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

Upcoming Free Online Course: Introduction to Astronomy, w/ Ronen Plesser, Duke University
by Ray Druian 29 Oct '12

29 Oct '12

https://www.coursera.org/course/introastro For other free online courses from the same organization, including Equine Nutrition <https://www.coursera.org/course/equinenutrition> http://www.class-central.com/#upcoming -- Thanx, *Ray *

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Next ATM session
by Hutchings, Mat 29 Oct '12

29 Oct '12

Please consider yourself invited to the next ATM session at the Hutchings optical shop (my garage) this Saturday (11/3/12) starting at 09:00. If you don't know what ATM means, send me an e-mail off list and I'll explain. If you need directions to my house, e-mail me off list and I'll send you driving directions. Take care, Mat This message and any attachments are solely for the use of intended recipients. The information contained herein may include trade secrets, protected health or personal information, privileged or otherwise confidential information. Unauthorized review, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing, or using such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you received this email in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this email and any attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender and delete the message and any attachment from your system. Thank you for your cooperation

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The Sun on Sunday
by Chuck Hards 28 Oct '12

28 Oct '12

Lots of interesting prominences and sunspot groups today. The seeing is pretty good if you want to bump-up the magnification.

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A Bit More on Edison
by Ray Druian 27 Oct '12

27 Oct '12

For those of you who didn't catch the PBS News Hour either last Wednesday or Tuesday night (sorry, I forget which), there was a feature on a recently restored foil recording from around 1878. When Edison invented the original phonograph, the recording medium was a cylinder with a layer of tinfoil wrapped around it. I don't know if the tinfoil was meant to be separated from the cylinder so that the cylinder could be reused with a new tinfoil wrap for additional recordings, or not. Anyhow, this particular piece of foil had been folded over on itself seven times and was in pretty bad chape, so bad, in fact, that it couldn't be touched. Digital photographs were taken of the grooves in the cylinder and they were converted to a digitized signal that was then cleaned up electronically, to remove as much noise as possible. The result was a staticy cornet solo followed by a barely understandable reading of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." That nursery rhyme is purported to be the first recording ever done, that Edison himself made, on the prototype phonograph machine. According to the PBS story, once the phonograph came into at least privileged use, everybody who bought one recorded that same nursery rhyme on it. The foil recording has been placed in the archive of one museum or another; sorry, I forget which. -- Thanx, *Ray *

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Star Map for iOS.
by Joe Bauman 26 Oct '12

26 Oct '12

My Kindle supposedly has the Aneroid OS and I wonder if the astronomy software would work on it. -- Joe, who is still suffering back and leg pain. ------------------------------ On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 11:03 AM MDT Daniel Holmes wrote: >Chuck found one, not completely sure what the name was...skeye or something like that. > >Yeah, that's it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lavadip.skeye&hl=en > >Dan > >On Oct 26, 2012, at 11:00 AM, william baker <baker464b(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >> Question concerning this subject. Are there any similar applications that anyone would recommend for Android OS's? >> >> >> ________________________________ >> From: Daniel Holmes <danielh(a)holmesonics.com> >> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >> Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 9:41 AM >> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Star Map for iOS. >> >> Oh, I agree, Sky Safari is probably the best of the astronomy apps on iOS devices...but this was free, so I wanted to take a look at it...I had Astromist on my Palm Tungsten, and it was pretty good, but it's iOS version has a lot of performance problems. >> >> The light shows--they aren't quite the same as the old laser shows at the Hansen Planetarium. I've enjoyed the U2 show at the Clark, and have plans to see the Holiday one next month. I love the new effects and visuals that are possible with the new system, but there was a certain charm to the crudeness of the early shows. >> >> Speaking of the old Hansen, one that I always thought was a good time was the electricity show--I remember my girlfriend at the time getting freaked out by the guy standing next to the tesla coil with the fluorescent tubes and having them light up. >> >> Dan >> >> On Oct 26, 2012, at 8:54 AM, Seth Jarvis <SJarvis(a)slco.org> wrote: >> >> Two points: >> >> 1) I downloaded and played around with the Star Map 3D astronomy app mentioned. Hmmm. The UI is not especially friendly but the graphics are pretty. For $2, it's OK but not great. >> >> My collection of astronomy apps for my iPhone and iPad is... let's just say it's extensive. >> >> I still prefer Sky Safari 3 for iOS devices. >> >> http://www.southernstars.com/products/skysafari/index.html >> >> I use it to control my telescope at star parties. The wifi connection between my phone and telescope is always a hit with viewers. I just loves me some iOS astronomy apps. >> >> 2) Yes, we still play Cosmic Light Shows here at the planetarium. >> >> http://clarkplanetarium.org/venue/cosmic-light-shows/ >> >> >> Seth >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Daniel Holmes >> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 10:00 PM >> To: Utah Astronomy >> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Star Map for iOS. >> >> I always liked laser zeppelin a little more... >> >> Are there still laser shows at the planetarium? >> >> Dan >> >> -- >> Sent from an iPad. There should be less mispelings, but more errors. >> >> On Oct 25, 2012, at 6:48 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> I love planetarium programs! >>> >>> Laser Floyd! >>> >>> ;-) >>> On Oct 25, 2012 4:59 PM, "Daniel Holmes" <danielh(a)holmesonics.com> wrote: >>> >>> There's a free planetarium program for those with iOS devices (iPad, >>> iPod, iPhone)... >>> >>> >>> https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-map-3d+-stargazing-astronomy/id3 >>> 51986992?mt=8 >>> >>> Looks pretty good. >>> >>> Dan >>> -- >>> Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com "Laugh while you can, monkey >>> boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Utah-Astronomy mailing list >>> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >>> >>> Send messages to the list to >>> Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >>> >>> The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club.. >>> >>> To unsubscribe go to: >>> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >>> Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on >>> "Unsubscribe or edit options". >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Utah-Astronomy mailing list >>> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >>> >>> Send messages to the list to >>> Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >>> >>> The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. >>> >>> To unsubscribe go to: >>> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >>> Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Utah-Astronomy mailing list >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> >> Send messages to the list to >> Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> >> The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. >> >> To unsubscribe go to: >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Utah-Astronomy mailing list >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> >> Send messages to the list to >> Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> >> The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. >> >> To unsubscribe go to: >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". >> >> -- >> Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com >> "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Utah-Astronomy mailing list >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> >> Send messages to the list to >> Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> >> The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. >> >> To unsubscribe go to: >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". >> _______________________________________________ >> Utah-Astronomy mailing list >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> >> Send messages to the list to >> Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >> >> The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. >> >> To unsubscribe go to: >> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >> Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". > >-- >Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com >"Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Utah-Astronomy mailing list >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > >Send messages to the list to >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > >The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. > >To unsubscribe go to: >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".

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Star Map for iOS.
by Daniel Holmes 26 Oct '12

26 Oct '12

There's a free planetarium program for those with iOS devices (iPad, iPod, iPhone)... https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-map-3d+-stargazing-astronomy/id3519869… Looks pretty good. Dan -- Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin

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Several Topics: 1) Tesla, AC/DC; 2) Scientists as Witches; 3) Members' Losses
by Ray Druian 25 Oct '12

25 Oct '12

1) Tesla, AC/DC: First of all, in my sort of defense of Edison, I hope I didn't go so far as to denigrate the contributions of Tesla. He was indeed a genius, sadly one who appeared at a bad time for his own well being. I have a feeling that if he had been born ten years earlier and had been able to proffer his ideas before others had produced alternate, but inferior ideas, he might have died both rich and famous in his time. I think it's true that high voltage DC transmits easier, and with less loss than AC. There are a bunch of competing forces that appear in the transmission of electromagnetic energy (including light, radio, electricity) and two of the most importance are capacitance and inductance. Capacitance is the tendency to hold back some of the energy and store it in the transmission line. In DC, this energy is held back once and has a small effect of producing a bit of a loss. In AC, as the frequency of the switching back and forth increases, this energy is released with each switchback and it sort of lags behind, but it does get transmitted. At higher frequencies, it seems to not appear at all as a factor. Inductance is the magnetic property of electromagnetic transmission. It seems to produce some magnetism that is emitted ahead of the electricity in the line. Again, in a DC circuit, it is just a continuous small amount that is emitted constantly until the power is turned off. In AC, every time the power switches from positive to negative, the magnetism switches polarity. This has the effect of holding down the power that is transmitted through the line. The total effect of these forces on AC circuits are controllable and are much of what makes radio, radar, TV, and all the other electronics by which we live today, work. (I just looked out the window and there's some white stuff, looks like volcanic ash, dropping out of the sky.) In electrical transmission lines, these same forces help to make AC less effective as a mechanism. A bunch of years ago, when I still lived in El Lay, I did a whole lot of bicycle riding, and one day I chanced to take the Metrorail commuter railroad, along with my bike, to the end of the line in Santa Clarita, northwest of El Lay and approaching Tejon Pass. I figured it would be a downhill ride all the way. After about the first mile uphill, it was, but somewhere up there, while I was still in the mountains, I passed the point where electricity was being shipped down from somewhere east (I had always assumed it was Hoover Dam, but I since found that power is shipped to the El Lay area for a bunch of different communities from a bunch of different sources). Anyhow, as I passed under the lines while on my bike, I experienced a continuous snapping in my head, under my helmet, that had to be coming from AC power going from positive to negative to positive and back again. I don't know how much actual power was being emitted from the lines rather than continuing down them, but I know that I sure felt it! It makes me wonder, just how much power is lost that way overall over the length of a line that is several hundred miles long if a person passing underneath at any point along that length can feel the some of the power that is lost at that point, and it's strong enough to bring about an internal jolting in one's body. 2) Scientists as Witches: I wish I could say that what happened in Italy could never happen here, but after hearing the statements of some politicians who populate congressional science and energy committees, I'm afraid we can see the same kind of reasoning applied right here in the good ol' US of A. 3) Members' Losses: I was out of town for a couple of weeks, returning early last Friday. Since then I've become aware of the passing of the fathers of two of the members of this list, and to say the least, I am saddened by these losses, and I offer Dave and Tyler my deepest sympathy. I can't figure out whether I'm more or less fortunate in having lost my parents many years ago, so the pain has become much more diffuse in recent years. Yet it is still there. I just wish life weren't so complicated that we almost all have to endure these things at one time or another. It is always sad, difficult, and deeply painful. -- Thanx, *Ray *

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XKCD.
by Daniel Holmes 25 Oct '12

25 Oct '12

Heh. http://xkcd.com/1125/ Dan -- Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin

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My Dad - Glenn Allred
by Tyler Allred 25 Oct '12

25 Oct '12

All. Here is a link to a 2010 story that ran in the Herald Journal, about my dad. Over the years, he welcomed guests from all over the world to his observatory, including many dignitaries, astronauts, scientists, etc..., and lots of boy scouts! :) http://news.hjnews.com/cache_magazine/article_eb8472ee-95e4-11df-9936-001cc4 c002e0.html?mode=story We spent many hours at the eyepiece of that C-14. Tyler

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Passing of Glenn D. Allred
by Tyler Allred 24 Oct '12

24 Oct '12

Hello All. Some people in this group may have known my father, so I decided to post this here. I apologize if it is inappropriate. ___________________________________ GLENN D ALLRED Glenn David Allred, 76, of Smithfield, Utah passed away in Ogden on October 22, 2012, surrounded by his loving family. Glenn was born to C.G. "Jim" and Blanche Allred in Ogden, UT on August 18, 1936, and raised on the family farm in Tuttle, Idaho. He served his country for eight years in the US Navy & Reserve. He married his high school sweetheart & the love of his life, Ellen Marie Campbell, on July 3, 1955, in Oklahoma City, OK. They were later sealed in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. Glenn received his education at the U of U, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and then worked for the majority of his life at Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory. He was well-known for making the world more beautiful through his artistic/creative talents: painting, sketching, sculpting, glass etching, casting, pottery, wood carvings, photography, etc. An avid astronomer, Glenn shared his love of the heavens with the community & countless people throughout the world. He served others through various callings as an active member of the LDS Church, and as a member of the Richmond Lions Club for over 30 years. Glenn loved people. Throughout his life he had a special connection with everyone around him. It didn't matter if it was a lifelong friend or the clerk at the store, he always had time to stand & chat for a while. Many hours of the final years of his life were spent with doctors, nurses, health care providers, & other patients. Thanks to these people for their tender care. They all became dad's friends. Glenn is survived by his wife of 57 years and three children: daughter, Christy and Doug White of Richmond; son, Mike and Janet Allred of Hyde Park; and son, Tyler and Deanna Allred of Tremonton; a brother, Blaine and Jerrie Allred of Pocatello, ID; and a sister, Diane Chapman of Tucson, AZ. He loved his 15 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. A public reception in Glenn's honor will be held from 6-7 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012 at the USU Innovation Campus, Calibration & Optical Research Laboratory Building, in North Logan, UT: 489 East 1650 North. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 27, at 1:00 pm in the Smithfield 10th Ward church, 450 S 250 E, Smithfield, UT, under the direction of Bishop Sam Murdock. The family will greet friends & neighbors at the church prior to the services from 11:30-12:30. ___________________________________ I was lucky to have a father who taught me all about astronomy as a young man, and who included me in all of his adventures at the eyepiece. I will miss him. Tyler Allred

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