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utah-astronomy-digest   Thursday, December 23 1999   Volume 01 : Number 003




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 11:24:16 -0700
From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Geminid Meteor Shower

I wasn't able to watch the shower, but I think it was pretty
cloudy up here.  Thanks for letting us know what you saw.  Sounds
like it was great.  How come we can't get showers like that when
it's warm?  Okay okay, so I've become a fair-weather
astronomer... oops, probably shouldn't admit to that.  :)


- --
[e-mail]
ICQ #10306498
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsinore Lucilla Aurelius
Smooth Blue Collie
- ----
Moon Shyne
Catalina 22 - #5315 - GSL Utah
- ----
http://www.xmission.com/~lucyblue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 17:50:45 -0700
From: "Reynolds, Rich" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: (utah-astronomy) Geminid Meteor Shower

Yes, we went out on that cold night up to Little Mountain.  It was too cold
and windy there so we drove down toward Big Mountain and found a spot to
spread out our ground cloth on the snow.  Then a blanket and 3 of us covered
up for over an hour.  We saw 51 and had great fun.  I am colored blind so I
kept asking what color they were.   They were mostly white.  We could only
view about half the sky because of the clouds.  We were there between 12 and
2 am.   Rich

 -----Original Message-----
From:     [e-mail] [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent:    Tuesday, December 14, 1999 7:51 PM
To:    '[e-mail]'
Subject:    (utah-astronomy) Geminid Meteor Shower

So did anyone else get a chance to view the meteor shower peak last night?

I know it was pretty cloudy in most of the state.  I was fortunate enough
here to Provo to catch a glimpse through clear patches in the clouds.  All I
can say is, if I was able to see as much as I did with such a limited view,
then I can only imagine what it would have been like if the whole sky had
been clear.  At one point I was seeing 1-2 (sometimes 3) per minute.  I was
particularly impressed by a couple of bright blue ones which fell to the
horizon with long tails (just beneath Orion).  I spent most of the time
watching to the south/southeast through the window from the comfort my
living room :).

My friend in Riverton said there was solid cloud cover most the night.  How
were the skies north of Riverton?  The show was over for me at about 1am
when a nasty storm blew in from the east.  Amazingly I was able to see a
couple streaks through areas of the clouds before they got real thick.

Waiting to hear reports from others,

- --Paul


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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 18:16:47 -0700
From: Joe Borgione <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Geminid Meteor Shower

Howdy All-

I had the grand fortune of being in balmy Evanston Wyoming, garden gateway to
intermountain west, for the night of Dec. 13.  I got up shortly before 4:00 am on
12-14 to chrystal clear albiet frigid skies.

For about 90 minutes or so I hung out just north of town along US-89 losing track
very quickly of how many meteors I saw; all told I'd bet 3 dozen or more.  Orange
ones, white ones, big bright ones that left what appeared to be momentary
contrails behind.  At one instance, I observed two at the same time diverging in
opposite directions from very near Gemini.  Another memorable event was a single
bright white one streaking across Ursa Major, only to be 'chased' by a second,
nearly identical meteor.

The cold took it's toll; it was well below 0F I'm sure; I was very happy to have a
neck gator pulled up over my cheeks.  By 5:30 or so, my toes just couldn't take it
anymore so I headed back to motel for a hot shower.  I kept thinking how nice it
was to see the keystone of Hercules rising; it reminded of summer time observing
in tevas and shorts....

Clear skies and happy holi-daze....

Joe Borgione

Reynolds, Rich wrote:

> Yes, we went out on that cold night up to Little Mountain.  It was too cold
> and windy there so we drove down toward Big Mountain and found a spot to
> spread out our ground cloth on the snow.  Then a blanket and 3 of us covered
> up for over an hour.  We saw 51 and had great fun.  I am colored blind so I
> kept asking what color they were.   They were mostly white.  We could only
> view about half the sky because of the clouds.  We were there between 12 and
> 2 am.   Rich
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   [e-mail] [mailto:[e-mail]]
> Sent:   Tuesday, December 14, 1999 7:51 PM
> To:     '[e-mail]'
> Subject:        (utah-astronomy) Geminid Meteor Shower
>
> So did anyone else get a chance to view the meteor shower peak last night?
>
> I know it was pretty cloudy in most of the state.  I was fortunate enough
> here to Provo to catch a glimpse through clear patches in the clouds.  All I
> can say is, if I was able to see as much as I did with such a limited view,
> then I can only imagine what it would have been like if the whole sky had
> been clear.  At one point I was seeing 1-2 (sometimes 3) per minute.  I was
> particularly impressed by a couple of bright blue ones which fell to the
> horizon with long tails (just beneath Orion).  I spent most of the time
> watching to the south/southeast through the window from the comfort my
> living room :).
>
> My friend in Riverton said there was solid cloud cover most the night.  How
> were the skies north of Riverton?  The show was over for me at about 1am
> when a nasty storm blew in from the east.  Amazingly I was able to see a
> couple streaks through areas of the clouds before they got real thick.
>
> Waiting to hear reports from others,
>
> --Paul
>
> -
>  To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to
> "[e-mail]"
>  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.
>
> -
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 07:16:06 -0700
From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: SETI@home newsletter]

Thought this might be interesting for those who are not getting
the SETI@home newsletter themselves.



- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: SETI@home newsletter Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 16:58:03
- -0800 (PST) From: "SETI@home"
Dear SETI@home user:
Thanks for your interest and participation in SETI@home.
This is our first email newsletter.
Contents:
- - Project status
- - Version 2.0 coming soon
- - SETI gear is here! SETI@home store now open
- - Project sponsors

Dr. David P. Anderson Project Director,
SETI@home http://setiathome.berkeley.edu
- --------------------------
PROJECT STATUS

With your assistance, SETI@home has been amazingly successful.
1,500,000 people in 224 countries have downloaded the SETI@home
screensaver and together they have contributed 125,000 years of
computer time, with the common goal of finding the first sign of
intelligent extraterrestrial life. We've been recording data at
the Arecibo radio telescope since December 1998, and most of the
data through May 1999 has now been analyzed. 100 million signals
have been detected and stored in our database.

The second-phase processing, which rejects man-made interference
and looks for "repeat" signals, will start soon. This is when we
hope to actually detect an ET signal! Furthermore, thanks to the
abundance of computing power, we'll be augmenting SETI@home to
look for new types of signals. As the number of users has grown,
we've had to upgrade our servers several times to handle the
load. Sometimes it's been hard to connect (sorry!) but our most
recent upgrades have fixed this problem for now.
- --------------------------

VERSION 2.0 COMING SOON
Most people are running version 1.06 of our software. Early next
year we'll release version 2.0, which has many new features and
works better through firewalls and proxies. For more details, see
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/version20.html When version 2.0 is
available for your type of computer, you'll be notified
automatically the next time your computer completes a work unit.
When that happens, you'll need to download the new version from
our web site.
- --------------------------

SETI@HOME STORE NOW OPEN

SETI@home has teamed up with The Exploratorium, the famous
science museum in San Francisco, to bring you products that let
you proudly display your participation in the SETI@home search.
Profits from these products go to the SETI@home project. Four
products are currently available (more are planned): T-shirt: the
colorful SETI@home logo is silkscreened on the front, and the URL
is on the back. Available in S, M, L, and XL sizes. Polo shirt:
short-sleeve polo shirt with the SETI@home logo embroidered on
the left breast. Available in S, M, L, XL, and XXL sizes Cap: a
smart looking soft black cap with the SETI@home logo embroidered
above the brim. Mug: black ceramic, with the SETI@home logo fired
on. These products are available in the SETI@home on-line store
which is part of the Exploratorium's on-line shop.
To get there directly, go to
http://www.exploratoriumstore.com/setihome.html
The Exploratorium's award-winning website is at
http://www.exploratorium.edu
- --------------------------

THANKS TO SPONSORS We want to express our deep appreciation to
all of the sponsors of SETI@home: SETI@home's Key Sponsors: The
Planetary Society, Sun Microsystems, and the University of
California Digital Media Innovation Program. SETI@home's Major
Sponsors: Paramount Pictures, Fuji Film Computer Products, IBM
developerWorks, and Quantum. Sponsors: Informix, The Santa Cruz
Operation, Intel, Space.com, EDT Inc, Crystal Group, and the SETI
Institute. Thanks also to the hundreds of individuals who have
made contributions to SETI@home. Their names are listed at
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/donorlist.html SETI@home is
free for everyone, but if you can consider making a
tax-deductible donation to SETI@home, please visit
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/donor.html. We also encourage
you to consider joining The Planetary Society:
http://www.planetary.org
- --------------------------




- -
 To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 07:55:42 -0700
From: Seth Jarvis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: SETI@home newsletter]

Thanks for posting that. That's great news about SETI@Home v2.

I've got to tell you though, that doing business with the "SETI@home Store"
(actually, the Exploratorium's gift shop) has been a nightmare.

Screwed-up orders, no return calls from voicemail messages, no replies to
emails (it's been 10 days now, so it's not like I'm being impatient), and
breathtakingly unhelpful staff when I was finally able to reach a real
person. I think I've spent more on long distance calls trying to get the
items they've shorted me than the value of the silly things themselves.

SETI@Home?  Absoulutely!

SETI@Home Store?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

Happy Holidays,

Seth Jarvis

> From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" <[e-mail]>
> Reply-To: [e-mail]
> Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 07:16:06 -0700
> To: utah-astronomy <[e-mail]>
> Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: SETI@home newsletter]
>
> Thought this might be interesting for those who are not getting
> the SETI@home newsletter themselves.
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: SETI@home newsletter Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 16:58:03
> -0800 (PST) From: "SETI@home"
> Dear SETI@home user:
> Thanks for your interest and participation in SETI@home.
> This is our first email newsletter.
> Contents:
> - Project status
> - Version 2.0 coming soon
> - SETI gear is here! SETI@home store now open
> - Project sponsors
>
> Dr. David P. Anderson Project Director,
> SETI@home http://setiathome.berkeley.edu
> --------------------------
> PROJECT STATUS
>
> With your assistance, SETI@home has been amazingly successful.
> 1,500,000 people in 224 countries have downloaded the SETI@home
> screensaver and together they have contributed 125,000 years of
> computer time, with the common goal of finding the first sign of
> intelligent extraterrestrial life. We've been recording data at
> the Arecibo radio telescope since December 1998, and most of the
> data through May 1999 has now been analyzed. 100 million signals
> have been detected and stored in our database.
>
> The second-phase processing, which rejects man-made interference
> and looks for "repeat" signals, will start soon. This is when we
> hope to actually detect an ET signal! Furthermore, thanks to the
> abundance of computing power, we'll be augmenting SETI@home to
> look for new types of signals. As the number of users has grown,
> we've had to upgrade our servers several times to handle the
> load. Sometimes it's been hard to connect (sorry!) but our most
> recent upgrades have fixed this problem for now.
> --------------------------
>
> VERSION 2.0 COMING SOON
> Most people are running version 1.06 of our software. Early next
> year we'll release version 2.0, which has many new features and
> works better through firewalls and proxies. For more details, see
> http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/version20.html When version 2.0 is
> available for your type of computer, you'll be notified
> automatically the next time your computer completes a work unit.
> When that happens, you'll need to download the new version from
> our web site.
> --------------------------
>
> SETI@HOME STORE NOW OPEN
>
> SETI@home has teamed up with The Exploratorium, the famous
> science museum in San Francisco, to bring you products that let
> you proudly display your participation in the SETI@home search.
> Profits from these products go to the SETI@home project. Four
> products are currently available (more are planned): T-shirt: the
> colorful SETI@home logo is silkscreened on the front, and the URL
> is on the back. Available in S, M, L, and XL sizes. Polo shirt:
> short-sleeve polo shirt with the SETI@home logo embroidered on
> the left breast. Available in S, M, L, XL, and XXL sizes Cap: a
> smart looking soft black cap with the SETI@home logo embroidered
> above the brim. Mug: black ceramic, with the SETI@home logo fired
> on. These products are available in the SETI@home on-line store
> which is part of the Exploratorium's on-line shop.
> To get there directly, go to
> http://www.exploratoriumstore.com/setihome.html
> The Exploratorium's award-winning website is at
> http://www.exploratorium.edu
> --------------------------
>
> THANKS TO SPONSORS We want to express our deep appreciation to
> all of the sponsors of SETI@home: SETI@home's Key Sponsors: The
> Planetary Society, Sun Microsystems, and the University of
> California Digital Media Innovation Program. SETI@home's Major
> Sponsors: Paramount Pictures, Fuji Film Computer Products, IBM
> developerWorks, and Quantum. Sponsors: Informix, The Santa Cruz
> Operation, Intel, Space.com, EDT Inc, Crystal Group, and the SETI
> Institute. Thanks also to the hundreds of individuals who have
> made contributions to SETI@home. Their names are listed at
> http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/donorlist.html SETI@home is
> free for everyone, but if you can consider making a
> tax-deductible donation to SETI@home, please visit
> http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/donor.html. We also encourage
> you to consider joining The Planetary Society:
> http://www.planetary.org
> --------------------------
>
>
>
>
> -
> To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
> 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 "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 07:26:51 -0700
From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: Brightest Moon in 133 Years?]

- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: Brightest Moon in 133 Years?
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:12:53 -0700
From: Patrick Wiggins <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
To: c@moon

This just in from "Sky & Telescope" magazine:

Brightest Moon in 133 Years?

Suddenly a lot of people are asking this question: Will the full
Moon of
December 22nd be the brightest full Moon in 133 years? They're
asking,
apparently, because of an article in the Old Farmer's Almanac
that is being
widely circulated by e-mail.

According to Roger W. Sinnott, associate editor of Sky &
Telescope magazine, the
answer is unequivocal: No!

It is true that there is a most unusual coincidence of events
this year. As S&T
contributing editor Fred Schaaf points out in the December 1999
issue of Sky &
Telescope, "The Moon reaches its very closest point all year on
the morning of
December 22nd. That's only a few hours after the December
solstice and a few
hours before full Moon. Ocean tides will be exceptionally high
and low that day."

But to have these three events -- lunar perigee, solstice, and
full Moon --
occur on nearly the same day is not especially rare. The
situation was rather
similar in December 1991 and December 1980, as the following
dates and Universal
Times show:

Event      Dec. 1999   Dec. 1991   Dec. 1980

Full Moon   22, 18h     21, 10h     21, 18h
Perigee     22, 11h     22, 9h      19, 5h
Solstice    22, 8h      22, 9h      21, 17h

What is really rare is that in 1999 the three events take place
in such quick
succession. On only two other occasions in modern history have
the full Moon,
lunar perigee, and December solstice coincided within a 24-hour
interval, coming
just 23 hours apart in 1991 (as indicated in the preceding table)
and 20 hours
apart back in 1866. The 10-hour spread on December 22, 1999, is
unmatched at any
time in the last century and a half.

So is it really true, as numerous faxes and e-mails to Sky &
Telescope have
claimed, that the Moon will be brighter this December 22nd than
at any time in
the last 133 years? We have researched the actual perigee
distances of the Moon
throughout the years 1800-2100, and here are some perigees of
"record closeness"
that also occurred at the time of full Moon:

    Date       Distance (km)

1866 Dec. 21      357,289
1893 Dec. 23      356,396
1912 Jan. 4       356,375
1930 Jan. 15      356,397
1999 Dec. 22      356,654
2052 Dec. 6       356,421

It turns out, then, that the Moon comes closer to Earth in the
years 1893, 1912,
1930, and 2052 than it does in either 1866 or 1999. The
difference in brightness
will be exceedingly slight. But if you want to get technical
about it, the full
Moon must have been a little brighter in 1893, 1912, and 1930
than in either
1866 or 1999 (based on the calculated distances).

The 1912 event is undoubtedly the real winner, because it
happened on the very
day the Earth was closest to the Sun that year. However,
according to a
calculation by Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus, the full Moon on
January 4, 1912,
was only 0.24 magnitude (about 25 percent) brighter than an
"average" full Moon.

In any case, these are issues only for the astronomical record
books. This
month's full Moon won't look dramatically brighter than normal.
Most people
won't notice a thing, despite the e-mail chain letter that
implies we'll see
something amazing.

Our data are from the U.S. Naval Observatory's ICE computer
program, Jean
Meeus's Astronomical Algorithms, page 332, and the August 1981
issue of Sky &
Telescope, page 110.

- --
Patrick Wiggins
Hansen Planetarium Education Department
email: [e-mail]
voice: 801.531-4952

- -
 To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 07:02:52 -0700
From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) [Fwd: Shuttle/Hubble Christmas "Star"]

- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: Shuttle/Hubble Christmas "Star"
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 22:05:38 -0700
From: Patrick Wiggins <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
To: b@disc

Hi!

Thought you might like to know that space shuttle Discovery and
the Hubble Space
Telescope may be visible as they fly together through our evening
skies the next
few evenings, including Christmas evening (gee, a new age
Christmas "star").

These wont be especially good passes from here in northern Utah
as the duo will
be very close to the horizon.  However, seeing a shuttle and the
Hubble joined
is a rare enough event that you might want to make the effort to
see them anyway.

Here are the times to look:

Tuesday, the 21st:  7:08 to 7:14
Wednesday the 22nd: 7:18 to 7:24
Thursday the 23rd:  7:28 to 7:34
Christmas Eve:    7:38 to 7:43
Christmas evening:  7:48 to 7:53

Both craft will probably look like a single point of light low in
the southern
sky moving slowly from west to east.  Discovery and Hubble should
appear
faintest when first seen in the west and grow in brightness as
they move east.

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 To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 12:18:09 -0700
From: "Chuck Hards" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) Hello all!

Hi, everyone:

I am new to this list.  Any good threads in progress?

Chuck Hards
West Valley



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 To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 12:53:08 -0700
From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Hello all!

Hi Chuck,
There are not enough good threads on this list yet... but if you
have something in mind, please fell free to get something
started. It's a pretty new list so not too many people are on
yet.  I hope more join!
Cynthia

- --
[e-mail]
ICQ #10306498
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsinore Lucilla Aurelius
Smooth Blue Collie
- ----
Moon Shyne
Catalina 22 - #5315 - GSL Utah
- ----
http://www.xmission.com/~lucyblue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



- -
 To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 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.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 13:44:14 -0700
From: Patrick Wiggins <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) Re: Hello all!

Chuck Hards wrote:
>
> I am new to this list.  Any good threads in progress?

The most recent had to do with SETI@Home.  Are you a participant?

Patrick  :-)
- --
Patrick Wiggins
Hansen Planetarium Education Department
email: [e-mail]
voice: 801-531-4952

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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 14:25:07 -0700
From: "Chuck Hards" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Re: Hello all!

- -----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Wiggins <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Date: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 1:44 PM
Subject: (utah-astronomy) Re: Hello all!


Pat Wiggins wrote:


>Chuck Hards wrote:
>>
>> I am new to this list.  Any good threads in progress?
>
>The most recent had to do with SETI@Home.  Are you a participant?


Hi Patrick; no, I am not involved personally with SETI@Home, although there
are several engineers & other managers here at work who do participate.  Any
possible signals detected yet?
How about those teams and individuals looking for optical signals?

BTW, I stopped by the planetarium today to take care of some last-minute
shopping, and to see if you had the Feb. issue of S & T out.  (I subscribe,
but I hoped that you got it first)  I asked the clerk (a dead ringer for
"Mr. Clean", minus the earing) to say "Hi" to you for me.

Chuck



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 To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 14:31:43 -0700
From: "Chuck Hards" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Hello all!

- -----Original Message-----
From: Alyxandra K. MacLeod <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Date: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Hello all!

Cynthia wrote:



>Hi Chuck,
>There are not enough good threads on this list yet... but if you
>have something in mind, please fell free to get something
>started. It's a pretty new list so not too many people are on
>yet.  I hope more join!


Hi Cynthia:

Well, if I'm fishing for a topic, how about telescope and accessory
building?  I am ALWAYS working on at least three scopes at the same time,
and my current focus (pun intended) is making eyepieces.   See my eyepiece
making web-page:  http://www.crbest.com/astronomy/

Can we post image files to this list?  Is there a searchable archive?


Chuck



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Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:43:18 -0700 (MST)
From: Mark Dakins <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) My web site is up!

I know all of you have been eagerly awaiting this moment. . .
Well, ok, maybe not, but _I_ certainly have been.  My personal
web page is finally up.  It still needs some work; especially for
those with dial up connections (it loads way too slowly and in
the wrong way), but at least it is up.  Take a look, especially
at the astronomy section, and tell me what you think.

The url is:

http://www.enol.com/~mark_dakins/

Notice if you are typing it in there is an underscore ("_") character
between "mark" and "dakins".  Enjoy!
                                                Mark


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Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:58:06 -0700
From: Patrick Wiggins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) My web site is up!

Hi!

Mark Dakins wrote:
>
> ...My personal web page is finally up.
Congrats!

> It still needs some work; especially for
> those with dial up connections
You might consider doing what we've done at http://planet.state.ut.us and have a
text only version.  That way, even those of us way out in the sticks with a slow
connection can still get to the data even if we can't see the images.

Patrick  :-)
- --
Patrick Wiggins
Hansen Planetarium Education Department
email: [e-mail]
voice: 801-531-4952

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Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 16:28:43 -0700 (MST)
From: Mark Dakins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) My web site is up!

Patrick wrote:
>
> Hi!
>
> Mark Dakins wrote:
> >
> > ...My personal web page is finally up.
> Congrats!
>
> > It still needs some work; especially for
> > those with dial up connections
> You might consider doing what we've done at http://planet.state.ut.us and have a
> text only version.  That way, even those of us way out in the sticks with a slow
> connection can still get to the data even if we can't see the images.
>
> Patrick  :-)
> --
Actually the existing site will do that.  Just turn off "Auto load images"
(its under Edit, Preferences, Advanced in Netscape Communicator but, exists
in every graphics capable browser I have seen.)  The home page will load
a lot faster and still be useable, just not as pretty.  What I want to do
(when I get the time) is make it more "slow connection" friendly even
with auto load graphics enabled.  I think I can do this by replacing the
current .gif files with what are called "interlaced gifs" and fooling
around with the resolution some more.  But, not today.
                                   Mark


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Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 00:16:42 -0800
From: karen vanderhule <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Hello all!

Good idea Chuck. I would be interested in establishing a dialouge with ATMers in
the area and finding out all of the resources available in this area. I also am a
member of Mels' list and appreciate the tips you have supplied to that group. I
just finished a 10 inch dob last night and am well into a 6 inch f/5 in which I am
going to attempt the "fixed optics" approach.
I have a good idea of how I will do this but am open to any input.
     While we are in the mode of topic selection why not open it to a couple of
other avenues. 1) How about buying and selling items thru this list. Astromart is
such a hassle and risky also. I would never buy a big ticket item thru them, but I
would drive to Bountiful or Holliday for something and in the process get to know
a local astronomer. 2) How about a product discussion . It would go like this:   I
am interested in a mediumn price ( 200-300 dollar range) set of giant binos. Has
anyone on the list used Orion or Celestrons 80mm? What is your impression? or. I
just bought my first Orion Ultrascopic and I am really amazed at how good of an
eyepiece it is. Sharp. bright and contrasty.
       There you go.  Some things I think would benefit every aspect of the astro
community in this area and promote some fellowship with each other and get some
activity going on this list.
     While I have your attention, is it me or is there a lot more green in M-42
this year?

Ron Vanderhule

Chuck Hards wrote:

> Well, if I'm fishing for a topic, how about telescope and accessory
> building?  I am ALWAYS working on at least three scopes at the same time,
> and my current focus (pun intended) is making eyepieces.   See my eyepiece
> making web-page:  http://www.crbest.com/astronomy/
>
> Can we post image files to this list?  Is there a searchable archive?
>
> Chuck
>
> -
>  To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "[e-mail]"
>  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.




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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 07:23:19 -0700
From: "Alyxandra K. MacLeod" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Hello all!

Question... I have not heard of Mels' list.  Is it local?

Ron wrote: <<I also am a member of Mels' list and appreciate the
tips you have supplied to that group.>>

- --
[e-mail]
ICQ #10306498
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Smooth Blue Collie
- ----
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Catalina 22 - #5315 - GSL Utah
- ----
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



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Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 08:36:11 -0700
From: "Chuck Hards" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) Topics for discussion

Cynthia, "Mel's list" is a worldwide on-line discussion group concerned with
telescope making.  "Mel" is Mel Bartels, telescope maker extraordinaire, who
is the current list owner and moderator.  The topics lean heavily towards
glass pushing and software.  I have actually had to unsubscribe, due to the
sheer volume of messages every day.  Typically over 40kb, I just don't have
the time to read all the posts.  I was hoping that this local list would be
bit less voluminous; so far, so good!

Ron, thanks for your kind words about my contributions to that list.

As far as topics for this group, I don't purchase many commercial items; I'm
an old-school ATM at heart, so I don't have much to say on product
reviews....Most of my commercially-made eyepieces and accessories are no
longer in production!

How about a list of observing sites close to the Wasatch?  Many of my
decades-old sites within an hour or two drive are no longer accessible, or
have been developed and light polluted.  Anybody willing to share their
"secret sites"?
As a result of the above, I have been concentrating on lunar and planetary
observing these past few years; but since 1990, I've probably spent at least
50 hours in the shop, making stuff, for every hour at the eyepiece.  That's
my real area of interest; design and fabrication.

And I recently re-discovered this little gem among the artifacts in my
basement:  I have 8mm movie footage of Patrick setting up his first
Celestron out near Grantsville, circa 1976 or so!  BTW, he looks about the
same...the "Dick Clark" syndrome. (how do you do it, Pat?)

Chuck



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Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 11:14:15 -0700
From: "Chuck Hards" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (utah-astronomy) Web page follies

Hi all:

My old web-page has magically appeared where the NEW page should be.  Trying
to get it sorted out now, but it could take a few days to fix.  The old page
has a photo of my daughter at the top, the new page has a black, starry
background.
Sorry about this, I'll post when the new page is back up.

Chuck



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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 12:20:31 -0700 (MST)
From: Mark Dakins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) Hello all!

Ron Vanderhule wrote:
>
> Good idea Chuck. I would be interested in establishing a dialouge
> with ATMers in
> the area and finding out all of the resources available in this area.
> I also am a
> member of Mels' list and appreciate the tips you have supplied to that
> group.

Like Chuck I dorpped out of Mel's list (after a very short time)
due to the traffic.

> I just finished a 10 inch dob last night and am well into a 6 inch f/5
> in which I am
> going to attempt the "fixed optics" approach.
> I have a good idea of how I will do this but am open to any input.

OK, now I am going to show my ignorance.  What do you mean by the
"fixed optics" approach?

>      While we are in the mode of topic selection why not open it to a
> couple of
> other avenues. 1) How about buying and selling items thru this list.
> Astromart is
> such a hassle and risky also. I would never buy a big ticket item thru
> them, but I
> would drive to Bountiful or Holliday for something and in the process get
> to know
> a local astronomer.

Hmm, have you had a problem an Astromart?  I have bought quite a bit of
stuff including several that I think could be considered "big ticket",
and never had any problem.  I have bought eyepieces, a pair of 12x80
Celestron binos with parallelogram mount, and a big OTA among other,
lessor, things.  I won't send a credit card number via email but
have no problem buying things that are advertised on the net.

> 2) How about a product discussion . It would go like
> this:   I
> am interested in a mediumn price ( 200-300 dollar range) set of giant
> binos. Has
> anyone on the list used Orion or Celestrons 80mm? What is your impression?
> or.

I have owned Celestron 11x80s without the big center bar and now own
a pair of Celestron 12x80s with the center bar.  Both were good, the
12x80s are much better.  I am not sure that Celestron sells anything
less than the 20xs in 80mm anymore but, as nearly as I can tell most
of the giant binos appear to one of just a few deisgns and probably
all come from one of equally few (or maybe one) factories somewhere
in the far east.  BTW, in case you have never used them, some people
have trouble hand holding giant binos.  I can hand hold the 11s and
12s ( and even the 15s and 16s for a little while) but not 20s.
A lot of people couldn't use my old 11x80s because they couldn't
hold something that size abd weight at that angle still enough.
As I said, I can hand hold my new 12x80s but rarely do since I got
a parallelogram mount with them and it is a joy to use.

> I just bought my first Orion Ultrascopic and I am really amazed at how good
> of an
> eyepiece it is. Sharp. bright and contrasty.
>        There you go.  Some things I think would benefit every aspect of
> the astro
> community in this area and promote some fellowship with each other and get
> some
> activity going on this list.
>      While I have your attention, is it me or is there a lot more green in
> M-42
> this year?

An interesting topic.  I have never seen green in M-42.  What everyone
describes and a "lime green" center to me is just gray.  However, on really
good nights, with a really good deepsky telescope with clean optics and
M42 high in the sky, I do see a lot of red and purple in the outer parts
of the nebula.  When this happens other people often report
seeing only gray in the outer nebula.  Am I the only one who sees the reds
and purples?  Am I the only one who can't see the green?
                            Mark Dakins
>
> Ron Vanderhule
>
> Chuck Hards wrote:
>
> > Well, if I'm fishing for a topic, how about telescope and accessory
> > building?  I am ALWAYS working on at least three scopes at the same time,
> > and my current focus (pun intended) is making eyepieces.   See my eyepiece
> > making web-page:  http://www.crbest.com/astronomy/
> >
> > Can we post image files to this list?  Is there a searchable archive?
> >
> > Chuck


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