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Quick Picks for Observingby Kim Hay, Kingston Centre (cdnspooky@persona.ca)March 2009 Event May 2009 EventWednesday, Mar. 47:26 UT First-quarter MoonSaturday, Mar. 415:08 UT Moon at perigee *(367,019 km) Friday, May 120:44 UT First-quarter MoonSunday, Mar. 82:00 a.m. Daylight Saving Time begins Saturday, May 2International Astronomy Day. For moreinformation see www.rasc.ca/astrodayTuesday, Mar. 102:38 UT Full Moon Sunday, May 3 Saturn — Moon conjunctionPeak of the η-Aquariids (ETA) 85Wednesday, Mar. 1817:47 UT Third-quarter Moon Wednesday, May 6meteors per ZHR ∆ variable rate with45-85Thursday, Mar. 1913:17 UT Moon at apogee* (404,301 km) Sunday, May 177:26 UT Third-quarter MoonFriday, Mar. 2011:44 UT Vernal Equinox** Thursday, May 21Moon–Mars–Venus conjunction: lookbefore sunrise for the triangle in theeast.Thursday, Mar. 2616:06 UT New Moon Sunday, May 2412:11 UT New MoonSaturday, Mar. 28 8:30 pmApril 2009Wednesday, Apr. 22:32 UTThursday, Apr. 314:34 UTTuesday, Apr. 7Thursday, Apr. 914:56 UTThursday, Apr. 169:17 UTThursday, Apr. 1713:36 UTWednesday, Apr. 22Friday, Apr. 24 15:23 UTTuesday, Apr. 28 6:28 UTApr. 29 - May 3Earth Hourwww.earthhour.orgEventMoon at perigee* (370,013 km)First-quarter MoonSaturn — Moon conjunctionFull MoonMoon at apogee* (404,231 km)Third-quarter MoonEarth DayPeak of the Lyrids (LYR) - 18 meteorsper ZHR, variable up to 90.Meteor shower from Apr. 16-25New MoonMoon at perigee* (366,041 km)International Astronomy WeekMeteor Showers for March-May:www.imo.net/calendar/2009*Perigee - the point in the orbit of the Moon that is closest to theEarth*Apogee - the point in the orbit of the Moon that is farthest from theEarth. For more dates on perigee/apogee of the Moon, new and fullMoon dates visit:www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pacalc.html**Vernal Equinox - The sun passes from south to north at thenorthern vernal equinox (spring)∆ ZHR - zenithal hourly rate — hypothetical rate observing with aclear sky and at limiting magnitude of 6.5, if the radiant were at thezenithMonday, May 25 15:45 UT(Setting in the SW in earlyApril)CANIS MAJORThe great Overdog,That heavenly beastWith a star in one eye,Gives a leap in the eastMoon at perigee* (361,154 km)He dances uprightAll the way to the west,And never once dropsOn his forefeet to rest.2009 International Year of AstronomyI’m a poor underdog,But to-night I will barkWith the greatOverdogThat romps through thedark.— Robert Frost, 1928This is a global celebration of astronomy. Since the firstview that Galileo looked through the telescope anddiscovered the moons of Jupiter, to the cutting-edgemissions to space, we can all be a part of knowing andlearning about astronomy. Be a part of the excitement of2009 with celebrations across the world and Canada as webring astronomy to the young and old.The International Group has Cornerstone Projects such as100 hours of Astronomy, Dark-Sky Awareness, and the Galileo Telescope.Go to www.astronomy2009.org for more information. The Canadiannode of the IYA has many projects such as the “Galileo <strong>Moment</strong>,” CanadianFirst Nations and Inuit Peoples historical knowledge of the heavens, andmany more. Visit www.astronomy2009.ca for more information, or tovolunteer.Visit your local Centre’s Web site for updated information on what yourCentre is doing for IYA2009. It’s never too late to help volunteer for anevent or just to offer a spare pair of hands. Come be part of the excitementin 200984 Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009)JRASC April / avril 2009
A <strong>Moment</strong> With…Dr. Christian Maroisby Phil Mozel, Toronto and Mississauga Centres (phil.mozel@sympatico.com)Then felt I like some watcher of the skies when a new planetswims into his ken...— KeatsThere haven’t been too many planets swimming into theken of astronomers these days. At least, not since thediscovery of Uranus and Neptune. Back then, astronomerscould actually see their quarry. Now, new (extrasolar) planetsdon’t so much swim into view as reveal themselves throughtheir gravitational influence on their parent star, either byshifting spectral lines or by blocking some of a star’s lightduring a transit. However, seeing is believing, and wouldn’t itbe nice actually to lay eyes on one of these far-off worlds? Giventheir great distances, it is not an easy task! Small wonder, then,that the first planet beyond the Solar System was glimpsedunambiguously only recently. This was accomplished by a teamled by Dr. Christian Marois.Dr. Marois started young. As a child, he was curious aboutthe world, always asking questions. When he was four or fiveyears old, his mother showed him a solar eclipse using a pinholeviewer. Naturally, he wondered what caused it. Naturally, hewent on to find out.Later, while working on his M.Sc., Dr. Marois spenttwo years studying the problems of taking direct images ofextrasolar planets. During his Ph.D. work at the Université deMontréal, he designed, with his supervisors Drs. Rene Racine,Rene Doyon, and Daniel Nadeau, instruments capable ofhunting down extrasolar planets, later building and using themto good advantage. He additionally developed planet-huntingobservational strategies and software that allowed faintplanetary light to be teased from the glow of a primary star.(For his thesis, he was awarded the Plaskett Medal, presentedannually to the Ph.D. graduate from a Canadian universitywho is judged to have submitted the most outstanding thesisin astronomy or astrophysics in the preceding two years). Dr.Marois went on to do post-doctoral work at the LawrenceLivermore Laboratory in California. Dr. Marois worked as ateam member on the Gemini Deep Planet Survey, which usedthe 8-m Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to try to obtainimages of giant Jupiter-like planets. The survey of 80 roughlysolar-mass stars indicated that such worlds, at least aroundour kind of star, are relatively rare.At this time Dr. Marois realized that more-massive starsDr. Christian Marois(such as A-types) would be worth imaging because, while bright,they might have more massive planets orbiting farther away thatwould be easier to find. At that point, the International DeepPlanet Survey started in September 2007, using Gemini North,the 10-m Keck 2, and the European Southern Observatory’s8.2-m Very Large Telescope. The project quickly focused on HR8799, a sixth-magnitude star in Pegasus. A dust disk aroundthe star indicated its youth (about 60 million years old), whichmeant that any associated planets would likely be glowingin the infrared. The star’s proximity to Earth, 130 light-years,makes it relatively easy to study.But, did planets actually orbit this star? To find out, Dr.Marois, now at the National Research Council’s HerzbergInstitute of Astrophysics (HIA), and his team used an infraredApril / avril 2009JRASCCelebrating the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009)85
Page 1 and 2: Share a Galileo MomentApril / avril
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