Continued from previous message.

    This month may be the BIGGEST NYC Events ever! And it IS
incomplete!! Several of my regulars assured me that they have
activities in September but they are not yet ready for announcement. I
put them at the top of the listing, under 'XX Sep'. Check with their
contacts in early September for updates.
    Custer Institute revamped its website. Activities are more fully
described and easier to navigate to. College of Staten Island
Observatory's website is back in order, after a long closing since
January 2005.
    One member left NYC events, NJ Night Sky. It operates almost
entirely for its own members, with little activity for the public.
    Astronomical Society of Long Island and York College changed their
observing sessions to all-weather meetings. The mix of indoor talk to
outdoor starviewing will shift according as the weather. Previously
they were clearsky starviewings, with cancellation for clouds.
    Cold Spring Harbor Lab, with no September events, advises that it
has construction on its campus that may cause detours and delays
during visits.

Event news
 --------
    NYSkiers cheered the safe landing of SHuttle Discovery on August
8th in dawn. Many went to public live telecasts at Hayden Planetarium
and Cradle of Aviation. Some NYSkiers lost TWO nights of sleep, one on
the 7th for the called-off landing and again for the actual landing on
the 8th.
    A 'secret' event in August was the Urban Dispersion Program from
the 6th to the 26th. US Dept of Homeland Security and other agencies
studied migration and circulation of air in midtown Manhattan/. Tracer 
gases were released on several instances and from several spots in the
zone bounded by 36th-61th St and 3rd-10th Av. Results are shared among
the participants but will not be published openly.
    Among the astronomy activities, we have the Connecticut Star party
and Arunah Hill Days and a return presentation of 'mars on my mind' at
the NYSkies Astronomy Seminar. It was given on august 4th to a smaller
audience due to the extreme heat and moisture in the summer sir. Many
NYSkiers and friends, fried out of the first round, asked for a
return, so come on to the Seminar on September 1st.
    Right at the start of September is NASA's premiere of its Small
Business Conference, featuring several of Shuttle Discovery's
astronauts. This is a business and industry conference with lectures
and workshops to promote space-related markets. Any one may attend by
paying the $500 fee.
    On September 23rd, the new movie 'Magnificent desolation' debuts
in selected IMAX theaters around the country. The film is an 'in the
footsteps' walk with the Apollo astronauts on the Moon! Several IMAX
houses are in the NYSkies territory, as listed under September 23rd.
Hours and prices vary among them.

Sky News
 ------
    Weather has been so uncooperative toward stargazing in August{at} We
had only a few clearish nights in the 20s of the month; the rest were
cloudy or rainy. We lost the Perseids and most of the Venus-Jupiter
appulse. Did we suffer for 'lack of astronomy'?
    No! What sets the City apart from other astronomy centers is the
cornucopia of no-stars astronomy. We got lectures! Exhibits! Shows!
Tours! Rides! The overwhelming number of them are just a token away
from home. No road traffic hassles, foul weather driving, $50 filling
of the gs tank.
    I note that for September you'll have only regular transit riding.
I have no excursions to offer you.
    gamma Virginis is about gone in twilight. As yet, I have only
unconfirmed reports of its fracture back into two stars. If you really
want to check out this star, it comes into the morning sky in October.
    Hoping for clear dry skies in September, the Milky Way season
opens on the 1st. That's when we do see he brighter segments of the
MIlky Way from within the City. Not often and not fully. Just enough
to assure us that the abatement of luminous graffiti is continuing.
    Mars is in easier viewing in September. He is already a good and
bright orangish star in Aries. With bright stars around him, you can
more comfortably trace his retrograde loop. Check out the timetable
for Mars under September 1st.
    For a briefing about Mars, be sure to come to the NYSkies
Astronomy Seminar on September 1st, Thursday, 7PM. You'll learn how,
when, where to follow Mars in the City's sky with just the bare eye
and binoculars.

NYSkies
 -----
    Astronomers are exploiting NYSkies as a quick, handy, friendly,
and potent source of astronomy news relating to the City. And there is
LOTS of astronomy stuff going on around New York! Since it revived on
28 September 2001 (it was interrupted by World Trade Center) NYSkies
became the definitive forum and public record for matters bearing on
home astronomy in and around New York.
    Joining NYSkies is easy. Send an empty email to this Yahoogroup
maillist at 'nysky-subscribe{at}yahoogroups.com'. Its posts are sent to
you in your email and you post to it by email. It's that simple!

 Continued in next message.

---
 þ RoseReader 2.52á P005004