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

Observing extrasolar planets
by Michael Carnes 11 May '06

11 May '06

A couple of weeks ago, Joe Bauman began a thread which discussed the topic of imaging extrasolar planets by blocking the star's light and collecting photons from the area surrounding the star. I was one of the skeptics of the technique. As it turns out, there's a fascinating article in the May edition of Scientific American. The article discusses a proposed new generation of enormous earthbound telescopes with apertures in the 100 meter range. A few paragraphs of the article address just the topic Joe was discussing. It theorized that a scope with a mere 80 meters of aperture should be able to study something on the order of 40 nearby stellar systems which are good candidates. The technique would occlude the star with a tiny blocking disk and then would perform spectroscopy on the region around it. Joe was talking about direct imaging, which this article didn't address directly. But a spectrum's good enough for me. So I'll stand down from my former position, since real scientists think it's a perfectly valid technique. All you need is just a little more scope. MC As far as direct imaging goes, it might take even more than 100 meters. The article estimated that a 100 meter scope could image Betelgeuse with about 3000 pixels (55 x 55). So even a honking giant planet might only eat up a pixel or two. So when the Kecks are retired because of their dinkiness, perhaps we could find some room at SPOC.

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C73P B component in outburst
by Canopus56 11 May '06

11 May '06

This is reposted from Crinklaw's posting in another newsgroup: "Component B of comet 73P has brightened significantly in the last few nights and is now as bright as 5th magnitude. It has been reported as a naked eye object even in moonlight. In images this component is also showing a great deal of activity in its nucleus, including jets and arcs." - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Object list for observing the full Moon
by Canopus56 11 May '06

11 May '06

Here is a list of full Moon bright-ray objects that I extracted from a catalogue/planner that I am working on: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/plan/200605FullMoonObjList… See Dembowski's (ALPO) Bright Ray List (2006). http://www.zone-vx.com/alpo-rays.html My list mostly is a subset of Dembowski's list based on other authors' identification of showcase bright ray objects. I have not yet personally run this object list. The reference "Wilhems 1987, Table 13.1" in the full Moon table is to: Wilhems, Don. 1987. A Geologic History of the Moon, USGS Survey Paper 1348 http://cps.earth.northwestern.edu/GHM/raw_scans.html Chapter 13 in Wilhems: http://cps.earth.northwestern.edu/GHM/ghm_13.pdf (16.7 Mb) Most of the targets are from four prominent lunar sources: the Rukl 50 in the back of Rukl's Atlas, Wilhems Table 13.1, Cherrington and Dembowski. Here's a black and white photo by Tom Bash from the LPOD photo gallery that nicely brings out the ejecta blanket of Copernicus at full illumination: http://lpod.org/coppermine/displayimage.php?pos=-68 - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Clark (Andy) fl (?)
by Canopus56 11 May '06

11 May '06

I was throwing together a lens table for the Andy/Clark refractor. Patrick, could you confirm it's characteristics? From our prior discussions, I am showing: Apeture: 8" - 200m fl: 3360 mm max focuser dia. - 50.8 mm Thanks - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Great Basin NP star party
by Kim 11 May '06

11 May '06

I received the following correction from Roberta Moore at the Park regarding the campsite that has been reserved for us: "The group needs to know that they need to go to Loop B, Site B2 at Grey Cliffs Campground. Lower Lehman campground has no group sites and is not available for this kind of activity. If they have any questions, they can call me at 775-234-7331, Ext. 212. My days off are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, so it's probably best not to call on those days." Sorry about any confusion I may have created, and hope to see many of you there. Kim Kim A. Hyatt Architect P.O. Box 124 12610 East 19750 North Mt. Pleasant, Utah 84647 Tel: 435.462.9207 Fax: 435.462.5013 Mobile: 801.631.5228 kimharch(a)cut.net

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APOD - was: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: C73P near M57 tonight at 10:00pm
by Dale Hooper 11 May '06

11 May '06

Thanks for sleuthing that out Dave. I was posting it for a friend of a friend who is also a friend of mine<g>. I noticed that the image you are referring to is now the Astronomy Picture of the Day - for today. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html > -----Original Message----- > From: utah-astronomy-bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu(a)mailman.xmission.com > [mailto:utah-astronomy- > bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu(a)mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of David > Dunn > Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 1:01 PM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: C73P near M57 tonight at 10:00pm > > > I found the source for the picture that Dale posted to the OAS members. > It was in yesterday's spaceweather.com. If you go to spaceweather.com on > the top left there is a place where you can change the date (in this > case to May 8) and it will pull up that edition. There is another > picture of the same event in today's issue, but I like the one Dale > referenced better. > > http://www.spaceweather.com/index.cgi > > Dave > > > _______________________________________________ > 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] ISS to cross the Moon
by Seth Jarvis 11 May '06

11 May '06

It played fine for me on my Windows XP Pro machine. Very impressive! Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Canopus56 Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 8:39 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] ISS to cross the Moon Patrick, I tried the link to your ISS Moon transit movie in today's News, but it would not run from a Windows machine. The Qtime player was looking for a codec unique to your local computer. Suggest reposting with a generic video mpeq format. Just a head's up. - Canopus56 --- Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: > Nice pass of ISS tonight (Tuesday) between 21:08 and > 21:14. Nearly > straight overhead from SLC about 21:11. > > Interestingly, it looks like it's going to pass in > front of the Moon as > seen from SPOC. > > Patrick > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > __________________________________________________ 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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Great Basin National Park star party
by Kim 09 May '06

09 May '06

Hi all. The following message is especially for those SLAS members who indicated their interest in attending the Memorial Day weekend star party at Great Basin National Park, but everyone is invited, so I'm sending this also to the Utah Astronomy group. Great Basin National Park is hosting an astronomy event modeled on the highly successful annual astronomy festival held at Bryce Canyon National Park. It is hoped that this event will become an annual affair with similar support and attendance. Great Basin NP has asked the Salt Lake Astronomical Society to assist by providing experienced lecturers for indoor activities and telescopes and operators for evening star parties. In return, the Park will provide free access to the Park and camping space for SLAS members and their families, also free of charge. For more information about the Park, daytime activities, park map, etc., here is the link to the Park's website: http://www.nps.gov/grba/index.htm. The following URL should take you to Mapquest directions to Great Basin NP from downtown SLC: http://tinyurl.com/jvmb7 . (I believe the drive time is closer to 4 hours from downtown, but I haven't made the trip in quite a long time so I'm not sure.) When you arrive, ask for Roberta Moore. You'll be asked to sign some paperwork to make you an official volunteer, and she will give you directions to the campground. The Park has reserved Loop B, site B2 in the Lower Lehman Creek campground for us. The site will accommodate up to 7 vehicles, 28 persons, so if anyone who has not already let me know would like to come, please contact me and I'll try to arrange for additional space, if needed. The weekend schedule is as follows: Friday, May 26: Arrive, set up camp; ranger talk and astronomy lecture at 7:30PM; star party at dusk. Saturday, May 27: Solar observing (if possible, but we'll need telescopes - I am not so equipped); ranger talk and astronomy lecture at 7:30PM; star party at dusk. Sunday, May 28: Informal star party at dusk (the Park isn't necessarily planning on anything on Sunday, but we're welcome to stay and set up scopes if we wish). I will be giving the lecture on Friday, but if any of you is so inclined, you would be welcome to speak Saturday. Or, if you wish, we could swap. (I'm just not sure I can be very entertaining two evenings in a row. In fact, I'm not sure I can be very entertaining at all, but I'll give it a shot.) If I've left out any key information, please feel free to contact me. Oh, it might also be nice if you would confirm whether or not you will be able to come. Thanks, all - see you there! Kim Kim A. Hyatt Architect P.O. Box 124 12610 East 19750 North Mt. Pleasant, Utah 84647 Tel: 435.462.9207 Fax: 435.462.5013 Mobile: 801.631.5228 kimharch(a)cut.net

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: C73P near M57 tonight at 10:00pm
by David Dunn 09 May '06

09 May '06

I found the source for the picture that Dale posted to the OAS members. It was in yesterday's spaceweather.com. If you go to spaceweather.com on the top left there is a place where you can change the date (in this case to May 8) and it will pull up that edition. There is another picture of the same event in today's issue, but I like the one Dale referenced better. http://www.spaceweather.com/index.cgi Dave

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Table of average photographic lunar brightness
by Canopus56 09 May '06

09 May '06

Here's a table I cooked up for another newsgroup. The "B" value is used for guessimating your first exposure. CCDs and Web cams typically are are equivalent to 1600 ISO speed. Some typical values reported in amateur literature: Object category NELM* MPSAS (Ba) B EV Source Moon thin crescent -6.95 6.7 8 Covington2002 Moon thin crescent 10 HAIP2005 Moon wide crescent -7.75 5.9 16 Covington2002 Moon crescent 20 HAIP2005 Moon quarter phase -8.45 5.2 32 Covington2002 terminator objs Moon quarter 40 HAIP2005 Moon gibbous -9.25 4.4 70 Covington2002 Moon gibbous 80 HAIP2005 Moon full -10.25 3.4 180 Covington2002 Moon full 200 HAIP2005 Moon earthshine -0.20 13.5 0.016 Covington2002 Moon earthshine 0.01 HAIP2005 Moon partially -8.95 4.7 50 Covington2002 eclipsed, expose bright side Moon partially -3.16 10.5 0.25 Covington2002 eclipsed, expose umbra and penumbra Moon relatively -1.48 12.2 0.05 Covington2002 light total eclipse Moon relatively 1.06 14.8 0.005 Covington2002 dark total eclipse Notes: * - equivalent MPSAS and Ba computed per this author. Accuracy needs to be confirmed by more experienced astrophotographers \ Ba is Magnitudes per square arc second B is in candelas per sq foot - used in exposure computations Sources: Berry, R & Burnell, J. 2005. 2d. Handbook of Astronomical Processing. (HAIP) at p. 122. Willman-Bell. http://www.willbell.com/ Covington, M. 2ed. 2002. Appendix C. In Astrophotography for the Amateur. Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-62740-0 http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/ Rogers, Mike. 2006. Implementation of Covington's Exposure Calculator. (Web applet)http://www.rphotoz.com/astrophoto/expcalcs.html Covington, M. 2005. Exposure Calculator. (Freeware - software)http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/astro/astrosoft.html Starzonia. 2005. Exposure Calculator. (Web applet) http://www.starizona.com/ccd/calc_ideal.htm NASA/JPL Ephemeris Generator (Computes current apparent brightness of planets including Moon) http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eph __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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