- This topic has 2,640 replies, 51 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 3 weeks ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hello astronomy fans!
We had Kirk, Luka and myself there at Eagle Bluff along with two female members of the staff. First, Valerie and second, Creel. (An unusual name to be sure, but both were very nice young ladies.)
We showed them most of the obvious stuff, but also had several meteors zipping through. and one REALLY bright one at 10:49:35. That one was brilliant blue-white, mag. -6, duration 3 seconds with a N to S direction. A briliant head, long separated trail.
I found Comet Hartley 2 at the end of the night, but was very suprised to find it because now it is getting very, very faint.
Luka finished his observations on the Binocular Deep Sky list and Kirk is getting very adept at pulling in deep sky objects. It was extremely fun to be out there with them. We may see more of the two young ladies as well, because they are interested in getting an observatory going at Eagle Bluff. Since they both work there, they do have some input.
The newsletter by Scott looks awesome, and I will bring copies of the Spring Grove Herald coverage of the 3rd Annual Star-BQ to the meeting on Tuesday.
See you there!
One more aside… We put Luka's 38mm wide angle eyepiece in Kirk's very fine telescope and turned it on M57, the Ring Nebula in Lyra.
WOW!!! In the FOV, you could see both Beta and Delta Lyrae with the Ring Nebula clearly defined in between! I have never seen that before and it was totally awesome. What a telescope and eyepiece combination!
I just have to get that 38mm eyepiece, and I highly encourage everyone in the RAC to get a look through it as well, along with Kirk's excellent telescope.
Clear skies, everyone!
What's up with the weather? Clear during the day and clouding up at night — cold and windy. You would almost think it's winter outside.
Anyone else getting cabin fever, wanting to go out and try all those new Christmas presents?
What did Santa put under your tree?
Well Santa assisted me in buying a new house on the NE side, relatively dark skies compared to my old townhouse that was surrounded by 4 street lights. Now I'm working on my plans for the "Spa Observatory" which will consist of a square gazebo 15×15' on slab with roll off roof and a warm room for those chilly nights next winter. This will be my summer project maybe we can do a observatory party next summer?
John P.
John, I've just ordered SkyShed plans for my own observatory. Are you sure a slab is the best choice of foundation? That floor will transmit a lot of cold into your feet in winter. I've read that a deck with a center hole for the pier can be more comfortable.
Best type of foundation is some what subjective. What are your goals? permanent? warm? easy maintenance? easy to work on? Keeps out bugs? easy access?
"Spa Observatory" Sounds to me like a much more than an observatory? Is the spa on the bottom level? Built in, or attached?
Is 15×15 big enough or are their ordances to be contended with? (When we built our screened porch, it started as a 12×12, then ended up with 14×18 and wishing we'd added 2 more feet.
[quote author=Mr.Gorp link=topic=233.msg4335#msg4335 date=1295656461]
Best type of foundation is some what subjective. What are your goals? permanent? warm? easy maintenance? easy to work on? Keeps out bugs? easy access?"Spa Observatory" Sounds to me like a much more than an observatory? Is the spa on the bottom level? Built in, or attached?
Is 15×15 big enough or are their ordances to be contended with? (When we built our screened porch, it started as a 12×12, then ended up with 14×18 and wishing we'd added 2 more feet.
[/quote]
Basically all of the above. This will be a permanent structure that has to blend into the neighborhood and be stylish in such a way not to harm anyone's property value. Since it is over 100sq.ft. it will require a permit and the type of rolloff roof will have to be stamped by an engineer. I want it to safely and securely hold all my equipment since it will have several telescopes as well as my imaging equipment in it. The whole design is dual-purpose as it will be wired for a hot tub but that won't be installed, easier to get passed for this use with the rolloff roof than just a observatory. The warm room will be to keep warm or if the house is sold used for changing in or to keep warm. Would love to go larger but the additional costs and steel required structure involved will get to complicated and costly.
From Dean's earlier post, looks like Eagle Bluff is out for tonight. Anyone interested in going to Keller tonight or somewhere else? Looks like it may clear up, has cleared up quite a bit.
Wish I could be there, but I'm heading to the farm tonight. At least I'm
taking my scope this time
I hope the weather holds up for us!
JimHello Astronomy Fans!
Hopefully more than Jeff, Luka and myself made it outside on Saturday night. It was truly one for the ages! Although I didn't travel and stayed in my backyard, it was obvious that transparency and seeing were both at the top of the scale. I set aside my usual observing goals for a "mini-Messier Marathon." Mini because I knew I wouldn't be out very long (100 minutes, as it turned out), my western skies below 45 degrees are completely blocked, and because I was under city glow which I suspected would keep some of the dimmer targets from being seen.
I logged, in order, M42, 43, 45, 77, 1, 36, 38, 37, 34, 103, 41, 35, 44, 67, 50, 47, 46, 48, 81, 82, 97, 108, 109, and 65.
Most were easy to spot. M97 was invisible even at 200X, until I used my Ultrablock filter, where it became easy to spot even at 40X. M108 and 109 required averted vision to spot. I could not tease out 66, as Leo was not yet very high when I packed in. Oddly, I had my best view of 65 – the dark lane was easy to spot. I was not terribly organized, so I probably missed some easy or obvious ones. Still, that is 24 Messiers in 100 minutes, all found via starhopping.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.