NASA Notes …. Jim Timmons

Go Exploring….Danny Arthur

On the thirteenth of October, I was a few miles west of Weatherford enjoying some pretty fine skies while I added a few Messier objects to my list of viewed objects.  Transparency was good but the seeing was a little soft. I was having fun though.

I missed M33 and M74 back in March.  They were just too low.  This time I bagged M33.  It was coming out of the Fort Worth light dome but I failed again on M74.  I had to be looking right at it.  At least that's what my finderscope tells me.  Oh well, I'll try again tonight when it is a little higher.

The real treat of the evening though was not when I was looking for specific objects but when I went exploring.  If we just look at listed objects, there is a lot of the sky that we just won't see.  I picked a very rich region admittedly but it was a lot of fun to explore between Cygnus and Cassiopeia.  You don't need a telescope either to make it worthwhile.  In fact, I think you can see the dark nebulae better with binoculars because they cover large regions of the Milky Way in that region.  Be sure to check out the North American Nebula while you're viewing near Deneb.

While I am exploring, it gives me time to contemplate what I am seeing more than when trying to star hop around.  When gazing out into a rich field of stars contemplating those hydrogen eating and heavy element making furnaces at work out there, it is a natural thing to wonder about what worlds will eventually form because the stars we see now are shining bright with nuclear fires within.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD(IN) - NASA's longest serving administrator announced his resignation, effective November 17.  Daniel S. Goldin is the space agency's ninth administrator. He was appointed by President Bush (the Elder) and has served almost ten years. During Goldin's tenure, NASA has had 160 successful missions out of 171 launches.

UPCOMING FLIGHTS WITHOUT AIR MARSHALS (Shuttle) - While the shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin structural inspection and modifications, work continues in preparing the remaining orbiters for their respective missions. Endeavor is being readied for a late November flight to the space station with the Expedition Four crew. Columbia is scheduled to go back into service with a Valentine's Day launch to the Hubble for a servicing mission. Atlantis will make the 13^th flight to the space station in late March.

BY JOVE (Galileo) - On its 32^nd orbit around Jupiter, Galileo made its nearest pass by Io. The spacecraft flew near the moon's south pole, passing within 112 miles. Readings indicate Galileo's camera was working but examination of these latest pictures won't begin until late October. During this orbit, Galileo also mapped the temperatures on the dark side of Europa.