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

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Star parties & eclipse watches
by Joe Bauman 10 Apr '14

10 Apr '14

It also depends on which moon you're talking about. ------------------------------ On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 8:50 AM MDT Chuck Hards wrote: >Depends on how close you are. ;-) > > >On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 8:18 AM, Siegfried Jachmann ><siegfried(a)jachmann.org>wrote: > >> 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. >> >> "Saturday" will also be visible". Will it be as big as the full Moon? >> >> >> >> >> >_______________________________________________ >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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Beginner Question About Optical Reflections When Observing Near Moon
by Ryan Simpkins 09 Apr '14

09 Apr '14

Last night I was trying to catch views of Praesepe with some binoculars. The moon was near the field of view. When viewing, I started getting strange reflections from the moon in my view. Waiting 30 minutes for the moon to move fixed the problem. Did I see strange optical reflections of the moon because I have low end binoculars, or because any optical system is prone to this problem? Is waiting for the moon to get out of the way the only solution? In photography I'm familiar with the idea of a lens flare, but this seemed much more pronounced than just a loss of contrast. It was a distorted image of the moon in the side of the area of view. Please let me know if asking so many beginner questions is a problem for the group. If there is a better forum or method for me to seek understanding I will gladly do it. I don't want to waste everyone's time asking questions like this. Besides, it is quite intimidating. Does SLAS have a mentoring program? -Ryan

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April's Lunar Eclipse
by Ed 06 Apr '14

06 Apr '14

For those interested in photographing April's Lunar Eclipse on the 14th and 15th, Nikon has this: Tips for photographing April's Total Lunar Eclipse - with photos by Fred Espanak: http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Learn-And-Explore/Article/h1sctsrv/how-to-photog… It covers the range from point-and-shoot to telescope-mounted cameras with examples, including video. It also has a diagram showing the geometry of the eclipse. And here is an exposure guide by Mr. Espanak: http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/image/LE-Exposure1w.GIF No matter what kind of camera you have, you can shoot the eclipse. Good luck to all, Ed Stimpson

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] super accurate atomic clock
by Thomas Sevcik 05 Apr '14

05 Apr '14

Larry. Thanks for the input! I'll see if I still have my old receiver packed in one of my moving boxes from years ago. I know it has short-wave, NOAA and such. Tom Sevcik

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Kane Creek Petroglyphs
by Dave Gary 05 Apr '14

05 Apr '14

Humped it up to these, today. Man, am I getting old. In a few more years I'll have to haul a telescope along just to take the photos from the road so I don't have to walk so far. I know this isn't astronomy-related, but it's cloudy here in Moab and there's nothing better to photograph. https://www.flickr.com/photos/78046474@N06/sets/72157643480251085/ Dave Gary

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Super accurate atomic clock
by Thomas Sevcik 05 Apr '14

05 Apr '14

Chuck and Dale. Very useful information! Thanks! Tom Sevcik

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Could these volcanos affect eclipse?
by Thomas Sevcik 04 Apr '14

04 Apr '14

I have a question for the geological/meteorological savvy on this list. I just read a couple of short articles on MSN were Peru's Mount Ubinas and Ecuador's Tungurahua volcanos have had recent eruptions. Mount Ubinas has been active since September of 2013 and Tungurahua has been active since 1999 with the last major eruption happening on February 1 of this year. My question is; can the ash clouds from either, or both, migrate to the mid-northern latitudes as they circle the Earth? Is there a web site that posts the predicted/actual paths of these ash clouds? And last of all; what, if any, effect could one expect as far as the Danjon scale of lunar eclipse brightness (say L=3 as opposed to a L=1 level of brightness)? Would it be safe to say, "the darker your location, the better," for this eclipse? Just curious. Tom Sevcik

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Planets on eclipse night
by Wiggins Patrick 04 Apr '14

04 Apr '14

During SLAS's 2 eclipse watches for this month's eclipse we will have Mars at its closest to Earth that night and just a few degrees from the Moon. Plus just as the umbral portion of the eclipse is starting at midnight we will have Jupiter over in the SW and Saturn in the SE. And as an added bonus (4099) Wiggins will be rising in the east. :) For those who've not heard about the eclipse watches (which I'm still wondering if any public will show up to) one will be at the Walmart in Sandy from 2200 MDT Monday to 0200 Tuesday while the other will be a SPOC from midnight to 0200. Weather permitting, of course. patrick Sent from my iPad

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Skydiver almost hit by meteorite?
by Ian Glenn 04 Apr '14

04 Apr '14

Here is a video from a helmet cam of a rock falling past a skydiver. I promise this is not a rick-roll, but also very likely not a meteorite. Still an interesting video. I thought some on this list might have some alternate explanations? It's not likely to have come from the plane since the divers are wearing wing-suits. Could he have accidentally packed the rock into his chute? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzYJaQ0h4Dg

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Super accurate atomic clock
by Thomas Sevcik 04 Apr '14

04 Apr '14

The NIST-F2 is stated to be accurate to within one second in 300 million years! Now if they'd only come out with digital watches to come close to matching that. Does this put amateur crater immersion and emersion timings for the next series of lunar eclipses a thing of the past? (apparently my computer's dictionary doesn't know how "emersion" is spelled). I would presume that if one is recording the eclipse on video it would be best to record the atomic clock signal from Denver via a external microphone for accuracy? http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/new-super-accurate-atomic-clock… Tom Sevcik

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