April 2010 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Bluetooth control?
by Chuck Hards 06 Apr '10

06 Apr '10

Has anyone done any Bluetooth control of their telescope? Care to comment on your setup if you have?

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Discovery/ISS in upcoming days
by Patrick Wiggins 06 Apr '10

06 Apr '10

Calculated for northern Utah. All are morning passes. Wed, 7 Apr 6:25 Rise in the SW 6:27 Half way up the SE 6:30 Set in the NE Fri, 9 Apr 5:40 Emerge from Earth's shadow 1/3 of the way up the SW 5:41 Half way up the SE 5:43 Set in the NE Sat, 10 Apr 6:03 Emerge from Earth's shadow low in the W 6:05 Half way up the NW, passing through the handle of the Big Dipper 6:08 Set in the NE Mon 12 Apr (Cosmonaut Day - Anniversary of the day in 1961 that Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space) 5:18 Emerge from Earth's shadow half way up the NW in the handle of the Big Dipper 5:21 Set in the NE patrick

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Zeta (ζ) Ophiuchi being occulted by passing asteroid, 824 Anastasia
by Jay Eads 05 Apr '10

05 Apr '10

Anyone else aware of this? http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/NA/Anastasia/ Sounds like S&T are saying a once in a lifetime event. If the weather forecast wasn't for horrible winter conditions it would have been worth driving out to Elko or up to south-western Idaho for a view. I hate the weather lately in the region. Here is the map, the green is the predicted center with the blue lines the predicted west and east edges. http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/NA/Anastasia/mp824cus.JPG Times could be found in the first link. So if anyone is n Mountain Home ID or Elko NV or knows some imagers there or visual observers that just might be worth a peek if there is a hold in the clouds.

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Directions to Wedge Overlook
by Jay Eads 05 Apr '10

05 Apr '10

I've been contacted by a couple of people of how to get to the Wedge Overlook for the 9th and 10th of April. I have given them the map http://slas.us/images/maps/WEDGECEDARMTN.jpg at SLAS but I don't have set directions. Anyone here provide that? My son turns 16 on the 8th, and were celebrating during the day on Saturday so I won't be going to the Wedge, just staying local at either Pit n Pole or Lakeside if weather permits.

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Sky Quality Meter/SQM Recommendations
by JayLEads 05 Apr '10

05 Apr '10

I'm looking to get a SQM (Sky Quality Meter) and am wondering if anyone has a suggestion on a SQM that is affordable (I'm a teacher remember), is durable and provides accurate readings? I saw the Unihedron SQM (see the link below) and was thinking about that one. Any other suggestions? I want to use it to track conditions at some of the sites and parks I observe at here in Utah over time, probably a long period of time, and to see at which sites I get the darkest readings at. Thanks! Unihedron SQM

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SPOC Clear Sky Clock for Saturday
by Patrick Wiggins 03 Apr '10

03 Apr '10

Well, as I enter this SPOC's Clear Sky Clock for tomorrow's star party isn't as bad as I was expecting. Partly cloudy in the afternoon and near clear in late evening with clouds moving back in just in time for Advanced Training. And temps above (though barely) above freezing. http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/SPOC2UTkey.html?1 Now we just wait to see how accurate it is... patrick p.s. for those of you with web sites, have a look at the bottom of mine, http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw , for a fun little free widget you can add to your site to show where folks visiting your site are located.

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Track satellites on iPhone
by Patrick Wiggins 03 Apr '10

03 Apr '10

Spaceweather.com reported today they've issued a satellite tracking program for the iPhone. More info here: http://simpleflybys.com Also available from the Apple Store / iTunes. I just put it on my phone and found it easy to operate but while it does give the rise direction it doesn't give the set direction. It gives the max. elevation but not where that will occur. But it does have a handy countdown clock that shows how long until the pass begins (right now it's showing 6:20:45 until Lacrosse 3 arrives). It also provides data on the NOSS (Naval Ocean Surveillance Satellites). As far as I know one can't get orbital elements on those from US sources so those data must be coming from out of the country. Hmmm, that being the case I wonder if by downloading the app I'm now on someone's watch list... :) And speaking of watching, I see Webmeister Ken as added the Earth globe widget I mentioned earlier to the bottom of the SLAS website (http://slas.us) and that it shows that someone from Ukraine has checked out the site. patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] SPOC Clear Sky Clock for Saturday
by JayLEads 03 Apr '10

03 Apr '10

Patrick, I didn't read through it (bad for me) but I did right click on the clock and viewed its properties (for the counter) and found that it was asking me to allow it to use my camera, my mic, and to store x amount of space on my computer. I'll have to read if the space is for the data on the clock (most other counters just store it themselves) or to allow them access to store data on my computer, something I personally would be uncomfortable with. On 2010-04-03 03:30, Patrick Wiggins wrote: > Well, as I enter this SPOC's Clear Sky Clock for tomorrow's star party isn't as bad as I was expecting. > > Partly cloudy in the afternoon and near clear in late evening with clouds moving back in just in time for Advanced Training. And temps above (though barely) above freezing. > > http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/SPOC2UTkey.html?1 > > Now we just wait to see how accurate it is... > > patrick > > p.s. for those of you with web sites, have a look at the bottom of mine, http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw , for a fun little free widget you can add to your site to show where folks visiting your site are located. >

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Snow
by erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net 02 Apr '10

02 Apr '10

Hey Toolie folks , The news reported that the Tooele Valley got 20" of snow yesterday. Is this going to melt by saturdays SPOC Star Party?

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Snow
by Jay Eads 02 Apr '10

02 Apr '10

More snow tonight through the morning. Clouds look to be in the way tomorrow evening . . . . On 2010-04-02 18:42, Roger Butz wrote: > Erik

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