October 2015 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Last night's lecture
by Joe Bauman 11 Dec '18

11 Dec '18

Brent, speaking of the ISS, I have wondered if it could be put into an orbit that continuously cruised between Earth and Mars. When it swung by Mars it could drop off and retrieved crews. I don't see how the radiation would be any worse than the ISS crews are already exposed to. ------------------------------ On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 8:18 AM MST Brent Watson via Utah-Astronomy wrote: >I attended the lecture last night on trajectories. It was really a good, stimulating talk. Thanks for passing the word along. >There were some interesting side comments made about our launch capabilities and the Mars One effort. Mr. Adamo was not at all enthusiastic about the Mars One effort. His opinion is that the effort is doomed because there is not really a way to assure that folks going there would be safe - primarily from radiation. He has done some work with a former flight surgeon on designing a spacecraft to go to Mars. Their result is that in order to get sufficient shielding (using a water jacket), the spacecraft's mass would be around 380 metric tons. That is for a small crew, probably only about 5 members. For a point of comparison, the ISS mass is 400 metric tons. He made the comment that an astronaut who made this trip could only go to space once in this craft, and then he would be at the limit of radiation exposure for his life. The NASA limit is an increased risk of developing cancer of 5%. >That brings us to our current launch capability. Our latest heavy lift rocket - the one we are currently developing - will have the capability to lift 130 metric tons to a very low earth orbit. So low, in fact, that it would burn up at perigee. The Apollo 17 Saturn 5 rocket lifted 140 metric tons into earth orbit -- higher than the new rocket will go. (I am sorry, but my mind will not allow me to recall the name of our currently being designed rocket.) Recall that it took several dozen shuttle launches to assemble the ISS. The Mars One vehicle would require either a hugely more massive launch rocket or a similar effort to build the craft. >As I mentioned, it was a very intellectually stimulating lecture and did involve several ordinary differential equations. They were nicely explained in English by Mr. Adamo. This was the first time I have seen some real math put to Kepler's laws. There were many charts showing what it takes to leave the earth and go to the moon or Mars. It was a very well done lecture. >The above is my recollection of the lecture, and may not actually represent the opinions of Mr. Adamo. It is only my interpretation of what he said. He knows his stuff, that is apparent. Thanks Patrick and Dr. Sohl for passing the word along. >_______________________________________________ >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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Sunspot activity
by Chuck Hards 31 Oct '15

31 Oct '15

If you can, go out and look at the sun before it sets and the trick-or-treaters arrive. There is a remarkably large sunspot group visible right now, a terrific white-light target with lots of detail. I haven't yet looked in H-a, but the white light view itself is pretty darn good. I'm using an 80x400mm achromat with a 2" Lunt solar wedge, ND3 filter, and 2" variable polarizing filter along with various eyepieces.

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U.S. Navy Recovers NASA Orion Space Capsule
by Jamie Bradley 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

U.S. Navy Recovers NASA Orion Space Capsule . EFT-1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbRgTRSdBLg Navy Divers Recover a 9 Tons Space Capsule Fell From the Sky: NASA's Orion Crew Module https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxut0cIlNQ Jamie B "So, here's the plan: The next time we send someone to space, upon their return, everyone wear ape suits!" _______________________________________________ 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 <mailto:Utah-Astronomy@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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6" SCT for sale
by Chuck Hards 27 Oct '15

27 Oct '15

I am selling a highly collectible Bausch & Lomb Criterion 6000 6" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. Details here: https://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=37116677&cat=&lpid=&search=telescope&ad_cid… Priced low for quick sale on this classic SCT telescope. Includes factory wedge and tripod.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Sky Safari Plus 4 Sale
by Naz_David George-Kennedy 18 Oct '15

18 Oct '15

Right. Never used an iPad or iPhone so didn't know. There seems to be a lot of inexpensive uart to wifi modules on ebay. Don't know if that's helpful. On 2015-10-18 19:45, Joel Stucki wrote: > I seem to be reading a lot that Android has an easier time with this. IOS versions of SkySafari do not use Bluetooth because IOS does not allow direct access to BT devices. So the connection is a bit more complicated having to connect over an ad hoc wifi network. I am pondering options. Thanks for the offer of help. I may ping you off list. > > On Sun, Oct 18, 2015 at 1:12 PM, Naz_David George-Kennedy > <naz_david@???> wrote: >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Sky Safari Plus 4 Sale
by Naz_David George-Kennedy 18 Oct '15

18 Oct '15

For less than $10 on ebay I got one of these and put it in my Argo Navis, works a treat with my android tablet and phone both running SkySafari using the Meade GOTO protocol: CRIUS MWC Multiwii Bluetooth Module Parameter Configurator Module/Adapter I had to track down the pin-outs to get the UART TX/RX before its converted to RS232 serial. I assume the Orion has a serial connector so it should be possible with that as well and you'll have to configure the module for baud rate etc. I can help you with both if you need it, otherwise good luck! Cheers David

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Balloon sighting?
by Fred Orrell 18 Oct '15

18 Oct '15

I saw something in the sky last night about 6:50 PM on October 15, 2015. It wasn't quite dark yet and the skies were mostly clear. I was sitting in the backyard swing at my house in Sandy, Utah and happened to look up about 80 degrees in elevation and toward the East. A white colored "star" appeared about as bright as Venus or the ISS would be at this time of day, yet Jupiter, Mars, and Venus are only visible in the early morning this month. None of the other planets ever appear this bright. I was sitting in the swing and used the support bar as a reference to verify it wasn't moving, at least not very fast if it was moving. I watched it for several minutes and then it started fading in brightness until it disappeared over about a one minute period. I really wished that I had my binoculars with me. A geostationary satellite would never appear that bright and an Iridium satellite (which I have seen many) would have moved. Other than calling it a UFO, the only thing I can imagine is that I witnessed a high altitude balloon. If so, it either dropped into Earth's shadow causing it to dim, or it burst. Anyone know how to find out about high altitude balloons over Utah? Another wild possibility is that it could have been a gamma ray burst, which I believe I witnessed years ago with several other people. Fred Orrell

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Sky Safari Plus 4 Sale
by Joel Stucki 17 Oct '15

17 Oct '15

If you use iPhone, or iPad the best astronomy app out there is Sky Safari. It also has an Android version. It's "plus" version which is very good is on sale this weekend for 50% off ($6.99). It's a great deal as it makes a nice mobile planetarium with a red light setting and lots of info on popular celestial objects that does not require wifi or Internet to access. I strongly recommend it if you don't yet have a computer solution for in field. It also has the ability to connect wirelessly to pushto or goto scopes although I use an Orion and the connecting part costs $150 which seems too steep to me. Although I would love to hear if anyone has tried this connection and found it worth the money.

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Odyssey 13.1" on KSL
by Chuck Hards 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

Did anyone see that pristine 13.1" Odyssey Dob in the KSL Classifieds?

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Downfall of the most prolific planet-finder
by Joe Bauman 14 Oct '15

14 Oct '15

>From what I read, it's a well-deserved downfall. UC Berkeley astronomer accused of sexually harassing students resigns | | | | | | | | | | | UC Berkeley astronomer accused of sexually harassing stu...A well-known UC Berkeley astronomer facing sexual harassment allegations from multiple students has stepped down after a furor about whether the unive... | | | | View on www.latimes.com | Preview by Yahoo | | | | |

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