HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: vivek gupta <vigupta@tope.cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: New People
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 22:45:44 -0500

Hi,

Well I am sort of new to the world of astronomy and just wanted
to share some info with both new and old people, and maybe this
is something that could be added to the faq (how i'm not sure).

As i said i recently got into this sort of thing and was very 
confused about what all these different types of telescopes 
were! So I called up Astronomics (saw their add in Astronomy
magazine, it said call for info) and they sent me a packet of
info. 

The packet is great, it includes their price list (of 
course!) , and several sets of info sheets about the different
types of telescopes by Meade, Celestron, and Questar. Also,
recommendations on what telescopes should be used for what.
One large part of the packet was devoted to the needs for
astrophotography, which is what originally got me started
on this whole search.

I dunno, that they'd appreciate getting loads and loads of
requests for this, so if anyone can suggest a way to distribute
it over the net? I have my set, and i could type it out (not 
right now, but over winter break?) and it could be either
added to the faq or maybe a ftp'able copy somewhere?

Suggestions are welcome.

Vivek Gupta
vigupta@indiana.edu

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: hoover@math22.mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de (Uwe Schuerkamp)
Subject: Self made Dewcap for SPC-8 --- Pointers please!
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 11:57:26 GMT
Organization: Math MadHouse Bielefeld, Germany
Keywords: dewcap spc-8 selfmade


Dear netters,

I'd like to hear of anyone who knows about assembling a self made
dewcap for the Celestron SPC-8. What parts do I need, and is it hard
to set one up? Will dewing be stopped completely or will it just be
slowed down?

Please make any answers via email and I'll summarize if there's
interest. 

Thanks in advance for your time,
	
	hoover
-- 
"All this traffic choking our towns freaking me out bringing me down 
Knocking down houses  build more  lanes--once was a problem now it's
insane"                       ---Luka Bloom, 'The acoustic motorbike'
Uwe 'Hoover' Schuerkamp           hoover@mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de
From: jschell@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: star info needed
Summary: need info on variable stars
Date: 17 Nov 92 22:01:36 GMT
Followup-To: e-mail
Organization: University of California, San Diego

Hello.  I need some information on some particular stars and I
figured this would be the place to ask.  Specifically, I need info
on Fomalhaut, like how many planets it is thought to have and what
size and temp it is and if it is variable or not.  I also need to
know the same info for any other variable star within oh, 15
light-years of Earth.  I'm using this for a story.  Or, if someone
can refer me to a star catalog with this sort of info, that would be
handy too.

BCNU


+----------------------+------------------------------------------+
|  --> Jon Schell <--  |  "Andre, you mean to tell me that you    |
|      The Master      |  have lost _another_ sub?"               |
|      tm@ucsd.edu     |             -- The Hunt for Red October  |
|   jonschell@aol.com  |  "REboot to the head."  --me             |
+----------------------+-------------------------------------+----+
| No one else would be crazy enough to claim these opinions. | 42 |
+------------------------------------------------------------+----+
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 22:40:03 EST
From: Stephen McCluskey <SCMCC@wvnvm.wvnet.edu>
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Medieval Astronomy
Distribution: world

Andy --
      The information on astronomy in Western Europe in the Middle Ages
is remarkably sparse, and largely buried in very obscure sources.  Here are
a few that you might be able to get your hands on.
Good luck -- Steve McCluskey

          Pedersen, Olaf.  "Astronomy".  Pp. 303-337 in David C. Lindberg,
               _Science in the Middle Ages_.  Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr.,
               1978.
               (The best place for a general introduction to astronomy in
               Western Europe in the Middle Ages)

          Jones, C. W.  _Bedae opera de temporibus_.  Cambridge: Mediaeval
               Academy of America, 1943.
               (Jones' introduction is the best thing on Easter Computus)

          Burnett, Charles, ed.  _Adelard of Bath_: _An English Scientist and_
               _Arabist of the early Twelfth Century_, Warburg Institute
               Surveys and Texts, 14.  London: University of London, 1987.

          Eastwood, Bruce S.  "Origins and Contents of the Leiden Planetary
               Configuration (ms Voss. Q.79, fol 93v), an Artistic
               Astronomical Schema of the Early Middle Ages."  _Viator_,
               14(1983): 1-40, figs. 1-9.

          Eastwood, Bruce S.  "Plinian astronomical diagrams in the early
               Middle Ages."  Pp. 141-172 in Grant and Murdoch, _Mathematics_
               _and its applications to science..._.

          Eastwood, Bruce S.  "Plinian astronomy in the Middle Ages and the
               Renaissance."  Pp. 197-235 in French and Greenaway.

          French, Roger and Frank Greenaway. _ Science in the Early Roman_
               _Empire_: _Pliny the Elder, his Sources and Influence_.  Totowa,
               N.J.: Barnes & Noble Books, 1986.

          Laistner, M. L. W.  "The Western Church and Astrology during the
               Early Middle Ages."  _Harvard Theological Review_, 34(1941):
               251-275.

          McCluskey, Stephen C.  "Gregory of Tours, Monastic Timekeeping,
               and Early Christian Attitudes to Astronomy."  _Isis_,
               81(1990): 8-22.

          Mercier, Raymond.  "Astronomical Tables in the Twelfth Century."
               Pp. 87-115 in Charles Burnett, _Adelard of Bath_.

          Pedersen, Olaf.  "The _corpus astronomicum_ and the traditions of
               Medieval Latin astronomy."  Pp. 57-96 in [Owen Gingerich and
               Jerzy Dobrzycki, ed.], _Colloquia Copernica III_.  Wroclaw:
               Ossolineum, 1975.
From: Mike.Keithly@p0.f608.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Mike Keithly)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Computer Simulations Available
Date: 19 Nov 92 05:43:01 GMT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:104/608.0 - MICAP(sm) BBS, Littleton CO

To: capanella@cvg.enet.dec.com

Michael,

Alot of the Simulations are on Sun and High tech computers other than PC's, I have an old Video about simulations recorded from NOVA.  Alot of the video footage is Military oriented like Ball Aerospace, General Dynamics etc..  Call PBS and ask them..

Mike Keithly
--  
Mike Keithly - via ParaNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Mike.Keithly@p0.f608.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps)
Subject: Re: Experiences with telescope mail order
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 20:18:53 GMT


   I too have a very negative report on Pauli's.  Last year I bought a
Bausch & Lomb 101.6mm scope from them.  Although it was not advertised
as anything other than new equipment, when I received it, it was
obvious that it was either used or a return, as it wasn't in the
original packaging, etc.  There were even places in the instruction
booklet that someone had underlined with ink.  Also the horizontal
adjustment knob soon loosened so that it did not turn the scope on the
base anymore.  When I called the people I talked to were very evasive
kind of "I don't know anything; I just work here."  Needless to say, I
would advise anyone to stay away from this place of "business."  I
would even call them dishonest.

   The only other place I've dealt with is Orion.  I have been very
happy with them, both their products and their service.  One time I
even had a (technical) question the guy on the order line couldn't
answer, so he left the phone to go ask someone else, then came back
with the answer.  Orion's catalogs are also very educational for
novice astronomers. They explain very well what all the specifications
mean (including such important things as explaining that objective
lens diameter mean a lot, while power means very little).

-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Steve Creps, Indiana University
creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: richmond@spiff.Princeton.EDU (Stupendous Man)
Subject: Re: Supernova 1987A flash observed?  Probably not.
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 17:50:14 GMT

  wigs@yoyo.cc.monash.edy.au (Aaron Wigley) writes:
>
> Okay. People have sent Email to me regarding this observation. This is
> what I can remeber. I can dig out other information at home, and post later.

    ....
>
> o The event happened in the region off-centre of the (from Memory, I may
>   be wrong) Large Magellenic Cloud. The Time was about 2115 local time,
>   (I cannot remember if Daylight saving time was in effect then - it would
>   depend on the date I will look up), on a Thursday night. Local time
>   is 10 hours ahead of UMT. 

  Sigh.  The neutrino burst from SN 1987A was observed at 7:35 UT on MONDAY,
February 23, 1987.  I'm pretty sure that the first visual observations
of the supernova itself were made within less than 24 hours.  Sorry
about that, Aaron, but Thursday night just won't work.

  Looking at the light curves, I see that the U and B curves show an
initial DECLINE for the first six or seven days.  In particular, the
U band apparent magnitude dropped from about 7 to 10 over just a 
few days!  So we did catch the tail of the "flash", at least.  
(The supernova reached its maximum brightness in the longer wavelength
bands about 89 days after the neutrino burst).

-- 
-----                                                    Michael Richmond
"This is the heart that broke my finger."    richmond@astro.princeton.edu

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: palmer@sfu.ca (Leigh Palmer)
Subject: P/Swift-Tuttle 23 Nov UT
Organization: Simon Fraser University
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 16:55:20 GMT

We had a spectacular clear fall Sunday, followed by a clear, cool (-3 C) night.
I saw the comet in my Russian 20x60 binocs in the evening, and this time I saw
the tail with averted vision. I'll be on it every clear night from now on. This
could get very nice, if only for a very short time.

Leigh
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: kappa@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Glenn Capuano)
Subject: Looking for NGP database
Organization: Monash University General Access Unix
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 05:02:50 GMT

	Does anyone know where I can pick up a copy of this deep sky
database? I got version 1.0 some time ago, and I believe it's been updated
since then. It's a shareware database, can someone tell me if it's on an
FTP site somewhere?

Thanks...
 	Glenn Capuano


Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: ethanb@ptolemy.astro.washington.edu (Ethan Bradford)
Subject: Re: Galilean Electrodynamics?
To: gsh7w@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Hennessy)
Organization: U. of Washington
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 09:06:15 GMT

In article <1992Nov18.004120.6951@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>
gsh7w@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Hennessy) writes:

   Beckmann claims that this theory gives the same results as
   relativity, but only gives a derivation for the example of
   precession of mercury's orbit. My disgreement with Beckmann was
   when I calculated that his theory gave a different value for the
   deflection of starlight, but my calculation was incorrect.

   Beckmann has stated that his theory does not allow for gravational
   radiation from orbiting neutron stars, but the pulsar PSR 1913+16
   is losing energy at the exact rate predicted by GR through
   gravational radiation, so for me, is a fatal flaw for Beckmann's
   theory.

With only a few assumptions (which don't go nearly as far as GR) you
can derive from Newtonian gravity and special relativity the
"Post-Newtonian" theory of gravitation.  It is only valid for fields
which are not too strong and which do not vary too fast, but it gives
correct results for all the classical tests: the bending of light,
Mercury's perihelion advance, the microwave delay tests, and
gravitational time dilation (or red shift).  It does not make any
statement about gravitational radiation or black holes.

Since the assumptions are so reasonable and the agreement with
existing tests are so good, most theories of gravity which are
considered tenable reduce to Post-Newtonian Gravity in the weak-field,
slowly varying limit.  Thus, agreement with the classical tests is not
a great triumph for such a theory.  The binary pulsar orbital decay
rate prediction is a triumph for GR alone, however.
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: roelle@uars_mag.jhuapl.edu (Curtis Roelle)
Subject: Aluminizing Service for Big Mirrors?
Summary: Asks where to get big mirrors aluminized
Keywords: aluminizing
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Date: 17 Nov 92 21:56:27 GMT

Our local astronomy club (Westminster, MD) has a 24.6" Perkin-Elmer
mirror requiring realuminizing.  Although we have obtained several
estimates, some companies cannot accomodate mirrors of this aperture.

I am asking for names, addresses and telephone numbers of firms who
can do a quality job.  Ballpark pices are also helpful, for
both regular and enhanced coatings.

Although we are willing to look nationwide, due to the fact
that the mirror is full thickness, and when crated would weigh
on the order of some 200 pounds, it would probably be delivered and
retrieved by courier.  This imparts an east coast geographical bias,
unless there is a significant price break farther away.

Curt Roelle
roelle@sigi.jhuapl.edu
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: kncarp@nicsn1.monsanto.com (Kevin N. Carpenter)
Subject: Re: Experiences with telescope mail order
Organization: Monsanto Company
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 15:41:38 GMT


I've been very pleased with the "big" shops - Orion, California Telescope,
etc.  I've had serious hassles with New York based shops in particular.  I
honesty think its a culture thing up there and avoid shops based in NY now.
One particularly troublesome case involved ordering a $300 "Comet Catcher".
I was foolish and did not ask for a total charge.  When it arrived, I found
that I was billed $60 for "shipping, handling, and insurance".  The actual
UPS shipping charge was something like $5.  When I called and questioned this,
I was told they were self insured and that was their fee.  Literial, I was 
told "you were told what the fee would be, you agreed to it, end of story".
A call to Astronomy put me in contact with a very helpful person who said
they would call their NY salesperson who would check with the company.  I
called the company back that afternoon and was greated with "Yes SIR Mr.
Carpenter, we made a mistake, our normal charge for that item is $35, most
folks have been ordering the C-8 which has the $60 charge...".  To say the
least, it was a significant change in attitude.  $35 was still high, but
was in line (10%-15%) with what many Mail Order companies charge.

--
Kevin Carpenter       Internet:  kncarp@nicsn1.monsanto.com
Monsanto Company      Fidonet:   1:100/215.0 (home)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
Opinions expressed are those of the author, not the company he works for. 
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: mje@pookie.pass.wayne.edu (Michael Joseph Edelman)
Subject: Re: Light pollution
Reply-To: mje@pookie.pass.wayne.edu
Organization: Wayne State University
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 18:38:19 GMT

In article ICK@access.digex.com, rbunge@access.digex.com (Robert Bunge) writes:
>  [...]
>REMEMBER THESE LETTERS: IDA - Internation Dark Sky Assoc.  They advertise
>in both ASTRONOMY and Sky & Telescope Magazines.  For 20 to $50 dollars a
>year, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  YES, I'M YELLING... AT ALL OF YOU.
>
>Really, sometimes I feel like grabbing other amateur astronomer around
>the neck when they start complaining about light pollution.  "Do you
>belong to IDA?"  The answer is almost always no.  Even though IDA's
>membership is increasing at a huge rate (on the order of 100 or 200
>percent per, the data is at home), LESS THEN 2 PERCENT OF AMATEUR
>AND PROFESSIONAL ASTRONOMERS BELONG TO IDA!

Hear, hear! First thing I did when I got active again was to join IDA. Only
$20 to help bring back dark skies? A bargain. Given that the typical scope is probably 
around $1,000 or more, and given that $20 won't even buy a single eyepiece, what is everybody waiting for?           --mike

Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: jscherer@db (John Scherer)
Subject: Primary Mirror Cell info wanted
Organization: Novell, Inc.
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:14:42 GMT

I am building a 10" f/6 newtonian and would like any info on 
mirror cells.  I have seen the Novak 9 point research grade, 
but would like to know ov any others that people like/dis-like.

E-mail me if you can, or just post here as I read this section
often.  I will try summarize the responses.

Best Regards,

John Scherer
jscherer@sjf.novell.com
From: Richard.Mathews@West.Sun.COM (Richard M. Mathews)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Moon Illusion (was Re: Lunar Astronaut ...)
Date: 18 Nov 1992 22:45:41 GMT
Organization: Sunsoft Inc., Los Angeles, CA.
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: astro
Originator: richard@astro.West.Sun.COM

millnerrl@vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (CALLABLE_TPU) writes:
>Anyone out there done the calculation for atmospheric lensing?  I am not sure
>which explanation I buy but until I see (or do) the experiment myself I guess
>one seems as plausable as the other.

By symmetry, atmospheric refraction is purely vertical.  The refraction
makes the image of the moon appear higher than it is.  Each point is
raised to a higher altitude with no change in azimuth.  It is clear that
this can only make the width of the image of the moon smaller as the
image is moved (even a little bit) towards the zenith (exception: when
the true moon is below the horizon and refraction moves it just barely
up to the horizon, the moon's width is ever so slightly increased).
Furthermore, the magnitude of the refraction increases with decreasing
altitude (until you get down to a true altitude of about -2/3 degree).
Thus the image of the bottom of the moon is raised more than the image
of the top of the moon.  The height of the image is clearly reduced by
the refraction.  QED.  The atmospheric lensing effect only *shrinks* the
moon.  There is no possibility whatsoever that atmospheric lensing can
make the moon appear bigger.

     Richard M. Mathews			F oster 
					 E stonian-Latvian-Lithuanian
Richard.Mathews@West.Sun.COM		  I ndependence and
					   F reedom!
From: melchar@west.darkside.com (Melchar)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: I can't see stars anymore at night with naked eye
Date: 19 Nov 92 22:24:31 GMT
Organization: The Dark Side of the Moon +1 408 245 SPAM

> My other theory is that Wisconsin was swallowed by "The Nothing" from 
> _The Dark Crystal_.
> 
> Dana

      The 'Nothing' was in 'The Never-ending Story'.  (Hey, nothing 
ventured; nothing gained :)
From: james@astro.as.utexas.edu (James McCartney)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: Re2: Hubble Guide Star Catalog questions
Date: 19 Nov 92 19:52:58 GMT
Organization: McDonald Observatory, University of Texas @ Austin

In article <92317.085024K3032E0@ALIJKU11.BITNET> K3032E0@ALIJKU11.BITNET writes:
>By the way, does anyone know an efficient algorithm to determine the GSC-region
>for given coordinates (R.A., Decl.) ?

   If you are a Mac user, I have a set of routines that gives the GSC 
filename for an RA & Dec. It is available via anonymous ftp from
bessel.as.utexas.edu in directory public/pickles. The files are
in BinHex + StuffIt format, so you will need to decompress them
with any of the popular decompression programs. Also at that site
is 'Pickles' which I wrote, a program for reading and plotting
fields from the GSC. If you do not have ftp access, you can send
three formatted 800k disks and a self addressed stamped envelope
to :
   James McCartney
   Dept. of Astronomy
   University of Texas at Austin
   Austin, TX 78712

 This will get you Pickles, documentation, and other misc files such
as the routines which convert RA,Dec to GSC path name. Source code
for the Pickles program is not available.
   bessel.as.utexas.edu == 128.83.129.44

 --- james mccartney
From: ralph.buttigieg@f635.n713.z3.fido.zeta.org.au (Ralph Buttigieg)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: ANSWER: Recognizing a Dyson sphere if you saw one
Date: 6 Nov 92 16:19:02 GMT
Organization: Fidonet. Gate admin is fido@socs.uts.edu.au

Original to: Frederick.A.Ringwald@dartmouth.edu
  Frederick.A.Ringwald@dartmouth.edu wrote:

 F> masses. Of this, only about 10 Earth masses would be useful as
 F> structural material (helium and argon would not), although I add that
 F> one might obtain more by making plastic with HCON from the gas giants.
 F> Still, even if one could use all 500 Earth masses to make a Dyson
 F> sphere of radius 10^13 cm, about at the orbit of Venus, it would be at
 F> most 5-10 m thick, about the equivalent of a shell of 1 m radius and
 F> the thickness of a single atom. To avoid buckling in the Sun's
 F> gravitational field, equivalent to a uniform external pressure, it
 F> would have to be made of material about 10^10 times stiffer than any
 F> known material. Big advances in materials science happen when you
 F> improve things by a factor of 2; a factor of 10 is fantastic. A factor
 F> of 10^10 doesn't look promising...

 Hold on, you seem to assume that the solar system that the aliens
 inhabit consists of a Sol type star and a planetary system similar to
 ours. What about if there was a orbiting red dwarf like Proxima
 Centuri? That should provide plenty of matter.

 ta
 Ralph

--- Maximus 2.01wb
 * Origin: Vulcan's World-Sydney Australia 02 635-1204 (3:713/635)
From: dave@canopus.as.arizona.edu (David A. Harvey)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Prism Diagonals vs. Mirror Diagonals
Date: 17 Nov 92 20:24:57 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ


All you opticians out there -

I'm confused.  Reading some of the ads in Orion Mail Order Catalog, I get
the impression that Coated prism diagonals for telescopes are "better" than
First Surface diagonals.

Is this true?  If so - why.  What should I buy?  How much should I expect to
spend?

D. Harvey
Steward Center for Orbital Mechanics
Steward Observatory
University of Arizona 
Tucson, AZ.  85721

Voice:    (602) 621-3648
Internet: dharvey@as.arizona.edu
Newsgroups: sci.astro