SPRING 2021

VOLUME 44 NO.1

NEWSLETTER

Comet Neowise - 17 July 2020 - image by Vincent Peris To see this image in color, visit our website (MIRA.org)

MIRA NEWSLETTER 2

Contents Calendar 2 2020 Donors 2-3 The Sad End to a Great Idea 4-5 The Spring Sky 6-7

Calendar of Events

All of MIRA's public events have been canceled for the time being. We look forward

to seeing our Friends again soon .

MIRA gratefully acknowledges memberships and gifts for 2020 from individuals, families, corporations, and foundations.

2020 Supernova Circle ($5000 +) Dr. Arthur Babcock Harden Foundation Ken & Connie Hess Fund Dr. Gordon Jones Dennis & Susan Mar Ralph Knox Foundation Eugene Salamin Bruce & Sandra Weaver Warren Yogi 2020 Nova Circle ($2500-$4999) Ansley Spalding Hill Trust Barnet Segal Charitable Trust Pebble Beach Company Foundation Whitney & Clasina Shane Lawrence Shubert Russ & Nancy Walker Stellar Circle ($1000-$2499) Dr. Craig Chester Craig & Theresa Cholar Dr. James Eagle, II Gary & Karen Love Dr. & Mrs. Frank Melsheimer Franklin Smyth & J Patrick Waddell Patrons ($500-$999) Roy Dean Hardy Lisa Hoivik

Thomas Keleman Matulich-McCarthy Family Fund Ann Merville In memory of Albert Merville Konny Murray Frederick W. Terman Sustaining ($250-$499) Anonymous Dick Baumgartner & Liz Salzer Ralph Carmichael & Lorene Hall Bob & Laurie Cochran John & Pamela Craig Dale E. Ditsler Randall Enger & Evelyn Tate Marion Getz Jo Anne & Mark Holbrook Richard Hubbard James & Ellen Mc Intosh Charlie & Anne Oostdyk Dr. & Mrs. Edward Rockower Dr. Hazel Ross Richard Stedman Mark & Kimberly Willison Sponsors ($100-$249) Brian & Stephanie Ashurst Dean Bailey & Donna

Crane-Bailey Nancy Baker & Michael Smelser James M. Brown Carl Christensen & Jo Ann Novoson Alan & Wendy Crockett Vikram Duvvoori & Sumana Reddy Dennis Dyrud Jack & Marilyn Erickson Helen Ference Joe Lee Frank, III Laura & Russell Frank Christopher C. Fulton Marianne Gawain David & Teodora George Nicholas George Steve Glick Nina Gordon Richard Hamilton Christian Hansen Dr. Gary Holzhausen Don Hughes & Darcie Fohrman Sung Joong Kim David Lewis Fernando A. Luiz Patrick McNeillGary Mechler Swati Mehta

Sandra Neeland In memory of Jim Neeland Linda Newton Mark Norris Joy & Larry O'Rourke John Pauly Kara Pham Marcelo & Elizabeth Rizzo Alan Rosen Jean L. Rowell Allyn Saroyan Dr. Arthur Schoenstadt Gail Schultz Jim Shumaker Jay Spingarn Mark & Pat Trueblood Richard Weiss Jim Whitney Mary Woodyard Anna Wyckoff Fred Yeager John & Sandra Zasio Marsha McMahan Zelus Family ($50-$99) Michael Anderson Uday Apte Ralph Bohn Thomas BohnDavid Buckingham In honor of Dr, Arthur Babcock Gillian & Gary Byrd

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John Calkins Nancy Caplener Mike Clancy Sanford Cohen Nancy Collins & Pete Sole Samantha Corey Charles Craddock & Margaret Butterfield Lila Critchley Raymond Foster Jeff & Lynne Gose Debra Louise Gramespacher Glen Grossman Dr. Bernard Hilberman Stewart & Pil Yim Hobson Lee Hocker Jon & Donna Jennings Isabel Jones Robert Jones Sally Jones

Spencer Jones K and E Keene Ed & Joyce Lehmann Ian Martin Marlene Martin Jefferson McCollum Dr. & Mrs. Terry R. McNelley Dr. Robert Melton Harriet Mitteldorf John & Pam Mulshine George and Mimi Niesen David Osterhoudt Harrison & Margaret Robinson Colin & Hilary Ross Joanna Sorci Richard Spaulding Marlene Stamm David & Susan Wadleigh

Robert Bruce Glen Weaver In memory of William and Bette Weaver John & Bonnie Whisler Peter Willcox & Jo Hathcock Nancy Wilson Lynn Young Robert A. Young James Yuen Members (up to $49) Ava Adamski Kit Armstrong Amanda Baker Kamakshi Bhargava Brad Boghosian Dana W. Cleary Susan Clements Phyllis Cleveland Madeleine Delman Cohen

Joyce Elisha Ed & Wendy FinckeTaylor Renn Ford Howard Gustafson Chris Kuhlken & Barbara L. Wake Jean Lovell Anne McConnell Lee & Bonnie Mellinger Bruce Neben John Roemmelt Michael W. Schimpf Grace Sextro Ronald L. Sheffield Richard Siquig Dr. Robert Stencel Anthony Taormina Morgan C. Taylor Mark Tomalonis Marilyn Uribe Ekaterina Vakhnina

Q: How are the stars in the night sky similar to the Sun?

A: Roughly 14% of the stars visible are of the same temperature type (G) as the Sun, a dwarf G star. G giant & supergiant stars are quite rare. On a per volume basis, G-dwarf stars are much rarer because most stars are much fainter and cooler than the Sun but are too faint to be seen. Many of the stars you see at night are somewhat uncom-mon but are visible because they are brighter than the average star and thus can been from much farther away.

Q: Why do you have to wait so long to see a solar eclipse?

A: Actually, not so long. There are two to seven solar eclipses per year; typically about four. The problem is that only about 1/3 are total (you get to see the corona) and the area of the globe from which you can see totality is a very narrow strip. Eventually, as the Moon continues to recede from the Earth, we will not have total solar eclipses any more. .

Q & A

MIRA NEWSLETTER 4 The Sad End of a Great Idea

By Dr. Bruce Weaver As anyone who has visited the MIRA’s Bernard M. Oliver Observing Station knows, it is miles from the closest connection to California’s energy grid. As a result, we were planning “alternative energy” in the 1970s when it was a hippy dream source of free energy. With nearly 50 years of experience with such power sources – MIRA grew up with the alternative energy movement – we learned a lot of the lessons, some of which are still being learned by large-scale power systems. One system that we incorporated from the very beginning has recently come to a sad end: the Zomeworks passive solar tracker. In buildings, a zome is a generalized version of R. Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome design. Zomeworks first started with zome-based buildings and even childrens’ play structures. We learned about them, and visited them at their location in New Mexico, in the early 1970s and, in the 1980s, when they developed a passive solar tracker for photovoltaic panels, we adopted their trademarked ‘Track Rack’ as the OOS solution for our solar power.

The Track Rack uses the heat of the Sun to evaporate and condense a refrigerant in the structure holding the solar panels. As a result, the fluid shifts

its weight inside the structure in such a way as to cause it to track the Sun from sunrise to sunset. No motors are required! Zomeworks claims it adds 25% to the amount of electrical energy captured by the solar panels in a day. Our experience – we have both stationary and tracking solar panels – is that the gain is probably closer to 40 percent. The panels are mounted on an axis familiar to all amateur astronomers: a polar axis. Therefore, they only have to move in one axis to follow the Sun. The gain in efficiency comes from two advantages. First, the panels are always facing the Sun directly, never at a glancing angle, which dilutes the solar energy. Second, on the summer side of the equinoxes, the Sun rises north of east in the morning and sets north of west in the evening (in the northern hemisphere). So for part of the day, the Sun is shining on the back of stationary solar panels1, which does not generate any electricity.

As solar panels became a popular idea for the environmentally-conscientious, I was asked a few times for presentations on how best to implement them. Based on our decades of experience and understanding of the problem, I’ve always recommended this concept. I

1 Assuming the panels are correctly oriented towards the south. Even when not constrained by existing structures, an astounding number of panels you encounter are facing in other directions, even north!

In the summer time, the Sun rises and sets behind fixed solar panels if they are facing south (the best direction). Copernicus is standing with the solar panels.

The polar axis of the tracker. The shadow plates keep segments of the refrigerant-filled frame from warming in the sunlight.

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Why, in the northern hemisphere, is it winter time when the Earth is closest to the Sun? It is because the sunlight strikes the ground at larger angles than in the summer time. That angle is the latitude of the location plus the number of degrees the Sun is below the celestial equator. In Monterey, at mid-winter, that is about 36.5° (our lattitude) + 23.5° (tilt of the Earth’s pole) = 60°. That spreads the sunlight out by the cosine of 60°, which means that a solar panel is receiving only half what it would receive if the sunlight was square on to the panel.

A couple technical details, from an

astronomer’s point of view

If the panel is in a fixed position, then throughout the day, it will always receive less energy than it does at noon; worst, of course, in the early morning and late evening. Between the spring and fall equinoxes in the northern hemisphere, the Sun rises north of east in the morning and sets north of west in the evening; in Monterey, at the summer solstice, while tracking panels are pointed at the Sun all day, the Sun is fruitlessly illuminating the back of stationary panels a quarter of the day. In northern Scotland, for example, the Sun is illuminating the back of stationary panels about 1/3 of the day.

Our tracking racks, funded inpart by the Harden Foundation, have served for decades with modest mainte-nance requirements, surviving the vicissitudes of Chews Ridge: 100 mph winds, coatings of freezing rains, lightning, and temperatures below 20°F. This is an invention that would multiply the effectiveness of every ground-mounted solar panel array. Sadly, sometimes the best idea does not prevail. In a future issue: what we’ve learned about depending on alternative energy sources: wind and solar, and when you need the fossil fuels.

A Winter Wonderland surrounds the Oliver Observing station. Photo by FOM and volunteer research assistant Richard Hubbard

The tracking solar panels facing the setting Sun are a fitting backdrop to the crew finishing the electrical installation: Seaside High School physics class; a MIRA NPS thesis student; the MIRA Board Chairman; and a MIRA engineer, physicist, and astronomer.

even recommended it to the local school board when they were considering a large installation of solar panels. But to no avail. That completed array points approximately straight up so the Sun will never shine directly on the panels. Recently I contacted Zomeworks in regard to some replacement parts for our installation. Even though they had sold thousands of the units world-wide, the market was now dominated by standardized – and I would say unimaginative – vendors, and they no longer sell their passive trackers.

MIRA NEWSLETTER 6

The Spring Sky By Dr. Eric Suchanek

What a difference a year makes! As I reviewed last year’s spring newsletter in preparation for this one I was overwhelmed with all the feelings I had in the spring of 2020. We were under lockdown, hand sanitizer was nowhere to be found, the shelves were bare at the grocery store and the prospect for a viable vaccine very distant and uncertain. But now I have an entirely different sense of things. We now have not one but multiple vaccines, the daily cases are falling rapidly and states are starting to reopen. I truly believe that 2021 will see the end of this terrible scourge! Spring, the traditional season of rebirth has taken on a larger mean-ing for me this year.

So, with that, let’s move on to discuss some of the noteworthy events occurring in the spring sky (April-June) of 2021. There’s lots to cover, with supermoons, so let’s get started!

The Moon The Moon is an active player in the events of this quarter. The first of three ‘supermoon’ full moons of 2021 occurs on 27 April 03:30 UTC, when it’s at its closest distance to the Earth (perigee). At this point it will subtend a whopping 33’34.91”. For perspective, the apparent angular size of the Sun is 30”, or 0.5 degrees. The reason a total solar eclipse can occur at all is due to the fact that the moon subtends the same angular size as the Sun at that time. As a result, the full Moon will appear approximately 10% larger than its typical size. The second supermoon occurs on 24 June 2021.

Occultations

There are no visible occultations between the Moon and planets over the quarter.

Conjunctions A ‘conjunction’ occurs when two astronomical objects have either the same right ascension or the same ecliptic longitude. When objects are close to the ecliptic they can appear to be close together in the sky. Some of the visible conjunctions with separation

of less than 2 degrees for the quarter are shown below:

12 June 2021: Moon/Venus - less than one degree

The Planets1 Mercury: As the quarter opens, our solar system’s innermost planet is low in the eastern sky prior to sunrise. As the planet moves to the west it makes a nice evening appearance between 19 April 2021 and 10 June 2021. As the quarter progresses Mercury rises higher in the pre-dawn sky making its best morning appearance between

27 June 2021 to 16 July 2021. Venus: As the quarter opens Venus is just

barely visible in the western sky at sunset. As the quarter progresses the planet rises higher at dusk, making a beautiful evening object. The planet’s peak magnitude approaches -3.63 on 30 June and its apparent phase goes from 99.9% to 90%. Mars: The red planet rises is visible after sunset throughout the quarter. This quarter will not be a good one for observation since Mars’ angular size varies from 5.3 arcseconds to 4.9 arcseconds. On 23

1 I use the wonderful free program Stellarium (http://stellarium.org) for the ephemerides calculated in this article.

Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, will be visible after sunset this quarter. Photo by NASA.

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June 2021 Mars passes within 1 degree of M44, (the Beehive Cluster). Unfortunately the closest approach occurs during the daytime and will not be visible. Jupiter: As the quarter begins our largest planet rises in the early morning (~04:15PDT), and is visible prior to sunrise. By the end of June the planet becomes visible in the evening (~00:01PDT). At this point the planet will present a disk of about 43” in diameter. Quite a difference from the red planet! Saturn: The ringed planet parallels the motion of Jupiter over the quarter, rising in the early morning (04:15 PDT) on 1 April 2021 and then in the evening (22:23 PDT) by the end of the quarter. The overall size of the planet will be approximately 15 arcseconds to 16 arcseconds, with concomitant brighting from magnitude 0.75 to 0.37, a noticeable increase. Uranus: Uranus is not visible during the quarter. Neptune: As the quarter opens Neptune rises in the early morning prior to sunrise. By the end of the quarter our most distant gas giant rises after midnight, and will be visible until sunrise with an apparent magnitude of 7.94, and apparent size of 2.22”, or 5.63” with rings, (good luck seeing them though)! Pluto: On 1 April 2021 our ‘dwarf planet’ rises at 03:30 PDT, with apparent magnitude of 14.35. By end of quarter the planet will rise at 21:32 PDT.

Meteor Showers

Lyrids - Generally active from 16-30 April 2021, with an expected peak of up to 18 meteors per hour on 22-23 April 2021. Unfortunately the nearly-full Moon will greatly impact viewing this year. The radiant (Lyra) will be high in the sky prior to dawn. The Lyrids may be one of the oldest recorded meteor showers, having been described in Chinese texts over 2,500 years ago. Daytime Arietid meteor shower - 7 June 2021. This meteor shower is the strongest daytime meteor show of the year, lasting from May-July 2021. Unlike most meteor showers that are best viewed after midnight, the Arietids can be viewed just before sunrise. The radiant (Aries) rises about 45 minutes prior to the Sun. These meteors skim horizontally from radiants near the horizon, and can often be slow and bright. Well worth the effort!

Eta Aquariids - Active from 1-28 April 2021, with an expected peak of up to 50 meteors per hour on 7 May 2021. On this date the radiant rises at 02:41 PST, so dedicated observers should be able to catch a few of these meteors before sunrise. Sadly, the Moon rises at 04:29 PST so this will likely interfere with early morning observing.

Eclipses 26 May 2021: Total lunar eclipse. This type of eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth’s dark shadow or umbra. The Moon gradually darkens and frequently takes on a red hue. The eclipse will be entirely visible to western North America. The eclipse should start at 08:47:39 UT, and end at 13:49:41 UT 10 June 2021: Annular solar eclipse. This type of eclipse occurs when the Moon is too far away from the Earth to completely cover the Sun. As a result a ring of light or ‘annulus’ forms around the darkened Moon. This eclipse will be best viewed in Russia, Greenland and Canada. Portions of the USA (Northeast and Midwest) will be able to view a partial eclipse only. The eclipse will not be visible at all on the West coast.

Comets Comet 7P/PONS-WINNECKE: a comet long-known to astronomers is expected to reach a perigee of approximately 0.44 AU on 27 May 2021, rising to a magnitude of 8+. This will likely be the brightest comet visible during the quarter. Comet ATLAS (C/2020 R4): ATLAS should become visible in mid-March before dawn. The comet is expected to reach peak magnitude of 9 when the comet attains a perihelion of 0.46 a.u. A relatively small telescope should be able to capture this elusive wanderer.

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