November 2009 - 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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Nova in this evening's sky (Fwd from S & T)
by Patrick Wiggins 05 Jan '10

05 Jan '10

+++++ Nova in Eridanus This is an AstroAlert from Sky & Telescope. NOVEMBER 29, 2009 by Roger W. Sinnott An 8th-magnitude nova was discovered on November 25, 2009, by Koichi Itagaki of Yamagata, Japan. The new star lies in northeastern Eridanus, 6.9° west-southwest of Rigel. In an e-mail sent late on the evening of November 28th, Sky & Telescope Senior Editor Alan MacRobert writes, "Just spotted the nova in my 10x50 binocs on their wooden shoulder frame. Barely visible through the bright moonlight at about mag 8.4." The find was announced on CBET 2050, issued November 25th by the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Itagaki was using an 0.21-meter (8.3-inch) patrol camera, but within 15 minutes he secured a confirming image with an 0.60-meter reflector. The nova lies at right ascension 4h 47.9m, declination –10° 11' (equinox 2000.0). +++++ It'll be about 7 degrees to the upper right of Rigel as Rigel is rising this evening about 8. Well placed for viewing as it transits about 1 tomorrow morning, about 40 degrees above the horizon as seen from SLC. patrick

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No Sunspots
by Gary Vardon 01 Dec '09

01 Dec '09

Fellow SLASers, I have not seen any sunspots since July of 08. I check a few times a month. Sincerely, Gary Vardon The book DO It Right will help you understand vital ideas leading to your geater success. GO to PublishAmerica.

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eps Aur eclipse links
by Canopus56 30 Nov '09

30 Nov '09

Eclipsing binary eps Aur is in fade phase for it's 27 year eclipse cycle going for totality around Christmas. The next opportunity for this phenonemum is in 2036. - Kurt AAVSO eps Aur page http://www.aavso.org/vstar/vsots/eps_aur.shtml Hopkin's esp Aur campaign Page http://www.hposoft.com/Campaign09.html Stencel 1991 ApJ consensus model of eps Aur structure http://mysite.du.edu/~rstencel/epsAurCarroll1991.JPG ST graphic of hypothesized esp Aur structure model http://www.citizensky.org/sites/default/files/images/scale_big.png Hopkin's campaign - current newsletter http://www.hposoft.com/EAur09/NL09/NL15.pdf Hopkin's campaign - current data plot http://www.hposoft.com/Plots09/VFall09.jpg Hopkin's DSLR photometry workshop How to http://www.hposoft.com/EAur09/EAUR%20pdfs/DSLR.pdf Citizen-Sky article http://www.citizensky.org/content/star-our-project Citizen-Sky graphic - summary of prior eclipses http://www.citizensky.org/sites/default/files/images/changing-eclipses_big.… Stencel's eps Aur campaign page http://mysite.du.edu/~rstencel/epsaur.htm

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 81, Issue 54
by stormcrow60＠xmission.com 29 Nov '09

29 Nov '09

Robert said: "Thank you Joe, I didn't want to get into that but there is no scenario where Al Gore won that election, he lost plain and simple and fought hard to try to take it from Bush. If there was a scenario where Gore wins I have yet to hear it." Robert, Then why did they not let a full recount move forward? Jon

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Global Warming... Climate Change...
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 29 Nov '09

29 Nov '09

>That manmade a CO2 accounts for 1/50th of CO2, needs a source cited. But, perhaps even a 50th is too much. The polar ice is suspended above the ocean, we have yet to see significant sea level rise. There is some evidence that massive rises in sea level can occur very rapidly. It should be remembered that man made CO2 amounts to about 1/50 of the CO2 > production of all other life forms, and that amount is much less than the > CO2 from the warming and cooling of the ocean. > > It also should be considered that the amount of ice contained in both > polar > caps would amount to an increase of 300-400 feet of the ocean. About 4 > inches of rising waters does not account for much of that ice. > > Spencer Ball > Spencer Ball & Associates, LC > 3690 E. Ft Union Blvd # 101 > Salt Lake City, UT 84121 > (801) 453-2000 > spencer(a)spencerball.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com > [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of > stormcrow60(a)xmission.com > Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 12:41 PM > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Global Warming... Climate Change... > > Robert Taylor said: > "It's very simple. In some places it is melting and others it is not. For > example the ice in the Himalayas is growing and inland Greenland (not the > coast so much) it is thinning some what. We hear a lot about Greenland > and > nothing about the Himalayas, why is that?" > > > Robert, the ice and glaciers in the Himalayas are shrinking and melting > quite rapidly. I just saw pictures from around the base of Mt. > Everest taken from I believe 1929 0r 1930 and then very recently. The > contrast in the receding of the glaciers is alarming. The impact to > roughly > 2 billion people who will not have fresh water to drink when the glaciers > can no longer feed the huge Asian rivers that nourish these people will be > tremendous. I do not know where you get the information stating that the > ice > in the Himalayas is not melting. This is a false statement. Again... in my > mind set, the debate for or against global warming... climate change... > whatever you want to call it, is based on a very simple axiom. The folks > claiming global warming is true are American and global scientists. The > folks claiming global warming is false is mainly... by and large, the > fossil > fuel industry. > One side has nothing to gain by promoting their interpretation of their > scientific data. It is their data, compiled from their instruments and > testing procedures. However, the other side has hundreds of billions, if > not > trillions of dollars to lose if legislation is passed to reduce CO2 and > other greenhouse gases. Why should I believe the fossil fuel industry? > They > do not serve my interests... or any body else's interests other than their > own. > Besides, there is a whole economy based on renewable energy sources and > tampering the affects of global warming. This nation needs to stop > hindering > progress and be on the forefront of sorely needed changes in the way we > ive > our lives, do business locally, nationally and globally. Just my two or > three cents. > > Jon > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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.slas.us/gallery2/main.php > 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://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php > Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] GIMP
by Ray Druian 28 Nov '09

28 Nov '09

I think the biggest problem with GIMP is it doesn't support 16 bit files....that isn't so good for astro. Daniel Holmes wrote: > > There is a plugin to Photoshop-ify gimp. Basically makes the commands and menus more what adobe users are used to. > > I'm not in front of my computer, so I don't remember what it is called, but a couple google searches should find it. > > > > Dan I wasn't aware of the plugin to GIMP, but I confess that I should have been. I learned many years ago, when I was working for WordStar (anyone remember WordStar, the best word processing program ever?) that we learned in a training session that because of the differences in how programs are developed at the basic level, it isn't always possible to create an interface that will allow one program to behave like another. I'm not saying this is the case with PS/GIMP. I simply don't know that, but now that I'm aware of the plugin, I'll try to find it and try it out. What really surprises me is David Rankin's point that GIMP doesn't support 16 bit files. If that's so, it's a serious failing; I would imagine that the GIMP developers would want to get this resolved ASAP. Thanx, B.Ray

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OT - ClimateGate
by Dale Hooper 28 Nov '09

28 Nov '09

My understanding from past list administrator statements is that this kind of post is "okay" here. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/24/the_fix_is_in_99280.ht… Hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (Britain's University of East Anglia) appear to implicate leading climatologists with scientific fraud.

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Messier Telrad Charts
by Jay Eads 27 Nov '09

27 Nov '09

I have two binders that have the Messier Objects (all of them) in each binder with their corresponding telrad chart and they are both in sheet protectors. I'm willing to donate them to anyone who wants them or if someone in SLAS wants them to go with the scopes that SLAS loans out that would be fine. I don't need these for my school program so first come first serve. Email me at JayLEads@ (see list serve) or respond here.

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STS-129 Ascent Video Highlights
by Chris 27 Nov '09

27 Nov '09

http://tinyurl.com/yegsjht This link is to the higher-resolution version. The lower-resolution option (button below the video frame) might be better if playback on your machine is jumpy.

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