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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Learning the sky
by Richard Tenney 30 Mar '03

30 Mar '03

Jim, I very much enjoy reading your "journal entries"; thanks for sharing! Rich --- Jim Gibson <xajax99(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > Saturday evening I picked up my 4-year-lold grandson > and took him to Chuck E. Cheese. When we came out it > was dark and I spotted Jupiter overhead. I asked my > grandson, Do you want to go to grandpas house and > look at the stars? He said, Yeah. When we got > home I set up my 5 Meade and left the tripod legs > un-extended; just right for a 4-year-old and a > 2-step ladder with a balance bar. Then I laid out a > futon on the lawn and we laid side-by-side on the > futon with his head on my arm. As I pointed out the > Big Dipper it took me back some 55 years or so to > either 1947 or 1948. > My dad had built an extension on our house. The > extension had a flag roof and in the summer my dad > would put a couple of cots on the roof and we would > sleep outside. We could get to the roof through an > open window. This is before we moved to Hawaii. We > lived in a little village called Capitola, > California near Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz was the Coney > Island of the Pacific and had a wonderful Boardwalk > (it still does). One of the main attractions at the > Boardwalk was a huge roller coaster called The Big > Dipper! > One night as my dad and I were looking at the stars > while we were snuggled in our sleeping bags on these > cots, my dad pointed up and said, Look! Theres the > Big Dipper! I dont know a lot about astronomy but > I know there is a roller coaster up there somewhere. > After my grandson and I look at the Big Dipper for > a while we looked overhead and I pointed out Leo. He > doesnt know what a question mark is yet so I just > pointed out the shape of the head and the body. It > was just a week ago that Bruce Grim showed me M65, > M66 and M95, M96 in the same area we were looking > at. They are tuff objects to view. I am amazed that > Charles Messier could even see them; a testimony to > dark skys. > My grandson and I swung around 180 degrees. Looking > west now we could see Orion. Once shown, he could > see the pattern very well. After a while I would > point back at the pattern and ask, Whats that? > Grandson would reply, OBrian Hmm, there must be > an Irishman up there too. > After our little getting to know the sky session we > went to the telescope and toured the jewels of the > night. Jupiters four moons were all in conjunction > and pointing right at us. While we were in the > vicinity we put in the 25mm and moved slightly east > and took in M44. Grandson likes to see lots of stars > in one eyeful. Saturn is always thrilling no matter > how many times you look at it. And finely we were > trying to pull out that 4th little star in > trapezium. In a 5 and at 25mm (about 5x) it takes a > lot of squinting. I mentioned something to my > grandson about baby stars being born there. He said, > what is always on every 4-year-old's mind, What are > they going to be when they grow up? After laughing > a minute, I said, A good sun, just like you. > > Jim Gibson > > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, > live on your desktop!> _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] NGC5139
by forrell＠es.com 29 Mar '03

29 Mar '03

I have observed Omega Centauri from Skull Valley, although its very low on the horizon and only visible for a short time. -----Original Message----- From: David L Bennett [mailto:dlbennett@mac.com] Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 1:37 PM To: Astronomy in Utah Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] NGC5139 (Sorry, I hit 'send' too soon!) Jim, Debbie, et al, FYI you can see Omega Centauri from up north here. I've seen it as far north as the Rush Valley site which is about 40.25 degrees North. It 'rolls' nicely down a hill almost due south of the site. dlbennett > Can you see NGC5139 in Centarus from where you are or is it too far > down in the mud? I am thinking that one may have to go to Arizona to > see it. > _______________________ > We must be on the same wavelength. Last night, I was checking out > Omega Centauri on the Sky and Telescope interactive chart. I was > trying to figure out when it would be highest in the sky. I saw it > last year down here just > over the Arizona border. My scope was in a complete horizontal > position but > it was in the eyepiece (22 Panoptic). I guess I got lucky because I > didn't > know when the cluster was at its highest point in the sky. I just love > this > cluster. It is about the size of the full moon. M13 is about half of > it's > size. Keep in mind this NGC 5139 is at its highest when Spica is at its > highest. If you haven't seen this cluster, I'd suggest coming down to > St. > George this spring. Also check out the Centaurus A galaxy. It is > higher up in the sky than the Omega Centauri cluster. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] SLAS meeting?
by Kim Hyatt 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

VonDel last spoke at SLAs about 10 years ago. He was not well-received by most, probably for many of the same reasons you have cited. I, however, enjoyed the presentation. This has been a stimulating discussion, anyway. Sorry, I should have clarified that by "sports" I meant spectator events, not participation for fun. The only spectator sport I enjoy is fencing, and the sports I participate in are all outdoor recreation oriented. -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 4:09 PM To: Astronomy in Utah Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] SLAS meeting? --- Kim Hyatt <khyatt(a)smithlayton.com> wrote: > Chuck, it seems to me that to be consistent, one > would have to take the same > kind of position on any study of the past. I don't > know if that is your view > - if so, forgive me but it seems more than a little > narrow-minded. I don't see a refusal to consider myth, poor "artwork" and superstition being on-par with historical study, to be inconsistent. It WOULD be inconsistent to lump faith and unsubstantiated beliefs with any kind of science. I can appreciate your view Kim, it's just not the optimal view, from where I'm standing. You have a thirst for all knowledge, regardless of tangent, and that is infinitely prefferable to ignorance. I'm not writing out of a gut feel. I have studied this field quite a bit, read a lot of books on many aspects of it, gone to field-school, visited sites, and participated in "digs". Any ties between modern astronomy and archeoastronomy are strictly semantic. Has SLAS asked Von del Chamberlain to speak? He's one of the country's foremost authorities on this subject, and right in our own backyard, last time I checked. > I feel about sports the way you do about > archaeoastronomy. I find NO merit > in sports, "professional" or otherwise. Well we sort-of agree here. I find no merit in professional "spectator" sports. Sports for fun and excercise, that is, participation sport, has quite a bit of merit. Those who participate in sports, on average, tend to live longer, healthier lives than those who don't. C. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] NGC5139
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

At that latitude, Omega Centauri is only 3 degrees above the horizon. At my 37 degree latitude, it is 6 degrees above the horizon. I'll bet it looks good at the Grand Canyon. I like to go as far south as possible to get a good view. Debbie

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Tonite's SLAS Messier Marathon
by Greg Taylor 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

To all who plan on attending, If it continues to clear out, I will probably be there. There is one problem, I will be rather late. (say 10pm) I know that I'll miss the start of it, but I still want to go. Does anyone have any objection to my arriving so late? (I promise to only use my parking lights within 100+yards of anyone with a scope) Greg __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT Fencing
by RStmarie＠aol.com 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

What is right of way?

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Chicago Meteor
by Kim Hyatt 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

Good question. I'm no science whiz either, but this is just the kind of object we think we would be looking for at the Salt Flats. I suspect it was traveling at terminal velocity, say 120-150 miles per hour. -----Original Message----- From: David Dunn [mailto:david.dunn@albertsons.com] Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 9:41 AM To: &Astro (E-mail) Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Chicago Meteor I realise that I am physics and math challenged, How fast would the 5 or 6 lb meteor that hit the house in Park Forest have been going? Thanks. David Dunn 801-961-3253 _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] OT Fencing
by Kim Hyatt 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

Yes, they are three different events. Foil and epee are very similar; both are stabbing weapons. The differences are mainly in the scoring. Foil scores only with hits to the torso, while any hit to the body with epee is legal - face (mask), throat, groin, big toe, etc. You also don't need to establish the right-of-way with epee. With foil, if you don't have the right-of-way, even though you give your opponent a good solid hit, you don't score. Saber is a slashing weapon. Other than that, I can't tell you much about it. I know absolutely nothing about Oriental sports. -----Original Message----- From: RStmarie(a)aol.com [mailto:RStmarie@aol.com] Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 9:29 AM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT Fencing Kim, Are not foil, epee, and sabre three different sports? And have you ever tried Kendo? I had a friend try Kendo and he said it was like getting hit in the head with a stick, hard, frequently, until you learned how to defend yourself. I tried foil with a friend and it is an amazing workout, like doing sprints. Bob

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Chicago Meteor
by David Dunn 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

I realise that I am physics and math challenged, How fast would the 5 or 6 lb meteor that hit the house in Park Forest have been going? Thanks. David Dunn 801-961-3253

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT Fencing
by RStmarie＠aol.com 28 Mar '03

28 Mar '03

Kim, Are not foil, epee, and sabre three different sports? And have you ever tried Kendo? I had a friend try Kendo and he said it was like getting hit in the head with a stick, hard, frequently, until you learned how to defend yourself. I tried foil with a friend and it is an amazing workout, like doing sprints. Bob

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