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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Augh! Gotta to vent
by Bruce Hugo 03 Sep '13

03 Sep '13

Mat says: "Oh, I'm sure someone there is old enough. Headlines like that sell magazines..." And THERE is the driving force behind ignoring the past. Risk credibility for more sales. Bruce Hugo ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2013 21:31:12 +0000 From: "Hutchings, Mat" <mat.hutchings(a)siemens.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Augh! Gotta to vent Message-ID: <B71A4128F1C48844AF3F53020F767EFD013B57(a)USMLVA0EM22MSX.ww017.siemens.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Oh, I'm sure someone there is old enough. Headlines like that sell magazines... Mat

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] road trip to the arrows
by Ed 03 Sep '13

03 Sep '13

Daniel, Oh, okay, I thought you wanted to look at the arrows rather than scout for observing sites. None of these arrow sites would make good observing sites imho. In fact, the one at exit 77 next to the Cargill Salt Plant has to be the worst possible site because it is lit up all night like Times Square or the Vegas Strip - sans the flashing neon, of course. But, as I suspect you know, there are many observing sites in the west desert with dark skies that can be driven to in a 2WD car and you don't have to "hike" more than a few feet to set up. Ed ------------------------- On Tue, 3 Sep 2013 10:23:26 -0700 [11:23:26 AM MDT] daniel turner <outwest112(a)yahoo.com> wrote: Ed: I was scouting a trip for my friends who have mobility problems. I want to get them close enough that they don't have to hike more than a hundred feet without scaring them to death with the ride up there. The marker near mile post 77 is the only one that really fits these requirements. But the exploration was fun. Also there was a possibility these would be good observing sites, but I can do much better at places I already know. DT

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observing report
by Hutchings, Mat 03 Sep '13

03 Sep '13

Well, 5 of us headed out to the Pit-N-Pole last Friday, and we ultimately called it an early night due to clouds and wind. However, there was some serious commotion going on in Fairfield that we were completely flummoxed about. It became apparent later that there were some heavy duty fireworks going on but we could not figure out why and also we were shocked at the length of the display - going on 2 hours long! This morning I found this and solved the mystery: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/fairfield/camp-floyd-days-to-se… Hope to see you under the dark Utah skies next time! Mat

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] road trip to the arrows
by Ed 03 Sep '13

03 Sep '13

Daniel or anyone else wishing to visit these arrows, Re: Hiking to the 61A arrow at Lakepoint. Until Patrick posts specific hiking directions, I would suggest going further south along the tracks to a point you can cross and get above the railroad cut. From there hike back north as the ground rises to the arrow. Your GPS should then give you a bearing that doesn't include impossible obstacles. Take a zoomed-in look with Google Earth or Bing.com/maps to get a better lay of the land. Incidentally, Google Earth search recognizes Lake Point rather than Lakepoint. Re: The road up to the SFO-SLC 57 arrow at exit 62. I think the original road followed a much gentler curving climb at the southwest end of the ridge, but is no longer used because of the 4WD "short cut" straight up the hill. That old road certainly is an easier way to reach the top if hiking, but I don't know if it is, or ever was, passable with a less capable 4x4 or 2WD vehicle than your Pathfinder - or a vehicle of the 1920's. Take a look at a zoomed-in aerial view on Bing.com/maps for the route. Ed ------------------------- On Mon, 2 Sep 2013 18:47:56 -0700 [07:47:56 PM MDT] daniel turner <outwest112(a)yahoo.com> wrote: I managed to reach three of them. I didn't try Woods Cross because it was out of the way and reportedly had a locked gate.. I failed at Lakeside. the Garmin GPS put me at the bottom of a steep hill and said 300 feet straight in, which would translate to over 600 feet almost straight up across a railroad track and at least two cattle fences. The GPS coordinates may be wrong on this one. First success was at mile marker 77 on I80. The GPS put me right on top of it. I just had to find a frontage road the would take me there. Hint the road starts near the entrance of the salt company to the west. The arrow is surrounded by a broke down fence and I could see where someone had been scraping dirt off it, possibly Patrick. Next was mile marker 62. Again the GPS coordinates were right on but this time it was up a steep dirt and rock climb that required low range 4 wheel drive in my 12 year old Pathfinder. They didn't drive up here with model T's they must have packed the cement in on mules and mixed it on site with water that was also packed in. Mile marker 49 was a failure. GPS led me to a low dry lakebed just off the frontage road. It may have been torn up or I might be buried under the playa surface of the lake bed. Stockton was a success and a real challenge. If you parked at the LDS ward on the north end of town and hiked a quarter mile up and over the ridge line you could be close but without GPS you would miss it in the brush. The secret is to drive into town and turn west on Clark. Follow it to the end and it turns into a dirt road that passes the jail and the cemetery. Then you come to a deep open pit sand trap. Take the steep rocky track to the right of the sand trap and you will be up on the ridgeline on a track that will take you to within 100 feet of the arrow. Again this is a 4 wheel drive road. DT

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons - Atmospheric Sounding
by Bruce Hugo 03 Sep '13

03 Sep '13

Daniel, True true. With this group, that is a safe assumption. And it is our only exact coversion from english to metric. Hahaaa! Regarding: "But you can't wait around for perfect weather...". I totally agree. This long weekned for instance. I was beat from a long work week so friday was early to bed (clear sky night). Saturday the SPOC star party was clouded out. Sunday at home, clouded out. Monday at sundown... CLEAR! Yes! I pull the scope out, set it up and go back inside waiting for some dark(er) sky. Guess what... clouds rolled in. *sigh* Oh and to everyone on Utah-Astronomy: Sorry I didn't clip all the posts out of my last post. It makes quite a mess when you forget to do that. Eeek! Bruce Hugo Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science. - Edwin Powell Hubble ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2013 12:04:40 -0700 (PDT) From: daniel turner <outwest112(a)yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons - Atmospheric Sounding Message-ID: <1378235080.33828.YahooMailNeo(a)web163801.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 That's correct but I assumed everyone knew the conversion from mm to inches.? Some times the local weather man will mention the level as "over an inch" but the other end, less than a centimeter, is really prime observing weather.? ? When I see contrails that extend across the entire sky I know the sky is not great for deep objects.? ? But you can't wait around for perfect weather.? It may not come that often and usually cabin fever drives people out of the house and into the dark even when the weather is not the best.? Especially people with jobs.? When Friday rolls around they gotta go even if it's not the best.? These night are at least?good for social astronomy and practice runs with new equipment. ? DT

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OT: Weather balloons - Atmospheric Sounding
by Bruce Hugo 03 Sep '13

03 Sep '13

Very interesting Daniel! So when you say "When this number is over an inch we are in for a rough ride." do you mean Precipitable Water [mm] greater than 25.4mm? Regarding contrails,safe to assume longer = more moisture? Bruce Hugo ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2013 10:35:58 -0700 (PDT) From: daniel turner <outwest112(a)yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons Message-ID: <1378229758.69287.YahooMailNeo(a)web163803.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Actually I reference the data that these balloons capture when I want to go out observing.? ? http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html ? The balloons go up twice a day at 0z and 12z and their data can show layers of moist air that will cause observing problems as well as giving the total water in the air column which indicates thunder storm potential.? ? Here is an example. ? Precipitable water [mm] for entire sounding: 29.94 When this number is over an inch we are in for a rough ride.? ? When it is less than a 10 the air is very dry and deep sky objects like the eyes in the Owl nebula start to jump out at you in the eyepiece.? ? I also monitor the length of contrails but these only tell you what is happening at the altitude of the aircraft. ? DT ? ? ? ? ________________________________ From: Seth Jarvis <SJarvis(a)slco.org> To: 'Utah Astronomy' <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 8:15 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons Just a thought: http://www.noaa.gov/features/02_monitoring/balloon.html -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 5:55 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons Maybe one of you pilots can shed some light on this.? I swear I saw a weather balloon being released at SL Int'l airport this morning.? It appeared to be a balloon with an orangish beacon light on the bottom, that illuminated the balloon itself.? Constant light, no flashing.? I stared at it for a while thinking it might be a helicopter taking-off, but the lights were wrong and it didn't fly any kind of pattern, just more-or-less straight up and following the wind direction. About 5:05 AM, not far from the Million-Air terminal that Patrick flies from. Do those balloons still get used?? Seems kind of hazardous releasing it from the airport, unless radar showed no incoming traffic for a long ways off. _______________________________________________ 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". ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2013 11:58:57 -0600 From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] observing report Message-ID: <CAHmuOYpq_8i_wwV3zpaY9NtC3=gVOrp21aGqu0bG0J3RPAV1rA(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Sometimes it's good to just get out of the house, Mat. I've had the last ten days off (back at work today), and only one of them was worth actually taking out the telescope, when I had the energy at the end of the day. Two other nights I did some binocular observing with the Resolux 15x70mm (nice bino!). Keeping my fingers crossed for some good "Indian summer" weather in the next couple of months, before it gets frigid again. Mid September until mid November is my favorite time of year if the weather cooperates. BTW, this morning I saw Sirius peeking above the mountains before sunrise for the first time this summer. Orion is well up by then. Winter is not far off. On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 11:01 AM, Hutchings, Mat <mat.hutchings(a)siemens.com>wrote: > Well, 5 of us headed out to the Pit-N-Pole last Friday, and we ultimately > called it an early night due to clouds and wind. ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ 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 127, Issue 6 **********************************************

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road trip to the arrows
by daniel turner 03 Sep '13

03 Sep '13

I managed to reach three of them. I didn't try Woods Cross because it was out of the way and reportedly had a locked gate.. I failed at Lakeside. the Garmin GPS put me at the bottom of a steep hill and said 300 feet straight in, which would translate to over 600 feet almost straight up across a railroad track and at least two cattle fences. The GPS coordinates may be wrong on this one. First success was at mile marker 77 on I80. The GPS put me right on top of it. I just had to find a frontage road the would take me there. Hint the road starts near the entrance of the salt company to the west. The arrow is surrounded by a broke down fence and I could see where someone had been scraping dirt off it, possibly Patrick. Next was mile marker 62. Again the GPS coordinates were right on but this time it was up a steep dirt and rock climb that required low range 4 wheel drive in my 12 year old Pathfinder. They didn't drive up here with model T's they must have packed the cement in on mules and mixed it on site with water that was also packed in. Mile marker 49 was a failure. GPS led me to a low dry lakebed just off the frontage road. It may have been torn up or I might be buried under the playa surface of the lake bed. Stockton was a success and a real challenge. If you parked at the LDS ward on the north end of town and hiked a quarter mile up and over the ridge line you could be close but without GPS you would miss it in the brush. The secret is to drive into town and turn west on Clark. Follow it to the end and it turns into a dirt road that passes the jail and the cemetery. Then you come to a deep open pit sand trap. Take the steep rocky track to the right of the sand trap and you will be up on the ridgeline on a track that will take you to within 100 feet of the arrow. Again this is a 4 wheel drive road. DT

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Next USU launch (and a funny)
by Patrick Wiggins 02 Sep '13

02 Sep '13

Looks like USU is about send 3 more satellites into orbit. According to the Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule as provided by "Launch Alert": +++++ SEP 10? 09:00-11:00? Falcon 9 Vehicle will launch the Cassiope satellite for the Canadian Space Agency. The vehicle will carry the following satellites as secondary payloads: CUSat 1 and CUSat 2 (Cornell University); DANDE (University of Colorado at Boulder); and POPACS 1, POPACS 2, and POPACS 3 (Utah State University). +++++ Here's part of an abstract on the project: +++++ The main objective of Project POPACS (Polar Orbiting Passive Atmospheric Calibration Spheres) is to measure the changes in density of the auroral zone upper atmosphere, in response to various solar stimuli, such as flares and CMEs. The mission consists of deploying three 10 cm diameter Aluminum spheres into an elliptical polar orbit and tracking them as they make repeated perigee passes in the upper atmosphere, with special emphasis on perigee passes within both the northern and southern auroral zones. The spheres have identical external dimensions and surface compositions, and thus identical drag coefficients, but they have different masses (1, 1.5, 2 kg) to vary their ballistic coefficients, which will cause them to spread out in right ascension along the original orbit. The Aluminum spheres will be coated with space-rated flat white paint so they can be both radar tracked by the U.S. Space Command and optically tracked by a world-wide network of university students and amateur observers with “Go To” telescopes. +++++ As for the funny, wouldn't it be refreshing if "reality" TV was really this year? http://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/2013/09/01 patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Government funded observing platforms
by Joe Bauman 02 Sep '13

02 Sep '13

These things were set up 10 miles apart. Some must remain near roads in nice dark areas. -- Joe ------------------------------ On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 8:22 AM MDT Erik Hansen wrote: >>Did not see a road, looks like quite a hike. > > > Great little platforms for setting up in a dark sky area! Do you think we >> could get the government to install electrical outlets and bathrooms for >> us? >> >> -A >> >> >> On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 3:28 PM, Patrick Wiggins >> <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com>wrote: >> >> Hi Ed, >> >> Thanks for the tip. >> >> I looked on Google Earth at that area but could not find it. >> >> Here's a screen shot of where I was looking: >> http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/exit62.jpg >> >> Is that the right area? If it is can you see the arrow and help me >> narrow >> the search? >> >> Thanks, >> >> patrick >> >> >> On 26 Aug 2013, at 07:23, Ed wrote: >> >> > Patrick, >> > >> > There is an aviation arrow for the SLC to San Francisco route on top >> of >> the hill just north of exit 62 on I-80. >> > >> > This is the same spot I mentioned some time back as a good place to >> get >> an unobstructed view of the western horizon. >> > >> > Ed >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > 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". >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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".

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