Galactic Observer · 2018-06-26 · Hubble Space Telescope, conducted by its cofounders, NASA and the European Space Agency. Infrared imaging penetrates the dust and gas of the nebula

G John J. McCarthy ObservatoryJune 2018Volume 11, No. 6

alactic Observer

An infrared image of the Lagoon Nebula taken for the celebration of the 28th anniversary of theHubble Space Telescope, conducted by its cofounders, NASA and the European Space Agency.Infrared imaging penetrates the dust and gas of the nebula to reveal the the fine details of the stellarbackground.

Turn to page 11 for a visible light image of the nebula revealing all the color and grandeur of thiswonder of the universe.

The John J. McCarthy ObservatoryNew Milford High School388 Danbury RoadNew Milford, CT 06776

Phone/Voice: (860) 210-4117Phone/Fax: (860) 354-1595www.mccarthyobservatory.org

Route

It is through their efforts that the McCarthy Observatoryhas established itself as a significant educational andrecreational resource within the western Connecticutcommunity.

Galactic ObserGalactic ObserGalactic ObserGalactic ObserGalactic ObservvvvverererererEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial Committee

Managing EditorBill Cloutier

Production & DesignAllan Ostergren

Website DevelopmentMarc Polansky

Technical SupportBob Lambert

Dr. Parker Moreland

JJMO Staff

“OUT THE WINDOW ON YOUR LEFT” ................................ 4KIES PI LAVA DOME ....................................................... 4INSIGHT ........................................................................ 5MARCO ....................................................................... 5SATURN AT OPPOSITION ................................................... 6MARS TRACE GAS ORBITER ............................................ 7GAIA ............................................................................ 7BLACK HOLE NEWS ....................................................... 7CHARON LEXICON ......................................................... 10HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE CELEBRATES 28 YEARS ........... 11DUST HAZARD .............................................................. 12SUMMER SOLSTICE ........................................................ 12JUNE HISTORY .............................................................. 13WOMEN IN SPACE .......................................................... 13AN EXTRAORDINARY FEAT .............................................. 13JUPITER AND ITS MOONS ................................................. 14JOVIAN MOON TRANSITS ................................................ 14RED SPOT TRANSITS ...................................................... 15

In This IssueSUNRISE AND SUNSET ...................................................... 15SUMMER NIGHTS ........................................................... 15ASTRONOMICAL AND HISTORICAL EVENTS ......................... 16COMMONLY USED TERMS ............................................... 18REFERENCES ON DISTANCES ............................................ 18INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION/IRIDIUM SATELLITES .......... 18SOLAR ACTIVITY ........................................................... 18LAGRANGE POINTS ........................................................ 19CONTACT INFORMATION ................................................. 20SUMMER WORKSHOP ..................................................... 21SECOND SATURDAY STARS ............................................... 22JUNE GRAPHIC CALENDAR .............................................. 23

Jim JohnstoneCarly KleinSternBob LambertRoger MooreParker Moreland, PhDAllan OstergrenMarc PolanskyJoe PriviteraMonty RobsonDon RossGene SchillingKatie ShusdockPaul WoodellAmy Ziffer

Steve BaroneColin CampbellDennis CartolanoMike ChiarellaJeff ChodakBill CloutierDoug DelisleCecilia DetrichDirk FeatherRandy FenderLouise GagnonJohn GebauerElaine GreenTina Hartzell

June Astronomy Calendarand Space Exploration Almanac

Mars Science Laboratory (Earth-bound twin) Turret or "Hand," equipped with an AlphaParticle X-ray Spectrometer, imager, and sample collection devicesPhoto Credit: Bill Cloutier

http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org4 • June 2018 JJMO

Out the Window onYour Left”

IT’S BEEN MORE than 45years since we left the last footprint on the dusty lunar sur-

face. Sadly, as a nation founded onexploration and the conquest ofnew frontiers, we appear to havelost our will to lead as a space-far-ing nation. But, what if the aver-age citizen had the means to visitour only natural satellite; whatwould they see out the window oftheir spacecraft as they entered or-bit around the Moon? This columnmay provide some thoughts to pon-der when planning your visit (ifonly in your imagination).

The Sun is rising on MareNubium (Sea of Clouds) in thismonth’s image. It was an area firsttargeted by NASA’s Lunar Recon-naissance Orbiter’s camera (LROC)when the spacecraft arrived on orbitin 2009. The impact basin in whichthe mare resides has a diameter ofapproximately 430 miles (690 km)and is older than the nearby Imbriumand Humorum basins.

Impacts, such as the one thatcreated Bullialdus crater (38 milesor 61 km in diameter), have exca-vated rock from beneath the rela-tively thin mare (estimated at lessthan 1,600 feet or 500 metersthick). Starting at Bullialdus, lunar

observers can locate the floodedcrater Kies (28 miles or 46 km indiameter) to the south, along thebasin’s edge. In the mare east ofKies crater is the lava dome Kies(Pi). The dome is approximately 6

Lunar seas are actually expansivelow-lying plains formed by ancientlava flows

miles wide (10 km), with gentlysloping sides and a distinct caldera,similar in appearance to shield vol-canoes on Earth.

Lunar domes likely formed dur-ing the later stages of lunar volca-

East - West profile of Kies Pi Dome. Credit: LROC Quickmap

Kies Pi Lava DomeSouthwest shore of Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds)

http://www.mccarthyobservatory.org June 2018 • 5JJMO

nism. They range in size from 5 to8 miles (8 to 12 km) in diameterand 600 to 700 feet high (200meters). Shield volcanoes formwhen lava, with a low viscositythat allows it to flow easily, beginsto crystalize and cool, building upover time around vents and fis-sures. Accumulating lava flowsform a broad mound until the sourceof magma is exhausted and/or re-treats. Collapse of magma lakes orpools create pits near the summit.

InSightNASA’s Discovery Program

mission InSight (Interior Explo-ration using Seismic Investiga-tions, Geodesy and Heat Trans-port) lifted off on a foggy morn-ing from the Vandenberg AirForce Base in California aboarda United Launch Alliance (ULA)Atlas V rocket. The launch, onMay 5th, was the agency’s firstinterplanetary mission from thewest coast. Approximately 90minutes after liftoff, the space-craft separated from the Centaurupper stage, commencing its sixmonth, 300 million mile inter-planetary cruise. InSight is cur-rently scheduled to land on Mars’Elysium Planitia, a relativelysmooth plain in Mars’ northernhemisphere, and named after a

mythical paradise of the afterlife,on November 26th.

The InSight lander is built ona platform similar to that used forthe successful Phoenix missionthat explored the planet’s polarregion, saving testing time anddevelopment cost. The lander isequipped with two science instru-ments, a seismometer and heatprobe, as well as communicationantennae for a radio science ex-periment. A seismometer will pro-vide information on the nature ofthe planet’s crust, mantle and coreby detecting seismic waves (vibra-tions) generated from marsquakes,meteorite impacts or other events,

as they pass through and interactwith the planet’s interior. A heatprobe will burrow into the soil, upto a depth of 16 feet (5 meters), tomeasure the heat from the planet’sinterior and pinpoint its source.The lander’s antennae will be usedto precisely determine its positionin space as Mars orbits the Sun andmeasure the planet’s wobble aboutits axis. From this data, the size,composition and state (solid orliquid) of the interior can beinferred. The science from InSightis expected to contribute to ourunderstanding of the formation ofother rocky and terrestrial planets(as well as exoplanets).

MarCO

The Atlas V that propelledInSight on its way to Mars is atwo stage rocket. The first stage,powered by kerosene fuel (typeRP-1) and liquid oxygen,accelerates the rocket to 10,000miles per hour. The second stage,the Centaur, carries the payloadinto low-Earth orbit using arestartable engine powered byliquid hydrogen and liquidoxygen. Once an Earth orbit has

been achieved, the engine is re-started, sending the payload to-wards its destination.

Stowed inside the Centaur’sbulkhead were two (for redun-dancy) experimental mini-space-craft called Mars Cube One, orMarCO (A and B). Once InSightseparated from the upper stage,the two CubeSats were released,on separate trajectories towardsthe Red Planet. It is the first time

CubeSats have operated beyondEarth orbit. If they are success-ful in reaching Mars, MarCO willarrive as InSight prepares toenter the Martian atmosphere.The briefcase-size-spacecrafts,equipped with an Ultra-HighFrequency antenna to receivetransmissions from InSight, willbe able to relay data directly backto NASA’s Deep Space Networkon Earth from a distance of 97.5


million miles (157 million kilo-meters). There will be an almost9 minute delay in the receipt ofdata due to the distance (8.7 lightminutes).

MarCO is a demonstrationproject and therefore, not criticalto InSight’s mission success (theMars Reconnaissance Orbiter willbe the primary data relay for thelanding). However, if successful,CubeSats may prove to be a valu-able resource for relaying data, par-ticularly where there are no otherassets available at the destination.

Shortly after separation, MarCOdeployed its solar panels. NASAhas received radio signals from theCubeSats and engineers are goingthrough a system checkout before

the miniature spacecraft enter theirlong cruise phase. The spacecraftuse R236FA gas (commonly usedin fire extinguishers) as propellantto adjust their trajectory. The

CubeSats are also equipped with awide-field camera, used to confirmthe deployment of the high-gainantenna, and a narrow-fieldcamera.

Artist Rendering of MarCO A and B in FlightImage Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Saturn at OppositionThe Earth will come between

Saturn and the Sun on June 27th,an arrangement known as “Op-position.” On that day, Saturnwill rise in the evening sky op-posite the setting Sun and reachits highest point in the sky at mid-night. At closest approach, Sat-urn will be approximately 841.1million miles (1.35 billion km)from Earth, slightly further awaythan in 2017. The difference inappearance (diameter) won’t benoticeable. Saturn can be foundin the constellation Sagittarius.

Probing

From the Edge of Space,Kilauea reveals its inner secrets.


Saturn will be relatively brightthis year, with an apparent magni-tude of +0.0 (as compared to Jupi-ter at magnitude -2.3 in June).Saturn’s axial tilt is almost 27° (ascompared to Earth’s 23.5° orJupiter’s 3°). The axial tilt pro-duces seasons which last more than7 years, since it takes Saturn almost

29½ years to complete an orbitaround the Sun. It was summer inthe southern hemisphere when theCassini spacecraft arrived in 2004,with the planet’s north pole in per-petual darkness. Saturn’s Vernalequinox occurred in August 2009with both hemispheres experienc-ing equal amounts of sunlight (at

equinox, the rings appear almostedge on). Since that time, our viewof the rings has improved. With thenorthern summer solstice in May2017, the rings are wide open withthe planet’s north pole sunlit andtipped towards Earth. This year thering tilt is one of the best at 26°(slightly less than in 2017).

Mars Trace Gas OrbiterThe European Space Agency’s

(ESA) Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)arrived at Mars in October 2016.The initial highly elliptical orbithas been gradually modified to amore circular orbit over the pasttwo years by a process called“aerobraking.” In aerobraking,the spacecraft dips into theplanet’s upper atmosphere.The atmospheric drag slows thespacecraft, lowering its orbit. Theprecision flying, using the Mar-tian atmosphere to shape thespacecraft’s orbit, has been re-peated over 950 times. With a fi-nal adjustment by TGO’s thrust-ers, the spacecraft is now in a 250mile (400 km) orbit around theRed Planet and has commencedscience operations.

TGO’s primary mission is toanalyze the thin Martian atmo-sphere for trace gases (less than 1%of the volume), such as methane,and identify possible source(s) on

the planet’s surface, includingpotential geologic or biologicactivity, that can be targeted forfuture exploration. In 2020, ESAand Roscosmos (Russian spaceagency) are scheduled to send alander/rover to Mars to a landingarea selected, in part, by the workbeing done by TGO. The TGOspacecraft will also act as acommunications relay for the pair,as well as for NASA missions.

TGO is equipped with four in-struments, which includes theColour and Stereo Surface Imag-ing System, CaSSIS. The camerawill be used, in conjunction withthe spacecraft’s spectrometers(for chemical analysis) and aneutron detector (to measurehydrogen/water abundance) tocorrelate surface features withtrace gas production. CaSSISreturned is first images of Marsin mid-April, which included astriking view of the rim of

Korolev Crater. The crater is located in the northern hemisphere,at a latitude of 73.3°N. Patches ofice can be seen in the photo alongthe rim segment.

NASA’s Mars Odyssey hadpreviously detected a thick layerof ice-rich material within the 50mile diameter (80 km) crater andseasonal variations due to thecrater’s proximity to the planet’spolar ice cap, for example, fromthe condensation of carbon diox-ide during the winter and watervapor during the summer season.

GaiaThe European Space Agency

(ESA) launched its Gaia satellitein December 2013 with missionobjectives that included theprecise positional measurementof the stars in our galaxy,spectral composition, and stellarmotion. Gaia is building on the ac-complishments of the Hipparcos

Rim of Korolev CraterCopyright ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS


mission, which concluded in 1993,to create a detailed, 3-D map of thegalaxy. ESA has recently releasedits second catalogue of data fromGaia, including the motion of 7million stars in three dimensionsand another 1.4 billion in twodimensions. A final set of data isexpected to be released in 2020 andwill include information on thechemical makeup of the stars (fromtheir spectra).

Along with the data release,ESA created a map of our galaxybased upon the information gath-ered on nearly 1.7 billion stars.The map portrays both the bright-ness and color of the stars in-cluded in the survey. The Largeand Small Magellanic Clouds(dwarf galaxies) can be seen be-low the galactic plane.

The data catalogue also in-cludes information on more than

14,000 solar system objects(mostly asteroids), 500,000variable sources, objects outsidethe Milky Way Galaxy (includingmore than one-half millionquasars), including twelve nearbydwarf galaxies, and 75 globularclusters that orbit our galaxy. Thedata on the motion of stars isexpected to be beneficial inmapping the distribution of darkmatter within our galaxy.

Milky Way GalaxyCopyright: ESA/Gaia/DPAC

Black Hole NewsAstronomers believe that a

supermassive black hole can befound in most, if not all, spiralgalaxies. The supermassive blackhole at the center of the MilkyWay Galaxy, Sagittarius A* (SgrA*), is estimated at more than 4million times the mass of ourSun. At approximately 26,000light years distant, Sgr A* is closeenough to be observed withinstruments such as NASA’sChandra X-ray Observatory.While black holes are invisible,their location is revealed by the

X-rays emissions from the gasand dust being pulled into theblack hole.

The mass of a black hole canbe determined from its effect onnearby space, in particular, starsin orbit around the black hole orpassing by. This year, astronomerswill have the opportunity toobserve the star S0-2, one of thetwo stars that comes the closestto the Sgr A* in their highly el-liptical orbits. S0-2 completes anorbit around Sgr A* every 16years, coming as close to

the black hole as 17 light hours(about 4 times the distance from theSun to Neptune). The close encoun-ter will enable astronomers to testEinstein’s theory of general relativ-ity, as the light from S0-2 will be af-fected (stretched or redshifted) by theblack hole’s strong gravitationalfield. Among the other questions as-tronomers are hoping to answer ishow a relatively young star (as wellas other nearby stars) could form ina region so disrupted by the tidalforces of a supermassive black hole(next page:).


In other black hole news: theo-retical studies suggest that stellarmass black holes could migrate,over time, towards the center of agalaxy and the supermassive blackhole. Observational data from theChandra is now being used to testthat theory. Preliminary indicationsare that there may be as many as20,000 black holes (five to 30

times the mass of the Sun), locatedin and scattered around the MilkyWay’s core.

A team from Columbia Univer-sity in New York searched throughthe Chanda data for X-ray spectraconsistent with a black hole (versesother high energy X-ray sourcessuch as neutron stars) within 12light years of Sgr A*. They were

able to confirm the presence of twoblack holes within three light yearsof the supermassive black hole(closer than the nearest star systemis to our Sun). Since only thebrightest X-ray sources are visibleto us, it is believed that there aremany fainter candidates in the ga-lactic core region beyond our cur-rent means of detection.

The red colored circle are X-ray binaries that likely contain a black hole. The yellow colored circles arelikely binaries containing white dwarf stars. Image credit: NASA/CXC/Columbia Univ./C. Hailey et al.


Charon Lexicon

Enhanced color image of Charon from New HorizonsCredit: NASA/JHUAPL-SwRI

explorers and adventurers, sciencefiction personalities, mythology,

On July 14, 2015, NASA’s NewHorizons spacecraft successfullycompleted a high speed pass ofPluto and its five moons beforeheading out into the Kuiper Belt(where it will encounter its nexttarget on January 1, 2019). Thescience team, led by Dr. Alan Sternidentified many of the more promi-nent features (e.g., mountains,plains, valleys and craters) with un-official designations.

The International AstronomicalUnion, the recognized authority onnaming conventions and their ap-proval, recently sanctioned a dozennames, proposed by the New Ho-rizons team, for surface features onPluto’s largest moon Charon.

The approved names are ArgoChasma, Butler Mons, CaleucheChasma, Clarke Montes, DorothyCrater, Kubrick Mons, MandjetChasma, Nasreddin Crater, NemoCrater, Pirx Crater, RevatiCrater, and Sadko Crater. Theapproved names include fictional

Map projection of Charon, the largest of Pluto’s five moons, annotated with its first set of official featurenames. With a diameter of about 1215 km, the France-sized moon is one of largest known objects in theKuiper Belt, the region of icy, rocky bodies beyond Neptune.Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

and visionaries such as Clarke andKubrick.


The Hubble Space Telescope Celebrates 28 YearsThe Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 28th anniversary with the release of an image of the Lagoon

Nebula in the constellation Sagittarius. The image captured only a small portion of the nebula, about 4light years across. The vast interstellar cloud of gas and dust covers an area 55 light years by 20 lightyears, and is approximately 4,000 light years away from Earth (a light year is approximately 93 millionmiles) in the direction of the center of the galaxy.


The image was compiled fromobservations between February12th and the 18th, and captured bythe telescope’s Wide Field Camera3. The camera had been installed

during the last shuttle servicingmission (Service Mission 4),launched on May 11, 2009. It hastwo channels, one for ultravioletand visible light and the other

for near-infrared. Its infraredsensitivity allows astronomers tostudy newly-formed, hot starsstill shrouded in dust in this vastnursery.

Dust HazardsThe Moon’s surface is covered

with a layer of pulverized rock anddust, called regolith. The fine par-ticles on the lunar surface are bom-barded by the solar wind, a barrageof charged particles from the Sun,which can impart an electricalcharge. Research has shown thatcharged dust particles can levitateand even move across the surface.Apollo astronauts also experiencedthe “static cling” of moondust.

Schmitt, and the other Apolloastronauts report sneezing, wateryeyes and a sore throat when ex-posed to the dust carried into theLunar Module on their spacesuits.The symptoms were relativelyshort-lived with the astronaut’sbrief stay on the lunar surface.

A new study suggests, however,that breathing lunar dust for a pro-longed period of time could pose amajor health risk. The study, con-ducted by Stony Brook UniversitySchool of Medicine in Stony Brook,

New York, found that exposure tosimulated lunar soil (volcanicfines small enough to be inhaledand with the same chemical andphysical properties as the lunar re-golith) was toxic to human lungcells and mouse brain cells,

killing up to 90 percent of the cellsand neurons.

The Stony Brook study builds onprevious research that delves into aninsidious threat confronting astro-nauts and future colonists on aridworlds such as the Moon and Mars.

Summer SolsticeOn the morning of June 21st

the Sun will rise over a prehis-toric structure on the SalisburyPlain in southern England as ithas for the last 4,000 years. Forthose individuals standing withinthe 100 foot diameter circle of30 sandstone or sarsen-stones(weighing up to 50 tons each), theSun will appear over a large natu-rally shaped stone (Heel Stone)located outside and to the north-east of the circle. The alignmentsignals the start of the longestday, midsummer, or the summersolstice.

The photo (at top right nextpage) shows the current state ofthe stone circle. Many of theoriginal stones are missing ordamaged. Over time, they weretaken to build houses and roads,chipped away by visitors andtaken as souvenirs. What remainsrepresents the last in a progres-sive sequence of monumentserected at the site between 3,000and 1,600 B.C. The Heel Stoneis adjacent to the access road tothe site. The ancient people whoconstructed this monument leftno written record of their accom-

plishments or the intended use ofthe stone circle. Its purpose hasbeen widely debated and manygroups have attempted to claimownership. However, archeolo-gists have clearly shown that theconstruction of Stonehenge pre-dates the appearance of mostmodern cultures in Britain.

In the 1960s, Gerald Hawkins,an astronomer at the SmithsonianAstrophysical Observatory,found that each significant stonealigns with at least one other topoint to an extreme position ofthe sun or moon (“Stonehenge

A dust covered Harrison Schmitt,Apollo 17 astronaut and geologistPhoto Credit: NASA/Gene Cernan


June HistoryWomen in Space

On June 16, 1963, ValentinaTereshkova became the first womanin space. Shortly after Yuri Gagarin’sflight, the Soviets began a searchfor suitable female candidatesfor spaceflight. With few female

pilots, the majority ofthe candidates werewomen parachutists(Valentina had joinedan amateur parachut-ing club at the age of18). Control of theVostok spacecraft wascompletely automatic,so piloting experience

was not required. However, sincethe Vostok was not designed to return its occupant safely to Earth,the cosmonaut was required toeject from the spacecraft afterre-entry and parachute to thelanding site.

The selection of ValentinaTereshkova for the flight was madeby Premier Khrushchev. In addi-tion to experience and fitness,

qualifications included being anideal Soviet citizen and modelCommunist Party member. OnJune 16th, Valentina rode Vostok6 into orbit with the call sign“Chaika” (Seagull). The missionwas not without incident and in-cluded space-sickness, leg crampsand other discomforts from beingstrapped into the capsule for threedays. More importantly, thecapsule ended up in the wrongorientation and, had it not beencorrected, would not have allowedher to return to Earth.

Valentina’s three days in spacewas more flight time than all theAmerican astronauts combined (atthat time). After fulfilling her du-ties to her country, Tereshkova re-tired to a small house on the out-skirts of Star City. The house istopped with a seagull weathervane,the call sign of her flight.

Twenty years later on June 18th,Sally Ride became the first Ameri-can woman in space. Launchedaboard the space shuttle Challenger,Sally served as the mission special-ist on the five person crew.

An Extraordinary FeatIf you have ever seen a Gemini

space capsule (there is one ondisplay at the Air and SpaceMuseum in Washington, D.C.) itis difficult to comprehend how twopeople could have spent anylength of time inside its cramped

interior (Frank Borman and JimLovell spent 14 days orbiting theEarth in Gemini 7). The reentrymodule, where the two astronautssat, is approximately 11 feet longwith a maximum diameter of 7½feet and filled with nstrumentation,life support systems and controls.

NASA Photo

StonehengePhoto: Bill Cloutier

Heel StonePhoto: Bill Cloutier

Decoded,”Doubleday&Company).That Stonehenge is an astronomical observatory or celestial calendar isintriguing, as the precision and architectural refinement by which it was constructed certainly suggests a sig-nificant purpose for this megalithic monument.


On June 3, 1965, Gemini 4lifted off on a four day mission.The highlight of the mission wasto be a spacewalk by Ed White.NASA was very concerned with“putting guys in vacuums withnothing between them but that littleold lady from Worcester, Massa-chusetts [the seamstress at theDavid Clark Company], and herglue pot and that suit.” However, theSoviets had challenged the United

States with a spacewalk by Cosmo-naut Alexei Leonov in March dur-ing a Voskhod II mission, and theUnited States did not want to appearto be falling behind its adversary.

After struggling with a faultyhatch, Ed White finally exited thespacecraft as it passed over the Pa-cific Ocean. Using a gun poweredby compressed oxygen, he was ableto maneuver outside the capsule, justavoiding the flaming thrusters of the

Jupiter and its MoonsJupiter reached Opposition in

early May when the two planets wereat their closest. During the month ofJune, Jupiter is still well placed inevening sky after sunset. Jupiter willbe at its highest approximately 2-1/2 hours after sunset on June 1st (11pm) and almost two hours earlier bymonth’s end. As the Earth movesahead of Jupiter on its inside orbit,Jupiter will diminish slightly inbrightness and apparent size. As oneof the brightest star-like objects inthe night sky, Jupiter can be foundin the constellation Libra.

One of the more interesting andeasier events to observe through atelescope is the projection of ashadow from one of Jupiter’smoons on the Jovian disk as themoon passes in front of (or tran-

Gemini capsule. After a 23 minutespacewalk, Jim McDivitt struggledto get the six foot tall Ed White backinside the capsule and close the balkydoor.

Unfortunately, after making his-tory as the first American to walk inspace, Ed White died during a launchpad test of the Apollo 1 spacecraftwhen the pure oxygen atmosphereexploded, killing all three astronautsinside.

Jovian Moon Transits

sits) the planet. On nights of goodvisibility the following events

should be visible through a mod-erately-sized telescope.


Red Spot TransitsThe Red Spot is a large cyclone in the upper Jovian atmosphere. The rapid rotation of this gas giant (10

hours) may be responsible for the longevity of this storm, which has been observed for over 300 years.The Red Spot will cross the center line of the planetary disk on the following evenings during the hoursbetween 8 pm to midnight local time):

Jupiter reached Opposition in early May when the two planets were at their closest. During the month ofJune, Jupiter is still well placed in evening sky after sunset. Jupiter will be at its highest approximately 2-1/2hours after sunset on June 1st (11 pm) and almost two hours earlier by month's end. As the Earth moves ahead ofJupiter on its inside orbit, Jupiter will diminish slightly in brightness and apparent size. As one of the brightest star-like objects in the night sky, Jupiter can be found in the constellation Libra.

For the more adventurous andsleep deprived individuals, thesummer sky sparkles as twilightdeepens and the summer MilkyWay rises. The Milky Way isheralded by the three stars of thesummer triangle Vega, Deneb andAltair. Appearing like a gossamerstream of stars, it flows across thenight sky, emptying into theconstellation Sagittarius. In ourlight-polluted skies, it may be

easier to see on nights when theMoonis absent (in the weeks pre-ceding and following the NewMoon on the 13th).

High in the June sky is theconstellation Hercules. Shapedlike a keystone or trapezoid,Hercules is home to one of thefinest globular star clusters in thenorthern hemisphere. The GreatHercules Cluster (M13) is a col-lection of several hundred

thousand suns located nearthe galactic core of the MilkyWay Galaxy at a distance ofapproximately 25,000 light years.Hercules rises in the eveningafter the constellation Boöteswith its bright star Arcturus andbefore the constellation Lyrawith its bright star Vega. Thecluster can be found on the sideof the keystone asterism facingBoötes.

Sunrise and Sunset (from New Milford, CT)Sun Sunrise SunsetJune 1st (EDT) 05:21 20:21June 15th (EST) 05:11 20:29Juner 30th 05:23 20:31

Summer Nights


Astronomical and Historical Events1st History: final landing of Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) (2011)1st History: launch of the ROSAT (Röntgen) X-ray observatory; cooperative program between Ger-

many, the United States, and United Kingdom; among its many discoveries was the detection of X-ray emissions from Comet Hyakutake (1990)

2nd Moon at apogee (furthest distance from Earth)2nd Apollo Asteroid 2016 XF near-Earth flyby (0.077 AU)2nd Asteroid 243 Ida closest approach to Earth (1.969 AU)2nd History: launch of the Mars Express spacecraft and ill-fated Beagle 2 lander (2003)2nd History: launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-91); ninth and final Mir docking (1998)2nd History: launch of Soviet Venus orbiter Venera 15; side-looking radar provided high resolution map-

ping of surface in tandem with Venera 16 (1983)2nd History: Surveyor 1 lands on the Moon (1966)2nd History: Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12 and Skylab 2 astronaut Pete Conrad born (1930)2nd History: discovery of Comet Donati by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Donati; brightest comet

of the 19th century and first comet to be photographed (1858)3rd History: discovery of two rings around the centaur asteroid 10199 Chariklo, the smallest known

object to have rings (2013)3rd History: launch of Gemini 4; Ed White becomes first American to walk in space (1965)3rd History: launch of Gemini 9 with astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan (1966)3rd History: dedication of the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Mountain (1948)4th Asteroid 17656 Hayabusa closest approach to Earth (1.690 AU)4th Apollo Asteroid 4257 Ubasti closest approach to Earth (1.751 AU)4th Kuiper Belt Object 278361 (2007 JJ43) at Opposition (39.991 AU)4th History: discovery of Classical Kuiper Belt Object 50000 Quaoar by Mike Brown and Chad Trujillo

from images acquired at the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory (2002)4th History: maiden flight of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket; launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida (2010)5th Apollo Asteroid 2004 LB near-Earth flyby (0.092 AU)5th Apollo Asteroid 11885 Summanus closest approach to Earth (1.326 AU)6th Last Quarter Moon6th Scheduled launch of a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, with the next

Expedition crew to the International Space Station6th History: launch of Soviet Venus orbiter Venera 16; side-looking radar provided high resolution map-

ping of surface in tandem with Venera 15 (1983)7th Aten Asteroid 2017 EH1 near-Earth flyby (0.096 AU)7th Apollo Asteroid 4769 Castalia closest approach to Earth (1.206 AU)8th History: New Horizons spacecraft, on its way to Pluto, crosses the orbit of Saturn (2008)8th Apollo Asteroid 4660 Nereus closest approach to Earth (1.743 AU)8th Kuiper Belt Object 2010 KZ39 at Opposition (45.036 AU)8th History: discovery of Nova Aquila; a supernova explosion from the collapse of a white dwarf (1918)8th History: launch of Soviet Venus orbiter/lander Venera 9; transmitted the first black and white images

of the surface of Venus (1975)8th History: Giovanni Cassini born, observer of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (1625)9th Second Saturday Stars/Open House at the McCarthy Observatory 8:00 to 10:00 pm9th Amor Asteroid 2009 SK104 near-Earth flyby (0.081 AU)9th Apollo Asteroid 4197 Morpheus closest approach to Earth (1.770 AU)9th History: dedication of the Kathleen Fischer Sundial at the McCarthy Observatory (2012)10th History: launch of Mars Exploration Rover A (Spirit) in 2003


10th History: launch of Explorer 49, Moon orbiter and radio astronomy explorer (1973)11th Amor Asteroid 2018 EJ4 near-Earth flyby (0.015 AU)11th Amor Asteroid 2015 DP155 near-Earth flyby (0.023 AU)11th Apollo Asteroid 2008 LA near-Earth flyby (0.071 AU)11th Kuiper Belt Object 174567 Varda at Opposition (45.762 AU)11th History: flyby of Venus by Soviet spacecraft Vega 1 on its way to Comet Halley; dropped off lander

and a balloon to study middle cloud layers (1985)12th History: launch of Venera 4, Soviet Venus lander; first to enter atmosphere of another planet (1967)13th New Moon13th History: return of the sample capsule from the Hayabusa (MUSES-C) spacecraft (2010)14th Moon at perigee (closest distance from Earth)14th Apollo Asteroid 3361 Orpheus closest approach to Earth (0.448 AU)14th History: first radar astrometry for an asteroid from Goldstone and Haystack antennae observations

of the asteroid 1566 Icarus (1968)14th History: launch of Mariner 5; Venus flyby mission (1967)14th History: launch of Venera 10; Soviet Venus orbiter/lander (1975)15th Aten Asteroid 2004 LO2 near-Earth flyby (0.064 AU)15th History: flyby of Venus by Soviet spacecraft Vega 2 on its way to Comet Halley; dropped off lander

and a balloon to study middle cloud layers (1985)16th Aten Asteroid 469737 (2005 NW44) near-Earth flyby (0.055 AU)16th Apollo Asteroid 2018 BC near-Earth flyby (0.071 AU)16th Aten Asteroid 2014 GQ17 near-Earth flyby (0.086 AU)16th Apollo Asteroid 162173 Ryugu closest approach to Earth (1.897 AU)16th Amor Asteroid 3199 Nefertiti closest approach to Earth (1.912 AU)16th History: Liu Yang becomes the first Chinese woman in space aboard a Shenzhou-9 spacecraft,

joining two other crew members on a thirteen day mission to the orbiting Tiangong 1 laboratorymodule (2012)

16th History: Valentina Tereshkova; first woman in space aboard Soviet Vostok 6 (1963)18th Plutino 28978 Ixion at Opposition (38.457 AU)18th History: launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar CRater Observation and

Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) to the Moon (2009)18th History: Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle

Challenger (1983)19th Asteroid 4 Vesta closest approach to Earth (1.142 AU)19th History: flyby of Earth by the ill-fated Nozomi spacecraft on it way to Mars (2003)20th History: successful landing of the Viking 1 spacecraft on Mars’ Chryse Planitia (Plains of Gold) (1976)20th First Quarter Moon20th History: discovery of Nova 1670 in Vulpeculae (1670)21st Summer Solstice, 10:07 UT (6:07 am EDT)21st Amor Asteroid 2014 MZ5 near-Earth flyby (0.077 AU)21st Aten Asteroid 2014 OL339 closest approach to Earth (0.287 AU)21st Centaur Object 5145 Pholus at Opposition (26.850 AU)22nd Apollo Asteroid 4034 Vishnu closest approach to Earth (1.494 AU)22nd History: launch of Soviet space station Salyut 5 (1976)22nd History: founding of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (1675)22nd History: discovery of Pluto’s largest moon Charon by Jim Christy (1978)23rd Apollo Asteroid 467309 (1996 AW1) near-Earth flyby (0.046 AU)23rd Apollo Asteroid 2063 Bacchus closest approach to Earth (1.702 AU)23rd Kuiper Belt Object 50000 Quaoar at Opposition (41.882 AU)


24th Aten Asteroid 441987 (2010 NY65) near-Earth flyby (0.019 AU)24th History: launch of the Salyut 3 Soviet space station (1974)24th History: Fred Hoyle born; British astronomer and proponent of nucleosynthesis (1915)24th History: Sir William Huggins makes first photographic spectrum of a comet (1881)25th History: Rupert Wildt born, German-American astronomer and first to hypothesize that the CO

2 in

the Venusian atmosphere was responsible for the trapped heat (1905)25th History: Hermann Oberth born, father of modern rocketry and space travel (1894)26th Apollo Asteroid 2007 UD6 near-Earth flyby (0.074 AU)26th Asteroid 12002 Suess closest approach to Earth (1.764 AU)26th History: Charles Messier born, famed comet hunter (1730)27th Saturn at Opposition, rising with the setting Sun and visible all night27th Atira Asteroid 2015 ME131 closest approach to Earth (1.088 AU)27th History: discovery of the Mars meteorite SAU 060, a small 42.28 g partially crusted grey-greenish

stone found near Sayh al Uhaymir in Oman (2001)27th History: flyby of the asteroid Mathilde by the NEAR spacecraft (1997)27th History: Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-71) first docking with the Russian space station Mir (1995)27th History: launch of SEASAT, the first Earth-orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth’s

oceans (1978)27th History: Alexis Bouvard born, French astronomer, director of Paris Observatory, postulated existence of

eighth planet from discrepancies in his astronomical tables for Saturn and Uranus. Neptune was subse-quently discovered by John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier after his death where he had predicted (1767)

28th Full Moon (Strawberry Moon)28th Scheduled launch of a SpaceX Dragon cargo-carrying spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center,

Florida, to the International Space Station28th Amor Asteroid 7088 Ishtar closest approach to Earth (1.738 AU)28th History: discovery of Pluto’s moon Kerberos by Mark Showalter, et al., using the Hubble Space

Telescope (2011)28th History: Nakhla meteorite fall in Egypt (Mars meteorite), a piece of which was claimed to have

vaporized a dog; first direct evidence of aqueous processes on Mars (1911)29th Moon at apogee (furthest distance from Earth)29th Apollo Asteroid 10563 Izhdubar closest approach to Earth (0.738 AU)29th History: George Ellery Hale born, founding father of the Mt. Wilson Observatory (1868)30th History: discovery of Haumea’s moon Namaka, the smaller, inner moon of the dwarf planet, by Mike

Brown, Chad Trujillo, David Rabinowitz, et al. (2005)30th History: crew of Soyuz 11 dies upon return from the Salyut space station when capsule depressurizes (1971)30th History: Tunguska Explosion Event (1908)

Commonly Used Terms· Apollo: a group of near-Earth asteroids whose orbits also cross Earth’s orbit; Apollo asteroids spend most

of their time outside Earth orbit.· Aten: a group of near-Earth asteroids whose orbits also cross Earth’s orbit, but unlike Apollos, Atens

spend most of their time inside Earth orbit.· Atira: a group of near-Earth asteroids whose orbits are entirely within Earth’s orbit· Centaur: icy planetesimals with characteristics of both asteroids and comets· Kuiper Belt: region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune (30 AUs to 50 AUs) with a vast

population of small bodies orbiting the Sun· Opposition: celestial bodies on opposite sides of the sky, typically as viewed from Earth· Plutino: an asteroid-sized body that orbits the Sun in a 2:3 resonance with Neptune


Image CreditsFront page design and graphic calendar: Allan Ostergren

Second Saturday Stars poster: Marc Polansky

All other non-credited photos were taken by the author: Bill Cloutier

Lagrange PointsFive locations discovered by mathematician

Joseph Lagrange where the gravitational forces ofthe Sun and Earth (or other large body) and theorbital motion of the spacecraft are balanced, al-lowing the spacecraft to hover or orbit around thepoint with minimal expenditure of energy. The L2point (and future location of the James Webb tele-scope) is located 1.5 million kilometers beyond theEarth (as viewed from the Sun).

References on Distances" the apparent width of the Moon (and Sun) is approximately one-half a degree (½°), less than the width

of your little finger at arm's length which covers approximately one degree (1°); three fingers span approxi-mately five degrees (5°)

" 1 astronomical unit (AU) is the distance from the Sun to the Earth or approximately 93 million miles

International Space Station/Iridium SatellitesVisit www.heavens-above.com for the times of visibility and detailed star charts for viewing the Interna-

tional Space Station and the bright flares from Iridium satellites.

Solar ActivityFor the latest on what's happening on the Sun and the current forecast for flares and aurora, check out

www.spaceweather.com.

June 2018Celestial Calendar

Flyby of Venus by Sovietspacecraft Vega 1 on its wayto Comet Halley - dropped offlander and a balloon to studymiddle cloud layers (1985)

Launch of Mars Expressspacecraft and ill-fatedBeagle 2 lander. (2003) Launch of ROSAT (Röntgen)

X-ray observatory (1990)

Launch of Soviet Venus Orbiter,Venera 15 to

map surface ofVenus, in tandem

with Venera 16(1983)

Maiden flight of Space XFalcon 9 rocket (2010)

Venera 16 - last ofSoviet Venus orbiter/

lander missions tomap Venusian

landscape (1983)

ValentinaTereshkova,1st woman inspace (1963)

SallyRide, 1st

U.S.woman in

space(1983)

Launch of Mariner 5, Venusflyby mission (1967)

Flyby of Earth by theill-fated Nozomi

spacecraft on its wayto Mars (2003)

Summer Solstice05:04 UT

(1:04 AM EDT)

Royal GreenwichObservatory

founded(1675)

HermannOberth born,

father ofmodern

rocketry andspace travel

(1894)

CharlesMessier born,famed comet

hunter(1730)

AlexisBouvard

born,postulatedexistence of 8th

planet, lateridentified as Neptune (1767)

Discovery of Nova 1670 inVulpeculae by Pere Dom

Voiture Anthelme, aCarthusian monk in Dijon,

France (1670)

GiovanniCassini born,

observer ofMars, Jupiter

and Saturn(1625)

Launch of Venera 9, - 1st

black/white images of surfaceof Venus (1975)

Return of sample capsule fromthe Hayabusa (MUSES-C)

spacecraft, taken from near-Earth asteroid Itokawa (2010)

Discovery ofPluto's largestmoon Charonby Jim Christy

(1978)

Launch ofSoviet space

station Salyut 5(1976)

Launch of Venera 4, SovietVenus lander, first to enter

orbit of another planet(1967)

flyby of Venus by Sovietspacecraft Vega 2 on its way

to Comet Halley; droppedoff lander and a balloon tostudy middle cloud layers

(1985)

200-inch HaleTelescopededication

(1948)

Gemini 9 launch,Thomas Stafford,Eugene Cernan.

(1966)

Launch ofGemini 4;

Ed White 1st

American towalk in space

(1965)

Launch ofExplorer 49 -moon orbiter

and radioastronomy

explorer (1973)

Launch ofMars

ExplorationRover A

Spirit (2003)

Sir WilliamHuggins

makes 1stphotographicspectrum of acomet (1881)

Fred Hoyle born,British astronomerand proponent ofnucleosynthesis(1915)

Rupert Wildtborn, Germanastronomer

(1905)

Discovery of theDhofar 378 Marsmeteorite (2000)

Launch of LunarReconnais-sance Orbiterand LCROSSsatellite toMoon (2009)

Martin John Rees born, Britishcosmologist and astrophysicist,has contributed to knowlege of

the cosmic background radiation,galaxy clustering and formation,

and on the final disproof ofSteady State theory. (1942)

German astronomer WalterBaade discoversnear-earth asteroid1566 Icarus insideorbit of Mercury,which became thesubject of asteroid-busting "projectIcarus." (1949)

George ElleryHale born,founding

father of Mt.Wilson

Observatory(1868)launch of SEASAT 1, first

Ea r th -o rb i t i ngsatellite designedfor remote sensingof oceans (1978)

Nakhla meteor fall in Egypt- A piece of Mars objectfabled to have hit dog (1911)

Flyby of the asteroidMathilde by

the NEARspacecraft

(1997)

Shuttle Atlantis docks withRussian space station Mir toform the largest man-madesatellite ever to orbit the Earth -the second timeships from twocountries hadlinked up inspace (1995).

Yáng Lìwei, a Chi-nese major general,military pilot and aCNSA astronaut;was first man sentinto space by the Chi-

nese space program and his mis-sion, Shenzhou 5, made China thethird country to independentlysend people into space (1965)

“Three flames ate the sun,and big stars were seen.” -etching on Chinese oraclebones indicating ancientsolar eclipse, with three

coronal streamers and starsvisible in the darkened sky.

(1302 BC)

Johann Gottfried Galle, Germanastronomer, born -

first to view planetNeptune, usingcalculations of

Urbain Le Verrier1846. (1812)

Liu Yangbecomes thefirst Chinese

woman inspace (2012)

Dedicationof theKathleen Fischer

Sundial at theMcCarthy

Observatory (2012)

Launch of Venera 10,Soviet Venus orbiter/

lander (1975)

Mercury-Redstone 3, orFreedom 7, first US

human spaceflight, onMay 5, 1961, piloted byastronaut Alan Shepard

2nd SaturdayStars

Open HouseMcCarthy

Observatory

Tunguskaexplosion

event(1908)

Death of 3cosmonautsin Soyuz 11

when capsuledepressurizes in

reentry (1971)

Leap second added toworld clocks

Moon atperigee(closest

distance to Earth)

Moonat Apogee(farthestfrom earth)

June 20 June 28June 13June 6

Phases of the Moon

Documents

Galactic Observer · 2018-06-26 · Hubble Space Telescope, conducted by its cofounders, NASA and the European Space Agency. Infrared imaging penetrates the dust and gas of the nebula