greatMarcoa - my imagination is in overdrive!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry Marcia a misprint

OK, those missing Peeps must be the ones I have been consuming under an disguise. Mine were yellow. If I had just known they were hiding the pink so they would not be discovered, I wouls have left the alone. It's all my fault. Actually, I have saved one to grow to adulthood amd make me some more Peeps for next year!

Sheesh! Hard to tell I am just waking up and not typing very well. Sorry for the mistakes in that last post...I tried erasing my screen but all I have to show for my efforts is smear!

NASA Science News for April 3, 2000 Like blood pulsing in an artery, newly discovered currents of gas beat deep inside the Sun, speeding and slackening every 16 months. The solar "heartbeat" throbs in the same region of the Sun suspected of driving the 11-year cycle of solar eruptions. Scientists are hopeful that this pulse can help them unravel the origin and operation of the solar cycle. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast03apr_1m.htm

Next Thursday, April 6, three planets and the thin crescent Moon are going to put on a memorable sky show when the quartet converge inside a circle just 9 degrees across. "It's going to be beautiful," says Vince Huegele, a researcher at the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center. "And best of all, you won't need a telescope to see it, just your naked eye." Right: Duane Hilton's rendering of the April 6 planetary get-together as seen above Bryce Canyon in Utah. To admire the display, simply go outside after dinner on April 6 and look toward the southwest sky. Around 8 p.m. local daylight savings time the slender crescent moon will be easy to spot about 30 degrees above the horizon. The brightest nearby "star" will be Jupiter. At magnitude -2.1, the giant planet is 8 times brighter than Saturn, which glows pale yellow less than 3 degrees west of the Moon. Mars will lie a scant 1.1 degrees north of Jupiter. The red planet (magnitude 1.4) will be about 3 times fainter than Saturn (magnitude 0.3). Although the planets and our Moon will appear to be close together, there's no danger of a collision. While the Moon is only 384,000 km away from us this week, Mars is 349 million km away; Jupiter is 875 million km away; and Saturn is a whopping 1493 million km distant. When it comes to the sky, appearances can be deceiving! Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn will appear to be even closer together on April 15 when the three will fit inside a circle less than 5 degrees across. That's the most compact grouping of any 3 planets for the entire year. Nevertheless, the display on April 6 will be more beautiful thanks to the delicate crescent Moon as it passes by the trio. But wait, there's even more: Cradled in the arms of the crescent Moon will appear the ghostly outline of the full Moon, a dim glow that astronomers call "Earthshine." Like all the planets we see in the night sky, the Moon shines because of reflected sunlight. The side of the Moon facing the sun shines brightly, and the side facing away is nearly dark. The only significant illumination on the "dark side of the Moon" is due to Earthshine -- sunlight that bounces off the Earth and falls on the lunar surface. A slender crescent Moon with Earthshine is widely regarded as one of the most delicate and beautiful sights in the night sky. It will be difficult to see from urban areas, but should be easy to view from dark sky locations. Duane Hilton's rendering of the April 6 planetary get-together as seen above Bryce Canyon in Utah.

And...a reprise of April 6th lunar eclipse - one photo I did not have posted because the moon was too small in it...but I still love it. Total Lunar Eclipse Fairfield, California August 6, 1999 David Little

Please post your comments on whether or not you were able to see the alignment this evening, please.

the lunar pic is great and i saw the alignment, wouldn't have known they were planets without having read this post first!

I posted it in the News conference topic I created which I would like to have linked to Geo called Space News. I try to double post if it is important enough. You gonna see it? A friend in Maine just reported cloudy skies. No aurora for him, either. Looks clear to the east, but where this is gonna be is under several layers of thick clouds. Gotta get you outside some time and teach you constellations. You'd know in a flash that those bright objects did not belong there normally.

how did they look, woofie???

i usually see one star next to the moon but because the proximity of these weren't as close as i'd imagined, i wouldn't have thought differently. jupiter is the brightest, then saturn, then mars. am gonna go out and look as it gets darker. (they were in the western sky, doesn't the moon rise in the east?)

At new moon the moon rises at sunrise and sets at sunset and we cannot see it. It rises an hour later each night (actually more like 55 minutes)until half way thorough its cycle it is full and rising at sunset and setting at sunrise. Oh yeah! Everything rises in the East because we are actually rotating west to east and we make them look that way.

right, but this crescent moon was low in the western sky and rising towards the east.

Not rising, sweetie. Look at it again. It should be setting.

you are sooooo right! *grin* see what happens when it gets darker later? i was wondering why you were saying the moon sets when the sun sets due to the changing rising hour each day!! i got it *laugh*

Yippee!!! Pleases me as much as it does you -if not more- because you were interested enough to notice!

Can you see the old moon in the new moon's arms tonight?

yes. i've always been able to see that.

if you look at it and kinda screw up your eyes (try not to focus directly), you can tell that the moon is round (and not just a disc in the sky)!!

Yup! The bright part of the moon is reflecting the sun's light (we are shading the rest) and the shaded part is illuminated by earth shine!!!

yup. my mom used to tell me it was a reflection of earth and so i thought the land-looking shapes on the moon was a result of the earth (it makes no sense, but as a kid, i didn't either)...she was probably trying to explain to me the different phases of the moon but i took her literally. if they told me the moon was made of cheese, probably would've believed that too *smile*

Make that AMERICAN cheese...there is a flag up there to prove it *grin* Kids always have interesting ways of interpreting what we say...that's why I really like talking to kids. I learn more than they do!

Okay I looked but unfortunately in Western Australia it was still light when the moon was going down and I could only see what I though was Venus, the other planets would not have shown up. Even so it was still an unusual sight. Setting sun, and a crescent moon. I was sad to miss the spectacle.

There are thick, charcoal grey clouds backed up on the mountain. That is all I will be seeing this evening. Tomorrow they should not be all that farther apart. It will be interesting to see how they move in comparison with each other over the next few nights. We are all orbiting the sun so it should make a good thing to sketch each evening to compare. (I do that sort of thing...!)

Response 15 of 15: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 7, 2000 (12:16) * 11 lines NASA Science News for April 7, 2000 Subject: Geomagnetic Storm A major geomagnetic storm hit our planet on Thursday after an interplanetary shock wave passed by Earth on April 6, 2000. Displays of aurora borealis were spotted in Europe, Asia, Canada, Alaska and in the continental US as far south as North Carolina. The storm appears to be subsiding, but forecasters note that more aurorae might be visible Friday night. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast07apr_2m.htm

from msnmembers news: April 10 � Astronomers around the world are focusing on a mysterious pulsing light in the Big Dipper, trying to figure out whether it�s a newly active black hole or a neutron star. One of the strangest things about it is its location, observers say. THE OBJECT, known as XTE J1118+480, was first spotted March 29 by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, a satellite that monitors the sky in X-ray wavelengths. At that time, the mystery object was in the midst of a rapid brightening in X-rays. Ron Remillard, a Rossi research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put out an alert that brought confirmation of the pulsing source within an hour, from Japanese astronomers. In the days since then, the object�s rise and fall has been charted by the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment, a full-sky telescope set up at Los Alamos, N.M., to track quick-changing phenomena like the pulsing light. The ROTSE team reviewed previous data and found that the object brightened and dimmed in a four-hour cycle, building up to peaks in January and March. �Before this recent work, nothing about XTE J1118+480 was known to any branch of astronomy,� Remillard told MSNBC. Just a few days of analysis have shed a lot more light on the mystery, leading Remillard to remark that �it�s not entirely a mystery anymore.� He and other astronomers believe that the source is either a black hole, a collapsed star so dense that nothing, not even light, can escape its gravitational grip; or a neutron star, a compact remnant that�s only slightly less dense than a black hole. In either case, the outburst isn�t coming from the object itself, but from dust and gas that�s heated to an explosive glow as it�s sucked toward the object, Remillard explained. "We get these X-ray novae that pop up when matter starts flowing from a companion star into a black hole or in some cases a neutron star,� he said. As that companion star swings around the more massive object, it may block out some of the emissions from the outburst, accounting for the variations in brightness, he said. What�s particularly interesting about this source is that it has cropped up high above the galactic plane, where most of the action is, he said. Astronomers haven�t yet figured out how far away the source is, but Remillard speculated that the object is a long-dormant black hole that has just become active in the halo of stars surrounding the denser disk of our Milky Way galaxy. �If you had a black hole forming way back then in a binary (star system), it just may have occasion to reawaken every once in a while, and we just happened to catch it,� he said. ROTSE researcher Tim McKay of the University of Michigan said the pulsing object might also turn out to be much closer to our celestial neighborhood. �Either of these solutions would be a little bit odd,� he said. Whatever it is, XTE J1118+480 is currently under close watch by astronomers ranging from backyard amateurs to investigators with the Hubble Space Telescope. But skywatchers shouldn�t expect to see the source with the naked eye: Its peak magnitude of 13 or so brings it within range of a typical 4- to 6-inch (100mm to 150mm) telescope. McKay said the object�s optical brightness appears to increase about a week before its X-ray brightness, which adds to the sense of astronomical mystery. �It may turn out to be not all that exotic,� he said, �but its location suggests that it may be a different thing.� =============== a different thing, hmmm...very technical there. couldn't believe i got to this before you, marcia, sweetie! but my pleasure and enjoy!!

Thanks, Wolfie...now my turn to hunt for things other than the esthetic, which is what has captured my imagination of late. (How about a topic Esthetic Earth or something like that to make a home for the Fine Arts in a place which is so inspiring?!)

I can find nothing and your link does not work...*sigh*

Iridium Program Bankrupt/ Satellites to De-Orbit http://www.drsky.com/ Over the past few years, the Motorola Iridium project had placed a constellation of some 66 earth orbiting satellites, to change the future of cellular communications. The project called for cellular type communications in almost ALL areas of the globe. Now the project is bankrupt and the fate of the satellite "constellation" is up to the push of a few buttons to de-orbit the satellites. For observers on the ground, the Iridium satellites have been something of a rare treat. Seeing a "flare" in the sky as the mirrors on the satellites would glint back at the Earth from space and create a UFO of sorts. "Dr.Sky" has been viewing these Iridium flares for a few years and they are even seen in daylight. Now that the program is ending, why not try and view this relic in the sky for as long as you can. You can visit the Heavens-Above website to get the latest times of passage for the Iridium satellites. All you need to do is enter the information for your local observing city. http://www.heavens-above.com/

that wasn't a purposeful link. anytime i type the word news, it gets hyperlinked. (see, it did it here)

now wait, how come it didn't do it there but everywhere else?

I have had that happen to me, also, but it is usually only when I copy and paste something with that word in it which is NOT necessarily a link. Beats me!

Please check http://www.emergingmind.com/schwa/contest.htm

or this... http://www.jwp.bc.ca/saulm/index.htm

okay joined and voted the planetoid's name as Sagan - an Astronomer I admire - I did think about Fred! as in Sir Fred. Hoyle but that was too silly. After all he was always coming up in the Goon show, Fred I mean.

Oh I don't know Anne, at least Fred's easy to remember. I confuse everyone and call my husband that - his name's Tony! He does goon impressions too - not very well! Tell me about sagan, my education is woefully deficient!

Maggie, did the PBS show called "Cosmos" ever get to Britain. Carl Sagan did the entire thing, and I liked it so well I taped the entire series. "Billions and Billions" of episodes *grin* He is a late US astronomer of rare talents and we all miss him. Sir Fred was my choice. Thought of According to Hoyle but a bridge master took that. Actually, I have been to a live lecture by Sir Fred Hoyle when he visited Hawaii - it was a huge thrill, though I disagreed with a lot of stuff he wrote. Thanks, Anne. How about the Solar System being named Fred? (I also refer to people we both know their names but...as Fred)

April 12, 2000 -- Astronomers from all over the United States and from 10 countries will converge in Huntsville, Alabama today for a series of meetings and lectures. Approximately eighty participants will learn about the latest findings in the field of high-energy astrophysics from a dozen research scientists. Sounds like another dry scientific meeting, right? Wrong. This workshop is the first of its kind devoted to amateur astronomers. The participants -- who will attend lectures by leading researchers in x-ray and gamma-ray astronomy -- are expected to return to their communities and spread the word about high-energy astrophysics in schools, civic forums and clubs. "We selected the attendees in part by asking how they would share their knowledge with others," says Janet Mattei, director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), which is co-sponsoring the meeting along with the Marshall Space Flight Center. "We got some fantastic responses from astronomy club presidents, planetarium workers, and teachers ... just wonderful responses. There's a real need to bring high-energy astronomy to the attention of the public, and we think these are the right people to do it." But that's not all. Participants will also find out how they can be involved in cutting-edge research along with NASA scientists. "The usual connotation of 'amateur' really doesn't apply here," says NASA/Marshall's Dr. Jerry Fishman, one of the workshop's organizers. "These are dedicated, well-prepared and knowledgeable astronomers who use very sophisticated equipment -- often comparable to professional observatories. Many of them are able to contribute astronomical data used in forefront astronomical research." Monitoring fireballs from gamma-ray bursts and tracking the light curves of variable stars are two areas where amateur data can make an impact, says Fishman. The workshop will touch on those topics and more, ranging from gamma-ray explosions at the edge of the universe to cosmic rays here in the solar system. There will be a special session entitled "Rapid Observations of GRBs by Amateurs" prompted in part by the recent detections of gamma-ray burst afterglows by amateurs. The three-day meeting will conclude on Saturday, April 15 with a lecture by Astronaut Dr. John Grunsfield entitled "The 1999 HST Servicing Mission and Remarks on High Energy Astrophysics." Click for a Preliminary List of Speakers The Invisible, Violent Heavens High energy astrophysics is the study of the most violent events in the universe. Colliding neutron stars, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), swirling accretion disks around black holes -- these are just a few of the cosmic wonders visible in the x-ray and gamma-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Unfortunately, the short wavelengths where these events shine brightest are inaccessible from Earth because our atmosphere filters out most forms of high-energy radiation. (This is a real nuisance for gamma-ray astronomers, but a good thing for life on our planet!) To study these objects, astronomers use ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma-ray detectors on Earth-orbiting satellites. Satellite-based astronomy was once the exclusive realm of professionals, but that's slowly changing. "Amateurs have been helping scientists with satellite-based research in variable stars since 1975," says Mattei. "For example, when the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (both are orbiting observatories) were scheduled to observe the cataclysmic variable star, SS Cygni, the AAVSO was asked to help. Our members around the world kept a vigil and when the star flared at optical wavelengths we immediately called our professional colleagues." Thanks to the rapid alert, professional astronomers were able to point their satellites at SS Cygni while it was flaring and monitor the enigmatic star at many wavelengths for the first time. "In this particular case everything worked! Optical, x-ray, extreme ultraviolet-- we got it all." This summer scientists will try to observe another outburst from SS Cygni using NASA's newest Great Observatory, the Chandra x-ray telescope. Once again the AAVSO will be called upon to alert professionals that SS Cygni is erupting, says Mattei. Another Glowing Accomplishment.... Performing a feat once reserved for trained professionals, amateurs have lately shown that they too can photograph the faint optical afterglows of distant gamma-ray bursts. The most recent instance was in early March when an amateur astronomy group in Buffalo, NY, recorded the fading fireball from a powerful GRB using a modest 14" telescope and a home-built CCD camera. In January 1999, another amateur used a 24" telescope in New Mexico to record the afterglow from a gamma-ray burst located near the edge of the observable Universe. Right: Nestled 7 arc seconds from a 17th magnitude foreground star, the 20th magnitude afterglow of GRB 000301C is circled in this CCD image from the US Naval Observatory 1m telescope in Flagstaff, AZ. Credit: Arne Henden.The optical afterglow was first detected by the Nordic Optical Telescope in La Palma, Spain and later recorded by amateur astronomers in Buffalo, NY. [full story] Theorists believe that studying gamma-ray bursts at optical wavelengths might help unravel one of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy: what causes these powerful gamma-ray explosions? Since astronomers detected the first optical counterpart of a gamma-ray burst in 1997, they have vigorously pursued the afterglows using some of the most powerful telescopes including Hubble, Keck, and Palomar. Powerful telescopes are important for monitoring afterglows because they fade quickly, usually dimming to 19th magnitude or fainter just a few hours after the onset of the explosion. Advances in CCD technology are now bringing these faint fireballs within reach of dedicated amateur observatories. The afterglow recorded by amateurs in March, for instance, was 20th magnitude. Astronomy club observatories still can't record the spectra required to measure redshift-based distances to afterglows and they probably never will. The objects are simply too faint for spectroscopy. Redshifts will remain the province of Hubble and Keck for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, amateurs maintain one important advantage over their professional counterparts -- telescope time. Telescopes like Hubble and Keck are heavily oversubscribed. These behemoths simply can't turn to look at every single gamma-ray burst that comes along (GRBs are detected once or twice a day by Earth-orbiting satellites). With little competition for telescope time, amateur observatories are much more flexible. Eventually a global network of amateurs might monitor GRB afterglows nearly around the clock, a feat no single professional observatory can match. In fact, amateur observations of gamma-ray bursts seem so promising that the organizers have scheduled a special session of the workshop on Rapid Observations of GRBs by Amateurs. "The most important thing we're doing in this workshop is bringing interested members of the public into the scientific enterprise and making them a valuable part of it," concluded Joy. "These people are going to be the true ambassadors of high-energy astrophysics." Stay tuned to Science@NASA for more news from the High Energy Workshop for Amateur Astronomers, held April 12 - 14 near the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. The MSFC-AAVSO High Energy Astronomy Workshop will be held in conjunction with the 89th Meeting of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). This meeting will be held the day after the Workshop, at the same venue (The Huntsville Marriott).

Yes, I remember watching much of Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" on the BBC. It was mesmeric viewing. (The "according to Hoyle" Hoyle was actually a whist expert, who lived before contract bridge was invented.) :-)

This is true about Hoyle, but they published bridge how-to books in the US under his name - and probably still do. It is about as far in the game as I ever got...and that was another life long ago in academia. Btw, Mark, your book and brochures were repackaged by an Hawaiian lady postal worker yesterday for the newly created Global Priority. Expect something at work in the beginning of next week...!

(pssst....marcia....mine get off yet? *smile*)

YUP...went out with Mark's...but it was wrapped ok. Let me know when it arrived and in what condition. I am accumulating a new one for you *grin*

already? (mine isn't in yet, but i will let you know) and check this link http://www.msnbc.com/news/394725.asp?bt=pu&btu=http://www.msnbc.com/m/olk2k/msnbc_o_install.asp&cp1=1

I have been posting the Space News on the News Conference hoping more people would see it and read it. I would like to have it linked here...but cannot do it without telnetting and I am not yet able to do that.... http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/news/36/new I know I posted that article from the Keck telescope (which I can see from the living room window - on a clear day, that is...! Thanks for the link, Wolfie.

sure thing!!

The Home web site of the W. M. Keck Observatory is http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu:3636/ It looks rather plain but inside there are wondrous thing. Check it out!

Oh, yes, the specs on that nice Observatory on Mauna Kea (otherwise known as the Backyard...) The Observatory Observatory location Mauna Kea, Hawaii USA Headquarters location Kamuela, Hawaii USA Sponsoring Institutions California Institute of Technology, NASA & University of California Project management California Association for Research in Astronomy Donor W.M. Keck Foundation The Telescope Primary mirror design Segment Number of segments 36 Segment shape Hexagonal Segment diameter 1.8 meters (6 feet) Segment weight 880 pounds Segment material Zerodur (low-expansion glass-ceramic) Primary mirror diameter 10 meters (33 feet) Light-collecting area 76 square meters (818 square feet) Mirror curvature f/1.75 hyperbolic mirror Focal length 17.5 meters (57.4 feet) Total weight of glass 14.4 metric tons (15.9 tons) Telescope mount Altitude-Azimuth Overall telescope height 24.6 meters (80.7 feet) Total moving weight with mirrors, 270 metric tons (298 tons) The Dome Dome height 30.8 meters (101 feet) Dome width 37 meters (121.4 feet) Total moving weight 635 metric tons (700 tons) The Mountain Name Mauna Kea Location 20.708 N, 156.25 W English Meaning White Mountain Summit Elevation 4205 meters (13,796 feet) Keck Elevation 4146 meters (13,603 feet) Area 2,380 km2 (920 mi2, 22.8% of Hawaii Island) Volume ~30,000 km3 (~7,200 mi3)

Hey, hey, hey, Mark. Sir Frederick Hoyle, Astronomer extraordinaire, Plumian Professer at Cambridge, writer of many books on Astronomy - not Hoyle's on cards etc. Sir Fred Hoyle - is one of the most famous of british Astronomers - it was him who first interested me in astonomy. He first thought the universe was steady - i.e. steady state universe - but realised he was wrong. He has also written many science fiction books and has had two plays on BBC 1 - sorry to be so long replying but am inundated with reli's from U.K.

I still think the steady state makes more sense than the "Big Bang"... He is my hero because he is the most famous astronomer I have had the privilege of meeting in person...In Hawaii, no less!

Just thought you'd be interested... While the night sky may appear to be full of stars, there are really only about 3,000 stars visible to the naked eye. They can be seen without a telescope as they are either close to the Earth or extremely luminous. The closest star to Earth, not counting the sun, is Alpha Centauri. It is about 25 trillion miles, or 4.3 light years, away.

and we must remember that a lot of the star light we see are just getting to us after first lighting up millions of years ago. isn't that amazing?

Hey Marcia you have met my hero Fred Hoyle, you lucky lucky girl, he is one man I have always wanted to meet (apart from one other than is who shall be nameless!! Marcia knows) - but afraid I would be totally tongue tied with his great intelligence and way with words. I am almost inclined to agree with you Marcia re steady state cause I am not sure the universe is expanding as they say. I am not sure re the doppler affect also. The galaxies seem to move at such extreme speeds that it is beyond understanding. One thing I have wondered about when they look back and see quasars at some 16 billion light years away - are we seeing our past or what? Answers please. Or at least some thoughts.

*grin* Anne, he is shorter than I am...but droll and dapper - very appropriate-looking for a British Astronomer, I thought. I have spent my entire life with academics. They are no different from anyone else. I find it easy to speak with anyone because they are individuals, and I approach them that way. What we see beyond the considered 15 billion year age for the solar system is seeing the universe BEFORE we were coalesced into a galaxy. We were loosely joined star-stuff. If we could see a planet of the same age as we are ourselves at any distance in the realm of light years we would be seeing them as we were. More easy to understand is if we were to go there, we would see us in a far distant past. NASA Science News for April 21, 2000 Amateur astronomers attended a unique meeting in mid-April to learn about high-energy astrophysics and how they can participate in it. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast21apr_1m.htm

EXPLODING STAR FEATURED ON WEB SITE Wednesday, April 26, 2000 16:04 A spectacular view of an exploding star was released today on a new web site launched to mark the Hubble Space Telescope's 10th year in orbit. The multi-coloured fireball, some 6,500 light years from Earth in the constellation Aquila, looks like a giant eye in space. A few thousand years ago a dying star about the same size as the Sun erupted and threw off its outer layers to create the "planetary nebula" NGC 6751. Shells of gas were hurled into space at speeds of 25 miles per second, glowing with the strong ultra-violet radiation emitted by the star's hot exposed core. The celestial cataclysm offers a sobering vision of what is in store for us. Our own Sun is predicted to undergo the same death throes in about six billion years' time. When it happens nothing in the Solar System, including the Earth, will escape destruction. The image is one of a number of dramatic pictures now available on the new Internet site http://hubble.stsci.edu Others include infant galaxies that existed billions of years ago, and tall, gaseous pillars that serve as incubators for embryonic stars. NGC 6751 shows several poorly understood features. Blue regions mark the hottest glowing gas, forming a ring around the central stellar remnant. Orange and red colours mark the locations of cooler gas, which tends to lie in long streamers pointing away from the central star, and in a tattered ring around the edge of the nebula. The origin of the cooler clouds within the nebula is still uncertain, but the streamers are evidence that they are affected by radiation and raging winds from the hot star at the centre. The star's surface temperature is estimated to be a scorching 140,000C. Hubble will be decommissioned in 2010 and replaced by the even more powerful Next Generation Space Telescope. � Press Association Thanks for this, Maggie

Universal Pictures Not content with mapping the world with its Terraserver project (http://www.terraserver.com) Microsoft is expanding its sights to include the entire universe. The company is setting up a database of digitised images of the sky, using pictures taken from the automated Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which is currently collecting 200m shots of the cosmos. Microsoft which hopes the project will show how reliable the database products are, has a prototype of the website Try http://www.sdss.org which will eventually let users click on any part of the night sky to zoom in and see more detail. It looks a great site now and has lots in it.

Thanks!!! (having trouble with html programming?!)

yeah, I'll send you what i did (yesterday was not a good time to send it for checking!), so i did it the old way again.

Isn't there a planetary conjunction due early this month?

Planet earth gets a whole lot lighter IT HAS taken more than 300 years but science�s weightiest problem may at last have been solved. A group of American physicists has finally found an accurate way of weighing the Earth Tomorrow they will formally announce to the American Phys-ical Society that the Earth weighs 5,972 billion billion tonnes � about 10 billion bil-lion tonnes less than the best previous estimates. It is both a scientific landmark and the cul-mination of an international race, which Britain has lost. A rival group at Birmingham Uni-versity was within days of com-ing up with its own figure. The work was carried out by Professor Jens Gundlach, of the University of Washington, Seat-tle. �We are confident that we now know the mass of our home planet more precisely than it has ever been known to mankind,� he said. Scientists have fought over the planet�s weight since the 17th century; when Sir Isaac Newton first described how the Sun and the planets orbiting around it were held together by gravity � a force related to their masses. Newton worked out the basic rules of gravity, but lacked the equipment to measure the so-called gravitational constant. Without this he could only guess at the figures that have intrigued physicists ever since: the exact weight of Earth, the other planets and the sun. Since then scores of physi-cists have come up with values for Big G, as the constant has become known. Henry Cavend-ish came close in 1798 but his result, like all others since, was very inaccurate. All bodies exert a gravita-tional pull on other bodies around them. Its size depends on bow much they weigh and the distance between them. For anything less-massive than a star or planet the force is tiny. Most laboratory experiments have therefore been based on making highly accurate meas-urements of the attraction between two masses � usually lumps of metal. The tiny forces generated tend, however, to be swamped by others such as Earth�s own gravity, air move-ments and temperature changes. Even lorries parking near a labo-ratory can alter the results. Gundlach spent �160,000 constructing an apparatus mounted on turntables which were rotated to cancel out local anomalies. In his final set-up a small plate was suspended by a tungsten thread in a slowly rotat-ing cylinder. Then, a set of mas-sive weights mounted outside the cylinder was spun in the opposite direction � creating a gravitational pull on the plate. This put a tiny, measurable twisting force on the thread. -�The total force acting on the plate was equivalent to the weight of a bacterium,� said Gundlach. �It was amazingly hard t measure.� He believes the effects of his work will be profound. Apart from shaving billions of tonnes off previous estimates of Earth�s mass, it should give geologists a better idea of the density of the planet � ena-bling them to work out what is happening in the molten layers beneath the surface. Astrophysi-cists may also be able to get a better idea of the age of the uni-verse and bow long it will last. Perhaps the greatest benefit could be for cosmologists searching for the so-called grand unified theory, which sci-entists hope will one day explain the forces that first cre-ated the universe and which have since governed the behav-iour of everything � from stars to sub-atomic particles. Other scientists, however, are not optimistic. Clive Speake, of Birmingham University�s exper-imental gravitational physics group, is working on data from a separate experiment from which results for Big G and the Earth�s weight are also expected this week. He described Gundlach�s results as �pretty incredible� and added: �I nearly fell off my chair when I read his report. Nobody else has ever pretended to find these values with such a high level of accuracy. The test will be whether he and others can repeat this.� Gundlach, however, has also worked out the weight of the sun. But at 1.988 billion billion billion tonnes, even he accepts there is room for error. �We could be wrong by billions of tonnes� but it is still the clos-est we have got,� he said. Jonathan Leake Science Editor, The Sunday Times, April 30th 2000

Yes, May 5, 2000 is the grand alignment and it will not be visible because they are lined-up on the other side of the sun from us and will be lost in the glare. Posted Earlier in Space Sceince News re the Grand Alignment: May 5, 2000. Is doom at hand, as many mystics assert? Find out by reading the FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1m.htm Planets for Dessert Also, for kids and kids-at-heart, a younger person's version of this article is available at the NASA Kids web site: http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2000/news-planetalign.asp?se

I was on my way to Geo27 but had to stop here for a bit... Very interesting stuff - another hobby interest is in radio astronomy/SETI. Once I get the dish mounted, I can start work on a hydrogen line receiver (1.4ghz) then I can listen to all the light dimmers in the neighborhood. I have seen plans for simple RA setups in the 400mhz and 12ghz range but I want to focus on L band stuff but there is some interesting signals heard around 5ghz as well - not sure if my 8ft dish will be any good but I have to start somewhere (plus need to find a 30ft dish...) - data crunching will be on the old P90. Any other radio astronomers out there? Mike

Spent 4 years in shouting distance of Green Bank, W Va and have seen Jodrell Bank as well. I'd love to be a mouse in the corner while you work with your array. Great stuff. SETI has a great website. Now, we are expecting photos of you at the controls. Must have a handy analyzer (used to be an oscilliscope sp?!) Please let us know what is happening as you create your listening post! I, for one, am very interested!

http://www.msnbc.com/news/399686.asp Please check this out! April 26 � A telescope that took a 10-day balloon ride over Antarctica has provided the most detailed glimpse ever into the fossil universe, as well as the best evidence yet that the cosmos conforms to classic geometry. The Boomerang experiment also confirms that all the matter we can see � from germs to galaxy clusters � accounts for only a small fraction of the universe. More at the above url. Thanks, Ginny!

(Patrick Moore (the 'Sky at Night' guy) is doing a live evening locally next month on'the Universe'. I am trying to persuade the house male to take me.)

Oh yes! Promise him anything! I would in similar circumstances. (How do you think we got to see Sir Fred Hoyle?!)

Patrick Moore is very, very special one of my favourite men - he is totally eccentric - totally given over to astronomy, talks the fastest I have ever heard in a quarter of an hour on the "Sky at Night" he got in half an hours worth of facts every month. He is I believe probably the greatest amateur astronomer ever. If you can get him on here I would be delighted - he would respond you know, I used to write to him in the U.K. and he always was delighted to respond, Fred Hoyle apart he is my favourite. Do try to contact him someone in the U.K. We had a delightful chappie on our channel nine programme this morning (Australia) that is talking about the planet alighment using a chocolate cake as an example! Pointing out that this alighment was not as near as many others but on the other hand it wouldn't be until 2690 before another like it! I was somewhat puzzled as I thought it was every 75 years or so.

Please excuse spelling. But I would be most interested in any response to my question.

I've no idea at the moment how to contact him Anne, but it would be great if we could get him interested. Have you heard him play the xylophone? He is truly extraordinary! I took down notes from last months sky at night, but haven't got round to posting them yet (can't find the pad I wrote on!). He also used to play the 'ask me any question about any computer game' quiz master on a kids programme on TV. I will definitely book to go and hear him, with or without the house male!

For years I subscribed to the Illustrated London News and adored it and most especially Partick Moore's regular contributions. I'm lining up behind you in the ranks of those who admire this most interesting man. ( I would suggest contacting him through where ever he is now publishing articles.)

A Hubble Decade To celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 10th anniversary, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., has created a new Web site devoted to the Earth-orbiting telescope and its spectacular images. Offering much more than pretty pictures, the site recounts Hubble's discoveries, illustrates how the telescope works, and suggests various educational activities and games. Until June 6, you can also vote on which celestial object astronomers should point the Hubble telescope to. Go to: http://hubble.stsci.edu/ and http://heritage.stsci.edu/

Lost and Found: Hubble Finds Much of the Universe's Missing Hydrogen For the past decade astronomers have looked for vast quantities of hydrogen that were cooked up in the Big Bang but somehow managed to disappear in the empty blackness of space. Now, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered this long-sought missing hydrogen. This gas accounts for nearly half of the "normal" matter in the universe -- the rest is locked up in galaxies. The confirmation of this missing hydrogen will shed new light on the large-scale structure of the universe. The detection also confirms fundamental models of how so much hydrogen was manufactured in the first few minutes of the universe's birth in the Big Bang.

I also admire Carl Sagan and Patrick Moore, and have some of their books. Moore's "A-Z of Astronomy" is a great reference for quick (and easy to understand) explanations of astronomical terms. BTW, nice new marble background, Marcia!

Thank you for joining the Moore-Sagan fan club and for your approval of the new marble. Moore's column is the one thing I miss the most about no longer subacribing to the Illustrated London News. It was a slendid magazine until they sold it and "modernized" it. Read: They added many more adverts and removed lots of the serious content - especially the archaeology!

Ginny posted this in Science conference - and it was important enough that I am pasting it to here... Friday, May 5 Missing Matter Found At Last Astronomers announced on Wednesday that they have at long last found an elusive component of the universe's missing mass. The "dark matter" is in the form of giant clouds of hydrogen in intergalactic space. Such streams of gas were presumed to exist, as computer models showed matter collecting into ribbons as the universe cooled after the Big Bang. (Galaxies formed where the gas was densest.) Evidence for the hydrogen was revealed in spectra of a quasar taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. As light from a quasar travels toward Earth, some of the light is absorbed by atoms in the clouds. The redshifts of gases at different distances create spectral features at different, specific wavelengths. Todd Tripp and Edward Jenkins (Princeton University) and Blair Savage (University of Wisconsin-Madison) determined that the quasar's light had several absorption features due to ionized oxygen, which, the astronomers note, is a "tracer" for the hydrogen (itself invisible). Tripp and his colleagues explain that these hydrogen ribbons can account for as much as half of the universe's "normal" matter (that which is composed of protons and neutrons, as atomic nuclei are). The results appear in the May 1st Astrophysical Journal Letters. See the online press release: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2000/18/

It was never really missing. It was there all along; we just didn't know where or how to look for it.

Of course...*grin*

Please check http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/34.66

Atlantis Shuttle Poised for Friday Launch CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The space shuttle Atlantis was poised on its launch pad on Thursday, ready to send astronauts on a long-delayed repair and supply mission to the International Space Station, which is running short of power and slowly losing orbit. NASA scheduled liftoff for 6:12 a.m. EDT on Friday following a month of delays caused by bad weather, a crowded schedule of unmanned launches and the astronaut commander's badly sprained ankle, which has now healed after an in-training injury. When commander James Halsell docks Atlantis to the space station early on Sunday, the crew of six Americans and one Russian will be arriving at an outpost whose completion is more than two years behind schedule and months away from seeing its first long-duration crew. The unfinished $60 billion project will need repairs before construction can even resume. In April, bad weather caused the U.S. space agency to scrap the Atlantis launch on three consecutive days. Air Force forecasters were predicting perfect weather for Friday's launch. The first priority on the 10-day Atlantis mission is to restore full power to one of the two station modules now in orbit. Astronauts will replace four of six solar charged batteries that no longer fully recharge. The crew will also use thrusters on Atlantis to boost the station's orbit about 17 miles to a standard orbit of some 235 miles. Although the Earth's atmosphere is extremely thin at such distances, it has been enough to reduce the station's orbit by about 1.5 miles a week. With the boost, the station can be properly positioned for an automatic docking with its next major component, a Russian service module with living quarters and enough fuel to keep the station up on its own. The Russians plan to launch the module, dubbed Zvezda, in mid-July. Space-walking astronauts will also try to lock-down a wobbly construction crane outside the station. The mission was announced in February as Zvezda's launch was repeatedly delayed by trouble in the cash-strapped Russian space program. By then it had become clear the station would need stop gap repairs. ``We didn't think it would be this long before we got more modules up there,'' said the station's operations manager, Bob Cabana, who as an astronaut commanded the first assembly mission in 1998. NASA took four astronauts already in training for a supply mission Halsell, pilot Scott Horowitz, and mission specialists Mary Ellen Weber and Jeffery Williams and teamed them with a Russian cosmonaut and two American astronauts Yuri Usachev, Susan Helms and James Voss training in Moscow to become the second crew to live aboard the station. And even though the fledgling station is six months away from seeing its first live-aboard crew, and 12 months from hosting any serious science, NASA has called this mission a jump-start for the program. ``By this time next year, we'll have a real space station up there with a laboratory and an airlock and electrical power and a crew on-board,'' Cabana told reporters on Thursday. ``I think people ought to stop doubting and start believing, because we're launching.''

NASA Science News for May 26, 2000 The pioneering space station concepts of the mid-1950's don't look much like the erector-set habitat in orbit today. Read about Werner von Braun's early designs for an outpost in space and how he advocated his ideas to the public 50 years ago. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26may_1m.htm?l=NzMwMjk2IG1hcmNpQEFMT0hBLk5FVCBTTkdMSVNUIC66FwsfrRgz

Sunday Times 4/6/2000 Britons open eye on dawn of universe Jonathan Leake, Science Editor BRITISH astronomers are designing the world's ultimate telescope - so large it will be able to make direct observations of life-bearing planets in other solar systems. The so-called Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (Owl) will also see across space to the edge of the universe - collecting light emitted 11 billion years ago from the first stars formed. The insights it provides, say astronomers, will be stupendous. Sir Martin Rees, the astronomer royal, said the project was "the next big step" in probing the origins of the universe. "It will be looking at more distant and fainter objects than ever before - including some that formed close to the big bang," he said. A telescope capable of such feats has long seemed an astronomer's fantasy. The crucial part of any telescope is its reflector, essentially a mirror, which focuses light into cameras and other instruments. The largest telescope made has a reflector 10 metres in diameter, tiny compared with the 100 metres needed for the Owl device. Until now astronomers had not even considered such a project. A 100-metre glass mirror is beyond modern technology, would be too heavy to move and would be pointless because of the way light is distorted when it passes through the atmosphere. At Durham University, however, a team of physicists has designed a system that replaces traditional reflectors with hundreds of thin flexible mirrors with just a fraction of the weight. Such mirrors may even be made of fabrics sprayed with reflective coatings. These can be built onto a flexible frame whose shape is computer-adjusted thousands of times a minute to counteract the distorting effects of the atmosphere. The result has been to cut the cost of the project to about �800m - less than the total cost of the Millennium Dome. Roger Davies, professor of astronomy at Durham, said the system meant ground-based telescopes would be able to make observations as if they were floating in space. "We will be able to see other planets clearly enough to measure water on their surface and oxygen in their atmospheres. Such planets could be capable of bearing carbon-based life," he said. The obstacles, however, remain formidable. Even with its advanced optics it will have to be built in the highest, driest place that can be found. The most likely spot is Cerro Paranal, high in the Andes mountains in Chile. "The cost means Britain cannot go it alone on this - it will be an international project," said Professor Ian Halliday, chief executive of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, the government's funding agency for such research, when he unveiled the scheme last week. He is negotiating to link Britain with the eight European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Holland, who already run the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Among the most important questions the Owl telescope would resolve is the structure and origin of the universe. What puzzles astronomers is why stars and galaxies are not spread around at random but occur in clusters with huge empty voids in between. More recently it emerged that galaxies often string themselves together into long filaments or form into flat sheets. The limited power of modern telescopes means they cannot provide enough detail to explain such phenomena. By contrast, the Owl telescope's ability to collect radiation from stars as they looked billions of years ago will allow astronomers to examine what was going on to create such unexpected patterns today. Its huge dish will also enable it to peer through the intergalactic clouds of dust that hide the hearts of galaxies and watch new stars being born. But it is the search for life on other planets that provides the most powerful inspiration for building such telescopes. Designs are being drawn up at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. But Britain's astronomers are not driven only by lofty ideals. In the past few years there has been an increasing sense of frustration as Britain's telescopes have been eclipsed by others. The Americans, for example, have now got the Keck telescope, whose 10-metre reflector is the biggest in the world. Britain's European partners also have some spectacular facilities, in particular the very large telescope comprising four linked 8-metre reflectors that is nearing completion in Chile. Britain has taken no part in this project or any others of note except for paying a quarter of the costs of the Gemini observatory comprising two 8-metre telescopes, one in Hawaii and the other in Chile. It means that, unless the UK can initiate a large telescope project or buy into an existing one, it will soon be marginalised. Halliday said: "Britain has a long and proud history in astronomy and the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope is the kind of project we must get involved in to maintain that record."

oops sorry

trying to correct

You did just fine - I am going to leave it - momentous as it is! Thanks for posting it.

Hi All There was something in the most recent Astronomy magazine about the adaptation of military technology to telescopes to eliminate 'twinkle' - this had to do with making adjustments to the reflector mirror as well. Anyway, cool stuff - hope it gets built. Mike

Scientists Find Evidence of Water on Mars By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers said they had found convincing evidence that water flows on the surface of Mars, a finding that makes it much more likely life could exist or has existed on the planet. Photographs from NASA's orbiting Mars Global Surveyor show gullies that look like they could have been formed only by large amounts of water bursting out and causing landslides, scientists Michael Malin and Kenneth Edgett said on Thursday. ``We see features that look like gullies formed by flowing water and the deposits of soil and rocks transported by these flows,'' Malin, of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, said in a statement. ``The features appear to be so young that they might be forming today. We think we are seeing evidence of a ground water supply, similar to an aquifer.'' Channels carved by flash floods in the U.S. West look very similar to the Martian gullies, said Mike Carr, a planetary geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. ``These images are dead ringers for things we see when we fly over the West,'' Carr, who wrote a book about water on Mars, said in an interview. Malin and Edgett have been poring over some 65,000 images taken by a camera aboard the Mars Global Surveyor in the past year. What they saw shocked them. Right where they would least expect to find water, in the coldest crannies of craters facing away from the Sun and toward the poles, they found gullies. The most logical explanation is that they were formed by water. ``I was dragged to this conclusion kicking and screaming,'' Edgett told a news conference. The findings are astonishing because scientists had believed that water on Mars could only exist in frozen form, beneath the soil or tied up in polar icecaps, and as extremely sparse clouds in the thin Martian atmosphere. ``The presence of liquid water on Mars has profound implications for the question of life not only in the past, but perhaps even today,'' Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science, told the news conference. ``If life ever did develop there, and if it survives to the present time, then these landforms would be great places to look,'' said Weiler. The evidence is also overwhelming that the landslides were recent. Craters quickly pockmark everything on the surface of Mars, but no craters can be found in the piles of rock and dirt below the slides. Some of the slides also pile up over sand dunes, which themselves are transient. And intriguing glints of light and dark suggest there has not been time for the ubiquitous Martian dust that coats everything on the planet with a red powder to settle in some of the gullies. The new conclusions will have to be confirmed. The paper does not say that water itself has been detected -- only structures that, if found on Earth, would have been formed by water seeping up from underground, then building up under pressure and bursting out in an explosion of mud. ``I bet when this data gets out in the science community, there will be all sorts of proposals about how you could do this without water,'' Carr said. Malin and Edgett say they plan to study more pictures in the hope of finding one of these landslides in action. ``I personally will feel better when he shows me a picture some day ... and a channel has moved, a boulder has moved,'' Weiler said. The findings are a huge boost to NASA, which lost two Mars missions in a row late last year. The space agency is planning missions to Mars in 2003 and 2005 which will include the use of a robot to sample the planet's surface. ``It is very pleasing to be up on the dais talking about something positive for a change,'' Weiler said. ``It feels a lot better than crashing a satellite,'' he added later. NASA has admitted it may have cut a few too many corners in recent Mars missions. ``We pushed a little too far on faster, better, cheaper,'' Weiler said. ``We need to take a step back.'' But, he pointed out, the Mars Global Surveyor was the result of the ``faster, better, cheaper'' approach. ``I think one of the most interesting and significant aspects of this discovery is what it could mean if human explorers ever go to Mars,'' said Malin. ``If water is available in substantial volumes in areas other than the poles, it would make it easier for human crews to access and use it -- for drinking, to create breathable air, and to extract oxygen and hydrogen for rocket fuel or to be stored for use in portable energy sources.''

Try: http://www.starport.com/mars/ for more Mars specific info

I posted this yesterday on Geo 34 but thank you for putting another version in full here! *hugs*

Science News Model Tracks Storms from the Sun R. Cowen Hell hath no fury like a solar storm. When the sun blows its top, it hurls billions of tons of electrically charged gas into space at speeds up to 2,000 kilometers per second. Now, a group of astronomers has developed a reliable method for predicting how long it will take these storms to hit Earth. There, they can disrupt satellites, hamper radio communications, and knock out power grids. Another team has gathered observations that confirm a model of how the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, manages to store up enough magnetic energy to induce these upheavals. Both teams reported their findings this week at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Stateline, Nev. The new calculations of solar storms' arrival times relied on observations by two spacecraft. SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) stares directly at the sun and measures the speed of massive clouds of electrified gas known as coronal mass ejections. Those clouds that head toward Earth are detected by another spacecraft, called Wind, about an hour before they arrive. Predicting the travel time for a coronal mass ejection is a tricky business. Once launched from the sun, these clouds must make their way through the solar wind, the vast stream of ions that continuously blows out from the sun. Like the current of a great river acting on a tossed twig, the solar wind tends to pull slowermoving material up to its own speed and hold back material that sets off at a higher speed. more...http://www.sciencenews.org/20000624/fob1.asp

The SOHO C2 coronagraph captured this image of a sungrazing comet 0.75 degrees from the Sun on April 29, 2000. The solid brick-colored disk in the middle is the coronagraph's occulting disk; the white circle shows the true size of the Sun. The comet was noticed by four different amateur astronomers who were monitoring images from SOHO's realtime data page. All four (M. Boschat, T. Lovejoy, M. Oates, R. Gorelli) are credited with the discovery. The same comet was visible a day earlier in wider-angle C3 images, but it was much fainter. This 4-frame animation of the comet illustrates why it is easier to find sungrazers when they are very close to the Sun. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07jul_1.htm?list

Caption above for this image:

COMET LINEAR NASA Science News for July 05, 2000 Comet 1999 LINEAR S4, which can already be seen through binoculars, is expected to become a faint naked-eye object similar in appearance to the Andromeda Nebula as it glides by the Big Dipper this month. Maximum brightness is expected on July 23, 2000. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05jul_1m.htm?list

TIME LAPSE IMAGE OF COMET LINEAR This time-lapse sequence of Comet LINEAR-S4 was taken on July 2, 2000, from Arizona and shows the comet's movement over only 19 minutes. Credit & Copyright: Wil Milan

Comet Linear information pages: http://www.cometlinear.com/ http://www.skypub.com/sights/comets/0007linearS4.html Enjoy, photograph and post your comments!!!

Last Night's Aurora Report: Location: Bakersfield, CA (N118.00 W035.00) UTC Date/Time of Observation: 2000/07/14 at 08:17 for 01 hours 00 minutes. Dimmest Stars Visible: 4th to 5th Mag. Estimated Intensity of Activity: Moderate Elevation angle of activity above horizon: 120 degrees Types of activity observed: (Discrete Arcs) (Rays) (Curtains) Light Pollution: Moderate Sky Conditions (cloudy or not): Clear View Estimated Lunar Interference: High (Near-Full Moon) Comments: I have never seen it here before... my mother lives 75 miles away and described almost exactly the same thing I saw!

okay. I seem to be the only one who saw the lunar eclipse last night. I live in Perth, Western Australia, as it was a somewhat showery evening, I had to dodge between the showers. Nevertheless it was an awesome sight. The moon looked first time as if it was smoke covered, red coloured and rather smaller than usual. Gradually the red colour took over although it still seemed to be on fire - rather strange. It was weird and rather peculiar, and I can imagine some 100/200 years ago would have caused panic. Portents and goodness knows what else. It was well worth seeing and lasted for some three hours. I apologise for not taking a picture but the weather was to unstable to chance staying outside too long.