Science Daily: Jupiter
- Heart of Jovian moon's volcanic rage December 13, 2024
- NASA's Hubble celebrates decade of tracking outer planets December 9, 2024
Sony DCR-TRV310
We originally purchased the Sony DCR-TRV310 for home video of family events. On a lark, I decided to point it into the eyepiece on night and was pleasantly surprised that I got reasonable images. It just so happened that I picked the moon as a target and it was only slight after the new moon. …
60mm Refractor
About a year ago, someone on sci.astro.amateur mentioned that they had a couple of old 60 mm refractors in the closet. At the time, I was looking to buy one used and had been scanning garage sales and for sale ads without any luck. So I half-in-jest asked if you wanted to donate one. He …
Equipment
I’m trying to reconstruct my “old” page of equipment information and hopefully, I’ll be able to add some links with pictures to what I currently have since this is ahem, a bit outdated. Of course, I may be too lazy to ever get it systematically organized.
127 mm Orion Maksutov-Cassegrain
The 60 mm Tasco was great for getting me started on the road to photography with a good polar alignment. It’s chief failing is its small aperture which leaves me with a small selection of alignment and guide stars. So I went in search of something better (i.e., bigger) I had already found I really …
Astronomy Day 2008
This is an international event which will be "celebrated" by tens of thousands of amateur astronomers by taking their telescopes outside and inviting friends, neighbors and passers-by to have a look. This year, Saturn, always a crowd-pleaser, will be well placed for viewing.
News feeds okay again
The news feed problem is largely resolved. Except for Pluto (which isn’t a planet anymore anyway, right ), they were either fixed or the source or else were due to a configuration problem on my side. Pluto has some problems and I’ve forced in current feed information, but the problem will have to get fixed …
Lunar Eclipse Visible!
[img_assist|nid=689|title=2008-02-20 Lunar Eclipse|desc=|link=node|align=undefined|width=640|height=640] Starting around 2 pm EST, the clouds rolled in and it didn’t look good for viewing. But around 8:30 pm the clouds thinned allowing a fuzzy moon to be visible through and between the clouds so we could see the eclipse begin. By 10 pm, the skies had completely cleared an we …
Astronomy 001
I’ve been asked to lead an astronomy club for PS 102 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. That invitation sounded interesting, but….
How do you run an astronomy club for young children? It’s easy enough to do a sidewalk astronomy event for them and their parents, but there’s a world of differences when you’re it, the parents are not there and you have to maintain their interest and attention a lot longer than 60 seconds at the eyepiece.
So, I’m starting this "notebook" of experiences, lesson plans, and whatever else seems appropriate so I can keep track of what makes a successful club (and what makes an unsuccessful one!).
Lunar Eclipse
Well, the Eclipse Party is on, but the Eclipse will probably be eclipsed by bad weather here in NYC and other parts of the northeast. I’ve been working with Celestia to have a simulation of the earth/moon as seen from the Earth-Sun L1 point. That lets you see both the geometry that results in eclipses …