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

Observatory Grand Opening
by Wayne Sumner 21 May '09

21 May '09

Hi All, Enough about doosday! How about some good news: The Northrop-Grumman Foundation Observatory at Northridge High School will have its grand opening on Thursday, May 28th starting at 7:30 pm. After a FEW brief words and a ribbon cutting, you'll be able to tour the facility, give me pointers on what I need to change, advise me on how best to polar align the 12" Nishimura telescope , talk me through CCD imaging procedures, and, when it gets dark enough, skies permitting, look through the 16" Lightbridge telescope (as well as Brent's 22-inch and any other assorted telescopes we all bring). I don't know whether to plan for 50 or 500! I am especially in need of your suggestions on how to make this new facility well used. I need your ideas on how to train other teachers, how to keep track of issued keys, how to safeguard the telescopes, eyepieces, CCD camera, computers, and any other accesories thereunto appertaining. How do I acquire the goodwill of the backdoor neighbors who are worried about late-night wild and noisy star parties and who have porch lights which need to be turned off? How do I keep my marriage and my day job? I've never been the director of an observatory before and have a lot to learn. I hope only a little of my learning comes about by hard knocks! I'd be pleased to learn from the experience of all of you. Please come!!! Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610

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Minor penumbral eclipse July 7 2_29am
by Canopus56 20 May '09

20 May '09

Speaking of the galactic core low over the horizon, there will be a minor penumbral eclipse of the Moon on July 7, 2009 at 2:29am with the full Moon hovering over the large Sag Star Cloud and the galactic center. It will be seen from SLC on the southwest horizon at 20 degs alt. Details at: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2009-Fig04.pdf Clear skies - Kurt

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Short time-lapse video from Texas Star Party
by Chris 20 May '09

20 May '09

http://vimeo.com/4505537

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more "History"
by Kim 20 May '09

20 May '09

Nonsense about pending cataclysmic disasters aside (at least as promulgated by the History Channel), I do find intriguing references in both Old and New Testament texts to (future?) disasters that sound an awful lot like great impacts. Just one example: <http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rev/6/14-16#14> Revelation 6: 14-16. Is anyone aware of similar references in the Talmud, Koran or other religious texts? (No Nostradamus, please.) Kim

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Galactic Center
by daniel turner 20 May '09

20 May '09

--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Robert Taylor <robtaylor3661(a)comcast.net> wrote: > Knowing all this I think I can breath easier now. > > Robert Taylor > Yeah, I can hardly wait till August when Mars will be as big as the moon. DT

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Short time-lapse video from Texas Star Party
by Canopus56 20 May '09

20 May '09

Ann H wrote: > That is beautiful. Can we see that view here? That's pretty much what it looks like from Skull Valley in July. The individual time lapsed images are highly processed with Photoshop. - Kurt

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Galactic center
by Jay Eads 20 May '09

20 May '09

365 Days of Astronomy has some interesting insight on this topic and lists several good scientific resources. You can read it on the link or listen to it, or both. http://365daysofastronomy.org/2009/04/27/april-27th-will-the-world-end-in-2… On 2009-05-20 20:33, M Wilson wrote: > There's an interestiang fictionalized account of the Mayans, 2012 and the end of the world found "Domain" in by Steve Alten. Check out this Amazon page that has a brief synopsis of the novel: > http://www.amazon.com/Domain-Trilogy-Steve-Alten/dp/0765324660/ref=sr_1_7?i…

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Tropical Telescopic Tour
by Joe Bauman 20 May '09

20 May '09

Hey, that looks like fun!!! -- Joe --- On Wed, 5/20/09, Rodger C. Fry <rcfry(a)comcast.net> wrote: From: Rodger C. Fry <rcfry(a)comcast.net> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Tropical Telescopic Tour To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 2:30 PM Yesterday we made our visit to the observatories at the summit of Mt. Haleakela. What a view and an amaizing experience. First the group toured the US Airforce telescopes including the largest at about 9 meters with adaptive optics. This was incredeble. We then toured some of the other telescopes (there are about 13 on the summit) including the Faulkes and the solar telescope. JD Armstrong from the University of Hawaii (a Utah native) and Rob Rokawski gave us the tours. When we arrived at the summit, the wind was howling at about 40+ MPH. It started to ease up a bit by sunset and it was quite cold (39 degrees plus the wind chill). At dusk, the mountain came alive with all of the domes opening including the Faulkes. We were going to have a viewing session on the Faulkes but the internet connection went down and is required to run the scope. The group had a nice meal while the skies got dark and then we viewed many objects through a 10 inch SCT and binoculars. I was pleased to see Omega Centauri (on a scale of 1-10 it is 10 with Hercules Globular at about 4). We also looked at the Eta Carinae nebula and other things around the Southern Cross. We will go back one of the next two nights to try again on the Faulkes scope Here are links to some of the photos taken: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1916 http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1912 http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1919 Thank You, Rodger C. Fry Consulting Geologist _______________________________________________ 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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On 2012
by Dave Gary 20 May '09

20 May '09

I prefer 23 December 2012. Of course, I use another correlation coefficient...585284.5 instead of 585282.5. One gives 23 December, the other gives 21 December. There are many more correlation coefficients, but these are the most commonly used. However, neither date is a cosmic-ending date for the Maya. It’s nothing more than a baktun- ending within the long-count system of the Maya. I don’t know where people come up with this other stuff. Pakal was an ancient astronaut, the ending of baktun 13 becomes the end of the world. Why not the end of baktun 10 or 11? Pakal predicted a cosmic catastrophe sometime around 4500 CE (I can’t remember the exact date, it’s in the book “A Forest of Kings” by Linda Schele and David Freidel which I lent to someone about 6 months ago). Obviously, Pakal, the great ruler of Palenque, since he never mentioned 21-23 December 2012 was not too concerned that there was anything world-shaking about this date. Also, he was figuring the world would still be around for his prediction to come true. Some bumpkin has entirely too much time on their hands to be coming up with this nonsense. I was a professional archeologist for several years and it never ceased to amaze me the phantasmagoric fantasies people came up with concerning prehistory or little- understood history. I guess that‘s the price you pay for having a brain capable of reason. Reason just becomes so ho-hum for many people. Let’s use this baby to really play some games. It’s like the new spiffy computer you purchase. It can do so many useful things with astonishing results, but they end up being used to play games most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, imagination is great. It’s when imagination gets in the way of reason that it becomes a nuisance.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Galactic Center
by M Wilson 20 May '09

20 May '09

>From what I've gathered off of the Internet, the Age of Pisces, which began about the time of Julius Caesar's birth, is supposed to end with the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius in about 2600 AD. --- On Wed, 5/20/09, stormcrow60(a)xmission.com <stormcrow60(a)xmission.com> wrote: From: stormcrow60(a)xmission.com <stormcrow60(a)xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Galactic Center To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 2:26 PM Hi All, I am not saying I believe in the 2012 doomsday theories. I adhere very strictly to the scientific norms of determination of facts by experiments and tested theory. However, the Hopi tribe also predicts the end of the world, or the end of this age (I believe we are currently in the age of Pisces) on this same date. There are other ancient civilizations that predict this same fate in 2012. Again, I am not one to believe in this kind of speculation, but I do believe the ancients may have known more about our physical world, astronomy and science then we give them credit for. Some ancient civilizations may have known aspects of science that have long been forgotten. Jon _______________________________________________ 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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