Continued from previous message.


Thu - 30 - Dec 
    18:00 - Bethany - CT - clearsky starviewing 
          Astro Soc of New Haven. Yale Univ, Bethany Obsy. Free, 
          cancelled for clouds. www.asnh.org 

    20:00 - Westport - CT - clearsky starviewing - see Dec 1 

    20:00 - Upper Montclair - NJ - clearsky starviewing - see Dec 2 

General News 
 ----------
    You really liked the two changes I began last month! I mean, you 
LURVED the new NYC Events!! For me, it compacted the column by four or 
five pages!!! You still have each instance of your event in its proper 
date and you see at a glance right up front when each instance occurs. 
    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. 
    Please do mind that NYC Events is limited to activity within the 
commuting ring of New York City. I include remote events when there's 
a reasonable interest for our astronomers. These are typicly 
conventions and starparties. I do not try to extend farther afield 
into the domains of other towns for routine events. If I leave out 
your lecture series in Santa Ningu'na, California, that's why. 

Event news 
 -------- 
    The Starry Nights jazz show at the Hayden Planetarium really took 
off as a 'watering hole' for local astronomers and space advocates! 
The session on October 1st attracted seven of us and we hosted three 
new visitors! You'll find us around a cocktail table with a 'NYSkies' 
and 'National Space Society' sign on it. Come over and say 'Hi!'.
    Because we can not sequester a specific table in advance, you'll 
have to circulate to find us. First look on the lower deck among the 
planetarium exhibits. Then on the upper deck overlooking them. 
    The informal Central Park skywatching sessions are doing quite 
well, with the runs of clear skies in November. If you stop by, expect 
a nasty chill after standing in the winter breeze for several minutes. 
You may want to bring, or keep at work, an extra sweater, hat, gloves. 
    A possible new regular member in NYC Events is Science Club of 
Long island, meeting at the library of SUNY Stony Brook. Its talks 
cover all sciences and I see several of interest to astronomers. 
    An other potential new regular is the Courant Institute for 
Mathematical Studies near Washington Square. Manhattan. Courant is one 
of the world's great centers for mathematics and hosts a center for 
air and ocean studies. Its lectures could be a bit heavy, but they are 
free and open to the public. What's more, air and ocean science can be 
applied to planetary science. 
    I put in one excursion on December 11th on a new trolley line in 
New Jersey. The line is under extension into Weehawken from Hoboken 
(yes, there ARE towns with these names). This is of special value for 
darksky advocates to document a light pollution abatement project in 
the making. And get some scenic rides on it! 

 Sky News 
 ------
    November was a busy month for the City! It got an aurora!! On 
November 7th, near midnight, the north sky broke open with a bright 
greenish glow from northwest to northeast and reaching to Polaris at 
its crest. Viewers in darker skies saw the glow in the zenith region. 
    On November 9th many of us saw the daytime occultation of Jupiter. 
The sky was clear but filled with roving clouds. Some caught one or 
the other phase, some lost both, others were lucky to get both. All 
were overjoyed to see Jupiter near the Moon in binoculars. 
    In November Orion moved into the more convenient night hours and, 
lo!, what's with Betelgeuse?! Yes, folks, the star is at a high 
maximum this year. Its rise began during solar conjunction in the 
summer but was largely unnoticed until late October and early 
November. I put the details in an entry under December 1st. 
    The two big events of December are the predawn Jupiter occultation 
and the flyover of comet Machholz. The latter is an entry for December 
1st. The Jupiter event is under December 7th. 

City News 
 -------
    The New York Hall of Science on November 23rd opened its new 
expansion. It's on the north side of the campus in Flushing Meadows, 
Queens, with 5,000 square meters of exhibit space, labs, classrooms. 
One of the themes covered is the search for life on other worlds. 
    The Hall unveiled on the same day its rebuilt Rocket Park, a flock 
of rockets commemorating the American space program. The centerpieces 
are real Atlas and Titan rockets. The Mercury and Gemini capsules on 

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