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

comet blog
by Joe Bauman 10 Aug '11

10 Aug '11

Well, this is all I'm going to spout off about Comet Garradd for a while -- http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/47/10012165/Nightly-news-astronomy-A-Comet-… -- please take a look. Thanks, Joe

3 3

Potential solar flares?
by Canopus56 10 Aug '11

10 Aug '11

Wednesday and Thursday may be good days to follow the Sun. The active region that produced the auroral alert last week should be on the solar limb on Wednesday or Thursday. This region produced an X6 class flare, one of the highest possible energy flares, on Tuesday morning, but particles associated with the flare are traveling oblique to the Earth. Because this region has been so active, it is a candidate to produce some good prominences while crossing the solar limb (as seen from Earth). - Clear Skies - Kurt

1 0

Why Interest in Astronomy Keeps Dropping
by bray＠aceweb.com 09 Aug '11

09 Aug '11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QBv2CFTSWU

7 10

C/2009 P1 ( Garradd ) animation 2 and 3 D
by Patrick Wiggins 09 Aug '11

09 Aug '11

After shooting and putting together another animation of Comet Garrard this morning I wondered if the images could be assembled into stereo pairs and those pairs assembled into a quasi 3D animation. Results follow: Here's the "2D": http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C2009P1_2011AUG09.GIF And here's the "3D" (if you don't have a 3D viewer try looking at the images cross-eyed) http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C2009P1_2011AUG09ST.GIF While it's no Avatar (James Cameron can rest easy), the 3D effect does seem to come through rather well. Details: Paramount ME, ST-10XME, binned 2x2, clear filter, 60 second exposures taken 6 minutes apart this morning between 0734 and 0838 UT. FOV is about 18' x 26'. Clear skies, patrick

2 1

A Plea for SAO Numbers ST Sept 2011
by Canopus56 09 Aug '11

09 Aug '11

Jay wrote in another thread: > Kurt, On another note I enjoyed your comments to S&T in the Sept. issue > the coordinate system they use. Perhaps it needs its own thread here > but I do look forward to reading what others think on it. Jay Jay, The idea behind the letter to the editor was that we are in the urban astronomy era with GOTO scopes, and amateurs might as well get with the program in order to increase hobby participation. By cross-referencing stars in S&T lists to SAO numbers, S&T can increase participation rates. After a long work day, people can just pull out their hand controllers and plug in the SAO number. Similarly, DSO lists should include the SAO reference to a nearby alignment sync star. The S&T editorial response was that the magazine did not have enough space in order to include such references. S&T's reply did not hold much weight. S&T was redesigned within the last few years, and the magazine now features large eye-catching photographs at the start of each article in order to attract a general public audience. The article leader pictures could be reduced in size by 10 percent, still achieve their marketing objectives, but leave more room of SAO references. Unfortunately, unlike SAO hand-controller entries, a user cannot sync align on RA-DEC positions provided by S&T. - Clear skies, Kurt P.S. - I feel that amateur astronomy may have another renaissance in the next five years. GOTO scopes have removed the learning curve entry barrier, but light pollution is holding hobby growth back. The missing technology advance is the a low-cost (near the $150 price point) for Collins I3 type digital image intensifier eyepieces. Such eyepieces would reopen the night sky in real time for beginning urban amateurs under light polluted skies. Unfortunately, the Collins I3 digital eyepieces are $3000. A low cost next generation device seems possible.

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Comet Garradd
by Canopus56 09 Aug '11

09 Aug '11

I was able to detect Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) as a faint smudge from urban light polluted SLC skies using a 4.25 Meade ETX. Synching was Enif, M15 and then mag 6.6 SAO star 106829, which was about 1 deg celestial n.w. of Garradd. Looks like a fun one to follow for the next few months. Clear Skies - Kurt

2 1

My email
by Gigi Giles 09 Aug '11

09 Aug '11

I am a new club member and would like to post to this list. Thanks Gigi Giles Sent from my iPhone

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Why Interest in Astronomy Keeps Dropping
by stormcrow60＠xmission.com 08 Aug '11

08 Aug '11

Is that a joke? I don't pay any attention to Miss America Pageant. Please tell me this is a joke. I think the winner is Miss Vermont. She feels the same way I do. "Yes, it's math. I'm sorry, is this a joke?" Go Vermont! Jon

1 0

Why Interest in Astronomy Keeps Dropping‏
by Steve Fisher 08 Aug '11

08 Aug '11

My personal favorite........ "Math should just be left out of the equation".

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah Astronomy Group on Facebook (Chuck Hards)
by stormcrow60＠xmission.com 08 Aug '11

08 Aug '11

I'm with Chuck. I don't do FaceTool... er, I mean Facebook. And I'll leave it at that. LOL. Jon Quoting utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com: > Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to > utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > utah-astronomy-owner(a)mailman.xmission.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." >

8 19