MEETING NOTICE :

The October meeting of the BARNARD ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY will be held Thursday, October 11th at UTC University Center. This will be a joint meeting with the Chattanooga Section of The American Chemical Society. Social and a catered dinner will be at 6 P.M. in the Chickamauga Room. Meal cost is $12.50 per person. See inside for more details.

PROGRAM:

Dr. Harold McAlister from Georgia State University will address the joint meeting in the Raccoon Room at 7:30 P.M.

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The Barnard STAR is the official publication of the Barnard Astronomical Society.

Planned Activities to Enjoy
The Wonders of Astronomy—

“The joy of astronomy comes from finding your way around the starry sky and understanding what you see.” –The Editors, SKY AND TELESCOPE MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER REGULAR MEETING PROGRAM

In reviewing the book, Rare Earth; Why Intelligent Life is Uncommon in The Universe, by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, BAS member and former NASA engineer Kevin Richardson presented information to refute the frequently-heard idea that human beings must be very insignificant in the vastness of an enormous universe uncovered by 20th century cosmology. Even though it may be more than 14 billion light years to the edge of the known universe which may contain more than a billion galaxies, and even though we reside on a relatively tiny planet in orbit around an unremarkable star in a distant corner of the cosmos, the authors of Rare Earth present the hypothesis that there is nothing at all insignificant about life on earth.

Indeed, according to the information presented in this book it is very unlikely that complex life exists elsewhere in the universe, considering the very complicated series of circumstances which must be present--. everything from the right kind of galaxy to a dead zone in an outer arm relatively free from radiation to a delicate habitable zone in the solar system at just the right distance from our sun. The list goes on to include at least a dozen critical factors, such as a massive nearby comet and asteroid deflector (Jupiter), precise timing in the life span of the universe and galaxy and solar system, continental drift on earth to allow biodiversity, the unique earth-moon system, earth’s axial tilt, and many others.

One unexpected fact brought out was that our sun, a third generation star, is more massive than 98 % of stars.

The text evaluated the contrast between the carbon-based life here on earth with the possible extraterrestrial life based on other certain chemical elements such as nitrogen. At this point in the BAS program, there was a very interesting series of comments from the audience about the possibility that a new life form, based on silicon, is evolving right in front of us here on earth and we are failing to recognize it. What if, a thousand years in the future, the nth generation computers at that time display all of the traditional characteristics of life as defined by present day biological science: Irritability (response to external stimuli); Growth (can independently ingest raw materials and make themselves larger); Reproduction (can construct new computers without human intervention); and Metabolism (carry on extremely complex internal processes). Then, have these future creatures become living beings in the traditional sense or are they still merely machines? (One sure test would be whether, by that time, Silicon-based cyber-beings have taken over from the humans and are running civilization.)

BAS is grateful to Kevin Richardson for being such a gracious presenter, and particularly for allowing interruptions and comments from the audience. This always creates lively and stimulating discussion.

OCTOBER SPECIAL PROGRAM

On Thursday, October 11th, Dr. Harold McAlister from Georgia State University, will give a presentation to a joint meeting of BAS and the Chattanooga Section of The American Chemical Society (professional organization for Chemists and Chemical Engineers). Dr. McAlister is a prominent astrophysicist, CEO of The Mount Wilson Institute, and Director of CHARA. The meeting will be held at the UTC University Center.

Social and a catered dinner will be at 6 P.M. in the Chickamauga Room.
Meal cost is $12.50 per person. For reservations, please RSVP to Bill Seymour, 423-870-8552 or swafseymo@bellsouth.net not later than noon on Tuesday, October 9th.

The program will be held at 7:30 P.M. in the Raccoon Mountain Room.

LOOKING AHEAD

November Special Events:

BAS will conduct two consecutive nights of astronomy field training for college students at Chickamauga Battlefield.

Thursday, November 8th—for UT Chattanooga

Friday, November 9th—for Lee University from Cleveland, TN

Each evening will have only a two hour session.

If there is a weather cancellation, the Thursday BAS meeting will be held at the Astronomy Laboratory, Cordell-Lorenz Observatory, The University of the South at Sewanee, at 7:30 P.M. CST.

SPECIAL APPEAL TO BAS MEMBERS WHO BRING TELESCOPES TO STAR PARTIES

This is an unusual situation to have back-to back star parties, and your help is needed in supporting the training of these college students. Please come out two nights in a row, if possible, for these short viewing periods.

December Special Event

Christmas Party (Location and Date to be Announced)

(Note that there will not be a BAS Meeting at the Jones Observatory during
October, November, or December.)

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT RADIO ASTRONOMY

(This is the last in a series of items in the BARNARD STAR to introduce club members to the new Radio Astronomy Group being formed within BAS.)

More than 65% of our knowledge of the distant universe, including pulsars and black holes, has come through radio astronomy.

It is noteworthy that the first Nobel Prize awarded in a non-traditional astrophysics discipline was in radio astronomy (aperture synthesis interferometry and pulsar detection).

Radio astronomy offers unique possibilities for studying what is taking place, or in reality what occurred very long ago, at tremendous distances from earth—as far out as thousands of millions of light years from us. As an example of just one discovery by one observatory, consider this important finding:

At the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is a mysterious object, smaller than our solar system, but of enormous mass (2.5 million suns). This object, known as Sagittarius A, was discovered by the Green Bank, WV, Radio Telescope in 1974. The object, spanning an area of 200 light years, is believed to be a black hole several million times the mass of the sun. Stars and gas at the center of the galaxy orbit the black hole. The remainder of the galaxy is in orbit around the central mass. This area is obscured from optical seeing by huge clouds of dust, but it can be observed in radio wavelengths.

CONSTRUCTION REPORT

Work is proceeding at the rural Cleveland, TN home of BAS members Bill and Melinda Lord on the Radio Astronomy Observatory which will be available for use by BAS members. The building is approximately 75% complete, and needs interior finishing, electrical installation, and furniture. An eight foot dish antenna is already installed in the ground and another one is planned. A parallel N-S E-W dipole antenna array is being built. An impressive collection of equipment already on hand includes two advanced HP 3586C Radio Receivers, a Soltec Analog Strip Chart Recorder, a computer, and impressive sources of software. Equipment and supplies are being furnished primarily by the Lord’s for this new observatory adjacent to their very nice existing optical observatory building. Other items are being purchased by Bill Seymour and Dick Castle. There will be no cost to BAS.

The Lord Radio Observatory is part of the TAOSON Radio Astronomy Group, based at the Tamke-Allan Observatory (TAO) in Harriman, TN, and which includes eight separate radio observatory locations either already in operation or under construction around East Tennessee. TAOSON is under the supervision of Dr. David Fields, TAO Director, and the leading radio astronomer in this area.

Brookhaven National Laboratory.

A fireball created in a US particle accelerator has the characteristics of a black hole, a physicist has said.

It was generated at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in New York, US, which smashes beams of gold nuclei together at near light speeds. Horatiu Nastase says his calculations show that the core of the fireball has a striking similarity to a black hole.

His work has been published on the pre-print website arxiv.org and is reported in New Scientist magazine. When the gold nuclei smash into each other they are broken down into particles called quarks and gluons. These form a ball of plasma about 300 times hotter than the surface of the Sun. This fireball, which lasts just 10 million, billion, billionths of a second, can be detected because it absorbs jets of particles produced by the beam collisions.

But Nastase, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, says there is something unusual about it. Ten times as many jets were being absorbed by the fireball as were predicted by calculations.

The Brown researcher thinks the particles are disappearing into the fireball's core and reappearing as thermal radiation, just as matter is thought to fall into a black hole and come out as "Hawking" radiation. However, even if the ball of plasma is a black hole, it is not thought to pose a threat. At these energies and distances, gravity is not the dominant force in a black hole!

Astounding News Indeed,

Good Seeing

 

BAS WEB SITE
http://bas.chattanooga.net

Officers

President……………………………………….....….Tom Adkins
Vice-President………………………………..……Gary Caldwell
Secretary………………………………….....………Bill Seymour
Treasurer……………………………………...……….David Witt
STAR Editor……………………………….….…….Steve Ramey
Webmaster………………………………….………….Rod Ruch
Star Party Chairman……………..………......……...Victor Rogers

September Minutes

The September Meeting of The Barnard Astronomical Society was called to order at 7:30 P.M. There were sixteen members and two visitors present.

Treasurer’s Report

David Witt reported $811.15 in the checking account.

Old Business

Dr. Marlowe has been in touch with David Witt concerning a November 8th date for BAS field training of UTC astronomy students at Chickamauga Park.

Bill Seymour reported that Lee University, Cleveland, TN has requested field training from BAS for its astronomy students.

Tom Adkins will confirm whether Dr. Harold McAlister is coming to present the October program on the 11th or the 12th.

David Witt was authorized to order astronomy calendars for 2008 to sell to BAS members.

New Business

Dr. John Mannone discussed the Timothy Ferris special TV program about amateur astronomy, “Seeing in The Dark”, to be shown on PBS. Various proposals were discussed for watching it as a group as BAS member’s homes.

Communications have been made to Stanford University regarding the various programs available through their Solar Center (google Stanford Solar Center).

BAS needs to revitalize its Night Sky Network (NSN) program. As the new NSN kits are being delivered, it is requested that the present BAS NSN Coordinators (Victor Rogers, George Bell, Sam Delay, and John Mannone) log one event per month.

A BAS Committee on Outreach will be formed. Dr. John Mannone will be Chair.

An Outreach Section will be put on the BAS Web Site.

Respectfully submitted,
Bill Seymour, Secretary

REMINDER- Your annual BAS dues of are now due on the anniversary of your membership in accordance with the adopted amendment to the by-laws. The due date appears below your name on the address on the front of this newsletter. If your expiration date says “Overdue” or if you don’t agree with the date shown, contact David Witt to resolve discrepancies. The current dues rates are as follows: REGULAR $15.00, REGULAR ASSOCIATE $7.00, JUNIOR $8.00, JUNIOR ASSOCIATE $5.00. Your Sky & Telescope or Astronomy subscription will continue to be handled as in the past. When you receive your subscription reminder card, submit it to:

David Witt
4503 Cove Lane
Chattanooga, TN 37415-2306

Along with the group subscription rate of $32.95 for Sky and Telescope, or $34.00 for Astronomy. Note the increased rate for Astronomy. This was effective July 31, 2005

DEADLINE- All articles and other materials for publication in the next STAR are due no later than Wednesday, October 31st . The following media are acceptable: hard copy, disk (IBM), video tape (VHS), prints, or e-mail to bas@chattanooga.net or stramey@catt.com and attach a file or mail to:

Steve Ramey
109 Sioux Trail
Ringgold GA 30736

PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ALSO ACCEPTABLE.

DIRECTIONS TO ORION ACRES

FROM NORTH HAMILTON COUNTY:
From 27 (corridor J) take hwy. 111 to Dunlap, continue through the Sequatchie Valley up the next mountain (Cagle Mountain). When you reach the summit about 5 miles turn LEFT onto hwy. 399 (sign reads 'to Savage Gulf State Park' Stay on 399 until it ends, which will be in Grundy Co. Now make a LEFT onto hwy. 108 South. This goes thru Palmer TN. Continue on 108 up to a higher elevation. When this levels off, turn RIGHT onto Palmer Fire Tower Rd. This is a large open area with possibly trucks loaded with timber for the paper mills. Orion Acres will be on the RIGHT about 8 tenths mile.

FROM INTERSTATE 24 (to Nashville):
Go to the Dunlap/Whitwell exit (#155). This is hwy. 28. Exit right and keep on 28 for about 11 miles, passing Hardee’s on your left. Continue through the stoplight and take the next LEFT on Hwy. 108 North. Continue another 11 or so miles. You will see 'Grundy County' sign. Take the next left. This is Palmer Fire Tower Rd. Go 8 tenths of a mile and Orion Acres is on the RIGHT