SETI public: FW: Friends of PlanetQuest Newsletter Vol 1, No 4

>From: PlanetQuest Info <info_at_planetquest.org>
>To: undisclosed-recipients: ;
>Subject: Friends of PlanetQuest Newsletter Vol 1, No 4
>Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 08:57:48 -0700
>
>Friends of PlanetQuest Newsletter Vol 1, No 4
>
>**The PlanetQuest Mission: To inspire the people of the world with the
>thrill of individual discovery, a better understanding of our uniquely
>precious planet, and a wider perspective on our place in the universe.**
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>May has turned out to be a month of hard work. During the past month, we
>have begun work on incorporating translations of some of our pages, added a
>new director to our board, hosted a star party at Lick Observatory (well,
>it was a cloud party spiced with historical observations!) with a UC Light
>and Optics class of Dr. Doyle’s, added to the website, and begun equipment
>modifications on our telescopes.
>
>We are forging ahead, looking forward to a very busy summer, and looking
>forward to telling you, our friends and supporters, all about it.
>
>===================================
>
>**A New Board of Directors Member**
>
>In early May, Dr. Zoran Ninkov of the Rochester Institute of Technology
>accepted our invitation to become a member of the PlanetQuest Board of
>Directors. Dr. Ninkov has collaborated with PlanetQuest cofounder and
>President Dr. Laurance Doyle for many years, providing us with
>state-of-the-art CCDs as well as technical and observational assistance for
>nearly a decade in the world’s first search for extrasolar
>terrestrial-sized planets. (References to this work can be found at
>http://planetquest.org/about/research/extrasolar.html.) Dr. Ninkov has been
>involved in the field of astronomy for many years. A current (although
>brief) bio of him can be found on our website
>(http://planetquest.org/about/people/).
>
>**Other Collaborations**
>
>We are pleased to announce that PlanetQuest and the SETI Institute
>(http://www.seti.org) are joining forces. SETI Institute will provide
>materials and technical support for the PlanetQuest mission, and the two
>organizations will participate in selected joint fundraising efforts. This
>is not only a mutually beneficial but also extremely natural collaboration.
>For many years, SETI Institute has been engaged in a radio search for
>extraterrestrial intelligence, and has now expanded that search with an
>optical component. SETI also supported early distributed computing projects
>(SETI_at_home) that many of you may have participated in, and that has
>provided the foundation for the PlanetQuest Collaboratory. We are extremely
>excited about our two organizations working together to bring the
>excitement of discovery to you.
>
>**New Download!**
>
>Dr. Bob Slawson, one of our observing astronomers, has created a nifty
>planet transit simulator. You can specify different types of observing
>scenarios (both earth- and space-based), star and planet sizes, offset, and
>signal to noise characteristics. The simulator then renders an animation of
>your target as well as a sample light curve, based on your settings. It’s
>a great way to understand the basics of the photometric detection method
>you’ll use to detect planets and other phenomena. Download it at:
>http://www.planetquest.org/download/PlanetTransit.jar. If you have Java
>(required), you can run it by typing ‘java –jar PlanetTransit.jar’ (without
>the quotes) in the directory where you saved it.
>
>**Our Education Project**
>
>We continue to add pages to our Learn category on the website
>(http://www.planetquest.org/about/learn/). Several additional pages are
>waiting “in the wings,” so to speak, as we await permissions on photos and
>other input. As brief as the Learn pages are, we are very proud of the
>content and information provided, and we of course provide links to other
>sites of interest and reference materials. We will soon add an updated and
>improved home page for Learn, as well as several new Learn offerings. And
>if you have any requests, let us know!
>
>**The Collaboratory**
>
>Imagine the next generation of distributed computing—a way not just to
>contribute your cpu cycles to other people’s science projects, but also to
>perform your own experiments, collaborate with others around the world in
>different types of observations, classify stars no one has ever classified
>before, and learn about math, astronomy, and physics. Imagine a distributed
>computing tool that encourages you to create and share your own
>constellations and asterisms, that allows you to participate in global
>observing missions, and that creates communities. Watch the PlanetQuest
>website for additional details soon about what we’re building into the
>Collaboratory—there’s nothing like it!
>
>**Astronomy and Observing**
>
>Astronomy is the most interesting science to work with… okay, let’s say “a”
>most interesting science, not to be too biased. For one thing, the
>scientist (astronomer) cannot control the experiment; either he/she is
>ready to photograph the event when it occurs, or not. The event occurs
>regardless. Years ago, we traveled to Baja California to view the 1991
>solar eclipse and had to set up cameras and other equipment in time to be
>ready for it. We were ready, but some of the scientists from other fields
>were nervous wrecks, realizing there would be no second chances!
>
>Such is it now, with our observations on the Crossley 0.9 meter telescope
>at Lick Observatory. The field corrector we have ordered has been delayed,
>which in turn has delayed our observations until mid-August or so. The part
>of the Galaxy we will be observing will be “setting” toward the end of
>September, or at least, not optimally observable. This is still a
>developing issue and our astronomers are working with the company producing
>the equipment. All is not lost, as we still have our month’s observing time
>on the Siding Spring 1-meter as well as two months at Lick Observatory.
>
>**Your Help Is Most Appreciated**
>
>We value your interest in PlanetQuest, and your support of every kind. Some
>have offered translations of website pages; others have offered materials
>or other kinds of assistance. We are thankful. If you want to make a
>difference and bring positive change to our world, please consider a
>contribution (we’ve made this easy: just go to
>http://www.planetquest.org/support/donate), and tell someone else about us.
> For as little as $10 per month, you can help us build PlanetQuest into
>the world-changing organization it can be! For those thinking of
>contributing on a large scale, we are happy to meet with you and explain
>our project in more detail. We are a registered 501(c)(3) US nonprofit
>organization, so your donations are completely tax-deductible. As always,
>thank you for your interest, enthusiasm and support!
>
>===================================
>
>**Quote of the Month**
>
>“What a wonderful and amazing Scheme have we here of the magnificent
>Vastness of the Universe! So many Suns, so many Earths…!”
>
>Christianus Huygens (1670)
>
>===================================
>
>Best Wishes,
>
>J. Ellen Blue
>Director of Publications
>
>Laurance Doyle, PhD
>President and Cofounder
>
>David Gutelius, PhD
>Executive Director and Cofounder
>

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