January 2006 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

New Horizons
by Chuck Hards 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

I gather that New Horizons is a flyby mission? No braking rockets on the probe? I guess the bright side is we might get to see photos of more distant Kuiper Belt objects...well, those of us that live long enough, that is. Guy, I'll Scotch-tape a photo to your headstone. Next to that little brass model Dob. ;) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Background on Senate Educ. Committee referral of ID bill to floor
by Canopus56 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

The Senate Education Committee webpage, with meeting minutes, is at: http://www.le.state.ut.us/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2006&Com=SSTEDU The bill can be read and followed from: http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2006/htmdoc/sbillhtm/SB0096.htm There is an option at that page to have notice of any activity on the bill emailed to you. An audio file of the Jan. 17 committee meeting where the bill was referred to the full Senate can be listened to from a link on that page or directly using RealPlayer by url: rtsp://ra.le.state.ut.us:554/committee/rW130-0117060.rm Members of the Senate Education Committee are: Sen. David L. Thomas, Chair Sen. Patrice M. Arent Sen. D. Chris Buttars Sen. Dan R. Eastman Sen. Karen Hale Sen. Mark B. Madsen Sen. Howard A. Stephenson The debate on SB 96 begins at recording time index - 1:11:10 ending at time index 1:58:37. The Office of Legislative Counsel review note to S.B 96 states that "Based on a limited legal review, this legislation has not been determined to have a high probability of being held unconstitutional." I have not listened to the recording in full. In his opening statement, Senator Buttars states that he is in favor of "Divine Design," but that he has removed all faith-based initiatives from SB 96. Buttars agrees as the existence of natural selection as an evolutionary force, but claims that there is no consensus among the scientific community on how life began or whether humans evolved from primates. He claims that his bill is designed to prevent teachers and textbooks from improperly overstating the extent of consensus among the scientific community. Purported textbook overstatements include that all scientists feel that man descended from primates, that for all descended forms of humans, there are intermediate fossil forms at all stages of primate evolution, and omitting that Darwin original idea that island finches were an isolated population has since been disproven. Sen. David L. Thomas, Committee Chair, asked that witnesses refrain from discussing religion, since religion had been removed from the bill. Witness statements began with a presentation by the Utah State Board of Education on its curriculum and its position statement that scientific consensus does exist as to the evolutionary descent of man. The State of Education science core curriculum position paper on the origin of life is inconsistent with teaching good critical scientific reasoning skills. Buttars then questioned the Board of Education witness on Darwin's statements on island finches included in a advanced placement biology textbook used in a Utah school. Buttars asserted that certain of Darwin's assumptions on island finches had since been disproved and where no longer accepted by the majority of scientists. Sen. Mark B. Madsen inquired as to what other theories the bill would require to be taught, outside the standard model of evolution. Senator Buttars disputed that the bill required the teaching of any other theory of evolution. Buttars stated that the bill does not require the teaching of any other theory of the origin of life. Discussion of the practical effect of the language in the bill that the Board of Education's curriculum "shall require that instruction to students on _any theory_ regarding the origins of life, or the origins or present state of the human race, shall stress that not all scientists agree on which theory is correct." Emphasis added. The position of the Board of Education representative is that "any theory," including lay unscientific theories, would be required to be taught in Utah schools under the express language of the bill. Several more pro and con witnesses made presentations, focusing on the manufactured issue that some factual dispute exists in the scientific community as the consensus theory of evolution. For example, a retired mechanical engineer implied that Jay Stephen Gould's theory of punctuated equilibirm indicated belief in a divine, non-chance creation of species. The committee as whole voted against Sen. Patrice M. Arent's request to hold continued hearings to allow more debate and committee deliberation. Senator Buttars felt that the existing witnesses had outlined the issues adequately and further testimony would be cumulative. Senator Buttars request to hold an immediate vote on recommending the bill to the Senate floor was granted. In her summation, Sen. Arnet argued that the legislature should not second guess the curriculum experts at the Utah Board of Education. Senator Arnet also noted that Senator Buttars had twice lobbied her to vote in the favor of the bill based on her religion. Senator Buttars waived summation and called for an immediate vote. The bill was passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation. The vote was 4-for and 2-against. As to an online calendar of what daily floor debates will occur on the Senate and House floors, which might state when SB 96 will be heard on the Senate floor, I do not know. - C __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Stardust from the Wasatch Front
by Patrick Wiggins 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

Driving back from Wendover Sunday morning after watching Stardust I could see clear skies well ahead of me and it was mostly clear when I got home. So I figured Stardust must have been visible from these parts and sure enough today I heard from a neighbor who went out and saw it practically from my back yard. I guess he thought it was amusing I drove 3 hours round trip to see what he saw from his yard. Did anyone here see it from somewhere other than the Wendover area? Patrick

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Gallery info added
by Chuck Hards 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

I've added stock numbers, current prices, and Website url's for the 4 different projection finders pictured on my Gallery page 2. If I were to list them in absolute order of preference for ease of use, best-to-worst, it would be: 1. Quickfinder 2. Mars-Eye/Gamo sight- Neck-and-neck for second place, the choice of dot color gives the Mars-eye a slight lead but the Gamo has low price going for it. 3. Orion EZ Finder dead last due to high price, small window and opaque coating, rendering many stars invisible through it. I also have to give Rigel Systems high points for customer service based on excellent personal experience. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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OT: Another beautiful day in paradise
by Kim 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

Hi all. I just made my daily trip into town to get mail, and I just had to let y'all know what a gorgeous day it is here. Mt. Nebo has a nice cloud cap (looks like snow in the next day or two), the air is only slightly hazy, and the snow on the ground is still fresh from Sunday night's storm. I watched a bald eagle soaring above the road. Its white head and tail were brilliant in the sunshine. There are lots of signs of deer in the yard, but the elk haven't been here for awhile. I'd like to give myself the rest of the day off, but too much to do for that.well, maybe not. Think I'll go take in more of that sunshine. Maybe go hunt for more eagles. Work can/should wait on a day like this. Regards to all, Kim

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What was Buttars Talking About
by Dave Gary 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

I just saw the news about Buttars' proposed education bill. He kept mentioning "other" theories of common descent (evolution). Was he referring to Lamarckism? This is the only other theory that has been proposed as another explanation for common descent. However, Lamarckism has been shown to to be incorrect. Are our children to be taught godless, communist, Russian "science"? Where's Joseph McCarthy when you need him? Dave Gary (Confused)

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Buttars
by Kim 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

One more thing: I just heard on KUER this morning that Buttars' new pseudo-science bill has been referred from committee to the full senate. I don't know how that happens without even the possibility of a public hearing, but I'm just a constituent - what do I know about government? I'll be writing to Buttars and my own senator later today or tomorrow. I encourage y'all to do the same before this nonsense goes any further. Kim

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Laser pointer brightness comparison test
by Chuck Hards 17 Jan '06

17 Jan '06

It has been decided not to hold the laser brightness test during a (as yet unscheduled) Messier Marathon at SPOC. This decision is mine, for the following reasons: I realized that the test was designed to be conducted indoors, in a controlled environment. Trying to do it outdoors, in an unbounded area, with the general public drifting through, would not only be a possible vision safety hazard (and potential source of liability), but also would not yield usable data. The test was specifically designed to be conducted indoors- the test-stand is designed to hold the lasers horizontally and they do not point at the sky during the test. Also the relationship of the viewers to the test stand should not change during the test- something hard to do unless seated comfortably for 20 to 30 minutes while different lasers are mounted and tested. Without the general public wandering-through the test area, and seated, stationary participants, there are no safety concerns when it's conducted indoors in a controlled area. While it may be possible to modify the test in the future so it can be conducted at SPOC, I have other priorities for my limited free time between now and the end of March. Super-efficient SLAS president Lyon already has committed speakers for the entire 2006 calendar year so it's not likely that the test will happen at a regular meeting for some time if associated with SLAS, my club. Sorry about this folks, it just seems like this little consumer-oriented test wasn't meant to happen anytime soon. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: the sky, of course!
by Richard Tenney 15 Jan '06

15 Jan '06

Brett, Hope the weather cooperates with you -- you should really enjoy the sky down in Moab. I've CC'd the list here in case anyone is planning to be down that way to join you (...anyone...?) As to the Gegenschein, yes, I saw it quite spectacularly last spring in fact less than an hour's drive from my home out in the West Desert. Interesting photo of Venus. What equiptment were you using? Regards, Rich --- Brett Mensh <brett(a)mensh.com> wrote: > Hi Rich, > I'm an eastcoaster coming out to Utah to enjoy > the extreme darkness > around the late April new moon-- I'm actually going > down to Moab-- > do you know of any star parties down there, or > anybody who does > observing down there? > Have you ever seen the Gegenschein out there? > Check out this picture I took of Venus last week. > Brett > > -- > -------------------------------------------------------------- > Brett D. Mensh, MD PhD > > Research Scientist > Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences > Massachusetts Institute of Technology > mensh(a)mit.edu > (617) 452-4976 > > Instructor > Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation > Harvard Medical School > Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital > bmensh(a)hms.harvard.edu > > > Member, Board of Directors > Global Music Healing > www.globalmusichealing.org __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Wow!
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Jan '06

15 Jan '06

I had to drive through wind, then rain and then snow (Kurt, you called that right) before finally breaking out of the weather about 60 km west of my house. The rest of the ~150 km journey to Wendover was under increasingly clear skies. Several people were already at the Wendover airport when I arrived about 1 hour before Stardust was scheduled to arrive. I was surprised at the large number of OASers there and more surprised to learn that even more OASers were in the area, just not at the airport. Very few SLASers, though. There was a very opaque cloud bank to the west that was moving slowly our way and by the time Stardust neared, the clouds were up to about 25 degrees in the western sky. At about 2:58 an incredibly bright light exploded from behind the approaching cloud bank trailing a pencil thin purplish/pinkish ion train. It was beautiful! And the crowd erupted. It passed high in the southern sky and was noticeably dimming as the spacecraft slowed and moved to where we were seeing it from the rear. It then disappeared into the a line of clouds high in the SE and we did not see it come out the other side. About 2.5 minutes later, as we all stood trying to be quiet, a surprisingly loud sonic boom was heard (actually it sounded like two booms very close together) and the crowd erupted into 2 chants of "Welcome Home Stardust". All in all, it was a great time. An impressive light and sound show to be sure but it was also nice to know that that we had just witnessed history. Print media was well represented so look for coverage in the D. News (of course our own Joe Bauman was there), Tribune and the Tooele Transcript. Several of the still photographers got excellent pictures and I've arranged for many of them to email some of their choice shots which I'll post to the web as soon as I get them. I'll include the URL in News. KSL channel 5 got some good video. Look for that on tonight's (Sunday) Eyewitness News. The NBC network was represented so there's a possibility our merry band of crazies may be on tonight's (Sunday) NBC Nightly News (KSL in Utah) and MSNBC. What a night!!! Patrick

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