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

Why not just the carbon?
by Patrick Wiggins 29 Jul '08

29 Jul '08

At last evening's after-SPOC Advanced Training Session the subject came up about carbon sequestration. It occurred to me that most (if not all) of the talk I've heard on the subject has been about sequestering CO2 (mostly oxygen) and not just the carbon. Have I got that right? If so, why hide away the oxygen with the carbon rather than just to carbon? Any ideas? Thanks, patrick

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Google
by Ann House 29 Jul '08

29 Jul '08

Take a look at google.com today. You have got to love those Google people. -A

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Why not just the carbon?
by Wayne Sumner 29 Jul '08

29 Jul '08

According to my astronomy textbook "21st Century Astronomy", limestone and other carbonate deposits represent THE major reason our atmosphere is not 95%+ CO2 as are the atmospheres of Venus and Mars, but just .033% CO2! Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610 >>> "Seth Jarvis" <SJarvis(a)slco.org> 07/28/08 12:50 PM >>> Well... Calling what came out of Mt. Saint Helens "ash" is a misnomer. It's really a collection of oxides of silica, aluminum, iron, etc. It's basically a bunch of highly abrasive, low-density glass and is pretty nasty stuff. Are you sure about the gardens benefiting from this? I'm betting that only way that what fell on Portland would be a beneficial carbon-rich "ash" is if forest fires associated with the eruption mingled their genuine ash with the volcanic fallout. I don't know if that happened or not. On the subject of using mother nature as a long-term storage facility for unwanted carbon (or CO2), there has just been some pretty cool research published showing the complex and surprisingly effective ways that the waters in the vicinity of the mouth of the Amazon river are fixing atmospheric CO2 and locking them up in plant matter. http://www.physorg.com/news135878497.html Also, NPR's "Science Friday" program this past week had an interview with a researcher who proposes piping liquid CO2 from west coast power plants to subterranean caverns _far beneath the Pacific Ocean_ and using the pressure of the ocean to help force the CO2 to bind with minerals in these caverns to form limestone deposits. You can listen to the program via the web at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92921956 Enjoy! Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of erikhansen(a)TheBlueZone.net Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 11:47 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Why not just the carbon? > Portland received a couple of feet of that charcoal (volcanic ash) when Mt St Helens went off. The gardens there really benefited from that. My reply didn't answer Patrick's question. But I can offer this detail on > sequestering only the carbon without the oxygen: > > I heard a recent interview with a scientist on NPR, who advocates using > charcoal (relatively pure carbon) as a soil ammendment worldwide. It has > the double bonus of both enriching the soil by capturing nutrients, as > well > as sequestering carbon. Charcoal is produced by heating organic material > in > an oxygen-poor environment, so one doesn't produce greenhouse-gasses and > pollution the way burning the material would. It can be made using > sealed solar-heated vessels, and is stable for tens of thousands of years > once produced. > > After hearing this, I purchased a couple bags of commercially made BBQ > charcoal, pulverized it with a small sledge hammer, and used it in my > vegetable garden this spring. Those bags of charcoal will never be > burned- > the scientist (who had a strong Chinese accent) said that regular BBQ > charcoal was ideal for this purpose if broken down into smaller size > pieces. Something I noticed is that BBQ charcoal is surprisingly hard. > It > took a lot of beating to reduce the size of those chunks. Using a rock > tumbler or some kind of crusher mill would be easier, provided powering it > didn't release more carbon than the charcoal being broken-down. > > Too early to tell if the charcoal has had positive results as far as a > soil > ammendment, I've got good soil to begin with. I also didn't use as much > as > the scientist recommended per unit area, because of cost and time factors. > I might do a couple of bags per year until I'm too old to do it anymore. > > On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 8:59 AM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > >> >> >> From what I've read, terrestrial carbon sinks are a tiny fraction of the >> capacity of oceanic sinks. Also, anything humans do in the way of >> re-forestation or other sequestration is a drop in the bucket compared >> to >> the coal tonnage and crude oil volumes brought to the surface and >> burned. >> > _______________________________________________ > 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 > _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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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"Black Hole" racist?
by Patrick Wiggins 29 Jul '08

29 Jul '08

For your Sunday morning viewing enjoyment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20a-exAW6qc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-akk3gog34&feature=related And now to end on a lighter note, here (Siegfried) are the videos we talked about at Advanced Training last evening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adc3MSS5Ydc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Q-sRdV7SY Night all, patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] "Black Hole" racist?
by Gary Vardon 29 Jul '08

29 Jul '08

Some blacks are hypersensitive. I hope that their quirks does not change our word choice. Sincerely, Gary Vardon -----Original Message----- From: erikhansen(a)TheBlueZone.net Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 8:33 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] "Black Hole" racist? > Perhaps when they heard it for the first time they did not hear the L in the pronunciation... no offense intended. I would agree that "Black Hole" to describe the phenomenon is right on. However, I have known some minority types to be very sensitive about some words and with good reason in some cases. Erik This entire issue has gone too far. I am generaly offended by comments > that > are truely racist. But lets get real. A Black Hole is very well named > and > has "NO" racist connotation. Likewise with "Dark-Energy or Matter". The > news story I heard about this listed many terms that included "Black" that > are or should be considered racist. Black holes and Dark Matter were > included along with "Black Sheep of the Family". I don't see that "Black > Sheep of the Family" is a racist comment. It refers to black sheep that > are > placed in a herd to aid as an estimate of numbers. > > I will continue to call Black holes by this name as well as Dark-Matter. > If > someone feels this offensive, I suggest they study the meaning behind the > name before they become vocal about their feeling. > > Rodger Fry > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kim" <kimharch(a)cut.net> > To: "'Utah Astronomy'" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 3:08 PM > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] "Black Hole" racist? > > >> I've been away from my computer for a few days, so I've missed a lot. I >> see >> that no one responded to this message from Patrick. The audio card in my >> computer is failing, so I can't listen to the audio stream, but the >> comments >> from other readers are astonishing. Most imply (or say explicitly) that >> we >> should be aware of terms such as "dark energy" and "dark matter" in >> addition >> to avoiding the term "black hole." I agree with the other comments that >> I've >> read that it is all nonsense, but I don't have any African-American >> friends >> here in Sanpete to ask about it. (We're pretty much all >> Northern-European-Americans here). >> >> Kim >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com >> [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of >> Patrick >> Wiggins >> Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 4:48 AM >> To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy >> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] "Black Hole" racist? >> >> For your Sunday morning viewing enjoyment: >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20a-exAW6qc&feature=related >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-akk3gog34&feature=related >> >> And now to end on a lighter note, here (Siegfried) are the videos we >> talked about at Advanced Training last evening: >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adc3MSS5Ydc >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Q-sRdV7SY >> >> Night all, >> >> patrick >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG. >> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.6/1574 - Release Date: >> 7/25/2008 >> 4:27 PM >> >> >> No virus found in this outgoing message. >> Checked by AVG. >> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.6/1577 - Release Date: >> 7/28/2008 >> 6:55 AM >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > _______________________________________________ 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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Report on Alta-Save-Our-Canyons star party
by Canopus56 28 Jul '08

28 Jul '08

Thanks Rodger. I was wondering about the seeing and whether the canyon ridgelines would generate too much turbulence. - Kurt PS - Gale Dick and Ann Wechsler have run a wonderful group for many years and are well-deserving of community support.

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Report on Alta-Save-Our-Canyons star party
by Canopus56 27 Jul '08

27 Jul '08

How did the SOC star party go? What was the seeing like at Alta? - Kurt

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Edgar Mitchell
by Chuck Hards 27 Jul '08

27 Jul '08

I had my list mail turned off for over a week as I was very busy working on a business venture, so I'm not sure if there has been any discussion on the recent comments of Dr. Edgar Mitchell. http://www.wesh.com/news/16998969/detail.html Although not mentioned in this article, I've read that he has first-hand knowledge of the existence of aliens. Has anyone else been following this? Could this be merely the rant of an old man seeking publicity? Certainly he has the credentials to speak with authority, being a former Apollo astronaut who has walked on the moon.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Star of the Orient
by Chuck Hards 27 Jul '08

27 Jul '08

Never heard of that descriptive name. What time of year did he travel? Could also be a planet... On Sun, Jul 27, 2008 at 3:04 PM, Rob Ratkowski Photography < ratkwski(a)hawaii.rr.com> wrote: > Aloha > > > I was watching a program yesterday about 'traders' that included the > Taureg of N. Africa. An old trader said he used the 'Star of the > Orient' as his guide, I looked at the Googled lists but nothing is > named that way. anyone know what star that might be?? The Star of > the Orient ???? >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Star of the Orient
by diveboss＠xmission.com 27 Jul '08

27 Jul '08

I googled "Star of the orient" and the first and only listing by that name was a 1979 adult flick. If you drag the bar to the bottom of the web page, there are 5 recommended listings. What a qwinky dink (Coincidence), the first one up is entitled "Alien Erotica" which brings us right back to Dr. Mitchell! Perhaps then, the "guide" the old trader was refering to is the star of an adult film. Anything is possible. Quoting Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com>: > Never heard of that descriptive name. What time of year did he travel? > Could also be a planet... > > On Sun, Jul 27, 2008 at 3:04 PM, Rob Ratkowski Photography < > ratkwski(a)hawaii.rr.com> wrote: > >> Aloha >> >> >> I was watching a program yesterday about 'traders' that included the >> Taureg of N. Africa. An old trader said he used the 'Star of the >> Orient' as his guide, I looked at the Googled lists but nothing is >> named that way. anyone know what star that might be?? The Star of >> the Orient ???? >> > _______________________________________________ > 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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