February 2009 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Geostationary satellite "movie"
by Jerry Foote 04 Feb '09

04 Feb '09

I recall many years ago Doug McCombs, I and others had driven to the upper end of Bull Frog Bay for some observing. He had just completed his 10" binoculars and was scanning the sky testing them. I was taking images and was stuck to the guiding eyepiece. He suddenly called out that he had a satellite in the field and it was really moving along. I took a break and went over to see what it looked like. There it was just coasting along in the field. It was only after a few of us looked at it that we realized that his binoculars were mounted like a Dob and that he hadn't moved the telescope since finding the satellite. What we thought was a moving satellite was actually a stationary satellite among the moving star field. We carefully marked his mount and the next night returned to the same location and there it was again. It was on this trip that I learned what a true optimist is. On our last night we could see a storm coming in from the south with lightening and thunder. We all moaned about the loss of the night. A good friend, David Levine suddenly turned around to the north. We all looked and asked him what he saw. His reply, "I'm saving my night vision from the lightening." About an hour later the sky let loose but by then we had all shut down and packed our equipment away. Jerry Foote ScopeCraft, Inc. 4175 E. Red Cliffs Dr. Kanab, UT 84741 435-899-1255 jfoote(a)scopecraft.com

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Comet Kushida Pictures
by Patrick Wiggins 04 Feb '09

04 Feb '09

Too close to the Moon so not much to look at this evening. But I got a couple of quick shots while waiting for my regular target to rise. http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=944 Change of apparent size between the two shots is caused by changing seeing, not the comet actually expanding. patrick

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Geostationary satellite "movie"
by Patrick Wiggins 04 Feb '09

04 Feb '09

From th Minor Planet Mailing List: http://aida.astroinfo.org/displayimage.php?pos=-408 patrick

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Photometry guide for the eps Aur event in July 2009
by Canopus56 04 Feb '09

04 Feb '09

Reposted from the AAVSO list. The resources link has some good stuff. - Kurt =================== Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 15:01:48 -0800 From: "David Daiku Trowbridge" <David(a)tinyblue.com> Subject: [Aavso-photometry] CCD Observations of Epsilon Aurigae To: "AAVSO Photometry" <aavso-photometry(a)mira.aavso.org> Message-ID: <000b01c98653$65160800$2f421800$@com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I've posted a document describing how I have used a 4" telescope with a 3-hole mask to do BVRI photometry of Epsilon Aurigae. Also, I've included examples of Excel spreadsheets that I've used to determine standard magnitudes following the methods of Bruce Gary and Priscilla Benson. Standard magnitudes for the comparison star Lambda Aurigae are from Jeff Hopkins. Transmission coefficients were measured using M67. http://www.tinyblue.com/htm/eps-aur.htm

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Comet Lulin
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 04 Feb '09

04 Feb '09

Hi All, In case someone does not have finder chart for Lulin. I don't remember anyone posting these links, they are nice charts. Through Feb 20th http://www.astrodrayer.com/lulin/LulinN3-1.gif Feb 20th to March 18th http://www.astrodrayer.com/lulin/LulinN3-2.gif Erik

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Comet Lulin on 2/3/09
by Canopus56 04 Feb '09

04 Feb '09

I observed it this morning at 5:15am from Little Mtn with a 60mm refractor at 21x and 77x. At 77x, I could see slight hint of the extended halo shown in Tyler's image and in other online images. The bright nucleus was also visible. As noted in my prior correction, I erred in my comment that we are looking end-on at the comet. We are looking at it from the side. See orbit diagram at http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=C%2F2007+N3&orb=1 - Kurt P.S. - Little Mtn was too cold to be useable this morning. Although the temperature was -2C, there was a slight breeze from which there was no shelter. The wind chill drove me home after 15 minutes.

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SLAS Dues Reminder - Q
by Canopus56 04 Feb '09

04 Feb '09

Patrick, Would you remind me how much I need to send through PayPal for this year's dues. Basic membership plus the observatory fee? - Kurt

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Referral name for Utah SDB inquiry
by Canopus56 03 Feb '09

03 Feb '09

I have received an inquiry from a teacher at one of the local campuses of the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind seeking to have an astronomy presentation at one of their assemblies. Instead of just sending him to the website, is there a specific person and telephone number that I can refer him to? - Kurt

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USNO Astronomical Information Center - new website
by Canopus56 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

The very useful USNO Astronomical Information Center has moved its website to: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-inform…

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Search for Comit Lulin
by Canopus56 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

I erred in my earlier statement that we were looking at Comet Lulin directly from the anti-solar direction. It appears Lulin is off to one side and will pass the Earth over the next few weeks. - Kurt http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=C%2F2007+N3&orb=1

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