Space Forum / Astronomy / April 2005

Follow up: Sci.astro.amateur
 Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Rahim
(In the Name of ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT, THE MOST MERCIFUL)
HILAL (Crescent Moon) SIGHTINGS (WORLD) FOR

   Is the Space Shuttle going to be replaced in the next ten years?  Is
NASA already working on their next generation space craft?  How close are
they to actually using it?  Or will we be stuck with the current space
shuttle for the next twenty or thirty years?

I use an old b&w webcam for imaging, both long and shot exposure.  It is
fitted with the Moog screw in type 1.25" adapter, which is about 1.6" long
and is threaded to accept 1.25" filters.  There's something I'm wondering
about though.  I use a variety of filters like dichroic red, ...

When some prehistoric cavemen pondered what they could not understand, they
thought someday the nature of
these things will be known .
As time went on those in power used supernatural ideas to control the

The 'Star Party' episode of Sky At Night is repeated today at 1.35pm on
BBC 2.
*This* time I'll get to watch it :-)
Jim

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 * * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - April 15, 2005 * * *
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Welcome to S&T's Weekly News Bulletin. Images, the full text of ...

Aryabhatta expounded heliocentric theory before Copernicus: Kalam
Religion & rockets, the varied interests of Kalam
By Y. Mallikarjun
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's new book deals with the

For how many seconds does the escape velocity of 11 kilometers (7
miles per second) has to be maintained in order to deploy a satellite
at an altitude of say 100 kms and 300 kms and 600 kms.
I just want to know that for how long does a rocket have to travel at

                        "black holes" vs. HURRICANES
              Using the repaired Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers
         have been observing vortices of high-speed gases at the

Any reports yet on the Spring Equinox star party at Kelling?
Richard

Does anyone know where I can get two of the leg securing knobs for a Meade
Field Tripod for an LX200 GPS ?
I've tried eBay, and can't find them advertised anywhere else.
My knobs were chewed by a large dog ! They still work fine, but i'd rather

   How exactly were the rockets held in place when they were on their
launch pads during the Gemini and Apollo missions?   They simply didn't sit
on their engines.  How did the launch pad hold up so much weight?
   Also, when the rocket engines were ignited, did the launch pads ...

"Why
3 musketeers?
Why not Snickers bar,
Or a cheese doodle?"

Today the local council replaced the bust light that is a few metres away from
my observatory.  Damn.......  For a couple of weeks now it has been gloriously
dark - but of course the clouds stopped most imaging.
Lawrence Harris