December 2003 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] C/2000 T7 LINEAR
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 29 Dec '03

29 Dec '03

Yes, it would be sweet now that I have the equipment to photograph it. I didn't see either comet. My first comet was Halley's comet. That's what really got me into astronomy. Debbie

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] C/2000 T7 LINEAR
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 29 Dec '03

29 Dec '03

Jim, I went to the library today and looked at the recent Jan. edition of Astronomy magazine to get coordinates for the T7 LINEAR comet. Since the weather forcast doesn't look good until sometime after New Year's day, I won't get out to find until sometime in January. Anyway here is the table I copied. Date R.A. DEC Jan 1 1hr 09.2m 25 45' Jan 6 0hr 57.8m 23 57' Jan 11 0hr 48.1m 22 17' Jan 16 0hr 40.0m 20 46' Jan 21 0hr 33.2m 19 23' Jan 26 0hr 27.6m 18 10' Jan 31 0hr 22.9m 17 04 According to these coordinates, the comet should enter Pisces and head southwest towards Gamma Pegasus at the end of the month. Also, for those of you that don't know it yet, this comet should reach 1st magnitude by May if the predictions are correct. Hopefully it won't fizzle out like the infamous Kohoutek comet of '74. Debbie ps I finally got my Jan issue of Sky and Telescope today.

3 2

RE: [Utah-astronomy] amateur astronomy, zen, & power outages
by Kim Hyatt 29 Dec '03

29 Dec '03

OK, Chuck - I give. How did you happen to discover the fire-resistant properties of truss poles? -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 4:35 PM To: Utah-Astro Subject: [Utah-astronomy] amateur astronomy, zen, & power outages If anybody is checking their email on a cell phone or laptop, huddled in the cold & dark, just say the word and we'll get you some relief somehow. We lost power Friday morning at 9, didn't get it back until Saturday night at 7, 34 hours. House internal temp was about 48 degrees by then. Isn't it amazing how your spirits can soar just from the sight of a lightbulb lighting up? BTW, truss poles don't burn, and the shroud makes a lot of stinky smoke...same with laminated atlases. Only use the plain paper ones. ;) C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.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

2 1

Mars News
by David Dunn 29 Dec '03

29 Dec '03

I happened across this article while browsing. This would be the kind of luck I would have. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/marsexpress/031229crater.html <http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/marsexpress/031229crater.html> Thanks. David Dunn

1 0

Lost Dog
by Chuck Hards 28 Dec '03

28 Dec '03

Mars has a habit of eating space probes, there's no doubt about it. While there may still be slim hope for Beagle 2, it looks like the planetary equivalent of the "kite-eating tree" got the planetary scientists again. Taking Patrick's observations as a guide, I've tried to avoid getting my news from main-stream sources and stayed with those friendly to science. Less soap opera that way. The past few unsuccessful landers have just made that little Sojourner rover all the more remarkable, don't you think?... And those Viking landers still cast a long shadow, don't they? Keep your fingers crossed. There's an ID chip in this lost pup. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

2 1

C/2000 T7 LINEAR
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 27 Dec '03

27 Dec '03

Hi, I found this on my TeleVue yahoo group. When there is a break in the weather maybe I'll find this comet. http://home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm Clear Skies, Debbie

1 0

More Martian gullies
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Dec '03

26 Dec '03

New picture (released yesterday) showing another crop of Martian gullies. http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/12/25/index.html Patrick

1 0

Gullies on Mars / Beagle
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Dec '03

25 Dec '03

A while back there was a discussion here about the small gullies on Mars and what might have formed them. The current issue of National Geographic magazine has an excellent article on Mars, part of which discusses the controversy over the formation of the gullies. ----- Nothing new about Beagle. It's presumably on the surface but has not been heard from. BTW, has anyone else noticed that media coverage of the mission has concentrated on the failure to hear from Beagle without a single word about the orbiter part of the mission being a complete success? Not exactly balanced coverage. Patrick

1 0

Mars update
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Dec '03

25 Dec '03

Mars Express enters orbit around the Red Planet Contact awaited with Beagle 2 on the surface This morning, after a journey lasting 205 days and covering 400 million kilometres, the European Mars Express space probe fired its main engine at 03:47 CET for a 37-minute burn in order to enter an orbit around the Mars. This orbit insertion manoeuvre was a complete success. The Beagle 2 lander is expected to have reached the surface at about 03:52 CET. However, the first attempt to communicate with Beagle 2, three hours after landing did not establish radio contact. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMAD8374OD_0.html

1 0

Mars update
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Dec '03

25 Dec '03

Live streaming video of the ESA Mars mission currently at: http://esa.capcave.com/esa/marsexpress Mars Express is confirmed to be in orbit about Mars. First chance to hear from Beagle 2 on the surface has passed with no signal received. Patrick

1 0