I'm tired. It's been a long weekend, the weather sucks, and my truck won't start. And I'm behind on my journal/blog thingy.
So what's new astronomically. Well, not a lot, it's either been cold, cloudy and/or super windy, and a lot of the time all of them. Thursday past we had some clear sky, and after a long discussion board thread about diffraction spikes and the pro & cons of straight vane vs. curved vane spiders, I wanted to do a more quantative observation of my spikes with the three vane.
Here in lies one problem with message boards: the rehash. I've been through all of this, thinking, reading, planning, defending the mods to my scope years ago. Of course, at the time I don't think there were production curved vanes, but it didn't really matter. I am of the camp that says minimize the obstruction to the light path, balanced with a wide field of view. Short f/ratio scopes typically need larger secondary mirrors, meaning a larger central obstruction. This to me was another justification to the 8" f/6 vs. the 10" f/4.5 - I was looking for absolute maximum contrast. Does the light gathering ability of the extra size make up for it - probably. But it's also a package well suited to how much mass I want to deal with. So in a lot of ways, in balancing all values, the 8" seemed like the best combination of everything.
However, I knew buying it that this scope would need help. The three vane spider, with the minimum material in the light path and yet still highly stable configuration to me was, and still is, the best bet. Perhaps not on bright planets, but for hunting fuzzies, keep the crap out of the path.
There was also a thread on Saturn's moons, and I was curious about this because I've only rarely attempted to identify which ones I could actually see.
So it was 9F and windy, but I drug stella out anyway to see what I could see. I gave it about 45 minutes, including trying to get the fucking streetlight off with the laser (no dice this time - the difficult part is the glare is so bright that I can't see the photo sensor to aim the laser), looking at Jupiter and Saturn. Top it off with truly crap seeing and it was a less than ideal night. I suppose I could have set up on the tower where I would have been shielded from the light, but there was still snow up there and the wind would have been terrible, and I just wasn't that motivated. I'm trying to keep this all in perspective, and not get too frustrated about weather and just enjoy the nice nights, when they return.
The bottom line was yes, I get mild spikes on Jupiter. They are pretty faint, however, and not (to me at least) much of an issue. On Saturn, the spikes were a lot less noticeable. With the 20mm eyepiece I was able to pick out 5 moons, which I confirmed with the Barlow. That is one killer combination with this scope, much better than the 10mm eyepiece by itself. The Cassini division was floating in and out, the seeing was so bad.
In a way I'm glad the recent weather was crappy, we went to the farm, carrying lots of lumber and components for the outhouse we need and there was no room at all for the scope. I think I'd have been really disappointed to spend a nice weekend there and not get to observe. I did, however, take a short walk out to the field and drop a marker (which I believe was a pto belt wheel from some kind of old farm equipment) where I think the secondary, or perhaps even the primary, observing location might be - the result of playing with the light pollution map. No doubt that being closer to the farm has advantages for hauling gear around. The next few weekends are booked, but perhaps in a few weeks I'll have a chance to observe from the spot.
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Ok, I will not complain about the 7" of snow we received overnight and this morning. Instead, I am going to list some of the positive aspects to the situation:
- The moon is nearly full anyway, so observing wasn't even really an option with or without the snow
- It probably will not last the week
- The moisture helps
- Those that make their livings from snow (plowing, the ski places, etc) have one more outing and finally have had a decent winter to help them out
- It looks really pretty – sort of a photographers dream land…
- It's not much of a surprise…
I made a light pollution / light trespass map of the farm this week from USGS aerial photos and what I know of lights and terrain in the area of the farm. The result was mostly depressing, and also mostly confirmed what I already knew from my walkabouts. The largest problem is the road and the new houses being erected on the opposite side. That is a difficult situation to deal with, because our land has a pretty significant valley between possible viewing locations and those light sources, making planting trees or other blocks difficult.
Surprisingly, the floodlight on the farmstead itself isn't that big of an issue over all. If I wanted to observe from the farmstead proper, simply getting that light shielded, or better yet simply put on a switch (and still shield it), that would open up only a few more possibilities. However, being close to the farm means much higher horizons, and I'd prefer being out in the fields, were the sky is really wide. It's pretty obvious from the map that the new homes and the road are the real causes of light problems. Right now, we cannot begin planting trees, at least officially, on the land because it's in CRP. While in that program, the land cannot be altered. But ya know, who really would notice a couple of voluntary pine trees? On the other hand, most of those houses have newly planeted trees in their yards as well, so their own efforts will help, too.
Really, though, the best place is still the best place, even if it is a quarter mile from the farm, and it's protected and will stay protected for the long term.
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The book Starry Messenger by Peter Sis was another Christmas gift I received, though I am sorry to admit that I never read it until last week. It's a kids book, but I like kids books about astronomy, because (the good one's at least) capture the wonder and sense of discovery that often goes hand in hand with entry into amateur astronomy.
Not only that, but often times kids books will have fantastic artwork that is so often missing from "adult" texts, artwork that is often intertwined with the subject. It is very difficult to separate art and astronomy, from pre-photographic sketches to Hubble Heritage images. This book is no exception and the illustrations are first rate.
It's the basic story of Galileo, his discoveries and the rift that developed between him and the Church. I was heartened to see that subject touched upon, since it is quite central to his life. Other stories will gloss over or omit this part of his life altogether, leaving the kids to think that his discoveries we're taking place in an atmosphere of acceptance.
This got me thinking to a couple weeks ago when a bruhaha erupted on one of the astronomy message boards over gay marriage. These sorts of divisive topics are best left off of topical message boards, I think, unless of course it's a political board, but it was interesting to note how people backed up their positions on both sides of the issue. Many people on the 'against' side sited their church or religious reasons as a basis for their position. Galileo is a perfect reminder to people that the church and/or religion have no monopoly on 'truth' or correctness. People refused to look through Galileo's telescope because they were sure that even if what they saw was different from what they believed, it was somehow either the fault of the telescope or they were simply being deceived by the devil.
350 years later the church decides that "well perhaps maybe Galileo was right and we were wrong..." Lets hope that other falsehoods perpetuated in the name of religion don't also take 350 years to be recognized, and realize that perhaps Galileo still has some important messages for us today.
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Never underestimate the stupidity or frustration of small group politics. People ask why I don't do more with the local astronomy club - that's why. Nothing about the club specifically, I've stayed out of it altogether, but it's happened again with another organization I belong to. I pay my dues to use the dark sky sites and be in the Astronomical League, but beyond that, I keep my distance. I hate small group politics.
So, good news on the farm front. Looks like the land is going to be divided between my wife's father and uncle, with my father-in-law retaining some 55 acres. Most of this acreage is farm land, open and without trees, though on the south side is a nice pond and is generally wooded.
Needless to say everyone is pretty excited now, and now we can begin to make some more specific plans about how to deal with stuff. For me that means finding a nice, quiet observing spot. And while I have started that, it will mean getting out, under the stars and just getting a feel for what will be the best. I may end up with alternate sites, depending on where or what I want to view. Wind will also be a concern. Right now, I like the spot out in the East 30, the far piece of farm land that really is remote from the main farm, however there is no real road, its more of a 4x4 or tractor track, really, that goes out there.
In general that's not a problem, except if we can help it I'd rather not drive the truck up there every weekend because of fuel consumption concerns. If we take the other car that means I can't drive out to that spot.
So anyway, there are a variety of issues surrounding the ideal spot. Ultimately, I see an observatory building, perhaps just starting with a small shed and level spot, at some point in the future. But the real point is that we are fortunate, and I am very grateful, for having a place to even consider locating an observatory. It will be so nice to have a private dark sky place where I know no one is going to put up lights or build more houses, at least for the foreseeable future.
Now I just need to learn how to drive the tractor.
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Light rain and pretty warm temperatures have gotten rid of most of the snow that is around, except where it was piled up, though it's still very gray with drizzle or light snow occasionally. Still no good for observing. But with the full moon coming on it's not a huge deal one way or another. Hopefully by the time the moon is out of the evening sky the ground will be snow free and dried out.
At that point I'd probably be able to drive the Saturn down to CG, which is nice. I don't want to pay for the gas or put the extra miles on the truck these days (which gets half the mileage of the Saturn).
Speaking of the Saturn, it was in the shop this week with a fuel problem, some sensor or other, to the tune of $560. Ya know, it seems like no matter what, the shop fee is about $500. New tires? $500. Starter? $500. Fuel problems? $500. It never starts out to be that much, of course. Take this fuel issue. It starts with an hour of diagnostic, then it’s a sensor. Then we're on to the fuel pressure regulator, then labor, and by the way, did you know that your motor mount is pretty much trashed, which is where all that vibration is coming from, oh and add an oil change in there, ok that's $554.87 with the tax. Or, "we got the starter fixed but you realize your shocks & struts are gone, right?"
Sigh.
We struggle about when to trade these cars off. It's hard though when it seems like $1000 a year keeps them running pretty well, all-in-all. I mean, that's a lot less than a car payment, no matter how you slice it.
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