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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Wal Mart / Dark Sky Security / Bad Day
by astrodeb＠charter.net 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

Ba Humbug Walmart! I still have freedom of speech and I hate their cheap Chinese made merchandise. If I had an airplane I'd drop some of Rich's horse manure on Walmart. Make it stink real good. My 2 cents with salt and pepper, Debbie > > From: Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> > Date: 2004/12/15 Wed PM 12:29:59 MST > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Wal Mart / Dark Sky Security / Bad Day > > Well, one local media guy, at least, carries around a great big ol' > salt shaker .... No fears. Joe > > >Not to be a wet blanket, but everyone needs to know that we are kidding > >when we talk about stuff like this. Remember that this list is > >monitored by local media. > > > >Carpe Noctum, > > > >Patrick :-) > > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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Paramount for sale
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

I want to give myself a new mount for a solstice present. But first I need to sell my old one. I'm selling my 4 year old Paramount GT-1100. When new the 1100s were selling for ~$10k. I'll consider offers for considerably less than that. Before I put it on Astromart I thought I'd give the locals a chance. Any takers? Patrick :-)

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Re: Comet Macholtz
by Chuck Hards 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

Debbie, you poor thing, you gotta see more big comets. If you can't see the whole thing without moving your head, its not big. ;) > astrodeb(a)charter.net wrote: > ...Anyway, I found this big, bright round > fuzzy > object about > the size of Omega Centauri. I'm not kidding, > this thing is big. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do? http://my.yahoo.com

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Re: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Wal Mart / Dark Sky Security / Bad Day
by astrodeb＠charter.net 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

Guy, You could paint all the lights red as part of your dark sky program. That would be a sight to see. Debbie > > From: diveboss(a)xmission.com > Date: 2004/12/14 Tue PM 10:42:16 MST > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Wal Mart / Dark Sky Security / Bad Day > > Who you kidding. That's the same aerial photo the 'National Inquirer' has > been passing off as an Iranian Nuclear Weapons plant. ;) Check out the berm > surrounding the facility. > > Patrick, take a picture of the facility at night. show us what it looks like > from several locations including the bat cave. If you can, move in close > and include some shots of the light fixtures and their apparent locations > from any nearby cover. Maybe you could estimate the distance and potential > wind hazzard to each light. You can do that on paper. This info could come > in handy if we ever decide to enact a 'dark sky' program. Don't forget to > paint your face. ;) Just kidding... > > > > > > Qoting Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)trilobyte.net>: > > > The new Wal Mart distribution center was mentioned here earlier. FYI, > > here's what it looks like (through today's haze). FWIW it's located on > > the far west side of the Tooele valley. > > > > http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/temp/TEMP001.JPG > > > > As for Dark Sky site security, one could do like this guy near > > Grantsville and put in a mote. :-) > > > > http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/temp/TEMP002.JPG > > > > And as long as I'm showing pictures, here's one showing someone's bad > > day (result of the pilot getting the flap thingie mixed up with the gear > > thingie). > > > > http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/temp/TEMP003.JPG > > > > Patrick > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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Re: Dark-Sky site
by Chuck Hards 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

Just for the record: It is probably not a good idea to discuss SLAS fund allocations in this forum, before the idea has been taken to the general membership and reveiwed by club executives. Especially considering the history of the Dark Sky site issue. The club is committed to the SPOC site for the forseeable future and should act according to that committment. Tooele & Stansbury residents will have to decide where they stand on the issue of ecconomic growth and the light pollution it brings, and how they as residents will act on that stance. It is pretty clear that the skies out there will be deteriorating rapidly in the next few years if development contiunues at current levels. I am not so sure that a club-sponsored dark site is the best idea; a privately-owned co-op may be a better solution. Share owners could of course bring guests and there could be scheduled "club nights" just to be inclusive, but most members will not be regular users of a remote site. Many things need to be discussed by the involved parties before any property is purchased or leased. Our immediate concern as SLAS members really should be the completion of the SPOC facility this year, refractor house included. Many people have given a lot of time, money, materials, blood, sweat, and tears to this and it will soon be time to enjoy it, for as long as the sky stays reasonably dark. Discussion of a dark-sky site should be ressurected in SLAS, and private individuals can pursue a site independantly for now, but we have to finish what we started first. I like to play Devil's Advocate, but I'm not in a hurry to change things just for the sake of change. I do like to know where I'm going, however, and have reasonable expectations of what I'll find when I get there. Another 6 cents worth. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Wal Mart / Dark Sky Security / Bad Day
by Michael Carnes 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

Maybe you should paint "AWACS" on the side of your plane... > From the look of this photo, you were taking a practice run. > Thinking of what a bowling ball might do? Nah, just doing aerial recon. Guy can then use the data and take care of any "situations" from the ground... :-) Patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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Wal Mart / Dark Sky Security / Bad Day
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

The new Wal Mart distribution center was mentioned here earlier. FYI, here's what it looks like (through today's haze). FWIW it's located on the far west side of the Tooele valley. http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/temp/TEMP001.JPG As for Dark Sky site security, one could do like this guy near Grantsville and put in a mote. :-) http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/temp/TEMP002.JPG And as long as I'm showing pictures, here's one showing someone's bad day (result of the pilot getting the flap thingie mixed up with the gear thingie). http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/temp/TEMP003.JPG Patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Comet Machholtz
by astrodeb＠charter.net 15 Dec '04

15 Dec '04

I found this picture on my digital-astro group. It really does have a tail. http://members.dodo.net.au/~erwinvandervelden/Temp/machholz.jpg Debbie > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)trilobyte.net> > Date: 2004/12/11 Sat AM 01:19:48 MST > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Comet Machholtz > > astrodeb(a)charter.net wrote: > > > > ...Anyway, I found this big, bright round fuzzy object about > > the size of Omega Centauri. I'm not kidding, this thing is big. > > It was bigger and brighter than I had expected to see it. I > > thought "wow, this thing is going to only get brighter next > > month". I couldn't detect a tail but I'm thinking I should > > go east of town next time to a truly dark site and take some > > photos of this comet. It did not disappoint me. It is going > > northward more each night and the show will get better from now on. > > > > Debbie > > I just had a go at the comet here in Stansbury. Debbie was right. > > I started with naked eye but some thin clouds to the south hid the comet > from view. However, with cheap 7x35 binoculars it was very easy to see, > despite the clouds. > > If it's this good now I can only drool at the thoughts of what it might > be like at its brightest. > > Patrick > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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Re: Tooele racetrack
by Chuck Hards 14 Dec '04

14 Dec '04

Wow, 2 digests in one day! Fighting light pollution in Tooele is probably a lost-cause; the area is growing very quickly and whomever tilts at that windmill will certainly be in for a fight. The area needs ecconomic development and an increase in their tax base, in order to provide services for the increasing poplulaion. I know many residents, and all, (except for one or three in Stansbury ;), are in favor of ANY and EVERY business that wants to locate there. Several people whom I work with here in Davis county bought houses in Tooele even though they have incredibly long commutes that can be dangerous at certain times of the year (I just can't understand the "bedroom community commuter" mentality. In my book you live close to where you work, it just makes too much sense ecconomically and environmentally). The place will not get any dimmer at night any time soon, even massive activism will at best only slow the brightening. This is going to give the "Dark-sky site" faction a boost in SLAS and perhaps it's time to listen to them. It would be nice to be able to find a place with decent skies that will stay that way for a few decades at least, after our own time with the facility is over... Now SPOC has served a wonderful purpose and will continue to do so for years to come, but the writing is on the wall. In five, ten, fifteen years, it will be as if it were located in Murray and then it's planets and the moon only, and you don't need huge scopes for that. Maybe it's time to plan that next-generation observatory, and look away from the population centers...perhaps be JUST A LITTLE selfish with our hobby? Is there room for a dark-sky observatory for members for whom public outreach is only a secondary (or, ahem, "tertiary") consideration? My 6 cents. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Dress up your holiday email, Hollywood style. Learn more. http://celebrity.mail.yahoo.com

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on my way to the geminids
by daniel turner 14 Dec '04

14 Dec '04

Last winter I discovered the virtures of a charcoal fired hibatchi. The fire is RED and won't hurt your night vision. I'm on my way to the Gravel Pit tonight. I've found that the low valleys like Rush Valley and Lakeside are cold, and often fogged in during the winter months. I'm looking to get up into the warmer inversion layer and above the fog. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

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