ASTRONOMY NEWS AND EVENTS

Galactic Assault by a Black Hole

A powerful jet from a supermassive black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy, according to new data from NASA observatories. This never-before witnessed galactic violence may have a profound effect on planets in the jet's path and trigger a burst of star birth in its destructive wake.

These events are playing out in a faraway binary galaxy system known as 3C321. Two galaxies are in orbit around one another. A supermassive black hole at the core of the system's larger galaxy is spewing a jet in the direction of its smaller companion.

Jets from super massive black holes produce large amounts of radiation, especially high-energy X-rays and gamma-rays, which can be lethal in large quantities. The combined effects of this radiation and particles traveling at almost the speed of light could severely damage the atmospheres of planets lying in the path of the jet. For example, protective layers of ozone in the upper atmosphere of planets could be destroyed.

The effect of the jet on the companion galaxy is likely to be substantial, because the galaxies in 3C321 are extremely close at a distance of only about 20,000 light years apart. They lie approximately the same distance as Earth is from the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

The jet and galactic assault were discovered through the combined efforts of both space and ground-based telescopes. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope were part of the effort. Two sophisticated radio telescopes--the Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico, and the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) in the United Kingdom--were also needed for the finding.

To learn more, visit these links:

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory:
http://chandra.harvard.edu/

Space Telescope Science Institute:
http://www.stsci.edu/resources/

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope:
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/

NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico:
http://www.vla.nrao.edu/

The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) in the United Kingdom:
http://www.merlin.ac.uk/


Scientists Find Another Source of Cosmic Dust

Scientists in California have uncovered the best evidence yet that cosmic dust in the early universe mostly came from the explosions of giant stars.

The Spitzer Space Telescope recently detected large amounts of space dust, 10,000 Earth masses worth, in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A located 11,000 light-years away.
The discovery comes two months after Spitzer found freshly made dust in the wind bursting out of super-massive black holes.

Astronomers believe both supernovae and quasars are responsible for the dust that helped seed early stars. Dust is essential in the cooling process to make stars, which are predominantly gas.

Researchers at NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology analyzed infrared light from the supernova and constructed maps of the dust to determine the quantity and composition.

Results will be published in the January 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

To learn more, check out the home page of the Spitzer Space Telescope: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu


International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009)

On Thursday morning, December 20, the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be the International Year of Astronomy, to mark the 400th anniversary of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei's first observations using a telescope.

The UN 62nd General Assembly made the proclamation in Paris, after the resolution was submitted by Italy, Galileo's home country.

The International Astronomical Union and UNESCO will jointly run the initiative with 99 nations participating.

The focus of the UN program will be on astronomy for the masses. "The IYA2009 is, first and foremost, an activity for the citizens of planet Earth," the UN said in a statement. "It aims to convey the excitement of personal discovery, the pleasure of sharing fundamental knowledge about the universe and our place in it, and the merits of the scientific method."

Each year the UN proclaims a number of resolutions to connect certain calendar years with global issues and activities. In four separate declarations, the UN has proclaimed 2008 as the international year of sanitation, languages, planet Earth and the potato.

To learn more, check out the home page of the International Year of Astronomy 2009:
http://www.astronomy2009.org/


Jets Are a Real Drag

Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of matter spiraling outward from a young, still-forming star in fountain-like jets. Because of the spiral motion, the jets help the star to grow by drawing angular momentum from the surrounding accretion disk. Theorists knew that a star had to shed angular momentum as it formed, but this is the first evidence to support the theory.

Angular momentum is the tendency for a spinning object to continue spinning. It applies to star formation because a star forms at the center of a rotating disk of hydrogen gas. A star grows by gathering material from the disk. However, gas cannot fall inward toward the star until that gas sheds its excess angular momentum.

As hydrogen nears the star, a fraction of the gas is ejected outward perpendicular to the disk in opposite directions, like water from a fire hose, in a bipolar jet. If the gas spirals around the axis of the jet, then it will carry angular momentum with it away from the star.

Using the Submillimeter Array (SMA), an international team of astronomers observed an object called Herbig-Haro 211 (HH 211), located about 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. HH 211 is a bipolar jet traveling through interstellar space at supersonic speeds. The central protostar is about 20,000 years old with a mass only six percent the mass of our Sun. It eventually will grow into a star like the Sun.

The astronomers found clear evidence for rotation in the bipolar jet. Gas within the jet swirls around at speeds of more than 3,000 miles per hour, while also blasting away from the star at a velocity greater than 200,000 miles per hour.

In the future, the team plans to take a closer, more detailed look at HH 211. They also hope to observe additional protostar-jet systems.

A paper on this work was published in the December 1 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

The paper was authored by Chin-Fei Lee (Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, or ASIAA), Paul Ho (ASIAA and CfA), Aina Palau (Laboratorio de Astrofisica Espacial y Fisica Fundamental), Naomi Hirano (ASIAA), Tyler Bourke (CfA), Hsien Shang (ASIAA), and Qizhou Zhang (CfA).

The Submillimeter Array is an 8-element interferometer located atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Academia Sinica of Taiwan.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.

To learn more, visit these home pages
The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics:
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/

The Submillimeter Array (SMA):
http://sma1.sma.hawaii.edu/


Exoplanet Reflected Light Detected

The ability to explore remote worlds in space has been enhanced through a polarization technique that allows the first ever detection of light reflected by extrasolar planets (exoplanets). The study has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Svetlana Berdyugina of ETH Zurich's Institute of Astronomy, has for the first time ever been able to detect and monitor the visible light that is scattered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. Employing techniques similar to how Polaroid sunglasses filter away reflected sunlight to reduce glare, the team of scientists were able to extract polarized light to enhance the faint reflected starlight 'glare' from an exoplanet. As a result, the scientists could infer the size of its swollen atmosphere. They also directly traced the orbit of the planet, a feat of visualization not possible using indirect methods.

The transiting exoplanet under study circles the dwarf star HD189733 in the constellation Vulpecula and lies more than 60 light years from the earth. Known as HD189733b, this exoplanet was discovered two years ago via Doppler spectroscopy. HD189733b is so close to its parent star that its atmosphere expands from the heat. Until now, astronomers have never seen light reflected from an exoplanet, although they have deduced from other observations that HD189733b probably resembles a 'hot Jupiter' - a planet orbiting extremely closely to its parent star. Unlike Jupiter, however, HD189733b orbits its star in a couple of days rather than the 12 years it takes Jupiter to make one orbit of the sun.

The international team, consisting of Svetlana Berdyugina, Dominique Fluri (ETH Zurich), Andrei Berdyugin and Vilppu Piirola (Tuorla Observatory, Finland), used the 60cm KVA telescope by remote control. The telescope, which belongs to the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, is located at La Palma, Spain and was modernized by scientists in Finland. The researchers obtained polarimetric measurements of the star and its planet. They discovered that polarization peaks near the moments when half of the planet is illuminated by the star as seen from the earth. Such events occur twice during the orbit, similar to half-moon phases.

The polarization indicates that the scattering atmosphere is considerably larger (>30%) than the opaque body of the planet seen during transits and most probably consists of particles smaller than half a micron, for example atoms, molecules, tiny dust grains or perhaps water vapor, which was recently suggested to be present in the atmosphere. Such particles effectively scatter blue light - in exactly the same scattering process that creates the blue sky of the earth's atmosphere. The scientists were also able for the first time to recover the orientation of the planet's orbit and trace its motion in the sky.

To learn more visit the home page of the Institute of Astronomy ETH Zurich:
http://www.astro.phys.ethz.ch/


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MARS IS COMING, PART 9 (MARS IS HERE)

As we bask in the light of Mars, please enjoy this, this last of our 9-part series on the Red Planet.


Spacecraft Exploration, Mapping Mars, and The Question of Life

Spacecraft Exploration

Since humans began sending rockets into space, Mars has been a focus of planetary exploration for three main reasons: first, it is the most Earth-like of the planets; second, other than Earth, it is the planet most likely to have developed indigenous life; and third, it will probably be the first extraterrestrial planet to be visited by humans. Between 1960 and 1980 the exploration of Mars was a major objective of both the U.S. and Soviet space programs. U.S. spacecraft successfully flew by Mars (Mariners 4, 6, and 7), orbited the planet (Mariner 9 and Vikings 1 and 2), and placed landers on its surface (Vikings 1 and 2). Three Soviet probes (Mars 2, 3, and 5) also investigated Mars, two of them reaching its surface. Mars 3 was the first spacecraft to soft-land an instrumented capsule on the planet, on December 2, 1971; landing during a planetwide dust storm, the device returned data for about 20 seconds.

Mariner 9, the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, entered orbit November 1971 and operated until October 1972. It returned a wide variety of spectroscopic, radio-propagation, and photographic data. Some 7,330 pictures covering 80 percent of the surface showing a history of widespread volcanism, ancient erosion by water, and reshaping of extensive areas of the surface by internal forces.

The central theme of the Viking missions was the search for extraterrestrial life. No definite evidence of biological activity was found, but the various instruments on the two orbiters and two landers returned detailed information about Martian geology, meteorology, and the physics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere. Vikings 1 and 2 were placed into orbit during June and August 1976, respectively. Lander modules descended to the surface from the orbiters after suitable sites were found. Viking 1 landed in the region of Chryse Planitia (Plain of Gold, 22° N, 48° W) on July 20, 1976, and Viking 2 landed 6,500 km (4,000 miles) away in Utopia Planitia (Plain of Utopia, 48° N, 226° W) on September 3, 1976.

In 1988 Soviet scientists launched a pair of spacecraft, Phobos 1 and 2, to orbit Mars and make slow flyby observations of its two satellites. Phobos 1 failed during the yearlong flight, but Phobos 2 reached Mars in early 1989 and returned several days of observations of both the planet and Phobos before malfunctioning.

Amid failures of several U.S. spacecraft missions to Mars in the 1990s, Mars Pathfinder successfully set down in Ares Vallis (Greek for Mars Valley), the end of one outflow channel emptying into Chryse Planitia (19° N, 33° W) on July 4, 1997, and deployed a robotic wheeled rover called Sojourner on the surface. This was followed by Mars Global Surveyor, which reached Mars in September 1997 and systematically mapped various properties of the planet from orbit for several years beginning in March 1999. These included Mars's gravity and magnetic fields, surface topography, and surface mineralogy. The spacecraft also carried cameras for making both wide-angle and detailed images of the surface at resolutions down to 1.5 meters (5 feet). Mars Odyssey safely entered Mars orbit in October 2001 and started mapping other properties, including the chemical composition of the surface, the distribution of near-surface ice, and the physical properties of near-surface materials.

A wave of spacecraft converged on Mars in late 2003 and early 2004 with mixed outcomes. Nozomi, launched by Japan in 1998 on a leisurely trajectory, was the first reach the vicinity of the planet, but malfunctions prevented it from being put into Mars orbit. In mid-2003 the European Space Agency's Mars Express was launched on a half-year journey to the Red Planet. Carrying instruments to study the atmosphere, surface, and subsurface, it entered Mars orbit on December 25; however, its lander, named Beagle 2, which was to examine the rocks and soil for signs of past or present life, failed to establish radio contact after presumably descending to the Martian surface the same day. Within weeks of its arrival, the Mars Express orbiter detected vast fields of water ice as well as carbon dioxide ice at the southern pole and confirmed that the southern summer remnant cap, like the northern one, contains permanently frozen water.

Also launched in mid-2003 was the U.S. Mars Exploration Rover Mission, which comprised twin robotic landers, Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit touched down in Gusev Crater (15° S, 175° E) on January 3, 2004. Three weeks later, on January 24, Opportunity landed in Meridiani Planum (2° S, 6° W), on the opposite side of planet. The six-wheeled rovers, each equipped with cameras and a suite of instruments that included a microscopic imager and a rock-grinding tool, analyzed the rocks, soil, and dust around their landing sites, which had been chosen because they appeared to have been affected by water in Mars's past. Both rovers found evidence of past water; perhaps the most dramatic was the discovery by Opportunity of rocks that appeared to have been laid down at the shoreline of an ancient body of salty water.

Mapping Mars

The first known map of Mars was produced in 1830 by Wilhelm Wolff Beer (1797-1850) and Johann Heinrich von Mädler (1794-1874) of Germany. The Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (1835-1910) prepared the first modern astronomical map of Mars in 1877, which contained the basis of the system of nomenclature still in use today. The names on his map are in Latin and are formulated predominantly in terms of the ancient geography of the Mediterranean area. This map also showed, for the first time, indications of an interconnecting system of straight lines on the bright areas that he described as canali (Italian: “channels”). Schiaparelli is usually credited with their first description, but his fellow countryman Pietro Angelo Secchi (1818-1878) developed the idea of canali about a decade earlier. In 1894 the American astronomer Percival Lowell (1855-1916) established an observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, specifically to observe Mars, and he produced ever more elaborate maps of the Martian canals until his death.

Observations made by Mariner 9 and subsequent Mars-orbiting spacecraft have led to many maps of topography, geology, temperature, mineral distributions, and a variety of other data. After Mariner 9, the prime meridian on Mars, the equivalent of the Greenwich meridian on Earth, was defined as passing through a small crater named Airy-0 within the larger crater Airy. Longitude was measured in degrees that increase to the west of this meridian completely around the planet. Later some scientists expressed a preference for a coordinate system having longitude that increases to the east of the prime meridian. Consequently, maps of Mars were published with either or both of these systems.

The Question of Life

The possible presence of life on Mars has been an essential element of general discussions of the planet since Schiaparelli first included canali on his maps. Lowell was particularly responsible for popularizing the notion that these markings were the result of biological activity, intelligent or otherwise. Nevertheless, as discussed above in the section Surface features, it has been clear since the 1960s that such features do not exist.

The biological experiments aboard the two Viking landers addressed three issues: first, the nature of organic material, if any, on the Martian surface, second, the possible presence of objects on the surface whose appearance or motion would suggest living or fossilized organisms, and third, the possible presence in Martian soil of agents that, under prescribed conditions, could indicate metabolic processes. The results related to the first issue were definite and unambiguous—a direct, extremely sensitive chemical analysis of samples at both lander sites showed no trace of complex organic materials. Addressing the second issue, the cameras on the landers found no evidence of biological agents or activity.

Three separate instruments addressed the last issue. One, the pyrolytic release experiment, was designed to look for signs of photosynthesis or chemosynthesis—that is, signs of biological activity supported by solar or chemical energy, respectively—in samples of Martian soil. This experiment produced some positive indications, but the experimenters thought that they could be best explained by non-biological processes. A second experiment, called the gas exchange experiment, measured gases released from a soil sample as it was exposed to a humid atmosphere or treated with a solution of organic nutrients. This experiment also produced a positive result in that the soil samples liberated substantial quantities of oxygen in response to the nutrient. This reaction, however, also occurred even after samples had been baked on-site at 145 °C (293 °F) for three hours, leading experimenters to conclude that the source of oxygen was non-biological. Finally, the labeled release experiment looked for the release of radioactive gas when a soil sample was exposed to a solution of radioactive organic nutrient. A positive result was again obtained, and in this case a baked control sample remained inert, as would be expected if the reaction was caused by a biological agent. Nevertheless, given the results of the other Viking experiments, most investigators think that the results of the labeled release experiment also can be explained non-biologically.

The Martian surface is almost certainly devoid of life at the present time. It is exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun without any reduction in intensity by the atmosphere. Also, organic compounds in the soil are destroyed, probably by a combination of oxidation and photochemical processes. Moreover, average temperatures are so cold and the water content of the atmosphere so low that liquid water, universally accepted as essential for life, is unlikely to be readily available, although it may be episodically and locally available in view of evidence for seemingly recent water-worn gullies (see the section Southern cratered highlands, above). These considerations have encouraged scientists to shift their search for life on Mars to the search for past life. As was indicated above, different lines of evidence suggest that conditions on early Mars were much more hospitable to life than subsequently. If life did gain a foothold, it now may survive only in protected niches well below the hostile surface. The current strategy, therefore, is to focus on evidence of past life and then look for present life below the surface or where liquid water might be episodically available.

This strategy was underscored by the findings from the Martian meteorite ALH84001, which was collected from an Antarctic ice field in 1984. It is the oldest known rock from Mars, having formed about 4.5 billion years ago when the planet itself was accreting. It contains organic materials, evidence of mineral deposition from liquid water, and a number of structures similar to primitive terrestrial fossils. Although most scientists conclude that these findings do not provide good evidence for past life, they have stimulated closer examination of the Martian meteorites and have emphasized the need for obtaining samples from Mars, particularly of ancient rocks that were being formed or were already present when conditions on Mars were more Earth-like.


Bibliography

Mars. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 26, 2007 , from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110149

Mars (2007). In The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2007. Copyright 2007 Columbia University Press. Retrieved October 26, 2007 from Encyclopedia.com
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Mars-ast.html

Planets: Mars. In NASA Solar System Exploration, Last updated October 23, 2007. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from the NASA Solar System Exploration website, maintained by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
http://solarsystem.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mars


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THE SKY THIS WEEK

Dec 31, 2:51 A.M. EST (07:51 UTC) - Last quarter moon

Jan 1 - The dwarf planet Ceres is stationary. The body appears motionless in the sky due to the turning point between its direct and retrograde motion.

Jan 2 - Earth is at perihelion, the point in Earth's orbit when it is closest to the Sun (0.983 AU from the sun).

Jan 3 - The moon is at apogee, the point in the Moon's orbit when it is farthest from Earth.

Jan 3 - Peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower. Meteors from the Quadrantid shower may be visible from January 1 through 6 with the peak on January 3/4. The meteor hourly rates may range from 40 to possibly 110 at the shower's peak. The meteors will appear to originate from a point in the sky near the constellation of Boötes the Herdsman (RA 15hrs 28min, Dec +50°) high in the eastern sky. This is not a prime time shower. Ambitious observers will either have to get up very early or stay up very late. And you will only have a few hours to observe. The radiant point of the shower will begin rising about 1:00 a.m. but it will not reach its zenith before sunrise. The Quadrantid shower has no known parent comet. It was first noticed about 1835. Most meteor showers are named after the constellation which contains the radiant. The Quadrantids are the exception to this rule. These meteors come from an area of the now-rejected constellation Quadrans Muralis (the Mural Quantrant), which is now the northern part of the constellation Boötes. A mural quadrant was an early instrument used for measuring declination. It is a large graduated circle with a sighting arm and telescope. The word "mural" indicated that the instrument was
attached to a wall.

Jan 5 - The planet Venus is 7° north of the moon

Jan 5 - The star Antares is 0.5° north of the moon, occultation. An occultation occurs when one object passes in front of a smaller one, temporarily obscuring all or part of the background object from view.


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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

Dec 30, 1985 - Stephen Synnott's discovery of Uranus moon Puck

Dec 31, 1905 - Discovery of Asteroid 583 Klotilde by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa (1848 - 1925)

Jan ??, 2001 - Discovery of NWA 1669 Meteorite (Mars Meteorite)

Jan ??, 2001 - Discovery of NWA 1950 Meteorite (Mars Meteorite)

Jan ??, 2002 - Discovery of NWA 1110 Meteorite (Mars Meteorite)

Jan 1, 1801 - Discovery of the first asteroid (now dwarf planet) Ceres by Italian astronomer Guiseppe Piazzi (1746-1826)

Jan 1, 2005 - Appearance of the really cool JPL/Caltech float in the 2005 Tounament of Roses Parade

Jan 2, 1900 - Birthday of U.S. Astronomer Leslie Copus Peltier (1900 -1980)

Jan 2, 1959 - Launch of Soviet probe Luna 1 (1st Moon Flyby)

Jan 2, 1920 - Birthday of Isaac Asimov (ca. 1920-1992), writer of novels, short stories and textbooks, historian, biochemist, and humorist

Jan 3, 1886 - Birthday of Soviet/Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin (January 3, 1886 [O.S. December 22, 1885] - December 17, 1946)

Jan 3, 1986 - Stephen Synnott's discovery of Uranus moons Juliet & Portia

Jan 3, 2004 - Landing of the Spirit Rover on Mars

Jan 4, 1643 - Birthday of Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 [OS: December 25, 1642] - March 31, 1727 (aged 84) [OS: 20 March1727]), theologian, physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist

Jan 5, 1905 - discovery of Jupiter moon Elara by Argentine astromomer Charles Dillon Perrine (1867-1951)

Jan 5, 1969 - Launch of Soviet probe Venera 5 (Venus Lander)

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MUSICAL DIVERSION

The Scots Musical Museum is a six-volume publication that appeared between 1787 and 1803. Produced in Edinburgh by James Johnson with Stephen Clarke as musical editor, it is considered by many to be the finest collection of Scottish Songs.

The principal contributor, submitting over 300 of the total 600 published songs, without monetary compensation, was Robert Burns (1759 – 1796), a poet, lyricist, farmer, and exciseman (customs agent). He was also known as Rabbie Burns, but his writing earned him other names including the Ploughman Poet and the Bard of Ayrshire, where he spent most of his life. Later, Scotland simply called him The Bard. Burns is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and Scotland's favorite son.

In 1788 Burns set down the words to a particular song and sent it to Johnson soon after. Burns wrote that he "collected" the song from an old man who sang it. Johnson was hesitant to publish the "authentic" song because it contained bits of other old folk songs and poems, including one poem written by Robert Ayton (1570-1638) that Johnson had already published in an earlier volume. In addition, Johson probably knew it was not uncommon for a song collector to compose some or all of their "discovered" songs. In spite of all this, Johnson finally published the song in the fifth volume early in 1797. Sadly, Burns had died about six months earlier, but his letters suggest that Burns had seen proofs of the new volume before his death. The song in question was a tribute to remembered friendships and shared times, entitled "Auld Lang Syne."

The song became popular shortly after it was published, and that popularity spread to other English speaking countries as Scots and other Britons emigrated around the world. The song was often sung as a closing to momentous occasions, including but not limited to dances, comencement excercises and annual associational meetings or conferences. In keeping with this tradition of farewell and rembrance, many also sang it at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day. In Scotland the celebration is called Hogmanay (pronounced "hog-muh-NAY"), meaning the last day of the year.

While "Auld Lang Syne" is still used for various occasions around the world, many in the United States know it only as that song we sing at midnight on New Year's Day. However, that does not lessen the significance of the words and the sentiment they offer.

The pentatonic melody we sing today is not the one that Burns intended. That tune appeared earlier with the Robert Ayton poem. Still, the final melody is a traditional Scots folk tune just the same, first appearing in print in 1700, but possibly older by fifty years or more. It is also possible that it began as a dance tune with a much faster tempo.

"Auld Lang Syne" (pronounced "ald lang sign") is sometimes described as "the song that nobody knows." Even in Scotland, it is rarely sung correctly. Most people sing only the first verse and the chorus, with the last line of the verse changed to "and days of auld lang syne." The Scots words "auld lang syne" literally mean "old long since." In today's English we would probably say "long ago" or "times gone by."

Below are listed three versions of the text. The first is the original submitted by Burns. The second is an English guide to pronouncing the Scots text. The last is an English translation of the Scots text.

-----

Auld Lang Syne
(Scots Text)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o'kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

(chorus)

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
Sin' auld lang syne.

(chorus)

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne.

(chorus)

And there's a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

(chorus)

-----

Auld Lang Syne
(English Pronunciation of Scots Text)

Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
an nivir brocht ti mynd ?
Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
an ald lang syn ?

Chorus:

Fir ald lang syn, ma dir,
fir ald lang syn,
Wil tak a cup o kyndnes yet,
fir ald lang syn.

An sheerly yil bee yur pynt-staup!
an sheerly al bee myn!
An wil tak a recht guid-wullae wocht,
fir ald lang syn.

(chorus)

We twa hay rin aboot the braes,
an pood the gowans fyn;
Bit weev wandert monae a weery fet,
sin ald lang syn.

(chorus)

We twa hay pedilt in the burn,
fray mornin sun til dyn;
But seas a'tween us bred hay roard
sin ald lang syn.

(chorus)

An thers a han, my trustee feer!
an gees a han o thyn!
An will tak a cup o kyndnes yet,
fir ald lang syn.

(chorus)

-----

Auld Lang Syne
(English Translation)

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
And surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

(chorus)

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

(chorus)

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine (dinner time) ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

(chorus)

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

(chorus)

-----


“Auld Lang Syne.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last updated December 29, 2007 18:33 UTC. Retrieved from The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. December 30, 2007:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne

“Auld Lang Syne.” The Burns Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 26, 2007 from Robert Burns Country:
http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/AuldLangSyne.5.shtml

Burns, Robert. Auld Lang Syne. Retrieved December 27, 2007 from Robert Burns Country: http://www.robertburns.org/works/236.shtml

“Scots Musical Museum, The.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last updated August 25, 2007 01:25 UTC. Retrieved from The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. December 27, 2007:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_Musical_Museum

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