[AZ-Observing] Re: A smile and a frown....
- From: "Frank Martin" <fmartin@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 09:04:33 -0700
Tom, thanks for reminding us all of this. It is good to remember what
Pierre brought to the astronomy community. He is the one that got me
started in 1981, and I have been enjoying the sport ever since. I have some
fond memories of building the "Super Big Foot" with him. What a project.
The last I heard Dick Jacobs has the mount.
Thanks,
Frank Martin
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Tom Polakis
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 8:54 PM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: A smile and a frown....
Here's what I can remember about Pierre's sighting of the moon at just over
12 hours old. With Pierre were Bernie Sanden, Regina Lawless, Steve Redman
(I think) and myself. We set up on the small rise due south of the
Sentinel site, sometimes referred to as South Mountain. Pierre had erected
tall poles a month earlier that would assist him in determining the azimuth
of the setting crescent moon. It was so far north of the ecliptic that it
was actually up and to the _right_ of the sun at sunset.
Pierre and I began sweeping with 8" RFT's just after sunset. The window
between sunset and moonset was only about 45 minutes long, and since the
sky is only really dark enough to see these things a half hour after
sunset, it was effectively about 10 minutes long. Pierre first spotted it
as an uninterrupted arc about 90 degrees long. It was not particularly
difficult to see once you knew what to look for. I never did find it in my
scope, though.
The next morning, Jim Stamm described his sighting to me by e-mail. I
excitedly relayed the news to Pierre, who was not amused. He spent much of
1996 investigating the validity of Jim's observation before conceding that
he couldn't disprove it. Kelly Beatty at S&T received letters from Pierre
questioning Stamm's observation. He told me that year at RTMC that he
wasn't excited about the magazine being an arbiter of what began as a fun
competition.
S&T was able to quickly eliminate another alleged observation from Tucson
from a well-known astronomy veteran who claimed to view the young moon
immediately after sunset, thus beating out Jim Stamm. He shall remain
last-nameless, though his first name is the same as Stamm's.
Whether or not you're gunning for the record, sighting young moons has been
a lot of fun. They are just gorgeous through binoculars and wide-field
scopes. At least around Phoenix, there are plenty of small rises providing
a low horizon. My favorite is Tempe Butte, where Pierre and I first began
the sub-hobby of young moon viewing.
Tom
At 05:47 PM 1/2/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>> Is Jim Stamm of Tucson still recognized as the record holder? He was set
>> up on that same night. Since he is east of Sentinel, "his" young moon
was
>> younger than "ours" was. I will take credit (or blame) for launching
>> Pierre on a many-year quest to shatter the record for viewing the
youngest
>> moon.
>
>
>Yes, and No, he's listed as seeing a moon 26 minutes younger than Pierre
>from Tucson. But the new record is from M.G. Mirsaeed located in Rashk
>Bala, Iran at 11h 40m.
>
>Who else was with Pierre when he spotted it, and did they see it too?
>
>Thad
>
>
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