April 2006 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

M57 +73PSW-3
by daniel turner 27 Mar '13

27 Mar '13

Mark your calendar for early evening May 7. Their will be a close encounter between the Ring nebula and periodic comet 73P. The comet will be close to earth so its exact position in the sky will depend stongly on your location on the globe. Go to spaceweather.com and use the link at the bottom of the page for "Observable Comets". 73p is in the list and includes orbital elements and a link for daily ephemerides. DT __________________________________________________ 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] Science Fair
by Michael Carnes 07 Jul '07

07 Jul '07

Don, you're cherry-picking your data. >I think there is still a controversy over how much economic development >contributes to global warming. While there is much yet to learn, the so-called controversy is largely clouding of the waters by those with an economic interest. Within the last month there's been renewed information of the rate of melting of the Greenland ice-sheet, in addition to melting in other zones, such as Mt. Kilimanjaro. Thousands of ice cores taken over the last century show that the ice goes back tens of thousands of years. If it had been as warm during the Roman era as your sources indicate, that ice would have melted then or would never have formed. Arctic permafrost that has been stable since the last ice age (as shown by the number of mammoths preserved in it) is rapidly turning to mush. Of course you can find a few scientists who disagree with this assessment, just like you can find a few scientists who don't like evolution. You can find a few scientists who believe in ghosts, in Sasquatch, in fairies, in alien abduction, and in all sorts of things. It is extremely rare in science that someone who goes against the grain is shown to be correct (Galileo, Kepler, etc). Most of them are just cranks.

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Lunar observing - tides - Tides on Great Salt Lake?
by Canopus56 29 May '06

29 May '06

One astronomical phenomena I have been remiss in observing is Moon tidal forces. (I admit, I lived near an ocean for about 10 years and one of the Great Lakes for another 6.) Does the Great Salt Lake have tides that can be seen? If so, where is a good place? - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Please have a look
by Patrick Wiggins 01 May '06

01 May '06

Hi, I'm working on posting Nova as a PDF as well as the html version I announced in today's News. I'd very much appreciate it if some of y'all could have a look at my latest attempt, http://utahastro.info/temp/NOVAMJ2006.PDF , and let me know if it opens ok, is legible and if the pictures look ok. I'd also appreciate hearing opinions as to which version (http://utahastro.info/temp/NOVAMJ2006.PDF and http://utahastro.info/temp/NOVAMJ2006.HTML ) y'all prefer. Many thanks, Patrick

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FIRST LIGHT - Takahashi Epsilon E160
by Tyler Allred 01 May '06

01 May '06

Hi all. My new Epsilon just arrived and I gave it a whirl last night from my light polluted back yard in Orem. Here is the result. http://tinyurl.com/qey27 Click the small version to see the full res image. It looks like the scope might be a keeper! Cheers, Tyler

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The Wedge, Friday Night
by Michael Carnes 30 Apr '06

30 Apr '06

A small handful turned up at the Wedge: Dale Wilson, Steve Roens, Cheryl Hart and me. Unbeknownst to us, another contingent (Mike Bailey, Daniel Turner and a few others) were just down the road in Buckhorn Wash. Conditions were pretty good at the Wedge, temps starting in the high 40's and dropped to low 40's or just a mite cooler. A blustery breeze had died down by dark and only popped up occasionally thereafter. There were more campers than ideal, so the occasional headlights came driving through--but it wasn't much of a problem. I'm not really the best at calibrating this, but limiting magnitude appeared to be around 5.5. There were no clouds. Transparency was excellent. I spent most of my time observing galaxies in Leo that my 10" normally can't get. Made it till about 3:00--enough time to say hello to the top half of Sag. By the way, comet Schwassen-Wachman was well-positioned in Hercules. It's a very pretty comet with a long straight tail (about a degree or so in my scope) and a nicely-defined head. Definitely worth a peek and not at all hard to find under reasonable skies. Sorry you couldn't make it Joe. Debbie suggests you get a set of wheels. Why not go whole-hog and buy yourself a nice forklift? Sure you'll have to leave a day or two early, but you'll enjoy a nice leisurely drive with lots of fresh air. Michael

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Da Wedge
by astrodeb＠charter.net 30 Apr '06

30 Apr '06

Use wheels Joe. How do you think I set up my 15" Obsession. My friend Jim wheels his 25" Obsesson from his driveway using wheelbarrow handles. I've had a weak back all my life but I seem to manage ok with the 15" as long as I don't have to lift the mirror box too far. Sorry for the late response but I have a dead battery on the laptop so I'm on a friend's computer. Clear Skies, Debbie ---- Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> wrote: > Hi Michael, It's a monster 12" I'm afraid. For months I've been > looking at going to the Wedge at the end of April -- but for now with > my back just starting to feel OK, I don't dare. Maybe next month, > when my back is healed, I'll give it a try. Would you be interested > in going then? Knowing I had someone to keep an eye on me when I > swing it onto the tripod would be most reassuring. Thanks, 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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Pit-n-Pole Images
by Tyler Allred 30 Apr '06

30 Apr '06

Hi all, Last night was great at the Pit-n-Pole. We had a few clouds early in the evening, but the conditions improved as the night went along and it turned out to be a pretty good night overall. I managed two images last night. First, I did M101, and the dark sky really helped to bring out some of the dim areas. http://tinyurl.com/ju67k Next I imaged a nice triplet of galaxies including the "Whale and Pup" and the "Crowbar" galaxies. There are MANY other galaxies visible in the larger image if you look closely. http://tinyurl.com/zy63m Click the small images to see full res versions. I hope you enjoy these results as much as I enjoy taking them. :-) Cheers, Tyler

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Da Wedge
by Michael Carnes 30 Apr '06

30 Apr '06

Oh what the heck. I'm going to the Wedge tomorrow night (Friday). Steve Roens (occasional SLAS member) and his frau Cheryl are headed down too. How's your back, Joe? I'll help you get your C8 up on the tripod if you decide to come. Anybody else?

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Misery loves company
by Patrick Wiggins 30 Apr '06

30 Apr '06

Sometimes it's nice to see that even the professionals have the same problems we mere mortals have. Here's the (very long) URL I got when I went to the STScI Digitized Sky Survey site and asked for a picture of the area I'm imaging at the moment: http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_search?v=poss2ukstu_red&r=12+34+53&d=3… Note how the foreground "stars" are out of focus. :) Patrick

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