ASTROLETTERS
WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 11The deserving astrophysicist
I can’t ever read about Jocelyn Bell
Burnell, as I did in May 2017 issue, with-
out being outraged that she was denied a
Nobel Prize. A lot of deserving women
were denied recognition in the past in
astronomy, but hopefully times have
changed, and in some cases like Ms.
Burnell’s, it could be corrected.
— Bill Frazer, Gold Canyon, AZA fond memory
The April 2017 issue brought back a very
interesting event that happened in July- I was selected to attend a one-month
astronomy educator workshop at Northern
Arizona University by the National Science
Foundation. We were able to visit the U.S.
Naval Observatory and Lowell Observatory,
and do some scientific work at the mesa
south of Flagstaff. But that was not the
“event” that sets aside the time for me.
I have built two telescopes, an 8-inch f/
Dobsonian and a 6-inch f/4 Dobsonian. I
took my 6-inch telescope with me to
Flagstaff. On my first night at NAU, I took
my telescope up to the parking lot on
Mars Hill and did some observing. It was a
thrill to be able to do that with my own
telescope. It just so happened that Hale-
Bopp was in the sky. Alas, Mars was not
visible then. And even though Pluto was
not reachable with my telescope, it was just
about due south! — Dan Goins, Martinsville, IN
Correction
The “Venus at Dusk” graphic on p. 16 of
the June 2017 issue describes Venus’ eve-
ning appearance while the graphic depicts
the planet’s morning appearance. We
apologize for the confusion.The triple sunrise
This is a response to Ryan Hofmann’s let-
ter, “An unforgettable sunrise,” in the May
2017 issue, about seeing an unusual sunrise
while f lying into Denver. Not that I have
seen crimson beads but I did see a very
unusual sunrise while driving on a very
cold morning in Omaha, Nebraska, about
15 years ago. It actually looked like three
Suns rising together about 15° apart. All
three were the same size. I actually got out
of the car to make sure it wasn’t the glass
that was making these additional Sun
images. It was so unusual that I turned on
the local news radio station, and to my
amazement there was no mention of it.
Maybe the cold air had something to do
with it. This unusual phenomenon lasted
about 30 minutes. — Greg Pappas, Plymouth, MISeeing double
Regarding Stephen James O’Meara’s
article “Twice-setting stars” in the March
2017 issue: Several times I have witnessed
a star (the Sun) set, then rise again, hover
for an hour or so, then set again. The
trick is in being a fighter pilot stationed
in a northern latitude. According to U.S.
Air Force rules, if the Sun has set at your
home base and you are in the air, you are
logging night-f lying time regardless of
reality (blinding Sun in your face, wear-
ing both sunglasses and solar visor).
Thus, you pref light your F-4C Phantom
just as the Sun is setting, taxi to the run-
way just after sunset, take off, and watch
the Sun rise in the west. After leveling off,
you then cruise west at 515 knots (
mph). The Sun appears to just hang there
because you are matching the rotation
speed of Earth. Then you catch a tanker,
slow down for refueling, and observe the
Sun gradually sinking. Finally, you turn
north for another aspect of your mission,
and the Sun finally sets (again) normally,
and the sunglasses and visor come off.
At other times, there are “sandwich
sunsets,” in which you are between f lat
layers of clouds with the Sun illuminat-
ing the upper and lower layers equally.
Flying allows for a variety of special
experiences, if you just pay attention.
— Phil LaZeir, Sacramento, CAWe welcome your comments at
Astronomy Letters, P. O. Box 1612,
Waukesha, WI 53187; or email to letters@
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name, city, state, and country. Letters
may be edited for space and clarity.ASTRONOMICAL INSTITUTE, ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC