May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 1

Star Gazer News

Newsletter of the Delmarva Stargazers www.delmarvastargazers.org

Upcoming Events: Meeting ! May 3

rd 7 PM Smyrna Church

Star Party ! May 5-8 Dusk Trap Pond SP

From the Prez... By the time you are reading this, the Star Party will be upon us, I hope to see a lot of us out this year. This will be our third event at Trap Pond, so we are getting most things figured out. As i write this, I realize that had we cho-sen April, the party would have been this weekend. They are calling for snow, rain, wind, thunderstorms, floods and high heat and humidity, as well as cloudy nights and smoggy days...hopefully the weather will be better next month. At our last meeting Frank gave us a report on his and Eddie's trip to the Winter Star Party down in the Florida Keys. They won their registration and camping at our star party last spring. We also had Lyle share about his foray into the world of off axis reflector designs, in this case his

Schiefspiegler. Very interesting design, uses two mirrors with long focal length, around f28. Hopefully we will get a chance to look through it soon, he is still working out some bugs in the hardware. Looking forward to doing some observing this year at Trap Pond, I put out a schedule last time. If do plan to go to any of our sites, please put something on the Yahoo g roup : h t t ps : / / g roups . yahoo .com /neo /g roups /delmarvastargazers/info and/or Facebook: https://w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / D e l m a r v a S t a r g a z e r s -492422910775026

May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 2

Hubble Shatters The Cosmic Record For Most Distant Galaxy By Ethan Siegel

The farther away you look in the distant universe, the harder it is to see what's out there. This isn't

simply because more distant objects appear fainter, although that's true. It isn't because the uni-

verse is expanding, and so the light has farther to go before it reaches you, although that's true, too.

The reality is that if you built the largest optical telescope you could imagine -- even one that was

the size of an entire planet -- you still wouldn't see the new cosmic record-holder that Hubble just

discovered: galaxy GN-z11, whose light traveled for 13.4 billion years, or 97% the age of the universe, before finally reaching our

eyes. There were two special coincidences that had to line up for Hubble to find this: one was a remarkable technical achievement, while

the other was pure luck. By extending Hubble's vision away from the ultraviolet and optical and into the infrared, past 800 nanome-

ters all the way out to 1.6 microns, Hubble became sensitive to light that was severely stretched and redshifted by the expansion of

the universe. The most energetic light that hot, young, newly forming stars produce is the Lyman-α line, which is produced at an

ultraviolet wavelength of just 121.567 nanometers. But at high redshifts, that line passed not just into the visible but all the way

through to the infrared, and for the newly discovered galaxy, GN-z11, its whopping redshift of 11.1 pushed that line all the way out

to 1471 nanometers, more than double the limit of visible light! Hubble itself did the follow-up spectroscopic observations to confirm the existence of this galaxy, but it also got lucky: the only rea-

son this light was visible is because the region of space between this galaxy and our eyes is mostly ionized, which isn't true of most

locations in the universe at this early time! A redshift of 11.1 corresponds to just 400 million years after the Big Bang, and the hot

radiation from young stars doesn't ionize the majority of the universe until 550 million years have passed. In most directions, this

galaxy would be invisible, as the neutral gas would block this light, the same way the light from the center of our galaxy is blocked

by the dust lanes in the galactic plane. To see farther back, to the universe's first true galaxies, it will take the James Webb Space

Telescope. Webb's infrared eyes are much less sensitive to the light-extinction caused by neutral gas than instruments like Hubble.

Webb may reach back to a redshift of 15 or even 20 or more, and discover the true answer to one of the universe's greatest mysteries:

when the first galaxies came into existence!

Images credit: (top); NASA, ESA, P. Oesch

(Yale University), G. Brammer (STScI), P.

van Dokkum (Yale University), and G.

Illingworth (University of California, Santa

Cruz) (bottom), of the galaxy GN-z11, the

most distant and highest-redshifted galaxy

ever discovered and spectroscopically con-

firmed thus far.

This article is provided by ASA Space Place. With articles, activities, crafts, games, and lesson plans, NASA Space Place encourages

everyone to get excited about science and technology. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and Earth science!

May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 3

The Delmarva Stargazers

are pleased to announce

Star Gaze XXII Star Party

We'll be celebrating 21 years

of Stargazing on Delmarva.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

through Sunday, April 8, 2016

Trap Pond State Park,

Laurel DE

Bring a friend, family, and maybe your

optics and join the fun

Check http://www.delmarvastargazers.org/archive/SG2016/

index.html

For Registration!

So: Get up, Pack up, and travel down to Trap Pond !

Your 2015-2016 Officers Office Officer Phone email President Peter Graham President-elect Secretary Treasurer Kathy Sheldon 302-422-4695 memomsheldon@comcast.net Past President Lyle Jones 302-382-3764 worm1647@comcast.net

We always have a Broncin’ good time at our Star Party !

May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 4

Some thoughts on Star Parties Come prepared! No matter what temperature you hear it will be, prepare for weather that is at least 20 degrees colder. Make and use a check list to see that you don't leave home without something you need, such as your eyepiece case, or red flashlight. If you bring a telescope, set up a small tool box containing extra batteries, lights, etc. If you want to make friends, avoid having to always borrow things. Bring a cooler or thermos, and something for a late night snack. Even better, bring along some goodies to share with your friends around you. If you are not familiar with the observing site, arrive early enough so that you don't have to ar-rive after dark, not knowing where you are going, and disrupt everyone with your headlights. Lights No white lights after sundown if there are other observers in the area. Allow yourself to become ark-adapted and see all that you can see. If you are on dangerous terrain and need a bright red light, for heavens sake, keep it pointed straight down! Don't walk around waving it in everyone's face, be-cause if you shine it in the eyes of the wrong per-son, they may tell you where to stick it. If you have to open your car door or trunk after sun-down, be kind enough to remove the fuse before-hand. It only takes a second. If you want to be-come unpopular quickly, just be the one who is always ruining his companions dark adaption by opening his car doors or trunk every few minutes and splashing bright light all over everyone. Music Music is a great relaxation to many. To some, it just isn't possible to observe without the proper mood setting musical accompaniment. Many love to scope out the heavens while listening to heavy metal rock at 110 decibels. Others may enjoy an eight hour Elvis session. Great! Enjoy yourself! Turn it up! Play it as loud as you like it.... just wear earphones. The battle of the bands does not belong on the observing field. Many appreci-ate the new "space music" at a low volume, to set the mood. But if anyone complains...back to the earphones. Be Helpful Share your knowledge. A star party is a place for

learning, and a place for teaching. If you see a novice struggling to locate an object in his tele-scope, ask if you can be of assistance. Chances are he will appreciate it. Every once in a while take a break and walk around the observing field. You will see both some amazing and some comi-cal sights. Enjoy yourself, and help others to en-joy themselves! Quiet Mornings Loud talking or other noise before noon is out of place, and rude to those observers who don't re-tire till dawn. On the other hand, loud talking on the observing field at 4 AM is rude to early risers who may be leaving on a day trip at dawn. Per-haps families with small children, and other early risers, could place their camp in an area where they won't be disturbed by astronomers talking all night, or disturb astronomers who are trying to sleep late the next morning. Be Nice As the end of a week-long star party nears, you will notice that most of the die-hard observers are becoming a little brain-dead. Observing till dawn night after night, followed by too few hours of sleep, has the tendency of sharpening ones tongue a little. Be careful what you say while in this condition. Nothing worse than looking into someone's 48" Mega Monster telescope, and de-claring the view to be much worse than it was in your Super Duper 6" last night. That's not how to win friends. Be considerate. Just because you paid a few dollars registration fee does not entitle you to boss everyone around. The people who run the star parties are just vol-unteers, not paid servants! Volunteer your ser-vices if they need help. Running a star party is a lot of work. Jump in and lend a hand ...it will be appreciated. Never touch or move someone's telescope with-out first asking permission. A telescope that looks unattended may be in the middle of a difficult star hop to some illusive target, and you may have one angry person on your hands if you act before thinking. Most important. Have fun !

May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 5

Camelopardalis From Wikipedia

Camelopardalis /kəˌmɛləˈpɑːrdəlᵻs/ or the Giraffeconstella-tion is a large, faint grouping of stars in the northern sky. The constellation was introduced in 1612 (or 1613) by Petrus Plancius. Some older astronomy books give an al-ternative spelling of the name, Camelopardus. Etymology First attested in English in 1785, the word camelo-pardalis comes from Latin, and it is the romanisation of the Greek "καµηλοπάρδαλις" meaning "giraffe", from "κάµηλος" (kamēlos), "camel" + "πάρδαλις" (pardalis), "leopard", due to its having a long neck like a camel and spots like a leopard. Notable features Stars Although Camelopardalis is the 18th largest con-stellation, it is not a particularly bright constellation, as the brightest stars are only of fourth magnitude. In fact, it only contains four stars below magnitude 5.0. α Cam is a blue-hued supergiant star of magnitude 4.3, 5000 light-years from Earth. It is one of the most distant stars easily visible with the naked eye. β Cam is the brightest star in Camelopardalis with an ap-parent magnitude of 4.03. This star is a double star, with components of magnitudes 4.0 and 8.6. The primary is a yellow-hued supergiant 1000 light-years from Earth. 11 Cam is a star of magnitude 5.2, 650 light-years from Earth. It is very close to magnitude 6.1 12 Cam, also 650 light-years from Earth, but the two stars are not a true dou-ble star because of their separation. Σ 1694 (Struve 1694, 32 Cam) is a binary star 300 light-years from Earth. Both components have a blue-white hue; the primary is of magnitude 5.4 and the secondary is of magnitude 5.9. CS Cam is the second brightest star, though it has neither a Bayer nor a Flamsteed designation. It is of magnitude 4.21 and is slightly variable. Z Cam is frequently observed as part of a program of AAVSO. It is the prototype of Z Camelopardalis variable stars. Other variable stars are U Camelopardalis, VZ Camelopar-dalis, and Mira variables T Camelopardalis, X Camelopar-dalis, and R Camelopardalis. RU Camelopardalis is one of the brighter Type II Cepheids visible in the night sky. In 2011 a supernova was discovered in the con-stellation. (Ed. Note: This was the SN discovered by Kath-ryn Aurora Gray, then 10 years old, daughter of Paul Gray, our member in Canada.)

Deep-sky objects Camelopardalis is in the part of the celestial sphere facing away from the galactic plane. Accordingly, many distant galaxies are visible within its borders. NGC 2403 is a galaxy in the M81 group of galaxies, located approxi-mately 12 million light-years from Earth with a redshift of 0.00043. It is classified as being between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy because it has faint arms and a large central bulge. NGC 2403 was first discovered by the 18th century astronomer William Herschel, who was working in England at the time. It has an integrated magnitude of 8.0 and is approximately 0.25° long. NGC 1502 is a magnitude 6.9 open cluster about 3,000 light years from Earth. It has about 45 bright mem-bers, and features a double star of magnitude 7.0 at its center. NGC 1502 is also associated with Kemble's Cas-cade (see pg. 6) , a simple but beautiful asterism appearing in the sky as a chain of stars 2.5° long that is parallel to the Milky Way and is pointed towards Cassiopeia. NGC 1501 is a planetary nebula located roughly 1.4° south of NGC 1502. IC 342 is one of the brightest two galaxies in the IC 342/Maffei Group of galaxies. The dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1569 is a magnitude 11.9 starburst galaxy, about 11 million light years away. NGC 2655 is a large lenticular gal-axy with visual magnitude 10.1. MS0735.6+7421 is a galaxy cluster with a redshift of 0.216, located 2.6 billion light-years from Earth. It is unique for its intracluster medium, which emits x-rays at a very high rate. This galaxy cluster features two cavities 600,000 light-years in diameter, caused by its central su-permassive black hole, which emits jets of matter. MS0735.6+7421 is one of the largest and most distant ex-amples of this phenomenon. Tombaugh 5 is a fairly dim open cluster in Camelo-pardalis. It has an overall magnitude of 8.4 and is located 5,800 light-years from Earth. It is a Shapley class c and Trumpler class III 1 r cluster, meaning that it is irregularly shaped and appears loose. Though it is detached from the star field, it is not concentrated at its center at all. It has more than 100 stars which do not vary widely in brightness,

mostly being of the 15th and 16th magnitude. NGC 2146 (above) is an 11th magnitude barred spiral star-burst galaxy conspicuously warped by interaction with a neighbour. MACS0647-JD, one of the possible candidates for

May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 6

the farthest known galaxies in the universe (z= 10.7), is also in Camelopardalis. Meteor showers The annual May meteor shower Camelopardalids from comet 209P/LINEAR have a radiant in Camelopar-dalis. Space exploration

The space probe Voyager 1 is moving in the direc-tion of this constellation, though it will not be nearing any of the stars in this constellation for many thousands of years, by which time its power source will be long dead. Equivalents In Chinese astronomy, the stars of Camelopardalis are located within a group of circumpolar stars called the

Kemble's Cascade From Wikipedia

Kemble's Cascade (Kemble 1), located in the con-stellation Camelopardalis, is an asterism — a pattern cre-ated by unrelated stars. It is an apparent straight line of more than 20 colourful 5th to 10th magnitude stars over a distance of approximately five moon diameters, and the open cluster NGC 1502 can be found at one end. It was named by Walter Scott Houston in honour of Father Lucian Kemble (1922–1999), a Franciscan friar and amateur astronomer who wrote a letter to Houston about the asterism, describing it as "a beautiful cascade of faint stars tumbling from the northwest down to the open cluster

NGC 1502" that he had discovered while sweeping the sky with a pair of 7×35 binoculars. Houston was so impressed that he wrote an article on the asterism that appeared in his Deep Sky Wonders column in the astronomy magazine Sky & Telescope in 1980, in which he named it Kemble's Cascade. Father Lucian Kemble was also associated with two other asterisms, Kemble 2 (an asterism in the constel-lation of Draco that resembles a small version of Cassio-peia) and Kemble's Kite (an asterism that resembles a kite with a tail which is also in the constellation of Camelopar-dalis). In addition, an asteroid, 78431 Kemble, was named in his honour.

May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 7

May 2016 Volume 22 Number 11 Page 8

How to Join the Delmarva Stargazers: Anyone with an interest in any aspect of astronomy is welcome NAME_______________________________________________________________New_______Renew___________ ADDRESS_____________________________________________________________________________________ CITY, STATE & ZIP______________________________________________________________________________ E-MAIL ADDRESS (If any)_________________________________________________________________________ Please attach a check for $15 made payable to Delmarva Stargazers and mail to Kathy Sheldon, 20985 Fleatown Rd, Lincoln, DE 19960. Call club President Lyle Jones at 302-382-3764 for more information.

Gravitational Wave Astronomy Will Be The ext Great Scientific Frontier By Ethan Siegel

Imagine a world very different from our own: permanently shrouded in clouds, where the sky was never seen. Never had

anyone see the Sun, the Moon, the stars or planets, until one night, a single bright object shone through. Imagine that you saw not

only a bright point of light against a dark backdrop of sky, but that you could see a banded structure, a ringed system around it and

perhaps even a bright satellite: a moon. That's the magnitude of what LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observa-

tory) saw, when it directly detected gravitational waves for the first time. An unavoidable prediction of Einstein's General Relativity, gravitational waves emerge whenever a mass gets accelerated.

For most systems -- like Earth orbiting the Sun -- the waves are so weak that it would take many times the age of the Universe to

notice. But when very massive objects orbit at very short distances, the orbits decay noticeably and rapidly, producing potentially

observable gravitational waves. Systems such as the binary pulsar PSR B1913+16 [the subtlety here is that binary pulsars may con-

tain a single neutron star, so it’s best to be specific], where two neutron stars orbit one another at very short distances, had previously

shown this phenomenon of orbital decay, but gravitational waves had never been directly detected until now. When a gravitational wave passes through an objects, it simultaneously stretches and compresses space along mutually per-

pendicular directions: first horizontally, then vertically, in an oscillating fashion. The LIGO detectors work by splitting a laser beam

into perpendicular “arms,” letting the beams reflect back and forth in each arm hundreds of times (for an effective path lengths of

hundreds of km), and then recombining them at a photodetector. The interference pattern seen there will shift, predictably, if gravita-

tional waves pass through and change the effective path lengths of the arms. Over a span of 20 milliseconds on September 14, 2015,

both LIGO detectors (in Louisiana and Washington) saw identical stretching-and-compressing patterns. From that tiny amount of

data, scientists were able to conclude that two black holes, of 36 and 29 solar masses apiece, merged together, emitting 5% of their

total mass into gravitational wave energy, via Einstein's E = mc2. During that event, more energy was emitted in gravitational waves than by all the stars in the observable Universe com-

bined. The entire Earth was compressed by less than the width of a proton during this event, yet thanks to LIGO's incredible preci-

sion, we were able to detect it. At least a handful of these events are expected every year. In the future, different observatories, such

as NANOGrav (which uses radiotelescopes to the delay caused by gravitational waves on pulsar radiation) and the space mission

LISA will detect gravitational waves from supermassive black holes and many other sources. We've just seen our first event using a

new type of astronomy, and can now test black holes and gravity like never before.

Image credit: Observation of Gravitational Waves

from a Binary Black Hole Merger B. P. Abbott et

al., (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo

Collaboration), Physical Review Letters 116,

061102 (2016). This figure shows the data (top

panels) at the Washington and Louisiana LIGO

stations, the predicted signal from Einstein's the-

ory (middle panels), and the inferred signals

(bottom panels). The signals matched perfectly in

both detectors.

This article is provided by NASA Space Place. With articles, activities, crafts, games, and lesson plans, NASA Space Place encourages everyone to get excited about science and technology. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and Earth science!