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

Exciting new adventure......
by Ken Harris 03 Aug '07

03 Aug '07

Sorry Guy. I meant you, in the subject line, not "Fuy". I know you're not some cheese-eatin' surrender-monkey with a name like that. Ken

2 1

Re: Phoenix Mars lander
by Naz & David 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

Go metric! :) inch by inch!

1 0

Phoenix Mars lander
by Chuck Hards 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

Patrick, (or anyone in the know) is the Phoenix lander a single craft, or is NASA sending a pair of them to hedge their bet? I must admit that a parachute/retrorocket soft landing makes me nervous, based on past history. The airbag method seems to have a much better track record. Also I have questions on the retros possibly affecting some of the chemical/biological test results. Let's hope everyone is using the same units of measure this time, and all sensors have been installed correctly...

5 8

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Blow-out sale on Meade DSI Pro Monochrome Cameras
by Kurt Fisher 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

The old Meade DSI-1 Colors are selling for $99. That's basically an LPI camera price for something that will image DSOs. It's not a great camera, but at that price it is still a good camera for those who want to learn something about imaging without spending $700 for the new Orion camera or $1,600 for the lowest priced SBIG camera - an ST-402ME. That the DSI Pro Monochrome will turn out useable S/N ratios for photometry at $129 is another plus for those wanting to learn or experiment without making a budget busting purchase. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mobile Phones
by Chuck Hards 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

I must be lucky, Joe. I don't crave them at all anymore. Just the smell turns my stomach. Good for you for kicking the habit. I've been told that nicotene is a more powerful addiction than heroin. It speaks volumes to your strength of character, that you were able to let it go. On 8/2/07, Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> wrote: > > I'm glad to say I kicked cigs 38 years ago. Horribly enough, I still > crave 'em. If I learned the world was going to end in a week, one of > the first things I would do is stock up on smokes. It's a lifelong > addiction that I dare not give in to again. -- Joe >

1 0

Solar Storms
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

I checked my cell phone, do with this info as you wish. 112 is another cell phone emergency number, and with a battery problem you access the emergency power reserve by dialing 3370#. It never hurts to exhaust all avenues, for the most part. As for my heading, the History Channel is running a series titled "The Universe", they relayed a story about a solar storm that started telegraph lines on fire. The moral is, is any of our technology immune to the forces of nature. Erik

1 0

Hansen Planetarium
by baxman2＠comcast.net 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

I could have sworn that the Hansen Planetarium first opened in 1965. Sincerely, J. David Baxter

3 2

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Phoenix Mars lander
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

>Oh well, its only money, at least an astronuats life does'nt depend on it. Was that Hyatt or Hiatt, I will add that I said David Poe is at Bryce, it is Kevin Poe. Erik I was reading in Astronomy Magazine this morning about this lander. It > made me even more nervous. They built this lander out of backup parts > from the polar lander. The person that wrote the article stated that it > will be a very nervous landing since they think that they fixed all the > problems but they could have missed something. > > One other thing that was in the same edition of Astronomy. Two of our > friends were mentioned in Glenn Chaple's column. He was talking about > Chaple's Arc, which he described in detail last year. He mentioned that > he had done research and had found that several people had independently > discovered the same asterism. According to the article, Kim Hiatt > discovered it as a ring of stars. The other side of the ring was not > visible using the small telescope that Glenn used. Kim had Brent Watson > look at it and Brent included the Fairy Ring in his book. He also passed > on Brent's web page so that people can get his book. > > I always enjoy seeing someone I know recognized in the magazines. > > Dave > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: > utah-astronomy-bounces+david.dunn=albertsons.com(a)mailman.xmission.com > [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+david.dunn=albertsons.com@mailman.xmissio > n.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards > Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 1:30 PM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Phoenix Mars lander > > Patrick, (or anyone in the know) is the Phoenix lander a single craft, > or is > NASA sending a pair of them to hedge their bet? > I must admit that a parachute/retrorocket soft landing makes me nervous, > based on past history. The airbag method seems to have a much better > track > record. > > Also I have questions on the retros possibly affecting some of the > chemical/biological test results. > > Let's hope everyone is using the same units of measure this time, and > all > sensors have been installed correctly... > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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 >

2 1

Blow-out sale on Meade DSI Pro Monochrome Cameras
by Kurt Fisher 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

Apparently Meade has authorized a blow-out price sale on its DSI-Pro Monochrome cameras [ DSI Pro (Deep Sky Imager) Monochrome CCD Camera [ME-04523] ] at $129, discounted from $499. Per the AAVSO yahoo group, these cameras are suitable for variable star photometry (unlike the color DSI-1), for anyone interested in that direction. There also is a discounted price for the DSI-Pro with the three color flat filter at $229, discounted from $599. Supplies are limited. I bought a monochrome DSI through Oceanside - www.optcorp.com . - Kurt P.S. - If Meade is dumping the DSI's, I wonder what the replacement in their product line will be. _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

3 2

Re: [Utah-astronomy] GEM cone error guru needed
by Kurt Fisher 01 Aug '07

01 Aug '07

Chuck wrote: > Kurt, the acid test is to try the mount with a much smaller scope. > If the problem is gone, then Don's hit it on the head. Yes, with a lower weight scope (a 5 1/4 refractor) I can get the cone error reduced, but I appear to have a procedural problem. When the cone error is removed using the procedure in the scope instructions, it always fixes on a point in declination north or above the aligned polar axis of the mount. So the scope is inscribing a ring around the NCP (or Polaris when it is used as the alignment target), but can never be oriented directly on the NCP when the aligned polar scope is targeted. That was the other reason for asking for a local cone error guru consult - there must be something that I am doing wrong in the cone error reduction procedure. But I have read and pondered the instructions and feel that I am correctly following them. - Kurt P.S. - On the other hand, I caught one error in the instructions that Orion corrected in a subsequent version after I pointed it out to them, and the polar scope alignment instructions also didn't seem to work. I had to modify the published polar scope instructions slighty to get the polar scope aligned dead-on. _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

2 1