Greetings, Astrophiles!
MARCH MEETING
Don't let this month's meeting slip up on you. It falls on Friday, March 1, at 8:00pm, in room
302 of the aerospace building. Hope to see everyone there. We'll have lots to talk about since
we missed the meeting last month because of the extreme cold and hazardous driving conditions.
Thanks to Rhon (and Joyce) for getting the word of the meeting postponement out to everyone.
The big news is still comet Hyakutake (Japanese for "100 Warriors"). Reports indicate that the
comet, 1996 B2 is living up to expectations. It's still in Libra now but will really start to move
by the middle of March. The reason for lingering in Libra is that it's headed *almost* directly
toward earth right now. Not to worry though; while it will pass nearly as close as
IRAS-Araki-Alcock in the early eighties, it will NOT hit earth as you may have seen in the
supermarket tabloids.
Let's try to have a Hyakutake star party at Holley's field on Saturday, March 16th. We may also
want to think about a second star party this month; Saturday, March 23rd will have only a
four-day-old moon and Hyakutake will be just days before it's cresendo. We can discuss this at
the meeting. Many of us will probably want to take photographs of the comet. Perhaps we can
prevail on Robert to give us some pointers at the meeting.
ASTROPHOTO SCANNING - FREE!
Speaking of astrophotography, the following was stolen from FidoNet's Astronomy echo:
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BBS: StarScan (sm) Montgomery Al (334)-279-7313
Date: 02-07-96 (13:41) Number: 143
From: CARL WILSON Refer#: NONE
To: ** ALL ** Recvd: NO
Subj: Re: Amateur Astrophotos Conf: (43) Astronomy
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If you are an Astrophotographer and would like to have your pictures scanned to a JPG or GIF
file, please read on.
Simply mail us a copy of your astrophotos with the following information written on the back:
Your Name:
Email Address:
Name of Object:
When taken:
Equipment Used:
Misc Comments:
File Name you would like your pics scanned to: ( ex: M101.JPG, etc)
We will then scan your astrophotos and send the file to you via email
^^^^^
If you want us to return your photos, please enclose a S.A.S.E and we will mail them back to
you. Or, simply make copies of your photos to send to us.
This service is provided FREE by Cybernaut Central at 405-357-2473.
^^^ ^^^ ^^^^
Mail Photos To:
Cybernaut Central
c/o Carl Wilson
103 SW 68th St
Lawton, Ok 73505
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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* Origin: Cybernaut Central - (405)357-2473 - Lawton, Ok (1:385/6)
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DAVID LEVY LECTURES AT AUBURN
And, speaking of comets, amateur astronomy's most famous comet guy, David Levy, gave a lecture on
the A.U. campus back on February 6. I think Robert was the sole representative from AAS to attend,
but, fortunately for the rest of us, Robert video taped the lecture and will share it with us at
the meeting.
NEW E-NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBER
103235.1473@compuserve.com, AKA Keith Hudson, founder of the AAS, is now on the mailing list.
Like the rest of us, Keith's astronomical persuits take a backseat to life's other demands, but
he gets out when he can. The girls are in the tenth and sixth grades and Carolyn is still
supporting Keith's astronomical habit by teaching school. Keith writes a outdoors/wildlife
column that is published in several of north Alabama's newspapers. I'm sure Keith would like to
hear from his Ole Auburn Buddies. Glad to have you back with us, Keith.
Last month's newsletter had "bounces" for the address I had for Christy Screws, and David Newton.
If anyone has their correct address(es), please let me know.
SKYWATCH
Rod Mollise, editor of the Mobile Astronomical Society's newsletter,"Skywatch", has started
exchanging newsletters with us. We came out WAY ahead on this deal -- Sixteen pages, beautifully
done, replete with photographs, sky charts, informative articles and even four color images from
HST! I'll bring it to the meeting Friday. Thanks Rod.