March 2012 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Annular Eclipse - “Sweet Spot” found in Southern Utah
by Patrick Wiggins 28 Mar '12

28 Mar '12

Interestingly this is a British publication. I've suspected we might have some out-of-towners at the eclipse. Looks like some of them may have British accents. :) patrick http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/annular-eclipse-sweet-spot-f…

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Question about Lovejoy in stereo
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Mar '12

26 Mar '12

Page 40 of the electronic version of May's S&T carries pairs of images of Comet Lovejoy, Mercury and Jupiter shot by NASA's STEREO spacecraft. Using the "cross-eye" method championed by Chuck it looks to me like the speckles that I think are artifacts of the imaging process are in the foreground. But the thing I don't understand is why Jupiter appears closer than Mercury. I even copied, cut and pasted the images in reverse order on my monitor. That seems to bring Mercury closer but only to the same distance away as Jupiter. Any thoughts why that is the case? BTW, anyone with a subscription to the paper version of the magazine can download the electronic version for free. patrick

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Moon / Jupiter now
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Mar '12

26 Mar '12

In case anyone's forgotten, the Moon is mozying up close to Jupiter as I enter this. Both fit nicely in the FOV of my 10x50s and wont set for quite a while yet. Venus is above the pair. patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Messier Marathon?
by Jay Eads 26 Mar '12

26 Mar '12

I arrived out at the Pit around 5:00p.m. yesterday. It was very cloudy and wind gusting to 10mph to 12mph. To the north skies were clearing and I've found that though not perfect, Skippy Sky Astronomy at http://www.skippysky.com.au/NorthAmerica/ gives a pretty realistic forecast if you combine it with local NWS satellite images and their forecast. By 7:00p.m. the sky was mostly clear and the wind was dying down. By 8:00p.m. skies as Skippy had shown were totally clear and the wind was gone. Jorge, my friend Shahid and I were observing and Mat was going to arrive around 9:00p.m. I got a wonderful view and sketch of the new supernova in M95. That one at 13.1 right now should easily brighten to low 12 to upper 11, maybe even going down. It showed easily in my 14 inch dob. Split Sirius last night also in the twilight. Skies were average transparency but it was good seeing and as the night progress, the sky above 35 degrees settled down nicely. I got a few reflection nebula in Orion I needed and then spent my time with galaxies in Leo and Virgo. Dew wasn't a problem until around 1:00a.m. and then the dew heaters were working. We closed up around 2:30a.m. and left at 3:00a.m. On a side note at that time Mat was coming out there was a lot of police and emergency cars/trucks up near 5 Mile Pass. I thought for sure they were doing a speed trap and nailed Mat with a ticket. Nope. Jorge got out his binoculars and saw a variety of police, fire and ambulances up there so now we were concerned that Mat was in an accident. I'll let Mat discuss what he saw and tried to do (he was going to call and say they were in an accident etc., to which my reply would have been is the 16 inch mirror okay?). I guess an ATVer crashed driving around at night up there and was hurt. The emergency crews were up there for well over an hour and a half. I'll have to watch the wind today but if it dies down I'll probably go back out this evening as I have plenty of galaxies in Virgo and Como Bernices to hunt down. Might go to Vernon, we'll see on conditions. I'll only be staying out until 12:30a.m. or so. Oh, if you ever want to know conditions just give me a call on the cell, its listed in SLAS or email me off list and I'll give it to you. Jay >

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Next ATM session.
by Hutchings, Mat (H USA) 26 Mar '12

26 Mar '12

Just a reminder that the next ATM session is on April 7th at 9:00 AM . As usual, email me off list at mat.hutchings(a)siemens.com<mailto:mat.hutchings@siemens.com> and I will give you directions to my house. For those who attended last time, this is a change of date, please note the new date! Mat

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So, you think you've made a mirror?
by Chuck Hards 26 Mar '12

26 Mar '12

This is one of the more interesting "mirror making" sites I've seen. http://www.mdpub.com/scopeworks/blanks/index.html He actually makes his own *blanks* by fusing thin glass sheets together, and the process seems to work just fine. Nice website and great photos too.

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Who's dat? (In S&T)
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Mar '12

25 Mar '12

For those who may not have seen it yet, the electronic version of the May issue of S&T is now available for download. The cover story is Astronomy in the National Parks and mentions Bryce a number of times and SLAS evens gets a couple of mentions. Page 34 has a picture taken at one of the Bryce Canyon festivals that features someone looking through a telescope that sort of looks like Joe Bauman. It's a blurry night shot so I can't say for sure. Anyone else have ideas who that might be? patrick

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Outreach at Herriman Library on Friday, March 30th
by Jay Eads 25 Mar '12

25 Mar '12

I've met and arranged that a few of us are going to be doing an outreach event on March 30th which is first quarter moon this coming Friday. If your in the south end of the valley or looking for something to do or just bored, feel free to come by or feel free to bring a scope. We'll be in the parking lot behind the library next to the fence with the school for set up. -- Jay Eads

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MESSENGER App Now Available
by Patrick Wiggins 23 Mar '12

23 Mar '12

Of possible interest to the Mercuryphiles on the list: http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=199 patrick

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Terminator extension on Mars
by Chuck Hards 23 Mar '12

23 Mar '12

I've read of these before, but never seen one personally. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/Strange-Happenings-on-Mars-14… I'm putting out a general call to local imagers to try and snag this transient feature.

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