Alcove Database ®

ALCOVE Database
Amateur's Log of Celestial Objects' Visual Evaluation ®

"a scrapbook of personal astronomical observations"
by Gamze & Haldun I. Menali

"Due to its "raison d'etre", this website has been and will always be evolving!"

" On-line since November 1999! "

Alcove: [Webster's Dictionary (from al+qubba), meaning "the arch (sky) above"]
    1. an arch
    2. a dome
    3. a recessed section of a room

Please visit our tribute page to remember and cherish our dear friend,
mentor, protector; kind, thoughtful, loving, caring, the dearest human being,
Janet Akyüz Mattei who made her final voyage on the wings of angels
at around 4:05 PM EST on Monday, March 22, 2004.

About This Site

Dear Fellow Amateur Astronomers, Telescope Makers, Astronomy Enthusiasts and All Other Visitors, Welcome to Our Site!

This site is mainly dedicated to observations of celestial objects by a devoted amateur, his special interests in astronomy and science-fiction as a literary genre. Here you will also find web links I consider most interesting in respect to my personal endeavor and pursuits.

You can also link to my wife Gamze's homepage. She is a professional astronomer working as an astronomical technical assistant at the American Association of Variable Star Observers' (AAVSO) Headquarters in Cambridge, MA.

This homepage was first posted on the Web on November 30, 1999 as an initiative to establish a site for our ALCOVE Database ®. The key idea has been putting all of our astronomical observations, experiences and advices on-line, so that we can share them with other people interested in astronomy. Another driving force has been to provide you with up-to-date and thrilling web links in several fields of astronomy we are involved in. In time, we will renew and add all the necessary information to this web site and links mentioned within. Meanwhile please enjoy the information supplied herein. Most probably you will find it updated and enriched every day. Just keep track and visit here often to learn more about our astronomical database.

Thank you for your visit and interest! Please come back again soon!

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Major Sections on This Site

What's New?
Site Map
Search our website, remote search engine provided by Pico Search LLC of Boston, MA.
Who Am I?, about my astronomical background, accomplishments and more.

Our Recent Observations, of various celestial objects.

Variable Stars, my main area of interest and research in astronomy.

In the Footsteps of W.P. Fleming, my recent popular article explaining how I got involved in this research, originally published in AAVSO Newsletter No 24 in October 2000.
My Research Paper about Fleming's Unnamed Variables, presented as a poster display at the 11th Turkish Professional Astronomers Convention in Elazig, Turkey on August 7-10, 1999 (complete English translation).
My Variable Star Observations, both published and previously unpublished.
My Article about Observation of U Gem for the IUE satellite in November 1990.
My Variable Star Charts , my essays of mapping the sky's changing face

Comets, my observations of these "hairy" stars.

Our Observation Results of Comet Hale-Bopp
Our Observation Results of Comet Hyakutake
My Observation Results of Halley's Comet
Total List of My Comet Observations since Halley's Comet.
My Article About the Comet of 1577 and Takiyuddin, published in the International Comet Quarterly.

Deep Sky Objects
Double Stars
Eclipses: Solar and Lunar

Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of March 29, 2006 Solar Eclipse from Side, Turkey. coming up soon!
Total Lunar Eclipse, October 27, 2004 observed from Boston, MA.
Total Lunar Eclipse, November 8, 2003 observed from Boston, MA.
Partial Solar Eclipse of Christmas, December 25, 2000 observed from Boston, MA.
Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999 Solar Eclipse from Amasra, Turkey.
Partial Solar Eclipse of February 26, 1998, from North Quincy, MA.

Other Celestial Events

Our Report on the Transit of Venus on June 8, 2004 from Bakirkoy, Istanbul, Turkey.
Report on the 2002 Leonids Shower, A Silent Farewell.
Report on the 2001 Leonids Shower, The Year Leonids Roared.
Report on the 2000 Leonids Shower, A Much Better Show This Year.
Report on the 1999 Leonids Meteor "Storm", Was It A Storm As Seen from Boston, MA?
How Did We Observe C/Shoemaker-Levy 9 Collision with Jupiter?
Planet Conjunctions in 1999.
My Sunspot Observations.

My Early Observations, my initiations into amateur astronomy.
Main Links Page, contains both astronomical and touristic links to several sites.

Our Observing Instruments, our silent companions to the night sky.

The story of Building My 8" Newtonian Reflector.

For the Beginners in Astronomy, a new page aiming to help the novice astronomers to decide on their first choices of books and equipment.

Picture Gallery, pictures of us, other people and places, and the skies.
About Our Logo, we completed its design and posted our logo in March 2000. In this page you can read more about its meaning.
Tribute to Our Fellow Amateurs, to share our sorrow and grievances for our beloved friends with you:

Link to Gamze H. Menali's Homepage, my dear wife's vistas on the cyberspace.

Gamze's article titled "Reaching Out to the Stars with the AAVSO", originally published in AAVSO Newsletter No 24 in October 2000.
The AAVSO online publication for visual variable star observers, Eyepieve Views, prepared and edited by Gamze between July 2001 and November 2002.
Gamze's Term Paper at Harvard University in 2000: "Earth Weather and Sunspots Relationship". coming up soon!
Gamze's article on the AAVSO website about our 2006 total solar eclipse expedition to Turkey! (August 8, 06)

Turkish Astronomy Corner, "Turkce Gokbilim Kosesi", for our Turkish readers in Turkey and around the globe; Turkiye'de ve dunyada bizi ziyaret eden amator gokbilimciler icin hazirladigimiz Turkce sayfalar.

A Message from the Universe, do you ever get the feeling that the universe is trying to send us a message?

Delta Ursae Minoris, a "Turkish" Star!

The Last Page!

This is the Turkish talisman for good luck "Nazar Boncugu - Evil Eye Protector". For more information about its meaning and history, please visit one of the following sites: Guide to Turkey, Turkish Eye Beads and Turkish Amulet. We have posted this "nazar" here to give you more insight about the Turkish culture and to protect ourselves and our site against anything that might go wrong! You never know ...

Other Websites Providing a Link to This Site

Since its launch over the World Wide Web, ALCOVE Database ® website has been cited in several other homepages and given a link directing other users and surfers to our site. We would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to our friends and colleagues who provided those links. You are more than welcome to give links to our pages so long as you mention ALCOVE Database ® as the resource.

Our website has been given a link from the Solar Eclipse Mailing List (SEML) Links for Upcoming Eclipses page by Joanne and Patrick Poitevin.
Some of our pictures of the Transit of Venus on June 8, 2004 have been posted on the ATMoB's "Venus Transit 2004 Pictures" page.
My recent article on the "the Comet of 1577 and Takiyuddin" has been given reference to by Jacques Crovisier of the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, France on his paper titled "Comets for the Novice" (Les Comètes pour les Nuls).
ALCOVE Database ® website has been cited as reference by Daniel Bernet of Switzerland on his "Observing Variable Stars" research paper.
ALCOVE Database ® website has been listed on the Links to Other Points of Interest page (under Variable Stars) of the Perkins Observatory, Delaware, OH.
ALCOVE Database ® website has been listed on the Personal Pages of Astronomers, by Richard Bell of Kalamazoo, MI.
Our Report on the Total Lunar Eclipse of Nov 8, 2003 is cited in the November 2003 Total Lunar Eclipse page of the Astronomische-Reisen of Reiseburo in der Sudstadt GmbH, Bonn (in German).
"My Article About the Comet of 1577 and Takiyuddin" page has been given a link on the What Is The International Comet Quarterly? page (under the list of sample pages) by Daniel W.E. Green (the editor of the International Comet Quarterly).
ALCOVE Database ® website has been listed on the Member Web Sites of the ATMoB thanks to the webmaster Brewster LaMacchia.
Our Turkish Astronomical Links page has been given a link on the "Astronomy Tours in Turkey" pages of Kaunos Tours and Dalyan Company of the UK. The company plans to start an astronomical tour to Turkey beginning in May 2004.
Our Report on the Total Lunar Eclipse of Nov 8, 2003 is cited in the Cosmic Mirror by Daniel Fischer of Germany.
Our Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999 page is cited in the Solar Eclipses page (or this link) of the Astronomische-Reisen of Reiseburo in der Sudstadt GmbH, Bonn (in German).
Our report on the Partial Solar Eclipse of February 26, 1998 is cited in the Solar Eclipses of 1998 page (in German) of the Astronomische-Reisen of Reiseburo in der Sudstadt GmbH, Bonn.
Our website has been listed on the Amateur Astronomers page of SpaceBOX.org maintained by Hrvoje Horvat and Andrea Stevanovic.
Our website has been given a link from the Astronomy Links' Personal Astronomy Pages by Roger Herzler.
Our website has been given a link from the Solar Eclipse Mailing List (SEML) Links for Individuals by Joanne and Patrick Poitevin.
Our "Double Stars" page has been cited among double star databases worth a look on the internet in the April 2002 issue of Desert Skies, monthly publication of the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, AZ.
Our report on the Partial Solar Eclipse of Christmas 2000 is cited in the Partial Solar Eclipse of 2000 pages (in German, Fotos aus den USA von Gamze & Haldun I. Menali) of the Astronomische-Reisen of Reiseburo in der Sudstadt GmbH, Bonn.
Our Report on the 2001 Leonids Shower is cited in the Leonids page (in German, Bericht aus Boston/USA von Gamze & Haldun I. Menali) of the Astronomische-Reisen of Reiseburo in der Sudstadt GmbH, Bonn.
Our Report on the 2001 Leonids Shower is cited in the Cosmic Mirror by Daniel Fischer (whose site was featured in the February 2001 issue of Sky and Telescope).
Telescope Making Webring has listed Building My 8" Newtonian Reflector page as the 109th site.
Eclipse Chasers Net Ring (by Ring Surf) where our Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999 page has been listed as the 47th site.
Mr. Eclipse Homepage, solar eclipse veteran Fred Espenak's (NASA) personal web site where our Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999 page has been listed on the 1999 Total Solar Eclipse Reports page.
Member Profiles and Web Pages page of the AAVSO.
Black Sun Eclipse, by Dr. Eric Flescher.
Eclipse Chasers WebRing (by Yahoo! WebRing) where our Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999 page has been listed as the 54th site (this site was moved to Ring Surf as of Dec 28, 2000, please see the related entry above).

In addition, several of our pages have been listed in the leading web search engines as follows (you can type in either "ALCOVE Database ®" or go by our last name "Menali"):

Note on Broken Links

Links and other web sites mentioned hereby are periodically checked for their validity. However, as our pages are becoming very numerous, and the Web is a dynamic space, it is getting more and more difficult to track down broken links or other connection errors. We would really appreciate if you are kind enough to inform us if you find any such issue. Thank you for your time and interest!

Please also keep in mind that some of these pages are under continuous construction.

"If the findings of the Science are not implemented, then the Science remains somewhere in between right and wrong".
Eb-Ul-Iz Ibn Ismail El-Cezeri (1153 - 1233 CE).
Turkish physicist and inventor of self-moving machines; father of cybernetics.

Website is prepared and maintained by Gamze & Haldun I. Menali.
Copyright © 1999-2006 by Gamze & Haldun I. Menali. All rights reserved.
Information contained herein could only be linked to your web page. Please do not copy and paste.
Unauthorized use of any information and data is a violation of both US and international copyright laws.
For your feedback and comments: menali@email.com

Last Update On: September 18, 2006

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