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LAS OIIFICEBS AND BOARD IViEIVIBERS FOR t9B4

Pres ident Jo*Ann PluclennlkSecretary J. Ivlichael SchlrraJunior Vice Pres ldent Robert BolockAt*Large it{embers Debble Ho}mes/Frank

Vice Presld.entTreas urer Joe

Ivlaros/LuAnn Naughton

John SabiaKamichitis

"tJ_u#"

LAS CALENDAR

D/\TE AC IIVI TY PLACE

1984wALl o J

'Iue s day

Jan" 7,jaturd"ay

Jan " L?'Iuesday

Feb" /l'uesday

Feb" L1Sar t urday

Fe b " '1.1Tuesday

lvia rc h 6Tueridary

Ilarch 1 0$a t urday

jvir,rrch 20T ue i:; d.ary

tle g uiar riion thly me e t 1ng

0fficial cl-ub observlng nlght

Boar'd of Dlrectors meetlng

,tegr-rlar monthly meetlng

0fficial club observlng nlght

Board of Directors meeting

ieg ular m"on thl,f me e t ing

Officierl club observing night

Board of Dlrectors m.eetlng

Comrn rin i ty RoomV i- ewmon t Ma 11

KJC/I,ASO, Fleetvil-Ie

home of J" Pluclennlk

Everhart Museum

KJC/LASO, Fleetville

horne of J, Pluclennik

Everhart lviuseum

KJCILASO, FIECbVIITC

home of J, PIuc iennlk

30 PM

PI{ & on

OO PYI

30 PIl

PM&on

0 0 Pivi

3 0 PIV1

PM & on

OC PM

On all officlal club nlghts, a keyholder to KJ1/LLSO wltl be present(ei.ther John sabla or Jo-Ann Pluclennlk. ) 0n other clear weekend nlghts, 6on-tect J. Pluclennlk (346-3268) to see lf the place wlll- be unlocked or wl1lyou har/e to bring your own rscopes and warn up ln your car. KJC Observatoryrsphone numLrer 7s 945-3665, ';ut people are not always near to the phone to hearft. KJC/LASO 1s on Route 10?, about halfway from Extt.6t ot I 81 , as youhead to Fleetville Corners. You take a left on Hack Road.

r;*:*-n\1\ f,\_

- LACKAWA N N 6 ASIROI\JOIV1'I CAL SOC/€ TY1 Sc-trfturou, P4rullsi Lv t\ (Ji A

-2-

IiAPPY NEt1/ (25th ANN]VE-IiSARY) Yh]AR

ltts always excltlng to start the new year. All thlngs seem to be notonty possinle, but even io be good ldeas. ltrs slnllar to the euphoric feei-:-n6- you get es.rfy on the first norning at the start of vaeatlon, when yourre

""itlf" lou w111- clear out the attic and all youx closets and st11l have tline

io irprorre your nind, and get in shape, as well as Iounge around '

wetve had several ldeas tossed around for thls year -- another bu.s trlp(Frankltn Institute?, I,lusenm_of Natural Hlstory in !Y!, smithsonian Aerospacelviuseum?, Cornell -rhlvers lty ? l-maybe werd glimpse Carl . Saqan))), ar open house,itf, otf,"r regional clubs ln?fted to see our perfected observatory' per-i""tf"g the of,serratory (paintlng, e!9.), a 25th annlversary banquet' ob-.servfng sesslons to preiare us foi Halleyrs comet, revltallzlng the asbrophoto-rliUii (maybe to einftft lt at the mall or the museum). There are ]nany pos-slblllties. l,,rhat we :'eally need is input f rom the n0embers so we can ehoosethe best course of actloni the one that sults our membersr needs"

The best way to celebrate ovr 25Lh year would be to become a truly act-lve member sino take advanta.ge of wha! the LAS has achleved ' I hope aII ofvo"

-n""" made resolutions to volunteer to help out wlth meetlngs, committees,

iefreshnents and programs, and, fo1' your own enrichment, to take part ln club

"ight" "r,a oUservatl6nal iroiects (anci of course to wrlte artlcles for the

"!lc11pt1c'r ) .

Irve fcund that the more Irve put lnto the club, the more Irve gottenout of amateur astronony; Itm confident yourll find that ltr1l work the sa"mewaJt for you. !ie1p n'ake the club stronger and better'

Iwishev€]'yonea,greatnewyearofgoochealthlP€a-C€,prosperityandthe ldeal astrononical clirnate (tb Ue speclflco clear skles on dark-of-the-moon weekends anc1 or-rinht" of speclal events such as neteor showers" )

Ir11 be lookln€; for a-11- of you at the neetings. Januqry the talk wlflbe on ,,ihe Spectru:lii. Februaryts neetins.wll-l feature a dlscusslon of,,Ca.tadLoptic tel-escopesn by i{1ire Schlrra (1n partlcular the advantages ofh1s Meade 8n).

Set you l,here"Jo-l\nn Pluciennik

iVIID- ,,,J lNfgft BdFLUCT IONS

one of the advantages (l,ve al_ways hoped that there was at least gpg)ofagto!Jobisthatyougettoseetheskyatverynearlytheexacttlmeeach day on,i-so beoome qiite sensitlve to even subtle changes ln lts appear-*.,"". i lea.rr" wcri! at iziO PNl, and for the past few weeks the sky has beencompletely darl< at that tlne. Just last week, the flrst week of January, on

"-"iia " "i"^, evenlng I saw that sky was no lonser completely dark but had

a noilceanle steel-blue glow towarcl 1;he southwest. I noted to myself bhatare-to seasonal 1ag we siltl naa a couple hard wlnter months ahead but on agrander scale, sprlng was lnexorably on 1ts way.

Not th,rt f hp.ve a.n).thir.8 agalnst wlnter -- along wlth sprln8, s'"tmner andfaII ttis always been oi-r. of my favorlte seasons" It is, however" nuch moreu*p"""i"" and La.rr1er to balance the results-to-cost ratlo by ldhlch, I assume,everyone runs their llves "

Ar exDerlence f had ea-rller thls vreek went nlcely toward naklnq tt afiwortfrwfrfle.-- -et + Alvi Thursday January 12, I was awa.kened by a highly abnormalnightlme so u::d somevrhere downitalrs. In J or 4 nanoseconds, all the pos-st6tllttes xaced through my mincl -- gas exploslono plane crash, burglars,;;;;t-;;i-soi rr, etc." I Ltarted co n rhe-sitatrs, flashllehr held crub-1lkefn rny franal the o1d adrenalin flowlng, but before I was even halfway dovm Irealized what t:he nolse was" I{y cross-country skls whlch I had used Nhe nlghtbefore an.l ha6 propped agalnst lhe kltchen waII had" become unpropped' slidalong the wa11, and-crasf,ed a-gainst the doorway. IYitr savage lnstlncts meltedback'into place, I ha.1f -c onsc lously murnbled a qulck serrLi-prayer of thanks,and then rlid sonethlnS I do a Jlllion tlmes a day -- I looked out the window

*3-

to see if Uhrr: s.[ti w#;s cleltr, It was, :rndthrrt resienil:iecl" t:,n ovcrly Iar'ge i3ig lJintterand I knew'l,hrlr'[ Pi-'r-i'i;o was also in t'he area

ther"e in i;he southenst in iilIl archnnrile wasr Spica., M'lrs a,nd Sa'burn,

I went bacir tc bed only io be awakened for work by the alterratingbeeps of twc not-q',rJ-tu-sy.,cl,ro.,1zec1 d.igltal clocks set f or 0623. I was not,r.*rly as aiert ".i I wa*'-a couple

nours ago, no aclrenalln I guess. so I haCto gei the coffee going before I lookeC out the window agaln " Venus was there

". T u*pu"ted,hut doi,rn-closer No the horlzon was Juplter as brilitant as over!

I knew irom tfie rast rneetLlg that sonethlng else should be r:ear the giantplanet anrl sure enou-gh , afLer a little sea.rchinq through tree branches" Iiishtua ylercury. Smack i:etr,reen the largest p1a-net anrL the lnnermost planeti-i;;, was ttre" (curr.ently) outermost planet Neptune a.nd a rlttle way in the.ty rroo verius i knc.,w was urenus. stietchlng my neck a 11ttle, I could sii11see Jaturn :-'.ntJ- lrrlrrs higher up.

so thele lt vla,s. ?he entlre solar system a-s seen fron my bathroou win-dow. I snil--d lli- oi'r r;he feeil-nq that other felIor,^: amateurs were watching theoccasion at the s ii:ltie t-'rme" I wondere

Oi)St) l3V:-i j;i:AS rfti,l Uf .i- ,i 0 I Liral 't S , ii i.-i; : i;C0 p r' , ii i^3 .,i i;:-1,: i.;,i; inprcf esr; ion;1s " ;Jh i-l-ciear, LiT e oililor**rri'rC b l'ri: ne i5'"1. i,:;i;eil . , ,

It "rust be eilipliasized that ac'lulrlne useful 3 o!'}e tnl','r :1rta requlres

cledication snd e ff c:t. 0ccasicr'::ri , casLrql oirs=rri';'-X1or,s r't lLr'qrllan inter'vals will 'oe dif f icult tc lnt,e r,D:'et :ind. use " obserrreilons r:l u rl lt+ l+d.eusing scnet.:-":r,es i3.t.ious netnc,ls 1f tne resulti,ng clata are i;o ha.ve any va1ue"observers should b:g1n i:1nI-ing tbs,'jrvatlons of arrallable comets !!8,. to, de-velop the s;ri:l-is necessa.r;,r i:o ,:,ra ke hi:h 1ua1-1ty cbsel:v? tl.ns . 'Ihe

'lrotll

-)'

astronoiners to cone anC go Eit the ir o$In s'iltect wlll- lnd to be arengble bo no1aw" It stru.ck Halle;r tiaL z conet he observed in 1682 followed the samep"ifl ** thcse cf t455-, 1531. anal 1507. iie declded that they were a sinsleLoroet circ1in3 tne sun li- a very elongated orbit a.nd, af ter worxlng o"rt l'Iha' tihat ortlt :riitrt le, he predicted iis return Ln L758"

so lt c1Ld, but Iralley was not around to mitness lt. He had died in 17&2Nevertheriss, the obJect

-has been kncwn as llarle5rrs comet ever slnce' rts

last appear'.ince was ln 1910 and lt wlll be btlcK in l/Eb'

n,rIJ-e;i i^I:,ls i,r,-Lsc bhr:but that s3r..te ,3:f i;:lem hadt"went;,. ye,trs cf ::i"s Iife

f irs t tc show that bhe f ixed stars 'l,^Iere not f ixed 'changed. pcsiticns since G::eek tirnes. In the l.ast

he ss r,r,:d as As trononer RoyaI " 11e cL iecl in ),-'71t.,2 ,

S & T SYNDBOME

Iod lliie tc pass on another ,1lscover:y I',ve ma"de recently; lt mlEhi helpothers sufferlng irc,"r the sane afflictlon, It see s that every so often I1d'i:egln tc eet neivcus, tense, llrltable, soneTdhat -ohys1cal1y upset, anC ingeneralfee]-ingj,-rstaltttlebtbpecklsh.Afteratime,Ireallzedtha,tihese trouble s-be6r:l'rr, at roughly regullr inte rvals, reached bheir peak ebcu|the thlrd week of the nonth, anc ther qulte suddenly disap;:eared leavlng ne,f, frrppy, cheerf J'j- self once again. ltiter nany puzz1lng eplsodes of these

"le-""iring pe:rloXs of Bental- mittd;ustoent o Itn happy i6 report r.hat lrith some

p"r""""i ,jriort (aird a 1lttle professional help) I've faced thls annletyi"ouiu, ""a

i-tos 1iolv under contioi. It turns out that partlcular tlme of the.rnonth was ,{hen r goi ry sk],' & TelePco!8 nas'azLne !

Thus rel-leYec of my burden, I can now slt and read contented.Iy aboutstellar core bounce, srile at the gold-palrted telescopes, chuckle at therclround ads, check out the halr-do on ihe celestron Glrl , en... drool at t:reTakahashlsr o,no€ agerln a satlsfled rnan.

Joe Kamichitls

L97E is sue of As tronc Le s , bhe n c'r,Iii'fhe follorui*$ w[I$ rei]:rlirrLed-Ietter of cltc 0u b:,Llri:i. Centre

f rorn ';h e ]iaircf l;re 3ASC,

GOD BLESS YE IIIBRY OBSJRVEflS

( Sung to the tu"rre of ,rGod B1ess Ye rvlerry Gentlemer" , Dedlc,rted to w1nter slarpa.rt les . )

God i:Iess ye merry observer's,hlith telesccpes uprlahb"rJe hope this nieht is lacging cfcudg/\nc1 sters are burning br'i.5h l-''Ihe planets are alI ouL tc"ni-Sht r0h wlirt a" lorrellr s ight !0h , tldings of rle hulee .end ,sters ,Nebulae a.nd stars,Oh, tidings of nebuiae and" sta:-s!

i\i;rliBEB NE,,iS

Scott Batley ha.s worl $50 fn the Volce of Democracy essay oontest sponsoredby th: VFi,rl . Scoi! , a senlor at lilverside jl igh School, cane ln f if th lnthe r?g ion;r1 ccmPetltion.

rlnternational lialley *Jatohrt has named, John D. ;iabla the east coest reccl:d.erof pho,Scgreiphlc .ind. Spectroscoplc observatlons by amate]]? observers ;nthe U. S. and Canada"

God i:1e s s )r e illr? rrf cbs * rve rs ,To whoin i1; ulsiI ccncel:n',We ltcire t;:l:-s r:ight 1s inte-res1;ing,To el l- T^rho hlant to learn "l{e carrr.,J orf,'b here d.espite 't,he co}d,!,i ith peoi)I'* Y ourl*5 a.nd, old .0h, tidings cf net,:ili?.e nnd. stars,Nebu.le*,,1i1(1 stars,Oh, tidil:gs of ne-bulae and stars !

*5*

FOR SALE

Add" to th,i: -rist in thr lest newsletter (rerner:tber a.' wirysth*se scopes -b'.:fc:r'e ycu buy t''1en" )gn f /B lj e rrbcnisifi (,rV*5 b), Cril;erian ) with ncuni :'rrri electric[,orn,'yry1m anrl 18rn-r eyepiebes p]us a. 2x Br:rr]cw,$200"00 ConLacL5;5' c"rrprru rf str e ei , Scran toi , |'r\ , 346-3'255

t,o eheck ctit

c lccI< dr i''l e ,l:lon i'tare zzL

If y,cil d"ifi. nct t';llremas Party 0r the JaniietrYnewslette.r. I)t"t*:s ,ini'" i:ei:a rd" I o ur :iu.e s llrilC- s'b 11ithe 'rEcIi ptio'r s t'lf f ' buiLo date. Dues shoulcl br:accurnLe ma':n}:'*::si':i P l-Is t

rJUr,ij , Pt gASE

the cp1,orbunit'5' tc i)iA:"r yoig 1'9BU dues aL tne CSrist*rneeting u YoU shouir:i f inri 8, riues noLioe in l'irr th Jioursenb t,o Jce .L'n[:chills ,, t]:easlli'er. If yDu h;Ltie,flet it .lu::s no'lice , iL iil i:ioI:it likeIy a slip u-ll bi'

pleas e COnLac b jOe to nalre S ujl{) l^ iS 'nOo}rs a:: e U.ppaia 1:lr.Lhe errC. of Fe"bru'l,r;r So t'tre c'.i1 publish anr;:th our i\tarch*,i[Pril iss ue "

OBSEIiVATOBY ASIDiiS

,de rve just b,,..re:l-Jr passed solstlce , yet I keFlp looklng for slEns of -sprtna in e',ien ihe siigtrtest tempe ra ture -node 1q 51nq trend. Itn srp-' it's allthe fault of Leo for bElng so high up, anci, Arcturus and Vega for rlsl',g' be*i;;"- i get bact hone fr"crn the observntory thcse.nlghts" Iloy keep teillng -me that'-spring ir really comln5g (eventually) anrj ccnfortable observlng condi'-tlons will f oll-oi'I soon.

Arnateur alstrononers shouid pi:ob.lbly stop thi-nklng of the lrea.ther as ahlndrance ar:i1 st:i:t considerinS tt to ue r: subiect worthy of close gttentioni" it" own right. Knowlrg youi 1eglonis qulrks of meteorofcgy w111 let youpredlct shcrt r:rnge weether with reason*bie accuracy (as in.-"w111 1t be worthif." i"ip ug: to Flietiiille cr wj-1l lrhe cl-ouds iust Lncrease?'t) Bes j-des,,ut"oroioay doe.: have the adr"ant*ge of belng observabl-e regardless of thesunts altitud.e, cr:he rcocnrs phase, or the clegree of cloud cover (which nowbecones just ano.i;he.r fea-ture to i:tuoy!) "

Thls fell anri wlnterqs vieelhei: has been pal'ticulerlly interestln6 ' wehave had bhree spelis of amaziytg s1-eet anC freezlng ra.in, and. two periods ofreaily cold we,:,-ther with beiow zero readlngs. I riust,-confess that 10m notiiri" 1"" of r.hose shara.cters ln acven:ure ncvels who like to llve '?11fe cnifie cuttlng eCSe"rr At heart I detest having to l{eep an eye out for precipl-tatlon that coul"d c;ruse drlvlng to be poleniiail;" tlfe-threatenlng. (In. otherwords Itm a wlnter-rlrlvlng chlcken. ) Honever once lrerve manaqed to get toUS/ft.fCO and. ha.re theued out the locks ancl de-lced t4e ralls on the rocf o:rao*'u, r f lnd ';he pi.oci-citation to be f rsclnatlr.rq, lach trlp up there ilecolAes* unii'lru experien-e. ln winter) snow in tcwn soon becones slush thab is thensplaslied o.rer your car as it c s parkeci on the str:eet . Ice st4rts ,:f f as at""ror and !urn; '1r,"i-ekly to a rough lunp;' n''li5once on streets and shopping

""rri*" parrlng lols. I flgure wenther Is vlewed as,. nulsanoe because in

io*n ynrttu malnly concerned wlth Settlng frorn cne indoor artlflclal envl*ronment tc anothern and so you

-7-

vlsralize alI sorts of scenarlos r/{here Ird s1lp whl1e walklng along that hill-top rldge bo ihe 12rs buildlng and Ird elther end up on the-road or 1od6edi.n the stone fenc.e or: the other slde of the hil] an