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

What a beauty!
by Chuck Hards 20 Jul '10

20 Jul '10

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330451136311&ssPageName=… I'd love to have that baby in the back yard. And the price isn't bad, either.

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What can you see with a H-Beta Filter
by Jay Eads 20 Jul '10

20 Jul '10

David Bernson and I were talking at the SLAS Star Party last Saturday about objects that can be viewed with a H-Beta and Dave mentioned only several. I told him that David Knisely from the Hyde Memorial Observatory (like SPOC I believe) and the Prairie Astronomy Club and known for his great experience and reviews of various filters provided this list over at CloudyNights.com. It is used here with permission and by providing credit to David. I thought that those who don't go to CloudyNights.com may find this an interesting list to look at as some of the objects are viewable in the constellation of Cygnus right now. In August I think I may try my H-Beta on a view of them to see what I may see of them with it. .........USEFUL TARGETS FOR THE H-BETA FILTER.......... assembled by David Knisely While the H-Beta is probably one of the less-used nebula filters, the commonly expressed idea that it works only on a handful of objects is not necessarily true. Here is a list of some of the more prominent objects that the H-Beta may be at least somewhat useful on. Some may require larger apertures, but a few have been seen from a dark sky site by just holding the filter up to the unaided eye and looking at the sky. Some of these will also be helped by a narrow-band filter like the Lumicon UHC. 1. IC 434 (HORSEHEAD NEBULA) 2. NGC 1499 (CALIFORNIA NEBULA, naked eye and RFT) 3. M43 (part of the Great Orion Nebula) 4. IC 5146 (COCOON NEBULA in Cygnus) 5. M20 (TRIFID NEBULA, main section) 6. NGC 2327 (diffuse nebula in Monoceros) 7. IC 405 (the FLAMING STAR NEBULA in Auriga) 8. IC 417 (diffuse Nebula in Auriga) 9. IC 1283 (diffuse Nebula in Sagittarius) 10. IC 1318 GAMMA CYGNI NEBULA (diffuse nebula in Cygnus) 11. IC 2177: (Diffuse Nebula, Monoceros) 12. IC 5076 (diffuse nebula, Cygnus) 13. PK64+5.1 "CAMPBELL'S HYDROGEN STAR" Cygnus (PNG 64.7+5.0) 14. Sh2-157a (small round nebula inside larger Sh2-157, Cassiopeia) 15. Sh2-235 (diffuse nebula in Auriga). 16. Sh2-276 "BARNARD'S LOOP" (diffuse nebula in Orion, naked eye) 17. IC 2162 (diffuse nebula in northern Orion) 18 Sh2-254 (diffuse nebula in northern Orion near IC 2162) 19. Sh2-256-7 (diffuse nebula in northern Orion near IC 2162) 20. vdB93 (Gum-1) (diffuse nebula in Monoceros near IC 2177) 21. Lambda Orionis nebular complex (very large, naked-eye) In addition, a number of the brighter nebulae like NGC 7000 or M42 will respond to H-Beta use for revealing certain specific detail, although other filters may provide a somewhat better view overall.

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Dovetail bars FOR SALE
by Chuck Hards 19 Jul '10

19 Jul '10

I have two Orion (Vixen style) 13" long dovetail bars, with cone-error adjustment screws on each end. Both are in excellent condition; I've only mounted rings on them once to try them out. I have since switched to a Losmandy style dovetail and they are no longer needed. http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=mount_accessories/~pr… These are $16.98 each, plus shipping, new from Orion. I will sell the pair for $25 if you pick them up. No tube rings are included.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] A little about M27
by Jay Eads 18 Jul '10

18 Jul '10

Great report and blog Joe. I look forward to going to the Wedge with you soon. On 2010-07-18 16:08, Joe Bauman wrote: > Thank you! > > --- On Sun, 7/18/10, Kim <kimharch@???> wrote: > > From: Kim <kimharch@???> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] A little about M27 > To: "'Utah Astronomy'" <utah-astronomy@???> > Date: Sunday, July 18, 2010, 9:39 AM > > Thanks, Joe. Good read and nice pic. > > Kim > > > -----Original Message----- > From: utah-astronomy-bounces@??? > [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@???] On Behalf Of Joe Bauman > Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 7:59 PM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] A little about M27 > > Dear UA folks, I hope you might enjoy my blog, and pic, of M27: > > > http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/47/10009513/Nightly-news-astronomy-The-Dumbb > ell-Nebula.html > > Thank you, Joe > > > > > > > > > > >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Some Interesting Planetary Nebulae in Scorpius
by Debbie 17 Jul '10

17 Jul '10

No, it looked like two hamburger buns through the 25". On Fri Jul 16 9:29 , erikhansen(a)thebluezone.net sent: >>Was NGC 7026 blue? > > > > > Thanks for the great report, Debbie. I concentrated on photography the >> other night in the San Rafael, and got an OK view of the easiest planetary >> of all, M27. I'll be writing a blog about it. Best wishes, Joe >> >> --- On Thu, 7/15/10, Debbie astrodeb(a)beyondbb.com> wrote: >> >> From: Debbie astrodeb(a)beyondbb.com> >> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Some Interesting Planetary Nebulae in Scorpius >> To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> Date: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 1:28 PM >> >> >> Hi all, >> >> I saw some interesting planetaries in Scorpius and Lupus Tuesday night. >> NGC 6026 >> was a mag 12.9 and size 54" at Dec -34 degrees. NGC 6072 showed up better >> at a mag >> 11.7 and about size 68" at Dec -36 degrees. This really looked good in the >> 12mm >> Nagler. It was a little dimmer than NGC 6302 (Bug Nebula). The Bug Nebula >> is about >> size 85"x44" and mag 9.7. The last planetary nebula in Scorpius was NGC >> 6337 with a >> mag 12.0 and size 51". This one is more circular shaped. >> >> Also got good views in Jim's 25" of planetaries in Cygnus. With the >> blinking >> planetary (NGC 6826), there is no blink effect in a 25 inch scope. NGC >> 7008 and NGC >> 7026 (Cheeseburger Nebula) looked awesome. We had good seeing at 8000 feet >> outside >> of Zion National Park. >> >> Viewed many globulars in the Milky Way, Hercules, and Ophucuius. Also many >> galaxies >> in the Canes Venaciti and Coma Berenices area of the sky. Also a few >> galaxies in >> Draco looked great. I think I viewed over a hundred objects Tuesday night >> so I >> decided to sleep Wednesday night. Hopefully next month it will get dark >> earlier in >> August. >> >> 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 >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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SPOC open this evening
by Patrick Wiggins 17 Jul '10

17 Jul '10

SLAS will be opening SPOC this evening (Saturday) from sunset to around 11 p.m. weather permitting. As I enter this SPOC's Clear Sky Clock is looking good for the evening until just past midnight. Y'all come! patrick

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Camp Williams fire
by Chuck Hards 17 Jul '10

17 Jul '10

It's probably too cloudy to make any difference tonight (Friday 16 July), but have any observers from either Stansbury or the Pit N' Pole noticed the smoke from the Camp Williams fire?

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Wolf Creek July 15th 2010
by Jay Eads 16 Jul '10

16 Jul '10

I spent the night up at Wolf Creek observing to 4:00a.m. and then packed up and slept up there and came home this morning. Great night, great viewing. I got about 12 Herschel's in with sketches, and a eight galaxies I've wanted to view, several up in the constellation of Hercules. I also had a first, as I was testing out the intelliscope (worked great last night when I used it) and looked at M-27. The brighter outer bi-polar regions were very evident, with the triangular shaped wedges (as I call them) also very evident. It was not on my list to attempt, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the central star and about 7 embedded stars in the nebula. Quite exciting to accidentally (it wasn't on the list that night to try) pick that 13th mag. central star out. Only two other camping groups/families up by where I was on the ridge and they were way out of site, though I could hear one group from time to time. I had a cow experience also as they are free ranging up there. It was evening and I had set up and was collimating and finished, turned around and 3 calves and 4 cows were across the road watching me. They moved on and I never saw them again. Antoniadi II last night up to 30 degrees, then transforming to zenith which was a Antoniadi I. Great overall conditions, all stars in the Little Dipper were visible last night, so LVM of 2 . . . not sure if that sounds right as I use the SQM. SQM was in the high 21's last night. Anyone else take readings up there, I'd be interested in comparing them, not to brag on which site is best, but to begin to document how LP is impacting sites used by amateurs near the SLC valley over time. I know Patrick, I need to contact the ranger (forgot his name) and I haven't. BTW, the moon did drop down below the western horizon earlier than forecasted by the USNO because of the mountains. The USNO has it going down at 2315 yesterday and I had it going down at 2257 in my notes. The moon did not play an issue in observing except I did spend some time in the earlier evening observing several craters and beginning to practice sketching them. It wasn't really dark enough to observe until around 2315 anyway, outside of the brightest objects.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Useful website of the day
by Jay Eads 16 Jul '10

16 Jul '10

Chuck that is a good site, David truly knows his filters. On another note David also keeps a list of objects to use if one has a H-Beta Filter. It is with my H-Beta that I saw IC 434 last winter at a Rush Valley site. ........USEFUL TARGETS FOR THE H-BETA FILTER.......... While the H-Beta is probably one of the less-used nebula filters, the commonly expressed idea that it works only on a handful of objects is not necessarily true. Here is a list of some of the more prominent objects that the H-Beta may be at least somewhat useful on. Some may require larger apertures, but a few have been seen from a dark sky site by just holding the filter up to the unaided eye and looking at the sky. Some of these will also be helped by a narrow-band filter like the Lumicon UHC. 1. IC 434 (HORSEHEAD NEBULA) 2. NGC 1499 (CALIFORNIA NEBULA, naked eye and RFT) 3. M43 (part of the Great Orion Nebula) 4. IC 5146 (COCOON NEBULA in Cygnus) 5. M20 (TRIFID NEBULA, main section) 6. NGC 2327 (diffuse nebula in Monoceros) 7. IC 405 (the FLAMING STAR NEBULA in Auriga) 8. IC 417 (diffuse Nebula in Auriga) 9. IC 1283 (diffuse Nebula in Sagittarius) 10. IC 1318 GAMMA CYGNI NEBULA (diffuse nebula in Cygnus) 11. IC 2177: (Diffuse Nebula, Monoceros) 12. IC 5076 (diffuse nebula, Cygnus) 13. PK64+5.1 "CAMPBELL'S HYDROGEN STAR" Cygnus (PNG 64.7+5.0) 14. Sh2-157a (small round nebula inside larger Sh2-157, Cassiopeia) 15. Sh2-235 (diffuse nebula in Auriga). 16. Sh2-276 "BARNARD'S LOOP" (diffuse nebula in Orion, naked eye) 17. IC 2162 (diffuse nebula in northern Orion) 18 Sh2-254 (diffuse nebula in northern Orion near IC 2162) 19. Sh2-256-7 (diffuse nebula in northern Orion near IC 2162) 20. vdB93 (Gum-1) (diffuse nebula in Monoceros near IC 2177) 21. Lambda Orionis nebular complex (very large, naked-eye) In addition, a number of the brighter nebulae like NGC 7000 or M42 will respond to H-Beta use for revealing certain specific detail, although other filters may provide a somewhat better view overall. On 2010-07-16 05:09, Chuck Hards wrote: > Sorry if this has been posted before. Beginners, this one is > especially good if you are new to filter use. > > http://pages.sbcglobal.net/raycash/filters.htm > >

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SOS on Intelliscope
by Jay Eads 16 Jul '10

16 Jul '10

Ok, I'm sending this out because I've put my base back together about four times now trying to get the encoder to work on the intelliscope. Works great as a dob, but I'd like to get what I've paid for. On the encoder test I am getting an F5 reading on the azimuth which means that the encoder disk is to close to the encoder. I've taped the disc down which is a common remedy and that didn't help. So, now I'm asking for help. Anyone here with experience on the intelliscope and are willing to come by or I'll bring it to you to help get this part of this scope working? I'm in contact with Orion and they just have me tear the base down and reassemble. Here is one possible solution from another XX14i owner I know down in AZ. I do not have a problem though with the screw impacting my azimuth motion and I would know from looking at the base the number of times I've had it apart. After taking apart the base, I solved the issue by replacing the round headed encoder screw with a flat headed screw. This allowed the base plates to rotate smoothly on the nice sized teflon posts as it was intended, and the computer is "spot on" now. It was a small thing, but made a big impact on the scope. If others are having a problem, I would suspect that the little round headed screw is the culprit. Make sure you don't try to use that one for the bottom encoder, just get a flat headed wood screw that will go into the base flush." Thoughts, ideas and actual help would be greatly appreciated. Jay

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