On this page: Notes and News / Articles / Letters / Reviews / Meetings / Observers' Forum

Plus: HST pushes back the frontiers of the observable universe / Galileo at Jupiter: first results from the atmospheric probe / From the President / NEAR - a voyage to 433 Eros / Solar Section / Gérard de Vaucouleurs, 1918-1995: an appreciation / Nova Cassiopeiae 1995 / Aurora Section

The comet collision with Jupiter: I. What happened in the impacts ... John H. Rogers

In 1994 July, the 20-or-so fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit the planet Jupiter. This article reviews the present understanding of the comet, the impacts themselves, and the chemicals they produced. The impacts of the 12 'on-line' fragments were spectacular in the infrared and left intensely dark smoke clouds. A typical large impact was detected first by infrared emission from the coma and nucleus entering the upper atmosphere, then as an optical flash visible to the Galileo spacecraft, then as a hot fireball or plume which rose over the limb and then collapsed to produce the infrared 'main event' by heating the stratosphere from above. Cometary and jovian molecules were dissociated in the heat of the fireball and splashback, and recombined to form new molecules, which may have been partially segregated according to their origin. (13 pages)

The transit procedure devised by Carrington in the last century for measuring heliographic coordinates is still of use to the modern observer and deserves to be revived. An account of the method is presented, together with a summary of its advantages. (4pp)

This report is the first in an annual series which will give for each comet: the discovery details, orbital data and general information, magnitude parameters and BAA Comet Section observations. It continues the series which last appeared in the Journal in 1950, with irregular notes appearing until the early 1960s. (6pp)

A computer search has been made to detect all lunar occultations of planets for the years 1995-2045 inclusive. As a result a new package for IBM compatible microcomputers is now available from the Program and Data Library. This package provides predictions of the local circumstances for any point on the Earth of the 807 occultations which occur during this period. (3pp)

This report summarises observations of the aurora relating to the northern hemisphere collected in 1994 by members and correspondents of the Aurora Section. (6pp)

The design and construction of one of the UK's earliest large aperture local society telescopes is described. (2pp)

(Copies of any of these articles may be ordered from the BAA office.)

Read the letters here (13.8 Kb)

• Sun, Earth and Sky by Kenneth R. Lang. Springer, 1995. ISBN 3-540-58778-0. Pp xv + 282, DM 58.00 (hbk).
  reviewed by Simon Mitton (2.8 Kb)
  

• The Mapping of the Heavens by Peter Whitfield. The British Library, 1995. ISBN 0-7123-0402-9. Pp x + 134, £20.00 (hbk).
  reviewed by Allan Chapman

• Beginner's Guide to the Sun by Peter O. Taylor & Nancy Hendrickson. Kalmbach Books, 1995. ISBN 0-913135-23-2. Pp 160, $19.95 (pbk).
  reviewed by Ken Medway

• Hubble Vision by Carolyn Collins Petersen & John C. Brandt. Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-521-49643-8. Pp 252, £24.95 (hbk).
  reviewed by Roger O'Brien (2.7 Kb)
  

• Teach Yourself Astronomy by Patrick Moore. Hodder & Stoughton, 1995. ISBN 0-340-58597-8. Pp vii + 216, £6.99 (pbk).
  reviewed by James N. Smith

• Observations concerning the Planet Venus by Francesco Bianchini Springer-Verlag, London, 1996. ISBN 3-540-19980-2. Pp 172, £49.00. (hbk).
  reviewed by Richard Baum

• Echoes of the Ancient Skies by E. C. Krupp. Oxford University Press, 1995 (2nd edition). ISBN 0-19-508801-8. Pp. xvii + 386, £12.99 (pbk).
  reviewed by Ian Howard-Duff
  

• Delicate skeins of pink gaseous emission decorate the Crab Nebula, M1, in this
  colour CCD image by Nik Szymanek and Ian King. 0.25m f/10 SCT with SBIG ST-6 CCD and RGB filters, 5min. per filter. N. Szymanek & I. King (22 Kb)
• Crux Australis and Eta Carinae photographed from Australia by Michael Maunder: the foreground cliffs are illuminated by a full Moon.
• Comet C/1995 Y1 (Hyakutake) imaged by Martin Mobberley at around mag 9, 1996 February 1
• Comet C/1996 B1 (Szczepanski), also at around mag 9 on 1996 February 1, by N. D. James
• Saturn's spectrum showing methane bands, by M. V. Gavin
• The centre of the Orion nebula, M42, processed to show the Trapezium and the surrounding nebulosity, by N. D. James

Back to top of page

Go to the BAA Journal home page