PROJECT 10073 RECORD CAR~ 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS D Woa Boli-n 0 Probably Bali-n OATITIMI OROU~ 4. TTP'! OP OIHRVATION Po .. l Wy Boli-n C:X O..wt41-Ylwol D CHe--'Rodor D Woa Ahcroft D Probably Alrcr-'t Ol/06~Rz Feb 62 D Po ul W y AI rcroft a Af .. Yhual Woa Aatronomlcol ProltaWy Aatrenolftlcol Poulltly Aati'Oftolftlco1 LINOTM 0' OISIIVATION NUMa!R OP OIJI!CTS f, COU .. SI! Satellite. lnaufflcl-t o ... fer Ev"luotlon g1ven one E 110. IRIIP SUMMARY OP StGHnNO 11. COMMENTS :-n:.sible 3ignting o:' s atellite, hc!'izon heading un.'<llown. Echo , however t~e easterly hi?ading in!on s i.::;ta..nt tnis anal y3i s . Eva luatic lof objeo;~ i s .:;atellite. Echo na t .or'y n-;!aJi ng inE~o.tiv..:. >f o;atellite nt..'?a.re r DEPARTMENT Of THE AIR FORCE STAFF M~SSAGE BRANCH UNCLASSifiiO MESSAGE Page 1 of 2 CZCH?A 113ZCBJ8207 DE RBH?HC 044 FM COMHA\4SEAFRON TO RJH?KW/COMD HAWAIRDEFDIV W~EELER AFB CIN-14, ARMY-2, CMC-7, JCS-45, OSD-15, NSA-7, CIA-11, OOP-~OP-CP-1, INFO RFEMTE/CANAIRDEF ST GUBERT, MONTREAL CANADA RCWNC/CAN FLAGPAC, ESQUIMALT, BRITIS~ COLUMBIA RBWPPG/COMWESTSEAFRON RBHPB/CINCPACFLT RJWFALB/CINCNORAD ENT AFB, COLO RJEZHQ/COFSUSAF AASH DC RBEP\U CNO RBE PW/ SECNAV . RUHPFS/CINCIJSARPAC RBHPA/C INC PAC RJHPKM P/ PACAF RJHPKMD/PACAF BASECO~, HICKAM AFB DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE ( STAFF MESSAGE BRANCH UNClASSifiiO MfSSAG! F'M COMBARPAC TO COMHA'.~SEAF'RON CIRVIS REPORT. N43213. Ao VISUAL SIGHTING POSSIBLE SATTELITE SIZE HEAD OF PIN, ROUND. 34N 176~11 010638Z. 42 DEGREES ABOVE HO~HZON TRAVELING !.JEST TO EAST SPEED UNKN0t11N Page 2 of 2 Scn !NCE NEws LTTU. jor D(ccmb(r 21, 1961 AS~ItONOMY inter Stars Visible The brilliant winter constellation O rion, sh ines in the rn sky on evenings during January. Jupiter is seen in the southwest soon after sunset, James Stokley reports . ~ WITH THE APPEARANCE of the con- stellation Orion and his brilliant neighbors J:~nu:.ry evening sky, the :tbsence of the naked-eye planets will hardly be noticed. At the beginning of January you may get a glimpse of Jupiter low in the southwest soon after sun set. It goes below the horizon ng before the times for which the accom- panying m aps are drawn. These show the skies as they look at 10:00 p.m., your own kind of standard time, New Year's Day; a n hour earlier in the middle of the month, and two hours earlier at the end. Over in the southe:1st ) ou can see the brightest of all the st:.rs that appear in the nighttime sky: Sirius, the dog star, :n C.1nis :\(ajor, the great dog. Sirius is Sc:\er.tl rin~e~ :IS bright .lS any other star \is1l-le fr um most of the U.S. (except, of cour<c:, for the su n}, but two st:us seen from points fJrther south are more ne.rly equal to it. Abo\e Sirius, and a little to the right, ~t:1nds Orion, ~enerall) considered as the (OJHtell:uion in the sky. I~ is one two that contains more thnn one S<lr of fir~t nu~nitude or brighter. Tr.: othe~ is .1 southern ~roup, Centauru': hke Oricn. 1t h.ts two. Rigel Is Dimmed One: of the bri~htcr ~t.tr~ in Ori.m. the '"" cr, i~ Ri~d. its light son1c:\\ h.< ,!inhtH:J hc:;;,tu'c of .thsorptinn by the .ttm ... ,pherc. llctclgeme, hi)!hcr and some:\\ h.,-red in .:ulor, is the 11ther. Uct\\een them \ Cu \\ttl i5 pcrh.tps the mo~t ch.tr:tctcn~ti.: fe:Hure of Orion-the row o( three st.lr' th.t t form the: belt of this warrio1r Tlut is the w;w he \\ :1~ pkrured nn the: old -t.t.r maps, \\ hich showed the fi\(ure~ :lr)und the They dcpictcJ Orion \\ ith an upr:1i J club, defending him,elf from a .:harging bull. This an1m.1l is represented in the sky by the next-door comtell:nion of Taurus, little hi)lher than Orion :1nd farther right. In it is the red ) t.lr .\ldc:b.tr1n, which i~ one of the bull's e)es. C.tnis :\bjor wa5 supposed to be one of Orion's t\\0 dn~,: the other io; C.tnis .\linor -the le er dng-ahove tht l.u.'!e one .tnd the left. In 1t i~ ,, nothcr firo;t lll:lJ!n iwdc: ,t.Jr, called Prllcyon. Srill hi~hcr i~ Gemini. the t\\ ins. \\ ith C."tor .1nd Pt)llu'<. H ow- ever, only Pollux io; hrig-ltt entHt)!h to r.ttc: " first nt.t~nitudc: C.t~tor j, o;ccoml rn.tgni- Over in the eastern sky stands the eighth and last of the first magnitude stars shown on these maps. T his is Regulus, in Six of the stars in this figure outline a sickle, with Regulus, the lowest, a t the of the handle. Leo, like Gemini, is one of the 12 constellations of the zodiac, the band through which the sun, moon planets seem to move around the sky. Toward the northeast these evenings lies the familiar figure of the great dipper, like- wise with the handle directed downwards. Above are the two stars called the pointers. oUowing their line to the left leads to the pole star, which is always seen to the north. The dipper is actually part of L"rsa .\bjor, the great bear, \\ hile the pole ~tar is in t.Jrsa Minor, the lesser be:1r. H igh in the nor thwest is Perseus, in there is :1 f:1mom 'ari.1ble ~t:lr, Algol. few days it drops from second to m:~gnitude, as a fJint st:\f passes in front of tl1e hrighter memher of the p:1ir .md par tially eclipses it. The re:t<on wut none of the naked-eye planets-:O.(ercury, \'entt" :O.!:Irs. Jupiter or SJturn-is easily \ i,tble in J.lnuJry is t h:n they are all nearly in tht" same direction as the sun. Thu~. they rtt: .lhout sunri~e and set about ~umet :1nd .He in the sky during the ,l.tdig-ht hour~. when the gl:trc !tide-; them. LltCr in the rear, however, they \\ill all cume into prominente in the evening sky. ~{c:rcury and \enus move around the sun in orbits that are smaller than earth's. Thus they may come approximately between us anu the sun (inferior conjunction) or they may p:1ss beyond the sun (superior con- junction). either conjunction they are invisible, because they are nearly in line with the sun. rior to inferior conjunction they follow un in its npparent daily motion across the sky, and may remain long enough after sunset to ue seen in the west. After the conjunction they are west of the sun, and pe:1r in the east before sunrise. See Mercury East of the Sun On Jan. 20 Mercury will be farthest east of the sun, and it may be seen then, very low in the <outhwest, after sundown as dusk gathers. However, it will not be easy to find. It will be in a )imibr position ~IJy 13, when it should be easier to see, and again on 10. Around :\l:lrch 3 it \\ill be we~t of the sun anJ visible: with difficulty in the morning sky. It will be similarly situated, though not as favor.1bly, on Jul) I, and :! I, which \\ill be the mo!>t fJ\'Orable elongation to obsene. Venus will be behind the !>Un Jan. 27 and after that \\ill move toward the cast of that orb. Ouring th e spring it will begin w shine brilli.tntly in the ~ottth\\"C\tern eve. ning sky. On Srpt. 3 it \\ill he f.mhc,t ca~t I \1-:ndtll" tfi\\,IJd' frn111 ' l ,tunt' i ... \ u. tt,.:.t, th.: dttrtlltler. \\ 1th 'till another fir,t tl1;1~1llltlil >t.lr, l.ll'cd c . pdlt lr .tpf>etr'i 111.1p "' the n~ortht:rn ,ktc\ 4 EAST WE~T SYMBOLS FOR HARS IN ORDER OF BRIGHTNESS d tJ. ~un, remaining in the <..~Y for the longest time after sunset. On Oct. 8 it will at greatest brilliance, with magnitude 4.3, which is about I 5 times as bright Sirius. Then it will quickly disappear, reaching inferior conjunction Nov. 12, but it will quickly re:lppear in the morning sky, as bright as it was before the conjunction. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn move in orbits larger than the earth's, so they can ne~er come to inferior conjunction. They are most conspicuous at opposition, when they are in the opposite direction from the sun. Mars was out beyond the sun, in conjunc- tion with it, on Dec. H. Now it is gradually coming into view in the morning sky, but not until spring will it be at all prominent. By the end of the year it wi II be conspicu- ous in the evening, with opposition on Jupiter is now out beyond the sun, with conjunction Feb. 8. By late spring it will move in to the evening sky, opposition arriv- ing Aug. 31. Saturn will be at conjunction on Jan. 22, with oppOllition July 31. Thus, by next fall we ''ill have :1 line display of planets, with \'enus, :'-f.trs, lupiter :1nd Saturn all vis1ble. The new year will abo bring "' o eclipses of the sun. The first, on Feb. ~ and 5, is tot.ll. Along a belt cro~sing the PJcific Oce.tn, from Ne'' Guinea to a point about a th ou\and miles west of Lower CJiifornia. the su n ''ill be completely CO\'ered by the moon for J) long as four minutes. O'er a luger area, includmg the west .:C't.ht >f :'\orth .\ mc:nca, :1 parti:1l eclip~e \\til be o;co::n. On luh ~I 1here will be an J'lnu!Jr l'di~ho:. J'h.t i~. thc moon 'dll come 111 trum ot the ''"' hut will not CO\ cr H. :\ rins: uf the "ltr )urfacc: appears around the J .. rk di~c of the moon. This effect will be ,j~iblc: a lnnsr a p.Hh from Brazil, crossing the South .\tl.tntic, thln travcr~ing Africa and ~Llda g:m.tr. All of Africa. most of South Amer- i.:a ~nd Florida nnd Georgi.1 in the U.S. ''ill see a p.trtial eclipse. Celestial Time Table for January f.tnuJrr EST midn.,~:ht Al,s.:o l at minimum Moon pa~s Mercury and Moon passes Jupiter Moon nearest; disuncc ~lS,.JOO miles ~loon at first quarrcr Algol at minimum ~\lsrol at minimum ~{c:rcurv flrthc~t c:a~t of sun Alsrol .11 mimmum Saturn 1n con junction with 8:;o p.m. Al ,~:ol at minimum :::~ S:oo t.m. ~Coon f.uthcsl; d~>nncc ::~:.rro mile"~ :-; ');un .un \'f'nu' Jt ~upcno~r ..:nniun.:ttHII \\llh <lin .!'l li: 17 p.m. \ll'ln in IJ<t qu.1rtcr ... hr.h. ont h IIH r r I 'ST. t\\'Cl hnur r r \I" r 1nd ;It 1.'<: h>ll" lur PST.