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Latest news from KUER Radio
by Joe Bauman 20 Jul '14

20 Jul '14

Volunteer 'Ambassador' Receiving NASA Honor

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Who done it?
by Wiggins Patrick 20 Jul '14

20 Jul '14

I'll start off by saying I seriously doubt that anyone here or anyone in SLAS did it but while flying north over I-15 in the south end of the valley last night at 11:25 I was hit by a very bright green laser coming from the east. I was not amused. Much to my irritation ATC would not let me go over and circle the place where the beam came from in hopes cops might be able to find those responsible. It was about as far east of the freeway as Wheeler Farm is and for a moment I wondered if it was coming from the star party. But since I'd been there for the star party an hour or so before I'm pretty sure it was south of Wheeler. Happily no damage or side effects but, like I say, I was not amused. One good thing did come of it, when I landed I met with an airport cop who had me fill out a report and while doing that he drove me over to see this: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/fifi.jpg I've seen a lot of old aircraft but this was my first meeting with Fifi (the last one flying of her kind). patrick

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Smoke gets in your eyes
by Chuck Hards 19 Jul '14

19 Jul '14

Took the RV-6 out back tonight, but there is so much smoke in the air from regional fires that it looks like at least 1 to 1-1/2 magnitudes of extinction, maybe more. Objects that should be bright and obvious are dim and pitiful. I'm bagging it for tonight and hoping it's more transparent next weekend. Sunset was very red this evening and I had a suspicion the seeing wasn't going to be up to snuff. On the bright side, I picked up a cable release for the smart phone last week. It plugs into the earphone jack and works like a standard DSLR cable release. These things are available on ebay and Amazon and are only five bucks! So now I can use the smarphone in afocal mode at the telescope and not worry about a blurry image from having to tap the screen, or use a shutter delay app. With the universal smart phone holder from Orion, I'll be using the smart phone for pics more often. I recently upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S5, and it has as many pixels as my Pentax K-30 DSLR, at appreciably lighter weight. It also does better on hydrogen-alpha sensitivity so I'm hoping for some nice solar shots. Stay tuned.

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Rosetta Spacecraft 3D Interactive
by stormcrow60＠xmission.com 19 Jul '14

19 Jul '14

Rosetta has encountered Comet 67P/CG You can get vertigo from moving through the 3D affects. http://sci.esa.int/where_is_rosetta/ Jon

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Who done it?
by Joe Bauman 19 Jul '14

19 Jul '14

B-29? ------------------------------ On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 10:10 AM MDT CenturyLink Customer wrote: >Please describe the effects of being hit with the green laser. Inquiring minds want to know. --- I am serious. I would like to know about it from a pilot who has been on the receiving end. > >Joan > >P.S. NO!!!! I am not confessing. My green laser was safelty tucked in a "hidey hole" in my car. > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Wiggins Patrick" <paw(a)getbeehive.net> >To: "Astronomy Utah" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> >Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 4:06:34 AM >Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Who done it? > >I'll start off by saying I seriously doubt that anyone here or anyone in SLAS did it but while flying north over I-15 in the south end of the valley last night at 11:25 I was hit by a very bright green laser coming from the east. > >I was not amused. Much to my irritation ATC would not let me go over and circle the place where the beam came from in hopes cops might be able to find those responsible. > >It was about as far east of the freeway as Wheeler Farm is and for a moment I wondered if it was coming from the star party. But since I'd been there for the star party an hour or so before I'm pretty sure it was south of Wheeler. > >Happily no damage or side effects but, like I say, I was not amused. > >One good thing did come of it, when I landed I met with an airport cop who had me fill out a report and while doing that he drove me over to see this: > >http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/fifi.jpg > >I've seen a lot of old aircraft but this was my first meeting with Fifi (the last one flying of her kind). > >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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Nice ISS pass in AM
by Wiggins Patrick 19 Jul '14

19 Jul '14

CalSky is calling for a nice, near vertical, ISS pass for northern Utah tomorrow morning: Sunday 20 July 2014 Appears 4h08m48s -4.2mag az:246.7° WSW h:66.6° Culmination 4h09m12s -4.1mag az:323.5° NW h:84.3° distance: 423.4km height above Earth: 422.8km elevation of Sun: -19° Disappears 4h14m41s 2.6mag az: 53.5° NE horizon patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Life elsewhere
by Bruce Hugo 19 Jul '14

19 Jul '14

As the 1993 song "Pets" by the band Porno for Pyros goes: "We'll make great pets!" Bruce Hugo

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Summer school
by Wiggins Patrick 18 Jul '14

18 Jul '14

From today's funnies. http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/2014/07/18#.U8mbxGK9KSM patrick Sent from my iPad

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Life elsewhere
by Joe Bauman 18 Jul '14

18 Jul '14

Just to underline the excellent presentation last night: http://www.businessinsider.com/aliens-wont-look-like-et-2014-7

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Life Elsewhere
by CenturyLink Customer 18 Jul '14

18 Jul '14

It's not so much the answer to the question (profound either way), but how humanity will react. Carl Sagan's "Contact " was made into a movie. Humanity, in general, is not prepared for the answer . Then again, if it is sentient, it m ight not be friendly at all and our existence will hang in the balance . IMHO. in our life times, we will find "life" (bacteria and such) somewhere closer to home - in our solar system. If memory serves, one of the Apollo missions traveled to the Surveyor landing site and found earth based bacteria clinging to existance on the craft.

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