Spring Begins at Vernal Equinox Mon. Afternoon

    

This diagram shows the position of the Earth, in relation to the Sun, at the time of the Vernal Equinox at the official beginning of the season of Spring in the Earth's Northern Hemisphere (Autumn in Earth's Southern Hemisphere), as well as the other equinox and solstices of the year.

(Graphic Source: ©1999, Eric G. Canali, former Floor Operations Manager of the original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science and technology museum from 1939 to 1991, and Founder of the South Hills Backyard Astronomers amateur astronomy club; permission granted for only non-profit use with credit to author.)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Spring begins Monday afternoon at the moment of the Vernal Equinox in Earth's Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere of Earth, this marks the astronomical beginning of the season of Autumn.

The Vernal Equinox occurs on Earth at precisely: 5:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT) / 21:24 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Monday, 2023 March 20.

As the diagram at the beginning of this blog-post demonstrates, on the day of Equinox the Sun appears directly overhead at local Noon on the Equator. At the moment of Equinox, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of Earth are illuminated equally. And, the time of Equinox is the only time when the Earth Terminator (dividing line on Earth between daylight and darkness) is perpendicular to the Equator.

This, and the reason for seasons on Earth in the first place, is due to the fact that Earth rotates on its axis, which is tilted at a 23.439281-degree angle from the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, which is part of the Ecliptic of our Solar System. As the Earth revolves around the Sun, this axial tilt causes one hemisphere of the planet to receive more direct solar radiation during that hemisphere's season of Summer and much less direct solar radiation a half-year later during that hemisphere's season of Winter. As mentioned, during an Equinox (about half-way between Summer and Winter, and about half-way between Winter and Summer) both planetary hemispheres receive an equal amount of solar radiation.

"Vernal" is a Latin term for Spring. Although "Equinox" in Latin means equal-night, the day of the Equinox does not actually have an equal amount of daylight and nightfall, as it appears on the Earth's surface. If the Sun was just a pin-point of light in our sky, as all other stars appear, day and night would be equal.

But, because the Sun is a disk, part of the Sun has risen above the horizon before the center of the Sun (which would be the pin-point of light); so there are extra moments of light on the Equinox. Likewise, part of the Sun is still visible, after the center of the Sun has set.

Additionally, the refraction of sunlight by our atmosphere causes sunlight to appear above the horizon, before sunrise and after sunset.

In addition to being St. Patrick's Day, today (2023 March 17) marks the Equilux ("equal-light"), the actual day with equal hours and minutes of the Sun above the horizon, and equal hours and minutes of the Sun below the horizon (some years the Equilux occurs on March 16). The Equilux occurs twice each year, approximately 3-to-4 days before the Vernal Equinox and 3-to-4 days after the Autumnal Equinox (Equilux is on September 25, while the Autumnal Equinox is ~ September 22 or 23).

An urban legend that has been making the rounds for decades, now exacerbated by the Internet and Social Media, has it that eggs can be stood on their ends only during an Equinox, whether the Vernal Equinox in the Spring or the Autumnal Equinox in the Fall. This is completely false!

Depending greatly on the size and shape of the particular egg, eggs can be stood on their ends any day of the year! Astronomy has nothing to do with whether an egg can stand on its end. If an egg can stand on its end on the Equinox (and, due to the shape and size of some eggs, this is not even possible), it can stand the same way any other day of the year.

In the last few years, with the help of the Internet and Social Media, another urban legend has become prevalent. Now it is claimed that brooms can stand, on their own, on their bristles, only on an Equinox day. This is also false! Again, as with eggs, if a broom can stand on its bristles by itself (this usually only works with newer brooms, with more even and stiff bristles) on an Equinox, it can do so any day of the year!

In ancient times, the Vernal Equinox was considered the beginning of the new calendar year, as Spring brought new life after the cold Winter months. The calendar year was then defined as the time from one Vernal Equinox to the next. This is known as the Tropical Year: 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds.

This was when most of Western Civilization used the Julian Calendar, recommended by astronomer Sosigenes and approved by Roman leader Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. Due to the difference between the Julian Calendar and the calendar we use today, known as the Gregorian Calendar, the Vernal Equinox then occurred on March 25, later observed by Christians as the Feast of the Annunciation (observed nine full months before Christmas Day). As part of the Gregorian Calendar reform, in October of 1582, Roman Catholic Pope Gregory XIII chose the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ (January 1) as the beginning of the New Year in the Roman Catholic Church's Liturgical Year.

As a legacy to the Vernal Equinox originally considered the beginning of the New Year, astronomers have set the Vernal Equinox as the beginning point of the coordinate system in the sky. Astronomers measure the sky using Right Ascension (measured in hours, minutes, and seconds), which is analogous to Longitude on Earth, and Declination (measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds), which is analogous to Latitude on Earth. Precisely on the Vernal Equinox each year, the sky coordinates are reset to Right Ascension 0 hour, 0 minute, 0 second, and Declination 0 degree, 0 minute, 0 second.

The Vernal Equinox continues to be considered the beginning of the New Year, or an important holy day, in several other places on Earth ---

* Beginning of New Year (using the Solar Calendar) - Nowruz: Afghanistan and Iran / Persia.

* Holy Day for adherents of the Zoroastrian Religion (the three Magi, who the Christian Bible reports visited the Christ Child after following the Star of Bethlehem / Christmas Star, were adherents of the Zoroastrian Religion).

* Holy Day for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith: Baha'i Naw-Ruz, one of nine holy days of the Bahá'í Faith.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) observe Sun - Earth Day on or near the Vernal Equinox. This is a joint educational program started in 2000, to popularize the knowledge about the Sun, and the way it influences life on Earth, among students and the public. This is part of Solar Week, which is the calendar week that includes the Vernal Equinox.

March 20 is also considered Women in Science Day or Hypatia Day. Hypatia was an astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, and teacher in 5^th century Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria whose murder (in March of A.D. 415) shocked the empire; she became a secular “martyr for philosophy”. The Vernal Equinox is considered a logical day to celebrate the life of Hypatia, as her last days were dedicated to finding the precise time of the Vernal Equinox.

The first week of Spring, beginning with the Vernal Equinox, has been declared by physicians as Medicine Cabinet Clean-Up Week. To avoid prescription drug abuse, particularly important at this time of the opioid crisis, physicians encourage everyone to get rid of unused and no-longer-needed medications and other drugs, which may have lingered in the household, as part of an annual Spring cleaning. Several states have prescription drug take-back locations, where these drugs can be dropped-off; some are located in pharmacies and / or municipal building lobbies.

The week of the Vernal Equinox is also the beginning of the National Cherry Blossom Festival held each year in Washington, DC, which begins on March 18. This festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the Mayor of Tokyo to the City of Washington. The festival runs through April 16 this year. For 2023, the National Park Service predicts the Peak Bloom of the Cherry Blossoms will be March 22 to 25.

Almost a day after the Vernal Equinox comes March's Primary Lunar Phase of New Moon (Lunation #1240). The New Moon Phase occurs at 1:23 p.m. EDT / 17:23 UTC on Tuesday, 2023 March 21.

Sunday, 2023 March 19 at 11:00 a.m. EDT / 15:00 UTC marks the monthly Lunar Perigee (when the Moon is closest to the Earth for the month): 225,368.846 statute miles / 362,696 kilometers. At the same time is a conjunction, when the planet Saturn appears 4 degrees north of the Moon (you would need to look before Sunrise to see this conjunction, weather-permitting, when the Moon will be in a very slim, Waning Crescent Phase).

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Vernal Equinox -

Link 1 >>> https://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/VernalEquinox.html

Link 2 >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_equinox

Season of Spring: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_%28season%29

Equinox: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

Earth's Seasons: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season

Tilt of a Planet's Axis: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt

Sun - Earth Day: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-Earth_Day 

Women in Science Day / Hypatia Day: Link >>> https://www.change.org/p/canada-s-parliament-commemorating-the-first-female-astronomer-hypatia-of-alexandria

Medicine Cabinet Clean-Up Week: Link >>> https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/include-medicine-cabinets-on-your-spring-cleaning-list-300042760.html 

National Cherry Blossom Festival: Link >>> https://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/

Related Blog-Post ---

"Daylight Saving Time Returns - Year-round?" Fri., 2023 March 10.

Link >>> https://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2023/03/daylight-saving-time-returns-year-round.html

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss          

               Friday, 2023 March 17.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

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gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                               (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>>  http://www.planetarium.cc  Buhl Observatory: Link >>>  http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html

Daylight Saving Time Returns - Year-round?

                  

Photograph of the Grand Clock, mounted in classic Siena Marble (from Siena, Italy), above the entrance to the Theater of the Stars in the original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science / Buhl Science Center, America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science and technology museum from 1939 to 1991. The Grand Clock continues in use in the historic Buhl Planetarium building, as part of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. (Image Sources: City of Pittsburgh, Friends of the Zeiss)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

The annual change of the clocks to Daylight Saving Time occurs this weekend. Will this change be permanent, year-round, as one U.S. Senator prefers?

Daylight Saving Time in most of the United States, begins on Sunday Morning, 2023 March 12 at 2:00 local Standard Time, which automatically becomes 3:00 local Daylight Saving Time. Yes, this is the time when clocks “Spring Forward”. This is even though the season of Spring in Earth's Northern Hemisphere does not begin until the Vernal Equinox on Monday, 2023 March 20 at 5:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT) / 21:24 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Clocks “Fall Back” to local Standard time on Sunday Morning, 2023 November 5 at 2:00 local Daylight Saving Time, which automatically becomes 1:00 local Standard Time. Fall or Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere begins at the Autumnal Equinox on Saturday, 2023 September 23 at 2:50 a.m. EDT / 6:50 UTC.

Daylight Saving Time is now observed in all U.S. states except Arizona (as the Navajo Indian Reservation extends into Utah and New Mexico, Daylight Saving Time is observed; the Hopi Indian Reservation, completely within Arizona, does not observe Daylight Saving Time) and Hawaii. All U.S. insular territories with civilian government (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), which lie in the tropics (and hence, have more daylight year-round and less variation in daylight throughout the year), do not observe Daylight Saving Time. The District of Columbia does observe Daylight Saving Time.

In Canada, all provinces observe Daylight Saving Time except Saskatchewan (there are certain towns and / or limited areas in Saskatchewan which do observe Daylight Saving Time). In the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, and the territory of Nunavut, most of the jurisdiction observes Daylight Saving Time, except for certain towns and / or limited areas.

Mexico changed their clocks from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time on 2022 October 30, permanently! On 2022 October 26, the Mexican Senate approved a law that abolished Daylight Saving Time over the entire country. However, northern regions of Mexico, along the American border, are permitted to continue observing Daylight Saving Time, to be consistent with the American time zone across the border. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of Mexico, called Standard Time, "God's time".

Changing daily habits to take advantage of more daylight during the Summer months was first proposed by Pennsylvania's Benjamin Franklin in 1784, while he was a diplomat in Paris. In an anonymous letter that was published, he used satire to suggest that it would be better to use the sunlight of the morning rather than to waste candles in the evening. His essay, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light,” written to the editor of The Journal of Paris, was actually penned partially in-jest; hence, nothing came of the idea. Although, it should be noted that he did not actually propose a plan similar to the Daylight Saving Time (note that there is no letter “s” at the end of the word “Saving”) we know today.

Robert Garland, a Pittsburgh industrialist (who ran a Pittsburgh factory, Garland Nuts and Rivets) and a member of the Pittsburgh City Council for 28 years (1911 to 1939), is considered the “Father of Daylight Saving” in America. He was also President of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, as well chairing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's national “Special Committee on Daylight Saving.” He fought hard for the establishment of Summer Daylight Saving Time.

Daylight Saving Time allows for more daylight to exist in the evening hours, which is particularly useful for evening recreation. However, this also results in daylight starting later in the morning, which affects some commutes, particularly in northern states.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) has re-introduced a bill in the Senate to have the nation remain on Daylight Saving Time year-round (“The Sunshine Protection Act”). In a statement issued last week, U.S. Senator Rubio said, “This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid.”

He had introduced the bill last year, and the U.S. Senate approved the bill by unanimous consent. The U.S. House of Representatives refused to take-up the proposal, and the measure died at the end of the congressional session in December.

Last year, House members did not believe they should act quickly on such a consequential item. According to a November statement by then-House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), House members were divided on whether to stay on Standard Time year-round, or to go to Daylight Saving Time year-round. "We don't want to make a hasty change and then have it reversed several years later after public opinion turns against it — which is exactly what happened in the early 1970s," U.S. Representative Pallone said.

This would not be the first time year-round Daylight Saving Time would be tried. After first use during World War I, Daylight Saving Time was resurrected as “War Time” during World War II (in effect 1942 February 9 through 1945 September 30) to save energy during the War, the same reason it was instituted during the First World War.

To reduce energy consumption during the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, year-round Daylight Saving Time was established by the U.S. Congress in the United States from 1974 January 6 to 1975 October 26. However, many mothers were quite upset that this meant that their children had to travel to school during the dark, early-morning hours in the Winter months. Thousands of these mothers (including the author's mother, Eleanor A. Walsh) wrote letters to their representatives in Congress complaining about this.

After receiving thousands of letters from angry mothers, in October of 1974 Congress amended the law to return to Standard Time from 1974 October 27 until 1975 February 23 when Daylight Saving Time resumed. And, when the trial period ended on 1975 October 26, year-round Daylight Saving Time also ended, and the normal Summer Daylight Saving Time resumed.

Today's dispute in Congress seems to be between northern and southern states. For a state such as Florida, in the Deep South, year-round Daylight Saving Time can be quite advantageous. This is particularly true for retired senior citizens and the theme parks and vacation resorts in the Sunshine State.

However, as mentioned earlier, year-round Daylight Saving Time is a major problem in northern states in the middle of Winter, when sunrise can come as late 8:30 in the morning, after many schools have already commenced for the day.

Nearly everyone complains about the twice-a-year need to change the clocks. Over the years, saving energy has been the primary reason this semi-annual ritual is continued. However, with the technology of the 21^st century, is Daylight Saving Time really needed to save energy?

Another solution to end the semi-annual ritual of changing the clocks, of course, would be to return to Standard Time permanently. If scientific studies show that Daylight Saving Time no longer saves a substantial amount of energy in the 21^st century, returning to Standard Time may make a lot of sense.

However, entertainment and recreation interests, which make additional money when Daylight Saving Time is in effect as people stay-out later in the evenings, would be against the elimination of Daylight Saving Time.

So, it seems the dispute between permanent Standard Time and permanent Daylight Saving Time will continue for the foreseeable future. And, in the meantime, we will need to continue changing our clocks twice-a-year.

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Daylight Saving Time: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time

U.S. Daylight Saving Time: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_in_the_United_States

Standard Time: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_time 

Standard Time Act of 1918: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Time_Act

Uniform Time Act of 1966: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Time_Act 

 Related Blog-Posts ---

""Spring-Forward" Sun. / How Long Will DST Continue?" Fri., 2022 March 11.

Link >>> https://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2022/03/spring-forward-sun-how-long-will-dst.html

"Centennial: U.S. Daylight Saving Time Commences." Sat., 2018 March 31.

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2018/03/centennial-us-daylight-saving-time.html

 

"Centennial: Official Enactment of U.S. Time Zones & Daylight Saving Time."

 Mon., 2018 March 19.

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2018/03/centennial-official-enactment-of-us.html

"Some States to Abandon Daylight Saving Time ?" Sun., 2016 March 13.

https://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/03/some-states-to-abandon-daylight-saving.html

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss          

               Friday, 2023 March 10.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

           More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower Twitter Feed:
            Link >>> https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower

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                Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
                Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                               (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>>  http://www.planetarium.cc  Buhl Observatory: Link >>>  http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html

 

RE-SCHEDULED: Launch of Student Rocketeer Turned NASA Astronaut to Space Station

                  

Student Rocketeer turned NASA Astronaut, Woody Hoburg, launches to the International Space Station.

(Image Sources: NASA, Wikipedia.org, By Photographer: NASA / Robert Markowitz - https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/thumbnails/image/jsc2017e067116.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59807158)

By Kenneth J. Good, Former President of the Tripoli Rocketry Association

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Editor's Note: NASA Astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, who started as a Student Rocketeer, is one of four astronauts to launch for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The other astronauts in this SpaceX Crew-6 mission will be NASA Astronaut Stephen Bowen, Russian Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates: Sultan Al Neyadi.

The launch, originally scheduled for early on Monday Morning, 2023 February 27, received a Nominal Launch Scrub just 2 minutes and 14 seconds before launch time, due to a problem with the fluids used to ignite the launch. NASA has decided to re-schedule the launch for early Thursday Morning, 2023 March 2 at 12:34 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / 5:34 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Woody Hoburg, a native of the North Hills section of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, was a student member of the Tripoli Rocketry Association, one of two major rocketry clubs for high-power model rocketry, in the United States. The Tripoli Rocketry Association was founded on 1964 December 1 in Pittsburgh by Francis G. Graham, now Professor Emeritus of Physics at Kent State University.

The author of the article about Woody Hoburg, which can be found at the following Internet link, is Kenneth J. Good, one of the club's early members and former President of the Tripoli Rocketry Association.

Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/grahamscorner/goodkj/Hoburg_Article_V2.pdf

The launch, post-launch news conference, and the coverage of the docking with the ISS can be viewed on NASA-TV at the following Internet link:

Link >>> https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

The following is the tentative schedule of events, to be televised on NASA-TV ---

• - NASA / SpaceX Crew-6 Launch Coverage Begins:Wednesday, 2023 March 1, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / March 2, 2:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
  

• Launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida: Thursday, 2023 March 2, 12:34 a.m. EST / 5:34 UTC

• Post-launch News Conference: Thursday, 2023 March 2, 2:30 a.m. EST / 7:30 UTC

• NASA / SpaceX Crew-6 Mission Coverage Resumes: Thursday, 2023 March 2, 11:30 p.m. EST / March 3, 4:30 UTC

• Docking with ISS: Friday, 2023 March 3, 1:17 a.m. EST / 6:17 UTC
  

After the NASA-TV launch broadcast concludes, coverage of the NASA / SpaceX Crew-6 free-flight to the International Space Station will continue, audio-only, on the NASA Mission Audio Live-Feed:

Link >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3slokO2g1v0

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

SpaceX Crew-6 -

Link 1 >>> https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-crew-resources

Link 2 >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-6 

Tripoli Rocketry Association:

Link 1 >>> https://www.tripoli.org/

Link 2 >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripoli_Rocketry_Association

Heidler, Scott. "NASA and SpaceX launch Crew-6 mission with North Allegheny alum on board."

WTAE-TV 4, Pittsburgh 2023 March 2.

Link >>> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-and-spacex-launch-crew-6-mission-with-north-allegheny-alum-on-board/ar-AA188s35?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=928b5ed64ba84e7bb2f3e7108020c1ad&ei=11

Wattles, Jackie. "SpaceX launches international crew of astronauts on space station mission."

CNN 2023 March 2.

Link >>> https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/world/spacex-nasa-crew-6-launch-thursday-scn/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0Gg1SrTDFxQ1Q9TfYwazQd5uRDVFJ8gVN-PX6ovp11mjv361Swn0gN-M0

Harwood, William.

"SpaceX launches two NASA astronauts, a cosmonaut and an Emerati on flight to space."

CBS 2023 March 2.

Link >>> https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launches-two-nasa-astronauts-a-cosmonaut-and-an-emerati-on-flight-to-space-station/?fbclid=IwAR3e-ZMwagyO6_ZV_vyGckl6SakQAdqzaPV1OeGfHJjkGNrHt-pLfvsVYok

Kizer Whitt, Kelly. "Crew-6 launches from Florida, bound for ISS."

EarthSky.org 2023 March 2.

Link >>> https://earthsky.org/spaceflight/crew-6-launch-international-space-station/?fbclid=IwAR3XlI-DlvKgZwREVLXqG4mPitzBVvAzzx5YMO3bf7BBYtKKLj_s3h_3WYQ

Related Blog-Post ---

"UPDATE: Student Rocketeer Turned NASA Astronaut Travels to Space Station." Mon., 2023 Feb. 27. Link >>> https://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2023/02/student-rocketeer-turned-nasa-astronaut.html

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss          

               Wednesday, 2023 March 1.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

           More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower Twitter Feed:
            Link >>> https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower

        Astronomy & Science Links: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#sciencelinks

                Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
                Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                               (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>>  http://www.planetarium.cc  Buhl Observatory: Link >>>  http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html

UPDATE: Student Rocketeer Turned NASA Astronaut Travels to Space Station

                   

Student Rocketeer turned NASA Astronaut, Woody Hoburg, launches to the International Space Station.

(Image Sources: NASA, Wikipedia.org, By Photographer: NASA / Robert Markowitz - https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/thumbnails/image/jsc2017e067116.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59807158)

UPDATE 2 - Monday, 2023 February 27, 4:05 a.m. EST / 9:05 UTC: NASA has delayed the next launch attempt for the SpaceX Crew-6 mission until Thursday, 2023 March 2, 12:34 a.m. EST / 5:34 UTC.

UPDATE - Monday, 2023 February 27, 1:45 a.m. EST / 6:45 UTC: A Nominal Launch Scrub was declared 2 minutes and 14 seconds before the launch time of 1:45 a.m. EST / 6:45 UTC, due to a problem with the fluids used to ignite the launch. Next launch attempt could occur on Tuesday, 2023 February 28, 1:22:29 a.m. EST / 6:22:29 UTC; however, no decision has yet been made to take this particular launch opportunity.

By Kenneth J. Good, Former President of the Tripoli Rocketry Association

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Editor's Note: NASA Astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, who started as a Student Rocketeer, is one of four astronauts to launch for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, early on Monday Morning, 2023 February 27. The other astronauts in this SpaceX Crew-6 mission will be NASA Astronaut Stephen Bowen, Russian Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates: Sultan Al Neyadi.

Woody Hoburg, a native of the North Hills section of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, was a student member of the Tripoli Rocketry Association, one of two major rocketry clubs for high-power model rocketry, in the United States. The author of the article about Woody Hoburg, which can be found at the following Internet link, is Kenneth J. Good, one of the club's early members and former President of the Tripoli Rocketry Association.

Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/grahamscorner/goodkj/Hoburg_Article_V2.pdf

The launch, post-launch news conference, and the coverage of the rendezvous, docking, hatch opening, and welcoming ceremony can be viewed on NASA-TV at the following Internet link:

Link >>> https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

The following is the tentative schedule of events, to be televised on NASA-TV ---

• Launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida: Monday, 2023 February 27, 1:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / 6:45 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

• Post-launch News Conference: Monday, 2023 February 27, 3:45 a.m. EST / 8:45 UTC

• Coverage of Rendezvous with ISS: Tuesday, 2023 February 28, 12:45 a.m. EST / 5:45 UTC

• Docking with ISS: Tuesday, 2023 February 28, 2:38 a.m. EST / 7:38 UTC

• Hatch Opening: Tuesday, 2023 February 28, 4:25 a.m. EST / 9:25 UTC

• Welcoming Ceremony: Tuesday, 2023 February 28, 5:10 a.m. EST / 10:10 UTC

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Tripoli Rocketry Association: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripoli_Rocketry_Association

SpaceX Crew-6: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-6

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss          

               Monday, 2023 February 27.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

           More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower Twitter Feed:
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gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                               (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>>  http://www.planetarium.cc  Buhl Observatory: Link >>>  http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html

 

Citizen Science: Help NASA Find Exo-planets

This video-clip (of images taken between 2009 and 2016) shows four Exo-planets orbiting their host star, HR 8799. (Image Sources: Wikipedia.org, By Jason Wang (Caltech)/Christian Marois (NRC Herzberg), CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90872179)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is looking for help from Citizen Scientists in the continuing search for Exo-planets, planets beyond our Solar System. Whether you have your own telescope, or want to use a computer or smart-phone, JPL has a way for citizens to help in this important research.

Although begun in 2018, Exoplanet Watch has now been enhanced to make it easier for Citizen Scientists to help. While more than 5,000 Exo-planets have already been discovered, scientists estimate that there could be millions more just within our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Internet link to the NASA JPL Exoplanet Web-Site near the end of this blog-post.

“With Exoplanet Watch you can learn how to observe exoplanets and do data analysis using software that actual NASA scientists use,” said Rob Zellem, the creator of Exoplanet Watch and an astrophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “We’re excited to show more people how exoplanet science is really done.”

Help NASA With Your Computer

Although Exoplanet Watch is only five years old, NASA actually has ten years of Exo-planet observations, collected from a small ground-based telescope south of Tuscon, Arizona. And, this year JPL will start collecting data from two more telescopes at the Table Mountain facility in Southern California.

These telescopes are used to search for Exo-planet Transits. Similar to a Solar Eclipse on Earth, an Exo-planet Transit occurs when an Exo-planet eclipses or transits the host star, slightly dimming the light coming from the host star for a short period of time.

You can use your computer or smart-phone to comb though data of Exo-planets already discovered by NASA. You would observe a particular Exo-planet to learn more about its orbit around the host star. This could help determine the time it takes for this Exo-planet to make one orbit. The more frequent an Exo-planet Transit often means that this planet is closer to the host star, and may be too close, and hence too hot, to harbor life.

But, once scientists know how often an Exo-planet orbits a star, the easier it is for them to know when that Exo-planet is available for further study. Scientists can then schedule observing time on a large ground-based telescope or a space telescope; such time is restricted and very competitive, as many scientists wish to use a particular large telescope.

Exoplanet Watch participants could also use the data to search for variations in the apparent brightness of stars. The brightness of such stars could be caused by solar flares or sunspots seen on the star. This would help scientists determine the variability of a particular star, before beginning the study of an Exo-planet circling the star.

Help NASA With Your Telescope

For amateur astronomers, or the occasional star-gazer, with their own telescope, you could possibly collect your own scientific data for Exoplanet Watch.

Of course, the larger telescope available to you, the more stars and potential Exo-planets you may be able to observe. However, even someone with a 6-inch / 15 centimeter reflector telescope could possibly search for Exo-planet Transits around hundreds of nearby stars.

Observations of a particular star, by several participants, are used to gain more information about that star. This is particularly useful if the different observers are in different parts of the world.

So, Exoplanet Watch is not just for Americans. NASA welcomes anyone in the world to participate in this important Citizen Science research.

AND, you can receive scientific credit for your work helping to discover a particular Exo-planet. An Exoplanet Watch policy states that for the first use of observations or analysis done by volunteers, those volunteers must be listed as co-authors on the published, scientific research paper.

“I hope this program lowers barriers to science for a lot of people and inspires the next generation of astronomers to join our field,” said Dr. Zellem.

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

NASA JPL Exoplanet Watch Web-Site: Link >>> https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-watch/about-exoplanet-watch/overview/

Exo-planets: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoplanet

Astronomical Transit: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_transit

More Citizen Science Projects: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/FAQ/citizenscience.html

Related Blog-Posts ---

"Public Invited to Search for Planets in Other Star Systems." Mon., 2017 March 27.

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2017/03/public-invited-to-search-for-planets-in.html

"Name an Exo-Planet by Oct. 31." Wed., 2015 Oct. 14.

Link >>>     http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2015/10/name-exo-planet-by-oct-31.html

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss          

               Wednesday, 2023 February 8.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

           More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower Twitter Feed:
            Link >>> https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower

        Astronomy & Science Links: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#sciencelinks

                Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
                Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                               (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>>  http://www.planetarium.cc  Buhl Observatory: Link >>>  http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html

Laser Pulses Divert Lightning Strikes

This graphic shows the central part of a thunderstorm where air is moving upward rapidly (up-draft), as the cloud accumulates a negative charge (electrons) creating lightning. Temperatures in this cloud range from +5 to -13 degrees Fahrenheit / -15 to -25 degrees Celsius. (Graphic Sources: Wikipedia.org, By U.S. Government, National Weather Service - http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/science/science_electrification.shtml (in August 2019, https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-science-scienceintro), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53463755)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Scientists in Switzerland have now demonstrated that laser pulses can divert lightning strikes. As the first major improvement to Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Rod, this has the potential to provide much greater protection to large infrastructure such as launch-pads and airports.

The experiment took place from 2021 July 21 to September 30 on Santis Mountain, on the northeastern tip of the Swiss Alps, using a green, infrared laser. At the summit of the mountain (altitude 8,200 feet / 2,500 meters), the laser was mounted near a 407 -foot / 124-meter telecommunications tower (which has its own Lightning Rod) and aimed at passing storm-clouds in the sky.

By firing the laser rapidly, in short, intense pulses (1,000 times per second), during thunderstorms, they were able to create a path for the lightning to specifically avoid striking the tower's tip (where the traditional Lightning Rod is located). In this experiment, lightning avoided the tower's tip four times within six hours.

Normally, this tower is struck by lightning about 100 times in one year. During the trial period, lightning struck the tower 12 times, while the laser was not being used.

Hence, the unpredictability of lightning strikes can lead to billions of dollars of damage each year, as well as occasional lives lost. So, finding a modern improvement to the Lightning Rod could save resources, as well as some lives.

This research was led by physicist Aurelien Houard of the French National Center for Scientific Research's Applied Optics Laboratory in Paris. The scientists' findings were published in the 2023 January 16 edition of the scientific journal Nature Photonics.

According to the published study, “Although this research field has been very active for more than 20 years, this is the first field-result that experimentally demonstrates lightning guided by lasers.” With only a couple exceptions, previous work had only occurred in physics laboratories, since 1974.

Past attempts at field tests of laser deflection of lightning in New Mexico (2004) and Singapore (2011) had not been successful. Although the reason for the past failures is not certain, the researchers speculate that the laser beams in the past experiments had not been as rapid as the laser pulses in the Swiss experiment.

Lightning is an electrostatic discharge (generated by the friction of ice clumps and rain drops in storm-clouds), within a cloud, between two clouds, or between the cloud and the ground. As negatively-charged electrons gather at a storm-cloud's base and attract a ground's positive charge, the electrons begin to overcome air resistance causing the ionization of air in a charged flow or path to the ground – a lightning bolt. This dissipates and temporarily neutralizes the charge with the release of approximately a gigajoule of energy.

Every second about a hundred lightning flashes can be found some place on our planet, or between clouds.

Lightning Rods protect buildings and other structures by providing a path for the electrical charge to more easily reach the ground, rather than traveling through the air for the entire distance. But, the protection is limited, due to the height of a Lightning Rod.

To extend the protection from lightning, the new laser pulses are used to provide a new pathway to the ground. The laser beam rapidly heats air molecules, which creates a channel of less dense air and an easier pathway to the ground. Whether a traditional Lightning Rod, or this new system of laser pulses, electricity always wants to follow the path of least resistance.

Lightning bolts release a wide range of electromagnetic radiation including radio waves (which can be heard as crackling and / or a large clap on AM and Short-Wave radios), light waves, and X-Rays. Lightning causes thunder, the sound from a shock wave in the vicinity of the electrical discharge, as air experiences a sudden increase in pressure.

Many people are aware of the “5-second rule”. When you see a lightning strike, count each second until thunder is heard. When you divide the total number of seconds between lightning and thunder by five, the result is an approximate distance in statute miles of the lightning bolt (and often the center of the thunderstorm) from your current location.

Earth is not the only planet with lightning. Jupiter and Saturn have been observed with lightning strikes, with major lightning bolts seeming to be common on Jupiter. Although not confirmed, NASA and Russian space probes suggest that lightning may also exist in the very dense and toxic atmosphere of Venus.

The original Lightning Rod was invented in 1750 by American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who is considered America's first true scientist. While a lightning bolt may strike a Lightning Rod, the actual purpose of a Lightning Rod is to bleed-off excess electrical charge to the ground where the excess charge is dissipated, so the charge does not build-up to a dangerous lightning strike.

So, this new laser system would, indeed, be used to attract lightning strikes, when a Lightning Rod does not, or is not close enough to, bleed-off enough electrical charge. With extreme weather becoming more prevalent, due to Climate Change, this new type of protection from lightning could be used to protect many more tall structures.

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Published Research - Abstract & Main Article: "Laser-guided lightning":

 Link >>> https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-022-01139-z?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=CONR_PF018_ECOM_GL_PHSS_ALWYS_DEEPLINK&utm_content=textlink&utm_term=PID100052172&CJEVENT=b24eceef9d8f11ed817f3b8a0a82b836

Laser: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser

Lightning: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

Lightning Rod: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_rod 

Benjamin Franklin Invents Lightening Rod: Link >>> https://www.fi.edu/history-resources/franklins-lightning-rod

Tesla Coil (Artificial Lightning): Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/Buhlexhibits.htm#teslacoil 

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss          

               Friday, 2023 January 27.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

           More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower Twitter Feed:
            Link >>> https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower

        Astronomy & Science Links: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#sciencelinks

                Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
                Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator                                                               (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>>  http://www.planetarium.cc  Buhl Observatory: Link >>>  http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html