mee TESS aero ee) B10 Terrace Review — Wednesday, February 27, 1991 L - WEDNESDAY WITH FAE_ BY FAE — Celestial pen pals My husband is a ham. I don’t mean that he’s a clown. Well, he is a clown, but — what I’m trying to say is, my husband is an amateur radio enthusiast. He has postcards (hams call them QSL’s) from all over the world. So many of them in fact that they wall- paper his Ham Shack in the basement. He has cards from almost everywhere, from exotic and remote places, from places rich in history, from places with reputations for intrigue... Each QSL has a story to tell, which makes amateur radio a fascinating hobby for armchair adventurers. Among my favourites are three QSLs that excite my imagina- tion. Each can easily hold me spell-bound: they’re from the United Nations, and NASA and JPL. My husband may be a ‘‘ham’’, But I am a ‘‘nut”’. A space nut. I like the Star Trek ideal of mankind surviving into the 23rd century. And the United Nations expanding to become the United Federation of Planets, where peace is maintained throughout the star systems. And space exploration continues beyond our own solar system, way out there where no space probe has gone before. I’m like my husband in another way, too. I am just an arm- chair adventurer. On a starry night I look up and can only im- agine what it might be like to visit those far-away worlds. A message from starlight I can’t visit them. I do receive messages from them, though. And you do, too. ' When my hubby listens to his radio he turns his antenna to search for ‘‘contacts’’. We can do that, too, By looking up into the sky and simply turning our head. But besides tiny points of twinkling light, what is there to see? Especially without some massive, powerful telescope? We’ve all been spoiled by those magnificent photos taken by the world’s most powerful observatories. A tiny speck of light no longer seems exotic, A tiny speck of light, though, does have a tale to tell. As much of a tale as any QSL pinned to a wall. With a bit of imagination, this is the tale starlight can tell... QSLs from space Let me introduce you to a few of my pen pals: a couple of cool dudes, a blonde beauty, and some really hot numbers. BETELGEUSE is a real cool dude. He’s no hotter than 3400°C, which is pretty cool for a star. (Our Sun is 6000°C). You'll find Betelgeuse (a.k.a. ‘‘The Armpit of the Giant’’) in the armpit of the giant hunter Orion, that great collection of bright stars high in the southern sky. Orion is recognizable by the string of three stars that form a ‘‘belt’’ and three points of light that hang from the belt forming the “‘sword’’. Two bright stars below mark the legs and two bright stars above mark the shoulders. Betelgeuse is the bright ‘“‘shoulder’’ (or armpit) star on the left. How do we know Betelgeuse is such a cool dude? Well, his name for one thing. Anyone with a name like ‘‘Armpit of the Giant’? has gotta be cool, Another way is this: his colour. Colour determines temperature, red being the collest, blue being the hottest. Betelgeuse is a luminous orange-red. To appreciate the subtle richness of his colour, compare him with the white blaze of Rigel (a.k.a, ‘‘The Left Leg of the Giant’’, seen to the bottom-right in Orion. More about this guy later). Betelgeuse is bright! The 11th brightest star in the sky: Betelgeuse is big! A red supergiant with a radius 800 times that of the Sun! Studying his starlight can tell us that this big guy has taken over the neighbourhood, If he had a planetary system, he has probably devoured most of it. Betelgeuse is also a dying star. He’s lived hot and fast and hasn’t much time left in the stellar scheme of things. And Betelgeuse is incredibly far away. One source suggests 1,400 light years, which means this dude trans- mitted tonight’s message to us a millenia and a half ago. It may be that this old dude died a long time ago and we don’t know about it yet. This is an interesting star to watch. You never know when he might decide to go supernova. And what a message he will send us then! ALDEBARAN, another cool pal of mine, sparkles topaz- orange as the bloodshot ‘‘Eye of the Bull”’ in Taurus, To locate Aldebaran, trace the three stars of Orion’s belt from left to right and. extend the line straight up to the brightest star in the '‘V" a bit above and west of Orion. Bull’s eye. You’ve got him. _Aldebaran is not as cool as Betelgeuse, But still a pretty cool dude, With a bloodshot eye, he’s gotta be at least pretty cool. His orange colour suggests a surface temperature in the 5000°C range. He’s a big guy in his neighbourhood too, with a diameter equal to 45 Suns. ‘The outer atmosphere would reach out to » about Mercury’s orbit, consuming the swift little planet if he had ‘one. Aldebaran is a pretty bright dude too, shining 100 to 125 ~ times brighter than the Sun. But Aldebaran is also yery far away. The 13th brightest star in our sky sent tonight’s message 68 years ago, at light speed. | CAPELLA, a blonde beauty, glows golden yellow (like our Sun) directly overhead this time of year. This buxom blonde, sixth brightest star in our sky, is 160 times brighter than the Sun. A brilliant speck of Sun-warm starlight on a dark winter night, Capella sent her golden note only 45 years ago. POLARIS, pale and creamy-yellow, and very remote, is perhaps the most famous of all stars that sail through our night sky. But to us, she appears stationary, fixed to our north pole. In reality, this sultry platinum blonde is approaching us at 17 kilometres per second! She won’t be within arm’s reach in our lifetime, though. That is, unless you plan to live for several trillion years. In that case, I should warn you. Polaris is a hot number. Something like 7500°C. Maybe a little too hot to handle? SIRIUS is a close friend, and the message he sends us tonight took less than nine light years to reach us. He lives in the sixth nearest star system to us. This macho guy is found to the southeast of Orion. Follow the belt from right-to-left down to ‘‘The Sparkling One’’. If he’s your dream of. the “‘guy next door’’, take heart. This brightest star in our sky will continue to grow brighter in our night sky throughout millenia as he travels, second by second, eight kilometres each second, closer to our neighbourhood. RIGEL, the Arnold Schwarzenegger of stars, is a super powerhouse, a blazing white-hot supergiant of intense brilliance and dazzling beauty, the ‘‘Left Leg of the Giant” in Orion. The seventh brightest star in our night sky, and fiercely blue, he takes first place among all. Fifty times the size of our Sun, he shines 60,000 times more brightly. But like Arnold himself, Rigel is beyond the reach of mere Earthlings. He is incredibly far away — somewhere between 900 and 1,400 light years. And like watch- ing Arnold on the silver screen, we must remain content to just watch this giant of giants in the black expanse of our winter sky, and read over and over his splendid message written in starlight. Board gets | information on cost of strike If teachers in School District 88 take job action that shuts down schools, the school board now knows what financial action the Ministry of Education will take. In response to a board inquiry, Minister of Education Stan Hagen sent a reply to the district received on the Feb. 12 meeting agenda. Hagen explained, "It is the intent of the Ministry to withhold only teacher salaries as defined in the fiscal framework in the event of job action. It is not the intent to adjust for clerical, custodial or other cost items." When it received a reply to a similar inquiry last year, the board had to request clarification from former minister Tony Brummett, whose prose was best known for its incomprehensibility. Several trustees expressed hope that Hagen’s letter was indicative of a trend toward clear expression from the ministry. Events in history: the March of time Compiled by Tom Taggart Mar. 1: Americans nuke Bikini Atoll while Puerto Ricans shoot up U. S. Congress (1954). Give a Toot: Alaska railroad locomotive squashes 47 snowbound moose (1985). New World Order: Day 45 of U.S. “‘StormTroopers’’ advance versus Islam (1991). | Mar. 2: Mar. 3: Mar. 4: Mar. 5: Mar. 6: USSR: Third Internationale (1919), birth of Mikhail Gorbachev (1931). Birth of William Godwin (1756), death of Arthur Koestler (1983). Canada: RCMP find windfall of $3,000,000 on VIA Rail (1986). England: Jane Wenham caught talking to her cat (1712), tried as a witch. Kremlin: Joe Stalin goes to the Wall (1953), after 29 years on per diem. . Davey Crockett fails to hold the Alamo versus Santa Anna’s infidels (1836). Paris: Death of Princess Irina Youssoupov (1970), Rasputin’ s fatal attraction. Obsolete ‘‘Blackbird”’ jet crosses USA on final run in 68 minutes, 17 secs. (1990). . Mar. 7: Hollywood: Pantominist Ben Blue waves a last farewell (1975). Mar. 8: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY. Mar. 10: Mar. 11: Mar. 12: Flu epidemic at Ft. Riley, Kansas kills 21,600,000 humans worldwide (1918). England: Revolt of the ‘‘Luddites” against technology (1811). End of the Trail for the explorer, Alexander MacKenzie (1820). St. Petersburg: ‘‘February’’ Revolution deposes Tsar of the Russias (1917). Solar flares dazzle world while Brian Mulroney poses for wax in London (1989). Mar. 13: American astronomers discover the planet Pluto (1930). Death of the poets, Stephen Vincent Benet (1943), and Rockwell Kent (1971). . Mar. 15: IDES OF MARCH/death of Caesar (44 BC), A. Onassis (1975) and Rebecca West (1983). Mar. 16: Mideast Crisis: Nebauchadnezzar of Babylon sacks Jerusalem (586 BC). Birth of Nicolas Storch, generic anarcho-communist (1521). Lt. William ‘Rambo’ Calley shoots 102 Moms and Kids at My Lai, Vietnam (1968). Mar. 17; RAMADAN (Islamic Holy Month), 1991. SAINT PATRICK’S DAY. Mar. 18: Italy: Birth of the navigator, Amerigo Vespucci (1452), patron of South America. Canada: NDP wins Manitoba elections (1986). Mar. 19: Ed Smith pulls the first U.S. bank job (1831), gets $245,000 and five years. Civilization: U.S. Government burns books of Wilhelm Reich (1954). Mar. 20; VERNAL EQUINOX, first day of spring ((EVENT OF THE MONTH))). Mar. 21: Persia becomes Iran (1935); Southwest Africa becomes Namibia (1990). Mar. 22: Knights Templars dispersed to the winds for alleged heretical hanky-panky (1312). Mexico: Cortez introduces looting, rape, murder and subjugation to ‘savages’ (1521). Mar. 24: Italy: Red Brigade heists $20,000,000 (1984). _ U.S. Warplanes from Hell strafe Tripoli, Libya, but miss the tent (1986). ' Mar. 25: Toronto: First Canadian labour strike as printers go out for nine-hour day (1872). Mar. 26: John Lennon and Yoko Ono stage nude seven-day public ‘‘Bed-In for Peace” (1969). . ' Soldier of Fortune publisher Robert K. Brown shoots self in leg (1984). Mar. 27: Good Friday, Alaska: Great Earthquake (8.4 Richter) clobbers Anchorage (1964). ‘Israel: M. Vanunu gets 18 years in prison as prisoner of conscience (1988). Mar. 28: Quebec: 2,000 demonstrators turn out against military conscription (1918), - Mar. 29: Manila: New People’s Army (NPA) musters (1969). Mar. 30: Death of the brewer, Hugh LaBatt (1956), but the Brew lives on. __ Asterisk of the Month: Hinckley fails (1981). FULL MOON, 1991. "Mar. 312 EASTER (Christian Holiday), 1991.