In Support of UK Astronomy #2

Further to my earlier post, I've just received an electronic bulletin from the British Astronomical Association and, given that it's got lots of extra handy pointers, I'll reproduce it here (I'm hoping that it's okay to do so — given the nature of the issue I can't imagine that it would be a problem):

Dear BAA Member,

Astronomy is a subject close to my heart and to yours no doubt. You may therefore be alarmed to hear that its future here in the UK is under threat owing to recent announcements by the government. In particular, there have been dramatic developments within the Science and Technology Facilities Council or STFC: the research council that funds astronomy research in the UK. What seems to have happened is a fundamental shift in what the Council and the government see as research priorities, with severe cuts planned in research areas such as Astronomy and Particle Physics.

These cuts will lead to the closure of / withdrawal from a large number of major telescope facilities. In the area of ground-based astronomy, withdrawal from the Isaac Newton Telescope Group on La Palma, and from Gemini South are pretty much decided, but Gemini North, UKIRT, and the Liverpool Telescope in Hawaii are also under threat (we have already pulled out of the Anglo-Australian Telescope). This will be accompanied by cuts in research grants to universities which use these facilities. Likewise, Solar Physics and Space Astronomy will be hit. In short, astronomy research in the UK, currently amongst the best in the world, will really suffer.

All of this came with little warning, and with little consultation with the research community, and at a time when the government is concerned about the number of students taking up science topics in schools and at universities.

PLEASE HELP. A petition has been set up at:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Physics-Funding/

which states, "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reverse the decision to cut vital UK contributions to Particle Physics and Astronomy."

If you wish to offer your support, and have not done so already, you may add your name to this fast-growing petition by going to the above web address and following the directions on signing the petition.

In my view, this is the most serious threat to UK Astronomy in decades and so any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Richard Miles
Vice-President
------------------

N.B. Background information is available at various websites including:

* STFC's decision to withdraw from Gemini

* STFC's delivery plan 2008/9-2011/12 (see p.6 for the plans in Astronomy)

* A BBC article on the STFC funding crisis.

* RAS 'dismay' at deep cuts in UK Astronomy research.

* UK pulls out of key physics and astronomy projects (New Scientist).

* Physics and astronomy research face "catastrophic" cuts (Nature).

* Science council struggles with cuts (Guardian Education).

* Listen to Radio 4's Today program with James Naughtie broadcast on December 14.

* Times Higher Educational Supplement.

Close approach of asteroid

Seen over on the BBA website:

Asteroid 2006 VV2 passes close to the Earth at the end of March and the early part of April. At its closest, on March 31, it will be 0.0226 AU away (8.8 lunar distances). This will be the closest known approach by an object this intrinsically bright until May 2036, when binary asteroid (66391) 1999 KW4 (H=16.4) approaches within 6 lunar distances. Observers should be able to see it through modest telescopes as it reaches 10th magnitude on March 31st and April 1st.

That sounds worth keeping in mind and having a hunt for if I'm out and observing at the right sort of time.

BAA/CfDS/CPRE star count results

The BAA website now has the results of the December and January star count.

Nearly 2,000 people took part in the star count. Only 2% of people who responded to our online survey said they could see more than 30 stars, compared to 54% who saw fewer than 10 stars in Orion – a level which indicates severe light pollution.

Have a look at the article for a full breakdown of the results (there's also a map of the results too).

Also, don't forget the GLOBE count. I've not had the chance to have a go yet, but time and weather permitting I'm planning on it.

World-Wide Star Hunt

Back in December last year I reported on the BAA/CfDS/CPRE star count. Stuart picked up on this and, in the comments on Stuart's blog, Ian sort of got to thinking about an international effort to do something similar.

This morning I had an email from Robin Scagell, alerting me to Globe at Night. Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The international star-counting activity known as GLOBE at Night returns from March 8-21 in two flavors: the "classic" GLOBE at Night exercise that anyone can have fun doing with their unaided eyes, and a new effort to obtain precise measurements of urban dark skies using digital sky-brightness meters.

The GLOBE at Night 2007 program is intended to build upon the worldwide participation sparked by the first GLOBE at Night campaign in March 2006. This inaugural effort drew more than 18,000 citizen-scientist participants in all 50 U.S. states and 96 countries worldwide, who submitted nearly 4,600 observations of the darkness of their local night skies during the 10-day event. The program is designed to aid teaching about the impact of artificial lighting on local environments, and the ongoing loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource for much of the world's population.

It seems they're also using Orion as the patch of sky for doing comparisons and, helpfully, they have a set of magnitude charts to help in estimations (and don't you just love the fact that they've produced just such a chart from a cloudy night).

There's even a nifty little tool for testing your estimation ability.

This all sounds like just the sort of thing that Ian will like.

The British Astrological Association

It must be a week for this sort of thing. Not only do we have one UK paper running an article about how comet McNaught will affect your love life, I now see from an article on the SPA BB that a report in The Telegraph about the BAA/CfDS/CPRE star count talks about the British Astrological Association.

Is it really too much to ask of the popular press that they treat the subject anything close to correctly?

No, that's okay, I know the answer to that question.

Update: BAA/CfDS/CPRE Star Count

The BAA are reporting that 72 observations of Orion were received in response to the Christmas star count. That might seem rather low but it's not surprising given how awful the weather was for many people during the allotted time (I was pretty much under a constant blanket of fog so never got to do a count).

Thankfully there's going to be a second attempt:

There is another chance as the survey will re-run over the next new Moon period, from Jan 14 - Jan 21, between 9.00-11.00 pm which is just right for catching Orion 'high in the sky.'

BAA/CfDS/CPRE Star Count

I don't think I've seen this reported anywhere else: the BAA, CfDS and CPRE have organised a star count to run from December 20^th to the 24^th. The idea is, at some point between those two dates, you go out between 20:00 and 24:00 and count how many stars you can see in the "square" formed by the main part of the constellation Orion.

More details can be found on the BAA website.

Request for images of Cassiopeia taken in October

Via this post on the SPA BB:

The Astro community are calling for images of Cassiopeia taken this October. There was an unusual brightening of a star which might have been a very rare gravitational lensing event. There are plenty of observations after it brightened but only a few before. These would help confirm the shape of the brightness change curve which must be symmetric for a lensing event.

This is in reference to an earlier thread on the BB.

Also see this news item on the BAA's website.