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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Friday night at the Wedge
by Chuck Hards 14 May '07

14 May '07

One of the earliest observing lessons I learned was to always pack the cold-weather gear, even if it's the middle of July. Better to have it and not need it, than not have it when shivering and Guy is there flipping his Zippo with a big grin on his face... On 5/14/07, Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> wrote: > > When I left home that > afternoon it was so warm I didn't worry about a coat or sweater, of > which I repented later! -- Joe >

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Techie question
by Chuck Hards 14 May '07

14 May '07

I use Gmail exclusively for utah-astronomy postings, and it has worked well. No delayed or lost posts (so-far). But a few days ago something new started, and I was hoping that other Gmail users or tech-savy folks could help. Gmail can't keep up with my typing speed. I have to type only about as fast as the cursor flashes, in other words, very slowly. It's as if there is no buffer at all. When I type my usual 65 WPM, only about one character in four makes it to the screen. This isn't a problem with my word-processing program or Notepad- I can type there as fast as possible and it all makes it to the screen. Also I haven't noticed it on Yahoo or AOL, but sometimes the slowdown is evident on message boards on two other on-line (non-astronomical) clubs I belong to. One is for Airship enthusiasts/historians, and the other is for owners of a specific, very fast car. I've been on those boards for a while; Gmail was the closest change to the slowdown, and the slowdown is most dramatic here. I haven't added any new programs, my security is up-to-date and the system scans clean (Symantec). A defrag has had no effect. Any ideas? TIA!

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eyepiece found at SPOC
by daniel turner 13 May '07

13 May '07

Found at SPOC on Saturday night, a Clave 4mm eyepiece. Embedded in the clay with the clay hardened around it so it must have been there at least for a year. The barrel reflected my flashlight and I dug it out near where the ADA telescope is usually set up. Anyone with a set of these who is missing one can contact me by email to confirm ownership. Daniel Turner ____________________________________________________________________________________ 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Techie question
by Chuck Hards 13 May '07

13 May '07

Mostly because it's a pain in the butt. It's an extra step that shouldn't be needed. But when I do this, I usually just do it in Notepad, since I don't need all the text-editing goodies of Word. Thanks! On 5/13/07, Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> wrote: > Chuck, Why don't you type the note in another program, such as Word, > then copy it over to the email? -- Joe >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] How do colored planetary filters work?
by Kurt Fisher 12 May '07

12 May '07

Chuck wrote: > Thanks Kurt. I would also suggest that "large aperture", > as far as low-transmission filters are concerned, should > but upwards of 12-14 inches, from my experience. Catch me at a star party sometime and we'll load a filter wheel up. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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How do colored planetary filters work?
by Kurt Fisher 11 May '07

11 May '07

I have prepared a table, by body, of the details that can be enhanced on planetary bodies by color filter number. http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/plan/pcfilt/PlanetaryColor… The usual order of presentation in manufacturer product inserts is by color filter number. That order is difficult to use because to build a filter wheel, all filter descriptions must be read. The table provided here is ordered by solar system body-effect-filter order. This allows one to look at a single planetary body at a time and to quickly decide what filters might be helpful. An example wheel load for Saturn, developed using the table, might be: 12 Yellow, Deep (blue belt detail) 38A Blue, Dark (red belt detail) 23A Red, Light (polar regions) 11 Yellow-Green (Ring division) 47 Violet (Cassini's division) 25 Red (High blue clouds) 58A Green (White clouds) The descriptions were assembled from product inserts and websites. The table also includes the filters transmission factor and a more detailed manufacturer effect description. Note that many filters with low transmission factors will only work with larger apetures, i.e. - eight or ten inches or greater. A fact not made consistently clear in most product inserts. There is a brief discussion of how planetary color wheels work at the bottom of the web document. - Enjoy - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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Obs Rep: Wed May 9 UofU Astro Club
by Kurt Fisher 11 May '07

11 May '07

On Wednesday I went to the weekly Wednesday night Uof U Astro Club open house on the top of the South Physics Building. Physics majors Paul Ricketts and Greg Engh were the docents. I took a box of lenses and an observing chair along up the roof elevator for a night of urban astronomy - running through double stars and other bright targets of opportunity. ZLM was around 3 to 4 with an 11 or 12 mag limit in the eyepiece. Paul set me up on one of the pier mounted Meade LX200's. The south Physics building roof has a relaxed atmosphere - just Paul and Greg in the dome and a few students wandering in over the course of the night. This was ideal for a little after work doubles or to get the chance to learn a high-end SCT. Since I use a GEM Newt most of the night was taken up learning LX200 operations and the controller. The pier-mounted scope easily single star aligned and then successfully slewed to M84, the heart of the Markovian Chain. The light pollution was such that only M84 was distinctly visible in the central Virgo cluster. The LX200 tracked solidly but being a student scope, the manual focus had a distinct dead spot. Otherwise the scope was outstanding and includes an auto-focus drive. The scope has a "classic" style hand-controller. I rattled off a few doubles including 40 LMi, 2 CVn and nu Leo and then split eps Boo for some students. Then I turned to practicing on bright stars with my Rainbow Optics broadband spectrometer including Arcturus and Denebola. Later in the night Jupiter rose. With the third-quarter Moon below the horizon, Vesta was easily seen even through the heaviest Salt Lake urban light pollution. I showed a couple of students on a date how to slew and focus the scope on a low-lying Jupiter. The night wrapped up with Paul showing me a planetary nebulae with the 14 inch dome scope and an unsuccessful attempt to find Comet Lovejoy C2007E2. All in all, I would highly recommend the weekly Wednesday night summer sessions to any other SLAS member. Good equipment, a relaxed atmosphere and pleasant accomodating hosts make for a good after work session. Check out the UofU Astro calendar on Wednesday afternoon to make sure that week's session is still on. http://web.utah.edu/astro/ Although I went during a university break week, parking on the U circle was not a problem. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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Astrobiology Could Aid a Science-Theology Dialogue
by Patrick Wiggins 11 May '07

11 May '07

The recent discovery of the first potential Earth-like planet outside of our solar system has generated intense interest among space scientists, but for Connie Bertka, the discovery has intriguing theological implications as well. http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2007/0509space_religion.shtml pw

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] How do colored planetary filters work?
by Kurt Fisher 10 May '07

10 May '07

Chuck wrote: > I don't doubt at all that colors similar to the filter > *appear* lighter, BUT- It's a contrast illusion. . . . > The filter does not increase flux . . . Good clarification. Yes, there's no question that we are discussing psychological color perception and not increases in luminance flux. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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comets and an asteroid
by Kurt Fisher 10 May '07

10 May '07

Daniel wrote: > I saw comet 2007E2 (Lovejoy) to the north > near the head of Draco using a 17.5 inch dob. > It was ninth mag and as large and diffuse. The > core was just distinguishable from the coma but > it had no tail, it was perfectly round. It rises > in the east and is high at midnight. While at the weekly Wednesday night U of U Asto Club Star Party, I tried without success to find C2007E2 with their 12" and their 14" Meade SCTs from the light polluted South Physics Building roof. After the star party, I drove to Little Mtn in an attempt to see the comet with 10 x 50 binos from a site with less light pollution. At the time, I was unable to locate it, but after rechecking charts at home, it appears I was looking at it. The comet is around mag 9 but the coma is so small that it appears stellar like. Most ICQ reports - which are outdated April reports - have never put the comet at greater in diameter than 8 arcmins. I suspect it is much smaller than this now. Comet Lovejoy appeared as a quasi-stellar object in the "kite asterism" on this chart. http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/finder/C2007E2LoveJoyAster… But, as Daniel proves it may be a nice object in a very large apeture. C2007E2's position at 11 pm local time for the next days, ending with the return of the Moon on the 19th, are listed below. A finder chart I threw together is at: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/finder/C2007E2LoveJoy10Day… UTC Date-Time RA Dec Alt Az 2007-May-11 05:00 16 51 50.71 +56 26 25.0 46.6650 48.1729 2007-May-12 05:00 16 42 36.57 +57 36 32.1 45.0277 50.0257 2007-May-13 05:00 16 33 21.91 +58 39 07.7 43.3247 51.7478 2007-May-14 05:00 16 24 09.13 +59 34 44.3 41.5550 53.3454 2007-May-15 05:00 16 15 00.60 +60 23 53.8 39.7178 54.8247 2007-May-16 05:00 16 05 58.64 +61 07 07.1 37.8130 56.1914 2007-May-17 05:00 15 57 05.41 +61 44 53.6 35.8414 57.4508 2007-May-18 05:00 15 48 22.94 +62 17 41.4 33.8044 58.6078 2007-May-19 05:00 15 39 53.00 +62 45 57.4 31.7046 59.6670 - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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