RAS News

Newsletter of RAS (Richmond Astronomical Society)
March, 2001

Visit our web site at www.richastro.org

Next meeting--Monday, Mar. 12

Last meeting ...
by Terry Barker

Joe Hetmanski has had his dates for Malvern HIll for 2001 approved by the Park Service. There has also been a recent announcement that Malvern Hill Battleground will be purchasing some additional adjacent land (including the bothersome house next door that keeps a light from hell burning all night), which is good news for keeping the club.

Terry Barker announced that NASA will be giving out shuttle visitation passes (Cape Canaveral), for the next few months. See the accompanying story. Terry has a skywatch coming up 2/28, at Liberty Middle School, in Ashland. There's a Boy Scout campout March 16-17, near Staunton, that has invited us to participate (and bring telescopes). We'll also be assisting a Girl Scout troop at the Tuckahoe YMCA on March 26. And don't forget that RAS will be at the Metro Richmond Science Fair on March 24, giving out our annual T.Wilbur Stone scholarship awards. Also, there's a new club in town--The Norfolk Astronomy Society has sprouted from the long time Back Bay Astronomical Association. Glendon Howell is the new president. Their web page is http://groups.hamptonroads.com/NAS.

Ken Wilson had a signup sheet for Astronomy Day, which will be April 28 this year. Ken also has a new phone number at the SMV, (804)-864-1429.

Jim Petty greeted four visitors, Milton Jones, Tom Yoke,  Bill Beck, and Roger Rigby.

Eric Douglass gave the main presentation, on the possibility of water existing on Mars. This was similar to a talk that Eric gave at the VAAS convention last year, but he had updated it with some recent information. The evidence of water on Mars is mostly indirect, but can be reasonably inferred by the existence of geographical features that shows the flow of fairly large quantities of water in the past. Water can't exist on the surface of Mars for very long, because of extremely rapid evaporation, but there may still be large amounts of it underground.

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NASA shuttle passes
by Terry Barker

Written requests for vehicle passes to view Space Shuttle launches within
the restricted perimeter of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are once again
being accepted. These passes grant visitors permission to drive through several
 designated guard stations to a public viewing site on the causeway between
 KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station without the requirement of an
 escort.

Anyone is welcome to make a request, including members of the general
public worldwide, educators, and representatives from groups or organizations
wishing to attend the launch together.

Only requests for passes for the following Space Shuttle missions
currently targeted for launch in the year 2001 are being accepted:

 STS-102 (March)
 STS-100 (April)
 STS-104 (May)
 STS-105 (June)
 STS-107 (Aug.)
 STS-108 (Oct.)
 STS-109 (Nov.)

Specific Space Shuttle mission launch assessment dates can be found on the
World Wide Web at http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/schedule.htm.

Since the number of vehicle passes is limited, requests will be accepted
on a first come first served basis. All requests should be submitted in
writing to:

Car Pass Request
PA-PASS
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

Letter and postcard requests are allowed. No e-mail or telephone requests
will be accepted.

The request must be for one mission only. The mission must be specified in
the request letter. The request must also specify which of the following
category of vehicle pass is required: car, motor home, bus, or disabled.

Only those selected will be notified by mail. The passes will then be
mailed to the recipient's address approximately three weeks prior to the launch.
Only one request per person will be honored. Only one pass will be issued
per request.

Because of the limited number of passes available, only one (1) request
per household or address will be honored each calendar year. This policy will
apply to all future Space Shuttle missions. Requests for passes for
missions launching after the year 2001 will not be honored at this time.

For more information, visit the following Web site:
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/carpass/carpass.htm

Shuttle launch observed from Poquoson
by David Kratzz

Last night I used the predictions from the Amateur Satellite
Observeres of Southeast Virginia and a print-out from Heavens Above
to watch the 6:05pm transit of the ISS. I followed the ISS in my 10X50
binoculars as it passed below Orion, above Sirius and then very close to
Procyon. To my eyes, the ISS was quite white and had a magnitude of around
0 (Brighter than Rigel or Betelgeuse, but fainter than Sirius). I then went
inside and watched the lift-off of Atlantis (STS-98). Then it was back outside
to see if I could observe the transit of Atlantis. Six minutes later, there
was Atlantis following a similar although slightly closer to the horizon path
in the eastern skies. The overall comet-like shape of the combined Shuttle,
main fuel tank, and engine exhaust was quite evident, as was its orange color.
Since the exhaust from the main engines is azure to bluish, I assumed that
the orange color was primarily due to reflection of light off the main fuel
tank. While it may not have been as grand a view as watching a launch from
KSFC (I've seen two Shuttle launches from KSFC), the event was very worthwhile
to watch from Poquoson, Virginia.

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Valentine's Day, NEAR landing, and new planet
by Jim Blowers

This is truly a Valentine asteroid. NEAR made its first approach to Eros on 2000
February 14 and a heart-shaped feature was noticed on an otherwise potato-like
shape. Now it is two days before Valentine's Day 2001 and the probe is going to
land on this heavenly body named for the God of Love.

Incidently, I came up with a hopefully astrologer-proof name for 2000 WR-106. It
is like Pluto (the dog) and bikini. The dog first came out in 1930 or so, just
after the discovery of the planet Pluto, so they named the dog for the planet.
The skimpy swimsuit came out in 1952 and was also named for a current event, the
thermonuclear tests on Bikini atoll. If we name 2000 WR-106 (discovered 2000 Nov
28 while counting ballots in Florida was going on) the same way we would name it
Chad. That may work out, provided Chad has not already been used for another
asteroid. There is no mythological significance in "Chad" as far as I know.

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Specialist in Andean Mythology to Speak at R-MC

Ashland -- Dr. William Sullivan, author of The Secret of the Incas: Myth,
Astronomy, and the War against Time, will speak at Randolph-Macon College on
March 8, 2001. The speech will take place in the McGraw-Page Library (A-V
Room), located at 305 Henry Street in Ashland, at 8:00 p.m. A reception will
follow. The talk is free and open to the public.

In his talk, entitled "The Myth of Pre-History," Dr. Sullivan will discuss
the nature and role of myth from a global perspective, introducing ideas
about how myth worldwide contains surprisingly concrete astronomical
information. He will give specific examples from the research that informs
his book on the Incas and illustrate how these resonate with mythological
themes elsewhere, notably those of the Maya and Greater Mesoamerica.

Dr. Sullivan holds a B.A. from Harvard and a doctorate in American Indian
Studies from the University of St. Andrew's (Scotland). The international
studies and Spanish departments sponsor his visit.

Please call Dr. Fred Worth at 752-7278 with questions.

Laura E. Strickler
Marketing & Communications Office
Randolph-Macon College
Ashland, VA
Phone: (804) 752-3712 Fax: (804) 752-6143
E-mail: lstrickl@rmc.edu Web: http://www.rmc.edu/

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Interesting URL's
from Jerry Kaiser

You might like to pass this around RAS:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

also, check this out, taken from the ISS:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights2_dmsp_big.jpg

Calendar

Calendar created by ImpactSoft

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Dues Renewal Form

Your RAS 2001 membership subscription is now overdue, if you haven't paid yours.

Please furnish the following information to the treasurer:

Name: ________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________

________________________________________________

Phone: _______________ (h) _________________ (w)

Email: _____________________________________________

Amount:

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Contact information

All meetings are the second Monday of the month, at the Science Museum of Virginia, 2500 W. Broad St. For more information, contact Terry Barker, 379-8175, or tbarker@i2020.net.

Board presentation months

The months that have been assigned for presentations by the board for 2001 are:

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