February 2009 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Society for Astronomical Sciences/AAVSO Joint Meeting: Call for Abstracts II
by Jerry Foote 09 Feb '09

09 Feb '09

Hi Everyone, The joint meeting of the Society for Astronomical Sciences and AAVSO will be held May 19-21, 2009 at Big Bear, CA. This is the week before U.S. Memorial Day weekend and the annual RTMC Astronomy Expo held just a few miles from Big Bear. Abstracts from professionals and amateurs are now being accepted for proposed oral and poster presentations at the SAS/AAVSO meeting. Talks - for now - are scheduled to be be 20 minutes, including Q&A. We will have PowerPoint facilities (no overhead projectors, however). We prefer that files be pre-loaded onto our computer to minimize switch-over problems. The files can be loaded the day of the presentation, so you don't have to worry about having your presentation done in days in advance (does _anybody_ really do that?). Topics can be on anything of general interest to the SAS and/or AAVSO membership regarding observing, research, and pro-am collaborations. These include, but are not limited to, variable star observations (CCD/visual) and modeling, spectroscopy, asteroid photometry and modeling, general photometry, observing techniques, equipment, data reduction and analysis, and so on. The presentations _must_ be non-commercial in nature. We are hoping to stream audio and PowerPoint slides in real time. Those details are still being worked out and so there is no guarantee at this time. The deadline for submitting abstracts is March 13, 2009. The deadline for final papers is May 3, 2009. If you have any questions or would like to submit an abstract, please send an email to program_at_SocAstroSci_dot_org This email address sends the message to the entire program committee and assures that you will get a response. Abstracts can be in simple text as part of an email or a text/MS Word attachment. Do not include any graphics, tables, etc. There is no limit on the abstract save what common sense would dictate. However, brevity is not the name of the game, either, since the hand out at this year's meeting will be only the abstracts with the full papers provided as PDFs on a CD. It would be good, if reporting results of analysis or research, to include some highlights of those in the abstract. Please make sure that you use an email address that is "open", i.e., one to which we can reply without having to join buddy lists, wait for approval, etc., and is one that that you check frequently. We will be posting registration information, workshop topics and times, and more details on submitting final papers on the SAS web site shortly. I will send an email when that information is available. Finally, if you are part of other lists or organizations where this meeting would be of some interest, please pass it along. In particular, we would like to see a good representation from the professional community. Jerry Foote Program Committee and Trustee Society for Astronomical Sciences www.socastrosci.org/ ScopeCraft, Inc. 4175 E. Red Cliffs Dr. Kanab, UT 84741 435-899-1255 jfoote(a)scopecraft.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Report on disassembly and cleaning a GM8
by Canopus56 09 Feb '09

09 Feb '09

One of the best service to the community I have ever seen on the web was a Greek imager who posted a video (65Mb) showing his dissembly, greasing and reassembly of a Synta EQ6 mount. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but on these "how to" things, a video is worth a thousand pictures. Way to go, Jim. Tackling a mount disassembly shows some guts (or atleast more than I have). - Kurt P.S. - A note on the grease. There are some kinds of grease that will turn into a solid below freezing temperature. Other kinds are made to stay viscous down to 0 deg F.

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First Light in a snow storm
by Jim Gibson 09 Feb '09

09 Feb '09

I had first light this morning with the StarShoot AutoGuider (SSAG). Literally, I had first light on a street light across the way. The SSAG couldn’t stay on it though. The GM8 tracked to its west and in the lower corner the PHD said, “Star Lost.” I thought that when the red square got to the edge of the street light that it would capture it, but it flashed green for a second, posted the x,y coordinates, then lost it again. The main thing is that I got to go through the whole process. I hooked the camera up to my Lumicon 80mm f/3.75 guide scope. It is the finder scope on my TeleKit. I hooked up the SSAG’s output to the GM8. I got a feel for starting the camera and setting some parameters, then connecting to the scope using on-camera, started looping, and then clicked on the huge light and then clicked on PHD which should have automatically calibrated the GM8. I violated the SSAG’s expectations by giving it a huge object instead of a little star I think. Then I sat there and watched the messages at the bottom. It kept saying LOW SNR: 2.0 or less. I don’t know what that was about. “Star Lost.” O well, it was fun. Funny thing is the SSAG is a camera and I couldn’t figure out how to take a picture with it. I wanted to post my street light as first light. My capture rate was about 0.5 seconds and the falling snow looked like star trails in the image.

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Penumbral Eclipse Reminder Feb. 9 5:38MST to 7:30MST
by Canopus56 08 Feb '09

08 Feb '09

Penumbral Eclipse Reminder Feb. 9 5:38MST to 7:30MST Just a reminder that the Feb. 9 penumbral eclipse of the Moon is tomorrow morning. This event has a high-probability for a cloud out; the NOAA sky cover simulator shows a front on the Pacific coast now arriving early this evening and staying put. But you might want to pay attention to the Moon low on the western horizon if you are driving to work between 6AM to 7:30AM. For general information see the NASA eclipse entry at url: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2009.html#2009Feb09N which states: "Of course, the beginning and end of a penumbral eclipse are not visible to the eye. In fact, no shading can be detected until about 2/3 of the Moon's disk is immersed in the penumbra. This would put the period of eclipse visibility from approximately 14:00 to 15:20 UT." The eclipse start end times, corresponding MST times and lunar altitudes from Salt Lake City are: Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 12:38:46 UT 5:38MST 19deg Naked Eye Visibility Beg: 14:00 00 UT 7:00MST 4deg Sunrise - Salt Lake City 14:31 00 UT 7:31MST Greatest Eclipse: 14:38:15 UT 7:38MST -2deg Naked Eye Visibility End: 15:00:00 UT 8:00MST n/a Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 16:37:40 UT 9:37MST n/a Clear Skies (here's hoping) - Kurt

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Horsehead and Flame
by Tyler Allred 08 Feb '09

08 Feb '09

Hello all. Despite the bright moon, I decided to image in color the other night. I choose this target because it is fairly bright itself. Here is a link to the image in the SLAS gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=971 , and here is a link to the "Latest Images" page of my personal website: http://www.allred-astro.com/gpage8.html I really like this image, and I thought it might help to get people interested in my imaging talk on the 17th. I am finally taming the problems with the ASA (Astro Systeme Austria N8) scope and getting the results I was hoping for from a scope of this caliber. I am planning to bring my imaging setup to the meeting so that people can look it over. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Cheers, Tyler _____________________________________________

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New Zealand Dark Sky
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 08 Feb '09

08 Feb '09

Hi All, A story about a new astronomy tourist destination in New Zealand. Erik http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_new_zealand_embracing_the_dark

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Animated gif check request
by Jay Eads 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

It did not work on the MacBookPro or the MacBook. Jay On 2009-02-06 05:32, Canopus56 wrote: > Will some of you Mac owners check this animated gif and let me know if it runs on your box. Please return your Mac OS version as well. - Thanks, Kurt > > http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/observed/LCROSS/CAshcraft2… > > > > >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Ceres this month?
by JayLEads 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

Howard, Thanks for the link to Sky, I should have thought to look there. I like their map and its easier to print out. See, I guess its good to have a newbie around, I can stir up old memories that are good . . . On 2009-02-07 07:40, Howard Jackman wrote: > Jay, boy that brings back memories of sitting in the "bowl" up at the University of Utah student housing with my 7x35s and Bushnell 60mm telescope! > I watched Ceres over a week doing just what you said - Look at the area one night and revisit it. I found the charts in Sky

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Ceres this month?
by JayLEads 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

Probably old news for most, but new to me. I learned tonight that Ceres is viable this month as I was listening to several of my podcasts. From The Night Sky with Ian Morison he states: "Ceres, the largest of the minor planets or asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter has now been accorded the status of a dwarf planet as its size and mass is sufficient to make it spherical in shape. The plot on the left shows that, in February, it will lie just above the star Zosma which forms the hindquarters of Leo, whilst that on the right shows more accuratly where it will lie throughout the month of February. It will be around magnitude 7 (varying from 6.9 to 7.2) and will be easy to spot in binoculars from a reasonably dark site. Try to spot its motion over a few nights!" This is an object I would like to go after and at that magnitude it should be easily visible. My question is will the best way to determine that I am seeing it to observe it one night while comparing it to a detailed star chart and marking it and then if it moves the next night confirming that it has moved? Newbie question and I just want to make sure my thought process is right since I haven't gone after an object like this yet. I just thought it would be cool to after something like this in our own solar system. Thanks, Jay P.S. Here is the link in case anyone wants to see the plot on the chart Ian posted at The Night Sky. http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/ Just scroll down.

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New member
by Stephen Peterson 06 Feb '09

06 Feb '09

All, Not sure which address to submit query to, so both. Trying to get serious about astrophotography. Looking for some guidance by more experienced than me (shouldn't be hard). Will be using Canon EOS D40 or D20 with 8-10 inch scopes (f4-ish) and Losmandy Gemini 11 with autotracking (DSI and Shoestring/PhD). Have ordered HAIP4Win software. Would love to watch/learn from someone who knows what they are doing! Steve 801 278-2727

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