April 2017 - 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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Today's Google Doodle
by Chuck Hards 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

If you haven't seen it yet, it's an animated cartoon homage to Cassini. Cute.

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Found some cool galaxies in Antlia, Eastern Hydra, and Corvus
by astrodeb＠beyondbb.com 25 Apr '17

25 Apr '17

Hi! I went up to Mountain Meadows Wednesday night cause the skies were clear and it was too hot in St George. I got the 15" Obsession out for the first time this year. Bad weather and allergies have taken their toll on observing so I was eager to get out. In Eastern Hydra I viewed the big galaxy NGC 3109. At 11.2 mag it is big. A whopping 11.0' X 2.0' the light is so widespread. Looks like a fainter version of NGC 55. NGC 3511 and NGC 3513 make a good pair of galaxies. NGC 3511 is a 12th mag. I don't know what the magnitude of the other galaxy is. Maybe a little fainter. Need to look it up on google. NGC 2997 in Antlia is one showpiece of a galaxy. Oh my gosh, why haven't I viewed this one before! I've had my 15" scope nearly 20 years and have never viewed it before. It's been hiding in its southern declination of -31 11' in Antlia. It's a bright face-on spiral with a mag of 10.1 and a size of 8.9' X 6.8'. Here is Rob Gendler's photo of this nice galaxy. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/NGC2997.html NGC 3621 is another bright Sc or Sd type spiral. It measures 5.0' X 2.0' and shines at mag 10.6. I could get a good view in my refractor as well, it is bright. NGC 4038-4039 is one of my favorite galaxies in the Southern Spring sky. I love the Hubble image of this 11th mag galaxy. Their fuzzy lopsided shapes are clearly visible on a good night. This one measures 5.2' X 3.1'. Not far from the Antennae galaxies is NGC 4027, a "C" shaped galaxy. It's a barred spiral galaxy with a mag of 11.7. It measures 3.2' X 2.4'. Not far off is NGC 3887. I expected a fainter spiral galaxy but I was surprised at how bright it looked. It shines at 10.6 mag and has a size of 3.5' X 2.7'. It was worth looking up. I need to finish with Virgo, Canes Venaciti, and Ursa Major. Wind, clouds, and a dead battery on the NGC-Max ended my session too soon. I can't wait to go back there. Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Found some cool galaxies in Antlia, Eastern Hydra, and Corvus
by dunndave 22 Apr '17

22 Apr '17

Sounds like you had fun. Dave Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message --------From: astrodeb(a)beyondbb.com Date: 4/22/17 16:40 (GMT-07:00) To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Found some cool galaxies in Antlia, Eastern Hydra, and Corvus Hi! I went up to Mountain Meadows Wednesday night cause the skies were clear and it was too hot in St George. I got the 15" Obsession out for the first time this year. Bad weather and allergies have taken their toll on observing so I was eager to get out. In Eastern Hydra I viewed the big galaxy NGC 3109. At 11.2 mag it is big. A whopping 11.0' X 2.0' the light is so widespread. Looks like a fainter version of NGC 55. NGC 3511 and NGC 3513 make a good pair of galaxies. NGC 3511 is a 12th mag. I don't know what the magnitude of the other galaxy is. Maybe a little fainter. Need to look it up on google. NGC 2997 in Antlia is one showpiece of a galaxy. Oh my gosh, why haven't I viewed this one before! I've had my 15" scope nearly 20 years and have never viewed it before. It's been hiding in its southern declination of -31 11' in Antlia. It's a bright face-on spiral with a mag of 10.1 and a size of 8.9' X 6.8'. Here is Rob Gendler's photo of this nice galaxy. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/NGC2997.html NGC 3621 is another bright Sc or Sd type spiral. It measures 5.0' X 2.0' and shines at mag 10.6. I could get a good view in my refractor as well, it is bright. NGC 4038-4039 is one of my favorite galaxies in the Southern Spring sky. I love the Hubble image of this 11th mag galaxy. Their fuzzy lopsided shapes are clearly visible on a good night. This one measures 5.2' X 3.1'. Not far from the Antennae galaxies is NGC 4027, a "C" shaped galaxy. It's a barred spiral galaxy with a mag of 11.7. It measures 3.2' X 2.4'. Not far off is NGC 3887. I expected a fainter spiral galaxy but I was surprised at how bright it looked. It shines at 10.6 mag and has a size of 3.5' X 2.7'. It was worth looking up. I need to finish with Virgo, Canes Venaciti, and Ursa Major. Wind, clouds, and a dead battery on the NGC-Max ended my session too soon. I can't wait to go back there. Debbie _______________________________________________ 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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Work has begun!
by Patrick Wiggins 11 Apr '17

11 Apr '17

SPOC Update Some serious work has begun on the new building and associated paved areas at SPOC. Aerial and ground level pictures of yesterday’s work are now available on SLAS Talk: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SLAS.Talk It’s been a long time since I’ve been so happy to see holes in the ground. :) patrick

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Happy Birthday Joe Bauman!
by chuck.hards 11 Apr '17

11 Apr '17

And many more, my friend! Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

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designs for 25 X 100 binocs
by Sue Ellen Ebertz 06 Apr '17

06 Apr '17

Thanks everyone, for your kind replies. Best, Shoshana

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suggestions for large binoc mount (25 X 100)
by Sue Ellen Ebertz 05 Apr '17

05 Apr '17

Hi everyone! I got to road test my new binocs tonight. The Orion nebula was gorgeous tonight through them. I'm happy with these binocs, but I don't have a proper mount for them. Since I am a photographer, I have a plethora of tripods, but no counterweight, and nothing that is securely holding these binocs still. Are there any suggestions out there, hopefully for some home-made rigs? Thanks in advance, Shoshana

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 170, Issue 7
by Stephen Peterson 05 Apr '17

05 Apr '17

I bought the heavy duty Orion parallelogram for my 15X80s, works great. I suspect you will need extra counterweights for the 25X100s. Fits on a serious photo tripod. Steve On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 12:00 PM, < utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com> wrote: > 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. suggestions for large binoc mount (25 X 100) (Sue Ellen Ebertz) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2017 22:31:25 -0600 > From: "Sue Ellen Ebertz" <ebertzs(a)comcast.net> > To: <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] suggestions for large binoc mount (25 X 100) > Message-ID: <000f01d2adc5$7d0f8f60$772eae20$(a)comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Hi everyone! > > I got to road test my new binocs tonight. The Orion nebula was gorgeous > tonight through them. I'm happy with these binocs, but I don't have a > proper > mount for them. > > Since I am a photographer, I have a plethora of tripods, but no > counterweight, and nothing that is securely holding these binocs still. > > > > Are there any suggestions out there, hopefully for some home-made rigs? > > > > Thanks in advance, > > Shoshana > > > > ------------------------------ > > 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 170, Issue 7 > ********************************************** >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 170, Issue 4
by Sue Ellen Ebertz 03 Apr '17

03 Apr '17

Yes! I edited my reply. No one wants to see my messy house, lol. While I was trying to see the green comet on the morning of 4/2 (probably the wrong night, lol!), I saw a meteor, a large one from west to east (I think). It was from my backyard and there is much light pollution, and.....right before the clouds came rolling in. Never saw the comet, but there are two days left in April, I believe for more tries. Best, Shoshana

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