Sky & Telescope's News Bulletin - Sep 26

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* * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - September 26, 2003 * * *

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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!

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SAGITTARIUS DWARF GALAXY SPANS THE SKY

Astronomers have derived a new map of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, which
currently is merging with the Milky Way. Steven R. Majewski (University of
Virginia) and three collaborators culled 5,000 of the Sagittarius Dwarf's
M-type red-giant stars from the recently completed near-infrared Two Micron All
Sky Survey, or 2MASS....

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1058_1.asp

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A BIZARRO "COMETOID"

There once was a time when deciding whether a newly discovered solar-system
object was an asteroid or a comet was simple: If it looked fuzzy, it was a
comet; if it didn't, it was an asteroid. But the line between asteroids and
comets has grown ever blurrier over the years as astronomers have found new
classes of objects that straddle the boundary. Now comes 133P/Elst-Pizarro,
which seems to have a split personality. In some ways it resembles a main-belt
asteroid, in others an elderly comet....

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1057_1.asp

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ASTRO NEWS BRIEFS

Galileo's Swan Song

The intrepid Galileo spacecraft ended its historic 14-year mission on Sunday,
September 21st, when, as directed by NASA flight controllers, the instrument
plunged into the Jovian atmosphere at 2:57 EDT. Astronomers decided to "crash"
Galileo into Jupiter rather than risk the craft eventually hitting and
contaminating one of the Jovian satellites. Experts were particularly concerned
about Europa, which Galileo discovered harbors a subsurface liquid-water ocean.

Hundreds of astronomers, engineers, and family members were on hand Sunday at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to celebrate the
success of the Jovian explorer. The Galileo mission was supposed to end six
years ago, but it was extended three times because of Galileo's unexpectedly
long survival in Jupiter's high-radiation environment and because of the unique
and invaluable results it produced. The mission ran so long that when it hit
Jupiter, its onboard fuel tanks were practically empty.

Clear Skies at Astrofest 2003

One thousand amateur astronomers and equipment vendors enjoyed clear skies at
this year's Astrofest in Kankakee, Illinois, over the weekend. A little rain
early Friday morning gave way to cloudless skies by the afternoon at Camp
Shaw-Waw-Nas-See, with temperatures dipping into the upper 40s. Lower humidity
on Saturday night made it easier for observers to fight off dew.

During the day, telescopes were pointed toward the Sun, with many observers
showing hydrogen-alpha views of prominences. Each night, all over the observing
field, telescopes were computer-commanded or hand-driven to point to
still-bright Mars and various deep-sky sights. Binocular eyepieces seemed the
favorite accessory of the event.

Presentations led off on Friday night with a discussion about fireballs,
meteorites, and asteroid impact threats night by SKY & TELESCOPE associate
editor Stuart J. Goldman. Saturday afternoon featured a tag-team overview of
amateur astronomers, astronomy clubs, and educational outreach by James
Sweitzer and Bernhard Beck-Winchatz of DePaul University, Vivian Hoette of the
University of Chicago, and amateur Barry Beamon from Rockford, Illinois, as
well as other amateurs who told of their experiences working with children. On
Saturday night, Michael Bennett, executive director of the Astronomical Society
of the Pacific, provided a preview of the research and educational potential of
the forthcoming Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a
2.5-meter telescope to be flown within a modified Boeing 747.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1054_1.asp

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY

* Mars blazes high in the southeast to south during evening this week. Keep an
eye out for dust storms, now that summer is beginning in Mars's southern
hemisphere.
* Mercury reaches greatest elongation, 18 degrees west of the Sun low in the
eastern sky at dawn on Saturday, September 27th.
* First-quarter Moon on October 2nd.

For details, see This Week's Sky at a Glance and Planet Roundup:

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/

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Copyright 2003 Sky Publishing Corp. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin is provided as a
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*-----------------------------------------------------*
| Stuart Goldman |
* Associate Editor *
| Sky & Telescope |
* 49 Bay State Rd. Sky & Telescope: The Essential *
| Cambridge, MA 02138 Magazine of Astronomy |
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