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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Jupiter in early mornings
by Canopus56 28 May '09

28 May '09

Obs. Rep. 5/28/2009 4:15-4:30am, 5:00am MDT I took a quick look at Jupiter this morning bef astro twi ended w a 60mm refract. Jupiter is at - 2.5 mag. Due to its current pos in the "low end" of the ecliptic near alf Cap, Jup is at a low alt - 20 degs. Seeing Antonaidi II, Pickering 4. Major north and south equatorial bands were seen w clear filter. Because of the low resolution of the 60mm refract at 100x (900fl x 9mm), the principal use of this session was to test the effects of planetary color filters. See http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/plan/pcfilt/PlanetaryColor… for background in planetary filter effects. Normally, planetary color filters are effective only when using apertures greater than 254mm because they depend on activating color contrast responses in the human eye. Only larger apertures gather enough light to trigger the response. With Jup at -2.5v, I gave it a shot using 60mm of aperture. Yellow 12 and 15 and Orange 21 were effective in bringing out the Jovian equatorial bands. The color contrast enhancing effect was easily detected. Green 58 was effective, but less so than Yellow 15. Green 58 discarded. Blue 80A (light) and Red 23A (light) may have been effective but they enhance features smaller than the resolving before of 60mm aperture. An neutral density Moon filter was also tried to determine if the enhancement effect was the result of reducing glare as opposed to color contrast effects. The ND filter did not enhance contrast in the equatorial bands. Neptune was visible as a faint blue-grey dot in the same field of view as Jup at 36x. Neptune was near the limiting magnitude of the 60mm considering the advancing sky brightness aft astro twi. At 5am near civil twilight, there was an infrequent shadow eclipse disappear event for Europa. See RASC Obs Handbook, Jovian Sat. Ephemeris. In EcD events, the Jovian satellite hangs away from the disk of Jupiter and "winks out" as it enters the shadow of Jupiter. See for explanation of such events in 2008: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/tours/JMEcl2008/JupEclSP.h… At 5:10am MDT, a brillant -4.5 mag Venus popped up above the eastern Wasatch and local obscuring trees. Venus is bright enough and far enough from the Sun that its appears in a good position to attempt daytime viewing and imaging. Clear Skies - Kurt

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Northridge HS Obs opening - SLC Trib Art
by Canopus56 28 May '09

28 May '09

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12462893 Northridge opens state's first high school observatory Education » Star party set for tonight's debut By Sheena Mcfarland The Salt Lake Tribune Updated: 05/27/2009 07:08:20 PM MDT "The school is hosting a star party tonight at 7:30 p.m. for anyone who wants to see through the telescope." School address 2430 N. Hill Field Rd., Layton, Utah Google Map Link http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2430+N.+Hill+Fi… Google embedded map <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q…"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&amp…" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small> Clear Skies - Kurt

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Possible project
by JayLEads 27 May '09

27 May '09

Here's an article that shows two gentlemen down in Arizona who are doing this. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ 2009/05/26/20090526astronomers0526.html

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Possible project
by Patrick Wiggins 27 May '09

27 May '09

Have you got a telescope and CCD camera and looking for a project? How's about working exo-planets? A few nights ago I finished a minor planet project I'd been working on for a few months and was looking for a project. So last night I tried making a light curve of TrES-3b transiting its parent star. This morning I sent Jerry Foote my data files and here's the curve he plotted: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/TrES-3b.jpg (thanks Jerry). Such transits happen almost ever night so there's almost always something to work. And it's fun to know that your work is actually contributing to science. And in last night's case it was neat to know that the transit I was imaging actually happened something like a thousand years ago. Any takers? patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Jupiter in early mornings
by Canopus56 27 May '09

27 May '09

On checking S and T's calendar, Jupiter and Neptune currently are in conjunction and are within a single 1 deg eyepiece view. At 4am tomorrow morning (May 28) Neptune is about 20 arcminutes north of Jupiter. With Jupiter at mag -2.5 and Neptune at mag 7.9, its unlikely that both can be imaged in the same FOV. Running my planetarium program forward, Neptune is 45 arcmins from Jupiter on June 15. Maybe this is a good target to download and test that image processing program that grabs and stacks the best detail from a series of images of the same object taken at different exposure levels as discussed in the "Imaging Solar Eclipses" article of the June 2009 S and T magazine issue? - Kurt

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Salt Lake Gastronomical Society - HeavenlyMeal -
by Joe Bauman 27 May '09

27 May '09

Sorry, Chuck, I meant to say any day or night -- lunch is fine. Lamb's is better at lunchtime. You don't need a reservation then and I think dinners are more expensive. Thanks, Joe --- On Wed, 5/27/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Salt Lake Gastronomical Society - HeavenlyMeal - To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 9:21 AM So are you suggesting dinner instead of lunch? On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 10:48 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com>wrote: > Friday is fine with me. In fact, I have no trouble accommodating almost any > night -- one of the benefits of retirement. Thanks, Joe > > > _______________________________________________ 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.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Salt Lake Gastronomical Society - HeavenlyMeal -
by Richard Tenney 27 May '09

27 May '09

Yeah, Sat. is definitely better for me (with that hour drive each way) --- On Tue, 5/26/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Salt Lake Gastronomical Society - HeavenlyMeal - > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 10:03 PM > Either July 16th or 17th, not > June. The night of the 16th is a star party > at Wheeler Farm, the next night it's at SPOC. Public > star parties are never > scheduled on weekends closest to the new moon. > > I usually have Fridays off, so that day works for me, but > if Rich (and > others with longish drives) is planning on attending, > Saturday might be > better. > > We could have lunch first, then those who want to grab a > cigar and/or beer > can break away afterwards. > > You know, I actually find myself looking forward to this > first meeting of > the Liver & Onions committee. > > On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 5:10 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> > wrote: > > > Hi all, Which day was before an event at SLAS? Or > were both? I'm OK with > > any day except a new moon, and June 12 we have > something going. Thanks, jb > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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.slas.us/gallery2/main.php > Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Salt Lake Gastronomical Society - Heavenly Meal -
by Richard Tenney 27 May '09

27 May '09

I'm in! --- On Tue, 5/26/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Salt Lake Gastronomical Society - Heavenly Meal - > To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 1:34 PM > OK, how about the LIVER & ONIONS > fans having lunch at Lamb's Cafe on either > July 16th or 17th (Friday or Saturday) before attending > the > corresponding SLAS star party that night? > > Here is the listing from the Lamb's on-line menu: > > FRESH BABY BEEF LIVER............$8.95 > Grilled, Sauteed Onions or Rasher of Bacon, Potato > > This needs to be a yearly thing. SLAS unofficial > Liver and Onions > committee. Members are self-appointed, > self-annointed. > > Rich, Joe, do we have a lunch date? Anyone else of > sufficiently > sophisticated pallete? > _______________________________________________ > 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.slas.us/gallery2/main.php > Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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ISS tonight
by Patrick Wiggins 27 May '09

27 May '09

Good ISS pass for northern Utah tonight (Tuesday). Appears 21h58m35s 3.6mag az:305.4° NW horizon Culmination 22h03m30s -4.5mag az:217.8° SW h:80.0° Distance: 355.8km height above Earth: 352.0km elevation of sun: -12° Disappears 22h05m08s -3.3mag az:133.0° SE h:23.3° pw

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Jupiter in early mornings
by Canopus56 27 May '09

27 May '09

I woke up at 4:00am for a few minutes and walked outside to see what I thought was Venus in the southeast sky at about 25 degs alt. It turned out to be Jupiter which S&T lists at around -2.5 mags and 41 arcsecs dia. It was amazingly bright. Well worth looking for if you get up early before twilight. - Kurt

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