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

Eclipse here in jeopardy?
by Thomas Sevcik 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

We're nearing the 48-hour count down (it's nearly 8:30 p.m. at this time) to our first lunar eclipse in years, but this has me worried. Looking at this page http://local.msn.com/where-to-see-it-total-lunar-eclipse-coming-tax-day-eve… it's looking kind of iffy. After having invested in a couple of new pieces for my camera and refurbishing an old equatorial mount to carry my other camera, (and I'm sure others have done the same) it'd be a shame to have to wait until October. Does anyone else have a better outlook for Mon-Tue? However, I think the two graphics are kind of cool. Tom Sevcik

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Eclipse here in jeopardy
by CenturyLink Customer 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

After enjoying yet another installment of COSMOS last night, I watched Fox news (or Faux news to some on this board). Thought t o geet yet another local weather report. So far local weathermen have been predicting clear skies for Monday, just for the lunar eclipse (cough cough). The Fox/Faux weatherman continues to predict clear skies for tonight AND they did a nice report on the lunar ecliipse, even showing SPOC. Was very pleased with the report until they showed some dweb using the 8" refractor in broad daylight - peering intently (close up on the eye) and focusing. Care to comment Patrick? Crossing my fingers too - also charging the batteries on my camera and portable power supply for my telescope.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Does Prostar still exist
by Thomas Sevcik 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

Thanks to Nancy for reminding me about Cloudy Nights! It didn't cross my mind to check it out at the time I ordered the secondary mirror. Thanks, Chuck, for the tips on Prostar and all. And thanks also to Daniel as I didn't know that some of these ATM businesses are one-man operations out of garages. Tom Sevcik

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Favorite Star Party Object
by Jamie Bradley 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

I was looking for items to find and look at for star parties. Here is a list I made of some that I found on the net. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14342655/Files/Star%20Party%20Objects.p… Other than the planets that are visible at the time. Anyone have any favorite objects they would like to share. Thanks, Jamie B -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I think I'm a really down to earth guy because, you know, gravity." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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More on the eclipse
by Wiggins Patrick 13 Apr '14

13 Apr '14

Here is Spacewather's take on the eclipse: +++++ Space Weather News for April 13, 2014 http://spaceweather.com TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Tuesday morning, April 15th, the full Moon will pass through the shadow of Earth, producing a colorful lunar eclipse. Although the mainstream media is calling this a "blood moon," the color is more likely to be bright orange. At the moment, Earth's stratosphere is not dusty enough produce a shadow with the deep red hues of blood. Whatever color it turns out to be, the eclipse will be visible from North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. Checkhttp://spaceweather.com for observing tips and more information. LIVE WEBCAST OF THE ECLIPSE: Got clouds? No problem. The lunar eclipse will be broadcast live on the web by the Coca-Cola Science Center at Columbus State University in Georgia:http://www.ccssc.org/webcast.html +++++ Also, SPOC's Clear Sky Clock is looking encouraging for the time of the eclipse: http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/SPOC2UTkey.html?1 Fingers continue crossed, patrick

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Neil DeGrasse Tyson Tanner Lecture
by CenturyLink Customer 12 Apr '14

12 Apr '14

Sorry, it was Ian who had to leave at 8:30. And IMHO, most of the point he was trying to make about M uslim society was not specifically spelled out by him. He presented the example and left the listerner to figure out the implications and apply them. During th e golden age of Islam, Muslims named most of the stars in the sky, nam es we still use today. During the golden age of Islam , Muslims created a numeric system we use in America today. During the golden age of Islam, Muslims created Algebra, a mathematical system we still use today. Then the Muslim faith was codified and scientific and mathematical progress came to a scree ching halt. Muslins today are going to engineering, medical and business school. W hat they are doing with that knowledge? Are they taking their education back to the Muslim world and moving it forward? There are many places throughout the 1.4 billion Muslims where there never have been, to this day, electricity or running water. The majority of the 1.4 billion Muslims are living on a poverty level . There is a wealthy ruling class, a knowledgeable class, but they aren't sharing the knowledge for everyone's benefit. T hey aren't engineering aquiducts or water systems to reach the impoverished . They aren't stringing electrical wire, or advancing solar energy to move their society forward . Nine hundred years later, the Muslim world is still standing still. And the rest of world quakes in fear of jihadists . At least that's the implication I took away from that one example.

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Lunar eclipse prospects
by Chuck Hards 12 Apr '14

12 Apr '14

The long-range charts are now forecasting the next storm series to roll into the state on Sunday. So typical, whenever ANYTHING good in the sky happens, the SLC area will have terrible cloudy weather. Anybody have any mobility plans if the weather gods frown on us?

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Eclipse Live Web Stream from Griffith Observatory
by Kelly Ricks 11 Apr '14

11 Apr '14

Patrick, I also found this page that will be covering the eclipse live: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/ ~Kelly > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:18:42 -0600 > From: Wiggins Patrick <paw(a)getbeehive.net> > To: Astronomy Utah <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Eclipse Live Web Stream from Griffith > Observatory > Message-ID: <9F9E410B-7D0E-4B11-8A86-6DB677B9E7C8(a)getbeehive.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Sheena says she spoke with someone at the National Weather Service and > learned there's a high pressure area moving in Monday which should keep > skies clear enough long enough for the eclipse. > > But if worse comes to worse Griffith will be streaming the eclipse from > their location (though NWS is calling for "mostly cloudy" for LA Monday > night): > http://new.livestream.com/GriffithObservatoryTV > > BTW, should we ever decide SPOC needs a mascot, here's a good candidate: > http://batworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Peekaboo-smiles.jpg > > patrick > > >

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Eclipse Live Web Stream from Griffith Observatory
by Wiggins Patrick 11 Apr '14

11 Apr '14

Sheena says she spoke with someone at the National Weather Service and learned there's a high pressure area moving in Monday which should keep skies clear enough long enough for the eclipse. But if worse comes to worse Griffith will be streaming the eclipse from their location (though NWS is calling for "mostly cloudy" for LA Monday night): http://new.livestream.com/GriffithObservatoryTV BTW, should we ever decide SPOC needs a mascot, here's a good candidate: http://batworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Peekaboo-smiles.jpg patrick

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Star parties & eclipse watches
by Wiggins Patrick 10 Apr '14

10 Apr '14

SLAS will be hosting two star parties and two eclipse watches in the coming nights. Star party tomorrow (Friday) night at the Cougar Harmons in Kearns. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=2082 Star party at SPOC Saturday night at SPOC. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=2083 Eclipse watch at the Walmart in Sandy from 10:00 pm Monday to 2:00 am Tuesday. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=2162 Eclipse watch at SPOC from midnight Monday to 2:00 am Tuesday. http://slas.us/displayevent.asp?EventID=2163 Note that by the time the eclipse starts at 11:58 pm MDT Monday Mars will be well placed for viewing and at it's closest for this time around and Jupiter and Saturday will also be visible. All open to the public. Free admission Weather permitting (though I probably don't need to say that here). patrick

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