VOLLIMEl4I-I0.4 WINIERLWL

rtlEAl RNEWqLETTER

A late summer storm passes over Chews Ridge and sweeps acrossthe Salinas Valley. (MIRA Staff Photo)

Editor's NotesI'rn very pleased that many readers took the tirne to comment

on the autumn 1991 issue of the newsletter. [t was fun to do, andI learned a lot (not quite enough, rs it turned out, but almost). Icontinue to acquire information of all sorts, and I foresee a muchsmoother publication process in the future. Everyone has beenextrernely helpful: the writers of the various articles have beenprompt and so articulate that very little needs to be done to theirwork. Torn Logan has been infinitely patient in teaching rne the

MIRA cornputer system while still managing to keep MIRA'sessential business going.

With the auturnn issue, we experimented with a darker blueink and a smoother stock to try to maxrmtze contrast in the photos(the text seems to take care of itself). One of the problems thatarose was the persistence of apparent slight streaks in the verydark backgrounds. This is called "ghosting," and it occurs whentext and pictures are printed simultaneously in a single press nltr,particularly when the photos have a very dark background as

most of MIRA's photos do. This is the most economical ap-proach. However, to make the most of our invariably stunningcover picture, our printer, Andrews Printing of Seaside, makestwo runs: one for the photo, and another for the text (which isusually minimal). Arron and Dale of Andrews Printing havebeen much involved in advising the editor on how to keep costs

down and quality up, for which we are most grateful.

Speaking of cover photos, the one we chose for the Winterissue is incredibly spectacular, and deserves to be printed in full,rich gradations of color, on glossy paper a la NationalGeographic. However, we must be realistic. Realistic, but neverdull... the photo is L.dSER SCAI.INED! A great deal of technicalassistance was provided by Kirn and Laura Cohan. The laserwork was done by Bayshore Pre$s..

A friend of MIRA who wishes to rernain anonymous hasprovided the editor with a lightbox to facilitate the layout of thenewsletter. This should help speed up the process considerablyand irnprove accuracy. My thanks to our Friend. Much of thework involved in this issue of the newsletter was done using desktop publishing equipment provided by Kirn and laura..

The next issuO of The MIRA Newsletter will provide a

schedule of deadlines for subrnitting material for the benefit ofthe contributors. [n this wry, we can spread out the work over a

reasonable time perid, and not be faced with a last minute push.Contributors will also be asked to subrnit their articles on IBMPC compatible disks (5.25- inch floppy disks) if at all possible.This will minimize (w eliminate, if I'm lucky) the need forre- typing all the text. I'd also be very happy to see photos ordiagrams included with articles, or just photos for their otwl sake.

Until next time...

Anne Cathey, Editor

Star of BethlehemDr. Craig Cttester presented a variety of explanations for the

phenomenon of the "Star of Bethlehem" at the Carl CherryFoundation on Wednesday evening, Decernber 4. A capacityaudience heard Dr. Chester describe the civilization of 2 and 3BC in the Kingdom of Judea. The story of Christ's birth includeddetails that could be corroborated by histories written soon after,and observations of celestial occurences portray events that areknown to have acfually happened. Dr. Chester recounted, withhumour and warmth, sorne theories that atternpt to explain "theIeading star." His talk was well- received.

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Spinning Off

Dr. Wm. Bruce Weaver

I have corne to realize lhat the creation of MIRA is not atnornent of inspiration, nor a year or two of concentrated effort,but a lifetime of commitment. When the original nine foundersjoined to create the observatory, they dedicated themselves to atIeast two years. Sorne of these have drifted off now to otherefforts but they aII put in vastly more than those originalpromised years. And most of you, dear Friends of MIRA, havealso recognized that ours is a long term adventure.

The avocation of MIRA, for me, comes frorn a deeper calling:the desire to rrdorr astronomy. Doing astronorny is not peering atthe skies, or buildin g a telescope and instrurnentation, or anobservatory, although these are essential elements for being ableto do astronomy and can be pretty exciting on their own. Doingastronorny is the discovery of some previously unknown aspectof the Universe and comrnunicating it to the astronornical com

munity and to the general public to do with as history pleases.It is both a totally selfish act ('WOW, [Ve just discoveredsomething new!") and a totally unselfish act (the excitementof your new insight is rarely appreciated to the extent youknow it should be). There is little reward outside theknowledge that you contributed a tiny amount to our under-standing of the world around us.

As I have always tried to balance these two avocations ofastronomy and MIRA, I was probably a good choice for presi-dent of MIRA after the completion of the Oliver ObservingStation. Because then, as now,lhe development of MIRAwouldbe achieved primarily through the establishment of its research.Before then it depended heavily on the building of the stationand was better served by sorneone such as my predecessor,

continued

Bruce Weaver comtemplates the future beyond Presidency of thc MIM Burd of Directors. (Photo by Kim Colan)

Spinning W - continued fro* Page 3

Cynthia Irvine, who would concentrate totally on that singlegoal. In the last seven yeils, the OOS has become increasinglyreliable and efficient but, more importantly from my point ofview, MIRA astronomers have published23 scientific papersin the most distinguished astronomical journals in the world,received their first NSF and NASA research grants, and rnadeMIRA visible far and wide as an astronomical research center.In addition, we were able to augrnent our research staffwithtwo new young astronomers.

Luckily, in our wisdorn in creating the MIRA bylaws, welimited the nurnber of consecutive terms of the members of theBoard ild, hence, the President. Craig Chester will assume theduties of president as I rotate off the Board and am able to devote

more of rny attention to doing astronomy. With his excellentcommunication skilIs, Craig is the best choice for president nolv.Of course, I will not be able to extract myself totally from theeveryday affairs of MIRA, but the more time I can devote to myfirst avocation of "doing" astronoffiy, the stronger will glou/ rnysecond: the ongoing creation of MIRA

Renaissance Observatory Helper Sought

The Oliver Observing Station, with its own pourer and water

systems, is a special world of its own. lts isolated site and

specialized research and educational pu{poses rnake its ongoing

improvements and maintenance a real challenge"

MIRA is looking for a volunteer for one or two days a rnonthto help Bruce Weaver and Stan Karas with the wide spectrurn ofmaintenance of the station. Aspects range frorn generators to

computers, plumbing to research instruments, carpentry toweather stations, and solar panels to wind turbines. Willingnessto learn and enthusiasm are more important than skills and

experience, but if you are experienced in some of these areas,

we?e especially interested in your help.

Give Torn or Bruce a call at the MIRA office, 375-3?20.

SafetyAlertwe all recogn ize lhalMIRA is both an interesting and a "fim"

place to work. 'We want you to know that it is a safe place, too.If you observe an unsafe practice or know of a hazatdouscondition, please let us know irnmediately. Safety suggestionsare always welcome. Notify Torn l,ogan in the administrativeoffice, 375-3?20.

Hard Disk DonatedMany thanks to Chris Angelos frorn the users of the AT&T

computer at OOS. He donated a hard disk drive used to controlthe Reticon spectrophotometer, and installed it at Chews Ridge,returning later to provide needed maintenance.

StarVolunteer

MIRA courd not,":::: #::rLassistance or vorunreers

from the Friends of MIRA. Friends come from a variety ofbackgrounds and interests which they share generously. Edan

Denholm began volunteering the year Halleyb Cornet visited our

skies, helping to get MIRAS first outreach prograrn to theschools.

Some two years later, when illness sidelined adrninistratorHazel Ross, Edan organized a group of volunteers to maintainthe office and to be Hazel's "go- fers.u She has provided over-night accommodations for visiting speakers, hosted socialevents in her horne, and greeted the public at star parties and

lectures.

During this year's solar eclipse, while everyone else headedsouth, Edan kept the office open and answered the deluge ofinquiries frorn public and press. She did the same while TornIngan was on vacation. Currently, Edan spends Tuesdays in theoffice, answering the telephone, doing general office chores, andkeeping things tidy. She has organized a number of clean- upcrews to prepare the observatory for the summer tours.

Edan gives sound advice. Says Friends of MIRA chair DennisMar, "When Edan talks, I listen.n

Astronomy Before Columbus

Stew Hobson

The annual Chesley lBonestell Lecture was presented onOctober 19, L991, by Dr. Edward Iftupp of Los Angeles'GrffithObservatory. The Friends of MIRA and the public were treatedto a most informative presentation describing pre-Colurnbianastronomy in North, South, and Meso- America.

The Maya, in particular, were keenly interested in eclipses,both solar and lunar. The planet Venus, the evening star, wasassociated with eclipses. The surviving codices show repre-sentations of a serpent devouring the disk of the sun or the moon.The Maya observed and recorded the occurences of eclipsesasiduously, and after many hundreds of years had established a

considerable data base. Mayan astronomers were able to publishtables which accurately predicted future eclipses. Althoughlittle is known of the actual stnrcture of Mayan observatories, thedetail of the predictions is irnpressive. Furthermore, the ap-pearance of Venus in the sky signaled the beginning of ritualwarfare with a rival state, in which only the rulers did mockbattle, the loser being sacrificed to the gods by the priests of thewinning king.

Dr. Krupp next focused on the [nca and their capital of Cuzco,Peru. The city of Cuzco is laid out on axes related to the sun'sposition on the horizon at the surnrner and winter solstices.Naturally, the lnca observed the rising and setting of the sun andmoon to keep track of their calendar.

Astronomical alignrnents have also been identified in monu-ments constructed in North America. The Big Horn MedicineWheel in Wyorning, for instance, has ahgments indicating thesummer solstice and the rising of several bright stars.

The Pueblo peoples also practice sun watching to this day.That is to sitlr they note the position of the sun on the horizonfor the purpose of deterrnining planting tirnes, when variousrituals should be initiated, and the like. fiiere is evidence ofpre-Columbian Pueblo sun priests who were careful watchersof "sun daggers" intersecting rocky stelae, or projecting intodarkened caverns.

In concluding his lecture, Dr. Ifurpp noted that the astronornyof the New World represents an independent tradition that con-firms the value and the meaning that humans have always foundin the sky, in their agriculture, religion, and rituals.

The lecture was followed by a lively question and answerperiod, indicating the audience was both entertained and in-formed.

The Caracol, a Mayan Obsentatory, at Chichen ltza.(picture courtesy Ching Planetarium)

75' 2go. 2g5. 2go.

-NA view of Incan observation towers at Cuzro, where the sun

priests watched for the solstices. (Grffith Observatory, fro*Echoes of the Ancient Skies, DF. E. C. Krupp.)

Mayan Slyptrs deeply carued into stone. (picture courtesyChing Plarretarium.)

Measuring the Viewfrom Chews Ridge

Dr. Wm. Bruce Weaver

For the last few months, MIRA has been measuring the seeingat Anderson Peak and Chews Ridge for the United States NavalObservatory as the initial phase of a one year program. TheNavy is interested in comparing Monterey County sites withestablished northern Arizona sites for the placernent of a newinterferometric telescope.

"Seeing" is the apparent size of the irnage of a star whenviewed through a telescope. Since stars are too far away to showa visible disk through most telescopes, the apparent size of a starthat you observe through a telescope is due to the turbulence ofthe earth's atmosphere between you and the star. Seeing isusually expessed as an angular size such as arcseconds. Onearcsecond is equivalent to the apparent diameter of a dime at adistance of about a mile. Seeing at sorne randomly selected sitein the world is probably about 3 arcseconds on a good night,about two arcseconds at most observatories, and a little over onearcsecond at the best sites. The quality of the astronomy that oneis able to do is very sensitive to the seeing. For some measure-rnents, it may cost you four times as much time to make the sarne

measurement in two arcsecond seeing as it would in onearcsecond seeing. Of course, many research projects are pos-sible only in sub arcsecond seeing.

Continued

For More StargazingThe J. Frederick Ching Planetariurn at Hartnell College

offers a variety of enlightening events for the astronomicallyaware. Get the kids out of the video game rut and into arnulti- media show that will educate as *ell as entertain. Beloware the presentations lined up through May.

The Little StarThat Could

A cast of L9 characters plays a role in explaining stars,planets, the sun, and the moon. Recommended for ages 3- 12,45 rninutes. Saturday, March7 or March 14 11:00 am

Skywatchers of Ancient MexicoThis presentation cornbines astronomy, archeology, history,

and culture to tell a fascinating story of vinished civilizations:Maya, Toltec, and Aztec. Recornmended for ages 9 and older.t hour. Friday, May L or Saturday,May 2 7:00 pm

Starlit NightsThe Milky W.y, constellations, and fanciful legends are the

subjects of this exploration of the suiluner sky. The showconcludes with the Perseid Meteor Shower. Recommended forAges 6 and older. 45 minutes. Friday, May 15 or Saturday, May16 7:00pm

There is a charge for adrnission. For more information,contact Hartnell CoIIege Planetarium, 755- 6800 Andrew New-ton, Planetarium Director.

August/September: Chews Ridgeoj2

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6.oo 0.25 0.5o 0.75 1.00 1.25 1 .50 1.75 2.oo

eeing (arcseconds)

Relative frequency of seeing size at the Oliver Obseming Station for August and Sqtafier of this year. Half of th.g measured

seeing was liss ilun 0.7 arcseconds. Measurements in October ard Nwenrber arc not fulty arulwd,, but seem to confirm these

results. Thcse results place the MIM Observatory site among tlrc best in the twrld. (Figwe lrom USNO preliminary report).

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Measuring the View- continued frorn page 6

It has always been a central part of the MIRA dogma that theseeing on Chews Ridge is among the very best in the world. Nowwe have a chance to prove it with measurements taken with theIatest equipment. Several pictures a second are taken with an

L8- inch telescope equipped with an electronic sensor. Inter-comparisons of the star irnages provide an irnpartial measure-ment of the seeing. Eric Peterson and Glen Weaver are theobservers at Chews Ridge and Anderson Peak, respectively.

Well, how good is the seeing at MIRA? The figure shows theresults frorn the first two months of observations: August andSeptember. The results are spectacular! Half of the time theseeing was better than 7/lO of an arcsecond. A lot of the imageswere about L/2 an arcsecond, unheard of at rnost observatoriesand rarely seen at even the best sites. Seeing below 4/LOarcsecond was observed on a couple nights. This supports the(hardly impartial) claims of some MIRA observers who havereported seeing as low as l/4 arcsecond. Results from theOctober session confirrn these results.

Besides general boasting rights as one of the best sites in theworld, do these measures have any practical applications forMIRA? Absolutely. For example, we are working withastronorners at the University of Rochester to obtain funding fora long term monitoring of the graviational lens known as

Einstein's Cross. This is an astronornical hot topic; it was one ofthe first objecls photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.Four images of the sarne quasar are formed by the gravity of an

intervening galary. Fluctuations in the brightness of the fourirnages reveals intirnate details about the quasar and the inter-vening galaxy. But the typical seperation of the images is onlyabout one arcsecond so only observatories at the best sites can

successfully resolve them. However, these observatories arecommitted to many short term projects and cannot handle a longterm project such as this. These seeing measurements show thatMIRA is an ideal site to measure the light fluctuations frorn thisexciting celestial object.

It's great to have systematic data to confirrn the observationsmade in the early 1970s. Now to think of other research projectsthat take full advantage of this superb observing site.

Lightning close to the Oliver Observing Station. The nert fimeyouvffit thc Observatory, lmk for the lighning spikes spread alongthe raof, and the heauy copper cable that runs into the growtd arotatd the building. Careful anention was given to protecting thc

d.elicate electronics from awe-inspiring events such as these. (MIM Staff Photo)

MIRA Board of Directors

IGi Woehler, ChairmanBruce Weaver, PresidentCraig Chester, SecretaryBruce Dunlap, TreasurerPhilip CardeiroLynne ChesterPatti ComptonGordon Jones

Gary LoveAlbert MervilleHazel Ross

Friends of MIRA Steering Committee

Dennis Mar, Chairman Ftorence MeekerSteve Abbtt Nancy NortonJosephine Crawford Atma WoodBill DenholmAntonia Fiske Tom t"ogan, AdministratorVince Halter Anne Cathey, Newsletter Editor

Edan Denholm, Office VolunteerAnsley Hill Edan IStewart Hobson Lyle Herschlag, Office VolunteerSherri l-atone Florence Meeker, Office VolunteerTerry McNelley

Welcome to New Friends

Charlotte P. AndersonJames and Ferol CatheyMs. Lauren OsbornDr. Camitle TempletonMs. Vicki Warner

An engraved stele depicts various deities in the Moyqn cosmos.

(photo courtesy of Ching Planetarium)

I would lite to become a FNEND OF MIM and enclbserny memberchip donotion of $ .. . In additiorlI am making a special gtft of $-

lm.N Associates Circle5N.00 ,4ssociate250.N PatonlN.N Sustaining50.00 Sponsor3A.N Memberl0.N Sudent

MIRA welcomes corporate and business membets.Contributions are tax deductible as allowed by la*.

Name

Phone Zip

MONTEREY INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY9OO MAJOR SHERMAN I-ANE

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA 93940

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 189

MONTEREY, CA 93940