From: ghasting@vdoe386.vak12ed.edu (George Hastings)
Subject: Re: ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVING
Organization: Virginia's Public Education Network (Richmond)
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 03:10:53 GMT

Sherman Williams (Sherman.Williams@f2.n255.z1.fidonet.org ) writes:
>  Sherman.Williams@f2.n255.z1.fidonet.org (Sherman Williams)
> Sender: ufgate@puddle.fidonet.org (newsout1.26)
> Newsgroups: k12.ed.science
> Subject: ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVING
> Message-ID: <39813.2B5E19B4@puddle.fidonet.org>
> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 20:39:43 PDT
> Organization: FidoNet node 1:255/2 - NEWBED, Fredericton NB
> Lines: 14
> 
> I am looking for some exchanges with those who are involved in observing 
> what goes on in the sky (astronomically speaking). Did you get to see the Dec 
> 9th lunar eclipse? Anyone watching Mars doing its dance in Gemini? Venus is 
> doing a fine job shining brilliantly as the Evening Star. Have you noticed. 
> What is the condition of your night sky when the cloud is absent? -much light 
> pollution in your area? Have you worked with any computer programs that 
> simulate the astronomical sky? 

Here in Richmond, Virginia, the lunar eclipse was spectacular!
The darkest eclipse of the moon I've ever seen. As the last
thin sliver of sunlit crescent slimmed down to nothing, the
moon simply vanished! All other lunar eclipse I've observed
still allowed a clear view of the moon inside the Earth's
umbra, the red light bent into the shadow by refraction through
the Eath's atmosphere around the edges.
  Mars has just passe opposition, and is at its brightest,
showing off its polar ice cap to anyone with a halfway decent
telescope, and Venus is so glaringly bright that I spotted it
several evenings ago fifteen minutes BEFORE the Sun went down!
  The light back-scatter anywhere in the city limits of
Richmond and in many places in the surrounding county suburbs
is severe enough that often only first and second magnitude
stars are visible to the naked eye. Our best viewing, of
course, is after a heavy rain, followed by a high pressure area
and cold front sweeps across the area, cleaning out the
atmosphere and leaving the stars looking so bright and close it
almost seems that you can hear them crackle! 8-)

 I've used a number of computer programs for astronomy,
starting quite a few years ago with Sky Travel for the
Commodore 64 (good program!) 
   My favorites for MS-DOS machines are Visible Universe and
Dance of the Planets. My vote for best shareware goes to
SKYGLOBE. For Mac computers, I like Voyager. Each can do things
the others can't do as well, but thay are all great tools for
enquiring minds, and I haven't yet tired of trying out new
"WHAT IF????" kinds of experiments with them.
  Your ID doesn't give me a good idea of where in the world you
are, but it sounds as though you have a view of southern skies.
I chuckled as I began this reply to Sherman Williams, because
there used to be (still is???) a Sherman Williams Paint Company
whose logo shows a tipped paint can over a globe, paint pouring
and spreading, with the motto "Sherman Williams Covers The
Earth!"   You're doing it ELECTRONICALLY!  8-)

George Hastings
Space Science Teacher
Richmond Mathematics adn Science Center
Richmond, Virginia