When I first looked at the SPOC Clear Sky Clock earlier today and saw it was calling for clearing skies today I questioned its accuracy. After all a quick look outside showed total overcast. But now, a few hours later the CSC is still calling for clear until midnight and I've been out observing the Sun under blue skies. Maybe I should apologize to the CSC's creator... :) At any rate, regarding seeing spots, I was delighted to see some very respectable spots on the Sun, right near its center. first sunspots I've seen in a couple of weeks. And switching to H-Alpha I saw two large prominences and a scattering of smaller ones. So, as planned, SPOC's Bogdan refractor will be open for Sun viewing this evening from 6 to 7 pm using the club's DayStar H-Alpha filter. Y'all come! patrick
Its 7PM here, western sky looks like dark clouds, bright moon not really worth the gas to drive to SPOC.
When I first looked at the SPOC Clear Sky Clock earlier today and saw it
was calling for clearing skies today I questioned its accuracy. After all a quick look outside showed total overcast.
But now, a few hours later the CSC is still calling for clear until midnight and I've been out observing the Sun under blue skies. Maybe I should apologize to the CSC's creator... :)
At any rate, regarding seeing spots, I was delighted to see some very respectable spots on the Sun, right near its center. first sunspots I've seen in a couple of weeks.
And switching to H-Alpha I saw two large prominences and a scattering of smaller ones.
So, as planned, SPOC's Bogdan refractor will be open for Sun viewing this evening from 6 to 7 pm using the club's DayStar H-Alpha filter.
Y'all come!
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
My mom is back in the hospital, so I can't come out to SPOC. I may look at the moon, some doubles, and a few PN from the back yard. The sky is clearing rapidly; I'm pleasantly surprised. Transparency should be terrific, even if it's still turbulent aloft. On 5/22/10, erikhansen@thebluezone.net <erikhansen@thebluezone.net> wrote:
Its 7PM here, western sky looks like dark clouds, bright moon not really worth the gas to drive to SPOC.
When I first looked at the SPOC Clear Sky Clock earlier today and saw it
was calling for clearing skies today I questioned its accuracy. After all a quick look outside showed total overcast.
But now, a few hours later the CSC is still calling for clear until midnight and I've been out observing the Sun under blue skies. Maybe I should apologize to the CSC's creator... :)
At any rate, regarding seeing spots, I was delighted to see some very respectable spots on the Sun, right near its center. first sunspots I've seen in a couple of weeks.
And switching to H-Alpha I saw two large prominences and a scattering of smaller ones.
So, as planned, SPOC's Bogdan refractor will be open for Sun viewing this evening from 6 to 7 pm using the club's DayStar H-Alpha filter.
Y'all come!
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
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On 22 May 2010, at 19:30, Chuck Hards wrote:
My mom is back in the hospital, so I can't come out to SPOC.
Sorry to hear about your mother Chuck. Hope she's better soon.
The sky is clearing rapidly; I'm pleasantly surprised.
Yeah, we lucked out tonight. Right after I sent my 5:00 weather update it clouded over. There were several SLASers in attendance but the clouds were bad enough that Bruce got out the "Star Party Cancelled Due Bad Weather" sign. But before he could post it the clouds parted and we had very nice skies, a bunch of very appreciative public and even signed up a new member. Oh, and Steve Fisher had a lot of fun with a family that came out looking for telescope advice for one of their kids who is having a birthday. But I'll leave it to Steve to post the details. And let's not forget what happened at Advanced Training after. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a tape measure the same way. LOL patrick
Thanks Patrick: It's quarter to three, the truck is unloaded and the sandman is beating me to death. If you missed tonights star party at SPOC you missed a great event and an even more enjoyable advanced training session. I'll post my story after some sleep but I wanted to thank all the SLAS members and others who made tonight an evening to remember. It really was a night of public outreach. I believe we saw a turning point in a few peoples lives. Steve
From: paw@wirelessbeehive.com Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 02:25:30 -0600 To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeing spots
On 22 May 2010, at 19:30, Chuck Hards wrote:
My mom is back in the hospital, so I can't come out to SPOC.
Sorry to hear about your mother Chuck. Hope she's better soon.
The sky is clearing rapidly; I'm pleasantly surprised.
Yeah, we lucked out tonight.
Right after I sent my 5:00 weather update it clouded over. There were several SLASers in attendance but the clouds were bad enough that Bruce got out the "Star Party Cancelled Due Bad Weather" sign. But before he could post it the clouds parted and we had very nice skies, a bunch of very appreciative public and even signed up a new member.
Oh, and Steve Fisher had a lot of fun with a family that came out looking for telescope advice for one of their kids who is having a birthday. But I'll leave it to Steve to post the details.
And let's not forget what happened at Advanced Training after. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a tape measure the same way. LOL
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Hi Steve, I just saw that the family you spent time with last night just joined SLAS. You done good. :) patrick On 23 May 2010, at 02:50, Steve FISHER wrote:
It's quarter to three, the truck is unloaded and the sandman is beating me to death. If you missed tonights star party at SPOC you missed a great event and an even more enjoyable advanced training session. I'll post my story after some sleep but I wanted to thank all the SLAS members and others who made tonight an evening to remember. It really was a night of public outreach. I believe we saw a turning point in a few peoples lives.
Patrick: I have been working on a short story or article to send to Cloudy Nights all day. I'll try to finish it tomorrow. Last night was a wonderful night for me. I have had a lot of people ohh and ahh when looking through my scopes. Lots of WOW as well. Last night like many other nights I had the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. Something really special happened last night. I was able to fan the spark in that young boy. It grew from a spark to a flame. His folks will support him as is evidenced by their joining today. All that is great but the amazing part is that he touched my life. I really got paid back by the Karma Police last night. I'll look forward to seeing the whole family at upcoming events. Steve
From: paw@wirelessbeehive.com Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 21:03:33 -0600 To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeing spots
Hi Steve,
I just saw that the family you spent time with last night just joined SLAS.
You done good. :)
patrick
On 23 May 2010, at 02:50, Steve FISHER wrote:
It's quarter to three, the truck is unloaded and the sandman is beating me to death. If you missed tonights star party at SPOC you missed a great event and an even more enjoyable advanced training session. I'll post my story after some sleep but I wanted to thank all the SLAS members and others who made tonight an evening to remember. It really was a night of public outreach. I believe we saw a turning point in a few peoples lives.
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Sounds like an incredible story for Joe's Blog at the Desert News . . . On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Steve FISHER <sfisher01@msn.com> wrote:
Patrick:
I have been working on a short story or article to send to Cloudy Nights all day. I'll try to finish it tomorrow. Last night was a wonderful night for me. I have had a lot of people ohh and ahh when looking through my scopes. Lots of WOW as well. Last night like many other nights I had the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. Something really special happened last night. I was able to fan the spark in that young boy. It grew from a spark to a flame. His folks will support him as is evidenced by their joining today. All that is great but the amazing part is that he touched my life. I really got paid back by the Karma Police last night.
I'll look forward to seeing the whole family at upcoming events.
Steve
From: paw@wirelessbeehive.com Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 21:03:33 -0600 To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeing spots
Hi Steve,
I just saw that the family you spent time with last night just joined SLAS.
You done good. :)
patrick
On 23 May 2010, at 02:50, Steve FISHER wrote:
It's quarter to three, the truck is unloaded and the sandman is beating me to death. If you missed tonights star party at SPOC you missed a great event and an even more enjoyable advanced training session. I'll post my story after some sleep but I wanted to thank all the SLAS members and others who made tonight an evening to remember. It really was a night of public outreach. I believe we saw a turning point in a few peoples lives.
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
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Joe, Provided Steve agrees, I think Jay's got an excellent idea. And to think, we came within minutes of canceling the star party. It's the chance of experiences like this that bring me out to most star parties in all but the worst weather. Public star parties are for the public, not (IMHO) just us. patrick On 23 May 2010, at 23:14, Jay Eads wrote:
Sounds like an incredible story for Joe's Blog at the Desert News . . .
Well, I've got a few other irons in the fire just now, but it might be a good idea for later. Thanks, Joe --- On Mon, 5/24/10, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeing spots To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 12:04 AM Joe, Provided Steve agrees, I think Jay's got an excellent idea. And to think, we came within minutes of canceling the star party. It's the chance of experiences like this that bring me out to most star parties in all but the worst weather. Public star parties are for the public, not (IMHO) just us. patrick On 23 May 2010, at 23:14, Jay Eads wrote:
Sounds like an incredible story for Joe's Blog at the Desert News . . .
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The question that should have been asked in Advanced Training was were we going to "measure" before or after some taking Celias or Viagra but that might be better left alone now. On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 2:25 AM, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com>wrote:
On 22 May 2010, at 19:30, Chuck Hards wrote:
My mom is back in the hospital, so I can't come out to SPOC.
Sorry to hear about your mother Chuck. Hope she's better soon.
The sky is clearing rapidly; I'm pleasantly surprised.
Yeah, we lucked out tonight.
Right after I sent my 5:00 weather update it clouded over. There were several SLASers in attendance but the clouds were bad enough that Bruce got out the "Star Party Cancelled Due Bad Weather" sign. But before he could post it the clouds parted and we had very nice skies, a bunch of very appreciative public and even signed up a new member.
Oh, and Steve Fisher had a lot of fun with a family that came out looking for telescope advice for one of their kids who is having a birthday. But I'll leave it to Steve to post the details.
And let's not forget what happened at Advanced Training after. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a tape measure the same way. LOL
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Well, I'm sorry I missed all the fun. There is a force in the universe that seems to keep me from such events. To add insult to injury, after I got back from the hospital, I was working on replacing the stock focuser on my 100mm ED refractor. I managed to snap-off a screw head! Obviously defective, it just twisted right off with hand-tightening into an aluminum adapter ring. So today I get to figure out how to remove it without enlarging the hole. I'm upgrading the Orion focuser to the Antares/GSO dual-speed focuser. Much smoother and more precise, a definite improvement. Even the non-dual speed Antares/GSO is a better focuser than the price-point driven Orion Crayford.
I spent a good part of Saturday volunteering at BYU's Astrofest in the Eyring science building, sitting between a rather cute female BYU astronomy major and a couple of fine fellows from the physics program at the U who were sharing some impressive images from the new observatory in So. Utah. I shared a table with a woman who works at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center in P.G., who is also a published Sci-Fi author (http://www.jaletac.com). I managed to slip outside long enough to catch a fantastic look at the sun through their Lunt Solar telescope, and very much enjoyed the very large prominence on the (North?) edge. Turnout to the event was excellent -- a nice experience overall :) --- On Sat, 5/22/10, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> wrote:
From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Seeing spots To: "utah astronomy utah astronomy listserve" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Saturday, May 22, 2010, 4:55 PM When I first looked at the SPOC Clear Sky Clock earlier today and saw it was calling for clearing skies today I questioned its accuracy. After all a quick look outside showed total overcast.
But now, a few hours later the CSC is still calling for clear until midnight and I've been out observing the Sun under blue skies. Maybe I should apologize to the CSC's creator... :)
At any rate, regarding seeing spots, I was delighted to see some very respectable spots on the Sun, right near its center. first sunspots I've seen in a couple of weeks.
And switching to H-Alpha I saw two large prominences and a scattering of smaller ones.
So, as planned, SPOC's Bogdan refractor will be open for Sun viewing this evening from 6 to 7 pm using the club's DayStar H-Alpha filter.
Y'all come!
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
participants (7)
-
Chuck Hards -
erikhansen＠thebluezone.net -
Jay Eads -
Joe Bauman -
Patrick Wiggins -
Richard Tenney -
Steve FISHER