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

Astronomy Festival at Great Basin National Park
by Kelly_Carroll＠nps.gov 08 Jun '12

08 Jun '12

Hello all, I would like to invite everyone on the board to join us next Thursday June 14 through Saturday June 16 for the 3rd Annual Great Basin Astronomy Festival in Baker, NV. We are having special programs all and night long; and even a screening of the film The City Dark Saturday night (and of course the now famous Ranger Talent Show). The 10-day forecast shows sunny days and clear nights for the festival so it's a great time to start your day underground (Lehman Caves), hike the mountains in the afternoon, and end your day above ground observing the wonderful dark skies of Great Basin. Check out the details here: http://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/2012-astronomy-festival.htm Want to volunteer? Check out our volunteer blog at: http://greatbasinastronomy.wordpress.com/ This is a good chance to get out, have some fun, and experience your national parks. Please email me with any questions. Best and clear skies, Kelly Kelly Carroll Park Ranger Great Basin National Park 775-234-7513 http://www.nps.gov/grba/ Experience your America

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Transit of Venus
by Dave Gary 08 Jun '12

08 Jun '12

Posted the transit photos I chose for the movie I posted on MobileMe. They look better in slideshow view. These photos are the least “wavy” in the lot. Damn wind. You’d think I sat there and kicked the tripod so it would resonate just right. It’s pretty bad when you think your table and computer may blow away while you’re imaging. When Sig and Patrick show up for the next Venus transit we can all hope it won’t be so windy. Chuck and I will miss it because we’ll still be working. Look on the bright side, Chuck. If the end of the world happens this-coming December we may get some real time off. I wonder what kind of telescope improvements, cameras and imaging software will be available for the astronomic bozo geek in 2117? http://www.flickr.com/photos/78046474@N06/sets/72157630013895931/ Dave This one is for fun. http://devour.com/video/uncle-drew/

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Eclipse pics
by Chrismo 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

What a great morning for eclipse viewing! It was a very pleasant outside and even the clouds couldn't ruin my good mood. I went to my usual perch on Wasatch Blvd about 4500 south. Arriving just after first contact, I observed a significant halo, but enjoyed watching it disappear as the moon sunk lower in the sky and finally dipped beneath the edge of the cloud lines. Also interesting to me was watching the partially-eclipsed moon setting behind the Oquirrhs. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4205546296349.2182779.1215656729&… -- Chrismo I fix things, all kinds of things... (801) 897-9075

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Good news Bad news
by erikhansen＠thebluezone.net 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

>I noticed in many videos the disc was visible as soon as it was in the corona, well before 1st contact. There are comments claiming videos are faked because the image processing left some faint solar details on the black disc of venus. Some people will never be satisfied. Was it due to the H-alpha view showing a layer of the sun that is farther > out than white light shows? Hadn't thought of it before... > > Mat > > -----Original Message----- > From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com > [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck > Hards > Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 6:19 PM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Good news Bad news > > Speaking of H-a, did anyone else notice that first contact was visible in > the PST before the white-light view? Kind of confused me for a while, > until I read the reason on the S&T website yesterday. Then it was a > classic "Of Course!" moment. I'm going to be on the lookout for it during > the next transit of Mercury. > _______________________________________________ > 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". > > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Good news Bad news
by daniel turner 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

The digital camera revolution has developed a positive feedback loop. The technology has driven down prices which has induced more people to take up the hobby which in the past was viewed as expensive. The increased demand has allowed manufacturers to develop economies of scale and to lower prices even more. We truly live in the golden age of amateur photography. The bad news is that so many people have really great equiptment and are taking great pictures and posting them on the web that it's getting really hard to find or take a picture that is truly unique or even interesting. The eclipse and the transit brought this out. Thousands of pictures are out there to the point that the events look like Niagra Falls, or Yosemite Valley, or the South rim of the Grand Canyon. EVERYONE has a set of pictures of these places and well, they all look pretty much the same. To be unique you need to go to great lengths like this guy who went to the corner of Australia where he could get a picture of the transit that included a passing of the Hubble telescope. http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/venus_hst_transit.html Even astophotos of passing comets are no longer unique unless they have a Messier globular in the background and a passing of the ISS in the forground. We live in interesting times. DT

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My Transit Pictures.
by Daniel Holmes 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

I had to leave the Museum early, my wife had to go in for a surgery (as the cutter, not the cuttee. I was on daddy duty), so these were taken just as the Sun was poking through the clouds near my house. http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5178 Nikon D500, 200mm lens, with a Baader filter I made that morning. I liked the way the clouds rolled in, made it a little more interesting IMHO. Thanks, Dan -- Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin

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L&O
by Chuck Hards 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

I am not going to able to attend the L&O meeting this Saturday due to a work issue. The customer on who's proposal I worked all of last weekend on has changed their specs, and not extended the deadline. So this weekend I get to do it again. I'll miss you, keep me in the loop for the next meeting.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] My Transit Pictures.
by Joe Bauman 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

Nice, monkey boy! ------------------------------ On Thu, Jun 7, 2012 10:43 AM MDT Daniel Holmes wrote: >I had to leave the Museum early, my wife had to go in for a surgery (as the cutter, not the cuttee. I was on daddy duty), so these were taken just as the Sun was poking through the clouds near my house. > >http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5178 > >Nikon D500, 200mm lens, with a Baader filter I made that morning. I liked the way the clouds rolled in, made it a little more interesting IMHO. > >Thanks, >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".

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transit perspectives
by Chrismo 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

Another gallery of assembled images. After the image shared by Richard Tenney lastnight, I was googling around for more like it. Here's what I found: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4218527540872.2183030.1215656729&… -- Chrismo I fix things, all kinds of things... (801) 897-9075

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Eclipse and transit pictures
by Patrick Wiggins 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

I finally got around to adding my annular eclipse montage and a single image of yesterday's transit to the SLAS Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=68&g2_page=8 Nothing to qualify for something like Chris's assemblage of transit images rather my tiny part of a historical event. And here's a shot of one of the folks that pulled off I-80 with me at Skull Valley showing an interesting way of viewing the transit using large binoculars and a telescope solar filter: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/TRANSITVIEWER.JPG patrick

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