February 2013 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

black hole/ Speed of light
by Mark Shelton 27 Feb '13

27 Feb '13

Interesting article. http://theweek.com/article/index/240688/the-supermassive-black-hole-spinnin…

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] 2012 DA14 parallax demonstration
by Kelly Ricks 27 Feb '13

27 Feb '13

Wow! That is a big difference. What an interesting exercise--thanks for sharing it. ~Kelly ------------------------------------------------------ > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:15:50 -0700 > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy > <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] 2012 DA14 parallax demonstration > Message-ID: <0985B2E6-E720-4F4B-86E5-2652C62962C3(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > I recently posted a request on the Minor Planet Mailing List asking to > hear from anyone who happened to be imaging 2012 DA14 at the same time I > was. My hope was to find a picture taken at the same time as one of mine > and to use the two images to show the effects of parallax. > > Happily a guy who had been using the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope > in Arizona that night to shoot 2012 DA14 replied and we were able to > determine that one of his many images had been taken within half a second > of one of mine. > > The FOV of his image was smaller than mine so I had to do a bit of > Photoshopping to align the two and then add a third image taken from the > STScI Digitized Sky Survey to show context. > > I thought that since there is about 800 km between our two sites and 2012 > DA14 was still pretty close (~210,000 km) I'd see some parallax but was > actually surprised at how much: > > http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=68&g2_page=8 > > Clear skies, > > patrick > > >

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ISON tonight, 2013 FEB 27 / Science Ed gets a boost
by Patrick Wiggins 27 Feb '13

27 Feb '13

Here are tonight's views: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C_2012_S1.2013FEB27.JPG And some possibly good news for Utah science: House panel OKs boost for math and science education http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/55897397-90/education-bill-math-state… patrick

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Two activities for teachers, parents, clubs and students
by Ann House 26 Feb '13

26 Feb '13

All, I grabbed this information from the NASA Night Sky Network of which I have been a representative for several years and have shared with SLAS. I know there are several teachers, many parents, and a few clubs on this listserv, so thought I would share. Feel free to use and have fun. Let me know if I can help or answer any questions. -A - In early March, Comet Pan-STARRS will pass about 100 million miles from Earth (about the same distance as between the Earth and the Sun). Most experts expect it to become naked-eye about as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper. Entertain visitors at your comet-viewing events, or use in your classroom by* Cooking Up a Comet.<http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=258> * - Involve your whole astronomy club or classroom: Take the* ADOPT-A-STREET CHALLENGE <http://www.globeatnight.org/aas2013.php>* (NEW FOR 2013):Here’s a club or classroom project where your members or students can participate to create a map of light pollution in your own city. This can be used for a variety of applications such as informing your city and government officials, providing data for scientists and even for students doing science fair projects.

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Solar Activity Alert
by Chuck Hards 26 Feb '13

26 Feb '13

There is a really nice, fairly large "brushy loop" prominence group visible on the sun's southern limb RIGHT NOW. 4:25 PM MST. Definitely worth a look, if you get this message in time and have H-a capability. One of the nicest prominences I've seen in a couple of months.

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ISON tonight, 2013 FEB 26
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Feb '13

26 Feb '13

Here's the latest of the smudge. :) Better focus this time. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C_2012_S1.2013FEB26.JPG patrick p.s. Can you believe how quickly it cleared off. I left the hanger under thick, dark clouds and had given up for the night. then I decided to head out for a snack only to find crystal clear skies when I opened the garage door. Poor Pumpkin (the cat that lets me live here) didn't know what to think. She thought she'd have the place to herself for a while only to have me walk back in...

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Science Night Live
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Feb '13

26 Feb '13

Another astronomy themed Science Night Live coming up Wednesday. http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8273a2125d2b923bf81cdc4b0&id=3c5c6df477… Alas, they're still being held in a place science minded kids can't go to. patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] ISON tonight, 2013 FEB 25
by Joe Bauman 25 Feb '13

25 Feb '13

It's not very impressive. When is it supposed to blossom? -- Joe ------------------------------ On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 8:45 AM MST Chuck Hards wrote: >Focus seems a bit soft. Or was the wind really blowing? > >Thanks, hope it starts to leave the "smudge" stage behind soon. > >On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 2:38 AM, Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com>wrote: > >> ISON tonight: >> http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C_2012_S1.2013FEB25.JPG >> >> >_______________________________________________ >Utah-Astronomy mailing list >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > >Send messages to the list to >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > >The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. > >To unsubscribe go to: >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy >Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".

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ISON tonight, 2013 FEB 25
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Feb '13

25 Feb '13

ISON tonight: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C_2012_S1.2013FEB25.JPG patrick

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Green laser
by Chuck Hards 25 Feb '13

25 Feb '13

I picked up one of the ten-dollar laser pointers at last night's SLAS meeting. Hey, for ten bucks, how can you go wrong? It's been a few years since I owned a 5mW laser and I wanted to see if my memory of the beam visibility was good. The dot is pretty bright but the beam wasn't visible outdoors from my suburban home location last night except dimly when directly on-axis. To be expected from a 5mW unit, my memory is still good on that score. The included alkaline batteries lasted for about 3 minutes of intermittant use. I replaced them with a new set of alkaline cells and they only lasted about 3 minutes. Obviously this unit is defective. There is some kind of internal drain even when the unit is off. I'll be contacting the gentleman who sold it to me, he included his business card in the box. Anybody else who bought one of these units experience rapid, premature battery drain? As of right now, I cannot recommend this unit, even at ten bucks. But we'll see what happens. I'm open to a straight exchange for another unit but if that one has the same problem, I'll ask for a refund and chalk it up to lessons learned about buying cheap. I'm not getting rid of my 20mW and 100mW units anytime soon.

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