Thought the list members might find some notes of interest here.
Wishing "All" clear skies,
Bob
*****************************************
~Carlton S. Perkins Observatory
http://www.inergy.com/observatory/welcome.html
~member~
~CV-Helios Network-
http://www.cv-heliosdot net/
~BayColony Astronomical Society-
http://maxpages.com/maxpage.cgi/starastronomer/Home
~Amateur Radio Service KA1NMA-
http://maxpages.com/maxpage.cgi/hamradioheaven/Home
*****************************************
-- BEGIN included message
- To: skyline@gs1.revnet.com
- Subject: S&T's News Bulletin for July 10, 1998
- From: John Wagoner <stargate@gtedot net>
- Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 23:31:08 -0500
SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN JULY 10, 1998 SOHO'S FATE DEBATED Despite the intensive use of tracking antennas worldwide, as of July 8th ground controllers had not reestablished contact with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, which fell silent on June 25th. In a few weeks changing orbital geometry may put enough sunlight on the craft's solar panels to restore power. However, the spacecraft's chances of returning to operation are considered slim, as its instruments and fuel tanks may have been irreparably damaged by the long deep freeze. NEW ASTEROID CLASS? Astronomers in Hawaii may have discovered a new class of asteroid -- one that orbits the Sun completely within the orbit of the Earth. David Tholen and Robert Whiteley (University of Hawaii) announced their finding on July 1st. Tholen estimates that the object, designated 1998 DK<36>, is only about 40 meters in diameter -- probably about the size of the object that burst over Siberia just more than 90 years ago. However, because the object set soon after dark -- and because of some equipment problems -- DK36 was only imaged on two nights in February using the a 2.24-meter telescope atop Mauna Kea. Unfortunately, because there are only four observations -- two sets of minutes-apart positions on consecutive days -- and they were taken more than five months ago, a good orbit cannot be obtained to guide observers for following it up. Furthermore, it is unlikely the object will be recovered unless some "lucky shot" captures it in the future. Its supposed intra-Earth orbit is also somewhat nebulous. According to Gareth Williams of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, an Earth-crossing orbit could still fit the data. He notes that it is clear that the object's farthest distance from the Sun is small, but no more than 1.1 astronomical units. Regardless, it does raise the uncomfortable fact that killer asteroids -- like the antagonists of summer blockbuster movies
-- END included message
"HOPE" HEADED FOR MARS
In the predawn of July 4th (18:12 UT on July 3rd), Japan launched its first
Mars mission from the Kagoshima Space Center on the island of Honshu. Known
as Planet B before launch, the probe has been renamed Nozomi ("Hope"). It
is now in a high-apogee orbit from which it will fly past the Moon twice to
build up speed. A rocket firing in December will send Nozomi on a long
cruise to Mars, with arrival planned for October 1999. From its Martian
orbit, Nozomi will study the planet's atmosphere, charged particles, and
magnetic field. Its payload consists of experiments from Japan, the U.S.,
Germany, Canada and Sweden.
ANOTHER GAMMA-RAY BURST GAUGED
A Caltech-led consortium of astronomers has found what appear to be
visible-light and radio-wave manifestations of yet another gamma-ray burst
(GRB). Shortly after being "seen" by spacecraft, the July 3rd shower of
high-energy photons was traced to a spot in the constellation Pisces. A
fading point of light in the same part of the sky was then tracked with the
Keck II telescope, ultimately yielding the spectrum of a star-forming
galaxy billions of light-years away (its redshift is 0.97). In a July 8th
posting on the Internet-based GRB Coordination Network, S. George
Djorgovski (Caltech) suggests that "this gives some support to the models
which associate origins of GRBs with massive star formation." A subsequent
posting by Dale A. Frail (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) stated that
the Very Large Array had identified a flickering source of radio waves in
the same position; continued monitoring may shed light on the nature of the
GRB explosion.
YET ANOTHER EXTRASOLAR PLANET
Astronomers searching for planets around other stars -- or seeking to
understand those already found -- gathered in Santa Barbara, California,
this week to share their latest findings at the Protostars and Planets IV
meeting. Among the meeting's many results was the latest in the ever-
growing list of extrasolar planets. According to Michel Mayor (Geneva
University) and his colleagues, 14 Herculis (Gliese 614) -- a magnitude-
6.7, type-K star some 55 light-years distant -- is orbited every 4.4 Earth
years by an unseen object that bears at least 3.3 times the mass of
Jupiter. The object's eccentric orbit carries it from 1.6 to 3.4
astronomical units from the parent star. According to a press release from
Haute Provence Observatory, where the star was monitored, the companion
could not be seen against 14 Herculis's glare in images obtained with an
adaptive-optics camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope; this bolsters
the discoverers' confidence that the star is attended by a bona fide
planet, not a superdim star or substellar brown dwarf.
THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE"
Some daily events in the changing sky, from the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE.
JULY 12 -- SUNDAY
* Look due south after dark for the orange-red star Antares. It's the
brightest star of Scorpius, a wonderful constellation for binocular
scrutiny that is now at its highest.
JULY 13 -- MONDAY
* Jupiter shines to the lower left of the waning gibbous Moon after
midnight tonight.
JULY 14 -- TUESDAY
* Jupiter is to the upper right of the waning gibbous Moon after they
rise around midnight.
* During early dawn Wednesday morning, Venus is 1.3 degrees north (upper
right) of the 3rd-magnitude star Zeta Tauri.
JULY 15 -- WEDNESDAY
* Even though it's the peak of summer, warning signs of autumn are already
appearing in the evening sky. Low in the northeast sparkles Cassiopeia. By
late evening the Great Square of Pegasus looms low in the east.
JULY 16 -- THURSDAY
* Last-quarter Moon (exact at 11:13 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time).
* Mercury is at greatest elongation low in the west-northwest during
evening twilight, but it is fading daily.
JULY 17 -- FRIDAY
* Saturn shines just above the Moon after they rise around 1 a.m. tonight.
JULY 18 -- SATURDAY
* Look for the Big Dipper fairly high in the northwest after dark. It's
getting to be the time of year when the Dipper turns upright to "hold water"
as seen in the evening sky.
============================
THIS WEEK'S PLANET ROUNDUP
============================
MERCURY is disappearing into the glow of sunset. Look for it very low in
the west-northwest about 50 minutes after the Sun goes down. Mercury is well
to the lower right of Regulus; don't confuse the two!
VENUS shines brightly (magnitude -3.9) low in the east-northeast during
dawn.
MARS is barely emerging from the glow of sunrise. It's faint (magnitude +1.6)
and still very low. Scan for it far to the lower left of Venus. Binoculars
help.
JUPITER rises around 11:30 p.m. daylight saving time. It's the brilliant
"star" (magnitude -2.6) shining in the southeastern sky during the early
morning hours. Jupiter is at the Pisces-Aquarius border.
SATURN (in eastern Pisces) rises around 1 a.m. It's the dimmer "star"
(magnitude +0.3) far to Jupiter's lower left during the night's latest hours.
They're about 35 degrees apart. Saturn is almost directly left of Jupiter
during morning twilight.
URANUS and NEPTUNE, magnitudes 5.7 and 7.8 respectively, are in Capricornus,
well up in the southeast by midnight. See the finder chart in the May Sky &
Telescope, page 96.
PLUTO, magnitude 13.7, is near the Ophiuchus-Scorpius border in the south
after dark. See the finder chart in the May Sky & Telescope, page 97.
The charts for Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are also at
http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/urnepl98.html.
(All descriptions that relate to the horizon or zenith are written for the
world's midnorthern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude
are for North America. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, equals Universal Time
minus 4 hours.)
More details, sky maps, and news of other celestial events appear each month
in SKY & TELESCOPE, the essential magazine of astronomy. See our enormous
Web site at http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies!
SKY & TELESCOPE, P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02478 * 617-864-7360 (voice)
=======================================================================
Copyright 1998 Sky Publishing Corporation. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin and
Sky at a Glance stargazing calendar are provided as a service to the
astronomical community by the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine.
Widespread electronic distribution is encouraged as long as these paragraphs
are included. But the text of the bulletin and calendar may not be
published in any other form without permission from Sky Publishing (contact
permissions@skypub.com or phone 617-864-7360). Illustrated versions,
including active links to related Internet resources, are available via SKY
Online on the World Wide Web at http://www.skypub.com/.
In response to numerous requests, and in cooperation with the Astronomical
League (http://www.mcsdot net/~bstevens/al/) and the American Association of
Amateur Astronomers (http://www.corvus.com/), S&T's Weekly News Bulletin and
Sky at a Glance are available via electronic mailing list too. For a free
subscription, send e-mail to skyline@gs1.revnet.com and put the word "join"
on the first line of the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send e-mail
to skyline@gs1.revnet.com and put the word "unjoin" on the first line of the
body of the message.