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f/4 or f/5? Why not try...
by David L Bennett 30 Aug '04

30 Aug '04

Why not go for a 16" f/16.5? See the mirror being offered at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31745&item=5917131317&rd=1 Brent Watson can attest to the benefits of observing from 20 feet off of the ground. The seeing is always steadier from such heights. Those with vertigo will stay away so lines for your scope will be shorter. You can get away with a very small secondary obstruction too and collimation is a cinch. No need for the correction of Naglers or a Paracorr either. Of course you need a flatbed to transport both the tube, counterweight, and extension ladder. Remember, look with both eyes for best effect when viewing a first quarter moon from a dozen steps up the ladder. Those purple crescents make for a great trip! dlb

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late Perseides report
by Jim Gibson 16 Aug '04

16 Aug '04

A late report on the Perseides. I was with a group of scouts for four days on the Green River near the Wyoming Colorado borders. After white water rafting, cliff jumping, fishing, swimming, and bouldering / rock-climbing, we laid out on the bank of the Green River to watch the meteor show. My experience resembled the Wolf Creek reports. At times there were several meteors per minute and other times there was a pause. Some meteors were bright and had green heads and looong trails and others were short and dim. The boys (16 18 years old) were thrilled. With my green laser pointer, which really got a response from the boys, I was able to point out some of the more familiar constellations. We could see the Andromeda Galaxy and the Double Cluster with the unaided eye (no surprise there). The views were even better through my 15X20 Galileos that was purched on a Chuck Hards Special parallelogram. M13, Albereo, M31, the Coat Hanger and other objects were veiws enjoyed by the boys. I don't know how late they stayed up, but I turned in about 11:30 to the sound of the boys ooohs and aaaahs. Jim --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out!

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Perseids, etc. from the Gravel Pit
by Richard Tenney 12 Aug '04

12 Aug '04

Yep, I'm late for work! Got to bed about 4 this morning, but had a great time at the Gravel Pit. I hauled up the 16-inch again, arrived after dark (about 9:30) and found a half-dozen scopes all set up and operational. Later I was joined by Lou and his 20-inch, and Jo Grahn and her family with a huge pair of binos. Great company, dark skies, and a fun time. I am pleased to frequently rediscover how many friendly, nice people we have in this area that enjoy this hobby! Joy from KBYU showed up about 1:30 with an assistant and her husband, and did an interview with some of us; they were all very interested and very pleasant. I started out finishing up my remaining Herschel objects in Sagittarius; 2 globulars, NGC 6638 and 6642 (both just east and slightly above the top of the Teapot), a planetary nebula NGC 6818 (small, round and fairly bright), and a rather interesting open cluster, NGC 6645, which appeared to have embedded in it a ring of stars surrounding a circular dark area (nebula?). When I wasn't occupied with the scope, the meteor activiity was good all night. When I stopped to sit back and enjoy the show, I was counting typically 8-10 a minute. There was a good variety, with some nice, bright persistent trains, a few in color (bright yellow). I was not at all disappointed in the show. I tore down about 3 (a slight, very cold breeze had kicked up by then), and everyone but Jo and Lou had already left. Don't know if I'll be at Wolf Creek this weekend or not... -Rich _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Express yourself with Y! Messenger! Free. Download now. http://messenger.yahoo.com

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Re: [UVAA] More press at the Gravel Pit
by Aaron Orullian 11 Aug '04

11 Aug '04

Where is the gravel pit? >>> retenney(a)yahoo.com 8/11/2004 12:05:39 PM >>> Hi all, I just got a call from Joy Shaw who works for KBYU FM that is doing a story for the Assoc. Press on tonight's meteor shower. She is planning on coming up to the Gravel Pit after midnight tonight and collecting some sound bytes for a radio program. If you want to be part of a nationwide broadcast and have your "ooh's" and "aahs" recorded for the rest of the nation to envy, or be interviewed, the Gravel Pit's the place to be. Deseret News' Joe Bauman will also likely be there for quotes in the paper. I suppose I'm committed now to be late for work tomorrow! ;o) See you up there, Rich PS Directions can be found on the uvaa.org website under "star parties". __________________________________ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message may contain confidential information, and is intended only for the use of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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RE: [UVAA] More press at the Gravel Pit
by Griffin Louis A Civ OO-ALC/MAKGBA 11 Aug '04

11 Aug '04

Great - I'll bring mine too - perhaps you could let me in on a few of your summer favorites.... if it doesn't interfere with your Herschel quest... -----Original Message----- From: uvaa-bounces+louis.griffin=hill.af.mil(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:uvaa-bounces+louis.griffin=hill.af.mil@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Richard Tenney Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 3:53 PM To: Utah Valley Astronomy Association Subject: RE: [UVAA] More press at the Gravel Pit Jo: She got my name most likely from the UVAA website. I gave her directions up there, and I'll make sure she is somewhat vague about where she's reporting from. Lou: I'm planning on packing up the 16 and making good use of my time until after midnight. Rich __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. 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] More press at the Gravel Pit
by Griffin Louis A Civ OO-ALC/MAKGBA 11 Aug '04

11 Aug '04

Rich - that sounds great - should be great seats for the show.... are you going to bring your 16? -----Original Message----- From: uvaa-bounces+louis.griffin=hill.af.mil(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:uvaa-bounces+louis.griffin=hill.af.mil@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Richard Tenney Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 12:06 PM To: Utah-Astronomy; UVAA Subject: [UVAA] More press at the Gravel Pit Hi all, I just got a call from Joy Shaw who works for KBYU FM that is doing a story for the Assoc. Press on tonight's meteor shower. She is planning on coming up to the Gravel Pit after midnight tonight and collecting some sound bytes for a radio program. If you want to be part of a nationwide broadcast and have your "ooh's" and "aahs" recorded for the rest of the nation to envy, or be interviewed, the Gravel Pit's the place to be. Deseret News' Joe Bauman will also likely be there for quotes in the paper. I suppose I'm committed now to be late for work tomorrow! ;o) See you up there, Rich PS Directions can be found on the uvaa.org website under "star parties". __________________________________ 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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More press at the Gravel Pit
by Richard Tenney 11 Aug '04

11 Aug '04

Hi all, I just got a call from Joy Shaw who works for KBYU FM that is doing a story for the Assoc. Press on tonight's meteor shower. She is planning on coming up to the Gravel Pit after midnight tonight and collecting some sound bytes for a radio program. If you want to be part of a nationwide broadcast and have your "ooh's" and "aahs" recorded for the rest of the nation to envy, or be interviewed, the Gravel Pit's the place to be. Deseret News' Joe Bauman will also likely be there for quotes in the paper. I suppose I'm committed now to be late for work tomorrow! ;o) See you up there, Rich PS Directions can be found on the uvaa.org website under "star parties". __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

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Re: [UVAA] Observing Report from the Gravel Pit
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 09 Aug '04

09 Aug '04

I've always liked NGC 6712. Another nice neglected globular I like is NGC 6723. I viewed it briefly Sat night although it was in the light-polluted area of Hurricane, UT. Also, I like M55, low in Sagittarius. It would be more popular if it were higher in the sky. I'd like to see it from Hawaii or somewhere south of here. I forgot all about Jones1 until it was too late and the moon was rising. Maybe next Fri I'll get another chance to view it. Debbie

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Observing Report from the Gravel Pit
by Richard Tenney 08 Aug '04

08 Aug '04

Last night (Saturday) about a dozen or so telescopes showed up at the Gravel Pit just East of Park City. In spite of some frustratingly increasing skyglow to the West (thanks in part to all the stupid lighting practices in Utah and SLC counties) the sky was clear and we were treated to some good seeing. I knocked off another 14 Herschel-400 objects in Saggitarius, Scutum, Ophiuchus, Hydra, Libra and Serpens (I know, I was working in the soupy part of the sky for the most part). I only have 6 more Summer/Fall objects unfortunately, and I'm only a little more than halfway (205 at last count), because that means the rest are Winter and Spring objects, and you know how many clear nights we have at that time of the year. Most of the objects I observed were small globular clusters. Notable was NGC 6553, a rectangular cluster in Sagittarius of uniform brightness set in a beautiful background star field at 115x (22 Nagler). Another was NGC 6712, a GC in Scutum, a cluster with some resolvable stars with others that dim to "nebulosity" (in a 16-inch scope anyway) also set in a very rich, lovely star field. The challenges for me last night were NGC 6629, a fairly bright yet small Planetary that took more magnification to really see that it wasn't just some out of focus star (also in Sagittarius). The other was a rather large galaxy in Serpens, NGC 6118. I know, wrong time of year to observe this object, as it is very low surface brightness and needs the contrast of darker skies when it's higher in the sky. I very nearly missed it. Other highlights of the evening came from veteran observer Lowell Lyon and his 20-inch f/5 Obsession. He treated us to some marvelous views of the Crescent Nebula, the Veil (stunning in his 40mm Pentax with the O-III filter), and even the rather obscure and faint ghostly-bubble "Jones-1" Planetary Nebula. I was also treated in other telescopes to the 2 bright comets that are up in the evening (can't remember the names) in Ursa Major and Bootes. Thanks to those who showed for the good time and the great company. -Rich __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Re: [UVAA] SLAStrofest Map Link in Nova...
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 17 Jul '04

17 Jul '04

Will someone give me a summary of SLAStrofest? I coudn't get up there this year plus the weather is cloudy. It will clear up Tuesday when I leave for Calif. Debbie

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