50&25

YEARS

AGO

March 1947
We shall name seven [of
the greatest] wonders of the
universe . . . in two instances,
selected classes of objects in
place of the specific objects
themselves.
Foremost among these wonders we would
put the solar system. . . .
As number two we suggest the [white
dwarf] companion of Sirius. . . .
As a third in our list of wonders we include . . . the supergiant star Betelgeuse. . . .
Next in our catalogue we list the novae
[and supernovae] that have flared forth from
time to time in the heavens. . . .
Another class of stars that should not be
excluded from our list is that of the Cepheid
variables. . . .
The sixth of these wonders is the Great
Nebula in Andromeda. . . .
Finally we might include in our list the interesting phenomenon of the red shift as observed in the spectra of the distant extragalactic nebulae. . . .
This really dull list underscores how narrow
our view of the universe was a half century ago.
Has that perception ever changed! What seven
objects or phenomena top your list today? Send
your entries to Great Wonders, Sky & Telescope, P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02178.

March 1972
Mercury is the new bimonthly journal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, intended to provide articles
for general readers, as well as
society news. . . .
This publication, now under the editorship of
George Musser, continues to fulfill its mission.
A large region of the suns outer atmosphere erupted on December 13, 1971, and
high-energy ejected material . . . collided with
the earth 312 days later. The initial disturbance was photographed by the white-light
coronagraph aboard the OSO 7 orbiting
solar observatory. . . .
Three frames . . . included several remarkable clouds of ionized hydrogen (protons
and electrons) at temperatures in excess of
1,000,000 Kelvin, rushing outward at about
1,000 kilometers (625 miles) per second.
Each some 20 to 40 earth diameters across,
the clouds apparently passed through the
corona and out into interplanetary space. . . .
The three frames of December 13th make
possible for the first time measures of the
total number of particles in an outward-moving solar plasma cloud. The observed cloud
dimensions also permit determining the plasma density.

Sky & Telescope March 1997

LETTERS
An Astronomers
Unfortunate Past
I enjoyed Ron Doels presentation
of the Lunar-Volcanism Controversy
(S&T: October 1996, page 26). Nikolai
Kozyrev was among the many astronomers who fell victim to Stalins Great
Terror in the 1930s. He was arrested
during a party and imprisoned for many
years in various labor camps, emerging
at the end of Stalins reign as the only
astronomer from Pulkovo Observatory
to survive the gulag.
Despite the years of torture he had endured, Kozyrev soon returned to work at
the observatory. When his controversial
findings drew the attention of the astronomical community, many of his Russian
colleagues were hesitant to openly attack this long-suffering man. Perhaps
Gerard Kuiper learned of his opponents
past, which helped to soften his opinion
of Kozyrev.
ALEXANDER A. GURSHTEIN
Mesa State College
P.O. Box 2647
Grand Junction, CO 81502

An Alternative to
Selling Stars
Years ago I suggested a counter to
the problematic practice of selling stars
(S&T: October 1996, page 6) by encouraging a more acceptable campaign of
adopting them.
From a universal perspective, and as
confirmed by the United Nations, cosmic bodies belong to no one. Yet as long
as there is a demand to purchase star
names, nothing can prevent entrepreneurial people from meeting it. Offering
cosmic objects for adoption might prove
an acceptable way for the astronomical
community to reap financial benefits
while educating those who adopt. The
amount to be paid could depend on the
intrinsic interest of the object Sirius
could be more expensive than a 6th-magnitude star and data centers could easily supply information on a pet object.
For those astronomers with short memories, some time ago the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific sold pieces of land
on Mercury, using Mariner 10 pictures,
to support its educational activities.
Today several astronomy clubs are considering or have begun selling stars to
raise money for their programs. What
are we waiting for? Shall we only re1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

member the days when astronomy was

well funded, or should we shrug off our
old notions and embrace more creative
ideas for financial support?
ANDRE HECK
Strasbourg Observatory
11, rue de lUniversit
F-67000 Strasbourg, France

Infrared and Heat:

Not Synonymous
I was disappointed to see in your
magazine a caption referring to infrared
radiation as heat (S&T: October 1996,
page 12).
Heat is the random motion of atoms
and molecules in response to their temperature. Infrared radiation is part of the
electromagnetic spectrum, along with visible light, radio waves, and so on. It is true
that objects at room temperature emit
thermal infrared radiation, but this is only
because they are at the right temperature
so that the peak of their blackbody spectrum lies in the infrared. The News Note
accompanying the picture caption discussed several infrared-emission mechanisms in addition to thermal radiation,
so the characterization is not correct
even in the context of this article.
DOUGLAS ONEAL
Pennsylvania State University
Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics
525 Davey Laboratory
University Park, PA 16802

Reflecting on a Dob Review

I read with some disappointment the
review of Three 6-inch Dobsonian Reflectors (S&T: December 1996, page
56). Unfortunately an older-model Celestron telescope was reviewed. When
Celestron put its first 6-inch Dobsonian
on the market in January 1996, it admittedly had some very minor problems,
though the instrument worked adequately. Most were corrected in April

When Writing
Write to: Letters to the Editor, Sky
& Telescope, P.O. Box 9111, Belmont,
MA 02178-9111. Please limit your
comments to no more than 250 words.
Letters selected for publication may
be edited for clarity and brevity. Due
to the volume of mail, not all letters
can receive personal responses.

and the rest by July. Modifications included friction surfaces changed to Formica and Teflon for smoother motion
and with minimal backlash; simplified
assembly; and adjusted focuser position
to ensure focus is easily reached. If the
reviewer had contacted us to discuss the
negative points found, he would have
discovered that many improvements had
already been made.
All in all, the article was well done
and allows your readers to appreciate
the simplicity and low cost of introductory Dobsonian telescopes.
ALAN R. HALE
Celestron International
2835 Columbia St.
Torrance, CA 90503

Advertisement

Your review of 6-inch Dobsonian telescopes was generally fair and well written, but a correction is necessary. Orions
mirror is attached to its particleboard
support disk by three silicone patches;
the duct tape around the edges is simply
a safety wrap for shipping.
STEVE PETERS
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
P.O. Box 1815
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
Thank you for your careful, systematic,
and scientific comparison of the Meade,
Orion, and Celestron 6-inch Dobsonians.
It was one of the most informative reviews I have ever read in an astronomy
magazine, and I hope that it is the model
for how you will test and review all products in the future.
LAWRENCE C. STEDMAN
936 Lehigh Ave.
Binghamton, NY 13903

For the Record

The Arabic word Hilal should be
translated as crescent Moon (S&T:
December 1996, page 104).
The illustration of Tycho Brahes
mural quadrant appearing in the December 1996 issue (page 68) was redrawn from the original by Willem
Blaeu for his Atlas Major of 1662.
On the grazing-occultation map in
the January issue, page 90, the northern limit for the occultation of Aldebaran running from San Francisco
through Ontario is missing its date:
July 29th. This will be North Americas best grazing occultation of 1997.
10

Sky & Telescope March 1997

1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.