Green Witch Sale - Tuesday 11th March 2008

Our sale is open to the public from 10 am on Tuesday 11th March but there is a preview evening on Monday 10th March starting at 7 pm for Newsletter readers and other Cauldron Club members. If the weather is fine we'll combine it with a Star Party and have some of the telescopes outside.

There's a list of many sale items on our new web site so why not take a look over the weekend then pick up a bargain when the sale starts. Don't forget that the sale is open to you from 7 pm on Monday.

We've been running our old site in parallel with the new but the intention is to close the old one soon. It still gets a lot of traffic, presumably because it is well-known to the search engines and is book-marked in many favourites lists. When we close it there will be an automatic link to take you to the new site and we hope this will not prove too inconvenient. We recommend you start using the new site if you haven't already done so. It contains more useful information and up-to-date products than the old.

Jodrell Bank under threat

The funding problems for British astronomy continue and yesterday's Times reported that Jodrell Bank and the Merlin network are under serious threat of closure. Merlin is a network of radio telescopes, including the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, that carries out world-leading radio astronomy using interferometry to simulate a large telescope aperture.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) that provides much of the funding for astronomical research in the UK is faced with some very difficult choices to live within its budget. Jodrell Bank and Merlin are well-known facilities coming under threat but there are many more where the shortage of funding will prevent our scientists from taking full advantage of investments that have already been made. In the current economic climate it is hard to imagine the government providing additional funding so the immediate future looks very bleak.

Meanwhile...lots of new telescopes elsewhere

While British astronomy is suffering potential cuts the rest of the world seems to be building and opening more and more telescopes. The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham in Arizona has just released the first images taken with its twin 8.4m mirrors.

On La Palma testing has begun of the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canario (GTC) and it is expected to be ready for operation in twelve months. Ironically this project plus a share in the ESO 8m telescopes in Chile was proposed as an alternative to UK participation in Gemini. Now that the UK is a member of ESO we will probably participate in GTC after all.

In South Africa the 11m SALT started producing science within the last two years.

Bird Food and Bird Boxes

The birds in your garden couldn't care less about the state of UK astronomy; their main concern is surviving the day and bringing a new generation of birds into the world. There are several ways we can help them without straining the economy too far.

If you are thinking about putting up a nest box or two we recommend the CJ Protector Series. These are made from a mixture of wood and concrete which combine to provide better insulation and a much longer life than conventional wooden boxes. The material breathes to reduce condensation and the boxes are popular for conservation projects where the long life is more cost-effective. You can find them on this web page.

And once the eggs hatch why not put out dried mealworms which provide excellent nourishment for young chicks. Hi-Energy No Mess seed is a great help for adults while they are feeding young. It enables them to stay in good condition without competing with the young for scarce resources. And the absence of black sunflower husks means no mess.

Don't forget that peanuts must always be put out in a mesh container. Whole peanuts fed loose can choke young birds. Encouraging birds to feed and nest in your garden doesn't just help them; it provides endless interest and entertainment for us at relatively low cost.

Advance Notice of our April Fool Star Party

We've decided to hold a star party on Tuesday 1st April. Both Mars and Saturn will be well-placed in the sky so we're keeping our fingers crossed that it will be a clear night. Because the clocks will have gone forward we plan to start at 9 pm and run for an hour or so, depending on how long people want to stay.

Looking South at 10 pm (from Cambridge UK)

The sky hasn't moved far since the last newsletter so I thought I would draw your attention to a pair of third magnitude stars that are almost overhead, i.e. just slightly south of the zenith. These are known as the 'third leap of the gazelle' and have individual names of iota Ursae Majoris or Talitha, and kappa Ursae Majoris. In some references I've seen iota referred to as Talitha Borealis (northern Talitha) and kappa as Talitha Australis (southern Talitha). Iota is also known as Dnoces.

If you can locate this pair see if you can find the second and first leaps of the gazelle. These are similar pairs of stars to the Talithas and are in a line above Leo and Leo Minor. They are supposed to represent the marks left by a leaping gazelle but I also like to think of them as the toes of the Great Bear.

The second leap stars are called Tania (borealis and australis) and the first leap stars are called Alula (borealis and australis). The pairs are about 15 degrees apart and all bar Alula Australis are third magnitude; it is fourth. So, starting at the third leap move 15 degrees to the left to find the second, and a further 15 degrees left to find the first.

And finally...

Did you know that Spring and Autumn are the best times to look for aurora? They are much more common around the equinoxes than in Winter and Summer. Scientists don't fully understand why this should be since solar activity isn't dependent on the Earth's seasons. One theory is that the solar wind couples more favourably to the Earth's magnetic field when its axis is at right-angles to the direction of the Sun.

NASA has deployed five spacecraft called Themis to investigate aurora and hopefully they will improve our understanding of the mechanisms at work. Whatever they are it is worth keeping a lookout for aurora. They are occasionally seen across the whole UK although the further north you are the more likely you are to see them.

Clear Skies and Best Wishes

Neil

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