Hamilton Amateur Astronomers

Event Horizon March 2003 The Ann Tekatch birthday edition

Volume 10 Issue 5

THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT by Glenn Muller Not yet dimmed by morning light, bits of constellations curiously skewed by latitude glimmered through Live Oak limbs draped with Spanish Moss, and distracted. With the tent packed, pegs bagged and poles counted, we left the State park to join the line forming on the shoulder of US 1. There were over six hundred entries registered for the Nineteenth Annual Winter Star Party and we were twenty-seventh from the gate. It wouldn't open for five hours but, with a beautiful sunrise and people wanting to chat, the time soon passed. At the front of the queue was another Canuck, "John" from Toronto. He'd driven two, fourteen hour, shifts and spent a couple of nights in his Jetta to claim the pole position. Now with only hours to go his car battery was dead. Hardly worth mentioning since there were probably more power packs on this stretch of road than the rest of the Florida Keys combined.

there was room for our tent and we couldn't have wished for more congenial neighbours. At three p.m., founder Tippy D'Auria made his welcome speech. He started with an emotional remembrance of astronomical friends recently passed and the astronauts of the shuttle Columbia, "who are now among the stars", and finished with a review of the usual star party rules which included no alcohol since we were on Girl Scout property. Security was provided by the Munroe County Police Department who had an officer at the gate for the duration of the event. This provided peace of mind only until you went somewhere, at which point paranoia of being nailed for speeding was everpresent. Zealous in their protection of the "Key Deer", blue lights and sirens were as common as boat sounds and gull cries. But there were no worries about the weather. With a slight onshore breeze rippling the palms we basked under mainly clear skies. Shade was where you made it and, while the Sun didn't so much set as was forced down by the settling moisture, the air was still and the seeing steady. Most nights, equipment began dewing up at dusk and heaters worked hard to keep pace. Blow dryers were pressed into service but didn't help much - bad hair days would become the norm. Lacking such devices I found that a couple of disposable Hot Pad r hand warmers, suspended behind the primary of our 6" f8 Newtonian with a Saran Quick cover (looks like a shower cap), extended our viewing time. They also de-fogged eyepieces quite nicely. ... cont'd on page 3 For Sale Generic, light duty, equatorial mount.Wooden tripod legs, eyepiece tray, 5 1/2" tube ring. Counter weight, slow-motion control, etc.

Just before Noon the RV's and large trailers were admitted and parked where they would block some noise and stray light from the highway. The vendors had gone in early and, naturally, the organizers had already set up but when it came to our turn we were surprised at how few good spots were left. The remaining open areas were quickly staked by tripods and only fellow HAA club members, Lou and Ollie Darcie who had managed to snag their usual spot, saved us from being crammed in behind an RV. Once they'd unhitched their camper

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Chair's report ................................page 2 Remembering Otmar .........................page 3 Bio Brief .....................................page 4 WSP .........................................page 5 NASA ....................................... page 7 Upcoming events .............................page 7 SID ..........................................page 8 Calendar ....................................page 10


Page 2

Chair's Report

I think that I speak for everyone when I say that we've had enough of this winter! Brrrrr! It is true that there have been a few clear nights recently. Unfortunately, they have been accompanied by temperatures as cold as -26C! Add in a little wind for good measure and observers don't tend to last for too long. (They are hardy enough, of course, it is just that the eyepieces keep fogging up ... at least, that's my story!) To add insult to injury, the road in Binbrook has had so much snow and ice on it that it is has been impassible. Fear not, the end is near!! Of winter, I mean. In fact, I consulted my calendar from 2002 and the first of MANY clear New Moon weekends was in March! So, with a little luck, this year will be the same. You know, just like this winter was so much like last winter ... but I digress. March is "Messier Marathon Month". The third week each March is when you can see practically every Messier object in a single, but very long, night. In any case, it is a great excuse to get back out under the stars and reaquaint yourself with old friends, both celestial and otherwise. Don't forget that Jupiter and Saturn are now both available in the evening sky. They always look great. Also, if you want to catch some "faint fuzzies" - the galaxies - now is your chance. There is this peculiar feature of the springtime sky that the sunlit evenings eat away prime galaxy time very quickly and by the time summer is here, they are no longer available for viewing. Let us hope that this space next month will contain a glowing report of our first Binbrook observing weekend of the season! Doug Welch Event Horizon is a publication of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers (HAA). The HAA is an amateur astronomy club dedicated to the promotion and enjoyment of astronomy for people of all ages and experience levels. The cost of the subscription is included in the $25 individual or $30 family membership fee for the year. Event Horizon is published a minimum of 10 times a year. HAA Council Hon. Chair .......... Jim Winger Chair................Doug Welch Second Chair ....... Grant Dixon Secretary.......Margaret Walton Treasurer ........ Cindy Bingham Observing Dir. .. Stewart Attlesey Publicity..Glenn and Gail Muller Editor/Web .... Anthony Tekatch Membership Dir.....Ann Tekatch Councillor.........Ray Badgerow Web: amateurastronomy.org

Doug Welch is the current chair of the HAA and also a founding member. You can find out more about Doug at: http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/people/faculty/ Welch_DL_h.html Mailing Address: PO Box 65578 Dundas, ON L9H 6Y6

Domain Name and Web hosting for the Hamilton Amatuer Astronomy club supplied by

Axess Communications

Corporate and Residential DSL and Web Hosting http://www.axess.com support@axess.com

Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers amateurastronomy.org


... cont'd from page 1 When the seeing was good, it was great. In our modest scope Cassini's Division was razor sharp and Jupiter's Great Red Spot wasn't just visible, it jumped out at you. Seeing them through bino-viewers in a 20" Skymaster was absolutely mind-blowing, but for me the best image through this set-up was of the Lunar surface. Forget all those incredible photos you've seen of the Moon; nothing compares to an up close view processed by your own eyes. As if hang-gliding over the craters I even began to pick out spots to land. Gail and I also wandered over to The Yard Scope, a behemoth of a dob with a 36" mirror. We only got to see the Orion Nebula through this giant but what a sight. The 2" 35mm Panoptic couldn't contain the interstellar cloud, and the Trapezium became the four brightest stars of a small open cluster. My sky charting program told me the best time to catch Omega Centauri was at three a.m. Like many, we crashed at Midnight for a few hours sleep then forced ourselves up. This got easier each night and I kept at it, hoping for better transparency, but humidity practically obscured Crux, the Southern Cross, and though the Eta Carinae nebula was apparently visible for a short time we managed to miss it. You can't miss Omega Centauri. It squats in the center of your FOV like a fat bullfrog on a lily pad. While I couldn't get the same resolution through the murk that I've enjoyed with M13 at zenith there is no doubt that this is the granddaddy of globulars. I happily logged it along with the eleven Messier objects and eighteen other DSO's that we had not previously seen. The daytime sights were just as good. Once we'd had our fill of astronomical equipment, and visited the vendors (I bought a Desert Storm scope cover), we ventured further afield. The ramshackle charm of Hemmingway's days can still be found yet I fear much of it has been blown into the Gulf by hurricanes. This only means you have to look a little harder for it. Though Key West can't help being a tourist trap, handsome B&B's, open air bars, and the tall ships at Schooner Wharf help to retain its Old World Caribbean appeal. And there is so much to do. Kayakers can venture miles out into the calm waters and fishermen, closely watched by pelicans, hang over every bridge. Snorkeling charters seem to outnumber gas stations and, on the day we went to the Dolphin Research Centre, Lou and Ollie went deep sea fishing and brought back a feast of fresh filets for our group. Back at the camp there were also plenty of daytime

Page 3 activities. The Southern Cross Astronomical Society had arranged a variety of programs for kids and, for the adults, there was a range of lectures including a three day, image-processing, course. Most popular among the Northerners, however, was the week long tan-processing course! There's something to be said for sandals in February after four months of The Great Indoors. Friday afternoon was the door prize giveaway. Software, eyepieces, whole libraries of books, and two ETX 90 scopes were among the sponsor donations. Sometimes our ticket numbers were close. The Grand Prize; a Meade LX 200 8" SCT went to a chap who had turned fifty-six that day and, as he made his way to the podium, the crowd began singing "Happy Birthday". Saturday was the last viewing night and turned out to be the best of the week. The Moon went down about one a.m. and a gentle wind kept the dew at bay. Giving up on horizon hugging targets, I concentrated on an upside down Ursa Major and Virgo's galaxy cluster. Camp Wesumkee was now half-empty; many astronomers having Monday work commitments. We'd leave too, in just a few hours, but for now quiet voices surrounded and the light of my computer attracted friends to share one last look, in the heat of the night. Glenn and Gail highly recommend the WSP as a cure for cabin fever. For pictures of the event they invite you to visit their website at http://home.interlynx. net/~mullers/wsp/wsp2003.html

Remembering Otmar I came across this image of Otmar Eigler circa 1994, when I was scanning some old slides. Otmar was a member of HAA until he passed away in 2000.

Submitted by Bob Botts

Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers amateurastronomy.org


Bio Brief

Page 4 by Rita Griffin-Short

Le Gentil de la Galaisiere, Guillaume-Joseph-Hyacinthe-Jean-Baptiste (1725-1792)

"The eighth, at sun rise, we passed the crest of the Pyrenees, and at last I set foot on France at nine o'clock in the morning, after eleven years, six months and thirteen days of absence." So writes le Gentil about what is the longest astronomical research project undertaken. He endured great disappointments, hardships and near fatal illness without any compensating success. Le Gentil, as he was generally known, is remembered more for the length of his great voyage to the Indian Ocean to observe the 18th c. transits of Venus, than for his actual and substantial contribution to astronomy. He was trained to enter the church and wore the habit of abbe until he became a member of the Paris Academy, as one of its savants in 1753. He attended Joseph- Nicolas Delisle's lectures on astronomy where Delisle recognized his potential and introduced him to the aging dean of the Academy, Jacques Cassini. Cassini invited him to work at the royal observatory under his son, Cassini de Thury's direction. By 1753 he was a regular contributor to the memoirs of the Academy. He was well aware of the importance of establishing solar parallax and of the ambiguities and inconsistencies in the methods suggested to achieve it. With several of his colleagues, including Chappe d'Auteroche (he would go to Siberia and California), le Gentil observed the 1753 transit of Mercury. They compared their values with Halley's and Delisle's corrected ones with unsatisfactory results. Le Gentil decided that Mercury would not provide solar parallax that its speed made it impossible to get a precise value. He set his sights on Venus, using Delisle's recalculated chord coordinates and Delisle's mappemonde. He volunteered to observe the transits from Pondichery on India's Coromandel coast. One senses political jockeying between Le Gentil, Delisle and the Academy about funding amongst other considerations. An aging Delisle had made the supreme effort to alert astronomers to the coming transits, providing a map of its paths for both although he would only view the 1761 transit. He died in 1768, the same year as James Short and Lord Morton amongst others particularly interested in the transits. Through some judicious lobbying he managed to get approval, funding and transportation, sailing from Brest, 26 March, 1760 on the fifty-gun le Berryer. Arriving at Isle de France (Mauritius) in July he Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers discovered that Pondichery was besieged by the English and that the force sent to raise it had virtually all been destroyed by a hurricane. The second force didn't arrive until eight months later and Le Gentil was with it. They arrived off the Coromandel coast to find the British entrenched. Le Gentil's ship escaped the British squadrons protecting it and sailed back to Isle de France, leaving Le Gentil literally at sea. Under a cloudless sky on June 6th, Le Gentil had a perfect view of the transit, but he was unable to time it precisely or otherwise. Neither the pendulum clock nor his instruments were of use on a rocking ship when exactness and precision were needed. Le Gentil wrote to the Academy in Paris suggesting that he remain in the area exploring and recording the natural history, geography and navigation of the islands in the Indian Ocean until the next transit. He mapped the east coast of Madagascar with Fort Dauphin as his base. There he became ill from eating badly prepared beef that caused "a sort of violent stroke" that left him with double vision that lasted more than a week. During the ensuing months he recalculated values for the 1769 transit which suggests he had received the results of the 1761 transit though he doesn't mention this. Pondichery, he decided, once again in French hands after the 1763 Treaty of Paris, would not suit as well as Spanish Manila for observation. He took advantage of a ship sailing there without waiting for permission. In Manila he learned that Paris wanted him in Pondichery! Manila's corrupt governor wasn't friendly, accused him of carrying false papers. This provided an excuse to decamp before he landed in jail. In February 1768, he left for Madras on what was to be a "nightmare" voyage through the islands and straits of the South China Sea. The ship's captain and his pilots spent most of the voyage arguing violently, often leaving the poor helmsman to fend for himself. In spite of this he was in Pondichery on March 27th, 1768, with a year to spare before the 1769 transit. Unlike at Manila, he was welcomed by the French Governor, M. Law, who offered to build an observatory in the ruins of an abandoned palace that had, during the war, served as a gunpowder magazine. The observatory was built on top of "sixty thousand weight of powder"! Le Gentil settled into a daily routine of obamateurastronomy.org


serving and recording to determine his precise latitude and longitude. The now friendly British even sent him an "excellent" telescope! As transit time approached, Le Gentil watched the sky and the weather. During the entire month of May, he wrote, the mornings were very beautiful, if that continued he would see the transit scheduled at or near 7:00 a.m. local time, Sunday, June 4th. The evening before was clear and calm, but by 2:00 a.m. that calm began to change to storm and cloud. "From that moment on I felt doomed, I threw myself on my bed without being able to close my eyes". The wind brought ever heavier cloud and "the sea was white with foam, the air darkened by sand and dust...nothing in the sky was visible at 7:00 a.m., but around 9:00 a.m. the sun came out". "That is the fate which often awaits astronomers. I had gone more than ten thousand leagues [about 50,000 kms]; it seemed that I had crossed such a great expanse of seas, exiling myself from my native land, only to be spectator of a fatal cloud which came to place itself before the sun at the precise moment of my observation, to carry off from me the fruits of my pains and of my fatigues". He was so devastated that he could not pick up his pen to record the event for two weeks. Imagine his astonishment when he learned that Manila had enjoyed a clear and calm sky in a letter from his friend Don Estevan y Melo, who with Father Theatin had observed and recorded the transit. sending him their results and calculations. Ever the scientist he noted that they were "exact...and would merit as much as many others to be used for the parallax of the sun." The stress of his disappointment likely led to his coming down with a fever and dysentery that almost killed him. By March 1770, still far from well he left

Page 5 for Isle de France where he convalesced until November when he took ship for France via Cape of Good Hope with 8 cases of natural history specimens. Two weeks out they were almost sunk by a violent storm that sent them back to Isle de France in January 1771. Another three months passed before he found a Spanish warship that landed him in Cadiz August 1st. After a month's recuperation he began the final leg of his journey over the Pyrenees, but without his cases of specimens. They were never recovered. In Paris he discovered that he was thought dead, his seat in the Academy given to someone else, and his heirs enjoying his estate. After some expensive litigation his estate was returned and the kind reinstated him at the Royal Observatory. He took up his pen to write his memoir, married happily, and sired a much loved daughter. He died unexpectedly age 67, in 1792, thus spared the horrors of the Reign of Terror that would take many of his fellow academicians, including Antoine Lavoisier in 1794. Selected bibliography in order of usefulness: · Hogg, Helen Sawyer. "Le Gentil and the Transits of Venus, 1761 and 1769", in Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 45:1951, 37-44, 89-92, 127-134, 173-178. (Dr Hogg translated Le Gentil's memoir) · Woolf, Harry. The Transits of Venus: A Study in Eighteenth- Century Science. Princeton:1959. · Gould, Stephen Jay. "The Passion of Antoine Lavoisier", Natural History. 6/89 16-25. by Rita Griffin-Short - rgshort@spectranet.ca

WSP FROM A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW What makes a good star party? Good weather? Good location? Good seminars with good speakers? Dark skies? Yes, all of the above. But there is another side. For us this time it started off by having super neighbours: Gail and Glen Muller from our own club, Charlotte and Sue from the Orlando club and Ron, Bill, Bob and Mark from the Columbus, Ohio club. To add to this, we had excellent viewing EVERY night. One special treat we experienced every morning, was the free car wash. The dew started quite early every evening, and by morning, the autos and everything else

Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers

by Ollie and Lou Darcie exposed to the air were soaked. The awning attached to our pop up trailer accumulated enough water to fill a pail. Puddles formed on tabletops. Inside our trailer droplets of water formed on the canvas canopies over the beds. We can say truthfully that we have never ever seen that much dew in all our lives. Those who slept in tents with sleeping bags on the ground had to drape the clothes lines each day. But by 1100 or noon, the heat of the day had dried out everything. My Kendrick heaters worked flawlessly throughout the entire week. amateurastronomy.org


As usual we did some deep sea fishing and caught enough fish to supply our neighbours: sea trout, snapper, mackerel, shark which we had to release, grouper which we also had to release, and various other species. I, Lou, caught the biggest fish, an eighteen inch sea trout. The captain of our craft filetted them all and we went right back to the camp ground and cooked and ate them. A side trip took us out in the hinterlands where we encountered a tame Key Deer. We had our photos taken with it, and then found the local eating place "No Name Pub". You have to see this place to believe it. The walls and ceilings are covered with one dollar American bills. There is not an inch of space that is not covered. Taking a guess, I would estimate about half to three quarters of a million dollars decorate those walls. The Pizza there is superb. As it is necessary to vacate the campground by 1000 on Sunday morning, knowing how wet things would be, we packed up Saturday in the late afternoon, and did as we did the eve of entering the site, we slept in the van. Now you have to picture this: asleep on a nice mattress in the van with the rear door open facing east, the sky begins to lighten, then old Sol begins his rise and bathes the area in golden tones. Then this great fiery ball entices us to open our eyes and enjoy the splendour. We were treated to Glen's armchair viewing through his reflecting binocular system. Quite ingenious. Many nights we had a chance to experience a new dimension of viewing through it. On the Ohio side, we were totally awed when viewing Saturn and Jupiter through Bill's Binoviewer. The effect one gets looking through a binoviewer is tantamount to seeing a film at the Cinesphere on the big screen at Ontario Place in Toronto. The effect is totally awesome. And so it went, from one site to another, viewing, chatting, eating, and generally socializing. The Yard Scope, (the 36 inch behemoth) was in evidence, as were many many other dobs of varying sizes. Small refractors brandishing H alpha filters were there for us to enjoy the sun and its prominences. Vendors were out in full force giving a festive air to the entire area, and with sunny days and perfect nights, there were smiles all around. Great prizes were given away, the two biggies being an ETX and an LX50. Alas, no one from our club scored. Sue and Charlotte, Gail and Glen, Ollie and I stayed to the very end, and left around 0930 Sunday. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of the WSP, and BIG things are promised. For us, this was the best yet. From the Keys, Ollie and

Page 6 I went to Daytona Beach where we spent three nights (freebies) and four days. Aah, just walking along the miles of beach is restoring to the soul . From Daytona we drove to Branson, Missouri where the weather took a Winter turn, It was 2C all the time we were there, but the sun shone and we did get in a couple of shows. The skies in Branson were not that good, especially at night, as there was some fog, and generally overcast. From Branson, we drove to Columbus, Ohio where we were hosted and feasted both physically and educationally by Ron and Wilkie and Bill as they took us to Perkins Observatory where they hold their meetings. Tom Burns, the director of the activities at Perkins, took the time out and gave us a personal tour of the premises. Tom is an excellent guide, having been at Perkins for many years, and has just that element of know how and expertise to bring to life what astraonomy is all about. The tour was fabulous, interesting, entertaining. One can picture in ones mind the rapture on the faces of young folks as Tom leads them through various areas of the observatory, especially at the dome where he starts up the generator to power the various elements that control the telescope. The generators manufacture DC voltage. Tom likens the turn on procedure to Dr Frankenstein from some of the old horror movies. Under the dome, the 69 inch telescope has been replaced by the 32-inch Schottland telescope, and during their tours, this scope is supplemented by many other scopes around the building during their program nights. The observatory is a self contained unit, having its own power, machine shop, lens grinding operations, build and repair facility, a kitchen, theater, demo rooms..anything that pertains to astronomy can be found there. They have a monstrous library, with the first Sky and Telescope magazine being housed there. Researchers from many parts of the globe have been to Perkins to take advantage of their facilities. So as you can see, this has indeed been WSP from a different point of view. We would like to give special thanks to the members of the Columbus Astronomical Society for taking the time to give us the Grand tour, and also entertaining us during our stay in Ohio. Our return to Rockwood was uneventful, and after a month of absence, we are returning to our delayed busy schedules. by Ollie and Lou Darcie Astronomaires Extraordinaire.

Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers amateurastronomy.org


Seven Strangers? by Dr. Tony Phillips

At the dawn of the space age some 40 years ago, we always knew who was orbiting Earth or flying to the Moon. Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn. They were household names­everywhere. Lately it's different. Space flight has become more routine. Another flight of the shuttle. Another visit to the space station. Who's onboard this time? Unless you're a NASA employee or a serious space enthusiast, you might not know.

Page 7 Dave Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon. Now we know. Those are the names of the seven astronauts who were tragically lost on Saturday, Feb. 1st, when the space shuttle Columbia (STS-107) broke apart over Texas. Before the accident, perhaps, they were strangers to you. But if that's so, why did you have a knot in your gut when you heard the news? What were those tears all about? Why do you feel so deep-down sad for seven strangers? Astronauts have an unaccountable hold on us. They are explorers. Curious, humorous, serious, daring, careful. Where they go, they go in peace. Every kid wants to be one. Astronauts are the essence of humanity. They are not strangers. They are us. While still in orbit Dave Brown asked, jokingly, "do we really have to come back?" No. But we wish you had. Please see the NASA Home Page http://www. nasa.gov for more information on the Columbia Investigation.

This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://spaceplace.nasa.gov

Upcoming Events

Date Friday, June 13th, 2003 Speaker Dr. Peter Brown of UWO Topic Meteor Infrasound and Satellite Observations of Fireballs Location Hamilton Spectator Building Date Saturday, April 12, 2003 Location Delphi Hall in Niagara Falls Details See Feb-2003 Event Horizon issue for details Speaker Ivan Semeniuk

Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers

Astronomer's Digital Clock version 3.2 is available for download from; http://users.zoominternet.net/ ~matto/index.html This version is for the US, UK and Eastern Australia I hope your members find it useful! Matt O. matto@zoominternet.net amateurastronomy.org


WinAstronomica Version 2.0

Page 8 Ad

Easysoft Creations of Montreal, Canada just released a new version of WinAstronomica. Version 2.0 of this shareware features an improved and easy to use sky mapping software and orrery simulator. It runs on Windows 2000, NT and XP, and is tri-lingual (english, french and spanish). At only $35, amateur sky gazers will find it perfect for celestial movements observation and for locating and identifying objects visible to the naked eye. The demo version may be checked at: http://pages.infinit.net/trottier. The website also offers a Mac OS version - MacAstronomica 2.0.

The Ionosphere in February 2003 by Doug Welch

As you may recall, I built an antenna in my basement last year to record the effects of solar flares on the ionosphere and to hopefully eventually record a similar effect by a distant magnetar or gamma-ray burst. The first version of the electronics for this system were somewhat finicky and eventually I decided to take the elements apart and "improve" them. Needless to say, the demands of life outside the basement resulted in little or no progress for many months! Fortunately, this all changed in January 2003. A new Hamilton RASC member, Kevin Hobbs, offered to help Bob Botts and me out by providing his expertise and a number of spare parts to improve the electronics. It seems that it is very helpful to actually know what you are doing! He put together a beautiful power supply with radio frequency filtering and a separate shielded box for the amplification and rectification part of the circuit. I also took the opportunity to replace the ceramic tuning capacitors I was using with low-leakage polypropylene ones and the signal now travels from the loop to the amplifier via coaxial cable. The upshot of all of this activity is that it has been running uninterrupted for over a month, gathering a measurement every half a second. This cadence of data-recording is a factor of 10 to 100 more rapid than has traditionally been used for monitoring the state of the ionosphere. Partly this is to ensure that the source of any ionization caused by sources outside the solar system can be established by coincidence with satellite detectors and other stations. Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers The adjacent plot shows all of the traces for February 2003. The month started off with an M-class flare at about 3pm on Feb 1st. However, the rest of the month was relatively quiet with only about half a dozen relatively weak C-class flares showing up. Lots of other features are visible. There are the scheduled maintenance periods which are typically on Mondays but do sometimes occur on other days partly to accommodate statutory holidays in the US (which frequently occur on Monday). Also there are brief dropouts which presumably are failure- or calibration-related. Finally, there is the difference between the relatively smooth daytime signals and the choppy nighttime signals. The nighttime ionosphere is much more patchy since it doesn't have a large, constant source of UV radiation in the sky (i.e. the Sun!). The signal received from NAA in Cutler, Maine is a combination of a signal which propogates along the surface of the Earth and one which interacts with the ionosphere - resulting in an interfering pair of signals at the receiving antenna. In a future article, I will describe the current electronics in my system in more detail. Let's hope that the Sun is a little more active in the coming months - and that those sources outside the solar system are, too! by Doug Welch amateurastronomy.org


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2003

Night Night

Saturday May

Observing Observing

Meeting 2003

Friday Night Night

4 Observing 11 General HAA 18 25 March Observing

3 10 17 24 31 2 9 16 23 30 1 8 15 22 29 7 14 21 28 6 13 20 27 5 12 19 26 4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22 29 7 14 21 28 6 13 20 27 5 12 19 26 4 11 18 25 3 10 17 24 31 2 9 16 23 30

Thursday

3 10 17 24

2003 call Roy Tekatch info,

Rob Ann

Attlesey

Wednesday

2 9 16 23 30 observing Stewart 827-9105, 692-3245, 575-5433 For

April Tuesday 1 8 15 22 29

Monday

7 14 21 28

Sunday Easter

Sunday

begins

DST