Clearing the brain so it keeps working
space
And the fog rolled in…
Aug 12th
Tonight/this morning I was ready to sit in my lawn chair and look for shooting stars. The Perseid meteor shower was to hit its maximum two days. The sky promised to be clear. The mosquitoes did not promise to stay away, but I have my bug suit. 
So, I drove the truck out into the field, had my chair sitting in the bed, and I watched the night sky.
I saw a couple of shooting stars, but no storm/shower. Kind of a sprinkle. I had a grand view of the summers stars. The sky was dark enough to see the Milky Way. For an hour I enjoyed kicking back and just watching the sky turn.
Then I noticed some of the horizon stars were not as bright as they had been. Passing clouds I thought, not a big deal. Then I noticed more and more of the stars were just that much harder to see. Dang too many clouds except I stood up and the sky was clear once again. The cloud had formed much lower as fog around my truck. I stood for a while in hopes to see one or two more meteors, but within 15 minutes the fog was at my head. No more star gazing.
I should have guessed with the heavy rain this afternoon, and the warm temperatures today that fog would form easily. I just wish it would have held out for an hour or two. I’m sure I could drive one way or another to get out of my little fog bank, but the bed and work are calling me. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
A time to watch the night
Oct 21st
This weekend seems to be a big astronomy shindig. The event is called Galilean Nights. This is in honor of Galileo. Sidewalk astronomers around the world will be out letting people look through their scopes to see the Moon, Jupiter or some other bright evening object.
The site above has a link to find some sidewalk astronomy locations. The closest places to this neck of the woods will be Bowling Green Ohio, Sylvania Ohio and Fort Wayne Indiana. If my youngest agrees, I may be in Fort Wayne.
In case you wondered, a sidewalk astronomer is somebody who sets his/her telescope out on the sidewalk. They hope people will stop and share the evening sky with them.
What telescope should I buy?
Oct 14th
After quite some time, I’m getting back to this question. Since the holiday season is approaching and fall is one of my favorite times to get the scopes out… Here are my opinions on telescopes to buy.
If I’m on your list and money is no object here are the scopes I want.
The Questar 3.5 inch anniversary model. This has a lot of sentimental value for me, and if money were no object I would own one.
Any really large reflector. This one is from Orion Telescopes.
A good sized goto Scope and an observatory to go with it.
Or maybe a dedicated Solar Scope???
OK, I understand you are not buying one for me, but if you are a first time telescope buyer, you may see those prices and just stop your shopping. Or you will go to Walmart and buy the telescopes they have during the Christmas shopping time with all the pretty pictures on them.
In shopping for a telescope, size matters. You want the biggest scope you can afford and move around. Magnification power however does not matter. I don’t care if the telescope at your local super store is 150 power or they say it will magnify 200 times. You’ll never use it. Most of the time, even with the best telescope, you can’t use it. So are you going to be able to with the $30 – $40 scope from the super store?
Even though my first suggestion would be binoculars, I won’t go there, you want a telescope…. I know this, because I was there once. I still don’t have my binoculars….
Second suggestion a 4 to 8 inch reflector on a Dobson mount. The mount is very simple. It moves Up and Down – Left and Right. Very stable and inexpensive. An 8 inch reflector would probably be more of an intermediate scope, but it may be the only telescope you ever need. (want is another matter). The 4 and 6 inch scopes are excellent for beginners.
3rd suggestion a 60 or 70 mm refractor on a good mount. These tend to be more expensive. The mount design makes the cheaper models almost unusable. But they do look like the telescope everybody expects to see. This may be important to you.
4th suggestion…. Stay away from computer controlled models for your first scope. You really don’t want to have to learn how to use the computer end of the telescope when you are just starting out. That just adds to the frustration.
So here are some actual telescopes that fit my suggestions. I’m using the Orion Telescope company site, because they have nice pictures, many different scopes, and a lot of other good information on their site. I don’t own an Orion Scope, and I’m not suggesting they are the only place to get telescopes. In fact, I will add links for other sites main pages.
Refractors (lenses)
80mm table top model Nice looking little scope with what looks like a very nice mount. A good solid table will be needed to use this. A used end table from a garage sale would work nicely. A solid picnic table (that nobody is sitting on) would work well too.
70mm refractor The mount looks nice, but the tripod looks a bit on the flimsy side. This may make an shaky mount. Weight can be hung from the center support to help stabilize it.
Reflectors(mirrors)
100mm tabletop scope This mount is the same as the first refractor I mentioned. Nice size, looks easy to move around.
4.5 inch tabletop scope Slightly larger mirror than the one above. I’ve actually used this scope once. It is an excellent first scope.
4.5 inch equatorial Same scope as above, but a different mount. Adds to the cost, but you don’t need the table.
Some Telescope web pages
Orion
Meade Telescopes
Celestron Telescopes
Optics Planet
Anacortes
Discovery Telescopes
Something I need to do
Mar 27th
It has been quite a long time since I took any of my telescopes out to gaze at the night sky. I’ve had many excuses, but they were just that, excuses. I think I’m really beginning to miss that hobby of mine.
The first thing I need to do is have a talk with my boss. Some of the best nights of the year are going to be happening in the near future. I need to be able to plan some time off on a quick basis if I know the sky will be clear.
I love early spring, because some of the wonderful winter constellations are visible just after sunset, and if you are up long enough, some of the summer constellations are there in the morning. On top of that, the spring time just starts to have some warmer nights. Not summery warm, but you don’t end up fighting the frost bite you do in the winter.
Right now, it doesn’t look like clear skies, but my favorite place to check this sort of thing, is forecasting favorable viewing tonight.
I hope it is clear when I get home tonight, I may take my little scope out to view the heavens above me.
Could you send in a plumber?
Oct 11th
They are having more toilet problems on the International Space Station. Seems that the Russian made space toilet is not working. I realize that the water hunger, gravity fed toilets that work on earth would not work very well on the Space Station, but to break down twice in a short period of time is not good at all. I would really reconsider working on the space station if the main toilet is going to break every 4 to 6 months. Seems like that would be a vital function. Especially when some of the water used on the Space Station comes from recycling the waste collected in those high-tech privies.
Oh well, that massive water recycling program in use on the space station would also give me pause to send in my resume for Space Station Tech.
Where are the days when the astronauts would just play with their food in the micro-gravity situations. I miss the Jello floating in the air.
