Posts Made By: Greg Taylor

P.S. the clear aperature is 90mm and it is f/5.3

Possibly, it happened to me, now I am trying to get the funds to build my own 20". But I'm a galaxy freak and a little obsessive-compulsive and I want the biggest that I can handle, anything less makes me feel like I'm selling myself short.

Gregor

The only place that I know of where you can look at such journals is at a university library.

Other such journals include:

The Astrophysical Journal.
The Astronomical Journal.There is one by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, but I can't remember its name.
The afore mentioned Monthly Notes of the Royal Astronomical Society.
My university library even has a few obscure ones in russian.

Greg

Oops!

I meant to ask if anyone has tried to see the new large Kuiper belt object that was recently discovered. It is ~14 magnitude so I've been told, but I can't remember its name and I have no Idea where to look.

I saw Pluto with my 10" this summer and I wanted to try for something a bit fainter.

Greg

If you happen to live in an old Soviet-block nation, aviod old 55 gal drums that feel warm to the touch. Several of the last people who tried that trick are still in the hospital due to radiation piosoning...

But seriously in addition to everything else mentioned in the previous posts, I like to use a fleece balclava (spelling?), it is an extremely warm and very convenient substitute for a scarf. I also use a Russian-style rabbit-fur hat. (only on the coldest nights, though, it's too warm for most conditions)

Greg

oops here is the pic.

I just used the central meridian calculator on Carlos' site,
http://www.arksky.org/ and it placed my feature between 153.81* and 159.85* system II.

Greg

PS look under online tools.
PPS Now I must positivly go to bead (it's 5:20 am).
PPPS I also saw Europa partially occult Io at around 1030 UT.

Of course, the kind of birds that I would like to have would evicerate your pooch before it knew what was happening...
As it is, my cockatoo would stand little chance.

Greg

Deb,

Here is some sad news:

Greg T, SLAS

NASA Shows No Hope for Survivors as Contact Lost With Shuttle
Feb. 1, 2003

NASA loses contact with shuttle, declares emergency

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA declared an emergency and feared the worst after losing communication with space shuttle Columbia as the ship and its seven astronauts soared over Texas several minutes before its expected landing Saturday.

As the minutes wore on, there appeared to be no hope for their survival.

Television stations showed what appeared to be debris falling, and NASA warned Texas residents to beware of any falling objects.

NASA also announced that search and rescue teams were being mobilized in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas.

Inside Mission Control, flight controllers hovered in front of their computers, staring at the screens. The wives, husbands and children of the astronauts who had been waiting at the landing strip were gathered together by NASA and taken to secluded place.

"A contingency for the space shuttle has been declared,"

Mission Control repeated over and over as no word or any data came from Columbia.

In 42 years of U.S. human space flight, there had never been an accident during the descent to Earth or landing. On Jan. 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.

On Jan. 16, shortly after Columbia lifted off, a piece of insulating foam on its external fuel tank came off and was believed to have struck the left wing of the shuttle.

Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, assured reporters Friday that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard.

Columbia had been aiming for a landing at 9:16 a.m. Saturday.

It was at an altitude of 207,000 feet over north-central Texas at a 9 a.m., traveling at 12,500 mph when Mission Control lost contact and tracking data.

Security had been tight for the 16-day scientific research mission because of the presence of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.

Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force and former fighter pilot, became the first man from his country to fly in space, and his presence resulted in an increase in security, not only for Columbia's launch, but also for its planned landing. Space agency officials feared his presence might make the shuttle more of a terrorist target.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said it had no immediate comment.

Columbia's crew had completed 80-plus scientific research experiments during their time in orbit.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Sol,

I saw hints of those blotches the last time I sketched Saturn, but not so clearly. (almost wrote Sauron, hmm...) :-) It's amazing what can see when the seeing is that good.

Greg