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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Wanna buy a name?
by Joe Bauman 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

Way to go! ------------------------------ On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 1:56 AM MDT Patrick Wiggins wrote: >Those who have been on this list a very long time might remember that back in 2007 I spotted a little dot on one of my images that moved from picture to picture that turned out to be an unknown minor planet. > >I gave it the temporary name UOFU08 (for Univ. of Utah find #8). The Minor Planet Center checked and when they decided it was in fact a new find they called it K07V08N / 2007 VN8. > >Going through my correspondence from back then I saw I'd posted to this list that it would probably be a couple of years before I'd be able to name it. > >Turned out to be longer than that. > >However, a couple of hours ago I received my second cosmological birthday present (the first being the GRB) in the form of an email from MPC giving my little rock a number: 361690 > >So, what am I bid for naming rights? :) > >Just kidding as the rights were gone long ago. > >Some here might also remember that following my (with wife Holly) first find back on 03 November 1999 and my solo find a couple of weeks later I was thinking this was going to be easy. So easy that I gave naming rights to my next find to KCPW to auction off during one of their telethons. > >And from what I remember, they got a handsome sum. > >Little did the winner (or I) know that next find would be 8 years later. And that the ability to name it would come 6 years after that. > >So I just sent the winning bidder an email to the address I had for him in 2007. So far it has not bounced. I'm really interested to see how he'll respond. > >Clear skies, > >patrick >_______________________________________________ >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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Speed of Light speculation
by Joe Bauman 28 Apr '13

28 Apr '13

It is to me too, Deloy. Thanks, Joe PS, it seems to me the issue they're talking about isn't really the theoretical speed of light in a vacuum, but the actual speed of light in space, which isn't a true vacuum. If so, the effect is really the changes in speed when light travels through some medium. We already know light slows when it travels through water. But that variability shouldn't affect any fundamental property of matter, contrary to what these scientists' position. ------------------------------ On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 9:37 AM MDT D P Pierce wrote: >I found this interesting. >http://news.yahoo.com/speed-light-may-not-constant-phycisists-133539398.html > >Deloy >_______________________________________________ >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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Winchester Park Sun Party 4-27-2013
by Chuck Hards 28 Apr '13

28 Apr '13

What a morning. I arrived at 8:00 AM, to find the entire park full to the gills. A 5K race was about to start, and there wasn't even parking available on the street. Alpine Stringham had been there about 5 minutes already and was on the phone to others enroute. Rodger arrived shortly thereafter and made the decision to go ahead with the event and just haul his equipment from as far as he had to. Fortunately the race was about over by 9, and most of us got to park in the usual spot next to the grass. I needed power for my mount so I grabbed the first spot to open up. Seeing was terrific up until about 11:30, when I noticed it beginning to soften a bit. Still good, just not as crisp as it was earlier. Lots of activity today, prominences almost all the way around the limb and some very interesting shapes. I counted at least 5 decent flocculi and lots of large areas of plage. One large sunpot group and several smaller active regions were seen. This was the first test-run for my side-by-side setup of the PST and a white-light scope on the same equatorial mount. I started with an older Orion 80mm doublet refractor with a Thousand Oaks glass solar filter for the white side, but quickly changed to a 50mm scope with a Baader filter, which showed a much better, more contrasty image. I was pleased that both scopes had the sun centered without having to resort to shims under one of them. Alignment was spot-on. I hooked up my B&W Meade "electronic eyepiece" to both scopes and was very pleased with the detail seen on my 7" LCD monitor. The H-a view was amazing. Sunspots were plainly visible in the white-light view. The black plastic eyepiece housing soon overheated in the sun and after that I couldn't get anything but a white disk, so I retired the video and went back to visual observing only. It turns out that we didn't triple-stack the PST after all- I completely forgot to ask Bill Cowles about it, and he didn't bring it up either! The views through his scopes were just outstanding. Anybody with a three or four thousand dollar solar budget would do well to copy his setup. But for just under a grand, I'm pretty happy with the double-stacked PST. I'm going to try imaging with the PST again soon but will use a higher resolution camera next time, the electronic eyepiece uses a pretty small chip with only "webcam" resolution. OK if you plan to stack stills but for video sequences it's not fine enough. Too, starting with higher-resolution stills will yield better results with less processing. I also got to run the Celestron Omni eyepieces through their paces today, and they performed very well on the sun. Worth the money I spent on them (less than 30 dollars each). So what started out today is iffy, turned out to be a terrific opener for the Winchester Park sun party series this year. The site really does have great seeing for a mid-valley location, many telescope owners made the same comment. I got a few pics of the crowd and will post a link once I upload them. I estimate about 24 solar scopes were set-up today, with many guests coming by for a look at the sun.

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Speed of Light speculation
by D P Pierce 28 Apr '13

28 Apr '13

I found this interesting. http://news.yahoo.com/speed-light-may-not-constant-phycisists-133539398.html Deloy

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Celestron Omni series eyepieces
by Chuck Hards 27 Apr '13

27 Apr '13

I'm putting together a smallish, dedicated eyepiece assortment for my solar observing kit, so I don't have to lug around my heavy, regular night-time eyepiece case, or play mix-and-match when I want to head to a sun viewing session. Since I use tracking mounts for solar observing (an old, small GEM or Orion Teletrack), wide-field EPS aren't necessary, too, the PST gives better results with old-school eyepieces such as Plossls, orthos, and Kellners, from my experience. Fewer internal reflections, less glare. Fewer elements in these classic designs also means higher throughput, which can be an issue with the small aperture of a double-stacked PST. Agena has the Celestron Omnis on-sale so I just bought the 9mm, 12.5mm, and 15mm for my solar kit. I'll be trying them out this afternoon. Anybody else have experience with these modestly-priced eyepieces? Solar or night-time? I already have the Omni 2X Barlow and it's a pretty nice shorty for the budget price. Clear aperture could be a tad larger but its not a deal-breaker.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Anyone imaging?
by Joe Bauman 27 Apr '13

27 Apr '13

Double congrats! ------------------------------ On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 2:37 PM MDT Patrick Wiggins wrote: >On 27 Apr 2013, at 09:20, Joe Bauman wrote: > >> Congrats, Patrick! > >Thanks Joe but I still don't know what I found. > >I've reported it to the powers that be and have been asked for more information so I guess someone is interested. They say two other observatories spotted it too so it must be real. > >I'm looking forward to imaging the area again tonight to see if anything is still there. > >Puzzling but still not a bad way to start the first day of my latest orbit around the Sun. Now I think I'll go fall out of an airplane. :) > >patrick >_______________________________________________ >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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Anyone imaging?
by Joe Bauman 27 Apr '13

27 Apr '13

Congrats, Patrick! ------------------------------ On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 3:16 AM MDT Patrick Wiggins wrote: >I received an email notice about an hour ago about indicating a possible gamma ray burst. > >They're almost always faint and don't last very long but I figured I'd give it a try anyway. > >The notice said the satellite that detected it put it at: > >11h 32m 32.68s (J2000) >+27d 42' 46.4" (J2000) > >I was surprised to actually find something there. I've shot many a GRB field before but this was the first time I caught something. > >I checked the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey and it shows nothing where the mystery object is in my images. > >But the weird thing is this thing, whatever it is, is still there more than an hour after detection. > >My first image shows it at an unfiltered magnitude of 13.2. The most recent image puts it at 14.8. > >The fading appeared to be leveling off there for a bit but now seems to be accelerating again. > >If anyone else happens to be imaging at the moment I'd sure appreciate a confirmation image. > >Thanks, > >patrick >_______________________________________________ >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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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Tonight
by Joe Bauman 26 Apr '13

26 Apr '13

Good luck, Mark! ------------------------------ On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 9:27 PM MDT larry holmes wrote: >On 4/26/2013 7:52 PM, Mark Shelton wrote: >> Hi, I am down in Mt. Pleasant waiting for dark. Saturn should be fantastic at opposition. Holding my breath for a good night. >> >> Mark >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubsuencribe or edit options". > >Hi, Mark. We looked at Saturn through the Grim Wed night. The seeing >was not all that good, but the rings have a nice tilt to them and was >very pretty. Good luck, tonight. 73 > > >_______________________________________________ >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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Tonight
by Mark Shelton 26 Apr '13

26 Apr '13

Hi, I am down in Mt. Pleasant waiting for dark. Saturn should be fantastic at opposition. Holding my breath for a good night. Mark Sent from my iPhone

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ISON tonight, 2013 APR 26
by Kelly Ricks 26 Apr '13

26 Apr '13

Yeah, I can't see it either. Too bad about the haze. I have to admit though, I did enjoy the full moon last night. Went for a naturalist-led full moon "hike" (a hike for Ohioans is a bit different than what we expect in Utah) through a wetland area. The moon came up a rosy orange in the clear sky, and the spring peepers were out in full force. It's shocking how much ruckus a tiny frog can make! http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/spring-peeper/ ~Kelly ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:28:01 -0600 > From: Patrick Wiggins <paw(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy > <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] ISON tonight, 2013 APR 26 > Message-ID: <33941151-6119-4754-9EF2-6417696EF500(a)wirelessbeehive.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Moon + Haze = Very poor view of the comet. > > http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/ison/C_2012_S1.2013APR26.JPG > > This is the first image I've done of the comet where I'm virtually certain > it's there but I can't find it. > > patrick > > >

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