ON TOPIC Astronomy Post

7 miles per second, 7 Astronauts and 7 Pizzas
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Greetings Fellow Stargazer,

I love happy endings. STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery Mission Kennedy
Space Center, Florida, and Outer Space, July-August, 2005 landed safely.
STS-114 was NASA's first Shuttle mission since the February 1st, 2003
loss of Columbia and her crew on mission STS-107. The below link shows
some great pictures of the mission:

http://shuttle.airshowjournal.com/sts114

If you could accelerate 7 pizzas to 7 miles per second, then they could
be projected into outer space and sent to the Shuttle when it was in
orbit. If the astronauts missed catching them as they went by, then the
pizzas could be headed for the red pizza planet, Mars! What a waste,
even if Mars is getting brighter and closer than normal! Better would to
bring those pizza's to the September 24th Star Party at Dillingham Air
Field and we can look for some red giants. Yes I will be wearing red!!!

Speaking to Star Parties, you are invited to one this month!

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Star Party Invitation for September 24th,
Sponsored by the Hawaiian Astronomical Society
http://www.hawastsoc.org
Dillingham Airfield - before sunset 7ish pm)
(Star Party Directions are at the end of this message)
Bring:
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/planetar.../09/sept05.pdf

Here is where I go to check the weather on a Star Party Night:
http://www.wunderground.com/radar/ra...&scale=1&noclu
tter=0&ID=HMO&type=N0R&lat=0&lon=0&label=you

If it is clear, you will be able to see many astronomical sights.
It's now that time of year to see Jupiter, the Ring Nebula, M13,
Sagittarius, Scorpius, Pisces and many other heavenly bodies!

If you won't be in Hawaii, fear not. Check this link for a Star
Party near you!

http://SkyandTelescope.com/resources/organizations/
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Modern Math now called GoogleMath

Just how fast is 7 miles/second in miles per hour? Send me the
answer if you figure it out... once you hit the send button
it will only take a jiffy before I receive your email! If
you forget to send it, that OK... at least your not as
forgetful as a goldfish. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

By the way, a "jiffy" is an actual unit of time equal to 1/100th of a
second!

Most kids these days just go do GoogleMath: http://www.google.com
and type in:
7 miles per second in mph

Google does it all. Do you how much a google is? Well it is
simply: 10 to the 100th power. But how what is a googleplex?
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The Mighty Magnetar

What do you call a neutron star with a super-strong magnetic field? You
guessed it ... a Magnetar. Imagine a star with more mass than the sun,
the density of a neutron, and a magnetic field about a thousand trillion
(a 1 followed by 15 zeros) times stronger than Earth's. It sounds exotic
and theoretical, but strong evidence for the existence of magnetars has
recently been announced based on data from orbiting X-ray and Gamma-ray
observatories. Neutron stars are formed in the violent crucibles of
stellar explosions. Some become pulsars with relatively weak magnetic
fields, spinning and emitting pulses of electromagnetic radiation as
their rotation slows. However, astronomers now believe that some become
magnetars, with magnetic fields so intense that the solid neutron star
crust buckles and shifts under its influence. The resulting star quakes
could repeatedly generate brief flashes of hard X-rays and soft
gamma-rays giving rise to the rare but mysterious "soft gamma repeaters"
(not to be confused with " gamma-ray bursters"!).
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If you miss this month's HAS Star Party then join us at the next:

***** 2005 *****
October 22nd
December 3rd

***** 2006 *****
January 21st

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Cosmic Gall
by: John Updike

Neutrinos they are very small.
They have no charge and have no mass
And do not interact at all.
The earth is just a silly ball
To them, through which they simply pass,
Like dustmaids down a drafty hall
Or photons through a sheet of glass.
They snub the most exquisite gas,
Ignore the most substantial wall,
Cold-shoulder steel and sounding brass,
Insult the stallion in his stall,
And, scorning barriers of class,
Infiltrate you and me! Like tall
And painless guillotines, they fall
Down through our heads into the grass.

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The Wanderers (The Planets) this Month

Mercury is hidden in the glow of sunset.

Venus (magnitude *3.9) shines in the west-southwest in early dusk.

Mars (magnitude *1.4, in Aries) rises fiery orange in the east around 9
or 9:30 p.m. It shines high in the southeast after midnight. Each week
Mars is rising earlier and getting larger and brighter as it moves closer
to Earth. In a telescope it's now a very respectable 16.5 arcseconds
wide; in late October Mars will reach a maximum apparent diameter of 20
arcseconds.

Jupiter (magnitude *1.7) can still be spotted in early twilight. Look
very low in the west, far to the lower right of brighter Venus. Jupiter
is getting lower every day.

Saturn (magnitude +0.4, in Cancer) is in the east in early dawn, below
Pollux and Castor. Don't confuse Saturn with similar-looking Procyon off
to its right. Before first light, binoculars will show the big Beehive
star cluster, M44, only about 1° to Saturn's left or upper left.

Uranus and Neptune (magnitudes 5.7 and 7.9, respectively, in Aquarius and
Capricornus) are well up in the southeast during evening.

Pluto (magnitude 14, in Serpens Cauda) is getting low in the southwest
after dark.
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Annual Meteor Showers

Quadrantids: January
Virginids: March/April
Lyrids: April
Scorpiids: May
Delta Aquarids: July
Perseids August
Piscids: September
Orionids: October
Leonids: November
Geminids: December
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Find what is moving overhead after sunset:
http://www.bester.com/
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTim.../JTrack3d.html

Check out when the next Iridium Satellite is available for you to
see:
http://www.heavens-above.com/Neighbo...PlaceID=593409
(for non Oahu Star Gazers...)
http://www.heavens-above.com/selectt...p?CountryID=US
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Check out:
http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/12months/m-sep-i.html

and bring the above list...

As for the rest of the Messiers, check out
http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/messier.html It also has a link to:

http://www.hawastsoc.org/messier/index.html
(all the Messier Objects as photographed by HAS's local Jay Wrathall)
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Star Party Directions
(http://www.hawastsoc.org/directions/dillingham.html)

To reach the Dillingham observing site, take the H2 to the end at
Schofield Barracks. Drive past Schofield and follow the signs to
Waialua. At the Y intersection at Waialua, bear left and pass under
the bridge. Drive out of town a few miles until you reach Dillingham
Airfield. Dillingham is several miles long. It has three gates. You
need to drive to the far end to the third gate (marked as Gate 1 on
the color map). When you enter the gate, the road will curve left
behind some hangars. It will then take you through a very sharp S
curve. 1/4 mile beyond that is a stop sign in the middle of nowhere.
Turn right at the stop sign, and you will be there. You can find me
by looking for the big red telescope in the corner with a table with
lots of pizza on it.

You will need to reach the site before sunset in order to find the
gate open!!!

A few words on light. We try to maintain dark conditions at the site.
Therefore we have certain rules about light. First, no white
flashlights. The only flashlights that you should use are not too
bright, red ones.

When entering and exiting the site, do not use headlights. Some cars
now can't turn off their headlights. If you have a car like that
please park nearer the windsock then the telescopes. Point it away
from the telescopes. Headlights make you lose your night vision for
up to 30 minutes. It immediately ruins any astro photography that
might be in progress.

Bring some warm clothes, something to sit on, some real powerful bug
spray, a dim or red covered flashlight and some munches to share with
your friends.

Remember there is an absolute need to remain clear of the runway, and
anyone attending the star party needs to remain in the immediate star
party area. Do not be wandering around in areas where we are not
permitted. Especially near any planes (parked or moving)!
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Bishop Museum Planetarium Happenings
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/visitors/dailyschedule.html

Daily Planetarium schedule:
(808) 848-4136 for pre-recorded planetarium schedule.

11:30 a.m. The Stars Tonight (40 Minutes)
12:30 p.m. Explorers of Polynesia in Japanese, (30 Minutes)
1:00 p.m. Deep Impact: Rendezvous With a Come, (30 Minutes)
2:30-3:15p.m. Observatory is open for solar viewing
3:30 p.m. Explorers of Polynesia (in English, 45 Minutes)

Barry Peckham will host the Sky Tonight program on the first Friday
of each month. Reservations are required as there is limited seating in
the planetarium. Call 848-4168 for information and reservations.
Tickets cost $4 for adults, $3 for kids, free to Bishop Museum
members and Hawaiian Astronomical Society members.
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After Dark with Stars in the Park
Waikele Community Park
OR... Kahala Park
(Weather permitting)
***** 2005 *****
October 8th
November 5th
December 10th

***** 2006 *****
January 7th

FROM DUSK to 9:30 PM
Bring your children! Tell your friends!
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Visit the cosmos via:

The HAS HomePage: http://www.hawastsoc.org/ or go to
(or show up at meeting 7:30pm first Tue of month)
and check out the Bishop Museum Planetarium Home Page
http://bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/pla...anetarium.html
and the Institute for Astronomy Colloquia/Seminars
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/
http://apollo-society.org/launchpad39_A.html
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Keep Looking Sky Ward...Gary Ward

http://homepage.mac.com/macyoda/PhotoAlbum6.html



--

The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Astronomy Net Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/astronomy_net

"Starlord" wrote in message
...
7 miles per second, 7 Astronauts and 7 Pizzas
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:

Greetings Fellow Stargazer,

I love happy endings. STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery Mission Kennedy
Space Center, Florida, and Outer Space, July-August, 2005 landed safely.
STS-114 was NASA's first Shuttle mission since the February 1st, 2003
loss of Columbia and her crew on mission STS-107. The below link shows
some great pictures of the mission:

http://shuttle.airshowjournal.com/sts114



Some very nice images there, thanks for the link.