Copyright © 2002 San Jose Astronomical Association, Inc.Volume 13 Number 9 Official Publication of the San Jose Astronomical Association, September 2002

24 Hour News and Information Hotline: (408) 559-1221www.sjaa.net

SJAA Activities CalendarJim Van Nuland

September7 Deep sky Weekend. Sunset 7:26

p.m., 2% moon sets 8:17 p.m.13 Houge Park star party. Sunset

7:18 p.m., 55% moon sets 0:03a.m.

14 ATM Class XVI. Houge Park,7:30 p.m.

21 General Meeting: Slide andEquipment night. Houge Park,8:00 p.m.

26 ATM Class XVII. Houge Park,7:30 p.m.

27 Astronomy Class X, Cosmic BirdWatching, Jay Reynolds Free-man. Houge Park, 7:30 p.m.

27 Houge Park star party. Sunset6:57 p.m., 65% moon rise 10:31p.m.

28 Short Deep sky Weekend. Sunset6:54 p.m., 56% moon rise 11:15p.m.

October3-6 CALSTAR star party at Lake San

Antonio County Park11 Houge Park star party. Sunset

6:36 p.m., 39% moon sets 12:49p.m.

12 ATM Class XVIII. Houge Park,7:30 p.m.

19 General Meeting: Br. GuyConsolmagno, Vatican Observa-tory. Houge Park, 8:00 p.m.

24 ATM Class XIX. Houge Park,7:30 p.m.

26 Short Deep sky Weekend.Sunset 6:15 p.m., 71% moon rise10:01 p.m.

27 Daylight Savings Time ends.Turn 2:00 a.m. back to 1:00 a.m.,take extra hour observing.

Dante’s AstronomyPeter Lord

Dante’s great masterpiece TheDivine Comedy embodies a transcen-dental form of astronomy. Each of thethree books of this epic medieval workbegins with the upward look to theheavens in Greek tradition of theastronomer/philosopher. Just assignificantly, each of the three booksends with the word Stelle, or stars. Thelast thought that this great poet leavesthe reader with, is that his mind

revolves with the love that moves “thesun, the moon, and other stars.” Thereis no question that The Divine Comedywas conceived by a genius aflamewith the passions that inspire amateurastronomers to this day; aperture feveris something Dante Aligehiere wouldhave understood completely.

To fully appreciate Dante’s use ofastronomy, we need to remember that700 years ago astronomy and philoso-phy remained tightly integrated withinthe liberal arts of the first universitiesOxford and Paris. This was theastronomy of Ptolemy, preserved bythe works of Arab astronomers, alegacy that lives today in names suchas Deneb, Aldebaran, and Alfraganus.

Dante’s pre-Copernican astronomy,was essentially a Greek system inwhich the stars and planets rodeacross the heavens on crystallinespheres set in motion by the hand ofGod. It was a pure form of naked eyeastronomy, philosophically born of theprimal human urge to explore, animpulse we still feel today as we lookup at the stars and question themeaning of our existence.

Dante’s astronomy brings to lifethe ancient philosophical tradition thatlooking to the stars in contemplationtransforms and elevates the mind.Perhaps the finest example of thisoccurs in the beginning of Dante’s

second book, The Purgatory. Hereafter emerging from the subterraneanconfines of Hell (where one cannotlook at the stars) Dante and his mentorVirgil pause from their climb up themountain of Purgatory. They rest on anEast-facing ledge in the early hoursafter dawn. Dante reveals his observa-tional skills by noticing somethingunusual about the path of the sunthrough the sky. He turns to Virgil inamazement, perplexed that the sun ismoving to the left of the meridian.Dante who started his journey in thenorthern hemisphere expects to see

Dante and Beatrice reach the sun. Giovanni diPaolo, 1403 - 1483.

Continued on next page

SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 2 September 2002

the appreciation that the skewedrelationship of the circles is the causeof the Earth’s seasons.

The Divine Comedy reminds usnot only of the tremendous power ofvisual astronomy to inspire us; it alsoreminds us that the wonder andinspiration that we find in astronomylinks us to some of the deepestphilosophical questions of the westerntradition. The Divine Comedy furtherentices us with the prospect of enter-ing into this tradition through our owneducation. The light of Dante’s intellecthas the power to transform our ownupward gaze to the stars into a

celebration of our shared humanity.Amateur astronomers are heirs to anepic legacy of personal exploration,hidden in one of the foremost works ofwestern literature, waiting to benoticed like the stars above.

— Peter Lord, pllord@attbi.com[Editor’s Note: Peter Lord is a

long time member of SJAA, PAS, andother Bay Area astronomy clubs, aspacecraft engineer for Loral, andrecent recipient of a Masters of LiberalArts from Stanford. His thesis exploredthe astronomy in Dante’s DivineComedy.]

Dante’s AstronomyContinued from previous page

the sun moving to his right, to thesouth of the meridian. Within the worksthat Dante studied was a reverence forthe fact (considered highly philosophi-cal in a world without satellites) thatthe heavens appear to behave differ-ently from different vantage points on aspherical earth. What Dante is comingto terms with is that his subterraneanjourney across hell took him straightthrough the earth, past its center, andup into the southern hemisphere.

Virgil asks Dante to remember allthat he studied, then work out thesignificance of what he is seeing. In asudden flash of understanding anyamateur astronomer knows well,Dante “gets it:” he is seeing the motionof the sun from the other side of theworld! As soon as Dante turns hismental worldview upside-down, it allmakes sense. Dante brings to life thepower of astronomy to transform ourworldview (the very foundation of ourexperience of life on planet Earth)through poetry.

A second remarkable examplecan be found in The Paradiso asDante reaches the crystalline spherethat carries the sun. Here, he pausesto gaze lovingly on the geometricpoints of the equinox before him.Describing with mathematical skill theintersection of the ecliptic with theother great circles of the Ptolemaicastronomy. Dante fills his poetry with

Bro. Guy Consolmagno toSpeak at October Meeting

Our speaker for the Octobergeneral meeting will be Brother GuyConsolmagno, author of Turn Left atOrion and Brother Astronomer:Adventures of a Vatican Scientist.

Brother Guy has been at theVatican Observatory since 1993 andsplits his time between two homes. Inthe summer, he lives at CastelGandolfo, Italy (summer home of thePope), where he is the curator for theVatican meteorites. In the winter, helives in Tucson, Arizona, where heobserves asteroids and Kuiper Beltcomets with the Vatican’s 1.8 metertelescope on Mt. Graham

He has taught in Africa as aPeace Corps volunteer and hassearched for meteorites in Antarctica.

He is a renowned speaker, ableto talk about the philosophy of scienceand religion and the commonality heviews between them.

See next month’s Ephemeris forBrother Guy’s topic. Both books will beavailable for sale and for Brother Guyto sign at the October meeting.

ASTRONOMY Magazine Renewal TimeJim Van Nuland

It’s time to renew our groupsubscription to Astronomy magazine.The rate for 2003 is again $29, or $55for two years. Please send a checkpayable to Jim Van Nuland, 3509Calico Ave., San Jose CA 95124.

If you subscribe independently,and your subscription ends during2003, you may convert to the grouprate. Send a check and the renewalcard or a mailing label to Jim, andyou’ll be added to the group for an

additional 12/24 months.If you do not subscribe and wish

to do so, send the $29/55 and yoursubscription will begin with the Janu-ary 2003 issue.

I will hold your checks until earlyOctober when the renewal package issent in. Don’t worry that your checkdoesn’t clear promptly.

Any questions? Call Jim at408.371.1307, from 10 a.m. to 10p.m., or e-mail to jvn@svpal.org.

Amateur astronomers areheirs to an epic legacy ofpersonal exploration ....

SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 3 September 2002

Out ThereMilky Way from Fremont Peak

Mark Wagner

Now let’s jump far outside toa galaxy that looks much like

our own ....

This month’s new moon is thelast for summer 2002. Night timetemps are already heading lower andfall’s crisp evenings are on approach.Take this opportunity to visit one of thehigher local dark sky sites whileweather conditions make them attrac-tive.

Fremont Peak State Park is thevenerable observing heart of amateurastronomy in the greater South SanFrancisco Bay Area, and beyond. The“Peak” is a beautiful setting for ourhobby. Enjoy a picnic or BBQ dinner

under old oaks while enjoying thespectacular sunsets over a coastlinespanning from Santa Cruz to Montereybay. If the fog is in over the coastalplain the effect is surreal, and what atreat you’ll be in for when night bringsout mag 6+ skies! At 2,600 feet, thePeak is one of the higher localperches from which to observe.

There are several spots ... thesouthwest lot, just below the Peak trail,along Coulter Row, or if you are anFPOA member up by the observatory(check with FPOA for current accessrules). Each location has its ownunique attributes. And as an addedbonus, if the observatory is open youcan enjoy views through the 30”Newtonian “Challenger.” Even the 11mile drive up San Juan Canyon Road

out of San Juan Bautista is worth thetrip ... a beautiful drive to an island ofamateur astronomy, less than an hoursouth of San Jose!

This month’s deep sky targets sitbetween right ascension 21 and 23,placed comfortably rising in the eastfor two hours after astronomical darkon new moon (September 6).

Start with the interesting plan-etary nebula NGC7027 in Cygnus.This is a bright object at mag 8.5 and

only 3600 light years distant. My notesdescribe it as an “easy target close totwo bright stars E of Deneb. Fuzzy at70x. At 195x the planetary begins toshow elongation and its bi-lobedshape. At 350x it is clearly bi-lobedand a gray-green. The west end is abit larger and notably brighter. A starmay be embedded in the extremewestern end.”

While you are near NGC7027, ifyou are under dark skies pop in anUltra High Contrast (UHC) filter andlowest power eyepiece for a cruisealong NGC7000, the North AmericanNebula, and perhaps if you’re luckythe Pelican Nebula as well.

NGC7008 is a mag 13.0 plan-etary nebula. This one is barely inCygnus, but is a remarkable objectworth hunting down. Use Deneb(Alpha Cygni) and Alpha Cephei(Alderamin) as the guide stars. At170X using an Orion Ultrablock filterthe object appeared annular andelongated slightly NNE-SSW. A verybright knot was on the northern edgewith a pair of stars almost touching thesouthern edge. This is a great targetfor dark skies and more magnification!

NGC7092 is better known asM39. This is a dazzling open cluster.Its 35’ diameter nearly fills the field of

view in my 20 Nagler. I called it a“poor-man’s M45” in my notes. Thisone is easy to see in a modest finder 9degrees east northeast of Deneb.Look at two more open clusters in theimmediate area while visiting M39.NGC7067 is a small rich cluster lessthen one and a half degrees southwestof M39. Some literature refers tonebulosity around this object, can youdetect any? Finally head just over onedegree southeast from NGC7067 toNGC7082, an open cluster nearly aslarge as M39, and bright, but scattered— somewhat of a poor cluster, butoffering you some variety and gives abetter appreciation of the big Messiernearby.

You may be surprised to learnthat the next object is visible even fromHouge Park on a good (moonless)night! NGC7293 is nearly the size ofthe full moon. Better known as theHelixNebula, thisobject wasfor decadesdescribedas achallengeobject foramateurastrono-mers. Withtoday’slargeraperturesand spe-cialty filters such as a UHC, gettinggood views of the Helix has becometrivial. This is the closest and largest(apparent size) planetary nebula in ourskies and the view can be stunning.On good nights you can detect whatappears as two rings, one overlayingthe other, giving an impression of thehelical structure for which the object isnamed. To find this, a good bet is tostart with a binocular — the lowsurface brightness of the Helix shows

Continued on next page

NGC7008 in Cygnus sketched by MarkBirkmann, 408X through 40-inch Newtonianwith Orion Ultrablock filter

NGC7293, the Helix Nebulain Aquarius. sketched by BillFerris, 63x through 10-inchNewtonian with O-III filter.

SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 4 September 2002

Out ThereContinued from previous page

MooningBack To Basics

Dave North

I write history notes, I write aboutlooking for this rille or that, I writeabout ... well, the wrong things, Isometimes think. And this has been amonth to remind me.

I’ve been getting a bunch ofquestions, both at public events andthrough email. So I thought I’d addresssome of those questions here, with theidea that lots of folks might be curious,but not ask.

Maybe my favorite was: what arethose dark marks on the Moon?

Dark marks? Ah. You mean themaria? The dark parts of the man/bunny on the Moon?

Yeah.

Okay. The maria are not onlydarker than most of the Moon, they’resmoother. And that’s because they gotrougher treatment!

Basically, they’re lava grit. Andmost lava is made of basalt both hereand on the Moon — and it’s dark.

Why lava?Because the maria are situated

where Really Big Things hit the Moonback when it was in the latest stagesof its formation. Actually, pretty muchformed.

When you consider that one ofthe more recent ones, Imbrium, is1250km (about 775 miles) across, youget some idea of how big the “incom-

ing” was (probably on the order of 100miles in diameter at least).

If that hit us now, of course, itwould be the end of the world.

So anyway, this big honkertouches down, blows what seems tobe half the Moon into the sky, andeverything settles down, but in themiddle we have a big glowing lake oflava.

After a while, that all cools down,but basically the surface is a weak-ened, sunken, fractured mess. Overperhaps the next few million yearsrepeated lava flows fill in the wholearea, layer by layer.

In the end, you get a Mare. Butwhy is the stuff that leaks out so dark?

Iron, basically. It has a higheriron content than the lighter (in bothsenses of the word) upper crustalmatter, which has a lot more silica.The lighter stuff is called silicic, andthe darker mafic (from magnesium andiron — ferric being a greekism for iron.Note its symbol in the Periodic Table isFe).

So that’s about it ... wait! Yousaid lava “grit.” Why grit?

Okay, it’s been there (in mostcases) for a few billion years now, andduring that time all manner of mi-crometeorites, cosmic rays, pebblesand other crud have been slowlygrinding away at it.

Basaltic lavas are crumbly tobegin with (you can crunch them withyour foot just walking across a lavaflow) and now they’ve been reduced to

Continued on next page

up much more readily in a 7x or 10xbinocular than it does with highermagnification in an unfiltered tele-scope.

So far all objects have been partof our home Milky Way galaxy. Nowlet’s jump far outside to a galaxy thatlooks much like our own, NGC7331 inPegasus. I use it as a target to gaugetransparency from home near HougePark in my 8” and 10” telescopes. If Ican detect NGC7331 easily, I am in fora good night! NGC7331 is bright,pretty large, very elongated and nearlyedge on. Maybe you can see somedust lanes. All this from our vantagepoint only 48 million light years away!Several other challenging galaxies dotthe neighborhood and make good darksky targets — NGC7335, 7340 and7337 form a triangle east of NGC7331and in the same field of view. Move 30minutes south-southwest of 7331 andcheck out Stephan’s Quintet. Thissmall interacting group of galaxies canbe detected in small apertures, but toget all five members you will need highmagnification and dark, dark transpar-ent skies.

When the fog comes in aroundFremont Peak, there is no rival in thebay area. Steadiness, transparency,dark skies — the Peak has it all. It is

In the end, you get a Mare.But why is the stuff that leaks

out so dark?

NGC7331 in Pegasus, sketched by MarkBirkmann, 30-inch Newtonian

the right type of place for a deep skyobserver to hunt quarry such asStephan’s Quintet or to pluck out thefine details of the Helix or NGC7027. Ihope you get out there while theweather permits. Enjoy that sunset

over the fog-covered Pacific and thefriendship you’ll find sharing views withother observers you’ll find at FremontPeak.

— Mark Wagner,mgw@resource-intl.com

SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 5 September 2002

dust and grit — but it’s still darker thanthe surrounding silicic “upland” soil.

But wait, Dave! You said “lateststages of formation” and went on tosay Imbrium was one of the morerecent ... why?

Okay, it’s not like this kind ofthing didn’t happen all along. But whenthe planetoid was a lot more plastic, itwas just like tossing pebbles into apond. Once it started to “set,” they leftmore of a mark. But even those aremostly obliterated by what came later.Finally, when it was getting really solid,the lighter stuff settled on the top (thebrighter, primarily silicic soil). All thisflowing and drying kind of erased theearly impacts.

So we see now what happenedafter things settled down enough to letthe wounds stick around.

Well, fine Dave. Then if the Mariawere caused by big impacts, why don’tthey look like craters? That’s an easyone to answer, but it comes in twoparts. The first part is: they do, sort of.A great example is Mare Orientale (theEastern Sea on the western edge ofthe Moon — the nomenclature waschanged, reversing east and westfrom the old system, so astronautswouldn’t be confused when theylanded. Really!)

But Orientale is hard to see (thisis a good time of year to look for it justbefore full Moon) so here’s a betterone: Mare Nectaris. You can see it ingood light a few days after new and/orfull, and nearby you’ll see Rupes Altai— or the more prosaic Altai Scarp.That’s pretty much like a crater rim,only different.

Different? Well, yeah. Craters actdifferently depending on what sizethey are. Little ones will look like the‘cup’ after which they are named(crater is descended from the Greekfor cup). Somewhat larger ones willflatten out at the bottom and have araised rim with terraces. A bit largerand they get central peaks. Keepgoing and you get a mare, which willtypically be flattish, but have “shock

SJAA Veep Bob Havner demonstrates moon phases withhis Project Astro class.

Teaching Astronomy with Project AstroBob Havner

rings” around it — like the Altai Scarp.So Dave, did they really think

there were seas on the Moon?No.Well, I’m not really sure. Maybe

I’ll try to find out.

MooningContinued from previous page

This past year I became involvedwith Project Astro. Project Astro is aprogram operated by the AstronomicalSociety of the Pacific that pairs 4ththrough 9th grade teachers with localamateur and professional astrono-mers. I first heard about Project Astroat the Silicon Valley Lectures atFoothill College. I was interested butalso unsure whether I had the skills toteach astronomy, or anything else forthat matter, to schoolchildren.

I thought about it off and on forsome time but there was always thatfear of failure. Then I became involvedwith Jim Van Nuland and the schoolstar parties. I found that I was quite atease with the kids and they were veryinterested in what I had to tell them. Ialso talked to Jane Houston Jones,who I knew was a Project Astroastronomer; she gave me the courageto take the next step.

I attended the Project Astroworkshop in the summer of 2001.There I met my Project Astro partnerJuanita Ryan. Juanita is a fifth gradeteacher at Toyon Elementary School in

So, this is fun. If anybody actuallysends me a question — emailnorth@znet.com — I’ll try to answer ithere! Maybe if y’all tell me what towrite, I’ll do a better job.

— Dave North, north@znet.com

San Jose and a veteran to ProjectAstro. The ASP put on a great work-shop. It was two days of hands onprojects and instruction on how tohave a successful partnership. Every-one was given a copy of The Universeat your Fingertips, a complete re-source with projects for every area ofastronomy at the 4th through 9th level.

Although a minimum of four visitsto the school per year are required ofthe Project Astro astronomer I thought

we should try for once amonth. We didn’t make thatgoal but we did have about 7or 8 meetings including aschool star party for theentire school and an attemptat Science Camp that wasunfortunately clouded out.As a finale to the year, mostof the class showed up atHouge Park for the solareclipse in June. The classpresented me with a scrap-book that has photos,drawings, and letters fromthe class.

My involvement with my ProjectAstro class has been one of the mostrewarding experiences of my life and Iwould encourage anyone to take thatfirst step. I plan to continue my part-nership with Juanita and I look forwardto starting class next year.

— Bob Havner,bhavner@earthlink.net

SJAA membership for July:291, up three from last month.

SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 6 September 2002

Celestial CalendarSeptember 2002Richard Stanton

Lunar Phases: Date Rise Trans SetNM 20:07 PDT 06 06:00 12:58 19:45FQ 11:07 PDT 13 14:23 19:16 00:41FM 06:58 PDT 21 19:36 00:59 06:53LQ 10:02 PDT 29 00:12 06:56 14:35

Nearer Planets: R.A. Dec.Mercury, 0.70 A.U., Mag. 2.107 08:55 14:36 20:16 12:34.0 -07:0917 08:27 14:02 19:37 12:41.0 -08:4927 07:05 12:54 18:44 12:13.9 -04:29

Venus, 0.48 A.U., Mag. -5.507 10:30 15:46 21:02 13:43.6 -14:3617 10:30 15:34 20:37 14:11.0 -08:4927 10:22 15:15 20:07 14:31.9 -21:13

Mars, 2.63 A.U., Mag. 1.707 05:56 12:33 19:10 10:30.9 +10:3417 05:48 12:18 18:46 10:54.8 +08:1027 05:41 12:02 18:23 11:18.4 +05:41

Jupiter, 5.93 A.U., Mag. 2.007 03:38 10:43 17:47 08:41.0 +18:4417 03:08 10:11 17:14 08:48.9 +18:1527 02:38 09:39 16:40 08:56.2 +17:47

Saturn, 9.06 A.U., Mag. 0.707 00:36 07:53 15:11 05:51.3 +22:0817 23:55 07:16 14:34 05:53.6 +22:0827 23:17 06:38 13:56 05:55.1 +22:08

SOL Star Type G2V Intelligent Life in System ?Hours of Darkness08:13 07 06:41 13:06 19:29 11:02.7 +06:0708:41 17 06:50 13:02 19:14 11:38.6 +02:1909:08 27 06:59 12:59 18:58 12:14.6 -01:35

Astronomical Twilight: Begin EndJD 2,452,524 07 05:12 20:58

534 17 05:22 20:41544 27 05:32 20:24

Sidereal Time:Transit Right Ascension at Local Midnight07 00:00 = 21:5717 00:00 = 22:3627 00:00 = 23:15

Darkest Saturday Night: 07 Sep 2002Sunset 19:29Twilight 20:58Moon Set 20:20Dawn Begin 05:12Hours Dark 08:13

The SJAA hosts the CaliforniaStar Party again in 2002. Held at LakeSan Antonio, near Paso Robles inMonterey County, Calstar is your basicend of season dark sky star party. Novendors, no food concessions, nospeakers, no prizes. Bring water, bringshade and bring sunscreen. And don’t

School and Public Events

Sep. 5 Waldon West, Saratoga(training session for parkpersonnel)

Sep. 10 Waldon West, Saratoga (firstnight walk, assist)

Sep. 14 Almaden Lake Park,San Jose

Sep. 22 Overfelt Gardens park, S.J.Moon festival, daytime/sun

Calstar October 3, 4, 5 2002

forget to bring your telescope! Camp-ing costs are $32.00 for the threenights, with an option to camp Sundaynight for $16.00

Maps, registration,and picturesfrom last years star party are here:http://www.sjaa.net/calstar2002.html

Group picture from the 2001 Calstar gathering at Lake San Antonio.

Next month: Saturn returns to the eveningsky, and the Shallow Sky column returns tothe Ephemeris!

Directions to Houge Park

Houge (rhymes with “Yogi”)Park is in San Jose, near Campbelland Los Gatos. From Hwy. 17, takethe Camden Avenue exit. Go east0.4 miles, and turn right at the light,onto Bascom Avenue. At the nextlight, turn left onto Woodard Road.At the first stop sign, turn right ontoTwilight Drive. Go three blocks,cross Sunrise Drive, then turn leftinto the park.

From Hwy. 85, take theBascom Avenue exit. Go north, andturn right at the first traffic light,onto White Oaks Road. At the firststop sign, turn left onto TwilightDrive. You will now be passing thepark. Turn right at the first driveway,into the parking lot.

SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 7 September 2002

Officers and Board of Directors

Pres Mike Koop (408) 446-0310VP Bob Havner (408) 723-2559Sec Jim Van Nuland (408) 371-1307Tres Gary Mitchell (408) 265-2336Dir Bill O’Shaughnessy

(408) 984-3985Dir Jim Bartolini (831) 394-7795Dir Paul Mancuso (408) 946-0738Dir David Smith (408) 978-5503Dir Steve Nelson (650) 968-4733

Ephemeris Staff

Editors Jane Houston Jones &Morris Jones (415) 453-2885

CirculationBob Brauer (408) 292-7695Lew Kurtz (408) 739-7106Dave North

Printing Accuprint (408) 287-7200

School Star Party ChairmanJim Van Nuland (408) 371-1307

Telescope Loaner ProgramMike Koop (408) 446-0310

Web PageBill Arnett bill@nineplanets.org

SJAA Email AddressesBoard of Directors board@sjaa.netAnnouncements announce@sjaa.netChat List chat@sjaa.netEphemeris ephemeris@sjaa.netCirculation circulation@sjaa.netTelescope Loaners loaner@sjaa.netMembers Email Lists:

http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo

SubmitSubmit articles for publication in theSJAA Ephemeris. Send articles tothe editors via e-mail toephemeris@sjaa.net.

Publication StatementSJAA Ephemeris, newsletter of the San JoseAstronomical Association, is publishedmonthly, 12 times a year, January throughDecember. San Jose Astronomical Association, P.O. Box 28243 San Jose, CA 95159-8243

SJAA Loaner Scope StatusAll scopes are available to any SJAA member; contact Mike Koop by

email (loaner@sjaa.net) or by phone at work (408) 473-6315 or home(408) 446-0310 (Leave message).

Available ScopesThese are scopes that are available for immediate loan, stored at

other SJAA members homes. If you are interested in borrowing one ofthese scopes, please contact Mike Koop for a scope pick up at any of thelisted SJAA events.# Scope Description Stored by1 4.5" Newt/ P Mount Annette Reyes15 8” Dobson Kirkland Foo23 6" Newt/P Mount Wensheng Hua24 60mm Refractor Al Kestler26 11" Dobson Tajinder Singh27 13" Dobson Gene Schmidt32 6” f/7 Dobson Sandy Mohan33 10” Deep Space Explorer Sandy Mohan

Scope LoansThese are scopes that have been recently loaned out. If you are

interested in borrowing one of these scopes, you will be placed on thewaiting list until the scope becomes available after the due date.# Scope Description Borrower Due Date8 14" Dobson Jan Lynch 9/15/0211 Orion XT6 Dob Tod Irwin 8/17/0212 Orion XT8 Dob Rajeev Joshi 10/19/0213 Orion XT6 Dob Mark Ziebarth 10/19/0216 Solar Scope Bob Havner 8/18/0236 Celestron 8” f/6 Skyhopper Tajinder Singh 9/27/02

Extended Scope LoansThese are scopes that have had their loan period extended. If you

are interested in borrowing one of these scopes, we will contact thecurrent borrower and try to work out a reasonable transfer time for bothparties.# Scope Description Borrower Due Date2 6" f/9 Dob John Paul De Silva ?3 4" Quantum S/C Hsin I Huang 10/8/026 8" Celestron S/C Carl Ching 9/23/027 12.5" Dobson Michael Lagae 10/19/029 C-11 Compustar Paul Barton Indefinite10 Star Spectroscope Lew Kurtz 8/23/0214 8” f/8.5 Dob John Templeton 10/5/0219 6" Newt/P Mount Peter Yoon 10/27/0221 10" Dobson Ralph Seguin Repair28 13" Dobson Michael Dajewski 10/31/0229 C8, Astrophotography Mike Macedo 11/17/0234 Dynamax 8” S/C Phil Chambers Repair35 Meade 8” Equatorial Richard Savage 7/28/02

Waiting List:3 4” Quantum S/C Eric Anderson8 14” Dobson Doug Hendrix13 Orion XT6 Dob Lakshminarasimhan Venkatavaradan16 Solar Scope Suzanne P.32 6” f/7 Dobson Vinod Nagarajan

SJAA EPHEMERIS Page 8 September 2002

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September 21: Slide and Equipment NightBring your toys to show off!