Herschel and Planck heading for Lagrange

ESA's Herschel and Planck space telescopes were launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on May 14th from Kourou in French Guiana. Both telescopes will orbit a point in space known as Lagrange 2 or L2, about 1.5 million kilometers further from the Sun than the Earth.

L2 is one of several Lagrangian points where the Earth's and Sun's gravitational fields combine to produce a point which travels around the Sun at the same rate as the Earth. Thus anything positioned at or orbiting around L2 will stay in the same relative position to the Earth, making communication much simpler.

Herschel is the largest space telescope to be launched so far and has a primary mirror diameter of 3.5m, similar in size to the UK's Infra-red Telescope (UKIRT) on Hawaii. It is also an infra-red telescope and will look into the heart of dust clouds where star formation is taking place. It will study the formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies and the central bulges in other galaxies. Like any new instrument it will also reveal unexpected results that will be followed up in more detail.

Planck is a millimetre/sub-millimetre telescope with a primary mirror of 1.5m and is designed to map the cosmic microwave background. It rotates around its main axis once every minute scanning a circular strip of sky at right-angles to the axis. As it orbits the Sun with the Earth the scanned strip will progress through the whole sky.

Planck and Herschel will both orbit L2 and will join the WMAP satellite that is already there. Gaia and the James Webb Space Telescope will also join them in due course.

Cardiff University has been heavily involved in both projects and has set up web sites with a lot more information. You can find these at herschel.cf.ac.uk and planck.cf.ac.uk

Sir William Herschel and Fingerprints

This morning's Times contained a letter claiming that the inventor of fingerprinting was Sir William Herschel. This was news to me and not something that I associated with the astronomer who discovered infra-red radiation and the planet Uranus. A little investigation showed it to be his grandson the second baronet, son of the astronomer John Herschel, who was credited with being the first European to use fingerprints as a means of identification.

Working as a civil servant in India he used fingerprints on contracts and recorded his own fingerprints throughout his life to demonstrate their permanent nature.

Clyde Tombaugh's Telescope

Another well-known planet discoverer was Clyde Tombaugh who discovered Pluto after a long and painstaking search at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. We now know that Pluto is just one of a large population of objects in the Kuiper belt. In some ways this makes his discovery more significant so it is a little sad that the International Astronomy Union's decision to downgrade Pluto's status is sometimes seen as belittling Tombaugh's contribution to astronomy.

Tombaugh was born in Illinois and made his famous discovery in Arizona. But much of his working life and his retirement were spent in New Mexico where he worked at the White Sands Missile Range and New Mexico University.

It is quite appropriate that his 16-inch telescope should now find its new home at Rancho Hidalgo in New Mexico where it forms the centrepiece in 'Pluto Park', a telescope park at the heart of a development which will give astronomers a base from which to enjoy the clear, dark New Mexico skies.

Tombaugh's telescope has always stood in the open so is on permanent display for anyone passing or visiting the ranch to see. Rancho Hidalgo is about 15 miles by road from the Arizona Sky Village and is being developed along similar lines but with additional facilities for horse riding and other outdoors activities. For more information please see http://www.hidalgonm.com/

Incidentally, NASA's New Horizons Space craft which is on its way to Pluto is carrying an ounce of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes. Rancho Hidalgo is setting up a major educational programme to be called 'New Horizons West'.

A Telescope for the International Year of Astronomy

Skywatcher has introduced a table-top Dobsonian telescope as an IYA special edition suitable for anyone wanting to get started in astronomy. Called the Heritage 130P its tube is decorated with the names of many astronomers including Galileo who have made significant contributions in the 400 years since Galileo's first observations.

Its precision optics, and compact flex-tube design make it easy to store, transport and use. It has already generated a lot of interest and is likely to prove very popular. You can find it in our online catalogue .

Apartment to let in Sparrow Terrace

I miss the flocks of sparrows I remember from my youth, with their cheerful chirping, so when a small number appeared in the garden I decided to put up a sparrow terrace. This is a multiple bird box with three separate compartments aimed at encouraging sparrows who are sociable birds to nest close to each other.

The terrace is just outside our bedroom window and close to the eaves. The ivy is starting to surround it and the hope was that the sparrows would be encouraged to roost here as well. So far the blue tits have moved into one end and have a brood that we hear whenever the parents approach, but there are still vacancies for a couple of sparrow families. Better luck next year perhaps?

Omega Centauri and Elegant Trogons

I've just returned from a short visit to the Green Witch house at the Arizona Sky Village and as usual had a great time. Two observations stand out in my memory. One of them was Omega Centauri, the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way galaxy. It was easy to see with the naked eye close to the horizon before the Moon rose and looked very impressive through binoculars and the telescope.

Some evidence suggests that Omega Centauri may be a dwarf galaxy rather than a globular cluster and it was interesting to see the picture of it in Astronomy Now when I returned.

Closer to home I went bird watching in the South Fork of Cave Creek Canyon and saw my first Elegant Trogon. The area is a Mecca for bird watchers and offers many species from Humming Birds to Golden Eagles, but everyone wants to see the Elegant Trogon, a visitor from the south that breeds in three locations in Arizona, the only part of the USA where it can be seen (apart from the odd vagrant in Texas).

One bird book describes it as looking like a green-backed parrot with a bright red breast that forages as though it's on speed, barks like a dog and flies like a drunken woodpecker. I don't think this description does it justice but it's certainly an exotic-looking bird and is at the top of most visitors' must-see list.

Meanwhile, back on Mars

Spirit and Opportunity, the two Mars rovers, continue to return data to Earth, long after the expected end of their mission. Opportunity has now clocked up more than 10 miles on the red planet, but Spirit is stuck in soft ground while NASA scientists are trying to work out a strategy to free it.

Spirit has also been experiencing amnesia in recent weeks and has failed to record data into its flash memory. This is an intermittent problem with which I can empathise.

BAA Exhibition at Greenwich

The British Astronomical Association is holding its annual exhibition meeting at Greenwich on Saturday June 27th 2009. The exhibition is free and open to everyone and showcases the work of the BAA. It will be held in the Old Royal Naval College so why not combine it with a visit to Greenwich Park and the Old Royal Observatory?

You can find fulll details at the BAA web site and I hope to see you there.

Stand-alone Autoguider

The long-awaited Smart Guider has arrived and is proving very popular. Most autoguiders need a PC or laptop to control them but this one doesn't. This is a major advantage and means you can image using a digital camera without needing a laptop at all. If you are using a camera that does require a laptop the Smart Guider will solve any software problems associated with trying to run two devices from one laptop.

You can find details of the Smart Guider on our web site. At present it is offered at a special introductory price.

How Fast is Hyperstar?

The answer is that it makes a typical f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope much, much faster. (If you aren't familiar with Hyperstar you can read about it at hyperstar.green-witch.com)

Just how fast it is was illustrated very graphically by Rich Richins who recently captured images of all 110 Messier objects in a single night in New Mexico. He used a Hyperstar 11 with a Canon 350D and took eight 15-second exposures of each object and the impressive results can be seen on Starizona's web site.

And finally...

My apologies for the long gap since the last newsletter; we seem to have been exceptionally busy in the last few weeks which is very encouraging given the economic climate. As I write the FA Cup Final is on the TV in the background and it's a glorious sunny day outside. Two good reasons to put off writing the newsletter once again, but here it is. What devotion to duty!

Clear Skies and Best Wishes

Neil

www.green-witch.com
www.arizonaskyvillage.co.uk
www.astroblast.org.uk
ranchohidalgo.green-witch.com