The Flight Deck for October 2002, Issue 113
From the Bridge:
October is here, and sadly for me it marks the end
of my convention season. Archon last weekend was
my last con until March, but I went out with a bang.
I was perfectly well-behaved, no, wait a minute, I
just remembered ADM Sandy's got pictures. Uh oh.
But the Halsey is looking to kick it into high gear for the
holiday season. There will be a big announcement at the
October meeting regarding a ship project. Also, the refit
for the Halsey to Nebula Class has been approved, and the
January meeting will be serving as a recommissioning bash
for the ship. And as soon as I finish with my political science
senior thesis, the Halsey story will be making a triumphant return.
After the meeting merry-go-round of September, I'm happy to
announce that the Halsey October meeting will be our annual bonfire
spectacular at CMDR Mark Milhous's. The Bat-time is 5pm on Saturday,
October 19th. Costumes are optional, and we'll be cooking out.
Everyone please bring a covered dish, munchies or drinks....ya'll
know how it works! Weather permitting, we'll be shooting off
the leftover fireworks and engaging in other sundry activities.
Hope to see you there!
FCAPT Cathy Dailey
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Upcoming Events:
October 19th--Halsey October meeting & bonfire at CMDR Mark Milhous'
December 1st--Starfleet Command General Meeting at Slanted Fedora Indycon
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Beamdown Coordinates:
CMDR Mark Milhous's
5662 S County Road 200 W, Clayton, IN
Directions:
1. Get onto I-465, whatever side of town you're on.
2. Take the US-40 W/Washington St exit- exit number 12B.
3. Merge onto W Washington St.
4. W Washington St. becomes US-40 W.
5. Turn right onto S IN-39.
6. Turn left onto IOWA ST.
7. Turn right onto Amo RD/CR-500 S.
8. Amo RD/CR-500 S becomes Clayton Rd/CR-500 S.
9. Turn left onto 200 W.
Hope to see you there!
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
October 5th--CDT Larry Douglas
October 21st--ADM Sandy Sundstrom
October 27th--ENS Charissa Bihl
October 30th--CAPT William Campbell
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From the "Just Don't Say It's Gonna Hit Us In 3284" Desk:
Discovery: Largest Solar System Object Since Pluto
By Robert Roy Britt
A newfound frozen world beyond the recognized nine planets of
Earth's solar system is the largest object discovered since Pluto
was spotted in 1930. Its discovery raises the prospects that yet
another object as big or perhaps larger than Pluto might lurk out there.
The rock is about half Pluto's size. It orbits the
Sun every 288 years, mostly beyond Pluto's orbit.
At 4 billion miles (6.5 billion kilometers) from the Sun, it is
the most distant thing in the solar system photographed by an
optical telescope. Its discovery will expand knowledge of the
faraway sea of icy rocks in which it resides, astronomers said today.
The object has a provisional name of 2002 LM60.
However, astronomers involved in the discovery
at Caltech University in Southern California have
dubbed it Quaoar (KWAH-o-ar), after the creation
force of the Tongva tribe of the Los Angeles basin.
Quaoar, as an official name, will have to await
approvalfrom the International Astronomical Union.
Record breaker
Fewer than 400 objects have been identified in a region of our
solar system known as the Kuiper Belt, which extends beyond
Pluto and at least one-fifth the way to the nearest star. Astronomers
expect the belt to be laden with frozen rocks, perhaps billions of
them the size of a city and hundreds of thousands as large as
Massachusetts. None had been photographed before.
One big Kuiper Belt Object (or KBO), called Varuna, was found
two years ago and is about 40 percent as big as Pluto. Varuna
was the record-holder for size in the far-out belt until now.
Quaoar's co-discoverer, Caltech postdoctoral researcher
Chad Trujillo, told SPACE.com last week he's "quite
confident" Quaoar is larger than Varuna.
Quaoar was first detected in images taken June 4 with
the Palomar Observatory's 48-inch Oschin Telescope.
Trujillo and Caltech associate professor Mike Brown then used
the Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced Camera for Surveys
in July and August to make visual observations, determining
Quaoar's diameter to be roughly 780 miles (1,250 kilometers).
Superimposed on America, it would blot out several Midwestern states.
A technique involving the detection of thermal radiation sets the
diameter higher but is not considered as reliable. Varuna's size was
estimated by the thermal technique to be 560 miles (900 kilometers).
Quaoar also appears to be larger than Pluto's moon,
Charon, which is 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) in diameter.
Improving picture
Harold Levison, a Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientist who WAS
not involved in the discovery, said it was important though not surprising.
"Its importance lies in the fact that we will be able to actually study the
object in detail," Levison said. "Other KBOs are just too faint to study.
It has been quite frustrating." He added that the Kuiper Belt and its
presumed pristine contents "will tell us how the solar system formed."
Another KBO, called Ixion and found last year, has been estimated to be
745 miles wide (1,200 kilometers) -- nearly the same size as Quaoar. But
that calculation was based on an estimate for how much sunlight Ixion
might reflect, a figure called albedo. Researchers used a 4 percent albedo,
once considered the standard for KBOs. The number is based on what
scientists know about asteroids and comets they've actually seen.
Quaoar's albedo has been measured, not estimated, and it is 12
percent. Varuna's is 7 percent, and the only other measured KBO
albedo is for an object that reflects 10 percent of sunlight.
"The standard assumption of 4 percent albedo, where the Ixion estimate
comes from, is much too dark," Trujillo said. "Assuming a mean albedo
of 10 percent, Ixion is likely to be 760 kilometers (470 miles) in diameter."
All this means that astronomers are getting a better handle on what's out
there and what the objects look like on their surfaces, which will eventually
lead to a better understanding of what the rocks are composed of.
"The main practical importance is that these bigger, brighter objects are
easier to study," said David Jewitt, a University of Hawaii expert on KBOs.
"We can obtain physical data that are impossible on the fainter KBOs."
More Plutos?
Quaoar is roughly a billion miles farther out than Pluto right
now. But because Pluto's 248-year orbit around the Sun is
not circular, parts of it extend beyond the orbit of Quaoar.
The discovery came in a survey of 1/15 of the sky, and the
regions chosen were thought to be likely to harbor such objects,
Trujillo explained. Based on this, he speculates that there might
be eight objects in our solar system roughly half the size of Pluto.
Levison, of the SwRI and other astronomers have speculated
for some time that another full-size Pluto might be out there.
"As time goes on we will find larger and larger objects as we
cover more of the sky," Levison said. "How large is difficult
to say. I think Pluto-size objects at least. I don't think they
will find anything as large as Mars or even the Moon."
Trujillo agrees cautiously, adding that "anywhere from no
more Plutos to three more Plutos is in the realm of possibility."
Either way, the discovery strengthens the case made by many
astronomers that Pluto should never have been labeled as a planet.
"Quaoar definitely hurts the case for Pluto being a planet," said Brown,
Quaoar's co-discoverer. "If Pluto were discovered today, no one would
even consider calling it a planet because it's clearly a Kuiper Belt Object."
Not Planet X
Caltech astronomer Charlie Kowal first photographed Quaoar in
the early 1980s. Kowal was looking for the so-called Planet X,
the alleged 10th planet that some suspect might exist in the outer
solar system. Kowal never found Planet X, and he didn't recognize
Quaoar for what it is. His photographic plates proved useful,
however, to Brown and Trujillo, who did find Quaoar on them and
used the information to help determine the object's precise path.
"Its orbit is known better than any other
Kuiper Belt Object," Trujillo said.
So what about Planet X?
"We have only looked at about 1/15th of the entire sky so
far in our survey," Trujillo said. "If there is a Planet X out
there, we will have a good chance at finding it as our survey
continues. But I would say that we have ruled out very little
so far, simply because the area we have searched is small."
Quaoar's orbit is close to the plane in which most of the other
planets orbit, the researchers say. Pluto's odd orbit is elongated
and also inclined about 17 degrees to the main solar system plane.
Quaoar spins about an axis, as expected, but the astronomers
don't yet have enough data to determine the spin rate.
They know, however, that Quaoar's spin axis is tilted
about 7.9 percent compared to the plane of its orbit.
According to legend, Quaoar, came down from heaven and,
after making order of chaos, laid out the world on the back of
seven giants. He then created the lower animals, and then humans.
Right now, Quaoar's namesake is high in the sky. The KBO can be
observed as a point of light by experienced backyard astronomers with
16-inch or larger telescopes and electronic CCD cameras, which record
dim light over long exposures to render visible images. Quaoar and
Pluto are coincidentally in the same region of sky as seen from Earth now.
The discovery was announced at a meeting of the Division of Planetary
Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Birmingham, Alabama.
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From the "Goth Tips" Desk:
A Vampire's Rules For Life
1. I shall wear tweed, and cheerful bright clothing. Further,
I shall only wear a trenchcoat if it is raining or foggy.
2. I will not take my victims home. My neighbors are far too nosy.
3. I will be secure in my immortality. I do not have to
share my story with any reporter or struggling writer.
4. I shall not keep a coffin in the basement,
as that's the first place people look.
5. My ghouls shall have good posture.
6. I will purchase a digital watch with an alarm. I will
set this alarm for TWO (2) hours before sunrise, giving
ample time for traffic and other inconveniences.
7. If I feel truly alone, and need a companion to
share all of eternity with, I shall purchase a dog.
Preferably one that is not larger than I am.
8. If the neighborhood kids are snooping around my house, I will
not change into a giant wolf and attempt to destroy them. Instead,
I shall call the police and have them arrested for trespassing.
9. If I believe far too many people are becoming
suspicious, I shall not attempt to kill them all. I will
simply move, and leave no forwarding address.
10. I will not attend gatherings of my own kind. If I'm
a lethal killing machine, doomed for all eternity to
destroy those around me, they probably are too.
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end transmission
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