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

Comics
by D P Pierce 27 Aug '11

27 Aug '11

http://www.gocomics.com/brevity/2011/08/26 http://www.slagoon.com/cgi-bin/sviewer.pl?selectdate=8/21/11 Enjoy Deloy Pierce

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SPOC Tonight?
by Robert Taylor 27 Aug '11

27 Aug '11

Wolf Creek does not look like it's worth the drive. Is anyone going to be out at SPOC tonight? The Sky Clock looks about as good as I have seen it in a long while at SPOC. Bob Please note new e-mail <mailto:Robtaylorslc@gmail.com> Robtaylorslc(a)gmail.com or <mailto:Robtaylorslc@Comcast.net> Robtaylorslc(a)Comcast.net

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Wolf Creek Clear Sky Clock
by Jay Eads 27 Aug '11

27 Aug '11

Not sure I believe this one but it is showing Wolf Creek as good to go for observing tonight until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/WlfCrOsUTkey.html?1 Anyone believe that? -- Jay Eads

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The comet and the cluster
by Patrick Wiggins 27 Aug '11

27 Aug '11

Nice break in the weather here at my place and Comet Garradd is looking rather nice next to M-71: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/garradd-m71.jpg Just a "quick and dirty" 60 second shot taken between other projects. I'm looking forward to seeing what those who are good at taking "pretty pictures" do with the scene. patrick

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Wolf Creek
by Jay Eads 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

Anyone going up to Wolf Creek tonight? Weather is okay I guess til 11:00p.m. according to Clear Sky Clock but I am not sure I am going. -- Jay Eads

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How people in science see each other :)
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

Kelly Ricks sent this to me: http://twitpic.com/63lcfq patrick

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Reminder: Comet Garradd M71 conjunction tonight
by Canopus56 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

With respect to today's SLAS blast, this is a reminder that tonight and tomorrow night is the comet-M71 conjunction. Clear Skies - Kurt ------ BAA Bulletin on same Observing Opportunity A close encounter between Messier 71 and comet Garradd Close encounters between different classes of astronomical object are always of interest, both for the visual observer and the imager. Currently comet C/2009 P1 Garradd is in Sagitta and making a close approach (in line of sight terms only of course) to globular cluster Messier 71. M71 is a very loose globular which is close to us and lacks the condensed core of some of the more familiar summer globulars. In small binoculars or telescopes it appears as a mag 8 misty patch around 6 arcmin diameter and looking very comet like in appearance. It is easy to locate as it lies in Sagitta between and slightly south of a line from mag 3.5 gamma (the bright star forming the point of the arrow shape) and mag 3.8 delta just under 3 degree to the west. The position of M71 is RA 19h 54m 19s and Dec +18deg 49min (2000). An ephemeris for Garradd can be found on the BAA Comet Section web page but for the night of August 26 / 27 is given as 19h 53.7m and Dec +18.57deg (2000) Last night (Aug 24 / 25) under mag 5 skies both comet and cluster were easily visible together in hand held 10x50 binoculars, both appearing similar in magnitude and in size. In 15x70 binoculars (4 deg field) the cluster appeared round with the comet diffuse and fan shaped. Stewart Moore Director BAA Deep Sky Section ====================================================================== BAA-ebulletin mailing list This is an announcements only list - please do not reply to the list. To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin(a)britastro.org or visit http://lists.britastro.org/mailman/listinfo/baa-ebulletin (c) 2011 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ =

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] New Supernova in M101
by Canopus56 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

Other background info on SN 2011fe - Clear Skies - Kurt ---------- Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:29:33 -0400 From: Elizabeth Waagen To: AAVSO <Aavso-discussion(a)mira.aavso.org>, aavso-photometry(a)mira.aavso.org Subject: [Aavso-photometry] SN in M101 is SN 2011fe The Type Ia supernova in M101 (PSN J14030581+5416254) has been assigned the name SN 2011fe by Daniel W. E. Green in IAU CBAT CBET 2792. We will issue an AAVSO Alert Notice following clarification of the independent discovery magnitude reported by Mathew Marulla and Tavi Grenier in CBET 2792. The name SN 2011fe has been submitted to VSX. Until it is added, please continue to submit your observations to the AAVSO International Database using the name PTF11kly, as requested in AAVSO Special Notice #250. Many thanks, and good observing, Elizabeth Waagen, AAVSO Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:43:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Matthew Templeton To: aavso-discussion(a)aavso.org, aavso-photometry(a)aavso.org Subject: [Aavso-photometry] Supernova in M101 Hello everyone, Further to Special Notice 250, Ron Royer reminded me via the comments in his observation that there's a Thompson/Bryan chart for M101 (NGC 5457) with a Sandage & Tammann UBV-derived sequence. We'll try to get a sequence into VSP today. It was discovered on August 23/24 at g=17.2, and AAVSO observers have it at V/visual 14.5 last night. It's going up quickly, so get it while it's (really, really) hot! We'll issue an Alert Notice once it is assigned a proper name. - Matt Matthew Templeton, Ph.D. Science Director American Association of Variable Star Observers

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Kim Hyatt - waxing nostalgic
by J E CARMAN 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

Was going through old VHS tapes and ran across one entitled “Solar Eclipse 1991” by Brian Ottum. Popped it into my player (I have a machine that plays VHS and DVDs) and watched all 18 minutes of it. Holy Cow there you were – dare I say TWENTY YEARS AGO. You haven’t change much that I can see. I was there, of course, and so was Lowell Lyon (lots more hair and curly too) and Cindy Raetz (Hard??), I think Alpine Stringham. I also saw a glimpse or two of Patrick (yeah, he had more hair too – hehe) and Les Case (his last name was Case not Christopher – not sure about that). It was the quick and dirty charter to La Paz for the long eclipse. You, Brian, Cindy and maybe others drove into LaPaz to be on the center line. There was a scene of Cindy being a pack mule for someone (dare I say with the initials KH). She was carrying 10x80 binos and a tripod. I and most of the others remained at the airport . Someone rented a room for the day and there are some pictures of us in the room. I really don’t remember that part. I remember a number of us went into LaPaz and did some shopping. We all flew back to Salt Lake that night. I don’t remember a lot of it, and mainly the details of the entire trip, but what I do remember is the eclipse. Ever minute/second of it. I remember I took the 3” finder off my refractor to act as the lens for my 35 mm camera (film at the time). Set it on a tripod and used one roll of film taking pictures of first contact, etc. I put in a roll of 36 shots just before second contact. I had all these plans, what with 6-1/2 minutes of totality – an eternity – to work with. I planned on taking numerous shots at different exposure times. Was going to try for 10 seconds etc. I remember just setting up and I SAW really, I saw, the moon’s shadow race toward us jfrom the direction of the low hills off in the distance just a split second before totality. It raced toward me and drew my eyes from the ground up to the “event.” I stared and stared. I’m not sure, but I must have blinked a few times. I could hear Patrick calling out “6 minutes left”, “5 minutes left” at “4 minutes left” I glanced down and realized I had only taken 3-4 pictures. I “turned the knob” on the camera timer – I didn’t look at it, just twisted it and clicked the shutter. I couldn’t take my eyes off the eclipse. I could hear people talking about shadow bands and such nearby, but I didn’t even glance at them. I managed to expand my view to include the whole sky and noted how dark it was, how a few stars and even planets appeared. I remember a professional astronomer had challenged astrologers because according to astrology the eclipse was supposed to take place inside Gemini and the eclipse was NOT in Gemini. Then, all too soon it was over. I remember Patrick walking toward me and saying “Well?” I remember I just had this probably incredibly stupid grin on my face. I couldn’t say anything (Joan – speechless??? you had to be there for that). I can’t imagine what Patrick thought when I didn’t say anything. It’s been 20 years and that is the only total solar eclipse I have ever seen. I saw an annular in LA a few years later, but it’s just not the same. I had all these plans – swore I would see many more, but in all these years, I haven’t kept that promise. On the other hand, when you see the best .... Just watching the tape brought back really good memories and wanted to say hi and hope all is well. Joan Carman

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Image of SN in M101 from Fawkes North
by Jay Eads 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

>From Bad Astronomy Blog, here is an image of the new SN from the Fawkes North Telescope. Hmm. . . that would be fun to image. http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/image.aspx?pkey=2550&Position=2 -- Jay Eads

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