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

ISS
by Stephen Peterson 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

Saw the ISS today (Sun) at 12:16:44 MDT on schedule using f6 480 mm refractor. I've been attempting to get a photo but with no success. Apparently the ISS is too small for my pixel size and the speed at which it moves at max height requires perfect timing. The next pass (max height) tomorrow (Mon) is at 06:18:20 MDT at 59 degrees, NW. Binos or a low power scope will help but it should be dark enough to see with eyeball. Next good opportunity is at 18 August 11:31:41 55 deg NNE. Need more mag with camera but then timing is super critical making photo difficult. Oh well, challenges are fun. Steve

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Perseids
by Canopus56 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

There were three separate peaks in this year's Perseids per a spaceweather.com blurb, quoting IMO early analysis: "According to the International Meteor Organization, the shower peaked an extraordinary three times. The first peak, around 0800 UT on August 12th, was caused by Earth hitting a filament of dust shed by Perseid parent Comet Swift-Tuttle in 1610. The second peak, around 1800 UT on August 12th, was another cloud of dust from Comet Swift-Tuttle nudged toward Earth by the gravity of Saturn. The third peak, around 0600 UT on August 13th, is not fully understood." http://spaceweather.com/ Chart http://spaceweather.com/swpod2009/15aug09/triplepeak.jpg?PHPSESSID=bp70vq31… IMO analysis http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2009/#peak IMO different scaled chart http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2009/#overview

1 0

Moon Venus ISS Early Mon morning 8-17
by Canopus56 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

"MORNING SHOW: Set your alarm for dawn. On Monday morning, Aug. 17th, Venus and the crescent Moon will gather in the eastern sky for a beautiful close encounter. For many observers in North America, the International Space Station (ISS) will make an appearance, too. It's a dynamite way to begin the day. " http://spaceweather.com/ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance I hour bef sunrise ISS Flyover time for SLC ISS 06:15:31 am WSW 06:17:54 61° -3.7 (very bright) Monday 17 August 2009 Mountain Daylight Time SUN Begin civil twilight 6:11 a.m. Sunrise 6:40 a.m.

1 0

NAC rained out Thur night
by jim Gibson 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

I was asked to bring my telescope up to the National Ability Center (NAC) in Park City for a little demo last night (Thur). If I had more time I would have asked for SLAS volunteers, but I didn’t know the directions. Also with late notice on a work night I decided to forego asking. There was a group of folks (age 12 -40) with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare skin disease, that may be coming there every year. Turns out that the exit to NAC is the same one that we take to go to the quarry only you turn west instead of east. So I was thinking that next year I would like to have SLAS participate and do a little party at the quarry. It will most likely be a work night but only go to 11:30 or 12:00. I was taking my 12” home made Newt/Dob and while near Deer Creek the back of the truck popped open and the Newt stand fell out of the back and proceeded to disassemble on the highway. I gathered up the mess and went back home and got a couple of smaller scopes. We got rained out so I am going back tonight. I have been so busy this summer getting moved, painting and such I haven’t been around much. Hope to be back in gear soon. Jim

3 3

Tripod bags, solar filters on sale
by Craig Smith 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

I was at Clark Planetarium yesterday and noticed that they had some Orion padded scope/tripod bags as well as a good assortment of solar filters on clearance for 50% off in case anyone's interested. Craig

5 11

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Perseids
by dustynebula＠juno.com 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Attendees at the Telescope Array Open House in Delta, Ut, saw numerous meteors on Tue. night. Best of all, a couple dozen folks got to hear them, as detected by the cosmic ray radar antenna and piped out doors to speakers! A low, quick whistle against a variety of foreground noise! Very close to 3:00 a.m. I saw a burst of activity that began to remind me of the 2001 Leonids. The burst lasted about 10 minutes. 2 to 5 bright meteors per minute. Bright gibbous moon. About 4:30 a.m. I saw a very brilliant bolide, subsantially brighter than Venus. A very entertaining shower! The U of U cosmic outreach program may make this an annual event. Dave Bernson. ____________________________________________________________ Click to compare refinance loan offers from national lenders. Apply fast & easy online. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTFDGH5q2K6qmX0YXGNsKkGjHB…

1 0

Perseids
by Kim 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

HI all. I went up to the Skyline Drive above Fairview (about 9,500 feet elevation) to see some Perseids, both last night and the night before, but this is the first chance that Ive had to report my experiences. I hope yall dont mind if I share. WARNING: The commentary that follows is a bit lengthy. Due to interference from the moon this year I didnt expect much, but since I love to watch meteor showers anyway, I decided to go see what was up (no pun intended).Tuesday evening my family went with me. We arrived at about 10:00; the air was warm, with no wind or clouds and above average transparency and seeing. We had about an hour without interference from moonlight, but even after moonrise we continued to see a few meteors. Between five of us looking in different directions, Id say that we saw perhaps two dozen Perseids. We did see one bolide that traversed about one third of the sky toward the south. This was not a serious observing trip but a family outing, and we made no formal observations or records of our experience. Last night I had a scheduled trip with the boy scouts, but we went to the same spot. We began observing after dinner, around 9:30, and I finally quit about 12:30. Except for some wind, the conditions were similar to the night before, but this time the sky put on quite a show. We probably saw two to three times as many meteors as on Tuesday night, but most were much brighter, we saw no fewer that a dozen bolides, the brightest of which easily rivaled Jupiter. In fact, it passed just above Jupiter, had a distinctly greenish hue, and left a train that lasted for several seconds. At about 10:29 we witnessed a sudden surge in activity that reminded me of the Leonid storm of 2001 (or was it 2002?). Within about 10 seconds, we saw four bolides (maybe mag -5 or -6. I have a hard time estimating brightness that exceeds the brightest stars), all traveling in the same direction, to the south. About 30 seconds later another bolide similar to the previous four followed the same path to the south. Each of these five left a persistent train. Even after moonrise we continued to see a number of bolides. Im surprised by the ho-hum reports of this years Perseid shower, and especially the equally unenthusiastic remarks about meteor showers in general. Ive shared the following experiences with this group before, but I want to repeat them so that newer observers such as Brent Johnson wont miss out on what I believe to be some of the best observing experiences ever. Last year the moon and weather were both favorable for the Perseid shower, so I drove a couple of miles out of town (Mt. Pleasant) to pick a dark spot to enjoy. My son and I observed for about 2½ hours, and during that time I made two one-hour counts. I logged nearly 100 Perseids, plus ten or so sporadics, for a count of over 100 meteors EACH hour. It was the most productive Perseid shower that Ive witnessed. The rule of thumb, of course, is the need for clear, dark skies, but that night was only so-so in that regard. Brent, you may have been underwhelmed this year, and I certainly understand why, but try again with good weather and no interference from the moon. Finally (yes, Im almost finished), I just have to address a couple of myths about meteor showers in general: (1) No shower members are visible until the radiant is above the horizon. This is simply false. Just as shower members may appear anywhere in the sky, the radiant can be below the horizon yet a shower meteor can traverse the entire sky, from horizon to horizon. (2) Meteor observing requires very dark skies. I observed my most memorable Perseid shower from my parents backyard in Orem. We saw many meteors. During the shower I asked a certain young lady to marry me she said yes. (3) (With apologies to Daniel Turner.) I have observed spectacular meteor showers in December (Geminids 100+ observed per hour), and January (Quadrantids maybe 40 or 50 observed per hour). (4) Ignore the published rates. Ive often observed many more meteors than are commonly predicted. (5) You wont see nearly as many meteors when the moon is up. Yes, the faint ones will be much harder to see, but some of the most spectacular meteors that Ive observed appeared when the moon was up. (6) You wont see many meteors until after midnight. Its true that the earth sweeps up more meteors after midnight, but I always begin observing after dark and Im never disappointed. I think the difference is minimal. (7) Meteor showers are not as predictable as the published data imply. If you have even marginal conditions, go for it you just never know what you might see. I apologize for this incredibly long post, but meteor showers are a passion for me. By the way, did anyone else observe the sudden burst of activity last night at around 10:30 that I mentioned above? Im curious Kim

4 3

Findings of the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee
by Jay Eads 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

The Presidential committee led by Norman Augustine chairman of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee gave their results this week http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0908/12augustine/ in case anyone was interested. Here are some highlights and from it I took it to mean that the current plan is not feasible as funded so changes will be forth coming. Sally Ride a panel member and former astronaut explained that the "unconstrained budge" which would cost an estimated $50 billion means that Orion and Ares I arrive after a 2016 ISS deorbit (at a cost of 1.5 billion) since ISS is only funded through 2015. So the two rockets arrive but have no where to go. If NASA has to live wit the 2010 budget guidelines provided by the Obama administration the Ares 5 heavy lift rocket will not be ready until 2028. Here we have a heavy rocket designed to go to the moon and take material with it but nothing is deployed and no money to fund a lunar system. $3 billion was cut by the Office of Management and Budget from NASA's long-range budget projected last spring, money to be used for the development of the Ares V prior to the Augustine panel being formed. Knowing that a large budget would not pass the Office of Management and Budget right now, and a small budget would not forward exploration I guess they are trying for the just right size. So the proposal does this: 1. Ramps up slowly to $3 billion a year over the budget they've been given until 2020 when the budget follows inflation of 2.4% 2. Astronauts return to the moon in the 2025 timeframe 3. ISS as Russia, Japan, Canada and the ESA want, is left up through at least 2020. 4. IF ISS is left up then Ares I development is probably suspended fueling the money for booster development away from Ares I into the ISS operations (better go see the test on August 25!). 5. Augustine panel favors the development of commercial rockets and capsules to ferry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit. 6. Augustine panel assessing the trade-off of flying 1 or 2 Space Shuttle Missions a year reducing the gap before the new rocket systems are developed. 7. I found this one perhaps intriguing: "the panel is assessing options for deep space exploration that might bypass the moon in favor of near-Earth asteroids, lunar reconnaissance flybys and even flybys of Mars, with "off ramps" for development of systems for use on the lunar surface and eventual manned landings on Mars." 8. Ares V rocket would be modified and made man rated to carry astronauts. No Ares I development with any of these cases though. Sally Ride's final comment was ""We kept coming up with a common theme, which is this budget is very, very, very hard to fit and still have an exploration program," Ride said. "In fact, we are still looking for an existence proof that we can actually find one. We haven't found one yet, but we're still looking." A few other items are listed, you can read the article. I am beginning to think that if I live to around 75 (2041) I may not live to see man leave low earth orbit. I wonder if we will get out of low earth orbit before the end of this century? I also wonder if emphasis is being placed on non-human exploration methods as they are less risky and can provide scientific breakthroughs with less cost? Or are they facing the same budget constraints as the human exploration side? I think of the comment I read lately by the director of the Mars Explorers. As successful as they have been they have done in 18 months what a man could have done in several weeks. Should we push back human explorations and put that money into other projects of exploration? Do you think you'll see human spaceflight beyond low- earth oribit in your lifetime?

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D
by Jay Eads 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Chris, Very nice. Thanks for sharing that. Your right, better in HD. Jay On 2009-08-14 18:45, Chris wrote: > I just ran across this short video: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVjF_7ensg > If your internet speed allows, the "HD" option is worthwhile. >

1 0

Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D
by Chris 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

I just ran across this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVjF_7ensg If your internet speed allows, the "HD" option is worthwhile.

1 0