In the past I've toughed out winter observing. Now, I can always find something else that is equally important. So I'm just kind of waiting for winter to end. I thought we were going to be rid of it a couple of weeks ago, as sometimes by mid march the snow is gone and the temps begin to moderate. However, last week we got 17 inches of snow.
Since then, it's been cool - not cold but not the kind of warm it needs to really knock the snow down. So the snow lingers and everything is kind of in a state of drippy wetness.
My goal at this point is to try to wrap up some development projects and updates so that when the nicer weather does roll around I don't have to be chained to the machine, as it were. For example, I loaded a couple of new templates to the blog system, as well as got the categories working (see the little folders at right). I've got most posts sorted, but i need to go through them again... There are other things as well.
I was thwarted in my efforts to take a drawing class again. Once again it conflicts with Tae Kwon Do, so no joy in the spring (TKD gets priority).
I am looking forward to some nights outside as it gets warmer, sketching craters and comets, and getting back to the farm. I need to fix the observing pad (get it pointed north) and maybe set up some wind breaks. Get on with a few of those construction projects like the astro-potting table and an observing chair.
The snow can melt now.
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Keith asks about the swing set/scope tower. Above is a current pic almost 9 years later. When my kids (kid at the time with another on the way) were little, we had made a plan for a backyard play set, similar to those Rainbow Systems sets that were super popular.
After some investigation of those sets, I realized that they were too expensive and that I could probably build one myself. In addition, the "tower" was going to be planted right in the only dark corner of the yard. So I figured that I could engineer something that might work for the kids as well as myself for observing.
Now I knew then that planting a scope on a wood deck was a horrible way to observe. Any vibration is sent right to the image. However, I wasn't too concerned because at the time my primary interest was sweeping for comets. This activity didn't require rock steady viewing since the scope was in motion most of the time anyway.
So i took a step ladder out to the back yard and walked up it until the street light at the end of the alley was hitting me in the eyes over the neighbor's garage. I settled on a "floor" height for the platform a few inches below that.
I also measures the "swing" of the scope (and 8" f/6 dob) and settled on 5' square - slightly larger than your typical backyard playset. Railing height was based on my ability to level the tube when on it's milk crate pedestal.
From there, I added the "kid stuff" - the swing header, the sandbox, slide, ladder, etc. Under it all is 4" of pea gravel - much better on a fall than wood chips and they don't rot.
All in all I spent a lot of sessions up there, mostly in 97 and 98, but by the end of 98 I was driving out of town for nearly all of my sessions. It was somewhat difficult working up there; stuff would roll off, or drop through the cracks in the deck boards; it was cramped for space (no option of sitting); it was a chore heaving everything up there. But it did provide for a much wider view of the sky.
I'm not sure how much I'll use it any more. With my current interest in lunar sketches, I need the scope to be on a solid foundation and not jiggle at all. I think I'm more likely to be on the ground with the screen up to block the lights and a chair to observe.
It still works great as a pirate ship, though...
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I spent much of last weekend working on the gallery system, and have put up a gallery in association with this blog (Gallery Link).
What was fun was the process of collecting all my astronomy images that have been scattered far and wide through many and varied computers. While most of these images have turned up in the blog, I'd not really appreciated the volume and variety of images that I've collected throughout my astronomy hobby. I think there might still be a few missing, but what is there certainly represents the bulk of my images. For example, I know there are more comet sketches someplace (though I may not have scanned them...).
Enjoy.
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So winter is droning by. I've not felt terribly compelled to observe much. There were a couple of times where it could have been ok, but generally it's been cloudy. On the upside, the weather has been warm, mostly 20s and 30s, but with that usually comes cloudy/wet/sloppy conditions. That's king of the way it is around here: warm=wet, clear=super cold and neither is all that great for observing.
Last night would have been nice for looking at the moon, but I had class a 6 pm.
So I'm basically just waiting for spring and the later sunsets.
I have thought of a couple things I should be doing. I think building an observing chair should be something I could get done before the end of winter. Maybe I'll start on collecting up the pieces I need for that. It's basically a one-day sort of project, but one that will be pretty worthwhile.
I had thought to take apart my mount and re-grease it, but now I'm thinking that I won't bother. Unless I decide to try and shoot photos with it, but I'd need a new camera for that. In any case, the mount works acceptable for the use I've been putting it to, so no sense right now risking damage by taking it apart.
I was amused to see that Xena is showing data that indicates it's larger than Pluto. I think that it's time this major planet / minor planet mess gets sorted once and for all. Again, my vote has always been that if it's Pluto sized or bigger, than call it a planet and be done with it. Rather than demote Pluto, because it'll just come up again when we find something nearer to the size of mercury or mars out there. And there very well could be something out there the size or Mercury that we've not seen. Remember, these things are Really Far Away. Really Far.
So, best set a standard and go with it.
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As with everyone, not much happening on the observing front. The weather has been pretty nasty generally - when not super cold, it's been snowing. We've got about 10" now in the last 10 days. And it's still snowing. January usually dries out, and it we get enough sunshine we can actually lose most of the snow. There has been a few times that I was able to observe from Cherry Grove in January in reasonable comfort.
But I was thinking yesterday about spring, how nice it will be when the temp warms up and be excited about getting the new (and still unnamed) scope out.
I did spend a little time the other day looking to identify a star noted by a sailor. It's kind of funny, really, how disconnected we've become from the sky, even to people as traditionally connected as sailors. Personally, I cannot imagine sailing an ocean without knowing what stars are around. I also think it would be very cool to attempt to cross an ocean using celestial navigation as a primary means (with GPS as a backup).
But even without going that far, I'm surprised that a simple planisphere is not "standard equipment" on any boat that plans to be on the ocean at night. Another sailing friend commented on one of her early offshore passages that she was fascinated with the sky when pulling dog watch - but couldn't name anything and was wishing she'd paid a bit more attention in college astronomy. College astronomy is certainly not required, but a simple chart would go a long way to making sailing with the stars a lot more friendly, as well as potentially useful.
And not only that, but reconnect with sailing history. Astronomy and skywatching were *necessities* to sailing as little as 100 years ago. Much effort was devoted to astronomy in pursuit of aiding mariners. It is a tradition worth keeping.
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