HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: greg@korg3.columbiasc.ncr.com (Greg Porr)
Subject: Re: rumor concerning Saturn's rings
Organization: NCR Corp, MCPD-Columbia, Columbia, SC
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 14:17:07 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.083218.1@stsci.edu> gawne@stsci.edu writes:
>As for naked eye visibility of the rings?  I doubt it.  The human eye
>can't resolve Jupiter's moons, and the angular resolution needed for that
>task is a factor of three or so less than the angular resolution necessary
>to resolve Saturn's rings from the planet.  The fundamental limit is an
>aperture (pupil) size of 7mm at the most.  Even Galileo's little telescope
>more than doubled the aperture.

I have heard that some people have indeed been able to resolve Jupiter's
moons.  The best story was about a young girl whose father was going to
show her Jupiter and its moons through a telescope with an odd number
of reflections.  The moons were all on one side of the planet; he told
his daughter to look for 4 little points of light on the right side
of the planet.  His daughter claimed that they were on the left.  She
was correct, since she wasn't looking through the telescope!

-- Greg Porr
   (Greg.Porr@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM)
From: j.jahn@abbs.hanse.de (Jost Jahn)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Sunspots at 12.10.1992.
Reply-To: j.jahn@abbs.hanse.de
Date: 12 Oct 92 19:39:00 MET
Distribution: sci
Organization: ABBS AstroMail, D-W 2121 Dahlenburg / Germany
X-Version: ZerUU V6.45c

Sunspots at 12.10.1992., 0 h UT.

No.    Pos.  Cl.  Ar.  Mag. SF  F  M  X
---------------------------------------
7298 19N 92W Hsx   60   a
7301 16S 77W Bxo   10   b
7303 14S 74W Dao  180   b    4
7305 10N 53W Hsx   20   a
7306 07S 30W Dao  140   gd
7307 17S 11E Axx    0   a


No optical or x-ray flares yesterday observed.


 
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Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: zellner@stsci.edu
Subject: Re:  SETI NOT POSITIVE
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 13:52:25 GMT

David Harwood asks, 

  >  There has been another interesting question:  Is HRMS capable 
  >  of detecting signals of power equivalent to terrestial
  >  broadcasts (different frequencies) at distances of say 50 
  >  light years or so?"

I believe it's a matter of beaming or targeting.  With the dark-adapted
eye you can see the glow of a flashlight at a distance of many miles, if
it's pointed directly at you.  Otherwise, you will see nothing.  

The Arecibo 1000-footer could communicate with its twin anywhere in the
galaxy, if they were pointed directly at each other and on exactly the
same frequency, with continuous correction for Doppler shifts.  But if
the power is simply radiated isotropically, as most of our electromagnetic 
emissions are, I believe the answer is No - SETI would see nothing.

Concerning misinformation and rumor, we must all remember that in any 
search for signals near the threshold of detectability, false positives 
are a statistical certainty.

Ben

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: graham@venus.iucf.indiana.edu (JIM GRAHAM)
Subject: Re: Radio Telescopes
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   
Reply-To: graham@venus.iucf.indiana.edu
Organization: Somewhere in Bloomington, Indiana
Distribution:  na
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 17:58:23 GMT

In article <1992Oct15.155626.28515@bcars6a8.bnr.ca>, mleech@bnr.ca (Marcus Leech) writes...
>In article <1992Oct8.105453.10254@bsu-ucs.uucp>, 00csriggle@bsu-ucs.uucp writes:
>|> Hi... Me and some other people are attempting to build a "minor" radio
>|> telescope. Just wondering if anyone had ideas on whether to get a shortwave
>|> from someone or to build one ourselves? If it's a good idea to buy one, is
>|> there a good place to get one?
>|> 
>The only detectable-by-amateurs astronomical emmissions in the 
>  "shortwave" region (1-30MHZ) are those from the Jupiter-Io system.  
>  This system emits fairly broadband noise in the range 18-21MHZ.  
>  A useful "starter" project (assuming you live in the country--
>  detecting Jupiter-Io in the city is nearly impossible),
>  is to build a full-wave loop antenna above a ground plane, and "aim" it
>  at Jupiter.  You should be able to hear a rise in the general noise floor.
> 
>Other amateur radio astronomy projects in the VHF/UHF range are certainly
>  possible, but require more work.  I run a mailing list out of
>  radio-astro@cs.buffalo.edu that hasn't been active for over a year--its
>  intended purpose is the discussion of amateur radio astronomy projects.
> 
>Building low-noise amplifiers using increasingly-cheap HEMT GaAsFETs is now
>  entering the realm of achievability in an amateur context.  I recently
>  purchased a pair of low-noise amplifiers for 1420MHZ with a measured noise
>  temperature of 40K and a gain of 17dB. This certainly makes more exotic
>  amateur radio astronomy projects viable.
> 
>-- 
>Marcus Leech, 4Y11             Bell-Northern Research  |opinions expressed
>mleech@bnr.ca                  P.O. Box 3511, Stn. C   |are my own, and not
>ml@ve3mdl.ampr.org             Ottawa, ON, CAN K1Y 4H7 |necessarily BNRs

This has been true for quite some time (several years).

As I've pointed out before in this group, there is an organization
specifically for amateur radio astronomers called S.A.R.A. (Society
of Amateur Radio Astronomers).

Some of their members have built rather sensitive equipment (at least
sensitive enough to detect pulsars).

It publishes a periodic journal, pointing out activities of current
members and occasionally, professionals.

I don't have the address with me at the moment, but if anyone's 
interested, let me know.

Jim Graham 

        -> ->Disclaimer: I do not speak for my company. <- <-
                          Neither do they speak for me.
 ______________________________________________________________________
| Internet: graham@venus.iucf.indiana.edu                              |
|           dolmen!jgraham@moose.cs.indiana.edu                        |
| BBS:      The PORTAL DOLMEN BBS/ParaNet ALPHA-GAMMA (sm) (9:1012/13) |
|            (812) 334-0418, 24hrs.                                    |
|______________________________________________________________________|
From: spurr8359@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: rumor concerning Saturn's rings
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:37:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: iscsvax.1992Oct13.213724.7605
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Northern Iowa




In article <1992Oct13.083218.1@stsci.edu>, gawne@stsci.edu writes
> Galileo reported seeing something extending away from Saturn that he
> described as being like ears.  Apparently Huygens was the first person
> to make the mental leap required to recognize that he was looking at 
> a ring around a planet.
> 
> As for naked eye visibility of the rings?  I doubt it.  The human eye
> can't resolve Jupiter's moons, and the angular resolution needed for that
> task is a factor of three or so less than the angular resolution necessary
> to resolve Saturn's rings from the planet.  The fundamental limit is an
> aperture (pupil) size of 7mm at the most.  Even Galileo's little telescope
> more than doubled the aperture.
> 

Last summer my wife (not an amateur) correctly identified the relative
positions of Jupiter's moons without a telescope or binoculars.  I didn't
believe her at first, but I did when she gave the relative positions (one
on the left, two on the right) and was even able to give their relative
DISTANCES from the planet.

Aaron Spurr
Planetarium Director
Grout Museum of History and Science
Waterloo, Iowa
From: ralf@ark.abg.sub.org (Ralf Stephan)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: SETI positive?
Date: 11 Oct 92 10:13
Organization: Magick Shoppe, Gurth City

hughes@jupiter.ral.rpi.edu (Declan Hughes) writes:
> >  Any information?
> 
>   Sure, It is God on the way for the October 28th second coming,
>  apparently even It cannot travel faster than the speed of light !

Now this is an atheist argument I never thought of.  Very interesting...

--ralf
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: tordm@vand (Tord G.M. Malmgren)
Subject: Re: UFO EVIDENCE VS. Carl Sagan
Reply-To: TordM@VanA.PhySto.SE
Organization: Department of Physics, University of Stockholm -- Sweden
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 13:34:32 GMT

In article <1992Oct16.010531.8396@mcshub.dcss.mcmaster.ca>, fischer@physun.physics.mcmaster.ca (Phil Fischer) writes:

>> AND the COUNTRIES that DON'T HAVE any MILITARY ??

>Just out of curiosity, which are these?

 like this country in latin america (I think it was Guatemala). and then
we can talk about countries with armies as huge as Djibouti's...
but that's not my point whether there exists a country without any army..




---------------+--------------------------------
 Tord Malmgren | InterNet: TordM@VanA.PhySto.SE | These opinions are my OWN,
               | BITNet  : TordM@SESUF51        | and NOT of this department!
---------------+--------------------------------
 Department of Physics, University of Stockholm
From: gliba@scivax.stsci.edu
Subject: Bright Green Fireball
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 13:53:26 GMT


Bright Green Fireball

   A bright green fireball was seen over several states on friday night.
It was said to be nearly as bright as the moon. I did not see it, but
several witnesses that I talked to described it as quite spectacular.
One witness, a naturalist for the Audubon Naturalist Society, saw it
at about 7:50 EDT when he was leading a night walk on the C&O Canal on
Maryland. He said it was traveling northern sky, was bright green in
color, and broke up into eight pieces. One report from Ohio said the
fireball was video taped during a local football game. As luck would have
it, I was suppose to go on the above stated night walk friday, but because
it was full, I was scheduled for the next night. Did anyone else see this
barn burner.


G.W. Gliba - 'I would rather see starlight than streetlights'
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Diesen sphere or Strungen Sphere
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 15:47:45 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <1992Oct14.181811.29168@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> gsh7w@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Hennessy) writes:
>#Use the outside, not the inside...
>
>Oh, in that case you get the gravitational field of the star at
>whatever radius you build the SAS thing.

Unfortunately, it's pretty feeble.  Solar gravitational acceleration at
Earth's orbit, for example, is under a milligee.
-- 
MS-DOS is the OS/360 of the 1980s.      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
              -Hal W. Hardenbergh (1985)|  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
From: 01crmeyer@bsu-ucs.uucp (Craig Meyer)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: How to build a telescope?
Date: 8 Oct 92 02:41:35 GMT

I'm a member of the two-bit astronomy club here at school and we'd like to
build a telescope--preferably a radio telescope.  Any good references we could
start out with?

Thanks for your help,

CM

-- 
       Craig Meyer                 01CRMEYER@LEO.BSUVC.BSU.EDU
       Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humaities.
       Muncie, IN  47306                          317-285-7433

       Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not necessarily
       shared by the Indiana Academy.
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: jcj@tellabs.com (jcj)
Subject: Opinions on GEMs? [amateur]
Keywords: Losmandy G-11, Meade LX
Organization: Huh?
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 13:56:31 GMT


Anybody have any comments on Meade's LX600D mount?  I believe this is
the GEM that they're now bundling with their 8-10-inch SCTs.  Also, has 
anybody had any experience with the Celestron/Losmandy G-11?  Is it too 
heavy to lug to a dark site easily?  The plan here is to upgrade my old 
C-8 tripod/wedge to something halfway decent for starting piggyback 
astrophotography and then add a Genesis or AP 4-inch for primefocus later.
(AP no longer sells their DX GEM and a number of posters have reservations
about the Celestron Super Polaris.)  Thanks.
-- 

			  jcj@tellabs.com
From: jfbn@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (james.f.burnell)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: FOR SALE: Celestron 8x50 Illuminated Reticle Finder Scope.
Date: 16 Oct 92 17:49:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewsl.1992Oct16.174905.5930
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories



	FOR SALE:

	Celestron 8x50 finder scope.
	Equipped with illuminated polar alignment reticle.
	Convertible from straight through to right angle.
	Complete with mounting bracket for C-8, C-ll or any
	telescope tube from 8" to 14" O.D.

	In absolutely pristine condition.
	It's a duplicate of one that I already have, so I have no
	real use for it.

	Currently $199.00 in Orion catalog, I'd be willing to
	let it go for $140.00 or best offer.

	Jim Burnell
	AT&T Bell Labs
	Rm 2E-218B
	Whippany, NJ 07981
	(201) 386-5032 (days)
	(201) 579-3922 (evenings)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: mleech@bnr.ca (Marcus Leech)
Subject: radio-astro mailing list moved
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Information Techology Division
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 15:53:33 GMT

The radio-astro list is being moved to radio-astro@hydra.carleton.ca.

If you were previously subscribed, and wish to continue, please send a
 request to radio-astro-request@hydra.carleton.ca.

Your request should be in the form:
add <internet-mail-address>

This list is for the discussion of amateur radio astronomy projects.  Topics
  include project ideas, construction hints, observational results, war
  stories, etc, etc.

This list hasn't been active in over a year--I hope that there is renewed
  interest.

-- 
Marcus Leech, 4Y11             Bell-Northern Research  |opinions expressed
mleech@bnr.ca                  P.O. Box 3511, Stn. C   |are my own, and not
ml@ve3mdl.ampr.org             Ottawa, ON, CAN K1Y 4H7 |necessarily BNRs
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.physics
From: cain@geomag.gly.fsu.edu (Joe Cain)
Subject: Re: Visual Effects of Relativistic Speed
Organization: Florida State University Geology Dept.
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 92 17:06:43 GMT

In article <rwallace.718897030@unix1.tcd.ie> rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie (russell wallace) writes:
>What would be the visual effect of travelling very close to the speed of
>light?

See the Mr. Thomkin's (spelling?) series of books written by George Gamow. Not
quite children's level, but fun at least at the highschool level where
I encountered them. 
Joseph Cain		cain@geomag.gly.fsu.edu
cain@fsu.bitnet		scri::cain
From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: rumor concerning Saturn's rings
Date: 16 Oct 92 18:56:08 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA

In article <1bdc69INNjmk@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, mal11@po.CWRU.Edu (Matthew A. Lewis) writes:
> Could someone please tell me when the rings around Saturn were
> discovered????

In the 17th century, by Christaan Huygens.  Galileo saw something
"funny" there, but his telescope wasn't good enough to figure out
what.

> I heard an rumor that people in ancient times could see them (and
> a whole lot of other stuff) with the naked eye.....
> 
> maThiEu a. LeWis    

I've seen this claim made as well, that the Maoris of New Zealand
knew it had rings.  Since this claim appeared in one of Von
Daniken's books, I am waiting for an original source that quoted
the Maoris about this that is older than the 17th century, to
avoid the "Sirius B was known by a remote African tribe" problem.

Without optical assistance (or spacecraft :-)), the rings are
not possible to identify.
-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
Lesson learned from Gov. Wilson's signing of AB 2601: if you don't get 
your way, have a riot.  Next time, Gov. Wilson will cower appropriately.
From: mcdonald@kestrel.edu (Jim McDonald)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: rumor concerning Saturn's rings
Date: 15 Oct 92 20:59:38 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Kestrel Institute, Palo Alto, CA


I found these posts a bit confusing, since my wife and I were able to see moons
of Jupiter very easily from the street in front of our house in downtown Palo
Alto, CA.  I don't remember the date (about a year ago?), but it took no effort
at all for me (wearing glasses) to make out two moons.  My wife, who has 
excellent vision, could see three, and after I looked with binoculars, then I 
was also able to see the third with just my glasses on. 

We were motivated to look because the weather forcaster on Channel 7 said
they were visible.  I would guess several other people also looked that night.

For what it's worth we were standing on a city street well illuminated with 
streetlights, around midnight, on an exceptionally clear night.

So at least on some occassions it's trivially easy to see 2 or 3 moons of Jupiter
with the naked eye (or for some of us, with glasses).  

Or did I miss the point of this thread?

  jlm
From: harmons@mithril.wv.tek.com (Harmon Sommer)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: OOOPS
Date: 13 Oct 92 22:22:02 GMT
Reply-To: harmons@mithril.wv.tek.com (Harmon Sommer)

OOOPS. I goofed. Newspaper article said 100 Billion stars in our galaxy, not
in our solar system. But I still wonder who counted them.
From: st.korth@abbs.hanse.de (Stefan Korth)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: How can I do astronomy with a Macintosh?
Reply-To: st.korth@abbs.hanse.de
Date: 11 Oct 92 16:07:00 MET
Distribution: sci
Organization: ABBS AstroMail, D-W 2121 Dahlenburg / Germany
X-Version: ZerUU V6.45c

I am currently looking for any astronomical software running on an
Apple Macintosh. Here in Germany nothing useful seems to be available,
but in the U.S. it should be different I guess. Is there anyone who could
recommend certain programs? I am especially interested in software equal
to MS-DOS-programs like "The_Sky" or "Dance of the Planets". Besides I'm
also looking for image processing software. Any response is welcome!
Please answer directly to my e-mail address since I'm not a frequent
visitor to sci.astro.

Stefan Korth

## net_sh v1.5 (sb)
Stefan Korth, Fuerstenwall 214, W-4000 Duesseldorf 1, st.korth@abbs.hanse.de (UUCP)

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------------------------- for amateur astronomers ----------------------------
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From: cet1@cus.cam.ac.uk (C.E. Thompson)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: rumor concerning Saturn's rings
Keywords: Jupiter's moons naked eye
Date: 15 Oct 92 23:06:53 GMT
Organization: U of Cambridge, England

In article <14OCT199218181264@msr.triumf.ca>, asnd@msr.triumf.ca (Donald Arseneau)
writes, reporting Terrance Dickenson as saying:
|> 
|> "After many years of inconclusive debate on this
|> subject, it appears that at least some of these
|> sightings are accurate.  According to Xi Ze-Zong
|> of the Chinese Academy of Science, Gan De -- one
|> of China's earliest astronomers -- left records of
|> observations of one of Jupiter's moons in 364 B.C.
|> Gan De wrote: `Jupiter was very large and bright;
|> apparently, there was a small reddish star 
|> appended to its side.'  Xi Ze-Zong says that this 
|> passage almost certainly means that Gan De saw a 
|> Jovian satellite.
|> 
|> "To test the validity of Gan De's statement, an 
|> experiment was conducted in a Chinese planetarium, 

I don't understand why an experiment in a planetarium would be more
meaningful than looking at the real thing, which is, after all, still
up there...

|> which revealed that people with good eyesight can 
|> see a satellite the same apparent brightness that 
|> Ganymede and Callisto are when at their farthest 
|> orbital positions from Jupiter. The tests also 
|> showed that it would even be easier to see a 
|> blended image of the two.  This new evidence 
|> suggests that Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's 
|> moons in 1610 was preempted by almost 2000 years."

Hyperbole, surely? "A small reddish star appended" ~= "moon". If there
were any pre-telescopic records of *periodicity* of such appendages,
that would be fascinating.

After all, maybe it *was* a small reddish star :-)

Chris Thompson
JANET:    cet1@uk.ac.cam.phx
Internet: cet1@phx.cam.ac.uk
From: brown@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Pat R. Brown)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: HRMS
Date: 7 Oct 92 17:17:11 GMT
Article-I.D.: hpspkla.30300004
Organization: Hewlett Packard Company, Spokane, Wa.

The electromagnetic spectrum from 1000 to 3000 MHz is very well utilized 
in the US of A as well as the rest of the world. Refering to the allocation
chart in Reference Data for Engineers: Radio, Electronics, Computer, and 
Communications, typical uses are: 
960-1215 Aeronautical Radionavigation
1215-1260 Radiolocation\Radionavigation-Satellite
.
.
.
2690-2700 Earth exploration Satellite/Radio Astronomy/Space research
2700-2900 Aeronautical Radionavigation
2900-3100 Radionavigation

There are Radio Astronomy/Space research allocations at: 
1400-1427, 1660-1660.5, 1668.4-1670, 2690-2700 etc. 

All frequencies in MHz (millions of cycles per second)

Regards, Pat Brown 

Engineer Hewlett Packard Co         

"it's a scientific lifestyle"
From: elliottb@cnsvax.uwec.edu
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: exit
Date: 9 Oct 92 14:27:58 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

The days of the week get their names from the sun, moon, and planets.
Sunday = sun
Monday = moon
Tuesday = mars
Wednesday = mercury
Thursday = jupiter
Friday = venus
Saturday = saturn

One could check in the O.E.D. for the time of first use.
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: lgonzale@halcon.dpi.udec.cl
Subject: Re: A 100 Billion?
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 20:24:52 GMT
Organization: Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion - Chile

In article <STEINLY.92Oct13114043@topaz.ucsc.edu> steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson) writes:
>   A local newspaper article on SETI mentioned that there are 100 Billion stars
>   in our solar system. How is this quantity arrived at? 
>
>Through profound ignorance.
>There is one star in our solar system.
>

--

Leopoldo
leopoldo@cisne.soft.udec.cl 

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: nabel@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Derek Nabel)
Subject: Dyson Sphere Clarification?
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 12:35:09 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

Granted the energy collection properties of the Dyson sphere, but what
about livibility?  Wasn't it the orginal concept that the locals would
live on the interior surface of the sphere?  If not where do they live?
If they do live on the interior surface how do the stay attached,
centripetal force?  If this is the case then what about the creatures
living at the poles?  Would you have to spin the sphere on two axes?
And my biggest question of all how do you hold an atmosphere against a
surface x microns thick?  If you use some kind of force field it will
have to be an entire sphere the size of 1AU (-25 miles inward or so), so
much for all that extra energy you have been greedly grabbing. :-)

Phew, any comments or flames are welcomed.
 _________________________________________________________________________
|                                                                         |
| Derek Nabel                                 My opinions are my own.     |
| Colorado State University Lifer                                         |
| Internet : nabel@lamar.ColoState.EDU                                    |
|_________________________________________________________________________|
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