Space - Tullamore Astronomical Society

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Letters to the Editor From: Girvan McKay Hello again, Seanie. This has nothing to do with Maire's lecture title, but maybe readers of Réalta might be faintly interested to read the following enquiry and my reply, which I received from a correspondent re: constellation names. ORIGINAL ENQUIRY: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sìol Cultural Enterprises" To: Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 2:13 PM Subject: Inquiry to Gaelic Constellations Hi, I’m doing some research on Scottish Gaelic (and older Celtic) astronomical terms. In my searching on-line I ran across a listing of the constellations in numerous languages including Galeic and Irish (constellation-names.at). I believe you contributed the Scottish Gaelic names of constellations (and the Irish). I was wondering what your source for these names was. Thanks for your help. Cheers, Trueman Matheson, Sìol Cultural Enterprises, St. Andrew's, NS, CANADA http://www.gaelicbooks.com MY REPLY: Thanks for the enquiry. The sources for the constellation names were, respectively: Scots Gaelic: REUL-EOLAS - by Patrick Moore, translated by Iain Aonghas MacLeoid, published 1997 by John A. Macleod, Largs, Ayrshire, ISBN 0 9530874 0 9. Also: THE ILLUSTRATED GAELIC-ENGLISH DICTIONARY, Edward Dwelly, various editions and reprints. Irish Gaelic: FOCLOIR REALTEOLAIOCHTA/ Dictionary of Astronomy, (name of compiler not given), publisher AN GUM, Dublin, 1996, ISBN 1-85791-175-X. Also: ENGLISH-IRISH DICTIONARY, Tomas de Bhaldraithe, published by Government Publications, Dublin 1959. -Hope this helps. Girvan McKay / Garbhan MacAoidh. Thanks for that Girvan. It’s nice to get a query from across the waters! –Ed. Club Snippets TAS Christmas Party will be coming up soon. A date has not been fixed yet, so keep an eye on our website, or you will be notified via e-mail. If you are not already on the TAS E-mail List to be kept up to date with club news and astronomy events, send an e-mail to tullamoreastronomy@yahoo.co.uk. Club Fleeces There are still a few left. Sizes available are Large or Medium. Priced €15, they can be purchased at any meeting. TAS AGM This was fixed for Tuesday December 6 th , but due to some committee members not being able to make it that night, it may be pushed up to the start of the New Year. Members will be advised. If you would like to become a more active member, then this will be your chance as a member to have your say in what the club should do. The AGM is open to everyone. 4 Réalta – Volume 7, Issue 2 – November/December 2005 – Tullamore Astronomical Society
NEWS UPDATE From Around The Universe New crater formation theory • HST searches for oxygen on the Moon • Russia to launch Brazils first astronaut • 10 th ‘planet’ has a moon • Mars was once like Earth • 2 new moons for Pluto • Life’s building blocks abundant in space Hubble Searches for Oxygen on the Moon During the summer, scientists pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at the Moon to take a closer look at its soil. Initial findings support the potential existence of some unique varieties of oxygen–rich glassy soils in both the Aristarchus and Apollo 17 regions. They could be well suited for visits by robots and human explorers to learn how to live off the land on the Moon. While Hubble wasn't specifically designed to look at the Moon (it only has the resolution of a football field for an object so close) scientists can use the ultraviolet capability of its Advanced Camera for Surveys to analyse the contents of lunar soil, particularly minerals and ore that might contain oxygen. Since the Moon does not have a breathable atmosphere, and spacecrafts have limited load capacities, harvesting oxygen from the soil may be critical for longterm human missions. Hubble found that the soil in the regions examined contained abundant amounts of ilmenite, a mixture of titanium, iron, and oxygen. Laboratory experiments on Earth have shown that applying certain chemical processes to terrestrial ilmenite can easily liberate oxygen and water. Water can then be turned into oxygen and hydrogen, which could also be used for rocket fuel. Other studies have found evidence for water ice near the lunar poles. While those areas might serve well for human outposts, they are not necessarily the first choices for science missions. The Hubble team examined three lunar sites, two of which – the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites – where soil chemistry is well known. The third was the Aristarchus crater, a "geologic wonderland" that has piqued geologists' interest for decades. The Aristarchus crater is the brightest feature of the Moon's near side, nearly twice as bright as most spots on the Moon and visible to the naked eye. It's just 25 miles across but more than two miles deep. At only 450 million years old, it is one of the younger major features on the Moon. More importantly, it sits in a region of the Moon that scientists believe was once rocked by volcanic explosions and tectonic shifts. The two-mile gouge exposes the historical record of what went on in the region, including the history of crust and mantle formation on a young satellite. Aristarchus crater was the planned landing site for Apollo 18, but no human or robot has ever set foot there, making it a likely target for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as it explores the lunar surface in 2008, according to current plans. Data from that mission, combined with Hubble's observations, will help plan the location of future robotic and human missions. Craters in Planets and Moons Not What They Seemed A hole in a moon or planet does not always mean what astronomers thought. Most of the craters on Jupiter's moon Europa are formed by chunks of rock and ice splashing back down onto the moon's surface after a meteor strike, a new study suggests. It was previously thought that most of the craters seen on moons and planets were the work of direct, or "primary" impacts from asteroids and comets. The new finding suggests that most of those craters might instead be "secondaries," impacts that formed by the material ejected from primary impacts. For Europa, secondaries account for as much as 95% of all the small craters - those less than a mile in diameter - observed on the moon. The finding has implications for how astronomers date the ages of planetary surfaces. Asteroids, comets and chunks of cosmic debris routinely bombard the surface of planets and moons. Earth's atmosphere protects us from most of these impacts, incinerating most objects before they hit the ground. Even so, Earth has experienced countless meteor impacts throughout its long history. The evidence for most of those impacts have been erased by erosion from wind and rain and by constant turnover of the Earth's Réalta – Volume 7, Issue 2 – November/December 2005 – Tullamore Astronomical Society 5
Page 1 and 2: REALTA 9+- Reviews, Events And Lect
Page 3: Key organisers and folks involved i
Page 7 and 8: Moon discovered orbiting Solar Syst
Page 9 and 10: Two New Moons for Pluto? New images
Page 11 and 12: viewing for the most part during th
Page 13 and 14: Great Irish Women Astronomers By Gi
Page 15 and 16: One would expect one or some of the
Page 17 and 18: Goldilocks and the (many) more than
Page 19 and 20: cold or just right, while the chair
Page 21 and 22: SPACEFLIGHT News Russian Spacecraft
Page 23 and 24: Contributions Wanted Do you ever no

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