May 2007 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Walter Schirra, 1923 - 2007
by Patrick Wiggins 03 May '07

03 May '07

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/may/HQ_07100_Schirra_Dies.html pw

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Sunspot
by Ann Blanchard 03 May '07

03 May '07

I wanted to thank Kurt for giving the heads up about the sunspot. We looked at it yesterday around 6 p.m. along with four neighbors who wandered over to see what we were up to now. In an unscientific mode, we all decided the pattern inside the spot looked suspiciously like at duck face grinning at us. How long do sunspots typically stay visible? Thanks again! Ann M. Blanchard Executive Assistant to the Assoc. VP Undergraduate Studies 110 Sill University of Utah (801) 581-3188 a.blanchard(a)ugs.utah.edu

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Re:[Utah-astronomy] Favorite Salt Lake Astro-Weather Links for 2007
by Kurt Fisher 03 May '07

03 May '07

Daniel wrote: > This is my favorite site. It runs from Great > Basin in the lower left to Wedge Overlook > in the lower right and north to Idaho. At the eyepiece is definitely the best "site" to be at and there certainly is more dark skies per capita in northern Utah than pretty much anywhere else in the country. With the weather patterns being unsettled this year, it's nice to be able to check out the skies before burning fossilized dinosaurs at $3.20 a gallon. Too bad there is no web camera that really shows the current sky conditions in Tooele and Stansbury. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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Re:[Utah-astronomy] Favorite Salt Lake Astro-Weather Links for 2007
by daniel turner 02 May '07

02 May '07

This is my favorite site. It runs from Great Basin in the lower left to Wedge Overlook in the lower right and north to Idaho. DT http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/current/meso.nwut.php __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Favorite Salt Lake Astro-Weather Links for 2007
by Kurt Fisher 02 May '07

02 May '07

Enjoy - Kurt ============== Weather forecasting NOAA Conus (Continential United States) Graphical Maps - IR Satellite Image Loop http://www.weather.gov/sat_tab.php?image=ir - Conus Graphical - Sky Cover Forecast http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sectors/conusLoop.php - Conus Forecast Maps (Fronts and precip - same as maps in the newspaper) http://www.weather.gov/outlook_tab.php" target="_blank Jet Stream, current and forecast (California Regional Weather Center) http://virga.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html KSL - Current doppler radar and local forecast http://www.ksl.com Weather web cameras (for those in windowless offices) SLC U of U looking west to Kennecott http://www.met.utah.edu/ KUTV - Points away from Sun - west in morning and east in afternoon - 24hr timeloop http://instacam.com/InstaCAM/imagelist_by_week.asp?id=KUTVT North Salt Lake bench pointing west http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/camera/single/NSL.West.php Tooele South Mountain west to Rush Valley http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/camera/single/SouthMountain.php - Web cams, Utah generally http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/camera/ Seeing - Canadian Metro. Office - North American Seeing Forecast http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/astro/seeing_e.html - Clearsky Clock - Salt Lake http://cleardarksky.com/c/SaltLakeUTkey.html?1 - Clearsky Clock - SPOC http://cleardarksky.com/c/SPOC2UTkey.html?1 - Clearsky Clock - Heber - Mound City (Gravel Pit) http://cleardarksky.com/c/MndCtObUTkey.html?1 - Clearsky Clock - Unitas - Trout Creek http://cleardarksky.com/c/TrtCrkOskey.html?1 - Clearsky Clock - National http://cleardarksky.com/csk/index.html - Utah PM-10s http://www.airquality.utah.gov/HAPs/lead/index.htm - Salt Lake Humidity http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KSLC.html - NOAA SLC http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/ - Satellite Fire Detection (Smoke from forest fires during summer) http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/hms.html Time and Moon rise-set - Current UTC http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl - Current LST http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/sidereal.html - Moon rise set http://www3.telus.net/lmcnish/darksky/index.htm Other stuff - Limiting magnitude calculator - Schaefer method http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/astromath/SchaeferLMCalc.h… - Cloud types and atmospheric optics http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/home.rxml http://www.cloudman.com/ http://www.atoptics.co.uk/ _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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Chuck in Btfl tonight? (Laser)
by Patrick Wiggins 02 May '07

02 May '07

I was up doing some night flying tonight when I heard other pilots reporting lasers hitting their aircraft over Bountiful. For some strange reason I immediately thought of Chuck. :) But seriously, we all know Chuck would not do that but I'm curious if anyone here happened to see aerial laser activity around 10 p.m.? Clear skies! Patrick

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Re: Portable power supply
by Kurt Fisher 01 May '07

01 May '07

Patrick wrote, > When the "Low Power" alarm went off on the power pack > I noted the time. Crude but efficient. :) Ahh, low-tech is the best-tech. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Libel to get interesting... :)
by daniel turner 01 May '07

01 May '07

>Yes, levity. Now you're getting it... Welcome back! ;) I've always known that when the student is ready, the true Zen master will appear. But Guy Malmborg?? Scary thought. DT __________________________________________________ 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] Portable power supply
by Kurt Fisher 01 May '07

01 May '07

Kurt asked the expert lurkers, > Q. for expert electronic's lurkers: > Is there way using a simple volt/ohm meter to determine the > discharge state of the automotive battery that I use to power > my scope? Currently, I roughly judge the state of discharge > by looking at how many amps my battery recharger shows when > it is first plugged in. On further reading and web surfing, I guess the way to size the needed battery is to: 1) Add up the total amps consumed by your mount and other gear. 2) Take the 60% of the battery's amp hour rating (for a cold weather and a general fudge factor). 3) Divide #2 by #1 to get the probable number of hours your battery will last. Example: If a battery has an amp hour rating of 17 amps and you have gear that draws 4 amps, 17 amps / 4 amps = 4.25 hours. The battery can carry a 4 amp load for 4 1/4 hours before it fully discharges to a 10.5 volt level. To determine the discharge state of a 12 volt battery (usually about 13.8 volts fully charged), plug the mount in so there is a load on the battery. Using a basic volt-ohm meter, measure the voltage across the two battery terminals. About 13 volts is fully charged, 10.5 volts is fully discharged. You can measure the likely percent of drain on the battery over time by plotting the battery's voltage - again always while under a load - as it declines towards 10.5 volts. This will give you a practical plot of the likely number of hours your battery will run your gear. To the electrically knowledgable, does this sound about right? - Kurt P.S. - I could not find any way to convert the automotive battery reserve capacity rating to an amp hour estimate. Any ideas? The best one I had was: The reserve cranking minutes for an automotive battery is based on a 25 amp load. So my 51R automotive battery has 70 minutes of cranking reserve. 25 amps / ( 70 mins * 1 hr / 60 mins ) =~ 21 amp / hours. See - http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/amp_hours.asp _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Libel to get interesting... :)
by diveboss＠xmission.com 01 May '07

01 May '07

Chuck, what was your first clue that what I wrote was tongue in cheek? You know, every time something is mentioned about guns, blood or bullets, my name is mentioned. I have been around the block, so-to-speak, and I have the keen ability to differentiate between those things that are said in jest and those that are not. Including the things you, yourself say. It's all a part of being grown up and being a member of a group comprised of varying personalities. If you are only going to associate with folks on a serious note, you will lose out. And no, I didn't just call you a whiny little brat. ;) Quoting Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com>: > Obviously this is tongue-in-cheek. It would surely get Patrick's license > revoked and probably more jail time for the vigilantes than the idiots > spotting aircraft with their laser. > > In retrospect, perhaps libel is too strong a word. But it is irritating > that I am the subject of such jokes, when clearly I have not spent as much > money on my laser pointers as others on this list, have used them at > star-parties but twice- briefly-, have always gone to great lengths to use > them safely, and even tried for almost 2 years to test a batch in order to > gain some real, usable data for the prospective purchaser. Tests that only > a handful of others have ever taken seriously and expressed an interest in > participating or helping. There's a mistake I won't make again. So excuse > me if I just don't find any humor in bringing up my name when some moron > spots an aircraft. Those tin-foil-hat UFO seeking imbeciles are out playing > with lasers more than astronomers anyway- and from the hills above > Bountiful, coincidentally. Lets think of them next time this happens, OK? > > Thanks to the times we live in, some things just aren't funny anymore. > There's a real chance that a joke will bring a visit from Homeland Security. > > > On 5/1/07, diveboss(a)xmission.com <diveboss(a)xmission.com> wrote: >> >> I would be willing to ride shotgun with you Patrick. We could fly >> across the Wasatch front and put the kibosh on some rude laser users >> with water balloons, bowling balls or... ;) And, I would condone it! :) >> >> >> Quoting Bob Moore <BMoore(a)commercecrg.com>: >> >>> I am thinking a good supply of water balloons in the passengers seat >>> might deter that problem. >> > _______________________________________________ > 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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