f-stop: The Charioteer

Constellation Auriga photographed from our backyard...not bad for living in the city!

A very nice evening in the backyard last night...just me, the StarBlast, and beautifully clear skies! Oh, and my old DSLR...here is a photo of Auriga falling toward the trees on the western side of our property. Yes, I live in the city--but with a little effort I can still see the stars.

Tickets To Ride

THIS is the nerdish equivalent of tickets for the "Big Game"...tickets for the University of Virginia's Fan Mountain Observatory Public Night on 26 April! They only open the facility to the public on two nights each year, so I'm pretty psyched about driving out south of Charlottesville with Kevin Francis to spend an evening under the stars with the UVA astronomers and their fine telescopes.

Stone Temple Pilot At Plaza Azteca

"Tom and I went to dinner last night with a friend. Just the perfect backdrop for our plus one! Many thanks to the staff at Plaza Azteca in Hampton for letting us do a photo shoot! Many fans of AvP among the personnel."
                                                                                                                                Lucy Epps

Brothers From Different Mothers

Edmund Astroscan meets Orion StarBlast

In the left corner, telescopic champion for over forty years...my classic Edmund Astroscan 2001 wide-field telescope which dates from 1977. In the right corner, da' contender...my fresh-from-the-box Orion StarBlast, which boasts quite a few similarities to the vintage Astroscan--but some major differences as well. Our contest tonight is intended to decide which of these two stylish instruments is best equipped and capable of traveling the world in search of clear skies and faint fuzzies; which, in other words, will join me as  principle observing equipage on my next deployment--stargazing from both shipboard and shoreside sites. And may the best telescope win!

The rules are simple; both telescopes will be tested for image quality (including incidence of coma, a common artefact of short focal-length, wide-field optics), focus across the field of view, and ease of use. Identical eyepieces will be used to view a variety of deep-sky objects in the evening, to include M45 (the Pleiades), M42/3 (Orion's famous nebula), and the Hyades. If skies remain clear in the morning comparisons of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars will be attempted.

Well, we can easily see who's taller.

Despite very different mountings, these two telescopes are actually quite similar; the Astroscan's spherical lower body moves freely on a triangular cast aluminum base while the StarBlast moves ALT/AZ (Altitude/Azimuth, or side-to-side, up-and-down) on a quasi-Dobsonian wooden mounting. Both 'scopes us single-power (1X) finders; the Edmund offering has a cast-aluminum peep-sight while the more techie Orion instrument has a battery-powered red-dot finder (again, 1X) which works in essentially the same way as the peep-sight. Both are also quite portable; the Astroscan (at 12 lbs)has a shoulder-strap and the StarBlast (at 13 lbs) a built-in handle

Optically these two telescopes share very similar designs; the StarBlast has a 113mm (4.5") parabolic mirror as compared to the Astroscan's 106mm (4.25") primary, both with focal ratios of F/4.0. This gives the StarBlast a focal length of 450mm (18") and the Astroscan an f/l of 425mm (17"). These are very close numbers; in fact the only significant difference (on paper) between these two optical systems is that the StarBlast's primary and secondary mirror are fully collimatable--they can be adjusted for better performance. Astroscan's optics are pre-collimated, which means that the owner doesn't have the option of "tuning up" the 'scope.

The primary mirror collimation knobs on the StarBlast are visible in this photo.

Will this make a major difference tonight when I focus both telescopes on the Pleiades and alternate views through their identical eyepieces? I don't know. I have my suspicions and a few expectations,
but I'll keep those quiet until I file my report on tonight's comparisons.

Clear Skies, Folks!

Patchwork Cosmos

"Rain" by Sandy Curran

On both Friday and Saturday afternoons Lucy and I drove to the Hampton Convention Center for the  Mid-Atlantic QuiltFest. This was the event's 30th year, and attendance was impressive and enthusiastic! We had a terrific time exploring the products of hobbyists' labors of love, and we also got to meet an amazing woman who contributed to America's journey to the Moon. But more on that later...

The gallery is open...

I have to admit that this was my first textile-oriented event; I'm not especially crafty and have been known to avoid any sort of recreational activity that requires concentration or coordination! That being the case, why was I even there? A couple of reasons; (1) I'm a curious sort of fella, and (2) since Lucy and I are celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary this weekend it seemed rude to pack her off on her own!

In the end I was glad to have gone. The "geek" vibe was strong and vibrant (and so were many of the quilts on display), and we both had a great time walking the display areas which featured hundreds of works by quilters all over the country, some of them--unexpectedly to me--by men. Some pretty impressive work was there to be enjoyed!

"Winchester, VA" by the Ladies of Winchester

Much as in any sort of convention or like gathering the Convention Center's main floor space was broken up into display and venders' areas in alternating aisles--a clever way to ensure that strollers would be exposed to wares on-sale as well as to works displayed. I found it all interesting although I have to wonder how many $21,000 computerized quilting tables get sold per annum. Just as in Astronomical gatherings I have attended there is a serious tech-component to this sort of get-together!

This astronomer was particularly gratified by a display area titled 'Fly Me To The Moon'. This was a challenge offered to quilting hobbyists to create quilts on Lunar and related subjects, and resulted in a strong offering of "spacey" projects. I'll append a few examples of these works below, but first allow me a little hero-worship.

Helen Marie Marshall, Apollo Program Mathematician and Researcher

We met Helen Marie Marshall in the 'Fly Me To The Moon' area; she opened the conversation by complimenting me on my astronomical patch-festooned jacket. Soon we were deep in discussion of her role in developing the heat-shield technology for the Apollo Command Module, working as one of hundreds of women engineers and researchers on the Program. A brilliant, gracious lady, and it was a joy and a privilege for us to meet her--one of the pioneers of women in STEM and the space program.

Overall, we spent a pretty amazing half-dozen hours exploring QuiltFest. While I can't see myself taking up scissors, needle and fabric swatches in creation of textile art, I AM inspired to appreciate the enormous effort and patience of the hobby's practitioners. Oh, and please reserve me a ticket for next years' Fest--If my schedule allows I would very much enjoy taking another look, and seeing what NEW discoveries await!

"Earthrise" by Kay Campbell

"Eclipse" by Diane Kinney

"Faces of the Moon" by Ricki Selva

"Theia's Gift" by Kim Gibbon

"Window Into Space" by Carole Nicolas

Luna Faces The Bull

The just-past first quarter Moon in the Hyades (Source: AstroBob)

Got plans for tonight? Got a pair of binoculars and fifteen minutes to spare? Then take a short excursion out into the chill with your loved ones to enjoy the sight of the Moon passing between Earth and the Hyades!

How can you observe this spectacle? Simple; dress warmly, step outside after evening twilight ends,  and find the Moon. Aim your binoculars at Luna, and it should be joined in the field of view by a lovely sprinkling of dim and bright stars. Focus to taste, and enjoy!

The Hyades, the V-shaped "face" of the constellation Taurus the Bull, is actually a star cluster located approximately 150 light-years from the Sun. This makes it the nearest open cluster to the Solar System. While we can see a few dozen individual stars with binoculars there are actually several hundred single and double suns to be found here. A few of these "Doubles" are circled above.

The brightest star to be seen is Aldebaran (a Tauri), which at a distance of 65 light-years is actually not a member of the star cluster. Aldebaran is an older giant star and gleams red only a couple of degrees to the lower left of the Moon;  you can easily spot it with the naked eye!

Anytime this evening you'll be able to step outside and see this lovely event. If you go out several times separated by an hour or so you'll be able to actually see Luna "backing" her way through the cluster, her eastward orbital motion slightly mitigating the effect of Earth's rotation and making the satellite appear to cruise through the Hyades until moonset just after midnight.

It's well worth a look, and I hope you'll have fairly clear skies. Be sure to leave a comment and tell me about your stargazing experience, and of course I welcome your questions!

Photo Of The Day: Pierside Sisters

MSC Sister-ships 'Supply' (left) and 'Arctic' load cargo in a chill winter fog