News, Thursday, 17 AUG 2006 CORRECTED COPY CORRECTED COPY CORRECTED COPY +++ "Great Planet Debate" News Follows a Few SLAS Stories +++ SPOC Scope For Sale 6" f/4 Rich Field telescope. Standard thickness mirror, 1.25" rack and pinion focuser, glossy white fiberglass tube, aluminum end rings & mounting hardware. Telescope originally served as one of the finders on the original SPOC telescope. The scope will be on display at Saturday's star party at SPOC and next Tuesday's SLAS meeting. Highest bid above the reserve by the end of the meeting takes the scope. Cash and carry. As seen in 1977: http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/slas/patrickw/PATRICKW365.JPG As seen yesterday: http://utahastro.info/temp/RF001.JPG +++++ Another Donation for SPOC Thanks to a tip from Kim Hyatt SLAS recently received all the carpet needed to carpet the Refractor House. The donation, valued at $504.00, came from the Hendriksen Butler Company in Salt Lake City. Thanks, guys! The carpet was installed yesterday (see images 41 through 45 at the following URL). http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/slas/REFRACTORHOUSE04.HTML +++++ SPOC Star Party Saturday Dave Bernson to speak from 7:45 to 8:45. Observing starts at 8:45. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=847 +++++ The IAU Draft Definition Of Planets And Plutons The world's astronomers have concluded two years of work defining the difference between "planets" and the smaller "solar system bodies". Story 1: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/audio/planets-20060816.html Story 2: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-08-16-planets-textbooks_x.ht... Story 3: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1151 Story 4: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060816-pluto-planet.html Story 5: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Solar_System_May_Soon_Have_12_Planets_And_... Editor's Note: I found several more stories, including 1 from China and another from Iran, but the 5 above will give you a good idea of what's going on. +++++ NASA Findings Suggest Jets Bursting From Martian Ice Cap Every spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice cap of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new observations by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2006-100 +++++ Far Away Galaxy Under The Microscope An international group of astronomers have discovered large disc galaxies akin to our Milky Way that must have formed on a rapid time scale, only 3 billion years after the Big Bang. http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/pr-31-06.html +++++ Europe Rediscovers the Moon With SMART-1 Now Europe too can say it has been to the Moon. Watch the Moon up close in the early morning of 3 September (just before midnight on the 2nd, MDT) and you may just see a European satellite land on its surface. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMI0XY7QQE_index_0.html +++++ Comet Discoverers Honored An American, a Brazilian, and an Australian will share the eighth annual Edgar Wilson Award for amateur comet discovery. http://skytonight.com/news/3562602.html +++++ Backward Sunspot A strange little sunspot noticed by astronomers on July 31st may herald the coming of an unusually stormy solar cycle. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/15aug_backwards.htm?list864576 +++++ Atlantis Go for Launch Launch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MDT. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06293_STS-115_launch_date.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/status-20060816.html +++++ Scientists Study Pioneer Anomalies U.S. scientists say mysterious changes in acceleration seen in NASA's Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes might point toward new ideas in physics. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Scientists_Study_Pioneer_Anomalies_999.htm... +++++ ************************************************** ************************************************** Free Telescopes For SLAS Members SLAS has several scopes available for free, long term loan to current SLAS members who have belonged to SLAS for at least 30 days. http://slas.us/membership_benefits.htm +++++ Images and Data From Cassini-Huygens At:s http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/latest/index.cfm http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases.cfm +++++ Information On The Mars Rovers At: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html +++++ SLAS 2006 Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/LOCAL.HTML +++++ SSA / UMNH 2006 Southern Utah Public Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/STARPARTIES.HTML +++++ ************************************************** News is being sent to you because of your affiliation with the Salt Lake Astronomical Society or because you are subscribed to the Utah Astronomy Listserve. To unsubscribe please send your request to paw at wirelessbeehive dot com. Check out my NASA Solar System Ambassador web site at: http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky and mirrored at http://utahastro.info/ For astronomy clubs in Utah see: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/UTAHCLUBS.HTML For the Utah Astronomy Listserve see: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy ************************************************** -- Patrick Wiggins NASA Solar System Ambassador to Utah & NE Nevada paw at wirelessbeehive dot com http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky http://utahastro.info/ 435.882.1209 801.918.9092