Stellar nurseries are places in a galaxy where star formation is taking place. Very much like all living beings, stars are born and die. Huge clouds of gaseous hydrogen, embedded with dust particles, are the source for star formation. Some of these clouds span several light years. Over a long period of time, gravity does its magic compressing the gas cloud to lead to a stellar nursery.
Star formation leads to planet formation. And a new solar system is born. The number of planets and their proximity to the parent star, depends on a lot of factors. Some of the combinations lead to a goldilocks zone like ours where a planet developed life. Thousands of exoplanets are being discovered around other stars. Given billions of galaxies with billions of stars in each, it is statistically likely that life exists elsewhere in our Universe. The form and level of life may be different. It may or may not be carbon based life like ours is. May not be intelligent or may be a super intelligent life form. The timing could be different as well. Some of them could have had their peak and may be extinct, some may be in peak, and some may be yet to come. Shown below is the picture of a stellar nursery as captured by James Webb telescope, courtesy NASA. There are about 50 new stars lighting up in the picture.
The gas clouds start off as a huge collection of atomic hydrogen. Atomic hydrogen is the simplest element in the Universe with one proton in the nucleus and one electron orbiting. Such clouds do smash into each other and form a cloud of molecular hydrogen. A molecule of hydrogen consists of 2 hydrogen atoms. As gravity acts on such a cloud, a structure emerges which has long filaments connecting some dense cores. In a cloud, some areas become dense statistically which form the cores. While the lighter parts become the filaments. The dense cores become the sites of star formation. The cores get compressed by gravity further and further before they light up the nuclear furnace and start giving out radiation including light.
What sets the rate at which stars are born in a galaxy ? Obviously the raw material is a huge amount of gasses which need to come together. Earlier galaxies had primordial hydrogen. Later ones got gasses from explosive deaths of stars. When the gas gets depleted in a galaxy, the star formation comes to an end. And the galaxy begins to die as the death of stars is more than births. Like the population of the countries decrease when the births reduce in relation to deaths. Yes, galaxies are born and galaxies die, like stars. We know our Universe was born, it will probably die some time in the distant future.
Our galaxy, the Milky Way, produces stars at a leisurely pace of about three solar masses’ worth of stars every year. But so-called starburst galaxies that flourished in the early universe had high star-formation rates that are tens or hundreds or thousand times that of ours.
The dynamics inside such huge gas clouds depends on gravity, turbulence, radiation and magnetic fields. Observing such a gas cloud is not easy. Any visible light gets absorbed by the dust in the cloud and all we see is a dark patch. But radio waves and infrared waves pass through. The radio telescopes and infrared telescopes are our best bet to observe such gas clouds. Like the James Webb telescope which operates in the infrared region.
Based on the observations made, mathematical models are built on how the gas clouds behave and progress. Gravity is the weakest of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic force along with the nuclear forces of strong and weak interactions are the other ones). Yet this weak force is what sculpts the structures of our Universe.
A recent article in Scientific American spoke about how the results from the mathematical models, like the shape, is used to 3D print an object which can be held in one’s hand ! A stellar nursery being held in a hand!
The astroimaging section of this month’s Sidereal Times displays several images from the AAAP membership. The solar eclipse of April 8th may reveal Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, nick named the Devil Comet, shown as the first image in this edition’s collection near Jupiter. Other images taken in New Jersey skies show the finest images are possible in light polluted skies with the skill and talent of the AAAP membership.
Image descriptions are edited or authored by Michael DiMario for clarity and composition. Image capture data provided by imager.
Dan Mints — Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
Image by Daniel Mints
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks was imaged on March 11, 2024. Image was captured with a ZWO ASI 533MC Pro camera and a Samyang 135MM Telephoto Lens. Comet image frame stacking with PixInsight.
Comet 12P/Pon-Brooks, or called the Devil or Millennium Falcon comet, is a periodiccomet with an orbital period of 71.2 years. Comets with an orbital period of less than 200 years are referred to as Halley-type comets. It is one of the brightest known periodic comets, reaching an absolute visual magnitude of about 5 in its approach to perihelion. Comet Pons-Brooks was discovered at Marseilles Observatory in July 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons, and on its next appearance in 1883 by William Robert Brooks thus giving its name. This comet is nick named the Devil or Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) comet due to an outburst that caused the coma to distort into a horseshoe or horned shape, with a dark center and bright wings due to an uneven spewing of gas and dust.
Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks has been identified as a comet observed in 1385 and in 1457. The 1385 was recorded by the Chinese and was also mentioned in some European sources. A comet observed by Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, an Italian astronomer and mathematician, in January 1457 and mentioned in Chinese sources is also identified as comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. In both apparitions the comet had magnitude 3 or brighter. It is possible that it was also a comet recorded in Chinese sources in September 245 CE.
It might be visible during the total solar eclipse — The next perihelion passage is 21 April 2024, with closest approach to Earth being 1.55 AU on 2 June 2024. The comet is expected to brighten to about apparent magnitude 4.5. The comet nucleus is estimated to be around 30 km in diameter. That’s just two weeks after the April 8th total solar eclipse and Comet Pons-Brooks will be in the sky near the Sun during totality. It may be bright enough to pick up with binoculars, or naked eye should the comet outburst. Do look for it near Jupiter.
Daniel Mints — Jellyfish Nebula IC443
Image taken by Daniel Mints
Jellyfish Nebula image captured using an Askar V 384mm at f/4.8 with a ZWO 533MC Pro camera and Antlia Triband LP Filter. Image processing of 120 x 5 min subs stacked in PixInsight – 2x Drizzle for extra detail on the nebula. Processed with BlurXTerminator 2.0 and NoiseXTerminator. Post processed in Lightroom for color and contrast adjustment.
The Jellyfish nebula is a supernova remnant, 70 ly in diameter, of about 35,000 years ago located approximately 5,000 ly from Earth in the Gemini constellation. The supernova event produced the nebula and a neutron star. The presence of the neutron star and the nebula’s location in a star forming region indicate that the remnant was created by a Type II supernova, one triggered by a rapid collapse of a star with a mass at least 8 times that of the Sun. The neutron star is moving away from the Jellyfish Nebula at about 800,000 km/h.
Robert Vanderbei — M35 (upper left) and NGC 2158 (lower right)
Image by Robert Vanderbei
M35 and NGC 2158 image captured using a 10” Ritchey-Chretien reflector, a ZWO ASI2400MC-Pro camera. Integration of 4 5-minute live stacks of 30-sec exposures.
Exposures: Four 5-minute live stacks of 30-second exposures. Processed using SharpCap.
M35, located in the constellation Gemini, is about 2,970 ly away and consists of about 500 stars. NGC2158 is about 9,000 ly away. It is a middle-age open cluster. The stars are very metal poor.
Joe Matthews — IC 2162
Image by Joseph Matthews
IC 2162 was imaged using a William Optics Fluorostar 91/FLT91, ZWO ASI2600MC camera, and Optolong L-eNhance filter. Image integration of 34 frames at 300-sec per frame for an integration of 2-hr 50-min.
IC 2162 is a compact diffused nebula lying about the tip of Orion’s cudgel. The IC 2162 is positioned at about 2.5 degrees south of the “Monkey Head Nebula” belongs to Orion. IC 2162 has a smaller size of 15 arc minutes than that of the Monkey Head nebula. The nebula has fewer characteristics in its shape and has no familiar nicknames like “Monkey Head Nebula”, but some call it the Mushroom Nebula.
Joseph Matthews – NGC 2245/IC 447/IC 2169 Dreyer’s Nebula
Image by Joseph Matthews
NGC 2245/IC 447/IC 2169 was imaged using a William Optics Fluorostar 91/FLT91, ZWO ASI2600MC camera, and Optolong L-Pro filter. Image integration of 34 frames at 300-sec per frame for an integration of 2-hr 50-min.
NGC 2245/IC447/ IC 2169 is a bright blue reflection nebula in the constellation of Monoceros about 2 deg west of the Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster. This complex belongs to a large molecular cloud, the Monoceros R1 (Mon R1) Complex with a mean distance from Earth around 716 pc. It is an active star forming region and hosts many young stars and Herbig-Haro objects, bright patches of nebulosity associated with new born stars. The astronomer Edward E. Barnard exposed photographic plates of this region on 11 October 1888 using a 12-inch refractor and again on 21st and 24 January 1894 using the 6-inch Willard lens. He reported the discovery to John Dreyer, the compiler of the NGC and IC catalogues who listed IC 447 as Dreyer’s Nebula.
Joseph Matthews – M53 (center) and NGC 5053 (upper right)
Image by Joseph Matthews
M53 and NGC 5053 was imaged using a William Optics Fluorostar 91/FLT91, ZWO ASI2600MC camera, and Optolong L-Pro filter. Image integration of 53 frames at 120-sec per frame for an integration of 1-hr 46-min.
M53 is a globular star cluster located in the northern constellation Coma Berenices. The cluster has an apparent magnitude of 8.33 and lies at an approximate distance of 58,000 ly from Earth. It has the designation NGC 5024 in the New General Catalogue. The best time of year to observe M53 is in the months of March, April and May. M53 lies about 60,000 light years from the galactic center and, being roughly at the same distance from the solar system, it is one of the more distant globulars. M53 lies in the vicinity of another globular cluster, NGC 5053. NGC 5053 is considerably fainter, looser and less populated, and can be seen in the same field of view as M53 as it lies only a degree to the east. There is reported to be a tidal bridge linking M53 and NGC 5053. The fainter cluster, which is in fact slightly closer to us than M53, contains only about 3,500 stars and only appears as a patch of light in 8-inch telescopes. M53 was discovered by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode on February 3, 1775.
Purnendu Gupta – Solar Sunspot AR3590
Image by Purnendu Gupta
Sunspot AR3590 photographed on Feb 24, 2024 from my front yard. At the time this was the biggest sunspot of the current solar cycle and wide enough to fit several Earths. The current solar cycle (#25) is the latest of the 11-year solar activity period which started in Dec 2019 and is expected to continue to 2030. A few days prior to this, on Feb 21-22 this active region had produced the three instances of the largest category of solar flares, X flares, within a 24-hour period. One of those was a X6.4, the largest solar flare in the current solar cycle.
The image is created out of a 25% stack of a 1 min video at 24 fps (ISO 100, 1/100 shutter) using a Canon 70d DSLR in video mode and a Celestron with a solar filter. Telescope used was a 430 mm f/6 refractor on a tracked alt-az mount. Image processed in PIPP, AutoStakkert!, Registax, and GIMP.
Eclipses Injured Their Eyes, and the World Never Looked the SameA young woman visited New York Eye & Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai Hospital shortly after the eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017. She told Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist, that she had a black area in her vision, and then drew a crescent shape for him on a piece of paper…more
-NYT
A Rock Fell From Space Into Sweden. Who Owns It on Earth? The iron rock’s journey from the depths of space ended with a thud in a dense pine forest, about an hour north of Stockholm, around 10 on a November night four years ago. Unusually, its trajectory was caught on several cameras in the region used to track meteoroids…more
-Guardian
Controversial new theory of gravity rules out need for dark matter Dark matter is supposed to account for 85% of the mass in the universe, according to conventional scientific wisdom. But proponents of a radical new theory of gravity, in which space-time is “wobbly”, say their approach could render the elusive substance obsolete…more
-NYT
This 1,000-Year-Old Smartphone Just Dialed In Resembling large, old-fashioned vest pocket watches, astrolabes allowed users to determine time, distances, heights, latitudes and even (with a horoscope) the future. Recently, an astrolabe dating to the 11th century turned up at the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo in Verona, Italy…more
-NYT
Cosmic Forecast: Blurry With a Chance of Orbital Chaos Researchers discovered that a sunlike star named HD 7977, found 247 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, could have passed close enough to the sun about 2.8 million years ago to alter the orbits of the Earth and other planets…more
-NYT
Surprise: An ‘Extraterrestrial’ Gadget Was Something More Familiar In January of 2014, a meteor fell from space off the coast of Papua New Guinea. That might have been the end of it, but several years later Avi Loeb, a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard, drew on seismic data from near the site, looked for crash remains on the ocean floor and proposed that the remains…more
-NYT
Good News and Bad News for Astronomers’ Biggest Dream The United States should commit $1.6 billion to building an “extremely large telescope” that would vault American astronomy into a new era, according to the National Science Board, which advises the National Science Foundation. In a statement on Feb. 27, the board gave the foundation until May to decide how to choose between two…more
-NYT
Life After Asteroid Bennu Last fall, a NASA spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx dropped a capsule containing more than 120 grams of space dust into the Utah desert. That material came from Bennu, an asteroid that, a billion years ago, broke off from a bigger world that may have hosted liquid water. Studying this material will clarify the role that asteroids might have played in bringing life’s ingredients to Earth…more
-NASA
Unveiling the Sun: NASA’s Open Data Approach to Solar Eclipse Research As the world eagerly anticipates the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, NASA is preparing for an extraordinary opportunity for scientific discovery, open collaboration, and public engagement. At the heart of the agency’s approach to this unusual event lies a commitment to open science, ensuring that the data…more
-NASA
Meet the Two Women Leading Space Station Science The International Space Station provides researchers access to the unique features of low Earth orbit: long-duration microgravity, exposure to space, and a one-of-a-kind perspective of our planet. These special attributes enable scientists to conduct innovative experiments that can’t be done anywhere else…more
by Rex Parker, PhD director@princetonastronomers.org
Astronomy in March! Despite evidence to the contrary, climate change hasn’t fully eliminated winter weather in central NJ. The three significant snowstorms we had this year improved over last year’s zero-snow winter. Last month’s AAAP meeting, intended to be in person at Peyton Hall, went to virtual-only at the last minute because Princeton University closed the campus for the big winter storm which swept through that afternoon, though it was a wind/rain event only.
Now that March is upon us it’s time to begin thinking about doing astronomy in the warmer evenings of springtime. In the northern hemisphere spring affords the best chances to observe galaxies in small telescopes (some call it galaxy season). It is possible to observe all or nearly all the Messier objects in a single night from mid-March to early April. The best dates for a Messier Marathon (attempting to observe all 110 objects in one night) are around the new moon (Mar 10), but you could run a Messier 10K any clear night the first half of the month before lunar 1st quarter Mar 17. The constellation Leo holds many Messiers, and is especially well-positioned early in the evening this month. See the current (April) issue of Sky & Telescope article “Exploring the Lion’s Den” for an in-depth look at what can be observed or imaged with small telescopes and cameras in this constellation. On Feb 8, I took the astrophoto below of the famous “Leo Trio” of galaxies. These are visible in an eyepiece of amateur telescopes of about 4-5” or greater aperture so long as a bright moon is not in the sky.
3 Spring Beauties in Leo: The Leo Trio of Galaxies. (left to right) NGC 3628, M65, M66 and NGC 3828. Astrophoto by RA Parker from central NJ using a 12.5” f/6.7 reflector on Paramount MX and ASI2400MC camera.
March 12 Meeting. We’ll convene at Peyton Hall on the Princeton campus for our monthly get-together on Tues March 12 (7:30pm). If you just can’t make it physically, we’ll run a hybrid meeting with Zoom link sent by e-mail to members (also on the website). Remember that the University wants us to park (free) in the garage at 148 FitzRandolph Rd, off of Faculty Rd. That means a 10-15 minute walk around the football stadium to Peyton once you park your car. Our guest speaker will be E.B. Hoffman, PhD candidate at Univ of Maryland and researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. For more information on the presentation and the walking route map to Peyton Hall, see Victor’s article below
Our tradition each month is for a member to give an Un-journal Club, a brief informal and fun presentation to begin the second half of the meeting. “Un-journal” means this is not grad school, you don’t need scholarly journal-like topics, just what you care about in astronomy. PowerPoint slides, JPEG’s, astro-images, travel pictures, book reviews, your imagination is the limit (bring a USB memory stick). To get onto the schedule for an upcoming meeting, please contact me or program chair Victor Davis
Telescopes for Member Use at the AAAP Observatory in Washington Crossing State Park. Contact observatory chair Dave Skitt to learn more about using the club equipment.Here’s a list of current equipment inside the Observatory.
Paramount-ME #1, robotic equatorial mount
Mount run with TheSkyX planetarium and control software under Win10 computer.
Numerous 2-inch and 1-1/4-inch eyepieces for these telescopes.
Starlight Xpress Ultrastar Colour CCD camera.
Starlight Live and SharpCap software cameras.
Verizon FiOS is available inside the Observatory.
24”-32” monitors for viewing the telescope images
Paramount-ME #2, robotic equatorial mount
Mount run with TheSkyX planetarium and control software under Win10 computer.
Hastings-Byrne 61/4-inch refractor, f/14.6, FL=2310mm. This fine historic instrument is a great planetary telescope, dating to 1879 with the original air-spaced doublet lens and steel tube intact.
Takahashi Mewlon-250, D=250mm (10-inch) Dall-Kirkham reflector telescope, with -inch TMB Optical dielectric-diagonal and Feathertouch 2-inch Crayford focuser.
2-inch and 1-1/4-inch eyepieces, incl Panoptic 27 mm and 41 mm for the Mewlon-250.
ZWO ASI 294 Pro color CMOS camera
ZWO ASI Studio, Starlight Live, and SharpCap software set up for EAA cameras
March at Peyton Hall The March, 2024 meeting of the AAAP will take place (we dare to hope) in Peyton Hall on the campus of Princeton University on Tuesday, March 12th at 7:30 PM. As usual, the meeting is open to AAAP members and the public. Participants can join the meeting in-person at Peyton Hall or log in to the Zoom session as early as 7:00 pm to chat informally before the meeting begins. This evening’s guest speaker is Erika Bernadette Hoffman, a 3rd-year Astronomy PhD student at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a graduate researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Her talk will be “Supermassive Black Hole Winds: An X-ray Perspective.”
Options for Attending the Meeting You may choose to attend the meeting in person or participate via Zoom or YouTube as we’ve been doing for the past few years. (See How to Participate below for details). Due to security concerns, if you log in before the host has set up internet connectivity in Peyton Hall, you may need to wait in the Waiting Room for a few minutes until the host is prepared to admit you into the meeting. You’ll need to unmute yourself to make comments or ask questions. It’s polite, though not required, for you to enable your camera so other participants can see you. A week or so after the meeting, the video of the lecture and Q&A will be posted on AAAP’s public YouTube channel.
Meet the Speaker Dinner The club will host a “Meet the Speaker” dinner at Winberie’s Bar and Restaurant, 1 Palmer Square, Princeton, NJ, just across the street from the campus of Princeton University. The reservation is prior to the meeting on March 12th at 5:45 pm. Please contact the Program Chair if you plan to attend.
Here’s the anticipated agenda for March, 2024’s monthly meeting of the AAAP:
(Times are approximate)
Getting to Peyton Hall The parking lots across the street (Ivy Lane) from Peyton Hall are now construction sites, unavailable for parking. We’ve been advised by the administration of the astrophysics department that we should park in the new enclosed parking garage off Fitzrandolph street and walk around the stadium and athletic fields. Here’s a map of the campus and walking routes from the parking garage to Peyton Hall. The map shows the recently completed East Garage. Not shown is an access road Sweet Gum that connects from Faculty Road to an entrance at the lower left corner of the garage. Stadium Road connects from Fitzrandolph Road to another entrance at the opposite corner (and higher level) of the garage. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk from the parking garage to Peyton Hall.
Featured Speaker:
Erika Bernadette Hoffman Graduate Student University of Maryland, College Park
ebhoff@umd.edu
“Supermassive Black Hole Winds: An X-ray Perspective”
Supermassive black holes (SMBH) at the centers of galaxies play a pivotal role in the evolution of the galaxy they reside in, but the physics to explain how this occurs remains poorly understood. As nearby matter is attracted to a black hole, it forms a hot, dense disk in which some particles can eventually shed enough energy via friction to fall into the black hole, a process known as accretion. Intensely accreting supermassive black holes, also called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), are the most luminous, persistent astronomical sources in the sky, so bright they can outshine all the stars in their galaxy. Their outflowing radiation coupled with disk matter being ejected away as jets and winds yields a surprisingly difficult environment for SMBHs to gain mass and have drastic effects on their surrounding galaxies. In this talk, I will discuss how specifically high-energy disk winds launched from close to the black hole, detectable via their interactions with X-rays, have a strong potential to explain SMBH-galaxy relationships. Although these regions are too small and distant to resolve in images, we can determine key wind properties by analyzing high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations. Obtaining measurements from this data can be challenging since it requires complex physical and statistical calculations. However, recent improvements in models, methods, computing power, and the new data from the recently launched X-ray Imagining and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), can give us completely new, key insights into the underlying physics and overall impact of SMBH winds on galaxies.
Erika Bernadette Hoffman Erika attended community college in her home state of California at Irvine Valley College and then went on to receive a B.S. in Astrophysics at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her M.S. in Astronomy at UMD. Before becoming an astrophysics researcher who can do her work entirely from her laptop, she used to stargaze in the Mojave Desert and has even spent time observing from the historic Mount Wilson Observatory, where Edwin Hubble worked.
While at UCLA, Erika did astronomical instrumentation research for the Near-Infrared Spectrometer on the Hawaii Keck Telescopes, which resulted in a publication in the proceedings of the International Society for Photonics and Optics (SPIE). In graduate school, she now uses X-ray data to study one of her greatest passions, supermassive black holes and their relationships with their host galaxies.
Her other great passion is advocating for equity, diversity, inclusion, (EDI) accessibility, and social justice, especially in science education and academia. She is currently a member of the UMD Astronomy EDI committee. As a science communicator online, particularly TikTok, Erika discusses physics and astronomy concepts, as well as the social contexts in which people learn and research physics. Erika emphasizes that just as scientists must characterize and address the biases and limitations of their instruments, we must also do the same with our own institutions and minds.
Since this meeting will take place the day after the Total Solar Eclipse of 08 April 2024, and many members will be out of town or returning from their trips, I’m suggesting that we host an online roundup of eclipse observations, with members (and perhaps others) Zooming in to share their experiences.
May 14 2024
Dr. Tea Temim Research Astronomer, Princeton University Department of Astrophysics
Dr. Temim will describe her research using JWST imagery to study supernova remnants. Suggested by Gene Allen. temim@astro.princeton.edu
June 11 2024
NJ State Museum planetarium’s Bill Murray, and Jacob Hamer, Assistant Curator
AAAP’s traditional annual pilgrimage to the NJ State Museum planetarium in Trenton, where members will experience a presentation and a preview of the planetarium’s latest sky show.
Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton 