November 2016 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Last night's lecture
by Joe Bauman 12 Dec '18

12 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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Vega
by Chuck Hards 22 Nov '16

22 Nov '16

I just watched Vega rise above the mountains to the north east. Can summer be far-off? ;-)

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Anybody tried this observing technique?
by astrodeb＠beyondbb.com 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

Hi, I was reading the book "The Caldwell Objects" by Stephen James O'Meara cause I was interested in his observations of planetary nebulae. He wa saying instead of putting in a high magnification eyepiece, use a moderate power eyepiece with a 2X barlow. You essentially get the same magnification with higher contrast. He said to try it with the barlow then switch back to the higher magnification eyepiece to see if there is a difference. I was thinking of getting my refractor out tomorrow night to see some fall-winter objects and will take my TeleVue 2X barlow with me. Digital Setting Circles are working great since I tightened the nut on the RA encoder. I also checked out a good observing book at the local library. It is called "1001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die" It has some great photographs of deep sky objects. Hopefully the weather should clear up soon. Clear skies, Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Eyepiece Advice
by Jamie Bradley 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

I thank you all for your great input you I planned to get 1 or 2 eyepieces at first and expand later That's exactly what I needed to know, what others used and their experiences. I forgot to ask where you all purchase your filters, Is there a better place for a 2" OIII at $109 from Celestron By the way if you were looking to buy one Meade has a sale on the LX200 line with a free accessory package for the model: a wedge, a power pack/light, LPI-Monochrome Camera/Guider and RGB filter set About $1000 worth of accessories on my scope. Jamie B "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except for bears, bears will kill you." _______________________________________________ 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 <mailto:Utah-Astronomy@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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Eyepiece Advice
by Jamie Bradley 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

OK I'm buying a Meade LX200 10" it comes with the 1.25" diagonal and I'm getting the additional 2" diagonal What Eyepieces should I get? Size, shape, color, flavor :-) Any recommendations with info and links to the product, Please. Jamie B _______________________________________________ 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 <mailto:Utah-Astronomy@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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