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Re: [Utah-astronomy] NEAT was neat tonight
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 10 May '04

10 May '04

About 10 pm. It should be right next to Procyon tonight. My weather is turing bad so I don't think I'll see it tonight. Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] NEAT was neat tonight
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 10 May '04

10 May '04

I had a chance to take some pictures of the comet last night. I can't wait to see my pictures. I'm going to finish off the roll of film today and then get it developed. I hope they come out half way decent. I had some troubles balancing the 8" SCT telescope last night. I'm not going to switch scopes in the middle of the night anymore. It is too hard to see the dovetail plate and saddle in the dark. Anyway, I easily found the comet with the naked eye just east of Procyon. Lots of meteors last night too. I woudn't be surprised if there are some meteors in my pictures. Debbie

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Tripod leg flashers
by Chuck Hards 10 May '04

10 May '04

I am going to order more of the red-LED flashers soon, if anyone wants a set let me know before the weekend. These are the type that use 2-AA batteries, flashing a single red LED. You may have seen them on tripod legs at star-parties. Keeps folks from tripping over them in the dark. They can attach with rubber bands, Velcro or screws if your tripod has wooden legs. Price is $2 each, a set of 3 runs $6 which includes what I pay for shipping. At this price I'm not making any money on them. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover

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Weightless mount
by Chuck Hards 10 May '04

10 May '04

Jim Gibson has posted some shots of his Weightless mount on his Gallery page, showing the encoder installation for his digital setting circles. Thanks for sharing those, Jim! (neat eyepiece tray, if I do say-so myself...) C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] New Moon May 13, 14 and 15
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 10 May '04

10 May '04

Jim and I may swing by the Wedge on the 15th of May. We are coming from Dead Horse State Park. It all depends on the weather. How far of a drive is Price, UT from the Wedge? Or would it be better to take a tent and sleeping bag? Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Comet NEAT now (21:25)
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 09 May '04

09 May '04

Now this is a bright comet. I went west of town under partly cloudy skies and saw it northwest of the M46-M47 clusters in Puppis. That thing is big and bright through my Oberwerk 15 X 70 binoculars. It had a respectable tail and a bright coma. I'm going to take my scope and camera tomorrow and take some photos of it. At first I thought I had it low in the sky in the constellation Puppis but this turned out to be the bright cluster NGC 2451. I was skeptical because this didn't match the charts and then went north and found this huge bright comet in the binoculars. The magnitude is now 3.0. It seems this comet is as bright as Hale-Bopp. Debbie

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NEAT was neat tonight
by Patrick Wiggins 09 May '04

09 May '04

Comet NEAT put on a very nice show for star party goers at SPOC tonight. Easy naked eye (even to my old eyes) and lots of intricate detail seen through the Brandt in the immediate vicinity of the nucleus. Through 11x80s the tail stretched at least 4 degrees. Can't wait to see Debbie's pictures. Patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Comet NEAT now (21:25)
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 08 May '04

08 May '04

I got a little carried away in my enthusiasm in viewing the comet last night. It isn't as bright as Hale-Bopp but it is the brightest comet I've seen in two years. It was naked eye from my dark site but you had to know where to look for it. The 15 X 70s binoculars showed a tail of about 4-5 degrees. I'm going to view it in my scope tonight out at my dark sky location west of Snow Canyon. The comet should be in Monoceros heading towards Procyon. Debbie

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Comet NEAT now (21:25)
by Patrick Wiggins 07 May '04

07 May '04

Comet NEAT is now easily visible with 7x35 binos from here at Stansbury Park. About 15 degrees to the lower left of Procyon and 15 degrees to the upper right of Sirius. Patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: [UVAA] Question on GO-TO scopes
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 07 May '04

07 May '04

Here is what "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" has to say on it. Do You Need a "Go To" Telescope? For the $300-to-$500 cost of a good beginner's scope, should you buy one with the "Go To" capability, such as a Meade ETX-AT or DS-2000 model? They are seductive. Just press a button, and away they go. They make it fun to explore the sky with kids. In the low-cost "Go To" scopes, what you sacrifice is image quality for any object you do find. For the same $300 to $400 that a small 70mm-to-80mm "Go To" telescope costs, you could have any of the following: a larger 90mm-to-105mm Maksutov, a 90mm long-focus refractor, a 130mm Newtonian reflector or a 6-inch (150mm) reflector on a Dobsonian mount. All will shoe brighter, sharper images, provided you do the work to find objects. Star-hopping guides and charts are the low-cost alternative to "Go To" computers. Using them to star-hop across the sky requires that you learn the sky, essential knowledge for cultivatin a long-term love affair with the stars. Debbie

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