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

Everyone Needs One of These!!!!
by Jamie Bradley 07 Aug '14

07 Aug '14

Alright!!! The ultimate Star Party Vehicle. Portable, air conditioning and only $9,999 http://www.ebay.com/itm/MILITARY-MOBILE-ASTRONOMY-OBSERVATORY-CONTRAVES-PARA BAM-ASTRODOME-SHELTER-/221514404045? <http://www.ebay.com/itm/MILITARY-MOBILE-ASTRONOMY-OBSERVATORY-CONTRAVES-PAR ABAM-ASTRODOME-SHELTER-/221514404045?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276> &_trksid=p2056016.l4276

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Central Galaxy
by Joe Bauman 06 Aug '14

06 Aug '14

Hi Folks, Tyler allowed me to use his stunning photo of the Andromeda Galaxy, to show what a small area of the nucleus I photographed. You can enlarge both of our pics by putting your curser on them and then right-clicking; then click on "view image" and enlarge from there. Here's my image, with Tyler's just below: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201513884409577&set=a.10731632898… Thanks, Joe

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2nd Annual Utah Star Party
by Jay Eads 04 Aug '14

04 Aug '14

Some have inquired so I thought I better share here. Here is the info on the 2nd annual Utah Star Party. It is a low key affair. Here is a list of directions from my blog: http://jaysastronomyobservingblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/directions-to-south-… Here is the info on the Utah Star Party for 2014. This post will be used to convey information about the 2nd annual Utah Star Party. It will be held on the Forest Land south of Vernon, Utah and the dates are listed below. We will be at site 1 and possibly site 2. I will post a Google Image of the locations in the near future. I did make a decision on timing for the Utah Star Party this year. I moved the Utah Star Party this year to the following dates: Friday September 26th, Saturday September 27th (after tent camping during a snow storm last year). I will arrive on Friday, but it will be after dark due to a work commitment I have at Olympus High that night. If you want to come out on Thursday, September 25th, that is fine also but no promises that anyone will be there.I will be observing on Saturday for sure, and if I can set up in the dark, on Friday night as well. Feel free to join us if you would like. No fees, no prizes, just simply come out to a dark site and enjoy other imagers or observers and have a great night doing what you love. We will have an observers area and an imaging area. Other than that your on your own for food and drink. There will be some toilets with disposable bags and 5 miles to the east is Vernon Reservoir with Forest Service toilets that are kept really clean. No running water though at the bathroom. This is the weekend after Great Basin so we won’t conflict there. It gets cold out there at this time of the year so dress for warmth. Hope to see you there. Oh, you can come out for one night if you want; as I said this is very laid back. The only goal it has is to get people out to a dark site. Recent SQM readings have the site at 21.77 to 21.81 which is NELM 6.9 to 7.0. Salt Lake Light dome is to the northeast. It is easy to set up tents in the area and the site can handle 2 or 3 RV's. Specific questions are best emailed to me or posted on the forum located here: http://utahstarparty.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/hello-world/. Questions of course are also welcome here but I do not have the time to check all three right now. Sorry. I have been swamped of late (14 hour days) and that won't be ending until Halloween. Hopefully the weather improves as September and October can be our two best months and we have good weather that weekend. Best, Jay

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Star b q
by dalel2112＠yahoo.com 04 Aug '14

04 Aug '14

Hi all, Iwold like to thank all who paticipated with the star b q. It was a pleasur cooking for you and hope you enjoyed it. I am happy to do it again. It was great to visit and reaquaint with all you great folks. Thanks, Dale W. Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

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Birthday of first acknowledged female astronomer
by Ann House 04 Aug '14

04 Aug '14

* Today is the birthday* of *Maria Mitchell* <http://www.mariamitchell.org/about/about-maria-mitchell?elq=a753714df97e482…> (*books by this author* <http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Maria%20Mitchell&tag=writa…>), the first acknowledged female astronomer, born in 1818 on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts. Although the American essayist Hannah Crocker explained that same year in her *Observations on the Real Rights of Women* that it was then a woman's "province to soothe the turbulent passions of men ... to shine in the domestic circle" and that "it would be improper, and physically very incorrect, for the female character to claim the statesman's birth or ascend the rostrum to gain the loud applause of men," Maria Mitchell's Quaker parents believed that girls should have the same access to education and the same chance to aspire to high goals as boys, and they raised all 10 of their children as equals. Maria's early interest in science and the stars came from her father, a dedicated amateur astronomer who shared with all his children what he saw as physical evidence of God in the natural world, although Maria was the only child interested enough to learn the mathematics of astronomy. She would later say, in a quote recorded in NASA's profile of her, that we should "not look at the stars as bright spots only [but] try to take in the vastness of the universe," because "every formula which expresses a law of nature is a hymn of praise to God." By age 12, Maria was assisting her father with his astronomical observations and data, and just five years later opened and ran her own school for girls, training them in the sciences and math. In 1838, she became the librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum and began spending her evenings in an observatory her father had built atop the town's bank. On October 1, 1848, a crisp, clear autumn evening, Maria focused her father's telescope on a distant star. The light was faint and blurry, and Maria suddenly realized she was looking not at a star, but a comet; she recorded its coordinates, and when she saw the next night that the fuzzy light had moved, she was sure. Maria shared her discovery with her father, who wrote to the Harvard Observatory, who in turn passed her name on to the king of Denmark, who had pledged a gold medal to the first person to discover a comet so distant that it could only be seen through a telescope. Maria was awarded the medal the following year, and the comet became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet." Mitchell's list of firsts is impressive: She'd made the first American comet sighting; in 1848, she was the first woman appointed to the American Association for the Advancement of Science; in 1853, she became the first woman to earn an advanced degree; and in 1865, she became the first woman appointed to the faculty of the newly founded Vassar Female College as their astronomy professor and the head of their observatory, making her the first female astronomy professor in American history. Mitchell also became a devoted anti-slavery activist and suffragette, with friends such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and helped found the American Association for the Advancement of Women. In her *Life, Letters, and Journals*, Maria declares that, "no woman should say, 'I am but a woman!' But a woman! What more can you ask to be? Born a woman — born with the average brain of humanity — born with more than the average heart — if you are mortal, what higher destiny could you have? No matter where you are nor what you are, you are a power." *Writer’s Almanac, August 1st*

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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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Andromeda portrait
by Joe Bauman 03 Aug '14

03 Aug '14

A view of Central City, the Great Andromeda Galaxy -- taken this morning at Lakeside, Tooele County. http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5954

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Oops -- Andromeda
by Joe Bauman 02 Aug '14

02 Aug '14

Slightly better version, http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5957

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Birthday of first acknowledged female astronomer
by Joe Bauman 02 Aug '14

02 Aug '14

Very interesting, and she certainly was a commendable scientist and person. But Caroline Herschel was earlier and her accomplishments in astronomy were much greater. She was known for her work too. ------------------------------ On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 2:47 PM MDT Ann House wrote: >* Today is the birthday* of *Maria Mitchell* ><http://www.mariamitchell.org/about/about-maria-mitchell?elq=a753714df97e482…> >(*books by this author* ><http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Maria%20Mitchell&tag=writa…>), >the first acknowledged female astronomer, born in 1818 on the island of >Nantucket in Massachusetts. Although the American essayist Hannah Crocker >explained that same year in her *Observations on the Real Rights of Women* >that it was then a woman's "province to soothe the turbulent passions of >men ... to shine in the domestic circle" and that "it would be improper, >and physically very incorrect, for the female character to claim the >statesman's birth or ascend the rostrum to gain the loud applause of men," >Maria Mitchell's Quaker parents believed that girls should have the same >access to education and the same chance to aspire to high goals as boys, >and they raised all 10 of their children as equals. > >Maria's early interest in science and the stars came from her father, a >dedicated amateur astronomer who shared with all his children what he saw >as physical evidence of God in the natural world, although Maria was the >only child interested enough to learn the mathematics of astronomy. She >would later say, in a quote recorded in NASA's profile of her, that we >should "not look at the stars as bright spots only [but] try to take in the >vastness of the universe," because "every formula which expresses a law of >nature is a hymn of praise to God." > > By age 12, Maria was assisting her father with his astronomical >observations and data, and just five years later opened and ran her own >school for girls, training them in the sciences and math. In 1838, she >became the librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum and began spending her >evenings in an observatory her father had built atop the town's bank. > > On October 1, 1848, a crisp, clear autumn evening, Maria focused her >father's telescope on a distant star. The light was faint and blurry, and >Maria suddenly realized she was looking not at a star, but a comet; she >recorded its coordinates, and when she saw the next night that the fuzzy >light had moved, she was sure. Maria shared her discovery with her father, >who wrote to the Harvard Observatory, who in turn passed her name on to the >king of Denmark, who had pledged a gold medal to the first person to >discover a comet so distant that it could only be seen through a telescope. >Maria was awarded the medal the following year, and the comet became known >as "Miss Mitchell's Comet." > > Mitchell's list of firsts is impressive: She'd made the first American >comet sighting; in 1848, she was the first woman appointed to the American >Association for the Advancement of Science; in 1853, she became the first >woman to earn an advanced degree; and in 1865, she became the first woman >appointed to the faculty of the newly founded Vassar Female College as >their astronomy professor and the head of their observatory, making her the >first female astronomy professor in American history. > > Mitchell also became a devoted anti-slavery activist and suffragette, >with friends such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and >helped found the American Association for the Advancement of Women. In >her *Life, >Letters, and Journals*, Maria declares that, "no woman should say, 'I am >but a woman!' But a woman! What more can you ask to be? Born a woman — born >with the average brain of humanity — born with more than the average heart >— if you are mortal, what higher destiny could you have? No matter where >you are nor what you are, you are a power." *Writer’s Almanac, August 1st* >_______________________________________________ >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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Siberian CraterS
by CenturyLink Customer 01 Aug '14

01 Aug '14

Two more craters have appeared in Siberia. Fortunately, they are in Siberia. One theory is "something" is tasting the planet. Maybe this is where they are ins erting the meat themometer. Is Godzilla still at the dollar theatres? http://www.iflscience.com/environment/two-more-mysterious-siberian-craters-…

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