January 2007 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Comets
by Olhomorto＠aol.com 15 Jan '07

15 Jan '07

I remember seeing the same comet! I delivered early morning newspapers, and I remember how excited I felt seeing it over the mountains for a few days! Perhaps my memory has exaggerated it over the years, but it seemed super bright!!! Mike Bailey

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Good morning, Moon
by Chuck Hards 15 Jan '07

15 Jan '07

What a sight early this morning, the crescent moon nuzzled up against Antares, Jupiter just a short distance away. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com

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Comets
by Kim 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

McNaught has reminded me of my first comet experience, when I was in 10th grade at Skyline HS in SLC. My physics teacher, Mr. Budge (or "Space Monkey," as we affectionately called him) alerted our class to the visibility of a bright comet in the morning skies. This would have been during the winter of 1969-70, so I believe that it was Comet Bennett. I had my Dad wake me up very early to take a peak out the back door. It was very bright, and if memory serves, it appeared to have a bright, white tail perhaps 5 to 10 degrees long. I don't recall seeing any color or both an ion and a dust tail. I remember seeing it only in the AM, over the Wasatch Mts. east of SLC. Does anyone else have memories of Comet Bennett? or have his/her own fond memories of Space Monkey, as well? Another great comet on anyone's list should be Shoemaker-Levy 9, for its spectacular breakup and collision with Jupiter. Not great for most terrestrials, but I think most Jovians/Europans (and any other inhabitants of the Jovian system) should have been impressed. I've enjoyed reading all the comments about McNaught. Am I too late to try to see it in daylight, assuming that it's clear tomorrow? Where should I be looking? I tried today, but I don't think I was looking in the right place. Thanks, Kim

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Comet comments please
by Joe Bauman 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

Hi Friends, I am thinking about writing a story about Comet McNaught, but most likely it wouldn't get in -- that is, it won't unless the photographers say my pics are good enough. So there's a better than average chance it won't be in the paper. But just in case, if anyone is interested in telling me impressions of the comet, I would very much welcome them. Email is OK but I prefer talking on the phone. My email is bau(a)desnews.com and our toll-free number is 800-688-2102. Anyone in the SLC dialing area can call me directly at 237-2169. Who knows? -- it might be a story. Thanks, Joe

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Cometary orbital elements
by Chuck Hards 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

Does anyone know of a handy Website where I can obtain orbital elements for new comet discoveries, so I can plug them into my planetarium program? I'm so old-fashioned. Wish I'd thought of this a week or two ago. This would be much better than relying on the simplified diagrams we usually get when new comets get reasonably bright. Thanks! ____________________________________________________________________________________ Have a burning question? Go to www.Answers.yahoo.com and get answers from real people who know.

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The comet
by Patrick Wiggins 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

The more I read about it the more I wish I was somewhere where I could see it. Here are a couple more comet URLs: http://ares.nrl.navy.mil/sungrazer/images/hi1b_comet.jpg http://ares.nrl.navy.mil/sungrazer/index.php?p=latest_news Read 'em and drool... pw

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Iridium flare increase?
by Patrick Wiggins 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

Anyone else noticed a large increase in Iridium flares lately? Maybe it's just a fluke but I've had several here at the house lately and I see that I've got 7 more tomorrow (Monday) morning between 0539 and 0700, magnitude -1.5 to -5.5. pw

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McNaught sighted naked eye in daylight
by Patrick Wiggins 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

This just arrived on one of the other lists I'm on: ++++++++++ Dear all, Comet McNaught was visible very easily to the *naked eye* in broad daylight from France yesterday (13 jan). We observed it during 4h beginning at 13h UT. It was a wonderful observation!! To have an idea of what it looked like: http://www.euraster.net/temp/20070113_1324UT_McNaught_EF.jpg ++++++++++ pw

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26 January occultation (Mc NOT comet related)
by Patrick Wiggins 13 Jan '07

13 Jan '07

The morning of Friday the 26th, minor planet Palma will pass in front of a relatively bight star as seen from much of northern Utah. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/PALMAOCCULT.JPG While this event should be pretty easy to see with just binoculars from dark sky locations the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) is recruiting folks with modest astronomical resources to nab and report data of the event. One of IOTA's most active participants, Paul Maley, will be in the area videoing the event and recently posted the following to the OAS listserve: There is the best asteroid occultation of a 6.3 magnitude star in all of 2007 occurring right over you Friday morning at 247am your time Jan 26. The star will be occulted for up to a max of 14 seconds. It is positioned about 63 degrees above the western sky. What is needed is the following: a. a telescope capable of spotting a 6.3 magnitude star b. time signal receiver that can pick up time signals from WWV on 5.0 or 10.0 MHz or similar frequency c. tape recorder Anybody with more sophisticated recording gear like video (preferred) would be welcome, but it is mandatory to record time along with the data. The observer with minimal equipment watches the star which will drop from 6.3 to 10.5 magnitude during the occultation. So it will be very easy to detect. The observer stars 2 minutes before looking for ANY occultation. It is possible this asteroid called Palma may have a satellite. If it does a shorter occultation could occur separate from the main one. Continue nonstop observing for 4 minutes. So, for you, this means to star watching at 245am and end at 249am expecting the occultation at 2.47.00am more or less. The observer should start the recorder at 245 and keep it going the whole time, recording his/her voice and the time signals. Be careful that the time signals are recorded as well as voice so one does not drown out the other. When the star goes out, call OUT; when it returns, call BACK. Other than that the observer must keep quiet. After the star comes back, the observer should mention on the tape the expected delay in the times of the OUT and BACK calls. We need to know how accurate each call out was. Time of each event must be to within .1 seconds or better. Again, if somebody observes an occultation without time data,it is pretty much useless information. The best distribution of observers is in a north south direction perpendicular to the path so we can get unique geographic distribution. The closer to the green line, the longer the occultation. The most VALUABLE data points are those closest to the edges of the path. I hope to fly up to Salt Lake Thursday night Jan 25 in time to see this if the weather is good. I will plan to bring a scope with me unless you might be able to coordinate someone with a Celestron 8 or similar that I could team with. I will plan to fly in Thursday night and then fly back right after the occultation. There is a Continental flight at 530am. Now, the link to the map, star charts, and other data is http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2007_01/0126_372_8206.htm I am also attaching a local map showing the center of the occultation path (green line) and the predicted zone of visibility (two blue lines) as well as the maximum expected path errors north and south (red lines). If you have any questions, do not hesitate to email me. Looking forward to having a good turnout. Please confirm if you have positive response from competent observers who will try this. I would like to know names, locations, and instrumentation as you are able to find them out. Paul Maley, pdmaley(a)yahoo.com NASA Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society Houston TX

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Comet naked eye
by Patrick Wiggins 13 Jan '07

13 Jan '07

McNaught was easy naked eye for Bruce Grim, Roger Butz and I for about 15 minutes leading up to comet set this evening. If it's that bright in such a bright sky, I can only dream how great it would have looked in a night sky. pw

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