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“Upstate NY Stargazing” Series At newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com – Summaries And Links For The Last Few Months

The old adage “if you want to really learn something, teach it” has been in full effect these past few months with the writing of the UNY Stargazing series for newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com (which don’t combine the comments and shares. You have to go to both!). Firstly, it is excellent practice for anyone doing astronomy outreach to try to capture all of the events and observing opportunities that a new or casual observer might find interesting – while providing enough extra detail to whet the appetites of those reading with a wikipedia tab open (which remains the go-to for astro consistently accurate astronomy information). Secondly, if helps sharpen the editorial blade – such as by not using the word “old” to qualify “adage” when you’re really trying to keep it to 2500 words.

After 11 months of articles, the UNYStargazing template is fairly matured, Stellarium has moved well into advanced topics stage, and the many astronomy clubs that have allowed their public events to be posted have all resulted in an increasingly smooth and, hopefully, informative read.

Having ignored this blog generally recently, here’s the last four months in rapid succession:

Upstate NY Stargazing in February: Lunar eclipse, Kopernik star party, ‘Dog Nights of Winter’

* newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2017/02/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_february…

* syracuse.com/outdoors/2017/02/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_february…

Featuring a washed-out lunar eclipse and one of Larry Slosberg’s great lunar images.

Upstate NY Stargazing In March: Messier Marathon and the Lunar Occultation of Aldebaran

* syracuse.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2017/02/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_march…

* newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2017/02/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_march…

Friend and Kopernik Astronomical Society member George Normandin provided the eye candy to start the March article, which included a discussion of Messier Objects (such as M31, M32, and M110) still long enough to get the editor’s attention (but it was about Messier Objects and sometimes you have to say stuff). The Lunar occultation of Aldebaran was pointed out to the ASRAS email list by Brad Timerson and then promoted on the CNYO website.

Upstate NY stargazing in April: Comet hunting and the Lyrid meteor shower

* newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2017/03/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_april…

* syracuse.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2017/03/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_april…

Brad Loperfido of Revette Studio and the CNYO Facebook Group had an amazing capture of Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak, M97, and M108, allowing for a final addition to the Messier Object discussion with the objects that Messier was most interested in finding – comets. The month also included a washed-out Lyrid Meteor Shower peak and a proper shout-out to astronomy.fm.

Upstate NY stargazing in May: A meteor shower and preparations for the solar eclipse

* newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2017/05/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_may…

* syracuse.com/outdoors/2017/05/upstate_ny_stargazing_in_may…

The first in the series prepping for the great North American eclipse on August 21st of this year, featuring a NASA/SDO/AIA image (our tax dollars at work) and a continuation of the discussion of circumpolar constellations (which will get a full summary in four more articles).

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“Upstate NY Stargazing In January” Article Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

Caption: The Flame and Horsehead Nebulae in the constellation Orion the Hunter. The belt star Alnitak is the brightest star in the image, just above the Flame Nebula. Image by Mike Selby, Andrew Chatman (member of ASRAS-Rochester Astronomy Club) and Stefan Schmidt at SC Observatory, Samphran, Thailand. Downloadable images: 3000×1956 6436×4196.

The latest article in the Upstate NY Stargazing series, “Upstate NY Stargazing in January: Quadrantid meteors and Winter’s best early evenings,” has just been posted to newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com.

Direct Link: newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2017/01/…_winters_best_early_eveni.html

Direct Link: www.syracuse.com/outdoors/2017/01/…_winters_best_early_eveni.html

Anyone clicking on the link will be treated to a remarkable image of the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae, next to the belt-edge star Alnitak in the constellation Orion the Hunter. With the kind reproduction permissions from Andrew Chatman of ASRAS, I’ve included the hi-res version of the image (lonked in the caption above) for your downloading and desktop-background-ing pleasure.

The Quadrantids turned out to be a wash for CNY, but we’ve had a few crystal clear nights near the New Moon for planetary and other observing. With, perhaps, a last major focus on Orion this year, a How-To seeking guide for nearby constellations using Orion was included in the article (reproduced below with caption).

Caption: Orion can guide you around its neighborhood. Red = belt stars to Sirius and Canis Major; Orange = Rigel and belt center to Gemini; Yellow = Bellatrix and Betelgeuse to Canis Minor; Green = Belt stars to Aldebaran and Taurus; Blue = Saiph and Orion’s head to Capella in Auriga. Click for a larger view.

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“November Stargazing In Upstate NY” And “Upstate NY Stargazing In December” Articles Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

They’re still settling on the title.

2016 has been a looooong year in many respects (and I’m not even taking about Bowie, Prince, Cohen, Hutcherson, Bley, Glass, Schulten, Minksy, and now Glenn, to name but a few), made all the more difficult by many of the most significant events happening without warning and/or adequate statistical analysis.

Amateur astronomers, on the other hand, have had thousands and tens of thousands and maybe millions of years of advanced notice that 2016 was going to stink – at least for meteor showers. The timing of Full Moons this year has meant that the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids were all going to occur in the presence of considerable lunar glow, wiping out the quality of all but the brightest shooting stars.

So, how doe one remain optimistic in the face of physics?

Continue reading ““November Stargazing In Upstate NY” And “Upstate NY Stargazing In December” Articles Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com”

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Jam Factory Induction Into The Syracuse Area Music Awards (“The SAMMYS”) Hall Of Fame, 3-4 March 2016

SAMMYS 2016 - Jam Factory plus members of the Hoffman family

Before the year passes completely… I had the distinct pleasure of subbing for Joe English earlier this year thanks to a kind offer from local CNY great Mark Hoffmann and his funky-as-hell son Gustavioso. The equally formidable Syracuse band Jam Factory was inducted into the 2016 SAMMYS (Syracuse Area Music Awards) Hall of Fame, joining the likes of 805, Bill Knowlton, Calvin Custer, and Benny Mardones (now that’s eclectic).

A snippet from Walt Shepperd’s Syracuse New Times article:

The mythology of the time had band manager, the late Joe Leonard, signing the contract while relaxing in a bathtub after Jam Factory had opened to a standing ovation when they appeared with Hot Tuna at the Fillmore East. Word was Columbia saw Jam Factory as a threat to the genre Sly and the Family Stone was establishing, and wanted to stash them away on the vinyl shelf.

Continue reading “Jam Factory Induction Into The Syracuse Area Music Awards (“The SAMMYS”) Hall Of Fame, 3-4 March 2016″

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Solution Structure And Constrained Molecular Dynamics Study Of Vitamin B12 Conjugates Of The Anorectic Peptide PYY(3-36)

#50, published in ChemMedChem (11 (2016), 9, 1015-1020), DOI:cmdc.201600073.

The key to molecular dynamics simulations is recycling – specifically, going into a first project with enough organization to know how to use everything in the next study. While that first successful connectivity table, parameter assignment, and RESP charge generation for something as Frankenstein-esque as vitamin B12 is the north face of Everest, that next simulation is simply a matter of having atom codes in your PDB file standardized.

And, speaking of PDBs, article #50 has the added bonus of having its own entry in the Protein Databank as 2NA5 – quite a treat (to me, anyway).

And furthermore, this is the first of my publications to benefit from the Research Computing infrastructure on the Syracuse University campus – the throughput of calculations for future work is completely unprecedented in my history of resource access anywhere (the drop in storage prices is very real to some of us).

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Authors: Henry K.E., Kerwood D.J., Allis D.G., Workinger J.L., Bonaccorso R.L., Holz G.G., Roth C.L., Zubieta J., and Doyle R.P.

Abstract: Vitamin B12–peptide conjugates have considerable therapeutic potential through improved pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic properties imparted on the peptide upon covalent attachment to vitamin B12 (B12). There remains a lack of structural studies investigating the effects of B12 conjugation on peptide secondary structure. Determining the solution structure of a B12–peptide conjugate or conjugates and measuring functions of the conjugate(s) at the target peptide receptor may offer considerable insight concerning the future design of fully optimized conjugates. This methodology is especially useful in tandem with constrained molecular dynamics (MD) studies, such that predictions may be made about conjugates not yet synthesized. Focusing on two B12 conjugates of the anorectic peptide PYY(3–36), one of which was previously demonstrated to have improved food intake reduction compared with PYY(3–36), we performed NMR structural analyses and used the information to conduct MD simulations. The study provides rare structural insight into vitamin B12 conjugates and validates the fact that B12 can be conjugated to a peptide without markedly affecting peptide secondary structure.

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“Upstate NY Stargazing In October” Article Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

The fourth article in the series – “Upstate NY stargazing in October: Prominent constellations of summer and winter visible on Autumn nights” – is available for your reading and critical review at newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com. The editors are still having a bit of fun with the word arrangement in the headline (I suspect the newest version was selected to get rid of the double “in” – but can’t speak to the seasonal capitalization preferences – I trust in my editors), but everything else is going fairly smoothly.

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Mars to find other. Click for a larger view.

I lament the lack of any mention of the Orionid Meteor Shower, which won’t be impressive anyway thanks to the Moon, but should still have been included for monthly completeness. What would have been included in the article is provided below:

Meteor Showers: Orionids, Oct. 2 – Nov. 7, Peaking Oct. 20

Meteor showers are the result of the Earth passing through the debris field of a comet or asteroid. As these objects approach the warming sun in their long orbits, they leave tiny bits behind – imagine pebbles popping out the back of a large gravel truck on an increasingly bumpy road. In the case of meteor showers, the brilliant streaks you see are due to particles no larger than grains of sand. The Earth plows through the swarm of these tiny particles at up-to 12 miles-per-second. High in the upper atmosphere, these particles burn up due to friction and ionize the air around them, producing the long light trails we see. We can predict the peak observing nights for a meteor shower because we know when and where in Earth’s orbit we’ll pass through the same part of the Solar System – this yearly periodicity in meteor activity is what let us identity and name meteor showers well before we ever had evidence of what caused them.

The name of each meteor shower is based on the constellation from which the shooting stars appear to radiate – a position in the sky we call the radiant. In the case of the Orionids, the meteor shower radiant appears to be to the north/above of the belt and left shoulder of Orion, which rises from the east after 11 p.m. this month. The meteor shower itself is provided to us by Halley’s Comet, and is the best of the meteor showers associated with Halley’s debris field.

How to observe: Sadly, the Moon will be prominent in the late-night/early-morning sky during the days around the Orionid peak, making for a far less impressive display. The Orionids are not known for their impressive counts either, with 10 to 20 meteors per hour expected.

Orion marks the position of the meteor shower radiant, meaning the meteors themselves will seem to shoot roughly from the east to the west. To optimize your experience, lie flat on the ground with your feet pointed east and your head elevated – meteors will then appear to fly right over and around you. Counts and brightness tend to increase the later you stay out, with peak observing times usually between midnight and 4 a.m. The swarm of tiny particles is distributed broadly in orbit, meaning some people may shooting stars associated with the Orionids anytime this month.

Also, kudos to friend and fellow space trucker Prof. John McMahon for one orientational catch – the following:

Starting around mid-October, Jupiter will peak above the Western horizon just after 6:30 a.m.

should read:

Starting around mid-October, Jupiter will peak above the Eastern horizon just after 6:30 a.m.

The ability to iterate with the newspaper after providing the full content is perfectly encapsulated in a Charlie Rouse comment about Thelonious Monk in “Straight, No Chaser” – which I totally understand.

2016oct5_charlierouse“You know that you got to play correctly the first or second take or that’s it. He would take it anyhow. You mess up, well that’s it. You know, that’s your problem. You have to hear that all the rest of your life.”

For interested parties, this article also marks the second (and final) official mention (to the best of my knowledge) of our upcoming MOST/TACNY/CNYO hosting of International Observe The Moon Night on Saturday, October 8th. At present, the weather is looking less-than promising for even lunar observing, but plans are underway to handle the crowd either way.

If it rains Saturday night, then I recommend the following:

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“Stargazing In Upstate NY In September” Article Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

The third article in the series – “Stargazing in Upstate NY in September: Look for more subtle objects on autumn nights” – is available for your reading and critical review at newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com. I’m pleased to report that we’ve hit our stride with the formatting and content transfer, and I can only hope the star charts make sense in their current forms.

For interested parties, this article also marks the first official mention (to the best of my knowledge) of our upcoming MOST/TACNY/CNYO hosting of International Observe The Moon Night on Saturday, October 8th. Additional details to follow, but expect the observing to happen somewhere around The MOST itself.

image_1__2016sept_smdomecomposite

Extra-special thanks to Nick Lamendola from the Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science (image above, taken from the grounds of my new observing stomping grounds at the Farash Center – click for a larger view) for the use of his Perseid composite as the article opener (one of the benefits of being a member of several local clubs is the listserve content – and the many fantastic images that fly by on a weekly basis).

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The Methodist Bells And Colin Phils – Highlights Of Sub Rosa Session #32 At Subcat Studios, 21 August 2016

Posting for historical purposes, given the great recording and video that came from the session.

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The Methodist Bells (bandcamp facebook) had the pleasure of performing a 3/4 set on Sunday, August 21st at (my first drum teacher, Ron Keck’s) Subcat Studios for Sub Rosa Session #32. Closing for the Bells (well, I think it’s funny) was recently-US-returned-and-immediately-thereafter-Binghamton-bound Colin Phils (bandcamp facebook), who put on a fantastic trio show (and, with one of the wooden USBs in tow, I can say that their previous two albums are excellent as well).

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“The band. The band. THE BAND!” Adam, me, Leah, Clem, Jeremy, et Maurice.

Alice In The Sky, featuring an Allis On The Ground

With thanks to Amanda Rogers for organizing, Subcat, The Rebel 105.9 (we don’t get it in Rochester, though), The Syracuse New Times, D.I.T. Records, and my current contributing writer hosters at syracuse.com for making the session and recording possible, a video work-up of “Alice In The Sky” is provided below for your viewing and listening pleasure (courtesy youtube.com).

On day two of an 11-hour jet lag, hadn’t played in a month, stuck behind a poorly-left-ified kit, and still sound good.

The Colin Phils tune “Don Cabs” is included below. I was (admittedly) ready to sneak out early, but ended up staying for the whole set (that’s musician-speak for “great show”).

BONUS MATERIAL

Our fearless leader Clem Coleman (twitter facebook) was featured in a recent Daily Orange article, in which I make my third (known) appearance in the DO ever since starting at SU in 1994.

Link: dailyorange.com/…/otro-cinco-chef-creates-vintage-inspired-music…

PDF (local, for posterity): 2016sept7_methodistbells_dailyorange.pdf

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“Stargazing In Upstate New York” – Links To The First Two Columns At newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

Free press all around,

In the interest of aggregation, quick post linking the first two in a new series of astronomy articles on newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com. There’s an old adage in academia – “You don’t really know something until you can teach it.” To that end, these articles and their associated research prep are great fun and yet another excellent excuse to go out at night and compare the planetarium apps to the real thing (for which both Starry Night Pro and Stellarium are excellent organizational proxies. I’m currently leaning on Stellarium for the imagery because others who might get bit by the astronomy bug can download it for free and follow along. That said, Starry Night Pro is still my workhorse for fine detail as Stellarium continues to develop).

2016july1_scorpius

When the article series was first proposed, the goal for the Syracuse Media Group folks was to provide people in upstate some basic information for what was up and about in the night sky – when you step outside, what’s there to find? My hope is to provide the non-observer and novice observer just enough information to whet the appetite, hopefully coaxing readers to take some quality looks and, if all goes well, to seek out their local astronomy club for some serious observing – and learning.

Night sky-gazing in Upstate NY: What to look for in July

– newyorkupstate.com article @ newyorkupstate.com…_look_for_in_july.html

– syracuse.com article @ syracuse.com…_look_for_in_july.html

Introducing the article organization, with first looks, spotting the International Space Station (ISS), moon phases, visible planets, and a constellation-a-month identifier to close it all.

Stargazing in Upstate NY in August: See the Milky Way, Perseid meteor shower

– newyorkupstate.com article @ newyorkupstate.com…_meteor_shower.html

– syracuse.com article @ syracuse.com…_meteor_shower.html

The series started just in time to highlight the Perseid Meteor Shower (and get its first linking to thanks to Glenn Coin’s article as we approached the Perseid peak), then August was chock full of interesting planetary events. The August article was also a first exposure to the issues of episodic astronomy – how to be as minimally referential as possible in any single article to previous articles (which is not easy given how much the search for constellations historically has involved the finding of a bright one to orient observers to a dimmer one).

July hit 78 shares on newyorkupstate.com, August hit 4400 – at that rate, the whole world will see the October article.

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Peptide Springiness By Terahertz Spectroscopy – An Upcoming Cover For Angewandte Chemie (And A POV-Ray File For Generating Springs)

image_m_anie201603825-toc-0001-m

From: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201603825/full

Image caption: An approach combining terahertz spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and solid-state density functional theory was utilized to accurately measure the elasticities of poly-l-proline helices by probing their spring-like vibrational motions. In their communication (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201602268), T. M. Korter and co-workers reveal that poly-l-proline is less rigid than commonly expected, and that the all-cis and all-trans helical forms exhibit significantly different Young’s moduli.

Article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201602268/abstract

Continue reading “Peptide Springiness By Terahertz Spectroscopy – An Upcoming Cover For Angewandte Chemie (And A POV-Ray File For Generating Springs)”