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the LACIIAI,'/AI'1NA AS:ROl(Olt,ICAll SOCIETY, Scranton, Pennsylv4n:Lalller,,\,sletter of'

PresiC-ent DianeSecretar;, GlennAt -"i,erS,e i', emh,ers

I,AS C}IFI CERS ANI)

l',ilttse\^/LC:zJ ac obsElarine 1,", oor e/Don

i:l 0ARD i,'jEi,li"BERS F'Cil I I 3 rB

Vice Fresid"er:t '-lcin l{olev'aTreasurer Steve Geclrich

I,turr ay /E C, S iclorski

J,AS CATET{DA]1

USTH AAJ.IJ{ITJ

Ja.r, l: An:tu*1. i:neetin.gLsnS,eJr

,Ja-n ,"2 l:ir;arcJ of' .Directors rneeting,Tluesday

Jan ",6 Cf'ficj-a} club observing nightS aturCal/

Feb i lleg;ular monthly rneetingsgnileJ"*.

I,'eb ? *oarC of'Directors rneetingT i,i e s cl a),,

F eb 'L3 Of'f icial club cbserving rright,Sa turdeJr

Ir",e.r 1 ltegu.lar rno:nthly meetingr*is-$-d-eJ.

Ca.pous e

l,AS,lt,;JC0, Fleetville 9s00 F'1,,

if' clear

"1 A 13 ldg, 1007 Capouse ?230 Pl,,S cranton , FA

home of'D" i,iusewicr 'Sr3C F],i

l,AS/iiJ"CC, Fleetville 9 s 00 I'1,':

if' clear

.l A tslc1g, L CAT Capouse ? e30 Pl,'l

Scrantotl , Pl\

PLACE

i A Bldg; , L007S cr enton - f'A

:[ I"ilH

7 a 30 P1'.':

P, a J0 F'1,',

0n all efSer official club nights, a keyholder to I'iJC/LASO will bepresent (eitGr ,iohn Sabia or Jo-Ain Kamichitis. ) Even on- club nights, ifyou musi travel any great distance to get to 1iJC0, please call J, Kamichitisto he certain of the sky conditions and availability of a keyholci.er" A1so,j-f the weather is at all iffy, call first to make the arrangements Cefinite"0n other clear weekend nights, contact J, i(amichitis (343*4006) io see ifthe place wiil be unlocked or lvhether you r,vilI have to bring your own 'scopesand warm up in Sreutv car" KJC Observatory's phone number.is g+5-3665, butpeople are not alviays near to the phone to hear it. ]|JC/LASO is at theintersection of Route L07 and Hack Road. lake either Exit 61 or 62 of I 81,and head towards Fleetville.

a

iust a, reminde:l, the Febniary rneeting is oii a lloncl-a.y, insteadc.1e-y'. A:rother s-l-iSht c;ha.nge, the "Board of' Directors I'ieetings l',riilgr3:l Pl, instead cf' ;?r00 Pi, " llheoretically ih.is is so I can get my

f'r'cir uil$er.f'co'[ lJefi.r'e iire BcarC m.enbers get t:rere" ft lvcrked out,;..rni1s";'3." -r can ha::dly wait tc see how it goes"bhis tinie"

*2-

PJTES]DENTNS NOTES

i'rlelcori:.e io the Nevr Yearl As )rou may have g.,lessed, this is*r-r"e is a bitlat* romlrrg out" Acrua.-l-iy i have my f irst regul"ar inee'bing; and i:loa.r'd ofD-r'ectov:s meeting as pre*<ioen-|, or-tt of' the way"

Ine CSristmas Party wris a huge success" As hearl of the Christrnas Pa::tyCornmi-ttee I',^rish to thairk iiathi t/an Wert, iane Ftye aniL io-Ann liermichitisfc:. con*;acting the i:renbers" Ancl i vrish to thattlt the inemhers f'or their finecooi:era"i:ion in pul-J-ing the lvhole thing togethe::" l,/e c,:uldu't have had sucha hrrge success witho"*t you,

lom ha"pp_v tc report the !.?" teleseope has arrived and is nolv safelyhoused. up a.t i':iCC).

I'rrr also pleased ic say the next few months of "Upcotni.ng Events" talksha.,,e been snatlhed i,rp b;i ea.g;er volunteers, Ton Hol-eva. vrill give the tallrin ire'or.uary, Also,'t[alie;: Bennett hae graciously voiunteered to give a ta]-ltor tr,va rn*hile he is in the area cn his stay at iiitt Peak Observa.tory. AndJoe ilanzarella v;il]- give a talk ori Areciebo Radio Observatory " Iiot to men-tian Jo*Ani: I(amichitis will give e tal,k on'Comparisions of the Planets."Let's keep this mornen'tu:n going.

Ir:forrnation is being gathered about a possible field trip tc Hayden1^Fianer,ariri:n/Arner'ican l,luseum of l{atu.rerl History in t'lew Yor}r City in April

,rr l.r-ay. Please Let us hal,e sonie f'eedback on this idea at the Februar'}rrneet:i-n6;" If' a.nli cne has uliy ot.trer irleas for fieid trips or activitj-es,'br"ing the:n u.p a-t "Lhe r:exi ineeti::9, {Joo'

cf a I'ues",l:e ritkrd s cuii

f ine in

S e e oic u at t1:.e irie e t ir:g;s I

:HE i'7 IiqCH - F]RST IIIP.RiJSSICITS

lliie C'l r,r'i:o s L?*" {,/q.,5 Ccul'rer Telescope ar'rived in tcr,vn with just, a*cu.ple cf ia;rs tc Cc irr ''.9?7. Gien iacoi:s (whose ii'rai" of gr:eenbaeks pe.iC."the subsi;iir:trai freight iiLi, a. geilercus act for urhich the Clilb is, at i-ea.s:,*:1;'i,',.np l'irr iv'r :,tef'u1 ) , "Tohil Sabia, Jchnt s father-in*lavl, and I w::estled theif,- -' '

r.cweling package in'to a 1:icir*up ano. pi-rt it in John's garege for ter,lpol:al:ystcrage" Six dalis into i?88 f'cu-nd Jim Spangier, lVal-ter .Bennett, "Tohn,

jo-Ann,ana me ca.i.:'y:-ng the hox, l"ike so many pail-bearers, irrt'c the ljiJCC ciassroomi:,iri- Id ing"

r,^ '".aarar- an hcur, usirig m-v expei"ience gain*d in uncrating Jo-Annos :-3,i"i-r i l,i.i.LLL i:.i.

whi.:h ca.me ?r. f'*w weeks eai"-lier', irre had. tiie monste:: utrpacited, inspected, andse; up ln the:"ooril" The rr,'ind was around 2') niph, the temperatur"e about +5,and tlr.e rnocn was jusir pas't full, but ihe sky wa"s :lear so it vras rnevilabl-ev!'hE.t "v,,'e had 'bo C.c next "

John Sa'bia shouting "Col-or: '* I see color!" with theinto the r;ube. We each tooli our turn" i{e lookeil a,-;

reach tlie eyepiece, vre looiteC at Jupiter, \{e looked

,Iohn an.c1 1l\,ere up ther:e ea,rly Sunday, J'anuary L0; Steve Gedrichjoined us -1-ater"" The at-r iernperature v/as rrear ?"ero so it tock a.tlout an hourhefc::e the r4i-r.ror,settlec clovrn anrJ" gave good star iLna6-1es. The classroom

, --ois a'lro,-rt 55', i spent most of my tir,:e v;iih the t7" , John 'vtras photog:'aphing

D: ii.l1f: i, ,i.;r s tv'I L c'f,F're,s i ri.ent

Fi::st Li.girt hr;=rri

J- i g:ht c f' ;,",!-!?- c cxlingi.i,)"i,5 Lts 1n&, a ciiair tcei; tire inacn (ouchi )o

B::"aii.fieid and Bcr:relly, Steve used his nevr 5".gal,re ju.si urnder :"0C p-ovuer" and a 2/3" fie1d"

i useC a 2A rnrr Erf1e v'ril:ch

-3-

itjl had vel:y obvious dust lanes crossing the entire fiekl with nearbyNGC205 brighter" than rnanir ga,.laxies we usu.a.1ly see with smaller scopes.Comet BraOfiela shown a" lar"ge head, central condensation, and a tail goingmcsE of' the v/ay across the f ield of view " Tti35 f.'i11ec'1" the field rvith brightstars and in the sa.me view, 2t5B v'ta* resolve<l into a knot of faint stars"',lhe Eskimc Nebula rvas very bright and big vrith good blinking effect, ir'8,looked sharp and hright with knots or pinching along its edge" !181 lookedgcc;d br.rt not all tha.t much better than Iuve seen it before " i:97 - oig lvithreyes" verging on the obiriou.s" I''1108 nearbl, sliotv€d a star*iike, brightnucleus th;t i clrdno r quiie remember seeing before" if33 - spirai structureevi-dent, indivj-clual gas clouds visi-b1e. N42 - wkrai can I say but "Gu1p!""There is so much here to look &t, you have to lceep corning back" The greensare bright enough to cast shadov;s, but I have to admit, the reds haven'tyet jumfled cut at rne " The nebulcsity arounrl Zeta- Crlonis was big and eesilyseen" f had the Horsehead in the field but f'ailed tc see it"

ii'he !?" is i-::npressive; aimost everyone r,vill- love it" Some people wiilfiricl it ha::d to use" The f i"nCe:: shoulci be attached a,s soon as possible,pr^:hably cn the opposite sid.e of the eyepiece. Coulter Dobsonians seem toi:e C-esifur,ed tc vievr f'rorn the right side of the telescope ( tfrat is, cn thewest if'*}rs;1 31.* looking soutit) so a finder near the eyepiece woul-d have -bo

be use,l ivith the lef't eye and as far as I'm concerned", thatns next to impos-sibl-e.

The eyepiece ge'ts about 7 feet above thezenitir sc a stancl v',i-l-i have to be rna.Ce " ALsoa.rirnuth is clif'ficul"b i"rrC conf'*sing to a littletion are necessa.ry,

Ercund vvhen vi ev,rir:$ ne ar thenear the zenitho rlicticn Lit

iitr-ts c 1e p cwer a.nd cr onc elltra*

Joe li amieni"bis

FIELD OF VIEI,V '/fHAT DOES IT il]EAN TO THE OBSERVER?

Frcm the "Cel-estial Horizons", Yentura County Astr"onotnical Soeiety Inc",Ver:t'*ya", CA

"

Cne can't stucy astror:cmlr f'or"long bef'ore coning across the term "fie1dof vie\,u"',,,,vhich is sirnpl-y e measure of'the angle shov'm by an optical- systeii:,v,;hether i-l :.s a telescopen a. pair cf'binoculavs,, oy" an eyepiece" There aretiffo types of'fiel-d of views true fielcl and apparent fieki" The fortnerapplibi to c,omplete instr"uments (telescopes, binoculars, and finderscopes ) ,,

while "Lhe ia.i;te:" applies to eyepieces.

lr"ue field is the actua.l- angle of sky seen in an instrument" A 7x5Apa.ir cf binocul-ars rnight ]rave an I degree field of viewo vrhich is about 1-6f'ul-i iloons side by side" A Cel-estron I e.t 1C0 pov/er might have a true fie"Ldof'0"5 d"uti, cr i ful1 mcon rvicle" 'Ihe hu:nan eye has a "clear" true fieldof around. 5C d.*g, although peripheral vision may extend to over 180 C,eg"

Apparent field ref'ey"s to the angle th.e eye "percei-ves" when it looksin.*,,) an eyel:iece" llhis can be thoughi of'as a. "cone of visibility", wiihthe apex a"L the observer's eye. Typical F,ellner eyepieees have an apparentfiei,J- of' 40 C.eg or so, 'Iele V-ure Plbssls have 50 deg, '/iicle Fielris have 5J deg,ancr Na.glers ha.ve 82 d.eg" f he rel a.tionship between true f ield and apparentfield is a simple cne t

True FieJ.d. r Apparent F5-eld,,/i"agnification.

For example, if a i3mrrr ltragler is used in a C8 (f'ocal )-ength 2000mm),-uhe rnagnification is 20A0/i3, or 1,J4x, and the true field is BZ deA/i54,or A,5,3 deg, When'the eye looks into a Nagler eyepiece, it always sees an32 rieg cone of visibilitir (neariy a right angle! ), but the actual angle ofsky seen ( the true field ) clepends on the focal length of the tel-escope used,because this determines the magni-f ication, (tf you hold this bulletin 5"from your €,ye , the short side of' lhe page represents approximately' the ap-paren"b field of' view of' a Nagler" )

What does all this meari to ttre cbserver? Tn general, the wider theappar.ent field of view an eyepieee delivers, the inore pleasing ihe vielv"Fields cf'view smaller than about j0 degrees tend to nake it seefl. as thoughone is iooking through a tunirel " l{ith th.e }ilagl-ers, cn the other hand, thetelesccpe seems to vanish, almost as if' one iS observing; through a large

-+*

,,r,indcw into spaee" You acti"rally have to looic around inside the eyepiecetc eLea::1y see the ed"ge of the field" Again, this relates to the fact thatthe e),e hls a 5A deg -1ear field cf view" 0uitside that cone, objects areperceived, but t'iot necessarily resolved.

For this reason, it rnay be ad"vantageous to use an eyepiece with asmaller apparent field wher:. sweeping for objects in the sky" 0f course,to rna.intain ti:e same true fieid, this will require a lower power eyepiece'in a CB, a" 21mm Pjossl will deliver a 0"53 deg fieid, but at only 95x, af;; opicosed to L54x for the lJnm Nagler, which-has the same true field. (The21r;rm Flossl will also d.eliver more image brightness ciue to its lower polver,another plus for si,veePing. )

Ano-u5er'consi-dera'Lion lvhen buying eyepieces with a wid6 apparent field. isimage qr,lality. In general, the vriiler the apparent field, the poorer theimag;e Jnarpness at ttre eclge of' the fietd. The 26inrn Ploss1- yield.s a mu.ch

shalper imi.ge at t.ire eri-ge than a 24mm Wide Fie1d, but at the expense ofL5 cl.ig:1ees 6f appa-rent fiefO. (5C vs" 65), This rule d.oes not lppiy to tlreillglef series, hov,iev'er"l lhey are sha.rper at the edge than the i'ficie Fiel-dsu*il" comparable to the Plossis, clue to their uniqueland cosl;ly) design,

ASIIRCIICI,J TP.:YIA QUESIIICNS RA]SE }IONE QUEST'ICI.'ISur. George F. Reeci

;'/est Chester University

Editoi,A ILp_!S.: G"ecrge Reed. lr'rites a rveekly col-umn f'or the na,!};* LQSa} IiS:g.p-of-.,V€stt[-ester, PA r-incler ihe general heading of' "Naked Eye Astronomy."Frcm L!1g Cbserver., newsletter of the Lehigh \raLley Anateur AstrononiiealS,)cietl,', Inc", A.11entown, PA.

The pu::suit of trivia., according to the dictionary, involves.iheacclu.iring of things that ha.ve "litile iniportance-or significang? in them--,^1--/'1 !, '-r-.-1 y;;s bef'ore the game'ft"ivial- Pursuit became a national pasti)CJVCD6 I.IId

ri-me rir.aling i,icnopcly, baseball and television as the Great American Viasteof Tiine, lllrivia. is novr important, significant and a matter of intel-l-eclua.Ln.,,4 A cy- J-uL 6

If yorr bother to read. all of'the 84 astror"lomy questions_, 36 space tech-nology qles'tions and 23 astro-i.og;, questions that are part of lrivial Pursui-t,you 'iii.f i discover ainorrg the legitimate trivia qr-lestions, some questions thatbre stupid, some answers that are !'/rong and some questions whose ansvrersrequire a real knor,'rledge and understanding of' astronomy"

:iiERE IS TI-IE DUl,itsESf Trivial Pursuit questiore connected in some way toastrcnomy. "'vVhat was Christ's zodiacal sign?" The anslrer given is CapricornanrJ, it wls o'btained from the zod:-acal sign assigned to the date of'December 25"This is the cia.te Chrlstians celebrate ihe birth of Christ, but it vras eer*tainly not the d.ate on lvhich he v,,.as born. I{obody klows for certain the dateor yelr cf'.Tesus'birthday, but evidence from the Bible ancl astroncmy seemsto favcr a sprii:6, six BC date" Constantine, the first Roman etnperor con-verte4 to Christianity, estai:lished December 7ith as the date for the Christ*iflas ceiebration in thb fourth century A.D. I{e chose this date as a. Christiansubs-bitu.te for a pasan ivinter solstice festival cal-led the Saturnal-ia"

fi:e eanctid.a';e question for the l-east nearly correct ansl'rer is "iVhatplanet did Percival Lov,re:li di-scover?" The answer given is P1uto. Fiutowas discovered. in L93C hy Clycle Tombaugh on photographic plates vrhieh hehad exposeri. specificall;r for that purpose" 'Iombaugh vra.s an amateur-turnedprofes;sional astronorner working at the Lowell Observatory-in F'lagstaf'f ,

Irizone." Fercival .i,oweIl had ctieO 14 years e.rlier in 19L6.

J,olvellrs name l'las heen assocj-ated lvith Pluto beeause he personal-L}r5'';1n6ied the Lowel-l C]:serrratory and lead an unsuccessful search fcr a predicted.Lra,n.s."i,leptunran plane'; 'l:efore his death. Pluto was named afterbhe Roman

&o,r1 of "bhe und.erwor-l-d, a"nd j-ts syrnbol is a superimposed. letter rrPrr over aletter "L" , Perciva'l l,cl',iellr s initials

"

Several Trivial Pr.lrsuit o.u.estions perpetua.te ivhat can be called. tradi-tiona.1, time*honcreiL misirifor:"nation. In spite of' a. popular t,el.ief in thegirre:: a.nsv,,,ers, they are wrong" '.lhese are the o,uestions that frustrate a

G a.r1;' rri irrslnerl

Pi" 8,")j e:yij s i-i,ct

*5*

ir,/ith rncre iiTan e cui:sory "ltncvrled"ge of' e't he cir l ir su.h j e c'r, i::: c l- uC e cl

"

Siven s"il: ject, Astronclnii

',Il,Ihat is ccnsider.ed- tc he utanis first celestial- otrser'v-ator;r?" thegiven is Stcneher:ge, anC I coulcl not e-n,s!'ier lhis clurestion even thoughbeen to Stonehenge seven tj-ines" Stonehenge is thought io he a me€,a*sola.r-lunar ca.lend"ar structure rather than a celestia.l observatory,one can clefend its statu.s as "manrs first""

"What Fcl-ish ast::oiiorner demonstrateri in 15tZ *that {,he s'rn ls -5he centerof the sclarr. system?" The answer given is l{ichol-as Copernicus. Copernicushad absol-r.lte1),-no proof', 1et aione a demonstration-bhat the sun vras thecenter of the solar systeri:" In ]iis book Dg B9*Y.g!$li9ca,bfi-8" wirich t'vas notpu1:lisheri u-rrtii i5L:3,- the year cf his death, Coperni-cus onl-;,' postulateC. the*i;.:rus central positiirr i:r the solar syste,rn" FIis bcck lead to an eventual-elccei:tance of ttre i'l.ea., bu.i its f irst- ilemonstrated proof dic; not occur untili?Z?)-with th.e discovery of the aheri'ation cf's-barlight by the English ast:'o*norner iames 3rao.Iey" Incid.enta.ily, |SLZ nay have 'reen the year he bega.nto lv-r:i'be down his id,eas cn tire arrangement of tire solai'systern,

"utihat is the nearest galaxy to our or,.,in?" The ansv/er givgn is Anclroireda".1,1::,u.a-1-1;i there are mo're than a. dozen galaxies closer to the l,,itky l{ay_thanthe 2"2-rniliicir light year clisiani Anclromeda galaxy" These closer gala;ciesincl-ud.e the Large lua.gelianic Cloud (t70,000 ly) and the Small ir,agellanicClcucl ( ZCC, CCC fV ) vlsibl-e tc the unaiCl.ed eye f'rori the southern herni-sphere

"

"lihat is l-:elieved t,o be created when a star collapses?" Black hcies,the anslver given, is inco;riplete" Collapsecl stars can also f'orm vrhite dwarfand neutron stars ,, the latter of wi'rich, when they rapidllr rotate, are alsocalled. pulsa.rs.

,'l{ho inventecl the ref'lecting telescope?" The best answer is JamesGr:egory, no*J the Isaa.c i{ewton ansr,rer which is given. I{ev*ton built thefirst i:ef'lecting telescope f'::ciit plans providei by G'regory in a book"

"l{hat meta"l was Danish astr'onomer Tycho Brahe' s ncse iiracle of'?" the6l-..i1 a,ns\,rrer given is cl.ose enor-lgh, lBr"rt aetua.lly it was macle-cf a go1d.^a.ndiiiiver a.1J-o;r pair:ted a. f'lesh eolor" fycho lost the end of his pr"oboscisf'orward of' the br"idge in a you';hf'ul sword dual

"

The critici-srii of' the an.swer to ihe Tychc's nose question shows thattrivia itself has i-is trivia, And that is vrhat the pursuit of'trivia isa-l-i a.bcut

"

DI.TES A]18 DLTE ( TU FACT ]{EEE DUE )

lhose of you wtro have al-reacty paid your Cues are asked to ignore theenclosed d.'-res notice" The r'est of'you (anf, we knov,r and i'qu icnorv, who youare ) a;re asked to send. the notice and a check fox' ycur dues payabl-e to e

Laclea-ivanna Ast:::on.crnical Society, to the neu' trea.surer,Steve Gedrich"1lhe dues structure e {i1.C0 Adults, f,;5"00 iunj-ors (uncler 1E), l$12"00 fanriilr"Dues may also i:e paid at any LAS meeting or function, as soon as possible"

OFSERYA,.IIORY ASTDES

In the Jullr 193? SPACExa,nj-ner (St" Petersburg, Floricla) there ,,vas a::eprint of an article bi; Bar'loiv Pepin referring to "northern chauvenj-stseason rl'ra.ddle" about surruner observing" He cited such sumriler hazarcis aspa.imetto hr.rf,s, mosquitoes, 40" cotton mouth sna.kes, 7O to LAj% relative l'tu*rurid.ity and BCof' niftrtime temperatures. Tc qucte -,1r, Pepin, in summer"logicaIIy we shoulcl rnake an analogy to the northerners wi-nter recipe andcuri up r,vith a nice epherrei'is in front of the air conditioner and v'rait f'orcool- rarinter skies " "

jn defense of'us northerners there are tr,t'o other rea.sons besides cold,tliat',ve dontt do mueh. urinter cbserving. The first is our skies are generallycloud,y, And the secorrd is all the f'ainily obligaticrrs of the Thanirsgiving*Christmas*itre'rv Years holida.y sea.son"

t 1't '5

!*r e I:-'

: i::;,.ve1ithicj)tn.'J, ll O

-6-

0f" cour.se, col-cl really is a factor. l"Je had a. perfect example of thatjust-bhe: iveekend after the nevr lt"?!e" was set up at the Observatoly:- Frid,ay#as bear.r.tif'uJ-1y clear and the tenperature dropped o.ov/:1 to 3 or i+'cil, 0n1ytl:rre € LASer.s vr,-ere up' there to eirjoy the night, Sa-turduy, it v''as^clear,but no-L as elea:: as Frida.y; the ieinperature onllr wei'rt t-.oiin to 7Co"i'or so,\tre had haC. cails aLi Saturrlzry abou-b o]:serving a.nd ni:re people spent thenight witii the 1?" anci my 1J"" iVha.t a great v;eekend-! It tooir rne almosta- ile;e1 tn recover frorn the siee.o tc,ss" The large aperture ref'lectors arer:eall;r viorth itl L'tre firiall;,' su-ccurnbed tc apertu-re f'ever" Typic?l]y thecTaze- hi-L ire just after every'orre who is with it has noveci on to ref'ractorfever, It tr,tas a elose cal-1. f r^,ras al-i:tost i-n st;r]-e!

The Jariuary 1939 issue of'Audribon" magaz,ine had sn,essay a.bout "aclea3 light sklr-," The author rvas both bemoaning a"nd analyzing.the fact+;irat iio 5ne star Sa-zes any'i;rore" No one knon's about slars rising and setting03 th.e seorllence of the phases of the moon, fhe citlr lightsu gJ-a.re l:-'l-otsor..lt t,he stars,and d.arli: loca,ticns are feared as pia.ces cl'rr:ed by inugge.r:s,ve.nd"als arrc. und.er*age d::inkers, Astronomers v'ra-tch rnonitors and a.strologerscal-l p'l*.net;.ria and oheervatories asking vrhat the sky' is C.oin6 ra"ther thanI-ooitin6. uir at the s1i1,

"

I've a.li,'ays f'sl-i ihat the star gazing aspect of'a.mateur astronomy isa.s valiti ?r.;l;.ii a.l .ra.}.lable as the high tech research-based seriouts a.inateur'observations that sorne like to Co, "'ie have to he careful that we a,s httlna.nsdo 1ot ,[et iotaliy divc::ced frcm 'che natural wor'1d, iiic]-ucli-ng th?"nig]rt sity"La.cl; of-scncern fbr ira'bure ieads to ahuses su.ch as pclJ-ution, extinctions,destruciicp of entire ecosystems, and- resr;Its in a r:1egracLaition of'l;he qua.lii1rcf' ou:r liries,

i'r',1rt* i o pa"rt of' -:lie reers;n -l'rn not erazy about cornputerized. 'scopes,l- -'.c.1- u -L D .J

Fe opt e ,,l'irc arb just s-Li:r-*infl v,;ith the hchl'y ma.y ius} ji-iirrp 1nt9- an equiprnenthu;ring spree, expectin€! to sit back and let the equiprnent d.o the l'u*crk",ilr..l+-,r ,ii , i ss o,;-t c:r re a:l-l-;i becoining "acque.:'lnteC r,',/i-th the tligh"t" ar:d 'i'i1l-- r^vd

nevei feel ih.e rhr.th"r'' of the sky's seasons.

On the othe:: hand , :na),'he I eoulC make m;r fc'rtutie cf'f' those people, b)r: -- +- i', 1-i*' 'i-he sjrectaior: sp;r-i; aspects of :1st;'ct1cn;i' a;:C going cl-re stepJ.JJ i lJAltII lti U I

i'r:"r,thav. .r\f'":.et, a.f1 i:rsti"onorn)' -i-s just r,vatching, with on13r the rarest c.ha.licesaLii, Url\,I 6 rlJ ur

(rni;c;, ia.nc-l.ings, spa:-ce p::cr)es i t'or Lixperimen-La,ti on" Fe ople rlofilpiailr i:rosta,rrli;.i: ilie pelts ot'tlie hobby ihat invol-ve intera"eticns vri-Lh natuu'e (tiie clold,'tl;e iaie i1,3,"lrs , *,,},le rnosquit-bes;, lea.rning the cinstel-La"ti cns ) . PerLiaiils iheli:hi:y sh.cr-ild go co;npl-etely rnoilern, not just coi'itputeriaed. b-i;'t totall-y vica.rjcusTh"e ?:natei.,lr" a.s"l,rcnr.r,:r:e.r r s vide o !

le.n't,t::'o tl::"e siUi:"Ls arr:r:i sci-,in'J5 of' driv.- ^.

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Ilhe "Ecllptic" is the bir:ron.thIy newsJ-etter of the Lackai,'ianna Astro:romieaiScciet.i " r\ subscription to 'llie "Ecliptic" is one of ihe benefiis of taernber*ship in ths i,AS" |ito perinission is need.ed for aonprofit u-se of'any materia.l-piiblishec'l in -the "Eclipiic" prcvideC. it is prcper:liy creclited,

lirticies, cEr'-Lccns,, ne',ts i';en:s, may he seti-l tc e

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