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

OT: Not astrophotography
by Michael Carnes 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

Over my time here, I've enjoyed the many excellent shots from Tyler, Joe and many others. I can easily confess to a little jealousy in that regard--for the equipment it takes, the long stretches of time it takes, and especially the skill that it requires. Keep posting those photos, folks. The few times I've pointed a camera skyward, I haven't come up with a whole lot, and it's likely that I'll have to postpone my efforts to a different time in my life. But I have gotten a little better at daylight photography, and I thought that a few of you might enjoy my efforts. The cost of entry is a lot lower--camera, hiking shoes, Photoshop. The Hawaii pictures are a few years old, done with fewer skills and less camera. I'm hoping to upgrade those with new shots this fall. The Utah sites are probably places that most of you know. But they're relatively new to me, and I've tried to see them with fresh eyes. Michael http://home.earthlink.net/~mcarnesphotos/index.html

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Not astrophotography
by Michael Carnes 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

>No worries, Michael. Earth is a planet- at least I >think it still is, You've been sneaking off to law school, haven't you Chuck?

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Not astrophotography
by Tyler Allred 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

Beautiful shots Michael! I actually enjoy my earthly photography more than the astro stuff, but both are fun. I really enjoyed looking over the Utah gallery. Sometimes I forget what a beautiful spot we live in! Cheers, Tyler

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IAU Draft Definition Of Planets And Plutons
by Patrick Wiggins 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

This will be in the next issue of News but since that wont be out for a couple of days I figured I post it here first. Patrick http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_IAU_Draft_Definition_Of_Planets_And_P…

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] IAU Draft Definition Of Planets And Plutons
by Michael Carnes 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

>Classifying Charon as a planet poses a knotty problem. It's true that >it doesn't exactly orbit Pluto, that they are locked together and in >effect orbit each other. But isn't that the case for all planet-moon >systems? If my spotty memory serves, the difference in the Pluto/Charon system is that the center of mass is outside the body of Pluto, differentiating it from the others you mention. Of course, my spotty memory may not serve...

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] IAU Draft Definition Of Planets And Plutons
by Joe Bauman 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

Classifying Charon as a planet poses a knotty problem. It's true that it doesn't exactly orbit Pluto, that they are locked together and in effect orbit each other. But isn't that the case for all planet-moon systems? Each affects the orbit of the other. If we make an exception for Charon, don't we have to he same for the additional two moons of Pluto, Nix and Hydra, that were discovered recently? I am sure Pluto's orbit (and Charon's, for that matter) are affected by these bodies also, however slightly. I agree that Pluto should retain planetary status because it's a traditional planet, and that because of that Xena should have the same status. But I really have doubts about Ceres and Charon. From what I remember about the history of astronomy, and I may be wrong about this, Ceres was considered a planet when it was discovered. But over the rules it lost status -- there must have been a reason. -- Joe

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] IAU Draft Definition Of Planets And Plutons
by Michael Carnes 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

>Humans have this need to make lists. That's the gist of it. These are just words after all, and they don't change the things we label with them.

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Obs ops: for Wed. 8/16/2006
by Canopus56 16 Aug '06

16 Aug '06

I) 9:58 Bright ISS Overpass -2.1m Accurate time: 21h58m53s Appears 21h54m10s 2.4m az:227.0d SW Disappears 21h58m53s -2.1m az:163.8d SSE h:65.9d More details: http://www.calsky.com/csrender.cgi?object=Satellite&number=3&obs=2327532259… Source: Calsky II) Jovian Spot Transit at 10:13pm 8/17/2006 at 4:13 UTC Source: Sky & Telescope Jovian Transit article III) Mercury brightens to -1.1m At sunrise, this morning and continuing. Rise at (date, time, az) for the next week: 2006 Aug 16 (Wed) 05:20 64 2006 Aug 17 (Thu) 05:25 65 2006 Aug 18 (Fri) 05:30 65 2006 Aug 19 (Sat) 05:35 66 2006 Aug 20 (Sun) 05:41 66 2006 Aug 21 (Mon) 05:46 67 2006 Aug 22 (Tue) 05:52 68 Source: S&T Calendar and MICA 2.0 - Canopus56 P.S. - On 8/15/2006, Voyager I passed 100 A.U. - another milestone. Source: JPL Calendar http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/#0608 Mission site: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/ __________________________________________________ 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] Pluto's official status
by Seth Jarvis 15 Aug '06

15 Aug '06

It's only a non-issue until you have to start thinking of new mnemonics to teach the names of planets to a hundred thousand kids each year. What'll it be? Option 1. Pluto is still the 9th Planet, but it's the last one: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas." Or Option 2. Pluto is no longer one of the Solar System's proper planets: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos." Or Option 3. Pluto _is_ a planet, and so are Sedna, Quoaor, Xena (or whatever) and all the other bazillion Kuiper Belt Objects with diameters greater than 100 km: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas (and) Strawberry Quiche (for) Xmas (ad infinitum)." We're not ready to go the route of New York and unilaterally demote Pluto (which I think was a mistake), but we will have to do something with our Scale-Model Solar System exhibit if the IAU starts qualifying Pluto's planetary status or granting planetary status to UB313 and the like. Maybe we'll just put a little asterisk next to our model of Pluto and footnote the exhibit with the IAU's press release. Seth Jarvis Clark Planetarium -----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: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:06 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Pluto's official status --- Seth Jarvis <SJarvis(a)slco.org> wrote: > Have you all seen this? > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5631291&ft=1&f=1003 A non-story about a non-issue. So we are going to "officially" go back to the definition of a "minor planet" that has been in practical daily use since the late-1800s, as in Harvard's Minor Planet Center - http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html - a website that I use and visit for comets and asteriods about once month. Good press opportunity though. If it gets some kids (including bigger kids like me) to look through a telescope at Ceres (dia. 512km) then I'm all for it. Ceres was at opposition on 8/12, but due to Moonlight wash-out will first be at maximum visibility on around 8/22. One doesn't have to look past Pluto to see a minor planet. - 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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Pluto's official status
by Seth Jarvis 15 Aug '06

15 Aug '06

Have you all seen this? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5631291&ft=1&f=1003

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