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

Carl Z. Mirror Observing
by Jay Eads 11 May '11

11 May '11

I will be picking up the Carl Z. mirror on Wednesday from Steve D. I am planning a first light in my backyard on Thursday night and then taking it out to Pit n Pole on Friday. I may take it to SPOC on Saturday before shipping it out to the next trial user on Monday. Would like to give as many as possible a chance to view and use the scope. The purpose is to perhaps give to those who may never buy a premium scope and mirror to see how a Carl Z. Mirror would work in a Chinese scope and at a much lower cost than a new premium mirror. If you want to come with me and see what one of these re-configured and coated mirrors is like in an basic stock XT10 then let me know what day you want to go or come over. It should be really good to experience to see how a premium mirror works in a Chinese scope. I have my own thoughts and I am anxious to see how the views are. Sent from my iPad

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] [FOR SALE] 8" Dobsonian and Accessories
by Wayne Sumner 11 May '11

11 May '11

Hi Troy, This sounds like a wonderful addition to the Northridge High School observatory. What's the focal ratio? Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610 >>> Troy Davidson 05/09/11 8:13 PM >>> I have the following telescope and accessories for sale: 8" Zhumell dobsonian w/ 2" focuser and 8x50mm finder scope Eyepieces: 32mm 2" 18mm 2" 9mm 1 1/4" 2x 2" Barlow Telrad Laser collimator Filters (all 2"): UHC OIII Variable polarizing Moon/Sky Glow Digital angle guage Laminated 360 degree sheet The digital angle guage and laminated 360 degree sheet is used for finding the alt and azmuth of the scope. Case with foam padding to hold the accessories. The scope has a fan on the primary mirror. That is what the battery pack if for in the pictures. You can see pictures of the telescope and all accessories here: http://www.clandaith.com/telescope/ I am offering all of the above for $550 OBO. This is a great scope, and the only reason I'm selling it is because I'm upgrading to a larger scope. You can call me (801) 663 1460 or email me if you have any questions. I'm in Bountiful if you want to come by and see it some time. Thanks. ++++++++++++++++++ Troy Davidson, KF7MTE www.istroyworking.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

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Light-weight lithium battery packs for astronomy
by Canopus56 10 May '11

10 May '11

The price of lithium battery packs as external power supplies for laptops seems to be coming down. Has anyone used one to power a small or light-weight scope (Meade ETX 125)? If so, any product recommendations? - Clear Skies, Kurt

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Someone looking for info on the 16" Meade from St. George?
by Kelly_Carroll＠nps.gov 10 May '11

10 May '11

If so, contact me off-board at soktober(a)gmail.com Kelly Carroll Great Basin National Park http://www.nps.gov/grba/ Experience your America

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Galaxy fight
by Joe Bauman 10 May '11

10 May '11

Hi, Here's an image I took Wednesday night-Thursday morning from Lakeside. It shows interacting galaxies NGC5426 and NGC5427. I plan to write a blog about it later. Comments always welcome. Thanks, Joe http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4247&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

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New version of fighting galaxies
by Joe Bauman 10 May '11

10 May '11

Thank you, Tyler, for showing how I could get darks for binned color subs. Here's the result for NGC5436-5427. http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4275&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

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First Light FLI ML8300 - An Old Favorite
by Tyler Allred 09 May '11

09 May '11

Hi all. It has been a long hard winter, with very little imaging time for me, but I got lucky last week and took advantage of two good nights for some imaging with a new camera. I traded my FLI ML3200ME for a non-blooming FLI ML8300 camera and a FLI CFW-2-7 filter wheel. I decided to shoot something I was familiar with to establish my thoughts about the new camera. This is first light with the new camera... M81 and M82, along with a whole gaggle of less obvious galaxies. I processed the image to bring out the cirrus material that extends throughout the area, and was moderately successful in doing so. The image was taken with my ASA N8, which is now pretty well dialed in. It combines 750 minutes of total data, all unbinned. I used 10 minute sub-exposures, but probably should have added some twenty minute subs to bring out the faint stuff a little better. The camera shows promise although there are some issues in the upper corners that will require flats to correct. Take a look and let me know your thoughts and/or suggestions. I highly recommend looking around the full resolution version to see all the fun stuff. Cheers, Tyler Latest Images Website Page http://www.allred-astro.com/gpage8.html Direct link to a clickable image: http://allred-astro.com/images/M8182aa.jpg <http://71.18.228.62/images/M8182aa.jpg> Exposure Details: Scope: Astro Systeme Austria ASA N8 astrograph Mount: Losmandy G-11 Gemini Camera: FLI ML8300 Filters: Optec Guider: Starfish L:R:G:B 370:100:100:180 minutes - 10 minutes subs - all binned 1x1 Acquired and Calibrated using MaxIm DL 5 Processed using Photoshop CS5

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Northridge High School observatory
by Wayne Sumner 09 May '11

09 May '11

Hi Patrick, I don't. Maybe I should post some. I have a web page associated with Northridge High School. I'll see if I can't put some there. Thanks for asking, Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610 >>> Patrick Wiggins 05/09/11 8:27 PM >>> Hi Wayne, Do you have pictures of the observatory online somewhere? Cheers, patrick On 09 May 2011, at 20:21, Wayne Sumner wrote: > Hi Troy, > This sounds like a wonderful addition to the Northridge High School > observatory. What's the focal ratio? > > Wayne A. Sumner > Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering > Boy's Tennis Coach > Northridge High School > Davis School District > (801) 402-8610 _______________________________________________ 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

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[FOR SALE] 8" Dobsonian and Accessories
by Troy Davidson 09 May '11

09 May '11

I have the following telescope and accessories for sale: 8" Zhumell dobsonian w/ 2" focuser and 8x50mm finder scope Eyepieces: 32mm 2" 18mm 2" 9mm 1 1/4" 2x 2" Barlow Telrad Laser collimator Filters (all 2"): UHC OIII Variable polarizing Moon/Sky Glow Digital angle guage Laminated 360 degree sheet The digital angle guage and laminated 360 degree sheet is used for finding the alt and azmuth of the scope. Case with foam padding to hold the accessories. The scope has a fan on the primary mirror. That is what the battery pack if for in the pictures. You can see pictures of the telescope and all accessories here: http://www.clandaith.com/telescope/ I am offering all of the above for $550 OBO. This is a great scope, and the only reason I'm selling it is because I'm upgrading to a larger scope. You can call me (801) 663 1460 or email me if you have any questions. I'm in Bountiful if you want to come by and see it some time. Thanks. ++++++++++++++++++ Troy Davidson, KF7MTE www.istroyworking.com

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My pic
by Joe Bauman 09 May '11

09 May '11

Hi, a fellow imager from the SBIG group did a plate solve for my photo and it definitely is NGC5002. Thank you all for helping me puzzle over it. Best wishes, Joe

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