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

Re: Science Fair
by Chuck Hards 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

Thanks, Michael. We're taking her out to dinner this weekend as an "atta girl". Next year, if she makes it to District, I'll swing-by and pick you up. You'll have a blast trolling the projects, as I always do! ;) > From: Michael Carnes <michaelcarnes(a)earthlink.net> > Chuck, > Tell your daughter I'm jealous. I grew up in a > teensy little town in western NC. There wasn't a > science fair for hundreds of miles. I'd read about > them in Popular Science and just wish I could be > there. Of course I still built projects (the Tesla > coil was my best), but mainly for myself. Not only > does your kid get to actually go to one, but she > excels at it. Give her a pat on the back. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Misc notes on the Messier Marathon and the supergalactic plane and supergalactic structure
by Canopus56 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

During the coming 2006 Messier Marathon observing frame, later this month, we will see a number of the brighter galaxies in the "Realm of the Galaxies" constellations - Leo, CVn and Coma B. These galaxies are not randomnly oriented, but are organized around the supergalactic plane. >From the observing perspective of DSO hunters, the supergalactic plane has meaning in terms of understanding the location of major groups of bright galaxies and their positional relationships. For example, in Milky Way galactic plane, where we are embedded inside the structure of the Milky Way, galactic DSOs (open clusters and planetary nebulae) are not randomnly distributed. They are grouped around the structure of the Milky Way plane. The following figure is a plot made with Cartes de Ciel and shows a consolidated, non-duplicative catalogue of approximately 340 Milky Way DSOs in Clark's, Messier's and Caldwell's lists, as seen from the North Galactic Pole - http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/Structure/GP1.jpg In this diagram, the circle is the galactic plane projected onto the celestial sphere. The FOV is about 270 degrees. The organization of the galactic DSOs around the Milky Way plane is apparent. Extragalactic bright galaxy DSOs are similarly organized around the "flattened pancake" supergalactic structure of de Vaucouleurs (1975). The following figure is a plot made with Cartes de Ciel and shows a consolidated, non-duplicative catalogue of approximately 500 galaxy objects in Clark's, Messier's, Caldwell's and Arp's Peculiar Galaxy lists, as seen from the North Galactic Pole - http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/Structure/SGP1.jpg In this figure, the white circle is the galactic plane. I have drawn in the supergalactic plane, using equatorial coordinates converted from the supergalactic by the Nasa/Ipac Extragalactic Database Coordinate Conversion Calculator. http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/forms/calculator.html In the figure (SGP1.jpg), you are looking at the edge of the supergalactic plane straight-on. As you can see, the supergalactic plane is rotated about 90 degrees away from the galactic plane. Most of the extragalactic DSOs plot like a scattergram, distributed on either side of the supergalactic plane line. The spring "Realm of the Galaxies" constellations - Leo, CVn and Coma B - can be seen near the center of the figure and the supergalactic plane. Some major galaxy superclusters are apparent, e.g. - the Virgo, the Coma, the Hercules, and the Leo superclusters. A similar grouping of extragalactic DSOs - the Perseus-Pisces and Pisces-Cetus Superclusters - can be seen in another galactic plane view - this time looking at the celestial sphere from the viewpoint of the south galactic pole in the constellation Sculptor - http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/Structure/SGP2.jpg That the Milky Way is embedded inside the "flattened pancake" of the local Virgo supercluster, supergalactic structure, like the galactic DSO figure shown above, is more apparent when the celestial sphere is viewed from the supergalactic north pole, as shown in the following figure - http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/Structure/SGP3.jpg In this figure, the supergalactic plane is seen projected onto the celestial sphere "face-on," as opposed to "edge-on" in a prior figure. The white vertical line is the Milky Way galactic plane. It is apparent that the bright DSO galaxies are grouped in some kind of structure organized along the supergalactic plane - just as Milky Way intra-galactic DSOs were groups around the Milky Way's galactic plane. By comparing this figure (SGP3.jpg) with the more detailed plots at Powell's Atlas of the Universe site - some of the supercluster regions shown in Powell's 3-D images can be associated with the equatorial celestial sphere projections shown in the above figure. http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/superc.html - containing - http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/leda.gif Prof. R.B. Tully, in his classic book - the Nearby Galaxies Atlas - color codes these DSO galaxies by their galaxy cluster and supercluster associations. If you have the time to look at this Atlas at your local university library, it is worth the trip to get some grasp of how the major spring galaxy DSOs are related in 3-D. The final figure, part of the spring equatorial celestial sphere covering the "Realm of the Galaxies" seen at an observing point at 41 deg N latitude, is shown with the supergalactic plane drawn in - http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/Structure/MNight1.jpg This is the portion of the equatorial celestial sphere seen about the time of the Messier Marathon from 41N. - Enjoy Canopus56 (Kurt) Tully, R.B. 1987: Nearby Galaxies Atlas. Cambridge Univ. Press. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1987nga..book.....T Marriott Library Call No. ML: Oversize Books/Journals,LvL 2 QB857 .T85 1987 (As of this posting the Marriott library copy is checked in.) de Vaucouleurs, G. 1975. Supergalactic studies. III - The supergalactic distribution of nearby groups of galaxies. IV - Systematic orientation of galaxy clouds relative to the supergalactic plane. 1975ApJ...202..610D http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1975ApJ...202..610D __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Here's a good idea
by Jim Cobb 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

We should establish a mailing list concerned with astronomy with a local Utah focus. We could call it, hmmm, let's see... Utah-Astronomy! What? There is already such a list?!? I haven't seen it for a while... Perhaps we should split into two lists: Utah-Astronomy Utah-Not-Really-About-Astronomy Jim

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Here's a good idea
by Michael Carnes 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

>Well, as moderator (thought loosely I will admit) I thought it was a >good relevant discussion. Besides, give it a warm, dry, clear week and it will be "who's up for the gravel pit?"

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Science Fair
by Michael Carnes 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

Daniel, As a long-suffering RedSox fan who's spent many hours in the temple called Fenway, I'm with you on that part of it. But I'm not keen on having a pillow play proxy to Dick Cheney. Unlike old deadeye Dick, the pillow may actually be qualified to be V.P. >The best solution would be to place a sofa cushion >face down in the middle of the floor, sit down next to >it and beat on it with a hockey stick, all the time >yelling, "I hate you Dick Cheney, I hate you >Halliburton". Keep it up until you can't lift your >arms up or you pass out. After that you need to >reflect on some of the positive aspects of the world >today. After all the Red Sox did finally win the >world series, after a decisive, crushing, humiliating, >pennant race victory over >the.....(arg)...(ick)....(gulp)...NEW YORK >YANKEES.........................................I hate >you George Steinbrenner....wham...wham...wham.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Science Fair
by Michael Carnes 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

Chuck, Tell your daughter I'm jealous. I grew up in a teensy little town in western NC. There wasn't a science fair for hundreds of miles. I'd read about them in Popular Science and just wish I could be there. Of course I still built projects (the Tesla coil was my best), but mainly for myself. Not only does your kid get to actually go to one, but she excels at it. Give her a pat on the back. > >Thanks, Kim. We are rather proud of the girl! >

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Science Fair/global warming
by diveboss＠xmission.com 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

Look, there are clear benefits to this global warming thing. As temperatures increase, we will probably see less of a need for coats and thus a decline in the fur coat trade. Won't need to club baby seals 'cause A), there won't be any ice left to chase them out on, and B) won't need for their fur to stay warm. Probably won't need to burn as many trees in the fireplaces either so the practice of harvesting trees to use for heat is gone. That will leave more trees to hug! Wahoo... Warmer temperatures mean less fireplaces relying on wood, coal and that nasty oil, so there will be less crap in the air. With warmer temperatures on the way, there will be less snow so there will be no need for tire chains and salt, which means less road damage, which means less road construction, which means less time spent sitting idle, wasting fuel, waiting for the flag girl to let you through. With warmer temperatures on the horizon, there will less of a need to let cars sit and warm up before heading off to work in the mornings because there won't be any more cold mornings. Warmer temperatures mean a decrease in ice and an increase in the oceans volume. Higher ocean levels mean new beaches, new areas to dive, less chance of having large cargo bearing ships getting hung up on shallow reefs which means less fuel needed to retrieve them. I mean when it comes right down to it, and a person steps back and takes an honest look at the pending disaster of global warming, the benefits are endless... Instead of railing against George Bush like some of you like to do, you should be thanking him. If you are correct and George Bush is to blame for global warming, then George Bush will ultimately be responsible for more trees, less polluted skies, more cute fury baby seals, no more fur coats, less road construction, less fuel and oil cosumption, higher sea levels, less California and New York which means less BS from either coast. ;) It would appear that ol' George and his administration may wind up the most earth friendly administration yet. Way to go George! Quoting daniel turner <outwest112(a)yahoo.com>: > > > --- diveboss(a)xmission.com wrote: > >> Here's a suggestion, eat more beef and less sprouts >> and beans! After all they >> are thought to be a big contributor to the methane >> gas part of the green >> house equation. Also, we need to ramp up our >> bombing strategeries and bomb >> the oil producing countries further into the stone >> age, where according to >> some on this list, we were much better off... ;) >> Here's looking forward to >> warmer times! >> > The best solution would be to place a sofa cushion > face down in the middle of the floor, sit down next to > it and beat on it with a hockey stick, all the time > yelling, "I hate you Dick Cheney, I hate you > Halliburton". Keep it up until you can't lift your > arms up or you pass out. After that you need to > reflect on some of the positive aspects of the world > today. After all the Red Sox did finally win the > world series, after a decisive, crushing, humiliating, > pennant race victory over > the.....(arg)...(ick)....(gulp)...NEW YORK > YANKEES.........................................I hate > you George Steinbrenner....wham...wham...wham. > > Thank you for sharing your feelings with us here at > Utah Astronomy and Holistic Wellness. > > DT > > > __________________________________________________ > 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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56 Per - a colorful after-work double winter double - Mar
by Canopus56 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

56 Per, currently favorably positioned (J042438.40+335736.0) for 41N op's, is visible in small refractors after sunset from urban light polluted skies. The Belmont Society Colorful Double Star List describes 56 Per as "gold/yellow" The primary of this binary is a v5.8 F4V star only 42 parsecs distant. The 56 Per binary at ~ 42 parsecs at G165.53-10.74 lies within the Local Bubble. This is a medium close binary with 4.5" of separation. Current CCDM data on 56 Per (CCDM 04246+3358, STT81) are: C PA Sep VMag A 5.9 B 030 4.5 8.7 56 Per is about 6 degs east of ksi Per and zet Per. A courtesy star hopping finder chart is provided at: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/finder/Per_56Starhop.jpg >From a light polluted urban setting, there are no significant asterisms to star hop between ksi or zet Per to 56 Per. 56 Per sits in a realtively empty space between Per and Aur. But 56 Per is located in an easily seen "hockey stick" asterim consisting of 56 Per, 55 Per, HIP20570 in the "bat" and 54 Per being the stick handle. See the finder chart. I first found this hockey stick asterim using 8x35 binos with a 5.5Â° TFOV. Once the position was mentally fixed with respect to ksi and zet Per, I used a 3Â° dot finder to mark off 6 degrees of easterly RA sweep. Using my lowest feasible magnification (22x) and greatest TFOV, I was able to nip one side of the hockey stick asterism and the center the 3 three stars of the "bat" - 56 Per, 55 Per and HIP20570 in the eyepiece. In a small alt-az 60mm refractor under urban Bortle class 8 mag 3.0 light-polluted urban skies at 22x, 56 Per appears as a single star - giving no hint of its binary character. The base of the "bat" - HIP20570 - appears as a fainter but fuzzy multiple. Applying more magnification down to 77x, 56 Per splits into two very pleasing - and to my vision - equal magnitude gold stars. The equal magnitude appearance is not consistent with the catalogue reported values. After all the work it takes to find 56 Per, it was pleasant suprise. However, to do this binary full justice, I'll have to revisit 56 Per with 5" to 10" of aperature. In contrast, HIP20570, in a light polluted setting, does not improve with more magnification. Its components are too faint to resolve against an urban light polluted sky. Current CCDM data for HIP20570 (CCDM04244+3418, STF533) , Epoch 2000, is: C PA Sep V A 7.2 B 061 19.6 8.7 C 190 110.3 ?.? While in the neighborhood, it may also be worth checking out zet Per (STF464, CCDM03541+3153) itself. This is a complex five component multiple. But I'll leave zet Per for another night. All-in-all, this was a nice 30-40 minutes of not-so-easy after-work beer-in-hand viewing at 41N. The Belmont Society Colorful Double Star list can be found at: http://www.belmontnc.4dw.net/dblstrs.htm - Canopus56 (Kurt) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Science Fair
by Chuck Hards 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

I just had to boast to my scientifically-inclined friends and correspondents, that tonight, my daughter was awarded a "Superior" ribbon (first place), as well as a "Best in Show" ribbon in her division at the Granite District science fair, for her research paper entitled "What are the causes and effects of Global Warming?"! Late last month she won a first place in her school, which entitled her to campaign the project at the district level. She was one of only two students from her school who went to District this year. Sorry but I just HAD to crow a bit. What a kid! Another pair of ribbons on the Hards family trophy wall! As an aside, I was a bit disheartened to see, out of hundreds of projects, only one related to astronomy. Mold and bacteria continue to be science-fair "gold"; electricity and magnetism were well-represented, and 2 related to paper-airplane aerodynamics caught my eye as well as one related to ballistics. There seemed to be a disproportionately high number of projects related to "recipe variations", foodstuffs comparisons, storage, and preparation, but I think this might be due to local cultural biases. I didn't see any projects related to the nutritional content of foods, the one project comparing sugar content of various colas doesn't really count. One student had a project that examined various fruit juices for anti-bacterial properties. I resisted the urge to tell her that if you just add a splash of vodka, they can all be anti-bacterial. Another project examined mumification and featured a dried perch- "fish jerky". All-in-all, though, a well-run event by the science staff of Granite District. My appreciation and thanks to all those underpaid, overworked science educators. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: Science Fair
by Chuck Hards 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

Thanks, Kim. We are rather proud of the girl! Her science teacher this year seems unmotivated and just "going through the motions". Last year's teacher was much more enthusiastic. Her fellow students are, for the most part, uninterested in any aspect of science. They're still a bit young, yet, with only the confirmed nerds out of the closet at age 13 or 14. Maybe one kid in fifty, one in a hundred having any interest in earth science (or any science). The judges, culled from all over the district, apparently thought her work excellent. They were with her for a good fifteen, perhaps twenty minutes- and with hundreds of projects to judge, I think that indicates a desire to examine the project in as in-depth a manner as possible. > From: "Kim" <kimharch(a)cut.net> > Chuck, may I add my congratulations to your daughter > and you? How well were > your daughter's conclusions received by her > teachers, fellow students, and > other parents who took the time to see her > presentation? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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