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

SLAS Presentations at Tuesday meeting
by Canopus56 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

Good presentations by Don (collimation) and Lowell (filters) at last night's SLAS meeting. - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

5 5

Unofficial SLAS calendar for Outlook
by Canopus56 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

For those you using the full MS Outlook (2003) product or latter, if have entered about 57 SLAS events (excluding currently scheduled miscellaneous school parties) into an Outlook pst format file. http://canopus56.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/SLAS2008Calendar.pst An MS Outlook calendar will not work with the MS Outlook Express email client. This is a static calendar not synchronized with the official SLAS calendar at: http://www.slas.us/ which as always remains the official dynamic master calendar for the club. The intent of this task was to integrate SLAS related "appointments" with my personal and business calendar. The SLAS events in the Outlook calendar are set with a one day reminder alarm event. You also may wish to manually add a reoccuring event for every Wednesday between 7pm to 11pm from today through November 1 for the UofU Astro Club weekly star on top of the South Physics Building. More info at: http://web.utah.edu/astro/ http://web.utah.edu/astro/calendar.htm - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0

Private star party clarification 8/29 to 9/1
by Canopus56 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

For Don or others, The SLAS online calendar shows an entry on 8/29 to 9/1 for a star party at Natural Bridges National Monument, reproduced below. Your private star party calendar shows a star party at Capitol Reef National Park on that weekend. Is there a scheduling conflict on that date or is it mislabeled? - Kurt ============== SLAS Online Calendar Special Star Party - Friday, August 29, 2008 Description: We will be providing a multi-day star party for the Natural Bridges National Monument. The event will be Friday and Saturday nights of August 29th and 30th. The party will be from Dusk until the wee-hours of the morning. Location: Scott Ryan Chief Ranger Natural Bridges / Hovenweep NMs Office: (435) 692-1234 x13 Cell: (435) 459-2399 Fax: (435) 692-1111 ============== Private star party calendar August 29-Sept 1 Capitol Reef National Park - you will be responsible for your own accommodations since this is not a public star party. We will meet at Panorama Point to view. Panorama Point has a great southern horizon and last year we were viewing objects in Fornax, Sculptor, Phoenix and Pisces Austrinus. We even saw some stars in Microscopium. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

2 1

SOHO LASCO movie of Mecury transit
by Canopus56 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

For entertainment purposes here's a SOHO movie from the LASCO camera for the last few days that shows Mercury grazing the Sun. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c2.mpg - Kurt >From 4/16 spaceweather.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0

SLAS Dark Sky Star Parties 2008
by Canopus56 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

To Don and Ann B., Thanks, Don. I recall your schedule was still being revised from a meeting or two ago. Thanks for the update. - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0

SLAS Private Star Party schedule?
by Canopus56 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

I was loading up my Outlook with SLAS calendar dates for the year. Are all the private star parties on the SLAS calendar? I seem to recall some at locations like Wolf Creek and the Wedge that do not seem to be on the calendar. Where do I get a list. Thanks - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

5 4

FW: Captiol Reef Party
by Ann Blanchard 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

I was also looking for the private parties, and as you can see from Lowell's message below, he says the information will be posted soon. From: Lowell Lyon [mailto:bolide@sisna.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 9:10 AM To: Ann Blanchard Subject: Re: Captiol Reef Party Hi Ann: The private star party schedule is not posted yet on the club's website yet soon will be. We will be at Capitol Reef on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights Labor Day weekend. I look forward to seeing you there. Lowell Lyon ----- Original Message ----- From: Ann Blanchard <mailto:a.blanchard@ugs.utah.edu> To: bolide(a)sisna.com Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 9:03 AM Subject: Captiol Reef Party Hi Lowell, I must have misunderstood where the private star parties are listed, because I can't find the Capitol Reef event on the SLAS calendar. You said it would be over the Labor Day weekend, so is it Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights or just Saturday and Sunday? I'm eager to make reservations, as you suggested. Thanks!! 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

1 0

Fabric, anyone?
by Patrick Wiggins 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

Knowing how ATMs love "stuff" and knowing that ATMs hang out here I thought I'd post this current listing on Craig's List from someone trying to unload a bunch of fabric (I'm thinking ground covers, wind breaks, truss tube telescope shrouds and the like). http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/art/644299691.html Nice night tonight. Too bad about the Moon. patrick

1 0

Fwd: International Astronomical Youth Camp 2008 - for Astronomical Societies in the USA
by Richard Tenney 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

I have no idea if this is legit, but it sounds like it is, therefore I'm passing along this interesting bit of astro-spam in case anyone on the list might be interested. Heck, if I were 17 again and had some extra $$ lying around, sounds like a lot of fun... /R --- Juta Kawalerowicz <juta(a)iayc.org> wrote: > Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:23:59 -0700 > From: "Juta Kawalerowicz" <juta(a)iayc.org> > Subject: International Astronomical Youth Camp 2008 > - for Astronomical Societies in the USA > > Dear American Astronomical Societies, > > My name is Juta Kawalerowicz, I am from Scotland, UK > and I am one of > the leaders of the International Astronomical Youth > Camp (IAYC). In > this email I'm sending you some information about > our camp, because I > think you and your members could be interested in > participating in it. > > Below this e-mail you will find the official > announcement of the IAYC > 2008. Maybe your society received it already, as we > try to reach as > many astronomical societies as possible. Still, I > wanted to write to > you personally, and there is a special reason for > this - we had 43 > camps so far, and in the camp history we had only a > few participants > to represent the United States of America! When I > learned about this - > I made it my personal goal to bring some young > enthusiastic American > astronomers to IAYC this year! :-) > > I'm sure they will be a great addition to camp's > international atmosphere! > > Please forward this email to your members and people > you think might > be interested in our astronomical camp. Thank you a > lot! > > If you have any questions, please contact me - it > will be my pleasure > to help you! > > With kind regards, > Juta Kawalerowicz, > > ****************************** > > > > IAYC 2008, July 20th - August 9th > 44th International Astronomical Youth Camp > Sayda, Germany > > Every year, for 39 years now, the International > Astronomical Youth > Camp (IAYC) takes place somewhere in Europe. About > seventy people from > many different countries live together for three > weeks. They are aged > between 16 and 24 years old and share the same > interest: > astronomy. The IAYC is different from most > astronomical camps for two > reasons: the international character and the fact > that you do your own > small research project, not just accepting facts but > rather > discovering them yourself. The IAYC is also not like > a hotel where one > follows a summer school or an astronomy course. > Every participant with > his or her own cultural background forms an > important piece in the > complex puzzle of camp life. > > This years camp will take place in the > "Jugendgastehaus Mortelgrund", > a youth hostel in the South East of Germany. The > house is located > about 2,5 km from the small village of Sayda, which > has about 2.300 > inhabitants. It is a pleasant wooded area in the > "Erzgebirge", about > 45km from Dresden. > > The IAYC is an international youth camp with > participants from about > 20 different countries. As a participant you work > for three weeks in > one of the 8 working groups - together with other > young people - on > astronomy related projects. These projects are done > in a working group > of your choice and also depend on your own interest. > The working > groups themselves will be led by young scientists > from the IAYC team > and concentrate on a specific field in astronomy. > This year these > are: Ancient Astronomy, Astrogenises, Basics of > Astronomy, Compact > Objects, Extragalactic astrophysics, Observational > Astronomy, Radio > Astronomy and Imaging processing. Of course apart > from the > astronomical program, there are many > non-astronomical activities such > as group games, sport events, singing evenings, > hiking tours and an > excursion. > > The accommodation for the IAYC 2008 will be a very > pleasant youth > hostel called "Jugendgastehaus Mortelgrund". The > house offers plenty > of space for all participants and working groups and > there will also > be a darkroom available to the people who want to > develop > astropictures. At walking distance there is a field > which can be used > for observations. The remote location of the house > promises excellent > observing conditions. > > Since it is an international camp, the camp language > is English. You > should be able and willing to speak English > throughout the camp > although it is not necessary to speak English > fluently. Anyone from 16 > to 24 years old and able to communicate in English > may participate in > the IAYC 2008. The fee for accommodation, full board > and the whole > program, including the excursion, will be 550 Euro. > For interested > persons who are in the situation of not being able > to pay the camp fee > themselves, a limited number of grants is available. > > More information about IAYC 2008 and the working > groups is available > on our website <http://www.iayc.org/next_camp.php>. > There you can > also download the application form. > > If you have any questions or wish to order, free of > charge, an > information booklet including an application form, > please contact our > info-person: > > Ana Brajovic > Svetog Save 20/1a > 11000 Beograd > Serbia > tel.: +381 64 262 3182 > e-mail: info(a)iayc.org > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0

Unguided exposures: Pushing the limits
by Patrick Wiggins 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

A guy on one of the other email lists I'm on posted a question about how long an exposure one can make without guiding. That sounded like a challenge... :) I've posted some of my test images to the UA gallery. All shot with the C-14 at f/11 which equates to about a 4,000mm focal length (hence the tiny field of view). http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/main.php?g2_itemId=10620&g2_page=1 Up through 6 or 7 minutes looks ok but there is just a touch of elongation in the stars in the longer exposures. I'm not too bothered by that though since I seldom go over 5 minute without guiding. Ok, so now that I've got the polar alignment worked out maybe Tyler can show me how to take pretty pictures. Carpe Noctem! patrick p.s. For those new to the UA Gallery, you do not need to register in order to look at the pictures (more than a few have thought registering is necessary).

3 3