March 2014 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Stargazing Live
by Jamie Bradley 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Has anyone seen this show? If only they could do a show like this in the U.S. I have been watching it am almost through series 2. Quite good, good public outreach for astronomy. Aimed at the general public, tries to explain things in layman terms. Funny item about 40 min. in the second episode of the first series, they switch to the guy with the telescope in the field under cloudy skies, just to hear him say that there is still nothing to see and a meteor can be seen in the one hole in the clouds behind him. They point it out later in the episode. Stargazing Live - <http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8 Stargazing Live is a British live television program on astronomy that was first broadcast for three evenings on BBC Two between 3 and 5 January 2011, with a second series broadcast between 16 and 18 January 2012, a third series between 8 and 10 January 2013, and a fourth series between 7 and 9 January 2014. The series is primarily presented by scientist Brian Cox and comedian and amateur astronomer Dara Ó Briain with support from TV presenter Liz Bonnin and astronomer Mark Thompson. It is broadcast from Jodrell Bank Observatory and has featured live links from scientific facilities in Hawaii, South Africa, Norway and NASA. Each episode of series 2, 3 and 4 were immediately followed by Stargazing Live: Back to Earth In which Brian, Dara and their guests discuss the subjects raised in the main show. Main Show - 60 mins Back to Earth - 30 mins Info from: Stargazing Live From Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargazing_Live> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargazing_Live Watch some of it Series 1 & 2 available on YouTube at: <https://www.youtube.com/user/OliIzzy> https://www.youtube.com/user/OliIzzy Series 3 & 4 are not easily found (bit torrent).

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CMB Polarization
by Dave Gary 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Good explanation of B-mode polarization. Some equations didn’t show up properly in my browser, but there were links to all of them. http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/~yuki/CMBpol/CMBpol.htm Dave

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Is a puzzlement
by Wiggins Patrick 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Some here will remember Brent's EPOD from a couple of years back showing the difference between the north and south arms of the GSL caused by the railroad causeway. http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2012/09/great-salt-lake-causeway.html (north to the left) I was reminded of that earlier today (yesterday if you are reading this Tuesday) when I saw something similar. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/GSL-1.JPG (railroad causeway on left, causeway described below on the right, in both north is to the left) But the thing is, I was over the south arm, quite near I-80 with Stansbury Island in the distance. It would appear the causeway-like structure in the south end is causing the same thing to happen. So going north to south we now go from blue water to green water, then fades back to blue and one more change to green. My first thought was that his "other" causeway was put there by those that mine minerals from the GSL. http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2012/08/evaporation-ponds-near-great-salt-lake.ht… But as Brent described in his EPOD the water on the south side of the causeway is lower in minerals. To quote the King of Siam, "Is a puzzlement" (here played by a Vladimir Putin look-alike http://vimeo.com/45346724) Another view of the south end color change looking south toward Stansbury Island and the Tooele Valley. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/GSL-2.JPG patrick

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Cosmos 2G
by jcarman6＠q.com 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

I thoroughly enjoyed the second installment. Having made that statement, the question is: Is anybody still watching? besides the people on this board and some extended science groupies? Consider Fox's normal audience - ultra conservative, ultra religiious, ultra right wing, so far right as to blend in and make the wall scientists keep banging their heads on. Consider Tyson's 90 second diatribe about intelligent design 20 minutes into the episode. He didn't just slap it down, he took a clenched fist to it. That's 90 seconds that could have remained on the cutting room floor. They could have padded the episode with another commercial for Noah, or Supernatural. Maybe they did - in Oklahoma. Tyson 's "no holds barred" "stand up and be counted" posit ion for science is commenda ble, but he obviously hasn't read the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People." As for the tree of life, wonderful graphic, but, considering my upbringing, the tree of life was immediately connected to Lehi's dream. Perhaps a rereading of those verses in the Book of Mormon are necessary. Perhaps the accepted interpretation is wrong. Perhaps Tyson should have called it the Tree of Knowledge from which Adam and Eve partook and were cast out of the garden. Thank goodness I won't be seeing my 40-something relatives this week. You can imagine what they will say this time about evolution and natural selection. My imagination is boiling over with lighted torches, pitchforks, hot tar and feathers. 2 episodes down and 11 to go. Here's hoping (make that a feverant prayer) that WE all survive the airing of Cosmos 2G. (-- - i.e. large tongue in cheek

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arxiv listing for BICEP2 Discovery
by Dave Gary 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

arxiv listing for BICEP2 discovery posted by Dale http://arxiv.org/pdf/1403.3985.pdf Dave

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This is a WAY BIGEE if confirmed
by Dale Hooper 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Echoes of primordial gravitational waves... http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-detect-echoes-big-bang-151753508.html Clear skies, Dale.

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OT: What is it?
by Wiggins Patrick 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

With the weather keeping us away from our scopes I thought it might be interesting to play a bit of "What's this?". Here's a part of a shot of a location in northern Tooele County near the Great Salt Lake I got a couple of days ago: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/mystery.jpg What is it? Not being one to keep it a mystery for long, I'll provide the complete image that should give it away: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/mysterysolved.jpg Ok, now let's hope the weather breaks soon. Cheers, patrick :)

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ATM report
by Hutchings, Mat 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Even though it was a bit windy and chilly, we had a good session on Saturday. Charlie, Craig, Jamie and Jay attended. Charlie laminated door skin to construction styrofoam which is the beginnings of a very light top ring for his telescope project. Jamie brought a 10" Celestron newtonian OTA which needs some parts to make a working telescope. We checked it over and found some sources for the parts he will need (spider, secondary holder and secondary as well as sundry small parts). He will need to build a rocker box and altitude bearings to complete the scope. It will be a nice 10" dobsonian when he is finished. I finished hogging out my 21" mirror using the diamond tool method I've described in the astronomy in utah forum. If you don't make it over to that forum, I can summarize that I hogged out the mirror in less than three hours altogether! This is a 21", f4 mirror so the sagitta is around 0.33" (in other words, that is a lot of glass to remove). This is way, way faster than I would have accomplished this task using more conventional means. Sorry John Dobson, glass removal is no longer caveman work! Mat This message and any attachments are solely for the use of intended recipients. The information contained herein may include trade secrets, protected health or personal information, privileged or otherwise confidential information. Unauthorized review, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing, or using such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you received this email in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this email and any attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender and delete the message and any attachment from your system. Thank you for your cooperation

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It's time for us to swing into action!
by Chrismo 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

Okay Listies! It's time for us to come together to solve a real mystery! There's enough telescope power in this group to give a full examination and bring answers to the public. Check this out! http://i.imgur.com/Ee6MBIs.jpg Tongue planted firmly in cheek, Chrismo

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] It's time for us to swing into action!
by Bruce Hugo 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

Hmmm... maybe they had to add two warp nacelles to get that baby into space and to the moon? That'd explain the additional engines. I didn't know Elvis had warp technology... <rolls eyes skyward>

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