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

Of astronomers and bats
by Patrick Wiggins 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

Looks like we astronomy types have something in common with bats: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8108912.stm patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mechanical Universe
by Canopus56 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

The series can be watched for free over the internet at: http://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html# Or you can purchase DVDs - http://www.learner.org/catalog/series42.html Goldstein is still inspiring now as he was in 1985. - Kurt

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LCROSS cruise orbit acquisition June 26-28 after lunar flyby
by Canopus56 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

================= From LCROSS Facebook and Flight Director's Blog http://www.facebook.com/pages/LCROSS-Lunar-Impactor-Mission/154478180006?re… LCROSS Lunar Impactor Mission Paul, our Flight Directory, posted a blog about LCROSS's first night in space, at http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/blog/lcrossfdblog LCROSS is currently on its way to swing-by the moon. Closest approach is timed for June 23 (DOY174) 10:28 UTC. Then LCROSS goes into a Lunar Gravity Assist Lunar Return Orbit (LGALRO) for 113 days until impacting south pole Oct 9 (DOY283) 11:30 UTC. ================== LCROSS cruise orbit acquisition Horizon's ephemeris data for LCROSS (for my topoecentric o.p. at 110W and at 6UT each), indicates that acquisition imaging attempts for LCROSS for larger apetures might become practical between June 26 through 28. After June 28, increasing First Quarter Moon to Full Moon sky washout will interfere. LCROSS Ephemeris for 110W 41N (modified NASA JPL Horizons data) Date-time UT RA Dec Alt Az SOT Const Jun-19 06 051124.04+104844.4 344 -37 15 Ori Jun-20 06 060500.85+174703.6 333 -27 6 Ori Jun-21 06 062424.94+194718.1 330 -23 6 Gem Jun-22 06 063700.30+210241.5 329 -21 8 Gem Jun-23 06 064425.29+222015.0 328 -20 8 Gem Jun-24 06 072652.87+323702.4 325 -7 18 Gem Jun-25 06 083257.05+395958.6 319 5 33 Lyn Jun-26 06 094418.89+440326.1 313 17 46 UMa Jun-27 06 105428.70+445954.2 307 27 58 UMa Jun-28 06 m 115711.67+432850.9 299 36 68 UMa Jun-29 06 m 124950.06+402024.2 291 43 78 CVn Jun-30 06 m 133301.19+361616.9 281 48 86 CVn Jul-01 06 m 140838.66+314400.1 270 52 94 Boo Jul-02 06 m 143837.52+265931.7 258 55 102 Boo Jul-03 06 m 150430.63+221124.4 246 56 109 Boo Jul-04 06 m 152727.83+172353.2 234 56 115 Ser Jul-05 06 m 154821.08+123852.2 224 54 121 Ser Jul-06 06 m 160749.67+075702.3 214 52 127 Ser For the history of prior amateur imaging acquisitions of a similar sized Apollo 12 booster in 2002-2003 at analogous distances of 500,000-700,000km using 12" and 14" of aperture, see Selenology Today Issue No. 13 at: http://digilander.libero.it/glrgroup/selenologytoday13.pdf - at pages 83-84 (digital pages 86-87) and Spaceweather.com http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/images/mysteryobject/gallery/galler… (2002). Between June 19 and lunar flyby on June 23, LCROSS will be too close to the Sun to image. "SOT" in the above table means Sun-Observer-Target angle. Clear Skies - Kurt

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mechanical Universe
by John R. Peterson 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

I have tapes of several episodes that I use with my Physics classes. A few years ago they were on UEN (channel 9). Goldstein has a great way of showing math derivations, and the demonstrations, both live/taped and animated, can't be beat, except for the state of late-eighties computer graphics. I also appreciate that the history of the subjects are integrated in with the science-- where would we be without it? My favorite episodes are: Wave Motion; The Michelson Experiment (speed of light); The Millikan Experiment (charge of the electron); and Conservation of Energy. John R. Peterson >Message: 5 >Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:32:21 -0600 >From: BRay <bray(a)aceweb.com> >To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >Subject: [Utah-astronomy] "The Mechanical Universe" >Message-ID: <4A39B545.2040801(a)aceweb.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > >I just ran across a channel, 9411, on DISH network, called NAUHS. The >"NAU" is Northern Az. U, but I don't know about the "HS." Anyhow, they >have mostly educational programming, including several college level TV >courses. One of these is "The Mechanical Universe," presented by David >Goodstein, of Califonia Institute of Technology (CalTech), apparently a >cross between elementary physics and the history of science. Of >particular interest are the presentations on Galileo, Tycho, Copernicus, >Kepler, and Newton. If nothing else, I'm sure that the opening sequence >for each show will be of interest to members. I don't know if this >channel is available on cable or Direct-TV, but usually most of these >channels are available to all TV vendors. Have a look. >-- > >Thanx, > > >/*B. Ray*/ > >A *Kiss a malamute today *D > > > >------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >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 > >End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 76, Issue 45 >**********************************************

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Back to the moon!
by Joe Bauman 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

Hi Patrick, Actually, I finished it so late that News was already posted before I got it in. Best wishes, Joe --- On Fri, 6/19/09, Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Back to the moon! To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Date: Friday, June 19, 2009, 1:30 AM On 19 Jun 2009, at 01:18, Joe Bauman wrote: > Hi Friends, Here's my take on the LCROSS-LRO launch on Thursday. Best wishes, Joe > > http://www.deseretnews.com/blogs/1,5322,10000034,00.html?bD=20090619 Another nice one Joe. Sorry I didn't see it soon enough to include it in today's issue of News. Nice video of the launch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-5t4de6jjI 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://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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Back to the moon!
by Joe Bauman 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

Hi Friends, Here's my take on the LCROSS-LRO launch on Thursday. Best wishes, Joe http://www.deseretnews.com/blogs/1,5322,10000034,00.html?bD=20090619

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] My new solar mount setup
by Joe Bauman 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

Speaking of Guy, where is he? I haven't seen any of his posts for a while. -- Joe --- On Thu, 6/18/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] My new solar mount setup To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 6:28 PM I finally had a chance to use the PST on my new GoTo mount. I went with the Orion Teletrack AZ-G. The PST fits perfectly and is well within the 9-lb. instrument limit for the mount. One seeming handicap is that the sun is not an alignment object in the database. However, I got around this by noting where the sun is currently, in relation to background stars that are in the alignment catalog. Today the sun was only a few degrees to the left of El Nath (Beta Tauri), so I aimed the scope as best as I could at the spot of sky where I felt Beta Tauri was located. I hit "enter" and selected Polaris as my second alignment star. To my relief, the scope slewed very, VERY close to where I thought Polaris should be, so I hit "enter" a second time. With my ersatz initialization complete, it was time to give it the acid test. I slewed the scope back over to the sun and set the tracking rate on Solar. To my relief, the sun stayed well-centered in the field for the duration of my observing session, about 20-25 minutes. My work-around is a success! I plan on playing with the mount in coming nights, weather permitting, with a small refractor, on some night-time objects, and see how many of the 42,900 objects in the database are actually within the grasp of a 50-80mm telescope ROTFL! Please, nobody tell Guy that I bought a GoTo mount. It IS for solar observing, primarily, but still... ;o) _______________________________________________ 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] LCROSS outbound tracking ephemeris Earth to Moon
by Canopus56 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

Based on the Horizons ephemeris data (for SLC), it appears the outbound LROSS Centaur will not be observable during its trans lunar orbit phase over the next 4 days. LCROSS is going to the Moon and the Moon is approaching the new phase. During entire apparent orbit, the LCROSS Centaur booster will be less than 20 degs of the Sun. - Clear Skies - Kurt P.S. - I understand that the NASA LCROSS team may broadcast a live video feed from the satellite does its gravity assist fly by of the Moon. The satellite will then pass into cruise orbit.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Items for Astronomical Festival
by Wayne Sumner 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

Ann, Thanks for the NASA DVD's and posters. I'll put them to good use. Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610

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the Saharan equivalent of crop circles
by Chuck Hards 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

http://googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=1423&c=&t=k&om=1&ie=UTF8&ll=27.380339,3…

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