February 2004 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] McNeil's Nebula
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

Joe, I'm not sure whether film is sensitive enough to show the nebula but you could try. This nebula has a magnitude of 15 or 16. I know a lot of CCD imagers will be shooting M78 in the near future. I look forward to seeing more pictures. What impresses me about this discovery is that a person with modest equipment with a little skill can make a big scientific contribution. I think Mr. McNeil is using a homemade 10" f/5.6 Newtonian with a SBIG 10XE CCD camera. Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] McNeil's Nebula
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

That is correct Dale. I was looking at all 55 of his images last night. Many were shot through his 10" f/5.6 Newtonian. I think he uses the Tak FTC-76 for wide field shots. Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] McNeil's Nebula
by Josephine Grahn 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

Joe, I'd give it a try. Film is usually more sensitive than the human eye, due to the cumulative effect. I would think that naything someone can spot in a small telescope, you can take a picture of. Many nebulae have been first discovered on film, because it can "see" smaller amounts of light accumulating over a longer period of time. Post the pictures here, when you get them, I'd love to see them. Jo Grahn

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] McNeil's Nebula
by Dale Hooper 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

I believe for the discovery image he used a 3" (76mm) Tak with the SBIG 10XE! -----Original Message----- From: UTAHDEB(a)aol.com [mailto:UTAHDEB@aol.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 9:56 AM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] McNeil's Nebula Joe, I'm not sure whether film is sensitive enough to show the nebula but you could try. This nebula has a magnitude of 15 or 16. I know a lot of CCD imagers will be shooting M78 in the near future. I look forward to seeing more pictures. What impresses me about this discovery is that a person with modest equipment with a little skill can make a big scientific contribution. I think Mr. McNeil is using a homemade 10" f/5.6 Newtonian with a SBIG 10XE CCD camera. Debbie

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McNeil's Nebula
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

I just viewed the new nebula at this website. http://www.balinka.com/m78c.jpg Here is the original image. WKAA Gallery :: Jay McNeil's Astrophotography :: 18 Enjoy! Debbie

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] 1st drop carried out today
by Kim Hyatt 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

Patrick, if the point of this is to define parameters for hunting and finding meteorites in specific environments, then the experiments should take place where people can have relatively easy access. I never considered the mud flats because you can almost never drive a vehicle over them, unless it's an atv or tracked vehicle, something I don't own (nor do I want to). Just a thought... -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins [mailto:paw@trilobyte.net] Sent: Friday, February 13, 2004 6:11 PM To: utah astronomy listserve Subject: [Utah-astronomy] 1st drop carried out today http://planet.state.ut.us/METEOR01.HTML Patrick _______________________________________________ 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

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Pleading ignorance
by Joe Bauman 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

A few other thoughts about camping in Utah. Main concern are overexposure to sun and not enough water. Even though you'll do your astronomy at night, you'll be camping and probably hiking during the day. I ALWAYS make sure I'm outside with plenty of heavy-duty sunblock (I try to get 50), a long-sleeved shirt and a hat. Take a good map and tell someone exactly where you'll be. Carry along a cell phone in case of trouble, although I've been in a few places where the phone won't reach -- in an emergency you may be able to climb onto a high hill and connect. Don't run out of gas. I used to have Jerry cans on the back of my CJ-5 because its mileage was awful. Take enough warm clothing, a heavy sleeping bag and a foam mattess. If you worry about weather, a tent's a good idea (I usually don't bother). Of course, you shouldn't expect any facilities for most of the good camping spots. Check your tires so you won't get a flat on our rough desert roads. -- Best wishes, Joe

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] McNeil's Nebula
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 16 Feb '04

16 Feb '04

Joe, I think it is a star evolving or erupting causing the nebula to glow. Very exciting. Check out this time lapse photo. McNeil's Nebula Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] McNeil's Nebula
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 16 Feb '04

16 Feb '04

Here's what Jay McNeil said: "Secondly--Yes, on the far-red/nir plate scans one can see a very faint stellar counterpart to IRAS 05436-0007. As a matter of fact, this object is very bright on the older 2MASS images. Furthermore, HH 22 (which happens to lie in the exact same direction as part of the new nebula)also shows as a small nebulous "blob" on deep images taken of the area with infrared sensitive equipment. HH22 is actually _just_ visible on the downloadable red scans even. The fact that the young "stellar" object presently undergoing eruption has existed and been known about for some time is not a matter of argument--the fact that it (and the resulting nebula) went from being all but invisible in the optical range to one of the more conspicuous objects in the entire field over a period of less than 3 months is what's so striking and phenomenal about the discovery! And regarding the earlier (1960's) images that distincly show the object, it has been speculated for some time now by Reipurth, Herbig, and others that such pre-main sequence eruptions are indeed periodic in nature. The fact is, however, that so "few" of these eruptions have ever been captured this early on--I had read somewhere that the going rate is one such observation every 6 to 7 years thus far. Now, let's combine that with our complete lack of knowledge regarding these speculated "periods" between such eruptions for a given young stellar object. FU Ori went form mag 16 to 10 (where it still hovers nearly 70 yrs later) in just a few months. Meanwhile, V1515 Cyg took several decades to increase by only 4 mags. The rise and fall times of such eruptions thus far recorded vary dramatically, just as the periods between subsequent eruptions are specualted to vary as well. So, in essence, it would actually make sense if this star underwent a similar eruption some other time within the past century. If this is proven so, then I personally don't see that as being any sort of "negative" aspect to my finding--just a very staggering achievement in the calculation of such outbursts.<g> Jay"

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Pleading ignorance
by Michael Carnes 16 Feb '04

16 Feb '04

Hi all - Those of you that I've already met know I'm a recent transplant from the East. I was excited to learn at the last SLAS meeting that the club has many star parties at Bryce, the Wedge and other spots around Utah. In addition to the astronomy, it seems like a dandy way to see some of the area where I now live. But.... It's been a long, long time since I've been camping. Some of you may remember canvas tents and cutting your own wooden tent pegs. Well it's been that long for me. I'm not sure what to expect out here. There's the obvious stuff: tent, sleeping bag, coleman stove. But I don't know if there are other things I should know about camping in the desert. In addition, I don't know anything about available facilities at the sites where we have these star parties. I suppose the most delicate way I should put it is "do I need a shovel". So if anyone is willing to fill in a few of the blanks, I'd be most appreciative. I actually had a few minutes of viewing the other night before Mother Nature realized I was outdoors with a 'scope. What an unusual feeling: actually looking at stars instead of just talking about them. Best regards, Michael

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