========================================================================

 * * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - January 7, 2005 * * *

========================================================================

Welcome to S&T's Weekly News Bulletin. Images, the full text of stories
abridged here, and other enhancements are available on our Web site,
SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs provided below. (If the links don't work,
just manually type the URLs into your Web browser.) Clear skies!

========================================================================

SOME POINTERS ON THE USE OF LASER POINTERS

A recent addition to the backyard astronomer's toolkit has been flagged as
a possible weapon in the terrorist's arsenal. The humble laser pointer,
used by thousands of skygazers to show beginners the way to stars and
constellations, is coming under fire from US federal and state authorities
following several recent incidents in which laser beams have "painted"
aircraft in flight.

In the most notorious case, on January 4, 2005, a New Jersey man was
arrested after allegedly shining a laser at a small passenger jet on
approach to a nearby airport. The suspect had been showing his daughter
around the night sky, using his laser pointer to direct her gaze at
particular stars and planets. Now he faces a possible jail term and
six-figure fine. The incident sparked a media frenzy, with many articles
appearing alongside other news from the War on Terror.

As often happens in situations of mass hysteria, the first thing to fall
by the wayside is the truth. Depending which newspapers you read or which
television stations you watch, you may hear that handheld laser
pointers -- commonly available for less than $100 from a host of retailers
and online dealers -- are perfectly harmless or capable of bringing down a
jumbo jet. In reality, the truth lies somewhere in between. Used properly,
laser pointers are quite safe. But used improperly or maliciously, they
can be dangerous indeed.

Here is some basic information about the laser pointers typically used by
amateur astronomers, along with some tips on using them safely....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/article_1429_1.asp

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CATCH COMET MACHHOLZ AT ITS BEST

Comet Machholz, C/2004 Q2, is entering its glory days. For observers in
the Northern Hemisphere, all the circumstances are at their best in the
first half of January 2005. The Moon is conveniently approaching new phase
just as the comet shines at its brightest and makes its closest approach
to Earth. And to add to the fun, the comet is traversing one of the
best-known and best-loved areas in the night sky, passing 2 degrees west
of the Pleiades on the night of January 7th....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1423_1.asp

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

IAPETUS ENCOUNTERED

Gian Domenico Cassini would be proud. On December 31st, the spacecraft
bearing his name made its first of two close encounters with Iapetus, the
third-largest moon orbiting Saturn and the first of the four moons that
Cassini discovered himself. Iapetus is a world of opposites -- one half is
as reflective as snow, the other half reflects light like schoolyard
blacktop. Cassini, the craft, was about 72,000 kilometers (45,000 miles)
away from Iapetus when it snapped high-resolution images of the pockmarked
moon....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1426_1.asp

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A LOOK BACK AT 2004

When astronomers look back on 2004, it will be remembered for long-awaited
space missions, political controversy, and the arrival of an astronomical
event never seen by living eyes. It certainly began with a bang. In
January, two events rocked the scientific community and continued to
reverberate throughout the entire year: NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers
successful mission to Mars and NASA's announcement that the Space Shuttle
would no longer service the Hubble Space Telescope....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1420_1.asp

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AMATEURS DETECT POSSIBLE EXOPLANET RINGLIKE STRUCTURE

Amateur astronomers may have discovered a ringlike structure around an
extrasolar planet. The Hubble Space Telescope will reveal whether the
observations and analysis represent a landmark discovery or an as-yet
(Continued to next message)

___
 þ OLXWin 1.00b þ I was the next door kid's imaginary friend.

--- Maximus/2 3.01