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

Advice
by Barney B. 15 Mar '03

15 Mar '03

After all the fun I had this winter in St George, with my new Nexstar 8I, I decided to reopen my little rolling roof observatory in Salt Lake. Almost 15 years of disuse! The mice and spiders thought the place was all theirs. Everything was exactly as I had left it in June of 1988 with a few exceptions. One, the garbage bags I used to cover everything at the end of a session had completely disintegrated. I mean turned to dust...brown dust. Two, The mice had eaten most of my observing notes and skycharts. Three, the plastic caps that covered the visual back, the finderscope, and the polar alignment scope had shrunk and fallen out, exposing the lenses to a heavy layer of dust and in the case of the C-8, to a spider who crawled inside and spun a big old web. So, I'm looking for someone, hopefully local, experienced in C-8 repair or service to clean the scope. Any suggestions? Secondly, this scope was equipped with a Skysensor "computer". This was Celestron's earliest attempt at a "goto" system and worked fairly well except for a huge periodic error in the drive system that made astrophotography challenging. Anyhow, the Skysensor suffers from the Y2K bug in that it only allows a two digit input for the year. i.e., 1988 must be input as 88. Is there a corollary date that could be input that would cause it to operate at the proper 21st century sidereal time? Barney B.

3 5

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Advice
by Dale Hooper 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

Each half slides down slightly. I have a "cap" over the center (connected to one side) - and the other half slides under the cap. -----Original Message----- From: Barney B. [mailto:aaah@sisna.com] Sent: Fri 3/14/2003 6:47 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Cc: Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Advice Dale, I thought about a split roof design, but I couldn't figure out how to "weather proof" the ridge where they met. What did you do? Barney ----- Original Message ----- From: Dale Hooper <mailto:Dale.Hooper@sdl.usu.edu> To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 4:15 PM Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Advice I'm certainly not Barney - so I hope you don't mind me intruding. <g> I finished a roll-off roof (split roof design) observatory in my back yard this past year. I don't have anything on-line so I can't help you that way. But, there are two sites that I went to again and again and again while I was designing and building my observatory. So, I hope these can help you. If you really decide to do it - there are two "must have" books on sheds and outbuildings to get - but I don't have the titles with me. Let me know if you are interested - and I can send the titles along. Mine is working really well - I've got a heated control room and a telescope room. I can try to answer any questions you have. Of course, I believe several others on the list have also built observatories (obviously Barney has <g>) so they will have a lot of good advice too. http://www.seds.org/billa/obs/obslist.html http://www.isomedia.com/homes/cvedeler/observatory/observ.htm -----Original Message----- From: RLKelm [mailto:rlkelm@attbi.com] Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 3:18 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Advice Barney, I hope I am not intruding, if so please excuse me. I am sorry that I do not have any suggestions for your problems. What caught my eye in your note was that you have your own rolling roof observatory. I have been seriously thinking about trying to build one, somewhere, somehow. Did you have commercial plans or design your own? Could you give me any suggestions on where to start? Thank you very much. Clear skies! :) Rog Kelm

1 0

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Advice
by Dale Hooper 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

I'm certainly not Barney - so I hope you don't mind me intruding. <g> I finished a roll-off roof (split roof design) observatory in my back yard this past year. I don't have anything on-line so I can't help you that way. But, there are two sites that I went to again and again and again while I was designing and building my observatory. So, I hope these can help you. If you really decide to do it - there are two "must have" books on sheds and outbuildings to get - but I don't have the titles with me. Let me know if you are interested - and I can send the titles along. Mine is working really well - I've got a heated control room and a telescope room. I can try to answer any questions you have. Of course, I believe several others on the list have also built observatories (obviously Barney has <g>) so they will have a lot of good advice too. http://www.seds.org/billa/obs/obslist.html http://www.isomedia.com/homes/cvedeler/observatory/observ.htm -----Original Message----- From: RLKelm [mailto:rlkelm@attbi.com] Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 3:18 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Advice Barney, I hope I am not intruding, if so please excuse me. I am sorry that I do not have any suggestions for your problems. What caught my eye in your note was that you have your own rolling roof observatory. I have been seriously thinking about trying to build one, somewhere, somehow. Did you have commercial plans or design your own? Could you give me any suggestions on where to start? Thank you very much. Clear skies! :) Rog Kelm "Barney B." wrote: After all the fun I had this winter in St George, with my new Nexstar 8I, I decided to reopen my little rolling roof observatory in Salt Lake. Almost 15 years of disuse! The mice and spiders thought the place was all theirs. Everything was exactly as I had left it in June of 1988 with a few exceptions. One, the garbage bags I used to cover everything at the end of a session had completely disintegrated. I mean turned to dust...brown dust. Two, The mice had eaten most of my observing notes and skycharts. Three, the plastic caps that covered the visual back, the finderscope, and the polar alignment scope had shrunk and fallen out, exposing the lenses to a heavy layer of dust and in the case of the C-8, to a spider who crawled inside and spun a big old web. So, I'm looking for someone, hopefully local, experienced in C-8 repair or service to clean the scope. Any suggestions? Secondly, this scope was equipped with a Skysensor "computer". This was Celestron's earliest attempt at a "goto" system and worked fairly well except for a huge periodic error in the drive system that made astrophotography challenging. Anyhow, the Skysensor suffers from the Y2K bug in that it only allows a two digit input for the year. i.e., 1988 must be input as 88. Is there a corollary date that could be input that would cause it to operate at the proper 21st century sidereal time? Barney B.

2 1

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy
by Dale Hooper 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

FWIW, there is a yahoogroup dedicated to planetary nebulae - it's a fairly quiet list so just about every post is worth reading. <vbg> The yahoogroup name is, appropriately, Planetary_Nebulae > -----Original Message----- > From: UTAHDEB(a)aol.com [mailto:UTAHDEB@aol.com] > Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 5:08 PM > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy > > > Chuck > > Here it is. I did about 20 planetary nebulae in MS Word. I > can do the autumn > ones later. > > Debbie >

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

Here's the link to blackskies.com. I have another list in my '86 Deep Sky magazine. <A HREF="http://www.blackskies.com/seasonbst1.html">seasonalpns</A> The list of observable planetaries from cities is at the bottom of the page. Debbie

1 0

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy
by David Dunn 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

Speaking of planetary nebulas reminded me of the meeting OAS had last night. It was a real treat. Stacy Palen, a new professor at Weber State, spoke to us about her research on Planetary nebula. She is studing planetaries in the LMC and SMC using the NTT in Chile. It was very interesting. She shared pictures from her trips down there and some of the data that she has collected. -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 1:51 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy Most, if not all planetaries emit at O-III, but I'm not sure about diffuse nebula; sounds like some of them do also from your experience. The O-III bandpass is very narrow, even compared to an UHC or other narrowband filter. Technically, the Veil is what's left of a planetary if you give it enough time, so the O-III should work with it. For city observing, I find the narrowband the most useful, a broadband works well at very high powers, when the sky background is naturally dimmed anyway. My O-III experience is from borrowed filters, I don't own one. C. --- David Dunn <david.dunn(a)albertsons.com> wrote: > I have found the OIII to improve the contrast of the > Veil, Planetaries and > nebulas like Orion, the Eagle and Lagoon. I think > that the OIII helps the > Veil and the planetaries the most. Are these OIII > emitters?Some of the > nebulas become better with a UHC but I think that I > like the OIII the best > for most of the observing that I do. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] > Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 1:27 PM > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy > > > > --- UTAHDEB(a)aol.com wrote: > > I think an OIII filter is required for city > > observing > > Do you mean required for the Veil, or city observing > in general? An O-III filter will only improve > objects > that are emitting light at the O-III wavelength. > > C. > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online > http://webhosting.yahoo.com > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

My 4" TeleVue 102 refractor. It's easy to set up and it doesn't hurt my back. Debbie

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

Chuck, I use an OIII filter for the Veil, NGC 6888, North American nebula, Thor's Helmet, and the Rosette nebula. Last summer, the Cacoon nebula and Abell 39 looked good with my UHC filter. Most of the brighter emission nebulae benifit from the UHC filters. Most of the time, I use my OIII filter for faint planetary nebulae, although the Ring and Dumbell planetaries I observe with the UHC or no filter at all. So if I'm in the city and I'm looking at planetary nebulae, I use my OIII filter. By the way, I have a whole list of planetary nebulae observable from the city if anybody is interested. I also like the UHC on the Orion nebula although it looks green with the filter and blue without it. Debbie

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy
by RStmarie＠aol.com 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

Deb, What instrument do you prefer from the city for observing?

1 0

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy
by David Dunn 14 Mar '03

14 Mar '03

I have found the OIII to improve the contrast of the Veil, Planetaries and nebulas like Orion, the Eagle and Lagoon. I think that the OIII helps the Veil and the planetaries the most. Are these OIII emitters?Some of the nebulas become better with a UHC but I think that I like the OIII the best for most of the observing that I do. -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 1:27 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Urban astronomy --- UTAHDEB(a)aol.com wrote: > I think an OIII filter is required for city > observing Do you mean required for the Veil, or city observing in general? An O-III filter will only improve objects that are emitting light at the O-III wavelength. C. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

2 1