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

Video from Spacex's latest launch
by Patrick Wiggins 18 Jul '09

18 Jul '09

Nice edited video of Spacex's latest launch from Joe's old South Pacific stompin' grounds: http://spacex.com/multimedia/videos.php?id=40 patrick

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Apollo sites pics now up!
by Howard Jackman 18 Jul '09

18 Jul '09

OK so these are way too cool!! LRO images of Apollo landing sites is now up! http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html I love the shot of Apollo 16 you can see the module's shadow across the nearby crater rim! Thanks for the heads up Patrick! Howard

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NASA on Cronkite
by Patrick Wiggins 18 Jul '09

18 Jul '09

NASA Mourns the Death of Walter Cronkite http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/jul/HQ_09-169_Cronkite_Death_Bolden.ht… Cronkite Remembered for Coverage of Apollo Launches http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/cronkite.html Neil Armstrong Statement on the Death of Walter Cronkite http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/jul/HQ_09-170_Cronkite_Death_Armstrong… Image gallery http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/cronkite_gallery.html patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT -- Gastronomical Delights
by Richard Tenney 17 Jul '09

17 Jul '09

Haha, yes, I'm back. 3 weeks wasn't long enough! ;) See you Sat. chuck! --- On Wed, 7/15/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT -- Gastronomical Delights > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 6:02 PM > That's OK, Erik, they have a > children's menu. > > (just kidding!) > > Is Rich back from his "conjugal visit"? lol > > > > On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 2:03 PM, <erikhansen(a)thebluezone.net> > wrote: > > > > I will also be there, 90% sure, but no L&O > for me. > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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] Apollo sites pics now up!
by Jay Eads 17 Jul '09

17 Jul '09

I really enjoyed the one where you can see the trail created by the astronauts on the surface of the moon. Wonderful images! On 2009-07-17 19:15, Troy Davidson wrote: > This probably the coolest thing I've seen all year. I am awestruck. > > ++++++++++++++++++ > Troy Davidson > > > > On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 12:59 PM, Howard Jackman<sumoetx@???> wrote: > > > > OK so these are way too cool!! LRO images of Apollo landing sites is now up! http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html > > > > I love the shot of Apollo 16 you can see the module's shadow across the nearby crater rim! > > > > Thanks for the heads up Patrick! > > > > Howard > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > > Utah-Astronomy@??? > > 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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Trip to Pit n Pole ie Rush Valley and Science Friday Today
by Jay Eads 17 Jul '09

17 Jul '09

Dark skies next week with the new moon hitting. SLAS has a star party on Monday I'm planning on attending and their public meeting at the UofU on Tuesday so I thought I would see if anyone up for a trip to Rush Valley/Pit n Pole (they are the same aren't they?) on Wednesday, Thursday or next Saturday (7/22, 7/23 or 7/25)? BTW, was out there and saw the drum shot up with bullet holes at Pit n Pole. I glanced at it and then had to take a second look while unloading to make sure it wasn't a tube and someone was sending a message . . . and I thought of Joe's recent article about visitors at night. Anyone have visitors out in Rush Valley/ Pit n Pole be it badged, human or animal out there? Did anyone else catch Science Friday on NPR today? It was called To The Moon and had Andrew Chaikin, Alan Bean, Harrison Schmitt, both astronauts in Apollo and went to the moon and Apollo 12 and 17, and Ross Tierney. Wonderful recollections, especially on find the orange dust/rock fragments up there. They all made strong arguments why we need man flight to Mars with Chalkin sharing a story about how he called the director of the mars rovers on the 4 year anniversary and asked if he had changed his mind on only having robots to the work. His reply, summarized, is basically it took his team 4 years to get one and a half months worth of work out of a rover so yes, we need men and women up there. Not sure if the podcast is up yet, but here is a link to his site http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/ 200907171.

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Moon Movie
by Ann Blanchard 16 Jul '09

16 Jul '09

Have any of you seen the new movie "Moon", and if so, do you recommend it? Broadway Centre Theatre Theater Info<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie/showtimes/theaters.php?houseid=1684> 111 East Broadway Salt Lake City, 84111 [cid:image001.gif@01CA0625.8CCBE610]88% Moon <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009075-moon/> [More Theaters] <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009075-moon/showtimes.php?zipcode=84115&d…> Showtimes: 12:55, 3:05, 5:15, 7:25, 9:35 Moon Sam Rockwell is a wonderful hybrid between a handsome leading man and a quirky character actor. This rare quality serves him well playing a man (Sam), working alone for a three-year shift on the dark side of the moon, whose reality breaks down as he nears the end of his tour. I really loved him in this movie, and the movie as a whole. The part was actually literally written for him, and deservedly so. First-time feature-length Director Duncan Jones sought to emulate the more rough and tumble psychological drama of the great 1970's science fiction movies, such as Alien. Jones also directs the story he wrote, which was made into a screenplay by first-timer Nathan Parker. The setting is space, the future, whatever, but the practical aspects of the story are timeless. Jones succeeds in capturing the tone and slow burn pacing of those movies without being overly long or tiresome. The science is sound and grounded, per my super-finicky engineer companion, and the whole atmosphere is gritty blue-collar grunt just trying to make a buck and trying to hold on to his sanity in the long isolation before he can be reunited with his family. I hate to spoil anything, but I will say that his utter beleaguerment, broken only by his helper robot Gerty is interrupted by an unexpected person. Indeed, it is interrupted by literally the absolute last person Sam would ever expect to encounter. The film processes required to make the scenes between Sam and this new person are effortless-looking and natural, driving the reality of the whole movie home. Gerty's flat Kevin Spacey voice is condescendingly supplemented by corny smile faces and other emoticons, which provide grim levity to the dialogue of Sam's situation. We the audience are left to question what is real and what is not - then abruptly we are given the answer. In that moment, I frowned to myself, "We got that straightened out too soon," but then the story turned down a whole new interesting path and kept the tension up as well. As the man on the moon nearing the end of his three years, Sam is lonely, cantankerous, a little cynical, and weary. The new arrival is alert, fit, and does a lot of big thinking to get the plot angling toward what the story is really about. By the very end we have had some great mind-benders, some well-earned pathos, and some wonderful opening up of Sam's narrow world. It's basically non-violent, yet at moments I felt a deep - not horror, exactly, more like dismayed awe - at what we are discovering with Sam. My companions and I left the theatre feeling very satisfied, and I hope you will as well. Moon feels like a classic work, and I hope it gets the audience it deserves, and Rockwell gets the recognition that continually and inexplicably eludes him. MPAA Rating R-language Release date 6/19/09 Time in minutes 97 Director Duncan Jones Studio Sony Pictures Classics Ann M. Blanchard Executive Assistant to the Associate VP Undergraduate Studies 110 Sill University of Utah (801) 581-3188 a.blanchard(a)ugs.utah.edu

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Moon, Neptune, Uranus
by daniel turner 16 Jul '09

16 Jul '09

Jim: Your spell checker has substitured "creator" for "crater" which gives your post a biblical slant. Last month at a Harmon's party I had an excited five year old telling everyone about the "critters on the moon" that he had seen. DT --- On Mon, 7/13/09, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Moon, Neptune, Uranus > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: Monday, July 13, 2009, 1:42 PM > Thanks for the nice report, Jim. -- > Joe > > --- On Mon, 7/13/09, jim Gibson <jimgibson0(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > From: jim Gibson <jimgibson0(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Moon, Neptune, Uranus > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: Monday, July 13, 2009, 4:24 AM > > Chuck, > > I happened to wake up a little early and remembered your > heads-up about the > 13th. I got out on my back porch with my little Meade at > 3am. I noticed > some cloud cover obscuring the moon but could tell it would > clear soon. So > I checked out Jupiter. I am glad I did because IO and > Europa were 18” > apart. > > Using my standard 25mm Orion Plossl that I use with the > 4” Meade I could > make out the dark bands. So while the sky was clearing in > the area of the > moon I took time to plop in one of my favorite eyepieces, > the 13mm Nagler > (Type 6). What a treat! The moons of Jupiter were sharp > and the dark bands > were quite evident. > > Ganaymede and Callisto were on opposite sides with IO and > Europa on the > Callisto side. I could see Mu Cap which led me to > Neptune. > > When the moon came out from behind the clouds, I checked it > out with the > Nagler and it filled the eyepiece and gave me a black-eye > (seeing wise) so I > went back to the 25mm. I noticed in my software that > Uranus was near the > moon – about 4d 38’ 38” away. I could see something > out there, but I am not > sure I can say it was Uranus. It was the only star-like > object near the > moon that wasn’t washed out. > > The terminator was passing through Serenitatis with the > peaks of the creator > Bassel well lighted inside the terminator – cool. Also > the creator Arzachel > further south was just on the terminator with the peaks > nicely lit and the > creator floor dark with the central peak lit up like a > Christmas tree > standing out in contrast. > > I don’t really have a good place to do photo work from > this new house so I > am in somewhat of a quandary as what to do. If I use the > back porch I can’t > see the North Star. I guess I could just use the drift > method without polar > aligning. > > It is 4:30 am. Don’t know if I should go back to bed or > just play. Ok. I > will play some more. > > > > Cheers > > > > 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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New Bubble Nebula found in Cygnus as PN G075.5+01.7 Announced by IAU
by Jay Eads 16 Jul '09

16 Jul '09

Found this today and thought it was interesting since I adore Planetary Nebulas. Actually it is 2 year old information that finally was announced as new today. Brian Skiff at Lowell shared this in an email message to a group I belong to over at Yahoo: "This object, which seems to have been known for some time, was announced today on 'Central Bureau Electronic Circular' 1876. Discovery details, both via narrowband H-alpha images, are shown here: http://tinyurl. com/ku4ppy http://www.lostvall eyobservatory. com/page29cresce ntbubblenb/ So far as I know there is no spectrum, but prompted by a request from elsewhere, I did independently identify what is almost certainly the very blue mag 19 central star, which is GSC2.3 N334040039 at: 20 15 21.50 +38 02 43.4 (J2000). The images look like a remarkably undisturbed thin spherical shell, making a narrow-ringed PN. The implication is that this must be very much in the foreground of the very busy Cygnus starfield. If the mag 19 central star is an ordinary white dwarf of absolute magnitude 12 or so, then the nebula is only ~250 pc away. Though it would be very difficult to observe, this modest distance puts in within reach of current parallax techniques, such as at USNO-Flagstaff or with the HST fine-guidance sensors. The surface brightness is very low, and the nebula is barely present on the POSS-I and -II red plates." Hope it was ok to share that. I find the images on all the links to be enjoyable as a way to increase my understanding of how this object was investigated and explore how this was discovered and the processes surrounding its discovery. I promise to quit posting so much now as I am returning to health, observing again, and no longer bored.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Telescope dealers
by Richard Tenney 15 Jul '09

15 Jul '09

The "Telescopes and Rockets" is a guy selling out of his home; I bought some Celestron colored filters from him a couple of years ago (he's legit). Sorry I don't remember his name. I doubt if he has much in stock, but it doesn't hurt to ask. /R --- On Wed, 7/15/09, Craig Smith <hemismith(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote: > From: Craig Smith <hemismith(a)sbcglobal.net> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Telescope dealers > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 2:43 PM > Well, I meant to send that to Jay, > sorry, but actually I'll welcome input from everyone of > course. Thanks. > Hi Jay, > > Are there any major telescope dealers in SLC? I've been > to the Clark Planetarium and Inkley's, but their selections > are somewhat limited. I'm looking for a small refractor; > Inkley's had a nice Televue 76 but out of my budget! > > Celestron had something in Highland called "Telescopes and > Rockets" listed; ever been there? > > Thanks, > > Craig > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > ________________________________ > > > From: Craig Smith <hemismith(a)sbcglobal.net> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 2:42:04 PM > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Telescope dealers > _______________________________________________ > 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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