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

Incredible images from the spacecraft are arriving
by Patrick Wiggins 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

As I enter this there are some really great images of Hartley 2 coming in from the Deep Impact spacecraft. In addition to NASA-TV it looks like they are also trying to post them here: http://epoxi.umd.edu But the site is running very slowly, probably because a jillion people are trying to go there. And with that I'm going to turn in. Night all! patrick

2 1

binary days
by Kim Hyatt 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

All: Happy binary day - only a couple or three left for this century! (I think.) Kim

6 7

Re: [Utah-astronomy] What was Sir Patrick Moore thinking!
by opstall 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

Agree about IC 1613. O'Meara's own Hidden Treasures book gets a lot of (easier) nice targets in that part of the sky. I don't have it on me, but the Aries galaxy is drfinitely there. Also a lot of nice stuff in Fornax/Eridanus too southerly for the H400. pr. MvO Sent from Garminfone by T-Mobile. Debbie <astrodeb(a)beyondbb.com> wrote: > >Tuesday night the sky was clear and calm so Dave and I went out near Virgin, UT. >I looked at a few galaxies in the constellation Pisces. M74, NGC 520, a fine Arp >galaxy, and NGC 660,a galaxy I recently saw in an astrophoto . My digital setting >circles were accurate so I decided to try the Caldwell object IC 1613. I knew it >would be faint and dim which it was. There was just a subtle brightening against >the sky background. If my eyes had not been dark adapted, I would have never seen >it or stumbled upon it accidentally. This is one of those objects that you look at >once and then never again. > >Steven James O'Meara asked the same question and he had a 4" refractor not a 15" >dobsonian reflector. There have been Caldwell objects that I have been impressed >with and some that I thought did not belong there. I thought NGC 520 and NGC 772 >were much more interesting galaxies than IC 1613. > >The largest and brightest galaxy in Aries is NGC 772, a magnitude 10.3 spiral >measuring 7.1' by 4.5'. This galaxy is relatively easy to find because it lies >slightly less then 2 degrees east-southeast of the 4th magnitude star Gamma Arietis. > >Debbie > > > > >_______________________________________________ >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

1 0

What was Sir Patrick Moore thinking!
by Debbie 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

Tuesday night the sky was clear and calm so Dave and I went out near Virgin, UT. I looked at a few galaxies in the constellation Pisces. M74, NGC 520, a fine Arp galaxy, and NGC 660,a galaxy I recently saw in an astrophoto . My digital setting circles were accurate so I decided to try the Caldwell object IC 1613. I knew it would be faint and dim which it was. There was just a subtle brightening against the sky background. If my eyes had not been dark adapted, I would have never seen it or stumbled upon it accidentally. This is one of those objects that you look at once and then never again. Steven James O'Meara asked the same question and he had a 4" refractor not a 15" dobsonian reflector. There have been Caldwell objects that I have been impressed with and some that I thought did not belong there. I thought NGC 520 and NGC 772 were much more interesting galaxies than IC 1613. The largest and brightest galaxy in Aries is NGC 772, a magnitude 10.3 spiral measuring 7.1' by 4.5'. This galaxy is relatively easy to find because it lies slightly less then 2 degrees east-southeast of the 4th magnitude star Gamma Arietis. Debbie

1 0

Feed your inner geek - Star Trek Observing List
by Canopus56 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

Clara Scattolin. 2010. The Star Trek Observing List http://adirondackastronomyretreat.org/images/stlist.pdf background on creation of the list - http://adirondackastronomyretreat.org/stlist.html - Kurt

2 1

Thanks for astrophotography help
by Stephen Peterson 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

Thanks Tyler and David! Got the autotracker running with a shorter FL refractor. The Solitaire takes a while to find a star and to calibrate with the drive motors but then no laptop is needed! Got nice color in M 8 with 1 to 2 min exposures (f4 at ISO 1250). Hurricane (actually 5 miles south) sky conditions generally OK but a bit of moisture/haze scattering visible around Jupiter, temperature lovely! Thanks again for being a resource, I am sure I'll have additional questions as I move ahead. Steve

2 1

Comet Hartley flyby coverage Thurs 6:30am
by Canopus56 03 Nov '10

03 Nov '10

For those of you who have been following comet Hartley, it transits in Salt Lake City at around 5am. NASA will do a flyby of the comet tomorrow. Therefore, it is possible to get up early and view the comet through your telescope, and then watch the flyby images an hour or two later on NASA TV. (But be forewarned, sometimes these NASA satellite broadcasts can be PR exercises revolving around "We are standing in Mission Control; isn't this exciting?" and not include real time satellite images.) Broadcast times are: From a NASA Press Release: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-362A&rn=news.xml&rst=2798 --------------- Thursday, Nov. 4: Live coverage beginning at 6:30 a.m. PDT (9:30 a.m. EDT) from mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will be available online on NASA Television's Media Channel. Coverage includes closest approach, an educational segment, and the return of close-approach images. A post-flyby news briefing is planned for 1 p.m. PDT (4 p.m. EDT). For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. Activities will also be carried live on one of JPL's Ustream channels at: http://www.ustream.tv/user/NASAJPL2. --------------- Clear Skies - Kurt

1 0

Astrophotography questions
by Stephen Peterson 03 Nov '10

03 Nov '10

Starting to reeducate myself RE astrophotography and have a couple of questions: What should my individual images for stacking look like? I know stacking increases S/N. Assuming typical suburban light pollution, at say ISO 800 what is a typical exposure for eg M27, or M8 with f4 optics? How light/dark should the background be, i.e. how much skylight can I tolerate and subsequently "remove" by stacking? Confirm that for auto-tracking a short FL refractor is better than a longer FL one. The Solitaire tracker has trouble finding a suitable star, say near M27, with my f9 85mm refractor. Thanks for any help. Steve

3 3

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Hartley 2 meteors
by Debbie 02 Nov '10

02 Nov '10

I saw a few Sunday night. I'll keep an eye out for them tonight. Debbie On Tue Nov 2 10:59 , Canopus56 <canopus56(a)yahoo.com> sent: >From Today's spaceweather.com 11/2/2010. Note it is a potential "non-event" qualified by a "big if": > >====== > >BE ALERT FOR 'HARTLEY-ID' METEORS: If Comet Hartley 2 is going to produce a meteor shower, tonight is the night. According to experts, there is a slim chance that dust from the comet could hit Earth's atmosphere on Nov. 2nd and 3rd, producing a slow flurry of meteors streaming from the constellation Cygnus. If you're out after sunset, be alert for Hartley-ids. > >====== > >See also: > >http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/27oct_hartleyids/ > >====== > >Even so, he plans to keep an eye out for more in the nights ahead, especially on Nov. 2nd and 3rd. That's when a potential Hartley-id meteor shower would be most intense, according to calculations by meteor expert Peter Brown of UWO. > >The comet was closest to Earth on Oct. 20th, but that's not necessarily the shower's peak-time. Cooke explains: "The comet has been sputtering space dust for thousands of years, making a cloud that is much bigger than the comet itself. Solar radiation pressure and planetary encounters cause the comet and the dust cloud to diverge—not a lot, but enough to make the date of the shower different from the date of the comet's closest approach." > >If there is a Hartley-id shower—"that's a big IF," notes Cooke--it would emanate from the constellation Cygnus the Swan, visible to observers in the northern hemisphere almost directly overhead after sunset in early November. Lunar interference should not be a problem. On Nov. 2nd and 3rd, the Moon will be a slender crescent, providing dark skies for a meteor watch. > >"I'll definitely have our cameras turned on," says Cooke. "It's probably going to be a non-event. On the other hand," he points out, "we might discover a whole new meteor shower." > >====== > >- Clear Skies - Kurt > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >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

1 0

Purchase advice on Canon Digital Rebel XS, XSi
by Canopus56 02 Nov '10

02 Nov '10

I am getting ready to buy my first DSLR and I would like to buy a Rebel XS or XSi. This would be a general purpose camera but I want to cross-purpose it as an astronomy camera. I feel the cheaper XS model meets my needs. I am unclear on: 1) For time lapse night time photography of a large sky section with the 15mm lens, how do you get the images off the camera in real time since it only holds 4 shots? 2) Other advice of comments are the purchase are welcome. Thanks - Kurt

6 10