- Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Practicing Polar Alignment
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 27 Apr '04

27 Apr '04

I thought I would take Chuck's suggestion and play with my polar alignment scope on my GM-8 mount this weekend. If I use a polar alignment scope is this good enough for CCD imaging or do I need to learn the drift method? Or is software work better to get a good polar alignment? Debbie

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Slow email... :-)
by Patrick Wiggins 26 Apr '04

26 Apr '04

Suddenly it's taking longer to send email... http://planet.state.ut.us/temp/SLOWEMAIL.JPG Patrick :-)

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Another comet article
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 26 Apr '04

26 Apr '04

That comet has a NEAT tail. Thanks Jim. Debbie

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Workshop/Moon Watch
by Jim Gibson 26 Apr '04

26 Apr '04

There will be a workshop/moon watch at Fort Provo on Saturday night May 1st starting at 6:30. PM. The park has to be cleared by 11PM. The work shop will be given by John Zeigler and he will present a discussion on the light train and on eyepieces (how the work, not necessarily which ones to buy). If time permits, Jim Gibson will present a short introductory discussion on the moon and it features. To make things interesting for the new folks a free CD will be given away that can be used as an aid to learning moon features and their names. There is also some material on the Apollo missions on the CD. There will be 2 Telrads for sale at the price of $40.00 each for any one who is interested. Fort Provo can be reached by getting off of I-15 on Provo Center Street and going West. From the West side of I-15 go to the 2nd stop light at Center Street and Geneva Rd. Turn right and go about a block and you will see the Fort and the park on the right-hand side. Bring lawn chairs, a snack, the kids, and a telescope or binoculars. If you have none of the above, come anyway. When you arrive look for some strange old guy with a parallelogram and binoculars and if Rich Tenney doesnt show up, then look for a young 60 year old guy with a suave short hair cut and with a parallelogram and binoculars. Jim Gibson --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢

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Moon & Venus
by Chuck Hards 26 Apr '04

26 Apr '04

Note that the moon and Venus have identical phases tonight. Both fit in the same wide-field bino FOV, a beautiful sight. And there is a much-diminished Mars, seemingly just below the moon, yet actually on the far side of the sun. I'm going back out in the yard, to the parallelogram... C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢ http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash

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New Gallery images
by Chuck Hards 26 Apr '04

26 Apr '04

I put a few shots of the latest incarnation of my parallelogram design on my Gallery page. I really like the new tripod, it's Chinese made but really rugged as these things go, and the price is right. I use a molded fiberglass cone of my own manufacture as a platform for the central azimuth pivot. Jim Gibson and I looked at Venus in broad daylight with this same setup over the weekend. Comments, criticisms, and observations welcome. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢ http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash

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Another comet article
by Jim Gibson 26 Apr '04

26 Apr '04

This is a NASA atricle on comet C/2001 Q4. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_166.html Jim --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢

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Comets now visiable
by Jim Gibson 26 Apr '04

26 Apr '04

For those willing to get up early (like 5AMish), the Bradfield and Linear T7 comets have emerged from behind the sun. http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1238_1.asp http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1229_1.asp Jim --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢

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Star party laser?
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Apr '04

25 Apr '04

Forget those puny green lasers for use at star parties. Let's get one of *these* (could also be used to deal with any nearby pesky light fixtures...). http://lmms.external.lmco.com/latestnews/index.html Patrick :-)

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Weekend Weather
by Jim Gibson 22 Apr '04

22 Apr '04

Thursday: The current weather system will take most of the night to clear out. Tonight does not look very good for observing. Friday: There is a hi-pressure approaching from the Northwest. By Friday night the winds will have died down and the only place in the state left cloudy will be the Southeast corner of Utah. Saturday: Right on the heels of the hi-pressure system is another system that will cause a trough to pass over Utah on Saturday during the day bringing cloudiness with it. . It will be clearing by evening except in Northeastern Utah. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢

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