HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: phardie@nastar.uucp (Pete Hardie)
Subject: Re: Days of the Week, revisited 
Organization: Digital Transmission Systems, Duluth, GA.
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 20:44:47 GMT

In article <1993Jan27.163007.1@stsci.edu> hathaway@stsci.edu writes:
>The author claims the Babylonian astrologers (that word again!) took 
>the seven then-known-moving-celestial-objects, (which 'wandered' = 'planets') 
>and to make their gig more impressive to the (paying) public, they assigned 
>each planet to one of the 24 hours of a day.  (Where the word 'hour' came from 
>is a whole 'nother trip - ask if you're interested.)  As an aside, the use of 
>24 supposedly developed from the convenient three watches sailors (and others) 
>used to break up both the daylight and nighttimes.  Well three per was too 
>coarse a breakdown for businessmen to make appointments, etc, so they got 

This assumes that things needed a finer detail.  Not in evidence.

>This book then claimed that these dudes used the first hour's 'ruler' as the 
>name of that day.  As a little reflection will show (write out all 168 hours 
>of the week if need be), the first hour of each day (and thereby the name of 
>the day itself) will then be: 
>
>nth day  Planet  English   Babylon  Teuton       French 
>
>1st day  Sun     Sunday    Shamash  Sunnundag    Dimanche (Lord's Day) 
>2nd day  Moon    Monday    Sin      Monandag     Lundi 
>3rd day  Mars    Tuesday   Nergal   Tiesdag      Mardi 
>4th day  Jupiter Wednesday Nebo     Wodenesdag   Mercredi 
>5th day  Mercury Thursday  Marduk   Thorsdag     Jeudi  
>6th day  Venus   Friday    Ishtar   Frigadag     Vendredi 
>7th day  Saturn  Saturday  Ninurta  Saeternesdag Samedi (from Latin Sambati 
>                                                         - Sabbath) 

Note that the Teuton (German?) names match quite nicely in the latter half
with the Norse gods - Tiw, Wotan, Thor, Frig/Frey....

why postulate a complex system when a few simple numbers give you a good
answer?

the lunar cycle is ~28 days; divide by 4 (cardinal directions) gives a
7 day week (also helped by 7 being mystic in Near East prehistory).  The
sun and moon figure strongly in everyone's cosmology, so they get days.  The
rest get named for local religious entities, then mix with a few cultural 
invasions over the millenia, and we get the chart above.



-- 
Pete Hardie:  phardie@nastar  (voice) (404) 497-0101
Digital Transmission Systems, Inc., Duluth GA
Member, DTS Dart Team           |  cat * | egrep -v "signature virus|infection" 
Position:  Goalie               |
From: ko_mike@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Michael Y Ko)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: HST sites
Date: 24 Jan 1993 19:32:28 -0500
Organization: Homewood Academic Computing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu

I know there are three main sites that receive and control information from 
the Hubble Space Telescope. I think they're JPL, Goddard, and Space
Telescope Institute in Baltimore.

Can anyone tell me what the function is of the Space Telescope Institute?
From: dpalmer@csulb.edu (David Palmer)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: A picture of a black hole?
Date: 25 Jan 93 21:32:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: csulb.C1FIIq.5Dx
Organization: Cal State Long Beach



   I think the photo everyone is referring to is one the HST shot late
last year. It is not a picture "of" a black hole--you cannot (directly)
photograph something that does not emit or reflect light--but a photo of the
EFFECTS of a suspected black hole. The photo is of the nucleus of galaxy
M51. The photo shows a large dark X in the center of the nucleus. Literally,
X marks the spot! The dark bands are probably light-absorbing dust rings
that orbit a black hole with a mass of about 2 million suns. The photo
and a short article appear in the Sept 1992 issue of Astronomy, p 18.
It is important to remember that the existence of black holes has not
been positively confirmed. However, there is an increasing number of
phenomina (like this photo) that are very strong evidence of black
holes. As far as I know, nobody has posited alternate explainations of
these phenomena.


-- 
              Dave Palmer             dpalmer@csulb.edu

********************I finally found the perfect woman,*********************** 
*****************but she was looking for the perfect man*********************
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: L629159@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM
Subject: Re: Killer-meteorite ?
Organization: Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 13:24:33 PST

From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke):

In article <93021.134733K3032E0@ALIJKU11.BITNET>, <K3032E0@ALIJKU11.BITNET> writ
>An Austrian newspaper says that "a meteorite fell on a house in POREC,
>Croatia, killing two old brothers living there".
>Can anyone confirm this?
>
>*Huch|* These space-rocks become agressive| First, killing cars in New York,
>then killing people in Croatia....

Meteorites hitting people and cars has happened before.
About 25 to 30 years ago, a meteorite hit a house and struck
the lady living there, and she survived with only a bruise.  I think this
happened somewhere in England, and the story and pictures are
on display at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.  One of the
SNC meteorite was supposed to have landed on and killed a dog.
The meteorite that landed last October in Peeksville, New York, was
the third or fourth occurrence of a meteorite hitting a car.  The
meteorite went through the trunk.  I just happen to have a piece of
this particular meteorite in my collection, and there is red paint
from the car still on the fusion crust.  The car and the Peeksville
meteorite will be on display at the Tuscon show next month.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Every once in a while,
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | try pushing your luck.
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     |

End quote.

  I recall the story of the woman struck by the meteorite.  The local
newspapers ran a photo. It was a nasty bruise.  Good thing the meteor
didn't get a straight shot at her...  My recollection puts the site
in Tennessee, but it's a long time ago.  Was that a Serbian meteorite
in Croatia?

Al Moore
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: HUSFELD@usmv01.usm.uni-muenchen.de (Husfeld, Dirk)
Subject: astronomers vs researchers (was: Re: research vs commercial grade)
Organization: University Observatory Munich, FRG 
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 21:04:50 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.20

In <93022.035547LABBEY@GITVM1.BITNET> <LABBEY@GITVM1.BITNET> writes:

> One wonders what kind of "research" is done with an 8" telescope?
> 
> Besides, astronomers don't do "research".  They observe.  "Research"
> implies the ability to change the conditions of the experiment.
> 
> Leonard Abbey, F.R.A.S.
> Georgia Tech Research Institute
> Atlanta, Georgia, USA
> labbey@gitvm1.gatech.edu

Hi Leonard,
observing your message I can't find the smiley it deserves.  So as
to find out whether it was already missing from what you sent out
or whether it was swallowed by my news-reader, I could like to conduct
an experiment and ask you to re-submit your message, this time definitely
including the smiley and an explicit assertion to this end.

Here is mine  :-)

Dirk Husfeld

Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics     Tel.:(FRG) 89  92 20 94 40
Scheinerstrasse 1                           Fax :(FRG) 89  92 20 94 27
8000 Munich 80, FRG
Email: husfeld@astronomie.physik.uni-muenchen.dbp.de     (X.400)
 or    husfeld@usm.uni-muenchen.de                       (Internet)

PS: Sorry for the trouble with my previous attempt to post.
Xref: sparky sci.astro:14299 sci.physics:23284
From: ethan@emx.cc.utexas.edu (Ethan T. Vishniac)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Local Expansion - Why not?
Date: 22 Jan 1993 09:42:47 -0600
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
NNTP-Posting-Host: emx.cc.utexas.edu

Thomas Clarke asks:

>My intuition goes something like this.  Imagine two small particles
>in empty space.  According to GR as applied to the big-bang (BB)
>cosmology [steady-state cosmology too, I would dare say], two
>observers using electromagnetic means (are there any other) would
>observe a steadily increasing seperation as the universe expands.
>
>Now insert a large gravitating body between the two observers, and put
>them into orbit around the body.  Their observations will now show
>no increase in seperation.
>
>Why?  My intution (and TVF's apparently) says there should be no
>difference between the two cases.  Let the body's mass go to zero,
>continuity then implies there should then be no expansion even with 
>the body absent.

Actually, this is a good example and helps make everything clear.
If space is really empty then there are two (equally valid) descriptions
of the universe.  One is Minkowski space and one is the zero density
BB model.  They are related by a simple transformation given
(among many other places) in the Problem Book in Relativity and
Gravitation by Lightman, Press, Price, and Teukolsky.  The
BB model is the future lightcone of a single event in empty
space, with the surface of the lightcone corresponding to the
initial singularity in the BB model.

Now if I put two particles down I have to specify their
initial velocities with respect to each other.  If they
are at rest in the BB model, then they are moving apart
in the Minkowski metric.  If they are at rest in the
Minkowski metric, then they are falling together in
the BB metric, just fast enough to cancel the 
"expansion of space".  If they are tied together by rubber
bands, tractor beams, nuclear forces etc. then in Minkowski
space this looks totally unremarkable, but in BB model it
is 'nonlinear small scale structure defying the expansion
of the universe'.  Of course, either description is equally
good, but the result is perhaps more obvious in the Minkowski
metric.

The point this illustrates is the 'expansion of space' in 
the BB models is a consequence of initial conditions rather
than some long range mysterious force due to the rest of
the universe.  In fact, as a consequence of Birkhoff's theorem
we can see that no such force exists.  The expansion of the
universe is due to its initial expansion and can be reversed
locally without residual effects.

-- 
"Quis tamen tale studium, quo ad primam omnium rerum causam evehimur,
tamquam inutile aut contemnendum detractare ac deprimere ausit?"-Bridel
Ethan T. Vishniac, Dept. of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas, 78712                   ethan@astro.as.utexas.edu
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: jeffp@netcom.com (Jeff)
Subject: TeleVue Eyepieces FOR SALE
Organization: BeHereNow
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 03:04:34 GMT


9mm Nagler, Perfect condition	$170 includes shipping
1.8x Teleview Barlow New in box, never used. $70 incl. ship.
12mm RKE (Edmund) $25 Excellent condition includes shipping

Jeff-
408 946-6743


Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: mcovingt@aisun2.ai.uga.edu (Michael Covington)
Subject: Eclipse book NOT available from me!
Summary: Cambridge Eclipse Photography Guide.  Order from publisher.
Keywords: eclipse, book, guide, photography
Organization: AI Programs, University of Georgia, Athens
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 04:51:55 GMT

Word seems to be circulating -- somewhere -- that the forthcoming
Cambridge Eclipse Photography Guide (by Covington, Pasachoff, and
Espenak) can be purchased from me.

It can't.  When it becomes available, it will be purchasable from the
Cambridge University Press through any bookstore.  But I don't sell
books myself; I only write them.



-- 
:-  Michael A. Covington     internet mcovingt@uga.cc.uga.edu :    *****
:-  Artificial Intelligence Programs       phone 706 542-0358 :  *********
:-  The University of Georgia                fax 706 542-0349 :   *  *  *
:-  Athens, Georgia 30602-7415 U.S.A.     amateur radio N4TMI :  ** *** **
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: daviess@gov.on.ca (Stephen Davies)
Subject: Re: research grade vs. commercial grade
Organization: Government of Ontario
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 19:17:12 GMT

After reading a few cynical posts ;)  I thought I would note that it was
Meade themselves who referred to some of their newtonian reflectors as
"research grade".  I believe that they used this term to differentiate
between their line of inexpensive "Deep Space" reflectors (DS-10, DS-16)
and their other line of newtonians which had more expensive tubes and
somewhat better hardware.  I'm not sure if these scopes had better
optics (possibly the DS series had thinner mirrors?), but the tube
itself is constructed of better materials.
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: soudan@ufrima.imag.fr (SOUDAN sebastien)
Subject: Re: PC Software
Keywords: For the PC/ Apple Mac, Cheap(ish).
Organization: University of Grenoble (France)
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 11:58:47 GMT

mt92mmj@brunel.ac.uk (Marcus Jones) writes:


>	Can anyone suggest any software either PC or Apple Mac which 
>	could be of use in amateur astronomy of any type which isn't
>	too expensive.	Thanks,
>--
>################### Marcus Jones (mt92mmj@brunel.ac.uk ) ################
>#  Dept. Materials Technology E-mail: mt92mmj or xxsuipee @brunel.ac.uk #
>#     Brunel University, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex. UB8 3PH.	#
>#########################################################################

one year ago, i bought a shareware called skyglobe. it's useful 
for observing the sky (my version is rather slow, but new ones
are certainly better). you should be able to get it from a 
shareware club
-- 
 SOUDAN Sebastien  ESI2/ EUI Grenoble
                             E-Mail: soudan@ufrima.imag.fr          
 |      /\\           ||
 | An  /--\\MIGA user ||    ( Processors ) Unity is Strength  
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: labelle@hfglobe.intel.com (George La Belle)
Subject: Eyeballing satellites???
Organization: Intel Corporation
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 21:31:51 GMT



	Can anyone help me with this?

	1) Satellites in orbit can be seen (by reflected light) going
	overhead at night. How large would it have to be to make out what
	it is? (not a point source).

	2) What is the smallest thing that can be seen with the naked eye?

	3) What distance away is the space shuttle, when orbiting?

		Thanks,
		George
Xref: sparky sci.astro:14502 sci.bio:5000 sci.chem:6029
From: jimmosk@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Jim J Moskowitz)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.bio,sci.chem
Subject: Science Fair JUDGES WANTED
Date: 26 Jan 93 19:57:26 GMT
Followup-To: sci.astro
Distribution: pa
Organization: University of Pennsylvania


   The Delaware Valley Science Fairs are seeking research-experienced
scientists, engineers, and technologists willing to volunteer one (1) day to
help one of the most important science education programs in the Delaware
Valley.  The 1993 DVSF will be judged Thursday, April 1st, 1993 at the
Philadelphia Civic Center.  Judging requires a full day.  Criteria for
evaluating science projects will be provided (as will breakfast and lunch).
   Contact with student scientists in a Science Fair is an interesting
experience for scientists or technicians with training and recent experience
in any field of medicine, science, or engineering.  To volunteer as a
Science Fair judge, contact:

Dr. Lee Bennett
The Franklin Institute
Franklin Parkway at 20th St.
Philadelphia PA  19103
(215) 448-1269

or email your name and mailing address to jimmosk@eniac.seas.upenn.edu

--
_______________________________________________________________________________
Jim Moskowitz                   "All you can logically say about 
jimmosk@eniac.seas.upenn.edu     a guy who thinks he's a poached egg
                                 is that he's in the minority." - James Burke
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: fsyael@ottoicomp (Shaye Yungster)
Subject: TEST
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 14:09:34 GMT

Sorry, this is only a test

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: lattis@sal.wisc.edu (Jim Lattis)
Subject: Re: Tycho Apocrypha
Organization: Space Astronomy Lab, Madison WI
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 16:40:46 GMT

Just to chime in on the Thoren biography of Tycho
(watch for my review of it in Journal for the History
of Astronomy): It is very good, especially useful
and entertaining on the life of a Danish nobleman
who was also an astronomer--two roles that did not
always mesh well.

Tycho did loose part of his nose in a youthful duel,
and covered the wound with a metal piece.  he may well
have had several different ones--one for everyday use,
one for formal wear, etc.  Some reports state the
jewelry was gold or silver, but a late 19th century
examination of Tycho's skull showed some discoloration
of the bone in the nose area that has been attributed
to copper.  This is mentioned in Dreyer's  biography
of Tycho.
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology-Office of Information Technology
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 03:12:22 EST
From: <LABBEY@GITVM1.BITNET>
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Comments from MEADE about SCT's

Re-coating a lens will improve its light transmission, and nothing else.
It will NOT improve performance on the planets.

Furthermore, it is a dangerous process, involving high temperatures.  There is
some danger that the lens will break.   Besides, the price you mentioned
is a considerable percentage of the price of a new scope.

Forget re-coating.  What you see on planets is mainly determined by the
number of hours you spend at the eyepiece.  Join the ALPO and make sketches.
In two years you will be up there with the best of them.

Oh yes, one other suggestion for viewing planets.  Buy an f/8 Newtonian.

Lenny

Leonard Abbey, F.R.A.S.
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
labbey@gitvm1.gatech.edu
Newsgroups: sci.astro,rec.radio.shortwave
From: oler@rho.uleth.ca (Cary Oler)
Subject: Daily Solar Geophysical Data Broadcast for 20 January
Organization: University of Lethbridge
Date: 21 Jan 93 08:14:31 GMT

!!BEGIN!! (1.0) S.T.D. Solar Geophysical Data Broadcast for DAY 020, 01/20/93
10.7 FLUX=110.0  90-AVG=141        SSN=065      BKI=3223 3310  BAI=009
BGND-XRAY=B1.7     FLU1=1.6E+05  FLU10=9.4E+03  PKI=3223 3322  PAI=010
  BOU-DEV=034,010,017,027,025,031,005,004   DEV-AVG=019 NT     SWF=00:000
 XRAY-MAX= B9.8   @ 1314UT    XRAY-MIN= B1.4   @ 2325UT   XRAY-AVG= B2.1
NEUTN-MAX= +001%  @ 2055UT   NEUTN-MIN= -004%  @ 1740UT  NEUTN-AVG= -1.0%
  PCA-MAX= +0.1DB @ 2025UT     PCA-MIN= -0.3DB @ 0930UT    PCA-AVG= -0.0DB
BOUTF-MAX=55417NT @ 1528UT   BOUTF-MIN=55400NT @ 2000UT  BOUTF-AVG=55410NT
GOES7-MAX=P:+098NT@ 2109UT   GOES7-MIN=N:-008NT@ 0853UT  G7-AVG=+069,+027,+007
GOES6-MAX=P:+123NT@ 1517UT   GOES6-MIN=E:-008NT@ 2201UT  G6-AVG=+088,+002,+038
 FLUXFCST=STD:105,105,105;SESC:105,105,105 BAI/PAI-FCST=015,005,005/015,010,010
    KFCST=3334 4333 1112 3111  27DAY-AP=008,006   27DAY-KP=2333 2221 0223 2231
 WARNINGS=
   ALERTS=
!!END-DATA!!
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.physics
From: zellner@stsci.edu
Subject: Modelling the expanding universe
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 18:11:14 GMT

Tom Van Flandern writes:

 > If the galaxies themselves moved, that would require a center and an
 > edge to the big bang explosion.  Then the universe would not look
 > everywhere the same, as the Friedmann postulates require.

To me that seems a non-problem.  To itself, each molecule in an expanding 
gas appears to be at the center, and all other molecules are systematically
moving away from it with velocities that increase linearly with distance. 
Whether a "real" center exists or not is irrelevant, unless of course you
can actually see to the edge of the gas.  Our universe appears to be big
enough that the "edge", if any, is outside our light horizon.

Concerning the rest of this controversy, I think Ethan Vishniac settled all 
the dust in a later post.  Whether the galaxies are moving apart, or space 
is expanding, is just a question of how you choose to describe it.  

Ben

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: phfrom@nyx.uni-konstanz.de (Hartmut Frommert)
Subject: Re: Sky&Telescope Weekly News Bulletin
Organization: Dept. of Physics, University of Constance
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 14:36:27 GMT

ref@CS.CMU.EDU (Robert Frederking) writes:

>> WHY PLANETS SPIN 
>> A report in today's issue of the journal SCIENCE describes a new study
>> of why planets spin. Luke Dones and Scott Tremaine conclude that
>> Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars all spin the way they do not because of
>> some orderly influence during their formation, but instead because of
>> random collisions with massive objects. They're not sure, however, how
>> the giant outer planets were set spinning so fast. 

>Is this really right?  Does anyone have more details, in particular,
>why the traditional explanation involving the angular momentum of the
>particles they were formed from isn't right?

Especially: why do Earth and Mars then both spin "regularly", i.e. in
the same sense as Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune and with only slightly longer 
periods ? (on the other hand, the "irregular" rotation of Mercury seems to
have a rather "natural" explanation from tidal deformation by the Sun
so that only Venus (and perhaps the eq. inclination of Uranus' equator)
need for exceptional explanation in the "standard model". Also: what
happened to the "initial" angular momentum in the Dones-Tremaine model ?
 Hartmut Frommert                 <phfrom@nyx.uni-konstanz.de>
 Dept of Physics, Univ of Constance, P.O.Box 55 60, D-W-7750 Konstanz, Germany
                                           -- Eat whale killers, not whales --
From: kells@daimi.aau.dk (Kell S|nnichsen)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Tycho Apocrypha
Keywords: Tycho, Brahe, nose
Date: 21 Jan 93 10:58:32 GMT
Organization: DAIMI: Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, Denmark

Tycho Brahe had an silver nose. He lost his own in a duel

				/Kell Soennichsen.

-- 
    Kell S|nnichsen               \======/   The two most abundant things in
    Computer Science Dept.         \====/    the Universe are Hydrogen and
    University of Aarhus, Denmark   \==/     stupidity.
    email: kells@daimi.aau.dk        \/                  -- Harlan Ellison.