Ronald J. Buta – författare

The Steven C. Minkin (Union Chapel) Paleozoic Footprint Site ranks among the most important fossil sites in the world today, and Footprints in Stone recounts the accidental revelation of its existence and detailed findings about its fossil record.   Currently 2,500 miles from the equator and more than 250 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, the Minkin site was a swampy tropical forest adjacent to a tidal flat during the Coal Age or Carboniferous Period more than 300 million years ago. That fecund strand of sand and mud at the ocean’s edge teemed with the earth’s earliest reptiles as well as amphibians, fish, horseshoe crabs, spiders, jumping insects, and other fascinating organisms. Unlike dinosaurs and other large animals whose sturdy bodies left hard fossil records, most of these small, soft-bodied creatures left no concrete remains. But they did leave something else. Preserved in the site’s coal beds along with insect wings and beautifully textured patterns of primeval plants are their footprints, fossilized animal tracks from which modern paleontologists can glean many valuable insights about their physical anatomies and behaviors.   The paleontological examination of fossil tracks is now the cutting-edge of contemporary scholarship, and the Minkin site is the first and largest site of its kind in eastern North America. Discovered by a local high school science teacher, the site provides both professional and amateur paleontologists around the world with a wealth of fossil track samples along with an inspirational story for amateur explorers and collectors.   Authoritative and extensively illustrated, Footprints in Stone brings together the contributions of many geologists and paleontologists who photographed, documented, and analyzed the Minkin site’s fossil trackways. An engrossing tale of its serendipitous discovery and a detailed study of its fossil records, Footprints in Stone is a landmark publication in the history of paleontology.

This second volume of RC3 includes data for galaxies between Oh and 12h. For convenience, we repeat the explanation of the catalogue entries below. Details of the reduction procedures, and Notes, References, and Appendices are in Volume 1. 2. The Catalogue The data for each galaxy are found on four successive lines on a single page. The entries are as follows: Column 1: Positions Line 1: RA and DEC = right ascension and declination for the equinox 2000.0, precessed from the 1950.0 position in Column 1, Line 4, given to 0.1 second of time and 1 aresec when available, and to 0.1 minute of time and 1 arcmin otherwise (Section 3.l.a). Line 2: I and b = galactic longitude and latitude in the lAU 1958 system (Blaauw et al. 1960); both to 0?01. Line 3: SGL and SGB = supergaladie longitude and latitude in the RC2 system (Section 3.l.b), both to 0?01. Line 4: RA and DEC = right ascension and declination for the equinox 1950.0 (Sec- tion 3.l.a). Column 2: Names = commonly used designations for the galaxies (Section 3.2). Line 1: Names ( e.g., LMC, SMC) or NGC and IC designations. Line 2: UGC (Nilson 1973), ESO (Lauberts 1982), MCG (Vorontsov-Velyaminov et al.1962-1974), UGCA (Nilson 1974), and CGCG (Zwicky et al. 1961-1968) des- ignations, given in that order of preference. MCG designations not listed here are given in UGC and ESO.