LKY Ranch BBQ and Spring Frolic

The 24th Annual LKY Ranch BBQ & Spring Frolic is now history. For the first time ever, the day was marked by rain. Between midnight last night and this morning, the rain gauge went up nearly five inches, with another inch still to come during the day. The turnout was lower than usual, but not the enthusiasm. As Linda explained to a person on the phone this morning, "Haven't you ever heard of a hurricane party?"

The good news is it quit raining for good about 1:30, and it was actually pretty pleasant on the porches.

Photos here.

Dealey Plaza

Dealey Plaza is much smaller than it appears in the photos. KInda macabre watching people posing, smiling, on the Xs in the street marking the gunshots.

Rat's Nest

I am amazed every time I pick up the telephone that it actually works.

Gift Suggestion

I totally want to try this stuff out.

The Tiger Cubs Visit News 8 Austin

Pictures here.

Born a Moose

Every Friday, a man in Newfoundland fired up the barbie in the yard and cooked up a big moose steak. This was very annoying to his neighbours, who, being Catholic, were forbidden meat. They talked to the Priest, who, in turn, talked to the epicure. To the surprise of all, he agreed to become Catholic. On the day of his Confirmation, the Priest anointed him with the Holy Water, and said: "A Methodist you were born, a Methodist you were raised. You are now a Catholic."

THEN, they told him about meatless Fridays.

The next week, his neighbours were again assailed with the heavenly, but naughty aroma of charring moose meat. The Priest was immediately called, and went to the backslider's home. As he rounded the corner of the house, he beheld his new convert sprinkling barbie sauce on the steak.

Saying: "A moose you were born, a moose you were raised. You are now a codfish."

Second Saturn of the Year

Fairly decent seeing, call it 3/5. Stayed up late, so Saturn was about 55° up. A little noisy, but it'll do, pig.

Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 1500 frames each L, R, G, B
Camera: Imaging Source DMK21AF04.US
Scope: Meade LX200 10", Televue 2.5x Powermate (f/25)
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: none
Filter: Orion LRGB set
Software: AstroIIDC, Registax, Photoshop

Anxiety

I wish this was only a joke. I hate this dream!

The Tiger Cubs Visit the Capitol

The Tiger Cubs visit the Capitol, then go to Sandy's for frozen custard.

Groan

Dolly Parton and Queen Elizabeth went to the Pearly Gates on the same day. They both met with an Angel to find out if they would be admitted to Heaven.

The angel said “Unfortunately, there’s only one space in Heaven today so I must decide which of one of you will be admitted.”

The Angel asked Dolly if there was some particular reason why she should go to Heaven.

Dolly took off her top and said, “Look at these, they’re the most perfect breasts God ever created and I’m sure it will please God to be able to see them every day, for eternity.”

The Angel thanked Dolly, and asked Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the same question.

The Queen walked over to a toilet, pulled the lever and flushes it without saying a word.

The Angel immediately said, “OK, your Majesty, you may go into Heaven.”

Dolly was outraged and asked, “What was that all about?”

“I showed you two of God’s own perfect creations and you turned me down.”

“She simply flushed a commode and she got admitted to Heaven! Would you explain that to me?”

“Sorry, Dolly,” said the Angel, “but even in Heaven, a royal flush beats a pair — no matter how big they are.”

Not So Bad

Shorter, but much better. Finally figuring out the rhythm, sort of.
Not So Bad

Even better with a little jazz drumming!
Not So Bad (Jazz Drum Mix)

Better Bad

Better, but not quite there yet.
Better Bad

Bad Bad

Sounds like I need to spend more time practicing.
Bad Bad

Basket Case

Tycho is a basket case after getting 4 stitches last week. Looks like a dog bite according to the vet. He'll be fine, but supposedly the hair will grow in dark where he was shaved. Poor kitteh.

Wildflower Center Star Party

Photos from the Austin Astronomical Society/Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Nature Night are here.

Moon+Venus

The two-day-old crescent moon passes just over a degree away from Venus Friday evening.

Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 1/125 (Single frame)
Camera: Stock Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: None
Filter: None
Software: Photoshop

Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3)

From Wikipedia:

Comet Lulin (official designation C/2007 N3 (Lulin)) is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from Lulin Observatory. It peaked in brightness and arrived at perigee for observers on Earth on February 24, 2009, at magnitude +5 and at 0.411 AU from Earth. … According to NASA, Comet Lulin's green color comes from a combination of gases that make up its local atmosphere, primarily cyanogen and diatomic carbon, which both appear as a green glow when illuminated by sunlight in the vacuum of space.

I was pleasantly surprised that PHD Guiding was able to guide on the comet. The streaks in this image are the background stars, smeared by the hour-long exposure on the comet itself as it sped through the solar system.

Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 30 x 2 minutes
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, William Optics 0.8 FFIII field flattener (new!)
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: Meade LX200 @ f/5, Meade DSI
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop

First Saturn of the Year

Wow, the rings have closed dramatically since last time. Moderate seeing with Saturn just 35° up. I was tired and wanted to go to bed.

Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 1750 frames each L, R, G, B
Camera: Imaging Source DMK21AF04.US
Scope: Meade LX200 10", Televue 2.5x Powermate (f/25)
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: none
Filter: Orion LRGB set
Software: AstroIIDC, Photoshop

NGC 2264, The Cone Nebula

The Cone Nebula (also known as NGC 2264) is an H II region in the constellation of Monoceros. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1785. The nebula is located about 800 parsecs or 2,600 light-years away from Earth.

The Cone Nebula is part of the nebulosity surrounding the Christmas Tree Cluster. The designation of NGC 2264 in the New General Catalogue refers to both objects and not the nebula alone.

The diffuse Cone Nebula, so named because of its apparent shape, lies in the southern part of NGC 2264, the northern part being the magnitude-3.9 Christmas Tree Cluster. It is in the northern part of Monoceros, just north of the midpoint of a line from Procyon to Betelgeuse.

The cone's shape comes from a dark absorption nebula consisting of cold molecular hydrogen and dust in front of a faint emission nebula containing hydrogen ionized by S Monocerotis, the brightest star of NGC 2264. The faint nebula is approximately seven light-years long (with an apparent length of 10 arcminutes), and is 2,700 light-years away from Earth.

William Herschel discovered the Cone Nebula (which he designated H V.27) on December 26, 1785. It is part of a much larger star-forming complex—the Hubble Space Telescope was used to image forming stars in 1997.

I'm disappointed in this image after having M45 come out so well.

Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 19 x 5 minutes
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, William Optics 0.8 FFIII field flattener (new!)
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: Meade LX200 @ f/5, Meade DSI
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop

M45, The Pleiades

In astronomy, the Pleiades (Messier object 45) are an open star cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters. It is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. Pleiades has several meanings in different cultures and traditions.
The cluster is dominated by hot blue stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Dust that forms a faint reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars was thought at first to be left over from the formation of the cluster (hence the alternate name Maia Nebula after the star Maia), but is now known to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium that the stars are currently passing through. Astronomers estimate that the cluster will survive for about another 250 million years, after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood.

Eagle Eye Observatory, Canyon of the Eagles.
Exposure: 50 x 2.5 minutes
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, William Optics 0.8 FFIII field flattener (new!)
Mount: Meade LXD650
Guider: Short Tube 80, Meade DSI
Filter: None
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop