Hampshire Astronomical Group

Events in the South of England

13th June - Our dynamic sun: sunspots and climate change

Dr Helen Mason (Cambridge University)

Lecture: the Sun goes through an 11 year cycle of activity. For the past few years it has been very quiet, but now it is becoming active again, heading for solar maximum, with an increase in the number of sunspots, active regions and solar flares. This cycle of activity can affect the Earth's environment in many ways. Scientists are monitoring the Sun from space, with several different spacecraft: Hinode, Stereo, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and most recently, the Solar Dynamics Observatory. This talk will explore the causes of solar activity, links with space weather and the climate, and what we are learning about the Sun from space observations in the ultraviolet and X-ray wavelength ranges.

Dr Helen Mason is a solar physicist and has worked on many space projects.In 2010, she was named as one of the 'Women of Outstanding Achievement' in recognition of her inspirational work in communication within Science, Engineering and Technology (SET). Helen has participated in many outreach projects and given science presentations to audiences at many venues, including at summer music festivals, with the Sunworshippers team at Glastonbury. She is internationally recognised as a researcher in atomic astrophysics and leads the Sun|Trek project (http://www.suntrek.org/) which explores the Sun and its effects on the Earth.

These events often sell out so pre-book or call to check on (01962) 863791

Announcement posted by : Website Team

Astronomical Events for May 2012

Moon

1 May - A 75% lit Moon lies approximately 11° southeast of Mars.

5 May - 21:30 BST - The full Moon will be low in the southeast, creating an opportunity to look for the "Moon illusion".  The full Moon will be appearing low in the sky for the next few months, so plenty of opportunities to look for the Moon illusion which is when the Moon looks huge.

7 May - 23:30 BST - Waning gibbous Moon lies 12° to the northwest of Antares.

22 May - A 3% lit crescent Moon lies 5.5° south of Venus.  Look for them in the northeast just after sunset.

26 May - A 29% crescent Moon occults M67.  It probably won't be possible to see its disappearance as the sky will be too bright, but it should be possible to see its reappearance from behind the Moon from about 22:50 BST.

Planets

6 May - Look for Venus which will be close to the star Elnath located in Taurus.  The separation will be approximately 49 arcminutes (about 1½ Moon widths).

12 May - A crescent Venus is 15% lit, with an apparent diameter of 45 arcseconds.  Observations over the next few days will show the size and phase of the planet changing.

18 May - Venus is a 10% lit crescent.

23 May - Venus is a 5% lit crescent with an apparent diameter of 53 arcseconds.

29 May - last chance to see Venus before it heads for its transit of the Sun in June.  It will show a 1% lit crescent and is almost 1 arcminute in diameter.

Meteor Showers

6 May - Peak of Eta Aquarid meteor shower, zhr of 40 meteors an hour.

13 May - Peak of Alpha Scorpiid meteor shower, zhr of 5 meteors an hour.  You will need to observe from midnight onwards to avoid the Moon (38% lit).

Miscellaneous

17 May - 02:00 BST - The globular cluster M13 in Hercules reaches its highest point.

18 May onwards - Start looking for noctilucent clouds.  They can usually be seen up to the beginning of August.  If you want to know more about them see page 51 of BBC's Sky at Night magazine.

19 May - The Moon will be absent, so a great time to look for deep sky objects, particularly those in Sagittarius.  Look in the area above the Teapot's spout to find the Lagoon and Trifid nebulas.

20 May - 01:00 BST - If you look towards the south-southeast, you will see the centre of the Milky Way.  All you need is a dark-sky site and a pair of binoculars.

Mars Image Credit: NASA

Announcement posted by : Website Team