HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tholen@galileo.ifa.hawaii.edu (Dave Tholen)
Subject: Re: comet approaching?
Organization: Institute for Astronomy, Hawaii
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 01:27:30 GMT

Scott Miller writes:

> Was the 1978 blast actually ascribed to an asteroid or some 
> other astronomical object colliding with the Earth?  Are there 
> references?

Yes, it has been attributed to an astronomical object colliding with the
Earth.  The incident has been mentioned in some of the recent editorials
that have appeared in various newspapers (New York Times of about three
weeks ago, for example), but the details of the original suspicion about
a nuclear test are probably still classified.

Note that the Earth's atmosphere acts as a natural shield against
collisions with objects in the 100 m size range and smaller (unless
made of nickel-iron, like the Canyon Diablo meteorite, for which smaller
objects can survive).  The 1978 blast was apparently another atmospheric
event, like the Tunguska event.  Atmospheric blasts tend to occur about
every decade, and most occur over water, as did the 1978 event, which
was more energetic than most, and thus drew the attention of Earth-orbiting
satellites.
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: anderson@fermi.phys.ualberta.ca (Warren G. Anderson)
Subject: Re: Query about "black hole" observations
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 17:42:36 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.165645.8200@news.unomaha.edu> SCHLEGEL@Zeus.unomaha.edu  
(Mark) writes:
> A totally isolated black hole in space will be invisible for all practical
> detection purposes because the b.h. lacks a surface for the thin, accreting
> interstellar gas to interact with.  Neutron stars may be detectable as 
> very weak UV or x-ray sources since even the thin trickle of protons onto
> them in space will result in emission of gamma,x-rays and uv.

Wouldn't gravitational lensing give an isolated b.h. away (if you happened
to be looking in that direction, and there was a visible source behind it).
At least in principle, even if it's practically impossible.
--
########################## _`|'_ ##############################################
##  Warren G. Anderson     |o o| "... for its truth does not matter, and is  ##
##  Dept. of Physics       ( ^ )  unimaginable." -J. Ashbery, The New Spirit ##
##  University of Alberta  /\-/\      (anderson@fermi.phys.ualberta.ca)      ##
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: chaloux@mandolin.mitre.org (Dave Chaloux)
Subject: The Moon on the Horizon affect.
Reply-To: chaloux@mandolin.mitre.org (Dave Chaloux)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean, Va
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 18:06:04 GMT

I was observing in the morning recently and observed a rather different
version of the moon on the horizon affect. The Milky way was not just clear
but almost brilliant. M7 in Scorpio which at my site never gets very high
was very obvious with the naked eye and was just huge. It is about 50
minutes in diameter but looked more like a object that was 2 1/2 degrees
in diameter would look if it was high in the sky. For example M44 which is
high in the night sky and about 70 minutes in diameter looks much smaller
despite being slightly brighter. Anyway, it was kind of neat to observe the
well known affect in a different setting.

On another topic, if anyone has been debating whether they want to build
an observatory or not, I would highly recommend they do so. I had thought
about building one for some time and finally was convinced by my wife to
go ahead and do so last fall. I have been using telescopes since I talked
my parents into getting me one at about age 8 and started subscribing to
Sky and Telescope in 1968 back when I was all of age 10. My enjoyment of
the hobby and the amount of time I spend at it has gone way up. I never
would have been up looking at M7 before dawn if I hadn't had the
observatory. I wasn't sleeping real well so I threw on some clothes at
2:30 in the morning and was observing 15 minutes later. An observatory doesn't
have to be a real expensive proposition either. Mine cost about 500$ for
a 10x12 wooden shed with a roll of roof of my own design. It took me about
4 weekends to build and I am NOT particularly handy with tools.
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Kauri Software Archive Unavailable
From: bankst@kauri.vuw.ac.nz (Timothy Banks)
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 22:11:35 GMT
Organization: Victoria University of Wellington


The Variable Stars Analysis Software Archive, normally available by
anonymous FTP, is currently unavailable to users outside New Zealand.
The host machine, Kauri, held several archives including ms-dos, virus,
mac, amiga, etc. Only the astrophys section was intended for use outside
the country, with the remainder for national use, so reducing the load (and cost)
on the country's only satellite line out. However, overreas users have been
accessing the other archives, and retrieving massive amounts. 

As a measure to curb this, VUW's Computer Services Centre has installed new
software restricting access to within the country. Unfortunately, this closes
the astrophys archive which was intended for overseas use [just as the papers
come out describing how to use it too! :-(]. The archive should be back
on line soon, with a possible shift to another of our machines. In this case
it will be the only archive on it, so the anti-social behaviour of some
transfering files from the other archives will not be possible.

It is somewhat annoying that the files being transfered back from the ms-dos
etc archives were in fact available at closer sites to the "culprits", which
would have had a better response time. This was clearly pointed out at login,
and in many Readme files. 

To those who have emailed asking why the archive is unavailable, all I can
say is that its temporary closure was beyond my control and it should soon
be back up again. To coin a phrase : "We are sorry for the inconvenience".


-- 
Timothy Banks, Physics Department, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ.
  Bankst@kauri.vuw.ac.nz, bankst@matai.vuw.ac.nz, bankst@rata.vuw.ac.nz
         Banks@beagle.phys.vuw.ac.nz, CCD@vuwst1.vuw.ac.nz 
  "He's dead, Jim!" "OK, you take the tricorder, I'll take the wallet!"
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space
From: gill@physics.ubc.ca (Arnold Gill visiting astrophys phd std)
Subject: Re: comet approaching?
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 05:22:47 GMT

     Perhaps you could enlighten me.  What was this 1978 blast over open
     water that was attributed to a comet in the atmosphere?  I have not
     heard anything of this.

--
Arnold Gill --- astrophysician trainee in exile             gill@physics.ubc.ca
Xref: sparky sci.astro:5000 sci.space:7512
From: aabdalla@pollux.usc.edu (Ahmed Abd-Allah)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space
Subject: Shape and Size of Universe
Date: 14 Apr 1992 14:10:09 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: pollux.usc.edu

Can anyone explain in "layman" terms the best answers we have to the
following questions:

1.  What is the most widely accepted theory of the shape of the
	universe?  A four-dimensional hypersphere? 

2.  Is the size of the universe infinite or finite?  If the universe
	is indeed a hypersphere, can it also be infinite, or is a
	hypersphere by definition (like an ordinary sphere) finite?

3.  If we accept the Big Bang theory as the creation of spacetime, and
	if the universe has been expanding at a finite rate, doesn't 
	this imply that the universe is finite?

4.  If the universe is indeed a (finite) hypersphere, does this mean
	that if we travel in a "straight" line, we'll ultimately end
	up where we started?


Thanks for any replies in advance.  Email is appreciated but not 
required....

AAA

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: bmartino@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Bob Martino)
Subject: Re: Save Palomar Observatory!
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 16:09:01 GMT

     I wonder.....
     Is it perhaps possible to sue a political figure for "malpractice"
(or something like that) in office on the basis that they are
knowingly making decisions without regard to facts and are just trying
to make points with the voters by spreading "disinformation" (i.e.
they are lying)?

     Actually, I guess you can sue anybody over anything here in this
country.  Do you suppose such a lawsuit might make people focus back
on the *REAL* issues here insted of the sham that is being presented
to them by members of the press and/or city council?

     No, I'm NOT a lawyer, nor do I play one on television.  Just
kibitzing a little bit.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
!       That Bob Martino Guy          !  "I think, therefore I am."          !
! bmartino@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu  !                  -Descartes          !
!                                     !  "I am that I am."                   !
!  God INVENTED science.  So there.   !                  -God                !
!      ^^^^^^^^                       !  "I am a jelly dougnut."             !
!                                     !                  -V.P. Dan Quayle    !
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: jdishaw@acme.claremont.edu
Subject: Re: sci.astro.amateur?
Organization: Pomona College
Date: 8 Apr 92 22:09:57 PDT

In article <1992Apr7.150110.7927@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>, dsc@gemini.tmc.edu (Doug S. Caprette Bldg. 28 W191 x3892) writes:
> 
> Since amateur astronomy is a recreation activity, even when 'real' science is
> being done (its still fun) how about:
> 
> rec.astro
> 
> ?
> 
> 
>  |  Regards,         |   Hughes STX                |    Code 926.9 GSFC        |
>  |  Doug Caprette    |   Lanham, Maryland          |    Greenbelt, MD  20771   |
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Is a bear Catholic?  Does the pope, er--never mind." -- Doug Caprette

While I do agree that astronomy can be recreational, I'm not entirely sure
if placing amateur astronomy into rec while do it just.  Some people who
do "amateur" astronomy actually make valuable contributions to science
(like the people in IAPPP ?)  I fear that if we place amateur astronomy
in rec.astro it its SNR will get too low and most of the discussions will
end back out here.  Of course we might be able to form two groups both
rec.astro and sci.astro.amateur...

just my $0.02 + tax worth...

-james dishaw
JDISHAW@POMONA.CLAREMONT.EDU
Xref: sparky sci.astro:4827 sci.geo.meteorology:1830 rec.radio.amateur.misc:7383 rec.radio.shortwave:4015
From: oler@rho.uleth.ca (Cary Oler)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.geo.meteorology,rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.shortwave
Subject: AURORA WATCH:  Middle Latitude WATCH Extended
Date: 4 Apr 92 07:03:44 GMT
Organization: University of Lethbridge


                /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                    MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCH

                         EXTENDED: 07:00 UT, 04 APRIL

                /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

VALID UNTIL: 18:00 UTC ON 05 APRIL

MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 04 - 05 April (UT days)

POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY:  LOW - MODERATE

POTENTIAL LUNAR INTERFERENCE:  LOW

OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES:  FAIR

AURORAL ACTIVITY MAY BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...

        NORTHERN WASHINGTON STATE TO CENTRAL IDAHO TO SOUTHERN MONTANA TO
        NORTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA TO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TO WISCONSIN TO MICHIGAN
        TO NEW YORK STATE TO NEW HAMPSHIRE TO SOUTHERN MAINE.


SYNOPSIS...

     Auroral activity became substantially enhanced during the local evening
     and early morning hours of 03 April.  Observations of activity from the
     northern tier of the U.S. states was sporadically reported throughout
     the night.  Activity fluctuated considerably in conjunction with
     substorm periods.  Activity appeared to peak between 12Z and 15Z,
     although most of North America was not able to observe much of this
     activity.

     Activity has since diminished considerably and is now almost dormant (as
     of 07Z on 04 April).  Considering the unstable nature of the activity
     over the last couple of days, and the moderately favorable position of a
     solar coronal hole, the Middle Latitude Auroral Activity WATCH is being
     extended through to 18Z on 05 March.  Unless conditions change
     substantially, this watch will be allowed to expire at that time.

     Please note that automated hourly reports of auroral activity sightings
     from North American regions are now available for anonymous FTP from the
     site: xi.uleth.ca (IP number 142.66.3.29) in the directory
     "pub/solar/Aurora/current".  The file to get is "current.obs".


**  End of Watch  **
From: yaron@astro.as.utexas.edu (Yaron Sheffer)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: sci.astro.amateur?
Keywords: Yes, people DO read this field on occasion.  ;-)
Date: 16 Apr 92 17:07:35 GMT
Organization: University of Texas, McDonald Observatory

It seems that one cannot split sci.astro into amateur/prof sub groups
because we are all involved with both aspects (well I AM).
I suggest the following categories:

sci.astro.gazing - specifically for people who only want the non-prof
		way of investigating the sky. This can be very scientific
		and technical, except will not lead to ApJ publications.
sci.astro.news - excellent idea for celestial happenings that are coming
		soon to a sky near you!
sci.astro - still will be used for light and heavy discussions and inquiries
		of all sorts, with professional input more than welcomed.
sci.astro.aliens - For all practical purposes I see this as an empty group
		for the forseeable future:)
From: willner@cfa.harvard.edu (Steve Willner)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: MMT Mirror Cast!
Date: 7 Apr 92 21:07:40 GMT
Organization: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA,  USA


Reports from Arizona are that the 6.5-m primary mirror for the MMT
has been cast and is beginning to cool.  Oven rotation stopped at
13:55 Sunday April 5 at a mold temperature of 700 C.  Cooling since
has been at 2 degrees per hour, and this will continue until the
annealing temperature of 530 C is reached.  Full annealing and
cooling (until cover open) is expected to take around 70 days.

About 95% of the mirror surface is visible through video cameras, and
all looks quite good.  One estimate is that there are a dozen bubbles
larger than 1 cm on the mirror surface.  (Sounds good to me.)

A time-lapse video was made during the melting.  Supposedly CNN will
show it sometime this week.  It is supposed to be worth watching, so
please post the schedule if you have it.
-- 
Steve Willner            Phone 617-495-7123         Bitnet:   willner@cfa
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA                 Internet: willner@cfa.harvard.edu
  member, League for Programming Freedom; contact league@prep.ai.mit.edu
From: Neil_Laffra@mindlink.bc.ca (Neil Laffra)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Time and Astronomers
Date: 6 Apr 92 08:25:56 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

> George Tatge writes:
> 
> Why do astronomers use the present tense for all events?  It
> is extremely confusing to me, as a lay person, to try and deal
> with what I assume is an insiders shorthand.  They talk about
> a super nova they are currently studying as though it were all
> happening right now.
> 

        Astromers study in the present what occured in the past,
AS DO ALL OTHER SCIENCES. It is the degree of timelag that varies
from event to observation - a meteorite is oberved within the time
it takes light to travel the dozens of miles or so from object to
observer , while ,as you said, a nova is decades to millenia
away timewise. If astronomers were to talk in terms of the past tense,
 I think it would be more confusing ,since they did not do the timing
during the mesozoic era, but last month!

" MAY ALL YOU NOVAS BE SUPER!!!"
--
********************************************************************
* NeilLaffra@MindLink.bc.ca      * OR *      nlaffra@cue.bc.ca     *
*                 Burnaby , British Columbia , Canada              *
*     " ( clever   saying   pending   ..... please stand by!)"     *
********************************************************************
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: fischer@physun.physics.mcmaster.ca (Phil Fischer)
Subject: Re: Save Palomar Observatory!
Organization: Dept. of Physics, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 03:35:13 GMT

In article <1226@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP> hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu (Harry Bloomberg) writes:

>   Is it feasable to move the Palomar telescope to a site more
>hospitable to astronomy?
>
>Harry Bloomberg
>hpb@vms.cis.pitt.edu

This is not generally an economically sound idea. It would probably be 
cheaper to build a telescope from scratch at a new sight. At the risk
of incurring a lot of wrath, perhaps astronomers should begin to accept
that telecopes should not be expected to last 100 years or more. The
technology since Hale was built has changed radically, and telescopes
like Hale were not designed for modern instrumentation (i.e. CCD's).
What one tends to see is older telescopes with new instrumentation
with less than satisfactory results and one has to consider the 
possibilty that perhaps astronomy is not best served by draining away
money into older telescopes instead of channelling it into newer ones
ans closing the older ones down.

Phil Fischer                         | Hamilton, Ont.
Fischer@Physun.Physics.McMaster.Ca   | Canada
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy       | L8S 4M1
McMaster University                  | 416-525-9140 X 4574
Xref: sparky sci.astro:5077 sci.space:7603
From: edwards@bgsu.edu (Bruce Edwards)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space
Subject: Re: comet approaching?
Date: 17 Apr 92 01:41:10 GMT
Followup-To: sci.astro
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.

> Are these asteroid scientists hopelessly paranoid, as suggested by some
> pundits?  Consider the fact that the Earth is constantly running into
> debris (ever see a meteor?).  Bright meteors are less frequent than faint
> meteors, and collisions with even larger objects are similarly less
> frequent, but they do happen.  Consider the 1978 South Atlantic blast
> that was originally believed to be an Israeli-South African nuclear test,
> or the passage of the spectacular fireball over the Rockies in 1972, or
> the 1908 Tunguska event, or... or... or...  Evidence currently favors the
> theory that the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by the impact of
> a large (about 10 km) asteroid 65 million years ago.  These larger impacts
> are extremely rare, but when they happen, they are immensely destructive.
> Should something be done about the situation?  Well, the astronomers have
> done their job by calculating probabilities to the best of our limited
> knowledge.  Now it's up to politicians to decide priorities.











From what I've read it would be *extremely* difficult to actually track
and subsequently intercept an incoming astronomical object.  Why?

1. Very high velocities are involved (an understatement).
2. One which was headed "right at us" would not show apparent
   motion against the background of stars but would appear
   star-like until it was too late.

Yes? No....

edwards@andy.bgsu.edu
From: kuntz@rwja.umdnj.edu (G. Ralph Kuntz)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Alien fingers and toes
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:17:18 GMT
Organization: Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway NJ

In article <1992Apr8.103206.1730@news.Hawaii.Edu> joe@montebello.soest.hawaii.edu writes:
JD=In article <1992Apr2.233415.2662@ucselx.sdsu.edu>, maxc0197@ucselx.sdsu.edu (Chris "I shall pass" Preston) writes:
JD=|> Alien life forms: [...]
JD=|> 	Four legs seems to be the norm.
JD=
JD=	I'd be REAL careful on this one. Sure, Mammals, reptiles, amphibians,
JD=birds on Earth ALL have four limbs. But this is mostly because their common
JD=chordate ancestor had 4 limbs.
JD=	Another number may be more efficient for all we know, but that
JD=evolutionary leap was just never made on Earth, for whatever reason.
JD=
JD=	Here's a good unanswered question: why 5 fingers? The genetic
JD=variability for more or less is known to be there, but 5 digits has real
JD=staying power: it goes way back into the fossil record as by far the most
JD=common number for anything without hooves.
JD=Joe Dellinger, Internet: joe@montebello.soest.hawaii.edu\/\.-.__

Evolution does not work by planning changes.  It works by eliminating
mistakes.  Five finger may just be a non-mistake that has stuck
around.  As to four legs being successful, the most prolific family of
creatures does not have four legs, but six---Insecta---with over a
million species.
-- 
G. Ralph Kuntz
Medical student, UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Class of 1994
kuntz@umdnj.edu			(H) 908-463-7170
[Computer scientist for Bell Labs in a former life (before Med. School)].
From: jackz@hpscit.sc.hp.com (Jack Zeiders)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Astrophoto C-14 rig 4-sale
Date: 16 Apr 92 21:59:39 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Clara, CA


	This is posted for a friend, call him direct.

	For Sale, complete astophotography rig.

Celestron C-14
	Hand selected optics. Was made for Leo Henzil, he used
to shoot all the astrophotos that appeared in the Celestron ads.

Pier mounting.
	Short steel pier with cast legs. Very rigid.
	Adjusters on legs.
	Custom Azimuth head for precise polar alignment

Wedge and std Cellestron mount from pier up. 

2-axis drive corrector

Various counter weights

Nikkormat camera body

Giant Cold Camera (rare)

Off-axis guider

Focal reducer

Complete Hydrogen hypersensitization kit
	Tank, Gas cylinders, regulators

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

OTI Quantum 4"

	This was the Questar breakaway group.

	Nice 4" Maksutov, single arm fork mounting.
Drive in base.

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

Celestron C-90

	Orange C-90 3.5" compact Maksutov.
Turn barrel to focus, spotting scope or 1000mm f/11 telephoto 

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

$6,000 takes everything

Call: Norm Neinchell (408) 559-1900 Days (408) 559-0855 fax
	             (408) 378-4488 Evening
Currently located in Central California
From: howell@grover.llnl.gov (Louis Howell)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: sci.astro.amateur?
Date: 9 Apr 92 19:10:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: lll-wink.122084
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

In article <1992Apr8.221929.1@acme.claremont.edu>, jdishaw@acme.claremont.edu writes:
|> In article <1992Apr8.094534.25396@news.Hawaii.Edu>, joe@montebello.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Joe Dellinger) writes:
|> > 
|> > 	I would dearly like to see a "sci.astro.urgent". When I'm busy I
|> > don't have the time to follow sci.astro, because the volume is too large.
|> > ...
|> > 	Sci.astro.urgent should have VERY low volume...
|> 
|> I think this an *excellent* idea.  It could be a moderated list like
|> news.announce.important.  In fact it can also be used to distribute telegrams
|> with all those handy announcements.  Heck I'd even volunteer to be one of the
|> moderators.

Making it moderated would blow the whole point of the group.  Important
announcements posted to both sci.astro.urgent and to sci.astro would
appear in the latter FIRST, often by several hours or even days.

I would hope that we could simply trust the community not to misuse the
group.  Most likely the main problem would be followups thoughtlessly
posted to the same group, if the original poster does not think to set
Followup-To: sci.astro. (Perhaps the "moderator" could be a simple program,
running at some backbone site, which would redirect all articles with Re:
in the subject line?)

-- 
Louis Howell  (nazgul@llnl.gov)