December 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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Unistellar Optics demo
by Dale Hooper 02 Jan '17

02 Jan '17

Hi Everyone, One of the CVAS members, Blaine Dickey, sent me the following information concerning demos near Las Vegas next week of a product from a company named Unistellar Optics. The content of Blaine's message gives you some info about what they are demoing (and when), and here is a link to their website: http://unistellaroptics.com/ Clear skies, Dale.. --- Hi Dale, While browsing the web I noticed an interesting product that is being developed by Unistellar Optics that I thought I would pass along to the club. Unistellar Optics is going to have some demo's near Las Vegas with local Astronomy clubs this coming week in connection with the CES show. (see below). Basically what they are developing is an eyepiece and/or an eyepiece connected to a telescope that when looking trough the eyepiece will give a stacked and enhanced color images of the object being observed such as galaxies, star clusters, globular clusters, nebula, comets, etc. There is a video showing a demo at their website listed below. Perhaps someone in our club might be interested in attending. This might be a great product for summer star parties. Dale if there is someone in the Ogden club that you think might be interested in attending the demo's you may forward this email to them. Below is the information regarding the demo in Las Vegas that I requested. Kind Regards, Blaine Dickey Hello Blaine I come with news regarding our demos, it took me some time to organize them from afar, here is the list: *Thusday 5th of January ( 2017) with the amateur astronomers of Las Vegas*: College of Southern Nevada, Cheyenne Campus at the planetarium at 3200 East Cheyenne Ave. North Las Vegas, NV 89030 from 7:30-10pm. *Friday 6th of January (2017) possibly with the amateurs of IOTA: Red Rock Canyon, *9.00pm-10pm, late night parking Lot, Late night trailhead, Red Rock Canyon. GPS: 36.01139N 115.43080W https://www.google .fr/maps/place/Late+Night+Parking+Lot/(a)36.0110395,-115.43386 46,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c8ba8683d1df2b:0xbb85810a f0a45f74!8m2!3d36.0110395!4d-115.4316759 Kind Regards, Laurent MARFISI Co-founder UNISTELLAR +33 (0) 677 980 120 www.unistellaroptics.com

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Meeting ideas for OAS
by RON VANDERHULE 30 Dec '16

30 Dec '16

Greetings Earthlings, Ron Vanderhule here. I am a few months into my third tenure as president of OAS and as any person in this position I am constantly stirring the waters looking for something or someone of interest to schedule a meeting around. In the past I have solicited for ideas and speakers here and have been fortunate enough to get some good ideas and good speakers (again Roger, Joe thanx) for our meetings. So one more time, just throwing it out there, what has SLAS done for some really good meetings that we might consider for ours? Or if some one on this list has a project or topic they would like to present to our club, we pay for fuel if you drive very far. Post your ideas here or send to me <deepsky100(a)msn.com>. And Meter Mike has already been gracious enough to speak at a meeting for us in Oct. That was a no brainer :::)))) And while I have your attention, my friend here in Layton still has a 4 inch f/15 Unitron on Alt Az mount and turret eyepiece set up, 70mm and 30mm finder scopes, solar projection set-up, all in the velvet lined wooden case with the original literature. A true classic instrument. I am pretty sure he is at about $900.00 asking price! Someone needs to jump on this. He also has a 10 inch Meade reflector on a GEM for $400.00 The mirrors are spotless as is the tube. He inherited these from his Dad and has no interest in the hobby. That is why the prices are so reasonable. Contact me also concerning these items. I have photos. Thanx, Ron

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Passing of a Princess
by Thomas Sevcik 27 Dec '16

27 Dec '16

Wow! Another icon passes on. Rest In Peace Princess Leia! http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/iconic-star-wars-actress-carrie-f… [http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBxCJUe.img]<http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/iconic-star-wars-actress-carrie-f…> Iconic 'Star Wars' Actress Carrie Fisher Dies at 60: 'She Was Loved by the World and She Will Be Missed Profoundly'<http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/iconic-star-wars-actress-carrie-f…> www.msn.com Carrie Fisher, the actress best known as Star Wars' Princess Leia Organa, has died after suffering a heart attack. She was 60. You'll be missed Tom

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Observing near Springdale
by Marlene Egger 23 Dec '16

23 Dec '16

I sometimes observe at the LaVerkin Overlook. We usually stay in Hurricane when visiting Zion, as the motels are less expensive, and the overlook is on the way back to the motel, a feature which makes it easier for me to remind my non observer husband to stop. There is a dirt road that is not too bumpy, and we stop short of the actual overlook to block the city light. You do see faraway lights of cars but nothing really distracting and there is a nice southern view. Marlene Sent from my iPhone

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I bagged 14 planetary nebulae last night despite the haze
by astrodeb＠beyondbb.com 22 Dec '16

22 Dec '16

Hi! I've really hated this cold weather but I wanted to see some planetary nebulae before Christmas and didn't want to travel. I wheeled my 15" scope out onto the driveway before 5pm. I cut the power to the garage, then waited for darkness. Before it got fully dark, I viewed M27, M57,, and M34. Then after a brief view of the Double Cluster, I switched to the 9mm Nagler and screwed on the OIII filter. Here are my observations for the planetary nebulae. Perseus - M76 looked good. Nice bright bi-polar nebula. IC 351 looked oval or oblate. IC 2003 looked fainter than IC 351. Like a bloated star. Both are 6" in size with IC 2003 a faint mag 13.0 and IC 351 mag 12.0. Taurus - NGC 1514. Mag 10 with a size of 120" X 90" .Cental star readily apparent in some haze. Need dark skies to show up better. Camelopardolis - NGC 1501. Nice round nebula .Mag 13.3 I saw the 14mag central star. I observed it at the Virgin site Nov 25 with the 12mm Nagler without a filter. I think the size is 55". Takes magnification well. Cygnus - NGC 7008 Mag 10.7 Nice fuzzy ring with a size of 96". NGC 7026 - Called the Cheeseburger Nebula. Nice little small planetary. 28" X 13" with a mag of 11.8. NGC 7027 - nice bright round planetary. Mag 8.5 with a size of 18". NGC 6826, the Blinking planetary. Mag 8.8 with a size of 30". Did not blink in the 15". Auriga - NGC 2149 Nice oval shape. Takes magnification well. Only 12" X 6" with a mag of 11.2 Orion - NGC 2022 Nice round nebula. 28" in size with a mag of 12.3. Jonckheere or J3230 Nice overlooked planetary with a distinct oval shape. Takes magnification well. Mag 12.9 with a 11" X 8" size. Have to revisit that one again. It was starting to haze up more so I quickly observed NGC 1535 and NGC 2392 with the same power. Will try again on a better night. Then observed the Orion Nebula before tearing down just after 9pm. It was getting cold and damp so I packed the scope in for the night. Restored power to the garage and warmed up to a nice book. Clear Skies, Debbie

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John Glenn R.I.P.
by Thomas Sevcik 08 Dec '16

08 Dec '16

Just saw this minutes ago. This morning the news said he was in a hospital in Ohio....now this! http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/former-astronaut-us-sen-john-glenn-of-ohio… [http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAlh90M.img]<http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/former-astronaut-us-sen-john-glenn-of-ohio…> Former astronaut, US Sen. John Glenn of Ohio has died at 95<http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/former-astronaut-us-sen-john-glenn-of-ohio…> www.msn.com John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died Thursday. The last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts was 95.

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