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

Re: Telescope power
by Chuck Hards 12 Sep '05

12 Sep '05

This will work for exactly three amateur astronomers out of the hundreds I have met. None of the rest will generate enough power from the two-meter "hike" from the back of the vehicle to the telescope. ;) > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)trilobyte.net> > > Here's a novel way of powering a telescope: > > http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2005/0908bp.shtml __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity Warning Issued
by Chuck Hards 12 Sep '05

12 Sep '05

Again, I hate to sound, in your words, jaded, but those are "cute", and, no, not really what I mean. Those shots convey a tiny fraction of the best aurora I have seen. Kim posted on Friday some of his memories of the display of March 30-31, 2001- that's the "Big One", I believe, that I referred to. Yes, pretty much most of the entire sky, horizon to horizon, pulsating colors. Yellow, red, green, white, purple. Shimmering curtains, rays, glowing patches, changing and morphing in a constant dance of electric explosions of color. Like the whole sky was a huge, moving UV poster in a head shop, Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds on a cosmic scale. And it literally swamped the light pollution over the valley. So please, I ask forgiveness if lesser displays can't pry me out of bed. > From: Canopus56 <canopus56(a)yahoo.com> > You mean like this - > CME 10/23/2004 Little Mtn. > Or maybe looking through your binoculars and seeing > 30 > degree glowing spheres appearing and disappearing > every 30 seconds like this - > > CME 2005/05/15 Little Mtn. __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: Generators
by Chuck Hards 12 Sep '05

12 Sep '05

You could power all of Stansbury with that sucker. ;) > From: diveboss(a)xmission.com > Should have said something earlier. I have a 15000 > watt industrial unit I'm > selling. 20 HP motor, wheels, it's cool... ______________________________________________________ Yahoo! for Good Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity Warning Issued
by Chuck Hards 12 Sep '05

12 Sep '05

Jaded? Hardly! But I just don't have the time available to dash out on a moment's notice- not that I wouldn't if I could- but with non-astronomical obligations pretty much filling-up the schedule- years in advance- I find I must limit my astronomy time to the really big displays, the rare events. One day, the kid will be raised, the house will be done, the job will be a lot less demanding. THEN I'll be able to join those of you with all the free time. I suspect most folks in this hobby fall into my category, really...there are very few, percentage-wise, who are able to structure major chunks of their time around astronomy...and stay married... Too, it's been tough for me, starting at a young age, when I had no responsibilities and actually pursued the hobby like you do now. Then life got in the way... Me, an old man? Aren't you actually older than I am? It's the running that lets me get by on 5 hours of sleep a night, and not cut my hand off in an industrial accident! ;) > From: Canopus56 <canopus56(a)yahoo.com> > Jaded, just jaded, old man. Your're probably just > too > tired from all that exercise you've been doing. -:) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: Re: [Utah-astronomy] AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity Warning Issued
by astrodeb＠charter.net 12 Sep '05

12 Sep '05

I know they come down this far south but not that often. One gal from Divide, CO said she was looking out for auroras but didn't see any but a guy from Fort Collins, CO, 80 miles north, saw them and photographed them. I will be looking out for them but the kp index has fallen to 5.3. I looked at the pictures on SpaceWeather and enjoyed the Park City images. If we get another alert, I may just pack my camera and telescope and head north. Debbie > > From: Canopus56 <canopus56(a)yahoo.com> > Date: 2005/09/11 Sun PM 03:24:47 MDT > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity > Warning Issued > > -- astrodeb(a)charter.net wrote: > > With a latitude of 37 degrees 05 minutes, all I can > > do is enjoy others' astrophotos. . . . > > Here's a picture on spaceweather.com from Sept. 10 > taken in Park City. > http://spaceweather.com/aurora/images2005/11sep05/Jolley1.jpg > > Even if you are living at a lower latitude, like as > far south as Tuscon, when the geomagnetic storms reach > a kp of 8-9 (as they did last night) the red tops of > the aurora can be photographed from southern Utah. > - http://www.sec.noaa.gov/info/kp-aurora.html > There are many such photographs on spaceweather.com > from Arizona and New Mexico. > > In Salt Lake City, we can generally see the aurora > when the kp index is between 7-9. > > Short of subscribing to the $6 per month > Spaceweather.com telephone service, that will call you > when a geomagnetic/auroral storm is ongoing << > http://spaceweather.com/ >>, you can monitor likely > storm times during periods of very high activity (such > as the next few days) by using data products of the > Space Environment Center of NOAA. > > Basically, look for likely kp events of 7 or higher > for northern Utah and 8 or 9 for southern Utah: > > 1) Space Environment Center current kp index > You can follow the 30 minute time delayed geomagnetic > index - > http://www.sec.noaa.gov/today.html#satenv > > 2) Costello index. > The most useful index during periods of high activity > is the 30-90 minute Costello geomagnetic index > predicator at - > http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rpc/costello/index.html > > This will give you a 30 minute prediction for when a > high 8-9 kp storm might reach you latitude. > > 3) POES auroral activity map. > You can follow the POES auroral activity maps and > watch for when the auroral "tail" swings to low > latitudes and is pointed at Utah during the night - > http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/index.html > > 4) U of Alasksa GSE Javascript forecast movie. > A more obscure forecast tool (that I can give you more > info on) is the U of Alasksa GSE Javascript forecast > movie that gives - on a 24 hour time scale, some idea > of when a CME will hit the Earth and cause a display. > http://gse.gi.alaska.edu/recent/javascript_movie.html > > 5) Space Environment Center High Kp Warning Email. > You can subscribe to the SEC's kp warning data product > (set to the highest level). They will email during > high geomagnetic storms. Limit your subscription to > the WARK07 and ALTK09 data products. Northern Utah > subscribers might want to add the ALTK08 and ALTK09 > warnings. > https://pss.sec.noaa.gov/ > See - > http://www.sec.noaa.gov/alerts/AlertsTable.html#geomag > > - Canopus56(Kurt) > > > > > > ______________________________________________________ > Yahoo! for Good > Watch the Hurricane Katrina Shelter From The Storm concert > http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/shelter > > > _______________________________________________ > 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: AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity Warning Issued
by Chuck Hards 11 Sep '05

11 Sep '05

Unless you're absolutely 'jonesing' to see any auroral activity, the Park City apparition was a yawner. Having seen the "big one", subtle glows won't get me out of bed on a work night. Remember that time exposures will make images look a LOT more dramatic than what the unaided eye will see, though structure will tend to blur and disappear in the image. About 15 years ago, I also saw an amazing display of pillars and curtains from Big Mountain. It was a distant 2nd to the "big one", but still pretty impressive and just as rare. I would advise any beginners on the list to not expect a "Steven Spielburg" aurora from Utah, for most alerts. The really incredible ones are few and far between. That said, however, if you don't go out and look at all, you'll never see anything. Tough choice. > Here's a picture on spaceweather.com from Sept. 10 > taken in Park City. > http://spaceweather.com/aurora/images2005/11sep05/Jolley1.jpg __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity Warning Issued
by astrodeb＠charter.net 11 Sep '05

11 Sep '05

With a latitude of 37 degrees 05 minutes, all I can do is enjoy others' astrophotos. I found this on the digital-astro group. http://www.pbase.com/shaun/aurora Debbie > > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)trilobyte.net> > Date: 2005/09/11 Sun AM 12:50:49 MDT > To: utah astronomy listserve <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity > Warning Issued > > 11 September 2005 > > Solar Terrestrial Dispatch > www.spacew.com > > > MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING - 11-14 SEPTEMBER > > A middle latitude auroral activity warning has been issued for the next > several days. Intense solar flare activity continues. The associated > high velocity coronal mass ejections are beginning to become more > heavily directed toward the Earth. Several smaller impacts were observed > over the last 24 to 48 hours from solar activity that occurred when > sunspot complex 10808 was on the eastern limb of the Sun. But now, the > region has rotated sufficiently far to produce stronger > Earthward-directed impacts. > > _______________________________________________ > 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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AstroAlert: Middle Latitude Auroral Activity Warning Issued
by Patrick Wiggins 11 Sep '05

11 Sep '05

11 September 2005 Solar Terrestrial Dispatch www.spacew.com MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING - 11-14 SEPTEMBER A middle latitude auroral activity warning has been issued for the next several days. Intense solar flare activity continues. The associated high velocity coronal mass ejections are beginning to become more heavily directed toward the Earth. Several smaller impacts were observed over the last 24 to 48 hours from solar activity that occurred when sunspot complex 10808 was on the eastern limb of the Sun. But now, the region has rotated sufficiently far to produce stronger Earthward-directed impacts.

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Telescope power
by Patrick Wiggins 10 Sep '05

10 Sep '05

Here's a novel way of powering a telescope: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2005/0908bp.shtml Patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] X6.5 solar flare
by astrodeb＠charter.net 09 Sep '05

09 Sep '05

Here is a sequence of shots. I wish I had her h-alpha equipment. http://gallery.gmayfield.com/sun/flare_sequence9905 Debbie > > From: <astrodeb(a)charter.net> > Date: 2005/09/09 Fri PM 08:11:20 MDT > To: <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] X6.5 solar flare > > Here is an image of today's solar flare. > > http://gallery.gmayfield.com/sun/flare_lg9905 > > 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 >

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