_          
                                             |_|         
 V   V   SSSS   OOO   PPPP          \__      |_|      __/
 V   V  S      O   O  P   P            --____/ \____--   
 V   V   SSS   O   O  PPPP             _ _ _ --- _ _ _   
  V V       S  O   O  P               |_|_|_|  @|_|_|_|  
   V    SSSS    OOO   P                      o-o         
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 ***  N    E    W    S  ***               <)               

INTERFEROMETRIC OBSERVATIONS

The first 1.6 GHz interferometric observations between HALCA and ground radio telescopes have taken place. Several fringe finding experiments have taken place in Japan and the USA, and the search for fringes is now going on at Mitaka and Socorro. The first experiments had their share of problems, with bad weather affecting a number of ground radio telescopes, recording problems at several tracking stations, and the satellite switching to a power-conserving mode soon after the end of an eclipse! Nevertheless, sufficient data was obtained to keep the correlators occupied for a while.

ECLIPSES

The fringe finding experiments were moved forward a few days so that they could take place before the first series of long satellite eclipses started. HALCA was launched into an orbit that had no eclipses of the satellite by the earth for the first 6 weeks. (Several months before launch it was realised that in fact the satellite would be eclipsed by the moon during the solar eclipse of the 9th of March. HALCA survived the experience unscathed!) The first series of eclipses by the earth started on the 30th of March. The eclipses rapidly become quite deep, and by the 11th of April reach the maximum length of 90 minutes. In-Orbit Checkout has been put `on-hold' during the first weeks of these eclipses so that the on-board battery discharge rate during eclipse, and recharging rate out of eclipse, can be carefully monitored.

RECENT ARRIVALS

George Moellenbrock arrived last weekend from Brandeis University to take up a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science fellowship at ISAS with the VSOP Team. Athol Kemball also arrived this week from Socorro for a week-long visit to Mitaka and ISAS. Both Athol and George are part of the team that will be investigating HALCA's polarization purity and its time variability.

BLOSSOMS, COMETS, HALCA

George and Athol timed their arrivals in Japan to perfection, and the `cherry blossom front', which had steadily been moving north through the country, reached Tokyo last week. A burst of warm weather on the weekend brought the blossoms to their peak this week, earlier than usual, due in part to the mild winter. The traditional parties under the cherry blossoms are in full swing, with Comet Hale-Bopp adding an extra treat for those partiers continuing into the early evening. When conditions are just right, the evening skies contain another object of interest: HALCA! A local broadcasting network earlier in March showed video footage taken by a local planetarium of HALCA taken (through their telescope) during an early morning over Japan. More details on HALCA viewing opportunities will be made available in future issues of the VSOP News.

 
       Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi