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Search Results
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I would also add in the period when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland saw aircraft grounded too – that saw an unusually long run of blue skies too.
It might take some of the fun out of the discussion for the journalist, but by looking at VIIRs imagery for London over (say) the last 10 years you should be able to see what has happened in recent years as the measured upwelling radiance would need to be constant before you could safely attribute more stars to NO2 levels and the ULEZ.
Something like…
The website now actually offers the option for trend analysis on the light pollution levels. Impressive how dark some of the Motorways have become.
Perhaps upwelling blue light is scattered more strongly and never reaches space and so gives a false impression.
By comparison my home location has seen a small rise in light pollution as new house builds seem occupied by people afraid of the dark (despite every phone having a torch inbuilt) – even out here in the boonies where a crime is a major event!
In reply to: 24-hour monitoring of T CrB
At this time of year, a 24h coverage would be possible again just with night observations if there were enough observers around the planet. If I look at the AAVSO database, there are calendar days when we have up to ca 50% coverage: after someone in Europe observes for most of the night, someone in the US takes over … and then we get a gap.
I wonder if there are actually no active T CrB observers in that longitude range? Perhaps there are observers who just don’t bother to submit the data in the absence of an outbreak?
Imagine what it would be like to catch the actual nova outbreak in a high cadence photometry data set! I don’t think this has ever been done for a nova this close.
E.g. there must be tons of Seestar smart telescopes in China that could join the T CrB watch and help close the observation gap. How can we reach out to them?
Cheers
HBENext meeting: 8th of April:
FWD:========================================================================
This is a REMINDER for our WEBINAR on Tuesday, April 8th at 1700 UTC/1900 FR!
NOTE THE NEW TIMES!!!
Date: Tuesday, April 8th
Time:12:00 PM CDT / 1:00 PM EST / 7:00 PM FR Time / 5:00 PM UTC
1200h CDT/ 1300h EST / 1900h FR / 1700h UTCZoom Link: https://umn.zoom.us/j/8068498577
Guest Speaker:
We’re excited to welcome Dr. Marion Pillas, a postdoctoral fellow at Liege University in Belgium. Dr. Pillas is also the chair for GRANDMA’s GRB Working Group and has written the GRB observing strategy for the collaboration.She will be presenting on her research and on her paper:
“Limits on the Ejecta Mass During the Search for Kilonovae Associated with Neutron Star-Black Hole Mergers: A case study of S230518h, GW230529, S230627c and the Low-Significance Candidate S240422ed”
This paper focuses on how neutron star–black hole (NSBH) mergers are expected to produce kilonovae (KNe), but none have been confirmed despite extensive follow-up of four NSBH candidates detected via gravitational waves during O4 (May 2023 – July 2024). This study evaluates why no KN was detected by analyzing multi-messenger observations and the observational coverage from over 50 instruments. Simulations show that most NSBH KNe peak around one day post-merger in g, r, i bands – often outside follow-up coverage. For some candidates, faint KN luminosity, large distances, or poor sky localization significantly limited detectability, and in one case (S240422ed), the lack of a KN supports a non-astrophysical origin.
This is a GRANDMA/KNC paper led by Dr. Pillas and Dr. Antier. It can be found on the KNC forge, here.
This event is just our webinar, so we hope you’ll take the opportunity to join, ask questions, and learn more about cutting-edge research in fast transients and the science community!
Don’t forget to check out our Youtube for past webinar events and monthly meetings!
See you there!
Cristina Andrade
Research Professional | MN Institute for Astrophysics
The Kilonova Catcher Core Team
http://kilonovacatcher.in2p3.fr/
=============================================================================The next webinar and meeting will be on Tuesday March 18th :
Forwarded from mailing list:
Date: Tuesday, March 18th
Time:1:00 PM CDT / 2:00 PM EST / 7:00 PM FR Time / 6:00 PM UTC
1300h CDT/ 1400h EST / 1900 FR / 1800h UTCZoom Link: https://umn.zoom.us/j/8068498577
Guest Speaker:
We’re excited to welcome Shar Daniels, a 3rd-year Astrophysics PhD student, who will be presenting:“Discovering Fast Optical Transients with Continuous Readout-Mode Imaging”
This talk will explore how continuous readout-mode imaging enables the detection of millisecond-duration optical transients – an emerging frontier in transient astrophysics!
This event is just our webinar, so we hope you’ll take the opportunity to join, ask questions, and learn more about cutting-edge research in fast transients.
See you there!
Cristina Andrade
Research Professional | MN Institute for Astrophysics
The Kilonova Catcher Core Team
http://kilonovacatcher.in2p3.fr/Members may be interested in this event in Cardiff
Gwthio Ffiniau Archwilio’r Gofod:
Cyfle i weld crwydryn Mawrth
Annwyl British Astronomical Association
Rwy’n ysgrifennu atoch i’ch gwahodd i ddigwyddiad yn y Senedd, wedi ei noddi gan Cefin Campbell AS, a fydd yn amlygu sut mae ymchwilwyr Prifysgol Aberystwyth yn gwthio ffiniau ym maes archwilio’r gofod.
Cynhelir y digwyddiad am 12.00pm ddydd Mercher, 2 Ebrill yn Neuadd y Senedd ym Mae Caerdydd.
Fel rhan o’r digwyddiad, bydd ymchwilwyr Prifysgol Aberystwyth yn gwneud cyflwyniadau byr am eu hymchwil gofod, gan gynnwys ym meysydd tywydd ac offerynnau’r gofod.
Yn ogystal, bydd cyfle i chi dynnu llun gydag ein model maint-llawn o grwydryn ExoMars, a adeiladwyd gennym yma yn Aberystwyth. Mae ein hymchwilwyr yn chwarae rhan allweddol yn nhaith ExoMars, gyda’r disgwyl y bydd crwydryn yn glanio ar y blaned yn 2028 er mwyn cynnal ymchwil o bwys.
Darperir lluniaeth a chinio gan gynnig y cyfle i rwydweithio gydag ystod o bobl sydd â diddordeb yn y maes.
Byddwch hefyd yn gallu sgwrsio ag ymchwilwyr a phartneriaid busnes am waith planedol a gofod arall sy’n digwydd ym Mhrifysgol Aberystwyth nes diwedd y digwyddiad am 1:30pm.
Byddem yn ddiolchgar pe bai modd i chi roi gwybod eich bod chi, neu rywun ar eich rhan, yn medru ymuno â ni yn y Senedd drwy e-bostio cyfathrebu@aber.ac.uk erbyn 21 Mawrth.
Os oes gennych unrhyw gwestiynau, mae croeso i chi gysylltu â Kelly Jones ar kej27@aber.ac.uk.
Yr eiddoch yn gywir,
Yr Athro Angela Hatton
Dirprwy Is-Ganghellor Ymchwil, Cyfnewid Gwybodaeth ac Arloesi, Prifysgol AberystwythPushing the Frontiers of Space:
Chance to see Mars rover
Dear British Astronomical Association
I am writing to invite you to a lunchtime event in the Senedd, sponsored by Cefin Campbell MS, that will highlight how Aberystwyth University researchers are pushing the frontiers of space exploration.
The event will be held at 12.00pm on Wednesday, 2 April in the Neuadd in the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.
As part of the event, researchers at Aberystwyth University will give presentations about their space research, including in the fields of space weather and instrumentation.
There will also be an opportunity for you to take a photo with our own full-size model of the ExoMars rover, which we built here in Aberystwyth. Our researchers are playing a key role in the ExoMars mission, with the rover due to land on the planet in 2028 to carry out vital research.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided giving you an opportunity to network with a range of interested parties.
You will also be able to chat with scientists and industry partners about other planetary and space work underway at Aberystwyth University until the event ends at 1:30pm.
We would be grateful if you could let us know if you, or someone on your behalf, can join us at the Senedd by emailing communications@aber.ac.uk by 21 March.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kelly Jones on kej27@aber.ac.uk.
Yours,
Professor Angela Hatton
Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Knowledge Exchange and Innovation, Aberystwyth UniversityWhile we are all waiting for T CrB to go Kaboom!, another long awaited event to chase is the next kilonova caused by a nearby binary neutron star (BNS) merger.
If you haven’t already joined the “Kilonova Catcher” (KNC) project, you might want to visit the next webinar and meeting:
Forwared from email:
Reminder regarding tomorrow’s webinar & meeting!
Andrew will be discussing classification with gravitational wave interferometers and the NSBH detection with S250206dm. We will also be discussing the new alert system for KNC.
Meeting Details:
Date: February 25, 2025
Time: 1900h UTC
Zoom Link: https://umn.zoom.us/j/8068498577
Regards,
Cristina Andrade
Research Professional | MN Institute for Astrophysics
The Kilonova Catcher Core Team
http://kilonovacatcher.in2p3.fr/Cheers
Heinz-Bernd EggensteinCloud in Yorkshire? Whatever next!
Seriously though, another fascinating album. I presume “Collinson” was EH Collinson, who joined the BAA in 1920 and had gone to school in Yorkshire.We have had this request come through – if you are interested the contact details are below.
======
We are hiring astronomers and hoped we can advertise to your members?
The Opportunity:
Calling all astronomy students, amateur astronomers and those interested in the stars!
Do you enjoy talking about the cosmos and would you like a chance to learn how to use a state-of-the-art digital Unistellar telescope? You will meet and work with Unistellar’s Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Franck Marchis.
We’re looking for 12 people to join our staff for Piccadilly Un:plugged, an outdoor public art installation as part of the Art of London’s Art After Dark programme with artist Nelly Ben Hayoun Stépanian.
This is a very public-facing role. You will work in pairs, situated around the West End with your telescope for 3 nights in March: Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th. Your job will be to invite the public to stargaze and talk to them about what they’re seeing.
Requirements:
Basic astronomy knowledge is requested – the digital telescopes will provide you with information about what you are viewing on the screens but we are looking for people who may be able to answer additional questions from the public and provide engaging commentary
No previous telescope handling is required – Unistellar will provide on the job training with their digital telescopes
Must be able to carry approx 10kg in a backpack
Must enjoy talking to strangers from all walks of life
Shift details: must be available for all evenings
Wednesday March 5th 6pm – 7:30pm (training session – paid) Thursday March 6th 6:30pm – 10pm Friday March 7th 6:30pm – 10pm Saturday March 8th 6:30pm – 10pm
Working Location: West End (London)
Dresscode: Please dress for the weather. We will provide a reflective jacket that should go over any warm layers
Fee: London Living Wage £13.85/hr, invoiced at completion of the weekend and paid within 30 days
Please contact jen@new-public.com with your CV and a paragraph about why you would like to be part of Art After Dark!
In reply to: Storm Dunlop
Storm’s cousin, Janice Cowan, provided more details:
Storm’s wishes for a woodland burial reflect his deep connection to nature, a theme woven throughout his life’s work. His informal funeral will be held at 1pm on Friday 28th February 2025, at the Sustainability Centre Natural Burial Ground, Droxford Rd, Petersfield GU32 1HR.
Attendees are encouraged to wear warm clothing, sturdy shoes, and lap blankets are recommended, as the service will be held in the woods. Transport from the car park to the graveside, for anyone unsteady on their feet, will be available. In this way, we will be honouring Storm’s request for a peaceful natural final resting place in harmony with the nature and environment he cherished so dearly. Please would you let me know if you are able to attend and can join us as we are catering afterwards.
(We can provide you with Janice Cowan’s contact details).
In reply to: Storm Dunlop
Sad to hear Storm has died . I knew him quite well , but haven’t seen him for some years now. I first met him in the late 60s when he joined Hampshire Astronomical Group. He got at time involved in making quite large telescope mirrors . I visited many times his home in Wittering and also met his mother who was quite a interesting person. I asked her why the name Storm, apparently she just liked the name but it was most suitable for his later writing career.
He was very active in running our association for many years being secretary and President and keen on variable stars.
I will certainly remember himIn reply to: Solar Section Newsletters download links missing
The word “inconsistency” has negative connotations which don’t apply in this case. Each section can decide how it wants to make its material available. In the case of the Comet Section I get and share observations with groups around the world and contributors to the Comet’s Tale are a mix of members and non-members. For Journal reports I do prioritise observations made by members and most of the images I use to illustrate those reports will be from members. Where appropriate I encourage contributors to join the Association to support the work we do.
In reply to: coalition
I think a coalition of organisations with a shared interest in reducing light pollution is an excellent idea. While the CfDS could campaign purely on astronomical grounds, this won’t be important to many people and politicians. Joining forces with others who see the problems of light pollution from other perspectives will strengthen the case for change.
There is no mention of involvement with ‘climate activist’ groups or anything that is likely to be picked up by media as activism. I think you would find the majority of wildlife campaign groups go about their activities in a law abiding way, trying to engage with people rather than causing confrontation. That is certainly how our local wildlife group goes about their work. In fact we had a talk on light pollution this week.Topic: coalition
J. Br. Astron. Assoc., 134(5), 2024 – Commission for Dark Skies (349)
I fear the CfDS committee’s aims of forming a coalition to campaign together with other groups against the harm that excessive artificial light causes will achieve little other than for the media to lump us in with climate activists. Probably not to be recommended since action that could be deemed to have a negative economic impact carries a longer prison sentence than GBH.
My understanding is that the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee have actively investigated the impacts of artificial light and noise on human health and heard from all interested groups:From the recommendations, the areas I see that the CfDS committee could try to influence are:
• Defra should establish a standard methodology for tracking, monitoring and reporting on light pollution.
• The government should issue a light policy statement for England which details the government’s policy on minimising light pollution and the roles it expects different departments to play.
• The light policy statement and planning guidance should incorporate up-to-date guidance from the Society of Light and Lighting, the Institution of Lighting Professionals and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers on best practice for lighting.
• DLUHC should set out what resources local authorities should have to respond adequately to light and noise pollution policies.
Perhaps CfDS committee members could enquire about joining the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) although I suspect they would cringe at the thought of a ‘Creative Lighting Design Festival’ or ‘Light Night Leeds’. The future is literally Bright.
In reply to: Congratulations to Dr Andrew Wilson
Many thanks to WOLAS. The local society I joined many decades ago when my interest in astronomy began.
AndyIn reply to: Preparing for the eruption of T CrB
Invitation to Brad Schaefer’s Zoom talk on August 17th regarding the predicted eruption of T CrB
I am sharing this invitation from Edwin Aguirre about this Zoom talk on August 17 (Saturday) at 1:30 p.m. UTC (14.30 BST)
It will be interesting to hear his prediction for the time of the eruption.Jeremy
I would like to invite you and the BAA members to Brad Schaefer’s Zoom talk on August 17 (Saturday) at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1:30 p.m. UTC) regarding the anticipated eruption of T Coronae Borealis. The talk is free and open to the public.
Attached are the details of Brad’s online talk. In addition to Zoom, the event will be streamed on Facebook Live and recorded for YouTube viewers.
NOTE: Everyone needs to register first in order to get the Zoom link for the webinar. You can either scan the QR code on the attached announcement with your cellphone or go directly to the Zoom registration page:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Bm_NLfhkSQyG0Es31OYkqg#/registration
Brad’s talk is part of the “Astronomy Experts Speaker Series” that Imelda and I started two years ago in collaboration with the Astronomical League of the Philippines. As you know, the Philippines is a relatively small developing country in Southeast Asia, and many people there cannot afford to travel overseas to attend astronomy seminars and conferences.
So, our goal is to help raise public science literacy and awareness in the country by inviting renowned scientists, researchers and science communicators to share their knowledge and expertise online with the Filipino people through our Zoom webinar series. It is all part of our international astronomy educational outreach efforts.
To date, our guest speakers have included:
Prof. Jay Pasachoff (Williams College), who talked about his 2021 Antarctic solar eclipse expedition
Zolt Levay (STScI), who discussed the Hubble Space Telescope’s most iconic images
Dave Eicher (Astronomy magazine editor-in-chief), who spoke about galaxies and galaxy classification
Fred Espenak (Mr. Eclipse), who talked about predicting and chasing total solar eclipses
J. Kelly Beatty (Sky & Telescope magazine senior editor), who spoke about the fight against light pollution
David Levy on how he and the Shoemakers discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Heidi Hammel (AURA vice president for science), who spoke about the James Webb Space Telescope’s latest findings
Dan Green (CBAT director), who discussed the nature of comets
Debbie Elmegreen (IAU president), who talked about galaxies at the dawn of the Universe
Father Chris Corbally, S.J. (Vatican Observatory/Steward Observatory), who explained the mystery of “The Star of Bethlehem”
Brother Robert Macke, S.J. (Curator of the Vatican Observatory’s meteorite collection at Castel Gandolfo, Italy), who talked about meteorites, asteroid 101955 Bennu, and the OSIRIS-REx mission
Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J. (Vatican Observatory director), who talked about Vesta and the Dawn mission
Valentin M. Pillet (National Solar Observatory director), who discussed the solar corona and the current Solar Cycle 25
Mike Brown (Caltech), who talked about Pluto and the search for Planet Nine
Robert Nemiroff (Michigan Tech), co-founder and editor of NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
Jonathan McDowell (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), who spoke about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the invisible Universe.
For fall/winter, we plan to have Meg Urry (Yale University), who will talk about the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of the Milky Way, and Michael S. Kelley, program scientist for the Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters, who will discuss the impact threat posed by NEOs, and for next year, NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who will talk about astrophotography from the International Space Station. We are currently finalizing the schedules for their respective webinars.We hope you can join us for Brad’s talk on the 17th!
Best regards,
Edwin
Attachments:
In reply to: Excellent Spring Meeting
In reply to: Wow! What an auroral display!
Indeed, Duncan, it was a remarkable display, only surpassed by the one I witnessed over 30 years ago in my Loudwater Valley (M40 Jn3). My collection of refurbished old security cameras, some with just 2-megapixel resolution, allowed me to observe the event from various angles, from approximately 21:00 to 03:30 UT the following morning. While these cameras may not compare to even the most basic phone cameras today, the images they captured, though crudely assembled, reveal a fascinating progression of rays in terms of color, intensity, direction, and speed. The output process is slow, transferring via USB stick from recorders placed near the floor, and made even slower by my age-related infirmities. Yet, this slow pace affords me a precise approach to the observational content of the sequences I produce. Just minutes ago, after some diligent work, I sought some relaxation by visiting the IMO website—a welcome respite after losing access to the daily data from UKMON, which I often used and valued. I had captured the fireball event, designated as IMO 2340-2024, traversing through Cygnus, near Deneb, surrounded by, and mostly beneath, the blue/purple ionized rays. Currently, the IMO has no photographs or videos submitted for this event. To support visual observers, who are invaluable during special event surveys, my first priority is to edit a video of the fireball at 4 frames per second for submission to the IMO via the SPA. In the meantime, I am hopeful that a member of the BAA will assist me in creating a JPG still shot that captures the fireball’s dashed trajectory through the colorful skies. I’ve previously undertaken a meticulous course of manually ‘joining the dots’.. I Aam hopeful of the sort of guidance I would have received from ‘Dave Gavine and the Spectrum’ in earlier times.
In reply to: Dark Sky Events
The AGM for DarkSky International is on the 21st March at 19:00; details on their website. The connection between CfDS and DarkSky International (the IDA that was) goes back a long way. Headed paper of the Campaign for Dark Skies from last century has the subheading “A Joint commission of the BAA and the IDA.”
In reply to: Historical Section Activity
Greetings, I’m a new member and have tried to
join the section online. The contact the director doesn’t seem to work. Just hangs after hitting the submit button.
Can you help please.
Cheers,
Gary Drouin
207291Topic: Historical Section Activity
British Astronomical Association
Supporting amateur astronomers since 1890
