On the way to an annual family get-together hosted by the wonderful Sisinger’s at their lakeside cabin, my dad and I were discussing the differences between certain types of telescopes. Since there are so many different types of backyard telescopes out there, the question was posed as to why so many variations existed and what service each […]
The last week or so has been perfect with respect to weather – especially for star gazing. It has been an amateur astronomers dream for sure. Highs in the mid 70’s, lows in the 40’s and 50’s, cool dry air, literally not a cloud in the sky for days on end… Amazing. Combine that with […]
06:19:00 21°C Woke up early around 5am to do a little morning observing on a Saturday. Man, I must be getting old because if someone told me I’d be setting my alarm for 5am on a Saturday instead of sleeping in a few years ago, I’d call them crazy! I’ve recently changed my schedule at […]
As the sun tries to rise, the dawn colors turn from deep black and blue to purple and orange. Peering through a few serene clouds I notice a bright point of light. It almost seems out of place. What right does such a perfect diamond have to be hanging in the morning sky like that? […]
In my current line of work, I have the fortunate opportunity to repair all kinds of electronics; everything from high-end switches and data servers to blood analyzers and personal computers. I was recently tasked with repairing a relatively simple problem on someone’s personal laptop. I don’t get to repair these very often and was surprised […]
19:50:00 21°C / 69°F Perfect Fall evening. Fall has finally arrived… After a horrible wet, cold, long winter, then a spring that lasted well into summer, then a very hot/humid summer appearing late into the season, we finally have some fall weather! It’s a cool, calm evening just after sunset and I’m hoping to have […]
22:45:00 -Sunday Night First ‘Fall’ night of the year; cool, crisp, dry air. -I just HAD to get out even though I’m pretty tired after this weekend and have to get up early for work tomorrow. I was planning on a simple observing night, just some binoculars and an adirondack chair, but the moon looked […]
I mentioned in the past that I wanted to display a few things I’ve collected inside the observatory as a sort-of faux/mini natural history museum. Here are a few pictures of my collection so far. It’s basically a few species of insects, a couple fossils, an arrowhead, some notable rocks, my 2008 eclipse picture, and a few […]
Caught this web-builder in action and snapped this photo. I ended up staying for the whole show! Seeing how a spider builds its web can be pretty mesmerizing…