November 2003 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Sky and Telescope - Saturn Covers a Star
by Wade Starks 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

Click on the picture on the link below. It shows the positions of the accultation as it progresses across Saturn, starting at UTC 0500, including 0600, 0700, 1100 and 1300 hours UTC, obtained from a link provided by Pat Wiggins this morning. http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations/article_1102_1.asp Wade Starks Wade C Starks ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message may contain confidential information, and is intended only for the use of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. ==============================================================================

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[Utah-astronomy] Fwd: [scope-drive] Subject: Stolen 30-inch Starmaster!!! Spread the word...
by Greg Taylor 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree

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Fwd: Saturn occults mag 8.5 star part 2
by James Cobb 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

On Nov 14, 2003, at 7:14 AM, James E. Cobb wrote: > If there is interest (and possibly a clear sky), I thought I'd send > around xephem predictions of the occultation for Salt Lake City. Here is part two. The first is just as the star departs the disk, the second is just after the star finishes encountering the rings. I just realized that I should mention that North is up, and East is to the left. I thought the printout headings would say that, but I don't find the notation... Jim ---- Jim Cobb james(a)cobb.name

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Fwd: Saturn occults mag 8.5 star
by James Cobb 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

If there is interest (and possibly a clear sky), I thought I'd send around xephem predictions of the occultation for Salt Lake City. The first is just before the rings encounter the star, the second is just as the disk encounters the star. In a separate message I'll send the other two contacts (to keep message size to approx 16 kB). For reference, here is Patrick's dispatch on the subject > Saturn To Cover A Star > > Late Friday night (November 14-15) Saturn and its ring system glide > right in > front of an 8.4-magnitude star in Gemini, and observers in North and > South > America will have a ringside seat. > > http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations > http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations/ > article_1102_1.asp Jim ---- Jim Cobb james(a)cobb.name

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Aurora images?
by Chris Clark 12 Nov '03

12 Nov '03

These images are so vivid that I'm wondering if they're real, "touched up", composites, and/or outright fakes. Any opinions? http://www.iww.is/art/shs/pages/thumbs.html

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Cheap 15x70 binos locally
by Howard Jackman 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Hey everyone I was looking through the morning paper today and ran across the Big 5 Sporting Goods ad, which happens to have 15x70mm binos on sale for $59.99, they're listed regularly at $119.99. The ad lists them as having Bak4 prisms and includes a plastic tripod adapter and little table top tripod which is obviously too small for these binos but would be useful for a camera, they sure look similar to the Bear binos which I already own (thanks again Chuck for turning me on to those awhile back) but I might just have to snag another pair for such a great price. Howard __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Digital camera questions
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Chuck, I find this website helpful. <A HREF="http://www.szykman.com/Astro/AstroDigiCamFAQ.html"> http://www.szykman.com/Astro/AstroDigiCamFAQ.html</A> Sky and Telescope's recent Dec issue also reviews a book called "Astrophotographty: An Introduction to Film and Digital Imaging". I didn't want to use my laptop either so I bought an inexpensive Sony PS One Interact Unit. It is a high resolution 5" LCD monitor that connects to my camera. This is okay for bright planets and the moon. The people that are using expensive Digital SLR cameras like the Canon 10D are using a Hartmann Mask to focus images. They are taking excellent images and prices are still coming down. You need to throw out the word "Auto" out, and substitute "Manual". The SB=Sun, Spot metering, Focus Confirm= ON, and Focus set at Infinity. Debbie

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Cheap 15x70 binos locally
by Howard Jackman 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Hey everyone I was looking through the morning paper today and ran across the Big 5 Sporting Goods ad, which happens to have 15x70mm binos on sale for $59.99, they're listed regularly at $119.99. The ad lists them as having Bak4 prisms and includes a plastic tripod adapter and little table top tripod which is obviously too small for these binos but would be useful for a camera, they sure look similar to the Bear binos which I already own (thanks again Chuck for turning me on to those awhile back) but I might just have to snag another pair for such a great price. Howard __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Digital camera questions
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Hi Chuck, It is a little more involved to get a good focus on a digital camera. Most amateurs use a bigger separate monitor connected by a video jack. They can see the image better and get a better focus when the camera is zoomed in. Most astro-photographers are using the afocal method. I have a 14mm Scopetronix eyepiece that screws directly into my Nikon Coolpix 4500 28mm threads. Here is the website that would be helpful. <A HREF="http://www.scopetronix.com/">ScopeTronix Quality Astronomy Products</A> With the digital cameras, you almost always have to buy a remote shutter control for the camera. Otherwise, the images will blurry because of the vibrations caused by pressing the shutter release. For more information, go to the digital_astro group on yahoo. This is a great group to learn digital imaging. I went to the Files section there and printed out some of the information there on getting started in digital imaging. I can't tell you much more because I haven't hooked everything up to my telescope yet. I'm going to try to shoot the moon when the weather clears. This is an easy subject because it is big and bright. I can only use the camera for astro-images during the colder months of the season due to the noise factor.I doubt I will take images longer than 120 sec. It will probably be less than that because my first few sessions will be unguided. Debbie

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Aurora images?
by Kim Hyatt 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

I agree - some seem suspect, but others appear genuine. Remember, at those latitudes, the aurora are muchmore vivid than we generally see here. Also, film is much more sensitive and responsive to the light levels of aurora than our eyes are. -----Original Message----- From: Chris Clark [mailto:cpclark@xmission.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 12:03 AM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Aurora images? These images are so vivid that I'm wondering if they're real, "touched up", composites, and/or outright fakes. Any opinions? http://www.iww.is/art/shs/pages/thumbs.html _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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