From the Inner Mind to Outer Space

The True Meaning 2008

2008-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

(Yes, I post this every year)

"And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid... And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

"And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men."

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
--Linus Van Pelt (and Charles M Schultz)

What is a Professional Photographer

2008-11-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

A professional photographer is the Chuck Norris of photography

A professional photographer's camera has similar settings to a non pro, except ours are: P[erfect] Av[Awesome Priority Tv[Totally Awesome Priority] M[ajestic]

A professional photographer doesn't color correct. The world adjusts to match us.

Sure, a professional photographer deletes a bad photo or two. Other people call these Pulitzers.

A professional photographer doesn't adjust his DOF, he changes space-time.

A professional photographer doesn't wait for the light when he shoots a landscape - the light waits for him.

A professional photographer never flips his camera in portrait position, he flips the earth

A professional photographer orders an L-lens from Nikon, and gets one.

When a professional photographer brackets a shot, the three versions of the photo win first place in three different categories

Only a professional photographer can take pictures of a professional photographer; everyone else would just get their film overexposed by the light of our genius

A professional photographer's nudes were fully clothed at the time of exposure

A professional photographer once designed a zoom lens. You know it as the Hubble Space Telescope.

When a professional unpacks his CF card, it already has masterpieces on it.

A professional photographer’s portraits are so lifelike, they have to pay taxes

On a professional photographer's desktop, the Trash Icon is really a link to National Geographic Magazine

A professional photographer spells point-and-shoot "h-a-s-s-e-l-b-l-a-d"

For every 10 shots that a professional photographer takes, 11 are keepers.

A professional photographer's digital files consist of 0's, 1's AND 2's.

A professional photographer never focuses, everything moves into his DoF

A professional photographer's shots are so perfect, Adobe redesigned Photoshop for us: all it consists of is a close button.

A professional photographer never produces awful work, only work too advanced for the viewer

A professional photographer isn't the Chuck Norris of photography; Chuck Norris is the professional photographer of martial arts.

Photographers are like...

2008-11-03T11:14:00.000-05:00

I love this quote:

"(Professional) photographers are like Hookers: at first we started doing it because we liked it and it felt good, then we kept doing it but only for our friends, and NOW we're still doing it but are charging money for doing it! " -Dean Collins

Why Pro Photographers Are Worth It

2008-10-28T10:17:00.001-04:00

Sometimes you hear people say, "Why are your prices so much more than "such-and-such" and "so-and-so"? Well, probably because they are one of the many individuals who have recently picked up a camera and decided they were a "professional photographer". Chances are more than fair that they do not have what real, working photographers have: knowledge, experience, training, etc.

Below is a "Top Ten" list that speaks to the reasons professional photographers are worth your investment....

10 Reasons Why Photographers Charge What They Do

10. Professional photographers are in business, and as a business, need to make a profit. Because they make it their career, they dedicate themselves to becoming the best they can be, and share that knowledge with their clientele.

9. Professional photographers have to buy professional equipment. Nope, they don't just pick up a point-and-shoot from Wal-Mart and declare themselves a professional. They spend thousands upon thousands of dollars getting multiple camera bodies, the finest lenses, flash equipment for every situation, tripods, light stands, backdrops, props, carrying and storage cases. And then when you think you have it all - you need to get backups for everything to make sure you never miss an image.

8. Professional photographers continue their education, and learn as much as they can about the business. They join groups like Professional Photographers of America or the National Press Photographers Association. They attend seminars and training by some of the best names in the business. They concentrate on becoming the best they can be.

7. Professional photographers don't just snap a picture, they create a photograph. They understand positioning. They understand lighting. They understand placement. You're not just paying for the ability to place a finger on the trigger and snap a picture. You're paying for the years of experience it took to create the perfect image.

6. Professional photographers can spend hours producing one professional photograph.

Time can include:

* creating the marketing
* answering emails and phone calls
* meeting with the client to talk about the event
* setting up for the event
* drive time to and from the event
* time for the actual photographing
* running to and from the lab
* meeting with the client for previews and decisions
* processing the image
* retouching the image
* mounting the image
* framing the image
* packaging the image
* dropping off final images
* production work
* follow up work

Add it all up, and you can see why one portrait session may include hours worth of work. It's impossible to stay in business if you only make a few pennies per client.

5. Professional photographers have to be more than photographers. They have to be CEOs and marketers, and bankers, and salespeople, and production workers, and janitors, and buyers, and negotiators, and networkers, and drivers, and organizers. And photographers. That's a lot of skills for one person to master.

4. Professional photographers will do it all. Want to get married at the top of a 14,000 foot high mountain, where the only way up is a 30 minute ski-lift ride? A professional photographer will be there. Want a portrait running through the waves on a Southern California beach? A professional photographer will be there.

3. Professional photographers aren't just order takers, they provide total customer service. Professionals photograph dozens or even hundreds of clients a year. They understand what looks good, how to put together albums, and how to group multiple photographs together. Their goal is to provide you with what you need and what's best for you - not just have you sign on the dotted line.

2. Professional photographers watch for the newest, most innovative, creative products available. They stay up to date on industry news, and find things that perfectly match their clients taste. They don't try and fit you into something you don't like - they find out what you want and search the world over for the perfect things. They are the professional.

1. Professional photographers have the knowledge and the skill to make you look the best you can be. I can buy a hammer for a few dollars at the hardware store. Yet I spent hundreds of dollars for a handyman to repair my deck. I can buy a needle and thread for a few dollars at the fabric store. Yet I spent over $100 on alterations at a local tailor. It's not about the tools; it's about the outcome.

Sure, anyone can buy a camera and take a picture. You can head down to your local discount store, wait several hours and have a minimum wage clerk place you on an X and snap a few pictures. But they can't get what a professional can get. They won't concentrate on expressions. They won't advise you on outfits and locations. They won't provide 110 percent customer service. You won't get a professional portrait.

Isn't it time to see a professional?

Season's End

2008-10-03T12:07:00.003-04:00

Well, today brings an end. Change is inevitable.

At noon the sirens went off for their monthly test. I went outside to listen, knowing that - barring an actual tornado - the alert sirens won't sound again until next spring. It makes one sad, especially us weather people. And most especially the ones who hate cold weather.

The second sign of change is that the National Weather Service posted a Freeze Warning for the entire area for tonight. With a hard freeze, that brings an end to the growing season. Oh sure, we're going to cover the garden so the tomato plants (and other plants) don't get killed, but it's a sure sign of the impending doom of winter.

Now I'm depressed.

Let's Not Do It Again

2008-09-30T21:35:00.000-04:00

Loyal readers (yeah, like I have any) will remember that this time last year I got roped into participating in a local photo exhibition/competition, and it didn't go well. I swore then I would never do it again.

Well, I did. And I think it was somewhat worse this year.

(Note: Names of individuals have been shortened to just their initials. That way it could be anyone whose name starts with a particular initial. By keeping it vague, I keep from getting bitched out)

The theme this year was "Wetlands and Water" in order to show "concern for the environment" and to make the rules a bit more focused than last years' debacle. I wasn't starting out to submit anything, because I didn't care about it. When asked to participate, I said no. But then I took a really cool (at least I thought) shot of a sunset over the Thornapple river reservoir back at the end of August. We were having spectacular sunsets due to some volcanic activity in the Aleutian Islands, giving us intense colors at sunrise and sunset. The water was nearly calm, and I got a wonderful reflection of the sky in the water. It was a perfect example of "water" for this photo thingy.

I went to my local professional lab, and got the image printed. I unfortunately told someone there - "K" - about the competition, and she opened her stupid mouth and told "S" there at the lab what I was doing with the image ("S" was involved in last years' debacle, and I had sworn to her I would never do it again). So I got pissed off at "K" for blabbing about my image. Why can't women keep their mouths shut?

So I go ahead and get the image printed as an 8x12, and get it matted and framed. And due to screw ups, this cost me more than I was planning on, especially for an event I cared nothing about. I submitted it last week, and that was that.

Cut to tonight, when there was the "artist opening" at a local library. I go out there to see how things went, knowing that I have a nice photo (again, I think so) but it won't win any prizes. That would be even more stupid to think anyone would like my work. I walk in, and noticed that there's not as many images submitted as last year, to start. I take a look around, noting that some of the shots look pretty good, and some are just "formulaic" in their approach to the subject. Also, I take much notice about how crappy some of the matting and framing is. It looks like a kindergartner did them, or someone with mental problems. In sort, some of these suck. I also see an image by someone I don't care for, because she's one of these "I bought a camera, so I'm a photographer" people (you know the type). I shrugged it off, and moved on. I then ran into "P" who told me she was glad I submitted something (I purposely didn't tell her I was submitting anything). She then moved off to talk to someone else, and I turned to on of the other display areas to see more photos.

And to my shock and amazement, I see an image from "K"!! I can't believe it! Of all the fucking nerve!! Up until last week she didn't even know about this, and now she's got stuff in the show!! She must have went out and shot something really fast and got it ready. I guess it's my fault, because I mentioned this show, but I never told her much about it. But the nerve of her. What a bitch. As I stand there in shock, I actually see her and the previously-noted person I hate looking at the submissions. Well, before she can see me, I turn around. There's no way I can face her after this backstabbing she gave me (typical how women seem to do that).

Well, as with last year's losing to shitty photos, I got pissed off and left. I don't think I was there for ten minutes. I got int he car, and drove off, fuming and getting more pissed off by the minute. How DARE she do something like that, and also how can this group even call this a photo exhibition when they let craptastic and shoddy matting/framing be accepted? Again, like last year, NO MORE!!! I dont' even want to hear about this event again. In fact, I don't want to hear about any photo exhibitions.

I never found out where my photo will be hanging for the next month, and I don't really care. When it comes time to pick it up, it's just gonig to sit there. Since I don't know where it is, how can I pick it up? And what the fuck will I do with it once I have it back? Last year's photos are sitting gathering dust in a corner. I entertained the thought it going and picking it up, and smashing it right in front of the people. I mean, I don't care about it, so who can say anything if I destroy my own work?

And as to "K"? Fuck her (figuratively). I want nothing to do with her, nothing to do with her place of employment (the lab where I got my stuff printed) again. Bitch.

So ther moral of the story? Don't get involved in anything, and never talk to anyone. Keep all your thoughts and ideas to yourself, because someone will steal them. Trust no one.

Banned in (Not) Boston

2008-09-23T13:27:00.003-04:00

If you don't get the title, you're not old enough. Try and Google it for the answer.

Today I got banned from a group on a photo sharing site. And man, am I upset about it.

Well, not really. Actually, not at all.

The person who runs the forum is a real narcissist, and someone who flaunts his monetary status to all. He looks down upon others less fortunate, and does not suffer criticism - or just plain observations negative to his opinions - at all. He has stated in the past how he will not "take my big fat wallet" into places, because he was not treated like a god. He recently stated that he was "used to the Hilton" and not "roughing it" in a Holiday Inn. I'm sure you see a pattern.

He runs his forum with an iron fist. If you stray off topic by a vowel or consonant, he closes down the thread. People who disagree with him disappear, just like in Stalinist Russia. And now it happened to me. Here's why, and you will see that I am completely innocent.

A person posted an Off Topic thread about their browser. I replied - with the sarcasm I am known for - that they angered the "God" of the forum, and he will come and smite you. It was pretty funny.

So this morning I get a message from our antagonist. Here is the message:

"Do you have a problem with the way I run the forum?"

I replied:

"I was being sarcastic.

Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes on any of the *******-sponsored forums knows that you come down hard on people who post things not photography related.

You can run your little forums however you see fit; with either a heavy hand or light touch. It means nothing to me.

It may come as a shock to you, but there are many of us who are on forums for "the heck of it" to read what others say about photography. And we don't live and breath what one person's view contains.

I can quite easily quit your little forum because - in the real world outside of cyberspace - neither it nor you matter to me. I'm here to read what others say, possibly learn something, possibly help others to learn. But I don't life and breath it, and I don't blindly follow people. And I'm sarcastic.

So I guess if you don't want people like me in your little internet fiefdom, you should ban us "casual" readers/posters. I'm too old to worry about little things like this."

So a few hours later, I get a message saying I'm banned, and another message from our antagonist:

"As you wish...you are banned. And banned from any and all ******* activity."

I then penned (can you say "penned" when using a computer? Hmm...) a reply...

"You know, you just proved the point of a lot of people. You have too big of an ego, and can't take criticism or just plain observations.

You inquired as to whether I had a problem with the way you ran the forum, and I replied in a succinct manner - I don't care how you run it. It's your forum. And because you didn't like what I wrote in a personal message to you, you banned me. I did not "wish" for it, as you state. I said if you didn't like people of my kind, you should ban us. So you are being prejudiced and narrow-minded towards people who don't have your mindset. Oh yeah, and since I'm not a rich know-it-all, you hate me because I'm poor as well. Figures.

Of course, in all the forums I am on via this vast internet, you run yours more heavy-handed than anyone. Every other forum allows "semi" off-topic things, as long as they don't get out of control. I run five such forums in the science discipline. But that's not the point.

Have fun in your little world that has no concept of humor or relaxation. Of speaking the truth and hearing the truth.

I know I will have fun blogging about you and your treatment of people. I rarely talk about people beneath my social and mental status, but I can, and will.

Heh. Whatever. Life goes on. For some of us who work to live."

Well, turns out that he blocked me, and my message can't get delivered via the site's message program. Now, if I really cared, I could email him directly, but why bother? He and his type have major psychological issues, and will never admit their shortcomings or that they have a problem, even though people around them can see it plainly.

I just wrote this because I find the whole thing funny. The antagonist of this piece must be a small, insecure little man, as evidenced by his attitude. Some may feel sorry for him, but because I feel nothing, I could care less what he does, or what happens to him. He is to me what Orwell called a "non-person."

So there you go, dear readers. The story about how I was "Banned in Boston."

(I purposely kept the real names of the forum, the group, and other things that can be recognized anonymous, because "mr. antagonist" is more than happy to sue anyone he thinks wrongs him.)

Not Again

2008-09-21T11:52:00.000-04:00

Crap. Rats.

Fall is here. It arrived a few minutes ago. Which means stupid, ugly, crappy winter isn't far behind. Can I just sleep until next May?

I hate all seasons except summer.

Recommendation Rescinded

2008-08-18T15:52:00.002-04:00

Optec, Inc. Do not do business with them. If you have done so in the past, I think you should stop. If you haven't, then don't start. Nothing good will come of it.

"What's going on?" you may ask. Well, glad you did.

A few months ago the company - owned and operated by Jerry Persha since it's inception back in the late 1970's - was bought by an ex-employee of his. Now, Jerry could have declined to sell, but sell the company he did.

Almost immediately the changes began. People were let go, and this guy brought in his own people. I had stopped by a month ago, and there was a strange person sitting at my friend Ron's desk (Ron is the head of the manufacturing and machining there). I saw two others I didn't know, and since I was in suddenly unfamiliar territory, I beat a hasty retreat.

I know that when a new boss/owner comes in changes are inevitable. I used to work in the retail business, and that happened all the time.

For part of his "payment" Jerry only comes in a few days a week, and has given up all say in the running of his former company. In fact, at the end of the year, he will be out completely.

So today, my friend Ron calls. He's been fired.

Yep, you read that correctly. Fired.

Fired from a job he's had since Optec put in a machine shop. There was no machine shop before Ron was there. Ron single-handedly did the programming of the mills, lathes, and other equipment that manufactured the Optec line of goods.

It's quite a shock. But my Dad told me that the new owner was probably planning on doing this all the time, to get rid of anyone from when Jerry owned the business. And after thinking about it, he's right.

This clown that owns it now used to be, like I said, a former employee of Jerry's. He left of his own volition because he couldn't stand the way Jerry ran things (Jerry was a stickler for doing things "his way" and this guy didn't like that). So he's probably holding a grudge, even though he quit. So now that he's got the company away from Jerry, he's going to run it as he thinks it should be run. And that means getting rid of anything from the past.

And I dont' know how smart that is. I've heard through the grapevine that their sales have been waaay down. And why not? People don't know this new owner. They've dealt with Jerry and Ron for decades. And now some new person comes in? I know I wouldn't trust him.

So there you have it. I will not recommend that anyone who needs astronomical, visual, or any other types of equipment of the like buy from Optec. Shop elsewhere.

So anyone out there need a journeyman tool & die maker? Someone with over 20 years experience? I know someone for you.

(And oh yeah.... anyone need a photographer? I'm available).

Wedding Bells!

2008-06-30T09:54:00.002-04:00

No, not mine. Are you insane? Sheesh!

No, my friend Sasha is getting hitched in August. She's a fellow (can you say "fellow" when talking about a woman?) photographer, and does waaay more in the way of weddings than I do.

I first congratulated her, and then asked if she needed a photographer for her own wedding, or was she going to shoot it. Later I got to thinking that most - if not all - of her friends - are photographers. What will that look like at the wedding, with every guest and person in the wedding lugging cameras around. :)

But anyways, congrats Sasha and Tony.

If you want to, you can read her blog about it.

One Hundred Years

2008-06-30T07:27:00.001-04:00

On this date 100 years ago, there was a "shot heard 'round the world."

A drifting piece of space junk (we're talking natural "junk" here, because the space age hadn't started yet) wandered into our atmosphere and exploded over the Siberian tundra.

I won't write much more about it. I suggest heading over to Bad Astronomy to read what Dr. Plait has to say.

100 years ago today: KABLAM!!!!!

And you know what? It will happen again. We just don't know when. (hey, that rhymes!)

I'm in Stitches

2008-06-28T22:46:00.001-04:00

You ever get on a run of silly ideas and want to play with things? I am on that right now. And it all has to do with stitching things together.

I'm not talking about sewing or something like that. I'm "stitching" together photographs. Panoramas. Panos.

I made my first one a few weeks ago when we had a storm go through. I had read about how to shoot images to make a pan, but had never done it. So I figured "why not try one?" So I shot three or four images, took them off the camera and into the photo program, and voila! - a panorama. It was kind of easy, thanks to the software. The only thing I could think of to do different was the way to shoot the images in the first place. I mean, they turned out great, but if I had shot vertically instead of horizontally, I could have gotten more of the cloud detail of the storm higher.

So this evening we had a storm come through, and this was my chance. I went up to a local "lookout park" and watched the storm come in. I set the camera for the correct exposure, and proceeded to take ten images in vertical format, pivoting around and making sure I had enough overlap. I then took them home and let the computer "do its thing." It took a while (because the images are huge, and it takes a lot of CPU cycles to compute the information) but I got a really cool image.

My ultimate plan would be to do this at night under the stars (preferably during an aurora) but I don't think I could ever get the shot, due to the time needed for the exposures. See, the stars move from our vantage point, and taking their photo involves more than a "snapshot." It takes many seconds for each exposure, and I don't think there is any way to get all the shots and then align them. It might be an unrealistic goal right now.

So in the meantime, I'll stick with the daylight stuff. But at least I can say it's cool.

Atmospheric Turbulence

2008-06-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

Wow, if you didn't get out and look up this evening (only if you were living in my area) you missed a great sight - an isolated mature thunderstorm (cumulonimbus cloud) floating in the sky to the east of town.

I had went out to run up to the store, but this time remembered my camera. Which is a good thing that I did, because as I turned east onto the main road, I saw this amazing storm taking up a large part of my car's windshield. There was basically nothing else around except this huge storm cloud. I decided that the store could wait; I had to get a shot of this thing.

But where to go? I needed a nice semi-flat horizon so I could get the whole thing in the viewfinder of the camera. I headed east, and ended up in the parking lot of a local golf course. I had a perfect vantage point for the shot. I then proceeded to take a bunch of images at various settings, making sure I got it right. In several of the images an aircraft is visible as it flies towards the storm, but changes course before it gets there.

I got the photos, and then left for the store. When I got there, I called my brother (why use the cell phone when driving?) and he told me - according to radar -that the storm was over Ionia County dropping small hail at the time. I then called the local TV meteorologist I know (not WOODTV 8 - I wouldn't do anything for them even if they paid me) who told me there was nothing special about the storm, but the NWS was "watching it." And why not? There were other, smaller cells around, but this puppy was taking all the energy available and building up.

It's rare to get to see an isolated storm like this, and the clarity to see it as I did. I need to get to the NWs and find out just how big it was.

Here's the photograph.

Man, I love by job as a storm chaser/spotter and a weather geek.

Political Stupidity by Democrats, Especially Hillary Supporters

2008-06-01T13:17:00.003-04:00

Normally I stay away from politics, unless something is evil (like Mitt Romney) or I see something incredibly stupid by someone (or ones). The latest thing I saw that is INCREDIBLY stupid are some of the Clinton supporters.

But first a disclaimer: I am not a member of either party! I am not a republican nor democrat. I look at the individual candidate, make informed decisions, and then cast my vote. Clinton or Obama? Right now I don't care. McCain? Don't care. I am neutral.

So on to the stupidity of Clinton supporters (and some Obama people too)...

There have been rumblings in the democrat ranks along the lines of "if my candidate doesn't win the party nomination, I'll vote for McCain" or "I won't vote at all." That is SO STUPID. INSANELY STUPID.

Hey. Democrats!!! You want to wrest control of the White House and Congress from the Republicans, right? THEN SHAPE UP AND QUIT WHINING!!

By not backing whomever is your party's candidate, you are screwing up the best chance in a long time to win. It's said the democrats snatch defeat from victory, and this petty whining and squabbling is doing the same thing as you have in the past. YOU ALL NEED TO GROW UP.

So say Obama wins the nomination. I'm just saying. If the democrats TRULY wanted to win, EVERYONE would rally around Obama's candidacy. EVERYONE. Yes, that includes you Hillary people. The only way to win in November is to have a UNITED FRONT against the opponents, because they will use EVERY OPPORTUNITY to tear apart your party and poke holes in your beliefs. Unless you create a united front, you will lose.

I can't BELIEVE the idiotic stupidity of the democrats who say they won't vote, or vote for McCain, if their person isn't the democratic party candidate. INFANTS have better sense that you people. Dead, rotting animal carcases rotting along the side of the road have more sense than you.

If you want to win, you back WHOMEVER is the candidate. Otherwise YOU are the losers.

I have heard this more from the Hillary camp than the Obama camp. It seems that the people backing Obama have their heads set on their collective shoulders more securely than the Clinton people. You people have a chance to make history, to either put an African-American or a woman in the White House. Are you going to screw it up because you're acting like a spoiled brat?

Yeah, you probably will. Because I don't see a lot of smarts and intelligence out there in the DNC. And that will be your downfall.

You are causing your own problems, and you will have no one to blame but yourselves when November 5th comes along and McCain is President. You could have stopped it, but your bickering, whining, complaining, juvenile cry-baby antics cost you another election.

So have been warned. Shape up, or lose it all.

And when you DO lose, don't try to blame anyone else for YOUR MISTAKES!

I Can't Win

2008-05-24T08:32:00.000-04:00

It seems I just can't win, when it comes to some things.

It looks like it's going to be clear the whole weekend, so I reserved last night at the observatory so I could just go out, relax, and do some observing. Even take a few photos. But I was wrong.

I get out there to find one of the members opening one of the telescopes. He tells me he's there to help with a group tour. "What group tour," I say. Mostly because for one thing, I know I had the night reserved, and also because when groups make appointments to visit the observatory, I'm the one who sets it up. Well, apparently someone - who doesn't have the authority to do so - decided to let a group come out. This person didn't bother to check the observing calendar to see if anyone had reserved the place; they just decided it was okay to let a group come up.

So I grumble and complain under my breath while I'm getting my tripod and camera set up, and another club member comes up to help with the group, and he parks right in my way! I yell at him to move his car, and he looks at me like I'm insane. I tell him he's going to ruin my photograph with his car there, and he wants to know why. Why? Because your fracking car is in the way, you imbecile!! He reluctantly moves the car.

So I figure out where I need to set the camera, and now just wait until the time when the space station (ISS) flies over. While I'm waiting, another club member - but one I invited up - arrives. The imbecile member asks him why I'm so angry. Sheesh.

Well, to finish this rant, the station flies over, I get the picture, and then I go into the building and up into the dome to begin observing. I don't care about the others out there - they are interfering with my peace of mind; damaging my calm. And I came out there to be calm.

No wonder I resigned my positions in the club. Who wants to be the leader of a bunch of morons?

Today - But in the Past

2008-05-10T12:35:00.002-04:00

I was picking up some of my DVDs that had scattered around, and one title made be think back to a spring day twelve years ago. On this day, in 1996, I was sitting in a theater watching what I consider the "Best Comedy Film of the Year."

The movie? Twister.

I can't actually remember who I saw it with, but I remember going into the theater and trying to get a discount on my ticket because I was a storm chaser. I had my card from the NWS (National Weather Service) out to show the people, but they didn't care. So I got a ticket, walked into the theater, and waited for the film to start.

Which it did. And it was funny right from the first few minutes.

There were so many errors, in time, technology, and other areas the film was a laugh-riot. For supposedly having "experts" assist with the filming, the director and producers obviously didn't listen to them (which is typical for Hollywood, of course). In fact, some of the guys I knew who were the technical advisers publicly trashed the film, and distanced themselves from it.

Sure, the normal, uninformed public might not notice all the mistakes, but anyone with a small interest in tornadoes, weather, storm chasing, etc. would point out these inaccuracies in a second: which I did. Throughout basically the whole film. In fact, we were laughing so hard that we were told by the theater people to keep it quiet or leave, because other people were being bothered by us. Sure, because they believed everything in the film.

So I plan on watching this DVD today, and getting more laughs out of it.

Changes Have Happened

2008-05-07T17:27:00.000-04:00

Well, after nearly two years (and possibly more) of concern, and the threats of this previous January, I finally completed the decision I made last year May.

I resigned (nearly) all of my positions in my astronomy club.

Officially I was the President/CEO, but over the years I had accrued other "duties" that people were not willing to do, but had to be done. I was wearing so many hats, my head threatened to cave in. Here is a list (possibly not complete) of what I was doing for my astronomy club:

Officially - President, and webmaster (I designed the website years ago, so it's "mine.")

Unofficially - setting up monthly meetings (and sending out monthly postcard reminders of the meetings), doing publicity, maintaining and updating the membership database (and sending out renewal notices, welcome letters, etc), setting up public events, editor of the newsletter, sending out communications to the members for everything. I also had to listen to people bitch, and whine, and moan with others - who had the responsibility - didn't do what they promised they would.

There are supposed to be individuals who take care of all of these things. The club's Vice-President is also the chairman of the Programs Committee, and he's supposed to set up meetings, get speakers, do publicity for them, send out reminders, etc. The club's Treasurer is supposed to take care of all membership stuff, including the database and all mailings to members (where their membership is concerned). There is a Publicity Committee, but no one on it. The committee to take care of public events at the observatory has a chairman who doesn't do what he promises. The committee that oversees the observatory has a chairman who doesn't do what he promises. There is supposed to be an editor for the newsletter. There is supposed to be a Membership committee.

But none of this gets done, except by me. Well, not anymore. I've had it. It is now up to the people running the club to get these things done; I'm out. I will continue my membership, use the observatory, maintain the website. But that's it. Don't call me, I'll call you. I plan on not coming to meetings (if we have them - there aren't any scheduled), not coming to public nights at the observatory (or other places). I am going to be like 99.999999% of the membership in our club - I'm not doing to do a damn thing.

The board of directors - and the membership to a lesser extent - brought this on themselves. There's only so much you can expect someone to do before they burn out and need to get away. And now I've gotten away.

There are many reasons why I did this. Perhaps someday I will write about it.

Did The Earth Move For You, Baby??

2008-04-18T06:55:00.000-04:00

We had an earthquake last night!!! Well, about an hour and a half ago.

This is so cool. Now, if you live in an earthquake-prone area, you may not think it is "cool" but here in the Midwest it's rare. Now, there are fault lines around here, and there is the big New Madrid fault in Missouri, but it's been quiet for a long time.

No damage here, but there was some down where the epicenter was, in southern Illinois.

Few Updates

2008-04-17T12:40:00.002-04:00

Not much happening lately. Shot a wedding last weekend, and went to see an astronaut from NASA speak last night.

I'll post more later.

Stellar Distress

2008-03-29T07:25:00.000-04:00

Actually it should be "de-stress," but I'm doing a little play on words.

Last night I spent a few hours out at my astro club's observatory under the stars. It's always been a great place for be to go when I want to "get away" from everything, calm down, de-stress, and just relax.

I didn't call anyone to come out and observe with me, mainly for two reasons. One, I'm sick and tired of always having to be the one to call and say "want to go out?" I mean, if people were interested in doing things with me, wouldn't they be the ones calling? And second, I just wanted some time by myself, and not have to make conversation about anything - people, places, things, photography, science, etc. I just wanted to observe. I didn't even bring any music along with me; I just wanted solace.

I toured the sky. I observed nebulae, galaxies, and start clusters. I took a lot of time observing the planet Saturn, which was shining brightly in the eastern sky. The seeing was very good, and I marveled at the planet's rings (which are closing from our vantage point), the detail on the planet's clouds, and the pinpoints of light surrounding the pale, ringed apparition: it's moons.

I took some time away from the eyepiece to watch some travelers in our local area. The ISS (International Space Station) was making a bright, high pass overhead. I watched it for nearly it's whole pass; from the southwestern sky until it disappeared low in the northeast. Tonight it was the brightest object in the sky, and it had some traveling companions as well. Proceeding it (but much fainter) was the Progress supply ship, and bringing up the rear a few minutes later was the Automated Transfer Vehicle Jules Verne. As ISS was traversing the area next to the Big Dipper, Verne was rising in the southwest, taking the exact path of ISS. And as Verne traveled near the Dipper, it was even joined by another point of light journeying north to south: the satellite Lacrosse 4.

I ended my evening journey through the cosmos by sitting on the front steps and watching the constellation Orion slowly sinking in the southwestern sky, heralding the end of the winter season, and bringing the promise of warmer weather, the "realm of the galaxies" and the promise of seeing different wonders of the Universe.

Could I have experienced the same thing with people around? Possibly, but it wouldn't have been as personal.

There are times when it's good to be alone. This was one of them.

De-stress complete.

Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008

2008-03-18T18:03:00.001-04:00

Wow, that is news you never want to hear. Sad news; news that leads you to contemplation and remembrance.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke died today. For most people he's going to be best remembered as the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But to me, and others of his fans, he was so much more.

He was an author to be sure. He penned hundreds of books, both fiction and non-fiction. His fantastic writings in the mid 1940's predicted communication satellites, and today those satellites reside in an orbit around the earth commonly called "Clarke Orbits."

He was fascinated by everything, and he never lost that fascination. I had always hoped that somehow I would meet him, get to talk to him; heck even receive an email from him. But like with most things, this never happened. I don't know what I would have said to him; I might have been the giddy fanboy. I don't know. But his books meant a lot to me, and still do. Not just 2001, but Childhood's End, Sands of Mars, Songs of Distant Earth, A Fall of Moondust. Too many to mention here, but they all have special meaning to me.

In this day of crappy, meaningless science-fiction, Clarke's works were actually meant to make the reader think. No stupid "fantasy" stuff. No vampires, no dragons. Just "hard" sci-fi.

(But just try to find his work in the local bookstore. Only a few titles. The "modern" bookstore has thrown the "fantasy" books in with the actual science-fiction. Don't get me started on that.)

Clarke was a visionary... a critical thinker. And the world will be a lesser place now that he is gone.

Is the Universe about to Crash?

2008-02-29T12:55:00.009-05:00

I just read something about the "WWT" or "World Wide Telescope." Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? But evil might possibly be lurking behind the name. And it might cause the destruction of the known (and unknown) Universe.

Why? Because the "World Wide Telescope" is a product of Microsoft!!

Yes, that Microsoft. The company of bugs, errors, and hacker/virus attacks. The monopolistic company who has a (near) stranglehold on PC OS's.

(Yeah, unfortunately I have PC's. But only until I get some money, then I'm all about the Mac's)

Are we going to be the citizens of a buggy universe? Will hackers and virus writers attack the Bug Nebula? And will Microsoft themselves charge "upgrade prices" for new eyepieces? Or larger telescopes to see farther?

"Yes, you can see the detail in QSO 3c273. You just need the upgrade. That will be (insert large number of monetary units) for your license key."

"I'm sorry, but 'Windows to the Universe Genuine Advantage Validation Tool' has determined your Universe to be a pirated version. To receive a key to a genuine Universe, please click here."

And what happens if you are observing something important, and the stars disappear and the sky turns blue? That brings the phrase "Blue Screen of Death" to proportions no one wants to think about. And just how would we go about rebooting the Universe? Would there actually BE a ctrl-alt-del?

Yes, be afraid people. Your existence could end at any time. When Microsoft gets involved, the Window to the Universe will be unstable.

(this article © Kevin. All rights reserved)

The Great Frozen Lunar Eclipse Adventure

2008-02-22T14:25:00.003-05:00

The Great Frozen Lunar Eclipse Adventure
(or, how to lose feeling in your extremities while taking photos in the winter night)

It was a dark and snowy night. Well, it was semi-dark and while not actually snowing, there was a lot of snow on the ground. But it works for this story.

I had been looking forward to the February 20, 2008 total lunar eclipse for quite a while (last year, in fact). This was to be the last eclipse visible from my area until December of 2010, and while that’s only a couple of years away, it’s too long between eclipses. I had just gone through a longer drought than that, and it wasn’t pleasant. The lunar eclipse we had in March of 2007 was clouded out, and the one in August was nearly as bad; we had hazy, scummy skies at the lakeshore. So this was the last best shot for a while.

I spent the day trying to find a remote switch for my camera, among other things. But all events during the day lead up to the night.

Because it has been nearly permanently cloudy for over a month, I was sure no one had been up to the observatory (James C. Veen Observatory in Lowell, Michigan), so that meant the road probably hadn’t been plowed. In the past, this would not have been a problem, as a friend of mine cleared it off with his plow truck. However, the truck - a 1964 Toyota - finally died a horrible, lingering death last fall, so now there’s no free plow service. And we don’t even want to think how much a real plow service would charge for a .33 mile road and lot. No way.

The Clear Sky Clock for the observatory was indicating that it might be at least partly cloudy for the event, so I made plans to go up and shoot the eclipse through one of the telescopes. And that meant getting the road cleared off. After some phone calls, we got someone to go up and take care of it. I was getting all my stuff ready to go out there in the evening, when Ron called and said "I hope people appreciate this." It was a major pain (actually he said something not appropriate for kids) to clear the road. It was ice/snow/ice/snow - about two feet deep. They had to plow five feet, back up, then five feet more, etc. And then they couldn’t get the whole upper lot cleared, but there was enough for six or seven cars. Yeah, I guess we’d better appreciate it.

So I pack everything in the car: cameras (digital and film) and laptop, snow shovel (you never know), and road salt (again, because you never know) and headed out to the observatory. The skies as I left the house were crystal clear, and it looked to be a great, albeit cold, night.

As I’m driving towards the observatory, I notice something I don’t want to see: clouds. Sure, the moon was shining through breaks in the clouds, but there were clouds nonetheless. As I got closer and closer, the clouds got thicker and thicker. When I finally got to the bottom of the observatory drive, the whole sky was covered. This did not bode well for our hero. But the Clear Sky Clock had it “sort of cloudy” for the 8pm block, so I was hoping that it would clear out. I had a backup plan: I would wait around at the observatory until 9.30, and if it didn’t’ clear out I would race back to Grand Rapids to a church I know, as I’ve used their lit steeple for moon shots before. So on up the road I go. It is now 7.30pm.

I made it up fine, but was then glad for the shovel, because I had to then shovel my way to the door of the building. Remember, no one had been there since January. So I struggled to shovel a path through the previously mentioned two feet of ice/snow/ice/snow and cleared the steps. I then opened the door and went inside ten minutes later. And because it was still cloudy, I didn’t bother to bring in any of my equipment. Why haul it all inside if I can’t use it there, right?

I immediately turn the furnace up, so the library will get warm, and where I can go to warm up. I then ascend the stairs of the west dome to get everything uncovered and opened. Because of previous problems with the dome slit opening (the bottom shutter sticks to the top sometimes in the winter), I immediately tried to open the dome: yep, the shutters were stuck. And with the moon being high on the ecliptic, I needed the lower shutter to stay down. So I lowered the shutter to just above the rim, and went downstairs to the utility room to find tools. I found a hammer with a head falling off, and an old screwdriver, which I took up into the dome and proceeded to knock apart the shutters. After some straining, sweating, and cursing, the two pieces came apart! Hurrah!! I then opened the shutter, and as it was opening, I beheld a clear sky!! Yes, while I was working on the dome, the skies cleared out. I just hope they were clear all over (since I was looking northwest).

I then went over and flipped the switch to turn the dome, and guess what? The dome didn’t turn!! All the freezing and thawing had frozen the dome in place. I now had to - while working the motor switch - manhandle the dome back and forth. After a while I got it to go most of the way around, but it stuck just short of the position I needed it to be to get the moon in the telescope view. (the good news is, while turning the dome, I saw that it was indeed clear from horizon to horizon, and the full moon shone brightly into the dome.) I backed the dome around half way, climbed up on the desk, and as it came back around pulled as hard as I could until the dome moved past the position where I had to have it for the event. And even then, it wouldn’t go any farther north in that direction. There was much snow out on the roof leaning against the dome. I was lucky to get it to move that far.

All of this took about one half hour. It was now 8.15pm.

I then turned on the power to the telescopes, uncovered them, and went back down to my car to haul in my gear. I then received a call from one of the other observers who was watching the eclipse from the warm comfort of his living room window. He asked if I saw any shadowing yet, which I told him I did. The partial umbral phase wasn’t supposed to begin (first contact) until 8.43, but as the moon got closer to the umbra, there was definite darkening of its leading edge.

I attached my digital camera to the telescope I was going to use for the evening, a four-inch Takahashi refractor. It is perfect size to allow the entire disc of the moon to fill the frame. Our other telescope in the dome, a sixteen inch, is too powerful for this situation. I then rotated the camera to the correct position, centered the image, and attempted to focus.

Focusing a digital SLR is extremely different than focusing a film camera, primarily because the focusing screen isn’t really designed for manual work. It’s rare for a photographer with a digital camera to manually focus his images all the time. While it takes just seconds to focus using my film camera, this new digital took a bit of doing. And still, to be sure, I took a few shots of the moon, removed the card from the camera, and loaded the images into my computer to check the focus. After three attempts, I got acceptable focus. Now to wait for the main event.

I wasn’t going to take a lot of photos of the partial phases of the eclipse, because I have seen many eclipses over the years, and have many photos of the non-totality phases. I just wanted totality and near totality. Heck, I have a whole series of images from the August 1989 eclipse where I shot every five to ten minutes for the whole eclipse. Believe me; I’ve got partial phase images!

During this time, I’ve been receiving a few phone calls from other people about the event, and then one of the other club members came up to check it out with me. He went up in the dome while I warmed up a bit. I then got a call from my friend Sharon and her sister Sally, who missed the turn to the road and needed a bit of direction clarification. I soon had them pointed up the observatory drive. They arrived and brought their cameras in, and I showed them up to the dome. The girls hadn’t been here before, so they were taking it all in. I showed them the moon through the scope (albeit through the viewfinder of my camera, but still…) and they got their stuff ready to shoot.

To fast forward a bit, there was swapping of cameras for a while as all three of us took turns shooting photos as the moon got closer and closer to totality.

When totality arrived, I took a couple of images, and then let them have a go, and then told them we needed to go outside. When we walked out the door, it was a different sky than when they arrived, as the formerly bright full moon was replaced by a dim, reddish full moon. The surrounding stars, once dim or invisible because of moonlight, now blazed forth in their glory. I took a few minutes to point out some constellations for them with the laser, and then got to work on my next task: a wider-angle shot of the eclipse.

Just a note on the eclipse itself. We saw a hint of turquoise at times, and during mid-totality it seemed to be darker then the previous eclipses. Must have been stuff in the atmosphere causing it. Definitely darker than the January 2000 eclipse, when I previously froze taking photos.

I put my lens back on my camera, took it downstairs, put it on the tripod, and went back outside. I had been thinking of how I could get an “artsy” image of the eclipse (my idea from the summer one was to get the eclipsed moon right next to the lighthouse on the lake, but it didn’t turn out), so I went around to the back side of the observatory where I could see the moon hovering above the dome. Perfect spot. I then proceeded to take a few photos, bracketing the exposures and painting the dome with a flashlight to get it to show up in the images. I did this for a few minutes, and when I really couldn’t feel my fingers and toes, trudged through the deep snow back to the building, and told the girls they could go back up and shoot through the scope more, as I was going to warm up in the library. I did that until I could feel things again, and then went up to the dome, joining the girls as they were having fun taking shot after shot. I took a few more as we got halfway out of the eclipse, and then left them to shoot what they wanted.

We took a break for a while to warm up again, and I showed them the AV presentation, and we chatted a while about astronomy, photography, etc. We then went back up to the dome, where the un-eclipsing moon was getting brighter and brighter, and they decided to pack it up and go home. As we packed up, I moved the scope over and showed them Saturn through the main scope, and the Mars, and then the Orion Nebula. Geeked was about the right word to describe how they felt, and they promised themselves they were going to come back again and again and see more things, and photograph more things.

I closed the dome, covered the instruments, and we took our equipment out to our respective vehicles. I closed up the observatory, followed them down the drive, and went home. It was just after midnight.

Arriving home, I lugged my stuff in the house, transferred the images from the camera to the laptop, and then took it downstairs and worked on the images while I warmed up. After about a half-hour I could feel all my toes and fingers, so I finished with the photos for the night, uploaded a couple to some websites, emailed to people, and finally went to bed (a nice, warm, toasty bed) just before 3.00am. A full, rich (and cold) day.

Now I can't wait for December 2010, and the next eclipse.

The Sad Death of Instant Photos

2008-02-10T08:35:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I didn't heard this on Friday when word got out.

Polaroid Closing Instant Film Factories

Wow. I remember when it was all the rage for people to use Polaroid cameras. We still have a SX-70 that my Dad got when it was new. As kids, we thought it was really cool to take a picture, and then watch with held breath as the image slowly appeared on the small, milky square.

We also had the regular Polaroid cameras, where you had to pull out the tab and picture, wait sixty seconds, and then peel it apart, but the "magic" of the SX-70 was so awesome!

Later Polaroid cameras used the same type of film, and I learned (in photo school) to manipulate the images as they were developing, using pencils, pens, and the like. We did some really artsy stuff back then. I remember using Polaroid backs when doing photo shoots as well.

But in this ever-increasing digital age, "instant film" isn't really needed. We have the instant gratification on the LCD screen on the back of the camera.

Ah, Polaroid Instant Film. You had a good long ride. Rest in Peace.

I Got a Bad Feeling About This...

2008-01-30T15:42:00.000-05:00

And no, it's nothing to do with Star Wars. It's about a planetarium light show.

Around here, we have a planetarium, named after a local astronaut (now deceased, unfortunately). What is also unfortunate is that they don't really do anything to pull in large crowds, and make science available to the general public. They are more interested in pandering to the rich people in town. And they, like the museum they are located at, charge exorbitant prices to see shows and exhibits. Because of this, they never have crowds. Also, because they never do anything that is popular.

One of the things that is popular are laser light shows. Now, they don't do anything to further the study and appreciation of astronomy and the sciences, but they bring some (usually) good music so the (mainly) stoners of the area can go, spend $7 each, and sit wasted for an hour. Their standby shows are Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. They have done some Led Zeppelin in the past, along with crappy music like Radiohead and Creed.

What I have said to them for years is "hey, do a Rush light show." There is a huge Rush fan base here in west Michigan, and they will have no problem selling tickets. Heck, all they would have to do is put the 2112 album to music and effects. It's perfect. And for years, nothing.

Now I hear that "sometime in 2008" there is a Rush show on the schedule. I made it quite clear that I would like to "be in on it" (I do have many contacts down there, and have "hung out" at the planetarium for years). Suddenly I see today that on February 16th there is a Rush show, featuring "a new lineup of Rush’s greatest hits." This scares me.

Why does it scare me? Because the "person" in charge of the production is frickin' 20-something years old!! He doesn't even like the music. How is he qualified to pick what songs should be used? I'm afraid he's just going to go for the popular ones, like Tom Sawyer, Spirit of Radio, and Closer to the Heart. Those are great songs, but probably not the best for a laser light show.

I was thinking Fly by Night, Countdown, an edited Cygnus X-1 (to name a few). But I am 99.999999% sure that these songs won't be used.

And when the show fails to bring in audiences, they will use their standard "it's not the right show for this area." And all because they themselves screwed it up. Which is too bad, because it could be glorious.

We're All Gonna Die!!!

2008-01-25T09:42:00.000-05:00

A ginormous asteroid is going to slam into the Earth next week!!!

Oh wait... that's patently WRONG!!!

Head on over to SpaceWatch for the real story, and a link to Phil Plait's video.

Checkmate

2008-01-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

I read earlier today that Bobby Fischer passed away. No matter how eccentric or strange he was these past years, he will always be the person I remember who popularized chess and brought it to the world stage when he defeated Boris Spassky in 1972.

I didn't realize until today that I learned chess at the same age he did - 6 years old. I never got to the Grand Master level that he did, but I was a fairly good player. Unfortunately I haven't played in years, because there's no one to play with.

Thanks Bobby. You gave me a game I was good at.

Mitt Romney = Evil

2008-01-11T12:20:00.001-05:00

It's too bad "truth in advertising" doesn't extend to the candidates and their typical rhetoric.

Romney makes these statements that he's "from Michigan" and "knows how Michigan feels." How can he, when he hasn't lived here in years?

And backing some of Bush's ideas? That's a strike against him as well.

I've talked to quite a number of people my age and younger (I'm mid-40's) and for us, Romney's name means nothing. Heck, Milliken was governor here when I was a kid.

Romney speaks of "change" and "getting rid of the status-quo" in Washington, but he's just the same - another life-long politician who's in it for himself, and not the public.

Personally, to me, he looks like one of those slick used car salesmen that you can't trust at all. And since he's a lawyer, it makes it doubly sure you can't trust him.

I just wish the candidates would tell the truth, and not make stuff up.

And before I get flamed, I'm not a democrat. I remain neutral, and will vote who I think will do the job, not because someone tells me to. That's the problem with both parties. They demand people to vote a certain way, and if you don't do what they want, you are evil.

Again, it looks like this election - overblown as it is already - is shaping up to being "pick the lesser of two evils."

Again. Mitt Romney is evil. He cannot be trusted. Do not listen to him.

(this message brought to you by me, a non-committed individual with no party affiliations, who votes his own mind).

The True Meaning

2007-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

A New Rant Today. Can You Believe It?

2007-12-24T17:23:00.000-05:00

And it's the same old story. People can't get their facts straight. And this time I'm going to call them out by name.

If you've read my "stories" on here before, you know how I have ranted against the media when it comes to science and scientific accuracy. And most - if not all - of my rants have been focused on one television station: WOOD TV8 here in Grand Rapids. Not only are they the "National Enquirer" and "Weekly World News" of broadcasting, their weather department is a joke as well.

(In fact today they made an intern do the weather in the morning and noon, because the actual paid people probably whined about working today. So let's let someone who isn't even a meteorologist do the forecast. Oh wait... they do that all the time. Not all of their paid weather staff are meteorologists.)

But instead of being nameless (and leaving it up to the reader to dig for the info) today I'm calling one of them out.

Bill Steffen. You Are On Notice

Tonight on their 5pm news, he said three times that there will be a big full moon in the sky tonight,

That's WRONG!!!!

You hear that Bill? YOU ARE WRONG!!!

The full moon was last night, December 23rd. At 8.15pm EST exactly. There are numerous places to get this information, but apparently this fool can't be bothered. You can find it online, in books, and there are computer programs that will tell you (I use a great program called "Moonrise.")

Their tagline on their station for the weather is "accurate forecasting." Well, it isn't very accurate when they can't even get established information correct, let alone the weather (they are 3rd in accuracy locally behind the other two stations).

I can't write about this on my astronomy club's blog, because there I have to be the "voice of reason" and can't have personal vendettas. But here I can.

I urge everyone to boycott WOOD TV8, and send them emails, letters, even call them and tell them they are doing a disservice to the public, and they should be ashamed.

Shiny Goodness - and Pain

2007-12-19T17:29:00.000-05:00

So cool, a present for myself.

I get (for free) an upgrade to a great software package because a few years ago the company bought one of my photos. So yesterday the big upgrade came in the mail.

I go out and get it from the box, turn and trip over my own big feet. The result? A dislocated finger on my right hand. And it's the important finger: the one I flip people off with.

So I go to the med station, and they say it's not broken, just dislocated. In fact, when it happened, I popped it back in when I grabbed the finger, spouting expletives into the crisp winter air. So it hurts like a bitch.

But last night I got the software up and running, and it's really cool. But typing's a bitch.

Why does everything happen to my right hand? When I was a kid, I got the ring finger slammed in a door. Then a few years later, playing football, I got the pinky bent backward and broken. Then, many years later, while cutting a mat for a photograph, I put the cutter (razor) through my hand. Oh yeah, I've also dislocated my thumb on that hand. But now how can I give people the bird if that finger is taped to the next one? Is there such a thing as a single-hand-double-bird?

Power and Popularity

2007-12-07T00:55:00.001-05:00

Before I get into the subject matter, I have to say right now Dell is on my "cool" list. They fixed my laptop in two days. I sent it out last Friday, and it came back Wednesday. Had a bad hard drive and a bad board. Now to load everything on it.

Okay, on to the subject...

It is a known fact in this world that the people that hold the power (be it in actuality or implied) have the friends and popularity. And once said power is taken away, the "friends" and the popularity go as well. What does that have to do with me, who has neither? Well, in about 30 days I'll have less than neither, I'm guessing.

I'm considering it quite seriously to step down and resign all my positions in my local astronomy club except for the website (which is my baby: I designed it, built it, kept it warm in the winter and cool in the summer). My term as President is up in January, and the other positions I "hold" are mine by the simple reason that no one else wants to do them (or do anything, for that matter).

So if I leave it all behind, what will I be leaving, you ask?

A position on the board of directors for the corporation; the officership; editor and publisher of the newsletter; publicity; database management; media relations; membership affairs; correspondence; public event scheduling, and meetings and programs. Oh yeah, and the website.

I currently do ALL of this. And in reality, I'm only supposed to be President. People have become lazy, and are letting me do this because they are slugabed bastards. "In the good old days" as the saying goes, we had separate people for each of those jobs aforementioned. But not anymore. And I'm sick of doing it.

I'd like to take at least a year off. A year to kick back, de-stress, concentrate on my wellbeing, do some casual observing, photography, etc. I don't want to have to worry about meetings, programs, newsletters, etc etc etc etc.

And I know that if I go ahead and do this, I will be diminished. I'm sure that - once I don't have a position of power, the individuals who "hang around" me (whether often or rare) will fall by the wayside.

Do I care? I don't really know. I've been alone so long, fending for myself, that I don't know if I would miss anything or anyone.

Perhaps if I were left alone I could find my tail (I'm supposedly called "Eeyore" by some people).

A Spanking, a Spanking!!

2007-11-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

No, not a skit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Unfortunately it's real life, and it's happening in Massachusetts. Proposed by someone named Kathleen Wolf.

The idiots in the government, along with some really bad idiots in the public sector (see the name above), want to outlaw corporal punishment completely. Even at home.

Supposedly it's to stop child abuse. But it's not. It's just a way for a small minority of religious zealots to get their way by abusing the rights of the citizens of this country.

My brother and I were spanked when we were kids, and we both grew up fine. We weren't beaten - just punished when we did something wrong. In fact, I remember being hit with a switch once, that i had to go out and get myself. And you can be sure that I never did anything bad enough to get hit with that again.

There's nothing wrong with spanking your kids. I don't agree with child abuse, and I think that people that abuse their kids should be put to death slowly. But to take away the right of a parent to discipline their child is just wrong. What's next, you can slap their hand when they are reaching for a hot pan on the stove.

The government needs to start realizing that the citizens of this country DO NOT WANT THEM MEDDLING IN THEIR (citizen's) AFFAIRS! Make laws, but keep your noses out of a person's private business.

To quote a young River Tam: "People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome."

So hey Massachusetts! Keep your paws out of our houses!!! What's next for your stupid state? Teaching Intelligent Design in schools? Will it never stop?

Comets and more comets

2007-10-24T23:33:00.000-04:00

Tonight was a milestone for me. I saw another comet. Now, that might not be big news for some, but it is for me.

Tonight I observed the comet 17P/Holmes, a small comet located in the constellation Perseus. This was an unplanned observation, but one I couldn't turn down. See, normally this comet is way below "normal" visibility. It takes a large telescope to see it. However, yesterday the comet brightened unexpectedly by a factor of 500,000 times! It went from "need a big scope" to "naked eye" visibility in a super outburst rarely seen. Sure, comets have outbursts, but nothing like this.

So I went out and was able to see it easily in the northeastern sky. It looked starlike, and to the uninformed they wouldn't notice anything different, but I had a sky chart for the comet, and it was easy to see that the constellation Perseus had an "extra" star.

So I got to see it, and I took a few photos. And the big news for me - it was the fiftieth (50th) comet I've seen in my years as an astronomer.

Cool, eh?

Feelings About Space

2007-10-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

(Note: Over on Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy site, some people responded to Phil's blog post about NASA mission and the shuttle. On the whole I tend to agree with Phil, but this time I have to take my own stand on the feelings about NASA, the shuttle, ISS, etc. So I posted this over there, and - since I wrote it - I am putting it here on my blog as well)...

Say what you will, but from a standpoint of “showing off” the wonders of the space program (and astronomy), there’s nothing like pointing out ISS (and the shuttle at times) going overhead to the public, especially at star parties. They are just amazed that you can see things like that.

And truthfully, no matter now many times I’ve seen ISS and the shuttles pass overhead in the night sky, I go out and look every time (unless it’s cloudy).

Some might think it’s “fluff,” but it’s also a teaching experience for the public. And any way that we can educate the public as to the wonders of science (instead of that other crap) — well, it’s a benefit.

I can tell you, in all the times we (in our astronomy club) talk about the shuttle and the station, not one individual is bored. They hang on our every word. The public is fascinated, no matter what the media says.

And personally, I feel just like a little kid again every time I see a launch, landing, docking, or even the shuttle and/or ISS going over my head. And if, after all these years, I don’t lose the excitement and wonderment, why should be be anything if not proactive in sharing it with the public?

Last week I saw the film In the Shadow of the Moon, and saw images of kids lying on the floor in front of the television watching Neil Armstrong stepping onto the lunar surface. It brought to my mind that I was doing the exact same thing at the same time as those kids on the screen - I was lying on the floor of my uncle’s house with my cousins watching the drama unfold from 240,000 miles away.

And even though it’s been nearly forty years, I haven’t lost the interest, wonderment, and amazement of space and astronomy.

So remember, no matter what you think about a certain part of the space program personally, don’t forget the underlying love you have for it in general.

To the Moon

2007-10-16T17:29:00.000-04:00

I just got back from watching the documentary film "In the Shadow of the Moon" about the Apollo program to send humans to the lunar surface.

It... was... excellent.

It makes a fine companion piece to the Al Reinart film "For All Mankind."

I'm going to see about sending an email to the people who made the movie, telling them how much I loved it, and hoping that there will be a multi-disc DVD of the film soon.

Go out and see it if you can.

It was 60 Years Ago Today....

2007-10-14T17:12:00.000-04:00

The clear skies over southern California was ripped by a small, orange machine, and a sound never heard before issued forth from the cerulean skies... Boom!!!

The Sound Barrier was exceeded.

Congratulations to Chuck Yeager, the first. And just to prove he's still got it, just last month he went Mach 1 in an F-16.

(Tip of the supersonic hat to Phil Plait, who mentioned it at his Bad Astronomy site.)

So I Figured as Much

2007-09-20T11:24:00.000-04:00

I gave this a few days so I could try and be calm and rational about this. Heh, we'll see.

As I predicted, my photos didn't get any recognition at the show. I still believe that it's because the subject of the prints was literally above the heads of the judges. Plus, looking back, the stars visible in the images might have been mistaken for dust spots.

I went to the unveiling, and I only asked my friend Sasha to attend, because she's about the only one who understands my feelings towards my work. So I get there, find her, and we look around. My photos are on a side table with some other pictures, as they didn't have enough of the presentation panels for all the images. Eh, whatever.

Many of the submitted images were very good, but there were some that just weren't my taste. However, what I alluded to actually happened: of the top six pictures, one was of a kitty-cat, and one was of a frog. So of course, I got kind of pissed off. But it's my fault, because I had actually started to think that I might have a chance at someone liking my work. So I got kind of down in my attitude, and just moped around there for about another half hour and then left. Sasha said she only had to hit me three times - or was it four? (She knows).

So the prints are hanging in a local township office for a month during the show, and then I can pick them up. And since I have no use for them, the will go in the back of the closet, possibly to not see the light of day for a long long time.

I don't think I will allow myself to be talked into doing anything like this again.

I Really Did It

2007-09-17T17:59:00.000-04:00

Well, tomorrow night is the big reveal, and I'll see if other people think my photos are any good. Last night I did get an email from the show official, thanking me for my contributions, and letting me know that they are part of the show (106 images in all for the show).

They also said that during the show opening tomorrow night, there will be a "People's Choice" vote for the images. Heh, maybe I should get a bunch of people I know to show up and vote for my stuff. I had invited Sasha and Tony to come, and I know a couple of others who will be there because they are part of the event. So there's a few votes. But I purposefully didn't tell anyone I did this. Mainly because A) like I said, I don't think I'm any good, and B) I don't really want the attention. So on the off chance I do win something, no one's likely to know except me. I don't even know if I will tell my family. And even though I put a price on my prints, I seriously doubt anyone will want to buy them. So when the show closes in another month, I will have two framed enlargements that I can set in my closet and collect dust.

Oh well, just over 24 hours will tell...

So I Did It

2007-09-10T11:42:00.000-04:00

I broke down and actually submitted some photographs to a local show/contest.

I was told a few months ago that there was going to be a photo contest in the surrounding townships to "explore the beauty of nature around you." People were encouraged to "discover the hidden gems of nature in your backyard."

Well, the person who told me of this thought that my photographs of the aurora (northern lights) over the observatory would be perfect: it's in a township, and it's nature. How much more do you need?

Well, I said yes, but didn't really mean it.

Fast forward to the last week of August. For reasons that are too painful to go into, I decided to enter this show. But I had one possibly insurmountable obstacle: where were the negatives for photos shot nearly six years ago? I have a terrible filing system - no system. All of my negatives are in three big boxes (you know, the kind you get 10 reams of copy paper in?) and that means I have to go through them. It took a while, but I eventually found the negatives. Now I had to get some good prints of them.

The only place to go is the local pro lab - Corporate Color/Prolab Express. So here's my daily journey to getting my negatives made into prints for the show...

August 30 - Drive out to the new place where CC/PE is (even father away from my house, but better than downtown). I had the negatives to my friend Sasha who works there, so they can be scanned for printing. I am having four negatives scanned at high resolution, and small prints made of each for color comparison. They will be ready after the Labor Day Holiday.

September 4 - Back out to CC/PE to pick up the CD-rom of the scans (plus the original negatives and prints). Now I need to take them back home, make sure I don't need to adjust anything, and get the back out to the lab. I can do it all via the interweb tubes, but wish to make this personal. Because I have some questions, Sasha agrees to help me that evening with the scans. She does, but ends up taking the CD-R home to work on them. I already have the copies on my laptop, so I will try my hand as well.

September 5 - After I put the touches on the scanned images, I upload them to my account at CC/PE, but then I drive all the way out there to do the actual order. Sasha thinks I should just get some 4x6 copies to double-check the color saturation, which I do. Meanwhile I ask around about mounting and framing, and a few places want nearly $150 for each print. Mind you, I'm currently unemployed. I can't afford anything like that.

September 6 - Drive back out to the lab again. I look at the prints with the help of Sasha, Becky, and Kathy, and decide on the two I will have made into enlargements. I order them via the computer, and come home. Two hours later I don't have the confirmation email, so I check my account - oops! I never hit the "submit" button, so the order was never processed. I quickly rectify the situation.

September 7 - Back out to the lab to pick up the 8x12 enlargement prints. They look okay. Sasha, Becky, & Kathy think they are great; sure winners. Kathy gives me suggestions on naming the images. I thank them, then go and find out about mounting/framing. To save money, I have the prints mounted at one place, and I purchase a frame at another one. I then take everything home and proceed to put them together: Clean the glass, make sure there is no dust on the glass or prints; glass in the frame; then print; then fasten it all in the frame.

All weekend - Worry about why I am doing this.

September 10 - Deliver the prints to the Township Hall. It's out of my hands now.

Judging will be later this week, and an "artist meet and greet" next week Tuesday, when the winners will be announced. Also, the top twelve images will be made into a 2008 calendar.

Now, because I don't think my stuff is any good, I'm really not sure why I entered this show. I really have no great expectations (please, no Dickens comments) about my changes for recognition. The main reason is that while my photos do show the "natural beauty" of the area, because it is about astronomy, it might be (literally) over the heads of the judges - who are all local professional photographers. They might not like it because they can't understand it.

So that is okay, I guess. But if I find out that I lost to someone who took a snapshot of a deer in their yard, or a rock, or a duck, I'll be pretty pissed. We'll find out in just over a week.

Eclipse Observing

2007-08-31T14:24:00.000-04:00

I know this is a few days late, but what the heck.

Tuesday morning's eclipse is now a few days past. It was a really great show, especially out over Lake Michigan.

My brother and I left around 4.30am to get to Grand Haven pier, in order to have a nice, flat horizon in which to see the eclipse. Plus, I had a thought about some great photo opportunities.

We had to walk about a half-mile from where we parked to the pier (because there are closed gates all over the place at night - you would think they were trying to keep people out), and just as we got to the beach the moon because fully immersed in the umbra of the Earth's shadow. It was a darker eclipse than I had seen in previous years, and the cameras came out. While we were shooting, there were some interesting side notes.

We weren't the only ones there. There were other people on the pier to see the eclipse, and some of them had cameras. We talked with one woman for quite a while, and she was hoping to get some nice images. She was from the Grand Rapids area, and had been to the observatory years ago, and promised she would be going out there again.

I also ran into Steve, who has been a frequent visitor to the observatory in the past few months. He had thought the pier would be an excellent place to see the eclipse, so he came out to hang out on the beach. I spent a little time explaining eclipse physics to him, and hopefully he came away with some good information.

As it got lighter I wanted an image of the moon next to the lighthouse, so I left my brother and walked out past the one lighthouse to the end of the pier. There, I was able to get a shot of the fully-eclipsed moon - which was dimming in the rising light of morning twilight - next to the lighthouse. I then turned around and shot the bigger lighthouse bathed in the glow of said twilight. I could even see Venus low in the eastern sky through the thin clouds.

We ended up leaving around 7.15, since the sun was up and the moon was down. As we walked back to our car, the woman we had been talking to drove by and waved. Hours later, my brother actually ran into her at Meijer, as she was shopping with her kids.

All in all it was a good morning, except I was dog tired all day, and even on Wednesday. Now to hope that the next eclipse, in February, will be clear. But it's Michigan, so...

WOOD TV - Evil Weather

2007-08-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

Okay, this is an outright rant against local television meteorologists. I'll warn you right now.

I've raged against the evil media a few times before, and I'm going to do it again.

Today we had some severe weather in the area. There was a possible tornado just to the northeast of my location. It was a TVS (tornadic votex signature) on the National Weather Service radar. Now, that happens a lot of times. Most of the time it's nothing. But a warning was issued for the area, and the meteorologists at WOOD TV went into full "storm attack panic mode."

They went on the air with the warning, and didn't get off for over three hours. Other stations did what they were supposed to: report, show the radar, and get back to regular programming. Oh, but not WOOD TV. They have to waste everyone's time, and possibly creating a panic, by "beating the horse to death" (incessantly talking and not having information). They bothered people up in the affected area with phone calls (at one point talking to the sheriff up there, who said "we have seen nothing that you are talking about").

That's the funny thing: they ask people to call in, and then when they do, the meteorologists ask them questions they couldn't possibly know, and also feed their fears. They are asking pointed questions, and people are scared. How low can a person go? Oh yeah, it's all for ratings.

At one point one of the meteorologists said "The NWS radar is tripping," which is usually that another TVS alarm went off. But the other meteorologist said "oh no! What that happens, it's catastrophic!!" What!??

And then, when there wasn't much happening from the tornado area, they started in on some storms down by Chicago. "This is going be a derecho, and I don't know why the NWS doesn't call it that." Once again, they were sensationalizing the facts. There was no derecho, just a standard MCS (mesoscale convective system), and it was over 100 miles away. But they turned their full attention to it, going as far as calling one of their daughters in Chicago to get her "take" on the storm. She's not a meteorologist!!!

I think they finally got off the air for the evening news. It was about damned time.

I hate WOOD TV Channel 8 and all they stand for. They are nothing but bottom feeders, leaching off the publics fears and frustrations. They are the "National Enquirer" of local news. They are beneath contempt.

And for the meteorologists, who are supposed to be scientists, I loath even more. As a scientist, you are supposed to remain calm, in control. You are supposed to observe the data, record the data, and formulate your results. You use the scientific method. You don't sensationalize the information.

Yes, you have to make the information palatable for the viewers, the public. But give them the information - don't inflate it!

To the Weather Department at WOOD TV: You have no honor. You have no integrity. You have sold yourselves and your souls. You are beneath contempt. You can scum. The dregs of humanity. And I will tell everyone I can how terrible you are, and what a disservice you do to the public and media at large.

Google Astronomy

2007-08-22T10:59:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you heard about this yet - I just did a few hours ago -
http://earth.google.com/sky/skyedu.html

It's part of the latest Google Earth, and you can check out the sky from wherever you are on earth.

You can zoom, pan, etc. I have not yet played with it yet, but will soon.

Endeavour Lands Safely

2007-08-21T12:30:00.001-04:00

The space shuttle Endeavour landed safely a few minutes ago at Kennedy Space Center.

Thank God I was wrong.

Changes - Birth and Death

2007-08-19T09:01:00.001-04:00

The week that was saw the announcement of the new, and the departure of the old.

A friend of mine from Hollyweird called me last Wednesday night, and announced that he and his wife were expecting their first child. Great news.

Then, about an hour later, storms rolled through the area where I used to hang out in the summers when I was a kid, the small town were my Dad grew up. There were two EF1 tornadoes, plus a wider microburst that destroyed my grandfather's barn.

That barn was easily 120 years old. My cousins and I used to play around in that barn all the time, despite our mothers' cautions that "it was dangerous." Heck, I think the cause of my first tetanus shot was messing around in that barn and cutting my arm on a rusty nail. But it was a fun place to hang out for a bunch of young boys.

And now it's gone. Just the memories remain.

Shuttle NOT to be fixed

2007-08-16T21:43:00.000-04:00

Right now on NASA TV the Mission Status Briefing they are stating that there will be no spacewalk to fix the tiles on the underside of the orbiter. There is "no danger to the crew." "I am 100% confident that there will be no problems."

Famous last worlds.

I'm sorry, but in the immortal words of Han Solo: "I've got a bad feeling about this."

I don't know, and I'm the first to admit I don't have all the data, but my gut tells me that this decision could be trouble. And the time is 9.47 PM EDT on August 16, 2007.

If - God Forbid - something happens, it will spell the end of the shuttle mission right away. There will be no more ISS contruction missions, no vitally important mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. We will not have the capabilities to launch people into orbit until 2014 with Orion.

Please God, let me be wrong.

Random Synapse Firing - Part 34b

2007-08-12T14:45:00.000-04:00

Last night at our observatory, the subject of photography came up. We spent time talking about CCD photography, and shooting with regular cameras. We imparted some knowledge to the public who were in attendance for the observatory's open night, and I didn't think anything more about it.

Until about a half hour ago.

Mind you, until I can find the money (or a benefactor - anyone out there?) for a digital SLR and equipment, I'm working with film. And there are times when i just want to go out and shoot photos for the heck of it. When i do that, my standard statement is:

"I'm going out to waste film."

Now here's the dilemma. If I ever go digital, what happens to my quote? You can't really "waste" a digital image. Can I really say "I"m going out to waste pixels?"

Now you see the conundrum I am in.

What's up with Birthdays?

2007-08-08T21:29:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: I am neither confirming nor denying that today is my birthday. That really doesn't matter (trust me, the number of people who actually know can be counted on less than one hand) but I just don't "get" birthdays.

Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't see the big deal. It's kind of embarrassing, all the attention. People that really know me understand that I vehemently avoid attracting attention to myself. I don't talk about myself, I don't flaunt what I do, I try to remain in the background. I just think it's wrong to boast about your accomplishments. Isn't it like a sin? You know... Pride? Vanity?

So when people (mainly my folks) try to wish me a happy birthday, I get mad. I usually spend the day away from everyone, don't answer the phone, etc. I guess I don't see the big deal about birthdays. I don't know what I would do if there was a party. Good thing that it won't be happening before we are hit by the rogue asteroid. :)

Other people celebrate their birthdays. Heck, they throw their own parties. But I've never thought that was a good idea. It's very self-centered, I think. Oh well, I guess I'm the weird one.

I did have this kind of wistful, hopeful feeling that I would find that , as a present, I was given a new camera, but I know that my folks can't afford it. And it's kind of a matter of personal pride (I hope it's not the wrong kind of pride) that I've bought all my own photography equipment over the years. I would love to buy my own digital SLR. Here's the one I would love to have:

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

And of course a couple of great lenses, ones that I can use for astronomy, plus portraits and weddings.

But that stuff costs money. Money I don't have, because I don't have a job. And at my age, it's an embarrassment (especially to my folks, who I can't help but think I'm a disappointment to them) not to have a job. I need to work on that. But I know that if I had the digital equipment, I'd be more motivated to go out there and do photography.

Oh well. rant/musing over. Back to science later.

Godspeed Endeavour

2007-08-08T18:57:00.000-04:00

The space shuttle Endeavour has successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, and is now on orbit. Head over to SpaceWatch Michigan for a post about the launch.

This launch is cool for me personally, but I can't tell you why. :)

New Big Exoplanet Discovered

2007-08-06T20:39:00.000-04:00

Here's the news from Lowell Observatory...

Largest Transiting Extrasolar Planet Found Around A Distant Star

Read and enjoy.

A Phoenix Has Risen

2007-08-04T08:17:00.000-04:00

At 5.26am EDT, the Phoenix spacecraft sat atop a fiery tail as it ascended into the early morning skies over Cape Canaveral, beginning its journey to the Red Planet.

Next stop - Mars in May of 2008. Phoenix will land near the North Pole region of Mars, and will study water in the Martian soil, as well as take other measurements.

Follow the mission from the websites at NASA and Arizona University.

Fresh Apollo Images!!

2007-08-02T07:41:00.000-04:00

This I am really excited about.

I read the enws release this mroning that NASA amd Arizona State University have hooked up to present pristine digital images of the Apollo missions. This is so cool! Here's part of the press release...

Nearly 40 years after man first walked on the moon, the complete lunar photographic record from the Apollo project will be accessible to both researchers and the general public on the Internet. A new digital archive -- created through a collaboration between Arizona State University and NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston -- is making available high-resolution scans of original Apollo flight films. They are available to browse or download at http://apollo.sese.asu.edu

Any fan of the space program is going to be bombarding that site to grab these images. What a great way to start of the morning (in fact, I can see the waning gibbous moon out my window as I write this).

Happy Cross Quarter Day!!

2007-08-01T17:28:00.001-04:00

Isn't it wonderful?

Plus, last night the harvest began, as I was able to pick the first tomato of the year. Ah, such sweet, bountiful goodness.

Ini other news, we still have idiots - er, people - who think that Mars is going to be something really great to look at this month. Silly people. There have been many hits on the page I put up on the astronomy club's blog, and I have no idea how many hits have been on sites like Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy. But there's probably more than a few.

The one thing that sucks about August (there's more than one, and friends of mine know that big "suckage one") is that this is the month where we lose daylight like it's running down a drain. Now, as an astronomer, I like the darkness as much (if not more) than the next person (as long as they're an astronomer), but I love the long days of summer.

Case in point. Today, the sun will set here at 9.04pm EDT. On August 31st, the sun will set at 8.19pm! We'll lose 45 minutes of sunlight in the evening. Sunrise today was 6.33am, sunrise on the 31st? 7.05am. Another 1/2 hour lost. So in the month of August, we lost 1.25 hours of sunlight. Bleagghh.

But the good side to that is more darkness in which to observe. Which is always good.

As long as there are clear skies.

Finally, a shout out to AstroGeek, who I found added this site and my astronomy club's blog to his blogroll. I have since reciprocated.

Mars is NOT Good This August

2007-07-27T15:20:00.001-04:00

Sheesh, that stupid Mars email is going around again. Just late the past few years. I dont' want to write about it, so I will direct you to a page on my astronomy club's site...

Mars Viewing? Not this Summer

So go over there, read it.

Science is Sexy

2007-07-25T20:25:00.000-04:00

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson was on The Daily Show yesterday, and had some great lines. Here are a few...

Stewart: "Isn't it unknowable? Isn't the trouble with your job (astrophysics and outreach) not knowing?"
Tyson: "That is not the trouble. That is the seduction."
Stewart: "You just blew my mind."

Tyson: "We know that Mars was wet and fertile before Earth was."
Stewart: "Why is it when you talk about science... I get horny?"
Tyson: "It's exciting stuff."

Tyson: "You keep pushing it, and you reach the boundary of our knowledge. That is the ignorance that attracts us all."
Stewart: "
Tyson: "You realize that this offers you a cosmic perspective, because so many among us have such huge egos, that you look out in the Universe and you can't possibly sustain such self-importance in the face of what the Universe tells you. For example, how important are you when you then learn that one centimeter length of your colon contains more bacteria living and working there than the number of people who have ever lived on earth."
Stewart: "All I can say is this. Thank God the opposite isn't true."
Tyson: "There are more stars in the Universe than grains of sand on all the beaches of the world. There are more stars in the Universe than sounds and words ever uttered by everyone who has ever lived. Venus is so hot it will cook a 16-inch pepperoni pizza out on the windowsill in nine seconds."

Must-See Movie

2007-07-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

Continuing the theme from Friday's post, there is a documentary coming out in the theaters in September that should be on every space enthusiasts' calendar.

It's called "In the Shadow of the Moon" and is a film about the Apollo program. The director interviewed many of the surviving Apollo astronauts (but not Neil, of course. Too bad) about their missions, their view, and their experiences.

Here is a link to the film's website...

In the Shadow of the Moon

It's supposed to be released September 7th in the USA. Let's hope it's a "wide release."

One Small Step Years Ago

2007-07-20T12:17:00.001-04:00

Mankind first set foot on the moon. I remember seeing it live when I was a kid.

I'm glad we are going back, but we never should have left. It was a big mistake on the part of the politicians back then.

I have written about it on a blog I write for my local astronomy club, so head on over and check that one out.

Carnival of Space #12

2007-07-18T22:20:00.001-04:00

The newest version of the "famed in song and story" Carnival of Space is up and available for viewing and adoration, hosted this week by Bruce at his Music of the Spheres site.

Carnival of Space #12

So head on over, and revel in the space news by the best the blogging world has to offer.

Romantic Astronomy Part 2

2007-07-16T16:32:00.000-04:00

Back in May I posted a little ditty about Romance in Astronomy. It engendered a couple of comments from the blogger community, which is nice. Glad to see that I'm not writing this for myself.

But I had also posted this on my myspace page (my myspace? oh oh. :) ) and my friend Sasha commented on it there. I'll skip most of her comment, but I wanted to share this part...

Now, I also have to be a bit cheesy here and say that Romantic astronomy is not dead. (wait for it, the cheesy part is coming...) Now things may be automated and some of the fun may be lost by the technology, but I'll tell you what...I am head over heels in love with our night sky. (Yes, that's the cheesy part.) I may be just starting out, but my gaze has always been at the sky...and it is a rush to see something new, or learn something new every time I look through a telescope. (Thanks to you no less!:) Teaching newbies, and getting people excited about astronomy is something that you do very well. To me, teaching something that you are passionate about only fuels the fire for other people to become passionate as well. You my friend are keeping the romance alive.

It's nice to know that when you make the attempt to widen the horizons of others, sometimes it works. I spend countless hours preaching the word of astronomy and science to both friends and strangers, and often wonder if my words have any effect. Mind you, I'm not looking for glory or the like; I just want people to be able to appreciate the universe they live in. And when I can impart a little expertise to someone, and they take it up and go further, that's what it's all about.

This past weekend we had a public night at our club's observatory. Of the hundred or so people there, a few visitors were really into learning about the night sky. So much, in fact, that they were there after our "closing time." I was still moving the telescope around to various objects, showing them off, when one of the people said "oh, it's okay, we don't want to keep you." I replied "you're not. That's what I'm here for", and it's true.

If someone is really interested in astronomy (or away from the observatory, anything else I'm talking about) I will make the time to talk to them more: to give them more information, insight, and experiences. Because what good is having knowledge when you can't share it?

And that's the big thing; sharing what you know.

The Greatest Toon Ever

2007-07-09T15:40:00.000-04:00

I was going to post my second part in my ongoing ranting about media, but something much more important crossed by virtual desktop, courtesy of Phil Plait and his Bad Astronomy site.

This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Warner Brothers cartoon "What's Opera, Doc?" And I must agree with him, it's the best cartoon ever. I rank it up there with other WB cartoons, including Duck Dogers, all the Marvin the Martian, and other Bugs toons. As I wrote in the comments on Phil's site...

All hail the almighty Chuck Jones and Mel Blanc!!

There's a CD that came out a few years ago called "Bugs Bunny on Broadway" and it includes this, Rabbit of Seville, and a bunch of others. We played it one night for a guy we know who professes himself as a "classical music expert." As the first strains of Wagner came up, he was "ahhh yes!!!" and was "air-conducting" along with the music. But as soon as heard Elmer Fudd, he got really ticked off: "ohh!! how dare they!!!!" We just laughed and laughed.

And to prove I have true geek moments, I've been know to - when a storm is coming - run outside and quote "Arise storms... North winds blow, south winds blow... Typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, SMOG!.. Flash lightning strike the rabbit!" :)

Ahh, my day has been made. :)

Random Synapse Firing

2007-07-08T11:56:00.001-04:00

I'm going to rant again about the callous attitude of the local media in a while, but here are a few quickie things...

It's going to be frackin' hot today. Yeah, perhaps not as hot as out west, but here we get the humidity as well. At 6.45am the temperature was 78 with a dewpoint of 69. That's muggy. High today should be in the middle 90's. And the humidity will stay.
Last night I observed Comet C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR). That might not be news to anyone else, or mean anything to anyone else, but it was the 49th comet I have seen in my short life. Maybe when I see 50 I'll get a set of steak knives!!!!

07/07/07!!!

2007-07-07T06:22:00.000-04:00

Wow!! Look at the date!!! It's 07/07/07!!!! Isn't it cool?

Big frackin' deal. It's Saturday, July 7, 2007. That's all.

If you have bought into the special significance of today by the media, you are a mindless drone. I feel sorry for you.

It's just another day here on earth as we swing around the sun. The only thing special about 07/07/07 was that at midnight Universal Time, the earth was at aphelion.

Some of these idiots who believe today is a special day -- pregnant women are having labor induced, so their babies are born today!!! And couples are flocking to wedding chapels (especially Vegas) to get married today!!! All because they think it will be lucky.

Just because a particular date comes around, is not the basis for making life decisions. These people have serious issues. My god, YOU ARE IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!

Planetary Sunsets

2007-06-29T17:33:00.000-04:00

Look at the image below....

Is it...

The view from a planet around the star Gliese 581?
The star of the doomed planet Krypton? See the stellar material being blown off the upper left? Soon it will explode, but not before a young Kal-El is sent to Earth, to his destiny?

Or is it just an ordinary summer sunset here on earth; the haze and humidity and rayleigh scattering turning the sun red.

Nevertheless, it was a great evening to photograph sunsets. No matter what planet you were on.

Carnival of Space #9

2007-06-28T13:15:00.000-04:00

The ninth edition of Carnival of Space is ready for your reading enjoyment. This week it is being hosted by The Planetary Society's weblog.

Carnival of Space - 9th Edition

Tip of the hat to Pamela Gay. If I hadn't been reading her blog (which you can access in the menu at right) I would have forgotten all about it. I've been working on some photographs I shot a few days ago, and another post to the SpaceWatch astronomy blog.

So head on over and read this weeks' CoS (I should remember to submit stuff to it each week), and also check out Pamela's site along with SpaceWatch.

Someday I might get my act together. :)

More Space on the Interweb

2007-06-20T17:39:00.001-04:00

Well, as if I didn't have enough to do, I've started a blog for my local astronomy club. It won't go live until tomorrow (I'm rolling it out at the Summer Solstice), but you can go and take a look if you wish.

I'm trying the free version of Wordpress, just because I don't want to clutter up the club's domain at this time. If, in the future, it would be better to host it ourselves, I'll get the full version.

Meanwhile, check out Spacewatch

Let's go to the Carnival (of Space)!

2007-06-16T07:55:00.000-04:00

(I should have posted this Thursday morning, but was no where near a computer with internet access for a few days. Sorry all.)

The latest Carnival of Space (#7) is up and being hosted by Dr. Pamela Gay at her Star Stryder site. Head on over there and read the Carnival blogs.

And while you're there, read what Pamela has to say. There's a reason I have a link to her site on this one.

Public Perception and the Night Sky

2007-06-13T08:16:00.000-04:00

It's interesting to note that with today's hectic world where most of the people don't bother do go out and "hang out" in nature, that sometimes - being unfamiliar with the surroundings - they "see things." Something that might be "ordinary" to astronomers might lead to an "oh wow, what's that?" moment to someone who is not knowledgeable of the night sky.

Case in point: it's been beautifully clear here for a week now, and with the warm evenings people have actually ventured outside, casting aside the computers and the television. Perhaps its to work in the yard; perhaps to take a stroll around the neighborhood. And as the daylight dims through twilight into darkness, the stars come out. Now, if you live in, or close to, a city, you don't get to see many stars, so if something in the sky catches your eye, especially something bright, it piques the interest.

So I receive an forwarded email from a local meteorologist, asking me if I had any clue to what this guy saw. Apparently the person was outside and saw a "real bright light in the southeast sky, and a 'much larger' one in the west. If you are an astronomy geek, you already know what this person had seen.

Yes, someone had stepped outside and saw Jupiter hanging low in the southeast, and when they turned around, there was Venus glowing like a beacon in the western sky. And since these two objects are the brightest things out at night currently (since the moon is nearly new) they "pop out" of the twilight sky much earlier than the stars. And they get the attention of the public.

But why did this person see Venus has "much larger?" It's all in the eyes and the brain. In the same vein as the "moon illusion" but with a twist.

Especially in the night sky, a person's eyes and brain work together to fool each other into thinking that "brighter is bigger." This phenomenon is not type-specific to the general public, but also includes members of the astronomical (and other scientific) community.

All you have to do is go out and look at the night sky some evening. You will see a smattering of stars across the canopy of the sky, and you will notice one thing right away: some stars are brighter than others. And even though they are all point light sources, your brain is fooled into thinking that the brighter ones are larger (and sometimes closer). But that is not always the case, especially with stars.

Basically all the stars we see in the night sky are so far away from Earth, they appear as points of light. But stars are not equal: some are brighter than others, and some are closer to earth than others. But they are all far enough away to present a pinpoint of light to the human eye. But a combination of distance and brightness lead our brains to think that if a star is brighter, it's bigger.

So what does that have to do with Jupiter and Venus? Everything. Although Jupiter is much larger than Venus (142,984 km vs. 12,103.6 km), it is much further away from the sun (778,000 km vs. 108,200 km). This also means two other things - Venus is closer to the Earth, and - because it's closer to the sun - receives a greater intensity of the sunlight. This, combined with the makeup of the Venusian atmosphere, means that more light is reflected from the planet than from Jupiter.

Visually, the apparent diameter of both planets at the current time gives the size advantage (almost double) to Jupiter. So in this case, "size doesn't matter." It all has to do wither perception. Because Venus is the brightest object in the night sky - apart from the moon - our brain sees it as being larger than anything else up there. Eyes+brain -- brighter=larger. We have been fooled.

Hopefully my explanation to this person (via the meteorologist) will cause them to look up and the night sky more, and even perhaps begin a wondrous astronomical journey through the universe.

Or the next time they will think it's a UFO.

{Shudder}

Out into the Black

2007-06-09T09:42:00.000-04:00

Last evening, the space shuttle Atlantis leapt off the launch pad, setting a course to the International Space Station. They are bringing new truss segments, solar wings, swapping out crew members, and delivering supplies.

One of the items that is on the manifest, which was requested, is the DVD set of Firefly. It's funny. A television show that was canceled due to ineptness by narrow-minded corporate executives continues to live on, and is now going to be watched by people not living on the planet.

It goes to show that you can't stop the signal. There are Browncoats everywhere.

That is shiny!

The Curse of Perfection

2007-06-08T11:49:00.000-04:00

"Well let me enlighten you people! This baby has satellite comlink. We've got on-board pulse Doppler, we've got NEXRAD real time. Today, we're gonna make history. So stick around. Cuz' the days of sniffin' the dirt are over." - Jonas Miller, Twister

And so goes the battle between technology and instinct.

Yesterday the word got out that there was a chance of some really severe weather in our area. All the signs looked right for a few days, and the media weather-panic machine was going into full "storm alert" mode. The one local station (which I've written about before, because they are evil) even has their meteorologists doing blogs on their websites, which the public can lave comments on.

Well, starting Wednesday the comments really began about the possibility of severe weather for Thursday. And yesterday morning they really ramped up, with some of the public comments bordering on really scared and frightened individuals.

So I got on there around 10.30 in the morning and tried to be the voice of calm and reason. That went over sort of okay, but there were some people on there - and I don't know their credentials - who were going on about how bad it was going to be in the area later in the evening and overnight. I kept up with the "everything's going to be fine," and at one point I basically said that there wasn't going to be any severe weather. Well, one voice in a choir isn't heard. And I said it more than once.

Sigh.

So I continue to make little comments there throughout the day, and in the meantime I'm on a weather forum talking about how I don't think we're going to get much. oh sure, there's tornado watches/warnings to the west in Wisconsin, but we have big old Lake Michigan between us, and it's water is still pretty cold. Storms that attempt to cross the lake don't usually make it, especially those that try it overnight when there's no heating from the sun. So despite what the meteorologists and the computers were saying, I didn't think we would get anything. Heck, I didn't even get out my chaser/spotter stuff.

In fact, at the 6pm news, the "evil media" station's meteorologist was still talking big, severe storms late at night, but the other station (which is not as evil) had their meteorologist talking about the storms moving to the south of us, and perhaps the local area getting nothing.

Well, just after 11pm the SPC (Storm Prediction Center) posted a tornado watch for our area until 6am. I thought it was a waste of a watch, and didn't pay any attention to it, and went to bed at my regular time.

Cut to 7.00am. I get out of bed, and look out the window. The pavement was wet (well, damp) but not soaked. The rain gauge said .02 inches of rain. Our patio, which floods when we get downpours, was dry. So there were no storms overnight, and especially no severe ones.

Once again, the media was crying wolf, and I was the voice of "reason." But since "Wolf!!" was being sounded so loud, I wasn't being heard.

So all these people yesterday were panicking for nothing.

Sigh.

I hate being right all the time. People just don’t understand what a burden it really is. :)

Is "Romantic" Astronomy Dead?

2007-05-29T11:18:00.000-04:00

On CNN's site today is a link which says "Technology is taking romance out of astronomy." It's about Geoff Marcy and his search for planets outside of our solar system. In the article, Marcy is quoted as saying...

"There are no eyepieces anywhere. In fact, we don't have an eyepiece for the Keck telescope... Some of the romance of astronomy is gone."

He's absolutely correct, in my opinion.

Now, I'm not a Luddite. I know that the advances in technology are allowing us to peer farther into space than we have ever done before, opening up new vistas of wonder to the scientific community. But it is impersonal.

I remember having a conversation with a colleague a few years ago as we were sitting in one of the domes of our observatory doing some imaging. We were using a Paramount system, with the latest and greatest CCD cameras and filters. Sure, we were getting tremendous results, but it was antiseptic; there was no real work involved.

The telescope guided itself, the dome moved by itself, the filters changed automatically for each of the exposures. We just sat there in the dark and talked, looking out of the dome opening. Heck, we didn't even really need to be in the dome.

Our conversation was about the so-called progression of the art of astrophotography over the years. As we sat there letting the computers do all the work, I complained that the image would be good, but there's just something about putting a film camera to a telescope, meticulously focusing the image, and then being extra-extremely meticulous is keeping a star in the crosshairs of a guiding eyepiece for up to an hour at a time (in all kinds of temperatures) that gives a person more of a sense of accomplishment than just letting the scope and computer do all the work.

To take a photo with a film camera takes time, patience, and experience. The person earns the resulting photograph. With electronic imaging, you get a pretty picture by sitting around doing nothing. It takes no expertise at all to make a couple of mouse clicks and sit back in a lounge chair for a while.

(I'm not going to talk about the time it takes to manipulate the image in Photoshop or something like that. This has nothing to do with processing of images).

Technology is wonderful, but we are losing something in the transition. Wonderment is being supplanted by instant discoveries. The search is what is important to learning, in my opinion.

And it's not just the high-tech imaging that is ruining astronomy: it's other technology as well. Just try to get someone to go out and look up at the night sky; to put an eye to an eyepiece. Especially today's youth. Why would they want to, when they can sit in their homes and look at "pretty pictures" on the internet? Why take the time to learn the beauty of the night sky and take your own photographs when you can download a great Hubble shot? In this "age of the internet" people "want it now" without any exertion. Click and download, don't do it yourself. Sure, I think the work by Hubble and other instruments are glorious, and they serve a purpose. But photographs that I have taken personally mean more to me than anything I can download. They are personal; it was my knowledge and expertise that brought the image to life.

And this extends to astronomy and science in general. I said above that it's hard to get people to look up. Just try to get those same people to name constellations, or to point out a specific star or planet? Well, I can. I can go out and travel throughout the cosmos because I am familiar with the night sky. (Sometimes I think the people who swear they see "UFOs" wouldn't see them if they knew the night sky).

Some people say "I don't have time for stuff like that" but they can spend their time on frivolous things without thinking twice about it. I say if you have an interest in something, you make the time for it. You don't make excuses.

For me, my relationship with the cosmos is a personal one. It allows me a deeper understanding of the Universe because I take the time to learn. I don't "want it now." And so I pity those who don't spend time out under the stars.

Take the time. Gaze upwards. Experience the wonder of the Universe above you.

And bring a friend.

Saving the Night Sky!

2007-05-23T18:00:00.001-04:00

I have been an astronomer for most of my life, and even after all these years I love "looking up." It never gets old. I can observe the moon, the planets, nebulae, galaxies, and everything else in the cosmos time and time again without losing my sense of awe, amazement, and interest. I want to know more.

But one of the things that screws up the view of the night sky is light pollution. It gets worse every year, and not much is done about it. The public is misinformed by the companies that make lighting fixtures, and even the power companies. But there have been studies and studies that show that many lights to not a secure place make.

Soon it will be impossible to see the night sky from even the suburbs. Forget about the cities already. But things are being done, thankfully.

I just ran across this link, and it piqued my interest. It's a "Declaration in Defence of the Night Sky."

From the site.... This initiative is designed as an international campaign in defence of the quality of the night skies and the general right to observe the stars, open to the participation of all scientific, cultural and citizens' associations and institutions related to the defence of the firmament.

Declaration in Defence of the Night Sky

We definitely need to save the night skies for the generations to come.

Please do your part.

Channeling the New Astronomers

2007-05-20T11:49:00.000-04:00

Last night was the inaugural edition of International Sidewalk Astronomy Night where amateur astronomers the world over set up and bring the wonders of the night sky to the public.

Dr. Pamela Gay has written a great article about this on Sky & Telescope's website, so go check it out.

Unfortunately for my area we were cloudy, so nothing could be celebrated. But it's sure to go against next year.

And also unfortunately, since it was cloudy I missed out on taking some photos of the Moon/Venus apparition. It' snot that I don't have dozens of images like that already; it's just a chance to taken more. And as a photographer and an astronomer, who can pass up the chance if it's available.

The Evil Media

2007-05-15T17:44:00.000-04:00

I’m going to vent here for a bit, because things like this tick me off.

There’s a local television station here – WOOD-TV – and they are about the worst example of a “news organization” that I have seen (although my friends in Los Angeles tell me that WOOD is tame compared to the stations out there). They (WOOD TV8) are the epitome of “If it Bleeds, it Leads.”

It seems like if there is something shocking, horrendous, or scandalous, it will be a Top Story on their station. They ignore “normal” things; nice things.

Case in point: Our astronomy club tries to get some publicity from local media for when we have open houses at our observatory, and other events. The other two main stations in town – WZZM and WXMI – have no problem giving us a plug on their newscasts and weathercasts. But WOOD? No way. We have tried and tried and tried, but they just won’t give us the time of day. A former high-up employee at WOOD told me last month that “if you don’t kill, rape, assault, or molest anyone, WOOD TV isn’t interested.” And this guy was a very popular personality on there, until they let him go, and kept some stupid air-head bitch who tries to pass herself off as a “kids reporter.”

In fact, it’s so bad that last year, when asked by WOOD to provide a graphic for them to use to promote us, they – after it was painstakingly made and submitted – never bothered to use it and, never gave us any publicity at all. The image was of a young lady using one of our large telescopes, and it showed that not only are kids interested in astronomy, girls are as well. Their excuses are “we don’t have any time to devote to that,” and then emailed about it, they don’t even bother to respond to the emails. The one time I called them, one of their head weather people said “I can’t tell what is email from people and what is from our blogs and forums, so I just don’t read them.” That’s a terrible thing to say: it just is proof that they have no respect or interest in the common people of the area. They believe they are better than the public. Well, they’re not. Not by a long shot.

They never know what they are doing, truthfully. Last spring there was a bright meteor observed in the sky, and did they call any of the experts of the local astronomy club? No, they got a hold of someone about 50 miles away, who – on the air – said it was probably a UFO. Oh My God.

Right now as I type this, there’s a possible tornado about 100 miles south of us. Out of their broadcast area. But is that stopping them? Heck no. They are live giving “breaking reports” about something that they know nothing about.

If you are a normal, law-abiding person, who never gets into trouble, you will never be on WOOD TV8 or have a story about you. But if you are a suspected murderer, rapist, molester, or abuser, they will make you a star. The have no morals, no honor, and no integrity. They are the scum of the earth.

My Life is a Dark Room

2007-05-14T14:22:00.000-04:00

But not a Darkroom. I'm selling it. "Everything Must Go!" "Best Offer!!"

Here's a list of what I have...

1 – Beseler 67C Enlarger w/B&W Head
1 – Beseler Dichro 67 Color Head
1 – Beseler pm2L Color Analyzer
1 – Omega Color Analyzer
1 – Beseler 2.25x2.25 Negative Carrier
1 – Beseler 35mm Slide Carrier
1 – Beseler 110mm Negative Carrier
1 – Beseler 126mm Negative Carrier
1 – Beseler 35mm Negative Transport
1 – Beseler Analite 300
1 – Patterson Negative Focuser
1 – Negative Focuser (needs mirror)
1 – 11x14 Speed Easel
1 - 8x10 Speed Easel
1 – 5x7 Speed Easel
1 – 3.5x5 Speed Easel
1 – 8x10 Combo Easel

1 – GraLab Timer
2 – Unicolor Uniroller Base Units
1 – Unicolor 8x10 Paper Drum
1 – Unicolor 11x14 Paper Drum
1 – Unicolor Film Roller w/4 Negative Reels
1 – Omega Stainless 2-Reel Negative Tank w/2 Reels
1 – Omega Stainless 1-Reel Negative Tank w/1 Reel
1 – Stainless Film Tank w/2 Reels
1 – 110mm Plastic Negative Reel
3 – 11x14 Plastic Paper Trays
2 – 8x10 Plastic Paper Trays
3 – Cesco-Lite 8x10 Plastic Paper Trays
1 – 8x10 Paper Safe
6 – 16oz Chemical Bottles
4 – 96oz Chemical Bottles
6 – Negative/Paper Clips
1 – Kodak Color Print Filter Viewing Kit
1 – 8x10 Paper Squeegee
1 – Yankee Safe-lite SL-2
1 – Kodak 32oz Beaker
1 – 16oz Beaker

How much, you ask? As much as you're willing to spend. The two Color analyzers were originally over $500 each.

I'll take $800 OBO for the set.

Faint, Fuzzy Comets

2007-05-13T01:22:00.000-04:00

Earlier this evening I managed to observe two of the comets that happen to be zooming around the solar system - C/2007 E1 Garradd and C/2007 E2 Lovejoy. We had a visitors' night at our observatory, and after the public left we got down to the business of looking at faint fuzzies.

I had the charts for the comets, and they were pretty easy to spot, as long as one was dark adapted. Garradd was low in the southwestern sky, but was visible as a smudge in the eyepiece of the 16-inch SCT. Lovejoy, hanging around in Draco, was a might easier, and stood out among the background stars.

All I need to do is observe two more comets, and I'll have reached the big 5-0. Yep, I have seen forty-eight comets as of tonight.

A Really Big Bang

2007-05-08T11:27:00.000-04:00

About the largest thing in the Universe is a supernova. There are a couple of different types, and they all have different levels of energy, but the Chandra Observatory may have discovered a brand new classification.

This supernova was over one hundred times more powerful than any witnessed before and, according to the press release...

"That means the star that exploded might have been as massive as a star can get, about 150 times that of our sun. We've never seen that before."
-- Nathan Smith, UC Berkeley

They believe that what happened with this star is the same thing that could happen to the massive star Eta Carina, which is light years closer to us here on earth. This supernovas, cataloged as SN2006gy, was 240 million light years away in the galaxy NGC 1260. Eta Carina is only ~7500 light years away, and if - well, when - it blows, it could conceivably effect life here on earth.

You can read more about this in the Chandra Press Release.

The "Wally Show" Closes

2007-05-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

I just found out that Wally Schirra, one of the Original Seven Mercury Astronauts, passed away today in California.

Yahoo News about it

I titled this "The Wally Show" because when he flew on Apollo 7 with Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham, their antics caused some at NASA to call the mission the Wally, Walt & Donn Show."

Of the Original Seven, Only Scott Carpenter and John Glenn are left.

Godspeed Wally.

Wally's Website

Snakes & Arrows

2007-05-01T07:55:00.000-04:00

That's the title of the new Rush CD, out in stores today.

I've heard the whole thing a few times, and I can definitely say this....

"Eh."

That's right, I don't like it that much. Oh, it's not their worst album, but it sure isn't the best. Scale of 1 - 5, I give it a 2.

Sorry guys.

Kurt Vonnegut - RIP

2007-04-12T00:56:00.001-04:00

NEW YORK - Kurt Vonnegut, the satirical novelist who captured the absurdity of war and questioned the advances of science in darkly humorous works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," died Wednesday. He was 84.

Yahoo News

NWS to be Reorganized!

2007-04-01T09:18:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez announced a restructuring of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA) will be undertaken by NOAA Chief Administrative Officer William F. Broglie, who will be responsible for said restructuring, which includes reallocating fund from the National Weather Service (NWS) to the National Park Service. The NWS will – as of 1 May 2007 – be under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Park Service, and will focus on forecasting exclusively for Visitor’s Centers at all United States National Parks. Mary Bomar, Director of the National Park Service, has promised that the transition will be undertaken with the minimum disruption possible, and the public should not even notice the change.

With the transition, responsibilities for meteorological forecasts will be the purview of local media. Grants will be made available from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to fund media outlets so they may be able to acquire materiel and personnel needed to make weather predictions.

Michael Stromsen, broadcast meteorologist for KRWM FM in Rawlings, Colorado is pleased with the change. “For many years we have been able to know what has been going on locally with much more confidence than the National Weather Service, so why shouldn’t we be in charge of local weather forecasts. The local weather people can easily tell at least 8 to 14 days out whether a local event should take place, because we are familiar with the area. No more ‘long-range forecasts’ that have to be changed all the time because they are not accurate.”

Richard A. Anthes, President of the American Meteorological Society, believes this will spur not only advances in technological research, but also in growth and educational opportunities. “The National Weather Service has to work under the constraints of a budget given them by Congress, whereas local media outlets are more readily able to spend the funds needed for research, training, and equipment by utilizing money from their parent corporations. These corporations are not hamstrung by the necessities of laws and regulations.”

Full reorganization and transfer of NWS responsibilities will be completed by February 2008.

Random Thoughts for Today

2007-03-27T17:51:00.000-04:00

Fun Thought One: I got carded the other day. Me! That hasn't happened in quite a while, believe me. And what's more, I actually got indignant about it.

Fun Thought Two: It's Severe Weather Awareness Week where I live, and a local Poll had the question "Does your family have an emergency plan in case of a tornado warning?"

Our plan is:

Step 1: PANIC!!!
Step 2: Drop to knees and pray
Step 3: Change pants.

Isn't that right?

Spring has Spring!!

2007-03-21T21:05:00.000-04:00

The first full day of spring, and we've got thunderstorms!!! Severe ones at that!!!

I love this stuff. I even went out and chased for a while.

God, how I miss it when it's winter.

I just hope to get more chances to chase this year, and get some great photographs.

The Sky at Night

2007-03-17T23:31:00.000-04:00

Ah the beauty of the night sky.

For the first time in a long time, I went out under the stars tonight. I haven't done any observing in a long time, and I missed it. not only from a scientific viewpoint as an astronomer, but from a calming, aesthetic viewpoint as just a relief form the stresses of everyday life.

While either standing out under the canopy of the celestial sphere, or observing and becoming reacquainted with old friends through the telescope, it's a personal thrill just to be able to "unplug" from life and get back to the joys of discovery.

Spring Just Has to Come (Sometime)

2007-03-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

(I posted this last year, but it's good information)

I'm just going to plug an item everyone should think about getting, especially those who live in bad weather areas.

It's a NOAA Weather Alert radio.

During severe weather, you can't always rely on the sirens going off - or your hearing them. That is, even if your town has warning sirens. And you can't trust the television stations either. What if they are off the air, or you don't have power?

The weather alert radios have a battery backup, so they will work without power if needed. If you don't know what they are, here's a quick overview...

It's just a small radio that is tuned to your local NWS (National Weather Service) office. When they send out watches and warnings, the first thing they do (I'm making this really simple) is trigger an alert tone to all radios set to their frequency. This tone "turns on" weather radios with an extremely loud alert siren/tone. This is followed by the actual alert which is read over the air.

I've done some timings in my area, and usually my radio "tones" up to 3-4 minutes ahead of the television stations alerting the public, and even the sirens going off (if it's a tornado warning). And those 3-4 minutes could save my life if there's something headed right at me.

(Of course, since I'm a weather chaser, I'm "out in it" anyways. )

There are several cities in the US near "tornado alley" where having a weather radio is "mandatory." Just like smoke detectors.

You can pick them up at local Radio Shacks or other electronic stores. They aren't that expensive, and the nice thing now is they come with SAME technology.

SAME, or Specific Area Message Encoding allows you to specify the particular area for which you wish to receive alerts. Most warnings and watches broadcast over NOAA Weather Radio are county- or independent city-based (parish-based in Louisiana), although in a few areas of the country the alerts are issued for portions of counties. Since most NWR transmitters are broadcasting for a number of counties, SAME receivers will respond only to alerts issued for the area (or areas) you have selected. This minimizes the number of “false alarms” for events which might be a few counties away from where you live.

Also, on some models, you can have it "ignore" warnings that you don't need to receive. Since I live in Michigan, I have "hurricane warning" turned off, since we rarely get hurricanes here.

Here's a link about the radios, what to look for, and where to buy...

Weather Alert Radios

We now return you to your regular programming.

Well, that was Fast

2007-03-02T17:21:00.000-05:00

Spring's gone, and winter's back.

Stupid Michigan.

After all the fun yesterday, now we've got blowing and drifting snow, winds gusting to nearly 60 mph, and it's cold. At some points during the day - and even now - I can't see across the street. If it was colder I'd consider it a blizzard.

On top of it, in technology news: the NWS radar is down. So if you look at the regional radar plot, there's nothing going on here. But use low tech, and look out a window...

Like a Lion

2007-03-01T19:49:00.000-05:00

March came in like a Lion, as the saying goes.

Today we had snow, then freezing rain, then sleet, then rain, and then thundershowers. Wow.

Spring's coming in full force: can chasing season be far behind? I think not!

Best Day in a While

2007-03-01T12:29:00.000-05:00

Okay, perhaps not. But, for an ego-stroke, it was pretty good.

See, I'm participating in a research study to see how a certain medicine - Adenezine - works to help image the heart's blood vessels. Basically it takes 4 hours out of your life, but it may save your life (like mine did last year).

So this morning I meet the nurses who are the main researchers in the test, and go through all the stuff: electrodes on, IV tap, sit around, be imaged. Then comes the "stress" part.

When a different nurse/tech comes to get me from the waiting room, she says "you're really popular today. It's standing room only in the room. Hope you don't mind." Heck, why would I mind? It's for science.

Yeah, and cute nurses and techs too.

So I walk in, and there's eight women in the room. And the head one says "take off your shirt."

This is going well. :)

But then I just get wired up to the machine, and lay down on the exam table. After some adjusting of equipment, they inject the medicine right into my arm. So for six minutes I feel really weird, as the stuff does its thing. The nurses are hovering around me, checking pulse, blood pressure, wiping my forehead, giving me soft words of encouragement. Heck, if it weren't for the wires and test, I might be having a good time!

Finally the test is over, and they do the post-stress measurements. A little while longer laying there getting poked and prodded by beautiful nurses. What we do for science .

Then I had to sit around for another 45 minutes before the next series of images. Boring it was, but heck, I've never had that much attention from women in my life.

It was a good day. :)

frick frick frickin' frick frick

2007-02-23T10:43:00.000-05:00

As the hot Dr. Elliot says.

Some of the WX numerical models suggest we could get up to a foot of stupid snow this weekend. Rats!!! I'm SOOO looking for spring to come in full force. We don't need this white crap.

Seems like another weekend in front of the DVD player. Good thing I don't have a life.

2001: North vs Kubrick

2007-02-21T20:22:00.000-05:00

So to bring everyone up to speed.

When Stanley Kubrick was making the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the studio forced him to use Alex North to score the film. Now, North scored Kubrick's Spartacus, so they had worked together before. But this time, Kubrick had it in his head what he wanted already, and didn't want anything North had to compose.

So Kubrick lead North on, letting him compose a score for the film, while all the time not even planning on listening to it, let alone using it in the movie. And North didn't even find out until the movie premiered.

Years later, North's music was finally released on CD, so we could all enjoy it. And what's better, the liner notes make it pretty clear where the music was going to be in the film.

So, a friend of mine mixed the music to the specific scenes in the film, and gave me a copy to watch, just to see if it would work. And here's what I think:

The music itself is wonderful, but in the film, it just doesn't work. I guess I'm going to have to give Kubrick his due. now, to be fair, I'm working on a nearly 40 year bias, as I've only seen 2001 one way all these times, and can never see it "for the first time" with North's music.

With the original North cues, the film takes on a very different tone. It's not as "deep" or "dramatic" as it was, and as I watched it, I seemed to not be able to immerse myself in the imagery as I could before. The music took me out of the experience.

Some places, like part of the Space Station Docking and Moon Rocket Bus do work to some extent, but it now - after knowing the film as I have - it takes away from the experience.

So I will continue to enjoy Alex North's music as it is on the CD - and wish he had scored more of the film - but I will continue to enjoy 2001 (the film) as Kubrick made it. And I won't wonder (much) anymore about "how it might have been."

"The Greatest Enthusiasm and Confidence in the Mission"

2007-02-10T18:36:00.000-05:00

Prophetic words, spoken by an AI.

Those were spoken by HAL, as astronaut David Bowman was entering the computer's logic core to shut off HAL's higher functions.

The only reason I bring this up is that I got a CD in the mail today. It's the original score to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, written by Alex North. He composed this music for the film, unaware that the film's director, Stanley Kubrick, had no intention of using it. So it sat unused and (basically) unheard for decades.

A bunch of years ago Mr. North gave Jerry Goldsmith a listen to the music, and Jerry convinced him that it should be recorded. The Varese Sarabande label put out a CD in 1993. It was marvelous music, even though a mistake was made, and the first track was actually for a different North score: the film Africa.

A few months ago word came out that the Intrada label was going to release the actual tracks from the score. Many people in the film score fan community were critical of this, as it wasn't going to be in the "new millennium super-duper-surround-sound-ultra-stereo." Didn't care: I wanted it. Trouble is, I couldn't really afford it, as I'm still unemployed. However, my friend - and fellow film music buff Ed - bought it for me for Christmas (even though it wasn't released until the end of January 2007).

I finally received it today, uploaded it into iTunes for my iPod, andwas going to listen, but...

While I was getting the computer going with iTunes, I found out that TCM channel was showing 2001 as part of their "31 Days of Oscar." So I just had to watch it; it's like a personal law to me.

So I still haven't been able to listen to the CD, but I will. And when visitors' nights at the observatory start up in the spring, this music, plus the music used in the film, the Varese issue of North's score, and the score to 2010 will be playing as I show people the wonders of the universe.

STS-107 (Columbia)

2007-02-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

It was a great sixteen days in space. The space shuttle Columbia, the first operational space shuttle was orbiting the earth on it's mission of science and exploration. The mission was going so good, controllers gave them extra time to stay up. The new landing day was set for February First.

It looked like there would be a perfect ending to a perfect mission. But, unbeknownst to all, the shuttle had sustained damage during takeoff, when a piece of the foam insulation from the external tank flaked off during launch, and punched a hole in the carbon composite leading end of the left wing. But as Columbia was passing through the thousands-degree plasma of re-entry, those hot gases penetrated the left wing.

Sixteen minutes before the touchdown... sixteen minutes before the end of their sixteen day mission... the shuttle broke up and disintegrated over the southwest United States (mostly in Texas, although video showed pieces coming off as early as when the shuttle was over California).

Rick Husband
Willie McCool
Michael Anderson
Kalpana Chawla
David Brown
Laurel Clark
Ilan Ramon

Ilan Ramon had the honor of being the first astronaut from the country of Israel.

Interesting fact:

Launch - January 16
Mission Time - 16 days
Vehicle Lost - 16 minutes before landing

Again, it was the human element that failed. Nearly every mission had foam breaking off the ET and we had "gotten away" without any serious damage to the shuttle. But, as in the past, these things don't always turn out for the best. And again, there was another investigation, and more promises that it will "probably never happen again."

Well, things were changed, and in July of 2005 Discovery launched on a test mission.

So we are back in space. But have we learned the lessons of the past? How soon until there is another "accident?" We can only hope it's a long way off, if ever. But, that is the price we pay to be explorers.

Tribute page to Columbia

Twelve Commandments for Amateur Astronomers

2007-01-29T21:27:00.000-05:00

Thou shalt have no white light before thee, behind thee, or to the side of thee whilst sharing the night sky with thy fellow stargazers.
Thou shalt not love thy telescope more than thy spouse or thy children; as much as, maybe, but not more.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's telescope, unless it exceeds in aperture or electronics twice that of thy wildest dreams.
Thou shalt not read Astronomy or Sky & Telescope on company time, for thine employer makes it possible to continue thine astronomical hobby.
Thou shalt have at least two telescopes so as to keep thy spouse interested when the same accompanies thee under the night sky or on eclipse expeditions to strange lands where exotic wild animals doth roam freely.
Thou shalt not allow either thy sons or thy daughters to get married during the Holy Days of Starfest.
Thou shalt not reveal to thy spouse the true cost of thy telescope collection; only the individual components and that shall be done with great infrequency.
Thou shalt not buy thy spouse any lenses, filters, dew shields, maps, charts, or any other necessities for holidays, anniversaries, or birthdays unless thy spouse needs them for their own telescope.
Thou shalt not deceive thy spouse into thinking that ye are taking them for a romantic Saturday night drive when indeed thou art heading for a dark sky site.
Thou shalt not store thy telescope in thy living room, dining room, or bedroom, lest thou be sleeping with it full time.
Verily, observe not through thy neighbor's Astro-Physics or Takahashi, lest thee be utterly consumed by the lust of apo-fever, and thy brain and thy bank account shall shrivel and wither like branches in a flame.
Verily, observe not through thy neighbor's Dob of Goliath, lest thee be lain bare to the fires of aperture-fever, and thy sanity, thy sacroiliac and thy life savings be crushed as ye grapes of wrath.

STS-51L (Challenger)

2007-01-28T11:16:00.001-05:00

All was fine for the space program, until a cold, clear morning in Florida on January 28, 1986. That day, the space shuttle Challenger was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral on a (much delayed) mission, carrying the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe. It was a perfect morning, but it would not stay that way.

When Challenger launched at 11.38 am, everything appeared a-okay. But only for 73 seconds...

...when there was an enormous ball of fire which engulfed the shuttle, and seven astronauts lost their lives, with the whole world watching.

Francis R. Scobee
Michael J. Smith
Judith A. Resnik
Ellison S. Onizuka
Ronald E. McNair
Gregory B. Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe

And all because of people being sloppy, being careless, wanting to push on regardless of the data, of hubris.

The world was in a state of shock. Investigations were conducted; promises made. And we got back into space in nearly three years later.

And again, as with Apollo 1, we celebrated the successes in space, and forgot some of the lessons learned. For seventeen years and four days...

Apollo 1

2007-01-27T22:21:00.000-05:00

40 years ago today, tragedy struck the space program, as fire engulfed the Apollo 1 capsule where the astronauts were in a final practice mission for their upcoming space shot.

The three astronauts who lost their lives in a short few seconds were..

Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom
Edward H. White, II
Roger B. Chaffee

It set the space program back a bit, but we persevered. And a short two years six months later, we walked on the moon.

And triumphs and applause reigned supreme over all until the next day, nineteen years later....

State of the "Art"?

2007-01-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

For those of you who read this, please excuse this rant, but I have to get it off my chest.

In today's issue of the local newspaper, there is an image by a local photographer of the flyover for President Ford's internment a few weeks ago.

Here is a link to the image

It shows the 21 planes during the flyby up the Grand River. Looks good, doesn't it?

Except it's fake.

The photographer - who shall remain unnamed in case he somehow finds this (and me) and wants to sue - was quoted as saying "that's the photo that I had in my head. I think it's much more powerful that way." Well, to this photographer, that statement is bullsh*t.

I've been a photographer for over 25 years. In that time, I've shot my fair share of formal and informal events: from weddings, portraits, social gatherings, sports, etc. I've also done quote a bit of nature and specialized photography. And what you see is basically what I've shot.

Now, I'm not against working on the print to get the best available product from the negative. Heck, even Ansel Adams, perhaps the greatest American photographer who ever lived, considered (in musical composer terms) the negative "just the notes" and his finished print "the performed works." I've done my share of dodging, burning, and spotting in the darkroom to make a final print. And yes, in this age of digital imaging, I've used the computer to "fix" little things (a hair out of place, a straggling thread on a sleeve, etc.)

But I have never... NEVER... manipulated an image because what I saw in the "real world" wasn't what I saw "in my mind." To be, it's utter fabrication; it's blatant prevarication. You are, in essence, saying "that's not really how it happened, I know better."

This photographer is proud that he has manipulated his image to fit what he "thinks it should have been." In doing so, he's lowered himself to be as bad - if not worse - than someone who has stolen works and paraded them as their own (copyright infringement).

Thank you for letting me vent.

Comet Mc (Not) For Me... Again!

2007-01-16T19:18:00.000-05:00

Comet McNaught. The brightest comet in the past three decades. And I have been unsuccessful in seeing it. And apparently it's visible in the daytime. So...

I tried around 1.30 this afternoon with no luck whatsoever. And I didn't just go out and hide the sun with a building and use binoculars.

I went out to our observatory, plugged up the optics, and used the shadows of the tubes to center the scopes on the sun. Then, using a white-light filter in our 4-inch TAK, I got the sun perfectly centered, then synced up in The Sky.

I slewed over to where the comet was, took off the filter, and saw.... nothing. Just to make sure everything was okay, I did another slew -- to Venus. Whammo! Venus was dead-center in the eyepiece. So back to where the comet was, and again... nothing.

I even tried our filters: OIII, UHC, and even a polarizer. Nada... nothing. Strike three.

So I packed up and went home to warm up.:)

Dunno if I will get to see it. I might cry.

The Rising Moon

2007-01-11T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I started last night, and just finished, the porting over of my friend Bruce's astronomy program and website. The new URL is Moonrise.us.

Bruce is the friend of mine who unexpectedly passed away last September, and it was the wish of his family that the program stayed available. So they gave the program to the astronomy club, and any of the profits from the program (it's shareware, and a great little thing for $25.) go to his kids.

I got a domain for it, and ported over the website and all the program files. I'm keeping it basically the same as it was, but I'm going to make a few changes to it (the website, not the program).

There are a couple of things that should be done with the program to update some information, but I don't know anything about the programming language it was made in (Delphi).

I just hope I can do it justice.

Comet (Not) For Me

2007-01-11T11:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I tried to observe comet McNaught this morning, and I busted. It was sort of clear, so I bundled up and got out around 7.15am to make a short trip east of town to a nice, flat horizon.

When I got to my destination (where I shot the conjunction last month), I noticed - in the brightening morning twilight - that there were some high clouds on the eastern horizon. But since the comet was supposed to be -2 mag., I thought I still had a shot. I mean, heck... there were pictures on Spaceweather.com of the comet through clouds, so I figured I had a chance.

I searched the horizon for a while, until about 5 minutes before sunrise, and never saw it. Figures. I have seen dozens of faint, fuzzball-type comets, but the brightest one in over 30 years? Nope.

And I froze out there as well. Even by the time I got all the way home, my fingers were still cold. But it was worth it, on the off chance I did get to see the comet.

Hail to the (Astro) Chief

2007-01-10T22:07:00.000-05:00

I'm President again. Of my astronomy club.

Oh well.

I do think my musical accompaniment should be The Imperial March from Empire Strikes Back.

Obviously they've never heard of term limits.

New Member to the Blogosphere

2007-01-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

I just ran across a new blog by Pamela Gay, Astronomer. Pamela used to be part of Slacker Astronomy, but has moved on to new things. She still does podcasts, though, with Fraser Cain of Universe Today. It's called AstronomyCast, and it's listed in my podcasting links.

(I knew she had a website up, but I hadn't checked it in a few months I guess. Oops. Sorry about that Pamela.)

Check our Pam's thoughts by hitting the Star Stryder link on the right side.