www.bintel.com.au

Published monthly byThe Binocular and Telescope Shop55 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000

DECEMBER 2004 * Volume 234 www.bintel.com.au

Published monthly since 1985 byThe Binocular and Telescope Shop55 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Mel meets French statue .............2Questions and some answers..... 2Star Map for December ...............3Mick ‘n Don ..................................4

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THE SUN’S UNUSUAL ACTIVITY THIS YEARTHE SUN’S UNUSUAL ACTIVITY THIS YEARTHE SUN’S UNUSUAL ACTIVITY THIS YEARTHE SUN’S UNUSUAL ACTIVITY THIS YEARTHE SUN’S UNUSUAL ACTIVITY THIS YEAR

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SOLAR ACTIONSOLAR ACTIONSOLAR ACTIONSOLAR ACTIONSOLAR ACTION

A FILAMENT ERUPTSA FILAMENT ERUPTSA FILAMENT ERUPTSA FILAMENT ERUPTSA FILAMENT ERUPTS with Harry Robertswith Harry Robertswith Harry Robertswith Harry Robertswith Harry Robertsobserving the Sunobserving the Sunobserving the Sunobserving the Sunobserving the Sun

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Three times this year there have been days with no observed sunspots on the surface of our star. Sunspots may be seen (with proper filters on atelescope) as dark spots surrounded by shadowy regions on the Sun’s surface. On one day in January and again for two days in mid-October, no sunspotswere detected.Physicist David Hathaway of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre has noted that the solar minimum is approaching sooner than expected. The Sun’sactivity is usually described as an eleven year cycle, although this can vary in length. The time of maximum solar activity and minimum solar activity,generally called Solar Max amd Solar Min occur about five to six years apart. When maximum activity is occurring the Sun is peppered with sunspots, solarflares erupt above the surface and the Sun ejects vast clouds of charged gas outwards ito space. Solar observers enjoy this period of increased activity withthe bonus of the likelihood of seeing flares and auroras.

Auroras may well cause power outages in high latitudes, malfunctions in satellites, and interruptions to radio broadcasts. High flying aircraft may beinstructed to fly at lower altitudes when flares occur. The Sun is monitored around the world twenty four hours a day.The solar cycles are not precisely 11 years long as mentioned above. They vary from nine years to about fourteen years. There is no certain way of figuringahead of time whether we will have a short or long cycle. Physicists David Hathaway and Bob Wilson at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center believethey have found a way to predict the date of the next solar minimum. Data from the last eight solar cycles have been examined and it was found that the SolarMinimum follows two years and ten months after the first day recorded without sunspots. If these figures are correct the next Solar Minimum will be in 2006.That is about a year earlier than expected.

Hydrogen Alpha users oftenwitness the weird and the wonderful.Such was the case on the 22nd of Oc-tober. Morning observations showedthat a big prominence had appearedat the Sun’s eastern limb (Fig 1).

A prominence is created whenmatter (ionised hydrogen) collects atthe boundary between unlikepolarities on the Sun’s chromosphere(Fig. 2). Where the unlike fields“rub” together the right conditionsexit for material to slowly collect ina long, stable, serpentine “sausage”called a filament. A typical large fila-ment might be 50,000 km high,10,000 km wide, and stretch acrossthe Sun for 500,000km; they are im-pressive “beasts”. Seen from above,filaments appear as long black shapesstretching across the Sun’s disc in awavy pattern. When a filament isseen side-on, at the Sun’s limb, thefilament is then (confusingly) calleda prominence. When at the limb afilament’s height can be accuratelymeasured. The word “prominence”can be applied to any material seenprojected against the blackness ofspace at the limb, and includes othersolar ejecta, in addition to filaments.

There are in fact two spe-cies of filament: the very long QuietRegion Filaments (QRF), and theshorter Active Region Filaments(ARF) only found closely involvedwith sunspot groups (Active regions,AR’s). QRF’s are usually long livedsolar phenomena, but as H-alpha re-searcher Prof. Harold Zirin put it inthe 1980’s : “Virtually every promi-nence that rises above 50,000 km willerupt in 48 hours.”1

The narrow space formedbetween the unlike polarities is analo-gous to the Lagragian points inEarth’s orbit, in that material can col-lect there without unbalanced forcestearing it apart. The stronger andmore stable the fields, the greater, andhigher, the filament grows. Zirin as-sures us that the Sun “has troubleholding them down.”2 .

When the tall prominence(Fig 1) appeared, the first task wasto measure its height: I calculated itover 80,000 km at 22:30 UT on the22nd. It was therefore well overZirin’s Limit, and the detached north-ern end meant that perhaps the ejec-tion was already underway albeitfairly slowly.

With all the dash of adrunken snail the prominence pro-ceeded to “lift off.” By 02:54 (23october, about 4 hours later) I notedit “unstable and rising”. By 05:00 ithad more than doubled its initialheight, and a long thin tendrilstretched north to the site of sunspotgroup AR 690. The eruption nowsped up, and by 06:15 it had ex-panded hugely in both width andheight, attaining a height of ~400,000km, though now quite faint (Fig 3).

At 400,000 km some of thehuge loop of material was clearlybeing drawn back to the Sun by grav-ity. Calculation gave the rate of ejec-tion as a very leisurely 20 km persecond, well under the 618 km/secsolar escape velocity3 and I assumeall the ejecta, now too faint to see inH-alpha, fell back onto the Sun.Overall it was a fine example of aQRF ejection, and all part of theweird and wonderful world of hydro-gen alpha.1 Zirin, H. “Astrophysics of the Sun”.Cambridge Uni Press. P267.2 Ibid.3 Phillips, K. “Guide to the Sun”Cambridge Uni Press. P188.

Harry Roberts is a keen Sydneyamateur astronomer with a greatinterest in solar observation.

Meade Instruments andCoronado Technology Group havesigned a deal that sees Meade buyingthe solar telescope and filtermanufacturer.

Coronado is a leadingmanufacturer of H-Alpha solar filterswhich are used to observe the Sun’ssurface and atmosphere. Thesehighly specialised and difficult-to-manufacture filters are made undercarefully controlled conditions atCoronado’s small factory in Tucson,Arizona.

Coronado manufacturesabout seven hundred solar scopes andfilters each month and is hard-pressedto keep up with expanding world-wide demand. It is understood thatCoronado sees advantages in beingallied to Meade as that company hasvery highly sophisticated productionfacilities in California and staff whoare able to streamline production forgreater efficiency. It may well be thatMeade develops a series of filtersystems designed precisely for theirown range of Schmidt Cassegrainand Maksutov Cassegrain telescopes.

There is currently nointention to remove production fromArizona and relocate it to Meade’shuge facilities in California. Thetwenty five staff at Coronado willcontinue production of filters andtelescopes at the present factory at thecurrent time.

Preparing filters at Coronado’s factory.

The Editor of The NIGHT SKYtogether with the staff of The Binocular and Telescope Shop

would like to wish all our readers and customersa Very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year!

The Road Transport Authority hasbeen at it again! With scant regardfor surrounding residents feelings,with no thought to the waste of coal-sourced power, they are proposingto erect a giant light tower in the westof Sydney. To make objectorsashamed to complain they are onceagain covering the light pollutingmonster (and themselves) in apatriotic cloak. Well, I for one thinkthey are a bunch of twerps. Anybodywho thinks that the best way toremember the legendary Light Horsesoldiers is to put up an illuminated,red-painted, phallic symbol at ahighway crossroads needs a realitycheck! Or is it simply a way ofthumbing their noses at societybecause they can. See more page 2.

Things should start livening up in theastronomical publishing area. Sky &Telescope’s Australian editionshould be on the newsagents’ shelvesby now. Sky & Space’s currentexcellent issue will have to followup with a blinder in January if theyare to stay the course. Choices...choices!

I received an anonymous letterregarding what I said aboutcreationism in last month’s issue ofNIGHT SKY. The letter was well-reasoned and sensible... but lackeda writer’s name. Pity, it ended up inthe circular filing cabinet.

Do we hear rumours that the greatJohn Dobson is to visit these shoresagain? We do, we do! (hear rumours,that is.) If he comes and you can getthe chance to meet him, do so. It’snot too often that you get the chanceto meet a real legend. We’ll keep youposted.

Amateur astronomers in Sydney aregearing up for their annualChristmas dinners just likeeverybody else. One club is askingtheir members to come along dressedas their “favourite astronomicalobject”. Did they think this onethrough? How do you dress as anebula? What about a Black Hole?Does a comet slowly melt? How doyou dress to represent certainplanets? Hmmm...

I’d like to take this opportunity andrun away with it to a tropical island.No, not really! But I will take thisopportunity to offer all long-suffering readers of Night Sky aMerry Christmasand A PeacefulNew Year!May 2005 be abetter, safer andhappier year in somany ways!

The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 55 York Street, Sydney. Tel: 02 9262 1344 web: www.bintel.com.auDecember 2004 * Volume 234 * Page 2

MEL PUTS ON THE ACCENT AND PICKS UPMEL PUTS ON THE ACCENT AND PICKS UPMEL PUTS ON THE ACCENT AND PICKS UPMEL PUTS ON THE ACCENT AND PICKS UPMEL PUTS ON THE ACCENT AND PICKS UPAN INTERESTING FRENCH SCULPTORAN INTERESTING FRENCH SCULPTORAN INTERESTING FRENCH SCULPTORAN INTERESTING FRENCH SCULPTORAN INTERESTING FRENCH SCULPTOR

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!STEVE MASSEY AT BINTEL

OH NO, THE IDIOTSOH NO, THE IDIOTSOH NO, THE IDIOTSOH NO, THE IDIOTSOH NO, THE IDIOTSARE AT IT AGAIN!ARE AT IT AGAIN!ARE AT IT AGAIN!ARE AT IT AGAIN!ARE AT IT AGAIN!

RTA CONS RSL ONCE AGAINRTA CONS RSL ONCE AGAINRTA CONS RSL ONCE AGAINRTA CONS RSL ONCE AGAINRTA CONS RSL ONCE AGAIN

BAD DESIGN YET AGAINBAD DESIGN YET AGAINBAD DESIGN YET AGAINBAD DESIGN YET AGAINBAD DESIGN YET AGAIN

NOVAK DIES

GARDNER DIES

NGC 252

Detail in NGC 252

High in thesouthern Decembersky you’ll find thec o n s t e l l a t i o nSculptor, whichwas created by theFrench astronomerAbbé Nicolas deLacaille in 1752. Itwas originallynamed L’Atelier duSculpteur – thes c u l p t o r ’ sworkshop andmany Latinvariations of thisname appear on 19th century starmaps. Sculptor contains the southernpole of the Milky Way, which is 90°from the plane of our Galaxy. Whenwe look in the direction of Sculptorwe can see many faint galaxies,unobstructed by the stars, gas anddust of the plane of the Milky Way.Amongst these faint galaxies is amember of our Local Group, theSculptor dwarf, but before you gopeering down your nearest largeaperture telescope, this galaxy canonly be seen in long exposurephotographs on very largetelescopes.

The stars that make upSculptor are relatively faint, withAlpha Sculptoris shining atmagnitude 4.3, but there are a fewworth a good look:Epsilon (εεεεε) Sculptoris is a binarysystem with the main star having amagnitude of 5.3 and its companion8.6, making it visible in smallaperture telescopes. The stars havean orbital period of over 1,000 yearsand this system lies 89 light yearsfrom us.Kappa1 (κκκκκ) Sculptoris is a closebinary star of magnitudes 6.1 and 6.2.These yellow stars lie about 224 lightyears away and a telescope with anaperture of 10cm or greater is neededto clearly resolve this pair.

Dear Night Sky,I am not sure if this is the rightaddress to be writing to, but well,here goes...In your November issue of the NightSky magazine, in the Mick & Doncomic, Mick said that he would liketo meet this Chance bloke someday.Well, my name is Chance... and I ama busy young man (at 14) but I canspare the two minutes to write thisemail.And yes, I have been blamed for alot of very interesting stuff.Yours sincerely,Chance Bruening (via email)

Dear Chance,No doubt both Mick and Don willreply to you at your email addressdirectly. I might take this opportunityto mention that both are actuallyreasonably intelligent people, despiterumours to the contrary. The is astrong rumour that Mick was used byHunter S. Thompson as the maincharacter in his epic book “Fear andLoathing in Las Vegas”. Mick deniesthis saying; “Urrhh, Hunter S is awhacked out dope fiend. I’m intoastronomy, not ether.” Anautographed photo of the pair will besent to Chance. Editor.

Dear Sir,Last month you had an interestingarticle about Ramadan. You wrotethat it marks the end of the ‘ninthmonth of the Muslim calendar’. Howis the Christian period of Eastercalculated? I have read confusingways of doing this. Who decideswhen Easter falls?Ron FothergillDear Ron,It’s not too difficult to calculate thetiming of Easter if you have a moonphase calculator. Easter Sunday is thefirst Sunday after the first full moonafter the Autumn equinox (Spring inthe Northern Hemisphere). Theequinox falls around March 20 butthe liturgical rules for Easter specifyMarch 21 as the date for thecalculation. So it is possible forEaster Sunday to be as early as March22 or as late as April 25. The Equinoxcan be described as the moment thatthe Sun crosses the celestial equator.

Dear Editor,Why is the map in Night Skyreversed? I always thought that Eastis to the right of North and West is toits left. Your map shows the opposite.Why?Confused reader

Dear Confused Reader,We read most books (and maps) bylooking down at them. In that caseyour supposition would be correct.However, the sky is above us. Youhold the map up over your head asshown in the illustration above right.Face South, hold the map over yourhead. The bottom of the map showsSouth, the left side shows East. Themiddle of the map is directlyoverhead. Curious onlookers maythink you’ve lost your marbles ... notthe stars, so do this privately with noaudience. Assuming you try this inthe dark, a red coloured torch willhelp you see the map without ruiningyour night vision.

R Sculptoris is a semi-regular

variable star that ranges in magnitudefrom 5.8 to 7.7 over a period of aboutone year. It’s deep-red colour makesthis star quite distinctive and it iswithin the reach of binoculars andsmall aperture telescopes.S Sculptoris is another variable star.It is a red giant, Mira type variablethat ranges from magnitude 5.5 to13.6 over a period of a year. At itsbrightest it is well within the reachof binoculars and small aperturetelescopes, however as it dims amedium to large aperture telescopewould be required.

While Sculptor has someinteresting stars, it is best known forits galaxies, many of which makewonderful telescope objects:NGC 253 is the jewel of Sculptor. AMag 7, nearly edge-on spiral galaxy,it is nearly half a degree long andwhile it can be picked up inbinocular, an aperture of at least100mm is required to make out thesmudge of the spiral arms. A mediumaperture telescope will start toresolve detail in the spiral arms andthe dark dust lanes in the arms,especially on the western side of thegalaxy. There are 3 distinct stars thatsurround the galaxy, which is oftenreferred to as the Silver Coin galaxy.NGC 253 lies about 9 million lightyears away.

NGC 55 is a Mag 8 spiral galaxy.Like NGC 253 it is nearly edge-on.One half of the galaxy (western side)is brighter than the other. Mediumaperture telescopes show more detailin the spiral arms and a brighter,elongated central region. An OxygenIII filter will reveal three brightHydrogen II regions, just visible ashazy spots near the centre of thegalaxy.NGC 288 is an unusual, irregulargroup of stars, often described as anopen-type globular cluster, with asmall central condensation. A 10cmaperture telescope will show faintstars amongst the haze of the cluster.

ESO 350-G40 is best knownas the Cartwheel Galaxy and wasphotographed by Hubble SpaceTelescope in 1995. It is a small ringgalaxy, with faint spoke-like featuresthat radiate from a bright nucleus.The Cartwheel has 2 companiongalaxies, one of which is the causeof the amazing appearance of thisgalaxy. This object is very faint eventhrough a 30cm aperture telescopeand the companion galaxies arebarely visible on a good night. Anaperture of 40cm reveals a hint of theouter ring with a small nucleus. TheCartwheel is about 500 million lightyears away.

Now that the warm weatheris here, spend a few nights huntingdown a few marvelous faint fuzziesthis summer. Oh and don’t forget tolook out for that yearly, one-night-in-December phenomenon - Santaand his reindeer of course! Seasons Greetings to all! Mel.

Sydney based author Steve Masseywill be putting in an appearance atThe Binocular and Telescope Shopon Thursday, 16 December at 5pmto sign his latest book, “ExploringThe Moon”.This is Steve’s third book in almostas many years; his first book VideoAstronomy was released in 2000 asa Sky & Telescope observers guide.His second book “The Night Sky”, aguide to observing the Sun, Moonand planets was published last year.Steve has been a contributing authorto numerous astronomy magazines,books and periodicals for some years.Meet Steve at the B & T Shop!

Steve’s latestbook is acomprehensivea n dp rac t i ca lintroductoryguide toour nearestneighbour, the Moon, It’spacked with useful information, tips,and suggestions. There are sectionson the Moon’s amazing effects on theEarth as well as excellent maps, andclear advice on how to photographand video the Moon. This 224 pagebook is a very reasonable $19.95 andshould make an excellent gift.

The RTA is at it again! Not satisfiedwith their monument to themselvesat Glebe Island in the inner west ofSydney, they are going to light up atraffic interchange at Eastern Creek.With cynicism bordering on theabsurd they have figured that if theywrap themselves in the mantle ofpatriotism they can get away with ahuge waste of electricity, light up thenight sky and show off their latesttoy. Forget the roads, it’s the lightshow that counts!

Roads Minister Carl Scullyannounced that a fifty five metre redtower would be built at the junctionof the M4 and the new Westlink M7motorway. This is proudly claimedto be the biggest intersection of itstype in Australia. Said Scully, ”Thetower will feature reflected lightwhich splashes back onto theinterchange and will be visible up totwo kilometres away.”. In a displayof cynicism almost as gross as theMinister’s, former RSL NSW branchpresident Mr. Rusty Priest apparentlysaid that the local residents would getused to the light.“We went through that with theAnzac Bridge. After the furore diesdown they’ll continue to look at thestars.” he is reported as saying in theBlacktown Advocate.Clearly, Mr Priest hasn’t had hisbackyard or bedroom windowsinvaded at night by unwelcome (andprobably illegal) light spilling fromfreeways and bridges. Otherwise hewouldn’t make such a thoughtlessremark... or would he?

The Anzac bridge in the city is aclassic case of bad lighting design.Because of lack of intelligent design,the RTA placed all the deck lightingalong one side. The result is that thelights are angled at forty five degreesand flare into approaching drivers’eyes, causing eye strain, especiallyin rainy weather. The RTA managedto have the bridge bathed in massivebanks of floodlights. The glare wouldhave been much worse if it hadn’tbeen for an outcry about lightpollution and wasted electricity fromlocal citizens and even from SidingSpring Observatory.The designers of the lighting on theAnzac Bridge flagrantly thumbedtheir noses at the lighting ANO’sbecause they can. The RTA caneffectively do as it pleases. It appearsto be above the law.The monstrous light tower slated forthe M4-M7-Wallgrove Roadinterchange is to be erected tocommemorate the historical fact that“near this site between the warsservicemen were barracked andtrained.” according to Mr. Priest,who was referred to as “one of thiscountry’s icons” by Minister Scully.Mr. Priest enlisted in 1945 and servedwith the Occupation Forces in Japanand then for a further twenty oddyears in the Army. He then fought formany years to assist returnedservicemen to achieve their rights asa stalwart in the RSL.Rather than the RTA producing tackylighting displays around the state tocommemorate our gallantservicemen and women MinisterScully should donate the monies tothe Education Department to ensurethat our proud military history istaught properly to the younggeneration. Wouldn’t that be muchbetter than naming some minorroadworks or street lighting after ourmilitary heroes? Mike Smith

A quiet man who manufactured highquality telescope components foramateur astronomers around theworld, Ken Novak died recently inhis Wisconsin home in the USA.Novak was educated at DePaulUniversity in Chicago where hegained an interst in astronomy. Whenhe returned to his home town ofLadysmith he set up a business tosupply parts to amateur astronomers.His designs were well-thought outand assembled with precision.The Binocular and Telescope Shopbegan importing Novak telescopeparts fifteen years ago. In all thoseyears we were only once ever ableto get Mr. Novak to speak a fullsentence. He would rarely say muchmore than “Yes.” or “No.”, or “Twoweeks.” when asked for a deliverydate. He was an original.

Max Gardiner, a member of theAstronomical Society of NSW diedrecently after a long battle withcancer.Max was a very successfulbusinesman who used his abilities toassist the ASNSW to re-organize itsoperations. He was also anoutstanding advocate for cancersufferers. He was awarded theAustralia Medal for his efforts in thatarea. Amateur astronomers in NSWwill miss the incisive mind andaction-oriented man that was Max.

ι

The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 55 York Street, Sydney. Tel: 02 9262 1344 web: www.bintel.com.auDecember 2004 * Volume 234 * Page 3

The Moon’s appearance for themonth of December is shown in thismanner:

5th Last Quarter

12th New Moon

13th Perigee

19th First Quarter

27th Full Moon

28th Moon at Apogee

The Moon was once thought to haveseas, The flat lava plains looked likeseas to observers on the Earth, hencethe name ‘mare’ or ‘sea’ in Latin. Theinvention of telescopes changed that!

Saturn rises just after9pm in the East. Look forit around 11pm in the

North East in line with twins Castorand Pollux in Gemini.

.Uranus is in Aquariuslow in the western sky.Difficult to find.

Neptune is also in theWest. Visually appearsas a faint blue-green dotin telescopes. Sets

around 9pm. Not worth the effort.

Pluto is not happy, Jan.Being as faint as it is

(well beyond what you can see inyour home telescope) Pluto dosn’tappreciate extra light pollution in thesky. Turn off the lights, turn on theastronomy!

Mercury is in theevening sky but heading

towards the setting Sun. It will soonbe in conjunction.

Venus rises around3.30am. First it plays

footsies with Mars and later in themonth Mercury joins it.

Mars is rising about 3am.and moves into Scorpius.

where it dabbles with Venus early inthe month. The Moon is just above

Mars on the 10th.

Jupiter rises around1.30am and is king of the

north-eastern skies until dawn. Itmakes a great sight. To its right isSpica in Virgo. Worth an early rise.

The Small Magellanic Galaxyis high in the southern sky at this timeof the year. Look for it (away fromcity sky glow) directly South and tothe right of the Large MagellanicGalaxy.Under good conditions it is clearlyvisible to the naked eye. To its right,(at this time of the year) is theinteresting cluster of stars 47 Tuc,one of the best globulars in the sky.Binocular time! Have a butcher’s!

mid-evening mid December 2004

you can now shop on-line at www.bintelshop.com.au for astronomical telescopes

AAO

Comet Linear (K4) should bevisible to experienced observers asit moves from Centaurus throughVela and Carina. Brightnessestimates put it at about magnitude11 which is extremely faint, even inlarge scopes.Comet Linear (T7) is now risingbefore midnight and will be in Craterabove Corvus. It should be similarlyfaint and difficult to find.Meteor showers are sometimes moreinteresting. This month the bestshower (theoretically at least) is theGeminid. Visible in the week beforethe middle of the month, this showercan produce up to a good, brightmeteor per minute. Wait till aftermidnight and look in the north-eastabout twenty or thirty degrees abovethe horizon. Best nights should bearound the “First Day of Christmas”

The Binocular and Telescope Shop, 55 York Street, Sydney. Tel: 02 9262 1344 web: www.bintel.com.au

Night Sky is published monthly byThe Binocular and Telescope Shop Pty Ltd

55 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000.Tel: (02) 9262 1344 Fax: (02) 9262 1884

Mike Smith Editor.Contributions are welcome.

Printed by Omega Creative Communications4 Campbell Street, Artarmon NSW 2064.

This newsletter is available at The Binocular andTelescope Shop and at many astronomical societymeetings and astronomy centres around Australia.Night Sky is delivered monthly to any address in

Australia for $12.00 per year.

December 2004 * Volume 234 * Page 4

Bouncy Spring Quiz

QUIZ

Macarthur Astronomical Society Inc: NSW☎ (02) 4627 1424 Ian Cook.skyview@zipworld.com.au.Sutherland Astronomical Society Inc: NSW☎ (02)9832 4082 Brett McMillan.www.sasi.net.auNorthern Sydney Astronomical Society Inc:☎ David (02) 9876 6750 www.nsas.ozau.netBritish Astronomical Association (NSW)☎ 9398 9705 E. Cocking www.baansw.asn.auThe Astronomical Society of NSW.☎ (02) 4572 1568. Adrian Saw. www.asnsw.comThe Western Sydney Amateur Astro Group Inc☎ Dave Gault (02) 4754 4351www4.tpgi.com.au/users/wsaagThe Hawkesbury Astronomical Society: NSW☎ (02) 4572 1568 Adrian Saw .The Wollongong Astronomy Club. NSW☎ (02) 4261 9369 Paul BrownThe Illawarra Astronomical Society: NSW☎ (02) 4276 3199 Peter McKinnonShoalhaven Astronomers: South Coast NSW☎ (02) 4423 2255 Jack Apfelbaum www.shoal.net.au~astronomy/index.htmlThe Astronomical Society of the Hunter: NSW☎ (02) 4937 4664 Col Mayburycolmay@kooee.com.auNewcastle Astronomical Society: NSW☎ (02) 4950 0725 Allan Meehanwww.nas.org.auCentral West Astronomical Society, NSWJohn Sarkissian: john.sarkissian@csiro.au.Port Macquarie Astronomical Association NSW☎ (02) 6583 1933 Jim Daniels.Grafton Astronomical Society, NSW☎ (02) 6642 4130 Jeff AshendenBallaarat Astronomical Society: Vic☎ (03) 5332 7526 John Hastie http://observatory.ballarat.netBendigo District Astronomical SocietyPO Box 164 Bendigo Vic 3552 . Barry McPheeAstronomical Society of Victoria Inc☎ (03) 9888 7130. Linda Mockridgewww.asv.org.auLatrobe Valley Astronomical Society Vic☎ (03) 5174 6453 home.vicnet.net.au/~lvasAstronomical Society of Geelong, Vic☎ 0407 345 070 Frank Baker for details.http://members.optushome.com.au/asogMornington Peninsula Astronomical Society,☎ 0419 253 252 Richard Pollard for details.Astronomical Society of Melbourne, Vic.☎ 0412 - 318 125 Chris Ellisngc4755@i.net.au Canberra Astronomical Society: ACT☎ (02) 6288 7394 Diane Purcell.Brisbane Astronomical Society: Qld☎ (07) 3321 8511 Darryl Mitchellwww.bas.asn.auwww.ozemail.com.au/~nwilliams/basSouthern Astronomical Society:Qld☎ (07)5537 3852 Kevin Dixon.www.sas.org.auAstronomical Association of Queensland, Qld☎ Peter Hall (07) 3378 1173 www.aaq.org.auSouth East Queensland Astronomical Society,☎ (07) 3844 7904 Dave Larkin.www.powerup.com.au/~mcerlean/index.htmlIngham Amateur Astronomers Club☎ (07) 4776 5773 Tracey Castles.Bundaberg Astronomical Soc. Qld☎ (07) 4159 7232 www.interwox.com.auRedlands Astronomical Society Qld☎ (07) 3822 5545 Ross SpenceBundy Skywatchers (South-Central Qld)☎ (07) 4159 9674 Karlene GalwayAstronomical Society of South Australia, SA☎ (08) 8338 1231 Tony Beresford.www.assa.org.auAstronomical Society of Tasmania, Tas☎ (03) 6244 3476 Laurie Priest.www.ast.n3.netAstronomical Society of Alice Springs N.T.☎ (08) 8952 9817 Annette GreenDarwin Astronomy Group NT☎ (08) 8945 9450 Phillip SmithGove Amateur Astronomers, NT ☎ 0417 601 490 Ian Maclean for information.Astronomical Society of Western Australia, WA(now incorporating Murdoch AstronomicalSociety) http://aswa.info☎ (08) 9299 6347 Val Semmler.Astronomical Society of The South-West, W.A. ☎ (08) 9721 1586 Phil Smith.

His Holy Wholiness presents theanswers to his Bouncy Spring Quiz.(1) vertically along the North-Southmeridian.(2) Olympus Mons on Mars.(3) A large telescope in Ireland.(4) Alvan Clark(5) Table Mountain(6) the universe looks the same fromanywhere.(7) lead.(8) Jilin, Manchuria.(9) Jupiter’s moon Lysithea.(10) M-class.(11) 31mm(12) Lacerta(13) Dumbell(14) Maurice Loewy.(15) about 380kg(16) Ptolemy(17) 1995(18) Tadpole galaxy.(19) Transient Lunar PhenomenaTwo replies stood out from thecrowd, that from Alan Thomas andthat from Kelly Belford, who triedto intimidate the good professor byshowing that her sources ofinformation were from books as wellas the internet. Good to seesomebody can still read out there!Bill Liva in Adelaide really needs totry a little harder. His envelope wasmainly stuffed with banknotes tomake up for lack of precision in hisanswers. C’mon Bill, the Leviathanof Parsontown was not the parson’swife ... and the photograph you sentwas obviously re-touched usingPhotoshop ... wasn’t it?Now, while His CompleteContiguousness forgot to mention aprize, he hasn’t forgotten the actualprize itself. The prize was supposedto be .... and still is a copy of theexcellent production “Moon PhaseMaps” with images by David Malinand Akira Fuji and produced byAstrovisuals of Victoria.Not being game to split the three bestentries His Supine Splendidity hasawarded a copy each to Kelly, Billand Alan.Please get ready for next month’smonumental Swinging SummerQuiz, when once again we stretch thegrey matter just that bit further thanis safe for good health.

Hey Don,are we gonna bein the Christmas

Nativity playat your daughter’s

school again thisyear?

If you’d like your Society included, pleasecontact Mike Smith at (02) 9262 1344 ormike@bintel.com.au with information. We’llput your details in the above list.

AND WHO WERE THOSE STRANGE PAGANS?

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WHAT’S NEWWHAT’S NEWWHAT’S NEWWHAT’S NEWWHAT’S NEW

WHERE WAS THAT STRANGE PAGAN TEMPLE?

AURORA AUSTRALIS SIGHTEDAURORA AUSTRALIS SIGHTEDAURORA AUSTRALIS SIGHTEDAURORA AUSTRALIS SIGHTEDAURORA AUSTRALIS SIGHTED

Cripes!I’ll miss

gettindressedup as a

wise manan singin’hymns. I

alwaysenjoyed

that.

Mick, that’s all in the past.We’re now politically

correct. In a multi-culturalsociety we can’t

afford to hurtanybody’s

feelings, sowe can’t call it

Christmasanymore.

Nah, I’llnever tellyou that!

HappyHolidaySeason Mick!

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Next you’ll be tellin’ me thatSanta isn’t real.

Ed: We received a couple of answers to last month’s questions.The most interesting was from Peter Neilson ofDubbo. Peter just happens to be the owner of the Dubbo Observatory, where the above photos were taken. Peterdidn’t say so, but I believe that the dark cape lying at the entrance of the Tardis was probably owned by a certain Jediknight who did a monumental flit when struck with a light sabre.... or have I got my science fiction in the wronggalaxy? Anyway, Peter wins the copy of Astronomy 2005 even though his ‘stone replica’ appears to be made bypouring concrete into a trough dug in the ground. But I digress .... here is Peter’s letter.To Professor ShatteriniRe: Where is this strange pagan temple? etc etc:That was a New Zealand shearing shed in the Wairapapa just north of Wellington.It is called the Stonehenge Aotearoe (Land of the Long White Cloud). It has been built by the Phoenix AstronomicalSociety. Strange that Night Sky just happened to feature the constellation of Phoenix in November!However, our little cousins to the east are obviously in awe at the one tenth model of the original Stonehenge nearingcompletion at Dubbo Observatory.

This one is made from stone, the heel stone weighing in at 500kgs!~ What the Kiwi’s failed to recognize is that to make a successful replica for southern latitudes (instead of the smooth insipid structure you picture) is that if the Doctor is not around to give a few clues, then your efforts are wasted.

Cheers, Peter NeilsonEd: Before we receive a friendly visit from the Kiwi Prime Minister or secondrow cultural representatives of the All Blacks we’ll take this opportunity ofinviting the New Zealand astronomical society in question to send us the latestphotos of their creation. I did hear rumours that it was going to be ‘antiqued’ tomake it look old. If they can do ‘The Ring’ movies this should be a doddle!

Imag

es ta

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Tom Luttrell