Sirius Issues
Issue: 4
Summer 2004
COMPETITION
For a chance to win a Chandra poster and your
own solar observing glasses please answer
these few simple questions and email your
entry to:[email protected] by July 1st.
Well it is here! The big event that we have all
been looking forward to; let’s just hope it is not
cloudy! However in these days of
technological innovation we will not have to
worry since we can see live feeds from other
observatories around the world - unless the
University network goes down.
I hope you all enjoy observing the transit and
hopefully in taking accurate measurements of
the contact points we will be able, in
collaboration with the European Southern
Observatory (ESO), to determine the
Astronomical Unit.
By Samuel George
FIND YOUR BIRTH
STAR
by Samuel George
As you probably know the light we receive
from stars is how they looked in the past, for
example the Andromeda is 2.2 million light
years away so we are seeing how it appeared
2.2 million years ago. If you find this
impressive you might be interested in a new
website
at
http://outreach.jach.hawaii.edu/birthstars/. This
asks you to enter your date of birth and it will
tell you the star which emitted light on the day
you were born and is now just reaching the
Earth (i.e. if you are 20 then it will come back
with the name of a star which is 20 light years
away). This obviously changes daily so it can
be quite interesting if you find a visible one.
1) What is Venus?
2) Who was the first documented person
to observe the transit of Venus?
3) When did the last transit occur (just the
year)?
4) Does Venus show a phase (like the
Moon)?
5) What two names did the Greeks
attribute to Venus?
GRUBBY MOTORS
By Matt Holder
After the kind donation of the Grubb telescope
at the opening of the society this device has
been little used. Many problems such as
pigeons nesting in the shed and covering it
with droppings, dirty optics, damaged RA
motors and the eye piece holder occasionally
breaking have meant that this device has rarely
been used. Over the coming months this
situation should change considerably; it has
been decided that over the summer vacation
work will be carried out to restore this antique
telescope to its previous glory. The first and
most important tasks will enable us to use the
Grubb in its current set-up: the barrels will be
removed, cleaned and painted, optics will be
cleaned and the base and structural parts will
all be given a lick of paint.
This is not however all we want to achieve
with our telescope - we want this to be the
envy of other societies. Ideas include
controlling the existing motors via a computer
interface, but currently there is only limited
movement in the RA motion. To improve this,
a gearbox will need to be designed, built and
fitted to the main RA adjuster and a motor
fitted and controlled.
Left, right, up and down motion will be easy to
achieve using some relatively simple C++
coding but the situation becomes more
complex when attempting to enter coordinates
and “asking” the 'scope to find these in the sky
and track them automatically. The situation is
not quite this simple however as feedback
loops are needed in case of contact with the
shed if not pushed back sufficiently or the
'scope tilts too far in one direction, and also a
warning of rain would be needed so as not to
damage any of the equipment.
The next problem to deal with is how to
capture these images, if the Grubb is being
controlled away from the roof how can images
be taken? One idea is to use the current
electronic eyepiece attached to the finder scope
and then add a CCD as the main telescope
eyepiece. Along with the control computer a
second machine could be used to capture and
store images meaning high quality images
which could be analysed.
In conclusion, doing up the 'scope will all take
a considerable amount of time but we are
confident that with a little effort at least the
most important tasks such as cleaning and
painting can be carried out over the summer
vacation. All other tasks will be considered and
decisions made as to the plausibility and cost
involved, but as computer parts are readily
available and programming experience is held
then the main problem to conquer is controlling
the main RA adjustment. Any updates will be
placed
onto
the
Astrosoc
website
(www.astrosoc.org.uk) as and when they occur.
Current status is one coat of paint has been
applied to the base and boxing the inside in is
being considered.
MYTHOLOGY OF
VENUS
By Alexandra Yannacopoulou
Most people know that the planet Venus was
named after the Roman goddess. Some people
know that she was assimilated with the Greek
goddess Aphrodite. Few people know that the
Roman goddess Venus was originally a
goddess of vegetation and greenery, who later
presided over love and beauty and was then
equated with the most similar Greek goddess.
Venus and Aphrodite were related in folkloric
terms to the Etruscan's Turan and
Mesopotamian Ishtar. The Romans identified
the planet itself with a god called Lucifer
("light-bearer") in the morning. The Greeks
actually had two names for it, Hesperus in the
morning and Phosphorus in the evening,
although they appeared to have been at least
suspicious that it was one body. It's also worth
noting that the term "venereal disease" comes
from the Roman goddess' name and refers to
her position as goddess of love, the emotion
responsible for the spread of such maladies!
The Hindus identified the planet with the god
Sukra, who could bring the dead back to life.
The Latvians associated the planet with the god
Auseklis, who may at one point have been a
goddess!
German mythology told of the Venusleute, a
race of tiny Venutians who helped lost
children.
The Aztecs identified the planet Venus with a
god called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, who was also
identified with a feathered serpent called
Quetzalcoatl. In the evening, however, both the
Aztecs and Toltecs associated it with Xolotl, a
god represented sometimes as a dog-headed
man and sometimes as a skeleton. The Incas
identified it with a virgin goddess called
Chasca and the Mayans called the planet
Kukulcan and were so afraid of it as a bringer
of war that they blocked their chimneys to
avoid its light entering their homes!
Whenever Venus rose above the cresent moon,
the Sumu Indians said that it was the wife of
the moon god Udo.
The Polynesians called the planet Malara in the
morning, and said that he was looking for
wives (note the plural). The Maori believe that
their people sailed from their Polynesian
homeland to New Zealand guided by the light
of Venus.