Dirty Skies

One man’s misery…

Published on 13 Apr 2009 at 9:35 pm. 4 Comments.
Filed under Eqiupment.

…is another man’s good fortune.

I was fortunate enough to pick up an Orion 10-inch SkyQuest Dob, Orion 9 and 25 mm plössls, a Celestron 3.6mm plössl, and an Orion DeepView 35mm multi-coated lens for a measly $200 at a “we’re getting divorced get this the hell out of our house” sale.

Needs a little cleaning up but it’s all in GREAT shape! Now if I could only get first light for the brand new ETX125 AT I got for $200 two years ago at a clearance sale, I’d be happy!

Apologies to fellow bloggers

Published on 8 Mar 2009 at 10:15 am. 2 Comments.
Filed under Thoughts & Ramblings.

Over the years of neglect endured by my blog’s software engine (if it ain’t broke right?) somehow my blogroll and all my links stopped appearing on my site. Apparently my software was so out of date that the original db calls we no longer supported!

Anyhoo, I’ve rectified this and verified/updated all my links. I hope nobody thought I had just deleted them from my blogroll… no one even told me.

Kepler Telescope launch from my front yard

Published on 7 Mar 2009 at 4:09 pm. No Comments.
Filed under In the News, Observation Log, Video.

I grabbed the camcorder last night and went out to watch the launch of NASA’s Kepler Telescope from my front yard located about 150 miles west-southwest of the Cape Canaveral. To my eyes the engine glow was quite red (atmospheric effect?). It was very clear and dark so there is nothing in the way of skyglow to put the image in perspective. I zoomed out and fiddled with the gamma a bit to try and give some.

At any rate, here it is. This was definitely one of those launches that looked ALOT better to the maked eye from my location and didn’t transfer well to video.

NASA’s Kepler Launch (from my front yard)
(launches on YouTube in a new window)

If you missed the NASA TV coverage, I’ve mirrored it here.

Moon/Venus Conjunction on Feb 27th

Published on 28 Feb 2009 at 1:53 pm. 2 Comments.
Filed under Images, Observation Log.

Once again I was on my way out at the right time and noticed this pairing in the sky. You’d think I’d be more informed right? So I ran back in and grabbed the camera for a few shots.