February 2004 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Party Trained
by David Bennett 15 Feb '04

15 Feb '04

The Rush Valley site is pretty dark for being so close to the Wasatch Front...the worst sky glow (after Salt Lake's) is the Orem/Provo glow to the SE. There are a few direct lights from the Toole Army Depot that can be fairly anoying to the North. (Park your vehicle to the north of you to block what you can.) Overhead and to the West, South and SW are great. Rush Valley is one of the local places I've been able to glimpse M81 unaided eye under conditions of excellent transperancy. The seeing can be quite good at times as well. Dave On Sunday, February 15, 2004, at 12:13PM, Paul C Johnson <pjohnson(a)xmission.com> wrote: > ><<Original Attached>>_______________________________________________ >Utah-Astronomy mailing list >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > >

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Party Trained
by Paul C Johnson 15 Feb '04

15 Feb '04

This is a question I have had for a while. How dark is the Rush Valley site? Does the chemical weapons plant pollute the sky there? I have done some observing near Mercur and I can easily see sky glow from the plant. Is the Rush Valley site far enough away that there is no sky glow? -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+pjohnson=xmission.com(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+pjohnson=xmission.com@mailman.xmission.co m] On Behalf Of Jim Gibson Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 9:29 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Party Trained I was in training last night for the upcoming Star Party. I am now party trained. As the sun was low in the sky last evening I noticed it had cleared up considerably. I got the sudden urge to view bright objects in a sea of darkness. I loaded up all my gear including cold weather gear and head out for the Rush Valley site. Wish I could have given some of you other die hards (no relation to Chuck Hards) notice. I would love to have had company. Even if I did, I would probably be the only idiot out there. I knew I was going to be standing in the snow and sure enough there has been little melt-off in the valley. Undeterred (which comes from lack of several things including experience, and brains) I set up my Chuck Hards Weightless mount upon which sat an Orion 80mm ED. Securely affixed to the scope is a 9X50mm right angle finder scope. This is interesting - a 50mm finder scope for a 80mm scope, oh well - moving on. Well dressed for the occasion with snow boots, insulated coveralls, gloves and hat I went right for the juggler, the comet T7. Ooh how beautiful dark skies are. I could not get over how black looking the sky was. Having seen the comet T7 the night before I quickly found Gamma Pegusi in relation to Venus. Looking along the corner of my star diagonal I pointed the scope toward Gamma Pegusi. Peering through the finder scope revealed the comet in the same field as the star although the comet was only a faint haze. With a 13mm Nagler type 6 (46x) the comet was plainly visible but not as good a view as I had through my 12.5" Dob the night before, but none-the-less still a great view. I spent some time on this object, using averted vision, and just staring at it for a long time. I think because I had seen it so well the night before I could see things I would have missed if this were the first time looking at it. The head was harder to see but I could still remember where it was and as I concentrated on it I could detect a concentration of brightness inset in the round broad wake at the front; the tail broad and short. Satisfied with that and looking around my mind and hart ran wild with all that there was in the winter sky. Not to belabor all that there is to see, I will just mention a few highlights. Nothing extraordinary you understand, just things that surprised me. First off, I really liked the way the Weightless mount and Orion ED work together. I found myself quickly finding Messier objects left and right with the method already described although a red dot finder would have been nice. I could not resist the call of M42/M43. With the 13mm Nagler the nebulosity clearly exceeded the filed of view, although I couldn't quite bring out the 4th star in trapezium. I replaced the Nagler with a 9mm UO (University Optics) and that 4th little star came out sharp as a tack. That was cool. I remember in a previous post I prided myself on finding M44 from my front yard in Pleasant Grove while Cancer was in total blackness. Now I could see M44 naked eye. Of course we had to stop there and I had to reminder myself where the beehive is, at least to my mind. I also stopped at m33, but I didn't have enough optics to see NGC 604, and even though I know about where it is, I couldn't see enough structure to guess where it was. I spent some time just trying to detect structure, but all I could see was a pretty little fuzzy. Although I brought a thermometer, I didn't immediately check it because temperature was not a concern at first. After about an hour and a half my hands started getting cold, so I check the thermometer and it was 6 degrees, then 5. I figured that I had been party trained enough for one night. I packed up and left with satisfaction glowing in chest and a smile on my frozen lips. Jim _____ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance: Get <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=22055/*http:/taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html> your refund fast by filing online

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Bryce Canyon star party help wanted
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Feb '04

15 Feb '04

I plan on running this in News in a few days but thought I'd run it here first to see if I get any takers. Patrick Bryce Canyon Star Party Help Wanted I'm working with a private foundation to secure funding for someone to help me with my programs at Bryce Canyon National Park this year. This year's programs will be on the nights of Friday 21 May, Wednesday 21 July, Thursday 19 August, Friday 17 September and Monday 18 October. Right now it looks like the helper would receive admission to the park, overnight accommodations (either a campsite or cabin) $10 for dinner money and $50 for gas money (if traveling from the SLC area). The helper needs to supply their own transportation and scope and be able to simultaneously run the scope they bring plus up to 2 manual Schmidt-Cassegrains. They must also be able to interact with and reply to questions from the public during a two hour star party. Ideally I'd like to have the same helper for all 5 events. If interested, please let me know.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Char Orientation
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 14 Feb '04

14 Feb '04

Jim, The stars of Andromeda, Alpheratz, always point to Perseus or east in relation to the celestial coordinates. From Beta Andromeda, I always go north towards the "W", Cassiopea. Also, if you rotate your chart right or clockwise, it will match the sky. Tr Try using the Sky and Telescope Interactive Sky Chart. I think it is a neat program. Hope this makes sense. Debbie

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1st drop carried out today
by Patrick Wiggins 13 Feb '04

13 Feb '04

http://planet.state.ut.us/METEOR01.HTML Patrick

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Care to donate to SPOC? :-)
by Patrick Wiggins 13 Feb '04

13 Feb '04

http://www.astronomics.com/main/news.asp?id=104 Perhaps we could get two and make them into binoculars? Patrick

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Mars spheres in 3D
by Patrick Wiggins 12 Feb '04

12 Feb '04

ttp://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040212a/09-ml-5-p… Patrick

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Fw: Better than Fifty four dollar scam
by GeyserGuy＠comcast.net 12 Feb '04

12 Feb '04

Hi all, I have always thought the Star Registry was a scam. But to any readers who do not think so, I have a new deal. This is a joke and should be taken as one, (just like the Star Registry) For just $100, I will name a Mars rock in your name or the name of one of your loved ones. You will receive the satisfaction of knowing that you have a piece of dirt named after you on a distant planet. And it will be recorded in some unknown format at the official Mars Copyright Office. When you look up at that small, red planet, you can say "I have my name on a piece of dirt on Mars, and they just took a picture of it for me." Please do not send cash. Mark K.

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Naming Stars.
by Kim Hyatt 12 Feb '04

12 Feb '04

for Joe Bauman: Any thoughts on writing a piece to warn unsuspecting victims of these scams? -----Original Message----- From: DunnDave(a)aol.com [mailto:DunnDave@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 6:47 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)lists.xmission.com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Naming Stars. Here is an interesting article that I found on naming stars. It has some interesting links at the bottom. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mystery_monday_030915.html <http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mystery_monday_030915.html>

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Sun Tunnels pulled off eBay
by Patrick Wiggins 12 Feb '04

12 Feb '04

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view2/1,4382,590042713,00.html?textfield=tunnels

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