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

Pop culture at the speed of light
by baxman2＠q.com 15 May '13

15 May '13

James Clerk Maxwell calculated the speed of light in his 19th century research. He expressed it as 1 over the square root of (vacuum permeability time’s vacuum permittivity). These vacuum properties can be reduced in the presence of negative energy. This negative energy is defined in terms of a lack of zero-point-energy vacuum fluctuations. This condition does exist in a space known as a casimir cavity. This means it is possible to expand the speed of light to be faster then c. An article related to this can be found in Marcel Urban, François Couchot, Xavier Sarazin, Arache Djannati-Atai. The quantum vacuum as the origin of the speed of light. The European Physical Journal D, 2013; 67 (3) DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2013-30578-7

2 1

Pop culture at the speed of light.
by Daniel Holmes 15 May '13

15 May '13

So here's an interesting graphic. What star systems are in range of what pop culture meme based on light speed. http://xkcd.com/1212/ From the alt-text: "The strongest incentive we have to develop faster-than-light travel is that it would let us apologize in advance". Dan -- Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin

2 2

Jupiter triple shadow transits
by Kim Hyatt 15 May '13

15 May '13

I remember observing the last triple shadow transit on Jupiter from SPOC in March, 2004. We had clear weather, and though it was cold, it was worth the effort to see it. I think that SLAS billed it as a public event, but I don’t remember. I see that there are three events coming up: 12 Oct 2013, 4:31 UT 3 Jun 2014, 19:02 UT 24 Jan 2015, 6:27 UT. The next triple shadow transit after the January 2015 event isn’t until 2032. Unfortunately it appears that only the January 2015 event will be visible from Utah. (Someone else please check your planetarium software to see if I’ve made any errors.) I know some of you may not get that excited about a triple shadow transit, but for anyone who hasn’t seen it, I recommend that you add it to your astronomical bucket list. I certainly thought that it was one of my observing highlights.

5 10

Fw: Scope operators needed
by Joe Bauman 14 May '13

14 May '13

Also, please don't forget Friday the 17th at the Brickyard Harmon's. I'm taking over for Rodger then, something I have never done before, and I would very much appreciate all the scopes and help I can get. Don't let me flounder around! Thanks, Joe ________________________________ From: SLAS Announcements <announce(a)slas.us> To: Joseph Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 8:22 PM Subject: Scope operators needed Hello All, This Saturday the 18th is another star party at SPOC. Scope operators are needed to run the Andy scope and the Grim scope. Should be some great spring sky viewing! Please let me know your availability and I'll reserve you spot. All the Best! Kevin Hays Board Member at Large kbh(a)utaharm.com

1 0

M16 Friday night out by Vernon
by Robert Taylor 14 May '13

14 May '13

So we ended up going to meet Jay, Matt and Jeff out by Vernon on Friday night. The clouds decided to hang out for a bit but they did finally clear. I will say itwas a night of galaxies with all of the big dobs that were out there. I had other plans and setup my 8" LX90 to take some pictures with my new Canon T3i. Mind you I am new at the astrophotography bug with only having started this last summer using a Meade DSI Pro. I took 10x60 L and 10x60 L using an OIII filter. I did not do any darks as it was 5am and time to go to sleep, as the last of the others went to bed at 3am. Still trying to figure out how to use my OAG and so no guiding at this point nor did I do a drift align. So I stacked using DSS but have no clue which of the 14 pics were used as I am new to this program. Maxim DL was used to stretch the image a little bit. These are .jpg's but I have the RAW's and tiffs and jpg's as well but some days I fell blind as I know no one who does this. I will say it is not easy learning this especially with out much input from club even though I have inquired about an APSIG in the past but was told it was tried years ago and did not work out so well. Mike http://www.astrobin.com/41800/0/?mod=none -- Such a long long time to be gone, such a short time to be there.

3 5

First Tunguska meteorites possibly found
by Thomas Sevcik 14 May '13

14 May '13

Saw this on MSN just now. If they are the real thing, way cool =). http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/02/18020806-first-1908-tunguska-ev… Tom Sevcik

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] More Astronomy Art
by Kelly Ricks 14 May '13

14 May '13

Aw...Thanks Patrick:) ~Kelly > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 14 May 2013 01:20:32 -0600 > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] More Astronomy Art > Message-ID: <E936111E-E657-4088-A15E-560E6EFFABC9(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > WOW! > > 'Nuff said... > > patrick > > > On 13 May 2013, at 13:17, Kelly Ricks wrote: > > > Hey all, > > > > I just finished another of my astronomy drawings today. > > > > Check it out on my blog here if you're interested: > > > > http://www.kellyricks.blogspot.com/2013/05/varieties-of-light.html > > > > All the Best!! > > > > ~Kelly > > > >

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Space Oddity (in Space!)
by Kelly Ricks 14 May '13

14 May '13

Agreed. This is fantastic! ~Kelly > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 13 May 2013 19:58:13 -0600 > From: Daniel Holmes <danielh(a)holmesonics.com> > To: Utah-astronomy Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Space Oddity (in Space!) > Message-ID: <F71CD709-F859-4509-9B55-1181493CBE8C(a)holmesonics.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > One of Commander Hadfield's last videos. A version of David Bowie's Space > Oddity. > > The coolest video I've seen in the last few years. This is the stuff that > Youtube was invented for. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo&w=640&h=360 > > Dan > -- > Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com > "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin > >

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] More Astronomy Art
by Kelly Ricks 14 May '13

14 May '13

Thank you Richard, Seth, Steve, and Joe. I really appreciate your comments. At this point I don't have prints of the astronomy stuff made, though I am planning/hoping to show and sell them eventually...when I have more art completed, and a bit more money to invest in such a project. I did a show with some of my older drawings about a decade ago. A member of the Utah Symphony hosted the event at his home (was up in the avenues with a spectacular overlook of the SL valley), I had everything framed and printed (cost me a small fortune), and with food and drink donated by my mother, we had tons of fun, and I just about broke even. One criticism I received was that though there was some aesthetic similarity between pieces, I didn't have a focus or central theme. Now, at least for this series, I think I have that one solved! I will keep you apprised of any plans I have to print or publish. Thanks so much for the support! ~Kelly

1 0

More Astronomy Art
by Kelly Ricks 14 May '13

14 May '13

Hey all, I just finished another of my astronomy drawings today. Check it out on my blog here if you're interested: http://www.kellyricks.blogspot.com/2013/05/varieties-of-light.html All the Best!! ~Kelly

6 5