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

Latest Pan-STARRS, 2013 APR 19
by Patrick Wiggins 19 Apr '13

19 Apr '13

Pan-STARRS has been circumpolar for Utah for a few days now. Anyone seen it visually lately? http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C_2011_L4.2013APR19.JPG patrick

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ISON 2013 APR 19
by Patrick Wiggins 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

A bit of a tail. Too bad about the bright Moon near by. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C_2012_S1.2013APR19.JPG patrick

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Moon
by M Wilson 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

Full moon over Wellington, NZ... Here is something a bit random, but none-the-less astounding. It is a 3 minute video clip of the full moon rising over Wellington. It was shot on Jan.28, 2013, a calm summer evening, as people gathered on the Mt. Victoria Lookout point to watch the moon rise. The video is one single real-time shot, sans manipulation. The camera was placed on a hillside over 1/1/4 miles from the Lookout point, and was shot with the equivalent of a 1300mm lens. Watch this in expanded version for best effect and have the sound on. https://vimeo.com/58385453

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The Sun 4-18-2013
by Chuck Hards 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

Where did all the sunspots go? Subdued surface activity as compared to recent weeks. Lots of small prominences all around the perimeter. A nice big flocculus on the disk. I sure miss the excellent daytime seeing of winter. Seeing is terrible this afternoon. We are now in the season of morning solar viewing, if you want to use higher magnification. Afternoons are for low-power. The general public can't tell the difference, so it won't affect outreach sun parties.

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Ride to SPOC and 2morrows Harmons
by D P Pierce 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

I need a ride to SPOC Saturday night. I will be at Harmon's tomorrow even though it looks like it may be raining. That means we can run off to Belgium Waffle House sooner. Deloy

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Last night's SLAS meeting
by Chuck Hards 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

Another terrific meeting last night. I did hear several comments to the effect that Dr. Zheng was difficult to understand due to his accent, but I understood close to everything he said. I have a knack for accents and dialects, fortunately, and have several friends with thick Asian accents (Chinese specifically) so I'm used to it. I noticed that many of the questions were on items that the speaker had already covered, sometimes just minutes before. I'll chalk this up to the accent. It was also interesting to hear a few questions from people who kept trying to understand dark matter and dark energy in terms of normal baryonic matter and the Standard Model of Physics. As far as I know, and I'm certainly no physicist, that's currently not possible. Sometimes even extreme abstraction comes up short and that can leave some people unsatisfied, but not everything in theoretical physics is easily analogized or reduced to simple terms. My head swims when trying to think about most of this stuff- one reason I took more chemistry than physics in school. Chemistry is completely describable by math I can wrap my simple brain around. Physics often left me feeling like an idiot once past the 200 series. I did have an additional question that I wanted to ask at the end of the lecture, but was encouraged by a board member to ask it after the meeting. Alas, the speaker darted-out before the business and announcement segment was completed, so I didn't ge a chance to ask it. I know a lot of people are anxious to get out quickly after the meeting but I would appreciate a few extra minutes to ask follow-up questions in case the speaker doesn't remain for the entire meeting. After he left, I ducked out a few minutes early myself since I knew my question would go unanswered. I didn't see the laser guy there last night. Did anyone see the "Dont Laze Me Bro" people? All in all, a great meeting. Many thanks to Rodger and the SLAS board for continuing to find knowledgeable, professional speakers for SLAS. My only real regret about last night was my choice of nachos at Denny's. I'm still paying the price this morning. Urp.

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KLM spaceflight contest
by Kelly Ricks 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

Hi all, I heard about this contest today on NPR. http://space.klm.com/ The website is kind of over-the-top, but it's a cool idea...maybe the only chance someone like me will have of taking a spaceflight. I'm betting with all the experience of the members of this group, many of you may be able to make very educated guesses about where the weather balloon will expire. Maybe one of us will be among the lucky winners! Have fun. ~Kelly

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Brent Watson's EPOD photo of Upheaval Dome
by Joe Bauman 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

For those who missed the story, you can watch it here. -- Joe http://www.ksl.com/?sid=24810668&nid=148&title=asteroid-size-of-city-block-… ------------------------------ On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 10:46 AM MDT Joe Bauman wrote: > > > >Wonderful story -- I was glad to see John back from retirement. He told me he's part time and can pick and choose his stories. It was a great choice. Seth did a fine job explaining everything. Marjorie Chan, U. Geologist, is a delightful geologist. Add to that program Brent's magnificent EPOD and this is an exciting time for all of us who admire Upheaval Dome. Congratulations all around! > >------------------------------ >On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 9:47 AM MDT Debbie wrote: > >>That was a good story. I saw the story on the ksl website. Wonderful >>pictures Brent. We ought to have a star party out there. I'd like to go >>back to Canyonlands and Arches. I have unfinished business there. >> >>Debbie >> >>On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 8:43 AM, Seth Jarvis <SJarvis(a)slco.org> wrote: >> >> http://epod.usra.edu/blog/ >> >> >> John Hollenhorst of KSL 5 did a story last night on the 10PM news about >> Upheaval Dome and the risk of asteroid impacts. He and I shot video at >> Upheaval Dome on April 1 that was used in his story. He emailed me at >> midnight to say how cool and weirdly coincidental it was that Brent >> Watson's image of Upheaval Dome was the featured Earth Picture of the Day. >> >> Seth >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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". >> >>_______________________________________________ >>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". > > >_______________________________________________ >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] Brent Watson's EPOD photo of Upheaval Dome
by Joe Bauman 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

Wonderful story -- I was glad to see John back from retirement. He told me he's part time and can pick and choose his stories. It was a great choice. Seth did a fine job explaining everything. Marjorie Chan, U. Geologist, is a delightful geologist. Add to that program Brent's magnificent EPOD and this is an exciting time for all of us who admire Upheaval Dome. Congratulations all around! ------------------------------ On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 9:47 AM MDT Debbie wrote: >That was a good story. I saw the story on the ksl website. Wonderful >pictures Brent. We ought to have a star party out there. I'd like to go >back to Canyonlands and Arches. I have unfinished business there. > >Debbie > >On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 8:43 AM, Seth Jarvis <SJarvis(a)slco.org> wrote: > >> http://epod.usra.edu/blog/ >> >> >> John Hollenhorst of KSL 5 did a story last night on the 10PM news about >> Upheaval Dome and the risk of asteroid impacts. He and I shot video at >> Upheaval Dome on April 1 that was used in his story. He emailed me at >> midnight to say how cool and weirdly coincidental it was that Brent >> Watson's image of Upheaval Dome was the featured Earth Picture of the Day. >> >> Seth >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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". >> >_______________________________________________ >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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ISS to transit Sun over U of U Wednesday
by Patrick Wiggins 16 Apr '13

16 Apr '13

The latest predictions from CalSky still have ISS transiting the Sun from my plane near SPOC this evening when it's supposed to be cloudy. However they also continue to predict another transit tomorrow (Wednesday) when the weather may actually cooperate. But on that one the centerline of the transit's ground track will pass eastbound past my place and right over the U of U campus at 18h15m11.20s which is just a short while before the start of the SLAS meeting: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/transit.jpg The Clear Sky Clock for SPOC continues to look much better than the one for SLC so I may try to catch it here at home and then rush in for the meeting. But those in SLC who will be going to the SLAS meeting may want to head to the U a little early if the weather looks promising and see if they can spot the transit from there. Clear skies, patrick

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