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

SPOC tonight (Sunday)
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Jun '06

25 Jun '06

Mark Bloomenthal will be opening the Grim Scope tonight (Sunday) at 9:00 for an impromptu observing session. All are welcome. Y'all come! Patrick

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Home made ball lightning
by Patrick Wiggins 24 Jun '06

24 Jun '06

I came across this while looking for information on Robert Golka (aka The Wizard of Wendover). It's written by Reginald L. Jaynes but after reading the text and watching the videos I wonder if that's just a pen name for Chuck Hards. :) http://www-personal.umich.edu/~reginald/ball_l.html

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News, 24 JUN 2006
by Patrick Wiggins 24 Jun '06

24 Jun '06

News, Saturday, 24 June 2006 SLAS Meeting Tuesday SLAS's June meeting will be held this coming Tuesday evening (the 27th) and will include a discussion with hands-on demonstrations about spectroscopy and diffraction gratings by Associate Professor of Astronomy & Physics at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Brent A. Sorensen. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=810 +++++ Space Shuttle Web and Television Coverage NASA Television and the agency's home on the Internet, http://www.nasa.gov, will provide extensive pre-launch and launch day coverage of the space shuttle Discovery's mission STS-121 to the International Space Station, currently scheduled for a July 1 launch. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jun/HQ_06246_121_web_TV.html +++++ Shuttle's Launch Countdown Begins June 28 NASA will begin the countdown for the launch of space shuttle Discovery at 3 p.m. MDT June 28. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jun/HQ_M06106_121_countdown.html +++++ Pluto's Newly Found Moons Named Meet the newest kids in the solar system: Nix and Hydra. http://www.comcast.net/news/science/index.jsp?cat=SCIENCE&fn=/2006/06/21/41… http://utahastro.info/files/SSFACTS.TXT +++++ NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Captures Saturnian Moon Ballet The cold, icy orbs of the Saturn system come to life in a slew of new movie clips from the Cassini spacecraft showing the ringed planet's moons in motion. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-release-details.cfm?newsID=668 +++++ A Tale of Two Moons Many denizens of the Saturn system wear a uniformly gray mantle of darkened ice, but not these two moons. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=2172 +++++ SMART-1 Mission Operations Until Moon Impact This is the final operational report for the SMART-1 mission and covers all the activities up to the end of the mission and a controlled impact with the lunar surface. http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=39395 http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQFHL8IOE_index_0.html +++++ Three Sols of Driving Gain 138 Meters Opportunity is healthy. The rover has started receiving a new flight software load. It also advanced 138.1 meters toward "Victoria Crater" in three sols of driving and observed outcrop targets. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunityAll.html#sol852 +++++ A Peek into 'Alamogordo Creek' On its 825th Martian day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity stopped for the weekend to place its instrument arm onto the soil target pictured here, dubbed "Alamogordo Creek." http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20060615a.html +++++ Spirit "Warms up the Engines," Continues Work on Mars Since the beginning of Spirit's winter science campaign, the science and engineering teams have held joint meetings every few weeks to track campaign progress and come up with a strategic plan that balances engineering resources with science productivity. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_spiritAll.html#sol874 +++++ The Clearest Skies on Earth Telescopes are perched at the tops of mountains because the air up there is thinner, drier and clearer than the view from sea level. But the best views of all are near the south pole in Antarctica... http://www.universetoday.com/2006/06/21/the-clearest-skies-on-earth/ +++++ Minor Planets Stick Together In January 2006, astronomers focused the Hubble Space Telescope on an icy rock near the orbit of Uranus Â— and found twins. http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1746_1.asp +++++ WorldÂ’s First 100+ Million Pixel CCD The CCD device has a total resolution of over 111 million pixels (10,560 pixels x 10,560 pixels at 9Âµm). It is the worldÂ’s first imager to break the 100 million pixel barrier. http://www.dalsa.com/news/news.asp?itemID=252 +++++ MESSENGER Flips Sunshade Toward Sun On June 21, the MESSENGER spacecraft performed its final Â“flip" maneuver for the mission. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_06_21_06.html +++++ Pluto's Status To Be Determined There is only one thing that everyone seems to agree on: there are no longer nine planets in the Solar System. http://www.bnsc.gov.uk/content.aspx?nid=6113 +++++ Earth Hottest It's Been in 400 Years or More, Report Says The last two decades of the 20th century were the hottest in 400 years and quite likely the warmest for several millennia, a leading U.S. scientific body concludes in a new report. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060623-global-warming.html +++++ Video: Viking, Mars Trailblazer Thirty years ago, the Viking mission arrived at Mars http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/mars/viking-062206/ +++++ HubbleÂ’s Main Camera Inop Cause is unknown, but managers are Â‘very optimisticÂ’ about fix. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13507599/ +++++ STS Update http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/status-20060623.html +++++ USS Update http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jun/HQ_SS06029_ISS_status_report.html +++++ Cassini Update http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/sig-event-details.cfm?newsID=669 +++++ "Superman Returns" Science: Decoding the movie hero's powers. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060622-superman-movie.html +++++ ************************************************** ************************************************** Images and Data From Cassini-Huygens At: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/latest/index.cfm http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases.cfm +++++ Information On The Mars Rovers At: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html +++++ SLAS 2006 Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/LOCAL.HTML +++++ SSA / UMNH 2006 Southern Utah Public Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/STARPARTIES.HTML +++++ ************************************************** News is being sent to you because of your affiliation with the Salt Lake Astronomical Society or because you asked to be subscribed. To unsubscribe please send your request to paw at wirelessbeehive dot com. Check out my NASA Solar System Ambassador web site at: http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky and mirrored at http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/ For astronomy clubs in Utah see: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/UTAHCLUBS.HTML For the Utah Astronomy Listserve see: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy ************************************************** -- Patrick Wiggins NASA Solar System Ambassador to Utah & NE Nevada paw at wirelessbeehive dot com http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/ 435.882.1209 801.918.9092

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Friday Night Observing
by Robert Taylor 23 Jun '06

23 Jun '06

I'm looking at heading up to the Gravel Quarry for Friday Night. Any one headed anywhere different? Bob Taylor

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Welcome to summer - solstice animated gif
by Canopus56 22 Jun '06

22 Jun '06

Here's an anmiated gif I threw together of today's summer solstice noon mark at the Gallivan Center sundial: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/observed/ALSSundial/img/pi… - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Pluto's Newly Found Moons Named
by Dale Hooper 22 Jun '06

22 Jun '06

http://www.comcast.net/news/science/index.jsp?cat=SCIENCE&fn=/2006/06/21 /418659.html&cvqh=itn_pluto

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ISS to cross Jupiter (maybe)
by Patrick Wiggins 22 Jun '06

22 Jun '06

ISS is predicted to pass in from of Jupiter next Monday evening as seen from parts of northern Utah. Here's a very loooong link to the details: http://www.calsky.com/?Transitline=&obs=79303019710733&tdt=2453913.50368449… Boyd McNeil and I tried to observe one of these Jupiter passes a while back. We were very close but not quite close enough to the right spot as ISS missed Jupiter by a few arc minutes. Made a nice video, though. Patrick

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Summer solstice and web site announce: Gallivan Center Sundial webpage
by Canopus56 21 Jun '06

21 Jun '06

Today, the local transit of the summer solstice sun is at 1:29 PM MDT. In celebration of the solstice, I have developed an extensive website about - Kazuo Matsubayashi's Asteroid Landed Softly Sundial Gallivan Center Plaza, 50 East, 200 South Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Latitude N40deg 45' 52.37" (+40.76455) Longitude W111deg 53'23.32" (-111.88981) The website is at: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/observed/ALSSundial/ALSPag… This website discusses the astronomical features of and the cultural significance of the public art sculpture sundial by Kazuo Matsubayashi called Asteroid Landed Softly located at the Gallivan Center Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. Aids for telling time with the sundial and a bibliography of sundial resources for Utah educators and parents are provided. Science activities and guides for use with children when visiting the dial are provided. A list of general internet teacher resources for studying Earth-Sun relationships is provided. This website will be of interest to tourists planning to visit Salt Lake City, educators, parents and school children. I am in the process of submitting the dial for inclusion in the North American Sundial Association's National Registry of North American Sundials. - Kurt __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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News, 21 JUN 2006
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Jun '06

21 Jun '06

News, Wednesday, 21 June 2006 Happy Solstice! Summer officially returns to the northern hemisphere this morning at 6:26 a.m. MDT. +++++ Utah Cosmic Ray Detector Project Moving Ahead Construction is accelerating on a $17 million cosmic ray observatory west of Delta, Utah, thanks to two U.S. agencies: the Bureau of Land Management, which issued a permit, and the National Science Foundation, which approved a $2.4 million grant. http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=061606-1 Ed. Note: Anyone interested in seeing and photographing the cosmic ray observatory from above? We'd fly out of the SLC airport and split the cost ($50). If interested email me at paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com. +++++ Evidence for Ultra-Energetic Particles in Jet from Black Hole An international team of astronomers led by researchers at Yale has obtained key infrared observations that reveal the nature of quasar particle jets that originate just outside super-massive black holes at the center of galaxies... http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/06_releases/press_062006.html +++++ Cluster Makes An Effervescent Discovery Space is fizzing. Above our heads, where the EarthÂ’s magnetic field meets the constant stream of gas from the Sun, thousands of bubbles of superheated gas are constantly growing and popping. http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMX66L8IOE_index_0.html +++++ Uncovering Rhea Two Saturnian moons meet in the sky. Dione departs after crossing the face of Rhea for several minutes. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=2165 +++++ NASA Sends Teachers Spaceward Bound NASA is taking teachers to a barren desert in Chile to help inspire the next generation of explorers. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jun/HQ_06243_spaceward_bound.html +++++ STS-121 Press Kit Find the press kit for the next shuttle mission (currently set to launch on the 1st of July) at: http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/149873main_sts121_press_kit.pdf +++++ Pace Quickens for NASA Spacecraft Orbiting Mars NASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has already cut the size and duration of each orbit by more than half... http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2006-085 +++++ STS Update http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/status-20060619.html +++++ ************************************************** ************************************************** Images and Data From Cassini-Huygens At: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/latest/index.cfm http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases.cfm +++++ Information On The Mars Rovers At: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html +++++ SLAS 2006 Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/LOCAL.HTML +++++ SSA / UMNH 2006 Southern Utah Public Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/STARPARTIES.HTML +++++ ************************************************** News is being sent to you because of your affiliation with the Salt Lake Astronomical Society or because you asked to be subscribed. To unsubscribe please send your request to paw at wirelessbeehive dot com. Check out my NASA Solar System Ambassador web site at: http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky and mirrored at http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/ For astronomy clubs in Utah see: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/UTAHCLUBS.HTML For the Utah Astronomy Listserve see: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy ************************************************** -- Patrick Wiggins NASA Solar System Ambassador to Utah & NE Nevada paw at wirelessbeehive dot com http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/ 435.882.1209 801.918.9092

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Wolf Creek?
by Olhomorto＠aol.com 20 Jun '06

20 Jun '06

Last week I joined Daniel, Roger, and Herman at the Lakeside site. It was the first time I had been there, but I liked it a lot! Furthermore, I am always!! up for considering additional dark-sky sites. So, I would happily consider "pit-n-pole west." Mike Bailey

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