July 2014 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

SPOC Aug. 2nd
by Chuck Hards 04 Aug '14

04 Aug '14

Does anyone know what the categories and judging criteria are for the vintage telescope "contest"? Any prizes? Anybody else planning on bringing an old scope?

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...good imagination and a pile of junk
by Wiggins Patrick 30 Jul '14

30 Jul '14

One of the aviation email newsletters I receive always includes a quote from some notable person. Today's reminded me of some people here on U-A: "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." -- Thomas Edison, patrick :)

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Incredible shot from Rang Ricks
by Wiggins Patrick 30 Jul '14

30 Jul '14

Those here that are on Facebook may want to have a look at this shot that Kelly got yesterday of the Grand Canyon during a thunderstorm: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1535360946687658&set=a.140505344638… Really spectacular and very worthy of an EPOD. Kudos Kelly! patrick

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Living in a bubble
by Bruce Hugo 29 Jul '14

29 Jul '14

Looks like we are living in a soft X-ray bubble. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/local-hot-bubble-07282014/ Bruce Hugo

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B Day
by Wiggins Patrick 28 Jul '14

28 Jul '14

If I remember correctly today is Kelly, errr, I mean, *Ranger* Ricks' birthday. Hopefully it's a fun day for a bday at Bryce. patrick Sent from my iPad

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Unexpected but appreciated
by Wiggins Patrick 28 Jul '14

28 Jul '14

This arrived in yesterday's post (despite being dated next month). As the subject line indicates it was totally unexpected but appreciated none the less. http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5951 pw

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Unexpected but appreciated
by Joe Bauman 27 Jul '14

27 Jul '14

Nice! ------------------------------ On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 2:30 AM MDT Wiggins Patrick wrote: >This arrived in yesterday's post (despite being dated next month). > >As the subject line indicates it was totally unexpected but appreciated none the less. > >http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5951 > >pw >_______________________________________________ >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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UFO
by CenturyLink Customer 25 Jul '14

25 Jul '14

By the letters it is an "unidentified flying object" until it can be identified and I have seen one tonight and am posting what I saw on this board in hopes the VAST intelligence and experience of board members can figure out what it was. My home is about 7000 South and 1.5 miles west from the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. I was looking west at around 11:00 tonight. I do not have trees in my back yard, so my view to the west is clear. I picked up the "object" on the edge of my neighbor's tree to the north. At first, it appeared to be the red flash of a firework, but it did not fade. Guessing - it traveled in pretty much a straight line from "about" 40th south to 80th south (north to south), where I lost sight of it behind another neighbor's tree to the south of my property It did appear to become slightly larger as it traveled from north to south. Okay, now for the description. It was "Y" shaped. the tops of the "Y" appeared to be grey/silver, although I could not see anything from the tips to about the center of the "Y" which was definitely a red light - not flashing. Then from the center light there appeared to be an additional extended red light that did not go straight down, but slanted to the left. There were definitely two separate red lights. Altitude was low, so as to not be a plane, nor a helicopter. There were no flashing lights. It occurred to me it might be a paraglider, but have never seen one at night so far from the mountains. Could have been a motorized paraglider. So any guesses as to what I saw??????? No, I was not drinking. Nor tired, nor was I in a drug induced frame of mind. Joan

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Liger adventure -- OT
by Joe Bauman 24 Jul '14

24 Jul '14

Dear Friends, This doesn't have much to do with astronomy except that three SLASers were present. If any of you have Facebook you can see the adventures we had with Grace the Liger cub today. Best wishes, Joe http://tinyurl.com/l6ghgge

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Tribute to Apollo 11
by baxman2＠q.com 23 Jul '14

23 Jul '14

I personally feel that humankind taking their first steps onto the surface of another celestial body has greater significance to the future course of humanity, than the first manned orbit around the Earth. I hope mankind will be able to break free from the limitation of low Earth orbit. Apollo 11 was for the United States, its finest hour. The event deserves a patriotic national holiday to commemorate an example of what is right about America. It will be a good follow-up to July 4th Independence Day. Crowding holidays is only a problem in the state of Utah. But Space Exploration does contribute to the spirit of pioneering, that Days of 47 represent. The reason for calling the commemoration Space Exploration Day goes back to President Ford designating the first Space Exploration Day commemoration in 1976. It was the 7th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moonwalk. It was also the same day that the Viking Mars Lander landed on the surface of the planet Mars. Space Exploration Day was a more flexible name to celebrate both events. Today, return to the Moon, probably by space mining companies, and human settlements on Mars are in our future. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, under the coordination of the late Ken W. Randle, was a driving force behind President Ford, President Reagan (two proclamations), and President George H.W. Bush, doing proclamations for Space Exploration Day, one year at a time. The Space Exploration Day Holiday will be permanent; good for every year.

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