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

Comet Holmes outburst
by Mark Hanning-Lee 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Apparently Comet Holmes has brightened to magnitude 2.8, altering the appearance of Perseus to the naked eye! See http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10775326.html for more news. Mark

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Mt. Palomar
by Patrick Wiggins 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

From Jerry Foote: Begin forwarded message: > From: "Jerry Foote" <jfoote(a)kanab.net> > Date: 24 October 2007 20:55:38 MDT > To: "Patrick Wiggins" <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > Subject: Mt. Palomar > > Patrick, > > I can't seem to post to the Utah Astro site. Would you please post > this: > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Varun Bhalerao" <varun(a)astro.caltech.edu> > To: <aavso-discussion(a)mira.aavso.org> > Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 13:53 > Subject: Re: [AAVSO-DIS] hairy news > > >> Hello all, >> the director of caltech optical observatories sent this email: >> >> -- Varun >> >> ------------------------------------------- >> Dear Colleagues: >> >> There is (as yet) no imminent danger to the Observatory from the >> fires that are currently raging in San Diego county. >> However, there are a few fires in the general vicinity of >> the Palomar Mountain region. After due consultation I have >> informed Dan McKenna, the recently appointed site >> supervisor, to evacuate the Observatory. >> >> Shri >> ------------------------------------------- >> >> >> On 10/24/07, Kate Hutton <katehutton(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>> As of 4 am this morning, I got an e-mail from my friend who is a >>> night >>> assistant, on fire watch all night. The observatory is still >>> standing, >>> although the fire is in the community of Palomar Mountain. The >>> roads are >>> cut off now, so if the fire comes, the people there will have to >>> shelter > in >>> the 200-inch dome. Kate HTN >>> > > Thanks. > > Jerry Foote > ScopeCraft, Inc. > 4175 E. Red Cliffs Dr. > Kanab, UT 84741 > 435-644-3167 > jfoote(a)scopecraft.com > > > Patrick Wiggins NASA Solar System Ambassador to Utah & NE Nevada http://utahastro.info paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com 435.882.1209

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Mt. Palomar Observatory
by Scott Catron 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Anyone know the status of the Mt. Palomar Observatory with all the fires in the area? Scott

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See shuttle this evening
by Patrick Wiggins 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Shuttle Discovery will be visible over northern Utah this evening (Tuesday the 23rd). 7:02 p.m. Rising in the NW 7:06 p.m. Straight overhead 7:10 p.m. Sets in the SE pw

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Comet 17P - Finder charts, position and slew data
by Kurt Fisher 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Updated in Utah astro wiki at: http://www.utahastronomy.com/Current_observing_events#Oct_24_to_Nov_2_Comet… in Current observing events page at: http://www.utahastronomy.com/Current_observing_events Position and slewing data for Comet 17P from SLC, UT 10pm on 10-24: Alt az slew To-From az alt 17P az +52°03' +37°45' del Per +55°35' alt +38°24' Alt-az slew -02°28' -01°21' Ra dec slew (epoch-to-date) To-From RA Dec 17P 3h53m24 +50°10' del per 3h43m29 +47°48' Ra dec slew 0h09m55 +02°22' - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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Comet 17P Holmes reported at mag 3.0 at 10-24 13 UTC
by Kurt Fisher 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Forwarded BAA e-bulletin - Kurt ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00313 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== In the past 24 hours, a spectacular event has taken place involving the periodic comet P/Holmes (17P). Its predicted brightness is about magnitude 17 however last night it was discovered by the Spanish amateur, Juan Antonio Henríquez Santana to have undergone a tremendous outburst having attained magnitude 10 at that time (Oct 24 0h UT). It was a similar outburst in 1892 that led to its discovery. Latest reports (Seiichi Yoshida, Oct 24 13h UT) indicate that it is stellar in appearance and 3RD MAGNITUDE in brightness: so bright in fact that it is readily visible to the unaided eye. That's almost one million times brighter than normal ! Fortunately for UK-based observers the comet is well placed for observation and is visible throughout the entire night. Its position at 0h UT tonight (Oct 24/25) will be: R.A. 03h 53.0m, Dec. +50 08' Its appearance will probably be that of a fairly bright naked-eye star moving at an apparent rate of close to 10 arcmin per day at PA 298 deg. It is currently 1.63 AU (245 million km) from the Earth. Observations are strongly encouraged and should be reported to Jonathan Shanklin, Director of the Comet Section. Clear Skies Richard Miles _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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more comet news
by daniel turner 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Lifted from the yahoo group comet-ml DT Re: Major outburst of 17P/Holmes As Gary has already pointed out, the parallels between the current outburst of P/Holmes and the 1892 event are quite extraordinary. I would note that in 1892 E.E.Barnard indicated a maximum observed brightness of around +4 for the comet within a few days of Holmes discovery (although Holmes undoubtedly discovered the comet several days after the onset of the outburst). Following the initial stages of the outburst, the comet's total magnitude faded only very slowly and it remained visible to the unaided eye for about 3 weeks. During this interval the coma expanded dramatically (as might be expected), reaching 20'-30' in size before its outer regions began to drop below the sky background. One can anticipate that the same general evolution will occur this time. I would also call observers' attention to the fact that P/Holmes underwent a second outburst (something that has been observed in conjunction with several other outbursting comets), of almost equal amplitude to the first one, about 75 days following its 1892 November brightening. Thus, I would urge everyone to watch very carefully for a possible repeat of this secondary event about the turn of the year. JBortle __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Bright comet now visible in Perseus
by daniel turner 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Comet 17p/Holmes has suddenly brightened to third magnitude and is visable in curled up arm of Perseus without any optical aid. http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html This comet has done this before but not to this extent. You'll need a star chart to figure out which "star" shouldn't really be there. DT Date__(UT)__HR:MN R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)_DEC T-mag N-mag delta deldot S-O-T /r S-T-O ************************************************************************************************************** $$SOE 2007-Oct-24 00:00 03 53 48.59 +50 03 29.0 17.12 18.22 1.63704939721105 -4.3152319 134.0375 /L 17.0763 2007-Oct-25 00:00 03 52 57.75 +50 08 11.4 17.14 18.21 1.63464357448866 -4.0153873 134.8018 /L 16.8159 2007-Oct-26 00:00 03 52 04.85 +50 12 34.8 17.15 18.20 1.63241239001940 -3.7104399 135.5597 /L 16.5557 2007-Oct-27 00:00 03 51 09.98 +50 16 38.8 17.17 18.19 1.63035881365348 -3.4002995 136.3105 /L 16.2959 2007-Oct-28 00:00 03 50 13.20 +50 20 23.1 17.18 18.19 1.62848588485404 -3.0848204 137.0534 /L 16.0370 2007-Oct-29 00:00 03 49 14.58 +50 23 47.2 17.20 18.18 1.62679673427111 -2.7638398 137.7875 /L 15.7793 2007-Oct-30 00:00 03 48 14.20 +50 26 50.8 17.21 18.17 1.62529458136715 -2.4372192 138.5118 /L 15.5233 2007-Oct-31 00:00 03 47 12.15 +50 29 33.7 17.23 18.17 1.62398271076454 -2.1048749 139.2254 /L 15.2693 2007-Nov-01 00:00 03 46 08.51 +50 31 55.4 17.25 18.16 1.62286443657320 -1.7667892 139.9272 /L 15.0179 $$EOE ************************************************************************************************************** Column meaning: __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Semi-live astronomy broadcasts using Meade Envisage and Windows XP
by Kurt Fisher 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

I have worked out the mechanics of using: 1) the Utah Astronomy Gallery, 2) Meade Envisage software, 3) Windows XP, and, 4) an isp personal webpage account with ftp rights, to do semi-live astronomy broadcasts over the internet. By semi-live, this means posting updated static images over the internet from any observing site with a wireless internet connection that allows ftp transfers. "Chat" about the current image can be implemented using Windows Messenger or similar instant messenger service. If anyone is interested in learning the technique, for example in conjunction with urban stars parties during next year's SLAS season, please contact me for a meeting at your convenience. Experience with basic batch file scripting is required. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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ISS overpasses Tues night and through Fri
by Kurt Fisher 23 Oct '07

23 Oct '07

http://www.utahastronomy.com/Current_observing_events#Oct_23_to_Oct_26_ISS_… Updated with two shuttle overpasses. Details at links above. Oct 23 to Oct 26 ISS overpasses with Shuttle ISS Tues. Oct 23 18h54m -4.5v Shuttle Tues. Oct 23 19h06m -1.6v ISS Wed. Oct. 24. 19h17m -2.2v Shuttle Wed. Oct. 24. 19h19 0.9v ISS and Shuttle Fri. Oct. 26. 18h28m -1.8v - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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