From: owner-utah-astronomy-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-astronomy-digest) To: utah-astronomy-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-astronomy-digest V1 #49 Reply-To: utah-astronomy-digest Sender: owner-utah-astronomy-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-utah-astronomy-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk utah-astronomy-digest Tuesday, August 21 2001 Volume 01 : Number 049 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 10:05:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Chuck Hards Subject: (utah-astronomy) An Olympic proposal What do you think of an observational "marathon", to coincide with the winter olympics? My idea is a multi-club event, where teams compete by observing as many objects as possible during the games. Forget Messier, I propose the entire NGC and IC, as many as possible. Maybe even asteroids too, for those who don't get excited over the faint fuzzies. Might need a rule like confirmation by a second observer. Honor system, please. We could even the odds by establishing aperture categories, or assigning handicaps to the larger scopes. Challenges include the weather (February and March can be brutal around here). I'll look around and see what I have that would constitute a suitable prize; maybe a book signed by the author from my collection, or a piece of hardware of some kind. Maybe first, second, and third places, to parallel gold, silver, and bronze in the athletic games. We could elect judges from the members of this list, which includes people from all the local clubs, to avoid any charges of favoritism. Because the event would run for a couple of weeks, and teams would work independantly, there is no burden on any club or committee members to be present at any given time, except for the awards ceremony. I'd be willing to write it up for S & T; a chance for greater glory for the winning team if my editor decided to print it. Please, I'd like to know all your thoughts about this, and any related suggestions. Thanks! Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 12:29:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Richard Tenney Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) An Olympic proposal Chuck, Sounds interesting, but what do you do about guys like me (and Deloy Pierce, etc.) who belong to more than one club? Rich - --- Chuck Hards wrote: > What do you think of an observational "marathon", to > coincide with the winter olympics? My idea is a > multi-club event, where teams compete by observing > as > many objects as possible during the games. Forget > Messier, I propose the entire NGC and IC, as many as > possible. Maybe even asteroids too, for those who > don't get excited over the faint fuzzies. Might > need > a rule like confirmation by a second observer. > Honor > system, please. We could even the odds by > establishing aperture categories, or assigning > handicaps to the larger scopes. Challenges include > the weather (February and March can be brutal around > here). I'll look around and see what I have that > would constitute a suitable prize; maybe a book > signed > by the author from my collection, or a piece of > hardware of some kind. Maybe first, second, and > third > places, to parallel gold, silver, and bronze in the > athletic games. We could elect judges from the > members of this list, which includes people from all > the local clubs, to avoid any charges of favoritism. > > Because the event would run for a couple of weeks, > and > teams would work independantly, there is no burden > on > any club or committee members to be present at any > given time, except for the awards ceremony. > > I'd be willing to write it up for S & T; a chance > for > greater glory for the winning team if my editor > decided to print it. > > Please, I'd like to know all your thoughts about > this, > and any related suggestions. > > Thanks! > > Chuck > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute > with Yahoo! Messenger > http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ > > - > Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: > http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy > To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email > to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of > the message. > > > ________________ > Email Forwarding Service Brought To You By: > http://www.bn3.com. > We can let you become anybody@anyplace.com. FREE, In > 5 minutes! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2001 18:07:12 EDT From: DunnDave@aol.com Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) An Olympic proposal It sounds like fun to me. - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 07:27:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Chuck Hards Subject: Re: (utah-astronomy) An Olympic proposal I see everyone entering as individuals, though perhaps club totals could be tallied. C. - --- Richard Tenney wrote: > Chuck, > > Sounds interesting, but what do you do about guys > like > me (and Deloy Pierce, etc.) who belong to more than > one club? > > Rich > > --- Chuck Hards wrote: > > What do you think of an observational "marathon", > to > > coincide with the winter olympics? My idea is a > > multi-club event, where teams compete by observing > > as > > many objects as possible during the games. Forget > > Messier, I propose the entire NGC and IC, as many > as > > possible. Maybe even asteroids too, for those who > > don't get excited over the faint fuzzies. Might > > need > > a rule like confirmation by a second observer. > > Honor > > system, please. We could even the odds by > > establishing aperture categories, or assigning > > handicaps to the larger scopes. Challenges > include > > the weather (February and March can be brutal > around > > here). I'll look around and see what I have that > > would constitute a suitable prize; maybe a book > > signed > > by the author from my collection, or a piece of > > hardware of some kind. Maybe first, second, and > > third > > places, to parallel gold, silver, and bronze in > the > > athletic games. We could elect judges from the > > members of this list, which includes people from > all > > the local clubs, to avoid any charges of > favoritism. > > > > Because the event would run for a couple of weeks, > > and > > teams would work independantly, there is no burden > > on > > any club or committee members to be present at any > > given time, except for the awards ceremony. > > > > I'd be willing to write it up for S & T; a chance > > for > > greater glory for the winning team if my editor > > decided to print it. > > > > Please, I'd like to know all your thoughts about > > this, > > and any related suggestions. > > > > Thanks! > > > > Chuck > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute > > with Yahoo! Messenger > > http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ > > > > - > > Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: > > http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy > > To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email > > to "majordomo@xmission.com" > > with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of > > the message. > > > > > > ________________ > > Email Forwarding Service Brought To You By: > > http://www.bn3.com. > > We can let you become anybody@anyplace.com. FREE, > In > > 5 minutes! > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute > with Yahoo! Messenger > http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ > > - > Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: > http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy > To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email > to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of > the message. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2001 15:16:56 -0600 From: Cynthia Blue Subject: (utah-astronomy) Help Wanted Members of the list... I'll be going out of town a couple of times this summer, for a week in September and various other little trips. I was wondering if there would be any volunteers to help me out with list maintenance while I'm gone. Just in case there are any problems with multi spam messages and such which might bog down the list. Send me an email directly if you're interested. I'll be out of town Friday and Saturday tho so I wont be able to reply before then. Thanks! Cynthia - -- http://www.xmission.com/~lucyblue http://www.ilsikhaucil.com http://www.utahdogs.com ICQ#10306498 - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 09:49:50 EDT From: DunnDave@aol.com Subject: (utah-astronomy) Fwd: [astro-officers] Good lunar occultations next mornings; Calif. grazes - ------_Part_3b77dafe-0260-4009-010203040506 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This email talks of a graze in Provo. - ------_Part_3b77dafe-0260-4009-010203040506 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from rly-zc05.mx.aol.com (rly-zc05.mail.aol.com [172.31.33.5]) by air-zc04.mail.aol.com (v79.27) with ESMTP id MAILINZC44-0813021145; Mon, 13 Aug 2001 02:11:44 -0400 Received: from n23.groups.yahoo.com (n23.groups.yahoo.com [216.115.96.73]) by rly-zc05.mx.aol.com (v79.20) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINZC52-0813021054; Mon, 13 Aug 2001 02:10:54 -0400 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1472078-2449-997683048-DunnDave=aol.com@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.54] by ck.egroups.com with NNFMP; 13 Aug 2001 06:10:48 -0000 X-Sender: EFLASPO@aol.com X-Apparently-To: astro-officers@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_1); 13 Aug 2001 06:10:47 -0000 Received: (qmail 88714 invoked from network); 13 Aug 2001 06:10:46 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.142) by l8.egroups.com with QMQP; 13 Aug 2001 06:10:46 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO imo-d07.mx.aol.com) (205.188.157.39) by mta3 with SMTP; 13 Aug 2001 06:10:43 -0000 Received: from EFLASPO@aol.com by imo-d07.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31.9.) id r.a1.19a7d2d3 (4585); Mon, 13 Aug 2001 02:10:38 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: To: quad-a@yahoogroups.com, taslist@yahoogroups.com, swral@yahoogroups.com, neral@yahoogroups.com, nationalpublicobservatory@yahoogroups.com, astro-officers@yahoogroups.com, acatw@yahoogroups.com X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10530 From: eflaspo@aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list astro-officers@yahoogroups.com; contact astro-officers-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list astro-officers@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 02:10:37 EDT Reply-To: astro-officers@yahoogroups.com Subject: [astro-officers] Good lunar occultations next mornings; Calif. grazes Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subj: Good lunar occultations next mornings; Calif. grazes Date: 8/13/01 12:15:09 AM Central Daylight Time From: dunham@erols.com (Joan and David Dunham) To: occultation@skypub.com Wherever you are, the thin waning crescent Moon will be passing through the northern Milky Way in Taurus and Gemini the next few mornings, providing good opportunities to time and record many lunar occultation reappearances. Check your lunar occultation predictions and grazing occultation predictions for events that you might observe from home, or good grazes that might not be too far from home. Two good grazes of red giant stars in central California, Nevada, Utah, and s.e. Idaho are described briefly below and are shown on Riedel's and my map on p. 118 of the Jan. issue of Sky and Telescope (also at http://www.skypub.com ). In addition, a daylight occultation of Jupiter occurs across most of North America, with a northern-limit partial occultation path passing just n. of Winnipeg (an expedition is planned) and the Great Lakes region, where lower altitude in the daytime sky will make the event harder to see. 1. Grazes in the West the morning of August 15. A good dark-limb graze of 6.5-mag. BU Geminorum = ZC 942 = 6 Geminorum will occur at about 11:32 U.T. (4:32 am PDT) from the southern suburbs of San Jose, over Mt. Hamilton, and near or over Stockton, Calif.; the path then passes a short distance s. of Carson City, Nev., and over southeastern Idaho at 11:43 UT. The Moon will be only 19% sunlit and the graze will occur 13 deg. from the north cusp, making it easy to observe with most any small telescope. The ACLPPP profile should be rather accurate since the latitude libration is small; there will not be the problems that we had with the 85 Ceti graze last month. Since it's a northern-limit graze, observers south of the path, especially in southern California, will have a good total occultation reappearance of the star. An hour later, a bright-limb graze of 3.5-mag. eta Gem. = ZC 946 will occur farther south, passing 13 miles south of Atascadero and 8 miles north of Tulare, Calif. at about 12:20 UT = 5:20 am PDT, and near Provo, Utah at about 12:37 UT (these are central graze times; the graze itself could last a few minutes). The star is bright and red enough that the bright-limb graze should not be too difficult. Since it's a southern limit, observers in northern California and the Pacific Northwest (not too far from the coast) will have a spectacular dark side total occultation reappearance. If you plan an expedition for one of these good events, please let either me or the IOTA egroup list know so that others might be able to join you to give better coverage of the lunar profile. 2. Lunar occultation of Jupiter the afternoon of Aug. 15. Predictions for this daylight occultation for hundreds of North American cities are on the IOTA Web site at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota. A partial occultation will be visible near the northern limit that passes a little n. of Winnipeg at 20:50 UT, then passes over upper Michigan, northern lower Michigan, and just s.w. of Hamilton, Ont. The path also crosses westernmost N.Y., northeastern Pennsylvania, and northern New Jersey, but low altitude will make observation quite difficult there. 3. Check Steve Preston's Web site for occultations by asteroids (with links to it from the main IOTA site above); more about them will be distributed later. David Dunham, IOTA, 2001 Aug. 13 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To Post a message, send it to: astro-officers@eGroups.com To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: astro-officers-unsubscribe@eGroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ - ------_Part_3b77dafe-0260-4009-010203040506-- - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 15:53:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Richard Tenney Subject: (utah-astronomy) Fwd: Utah trip - --0-867882458-998261583=:93572 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Any of you telescope owners out there able to help this gentleman out on any of those dates? Rich Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ - --0-867882458-998261583=:93572 Content-Type: message/rfc822 X-Apparently-To: retenney@yahoo.com via web12901.mail.yahoo.com; 19 Aug 2001 07:42:59 -0700 (PDT) X-Track: 1: 40 Received: from 209.10.227.228 (HELO s2.bn3.com) (209.10.227.228) by mta512.mail.yahoo.com with SMTP; 19 Aug 2001 07:42:59 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 19360 invoked by uid 508); 19 Aug 2001 14:42:57 -0000 Delivered-To: m13840-rtenney@uvaa.org Received: (qmail 19343 invoked from network); 19 Aug 2001 14:42:57 -0000 Received: from smtp2.libero.it (193.70.192.52) by 209.10.227.228 with SMTP; 19 Aug 2001 14:42:57 -0000 Received: from fafalchi (151.24.8.215) by smtp2.libero.it (5.5.031) id 3B3A1872009AAD96 for rtenney@uvaa.org; Sun, 19 Aug 2001 16:42:26 +0200 Message-ID: <000201c128bd$7489c340$d7081897@fafalchi> From: "Fabio Falchi" To: Subject: Utah trip Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 10:27:29 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Content-Length: 838 Hi, I'm an Italian amateur astronomer. I'm planning to see Utah national parks (Zion, Brice, Canyonlands, Arches and so on) from September 5 to sept 11. Do you think there is some amateur astronomer with a big dob around the parks to show me some deep sky objects from a dark sky? Thank you in advance, Fabio Falchi - ------------------------------------------------------------------ FABIO FALCHI Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell'Inquinamento Luminoso - ISTIL Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute e-mail: falchi@lightpollution.it web: http://www.lightpollution.it/dmsp/ http://www.istil.it - ------------------------------------------------------------------ ________________ Email Forwarding Service Brought To You By: http://www.bn3.com. We can let you become anybody@anyplace.com. FREE, In 5 minutes! - --0-867882458-998261583=:93572-- - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 12:37:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Chuck Hards Subject: (utah-astronomy) Big tube The main tube for the 37" SPOC-2 telescope is now in my shop for completion. I like to think that even John Dobson's heart would skip a beat to see a sonotube this big! 43" OD, and 12 feet long! Internal bracing (already fabricated)will be added to lend stiffness to spider and cell attachment areas. The entire tube interior will be fiberglassed, the exterior will be at least gelcoated and perhaps painted if needed. I may be calling for volunteers soon, most work will be done on weekends. Volunteers must be physically fit, have no respiratory or repetitive-motion injuries. Dust masks will be provided if and when needed. Sorry, but limitations on the project by my superiors do not allow for "interested non-participants". You'll have to wait and see the fotos on the website as they become available if you fall into this category. With the building going up soon, and the roof not far behind, we may be able to move this beast directly from my shop when done, to the observatory building itself, with no intermediate storage issues. Bruce can best answer schedule and milestone questions. Ad Astra! Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:11:34 -0700 (PDT) From: Richard Tenney Subject: (utah-astronomy) Fwd: [obsessionusers] The Ultimate Observing Report! - --0-599875434-998352694=:26709 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Thought this was kinda fun to read (think we can all imagine what the thrill would be like)... Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ - --0-599875434-998352694=:26709 Content-Type: message/rfc822 X-Apparently-To: retenney@yahoo.com via web12905.mail.yahoo.com; 20 Aug 2001 15:22:29 -0700 (PDT) X-Track: 1: 40 Received: from imo-m09.mx.aol.com (64.12.136.164) by mta437.mail.yahoo.com with SMTP; 20 Aug 2001 15:22:28 -0700 (PDT) Received: from UTAHDEB@aol.com by imo-m09.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.4.) id r.131.50f06f (16487) for ; Mon, 20 Aug 2001 18:22:13 -0400 (EDT) From: UTAHDEB@aol.com Message-ID: <131.50f06f.28b2e795@aol.com> Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 18:22:13 EDT Subject: Fwd: [obsessionusers] The Ultimate Observing Report! To: retenney@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10532 Content-Length: 15575 - --part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_boundary Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_alt_boundary" - --part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_alt_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rich, Here's the report from Vance. - --part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_alt_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rich,
Here's the report from Vance. - --part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_alt_boundary-- - --part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from rly-ye03.mx.aol.com (rly-ye03.mail.aol.com [172.18.151.200]) by air-ye04.mail.aol.com (v80.17) with ESMTP id MAILINYE49-0820180436; Mon, 20 Aug 2001 18:04:36 -0400 Received: from n14.groups.yahoo.com (n14.groups.yahoo.com [216.115.96.64]) by rly-ye03.mx.aol.com (v80.17) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINYE33-0820180357; Mon, 20 Aug 2001 18:03:57 -0400 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1937295-4274-998344965-utahdeb=aol.com@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.56] by jk.egroups.com with NNFMP; 20 Aug 2001 22:02:45 -0000 X-Sender: vance.petriew@saskeds.com X-Apparently-To: obsessionusers@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_1); 20 Aug 2001 22:02:44 -0000 Received: (qmail 34532 invoked from network); 20 Aug 2001 22:01:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by l10.egroups.com with QMQP; 20 Aug 2001 22:01:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n13.groups.yahoo.com) (10.1.10.91) by mta1 with SMTP; 20 Aug 2001 22:01:24 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: vance.petriew@saskeds.com Received: from [10.1.2.56] by jj.egroups.com with NNFMP; 20 Aug 2001 22:01:24 -0000 To: obsessionusers@yahoogroups.com Message-ID: <9ls1bi+o5d4@eGroups.com> User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 X-Mailer: eGroups Message Poster X-Originating-IP: 142.165.18.226 From: vance.petriew@saskeds.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list obsessionusers@yahoogroups.com; contact obsessionusers-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list obsessionusers@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 22:01:20 -0000 Reply-To: obsessionusers@yahoogroups.com Subject: [obsessionusers] The Ultimate Observing Report! Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Obsessed, I'm afraid my mind isn't on work today since this past weekend I did something that most amateur astronomer's only dream of. I discovered a new comet C/2001 Q2 at 4:00 AM Saturday morning while most people were sleeping. The comet will be named after me when the orbit is determined. In the astronomy community, it is like winning the lottery! Only one person in the whole world discovered a comet last year the same way I did. It's pretty cool to have a space rock named after me and I'm very excited! For more information on "Comet Petriew" (Pe-troo' (short 'e' as in 'pebble')) you can visit the following web sites: http://www.skypub.com/news/news.shtml#CometPetriew (I think the web site is still down but I did see the article this morning) Also, here is the comet hunter site which shows how rare these discoveries are with all the automated telescopes around: http://www.comethunter.de/ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Headlines.html I stumbled across the comet by accident and almost passed by it since I was looking for M1 (and started at the wrong star). When I found it, I went looking at my star charts to see if I could tell which galaxy I was possibly looking at. Luckily, Richard Huziak of the RASC - Saskatoon Centre, happened to walk over for the first time that night. I told him I was trying to find out what it was and he said that it's no galaxy. He knew there were none in that area of the sky and said it was a comet. That led us on a search for all the comet's we could find ephemeredes for and none matched. We suspected it could be Wild 4 but that was 4 degrees away. He also knew about the section in the RASC Observer's Handbook telling how to report a find so around 6:00 AM CST, we put the call into Dan Green. Without Richard's help, this may have been a LINEAR discovery. I'm actually amazed that no one has seen it yet, especially LINEAR and NEAT! I was also concerned that someone else could co-discover it since there are so many star parties going on this weekend in the northern hemisphere. But nevertheless, I'm ecstatic! Yahoo! Here's the telegram: Circular No. 7686 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html ISSN 0081-0304 Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only) COMET 2001 Q2 Vance Avery Petriew, Regina, SK, reports his visual discovery of a comet during a star party at Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan, as shown below. The object's presence was also confirmed visually by R. Huziak (0.25-m reflector) and P. Campbell (0.32-m reflector) at Cypress Hills. The observations by A. Hale were made following a request by the Central Bureau. 2001 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. m1 Observer Aug. 18.42 5 31.9 +28 08 11.0 Petriew 19.45502 5 37 59.10 +27 47 07.8 13.2 Hale 19.46173 5 38 01.45 +27 46 58.4 13.0 " 19.47459 5 38 05.77 +27 46 45.4 13.4 " 19.48078 5 38 07.88 +27 46 36.9 13.4 " V. A. Petriew (Cypress Hills, SK). Round coma of diameter 3' with condensed nucleus and no tail. 0.51-m f/5 reflector at 80x. Motion about 2' to the southeast over an hour. Magnitude approximate. A. Hale (Cloudcroft, NM). 0.20-m Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector + CCD. Visual observations with a 0.41-m reflector on Aug. 19.47 showed a coma diameter of 2'.5 and m_1 = 11.0. If anyone has a CCD camera on their Obsession, please send me a photo of this comet. Thanks! Here's a rough, linear ephemeris from Alin Tolea: - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > UT RA > day hour h m s deg ' > 18 0.0000000 5 29 33.014 28 15.69 > 18 1.0000000 5 29 47.432 28 14.88 > 18 2.0000001 5 30 18503 28 14.07 > 18 3.0000001 5 30 16.268 28 13.26 > 18 4.0000001 5 30 30.686 28 12.45 > 18 5.0000001 5 30 45.104 28 11.64 > 18 6.0000002 5 30 59.522 28 10.83 > 18 7.0000002 5 31 13.940 28 10.01 > 18 8.0000002 5 31 28.358 28 9.208 > 18 9.0000003 5 31 42.776 28 8.398 > 18 10.000000 5 31 57.194 28 7.587 > 18 11.000000 5 32 11.612 28 6.777 > 18 12.000000 5 32 26.030 28 5.966 > 18 13.000000 5 32 40.448 28 5.156 > 18 14.000000 5 32 54.866 28 4.345 > 18 15.000000 5 33 92845 28 3.535 > 18 16.000000 5 33 23.702 28 2.724 > 18 17.000001 5 33 38.120 28 1.914 > 18 18.000001 5 33 52.538 28 1.103 > 18 19.000001 5 34 69565 28 0.292 > 18 20.000001 5 34 21.374 27 59.48 > 18 21.000001 5 34 35.792 27 58.67 > 18 22.000001 5 34 50.210 27 57.86 > 18 23.000001 5 35 46286 27 57.05 > 19 0.0000001 5 35 19.046 27 56.24 > 19 1.0000007 5 35 33.464 27 55.42 > 19 2.0000008 5 35 47.882 27 54.61 > 19 3.0000008 5 36 23006 27 53.80 > 19 4.0000008 5 36 16.718 27 52.99 > 19 5.0000009 5 36 31.136 27 52.18 > 19 6.0000009 5 36 45.554 27 51.37 > 19 7.0000009 5 36 59.972 27 50.56 > 19 8.0000010 5 37 14.390 27 49.75 > 19 9.0000010 5 37 28.808 27 48.94 > 19 10.000001 5 37 43.226 27 48.13 > 19 11.000001 5 37 57.644 27 47.32 > 19 12.000001 5 38 12.062 27 46.51 > 19 13.000001 5 38 26.480 27 45.70 > 19 14.000001 5 38 40.898 27 44.89 > 19 15.000001 5 38 55.316 27 44.08 > 19 16.000001 5 39 97348 27 43.27 > 19 17.000001 5 39 24.152 27 42.46 > 19 18.000001 5 39 38.570 27 41.65 > 19 19.000001 5 39 52.988 27 40.83 > 19 20.000001 5 40 74068 27 40.02 > 19 21.000001 5 40 21.824 27 39.21 > 19 22.000001 5 40 36.242 27 38.40 > 19 23.000001 5 40 50.660 27 37.59 > 20 0.000001 5 41 50789 27 36.78 > 20 1.0000015 5 41 19.496 27 35.97 > 20 2.0000015 5 41 33.914 27 35.16 > 20 3.0000015 5 41 48.332 27 34.35 > 20 4.0000015 5 42 27509 27 33.54 > 20 5.0000016 5 42 17.168 27 32.73 > 20 6.0000016 5 42 31.586 27 31.92 > 20 7.0000016 5 42 46.004 27 31.11 > 20 8.0000017 5 43 02299 27 30.30 > 20 9.0000017 5 43 14.841 27 29.49 > 20 10.000002 5 43 29.259 27 28.68 > 20 11.000002 5 43 43.677 27 27.87 > 20 12.000002 5 43 58.095 27 27.06 > 20 13.000002 5 44 12.513 27 26.25 > 20 14.000002 5 44 26.931 27 25.43 > 20 15.000002 5 44 41.349 27 24.62 > 20 16.000002 5 44 55.767 27 23.81 > 20 17.000002 5 45 10.185 27 23.00 > 20 18.000002 5 45 24.603 27 22.19 > 20 19.000002 5 45 39.021 27 21.38 > 20 20.000002 5 45 53.439 27 20.57 > 20 21.000002 5 46 78571 27 19.76 > 20 22.000002 5 46 22.275 27 18.95 > 20 23.000002 5 46 36.693 27 18.14 > 21 0.000001 5 46 51.111 27 17.33 > 21 1.0000022 5 47 55291 27 16.52 > 21 2.0000022 5 47 19.947 27 15.71 > 21 3.0000022 5 47 34.365 27 14.90 > 21 4.0000023 5 47 48.783 27 14.09 > 21 5.0000023 5 48 32012 27 13.28 > 21 6.0000023 5 48 17.619 27 12.47 > 21 7.0000024 5 48 32.037 27 11.66 > 21 8.0000024 5 48 46.455 27 10.84 > 21 9.0000024 5 49 07327 27 10.03 > 21 10.000002 5 49 15.291 27 9.228 > 21 11.000002 5 49 29.709 27 8.418 > 21 12.000003 5 49 44.127 27 7.607 > 21 13.000003 5 49 58.545 27 6.797 > 21 14.000003 5 50 12.963 27 5.986 > 21 15.000003 5 50 27.381 27 5.175 > 21 16.000003 5 50 41.799 27 4.365 > 21 17.000003 5 50 56.217 27 3.554 > 21 18.000003 5 51 10.635 27 2.744 > 21 19.000003 5 51 25.053 27 1.933 > 21 20.000003 5 51 39.471 27 1.123 > 21 21.000003 5 51 53.889 27 0.312 > 21 22.000003 5 52 83074 26 59.50 > 21 23.000003 5 52 22.725 26 58.69 > 22 0.000001 5 52 37.143 26 57.88 > 22 1.0000029 5 52 51.561 26 57.07 > 22 2.0000029 5 53 59794 26 56.26 > 22 3.0000030 5 53 20.397 26 55.44 > 22 4.0000030 5 53 34.815 26 54.63 > 22 5.0000030 5 53 49.233 26 53.82 > 22 6.0000030 5 54 36515 26 53.01 > 22 7.0000031 5 54 18.069 26 52.20 > 22 8.0000031 5 54 32.487 26 51.39 > 22 9.0000031 5 54 46.905 26 50.58 > 22 10.000003 5 55 13235 26 49.77 > 22 11.000003 5 55 15.741 26 48.96 > 22 12.000003 5 55 30.159 26 48.15 > 22 13.000003 5 55 44.577 26 47.34 > 22 14.000003 5 55 58.995 26 46.53 > 22 15.000003 5 56 13.413 26 45.72 > 22 16.000003 5 56 27.831 26 44.91 > 22 17.000003 5 56 42.249 26 44.10 > 22 18.000003 5 56 56.667 26 43.29 > 22 19.000003 5 57 11.085 26 42.48 > 22 20.000003 5 57 25.503 26 41.67 > 22 21.000003 5 57 39.921 26 40.85 > 22 22.000004 5 57 54.339 26 40.04 > 22 23.000004 5 58 87576 26 39.23 > 23 0.000001 5 58 23.175 26 38.42 > 23 1.0000036 5 58 37.593 26 37.61 > 23 2.0000036 5 58 52.011 26 36.80 > 23 3.0000037 5 59 64297 26 35.99 > 23 4.0000037 5 59 20.847 26 35.18 > 23 5.0000037 5 59 35.265 26 34.37 > 23 6.0000038 5 59 49.683 26 33.56 > 23 7.0000038 6 0 41017 26 32.75 > 23 8.0000038 6 0 18.519 26 31.94 > 23 9.0000038 6 0 32.937 26 31.13 > 23 10.000004 6 0 47.355 26 30.32 > 23 11.000004 6 1 17738 26 29.51 > 23 12.000004 6 1 16.191 26 28.70 > 23 13.000004 6 1 30.609 26 27.89 > 23 14.000004 6 1 45.027 26 27.08 > 23 15.000004 6 1 59.445 26 26.26 > 23 16.000004 6 2 13.863 26 25.45 > 23 17.000004 6 2 28.281 26 24.64 > 23 18.000004 6 2 42.699 26 23.83 > 23 19.000004 6 2 57.117 26 23.02 > 23 20.000004 6 3 11.535 26 22.21 > 23 21.000004 6 3 25.953 26 21.40 > 23 22.000004 6 3 40.371 26 20.59 > 23 23.000004 6 3 54.789 26 19.78 Happy hunting! You can check out Dave's site later for some pictures of me and my telescope. Vance Petriew RASC - Regina Centre Regina, Saskatchewan, CANADA Obsession #703 20" F5 C/2001 Q2 http://www.ras.sk.ca To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: obsessionusers-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ - --part1_131.50f06f.28b2e795_boundary-- - --0-599875434-998352694=:26709-- - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 08:40:49 -0700 From: David Dunn Subject: (utah-astronomy) Powder Mountain Star Party This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C12A57.A7186640 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" This should be a fun star party. Everyone is welcome to attend. - -----Original Message----- From: John SOHL [mailto:JSOHL@weber.edu] Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 7:53 AM Subject: Powder Mountain Star Party News from the Ott Planetarium at Weber State University Department of Physics, 2508 University Circle, Ogden, UT 84408-2508 Visit us on the World Wide Web at: physics.weber.edu For Immediate Release August 21, 2001 WHAT: Powder Mountain Star Party and Slide Show WHERE: Powder Mountain Ski Area, Hidden Lake Lodge parking lot. WHEN: Saturday, August 25th at 8:45 p.m. WHO: The Ogden Astronomical Society and the Ott Planetarium at Weber State University. COST: Free Information: Call 626-6855 or visit us on the Internet at physics.weber.edu View the Stars from 9,000 Feet! EDEN, POWDER MOUNTAIN SKI AREA - Enjoy a night viewing great clusters of stars, a gas cloud left over from the explosive death of a star like our Sun, Mars, Mercury, the Moon, and Earth-orbiting satellites. All through our telescopes located at 9,000 feet. Join us as we thank Ogden Valley for passing a dark sky lighting ordinance, and get a view of what they are helping to preserve. Powder Mountain Ski Resort has graciously agreed to support this star party by supplying the site and facilities. Last year, the citizens of Ogden Valley passed a lighting ordinance to help preserve their view of the starry night sky. To celebrate their foresight, the Ott Planetarium and Ogden Astronomical Society are hosting a special star party for all Utahans and their visitors to enjoy at the top of Powder Mountain Ski Resort. The star party will start at approximately 8:45 p.m. with a slide show by Dr. John Sohl entitled "A Tour of the Universe." Sohl is the director of Weber State University's Ott Planetarium and is an professor of Physics. The Ott Planetarium will provide free star maps. Prior to sunset, at least one telescope will be specially equipped to safely observe our Sun; arrive early if you wish to observe the Sun. Both during and after the short slide show, as the sky gets darker, numerous telescopes will be put into action. The telescopes will be setup at the parking lot next to the Hidden Lake Lodge past the Powder Ridge Condominiums. We will keep the telescopes setup as long as there are people interested in using them. The Star Party will be canceled in the event of overcast sky. Call the planetarium phone and listen to the message at (801) 626-6855 if in doubt. Summer is one of the best times of the year to watch the sky, besides being warm, the variety of objects that can be seen is very diverse. On this night we should be able to see the planet Mercury for a short time right after sunset. Mars and the Moon will shine brightly in the southern sky. Overhead are two examples of the remains of dead stars - a view of our Sun's future. Also, many globular clusters of hundreds of thousands of stars will be well placed for viewing. There will also be a faint comet and numerous artificial satellites in view. Just after sunset the planet Mercury will look like a star to your eyes, in a telescope it will have a slightly out of round shape much like our moon a few days before full moon. This is not the best of the year to view Mercury, but you don't ever get too many good views of this planet that is closest to the Sun. On this particular night the first quarter Moon will dominate the southern sky. Through a telescope, the craters are so sharp that you will almost wonder if you can step into them. Also orbiting Earth, albeit much closer than the Moon, is a myriad of human made satellites. We will be able to see upwards of 28 satellites and old rocket parts (such as the Lacrosse 4 upper stage rocket shell) pass overhead during the course of the evening. Most of the satellites will take several minutes as they move past our view, however the Iridium 74 satellite will be the brightest and most interesting and will only be visible for a few seconds. Also part of our solar system is Comet Linear (known technically as C/2001 A2) which is faint but well placed at an altitude of about 50 degrees above the horizon between the constellations of Cygnus and Aquila. From a dark location on a summer evening, the Milky Way Galaxy stretches high across the sky from North to South. The Milky Way is a vast, pinwheel shaped star city of which our Sun is a member. In a pair of large binoculars you can scan the Milky Way and see myriads of stars forming a small fraction of the 100 billion stars of our galaxy. The constellation of Sagittarius will be high in the south, the stars forming that constellation are in the direction of the center of our home Galaxy. This is an especially interesting part of the sky containing the hot glowing gases of stellar nurseries. Two of the most breathtaking gas clouds that are busy creating new stars are M8, the Lagoon Nebula, and M20, the Trifid Nebula. Nearby there are also loose clusters of young stars that will soon be scattered among the rest of the stars of our galaxy. Many examples of these will be visible through the telescopes set up on Antelope Island. (The "M" numbers are the way these objects are listed in a particular catalog of nebula. This catalog, known as the Messier Catalog of Deep Sky Objects, is a listing of 104 of the finest objects visible to telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere.) High over head will be two famous nebulae that are the faint wispy clouds from the explosive deaths of large stars. The Ring Nebula (M57) and the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) are both examples of stars that exploded as a nova. This is what our own Sun will do in about five billion years. We might also get a chance to see the Veil Nebula which is a remnant of a supernova where a star completely blew itself into gas and dust. Most of the stars we can see are actually not a single star like our Sun but are in fact two or more stars closely orbiting each other. In the constellation of Cygnus the Swan, the star Albireo is actually a double star. One star of this double is distinctly blue and other is a pretty gold color. Our Milky Way Galaxy is surrounded by a halo of tightly packed star clusters. These old stars date from the earliest days of the formation of our galaxy. With a single glance into a well-aimed telescope you can see a million stars jammed into these globular clusters that hover around our galaxy. Again, one of the brightest and most spectacular of these, the Great Cluster in Hercules (M13), will be well placed for excellent viewing. But alas, our galaxy is but one huge star city among billions of star cities. Using a telescope, one can see dozens of other galaxies. Some are spiral shaped like ours, others look like fuzzy footballs and some are just irregular splotches of billions of stars. Many of these galaxies are so far away that the light has been traveling across the vastness of space for tens of millions of years before being captured by our telescopes and directed into our eyes. Among the many galaxies visible at this star party are M31, the Great Galaxy in Andromeda; M101 a pair of galaxies that recently collided with each other; M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy which is a giant pinwheel shaped galaxy similar to our own Milky Way. Unfortunately, the brightness of the Moon will likely interfere with our views of distant and faint galaxies, but we'll give it a try none-the-less. The members of the Ogden Astronomical Society, a club open to anyone with an interest in astronomy, will be available before and during the star party to help answer questions about telescopes and the heavens in general. Anyone who has a telescope is welcome to bring it with them. If you have had trouble using your telescope and need help setting it up and finding objects, then bring it with you, we will provide some assistance. One of the most challenging and confusing tasks a parent may face is buying a telescope for a child. Please! Before you waste any money, come ask for some advice and try out some of our instruments. The "Tour of the Universe" slide show will include some of the best images currently available. The slide show will be tailor made to match the objects that we will be able to see in the telescopes that night. Sohl will bring the audience on a visual trip from Earth to the most distant reaches of the Universe, then they can enjoy these great objects of the heavens themselves through our telescopes. Along the way we will also learn a few constellation stories. Sohl will also be available to answer astronomy questions during the course of the evening. The summer Star Parties are co-hosted by the Ogden Astronomical Society and the Ott Planetarium. The Ott Planetarium is sponsored by the Department of Physics and the College of Science at Weber State University. There will be additional star parties at Antelope Island this summer on the following Saturday nights: September 22, and October 20. There will also be a special star party on November 16-17 all night long at the Golden Spike National Monument in hopes of seeing the rare Leonids meteor storm. - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C12A57.A7186640 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
This should be a fun star party. Everyone is welcome to attend.
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: John SOHL [mailto:JSOHL@weber.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 7:53 AM
Subject: Powder Mountain Star Party

News from the Ott Planetarium at Weber State University
Department of Physics, 2508 University Circle, Ogden, UT 84408-2508
Visit us on the World Wide Web at: physics.weber.edu
 
For Immediate Release August 21, 2001
 
WHAT: Powder Mountain Star Party and Slide Show
WHERE: Powder Mountain Ski Area, Hidden Lake Lodge parking lot.
WHEN: Saturday, August 25th  at 8:45 p.m.
WHO:  The Ogden Astronomical Society and the Ott Planetarium at Weber State University.
COST: Free
Information: Call 626-6855 or visit us on the Internet at physics.weber.edu
 

View the Stars from 9,000 Feet!
 
EDEN, POWDER MOUNTAIN SKI AREA - Enjoy a night viewing great clusters of stars, a gas cloud left over from the explosive death of a star like our Sun, Mars, Mercury, the Moon, and Earth-orbiting satellites. All through our telescopes located at 9,000 feet. Join us as we thank Ogden Valley for passing a dark sky lighting ordinance, and get a view of what they are helping to preserve. Powder Mountain Ski Resort has graciously agreed to support this star party by supplying the site and facilities.
 Last year, the citizens of Ogden Valley passed a lighting ordinance to help preserve their view of the starry night sky. To celebrate their foresight, the Ott Planetarium and Ogden Astronomical Society are hosting a special star party for all Utahans and their visitors to enjoy at the top of Powder Mountain Ski Resort. The star party will start at approximately 8:45 p.m. with a slide show by Dr. John Sohl entitled "A Tour of the Universe." Sohl is the director of Weber State University's Ott Planetarium and is an professor of Physics. The Ott Planetarium will provide free star maps. Prior to sunset, at least one telescope will be specially equipped to safely observe our Sun; arrive early if you wish to observe the Sun. Both during and after the short slide show, as the sky gets darker, numerous telescopes will be put into action. The telescopes will be setup at the parking lot next to the Hidden Lake Lodge past the Powder Ridge Condominiums. We will keep the telescopes setup as long as there are people interested in using them.
 The Star Party will be canceled in the event of overcast sky. Call the planetarium phone and listen to the message at  (801) 626-6855 if in doubt.
 Summer is one of the best times of the year to watch the sky, besides being warm, the variety of objects that can be seen is very diverse. On this night we should be able to see the planet Mercury for a short time right after sunset. Mars and the Moon will shine brightly in the southern sky. Overhead are two examples of the remains of dead stars - a view of our Sun's future. Also, many globular clusters of hundreds of thousands of stars will be well placed for viewing. There will also be a faint comet and numerous artificial satellites in view.
 Just after sunset the planet Mercury will look like a star to your eyes, in a telescope it will have a slightly out of round shape much like our moon a few days before full moon. This is not the best of the year to view Mercury, but you don't ever get too many good views of this planet that is closest to the Sun.
 On this particular night the first quarter Moon will dominate the southern sky. Through a telescope, the craters are so sharp that you will almost wonder if you can step into them. Also orbiting Earth, albeit much closer than the Moon, is a myriad of human made satellites. We will be able to see upwards of 28 satellites and old rocket parts (such as the Lacrosse 4 upper stage rocket shell) pass overhead during the course of the evening. Most of the satellites will take several minutes as they move past our view, however the Iridium 74 satellite will be the brightest and most interesting and will only be visible for a few seconds.
 Also part of our solar system is Comet Linear (known technically as C/2001 A2) which is faint but well placed at an altitude of about 50 degrees above the horizon between the constellations of Cygnus and Aquila.
 From a dark location on a summer evening, the Milky Way Galaxy stretches high across the sky from North to South. The Milky Way is a vast, pinwheel shaped star city of which our Sun is a member. In a pair of large binoculars you can scan the Milky Way and see myriads of stars forming a small fraction of the 100 billion stars of our galaxy.
 The constellation of Sagittarius will be high in the south, the stars forming that constellation are in the direction of the center of our home Galaxy. This is an especially interesting part of the sky containing the hot glowing gases of stellar nurseries. Two of the most breathtaking gas clouds that are busy creating new stars are M8, the Lagoon Nebula, and M20, the Trifid Nebula. Nearby there are also loose clusters of young stars that will soon be scattered among the rest of the stars of our galaxy. Many examples of these will be visible through the telescopes set up on Antelope Island. (The "M" numbers are the way these objects are listed in a particular catalog of nebula. This catalog, known as the Messier Catalog of Deep Sky Objects, is a listing of 104 of the finest objects visible to telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere.)
 High over head will be two famous nebulae that are the faint wispy clouds from the explosive deaths of large stars. The Ring Nebula (M57) and the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) are both examples of stars that exploded as a nova. This is what our own Sun will do in about five billion years. We might also get a chance to see the Veil Nebula which is a remnant of a supernova where a star completely blew itself into gas and dust.
 Most of the stars we can see are actually not a single star like our Sun but are in fact two or more stars closely orbiting each other. In the constellation of Cygnus the Swan, the star Albireo is actually a double star. One star of this double is distinctly blue and other is a pretty gold color.
 Our Milky Way Galaxy is surrounded by a halo of tightly packed star clusters. These old stars date from the earliest days of the formation of our galaxy. With a single glance into a well-aimed telescope you can see a million stars jammed into these globular clusters that hover around our galaxy. Again, one of the brightest and most spectacular of these, the Great Cluster in Hercules (M13), will be well placed for excellent viewing.
 But alas, our galaxy is but one huge star city among billions of star cities. Using a telescope, one can see dozens of other galaxies. Some are spiral shaped like ours, others look like fuzzy footballs and some are just irregular splotches of billions of stars. Many of these galaxies are so far away that the light has been traveling across the vastness of space for tens of millions of years before being captured by our telescopes and directed into our eyes. Among the many galaxies visible at this star party are M31, the Great Galaxy in Andromeda; M101 a pair of galaxies that recently collided with each other; M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy which is a giant pinwheel shaped galaxy similar to our own Milky Way. Unfortunately, the brightness of the Moon will likely interfere with our views of distant and faint galaxies, but we'll give it a try none-the-less.
 The members of the Ogden Astronomical Society, a club open to anyone with an interest in astronomy, will be available before and during the star party to help answer questions about telescopes and the heavens in general. Anyone who has a telescope is welcome to bring it with them. If you have had trouble using your telescope and need help setting it up and finding objects, then bring it with you, we will provide some assistance. One of the most challenging and confusing tasks a parent may face is buying a telescope for a child. Please! Before you waste any money, come ask for some advice and try out some of our instruments.
 The "Tour of the Universe" slide show will include some of the best images currently available. The slide show will be tailor made to match the objects that we will be able to see in the telescopes that night. Sohl will bring the audience on a visual trip from Earth to the most distant reaches of the Universe, then they can enjoy these great objects of the heavens themselves through our telescopes. Along the way we will also learn a few constellation stories. Sohl will also be available to answer astronomy questions during the course of the evening.
  The summer Star Parties are co-hosted by the Ogden Astronomical Society and the Ott Planetarium. The Ott Planetarium is sponsored by the Department of Physics and the College of Science at Weber State University.
 
There will be additional star parties at Antelope Island this summer on the following Saturday nights: September 22, and October 20.
There will also be a special star party on November 16-17 all night long at the Golden Spike National Monument in hopes of seeing the rare Leonids meteor storm.
- ------_=_NextPart_001_01C12A57.A7186640-- - - Visit the Utah Astronomy Message Board: http://pub61.ezboard.com/butahastronomy To unsubscribe from utah-astronomy, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe utah-astronomy" in the body of the message. ------------------------------ End of utah-astronomy-digest V1 #49 *********************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" 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.