Hi,

Many of you saw Nelson's posting about an electromagnetic storm Tuesday
afternoon.  It produced a beautiful aurora Tuesday night, bright enough to
be seen over the city lights of Toronto and Winnipeg.  Too bad it didn't
come this far south.

Anyone in Oil City see it?

Terry

Each year, the AAAP orders the "Year in Space Desk Calendars" at a special
discount price for members. In general, these DESK calendars are about 6-inch
x 9-inch and wire bound (so that they open flat). The left hand page has a
space or astronomy photo. The right hand page has an entire week with the
Moon's phase for each day, interesting astronomical events (conjunctions,
meteor showers, etc) and space anniversaries. There is ample space to add
your own events. For complete information about this amazing calendar, visit
the calendar's web site: http://www.YearInSpace.com.

The cost of the calendars will be $10.00 each (or $9 if 36 or more are
ordered.) They are available only by ordering through me; please let me know
if you would like to order one. The order will be placed after the November
meeting, and the calendars will be available for pickup at the December and
January meeting.

Sincerely,
John Holtz, Treasurer AAAP
JWHoltz@...
724-352-7596

"People who never look up avoid the cow manure, but that's all they ever get
to see."

I have a desire to locate a 15th or 16th magnitude object, moving slowly
through space. Since the Guide Star Catalog peters out around 15th magnitude,
a star chart from my planetarium software won't quite cut it. Is there an
Internet site that will generate charts to fainter limits? Photographic
charts would be acceptable, too, provided there is some way to correlate the
photograph to a finder chart, such as a coordinate grid overlay. (I tried
matching stars from a Digital Sky Survey photo, but was not successful since
I have no idea what the limit of the DSS photo is.)

Why do I want to identify a 15th magnitude object?

Perhaps you have heard about the "asteroid" JE002E3 discovered last month (or
in August). There was a lot of excitement (and concern?) because this object
was apparently captured recently and is now orbiting the Earth! Since the
probability of this occurring is small, astronomers immediately suspected an
old rocket stage. Spectra of the object and orbital calculations suggest that
JE002E3 is the third stage from the Apollo 12 mission (launched Nov 14, 1969).

Currently at about magnitude 15.3 and as far away as the Moon, JE002E3 should
be fairly easy to see visually with a 16-inch scope, and easy with a CCD
camera on even a small scope. (Detailed ephemeris is available from JPL's
Horizon page,  <A HREF="http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.html">JPL's
ephemerides</A>). The main difficulty is trying to identify something that
faint and creeping along at about 0.2 degrees per hour. Until space ships
become as big as cities, JE002E3 is likely to remain the farthest object I'll
ever see with my own eyes.

Sincerely,
John Holtz
JWHoltz@...
phone: 724-352-7596
home page: http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/

"People who never look up avoid the cow manure, but that's all they ever get
to see."

I'm forwarding this from the RASC ListServer.

Terry

*******************************************************************

I'm posting this for Allan Rahill. Huge thanks to all the
Rascals and other who sent emails of support.

-ad (Atilla Danko)

---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Hi
>
> Well, I have just good news.
> As scheduled, I meet Pierre Dubreuil this afternoon and the threat to
> close my web site is no more in effect.
>
> I have to say that David Grimes was apparently surprised to receive all
> protestation emails from RASC members and it surely influence the final
> decision.
>
> It was decided that my web site will remain open as it is right now in
> short term which sounds like a year (could be longer).
>
> In long term, both directors agreed to do their best to move my web site
> on the official environment Canada web site
> (http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/canada_e.html).
> They plan to introduce my web site in same time than other specialised
> forecast anticipated in a year or so on this web site. There will be an
> official government release when it will happen.
>
> End of the story!
>
> Again, I would like to thank you all for this fantastic cooperation. It
> shows how usefull RASC members can influence decision and I appreciate all
> the action taken during this exercise of solidarity.
>
> I wish you all Clear Dark Steady Skies!
>
> (PS... I would ask one of you sending this email to RASCALS)
>
> Allan
>
>                                     *               *
>                                                         _~~~~~~~
> Allan Rahill                             *     *      *(     )
>                                                    ~~-(__   )
> Centre meteorologique Canadien                  * (____ CMC )
> Canadian Meteorological Center, Dorval, Canada     (_______)
>                                                       ////
> ASTRO-METEO-WEATHER                                   '''
> http://www.cmc.ec.gc.ca/cmc/htmls/mainpage.html      '''
>
>

From: STD:
                      /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                            MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT

                       ISSUED: 05:50 UTC, 06 OCTOBER 2002

                      /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

      A major class M5.9/1N solar flare was observed from active region 139
at
21:00 UTC on 05 October. This event was accompanied by a Type II sweep
frequency event (both the fundamental and harmonic components were easily
resolved). The estimated shock velocity was near 400 km/sec.

      The flare was not particularly impressive except for a notable Moreton
wave that spread west-south-westward from the flaring site. A similar wave
was also noted in an event on 04 October. The smaller flare on 04 October is
believed to have been associated with a full halo coronal mass ejection. And
although there is no supporting visual data yet from SOHO to use as
confirmation, we believe today's major solar flare was also probably
associated with a full halo coronal mass ejection event. An impact
prediction
assessment is available at: http://www.spacew.com/cme. Note, however, that
these events are associated with much larger than normal uncertainties given
the lack of available SOHO data.

      This active spot complex (139) lost its delta configuration in the
southeast trailing spots where some penumbral mass was lost. However, the
group is obviously still dynamic enough to support occasional mid-level
M-class x-ray events. If the current slowing growth trend continues, the
frequency of M-class flare events may subside. However, another major solar
flare is still possible from this spot complex over the next several days.


** End of Notice **

from the RASC ListServer

http://space.com/scienceastronomy/quaoar_discovery_021007.html

Check out the freeware Virtual Atlas of the Moon at: www.astrosurf.com/avl

While it is a download of more than 30 MB, it is free and it is really
slick.  It's available in several languages including English and Francais.

Terry

Does anyone out there remember the E-mail message about the date 10-02-2001?
A young high school girl I know asked me if I knew when the last time and
the next time the date was reversible. Anyone remember or have any ideas??
Gar

Gary Shannon
Butler Pa.

Thanks Gerry:
She's going to make points tomorrow, and it's Pennsylvania and it's always
cloudy when there's an aurora alert...Gar
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerry Lynn Hamilton" <glh5@...>
To: "'donna'" <gshannon@...>; "'CSSP'" <cherrysprings@...>;
"'KISKI'" <kiskiastronomers@yahoogroups.com>; "'AAAP'" <aaap@...>
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 6:13 PM
Subject: RE: [CSSP] Oct 02 2001


> 12-31-1321
>
> 01-02-2010
>
> Obviously, I have way too much time on my hands tonight. It's cloudy.
>
> Gerry
> State College, Pa.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-cherrysprings@...
> [mailto:owner-cherrysprings@...]On Behalf Of donna
> Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 6:00 PM
> To: CSSP; KISKI; AAAP
> Subject: [CSSP] Oct 02 2001
>
>
> Does anyone out there remember the E-mail message about the date
> 10-02-2001?
> A young high school girl I know asked me if I knew when the last time
> and
> the next time the date was reversible. Anyone remember or have any
> ideas??
> Gar
>
> Gary Shannon
> Butler Pa.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@...
> with the words "unsubscribe cherrysprings" in the body (sans the
> quotes).
>
> Note:  you have to post from the SAME email address you subscribed to
> the list from.  If you subscribed from abc@... and try to post
> from abc@..., the message will not go through.
>
> Please keep postings on topic, i.e. relating to the Cherry Springs
> State Park.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@...
> with the words "unsubscribe cherrysprings" in the body (sans the quotes).
>
> Note:  you have to post from the SAME email address you subscribed to
> the list from.  If you subscribed from abc@... and try to post
> from abc@..., the message will not go through.
>
> Please keep postings on topic, i.e. relating to the Cherry Springs
> State Park.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>

HI John;

Please put me down for one (1) "Year in Space Desk Calendar".    Forgot
to tell you at the meeting Thursday.

Thanks

denny

Sorry Gerry, you missed a few that are later than 12-31-1321:

03-31-1330
05-31-1350
07-31-1370
08-31-1380

So, I think the answer is:
08-31-1380
01-02-2010


Actually, here is a list for AD1000 to AD3000, courtesy of a brute-force 20
line Perl script I just cooked up:

10-01-1001
01-01-1010
11-01-1011
02-01-1020
12-01-1021
03-01-1030
04-01-1040
05-01-1050
06-01-1060
07-01-1070
08-01-1080
09-01-1090
10-11-1101
01-11-1110
11-11-1111
02-11-1120
12-11-1121
03-11-1130
04-11-1140
05-11-1150
06-11-1160
07-11-1170
08-11-1180
09-11-1190
10-21-1201
01-21-1210
11-21-1211
02-21-1220
12-21-1221
03-21-1230
04-21-1240
05-21-1250
06-21-1260
07-21-1270
08-21-1280
09-21-1290
10-31-1301
01-31-1310
12-31-1321
03-31-1330
05-31-1350
07-31-1370
08-31-1380
10-02-2001
01-02-2010
11-02-2011
02-02-2020
12-02-2021
03-02-2030
04-02-2040
05-02-2050
06-02-2060
07-02-2070
08-02-2080
09-02-2090
10-12-2101
01-12-2110
11-12-2111
02-12-2120
12-12-2121
03-12-2130
04-12-2140
05-12-2150
06-12-2160
07-12-2170
08-12-2180
09-12-2190
10-22-2201
01-22-2210
11-22-2211
02-22-2220
12-22-2221
03-22-2230
04-22-2240
05-22-2250
06-22-2260
07-22-2270
08-22-2280
09-22-2290



-----Original Message-----
From: donna [mailto:gshannon@...]
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 6:24 PM
To: glh5@...; 'CSSP'; 'KISKI'; 'AAAP'
Subject: [kiskiastronomers] Re: [CSSP] Oct 02 2001


Thanks Gerry:
She's going to make points tomorrow, and it's Pennsylvania and it's always
cloudy when there's an aurora alert...Gar
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerry Lynn Hamilton" <glh5@...>
To: "'donna'" <gshannon@...>; "'CSSP'" <cherrysprings@...>;
"'KISKI'" <kiskiastronomers@yahoogroups.com>; "'AAAP'" <aaap@...>
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 6:13 PM
Subject: RE: [CSSP] Oct 02 2001


> 12-31-1321
>
> 01-02-2010
>
> Obviously, I have way too much time on my hands tonight. It's cloudy.
>
> Gerry
> State College, Pa.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-cherrysprings@...
> [mailto:owner-cherrysprings@...]On Behalf Of donna
> Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 6:00 PM
> To: CSSP; KISKI; AAAP
> Subject: [CSSP] Oct 02 2001
>
>
> Does anyone out there remember the E-mail message about the date
> 10-02-2001?
> A young high school girl I know asked me if I knew when the last time
> and
> the next time the date was reversible. Anyone remember or have any
> ideas??
> Gar
>
> Gary Shannon
> Butler Pa.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@...
> with the words "unsubscribe cherrysprings" in the body (sans the
> quotes).
>
> Note:  you have to post from the SAME email address you subscribed to
> the list from.  If you subscribed from abc@... and try to post
> from abc@..., the message will not go through.
>
> Please keep postings on topic, i.e. relating to the Cherry Springs
> State Park.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@...
> with the words "unsubscribe cherrysprings" in the body (sans the quotes).
>
> Note:  you have to post from the SAME email address you subscribed to
> the list from.  If you subscribed from abc@... and try to post
> from abc@..., the message will not go through.
>
> Please keep postings on topic, i.e. relating to the Cherry Springs
> State Park.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi,

Monday morning I went to work around 7:30 AM.  When I got there I found that
about 75 of our 80 printers were spewing out reams of garbage paper.  It was
the BugBear virus.  I was pretty sure our PCs/servers were protected because
I have Norton AV set to go out every day at 4 AM to see if there are new
virus definitions we need, but where was this coming from?

Some detective work determined it to be one infected laptop at our facility
in Glasgow, Scotland.  (We're in Pittsburgh, PA.)  The user hadn't been
keeping his definitions current.  It must have cost us 40 or 50 reams of
paper.  However, that was really a small price to pay.  Here's the scoop.

If BugBear were to arrive on your PC prior to its having current, protective
antivirus definitions, BugBear can disable part or all of your antivirus
program.  Part may be more dangerous than all, because part may make it look
like your AV program is working OK when it's offering no protection at all.

Here's a test to prove Norton AV is working OK.  I imagine it proves McAfee
or whatever you are using is OK, too.

1.  Open the program and check the date of the AV definitions it is using.
Are they current?  If so, that's a good sign.

2.  Next, go to http://www.eicar.org.

      Select the test files link.  (These are not real viruses, just test
strings.)

      Use the left hand one at the bottom of the page:  eicar.com.

3.  Almost immediately after you click on it, a virus infection warning
message should appear on your screen.  If so, you're OK.

4.  Close all the windows, do not download anything.

Here's hoping your PC is clean.  Of course if you own a MAC, you don't need
to worry about this, but watch out you don't slip and fall on the special
sauce.

Terry

Could someone please post the meeting dates for October, November &
December?

Mark:

The Kiski Astronomers meeting dates are the 1st Thursday of each month unless
we send out a notice for a different date as we did in September.

The next meetings are: Nov. 7th and Dec. 5th, 7pm, Room 307 at Kiski High
School.

Bob Kepple


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Someone on the AAAP List Server (Dan Peden?) mentioned tonight's pass of the
space shuttle Atlantis (STS-112) now docked to the International Space
Station (ISS). Below are my calculations.

Based on the current timeline, the shuttle will undock on Wednesday. So the
pass on that evening will place the space shuttle about 13 seconds ahead of
the ISS. Nice!

According to satellite sleuth Ted Molczan, the ISS will be boosted on
Thursday (Oct 17), so any passes then or afterwards will have the shuttle and
ISS far apart. I have not taken this fact into account in my calculations in
case the plans change.

Sincerely,
John Holtz
JWHoltz@...
phone: 724-352-7596
home page: http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/

"People who never look up avoid the cow manure, but that's all they ever get
to see."


** Each row of the printout lists one passage for a given satellite.
    Three points in its path across the are sky given: the first point at
    which it becomes visible, the point of maximum elevation, and the
    last point at which it is visible. The following data is
    given for each of the three points:
     *  time (in 24 hour military time, Eastern time zone. Thus 22:00 is
        10 pm, 23:00 is 11 pm, 05:56 is 5:56 am, etc)
     *  AZimuth is the angle around the horizon from due north (0 is north,
        90 is east, 180 is south, 270 is west, and 360 is north)
     *  ELevation is the angle above the horizon (0 on the horizon, 90
        straight overhead.)
** The Max mag is the predicted maximum magnitude (usually not very
    accurate). The larger the number, the fainter the satellite.
** The Age is the number of days since its known position used in the
    calculations (the larger the age, the less accurate the calcs).
** The satellite's name is given last.

SATRECAP Version 2.0
Ephemeris calculated on 10-14-2002
Calculated for Oct 14 through Oct 18 inclusive

     Date   First Point  Max Elevation  Final Point   Max   Age  Satellite
mm/dd/yy  Time   AZ EL  Time   AZ EL  Time   AZ EL   mag  days

10/14/ 2  20:22 304  9  20:25 229 79  20:25 229 79   3.8   0.5  STS-112 DOCK
10/15/ 2  19:26 315  9  19:29  39 48  19:31 106 14   4.1   1.4  STS-112 DOCK
10/15/ 2  21:02 274  9  21:04 250 15  21:04 250 15   7.2   1.5  STS-112 DOCK
10/16/ 2  20:06 292  9  20:09 209 36  20:10 167 20   5.2   2.5  STS-112 DOCK
10/17/ 2  19:09 305  9  19:12 207 83  19:15 129 10   3.9   3.4  STS-112 DOCK
10/18/ 2  19:49 274  9  19:52 219 18  19:54 185 11   6.6   4.4  STS-112 DOCK
End of calculations

==================================================================
This Is SKY & TELESCOPE's AstroAlert for Minor Planets
==================================================================


                   HAS HERMES RETURNED?

Earlier this month, the Minor Planet Center's electronic
circular 2002-T14 contained this intriguing comment
by Timothy B. Spahr: "The orbital elements above for 2002 SY50
bear a striking resemblance to those of 1937 UB." With those
words, Spahr was suggesting that a newfound object might be
none other than Hermes, the famous asteroid that whizzed by
Earth just before World War II but has eluded astronomers for
65 years.

Shortly after the Hermes flyby of October 1937, the American
Museum of Natural History created a spine-tingling exhibit
for public display. Poised above a model of New York City was
Hermes, represented by a ball the size of Central Park.
Pictures of the scene appeared in many astronomy books of
the day.

For now, the new object is simply being called 2002 SY50. It
was picked up by the LINEAR survey telescope in New Mexico on
September 30th of this year. At about 17th magnitude, it was
moving slowly southwestward through the constellation Cetus
just a few degrees from the variable star Mira. The Minor
Planet Center alerted observers via the Near-Earth Object
Confirmation Page of its Web site, and within a few days more
than 100 astrometric measurements were sent in by amateur
and professional observatories around the world. The center
also identified the object with four positions of a moving
object obtained at Lowell Observatory two weeks earlier as
part of the LONEOS survey.

According to Spahr's calculations, 2002 SY50 is traveling in
an Earth-crossing orbit inclined 9 degrees to the ecliptic
plane. Its revolution period is very nearly 2 years and 3
months. When closest to the Sun, at perihelion, 2002 SY50
is roughly midway between the orbits of Venus and Mercury.
When farthest, at aphelion, it is well out in the main
asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

But is this the long-lost Hermes?  Spahr commented that
attempts by him and others had failed, so far, to establish
that 2002 SY50 and Hermes were one and the same. Further
astrometric measurements will be needed to be sure, and this
may take weeks or months. "Both the 1937 and the 2002
observations yield orbits that allow very close approaches
to the earth, Venus and Mars," he added, a situation that
greatly complicates the problem of linking the two objects.

On October 14th, Gianluca Masi told members of the Minor Planet
Mailing List ( http://www.bitnik.com/mp ) that he, Franco
Mallia, and Ugo Tagliaferri have obtained a detailed light curve
of 2002 SY50 at Campo Catino Astronomical Observatory in Italy.
The fluctuations in brightness suggest that the object is
rotating once every 4.67 hours. To view the light curve, visit
http://www.bellatrixobservatory.org/2002sy50.gif .

Later this month, Jean-Luc Margot and his colleagues at Caltech
plan to make highly accurate radar measurements of the object's
range and radial velocity using the large Goldstone radio dish.

During the next two weeks 2002 SY50 is expected to become as
bright as 14th magnitude, putting it within easy reach of
CCD-equipped amateur telescopes. (See the daily ephemeris
below.) As it continues on an inbound trajectory toward the
Sun, 2002 SY50 will pass 13 million kilometers (less than
one-tenth the Sun's distance) from our planet in the first
few days of November.


Roger W. Sinnott
Senior Editor
Sky & Telescope


------------------------------------------------------------
The following ephemeris, adapted from the Minor Planet
Ephemeris Service at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html ,
gives the right ascension and declination of 2002 SY50 at 0h
Universal Time on successive dates. Also listed are its
distance from the Earth (Delta) and Sun (r) in astronomical
units, 1 a.u. being 149,600,000 kilometers. The last two
columns give its predicted visual magnitude and angular
motion on the sky (in arcseconds per minute). To display the
ephemeris properly, your e-mail program should be set to use
a fixed-space font such as Courier.

The Minor Planet Center notes that accurate astrometric
measurements are especially desirable between October 15th
and 27th.

                  Ephemeris of 2002 SY50

  Date     R.A. (2000) Dec.    Delta    r       V     Motion
(0h UT)    h   m      o  '     (au)   (au)           "/min
Oct 15    01 29.1   -02 37    0.227  1.221    15.3    2.74
Oct 16    01 24.8   -03 00    0.216  1.209    15.2    3.03
Oct 17    01 19.9   -03 24    0.205  1.198    15.1    3.36
Oct 18    01 14.5   -03 50    0.194  1.186    15.0    3.73
Oct 19    01 08.5   -04 19    0.184  1.174    14.9    4.15
Oct 20    01 01.8   -04 51    0.173  1.162    14.9    4.64
Oct 21    00 54.2   -05 25    0.163  1.151    14.8    5.20
Oct 22    00 45.7   -06 03    0.154  1.139    14.7    5.86
Oct 23    00 36.1   -06 45    0.144  1.127    14.6    6.62
Oct 24    00 25.2   -07 31    0.135  1.115    14.6    7.50
Oct 25    00 12.7   -08 21    0.126  1.103    14.5    8.52
Oct 26    23 58.5   -09 16    0.118  1.091    14.5    9.69
Oct 27    23 42.2   -10 16    0.111  1.078    14.4   11.02
Oct 28    23 23.5   -11 19    0.104  1.066    14.4   12.49
Oct 29    23 02.3   -12 25    0.097  1.054    14.4   14.05
Oct 30    22 38.4   -13 31    0.092  1.042    14.4   15.62
Oct 31    22 11.7   -14 33    0.088  1.030    14.5   17.05
Nov 01    21 42.7   -15 27    0.085  1.017    14.7   18.17
Nov 02    21 12.0   -16 09    0.084  1.005    14.9   18.80
Nov 03    20 40.6   -16 34    0.084  0.993    15.2   18.83
Nov 04    20 09.6   -16 41    0.085  0.980    15.5   18.25
Nov 05    19 40.0   -16 32    0.088  0.968    15.9   17.17
Nov 06    19 12.5   -16 10    0.092  0.955    16.4   15.77
-----------------------------------------------------------

==================================================================
AstroAlert is a free service of SKY & TELESCOPE, the Essential
Magazine of Astronomy (http://SkyandTelescope.com/). This e-mail
was sent to AstroAlert subscribers. If you feel you received it
in error, or to unsubscribe from AstroAlert, please send a plain-
text e-mail to majordomo@... with the following
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replacing "e-mail@..." with your actual e-mail address.
==================================================================

They should have titled this article, "Tom Reiland, Right Again"...

Terry


http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0210/17noplanet/

Well, it has taken longer than I thought (always does), but I have finally
completed the update of my <A
HREF="http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/occult/occultupdate.htm">Occultation
Update</A> web page. This page has a link to all of the occultation events on
the night of Oct 26-27.

As published in the AAAP's October "Guide Star" and mentioned at the October
meetings, the night features
     * a dozen occultations of stars by the Moon!
     * one grazing occultation of a star visible near Prospect, PA!
     * two grazing occultations, possibly visible from the same site, near
Clarksburg W.Va!
     * and an asteroidal occultation!

The total occultations and asteroidal occultation can be viewed from any
site, but the grazing occultations need to be viewed from a narrow path. If
you are interested in attending any of the grazes, please let me know so that
I can coordinate the observers.


Sincerely,
John Holtz
JWHoltz@...
phone: 724-352-7596
home page: http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/

"People who never look up avoid the cow manure, but that's all they ever get
to see."

Sent by: "Fischer, Eric M" <emfischer@...>



> - 10" LX Meade 2000 model with JMI auto-focus, dew shield,  and 26mm 4000
> series Plosel. $2000.00.
>
> - The Sky CD version 4.0 level IV, telescope control, 19 million objects.
> $50.00.
>
> -Psion hand-held computer, 32 Megabytes (MB) RAM, 16 MB ROM, Office Suite
> and Prycon astronomical software (sky map), 56K modem. $100.00
>
> Contact Jack Dull at jdull@... or (724) 226-5220 (W),
> (724) 845-7754 (H)

from the RASC ListServer...

> ----- Original Message ----- From: lecacheux
> To: planoccult@...
> Cc: David.Dunham@...
> Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 4:13 PM
> Subject: Possible occn. of HIP star (V=8.7) by a big TNO next Sat.
morning
>  From J.Lecacheux (provisional address : ol@...)
>
> Occultations are the only way to obtain accurate diameter of
> transneptunians bodies (TNOs). These icy asteroids orbiting beyond the
> outer planets are presumed coated with a very dark matter, but it seems
> that exceptions could exist.At present time only diameters of the few
> biggest members, Pluto, Charon or the claimed "new big" 2001KX76, have
been
> measured. Pluto, transgressing the presumed rule, has high albedo, but
> maybe this is due to seasonal snow deposits from its tenuous atmosphere.
>
> On Oct. 25-26 around 1:26 UT (i.e. Saturday morning in Europe and Africa;
> Friday evening in the Americas) the large TNO #15874 (still unnamed),
alias
> 1996TL66, will pass very close to the magn. 8.7 star HIP 13530, alias SAO
> 93172. Owing to large ephemeris uncertainties, occultation could occur
from
> any place in Africa, Europe, s.America and a large part of n.America.
> (2000) coordinates are 2h 54m 15s.20 +13o 19' 51".3, in a field of Aries
> easy to find with binoculars.
> Details and maps from WinOccult are at the address
>
> http://www.bitnik.com/mp/images/TL66.gif
>
> Note that time uncertainty is several minutes, so the target star should
be
> monitored from 1:15 to 1:35 UT.
>
> Risk of missing the Earth is strong, so austral regions, s.Africa
leading,
> will have a better chance than Europe.
>
> Note that a lot of TNOs are binary bodies with sub-arc sec. separation
> (already such 7 are known). If the mass barycenter of such a couple
misses
> Earth by south (as figured in the above mentioned web page), the north
> component might cross Earth diametrally.
>
> According to the Minor Planet Center the absolute magnitude of this TNO
is
> +5.4 .If its albedo is 0.16, a standard value for classical asteroids,
then
> the diameter is 275 km and the occultation of next Saturday might dure 12
> seconds, as it is stated in the above mentioned web page. But if albedo
is
> 0.04 only, a more realistic value for cometary nuclei (we suppose), then
> the diameter is 550 km, and any diametral occultation should be
> 24 seconds long. So taking in account projection cosinus, occultation
path
> wider than 600 km is plausible,... if any occultation happens, of course.
>
> 15874 pertains to the "diffused class" of TNOs, a dynamically excited
> population characterized by large
> orbital excentricities, significant inclinations and long periods. 15874
> stays near its perihelion at present time, at 35 astronomical units from
> the Sun, wich explains its easy CCD detection with small telescopes since
6
> years (V=20.8). But its aphelion distance is 134 astronomical units, and
> its orbital period 774 years, i.e. 4.7 times longer than the neptunian
one.
>
> Clear sky to everybody.
>
>
>

If you had any doubt there is rain in the forecast, this should cinch it...

Terry

                 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                     MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCH

                    WATCH ISSUED: 09:35 UTC, 24 OCTOBER 2002

                 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


VALID BEGINNING AT: IMMEDIATELY
VALID UNTIL: 19:00 UTC (3 pm EDT) ON 26 OCTOBER

     HIGH RISK PERIOD: 24 - 25 OCT (UTC DAYS)
MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 24 - 26 OCT

PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 30, 25, 20, 15 (24 OCTOBER - 27 OCTOBER)

POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE

POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 12 - 36 HOURS
                                     MINOR BELT = 24 - 48 HOURS

ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR LOCAL MIDNIGHT

EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: HIGH

OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: POOR TO FAIR

AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...

    WASHINGTON STATE TO IDAHO TO MONTANA TO NORTH DAKOTA TO WISCONSIN TO
    MICHIGAN TO NORTHERN NEW YORK STATE TO VERMONT TO NEW HAMPSHIRE TO
MAINE.

ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...

    UNITED KINGDOM TO EXTREME NORTHERN COASTAL REGIONS OF EUROPE TO NORTHERN
    USSR. SOUTHERN REGIONS OF NEW ZEALAND MAY ALSO SPOT INFREQUENT PERIODS
    OF ACTIVITY.

SYNOPSIS...

      Effects of a well-placed solar coronal hole, a southwardly directed
IMF
and compressive effects in the solar wind are producing increasingly active
levels of auroral activity. Minor auroral substorming is possible across
the
higher latitudes. Some of these substorms may be strong enough to become
visible across many middle latitude dark-sky regions, despite the near-full
phase of the moon. Although no significant auroral storming is expected,
auroral activity could become strong at times over some high and isolated
middle latitude regions.

      This watch will remain valid through 19:00 UTC (3 pm EDT) on 26
October.
It will then be updated or allowed to expire.

               PLEASE REPORT OBSERVATIONS OF AURORAL ACTIVITY TO:
                  http://www.spacew.com/submitsighting.html

            WE WELCOME PHOTOGRAPHERS TO PLACE IMAGES IN OUR GALLERY
                         http://www.spacew.com/gallery

      Observations reported here are permanently recorded for future study
and
are immediately made available in real-time to a large network of observers
world-wide via the Internet, e-mail and pager. If you observe activity,
your
assistance to contribute to this database would be appreciated.


**  End of Watch  **

Nova has an interesting program this Tuesday evening you may want to
catch...Gar
Gary Shannon
Butler, Pa

Subject: [NOVA] "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens"


> NEW FROM NOVA
>
> - NOVA Presents "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens"
>
> - Letter from the Producer
>
>
> _____________________________________________________________________
> NOVA PRESENTS "GALILEO'S BATTLE FOR THE HEAVENS"
>
> http://www.pbs.org/nova/galileo/
>
> Broadcast: October 29, 2002
> (NOVA airs Tuesdays on PBS at 8 p.m. Check your local listings as dates
> and times may vary.)
>
> In this two-hour special, NOVA vividly reconstructs an epic historical
> confrontation: the bitter clash between a fiery scientific genius,
> Galileo Galilei, and the church authorities who tried to suppress his
> astonishing discoveries. The noted British actor Simon Callow (Four
> Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love) plays Galileo in dramatic
> reenactments of key moments from his life: his pioneering telescopic
> observations of the Moon and planets, his revolutionary experiments with
> falling objects, and his fateful trial before the Inquisition for
> heresy.
>
> Here's what you'll find on the companion Web site:
>
>
> Timeline, Articles, and More
>
>     His Life
>     Explore an illustrated chronology of Galileo's
>     life and work.
>
>     His Place in Science
>     Author Dava Sobel details why Galileo is the
>     father of modern science.
>
>     His Telescope (and Sir Isaac's)
>     Galileo's refractor and Newton's reflector remain
>     the two standard types of optical telescopes today.
>
>     His Big Mistake
>     How and why Galileo got it wrong about the tides.
>
>
> Interactives
>
>     His Experiments:
>
>     Falling Objects
>     See how Galileo proved that light objects fall just
>     as fast as heavy ones.
>
>     Projectiles
>     Does an object falling straight down reach the ground
>     faster than one that also has lateral motion?
>
>     Inclined Planes
>     Play Galileo and calculate the rate of acceleration
>     due to gravity using an inclined plane.
>
>     Pendulums
>     Experiment with our online version of a pendulum.
>
>
> Plus
>
>     Links & Books
>     Library Resource Kit
>     Teacher's Guide
>     Program Transcript
>
>
> http://www.pbs.org/nova/galileo/
>
>
> _____________________________________________________________________
> LETTER FROM THE PRODUCER OF "GALILEO'S BATTLE FOR THE HEAVENS"
>
>
> This year's graduating class at Cal Tech was required for the first time
> to take a course in popular science writing.  Some of the students
> considered the course to be a kind of modern heresy -- to explain
> science to the general reader must inevitably mean "dumbing it down."
>
> That attitude would have seemed very odd to Galileo Galilei.  He was a
> genius arrogant enough to believe that his discoveries would change the
> world, but he was practical enough to realize that he'd better be able
> to explain himself to that world -- and explain it in an entertaining
> way.  Remember, Galileo came of age at a time when they didn't just burn
> books, they burned authors.
>
> We based our show on Dava Sobel's wonderful book "Galileo's Daughter,"
> which takes us back into Galileo's world.  Sobel reminds us that
> he was the father not only of modern science but also of a young
> woman who cajoled, encouraged, and prayed for her father from behind
> convent walls.
>
> Our star, Simon Callow, managed to bring the character of Galileo to
> life.  With Simon's great skills, the words Galileo left us in his books
> and journals paint an intense picture of a testy, confident, ambitious
> genius struggling against the voices of authority.
>
> Galileo was forced to suffer greatly for his scientific discoveries,
> but as his fellow Florentine Niccolo Machiavelli wrote, "It's always a
> lot more dangerous to discover new ways of doing things than to go
> looking for new continents."
>
> David Axelrod
> October 22, 2002
>
>
> _____________________________________________________________________
> _____________________________________________________________________
>
>

Dear occultation fans,

Next Saturday night provides another opportunity to see a star be covered
(occulted) by an asteroid. And unlike most occultations which involve faint
stars, the target star for next Saturday's event is magnitude 5.9 located
halfway between the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. The star is bright
enough that the occultation will be easy to see in binoculars.

Pittsburgh is just northwest of the predicted path, but it is possible that
the path will shift in our favor. Currently, Morgantown WV and Somerset PA
are near the northern limit.

Thanks to a business trip to Philadelphia next Friday, I will be "mobile" and
can position myself at any spot across the predicted path width. If anyone
would like to join me somewhere along the Pennsylvania turnpike to watch this
event, let me know.

The event occurs just before 9 pm. Details are on my  <A
HREF="http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/occult/occultupdate.htm">Occultation
Update</A> webpage.


Sincerely,
John Holtz
JWHoltz@...
phone: 724-352-7596
home page: http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/

"People who never look up avoid the cow manure, but that's all they ever get
to see."

For more info re: the occultation John has discussed, please visit:
http://www.oz.net/~stevepr/Asteroids/2002_11/1103_431.htm

Terry

Hi,

As you may already know, November's AAAP Membership Meeting will be held at
Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center on Friday, November 15, beginning at
7:30 PM.  The Science Center is right next door to the new Steeler's
stadium. If you've attended the first two meetings this fall you've seen
our disappointing attendance of  65 - 75 people at each meeting.  Hard to
believe when there is seating for several hundred people and free parking
on-site.

I am writing to encourage you to make a special effort to attend the
November meeting.  Our guest speaker is Mark Kochte of the Hubble Space
Telescope Science Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.  Mark
is travelling a long distance just for us and I would surely like to thank
him by filling the lecture hall.

Come see the very latest Hubble photos and learn what the future holds for
both the Hubble and the Next Generation projects.

Thanks for your help.

Terry

Hi,

The following ad is running in the Valley News Dispatch.  Maybe if you
explain there's a sale going on, you can get the price dropped even more.
The phone number is from the Tarentum/Natrona Heights area.

Terry

*******************************

  TELESCOPE - Meade 8", LX200GPS, Field Tripod, Accessory Kit, Brand New, Won in
sweeps,
  $2000 or Best Offer 724-226-2847

From: STD

                 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                     MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCH

                    WATCH ISSUED: 05:45 UTC, 02 NOVEMBER 2002

                 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


VALID BEGINNING AT: IMMEDIATELY
VALID UNTIL: 19:00 UTC (3 pm EDT) ON 05 NOVEMBER

     HIGH RISK PERIOD: 02 - 04 NOV (UTC DAYS)
MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 02 - 05 NOV

PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 25, 20, 20, 15 (02 NOVEMBER - 05 NOVEMBER)

POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE

POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 24 - 48 HOURS
                                     MINOR BELT = 48 - 72 HOURS

ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR LOCAL MIDNIGHT

EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: NONE

OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: POOR TO FAIR

AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...

    NORTHERN OREGON TO IDAHO TO NORTHERN WYOMING TO SOUTH DAKOTA TO SOUTHERN
    MINNESOTA TO WISCONSIN TO MICHIGAN TO DARK SKY SITES OF NEW YORK STATE TO
    NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...

    NORTHERN TO CENTRAL UNITED KINGDOM TO THE NORTHERN NETHERLANDS TO
NORTHERN
    GERMANY TO NORTHERN POLAND TO LITHUANIA TO LATVIA TO NORTHERN USSR.
    SOUTHERN REGIONS OF NEW ZEALAND AND EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA MAY
    ALSO SPOT PERIODS OF ACTIVITY.

SYNOPSIS...

  A well placed recurrent solar coronal hole is expected to elevate levels
of auroral activity over the next 2 to 3 days. It appears the Earth may
already be seeing the initial effects of the approach of the high velocity
solar wind stream from this anticipated disturbance. Conditions may
therefore
soon become favorable for producing periods of enhanced auroral substorm
activity. Some substorming may be strong enough to be observed over more
widespread middle latitude regions.

      This watch will remain valid through 19:00 UTC (2 pm EST) on
05 November. It will then be updated or allowed to expire.

               PLEASE REPORT OBSERVATIONS OF AURORAL ACTIVITY TO:
                  http://www.spacew.com/submitsighting.html

      Observations reported here are permanently recorded for future study
and
are immediately made available in real-time to a large network of observers
world-wide via the Internet, e-mail and pager. If you observe activity, your
assistance to contribute to this database would be appreciated.


**  End of Watch  **

In case you're interested, Chris Marriott has released the newest version of
Sky Map Pro.

Terry

*************************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Marriott [mailto:chris@...]
Sent: Friday, November 01, 2002 08:10
To: skymap@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [skymap] SkyMap Pro 9 Released


We are pleased to announce that SkyMap Pro 9, a major new version of the
product, has been released and is available for immediate delivery. For full
details of the new features of this version, please refer to:

http://www.skymap.com/smp9_new_features.htm

A demonstration version of SkyMap Pro 9 can be downloaded from:

ftp://ftp.ttp.co.uk/smp9eval.exe

The size of the file is 8.6MB.

The price of the full version of SkyMap Pro 9 remains unchanged from that of
SkyMap Pro 8 - ie US$99 in North America, or £59.95 or ?94 + shipping + VAT
elsewhere in the world.

Any customer who has bought SkyMap Pro 8 (or upgraded to it) on or after 1st
October 2002 is entitled to a free upgrade to SkyMap Pro 9; these upgrades
will be sent out shortly.

All customers who have previously bought any older release of SkyMap or
SkyMap Pro, no matter how old, can buy SkyMap Pro 9 at a special upgrade
price, as described below:


CUSTOMERS IN NORTH AMERICA

Customers in the USA or Canada can upgrade to SkyMap Pro 9 for US$39.95 +
US$3 shipping, a total price of US$42.95. You can order on-line via our
secure web server at https://www.ttp.co.uk/smusa/shop.html, by phone
(toll-free) at 1-800-726-0746, or by fax (toll free) at 1-800-431-2933.


CUSTOMERS ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

Customers in other countries have the choice of paying either in Pounds
Sterling, or in Euros.

If you wish to pay in Pounds Sterling, the upgrade price is £27.50 plus
shipping (shipping varies according to destination). If you live in the
European Union, VAT at 17.5% will be added to the total price. You can order
the upgrade online at:

http://www.ttp.co.uk/cgi-bin/store/store.cgi?&shop=city&Category=10011

If you wish to pay in Euros, the upgrade price is ? 44.07, again plus
shipping and (within the EU) 17.5% VAT. You can order the upgrade online and
pay in Euros at:

http://www.ttp.co.uk/euroshop/shop.html

If you prefer, you can order by phone at +44 (0)1889 564601 or by fax at +44
(0)1889 563219.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Regards,

Chris
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Marriott, SkyMap Software, UK
e-mail: chris@...  Web site: http://www.skymap.com
Astronomy software written by astronomers, for astronomers


To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
skymap-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The skies were clear all of the way from Harrisburg to Bedford last night
(Sat, Nov 2) as I made my way back from a business trip: pretty convenient so
that I could try for the occultation by the asteroid Nephele. To provide
maximum coverage for the possible occultation, I was directed to man a
position 45 kilometers from the centerline. As I drove and drove, I was
starting to worry that I would not make it to the desired spot. The turnpike
has lots of twists and turns, and on many occasions I watch the GPS indicate
that I was driving parallel to the centerline, and in some cases, actually
getting closer to the centerline!

With an hour to go, I got off of the turnpike at Bedford. Fortunately for me,
that turned out to be almost exactly where I wanted to be. I drove around
frantically searching for a dark site without any obstructions. I hadn't
realized how low the target star would be. The GPS lead me out to the country
where I found a suitable site. I got the scope set up and located the target
star: a nice bright magnitude 5.9! I didn't bother trying to see the 13th
magnitude asteroid. If the occultations occurs, I would know because the star
would disappear.

My heart was racing a little bit as the time approached, but not as with some
other events. Watching.... waiting.... and all of the sudden this bright star
just vanished before my eyes. It was so shocking that I almost (0.1 second
delay;-) forgot to call out the event into my tape recorder. Several seconds
later, a bit longer than I expected, the star again popped into view. My
third successful asteroidal occultation of the year. In one year, I have had
more asteroidal occultations than the previous 13 years combined!

The buzz on the IOTA list server is that the path of the occultation moved
about half a path width north. Thus, Terra Alta W.Va. would have been near
the centerline, Uniontown and Greensburg and Johnstown would have been inside
the path, and even southern McKeesport would have had a good chance of seeing
the occultation. An incredibly bright star, convenient time of night (9
o'clock), and clear skies made this an event to try for. I hope some other
people got to see it.

Sincerely,
John Holtz
JWHoltz@...
phone: 724-352-7596
home page: http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/

"People who never look up avoid the cow manure, but that's all they ever get
to see."

Forwarded from the Astro-l Listserver.

Terry

*********************************************

Outhouse was site of historic sighting
SPUTNIK I: Plaque installed at place where satellite was first seen.
The Associated Press
November 4, 2002

Fairbanks -- The site of Dexter Stegemeyer's old outhouse now sports a
plaque
designating it as a historic place.

Fairbanks scientists Neil Davis and Neal Brown visited the landmark off
Miller Hill Road and installed the plaque in mid-October, according to the
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

It all goes back to the morning of Oct. 6, 1957, when Stegemeyer was in his
outhouse and all was well with the world. The door was open. As he looked up
in the sky, he witnessed the dawn of a new age.

"Mr. Stegemeyer said he was just sitting there enjoying the beauty of the
stars twinkling in the sky when he saw a strange moving star come up out of
the west," Davis wrote about his neighbor who lived west of the University
of
Alaska. "From its speed and uniform passage across the sky, he knew it could
not be an airplane, a meteor or any other familiar phenomena."

What Stegemeyer saw that morning was the Sputnik I satellite as it orbited
Earth. The launch of Sputnik signaled the start of the Space Age.

The same morning, scientists at the Geophysical Institute spotted Sputnik,
and for 20 years they were credited with being the first people in the
Western Hemisphere to see a man-made satellite.

But Davis says Stegemeyer was first.

"His was the first sighting, since he did see Sputnik lower in the western
sky than did those at the Geophysical Institute."

The satellite, 22 inches in diameter, beeped around the world for most of
that month and re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up in early 1958.