From: Alyxandra MacLeod Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: GPS news] Date: 01 May 2000 12:10:37 -0600 Sending this to the sailing list too as it might prove interesting for sailors as well as astronomers. Cynthia -------- Original Message -------- Reply-To: p.wiggins@m.cc.utah.edu Those who use GPS may want to have a look at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/library/PressReleases.cgi?date=0&briefing=0 It's an announcement saying that effective midnight tonight the government will stop the intentional degradation of the GPS signals. This should make it easier to determine exact locations for certain astronomical observations. Clear skies! Patrick :-) --- Patrick Wiggins Hansen Planetarium SLC, UT - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" Subject: (utah-astronomy) Eta Aquarid Date: 05 May 2000 07:32:17 -0600 A friend at work told me that this "Jupiter Effect" will be causing the meteor shower. Had to set her straight on that one. :) Here's the Deseret News Article: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,165009433,00.html? Cynthia -- "What does that mean?" "It means the Matrix cannot tell you who you are." ICQ #10306498 http://www.utahdogs.com - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark Dakins Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) EyePiece Selection Advice Date: 10 May 2000 18:05:50 -0600 (MDT) > Hello- > > I have an 8" newtonian dobs telescope and would like to purchase some > new eypieces. Currently I have two; 26mm and 10mm. I particularly > enjoy viewing galaxies and I'd like to see more detail of them than I do > now. Any recomedations on size/brand of eyepieces? > > Thanks for any advice- > > Joe Borigone > jborigon@micron.net I may regret doing this, but here goes. First, all of the following is my opinion, eyepiece selection is a hotly debated topic among amateur astronomers and opinions vary widely. Second, in spite of what I am about to say below, the controling factor on both resolution and brightness of your view of a galaxy is the aperture of your telescope. A (poor) eyepiece can degrade your view below what your scope is capable of providing, but it can not make it better than what your eight inch mirror is capable of providing. That said, general practice for small scopes is to have two to four "magnifications." I say magnifications rather than eyepieces since you can use a good barlow lense to double the effective number of eyepieces. The rule of thumb is to have a low power eyepiece a high power eyepiece and maybe a mid power eyepiece. The low power eyepiece should provides a 7mm exit pupil, this is the lowest power your scope is capable of that uses the whole aperture; below this magnification your scope is no longer an eight inch and you start running the risk of seeing the central obstruction. The exit pupil of an eyepiece is (aperture x eyepiece focal length) / objective focal length The high power magnification should not exceed some magic limit; the one I most often see quoted these days is 50 power per inch of aperture. I personally believe that this number needs a lot of qualification. A well made refractor can easily reach 100 power per inch or more while a large aperture scope (say anything bigger than 12 or 15 inches) will seldom be useful at as much as 50 power per inch. If the magnifications provided by those two eyepieces are too far apart you may need one or more additonal magnifications in between. Brands. This is where the "eyepiece religion" wars are REALLY fought. In my experience there is more difference in quality between supposedly identical eyepieces of a given brand than any of us wish there were. Frequently these differences are greater than those between the averages of two comparable eyepieces by two different manufacturers. That said, you do tend to get what you pay for. You will seldom go wrong buying Televue eyepieces although the best of the Meades (the series 4000s) are nearly as good, the Pentax eyepieces are excellent, and several other manufacturers make good to very good eyepieces. As with telescopes I recommend coming to my star parties, SLAS star parties, or other star parties and try out eyepieces to decide what you need/want/would settle for. Hope this helps. If you have specific questions I can try to address those. Mark - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob_Cavanaugh@3com.com Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) EyePiece Selection Advice Date: 11 May 2000 09:55:42 -0600 Mark's treatment is excellent,here are some of my thoughts: 1. If you wear eyeglasses, eye relief is a MAJOR consideration. I prefer at least 22mm of eye relief, which eliminates many eyepieces. You also should check if the eyeshield (if any) can roll back. If the eye relief is smaller than say 20mm, you will not be able to utilize the entire field of view 2. These are purely my preferences, but I will list my collection. I use a C8 and a C5: a. Orion 35mm Ultrascopic - I am not sure what the latest incarnation of this one is, but it is great for wide star fields and big objects b. Meade 6.5m Ultrascan - too much power for the 5", but gives great views in the 8 c. Televue 19mm - excellent all-around eyepiece d. University Optics 13mm - no longer available, excellent all-around e. Meade 8.5mm - This baby is the size and weight of a hand grenade, I don't use it much. Good for galaxies and nebulae. I also have the typical 25mm that came with the C5, it is not a bad eyepiece but not on par with my others. I bought my C8 used in the mid-80's and it had (all Celestron Kellners) 40mm, 25mm, and 9mm. My other eyepieces blow these ones away, mainly because of eye relief. I can't see much out of any of these except the 40mm, I can usually see NOTHING out of the 9, unless the moon is full. I also have a University Optics Klee shorty Barlow, which I don't use on anything smaller than the 8. To echo Mark's qualifiers, most of my visual work is done between 60-120X. Only with really good conditions do I push it any further. I would much rather see a bright sharp but smaller image than a large dim and fuzzy one (Unless I am looking at Halley's :-) Mark Dakins on 05/10/2000 06:05:50 PM Please respond to utah-astronomy@lists.xmission.com cc: (Bob Cavanaugh/MTN/US/3Com) > Hello- > > I have an 8" newtonian dobs telescope and would like to purchase some > new eypieces. Currently I have two; 26mm and 10mm. I particularly > enjoy viewing galaxies and I'd like to see more detail of them than I do > now. Any recomedations on size/brand of eyepieces? > > Thanks for any advice- > > Joe Borigone > jborigon@micron.net I may regret doing this, but here goes. First, all of the following is my opinion, eyepiece selection is a hotly debated topic among amateur astronomers and opinions vary widely. Second, in spite of what I am about to say below, the controling factor on both resolution and brightness of your view of a galaxy is the aperture of your telescope. A (poor) eyepiece can degrade your view below what your scope is capable of providing, but it can not make it better than what your eight inch mirror is capable of providing. That said, general practice for small scopes is to have two to four "magnifications." I say magnifications rather than eyepieces since you can use a good barlow lense to double the effective number of eyepieces. The rule of thumb is to have a low power eyepiece a high power eyepiece and maybe a mid power eyepiece. The low power eyepiece should provides a 7mm exit pupil, this is the lowest power your scope is capable of that uses the whole aperture; below this magnification your scope is no longer an eight inch and you start running the risk of seeing the central obstruction. The exit pupil of an eyepiece is (aperture x eyepiece focal length) / objective focal length The high power magnification should not exceed some magic limit; the one I most often see quoted these days is 50 power per inch of aperture. I personally believe that this number needs a lot of qualification. A well made refractor can easily reach 100 power per inch or more while a large aperture scope (say anything bigger than 12 or 15 inches) will seldom be useful at as much as 50 power per inch. If the magnifications provided by those two eyepieces are too far apart you may need one or more additonal magnifications in between. Brands. This is where the "eyepiece religion" wars are REALLY fought. In my experience there is more difference in quality between supposedly identical eyepieces of a given brand than any of us wish there were. Frequently these differences are greater than those between the averages of two comparable eyepieces by two different manufacturers. That said, you do tend to get what you pay for. You will seldom go wrong buying Televue eyepieces although the best of the Meades (the series 4000s) are nearly as good, the Pentax eyepieces are excellent, and several other manufacturers make good to very good eyepieces. As with telescopes I recommend coming to my star parties, SLAS star parties, or other star parties and try out eyepieces to decide what you need/want/would settle for. Hope this helps. If you have specific questions I can try to address those. Mark - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: Fwd: Possible lunar impacts recorded in Calif. May 7-9, & Date: 12 May 2000 08:25:50 -0600 More information is given below about the following topics: 1. Possible eta Aquarid lunar impacts have been videorecorded by Frank Anet in California, and others seen from Texas; confirmation is sought. 2. Preliminary update for the occultation of 7.2-mag. SAO 210027 by the M-class asteroid 382 Dodona shows only a small shift north from the nominal path the night of May 16-17, putting the likely path across central Cuba and central Mexico (including the northern Yucatan and southern Baja California. M-class (metallic spectra) asteroids are now of special interest with the recent radar discovery of the dogbone shape of the largest M asteroid, 216 Kleopatra, whose unusual shape was first hinted at from observations of an occultation in 1991 (that was one reason why Kleopatra was selected as the first main-belt target with the recently upgraded Arecibo radio telescope). 3. GPS is more accurate with S/A turned off, but several minutes of averaging are still needed to have high confidence in meeting IOTA's needed accuracy in longitude, latitude, and height above sealevel. 4. An occultation e-group has been formed to discuss occultation recording and timing equipment and techniques, among other things; you are invited to join our initial trial period to see how it works. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ 1. Possible eta Aquarid lunar impacts have been videorecorded by Frank Anet in California; confirmation is sought. A 6th-mag. impact was recorded probably near Manilius on U.T. May 7 at 4:52:41.6 UTC (Sat. evening local time) and another "quite bright" one occurred at 4:22:26.6 UTC (half an hour earlier than the first-discovered flash) near Mare Nectaris. On UTC May 9 at 5:04:26, a flash was seen in real time near Archimedes in Mare Imbrium, and examination of the tape shows 5 flashes, the brightest two being 6th mag., in an arc with each spaced roughly 30 arc seconds apart (but NOT with uniform separation). At the time, the Moon alt. was 23 deg., so others in western North America hopefully also have this interesting meteor cluster in their videotape. If you videotaped the dark side of the Moon during these times, please check and let us know if you can confirm any of these events or not. Frank observed with his wife Ragini from their new home in Valencia - his e-mail is anet@chem.ucla.edu. More information about these observations can be found at http://iota.jhuapl.edu In addition, around 2:42:00 UT on 8 May 2000, Brian Cudnik spotted a possible 7th magnitude flash north of Plato, on the north "shore" of Mare Frigoris (near W. Bond Crater). Aside from this, he is 95% certain that flashes brighter than magnitude 9.0 did not occur during his observing periods of 1:44 to 2:27UT and 2:35 to 3:16UT. Also, using a smaller telescope on May 9, UT, he thought he saw a half-dozen or so within a four minute period randomly distributed throughout the Mare Vaporum and points South region, between 2:04 and 2:08UT. Each was near the limit of visibility. Another candidate was spotted just southeast of Mare Nubium (about an arcminute southeast of its "shore" in lunar coordinates) at 2:22:22.0. This one was possibly 6th magnitude or so. The final candidate was observed around 2:42:30 just west of the Theophilus crater, Southwest of Sinus Asperitany (lunar coordinates again), this one being about 7th magnitude. Brian Cudnik ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Preliminary update for the occultation of 7.2-mag. SAO 210027 by the M-class asteroid 382 Dodona shows only a small shift north from the nominal path the night of May 16-17, putting the likely path across central Cuba and central Mexico (including the northern Yucatan and southern Baja California. M-class (metallic spectra) asteroids are now of special interest with the recent radar discovery of the dogbone shape of the largest M asteroid, 216 Kleopatra, whose unusual shape was first hinted at from observations of an occultation in 1991 (that was one reason why Kleopatra was selected as the first main-belt target with the recently upgraded Arecibo radio telescope). The occultation shape of Kleopatra was published in my planetary occultation highlights article in the January 1992 issue of Sky and Telescope, while the new, more detailed "dogbone" shape is at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/kleopatra Of course, all M-class asteroids probably don't have as extreme shapes as Kleopatra, but probably the possibility of a surprising shape is more likely with these objects. My prediction gives a shift from Goffin's nominal prediction (available in the small world view, along with a detailed finder chart, in the asteroidal occultation section of http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota ) of 0.06" north (1.2 path-widths, but with a 1-sigma uncertainty of about the same size) in the path and -3.1 minutes (+/-0.6 min.) in time. These are formal uncertainties; Jan Manek, being able to use observations over a longer arc of the orbit of Dodona, has just calculated a better prediction that is two path- widths north of my path; details, including the updated path, will soon be placed on the IOTA Web site mentioned above. The star is in Sagittarius at J2000 RA 18h 21m 19.9s, Dec -32 deg. 10' 50"; if it is occulted, there will be a 6-mag. drop in the star's light, unless the star is a previously unresolved close double, which is possible with its A3 spectral type. The updated path is expected to be 104 km wide (due to projection) with its center passing about 150 km south of Havana, Cuba at 7:45 UT (the UT date is May 17 for all; note that Manek's updated path is almost two path-widthws north of this one so that Havana is a short distance inside the southern limit), about 220 km north of Mexico City at 7:51 UT (but about 400 km north of Mexico City, according to Manek), and about 120 km south of La Paz, Baja California at 7:54 UT (with the southern limit near La Paz with Manek's prediction). Edited path data are given below; more extended data will be placed on the IOTA web site mentioned above soon. OCCULTATION OF 7.24-MAG. SAO 210027 (Goffin ID ACT 7397 00183, SPECTRAL TYPE A3) BY 382 Dodona ON 2000 May 17 DIAMETER= 61. KM = 0.048 SECONDS OF ARC, CENTRAL OCCN. = 13.594 SECONDS DIAMETER OF STAR= 0.176 ARC MILLISECONDS= 225.4 METERS= 0.859 FRINGES CENTER PATH IS ABOUT 104. KM WIDE AT THE COORDINATES LISTED BELOW *** But Jan Manek's predicted path is about two path-widths north of this and is probably a better prediction *** UNIV. TIME Dodona SUN MOON LONGITUDE LATITUDE H M S ALT. AZI. ALT. AZI. ALT. 79.85 W 22.17 7 44 37.3 35.5 176.1 -34.8 43.9 32.4 82.56 W 21.76 7 45 34.9 35.7 173.5 -36.6 42.0 34.5 85.29 W 21.45 7 46 32.7 35.7 171.0 -38.4 39.9 36.6 92.12 W 21.08 7 48 55.9 34.9 164.6 -42.2 33.9 41.5 94.85 W 21.10 7 49 51.9 34.2 162.2 -43.4 31.2 43.2 97.57 W 21.21 7 50 46.9 33.3 159.8 -44.5 28.3 44.9 100.29 W 21.42 7 51 40.4 32.3 157.6 -45.3 25.2 46.3 102.99 W 21.73 7 52 32.4 31.1 155.4 -46.0 22.0 47.7 105.67 W 22.13 7 53 22.4 29.7 153.4 -46.4 18.7 48.8 108.34 W 22.62 7 54 10.3 28.2 151.5 -46.6 15.3 49.7 110.98 W 23.20 7 54 55.8 26.6 149.6 -46.5 11.9 50.4 113.59 W 23.87 7 55 38.7 24.9 147.9 -46.3 8.5 50.8 ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. GPS is more accurate with S/A turned off, but several minutes of averaging are still needed to have high confidence in meeting IOTA's needed. >From the following from Joe Hobart, Flagstaff, AZ, it is clear that some averaging is preferred to obtain the accuracy that IOTA would like in positions. Probably 10 minutes would be sufficient in almost all cases, but a reasonably unobstructed view and reasonably good satellite geometry are important - with them, probably even only two or three minutes would be all right. But if you are not sure how good the geometry is, then record for 10 minutes. If that shows some periods of large excursions, record for 5 or 10 more minutes so that either obviously discordant data can be removed, or to ensure that the averaged position is accurate enough. These are my impressions, to achieve 15m accuracy that IOTA would prefer to have - others might have some better advice after more observations are made. Of course, longer averaging times will always give a better result, but times longer than 10 - 15 minutes become impractical when more than a few stations need to be surveyed for a distant lunar grazing or asteroidal occultation expedition. In any case, now I agree that scaling positions from USGS maps will soon become passe as observers acquire inexpensive GPS receivers. The maps may be useful for checking (or determining) heights above sealevel (which can be obtained from online versions of the maps, such as those at www.topozone.com), but I think even for heights, several minutes of GPS measurements will usually be good enough. When getting heights from other sources, be sure that the coordinates are all referenced to the same datum. That is another reason to use just GPS measurements, which usually use the GPS WGS84 datum, since maps always give the heights relative to the local geodetic datum. More information on GPS accuracies will be posted on IOTA's site at http://lunar-occultations.com/iota as it becomes available. Note that for lunar occultation observations, IOTA prefers an accuracy of +/-16 meters (about 50 feet) or better in each coordinate. 30 - 50m accuracy is all right for most asteroidal occultation observations. The next step will be to build something like the Japanese GHS clock (GPS-based for video time insertion) that can be used with commonly-available inexpensive GPS receivers (the GHS clock only works with the Japanese Jupiter GPS receiver, which doesn't seem well-suited for averaging positional observations). Information about it is on the IOTA Web site at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Hello All, And SA is indeed off!! Despite what others say about being within feet, the following were observed: For some time after SA was turned off the altitude was 2100 meters or about 25 meters above my "reference". It later improved to about 4 meters above my "reference". Also there was one time of five to ten minutes when the error was as much as 18 meters in horizontal (18 meters at 171 degrees true). This was very obviously due to poor statellite configuration. These figures were taken from the SA Watch program with a Motorola GT+ GPS receiver running without differential corrections. The antenna is mounted on top of an unused wood stove chimney about six meters above ground. Preliminary report for the first eight hours without SA: Average: 35 05 59.21 N 111 41 34.86 2078 meters altitude Reference: 35 05 59.20 N 111 41 34.87 W 2074 meters Difference is 0.4 meter @ 051 degree true from a position determined by MONTHS of averaging with SA turned on. For this eight hour period, Percent of readings Were within 99 10 meters 95 10 meters 68 4 meters 50 3 meters Life is good. "Gimme a Bud!!!" Joe Hobart Flagstaff, AZ ____________________________________________________________________________ 4. An occultation e-group has been formed to discuss occultation recording and timing equipment and techniques, among other things; you are invited to join our initial trial period to see how it works. It was formed before the announcement of GPS S/A being turned off, a natural subject for this group. I created an account at egroups.com for IOTAoccultations. It can be accessed via: http://www.egroups.com/group/IOTAoccultations I did this for several reasons: 1) it is open to anyone who has an interest to ask questions, discuss, etc. 2) if for some reason timely information needs to be disseminated, and I am not available, it can be posted there, with an email directing members to it. 3) it may spur interest in IOTA by non-IOTA members browsing the postings 4) IOTA and IOTA/ES will have a common ground to share and discuss. 5) It may prove more fruitful than the bulletin board I have on the main page (which I am thinking of removing). We can try this for a 90 day period and see what activity it generates. If it looks like a dying ship, then I will remove it. You might send a mass email to the general membership regarding this new feature, and encourage them to use it, than private email on discussions on such topics as the GPS time deal. That way it would be open to more discussion by a larger audience. ==================================================================== Rob Robinson Bonner Springs KS, USA Vice President of Occultation Services - IOTA Webmaster for the IOTA Lunar Occultation Homepage http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota 94.8932 West 39.0579 North 249.7 Meters ==================================================================== ____________________________________________________________________________ Joan and David Dunham 7006 Megan Lane Greenbelt, MD 20770 (301) 474-4722 dunham@erols.com - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Karranza F'aebourne Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: See shuttle & ISS] Date: 23 May 2000 07:25:28 -0600 -------- Original Message -------- Reply-To: p.wiggins@m.cc.utah.edu Looks like we here in Utah will have several opportunities to see the joined Space Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station this week. Most passes will be poorly seen but the following two should be excellent: Wednesday morning, the 24th: 5:20 am: Rise in the southwest 5:23 am: High overhead 5:27 am: Setting in the northeast Friday morning, the 26th: 4:25 am: Passes out of the Earth's shadow and becomes visible half way up the southern sky 4:26 am: 2/3 of the way up the southeastern sky 4:30 am: Setting in the northeast As with most morning satellite passes, the shuttle/station complex will probably appear brightest early in each pass and fade from there. At it's brightest the complex could easily be brighter than any star in the sky and be visible even from light-polluted urban areas. The complex will not appear to have any shape, rather to the naked eye it will look like a bright, slow moving dot of light. Information on these and several additional, but less easily visible passes will be available on the Hansen Planetarium's Starline information service at 801-532-STAR (7827) later tonight. Enjoy! Patrick :-) - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Karranza F'aebourne Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: Aurora Watch] Date: 24 May 2000 07:44:59 -0600 -------- Original Message -------- Reply-To: p.wiggins@m.cc.utah.edu /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING ISSUED: 02:30 UTC, 24 MAY /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ VALID BEGINNING AT: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY VALID UNTIL: 19:00 UTC ON 25 MAY HIGH RISK PERIOD: 24 MAY (UTC days) MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 24 - 25 MAY PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 40, 20, 12, 10 (24 MAY - 27 MAY) POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE TO HIGH POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 06 TO 12 HOURS MINOR BELT = 12 TO 24 HOURS ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: PRIOR TO AND NEAR LOCAL MIDNIGHT EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: LOW, BECOMING MODERATE AFTER 1-2 AM LOCAL OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: GOOD TO FAIR AURORAL ACTIVITY MAY BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... OREGON TO SOUTHERN IDAHO AND POSSIBLY PARTS OF SOUTHERN UTAH TO SOUTHERN WYOMING AND POSSIBLY EXTREME NORTHERN REGIONS OF NEBRASKA TO IOWA TO CENTRAL REGIONS OF ILLINOIS, INDIANA AND OHIO TO SOUTHERN PENNSYLVANIA TO NEW JERSEY. ACTIVITY MAY ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... SOUTHERN UNITED KINGDOM AND POSSIBLY EXTREME NORTHERN COASTAL REGIONS OF FRANCE TO THE NETHERLANDS TO NORTHERN GERMANY TO NORTHERN POLAND TO LITHUANIA TO SOUTHERN BELARUS TO NORTHERN RUSSIA. SOUTHERN NEW ZEALAND AND SOUTHEAST AUSTRALIA MAY ALSO SPOT PERIODS OF ACTIVITY. RECEIVE REAL-TIME AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCHES AND WARNINGS BASED ON REAL-TIME SOLAR WIND CONDITIONS USING THE SOFTWARE AT: http://solar.spacew.com/swarm SYNOPSIS... An unexpectedly vigorous solar disturbance impacted the Earth over the last 12 hours and has intensified very rapidly to levels which are expected to produce periods of moderate to strong auroral activity throughout many middle latitude locations. The disturbance is difficult to predict due to its chaotic behavior. Despite this, conditions are expected to become occasionally very favorable for the development of auroral activity strong enough to become visible over many middle latitude regions. Moonrise occurs shortly after midnight, local time, so observations of activity would be best in the hours prior to this, if possible. PLEASE REPORT OBSERVATIONS OF AURORAL ACTIVITY TO: http://solar.spacew.com/www/auroras.html ESTIMATED AURORAL VISIBILITY FROM THE GROUND, AS WELL AS SPACECRAFT AURORAL IMAGERY AND STATISTICAL PLOTS OF ANTICIPATED ACTIVITY CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.spacew.com/www/aurora.html ** End of Warning ** - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Karranza F'aebourne Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: Scope for sale] Date: 25 May 2000 07:14:12 -0600 -------- Original Message -------- Reply-To: p.wiggins@m.cc.utah.edu This is being posted for Fred Orrell If you are interested in his scope, please reply to him at forrell@es.com or forrell@jps.net. ******************************** I have a telescope for sale. I'm selling it because I just got a great deal on a CG-11 package. This scope has been great, but I don't need two. If you know anyone who might be interested, please pass this along. Specifications Meade Premier 76 series 10 in. f/10 Schmidt Cassegrain with coated optics The Premier models were similar to the more popular LX6. The major difference between my scope and the current LX200 is that my scope does not have the sky computer or high speed slewable motors. Optically and mechanically they are similar. Fork mount with equatorial wedge Adjustable height field tripod (adjustable for sitting or standing observing position) Motor drives on both right ascension and declination axis 12 Vdc power supply and car adapter cord Multi-function hand controller: Map light Photo Timer Sidereal Clock RA and DEC readouts N S E W slew controls Adjustable slew/tracking rates 7 x 50 Celestron straight thru illuminated viewfinder 1.25" right angle star diagonal Four 1.25" Eyepieces: 28mm Edmund RKE (89X) 21mm Edmund RKE (120X) 12mm Orthoscopic (208X) 7mm Orthoscopic (357X) Full aperature aluminized glass solar filter Owners Manuals Steamer trunk for scope/fork mount assembly Eyepice/accessory toolbox Price = $1800. If you would like to see this scope, please call me for an appointment. Please feel free to pass this on to others who may be interested. I have many photos of the scope I can email upon request. I'm taking the scope to Riverside, so I will be gone for a few days. Fred Orrell Work Phone: 801-588-7415 Home Phone: 801-944-1332 Email: forrell@es.com or forrell@jps.net - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Karranza F'aebourne Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: RSVP reminder] Date: 30 May 2000 14:25:32 -0600 -------- Original Message -------- This is a reminder for y'all to RSVP Mark Dakins ( mdakins@novell.com ) regarding Saturday's star party pizza photo-op. The details follow: ===================================================================== When: Saturday, June 3 from 2 PM and 10 PM (see below) til late. Details: My trip to the Texas Star Party (the reason there was no star party at my house in May) was wonderful. I finished seeing Canyon deChelly, spent a whole night observing with McDonald Observatory's 82" telescope with 26 other lucky amateurs, spent several other excellent nights observing with my own telescope, and spent too much money as usual. This is going to be a very special star party. I want pictures of as many of the UVAA telescopes and their owners as I can get. Eventually I plan on putting these up on my web page, perhaps as small images, perhaps rotating one or a few at a time. To do this I need the scopes and owners here in the day time, so here's the deal. If you own a scope bring it up during the afternoon (starting about 2PM) and I will buy pizza and soda for dinner. I do need to know how much pizza and pop to order so please RSVP if you are coming and let me know what type and how much pizza you can eat. In addition to giving me a chance to get pictures of the scopes and owners, this will give all of you a chance to see each other's scopes in the daylight. So, LET'S PARTY! The regular star party will start about 10PM and will probably feature the many galaxies of the so called "realm of the Galaxies." These include M51 the whirlpool galaxy, NGC4565 the beautiful edge on galaxy in Coma Berenices, the M81 - M82 pair, the M65 - M66 - NGC3628 triplet, the dense galaxy field of Virgo, and so on. Of course, there are many other objects, such as M13, M5, NGC3242 (the Ghost of Jupiter), M97 (The Owl Nebula), and NGC7009 (the Saturn Nebula.) Of course, for anyone who wants to stay late enough, the Milky Way will eventually rise with its all of its objects. I love the spring time, you have to stay up late, but it is worth it. As always, if you have questions call 489-5767. As usual I will provide hot chocolate. ============================================= You can find directions and a map to Mark's place by following the links on the UVAA web page: http://www.uvaa.org See you there! - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bob Nagel" Subject: (utah-astronomy) Solar Filter Date: 30 May 2000 15:42:11 -0600 Hello all, Does anyone know of a local source for Solar Filter material (mylar type). = For a 4 /14 inch scope I would probably only have to purchase about a 2in = by 2in piece. Thanks for any info. Bob Nagel Utah AGRC bnagel@gis.state.ut.us - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob_Cavanaugh@3com.com Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Solar Filter Date: 31 May 2000 09:29:38 -0600 Fred Olson (Olsen?), a member of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, is a vendor for a lot of items. Check with Lowell Lyon (801)-699-7283 for the best number to reach him - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Patrick Wiggins Subject: (utah-astronomy) Re: Solar Filter Date: 31 May 2000 09:46:23 -0600 Bob_Cavanaugh@3com.com wrote: > > Fred Olson (Olsen?), a member of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, is a > vendor for a lot of items. Check with Lowell Lyon (801)-699-7283 for the > best number to reach him Hi! I just spoke with Fred. Sorry, but he doesn't have any solar filter material. Patrick - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Wayne Sumner" Subject: (utah-astronomy) Re: Solar Filter Date: 31 May 2000 10:33:41 -0600 Patrick, I was planning on going to RTMC at Riverside this year, but had to = cancel at the last minute. Tell us what cool things you saw and heard = there. Thanks, Wayne Sumner >>> Patrick Wiggins 05/31/00 09:46AM >>> Bob_Cavanaugh@3com.com wrote: >=20 > Fred Olson (Olsen?), a member of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, is = a > vendor for a lot of items. Check with Lowell Lyon (801)-699-7283 for = the > best number to reach him Hi! I just spoke with Fred. Sorry, but he doesn't have any solar filter = material. Patrick - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.c= om" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Patrick Wiggins Subject: (utah-astronomy) RTMC, not me... Date: 31 May 2000 11:14:31 -0600 Wayne Sumner wrote: > > I was planning on going to RTMC at Riverside this year, but had to cancel at the last minute. Tell us what cool things you saw and heard there. Sorry, but I have no stories to regale you with. :-) Getting my new observatory up and running has taken most of my free time for the past few weeks, so I didn't go to RTMC. Patrick :-) - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ("David Dunn") Subject: (utah-astronomy) Solar Filter Date: 31 May 2000 10:08:00 -0600 I have some of the Baader AstroSolar Film. $5 for a 5" X 5" square. ------------------( Forwarded letter 1 follows )--------------------- Sender: owner-utah-astronomy@lists.xmission.com Reply-To: utah-astronomy@lists.xmission.com Hello all, Does anyone know of a local source for Solar Filter material (mylar type). For a 4 /14 inch scope I would probably only have to purchase about a 2in by 2in piece. Thanks for any info. Bob Nagel Utah AGRC bnagel@gis.state.ut.us - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marilyn Smith" Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Solar Filter Date: 31 May 2000 19:21:03 -0600 How can I get a piece of it? Bob Grant - To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.