3) design chal-
lenges. They range in age from middle school thru
college level. The middle and high school level chal-
lenge was launched at the 16th Annual Mars Society
Convention this past August. It is called the Youth
Rover Challenge. One of the undergraduate chal-
lenges is called the University Rover Challenge and
it has had several very successful seasons so far. The
final challenge was also launched at the convention
in August. It is an international student design com-
petition. The Youth Rover Challenge (YRC) is a multi-
tier robotics education development program that is
hosted, sponsored and operated by The Mars Society.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
The program commenced on August 6th, 2013 to commemorate the one year
anniversary of the landing of NASA’s Curiosity Rover. YRC is a STEM related edu-
cational effort that is designed for schools and organizations with students or
members in grades 5-12 to have the chance to build and compete at a global
level with a LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 based robotic rover and competition
arena intended to simulate the surface of Mars. The sandbox where the robotic
rover operates is intended to be replicated so participants can operate the com-
petition locally at your school, home or club. The Rover built for the competi-
tion is pre-designed to accomplish specific experiments (tasks) similar to what
Mars Rovers accomplish today on the surface of Mars and other harsh environ-
ments on remote places on Earth. The competition is operated on-site at your
self-built sandbox and the final operation of the field tasks are then videotaped
and sent to each teams personalized YRC site for submission. Teams that have
submitted videos that show the final operation of the rover completing the tasks
under a time limit are then ranked against other teams. The YRC is designed
to prepare students for the University Rover Challenge that has operated suc-
cessfully for the last 7 years directed by The Mars Society.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
R O V E R S A N D S PAC E S H I P S E V E RY W H E R E!
The University Rover Challenge (URC) is the world’s premier
robotics competition for college students. The URC has officially
kicked off its 2014 competition. This competition challenges
students to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers
which will one day work alongside astronauts on the Red Planet.
Teams spend the academic year designing, building and testing
their robotic creations. They will compete at the Mars Desert
Research Station (MDRS) in the remote, barren desert of south-
ern Utah in late May, 2014. The challenge features multiple tasks,
including an Equipment Servicing Task that incorporates inflat-
able structures, and a more aggressive incarnation of the popular
Terrain Traversing Task.
URC is unique in the challenges that it presents to students.
Interdisciplinary teams will tackle robotics, engineering and field
science domains, while gaining real-world systems engineering
and project management experience. University teams inter-
ested in participating can view the URC2014 rules online. The
official registration process will open in early November; however
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
teams are encouraged to begin their work now. The Mars Society recently announced the launch of an
international engineering competition for student teams to propose design concepts for the architec-
ture of the Inspiration Mars mission. The contest is open to university engineering student teams from
anywhere in the world. Inspiration Mars Executive Director Dennis Tito and Program Manager Taber
MacCallum were present for the announcement. “Inspiration Mars is looking for the most creative ideas
from engineers all over the world,” said Tito. “Furthermore, we want to engage the explorers of tomorrow
with a real and exciting mission, and demonstrate what a powerful force space exploration can be in
inspiring young people to develop their talent. This contest will accomplish both of those objectives.”
The requirement is to design a two-person Mars flyby mission for 2018 as cheaply, safely and simply as
possible. All other design variables are open.
Alumni, professors and other university staff may participate as well, but the teams must be predominantly
composed of and led by students. All competition presentations must be completed exclusively by stu-
dents. Teams will be required to submit their design reports in writing by March 15, 2014. From there, a
down-select will occur with the top 10 finalist teams invited to present and defend their designs before a
panel of six judges chosen (two each) by the Mars Society, Inspiration Mars and NASA. The presentations
will take place during a public event at NASA Ames Research Center in April 2014.
Designs will be evaluated using a scoring system, allocating a maximum of 30 points for cost, 30 points
for technical quality of the design, 20 points for operational simplicity and 20 points for schedule with a
maximum total of 100 points. The first place team will receive a prize of $10,000, an all-expenses paid trip
to the 2014 International Mars Society Convention and a trophy to be presented by Dennis Tito at that
event. Prizes of $5,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 will also be awarded for second through fifth place.
All designs submitted will be published, and Inspiration Mars will be given non-exclusive rights to make
use of any ideas contained therein.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
A L L I M AG E S M A R S S O C I E T Y ROVERS AND SPACESHIPS EVERYWHERE!
Commenting on the contest, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin said, “The Mars Society is delighted
to lead this effort. This contest will provide an opportunity for legions of young engineers to directly con-
tribute their talent to this breakthrough project to open the space frontier.”
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
MARS ARCTIC 365
The Mars Society’s one-year Mars surface simulation mission innorthern Canada
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NGC6960 BY MIKE GREENHAM
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
Astrocamp: A personal reflection BY Joolz Wright
I have never been to any other star party so I don’t profess to be an expert on what ingredients make up a suc-
cessful one...all I know is, like anything else in life..you always remember your first. The Astrocamp in the Brecon
Beacons was my first in September 2012. Armed with an antiquated reflector telescope, I spent my first weekend
in a tent since I left the Girl Guides and dragged my young son along too! I didn’t know anyone, apart from con-
vincing a good friend and her son...and a handful of astronomers I had met through Twitter. I never regretted it.
This September was my third visit to the Astrocamp and I can honestly say it just gets better every time.
Arrival on the first day is always a very busy one. Any fraught journeys there are soon forgotten when you see
the familiar faces from previous camp and arrivals throughout the day are peppered with friends: old and new...
It certainly breaks the ice when my son announces to freshly met astronomers the outburst of my road rage...
word for word. Well, it is very stressful towing a caravan for over 3 hours!
I always think one of the successes of the Astrocamp is
that due to a very active and friendly social networking
presence no one ever really feels like a stranger (even
when you want the ground to swallow you up!)
This September camp saw the return of the BBC Sky at
Night team and things soon got underway with Chris
Lintott judging an astronomy themed cake competition.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
The bringing of cakes by various camp attendees has
very quickly become a bit of a tradition and this year
my daughter had made and decorated a fabulous
shuttle cake. I was a very proud mum when her cake
was announced the winner, and even featured on
the Sky at Night programme! My girl was actually
my saviour after my attempt at decorating it with the
Awesome Astronomy Animated characters (also the
camp organisers) melted! No one wants to see a cake
looking like the result of a drunken brawl...do they?
The campsite is set up in a way which leaves a central
area for observing. This is “the common” and is a place
where many set up their scopes with a view to sharing
celestial delights at the eyepiece. There are also dedicated astro-imaging areas for those who need less interrup-
tion to really take advantage of the inky black skies. Some set up scopes next to their tents or vans, it really is a
great mix and at Astrocamp there are no hard and fast rules except for the usual star camp etiquette.
I had decided to set up my 127 Skywatcher Mak (on an EQ GoTo mount) by my van on the first night, a major
upgrade from my telescope at the first Astrocamp! I had a great Polar Alignment tutorial from another astro
earlier on in the evening, so I was convinced it was all going to go well! How wrong I was! By the time it was
dark enough to Polar Align my telescope decided to stop slewing. I put it down to a battery failure and decided
to concentrate on my DSLR. Again, another astro patiently taught me how to focus, using the zoom facility
on live view and I spent most of the evening capturing some wide field shots of the Milky Way! Another first!
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
A fabulous night was had with many objects
clearly visible with the naked eye such as
the Double Custer and M31
There is always so much going on at
Astrocamp during the day too.
The days were filled with some amazing
views of the sun using the array of solar
scopes and filtered scopes/ binoculars
on the common. We were even treated
on day two, to the most spectacular sun
halo! An imaging workshop was also held
on the common with some great advice
and a fabulous comprehensive guide from one of the
camp organisers, Damien Phillips/ @dephelis (you may
recognise him from my cake!!). Although the wonderful
clear skies meant the sun washed out the accompanying
screen presentation, all was not lost, as Damien gave small
groups hands on tutorials throughout the event duration.
These particularly included how to image using a webcam
followed by the processing methods and recommended
stacking software. It was a very welcome activity for many
beginners and those wanting to try new techniques. No
Astrocamp would be complete without the unmissable
Astro Pub-quiz! This September was no exception. With
the most amazing telescope prizes you would be bonkers
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not to enter! Even the BBC Sky at
Night team entered...and no guesses
as to where they came on the leader
board! They walked away with the
most coveted of prizes...a free down-
load to the wonderful Awesome
Astronomy podcast! Really must
swot harder for the next one...
Another highlight of the weekend
was Jenifer Millard’s fascinating
talk on exo-planets with some
amazing facts and great audience
participation, including a demonstration of the evo-
lution of the known Universe using a “clothes line”
and pegged images! A great Q and A session saw
the youngest preschool camp attendee offering...”I
have a question...what’s this?”...Followed by a crack-
ing shadow puppet onto the projection screen! It
really was an informative and fun packed after-
noon for all ages!
Before you knew it, it was dusk once more and
it really is a truly magical place on the common.
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Everyone had set up their scopes and once Polaris had been clocked, the first sighting of any celestial light would
be greeted with the comforting sound of slewing scopes and voices calling out new targets.
How could you not be mesmerised by that view...
The second evening brought some very unwelcome cloud cover and rain...just to show that there isn’t always a
clear sky at Astrocamp, although it has a pretty good track record! This was used as an excuse to catch up with
other astro-pals as there was no “scope driving” to be done! Tweeting absent friends and red torch portraits were
the frivolities of the evening, with the Sky at Night team asking for a window of quietness whilst they filmed their
closing shot, and great fun was had! An early night was also most welcome!
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I C Y S C I E N C E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
The following day was spent with more glorious skies
and solar observing and with the astro imaging ses-
sions running, it really was a relaxed atmosphere
accumulating in an "astro high tea" with everyone on
the common sharing sandwiches, snacks and tea, of
course!
Below: (Image by Alex Speed)
Night was soon around again and with a borrowed power pack I made another attempt at using my scope on the
common and after a few very frustrating false starts I was up and running. A very helpful and much more expe-
rienced observer came to my rescue in the form of a 13 year old young lady when my scope was playing up and
without her I would probably have given up after a failed fifth attempt at star alignment! There were lots of beau-
tiful firsts, with views of the Wild Duck Cluster, Owl (ET) Cluster and Alberio. I could not believe how beautiful a
double star could look at the eyepiece...and wondered why I hadn’t attempted to view it before then. Old favou-
rites such as the Double Cluster and Andromeda to name just two were all the more vibrant in the darkest of skies.
More shared views through some great telescopes and fantastic moments such as the excitement when a fellow
astro captured three galaxies in one field of view, will be very difficult to forget! With the Milky Way stretching from
one horizon to another there is so much to take in. A good part of the night was spent sitting in a chair just using
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eyes as equipment of choice, with great company.
With a long journey ahead in the morning I reluctantly
bunked down around 3 am with fantastic images of
the wonderful sights I had seen still in my head.
All too soon and it was time to leave...but what a great
experience. The date of the next camp was displayed
and all I can say is it cannot come soon enough!
(Image Paul Hill) (left)
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THE IMAGINARY NUMBER
THE COMPLEX NUMBERS
Numbers are so familiar to us that it might seem unimaginable that there was a time when the very concept
didn’t exist. Indeed the invention of numbers is lost in antiquity. Historians of mathematics speculate that
the origin of numbers was probably connected with real problems of life at the time, like describing whether
there was one animal, or more than one animal as food source (or a threat). A certain level of abstraction was
required to use numbers. Three rabbits, three stars and three rocks only share the common property of three-
ness. Manipulation of number – with no connection to physical objects – was a great intellectual leap.
BEYOND THE COUNTING NUMBERS
Negative numbers arrived on the scene much later. Trading and commerce meant that profit and loss should
be accounted for properly. Negative numbers were used to represent an absence or a loss. Despite that neg-
ative numbers were not immediately accepted by mathematicians. Early practitioners of algebra would often
discard negative values when they appeared as solutions. After all it’s easy to picture three people in a room. Or
two. Or one. Or even none. But what does minus one person in a room look like? One of my students recently
suggested it would be like a ghost. There may be grounds for rejecting negative numbers as the solution to a
particular problem but in other situations their use may be perfectly acceptable.
Negative numbers eventually found their place in our number system because they can be solutions of equa-
tions – just as valid as their positive namesakes. Likewise the history of zero is just as fraught with controversy
and confusion. Zero initially served as a placeholder in the representation of number. For example, it is the
zeros which tell you about the size of the numbers 15 and 105 and 1005. But zero as a number in its own right
took a long time to gain acceptance. Just like negative values, the solutions to some equations can be zero.
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The negative and positive numbers (integers and all the values between them) along with zero can be rep-
resented on a numberline stretching infinitely in both directions
For most people that’s the end of the story – we usually don’t need other types of number to survive
in life. Or do we?
Impossible Square Roots
Mathematicians of the Renaissance, armed with algebraic methods and newly invented symbols,
began to tackle a difficult equation: the cubic. A cubic equation contains the variable multiplied
by itself three times (compare with a quadratic equation which has the variable “squared” --- multi-
plied with itself twice). A method for solving quadratic equations was well known. Mathematicians
eventually found a method for solving cubic equations.
A simple cubic equation is x^3-15x-4=0. Mathematicians applied the algorithm for solving it and
one of the intermediate steps generated this fearful expression:
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The exasperating thing about the cubic equation was actually has simple solution: 𝑥=4. But the method
was generating the complicated expression shown here which contains, among other things, a square-
root of a negative number.
Why is the square-root strange? Well, mathematicians had long thought that only positive numbers (and
zero) could have a square-root. For example, since 9×9=81 then the square-root of 81 is 9. The square-root
could also be -9 because −9×−9=81. Similarly 4 is 2 or -2. There are no numbers, positive or negative, that
when multiplied with itself, gives a negative number. Therefore expressions like −121 had no sensible
meaning and mathematicians were puzzled by its presence. Instead of rejecting the square-roots of the
negatives the Italian mathematician Rafael Bombelli (1526 - 1572) embraced them and manipulated them
using the rules of algebra. He was able to change the solution into something a little simpler:
The solution still contains square roots of negative numbers, but the second one subtracts and cancels
the first leaving just x=2+2=4, which was the expected answer. Whatever the square-roots of negative
numbers were, they obeyed the rules of arithmetic and algebra and led to “real” solutions.
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Imaginary Numbers
Mathematicians did not welcome these new numbers overnight. It took a couple of centuries to develop a
consistent framework explaining how √(-1) actually fitted into the rest of mathematics. The French math-
ematician Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) derided these numbers, calling them imaginary (as opposed to
the useful, real numbers). But his name for them stuck. The square-root of minus one – whatever it was –
gained its own symbol. It was denoted in equations by the letter i, which made arithmetic with them less
cumbersome. No doubt it shielded nervous mathematicians from having to think too much about how
different √(-1) was from the familiar, real numbers. The imaginary unit i was defined by the relationship
i^2=-1. In other words when you square this strange number, it takes a negative value.
Mathematicians noticed that when imaginary numbers cropped up in their calculations, they were often
bonded to real numbers. Written down they look like 3+4i or 2-5i. These mixtures of the real and imagi-
nary are called a complex numbers.
Complex numbers are an amalgam of our familiar real numbers and the recently discovered imaginary.
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The horizontal axis is the real numberline. The vertical axis is
the imaginary number line. Since complex numbers could be
treated as points on a graph it made them amenable for analy-
sis by using geometry and trigonometry. It wasn’t long before
those branches of mathematics shed light on useful complex
numbers could be.
The most beautiful equation
Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707 - 1783) studied
complex numbers. Euler was aware that many functions could
be represented by infinitely long series of powers. For example
the exponential function e^x, which describes rapid (exponen-
tial) growth can be calculated by adding powers of x together.
Using the type of mathematical manipulation that is routine at
A-Level, he was able to show power series for sine and cosine
(from trigonometry) could combine with the imaginary unit to
give a power series for the exponential function. Euler uncov-
ered the following relationship:
Here the symbol θ represents the angle that the line to the
complex number makes to the horizontal axis when it’s plotted
on the graph. Euler’s incredible equation links two previously
unconnected types of function: the exponential and trigono-
metric functions. The exponential function grows and grows.
Sine and cosine functions are oscillating waves. There was
no reason to think they should be related before complex
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numbers were discovered. It’s like finding out that two of your friends, who didn’t previously know each
other are actually related to each other. It’s difficult to convey how shocking that result must have seemed
to mathematicians at the time.
What follows from Euler’s equation is both trivial and profound. Trivial to demonstrate: when the angle θ is
180° (or π radians in mathematical currency) the formula becomes
But the sine part disappears at this angle, and the equation simplifies to e^iπ=-1. Rearranging this so that
all the terms are on the left side of the equation gives us one the most profound and beautiful mathemati-cal results of all time
This is a single equation that captures the five most important numbers in mathematics. The Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988) described it as “one of the most remarkable, almost astounding, formulas in all of mathematics.”
Real applications for imaginary numbers
We’re almost at the end of this real and imaginary journey. Despite their name, imaginary (and complex) numbers have found very real applications in science and engineering. For electrical engineers complex numbers are a useful computational tool for dealing with frequencies and time varying voltages and resistances. You can find the imag-inary unit at the heart of quantum mechanics in the Schrodinger equation. The most iconic image of 20th century mathematics, the Mandelbrot set, is constructed from simple rules applied to complex numbers. My own research background is image processing – particularly improving noisy radiological images. The techniques used in that field (Fourier transforms) have imaginary numbers embedded within them.
We might not be able to imagine what the square-root of minus one looks like but we need it to fully capture of the essence of reality
Words: Adrian Jannetta
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[Sculpture in Berlin - credit Wikipedia]
As equations go - they don’t get much more
iconic than Einstein’s famous equation. There
have been books written about it, posters,
tattoos, artworks, and a whole industry based on
it, not to mention weapons.
An equation is a balance - the things on the left
must equal the things on the right. So what this
equation tells us is that if you change something
on one side, you get a corresponding change on
the other. So - lets just pick it apart.
The E stands for energy. Interestingly no one
really knows what energy is. It’s a sort of thing
- we know it when we see it, and we know how
to convert it, but we don’t really know what it
is. We know fast moving things have a lot of it,
things high up want to lose energy by coming
low down etc. On the other side we have m
for mass - which you can treat as how much
things weigh broadly without too many issues.
We also have c - the speed of light, squared, so
two lots of it. Now the speed of light is fixed -
you can’t change it. So we can’t play with that
part of the equation. It’s set in stone by the uni-
verse. This means we can ignore it if we just
want to do comparisons. So lets do that for the
time being. This means the equation can be
viewed as
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E = m
So - if we have 1kg of mass - we can make
a certain amount of energy. If we have
2kg, we have twice as much. 4kg is 4 times
as much and so on. We can change the
amount of mass, and/or the amount of
energy. However by the balance principle,
we can convert any amount of mass into
an equivalent amount of energy. Equally
if we have some spare energy around,
we can make it into mass. So, with 1kg of
mass, we can make some energy. How
much energy? Well quite a lot. Lets put the
c2 back in. c is a big number - 300,000,000
m/s. c squared is an even bigger number.
8900,000,000,000,000,000 m2/s2. So this tells us a little bit of mass will make a lot of energy, or equiva-
lently you need a lot of energy to make a little bit of mass. This is the principle of nuclear energy. Each
useful nuclear reaction loses a tiny bit of mass, and from that we get energy. It’s also true in chemis-
try but the fractions are that much tinier there. Equivalently at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) they
bang particles together with large amounts of energy, and are able to create new lumps of matter (and
anti-matter).
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Can you convert material 100% into
energy? Well yes you can in special
cases. Matter and anti-matter will
do it. They cancel each other out
making pure energy. We are sur-
rounded by matter, but anti matter
is very rare. We can make it, but
guess what, it takes energy to make
it. As much energy is required as you
would get back. However normally
conversion isn’t 100%, so in practice
you’d lose energy in the steps.
A nuclear bomb (fission) for instance, is about 0.03% efficient whilst a hydrogen bomb ups it to about 0.3%.
That is only a tiny fraction of the mass is converted to energy. The effects are still quite devastating though.
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Bottom Left: [Nuclear fission bomb explosion - credit wikipedia]
The Sun does a little better - extracting somewhere around 1% efficiency from the reactions - but then it
does have size on its side. Black holes can do somewhat better - getting up to maybe 40% of the possible
energy from stuff falling into it.
Another aspect of this equation is that energy has mass, and mass causes gravity. So even a photon of
light, which has no real mass in the conventional sense, has an effective mass. This is why light can be
bent by large masses caused by gravity. However this is very simplistic, as light actually bends a little more
than you might expect just treating it as a mass. This is where general relativity comes in, and lets agree
to sweep that under the carpet, as the maths is epically horrendous.
But… why the speed of light, how has that got involved? This looks a little incongruous, why have it in
there? Well its a little complicated - but then it did take Einstein to figure it out.
It comes down to the speed of light being the universal speed limit. Nothing can go faster. Also that
Einstein turned space and time into a single space-time. We travel through the universe in space-time at
the speed of light. If we’re standing still we shoot forward in time only. If we move in our regular 3 dimen-
sions we go through time a little more slowly. For any normal speed we don’t notice the change in time.
So - that’s a not very convincing justification for why we have the c. You need to follow through the maths
to see in more detail.
Words: Julian Onions
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Sundogs - The Fact and Fiction
A sundog, or to give it its correct name, a parhelion
(plural parhelia) is a well documented atmospheric
phenomenon. In a similar way to how light is split by
water droplets when a rainbow forms, parhelia are
formed when the light from the Sun is refracted by
hexagonal shaped ice crystals found in cirrus clouds
high in the atmosphere. These ice crystals act like tiny
prisms, causing bright patches to appear either side
of the Sun. These patches may look multicoloured,
but often the colours overlap so are more muted than
you would expect to see in a rainbow. Sometimes the
pair of bright patches is part of a white 22 degree halo
which surrounds the Sun, also called a parhelic circle.
Why are they called 22 degree halos? The sky is divided
up in a similar way to how the Earth is divided into lat-
itude and longitude. If you imagine the sky as being a
huge sphere, the entire thing is divided up into degrees,
with the total being 360. A parhelic circle stretches out
by 22 degrees in every direction from the Sun. To give
you an idea of how big that is, if you place your hand
at arm’s length and stretch out your fingers, the dis-
tance from your thumb to your little finger will cover
approximately 20 degrees of sky. Why is 22 degrees
so special? It is to do with the angle that the light
is deflected as it passes through those hexagonal
ice crystals. When the ice crystals sink through the
air and become vertically aligned, a parhelic circle
is formed. If the ice crystals are arranged randomly,
then a pair of parhelia is formed, but often the two
are present at the same time. They are usually only
visible when the Sun is low in the sky (below 60
degrees) either at sunrise or sunset. Depending
on the conditions, there may be one or two parhe-
lia present. Although parhelia are only visible when
the correct conditions are present, they are relatively
common. Far less common though, are moondogs,
correct name paraselene (plural paraselenae). Also
caused by light being refracted by cirrus clouds, the
Moon needs to be almost full in order for there to be
enough light to cause a paraselene to form. Because
the Moon is far less bright than the sun, a paraselene
is rarely bright enough to be able to pick out indi-
vidual colours; it usually just looks like a bright white
patch, but may also be part of a 22 degree halo.
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We understand this atmospheric phenomenon very well now, and we can even speculate that they form
in the atmosphere of other planets too. But this wasn’t always the case. There are a lot of references in
mythology and folklore which we now believe are referring to sundogs.
The word “parhelia” comes from the Greek language, meaning “beside the sun”. But it is also known by
several other names; sundog, mock sun or phantom sun. It is easy to understand how ancient civili-
zations would have interpreted these peculiar bright patches as “mock suns” but where did the name
sundog originate? Its first recorded use was in 1631 by the British Naval Captain Luke Foxe. He used it
in his journal whilst on a search for the North West Passage. However, this was clearly not a new term
that he had coined himself. In the 1st century AD, the Greek playwright Seneca used the term “par-
helion” to mean sundogs. The origin of these two parallel terms is thought to be from the Greek and
Germanic languages which then entered into the English language. If the two bright patches of light
rise alongside the Sun, following it as dogs would follow their master, then this is perhaps one possible
origin of the term “sundog”. However, a better explanation may come from Germanic mythology. Odin
was the sky god, and he was said to have two dogs, one named Geri and one named Freki, so people
seeing their god rising with two faithful companions may have been the source of the name sundog.
The appearance of atmospheric phenomenon like parhelia would have given ancient story tellers many
opportunities to tell their tales, and many stories there are. Most of the ancient writings refer to sky
gods and twin sons of the sky. In Greek mythology Zeus was god of the sky, and there is reference to
“Dioskouri” which translates as “Sons of God”. In Greek mythology there are two sets of twin sons of the
sky god. Stories from Babylon, China and India all feature twin sons of the sky. The native American
cultures of Zuni, Hopi and Apache feature sun twins. Elsewhere in America, sun twins appear in the
writings of the Seneca of New York State and Maya of Central America. Women of South East Africa
who gave birth to twin sons were said to have children of the sky. Finally, there are ancient carvings in
Scandinavia which depict twin figures that are associated with the Sun.
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Sometimes only one parhelion is visible, and this is
thought to have given rise to other mythological tales.
In the Greek myth of Phaethon, Phaethon was the son
of Klymene, however, his father was absent. Upon ques-
tioning, Klymene told him that his father was Helios, the
Sun, so the presence of the Sun with one parhelion was
symbolic of Helios and his son Phaethon. The first clear
description of parhelia as an atmospheric phenome-
non rather than the stuff of myth and legend comes
from a passage in a book written in 1533. In “Brotherly
Faithfulness: Epistles from a Time of Persecution”, Jakob
Hutter wrote, “My beloved children, I want to tell you
that on the day after the departure of our brothers
Kuntz and Michel, on a Friday, we saw three suns in
the sky for a good long time, about an hour, as well as
two rainbows. These had their backs turned toward
each other, almost touching in the middle, and their
ends pointed away from each other. And this I, Jakob,
saw with my own eyes, and many brothers and sisters
saw it with me. After a while the two suns and rain-
bows disappeared, and only the one sun remained.
Even though the other two suns were not as bright
as the one, they were clearly visible. I feel this was no
small miracle…” Two years later, in 1535, came the ear-
liest pictorial record of parhelia in the form of a paint-
ing called “Vädersolstavlan”. This literally translates
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as “The Weather Sun Painting” but is more widely
referred to as “The Sundog Painting”, shown below.
It depicts the city of Stockholm on the morning of
20th April, 1535. In this painting, the sky is full of
various atmospheric phenomena, including parhe-
lia, 22 degree halo and circumzenithal arc. The king
was not impressed with the painting, viewing the
mock suns as some kind of threat to his authority.
Prior to the Vädersolstavlan, other artistic depictions
of parhelia existed. One famous example also shown
below is taken from the Nuremberg Chronicle, one
of the first books to combine words with pictures.
It follows human history, paraphrasing the bible.
This picture is clearly representing parhelia, the top
image depicting them as the holy trinity. One of the
most famous stories involving the appearance of
parhelia is the one which occurred shortly before the
battle of Mortimer’s Cross in 1461. Edward of York’s
troops were initially terrified by this apparition,
described as “three glorious suns, each a perfect
sun”; they thought it was a portent. But Edward
convinced them that it was in fact an auspicious
sign; that it represented the holy trinity and that it
foretold of their victory. It is also reported that he
thought the three suns represented himself and his
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two brothers. This scene is re-enacted within Shakespeare’s play Henry VI Part 3, where the would-be King
Edward exclaims, “Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns?” This event clearly had an impact on Edward,
as he later incorporated the Sun into his personal badge. Appearances of parhelia have long been asso-
ciated with weather predictions, often recorded as meaning that a storm is coming. We now know that
this isn’t necessarily the case; it largely depends on the direction of the weather front in question. Given
our current level of knowledge, it is difficult to imagine a time when people truly believed the appearance
of an atmospheric phenomenon could be interpreted as a sign of good or bad luck; that their fate was
hinged upon a bright patch in the sky. But it is easy to see how awe inspiring the sight must have been for
our ancient ancestors, and how it inspired so many stories. Even with our vast knowledge I am still capti-
vated by the sight myself, imagining all of those tiny prisms diffracting rays of sunlight, and I was totally
blown away when I recently saw my first moondog. But I know it doesn’t mean that I will be successful
in battle, or that rain is on the way. The presence of one or two parhelia means only thing for certain; that
there are cirrus clouds in the sky!
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Sources:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/circular.htm
http://www.weather-banter.co.uk/uk-sci-weather-uk-weather/5723-sun-dog-photo.html
http://www.decodedscience.com/the-mortimers-cross-parhelion-how-a-meteorological-phenomenon-changed-english-history/3437
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_dog
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Chronicle
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS: MARY SPICER
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Astronomy for the Absolute Beginner.
Have you ever looked up at night and wondered
what all the little shiny dots are? Or maybe you
know a little bit about stars, planets and sat-
ellites but you’re keen to find out more about
the cosmos in your corner of our vast universe?
If the answer to these is ‘yes’, or ‘maybe’ - then
this is for you. Hopefully by the time you’ve
finished reading these few short paragraphs,
you’ll be able to look up into the blackness of
space and put names to some of the familiar
lights and patterns. Maybe you’ll even begin to
understand what these objects are, be curious
enough to find out more and spend some time at
night gazing up in awe and wonder. Be prepared
- there’s no such thing as bad weather only inap-
propriate clothing. Even on a relatively mild sum-
mer’s night you can get pretty chilly. A good base
layer may be needed, and the key thing here is to
avoid cotton if you can. Merino wool t-shirts and
long-johns are good (particularly Ice-Breaker) as
are man-made fabrics. I have a nice long sleeved
North Face top made from a combination of three
different man-made fabrics and it is a great fit too.
Next you do need a good insulating layer. I tend to
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wear a hoody on top so that if it gets really chilly I can keep
my head warm with the hood. In mid-winter I’ll probably
have a jumper over the hoody too! Try not to wear jeans
on your legs, instead go for jogging pants or outdoor trou-
sers such as Rohans or Berghaus. In the middle of winter,
especially if it has been snowing I have been known to wear
salopettes. Finally, have a decent woolly hat in your pocket
to put on when it gets really chilly.
Be equipped - You probably need to buy yourself a cheap
“red light” torch particularly if you’re going to a dark site, or
an actual observatory. You can buy these for less than £10
on most internet shopping and auction sites. Why do you
need a red light, why not a white light? Its all to do with the
chemicals and cells in your eyes. Here’s the science bit - A
chemical called Rhodopsin, made in the retina from Vitamin
A found in Beta-Carotene, is the thing that determines your
night vision. When you’ve got lots of it in your rod cells, you
can see wonderfully at night - mainly in black and white.
Rhodopsin is great at absorbing blue/green light however
and when it does it breaks down into other chemicals and
you can’t see so well at night anymore. Practically it takes
the Rhodopsin about 30-45 minutes to recombine and you
get your night vision back. Red light doesn’t really break
it down - which is why astronomers use red light torches!
In any case, give yourself at least half an hour in the dark
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before you go outside and look up. If you can’t afford a telescope yet its worth getting a set of binocu-
lars for around £20 just to get you started. Also on cold nights a thermos flask of hot chocolate or soup
is a life saver.
Plan your observing - take some time to think about what you are going to look for and where is the best
place to find it. Stellarium is a great PC based tool to do this and it is free to download here http://www.
stellarium.org/. If you’ve got an android phone, download and install Google sky map. iPhone users have
similar apps available, just search “sky map”. Your back yard is probably ok for observing the moon, some
of the more obvious constellations, brighter planets and satellites like the ISS and Iridium flares. If you
want to see more, then you’ll have to head to a darker site - away from light-polluting street lamps. When
I first started astronomy I used to walk down to Gorleston beach, then walk half a mile along the beach
away from the town, lie down on a blanket and just look up. The first time I saw the Milky Way Galaxy
was here and it quickly became one of my most favourite places in the world. If you’re uncertain then
this map will give you some pointers towards ideal dark sky sites around the UK http://www.darkskydis-
covery.org.uk/dark-sky-discovery-sites/map.html. This page has two clickable map links that show you
the levels of light pollution in the UK and Europe but the simple rule is - head to the countryside or the
coast and away from street lamps!
What to look out for - some easy-to-find objects to look
out for over the Autumn and Winter months.
The Moon - great for naked eye or binocular observ-
ing. Look particularly for detail highlighted by shadows
around the edge of the moon, or at the line where the
day meets the night. (This line is called the terminator).
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The moon changes on a daily basis so keep looking up! Its also worth noting that when the moon is fully
in shadow - a new moon - other objects in the night sky become clearer.
The International Space Station (ISS) - The home to a number of astronauts hurtling around our planet
can be tracked here - http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php.
The Planets - Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are usually very easy to find and observe, particularly with
binoculars or a small telescope. The first time you see the rings of Saturn, it will blow your mind.
Constellations - These are groups of stars that make recognisable patterns. Key constellations are: Ursa
Major, (the Plough or Big Dipper) which helps us find the Polaris - the North Pole star. Also it’s handle
arcs towards Arcturus the fourth brightest star in the sky. The big dipper has a the two stars Mizar and
Alcor which look very close together and are known as an “optical double” but the reality is they’re very
far apart. Orion is an instantly recognisable shape in the southern sky. It contains the Orion Nebula, (M42)
just below the belt and Betelgeuse which is a massive red star currently at the end of its life and shrink-
ing which means it might blow up soon! Like the Big Dipper - the stars in Orion line up in such a way that
you can use it as a pointer to other stars and constellations. Cassiopeia is a familiar ‘W’ shape and contains
many ‘deep sky’ objects including two open clusters, M103 and M52. M52 is easy to spot with a pair of bin-
oculars. Cassiopeia is great for finding the Milky Way because she’s lying smack bang in the middle of it.
These objects are great to get your started and the constellations will also help to guide you towards other
things to view as your exploration of the night sky evolves over many weeks and months of viewing.So
remember - enjoy your first nights out as an astronomer by keeping warm, preserving your night vision,
planning your observing, finding yourself somewhere dark and then simply look up.
Words: Roy Alexander
Moon Image: Mike Greenham
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Astronomy/ Science Education in Schools
in India
Current Scenario in schools-By Henna Khan“Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through
the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for Science intact” – Carl Sagan.
I am unaware of how much astronomy is taught in schools the world over, but in India, the only astron-
omy which is included in the school curriculum is a bit about the solar system added in the geogra-
phy textbook as an afterthought. A lot of children grow up without even knowing that our Sun is just
another star. And what is worse is that the education system does not make them wonder and ask
these questions for themselves.
Further, the current education system is purely focused on passing exams. Almost all children end
up rote learning without understanding concepts. If we want future scientists, our education system
needs to change from “textbook based learning” to “inquiry-driven learning”.
There are few schools in India which do provide hands-on based education, but these are very expensive
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and only a fraction of the children are able to take advantage
of it. We need an education system which includes astron-
omy as part of the curriculum and imparts education through
hands-on activities. Instead of “teaching” we need to “inspire”
children into learning. Importance of Astronomy in Schools
Astronomy is an interdisciplinary science which has the ability
to stretch a child’s mind into infinite spaces and time and mul-
tiple dimensions. It can inspire children to imagine! Children
are naturally inquisitive. Astronomy can be used to fuel their
curiosity. It has an immense potential to motivate children to
learn Maths, physics, chemistry, biology – subjects that oth-
erwise may not be of interest to them. Through science and
innovative thinking children can come up with solutions to
world problems such as malnutrition, water, sanitation.
Astrology / palm reading/ Numerology are commonplace
topics in India. I believe it is easier to change an entire gen-
eration of thinkers than to try and change the mindset of
the adult population. By including astronomy as part of the
school curriculum, we will be able to get children thinking
and question the validity of such topics for themselves. This
is probably the best way to do away with superstition and
blind belief and pave the way for science.
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However, maybe a bigger reason for teaching astronomy in schools is because it is a humbling subject.
We can look at pictures of earth from space and know how fragile it is. We can understand how futile
hatred and war is and the threat of self-destructing ourselves. We can understand how our planet func-
tions and the dangers of climate change. Astronomy has the potential to make this world a better place
and we a better race.
What can be done in developing countries for Astronomy/ Science outreach
The Government of India needs to work on improving education infrastructure, providing teacher train-
ing and ensuring quality education even to children in rural areas.
Initiative and effort for astronomy/ science outreach needs to come from individuals, private compa-
nies and organizations until the ideal situation of having astronomy included in the national education
curriculum is achieved.
Astronomy/ Science for middle-income children:
A sustainable model for Astronomy/ Science outreach through hands-on based activities can be used
by individuals and organizations. It may be built on the “After-school Universe” model (http://universe.
nasa.gov/au/) and may have the following features:
• Low cost hands on based workshops can be offered to school children. Parents pay the nominal
amount for the workshops, not the schools
• Use resources of the school (classroom space, projector/ screen for presentation). This reduces
expenses and initial investment of the Individual/ organization
• Target for more number of children, for example, instead of targeting one workshop of 30 chil-
dren per day, 90 to 100 children can be taught in one day in three back to back batches of say around 30
children each. In this case, price per child can be dropped to one/third while the individual/ organization
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makes the same amount of money
• Have children work in groups to share cost of the activity, for
example, group of four children can make one water rocket to reduce
per head cost. Also encourages team work
• Certain models can be reused to reduce cost
• Teacher training at schools should be given
Astronomy/ Science for under-privileged children:
In case of under-privileged children, workshops cannot be offered even
at a very low cost. Some ideas for achieving this are mentioned below:
• Tie up with corporate companies to perform outreach as a part
of corporate social responsibility
• Tie up with education consultants who already have a network
of schools across the country
• Train teachers of local NGOs who work with under-privileged
children
• Tie up with network of local amateur astronomers. Each amateur
astronomer can approach few schools in their area and do this part time.
However, doing one time workshops to get kids inspired is not enough.
There should be a platform for continued discussion.
Challenges:
• Availability of quality education for higher studies. There are
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limited options. Also not many courses in subjects such as Quantum Mechanics and Astrobiology. Not
always feasible for children to go to other countries for higher education
• Availability of jobs in Space industry/ Science as compared to other sectors
About Me:
I am the owner of Universe Simplified, through which I am trying to achieve sustainable Astronomy/
Science education for school children by engaging them in hands-on activities. Aim is to get children
curious and interested in the subjects.
www.universesimplified.in
Twitter: @henna_khan
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Women, Astronomy & UKWIAN Launch!
I have had a life-long love of astronomy and science, yet
people often ask me if I only like it because my partner likes
it too. Why, in this day and age, is astronomy still consid-
ered to be a boy’s game? There is a long history of women in
science, yet when asked, very often the first and only female
scientist people can name is Marie Curie. She was certainly
a formidable and very inspirational lady, but she is not one
of a kind. One of the first recorded female scientists was
actually Hypatia of Alexandria (370-415 - pre-dating Marie Curie by almost 1500 years!) She was a Roman
Mathematician and Astronomer, and actually invented some of her own scientific instruments. She died
for her art; a new leader was very unhappy about her teachings and had her murdered. All of her writings
and teachings were destroyed. Another famous lady scientist who also pre-dated Marie Curie by a long
way was Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). She was a convent educated German lady who was actually the
first person to write about the benefits of boiling drinking water for sanitation purposes. During the 19th
Century there were many more famous women scientists, and an even longer list covering the 20th Century
to present day. 1
In the 17th Century, attitudes towards education for women were staggering! In his book “At Home”, Bill
Bryson writes, “Women were instructed to avoid stimulating pastimes like reading and card games, and above
all never to use their brains more than was strictly necessary. Educating them was not simply a waste of time
of resources, but dangerously bad for their delicate constitutions”. In 1865, John Ruskin wrote an essay, in
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which he said that “Women should be educated just enough
to make themselves practically useful to their spouses, but
no further”. One early radical feminist, Catherine Beecher,
argued passionately that “Women should be accorded full
and equal educational rights, so long as it was recognized
that they would need extra time to do their hair”. 2 In astron-
omy, women were historically encouraged to work within the
field of solar observing. I heard a remarkable quote about
this during a talk at my local astronomical society, where it
was said that women should focus on solar work because
going out at night into the cold and dark would be detri-
mental to their delicate disposition! Luckily there have been
many women of strong enough dispositions over the years
to fight back against this kind of prejudice. As I’ve already
mentioned, Hypatia was a famous Astronomer during Roman
times. There are many more; Antonia Maury, born in 1866
was responsible for some incredible work on stellar spectra,
despite being actively discouraged by her supervisor. There
was Henrietta Swan Leavitt, born in 1868. Not only did she
devise a system for ascertaining the magnitude of stars on
photographic plates, she also studied Cepheid Variable stars,
and made the phenomenally important discovery that vari-
able stars have a period-luminosity ratio; this ratio allowed
her to calculate the absolute magnitude of stars for the first
time. There are many more. But one of the most inspiring
Born Caroline Lucretia Herschel
16 March 1750
Hanover
Died 9 January 1848 (aged 97)
Hanover
Nationality German
Fields Astronomy
Known for Discovery of comets
Notable awards Gold Medal of the
Royal Astronomical Society (1828)
Prussian Gold Medal for Science (1846)
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stories of women in astronomy has to be that of Caroline Herschel, sister of William Herschel. She was born
in 1750, and had a number of childhood diseases which where to affect her in later life. She was left scarred
and disfigured by Smallpox and was very short in stature due to Typhus. Her family wrote her off, told her she
would never marry and planned for to become their maid. Her brother William came to her rescue. First of all,
he taught her how to sing, but more importantly, he took her on as his assistant when he began working in
astronomy. She flourished in this role and became the first woman to discover a comet. She went on to dis-
cover more comets and nebulae, and have her own star charts published. She is one of the few early women
astronomers who have had their lives very well documented.3 Another famous “forgotten” female astrono-
mer and astrophysicist was Cecilia Payne, who in 1925 made one of the most important astronomical discov-
eries of the 20th Century.4 Using her thorough understanding of quantum theory, she calculated that 90% of
the Sun comprised of hydrogen. At the time, this finding was highly controversial because most astronomers
believed that the Sun was made of iron. Her supervisor, Henry Norris Russell, claimed her result was “spurious”
and put a lot of pressure on her to remove this claim from her final PhD thesis. Four years later, when further
evidence was overwhelmingly in favour of the Sun being made of hydrogen, Russell took the credit for the
discovery whilst poor Sylvia Payne was forgotten. Sadly, this kind of thing was not uncommon throughout
history. There is no doubt that is has been an uphill struggle for women in science. The Royal Astronomical
Society did not allow women as fellows until 1916. Around that time, women could study at university but
were not allowed to be awarded degrees. Any women who did manage to obtain professional employment
had to give up their job once they married. Luckily things have moved on and women are now afforded equal
education rights. In the present day, one third of astronomy PhD students are women, 28% of astronomy
lecturers are women and 7% of astronomy Professors are women. 5 Whist it’s great that so many women are
entering this male dominated field, the numbers are still way too low. Modern day female astronomers of note
include Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell , who was involved with the discovery of pulsars, and Catherine Cesarsky
who in 2006 became the first female president of the International Astronomical Union. There has also been a
notable increase in the number of women presenting science documentaries on television, such as Dr. Lucie
Green and Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock. These people are great role models for young women who want to
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pursue a career in astronomy, but there needs to be
more. Surely it is time to move away from pre-historic
gender typing? Supermarkets and online retailers still
market science toys as “toys for boys”, claiming it is
due to public demand. This is something which has
to change. There is no doubt that women who want
to succeed in science, technology, engineering and
maths (STEM) still face an uphill struggle today and
have to make many sacrifices. Women who want to
take a career break to have a family may have prob-
lems returning to the same posts; often they have to
take a demotion in order to get back into work. The
number of women in senior positions within astron-
omy and physics is still extremely low compared to
men. But it is the 21st Century; why does society as a
whole still think that science is a “boys” game? Only
recently, there was a big fuss in the press on the dis-
covery that the extremely successful “I F**king Love
Science” Facebook page was run by a female, the
British blogger Elise Andrews. To read about some
of the fall-out, take a look at the Guardian’s and The
Independent’s articles referenced at the end. 6&7 I
admire Elise, and the way she handled the fall out. I
have to admit that I myself was guilty of assuming
the page was run by a man, but wasn’t in the least bit
shocked or offended when I found out that it wasn’t;
Female astrophotography exhibition on the UKWIAN stand at the NW Astronomy Festival
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if anything I just felt admiration for her. The page is wonderfully run, and every single post she makes
is utterly fascinating. Science and astronomy have become extremely popular subjects in recent years.
Modern technology has made astronomy much more accessible to the general public, probably more so
than any other branch of science. Amateur astronomers can work hand in hand with professionals, sharing
and analysing data from their own back garden. The success of Galaxy Zoo is a great example; volunteers
classifying galaxies from their arm-chairs. Many of you will have heard of Hanny van Arkel and “Hanny’s
Voorwerp”. Hanny is a Dutch Biology teacher, and she discovered the “unusual object” in 2007. Since then
she has become a minor celebrity within astronomy circles! The internet allows people to control and take
photos remotely using some of the world’s largest telescopes. Distance learning is also playing a vital
role in bringing astronomy to the masses. People can study any number of astronomy or science qualifi-
cations part-time whilst still working, and once achieved, these qualifications can open up a whole new
career path for people. All of these things provide an awesome opportunity for amateurs, but also could
be really important for women who want to have a career in science or astronomy but who may find it
more difficult to make an impact through the traditional channels.
There is certainly a need for the encouragement of more women into science and astronomy, and with
astronomy currently being such a popular subject, now is the time for that to happen. Just last week, on
31st October 2013, Professor Dame Athene Donald, gender equality champion from the University of
Cambridge, kicked off a debate at the BBC’s inaugural 100 Women Conference on why there are so few
women in science and technology. 8 The founders of The Knowledge Observatory have recognized this
need, and they set up the UK Women in Astronomy Network (UKWIAN). The Knowledge Observatory are
a social enterprise, who enable young people who have become disengaged from education to take part
in their learning program which harnesses their interest in astronomy and uses it as a platform for educa-
tion in other subjects such as English, maths and computer science. They also provide personal develop-
ment programs. They organised the first astronomy festival to be held in the North West of England, and
this took place on the weekend of 26th and 27th October 2013 in Runcorn, Cheshire. They also set up the
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UKWIAN with the purpose of providing positive role models for women who are interested in astronomy,
both as amateurs and professionals. They already had a substantial following on Facebook and Twitter
before their official launch at the NW Astronomy Festival. The festival featured several guest speakers,
including Mark Thompson (astronomer from The One Show and Stargazing Live), Gary Fildes (from the
Kielder Observatory), Nick Howes (from the Faulkes Telescope), Andy Newsam (from the Astrophysics
Research Institute at Liverpool John Moores University) and Sheila Kanani (Dr. of Planetary Science). As part
of the festival, the UKWIAN had an exhibition stand which featured biographies of inspirational women in
astronomy together with inspirational quotes from them. It also included an exhibition of astronomy pho-
tographs taken by women astrophotographers of all different ability levels. The photographs were made
into a video slide show which was being shown on a large TV screen displayed above the exhibition stand.
I have been assisting the UKWIAN for several weeks now, not only by looking after their Facebook page
and Twitter feed, but by helping to collate the biographies, quotes and astrophotos for the exhibition
stand. The response to the UKWIAN has been overwhelmingly positive and I feel very proud to be a part
of it. A very small number of people have voiced their concerns about sexism. They are not excluding
men; in fact, there are quite a few males who have shown their support by following the Twitter account
and becoming members of the Facebook group. UKWIAN is not trying to exclude anybody; they simply
strive towards gender equality and want to try and help to raise the currently appalling ratio of women
in astronomy, and help women to stand alongside their male counterparts.
Next to the UKWIAN stand at the astronomy festival was Women Rock Science, who were displaying posters
of women who changed the world with astronomy, biographies and badges. They were also running a
fun quiz.
It is true that many branches of science and astronomy are still male dominated, but women are fight-
ing back. I know I’ll never be a professional astronomer, but I’m a girl, and I’m proud to love astronomy.
To paraphrase the late Ann Richards (Governor of Texas) “A woman’s place is in the dome” - in this case,
an astronomy dome!
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Biographies & Inspirational Quotes on the UKWIAN Stand at the NW Astronomy Festival
Words & Images: Mary Spicer
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The Women Rock Science stand at the NW Astronomy Festival
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Women in astronomy (left to right): Tracey Snelus (Astronomy for Fun), Sue Davies (The Knowledge Observatory), Mary Spicer (UKWIAN) and Sonia Gee (Astronomy for Fun)
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References:
1. http://www.women-scientists-in-history.com/historia.html
2. “At Home” by Bill Bryson
3. http://www.womanastronomer.com/women_astronomers.htm
4. “We Need to Talk About Kelvin” by Marcus Chown
5. http://www.ras.org.uk/search/article-archive/2017-astronomy-and-geophysics-bring-women-into-science
6. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/us-news-blog/2013/mar/20/i-love-science-woman-facbook
7. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/women-love-science--what-a-surprise-8555226.html
8. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24672376
For a more in-depth look at women in astronomy, please take some time to read this fabulous article: http://
academinist.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Woman_Place_Larsen.pdf
And for a female astronomer’s perspective on things, please read this: http://spacemom.net/
adventures/2008/03/19/a-womans-place-is-in-the-dome/
If you want to support UKWIAN please click here for the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/UKWIAN or
follow @UKWIAN on Twitter
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LET’S TALK....FRASER CAIN
INTERVIEW
How long have you been interested in Astronomy and what got you interested?
FC: I’ve always been fascinated by astronomy, since I was a small child. I can remember learning about the
constellations and shooting stars from my parents, watching Star Wars and Star Trek as a kid, and obses-
sively reading books about space. I bought my first telescope when I was 14 and organized star parties
in my small town. My parents were a huge influence on me, and I was lucky that space and astronomy
was something that they loved too.
Who inspires you and why?
I’ve got to admit that, like most science communicators, I was influenced by Carl Sagan. Cosmos, Contact
and Pale Blue Dot were pivotal books for me. But maybe even more influential was Demon Haunted
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World; that book turned me into a lifelong skeptic. I’ve also loved
the communication style of James Burke, of Connections fame. I’m
also lucky that some of my biggest inspirations, are also my best
friends, like Phil Plait and Pamela Gay.
Universe today is now a worldwide and well respected
website, how did Universe today come about?
FC: I originally created Universe Today back in 1999 as a side project
while I was working for a web development company in Vancouver.
After a few months, I knew that this would be my future career,
and so I did everything I could to make the revenue sustainable
so I could make it my full time job. It took a few years of hard work
to be able to make that change.
What other projects are you involved with?
FC:In addition to Universe Today, I’m also the co-host of Astronomy
Cast, which I create with Dr. Pamela Gay. I’ve been working with
a team of astronomers on the Virtual Star Party, where we broad-
cast a live view of the night sky every week onto Google+. I also
produce explainer videos on YouTube, helping people understand
various concepts in space and astronomy.
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How do you think twitter, face book, YouTube etc have helped astronomy?
FC: Social media like Twitter has allowed everyone to have a voice, same with
YouTube. It doesn’t matter who you work for or how much budget you have, if
you have an interesting story to tell, you can reach a worldwide audience. I think
this whole revolution is really exciting, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
This year has been a hive of activity with near earth asteroids, the
Russian meteor and of course comet ISON, what event this year has
or will be the most amazing too you?
FC: All of those events you’ve mentioned have been big. Although we don’t
know what’s going to happen yet, I’d have to say that Comet ISON is the event
I’m most excited about. It’s been years since there was a bright comet in the
night sky, and I can’t wait to share this with my readers and especially my kids.
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If it was possible what planet in our solar would you most like to visit and why?
FC: Please don’t make me choose. If I had to choose somewhere else to live, it would have to be Mars, because
it’s the most compatable place in the Solar System. But there are places I would love to see with my own
eyes: lakes on Titan, geysers on Enceladus, volcanoes on Io, the strange wall on Iapetus, caves on the Moon,
the hollows on Mercury, the cloud tops of Venus. It’s an amazing, fascinating Solar System, and I’d love to be
able set foot on these locations some day in the far future.
What projects are you planning in the future?
FC: My biggest project right now is my YouTube channel, where I’m learning how to communicate space and
astronomy through video. And if you didn’t already know, making video is hard. But I really think that the
future is going to be in video, so I’m forcing myself to go through this process and develop the skills.
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What equipment to you use for observing?
FC: I actually don’t have very good gear for observing. I live in such a cloudy/rainy part of the world that
it’s pretty much pointless to own a telescope. One of the reasons I organized the Virtual Star Party was
so that I could see through the telescopes of other astronomers.
A big thank you to Fraser ffor taking the time to be interviewed, you can visit universe Today on twitter, YouTube and online.
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A new astronomy project on crowd-
funding website Kickstarter has suc-
cessfully raised funds to publish a
novel pocked-sized astronomical
guide in time for Christmas. The
Astronomy Diary, described as a
“What’s On” guide for the night sky,
gives weekly recommendations for
observations and must-see celestial
events
The diary aims to spark a lasting
interest in astronomy in both adult
and child newcomers, but could also
act as a handy aide to more expe-
rienced observers. “Astronomy is a
bug we’d love to share with every-
one” says Kate Harrington, one of
the authors, “and we hope the diary
will nudge others to explore the
night sky.” The idea seems to have
caught on, with hundreds of enthu-
siasts pledging their support on
Kickstarter through October and
November.
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What’s the Matter with Pluto? The Story of Pluto’s Adventures with the Planet Club
By Paul Halpern, Illustrated by Vance Lehmkuhl
Pluto joined the Planet Club in 1930, but didn’t quite fit in. He is much tinier than the gas giants in the outer
part of the Solar System. He has a lot more moons than any of the inner planets. His orbit is much more
stretched out than any of the other worlds’ paths around the Sun. The other members of the Planet Club didn’t
know what to make of him. Then one day, Pluto received some bad news...
Explore the story of Pluto as seen through the eyes of the planets themselves. Witness the rise and fall of
Pluto’s membership in the Planet Club. Why was he demoted and what happened next?
Introduce young minds to the fascinating science of astronomy with this entertaining picture book about the
Solar System. Great for ages four to ten!
Masterful illustrations by Vance Lehmkuhl make this book a true gem.
Astronomy for children has never been more fun!
Feed the hungry! 10% of the royalties received for this book will be donated to the hunger charity Philabundance
Praise for What’s the Matter with Pluto?
“Delightful! What a wonderful way to get young ones interested in the mysteries constantly unfolding in the sky above us. Smart, fun, and educational -- all at the same time. .”
—Christine Lavin, Singer-songwriter: “Shining My Flashlight on the Moon,” “Planet X,” “Just One Angel 2.0”
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“In ‘What’s the Matter with Pluto,’ Paul Halpern and Vance Lehmkuhl lay out the facts of planetary life with
humor, clarity, and a surprising amount of depth. No other issue in astronomy has engendered such passion-
ate feelings and outright confusion from children and adults alike as the “demotion” of Pluto from planetary
status, and the abandonment of traditional mnemonics as the solar system went from nine planets to eight.
Halpern and Lehmkuhl describe the history of Pluto’s discovery, what makes it so different from the others,
and ultimately its expulsion from ‘The Planet Club,’ with a light tone, but enough rigor that even the most
ardent Plutonian defender would be hard-pressed to argue. .”
—Dave Goldberg, Astrophysicist and Science Writer: “The Universe in the Rearview Mirror,” “A User’s
Guide to the Universe”
About the Author
Paul Halpern is a professor of physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He is the author
of more than a dozen highly acclaimed popular science books and is the distinguished recipient of multi-
ple awards related to his work, in addition to having appeared on numerous television and radio programs,
including Future Quest and The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special. His previous children’s book, Faraway
Worlds, was named one of the Children’s Choices for 2005 by the International Reading Association. Learn
more about him on his personal website.
About the Illustrator
Vance Lehmkuhl is a cartoonist, writer and musician. He is the author of The Joy of Soy, a collection of car-
toons about vegetarianism. His vegan newspaper column, V For Veg, appears biweekly in the Philadelphia
Daily News. From 1990 to 2003, he wrote and drew Philadelphia City Paper’s weekly political cartoon,
“How-to Harry.” Between 1998 to 2001, he contributed to the New York Times Syndicate feature Face Value.
Learn more about him on The Vance Page.
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ISSET’S ‘ASTRONAUT LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE’ HEADS TO THE ARCTICThe International Space School Educational Trust is a charity that uses space exploration as a means to
inspire and motivate individuals. We work mostly with schools and universities, training teachers and stu-
dents with hands on experiments and multimedia activities, and bringing them into contact with the most
elite professionals in the world; astronauts & rocket scientists. We also branch out beyond the classroom
with the Astronaut Leadership Experience. ALE explorers climbing a mountain in the Arctic.
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The Astronaut Leadership Experience offers an exclu-
sive chance for participants to undergo astronaut lead-
ership training with the help and guidance of a NASA
astronaut. They will gain new leadership techniques
and team-work skills in some of the wildest environ-
ments on earth. Astronaut Ken Ham says that the “wil-
derness environment simulates the physical realities
associated with establishing and maintaining a human
presence where none existed before”. Outdoor lead-
ership courses are a vital part of an astronaut’s train-
ing, as they are required to remain calm and focused
in the face of adversity, and maintain clear judgement
during any group decision.
The programme has been run across the globe,
previously visiting the Gobi Desert, the Arctic Circle
and the Lake District. Participants are exposed to inspi-
rational opportunities they would rarely get in their
normal lives; opportunities to see the beautiful Aurora
Borealis in the Arctic being one example. After a
recent Lake District ALE with record-breaking astro-
naut Michael Foale, he said that the experience was
the closest to Russian space training he had ever
encountered.
In February the ALE will be running once again in
the Arctic. Due to an upcoming solar magnetic flip,
the Aurora Borealis will appear brighter than ever,
and February will be the best time to see them at
their full potential. On Thin Ice; two
ALE participants navigating through the Arctic.
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Northern Norway is an untouched wilderness housing its indigenous people, the Sami, who are com-
pletely at one with nature. You will have a unique chance to experience this way of life first-hand, herding
reindeer, riding husky sleds, and experiencing a night in a Lavvu.
Rorbu, Sami fishermen’s huts, where participants will stay for part of the ALE.
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You will travel down winding fjords, past puffins and killer
whales on their way to the Lofoten islands. There will be
outdoor activities with astronaut Ken Ham to increase your
leadership and team-building skills, with kayaking, rafting and
hiking to name but a few. You’ll be spending some of your
nights in Rorbu, traditionally used as fishermen’s cabins but
now a cosy retreat for Arctic holidaymakers.
One of the most attractive features of the trip is the oppor-
tunity to view the majestic Aurora Borealis, more popularly
known as the Northern Lights. The Northern Light Belt hits
Norway in Lofoten, and there is no other place on earth where
you will stand a better chance of witnessing the lights.
RIGHT: The Aurora Borealis over Tromso, Norway.
The Aurora Borealis is one of the natural world’s most astonish-
ing phenomena, a mesmerising curtain of light draped across
the Arctic sky. It often appears in a striking green or light rose
colour, but in periods of extreme activity, can change to yellow
or red. The Aurora is caused by streams of charged particles
from the sun, directed by the earth’s magnetic field towards
the Polar Regions. The interaction between the charged par-
ticles into the nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the atmosphere
releases the energy creating the visible aurora.
Witnessing the Aurora is a lifetime ambition for people of all
ages, as is meeting a real NASA astronaut.
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Reign of the Radio Leoinid meteor
capture.Niether the full Moon or clouds could prevent meteor radio capture during the recent Leonid Peak meteor
shower. On November 17th at my local Sherwood observatory Nottinghmshire the recent installation of
a new dedicated meteor system required further radio calibration and software tests. This 2013 leonid
meteor shower and Earth’s rendevous with Comet tuttle debri provided an ideal window for this task.
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The chosen transmitters are the Belgium dourbes beacon (BRAMS)operating at 49.970 MHz and another
dedicated meteor radar transmitter based at Juliusruh in Germany (Institute Atomospheric Physics) oper-
ating at 53.500 MHz.
Meteor radio signature traces depict high frequency ranges shown in yellow before rapidly dropping to the
radar carrier frequency in blue as the meteoroid decelerates in the atmosphere. The ionisation increases
in this phase that inturn strengthens the radio signal as it burns up. The captured Leonid radio signatures
trace examples given below portray the event over time of the meteors furious entry phase in the upper
Earth atmosphere approximatley 90 km high.
Plasma ionisation occures both at the meteor head and tail. This allows reflection of radio waves by a suit-
able radio transmitter to be captured by a radio receiver. Using a computer or laptop the meteor radio spec-
trograms can be recorded and then anaylised by suitabe radio software (Spectrum Labs). This ineffect pre-
serves the meteroids dynamic path and stages of its disintergration and demise through the upper atmo-
sphere that effect its radio reflection cababilities. The received signal strength,and deviation of the tuned
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signal (Doppler shift) gives the means to calculate the meteors velocity and path direction related to the
radio observers location.
Interpreting the meteroids direction to the radio observer location is attained by the frequency change.
The increase in freqeuncy shift establishes the meteoride is moving towards the receivers anttena and lower
frequency shift moving away. This is known as Doppler effect. The frequency shift is caused by motion
that changes the number of wavelengths between the reflector meteoroid plasma and the radio receiver.
Using and transforming the following formula, with the transmitter frequency used, the conversion pro-
cesses can establish the velocity of the captured radio meteor signature traces. = c (f02 − f2) / (f02 + f2)
- v = (veloicity), c (speed of light (3x10 8 m/s),
fo (Radio observers static frequency), f (frequency change). Meteors velocity range from 14 kilometers/
second (31,000 miles per hour) to 45 kilometers per second (100,000 miles per hour.
As well as dynamic visuel radio meteor images that can be attained a wealth of analytical data can be
extracted. Below 3D and long trace Leonid radio meteor capture during increase activity at 05:03am.
Leonid meteor peak was between 3:00am and 6:00am when the Earth track and orientation plowed
through Comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle debri.
Difference in radio signal strengths and frequency drifts in time show their representation in the meteor radio
captures.
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DATA : 03:0am.
Michael Knowles.
Sherwood Observatory.
Nottinghamshire.
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