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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] April 28th Birthdays
by Joe Bauman 01 May '09

01 May '09

Sorry it's taken so long to reply, Jay. I just want to add that I knew Mr. Shoemaker, talking with him through the telephone and once in person. He was a geologist and plans were that he would be the first scientist on the moon. But he was forced out of the astronaut corps because of a medical condition. It's good to know he finally made it to the moon. He was kindly and wise. -- Joe --- On Tue, 4/28/09, Jay Eads <jayleads(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Jay Eads <jayleads(a)gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] April 28th Birthdays To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 9:21 AM Not sure if anyone else listens to 365 days of Astronomy Podcasts, but in today's episode it mentions that the three following astronomers who though no longer with us, have left an impact with us and share today, as their common birthday. Jan Hendrik Oort developed the theory that a cloud of ice and other material existed on the edge of solar system. I believe it is called the Oort Cloud. Bart Jan Bok who spent his time on the shape of our galaxy and found Bok globules where gravity is forcing the gas to condense and form new stars. Eugene Merle Shoemaker who did something with comets and impacts on planetary bodies. As a note, though Mr. Shoemaker passed away in 1997 and as the podcast states: "On July 31, 1999, some of his ashes were carried to the Moon by the Lunar Prospector space probe. To date, he is the only person to have been buried on the Moon. The brass foil wrapping of Dr. Shoemaker's memorial capsule is inscribed with images of Comet Hale-Bopp, the Barringer Meteor Crater, and a quotation from Romeo and Juliet reading: "And, when he shall die Take him and cut him out in little stars And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun." So to those 3 great men of science and to anyone else sharing this day as a b-day, Happy Birthday! Just thought it was interesting to share. Jay _______________________________________________ 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] Meteorites
by Joe Bauman 01 May '09

01 May '09

That's really cool, Jim. Just be careful not to get into some boondocks where you could get stuck or lost. Maybe having another couple along would be a good idea too. Best wishes, Joe --- On Fri, 5/1/09, jim Gibson <jimgibson0(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: jim Gibson <jimgibson0(a)gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Meteorites To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Date: Friday, May 1, 2009, 7:57 AM Finely! My wife has found an interest in one aspect of astronomy we can share. Ever since Patrick Wiggins dropped a bowling ball out of his air plane over the salt flats my wife has been fascinated with the idea of hunting for meteorites. We have been tied down for years taking care of her invalid mother and couldn’t go very far from home. Now that things have changed, for some reason we still feel like we are on a leash and we haven’t gone anywhere. Anyway, my wife found an article on the web where this guy sold a meteorite for a million bucks. The next thing I know she is calling Temp Rental with dollar signs in her eyes. My wife can never remember “metal detector” but she can remember Geiger counter. So we rented this metal detector alias Geiger counter and we drove out to the Pit-n-Pole. For 2 hours we roamed the desert with her Geiger counter in hand. My wife has Parkinson’s disease and it worked really cool with her Geiger counter. Man, about every 5 minutes we kept finding stuff. We didn’t find any meteorites but we found tons of meteorwongs as evident in this photo <http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1836> http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1836. This was great exercise for her and she knows there is a big one out there somewhere. Now she wants to go to the salt flats. After words she called all her kids and told them about her experience with her Gyger counter and invariably they would say, “You mean metal detector?” and she would say, “What ever.” For years I have been trying to get her to look up and all she wants to do is look down. I told her we could only go looking for meteorites when the whether was cloudy because I didn’t want to miss out on star gazing. Doesn’t look like I have missed much lately. Jim _______________________________________________ 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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Meteorites
by jim Gibson 01 May '09

01 May '09

Finely! My wife has found an interest in one aspect of astronomy we can share. Ever since Patrick Wiggins dropped a bowling ball out of his air plane over the salt flats my wife has been fascinated with the idea of hunting for meteorites. We have been tied down for years taking care of her invalid mother and couldn’t go very far from home. Now that things have changed, for some reason we still feel like we are on a leash and we haven’t gone anywhere. Anyway, my wife found an article on the web where this guy sold a meteorite for a million bucks. The next thing I know she is calling Temp Rental with dollar signs in her eyes. My wife can never remember “metal detector” but she can remember Geiger counter. So we rented this metal detector alias Geiger counter and we drove out to the Pit-n-Pole. For 2 hours we roamed the desert with her Geiger counter in hand. My wife has Parkinson’s disease and it worked really cool with her Geiger counter. Man, about every 5 minutes we kept finding stuff. We didn’t find any meteorites but we found tons of meteorwongs as evident in this photo <http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1836> http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1836. This was great exercise for her and she knows there is a big one out there somewhere. Now she wants to go to the salt flats. After words she called all her kids and told them about her experience with her Gyger counter and invariably they would say, “You mean metal detector?” and she would say, “What ever.” For years I have been trying to get her to look up and all she wants to do is look down. I told her we could only go looking for meteorites when the whether was cloudy because I didn’t want to miss out on star gazing. Doesn’t look like I have missed much lately. Jim

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