February 2008 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Energy costs and street lighting - a return to urban dark skies?
by Canopus56 16 Feb '08

16 Feb '08

>From another newsgroup - Maybe there is a silver lining to the high cost of electricity - reducing light pollution in the urban environment. Beginning in January 2007, an English council started turning off all but minimal essential service street lighting (out of a total of 120,000 street lamps) between midnight and 5am due to the high cost of electricity. Plug pulled on all-night lighting 7/14/2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/5179610.stm The council was planning to pull the plug on about 25 linear miles of street lighting in the wee hours of the morning being in Jan. 2007. In 2006, a London newspaper opined based on the old scare tactic that there is an association between street lighting and crime, i.e. that there will be a crime wave: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23436692-details/New+crimewave+f… A followup web search did not indicate any crime wave occured in Essex since last year. Essex County Council Website on street lighting http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/gui.jsp?sectionOid=172&ch… The general scope of the pilot program actually implemented in January 2007 is unclear or its current status and outcome. - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

2 1

Article on Alder Planetarium
by Canopus56 16 Feb '08

16 Feb '08

>From another newsgroup - An interesting NY Times artile on Chicago's Alder Planetarium http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/arts/design/16plan.html I liked the photo of the antique paper planisphere in a book: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/15/arts/20080215_PLANET_SLIDESHOW_… - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

1 0

TV commercial with real telescopes
by Patrick Wiggins 16 Feb '08

16 Feb '08

I think this is the first TV commercial I've ever seen that uses "real" telescopes (not department store junkers) in a realistic setting. I'm glad I drive a Toyota. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGosTkosR8I patrick

5 4

Local eclipse graphic
by Patrick Wiggins 16 Feb '08

16 Feb '08

Weber State's John Sohl posted this link on the OAS list (thanks John). It's to a graphic for next week's eclipse using Mountain time. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/image/ TLE2008Feb21-MST.GIF patrick

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Camera help
by Canopus56 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

Dan, Constellation and lunar photography is a good place to start. The main limitation for tripod work is drift. You've got maybe 45 secs before the stars begin to turn egg shaped. While it is clear, trying to take a view photos of the Moon with a tripod mounted camera is a good idea. Something to do ASAP, in view of the possible full eclipse of the Moon on the 20th. This will be your last opportunity to image a full eclipse of the Moon in Utah for some years. (Cross-fingers on the weather.) I haven't imaged any constellations for a while and am happy to meet with you this weekend at Lt. Mtn. pass to take a few quick pics of constellations or the Moon. You'll need some kind of zoom lens for the Moon. My phone number is in the SLAS directory under Kurt Fisher. If you don't have any image processing software, here's some useable freeware from NASA that will get you going until you decide to buy a commercial package. http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftools/fv - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Camera help
by Canopus56 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

Dan, The group could better help you if you told us the type of camera you are working with. Are you wanting to take photos with a camera mounted on a tripod or are you using a telescope? - Kurt P.S. - Short version: Mount your camera on a tripod and put it on a "B" setting. At ASA 800, exposure constellations for about 30-90 seconds. Basic overviews, star trails, meteors, exposure times, and Photoshop digital processing: Sky & Telescope's Astrophotography Basics How to page http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/astrophotography Jerry Lodriguss' Astrophotography site - ( simply the best astrophotography website) including - http://www.astropix.com/INDEX.HTM Article index http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/TOC_AP.HTM Star Trails on a Tripod http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/I06/I0601/I0601.HTM Planets and Constellations on a Tripod http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/I06/I0602/I0602.HTM Meteor Photography on a Tripod http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/I06/I0604/I0604.HTM Lodriguss's "learning curve" article http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/I01/I01.HTM Digital Techniques (using Adobe Photoshop to process pictures) http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/TOC_DIG.HTM Astrophotography Basics, Kodak Customer Service Pamphlet P150, Eastman Kodak, Rochester, 2001 - everything you want to know, all in one place. Print the pdf file version off. http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/p150/p150Contents… Micheal Covington's site, author of "Astrophotography for Amateurs", including - http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/ Freeware exposure time calculator http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/astro/astrosoft.html Jeffrey R. Charles website, author of "Practical Astrophotography" including - http://www.eclipsechaser.com/#astrotec Charles's film exposure table http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/astrotec/aphotsmt.htm#expose Article "Adventures in Astrophotography with a Small Telescope" http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/astrotec/aphotsmt.htm Fred "Mr. Eclipse" Lunar Eclipse Photography website. One of the better web pages for lunar eclipses and suggestions for eclipse photographs that can be taken with a tripod mounted SLR. Includes good exposure tables for eclipses. http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/LEphoto.html ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

2 1

"Engaged" satellite may be visible
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

Heavens Above is showing USA 193 will be making a good pass over northern Utah Sunday evening. At magnitude 3.4 it could be tough to see but considering the "buzz" about this bird it might be fun just to try and see it before it comes down. For local sighting circumstances go to http://www.heavens-above.com Select your location Click on "Select a satellite from the database" Enter Satellite name: USA 193 Note that because the bird is getting so low drag is increasing much more quickly than higher satellites so the predicted times could be off a minute or so. patrick

1 0

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Obs Report 2008-2-10 7-8UT 12-1MST
by Canopus56 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

Tyler asked: > I would like to try imaging a few double stars > at some point. Do you have any suggestions for > colorful doubles that might be photogenic? I have two lists - one in Excel that covers a compiled list of color contrast doubles from various sources above -38 declination. A second is in Astroplanner. For that list I extracted doubles listing color contrasts from Haas' _Double Stars for Small Telescopes_ (Sky Pub 2007) that pass within 20 degrees of the zenith for a 41N observing point. The Astroplanner list can be ported to Excel. What's your pleasure for a transfer format? Or I can give you a short list of two or three suggestions for the current month. It was cold, but still nice to stretch my legs for an hour. - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

4 7

Colorful doubles for Feb 2008
by Canopus56 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

In a prior thread, Tyler wrote on 2-10-2008: <snip> I would also appreciate a few suggestions for > the coming month, if you have any recommendations > that are particularly striking. Sorry for the delay in responding. Here's a list of the current sky: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/tours/200802ColorfulDouble… Almost of these are on the Belmont Colorful Double Star list: http://www.jouscout.com/astro/belmont/belmontd.htm My table is filter for those that are or will be above 60 degrees altitude between 9pm and 11pm MST near LST 6:00-8:00. I'll get the rest of the returns mentioned in my prior post in a few days. - Kurt P.S. - Here are some images by Damien Peach of color contrast binaries http://www.damianpeach.com/binaries.htm - and a few by Anthony Ayiomamitis http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Star-Binaries.htm - and another gallery http://www.thedirks.org/astro/astro-star.html ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

2 1

ISS / STS tonight (Thursday)
by Daren Campbell 15 Feb '08

15 Feb '08

Thank you Patrick for this heads-up. I made it a point to look for it last night with my wife and 5 year-old. We were all found it a wonderful sight. It was very bright as it appeared in the west and remained bright as it climbed to what was almost mid-sky until it finally faded far in the southeast. We found it very fascinating. Author: Patrick Wiggins Date: 2008-02-14 13:51 2008-02-14 20:51 -700 UTC To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] ISS / STS tonight (Thursday) 7:00:00 rising in the NW 7:03:00 high in the NE (some lower as seen from S. Utah) 7:04:00 setting in the SE patrick

1 0