Bullying rife in astronomy and geophysics

Astronomy and geophysics have a systemic bullying and harassment problem, according to an investigation by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).

Valor da ciência, defesa do conhecimento e Perspectival Realism: Entrevista com Michela Massimi

Michela Massimi é professora de Filosofia da Ciência no Departamento de Filosofia da Universidade de Edimburgo, onde também é afiliada ao Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics. Membro de importantes sociedades filosóficas e científicas, como a Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Royal Astronomical Society, e a Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (membro correspondente) é presidente eleita da PSA, Philosophy of Science Association, para o biênio 2023-2024. Massimi, com dupla nacionalidade, italiana e britânica, estudou na Sapienza Università di Roma, na London School of Economics, e lecionou História e Filosofia da Ciência na University College London antes de mudar-se para Edimburgo. Massimi trabalha com Filosofia da Ciência em uma abordagem marcada pelo recurso à pesquisa histórica. Seus interesses amplos abarcam a Filosofia da Cosmologia, o realismo científico, os estudos de ciências, as relações entre ciência e sociedade, entre outros tópicos. Tem se destacado por defender o que chama de Perspectival Realism, se afastando tanto do realismo tradicional, quanto do pragmatismo e do relativismo. Nessa entrevista dialogamos com Massimi sobre temas como o valor da ciência, a defesa da ciência em épocas de negacionismo e obscurantismo e as características de sua posição filosófica.

Bringing early colonial astronomy to life

Anna Ridley describes a new exhibition at Old Government House, Sydney, that uses documents from the Royal Astronomical Society library and archive – and technology – to help tell the story of scientific endeavour in colonial New South Wales

A composite luminous and dark flight model allowing strewn field prediction

<p>As of today, instrumentally observed meteorite falls account for only 37 recovered meteorite cases, with derived Solar System orbit, out of 65098 registered meteorite names. To bridge this knowledge gap, a number of fireball networks have been set up around the globe. These networks regularly obtain thousands of records of well-observed meteor phenomena, some of which may be classified as a likely meteorite fall (Sansom et al. 2019). A successful recovery of a meteorite from the fireball event often requires that the science team can be promptly directed to a well-defined search area. Here we present a neat Monte Carlo model, which comprises adequate representation of the processes occurring during the luminous trajectory coupled together with the dark flight (Moilanen et al. 2021). In particular, the model accounts for fragmentation and every generated fragment may be followed on its individual trajectory. Yet, the algorithm accounts only for the mass constrained by the observed deceleration, so that the model does not overestimate the total mass of the fragments on the ground (and this mass may also be retrieved as zero). We demonstrate application of the model using historical examples of well-documented meteorite falls, which illustrate a good match to the actual strewn field with the recovered meteorites, both, in terms of fragments’ masses and their spatial distribution on the ground. Moreover, during its development, the model has already assisted in several successful meteorite recoveries including Annama, Botswana (asteroid 2018 LA), and Ozerki (Trigo-Rodríguez et al. 2015, Lyytinen and Gritsevich 2016, Maksimova et al. 2020, Jenniskens et al. 2021).</p><p>References</p><p>Jenniskens P. et al. (2021). Asteroid 2018 LA, impact, recovery and origin on Vesta. Submitted to Science.</p><p>Lyytinen E., Gritsevich M. (2016). Implications of the atmospheric density profile in the processing of fireball observations. Planetary and Space Science, 120, 35-42 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2015.10.012</p><p>Maksimova A.A., Petrova E.V., Chukin A.V., Karabanalov M.S., Felner I., Gritsevich M., Oshtrakh M.I. (2020). Characterization of the matrix and fusion crust of the recent meteorite fall Ozerki L6. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 55(1), 231–244, https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13423 </p><p>Moilanen J., Gritsevich M., Lyytinen E. (2021). Determination of strewn fields for meteorite falls. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, in revision.</p><p>Sansom E.K., Gritsevich M., Devillepoix H.A.R., Jansen-Sturgeon T., Shober P., Bland P.A., Towner M.C., Cupák M., Howie R.M., Hartig B.A.D. (2019). Determining fireball fates using the α-β criterion. The Astrophysical Journal 885, 115, https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab4516</p><p>Trigo-Rodríguez J.M., Lyytinen E., Gritsevich M., Moreno-Ibáñez M., Bottke W.F., Williams I., Lupovka V., Dmitriev V., Kohout T., Grokhovsky V. (2015). Orbit and dynamic origin of the recently recovered Annama’s H5 chondrite. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 449 (2): 2119-2127, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv378</p>

Twenty years of the Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS)

A review on the activities and achievements of the Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS) and the Armenian astronomy in general is given on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the official foundation of ArAS. ArAS membership, ArAS electronic newsletters (ArASNews), ArAS webpage, Annual Meetings, Annual Prize for Young Astronomers (Yervant Terzian Prize) and other awards, international relations, participation in international organizations, Byurakan International Summer Schools (BISS), regional and local schools, Byurakan science camps, astronomical Olympiads and other events, other matters related to astronomical education, astronomical heritage, amateur astronomy, astronomy outreach and ArAS further projects are described and discussed.

B.R.N.O. CONTRIBUTIONS #41 - TIMES OF MINIMA

This paper presents 2109 times of minima for 965 objects acquired by 59 members and cooperating observers of the Variable Star and Exoplanet Section of the Czech Astronomical Society (B.R.N.O. Observing project).These observations were submitted to the website of the Variable Star and Exoplanet Section of the Czech Astronomical Society between November 2016 and March 2018.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

This chapter talks about Mike Mumma and his team, which chronologically is the first group to publicly stake a claim to having discovered methane in the atmosphere of Mars in 2003. It explores the May 2003 abstract that served as a placeholder for a presentation Mumma would give at an American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences meeting. It also cites Mumma's report on his team's attempt to detect methane on Mars using three different telescopes: NASA's 3-meter Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), the 8-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile, and the 10-meter Keck-2 telescope. The chapter provides the details of Mumma's measurements that show that the level of methane in the Martian atmosphere was about 10 parts per billion, averaged across the full atmosphere of Mars. It points out how all the early 2004 announcements about methane on Mars received immediate attention in the popular press.

RAS200: bringing astronomy and geophysics to new audiences

<p>This year sees the Royal Astronomical Society – the oldest learned society covering astronomy and geophysics in the world – celebrate its 200<sup>th</sup> anniversary. In the run up to 2020, the RAS initiated an outreach and engagement scheme aimed at bringing the society’s sciences to new audiences, those who might not normally attend public lectures, planetarium shows or even star-gazing evenings. Committing £1 million to the project, the RAS deliberately sought out new partners who would take it out of its comfort zone with a bottom-up funding scheme making up to £100k available for five-year projects. Competition for the funding was fierce with just 12 projects funded out of more than 150 applications.</p> <p> </p> <p>Starting in 2015, the Prince’s Trust has used astronomy to inspire young people who have had some of the hardest starts in life. Carers who hardly ever get a break from their duties are funded to spend weekends learning about the stars on the Scottish island of Coll. A new planetarium show using Holst’s classic “Planet Suite” and modern adaptations brings the heavens in Full-dome 360 animation to audiences via mobile planetaria. New courses for adults who missed out on their education first time round have been developed. And Welsh cultural festivals now resonate to poetry, dance and music inspired by astronomy.</p> <p> </p> <p>Starting two years later, geophysics is being used to engage football crowds with science, and prisoners are being helped maintain links with their families through astronomy. In Cornwall, Galway and South Africa, artworks, trails and exhibitions are taking astronomy out to local people. And young girls and women in the Girl Guides have new badges to work for. All of these projects, too, are being adapted to suit people on the autistic spectrum.  All projects are being evaluated and all publicised as widely as possible.</p> <p> </p>