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

M57 +73PSW-3
by daniel turner 27 Mar '13

27 Mar '13

Mark your calendar for early evening May 7. Their will be a close encounter between the Ring nebula and periodic comet 73P. The comet will be close to earth so its exact position in the sky will depend stongly on your location on the globe. Go to spaceweather.com and use the link at the bottom of the page for "Observable Comets". 73p is in the list and includes orbital elements and a link for daily ephemerides. DT __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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OT - Susan G. Komen Foundation Race For The Cure
by Chuck Hards 09 May '08

09 May '08

Please forgive this intrusion folks, but I am taking part in the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure on May 10th in Salt Lake City, raising funds to help find a cure for breast cancer. Yes, I'm asking for you to pry open your pocketbooks and donate if at all possible. Donations are fully tax-deductable. Please use this link to donate under my name: https://www.active.com/donate/komenslc2008/kslcCHards Any amount, no matter how small, is important and welcome. There you'll also find links to the Komen Foundation homepage and other resources and information. I did this 2 years ago and was overwhelmed by the generosity many of you showed. Last year knee injuries kept me from running. This year I won't be posting a competitive time as the old knees will never be the same, but this is important enough that I make a good try and if I'm hobbling when I cross the finish line, its a small sacrifice to help find a cure. Heck, it's worth a small donation just to see Chuck in pain, right? lol! Thanks for your time, back to astronomy. -Chuck

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Collimation of a Dobsonian
by Raeburn Kennard 05 May '08

05 May '08

This discussion of collimation has been fascinating! I've owned my 10" Odyssey Dobsonian for almost 20 years, and I have never collimated it, unless I did so when I first got it (which I definitely cannot remember). Indeed, I'm sure I wouldn't know how to begin - even after reading all of these wonderful posts. If my scope is "off," I'm too much of a rank amateur to know the difference. I use my scope to look at planets, the moon, an occasional comet, and various Messier objects and easy double stars. Mostly, I use it to dazzle my family or some school, church or scout group. Since my limited knowledge is slightly greater than theirs (or my misinformation is beyond their detection) they think I'm a great astronomer - as often as not they call me an "astrologer." So, I read Chuck Hards' posting: "But if you are mainly observing deep-sky objects at low to medium powers with wide-field eyepieces, collimation can be off by a surprising amount with no noticeable effects on the imagery," and I figure I can probably go another 20 years without worrying about collimation. But then, in that same entry he said: "A fast system (say, f/4) of long effective focal length (i.e., large aperture), used for imaging at high power or planetary viewing or very close double star splitting, should be collimated very precisely," and I wonder if any of that applies to me, and if I should think about collimation. Unfortunately, I don't even know the f/ value of my scope. (It's a red tube about 4 ft. long with a 10" diameter mirror. Does that help?) I do look at planets (especially Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Mars), but usually not with my high-power lense. I haven't noticed any difficulty in getting a crisp image by fine-tuning the focuser, so I don't know if my views would improve with collimation or not. Any advice from any of you REAL experts to an admitted rank amateur like me? To give you an idea of my lack of sophistication, when I first got my scope, I couldn't even figure out how to focus it. Patrick Wiggins took the time to patiently explain how to extend the focussing tube. Duh! Patrick, you're the greatest! Raeburn G. Kennard 12082 Joey Park Place Draper, UT 84120 (801) 321-4867 rkennard(a)kmclaw.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] other astronomy activities
by Patrick Wiggins 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Hi all, I'm not sure what's going on here. Mike has tried to post the following to the list twice but for some reason the list keeps rejecting his post saying it violated some list rule. So I'm trying to post it for him to see if it gets through. patrick > From: Wilson Family <astro_outwest(a)yahoo.com> > Date: 30 April 2008 14:37:05 MDT > To: Utah astronomy blog <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah Astronomy] other astronomy activities > Reply-To: astro_outwest(a)yahoo.com > > > I totally agree. For the past two years I've been doing PowerPoint > presentations at various junior high and high schools here in the > Salt Lake Valley. It is rewarding when the kids start asking > questions either during or after the presentations. I was told by > one teacher that even her autistic child (who usually talks to the > caged rodents in his science class) was unusually more attentive. > > --- On Tue, 4/29/08, Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] other astronomy activities > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 7:01 PM > > On 29 Apr 2008, at 15:53, daniel turner wrote: > > > The world of astronomy is much bigger than picture > > taking and data gathering. I would like to suggest a > > number of other activities. > > > > The first is public outreach. > > Daniel is spot on. > > Many may not know that SLAS does far more evening outreach that most > clubs but for those with a bit of spare time during the day, outreach > in the public schools can be very rewarding, especially this time of > year. > > I say "this time of year" because Utah schools are currently doing > core curriculum testing which, for 6th grade, includes testing on > Earth's seasons, phases of the Moon and eclipses. > > Last week I did the Grantsville Elementary, so far this week both > elementary schools here in Stansbury and Thursday one in Tooele. And > more to come. > > The subject matter isn't all that difficult to teach and the kids > really eat it up. In fact, at the school I was at today the bell rang > signaling the end of the school day yet several kids (curiously all > girls) stayed behind to ask questions. > > How to get started? Just call the local elementary school and ask to > speak with the 6th grade science coordinator or the principal. > > patrick

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A Pretty Picture - The Leo Trio of Galaxies
by Tyler Allred 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Hi all. Here are my latest efforts at a little imaging. The first link is to my version of the Leo Trio of galaxies: http://71.18.228.62/images/Leo_Trio_Web3.jpg The second link is to a 3 hour Ha exposure from Saturday night: http://71.18.228.62/images/NGC_6888_Ha.jpg And, here is a link to my latest images page, which has the two images listed above as well as several others. http://www.allred-astro.com/gpage8.html Please feel free to browse around my website. I thoroughly enjoy imaging the night sky, and I hope you like the website. Cheers, Tyler _____________________________________________

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Tyler Allred pretty pictures
by Jerry Foote 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Tyler, Those are some very nice images. Could you tell us what exposures/filters were used to make those on your "Latest Images" page? Also could you indicate how much work you put in after taking the images? Very nice work. Jerry Foote ScopeCraft, Inc. 4175 E. Red Cliffs Dr. Kanab, UT 84741 435-216-5450 jfoote(a)scopecraft.com

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other astronomy activities
by daniel turner 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

The world of astronomy is much bigger than picture taking and data gathering. I would like to suggest a number of other activities. The first is public outreach. By this I mean the events that reach out to large segments of the non-member public, like the Harmmon's, SPOC, and This-is-the-place, as well as the parties held at schools and summer camps. What happens is that after the crowds start to thin out, you will have a few people who stay on because they have a question in the back of their mind. These people with questions about astronomy are the ones who are actively learning. Helping them to find the answers is the best investment in the future of this great hobby. They are always very grateful when you can help them with their questions in a relaxed one-on-one environment. Many of them will return at a later date with an even better question hanging over them. You can see it in their expression, the way they stand, and how they approach you. People with questions about astronomy are a joy to be with. The second is armchair astronomy. By this I mean reading about the science of astronomy itself beyond the usual focus on telescopes and other gear. I own astronomy gear as part of my ongoing interest in the science of astronomy. You can read books in the comfort of your home even during a raging blizzard. There are several levels of astronomy books. Many are aimed at the beginner and are fairly thin, many are gear related and thus off the main topic, some have a focus on historical events and figures and just a smatter of the science. College textbooks are a great; they are focused on the science and often a step up from the usual amateur fare. Graduate level textbooks are fantastic, but the assume you have the basics already, you may have to do some math. The third is to understand the math behind the science. It's a challenge to wrap a middle aged mind around an interesting concept the leads you into a set of equations. Terms like "e,q,i,a,b,Q" have precise meaning and they are all related with formulas within reach of high school sophomores. Add in a few sines and cosines and your ready for a handheld calculator. Crunch some real numbers into the formulas and the come alive with information about the real world. Move up to a spreadsheet like XL and you can crank out serious data. It's fun to take some number from the observer's handbook and prove it true yourself. The surface gravity of the sun is easily solved for from the radius of the sun and earth and the mass of each. Newton had to invent calculus in order to produce his famous equations. Learning Calculus is not that hard, college freshmen can do it. Doing so opens up a whole new world of understanding in astronomy. DT ____________________________________________________________________________________ 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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Jupiter storms - GRS characteristics
by Canopus56 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

Rogers, JOhn H. Feb. 2008. The accelerating circulation of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. J. Br. Astron. Assoc. 118(1):14-20 http://www.britastro.org/journal/118-1.htm Summarized and abstracted from the above article. After its initial report as Cassini's Spot (1615), the Great Red Spot may have dissolved and reformed during the 1700s. The GRS was not reported again until the 1800s. Since about 1949, the characteristics of the GRS changed as follows: 1) Length: ~28 degs to 16-17 degs, the smallest ever recorded. 1 deg = 1160km. 2) Circulation period of vortex within GRS: 12 to 4.5 days 3) Wind speeds as measured by amateur CCD and spacecraft imaging of streaks and spots within the GRS: 1979 Voyager 1 110-135 m/s 1979 Voyager 2 110 m/s 1996 Galileo 115-135 m/s 2000 Galileo 145-165 m/s ALPO 2001-2002 100 +-8 m/s ALPO 2002-2003 89-97 m/s BAA 2006 112 m/s (this paper) 100 meters per second equals 360 kilometers per hour The position of the GRS slightly oscillates (less than 1 deg) in both latitude and longitude on a 90 day period. For North America, Jupiter is low in the southeast in Sagittarius about 1 1/2 hours before sunrise. Jupiter's position in the ecliptic means that it will not be possible to due high altitude imaging of this planet for several years. An animating web cam video opportunity of the reappearance of Callisto from Jupiter's shadow, more than one Jupiter diameter of Jupiter from its disk, exists for the Intermountain West of the U.S. on May 5, 2008 at 4:12am MDT (10:12 UT). Jupiter will have two visible moons, then Callisto will pop into view some distance from the planet's disk. Details are available in Table 1 at: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/tours/JMEcl2008/JupEclSP.h… - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ 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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Saturn storms
by Canopus56 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

As noted yesterday, a spot storm is now visible on Saturn. April 20 image taken by Greek imager George Tarsoudis http://www.lunar-captures.com/saturn2008/080420_saturn_spot_tar.jpg This is now being reported by Spaceweather.com as two storm spots - each the size of an Earth continent, but that are only visible using CCD imaging. http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Ian-Sh… or for a shorter url, see - April 29, 2008 Spaceweather.com entry at http://spaceweather.com/ - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ 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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NGC 5055 in color
by Patrick Wiggins 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

I hate to think how many hours I've invested in this project. But at least now I have something to show for it. See the NGC 5055 image at: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/main.php?g2_itemId=10620&g2_page=2 Now that I've done it once it probably wont take as long next time (at least I hope not <grin>). Data still wins but maybe taking pretty pictures isn't all that bad. patrick

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