Newsletter of the Big Bend Astronomical Society, Inc. March, 1999 Jim Walker, Editor

For our March meeting, we met in the Sul Ross Planetarium, Room 300, Warnock Science Building, for a planetarium show by Shannon Rudine.  (Please note that we met on the first Wednesday of March because of Spring Break.  We resume meeting as usual on the second Wednesday next month.)

Besides showing us the current night sky, Shannon showed a number of  slides, many of them wide-field views of the sky that he took with an 8-inch f1.35 Schmidt camera.  His wide-field slides and deep-sky images very nicely fleshed out the planetarium show.  Good job, Shannon

In the February meeting, we voted to insure our scope with the Wohlers Co. in Chicago, who carry our BBAS liability insurance.  Effective March 1, the scope is now insured for a
replacement cost of $4,900.00.  The cost of this coverage is $103.00 per year.

Pete Gallego called a meeting on the Main Street lights in Alpine on March 6.  I was there with the following: Dave Busey, Main Street Director;  Stephanie Haynes, Chair, Main Street Advisory Board; Doug Lively, City Manager;  Roland Pe¤a, WTU Manager.  Pete chaired the meeting.  His secretary, Janice Harvey, and an aide, Wesley Duncan, were also there.  I said the sample lights at the WTU office are too bright, produce too much glare, and light up the sky too much.

Busey had data with him from the manufacturer showing that about 35% of the light from the proposed fixture does indeed escape upward into the sky.  However, internal shielding is
available that will reduce the uplight to about 9%, as reported in the Avalanche.  The paper also reported that the lights will comply with HB916, but that is not the case, as they noted in their correction in the next issue.  They also noted in their correction that I was with the Big Bend Astronomical Society -- not Astrological (!).

At the meeting, I strongly recommended reducing the proposed 70W HPS  lights to 35W HPS.  I pointed out that the wallpacks on the County Jail use 70W HPS bulbs, and noted the glare and uplight these fixtures produce.  It would seem straightforward to change the wattage of the Main Street lights, if everyone agreed, but Pe¤a said that WTU had no approved tariff (charge schedule) for 35W HPS, and that it would take a massive, expensive, and long-drawn-out application to the Public Utilities Commission to make such a change.  Gallego agreed.  Nevertheless, some days after the meeting, Pe¤a called me to say he had found a way to use 50W HPS bulbs in the Man Street lights, with internal shielding.  This will be a welcome improvement.  He will order a new 50W fixture and let me know when it comes in.

There are further possibilities.  It seems likely that the legislature will pass a bill this session deregulating electric utilities.  If that comes about, then the city will be free to negotiate wattage and charges directly with WTU.  Everyone at the meeting agreed that in that event we will review the Main Street lights and reduce their wattage if that appears desirable.

The hearing on our current lighting bill will take place before the State Affairs Committee in Austin on Monday, March 29.  Barbara and I will leave on Sunday and return some time
Tuesday.

Bob Gent, Public Information Officer of the International Dark-Sky Association, is coming from Washington to testify.  I have met him and heard him speak at the last IDA annual meeting.  He will be a very knowledgeable and effective spokesman for the bill.

Mark Adams from McDonald will also be there to testify.  But as a state employee, Mark cannot testify for or against any piece of proposed legislation.  He can only offer factual testimony, while the rest of us are free to speak in favor of the bill as strongly as we wish - well, maybe not that strongly!  Anyway, wish us luck.

Within the last couple of days, the New Mexico legislature passed a lighting bill that applies to all outdoor lighting, not just state-funded lights (unlike the Texas bill).  The NM bill has some other great features.  For example, no new mercury vapor fixtures can be sold or installed after 1/1/2000, and no replacement MV bulbs can be sold after 1/1/2001!  Some of the grandfathered MVs will still be around for many, many years - but not forever.

The NM bill is a big step forward.  It is now awaiting the governor's signature.

I have just learned of an elegant source of information on tracking satellites, courtesy of Shannon Rudine.  When I was at McDonald on March 19, Shannon came around and announced to the 400 or so people at the star party that the Space Station would be coming over soon.  And there it was, sailing overhead from SW to north, passing just below Orion.  To my eye, it was a little brighter than Sirius, about mag -1.5.  There is a great web site that will give you all kinds of satellite info:

The site lists more than 1,000,000 locations around the world, including all the many towns named Alpine in the US (back in the 1880s, ours was the only Alpine in the country).  The
following info came from this site.

Search Period Start: 12:00 Monday, 22 March, 1999
Search Period End: 12:00 Thursday, 01 April, 1999
Observer's Location: Alpine ( 30.3580 N, 103.6610 W)
Local Time: Central Standard Time (GMT - 6:00)
Orbit: 387 x 394 km, 51.6  (Epoch 21 Mar)