<!--X-Subject: S&T News Bulletin - Jan 3 UPDATE -->
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<H1>S&T News Bulletin - Jan 3 UPDATE</H1>
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<em>Subject</em>: S&T News Bulletin - Jan 3 UPDATE
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<em>From</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mrastro@aol.com">mrastro@aol.com</A> (Mr Astro)
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<em>Date</em>: 3 Jan 1995 18:06:04 -0500
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<em>Article</em>: 4356 of sci.astro.amateur
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<em>Newsgroups</em>: <A HREF="news:sci.astro.amateur">sci.astro.amateur</A>
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<em>Organization</em>: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
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<em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mrastro@aol.com">mrastro@aol.com</A> (Mr Astro)
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<PRE>
======================================================================
SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN -- JANUARY 3, 1994
======================================================================
MOST DISTANT GALAXY
Astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, have used the
10-meter Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea to record the most distant galaxy
yet. Designated 8C 1435+63, this system has a measured redshift, z, of
4.25. Large values of z correspond to fast motion away from Earth and
thus great distances, and this galaxy is an estimated 15 billion
light-years away. The previous record holder had a redshift of 3.8,
though some quasars have redshifts as high as 4.9. Led by Hyron Spinrad,
the team finds the new galaxy to be about 150,000 to 200,000 light-years
across -- some five times the size of nearby M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
They observed it during March and July last year.
JUPITER'S COOL NEW BELT
Thanks to last summer's comet impacts, Jupiter sports a new dark belt in
its southern hemisphere, the second-most obvious one on Jupiter after the
South Equatorial Belt. Astronomers report that the band looks *bright* at
the infrared wavelength of 1.7 microns. This means that debris ejected
upward remains suspended high in the atmosphere. Now a team of European
astronomers report that the band is significantly dimmer -- and thus
cooler -- than its surroundings in the thermal infrared at 7.8 and 7.9
microns. These wavelengths are sensitive to the presence of methane in
Jupiter's middle stratosphere. The team suggests either that the
stratosphere now contains gases like water, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide
which efficiently radiate energy to space, or that a high-altitude haze
above the impact zone is reflecting enough sunlight to keep the gases
below relatively cool. Jupiter currently rises more than two hours before
the Sun, sitting above the horizon in the southeast to the lower-left of
brilliant Venus.
TAILS OF COMET P/BORRELLY
S&T Contributing Editor John Bortle says Periodic Comet Borrelly is an
unusual and impressive object. The comet is now about magnitude 8.5,
making it easy to spot with modest telescopes or even good binoculars.
But through a larger telescope P/Borrelly displays *two* faint tails,
pointing toward and away from the Sun at position angles of 265 and 115
degrees. Bortle adds that P/Borrelly hasn't sported an antitail since its
apparition in 1918. The comet is now drifting slowly across the western
stars of Ursa Major. As 1995 begins you'll find it just barely west of
the 3.8-magnitude star Upsilon Ursae Majoris. Here are upcoming positions
for 0 hours Universal Time:
R.A. (2000) Dec.
================
Jan 1 9h 50m +59.2 deg
3 9 51 +60.3
5 9 52 +61.3
QUADRANTID METEORS
This year the Quadrantid meteor shower should peak at about 23:00
Universal Time on January 3rd. This shower is known for its sharp peak,
but despite Moonless skies this year the peak occurs during daylight in
North America. Viewers in Eastern Asia stand to have the best seats for
seeing the crescendo in predawn darkness.
======================================================================
The News Bulletin is provided as a service to the amateur-astronomer
community by Sky & Telescope magazine. Electronic distribution is
encouraged; however, this text may not be published without permission of
Sky Publishing Corp. At the present time, the News Bulletin is not
available via electronic mailing list.
======================================================================
*------------------------------------------------------------*
| Stuart Goldman Internet: sgoldman@cfa.harvard.edu |
* Associate Editor mrastro@aol.com *
| Sky & Telescope |
* P. O. Box 9111 Sky & Telescope: The Essential *
| Belmont, MA 02178 Magazine of Astronomy |
*------------------------------------------------------------*
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