Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from corsica.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Thu, 17 Aug 89 03:18:02 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Thu, 17 Aug 89 03:17:54 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #606 SPACE Digest Volume 9 : Issue 606 Today's Topics: CRESCENT MOON - WED 2 AUG '89 - 1 MUHARRAM 1410 - ISLAMIC NEW YEAR - ASHURA FASTING. Public Domain involvement in Aerospace ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 1 Aug 89 21:03:25 GMT From: att!icus!dasys1!mohib@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Mohib) Subject: CRESCENT MOON - WED 2 AUG '89 - 1 MUHARRAM 1410 - ISLAMIC NEW YEAR - ASHURA FASTING. Followup on Atmospheric Optics/Physics: Sci.Physics Followup on Astronomy: Sci.astro Followup on Space: Sci.space Replies to: mnd@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Rahim ( I begin with the name of ALLAH, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful ) THE MUSLIM STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION (MSA) of COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 102 Earl Hall, Columbia University, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10027 SUBJECT: CRESCENT MOON: FIRST VISIBILITY (every lunar month) ************************************************************** NEXT CRESCENT (NEW) MOON, HILAL: Wed 2 AUG 1989, evening (*) for the 1st. Islamic Month of MUHARRAM, 1410, (ISLAMIC NEW YEAR) the month starting on Thu 3 August 1989, for USA-CANADA and S.America; and possibly on Wed 2 August 1989, for points West of San Francisco, from the places of possible first sighting of Tue 1 August, evening. It is IMPOSSIBLE for the Crescent Moon to be visible on Mon 31 July 1989, worldwide. ASHURA, the 10th. of Muharram, on which it is highly recommended to FAST, will be on Sat 12 August 1989 for most of the world. For more info. see postings on Soc.culture.african, ..arabic, ..turkish. (*) Hilal (crescent) sightings would be in the evenings, at least 10 minutes after sunset, usually before 20 minutes, and upto 40 to 90 minutes after sunset; near and along the sun's path. We are conducting research/survey on the recorded WORLD-WIDE first sightings of the "CRESCENT MOON, FIRST VISIBILITY" in the evenings, for every lunar month. Some TECHNICAL INFO. is at the end. PHOTOGRAPHS / SLIDES ARE MOST WELCOME since they are very helpful in the research. Please also pass on the request to your friends who are interested in astronomy/physics and to your local amateur astronomy associations. We would very much like to hear from you. Please respond either by email or by letter. The survey results are to enhance the present ATMOSPHERIC MODEL and fine tune some parameters regarding SCATTERING/VISION. When reporting actual Crescent-Hilal sightings, (even if you do not see it) PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: HILAL was visible to naked eye?......... Hilal sighted in binoculars?......... EXACT TIMES: Complete Sunset at......... Hilal First Visible....... End....... HEIGHT-Degrees: Hilal highest........... Hilal lowest (faded/set)............. ORIENTATION: Ends of Hilal Curve: Start at.......'O Clock:End at.....'O Clock (Right is 3'O Clock:Bottom is 6'O Clock: Left is 9'O Clock: Top is 12'O Clock) WEATHER condition: Rel.Humidity......... Temperature..... Pressure............ Sky near western horizon: Clear?........ Hazy?........... Cloudy?............. OBSERVER: Age.... Eyesight: Glasses?.... Far sighted?.... Near sighted?....... Name....................... Date........ Location............................. Thanks. Email to: mnd@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Mohib.N.Durrani) Mail: Al-Hajj Dr.Mohib.N.Durrani Islamic Amateur Astronomers Association (Research Division) 601 West 113 Street, Suite 11-K Columbia University NEW YORK, N.Y. 10025 United States of America ***************************************************************************** Some ORBITAL details for the SUN and MOON: Lunation No.: 824 NEW MOON (not crescent visible moon): 1989 August 1d 16h 06m UT (Universal Time), Monday (Universal Time, i.e. mean solar time on the meridian of Greenwich) EQUATORIAL coords.(0h UT) ECLIPTIC coords.(for 0h UT) Date Sun Sun MOON MOON Sun MOON MOON MOON AUGUST R.A. Decl. R.A. Decl. Long. Long. Lat. true Elong '89 Alpha Delta Alpha Delta Lambda Lambda Beta from Sun hr deg hr deg deg deg deg deg 1 Tu 8.75 18.02 8.24 22.15 128.77 120.85 2.23 W 8 * 2 We 8.82 17.79 9.10 17.78 129.84 133.72 1.12 E 4 3 Th 8.88 17.51 9.90 12.70 130.79 146.34 -0.04 E 16 ***************************************************************************** 1989 AUGUST 2 (Wed) evening (event times are the approximate 1410 MUHARRAM Civil - clock - Standard times) (nearest) (+N,-S) (W) Sun MOON at Sunset unaided eye CITY LAT LONG SET SET AGE-MOON SIGHTING ************* deg deg h m h m h m ********** MECCA-S.Arabia 20 320 18 57 19 31 23 51 MOST PROBABLE MOSCOW - USSR 56 320 20 26 20 42 25 20 MOST PROBABLE CAIRO - Egypt 30 330 18 53 19 26 24 47 MOST PROBABLE ISTANBUL-Turk 40 330 19 13 19 46 25 07 MOST PROBABLE CAPETOWN-S.Af -35 340 16 59 17 49 23 53 MOST PROBABLE LAGOS-Nigeria 10 355 18 03 18 47 25 57 MOST PROBABLE % GREENWICH-Engl 50 0 19 41 20 07 27 35 VISIBLE DAKAR-Senegal 10 20 18 43 19 32 27 37 VISIBLE RIO DeJENEIRO -20 45 17 43 18 50 28 37 VISIBLE PARAMARIBO-Suri 0 55 17 50 18 51 29 44 VISIBLE BUNOS ARESarg -35 60 17 19 18 36 29 13 VISIBLE LIMA-Peru S.A -10 80 18 17 19 29 31 11 VISIBLE % (add 1 hr to event time, for summer DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME, from early April to end of October) For most of these cities (Mecca-Lima) the Cresent would be VISIBLE on the evening of Wed 2 August 1989, hence the New Islamic Month of Muharram would start from Thu 3 August 1989, the ISLAMIC NEW YEAR. ***************************************************************************** 1989 AUGUST 2 (Wed) evening (event times are the approximate 1410 MUHARRAM Civil - clock - Standard times) (nearest) (+N,-S) (W) Sun MOON at Sunset unaided eye CITY LAT LONG SET SET AGE-MOON SIGHTING ************* deg deg h m h m h m ********** % HALIFAX -CNDA 44 65 19 43 20 21 31 37 VISIBLE % NEW YORK -USA 40 75 19 13 19 56 32 07 VISIBLE % JACKSONVIL-Fl 30 80 19 13 20 04 32 07 VISIBLE % SAN DIEGO-USA 35 115 18 42 19 36 34 36 VISIBLE % SAN FRANCISCO 40 120 19 13 20 02 35 07 VISIBLE % VANCOUVER-CND 50 125 20 01 20 37 35 55 VISIBLE % ANCHORAGE-Als 62 150 20 40 20 45 38 36 VISIBLE % HONOLULU -Hwi 20 160 18 17 19 30 37 11 VISIBLE % (add 1 hr to event time, for summer DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME, from early April to end of October) When the CRESCENT is visible on Tue 2 August 1989 anywhere from Halifax, New York, Jacksonville, San Diego, San Francisco, to Vancouver, then in the USA-CANADA the next Islamic month of Muharram starts on Wed 3 August 1989, the ISLAMIC NEW YEAR. (INCREASE date one day, if crossing EAST TO WEST) ###################### INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE ###################### (DECREASE date one day, if crossing WEST TO EAST) 1989 AUGUST 2 (Wed) evening (event times are the approximate 1410 MUHARRAM Civil - clock - Standard times) (nearest) (+N,-S) (W) Sun MOON at Sunset unaided eye CITY LAT LONG SET SET AGE-MOON SIGHTING ************* deg deg h m h m h m ********** SIDNEY-Austra -35 210 17 19 17 24 15 13 DIFFICULT TOKYO - Japan 35 220 18 42 18 55 17 36 PROBABLE PEKING -China 40 245 19 33 19 49 19 27 PROBABLE JAKARTA-Indon -10 250 17 37 17 57 18 31 PROBABLE DACCA -B.Desh 20 270 18 37 19 00 20 31 PROBABLE AGRA - India 30 280 18 33 18 56 21 27 MOST PROBABLE PESHAWAR -Pak 35 290 19 22 19 47 22 16 MOST PROBABLE BUKHARA -USSR 40 295 18 53 19 17 22 47 MOST PROBABLE TEHRAN - Iran 35 310 18 42 19 10 23 36 MOST PROBABLE For most of these cities (Sidney-Tehran) The Crescent would be Visible on Wed 2 August 1989, hence the New Lunar Month of Muharram would start on Thu 3 August 1989, the ISLAMIC NEW YEAR. ***************************************************************************** Please note that the Islamic dates start from Sundown of a previous day. ***************************************************************************** ISLAMIC GREGORIAN MOON - MOON - MOON - MOON - MOON Sun - EARTH YEAR YEAR MONTHS LUNA. NEW MOON MOON-PERIGEE MOON-APOGEE Sun & EARTH NO. (NOT visible) (nearest) (farthest) (All times are in UT = Universal Time) 1409 1989 d h m d h d h d h 6 JUMA-II 817 JAN 7 19 22 JAN 10 23 JAN 27 00 JAN 1 22 Perihelion 7 RAJAB 818 FEB 6 07 37 FEB 7 22 FEB 23 14 8 SHABAN 819 MAR 7 18 19 MAR 8 08 MAR 22 18 MAR 20 15 Equinox 9 RAMADAN 820 APR 6 03 33 APR 5 20 APR 18 21 10 SHAWWAL 821 MAY 5 11 46 MAY 4 05 MAY 16 09 11 QADAH 822 JUN 3 19 53 JUN 1 05 JUN 13 02 JUN 21 10 Solstice 12 HAJJ 823 JUL 3 04 59 JUN 28 04 JUL 10 21 JUL 4 12 Aphelion ***************************************************************************** ISLAMIC GREGORIAN MOON - MOON - MOON - MOON - MOON Sun - EARTH YEAR YEAR MONTHS LUNA. NEW MOON MOON-PERIGEE MOON-APOGEE Sun/EARTH NO. (NOT visible) (nearest) (farthest) (All times are in UT = Universal Time) 1410 1989 d h m d h d h d h * 1 MUHARAM 824 AUG 1 16 06 JUL 23 07 AUG 7 15 2 SAFR 825 AUG 31 05 44 AUG 19 12 SEP 4 08 SEP 23 01 Equinox 3 RABI-I 826 SEP 29 21 47 SEP 16 15 OCT 1 20 4 RABI-II 827 OCT 29 15 27 OCT 15 01 OCT 28 22 5 JUMA-I 828 NOV 28 09 41 NOV 12 13 NOV 25 04 6 JUMA-II 829 DEC 28 03 20 DEC 10 23 DEC 22 19 DEC 21 21 Solstice ***************************************************************************** Perihelion = Earth Closest to Sun (Sun moving FASTEST in sky-Jan 1) Equinox = Earth has Equal Daylight and Darkness (Mar 20 & Sept 23) Solstice = Sun apparantly Stationary in Declination (Maximum of Summer-June 21 OR Minimum of Winter-Dec 21) Aphelion = Earth Farthest from Sun (Sun moving SLOWEST in sky-Jul 4) Perigee = Moon Closest to Earth (Moon moving FASTEST in sky) Apogee = Moon Farthest from Earth (Moon moving SLOWEST in sky) **************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** APPROXIMATIONS TO DIRECTION OF KA'BA (MECCA Saudi Arabia) In most places of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, an approximation to the direction of KA'BA, to determine the direction of Salat (prayers), can be obtained by noting the direction of your shadow near the time of Sunset. The direction in which your shadow goes is usually a little north of east. This is the direction in which salat can be performed, as an approximation. This direction changes during the different months of the year but is a good approximation when there is no magnetic compass to determine the exact direction. For locations on the West of America the direction is further North from the shadow, i.e. further to the left of the shadow. **************************************************************************** Copyright Al-Hajj Dr.M.N.Durrani, 1989 Permission to copy for free distribution is granted to all, please do give credit and reference. Thanks For further information, please feel free to contact: Mail: Al-Hajj Dr.Mohib.N.Durrani Islamic Amateur Astronomers Association (Research Division) 601 West 113 Street, Suite 11-K Columbia University NEW YORK, N.Y. 10025 United States of America Email to: mnd@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Mohib.N.Durrani) ***************************** End of Document ****************************** -- Mohib N Durrani Big Electric Cat Public UNIX ..!cmcl2!{ccnysci,cucard,hombre}!dasys1!mohib ------------------------------ Date: 2 Aug 89 15:24:33 GMT From: uhccux!munnari.oz.au!mimir!hugin!augean!sirius!nt!levels!ccajr@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Rollo Ross) Subject: Public Domain involvement in Aerospace The South Australian company Australian Launch Vehicles is progressing well with its proposal for a low cost, unmanned, nonmilitary rocket to launch light satellites into low earth orbit. Significant commitment from engineering companies, component manufacturers and potential customers - both locally and internationally - indicate that the innovative concept has sufficient support to carry it through to completion. The simplicity of the design is such that the computational requirements will be within the power of a modern personal computer. Until recently it was assumed that the software needed for this computer (and also for the modest ground control installations) would be produced by one of the many commercial companies able to do so. However, it has been suggested that the software needs and other computing related issues could be better met by a coordinated effort in the international public domain. Software so produced would remain within the public domain, freely accessible to any interested parties. YOU ARE INVITED TO: 1) Express your opinions of the general principle of involving the public computing community at all levels of this complex project, and 2) Submit any ideas you may have on how the logistics of such an operation might be managed, perhaps covering such things as project managment strategies, networks involved, possible processing sites, and the like. 3) Make any other comments you feel to be relevant. Please Note: It is thought that if this idea goes ahead the development would proceed in some sort of stage system, with (for instance) the hardware/operating system needs being discussed and decided on in one stage, languages in another, and so on. This means that it is not really appropriate (yet) to contribute to the discussion your thoughts on specific details. The organisational structure must be sorted out first. ================= The future of this very exciting software development project depends entirely on your response to this message; the concept has never been tried on such a scale before and if Australian Launch Vehicles is not quickly convinced it has the full support of the public domain the idea will be dropped immediately. Comprehensive details on all aspects of the launch system (covering the propulsion system, autopilot, ground installations required, positive and negative environmental aspects, and so on) will be made available if enough interest is shown. Australian Launch Vehicles has deliberately set out to take rocket technology from the realm of vastly expensive militarily or politically motivated operations to a smaller, commercially viable service. This means that public domain involvement fits in well with their philosphy - but they cannot afford to wait for interest to gradually build up. This message has been approved by the company, and given the widest possible distribution throughout the world in English, French and German - please help to pass it on in any way you can. It's up to you, computing public. ----------------------------------------------------- (This message is posted on behalf of an Institute student who has been in touch with Australian Launch Vehicles in South Australia's Technology Park. Mailed replies can be sent to him, Dan Shearer, MA870894@levels.sait.oz.au or MA870894@sait.edu.au. The original Fidonet message included the following alternative address: > Until enough feedback is available to allow a decision to be made, >Martin Crockett of the S.A. Country BBS has arranged to receive and >collate all replies. His FIDONet address is 3:681/853 - IF YOU HAVE A >WORTHWHILE CONTRIBUTION TO MAKE PLEASE SEND IT TO HIM.) Rollo Ross, Network Manager Comp Centre, Sth Aust Institute of Technology, The Levels, SA 5095, Australia Voice: +61 8 343 3158 Old way: Rollo.Ross@levels.sait.oz{.au} Fax: 349 6939 DTE 505282622004 Standard way: Rollo.Ross@sait.edu.au ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V9 #606 *******************