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

last week's fireball
by Chrismo 28 Apr '12

28 Apr '12

I don't know what I'm doing up at this ungodly hour, but I just caught this... http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

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ISS this eveing
by Patrick Wiggins 27 Apr '12

27 Apr '12

CalSky is reporting an excellent pass of the ISS this evening (Friday). patrick Appears 20h58m06s 3.8mag az:306.3° NW horizon Culmination 21h03m27s -4.1mag az: 36.9° NE h:88.0° distance: 403.7km height above Earth: 404.7km elevation of Sun: -8° Disappears 21h06m30s -2.1mag az:126.8° SE h:11.4°

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Outreach at the Herriman Library Tonight
by Jay Eads 27 Apr '12

27 Apr '12

For those in the south part of the SL Co. valley, there is a public outreach at the Herriman Library tonight, weather permitting but it looks good. We had about 45 people come by last month so if you would like, feel free to come by and bring a scope. Take Bangater to 12600 and then go west. Follow 126000 into Herriman and the rec center and library are on the left. We are in the parking lot by the west end of the parking lot by the fence with the school. Sunset until people don't come. We had a blast and I actually taught a couple how to run a scope and they ran my 14 quite well for a while. These will happen the last Friday of each month for May, July, August and September. -- Jay Eads

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2 star parties this weekend
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Apr '12

26 Apr '12

For those who may not know, SLAS will be holding 2 public star parties this weekend. Tomorrow (Friday) evening at the 7th Street Harmons and Saturday evening at SPOC. Both to be held from unset to 11:00 p.m. And since it's Astronomy Day weekend, SLAS will be giving away loads of planispheres and holding drawings for telescopes and astronomy related books (maybe binoculars too but I'm not sure about that). Oh and since I hear Siegfried is out of town that may mean that finally someone other than his family members will win the drawings. LOL! "Advanced Training" (social hour) to follow both events. All of this is weather permitting of course but right now the forecast seems to be indicating the weather will permit. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=1808 http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=1809 Clear skies, patrick

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SLAS Membership
by Craig Smith 26 Apr '12

26 Apr '12

I know this isn't a SLAS group, but I'm hoping someone on the list can help me. I renewed my SLAS membership a couple weeks ago after letting is expire, via the web site and paypal. But I've received no response from SLAS and still can't log in to the website. Emails to Patrick have all bounced. I've also tried Don Colton as I would like to help at Bryce Canyon during the astronomy festival and received no response. Thanks, Craig

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Fw: NASA Scientists Find History of Asteroid Impacts in Earth Rocks
by Joe Bauman 26 Apr '12

26 Apr '12

This reminds me of the fascinating lecture SLAS had a couple of years ago about Canyonlands -- Erik did the honors, I think. Thanks, Joe ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: NASA News <hqnews(a)mediaservices.nasa.gov> To: NASA News <hqnews(a)mediaservices.nasa.gov> Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 1969 5:00 PM Subject: NASA Scientists Find History of Asteroid Impacts in Earth Rocks April 25, 2012 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown(a)nasa.gov Karen Jenvey Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 650-604-4789 karen.jenvey(a)nasa.gov RELEASE: 12-135 NASA SCIENTISTS FIND HISTORY OF ASTEROID IMPACTS IN EARTH ROCKS WASHINGTON -- Research by NASA and international scientists concludes giant asteroids, similar or larger than the one believed to have killed the dinosaurs, hit Earth billions of years ago with more frequency than previously thought. To cause the dinosaur extinction, the killer asteroid that impacted Earth 65 million years ago would have been almost 6 miles (10 kilometers) in diameter. By studying ancient rocks in Australia and using computer models, researchers estimate that approximately 70 asteroids the same size or larger impacted Earth 1.8 to 3.8 billion years ago. During the same period, approximately four similarly-sized objects hit the moon. "This work demonstrates the power of combining sophisticated computer models with physical evidence from the past, further opening an important window to Earth's history," said Yvonne Pendleton, director of NASA's Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. Evidence for these impacts on Earth comes from thin rock layers that contain debris of nearly spherical, sand-sized droplets called spherules. These millimeter-scale clues were formerly molten droplets ejected into space within the huge plumes created by mega-impacts on Earth. The hardened droplets then fell back to Earth, creating thin but widespread sedimentary layers known as spherule beds. The new findings are published today in the journal Nature. "The beds speak to an intense period of bombardment of Earth," said William Bottke principal investigator of the impact study team at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colo. "Their source long has been a mystery." The team's findings support the theory Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed in different orbits nearly 4.5 billion years ago, migrating to their current orbits about 4 billion years ago from the interplay of gravitational forces in the young solar system. This event triggered a solar system-wide bombardment of comets and asteroids called the "Late Heavy Bombardment." In the paper, the team created a model of the ancient main asteroid belt and tracked what would have happened when the orbits of the giant planets changed. They discovered the innermost portion of the belt became destabilized and could have delivered numerous big impacts to Earth and the moon over long time periods. At least 12 mega-impacts produced spherule beds during the so-called Archean period 2.5 to 3.7 billion years ago, a formative time for life on Earth. Ancient spherule beds are rare finds, rarer than rocks of any other age. Most of the beds have been preserved amid mud deposited on the sea floor below the reach of waves. The impact believed to have killed the dinosaurs was the only known collision over the past half-billion years that made a spherule layer as deep as those of the Archean period. The relative abundance of the beds supports the hypothesis for many giant asteroid impacts during Earth's early history. The frequency of the impacts indicated in the computer models matches the number of spherule beds found in terrains with ages that are well understood. The data also hint at the possibility that the last impacts of the Late Heavy Bombardment on Earth made South Africa's Vredefort crater and Canada's Sudbury crater, both of which formed about 2 billion years ago. "The Archean beds contain enough extraterrestrial material to rule out alternative sources for the spherules, such as volcanoes," said Bruce Simonson, a geologist from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. The research was funded by NLSI and conducted by members or associates of NLSI's Center of Lunar Origin and Evolution, based at SwRI. The impact study team also includes scientists from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.; Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic; Observatorie de la Cote d'Azur in Nice, France; and Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. To learn about the NLSI, visit: http://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe(a)mediaservices.nasa.gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe(a)mediaservices.nasa.gov

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Need ride to SPOC Saturday
by D P Pierce 25 Apr '12

25 Apr '12

I need a ride to SPOC Saturday night. I live near 6200 S & Bangerter. Deloy Pierce

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Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
by Dave Gary 25 Apr '12

25 Apr '12

Interesting. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/

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Out for a spell
by Chuck Hards 25 Apr '12

25 Apr '12

Just a note to let folks know that I have disabled my utah-astronomy deliveries for a few weeks. I am still subscribed, but will not be receiving list messages. 50-60 hour work weeks for the next month or so simply won't allow me the time or energy to read through them. I will still be checking my non-list email periodically, so if you need to contact me and don't have my phone number, email me at: chuckhards(a)yahoo.com My SLAS email goes to the yahoo address, so I'll still be in the club loop. I should be turning-on list messages again in about 4 to 6 weeks. If you have a L&O meeting, please let me know at the yahoo address or call me. Thanks! Have fun!

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Bad Astronomy
by jcarman6＠q.com 25 Apr '12

25 Apr '12

Thanks to both Jared and Dale for the heads up on the lecture. I've read his column and it should be an interesting and delightful night. Considering the "near miss" Nevada and California just had, the timing is absolutely perfect.

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