archive-1: SETI S&T's News Bulletin for January 22, 1999
SETI S&T's News Bulletin for January 22, 1999
Larry Klaes ( lklaes@bbn.com )
Mon, 25 Jan 1999 11:53:36 -0500
>From: stargate@gte.net
>Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 14:48:42 -0600 (CST)
>to: lklaes@bbn.com
>subject: S&T's News Bulletin for January 22, 1999
>
>SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN
>
>JANUARY 22, 1999
>
>MOON TO HIDE ALDEBARAN
>
>The waxing gibbous Moon occults (covers) the 1st-magnitude star Aldebaran
>late on the night of Tuesday, January 26th for most of North America. The
>farther west you are, the higher the Moon will be in the sky. For
>timetables and maps, see the February issue of Sky & Telescope (page 110)
>or check http://www.skypub.com/sights/occultations/occultations.html.
>Observers near the East Coast will find the Moon very near setting at the
>time, but they have another opportunity: the Moon will occult some fainter
>stars in the Hyades. For details, see the timetable in the January Sky &
>Telescope (page 115), or in the Lunar Occultation 1999 Highlights section
>of the above Web site.
>
>NEW SETI PROGRAMS
>
>This week the Planetary Society announced sponsoring three more programs to
>search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Previous endeavors have
>sought indications of aliens by listening to radio signals. Now searches
>will *watch* for signs in what's called "optical SETI." The three projects
>-- two at the University of California, Berkeley, and one at Harvard
>University and Smithsonian Observatory in Massachusetts -- will use
>photometers to detect short bursts of light from Sun-like stars. According
>to Planetary Society Executive Director Louis Friedman, his organization
>has funded seven SETI programs for a total of $1 million.
>
>CHANDRA OBSERVATORY DELAYED
>
>Yesterday, NASA announced that the Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly the
>Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility) will be shipped to Florida a bit
>late. Originally scheduled to be sent to the Kennedy Space Center this
>month, the third of the "Great Observatories" will be held at TRW Space and
>Electronics Group in Redondo Beach, CA, so that problematic circuit boards
>within spacecraft's command and communications systems can be checked and
>possibly replaced.
>
>FIREBALL OVER HAWAII
>
>In the early morning of January 14th, many residents of Hawaii were awoken
>by the flash and sound of a bright fireball that exploded over the island
>chain. Sky & Telescope contributing editor Stephen James O'Meara witnessed
>the explosion as he was preparing to do some observing. The explosion --
>which he estimates reached magnitude -20 -- came at approximately 3:47 a.m.
>He witnessed many fragments of the shattered meteoroid followed by smoky
>trails. "The flash it produced was blinding," O'Meara says, "as if I
>someone had just ignited a welder's torch at night. About 10 seconds later,
>a loud explosion caused me to flinch. The noise was not like that of a
>volcanic explosion or of thunder, but more like that of a depth charge
>detonating beneath the sea. That initial explosion was followed by 30
>seconds (I counted) of rumbling, like rolling thunder."
>
>
>THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE"
>
> Some daily events in the changing sky, from the editors of SKY &
>TELESCOPE.
>
>JAN. 24 -- SUNDAY
>
> * First-quarter Moon (exact at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time).
>
> * Jupiter's moon Io reappears from eclipse out of Jupiter's shadow just
>east of the planet around 8:36 p.m. EST. Close to it will be another of
>Jupiter's moons, Europa. All you need is a small telescope; watch for
>Europa to turn from single to "double"!
>
> * Seen in a medium-sized telescope, Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross
>Jupiter's central meridian (the imaginary line down the center of the
>planet's disk from pole to pole) around 8:44 p.m. EST. Lately the spot has
>been very pale tan. For a list of all predicted Red Spot transit times see
>http://www.skypub.com/sights/moonplanets/redspot.html.
>
>JAN. 25 -- MONDAY
>
> * Some doorstep astronomy: Look southeast in the evening for Sirius, the
>brightest star in the sky. Well to its upper left is Procyon. A similar
>distance above Sirius or to its upper right is the constellation Orion.
>Orion's leftmost corner is the orange-red star Betelgeuse. Sirius, Procyon,
>and Betelgeuse form the Winter Triangle.
>
>JAN. 26 -- TUESDAY
>
> * The waxing gibbous Moon occults (covers) the 1st-magnitude star
>Aldebaran late tonight for most of North America. See the February Sky &
>Telescope, page 110, or check
>http://www.skypub.com/sights/occultations/occultations.html. Observers near
>the East Coast will find the Moon very near setting at the time, but they
>have another opportunity: the Moon will occult some fainter stars in the
>Hyades. See the timetable in the January Sky & Telescope, page 115, or in
>the Lunar Occultation 1999 Highlights section of
>http://www.skypub.com/sights/occultations/occultations.html. Read about how
>anyone can make valuable timings with a camcorder!
>
>JAN. 27 -- WEDNESDAY
>
> * Jupiter's Red Spot transits around 6:15 p.m. EST.
>
>JAN. 28 -- THURSDAY
>
> * Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is three or four ring-lengths to Saturn's
>east this evening through Sunday evening. A small telescope will show it.
>
>JAN. 29 -- FRIDAY
>
> * Jupiter's Red Spot transits around 7:54 p.m. EST.
>
>JAN. 30 -- SATURDAY
>
> * Some doorstep astronomy: Look southwest in twilight this week for
>Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, as described below. They form a straight line
>-- and this is no coincidence! The planets of the solar system, including
>Earth, lie in nearly the same plane. From our viewpoint inside it, the
>plane of the solar system is a line around our sky. This line is called the
>ecliptic. The planets, Moon, and Sun are always found near it.
>
>
> ============================
> THIS WEEK'S PLANET ROUNDUP
> ============================
>
>MERCURY is hidden in the glare of the Sun.
>
>VENUS is low in the west-southwest during dusk, very far to the lower right
>of Jupiter. A line from Saturn through Jupiter points down to Venus.
>
>MARS, shining at magnitude +0.6 in Virgo, rises around midnight and is high
>in the south by dawn. The similarly-bright star to its right is Spica. In a
>telescope Mars is still only a tiny 7.5 arcseconds in apparent diameter.
>
>JUPITER, magnitude -2.2, is the big, bright "star" in the southwest during
>and after dusk. It sets in the west around 9 p.m.
>
>SATURN, magnitude +0.3, is the yellowish "star" far to Jupiter's upper
>left. The two planets appear about 30 degrees apart, on opposite ends of
>Pisces.
>
>URANUS and NEPTUNE are hidden behind the glare of the Sun.
>
>PLUTO, magnitude 13.8, is in Ophiuchus in the southeast before dawn.
>
>(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 Standard Time, EST, equals Universal Time
>minus 5 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)
>
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