January 2010 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Annular eclipse in two hours
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Jan '10

15 Jan '10

Annular eclipse on the other side of the planet starts in a couple hours. Discussion going on now, live video during the eclipse at this URL: http://eclipse.skylk.com/live.php patrick

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FIT image software
by Patrick Wiggins 14 Jan '10

14 Jan '10

A while back we here were discussing software that will handle FIT images (the format images come out of most CCD cameras). Being that a number of us will be churning out FIT images tomorrow during the SLAS imaging session I thought I'd mention that I just discovered that a piece of software I've been using for other reasons for years not only opens FIT images but will turn them into animations as well. Here's a redo of one of the animations I made last night. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/Slideshow.mov The program is called GraphicConverter. Here's the web site: http://www.lemkesoft.com Download it for $35.00. Cheap! Runs on Mac and non-Macs as well. When I think of the HOURS it took me to make those two animations I posted last night and that I duplicated one of those tonight in 30 seconds! Augh... I think I'm now going to reward myself for tonight's discovery by raiding the kitchen. patrick

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Bryce Dates / 2010 AL30
by Patrick Wiggins 14 Jan '10

14 Jan '10

I just heard back from Kevin at Bryce with the dates of my programs there this year. As always, anyone who'd care to bring a telescope for the star party will be admitted to the park free and given a free camp site (let me know if you'd like to participate). Since these programs are held for the public they always have a Moon in the evening. 20 May 17 June 15 July 12 August (Perseids) 09 September 14 October Also, as some of you already know there's a minor planet passing near us today, about 1/3 the distance to the Moon. I'm getting a series of images of it and hope to post some stills tonight and will try to post a couple of animations soon (anyone care to help with assembling the animations?). patrick

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Space Tourists - Sundance Film Festival
by Canopus56 12 Jan '10

12 Jan '10

Space Tourists Christian Frei 2009 Categories: World Cinema Documentary Competition, Political http://sundance.bside.com/2010/films/spacetourists_sundance2010#screenings (with online movie trailer) Summary from Sundance site Anousheh Ansari has dreamt of going into outer space since she was a child. A number of years and $20 million later, with the help of the Russian space program, her dream is realized—Ansari becomes the first female space tourist. In recent years, a number of private citizens like Ansari have been willing to endure rigorous training in Star City, Kazakhstan, and part with significant funds to spend time aboard the International Space Station. Director Christian Frei (The Giant Buddhas, Sundance Film Festival 2006) explores the impact of space tourism in the heavens and on Earth by adeptly weaving together multiple strands: Ansari’s joyous experience in orbit; the efforts of local villagers to claim black-market rocket debris; the observations of photographer Jonas Bendiksen; and the training of the next space tourist in line. Space Tourists examines the intersections of human enterprise and commerce in the final frontier. Screenings with openings remaining: 10:30 PM Sat, Jan 23 SPACE23BN Salt Lake City Broadway Centre Cinemas IV 3:00 PM Fri, Jan 22 SPACE22SA Sundance Resort Screening Room, Sundance Resort 5:30 PM Tue, Jan 26 SPACE26PE Park City Prospector Square Theatre - Clear Skies (cough-cough) - Kurt

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Lunar phases app / Ziggy on cosmology
by Patrick Wiggins 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

I came across a fun little lunar phases iPhone app today that I like a lot (and at 99 cents it's hard to beat the price): http://bjango.com/apps/phases Ziggy touches on cosmology today: http://www.gocomics.com/ziggy/2010/01/10 patrick

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2010 Society for Astronomical Sciences meeting
by Jerry Foote 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

This is an announcement for the Symposium on Telescope Science held the week before the RTMC Expo meeting in Big Bear, California. The meeting is usually held the week before Memorial Day weekend but since RTMC has decided to float with the new moon the Symposium will be held May 11-12, with RTMC on the weekend of May 15, 2010. I would like to encourage any Utah astronomers that are interested in doing Science with their telescopes to attend the Symposium. There will be a number of papers spelling out projects that could be done with your equipment as well as an opportunity to network with many professionals that need help with their projects. If you have some results from a project you are doing and would like to submit it, the deadlines for abstract submission is March 14, 2010 with papers due April 11, 2010. The meeting consists of an opening day with two workshops followed by two days of technical presentations. The two workshops on Tuesday, May 11, will be 3 hours in length. The first workshop will be given by Olivier Thizy, President of Shelyak Instruments. As many of you know Olivier is a very dynamic speaker and his company manufacturers the LIHRES III and Star Analyzer spectrographs. He has a keen interest in Be type stars and has in the past, presented at SAS Symposiums some of his work. This year we have asked him to give a workshop on the practical aspects of spectroscopy using spectra he has taken with his instruments. Toward this end he has selected two parts for his presentation: 1/ Measure the temperature of stars using low resolution spectra (he will provide raw spectra taken with the Star Analyzer), using the Planck curve function. This should take about 1h30 and software used will be IRIS & VisualSpec (free software). 2/ Measure line profiles (Line center, Equivalent Width, FWHM, V/R ratio...) in high resolution spectra and link to the astrophysical meaning of those measures (for example in Be stars). This should also take about 1h30. He will mainly use VisualSpec there and provide spectra for people to use. The second workshop will be given by Richard Berry, co-author of the popular image processing book and software, The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing. The workshop is called The Calibration of a CCD Camera. It will be a hands-on workshop with the participants divided up into 5 groups, one of which we will ask to bring their CCD camera and control computer which will be used by the group. The other members of the group will be taking and reducing the measurements on the camera. Controlled light sources will be provided to each group for these measurements. Most of us typically have an idea about the gain, read noise, bias, linearity, dark current, conversion factor and uniformity of our cameras, but how many of us have actually measured these parameters? By attending this workshop you will not only learn how to perform these tests on your camera but what each parameter means and what effect it has on your images. The cost of each of these workshops will be $50 each payable in advance. As the attendee list is finalized we will send out links to each so that the required software and test images can be downloaded and installed. The cutoff date for registration for these Workshops will be May 5, 2010 in order to allow attendees to have the required software pre-loaded onto their computers. The workshops this year are a continuing effort to bring our Symposium attendees information that will jump start and/or fine tune the use of their equipment in the pursuit of astronomical science. Jerry Foote Program Committee and Trustee Society for Astronomical Sciences www.socastrosci.org/ jfoote(a)scopecraft.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Questions on Removing Mirror
by JayLEads 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

After looking this over, it doesn't look to bad. I read that I should label each screw to make sure they get back in the same position to make the cell fit better, and then I'll pull the cell out, put the mirror cell on a towel while I fix the altitude bearing. On a different note is anyone watching Eps. Auriga? It seems to have increased from around 3.6 up to 3.8 or 3.9. Just wondering if anyone else has been watching this. On 2010-01-11 06:40, Jay Eads wrote: > My XT10 has been giving me problems of late and I noticed tonight when > I was bringing her in that the left side altitude side bearing is > extremely loose. Looking at the tube I can see the only way to tighten > these will be by removing the primary so I can reach it. Having said > what I need to do, I have to admit that I have never removed a primary > mirror and it makes me a little nervous (probably like the first time > I collimated which is second nature now). Any advice on removing it so > I can fix this issue (the tube won't tilt in the rocker because it is > that lose and I don't want the bolt to come off and fall on the > primary to the tube is flat right now). I would like to do it because > I believe experience is the best teacher but anyone want to take an > hour or so out of a day to just offer some support? > > On another note I have considered flocking the tube around the primary > and across from the focuser and this might be a good time. I have > seen Protostar used, black paint (but I do not have the tools I > believe to ensure that all the dust is removed afterwards from the > tube) and felt which I am really hesitant on because I think it will > come off eventually. Thoughts on flocking and materials? I'm sure I > can remove the primary on my own and tighten down the bolts, just > nervous. Oh, what should I do with the primary while I have it out to > fix the altitude side bearing? Just leave it out sitting somewhere > safe? The mirror is only 8 months old so I don't see a need for a bath/ > cleaning. Thanks for putting up with my uncomfortableness. > > > >

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Questions on Removing Mirror
by Jay Eads 10 Jan '10

10 Jan '10

My XT10 has been giving me problems of late and I noticed tonight when I was bringing her in that the left side altitude side bearing is extremely loose. Looking at the tube I can see the only way to tighten these will be by removing the primary so I can reach it. Having said what I need to do, I have to admit that I have never removed a primary mirror and it makes me a little nervous (probably like the first time I collimated which is second nature now). Any advice on removing it so I can fix this issue (the tube won't tilt in the rocker because it is that lose and I don't want the bolt to come off and fall on the primary to the tube is flat right now). I would like to do it because I believe experience is the best teacher but anyone want to take an hour or so out of a day to just offer some support? On another note I have considered flocking the tube around the primary and across from the focuser and this might be a good time. I have seen Protostar used, black paint (but I do not have the tools I believe to ensure that all the dust is removed afterwards from the tube) and felt which I am really hesitant on because I think it will come off eventually. Thoughts on flocking and materials? I'm sure I can remove the primary on my own and tighten down the bolts, just nervous. Oh, what should I do with the primary while I have it out to fix the altitude side bearing? Just leave it out sitting somewhere safe? The mirror is only 8 months old so I don't see a need for a bath/ cleaning. Thanks for putting up with my uncomfortableness.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] For Wayne Sumner - HI Star StudentAstronomy Project
by Canopus56 10 Jan '10

10 Jan '10

Wayne, Glad you enjoyed it. Kadooka at the UH Institute for Astronomy looks like a good contact. - Kurt http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/ifa/phones_all.htm http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/ifa/outreach.htm

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] For Wayne Sumner - HI Star Student Astronomy Project
by Wayne Sumner 10 Jan '10

10 Jan '10

THANKS Kurt! WOW! This is exactly what I hope I can get my astronomy students into. Thanks so much for making me aware of this. Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610 >>> Canopus56 01/09/10 11:50 PM >>> - Kurt Two powerpoints presented at 8th AAVSO Conference - Nov. 2009 Download from http://www.aavso.org/aavso/meetings/fall09/fall09_papers.shtml ============ Hawaii Student/Teacher Astronomy Research (HI STAR) Outcomes (presentation in pdf) Support grade 7-11 students in Hawaii to conduct authentic astronomy research projects worthy of Science Fair entry. 2. Provide HI STAR alumni pursuing science and mathematics majors in college with summer research opportunities. 3. Establish an astronomy mentoring program to support the students undertaking Science Fair projects. We will discuss how we have been able to realize these goals due to having passionate, motivated 12-16 year old students, dedicated astronomer mentors, committed parents and teachers and other supporters for our program. Our major grant funding is over, but we will continue HI STAR. We continue to expand our program. We will have our HI STAR alumnus, Mimi Hang, now a sophomore at Mt. Holyoke College, discuss her research on Debris Disks in the AB Doradus Moving Group. She was fortunate enough to work at the Space Telescope Science Institute operated for AURA for NASA as an undergraduate researcher this past summer. Below is the abstract of her talk: The field of planetary science is quickly developing due to our appetite to learn more about the formation of our solar system and about planets around other stars. After the Jovian planets formed in our own solar system, it is believed that our solar system underwent a period of high dust production. For example, our terrestrial planets are thought to have formed from collisions between planetary embryos which includes the large collision that formed our moon when our solar system was ~50 Myr. These collisions formed more dust which swirled around our sun to become a debris disk. We can apply the model here to other star systems. Collisions between planetary embryos of other star systems must also produce high dust production and the dust grains are warmed by stellar light. These dust grains emit thermal infrared radiation which can be detected using space-based infrared telescopes such as the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST). However, it is important to note that the majority of these debris disks are not spatially resolved with current telescopes. The goal of this project was to figure out if there were any debris disks around the stars in the AB Dor moving group. In this project, the moving group AB Doradus was chosen because at 50 Myr and only 20 pc away from Earth, the stars in this association make for an extraordinary laboratory for inquiry of the end-stages of planetary formation. Data was obtained from the Spitzer Space TelescopeÕs FEPS Legacy MIPS observations. The approach was to (1.) reduce Spitzer data to measure the brightness of the stars at 24 and 70 microns, (2.) estimate the brightness of the stellar photosphere at those wavelengths and finally, (3.) to look for an excess in the infrared emission which would indicate thermal radiation from dust grains. The study revealed that about 21% of the stars measured in AB Dor have debris disks. However, only the star system of HIP 18859 had an excess at both 24 and 70 microns. Therefore, only HIP 18859 is guaranteed to have a debris disk based on the result of this study. =============== Also of background reading interest for Utah Astros for dealing with the upcoming 2012 hysteria - Kristine Larsen 20 min "Scientists Look at 2012": Carrying on Margaret Mayall's Legacy of Debunking Pseudoscience presentation in pdf In 1941 Margaret Mayall, the future director of the AAVSO, and Harvard colleague Bart Astrology." They chastised the scientific community for thinking the debunking of astrology to be "below the dignity of scientists." In contrast, they opined that it is one of the duties of scientists to "inform the public about the nature and background of a current fad, such as astrology, even though to do so may be unpleasant." Fast-forward 68 years in the future, and the astronomical community now faces a pseudoscientific enemy just as insidious as astrology, yet just as ignored by the general professional and amateur community as astrology had been when Mayall and Bok took up the charge in 1941. The pseudoscience in question is the well-publicized "prediction" that the Mayan calendar will end on December 21, 2012, causing the end of civilization in concert with one of a number of possible astronomical calamities, including (but not limited to) the gravitational pull of the center of the Milky Way (somehow enhanced by an "alignment" with our solar system), the near-approach by a mythical 10th planet (often named Nibiru), large-scale damage to the planet by solar flares larger than those ever recorded, or the shifting of the earth’s axis of rotation (often confused with a proposed sudden and catastrophic reversal of the earth’s magnetic polarity). As a scientific and educational organization, the AAVSO and its members have a responsibility to follow in Mayall’s footsteps, shining the light of reason and knowledge on the dark corners of ignorance which far too often permeate the Internet, radio and television programming, and recent films, most notably 2012. This talk will highlight some of the basic premises of the 2012 hysteria and suggest ways that the AAVSO and its members can use variable stars and the history of the AAVSO to counteract some of the astronomical misinformation which is increasingly promulgated by proponents of the 2012 pseudoscience. _______________________________________________ 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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