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    Astroclubs like to pass along NYC Events to their members. Way to 
go!! By letting your members know of activities around your own turf 
you broaden their astronomy experience and encourage cross visits with 
other clubs. 
    There are two ways to give NYC Events to your members. First is to 
give the entire article with no alteration. The other is to pare down 
the list to better suit your membership. If you do, please add a note 
at the top that your peculiar version of NYC Events is an adaptation 
and that the complete one is in NYSkies or the sci.astro.* newsgroups. 
    Amateur Astronomers Association Inc in January 2005 passed up NYC 
Events for its website. It is the choice of a club to give its members 
NYC Events thru it, so I'm completely neutral toward AAA's decision. 
    I'm always looking out for astronomy nourishment not yet in NYC 
Events. If you know of any, either oneshot events or a continuing 
series, let me know. Provide the six 'W's of news reporting, plus an 
extra one just for you NYC Readers: 
  Who - sponsor name, website, phone, email 
  What - title and description of event 
  When - day, date, hour, duration
  Where - place, address, room of event 
  Why - anniversary, memorial, may be included with 'what' 
  hoW - tickets, security ID, registration 
  Wow - interest for NYC Events readers
    The only real conditions are that the event be open to the public; 
no members-only or invite-only events. I confine to the commuting 
radius around New York City. This covers Long Island, west 
Connecticut, Hudson Valley, Catskills, Delaware Valley, north and 
central New Jersey. I do put in select astronomy conferences and 
starparties beyond this zone. 

Event news 
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    At the Starry Nights jazz show at the Hayden Planetarium, 
you'll find us around a cocktail table with a 'NYSkies' and 'National 
Space Society' sign on it. First look on the lower deck among the 
planetarium exhibits. Then on the upper deck overlooking them. 
    The American Museum of Natural History offers certain activities 
for its own members which I previously included in NYC Events. No one 
ever objected and these events were at times mixed into Museum notices 
for public ones. After clarification about which are which I now omit 
the members-only activities. 
    Amateur Astronomers Association closed off its Recent Astronomy 
Seminar and Observing Group meetings, effective on January 13th. They 
are now restricted only for AAA members; guests and visitors are no 
longer allowed. So, like for any other club's internal activities, 
such as darksky observing or committee meetings, I now omit the 
Seminar and OG. 
    The Graduate Center at City University of New York starts in 
February a series of shows and lectures about Albert Einstein. 2005 is 
the 100th anniversary of the first publication of his relativity 
theory. Recall that in 2002 a megashow about Einstein opened at the 
American Museum of Natural History, which then toured the country. Now 
it's heading back to Israel for permanent installation in April, the 
actual anniversary of the relativity publication. 
    The big showcase for science in the City is the Science and 
Engineering Fair at City College on February 13th. Free to the public, 
this megaexhibit present some 1,500 -- one thousand five hundred! -- 
high school science project in competition for the citywide and 
national awards. SOme of them, being that I was a judge in previous 
years, are amazingly good. And many relate to astronomy and space.
    The Verdopols conference, starting on February 7th, is a rather 
heavy high-powered show, with a heavy high-powered fee. I can't expect 
many readers to attend, but there may be some free exhibits in the 
halls outside the conference rooms in Time-Warner Center. The 
importance of this conference is the brainstorming it provides for the 
growth and development of the City in this century under the ethic of 
harmony with nature. For us astronomers that includes energy 
conservation and removal of luminous graffiti from out skies. 

Sky News 
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    Comet Machholz is putting up a good show for us! Machholz's close 
approach to the Pleiades was totally clouded out, but there were 
enough clear (and chilly) nights to let us follow it thru Taurus and 
Perseus. The comet is still an easy binocular target, holding up quite 
well and behaving itself nicely. 
    We're all aflutter about the success of the Huygens probe! Several 
NYSkiers, and about four hundred other city space and astro fans!, 
were at the Hayden Planetarium to take in a marathon of shows about 
the flight. (Some New York astronomy folk are not yet in NYSkies; 
WAAaaah!) They started on Friday the 14th evening and ran all thru 
Saturday the 15th into late afternoon. Many in the audience  by mid 
day on Saturday were zonking out from lack of sleep! 
    A light pollution row broke out in late November. International 
Dark Sky Association (IDA) issued a proposed law for removing light 
pollution, now under comment and review. After massive protest from a 
wide variety of darksky leaders, IDA pulled back the draft for a 
rewrite. A revised bill is expected at end january. See 

 Continued in next message.

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