Observer's Handbook and facility curtailments

OBSERVER'S HANDBOOK AND FACILITY CURTAILMENTS
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News about the Observer's Handbook 2009. At about 11:30 today, 24
October, I heard from RASC that the OH are only just now arriving
from
its printer. The printing and binding was done earlier this week,
there being some unspecified delay.
Shipping of the books to the US starts today, with receipt at
each
client, like NYSkies, expected in the coming week. There is a spread
of delivery dates because the books are shipped out in batches over a
couple days.
It seems that orders for the book from the US are depressed from
last year, altho RASC had no figures to hand. From our view thee are
several clubs that used to carry the OH for their members but this
year are not. They no longer can build up to the discount quantity,
so
RASC lost their order.
At least one club, unnamed for the hideous embarrassment,
actually
notes on its website that it is collecting requests for the OH.
HOWEVER!, if it misses the discount, it will return the money and
forget about the book for this year!!
This is one hell of a revolting development, with apology to
Chester Riley. This is precisa mente at the time clubs are scratching
for dues renewals and, bang!, they slap their members with THAT kind
of service?!?!
A few other clubs are taking the high road to retain members.
They're getting the Observer's handbook thru NYSkies, right here in
the good old USA (well, from New York City, which, well, is part of
the US). Already we got requests from clubs for small numbers of
books, 2, 3, 5, 8. Not nearly enough for a discount by itself, but
definitely a boon to the members who do need the book.
If your club foresees sliding into this too-few-requests box,
please consider NYSkies for your OH service this year. Visit
'www.nyskies.org/oh.htm' and 'www.nyskies.org/ohclub.txt'.
Other news, related more to the instant crisis of money in the
US.
Many astro clubs meet in museums, planetaria, parks and the like that
are funded thru admissions, allocations, concessions, grants,
donations. These facilities are now facing gross shortfalls of
income,
below their running costs.
Unless new revenue comes quickly -- like tomorrow! -- these
places
will start cutting days and hours. The clubs may be forced for their
November and December meetings, to shift the time, date, and maybe
location on short notice. NYC events may not catch these changes, if
they occur after end of October.
Clubs better RIGHT NOW have a contingency plan in hand in case
they get word that their meeting room is no longer available for the
normal hours and dates. failure to have a backup arrangement can be
wholly disastrous to the club, exactly when it is circulating for
renewals of membership.
What the club can do is fundamental a function of the local
circumstances, there being no generic methods to offer. Complicating
the situation is the overall depletion of club, and facility, crew
from yearend holidays. Even if they are taking less costly vacations,
they will still be out of action until they return.
Members and visitors should deliberately check with the club for
up-to-the-minute news and be prepared to shift their travel routine.

Many decades ago I was a member of the L.A. Astronomical Society, and they
distributed copies of the Observer's Handbook of the RASC to members. I
never understood its value to someone who didn't live in far-northern
latitudes. I think it did have interesting finder charts for the outer
planets, but such charts are available elsewhere.
--
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27'59"N, 117°05'53"W

On Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:03:16 GMT, "Curtis Croulet"
wrote:

Many decades ago I was a member of the L.A. Astronomical Society, and they
distributed copies of the Observer's Handbook of the RASC to members. I
never understood its value to someone who didn't live in far-northern
latitudes. I think it did have interesting finder charts for the outer
planets, but such charts are available elsewhere.

I consider it the single most useful "topical" publication out there. I
consider it so while living in Colorado, and felt the same when I lived
in Southern California. There's practically nothing in the book that is
limited to "far-northern latitudes"; the tables of events and objects
are applicable from the North Pole to the South Pole, and the reference
material is both general and excellent.

There's a slight bias towards the northern hemisphere (which is
reasonable). If you haven't looked at this publication for decades,
maybe you should give it another chance.
_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

In article ,
Chris L Peterson wrote:

snip

I consider it the single most useful "topical" publication out there. I
consider it so while living in Colorado, and felt the same when I lived
in Southern California. There's practically nothing in the book that is
limited to "far-northern latitudes"; the tables of events and objects
are applicable from the North Pole to the South Pole, and the reference
material is both general and excellent.

There are few location-dependent topics indeed. Looking through my 2008
edition for sections where some kind of bias is possible I found the
following:

List of observatories, star parties & planetaria: the first includes
major facilities from all over the world, while the latter two are
confined to North America -- but range from Florida to the Yukon. The
star-party weather-forecast section has about a page's worth of Canadian
events, compared to nearly three for the American.

Astronomical twilight chart: has curves at ten-degree intervals of
latitude from 20° to 60° inclusive; the date axis is labelled for both
hemispheres.

Monthly almanac: for the purposes of the accompanying notes "northern
observers" are taken to be at 45°N and "southern observers" at 30°S.

Eclipses: global coverage.

Moonrise/set tables: times provided for 20°, 30°, 35°, 40°, 45°, 50°,
55°, & 60° North latitudes.

Lunar occultations: graze-tracking maps cover North America only, from
about 20° - 57° N and about 50° - 130° W (centred approximately on
Illinois).

Sunrise/set tables: same latitudes as for the Moon. A small table of
example latitudes and standard-to-local time corrections comprises 34
Canadian locations and 17 American, the latter ranging from Miami to
Fairbanks.

Midnight-twilight chart: latitudes higher than about 45°, labelled for
both hemispheres, the example locations furthest from the poles being
Vancouver, BC, and Dunedin, NZ. (Of course the phenomenon doesn't occur
nearer to the Equator than those.)

Planets: there is a table of the best Mercury-viewing opportunities for
northern observers only.

Deep sky: what with the Messiers and David Levy's favourites, probably
biased to the northern hemisphere. But there is a sizable table of DSOs
with South celestial latitudes greater than 35°.

All-sky maps: six 'seasonal' (at 4-hour LST intervals), for observers
within a few degrees of 45°N, and one for the South Pole.

I can't think of anywhere else one's geographic latitude could be
relevant to the usefulness of the Handbook.

--
Odysseus

On Oct 24, 2:03*pm, "Curtis Croulet"
wrote:
Many decades ago I was a member of the L.A. Astronomical Society, and they
distributed copies of the Observer's Handbook of the RASC to members. *I
never understood its value to someone who didn't live in far-northern
latitudes. *I think it did have interesting finder charts for the outer
planets, but such charts are available elsewhere.
--
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27'59"N, 117°05'53"W

Many decades ago the Observer's Handbook was a rather different
publication! I personally kept my old issues, dating to the mid 1960s.
Be in mind that it was and is a book from Canda, so a vias to northern
observers was expected. However, even back then there was a
substantial arket for it in the United States.

This year's issue has about 350[!] pages and is far more global in
coverage. Like others pointed out, this book is probably the single
best almanac and year book for home astronomy. There is only one other
that I myself get from time to time, Patrick Moore's Yearbook of
Astronomy, that's even close. That book has many 'review' articles of
astronomy developments of the past year. And it has better sky charts
for north and south observers.

That's why, even with the slackened fiscal situation, the demand ofr
the OH, at lest in the US Northeast around the City, remains vigorous.
That's how NYSkies consistently gets the discount quantity and lets
other clubs avail of it.

If size and bulk are not an issue, there is Ottewell's Astronomical
calendar with truck loads of material more specific to the US
latitudes. NYSkies considered offering it, but the packing and postage
will kill any discount. It is best to hand them out at a meeting for
clubs where members are close to hand. In NYSkies turf, its
astronomers are scattered over a radius of a hundred or more
kilometers and many are not convenient to the City where our meetings
are.