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The Collapse of the Universe
by Chuck Hards 17 Dec '13

17 Dec '13

Saw this over on CN. http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/universe-is-going-to-collapse-sooner-than-exp… Another "End of the World" prediction. Well, the end of everything, in this case. Thank you, cosmologists, for giving society one more thing to worry about. To quote the Simpsons, "Let's go burn down the observatory, so this sort of thing never happens again!" ;-)

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Explore Scientific Eyepieces
by Debbie 17 Dec '13

17 Dec '13

Anyone have any favorable comments on Explore Scientific eyepieces? I'm interested in the 82 degree eyepieces for planets, doublestars, and planetary nebulae. They are on sale right now and I may buy one soon. Thanks. Debbie

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Chinese Moon landing this morning
by Wiggins Patrick 17 Dec '13

17 Dec '13

Several news outlets are reporting that China's Moon lander is scheduled to touch down this morning. Time quoted is 21:40 Beijing Time which I think works out to 06:40 MST. One report I found says the landing will be covered live on CCTV. That surprises me being that they are so secretive. But if that does turn out to be the case I see CCTV is on the web at: http://english.cntv.cn/live/p2p/index.shtml It is also on Dish Network channel 279. patrick

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Best viewing sites in SW Utah
by Mike Scott 16 Dec '13

16 Dec '13

The new St. George Astronomy Group is putting together a list and map of good places for locals and visitors to view the night sky. If you have some favorite places, we would like to add them to the list. You can see what we've got so far at https://sites.google.com/site/stgeorgeastronomygroup/viewing-locations. Thanks for your help.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 130, Issue 44 (Chinese Mining the Moon)
by John R. Peterson 15 Dec '13

15 Dec '13

>Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Chinese Moon landing this morning. >Bruce Hugo wrote: >Yup...these moon shots are for mineral?prospecting.? Its only time?before China begins to claim?areas on the?moon as their property. > Before we start worrying about the Chinese mining the Moon, let's remember what it takes to bring back even a small number of kilograms of rock. 400 (about what the Apollo astronauts brought back) is nothing compared to what a commercial mining interest would want, and that says nothing about getting it down to the surface of the Earth. The more mass, the larger the heat shield needed to slow something down to parachute speeds, and then, of course, you must consider the ridiculous size of parachute needed. No, we have to wait until some incredibly revolutionary form of propulsion is discovered before we can start making the Moon look like Appalachia or Bingham Canyon (I say discovered, because it's a much bigger problem than just modifying/developing something based on existing technologies). Of course, if you recover the metals and make the widgets off the Earth, that's another story, but because of the the same problems of currently unknown energy sources that would be needed, it's still all SciFi. John R. Peterson

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How I feel about space travel
by Joe Bauman 15 Dec '13

15 Dec '13

http://variety.com/2013/film/news/interstellar-trailer-1200956238/

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Carl Sagan interview
by Wiggins Patrick 14 Dec '13

14 Dec '13

As we approach the anniversary of the death of Carl Sagan it seems appropriate to re-watch his final TV interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8HEwO-2L4w patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Chinese Moon landing this morning.
by Bruce Hugo 14 Dec '13

14 Dec '13

Yup...these moon shots are for mineral prospecting. Its only time before China begins to claim areas on the moon as their property. Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science. - Edwin Powell Hubble

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That's a big scope
by Wiggins Patrick 13 Dec '13

13 Dec '13

And I always thought the Kecks, at 10 meters, were big. Now I see that Europe is about to break ground on a 39 meter! http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann13099/ Funny that they're calling it the ELT. To them that means Extremely Large Telescope, but to aviators it means Emergency Locator Transmitter. :) patrick

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telescope anyone
by Mark Shelton 12 Dec '13

12 Dec '13

Hi, If anyone is interested, I acquired a used orion 10" Dob. Let me know if you would be interested in acquiring it. Please email me off list. Thanks Mark

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