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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #475

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 475

Today's Topics:
             Gamma-Ray Observatory Info?
             Re: Theories needed on life
           MONTHLY SOLAR TERRESTRIAL REVIEW
              Re: Venus/Magellan, poles
             Re: Theories needed on life
              Ulysses Update - 10/19/90

Administrivia:

    Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to
  [e-mail].  Other mail, esp. [un]subscription notices,
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Date: 19 Oct 90 15:38:46 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!iowasp.physics.uiowa.edu!ceres.physics.uiowa.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Gamma-Ray Observatory Info?


 Can anyone tell me where I might find some technical articles describing
the Gamma-Ray Observatory, and in particular the BATSE experiment on the
GRO? Thanks.

Jeff Kouba
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
University of Iowa
INET: [e-mail]
SPAN: ceres::jak

------------------------------

Date: 19 Oct 90 21:59:40 GMT
From: crash!ncr-sd!se-sd![e-mail]  (Jim Ruehlin, Cognitologist domesticus)
Subject: Re: Theories needed on life

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

>Could someone theorize on what humanoid life would be like on a planet 3 or 4
>times the size of the Earth.  I'm looking for theories on body structure,
>societies, technology, psychology, etc.  Thanks, I appreciate any speculation.

If you mean bipedal with an internal skeleton, I'd say it may not be
possible at all.  We'ld need to be much smaller than we are now, or have
a massive frame to support ourselves, probably one to big to support
itself given the gravity, organism size, and cube-square law.

- Jim Ruehlin

------------------------------

Date:    Fri, 19 Oct 90 22:04:22 MDT
From: [e-mail] (Cary Oler)
Subject: MONTHLY SOLAR TERRESTRIAL REVIEW
X-St-Vmsmail-To: ST%"[e-mail]"

                   ---  MONTHLY SOLAR TERRESTRIAL REVIEW  ---
                                 September 1990

                    Report Issued from Data Released by the
                       Space Environment Services Center
                               Boulder Colorado

                                   --------


MONTHLY ACTIVITY SUMMARY AND SOLAR CYCLE OUTLOOK OCTOBER 1990 - APRIL 1991

     We are now in month 49 of solar cycle 22.  Average activity levels and
solar indices fell dramatically in September when compared to the August
averages.  Daily values for the 10 cm solar radio flux, sunspot number, and
sunspot area fell by nearly 50% in some cases.  In particular, the average 10
cm flux fell by over 45 points to 175.8, the average sunspot number fell 83
points to 186.4, and the average sunspot area was less than half that of August
(6,933 million square kilometers [4,333 mil. sq. miles] in August compared to
3,399 mil. sq. kilometers [2,124 mil. sq. miles] in September).  This sharp
drop in activity averages resulted in a 0.8 drop in the smoothed sunspot
numbers for March 1990 from that of February, a similar drop in the smoothed
10.7 cm flux was also noted.  The decrease in the smoothed sunspot numbers has
turned the prediction model downward again.  It is now very unlikely that we
will see activity of sufficient magnitude for a sufficient length of time to
change the cycle maximum of July 1989.  This being the case, solar cycle 22
will go on the record as the shortest rise to maximum ever recorded (only
34 months).

     Flare activity was low to moderate during September.  Sixteen M-class
flares were reported during the month, and of these, only one reached M5
strength.  It was an M5/1B from Region 6272 at 21:56 UT on 17 September.  In
addition, Region 6272 produced two smaller M-class flares earlier on the 17th.
The only other Regions that produced more than one M-class flare during the
month were Region 6233 and Region 6266.  Region 6233 was August's most active
region.  During September, it produced four M-class flares before crossing the
limb.  Region 6266 produced only two M-class flares.

     Satellite level protons remained at background levels throughout the
month.

     Geomagnetic activity was mostly unsettled.  There were nine days of active
conditions at middle latitudes and six at high latitudes.  High latitudes also
experienced five days of minor storm conditions and one of major storm
conditions.  This activity is believed to be more in response to coronal hole
and disappearing filaments than to solar flare activity.  Although the long
duration M3/SF on 14 September may have contributed to the geomagnetic activity
on 18 September.  Likewise the M5/1B major flare of 17 September may have
contributed to the activity of 21-22 September.

     Early outlooks showed a pulse of activity in September or October with a
low around the first of the year followed by a second pulse of activity about
April 1991.  However, the uniqueness of cycle 22 with its earlier than
predicted sunspot maximum and earlier than predicted pulse of activity may
indicate that earlier outlooks of future pulses may also be late by several
months.  The cycle is still expected to contain a relatively flat peak through
1991 (with a slow decline), which would indicate that solar activity throughout
the coming year will likely have several bursts of high activity with
increasing periods of low activity occurring as the cycle begins to wind down.

     Geomagnetic conditions will also contain spikes of activity occurring
throughout the coming year due to solar activity and coronal holes, which are
showing signs of stabilizing somewhat, in recurrent patterns.  The probability
of major geomagnetic activity being attributed to strong solar flares is
steadily decreasing as the number of flares capable of producing terrestrial
impacts also begin to decline.  Most of the future magnetic activity will
likely be caused by coronal holes and disappearing filaments (as was observed
during September).

     Radio propagation conditions over the coming year will, likewise,
experience brief periods of poor to very poor conditions due to the magnetic
and periodic solar activity.  Overall, however, radio propagation conditions
are expected to remain very good over most paths as sunspot numbers continue to
remain elevated over the next year or so.



    RECENT SOLAR INDICES (PRELIMINARY) OF THE OBSERVED MONTHLY MEAN VALUES
                          Updated for September, 1990

              Sunspot Numbers                   Radio Flux    Geomagnetic
      ------------------------------------     -------------  -----------
       Observed     Ratio    Smooth Values    Ottawa  Smooth       Smooth
      SESC    RI   RI/SESC    SESC    RI       10 cm  Value    Ap  Value
      ------------------------------------     -------------  -----------
                                  YEAR = 1988

Oct:  163.7  125.1  .76       160.5  125.2     169.8  171.6    13   15.7
Nov:  153.8  125.1  .82       168.3  130.2     156.2  177.5    12   16.1
Dec:  229.5  179.2  .78       180.1  137.4     199.8  184.8    13   16.5

                                  YEAR = 1989
Jan:  203.2  161.6  .80       189.2  141.9     235.4  190.2    19   16.7
Feb:  211.0  164.5  .78       196.0  144.7     222.4  194.0    15   17.0
Mar:  176.8  131.0  .74       204.1  149.4     205.1  199.7    41   17.6

Apr:  172.3  129.3  .75       209.9  153.1     189.6  204.4    23   18.2
May:  207.0  138.4  .67       216.4  156.5     190.1  209.3    16   18.8
Jun:  297.3  196.0  .66       220.1  157.9     239.6  213.1    17   19.2

Jul:  193.9  126.8  .65       221.1  158.1     181.9  212.6     8   19.1
Aug:  243.0  166.8  .69       221.5  157.4     217.1  209.7    20   19.3
Sep:  240.7  176.8  .74       221.3  156.3     225.9  207.2    17   18.8

Oct:  217.4  158.5  .73       223.2  157.1     208.7  206.3    21   18.3
Nov:  255.0  173.0  .68       223.4  157.3     235.1  206.1    19   18.4
Dec:  217.8  166.1  .76       217.3  153.3     213.0  203.3    16   18.4

                                  YEAR = 1990
Jan:  239.3  179.4  .75       212.4  150.3     210.1  200.4    14   18.6*
Feb:  184.7  128.4  .71       213.9  152.5*    178.3  200.5*   23   18.8*
Mar:  198.6  140.8  .71       212.7  151.7*    188.8  198.6*   23   18.7*

Apr:  196.1  139.8  .71                        185.3           27
May:  187.7  132.0  .70                        189.7           16
Jun:  168.9  105.2  .62                        170.9           16

Jul:  204.3  147.0  .72                        180.7           14
Aug:  269.4  199.9* .74*                       221.6*          19*
Sep:  186.4  124.7* .67*                       175.8*          15*

* = Preliminary estimates

The lowest smoothed sunspot number for Cycle 21, RI = 12.3, occurred in
September 1986.  The preliminary sunspot maximum for this cycle (cycle 22)
remains July 1989, with a peak smoothed sunspot number of 158.1.


SUMMARY OF GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FOR SEPTEMBER 1990.

Global geomagnetic activity peaked on 12 September with an estimated planetary
A-Index value of 24.  On that day, the eight estimated planetary K-indices
were (starting at 00 UT):  5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3.  High latitudes experienced
the most severe geomagnetic activity, reaching major storm conditions on 11
September.  The magnetic observatory at Anchorage Alaska recorded an A-Index of
50 on 11 September.  The eight K-index values for Anchorage were (starting at
00 UT):  3, 3, 5, 7, 6, 5, 4, 4.  Middle latitudes closely followed the
planetary figures throughout this period, implying that the strong geomagnetic
activity remained confined to the high northern latitudes.

Global geomagnetic activity reached it's lowest value of the month on 30
September, with an estimated planetary A-Index of 6.  Estimated planetary
K-Index figures for this date were:  2, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 2, 2.  Middle latitudes
had K-Index figures slightly below these values, while high latitudes had
figures slightly above these planetary estimates.



DAILY SOLAR DATA FOR SEPTEMBER, 1990.


                ENERGITIC EVENT SUMMARY (MINOR AND MAJOR FLARES)
 _____________________________________________________________________________
| Date |    Time (U.T.)  | X-Ray |    Optical Information       | Sweep Freq. |
|      | Begin  Max  End | Class | Type     Location     Region |  Intensity  |
|------|-----------------|-------|------------------------------| II III IV  V|
|01 Sep| 0700  0710  0728| M2.7  |  SN       N14W31       6233  |   |   |  |  |
|03 Sep| 0940  0946  1008| M2.2  |  1B       N14W57       6233  |   |   |  |  |
|04 Sep| 1432  1446  1530| M1.4  |  1N       N14W73       6233  |   | 1 |  | 1|
|05 Sep| 0356  0431  0717| M2.7  |  SF       N14W87       6233  |   | 1 |  |  |
|06 Sep| 2108  2151  2250| M1.9  |  Uncorrelated event.         |   | 1 |  |  |
|12 Sep| 0054  0110  0139| M1.5  |  2N       N06W45       6247  |   | 1 |  |  |
|14 Sep| 0408  0417  0429| M1.3  |  1F       S29E43       6266  | 3 | 3 |  |  |
|      | 1326  1406  1522| M3.5  |  SF       S20E90             |   |   |  | 3|
|      | 2001  2015  2048| M1.6  |  2N       N19E25       6263  | 2 |   |  | 2|
|17 Sep| 0549  0555  0559| M1.0  |  1N       S15E41       6272  |   | 3 |  |  |
|      | 1341  1346  1355| M1.3  |  SB       S15E30       6272  |   | 2 |  |  |
|      | 2151  2156  2202| M5.3  |  1B       S15E29       6272  |   | 3 |  | 3|
|19 Sep| 0901  0908  0913| M2.6  |  1N       N06E90       6281  |   |   |  |  |
|22 Sep| 0302  0319  0345| M1.1  |  1F       S27W60       6266  |   |   |  |  |
|23 Sep| 1305  1313  1322| M2.7  |  Uncorrelated event.         | 1 |   |  | 1|
|25 Sep| 0221  0228  0235| M1.7  |  1B       N15E09       6280  |   | 1 |  |  |
|______|_________________|_______|______________________________|_____________|

NOTES:

 - Xray Flare Classes (weak to strong): C, M, X (with sub-categories rated
   from 0.0 to 9.9 in each class).

 - Optical Flare Classes (weak to strong): S, 1, 2, 3, 4 (with an
   attached figure identifying brightness: F-Faint, N-Normal, B-Brilliant).

 - Locations are given in latitude and longitude as measured from the
   central solar meridian.

 - Sweep Frequency Intensity represents the intensity of detected solar radio
   frequency bursts (bursts sweep over large frequencies).  Type II and IV
   almost always represent ejection of solar material through the solar corona
   and into interplanetary space.  Intensities are rated from 1 to 3+.



                         GENERAL DAILY SOLAR STATISTICS
 _____________________________________________________________________________
|       | Radio Flux  |           |  Sunspot   |           Flares             |
|       |   Ottawa    |  Sunspot  |    Area    |   X-Ray          Optical     |
|Date   |  10.7 cm    |  Number   | mil.sq.km. | C   M   X  |  S   1   2   3  |
|-------|-------------|-----------|------------|--- --- --- | --- --- --- --- |
|01 Sep |     167     |    193    |   3,300    | 3   1   0  |  8   0   0   0  |
|02 Sep |     165     |    186    |   3,330    | 6   0   0  | 13   2   0   0  |
|03 Sep |     157     |    180    |   2,910    | 9   1   0  | 15   2   1   0  |
|04 Sep |     160     |    204    |   2,940    | 7   1   0  | 18   4   0   0  |
|05 Sep |     157     |    169    |   2,250    | 8   1   0  |  7   0   0   0  |
|06 Sep |     154     |    153    |   2,220    | 6   1   0  | 10   0   0   0  |
|07 Sep |     160     |    135    |   2,100    | 2   0   0  | 11   3   1   0  |
|08 Sep |     159     |    153    |   1,980    | 4   0   0  |  7   2   0   0  |
|09 Sep |     166     |    157    |   2,010    | 1   0   0  | 15   0   0   0  |
|10 Sep |     168     |    173    |   2,190    | 3   0   0  |  4   0   0   0  |
|11 Sep |     176     |    206    |   3,150    | 6   0   0  | 16   2   0   0  |
|12 Sep |     189     |    193    |   4,170    | 3   1   0  |  8   1   1   0  |
|13 Sep |     194     |    195    |   4,290    | 6   0   0  | 16   1   0   0  |
|14 Sep |     206     |    239    |   4,680    | 5   3   0  | 16   4   1   0  |
|15 Sep |     203     |    229    |   5,070    | 4   0   0  | 12   1   0   0  |
|16 Sep |     200     |    221    |   4,710    | 7   0   0  | 10   3   0   0  |
|17 Sep |     205     |    228    |   4,110    | 8   3   0  | 23   3   0   0  |
|18 Sep |     203     |    224    |   3,720    | 7   0   0  | 26   1   0   0  |
|19 Sep |     208     |    231    |   4,140    | 6   1   0  | 13   0   1   0  |
|20 Sep |     200     |    196    |   3,930    |10   0   0  | 22   4   0   0  |
|21 Sep |     200     |    194    |   4,440    | 7   0   0  | 13   0   0   0  |
|22 Sep |     192     |    182    |   4,530    | 1   1   0  | 10   1   0   0  |
|23 Sep |     183     |    172    |   4,770    | 2   1   0  |  6   0   0   0  |
|24 Sep |     176     |    163    |   3,900    |10   0   0  | 11   4   0   0  |
|25 Sep |     165     |    173    |   3,300    | 4   1   0  | 14   2   0   0  |
|26 Sep |     157     |    147    |   3,210    | 4   0   0  |  8   0   0   0  |
|27 Sep |     150     |    160    |   2,580    | 1   0   0  |  9   0   0   0  |
|28 Sep |     150     |    168    |   2,460    | 4   0   0  |  6   0   0   0  |
|29 Sep |     149     |    185    |   2,820    | 3   0   0  | 14   0   0   0  |
|30 Sep |     156     |    182    |   2,790    | 2   0   0  | 16   0   0   0  |
|_______|_____________|___________|____________|____________|_________________|


**  End of Report **

------------------------------

Date: 20 Oct 90 19:13:54 GMT
From: agate!shelby!neon![e-mail]  (John Kallen)
Subject: Re: Venus/Magellan, poles

On Mercury, the 20th meridian passes through the crater Hun Kal
("Twenty" in Mayan).
_______________________________________________________________________________
 | |   |   |    |\ | |   /|\ | John Kallen                "Stonehenge is very
 | |\ \|/ \|  * |/ | |/|  |  | 3232 Round Hill Dr.         nutritious."
 | |\ /|\  |\ * |\ |   |  |  | Hayward CA 94345                  - Migato Gami
_|_|___|___|____|_\|___|__|__|_1-415-886 6323__________________________________

------------------------------

Date: 19 Oct 90 17:24:11 GMT
From: olivea!tymix!3comvax![e-mail]  (Michael McNeil)
Subject: Re: Theories needed on life

In article <[e-mail]>
[e-mail] writes:

>Could someone theorize on what humanoid life would be like on a planet
>3 or 4 times the size of the Earth.  I'm looking for theories on body
>structure, societies, technology, psychology, etc.  Thanks, I appreciate
>any speculation.

It's highly likely that humanoid life wouldn't exist even on a planet
just like the Earth -- if life were to independently evolve again.
There are just too many other possible pathways for it to follow.

--
Michael McNeil            [e-mail] (3comvax.UUCP)
3Com Corporation        ucbvax!hplabs!oliveb!3comvax!michaelm
Santa Clara, California        work telephone: [phone] x 5-208

    Life, even cellular life, may exist out yonder in the dark.
    But high or low in nature, it will not wear the shape of man.
    That shape is the evolutionary product of a strange, long
    wandering through the attics of the forest roof, and so
    great are the chances of failure, that nothing precisely
    and identically human is likely ever to come that way again.
        Loren Eiseley, *The Immense Journey*, 1957

------------------------------

Date: 19 Oct 90 22:34:38 GMT
From: julius.cs.uiuc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Ulysses Update - 10/19/90


                     ULYSSES MISSION STATUS
                        October 19, 1990

     Ulysses today is beginning the process of turning on
and checking out each of its nine science instruments.  All
covers on the science instruments will be released today, with
the exception of the HISCALE (Heliospheric Instrument for
Spectra, Composition and Anisotropy at Low Energies) instrument.

     The first instrument to be turned on will be the
Energetic-Particle Composition and Neutral Gas instrument.
In addition, heaters for the Solar-Wind Ion-Composition
Spectrometer will be started in preparation for that instrument
to be turned on Saturday, October 20.

     Also on October 20, after the Solar-Wind Ion-Composition
Spectrometer is turned on, it will be checked out for thermal
conditions and then switched off.  A calibration test will be
running on the neutral-gas portion of the Energetic-Particle
Composition and Neutral Gas experiment.  Finally, the Cosmic Dust
instrument will also be switched on for checkout.

     Plans call for relatively quiet weekend monitoring of
the spacecraft Sunday and Monday, October 21-22.  Instruments
will continue to be turned on and checked out for several weeks.

     The trajectory correction maneuver of this week
concluded successfully Thursday, October 18.  The flight dynamics
team is evaluating the results of the maneuver in order to plan a
second trajectory maneuver on Friday, November 2.

     The five-year mission to study the Sun's poles and
interstellar space beyond the poles is conducted jointly by the
European Space Agency and NASA/JPL.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

------------------------------

End of SPACE Digest V12 #475
*******************