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

Momentary Switch on Laser Finder
by Dave Gary 24 Jun '12

24 Jun '12

Chuck, How did you rig that momentary switch for your laser finder? I use the little screw attachment that came with the bracket (Orion), but would really like to adapt the setup to your system. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words and I may become a member of the Flat Earth Society, so make it simple. Dave

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Suggestions for those still on digest mode
by Patrick Wiggins 23 Jun '12

23 Jun '12

When "digest version" folks respond to posts on Utah-Astronomy please make an effort to: 1) Change the subject line to reference what you are responding to. 2) Remove all the extraneous text from the digest post leaving only the section you are replying about. Thanks, patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 112, Issue 116
by Nathan Swenson 23 Jun '12

23 Jun '12

utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com wrote: >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..." > > >Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Google on Alan Turing's birthday (Chuck Hards) > 2. Re: Google on Alan Turing's birthday (Patrick Wiggins) > 3. Re: Google on Alan Turing's birthday (Chuck Hards) > 4. Re: Google on Alan Turing's birthday (Daniel Holmes) > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Message: 1 >Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:30:05 -0600 >From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> >To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Google on Alan Turing's birthday >Message-ID: > <CAHmuOYr+M82Gqm0nJDuiTPwpTguFmuJuO=GL+y2c1kp76wnfyw(a)mail.gmail.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > >I get the impression that nobody on the Google staff has ever used a slide >rule. >On Jun 23, 2012 3:22 PM, "Patrick Wiggins" <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: > >> The computer geeks on the list (at least the non-German ones <g> ) might >> enjoy what Google is doing today for Alan Turing's birthday: >> >> http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tab=ww >> >> patrick >> _______________________________________________ >> 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". >> > > >------------------------------ > >Message: 2 >Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:38:44 -0600 >From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> >To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Google on Alan Turing's birthday >Message-ID: <5A976983-7735-49C3-B710-CE5D152680E7(a)wirelessbeehive.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > >Hi Chuck, > >I don't think the image on the page is supposed to be a slide rule. Turing's device used a paper tape and I think that's what they are trying to show. > >patrick > > >On 23 Jun 2012, at 15:30, Chuck Hards wrote: > >> I get the impression that nobody on the Google staff has ever used a slide >> rule. > > > >------------------------------ > >Message: 3 >Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:06:51 -0600 >From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> >To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Google on Alan Turing's birthday >Message-ID: > <CAHmuOYqKecAfoLAzatS0C1pzssvk8FtR5e2BWQgtY_N18rauXw(a)mail.gmail.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > >Lame graphic. Lol. >On Jun 23, 2012 3:40 PM, "Patrick Wiggins" <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: > >> Hi Chuck, >> >> I don't think the image on the page is supposed to be a slide rule. >> Turing's device used a paper tape and I think that's what they are trying >> to show. >> >> patrick >> >> >> On 23 Jun 2012, at 15:30, Chuck Hards wrote: >> >> > I get the impression that nobody on the Google staff has ever used a >> slide >> > rule. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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". >> > > >------------------------------ > >Message: 4 >Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:11:44 -0600 >From: Daniel Holmes <danielh(a)holmesonics.com> >To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >Cc: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Google on Alan Turing's birthday >Message-ID: <EFC797AD-612C-4CDC-982A-8D7378DB9E48(a)holmesonics.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > >Yeah, its a simple Turing machine. > >Turing was a fascinating man. He invented the bombe, the machine used to break the enigma code during world war 2, and is considered the father of artificial intelligence with his Turing tests. He was a brilliant mathematician and cryptographer. > >Turing machines are a hypothetical computational machine that help to understand the limits of mechanical computational algorithms. Turing tests are tests given to humans that try to have the human distinguish the answers given by a machine as indistinguishable from an humans answers. Basically to see how far we can go with artificial intelligence. > >I've always wondered what modern computer science would look like if he hadn't committed suicide in his early forties. > >Dan > >-- >Sent from my iPhone. Please pardon any mispelings or errors. > >On Jun 23, 2012, at 3:38 PM, Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: > >> Hi Chuck, >> >> I don't think the image on the page is supposed to be a slide rule. Turing's device used a paper tape and I think that's what they are trying to show.. >> >> patrick >> >> >> On 23 Jun 2012, at 15:30, Chuck Hards wrote: >> >>> I get the impression that nobody on the Google staff has ever used a slide >>> rule. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php > >End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 112, Issue 116 >************************************************ >

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Hooky from SLAS
by daniel turner 23 Jun '12

23 Jun '12

Last night the CSC was predicting the best viewing conditions so far this year for deep sky objects. So I ditched the SLAS meeting and ran off to the high desert with my dob where I ran into a couple of like minded SLAS truants. It was a grand night. Warm, calm, 100% clear The following is my observing report. You should have been there. Saturn with three moons is getting low earlier these days. Mercury was visable but too low in the west behind trees for telescope. M13 briefly and then a long look at M57 until the central star showed itself. M97 and M109 in the same low power field of view the eyes of the owl were more visable as the twighlight deepened. A blind stab into the Virgo cluster turned up M99 Then a look at the face of galaxies including the eyebrow M84, M86, NGC4388, NGC4387, NGC4402. Stopped by the stunning spindle NGC4565 for a long look. Didn't notice the companion. NGC6440 and NGC6445 are a Planetary Nebula and Globular cluster close together off of M23. Took the Milky Way tour starting at open clusters M6 and M7 then on to M8 the Lagoon and M20 the Trifid, M17 the Swan, M16 the Eagle where the pilars were faint but visable and ending at M11 the Wild Duck cluster with its three bright red Giants. NGC188 is an open cluster close to Polaris. It's large for a dob field of view and faint for 10x50 binoculars. Took a long look at M27 at it's outer nebulosity and the visited M71 the nearby sparse Globular. At the Veil looked NGC6960 plus CYG52 which is a beautiful double star. NGC40 is a small PN with a bright central star Looked at M5 with it's dense inner structure and bright companion star. Then went for the deep spiral structure in both M51 and M101. Looked a pair of small galaxies near Chara NGC4244 and NGC4214. M82 showed lots of structure but the Spiral arms of M81 were very dim in the twilight. The double Cluster in Perseus showed a half dozen red giants. Of course had to visit the Andromeda trioM31,M32,M110 Finally open cluster M52 and the nebulosity of the bubble NGC7635. Clear skies. DT

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Aurora?
by Joe Bauman 23 Jun '12

23 Jun '12

I spent an unproductive night at Lakeside last night, with clouds, vicious winds and malfunctioning equipment. However, around 2 a.m. I noticed a distinctly red glow on the northern horizon. I don't think there were any fires there but I don't know. Does anyone know if auroras reached Utah then? Here's a pic I put on Facebook; I would have used the SLAS gallery but it's temporarily down while the club switches servers. You don't have to be on Facebook to see it. Please let me know what you think. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2932404249759&l=c8b8ea7c72 Thanks, Joe

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What is your setup like?
by Dave Gary 23 Jun '12

23 Jun '12

Joe, I know you use a Meade just as I do. Would you mind photographing your setup so I could take a look at it? I may try to advance from solar imaging to the night-sky stuff. I’ve never really done much with it, but I do have most of the equipment, I think. I’d just like to see how you put it all together and use that as my basis for setting up. Also, what imaging-processing software do you use. In this, I feel I am sorely lacking. I’ve never felt it was worth it for me to take the plunge and go for Maxim DL. Is there a cheaper, just-as-useful alternative for someone like me? Dave (novice extraordinaire)

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SLAS website back online
by Patrick Wiggins 23 Jun '12

23 Jun '12

The SLAS website is back online. http://slas.us http://starparty.us/ patrick

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SLAS server problems
by Patrick Wiggins 22 Jun '12

22 Jun '12

I just spoke with Webmeister Ken and he said the situation should resolve itself by tomorrow if not before. In the mean time he suggests everyone should clear their caches. patrick On 22 Jun 2012, at 12:38, Steve Fisher wrote: > Dear Board of directors. > > I know what is happening with the server move thanks to Ken but I wanted to make you aware that some Utah Astronomy members have noted they are having issues today. > > Steve

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Unable to Log into Membership area of SLAS
by william baker 22 Jun '12

22 Jun '12

When I attempt to log into the members area I keep getting a 500 Internal server error. Has anyone else ran into this problem? Do we know when it will be up?

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crossing the equator?
by daniel turner 22 Jun '12

22 Jun '12

Today the top line of SpaceWeather.com defines the solstice as when the "suns crosses the celestial equator". This is truly a sad day for science. DT

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