May 2015 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Last night's lecture
by Joe Bauman 11 Dec '18

11 Dec '18

Brent, speaking of the ISS, I have wondered if it could be put into an orbit that continuously cruised between Earth and Mars. When it swung by Mars it could drop off and retrieved crews. I don't see how the radiation would be any worse than the ISS crews are already exposed to. ------------------------------ On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 8:18 AM MST Brent Watson via Utah-Astronomy wrote: >I attended the lecture last night on trajectories. It was really a good, stimulating talk. Thanks for passing the word along. >There were some interesting side comments made about our launch capabilities and the Mars One effort. Mr. Adamo was not at all enthusiastic about the Mars One effort. His opinion is that the effort is doomed because there is not really a way to assure that folks going there would be safe - primarily from radiation. He has done some work with a former flight surgeon on designing a spacecraft to go to Mars. Their result is that in order to get sufficient shielding (using a water jacket), the spacecraft's mass would be around 380 metric tons. That is for a small crew, probably only about 5 members. For a point of comparison, the ISS mass is 400 metric tons. He made the comment that an astronaut who made this trip could only go to space once in this craft, and then he would be at the limit of radiation exposure for his life. The NASA limit is an increased risk of developing cancer of 5%. >That brings us to our current launch capability. Our latest heavy lift rocket - the one we are currently developing - will have the capability to lift 130 metric tons to a very low earth orbit. So low, in fact, that it would burn up at perigee. The Apollo 17 Saturn 5 rocket lifted 140 metric tons into earth orbit -- higher than the new rocket will go. (I am sorry, but my mind will not allow me to recall the name of our currently being designed rocket.) Recall that it took several dozen shuttle launches to assemble the ISS. The Mars One vehicle would require either a hugely more massive launch rocket or a similar effort to build the craft. >As I mentioned, it was a very intellectually stimulating lecture and did involve several ordinary differential equations. They were nicely explained in English by Mr. Adamo. This was the first time I have seen some real math put to Kepler's laws. There were many charts showing what it takes to leave the earth and go to the moon or Mars. It was a very well done lecture. >The above is my recollection of the lecture, and may not actually represent the opinions of Mr. Adamo. It is only my interpretation of what he said. He knows his stuff, that is apparent. Thanks Patrick and Dr. Sohl for passing the word along. >_______________________________________________ >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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] I wanna ride this thing
by Bruce Hugo 29 May '15

29 May '15

Sooooooo this is essentially a big model train set!!! :-) Date: Thu, 28 May 2015 20:35:04 -0600 From: Wiggins Patrick <paw(a)digis.net> To: Astronomy Utah <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] I wanna ride this thing Message-ID: <D9ED032F-D754-40BC-83F0-1C37D3AFA26E(a)digis.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Elon Musk is at it again. patrick :) Hyperloop Construction Starts 2016 http://www.wired.com/2015/02/construction-hyperloop-track-starts/

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I wanna ride this thing
by Wiggins Patrick 28 May '15

28 May '15

Elon Musk is at it again. patrick :) Hyperloop Construction Starts 2016 http://www.wired.com/2015/02/construction-hyperloop-track-starts/

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Spectacular solar prominence
by John M. Craig 28 May '15

28 May '15

Hi Folks, Sorry to be so tardy getting the word out, but it's definitely worth a look if you have the gear and the time. I'll post some photos later if any of them show it well. John

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Google Doodle salutes Sally Ride
by Wiggins Patrick 26 May '15

26 May '15

One of the better Doodles in a while. :) Google Doodle salutes Sally Ride http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/26/8659275/sally-ride-google-doodle patrick

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Fwd: Earth Science Picture of the Day
by Joe Bauman 26 May '15

26 May '15

Patrick does it again with another striking aerial photo! Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: > From: Earth Science Picture of the Day <noreply+feedproxy(a)google.com> > Date: May 26, 2015 at 7:06:09 AM MDT > To: josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com > Subject: Earth Science Picture of the Day > Reply-To: Earth Science Picture of the Day <epodblog(a)usra.edu> > > > Earth Science Picture of the Day > Above Utah's Salt Flats > Posted: 26 May 2015 12:01 AM PDT > > > Photographer: Patrick Wiggins > Summary Author: Patrick Wiggins > > The photo above was taken from my Cessna 172 as I was headed east over the Bonneville Salt Flats, west of Salt Lake City, Utah. I was flying at 1,000 m above the surface. Below and stretching far out into the distance are the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific railroad tracks and Interstate 80's east and westbound lanes, paralleling the rail tracks. Like Great Salt Lake, the Bonneville Salt Flats is a remnant of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, which drained during the last ice age -- some 15,000 years ago. When I snapped the picture, I was thinking of NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin's description of the Moon: "Magnificent desolation." > > > Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah Coordinates: 40.733072, -113.704217 > Related Links > Evaporation Ponds Near Great Salt Lake > Student Links > Exploring the Moon Educator Guide > Beauty Pan Around Salt Lake Valley > Earth Observatory > Dust Storm in Utah > > You are subscribed to email updates from Earth Science Picture of the Day > To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google > Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

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Precession
by Wiggins Patrick 24 May '15

24 May '15

For those who may not have seen it yet, have a look at Kelly's latest blog entry: http://kellyricks.blogspot.com Nice work! patrick

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SPOC
by Joel Stucki 23 May '15

23 May '15

Been planing to go out to the SPOC last few star parties but it has been raining or totally overcast. What is the opinion for tonight? Is it worth a drive on a mostly cloudy night like tonight?

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Fwd: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 32
by baxman2＠q.com 23 May '15

23 May '15

I wonder how Patrick got such a reasonable price for the 1979 eclipse flight. From the air you can see the Moon's shadow approach. I realize that there are some interesting natural phenomena that can be observed on the ground during a solar total eclipse. But with plane flight you are always guaranteed to have no cloud cover problems. ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Sent: Thu, 21 May 2015 14:00:07 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 32 Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com You can reach the person managing the list at utah-astronomy-owner(a)mailman.xmission.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Possible August 2017 Solar Eclipse Flight (Siegfried Jachmann) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 21 May 2015 11:41:57 -0600 From: Siegfried Jachmann <siegfried(a)jachmann.org> To: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com>, Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Possible August 2017 Solar Eclipse Flight Message-ID: <CAH4Gk7hUXEWWVTpwcjynBe7h==O4oEumckpxyQAjdbySPTHhRw(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Mobility is the key. We're looking at the path from Idaho through Wyoming and into Nebraska. We're going to start making choices a couple of days ahead of the eclipse. Idaho, north of Idaho Falls, is our first choice. If it's obvious that it will be cloudy there then Wyoming and Nebraska are fall back positions. That's why they call it eclipse chasing. On Wed, May 20, 2015 at 3:04 PM, Joe Bauman via Utah-Astronomy < utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> wrote: > I was aboard the 1979 flight from SLC, if that's the one you're talking > about -- Patrick arranged it. It was the very best we could have had for > that event and I'm grateful for that. But having witnessed four from the > ground, I have to say the eclipse flight doesn't cut it compared with the > others. A good argument for the '79 flight is that the eclipse was > relatively far away and we wouldn't have been able to drive there easily. > This time it's within easy striking distance of Salt Lake City, for those > of us hoping to visit Idaho at the time. We're gambling on Idaho. But if we > gamble wrong and it's overcast, everyone in airplanes will have made the > right decision. Somewhere on the Internet there must be charts showing > expected cloud cover through the eclipse route. -- Joe > > From: "baxman2(a)q.com" <baxman2(a)q.com> > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 2:57 PM > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Possible August 2017 Solar Eclipse Flight > > I would like to organize a rented jet flight for the August 21, 2017 Solar > Eclipse. In August there is a good chance that the skies will not be > overcast in Wyoming that the center of the eclipse will travel through. But > if by some chance the eclipse window becomes overcast, an eclipse flight > would overcome the problem, by flying above the clouds. I was on an eclipse > flight in 1979. The skies over the Pacific Northwest was completely > overcast at the time. From the air, above the clouds, we had the unique > privilege of watching the Moon's shadow approach our flight path. I think > we had about 50 people onboard, and each ticket cost about $250 at that > time. When I looked for a possible jet rental for the eclipse, I was quoted > about $1500 per seat for 50 passengers. It would be nice if we could find a > connection, maybe via a Boeing sponsorship, to make the flight possible at > no more than $300 per ticket. Any comments on this possibility? > > > ----- Forwarded Message ----- > From: utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Sent: Wed, 20 May 2015 12:16:47 -0400 (EDT) > Subject: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 26 > > Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to > utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > utah-astronomy-owner(a)mailman.xmission.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Today's Astro Trivia Question (Joe Bauman) > 2. Re: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 (Chuck Hards) > 3. Re: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 (Richard Tenney) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 19 May 2015 21:54:44 +0000 (UTC) > From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Today's Astro Trivia Question > Message-ID: > <1063686540.2188381.1432072484284.JavaMail.yahoo(a)mail.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Finder scope for use with a telescope whose sun filter makes it difficult > to find the sun? > > From: Larry Holmes <larry(a)kijoda.com> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 1:26 PM > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Today's Astro Trivia Question > > On 5/19/2015 6:03 AM, Chuck Hards wrote: > > Who can identify this item, and what it was used for?? Rich is > disqualified > > because we've already discussed it privately. > > > > > http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/ATM/Observer20001_zp… > > > > Good luck! > > > ? ? I believe it was an early prototype by a noted ATMer.? Possibly > used by Jethro Tull to check out the ladies in the 3rd floor balcony.? 73 > > _______________________________________________ > 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: 2 > Date: Tue, 19 May 2015 16:29:09 -0600 > From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 > Message-ID: > <CAHmuOYrP9z1Yx-z8Y-8DMke5fRxPC11-T5HBBHSMzWj3tnQ-1w(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > And we have a winner! > > This little telescope was sold for Operation Moonwatch, in which > amateur astronomers worldwide were enlisted to help track artificial > satellites and better determine their orbits. It was a direct result > of Cold-War tensions at the time. > > Many different commercial variations of the little telescopes were > sold, and plans were published for home-made versions, as well. > Oriented north-south and with a scale to read-off altitude, teams > would time when an artifical satellite would cross the meridian, and > note it's elevation. The data was then given to the government who > would refine the orbits of the Soviet and American satellites. > > Read more about the program: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Moonwatch > > I've wanted one of these little things for years and finally found one > on eBay recently. My example is in very good, practically new > condition, and is one of the smallest units marketed. Examples ranged > from 30mm aperture up to nearly 5 inches. This one has a compass > (still works amazingly well) as well as altitude and azimuth scales. > All of the Moonwatch scopes used a mirror for a right-angle > configuration, so operators could sit-down while using them. Some > placed the mirror ahead of the objective and resembled a table-top > microscope. Most commercial units, imported from Japanese companies, > looked like my example. > > Pretty neat little piece of history. > > > > On 5/19/15, Stephen Peterson <scpki7l(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Scope used to track Sputnik? > > > > Steve P > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 20 May 2015 16:16:23 +0000 (UTC) > From: Richard Tenney <retenney(a)yahoo.com> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 > Message-ID: > <1187961093.3568499.1432138583563.JavaMail.yahoo(a)mail.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > If an amateur was "enlisted", does this mean such a scope was given to > them by the federal government, or enlisted as in "buy this little scope > and help us defeat the Russkys!"? ?If the latter, how much did it cost for > an interested party to help out? > I'm also curious about the quality of the optics/workmanship (hard to tell > from the photo). > Regardless, thanks for sharing this bit of historical trivia Chuck! > /R. > From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 4:29 PM > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 > > And we have a winner! > > This little telescope was sold for Operation Moonwatch, in which > amateur astronomers worldwide were enlisted to help track artificial > satellites and better determine their orbits.? It was a direct result > of Cold-War tensions at the time. > > Many different commercial variations of the little telescopes were > sold, and plans were published for home-made versions, as well. > Oriented north-south and with a scale to read-off altitude, teams > would time when an artifical satellite would cross the meridian, and > note it's elevation.? The data was then given to the government who > would refine the orbits of the Soviet and American satellites. > > Read more about the program: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Moonwatch > > I've wanted one of these little things for years and finally found one > on eBay recently.? My example is in very good, practically new > condition, and is one of the smallest units marketed.? Examples ranged > from 30mm aperture up to nearly 5 inches.? This one has a compass > (still works amazingly well) as well as altitude and azimuth scales. > All of the Moonwatch scopes used a mirror for a right-angle > configuration, so operators could sit-down while using them.? Some > placed the mirror ahead of the objective and resembled a table-top > microscope.? Most commercial units, imported from Japanese companies, > looked like my example. > > Pretty neat little piece of history. > > > > > > On 5/19/15, Stephen Peterson <scpki7l(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Scope used to track Sputnik? > > > > Steve P > > _______________________________________________ > 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". > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > https://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 147, Issue 26 > *********************************************** > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com https://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 147, Issue 32 ***********************************************

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Possible August 2017 Solar Eclipse Flight
by baxman2＠q.com 23 May '15

23 May '15

I would like to organize a rented jet flight for the August 21, 2017 Solar Eclipse. In August there is a good chance that the skies will not be overcast in Wyoming that the center of the eclipse will travel through. But if by some chance the eclipse window becomes overcast, an eclipse flight would overcome the problem, by flying above the clouds. I was on an eclipse flight in 1979. The skies over the Pacific Northwest was completely overcast at the time. From the air, above the clouds, we had the unique privilege of watching the Moon's shadow approach our flight path. I think we had about 50 people onboard, and each ticket cost about $250 at that time. When I looked for a possible jet rental for the eclipse, I was quoted about $1500 per seat for 50 passengers. It would be nice if we could find a connection, maybe via a Boeing sponsorship, to make the flight possible at no more than $300 per ticket. Any comments on this possibility? ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Sent: Wed, 20 May 2015 12:16:47 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 26 Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com You can reach the person managing the list at utah-astronomy-owner(a)mailman.xmission.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Today's Astro Trivia Question (Joe Bauman) 2. Re: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 (Chuck Hards) 3. Re: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 (Richard Tenney) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 19 May 2015 21:54:44 +0000 (UTC) From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Today's Astro Trivia Question Message-ID: <1063686540.2188381.1432072484284.JavaMail.yahoo(a)mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Finder scope for use with a telescope whose sun filter makes it difficult to find the sun? From: Larry Holmes <larry(a)kijoda.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 1:26 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Today's Astro Trivia Question On 5/19/2015 6:03 AM, Chuck Hards wrote: > Who can identify this item, and what it was used for?? Rich is disqualified > because we've already discussed it privately. > > http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/ATM/Observer20001_zp… > > Good luck! > ? ? I believe it was an early prototype by a noted ATMer.? Possibly used by Jethro Tull to check out the ladies in the 3rd floor balcony.? 73 _______________________________________________ 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: 2 Date: Tue, 19 May 2015 16:29:09 -0600 From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 Message-ID: <CAHmuOYrP9z1Yx-z8Y-8DMke5fRxPC11-T5HBBHSMzWj3tnQ-1w(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 And we have a winner! This little telescope was sold for Operation Moonwatch, in which amateur astronomers worldwide were enlisted to help track artificial satellites and better determine their orbits. It was a direct result of Cold-War tensions at the time. Many different commercial variations of the little telescopes were sold, and plans were published for home-made versions, as well. Oriented north-south and with a scale to read-off altitude, teams would time when an artifical satellite would cross the meridian, and note it's elevation. The data was then given to the government who would refine the orbits of the Soviet and American satellites. Read more about the program: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Moonwatch I've wanted one of these little things for years and finally found one on eBay recently. My example is in very good, practically new condition, and is one of the smallest units marketed. Examples ranged from 30mm aperture up to nearly 5 inches. This one has a compass (still works amazingly well) as well as altitude and azimuth scales. All of the Moonwatch scopes used a mirror for a right-angle configuration, so operators could sit-down while using them. Some placed the mirror ahead of the objective and resembled a table-top microscope. Most commercial units, imported from Japanese companies, looked like my example. Pretty neat little piece of history. On 5/19/15, Stephen Peterson <scpki7l(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Scope used to track Sputnik? > > Steve P ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Wed, 20 May 2015 16:16:23 +0000 (UTC) From: Richard Tenney <retenney(a)yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 Message-ID: <1187961093.3568499.1432138583563.JavaMail.yahoo(a)mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 If an amateur was "enlisted", does this mean such a scope was given to them by the federal government, or enlisted as in "buy this little scope and help us defeat the Russkys!"? ?If the latter, how much did it cost for an interested party to help out? I'm also curious about the quality of the optics/workmanship (hard to tell from the photo). Regardless, thanks for sharing this bit of historical trivia Chuck! /R. From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 4:29 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 147, Issue 24 And we have a winner! This little telescope was sold for Operation Moonwatch, in which amateur astronomers worldwide were enlisted to help track artificial satellites and better determine their orbits.? It was a direct result of Cold-War tensions at the time. Many different commercial variations of the little telescopes were sold, and plans were published for home-made versions, as well. Oriented north-south and with a scale to read-off altitude, teams would time when an artifical satellite would cross the meridian, and note it's elevation.? The data was then given to the government who would refine the orbits of the Soviet and American satellites. Read more about the program: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Moonwatch I've wanted one of these little things for years and finally found one on eBay recently.? My example is in very good, practically new condition, and is one of the smallest units marketed.? Examples ranged from 30mm aperture up to nearly 5 inches.? This one has a compass (still works amazingly well) as well as altitude and azimuth scales. All of the Moonwatch scopes used a mirror for a right-angle configuration, so operators could sit-down while using them.? Some placed the mirror ahead of the objective and resembled a table-top microscope.? Most commercial units, imported from Japanese companies, looked like my example. Pretty neat little piece of history. On 5/19/15, Stephen Peterson <scpki7l(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Scope used to track Sputnik? > > Steve P _______________________________________________ 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". ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com https://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 147, Issue 26 ***********************************************

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