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ISON tonight, 22 FEB 2013
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Tonight's view of the comet through awful seeing: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/C_2012_S1.2013FEB22JPG patrick

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Today's Dilbert
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Seems appropriate considering recent minor planet related news: http://www.dilbert.com/2013-02-21/ Grins, patrick Sent from my iPad

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ATM report
by Hutchings, Mat 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Luckily, it warmed up slightly on Jan. 26 for our ATM session! Charlie, Chuck, Jay, Jeff and Josh all attended and made it a great session. No mirror work went on, probably because it was too cold to do any serious work with our hands. Charlie and I discussed a good method for using his grinding machine for his project. Chuck brought by a very cool 6" grinding tool that is a composite of ceramic and, I believe, polyester. I am looking forward to trying it out on an upcoming mirror. Very glad that Chuck attended and am hoping that he is able to make it again in the future, as he brings a wealth of ATM experience to the table. Jay shared ideas and plans he has for a nice wooden eyepiece case. Jeff made some collimation tweaks to his 12" Orion dob. I believe the views will be impressive through that telescope after the changes he made. In preparation for hosting some telescope making friends from California, Josh and I discussed some refinements to his bath interferometer. Those refinements will make getting repeatable images of fringes (igrams) more obtainable. I shared the dew heater and controller I recently built. It works very well and is a necessary accessory for cold, damp nights. Since the ATM session, I have completed a version using a printed circuit board I made, rather than perf-board. That version is much more durable. I am willing to share the plans and assist anyone who wants to build one. To make one is considerably cheaper than what you can buy. We were treated to a great lunch of "white chicken chili" made by my wife; it was awesome! The next session is on 2/23 and then another on 3/30. Sometime after that, we will likely be having a Friday evening and Saturday session again; stay posted! Mat This message and any attachments are solely for the use of intended recipients. The information contained herein may include trade secrets, protected health or personal information, privileged or otherwise confidential information. Unauthorized review, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing, or using such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you received this email in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this email and any attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender and delete the message and any attachment from your system. Thank you for your cooperation

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Replay of yesterday's Mars teleconference
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

NASA has posted yesterday's Mars teleconference here: http://www.ustream.tv/new/explore/technology/all?subCategory=technology-sci… patrick

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Old book collection a thrill for astronomy enthusiasts
by Patrick Wiggins 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

Here is Sheena's piece on the recent non-SLAS adventure of SLAS members to the Marriott Library. Old book collection a thrill for astronomy enthusiasts http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55860443-78/book-books-lake-library.html.… patrick Sent from my iPad

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Solar safety (Was: Current ATM Project)
by Joe Bauman 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

It is absolutely essential that no unsafe equipment is used EVER. -- Joe ------------------------------ On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 9:57 AM MST erikhansen(a)thebluezone.net wrote: >>It should be noted that I sometimes gazed at the sun with H-alpha for hours. >The danger to the casual public is probably slight, but anyone who used >the H-alpha a lot before its repair should take note. > >I'm reserving final judgement until I see the doctor. > >SLAS is telling the public it is safe, seems prudent SLAS should do some >inspections. H-alphas that are 10-15 years old should be serviced. Does >point to an advantage of the PST's. Harder if not impossible to damage. > > > > Joe, it might be a good idea if a qualified club officer inspected all >> white-light solar filters, both glass and film, to be used at public >> events >> prior to sun parties. Any found with pinholes or other flaws should be >> disqualified from being used for club events until repaired. >> >> Not sure how to do on-the-spot inspections of H-a equipped scopes without >> some kind of portable photometric device. Nobody wants to see >> anyone else go through what Erik experienced. >> >> Old timers will remember Ralph Seilor, who quit the club after an attorney >> friend of his told him that he personally could be held liable for injury >> or damage claims against the club. It was when we were building SPOC 1. >> Ralph was a very active member up until that time. Seemed like an >> over-reaction at the time, but these days I'm not so sure. >> >> It's up to the owners of solar filters to make sure they are in good >> working order prior to use, for their own safety, but a club needs a way >> to >> be assured of it when the general public is involved. >> >> I know that more than once, I've found a pinhole in a Baader filter and >> didn't use it until the hole was opaqued. A bottle of White-Out kept in >> the observing kit works for true holes (do they still make that stuff?). >> If it's not a hole that goes through the substrate but just a piece of >> missing aluminum coating, a Sharpie works well. Sharpies work great on >> glass filters as well. You'd have to have quite a few black dots on a >> solar filter before it's performance was compromised noticeably. >> >> My 2 cents. >> >> On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 5:55 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman(a)yahoo.com> >> wrote: >> >> This is awful! When did it happen? >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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The last massive meteor in 1908
by Ann House 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

Interesting story and video of the Siberian meteor that leveled 800 square miles of forest. http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/02/the-last-massive-explodin… -A

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Animated Nebulae
by Howard Jackman 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

Found this link today to some cool animated nebulae, anyone want to try this....? http://www.petapixel.com/2013/02/20/amazing-animated-gifs-capture-nebulae-i… Howard

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Test Image from New Astrograph - Adventures in ATM
by Tyler Allred 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

Hello All, I have been working feverishly on my new astrograph and everything is now working well except the flexure issue I mentioned in a previous thread. I finally got a chance to run the scope for about 40 minutes a couple of nights ago, and decided to point it at the Flying Hamburger (NGC3628). Due to flexure, I am limited to 1-minute exposures, so this image is not very deep or well defined, but I can see potential. I thought I would post it for others to enjoy. The new scope has over twice the focal length of my previous scopes. This longer focal length, combined with the small pixel size of the ML8300 camera, make for a pretty large image scale. This is going to be fun! :) Here is a link to the luminance-only image: http://www.allred-restoration.com/Images/NGC3628_SLAS.jpg Take a peek! Cheers, Tyler

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Test Image from New Astrograph - Adventures in ATM
by Tyler Allred 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

Hello All, I have been working feverishly on my new astrograph and everything is now working well except the flexure issue I mentioned in a previous thread. I finally got a chance to run the scope for about 40 minutes a couple of nights ago, and decided to point it at the Flying Hamburger Galaxy (NGC3628). Due to flexure, I am limited to 1-minute exposures, so this image is not very deep or well defined, but I can see potential. I thought I would post it for others to enjoy. The new scope has over twice the focal length of my previous scopes. This longer focal length, combined with the small pixel size of the ML8300 camera, make for a pretty large image scale. This is going to be fun! :) Here is a link to the luminance-only image: http://www.allred-restoration.com/Images/NGC3628_SLAS.jpg Take a peek! Cheers, Tyler

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