From mojo at whiteoaks.com Tue Jan 7 00:13:58 2003 From: mojo at whiteoaks.com (Morris Jones) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] January Ephemeris (finally) available online Message-ID: Sorry for the delay! I had to replace a power supply on a PC that had some of the data I needed ... The January Ephemeris is available online: http://ephemeris.sjaa.net Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones <*> San Rafael, CA mojo@whiteoaks.com http://www.whiteoaks.com From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Fri Jan 17 16:01:02 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] SJAA General Meeting Tommorrow Nite and ATM Class Kick Off Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20030117155758.02b1a010@koopm.best.vwh.net> A) SJAA General Meeting January 18 starting at 8PM at Houge Park B) Amateur Telescope Making Class Kicks off Next Week (Thursday, Jan 23, 7:30PM) *************************************************************************** A) SJAA General Meeting January 18 starting at 8PM at Houge Park Please join us on Saturday evening to hear Dr. Nick Kanas talk titled Of Epicycles and Unicorns: Celestial Mapping in the Golden Age. Nick Kanas is a Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF and the Veterans Hospital in San Francisco, and is currently conducting research on psychosocial factors affecting astronauts and cosmonauts in space. An amateur astronomer since childhood, he has pursued the study and collection of antiquarian star atlases for over two decades. He has presented lectures for the California Map Society, as well as regional amateur astronomy associations. Nick has authored articles on celestial cartography which have been published in Mercator's World and in Sky and Telescope Magazine (See the January 2003 Issue!). In this slide presentation he will discuss the golden age of pictorial celestial cartography from the 1600-1800. An article by Nick is available on the internet: http://www.mercatormag.com/article.php3?i=111 As with all SJAA events, the meeting is free of charge. Everyone is welcome. *********************************** B) Amateur Telescope Making Class Continues Next Week (Thursday, Jan 23, 7:30PM) Under the instruction of Dwight Elvey and Ralph Seguin, the SJAA continues to host a mirror making class in the hall at Houge Park. The class format is casual, with Dwight, Ralph, and other mirror makers offering advice on grinding and polishing a mirror as you work on it in the class. A Foucault tester will be available to help determine the figure of your mirror along with some advice on how to correct it. This next meeting will kick off the next group of mirrors. .We have mirror-making kits available at this class at a cost of $75 for a 6" mirror, $145 for a 8" mirror, and $200 for a 10" mirror. Email Mike at koopm@best.com if you would like to reserve a mirror kit. The class will meet twice monthly based on the Houge Park star party schedule. The class meets at 7:30 p.m., either on Saturday after a first quarter star party (except when a general meeting is scheduled!) or Thursday before a third quarter star party. Feel free to attend any of the classes that you can. Next ATM classes for the first half of 2003: Thursday: Jan 23, Feb 20, Mar 27, Apr 24, May 22, Jun 19 Saturday: Feb 8, Mar 8, Apr 5, May 10, Jun 7 *********************************** Directions to Houge Park: Houge Park is in San Jose, near Campbell and Los Gatos. >>From Hwy.17, take the Camden Avenue exit. Go east 4/10 mile, and turn right at the light, onto Bascom Avenue. At the next light, turn left onto Woodard Road. At the first stop sign, turn right onto Twilight Drive. Go three blocks, cross Sunrise Drive, then turn left into the park. >>From Hwy.85, take the Bascom Avenue exit. Go north 0.2 miles, and turn right at the first traffic light, onto White Oaks Road. Run another 0.2 miles to the first stop sign, then turn left onto Twilight Drive. You will now be passing the park. Turn right at the first driveway, into the parking lot. See Map at http://www.sjaa.net/img/houge.jpg Clear Skies, Mike Koop President, SJAA From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Fri Jan 31 15:27:43 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Shuttle Landing Viewing from the Bay Area Sat (Feb 1) at 5:45 AM Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20030131152015.009ed200@koopm.best.vwh.net> Rick Baldridge from the Peninsula Astronomical Society has written up an excellent report of tomorrow's shuttle viewing with many details: The Space Shuttle "Columbia" is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 6:16am PST (9:16am EST) this Saturday, February 1st. This landing time places the REENTRY over the California coastline at 5:54am PST. It should be visible a few minutes before this time as it rises in the Western Sky. The Shuttle's spectacular re-entry will be visible for a wide area of Central California and points eastward, weather permitting. At present, the forecast is for local morning fog , so getting to higher ground may be necessary for would-be observers. The Shuttle's predicted ground tracks should be available at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/groundtracs/index.html There are currently no plans for calling up the Edward's Air Force Base landing site on Saturday's landing attempts since the Shuttle can remain aloft until Monday if necessary. Should the landing slip to Sunday, REENTRY SIGHTINGS for the Bay Area are at 4:16am (1st Attempt landing at KSC at 4:38am PST) and 5:50am (2nd Attempt landing at KSC at 6:12am PST). You can get some up-to-date info at: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/stsstat/current.htm but the BEST LINK to get "real-time" mission status is at: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/status.html Landing weather forecast for Kennedy Space Center is available at: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/weatstat/forecast.htm And again, you can see some pictures, charts and graphs of the reentry at: http://photos.yahoo.com/rickbaldridge Click on "Astronomy Stuff" album. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who gets to see the reentry. Please use my home E-mail at: rick.baldridge@msn.com Good luck. **************************** I have a few things to add to Rick's post. I have seen two shuttle landings from my home in west San Jose. I find that the best way to find out if they have done the deorbit burn is to watch NASA TV. The community college channel (ch 34A on our cable system) often switches to NASA TV when they are not broadcasting the usual classes. Look to the northwest for a orange glowing dot, which leaves a blue gray plasma trail. Make sure to take a look through binoculars. You can easily make out the outline of the shuttle. I would not recommend a telescope unless you have a wide field scope and a friend to help you track the shuttle across the sky. The trail, like a persistent train, is visible for a minute or so after the shuttle goes by. Watch as the train changes shape as it is distorted by upper atmosphere winds. About 3 to 5 minutes after the shuttle goes by, it is possible to hear the distinctive double sonic boom. Because the shuttle is so far away, it is not too loud. (About how loud? Think about a house that has all windows and doors closed and someone slams an interior door and your 100-ft away loud.) I have only heard the sonic boom once. The other time the mocking birds were "singing" much too loud. Traffic noise would also probably prevent you from hearing it. Just after hearing the boom, I run inside and watch the landing in Florida on TV. Usually by that time the long distance cameras at the cape have picked it up. I still am amazed at the coast to coast flight in 10 minutes. Don't miss this opportunity! Clear Skies (Hopefully), Mike Koop President, SJAA