October 2011 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Public Star Party still on for tonight?
by Jay Eads 08 Oct '11

08 Oct '11

Just checking as I haven't been outside today, been inside doing fall cleaning. Thinking of bringing the 10 inch out and offering people the opportunity to sign up for a 30 min. session and learn how to use it. -- Jay Eads

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SOFIA the Flying Telescope on NPR
by Jay Eads 08 Oct '11

08 Oct '11

In case someone didn't see or hear this. Its rather interesting. http://www.npr.org/2011/10/01/140877924/flying-telescope-makes-an-out-of-th… -- Jay Eads

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A couple of videos
by Patrick Wiggins 08 Oct '11

08 Oct '11

Nice video showing how Space-X is planning to get into space with a completely reusable vehicle (reminiscent of the DC-X): http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00003213/ Ok video showing what China is planning for its current mission. But maybe more interesting is the music they used for the sound track. I've heard that China would like to become a partner in ISS so maybe this was a hint (though I heard one commentator wonder if the person who picked the music is now sharing a prison cell with the "Tiananmen Square tank guy".) http://io9.com/5845909/ patrick

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hey utah-astronomy
by RON VANDERHULE 08 Oct '11

08 Oct '11

hows everything utah-astronomy You can start living life the way you want to now http://t.co/QGTjxLNW this program has done so much for me i am forever grateful ttyl

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Something to plan for (2005 YU55)
by Patrick Wiggins 07 Oct '11

07 Oct '11

Minor planet 2005 YU55 is set to make a close flyby of Earth the evening of Tuesday 8 November. Closest approach occurs about 17:00 MST when it will be about 315,000 km out, mag ~11 and ripping across the sky at 515"/min. But at that time the Sun will have not quite set here in Utah. Fast forward to 22:00 MST and the sky will be dark but 2005 YU55 will be about 60 degrees above the SW horizon and still zipping along at a respectable 300"/min. Unfortunately the nearly full Moon will be about 40 degrees to the east. Hmmm, and I just noticed the remains of the recently broken up Comet Elenin will be about half way up the eastern sky. Now if only the weather will cooperate. patrick

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First Light Pictures
by Steve Fisher 06 Oct '11

06 Oct '11

Here are some Awsome first light photos. I thought I would share in case you have not seen them http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2044840/Worlds-complex-teles… Steve

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M-51 supernova animation
by Patrick Wiggins 06 Oct '11

06 Oct '11

I've strung together 44 of the images I took of M-51 and its resident supernova taken between 04 June and 01 September. As it mentions in the caption the image quality slowly goes downhill because M-51 kept getting lower each night. Actually I also got 20+ images in September but left them out because they were really bad. See the animation at: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=68&g2_page=7 patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Sunrise pics
by Jorge Gutierrez 06 Oct '11

06 Oct '11

If mine looked like that I would not mind getting up early

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Sunrise pics
by Patrick Wiggins 06 Oct '11

06 Oct '11

Long distance SLAS member Kelly Ricks posted some interesting sunrise images to her blog this morning: http://kellyricks.blogspot.com patrick

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Any interest in "Binopalooza 2"?
by Chuck Hards 06 Oct '11

06 Oct '11

Some of the old-timers may remember Binopalooza at Lakeside, about ten or twelve years ago. Any interest in a repeat? If not this fall, next spring? Do any of you who attended remember moonset, when I was cranking-out Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" on the stereo? The thin crescent moon set just as the song ended, to much applause. The timing was perfect! Ah, the memories!

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