Re: [Utah-astronomy] "It looks like a banana!"
Keep sowing those seeds of interest!!! Perhaps by the time they are in high school, they'll be able to take an astronomy class like the one I teach!! That's my secret ambition: astronomy taught as a regular class in every high school in the state. 50 years from now some Jeapardy contestant will choose astronomy for 300: This state is home to more astronomers that any other state in the Union. Answer: What is Utah? Keep up the great work everyone!!! Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610
Raeburn Kennard <rkennard@kmclaw.com> 03/18/09 12:57 PM >>> I got my 10" Dob out last night to show the grandkids Venus. The 5-year old said "It looks like a banana!" All were impressed. Even the parents were asking good questions, like "What makes it a crescent?" "Why is it so bright, when so little of the surface is illuminated?" "Why is it so much bigger than it was when you showed it to us last January?" And after the naked-eye "star" disappeared into a cloud, "How come we can still see it in the telescope?" Hopefully, I'm sowing seeds of interest for new generations of star gazers.
Now is a great time to view Venus: crescent phase, good spring weather! (While both last.) Raeburn G. Kennard Kirton & McConkie 60 East South Temple, Suite 1800 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 (801) 321-4867 direct telephone (801) 328-3600 main switchboard (801) 321-4893 facsimile rkennard@kmclaw.com<mailto:rkennard@kmclaw.com> _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
A couple of us tried seeing the crescent without optical aid from SPOC on Friday night, without success. I used a ND "moon" filter to reduce the glare but it was just beyond my limit with my glasses on. Venus is passing quite a ways north of the ecliptic on this conjuction, so it's not as close to earth as it can be during superior conjunction. When it transits in a few years, then it will be as apparently large as possible. It will almost certainly be a clearly-discerned round dot on the sun when viewed with proper filtration.
Someone on the C-14 group posted this shot of Venus taken just a few hours before we viewed it at SPOC: http://www.astrophotodigitale.com/Venus_21MR09.htm The view of Venus through the "Andy" at SPOC was memorable. patrick On 23 Mar 2009, at 13:17, Chuck Hards wrote:
A couple of us tried seeing the crescent without optical aid from SPOC on Friday night, without success. I used a ND "moon" filter to reduce the glare but it was just beyond my limit with my glasses on.
Venus is passing quite a ways north of the ecliptic on this conjuction, so it's not as close to earth as it can be during superior conjunction. When it transits in a few years, then it will be as apparently large as possible. It will almost certainly be a clearly-discerned round dot on the sun when viewed with proper filtration.
participants (3)
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Chuck Hards -
Patrick Wiggins -
Wayne Sumner