Sixth Session of the Year

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Hi everyone!

Welcome to our sixth session of the year. This Friday, our Research Head, Rong’en will be presenting one of the most important topics in astronomy, the cosmic distance ladder. Given the vastness of our
Universe, something as mundane as measuring distance can be surprisingly daunting. Yet, it is not just about finding how large the Universe is, but rather how small we are in scale of things.

Do note that we will still be holding our stargazing session (if weather is clear) at the engine bridge and the details of the presentation are as follows:

Date: Friday, 11 March, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Venue: E5-03-21

PS: For those who have signed up for AstroBash and wish to make payment on Friday, we have brought along extra copies for the indemnity and swimming declaration forms. Please help to check your
Passport Issue Date and inform Jia Wei.

 

A New Light on Jupiter

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Two of our gas giants in solar system are certainly not keeping a low profile recently. Saturn is experiencing storms, while the long-lost south equatorial belt of Jupiter is finally returning to our sight after having disappeared for almost a year. What caused Jupiter’s south equatorial belt to fade? Scientists are trying to find out the answer, and it seems that the alternation of wind pattern is the cause of the disappearance of south equatorial belt. However, we still need the supportive data of the movement of Jupiter’s atmosphere in order to verify this theory. The main challenge of obtaining the information is in procuring high-resolution pictures of Jupiter’s thermal radiation. Normally, scientists lock their telescope to the target through projecting an artificial guide star in Earth’s atmosphere using a powerful laser, very near to Jupiter’s position. However, the brightness of Jupiter is so high that the artificial star would be drowned in the light of Jupiter. Guess how scientist tackled this problem? They took advantage of the Jupiter’s moon Europa which is close enough to Jupiter. With the aid of Europa, they finally got high-resolution pictures of Jupiter. Check out the following link to see what scientists discovered about Jupiter’s south equatorial belt.
 

Chinese New Year Celebration

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A very happy Chinese New Year! 

Although the holiday for Chinese New Year is over, the celebration is still going on. Hence, NUS Astronomy Society cordially invites you to join our Chinese New Year celebration on this upcoming Friday. 

 

Venue: E5-03-21 

Date:    Friday, 11 February 2011

Time:    7:00pm-9:00pm 

Simple food and drinks will be provided and we will also do Lao Yusheng. So come down and join us for the lots of fun!

NUSAS ECP Stargazing Session

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NUSAS will be organising an overnight star-gazing trip to East Coast Park on Friday, 28 Jan (Week 3), in lieu of our normal session. East Coast Park is one of the better places in Singapore with dark Southern skies, so we are expecting one night long of celestial objects usually unobservable from NUS (if weather permits.)

We will be providing transport from NUS to East Coast Park if there are many people attending. Details on pick-up point and time would be announced at a later date

PS: To members who signed up, please gather at YIH in front of Student Service Centre at 7:15PM sharp. 

Members who did not sign up are welcome to join us as well, though priority will be given to those who did. Please call Anne at 9635-6064 to check for availability of seats, or if in need of directions.
Lastly, do note that there will be no return bus on Saturday morning from ECP.

e. A map of the observation site (located at the stretch near Siglap canal and VJC, between carpark C4 & D1) is attached for your reference, together with relevant details on bus services.

In the mean time, if you are interested, do sign up at 

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFRXelBvaFNxWDV4V2YxRXJKRnktUGc6MQ by 21 Jan, 23:59 latest to facilitate the planning process. In addition, please look out for further announcements on this website and a confirmation email for those who have registered.

We look forward to seeing you at our first overnight excursion of Semester 2!

 

 

For those who missed our announcement during the session, feel free to take down our schedule for this semester:

Week 3, 28th Jan: East Coast Park

Week 5, 11 Feb: Chinese New Year Celebrations

Week 8, 11 Mar:  Regular Session

Week 10, 25 Mar: Science Center Trip

Week 11, 1 Apr: Last Session  

 

Weighing the Black Hole

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Recently, astronomers from the University of Texas Austin successfully measured the known heaviest black hole in space. At the centre of the galaxy M87, there exists a massive black hole measured at 6.6 billion solar masses. Scientists used a large-diameter telescope combined with a smaller one to collected data from thousands of dim stars and formed images that clearly depicts the influence the black hole exerts on its surrounding region. For now, there is still no direct evidence of the existence of black hole (no one has actually seen one). But scientists believe that soon, the event horizon of black hole will be detected in the future.

 

 

Source: http://www.astronomy.com/News-Observing/News/2011/01/Astronomers%20weigh%20heaviest%20known%20black%20hole%20in%20our%20cosmic%20neighborhood.aspx 

The Fifth Session

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Dear Members,

Welcome back!
This Friday, NUS Astronomical Society sincerely invites you to our first session of the semester. Our Research Head, Mr. Soh Rong’en, has prepared for you a very exciting talk on the famous Big Bang Theory. (You are advised to have watched seasons 1-3 first.)
We will also be announcing our upcoming activities for this semeste.
 
Details of the session are:

Date:    Friday, 14th January, 2011
Time:   7:00pm
Venue: E5 03-21 (near the Engin Bridge, refer to the map attached)
Topic:  The Big Bang Theory
We look forward to seeing you there in our first get-together of the semester!
Best regards,
NUS Astronomical Society
 
session 4

Win a trip to Very Large Telescope

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Have you ever complained about the amateur level of your instruments? Do you want to have a glimpse into how professional astronomers manipulate those giant telescope? Here is your chance! The European Southern Observatory is holding the “Hidden Treasures Competition” for astronomy fans to play around with the immense picture database they have amassed for the past many years. All you need to do is to use process these pictures into a masterpiece in any way you want (“no painting”) and submit it to the official website. All entries submitted will be judged on aesthetics, processing and originality qualities and winner will be awarded an all expenses paid trip to Very Large Telescope in Chile and participate in the observation for one night ! Don’t miss it!

 
http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/hiddentreasures/
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/106972728.html 

The Fourth Session

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We are nearing the end of the semester. First of all, thank you for your support in this semester.

On Friday, we are going to have the last astronomy session for this semester, during which Rong’en will guide you through the field of relativity and cosmology. We hope that you will find this session relaxing and enjoyable. 

The Fourth Session

Title: Understanding Relativity through Santa Claus

Date: Friday, 29 October 2010

Time: 7:00pm

Venue: E5-02-32

Please note that the venue has been changed to the second floor of the E5 Block. Also, if you have not collected your T-shirt, you can approach any exco member to do so.

We wish you all the best for your exams!