Rainwater E-News 4/16/08
FINDING WATER ON MARS: THE PHOENIX MISSION
The next public program meeting of the Rainwater Astronomical Association will be May 9 at 7:00 pm. The program will focus on the Phoenix mission that will be landing on Mars in May. Phoenix is going to do the experiments planned for the Mars Polar Lander mission that was lost several years ago. (Thus its name – rising from the ashes) Its primary task will be to try to detect water in the region near the polar ice cap. NASA TV plans to begin briefings on May 13 for the May 25 landing. We’ll be open that Sunday afternoon if you can’t get NASA TV on cable or satellite. http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/ Info on its arrival trajectory maneuvers is at http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/11/phoenix-spacecraft-maneuvers-for-mars-landing/ Mars is still visible high in the sky in Gemini, but after the talk May 9 we’ll probably be more interested in using the bigger scopes to view Saturn and deep sky objects. Come early and bring a picnic.
COMING EVENTS
Astronomy for Teachers: June 8-13 at Rainwater. 3 semester hours credit. www.outreach.olemiss.edu/teachers 662-915-7621 for info
NEWS FROM THE HILL
The Mid-South Star Gaze has come and gone. The weather wasn’t too cooperative, but some good observing was done. The talks were also good and Rex was here from Astro Stuff to meet our equipment needs. Our final registration was down a bit due to the weather at 125, but big plans were made for next year’s event. Dates for the 2009 Mid-South Star Gaze are April 22-25.
The big event was the dedication of the Sangre Telescope. The crew from Las Cumbres Observatory spent a total of 51 person nights here to install and get the telescope working. It’s now working and a steep learning curve is ahead to be able to operate it.
During the Mid-South we got together with potential area partners to begin organizing a consortium of telescope users. Dr. Summers from Ole Miss, Dr. Keel from Alabama, and Drs Schmelz and Verschuur from Memphis were here and we will be meeting with others before summer.
We also began the formation of a “Friends of Rainwater” support group. Modeled after the public radio support foundation, we will to encourage people who are interested in our mission to contribute time or resources. If you are interested in being a stakeholder of such a group or being involved as a member of the advisory committee, let us know.
Plans for the next year include adding 6 RV gravel pads with water and electrical hookups, building 2 bunk cabins, and getting higher speed internet access. We will need your help to bring all this to reality.
BUILD YOUR OWN SOLAR SYSTEM
Some have asked about our solar system walk for your school. Gary Waller reminded me of the Exploratorium web site that has all the info you need. You can set the size of the Sun (we use .86 inches for the Sun for a 100 yard distance from the Sun to Pluto.) and the spread sheet will calculate all the right sizes and distances. http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/
ASTRO NEWS: If you have info or links you’d like to share, let us know.
There is an archive of hundreds of thousands of images of the Earth taken by astronauts at http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ You can search the data base for where you want to see.
Now is a good time to view the other dogs in the sky, Canes Venatici http://www.space.com/spacewatch/080411-ns-hunting-dogs.html
How Much Space Junk is Around the Earth? http://www.universetoday.com:80/2008/04/11/space-debris-illustrated-the-problem-in-pictures/
The smallest extra-solar planet yet found is only 5 times the mass of the Earth. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080409-smallest-exoplanet.html
NASA Launches a new web site that makes it easy to find information on space missions
http://nasascience.nasa.gov The science mission directorate has put a lot of useful info at your fingertips. You might want to put this site on your favorites list.
Finally, don’t miss this amazing image of Mars’ moon Phobos. It will knock your socks off. http://www.universetoday.com:80/2008/04/09/amazing-image-of-the-martian-moon-phobos/
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