September 2005 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: Re: [Utah-astronomy] G11 tripod leveling
by astrodeb＠charter.net 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

Well at least you are not doing it in 90 degree heat. It's 98 right now and windy. Almost need a towel to sit in the car. I joined Curves so I could strengthen my back and legs and arms. I need to stay in shape lifting 60 lb mirror boxes and Losmandy mounts. As Chuck said we all need to stay healthy and exercise is very important in order to do that. Debbie > > From: Rob Ratkowski <ratkwski(a)hawaii.rr.com> > Date: 2005/09/07 Wed PM 06:00:55 MDT > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] G11 tripod leveling > > I guess what I'm really asking is if there are G11 users that have > an easier way to do the fine adjustment to the tripod legs to get > exact level. I have a 6" bullet level and w/ it I can get a very > fine level but it's a real PITA to have to adjust, check, do it again > and again and even then it's 'almost' correct. For most folks it's > very good, me just OK. I also notice there is a difference from the > top of the tripod being level to the levels on the G11. I'll have > to see what is correct and then make allowances. I'm coming up w/ a > few ideas to how to easily effect leveling of the set up w/o having > to do 10 minutes of bending exercises but maybe that's a good thing > too ................ > > > aloha and mahalo > Rob > > _______________________________________________ > 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] Re: Active region 808 rotating into view on Sun
by paw＠trilobyte.net 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

Canopus56 <canopus56(a)yahoo.com> wrote : > I was thinking that some of our club Ha filter > observers might see from increased prominences off > Region 808 considering its current angle of > presentation. - C Figures! Out here at SPOC working on the dome and surrounded by telescopes but not an H-Alpha scope to be seen. Patrick ___________________________________ Trilobyte Web Mail http://webmail.trilobyte.net

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Re: Active region 808 rotating into view on Sun
by Chuck Hards 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

I'm on the digest version of the list- I had posted my solar observation before Kurt's post on Active Region 808 came through. I just re-examined the sun at a higher power. 808 is JUST detectable at the very limb- and then only as the most subtle penumbral shading. I had to be looking for it to even notice it at low power, and at higher powers it's just the most shallow divot on the edge of the sun. It is large, however, and we should see a fair-sized spot/group come into view in the next couple of days. Can anyone else detect it this afternoon? (9/7) ______________________________________________________ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

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Major solar flare
by paw＠trilobyte.net 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

Space Weather News for September 7, 2005 http://spaceweather.com Today, Earth-orbiting satellites detected a major X-class solar flare coming from the sun's eastern limb. The source of the explosion is probably returning sunspot 798, which sparked strong geomagnetic storms in August. Although today's flare was not Earth-directed, explosions later this week could be as the active region turns more and more toward our planet. September, like August, could turn into a good month for auroras. Visit http://Spaceweather.com for images and updates. ___________________________________ Trilobyte Web Mail http://webmail.trilobyte.net

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Re: ISS - 1st attempt to capture overpass streak
by Chuck Hards 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

Kurt, I bought the Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 fisheye a few years ago, but (time to crow a bit) I only paid $75 on eBay, for a brand-new unit. Do you know of a translation of the manual somewhere, perhaps? I'd love to accompany you next time you shoot and try to duplicate your shots, if you're up for the company. > From: Canopus56 <canopus56(a)yahoo.com> > I used a recently purchased low-end Zenitar 16mm/2.8 > fisheye lens. I principally purchased this lens for > making NELM sky study photos. I wanted to keep the > cost down - it's $125 instead the of $375 for a > mid-low end Pentax lens or $500-1000 for > professional > lenses. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: M22 Image posted - Success at last
by astrodeb＠charter.net 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

Chuck, The worm gear revolution is 8 minutes so it has to be eight minutes to record the corrections into the PEC circuits. What I am hearing on the Losmandy group is most people don't turn on PEC when using an autoguider or a webcam with Guidedog. I think PEC is mostly used with manual guiding. Astrophotography is a tough learning curve but it is so rewarding when I have images to process. Every time I go out I seem to learn a little more. Thanks for all the kind remarks guys. It is amazing what a DSLR camera can produce. The results are instantaneous and you know if your tracking or focus is all right. If not, you can fix it. With film, you don't know how your pictures will turn out until the film comes back from the lab. Deb > > From: Chuck Hards <chuckhards(a)yahoo.com> > Date: 2005/09/06 Tue PM 08:34:08 MDT > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: M22 Image posted - Success at last > > That's too bad, I can see where that would be a > de-motivator, especially if the mount has some > backlash- and it sounds like it may, if it sometimes > takes a little time to start tracking after you've set > it on-target. You might try ever-so-slightly > unbalancing the mount, making it heavy on the "uphill" > side, so it is always verrrry slightly loaded. That > should remove some backlash and make tracking response > more instantaneous. Drives usually fare better when > working against a load, rather than acting as a > governor or escapement. > > Does it have to be an eight-minute training period? > Can you cut it shorter? Is eight minutes one complete > worm or spur rotation? > > > From: <astrodeb(a)charter.net> > > > Chuck, > > You have to turn it on and guide for an eight minute > > cycle. My mount is non-Gemini so that means you have > > to do it every time you turn it on. Gemini mounts > > have a permanent memory so your hard work is saved. > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.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 >

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The Naked Sun
by Chuck Hards 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

The sun is as featureless as I have ever seen it, in white light at 20X today. Not a single spot. I've always thought it just didn't look right when it appears spotless. Somehow a sunspot is comforting. ______________________________________________________ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] RE: SETI politics
by Michael Carnes 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

>Shostak's attitudes toward future >ecconomies, societies, and technological capability >are humorously provincial and apparently self-serving. An endless source of chuckles for me is what I call the "future of the past". I love the futuristic cities of the 60's as seen from the 30's. Or the year 2001 as mis-envisioned by Arthur C. Clarke. It's amazing that we always miss the really big life-changers. Computers would get bigger and bigger. We'd have flying cars (can you just IMAGINE some bonehead flying his car over your house eating a sandwich, talking on his cellphone and smoking a cigarette). A meal would be a simple pill. So interstellar human space travel? Who the heck knows? What we currently know about the fabric of the universe precludes it, but I hope we're not through learning (unless Chris Buttars becomes NASA administrator).

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RE: SETI politics
by Chuck Hards 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

> From: Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> > Is there any likelihood that UFOs could be real? > Anyone? Yes, some are real. Are they interstellar spacecraft? Not one. Come see the crop circles in my lawn...they clearly demonstrate the existence of intelligence (with too little to do). ______________________________________________________ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

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RE: SETI politics
by Chuck Hards 07 Sep '05

07 Sep '05

Of course it's OK to express one's hopes and fears regarding the existence, form, capabilities and motivations of ET's, as well as human technological progress, but anyone who makes statements characterizing probabilities and future ecconomies as probable fact, or sagely predicting what will and won't be possible technologically in the future, etc., is an idiot at this point. We are still very close to the very beginning (hopefully) of human learning & technological "sophisitcation". We are still babes in the cradle. Shostak's attitudes toward future ecconomies, societies, and technological capability are humorously provincial and apparently self-serving. A perfectly appropriate analogy would be Cro-Magnons making predictions of the details of manned lunar exploration, or urban mass-transit. Way too early to draw ANY conclusions. ______________________________________________________ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

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