September 2004 - UVAA - mailman.xmission.com

Workshop/Moon Watch
by Jim Gibson 29 Dec '04

29 Dec '04

There will be a workshop/moon watch at Fort Provo on Saturday night May 1st starting at 6:30. PM. The park has to be cleared by 11PM. The work shop will be given by John Zeigler and he will present a discussion on the light train and on eyepieces (how the work, not necessarily which ones to buy). If time permits, Jim Gibson will present a short introductory discussion on the moon and it features. To make things interesting for the new folks a free CD will be given away that can be used as an aid to learning moon features and their names. There is also some material on the Apollo missions on the CD. There will be 2 Telrads for sale at the price of $40.00 each for any one who is interested. Fort Provo can be reached by getting off of I-15 on Provo Center Street and going West. From the West side of I-15 go to the 2nd stop light at Center Street and Geneva Rd. Turn right and go about a block and you will see the Fort and the park on the right-hand side. Bring lawn chairs, a snack, the kids, and a telescope or binoculars. If you have none of the above, come anyway. When you arrive look for some strange old guy with a parallelogram and binoculars and if Rich Tenney doesnt show up, then look for a young 60 year old guy with a suave short hair cut and with a parallelogram and binoculars. Jim Gibson --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢

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Re: [UVAA] Backyard Astronomy
by lawrencerj＠comcast.net 21 Sep '04

21 Sep '04

David: I enjoyed reading your article on back yard astronomy. My wife bought me a nexstar 114 Gt a few years back and I can look at the moon, but don't have much success with anything else. I wonder what would be the proper course of action to resolve the inexperience issues and more full enjoy the scope.. some advise could be used if you have a minute. I live in Grandview in Provo which is on the northwest bench and the light and pollution is quite bad. I have never been out to a dark place to try it so I guess maybe that should be my first move. Any comment would be appreciated. Lawrence R. Johnson 1574 W 1400 N Provo, Utah. 84604 801-377-8552 > First of all, I want to publicly thank John and Lisa > Zeigler for the telescope making class. I am one of > their pupils who recently completed a 12 dobsonian. > I think I underestimated the amount of work it would > take, however, I am very pleased with the results. > > I already shared a little bit about the start party a > week ago. Today, I am sharing my experience in the > last few days. I am currently taking an Astronomy > class at BYU, and some of my assignments involved > making observations. Last Monday night I took my > scope out to the backyard, and found a spot away from > the street lights and the trees. For practical > purposes, from this spot I can only see about one > quadrant of the sky: from South to West plus a clear > shot at the Zenith. Luckily the trees on the north > block the lights from SLC, and the house blocks the > lights from Provo to the East. As the night > progressed, I thought this is going to be not a bad > spot for observing without having to drive somewhere > else. > > Anyway, to see how bad the light pollution is from my > backyard, I found M13. Not as splendorous as it was > during the star party, nonetheless, easy to find and > could resolve stars in it. In fact, later on that > night (after my mirror had cooled) I went back to M13 > and used more and more magnification. I kept > resolving stars at the core of it until I ran out of > eyepieces. I got sidetracked. my goals was to find > some open clusters. I found them on Sagittarius, and > caught a glimpse of some well known Nebulas in the > area (mental note: need to get to a dark spot to > really see them). I put the scope away knowing that > the extra aperture (I have a 4.5 scope as well) shows > sufficient items despite the light pollution. > Although nothing beats a really dark site. > > Early this morning my adventures continued. I had to > track the moons of Saturn, which currently is visible > in the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately, It is > in the southeast, so my backyard adventures turned > into driveway astronomy. The worst part of my > driveway is that I am in a cul-de-sac at the end of > the street so I have several streetlights shinning in > front of me. I got the scope out, and while the > mirror cooled down, I pointed to Venus. used it to > align the finder. Then pointed to the Pleaides and > confirmed collimation - nice bright and crisp points > of light. Since I had it in front of me, I couldnt > resist to take a look to the Orion Nebula, even though > it is right over the lights. It was easy to find, and > despite the light pollution, the trapezium was easy to > spot as well. In fact, I could see a fifth star in > it! > > Back to my target: Saturn was quite bright, with the > rings at such angle it was just beautiful. I could > easily see the Cassini division. Time to count moons. > . . I think I found 7. Got a pencil out and made a > sketch (part of the assignment). I am glad I got up, > since I heard on the radio on my way to work that bad > weather is on its way, who knows when I can get out > again so early and not freezing my buns. I checked > my sketch with a simulated view of Saturn. Hmm, one > of them is not a moon, but a star, so my count is down > to 6. One more was too close to the main body, so > most likely I lost it in the glare, and yet another > one was past my field of view. I hope I can catch > them next time. > > > David > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > > _______________________________________________ > UVAA mailing list > UVAA(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa

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RE: [UVAA] Backyard Astronomy
by Lambert, Aaron 21 Sep '04

21 Sep '04

Hello, I am by no means an expert on how to learn astronomy, but I thought I would pitch in my 2c since nobody else has stepped forward. I bought my first telescope just over a year ago (Orion 4.5 dob). Along with that I bought "Turn Left at Orion". I highly recommend getting a book such as that one. It taught me the basics of star hopping and explained what was out there in the night sky to see. I found that the charts were not detailed enough for me, however, and I ended up getting the Sky Atlas 2000 Deluxe Edition. Now that I know the sky better, I do not need to use it when finding familiar objects, but it helps immensely for new things I am hunting down. I feel your pain regarding the light pollution. I live in Lehi and my eastern sky is pretty washed out from the Provo/Orem area. On the other hand, I logged all 110 of the Messiers from my front yard and I have a street light right across from my house. You may be surprised at what you will be able to see without going to far. My recommendation would be to invest in a good intro to Astronomy book and then bring your scope to a star party that is not too far (the Zeiglers have some good beginner parties occasionally). There are always people there willing to help you out. It is a little more difficult in Utah County because fewer things are going on here. If you don't mind the drive, you could also go to one of SLAS's public star parties (the Harmon's ones are in SLC and the SPOC ones are further). The ones I have been to have had quite a few people with scopes (10-15), so you could bring your scope and ask for some help there. I would offer my services, but I have never used a goto scope so I'm afraid that I would do more harm than good. :) Hope that helps, Aaron Lambert > -----Original Message----- > From: lawrencerj(a)comcast.net > Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 1:30 PM > To: Utah Valley Astronomy Association > Subject: Re: [UVAA] Backyard Astronomy > > > David: > I enjoyed reading your article on back yard astronomy. > My wife bought me a nexstar 114 Gt a few years back and I can > look at the moon, but don't have much success with anything else. > I wonder what would be the proper course of action to resolve > the inexperience issues and more full enjoy the scope.. > > some advise could be used if you have a minute. > > I live in Grandview in Provo which is on the northwest bench > and the light and pollution is quite bad. > > I have never been out to a dark place to try it so I guess > maybe that should be my first move. > > > Any comment would be appreciated. > > Lawrence R. Johnson > 1574 W 1400 N > Provo, Utah. 84604 > 801-377-8552 > > > > First of all, I want to publicly thank John and Lisa > > Zeigler for the telescope making class. I am one of > > their pupils who recently completed a 12" dobsonian. > > I think I underestimated the amount of work it would > > take, however, I am very pleased with the results. > > > > I already shared a little bit about the start party a > > week ago. Today, I am sharing my experience in the > > last few days. I am currently taking an Astronomy > > class at BYU, and some of my assignments involved > > making observations. Last Monday night I took my > > scope out to the backyard, and found a spot away from > > the street lights and the trees. For practical > > purposes, from this spot I can only see about one > > quadrant of the sky: from South to West plus a clear > > shot at the Zenith. Luckily the trees on the north > > block the lights from SLC, and the house blocks the > > lights from Provo to the East. As the night > > progressed, I thought this is going to be not a bad > > spot for observing without having to drive somewhere > > else. > > > > Anyway, to see how bad the light pollution is from my > > backyard, I found M13. Not as splendorous as it was > > during the star party, nonetheless, easy to find and > > could resolve stars in it. In fact, later on that > > night (after my mirror had cooled) I went back to M13 > > and used more and more magnification. I kept > > resolving stars at the core of it until I ran out of > > eyepieces. I got sidetracked. my goals was to find > > some open clusters. I found them on Sagittarius, and > > caught a glimpse of some well known Nebulas in the > > area (mental note: need to get to a dark spot to > > really see them). I put the scope away knowing that > > the extra aperture (I have a 4.5" scope as well) shows > > sufficient items despite the light pollution. > > Although nothing beats a really dark site. > > > > Early this morning my adventures continued. I had to > > track the moons of Saturn, which currently is visible > > in the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately, It is > > in the southeast, so my backyard adventures turned > > into driveway astronomy. The worst part of my > > driveway is that I am in a cul-de-sac at the end of > > the street so I have several streetlights shinning in > > front of me. I got the scope out, and while the > > mirror cooled down, I pointed to Venus. used it to > > align the finder. Then pointed to the Pleaides and > > confirmed collimation - nice bright and crisp points > > of light. Since I had it in front of me, I couldn't > > resist to take a look to the Orion Nebula, even though > > it is right over the lights. It was easy to find, and > > despite the light pollution, the trapezium was easy to > > spot as well. In fact, I could see a fifth star in > > it! > > > > Back to my target: Saturn was quite bright, with the > > rings at such angle it was just beautiful. I could > > easily see the Cassini division. Time to count moons. > > . . I think I found 7. Got a pencil out and made a > > sketch (part of the assignment). I am glad I got up, > > since I heard on the radio on my way to work that bad > > weather is on its way, who knows when I can get out > > again so early and not freezing my buns. I checked > > my sketch with a simulated view of Saturn. Hmm, one > > of them is not a moon, but a star, so my count is down > > to 6. One more was too close to the main body, so > > most likely I lost it in the glare, and yet another > > one was past my field of view. I hope I can catch > > them next time. > > > > > > David > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! > > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > > > > _______________________________________________ > > UVAA mailing list > > UVAA(a)mailman.xmission.com > > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa > > _______________________________________________ > UVAA mailing list > UVAA(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa >

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Backyard Astronomy
by David Trevino 17 Sep '04

17 Sep '04

First of all, I want to publicly thank John and Lisa Zeigler for the telescope making class. I am one of their pupils who recently completed a 12 dobsonian. I think I underestimated the amount of work it would take, however, I am very pleased with the results. I already shared a little bit about the start party a week ago. Today, I am sharing my experience in the last few days. I am currently taking an Astronomy class at BYU, and some of my assignments involved making observations. Last Monday night I took my scope out to the backyard, and found a spot away from the street lights and the trees. For practical purposes, from this spot I can only see about one quadrant of the sky: from South to West plus a clear shot at the Zenith. Luckily the trees on the north block the lights from SLC, and the house blocks the lights from Provo to the East. As the night progressed, I thought this is going to be not a bad spot for observing without having to drive somewhere else. Anyway, to see how bad the light pollution is from my backyard, I found M13. Not as splendorous as it was during the star party, nonetheless, easy to find and could resolve stars in it. In fact, later on that night (after my mirror had cooled) I went back to M13 and used more and more magnification. I kept resolving stars at the core of it until I ran out of eyepieces. I got sidetracked. my goals was to find some open clusters. I found them on Sagittarius, and caught a glimpse of some well known Nebulas in the area (mental note: need to get to a dark spot to really see them). I put the scope away knowing that the extra aperture (I have a 4.5 scope as well) shows sufficient items despite the light pollution. Although nothing beats a really dark site. Early this morning my adventures continued. I had to track the moons of Saturn, which currently is visible in the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately, It is in the southeast, so my backyard adventures turned into driveway astronomy. The worst part of my driveway is that I am in a cul-de-sac at the end of the street so I have several streetlights shinning in front of me. I got the scope out, and while the mirror cooled down, I pointed to Venus. used it to align the finder. Then pointed to the Pleaides and confirmed collimation - nice bright and crisp points of light. Since I had it in front of me, I couldnt resist to take a look to the Orion Nebula, even though it is right over the lights. It was easy to find, and despite the light pollution, the trapezium was easy to spot as well. In fact, I could see a fifth star in it! Back to my target: Saturn was quite bright, with the rings at such angle it was just beautiful. I could easily see the Cassini division. Time to count moons. . . I think I found 7. Got a pencil out and made a sketch (part of the assignment). I am glad I got up, since I heard on the radio on my way to work that bad weather is on its way, who knows when I can get out again so early and not freezing my buns. I checked my sketch with a simulated view of Saturn. Hmm, one of them is not a moon, but a star, so my count is down to 6. One more was too close to the main body, so most likely I lost it in the glare, and yet another one was past my field of view. I hope I can catch them next time. David __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

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Reminder: Frontiers of Science
by David L Bennett 15 Sep '04

15 Sep '04

Lecturer: Marjorie A. Chan, chair and professor of geology and geophysics, University of Utah Title: Red Rock to Red Planet: From Utah Marbles to Mars' Blueberries Date: Wednesday Sept. 15, 2004 Time: 7:30 p.m. Place: Aline Wilmot Skaggs Biology Building Auditorium, University of Utah See: http://www.utah.edu/unews/releases/04/sep/lecture.html http://www.utah.edu/news/releases/04/jun/marsmarbles.html Also, a map of the local campus with the Biology building in blue: http://www.map.utah.edu/umaplink/0084.html Dave

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Star party weekend
by John and Lisa Zeigler 13 Sep '04

13 Sep '04

John and I are hosting a star party for our telescope making students this weekend. We have about ten openings left for our campsite at Payson Lakes. We are doing some mini classes on eyepieces, collimation, and the sky. We are also feeding people dinner and breakfast. If anyone is interested, send me an email and I can give you more details. Lisa Zeigler www.johnstelescopes.com <http://www.johnstelescopes.com/> www.mirrorkits.com <http://www.mirrorkits.com/>

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Genesis Landing
by Jim Gibson 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

I am here at Dugway and was able to see the video of the infrared and other tracking vedios as the Genesis came in. As the video was tracking and I saw the mountains come into view in the background I knew instantly that something was wrong. Evidently the parachute didnt deploy so there was nothing for the helicopters to catch. The Genesis cratered into West Desert mud just North of here over shooting its original landing spot by about 20 30 miles; coming closer to where I work. I could see that the Genesis is cracked and broken but pretty much together; that is, its NOT in a million pieces but pretty seriously damaged. I gota get back. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.

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Frontiers of Science Lecture Wednesday 15 Sept. 7:30 p.m.
by Richard Tenney 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

"Red Rock to Red Planet: From Utah Marbles to Mars' Blueberries" The U's Marjorie Chan, Chair and Prof. of Geology and Geophysics will present. The lecture is free and open to the public, and is held in the Aline Wilmot Skaggs Biology Auditorium (just West of the bookstore). Her research on Utah sandstone has yielded clues about the origin of the recently discovered marble-shaped rocks on Mars that are known as hematite concretions and nicknamed "blueberries". Hematite is one of the few minerals found on Mars that forms almost always in water. Hematite concretions require groundwater flow through permeable rock to produce the layered spheres. Moreover, the potential role of bacteria in the formations of some Utah hematitie concretions could hold important clues in the search for life on Mars. Prof. Chan will also give a live radio interview on KCPW 88.3 FM on Tuesday, September 14 from 9:10-9:30 a.m. _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. http://promotions.yahoo.com/goldrush

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