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PUBNAME: Norbert Haley PUBCONTACT: Indispensable Press Norbert Haley PUBVOICEPHONE: no phone... please email (I answer daily!) PUBEMAIL: [email protected] PUBADDR: Poste Restante - P.O. Wellesley St. PUBCITY: Auckland PUBSTATE: NZ PUBPOSTAL: 1001 PUBNATION: New Zealand PUBURL: http://y23.com/ip/ END
ISBN: 0473025396 TITLE: The Astronomical Pocket Diary AUTHOR: Norbert Haley TRANSLATOR: Thomas, Savvas SUBJECT: Optional, for use with Library of Congress classifications only. You may repeat this field for titles with multiple subjects. PAGES: 112 DISCOUNT: 13 PUBLISHER: Norbert Haley BINDING: Other Strongly stapled with plastic jacket LISTPRICE: 10.00 PUBDATE: 890101 DISTRIBUTOR: Norbert Haley - [email protected] or [email protected] DESCRIPTION: The Astronomical Pocket Diary is usable for everyone. In a strongly bound passport-sized book it gives room for your notes and interesting "facts about the future". As there aren't many things one can safely predict, it stays a small book. But hey, it contains a surprising amount of such facts: public holidays, enlightening anniversaries and of course the astronomical phenomena. In short: all the events will become reality, a real "prophet's handbook". Its really an almanac, disguised as a pocket diary. On a week per double-page it gives dates and times of astronomical phenomena like rise, transit and set times and angles (azimuths) for Sun, Moon and planets. Moon phase, distance and declination, high & low tide times and levels. It features a flip-book animated solar-system display with the 13 (!) zodiac star signs and flick-book animated star maps of the morning and evening skies. It gives precise solar and lunar eclipse details, times of occultations of bright stars by the Moon, conjunctions, oppositions and elongations, perihel & aphel, etc. etc., meteor showers and other phenomena's dates, as well as international public holidays and anniversaries, VIP birthdays and notorious' people's death days.
The APD is a very precise reference, in a handy to use (passport-sized) pocket diary format, extremely strongly bound and with reusable plastic cover to make it withstand a year in your trouser-pocket.
It is published in special editions, custom-calculated for your location, in english, german, french, italian, spanish and greek editions (more languages soon). Published since 1989 it boasts a few dozen real fans around the world, who appreciate the value of the data, the concise presentation and the free-thinking-attitude of this unique publication.
The APD has been used by stock brokers, managers, science teachers, sailors, gardeners, stargazers etc. .. generally anyone who can benefit from having "facts about the future". It has even been described as a "Prophets Handbook"! The APD is also used as a schoolbook in evening astronomy classes, a low-cost alternative and complement to bigger astronomy books.
Even some esoterically misguided people use it to help their understanding of astrology. Some outright astrologers use it to supplement their charts and income. For them it is easy to say that Venus is in Scorpio, but to see whether she is in front or behind the Sun when she is in Scorpio, this is new ... and allows for more costly blather.
Some people take it with them everywhere ... and use it to point out the features of the night-sky, Sun and tides. Its a real out-doors companion.
Order your copy for the next year as soon as possible. Even if you manage to see just a single heavenly phenomenon its worth more than a hollywood movie and a bad Bud. Familiarise yourself a little bit with the heavens, its the stuff which made humankind wonder enough to develop philosophy. And who can live without a certain philosophy these days?
PUBCOMMENTS: The Astronomical Pocket Diary is distributed world-wide within 11 time zones and currently 6 languages, namely english, french, spanish, german, italian, and greek. Finnish, swedish, norwegian, dutch (Flemish) are in preparation. There is space for advertisements/sponsors. Please email for details. Its distributed internationally by air-mail direct to the interested individual. http://homepages.kcbbs.gen.nz/norb/apd.html is an alternative WWW page about the Pocket Diary. AUTHCOMMENTS: The foreign language titles are: (french:) L´agenda astronomique, (german:) Der astronomische Taschenkalender, (italian:) L'Agenda Astronomica tascabile, (spanish:) El Calendario Astronómico, (greek:) Ôï Áóôñïíïìéêü Çìåñïëüãéï ÔóÝðçò. I am constantly looking for people who would like to take care of a local edition, if you could be interested please send an email to me.
REVIEW: (Photo) THE ASTRONOMICAL POCKET DIARY, (Norbert Haley Poste Restante, Auckland, New Zealand). 112 pages. ISBN 0- 4730253-9-6. $10.00, paperbound. This handy daily guide to the heavens offers weekly information that includes evening and morning star maps and planet positions. Daily information features lunar phases and visibility, astronomical events (meteor showers, planetary conjunctions, and eclipses , for example), and significant dates in history, with plenty of room for your own notes.The Astronomical Pocket Diary is available in several in-stock editions for cities around the world and in six languages. Custom editions can also be ordered in quantities of 50 or more, costing as little as $4.00 each. ...... from Sky and Telescope magazine - page 58 Dec 94 issue.
Timothy Zarazan, Illinois: (oct95) "Looking forward to receiving your remarkable astronomical tool !"
Nature Discovery's Dianne Middleton, New Zealand: (May96) "... of excellent quality"
G. Pereth, England:(Jun96) "I'm enjoying using your almanach & would like some more information regarding where to obtain next year's copy, in this country."
T. Ross, San Francisco: (Jul96) "But I would hate to miss my 1997 edition!"
Tom Robinson, San Luis Obispo, California (26dec96) "I am most impressed with it. I have been running around waving it at family and friends ever since. I find it packed with useful & interesting information and refer to it often."
February 1997 edition of Swiss Amateur Astronomer Magazine "Orion" (review, page24): ... user friendly ... valuable addition, for the layman as well as for the adept ...
Vaughn, Kalamazoo Community College (astronomy teacher): I begin each class by projecting the current weeks pages from your Star Diary on an overhead. I blow them up by a factor of 2.56 so each page fits almost exactly on an 8.5 x 11. Then I go over what is happening in the sky each day. I interpret the daily Moon parameters and the weekly Sun and planet parameters for them. We also run through the key dates. Often they understand some of your references to people and events that I don't, at least those having to do with popular culture. It makes a nice, friendly way to start the class; reduces stress, etc. After that its all push and enterprise. I make assignments involving the use of the Star Diary that I give them for homework. So far these have involved the motion of the Sun and the Moon. I also use it when I cover seasons. ... I think the Star Diary is a very valuable tool and I intend to stick with it indefinitely.
Mike Steinsnyder, California (26aug97) "Seems like a great idea your Pocket Diary, may just get me keep records..."
BACKCOVER: daily phases of the Moon
daily rise, transit and setting times for the Moon, plus the azimuths (where it
rises/sets) and transit-height
"important" dates, birthdays etc.
international and religious holidays
precise local times of Eclipses , meteor showers, conjunctions etc.
times of occultations of bright stars by the Moon (1997)
flip-book (flick-book?) animated solar system
flip-book animated horizon-starmaps for morning and evening skies
all editions are calculated for your location !!!
lots of space for your notes
a reusable plastic jacket (for your passport!)
AUTHORBIO: So, here are Norbert's personals, the Inside Story on The Astronomical Pocket Diary and other ramblings ...
I (Norbert) was born in ol' foggy town (on some island off Europe) in the sixties and was raised in a rather liberal environment in West Germany. A comparably good school only made a small mess of my education and allowed for a multitude of hobbies, some of which made it into an ongoing occupation.
Since 1985 I live in New Zealand, mainly because I like it. Recently New Zealand is become more and more "U.S.-americanised" so things are getting worse. Anyway ...
My No 1 project, The Astronomical Pocket Diary was started in 1989, when I was again appalled at the quality of commercially available diaries. It transpired that the diary which gives the most facts about the future would be the most desirable, since the knowledge of events to come is the cornerstone of successful planning. And that is what a diary is supposed to do.
Naturally there should be a lot of space to take notes, but when one looks at the diaries one has kept over the years, there are a lot of empty pages left. And it shall be small, so that it can be a real Vade Mecum (Latin: go with me). It shouldn't be overfilled with non-calendar-related information... that's what a real book, or better even computers and the internet are for. Unsurpassed as an organiser, the pocket-calendar also shall provide inspiration. And be it only to have something to read on the loo (try it!).
The Astronomical Pocket Diary is also the source for the most charming reasons to make a party. The daily trivia mentioned is carefully selected as to puzzle or amuse the educated and suggest further research to the open-minded person. This fits well with the notion of observing the heavens, probably the one occupation which gave rise to civilisations.
I work on the multitude of new editions for more than half the year, and that full-time. Most of the other time is spent on improving and investigating, much of it on the computer. In a monetary sense I am not rich, the diary barely pays for itself. In particular the printing and postal charges are exorbitant, but being born as a western white male, live is not difficult, a fact which I think bears more responsibility than one assumes. Being raised in Germany raises the issue of guilt for the past, a thought which the western world faces in view of the destruction of our little blue island in the vastness of space.
Currently I travel between the hemispheres and enjoy two summers every year. In May 'til December I am in Europe and from December to May I am in New Zealand, what I call "home". But the air-pollution problem has reached the southern hemisphere, where in the large cities the problem is as bad as anywhere in the northern hemisphere. So this travelling between hemispheres has sharpened my eye to magnitude of the problem, and I constantly see my views confirmed by the most eminent scientists of the field. But really it is an old hat. The september 1969 edition of National Geographic features an article on the future of transport, and there it says that electric vehicles will be wide-spread in 1979 because of the unbearable problem of air pollution.
Being scientifically minded I tried to figure a scenario in which the problem is solved. In my considerable research I have come to the conclusion that the only reasonable way to go, is to change the worlds private transport to electric vehicles in a very short time. Because nobody wants to give up their car, and cars are now responsible for more than 50% of global air-pollution, the wonderfully working electric car is the number one option. In the beginning of 1996 I heard a short-wave radio science programme on Radio Australia in which Maria Skyllas-Kazacos was interviewed on her Vanadium Battery invention. If the world's car manufacturers would make "the vanadium car" and the politicians would legislate the "vanadium gas-station" infrastructure, the turnaround is sure to be accomplished. Who would want a stinker if the elegant, refuelable electric car is here. I bet it even would be dirt-cheap to make.
Currently working hard on my new 1998 Astronomical Pocket Diary.
INSIDEFLAP: An almanac with exact times of celestial & earthly events for the year - for the naked eye observer of the heavens and the enlightened who likes certain prognoses. TOC: explanations (reference card) Introduction text Calendar (1.Jan-31.Dec) Introduction text an explanations continued Official Dealers Unit-conversion table and ruler EXCERPT: Instructions for the diary: The quantity of data presented in here might be intimidating, but with a little effort they are easily understood. Many of the astronomical events may -under clear skies- be observed with the naked eye. Everyone who takes the time to look, finds something of interest.
The days of the week are not mentioned by name, but the layout will tell you that Saturdays and Sundays are always on the left, and Monday to Friday are on the right hand page. The 24 hour system is used throughout, e.g. 17h20 is 20 minutes past 5 p.m. An asterisk * denotes a birthday or a founding day, ² - somebody died, ² denotes a fest lasting 2 day, 3 is one lasting 3 days or more.
The numbers below the Moon phase (+88.-13.+14) mean, that the Moon is 88% illuminated, almost full (100%, New Moon = 0%), and waxing = + _ the Moon is at 13% of its distance range where 0% would be closest or biggest, (coming closer -). The Moon is 14° north (+) of the celestial equator. The difference between closest and farthest is 10% or 57 to 63 earth- radii. In March 1997 the Moon was at the minimum of its North-South movement (±18.1°), the next maximum is in September 2006 (±28.8°).
A line like 0234(090)1822(s67)2345(270) indicates that the named body rises at 2 hours 34 minutes at 90 degrees (0 = north, 90 = east) from true north and that it goes through middle of heaven (transits) at 18h22m, standing 67 degrees high, exactly south (s) and that it sets at 23h45m at 270 deg. (180 = south, 270 = west). All times and angles are calculated for the location mentioned in the back. Events happen earlier when you go east from there (later west). When locating rise or setting places, please compensate for the magnetic deviation of your compass needle (usually mentioned on local maps).
Quite regularly the Moon's disk wanders over a star, sometimes even a planet, and catching the moment of disappearance or reappearance can be an interesting sight. These star occultations by the Moon are best observed when the event is on the dark half of the Moon. You'll find the time of the event marked next to the moon phase, a little dot on the circle gives the size and position of the star. If the numbers are in grey shaded type, the Moon is very low above the horizon. An asterisk tries to alert you to an event of the same night, which is technically the next day, and listed there.
The Orbitgraph (Trochiograph, in Planimation, (c)Haley91) below each sunday shows a weekly top-view onto our solar system with planet positions. The proper astronomical signs of the zodiac are located around the outside, as viewed in the night sky. You can animate the movements of the planets by flicking the pages!
The Orbitgraph is actually a map of our solar system.By placing it into the right plane you can use it to point out the planets & constellations. Hold the diary horizontally in front of yourself and face south (S-hemi=north). Raise the side of the diary which is furthest from you, then - using earth as centre- turn the graph until the Sun's position matches the direction of the Sun in the sky (or underneath the horizon). Now the connecting lines point to where you would find the planets. Or place an edge of a piece of paper through earth and think of the not covered half as the visible sky. As you turn this "artificial horizon" with earth as the centre, the celestial objects rise and set. In the northern hemisphere all moves anticlockwise. The orbits of Jupiter and Saturn have been scaled to fit, their positions corrected -that's why they at times go backwards when you flick the pages.
The heavenly movements seen "from above" seem simple, but because we are on our rotating blue pearl, inclined 23½ degrees to the plane of our solar system, the movements appear astonishingly complex. This plane of our solar system, the ecliptic, is an important imaginary line in the sky, along which you'll find Sun, Moon, all the planets and the signs of the zodiac. The movements of the ecliptic are fairly simple, it is like the Sun's path through the sky: Except near the equator, where it is simply straight above, it is high during the day in summer, and low at night. In winter its low during the day and high at night. On it are a few marker-stars: Spica (Virgo), Antares (Scorpio), Aldebaran (Taurus), Pollux (Gemini) and Regulus (Leo). And of course you'll find Saturn, Mars and the very bright Jupiter on the ecliptic, as well as Venus and Mercury near the Sun. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are not easily visible. The Milky Way traverses the ecliptic in Scorpio/Sagittarius, and again in Taurus and Gemini. The centre of the Milky Way is near Scorpio, the thin end of the Milky Way is more towards Taurus.
The background of each page -consisting of a lot of stars and the connecting lines of many common star signs- shows a view towards the horizon. Here you need to ignore the other elements of the page. The left page's long edge is the western horizon and "above" are the constellations visible about an hour after sunset. The right hand page is a view towards the eastern horizon one hour before sunrise. The planets appear in grey, mostly on the ecliptic, the dashed line. They move when flicking the pages! In this way you can see the 360° movement of the star signs during the course of the year and the planet's paths in front of them ((c)Haley92). One could imagine two more dashed lines through the sky. The earth's rotation equator and the Milky Way. Read up about it!
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