BMAA Members and Friends:

The URL for BMAA's new Message Board is:

BMAA Message Board

The link on BMAA's home page will be updated to reflect the change.

James Moyer

BMAA Members and Friends,

I have just been informed that effective March 6, insidetheweb.com is shutting down this message board service :(

I have already taken steps to set up a new (and better) message board. The messages currently on this board will be saved for viewing in an archive on the BMAA web site.

Stay tuned for a notice of the URL for the new message board. If you normally access the board from BMAA's home page, the link will be updated, and you will be automatically directed to the new site.

James Moyer

BMAA Members and Friends,

"Astronomy Picture of the Day"
"Astronomy News" and
"BMAA Member Suggested Astronomy Links"

are now viewable from the BMAA web site.

Just go to bmaa.freeyellow.com/Astro_Links.html. The page may also be accessed from BMAA's home page: bmaa.freeyellow.com/

James Moyer

Ted A. Nichols II

Asteroid 174 Phaedra is due to occult an 8.9 magnitude star (SAO 98586) west of Regulus on Friday February 16 between 12:09 and 12:11 AM Eastern Standard time. This event will be visible from the Bucks-Mont area. Since this star is 8.9 in magnitude, you will need at least 7X50 binoculars and a Tirion star atlas. The star's position is R.A. 9h 27.9m, DEC +16deg. 59min. The change in magnitude is 3.8, and the duration of the occultation is 5 seconds. For additional information see S&T Feb. issue, page 117,118. If it's not cloudy out Good Luck!

Clear skies,

Alan Pasicznyk


Alan Pasicznyk

BMAA Members and Friends,

The February edition of the CONSTELLATION is now on the web. The web and members web and print editions may be accessed from BMAA's CONSTELLATION web page at:

bmaa.freeyellow.com/Const.html

Jim

James Moyer

BMAA Members:

If you have not received or have misplaced your "User Name" and Password for access to the member's section of the BMAA Web Site, please e-mail me.

Jim

Jim Moyer

I was looking at tne sun today and observed several sun spots. I always have read that sun spots are always generally in or along the central equitorial portion of the sun. Thats were I have always seen them, in my limited experiance. till today. I saw several, one quit magnificent within i'd say 10 deg. of the north pole. Is anyone familar with this just to straigten me out. Thqank you

Dave Stitz

Hi folks! Just a reminder about the WHYY Skytour on the 31st, at North Penn Highschool in Lansdale. You can get directions on the maps page of this website. Observing will begin at 7:00 pm. Live Radio broadcast will be from 8:00 to 9:00. There will be plenty of planets to look at and short program running in the planetarium. Contact me if you have any questions. See you there!

Antoine Pharamond

Transient Phenomenon reports for 2001 will appear here month by month.

Clear Skies,

Alan Pasicznyk
Chairman, Transient Phenomena

Alan Pasicznyk

For sale: Coulter Optics Oddessy 13.1 inch Dobsonian. Great shape - 6x30 finder scope - EZ Finder reflex sight - email if interested.

Scott B

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently researching to buy a telescope. I have narrowed my choices to either: Celestron G-8N (8", 1000mm, f5) or the Meade 203SC/500 (8", 2000mm, f/10). Both scopes are Schmidt-Cassegrains on a German Equatorial Mount. I'm definitely purchasing one of these two. They are both in my price range $800-$900. The Celestron costs $800 & the Meade is $895. Which do you recommend? My main dilemma right now is the focal length & focal ratio. The Meade has twice the focal length (2000mm vs. 1000mm), but half the focal ratio (f/10 vs. f/5). Should this be a big concern? Please help. Any guidance and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I will be using the scope for planetary & deep sky viewing and eventually graduating to Astrophotography. Thank you very much in advance.

REZ

I see something near Venus that looks like it has a tail. I just got my telescope and know little about the skies, but can someone tell me what that is?

Thanks

Fred Haeusel

I haven't touched a telescope in years but find myself wanting to buy a Meade ETX 90mm. What are your opinions of this scope verses something like a 6" Dobsonian Reflector? The Meade is a Maksutov-Cassegrains w/26mm Plossl eyepiece and motor that keeps up with the Earth's rotation and much more portable than a Dob. I also like that things are not upside-down, for land-wildlife use. Sounds like I've sold myself! Any opinions would be appreciated.

I've been a Friend of Peace Valley Nature Center for 2 years and never heard of BMAA ~ I'll have to stop by Wednesday night.

Thanks ~ Kelly

Kelly

------------------------
From: Linda King
Subject: telescopes
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 14:39:06 -0500
To: "'bmaa@ixc.net'"



Hi,
Do any of your members ever sell their old telescopes when they buy new ones? Specifically, I'm looking for an Orion 8" Dobsonian. Any ideas on where I might purchase one if there are none for sale by your members would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Linda King


---------------End of Original Message-----------------

Linda King

At about 6:32 tonight I saw an Iridium satellite reveal itself as an intensely brilliant light (est. at mag. -6 or -7). The brightest phase lasted only a few seconds before fading. It appeared exactly in the direction and altitude as indicated in Antoine Pharamond's weekly update. Thanks Antoine!

Jim

Jim Moyer

Update to BMAA Weekly Update #3 (3 December 2000)

For info on Comets:

http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/

C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones)

http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html#2000W1

_______________________________________________
Iridium Flares
Highly observer location dependent

Centerline for 4 Dec18:31 flare is 20.9km East of me (Blue Bell)
Intensity -3 at centerline -8


Good to use www.heavens-above.com to predict

Keep lookin up!
Cozmicray

Cozmicray

NEWLY DISCOVERED COMET MAY REACH MAGNITUDE 7
Comet C/2000 W1 (Utsunomya-Jones), discovered one week ago, then lost, has been recovered. It will reach
perihelion in mid-December, and
come within 48 million kilometers, or 0.28AU (one AU = distance from Earth to Sun). This makes the apparition
of Comet Utsunomya-Jones one of the closest encounters in some years.

Currently a Southern Hemisphere object, Comet Utsunomya-Jones will be a Northern Hemisphere object at
perihelion on December 26th. The comet is predicted to brighten to magnitude 7, making it the brightest since
Comet LINEAR earlier this year, and well within the range of
binoculars.

More at:
http://NearEarth.net

cozmicray

The BMAA has a nice website

Bill
my telescope homepage:
http://my.treeway.com/observatory1

Bill

Gang,

Jim has set up a BMAA egroup and for this to be effective everyone who has email should join.

It will be alot easier to send messages of Aurora as well as other club events!

Ed

Ed Murray

On Nov 8th an eruption on the Sun led to a
CME that is traveling faster than 2000 km per sec. Members should be alert to a great Aurora
on Friday/Saturday.

The current forecast is for rain Friday but windy and fair Saturday...So there is a chance that it may clear sometime late Friday evening allowing us all to view the Aurora if it indeed occurs.

Ed Murray

We have had several reports from BMAA members who have seen the Space Shuttle go past the east coast on the evening of October 11 Wednesday about 8 minutes after liftoff. Steve Bryant saw the International Space Station the following night and also the Space Shuttle in pursuit. Ed Murray reported seeing the I.S.S. the following Sunday evening after sunset. It was about as bright as Venus and moving from SW to Zenith to NE.

AlanPasicznyk

Hello to all! On wednesday Oct. 11th Northampton Township passed both lighting ordinances! 5-0, and 5-0. This is the first Township in Bucks County to have Lighting ordinances based upon the POLC model ordinance, and the most likely to have a real ordinance on lighting. We had been asked by the Township to do a presentation on "Good Lighting vs Bad Lighting", and also at that meeting we gave them a booklet on the Good Lighting, which contained the POLC Model Ordinance, a POLC review by Stan Stubbe on their first draft, and a information booklet put together by Jim Shearer. I like to thank Linda van der Spek, she did a lot of leg work on this one. Also like to thank Stan Stubbe for his impute, he and the POLC are a great source for this cause. Ed Murray and Linda V. for attending both meetings, and The Shearer's for doing their part at presentation, and there are others too. Now we have the County onboard and Northampton, who's next? Keeping it dark! Paul

Paul Kohler BMAA , POLC

Did you see STS Launch?
I did -- for about 1 minute as it went under the
bright moon. It was earlier than I had thought
about 6 min post launch -- I usually pick it up
in the south 7 - 8 min post launch. We'll have to do some better predicts for upcomming launches. It can be seen --- practice looking
for it now -- if it has flasshing lights -- its
a plane --- if it's a big flame -- it's STS

Keep lookin Up!!!

Cozmicray

Just starting to hear some reports about our SDV
weekend and from what I've heard so far...it was
a smashing success!

I hope everyone had a great time!

Ed

Ed Murray

Hello to all! I have received a request from a Mr John Rose, the request is for a 5 Min. TV interview on Comcast Cable Network to promote and talk about the BMAA! The interview will be conducted on the 27th of October in Doylestown. Mr Rose would like a reply as soon as possible! I guess finally a press release payed off big time! Mr Rose office # is 215-345-5154, and his home # is 215-355-5557. Well now! who wants to be a star for 5 Min.? Please let me know ASAP, or you can call him. Have a star'ry night! Paul

Paul Kohler BMAA , POLC

Thanks to Brian Daly for informing the members of BMAA at the last meeting concerning this website for tracking International Space Station, Shuttle, etc.
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html

Ken Wieland

Dark Sky Movement
Fighting to save our view of heaven

http://www.space.com/

check it out

Cozmicray

ChesMont AS Starblast 2000 was great. Lots of
scopes and public. I did not get a chance to
leave my scope and participate in raffle, WHYY
sky tour or plug BMAA or SDV. I thought there might be someone I knew there to spell me
but I realize tThe Bucks Mont Administrative
Assoc had its own starwatch. Real nice site
and night but DEWED up bad by 11:00pm.

Hey for a change LOOK UP!!!

Cozmicray

------------------------
From: "Gernot E. Groemer"
Subject: LunarSat link
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 18:46:11 +0200
To: bmaa@ixc.net



Dear Sir or Madam,

LunarSat is an european space mission to send a microprobe into a lunar orbit around 2002. The satellite will investigate the lunar south pole for its suitability for the first permanent human outpost.

I would greatly appreciate if you could set a link to our website www.lunarsat.de, in exchange of course we would make a reference to your website.

Thank you very much in advance.


Sincerely
Gernot Groemer,
LunarSat PO/E Division

-------------------------------------------------

Gernot E.GROEMER
LunarSat Public Outreach & Education Divison
c/o Institute of Astrophysics, University of Innsbruck
Tel.: +43-512/507-6033, (Fax. ext.2923)
gernot.e.groemer@uibk.ac.at
+ + + http://www.lunarsat.de + + +


--------------End of Original Message-----------

J. Moyer

The k levels were at 7 Thursday/Friday and again
Friday/Saturday. There were reports of Aurora
early this morning from Ohio,Pittsburg and Cherry Springs State Park.

I went to bed at 2:30 am and these reports began from 3:00 AM on.

Ed

Ed Murray

On friday August 25th(26th cloud date) is Starfest 2000 at Warwick park in Chester county.The park is located right off RT.23 about 3.5 miles west of RT.100.Gates open at 6:30pm.
Last year we had 33 telescopes and 400 people from the public, And this year we're hoping to get 500+. We will be having Derrick Pitts and WHYY do their Skytour program from the site, along with other talks and ofcourse the telescope raffle.For more info or questionable weather contact me at 610-495-0867.
I hope members of Bucks-Mont can join us at this very special astronomical event.

Clear Skies,
Karl Krasley
CAS president

Karl Krasley

Hey gang,

Forecast for Thursday evening-Clear!

So go out and look for Linear!

Ed

FYI from CNN

July 14, 2000 Web posted at: 2:42 PM EDT (1842 GMT)
GREENBELT, Maryland (CNN) -- Scientists detected a strong Coronal Mass Ejection, also called a CME or a solar flare, leaving the sun Friday morning.
The event lasted 40 minutes and peaked at 6:24 a.m. EDT. Instruments onboard the Solar and Heliographic Observatory (SOHO) captured images of the flare,which should be available later Friday. Experts said a CME of this size and strength will probably trigger unusually strong displays of the northern lights on Saturday and Sunday nights. It is also possible, though less likely, that the flare could interrupt satellite
communications or disrupt power transmission on Earth. Solar flares are eruptions of gases expelled through space at speeds of 600 miles per second or more. The high-energy solar winds have been known to temporarily alter the Earth's magnetic field -- often increasing displays of the northern and southern lights. They are eerily beautiful, usually greenish-colored streaks of light often seen near the poles.
Friday's CME could bring brighter than normal Northern Lights displays in the regions of Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia where they are a fairly common nighttime sight.
There is also a good chance, presuming clear weather, that the lights may be seen over a much wider area -- possibly reaching to the Mediterranean region and the southern United States. The sun is at the peak of an 11-year cycle of solar flare and sunspot activity.
The SOHO orbiting observatory, a joint effort of NASA and the European Space Agency, monitors solar activity.
A strong solar flare early Wednesday morning caused some radio blackouts on parts of the Earth facing the sun and more are possible as the active solar region rotates toward the center of the sun, NASA said.

Ken Wieland

THE SHOCK WAVE FROM YESTERDAY'S FLARE HAS ARRIVED!

THE GEOMAGNETIC K INDEX AT 5 PM EDT WAS 9
OR SEVERE STORM LEVEL!!

IF SKIES CONTINUE TO BE AT LEAST PARTLY CLOUDY BY
DARK ...WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE AN AURORA!

ED MURRAY

Yesterday..Friday,July 15, the Sun produced a whopping Category X-6 Flare that also produced another CME. This explosion apparenty resulted in
a huge amount of protons hitting us just a little while later with subsequent damage to some computers and satellites! Electrons from the Flare and CME are expected to hit 2 or 3 days after which could mean an Auroral Storm on Sunday /Monday or even Monday/Tuesday. The current forecast (from KYW 1060) is sunny on Monday
which could mean clearing late Sunday evening!

Keep your fingers crossed!]

Ed

Ed

A Full Halo CME was observed on Friday, July 7th.
This may cause a possible Aurora on July 10th.

Ed

Ed

I've sent a short note to WHYY asking them to
bring back Jack Horkheimer!

If you would like to help me in this endeavour,
please send a note to talkb@fcis.whyy.org (talkback)

Thanks,

Ed

Ed Murray

If you want to read the most news about water on Mars and look at lots of real cool images, then definitely check out space.com . It's a great website! Alan Pasicznyk

Just heard this on the news: NASA will announce
evidence next week of water on the Martian surface. More details can be found on Space.com

Ed

Ed Murray

You may have already noticed ... BMAA's web site address (URL) has changed to:

/


You may still use the old address:

http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/bmaa/

and be instantaneouly redirected to our new URL thus making the transition seemless. Our new address is shorter, has "bmaa" up front, and is a bit easier to remember.

J. Moyer

Just a note to say that there will be casual Starparty dubbed " The Interclub Stargaze" at
Cherry Springs State Park on July 28-29th.

Anyone interested in going?

Ed Murray

A better, easier way to collimate without those pesky, little allen wrenches.

Go to this web page...http//:hometown.aol.com/rkmorrow/mywebpage/index.html

Ed Murray

Well, from what I am hearing via the net, there could be HUGE ejections and possibly a MAJOR aurora for low to mid latitudes today and tommorow.

Lou Patrick

Solar Terrestrial Dispatch operates a "SpaceWeather" web site that features an Auroral Activity Forecast page among other things. The images on this page are updated frequently to offer almost "real time" information on auroral visibility.

An example of the many resources available from on the Auroral Activity Forecast page is shown in the auroral oval boundary map shown below:

J. Moyer

Tom Bemus (Martz Observatory, Jamestown, New York) reports that Cherry Springs State Park has been named A Dark Sky State Park. He recieved this information last weekend at the ASH "No Frills" Star Party from State Park Manager
Chip Harrison.

Although I have no confirmation as of yet I can give you an information site...

http:members.aol.com/CherrySpSp

Ed

Ed Murray

Those 1st photos were from Scotland...ooops!

These next ones are from Finland at:

www.pp.clinet.fi/~koski/aurora/aurora.html

Enjoy!

Ed

ed

Hi Gang,

Here is a great website with neat photos from Jorma Kiski in Finland: www.kersland.u-net.com/aas/auroral.html

Enjoy!

Ed Murray

Neither snow nor rain or even wind can keep the Corageous BMAA'ers from their appointed rounds!

I think, even with the problems, Astronomy Day 2000 was a success!:)

I would like to extend my thanks to everyone from our club who helped out in making this day a memorable one. The good Lord was kind to us by making sure the rain stayed away so we could show the Sun and some nice spots. And of course we didn't need raincoats.

Again, my thanks to everyone who showed up and helped. And, of course, a special thank you to Skip Goodnoe for allowing us use of his premises!

P. Edward Murray
President
BMAA

Ed Murray

At the Honey Hollow Starwatch tonight we saw an Aurora from around 8:30 pm.

Ed Murray

A friend from Ivyland called me about a red glow in the sky starting at the northwestern horizon, approximatley where the sun sets, continuing up to the apex. I also observed it from gardenville in Plumstead. It was quite wide. and also an area in the southwest at 30-45 degrees above the horizon. Their was also slender light ribbons radiating down from the apex to the northern horizon. Did any one else observe it? Do tou know what it was? Aurora? Zodiacal Light?

Dave Stitz

In light of last weeks Messier presentation here is an interesting and informative Messier website
http://www.seds.org/messier/

also check out the parent website
http://www.seds.org/

Ken Wieland

There is an article in this Sunday's Inquirer(March 5 - page A20) on light polution titled "The Curse of the late-night sky."

Also here are some astronomy websites I've collected:
http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/subjects/astronomy/
http://www.spacekids.com/
http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/bmaa/index.html
http://www.lvaas.org/
http://www.libertynet.org/dvaa/
http://www.skypub.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/solar-index.html
http://www.astroleague.org/
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/
http://www.nasa.gov/
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/missions1.html
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://www.jackstargazer.com/
http://www.pocmtnop.com/east/index.html
http://www.telescope.com/interact/html.asp?page=email02.html
http://www.celestron.com/main.htm
http://www.hawastsoc.org/

Ken Wieland

2 Major Flares and 2 Coronal Mass Ejections occurred today. Geomagnetic activity is expected to occur in 24 to 48 hrs.

Ed

Ed Murray

A large Coronal Hole is rotating towards the Earth and Geomagnetic Activity is expected to increase on Thursday & Friday.

Ed Murray

Alan Pasicznyk's Transient Phenomena for February:

January review:

Last month’s total lunar eclipse was seen by numerous club members. Many did not see the moon until after totality had begun due to the weather. All mentioned its coppery color, which seemed more so than the total eclipse in the early ‘90s.

For the month of February:

On February 13 Mercury will make its appearance in the western sky about 10 degrees above the horizon. This is not the best we’ll see it -- that will be in March – but it will be comparable in brightness to one of the stars in Orion’s belt.

Solar maximum is coming up and it is a good time to get some great views of the sun’s activity. Be sure to follow the safe solar viewing rules. And don’t forget about auroras! For more information on how to look for auroras, and for some of the web sites dedicated to them, see Ed Murray’s information on the message board.

Alan Pasicznyk

As many of you BMAA members know, we had some Coronal Mass Ejection events on the 9th and 10th.
These led to K levels of 7 early Saturday morning between 4 and 7 am. Like everyone else, I was asleep and I'm not even sure it was clear because it had been clear to partly cloudy earlier on Friday evening.

On the 10th into the 11th another CME in fact a spectacular one started from the Sun so there may be some activity late Sunday into Monday.

Ed

Ed Murray

A Major X ray flare began at 2:17 pm and ended at 2:31 pm EST.

So,we should see the Geomagnetic field react on Monday.

Ed

Ed Murray

Here's an interesting Astronomy website
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/solar-index.html

Ken Wieland

MSNBC is featuring a special report on the repaired Hubble Space Telescope with a "slide show" of Hubble images including some not seen before.

Click here to view MSNBC's special report.

JM

JM

Just learned that there is a nice article on Aurorae in the March issue of Sky & Telescope!

P. Edward Murray

------------------------
From: Terry.Trees@MSANET.COM
Subject: 4-Day Star Party Announcement
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 07:49:14 -0500

Hello,

Could you please inform your membership of the following? We would certainly have no objection if you wished to establish a link from your home page to the Star Cruise page listed below or perhaps an article could be inserted into your newsletter.

Thanks very much for your consideration.

Terry N. Trees, Ph.D., President
Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh

**********************

The more than 530 members of Amateur Astronomy Association of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) invite you to attend the second annual "Laurel Highlands Star Cruise", June 1 - 4, 2000.

Star Cruise 2000, as it's being called, will be held at the Tall Oaks Campground, in the Allegheny Mountains above Uniontown, PA. Guest speakers from NASA, regional universities and the AAAP; special activities; a swap table; and vendors are planned. This is a tremendous dark-sky site. Dark sky photos are available on our Website for your perusal. There's a CHANCE to see Omega Centauri and Centaurus A from this site.

There are a lot of area attractions for the non-astronomer (detailed on our website), so bring the whole family.

If you visit our WebSite you'll see arrangements are still being finalized. But there's a ton of info there already. Hope to see you at Star Cruise 2000.

Laurel Highlands Star Cruise Website
AAAP Website

Thanks for your interest.

Terry

Terry Trees

To All Members of the Astronomical Community in PA.
Please review the enclosed attachment for information about the fight against light pollution in our state. Please present this to the members of your group at your next meeting. If your organization is interested in joining the Pennsylvania Outdoor Lighting Council ( POLC ) please e mail me back with your response. If you need further information let me know.
You can visit our web site at http://home.epix.net/~ghonis/index.htm .
Thank you for your support. United we can win the war against light pollution.

Sandy Goodstein
Membership Chairman POLC
115 Norway Lane
Lebanon, PA 17042
717 272-6509
goodsheils@desupernet.net

------- attachment ------------------

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL ASTRONOMICAL ORGANIZATIONS
IN PENNSYLVANIA

As most of us know, light pollution is an ever-increasing problem in our state. As urban sprawl continues to invade our rural landscape the scourge of light pollution worsens. In an effort to fight this threat to our night skies, the Pennsylvania Outdoor Lighting Council (POLC) was formed. The group started out locally in Southeastern Pennsylvania and has grown to have active members from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. We helped organize efforts to have our voices heard during the recent 21st Century Committee Meetings. Locally we have made headway in establishing lighting ordinances in a number of townships in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania. We know that other groups have organized to fight the same battle. The time has come for us to join forces and unite to fight the spread of light pollution in Pennsylvania. The POLC has had numerous inquiries from people across the state about joining our organization. We would like to offer the following proposal to your organization:
We would like to open up membership to all those that agree that something must be done on a local and state level to fight light pollution. Our members are all volunteer and at this time we do not have a membership dues. We have two levels of membership to propose.
The first level would be that of Associate Member. If your organization would like to join the POLC then all of your members will automatically become associate members of our group. We would ask that you send your membership roster to the POLC and that you update your list at least once a year.
This level of membership will give your local group a stronger and larger base on which to stand when you go before your local township to propose establishing lighting ordinances. The POLC already has some name recognition across the state. It only helps our cause when we can say that we belong to a statewide organization with many members.
The second level of membership would be that of Contributing Member. These members are those who would be actively contributing (with their time and energy) to the fight against light pollution. Since Pennsylvania is such a large state, we would need to divide into six regions: Northeast, Southeast, North Central, South Central, Northwest and Southwest. Volunteers would be needed to become regional representatives and would be responsible for organizing local efforts. Regional monthly meetings could be held to discuss local and statewide attempts to curb light pollution. Minutes of these meeting could be posted on the PA Lights site, an E-mail service that was started by Pete Johnson in western Pennsylvania. PA Lights would be our primary means of communication. We would try to hold a state meeting once a year to meet one another and exchange ideas. These statewide meetings could be held in a different host region each year so that everyone shares the burden of travel. We might even want to consider holding a star party along with the yearly meeting.
A list of our mission and goals would be formulated and sent (E-mailed) to contributing members in all the regions. It is very important that we are all following the same guidelines, or as some might say, reading from the same page when we speak to the public about light pollution.
Please give this proposal serious consideration. We can not sit back and hope that the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) will fight our battles. This must be done on a statewide level by a united organization. Join us in this struggle against light pollution. We have nothing to lose but our night sky.
If your group would like to join the POLC please send me your organization’s membership list so we can list these people as associate members. If you would like to become a contributing member and help organize on a regional level, please contact me directly.
Thank you for your response to this matter.

Sincerely,



Sandy Goodstein
Membership Chairperson POLC
115 Norway Lane
Lebanon, PA 17042
Home phone: 717-272-6509
E-mail: goodsheils@desupernet.net

Sandy Goodstein

Astronomer Bill Ferris of Flagstaff, Arizona says that this nova has brightened to between 3.5 and
4th Mag. He says the field has an elevation of 35 degrees nearly due west at the end of evening twighlight.

Ed

Just saw this on my email...On Dec 1st, Alfredo
Perira of Cabo Da Roca, Portugal found a 6th Mag
"New Star" just 2 degrees NNW of Delta Aquilae...

It can be found at: RA 19h 23m 05.38s
Dec +4 d 57' 20.1"

A finder chart can be found at:
http://www.skypub.com/sights/images/novaaq1992.gif

Ed

Spent a little more than 4 hours commencing at 10 pm at TVASEC site on Leonid Meteor watch along with half a dozen other BMAA members. Sky was very dark after the moon set. Saw about 12-15 Leonids as well as 6-8 random meteors. Most of the activity was about 1:15 am when we saw 4 Leonid Meteors in about 4-5 minutes. I would describe 90% of the meteors as bright, long tailed with good persistence. The sky was dark especially so after the moon set.

Ed Sturm

Went out last night (Wed/Thursday) at about 1:30 AM and stayed out till about 2:30 AM. Saw about 10 meteors, 8 of which were Leonids. Only 3 would be classified as "bright", most were faint and very brief. However, from my driveway in Warminster, we never usually see anywhere near that much. Skies were extremely clear, no moon. It's surprising how many lights are turned off after bedtime, so the local light pollution was much less than I had expected. Eyes were pretty well dark adapted, no street lights or house lights to deal with. I would have enjoyed taking out the scopes, but I was afraid of missing the shower if I did that. Anyway, not enough of a show to wake up my 11 year old son, but my wife did ask me to wake her. Both of us looked and saw enough to say that we tried. Would imagine that darker site would have allowed us to see some of the fainer ones better, for sure. Also noticed some of what I would describe as "flashes" or hints of meteors, just a little too faint to say for sure.

Lou

Lou Patrick

SEC reports that there was an X ray event today at 07:54 UT...these are the most energetic type of flares.

Pat McIntosh (Heliosynoptics & Stanford U reports that because of the current configuration of sunspots...twisted and sheared with penumbra...there is a high probability that more of these events will occur during the next week.

If more of these events occur as expected that would mean a very good chance for severe storms and aurora!

Ed Murray

The following is a great resource site for information on astronmy for children

http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/subjects/astronomy/

Ken Wieland

NOAA...has just put together some new scales on Geomagnetic activity...to read this report look for Andrew Yee's post this morning (Wed, Nov.10) "NOAA space weather scales..." on Sci.Astro. and/or follow the link...http:www.sec.noaa.gov/info/Media/

Great data here for understanding both Aurora and Geomagnetic storms!

Ed Murray

Hi, my name is Arthur. I have been a silent member of the BMAA over the past few years. Due to having to work every Wednesday Night along with a very hectic and busy work schedule, I have been only able to attend one meeting. However, I pay my yearly dues and I always look forward to reading the newsletter that I receive about the BMAA. With a recent change in my work schedule, I plan on being able to attend more meetings and being able to go out to some of the Star Party's and watches.

I plan on attending this Saturday's Star Party, however I need directions to TVASEC. (I misplaced my oriebntation booklet)

I have been gazing at the heavens since I was a little boy and I applaud the work and dedication of the BMAA.

I am also looking into buying a new telescope. I am not into astrophotography (yet!) I am just looking for some guidance on a nice telescope to do some serious deep sky observing. I subscribe to all of the magazines and I read articles every month on what is the best telescope. I have done an enormous amount of binocular observing and I own a 4.5" reflector which has brought much joy in observing our moon and solar system and faint fuzzies in the deep sky. I just want to reach out there a little further and see some of the deep sky objects in crisper detail that I have longed to visualize.

I am very much a novice though when it comes to purchasing a telescope. I believe I want a Dobsonian type, for I know that you can get a larger aperture for a cheaper price with a Dobsonian.

Please Help!

Thanks and I look forward to meeting all of you in the near future.

Arthur

Arthur

The SEC has issued another K=5 Alert (Minor Storm) valid from 15:00 UT Nov. 8 to 15:00 UT Nov
10.

Ed

Ed Murray

SEC (Space Environmental Center) has issued a K=5
Alert valid from 4:45 to 17:00 UT. If this keeps up northern states such as Minnesota etc will see auroral activity.

Even so, it's inportant to keep track of these events because sometimes they get stronger and turn into severe storms which result in Auroras visible down here!

Ed Murray

Here is some reference material on the Aurora:

"Explore The Universe...2000" This coming years
Astronomy Magazine annual has a very nice article on the Aurora.

For those of you who have back copies of S&T look for The November,1988 issue...."Dragons in the
Sky" on page 494.

Some fairly recent books...

"The Aurora Watcher's Handbood" by Neil Davis..
University of Alaska Press..1992

"Aurora" by Candace Savage..Sierra Club Books..
1994.

Some really good websites...

NASA Space Weather Page...www.spaceweather.com

Space Environmental Center...www.sel.noaa.gov/

Space Environmental Center Listserver...
www.sec.noaa.gov/ListServer.html

That's all for now!

Ed

Ed Murray

The Australian Space Forecast Center has issued
a Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning for November
6-12. An Equatorial Coronal hole is rotating towards a Geo Effective position. Activity is expected to be stronger in the first half of the period with minor storm periods during the evenings.

Earlier this afternoon..2046 UT...The Space Environmental Center issued a Sudden Impulse Alert....these impulses are sudden pertubations in the low latitude geomagnetic field and are not thought to be connected to with following storms
ALTHOUGH they sometimes do precede geomagnetic storms!

Ed Murray

I will be observing at the Ockanickon Science Center tonight from about 8:30 to ?? with the JMI NGT-12.5 telescope. Any interested BMAA members are welcome to join me.

The Science Center is located at the far end of the parking lot off of State Park Rd. (North of Pt. Pleasant and before Ralph Stover Park).

Jim

J. Moyer

You may use this message board to post up to the minute information such as AURORAL ALERTS for the benefit of BMAA membership.

Starry nights!

JM

bmaa@ixc.net