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

Vernon Reservoir Area
by Jay Eads 30 Dec '11

30 Dec '11

I spent a good part of the day today out by the Vernon Reservoir and found some wonderful observing areas. I posted both images and links to some video I took (feel free to shut off the volume as the wind is blowing pretty good and I rambled in comments). The video is on my YouTube account, GapperJUT (if you know me, you'll understand the nickname Gapper). Here is the link to the blog (I haven't proofed it yet but will tomorrow for grammatical and spelling errors but I am not overly concerned with that on a blog, its not my dissertation or wasn't my thesis). http://jaysastronomyobservingblog.blogspot.com/ My take aways. The reservoir has a wonderful large group campground that would serve as a wonderful field for scopes. Tents could be set up on one side, scopes on the other. The bathrooms at the reservoir are the best I have ever seen (save the one at Dead Horse Point) and were very, very clean and still open as the video shows. They took their time and care here on the bolt because it isn't a flimsy bolt but a large one so no one is walking in on you. There are scattered campsites in the area as an fyi and in the summer I'm sure they would have campfires in the distance. It would be an excellent place to camp and even take kids if you have young kids and then use one of the other sites i found. I found 3 sites, 2 that are useable to the east of the reservoir. I also found 2 sites down in the valley on forest land. Well, to be truthful I found a couple more sites in above the reservoir I didn't post and one really good site in the valley below I didn't share. Distance was about 65 miles and took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes which included a 10 minute stop to fix something on the Pathfinder. Its 24.5 miles from the Pit and overall, I think a much better area to observe from. Time and experience will tell. According to the Light Pollution Map (and yes, I take it tongue and cheek and go by my SQM readings over time) these sites look to be as dark if not darker than Lakeside. http://sites.google.com/site/3davel/home/light-pollution/lp2001/gmap Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I did. -- Jay Eads

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Observing Session Lakeside 12/23/2011 Report
by Jay Eads 30 Dec '11

30 Dec '11

Posted on the forum so I'll share here also. Here is my blog entry for my observing session for last Friday, the 23rd including the 5 sketches I got done. Wonderful night but no heater because the propane tank's value on/off knob is frozen! Frost became a major issue after 9:30p.m. My friend Shahid was there with his Z12 and Daniel showed up with his binoculars. It was a fun night. I left early but my Harbor Freight defroster/heater/fan worked like a charm in clearing the frost off the Telrad and the finder scope. Take a look if you want or this can be enough. Not looking too good for tonight though with lots of high cirrus clouds coming through. http://jaysastronomyobservingblog.blogspot.com/ -- Jay Eads

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT
by Kelly_Carroll＠nps.gov 30 Dec '11

30 Dec '11

W4KKG Hi Larry, I have noticed that you often sign off with 73; I'm curious how many of the Astro fans on this group are also Hams... 73 Norm W7NDC Kelly Carroll Great Basin National Park http://www.nps.gov/grba/ Experience your America

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L&O next week?
by Chuck Hards 29 Dec '11

29 Dec '11

I have a rare week off work next week. Anybody interested in a weekday Liver & Onions meeting? Saturday the 31st, New Year's Eve, would work for me, too, for a lunch meeting.

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BYU Observatory
by Patrick Wiggins 28 Dec '11

28 Dec '11

As promised here are some pictures from earlier today of BYU's observatory on West Mountain: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/BYU01.JPG http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/BYU02.JPG http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/BYU03.JPG http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/BYU04.JPG And just for fun... Crop circle http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/CIRCLE.JPG Patterns in a frozen Utah Lake http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/ICE.JPG patrick

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Google sky map
by Chuck Hards 28 Dec '11

28 Dec '11

The sky map seems to be offset from the actual direction one faces by 15-20 degrees or so. Does anyone know if this is intentional? Perhaps in order to not block the view with the phone itself?

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An ornament in the sky
by Joe Bauman 28 Dec '11

28 Dec '11

http://tinyurl.com/7ajkr9c

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Observing Session Lakeside 12/23/2011 Report
by Jay Eads 27 Dec '11

27 Dec '11

Hi William, I appreciate your comments on my sketching. I have traditionally always used drafting pencils with 2B, 2H, HB, 4B and 6B lead on white paper. Earlier this year Alex Massey from Australia shared over at Ice in Space a method called the Scott Mellish or Mellish method. It is the use of pastel chalk on black paper basically and the method can be found here: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-614-0-0-1-0.html So 90% of the time I do the white on black at the scope but winter and the freezing temperatures have made me go to using my drafting pencils with their various leads on white paper also using blending stumps etc., with extensive notes, and then re-creating them at home using the pastels and charcoal. The batch at Lakeside were done this way and the batch I am currently processing from last night at Pit n Pole are that way also. They ones at home don't different much except I feel this method is a better representation of what is seen at the scope. I should have the Pit n Pole sketches up today or tomorrow. Come spring as the temps increase I'll go back to doing the white on black again. Feel free to contact me or if you want your welcome to come out in the field even without a scope and just watch the technique. On a very, very sad note, Scott Mellish passed away earlier this year at the age of 46. In many ways his technique is just catching on with sketchers and he never lived to see that. It made me wake up because I am also 46 and that is far too young to pass away. You can see Scott's work at Astronomy Sketch of the Day located at this special memoir at: http://www.asod.info/?p=5434 His gallery at Astronomy Sketch of the Day is located here: http://www.asod.info/?s=scott+mellish&x=0&y=0 Take a minute and look at his work. I think it is as stunning as many astrophotographers if not more so but I admit my bias for sketching. He refined his method for well over 15 years plus. Let me know if I can be of any help. All my supplies were purchased at either Hobby Lobby or Michaels. On 2011-12-27 14:09, William Lockman wrote: > I was very impressed with your sketches. They very accurately show what > one sees looking through a telescope. I was wondering about your > technique and medium. You may have posed this before, but if you did, I > never caught the posts. Did you use some sort of light colored pastel > on a dark paper? Did you do the white on black at the telescope or did > you do pencil on white paper at the telescope, then copy it in white on > black later? What did you use at the telescope to illuminate the > drawing surface? Was the telescope computer guided or did you have to > keep moving it by hand to keep the image in view?

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Seeking O-ring for finder / Need memory?
by Patrick Wiggins 27 Dec '11

27 Dec '11

Could someone point me to a good local source of O-rings? I need one for my finder scope. No luck at Home Depot. Specifically I need something with an outside diameter of 50mm and an inside diameter of 43mm. Also, I recently had the memory in my iMac increased and now I find myself with two 2GB sticks left over. Any interest? Cheers, patrick

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ATM session report and next planned date
by Hutchings, Mat (H USA) 27 Dec '11

27 Dec '11

We had a great ATM session on Saturday. Charlie, Jay, Joan and Josh were there and my neighbor who is working on a couple of 8" mirrors also came by. Charlie brought parts of his 17" telescope that he is adapting for use for his 13" f9 project. The purpose of this is to get the scope operational to the point that he can star test to determine if the mirror is astigmatic. Jay worked on the azimuth motion of his Orion 10 " scope. After shimming the central bolt up with disks made of milk jug plastic, the motion seemed much better. This had the effect of reducing some weight on the teflon bearings. He did not have the OTA with him to try the motion out, but it should be improved. Joan brought the optics from a 17" telescope from which she would like to build an ultra-compact style dobsonian. This must fit in her car trunk when finished, hence the need to go with the ultra-compact design. This should be a nice telescope when finished and I look forward to seeing it and seeing through it when finished. Josh brought his 8" mirror and supplies to strip the mirror of its coatings. This is something I had not done before so it was good to learn together. As it turns out, ferric chloride does a great job. Josh soaked the front surface with the chemicals and gently swabbed with cotton balls. It did take awhile, probably an hour, to get the bulk of the aluminum off the mirror. At that point, we poured a sub-diameter pitch lap he will will use to touch up the figure of the mirror. My own current project is a 4" f4 mirror. Prior to the ATM session, I quickly threw together a mini dob mount for the purpose of star testing. So far the mirror is making a good impression on me, but I have yet to have a good night to really see what its limitations are. At that point I will either decide to work on its figure some more, or call it done and get it coated. I plan on mounting the OTA in a ball rather than a dob mount. The next session is on Nov. 12th from 9:00 AM to noonish. As usual, email me off list at mat.hutchings(a)siemens.com and I will give you directions to my house. Mat ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message and any included attachments are from Siemens Medical Solutions and are intended only for the addressee(s). The information contained herein may include trade secrets or privileged or otherwise confidential information. Unauthorized review, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing, or using such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you received this message in error, or have reason to believe you are not authorized to receive it, please promptly delete this message and notify the sender by e-mail with a copy to Central.SecurityOffice(a)siemens.com Thank you

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