Articles
Giovanni Schiaparelli: Visions of a colour blind astronomer ... William Sheehan
The greatest observer of Mars of the nineteenth century was the Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli. In his classic compilation of Martian observations, La Planete Mars, published in 1892, Camille Flammarion readily conceded that Schiaparelli's was 'the greatest work which has been carried out with regard to Mars,' while another eminent Martian, Percival Lowell, referred to the Italian astronomer alone as his Martian master ('cher maitre Martien'). This paper outlines Schiaparelli's life and describes the controversies that raged around his interpretations of the planet. (5 pages)
The Herigonius sinuous rille system based on NSSDC microfilm frames... ... Keith W. Abineri
This remarkable sinuous rille system, with its accompanying mare sinuous ridges, is situated near the lunar crater Herigonius to the north-east of Gassendi between the Mare Humorum basin and the southern Oceanus Procellarum. This terrain includes features formed and modified by volcanism in addition to numerous primary and secondary impact craters. Past flooding by basaltic lava throughout the region together with the fairly high density of small impact craters on the resulting mare surfaces suggests a long and complex history of both endogenic and exogenic activities. (7pp)
The quest for Neptune ... Patrick Moore
The date was 23 September, 1846; the place, the darkened dome of the Berlin Observatory. At the 9-inch telescope, Johann Galle; with him, checking the map, Heinrich D'Arrest. Suddenly D'Arrest called out 'That star is not on the map!' The hunt for a new planet was over.
This was a century and a half ago, yet the story of the discovery of Neptune still causes arguments - even if by now they are no longer heated. The whole story has been told time and time again, and I do not propose to go over it here except in outline - particularly as I have done so elsewhere. What I shall do is confine myself to a few interesting points which are not often brought out. (3pp)
Visual observations of TT Crateris at minimum ... Richard W. Fleet & Tristram Brelstaff
Visual observations of the faint dwarf nova TT Crt at minimum show the orbital lightcurve and enable a period to be determined. The most likely period is 0.2686 days but the two periods suggested by Szkody et al. are also revealed in the analysis. (3pp)
The fireball of 1995 July 28 at 2253 UT ... Howard Miles
A major fireball was observed to cross northern England on 1995 July 28 at 2253 UT, travelling in a north-easterly direction and crossing the eastern seaboard of England just north of Whitby (Yorkshire). The fireball exploded with an exceptionally brilliant flash before fading out over the North Sea. Sonic booms were reported from a wide area. (2pp)
Impressions of Cape skies - April 1995 ... Edward Ellis
In the United Kingdom, we see very few stars lying south of the celestial equator. Even first magnitude stars such as Fomalhaut (Dec -30) are difficult to see in this country because of atmospheric and street light pollution. A trip to Cape Province in South Africa thus opens up a whole new field of stars.(3pp)
An evaluation of the Geminid meteor stream radiant from photographic observations ... S. J. Evans
Precise determinations of the photographic Geminid radiant during the period 1955-1993 are compared. A best fit position of RA 113°.0, Dec. +32°.7 (2000.0) at solar longitude (2000.0) 262°.0 has been determined. The spread of the photographic Geminid radiant is small and is especially concentrated at the time of maximum activity.(2pp)
The flash aurora ... R. J. Livesey
This paper reviews the observations of very short lived aurorae that have come to be called flash aurorae. Other short lived and flashing aurorae are also considered. (2pp)
An observation of Mercury and its history ... Richard Baum (9 Kb)
Astronomy on ice ... Jonathan Shanklin
Two meetings on the subject of Antarctic astronomy were held in Cambridge in early August 1996, in association with the XXIV meeting of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. ... Associated with the meeting are specialist working groups covering all the scientific disciplines with interests in the Antarctic and this year two workshops were devoted to Astronomy in the Antarctic. (2pp)
(Copies of any of these articles may be ordered from the BAA office.)
Plus: The occultation of Venus / Ephemerides of Minor Planets / Asteroids passing by
The Great Comet Crash: the view gets clearer (16 Kb)