December 2013 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Abandoned observatories
by Wiggins Patrick 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

This showed up on the Minor Planet Mailing List. Some of the pictures are hard really sad. http://io9.com/abandoned-space-observatories-are-monuments-to-science-14795… patrick

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The Big Freeze-9 December 2013
by Dave Gary 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

Some snow pictures (can’t really say it’s winter) from St. George. I had to clear out the driveway observatory with a flat-head shovel. That was a real treat. I guess when area businesses get in another batch of snow shovels I’d better buy one. I was sure missing the snow thrower I used to have when I lived in Salt Lake City. It’s 11:26 MST (18:26 UTC for Patrick and Joe) and it’s 14°F (-10°C for Patrick and Joe) at my house. http://www.flickr.com/photos/78046474@N06/sets/72157638513931966/ Dave

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10 year old discovers Supernova in Draco
by Jay Eads 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

Both articles from Universe Today but I think this is AWESOME that a 10 year old discovers a SN! http://www.universetoday.com/105963/10-year-old-boy-discovers-a-600-million… Not only did this 10 year old (you may know his older sister who was the youngest person to discover a SN until her brother did it, Kathryn Gray) but it is designated as a Type II pec (peculiar) and more like SN 1998s. Here is that link. http://www.universetoday.com/107085/young-boys-discovery-confirmed-as-a-pec…

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landing on a comet
by daniel turner 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

OK so we have at least 11 months to learn how to pronounce this thing. http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/12/10/esa-sets-date-for-1st-comet-landi… DT

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Landing on a comet
by daniel turner 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Goldstone seeking data (correction)
by Wiggins Patrick 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

Augh! Thanks for catching that John. Yes, I should have said subtract 7 hours now that we're off Daylight Silly Time. And so we see a great example of why I don't like to post conversions. Henceforth I'm going to leave conversions up to the reader (and to missionaries... <g> ) patrick On 09 Dec 2013, at 17:35, JMosley <jmosley2(a)mac.com> wrote: > Hi Patrick > > Is that 6 hours to MST, or 7? > > This is a good site: http://www.timebie.com > > - John > > > On Dec 9, 2013, at 4:28 PM, Wiggins Patrick <paw(a)getbeehive.net> wrote: > >> Date UT* R.A. (J2000) Decl. V "/min Alt >> 2013 12 10 020000 04 29 26.0 +10 37 07 15.3 48.09 +22 >> 2013 12 10 030000 04 32 42.9 +10 42 57 15.2 49.35 +32 >> 2013 12 10 040000 04 36 05.3 +10 48 48 15.1 50.78 +42 >> 2013 12 10 050000 04 39 34.0 +10 54 39 15.1 52.43 +51 >> 2013 12 10 060000 04 43 10.2 +11 00 26 15.0 54.34 +58 >> 2013 12 10 070000 04 46 54.9 +11 06 06 14.9 56.55 +61 >> 2013 12 10 080000 04 50 49.4 +11 11 40 14.9 59.08 +58 >> 2013 12 10 090000 04 54 55.1 +11 17 04 14.8 61.96 +52 >> 2013 12 10 100000 04 59 13.4 +11 22 17 14.8 65.17 +43 >> 2013 12 10 110000 05 03 45.7 +11 27 20 14.7 68.70 +33 >> >> *Subtract 6 hours to covert to MST

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Goldstone seeking data
by Wiggins Patrick 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

A NEO called 2013 XY8 is closing on Earth and the folks at Goldstone are asking for amateurs to get astrometry on it tonight so they'll know more precisely where it is when they try to hit it with radar. It's to be well placed for we in Utah tonight and pretty bright at magnitude 15ish. Note the speed across the sky increasing tonight from 45 arc seconds per minute to nearly 70 so short exposures will probably be needed to keep the target from trailing. If anyone on the list gets some good images tonight please let me know and I'll help with measuring and submitting. Here is a cut and paste from the Minor Planet Ephemeris Service showing hourly positions as calculated for my observatory. For more precise ephemerides for other locations go to http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html and enter "2013 XY8" in the object box and your long/lat/alt where indicated. Date UT* R.A. (J2000) Decl. V "/min Alt 2013 12 10 020000 04 29 26.0 +10 37 07 15.3 48.09 +22 2013 12 10 030000 04 32 42.9 +10 42 57 15.2 49.35 +32 2013 12 10 040000 04 36 05.3 +10 48 48 15.1 50.78 +42 2013 12 10 050000 04 39 34.0 +10 54 39 15.1 52.43 +51 2013 12 10 060000 04 43 10.2 +11 00 26 15.0 54.34 +58 2013 12 10 070000 04 46 54.9 +11 06 06 14.9 56.55 +61 2013 12 10 080000 04 50 49.4 +11 11 40 14.9 59.08 +58 2013 12 10 090000 04 54 55.1 +11 17 04 14.8 61.96 +52 2013 12 10 100000 04 59 13.4 +11 22 17 14.8 65.17 +43 2013 12 10 110000 05 03 45.7 +11 27 20 14.7 68.70 +33 *Subtract 6 hours to covert to MST

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China Shoots ‘Jade Rabbit’ Rover to the Moon
by Wiggins Patrick 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

Here is a segment from last week's Science Friday containing some interesting insight into the Chinese space program. patrick China Shoots ‘Jade Rabbit’ Rover to the Moon http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/12/06/2013/china-shoots-jade-rabbit-ro…

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Traffic Jam
by Dave Gary 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

Chuck, Yeah, I was in that little traffic jam on the freeway in St. George. The eighteen-wheelers couldn’t get up the slight grade on the freeway that’s before the exit to St. George Boulevard going north. I was taking my daughter to Dixie State in the 4X4 pickup (the red one in the snow photos) because we didn’t think she could make it in her little car. She had waited until the last minute to take a test. Go figure. It was a little before 18:00 when we left the house. The testing center closed at 22:00. Plenty of time. We got on the freeway (big mistake) thinking it might be clearer. As we got within one-half mile of the St. George Boulevard exit the traffic came to a complete halt. No emergency vehicles around, no flashing lights, nothing to indicate trouble. We sat there for some time (45 minutes) then decided we’d better redneck-it and go up the shoulder of the freeway and find out what was going on. We found out there was no accident. In fact, there was no traffic jam past the St. George Boulevard exit. There was a bunch of eighteen-wheelers chaining up (blocking both lanes) and it looked as if most of them were about half-way done when we got by them. People without 4X4s couldn’t go up that outer emergency lane because the snow was too deep. They just had to wait it out. Your delivery truck was, probably, in there some place. I later heard the line of traffic from that little affair stretched almost to the Gorge before those big trucks near St. George Boulevard started to move, again. Then Arizona shut down the Gorge because of the snow. Some of my daughter’s friends got caught in the Gorge. They were there most of the night. They got out of their vehicles and made snow angels in the freeway lanes. Texted her the photos. Kids. Dave

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Ed Byers
by Chuck Hards 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

Sadly, I learned over the weekend that Ed Byers' wife passed-away late last week. She had been ill for a number of years and in hospice care. Many of you know or have met Ed, a giant in the field of telescope drives and mounts for many decades. Ed has been selling-off his remaining stock of high-precision telescope drives at almost give-away prices, mostly on eBay. These are known as the most precise, periodic-error-free gear sets made. Some of you own or have owned Byers mounts, no more of those will be made. Ed is 86 years old and we've been lucky that he has kept making products for as long as he has, well past the age when most of us would be too happy to retire. He has no more employees and is running the shop solo until everything saleable is gone, and it's time to lock the doors for the last time. I've picked up 3 Byers drives in the last couple of months for future projects. The 10" Cave that I bought from Don Colton in June has a Byers drive retro-fitted to it and it is extremely precise. Ed also has some gear/worm combinations for those who want a full 360-degree DEC. gear, again at bargain prices. He offers all drives with your choice of either AC synchronous motor or stepper motor. His products have not just gone to amateur astronomers, but government, industry, professional observatories, NASA, and the military. People have been known to buy older, used Celestron and Meade scopes, just to scavenge the Byers gear sets from them, from the time when he was producing those gears under contract. If you have ever wanted a Byers drive for your mount, now is the time to get one since there will be no-more once his existing stock is gone. Our prayers and condolences go out to Ed at this time, for his tremendous loss.

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