December 2011 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

M57 +73PSW-3
by daniel turner 27 Mar '13

27 Mar '13

Mark your calendar for early evening May 7. Their will be a close encounter between the Ring nebula and periodic comet 73P. The comet will be close to earth so its exact position in the sky will depend stongly on your location on the globe. Go to spaceweather.com and use the link at the bottom of the page for "Observable Comets". 73p is in the list and includes orbital elements and a link for daily ephemerides. DT __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] useless facts
by sfisher01＠comcast.net 07 Mar '12

07 Mar '12

Never? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Spencer Ball" <spencer(a)spencerball.com> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2010 1:27:05 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] useless facts We'll never see past the cosmic microwave background, much less see light from clear all the way around. Spencer Ball -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of sfisher01(a)comcast.net Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2010 1:12 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] useless facts I read this on the usless facts gadget on my desktop. I'm not sure I understand it. Care to comment? A sunbeam setting out through space at the rate of 186,000 miles a second would go in a gigantic circle and return to its origins after about 200 billion years. _______________________________________________ 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] Call for parts
by Chuck Hards 18 Feb '12

18 Feb '12

On 9/27/11, Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski(a)hawaii.rr.com> wrote: > Chuck > > I have a focuser from a Burgess 127, one side was damaged (knob broke > off but the R+P are good0 I replaced the R+P on my Burgess and gave > my unbroken focuser to my friend that broke his. In turn I have his > broken (damaged shaft) focuser. Yours if you want it. Thanks Rob! I'll foot the postage, want anything else for it?

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Astronomy memorabilia
by Chuck Hards 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

What astro memorabilia do you have? What's the oddest thing in your collection? I have several, probably the most off-the-wall is Tom Cave's breakfast-cereal box. No lie. I also have Harlow Shapley's autograph. What's tucked-away on your shelf or closet?

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club growth
by RON VANDERHULE 01 Jan '12

01 Jan '12

Hi, Ron Vanderhule of OAS here. I am doing a survey of the local astro clubs in regards to their membership over the last ten years. Primarily in conjunction with their out reach efforts. OAS has been maintaining the same pace of public and school star parties ever since I joined the club 18 years ago. When I was first president in '99 and '00 we had peak membership of 63. We have since dwindled to about 35 or so. Initially I assumed it was a problem germaine to our club but an article in Astronomy last year, and a few other sources, seem to indicate the problem is with peoples attitude toward science nowdays. Actually our culture as a whole has changed so much in the last 10 to 15 years. Anyway, feel free to express your thoughts and theories in regards to this. Ron Vanderhule

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List members who are also Hams
by n7kh＠juno.com 01 Jan '12

01 Jan '12

73, Kay, N7KH, DXCC #1 Honor Roll ____________________________________________________________ Groupon&#8482 Official Site 1 ridiculously huge coupon a day. Get 50-90% off your city's best! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4efe382abf71f1206688st02duc

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Club growth
by D P Pierce 01 Jan '12

01 Jan '12

Hi Ron. I remember Brent Watson did some analysis of SLAS membership and found 90% of new members drop out within 2 years. This is a typical dropout rate for new hobbies. When Karen and I were heavy into fresh water aquariums I read in an aquarium magazine the same 90% figure for that hobby. I worry about SLAS's failure to atract more young members. Many of our long term members have been in the club since they were teens. Many new members are retired or close to it and say they always wanted to do it but didn't have time. I think we have a geezer problem and that may make the club unattractive to young people. That's why I voted for David Hayes for board member hoping being 18 would give him insight into attracting young members. Ron, I think SLAS's Harmons SP's have attracted many new members over the years especially when they were the night before another one at a darker location. Most of the people that look through our scopes there stumble over us and would never have come to a remote location for the first time. I'm sure the internet is part of the problem but I think the younger generation (young whipper snappers) seems to be more fascinated with pop culture than ever. Deloy Pierce Large Board Member Star Geezer

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Astro-HAMs
by Stephen Peterson 31 Dec '11

31 Dec '11

Ki7L in Hurricane. I do more radio than astronomy. 73, Steve

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re BYU observatory
by D P Pierce 31 Dec '11

31 Dec '11

Joe I remember when a group of about a dozen club members went there. Deloy Pierce

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Double Shadow
by erikhansen＠thebluezone.net 31 Dec '11

31 Dec '11

Hi All, Europa and Ganymede both cast their shadows on Jupiter the night of Tuesday, Jan 3rd. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance Erik

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