STAR GAZING CLUB NEWSLETTER!

JANUARY 2012

STELLASPECTA 2012
From the Editors

worth the worry?

Gregorian year 2012 has set in. This sidereal year seems quite promising - atleast, for the astronomer inside us. As chance has it, 2012 will play host to many celestial events some so rare that they wont occur until the next century. Undoubtedly, Stellaspecta shall keep you updated about the events - both celestial and local. Coming up this week are the annual recruitments to the Astronomy and Astrophysics club of our college - Star Gazing Club. Details further on. Like before, the monthly issues tackle the most relevant and interesting topics for you, starting with 2012 - worth the worry? Read through to know more about the the end of the world, meteors and the year ahead. - Mihir Rajnikant Bhagat, Greeshma Ramakrishna

There has been a lot of interest lately in the theory that the world is going to end in the year 2012. TheHollywood movie that hit theaters in November 2009, has definitely made an impact and gotten people thinking! So, is this something that we need to be taking seriously? Is Earth in the danger of being annihilated? Is the government actually hiding the facts from us? In a single word: No. Before we move on to explain the no, lets understand this:

of time. The Mayan calendar was never meant to be a predictor of the future any more than the calendar in our rooms is meant to. The ending date of the Mayan calendar is not meant to represent the end of time, but rather the end of their calendar cycle. Just as our calendar begins again on January 1, their calendar will begin a new cycle on December 22, 2012. Their calendar cycle is just much longer than our 365 day cycle. Heres a list of all the theories which have been put forward as claims for the end of the world in 2012; followed by a brief description of why we think we wont die.

the virtual destruction of Earth and mankind. According to the theory, the planet Nibiru orbits our Sun once ever y 3600 years, making it difficult to observe. A rash of conspiracy theories have evolved to claim that one of the unidentied objects observed was Nibiru and that the government is tracking it. Howe ver, subsequent studies carried out by other telescopes around the world quickly identied these objects, and none of them were planets at all. But could the government be lying to us about t h e i r r e s u l t s ? No t a c h a n c e , considering they would need to conspire with tens of thousands of astronomers, both professional and amateur, around the globe to keep the secret.

WHY 2012?
The ancient Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012. Many have taken this to mean that the Mayans believed that this date would bring the end of existence. However, this is not so. Like modern calendars, the Mayan calendar is a way of keeping track

Niburu Theory
The threat most often quoted, is a collision with a planet (or possibly a brown dwarf) known as Nibiru in 2012. The result would be

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STAR GAZING CLUB NEWSLETTER!

JANUARY 2012

It actually happens every December with no consequences.

Alignments Theory
Some theories contend that a coming planetary alignment in 2012 will start a chain reaction that will cause strange weather and events on the Earth. Two problems with this theory: 1. There is not going to be a planetary alignment in the next several decades - never mind 2012. 2. No scientic reason to believe alignment causes trouble. There is also some worry about an alignment between the Sun and the center of our Galaxy. It is possible for the Earth, Sun and Galactic Center to be temporarily aligned (where the Sun would be blocking our view of the Galactic Center). The Sun is 30,000 light years away from the center of the galaxy hardly a reason to believe an alignment will disrupt anything from that far. Some believe that the solar system will be transported to the violent centre of the galaxy, because of the alignment! Note this: The Galactic alignment actually happenseveryDecember with no consequence.

Solar Magnetic Shift

Roughly every 11 years the magnetic poles of the Sun ip. This is called as the solar maximum which brings the greatest appearance of Sun spots, solar ares, prominences and other solar activity. Some believe that, 2012, a year of solar maximum, will bring the largest "solar storm" in history, and will knock out our tele-

Earths Polar Shift

Similar to the Suns pole shifts, Earth has one too - but on a longer time scale; roughly 400,000 years! In spite of being longer than that, since the Earths last ip there is no evidence that one is coming in the next severalthousandyears, much less by 2012. Even if a shift did occur, it certainly would not cause the Earth to start spinning in the opposite direction or ip the whole Earth upside down -- which are both outcomes believed by some conspiracy theorists.

2012

worth the worry?

Asteroid Collision
This is a fear popularized by several disaster movies in the last couple decades. In truth, meteorites fall to Earth everyday, they are just too small to do any damage. The good news is that an object large enough to do any real damage would be easy to see. The likelihood that one of these objects would sneak up on us is slim to none. We would likely know it was coming years before it actually arrived, so we would have time to hopefully prevent the collision.

communication systems, cause blackouts and other problems on Earth. It is true that communications and power could be disrupted, but certainly not like the doomsday events portrayed in ction. Also, there is no reason to believe that such a storm will happen during the next solar maximum or any other time in the future because the only record of an event, even close to causing disruption of passable scale occurred in 1859.

FAILED PREDICTIONS
Year 2800 BC to 1850 AD Commentary Over 85 major predictions made by religious heads, philosophers, mystics, mathematicians, etc. John Napier (invented logarithms) Boticelli (Italian Artist) Stie (Mathematician) Columbus (Navigator) Joseph Mede (Cambridge Scholar) Alfred Wegener (Meteorologist) All predictions failed. 30 major predictions; Hundreds more of corrected predictions similar group of people. Similar result: Fail.

1850-2000 Failed predictions of cosmic disaster go back far beyond our time. This is an 1857 cartoon of a comet tearing our planet apart.

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STAR GAZING CLUB NEWSLETTER!

JANUARY 2012

METEOR SHOWERS
A meteor is an intense streak of light across the night sky caused by small bits of interplanetary rocks and debris, called meteoroid, falling and burning high in the Earths upper atmosphere. Traveling at thousands of kilometers per hour, meteoroids quickly ignite in searing friction of the atmosphere. Almost all are destroyed - melted, vaporized or exploded - in the process; the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites. It is estimated that nearly 15,000 metric tons of debris fall into the earths atmosphere everyday. Thus, millions of meteors occur daily and all of them disintegrate. Meteors typically occur in mesosphere at an altitude of 75 - 100 km and disintegrate at an altitude of 40 - 60 km. Many meteors appearing seconds or minutes apart are called as a meteor shower. They may seem to originate, and radiate away, from the same point in the sky, the radiant, and follow parallel trajectories. At peak, showers can produce around 100 meteors per hour. It is called as the Zenith Hourly Rate (ZHR). Intense or unusual meteor showers are known as meteor outbursts and meteor storms, which may produce greater than 1,000 meteors an hour: the 2002 Leonid meteor shower had a ZHR of over 3000. Most of the times, the meteor showers are due to the comets. Thus, making them largely regular and highly predictable. Comets shed the debris that feeds the meteor showers. As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet's orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we see a meteor shower. Depending on where the Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from that particular place in the sky, within the neighborhood of a constellation. Meteor showers are named by the constellation from which meteors appear to fall. For instance, the radiant for the Leonid meteor shower is located in the constellation Leo.

This is a composite of Perseids and other meteors seen on Aug 12-13. The concentric circles are star trails.

DO-IT-YOURSELF:
How do I look for meteor showers?
If you live near a brightly lit city, drive away from the glow of city lights and toward the constellation from which the meteors will appear to radiate. After you've escaped the city glow, nd a dark, secluded spot where oncoming car headlights will not periodically ruin your sensitive night vision. Look for parks or other safe, dark sites. Once you have settled at your observing spot, lie back or position yourself so the horizon appears at the edge of your peripheral vision, with the stars and sky lling your eld of view. Meteors will instantly grab your attention as they streak by.

METEOR SHOWER CALENDAR

Name
Quadrantids Lyrids Eta Aquarids Perseids Orionids Leonids Geminids

Date of Peak
January 3 April 21 May 5 August 13 October 21 November 17 December 13

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STAR GAZING CLUB NEWSLETTER!

JANUARY 2012

9 MUST-SEE CELESTIAL EVENTS IN 2012

When Feb 20 Mar13 Mar 3 What Evening apparition of Mercury Mars at opposition followed Venus and Jupiter double planet Largest moon of 2012 Annular eclipse of the Sun Partial transit of Venus across the Sun Perseids Meteor Shower Total Eclipse of Sun Jupiter and Moon ornamental So? Elusive innermost planet Mercury visible at the western horizon in the evenings; anked by Jupiter and Venus. Earth passing by Mars; only at 110 million km; amongst the brightest objects in sky Venus and Jupiter team up to form double treat. Observed distance between them will be less than 3 degrees. Expect dinner plans, strong tides and werewolfs. Watch a ery ring of sunlight shining around the moon dark silhouette Amongst the rarest of events. Only 6 transits have been observed by humans. Next one coming up in 2114. The most followed meteor show of the year; with a ZHR > 90 and longer life of meteors. Make bigger wishes - the academic year begins. Total Solar Eclipse after a period of 14 months. Find an extraordinarily bright Jupiter, just above the waxing gibbous Moon on christmas.

STAR GAZING CLUB Events Schedule

1. Workshop - HOW TO STAR GAZE; 16th Jan, 5.30 pm, MB. 2. STARRY NIGHTS; 17th Jan, 7.30 pm, MB Terrace. 3. SGC RECRUITMENTS: Pre-talk and written test, 18 Jan, 5.30, MSH.

Mar 13

May 5 May 20 June 4

THE LIGHTER SIDE:

Aug12

Nov 13 Dec 25

Alumni presenting the binoculars to the Club President. Star Gazing Club received a pleasant surprise early this year when the SGC Alumni gifted the club 3 pairs of Celestron Binoculars (15 x 70 mm). The binoculars have been well received and appreciated. On behalf of the entire Club, we thank our Alumni for their generosity and constant support. Their involvement is the single biggest catalyst for the growth of the club. Looks like our starry nights just got brighter!

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