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

Re: Winter observing
by Chuck Hards 28 Dec '05

28 Dec '05

Rich, I tried ski bibs and snowmobile suits at first, but the "vvvt-vvvt" sound when moving eventually got to me- that's when I discovered the insulated overalls in the mid-'80's. And a flannel liner is easier on the skin than Gore-tex or nylon, for sure. My pair has flapped slits for access to pants pockets without taking off the coveralls, as well as lots of external, zippered pockets for flashlights, cell phone, glasses, tools, etc. And the coveralls make bathroom breaks too easy. One zipper, that's all. Besides Amazon, I believe most military BX's (of any branch) carry the Navy watch cap, if you know someone with a card who would be willing to pick one up for you- that's how I got mine. > From: Richard Tenney <retenney(a)yahoo.com> > Thanks for the suggestions Chuck. I defnitely > second > the insulated overalls -- I have a pair of Carharts > (you can get them at IFA or Cal Ranch) and they are > excellent. The wool Navy watch cap sounds like a > great idea. Amazon.com has them for $5.50 plus > shipping. Being comfortable makes all the > difference > in the world. __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL Â Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com

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Gif movie of compiled Venus pics
by Canopus56 27 Dec '05

27 Dec '05

Spaceweather.com is currently (12/27) featuring a composite gif by an amateur who took photos of Venus from Dec. 2003 through Dec. 2005 and then assembled them into a movie gif. - http://spaceweather.com/swpod2005/26dec05/wah1.gif in - http://spaceweather.com/ If you haven't seen it, it's worth a look. - Canopus56 The individual pics are in a strip at: http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/26dec05/wah_strip.jpg __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL Â Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com

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Winter observing
by Chuck Hards 27 Dec '05

27 Dec '05

Here's a few suggestions gleaned from decades of all-season observing. Dress for low temperatures. This doesn't mean just a parka and gloves, while still wearing the Dockers and loafers you had on at the office earlier. Wear thermal underwear, or at least a substantial, comfortable layer under an insulated outer layer. I prefer insulated overalls, the kind diesel mechanics wear when working outdoors in winter in Rock Springs. If you get the right kind, you can even dispense with the parka in sub-zero temps. I also wear a wool Navy watch cap, and not just so I can look like Guy but that's a bonus according to him. Keeping your head covered and insulated is important. You can also pull it down over your ears. I have never found a hat of similar weight that kept my head as warm as a wool watch cap. I have a pair of fingerless gloves so I have sufficient dexterity with those expensive eyepieces. I can wear a heavier glove on my non-dominant left hand if it's really cold and shove my right hand into a pocket with a hand warmer occasionally if I need to keep it free of the cumbersome full glove. For footwear I seldom need more than a pair of wool socks in addition to a pair of electric socks, with my ubiquitious sorbothane insoles in hiking shoes. If you get cold feet easily, substitute snowmobile boots for the hikers. Right now the air is fairly clean, after a storm. Head out tonight! Turbulence is only a problem if the flow is not laminar. Laminar flows disturb the images relatively little...this is why a fan blowing across the face of your mirror is sometimes preferable to one blowing around from the backside. This means find a hill that faces the prevailing wind direction, with as few ground-level obstructions as possible upwind for as great a distance as possible. Still air is usually found at the bottom of an inversion, but that is the time you want to seek higher altitude. Deep-sky objects won't take much muck in the air, but surprisingly, planetary views are sometimes excellent under these conditions. These are just some basics, there are more hints and tips for winter observing, some specific to certain types of equipment, locations, etc. I hope they help. There is really no need to be uncomfortable in even the coldest temperatures. I have observed at near zero-F in relative comfort- meaning no more than hourly stints at the eyepiece followed by a warming session in a darkened car or cabin, then back out again to repeat the cycle. Keep the lights off when warming so you don't waste time re-adapting to the dark. Remember that bad weather and lousy skies can happen at any time of year, so it's rather unfair to complain about winter skies at large. Someone already posted that winter skies can be the best, and this is very true. How about others posting their suggestions for successful winter observing/imaging? __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/

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Re: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M34 Image posted
by astrodeb＠charter.net 27 Dec '05

27 Dec '05

On Christmas Eve, I went out to LaVerkin to do some stargazing through my 15" scope. It was pretty warm for December although it was hazy. I've never been confortable in December but it has been rather balmy lately. I only stayed till 10:45 pm before driving home. We saw the "e" and "f" stars in the Trapezium. I also found Hind's Crimson star. This star is a carbon variable star and it is one of the reddest "bright" stars in the sky. Also got a peek at the "Christmas Tree Cluster". It was too hazy to see the "Cone Nebula". Debbie > > From: Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes(a)earthlink.net> > Date: 2005/12/27 Tue AM 09:17:37 MST > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M34 Image posted > > Although I guess I've turned into a sissy out here, in my New England > days 30 degrees was quite mild. Many school star parties were > conducted in sub-freezing weather. It would not be the least bit > unusual for a group of folks to observe in single-digit weather. In > the Northeast those are the most transparent skies of the year. > Here there's so much schmutz in the winter air, you don't need a > whole lot of thermal discouragement to just bag it and stay indoors. > > > On Dec 27, 2005, at 8:43 AM, Joe Bauman wrote: > > > Don't ruin my fantasy! I always imaging what it'd be like to visit > > our son in Tucson for a while and do astronomy in the desert > > nearby! Thanks, Joe > > > >> I live in southeastern Arizona and I don't think it's warm enough > >> to stand being outside at night (teens to low 30s). It's better > >> in the summer, but then it's almost too hot. It feels downright > >> weird to be outside at 1:00 am, sweating, with the temperature > >> still being 95 or so. > >> > >> Joe Bauman wrote: > >> > >>> Beautiful, Deb! But don't you realize it's UINFAIR to take > >>> astronomical photos in the winter just 'cause you live in > >>> southern Utah where it's warm enough to stand being outside at > >>> night? -- Best wishes, Joe > >>> > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Today's Spica graze results
by Patrick Wiggins 27 Dec '05

27 Dec '05

This will be in Tuesday's News, but I thought some of you here might like a preview. Here are links to a video I shot near Delta this morning of the Spica graze: http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/SPICA25DEC2005.MOV (1 MB) http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/SPICA25DEC2005.AVI (10 MB) From my location the graze lasted about 2:10 but to keep the file size as small as possible I edited out the sections where nothing was happening and converted it to two different formats. Video runs about 47 seconds. Both links go to the same video, the only difference is the format. Mac users should be able to play both versions but those with non-Mac boxes will probably have to go with the larger AVI file (although I have heard from 2 Windoze users who have been able to run the MOV videos I posted the other day). It was a fun trip but I did find it a bit odd going to bed at 1:00 this afternoon. Patrick

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M34 Image posted
by astrodeb＠charter.net 27 Dec '05

27 Dec '05

Hi, I posted my M34 image a couple of weeks ago but forgot to tell anyone. M34 is often overlooked because of the brighter Double Cluster in Perseus. I took this on the same night that I took the M52 image. I only got 15 minutes exposure time because of the moon rising and the fact that the memory card filled up. Next time, I'd like to double or triple the exposure time to get a better image. Anyway, I hope you like it. www.utahastronomy.com/astrodeb/M34Image1 Debbie

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Re: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M34 Image posted
by astrodeb＠charter.net 27 Dec '05

27 Dec '05

Yes it does. I found a picture of it on the AOP website. This star is a real "smoking gun". http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/rleporis.html Debbie > > From: Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes(a)earthlink.net> > Date: 2005/12/27 Tue AM 10:17:14 MST > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M34 Image posted > > >I also found Hind's Crimson star. This star is a carbon variable > star and it is one of the reddest "bright" stars in the sky. Also got > a peek at the "Christmas Tree Cluster". It was too hazy to see the > "Cone >Nebula". > > Yeah, that one's a beauty. It's also known as R Leporis, has a > carbon shell and varies over several orders of magnitude. At its > brightest it might just get to naked eye visibility in a decent sky. > Looks like a ruby, doesn't it? > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Fwd: [Fwd: [OSP] January 15, 2006 - Stardust SRC Reentry Observing Campaign]
by Richard Tenney 24 Dec '05

24 Dec '05

Got this today from Mark Dakins -- don't know if there's anything new here, but thought I'd pass it along just in case... Rich --- Mark Dakins <mdakins(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:34:41 -0800 > From: Mark Dakins <mdakins(a)earthlink.net> > To: retenney(a)yahoo.com > Subject: [Fwd: [OSP] January 15, 2006 - Stardust SRC > Reentry Observing Campaign] > > Rich > > It seems likely to me that you and the slas folk > have already heard of > this, but just in case, pass this along to slas and > uvaa and anbody else > you can think of. It's a little too far away for me > to try to get to > this time of year, but I wish I could. > > > Mark > > -------- Original Message -------- > From: - Fri Dec 23 17:29:24 2005 > X-UIDL: 1ePXQJ7DL3Nl34h0 > X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 > X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > Status: U > Return-Path: <osp-bounces(a)tire.patch.com> > Received: from tire.patch.com ([66.93.39.87]) by > mx-mastin.atl.sa.earthlink.net (EarthLink SMTP > Server) with ESMTP id > 1ePXQJ7DL3Nl34h0 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 20:05:29 -0500 > (EST) > Received: from tire.patch.com (localhost.localdomain > [127.0.0.1]) by > tire.patch.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1746857D2BA; > Fri, 23 Dec 2005 > 17:00:34 -0800 (PST) > X-Original-To: osp(a)tire.patch.com > Delivered-To: osp(a)tire.patch.com > Received: from mail.whiteoaks.com > (bdsl.66.15.94.96.gte.net > [66.15.94.96]) by tire.patch.com (Postfix) with > ESMTP id DA33457D261 for > <osp(a)tire.patch.com>; Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:00:32 > -0800 (PST) > Received: from [192.168.2.101] > (bdsl.66.15.94.100.gte.net > [66.15.94.100]) (using TLSv1 with cipher > DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 > bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by > mail.whiteoaks.com > (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8E6BE8F7A for > <osp(a)tire.patch.com>; Fri, 23 Dec > 2005 17:05:21 -0800 (PST) > Message-ID: <43AC9ECF.4050203(a)whiteoaks.com> > Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:05:19 -0800 > From: Jane Houston Jones <jane(a)whiteoaks.com> > User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 > (Windows/20041206) > X-Accept-Language: en-us, en > MIME-Version: 1.0 > To: Oregon Star Party <osp(a)tire.patch.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; > format=flowed > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Subject: [OSP] January 15, 2006 - Stardust SRC > Reentry Observing Campaign > X-BeenThere: osp(a)tire.patch.com > X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 > Precedence: list > Reply-To: Oregon Star Party Discussion > <osp(a)tire.patch.com> > List-Id: Oregon Star Party Discussion > <osp.tire.patch.com> > List-Unsubscribe: > <http://tire.patch.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/osp>, > > <mailto:osp-request@tire.patch.com?subject=unsubscribe> > List-Archive: <http://tire.patch.com/pipermail/osp> > List-Post: <mailto:osp@tire.patch.com> > List-Help: > <mailto:osp-request@tire.patch.com?subject=help> > List-Subscribe: > <http://tire.patch.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/osp>, > > <mailto:osp-request@tire.patch.com?subject=subscribe> > Sender: osp-bounces(a)tire.patch.com > Errors-To: osp-bounces(a)tire.patch.com > X-ELNK-AV: 0 > X-NAS-Language: English > X-NAS-Bayes: #0: 8.02313E-180; #1: 1 > X-NAS-Classification: 0 > X-NAS-MessageID: 5254 > X-NAS-Validation: > {B8DD470C-8ACE-450C-9DE3-965C3F74A7A5} > > Dear OSP 2005 participants, I thought the most > efficient way to get this > announcments out to amateur astronomers and imagers > in the northwest was > to send it once to this OSP list, and ask you to > pass it on to the > appropriate astronomy clubs. Many of you are in the > Rose City > Astronomers, but you also have all those wonderful > connections with > clubs or club members in OR, WA, ID, NV, UT. I sent > this out myself to > the northern California clubs. I compiled this > information on behalf of > the Stardust Sample Return Capsule (SRC) Observing > Campaign PI, Dr. > Peter Jenniskens. > > Begin announcement > > Amateur observers and the general public may > be able to to view or hear the Stardust reentry on > Jan 15, > 2006 at about 1:56:39 PST (Pacific Standard Time). > > If you live in Northern California, Oregon, > Washington, > Northern Nevada, Southern Idaho or Western Utah you > should be able to see some part of this man made > meteor. > The closer you live to the trajectory, which runs > from > Crescent City California, and then through > Winnemucca and > Elko Nevada, and finally to Western Utah, the higher > in the sky > it will be. > > An airborne and ground observing campaign to test > thermal > protection systems in the fastest reentries since > Apollo and > probe the delivery of organics for life's origin by > measuring > the physical conditions during reentry is underway. > Here is > the mission website: > http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/. > > The Stardust SRC (Sample Return Capsule) Principal > Investigator Dr. Peter Jenniskens has compiled an > informative > entry viewing page. On this page you'll find out > where the best > viewing spots are and also see finder charts for > selected cities. > There is also a registration page for interested > observers, plus > video and digital camera instructions page > explaining what is > required for imagers. Here is that page: > http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingforum.html > > If you are interested in participating, the team is > looking for video, still and telescopic observation > reports. If you > are interested there is an observation form, and a > list of > registered observers will soon be added here: > http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/registrationobserver.html. > > The view from each location will be different, with > the > brightness falling off when the object passes by and > then is > seen from behind. Researchers are interested in > learning how > the light falls off when the capsule passes by. > There is interest > too in viewing the capsule pass in front of the > near-full Moon > through telescopes and, perhaps, see the hot air > wake expand > and move in upper atmosphere winds. > > If you have any questions, please send them to the > SRC > Observing Campaign mailbox which you will find at > the top of > this page: > http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/ > > Jane, on behalf of Dr. Peter Jenniskens > > -- > Jane Houston Jones > Monrovia, CA > 34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet > http://www.whiteoaks.com > Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org > > _______________________________________________ > OSP mailing list > OSP(a)tire.patch.com > http://tire.patch.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/osp > > Change your list subscription at > http://mail.patch.com/mailman/listinfo/osp#subscribers > > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: Stardust capsule retun 1/15/2006 - photograph?
by Canopus56 24 Dec '05

24 Dec '05

--- Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)trilobyte.net> wrote offline: > FYI, > I've attached an image showing the craft's path > across the sky as seen from the Wendover airport. > Patrick Thanks. That looks like there's some (but a small) chance of seeing the last of the reentry fireball just as its coming up over the horizon - as it's streaking through Tau and Ori. The chart shows a fast track - about 140-160 degrees of arc (az 300 to az 160 ) in 1 min 40 secs (100 secs). The track starts at about 20 degs above the horizon. Assuming the vehicle is at 100km altitude when it is first visible, it is about 250 kilometers downrange. That means its average speed over the 100 secs shown on the track is 2.5 kilometers per second or about 5,600 mph. Although I can't say if the fireball will be visible, it looks like there is a good chance that there will be a sonic boom. The Moon shown at alt 60, az 225, is one day away from quarter phase. Looks like you'll still need the night vision goggles to see the parachute. -:) - Canopus56 (Kurt) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Science and the private life of teaspoons
by Patrick Wiggins 23 Dec '05

23 Dec '05

A bit of humor for a dreary day: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1435026 And then there's the latest from the "Buttars churn": http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635171066,00.html Patrick

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