Continued from previous message.

          HOUR IS 14:00, NOT 12:00

Tue - 31 Jan 
    17:30 - Sci Ind Biz Liby - MH - cultural lecture 
          'Sudden sea' about the 1938 hurricane on Long Island. 
          Free. www.nypl.org/research/sibl, 212-592-7000 

    18:00 - NY Acady of Sci - MH - science lecture
          'The discoveries, great breakthroughs in 20th century 
          science'. $20 adm. www.nyas.org, 212-838-0230

    18:30 - Hayden Plm - MH - Celestial Highlights 
          Live skyshow of current evening sky. $12 adm. 
          212-769-5100, www.amnh.org/programs


General News 
 ----------
    The New York City transit strike on 20-22 December 2005 crippled 
just about all space and astronomy events in the City. The events wre 
either cancelled outright or suffered loss of staff and audience. 
    The episode was a searing lesson for darksky fans. Did you see on 
the television newscasts all those cars trying to cram into the City? 
Gazillions of them! It made Manhattan for the three days of the strike 
look like other American large twons, right? 
    If this mass migration of cars had been the normal means of 
traveling around the City, as it is else where in the country, can you 
picture the immense amount of luminous graffiti they engender? They 
would course along trashlighted higways, ctop at trashlighted shops 
and malls, park in trashlighted lots, sit on sale in trashlighted 
dealer yards, and on and on and on. 
    One of the underplayed miracles of the light pollution cause is 
that in some towns, and specially in New York, there is a mother of 
weapons against luminous graffiti. 
    Rapid transit. 
    Transit kicks the crap out of luminous graffiti. Where a New York 
district is served by transit -- even a lousy two-track all-stops line 
-- its strets are tempered in lighting and its skies are darker. 
That's why, as an example, on December 12th, in Brooklyn, a 'town' the 
size of Toronto or Chicago, stargazers enjoyed 4-1/2 to 5th magnitude 
transparency. 
    How many people DID all those cars move during the strike? All 
those rivers, glaciers!, of cars moved but SEVEN PERCENT of the normal 
weekday load of the City transit system. 
    As a result of the transit strike, the MetroCard  holiday 
discounts are extended three days to make up for the three days lost 
during the strike. KEEP YOUR METROCARD!!! 
    The web addresses of two NYC Events memebrs changed. Lehigh Valley 
Amat Astro Assn is now at 'www.lvaas.net', no longer '... .org', 
Bucks-Mount Astro Assn is at 'www.bma2.com', no longer '... .org'. Thw 
website of Westchester Amat Astro was hacked on December 20th to 
spread viruses and spyware to its visitors. The site was replaced by a 
simple page of plain text on the 23rd while the hacked one is cleaned 
out and restored. 
    Starting in January 2006 I simplify the items for Pennsylvania 
listings. I now note just the monthly general meeting and not all of 
the other sessions. These are typicly outdoor clearsky starviewings. 
You can learn of them at the general meeting or from the contacts. 
    There are many cultural tours in January, most requiring outdoor 
exposure. Please be mindful of winter conditions in New York City 
during the holiday season. What may be fun to walk thru for shopping, 
visiting, commuting could be devastating on an extended outdoor tour. 

Event news 
 --------
    NYSkiers crowded into several science lectures in December 
accompanied by [as yet] unattached astronomy-minded folk. The lectures 
included Squyre's 'Roving Mars' at noth the Hayden Planetarium and the 
Science Library. All were thickly attended, a testimony to the fervor 
for science among cityfolk. 
    The NYSkies Seminar continued its lively discussions of astronomy 
news, with attendance over ten on the 1st and 15th. The Seminar on 
December 15th featured Steve Lieber on 'International law of outer 
space'. His talk is timely for at the United Nations In November there 
were a couple committee meetings about outer space law. In spite of 
the cold rain and sleet and threat of the transit strike, Lieber 
spooke to a full house! 
    Many outdoor observing sessions are suspended for the harsh 
conditions in a US Northeast winter. However, several continue right 
thu the year. Please understand that the cold and wind are most 
merciless to the unprepared astronomer! This is specially true in a 
field with no shelter. 
    Amateur Astronomer Association Inc sticks to its despotic ways, 
elaborated in the companion article 'AAA news'. Thus, certain of its 
activities carry the risk of abuse and hostility, as marked in the 
index and annotated in the listings. 
    On December 2nd three AAA Board members, including president 
Michael O'Gara, displayed hostile behavior at its lecture at the 
American Museum of Natural History. They tried to intimidate a Museum 

 Continued in next message.

---
 þ RoseReader 2.52á P005004