January 2012 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Solar ecclipse
by D P Pierce 21 Jan '12

21 Jan '12

I am planning on going but I knew I couldn't handle a regular bus. i gave my brother and sister ultimatums that I would be there even if I had to hitch hike. My brother is taking me. We have reservations at Days Inn in Cedar City. I plan to spend the next morning at the Parowan Gap petroglyphs. Deloy

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Eclipse Car Pool
by Thomas Sevcik 21 Jan '12

21 Jan '12

This argument over chartering a bus for the upcoming eclipse in May needs to be put on hold until the next meeting. First, I agree with Siegfried and Chuck that there needs to be restrictions on how the club expends its funds. Has a survey been taken to establish just how many club members would be interested in a chartered trip to St. George? Is it possible to do one before the February meeting? I would be happy to volunteer and do a phone survey to see if the interest is there in the membership. I do have a suggestion however. If there is enough interested members in making the trip by bus, perhaps we could come up with a compromise. I just talked with a representative at "Le Bus" about options for such a trip. She says if we had 50 members take a turn-around trip (drive-down, view the eclipse and then drive-back the same day) it would be about $40 per person. The group would have 5 hours to work with once off the bus to view the eclipse due to the fact that the bus operator has a 15-hour driving time limit once he leaves the bus yard. She gave me the price of $1,017.90 for that option. I asked her about a over-night option so members could do some stargazing and then sleep over in a motel in St. George. That bumped the cost up to $1870 since they'd have to pay the operator an extra day's wages. Now for my thoughts on a compromise. Since this wouldn't be a public outreach adventure by any means, perhaps the membership could vote on a one-time 50/50 deal. The club would pay out $20 towards a member's seat (for a total of $1,000) and the member would be responsible for the remaining $20 (based on the 50 riders on a turn-around trip). The member would of course be responsible for any taxes, luggage fees, etc. Once a member has reserved a seat, they must keep to their commitment unless a valid emergency comes up and he/she can fill that seat with another member who couldn't get a seat due to the bus being filled. As for the over-night option, it's basically the same, except the member would be responsible for their room as well. And perhaps a motel/hotel can be contracted for a discount for such a large group. Another thing to consider is food. Members could either bring their own lunch bags or maybe the club could find a vendor who would make a quantity of "box lunches," in which the cost is shared equally by each member. A couple of large coolers with dry ice should do the job. Just my two cents. As I am now a retired bus driver this month, I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends and meeting some new ones in February! Tom Sevcik

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Eclipse Car Pool
by Jay Eads 21 Jan '12

21 Jan '12

Hi Joe, I think your idea is a good one and I think those who volunteered at ALCON can take advantage of it if it is approved. I couldn't go to ALCON because I was still teaching and not allowed to take time off the last week of school. So personally I would not feel that it would be fair for me to use that alternative. Also, I know there are people who are not SLAS members here on the board so I guess I am reaching out to them as well to provide an alternative. I just thought if a few people wanted to car pool and chip in on gas it might save some money, allow for a switch off of drivers and provide an opportunity to get to enjoy each other's company though of course that can happen on the bus as well. Jay On 2012-01-21 05:35, Joe Bauman wrote: > Hi Jay, what I am talking about is SLAS hiring a bus with some of the club's excess money. So for SLAS members, if this option is chosen, the question wouldn't be one of sharing gas costs. Don't forget, club members worked very hard for ALCON and as a result received a contribution that was a great deal more than a bus rental would cost. -- Joe

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Wolf Moon
by erikhansen＠thebluezone.net 20 Jan '12

20 Jan '12

Hi All, APOD today referred to the Jan 9 full moon as the "Wolf Moon" Do Wolves howl at the moon? http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/wolves-howling-at-moon.htm Erik

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video of the Helix nebula
by garrard55＠xmission.com 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Beautiful video of the Helix Nebula in Aquarius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTJKKB8lt4U&feature=player_embedded

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Frontiers of Science Lecture Feb. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
by Richard Tenney 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE LECTURE WED, FEB. 1 "Describing Shapes and Spaces Beyond Three Dimensions" --- --- 7:30 PM ALINE W. SKAGGS BIOLOGY BLDG. (See map: http://www.map.utah.edu/index.html?find=82) FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! NO TICKETS REQUIRED Over the last 100 years, topology, a branch of geometry, has become a major focus of mathematicians and scientists. Topologists study what properties of objects and shapes remain the same even when shapes are stretched and distorted. For instance, a square can be “squeezed” into a circle, but not into a perfectly straight line, or a sphere. In 1905 Henry Poincaré, the leading mathematician of his day, proposed the study of spaces beyond the three visible dimensions, and described a problem about the simplest example of a higher-dimensional space: the sphere. This problem became known as the Poincaré Conjecture and was the most important problem in 20th century topology. Demonstrating how challenging it is to understand higher-dimensional spaces the Poincaré Conjecture challenged mathematicians for nearly 100 years! Professor Morgan’s lecture will discuss what the notions of “dimension,” “shape,” and “space” refer to in topology, the tricks topologists use to describe these concepts, and how these methods and techniques apply to higher-dimensional spaces. Morgan also will explain the Poincaré Conjecture: what it says about spheres, and how it has been applied to all three-dimensional spaces. This event is free and open to the public! NO tickets are required. Arrive early for best seating.

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NASA Goddard question
by Patrick Wiggins 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Howdy folks, I've been asked by a guy at NASA Goddard what crops are grown in those huge irrigation/crop circles on the southwest shore or Utah Lake (plainly visible on maps.google.com) Anyone here happen to know? Thanks, patrick

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SunSpotter update
by Chuck Hards 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

My apologies for the delay. It's been one heckuva "holiday" season. My dear old friend of 40+ years passed away on Jan. 1 unexpectedly. That took a lot of wind out of my sails. I got married on Dec. 29th, a good thing, but it kept me out of the shop for a few days. My mom had some issues and needed my help during this same period, and then my daughter's car had to go to the shop for nearly a week, to the tun of some $1,400. Dad's Taxi Service was back in business, since she never could pick up the knack of driving a standard transmission (and I tried for a year to teach her- I think it was mostly a matter of lack of interest on her part) and thus couldn't borrow my Explorer (a 5-speed) while her little automatic was in the shop. The good news is that they are now coming off the final assembly line and will be in the hands of their owners next weekend, assuming they pass the final quality/optical inspection. I didn't test each objective individually when they arrived, so it's going to be a system test with everything assembled. I'll post a photo of the completed SunSpotter when I get home from work tonight. It really is a striking little scope. Thanks for your patience!

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ATM help
by RON VANDERHULE 18 Jan '12

18 Jan '12

Hey Group, I have another ATM project going that has taken a turn in another direction (for the better). So I am in need of a Meades' sonotube for their 16 inch or Coulters' tube for the 17 1/2 inch. Anyone out there gut one of those for the optics and still have the tube, or know someone who has? Let me know. Thanx, Ron

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OT Old-Skool Computers
by Chrismo 18 Jan '12

18 Jan '12

Following up to the conversation about really old computers from a few weeks back, check out this beauty posted on public surplus earlier this evening: http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=665975 -- Chrismo I fix things, all kinds of things... (801) 897-9075

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