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Fwd: Timp Cave National Monument Dark Sky star party this Friday (Sept.11), American Fork Canyon
by Richard Tenney 09 Sep '15

09 Sep '15

I'll be attending this with my 16" dob, along with a couple of other volunteers/scopes in Utah County. If anyone else wants to come help out that night, it would be appreciated!TIA,/Rich Tenney See message below... ------------------------------- I'm writing with more details about Timpanogos Cave National Monument's second Night Skies program this Friday, September 11th. I am looking forward to meeting you, Richard Tenney, and hopefully seeing the rest of you again! July's program was an excellent success with over 70 people in attendance over the course of the evening, despite spotty cloud cover. I learned an immense amount from Joel, Richard, and John, and I loved seeing the public enjoying and getting excited about night skies. Thank you again (and in advance) for using your passion and your expertise to start a tradition of dark sky programming in American Fork Canyon. I wanted to give you a few details about the components of the program and the associated goals we hope to accomplish. Much of the structure is similar to the last event, with some additions to meet needs we discovered along the way. - Two stations set up to provide information about light pollution and its effects on (1) human health and (2) ecological health. (Eliza Hawkins and I will again be the NPS interpreters working these stations.) - A station for you, the astronomers, to set up your telescopes and teach groups of visitors a bit about what they're seeing in the night sky and perhaps a bit about the equipment for doing so. (This worked great last time as the first hour was pretty limited viewing and equipment was the main focus. The large number of visitors in the second hour were well managed and included when John and others were able to present information to the of visitors who weren't physically behind the telescopes.) - Take-away information about the NPS's goals to protect night sky landscapes, as well as information about other organizations/groups that strive to do the same. - Take-away information about ways to reduce light pollution on the household and community levels. - A children's activity station with demonstrations about light pollution, including a light shielding demo and pollution magnitude readers. - Parking attendants/greeters who will intercept vehicles when they arrive in the parking area, direct them to turn off their lights, show them where to park, and orient them to the event. The location for this event should be easier to manage than the site for July's program. We will be at Pine Hollow Trailhead on SR 92 (about 7 or 8 minutes up-canyon from the Timpanogos Cave National Monument Visitor Center). We are hoping to set up on the end of the parking lot farthest from the road. This should allow for plenty of time/space for cars to park without flooding the program and participants with lights. (Thank you for your input and patience with this obstacle last time!) Regarding the night of the event, our advertising states that the event begins at 8:30 PM. With that in mind, Eliza and I plan to arrive around 7:15 PM to begin setting up. We're hoping volunteer astronomers, as well as volunteers from the NPS, can arrive between 7:30 & 8:00 PM. Let me know how that timing sounds to you. I'd be more than happy to rearrange things if you feel you need more or less time. Lastly, please pass this on to any other volunteers you know who may be interested in participating. Feel free to reply with any information you have about other volunteers as well as your expected arrival time and input about set-up (should you have any thoughts). Of course, email me with any questions or with information about getting involved in dark skies advocacy here in Utah. Thank you very much for your time, Cassidy -- Cassidy JonesPark Ranger Timpanogos Cave National MonumentAmerican Fork, UT 84003 cassidy_jones(a)nps.gov

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Another EPOD
by Joe Bauman 08 Sep '15

08 Sep '15

My friend Ray Boren has today's Earth Science Picture of the Day. One of the interesting factors is that you can see sunspots in his view of the smoked-out sun. http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2015/09/smoky-red-sun-orange-moon.html Thanks, Joe

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Making a 36" from many smaller mirrors
by Jay inUT 08 Sep '15

08 Sep '15

Ok, I got approached by my boss at work about the possibility of making a 36" mirror for observing from say several 8 inch mirrors (think an arrangement like James Webb). In thinking about this to me it seems that there are issues here about positioning the mirrors and ensuring that once ground, they form a parabola etc. So what are the thoughts on this? Can an amateur make a large mirror from smaller mirrors and what would it take? Just curious and I know what my reply was but I said I would inquire. -- Thanks! Jay

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M27 09072015 ~22:30-Driveway Observatory
by Dave Gary 08 Sep '15

08 Sep '15

M27, the Dumbbell Nebula, the Apple Core, whatever you think it looks like. Quick and dirty photo from the driveway. The mount was a litte off, so I did a one-shot photo and called it good. No flats, no darks, just the one photo. Better luck next time. > https://www.flickr.com/photos/78046474@N06/20625891623/in/dateposted-public/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/78046474@N06/20625891623/in/dateposted-public/>

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Grism spetrograph
by Chuck Hards 08 Sep '15

08 Sep '15

Does anyone have experience using the Grism stellar spectrograph?

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New Horizons
by Jamie Bradley 06 Sep '15

06 Sep '15

Kuiper Belt Target Picked for New Horizons <http://click.e.skyandtelescope.com/?qs=92d02a8dbcb0fbbb7b663462b3790b6f9630…> A small body known as 2014 MU69, found by the Hubble Space Telescope barely a year ago, will be the next destination for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft.

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Surplus scopes
by Wiggins Patrick 06 Sep '15

06 Sep '15

During yesterday's SPOC cleanup 4 scopes were declared surplus. If the SLAS board agrees at next week's SLAS BOD meeting all four will be awarded to the highest bidders with bids received before the SLAS general meeting on the 16th. Two 8" Meade Newtonians on German equatorial mounts are in pretty good shape, though one does have rust on the legs. Their 110VAC drives run properly and both appear to be in ok collimation. Both have straight through finders and rack and pinion focusers. Both have Telrad mounts but no Telrads. Neither have any eyepieces. One 5" iOptron Newtonian on equatorial mount appears to be out of colimation. One Meade 80mm refractor on goto mount. All scopes can be seen by appointment a SPOC (email me at paw(a)digis.net if you'd like to see them). Pictures have been posted on SLAS Talk at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SLAS.Talk/ Speaking of SLAS Talk, Kurt Fisher has posted a nice write up there on last evening's SPOC star party. Plus a few pictures from yesterday's SPOC cleanup have been added to SLAS Talk (should eventually end up on the official SLAS website). patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 151, Issue 2
by Kathy T 03 Sep '15

03 Sep '15

Hey Seth, We would love to come but can't find a hotel room available in Moab. Any chance that some hotel rooms have been reserved for those bringing telescopes? If not, hope to meet up with you at another event. I recently joins SLAS and have a 925 Edge CGEM. Have enjoyed getting to know the members. Thank you, Kathy Terry On Wednesday, September 2, 2015, < utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com> wrote: > Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to > utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com <javascript:;> > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > utah-astronomy-request(a)mailman.xmission.com <javascript:;> > > You can reach the person managing the list at > utah-astronomy-owner(a)mailman.xmission.com <javascript:;> > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Canyonlands star party Sept 18 (Seth Jarvis) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2015 14:56:13 +0000 > From: Seth Jarvis <SJarvis(a)slco.org <javascript:;>> > To: 'Utah Astronomy' <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com <javascript:;>> > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Canyonlands star party Sept 18 > Message-ID: <4b2b7bda246c4015bc70b698c00f4d33(a)SLCISMAIL2.slcounty.org > <javascript:;>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Canyonlands Nation Park has recently received the International Dark Sky > Association's highest ranking as a "Gold-Tier International Dark Sky Park." > > http://kuer.org/post/canyonlands-becomes-dark-sky-park > > > http://darksky.org/canyonlands-national-park-named-international-dark-sky-p… > > > I'll be in Canyonlands on September 18th helping them celebrate and > participating in a star party with park staff and their telescopes. We > still could use a couple of other telescopes. > > The star party itself will be at Grand View Point (N38.312 W109.857) > within Canyonlands NP. > > I've posted about this previously, but my Utah-Astronomy inbox archive > somehow vanished and I don't recall who said they'd be willing to come down. > > Canyonlands is offering to reserve (a very rare thing) two campsites near > the star party for use by participants who come with a telescope and share > the views with the public. Canyonlands staff say they're anticipating ~200 > people, hence the need for more telescopes. > > If you're interested, or if you've previously told me you're coming, > please send me a message so I know if any folks here will be coming down > and wanting one of the two reserved camp sites. > > Thanks, > > Seth Jarvis > Clark Planetarium > sjarvis(a)slco.org <javascript:;> > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com <javascript:;> > https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php > > ------------------------------ > > End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 151, Issue 2 > ********************************************** >

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Chrome versus tinfoil
by D P Pierce 03 Sep '15

03 Sep '15

Hi, After having another crash in my wheelchair this past week (a scrape and a bruise is all.) I am looking into getting a helmet. None of the ones I've tried in bike shops are big enough. I need a 2X. I was looking at motorcycle half helmets on Amazon and noticed several chrome plated ones. Are chrome plated helmets better at preventing the government and/or aliens from controlling and reading thoughts as tinfoil hats? Deloy Pierce

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Rides to SP's
by D P Pierce 03 Sep '15

03 Sep '15

I've got Friday night covered but still need Aride Saturday. Deloy

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