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[Utah-astronomy] Laser pointer and imaging "basically" an urban legend
by Dale Hooper 27 Feb '04

27 Feb '04

There was a discussion on the SBIG CCD yahoo group over the past couple of days about laser pointers and whether they really do mess things up for imagers. There was some really good empirical data presented that says it is basically much ado about not much. Chris Peterson (Cloudbait Observatory) performed a couple experiments: 1) He allowed a tripod mounted green laser to momentarily intersect an area he was imaging - comparison of images with and without the laser revealed no difference. 2) About twenty feet from his telescope, he had a laser pointer track the same location as he was imaging for two minutes. The background level was slightly elevated but not significantly. The only ones that actually had any real problems with lasers in their images - had been themselves using the lasers as a finder on their telescope. The bottom line was that the only significant danger to imaging was if someone accidentally pointed the laser at the telescope (or the imager <g>). However, it was also mentioned that some star parties do ban them. In addition, etiquette would dictate that if someone really objects - then it's not something worth starting a row over. Clear skies, Dale.

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New Saturn picture
by Patrick Wiggins 27 Feb '04

27 Feb '04

Taken with Trasco scope and Instamatic camera. :-) http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/56229main_MM_image_feature_137_jwfull.jpg Ok, so it was actually taken by Cassini earlier this month from about 69 million km out. I find it interesting that it will be sometime in May before Cassini will start returning Saturn pictures with higher resolution than we can obtain from back here on the Home World. Patrick

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Regulus Transit
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 27 Feb '04

27 Feb '04

Hi, Does anybody know when Regulus transits or crosses the meridian on March 20th? I want to find NGC 3132 at it's highest point in the sky. The Eightburst Nebula as it is called, is well worth tracking down. I can't seem to find my Sky and Telescope Almanac. Also, I'd like to know when Delta Corvi transits so I can find Kohoutek 1-23. This one will be difficult at my latitude but I plan on giving it a try anyway. It has a relatively bright magnitude of 12.6, a good target for the 15". Debbie

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Finder Scope Right Angle Adaptor?
by Wade Starks 26 Feb '04

26 Feb '04

After reading about the FSMirror, I wonder is there is not also a solution to the finder scope on my telescope. Can one get an adaptor for inline finder scopes like my 8X50 meade, or must one buy a separate right angle finder scope? Wade C Starks

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Earth Science: An Astronaut's View of Earth
by Dale Hooper 26 Feb '04

26 Feb '04

Astronaut Mario Runco, Jr. Earth and Planetary Scientist, NASA will present: Earth Science: An Astronaut's View of Earth On Monday, March 1 at 3:30 pm in the new engineering building room 104 on the campus of Utah State University. The Seminar is open to the public and all are invited to attend. (Note: This is the same bldg. where Dr. Harrison Schmitt spoke.)

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Fwd: FS mirrors
by Richard Tenney 26 Feb '04

26 Feb '04

Some atm-related "spam" I just received that some of you may be interested in. -Rich Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard - Read only the mail you want. http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Ken Croswell meeting.
by Kim Hyatt 25 Feb '04

25 Feb '04

Thanks for the sentiments David. We appreciated how well things turned out and Ken seemed pleased to have sold so many books (the Bookstore sold out all copies it had ordered, I think there were 40). More importantly, Ken is impressed how well astronomy is supported in the community and how many enthusiastic people came to the lecture. I counted 232, but I'm sure there were more. Thanks to everyone who came - I hope you thought your time was well spent. -----Original Message----- From: David Dunn [mailto:david.dunn@albertsons.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 3:02 PM To: &Astro (utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com) Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Ken Croswell meeting. I wanted to thank SLAS for inviting us to the meeting with Ken Croswell last night. I really enjoyed it. Thanks. David Dunn 801-961-3253

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Ken Croswell meeting.
by David Dunn 25 Feb '04

25 Feb '04

I wanted to thank SLAS for inviting us to the meeting with Ken Croswell last night. I really enjoyed it. Thanks. David Dunn 801-961-3253

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Big sunspot
by Patrick Wiggins 25 Feb '04

25 Feb '04

So why is it I only learn about stuff like this *after* it has clouded over? :-) Space Weather News for Feb. 25, 2004 http://spaceweather.com BIG SUNSPOT: There's a big spot on the sun today, sunspot 564. It first appeared only a few days ago, tiny and unremarkable. Since then it has grown wider than eight planet Earths. The active region can be seen without a telescope--but never look directly at the sun. Unfiltered sunlight can damage your eyes.

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Tragic accident
by Kim Hyatt 24 Feb '04

24 Feb '04

I was not yet aware of the accident - best wishes for a rapid and complete recovery to all concerned (and glad to hear you are OK, Joe). -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 10:44 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Tragic accident Hi Friends, To anyone in the group who hears the news that three Deseret News employees were severely injuried outside the newspaper's building, and wonders if I was one -- I wasn't outside at the time. I ran to the scene soon afterward. It is a terrible tragedy. A runaway Jeep pinned two of our people against the wall of Felt Electric, then backed over a third. One man's leg was nearly severed. We don't know the present condition of anyone but when they were taken to hospitals, two were in "delta" condition (meaning life-threatening) and the third was in "charlie" condition (a step better than life-threatening). We are shaken. Best wishes, Joe _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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