From bill at nineplanets.org Sat Feb 1 15:45:47 2003 From: bill at nineplanets.org (Bill Arnett) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fwd: NASA Asks For Help With Columbia Investigation Message-ID: <494855EE-363F-11D7-A4CD-0030655A4BEC@nineplanets.org> > Robert Mirelson > Headquarters, Washington Feb. 1, 2003 > (Phone: 202/358-1600) 5 p.m. EST > > Eileen Hawley > Johnson Space Center, Houston > (Phone: 281-483-5111) > > RELEASE: 03-033 > > NASA ASKS FOR HELP WITH COLUMBIA INVESTIGATION > > NASA has established a telephone hotline and electronic > mail address for the public to use for reporting information > that may help investigators studying today's Space Shuttle > mishap. > > Anyone who discovers debris from the accident or who has film > or video evidence that may be of value to the investigation > team is urged to use these contacts. Please avoid contact with > any debris, because it may be hazardous as a result of toxic > propellants aboard the Shuttle. > > Telephone reports should be directed to the following number: > > 281/483-3388 > > Text reports and images should be e-mailed to: > > nasamitimages@jsc.nasa.gov > > The e-mail address is: > > columbiaimages@nasa.gov > > All debris is U.S. Government property and is critical to the > investigation of the mishap. All debris from the accident is > to be left alone and reported to Government authorities. > Unauthorized persons found in possession of accident debris > will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. From mojo at whiteoaks.com Sun Feb 2 15:17:03 2003 From: mojo at whiteoaks.com (Morris Jones) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] February '03 Ephemeris available online Message-ID: The February issue of the SJAA Ephemeris is now available online: http://ephemeris.sjaa.net Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones <*> San Rafael, CA mojo@whiteoaks.com http://www.whiteoaks.com From bhavner at earthlink.net Mon Feb 3 21:31:13 2003 From: bhavner at earthlink.net (Bob Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] School Star Parties Message-ID: We had a great time at Vinci Park Elementary School this evening. There was a good turn out of kids and their parents, and lots of clear sky for viewing the planets and deep sky. There is one more school event this week and four next week (two of them are in Sunnyvale). Here is Jim's list of events and directions through next week. Come join us for some fun under the stars. 2003 Feb. 5 -- Valle Vista Elementary SSet 5:37, start 6:30 Wednesday 2400 Flint Ave, SJ 21% moon sets 8:58 pm Kate Pascoal, teacher grades 1 & 3 = 4 New school. It's Science Night. From Hwy.101, exit at Tully Road. East. ENE ~1.3 mi. to Capitol Expressway. Light. CROSS. CONTINUE. ENE 1.3 mi. more, to Flint Avenue. Left. NNW ~0.1 mi., see school on right. If coming from the Cambrian area, consider taking Capitol Expwy to Tully. Turn right. Pick up above. Enter the parking lot. Look for a ramp (gate to be opened), leading to a large paved area. Set up wherever seems best. ==================================================== 2003 Feb.10 -- San Miguel School SSet 5:42, start 6:30 Monday 777 San Miguel Av, S'vale 66% moon sets 2:50 am Contacts: Dotty Calabrese, teacher Moon, Saturn and Jupiter, with the winter sky. The teacher is also an amateur astronomer, and will set up her ETX. From Hwy.101, exit at Fair Oaks Avenue. Go south. SSW 0.3 mi. if coming from the north, SSW 0.6 mi. if coming from the south, to Duane. Light. Left. SSE E 0.35 mi to San Miguel Avenue. Left. No light. N 0.25 mi to Alvarado Ave., Left. The school is on the left side, at the corner of San Miguel and Alvarado. Look for an open gate in the fence. Basketball court markings run true north/south. ==================================================== 2003 Feb.11 -- J.F.Smith Elementary Sset 5:43, start 6:30 Tuesday 2220 Woodbury lane, SJ. 75% moon sets 3:50 am Contact: Will Ector, Principal First time at this school. It will sound familiar, as we have had two cloud cancellations. ? Third time's the charm?? The principal caught our act at Silver Oak, a few miles SE. This is a very new school on new roads, so your map may not show it. The paper AAA map "San Jose Eastern and Central" is up to date. From Hwy.101, exit at Yerba Buena Rd. Run east. NE ~0.5 mi. to Silver Creek Rd. Cross, bear right. SE, E 1.1 mi. to Nieman Blvd. Light. Left. Note: right side is Silver Creek Valley Rd. NW 0.15 mi to Woodbury Lane. Left. See school on left. SW ~0.2 mi., passing school, to Chisin. Left. Look for the bus loop, up a little hill. This probably leads to the basketball courts. First time, so directions are uncertain. ==================================================== 2003 Feb.12 -- Toyon Elementary SSet 5:44, start 6:45 Wednesday 955 Bard Street, S.J. 83% moon sets 4:48 am Contact: Bob Havner, Proj.Astro; SJAA Juanita Ryan, teacher One of our own members as the Project Astro scientist! With the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, the early start isn't much of a problem. Deep-sky objects after 6:45 but oh that moon! From Hwy.680, exit at Berryessa. East. NE 0.1 mi. to Capitol Expy. Light. Right. SE 0.3 mi. to Penitencia Creek Rd. 1st light. Left. NW 1.1 mi to Bard St. Right. The school is on the corner of Penitencia and Bard. After turn onto Bard, go past the school, then turn right into the first gate. Straight back to a storage building, then right. Left around building to playground. ==================================================== 2003 Feb.13 -- Cherry Chase Elementary SSet 5:45, start 6:30 pm Thursday 1138 Heatherstone Way S'vale 90% moon sets 5:41 am Contact: Dotty Calabrese Big Moon! Saturn, Jupiter, we'll need bright deep-sky objects with that oversize moon. From Hwy.85, exit at El Camino Real, a.k.a. Hwy.82. Go east. E 0.5 mi. if coming from south. E 0.7 mi. if coming from north. In any case, come to Bernardo. Right. Light. SSW 0.45 mi to Heatherstone Way. Left. Light. ESE ~0.1 mi, see school on right. Once you turn left on Heatherstone from Bernardo, turn right into the first driveway. Gate will be open and you'll see dumpster and various trash cans in front of you. Go left of the dumpster, left of the small building behind the dumpster. Slowly, drive between the poles holding up the outdoor "corridor," to the blacktop on the other side of the "corridor." Set up to the left and beyond the colorful playground equipment. Bob Havner San Jose Astronomical Association bhavner@earthlink.net From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Fri Feb 7 15:56:37 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Astronomical Events this Weekend! Message-ID: A) Houge Park Star Party Tonight (Friday, Feb 7) 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM B) Amateur Telescope Making Class Continues Saturday Nite (Feb 8,7:30PM) C) Columbia memorial Sunday at Chabot, Feb 9th at 1 PM ***************************************************** A) Houge Park Star Party Tonight (Friday, Feb 7) 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM The skies are clear and it looks like it will be a great night for astronomy tonight! See < http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/SanJoseCAkey.html> Families welcome. Feel free to bring your scope and share views with others. Make sure to dress warm since it will be a bit cold. Some objects to look for tonight: 1) The 1st Quarter Moon! 2) Jupiter We have quite a few events tonight with transits and shadows.. (courtesy of www.calsky.com) 20h03.7m Jupiter Io Transit Begin (5.3 mag) 20h12.2m Jupiter Io Shadow Begin (5.5 mag) 21h12.1m Jupiter Io Inferior Conjunction (5.5 mag) 22h20.6m Jupiter Io Transit End (5.3 mag) 22h29.5m Jupiter Io Shadow End (5.5 mag) 22h37.9m Jupiter Europa Transit Begin (6.1 mag) 22h55.9m Jupiter Europa Shadow Begin (6.1 mag) 3) Saturn 4) Comet NEAT V1. Look at astro twilight, below the shoulders of Pegasas (Alpha Peg) and to the left of Theta Peg at the head of the Horse. About Magnitude 4.5 5) A Iridium Flare at 7:38:41 about 4 degrees below Rigel in Orion 6) M 45: The Pleiades, a large open cluster 380 light years away 7) M 42: The Great Nebula in Orion 160 light years away 8) M36, M37, M38: Open Clusters in Auriga 9) Andromeda Galaxy: About 2.3 million LY away, 130,000 LY across. Contains 300 billion stars. 10) Hind's Crimson Star: A blood Red Star in Lepus 11) Gamma Andromeda: a nice Double star at the foot of the fair maiden Come on out and enjoy the fun. Sunset: 5:39 PM Civil Twilight: 6:06 PM Nautical Twilight: 6:37 PM Park Lights Out: 7:00 PM Astronomical Twilight: 7:07 PM Moonset: 11:52 PM ************************************************* B) Amateur Telescope Making Class Continues Saturday Nite (Feb 8,7:30PM) 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. Last meeting kicked off the next group of mirrors. Its not too late to start a mirror and easy to catch up with the class. We have mirror-making kits available 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: Feb 20, Mar 27, Apr 24, May 22, Jun 19 Saturday: Feb 8, Mar 8, Apr 5, May 10, Jun 7 *********************************** C) Columbia memorial Sunday at Chabot, Feb 9th at 1 PM Chabot Space & Science Center will be holding a memorial service for the Columbia astronauts on Sunday, Feb 9, 2003 at 1:00 pm. As far as we know this is the only major public memorial scheduled in the SF Bay Area outside of NASA-Ames. Congresswoman Barbara Lee will be there to represent the US. NASA & members of the Israeli & Indian consulates have been invited. Music and readingsfrom the banner which has been in our rotunda all week for people to signtheir condolences and remembrances (over 400 feet so far!) will be presented. This banner is being sent on to Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. General admission to Chabot will be free all day. Following the service we will be presenting a special Meditation in the planetarium (wonderful music against a background of stars) free of charge. "To Be An Astronaut" will show all day in the Tien MegaDome theater at discounted price. Chabot Space & Science Center is located at 10000 Skyline Blvd in the Oakland Hills off Hwy 13. Check our website www.chabotspace.org for directions. 510-336-7373 for more information. Please join us in celebrating and honoring the 7 astronauts and the Columbia. Denni Medlock Astronomy Programs Coordinator Chabot Space & Science Center 10000 Skyline Blvd. Oakland, CA 94619 1-510-336-7368 *********************************** 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 Feb 14 16:58:09 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] General Meeting: Leonid MAC 2002 Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20030214165625.027653e0@koopm.best.vwh.net> SJAA General Meeting Saturday Feb 15, 2003 8:00pm The SJAA's own Jane Houston Jones, Morris Jones, and Michael Koop speaking on The Leonid MAC Mission 2002 Come hear about our experiences in participating in the Leonid MAC mission last November 19, 2002. We helped record both peaks of the Leonid storm aboard a NASA plane flying from Spain to Nebraska. In between the peaks we were treated to a display of the aurora borealis as we flew over Greenland. We will have plenty of video of meteors and the aurora to share, along with our counting equipment and head sets so that you can see what it was like. For a sneak preview check out the following websites: A bright fireball captured from FISTA: http://koopm.best.vwh.net/FLR_02_11_19_0416_51.mpg Jane and Mojo's weblog of their experience: http://www.whiteoaks.com/mac-2002/ Jane's Ephemeris Article: http://ephemeris.sjaa.net/0301/b.html Join us Saturday at 8:00pm For directions to Houge Park go to: www.sjaa.net/directions.html Mike Koop San Jose Astronomical Association Koopm@best.com From bhavner at earthlink.net Mon Feb 17 16:38:17 2003 From: bhavner at earthlink.net (Bob Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Message-ID: This may interest some of you. Although the afternoon is geared for teachers, we're trying to get teachers, scientists, astronomers, engineers, all adults to attend the morning symposium of speakers. It's free! 2003 ANTARCTIC TEACHER/SCIENTIST WORKSHOP - March 1, 2003 American Institute for Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) NASA Ames Research Center Teachers Experiencing Antarctica & the Arctic (TEA) Invite you to attend the . . . 2003 Antarctic Teacher/Scientist Workshop at . . . NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View on . . . Saturday, March 1, 2003 > from . . . 8:30am ? 3:30pm This free workshop will include: ? Continental breakfast ? Morning symposium of guest speakers: *Dr. Nancy Chabot, Principal Investigator, ANSMET *Dr. Pascal Lee, Planetary Scientist, NASA *Ms. Juanita Ryan, TEA Teacher, 2001-02 *Dr. Scott Sandford, Astrophysicist, NASA ? Hosted lunch ? Afternoon of hands-on activities and distribution of curriculum materials ? Discover Antarctica from scientists who have been there ? Investigate meteorites with ANSMET veterans ? Hear about the latest developments in planetary research ? Learn how you can take part in a research expedition to Antarctica or the Arctic Attendance is limited. Please register your interest to attend by February 24, 2003. You may respond to this e-mail or print and fax this form to: J. Ryan (408)937-4908. Please provide the following information: ___ Yes! I want to attend the 2003 Antarctic Teacher/Scientist Workshop on March 1, 2003. Name: School/Company: Grade level: Telephone: E-mail: Address: Zip: Citizenship: DO NOT RESUBMIT A FORM IF YOU HAVE ALREADY REGISTERED. THANK YOU! Bob Havner San Jose Astronomical Association bhavner@earthlink.net From bhavner at earthlink.net Thu Feb 20 18:13:38 2003 From: bhavner at earthlink.net (Bob Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:04 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Houge Park this weekend Message-ID: Houge Park Star Party and Intro to Astronomy Class 7:00 to 10:00 Friday 2/21/03 Weather looks good for the Houge Park Star Party. The stars and planets of the winter skies will be shining brightly. Jay Reynolds Freeman will be discussing binoculars and binocular astronomy for our Beginner's Astronomy class in the hall starting at 7:30. Jay is a long time SJAA member and has written many articles for Astronomy and Sky and Telescope magazines. He has a keen observing eye and his Binocular talk is a must hear. He will be speaking on how to select and use a pair of binoculars as well as how and what to observe with them. If you have a pair of binoculars bring them along. See you there Bob Havner San Jose Astronomical Association bhavner@earthlink.net