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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Pick one and stick with it
by Daniel Holmes 03 Feb '12

03 Feb '12

Hey, giving up looking through my own scope to guarantee its launched? I'll make that sacrifice. I'll just look through all of your scopes at star parties... Dan -- Sent from my phone, please excuse any mispelings or errors. ----- Reply message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Feb 3, 2012 10:19 am Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Pick one and stick with it To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 9:42 AM, Daniel Holmes <danielh(a)holmesonics.com>wrote: > Just one? The James Webb. > > LOL, it's primarily an ifra-red instrument, and I don't think it would even work in a non-zero-G environment. Too, I'm sure the image plane is huge in comparison to your pupil diameter. You could never use the full aperture visually. Kim, a long time ago there was an article in S&T about what the human eye would be like if optimized for night-time use. The illustration was kinda creepy. If you get a huge pupil diameter, you need a larger diameter eyeball so that the retina can be appropriately curved to match it. I suppose the brain would have specialized image-processing abilities too, though. _______________________________________________ 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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Transit telecon & question
by Patrick Wiggins 03 Feb '12

03 Feb '12

SLAS members should have already received word of this but for the non-SLASers on the list here are a couple of links regarding June's transit: http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/VenusTranscriptAudioSm.mp3 http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/BueterTransitVenus.ppt Both are from the recent telecon the Astronomical Society of the Pacific held. The MP3 file is the audio (about a hour long) and the PPT contains the visuals. Also, does anyone here have Direct TV and if so does it carry NASA-TV? I know Dish Network does but I don't know about Direct TV. patrick

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Transit of Venus March
by Patrick Wiggins 03 Feb '12

03 Feb '12

I forgot to mention: Transit of Venus March by John Philip Sousa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rNQFUqt49Q I wonder if we can get the Utah Symphony to play it at the museum during the Transit Festival? (yes, I'm kidding, though it would be fun...)

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Nice exoplanet discovery
by Joe Bauman 03 Feb '12

03 Feb '12

http://news.yahoo.com/newfound-alien-planet-best-candidate-yet-support-life…

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Ride to Board Meeting
by D P Pierce 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

I would like a ride to the board meeting next week. Deloy Pierce Large Bored Member

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Eyepiece Selection
by jcarman6＠q.com 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

If memory serves - a 10mm and a 16mm Clave. If I purchase new eyepieces, they will be to support the arsenal, not compete with it. (Of course, if the view is THAT good....) My current eye piece needs are more 2" eye pieces that would go with a dobsonian (and don't cost an arm and a leg) - I have one 2" that I tested in Lowell's 14" schmidt-cass. It was sweet. It was purchased from Orion for a paultry sum. Hmm, just remembered I have a 2" 32 Kellner, sweet in the refractor. Don't use it much, but I'm glad I have it. .

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Eyepiece Selection
by jcarman6＠q.com 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

Thanks for the link Chuck. Excellent article. If there are any beginners on this board, they will learn a lot from it. Sig - who sells the radians? It sounds like an excellent eyepiece for the refractor. P.S. there was a real question mark typed into this post. Can somone explain why my posts are deluged in random question marks? It's way past "cute".

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away...
by Daniel Holmes 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

Chuck (and anyone else who's into sci fi and horror fandom), what are you doing over memorial day? Come to Wonderfest with me. One of the best of the behind the scenes cons I've ever been to...been going for about 8 years now... WWW.wonderfest.com I've met and shared drinks with Andrew Probert, John Eaves, Douglas Trumbull, Scott Carpenter, Greg Nicotero, Pat McClung, Bob Burns, and many other wonderful people at this con... I've taken several silver medals for my modeling here, although my daughter has had more honorable mentions than me... Dan -- Sent from my phone, please excuse any mispelings or errors. ----- Reply message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Jan 31, 2012 5:51 pm Subject: [Utah-astronomy] OT: A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away... To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 5:32 PM, Daniel Holmes <danielh(a)holmesonics.com>wrote: > Fewer times than I've seen The Exorcist, more times than I've seen > Forbidden Planet. > I saw the Exorcist once. I've seen Forbidden Planet about 5-6 times (I own a DVD) and done a few sketches and drawings from the movie, for an amateur press fanzine. (the '70's rock! you had to be there, lol). I am a "first generation" Trekkie. Watched the original series in Prime Time, all 3 seasons. In-between Gemini and Apollo TV coverage (I miss Walter Cronkite!). I've gone to countless Trek conventions. Met most of the origianal cast, shared cocktails with several (Grace Lee Whitney is still a babe, IMO...Equicon '73, Filmcon 7). Sat next to George Takei during a screening of a Leonard Nimoy "Indie" and found George to be a wonderful man. A real gentelman, he gave me much insight on his fellow ST alumni. I would like to speak with him again before I depart this world. But I have only seen each ST movie once, in a theatre, on the big screen. Why? I have no idea. Honestly. Bill Shatner was a personal friend of neighbors of mine (my parents neighbor, actualy), in the mid-seventies. I've met him. I almost lost my mud at the time, lol. He often skied in Utah, and always stopped by our neighbors house when in town (the owners of Theater 138). I have fond memories of "fandom" in the '70's. I was very fortunate to "be connected" at the time. I still wonder that such Hollywood movers and shakers would even take the time to talk to a punk kid fan, back in those days. Keep the faith, Dan! Brent, THANK YOU for your contribution to fandom! _______________________________________________ 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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New Meade Multi-Mount
by Chuck Hards 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

It sure is spiffy looking, and I like the 3-way configurability. Anybody considering one of these? I sure wish Meade had a better track record. They make some interesting products, but I just don't trust them anymore.

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Highway 14
by Patrick Wiggins 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

I just saw a news piece on TV indicating highway 14 may not be open until June at the earliest. I feel bad for the folks in Duck Creek. This is really hitting them hard. Still, if their western horizon is low enough maybe they'll be able to accommodate a bunch of eclipse chasers in May that could up or down highway 89. patrick

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