R E F L E C T O R The Astronomical League Newsletter Vol. XLII No. 1 ISSN: 0034-2963 November, 1989 REFLECTOR Quarterly Publication of the Astronomical League Issued by the Astronomical League in February, May, August and November. The Reflector is mailed directly to each individual of its affiliate socities and to members-at-large as a benefit of League membership. ISSN: 0034-2963 Editor Ed Flaspoehler 5027 W. Stanford Dallas, TX 75209 Assistant Editor M. Barlow Pepin P.O. Box 295 Lake Helen, FL 32744 Book Review Editor Gail O. Clark 74 Mountain Drive Pocatello, ID 83204 Advertising Debbie Moran - Coordinator see address below Reflector Deadlines Fall Issue September 20th Winter Issue December 20th Spring Issue March 20th Summer Issue June 20th Written and graphic material from this publication may be reprinted only for non-profit benefit of interested parties, provided specific credit is given to the writer(s), the Reflector and the Astronomical League. Any other use of material, including graphics and photographs, is subject to express permission from the Editor and the Astronomical League Publications Director, Rollin P. Van Zandt. National Officers PresidentKen Willcox 225 SE Fenway Pl Bartlesville, OK 74006 Vice President Jerry Sherlin 1001 S. Cornelia St Sioux City, IA 51106 Secretary Rollin Van Zandt 7035 N Willow Wood Dr Peoria, IL 61614 TreasurerDebbie Moran 11832 Sandpiper Houston, TX 77035 Executive Merry Edenton-Wooten Secretary 6235 Omie Circle Pensacola, FL 32504 Assistant Executive Wayne Wooten Secretaty 6235 Omie Circle Pensacola, FL32504 ALCON '89 - Spokane, Wa. by Rollin van Zandt, Secretaty, AL The 43rd National Convention of the Astronomical League, hosted by the Spokane Astronomical Society, brought about 140 participants to its attractive setting at the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney, a few miles from Spokane. Though the attendance was small, this was not unexpected considering the remote location in the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, all parts of the country were surprisingly well represented. Under the capable guidance of Gene Dietzen, Chairman, and Katie Hershfield, co-Chairwoman, the whole Convention unfolded from Thursday, July 20 through Saturday, July 22 in a most professional manner, both as to the quality of its program and the smoothness by which it was conducted. I experienced several personal examples of the latter with Katie's quick response to my need for name plates for the Council meeting and in the locating and prompt return of a bag lost at the airport. Even without the usual support of the A.L.P.O., 21 speakers were there who gave 26 talks (some gave more than one talk) varying from being informative to entertaining, thus insuring that this year's League PROCEEDINGS will come up to their usual high standards. Tom Anderson from Tacoma led off the paper sessions with a truly inspirational presentation of art at the eyepiece and demonstrated once more how the human eye can capture more fleeting detail than the camera. Though he was an accomplished artist, he demonstrated with the help of various devices how much an unskilled observer could do with a little practice and invited the listener into this both satisfying and worthwhile field often of scientific value. The renowned Jack Newton from Victoria, B.C., on the other hand, represented astrophotography at its best with his marvelous shots taken through a rather simple amateur telescope. Dan Bakken, President of the Spokane Astronomical Society, set the stage for the rest of the opening day on deep sky subjects with a thorough discussion of what a viewer can do to make the eye operate at its maximum efficiency in sensing vague and often extended objects. His article will appear in the forthcoming PROCEEDINGS. It is an absolute "must" for budding amateur observers who wish to enhance their visual acuity. David Levy from Tucson followed as a living example of what a highly trained and honed observer can do. (David has four comets to his credit). He gave two informal talks garnished with the rich sprinkling of poetry and romance which so characterizes him. No one can listen to him, especially the young people, without feeling the urge to observe the sky at the next opportunity! Peter Collins, also from Tucson and this year's recipient of the Leslie C. Peltier Award on excellence in observing, demonstrated what can be done with only a pair of binoculars. He is credited with discovering three novae, the first with a pair of 7x50s in 1978, the second with 11x80s in 1984, and the last in 1987 with a pair of 10x50s. His general field of operation is the Milky Way region where novae are most commonly found. He revealed his observing technique on how to build a large collection of self conceived asterisms into a mental memory bank that will trigger any sudden change in brightness or reveal a new member to the asterism. Some people are good at memorizing words. Peter has an unsurpassed memory of stellar configurations. The afternoon session was highlighted by a potential human nova, Devin Meucci, age 14, from Seattle, whose subject was an "In Depth Review of Supenova 1987A." He had the easy confident manner, unusual for one so young, of one who had thoroughly researched his subject, yet had the humility to state flatly when he couldn't answer a question. He bears watching as his personal magnitude brightens. For a change of pace, Dr. Robert Ruotsalainen, astronomy professor from the local Eastern Washington University, gave a very interesting discussion on observing star types in very dwarf irregular galaxies, and how this rather benign environment affects star creation and evolution. The end of a most stimulating day of talks and papers was climaxed by the well known John Dobson who spoke under the title "Between the Reality and the Appearance Falls the Shadow." He is a most remarkable, creative and energetic character who has an amazing knack of presenting himself in a variety of entirely different moods. This evening he chose both to entertain and confound with the apparent purpose of breaking up any vestige of conventional thought. His first act set the pace of what followed when he slung a bundle of preprints at his audience and let them scramble for a copy. He talked entirely without notes at a fast pace, pausing for questions from his audience at any time with equally quick answers. We were treated Friday morning with a session on telescope making. Norm Sperling, introduced in the program as lecturer, philosopher, and astronomer, presented in his usual charming style an historical sketch of Henry Fitz, a capable pioneer lens grinder and telescope maker who was upstaged by the somewhat later and much more famous Alvin Clark. John Dobson appeared again on Friday in an entirely different and communicative mood, describing his world famous Dobsonian mount and showing many slides of his 24-in. reflector in action in several national parks where he extends his sidewalk astronomers' act to park audiences. He further demonstrated his broad knowledge in mirror grinding in response to questions. He has built the optics for most of his own telescopes. Spin casting, the future process for large mirrors, was vividly described by Ed Mannery from the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab in Tucson. This process has almost doubled the size limit of large mirrors by its successful thin wall honey comb construction cast to parabolic curvature by a rotating furnace. Their goal of producing an six-meter mirror is on its way through a final enlargement of the furnace. He illustrated this process with a fascinating movie called "Light Wars" which will be made generally available through the League Program Materials service. Banquet Speaker The Speaker at the Saturday night banquet was Richard Shaffer from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who gave an account of the Ulysses Project scheduled for launch in 1990. The Ulysses Project is a cooperative venture between NASA and the European Space Agency on sending a modestly instrumented spacecraft into a polar orbit around the sun. Aside from observing the fields and emanations from the sun at this unusual vantage point, it has secondary objectives while it is being gravitationally slung into its eventual orbit, such as a search for gamma ray bursts and gravitational waves. Mr. Shaffer concluded with exampIes via video tape of a newly developing visual data processing technique whereby static pictures can be represented with different viewing positions and brought into motion with scenery sweeping by at different velocities and directions. Nothing can be added to the original input data, which is digital, but by changing orientation and simulating motion, the process greatly adds to the understanding of the information at hand. The speaker illustrated this technique with a fast trip around Los Angeles, a study of cloud motion and weather patterns from different angles and, finally and most dramatically, a quick spacecraft tour about the different environs of Mars. Such video pictures will be made available to the League through the Program Materials Service. Access to most of these papers can be had through the ALCON '89 PROCEEDINGS which are available at $10 postpaid through the League Sales. Awards and Other Things Other activities offered by the host were star parties, a planetarium show, a most liberal quantity of door prizes given out at the banquet and an evening tour to nearby Spokane under the title "Spokane Under the Stars." The final event of the banquet meeting was the presentation of awards. The Astronomical League Award was made to Dr. Donald Parker and was received for transmittal by Steve O'meara. The G. R. Wright Award for League service was made to Executive Secretary Merry Edenton-Wooten, and received by her husband, Wayne Wooten. The Leslie C. Peltier award was made to Peter Collins. There were a great number of awards made by the Convention Committee in recognition of their own workers . All in all, it was a very busy, educational and entertaining three days, worthy, as so often happens, of a far larger attendance. Amateur Astronomers Gain Time on Hubble Space Telescope by Ken Willcox, President, AL Five amateur astronomers have been awarded 16.5 hours of unocculted spacecraft time on the Hubble Space Telescope. This was the result of a program announced by Dr. Ricardo Giacconi, Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSCI) during the 1986 Astronomical League's national convention in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Giacconi stated his belief that amateurs had for decades made valuable contributions to the science of astronomy and he wanted to give them an opportunity to use the Hubble Space Telescope to ask refreshingly new questions. He added that he believed their findings would make a real contribution to the advancement of astronomy. There is no question that this program is just the beginning of a whole new era of amateur astronomy as America again takes it's place In space. After numerous delays, the HST is now scheduled to be launched in March, 1990 by the Space Shuttle Discovery on flight 31. There are still four launches scheduled before HST and any delay in those launches can be expected to delay the launch of the HST in March. Nevertheless, five amateur astronomers will be among the professional astronomers to use the worlds most technically sophisticated telescope when it does reach Earth orbit. The final five were chosen from a list of 29 semi-finalists selected by the Amateur Astronomers Working Group (AAWG) which included Dr. Janet Mattei, American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), Dr. John Westfall, Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO), Gerald Persha, International Amateur-Professional Photoelectric Photometry (IAPPP), Dr. David Dunham, International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA), Ken Willcox, Astronomical League, and Chairman of the AAWG, Steve Edberg, Western Amateur Astronomers (WAA). Each member of the AAWG reviewed preliminary proposals submitted to their respective organizations by American amateurs across the nation and selected what they believed represented the best science to be included in the 29 semi-finalists. From these 29, the AAWG then agreed on ten finalists. From those ten, the final five were chosen to be given time on HST based on scientific contribution, conflicts with professional astronomers proposals, and whether observations could be made from Earth or other space probes. The five amateurs chosen for this first round of amateur observations will be invited to go to STScI at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD where they will be given individual guidance by the staff astronomers and technicians at STScI to carry out their observations. Observations by astronomers, both professional and amateur will not begin until HST has spent about 6 months in orbit going through testing and calibration. A list of the five finalists and their proposals are listed in the table below. The Astronomical League has one member among the five finalists, Ray Sterner from Woodbine, MD, a computer scientist employed by the remote sensing group at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. One member of the final five, T. J. Hewitt, is currently the only person, amateur or professional, who has been given time on HST in case of a nova. We can be very proud of the 145 amateur astronomers who participated in this first round of HST proposals. The Five Amateurs Awarded Time on Hubble Space Telescope Peter J. Kandefer New Hartford, CT Magnetic Fields of Peculiar Type A Variable Stars T. J. Hewitt Berkeley, CA Search of Oort Cloud Around Suitable Nova Ray SternerWoodbine, MDImaging the Arc In Galaxy 2244-02 Ana M. Larson Seattle, WA Collapsing Protoplanets of Nearby T-Tauri Stars James J. Secosky Shortsville, NYSO2 Concentrations and Brightening of Io Following Eclipse Twenty Four Semi-Finalists Awarded Time On Hubble Space Telescope Roy Beavers Plano, TX UV Studles of Planetary Nebulae Jeffrey Beish Miami,FL Water Vapor Studies of Mars Joe Buzard Emporum, PA Ultra Short Variations in Crab and Vela Pulsars Michael Caplinger Mesa, AZ Conclusive ID of Geminga (2CG 195+4) Counterpart Michael Captinger Mesa, AZ Small Objects In Earth's Lagrangian Points Jeffery Clarke Trussville, AL Distance to Cepheid DT Cyg (HD201078) Richard Clingempeel Amherst, VA Survey of Peculiar Galaxy LSB/AGN, Mailin 1 Jerry DeBolt Fort Wayne, IN Other Solar system.'s James Disbrow Culpeper, VA Determine Fractal Signature of the Urityer-se Karl Hricko Edison, NJ Red Shift Discordant Members of a Galaxy Group Alan Macfarlane, Jr Seattle, WA Time-lapse Study of Mars in Integrated Light Paul Maley Houston, TX A Search for Natural Satellites of Asteroids Michael Marron Carefree, AZ Focused Plasma Tails from Stellar Winds James McCanney St. Paul, MN Verify the Hubble Constant (IEDRS) Brian McMillan Traer,IA Effects of Interstellar Medium on Main Seq. Stars Tony Murray Georgetown, GA Binary Stars Discovered During Lunar Occulations John Persichilli Phoenix, AZ In Search of Brown Dwarf'Companions Willism Pie], Jr, E. Setacuket, NY Search for Nearby Brown Dwarfs John Reynolds Oklahoma City, OK Structurel Elements of Peculiar Galaxy NGC2685 Michael Schuckel Woodburn, IN Accurate Cluster Star Counts Richard Schwartz Santa Barbara, CA Search for Gamm"ay Burster Counterpart Frank Smith Old Adbany Rd, Globular Clusters in Quasars Norman Wasson Hacienda Hghts, CA Red Dwarf Stars Toward the Galactic Poles Spencer White Quakertown, PA Comparison of Quasars, Seyfert Galaxies The International Dark-Sky Association by Tim Hunter, President, IDA The Astronomical League and other amateur and professional astronomy organizations are very concerned about the deleterious effects of light pollution. The Astronomical League recently joined the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) as a supporting member organization. The League's efforts will be coordinated through IDA. IDA is a non-profit corporation formed to serve the public and the astronomical community through information, education, and research on light pollution and related topics. IDA will assist with member's problems concerning these issues by sharing and coordinating knowledge on a local, national, and international basis. A united approach should be very supportive of the many individual's efforts. The problems of light pollution, interference to portions of the radio spectrum, and space debris are large and growing worse daily. However, much has been accomplished already. Solutions are available. It will be a long, many year's battle, but it can be won. Even though IDA was organized for the purpose of preserving dark skies for astronomy and the general public, solutions to the problem of light pollution will at the same time promote maximum effectiveness for all outdoor lighting. The lack of awareness rather than resistance to new ideas is generally the biggest problem in controlling light pollution. Educating the public, the astronomical community, government officials and staff, and lighting professionals is a major effort of IDA. Astronomers are not against nighttime lighting. They have the same needs for security, safety and recreation as other citizens. IDA advocates the best possible lighting for the task - lighting that pays heed to all relevant factors such as glare control, energy efficiency, and the need for dark skies. Future issues of the REFLECTOR will contain reports from IDA to keep League members up to date on the pertinent aspects of the light pollution issue. Nevertheless, IDA needs the support of individual members. Membership dues start at $20 per year. Members will receive a quarterly newsletter, many one page information sheets, support for local efforts to promote lighting ordinances, as well as brochures, leaflets and other aids for combatting this plague which threatens to take away the beauty of the nighttime sky from us all. It's easy to get discouraged and become resigned to ever brightening skies. But we can have dark skies and lit streets at the same time if we insist on, and work for, quality, sensible nighttime outdoor lighting. For more information write to: The International Dark-Sky Association 3545 N. Stewart Avenue Tucson, AZ 85716 A Note from the Exec-Sec Merry Edenton-Wooten I would like to thank Ken Willcox and the members of the Astronomical League for presenting me with the G. R. Wright Service Award this year. Special thanks goes to my assistant, Wayne Wooten, and all of the ALCORs who have helped me control updates to the address list. Without their cooperation, the effectiveness of this office would suffer. DEEP-SKY OBSERVING WITH SMALL TELESCOPES by David J. Eicher Enslow Publishers, Inc. Box 777 Hillside, New Jersey 07205 336 pages, paper $29.95 ISBN 0-89490-075-7 Aimed at the enthusiastic observer with somewhat limited skills and knowledge, this one-volume reference and guide book to objects beyond the solar system will be useful to seasoned veterans as well. Written by experienced amateurs and organized in a practical, concise manner, the book will be a good tool for owners of small <197> two to six inch <197> telescopes who want to push their instruments to their maximum capability. After an introductory chapter which discusses telescope types, oculars, star maps, and similar basics, the book devotes a chapter each to seven deep-sky objects. They are double stars, variable stars, open (galactic) clusters, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, bright and dark nebulae, and galaxies. Each of the chapters uses an identical format in presenting information. That is, each chapter's author defines the subject, offers a brief but meaty historical sketch, explains the nature of the object, gives instructions on beginning to observe the object, describes advanced observational techniques, and closes the chapter with a catalog of objects within the viewing parameters of small telescopes. Each catalog is alphabetical by constellation, and gives coordinates and brief comments on the specific objects listed. David Eicher, assistant editor of Astronomy magazine compiled and contributed to this book. In addition, well-known amateurs David Levy, Glenn Chapel, Michael Witkoski, and others added their expertise. The result is a volume that will get dog-eared and worn from use. And that is a great testimonial for such a book. There are a few typos here and there, but hopefully a second printing will take care of this shortcoming in an otherwise very welcome and desirable book. Over the years, Enslow Publishing has produced some outstanding books of interest to the astronomical community. Deep-sky Observing With Small Telescopes continues this tradition. Gail O. Clark <197> Book Review Editor Sweeping the Skies by Matthew Mazurek, Central Valley Astronomers, Fresno, CA. One day while chatting with Clarence Funk, President of the Central Valley Astronomers, I happened to ask him how he found and observed deep- sky objects. He said, "Sometimes I just point my telescope at a certain constellation and sweep around with no intention of finding anything in particular." After hearing this little tidbit of news, I thought he might just be wasting his valuable star party time, but I decided to try it. And what fun it is to wander aimlessly among the stars! If you want to try something new and refreshing, just plain sweep the skies. You can discover double stars, deep-sky objects and even enjoy an occasional telescopic meteor. At the next star party pick a constellation that you know has lots of goodies in it like Cetus or Gemini. Both constellations have an interesting smattering of deep-sky objects that are sure to please you when you 'accidentally' stumble on them. You can look at your atlas to find out what object you're looking at or you can play Galileo for a while and ignore the fact that the object has been scrutinized and analyzed by the pros. How do you sweep? Start at one end of the constellation and move your scope horizontally, then nudge it up and go back. I call it the Sky Switch-Back. Comet hunters use this method and so do some deep-sky observers when there is a lack of stars to star-hop. If you are using an equatorial mount simply sweep in R.A.Then move your scope up in Dec. and go back in R.A. No matter which constellation you choose, you will surely find something new and exciting - perhaps even a once unknown member of our solar system - a comet! I'd like to know if any of you discover something new. Lunar Eclipse/Perseids The Lunar Eclipse of 16 August was observed by many members of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic and their guests. Atop Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, GA, Don Barry of the Society was interviewed by CNN against a background of vivid lightning, as members waited a clearing to set up their telescopes. Although the eclipse appeared to be only moderately dark as viewed from Atlanta, other reports seem to indicate that during central eclipse, the lunar disk was quite dim. Lars Furerdid of Long Island wrote, "We (Karen and I) viewed the eclipse last night from a relatively dark beach site. Skies were clear but with a hint of haze as there generally is over the water. The moon was in the offshore direction. The eclipse was 100% at almost exactly 10:20 pm. There was relatively little color evident at any time: a greyish white with perhaps just a tinge of warmer hues in the illuminated areas and a neutral grey in the dark regions. The leading edge became completely invisible by about 10:30 as the eclipse deepened. By 10:45 the disk was completely invisible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, clouds blew in at 11: 15 (weather changes very fast here on Long Island) and the show was over. The best report of the Perseids was received from Chein-Shiu Kuo of Taiwan, a recipient of the Society's Electronic Journal. He reported, "I went to Mt Laia in Taiwan leading an observation team to observe the Perseid Meteor Swarm. We counted about 480 meteors from 10:30- 4:20 local time. In the period around 2:00 a.m. local time, the zenithal hourly rate was about 120! We also used five cameras to record the images of meteors, and are now processing the data." Obituary Dr. WaIter Lee Moore (1898 - 1989) Dr. Walter Lee Moore, a longtime member of the Louisville Astronomical Society, died July 20, 1989. He was 91. Dr. Moore and two other amateur astronomers formed the Louisville Astronomical Society in 1933 after obtaining a 21-inch pyrex mirror blank. The telescope was completed in about 20 years, after a major interruption by World War II. At the time it was dedicated, it was the largest club telescope in North America. The telescope was donated to the University of LouisvilIe and formed the jewel of the Walter Lee Moore Observatory upon its dedication in 1977. A mathematics professor by profession, Dr. Moore's interest in astronomy kept him involved in the hobby throughout his life. He studied the sun with a radio receiver in later year's; his interest in the heaven's did not fade with his night vision. Although he retired as professor emeritus in 1966, he worked as skilled machinist and precision instrument maker for the University of Louisville Physics Department throughout his retirement. In 1978, Dr. Moore and a team of professors built a 73 foot foucault pendulum in the rotunda of the University Administration building. He belonged to Siqma Xi, a national honor society for science researchers, the American Astronomical Society, the AAVSO, the American Association of University Professors, and the Astronomical League. He is survived by his wife, the former Katherine Bollinger. Submitted by Alan Goldstein; Louisville AstronomicaI Society. Results of League Council Meeting at Alcon '89 by Rollin van Zandt The annual Council Meeting of the Astronomical League for 1989 was held during the Astronomical League Convention in Spokane, WA. The Council meeting was opened by President Ken Willcox on Saturday morning, July 21, with nine of the officers and council present. Twelve more council members were represented by proxies. Attendance was well in excess of the required quorum of eight. Trust Fund The most significant action taken by the Council was the revitalization of the Trust Fund via a complete rewrite of Standing Resolution #1 covering this operation. Its major feature was to make all of the interest accruing from this fund, (reported elsewhere), available for enhancing the services to the League membership. It was a unanimous agreement that these funds were NOT to be used for routine expenditures. Another important provision was that the Executive Committee (the League officers) and the five Trustees would work cooperatively to determine the nature and magnitude of the expenditures. It has already been tentatively agreed that this year's interest will be applied to the purchase of new video programs for the Program Materials group serving the membership. In 1989, the tenure of office of the Trustees was changed from life to five year terms, where each would come up for review by the Council for extension or replacement. Trustee Jerry Pardue resigned and was replaced by Jeff Lewis. League Budget Report A report of major significance was from Treasurer Debby Moran. The League operations have grown to about $25,000 annually, which will require a financial report to the IRS and increases the importance of continuing to document each expenditure. The 1989-1990 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 was approved at the $25,000 level and is reported in detail in another part of this issue. The budget includes an increase from $15 to $20 for the fixed portion of the member society dues to keep up with inflation. Reflector It was decided that the membership listings will appear in the November issue of the REFLECTOR and that it will include the names and addresses of the ALCORs (Astronomical League Correspondents) to enhance communication among the societies. There are now 178 member societies in the League representing a total membership of about 11,000 individuals. Computor User's Group A motion was passed that the Computer User's Group, now managed by John Wagoner, be expanded to include the whole membership that has access to a home computer, as well as making a much wider range of programs available of interest to the amateur astronomer. As explained in the August REFLECTOR, this service was developed originally for the Computer User's Group in the form of a Bulletin Board Service (BBS). The only charge is the long distance fees when dialing in through a modem. Other Items The decision was made to revive the publishing of the "Guidelines for Astronomy Classes" booklet as a service to member societies who undertake educational programs for their members. The League will also reprint the "Astronomy Handbook", an excellent guide for Astronomy Day, and make it available at nominal cost. The Council approved the next National Convention to be hosted by the St. Louis Astronomical Society to take place in St. Louis, MO between July 31 and August 4, 1990. (See announcement in this issue). BUSINESS MEETING. The business meeting took place Friday afternoon and was chaired by vice president Jerry Sherlin. The first order of business was election of officers. The executive secretary, Merry Wooten, ran unopposed and was reelected. The only other office up for election was secretary. There were two nominees, Rollin Van Zandt and incumbent Harriet Witt Miller. Rollin Van Zandt was elected. Results of the Council meeting were presented. After the announcement of the 1990 convention in St. Louis, it was explained that the 1991 Convention would not be in Hawaii during the eclipse because of restrictive cost and availability of meeting places. It was, however, emphasized that the League was sponsoring a guided expedition to Hawaii for the eclipse, as mentioned in the August REFLECTOR. ALCON '90 The St. Louis Astronomical Society will be hosting the Astronomical League's 1990 National Convention. The dates are July 31 to August 4, 1990, on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, MO. The co-chairmen of the convention are Steve Best and Wayne Clark. For more information on ALCON '90, contact: Wayne E. Clark Co-Chairman, ALCON '90 310 Calvert Ave. St. Louis, MO. 63119 Welcoming Mat New Socities Shoreline Amateur Astronomy Assoc. ALCOR: Michael Cote 6360 Old Allegan Rd Saugatuck, MI 49453 Moorhead-Fargo Astronomy Club ALCOR: Robert J. Brummond 1420 8th Street S Fargo, ND 58103 Ft Bend Astrnomy Club ALCOR: Barbara Wilson 12346 Wellington Park Dr Houston, TX 77072 West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers ALCOR: Dan Hatfield 4360 Stonewall Dr. Paducah, KY 42001 Program Materials Service The Astronomical League is in the process of revamping the Program Materials Service. This service, in the past, has tried to provide quality film, videos and slide presentations that member clubs could use for programs at their scheduled meetings. It is the League's desire to update its materials offerings to make this service more accessible to its members. The League is planning on purchasing new program materials in the form of VHS video tapes and slide shows within the next six months. All program materials in the future will be sent out as a slide presentation or a video tape. The Program Materials Committee would like to solicit suggestions of video or slide programs that might be available for purchase for League use. Please send all suggestions to: Don Garland AL Program Materials Committee c/o Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History 1501 Montgomery Ft. Worth, TX 76107 Saturn Occults 28 Sagittarii July 3, 1989 by Kevin Kilkenny Amateur Astronomers Association of New York My alarm went off at 12:30 AM. Plenty of time to drive to Sperry Observatory to view the once in a lifetime occultation of 28 Sagittarii by Saturn. I arrived at about 1:15 AM to find the Observatory bustling with activity. A planetary expert is manning the 10-inch refractor while there are a number of New York Astronomical Society members in the 24-inch reflector's dome. They are watching Saturn close in on 28 Sagittarii on a video monitor that has been set up. Outside there are a number of telescopes set up on the lawn awaiting the moment of occultation. The universal clock is ticking loudly while a classical radio station plays softly in the background. The event started only 30 seconds behind Sky & Telescope's prediction of 5:56 UT. The 5.5 magnitude star briefly blinked behind Saturn's F Ring to cheers from all those watching. Then the star went behind the A Ring and started blinking violently. Everyone started yelling, "Did you see that?" The star never did reach its full brightness again until it came to the Enke Division where it blinked to full magnitude, then back to dim. Then blinking occasionally it would disappear altogether. 28 Sagittarii became almost to full magnitude as it reached the Cassini Division, but there was still some blinking. The star disappeared altogether as it moved into the B Ring, briefly appearing here and there. The C Ring was a little less opaque but the star still disappeared, especially at the start of the C Ring. The star again blinked toward the end of the C Ring. The space the star went through between the ring system and the planet's disk was so small that it never seemed to reach full magnitude. The star went behind the disk at about 7:00 UT and for most of us the show was over. I stayed while the video tape was replayed. I drew this light curve of the event. The bottom line represents total disappearance of the star. Astronomical League Sales Astronomical League Observe Manuals "Observe and Understand the Sun" (Temporarily Out of Print) "Observe Eclipses" $3.50 "A Guide to the Messier Objects" $3.50 "Observe the Herschel Objects" $3.50 "Observe Comets" $5.00 "Observe Meteors" $5.00 "Math for Amateur Astronomers" $5.00 "Check a Possible Supernova" 40 Photos of galaxies by Juhani Salmi #1 & #2, each $5.50 Set of #1 & #2 $10.00 Proceedings - ALCON '89$10.00 JEWELRY - Gold Plated Lapel Button, clutch back $4.00 Ladies Pendant, no chain $3.00 T-SHIRTS - Fine quality 50/50 Light Blue with emblem, Med-Large-X-large $5.50 Dark Blue with emblem Med-Large-X-large $5.50 XX-Large $6.00 EMBLEM PATCHES Embroidered cloth, 3" dark blue felt, w/white emblem $4.00 PRESS-ON A.L. EMBLEMS 11" dia., dark blue & white $3.00 3-1/2" dia., dark blue & white $.25 Five 3-1/2" emblems for $1.00 BUMPER STICKERS "I would Rather See Starlight than Streetlights" $1.00 POSTAGE AND HANDLING: Orders up to $5.00. please add 75c. Orders over $5.00, please add 15%. Astronomical League Observe Manuals may be purchased in quantity at a discount: 10 to 19copies are less 25c per copy. 20 or more copies are less $.50 per copy. We pay postage on quantity orders. Send check or money order to: Astronomical League Sales, Four Klopfer Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15209 Northwest Suburban Astronomers Win Astronomy Day Prize On Monday, September 11, 1989, the Northwest Suburban Astronomers in Hoffmann Estates, IL, presented the Schaumburg Township District Library Board with a $100.00 gift certificate received as part of the 1989 Sky & Telescope Astronomy Day award. The Hoffman Estates branch of the library participated in Astronomy Day 1989 by hosting the Astronomy Day solar observing session at their library. The gift certificate was presented to the library for the purchase of new books. Deborah Miller, President of the Schaumburg Township District Library Board of Directors, received the gift certificate from NWSA President Bob Long and Vice-President Bill Spizzirri. Photo by Gordon Garcia, NWSA ALCOR. Five runners-up in the first annual Astronomy Day Award sponsored by Sky Publishing included Bay's Mountain Amateur Astronomers, Kingsport, TN; The Wilderness Center Astronomy Club, Massillon, OH; American Samoa Astronomical Society, Pago Pago, American Samoa; The Charles Hayden Planetarium, Boston, MA; and Penn State Astronomy Club, State College, PA. Between these six organizations and the dozens of others, Astronomy Day had plenty of activities. Besides the standard events, (day and night telescopic observations, mirror grinding demonstrations, special speakers, lectures, library lists of suggested astronomical reading and observatory open houses), some of the more unique and interesting activities included teacher workshops, a lunar gravity simulator, moon rocks, and a walking tour of the solar system (scale model). Other events included people in costume portraying famous past astronomers, serving food with space themes, administering the "Astronomy Test of General Knowledge"; breaking dark inner balloons while leaving the clear outer balloon in tact with focused sunlight, the construction of a special "Light Buster" poster (a take-off of "Ghost Busters"), astronomical postage stamp displays, door prizes, planetarium shows (one planetarium ran a show entitled "Dinosaurs in Space"), and fundraising for the Ronald McDonald House. This year the use of indoor shopping malls seemed to be less popular for some reason. Perhaps liability insurance is an issue here. At least one city, St. Louis, held Astronomy Week, with several events held throughout the week. During these, and all of the before mentioned events, thousands of people were impacted. The Astronomical League's STARGATE BBS 214-578-7618 300, 1200, 2400 Baud 24 Hours - 8,N,1