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

Gallery update
by Patrick Wiggins 23 Sep '07

23 Sep '07

After an additional several hours of work Cynthia has the U-A Gallery transferred to its new home and working again. Please check it over and and post about anything that may not be quite right. Kudos to Cynthia are welcome too. :) patrick

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I'm confused
by Patrick Wiggins 22 Sep '07

22 Sep '07

Well, it just clouded over so I can't take any more data so I just created a wiki account (very simple to do BTW) but now I'm confused. I now have links to 3 Utah-Astronomy pages: 1. http://www.utahastronomy.com 2. http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/main.php 3. http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy I understand that #2 is intended to replace the gallery that used to be linked to from the top of #3. But, is #1 intended to replace #3? Is #3 going away? Confused

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Gallery
by Cynthia Blue 21 Sep '07

21 Sep '07

Okay.. well, still coming. :) I moved the domain to my host, and it finally transferred. I'm playing around with the idea of having a wiki... and maybe some forums, and the gallery. What does everyone think? I haven't restured the backups yet but if you check out http://www.utahastronomy.com and http://www.utahastronomy.com/gallery/ You'll see the progress. Cyn -- http://www.collierescueut.org/ Elsinore Lucilla Aurelius ASCA-CD RA CGC CH Pembroke Faded Glory VC AXP AJP RE HT CGC Angel Pumpkin Spice Lady DPP CGC Spirit Chasers Spice NA NAJ WVN CGC http://www.tiptail.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Gallery (it's back!)
by Cynthia Blue 21 Sep '07

21 Sep '07

Thanks for letting me know, I'll go delete the duplicates. If anyone has problems or questions let me know. This is version 2 of Gallery, which has some differences from Version 1. :) And no one has changed the wiki yet! Get to it! Chop chop! ;) Cynthia On 9/21/07, Rob Ratkowski Photography <ratkwski(a)hawaii.rr.com> wrote: > > Other than a double spread for Deb and me, all works and looks good. > Thanks Cynthia > > > > aloha > 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 > -- http://www.collierescueut.org/ Elsinore Lucilla Aurelius ASCA-CD RA CGC CH Pembroke Faded Glory VC AXP AJP RE HT CGC Angel Pumpkin Spice Lady DPP CGC Spirit Chasers Spice NA NAJ WVN CGC http://www.tiptail.com

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Fundraising
by Kim 21 Sep '07

21 Sep '07

I was a bit surprised to see that the purpose of the recent star party in Tooele was to raise money for the Tooele HS athletic department. As a SLAS member, I’ve never objected to public schools, especially elementary schools using star parties for fundraising purposes because of the general and universal (no pun intended) nature of the educational experience at public schools. However, I do object to special purpose star parties for special interest groups, even if they are part of the public school system. I don’t recall if this issue has ever been addressed in the past, but I think that it should be addressed now. I oppose SLAS’s involvement for such purposes. Yes, I admit it may have a bit to do with my disdain for organized sports, but more than that I see it as a bad precedent and a poor use of SLAS members’ time and resources. If anyone else feels the same way, let’s have an open debate about this at our next SLAS meeting. Any Board members listening? (reading, or whatever one does with email messages…) Kim Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.1/963 - Release Date: 8/20/2007 5:44 PM

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Get your jet pack - only $155,000-$200,000
by Ann House 21 Sep '07

21 Sep '07

Jet Packs Finally on Sale By Erik Sofge [image: Photograph Popular Mechanics] To some extent, everyone's in the market for a jet pack. But since Bell Labs built the first rocket belt (the correct, if less exciting, name) in 1953, potential buyers have been stymied by two problems: Rocket belts aren't for sale, and even prototypes run on modern-day fuel (as opposed to whatever the Jetsons use) — which means rocket belts can weigh upwards of 100 pounds, with only enough fuel to stay aloft for under a minute. Now, a pair of companies have solved one of these problems — rocket belts are for sale. Mexican start-up Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana (TAM) offers its custom-built TAM Rocket Belt for $250,000, which includes flight and maintenance training. On a full tank of hydrogen peroxide the belt weighs 124 to 139 pounds (the bigger the pilot, the bigger the belt), and provides 30 seconds of flight. TAM's sole competitor is Jetpack International, a Colorado-based company that sells what it calls "the world's longest-flying jet pack." Technically speaking, it's true — the hydrogen-peroxide-burning Jet Pack H202 can stay in the air for 33 seconds, 3 seconds longer than TAM's model. The H202 weighs 139 pounds, and is competitively priced at $155,000, flight classes and all. Jetpack International founder Troy Widgery is the first to point out the drawbacks of current short-flight rocket belts. "If something goes wrong, you can get killed," Widgery says. "Thirty-three seconds of fuel makes an inexperienced pilot twitchy." The solution? Ditch the rocket belt, and build a bona fide jet pack (okay, jet belt). Widgery plans to release the T73 Turbine by the end of the year; it's a $200,000 model that will burn jet fuel, allowing it to stay airborne for 19 minutes. Not to be outdone, TAM is working on a propane-burning jet belt, though it hasn't said when it will be available. While swapping inert hydrogen peroxide for propane or Jet-A fuel has obvious drawbacks, jet belts would be, for many, a childhood dream come true. "With 19 minutes you can take things slower," Widgery says. "You aren't spending the whole flight thinking about where to land." We'll take his word for it. *JET PACK H202 *Top speed: 70 mph Flight time: 33 seconds Price: $155,000 *TAM ROCKET BELT *Top speed: More than 60 mph Flight time: 30 seconds Price: $250,000

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Finally nabbed my namesake, (4099 Wiggins)
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Sep '07

21 Sep '07

(4099) Wiggins is finally up high enough for me to get its picture. Alas, it's so low it only barely clears my horizon so the picture was only partial aperture (hence its being so fuzzy). But at least I finally snagged it. Bottom of this page: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/PATRICKW04.HTML or go direct to: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/keep/patrickw/PATRICKW1065.JPG patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Gallery
by Naz & David 20 Sep '07

20 Sep '07

Cyndy, Thanks for doing this, much appreciated. I think a utah astronomy wik (I had to look it up) would be great! Cheers David -- canis effodio ortus perussi pipio cattus occumbo fur undique in domus

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Lights Out
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 20 Sep '07

20 Sep '07

Who's assignment was it to turn off the moon last night, between 9-10 PM? Brite moon all the street lights still on: Did anyone notice any night sky improvement last night? Erik

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Posted Photos
by Robert Taylor 20 Sep '07

20 Sep '07

I had a few requests (2 I think?) to post some of the pictures I've taken recently, it's a mix of Night and day shoots including some recent shots from Capital Reef. Ken Warner was kind enough to get them posted on the SLAS website under my name. Thanks for the work Ken! Robert Taylor

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