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

USGS Report: Gas and Oil around and in NP in southern Utah; More dark skies at serious risk.
by Jay Eads 23 Aug '13

23 Aug '13

Well, it isn't just the San Rafael Swell that has drilling plans. The Paradox Basin, mainly in Utah and in parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona (heard of the four corners region) is tagged for opening for oil and gas development. Here is the report by the USGS: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3031/FS12-3031.pdf "The findings are based on using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 560 million barrels of undiscovered oil, 12,701 billion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas, and 490 million barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in the Paradox Basin of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona." The Paradox Basin is around the major NP's in southern Utah, from Bryce in the West, Capitol Reef, up to Canyonlands and Arches. A friend of mine, Mike who lives in Wyoming, states in his opinion, but his opinion is based on facts and reports open to the public if one has the time to request and/or look them up (he is retired). "Yes, there is oil and gas everywhere in and around the famous national parks of southeastern Utah. And before you think, "But they can't drill in national parks!", think again. The gas and oil industry already drills in 12 national parks/preserves. With $40 billion in tax breaks, widespread state and local support, astounding profits, and blooming foreign markets, expect them to drill, drill, drill. It is the ending of dark skies from National Parks from Bryce, to Capitol Reef, to Arches and Canyonlands and other such pristine areas." It is no wonder Utah wants control of all this land. I guess observing at dark sites in Utah will be limited to the West Desert . . . as LP hits the major parks from the oil and gas wells that are drilled.

5 11

Interesting asterism
by Chuck Hards 23 Aug '13

23 Aug '13

This morning I noticed a huge, almost perfect "Y" in the eastern sky. With El Nath as the center, the legs of the Y were marked by Capella, Aldebaran, and Jupiter. It was like a giant Mercedes-Benz logo in the sky. The symmetry was striking. Not perfect, but close. It doesn't look symmetrical on a chart or screen because of projection distortions. Take a look before Jupiter moves out of place, and tell me if you see it.

5 17

Lets play with anti-matter
by D P Pierce 22 Aug '13

22 Aug '13

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24033#.UhGg-TDnZjo Deloy

6 5

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Last Night's SLAS Meeting
by Joe Bauman 22 Aug '13

22 Aug '13

It was great, Wayne. Thanks again. -- Joe ------------------------------ On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 8:50 AM MDT Wayne Sumner wrote: >Many thanks, Chuck et al.. What I wouldn't give to have a classroom full of such eager learners as yourselves. One of the joys of being in SLAS or OAS is associating with people who refuse to let their brains rust. It is such a delight to learn and relearn about the amazing world and universe that surrounds us. I only hope I can light fires within my students that will allow them to take as much delight in lifelong learning as you do. >Thanks, > >-----Original Message----- >From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards >Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 7:12 AM >To: Utah Astronomy >Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Last Night's SLAS Meeting > >Many thanks to SLAS and Wayne Sumner for an excellent presentation last night. My only regret is that due to time constraints, we didn't get the full 2-period presentation. I may audit that class at Northridge fall semester! I took a 300-series astronomy class in college that included star evolution, but that was more than a third of a century ago, and I've probably lost more than a few brain cells along the way. Much new information has been turned-up since then. > >It was good to see Brent again as well, it's been probably ten years or so, hasn't it, Brent? My goatee wasn't white the last time we spoke face-to-face, lol. > >Also good to see Scott Crosby make an appearance, and good old Rich Tenney represented Utah county, as usual. Siegfried, I saw you there but didn't get a chance to talk to you and Joe about meteor showers and radiants. ;-) > >Sorry we couldn't stay for the business section of the meeting or Advanced Training at Dennys. I had to get up at 3:30 this morning and was running on fumes from a long, hot work day even before the meeting started. > >Hope to see you all again next month! >_______________________________________________ >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 >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".

1 0

2017 Eclipse Preview
by Patrick Wiggins 22 Aug '13

22 Aug '13

Here is the weather satellite image I showed at last evening's SLAS meeting showing weather along 2017's eclipse track taken yesterday (21 August) at the time of day the 21 August 2017 eclipse will happen. Let's all hope for better weather in this part of the world in 2017. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/keep/eclipsewx2013.jpg patrick

5 5

Last Night's SLAS Meeting
by Chuck Hards 22 Aug '13

22 Aug '13

Many thanks to SLAS and Wayne Sumner for an excellent presentation last night. My only regret is that due to time constraints, we didn't get the full 2-period presentation. I may audit that class at Northridge fall semester! I took a 300-series astronomy class in college that included star evolution, but that was more than a third of a century ago, and I've probably lost more than a few brain cells along the way. Much new information has been turned-up since then. It was good to see Brent again as well, it's been probably ten years or so, hasn't it, Brent? My goatee wasn't white the last time we spoke face-to-face, lol. Also good to see Scott Crosby make an appearance, and good old Rich Tenney represented Utah county, as usual. Siegfried, I saw you there but didn't get a chance to talk to you and Joe about meteor showers and radiants. ;-) Sorry we couldn't stay for the business section of the meeting or Advanced Training at Dennys. I had to get up at 3:30 this morning and was running on fumes from a long, hot work day even before the meeting started. Hope to see you all again next month!

5 5

Phone APP's
by Erik Hansen 21 Aug '13

21 Aug '13

I hope you all have this on your smart phones. http://911.utah.gov/

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] N.J. approves ban on sale of select lasers
by Bruce Hugo 21 Aug '13

21 Aug '13

Ok, trying to post for the first time: Hmmm... what if they dual mount the laser/gun on their telescope? Bruce Hugo ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 17:26:21 -0600 From: Siegfried Jachmann <siegfried(a)jachmann.org> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] N.J. approves ban on sale of select lasers Message-ID: <CAH4Gk7h5n+3VYaqDc=3zaEvdZ_yYxB3yDXB8RMDA28YPS8Uxow(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Can California be far behind? On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 4:11 PM, william baker <baker464b(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Am I assuming correctly that N.J. is the first state to consider a ban > like this? > > > ________________________________ > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy < > utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 1:23 PM > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] N.J. approves ban on sale of select lasers > > > NJ Senate OKs bill banning some laser pointers > > The Associated Press > TRENTON, N.J. -- > > The state Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would bar the > sale of certain powerful laser pointers, sending the measure to Gov. Chris > Christie's desk. > > But it's not yet known when or if the governor will act on the bill. > > The measure passed Monday by a 36-1 vote would ban the sale of laser > pointers that exceed one milliwatt in output power. > > > http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/08/19/2899305/nj-senate-oks-bill-banning-… > > > > > +++++ > Interesting that the law does not apply to lasers mounted on guns. So I > guess if a NJ star gazer want to use 5mW green lasers at star parties all > they need to do is mount it on a gun. > > Weird, > > 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". > _______________________________________________ > 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". > -- Siegfried

4 9

San Rafael Swell; BLM to Sell of Leases for Oil and Gas
by Jay Eads 21 Aug '13

21 Aug '13

A quote from the article in the Trib: "But non-WSA lands found to hold wilderness characteristics — known as wilderness inventory areas, or WIAs — are not always supposed to be managed for wilderness. "They looked at the lands and determined they would be best managed for other uses," Crandall said. This is the situation for the 39,000-acre Eagle Canyon WIA, located between the Wedge Overlook and Interstate 70 near the Moore cutoff road, and the 37,000-acre Lost Spring Wash WIA, between Mexican Mountain and U.S. Highway 6. The BLM sale features 49 leases that overlap WIAs — 10 on Eagle Canyon and 11 on Lost Spring Wash." http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56758841-78/wilderness-blm-areas-lands.ht… Some prime wilderness and dark sky locations are going to be impacted. Drill baby drill.

3 2

N.J. approves ban on sale of select lasers
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Aug '13

21 Aug '13

NJ Senate OKs bill banning some laser pointers The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. -- The state Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would bar the sale of certain powerful laser pointers, sending the measure to Gov. Chris Christie's desk. But it's not yet known when or if the governor will act on the bill. The measure passed Monday by a 36-1 vote would ban the sale of laser pointers that exceed one milliwatt in output power. http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/08/19/2899305/nj-senate-oks-bill-banning-… +++++ Interesting that the law does not apply to lasers mounted on guns. So I guess if a NJ star gazer want to use 5mW green lasers at star parties all they need to do is mount it on a gun. Weird, patrick

8 7