From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Sat Aug 02 2003 - 10:48:21 PDT
----- Original Message -----
From: bulletins_at_SkyandTelescope.com
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 7:45 PM
To: ljk4_at_msn.com
Subject: S&T's Weekly News Bulletin for August 1
========================================================================
* * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - August 1, 2003 * * *
========================================================================
Welcome to S&T's Weekly News Bulletin. Images, the full text of stories
abridged here, and other enhancements are available on our Web site,
SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs provided below. (If the links don't work,
just manually type the URLs into your Web browser.) Clear skies!
========================================================================
FOR HUBBLE, THE END IS IN SIGHT
The Hubble Space Telescope's days are numbered, and astronomers aren't
happy. Thanks to periodic repairs and upgrades, Hubble has been at the
forefront of scientific discovery since its launch in April 1990 -- even
though its first 3.5 years were marred by optical problems. "HST is the
Energizer Bunny of astronomy," says John P. Huchra (Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics). But NASA can't afford to keep it going and going
while also funding the development of new orbiting observatories such as
the James Webb Space Telescope, slated for launch in 2011 as astronomers'
highest-priority project for the early 21st century. So the agency is
making plans to end Hubble's mission around the end of this decade. At a
sometimes contentious meeting near NASA headquarters in Washington, DC,
yesterday, many astronomers pleaded with the agency to grant the telescope
a stay of execution....
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1017_1.asp
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
STUDENT'S ASTEROID PROJECT WINS INTEL AWARD
A project by a 17-year-old Connecticut high-school student to measure the
distance to Earth-crossing asteroids was one of the three top winners at
this year's Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF),
held last May in Cleveland, Ohio. Sponsored by one of the world's leading
computer-chip maker, the competition attracted some 1,200 students from 36
countries.
Lisa Doreen Glukhovsky of New Milford High School won Intel Foundation's
Young Scientist Scholarship for her project entitled "A Rapid, Accurate
Method of Determining the Distance to Near-Earth Asteroids...."
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1013_1.asp
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ASTRO NEWS BRIEFS
Palomar Schmidt Gets Giant CCD Camera
The venerable 48-inch Schmidt telescope on Palomar Mountain in California,
which took the original Palomar Observatory Sky Survey a half century ago
(and is now named the Oschin Schmidt), is getting a giant, 161-megapixel
CCD camera for a new generation of survey work. The camera, named QUEST
(for the Quasar Equatorial Survey Team), replaces the NEAT (Near Earth
Asteroid Tracker) camera that was installed only two years ago. The QUEST
camera contains an array of 112 CCD chips covering an area 8 by 9 inches
in size, or 4 degrees by 4.5 degrees on the sky. Astronomers will use it
to perform deep, wide searches for new quasars, supernovae, asteroids, and
other objects.
Despite some reports, QUEST is not the world's biggest astronomical CCD
camera. That title is still held by the 340-megapixel MegaPrime camera
newly installed on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop Mauna Kea,
Hawaii.
Very Early Carbon Monoxide
Astronomers have found yet another sign that the first generations of
stars managed to cough up substantial amounts of heavy elements (those
beyond hydrogen and helium). Fabian Walter (National Radio Astronomy
Observatory) and nine colleagues found radio emission from carbon monoxide
molecules at a quasar having a redshift of 6.42 (meaning we see it as it
was when the universe was 1/16 of its present age). Carbon monoxide is a
useful indicator of much more abundant molecular hydrogen, which is the
raw material for star formation but which generally cannot be detected
directly. The astronomers estimate that the galaxy with the quasar at its
core contains 20 billion solar masses of molecular hydrogen. A report
appears in the July 24th Nature.
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1014_1.asp
========================================================================
HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY
* First-quarter Moon on August 4-5.
* Mars is magnitude -2.4 and rises in the east-southeast around the end of
twilight, shining bright, fiery yellow-orange.
* Mercury, at magnitude 0, glimmers deep in the afterglow of sunset. Scan
for it with binoculars 20 or 30 minutes after sundown just above the
western horizon.
For details, see This Week's Sky at a Glance and Planet Roundup:
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/
========================================================================
BE PREPARED WITH SKYWATCH '04! (Advertisement)
Two total lunar eclipses, a pair of bright comets, and a rare transit of
Venus -- 2004 is going to be an exciting year for observers! Get a sneak
preview of what to expect, plus discover other celestial sights to watch
out for on 16 months of evening star charts (starting with September
2003). If you're in the market for a new telescope, compare the features
of 115 instruments from 16 manufacturers in our Telescope Buyer's Guide.
SkyWatch '04 also includes primers on taking photos of the night sky and
using the latest computerized telescopes. You'll find plenty of observing
hints, ideas, and projects as well.
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/skywatch
========================================================================
Copyright 2003 Sky Publishing Corp. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin is provided
as a free service to the astronomical community by the editors of SKY &
TELESCOPE magazine. Widespread electronic distribution is encouraged as
long as our copyright notice is included, along with the words "used by
permission." But this bulletin may not be published in any other form
without written permission from Sky Publishing; send e-mail to
permissions_at_SkyandTelescope.com or call +1 617-864-7360. More astronomy
news is available on our Web site at http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To change your address, unsubscribe from S&T's Weekly News Bulletin, or
subscribe to S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin, which calls attention to
noteworthy celestial events, go to this address:
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/shopatsky/emailsubscribe.asp
=======================================================================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.6 : Sat Aug 02 2003 - 11:08:06 PDT