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

Bending light around objects
by diveboss＠xmission.com 10 Aug '08

10 Aug '08

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,401101,00.html

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SPOC tonight
by Kim A. Hyatt 10 Aug '08

10 Aug '08

If anyone is online and not at SPOC…can you tell me the weather prospects for tonight’s star part? I may come, but without some assurance that the weather will cooperate I don’t want to make the long drive. Kim Kim A. Hyatt Architect P.O. Box 124 Mt. Pleasant, Utah 84647 Tel: 435.462.9207 Fax: 435.462.5013 Mobile: 801.631.5228 kimharch(a)cut.net Architectural Design ▪ Historic Preservation No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.6.0/1601 - Release Date: 8/8/2008 9:02 AM

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 66, Issue 7
by Bob and Judy Bruce 10 Aug '08

10 Aug '08

----- Original Message ----- From: <utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com> To: <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 7:21 AM Subject: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 66, Issue 7 > Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to > utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > utah-astronomy-owner(a)mailman.xmission.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Perseid shower peak - Tues. 8-12 5:22am MDT (Kim A. Hyatt) > 2. Re: Perseid shower peak - Tues. 8-12 5:22am MDT (Patrick Wiggins) > 3. Re: OT: Giant water bugs (erikhansen(a)TheBlueZone.net) > 4. Test message per Patrick (Lockman) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 16:12:39 -0600 > From: "Kim A. Hyatt" <kimharch(a)cut.net> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Perseid shower peak - Tues. 8-12 5:22am > MDT > To: "'Utah Astronomy'" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Message-ID: <E1KRDiv-0005Qy-LZ(a)mx03.mta.xmission.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1250" > > BTW, Kurt - thanks for the information. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com > [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of > Canopus56 > Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 1:18 PM > To: Utah Astronomy List Serv > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Perseid shower peak - Tues. 8-12 5:22am MDT > > I. Tues. August 12, 2008 5:22am MDT - Max Perseid shower peak > NASA Meteor Fluximator > http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html > > Predicted fluxes at 5:22am; Astronomical twilight begins 4:40am MDT; Civil > twilight 6:06am MDT > > Mountaintop: 110 zhr ~ 1 per 30 seconds > Countryside: 74 zhr ~ 1 per 45 seconds > Suburban: 35 zhr or ~ 1 per 1 3/4 minutes > Downtown: 7.6 zhr or ~ 1 per 8 minutes > > Predicted fluxes earlier in the evening at midnight Aug. 12, 2008 > > Mountaintop: 27.8 zhr > Countryside: 19.9 zhr > Suburban: 10.1 zhr > Downtown: 2 zhr > > Radiant in constellation Perseus first rises around 10pm on 8-11 and is at > about 35 degs alt at 1am on 8-12. > > II. NASA Science Perseid Meteor Shower Article > http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/22jul_perseiddawn.htm > > III. USNO SUnrise Sunset Data for 8/12/2008 > ======== > Sun and Moon Data for One Day > The following information is provided for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake > County, > Utah (longitude W111.9, latitude N40.8): > > Tuesday > 12 August 2008 Mountain Daylight Time > > SUN > Begin civil twilight 6:06 a.m. > Sunrise 6:35 a.m. > Sun transit 1:32 p.m. > Sunset 8:29 p.m. > End civil twilight 8:58 p.m. > > MOON > Moonrise 5:25 p.m. on preceding day > Moonset 2:08 a.m. > Moonrise 6:12 p.m. > Moon transit 10:37 p.m. > Moonset 3:05 a.m. on following day > > Phase of the Moon on 12 August: waxing gibbous with 84% of the Moon's > visible disk illuminated. > > ========= > > IV. Lunar impact observing oppportunity > > Informally, the Geologic Lunar Research Group is organizing to video or > web > image the Moon to detect lunar flash impacts near the south pole of the > Moon. With 84% of the disk illuminated and the Moon at 20 degs alt at > 11pm > on 8-11, this may prove difficult, but is a good opportunity to try your > hand at lunar impact imaging and testing web cam imaging setups. The dark > side of the terminator will be at Kepler and cover Oceanus Procellarum. > Conversely, the ALPO Lunar Impact Project does not list the shower as a > favorable window for imaging lunar flash impacts. > > - Kurt > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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: 270.5.12/1597 - Release Date: 8/7/2008 > 5:54 AM > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.12/1597 - Release Date: 8/7/2008 > 5:54 AM > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 18:21:51 -0600 > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Perseid shower peak - Tues. 8-12 5:22am > MDT > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Message-ID: <29AD7A60-2F84-4DC3-A659-34BFA1997925(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes > > On 07 Aug 2008, at 13:17, Canopus56 wrote: > >> I. Tues. August 12, 2008 5:22am MDT - Max Perseid shower peak >> NASA Meteor Fluximator >> http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html > > I've already seen a few Persieds the past few nights. Hopefully a > good omen for Tuesday morning. > > patrick > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 18:54:02 -0600 (MDT) > From: erikhansen(a)TheBlueZone.net > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Giant water bugs > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Message-ID: > <45994.208.186.134.104.1218156842.squirrel(a)webmail.thebluezone.net> > Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 > >>Anybody read "The Hot Zone", it's the bugs you can't see. > > > > Just for interest: >> http://www.gedcasserley.saddleworth.net/html/megarachne_servinei.html >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com >> [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of >> diveboss(a)xmission.com >> Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 1:02 PM >> To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Giant water bugs >> >> Again, this is not OT. What better way to see stars, than exposing >> ones self to the recoil of a 10 ga. If nothing else it will take your >> mind off the bugs. 'Til the bruise heals anyway. ;) And that is >> Astronomy related! >> >> >> Quoting "Kim A. Hyatt" <kimharch(a)cut.net>: >> >>> Or dust off the 10-gauge. >>> >>> Apparently, the big bugs were also at the top of the food chain. No >> spiders >>> big enough to eat them. The largest fossil spider had a leg span of >>> about >> 20 >>> inches. Still about 100 times too big. >>> >>> Kim >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com >>> [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck >>> Hards >>> Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 12:40 PM >>> To: Utah Astronomy >>> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Giant water bugs >>> >>> On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 10:41 AM, Kim A. Hyatt <kimharch(a)cut.net> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>> - dragonflies the size of hawks >>> >>> >>> >>> Now think of this: >>> >>> What do dragonflies eat? Mosquitos. And I'm sure BIG dragonflies ate >>> BIG >>> mosquitos! Mosquitos the size of starlings! >>> >>> The hell with DEET. Hand me a .357. >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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: 270.5.12/1597 - Release Date: >>> 8/7/2008 >>> 5:54 AM >>> >>> >>> No virus found in this outgoing message. >>> Checked by AVG. >>> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.12/1597 - Release Date: >>> 8/7/2008 >>> 5:54 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 >> >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG. >> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.12/1597 - Release Date: 8/7/2008 >> 5:54 AM >> >> >> No virus found in this outgoing message. >> Checked by AVG. >> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.12/1597 - Release Date: 8/7/2008 >> 5:54 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 >> > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:21:56 -0700 > From: Lockman <lockman(a)aznex.net> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Test message per Patrick > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Message-ID: <489C4874.8010007(a)aznex.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed > > Patrick asked me to send this test message. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 66, Issue 7 > *********************************************

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OT: Giant water bugs
by Chuck Hards 09 Aug '08

09 Aug '08

Here is one of those off-topic general science stories we were just talking about. It may be of interest to those of you who camp extensively or go fishing. At my place of employment, we recently received several large crates from a business partner in Canada. In one of them, my crew found the largest insect I have ever seen that wasn't dead and pinned under glass- it was easily 3 inches long and almost an inch wide. In fact it appeared to be perfectly healthy. Our shipping/receiveing supervisor called the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and emailed photos of the animal. Here is the reply of a staff zoologist, George V. Oliver: *"The insect in the 2 digital photographs that you sent is a giant water bug (Belostoma sp.). It's a true bug (order Hemiptera) in the family Belostomatidae. Giant water bugs do rarely occur naturally in Utah and Arizona, but whether this one is the same as our native species is uncertain; due to its size I would think it is an Asian species, which are very rare. * *Although I was not certain of the exact scale (despite the backgrounds that you provided), it looks large to me, and, if so, it's a female. The males are much smaller than the females, maybe a third or quarter the size of the females. The females of some species of Belostoma get to be more than 3 inches long, maybe even 4 inches.* *They're aggressive aquatic predators and kill small fish, (Up to four pounds) and tadpoles in addition to invertebrate prey. (They suck the juices out of their prey with their proboscis.) Under water, they're good swimmers, but they also leave the water and fly around in the air, often being attracted to lights at night. The big females can produce a painful bite to a person if one handles them carelessly. (They stab their sharp proboscis into a fish, tadpole, or a person's finger.)* *As I mentioned in our telephone conversation, you may wish to contact the Utah Department of Agriculture about what to do with the insect. You may also wish to contact the federal agency APHIS (which, I believe, stands for something like Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service), which has a office here in SLC and which has staff entomologists."* Our shipping/receiving supervisor then goes on in his email to fellow employees: *"And the USDA: Plant Protection and Insect Quarantine Dept. just picked up our little friend. Randal from that Org. who came to pick the bug up, said it was the largest he had ever seen!"* So, the speculation is that an Asian water bug made it to Utah, via Calgary. If I find out definitively what the species is and where it came from, I'll post that info. And BTW, I work next to an open canal in Davis county...if this bug had friends who escaped...

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signing-off
by Chuck Hards 08 Aug '08

08 Aug '08

Folks, I've got to turn off list mail for an indefinite period. I just don't have time for hobbies at all right now, and I'm spending way too much time at the computer on work and other issues to wade through non-critical emails. I'm really getting sick of sitting in front of this box. See you when I see you. Call me on the phone (remember the phone?) if you want to talk to me. C.

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Test message per Patrick
by Lockman 08 Aug '08

08 Aug '08

Patrick asked me to send this test message.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Test Post
by Lockman 08 Aug '08

08 Aug '08

This is a response to a post by Joe Bauman when he noted that he got an earlier test post. So did I. In a way, this too is a test post. Yesterday, I responded to another post. It never showed up on the list. By and by, I got an email from Patrick informing me that for reasons Patrick couldn't fathom, my reply was kicked out by the lists filter. So Patrick then asked me to do the test post. Besides this being a reply to your post, I'm checking to see if the problem lies in my sending posts to the list as a reply to another list post. So this response to your post was made by clicking on the Utah Astronomy link and essentially composing a virgin post to the list.

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Perseid shower peak - Tues. 8-12 5:22am MDT
by Canopus56 07 Aug '08

07 Aug '08

I. Tues. August 12, 2008 5:22am MDT - Max Perseid shower peak NASA Meteor Fluximator http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html Predicted fluxes at 5:22am; Astronomical twilight begins 4:40am MDT; Civil twilight 6:06am MDT Mountaintop: 110 zhr ~ 1 per 30 seconds Countryside: 74 zhr ~ 1 per 45 seconds Suburban: 35 zhr or ~ 1 per 1 3/4 minutes Downtown: 7.6 zhr or ~ 1 per 8 minutes Predicted fluxes earlier in the evening at midnight Aug. 12, 2008 Mountaintop: 27.8 zhr Countryside: 19.9 zhr Suburban: 10.1 zhr Downtown: 2 zhr Radiant in constellation Perseus first rises around 10pm on 8-11 and is at about 35 degs alt at 1am on 8-12. II. NASA Science Perseid Meteor Shower Article http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/22jul_perseiddawn.htm III. USNO SUnrise Sunset Data for 8/12/2008 ======== Sun and Moon Data for One Day The following information is provided for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah (longitude W111.9, latitude N40.8): Tuesday 12 August 2008 Mountain Daylight Time SUN Begin civil twilight 6:06 a.m. Sunrise 6:35 a.m. Sun transit 1:32 p.m. Sunset 8:29 p.m. End civil twilight 8:58 p.m. MOON Moonrise 5:25 p.m. on preceding day Moonset 2:08 a.m. Moonrise 6:12 p.m. Moon transit 10:37 p.m. Moonset 3:05 a.m. on following day Phase of the Moon on 12 August: waxing gibbous with 84% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated. ========= IV. Lunar impact observing oppportunity Informally, the Geologic Lunar Research Group is organizing to video or web image the Moon to detect lunar flash impacts near the south pole of the Moon. With 84% of the disk illuminated and the Moon at 20 degs alt at 11pm on 8-11, this may prove difficult, but is a good opportunity to try your hand at lunar impact imaging and testing web cam imaging setups. The dark side of the terminator will be at Kepler and cover Oceanus Procellarum. Conversely, the ALPO Lunar Impact Project does not list the shower as a favorable window for imaging lunar flash impacts. - Kurt

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mars
by Naz & David 07 Aug '08

07 Aug '08

The higher mass of Phoenix ruled out the use of air bags. Apparently its possible but the increased weight requirement of the bags makes the Viking/Phoenix method a more efficient approach (less launch mass). It will be interesting to see how NASA chooses to get the Mars Science Laboratory to the surface, it looks very heavy....http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/spotlight/images/MSL_20080512.… Cheers David

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] A Perfect PEC solution (PPEC)?
by Canopus56 06 Aug '08

06 Aug '08

David, That's a really neat idea to use the polar alignment scope coupled to an autoguiding camera to control drift. I wouldn't have thought the polar drift was sufficient around a high latitude polar star to accurately regulate drift of a target object near the celestial equator. It looks similar in principle to SBIG's seeing camera box, that works by taking a continuous image of Polaris. Again, some pretty imaginative engineering. Hope to see more of it as the product becomes commercially distributed. - Kurt P.S. - The manufacturer website has too much of an "underconstruction" feel to it. Neither of the two European dealers listed on the manufacturer's website actually list the product.

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