[SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Discovering New Worlds Nov 3, Chi Cygni Brightening, Cassini Mission Update Nov 12 and Halloween Pair

[Bob & Brenda Havner]

Trick or Treat,

Here are some exclusive Bay Area treats for all to enjoy.

 From Katie Berryhill of CAS:
Escape from the last-minute campaign ads! Join us for the next Benjamin Dean 
Lecture on
Monday, November 3. We will be joined by Dr. Rachel Street of Las Cumbres 
Observatory and
the SuperWASP project. Her talk, Discovering New Worlds, will begin at 7:30 
pm.

" Humans have wondered about the existence of other planets since ancient 
times. We live
in an exciting era when we are discovering planets in other star systems. 
These systems
are turning out to be far more diverse and extraordinary than we ever 
expected. This talk
will follow the time line of discovery, tracking the search for extra-solar 
planets from
the early false starts to the outstanding successes of recent years.  Along 
the way, we'll
look at how these elusive objects can be found, what we have learned about 
them so far and
end with a look at what forthcoming space missions may tell us."

The lecture will be held in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of 
San Francisco
(3200 California Street). We hope to see you there! Two lectures to go 
before the return
of the Dean Series to the Morrison Planetarium in Golden Gate Park. Be sure 
to be a part
of the 20th anniversary of the series in 2009!

Benjamin Dean Lecture Series
Morrison Planetarium
California Academy of Sciences
deanseries at calacademy.org
www.calacademy.org
www.calacademy.org/events/index.php
(415) 379-8000

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 From Pat Donnelly of FPOA:
I have been observing Chi Cygni again.  Chi is now a naked eye star in 
Cygnus.  Its
magnitude is approximately +4.0 and is about as bright as η-Cygni, which is 
also at
magnitude +4.0.  Chi is a Mira type variable located in Cygnus near Alberio. 
Since Oct 2
Chi has brightened from about magnitude +7.3 to around +4.5. In the last 
week Chi has
brightened about a half a magnitude.  The date of maximum brightness is 
somewhere between
November 3 and November 11.  This means that Chi could still brighten some 
more and
possibly exceed its 2006 outburst, when it reached +3.4.  It is quite red 
this time, and
it rivals μ-Cephei in its redness.  Find a dark spot and look for the new 
guest star in
Cygnus.  When completely dark, Cygnus is located approximately overhead.
Let Pat know if you can see it naked eye.  pmdonnelly at duke-energy.com


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 From Andy Fraknoi of ASP and Foothill College:
On Wednesday, November 12, at 7 pm, Astronomer Mark Showalter of the SETI 
Institute will
give a non-technical, illustrated talk on:

Saturn's Restless Rings: Latest Results from the Cassini Mission

as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, 
Foothill
College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California.
Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2.
Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving 
directions.
No background in science will be required for this talk.  Seating is first 
come, first served.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has just entered its fifth year exploring the 
planet Saturn. Its
cameras and other instruments continue to send back to Earth a treasure 
trove
of new information about the planet, its rings, and its large family of 
fascinating moons.
  Dr. Showalter will share some of the marvelous pictures from Saturn and 
take a
close-up look at the "lord of the rings".

Whereas we once believed Saturn's rings to be stable for millions of years, 
we are
learning that some of the rings can change in appearance over time scales as 
brief as
decades, or sometimes even days. The rings have revealed a variety of 
surprising
phenomena, including "jets", "propellers", "wisps", "spokes", and "braids". 
We are
interested in Saturn's rings not only for their own sake, but also because 
in them we
observe some of the same processes that formed our
Solar System out of a cloud of dust and debris long ago.

Dr. Mark Showalter is a Principal Investigator at the SETI Institute in 
Mountain View,
whose research focuses primarily on ring-moon systems. He has been a member 
of the Cassini
science team for nearly a decade, and had a lead role in planning some of 
Cassini's
observations. Dr. Showalter is the discoverer of Jupiter's
outermost ring, Saturn's moon Pan, and two moons and two faint rings of 
Uranus.

The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program
* The SETI Institute
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

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Halloween Sky Show from Science @ NASA:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/28oct_halloweensky.htm?list952977

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