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

Finding showcase galaxies in Canes Venatici
by Canopus56 24 Apr '10

24 Apr '10

Like the galaxies of Ursa Major, most of the showcase galaxies of Canes Venatici are not associated with the "Canes Venatici Galaxy Group". See finder at url: Finder for showcase galaxies in Canes Venatici http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3289 Members of the Coma Sculptor Galaxy Group in Canes Venatici: Caldwell 021 NGC4449 Caldwell 032 NGC4631 Caldwell 026 NGC4244 M094 NGC4736 M063 NGC5055 Of showcase galaxies in CVn, only Caldwell 29 (NGC5005) is a member of the more distant Canes Venatici Galaxy Group. There are no practical star hops to in Canes Venatici to these six galaxy objects. Right angle slew estimates for each target are marked on the finder. Clear Skies - Kurt 3D Chart of the Coma Sculptor Galaxy Group Z-Y galactic plane view http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3244 Color coding - Dark Blue Local Group Red Coma - Sculptor Cloud Green - dark Leo Cloud Green - light Leo Spur Purple Triangulum Spur Teal Virgo Cluster and Southern Extension Yellow - dark Fornax Cluster and Eridanus Cloud Yellow - light Dorado Cloud Black Not coded in this view 3D Plot of Ursa Major and Canes Venatici Groups http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3262 Color coding - Red Ursa Major Cloud Red - light Ursa Major Southern Spur Green - dark Canes Venatici - Camelopardalis Cloud Green - light Canes Venatici Spur Purple Cetus - Aries Cloud Teal Virgo-Libra Cloud Yellow - dark Pegasus Cloud Yellow - light Pegasus Spur and Perseus Cloud Black Not coded in this view

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Hubble
by Steve FISHER 24 Apr '10

24 Apr '10

Twenty years ago today STS 31 was launched with the Hubble Space Telescope aboard. I thought about it today and went to the planetarium and saw Hubble 3D. I have never been much of a fan of 3D and wearing the glasses or the whole planetarium MegaPlex feel but I'll tell you what, I enjoyed this 45 minutes a lot. The 3D images captured by the crew with their IMAX camera are as close as I can imagine to being there. I'd like to add a shuttle launch to my "bucket list" but since there are only going to be two more I don't think that is practical. I'd encourage you to go if asked. Steve

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Projects
by Patrick Wiggins 24 Apr '10

24 Apr '10

Much too nice a night tonight to let it go to waste so after finishing my regular projects I got thirty 2 minute images of M-63 and repeated for M-57. No time tonight to process so will do that later. But in the mean time if anyone would care to download and process, you'll find the raw data and master flat and dark here: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/M63.ZIP http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/M57.ZIP Each ZIP file is about 36 MB so I can't leave them on the server very long. So grab them soon or they'll be gone. Carpe noctem! patrick

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Finding M101 in the UMa Galaxy Group
by Canopus56 24 Apr '10

24 Apr '10

M101 in UMa is one of the fainter Messier objects at 8.7v and an approx. 21 arcmin diameter. That gives M101 an mpsas (magnitudes per square arcsec) of 24.4, far less than the easier seen M51 also in UMa at 21.8 mpsas. I have never really seen M101 - which is famous as an example of a face-on grand spiral. I only have seen glimpses of its bright core - even from a good mag 5.5 ZLM location. M101 is best seen in its current spring orientation along with Realm of the Galaxies prime viewing. It is effectively "upside down" from my perspective. Although difficult to see, M101 can be easily found by following a line of brighter stars from Mizar - 81 UMa, 83 UMa, 84 UMa and 86 UMa: Finder Chart M101 http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3236 This an celestial coordinate chart that is presented in a spring alt-az orientation for Salt Lake City. The pipe asterism shown on the chart is easily seen from even my urban light polluted site - while the galaxy is invisible. Depending on the degree of light pollution, a corner star in the bottom of the pipe - SAO28947 v8.7 - may not be visible in a finder or binoculars. Once the base of the pipe has been located, a short 1 deg slew should target M101. The bowl-of-the-pipe asterim can be found by several routes - via Mizar as discussed above - or via the M51 two star pointer at 24 CVn, or via a pointer defined by kappa Boo and iot Boo. See chart. With 5 deg binos or a 4 deg finder, begin by locating midway between Mizar and Alkaid (eta UMa, the end-of-dipper star) or between Alkaid and theta Boo. While M101 cannot be seen from an urban location, a locator star hop can easily be practiced during the week in preparation of a dark sky site weekend adventure. Clear Skies - Kurt P.S. - In reviewing the "Realm of the Galaxies" sequence, I have omitted Canes Venatici and its associated showcase galaxies, M94, M63, NGC5005 and NGC4449. In 3D, both the UMa Group and the Canes Venatici Galaxy Group lie next to and on the far side of the main Virgo Cluster. Virgo Supercluster Plot in galactic Y and galactic Z planes with UMa and CVn Groups emphasized http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3239 Color coding - Red - Ursa Major Cloud and Ursa Major Southern Spur Green - Canes Venatici - Camelopardalis Cloud and Canes Venatici Spur Teal - Virgo-Libra Cloud Dark Blue and Back - Other Virgo Supercluster

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Projects
by Debbie 23 Apr '10

23 Apr '10

Wow! That is really beautiful Patrick. Keep up the good work. Debbie On Fri Apr 23 0:04 , Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> sent: >The images were taking up too much room on my server so I had to remove them. > >But not before Tyler had a chance to get to them. > >He sent me his black and white version and then asked if he could use color data from some of his old images to put color in mine. > >Find the results at the bottom of this page: > >http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php\?g2_itemId=68&g2_page=4 > >patrick > >Considering what Don, Tyler and others have been able to do with my data I think in future I'm going to just post the raw data and let them work their magic. > > >On 20 Apr 2010, at 04:53, Patrick Wiggins wrote: > >> Much too nice a night tonight to let it go to waste so after finishing my regular projects I got thirty 2 minute images of M-63 and repeated for M-57. >> >> No time tonight to process so will do that later. But in the mean time if anyone would care to download and process, you'll find the raw data and master flat and dark here: >> >> http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/M63.ZIP >> http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/M57.ZIP >> >> Each ZIP file is about 36 MB so I can't leave them on the server very long. So grab them soon or they'll be gone. >> >> Carpe noctem! >> >> 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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Scope Upgrade Advice
by Debbie 23 Apr '10

23 Apr '10

Jay, I would also check out the 12.5 inch Obsession. The heaviest component is only 39 lbs. With the wheelbarrel handles the weight is much less. I was looking at the obsessiontelescopes.com webpage yesterday. Although the 15" mirrorbox weighs 60 lbs, when you attach the wheelbarrel handles and lift, the weight is only 9 lbs. This is explained in the website. Ramps would make it much easier and more manageable. Remember, the best telescope is the one that gets used the most. I wish I could afford one the the 18" ultracompact telescope. The heaviest component weighs 62 lbs for that scope. There is a video too that is worth watching. Good Luck, Debbie On Thu Apr 22 15:13 , Steve FISHER <sfisher01(a)msn.com> sent: > >Jay: > > > >Here is a little information that may help. First there is a huge difference in price from an Orion XT14i at $1,799.95 plus shipping and a used Obsession, Teeter or Starmaster. The last 15" Teeter listed on Astromart was listed at $3,000.00 with some optical challenges. (chip) (recoating). > > > >15" Obsessions have sold for $4,200.00 to close to $6,000.00 depending on how they are equipped. Obviously ArgoNavis and ServoCat raise the price substantially. I can't find a recent AstroSystems Telekit that has been listed there. > > > >There was an 18" Obsession Classic that was listed by a fellow in Lehi a little over a month ago. He had it listed at $4,000.00 and as near as I can tell it did not sell. It is not listed any longer but it was never marked sold either. I'm sure he could be reached if that is something you are interested in. > > > >I hated carrying around solid tube 12" scopes years ago. They are just awkward. Anything over 12" in a solid tube would be unthinkable to me and I haul around 6' and 8' long refractors. > > > >What are the eventual goals? Astrophotography? Good dark sky scope? I know portability and weight are issues but what else enters in? > > > >Let me know if I can help. > >Steve > >> To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> From: jayleads(a)gmail.com >> Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 08:05:14 -0600 >> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Scope Upgrade Advice >> >> Ok, now's the time. I am beginning the process to upgrade to what I >> hope is the first of second major purchases over the next five years >> in the hobby. This one will be a dob, and I'm looking for a truss >> design. I have a bad back, deteriorating disc at L5/S1 so weight is >> an issue. I know Ron Ford has Bill Cowles Coulter Dob for sale and >> I'll be sending him email to take a look at it, but is there any >> other recommendations (thoughts on Bill Cowles Dob)? >> >> Here is where I am leaning. I have a 10 inch so I think upgrading to >> a 12.5 won't give me much bang for my buck. So I'm thinking a 15 >> inch and I am willing to go used or new (probably prefer used). A >> used Starmaster or Teledit comes to mind. An Obsession 15 inch comes >> to mind but they do have a rep for the upper cage to be small causing >> in some scopes a vignetting issue. I have also thought of a used >> Discovery, I won't go new with them because of what is going on with >> that company lately or the Orion XXi14. The XXi14 I like because of >> the intelliscope feature, if I don't want to star hop I can simply >> input and go. >> So I would love input into these or other choices others may have: >> >> 15 inch Obsession >> 15 inch used Starmaster >> 15 inch Teeter (see Teeter Telescopes, they are back east) >> XXi14 >> >> Thougths? Thanks for the input ahead of time. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Scope Upgrade Advice
by Debbie 23 Apr '10

23 Apr '10

Jay, I've had a bad back for years but I've handled my 15" Obsession for 12.5 years. Of course, my problem is in my neck and shoulders, but I use my wheel-barrel handles from the house to the Jeep. I still have good arm strength so it isn't a bad lift into the front seat of the Jeep. Of course, sometimes I have help when I am with other people. The mirror box weighs 60 lbs but if you have a van or a truck, you can wheel it in the vehicle without lifting the mirror box. In the future, I may get a van and a ramp. That is probably the best way to handle a big dob. As far as performance, I love my Obsession and will keep it the rest of my life. When the weather gets too warm, I think I'll bring it up north. In St George, I have to observe up in the mountains in the summertime because it is way to hot down here. I'm planning on doing some galaxy observing in early May as the weather permits. I'll give a report as soon as I can do some observing. Debbie On Thu Apr 22 8:05 , JayLEads <jayleads(a)gmail.com> sent: >Ok, now's the time. I am beginning the process to upgrade to what I >hope is the first of second major purchases over the next five years >in the hobby. This one will be a dob, and I'm looking for a truss >design. I have a bad back, deteriorating disc at L5/S1 so weight is >an issue. I know Ron Ford has Bill Cowles Coulter Dob for sale and >I'll be sending him email to take a look at it, but is there any >other recommendations (thoughts on Bill Cowles Dob)? > >Here is where I am leaning. I have a 10 inch so I think upgrading to >a 12.5 won't give me much bang for my buck. So I'm thinking a 15 >inch and I am willing to go used or new (probably prefer used). A >used Starmaster or Teledit comes to mind. An Obsession 15 inch comes >to mind but they do have a rep for the upper cage to be small causing >in some scopes a vignetting issue. I have also thought of a used >Discovery, I won't go new with them because of what is going on with >that company lately or the Orion XXi14. The XXi14 I like because of >the intelliscope feature, if I don't want to star hop I can simply >input and go. >So I would love input into these or other choices others may have: > >15 inch Obsession >15 inch used Starmaster >15 inch Teeter (see Teeter Telescopes, they are back east) >XXi14 > >Thougths? Thanks for the input ahead of time. > >_______________________________________________ >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] Observing report
by Debbie 22 Apr '10

22 Apr '10

I forgot to mention M95 and M109 are both barred spirals that show good detail and can take some magnification. M109 is also an easy starhop in the big dipper. Debbie On Wed Apr 21 15:56 , Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> sent: >Thanks AstroDeb! I haven't seen M61 yet, but have NGC1300 an I think 1097. If I can find time I hope to write my blog today. Best wishes, hope to see you on another outing -- Joe > > > > >________________________________ >From: Debbie astrodeb(a)beyondbb.com> >To: Utah Astronomy utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >Sent: Wed, April 21, 2010 11:15:07 AM >Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Observing report > > >Joe, > >I love barred spirals. Have you checked out M61 in Virgo? I think my favorite >barred spirals are NGC 1097 in Fornax and NGC 1300 in Eridanus. They are often >imaged by astrophotographers. I look forward to reading your article. > >Debbie > >On Sun Apr 18 22:58 , Joe Bauman josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> sent: > >>Baby (my telescope) and I spent last night at the Wedge, Campground 7 as my >favorite site was taken. Actually, I was lucky to find that place, with so many >other campers present. The next campground, I think it was called 7A, had a huge >house-size camper with sometimes squally kid, a generator and a barking dog -- but >I drowned 'em out when I got my generator going. Temps dropped pretty swiftly but I >was all right with a heavy jacket, parka and watch cap. The night was supposed to >be clear, according to the NWS, but actually there was a dark cloud mass to the >east and I suspect thin clouds overhead. It never got really dark, even after >moonset. I attribute that to light bouncing off a cloud cover. But mostly the >viewing was all right. I enjoyed studying the Ring Nebula (M57), the Dumbell (M27), >M51, and a new favorite, M66. I could barely make out M100, a big face-on sprial >galaxy in the Virgo Cluster; basically I saw only a vague oval mottling with my >> least powerful eyepiece. I was taking a couple of preliminary luminance views of >M66, a beautiful S of a barred spiral, when a breeze kicked up and bounced my scope >around so badly that Igave up on longer exposures. I had trouble with balancing >Baby with the guidescope refractor attached, with two CCD cameras and a finder >scope. So it didn't track as well as it should have. But thanks to Steve Dodds' >fine resurfacing of my secondary, and my cleaning the corrector plate, the >telescope is delivering better views than ever. My generator either ran out of gas >or gave up because it needed oil, and I turned in to sleep in the Jeep before dawn. >I think I'll do a blog about M66 because barred spirals are so interesting. -- Joe >> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>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 > > > > >_______________________________________________ >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] Scope Upgrade Advice
by JayLEads 22 Apr '10

22 Apr '10

Nevermind on the Coulter. I believe that is a solid tube and I am not interested in a solid tube at that size. This one needs to be a truss dob. On 2010-04-22 14:05, JayLEads wrote: > Ok, now's the time. I am beginning the process to upgrade to what I > hope is the first of second major purchases over the next five years > in the hobby. This one will be a dob, and I'm looking for a truss > design. I have a bad back, deteriorating disc at L5/S1 so weight is > an issue. I know Ron Ford has Bill Cowles Coulter Dob for sale and > I'll be sending him email to take a look at it, but is there any > other recommendations (thoughts on Bill Cowles Dob)? > > Here is where I am leaning. I have a 10 inch so I think upgrading to > a 12.5 won't give me much bang for my buck. So I'm thinking a 15 > inch and I am willing to go used or new (probably prefer used). A > used Starmaster or Teledit comes to mind. An Obsession 15 inch comes > to mind but they do have a rep for the upper cage to be small causing > in some scopes a vignetting issue. I have also thought of a used > Discovery, I won't go new with them because of what is going on with > that company lately or the Orion XXi14. The XXi14 I like because of > the intelliscope feature, if I don't want to star hop I can simply > input and go. > So I would love input into these or other choices others may have: > > 15 inch Obsession > 15 inch used Starmaster > 15 inch Teeter (see Teeter Telescopes, they are back east) > XXi14 > > Thougths? Thanks for the input ahead of time. >

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Finding M108-M109 in the UMa Galaxy Group
by Canopus56 22 Apr '10

22 Apr '10

M108 and M109 off of UMa's big dipper asterim are showcase objects for which one can practice star hoping via bright locator stars using binos from a urban light polluted observing point. M108 and M109 Finder Chart http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3265 M108 and M109 are part of the much more distant Ursa Major Galaxy Group: 3D Plot of Ursa Major Group http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3262 Color coding - Red Ursa Major Cloud Red - light Ursa Major Southern Spur Green - dark Canes Venatici - Camelopardalis Cloud Green - light Canes Venatici Spur Purple Cetus - Aries Cloud Teal Virgo-Libra Cloud Yellow - dark Pegasus Cloud Yellow - light Pegasus Spur and Perseus Cloud Black Not coded in this view For M108, start from bet UMa (Mirak). Using binos under a light polluted urban sky, I can just make out the wing-v asterism anchored by SAO27952. From an urban site using binos, 7.2v SAO27907 - which is closer to Mirak is just visible. With these markers, telescopically center on the celestial north end of the wing-v asterism - SAO27957 v7.5. Placing SAO27957 in one side of your 1 degree telescopic eyepiece TFOV should put M108 on the opposite side of the eyepiece. For M109, start from gam UMa (Phad). One deg off Phad is a triangle asterism consisting of SAO28197, SAO28203 and SAO28210. From an urban light polluted location using binos, this triangle asterism is an averted object or not visible. The asterism is about one deg in diameter and M109 is within the asterism. - Clear Skies Kurt

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