Text 175, 98 rader
Skriven 2005-07-02 18:54:00 av John Pazmino (1:278/230)
Ärende: NYC Events 2/2 Jul   4/ 5
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Continued from previous message.

    20:00 - Washington Xing S P - NJ - clearsky starvwg - see Jul 2

    20:00 - Jenny Jump St Forest - NJ - Utd A Cs of NJ mtg - see Jul 2

    20:00 - Southold - LI - Custer Inst meeting - see Jul 2

    20:00 - Bear Mt St Pk - NY - clearsky starviewing - see Jul 2

    21:00 - Frances Slocum St Pk - PA - clearsky starviewing
          Lackawanna Astro Soc. Free, cancelled for clouds.
          SabiaJohn@aol.com, members.aol.com/sabiajohn/LAS.html

    21:00 - Paramus - NJ - Buehler-Columbia A A A mtg - see Jul 2

General News
 ----------
    June, like May, is the crossover month for events dropping off in
the spring-summer. I try to interpret your activities notices, but I
can go wrong. Is the last, June, entry in your list of events the
final of the season? Or is it simply the latest so far with an update
in the works for July? In some cases, it's hard to tell.
    Particularly tricky are events that tie to external factors, like
'during the school semester' or 'except in the rainy season'.
    Many astrocenters do explain their schedules. 'Last lecture of the
season; we start again in October', 'Dates for our meetings: ... May
16th, September 18th ...'.
    With the slack time in the summer, you may want to tweak your
announcements and websites to better 'handhold' your readers.
Remember, your readers -- and mine! -- are your potential new members
and visitors.

Event news
 --------
    On June 16th the NYSkies Astronomy Seminar heard Steve Lieber
discuss 'History and discovery of dark matter' in part one. The second
half is at our July 7th session. A cloudburst, exactly when most
astronomers were heading to the Seminar, probably soaked away some of
us. Hey, I got drenched! In spite of the rain, a lively flock engaged
Steve in solid discussion about dark matter.
    Governor's Island opened its second season for public visits and
tours. The island was packed with visitors, like Central Park for the
Gates!! There's no astronomy on the island, except the star shape of
Fits 18th century fort, but the grounds and vistas are so congenial!
    There are two items to consider, changed from last year, about the
ferry to the Island. The fare is $6, not the tentative $5 in June's
NYC Events. The tickets still MUST be in your hand BEFORE going to the
Battery Marine ferry station! However, now you can buy them at Pier
11, foot of Wall Street, as well as at Pier 17 in the Seaport.
    I remind that there are NO food or drink facilities on Governor's
island! Please bring an ample picnic with you. Restroom service is
very limited, so adjust your system accordingly.
    There is in Stuyvesant Cove, East River and 24th Street, America's
only helioelectric playhouse! It's Solar One, built into a large shed
and used for theater and art shows. I list the Solar Powered Film
Festival as an example. As long as you shlepped to the Cove to study
its solar panels, you might as well take in a movie.
    The New York Philharmonic Orchestra for several decades offered
free concerts in parks around the City. This year I include them for
their sheer pleasure and geographic dispersion. There's a concert in
every boro, New Jersey, and Long Island. Only heavy rain cancels the
performance. The music plays under clouds and drizzle. Bring a lawn
chair or blanket 'coz chairs set out by the park fill up quickly.
    The rides on historic subway trains grabbed the City like the
hoola-hoop or sack-dress! Now the trains teamed with Parks Dept tours,
like the ones I list in NYC Events! So!, on July 10th, you take a 3-
hour walk thru Van Cortlandt Park AND ride there and back on the IRT's
Lo-V train!
    The NYC Audubon Society runs romantic boat rides and walks in
Prospect Park. The tours are in late afternoon. The Sun dances among
the trees and meadows and lakes, in a phantasmaglory of 19th century
virtual reality. What's more, the little boat is so silent, driven by
electric, you could swear it's pushed by spirits!

Sky News
 ------
    gamma Virginis has been totally out of range of City scopes for
well over a year by now. It's rounding its periastron at only 1/4
arcsecond separation. For most of us, it's still a wonder to see gamma
by eye (as a single star, of course) sitting right next to Jupiter.
    Mars is starting to excite us, with his next opposition coming
this fall. While not as close a proximity as in 2003, this is a good
approach with a 20-second diameter disc. He's slowly creeping round to
the midnight sky by mid July. See the Mars timetable under July 2nd.
    June was mostly rainy, cloudy, torrid, humid. Few clear nights! We
lost the convention of Venus, Mercury, and Saturn behind clouds or
rain. We were washed out for any meteors from comet 2005-JQ5. These
/were postulated, based on the comet's orbit, to spring from Scorpius,
about 16 degrees north of Antares on June 13-17.
    The second NYSkies Floyd Bennett Field sessions was almost called

 Continued in next message.

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