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

Astronomy Software (For Learning Beginners)
by Ryan Simpkins 03 Apr '14

03 Apr '14

It is so much fun learning the night sky! One of the tools I've been using is Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org) because it is a free & open source. Any planetarium software would work. It allows someone to learn during the day (or cloudy weather). Turning off all the labels and removing the horizon leaves only the stars as guides. Simulations like this enhance observational efficiency and removes some of the guesswork. Planetarium only software is very useful, but it is obvious that there are limits to this kind of software. Stellarium doesn't have any observational planning features. It just draws stars. If the name of the game is enhancing efficiency and tracking progress, more is needed. When reviewing astronomy related software it is quite difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. For someone like myself who is used to using very complex software, Stellarium doesn't cut it. Does the group have any recommendations for quality astronomy related software? Is there a clear leader in the industry for something that combines observation planning & logging, planetarium features, and perhaps more? Red Shift (http://www.redshift-live.com/en/about-redshift.html) seems to have a lot of marketing going on, but that isn't always a good measure of quality software. Any and all advice appreciated. -Ryan

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And it begins...NASA and Russia
by Dale Hooper 03 Apr '14

03 Apr '14

I'm not sure where this will lead, but this appears to be a first volley... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nasa-suspends-relations-russia-cri… I appreciated the info that Patrick shared about SpaceX and Falcon9 the other day - it is good to know that we may have some options. Clear skies, Dale.

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Lot of great observing guides
by Dale Hooper 03 Apr '14

03 Apr '14

http://www.faintfuzzies.com/DownloadableObservingGuides2.html I saw the above site mentioned in Astronomy Technology Today (Mar-Apr 2014) and remembered that I had come across it a while ago. It has a really great variety of downloadable observing guides. If you haven't already visited this site before - you should check it out. Clear skies, Dale.

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Where can I purchase those seeds?
by Brent Watson 02 Apr '14

02 Apr '14

Congratulations, Patrick. Your tongue placed appropriately, very nicely in cheek on today's EPOD.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Observatory Dome collapse
by Joe Bauman 02 Apr '14

02 Apr '14

Patrick, you fell for it. ------------------------------ On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 12:17 PM MDT Erik Hansen wrote: >> Ofool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. > > > >n 01 Apr 2014, at 09:37, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Amazing security camera footage of a university dome collapse in high >> winds: >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ >> >> Wrong URL or April Fool? >> >> That URL appears to be for a music video. >> >> patrick >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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Observatory Dome collapse
by Chuck Hards 02 Apr '14

02 Apr '14

Amazing security camera footage of a university dome collapse in high winds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

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COSMOS
by CenturyLink Customer 01 Apr '14

01 Apr '14

Perhaps that explains why there are no major observatories in England The Royal Astronomical Society is just wishful thinking :)

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Metric time
by Brent Watson 01 Apr '14

01 Apr '14

Patrick, have you converted over yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcbO3hl3_F0

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COSMOS
by CenturyLink Customer 01 Apr '14

01 Apr '14

At first read, I intended to disagree with you, Chuck. The approximate year depicted in that (damned) cartoon was about 1800, before electricty, before cars, so a star-filled sky in England was very possible. BUT then they were burning a lot of coal in those days, the pollution of which was pretty bad, so you're probably right after all :)

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Science related letter to the Trib editor
by Wiggins Patrick 01 Apr '14

01 Apr '14

In today's SL Trib: Tribune should devote resources to covering science http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/57743329-82/science-tyson-section-trib… patrick

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