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

Structure and Patterns
by Dale Hooper 23 Sep '13

23 Sep '13

A work colleague had a few hours between flights last week so he took a drive to the Alder Planetarium in Chicago. During the show the narrator brought up something that he thought was rather intriguing. He showed some figures that compare the structure of the universe to the structure on brain neurons. http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/pc/brain-universe.html We certainly live in an "Elegant Universe". Clear skies, Dale.

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Mail disabled
by Chuck Hards 23 Sep '13

23 Sep '13

Test. I've disabled my astro-list mail. Can only send, can't receive. Erik and Joe, both of you only want to argue and crap on other people's ideas, and Erik is good at hurling left-handed insults. Have at it without me. If you ever want to seriously think about what other people say without the ivory tower, I'm game to try. Not hopeful, but game to try. Test.

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Mars Mission Problems
by D P Pierce 23 Sep '13

23 Sep '13

Lets just ask the aliens what they use for shielding in their flying saucers. Deloy

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Unsubscribe
by Chuck Hards 23 Sep '13

23 Sep '13

Just turning off the mail delivery is like I'm going on vacation or something. I need a longer break. I'm unsubscribing. I can still be reached privately at this same email address. Thanks, C.

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Fwd: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 127, Issue 61
by baxman2＠q.com 22 Sep '13

22 Sep '13

I understand that some plastics have been developed that can guard against radiation problems on Mars. I do have more information on this. ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Sent: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 16:52:07 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 127, Issue 61 Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com You can reach the person managing the list at utah-astronomy-owner(a)mailman.xmission.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Mar's Mission unlikely NASA says (Jay Eads) 2. Re: Wheeler Friday, Granite Saturday (Enid A Norton) 3. Re: Mar's Mission unlikely NASA says (Joe Bauman) 4. Re: Mar's Mission unlikely NASA says (Chuck Hards) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 14:01:00 -0600 From: Jay Eads <jayleads(a)gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Mar's Mission unlikely NASA says Message-ID: <CANCdW8ewN4gX5THUzu0yuteBg=YDHw-W41KfZKtEXc8dVjVjHw(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/22/radiation-exposure-mak… Guess we aren't going to Mars anytime soon. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 14:16:43 -0600 From: "Enid A Norton" <enierae(a)yahoo.com> To: "Utah-Astronomy" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Wheeler Friday, Granite Saturday Message-ID: <9BADCAEFA60C4CD89D1977AC5B3D224B@EnidANortonHP> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" It is true that the Sat Granite star Party was not part of the official SLAS publicized meetings. I take this one on myself and invite SLAS or public WITH telelscopes. but I do not publicize it as I cannot handle more than 10 on my own.. any one is welcome though on the opposite weeks of SLAS parties usually Friday nights. Enid ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 13:26:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mar's Mission unlikely NASA says Message-ID: <1379881582.95331.YahooMailNeo(a)web125106.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Agreed, Jay. Mars is looking less and less attractive. This inhospitality is another reason that I think NASA should concentrate much of its effort in sending unmanned probes to Europa. Fresh material in the form of ice from the interior ocean is always spreading across the surface. If complex life evolved in the warm water beneath the ice, remnants should show up on the surface. We have focused on Mars because for many decades it was seen as the romantic planet next door, where canals stretched across deserts to keep cities alive. Today we know that's bunk, but the old drive to land astronauts on Mars persists. For scientific studies, Europa may be far richer than Mars. -- Joe ________________________________ From: Jay Eads <jayleads(a)gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2013 2:01 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Mar's Mission unlikely NASA says http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/22/radiation-exposure-mak… Guess we aren't going to Mars anytime soon. _______________________________________________ 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". ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 14:51:16 -0600 From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mar's Mission unlikely NASA says Message-ID: <CAHmuOYoC_Yfxn8jCrEnzm=DEzvjqShgxrBVvMDEBXFLKYTCpUA(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I've been pretty sure I wouldn't live to see humans on Mars for the last ten or fifteen years. Most people don't seem to realize that human space exploration is still in it's infancy. Because many of us grew-up with highly optimistic science-fiction, we tend to expect more than current technology (and our wallets) can provide. We also desperately want to see certain things happen in our own lifetime, and each of us probably has different goals from that perspective. We still build "tinker-toy" spacecraft, both manned and unmanned. Every one of them is a roll of the dice whether it works or not. When spacecraft are the size of battleships, adequately shielded, and have practically unlimited endurance and power, either nuclear or otherwise, then we can consider ourselves a space-faring species. Debate about targets for robotic missions at this stage is just so much banter based on personal opinions of what is "important". If we don't kill ourselves off first, the entire solar system will eventually get explored in the next 100 to 300 years and I'm good with that timetable. It doesn't matter where we go next year, next decade. "Bang for the buck" is short-term, budget-limited thinking and not part of a long-term philosophy about space exploration. It's more about public perception than anything. Even a ten-year project is peanuts when considering humanity's long-term goals for space exploration. Let's set a grand goal that will span generations and actually make a difference in the long run. The sad part is, most taxpayers will never think like this. I sometimes think we need to take an evolutionary step ourselves, before our social dynamics will change enough to make a difference. "Homo Sapiens" may not be destined for space travel. It might be up to the next branch in the tree of evolution. My 3 cents. On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 2:26 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Agreed, Jay. Mars is looking less and less attractive. This inhospitality > is another reason that I think NASA should concentrate much of its effort > in sending unmanned probes to Europa. Fresh material in the form of ice > from the interior ocean is always spreading across the surface. If complex > life evolved in the warm water beneath the ice, remnants should show up on > the surface. We have focused on Mars because for many decades it was seen > as the romantic planet next door, where canals stretched across deserts to > keep cities alive. Today we know that's bunk, but the old drive to land > astronauts on Mars persists. For scientific studies, Europa may be far > richer than Mars. -- Joe > > ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 127, Issue 61 ***********************************************

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Wheeler Friday, Granite Saturday
by Patrick Wiggins 22 Sep '13

22 Sep '13

Arrrr! Avast! (today is Talk Like a Pirate Day) In addition to the test star party SLAS is doing at Wheeler Farm tomorrow (Friday) evening, a few SLASers plan to give the parking lot of the old Granite High School a try Saturday evening. For those who may not have heard, the purpose of these test star parties is to help find a location in the SL valley to hold public 3rd quarter Moon star parties during the 2014 star party season. patrick

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Minuteman III Launch Scheduled for tomorrow
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

The Launch-alert mailing list* advises that a Minuteman III is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg AFB tomorrow (Sunday) morning between 4:01 and 10:01 MDT. I've seen three VAFB launches over the years from this area, two from here in Stansbury Park and one during a star party at the Midvale Harmons. Conditions and the missile's trajectory have to be just right to make it visible from here (which is why I've only seen 3 of the many VAFB launches) so no guarantees on seeing it. I could only see two of the launches with binoculars but the third was backlit by the recently set Sun and was easy naked eye and really dramatic. Unfortunately this one is not going to be back lit so the best I'm hoping for will be seeing the exhaust flame. Launches tend to happen very early in the launch window so if you've not seen anything by 4:20ish you may want to pack it in. As seen from the SLC area VAFB is located at about azimuth 230 degrees magnetic. patrick * http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/launch-alert

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Funnies
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Sep '13

21 Sep '13

An on topic funny from Wednesday's Beetle Bailey: http://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/beetlebailey/s-1389855 (yeah, there should be such a law) :) And totally off topic but this short bit of video was well received at yesterday's star party so I thought I'd share it here. I shot this yesterday while preparing for a jump. Note that the only injury was to the ego of the guy who apparently did not pay attention to the seatbelt lecture given during the flight to altitude. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEucbl1zLFg&feature=youtu.be Good thing I was right behind him and was able to set him free. :) Clear skies, patrick

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Photoshop To Death
by John R. Peterson 20 Sep '13

20 Sep '13

Did everyone see yesterday's (Thurs, Sept 2) Astro Photo of the Day? It WAS a nice image, but, as so often happens now-a-days, they went crazy tinting it with Photoshop. Don't they realize it looks like one of those old hand-colored postcards? I love technology, but you can go too far, as seen in (almost) every photography gallery today. While I'm at it, as a musician I rant and rave about abuses of Autotune for similar reasons. John R. Peterson

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Wheeler Farm Question
by D P Pierce 19 Sep '13

19 Sep '13

Rodger, Do you know what the restroom situation is on the north end? Deloy

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