Thursday night photo op
Joe (Bauman): How is the western horizon from the east side of Skull Valley? Is it low? I worry about dust and atmospheric extinction with the object so low by the time the sky is dark. There is also the problem of distant headlights from I-80 shooting over the hills toward the east. Not noticeable to the naked eye, but the film will pick it up in the form of reduced contrast. True darkness won't even be available before the comet gets too low, we need all the help we can get. I had thought that shooting from the western shore of Antelope Island might provide an opportunity for much better seeing, being that the line-of-sight would be over water, along with much less local atmospheric dust for the same reason. There also is a chance to get a great shot using a short-focal-length lens; if the water's surface is smooth, a reflection of the comet and galaxy might be imaged on the water along with the sky image itself. What do you think? What are the group's thoughts? Thanks Chuck PS: The comet was much subdued from my backyard tonight; I can tell that there is a lot more dust in the air (the Chinese cloud?) and high cirrus. Saturday night had by far the clearest air in the past week. Love those Bears! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://http://taxes.yahoo.com/
Chuck, after viewing the comet Saturday from the bottom of Skull Valley I can say that the western horizon is far from perfect for photographing the comet. Being up in the eastern hills would definitely improve things, but I like the idea of taking a shot over the water,so you have my vote for a trip to Antelope island, besides I just might be able to get there and then back to work in an acceptable amount of time. My shots with the sky reflected in the waters of Horseshoe springs only shows reflected twilight, the dim stars were no match for the recently set Sun. My only problem with my shots is that a longer lens would've been better. Howard --- Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com> wrote:
Joe (Bauman):
How is the western horizon from the east side of Skull Valley? Is it low?
I worry about dust and atmospheric extinction with the object so low by the time the sky is dark. There is also the problem of distant headlights from I-80 shooting over the hills toward the east. Not noticeable to the naked eye, but the film will pick it up in the form of reduced contrast.
True darkness won't even be available before the comet gets too low, we need all the help we can get.
I had thought that shooting from the western shore of Antelope Island might provide an opportunity for much better seeing, being that the line-of-sight would be over water, along with much less local atmospheric dust for the same reason.
There also is a chance to get a great shot using a short-focal-length lens; if the water's surface is smooth, a reflection of the comet and galaxy might be imaged on the water along with the sky image itself.
What do you think? What are the group's thoughts?
Thanks
Chuck
PS: The comet was much subdued from my backyard tonight; I can tell that there is a lot more dust in the air (the Chinese cloud?) and high cirrus. Saturday night had by far the clearest air in the past week.
Love those Bears!
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Any opinions on the west side of Stansbury Island? I've never been there so I don't know what the island is like. Patrick
I was traveling south on Bangeter Hwy, and stopped at the light at 5400 South. At 7:45 pm MST, A HUGE bolide(?) came into my view. It was about 25-30 degrees above the southern horizon. Angle about 75-80 degrees off vertical heading west. There was a bright white trail, followed by a yellow-orange flare followed by a fine bright blue one. The entire duation was several seconds and all extinguished at about the same time. The distance from the end of the white trail to the blue fireball was appro. 4-5 moon diameters. Did any else see it??? It was very bright - I would say the white trails might have been -2 magnitude or brighter. It was an incredible display!!! Wonder if anyone caught on film by accident. Would be interested in whether anyone else saw it. Jim Stitley __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/
That wasn't a bolide, it was ME getting shot down in flames during the game at my WW1 meeting. AGAIN! ARGH! !*%$#&! :( C. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/
Hi Jim, You weren't the only one that saw the bolide! :-) My friend Bill saw the bolide shortly after we had arrived at the 7200-West offramp on I-80 for potential comet viewing. I was busy setting up the telescope and didn't see it, but Bill's description ("looked like fireworks--only going downward") led me to believe he had just seen a large bolide. Your concurrent observation confirms it. :-) Clouds in the northwest prevented us from seeing the comet, but the skies overhead were _unusually_ clear considering that the sun was only just setting and the sky wasn't even "dark" yet. My little 8" Meade newtonian presented views of Jupiter, Saturn, and M42 that were clearer than I have ever seen before. The clarity and detail astonished me, and I can only guess that tonight's seeing must have had much to do with a very still atmosphere. Chris On Tue, 2 Apr 2002, Jim Stitley wrote:
I was traveling south on Bangeter Hwy, and stopped at the light at 5400 South. At 7:45 pm MST, A HUGE bolide(?) came into my view. It was about 25-30 degrees above the southern horizon. Angle about 75-80 degrees off vertical heading west. There was a bright white trail, followed by a yellow-orange flare followed by a fine bright blue one. The entire duation was several seconds and all extinguished at about the same time. The distance from the end of the white trail to the blue fireball was appro. 4-5 moon diameters. Did any else see it??? It was very bright - I would say the white trails might have been -2 magnitude or brighter. It was an incredible display!!! Wonder if anyone caught on film by accident. Would be interested in whether anyone else saw it. Jim Stitley
I saw it in Orem. I was hitting range balls at Cascade (like to keep my self esteem in check). I just happened to look south and see it. Because of the lights and how bright it was, I for just a moment thought it was fireworks! It looked 'close' to me. It was a very pretty blue with a red tail with bright spots. I stood there for a good minute or two wondering if I imagined the whole thing. dave Jim Stitley wrote:
I was traveling south on Bangeter Hwy, and stopped at the light at 5400 South. At 7:45 pm MST, A HUGE bolide(?) came into my view. It was about 25-30 degrees above the southern horizon. Angle about 75-80 degrees off vertical heading west. There was a bright white trail, followed by a yellow-orange flare followed by a fine bright blue one. The entire duation was several seconds and all extinguished at about the same time. The distance from the end of the white trail to the blue fireball was appro. 4-5 moon diameters. Did any else see it??? It was very bright - I would say the white trails might have been -2 magnitude or brighter. It was an incredible display!!! Wonder if anyone caught on film by accident. Would be interested in whether anyone else saw it. Jim Stitley
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participants (6)
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Chris Clark -
Chuck Hards -
David Moulton -
Howard Jackman -
Jim Stitley -
Patrick Wiggins