November 2005 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Fwd: Texas Star Party
by Richard Tenney 28 Nov '05

28 Nov '05

--- tsprooms(a)texasstarparty.org wrote: > From: tsprooms(a)texasstarparty.org > To: retenney(a)yahoo.com > Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 08:37:08 -0600 > Subject: Texas Star Party > > 2006 Texas Star Party - Sign up Now! > > The great tradition of dark sky observing continues > with the 28th Annual TEXAS STAR PARTY, April 23 - > 30, 2006! > > TSP WILL NOT BE MAILING A FLYER this year, so keep > this e-mail or print it out! > > 1. You should submit a Registration/Reservation > Request Form to ENTER THE TSP DRAWING before January > 14, 2005. This will provide you the highest possible > chance of being selected as one of the 700 people > who will be able to attend TSP this year. > http://www.texasstarparty.org/draw.html > > or fill out the Request Form immediately at: > http://www.alphadata.net/cgi-bin/forms/forms.cgi?form=3 > > READ THE REST OF THIS E-MAIL BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR > REQUEST. > > 2. Participants at the TEXAS STAR PARTY can select > from a variety of accommodations on the Prude Ranch, > including bunkhouses, private cabins, trailer > hookups, and campsites with convenient bathhouses. > All accommodations include access to a TV lounge, a > western-style dining room, and an indoor swimming > pool. And of course the convenience of the observing > fields! > > For rates and more information on ranch and nearby > accommodations please visit: > http://www.texasstarparty.org/travel.html > > 3. The TSP Registration Fee (DOES NOT INCLUDE your > accommodations ) is $50/person if you preregister > before March 25, 2006. (Each additional family > member is just $30 more.) For more information > about TSP Registration rates and policies, visit: > http://www.texasstarparty.org/tspreg.html > > The drawing for names is in late January, and if > your name is drawn you will get a TSP Registration > Form (and optional Prude Ranch Reservation Form) to > send in with your payments in February/March. > > SIGN UP NOW! > > Questions? Visit our website for the latest and > complete details! > http://www.texasstarparty.org/ > > We look forward to seeing you next April! > > Sincerely, > the volunteers for Texas Star Party > __________________________________ Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Polar Alignment and RA/Dec Drift
by Naz & David 28 Nov '05

28 Nov '05

Thanks Daniel, I'm not sure if it reduces to just coordinate translation but good luck. I'd be interested to see what you come up with. Here's an interesting essay http://www.stargazing.net/yizen/fieldrotation.html Cheers David

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Re: Laser test
by Chuck Hards 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

I got a call from SLAS President-elect Lowell Lyon this morning, and he is interested in attaching the green laser pointer comparison test to the club Messier Marathon at the end of March, at the SPOC facility. He's already booked speakers for the SLAS general meetings for the entire year, also since there is a possibility that the meeting location could change, there is no guarantee that the new site will be as favorable to the laser test as the current location (lights easily turned-down or off). This is very preliminary. The official notice will be in the NOVA and/or on the SLAS Website, from club officers. I'm just mentioning it here because Lowell is currently not a list member. I'm also willing to loan the test stand and screen to the Odgen or Utah Valley club if you folks would like to do your own comparisons. You'd have to supply your own laser pointers. The test stand accomodates standard 1/2" dia. x 6" long pointers (approx). I can also supply a copy of my evaluation form for you to make dupes of for the participants, or you can design your own. __________________________________ Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Polar Alignment and RA/Dec Drift
by daniel turner 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

David: IÂm currently slogging through the trig of coordinate translation and I think the problem can be framed as a version of translation between any two coordinate systems that are misaligned by an know angle. Epsilon = obliquity or angle between the pole of ecliptic and the north pole Alpha = right ascension Delta= declination Lambda= ecliptic longitude Beta= ecliptic latitude Then Tan(lambda) = (sin(alpha)*cos(epsilon)+tan(delta)*sin(epsilon))/cos(alpha) Sin(beta)= sin(delta)*cos(epsilon)-cos(delta)*sin(epsilon)*sin(alpha) And the reverse equasions are Tan(alpha) = (sin(lambda)*cos(epsilon)-tan(beta)*sin(epsilon))/cos(lambda) Sin(delta) = sin(beta)*cos(epsilon)+cos(beta)*sin(epsilon)*sin(lambda) When the obliquity is very small, like the size of the usual polar alignment error, the first and third equasions tend towards lambda = alpha meaning the error in right ascension would be very near zero for most polar alignment errors. Daniel Turner __________________________________ Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/

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remove me from your email list
by albert knudson 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

please take me off your list. i get 55 e mails from every person on the list. thank you _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Polar Alignment and RA/Dec Drift
by Naz_David 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

Thanks Kurt, I had a look at the Covington applet which I had not seen. I guess the Dec drift and field rotation calculation here assumes that any RA drift is being corrected ie for photography, which is not quite what I'm after. I'll downloaded your spreadsheet and will see if I can get a hold of that S&T article - sounds interesting. I don't have that issue so will need to visit the library I guess. Thanks for the info! Cheers David

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Polar Alignment and RA/Dec Drift
by Naz_David 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

Hello group, I recently got myself a new controller and motors (Boxdeorfer MTS3-SDI and Astromeccanica AM-V's) to replace my dead Vixen DD-1 and have been fussing about with drift measurements and PEC training. I'm using a webcam at f36 on my 180mm MCT so can really see errors in polar alignment and periodic error in my GP-DX mount and have been intrigued by the amount of R.A. drift due to poor alignment, not as much as drift in Dec but still very significant. I was wondering if anyone is aware of the derivation of R.A. and Dec drift rates for a particular location and define altitude and azimuth error on polar alignment? There's lots of qualitative discussion, mostly to do with the "drift polar aligment" procedure and field rotation but I'm interested in a detailed reduction of the problem ie for a particular star, assuming perfect sideral tracking rate, what R.A. and Dec drift should be expected for a defined polar alignment error. Calculating in reverse would be nice as well ie from an observed R.A. and Dec drift rate for a star, what polar alt-az alignment error exists? It would be kind of nice to be able to adjust these at the mount wouldn't it :) If I could get hold of the math then I might modify my mount to accomodate this. Cheers David

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remove me from your email list
by albert knudson 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

please take me off your list. i get 55 e mails from every person on the list. thank you _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

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SPOC pictures, astronomy slides/trays
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Nov '05

26 Nov '05

#1 SPOC Pictures After gathering all of the images of SPOC's construction I could find, I've organized them and posted them at http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/slas/PW.HTML . I invite all nit pickers out there to go through them and let me know about any bad links or other problems. #2 Astro Pix Over the years I've amassed a collection of hundreds of 35mm slides of professional astronomical photos. Most are from the old Hale Observatories, some are from Kitt Peak and a smattering of others. I have not used them in years and am considering donating them to some organization that can use and appreciate them. Any suggestions? #3 Slide trays Over even more years I've shot thousands of slides about 8,000 of which are currently stored in about 100 Kodak Carousel slide trays (80 slide version). I'm going to move the slides to slides pages which means I'm going to have a whole bunch of empty slide trays hanging around taking up space. Any offers? Patrick

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Re: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M52- Cassiopeia's richest open cluster
by astrodeb＠charter.net 26 Nov '05

26 Nov '05

I got rid of most of the hot pixels in my M52 image today. Here is the cleaner version of M52. http://www.utahastronomy.com/astrodeb/M52Image2 Debbie > > From: Edward Lunt <lunco(a)yahoo.com> > Date: 2005/11/23 Wed AM 10:50:58 MST > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M52- Cassiopeia's richest open cluster > > Nice shot Deb. > Thanks for sharing > Ed L > > --- astrodeb(a)charter.net wrote: > > > I justed posted my M52 image taken on Sunday night. > > It is located at: > > http://www.utahastronomy.com/astrodeb/M52 > > The winter sky is just full of these rich clusters. > > > > Debbie > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page! > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs > > _______________________________________________ > 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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