President’s Perspective
SUPERNOVAE – SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS AROUND
As any amateur astronomer worth their salt knows: Supernovae are enormous explosions that destroy an entire star. Because of this explosion, supernovae are much brighter than their surrounding star companions. Their luminosity makes them conspicuous, and the energy they emit makes them interesting to scientists. But supernovae are quite rare, with an estimated rate of only one occurring every 25 to 100 years for a galaxy the size of our Milky Way. Yet this estimated rate may be overly generous since we haven’t witnessed a supernova in our home galaxy since Kepler’s Star in 1604. That’s over 400 years ago, before the telescope was even invented.
Well, for those members of SVAS who felt that they were over due for a supernova, their observing wishes were answered at the SVAS Annual Membership Meeting. There, the supernovae of SVAS were awarded the highest honors and acknowledgment of appreciation that the Society can bestow on its members. Lynda Hall acted as the master of ceremony when three individuals were awarded the SVAS Star Award. The Star Award winners for 2009 are Ray Brown, George Foxworth, and Tom Silver. They received the award in recognition of their tenacious participation in community events over the last few years. Margaret Minnick was recognized with a Service Award for her contribution as Community Star Party Coordinator.
This ceremony was followed by the awarding of the Natalie Leonard Award. Named after a lifelong member who contributed greatly to the Society throughout her many years of service, this award is SVAS’s highest honor. It is awarded in recognition of similar long-term service to the SVAS. For 2009, the Board was proud to present this award to a collective of individuals that were the gravity that bound all SVAS members together — the former newsletter crew.
As you know by now, SVAS has gone electronic and is no longer publishing a hardcopy of the Observer Newsletter. During the last nine years, Dave Buchla, Chris Hulbe, Claudia Hulbe, and David Larzelere worked together to compile, edit, and distribute one of the most informative and aesthetically appealing astronomy club newsletters around. They consistently produced a product that made all of SVAS proud. With the advent of the e-Observer, this crew has retired from the newsletter production. So it was only fitting that the SVAS recognize their contributions with an overdue expression of sincere gratitude in the form of the Natalie Leonard Award.
Although retired from newsletters, I’m sure they, along with the Star Award winners, will continue to shine bright in the future. But as with all supernovae, there is the risk of the brilliant flash turning into a black hole. So if you would like to brighten your star and keep the galaxy of SVAS ablaze with energy, then step forward and volunteer to help out at a community or member’s event. Just contact any Board member. We are just starting a new observing season and there are plenty of opportunities to let your star shine.
Ross Gorman,
President
Dr. Kimberly Ennico, NASA Ames Research Center, will be the speaker for the February SVAS General Meeting. The topic is: “The LCROSS Mission.”
LCROSS launched successfully with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) from Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center, June 18, 2009, 21:32:00 UTC. After LRO separation, LCROSS remained connected to the Atlas V upper-stage Centaur rocket. LCROSS completed 112 days in a Lunar Gravity Assist Lunar Return Orbit, during which on-orbit science payload calibrations, shepherding spacecraft (S-S/C) health checks, and trajectory maneuver corrections were performed. The separation maneuver of the S-S/C from the Centaur occurred on October 9, 2009, 01:50:00 UTC. The mission had two kinetic impact events: (1) the spent 2366 kg Atlas V upper-stage Centaur rocket, followed four minutes later by (2) the ~625 kg LCROSS S-S/C, both traveling at ~2.5 km/s. Impacts within the lunar south pole Cabeus crater occurred on October 9, 2009 at 11:31:19.506 UTC and 11:35:36.116 UTC, for the Centaur and S-S/C, respectively.
