October 2002 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Another Cave...
by David Bennett 21 Jan '03

21 Jan '03

Hi Folks, If you haven't figured out already I'm a bit of a Cave fanatic and have found another mirror for sale (10" f/5...I could make binoculars :-) on Astromart for some lucky soul: http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=147528 This one even comes with a Cave 2.14" Secondary. Have a look!

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Ten Confounding Questions
by David Bennett 31 Oct '02

31 Oct '02

http://www.msnbc.com/news/825959.asp?pne=msn

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Halloween
by David Dunn 31 Oct '02

31 Oct '02

If the sky is clear on Halloween night, I plan to do a peek-n-treat again this year. For those of you who haven't tried this before it is a nice way to introduce your neighbors to Astronomy and Light Pollution. A couple of years ago I had a problem where every time I would go out in the yard to observe, the neighbors lights all would come on. After letting them look through a telescope, most of them have changed their lighting so that it is only on when they are in the yard. They also told me to let them know and they would turn off a light for me so that I could see better. Try it out and report back to the list on your experiences.

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SLAS Data Projector Demo
by Grahn Family 30 Oct '02

30 Oct '02

For anyone who is interested, At the last SLAS meeting, a question was raised regarding the data projector which we plan to buy, and its resolution. The trade off is lumens to resolution, between a projector having a 1024 X 768 pixel resolution with 1200 lumens, vs an 800 X 600 Pixel projector having 2000 lumens. Inkleys has kindly offered to demo the two projectors for us tomorrow (today?, Monday)at 12:00 noon at its store at 2150 South State. I've been told that the difference in lumens will be so big, that the choice will be obvious. However, if anyone else would like to see the demo, feel free to meet us there. I understand there was no acrimony in the question raised, but it was a good question, and one we thought we should look at. The technical guy at Inkleys said he could talk till he was blue in the face, but the best way to see the difference that the greater lumens would make, was to see it in person. By the way, many laptops cannot display at greater than 800 X 600 resolution, and any laptop will be able to back down to that resolution, so useability will not be an issue. Thanks, Josephine Grahn

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] SLAS Data Projector
by Josephine Grahn 29 Oct '02

29 Oct '02

Kudos to Bill Cowles and Inkleys for >their part in making this happen too! > >Dave Bennett And for the frosting on the cake. The final price for the projector was $1700.00 even! No one else came within $500 of that price. Essentially Inkleys spent an hour and a half demo'ing everything, and educating us on the options, then gave the projector to us at their cost. Thanks Bill! I have an older model soft side travel case for a laptop that I think will be fine to hold the projector and its parts. It was made by Port, and has an internal suspension that should protect it, if we treat it nicely. So... who's going to be first to show off some of their CCD wizardry at our next meeting? By the way, it will also be great for demonstrating how to use astro software to a large group, something to think of for future meetings or Slastrofest. Jo Grahn

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Thanks for the suggestions
by Levae＠aol.com 28 Oct '02

28 Oct '02

The Star Party is at the Golden Spike National Monument Visitors Center. They turn off the outside lights and leave the restrooms open for us. If you want to tour the facilities at the Monument you will need to pay the admission fee, but otherwise there is no charge for the Star Party. Camping is available in the parking lot, or the field next to it. We will be there Friday and Saturday Nights, November 8th and 9th. Everyone is welcome but be prepared for below freezing temperatures. Lee Priest OAS

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Thanks for the suggestions
by DunnDave＠aol.com 28 Oct '02

28 Oct '02

Joe, Be sure to come to the Golden Spike star party on 11/8 adn 11/9. We usually spend most of the night out observing. I will have several telescopes setup and you are welcome to use them. I have found that attending the star parties, even without a telescope is the best way to learn about astronomy and to find out which type and how big your telescope should be. Dave

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Thanks for the suggestions
by Joseph Barney 24 Oct '02

24 Oct '02

Thanks for making suggestions. It will be a while before I get binos and a scope, but I kinda of wanted to test the waters. I'm glad there are star parties where you can look via other people's equipment. Joe __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site http://webhosting.yahoo.com/

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Leonids from Monument Valley
by David Bennett 20 Oct '02

20 Oct '02

Hello again, I'm having some problems with my main menu on my homepage so until it's fixed please use this link for a direct link to the Monument Valley views and map: http://homepage.mac.com/dlbennett/PhotoAlbum16.html dlb http://homepage.mac.com/dlbennett/

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2002 Leonid Expedition
by David Bennett 19 Oct '02

19 Oct '02

Hello all, Despite the Full Moon and it's eye that scorcheth all it glares upon, (that's Byron, not me ;-) this year's Leonid shower looks to be as promising as last year's boon of meteors. If you missed your chance to see the storm last year, be sure to mark your calendars for Monday night, November 18th/19th, 2002. I can honestly say that I saw more meteors in one night last November than I have in my entire time out under the stars with a telescope. Our excursion last November took us first to Virgin, Utah the night before the peak to check out a possible observing locale. The wind-ridden site, where we had hoped to meet others from Southern Utah, was harsh, inhospitable and therefore short-lived. We then spent the next morning and early afternoon seeing the sites of Zion and having lunch at our friends cafe: Tsunami Juice and Java/Zion Tubing owned and operated by Ken Warner's sister Cindy and her husband John. (No, we did not do any tubing!) Next, with clouds looming all around, we headed further south to explore and find our site for the upcoming peak. After much debate, worrying, and a little whining (not by me of course ;-) our little convoy found its way to Pipe Springs National Monument. With darkness quickly approaching, as well as what appeared to be a band of clear sky from the west, we decided that this truly was 'the place' and began to make what camp we could. A friendly group of rangers offered (or did we foist ourselves upon them?...I do not recall.) a viewing area near their living quarters and after sending an envoy armed with a thirty foot extension ladder and a roll of aluminum foil to dispatch an annoying local street-light, we had ourselves quite a nice setup. Not to mention the joy at seeing the clouds say goodnight as well! Throughout the night many of the rangers and their families stopped by for a peek through the scopes we had brought along but mainly to join in with our gasps of 'oohs & ahhs' at the Lion's light show. I hate to admit it, but it became almost commonplace to look up to the sky as you would walk around and see one meteor after another...two, three, five at a time. We did many 15 minute counts and came up with a Zenithal Hourly Rate of 800-1200 meteors at the peak. A fabulous night of meteors!! The icing on the cake came as everyone had either left or was packing: a green sporadic fireball which had me on my knees having a personal religious experience. I know there were several other members of SLAS who witnessed this one from other parts of Utah with similar exaltation. Now, the predictions are in for this year from the various camps and it seems the further East and South you are the better. The radiant will be higher in the sky the further East you travel, (I'm still trying to figure out the 'Going South' part...anyone care to chime in?) but my feelings are that in heading south (and low) we have the best chance of clear weather once again. This year I'm being drawn for some inexplicable reason to the Four Corners area so I've looked into a group campsite at the Mitten View Campground in Monument Valley. I have yet to hear back if a site is available for the night of the 18th but will keep those who are interested informed. Here are a few links to entice you to join me for our last chance for 33 years to witness this grand spectacle: http://www.go-utah.com/monument_valley http://www.go- utah.com/topicDetail.cfm?objectID=563E7860-634A-11D4-AADF0050DAB32CA6 and my homepage for the amazing views from the campground and a map of the area: http://homepage.mac.com/dlbennett/ Please email me at dlbennett(a)mac.com if you are interested on being put on a list of those to contact with additional details once I have more concrete info. 'The goodness of the night upon you, friends!' Dave Bennett P.S. My heartfelt apologies for my unusual verbosity. http://homepage.mac.com/dlbennett/

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