February 2008 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Lunar Eclipse Question
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

>Opps, I should have said new moon for solar. Yes, an eclipse, lunar and solar, can only happen during full moon. I'm sure this is an obvious question for you folks, but why is the lunar > eclipse always at a full moon? (We may not get to see it tonight, but I'd love to at least learn something). Thanks for putting up with what I'm cringing to think is a dumb question. > > > > Ann M. Blanchard > > Executive Assistant to the Associate VP > > Undergraduate Studies > > 110 Sill > > University of Utah > > (801) 581-3188 > > a.blanchard(a)ugs.utah.edu > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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://gallery.utahastronomy.com > Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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Coat lost - SLAS meeting at UofU Tuesday night
by Canopus56 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

In my haste to get somewhere after the meeting presentation last night, I believe I may have left a blue winter coat in the lecture hall. If anyone picked it up at the end of the meeting, please drop me an email or a message at 524-0913. Thanks, Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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See 193 from space? Maybe
by Patrick Wiggins 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

Reposted from the SeeSat list. patrick I've used this to see the shuttle launch if some of you remember back few months ago. There may be a very slight chance (READ: unlikely!) to see the launch trail of the missile or maybe even the impact from the GOES 11 geostationary weather satellite that will be taking an image at 3:30 UT each day (as well at other times). At around 4:00 UT Feb 21 (6pm Feb 20 Hawaii time) I would go to: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/satellite and click on "Visible" or "Infrared (Color)" on the left side of the page and then on the "Large Size" button on the top of the page and then finally on the icon for Hawaii ("HI") on the map. This will bring up a large current weather image of Hawaii. The Visible image will be darker than usual with the sun setting but the infrared might show a streak. According to the NOTAM PDF that Ted made, the streak should be across the extreme upper left corner. You can also set parameters on this page to go through image loops if you miss the update time (left hand side). There also are some additional links on this page to view larger weather images but lower resolution. Also, at 3:45 UT GOES 12 will take a very large infrared image of North America - might be an opportunity to see heated debris entering the atmosphere over Canada. Go to this same page at around 4:05 UT and click on the "Infrared (Color)" button and then click on the "Large Size" button and then click on the "Contiguous U.S." link at the top of the map. No guarantees here - just a chance! Regards, Jeff Umbarger Plano, TX USA

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SLAS tonight / Meteor video
by Patrick Wiggins 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

1) A reminder that SLAS will hold it's regular monthly general meeting tonight starting at 7:30 p.m. Venue is the Warnock Engineering Building, room 105 on the U campus. ATK's Dr. Louis Cannizzo will speak on the space program and rocket technology. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=1181 . 2) Nice security camera video of last night's meteor over Idaho: http://videos.idahostatesman.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1724660 patrick

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Solar obs rep - 2-18 and 2-19
by Canopus56 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

Session A: 2008-02-18 13:41MST 2008-02-18 20:41MST I pulled out the PST on an alt-az mount for a quick look at the Sun on Monday, 2-18-2008 13:48MST (2-18 20:48UT). One large hedge type prominence, extending 100 arcsecs from the disk was seen on the east limb at solar lat 40-50 north. Two smaller prominences were seen on the western limb, also in the northern hemisphere at 40-50 north solar lat. A small second hedge was seen on the western limb at 25 north lat. A diagram can be viewed at: 2-18-2008 Solar disk diagram http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/main.php?g2_itemId=10960 I also wanted to confirm the TFOV of the PST using a 12mm Meade reticule ep. With a catalogue listed focal length of 400mm, my calculator was returning a 1.6 deg TFOV, which seemed impossibly large compared to the what was seen in the eyepiece. So, I decided to confirm a rough TFOV measurement by the drift method. The Meade 12mm reticule has an AFOV of about 52 degrees. The reticule is marked in a total of 50 tics. The Sun was at approx. -11degs 23 arcmins. At that declination, my drift rate calculator returned 14.71 arcseconds of drift per second. Although the mount was a simple alt az tripod, using the reticule eas-west centerline, the eyepiece could be rotated parallel to the drift of the Sun. To do this, the centerline is placed along either the north or south pole of the Sun. The reticule is turned until the pole moves parallel to the center line. The scope is then raised to put the disk at the center of the reticule and the disk moved out of the east side of the lens field-of-view. A simple crude watch with a stopwatch function was used to an accuracy of 1-2 seconds. Drift times recorded on one pass were: 0:00 Solar disk appears on east e.p. edge 0:23 50 tic mark grid passed 1:02 40 tic mark grid passed 1:42 30 tic mark grid passed 25 center tic timing missed 2:26 20 tic mark grid passed 3:07 10 tic mark grid passed 3:48 00 tic mark grid passed 4:09 Solar disk contacts west edge A 249 second drift time at a rate of 14.71 arsecs per sec equates to 61 arcmins or approx. 1 deg TFOV at 12mm. The 205 second drift time across the 00-50 grid tics equates to 50.2 arcmins or approx. 1 arcmin per reticule tic mark. A second drift measurement was done with a 15mm e.p. that has no reticule. With the reticule, precise east-west drift alignment was not possible. The drift time was 4:49 seconds, which equates to a 75.7 arcmin TFOV or ~ 1.25 deg TFOV. Based on the tic marking calibration and the larger prominence was about one to two tic marks high, the larger prominence is estimated at about 100,000 kilometers tall. Since the 400mm fl PST did not have a TFOV of 1.6 degs and I concluded that it has a large aperture stop reducing the TFOV to 1 deg. Session B: 2008-02-19 13:46MST 2008-02-19 20:46MST The P1 prominence was seen at the same position, was fainter and looked more like a spray fan today. The other prominences were not visible. Using the protractor grid of the 12mm reticule e.p., the P1 prominence was about two tic marks high at a position angle of 10 degrees east of the eyepiece south from the disk center. That corresponds to about 110,000 kilometers tall and a position angle of 30 degs. 2-19-2008 Solar disk diagram http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/main.php?g2_itemId=10963 - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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Utah amateur radio astronomy mentor sought
by Canopus56 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

I have purchased a wideband 30khz-1300mhz receiver with a view towards getting into amateur radio astronomy. I am looking at buying a couple of antennas particularly with respect to radio meteor observing on 41 mhz - the Snotel system frequency. I really don't know radio and could use some help. I understand that Tom Henchie is the resident expert, but he is not on the current SLAS roster. Can someone send me his contact information? Or if there is someone else associated with SLAS that can be provide some mentoring time, it would be appreciated. - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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USA 193
by Patrick Wiggins 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

193 was nothing like it was last evening. Last evening it was in the SE and very bright. Tonight it was in the SW so I expected it to be dimmer and it was. Unfortunately it was a lot dimmer. I'm hearing it has now started to tumble as it flirts with the upper atmosphere and that was evident tonight. I was only able to see it briefly when it rotated and flared near the end of the pass. Then faded quickly from view. Only visible for maybe 3 seconds. Moving very fast. Tonight was probably the last time we'll see it from here. Heavens Above calls for passes the next two nights but they'll also in the west (bad news for an evening pass) and much lower. Let's hope Rob gets to see the debris train. If I understand the times correctly it'll still be light at Maui but some on SeeSat are speculating it could be bright enough to be visible. patrick

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USA 193 update
by Patrick Wiggins 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

A new NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) has been filed: +++++ 02/067 (A0708/08) - AIRSPACE STATIONARY RESERVATION WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3145N/17012W 2824N/16642W 2352N/16317W 1909N/16129W 1241N/16129W 1239N/16532W 1842N/17057W 2031N/17230W 2703N/17206W SFC-UNL. 22 FEB 02:30 2008 UNTIL 22 FEB 05:00 2008. +++++ So it looks like the engagement is being planned for the 22nd between 0230 and 0500 UT. As a pilot I got a kick out of "SFC-UNL". Normally a NOTAM will include a lower and an upper limit but in this case they're saying it goes from the surface up to unlimited. patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] It ain't over till it's over
by Canopus56 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

At least the jet stream looks like it will be in a better position. It's not going right over Utah like it has been for the last two months. Still listening just in case the fat lady starts to sing. - Kurt http://virga.sfsu.edu/gif/jetstream_pac_loop.gif "It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra "It ain't over until the fat lady sings." Dan Cook 1976 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah time info for 2-20 total lunar eclipse
by Canopus56 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

I have appended on my markup of the NASA lunar eclipse event times, the camera exposure times and values recommended in Kodak Tech Pub 150. http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/main.php?g2_itemId=10957 - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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