Why It's A Bad Idea To Fuck With The President

White House Photo/Pete Souza

See that dude on the left? That's Reggie Love, personal assistant to the president. Also known as The Guy Who Gets Stuff Done, if you know what I mean.

Priceless

I finally found the picture I was looking for.

This is the Perfect Time to Panic!

Looking at photos of people wearing surgical masks to avoid catching swine flu I wonder, how many regularly wear their seat belts?

The picture I still want to see is of someone with a mask around their neck smoking a cigarette.

Venus and the Moon-We Mean It This Time

Watch the full-size animation here.

Venus slides behind the Moon just after sunrise Wednesday morning in this series of photos from the Heritage Park Observatory in Cedar Park, Texas.

Heritage Park Observatory, Cedar Park, TX
Exposure: 39 frames
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XT
Scope: Meade LX200 10"
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: none
Filter: None
Software: Nebulosity, Photoshop

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

A Cold Winter

(Don't worry, we'll be back to astronomy stuff soon.)

Collected from the internet:

It was late fall and the Indians on a remote reservation in South Dakota asked their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going t o be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared.

But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked if the coming winter was going to be cold. "It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?'

'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service again replied, 'it's going to be a very cold winter.'

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find. Two weeks later, the chief called the National Weather Serviceagain. 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?'

'Absolutely,' the man replied. 'It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen.'

'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked.

The weatherman replied, 'The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy.'

I've Often Wondered The Same Thing Myself

Flying The Champ

I've been thinking about fulfilling an old dream and getting a pilot's license, so I took an introductory flight in a beautifully-restored 1946 Aeronca 7AC Champion. The wind was pretty gusty, so we didn't do a whole lot, but I flew the plane through level flight and made some left and right turns. The instructor did some steep turns and power-off stalls before landing. I was pleased that all the time I've spent flying on the computer translated to the real thing--the control movements felt very familiar.

I haven't decided if I want to continue, but it's sure fun to think about!

More pictures here.

Bruce Springsteen Halftime Show

Who are all those old geezers? =)

Those Dam Astronomers

I think last night was the first good friday night since before Christmas at Mansfield Dam. A little chilly, but practically no wind. The sky was pretty steady and transparent, making it a nice time to get out. I worked on some starhopping skills with my old 6" dob before returning it to Barry. Managed to jump right to the Double Cluster and M81/82. The crescent moon never disappoints in that scope either. Got my first look at Saturn this time around--the rings are closing rapidly. I'll start shooting pics as son as it's a little higher earlier.

Didn't shoot any astro pics last night myself, but gave lots of free advice to John--I hope some of it was useful! I did shoot pics of other people shooting pics though--see them here.

Run For Your Lives!

My Brush With Fame

I had the opportunity last night to meet and shake hands with the fourth man to walk on the Moon, Alan Bean. I lucked into a ticket for a panel discussion with him and some other NASA types talking about Return To The Moon, followed by a reception at the LBJ Library.

I feel fortunate that I was able to ask Capt. Bean a question that had been weighing heavily on my mind. "Captain Bean, are you a Turtle?"

He is! =)

Pinewood Derby

Congratulations to Ian and the number 95 Rust-eze car for finishing second overall in the Pack 312 Pinewood Derby! True, his involvement was mostly limited to putting on the stickers since I wouldn't let him loose with the jigsaw, belt sander, hammer, graphite, super glue, cordless drill or can of red lacquer spray paint ... Maybe next year I'll let him try out the power tools. I'm still keeping him away from the super glue though.

Pictures here.

Visiting the Cedar Park PD

Den 1 paid a visit to the Cedar Park police station last week:

Bored With Living?

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Hope For The Future

As we close out 2008, I wanted to share a scene I came across today that gives me hope for the future. Trudy, Ian and I went to the local outlet mall so I could pick up a couple of pairs of new jeans, and while we there we went into the KB Toys to check out their going out of business sale. Everything in the store was half off, and was pretty well picked over at this point as you'd probably expect. Still, there was one shelf left that seemed to be fully stocked: the one with all of the toys and dolls featuring pro wrestlers.

Here's to 2009 everybody!

The Rosette Nebula, NGC 2237

The Rosette Nebula is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.

The cluster and nebula lie at a distance of some 5,200 light years from Earth (although estimates of the distance vary considerably) and measure roughly 130 light years in diameter. The radiation from the young stars excite the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit radiation themselves producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be around 10,000 solar masses.

Exposure: 30 x 5 minutes
Camera: Modified Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)
Scope: Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, TeleVue 1.1x field flattener
Mount: Meade LX200
Guider: Meade LX200 @ f/3.3
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Software: PHD Guiding, Nebulosity, Photoshop

Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) & Horsehead Nebula (B33)

Not the first light with this modded XT/350D, but my first light as its owner. Here's a stack of 50 x 4 minutes with an Astronomik CLS through the AT80EDT, plus 20 darks & flats. Mount & guiding was the 10" LX200 @ f/3.3 using an original DSI with PHD Guiding. Capture & initial processing with Nebulosity, finished in Photoshop w/Noel's actions. Focus with the Stiletto only.

Some nights, everything just comes together. Every frame a keeper, almost no movement between subs--I could probably have doubled my exposure times.

Skater Boi

Just before he stuck a skate between my feet and sent me hard to the ice. Nearly a week later and my ribs are still sore.

The Next iPhone?

I gotta get me one of these.


(Jeez, two weeks without posting? Sorry 'bout that y'all.)

Christmas Parade

Pictures from the 2008 Woodlands Christmas Parade are here.

The Moon Visits Venus & Jupiter

Lovely conjunction this evening.

The BCS Can Bite My Longhorn Ass

It's not just the BCS, but the way the Big 12 tiebreaker works. Here's a comment from the Austin American-Statesman:

Oklahoma is fortunate to reside in the Big 12. It is one of five leagues that is broken up into divisions – and it's the only league whose tiebreaker system would've ended up with the Sooners as the champion.

ACC: Texas (fifth tiebreaker)
Overall record for non-division teams (Texas wins; Longhorns opponents are 21-15, OU's and Tech's are 20-16)

Big 12: Oklahoma (fifth tiebreaker)
Team with top BCS ranking (No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Texas, No. 7 Texas Tech)

Conference USA: Texas (sixth tiebreaker)
Records against cross-division opponents in descending order of finish (Texas wins; Longhorns defeated North champ Missouri)

Mid-American: Texas (fourth tiebreaker)
Cross-division opponents in rank order (Texas wins; beat North champ Missouri)

SEC: Texas (sixth tiebreaker)
Team with highest BCS, unless second tied team is ranked within five or fewer places of highest ranked team. In this case, head to head of winner of top two is the representative. (Oklahoma is No. 2, Texas is No. 3, Texas Tech is No. 7; Texas beat Oklahoma)

Stars Fading Over Austin

Our local NPR affiliate did a story about light pollution in Austin.

My Day at Work

It's funny 'cuz it's true!

ISS, Second Attempt

This was an amazing pass. I set the exposure way back on the camera, and used the hand controller to control the scope. My best results came when I'd get just ahead of the station, stop, and let it fly through the FOV--about nine or ten frames at 60 frames per second!

I don't know what's what in this shot, except that those are solar panels to the left. This is a 150% enlargement.

Whining

How you can tell that your computer is kaput and you have to go to the Apple Store instead of setting up and making astro images:

ISS, First Attempt

OK, I learned a few lessons. The International Space Station is bright; I'll need to reduce the exposure even more. Second, people with tremors like me shouldn't attempt to hand-track the telescope to follow the station. I didn't have too much trouble getting it in frame, but nearly every exposure was streaked by motion blur, even at 60 frames-per-second.

We're supposed to have another good pass Wednesday, I'll give it another go then.

10" LX200 @ f/6.3, DMK21AF04 @ 60 fps

The 5 Reasons Luke Skywalker Is a Complete Idiot

As found on the internet...

We all know Luke Skywalker as the main protagonist throughout the original Star Wars movies and onward into the novels of questionable quality. We all grew up wanting to be him—learning to use the Force, blowing up the Death Star, saving the galaxy. But the thing is, despite all his badass moments, he actually kind of sucks. Perhaps not as much as his father Anakin, but that could be due to Mark Hamill’s acting ability, in that he can act. Sure with the emotional music and all the screen time Luke Skywalker seems to be the hero, but really he’s an idiot who makes bad decisions and has a series of terrible ideas, and he's lucky it all kind of works out for him, his friends, and the Rebel Alliance in the end.

5) Trusting the Force to Help Him Blow Up the Death Star

I have never really figured out what was so special about Luke using the Force in attacking the first Death Star. As far as I could tell, it did nothing but give Darth Vader a slightly higher level of difficulty in blasting his X-Wing, which he seemed to aptly overcome as he blew up R2-D2, and proceeded to almost blow the crap out of Luke’s X-Wing had Han Solo not saved his ass with the Millennium Falcon. Some might say his use of the Force involved him turning off his targeting computer and trusting himself to shoot the exhaust port. If that’s using the Force then I am using the Force every time I turn off my cruise control in my car. I mean, they make targeting systems for a reason, Luke—and chances are, the Rebels would prefer to trust your X-Wing's highly sophisticated on-board computer than a mystical power you spent a few hours learning yesterday afternoon.

4) Refusing to Listen to the Only Living Jedi in the Galaxy

Luke gets a vision of his dead mentor Obi-Wan telling him to go to Dagobah to get training from the Jedi Master, Yoda. Luke obeys, goes out to Dagobah, finds Yoda, and then proceeds to ignore him at every important turn. Yoda tells him not to go into the scary cave with weapons, Luke doesn’t listen. Yoda gives him a lesson about overcoming great obstacles, and Luke doesn’t take it to heart, can’t lift his own X-Wing and gets all pissy. Yoda and the Ghost of Obi-Wan both tell him not to go running off to Bespin to save his friends as he’s going to endanger everything they fought for. Luke doesn’t listen, goes off to Bespin, helps nobody and gets his damn hand chopped off.

Well done, Luke. Why should “Obi-Wan coming back as a ghost to give important instructions” convey any significance to you? Why should not pay attention to the one muppet who knows how to use the Force? You're just a jerk who nearly turned into a Hoth-sicle—you surely know better than both of 'em!

3) His Insanely Stupid Plan To Rescue Han Solo from Jabba The Hutt

Let us imagine that Luke Skywalker is trying to tell you his plan to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt.

Luke: "Okay so, first we get Lando Calrissian posing as a guard inside Jabba’s Palace."

You: "How do we do that?"

Luke: "We just get him a costume and he—just walks in."

You: "Um, okay, say it’s that easy. So then Lando gets Han out of the carbonite and we pick them up and get away?"

Luke: "No. What happens next is that I put my lightsaber in a hidden compartment in R2-D2 and send R2-D2 and C3PO to Jabba the Hutt as gifts."

You: "Wait, why-"

Luke: "Just listen. Next we have Leia pose as a bounty hunter arriving at Jabba’s palace with Chewbacca captured. She’s going to hand over Chewbacca to Jabba."

You: "Wait, why? Wouldn’t that mean we would now have to rescue Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C3PO? That just makes it more difficult, right?"

Luke: "Just go with me here. Next, Leia is going to sneak around at night and get Han Solo out of the carbonite, but get captured."

You: "What? Why would we get everyone captured like that?"

Luke: "Now I’ll show up, use my Force powers to get in to Jabba’s fortress, get past the guards to an audience before Jabba and then use my Jedi mind trick to get Jabba to release everyone. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll get captured."

You: "Okay, if you can just use your Force powers to get in to the palace and all the way to Jabba, then let's just have you go in right now and get Han out."

Luke: "No, that's stupid. I’m going to get myself captured. Because then you see, we’ll be taken to the sarlacc pit and then, when we’re on the skiff, I’ll get sent out first and then R2-D2 will manage to get to the top of Jabba’s sail barge and shoot out my lightsaber, and then with Lando’s help, we’ll just—rescue everyone and then everything will be fine!"

You: "That is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard of."

Luke: "I’ve thought of everything."

You: "Clearly you didn’t."

2) Throwing Away His Lightsaber in Front of the Emperor

So Luke decides not to put his lightsaber through Darth Vader’s head once he realizes that he’s going along the same dark path as his father. So what does he do next? He tosses away his lightsaber and then proclaims to the Emperor that he is a Jedi. Thus, he has no way to defend himself when the Emperor blasts him with lightning and if it wasn’t for his Father saving his butt (please note how many times Luke gets saved by someone else) he would have been a charred piece of Tatooine bacon. Okay, yes, tossing away the lightsaber makes a definitive statement of renouncing Father-killing, but what did he think would happen other than the Emperor kicking his ass? Did Luke think that perhaps he would proclaim “I am a Jedi, like my father before me,” and the Emperor would suddenly shout “No! You are the purest good! I am nothing in the presence of your light!” and then fling himself backward into the chasm? Why didn’t Luke just try to give the Emperor a big hug and kisses and call him a ‘snookle bear.’ He’s a master of the Dark Side, so of course he’s going to kick your ass. Luke was warned not to underestimate the Emperor...so of course, he does exactly that.

1) Not Joining the Dark Side

No, seriously! Luke gets dumped on his whole life—his adoptive parents get killed, all his friends get injured or killed, the girl he falls in love with turns out to be his sister, his father turns out to be one of the most evil people in the galaxy, his hand gets cut off. Then he gets a chance to co-rule the galaxy. Who wouldn't take that offer at that point?

What has Luke had to look forward to after the original trilogy? Mostly trying to start up the whole Jedi Order by himself, which is a ton of work, and watching Han have almost constant sex with Leia. Between that and ruling with Vader, it's not unlike a choice between working in your local library and becoming President. Not really much of a choice there. And you can comment all you want about the Dark Side being a path to pain and suffering and a loss of humanity, but let’s face it—the Dark Side is simply cooler. Members of the Sith have neat custom lightsabers, get to slap everyone around, and just plain look cooler. For Halloween, how many Luke costumes do you see people wearing nowadays? Zero. How many Darth Vader costumes do you see? Still too many to count. Bad is good, baby.

Wings Over Houston

Ian and I went to Houston Saturday with the Wades for the Wings Over Houston Airshow. We all seemed to have a good time--I know I did. Check out all the photos here.

My favorites were the Tora! Tora! Tora! and Thunderbirds flights, along with touring inside the B-17. Ian liked the explosions and trying on the pilot helmet.

Ron Howard's Call To Action

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

NGC 7635, The Bubble Nebula Again

I was so happy with the results on the Bubble through the AT80EDT that I went back with the LX200 and shot it again. 24 x 5 min. Looks like I had some mirror flop or flex somewhere, because I know the guiding was spot on. Still, not too shabby for the unmodded camera.

M52, an Open Cluster, and NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula

AT80EDT on the LX200, 24 x 5 mins, Digital Rebel XT @ ISO 1600

I planned this shot to frame M52 & the Bubble, but when I processed  it I immediately went, "what the heck is that up there?" The bonus object is NGC 7538, a diffuse nebula. I guess I need to pay more attention to Starry Night Pro when I'm planning the next one, eh?

A Whole Bunch of New Photos

We've been busy here at Casa P. Somehow I managed to get the family to sleep in the tent two weekends in a row. The first weekend in October was the Central Texas Star Party. We had an impressive lightning display Friday night (which I totally failed to get any pictures of) and a very windy Saturday night which shut down most of the observing. It was still a pleasant weekend out.

A large panorama of the Eagle Eye Observatory in the morning sunlight

While we in the area, we took a short side trip to Longhorn Cavern State Park. The cave is different from Carlsbad in that it was formed by flowing water--an underground river if you like. The tour took just over an hour and was well worth taking. I'm hoping to go back with the Cub Scouts soon.

The following weekend was the Pack 312 family camp out at Lake Bastrop. More great fall weather. Ian discovered that calling "Here fishy, fishy!" doesn't help much when attempting to catch a fish. It took him a while, but by Saturday night he was running around like a monkey with the rest of the boys.

The $700 FireWire Port

Let's face it--I love my Macs. And when Apple introduces new models, I get all drooly and my hands twitch around my credit cards. The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros introduced today are certainly drool-worthy: cool new milled-aluminum enclosures, way, way faster graphics, faster processors, etc. The MacBook even gets the backlit keyboard I've been lusting after. Oh, and they dropped the prices. Sweet!

But as Steve says, there's one more thing. The new MacBook? No FireWire port. No way to add one. Too bad, so sad. You want FireWire, get a 15" MacBook Pro.

The new MacBook. Notice the missing FireWire port.

So here's the deal. I use a wonderful little camera for planetary photography, the DMK21AF04.US. The "F" in that string of alphabet soup stands for FireWire. Sure, The Imaging Source also sells that camera in a USB 2 version. But you know what? There are no Mac drivers for it. And no matter what the USB folks say, FireWire has better sustained transfer rates. It's a fact, you can go look it up.

So what do I do? I put my credit card back in my wallet. Sorry Apple--you lost me this time around.

Make-Believe Maverick

From Rolling Stone:

In its broad strokes, McCain's life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers' powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.

In one vital respect, however, the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a much better pilot.

M31, the Andromeda Galaxy & M45, The Pleiades

Not a bad night of astroimaging from the Heritage Park Observatory. First up is another attempt at M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. Tight focus and pretty good tracking--except for the third of the frames where the guider lost the guide star. So here are 20 x 5 minutes worth through the AT80EDT mounted piggyback & guided with the LX200, captured with the Digital Rebel XT with Astronomik CLS filter, via Nebulosity & PHD guiding. To do this justice, I really need a moonless night that I can devote the entire night to it.



Here's one of my favorite things to attempt to image--M45, the Pleiades. It's bright and easy to see, except for the blue nebulosity. You can start to see the "brush strokes" in this one hour shot (12 x 5 minutes, same setup as above). The same thing applies--this needs about six times more exposure to help kill the noise.

Tiger Cub

We'll see how this works out. "Don't take my picture--I look like a dork."

The Telescope: 400 Years and Counting

A nice essay on Wired.com

Quick -- name the invention that has done most to redefine our place in the universe.

Hint: This invention was also the most seditious, blasphemous instrument of all time, shaking the very foundations of society.

The answer, if you haven't already guessed it, is the telescope. It's hard to believe that this instrument, often sold as a cheesy toy in gift shops, is perhaps the single most important scientific instrument of all time.

Now that the telescope is celebrating its 400th anniversary, it's a good time to take stock of this marvelous invention.

Time Travel

Part of me wonders what it would be like if you could travel back in time to repair your mistakes and make things better. Part of me worries this has already happened.

This IS Tina Fey

Scary good.

Bupkis

Another from XKCD:

Sixth Jupiter of the Year

Shot this right at dusk while Jupiter was transiting. Not too bad seeing, maybe 3-4/5. LRGB, DMK21AF04.US, 10" LX200 @ f/25

Hook 'Em Horns

Just in case my relatives in Fayetteville missed the game: UT 52, Arkansas 10

And in case they forgot: UT 52, Rice 10

This is Not Tina Fey

Straight Talk Express

An Insane Full Moon Photo

Bart Declercq in Haaltert, Belgium made this 23,000,000-pixel image of the 99.74% full moon with equipment similar to mine.

He writes:

Took a while to process, at 43 separate 1000 frame AVI's, up to 35 alignment points per AVI and 128 best images per point.

Taken with Celestron C9.25 in prime focus (F/10 = 2350mm) with DMK31 camera and infrared filter.

The original image is 4820x4820 pixels and 3.9 megabytes in size (the original 16-bits TIFF is 50 megabytes) and can be accessed here.

Next goal, on a high mid-winter full moon, is to do this at F/16, which should result in about a 64 million pixel image, and will require well over a hundred AVIs.

At the theoretical limit of my scope, it should be possible to go up to F/24, which will result in a roughly 200 million pixel image, but which would require more than 200 AVI's - the biggest problem with that would be that there's not enough time in one night to shoot such an image with the DMK31...

PMILF

I just may start taking more interest in Ukrainian politics.

I Stand By What I Said

From XKCD, one of my favorite web comics:

Fifth Jupiter of the Year (The Small One)

Drug the LX200 to Mansfield Dam last night for Dam Astronomers and shot this Jupiter. Seeing was pretty poor, so I took the Powermate out and shot this at f/10. LRGB with the DMK21AF04.US.

Talking Heads

I want to have Jon Stewart's love child.

Sunset, The Moon and Venus

The four-day-old crescent Moon and a brilliant Venus set over Cedar Park, Texas Wednesday.

<edit 5 Sept 08> I read today that this is a side-effect of Kasatochi Volcano erupting last month. We should be seeing this for a few more weeks.

More Advice on Raising Your Child

Most of the American populace thinks it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kid when he has one of 'those moments.'

One that I found effective is for me to just take him for a car ride and talk.

Some say it's the vibration from the car, others say it's the time away from any distractions such as TV, video games, computer, iPod, etc.

Either way, my kid usually calms down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. Eye to eye contact helps a lot too.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with him, in case you would like to use the technique.