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

RE: [Utah-astronomy] By way of introduction...
by Griffin Louis A Civ OO-ALC/MAKGBA 15 Dec '03

15 Dec '03

I'm still waiting for the clouds to clear.. I thought they were my fault for getting that new Dob. I have even upgraded my "cold weather gear ensemble" -----Original Message----- From: Richard Tenney [mailto:retenney@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 10:30 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] By way of introduction... Michael, The "gravel pit" in question is just east of Park City. Here are some directions: Take I-80 to the Park City/Kamas Exit 4. At the bottom of the exit ramp, go East towards Kamas. Take this road for 1.6 miles to the Peoa - Oakley turn-off. This turn-off will be on your left. You know you are approaching it because there are several "Deer-Crossing Ahead" signs. Since the Deer Crossing is at the turn off, the distances on the signs are also the distances to the turn-off. This is Browns Canyon, but the sign says Peoa - Oakley. Take this road for 4.2 miles, to the Park City Harper Gravel Pit road and sign on the left. (About 1000 feet before you get to the gravel pit road, there will be an orange sign on the right that says "truck entrance ahead".) At the gravel pit sign, turn in. Watch out for the speed bump at the entrance! Go about one and a half miles up this road. There is a "mobile home" weighing office off to the left. Just after the office there is a parking area (for the office), which is where we set up. There are no amenities, no toilets, and no camping. This is not a "spend the night and camp out" location. I and others have been waiting for the weather to cooperate so we can do some winter observing here. Maybe we'll get lucky in the coming week... And yes, I've only dealt with dew once or twice since I moved to Utah from Southern California in 1990. Welcome aboard, Rich --- Michael Carnes <moogiebird(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > Greetings to all. I've been a lurker on the list > for a while and now > it's time to come clean. My wife and I've recently > moved to the SLC > area (East bench, between the Cottonwoods) from > Boston. I was (still > am, actually) a member of ATMOB, the primary Boston > astronomy club. > I've recently joined SLAS, and I've already met a > few of you on the > list. I apologize for bringing New England > cloudiness with me. > Perhaps someone would be kind enough to answer just > a couple of > questions. Just where the heck is the gravel pit? > I've noticed that > gravel pits aren't exactly rare around here. > Anything I should know > before I go there? > And are there any other suggestions for winter > viewing? The slice of > sky I can see from my house isn't bad, maybe 5 mag > on a good night. But > are there any other sites where the snow isn't 3 > feet deep and I might > find some astronomical company? > Oh, and one last thing. Back in New England, you > can't observe for > more than 30 minutes without bringing out the hair > dryer (10 minutes if > you don't have a dew shield). I get the impression > that it's just a > mite easier here. > > Best to all, > Michael Carnes > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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By way of introduction...
by Michael Carnes 15 Dec '03

15 Dec '03

Greetings to all. I've been a lurker on the list for a while and now it's time to come clean. My wife and I've recently moved to the SLC area (East bench, between the Cottonwoods) from Boston. I was (still am, actually) a member of ATMOB, the primary Boston astronomy club. I've recently joined SLAS, and I've already met a few of you on the list. I apologize for bringing New England cloudiness with me. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to answer just a couple of questions. Just where the heck is the gravel pit? I've noticed that gravel pits aren't exactly rare around here. Anything I should know before I go there? And are there any other suggestions for winter viewing? The slice of sky I can see from my house isn't bad, maybe 5 mag on a good night. But are there any other sites where the snow isn't 3 feet deep and I might find some astronomical company? Oh, and one last thing. Back in New England, you can't observe for more than 30 minutes without bringing out the hair dryer (10 minutes if you don't have a dew shield). I get the impression that it's just a mite easier here. Best to all, Michael Carnes

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lens coating, removal of
by Norm Hansen 15 Dec '03

15 Dec '03

I have a couple of lenses that have an anti-glare coating. The coating Has been badly scratched, but the lenses are still in perfect shape I would like to remove the anti-glare coating, without damaging the lenses. They are plastic lenses, and have a scratch resistant coating under the anti-glare coating; the coating has a slight green color. Does anyone know if it is possible to remove this coating? By the way, these are my eyeglass lenses, not something from a telescope. Thanks in advance, Norm

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ISS may cross Sun
by Patrick Wiggins 13 Dec '03

13 Dec '03

Maybe I should address this to Chuck Hards since this is predicted to happen very near his work place. Hey Chuck, do you think you'll be working the afternoon of Sunday the 21st? On that afternoon at 14:53:46 ISS is predicted to pass directly in front of the Sun as seen from 40.8387 degrees north, 111.9342 degrees west. Put another way, that works out to Redwood Road midway between I-215 and Center Street in North Salt Lake. Weather permitting I plan on showing up with telescope, solar filter and video recorder. Anyone else wishing to show up is welcome. Patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mars closeup pics
by Jim Gibson 12 Dec '03

12 Dec '03

One other fact about mars I just happened to remember. Mars having no magnetic field leaves it vulnerable to the blast of solar winds. The cooling of the core and the resultant loss of the magnetic field is probably a leading factor in how Mars lost what atmosphere it once had. The magnetic field around the earth is a great protection against the charged particles in the solar blasts that result from solar flares as related to sun spot activity. These charged particles manifest themselves as northern/southern lights or aurora that can be seen in the polar latitudes. The forces in the solar blasts are considerable even at the distance of Mars and without a magnetic field for protection the atmosphere that was once there is believed to have been blown away. Jim --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Mars closeup pics
by Kim Hyatt 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

Joe, I'm just remembering some basic high school physics, but you're right - standing water can't exist on the surface of Mars under today's conditions due to low atmoshperic pressure. However, I don't recall that anyone has yet put a timeline to these features. If recent, the water scenario is difficult to explain. If ancient, perhaps not. I believe the November S&T recounted a reasonable alternate theory that suggests, as you do, that superheated volcanic flows such as Earth's pyroclastic flows (I hope I spelled that right) may have caused the phenomena. However, this raises a new question for me: don't the pyroclastic flows on Earth require superheated water also, or are they possible without water? Anyone know? -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 10:44 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Mars closeup pics A new subject for discussion, if anyon'e interested. In pictures like this -- http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/12/11/index.html -- we see evidence of channels on Mars that look as if water flowed fairly recently from the side of a crater. If the scale is accurate, the longest of these gullies seems to be about 800 meters long, or about half a mile. Much speculation has centered on the idea that these features, which seem to be fairly common, are evidence of water from some underground layer. The questions I have are: if water were to thaw out, wouldn't the extremely thin atmosphere cause it to evaporate immediately? Or if it somehow flowed, wouldn't it quickly freeze again? And yet whatever it is continues for half a mile. Maybe it's really water. Maybe parts of Mars are just saturated with frozen underground water that can thaw out and flow in copious quantities. But here's another possibility I've come up with -- maybe it's fine solid material that happens to be extremely slippery and flows like water. What if it's a powdery volcanic ash layer? Would that flow well enough to look like water? Or could there be a field of big round boulders that periodically come loose and go tumbling downhill? My problem with the water theory is mainly that Mars' atmospheric pressure is so low that I suspect water would boil at a very low temperature. Could anyone who knows the facts do some calculations? Any thoughts the group would like to share would interest me greatly. Thanks, friends -- Joe _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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Huygens probe
by Chuck Hards 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

I've read variously that the Huygens probe was designed to send data from the surface of Titan for only one to three minutes. Can this be true? Patrick, can you shed some light on this? I'd think that at least an hour would be required to make sure good data is recovered. TIA, C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Mars closeup pics
by Kim Hyatt 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

Family lore says that when my ancestors lived on Mars, the gullies were caused by giant ant lions who preyed on our pets. Of course, we left 'em behind when we crossed the plains and settled near a salty lake at the foot of Olympus Mons. Get the bug spray, Kim's losing it! (Been here far too long today...) -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 3:41 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Mars closeup pics The problem I see with that theory is one would expect gullies in a steep crater wall to eventually fill in with dust or collapsing sides. But maybe the craters aren't really as steep as they look in these photos. -- Joe >I think the current theory is that it was water but several million years >ago when Mars had more atmosphere. >Clear Skies >Don > >-----Original Message----- >From: utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com(a)mailman.xmission.com >[mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com@mailman.xmission.com]On >Behalf Of Chuck Hards >Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 11:53 AM >To: Utah Astronomy >Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mars closeup pics > > >Joe, liquid water would be affected more by the >atmospheric pressure than the temperature, but other >than that you've framed the debate nicely. >Unfortunately, we need more data to speculate further. > >The latest data points to massive quantities of water, >frozen as ice in the top few meters of regolith. > >Too soon to say what caused the channels IMO. > >C. > >--- Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> wrote: >> A new subject for discussion, if anyon'e interested. >> In pictures like this -- >> >> >http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/12/11/index.html >> >> -- we see evidence of channels on Mars that look as >> if water flowed >> fairly recently from the side of a crater. If the >> scale is accurate, >> the longest of these gullies seems to be about 800 >> meters long, or >> about half a mile. Much speculation has centered on >> the idea that >> these features, which seem to be fairly common, are >> evidence of water >> from some underground layer. >> >> The questions I have are: if water were to thaw out, >> wouldn't the >> extremely thin atmosphere cause it to evaporate >> immediately? Or if it >> somehow flowed, wouldn't it quickly freeze again? >> And yet whatever it >> is continues for half a mile. >> >> Maybe it's really water. Maybe parts of Mars are >> just saturated with >> frozen underground water that can thaw out and flow >> in copious >> quantities. >> >> But here's another possibility I've come up with -- >> maybe it's fine >> solid material that happens to be extremely slippery >> and flows like >> water. What if it's a powdery volcanic ash layer? >> Would that flow >> well enough to look like water? Or could there be a >> field of big >> round boulders that periodically come loose and go >> tumbling downhill? >> >> My problem with the water theory is mainly that >> Mars' atmospheric >> pressure is so low that I suspect water would boil >> at a very low >> temperature. Could anyone who knows the facts do >> some calculations? >> >> Any thoughts the group would like to share would >> interest me greatly. >> >> Thanks, friends -- Joe >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Utah-Astronomy mailing list >> Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. >http://photos.yahoo.com/ > >_______________________________________________ >Utah-Astronomy mailing list >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > > > >_______________________________________________ >Utah-Astronomy mailing list >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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Christmas sunset
by Patrick Wiggins 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

This just showed up in my in box. It refers to what we'll be seeing Christmas night. Enjoy! Patrick Christmas Sunset The presents are opened, the stockings askew. Two pounds of tofu are inside of you. Your eyelids are drooping. The Sun's going down. Christmas is over. But wait... what's that sound? The neighbors. They're shouting, "Look out to the west!" So outside you dash, along with the rest. The sky is as pink as is Santa's' nose. And right in the middle--two UFOs! Could it be an invasion by creatures from space? By now you're awake. Your heart starts to race. Run back to the house and pick up the phone. "Oh please help us please! They're coming," you moan. The voice on the line says, "Please, just relax." "There's nothing to fear. And here are the facts." "Those spaceships you see aren't spaceships, no, no." "Astronomers say it's a harmless light show." "One is called Venus, as bright as can be." "The other's the moon. So now do you see?" "Please tell your neighbors it's fine and all right." "Merry Christmas to all. And to all a good night."

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: 15x70mm binos
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 10 Dec '03

10 Dec '03

Chuck, I found this on Ebay.com for $74.95. It includes the tripod and tripod mount. <A HREF="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2970367060&category=29955">eBay item 2970367060 (Ends Dec-14-03 21:01:05 PST) - Binoculars Barska Blawkhawk 15x70mm & TRIPOD</A> Debbie

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