Lunar eclipse

[Capmaster]

And you didn't take any pics of last nights eclipse? Damn Cap. I'm in the middle of the desert and we got a huge rainstorm that blocked it. Man, I'm pissed now. SOmeone who could have taken it didn't. And here where we could have viewed it on a normal day get pissed on by mother nature. And we thought her legs were closed over this region.

I thought of it when I went out the first time. We had tremendous cloud cover and that one attempt with the digicam in movie mode was all I had time for. A few minutes after that the clouds moved over it and we didn't see a thing except the absence of light.

By the time I got that beast moved into the back yard on its platform, the eyepiece selected, sighting scope lined up, it focused, and the digicam set with a few test shots, it would have been long covered by clouds. Sorry about that

[ZAPPER]

Damb I have been a closet sky watcher all my life. I didn't think that anybody even looked up any more. Nobody at work had ever seen an eclipse before. I took my men and a few subs outside to show them the eclipse and they where like how the hell did I know that was going to happen? Stupid ass construction workers! No wonder they can't read a set of plans, they can't even read!

[Capmaster]

Damb I have been a closet sky watcher all my life. I didn't think that anybody even looked up any more. Nobody at work had ever seen an eclipse before. I took my men and a few subs outside to show them the eclipse and they where like how the hell did I know that was going to happen? Stupid ass construction workers! No wonder they can't read a set of plans, they can't even read!

You ought to teach them where the basic landmarks are like the Orion Constellation, Polaris, etc. They'll probably see you as the "master skywatcher" and maybe buy you a few beers after work

[ZAPPER]

It has been 25 years since I did any real star gazing. When I was in Scouting there were a couple of guys that knew their shit. I used to know some of the story of who killed who in the constellations and how they all inter played. Now I am happy if I can find the Big Dipper I guess I should look up the tales and start telling my kids. Mostly all I do now is look for the special events like comets and eclipeses. I had a freind when I was a kid that had a killer scope. Man you could get lost on the moon. Most of my men at work are south of the border freinds, I think that something gets lost in the translation with most of them. But I could see the awe in one guys eyes and that made the whole day for me.

I had a teacher in the seventies that said something to the effect that for mankind to last forever we will have to leave the Earth. As true as that sounds I fear that if a teacher said anything like that today it would cause all kinds of trouble. Anyhow that, to me, is one of the most profound things that has eaten into my little mind.

In Scouting one summer I had a fellow staffman from Isreal. The northern lights were putting on a pretty good show for as far south as we were. The guy asked me what kind of search lights those were and who they were looking for. I found it hard to imagine that anyone didn't know what the lights were and terrible that people lived where search lights where in use for their defense.

So anyhow I got this automatic skywatch notification from AOL and it keeps me posted about the things in the sky. And I just gaze by my lonesome when I find a minute or two. 8)

[Capmaster]

ZAPPER,
I know the feeling. Many people don't know the basics, and what they're missing.

I've got a website you'll love called Astronomy Picture of the Day. Every day they put up an amazing pic from space. You can also search older ones. It's amazing, and several have wound up being my Windows wallpaper, and others at work too. Here's the website. Remember to check it often, as it changes every day:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

[ZAPPER]

Cap
Cool, Thanks. I added it to my favorite places.
I like quantum physics and fractal geometry too, but the only time that I understand them is the time between when it goes in one ear and out the other. But for a split second it all makes sense

[JohnnyCNote]

I worked in a planetarium when I was a teenager, so I got to know the constellations really well. I still know them, but they're not as easy to see here with all the light pollution....

[Capmaster]

I worked in a planetarium when I was a teenager, so I got to know the constellations really well. I still know them, but they're not as easy to see here with all the light pollution....

We're very lucky out here. I live within the city limits, but at the very western edge. The sky - especially looking west - is very clear and little light pollution. I can see the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye. But ..we can't see the milky way.

But you drive about 10 miles west and there it is! The band of the milky way across the sky. It's amazing how much city dwellers can't see because of all the street lights.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Damb I have been a closet sky watcher all my life. I didn't think that anybody even looked up any more. Nobody at work had ever seen an eclipse before. I took my men and a few subs outside to show them the eclipse and they where like how the hell did I know that was going to happen? Stupid ass construction workers! No wonder they can't read a set of plans, they can't even read!

While your at it teach them how to drive defensively and use their turn signals!I swear everyday I drive to work some numbnut with a construction pickup is cutting me off.

BTW...Jack "The Star Gazer" Horkheimer has a tv show on some PBS stations: www.jackstargazer.com/

[JohnnyCNote]

We're very lucky out here. I live within the city limits, but at the very western edge. The sky - especially looking west - is very clear and little light pollution. I can see the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye. But ..we can't see the milky way.

But you drive about 10 miles west and there it is! The band of the milky way across the sky. It's amazing how much city dwellers can't see because of all the street lights.

I had a friend who studied astronomy in Arizona because it was so dark (in those days). I'm not sure if it's so dark now. There are still parts of Florida dark enough to see the Milky Way, etc., but they're disappearing fast. I used to drive through the woods on logging trails and used the stars for navigation. It worked - as long as it was clear.....

[ZAPPER]

MOVIEGEEK
Hey buddie we build the roads, we drive the way we want on them
There is so much traffic in Atlanta I think that if you don't have a truck full of tools to take with you where ever you go, you should be on a bus
Don't get in a wreck with any of my men. They all have to many DUIs to be legal and insured
If you find my new ladder please return it.
Don't piss me off. I'll have my buddies squeeze eight lanes of traffic down to one lane in a city near you!
I don't brake for tailgaters I drop it into low(you slow down fast without brake lights giving you away!) and that is what the classV trailer hitch is really for!

[MOVIEGEEK]

"If you find my new ladder please return it"

It's in my windshield.

[JohnnyCNote]

Zapper, you live near Conyers? My aunt & uncle live there, and their daughter & son-in-law live downtown....

[ZAPPER]

I actually ran a damb ladder over one time. It was so loud that I thought it was comming through the floorboard of my truck! I would have chased the guy that dropped it but I had to pull over and check out my oil pan and everything else under my truck. I do mean that it was loud!

[ZAPPER]

JohnnyC
I can be there in 45 mins back roads or highway

[ZAPPER]

Johnny
I just did a quick tour of the sunshine state. I hit Gainsville and Orlando came back up 4 to 95 to Savannah. Didn't stop in Jville but it looked cool from the windsheild. We had other crews running around all over Fla. This would be a good time to be in the billboard business, they were down everywhere!

[themichael]

For those of you looking to hook a digital camera to your scopes, check out a little device called the Digi-T adapter. It is made by http://www.scopetronics.com/ but I picked my up thru another dealer. They also make adapters for webcams.

webcams sites:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=webcam+astro+imaging&spell=1

software used to help process images:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=image+stacking

[JohnnyCNote]

Johnny
I just did a quick tour of the sunshine state. I hit Gainsville and Orlando came back up 4 to 95 to Savannah. Didn't stop in Jville but it looked cool from the windsheild. We had other crews running around all over Fla. This would be a good time to be in the billboard business, they were down everywhere!

Jacksonville isn't a bad place, however I was fortunate enough to have lived in San Francisco for 12 years, giving me a chance to broaden my perspectives somewhat. I can think if a lot worse places to live. I live really close to I-95 near I-295 in the south part of town....

[JohnnyCNote]

For those of you looking to hook a digital camera to your scopes, check out a little device called the Digi-T adapter. It is made by http://www.scopetronics.com/ but I picked my up thru another dealer. They also make adapters for webcams.

webcams sites:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=webcam+astro+imaging&spell=1

software used to help process images:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=image+stacking

A friend of mine experimented a lot with cooled emulsion photography in high school in the 70's. The theory was that if you super cooled the film, the electrons would move more slowly and be more sensitive to light. It seemed to work. He runs the planetarium in Oakland, CA, the last I heard....

[Doramius]

Nellis is way over on the east side almost back up into the mountains. I'm just west of the I-15. It was cloudy since 5:30pm and rained during the eclipse and for a while after that. You could see the sky at a greenish red color, but couldn't see the moon. It was a cool eerie color though.