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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Double stars
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 18 Jun '03

18 Jun '03

Chuck, Where do you get an apodizing mask and how much do they cost? I think my main problem with this SCT is the fork mount. I think I will get rid of it in July and put it on my equatorial mount. Hopefully it will be more stable. I noticed when I tried to focus the 8" SCT, the mount would vibrate so I would wait for the vibrations to dampen before I tried focusing again. Once I got it focused, the stars looked pretty good except near the horizon. One of the problems of splitting Antares is it low declination in the sky. When I get to Flagstaff Saturday, I'll try again to split this star. This time I will try it with the 15". Glad you are back, Debbie

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Elizabeth Ridge = Elizabeth Mtn?
by bill biesele 17 Jun '03

17 Jun '03

Fox 13 news just carried a story about the Rainbo Coalition holding their annual party at Elizabeth Mtn in the Uinta Mtns. The map they showed had the position marked near where the slas.ws shows Elizabeth Ridge. Coincidence?

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Double stars
by Chuck Hards 17 Jun '03

17 Jun '03

Deb, I enjoyed your post also. Unfortunately, I deleted it accidentally. You wrote that you used a SCT, IIRC? Next time, try an apodizing mask with this scope (or any with a large central obstruction). This will channel some of the diffraction energy out of the central spot, and might make some of the really tight pairs more easily observed, especially where there is a gross magnitude difference. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com

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Fwd: in need for the stars
by Richard Tenney 17 Jun '03

17 Jun '03

Anyone feeling generous? Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com

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Hi Gang
by Chuck Hards 17 Jun '03

17 Jun '03

I'll give this a try now that things are slowing down (barely!) at work. Many thanks to Jim Gibson, who kindly gave me a new monitor for home-use! Anything good happen while I was away? Chuck __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com

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Double-Star Observing under Full Moon
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 17 Jun '03

17 Jun '03

Hello Gang, Last night I set up my 8" SCT on my driveway to try a few doubles. I started out observing in 90 degree heat so the seeing was only fair to good. I waited for the scope to reach thermal equilibrium till it got dark. I was star-hopping so I picked doubles that were naked eye. I turned to Gamma Virginis. I put in the 7mm Nagler to give me 285X. I could see two orange stars thinly separated. I had my mom confirm the separation. There was definitely a thin gap between the two orange stars. Nice beautiful tight pair. Will have to try it again next week with the 15" Next was the Double-Double, Epsilon Lyrae. Easily split at 285X- both pairs visable On to Pi Bootes. This is a nice pair, blue-white primary and white secondary. There is only a .9 magnitude difference between the stars with a separation of 5.6". An easy split at 285X. By 11:30 pm, Antares was rising so I decided to give it a try. This star is a brilliant orange color. The star was dancing around but I saw a hint of green at the edge. I thought I saw the green secondary in fleeting moments of seeing but I will have to try this one at a higher elevation. This is a challenge to split. I tried again when it rose higher in the sky with the 8mm Plossl but still had a tough time with this pair My next target was Alpha Herculis. This summer showpiece double was much easier to split. At 285X, I could see the blue-green secondary next to the orange primary. This gives a nice color contrast. The 8mm Plossl gave a cleaner view. I can see why double-star observers prefer Plossls over Naglers. There are less reflections due to the 4-element design. My last target was Delta Herculis. This one was a bit of a challenge but I managed to view a faint 8.2 mag violet secondary. This pair looked great at 250X with the 8mm Plossl. Seeing had improved somewhat and I was higher in the sky. With doubles, seeing is very important. Clear and Dark Skies to all, Debbie ps - hope this post wasn't too long

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Tom Cave passed away
by Josephine Grahn 06 Jun '03

06 Jun '03

This was on sci.astro.amateur. Thought folks here who met him at ALCON might be interested "It is with my deepest regrets I am informing you of the passing of Thomas Roland Cave III, well known telescope maker, Mars observer and Life-Time LAAS member. Tom had been in failing health for some time but passed on Wednesday June 4, 2003. Memorial services are pending and will be in Long Beach, CA. Please direct any correspondence to ft.keiser@g... FYI I am Frank Keiser, husband of Davina Keiser, Tom's daughter. An alternate Email address is my work Keiser_Frank@b..." Jo Grahn

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You really can find anything on eBay these days
by forrell＠es.com 06 Jun '03

06 Jun '03

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3611062497&category=4 0129 Fred Orrell Digital Theater Division Evans & Sutherland Corp 600 Komas Drive Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 My phone: 801-588-7415 My email: forrell(a)es.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: NEO Detection Software Idea...
by RStmarie＠aol.com 06 Jun '03

06 Jun '03

Rich, Wouldn't it be fairly easy to compare two images taken at the same time from two different locations (provided the location and time was accurately fixed and the optics used were known) and deduce quickly the altitude and path of meteors, the orbit of space junk, and even the existance of NEOs; and also differentiate between the three? To be able to do this all autonomously and to flag the interesting data for professionals to look at later is the crux of John's idea. I think it has merit. Bob

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] TV 101 or 102?
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 04 Jun '03

04 Jun '03

Dave, I forgot to tell you which eyepieces I use with the TV-102. I use the 22mm and 27mm Panoptics, the 12mm Type 4 Nager, the 9mm and 7mm Naglers, and the 5mm and 4mm Radians. I also have the 55mm Plossl but I haven't used it since Wolf Creek last year. It has a 3 degree field of view but it is best suited for dark skies. The 35mm Panoptic works well too. I borrowed Rich's last year and got a great view of the Beehive Cluster. I need to buy that eyepiece soon. Debbie

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