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

Fwd: Astro spam that may be of interest to some
by Richard Tenney 10 May '08

10 May '08

--- Russ or Cheryl Genet <galileoslegacy(a)msn.com> wrote: > From: Russ or Cheryl Genet <galileoslegacy(a)msn.com> > To: <retenney(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: Calif. & Hawaii Telescopes/Astronomical > Conferences! > Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 04:01:15 +0000 > > > Richard TenneyUtah Valley Astronomy Association Dear > Richard, > It is my pleasure to invite you and members of your > club to attend the Small Telescope & Astronomical > Research (STAR) Conference, June 19 - 22, 2008, > which will be held in historic San Luis Obispo on > CaliforniaÂs scenic central coast. You are also > invited to attend GalileoÂs Legacy, December 31, > 2008 - January 5, 2009, at the Makaha Resort, > Waianae, Hawaii. Please see either > www.STARConference.org or www.GalileosLegacy.org for > details. You are welcome to be a panel discussion > member, present a poster, or just attend and enjoy > (and there are still a few speaker slots open). > Attached is a flyer to assist you in bringing these > conference opportunities to the attention of your > club members. > > These two conferences will not only explore the > development of smaller telescopes and their > instruments, but the many areas of scientific > research by both amateur and professional > astronomers where small telescopes excel. These > conferences will also consider how astronomical > research by undergraduate studentsÂeven high school > studentsÂprovides, simultaneously, a unique > scientific education, a career boost, and modest > contributions to the advancement of science, making > these conferences of particular interest to students > and educators alike. Conference proceedings, > included in the registration, will be published by > the Collins Foundation Press as two affordable books > available by way of advanced orders at reduced > prices for those unable to attend the conferences. > > All participants, including speakers, pay their own > registration and other costs, although funds are > being raised for several high school student > scholarships. CaliforniaÂs central coast features > pleasant weather in June, as does the leeward side > of Oahu in January, so I encourage you to bring your > family or friends for a vacation on or near the > California or Hawaii beaches. Conference schedules > are relaxed, with plenty of time off to spend with > your family (or talk telescopes or astronomy with > your colleagues). Guests are welcome at all the > conference social events and evening talks. The > California conference features a mid-conference tour > of the Central California Coast and Hearst Castle, > while the Hawaii conference features a > mid-conference day off with an evening luau and a > post conference tour of the Big Island and the > telescopes on Mauna Kea. > > I would welcome a call from you to discuss your > participation in the STAR Conference or GalileoÂs > Legacy. I hope to see you at the STAR Conference in > California this coming June, at GalileoÂs Legacy in > Hawaii the following New YearÂs Eve, or at both! > > With warmest regards (and aloha), > > Russ > > Russell M. Genet, PhDResearch Scholar in Residence, > California Polytechnic State UniversityAdjunct > Professor of Astronomy, Cuesta CollegePhone (805) > 438-3305, Fax (805) 438-3355russmgenet(a)aol.com, www.orionobservatory.org ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0

Garden City adopts dark-sky agenda
by Chuck Hards 09 May '08

09 May '08

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=3270350

1 0

OT - Susan G. Komen Foundation Race For The Cure
by Chuck Hards 09 May '08

09 May '08

Please forgive this intrusion folks, but I am taking part in the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure on May 10th in Salt Lake City, raising funds to help find a cure for breast cancer. Yes, I'm asking for you to pry open your pocketbooks and donate if at all possible. Donations are fully tax-deductable. Please use this link to donate under my name: https://www.active.com/donate/komenslc2008/kslcCHards Any amount, no matter how small, is important and welcome. There you'll also find links to the Komen Foundation homepage and other resources and information. I did this 2 years ago and was overwhelmed by the generosity many of you showed. Last year knee injuries kept me from running. This year I won't be posting a competitive time as the old knees will never be the same, but this is important enough that I make a good try and if I'm hobbling when I cross the finish line, its a small sacrifice to help find a cure. Heck, it's worth a small donation just to see Chuck in pain, right? lol! Thanks for your time, back to astronomy. -Chuck

2 2

OT: Lightning storm in a volcanic plume
by Chuck Hards 08 May '08

08 May '08

OK, slightly off-topic; earth is a planet, after all...but these shots are too cool: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_artic… The ground shots remind me of Mt. St. Helens. I had a good friend living downwind, in the ash plume, when he was in college.

1 0

Patrick's tools
by Jerry Foote 08 May '08

08 May '08

Hi Patrick, Well, I think that from now on I'm just going to start asking you how to take great images. M-51 knocked my socks off. As an aside, could you provide links to the freeware you mentioned (PicFix and Scrubber)? Thanks. Jerry Foote ScopeCraft, Inc. 4175 E. Red Cliffs Dr. Kanab, UT 84741 435-216-5450 jfoote(a)scopecraft.com

2 1

M101 in color
by Tyler Allred 08 May '08

08 May '08

Hi all. I just added a new color version of M101 using the crappy old color data. It will do for now, until I get to add some better data. I decided to go over the top and went for MAJOR COLOR on this one.. high intensity and saturation !!!!! http://tinyurl.com/6orpr3 Let me know what you think. Cheers, Tyler PS - The gallery did it to me again.. No midsized image. At least this link works. _____________________________________________

3 2

M-51
by Patrick Wiggins 07 May '08

07 May '08

Played hookey from taking data tonight and played around with M-51. http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/main.php?g2_itemId=10620&g2_page=2 patrick

5 10

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Collimation of a Dobsonian
by Canopus56 06 May '08

06 May '08

Richard wrote: > What seems like a simple solution to dust on > primary mirrors -- a piece of saran wrap > gently laid over the primary to act as a > dust barrier when stored, I've been told > is a really bad idea, . . . I've been thinking about trying vacum storage bags next year for a 10" Newt. The largest that they come in is 48" x 33" - too short from my Newt, but large enough to hold an SCT. http://www.merchantamerica.com/spacesaverbag/index.php?ba=home For a 10" Newt, I has thinking of wrapping the scope in 2 bags and then duct taping the seal and not evacuating any air. For other scopes that would fit in a 48" x 33" bag, you would not pull all the air out of the bag due to the crush hazard. Remove just enough to assure that the bag is sealed. Haven't actually done it yet - just an idea. - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

2 2

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Collimation of a Dobsonian
by Raeburn Kennard 05 May '08

05 May '08

This discussion of collimation has been fascinating! I've owned my 10" Odyssey Dobsonian for almost 20 years, and I have never collimated it, unless I did so when I first got it (which I definitely cannot remember). Indeed, I'm sure I wouldn't know how to begin - even after reading all of these wonderful posts. If my scope is "off," I'm too much of a rank amateur to know the difference. I use my scope to look at planets, the moon, an occasional comet, and various Messier objects and easy double stars. Mostly, I use it to dazzle my family or some school, church or scout group. Since my limited knowledge is slightly greater than theirs (or my misinformation is beyond their detection) they think I'm a great astronomer - as often as not they call me an "astrologer." So, I read Chuck Hards' posting: "But if you are mainly observing deep-sky objects at low to medium powers with wide-field eyepieces, collimation can be off by a surprising amount with no noticeable effects on the imagery," and I figure I can probably go another 20 years without worrying about collimation. But then, in that same entry he said: "A fast system (say, f/4) of long effective focal length (i.e., large aperture), used for imaging at high power or planetary viewing or very close double star splitting, should be collimated very precisely," and I wonder if any of that applies to me, and if I should think about collimation. Unfortunately, I don't even know the f/ value of my scope. (It's a red tube about 4 ft. long with a 10" diameter mirror. Does that help?) I do look at planets (especially Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Mars), but usually not with my high-power lense. I haven't noticed any difficulty in getting a crisp image by fine-tuning the focuser, so I don't know if my views would improve with collimation or not. Any advice from any of you REAL experts to an admitted rank amateur like me? To give you an idea of my lack of sophistication, when I first got my scope, I couldn't even figure out how to focus it. Patrick Wiggins took the time to patiently explain how to extend the focussing tube. Duh! Patrick, you're the greatest! Raeburn G. Kennard 12082 Joey Park Place Draper, UT 84120 (801) 321-4867 rkennard(a)kmclaw.com

5 6

Jupiter - Callisto ECR obs note
by Canopus56 05 May '08

05 May '08

Was: [Utah-astronomy] Jupiter storms - GRS characteristics I set up a small refractor in the early hours in the city to observe Callisto exiting Jupiter's shadow about 1 Jovian disk from the planet. At 4:05am, Callisto could first be seen as an averted object at about mag 8. By 4:16am it had brightened to its usual +0.5 mag of brightness of Europa. A distinct "wink on" during the eclipse reappearance did not occur, probably because Callisto's apparent position was in line with the south polar region of of Jupiter. Callisto's tilt with respect to Jupiter's equator is about 0.3 degrees. Jupiter's shadow may not have been as defined for this eclipse reappearance of Callisto. Next obs op is an eclipse disappearance of Ganymede at 6/12/2008 2:45am MDT. Ganymede will be floating next to Io about 1 Jovian disk to the west of Jupiter and then suddenly wink out. For more details, see Table 1 at: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/tours/JMEcl2008/JupEclSP.h… - Kurt On 4/29/2008 I wrote: > An animating web cam video opportunity of the > reappearance of Callisto from Jupiter's shadow, > more than one Jupiter diameter of Jupiter from > its disk, exists for the Intermountain West > of the U.S. on May 5, 2008 at 4:12am MDT (10:12 > UT). Jupiter will have two visible moons, then > Callisto will pop into view some distance from > the planet's disk. Details are available in > Table 1 at: > http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/tours/JMEcl2008/JupEclSP.h… ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

1 0