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

Re: What do you think?
by Chuck Hards 02 Apr '06

02 Apr '06

Anybody else remember Imsai? Cromemco? > From: Dave Gary <Dave.Gary(a)m.cc.utah.edu> > Commadore 64! I thought I was spoiled with the ol' > Sinclair. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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HD033203 - - a colorful after-work double spring/winter double - Apr
by Canopus56 02 Apr '06

02 Apr '06

HD033203 in Aur, currently favorably positioned (J052512.00+345136.0) for 41N op's, is visible in small refractors after sunset from urban light polluted skies. Mullaney's _Celestial Harvest_ describes this HD033023 as "gold & bluish-red." The primary of this binary is a v6.8 B2II star and of unknown distance. Current CCDM data on HD033203 (CCDM05103+3719, STF0644) are: C PA Sep VMag A 6.8 B 221 1.6 7.1 C 15 72.6 9.4 HD033203 is about 3 degs southeast of the "Kids" in Aur (eps Aur, zet Aur and eta Aur), 1 deg southwest of mu Aur. Courtesy star hopping finders chart are provided at: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/finder/Aur_HD033023.jpg http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/finder/Aur_HD033203B.jpg >From a light polluted urban setting, there are no significant bright star asterisms to star hop between the Kids to HD033203. HD033203 sits in a "flying wedge" asterim in a relatively empty star field. I found the best method to locate it was to practice direct sweeping southeast down the centerline of the Kids to mu Aur using binoculars. A second direct sweep southwest 1 deg takes one to the flying wedge asterim - the only significant asterim within three degrees of mu Aur. See the finder charts. Once the position was mentally fixed with respect to the Kids, I used a 3Â° dot finder and my lowest feasible magnification (22x) and greatest TFOV to mark off 3 degrees of southweasterly RA sweep. In a small alt-az 60mm refractor under urban Bortle class 8 mag 3.0 light-polluted urban skies at 22x, HD033203 appears as a single star. Applying more magnification down to 77x in a small refractor, HD033203 just splits into two stars with interconnect diffraction rings. Mullaney's _Celestial Harvest_ describes this double with a B2II primary as "gold & bluish-red." At this apeture and light pollution level, these colors were not evident. I plan to revisit HD033203 from a darker sky site. Looking at the finder chart - http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/finder/Aur_HD033203B.jpg - two other stars in the flying wedge asterim are doubles. In a small refractor apeture, the brighter multiple at the north base of the flying wedge appears quasi-stellar - hinting at its nature. In an urban light polluted setting, it was not possible to separate that mulitiple with small apetures. All-in-all, this was a nice 20-30 minutes of not-so-easy after-work beer-in-hand viewing at 41N. - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Lunar targets for 4/1/2006 8pm
by Canopus56 02 Apr '06

02 Apr '06

Quick Moon object list for tonight's Moon passing of the Pleiades - For 4/2/2006 3:00 UTC (4/1/2006 8pm local time) Terminator is at 47.14 East long. All objects are on that lunar longitude going from the north to the south. Object Rukl# Note C Atlas 15 46.7N; 87km; prom. n. c. C Franklin 15 38.8N; 56km C Macrobius 26 21.3N; 64km C Taruntius 37 5.6N; fresh impact c. Dorsa Cato 37-48 1N; 140km ridge C Messier A B 48 1.9S; 10km, oblique impact w/ ray C Colombo 59 15.1S; 76km C Borda 59 25.1S 44km V Rheita 68 42S; 500km valley largest C Rheita 68 at top of V Rheita C Steinhall/Watt 76 48.6S, double 66km craters C Hagecius 75 59.8S, 76km C Bougslawsky 74 Flooded crater; 73S - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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What do you think?
by Patrick Wiggins 02 Apr '06

02 Apr '06

I'll probably include this in the next issue of News but first I thought I'd see if anyone here would like to give it a try. Comments, please. Google Mars: http://www.google.com/mars/ Patrick

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Remember the day
by Patrick 02 Apr '06

02 Apr '06

Are we such a dull group here that the day is nearly 21 hours old and no one has mentioned what day it is? :) http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool

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Meteor Through the Moon
by Patrick 01 Apr '06

01 Apr '06

A guy was videoing a lunar occultation when a meteor passed in front of the Moon. http://members.cox.net/nightstars/k9radio.html . Click on the 3rd program. Patrick

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Moon crosses the Pleiades Tonight - Photo Op
by Canopus56 01 Apr '06

01 Apr '06

The Moon will be near the Pleiades tonight - making for a good photo op just after sunset. See the S&T story - http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations/article_1702_1.asp - but it looks like the occultations are all in the eastern U.S. The details at - http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ 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] Eclipse photos
by astrodeb＠charter.net 01 Apr '06

01 Apr '06

I can't wait to see the photos. It sounds like a trip of a lifetime. We will have to have an eclipse party in six years in Southern Utah. It would seem best to take the photos with a programmable remote shutter control and then sit back and enjoy the show visually. I have complete DSLR control in Images Plus and will upgrade to the latest version soon. Debbie ---- Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> wrote: > We're back! Cory and I watched the eclipse from aboard ship in the Agean, > on an Astronomical Tours trip, and I got some fine photos. Will post on > Monday. Best wishes to all, 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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] New Images - Two Spiral Galaxies - M81 and M51
by astrodeb＠charter.net 01 Apr '06

01 Apr '06

Great shot Tyler. I hope our skies clear up soon. There has been too much rain in sunny St George. I'd like to shoot a galaxy myself sometime this spring. Debbie ---- Tyler Allred <tylerallred(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > Hi All. > > > > I managed to get a couple of images in the last two weeks. I added them to > my gallery, if anyone wants to take a look. > > > > First image is an LRGB of M81 with Tak CN212 at F/3.9 > > http://tinyurl.com/oxb7a > > > > Second image is luminance only of M51 with Tak CN212 at F/9.9 > > http://tinyurl.com/prh5a > > > > Thanks for looking. > > Tyler > > _______________________________________________ > 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] Eclipse - animation shots from space European weather sat
by steve.nielsen＠comcast.net 31 Mar '06

31 Mar '06

Thank you. -------------- Original message -------------- From: Canopus56 <canopus56(a)yahoo.com> > --- steve.nielsen(a)comcast.net wrote: > > Does anyone know what these images were taken from? > > How high was it? > > Per the EMUSAT site: "The main operational location > for Meteosat is over the Equator, at 0° longitude. > This is where the prime Meteosat satellite operates, . > . ." > > Per Wikipedia: "A geostationary orbit (GSO) is a > circular orbit directly above the Earth's equator (0º > latitude). Geosynchronous and geostationary orbits > were first popularised by science fiction author > Arthur C. Clarke in 1945 as useful orbits for > communications satellites. As a result they are > sometimes referred to as Clarke orbits. Similarly, the > Clarke Belt is the part of space approximately 35,786 > km above mean sea level in the plane of the equator > where near-geostationary orbits may be achieved. . . . > The satellite orbits in the direction of the Earth's > rotation, at an altitude of approximately 35,786 km > (22,240 statute miles) above ground." > > > There are 3 flashes of light going from right to > > left in the middle of the picture. It decreases in > > brightness as it goes to the left. > > What caused the flashes? A satellite? > > My guess is the same as yours. The flashes are caused > by the Sun reflecting off low-earth orbit satellites > moving in the opposite orbit direction of the > MeteoSat. It's the space-based analogy to the Iridium > satellite flashes that we commonly see at night. > > - Canopus56 > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > _______________________________________________ > 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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