| No 1 March 2009 | No 2 June 2009 | No 3 September 2009 | No 4 December 2009 |
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| Southern Stars: Vol 48 Contents. | Index for other years | RASNZ Home Page | |
Southern Stars: Volume 48, number 1. March 2009. Pp 1 - 28. |
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IYA2009 Opening Ceremonies in Paris.
Stacey Kalinnikova, Yvette Perrott and William Tobin.
An account of the International Year of Astronomy Opening Ceremonies held at UNESCO
headquarters, Paris, January 15 & 16, 2009.
Volume 48, number 1. March 2009. Pp 3 - 8
The Crows Nest Observatory.
Roland Idaczyk
Planets orbiting other stars (exoplanets) are at present the focus of one of the high-priority
research efforts in astronomy. The privately owned Crows Nest Observatory (CNO) in Wellington
was designed and equipped to allow participation in exoplanet research programmes. This article
introduces the observatory and its instrumentation and discusses the requirements of exoplanet
research via the transit method.
Volume 48, number 1. March 2009. Pp 9-11
The RASNZ revives its Variable Star Section.
Tom Richards
Dr Tom Richards introduces the revamped variable star section of the society, named
"Variable Stars South".
Volume 48, number 1. March 2009. Page 12
Royal Astronomical Society of
New Zealand Annual Report of Council for 2009.
President's Remarks, Treasurer's Report, Membership Report, RASNZ Publications,
RASNZ Section Reports.
RASNZ Council
Volume 48, number 1. March 2009. Pp 13-25
Book Review - "The Awa Book of NZ
Science" edited by Rebecca Priestley."
reviewed by William Tobin.
Volume 48, number 1. March 2009. Page 26
Southern Stars: Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Pp 1 - 24. |
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Building an Observatory in your
Own Home.
Owen Moore.
The inspiration for and construction of a home observatory is described. The requirement was
for it to be attached to and accessible from within the house but high enough to gain a clear
view of the sky.
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Pp 3 - 4
Stardate 2009 - A Review.
Ian Cooper.
Amateur astronomers have been gathering in the North Island at Stardate for 21 years.
This is a review of the most recent one; in January this year near Hastings.
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Pp 5 - 7
Lunar Imaging Techniques.
Maurice Collins.
For the last couple of years the author has fascinated members of the nzastronomers Yahoo group
with his lunar imaging. His mosaics, closeup detail and supersaturated colouring has brought
the Moon back to life for us. This paper describes his techniques. All images are by the
author.
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Pp 8 - 12
Solar Active Regions 11017 and 11019.
Harry Roberts.
Well into the present deep solar minimum, we see some unusual activity on our star; activity
perhaps last seen in the year 1911. In particular, large faculae regions have begun to appear
that are almost spotless. NASA dubs the current large faculae regions "proto-sunspots" and
speaks of them as "spots trying to emerge".
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Page 12
Book Review - "The Cosmic Detective"
by Mani Bhaumik.
reviewed by William Tobin.
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Page 13
Introducing Variable Stars South.
Tom Richards.
The Variable Star Section of the RASNZ was founded by the late Dr Frank Bateson OBE in 1927.
Over the decades he made it the acknowledged centre for Southern Hemisphere variable star work.
Early this year I was appointed the second Director, with the task of modernizing it in terms
of both the type of research carried out and bringing together once again observers and
researchers from around the hemisphere and beyond to revitalize the study of southern
variables. In this paper I will outline what we are doing to develop Variable Stars South as
it is now known, and relate that to the changed world of variable star research. Plus of
course a big encouragement to contribute to astronomy via variable star work.
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Pp 14 - 17
Three Life Members for Variable Stars South.
Tom Richards.
At the opening of the 2009 RASNZ Conference, I had the privilege as Director of Variable Stars
South, to announce the awards of Honorary Life Memberships to three outstanding and
long-serving members of the former Variable Star Section. In their roles, the three represent
the pipeline of variable star work: preparing the information an observer needs, observing the
stars, and communicating the results in a durable and accessible way to the world. Without the
long efforts of these three people, the Variable Star Section would never have received the
pre-eminence it gained.
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Page 18
The VSS RASNZ Legacy and the Evolving BV Centauri.
Mati Morel and Alan Plummer.
The astronomical community benefits today from work begun 80 years ago by the Variable Star
Section (now called Variable Stars South) of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand.
Some of the VSS history is outlined below. We focus on two 'end products' of these years of
work. First, how more than 1250 charts with good sequences have been made for southern stars,
and second, the research value of the data is illustrated with reference to one particular
star, the southern dwarf nova BV Centauri. Use of the BV Cen historical data suggests a slow
decrease in mass transfer with a larger recent drop, evidence for a magnetic cycle, and a
strengthened case for an unobserved nova eruption in the past. It is also suggested that the
classification of the object be changed from UG/SS to a new class: GK Per.
Volume 48, number 2. June 2009. Pp 19 - 22
Southern Stars: Volume 48, number 3. September 2009. Pp 1 - 12. |
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In Search of Dying Stars
Stuart Parker.
The discovery of two supernovae, SN2009gj and SN2009hm, within less than four weeks is
described. The author is a dairy farmer in Canterbury, New Zealand north of Christchurch and
has been imaging objects from the inner planets to outer galaxies for a number of years.
Volume 48, number 3. September 2009. Page 3
In Search of Dying Stars
Yvette Perrott.
Orbital and terrestrial parallax effects have a surprisingly large influence on observed
microlensing light curves. The magnitude of the effects can be used to calculate the distances
to the lens star and therefore characterise events in terms of their absolute distances and
masses, rather than scaled quantities. The orbital and terrestrial parallax effects are
explained and illustrated using the event OGLE-BLG-2007-349/MOA-BLG-2007-379, which is a
triple-lens event still under analysis.
Volume 48, number 3. September 2009. Pp 4-5
Rectifying Lunar Images with LTVT
Maurice Collins.
In my last article I wrote about how to capture lunar images with a telescope and imaging
system, and how to make full-disk mosaics out of those images of the Moon. In this article I
would like to share with you some of the things that lunar images can be used for in order to
learn more about our wonderful planetary neighbour using the Lunar Terminator Visualization
Tool.
Volume 48, number 3. September 2009. Pp 6-8
Eta Carinae: 38 years of Photoelectric
Observations
W H Allen.
Eta Carinae has been observed photoelectrically by the author for many years and this paper
describes how these observations were made, analysed and recorded. The paper discusses the
suspected binary nature of eta Carinae from these measurements, and concludes from these
observations and others that are available in the scientific press, that it is most probably a
binary star with an orbital period of 5.5 years even though the stars can not be seen directly
because of the Homunculus nebula and the stellar wind caused by the massive primary star's own
radiation obscuring the view of the system. This paper was delivered at the "Studying Southern
Variables" colloquium in Wellington last May.
Volume 48, number 3. September 2009. Pp 9-11
Southern Stars: Volume 48, number 4. December 2009. Pp 1 - 16. |
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International Space Camp 2009
Gary Sparks, Rhiannon McNish, Rosie Bolderston
Each year NASA invites countries from around the world to select one teacher and two students
to attend its annual International Space Camp. The camp is held in August at the U.S. Space
and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This year, teacher Gary Sparks of Napier and
students Rhiannon McNish (a member of the Palmerston North Astronomical Society) and Rosie
Bolderston (a member of the Canterbury Astronomical Society) were the lucky ones chosen by the
Royal Society of New Zealand. They report here on some of their experiences.
Volume 48, number 4. December 2009. Pp 3-5
Four More Supernovae from
Stuart Parker
Stuart Parker
SN2009iw discovered Sep 15.62 at mag. 14.6 in galaxy IC2160.
SN2009jz discovered Oct 18.57 at mag. 17.0 in galaxy PGC17571.
SN2009kl discovered Oct 23.67 at mag. 16.8 in galaxy IC2548.
SN2009la discovered Nov 12.52 at mag. 15.7 in galaxy NGC1572.
Volume 48, number 4. December 2009. Page 5
Europe and the IYA
Ursula Macfarlane
To treat myself for my 50th birthday I impulsively decided to go on a trip to Europe. With
rising fuel prices and some airlines going under from the recession I thought I'd better not
put it off any longer. The two places I really wanted to visit were the Large Hadron Collider
at CERN in Geneva, and inside the arctic circle to experience the midnight Sun.
Volume 48, number 4. December 2009. Pp 6-7
The Next Aurora Season
R W Evans
It has been about 18 months now since the aurora australis has been seen from New Zealand and
Australia. In many minds is the question "When will we start seeing them again?" Since
auroral activity depends upon solar activity, our interest is really in the behaviour of the
next Solar Cycle.
Volume 48, number 4. December 2009. Pp 8-10
Drift Alignment for the
Southern Hemisphere
Alan McKenzie
Aligning the polar axis of the mount of an astronomical telescope so that it is accurately
parallel to the polar axis of the Earth is desirable for all viewers, even for those who are
content to go 'star hopping', but it is essential for serious science studies and
astrophotography. The author presents the benefits of his experiences while perfecting the
Drift Alignment method.
Volume 48, number 4. December 2009. Pp 11-14