Pulling Markarian's chain - and mine!

February 28, 2008 - morning and evening sessions It isn't fair to even try to write about something like this. It's a puzzle to me why I haven't been here more often. This may be only my second visit in...

In search of M1 - what do YOU take into the cave?

Luke Skywalker looks into the dark cave and asks, "What will I find in there?" and Yoda replies, "Only what you take with you." Dom just sent me that quote by email, noting as he did that "Illumination sometimes...

Fixing a brand new, multiple reticle finder

The patience of amateur astronomers amazes me. It seems to me they put up with a lot of so-so gear from manufacturers and they're continuously coming up with fixes for things that never should have been sold the way they...

Saturn tips his hat and dives into the west

So beautiful! Moonlight turning the snow that draped the horizonal junipers to a cool shade of blue . . . Saturn, like an old man glancing back over his shoulder, tips his hat and dives into the west with Regulus and the rest of his pride in tow . . . wrapped in the solitude of this Christmas card landscape, I perch high on my observing chair and suck in great gulps of deep, soothing tranquilty, that rarest of elixirs.

When good isn't good enough - but the seeing is fantastic

I was reading some stuff online yesterday about huge, inexpensive binoculars and it got me thinking about inexpensive refractors. Essentially the author, Ed Zarenski, seemed to be saying that while he would hold onto the large, inexpensive binoculars he was...

Red eye on Orion!

Well, it was hardly a clear night, but the moon fought off the clouds and haze to give us a wonderful show, as we watched the eclipse from a beautiful, dark-sky setting in South Dartmouth, MA. What a show!...

Rascal or Rasalgethi - I got you this time!

February 19-20, 2008 Rasalgethi, which had fooled me a few morning ago, didn't escape this morning. This is one of those very rare red supergiants - one of just ten we can see with the naked eye, but even more...

A special intimacy at 40 million light years or so

February 16-17 I just had a wonderful observing experience, despite the 19 degree temperatures which was really playing havoc with my hands. I think there's an intimacy - a very human scale - to using a small refractor and a...

'Voyager' takes on several passengers for a maiden journey

My Astro_Tech Voyager alt-az mount arrived yesterday - this is going to get A LOT of use! This is the rpelacement for the little Ioptron "Cube" - only the Cube is completely automatic and this is completely mnual and cost...

'Inexorable path to finding other Earths'

The New York Times just posted some exiting news - scientists have discovered a solar system that looks much like ours. It's neat that amateur astronomers were part of the discovery team, but the part I like best is...

M35? Of course. But NGC 2158 with a 66mm - that surprised me

Session: February 8, 2008 - I don't have notes, but I have one sterling memory from this session last Friday night which followed about an hour's frustration with the Cube - see this post. The memory was of the distant...

Fare thee well, Cube - farewell high tech

OK - been there, done that, and indeed, I guess I angered the gods. (For why I choose the Ioptron "Smart Cube" as a mount for two small refractors, see this post. Here's why I'm sending it back and going...

Cube arrived - funny little beast - may prove lovable ;-)

Cube update - 2.6.08 - In post below reviewing my first experience with the Cube I mistakenly said that it kept the date and time after being shut down. It does not, as I found out this morning. So in...

Why video astronomy? And what the heck is it, really?

February 4 - "When is video not video?" That was a recent question raised on the Yahoo Group. Video Astro, with this post. It's a good question and technically the answer is not at all clear. Essentially there are at...

Flat tires, one star alignments, and daylight stars

February 2 -morning - First, here's how a flat-tire can enhance your observing experience . . . When I got to a local restaurant yesterday at noon I noticed one rear tire was dangerously flat, the other quite soft. After...

Grabbed and went . . . three times ;-)

January 31- February 1 - Does that sound obscene to you? I hope not. What I grabbed was my telescope and eyepieces and where I went was to the observing deck to take advantage of some not really predicted clear...