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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Eclipse from SPOC
by Joe Bauman 15 Apr '14

15 Apr '14

It was one of the best for me too! Wanting to avoid crowds I went to Lakeside. When I arrived the full moon had the place lit up like daylight. During totality I had trouble finding my camera's viewfinder. The moon a deep rich coppery color, brighter on the lower right -- stars visible nearby -- the "new moon" sky blazing with stars -- Mars stunningly bright -- icy cold: those are some of my impressions. ------------------------------ On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 10:48 AM MDT Siegfried Jachmann wrote: >We also had a very successful eclipse watch at the Sandy Walmart. We had 7 >telescopes in the main area and people with other scopes, spotting scopes >and telephoto lenses scattered around nearby. We heard many appreciative >comments > >Jed Boal of channel 5 came by and did a live feed for the 10 o'clock news. >There was a camera and no Patrick! ☺ > >Channel 13 came by during the eclipse. I haven't seen their footage. It's >coming up at 11 am. > >We had a steady stream of public from the time we set up until about 1:30. >Some people stayed the whole time. We had kids in PJ's that came out of >bed. They thoroughly enjoyed it. One young girl was exceptional in her >science and math. > >The lights at Walmart are brighter than the lights at Harmons. It would not >be suitable for general star parties but for something like this it was >good. Seeing was not great last night. A cold front was moving in and we >saw high clouds after 1:15. They did not interfere with the observation. > >We also showed all 3 major planets. One thing a little different, many >people with cellphones attempted to take pictures of the planets and the >Moon in eclipse. Some turned out pretty decent. Ken Porras took pictures >through my scope again. If he wins anything in the photo contest, I want >half of the prize. ☺ > >The color on the Moon was excellent. We started seeing red well before >totality which was earlier than I remembered. The lights did NOT interfere >with the color. >We broke down at 2 and were gone before 3. Last man broke down at 2:30, >just after the Moon came out of the shadow. > >Siegfried > > >On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 4:36 AM, Wiggins Patrick <paw(a)getbeehive.net> wrote: > >> WOW! What an incredible experience. >> >> Lots of portable scopes and binoculars in addition to the scopes in the >> buildings. >> >> A very happy bunch of public was nice too. One of the kids in attendance >> noted she was smiling so much her mouth was hurting. :) >> >> And everyone enjoyed views of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (the latter's rings >> are really opening up). >> >> But the eclipse really stole the show. >> >> Early on there were fears that approaching clouds might spoil the view but >> they either dissipated entirely or got so thin they could not be seen. >> >> And could you believe all the color during totality? Wow (again). >> >> Certainly one of the better lunar eclipses I've seen and definitely better >> than the last few we've had. >> >> 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". >> > > > >-- >Siegfried >_______________________________________________ >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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Eclipse
by CenturyLink Customer 15 Apr '14

15 Apr '14

That's a bummer, Chuck. Sorry you won't be at SPOC. we'll compare pictures over the next few days :) and thank's Patrick.

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Eclipse brought luck
by Thomas Sevcik 15 Apr '14

15 Apr '14

Really nice pictures on the post folks! We really lucked out on this eclipse. At 10:30 p.m. last night I was watching the thin wispy clouds move in and noticed Spica winking in-and-out due to the halo around the Moon. I roughly estimated Spica approximately 2 degrees to the southwest of the Moon at the time. By 11 p.m. I couldn't define Spica on the outer edge of the halo which seemed to be a rust color to me. But after that it became noticeable. Shortly after 3:30 a.m. I noticed those clouds moving back in, but of course the main event was already over. One of the better eclipses I've seen here in Utah. Hopefully this is a lucky sign for the one in October? Tom Sevcik

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Eclipse from SPOC
by Wiggins Patrick 15 Apr '14

15 Apr '14

WOW! What an incredible experience. Lots of portable scopes and binoculars in addition to the scopes in the buildings. A very happy bunch of public was nice too. One of the kids in attendance noted she was smiling so much her mouth was hurting. :) And everyone enjoyed views of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (the latter's rings are really opening up). But the eclipse really stole the show. Early on there were fears that approaching clouds might spoil the view but they either dissipated entirely or got so thin they could not be seen. And could you believe all the color during totality? Wow (again). Certainly one of the better lunar eclipses I've seen and definitely better than the last few we've had. patrick

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Eclipse from Walmart
by Bruce Hugo 15 Apr '14

15 Apr '14

We had a good volume of public at the Sandy Walmart SLAS gathering too! Here are two unprocessed photos I took last night through the Orion 80ED with a 2.5 barlow and Nikon D800. Unfortunately no tracking on the Orion, so they have a "soft" look to them. https://www.flickr.com/photos/22238456@N04/13874906065/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/22238456@N04/13875307654/ Bruce Hugo

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Tonight
by Chuck Hards 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

I finally got off work. But just before I finished my project, I tripped while carrying a 40-lb. component, and fell forward onto the concrete shop floor. Banged-up my shins on the component, hit my knees, did a number on my right arm and shoulder. Feeling pretty beat-up. But I will not be deterred from the eclipse! I'm just too shot-down to pack everything up in the car and drive out to SPOC so it's the backyard for me, with my "small" setup instead of the bigger stuff on the CGEM. I'll be shooting the moon with a 100mm ED refractor, field flattener, and DSLR. Might try some Mars video if the seeing is up to it. So those who make the trip to a site away from home, have fun. I'd be there if I wasn't so stiff and sore. I feel like I've been in a roll-over car accident right about now. Can't wait for morning, when rigor mortis will have set-in.

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Eclipse here in jeopardy?
by Thomas Sevcik 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

We're nearing the 48-hour count down (it's nearly 8:30 p.m. at this time) to our first lunar eclipse in years, but this has me worried. Looking at this page http://local.msn.com/where-to-see-it-total-lunar-eclipse-coming-tax-day-eve… it's looking kind of iffy. After having invested in a couple of new pieces for my camera and refurbishing an old equatorial mount to carry my other camera, (and I'm sure others have done the same) it'd be a shame to have to wait until October. Does anyone else have a better outlook for Mon-Tue? However, I think the two graphics are kind of cool. Tom Sevcik

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Eclipse here in jeopardy
by CenturyLink Customer 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

After enjoying yet another installment of COSMOS last night, I watched Fox news (or Faux news to some on this board). Thought t o geet yet another local weather report. So far local weathermen have been predicting clear skies for Monday, just for the lunar eclipse (cough cough). The Fox/Faux weatherman continues to predict clear skies for tonight AND they did a nice report on the lunar ecliipse, even showing SPOC. Was very pleased with the report until they showed some dweb using the 8" refractor in broad daylight - peering intently (close up on the eye) and focusing. Care to comment Patrick? Crossing my fingers too - also charging the batteries on my camera and portable power supply for my telescope.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Does Prostar still exist
by Thomas Sevcik 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

Thanks to Nancy for reminding me about Cloudy Nights! It didn't cross my mind to check it out at the time I ordered the secondary mirror. Thanks, Chuck, for the tips on Prostar and all. And thanks also to Daniel as I didn't know that some of these ATM businesses are one-man operations out of garages. Tom Sevcik

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Favorite Star Party Object
by Jamie Bradley 14 Apr '14

14 Apr '14

I was looking for items to find and look at for star parties. Here is a list I made of some that I found on the net. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14342655/Files/Star%20Party%20Objects.p… Other than the planets that are visible at the time. Anyone have any favorite objects they would like to share. Thanks, Jamie B -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I think I'm a really down to earth guy because, you know, gravity." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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