WASP
WASP
The Warren Astronomical Society Paper
 WAS
Volume 32, Number 7July, 2000

astro chatter Astro Chatter
by Larry Kalinowski

Here's the latest revision in the orbital elements for Comet Linear. The eccentricity is now less than 1.0, which means the orbit is closed into a long, stretched out ellipse, making it due to return sometime in the [continued]

icon Texas Star Party 2000
by Jamie Judd

Here is a brief account of our experience at the Texas Star Party down in Fort Davis Texas. It was a great and wonderful time. We met some interesting people from Colorado and Austin TX. We also saw plates from Tennessee, [continued]

 icon Note by Editor
by Jamie Judd

Starting now I would like for everyone to have all their articles in to me either by e-mail (lordfred@gatecom.com), or by mailing them to my house. Just get them to me by the 1st of every month. If they are not in by then they will go into the next month's paper.

icon New Members
by Joe Van Poucker

icon The Swap Shop
by Larry Kalinowski



Astronomy Day Pictures



astro chatter Astro Chatter, continued

distant future. Since this comet is now in the range of larger amateur telescopes, I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has spotted this comet. If you can, please provide an estimate for magnitude.
Comet Linear C/1999 S4 - 3rd Revision
Perihelion date (T) = 2000 JUL 26.1668
Orbit eccentricty (e) = 0.999993
Perihelion distance (q) = 0.764978
Argument of Perihelion = 151.0681 Deg.
Ascending (Node) = 83.1903 Deg.
Inclination (i) = 149.3898 Deg.
Absolute Magnitude = 7.0
Magnitude Coefficient = 10.0
Epoch = J2000
This comet will be the main focus of attention for the telescopes that will be displayed at the next GLAAC annual star party at Kensington MetroPark. The event will take place on Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22. The public is invited to attend, so a large crowd is expected. All the astronomy clubs in the Southern Michigan area will be represented. Members of the WAS are asked to attend and help out wherever possible at this event, whether it's at a telescope, as a relief person, or just steering the public in the proper direction to the numerous events that will be presented.

The June computer meeting will be held at Gary Gathen's home on Thursday, the 22nd. His address is 21 Elm Park. Three blocks south of the I-696 expressway and about half a block west of Woodward in Pleasant Ridge. The July computer meeting will be on the 27th. You can reach Gary at 248-543-3366 for further information.

[back to page 1]


icon Texas Star Party 2000, continued

Washington, Illinois, California and Ohio to name a few, but there were a lot from TX. We had almost everynight; the first night it started out cloudy with wind at the beginning. Then as the night went on, the wind started to pick up and we decided to call it quits because the wind was so bad that it was kicking up the dirt. Then about 3:30 AM Dave D'Onofrino got back up and went out to look at the sky he had seen what he describes as "an eyegasm." The second night was cloudy at first then around 11:30-12:00 it started to clear and the night was great. On Wednesday we went to the McDonald Observatory and had the tour of the newest telescope that they had built: the 9.1 meter Hobby-Eberly. The tour guide gave a talk on how it was built and its cost. Mike Affeldt had commented that the design of the scope was a unique one. They even had people up there observing the sky one night, but that was for the 82 inch scope. Then we went to the 82 inch telescope and he had given a talk about that one. They have made some changes to the 107 inch scope, how they put on a computer and some other changes also that I did not catch. The tour guide had said that the bullet hole that were made by the ex-employee are still there to this day, and the reason why they have not fixed it because the light being observed was not affected by the damage. As far as the talks go, they were good. The people down on Prude Ranch were very friendly and hospitable folks. The kind of people that we need more of up here in Michigan. Everyone down there were very helpful and had a lot of respect for there guest. The food was wonderful. Fred Judd recommends that if you happened to stay there that you have to try the burritos that Chips make, and I recommend that you try his deserts, they are just to good to pass up. If anyone wants to know more about the Hobby-Eberly or any of the other one they can go to hyperion.as.utexas.edu./mcdonald/.

[back to page 1]


icon New Members, continued

[back to page 1]


icon The Swap Shop

This is a new column for those who are interested in buying, trading or selling items. Call 810-776-9720 (larrykalinowski@yahoo.com) if you want to put an item for sale or trade in this section of the WASP. The ad will run for six months. The month and year the ad will be removed, is also shown.
[back to page 1]


Astronomy Day Pictures

Here are some pictures from the club's public star party on Astronomy Day.
(Click on an image for a larger version)

Dave and his 14-inch scope

Doug Bock and Mike Simonsen awaiting dark

Steve checking out the assembly of the club's 22-inch scope

Bob Watt

Steve, pretending it's dark

Ah, that's better!

A gathering around Dave's scope

Steve Greene and Bob Watt tuning up 22

Optical Row

Member of the public

Everyone Ready?

Steve, Dave, and Blaine

Public admiring 22-inch; viewing the moon in daylight

A New member

Blaine's binoculars set up waiting for dark

Public checking out moon before dark

Nightfall


[back to page 1]


Return to WASP page Return to WAS Home page
This page was created by Jeff Bondono, and last changed on August 9, 2022.