I am Muhammad Raza. I am a Senior Software Engineer at WorldWerx. I did
my CS graduation from FAST-ICS Lahore. I became a member of  LAST some
months back and it has been a nice learning experience for me although I
have
not been able to devote a lots of time to it.

I also enjoy trekking and outbound activities.

Regards,
Raza

http://www.acm.org/~raza

-----Original Message-----
     From: Omer <pulsar@...>
     To: LAST mailing list <astronomy-atLAST@onelist.com>
     Date: Monday, January 18, 1999 11:17 PM
     Subject: [astronomy-atLAST] Happy Eid


     Happy Eid to everyone. Did someone try to sight the moon?  I tried but it
was cloudy in Lahore. Wonder what takes them so long to make the official
announcement.. it was made after 10 in the night.
     You're right. We've had this discussion many times at different forums. It
even sounds naive the way they make the announcement about moon sighting so late
at night when even taravih had started in some mosques.

And why on earth do they need telescopes to see the moon? You don't need any
magnification to see the new moon. And besides, a telescope actually decreases
your field of vision so that searching for the moon is rendered more difficult
by the use of a telescope.

Once you know the coordinates of the new moon, you don't have to search for it
in the usual sense of the word - okay. Also accepted that telescopes gather more
light than can be seen by the unaided eye and consequently, even very dim
objects can be rendered visible without much magnification. Right. But according
to the Shariah, the evidence of new moon sighting for eid has to be visual and
has to be with the naked eye, without any image enhancement etc. If that was not
the case, one could very easily calculate when the new moon will be and declare
it much earlier. But actually, the evidence has to be visual, and without making
any considerations for the weather. It cannot be that the moon would have been
visible had there been no clouds etc. If the moon is not seen, it's not eid
tomorrow.

If they use telescopes only for confirmation of observations made by the unaided
eye, that can be artefactual too. With a telescope, a new moon can be seen even
before it appears as a crescent (due to what is known as Earth-shine, from light
reflected off the surface of the earth to faintly illuminate the darker side of
the moon). This can not be declared as a new moon and they can see a moon
through a telescope which can not be seen otherwise.

Any comments, Naveed Sahib, Omer?

AoA!
         So, how do we know that the this is an ACTIVE list? Lets first begin
with the introduction.  I think most of the people already know each other on
the list, but the intros will go in the archives and any new person can then
look them up.

         Your introductions will also confirm that you have susccefully
subscribed to the list(since most of you haven't sent a single message!)

     Yeah! Let's not make it look we (O&N) have started this list for ourselves.
It's a discussion list and it's actually for you. We're just trying to prompt
cues for longer threads. Naveed Sahib, Nauman, everybody else . . c'mon guys,
where are you?

Nasir

-----Original Message-----
     From: Omer <pulsar@...>
     To: LAST mailing list <astronomy-atLAST@onelist.com>
     Date: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 11:33 PM
     Subject: [astronomy-atLAST] Up and running!


     AoA!
         So, how do we know that the this is an ACTIVE list? Lets first begin
with the introduction.  I think most of the people already know each other on
the list, but the intros will go in the archives and any new person can then
look them up.
     Let's begin with you then. Give us some intro of yourself like your full
name, phone (optional), address (optional), what you do, and your interests etc.

Over to you now, Omer ( whoever you are! )
;-)

Stars in and even out of your dreams!
Nasir

-----Original Message-----
     From: Omer <pulsar@...>
     To: LAST mailing list <astronomy-atLAST@onelist.com>
     Date: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 11:39 PM
     Subject: [astronomy-atLAST] The new Tesco store..


     Has anyone been to the new Tesco store in town? .. I've heard a lot about
Tesco telescopes in books(that they are not very good!), but anyway, I wonder if
they have telescopes here...? Something is better than nothing.
      Where is this Tesco store?
Hope you're all having a wonderful Eid

     We did. Thanx.

Nasir

-----Original Message-----
From: listadm@... <listadm@...>
To: Multiple recipients of list <express@...>
Date: Thursday, January 21, 1999 12:29 AM
Subject: Spacelink EXPRESS Announcement


>
>Spacelink EXPRESS Announcement
>
>The International Space Station wallsheet is now available on NASA
>Spacelink.  This wallsheet features an artist's rendition of the
>completed International Space Station.  Background information
>includes the schedule for the assembly of the station, a line art
>drawing of the various station components, and a hands-on construction
>activity for the classroom.  The International Space Station wallsheet
>can be located on NASA Spacelink at the following Internet address:
>
>http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/NASA.Educational.Products
/International.Space.Station/
>
>
>Note: You received this message due to your subscription to the NASA
>Spacelink EXPRESS mailing list.  If you wish to unsubscribe, go to
>Spacelink at the address shown below and read the instructions under
>the
>EXPRESS option.
>
>------ Spacelink Staff http://spacelink.nasa.gov
>

If anyone out there is interested in radio astronomy, the following mailing list
might be helpful.  Making a radio telescope is not all that though - all you
need is a 10 ft. dish, a little bit of electronics and good advise... I can
provide you with a source of good advise!

Stary nights!
Omer



-----Original Message-----
From: ara-list owner <dtillman@...>
To: ara-list@... <ara-list@...>
Date: Wednesday, January 20, 1999 1:46 AM
Subject: ara-list is active again



>  Just a note to let everyone know that, due to several requests,
>  I have reactivated the ara-list. I have included a copy of the faq.
>  Questions or problems? Email me.
>
>  -Dave
>
>
>
>    Welcome to the Amateur Radio Astronomy mailing list.
>    You can unsubscribe from this list at any time by sending mail
>    to ara-list-request@... with "unsubscribe" in the
>    body of the message (without the quotes). In case of trouble,
>    send mail to dtillman@... detailing your problem.
>
>    1. Where do I send messages to post?
>
>        Send messages to the list to:
>
>                   ara-list@...
>
>
>    2. Where do I send subscribe/unsubscribe messages.
>
>        Send subscribe/unsubscribe messages to:
>
>                   ara-list-request@...
>
>        with "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the message body.
>
>
>
>    3. What is the purpose of this list?
>
> The purpose of this list is to share information
>        and ideas regarding amateur radio astronomy.
>
>
>    4. Who is welcome here?
>
> Amateur and professional astronomers.
>
>        Who isn't welcome here? Flamers and those who take joy
>        in putting down other people. 99% of being a professional
>        is in your attitude. I will not hesitate to nuke from the
>        list those who consistently display an un-professional attitude.
>
>
>    5. What topics are welcome here?
>
>        If it pertains to radio astronomy it is welcome
>        here. A small sample of such topics would include:
>
>            Telescope construction methods.
>
>            Schematics for pre-amp and A/D circuits.
>
>            Exchange of observational data and collaborative
>            observations.
>
>        You get the idea.
>
>
>    6. A final request.
>
>        As a favor to the other list subscribers, once you have
>        subscribed, please send a short bio to the list detailing
>        items such as your current radio telescope setup and special
>        observing interests, if any.
>
>
>    That's all folks! Once again, if you have any trouble, send
>    mail to dtillman@....

-----Original Message-----
From: NASA Science News <expressnews@...>
To: express-delivery@...
<express-delivery@...>
Date: Friday, January 15, 1999 3:43 AM
Subject: NASA: What do astrophysics and dental X-rays have in common?


>NASA Science News for January 14, 1999
>
>What do astrophysics and dental x-rays have in common?
>
>Answer: The same tool may soon be used for both!
>
>Capillary x-ray optics will expand the window on the high-energy universe
>studied by astromers.  Until now, a whole range of energies produced in the
>cosmos has remained invisible to scientists.  A new and simple tool will
>help them to see what's really going on.
>
>Surprisingly, the same kind of optics can be used in X-ray machines,
>greatly enhancing the clarity of X-rays used by doctors, which can help
>in reducing x-ray exposure and perhaps increasing the chance of early tumor
>detection in people. Full story:
>
>http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast14jan99_1.htm
>
>AOL users click
><a
href="http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast14jan99_1.htm">here</a>.
>
>============================================================
>You are subscribed to NASA's Space Science News mail server.
>This is a free service.
>
>To unsubscribe, send e-mail to sciencenews@...
>Leave the subject blank, and type the word SIGNOFF in the body
>of the message.
>============================================================
>
>Linda Porter
>Code ES94
>Data Systems Branch
>NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
>Huntsville AL  35812
>
>(256)544-7588
>(256)544-7128 (fax)
>linda.porter@...
>
>http://science.nasa.gov/
>
>

AoA!
     So, how do we know that the this is an ACTIVE list? Lets first begin with
the introduction.  I think most of the people already know each other on the
list, but the intros will go in the archives and any new person can then look
them up.

     Your introductions will also confirm that you have susccefully subscribed to
the list(since most of you haven't sent a single message!)

     Another thing.  We should declare a topic for one or two weeks and then
launch a discusion on that topic.  Any suggestions from you?

Stars in your dreams!
KH
Omer

Has anyone been to the new Tesco store in town? .. I've heard a lot about Tesco
telescopes in books(that they are not very good!), but anyway, I wonder if they
have telescopes here...? Something is better than nothing.


Hope you're all having a wonderful Eid

Omer

Happy Eid to everyone.

Did someone try to sight the moon?  I tried but it was cloudy in Lahore.

Wonder what takes them so long to make the official announcment.. it was made
after 10 in the night.



Eid Mubarak!
Omer

I am repeatedly getting the same mail. I think something is stuck in a loop.
Possible reason:  the astronomy [one]list forwards to an address that
forwards
to the astronomy list ???

Anyway,
I wish you a very happy Eid.

Regards,
Raza

News Services
University of Arizona

Contact(s):

J. Roger Angel, 520-621-6541, rangel@...
Neville J. Woolf, 520-621-3234, nwoolf@...
James H. Burge, 520-626-7356, jburge@...

January 9, 1999

Astronomers propose searching for life on other planets with a plastic
telescope

By Mark Sincell

Two decades from now, astronomers may look for life on other planets using a
telescope made of several sheets of reflective plastic in orbit around the
Earth.

At least, that's the idea that Roger Angel, a professor at The University of
Arizona's Steward Observatory, and co-workers Neville Woolf and James Burge,
also of Steward Observatory, are presenting at today's meeting of the
American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas. Glass or metal telescopes
large enough to make the first detection of life on planets outside our solar
system are planned, but switching to lighter and cheaper plastic may be a
crucial step towards a more detailed study of our extra-terrestrial neighbors.

The search for definitive evidence of life on planets orbiting other stars,
called exoplanets, has become one of NASA's primary objectives. A primary goal
of the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM), an orbiting telescope scheduled for
launch in 2003, is to search for exoplanets. SIM is unlikely to detect planets
similar to Earth, so a decade later, the Terrestrial PlanetFinder (TPF), will
travel out past Jupiter's orbit with the goal of finding Earth-like planets
and searching them for signs of life.

Angel sees his proposed telescope as the next step on the path. "PlanetFinder
will give us a good first shot at finding evidence for life," says Angel,
"but to study planets transformed by life, fecund life, you really need a
larger telescope." The envisioned orbiting plastic telescope would have a
total light collecting area of about 1,000 square meters.

But those expecting the new telescope to deliver snapshots of smiling extra-
terrestrials on vacation will be disappointed. Angel's team estimates that
even crudely resolved images of exoplanets would require an array of mirrors
with a collecting area equivalent to a one kilometer diameter mirror, over a
hundred times larger than the 8-meter primary mirror that will be used in
the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST).

Instead, astronomers plan to look for features in the exoplanets' thermal
radiation spectrum left by oxygen and methane in the planet's atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases such as oxygen and methane are a direct product of all
the biological processes occurring on the Earth's surface. Although these
molecules are common in the Earth's atmosphere, they are actually very
unstable in combination and, if there were no life on Earth, they would
rapidly combine. Finding evidence for both molecules is "the killer test"
for life on other planets, says Angel.

Even with a large telescope, gathering enough light from the planet, and
then separating it from the light radiated by the planet's own sun, is a
formidable task. To accomplish this feat, planet-hunters plan to use a
technique called interferometry, in which the light from the planet and its
sun is reflected off different mirrors, forming two or more separate beams
of light. These beams are then directed to a single detector where they are
added up so that the light waves from the star cancel out and only the light
from the planet remains.

The most straightforward way to perform space interferometry is to put
several telescopes in orbit and combine their light. However, to detect
exoplanetary greenhouse gases, each of these telescopes would have to be
comparable in size to the NGST. Building and flying several copies of the
NGST would be prohibitively expensive.

The idea proposed by Angel, Woolf, and Burge is to replace all but one of
the telescopes with flat plastic mirrors, each about 10 meters square. The
plastic reflecting surface is attached to a metal frame at several points
that can be adjusted independently to preserve the planarity of the
membrane.

Since the plastic mirrors are flat, they are relatively easy to build and
maintain. "The main difficulty with curved mirrors is making them curved,"
says Angel, "Nature wants plastic to be flat." And micrometeorites, which
periodically crash into satellites, pass right through the plastic.

To form the complete telescope, the plastic membrane mirrors are distributed
in space over 100 meters apart, approximately 1 kilometer away from a central
10-meter space telescope, similar in design to the NGST. Light from the
exoplanet is reflected off of the plastic mirrors and into the central
telescope, where the different beams are "interfered" to remove the light
from the star. "We can correct for the missing curvature of the flat mirrors
inside the one telescope, in the same way that the optics in the Hubble
Space Telescope were fixed", says Angel.

There are two main challenges to be met before plastic interferometric
telescopes start scanning our cosmic neighborhood. First, the plastic
surfaces have to be extremely smooth and uniform in thickness so that they
reflect light very accurately. Learning how to manufacture plastic of such
high smoothnesses will take "a lot of work", warns Angel.

Then, once the plastic is smooth, the entire array of mirrors, including the
central telescope, must be kept in place, either by mounting the mirrors on
a rigid carbon composite truss or by attaching small ion propulsion rockets
to individual, free-flying, mirrors. Assembling and deploying such a network
requires technology beyond that needed for even NGST.

Ultimately, how accurate will this telescope's design be? As a comparison,
in recent demonstrations at The University of Arizona and the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the light from two lasers has been made to
cancel to one part in ten thousand. To remove the light from the star and
observe the spectrum of a nearby planet, the light from the star must be
canceled to one part in ten million. And it will all be done in a telescope
orbiting thousands of miles from the Earth.

Regards,

"They said that a child concived in love has a greater chance of happiness..
they don't say that any more."

"10 fingers 10 toes..thats all that used to matter.. not now."

"May be it was the love of the planets .. may be it was just my growing dislike
for this one...."

"..now, now we have discriminaton down to a science."

"When you're cleaning the glass Vincent don't clean it too well...", "you might
get ideas"

"...after all, there is no gene for faith"

"you can go anywhere.. with this guy's helix tucked under your arm"

"I took my mind of the pain by reminding my self that when evenutually I did
stand up, I'll be exactly 2 inches closer to the stars"
[
"They found my eyelash".."in the corridor"...
"oh, well it could've been worse, they could've found it in your eye"
]

" 'you', are the authority for whats not possible"

"For someone who is never meant for this world, I must confess, I'm suddenly
having a hard time leaving it.  Ofcourse they say that every atom in our body
was once part of the stars, may be I'm not leaving.. may be I'm going home"


Starry nights!
Omer

Public Affairs Office
San Francisco State University
San Francisco, California

Contact: Ligeia Polidora, 415/338-3053
e-mail: ligeia@...

EMBARGOED FOR 9:30 AM CST (7:30 AM PST) SATURDAY (1/9/99) -- TIME OF PRESS
CONFERENCE AT THE AUSTIN, TEXAS MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL
SOCIETY

#042

New star search quickly reveals a pair of extrasolar planets

First fruit of survey launched where SFSU-based planet hunt began

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, January 9, 1999 -- A search of 88 sun-like stars by the
most prolific discoverers of planets beyond our solar system has detected
two new planetary companions orbiting Sun-like stars, bringing to 17 the
total of known extrasolar planets.

The results show that giant planets far from Earth can be found rapidly and
provide strong support for the idea that up to two percent of stars in the
solar neighborhood may harbor closely orbiting gaseous giants, sometimes
called "51 Peg-like" planets for their similarity to the planet orbiting the
star 51 Pegasi.

"I think we're smarter than we were about how to find planets," said Debra
Fischer, a post-doctoral researcher in the Physics and Astronomy Department
at San Francisco State University, who announced the discovery today during
a press conference at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in
Austin, Texas. "With a sample of suitable stars and enough telescope time,
we expect to find planets around about two percent of sun-like stars within
a few months," Fischer said.

The new candidate planets orbit the stars HD195019 and HD217107, located in
the constellations of Delphinus and Pisces, respectively. The planet around
HD195019 resides 0.14 Astronomical Units (one A.U. equals the mean distance
from the Earth to the Sun) from its host star and circuits the star once
every 18.3 days. It has an estimated mass equal to 3.5 Jupiters. The planet
around HD217107 is only 0.072 A.U. from its star, makes a nearly circular
orbit every 7.1 days and has an estimated mass of 1.3 Jupiters. These
planets join six others in the "51 Peg" class that all orbit their star
within three weeks.

The fact that both stars are quiet or relatively inactive like the Sun,
Fischer said, helped her team to obtain the necessary high-quality data and
increases the reliability of the planet dectection.

Fischer conducted her search from the three-meter telescope at Lick
Observatory near San Jose, CA, where a team of San Francisco State
astronomers has been hunting extrasolar planets since 1987. The team uses
the now-famous technique of detecting the wobble in the motion of stars as
they react to the gravitational pull of their planets. The team can measure
the precise speed of stars to within three meters per second, about as fast
as an average person rides a bicycle.

Last summer, Fischer launched a new planet search from Lick Observatory and
began a survey of 200 stars. To optimize the efficiency of the search, five
observations of each star were made. The team then honed in on those stars
with any hint of a wobble for more intensive scrutiny from Lick Observatory
and from the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The two new planets turned up
among the first 88 stars to be sampled. Follow-up analysis at Lick
determined each planet's orbit.

"We quickly look for the plums easily pluckable from low on the tree, and
Debra's found two planetary plums right off the bat," says team member
Geoffrey Marcy, Fischer's advisor and University Distinguished Professor of
Science at San Francisco State.

Other members of the planet-finding team include R. Paul Butler of the
Anglo-Australian Observatory, Steven Vogt of the University of California at
Santa Cruz, and Kevin Apps of the University of Sussex, England. Marcy and
Butler observed from the Keck Observatory. Vogt developed the spectrometers
used at both Lick and Keck for planet detection, and Apps selected which
stars to target from a vast database of possibilities. A paper announcing
their discovery appears in the January 1999 issue of Publications of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Fischer's search focused on catching giant planets close to their host
stars. The survey from Lick Observatory will continue to seek Jupiter-like
planets with short orbital periods as well as planets that are farther out
(and thus elicit a less noticable wobble) from their stars.

"We really want to find solar system analogues," said Fischer. "We want
smaller planets that are farther away from their host stars, because we want
to probe the habitable zone of stars -- the place where life may form."

San Francisco State University is a highly diverse community of 27,000
students and 3,500 faculty and staff. It is one of the largest campuses of
the nationally recognized 23-campus California State University system.
Founded in 1899, the University has begun its 100th year of service to San
Francisco, the Bay Area, California and beyond.

                                      ###

[NOTE: Illustrations supporting this release are available at
http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/hd195019/hd195019.html
and
http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/hd217107/hd217107.html]

I read in the newspaper that there is going to be a
'Blue Moon' on 31st January. If you have details available
it would be a good idea to forward it to LAST members.

Regards,
Raza



Blue Moon

A moon month is either 29 days or 30 days.  However, the gregory calendar - the
one we normally use is of 30 or 31 days.  So, if the new moon is on 1st of
December, then the next moon will rise after a maximum of 30 days(1st Dec.till
29 Dec = 30days).  So, we'll have another new moon on the 30th of December -
Which means that there will be two new moons in the month of December.  The
second new moon .. since it is rare to have two new moons in one month .. is
called the blue moon.

This year, we are going to have three blue moons.

Although this is not confirmed, but sometime people claim to see a moon which is
actually blue in color. The reported color is more like electric blue.. but
again, this is not a confirmed observation.


Starry nights!
KH
Omer

Here is a brief account of our expedition to the stars - held in honour of the
leonid storm the last year.

A total of seven people and three cars left for Kalar Kahar at five p.m. on 16th
of November. The following members took part in this camp.

1. Nauman Zaki

2. Anwar Kamal

3. Naveed Anwar

4. Asim Rafique

5. M. Irshad

6. Amir

7. Omer bin Abdul Aziz

And from Islamabad we had

1. Group Captain Khalid P. Marwat

2. Qasim

Later we were joined by five other observers from airforce.

Our astronomy started well before we reached Kalar Kahar(that's where our camp
was). We saw a very nice sunset along the motor way. Soon afterwards, stars
started to pop out of the sky and before we knew, the sky was all filled with
stars. There are places along the motorway that should be declared safe havens
for astronomers - such is the grandeur of the night sky there. The temptation to
stop the car and turn off the lights for a while was far to great. So, like
there are signs that say "CAUTION - Turtles found ahead".. there should be ones
saying "CAUTION - Astronomers found ahead"

We reached Kalar Kahar at about seven thirty. The camp site was immaculately
chosen by Group Captain Marwat - A hill top that gave an unobstructed view of
the entire sky(there was no obstruction to the chilly night winds as well!..
much to enjoy and much to shiver!). The site was the darkest I've ever seen -
even milky way resolved into stars. The sky looked like sparkling grains of sand
- night sky, in its true splendor. If one listened very carefully, one could
hear the quietness of the stars - and then one would not like to interrupt their
quietness at all. But soon, this serenity of the sky was to be disturbed.

Packed up with heavy cloths, we sat down to watch the skies. Four telescopes in
all plus one binocular. In Lahore, we have to use telescopes to spot Andromeda..
but there it was in the sky - at our service! We took a general survey of the
night sky. Mr. marwat explained the anatomy of Orion in exquisite detail. The
night of 16th was supposed to be our orientation night. So we took our time to
familiarize with the sky. In the first few hours we had a hard time establishing
directions in the sky - it was not our fault... "the fault dear Brutes lies with
the stars" Just like you wouldn't know what to do of a million dollar lottery,
we were a bit confused with the millions of stars up in the sky!

Now, as I said, this was our first night out - time to get friendly with the
stars. We were not prepared for any real action. So, when meteors started
buzzing around we were pretty much caught by surprise. Although we were
expecting some sort of activity, but most of our cameras were still in their
"hangers" so to speak. So, when I say that we saw a fireball brighter than Venus
(or perhaps even much more) - you have to believe my words! The tail of this
particular meteor persisted for about 20 minutes!!

During the first half on the night - from 1130 till 1230, we saw very colorful
meteors - most of them had green tails. Some were reddish as well. The tails did
not persist but vanished pretty quickly. Most of the meteors swept large arcs on
the sky. You would expect them to terminate quickly.. but they kept going on and
on - like a torpedo unwinding. The quietness of the sky was, no more - it felt
like a giant beast has awakened from an eternal sleep.

As the night progressed the green trailing meteors disappeared and were replaced
by more regular white and small trailing meteors. Felt like we were witnessing
an Army Parade in which various units moved passed us - each different from the
other! An important thing about this "unit" was their white tails. Some of
trails persisted for four or five seconds. The winds high above would distort
the trails into wavy snakes - a very pretty sight in binoculars. Some of the
meteors left twin trails - like a jet plane.

As the night progressed and the radiant rose higher, the activity increased. We
counted more than 600 meteors in four hours - and most of them were quite bright
.. somewhere around third magnitude. We took some pictures of the sky hoping to
catch a few meteors. Our video camera also picked up two meteors.

We all went to sleep around four in the morning. The meteors were still zipping
through - but we wanted to be fresh for the "main" observation the following
night! In the daytime we did solar observation using the solar filter. We also
took pictures of the sun. Mr. Marwat showed us his previous observations of
meteor showers and we laid down the plans for night's observation. Judging from
the previous night, we were very optimistic.

Anticipating a high activity, we took positions earlier than usual - around ten
'o'clock and started waiting for the fireworks to begin. The cameras were in
position, hands on binoculars and eyes on the sky - keeping a vigil at the night
sky. But unlike previous night, the sky was very quiet. The storm was supposed
to peak around 1245, but things remained very quite till midnight - only one or
two green meteors. Soon, the expected time of maximum passed as well - with
little to offer. It looked like the creature had gone back to its eternal sleep.

No fireworks - but there were a number of relatively dim meteors around. The
numbers were pretty high, the only thing missing was the magnitudes of the
previous night. We stayed up till five in the morning - hoping to catch a
glimpse of storm - refraining from sleep so as not to miss if it does come our
way. How were we to know that the storm has already occurred, in some other part
of the world.

Summing it up, it was a very good two nights over all. The activity on the first
night was amazing and I'm sure very rare too. You don't come across green
streaking meteors every day. And then you don't get to be under dark skies so
often too. Two days dedicated purely to astronomy - no other worries at
all(well.... almost.)

We made this expedition to the stars in first class. Although it was a tent out
- but the lavish arrangements could easily rival a five star hotel! The least
you would expect on a camp is to have hot 'byriani' and cold 'firni' in dinner
and garam parathas and amlate in breakfast - tea afterwards!(ofcourse it was
green tea after dinner!). Not to mention how comfortable and cozy the tents and
beds were. The best of both the worlds - astronomy and comfort together, a rare
combination indeed.

We took many pictures of the stars(both in the sky and ground!). We'll show the
pictures in the coming meeting. Some of the pictures will also be placed on our
web site pretty soon.



Hope you all had a nice observation as well.

Starry nights!

KH

Omer

-----Original Message-----
From: Omer <pulsar@...>
To: Ducktor, the QUACK! QUACK!! <ducktor@...>
Date: Thursday, January 07, 1999 5:58 PM
Subject: Re: Dawn Newspaper?

>
>Pretty good.  They've done a very nice makup of the article.
  >

Can you put it on the Astronomy@LAST list? I checked
the back issues of Dawn at http://dawn.com but couldn't
find it.

Nasir

-----Original Message-----
From: Omer <pulsar@...>
To: LAST Members <pulsar@...>
Date: Thursday, December 24, 1998 8:53 PM
Subject: The Fog


>
>Fog or Mist, cloud of condensed water vapor in the form of water droplets
or
>ice crystals, suspended in the atmosphere just over the surface of the
>earth. In cities and industrial areas, fog often combines with smoke to
>produce the mixture called smog.
>Meteorologically, fog can be classified into four general types according
to
>the mechanism by which it is formed: advection, radiation, upslope, and
>precipitation.
>
>Advection fog is formed whenever a current of relatively warm, moist air
>passes over a colder body of land or water. Fog of this type is frequent in
>the winter when snow is on the ground. It is also common over the ocean, as
>in the North Atlantic when winds blow across the warm Gulf Stream and reach
>the cold Labrador Current.
>
>Radiation fog, formed only over land, is caused by the cooling of the earth
>by radiation. At night, radiation lowers water temperature comparatively
>slowly, but land cools rapidly, becoming cooler than the air above it;
>consequently a fog is formed. Such fog is seldom thick and usually "burns
>off" in the morning.
>
>Upslope fog is formed when air is evenly cooled by its rising and
expanding,
>as when a wind flows up a mountain slope.
>
>Precipitation fog may form during a snowstorm or rainstorm, if the snow or
>rain passes through a layer of air that is cooler than the precipitation.
>Fog of this kind frequently occurs during the passage of warm fronts and
>cold fronts, when the surface air is markedly different in temperature from
>the upper air.
>
>Fog and mist, like clouds, can form only in the presence of dust particles.
>
>

-----Original Message-----
From: NASA Science News <expressnews@...>
To: express-delivery@...
<express-delivery@...>
Date: Sunday, January 10, 1999 9:12 PM
Subject: Meteors by Moonlight


>Jan. 5, 1999  Meteors by Moonlight
>
>The first major meteor shower of 1999 has come and gone. The
>Quadrantids were largely hidden from view by the light of last
>week's full moon, but some observers were treated to a modest
>display of shooting stars.  The next major meteor shower doesn't
>begin until late July, but when it does it will signal the start
>of one of the best meteor watching seasons in years.
>FULL STORY at
>http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast05jan99_1.htm
>
>AOL users click
><a
href="http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast05jan99_1.htm">here</a>.
>
>============================================================
>You are subscribed to NASA's Space Science News mail server.
>This is a free service.
>
>To unsubscribe, send e-mail to sciencenews@...
>Leave the subject blank, and type SIGNOFF in the body
>of the message.
>============================================================
>
>Linda Porter
>Code ES94
>Data Systems Branch
>NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
>Huntsville AL  35812
>
>(256)544-7588
>(256)544-7128 (fax)
>linda.porter@...
>
>http://science.nasa.gov/
>
>
>

-----Original Message-----
From: Omer <pulsar@...>
To: Ducktor, the QUACK! QUACK!! <ducktor@...>
Date: Monday, December 28, 1998 9:34 PM
Subject: Re: Dawn Newspaper?

>>>I've not yet found the DAWN issue which
>>>has the article on LAST but I'm working on it
>>>and hopefully get it soon.
>>>
>>Thanks .. I've found that copy of the Dawn.. I bought some
>>from the Dawn office.
>>
>
>I didn't find the article. How is it?
>Nasir
>

Pretty good.  They've done a very nice makup of the article.
Omer

Hello everybody, this is MUHAMMAD Naveed Anwar from Lahore. I love
astronomy in its totality. Although I am not an expert yet I like doing
astrophotograpy and I keep on experimenting it with whatever means
available to me.
The initiation of this LIST  is a milestone in the nascent history of
the LAST and Omer deserves all appericiation for it. I pray for the
success of the objectives of the LAST.
thanks. Naveed.

When an astronomer wants to make a friend, he looks for the following
things...

1. How handsome the other person is
2. How intelligent the other person is
3. How big a telescope he has.


.... and not necessarily in the same order!


Clear Skies!
KH
Omer

-----Original Message-----
     From: Omer <pulsar@...>
     To: M list <astronomy-atLAST@onelist.com>
     Date: Thursday, January 07, 1999 7:01 AM
     Subject: [astronomy-atLAST] NASA press release


     >I'll be sending these press releases ..
     >

     So will I!

     >but not very frequently - since you can subscribe it yourself as well.

     I already subscribe to "NASA - Space Link" but now Ill get this one too.

     >Its for those who don't know about this service.
     >
     >Info. on how to subscribe is also written at the end of this list.
     >
     >Starry nights!
     >Omer
     >
     >-----

-----Original Message-----
From: Omer bin Abdul Aziz <mail-last@...>
To: astronomy-atLAST@onelist.com <astronomy-atLAST@onelist.com>
Date: Thursday, January 07, 1999 6:42 AM
Subject: [astronomy-atLAST] hear you loud and clear


>From: Omer bin Abdul Aziz <mail-last@...>
>
>Well, since I am the moderator(!), I know how many of them are around.. Le
me
>check.. there are six in all.

SIX already! That's great! Who are they?

>
>So, now you've got your mailing list.  Make it active.
>

Just keep looking, man!

>
>Clear skies!
>Omer
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>To unsubscribe from this mailing list, or to change your subscription
>to digest, go to the ONElist web site, at http://www.onelist.com and
>select the User Center link from the menu bar on the left.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Lahore Astronomical society - The view is simply..out of this world!
>

I'll be sending these press releases .. but not very frequently - since you can
subscribe it yourself as well.  Its for those who don't know about this service.

Info. on how to subscribe is also written at the end of this list.

Starry nights!
Omer

-----
EMBARGOED UNTIL:  10:20 AM (EST)/9:20  AM (CST) January 6, 1999

CONTACT:  Donna Weaver
           Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
           (Phone: 410-338-4493)
           (E-mail: dweaver@...)

           Howard Bond
           Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
           (Phone: 410-338-4718)
           (E-mail: bond@...)

PRESS RELEASE NO.:  STScI-PR99-01


HUBBLE LOOKS DOWN A BARREL OF GAS AT A DOOMED STAR

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have obtained the
sharpest view yet of a glowing loop of gas called the Ring Nebula (M57),
first cataloged more than 200 years ago by French astronomer Charles
Messier.

The Hubble telescope images reveal that the "Ring" is actually a
cylinder of gas seen almost end-on. Such elongated shapes are common
among other planetary nebulae, because thick disks of gas and dust form
a waist around a dying star. This "waist" slows down the expansion of
material ejected by the doomed object. The easiest escape route for this
cast-off material is above and below the star.

Located in the constellation Lyra, the Ring Nebula is the best-known
example of a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a doomed star.

This new view was obtained October 16, 1998 by the Hubble Heritage
Program team at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md.,
the Hubble telescope's science operations center. The Heritage team,
comprised of astronomers and image-processing specialists, selected this
most famous of planetary nebulae as its first new target.

Inaugurated in October 1998,  the Heritage Program treats the public to
a monthly sampling of stunning celestial views from the Hubble
telescope. Until now, the pictures have been selected from the
telescope's rich banquet of archival images, originally taken for
scientific research. But the Heritage team also will occasionally employ
the orbiting observatory to obtain new images of pictorially stunning
celestial objects, such as the Ring Nebula, using a small amount of the
Institute director's discretionary time.

"We chose the Ring Nebula as our first new target, in part, because it
is so well known among amateur astronomers," explains Heritage team
astronomer Howard Bond, who was once an amateur himself. "We knew the
Ring photo would be spectacular because we had already imaged a portion
of the nebula with short Hubble exposures in 1995, and what we saw was
absolutely amazing."

Adds Heritage Project head scientist Keith Noll: "We knew we had to go
back and finish the Hubble picture of the entire Ring Nebula. In the
future, we will involve members of the public, and astronomers from
other institutions, in the selection of the next celestial targets for
Hubble Heritage observations."

The Ring Nebula is about 2,000 light-years from Earth and has a diameter
of about one light-year. The faint speck at its center was once a star
of greater mass than our own Sun.  Now, near the end of its life, it has
ejected its outer layers into space, and the remnant is destined to die
as a tiny white dwarf star, about the size of the Earth.

In this colorful image, appearances are deceiving. What looks like an
elliptical ring is actually believed to be a barrel-shaped structure
surrounding the faint central star, the small white dot in the center.
The Ring looks nearly round only because we are looking down the barrel.

This new view of the Ring has surprised Bond, who has studied this
object for several decades.

"I first saw the Ring through a small telescope in my back yard, when I
was a high-school student in the 50's," Bond recalls. "My astronomy
books taught me that it was a round sphere of expanding gas."

Two centuries ago, astronomers studying these round-shaped objects
through small telescopes called them "planetary nebulae," because their
circular disks resemble those of planets.

Astronomers, however, have suspected for some time that the Ring Nebula
actually has a cylindrical shape and looks round only because of the
viewing angle. Close examination of the Hubble telescope image, taken by
the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, strongly supports this newer
opinion. The photo shows numerous small dark clouds of dust that have
formed in the gas flowing out from the star, and are silhouetted against
more distant bright gas. These dense dust clouds are too small to be
seen with ground-based telescopes but are easily revealed by the Hubble
telescope.

Remarkably, these finger-like clouds are only seen in the outer portions
of the Ring Nebula; none are seen in the central region. This proves
that they are not distributed in a uniform sphere but are instead
located only on the walls of the barrel. Many of the finger-like clouds
point away from the central star, like spokes on a wheel, due to the
forces of radiation and gas ejected from the dying object.

The Heritage team is already planning another new Hubble observation. A
list of possible targets, several spectacular edge-on galaxies far
beyond the Milky Way, will be posted on the team's Web site. The team
will ask the public to pick their favorite. The winning object will be
observed with the Hubble telescope in the spring, and the new images
will be released to the public shortly thereafter. Those wishing to vote
should visit the Heritage Web site at http://heritage.stsci.edu.

The Heritage team believes that the public will enjoy taking on the role
of astronomer.

"People have an intense interest in everything Hubble does," Noll says.
"The Heritage project is a wonderful way for the public to participate
directly in the process of selecting Hubble targets. The turnaround will
be relatively quick. The process, from voting to public release, should
take about three to four months.

"Although the main purpose of the Hubble Heritage observations is to
provide the spectacular images to the public, our data - including the
new Ring Nebula images - will also be released to the professional
astronomical community at the same time in digital form, so that
detailed scientific analyses can be conducted."

- end -

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Images and photo captions associated with this release
are available on the Internet at:
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/1999/01
http://heritage.stsci.edu or via links in
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html or
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html

Higher resolution digital versions (300 dpi JPEG) of the release photos
are available at: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/1999/01.

TIFF image files are available at
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/tiff/1999/9901.tif.

STScI press releases and other information are available by sending an
Internet electronic mail message to pio-request@....  In the body
of the message (not the subject line) users should type the word
"subscribe" (use no quotes).  The system will respond with a
confirmation of the subscription and users will receive new press
releases as they are issued.


PHOTO CAPTION:

EMBARGOED UNTIL:  10:20 AM (EST)/9:20 AM (CST) January 6, 1999

PHOTO NO.:  STScI-PRC99-01


LOOKING DOWN A BARREL OF GAS AT A DOOMED STAR

The NASA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the sharpest view yet of
the most famous of all planetary nebulae: the Ring Nebula (M57). In this
October 1998 image, the telescope has looked down a barrel of gas cast
off by a dying star thousands of years ago. This photo reveals elongated
dark clumps of material embedded in the gas at the edge of the nebula;
the dying central star floating in a blue haze of hot gas. The nebula is
about a light-year in diameter and is located some 2,000 light-years
from Earth in the direction of the constellation Lyra.

The colors are approximately true colors. The color image was assembled
from three black-and-white photos taken through different color filters
with the Hubble telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Blue isolates
emission from very hot helium, which is located primarily close to the
hot central star. Green represents ionized oxygen, which is located
farther from the star. Red shows ionized nitrogen, which is radiated
from the coolest gas, located farthest from the star. The gradations of
color illustrate how the gas glows because it is bathed in ultraviolet
radiation from the remnant central star, whose surface temperature is a
white-hot 216,000 degrees Fahrenheit (120,000 degrees Celsius).

Credit:  Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Images and photo captions associated with this release
are available on the Internet at:
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/1999/01
http://heritage.stsci.edu or via links in
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html or
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html

Higher resolution digital versions (300 dpi JPEG) of the release photos
are available at: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/1999/01.

TIFF image files are available at
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/tiff/1999/9901.tif.

STScI press releases and other information are available by sending an
Internet electronic mail message to pio-request@....  In the body
of the message (not the subject line) users should type the word
"subscribe" (use no quotes).  The system will respond with a
confirmation of the subscription and users will receive new press
releases as they are issued.

Hay! this is exciting.  Now you can do observations using internet.  A few
days back, I submitted a proposal to get CCD stills of the Orion Nebula using
the telescope found at the following link.

http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557782770-dc8



Enjoy it!
Omer

Well, since I am the moderator(!), I know how many of them are around.. Le me
check.. there are six in all.

So, now you've got your mailing list.  Make it active.


Clear skies!
Omer

Hi Omer!!
This is great! I'm feeling excited already. Reply to this message on the list
and let me know if you get this. It's again been like it has always been. I'm
the one to initiate the move and you're the one to actually do it. Just like it
was with LAST itself. I wonder how many others have already joined the list. Is
there a way to find out?
Foglessness, forever.
Nasir

This is a test article and is safe to delete :)

Regards,
Raza