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

Obs ops for 8/18 Fri to 8/21 Sunday
by Canopus56 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

Obs ops for 8/18 Fri to 8/21 Sunday I) Possible aurora from 8/16 CME arrives Fri-Sat 12:00-3:00am Large sunspot 904 ejected a Class 6 flare on 8/16/2006. There may be faint photographically reachable aurora between 12:00am on Fri-Sat. morning through 3:00am. Follow moderate-low potential for Utah activity with the usual resources: Costello Index http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rpc/costello/index.html Ace 7Day Sweep http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ace/MAG_SWEPAM_7d.html NOAA/PEOS Sat map - http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/ NOAA/SEC 3hr Kp plot http://www.sec.noaa.gov/index.html Source: spaceweather.com; U of Alaska GSE aurora predictor II) Ceres at opposition and observable Fri-Sat and Sat-Sun sunset through 12:30 am. Ceres (530km dia) was at opposition on 8/12 and was at it's maximum brightness of 7.6. Ceres continues at maximum brightness through 8/19. Ceres transits at around 1AM-2Am in the morning. Ceres is low in the 111.8W long sky at 21 deg alt. By 8/19, the Moon is sufficiently below the horizon that Ceres can be observed without Moon light interference. Hubble Ceres Image http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/27/image/a Wikipedia entry data http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Ceres Wiki photo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ceres_Hubble_sing.jpg A more recent study led by Peter Thomas of Cornell University, suggests that Ceres has a differentiated interior: observations coupled with computer models suggest the presence of a rocky core overlain with an icy mantle. This mantle of thickness from 120 to 60 km could contain 200 million cubic kilometres of water, which is more than the amount of fresh water on the Earth. http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050907_ceres_planet.html Moon's diameter 3476km Planetary Society Page on Ceres http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/near_earth_objects/asteroids_and_co… NASA Dawn Mission PS page http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/dawn/ Dawn Facts Launch date: June 2007 Mars flyby: February 2009 Vesta rendezvous: October 2011 - May 2012 Ceres rendezvous: August 2015 - January 2016 NASA Dawn Official Mission page http://www-spc.igpp.ucla.edu/dawn/ A new launch date has been set for June 20, 2007. III) ISS overpass for SLC Friday 8/18/2006 9:07pm -2.0mag overpass Appears 21h03m00s 2.6m az:225.5d SW Transit 21h07m51s -2.0m az:140.8d SE h:62.2d dist:387.6km alt:346.7km Disappears 21h12m11s 1.5m az: 56.8d ENE h:2.3d IV) Minor meteor shower kappa Cygnids ZHR 3 Peak on Fri 8/18 2006 after dark. May create a slighty higher than normal background incidence of meteors. http://www.imo.net/calendar/2006/summer V) Ongoing Comet P177/Barnard in Hercules chi Cyg in outburst Mercury rising to max magnitude; is now above -1.1mag. With obscuring Wasatch Mtns look for just after 6:00am. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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How to prepare a blank for planetary sketching with a terminator
by Canopus56 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/plan/skblnk/SketchPlanetBl… This is to announce a webpage that discusses the procedure for drafting the position of a terminator on a blank for planetary sketching either using a common Microsoft Windows tool (MS-Paint) and a Microsoft Office tool (MS Picture Manager) and by hand. The sketch blanks approximate the outline of the body and terminator that will be seen in a direct view eyepiece of a telescope tracking on an equatorial mount and where a reticule is used to indicate the direction to the celestial north pole (NCP). The terminator is pre-drafted based on a target observing date and time from ephemeris data. The hand-drawing method updpates a procedure after Sidgwick, J.B. 1971. Observational Astronomy for Amateurs. Dover. pp. 121-124. Corrections to any errors are welcomed and appreciated. - Canopus56 (Kurt) __________________________________________________ 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] IAU Draft
by Seth Jarvis 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

What I really don't fathom is how the IAU can admit Ceres, Charon and UB313 to the planetary club, but not Quaoar, Varuna and 2005 FY9. These spheroidal Sun-orbiting worlds are Pluto-sized and have Pluto-like orbits. Why the exclusion? As the King of Siam put it, "Is a puzzlement."

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Inexpensive pyrex mirror blanks
by Richard Tenney 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

A colleague at work just bought and received an annealed pyrex 16-inch by 1-inch thick mirror blank for $145 (+ shipping) from Swift Glass in NY (he thought he ordered plate glass). Unless I'm grossly mistaken this is an amazing price. E-mail me for details if this is of interest to any of you. -Rich __________________________________________________ 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] NASA administrator
by Michael Carnes 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

>If anyone's interested in reading about NASA administrator Mike >Griffin defending science spending cutbacks -- and the challenge to >that launched by a figure familiar to many Utahns, Gil Moore -- >here's my story. Thanks, Joe Thanks for posting that story Joe. I'd been carrying around some residual respect for Griffin, since he was an actual engineer once upon a time. But now he sounds just like all the other political flaks out there. With NASA focusing more and more on shuttle and ISS, it's lost any reason at all for existing. Pity.

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News, 17 AUG 2006 +++CORRECTED COPY+++
by Patrick Wiggins 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

News, Thursday, 17 AUG 2006 CORRECTED COPY CORRECTED COPY CORRECTED COPY +++ "Great Planet Debate" News Follows a Few SLAS Stories +++ SPOC Scope For Sale 6" f/4 Rich Field telescope. Standard thickness mirror, 1.25" rack and pinion focuser, glossy white fiberglass tube, aluminum end rings & mounting hardware. Telescope originally served as one of the finders on the original SPOC telescope. The scope will be on display at Saturday's star party at SPOC and next Tuesday's SLAS meeting. Highest bid above the reserve by the end of the meeting takes the scope. Cash and carry. As seen in 1977: http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/slas/patrickw/PATRICKW365.JPG As seen yesterday: http://utahastro.info/temp/RF001.JPG +++++ Another Donation for SPOC Thanks to a tip from Kim Hyatt SLAS recently received all the carpet needed to carpet the Refractor House. The donation, valued at $504.00, came from the Hendriksen Butler Company in Salt Lake City. Thanks, guys! The carpet was installed yesterday (see images 41 through 45 at the following URL). http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/slas/REFRACTORHOUSE04.HTML +++++ SPOC Star Party Saturday Dave Bernson to speak from 7:45 to 8:45. Observing starts at 8:45. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=847 +++++ The IAU Draft Definition Of Planets And Plutons The world's astronomers have concluded two years of work defining the difference between "planets" and the smaller "solar system bodies". Story 1: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/audio/planets-20060816.html Story 2: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-08-16-planets-textbooks_x.h… Story 3: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1151 Story 4: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060816-pluto-planet.html Story 5: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Solar_System_May_Soon_Have_12_Planets_And… Editor's Note: I found several more stories, including 1 from China and another from Iran, but the 5 above will give you a good idea of what's going on. +++++ NASA Findings Suggest Jets Bursting From Martian Ice Cap Every spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice cap of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new observations by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2006-100 +++++ Far Away Galaxy Under The Microscope An international group of astronomers have discovered large disc galaxies akin to our Milky Way that must have formed on a rapid time scale, only 3 billion years after the Big Bang. http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/pr-31-06.html +++++ Europe Rediscovers the Moon With SMART-1 Now Europe too can say it has been to the Moon. Watch the Moon up close in the early morning of 3 September (just before midnight on the 2nd, MDT) and you may just see a European satellite land on its surface. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMI0XY7QQE_index_0.html +++++ Comet Discoverers Honored An American, a Brazilian, and an Australian will share the eighth annual Edgar Wilson Award for amateur comet discovery. http://skytonight.com/news/3562602.html +++++ Backward Sunspot A strange little sunspot noticed by astronomers on July 31st may herald the coming of an unusually stormy solar cycle. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/15aug_backwards.htm?list864576 +++++ Atlantis Go for Launch Launch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MDT. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06293_STS-115_launch_date.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/status-20060816.html +++++ Scientists Study Pioneer Anomalies U.S. scientists say mysterious changes in acceleration seen in NASA's Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes might point toward new ideas in physics. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Scientists_Study_Pioneer_Anomalies_999.ht… +++++ ************************************************** ************************************************** Free Telescopes For SLAS Members SLAS has several scopes available for free, long term loan to current SLAS members who have belonged to SLAS for at least 30 days. http://slas.us/membership_benefits.htm +++++ Images and Data From Cassini-Huygens At:s 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 are subscribed to the Utah Astronomy Listserve. 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://utahastro.info/ 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://utahastro.info/ 435.882.1209 801.918.9092

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News, 17 AUG 2006
by Patrick Wiggins 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

News, Thursday, 17 AUG 2006 +++ "Great Planet Debate" News Follows a Few SLAS Stories +++ SPOC Scope For Sale 6" f/4 Rich Field telescope. Standard thickness mirror, 1.25" rack and pinion focuser, glossy white fiberglass tube, aluminum end rings & mounting hardware. Telescope originally served as one of the finders on the original SPOC telescope. The scope will be on display at Saturday's star party at SPOC and next Tuesday's SLAS meeting. Highest bid above the reserve by the end of the meeting takes the scope. Cash and carry. As seen in 1977: http://utahastro.info/temp/RF001.JPG As seen yesterday: http://utahastro.info/temp/RF001.JPG (images 41 through 45) +++++ Another Donation for SPOC Thanks to a tip from Kim Hyatt SLAS recently received all the carpet needed to carpet the Refractor House. The donation, valued at $504.00, came from the Hendriksen Butler Company in Salt Lake City. Thanks, guys! The carpet was installed yesterday. http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/slas/REFRACTORHOUSE04.HTML +++++ SPOC Star Party Saturday Dave Bernson to speak from 7:45 to 8:45. Observing starts at 8:45. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=847 +++++ The IAU Draft Definition Of Planets And Plutons The world's astronomers have concluded two years of work defining the difference between "planets" and the smaller "solar system bodies". Story 1: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/audio/planets-20060816.html Story 2: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-08-16-planets-textbooks_x.h… Story 3: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1151 Story 4: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060816-pluto-planet.html Story 5: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Solar_System_May_Soon_Have_12_Planets_And… Editor's Note: I found several more stories, including 1 from China and another from Iran, but the 5 above will give you a good idea of what's going on. +++++ NASA Findings Suggest Jets Bursting From Martian Ice Cap Every spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice cap of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new observations by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2006-100 +++++ Far Away Galaxy Under The Microscope An international group of astronomers have discovered large disc galaxies akin to our Milky Way that must have formed on a rapid time scale, only 3 billion years after the Big Bang. http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/pr-31-06.html +++++ Europe Rediscovers the Moon With SMART-1 Now Europe too can say it has been to the Moon. Watch the Moon up close in the early morning of 3 September (just before midnight on the 2nd, MDT) and you may just see a European satellite land on its surface. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMI0XY7QQE_index_0.html +++++ Comet Discoverers Honored An American, a Brazilian, and an Australian will share the eighth annual Edgar Wilson Award for amateur comet discovery. http://skytonight.com/news/3562602.html +++++ Backward Sunspot A strange little sunspot noticed by astronomers on July 31st may herald the coming of an unusually stormy solar cycle. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/15aug_backwards.htm?list864576 +++++ Atlantis Go for Launch Launch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MDT. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06293_STS-115_launch_date.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/status-20060816.html +++++ Scientists Study Pioneer Anomalies U.S. scientists say mysterious changes in acceleration seen in NASA's Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes might point toward new ideas in physics. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Scientists_Study_Pioneer_Anomalies_999.ht… +++++ ************************************************** ************************************************** Free Telescopes For SLAS Members SLAS has several scopes available for free, long term loan to current SLAS members who have belonged to SLAS for at least 30 days. http://slas.us/membership_benefits.htm +++++ Images and Data From Cassini-Huygens At:s 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 are subscribed to the Utah Astronomy Listserve. 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://utahastro.info/ 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://utahastro.info/ 435.882.1209 801.918.9092

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IAU Draft
by Wade Starks 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

I personally find this definition confusing and overly complicated. I agree with the 1st criteria, which defines the lower boundary of a planet, as a body which has sufficient mass that its gravity overcomes its internal structure, producing a spheroid. Beyond that, I am perplexed by the definition. They didn't even attempt to define a precise upper boundary of a planet, by just obliquely saying it is not a star. As I understand it, the precise boundary between a brown dwarf star and a giant planet may still in question. The IAU, unfortunately to my mind, chose to mix roles with entities in their definition, which just complicates the definition. Why burden the definition of a planet beyond describing its intrinsic, or inherent characteristics. A star is a star, regardless of where it is found, or how it is moving. It may be orbiting a galaxy. Two stars may be orbiting each other, still they each are stars, whether the center of the orbit is positioned within, or outside the sphere of one or both stars. A star is a star even if it has been kicked out of the galaxy and is wandering in inter-galactic space. We might call such stars rogue stars, but they are still stars. We sub-classify stars by certain intrinsic characteristics, ie., main stream, red giants, white dwarfs, red dwarfs, brown, dwarfs, neutron stars, and so on. Does a planet suddenly change its intrinsic characteristics if it too is kicked out of the star system in which it was formed. Does it then cease to be a spheroid that does not generate internal heat from nuclear fusion. Does it cease to be rocky, or gaseous. Why should we require a planet to be defined by where it is, or how it moves, any more than we do of stars? If we want to talk about roles, we might say planets may be found in 3 different roles: 1) Major planet - a planet which orbits around a star 2) Minor planet - a planet which is a natural satellite, orbiting around another planet. This would allow moons to be planets and to orbit other moons as well. 3) Wandering planet - a planet not orbiting any particular star or other planet. Such a planet could be orbiting in intra-galactic space, or wandering in inter-galactic space. Like stars, planets might be sub-classed by their inherent characteristics, such by relative size and composition, as in giant and gas or rocky planets. All other smaller objects might be classed as sub-planets, or perhaps planetoids (exapting a term for this definition), which, like stars and planets, might, in turn, be sub-classified by their inherent characteristics, such as asteroid, comets, and so on. They may or may not be in orbit around any star, planet or other planetoid. Perhaps a more precise definition of a planet might be: 1) A planet must not be so massive that it can support any fusion reactions, even briefly. 2) A planet must not contain degenerate matter, such as a core of solid neutronium that might be left over from the death of a star. 3) A planet must have sufficient mass to have a shape determined by gravity and not by the strength of its materials, or spheroid. These three rules define both the lower and upper limits of a planet simply by its mass and internal characteristics. This is my two bits, Wade ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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What is a planet?
by Patrick Wiggins 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

Interview clips from the latest International Astronomical Union meeting, which is expected to vote on the definition of a planet. http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/audio/planets-20060816.html Patrick p.s. If anyone thinks the "Great Pluto Debate" here is intense, try signing up for the Minor Planet Mailing List. That list consists of professional and amateur astronomers and the discussion there is getting, shall we say, heated. :)

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Obs ops: Thurs. 8/17/06 - 2 ISS overpasses SLC
by Canopus56 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

I) ISS overpass 8:46pm -0.4 mags Calcsky details are: Appears 20h41m41s 2.1m az:200.1d SSW Transit 20h46m08s -0.4m az:133.4d SE h:18.7d dist:906.7km alt:346.2km Disappears 20h50m10s 1.4m az: 69.1d ENE h:1.8d More details: http://www.calsky.com/csrender.cgi?object=Satellite&number=3&obs=2327532259… II) ISS overpass 10:21pm -0.1 mag Calcsky details are: Appears 22h16m13s 2.9m az:249.7d WSW Transit 22h21m01s -0.1m az:329.5d NNW h:37.9d dist:541.5km alt:347.3km Disappears 22h21m34s -0.2m az:359.6d N h:33.6d Time uncertainty of about 12 seconds More details: http://www.calsky.com/csrender.cgi?object=Satellite&number=3&obs=2327532259… __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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