Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC           September 24, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

Tim Tyson
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone:  256/544-0994)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N98-61

RECENT WAVE OF STELLAR RADIATION TO BE DISCUSSED

       The next Space Science Update, scheduled for 2 p.m. 
EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 29, will feature discussion of an intense 
wave of gamma rays that struck Earth's atmosphere on August 
27, 1998, from a mysterious super-magnetic star 20,000 light 
years away.  (The wave caused no health effects.)  A panel of 
astronomers will explain the importance of this event, its 
effect on the Earth, and what scientists have learned about 
this newly discovered type of star called a magnetar, one of 
the most unusual in the Universe.  

       Panel members are: 
       *  Dr. Chryssa Kouveliotou, astrophysicist, Space 
Sciences Laboratory, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, 
Huntsville, AL;
       *  Dr. Robert Duncan, research astrophysicist, 
University of Texas, Austin; 
       *  Dr. James Cordes, professor of astronomy, Cornell 
University, Ithaca, NY; 
       *  Dr. Kevin Hurley, research physicist and Senior 
Space Fellow, University of California, Berkley;
       *  Dr. Paul Hertz, program scientist, Office of Space 
Science, NASA Headquarters, will be panel moderator.

       The Update will originate from the NASA Headquarters 
Auditorium, 300 E St., S.W., Washington, DC, and will be 
carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer 
capability for reporters covering the event from 
participating NASA centers.  NASA Television is broadcast on 
the GE2 satellite, transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West 
longitude, frequency 3880.0 Mhz, audio 6.8 MHz.  Audio of the 
broadcast will be available on voice circuit at the Kennedy 
Space Center on 407/867-1220.

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