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Frustration at the eyepiece - Help
by jcarman6＠q.com 17 May '13

17 May '13

Congrats! Dion. Welcome to the frustrating, enjoyable mind bending experience that is astronomy. Everything that Seth said is right on. There are power units that are also available through astronomical companies on line or through magazines. They are more expensive, but more attuned to the amateur. I bought such a unit from Orion, a reasonable priced company out of California and I can get you more info if your interested. The company advertises in S&T and other magazines, and they have a website, so you can look and not necessarily buy. These units also have a red light attached, slots for cigarette lighter connections and additional things an amateur would appreciate. Mine has an AM/FM radio, if you get lonely and a horrible bright white light (never used), that you might want to help find things when you pack up (hehehe) As for collimation of a SC. Defocus your scope as much as possible, then look through the eyepiece (low power of course). You should see a large fuzzy circle which is the secondary. If that is not centered, then yeah, you need to collimate. There should be screws on the backside of the secondary that can be tweeked to collimate - A little goes a long way. As for star maps, the world is the limit and based on your needs. Computer maps/programs are nice, but don't take the computer with you. Even in "night mode" the screen is a substantial light source that may be distracting to you and those around you. I strongly encourage you to attend a star party at SPOC if you can. While that is a public star party, the public tend to leave around 10 or 11 and you are free to hunt illusive targets with substantial support from other like minded individuals. And its a hellava lot more fun that way! Learning the night sky is not something you can do in one or two nights, so enjoy the ride.

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Ride to SPOC
by D P Pierce 17 May '13

17 May '13

I need a ride to SPOC Saturday. My usual ride, Rodger, will be out of town. Deloy

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14" Sonotube available
by Chuck Hards 17 May '13

17 May '13

I have a 14" ID Sonotube available for the first ten bucks that comes my way. BN, about 6 feet long, give or take an inch. Pickup only in West Valley. Email me off-list if interested. Thanks!

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Wheel fails on NASA's probe
by Thomas Sevcik 16 May '13

16 May '13

Story says there may still be some hope in recovering a second failed reaction-wheel, but don't get your hopes up. http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/15/18280269-wheel-fails-on-nasas… Tom Sevcik

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Grateful for last night's SLAS program
by Richard Tenney 16 May '13

16 May '13

Many thanks due to the SLAS board for getting Dr. Palen to speak again -- she was entertaining and informative, and an extra win for me as my wife came along and really enjoyed it as well. /R

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Ride to SPOC Saturday
by D P Pierce 16 May '13

16 May '13

I need a ride to SPOC Saturday. My usual ride, Rodger, will be out of town. Deloy

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Pop culture at the speed of light
by baxman2＠q.com 15 May '13

15 May '13

James Clerk Maxwell calculated the speed of light in his 19th century research. He expressed it as 1 over the square root of (vacuum permeability time’s vacuum permittivity). These vacuum properties can be reduced in the presence of negative energy. This negative energy is defined in terms of a lack of zero-point-energy vacuum fluctuations. This condition does exist in a space known as a casimir cavity. This means it is possible to expand the speed of light to be faster then c. An article related to this can be found in Marcel Urban, François Couchot, Xavier Sarazin, Arache Djannati-Atai. The quantum vacuum as the origin of the speed of light. The European Physical Journal D, 2013; 67 (3) DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2013-30578-7

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Pop culture at the speed of light.
by Daniel Holmes 15 May '13

15 May '13

So here's an interesting graphic. What star systems are in range of what pop culture meme based on light speed. http://xkcd.com/1212/ From the alt-text: "The strongest incentive we have to develop faster-than-light travel is that it would let us apologize in advance". Dan -- Daniel Holmes, danielh(a)holmesonics.com "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin

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Jupiter triple shadow transits
by Kim Hyatt 15 May '13

15 May '13

I remember observing the last triple shadow transit on Jupiter from SPOC in March, 2004. We had clear weather, and though it was cold, it was worth the effort to see it. I think that SLAS billed it as a public event, but I don’t remember. I see that there are three events coming up: 12 Oct 2013, 4:31 UT 3 Jun 2014, 19:02 UT 24 Jan 2015, 6:27 UT. The next triple shadow transit after the January 2015 event isn’t until 2032. Unfortunately it appears that only the January 2015 event will be visible from Utah. (Someone else please check your planetarium software to see if I’ve made any errors.) I know some of you may not get that excited about a triple shadow transit, but for anyone who hasn’t seen it, I recommend that you add it to your astronomical bucket list. I certainly thought that it was one of my observing highlights.

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Fw: Scope operators needed
by Joe Bauman 14 May '13

14 May '13

Also, please don't forget Friday the 17th at the Brickyard Harmon's. I'm taking over for Rodger then, something I have never done before, and I would very much appreciate all the scopes and help I can get. Don't let me flounder around! Thanks, Joe ________________________________ From: SLAS Announcements <announce(a)slas.us> To: Joseph Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 8:22 PM Subject: Scope operators needed Hello All, This Saturday the 18th is another star party at SPOC. Scope operators are needed to run the Andy scope and the Grim scope. Should be some great spring sky viewing! Please let me know your availability and I'll reserve you spot. All the Best! Kevin Hays Board Member at Large kbh(a)utaharm.com

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