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

Kudos to Rob R and Cindy Foot
by Canopus56 09 May '11

09 May '11

Reading my April issue of the Journal of the British Astron. Assoc. (121(2), (April 2011)), on page 88 is Rob Ratkowski's photo of the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). On page 89 is Cindy Foote's lightcurve of the transit exoplanet XO-4. Way to go. - Clear Skies, Kurt

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Carl Zambuto Replacment Mirror for Chinese Dobs and a Free Testing of a 250mm Mirror
by Jay Eads 09 May '11

09 May '11

Not sure how many know, but Carl Zambuto is offering replacement mirrors for Chinese Dobs. These are the costs: 200 mm BK7 1200 mm focal length (F/6) $695.00 with trade in of primary mirror for recycling. Price includes free test of secondary mirror. (This offer is 30% off pricing of similar size custom one-each Pyrex/Supremax primary at 8" diameter) 250 mm BK7 1200 mm focal length (F/4.8) $895.00 with trade in of primary mirror for recycling. Price includes free test of secondary mirror. (This offer is 36% off pricing of similar size custom one-each Pyrex/Supremax primary at 10" diameter) 300 mm BK7 1500 mm focal length (F/5) $1,195.00 with trade in of primary mirror for recycling. Price includes free test of secondary mirror. (This offer is 39% off pricing of similar size custom one-each Pyrex/Supremax primary at 12.5" diameter) So if you have a 250mm dob, you could get a Zambuto for $895.00 and you send in your old mirror which becomes a blank for him to make yet another mirror. Also, on CloudyNights Carl has made this offer right now: Greetings, Cloudy Night gang. This is my first posting to CN... So we have a replacement mirror in an 8" and a 12". However the most common telescope of the lineup has yet to test a Zambuto primary. I thought maybe the group could use a fun project, so here's what we're going to do. We're going to make available for evaluation a 250 mm BK7 Zambuto primary mirror. If there are enough folks interested in doing this, we would suggest a plan as follows: Eligibility requires ownership of a 250 mm or 10" import telescope of 1200 mm focal length. Each participant identifies themselves to the group and indicates they want to evaluate the mirror. Group members decide among themselves who will take delivery and in what order. Perhaps someone would like to volunteer as a project administrator and keep a list of participants, with whom they will correspond. The project administrator will inform the forum when necessary as to what's going on. We ship the mirror to the first participant. Each person has up to 30 days to evaluate, with the goal being as soon as possible to have one or two good nights under clear skies to receive and draft their impressions. The sooner folks get a good night, the more people can use the mirror. -Not a "perfect" night, but just a good clear night. The participant writes a report to the group, giving their impressions in the best way they can, based on their experience. Then they ship the mirror to the next participant. So the only cost to each is one shipping fee. We have two main purposes for this project- one, for each participant to create a writeup of what they find and post it to the group. And second, each participant gets to experience a Zambuto primary mirror IN THEIR OWN TELESCOPE, at their own observing site, where they can relax and take the time necessary to get the full experience. This does not happen with a quick glance at a star party, where there are usually outside pressures, and the scope being looked through is unfamiliar. This project should remain within the continental U.S., at least in the beginning phase. International shipment and customs could present a hassle. The mirror for this project is a production sample which just came off the line. It is right now on its way to the coater, where it will be center spotted following the coating and shipped to our first volunteer. Link: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4489836/pa… About 1/4 of the way down. Here is the thread on what you have to do in order to get the trial mirror: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=4569005&pa… One is to contact CityKid and get on the list. Two, do a write up at that thread on your experience with the mirror. Three, send the mirror on to the next set of people. Shipping is about $20 to $25 Steve Dodds at NOVA Optical will be coating the mirror so everyone knows that and he should be receiving it and coating it rather quick. So, after all that here is my question. I have an Orion XT10 that meets the requirement and I am willing to put my name on the list. IF I do this, is there anyone here that would go out to a dark site locally and observe with me using it? I would ask for your review and thoughts to put into mine? Just want to check before I commit. -- Jay Eads

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Mark's Dob pictures
by daniel turner 08 May '11

08 May '11

It was cloudy last night but the moon peeked through the clouds enough for Mark to confirm that his dob is now in working order. I took some pictures and put them in an album in the SLAS gallery. http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4253 DT

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Dob Teelscope
by Mark Shelton 08 May '11

08 May '11

Hello, Here is the continuing story of my dob. Thank you for your encouragement and support. Last night at 11pm I finally had the focus length of the truss tubes completed. The telescope reaches correct focus right in the middle of the travel of the focuser. I almost jumped for joy. I used 4.5mm to 42mm Eyepices and the focus was good on all of them. Right now the trusses are drying with 4 coats of finish on them. I hope it is a nice night tomorrow, I will be bringing the new Dob to the swap meet etc. Thanks again for the information and help some of you have given me. Mark Shelton

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Saturn moons and a happy accident
by Canopus56 07 May '11

07 May '11

Saturn Moons taken 5-5-2011 4:30UT from UofU South Physics Obs. I was making an initial test image with a Canon XSi Rebel attached to a Meade LX200 classic. The first set of images was intentionally overexposed. Before deleting the picture folder, I discovered a ``happy accident'' - the overexposure captured several of Saturn's moons. http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4250 Clear Skies - Kurt

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WOOPS
by Mark Shelton 06 May '11

06 May '11

Telescope

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Dawn approaches Vesta
by Canopus56 06 May '11

06 May '11

The Dawn spacecraft is approaching asteroid 4 Vesta and recently took an initial picture (just a couple of exposed pixels). The VIR camera will be tested on May 10. This will lead up to a July 2011 arrival. Measurements will determine whether Vesta should be upgraded to dwarf planet status. Vesta, with an ephemeris magnitude of 7.2, is currently 2 degrees celestial east of theta Cap and best seen about 4 to 5am at the south-east-east SLC local horizon at about 20 degs altitude. JPL Vesta Blog http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/news/dawn20110503.html NASA Dawn Vesta Page http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/index.html NASA Press Release http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/news/dawn20110503.html Clear Skies - Kurt

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Canon Xsi 450D CCD well dimensions - what are
by Canopus56 06 May '11

06 May '11

Thanks guys. Kurt

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Pooped and plate solving
by Joe Bauman 06 May '11

06 May '11

Well, this is a miserable first for me. I spent last night at Lakeside, as I mentioned (I'm wondering which part of the desert Michael was in, as I did not see him). My plan was to spend this night there too, after charging my batteries at home. But for the first time I can remember, I just ran out of steam. My Jeep is still packed but I'm not up to it for another night. This is a real sign that I'm getting old -- turned 65 in April. I thought I was imaging NGC5033 this morning but the result doesn't look much like it. It certainly wouldn't be the first time I was off in aim. But I can't figure out what I saw. It almost looks like an S-shaped barred spiral with a supernova. Could anyone who knows how to do a plate solve let me know what it is, so I can hunt up a view of the galaxy and compare it? The stars around it should make it not so hard to do. It's somewhere in the vicinity of NGC5033. Anyway, I posted a view of it on the SLAS gallery, here: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4238 Many thanks, your ancient friend, Joe

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Canon Xsi 450D CCD well dimensions - what are
by Canopus56 06 May '11

06 May '11

Some misc questions on the Canon XSi 450 DSLR for astrophotography: What are the dimensions of (1) the CMOS sensor and (2) an individual well on a Canon XSi 450D? (3) What is the sensor id used in this camera? (4) With respect to the sensor cleaning function, exactly what is that and how does it work? Assuming that the feature somehow shakes the dust of the chip, do you have to take the lens out really have the sensor cleaned? If you leave the lens in, does the cleaning feature just make the dust float around in the camera because it has no way to exit the body? Thanks, Kurt

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